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GOURLAY, A.M. t COLLECTION OF FACTS, EVENTS AND REMINISCENCES FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY. 288706 y-» G-OUK^U A I ^c 0M^<^ .i.,K*\"*^'.^'^f'''I'^'"^^°'^'^^°^*'P^''"*'"^"t°f Canada, in the year one thousand e.ght hundred and nmety six, by J. L. Gourlay. A.M.. at the Department oflgSS^e :..i..M 3:i HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY ^HE history of a country is the narative or story of the charac- ter and conduct of its prominent citizens or inhabitants. The succession of events they have been promotinf, or hindering, in which they have been the actors or participants, forms the theme and adventitious circumstances from the coloring of the picture. The topography of the soil, the salubrity or the reverse of the climate, occasionally come in as the local habitation on which they dwell and the atmosphere in which they breathe. Very little has been recorded of our fertile valley in past years and that little is scraps not available as history It fares no worse than other lands, whose early history lies deeply buried in obscurity and whose people's origin is unknown for want of records, or what are j^'ven as facts drawn from imagination or tradition where it is impossible to separate truth from fable. Politicians have proposed to make it an Eden blossoming in beauty and filling the air with fragrance, provided we elect them to make their fortune at our expense but their promises were visionary and vanished away like the mirage of the desert as soon as the candidates were seated and in a con- dition to help themselves. To indolence and carelessness may be attributed the meagre information we possess regarding the origin, progress, growth and decay of so many branches of the human race. Even the briefest correct records would be of signal advantage to posterity and to the his- torian. The migratory disposition of mankind makes it difficult to pre- serve such records even when they exist. Intelligent young people should keep short notes of stirring events that come within the range of their observation as these must be of interest and in the hands of one who could classify and arrange and generalize they would not be heavy, but readable. The story of savage life is confined to the gratification of natu- ral appetite, idleness sleep and slaughter. If they observed any kind of laws they were not always in aid of the survival of the fittest. The history of such tribes is seldom written, or of much value i\ written. We have some interest in the Indian tribes that roamed these parts, but few traces remain of them ; Algonquins, Hurons, Senecas have almost disappeared or at least greatly diminished, so that little reliable can be \ 'ritten of them to gratify curiosity, except we draw too extensively on the imagination. Many of the present rising generation with whom we have conversed can scarcely tell you of their great grandfathers or their grandfathers. We remember in youthful days the first inhabitants of the Ottawa country, on both sides of the river, who used to tell long stories of the red men, but we never met a vestage of encampment, to show that they had ever pitched a camp on the plains. Their wigwams were not of a kind to require a foundation like more solid structures, as pp HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. they were formed of little poles, set in a circle on the ground and con- verging their small points in the centre above, covered round with white birch bark, to keep out the rain or snow, without an opening at the top to let the smoke escape, which had to make its way out by the door or other openings. When the tents were struck the bark was so light as to be easily rolled up and carried off, whilst the dry poles would do to cook the last animal to eat before they started out for the next halt- ing place. Their contact with civilization unmanned them, making them wards of the government, than a blanket became the door or screen of the tent. Cedar, ash and birch bark formed the staple with which their canoe fleets were built. Other tough timbers like oak and hickory were used for bows, arrows and clubs. Fish and the flesh of animals procured by the chase with wild vegetables, berries and other wild fruits were their provisions. Dressed peltries were their clothing with a profuse decoration of feathers. To these hereditary wanderers the desolate forests were valueless except as hunting grounds or the home of the tameless fur bearing animals. They appeared very much the same to the first French immigrants, if we may judge from a statement in a French man's letter to his F"rench friends in the old land, in which the aspects of the country, its flora and funa, are grapically described thus : "You can see nothing but swamps, hear nothing but frogs, and feel nothing but mosquitoes." Meadows have taken the place of swamps, large clearings h., 'C silenced the frogs, and mosquitoes are not so pro- ductive, or have betaken themselves to less civilized lands. We have conversed with the men who felled the first trees cut by the white men in this valley- We have not heard of a single trace of the march of Sam- uel Champlain with his little army of French men with their Indian allies, whether he took the north shore, which is the more probable as it was th« Indian trail, or the south shore, in making his way to Lake Huron and thence to the father of waters, or wherever he went to meet their Indian foes. The French did little or nothing in the settlement of the Ottawa country, except on the north shore, Two Mountains and Papineauville. The British, with a good sprinkling of U. E. L. Ameri- cans have taken up the whole valley. Almost all the first settlers of Upper Canada were children of New England, refuges from (he United States. These came in after the war of independence and got land grants all along the line of frontier, from the Eastern Provinces to the Great Lakes, arid penetrated back to the banks of the Rideau, and down the Mississippi to the Carp. The valley along the north shore cf the Ot- tawa river is beautiful lands, but it is only an average of six or seven miles, between the river and the Laurentian range of mountains. North of this range the land is good, but in small patches very broken, thinly settled, in a word, a wide .sea of mountains and valleys, with lakes and streams innumerable, as far as the country has yet been explored and known. The south or Ontario side is now very populous, lots all owned or occupied worth holding. In our early recollections, what the people called half-pay oflficers held all the prominent place on the south shore, locating on the river bank till it was crowded full, then taking the rest of their large grants as near the other lots as they possibly could. Tier after tier of settlement followed, till all the best lots were occupied. Rivers were the channels of communication, and canoes and boats were HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY s easily made in rude, strong ways, and served to convey men and freight with speed and safety, avoiding storms and squalls, and plying the paddle well on smooth water. Wr: remember when a boy, perhaps twelve or thirteen, crossing with an old gentlemen, VV. Nesbit, on a smooth sea in the morning to Aylmer. On our return in the afternoon the "waves were raging white." It fell to me to steer, as he could neither steer, row nor paddle but very poorly. He was ill to persuade to get in. The canoe was very large, dug out of an immense pine, fit to be the mast of some great Admiral. We embarked, got out a couple ot lengths, when between two great waves she grated on a large bowlder that called forth a groan from the frighi>„ned old gentleman. The wind was in sailor phrase, on the larboard, blowing across the river, and too strong to face. To have run up the north shore would have put us alternately on the crest of the wave and in the trough of the sea, in a very danger- ous rolling position. We took the medium course, half against the wind trying to keep on three or four waves, so that wo were breasting the wind and the waves, making steering and rowing anything but a plea- sure. Often by the blow of a heavy sea, the canoe quivering, we were thrown into a deep hollow between two large waves, the foaming crest of one dashing against the side of our craft, sending a shower over us. He would say "They're gathering on the shore to watch us go down." Trained from the cradle to trust in providence and fear no evil, the boy encouraged the old man. An unguarded dip would unship his oar, we shouted, "Hold up the blade and g;et it into the row lock again," and watched his stroke, we sailed about five miles on the north of the island and got under the lea of the land in comparatively calm water at the south shore. We took in our paddles and let her float down, whilst we breathed freely. We did thank the kind Providence for our safety, though we could not divest ourselves of the notion that it was a tempt- ing of that providence in not waiting for a calmer atmosphere and a smoother sea. This is one of many escapes we have made, which when we look back on, we devoutedly thank the Lord for leading and deliver- ing us. We remember sitting enchanted with the narrative of pioneers, who told often in the funniest wittiest manner, sometimes with an ear- nest eloquence, always to our mind with originality, the hard.ships, priva- tion?, difficulties, besetments, yes, suffering through which they passed, and over which they triumphed in such peculiar trying times. After this country had passed from the hands of the French into those of the British, the settlements began at once to be extended beyond their former bounds. Large parts of the eastern townships and the south shore of the Ottawa river were occupied by the British. The Scotch from highlands and lowlands generally clustered together, and filled places like Osgoode, Beckwith, Ramsay, Lanark, Renfrew, Bristol, Litchfield, Dalhousi, whilst Gloucester, Nepean. March, Huntley, Torbolton, Fitz- roy, Goulbourn, were taken up by a mingled people of English, Scotch, Irish Welsh, whose rasping notes, enriched by Tipperary and Kerry brogues, the broad flat accents of Antrim and Down, together with the sotter tones fra this side and fra yont the Tweed ; the tones of the Corlos- nian mingled with those of the far down, making not so much a confus- ion of languages as of diaelects,- burs, brogues and tones. Yet they were obliged to converse with and understand each other, or give it up. The conversations were rare, rich, entertaining, like the people, the cir- HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY- N' cumstances ami the times. Of course they were all from the British Isles, one nation, no denying that, but diversified in disposition and modes of life as it they came from the ends of the earth. Indies of some traininjj and refinement have told how they passed the sutTimer, when their husbands were away earning what would keep the wolf from the door in the coming winter. They would make lye from ashes, boil hard corn in the lye nearly all day, and when it soft- ened wash and boil it again in clean water, and when cooked 4uflfii- ciently, cat it with milk if they had it, or with maple syrup if they had that article. Go back in your thoughts to 1820, picture to yourself a shanty 14x20, and 8 feet high, scooped, standing in a clearing of three acres, that clearing fenced by cutting down trees, so that onel met an- other, and some stakes and long poles on these made it high enough for the purpose, brush being thrown in freely to close gaps. Elms were preferred if they were available, as they stuck on the stumps, by that means standing much higher than if they fell flat. This was the brush or slash fence. With this in view, look at the door of the dwelling and you see a smiling good-looking little woman with three pretty children, amusing one another at their play, the mother at her domestic employ- ment, or hoeing corn or potatoes among the stumps, and the wheat waving closely, all a rich color, as the land is full of potash, having been burned over recently and with this in view you have a picture of a new home in the bush seventy-five years ago. The cows, if she nad one, lod- ged at night at the bars, the entrance to the clearing, lived in the woods all day, and came in the evening again to be milked, if she forgot herself which seldom happened the bell would tell her whereabouts, or as she would obey the call of her owner whose clear voice would ring a long way in the echoing woods. The Government furnished a number of implements, indeed many things even to the door lock which was rarely locked at night throughout the settlements. An old hoe that has survived when compared with the morden article looks as if it belonged to the stone age. A Huntley man once carried a number of these artic- les from Richmond the place of the distribution, some fixed on his back both hands full and a pot on his head, ran the gauntlet of a whole army of mosquitoes, not cutting his way through them, but the reverse they piercing their way through his delicate Irish skin as he waded across the long swamps and bitterly complaining afterwards of his face and hands so unprotected and so perforated (the country was free trade then) the boys in expressing their sympathy would have it that they bit him through the pot. The fresh old country (Caucasian) blood had for them a new relish compared with that of the "red skin." The Ottawa Valley is well watered. Many of its rivers flo^v into the Ottawa river (called Grand river in the early times) nearly opposite each other. The Petite nation on the south a little below the Lievre on the north side of the Rideau opposite the Gatineau, the Carp and Mississippi opposite the Quio, the Madawaska or the Bon Cheer, corresponding to the Colonge, while the Muskrat lake discharges its waters at the pretty village of Pembroke sometimes ealled the Indian river. But we could not discern from the C.P.R- a single stream worth naming on the north side for over a hundred miles falling into the Ottawa. • This is owing to the nearness of the Laurentian range of mountains to the river bank and their height causing the flow of the chain of lakes on the summit to the northward HISTORV OF THK OTTAWA VALLEY and eastward whiUt only rills come down, their face concealed by the green little gorjijes barely visible in the mountain sides. The Constance slowly flows into the Ottawa at the sand hills in Torbolton, the lake being only a few miles back. There is a string of lakes connecting with one another by creeks or outlets along R. R. between Pembroke and Mattawa on the south shore of the river occasionally turning a .saw mill like Aumond creek now Klocks mills. Only in one place did we ob- serve anything coming south like a slide for planks in all that hundred miles. The Pitawawa runs .ito the Ottawa with some creeks that are nameless. The Castor with its many branches collecting in one be- comes a feeder to the nation- Mulberry creek, Stevens creek, the Jock and other little streams feed the Rideau. Bradley's creek runs into the Carp with many smaller ones. Many take their names from mill owners or some one operating lumber on them or drowned in them. Some retain their Indian names which is very desirable and very proper, as commem- orating these aboriginal forest wanderers fast becoming extinct. The land is of great variety from loose sands fit for gla.ss ware to the thickest heaviest blue clay fit for pottery, bricks and tiles ; said to be full of alluminum, which ought soon to be produced chtap enough to be used for roofing, the best yet discovered or applied. These lands were so thickly covered with forest trees standing near each other, and of so large a growth as almost wholly to exclude the sunshine from the soil in the leafy season "when summer was green." Hardwood trees of fifty and sixty feet high were plentiful, some white pines there were whose height was found to be a hundred feet from the tops to the ground. We helped to square one 73 feet long 24x25 inches, four straight lines over three hundred cubic feet and we have seen larger than this one. That piece on the ice in 18.^ was worth fifteen dollars in planks, now at the mills it would be worth one hundred and fifty dollars. The density of these forests, the interlacing of the bows and their thick green foliage or frondage account for the abundance of water then flowing in rills and for the disappearance of these waters when the country was denuded of this thick, close covering. These little river beds have disappeared before the plow and the present generation could hardly point out their place. Yet some of them with water not over three inches deep and twelve inches wide ran the whole summer. The cleared land has proved cap- able of producing all varieties of grains, grass and root crops. We have seen growing luxuriently the Alfalfa, or Lucerne clover, perennial rye grass, fescues foxtail, orchard blue grass, with every other kind named and nameless. We once sowed a mixture of seven kinds of clover and eight kinds of gra.sses, and the experiment was a success. Fruits of every useful kind can be produced and are now grown in the various parts of the valley, from the wild strawberry to the flemish beauty pear. This last with a splendid orchard of apples of about forty varieties, a brother of the writer has succeeded in producing, beside old Glencairn, a beauti- ful sight to observe as you drive past, according to the expression of Judge Ross, who passes it slowly that he may take it all in and enjoy the beauty of the healthy looking trees in blossom and fruit season. The scenery of Chaudiere before its wild beauty was defaced by the axe or its sparkling waters were utilized in slides and mill races, was truly pic- turesque, almost indescribably grand. The rocky cliffs, green with the cedars and the pine to the rivers brink, its volume of water tossed. 8 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLRY broken, clashed into foam, that foam floating down like islands of pearls on the bosom of the dashing current, the whole surveyed from the brow of the hills on the cast in the evening sun, to be comprehended, to be esteemed, to be capturously admired, must be dwelt upon- Thus Samuel Champlain saw it, Mirrick and Stevens saw it, thus Philemon Wright saw it before a tree was removed or an arch had spanned it except the rainbow in its natural grandeur, in its virgin beauty, in its pristine sublim- ity. This is much the finest fall on the river. The next in importance is the Chats Rapids about thirty miles west of the Chaudiere, observed from an emineiice on the eas^ side facing the falls, the rivers rocky bed is dotted with islands covered vvith ever green pine and divided into many channels forming great cascades, the rushing waters dashing over the precipitious rocks, foaming into the abyss below, filling the eye with the magnificence of the vision and the ear with the soft but thundering sound of many waters. Other rapids and falls on the majestic river are exceedingly worthy of the artists' pencil, where travellers linger to ad- mire the scenery, but these two surpass them all in sublimity or grand- eur. Niagara has a greater volume of water, a fall much higher, a roar deeper and louder, but its solitary goat island is nowhere in compariso with the number and beauty of these Islands. How ineffable in majesty and glory must the hand be that formed them all ! "He cutteth out rivers among the rocks and his eye seeth every precious thing." The Dominion in its length and breadth has few places more beautiful or at- tractive for travellers to visit Mr. Charles Shirriff, with his grown up sons educated civil engineers with practiced eye and cultivated intellect, explored the Chats at the in- stigation of the government, and decided to sell out at Port Hope and make his home here. The offer of three thousand acres of wild land was an inducement, but the splendor of the whole scenery, the illime- table water power and the dreamy prospect of a ship canal to the Huron must have helped largely to the decision. It was easy, it was natural to picture to themselves a city covering all these banks, with factories of every kind where water power could economize labor by turning the great wheels of machinery. Fancy could easily conjure up fleets flying the Union Jack at the mast head, bearing through such a city the precious produce of the measureless west to the sea girt isles of thoir fathers, and returning laden with the rich and beautiful fabrics, showing and displaying all the colors of the loom, with abundance of iron and steel, the cutlery of Sheffield, and the tin of Cornwall, to distri- bute from ocean to ocean over so long a line of inland navigable waters to supply the ever increasing demands of half a continent. This was something attainable, not the dream of an ethusiast or a fevered brain. The young man, Alexander Shirriff made an exploration to the Geor- ■ gian Bay past Rice lake at their own expense and great labor, and reported to the British government a feasable highway to open up the country to the overcrowded population of Britain. But the huge debt of England, and the desire of a breathing time after so great war.*, and the counsels of the Duke of Wellington, the worshipped hero of the Pen- insula and Waterloo, and as nothing was known of the vast region save this solitary survey, a less costly plan was adopted and the ship canal deferred to a later date, which may yet be realised as the vast resources of the Ottawa valley, come to be developed, understood and known HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. Sir, then Hon. J. A. McDonald, when some constituencies were to be won, and many to be obtained for contractors and from fhcm for other purposes, gave out that the government was in an interesting state that at tnc end of three months, a Chats ship canal would be brought forth, gave a contract to make some lioles in the rocks which was done at an enormous expense, then the base born monster was strangled in his birth. The people in these times did not look at the river above and below and ask why build a ship canal in the woods where no ship would come ? But it served the purpose, was an excuse for getting the money and Pontiac though fooled and deceived, sticks to the party. The British people are credited with being a shrewd and intelligent, en- terprising, conquering race or conglomerate of races. All this is correct and it may be added that they are ultraloyal to their Queen, govern- ment and political leaders. But it may be conceded that they are the most easily led of any people. They will L,lieve in the most extraor- dinary shams to please the leaders, or through that fatal delusion under which men believe the false as if it were true, and defend the grossest untruths as if they were gospel. In our early history it was not so. Jamie Johnston ran against the supporters of the family compact and the people in and around Bytown elected him by an overwhelming ;nj- jority. Then in a drunken mood he resigned his seat and when sobtr came to take it and was ejected from the house, the same electors by an overwhelming majority left it at home. The same people elected afterwards Mr. John Scott subsequently judge a liberal worth> man and were greatful to have such a representative. In the days of our child- hood we learned from our fathers that the men of the family compact were men of honor compared with their weale vascilating, selfish suc- cessors, whose eyes are only on gain at the public loss preparing them for political perdition in spite ofall warning and the cries of oppression. Men would have blushed to offer or to receive a bribt. Of course the. country was poor and the statutes few. But even now we have lo law to punish defaulters in government when they retire from office. There is no end of lawsuits to punish those who swindle the public purse but the government lc3e them all and arbitrations go in favor of defaul- ters. Since our credit has been established in England we have gone every year a few millions 'ieeper in debt in the estimation of most people double or treble '.hat rl our improvements. Legislators ais, mostly lovers of money and such never repent. Drunkards may leave their cups, lovers of pleasure their companions, even thieves may repent, but the lover of money never gets enough, never repents, never makes res- titution without which professed repentance is but a mere sham. The clergy of those days were devoted men, they had no millionaires in whose sunshine they could bdsk, no societies in which they could work up to the top of the heap and so procure worldly influence and patron- age such was thus considered not merely unspiritual but immoral. When W. L. McKenzie's election was twice voided and he was per- mitted to take his seat for Haldiman after the third election to the same parliament he published in his message that the cost to him of the three elections was only five dollars. When Wilks assailed the wrong doings of the English parliament in the north Briton and his election was de- clared void his friends inscribed on their banner "North Briton No. 44, Wilks and liberty," and carried him in three times with increasing ma- 10 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY joriti'es. After they were compelled to let him take his seat he assisted in procuring legislation against the seizure of an Englishman's papers, which contributed to the welfare of his country. All parliamentary men are not plunderers of their country- The Burritts' began to explore the lands on the Rideau in the middle of the last decade of the i8th century. Mr. Wright came six or seven years later to Hull and cut the first trees on the north shore of this grand river west of Papineau settlement above two mountains. We have no land cleared more than one hundred years along the Ottawa west of Hawkesbury, Otters were plentiful on the streams. Beavers built dams with poles they cut, and formed houses of poles and grass. Muskrats cut the thick, coarse grass that gre^v in the middle of the stream, drew it to their landing place, fed on its white roots using the stems for houses, under which they could get down the bank under ice in winter and help themselves to such provisions as came in reach. These little workers kept the streams clear of these grasses so that the currents ran freely, but their indiscriminate slaughter by the Indians, the care- lessness of the farmers on the banks, the rank grass has grown up and obstructions abound and lands are overflowed to an alarming extent damaging the lands and injuring the health. The other wild occupants have diminished or wholly disappeared, so that a beaver or an otter is not heard of within many miles of the highest up settlements of the lands. The floods killed fine oak and other forest trees. The Dominion Gov- ernment should deepen these streams for the health of the people. Three or four dollars a rod would take three feet deep out of the mid- dle of the stream. The people of this part of the Dominion have not got a grant of anything to improve the condition of the country that has supported Tories in all their straits. Men with India rubber boots could shovel gut mud at twenty-five cents a yard. The authorities have been spendthrift with railroads why not do some other things for the people. What they waste wilfully in a year on the Experimental Farm to no purpose would deepen all the streams in the flat lands and drain and make healthy the large tracts of country under their very eyes, but never looked at. How would it do to make the trial of doing a little stroke of justice to the inhabitants around the Capital ? Three feet deep cut out of the river bed below what it now is would carry off water enough to let the lands dry up around and greatly benefit the farmers now suffering by Graining their neighbors. Under your view each farm resembles an embryo village with dwelling houses, barns, feeding houses silos. Most of the pioneers of 1818 are gone, and many born since have followed them. Some farms have changed owners. Most of them, however, are in the possession of the descendents of the original owners. The first occu- pants got their patents from the crown. The Simcoes, the Maitlands, Uurhams, Gosfords heads figure on the old patents From these the transfers has been made. Some have a long succession of mortgages. Here the law is loose, even defective. Every transfer the lawyer has a new search and the offence is piled up and no gain except the satisfac- tion of evety new lawyer as he executes the mortgage. The early set- tlers were generally free from quarrels except when they indulged too freely in Jamaica. These v/ere immediately quieted down and peace restored. Drink was freely used as if it were a necessity and so long as people kept in moderation it was not considered even a vice. Treating v HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY 11 s. a c- was considered an act of friendship. Moderate drinking very common, yet there was not much drunkenness. Profane swearing was by no means as common as at present. Lying, the vice of today was very rare. But now what man will you believe? "Even ministers they ha* been kenned in holy rapture great lies and nonsense baith to vend and nail't wi' scripture." The church has suffered more today by the false- hoods of the clerg)' than by intoxicating drinks. We do not giv€ this as heresay, but a^ a sabject, sad to say very capable of proof. Illegitimatts were very few. Education was by voluntary subscription and well sustained. Boy." got a good training for business and girls read fluently and wrote elegantly, whilst arithmetic was carefully taught and no such thing as the notion of denominational schools entertained. The idea originates and is largely cherished for the safety of the seats and to ab- sorbe the funds. Human beings greatly desire to be the dominant party forgetting that such a party is almost always tyrannical. There was great effort put forth to clear, and fence, and build. Some got up stone hou.ses, but these being plastered on the stone become damp, and they had not got to the idea of building in bond timber furring and lathing which is the true plan. Some one recommended roughcasting the stone wall outside, which they did and secured a dry house. A properly built stone house is the most healthy, thi most economical, the safest from tempests, and the most durable. After the temporary shanty, sided lo^' houses became very popular- Several of these are yet standing and in good preservation. In the clearing of land very much was done by what they denominated a Bee. The people of the O^'^aw^ valley need no description of what it is or was. Fgr the benefit o: others v/e may say, it was a gathering of neighbors to pile up the legs of the burnt chopping that had been cut about 12 feet long. The teamster often chose the four or more men to follow his oxen, and with a long chain pulled in the logs from both sides, which the men rolled up in a pile and threw light ones on top. A team and a gang would log an acre a day The bee was according to the size of the chopping, provided they could command so many. The day was one of general feasting. The fatted calf or sheep was killed or the best beef procurable was well roasted with well boiled potatoes, the best of bread, buns, cakes, crackers, also puddings and pastries, whilst tea and coffee flowed in equal streams. One man had charge of the bottle, if he was judicious the people went home sober, if not there would be odd ones a little in- clined to mirth, others measuring the road as we observe some measur- ing a twelve foot sidewalk in the evening. The day being o\ier and gone and the work done, the young men washed off the coal dust of the burnt logs, and dressed as they came in the morning, the oxen were cared for or sent home. The young ladies having got through the dish- washing and looking as bright as bottled ale, they began a hearty contest at "song about." The mnsic of the human voice divine "put life and 'mettle in their heels," and dancing followed as a matter of course till the short hours had passed and the young gentlemen each saw "his Nellie home" from the entertainment. The United Empire Loyalists and all others followed up these customs. In after years it was thought impossible to have a bee without the liquor, either to log or raise a building, but Mr. Hugh Gourlay broke the spell and disappointed the preditions of the seers by having a splendid bee without the Jamaica spirits, and since 12 ttlStORV OI' THE OTTAWA VALLEY that time enough the bees are less numerous than before they succeed without a drop of alcohol. They used to have qulltings too in these pri- mitive times and plays sometimes were substituted for dances. The pioneers followed the customs and plans of those whu came from the United States, who knew so much more of the new country and how to succeed in it. They planted more corn than the farmers did in the fol- lowing age, which gave an opportunity to have evening husking bees. General Booth has plans for bringing together the young people that mating may take place on proper principles of fitness. These husking bees gave favorable occasions at times to meet and get acquainted and paved the way for the more formal calls at her mothers where the acquaintance thus formed could grow and ripen, happy matches often sprang up from these beginnings. The corn crop in these parts was not very large, and the ears should not be left to hang on the stalks very long, as in the Western States where they raised little else. It had to be housed as soon as ripe, and the animals were left to consume the stalks before winter set in. So in the long nights of October and Nov- ember the fine moonlight, the buskers could co.wene and strip the ears whieh were disposed of on some dry loft or safe place till milling time came. They seldom used "Atolbrose" at these assemblys. A choice supper served all purposes. They had such a good time and went home before morning dawned. There must be marriages or the race must cease. One generation must pass away and another must come. Ever since Jacob went to see Rachel, and kissed her ruby lips, when they met it the well, and we are far from saying that, this was the first meet- ing or demonstration of the kind among our wandering species; it is probable that the custom is as ancient as the race; nothing offensive, wrong or in bad taste could be said of the lovely, unstained and blush- ing Eve when she first opened her eyes on the dignified, manly form of her lover aud lord in the pure innocence, submitted cheeks and lips to receive the salutation as evidence of love at sight, without shame and with a modqsty unsullied and becoming, the situation, and the circum- stances ; no stealthy invasion of a neighbors rights in the case ; so in this young world of the Ottawa Valley, when kindred spirits met, there were harmless and friendly greetings, "nemine contradicente." One institution of these early days has passed away. The innumer- able places where a well can be had by sinking six feet, made it easy to procure abundance of pure water. Jacob's well required a bucket with a rope to lift the water. "Sir thou hast no 'antlema' and the well is deep. Instead of the long rope, a small pole with a limb near its thick end, set to hold the handle of the pail was used, and when skilfully man- aged served the purpose, but in unwary hands tin pails often gets off, and sank, to be raised by a fitting hook. But the spring pole was more common. A long thick cedar post, with the top prepared by a natural fork, or otherwise, to take the long spring pole that worked oh a pin, was planted deep in the ground to be permanent and steady. The con- nection between the spring pole and the bucket, might be a rope or a chain, but was generally a small pole attached by a piece of chain to the top of the spring pole and the heavy end had the bucket secured to it. The bucket was made of good oak staves, iron hooped with a strong iron wire handle, and hung there in the wind like a pendulum, The back weights on the spring pole would nearly balance the pole or P \ HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 13 bucket full of water making it moie managable, The well was built inside with stone, and a platform on top, with a crib or a box two or three feet high, and sometimes a lid covering the mouth for safety. There were early cases of drowning in wells reported, as we had then no papers printed, and anxious mothers going to church, or store, or to make friendly visits, warned their children "not to fall in the well, not go too near the fire till Ma comes back." Like the Indiana lady in the days of great meetings and "Jc^'^s." when she rushed to the penitent bench to confess, she left her little Pauline with her husband back in the crowd saying: "Hush now and be a good little Pliney while mother goes up and joins Church." In the onward movement of the world, the wooden pumps appeared of bored pine, and tamarac in joints. Chain pumps were introduced but did not stay. Force pumps after this came to stay. In some cases the bucket was worked with a chain and wind- lass. Later they used a tin bucket, the size to draw water out of wells drilled in the rock with a valve in the bottom of the bucket, that was resting on a pin in a box that conveyed the water to the pail. A little house enclosed such a well, and the pulley at the top let the six feet long bucket rise out of the well, to be set on the pin that raised the valve. There was one artisian well on the farm of one of the earliest settlers, beyond the stony swamp that ran freely for some time. But they have not been numerous. One of the Bonaparts was said to propose to bore such wells to run in the desert, which it was thought would be a success, and turn the wilderness into fields of verdure and fertility, but the plan has not been carried out as far as we know. We have too much land yet more easily managed. Education seems to have been after the Hebrew mode, taught in each family by some member of it, as there must have been some child- ren in the few families that first cast their lot in the land. Mr. Wright of Hull and Mr. Billings of Gloucester had tutors. Mrs. Honeywell taught her own and some of her neighbors children in her own house. The Richmond colony having so many officers, succeeded in obtaining the money from the Home Government, to build a school and pay the teacher who was sent from England. It only lasted a year or two, schools were indispensible. Governesses were employed by some, but except some retired army officers, very few were able to meet the ex- pense. Many familic kept a little school, some tynes two families of relatives united and one girl taught her cousins, also with her own broth- ers and sisters. The people of a district talked the thing over often before they could get a schoolhouse built, and a private building was sometimes used temporarily. Every man stated how many he could send, and pay for, if the aggregate came to twenty, the fees would be five dollars a head, as one hundred dollars and "go round with the scholars," was the renumeration. This corresponded with the wages on the farm. Many teachers were no better qualified than farm laborers. There was nothing taught but elementary principles, equal to the famous Three R.R.R. One man thought if his boy could "add up a fraction," that would do tor him. Of course they did not all so express themselves. Lumbering was in advance of settlements, and many farmers worked in winter cutting timber,"whilst others drew with their teams when they got teams, and the grown up boys were employed in this^ absorbing work. Younger children could be sent to school, and 14 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. high qualifications in the teacher were not expected, nor considered essential. Many teachers were old feeble men, that were incapable of progress. Young men pushed on their studies, and rose to the needs of the schools, retaining their places and doing efficient Work. The schools were small in accommodation, and they were thinly attended at first, but perhaps in as good proportion as ever after, all was done on the voluntary principle. Every improvement of a public nature wasso. A subscription was opened, and pushed to meet the crisis whatever it was. There are people so unenlightened yet, as to think that method prefer- able even to day. This would make sad havock with our bureaus of public works, agriculture and so many other institutions, that we delight to honor; could we not have macadamised roads, canals, railroads, built , by private companies v. ithout government aid ? Would they not be as well done, as efficient, as profitable an outlay, and useful to the community, as on our modern plans, which all men admit to be unexam- pled extravagrance and leading to national bankruptcy ? The law of his commonwealth compelled every head to teach his family to read and write his own language and observe the morality of the Mosaic law. The doors and gates of their habitations proved this, and their elders, and ot|;ier rulers of the tens and hundreds, were bound to see the law obeyed Can any family now plead that a similar moral obligation is not of bind- ing force? Is a commonwealth bound beyond this to compel the educa- tion of its people ? Is it not possible to combine efficiency with economy and improve on the present boasted system — without its extv. ■ vagrance ? Some of the churches are mad upon Separate schools. If these schools waste the time of the children in beautiful trifles and keep them unfit for citizenship, except as hewers of wood and drawers of water, is the com- monwealth bound to interfere, fight the leaders of these denominations, and give, at the public expense, a more efficient and liberal education ? Is the Provincial Government to take the place of the parents and of the clergy and see this done? How strongly would the parents have re- sented clerical interference in these, early schools, when three or four families would have been compelled to keep their children at home in such circumstances ? Should the present fire, kindled in the Separate school cause, lead to a commission of investigation and lay bare the true state of things ; and should the Government of Quebec refuse to secure a liberal education according to the wishes of the clergy ; will the grand- fathers at Ottawa interfer by gentle coercion ? Are the Cardinals not kindling a fire in the bramble *^hat shall consume the cedars ? Unfor- tunate Mercier's night schools, af:cr giving great offence, fell and perished, when people that did not know pe as from barley, dismissed him and his col- leagues from office. The Americans oppose church establishments, but work up a costly, and yet faulty school system. The Saxons of Eng- land are bound to free trade with a faulty church establishment. But they have begun to take down the church establishment ; the Americans to take down the high tariff. Both are abusive to mankind and in time must be got out of the way. If a church establishment is good for England it cannot be bad for America. Freedom in education may prevail some day- If efficiency is maintained, economy is also secured. Would it be constitutional to make such changes? If the people see \ HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 15 that such are beneficial they have the power to elect the men to make the changes. One century ago the Government here was mixed — civil and mili- tary — the country had been conquered. Officers were by appointment, not elective, and except the Municipal Council and members of Parlia- ment most of them are appointive still or in in the patronage ofthe Gov- ernment, which it assumes, and without proper authoritj'. Custom or habit is all they can plead. But so many of these long appointments have become so vory offensive (some useless) and so costly, that they are objectionable and demand reform. Our earliest settlements were formed of militery men, together with the United Empire Loyalists who had all, or nearly all, inherited their policy from the middle ages. The latter was the most remarkable as ♦•heir prog/snitors had forsaken England because ofthe despotism of ruci a policy, but returned to it in the day of their power and burned witcnes freely when they should have turned the despotism out ot their hearts. The looseness of their divorce laws is objectionable. They retained slavery until it was driven out by force. These and many others like our family compact create rebellion and the tyrannical enactments that cherish, or rather provoke the spirit of rebellion, as they call it, but the sustained struggle for plain common human rights as it should be called. All these show the humiliating in- consistency of fallen humanity. Besides these above named another class of people came and mingled with them in the settlements — a class that wished to escape the grindings of their landlords and their agencies. These opposed high taxation and exhorb'tant outlay, and of course soon became marked men and fit subjects to fee called rebels. What brought these men here ? What have they to do advocating such questions? In a word what right had such rebels to brains or anything bordering on brains? But they are yet in existence and may as well be reckoned upon in the estimate of the world's progress. The descendents of the men that have forgotten the wail of Flodden, the tears of Drumclog, the humiliation of Killecrankie and the long starvation of Londonderry; the men that to avoid oppression buried themselves in the woods to better their prospects and those of their children, in order that they might be owners of the soil, independent freeholders, and have a large interest in the government of their country, cannot be expected to coolly approve of misrule. In the first town meetings these gentlemen contended for the lightest taxation, and the honest outlay of the money of the people. But they were too few to be felt ; never aspired after office, not even to be pound keepers, path masters, or collector of taxes. They succeeded in having the work of the year past read at the follow- ing town meeting, so that they might judge who were worthy of re-ap- pointment to office and who were to be rejected or kept out, if that were po.ssible. The man who would have spent money to influence an elec- tion in these early days would have, brought on himself the execration of these upright, single-minded, straightforward men. Should there not still be the determination to oppose undue taxation and encourage economy in every department from the House ot Commons to the Township Council ? The chain of hills lying cast and west, begin at the Jock incline a little northward to near Bell's corners, then trend southward across the i6 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY corners of Goulbourne and March, still inclining southward and stretch into Huntley at Glencaim and Elmwood, covering the borders of March, Huntley and Fitzroy and Torbolton terminating at the Chats. Occasional levels and breaks and nitches appear through which roads pass. They contain limestone and sandstone of various colors in great abundance, materials enough to build a Lcndon. Minerals also abound mica, plumbago and phosphates enough to enrich the soil to the height of land. Geologists assert that there is no coal in them. Then every one else to be deferential scholarly and fashionable sing the same song. But they are finding shale at Lake Temiscamingu'^ that is said to bum nearly as well as cj&l. We submitted .samples from my brother's farm, No. 7, ist Con. March to Professor Chapman in Toronto, who termed it choral, but a Philadelphia coal merchant said my sample was exactly like the i ocks above the coal beds in the Lehigh Valley in Penn.sylva»ua. No one has the dispositic or the money to bore and test, but it may yet be done. ' le artic explorers report abundance of coal in the north, but is not avail i le for our use (?) Could a railroad be built and worked in such an inl. OS " al clim.ite to bring the treasure to our doors? No doubt . ~ontra( could be found to go into the job if there were mil- lions in 1 ne lellows that propose to go to James Bay or to Hndson's Bay are i ady to go to the worse place in the universe for money, but it is much more economical to bring it from Pennsylvania or Nova Scotia than from the polar regions. The fact, however, that coal ex- ists in the parts explored in the islands near the pole, explodsthe theory that it is below the coal formation and that other wise theory that the southein part of the continent is a drift from the northern. Where did the north get the earth to send down ? No trace of the old factories for the manufacture of so much earth have beep discovered. Perhaps like the inventors they have passed out of recognition like Hans Breitman's party. Fair ish that party now ? Fair ish dat loafly colden cloud vat hang on te mountainish prow, all gone avay mit te loccar peer. Modem geologians may overturn the notions of older geologists and get us coal on the north of Ottawa. They talk of coal oil or kerosene far^ north of the St. Lawrence in Quebec. The shale of Temiscamingue may be introductory to coal. The latter may lie deeper and no one has gone in search yet of the coveted article. But the iron rods will be pushed down after it ere long and then we will have a boom like the Africian gold fever in which all our unfortunates will make their for- tunes. If it would only crop up berore the elections wonld come off how grand and gloHous ! ! The highest point of these hills is at the junction of Huntley and Fitzroy. From these summits you can get the most delightful views of the country extending on all sides The beau- tiful level fertile fields ot Templeton, Hull, Eardley,Onslow on the north shore of the Ottawa River, with Torbolton, March, Nepean, Gloucester on the south shore of the river and north of the ridge on which you stand, presents to the eye a pretty expanse of valley lands. Then the thousands|ofmagnificient buildings in city, town, village and farm, the shining spires and towers of public buildings, the workshops, bridges, highways, all giving evidence of an outlay of engineering and architec- tural skill, an amount of labor skilled, and other wise presenting an ex- penditure of thousands of millions in current money with the mer- HISTORY OK THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 17 chants. In a night view from the brow of these hills, the display of light, gas, kerosene, electric, is positively wonderful to look upon in every direction. This outlook is on the north side with the clear blue waves of the flood rolling along bearing on their bosom to man and everything that breathes, health inspiring bree/ies, building up bone and muscle, cn- richingthe blood, invigorating thebrain, and the mmd, contributing to the health and the pleasure ;of a race of men as hardy, patient and laborious, brave, intellectual and scholarly as arc to be found in any clime, or in any division of the huniin family on the face of the wide world. Our remarks apply to the dwellers on these hill sides and valleys and overall these extended plains without a shadow of exaggeration. Turn now your face to the south side landscape though your stand is not at so high an altitude as on the Laurentians, 20 miles north of it, yet the pros- pect is so fair so agricultural, and so dotted with original forests in clumps yet untouched, the clearings are so extens ve, so well cultivated, so productive, luxuriating in waving meadows, golden grain fields and' green pastures, teeming with flocks and herds of improved breeds and of many varieties and lengthy pedigrees. In the summer season the gardens shining with flowers, promiscuously blending their bright tints in the distance and shedding their aromatic fragrance in the atmosphere around. A large number of little orchards blooming in the loveliness of paradise as a Persian would say, pretty and productive as possible. The unbroken woods abounded in wild plums and cherries, the latter choice lumber for furniture, stair building and such like, but should be more cultivated. The red plums offered so plentifully on our market are the lineal decendants of these wild specimens, so much admired by the youths when no other fruit except berries, wild currants and thorny gooseberries were visil)le on the landscapes except the never failing hawthorn that blooms in the vale. We should not omit the fruit of the beech, oak butternut, hazel and hickory. These furnished abundance to beast and bird ere any footprint but that of the roaming savage had left its impression on the soil of the country. When you consider the lati- tude and climate you may ask the explorer to point you out any country much superior on the great globe we inhabit. You can see almost with- out a glass the spires of churches between you and the St. Lawrence. Your view from these hill tops, one hundred years ago, would have shown you an unbroken forest on every side as far as your best telescope could take in the range of your vision. Not an axe had been laid to a tree by a white man. The country on the south shore of the Ottawa from its eastern point for 250 miles westward is very good soil, stretch- ing southward to the Valley of the St. Law r- nee, and westward to Lake Huron. But in the last 100 miles east of Farry Sound it is broken, com- posed of mountains, rocky hills, valleys, lakes and streams — not much of a country for settleinenc. The north shore aiong t!ie river bank is good land, but only a strip between the great river and the Laurentian range of hills. North of this range there are patciics of good land, but so broken as to be what travellers describe the west side of this conti- nent an "* Ocean of Mountains.'' These are not high but plentiful, with lakes and streams unnumbered. The Ontario side of the river boundry is well Cultivated and very populous now, but in our early recollection it was largely occupied by what they tetmeci half- pay ofificcrs of the army IP PISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. anvl navy, all of whom received large tracts of land from the Govern- ment. Old soldiers of the ranks and others filled up the back country, whiht the orticcrs occupied the river front. O le hundred acres was the sm est grant made at that time, and the settlements extended back by slow degrees on the good lands. The stories of these original settleis were very entertaining to the new comers, especially to the young, on whose susceptible minds deep impressions were made, as everything was new, strange and interesMnc The French were the first European settlers keeping the river banks and lake shores closely, though they ex- tended the line far westerly exploring rivers and lakes over the greater part of the continent. The British followed in the conquest of the country and its occupation. The country was one great unbroken forest close and dense, through which the sun scarcely penetrated to the soil, the high-land and swamp alternating lay in shadow except in small openings of swales and ponds fed by rills and small creeks, all of which soon disappeared as the lands were cleared and cultivated. The cleared lands proved to be of rich quality as the forests fell to the axes and the songs of the labourers. These early days were disturbed by no bush fires. The dampness of the soil made it sometimes difficult to bum the brush of the choppings. A horse was an interesting sight ; very rare indeed, and men got rich by the labours of the ox, whose backs served often to carry loads of provisions. Many were the sighs of the exiles for their native lands, though they often denied that poverty brought them from their ancient homes, for they had plenty of it there. How intensely they listened as one told them that he ground wheat or com in a pepper mill to make a cake on which he fed, whilst he looked for work or secured a bushel of potatoes to carry home on his back, 17 or 25 miles, and plant for the next year's provisions. Some told how they had travelled hungry and weary to get employment and sent word back home to their wives that they had got work but were doubtful if they would get paid for it. Lowrey's and Moorehead's carried wheat on their backs from the Rideau to Fitzroy and Huntley, at least 40 miles, for their seed, travelling along the south side of the Carp and staying over night at Harten's and Grant's. This was about 18 19 — years before our time. The great winter labour was chopping, then bum off and hoe or drag the wheat in the burnt land. In the end of the last century Mr. Philemon Wright explored the Chaudiere Falls, and in the second month of 1801 began his journey from Massachusetts via Montreal to Hull. He commenced to clear land and build houses and mills. He was the first to employ the almost limitless water power. He chose Hull as his home and the scene of his operations, though the land was rough compared with other places, but it was covered with timber which was in his mind the prospect of a fortune. The Govemment of the times made him liberal grants of land, and almost everything else he re- quired. He was endowed with the best business capacity. We well re- member a visit to his mill which was reputed then the best available. We came with a younger brother, the best teamster of ' his inches" in the land, with a yoke of three-year-old steers bred by Mr. Thomas Christie, half-bloods from some fine sire that Dr. Christie had got from Quebec to his Qencaim farm. We crossed the ice to Hull (or Aylmer) and came down to the Chaudiere mill. We were all night in the mill. / HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 19 ♦:hc steers chained in the shed. It blew a tempest in the night. We could not ^ct our jurist for several days and had to get home in the storm, \Vc crossed the river on the ice to By-Town as the first wooden bridge had gone down the current for ever, from where it had stood some tiirc before. James Morin had v/alked to By-Town and brought back the wcw* tliai the bridge had fallen some time before this. He told the story that a "black man' was crossing when itbrokedown and ran for his life, and Morin alHrmcl that he was white when he reached the By-Town side» (if you demurred,) Well, as white as I am, which was not saying much for his own colour. The day was still stormy and very cold as we came home and we trotted our steers keeping up with a grey mare that led the way till we turned from her on the March road halting to feed them and warm ourselves. But darkness came on us on a road we had never travelled, and the wearied steers turned in at a bars where a straw stack stood at a shanty door, the man, Mr. Mike Gleeson, rame out of the shanty asking a question, and the two little fellows told their story. He chained the steers to eat at the straw stack, took the bovs in before a blazing fire, the delight of their hearts on such anight. This act of hos- pitality has never been forgotten. What evoked our admiration on the Hull road was the beautiful rows of young maples Mr. Wright had planted on the sides of the highway, before and on each side of his fine nouso in Hull, surpassing anything else visible on our whole journey. His depot or store of provisions never failed. Seed wheat, com, potatoes, oats and peas served to supply the wants of all the surround- ing regions. He was always in funds to meet all exegencies. The Jamaica spirits were freely used in those times in Hull as the thirsty used to tell. Bob Boyle is reported to have asked the Squire '*Is my credit good for some drinks?" "Yes, Bob, for a puncheon." ^' Roll it out then." So Bob and companions had some enjoyment for a time. A box of pipes and a keg of tobacco completed the year's wages. So he went to the woods cheerfully to pay it with the axe and the lines* Treating was kept up by store keepers for many years, but this ruinous practice has gone to oblivion. The first cellar was not yet dug in Chicago, and pork had to be brought from Cincinnatti, the great porkopolis, all the way to Hull, for the " Lumbering" Hull became the centre from which radiated colonies, if we may so say, to all points up the river on both sides. Small boats might land easily along the north shore all the way from the Gatineau to the falls. Many people as they came to the country entered for some length of time into the service of Mr. Wright till they got some money and some idea of the country and looked up lands. Officers of the army and navy seemed not to settle in or near Hull. Upper Canada was therir field or place of attraction. Settlements were early formed up the north shore of the Ottawa. Waller, Day, RolHn, McConnell, ITolt, Esterbrooks, Bell, Taylor, Grimes, Heath, Chamberlain, Parker, Hill, Kenny, Conroy, Eagan, Doyle, Hurdman, Coutle, Church, Mc- Lean, Radmore, Aylen, Ay 1 win, Haworths, Pinks, Gordon, Stewarts, Sparks, Lusk, with many others in these primitave times. Towards the west end of Hull Brekenridges, Duncans, McCooks, Beoby, Meri- fields, Maxwells. Eadies. P. H. Church and De Cell were their physi- cian all their life among them. Dr. Church left great wealth, but Dr. Dc Cell not much, and burned his books that no one could collect after him. ao HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. Hull was the hub whence radiated so many to other parts, one after another especially between the mountain range and the river, till the leading road cut first to the lumber region and from which hriiich s turned to the shanties, was all located on both sides to Eardly and Ons- low and Hristol. In the two former the bills trend southward and nar- row the land to a strip. Joseph Lusk had a numerous family of sons and da'iglitcrs that married and filled up a large portion of the country. losLph was an upriglit man and truthful. Fie told us of tlie kind of discipline he exercised. One daughter had a visitor her father did not like and forbade her encouraging his visits, but they were continued, so he took a light trace chain and inflicted a few stripes on we suppose what a young lady called "Henry Ward Beecher's part of the body" as the portion he thought was formed by nature to receive correction. We hope the stripes were not numerous nor heavy. He was not a stern man in the time of our acquaintance. The visits ceased, however, though the wrong party was punished. Were punishment, of course not too severe, resorted to more frequently in certain cases, there would be fewer ill-assorted marriages and much less misery inflicted on them- selves and others. Physiologists and stock breeders hold that certain animals should be employed for other purposes than propagating their species. Pigeons are said if taken away a. id left wild for a few years to lose all the rich colour of their improved condition and return to the dull leaden natural colour. Do^s the law not apply to the higher orders of creation? If the parents are not in harmony about the upbringing of their offspring, will these left to grow not degenerate ? Perhaps that is too strong a word for the negligent parents have degen- erated. Human nature requires eternal vigilance to keep on improving; rejecting the vile virulence of our fallen nature, and purifying it from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Farther on in Eardley the Finlays, the Frenches and Merrifields, Col. McLean and his family, Moores, Joseph and Wm. Veleau. Joe Veleau kept hotel in the woods in Onslow on the leading road to Ottawa, greatly frequented and patronized by the shantymen. Sometimes the boys paid their bills, but without cash they would have the drink and give their employer for it. The business broke down at last, as Joe could rot keep up the supply, and he told doleful stories of how he was broken down : One big Hirishman he fill tumbler, an he say der ma coo, Joe, one odder big Hirish he fill tumbler, he say here's luck, Joe, anoder big Hirishman he sav here's fortune, Joe ; he nostan French, but de no money, de luck and de fortune soon broke Joe Veleau. Dr. Church had some very long drives in his extensive practice, and sometimes halted for a dinner with Joe, whose wife was a pure blood Indian woman. Joe was very proud of her as a tasty cook and a shanty keeper, for his hotel was a log shanty even when we saw it. He introduced her to Dr. Church thus : Dr. Church, my wife; some lady, some squaw. William Veleau was a shoe maker and wrought extensively for Andrew Howley's shanty men. The lumber road was past his place. The men wore his beef-skin moccasins and coarse boots. His brother's tavern was near, and on Sunday some drouthy soul would take his horses and a sleigh load from the shanty of the men to visit William. When the drink had hold of him William woukl fight with his own skukiow. His wife was History of the Ottawa valley. if all for peace, and would take hold of him — "Wcalyaam, Wealyaam;" he would turn to shake her off with "arct a vntcau — cosh, me no wile man." William would sometimes drive to the shanty for sipplies. The boys all rushed to shake hands with him — Mr. Velcau, ho\. is your family ? All sick. How is that, Mr. Velcau ? Can eat no bre;ul. Oli, sorry for that, Mr. Veleau ; got no flour. So the foreman would furnish the flour in pay for the work done for the men and change them, then all was serene once more. No matter how sick a French Canadian is pork will cure him. The children were often sent to us saying m:\ina h-» very sick; he want a little piece of pork, or my fadder she very sick ; she want alitllc preeserve. The P'rench people, however, did not mix up in the settle- ments with the English to any great extent, but generally formed tlicir own neighborhoods. The Quion Village was not formed early and was small until after the building of the "Chats Ship Canal," but the line of settlement went on merely as a line, not sprcadin;^ o-it till lon;:j after- wards, so that as the land pleased them they sit down beside o'»o another on both sides of the line rather than go back from it. 7 he line wis prolonged with settlers into Bristol, which was rhicfly takc.'ii up by Scotchmen. Prominent among these was Mr. \\ m. King, educated fortl c law, he, however, did not take to it, but with a wiiloweil sister, Mrs. Lair " Wc can only now outline this march of settlement, but hope to return tc it, and do it more justice in a fuller extended notice at a future day. Hull thus became one centre whence the people proceeded to form other settlements. Mr. Wright got lands for tnc haiulu that wrought for him, and they would build a little shar.ty, brush out and clear a little hit, then he jjot them their patents and when they wished to go elsewhere he bought them out for a small sum or a little trading, and so became possessed of immense land property, in addition to the grants made to nimself, which were very large. Years elapsed after the young settle- ment of Hull was begun before any survey was ma frequently offered money at six per cent, if he wished to speculate, but he would not do so on borrowed capital. Mr. Pinhey wrote all deeds to those who came, and prescribed for many sick folks till his nephew, Dr. Mill, came to practice m March — sometime after Dr. Christie left. The usual plan of pur- chase among the new comers was to buy at so much, pay an amount down and the remainder in yearly payments without interest. Dr. Hill married one and Mr. John Pinhey the other of Mr. Pinhey's daughters. M'-. C. H. Pinhey, the late talcated lawyer, was the youngest. Studious and oblij^ing, he was our oKl school mate under Mr. Wardrope and Mr. Robb;ran a brilliant careci* at college and ranked high as a lawyer all his life. Several talented and distinguish'^d men prepared for college in that old barn like frame building. The late jud^e, Robt. Lyon, Esq., and the present judge, William Mo.<5grove, Esq., both talented, scholarly and in- fluential, together with Bakers, Moncks, Mai lochs, O'Connors, Mc Larens, Chestnuts, afterwards Christies, Bishops, Grants, and a whole host in the law, medicine and other professions ran brilliant careers in the grammar school that had its early beginning in that old building on Sandy Hill. We never meet the survivors of those times but with the most cordial greetings. They we'-e manly, warm-hearted, generous and most obliging, and well conducted, with scarcely one exception- Many of them are gone. The four sons of the late Hon. Thos. McKay are all dead. One fell in battle in the east, a young officer so distinguished by his general conduct, and so much so !n that action, several having fallen by his hand ere he was overpowered and dispatched, as to call forth an autograph letter from Queen Victoria of condolence to his sorrowing mother. The cheerful, pleasant Joe Stephenson fell from a mast and was killed. John McArthur, we have not met since college days, when he related an incident worth mentioning. He had passed Bishop Strachan without the usual salute, whether in absent mood or not, he did not .say, but the Bishop, reported him to the Professors and he was called to answer to the charge. Forturnately for John, there had been a great procession of Oddfellows that day and he fell on the plea; that he had met so many Oddfellows, that he must have taken the Bishop for one in mistake. The plea was admitted ; the Bishop himself not b ^ing able to suppress a smile. So he escaped with the gentle caution to "be more careful." Capt Weatherly sold a portion of his 1,200 acres of land to Mr. Didsbery, an English farmer who first imported .^hort horn Durhams and 1-eicester sheep to March. The writer's father bought of these stocks and with some other importations began his improved stockraising. Mr. Tames Davidson of Nepean purchased some of the same animals. Mr. Didsbery sold the property to Mr. Berry, who started a brewery, and whose son, Mr. W. Berry, carries it on successfully at present. Capt. Weatherly was a bachelor, and Tom, a son of Daniel l^eatty, hired with him as cook, butler, man and companion. Once a hunting party called on the Capt, who held them for lunch, (let the dogs rest) and to be sure that all was in order he made a look at the table Tom was spreading and says: "Tom, these plates r'on'tlook very shining." HISTORY. OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 3$ Tom stammered out with an oath: "They were as clean as water oould make them. "Water" was a very favorite setter the Capt had. He had a man blasting a well on the farm whose 5olid foundation ha 1 not much depth of earth. The enterprise was somewhat doubtful, an I the captain made many visits to the work. After a blast on one occ ision the man had contrived to moisten the dust, and the ( "aptain rushed >lown the ladder to sec for himself, and touching the damp material applied his finger to his tongue saying to the man with an innocent loo!;, "I think it's a .salt spring." Weatherly sold all out afterwards and returned to !:j.ngland. Capt. Street was very popular in his native Britain as well as in the land of his adoption to which he did equal honor. Early made a J. P., he married many of the aspiring youths that wished to carr\ out their honest intentions. His son, J. G. Street, was then very youn.; and his .«ister, afterwards Mrs. J. B, Lewis, but either the Capt. or the } ''ung Mr. Street managed to get the first schoolhousc built, at their owr expense for the people. Mr. J. G. Street, called Jock when a boy, still lives on the old property. One of his daughters, a beautiful girl, is now the daughtcr-inlaw of Mr. John Heney. Her mother was the sister of R. Y. Green, Esq., very handsome in her time- Dr. Christie of the navy had lands on the first concession of March next to Huntley on the Paken- hara road. There is a little cemetery on the place in which they have buried for three generations. This farm lies in a nitch in the spur of hills commanding a splendid view of the country to the south. J imie Clarke, one of the Dr.'s people, called it Glencairn under which name it is still known. Here Mr. Thomas A. Christie spent the greater part of his short life. Among other excellencies he possessed a commanding intellect, a great deal of genius, was very obliging and greatly beloved. In these times when clearings were small the lands yielded the finest of crops and the animals grew and multiplied in the woods and beaver meadows as they now do in the richest pastures. Sergeant John Arm- strong spent some time in Hull, then drew 200 acres on the 3rd line of March. A schoolhouse was built on his land, long taught in by Mr. John Younghusband. A fine stone house has replaced the old wooden struc- ture. Two or three were union schools with Huntley, (supported by subscriptions,) one on the Huntley side, two on the March side and oc- cupied by Roman Catholic teachers for years, with only two Catholic families in their section. No cry then for Separate schools, Headley built a little sawmill or> a creek on the third line farther west which wrought while the timber and water lasted, then ceased. Mr. Gainsford has a steam mill near by. These are all the mills up to date. The fire of 1870 consumed these old union schools. Old Mr. Potter made some fine scholars in one of these at Star's Creek. A fine stone house at James Watts succeeds another of these union log houses. Col. Burke of Richmond was the first M. P. and also Crown's land agent and afterwards Registrar for the county when it was defined. Through him most people got their grants from the government. The Bouchers lived in both sides of the township. John Wall, another old soldier, settled to- ward the west .side of March. His son Tom Wall occupied the place after him. George Edge, or as the English called him, Hedge, was another of the army and taught school with a well preserved Irish ac- cent $lis place ws^s near the line of Torbolton and was termed Furga' 26 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. tory, it was so difficult to get through a s'vamp of such intervninable length without ditch or bridge except a tree over a creek. A Bible agent said he had only got half way through Purgatory when he reached old age (Edge.) Capt. Bradley came from Richmond to the place now called March Corners. He traded with Mr. William Erskine giving him 200 acres in March and ;^40 for lOO in Huntley that had a mill site on it which he gave to his son, who built a mill there, so Mr. Erskine, a very upright man, became neighbor to the Capt. Mr. Erskine was once summoned to court at Perth as a juror but it seemed to him a bootless trip as he had got his shoes worn out and was wearing the bare feet. He consulted the Capt. "Are you not made a constable," said the Capt., "Yes but I am not sworn into the office yet." The Capt. being a J. P., put the oath, then pulling off his boots, (perhaps his only pair) said : "Here, put these on and be off to reach in time; you will be under pay and be able to come home in a new pair and bring mine with you.' This was like the Capt.'s disposition. He was generous, good-hearted and bound to be obliging. The clergy had not yet come to these young settlements, and the J. P. performed the marriage ceremony when required. The Capt. had a great birch tree left growing on the roadside, on which he nailed the notice of marriage antedated some weeks but tacked on late on Saturday night and he would marry them next day and send them away double on their life's journey. Mr. Draper had been some time in Nepean but came and settled in March. His trade was shoemaking, but he raised seeds and supplied his neighbors around. He had a great family of sons and daughters and went with them up the Gatineau and prospered well in that region. Anthony Summerville living close by him had purchawed a wooden clock when they were first offered for sale with which he was ver)' much pleased. He told them "when it comes to one she strikes one," and running over the whole figures wound up by saying "she never strikes half a blow more or less than the exact thing." He was building a piece of wall for Mr. Pinhey to land his little boats at. Mr. Pinhey came down to look at it and being full of humor observing, hat it was somewhat uneven said to his son, "Horace run up for the piumb till we plumb it." "Plumb it, plumb it, plumb the debble, sir," said Tony, had I thought you were going to plumb it, sure I could have built it as fair as a." Here Mr. Pinhr^' was convulsed with laughter and the last part of the p^ntence evaporate ' into thin air. The Conleys caaie, some of them lumberers; Rays, Scarfs, Savages, Davis', Gainsfords, Burkes, Kelleys, McMurtrays;some of whose sons are mechanics, merchants, doctors, successful in various occupations, but a lar^e proportion are still farmers. Most of all these came in between 1818 and 1826. Forest Cauldwel sold to Thomas Morgan close ^y him and purchased from Lieut Campbell, 3rd line Huntley, lot 21; Campbell going up to Litchfield and giving the name to Campbell's Bay, that pretty sheet of water lying between the island and the north shore of the Ottawa. His large family of sons and daughters are residing there still on the line of Pontiac R. R. John Jones, eldest of the family, a very ac- tive worker in the lumber, was returning from Quebec and the boat taking fire near Three Rivers, threw out his tr'nk and leaped after it, and enough a fine swimmer, was drowned. TXic family went west. The HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. aj Presbyterians in March have no church but go to the Carp, Stittsvtlle and E^'s Comers. The Episcopalians have a stone church and parson- age east of the Corners which is a stirring embryo village. The lands are well cultivated. Mr. Pinbcy was school inspector for some years, when these institu- tions were estaibUshed on a very limited base, and very far apart in the Bathurst district. He made the tour on horseback, the roads admitting of no other mode of travel except on foot, which was much more com- mon. He would dismount at the schoolhouse, and with the bridle rein on his arm, place a hand on each side of the doorframe, the horse looking in as if to examine the furnishings, to the great enjoyment of the young folks, who seldom saw a horse in that early time. The gentleman would ask a little boy how to spell a word of one syllable to which the little man would address himself with energy, but his eyes fixed on the horse. After a short standing examination he would dismiss them with a benign- ant smile and very gracious words of which he had an abundant treasury at easy, ready command. He was a free, voluminous correspondent of the papers when printing was introduced. Afterwards when we occu- pied the wool sack ,of the editorial office we had many interesting com- munications from his nimble pen in the Ay Inter Times. Teachers' quali- fications were not high in that period of our history. Mr. Pinhey re- ported cases as samples to the early, press like the following : A short engaging conversation was held, then the aspirant was asked to spell cabbage. He began, chabb — that will do, sir. I am very much in want of a gardener. Could you not stay and help me instead of going into that dreary work of teaching ?" Oh, sir, I can get ;^25 a year and go around with the scholars." That was like the times. Teachers preferred that to farm work, the wages being about the same. They sent me to several schools but the honest teacher wrote my father a note stating that the boy would lose his time with him. So the boy had to dig away at home among the roots, square and cube, and from early dawn to breakfast commit to memory Murray's large grammer. Mr. Pinhey on the hustings when opposing Capt. Lyon represented himself as the Lamb, and his townsmen sometimes called him that and Paddy Whelan called him the Hon. Lamb. His hardest hit against Capt. Baker, who half unwillingly opposed him, was that he, the Capt., would make a good weathercock but he changed too fast for the wind. Elections then lasted a week, there being but one polling place in the county. Open house was kept for the entertainment of the free and independent electors, and they were not dry places, not from any de- fect ih shingles or scoops but irrespective of the natural rainfalls, the clear running south branch of the Carp, and the sparkling water of W. Kemp's deep well. The fluids were conveyed in puncheons and huge barrels. Some of the thirsty ones termed it divine juice. One poor m^i had promised against tasting it for some n" hs. His ingenious neighbor found a way to avoid the breach of pi, e. The man bad got a small loaf for one or two with him to dine o. so this friend made hipn break off what he required and poured into it from the bottle. "Now eat that," said he. They understood it as only eating, not drink- iog by any means. The bread, beef and cheese, with various kinds of 28 HISTORY OF tHE OTTAWA VALLEY. drinks, for a week's entertainment of so many voters and camp followers, must have been of some moment in a financial point of view. After gaining one of these elections, Mr. Pinhey mdulged in some poetical descriptions of the rare occurrences at the place of polling. We give from memory a couple of lines as a sample of the fun in such cases : "Thorn Acres, as cuiinin.j a^ any pet fox, The bread and the cheese he locked up in a box." In after times when he was warden of the county he would sit and enjoy the debates, sometimes throwing in a word gleefully to supplement or balance the opposing parties, or restore good humor if irritation had ap- peared. We recollect at the first formation of the council of the county of Carleton, they had agreed to have a district surveyor Then the question of his salary was discussed. Some would borrow the $700 and pay in advance, others thought it should be earned first. The friends of the surveyor then fell on six months pay in advance. The mover dwelt on the fact that the surveyor could not live six months on the air. The seconder also in an eloquent speech said he could not live six months on nothing. The warden said he never knew a man that had or could live six months on the wind and thought they would all agree that no man could live six months on nothing. But he had known many a man that had lived well six or more months on credit. The motion was dropped. The history of Mr. Pinhey's life would be the history of his township, and county, and the whole valley, as he was a very great actor in all the movements of note during his busy life. Col. afterwards General Lloyd, Col. Edwards, Capt. I-ogan and others lived in quiet retirement on their farms and half pay otium cum dignitate, taking little to do with municipal or school affairs or anything but to finish a green oH age in the peace and comforts of rural and religious seclusion from all the rush and con- flict in the busy world. The north of March like the south of Huntley and much land on both banks of the St. Lawrence has a very thin soil on the rock foundation, adorned with wild roses, orange lilies, blue- berries and shrubs in multitude, all so beautiful in their season. North Huntley and South ?.Iarch form the Carp valley of rich lands well culti- vated as any part of the Dominion. The Ottawa & Parry Sound R. R. runs through this valley. About 1818 or 1 8 19 the first settlers of the Huntley side of the valley were John Scott, William Erskine and William Montgomery. The last cut the first tree. Their lands were soon the property of Lieut. Sans Bradley who built the little mill so long used there. John Cavanaugh came in 1819, William Mooney in that or the following year. The first located on the 3rd line, the second on the 4th line. The Stars, James and George, came from Hull about the same year and Moses Wilson from Cavan, Ireland. George and Thomas Graham from North of Ire- land held lots 5 and 6, ist concession Huntley. Evans, an Engli/nman, drew lot 9, which he sold to Arthur McEldowney. Thomas Ro!:>erts, a Welshman, had lot 10, which he sold to John Gourlay. James Morin, James Holmes, Samuel Hyde; the latter sold through Col. Ahem to John Gourlay. Richard Rivington sold to Pearson. David Moffet.Jas. Hays and Michael Rivington filled up to the rock spur where the Ian- 1 is wortiiicss. Sergent Cowic ;^ettled west of the Carp village and sold to Robert Wil- HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VA' LEV. 29 son, whose numerous sons arc well estfxblished farmers around. One of them, Thomas, took to the tanning business, was very prosperous and is rich beyond most of his neicrhbors. His wife was a Miss Alexander. His family are all daughters tliat survived. Alexander Workman set- tled pro. tem. in West Huntley south of the Carp in 1820. A man the name of Cobourn vvroup^ht for him and his wife kept the house. One day she was taken ill. Mr. Workman came for Dr. Christie who was on a sick call in another quarter and Mr. Cobourn for woman help but be- fore any returned the boy was born and all well. Mr. Workman spoke of it as the hardest run of his life. The Hodgins, Dornins, Argues, Alex- anders, Lowrys, Johnstons, Larretts, McEwans, McKords, Hamiltons, Williams, Wiltons, Hustons, Kennedy's, Daleys, Irvins, Hogans, Gra- hams, all came in between 1818 and 1824. Thomas Murdy and John Mannion came in 1825 and settled well up toward the south of the township on the 9th line. Hon Peter Robinson took interest in forming a settlement and procured a lot for a church which the Catholics built after the canal work was finished. The next was an Episcopal church built by Mr. Alex Christie, stones furnished by W. B. Bradley from the quarry of R. Taylor. The Episcopal Methodist church at Booth's was the next built and the Presbyterian we.st of the Episcopal, and was consumed in the firo of 1870. Us successor is at the Carp village. Its succession of preachers was Bennet, Penman and McLaren. The village has three churches and a good school. It is a fine centre; stores, railroad station, mechanic's shops, post office, agricultural fair grounds and buildings in good con- dition. A. Workman was the first teacher in Hundley! The first school- house was at Mooney's Adhere James Lowry, a gentleman and .scholar, as well as a superior teacher, long held sway. He married Miss Sally Ronan of Gofiibourn, the belle of that age and*the finest horsewoman then in the county. Recently in our rambles for information we. had the pleasure of dining with her family. The conversation turned on Motley's "Rise of the Dutch Republic." It was -m hour of entertainment. The acquaintance shown with that history, and especially by the eldest daughter, was highly creditable and particularly pleasing. History read to purpose must enrich the conversation. Should knowledge not \)c in- haled with every breath and diffused by every utterance ? The second schoolhouse was on lot No. 6, 3rd line, taught by Mr. Johnston with force of character. We visited it for two days when a very small boy. It is replaced by a stone building at Mulligan's. Mr. Reid had a post office in March and Mr. Hopper one in Huntley in connection with his store and jewellery business. This was removed farther east and kept by Mr. John Graham for many years, then it was located about midway between these two places where it now is. A post office was established at the Carp village and another at the Fitzroy line and one in South March. Mails were only weekly for many years. Then they got to be carried tri-weekly, now they are daily delivered. March and Hunt- ley were associated for legal and ecclesiastical purposes for a long time. Rev. James Padfield, a very excellent man, was Church of England minister at first. He was succeeded by Rev. John Johnston; aft:erw?.rds Canon Johnston of Hull, vety favorably known. Mr. Harper, Mr. Kerr, Mr. Rolph and Mr.Buticr folk>wed in March, and Mr. Godfry, Mr Mc- 30 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. Morin, Dr. Codd in Huntley. Father Peter Smith of Richmond supplied back Huntley. East side of Huntley has much u.seless land, hard .and thin covered with birch pines and swamps with no outlet. But its north- east corner can be matched with difficulty as to the excellent quality of the soil for thousands of acres. The Grahams, Wilsons, Blacks, Burrows, Roes, Boyds, Hartins, Daileys, Evoys have land in plenty of the best quality and in the highest state of cultivation. North of the town line opposite these the Richard- sons, Robertsons, McCurdies, James and others exhibit fine buildings, well cultivated fields, large herds of improved stock of much value. We have recommended tree planting for the lighter soils. In former days when the country was covered with forests, the wild pigeon came thick as clouds in the spring an'^ summer, rendering the air vocal with the ac- tion of their wings. They were shot in great numbers. We have heard of fifty-two falling by one musket shot. We have not seen nor heard of a single one appearing in these parts for several years. Wild ducks and geese still come but in greatly diminished numbers. Par- tridges arc thinned out very much and rabbits are very rare. Deer and fur-bearing animals that were plenty are nearly all gone. Wolves were very numerous Sheep, deer, calves and some heifers became their vic- tims. Bears took pigs and calves. But we have not heard of wolves devouring human beings. It is told of an Indian belated who climbed into a beech tree to escape a pack and made it his shooting gallery for the night. As a wolf fell to his careful aim the others feasted on it whilst the Indian fired away. When daylight came the remnant disappeared and he thought he was safe to get home but his former visitors or a fresh lot were soon on his track in hot pursuit. He ran like an Indian butth^y gained on hin\ and he had to stand at bay and defend himself as best he could occnsionally with his back to the tree, spJlitting a skull vvith his sharp tomahawk. His squaw came to his aid in time. They cut, clubbed and made their escape reckoning twenty dead wolves as the trophies of their bravery. Savages are sal 1 to be truthful, being so free from the vices of po- lite life. Would they not stretch a little for self-glorification ? We give the substance of what wc have heard without denial, coloring or confir- mation. We had the honor, so called, of killing a wolf by laying poison on a sheep he killed, which he took and died. We had the great pleas- ure of saving a boy whose load of ashes had been upset on him on a hillside. His horses were held and his face was in the snow so that he did not suffocate by the dry ashes. My young brothers came .up as the aslics were dashed off him We thought him dead and carried him to the sleigh and held his head in my lap whilst one drove and another put i:now in his mouth. His breathing became perceptible as we drove the team at a gallop. We were soon at his home and had the satisfaction of seeing him restored. We wtre l)arely in time to save life. John Graham of the Bay got the north half of Sans Bradley's lands. James his .son, died there and his family now live in the city. In 1833 John Gourlay came from Drumquin, Tyrone, Ireland, and settled in .Vlarch. His youngest son Hugh owns the old home, but lives in Hunt- Icy where he built the Hnest farm house and planted the largest and most thriving orchard in all the Ottawa country. The other brother HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. s« William occupies the old Roberts farm to which he has adderl somtJ- more at a high price and has the whole in a fine state of cultivation. On this farm he has bred Durham cattle pure and unmixed, for about forty years. John Pearson, whose sons are dentists and lawyers and farmers, popular and successful men, holds these many years, the Richard Re- mington farm. The people of South March in those early times had no church building but were obliged to walk to the 3rd line of Hundley to worehip and hear an occasional discourse from a Wesleyan preacher who em- braced it in the long rounds of a great circuit. When old enough to w ilk to these meetings we remember hearing some old men remark specially of a young McDowell, that he was "no cripple." My father, a good old Presbyterian of the straightest sect, kept open house and entertained these laborers in the Gospel field, the Nankievilles, Loverns and other?. In after years a Presbytery meeting was held in his house to examine Mr. James Smith for license. Quarterly meetings were sometimes held in a schoolhouse in a grove on one of his farms. He sometimes ques tioned us after the collection was announced and before we could reach home what each gave, which summed up, was over half the amount. He was dissatisfied with these collections wondering how the preachers kept soul and body together on such allowances. He had lurking sus- picions from ample reasonings with the Methodists that they laid a little stress on their good works which he maintained did not aboimfl in liberal contributions. The Dominion Government Icgi.slate for eight hovirs as a working day but set an example themselves of working a hundred and twenty-nine hours at a stretch on the Separate School Coercion Bill. But these people did not overstretch their pretentions in piety by putting in the collection hat taken round in the schoolhouse or in the grove. My parents were very anxious to stir up and collect into a congre- gation the scattered Presbyterians in March and Huntley. The under- taking was neither an easy task nor very successful. Mr. Hugli Falls, a surveyor, a man of education, a Presbyterian from near Londonderry, Ireland, assisted much in the Scripture readings and sermon reading, in the meetings held for prayer and religious exercises from house to house over the settlement. They made appointments and kept up these for years. Meantime a process of training was going on in the family. Readings were to be done by the boys, the eldest superintend- ing the exercises, so that nothing was omitted or neglected. Examina- tions were held on the lessons and in this manner the leading truths of religion were impressed on the minds of the growing up boys. The truths concerning the Supreme Being; His unity, Trinity, spirituality, wisdom, love, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. His eternity, omnipresence, government (or Providence) over all His creatures, their movements and thoughts, influenced, controlled, guided or prevented in His ruling the works of His creation. One primary lesson engraved on the minds of the youths was reverence for the Holy Name of the Deity. Another was the strictest truthfuUness. Boys in youth are not perfect Faults will be found and must be corrected. But the truth must be told without any hiding or e\'en coloring of the circumstances, or punishment proportionately severe would follow, to avoid which, as- sisted materially till the principle of truth telling formed a habit in the HISTORY or »l OTTAWA VALLEY. m mitid. Honesty: k their little trading with one another was strongly en- ft>rcc«l and their bargains must stand unless the other party willingly consented to give up his claim. Our good mother's influence was en- tirely against the use of alcohol and though it was kept as an entertain- ment for caHers it was soon omitted from the family groceries. Not a pipe was kept in tl»e house. Our mother would not suffer one of us to mimic any oddity in any human being. Had the mother of "Ian Mc- Laren" (Rev. Watson) observed this principle, that religious buffoon would have furnished fewer subjects for laughter and ridicule to his readers and treated with less profanity sacred themes, as well as the feelings of the less educated whose sincere hearts may be as priceless in the sight of God as his own heart, that can treat them with irreligious frivolity. But like Josh Billings by his bad spelling he has furnished re- ligious fun and made a fortune and a great name. When the clergy like McDonald and Watson become novel writers, religion must be in want of a revival. The Bathurst Presbytery sent a minister to visit and preach on week days in school or private houses, and though they were flying and as they say, angelic, yet they were very highly esteemed and well at- tended. Mr. Bell, the oldest minister of Perth, Mr. Fairbairn of Ram- say, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Mann afterwards Dr. Mann of Pakenham, were the principle visitors of Huntley. Cousin Thomas Alexander was the only male member of these meetings that could "lead the singing." In his absence my mother. Mrs. William Alexander came to the place soon after thf^se meetings began and she was a great assistance having a fine voice. he twenty- four tune book was very interesting to us boys at that time with its illum- inations and birds painted in water dolors. At this date everything was crude. The tools furnished by the Government were unwieldy com- pared with those of the present day. Wheat, corn, oats and potatoes were the staple crops raised and almost the whole planting was done with the hoe. Mr. Thomas Morgan and his wife Mary used to tell how on the 4th and 5th of Jane they hoed in a bushel of wheat and threshed 42 bushels off it. This was enough for a year's provisions and seed the following spring. This was grown on Lot 5, ist concession March. Mrs. Morgan was greatly delighted to receive visits from the children around. She made veiy popular readings, recitation of poetry, setting the ex- ample herself. She had early memorized large portions of Pope's "Homer" and Dryden's "Virgil. She recited these in fragments and scraps to draw out the young peoi le so that everyone had to say his Eiece in prose or verse, tell some story historical, oratorical, whatever e was master of, to even pass muster on such an evening. Being from the south of Ireland, she was not acquainted with Burns, but we from the north supplied that lack which afforded her very unbounded pleasure as she loved the ludicrous. A very imperfect idea can now be formed of the country in its phy- sical appearance dotted with specks of clearings, paths blazed from one to another, a single tree for a bridge or two poles together across the little stream in the vast forests and swamps all but impassible. The toil of making a 'ivmg was immense. There was anxiety lest frost should destroy the wheat and potatoes Kke there is now in Manitoba and the Northwcist. Anxiety was felt lest the crop should not be adequate to HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. feed the parties dcpcntVm^ on ft fcf the year and when ihere was a fai^ lire prices r^n very liigh. Once or twice in the memory of some jrct living flour was $i6 rind even $20 per barrel. Pork varied jrreatly hi price, sonnctimes brinering $40 a barrel- Other articles of proviaion brought nr^uch like present prices. Good fiactory cotton cost >5 cents a yard and woollen <;;oods were high whilst butter for Vong years was sold at sixpence a pout id. Beef quarters told at thrr'^ to fotir dollars a cwt, but stall-fed somcUine.s brought six to seven dollars \ire weight. The settlements were chiefly foraned of people firotn the Britiih Isles, but they were greatly benefitted by the ex-»erienceof the Yankew as the U. E. L. wore called, who brought with them the knowledge ac- quired in the Statv^s, a country once a forest like that to which ther came, but a century older. These people commanded respect for thair .shrewdness and coiiipctency in almost ercry deftartment of lumbering, stockraising and agriculture. Pines, oaks, elms ark! ash grew on erety rock, hillside or valley, and lumbering was the natural c^lmg of aknoat every man. The river banks were fir^t stripped as the pieces could be laid on the ice or bank by oxen. These could live in the bush in amn- mer, and on beaver hay, brush and sheaf oats in winter, and after draw- ing timber in the snow would be ready for the work of the small cioafr- ing in spring. Everything required for their work could be made of wood except the chain, staple and ring- Even the i>k>w only required an iron point, and the cattle eovld go so close as to pass one on each side of the stump turning the laiKl to the roots. The harrow, as late as our time, was often a tree fork, and sometimes oak or elm pins supplied the place of iron or steel. An oak block was sawed ofl*, split and formed into a mould board with its natural twist suiting exactly. Among the stumps and on stony land the oxen were preferred. They were famous for logging. Canadian poaies came afterwards to be used but they re- cjuired a man exclusively to handle the chain, and keep the traces in order in their turnings. At that time a good acre of new land would yield 40 bushels of w heat, 60 bushels of com or oats, 400 bushels of potatoes. The new burned land with its surface well broken with the G^ag would bear, sown broadcast, 1,000 bushels of tamip& Immense cropw of timothy and clover hay were raised on that virgin soil. About the summer of 1835 \vc loceived a visit from the Rev. James B. Cairns, M. D. He was a man of piety and marked devotion, to the Presbyterian cau.sc and was n?cei\ cd by my father and mother with pleasure, nay delight and joy. A M>. Glon had been at the embryo village of Richmond some years L'etore this, but remained only a short while, but we never saw hiir. d"f ing his stay, ocept a few visits he made to Torbolton halting at Mr Henry IvIcBrido's where he would gather a half dozen and speak to them. He never came into the region where we lived, he was before our time. Dr. Cairns preached and made some visits with my father, and arrangec! ♦0 preach again when they had had time to see what could be sub- scribed in order to have him stay, but the amount was small as ikif^ people were few, scattered and not rich. He made a short stay in Tor. bolton where were a few Scotch families, out his missionary turn of mind led him to travel over most of the new settlements of th« couniry, find-' inj; out nearly all the families of the Presbyterian namcan'J lineage. On mitmm* 34 History of the Ottawa valley. Wi his return to ScotlmH atiH IreUnH, he could tell to the delight of the astonished listencri, of almost itil their dintant relatives, and where they lived, and how they fared in this new world. H" gave a great impulM to emigration, but he was not in the pay of the Government. Dr. Cairns was a great advocate of temperance and magnified his office on every possible occa.sion. He returned again to Canada and roamed rounrl giving the accounts of his travels and visit«, and causing considerable enjoyment to many bv the freshest news from the old country relatives. An o'd lady in Torbolton was reported to hini as being fond of ale. On his visit he inquired if she still continred to use it; learning that she did, he made an early call, knocking before she was up. At this early unexpected knock she sprang up and in loose attire opened the door a few inches, and as it were with a single eye surveyed the Dr. who at once said, "You are Mrs. and I hear you always stick to your ale." "Aye, ve'l be that daft body they ca Dr. Cairns ?" "Yes my name is Cairns. "Aye, aye, well awa' wi' ye then;" and closing the door she left the doctor to ruminate on his signal defeat and disappointment. A short time after I entered college at Toronto the Dr. came to the city and found I was there and hastening to see me asked if I was from March, reminding me of his visits and explorations. It was a very kind and friendly call and much and mutually enioyed. Reuben Sherwood had the contract of the survey of Torbolton but the work was done by John McNaughton the great friend of Hugh Falls. In our early recollections these were our only surveyors for many years in these parts, both good and true men. The concessions and side lines in these townships were 66 ft wide. The plan was to plant a post in the centre of the road and one on each side 33 fpet from it. These were the corner posts. Then 120 rods from these three more posts were driven into the ground dividing the first double lot of 2loyment under the sun. As we cherished the best wishes for the hap- piness of the good father and mother, wc entertain the same for the oflT- spring with the utmost cordiality. The settlement of Torbolton was slow. Walton Slack, Robert Glen. John McMiirtray and others occupied the east side of the Constance outlet at an early stage. The Slacks were a numerous family spread over the place. Mr. Rolston followed, married a Miss Littli i i Huntley, got land in Torbolton and raised a numerous family of sons and daugh- ters. Sonie of these do business now in Osgoode. One daughter mar- ried Mr. Robert Pink of Hull- They have done very well in CJsgoode. Mr. John Stnith, educated for the law, settled in this townshij) at an early date, married Miss Ferguson of Fitzroy. Their eldest daughter married Dr. Henderson. A son is salesman for the Bronsons in the lumber business. Wc had a great regard for Mr. Smith as a superior man. He took innch interest in the township and county councils, but was shortlived. Mrs. Smith and family reside in the city. Mesfirs. Hcadly and Weir settled back from the river which was inconvenient, as they had to carry wheat to the river where they could borrow a canoe, and go to mill at Mr. Pinhey'sor LeBretain's atthe Des- chenes now Britannia: then return and carry the flour home with store goods. Or they could fall on the other alternative of carrying it to Richmc)nd, and afterv ]< SherifTsat the Chats, or Tendons on the loth line at Carp. Tht^r 's ;i tradition of Mrs. Weir when her husband was from home, taking her two children to go in search of a lost cow, but losing her way in the woods. She was crossing a creek on an old log and putting the children before her they got over whilst the rotten bark gave way under her feet and she slid into the creek striking her head on the loj;. The water was not deep enough to drown, only suflRcient to soak her clothes. She could not tell how long she lay unconscious, but waking up found the little ones amusing themselves on the bank among the leaves. Night coming on .she tied some rods together at the top, winding in what sticks she could gather as a place for them to sleep, which thej' did whilst she watched lest wolves should come on them. She heard, or fancied she heard them, but they did not come, and the next day her husband found her and they reached home, all anxieties greatly relieved. Andrew, and William Hawley came in among the early ones and located on the sand hills. William married Miss Buck- ham. He was Jrowned soon after and his widow married Robert Bell, editor,; surveyor afterwards, and M. P. for RusselL History of the Ottawa valley- 57 Gibsons, Richards, Munroes, Aldridees, Penne^s, Youngs, Floods, Shouldices, Taylors, Ross, Dolans, McDonetl's, Capells, Kccgans, all settled in between 1824 and 1840. Some attempt to account for the tardy settlement of the township, because some lands were drawn by officers and held at a high price, but the people were not forthcoming, or able to buy lands at almost any price. Artcr the flying; visits of Mr. Glen and Dr. Cairns they were some years without any. Then Mr. Henderson, a U. P. from Scotland was the first settled pn^oiig them, who with Rev. Wiliinm Atkins of bniith's Falls, formed a U. P. Presby- tery. This would be about 1847 or 1S48. We had then three Presby- teries on the same ground. Ihe ^U. P.) United Presbyterian, the Free Church, Perth; and the "Kirk" Bathurst. The three met in Bylown al- most unconscious of one another's existence at the lime and pi ce. Rev. Mr. Henderson seems to have had an eye single to the interests of tl'c church but he did not remain lon^ There was a lengthy interrrgni m after his departure, during which time Fitrroy and Torbolton vs tie struck with a revival. Mr. James Gabie, a young convert, and Rev. Mr. Vanderburgh, a middle-aged preacher, began tnc work in that quar- ter with great enthusiasm. John Baird said ycu could hear them pray an English mile away. The excitement grew and intensified creating a great noise at the time. Religion is the one thing needful, and the one thing fallen men dislike, nearly as much as they lo\ c its pntiupmist sin. Wl.cn a stir is got up, man> arc willing to hope for the best from such Hcrrulean efforts as are .sometimes put forth for it. Ssiblc that there were so many commonplace preachers in the Picsbytcrian church We are sorry if such is the case. It is a well known fact that the Pres- byterian church is very careful in the education of her ministry. Profts sors in colleges generally do their duty faithfully. But tlicy can only cultivate or rather aid the youths in the cultivation of the powers they bring with them. A high notion of self and a disposition to go easy may account for these failures to interest the people or succccil in your calling. Our young men might dispense with both, might work «vith head, hands and heart, and avoid degeneracy and the severest cnlicisms, and be eminently useful everywhere. Mr. John Smith took us to see the old mast road, down which to the river, were drawn the stately pines, hewn on Torbolton hills, to mast the fleets that rule the waves, that wash the shores of the world. The pines left behind, that have escaped the axe and the fires of '870, arc few in number and easily reckoned. But the lands are good o\ cr the most of the township. Even the lowest lands, on account of the huge clearings and some draining, are beginning to be considered valuable. Mr. McKenzie, a young Bibl?^ agent, coming thiough to March reported to us that he had waded throupjh a continens: of mud, battled with mil- lions of mosquitoes, and was only half way through Purgatory when he came to old age (George Edge), aud was not in raptures with the as pects of the landscape. But this was nearly half a century ago He could not see a finer country or a better common road than now con- nects Crown Point with March Corners. The term Purgatory is nc\(r now applied to the long swamp road, showing what ditching and bri''g ing can do to a road that was seldom dry all the summer throu^^h. For a long time Mr. John Buckham was the most eastern of the settlers and except Mr. Drummond beside him on the west side of the side line there were none near him, Mr. Gordon, married to a daughter of Mr. Wil- liam Gourlay of Fitzroy, resides south of these. Mrs. John Buckhaai is HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEV 39 still alive but not long expected to remain. She lives in the log house once regarded as a fine one. Mrs. Young (Betsey) Buckham and Miss Jessie Buckham, her youngest daughter, wait on htjr at present. Mr. George Buckham has built a fine stone house beside the old house. He is a widower. His wife was Miss Young from Ranisay, siatcr of Rev. Stephen Young, brought up in Ramsay. West of this is the great stone quarry where lies a fie; 1 of cut stones for the would be ship canal. They are too lar^je to be of use to the farmers that build around. Every thousand wasted o;i tlxjrn would, at six per cent, increase, be eight thousand to day. They lio there, not as a standing monument of the statemanship of the idol Sir John, wor- shipped by so many of our wise and sober-minded British Canadians. Is it any use to pray for the conversion of the .scores of dishonest incan- ables that infest the arena of our politics, whilst deluded people still take the bribes, and elect and re-elect such men ? One hundred and twcnU- nin6 hours of a session without adjournment to cortce Manitoba; with promises of office to their supporters, who never could come back, tlcse promises denied, whilst some of them are fulfilled, and the Cabinet ceasing to defend their acts, what a conditio of things, and the Gov- ernor General has not dismissed them. A Lieut. Governor and one or two cabinets were dismissed in Quebec because they were not of the blues, but ostensibly for some faults, but these faults multiplied by ten thousand could not disturb a feather on the back of the swans ♦^hat s.vim so gracefully on the ponds of the public squares of our great Domini'">n. They have built a very pretty stone church in Torbolton and one at th: Chats. They used students in years gone by to teach their schools the six months in summer and considered it more profitable than other teachers the ten months or-school year, as these youtig men w ere very conscientious and generally very efficient teachers. Education has been well attended to and cared for with ample provision in houses. The society early formed was Presbyterian. Scotchm^^n were the most numerous, with some Irish, and the same holds still there, as other denominations have had little or no footing. The lands are in the pos- session of the descendMits of the first settlers. Some have married and acquired property there like Mr. Nesbitt, Mr. Blev.itt, Mr- Pearson and a few more. Mr. Mills, as some others, came from Richmond and set- tled down to be a useful man like men of the Mcl^ren, Buckham and Smith order. The well fenced farms highly cultivated fields, beautiful and '/ell kept gardens, stock of all kinds v/ell selected and fed, out- houses, barns and stables, and feeding houses, well planned and substan- tially b;:ilt; with tasty, comfortable, well constructed dwellings (a great improvement on bygone days), ornamental and fruit trees planted, roads well ditched and in fairly good passable order; altogether, prove to the observer a race of intelligent people, a condition of society far above mediocrity, showing evidences of thrift, vigor, industry and de- termination, other things being equal to attain in the future to a large measure of prosperity* Fitzroy was settled from the north comer as its beginning at the Chats rapids. The simultaneous settlement of so many townships and I the close analogy between them makes it difficult to decide which to 1^ treat of before another, and it is anything but an easy task to follow up History of the ottawa vallev the current of events in a district for half a century. Mr. Charles Sheriff of whose family we have made some mention already, purchased land at first in the region of Port Hope from one Stevens, known as King Stevens. Governor Simcoe had sent a gun boat with the Stevens fam- Uy and others from Fort Niagara, where they had to take refuse, and the King, as he was called, was bom under a maple tree the night they landed. Mr. Sheriff used to tell how the maple tree was reserved in the deed of sale. But Stevens had to die when his time came and the poor mortal tree succumbed to the squall at its time too. Port Hope region seems to have been settled amongst the earliest portions of Upper Canada. Fort Niagara and Fort York were Indian Forts originally and the little harbor at the outlet of Smith's Creek seems to have had some at- tractions for boatmen, and a settlement was begun on the banks of the creek, along which the Midland railway runs, and on the slopes of which Port Hope was built. A thin line of the U. E. Loyali.sts was dotted along the north bank of the St. Lawrence and spots on the shore of Lake Ontario at first. Mr. Sheriff was from Leith, his native tow . , near Edin- bui^h, Scotland, where his family was connected with the notables of the dty. Whether he did not relish the society at Smith's Creek or whether the tempting offer of the Crown of 3,000 acres led him to decide and settle at the Chats, we know not. The atlas tells us the refrgecs drove their cattle from Niagara round the lake shore to Port Hope, but gives no intimation of how they crossed so many unbridged rivers and Streams that empty into the lake in a range of nearly half its circuinf r- ente. The hope of seeing a Georgian Bay canal was held out to Mr. • ShirriflT. How many sheer delusions have the leading politicians of the last twenty years held out to men. The Duke of Wellington was a warrior rather than a statesman, or a civil" engineer. Mr. Shirrcff was wealthy and 3,000 acres added might make him feel like a Duke. But like Crusoe's canoe, it was in the woods, and no tenants to raise from it a revenue. The unchecked growth of years stood in these forests ready to be converted into wealth, and being four or five years in advance of all others, Mr. Sherriff with his friends and retainers began the lumbering. The ship canal was in the thoughts of the few settlers on the Ottawa, as much the safest from Yankee guns. But the push was too big for the debt of Great Britain at that time. We have no recollection of Mr. Charles Shirriff, but we have clear remembrance of Mr. Alexander, Robert and Miss Shirriff in our school days. The latter we often met at prayer meetings in Donald Kennedy's and William Lough's. She was a superior woman commanding much respect from all classes; so lady-like and so kind-hearted. Many of the early settlers had to work in the shanty some time in winter and on the farms part of the summer, to procure provisions and clothing for their families. Mr. Shirriff, like Mr. Wright gave them employment whicli was at once beneficial to all. He cleared land, made timber, built houses and mills. Labor and capital were on friendly terms. We ^ere often at the Chats and made many a tour through the surrounding town- ships on a halfblood from thie Irish colt, Sleepy Tom or Blucher, some- times by the swamp hotel and what is now Kinbum, somecimes by the 9Ch Hne past McMiHan's, at others on the loth by linden's mill. Mr. HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY 41 Alexander Shirriff explored the Ottawa to the Georfjian Bay, gave Rice Lake its name and made report to the British Government, bearing the whole expense himself. One of their descendants, a highly respectable rntleman, said to us recently : "If I had now what he expended then. wo«ild be of some value." Where can they construct a railway or canal to be out of the range of American guns, in a country of settle- ments one hundred miles deep and four thousand miles long ? Let us have peace. They must have felt gre^t disappointment at the failure of their wishes and expcctatic«ns after such a labor and outlay of cash. They got charge of the Crown timber depot at the Chaudiere Falls, but that was small compensation. One of the brothers assisted Dr. Christie in starting and conducting the Bytoxvn Gazette. Alexander was a bache- lor. In 1825, Messrs. McMillan and Dingwell built the first mill in Fitz- roy to cut lumber, and kept a little store in connection with it. This supplied the men employed and the surrounding neighbors. Mr Her- man Landen bililt a grist mill on the Carp, where it crosses the ioth line, the only place between Hartins and the mouth, where Mr. Shirriff erected one, that there w s fall enough and current to turn amillwheel. Lan- den had fought at Ugdensburg and Chrysler's farm, and was a man of influence, a Justice of the Peace. He married several people, the first being John Wilson and Eliza Riddell. Mr. William and John Forbes came from Perth in 1820. John died soon after, the first Heath in Fitzroy. on record. About the same time came Mr. Andrew L- soa, afterwards sheriff. He was a man of great intelligence and much enterprise. Mr. Mohr came ^bout the same year, took great interest in the progress of the township. Mr. George Larmonth conducted a store oh the Chj^i.s bank, assisted by his gifted sister He built a saw mill on the Missis-siopi that empties in above the harbor. In 1825 the McCormicks, Owens, Grants, Thomas and Henry Fraser, Gleeson, Haliday, Willis, Marshall and Keeting all settled on the banks ot the Carp or near them. The Mc Vicars, Russels, Ritchies were nearer Pakenham. The Rodisons, Lo wearies, Moorheads, Moorhouses, Armstrongs, and some others tool: v\> all the lands eastward to the town line and into Huntley, south uf the Carp. On its north side were Frasers, Gourlays, Laughlans, Stcvensons, McMillans, Bairds, Greens, Fergusons, Gabies, Hodgins, Bradleys, Featherstons. Some came with some money, some with little, some empty handed. But rich or poor, the condition of the country and the roads rade it necess&ry to walk on foot to Brockville, Perth or Prescott, and c&'-ry home on their backs or shoulders, what they purchased. Women carried wheat to the mill. In winter several small grists would be taken on one ox sleigh. Their at- tachment to one another was close ^or wlien Mrs. Dickson lost her darn- ing needle* the sett''^nent turned c . i n force and found it. They had not another an; o/ii"< di'.m. This biJr,;. Mp the story of the New Eng- lander who wei.t lo 'dir.ker" an egg ;'or a "darnin' needle," then asked the merchant to stand t: eat. He said it was not his custom, but he would. So they MtXii, and when the drink was prepared, he could not take it without an egg; so the merchant brought his ^^^y and when he broke it into the drink l-.e exclaimed : "Gcehosaphat, it has two yolks. Guess you must giv Tea sold very me another "damin' needle high in those times. They tell of a woman whose «, 4!. 4i tllSTORV O Till; OTTAWA VALLEV two dai'ghtrn were from home working, who brought her a nice present when they came home on n. visit. But she was so much afraid of reviv- ing the old fondness for it, \ ch she had about subduied, that she would not touch it. The pioneers UiOstly came to better their condition. They early learned to square timber. For ten miles back, they drew it to the Chats' bank and sold to the merchants that took it to market. Mr. Tufts is said to have been the first to run pine down the Chats rapids. John Gillon in after times, did great business in purchasing the farmers lots that were drawn there. He also made a market for all that the people raised, and carried on his operations with vigor for several years. His credit was good, men had great confidence in him, and he got in their debt, and the fall in the price of pine left him unable to pay. My father proposed that they should release him from all obligations, and let him go on as before. John Smith, John Buckham and John Baird would agree to that, but it hung fire, as they said of the old musket, Gillon left and no one took his place, and the village stood still, never recovered to this day. '^'-'cy lost the active man, the market and their money. Whether Sir John is looking down at it, or looking up, at it there is no ship canal at iiie Chats to this day nor likely soon to be. Whilst Mr. Char'es Shirriff lived at Fitzroy Harbor he turned his attention to build a church and schoolhouse in one and the same building. Mr. Ramsay is said to have been their first teacher and a Miss Clarke taught first at Mohr's Corners, afterwards (Hubbell's Falls) Galetta. The Methodists are said to have been the first to preach in this new place. Preachers were easily made ready for the work in early times, and to the honor of the Methodists they were the first in the field here. Like the potato bug for the leaves of the rising plant, they watched for the planting of the little colonies, and in they went. llev. Mr. Playfair is the name of the first. Mr. Adams of Pakenham followed. Rev. Mr. Alexander Mann, afterwards, Dr. Mann of Pakenham, favorably known all round, was their first Pres- byterian visitor. The first Episcopal minister was Rev. Hannibal Mul- kins, afterwards chaplain to the Kingston penitentiary, who returned to England and is a long time dead. William Owens was the first boy born in the township and the first girl was Jessie Dickson, afterwards Mrs. Lees of this city. Mr. Shirriff had the post office, for a long time the only one. Moses Holt brought the mail from Hull once a week in a canoe in summer and sleigh in winter. Mr. James Steene built a mill at Hubbell's Falls, but there are several now at Galetta, and churches and schools with considerable business carried on in the place. Kinburn is on the line of road to Pakenham and Arnprior and on the Parry Sound railway. Grants, Erasers, Croskerrys, Smiths, Ander- sons and Donaldsons are the principal villagers. Messrs. Neil, Steene, Eraser and Mohr have been the principal reeves. The brothers Elliott have long been clerk Mr. Taylor followed them in the same office. Surprising things were said of tne toils of these early settlers. They carried store goods from Prescottand Brockville. Fancy, people now. going alone 50 miles, I'oilov, ing a road brushed out and blazed and carry- ing through these solitary forests these neces^sxries of their lives. How it would try the nerves to go alone in such circumstances, or even in pairs or more. Or conternpiate a solitary traveller getcing off the WAy HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY 43 and lost, having to spend the night on a beech tree, whose limbs growing out lower down its stem than other trees afforded the needed protection, and holding by these limbs for very life whilst a pack of hungry wolves dwKcd round to the sound of their own music. Such lodging and en- tertainment could hardly be regarded as either safe or enjoyable, yet no injiiries were received. One young lady is reported as having on two occasions spent the night on a tree. She was called by the boys the angel of the swamp. We visited a young man in this township on the bank of the Carp, who was going to chop at a little distance, and seeing a young bear on a tree of the beech family, with branches down towards the ground, and standing and wishing he had a gun, was surprised by the old mother bear and in his confusion ran and climbed the tree the cub was on, tak- ing his axe stuck in his clothes. The bear followed and he could not use his axe, but held by the branches. She, with her terrible claws, in- flicted seventeen cuts in one leg and thigh, and some in the other; the blood flowed down on the bear and he fell at la.st faint with the loss of blood. His brother followed him soon after, and coming toward the scene discovered blood on his pants. This had been rubbed off the glossy hide of the animal passing through the brush on the path. He came on his brother lying on the ground, picked him up, and earned him back home. His wounds were dressed and he recovered. We saw and counted the wounds while they were still great unhealed gashes. He had when he could move about, a strap under one foot that with his hand he helped to lift forward the foot till it recovered somewhat from its stiffness. Some of our readers can furnish the name that has escaped our memory. A young girl got lost with her faithful dog and was eight days away Hving on berries. She slept three nights under the same fallen tree. At. last she thought the dog might take her out, and she scolded him ordering him home. He went reluctantly, every few min- utes turning to look at her, but at length brought her out. A Mrs. Mc- Caughan was lost a week and was found on the bank of a creek lifeless, in March township. We have had, as a boy, to search the woods for the cows daily but never got lost. Taught by our good mother to watch the incline of the trees and the side on which the moss grew, and we could know our latitude in the darkest day. We have been several times close to bears and wolves, but never came to an encounter. We once saw in the twilight the while shining teeth of a wolf, but he did not press for a closer acquaintance and we mutually retired as from a drawn b?-me, without any blood letting on either side. Fitzroy has very much good land for meadow, pasture, grain and root crops, perhaps not excelled on this continent. It cannot equal the western states in the production of corn, melons and peaches, and pork raising as corn is plentiful there, and easily fed; but it can far surpass them in beef and mutton. Horses produced here are twenty-five per cent, better than those grown where lands are soft and spongy in winter, where their lower jomts are Soft and enlarged; but here they are clean and firm on summer dry pasture and winter clean snows. Chills, fevers, miiisma are all unknown here, that are so fatal in the United States. 44 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY But their physicians kindly console their patients by telling them of the fearful rhewmatisms of Canada, etc., etc. The higher criticism of our day did not trouble the pioneers. They might express their regrets, that differences of opinion existed about Apostolic succession, adult baptism, that the Armenians held so many rich livings in the Church of England, l lat moderatism prevented the extension of the church in colonial fields white to the harvest. But the profound erudition of the Robertsons, Smiths, Briggs, etc., had not thrown its searchlight on the mistakes, blunders and prejudices, of He- brews and Christians; no, the genius of these profound thinkers has set the modern world on fire. What young talented preachers in all Anglo- Saxondom, would not blush to admit that creation was the work of six days, or that Moses wrote the Pentateuch ? They will admit, with diffi- culty, that Moses may have been the redactor (editor) of the scraps and fragments, out of which that wonderful book is composed. He did give the sap of his vigorous mind to learn all the wisdom of the Egyptians for nearly forty years, and was mighty in word and deed. He had also forty years, of learned leisure, in the employ of Jethro, with his flocks cro ^ing the herbage on the very slopes of Horeb or Sinai. Now it would be pedantic indeed, to sit in judgment on the style of that "primus inter pares," that first, and most .sublime of all writers since the world began. The Reformed church of France produced some of the greatest preachers, orators, and writers, and one, not by any means the least of therji, Saurin at the Hague, asks : "Did such a narrative as that of Joseph and his brethren ever flow from other pen in all the ages ?" Saurin could measure weapons with the great Fenelon or Bourdaloo or Massilon or Bosuet. • True indeed, the Hebrew language has not been a vernacular for thousands of years, which renders it the more difficult to criticise and in- terpret as you must depend so much on Lexicons and scholars such as the Greens, Lightfoots, Buxtorfs, Gesseniuses, not to say the Owen's, Howes, and Melvilles. Yet, if it were a spoken living language to-day, it might not exhibit any more variance from the ancient forms, than the modern Greek Bible does from the translation of the seventy in Alexandria or the Helenistic of the New Testament. In this year of grace one thous- and eight hundred and ninety six we read with great care the Books of Moses and Joshua and we are the more confirmed in the belief that the whole is a glorious Revelation of Divine truth, respecting creation, t-xe early history of our race, the fall into sin and the begun recovery. It, as a whole, spans more than two thirds of the history of human existence here below. Without it we had been left to conjecture, if indeed, our wretched existence as a race had been prolonged. Now as to the frag- mentary supposition. It is even too childish to be thought of for a mo- ment. They deign not to tell us who wrote these fragments. Adam, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Melchisedeck, and Joseph, were pre- eminently, excellent men of renown on the best side of the humanity; the ancient Kings of Egypt, Phihstia and Tyre were far from being i: relig- ious, but not one of them mentions a fragment, though they were many of them writers. Suppose those had left memoirs who was capable of composing Genesis from such scraps or volumes ? Could any of these HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY 45 I of the They d about many itcd the But the lad not , of He- has set II Anglo- rk of six nth diffi- raps and did give Egyptians had also J is flocks Now it ; of that since the ne of the neans the ve as that e ages?" rdaloo or Adam till he give us the important scrap about creation ? not even opened his eyes upon it and it was all over then. John Milton presents him questioning all creation ^.j tell h»*m of his own origin. Thou Sun said I, fair light, and thou enlighten eartii so fresh and gay, ye hills and dales, ye rivers, woods and plains, and ye that live and move, fair creatures tell : "Tell if you saw how c?.me I thus how here?" Now if Adam, the nearest to the creation, andof it, made ■ in his Maker's image in knowledge, uprightness and purity could tell nothing — what antidiluvian or post diluviap can do any better ? Job asks scientists questions, they will not easilv answer. The Rosh — Arkc — principia — Caput — head, first, or the A>/Art^/z — Bibliou — all refer to the beginning. Can any one tell of the beginning but the Creator who then commenced his work ? What of the light, the work of the first day ? How long was the day ? Kow long did it take to create the light ? What is it ? Something separate from the sun as affected by it so that the shadow is darkness ? Does it flow in straight lines or in waves? Does it travel or stand still ? We have heard all the theories about it. Do the theorists know any more than others? By the word of the I ord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the spirit or bro \ of his mouth. Through faith we understand that the worlds were fra .^ck\ by the word of God, so that visible things were not made of \isible things. It is not evolution development, but creation. What do we know about creation? Is it first forming or producing simple elements then combining them into the complex ? Tijne is a great thing in our operations, because of our impotence- Is it so with our Creator who is omnipotent and infinitely wise? If a certain power is necessary to pro duce a thing, an object, must it of necessity, be extended to millions of years? Could it not be exercised at once ? But this is miracle, so it is. but you must admit that or d'e in ignorance. 'Tis a beautiful, fancy of Hugh Millar that Moses had a vision each day, and that day represented a great period in creation That kills the sabbatical rest. There were plenty of ages in the eternity o\ the past to cover all their speculations but that is not the order of Genises and so oft repeated in the command- ments of the law and the scores of repetitions with which the sublime record abounds. Calculating by astronomy you obliterate a beginning going backward, and jou never reach an end reckoning forward- ll you offere 1 a prize of ten thousand dollars for an essay that would prove the exact age of the earth, no sensible geologist, if there be such, couUl compete for it. Paul tells the Greeks, the invi.sible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, His eternal power and Godhead. But they did not know Him without revelation. Take away revelation and in a little time no one could prove a creation. Al! the mighty thinkers have a great debt to pay — they have borrowed from revelation without acknow- ledging it In that fevelation we get whatever truth we know of or abort crea- tion and not in chemistry, geology, or astronomy. Revelation is the key to these. Without it they are shut up in the fogs of ages and the fancies and splendid imagery of the intellect. The inevitable conclusion is forced on men, that without the revealed scriptures, all theories of creation must be fanciful, baseless, mere conjectures. The sscriptures "^ 4<5 HISTOIIY OF TMr OTfUbWA ▼AKCT Ijrove their own l.ispiratlen of God, and in the words w4tM» the IVbly Spirit teacheth. There could be much made out of the tratlitton of oW time, fi ''^ conversed or might have with Noah's father Lamech, for a hundr rs, Enoch, before his translation, lived one hundred years after N as born, and his father and grandfather nearly six hundred year an lived to the days of Nahor, Abraham's grandfather, and Sh Isaac was a full grown man, but they may not have met and per. , never saw each other as Abraham left the country of Shcm. There must have been much information conveyed from one to another in this overlapping of so many generations. We lay no stress on that, the scriptures are inspired the things written, Moses is the first who gives written books to be kept, and a copy was put into the Ark of the Covenant and that copy was brought out in the days of King Josiah. There may have been many copies in the hands of Priests and Levites, for they in- structed the peopie but this was the original in the clear hand writing of their greatest scholar, and prophet and was the words of the Lord God of hosts the king of glory. In Moses he selected the right man, for he testifies to Miriam that Moses was faithful in all God's house. Now we are not afraid to plant ourselves on the ground, that the whole history and legislation, the or- ganizing of church and state, the planting the heavens of the church and laying the foundations of the earth as a state, and saying to Zion, thou art mypeople that all was the work of God whilst the Word was the in- spired. — Word written for our learning that we, through patience, and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Moses testifies that the agency of God is in all this revelation, legislation, organization and the whole people who saw it all, and in the days of Christ, the indelible im- pression on the minds of the whole nation was embodied in this: "We know that God spake with Moses." Moses and the prophets hold the same authority : all scripture the same authority. The baseless state- ment of the great Hebrew scholar Briggs, that no sacrifices were offered in the desert, was quietly upset by a young girl, a Sunday school teacher, that very much cattle were driven out of Egypt, and multiplied in the desert, and again that these cattle suffered from thirst before the rock was smitten to give them a drink. The early settlers of this valley be- lieved the writings of Moses and the prophets and the words of Jesus Christ. The tribes of Reuben and Gad had much cattle forty years after. A few prominent names may serve to represent the teeming thoua- •aTicTs now around us : Wrights, Reids, Pritchards, Blackbums, McClel- lands, SymiT;es. Gordons, Kenneys, Curries, Kings, Brysons on the north shore of the river, and the Shirriffs, Forbes, Dicksons, McVickers, Grants, Frascr.s, Gourlays, Alexanders, Wilsons, Lowrys, Robertsons, Stevensons, Baircis, McBriJes, Cauldwells, Bearmans, Davidsons, Gra- hams, Kennedys, Loughs, Lusks, McLarens, Buckhams, Smiths, Grier- sf)ns, MoHat.s, irvings, Whytes, Browns, Blacks, Falls, Hustons, Stewarts, Simpsons, Crawfords, Youngs, Toshacs, Eadies, Hartins,Fentons, Thomp- sons, Duncans, Logans, Hamiltons, Hodgins, Johnstons, among so many oihers that represent groups of families, almost clans and tribes, that in scattered settlements held fast their religion till congregations were jornjcc! and niinistt'fs procuted of Wesleyan Me,:hodist, Church of Eng- laiui, Presbyteriap who held forth the faithful word and among whom ^TISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY 4; i ntAy of oM ;ch, for d years hundred er, and net and r Shem. another on that, ho gives lovenant lere may they in- riting of ord God iam that to plant , the or- \urch and ion, thou as the in- ince, and that the I and the cHble im- his: "We hold the ess state- re offered )1 teacher, ;d in the ; the rock ralley be- s of Jesus ears after, ng thoua- McClel- s on the cVickers, bertsons, ons, Gra- |hs, Grier- Stewarts, s, Thomp- so many , that in jtions were Ih of Eng- ig whom scepticism was unknown and unheard of. Yes, they planted the stan- dard of the cross in these valleys, lived for truth and by it, and if need be die for it. The record of many of them is on high, and their foIIow< rs believe, delight in, and defend the same Scriptures as the rule and the only rule of their faith. We bear our testimony to the faithfulness of these pioneers. Many of their offspring are following their good example. But these men, befor-; ministers could be procured, kejt pure their faith. Would their grandchildren with all the advantages from ministers and churches, make as good a confession ? No doubt some would but with others; there is room for improvement. In bygone days when roads were impassible, little or no communication with the outside world, no railroad, nor macadamized road, lands to clear and fence, houses of every kind necessary had to be built, no improvement of aj>riculture but the crudest kind, heavy and unweildy, and human life in danger from at- tacks of wild animals: (John Gourlay in Fitzroy, carrying the flour and bran of a bushel of wheat from Landen's mill, encountered two wolves sucking the blood and eating the neck of a deer, took up a club and drove off the wolves, then with the bags on his back, seized the dec r by the hind foot and drew it after him on the light snow in the fall, ami being a very large, strong man, dragged it home bathed in sweat; the wolves did not follow.) We say these people with all these difficidtics to breast and overcome, were able to attend to their religion and main- tain the truth intelligently; with all the advantages of a century, the most progressive of all the centuries of human history, with a vastly improved general education and every other facility of books, churches and minis- ters, this third generation ought to be as far ahead of their grandfathers as the ratio of these corresponding advantages, in intelligcucc and true piety. Are they so ? Is there not a multitude given u^) to ease, idle- ness, worldliness, and even sensuality ? Oh, the happiness, the enjoy- ment men unght attain to. did they give themselves to Godliness ! Some of the old families have disappeared. Some have gone to multiply and cultivate the orange groves in the Sunny South, some have gone into professions, others into business, but many of them are on the old farms of their grandfathers; stalwart sons of the soil. Their wives and sisterg, the wives of others, retain at this day much of the vi- gor, freshness and good looks of former days. We speak of the children of the old generation of pioneers or white aborigines that entered in the early part of this nineteenth century on the subjucation of the unbroken forests. The trees of these forests had grown to an immense size. There was a sad waste of the beautiful sidings in preparing square timber for the British market which was then open to us. Chopping and clearing up the heavy timbered lands was heavy work, Churches were few for years. Farmers' houses were large shanties caulked with moss driven mtothe chinks between logs and scoops with a thin pointed handspike. The chinks between the logs on the outside were plastered with well- wrought blue clay. Liime had not yet been burned on log piles as after- wards it waS; and kOns were not thought of. Chimneys were very wide and low, causing free circulation of air, pure an«l wholesome, they had such a fine draught. If a stone could be found large enough to stand on the ground agmnst the wall, it was set up; if not a piece of thin wall WMbitik w^ stones andnblne clajr mmrtms to keep the fire from the logs 48 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY h or wall of the building. Then, two crooked cedars were got and tfw ends pointed or thinncc' to drive into the chinks between the logs on each side of the stone work. The other ends pinned to the beam across the house about four foot in from the end wall. Cedars were cut the length for these latl lom one side to the other. The first lath was laid in a ^ood bed ol i.;ay mortar on the stone work on the back Then the cedars flatttd a little on their upper side, had a bed of morti.- laid on and laths cut laid on them across the lath on the back; some of them nailed in the end to the crookotl cedars, laid in plenty of mortar. When they reached to the level of the highest ends of these crooked cedars with the three sides or back and two sides they laid a lath in mortar on the beam and formed the fourth side. So they built the chimney which they called a fireplace till they got above the scoops. The substitute they made for hair in the mortar was cut straw or beaver meadow hay, cut with the axe on a block, sometimes pounded to make it the more pliable. The back was kept straight with the house wall but the other three sides were drawn in so that from five or six feet wide at the bot- tom it would end in three by two feet at the top. The mortar was laid to give three quarters of an inch on the inside of the laths, and made smooth to be safe. They often caught fire but a cup of water thrown against it generally extinguished it. We have often so extinguished it. Mrs. Morin was entertaining Mrs. Milford at tea one evening when the shanty chimney took fire. Mrs. Milford understood the business and was soon on the house-top re- moving the scoops and then pouring on the water as it was handed up to her, soon quenching the fire. Taller houses, lime-buniing and stone chimneys became popular, and Jimmie O'Meara and Luke Hogan, stone- masons, built for everybody. In a short time sided log houses and sided log churches became something to speak of and glory in. Sioed log schoolhouses became fine preaching places for a few years. Our pride and vanity have carried us to the other extremity. In the city we ex- pend far above our wants, whilst the poverty stricken appearance of the country church would indicate that it did not belong to the same denom ination. Sometimes city ministers, with reverence be it spoken, of course, rarely, are suspected of lording it just a very little over their less fortunate country brethren; or the brethren are afraid to oppose anything these wish lest their popularity should be blanched. A baseless fabric of a vision 1 But the appearance of smoke is pretty sure indication of fire. Is justice always kept in view in the proceedings of church courts? Enter not into judgment with thy servants ! Church loans are popular, as if it were a virtue to lend at low interest to encourage such architec- tural display. It looks like laying up treasure above. A Scotchman dying, is said to have asked a Free Church ministei "If 1 le.ive twenty thousand pounds to the Free Church, would it benefit me anything in the other world ?" The cautious minister would not comm.it himself, but said; "It would be worth trying the experiment." If one cannot help being rich, would it not be a fine experimer;t long before I.e dies to help feeble congregations yearly? Henry J. Tilden left six millions to found libraries. Had he given the interest eveiy year of that snm to as.sist feeble congregations in the denomination he preferred, I e might not only have got to occupy the White House, but he would IIISTOKV or TWE OTTAWA VALLIY liave been embalmed in the hearts and remembered in the prayers of millions, as the man that loved their nation and had built them a syna- gogue. A writer in the Canadian C/innhman makes out that wealth will enable you to become Knight, Baronet or Lord, or procure you any de- grees the universities can confer; provided always that you support the party enjoying the power. The early comers were contented with plain things in houses and churches, not because they were destitute of taste, or blind to elegance They were thinkers and workers who made the country what it is but what the actors of to-day are undoing. Fifty years ago the little Presbytery of Perth was formed chiefly of young ministers and elders who set themselves to build up their cause In the Ottawa Valley, which thing they did at an outlay of labor, perhaps without a parallel in the history of the church for some centuries. As a Presbytery they visited almost every congregation and mission station from the Long Sault to Fort William, and from Dalhousie to the Descrl:. ,^hat grand rides and drives they had. '' Once when waiting for refreshments at the well conducted hotel of Mrs. McFarland, Pakenham, Sheriff Dickson, her brother, a man of ,gre^t conversational powers, laid himseif out to entertain us The horse, that in saddle or harness held a conspicuous place in our work, was referred to, and the Sheriff recommended us never to buy or keep a horse that in trotting described a semicircle with his front foot, as he would be slower or sooner exhausted than one that lifted his foot and reached it forward in a straiglu or direct line; a useful hint in many a se- lection afterwards. On one occasion at Dalhousie, a gentleman tried to borrow his friend's horse to drive in advance to his place to be ready to receive the others when they arrived, but was refused. He then offered to bet that he could drive him as fast as the owner. Another brought out a tall rangy raw colt in long shafts, to save the hind foot from striking the cross bar, and asked him to get in which he did asking if the shaft was all one stick ? He was driven home half an hour in advance in time to prepare for their reception. The settlers were far apart and had to travel often a great way but they did it glaiily and the ministers rode in pairs greatly enjoying each others society and the mcetins;s, entertainments and especially the pic- ^turesque scenery of which the Ottawa country possesses a great and envious monopoly. The Oitaw.;. river so broken with rapids before slides were formed had its s.td rwonopoly of swallowing multitudes of poor raftsmen, and, sorry to say, some excellent men, particular friends, were engulfed in its waters. The Carp that runs through so many of these townships has its legends though scarcely any cases of drowning. It was difficult to bridge this fiat river as it overflowed its banks in spring and at high floods in the summer or fall, .so there was a long way to crosslay and few could give the time or money necessary for the out- lay, but it had to be passed over as it cut so many farms in two.* jWhere a beaver meadow left no trees on the bank, it had to be crossed with canoe or float. Where tall elms grew near the bank and were long enough to cro.ss it; one was cut and the stump cut so that' the tree re- mained on it; other trees *\'ere cut to cofincct it on each side with the iiigher ground a litt!** from the water's edge, so they could walk along these and get over. Some could perform the feat easily and safely, arvd *Jo HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY Others did it with fear and caution. If one slid off by a mishap or rather a misstep nnd (jot wet, he had to run home and change his clothes, or hasten with his teeth chatterinj; to his journey's end, unable to tell what happened except, ah I the Carp, the Carp, but it was soon known to the cntiwircr. Some had to po on their hands and knees over the logs. Mick Dur \v'vn, a tailor, hau to cross to do some work for a farmer, and as his "goose" could not swim he made it fast btit forgot that his scissors and spectacles were in his breast pocket, and in the kind of frog leaps he made on all fours they dropped into the flood. He seemed in an awk- ward mood, and meeting an old gentleman full of humor kvho questioned him how he got over, he said allnght, but the scissors had fallen out Oi' his pocket. "What ! did you lose your scissors ?" No, I left the spec- tacles to watch them. William Gourlay, some years ago, explored the river through mud. marsh and creek, through ferns, beaver grass and willows to Landen s mill and got the councils of Fitzroy, Huntley and March to contribute and they blasted some stone and took it down a little which was perceptible several miles back. But it must be dredged and it ought to be with public money, as it is too much for the land owners on the banks to bear all the cost. Because farmers, are not lumbermen or railroaders, have they no claim ? Some politicians have a deathless dislike to the farmers. This should be gotten over. They cannot do without the farmers, especially at voting time. Nepean seems to have had a line surveyed on its eastern side from Crosby to the Ottawa river. It got a local habitation and a name, as the philosophers say. In its defined form it contains over 60,000 acres, but w hen its name was first given, it included all on the west side; Carle- ton, Lanark, and Renfrew, or for that matter, might extend to the Geor- gian Bay. Like it, the county of Ottawa is bounded on the north by the polar seas. It has a janus face, one front on the Ottawa, the other on tne Rideau. The Ottawa front is called twelve, the Rideau fifteen miles long. The poor surveyor disappeared and was never heard from. The la.st post he was said to have planted was at Dow's Swamp- John McNaughton finished the survey. Some surveyors started the idea about forty years ago that the lines were not correct, that the iron ore in Hull had affjcted the compass, so they ran a few lines but found that the defect on the first was made up on the last, and the thing was aban- doned, the old lines being as correct as the new ones. In 1798,' there is a reference to the first survey. That was the third session of the second J a .iainent of George HI. Afterwards Upper Canada was formed into a province. The United Empire or English Ixjyalists were numerous, and some had fought on the side of King George, and these with those who sympathized with them flocked into Upper Canada. The Government gave them claims they called tickets, to land, but the people not paying much attention to the U. E, L., pronounced them allin a word "Ueright tickets ".« These people, male and female, drew lands freely and in ex- tensive lots, as they were favorite.s, and tliey were anxious to people the land with such loyalists. These coming fn m the other side, where their opponents were called rebels, came to associate loyalty with their tory notions; and vo oppose them, was, in their crude notions, to be a rebel. HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY 51 or rather othes, or tell what wn to the 4ick Dur ind as his ssors and ; leaps he I an awk- [uestioned •n out oi* ; the spcc- jlored the grass and antley and ; it down a >e dredged >r the land s, are not icians have er. They 1 side from I a name, as ,000 acres, side; Carle- o the Geor- c north by the other .eau fifteen heard from, p. John d the idea e iron ore found that ^ was aban- 1798,' there " the second ,rmed into a ^ erous, and those who overnment , not paying |rd "Ueright and in ex- people the where their their tory be a rebel, the free application of witich term has been disastrous to the welfare of the country. ' Rice Honeywell had fought on the American side, but af\er the war he was attracted by a yonmg lady, daughter of a U. E. L. Tory at Pres- cott, whom he married and took to the Mohawk Valley where Ira was born. The new counitry and land easily procured, and the prospects every new country oiierw up, together with the wish of his wife to be near her people, led him to come to Prescott, where they both drew land. If a person disliked the place of his location ticket he could sell it, take the money ad id go where he chose. When Ira Honeywell was grown up his father c fft-rcd him tickets for 1,000 acres in Nepean, if he would go and make i^ood his claims, which he did, and exchanged the Mohawk and the St. I^wrence for the Ottawa Valley. He was the first white settler on the Ottawa in Nepean- He selected his place and built a shanty, and chopped four acres in 18 10. He came down the Ri- ' deau and must have borrowed help from Hull to build his shanty. Hull was ten years old as a settlement then- Mrs. Stewart of Beckwith told us that she and her husband cut and carried the poles, and built their first shanty, not a pretentious one. Mr. Honeywell became hungry and weary and homesick, and returned to Prescott. He found a Miss An- drews of Welsh descent, whose bright eyes and pleasant smiles, and in- telligent conversation, he concluded would be worth more to him than half a county. He proposed; she accepted. So the young married pair started for their new home in the woods to burn their choppings, plant their first corn and potatoes, with some onions, mellons and cucumbers. It must have been hard labor for a pair so young to log, as the small would scarcely bum all the large logs, and they must have planted sorr.e rows among the logs. We record it to their honor that women did give so much aid in the hard labor of those trying times. In the February of 1811 the young pair came on a jumper, drawn by a yoke of steers, bringing their household gt . Js. Such animals were then the camels of the Canadian desert. They travelled through the new settlements to Merrickville. They spent a night in the last house between his father's and his new home. This was the house of Mr. Dow, the father inlaw afterwards of Mr- Billings. He was of Scotch extraction because he called his place Kilmarnock. The custom of those times was a friendly greeting, a wel- come to stay, and the best entertainment they could give you, free of all cost. Thrs set the wanderer at his ease for the evening, making the hospitality doubly pYccious. The only open way wa.s down the ice of the Rideauto the Hog's Back Rapids, it was a trying business for them to get their steers through the snow in mid- winter rnd such a distance without a halting place or roof to cover them, or fire to warm them, ex- cept the burning of a dry tree in the winter wind; or a human voice to cheer them or break the monotony. The road he must have brushed out before gomg home, and we hcj)e he had the forethought to leave some wcod cut to dry so as to give her a warm reception, when ihey kindled their first fire in their w ( ddcd life, at their new home. Othcn^isc, though they had arrived in salt ty, it would have been a cool r5cept?,iJii. They heroically addressed then selves to carve out a living aiKl sucrcccikd. The steers had to be Ss HlStOKV OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY fed on tree tops till the leaves and grass appeared, then they enjoyed a paradise around that little clearing. His nearest neighbor was Mr. Brad- dish Billings, across the Ric'eau, who built a shanty, and lumbered in 1810 with some mca, but had not yet married. The first white tnan that settled near the Honey veils, vas a Mr. Draper, but he did not re- main long. Abram Dow S(;lectetv and took possession of his farm on the Rideau front in 18 13. The same year Roger Moore, uncle of David and Job Moore, long known as the richest of our lumbermen, settled irt Nepean near by, and Martin Moore a brother of Roger, settled close to Honeywell. The pioneers delighted to call the Ottawa the "Grand River." Samuel Dow took up land in i8i6on Rideau front. After him came Johnathan Marble Dow with a family of five daughters and two sons. The same year Lewis Williams with five daughters and three sons located near the Dows, :^nd in the same row boat with him William Thompson with three sons and six daughters, settled on the farm on the Richmond Road. His sons William and John Thompson went extensively into the lumber trade, creating a market for produce among the farmers, and were for many years the best stock-raisers and model farmers in the district Andrew was a local preacher, but the family were all Presby- terians. One daughter was Mrs. Peter Whyte, whose husband was an extensive lumberer, who made his domicile in Pembroke. His son, Peter White, is the Honorable Speaker of the House of Commons. Another Miss Thompson became Mrs. Hickey, raised a large family of sons and daughters, weU known and occupying respectable positions in the city. One sister was Mrs. Aylen, who after the loss of her husband, kept house for her brother John. Her son, William Aylen, was a very promising young man, very much liked, became heir to most of the wealth of his uncle, John Thompson, who died a bachelor. Mr. Aylen, after his uncle's death, married his cousin, the widow of Dr. Newton, whose mother was a Miss Thompson, that was killed by a fall from a stage coach at Grenville. W. Aylen died young having no issue. Mrs. Haworth of Hull was another Miss Thompson whose family were in Hull. The sixth in our numeration was Mrs. Radmer, also of Hill, with a large family of boys and girls. Mr. William Thompson, Jr., married a Miss Doran of the village of Bytown. Some of his sons lumbered, some were in the employ of the Government. One daughter was a pretty .school girl in our school visits. She is the wife of Hon. Speaker Whyte. William Thompson, the pioneer, died in December, 1833. John Thompson, another son, died in 1855, the other son William died in 1867. His wife survived him some years. All the sons in-law of Wil- liam Thompson, Sr., were sailors, who ran away from the fleet or the merchantmen, that sailed into Quebec at the close of the long wars with France; wars that were almost interminable and nearly the destruction of both the nations. Peter Whyte, the shiner, was a familiar expression among the thous- ands in the lumber employ, but it must have been got up by some wag, for he was the reverse, took no stock in the party, Peter Aylen, another runaway sailor, was generally known as King of the shiners, as of neces- sity, he had so many of them in his employ, having lumbered so exten- sivdy on the Ottawa and taken so iiiOiiy rafts to Quebec. He built a HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY 53 )US- ther ices- Iten- \t a great frame house and a still greater stone bam, east of the Thompsons, on the farm now in the possession of Mr. John Heney. He had a large stone in the wall of the barn with P. A. V. cut upon it. The surmise was that the V. represented the surname, for it was thought the sailors took their mothers' names to avoid detection and being captured or punished for desertion; but we give it no consideration. Most of them \verc too fearless and too enterprising to adopt any such subterfuge. In 1815, the year of Waterloo, Mr. Chapman settled on the Jock. Isolated and alone his highwav was the ice ip winter, and in summer he glied the paddle, and sailed his canoe to Merrickville and the Hog's lack. W. B. Byers, who got rich by lumbering, gave his name to a creek in his limits, purchased, built on, and greatly improved this farm. He raised blood stock, his Rescue, Black Jack, Maid of the Mist, etc among the horses, and his Ayrshire cattle for a while famous in the county. This fine property was secured by the wealthy, retired lum- berer, the late David Hartin, whose family reside there. Captain Collins planted himself at the junction of the Jock and Rideau, built fine houses and died in a good old age, much respected. His son Samuel, married Miss Pollock, a very amiable lady who survived him some years. Moses Holt came to Nepean in 18 14, and George McConnel the year after. Jehiel Collins kept the first store on the south shore of the river, Collin's landing, but the boats were rowed to strike the beach. But he sold to Bellows who had assisted him in the store. Bellows made a little dock, and hence Bellow's Landing. This was at the foot of the Chaudiere I^'alls on the Flats. H<'s sister kept house for him, but the coming man, an American, persuaded her to marry him, and they kept an hotel on the hill over coking the Flats, where. Chitty kept after him. The whole flat here has been long used as a great field for drying lumber piles. The two brothers Burrows drew the lands on which Bytown aftci- wards stood. They had come in the same boat with William Thomp- son. Mr. Nicholas Sparks bought it for less than four hundred dollars. We have said Moses Holt located in Nepean, but was so short a time , there as hardly to merit the notice. He went to Hull in a little time, then to Aylmer, then Dcs Joachim. He left Honeywell nearest the ! Flatg. Roger Moore was west of him, and between him and William Thompson, George McConnell. Bill and John- McConi U settled in Hull, to which George soon followed. Richard and Renaido were the sons of John. Mrs. Robert Conroy was the daughter of Bill McConnell. Benjamin, a brother of Roger Moore, was drowned. Moses Holt was the first to keep and drive a stage, and carry the mails by canoe or cutter. The Holts cut a figure as mail carriers in the United States. We were ' well acquamted with the Aylmer Holts. Our acquaintance with the Chapmans was not so extensive. One daughter, in our boyhood we remember, was fond of field sports She plowed. and harrowed the fields, a work unavoidable, and she drove a fine pair of Greys. She afterwards became the third wife of Hugh Fails the surveyor. She and her husband very often visited at my father's. During the war of 1812-1815, everything was high-priced. Flour rose very high, and was hard to procure. Wright would not spare any and Ho.jt^well had to go to the front, and having procured three barrels, returned well satisfied that his difficulties were over. But in a HISTORY OP THE OTTAWA VALLEY day or two after he had got it home with his steers and jumper, in sum- mer, having brought it down the Rideau on a cedar float, he received a friendly visit from A, Dow of Rideau front, and his brother-in-law. Brad- dish Billings. They soon told him their message. He remonstrated that the flour had cost him so much time and trouble as well as money to bring it for his own use too. They laid him down fifty dollars, stating that each needed a barrel as much as he did, and they would take it and not starve. Viewing all the circumstances Honeywell agreed. We have seen flour sixteen dollars, but not so high as that price. Capt. Le Breton was said to have built a mill at the Chaiidiere but we do not remember it. We have been at his fine mill at the Deschcne Rapids. He was an Englishman, and all in his employ were the same He sold afterwards to Mr; Robertson, also an Englishman, with whose boys we went to school, and who took much interest in municipal affairs. South of the sandy hills William Bell settled on good land, had a family of boys and girls. We remember the first impression made on our young mind by his empty sleeve in the pocket of his jacket; the short jacket being much worn then. South of him Sergt. Vincent; T . ' hnuklice kept a tavern towards Bearmans, Rob Boyd made carts whuv: Strjnson lived, carts for oxen with great hubs, flat irovi bands put in to take a great axle-tree that could not be broken. They were beauties in their way. These were probably all here icfore 1820. About this time the complaint was, that so many location tickets were given for land in Nepean, that tiiese were held and sold from one to another, that people went for free grants to other townships, and from twenty or twenty- two for four or five years no one cauie to locate. In consequence, tickets did not rise in value to any great extent, and people bought and began to settle down. The O'Grady's, Hugh Bell, Geo. Sparks, John Davidson, Thomas Teirney, all came and settled in various places in the township, say from 1820 to 1822, Hugh Bell got his farm beside Bearman, east ofthe line, Rideau front, and gave his name to the corners. The early settlers had to canoe it to Montreal for their goods. Honeywell is said to have gone and returned alone more than once. This must have taxed all a man's ability to get a canoe up the Rapids with the lightest load, while he waded in the edge of the stream, and kept. his frail bark from being broken on the rocks. We can fancy the Moores, Honeywells, McConnells, etc., going in pairs or companies with ease and success, but v/e pity the man who would do the thing now. The times of these fathers of the country cannot be well compared with our times. We well remember in 1833 starting in a company of seven- teen to reach the settlement in Huntley. We started from By town on the Rioming of the 12th of July. The Richmond Road was opened by the cutting of trees and brush, but the stumps were not extracted, but stood as obstacles to teams that got round as best they could. There were no waggons, a kind of ox carts only. The stumps in many cases were decorated with berry bushes that were loaded with their fruits, red and black, a ?reat attraction to the young travellers. Some of the mothers carried their youngest in their aims. One man was ninety and liis wife eighty. The man's hair was still black, (dyes had not come into me then,) his wife's was gray. They narl five sons and two daughters. )T)m; youngest was a beautiful girl, rhen jcerhjips ui her teens. HISTORY Of t.ii. OTTAWA VALLEY. ii n sum- lived a , Brad- strated money stating : it and d. We ; but we Rapids. He sold Doys we South imily oi r young :t jacket ice kept ;on lived, a great irway. time the • land in at people r twenty- sequence, Qught and rks, John places in •m beside le corners, leir goods, than once, le Rapids , and kept, fancy the (anios with thing now. )arcd with y of seven- Jytown on )pened by acted, but d. There any cases fruits, red le of the ninety and come into daughters. The road was unditched in all its extent. There were patches of clearings on its sides. My mother was purse-bearer for most of the party. My father had to remain with some others to try and get home the plunder, as the Hoosier« term it, no easy thing; but a man with a yoke of oxen and cart brought potash for Mr. Robert Grant, and brought It on the cart, secured with all the ropes they had. But Mr. Culbert had to cut withes when they got to the bush, which was very near, to bind it the more securely. The men who had not seen a withe twisted or used, wondered at his ingenuity and handiness. Some rotten trees had fallen and he cut them so easily to get them out of the way, and restored the axe to its place, a hole in the tongue of the cart. Our company reached Mr. William Bell's at high noon. He was at his din- ner. The end of his empty sleeve was in the pocket of his short jacket. He had lost an arm, and it being the first such case I had seen, made an indelible impression on my young memory. He sprang up, asked my mother if we would have dinner. She replied she thought most of the company, especially the younger ones would enjoy it. So we had a fine dinner. Mr. Bell pulled some young onions to please the children, more than half the party Mother re- marked after we left that his charges were very moderate. We trav- elled v,n as directed to Malcomsons from that, past the Potash works. Some ot our company went to see if it was not a distillery. Irish men were then fond of poteen, of course they have reformed all that now. They reported that there was no means of smelling the cork, so, on we went. Many came to the roadside from their work to see us and hear from Ireland. Some of the grown up ones stood to talk, the others walked on. I encouraged a little brother from one berry bush to an-r other, sometimes holding his hand, and others, groaning under the weight of him on my back. We reached a little log tavern, "Billy Brad- ley's", at what is now Hazledean, where we spent the night, on beds on the floor as usual. A grand procession of about sixteen miles, for the clearings were too small to let the sun shrivel up the road into short di- mensions as it may now, and we had neither a flag nor whiskey bottle. We were (of course,) pretty girls and boys, with handsome married women and tall, sturdy men, all well dressed, so that we made a good impression as we passed along the highway. Farmers and their wives who were near the side of the way, came to see us if we would drink milk or water, or eat anything, enquire where we were from and whither we went. Looking back on it from to-day we say these people had souls. The Jew was not to forget that he was a stranger in the land of Egypt' We held on our journey to Stittsville, then turned to the west along the third line of Huntley. Samuel Johnston had heard we were coming, or dreamed it, for he met us two miles from his house and took us all there to dinner. After dinner, which was a very enjoyable one, all that had relatives, left to find them, some of whom came to meet them as they departed. Some of us .stayed that night with Mr. and Mrs. Johnston. She was a Barton. Ail that were then married arc called and gathered to their people. William Holmes, the youngest of these, died a few weeks ago. All the unmarried of the party are dead except my two brothers and myself. These details may have not a par- ticle of interest for my readers, but it being my first journey on foot in ^56 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY this Dominion, and the peculiarities and the incidents made such an inde- lible impression on my mind as to make it impossible to suppress it in this quiet narrative. Roderick Stewart, Robert Reid and George Bayne had the best of farms. The Richmond Road ran tli rough Mr. Stewart's. The city has grown out on the Reed property as Rochesterville. The Experimental Farm has absorbed the Lewis and Kennedy lands, those owned by Donald and Alexander Kennedy, or a portion of all these. Sensible men ask what the Dominion Government have to do with agriculture, more than with education or the sale of liquor ? Let the provincial governments deal with it as with the others. It is one of the usurpations submitted to so cheerfully, by the large following of Sir John A., elected on the occasion, when the people were smitten with political blindness, and seemed to follow wherever he pointed his wand. That Government did usurp the right to sell licenses, till snubbed by the Privy Council. Its successors, now in the agonies of conflict, to toctce in education, Mani- toba would stick at nothing in that line. We have carefully consulted the farmers on every side; they are unanimous in their* opinion, that It is an experiment ten times more costly than profitable, that it serves neither for ornament nor use, but only to assist in beggaring the people. No practical farmer can adopt its plans, unless he has an income behind it to carry out the projects, and then he would be the loser every year. A gentleman from Quebec said he need not take home his horses after theystood some hours in the equi-palatial stables of the Experimental as he would not be able to get them to enter their own poor establish ment under the whip. Sell the farm, and pension the experimenters, who would never earn their salt on that place. John Bower Lewis could not make his farm pay, under the careful management of Thomas Clarke, and several good hands employed with him, and gave it up after making some loss, by his finest of shorthorns j and sheep and other stock. To get the plainest living off a farm now, you must work it yourself, at the rate of fourteen hours A day. The| day may come when tampering with agriculture by the Dominion gOM' ernment to make place, office and salary will be cheerfully abandoned,! Mr. Stevensons' place lies next the Experimental Farm. It is now thel property of Mr. and Mrs. McTierney, daughter and son-in-law of Mr.J Stevenson. Mrs. Stevenson is still alive, residing with her youngest! -daughter and husband, Mr. Stewart. Rev. Mr. Whillins lives opposite! Mr. McTierney, on the upper end of the Stewart farm. Mr. Shillingtonj has Johnston Brown's old farm and orchard. Messrs. Whyte, TaylorJ Caldwell, Scotts, Booth, Baynes, Nelsons, Olmsteads, Nesbitts, Clarke'^ Hoppers, Moffats, McFarlands, all good farmers, are largely in the mil business. John Dawson, nephew of the old bachelor pioneer, has takeij ereat interest in municipal affairs, and with his sons, has recently bough out the store of the late George Arnold, of pleasant mcmoiy, who haj kept it for, say fifty years. John Robertson began a store there, an(l one of his daughters kept it for some time. Kenneth McKaskill held a time, and went from it to Stittsville, to the store built by Howard Tho npson, in which he was succeeded by Mr. Sproule. Mr. Arnold rebuilt after the calamitous fire of 1870, facing the we instead of the north as formerly. His sons have sold to the DawsQlj HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALL» ^.Y 57 and live in the city- The old stone church (Prcsbytci '''»">' seems tc !mve been all that escaped the fire. The people took refujj^e '" .!*• *"<^ "cid it some days till they made provision for building ajjarn. * "^ """s* s^''" sion was composed of Geo. Arnold, Thomas McKay Rr»K"rtson and Hugh Gourlay. The latter went to the Carp session, Rinbett Moody was chosen after Mr. Arnold. The church was a. union of P'r«»%> Kenans, Episcopalians, and Methodists. The subscription showed' wniait c^ch gave, so that if necessary, each could claim the principal without i. '^^.^'■• est. Subscribers have lots in the yard ten by twenty feet, non-subsci 'o" ers could purchase such at ten dollars. It was not a mine off wealthi lik blc and devours the cedars. David ex- presses himself thus, in dealing with his valient, fearless, but unscrupu- lous commander of the forces: "Let there not fail from the house of Joab, him that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leanelh on a staff, or that falleth by the sword, or that lacketh bread." ^ - How they denoitnce the* minister that touches these offenders. He is no Christian. He is ignorajnt of the Scriptures. Vile slanderer. Is it sender to speak the truth ? Is it just to suppress the truth by keep- ing silent? Must true men by lying, cover the wickelness of bad men ? This would be charity with a vengeance. When an M. P. tells you, re- garding the proposal of one on the side of his opponents to improve any thing, he is not sincere, he does not mean it, co you not conclude that the man is showing himself, sj^eaking what he has learned from his own party. Suppose the whole is acting, and only to §;et money, if the mau 58 HISTORY OF TH£ OTTAWA VALLEIT and his dishonest gains perish together, where is the profit ? You say, it serves such people right that choose such a "Ben Bakar" to represent them in church or state. True perhaps. But the deterioration goes on for an age, morals are obliterated, poverty reigns, ignorance and vice are enthroned, falsehood and injustice triumph- For a remedy, let the dolt of a do little clergyman study. Let the thieving politician restore just what he took, not even two fold. Let both be truthful and honest and society will soon begin to prosper. The bad example of these is the plague of leprosy, that contaminates the multitude, that brings loath- some death to the unthinking and the unwary. The bribers and the bribed, should be marked out and not permitted either to get or give a vote for have a life time. The minister who employs his congregation four or five nights in the week in formal routine meetings, instead of pursuing their industry, and reading and collecting information, whilst he leisurely writes and reads them, the popular themes on Sunday, should be sent to Georgia to hoe corn and raise melons. These are the jurors that pronounce a case "guilty but not proven." These are the men that extract the sting from religion to make it so pleasant that all men speak well of them. Our politicians have contrived to multiply departments, that are of no advantage to the governed, model farms, that waste our means with- out returning an equivalent, models that could not be copied, except as fancy farms, by gentlemen of great wealth, who are not to the fore, or exceedingly rare, and who benefit only a few employees. The people are led by the nose for years then cursed for sending such representa- tives to the legislatures of their country. The pressure of these times will cause men to think and act. Reformation not revolution is now an absolute necessity. The observance. of the one may save us from the other. The multiplication ot departments is the extention of patronage and the increase of supporting voters. The salaries of Government members and employees are out of all proportion with the salaries or earnings of the people who are taxed to make up these high salaries. The salaries of the legislative and the executive, the employees and fees of the professions must be lowered, their numbers diminished and economy pursued or the country grown so large headed and top heavy will topple over and become a ruin. The early U. E. L. settlers were largely soldiers or sympathisers with them, the disbanded soldiers were the other large element in the population. Out of these arose the family compact. That has degenerated into despots and slaves, millionaires and paupers. Can these glaring facts be denied or explained away ? Could any one believe, that in a half century, such political and re- ligious degeneracy could take place, had his own eyes not witnessed it? The high-handed thefts are no longer concealed, cabinet ministers de- fend them', and declare they would repeat them. This is a lamentable piece of our history. Let it be hoped it will neyer repeat itself here again. Many of the liberty-lovfng pioneers never anticipated this de- generacy. They came in one by one, or sometimes in small companies, and took lot after lot, resolved on making a living, by good, honest in- dustry, voluntarily supporting their little schools, improving their roads and crosslay log bridges as they could, urging and labouring to keep taxation within reasonable bounds. In this they succeeded^ but to » HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY $9 say, stnt I on care dolt just and \ the oath- l the ive a jation ad of whilst inday, ire the re the lat all are of s with- cept as ore, or people resenta- ; times now an jm the [tronage irnment Aries or salaries, ;es and led and heavy ;rs were :rs were le family [lionaires ray? and re- ^ssed it? sters de- .icntable iclf here this de- jmpanies, onest in- [eir roads to keep Ibut to a limited extent, for very much to their dislike, they saw a "Ben Bakar** rise and steal power and influence, involving their youn^j country in fatal consequences. We can name several gentlemen, whose protests vepe heard, and helped to modify materially the condition of thin js, tlMni|^ these men have been in the minority in the Ottawa Vail :y. The present tone of the community is rising into an indication that th se methods of plunder must be abandoned that honest men must be se- lected to be our standard-bearers, that tamely submitting to be insulted a id plundered is not a virtue. South of Bell's Corners dwelt a man of immense brain power, aid the most prominent man as merchant, lumberer, and fanner successful in all, and whose heart was as kind as his head was clear. His ashes have slept for years, but it does us good at this date to bear a true testi- mony to his undoubted talents and real genuine worth. John Robjit- son was born in Perthshire, Scotland, and came to this country in 182/, and took up the land now occupied by his son, Thomas McKiy Robert- son. Some of his sons are deceased many years. One ofthesc, Ebcne- zer, gave early signs of the greatest promise as an enterprising business man, raised great expectations in his parent's minds, which, had he bj n spared, we believe he would have fully met or exceeded. It seem J the loss of him to his father was irreparable. It prostrated and nearly killed that man of great mind. We do not mean in speaking thus to say that John Robertson had no defects or faults (all men have). Puit to a thinking mind the excellencies hid the defects. It would never oc- cur to such to hunt them up. Some have dwelt on them, made much of them. But they had their own defects and blemishes, whilst they could not lay claim to one tithe of his towering genius. His wife was not like him, though a distant connection of his own. She was cool, in- telligent, kind-hearted, well informed and good, a woman among a thousand. John Robertson died about 1880. Thomas, one of the surviving sons, is on the fine old homestead. He is not young enough to become vain by any statement of mine. But in my estimate he is a well balanced, steady man, not perha[)Sso in- genious or tentative as his father, but a good farmer. lie is kind-hearted, liberal minded, and sincerely upright. He has been long a v/idower, wish some children, modest like himself; the only daughter, an admirable housekeeper, and the boys excellent workers on the farm. George, one son, died ere he reached his manhood. George, the youngest brother, kept store for some time at Bell's Corners, and then went to Oregon, U. S. Mr. Robertson had two daughters. One was very fair. She married Wm. Goodfellow. I was not so well aquainted with her as with her sister Mary. She was considered at 16 or 17, the moit beauti- ful girl in- the Ottawa country. She married Mr. James Brown, a lum- berer, and a widower, with a family of sons and a daughter, all of uliom did well. Mr. Brown lived but a short time, leaving his beautiful young widow with one bright boy, an infant then; but who developed into the enter- prising Eb. Brown, grocer, of Sparks street- Mr. Brown had two brothers, David and John. The latter married the second daughter of Rev. D. Evans, of Richmond; they lived in the region of White Lake, lumberers. Mrs. Brown, after a number of years, married the widower, 6o HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. W/m. Pollock, and has a large family of sons. Mr. Pollock died in 1892. ^A^e have regarded Mrs. Pollock as a woman of rare excellence, highly gifted, full of good .sense, and good works. John Robertson, of whose I family we have spoken nothing but truth, of whose good qualities we had the most intimate knowledge, began his life in Canada, after mak- ing a little home for his family in Nepean, as an overseer of the vvorks of the Rideau canal. Thomas McF^ay and John Redpath, of Montreal, had the contract, and from their knowledge of Mr. Robertson's engineer- ing skill, employed him. The Perth silk-weaver soon showed his acquaintance with mason work, and brought the canal eventually to a gnind success. Redpath and McKay had to cart home, in Mexican silver half dollars, etc., their part of the profits of the contract. Robertson had only good wages and a name worth much, and some experience. After the canal was finished, Mr. Robcrt.son began storckeeping and lumbering. Mis acquaintance with the Gilmours was of service to him. He often spoke of them with a warmth of affection you would hardly credit to a cool Scotchman. The field of his operation was on the Boncchcre, west of the Round Lake. He has told us of losing himself in hunting groves and repeating aloud the Psalms, his heart beating to the sentiments they contained, and believing that his voice was more likely to chase the wild animals than attract them. This would occupy his attention till he came on some road or trace that led him to the shanty. He never was out over night. His accounts of the Gilmours gav e me a fine impression of them before our ac(iuaintance was made. But whatever Mr. Robertson did in other lines, he was intensely interested in farming. He had great Eotash works, turned the leached ashes on the land, then dry ashes, uying from eveiybody around. One poor fellow lost his life walking into the hot lye. He was rescued, but lived only a few hours. Agricultural chemistry (Johnston's) he had almost in his memory. He bought up almost everything printed in English or French on agriculture. He sent to London, England, for a ton of .sulphate of ammonia for plant food on the farm or as a fertilizer. He under drained so much that some American, visiting the place, pre- dicted that when large clearings would be made, his land would be use- less in drought. He concluded the fulfilment of such predictions must be far, far away. Three large hemlock poles made the piping 'or his first drains, and he discovered 23 years after, that when he cut through one, the poles were fresh and peeled like as if they had been cut in June. Then he sawed plank to make boxes, two on edge, 3 inches by i}4 and the cover 6 by I ^ nailed on. Others hollowed out the drain bottom and laid pieces, split like shingles, and a foot long, across: the ends rest- ing on the bank, then covered all in. At length tiles came. My brothers have many drains with pieces across the earth hollowed out 1 below for the water to run. Cheese making claimed his attention later, at which with 60 or 70 cows he was a«succcss. He followed it up scien-l tificall/, found that ten pounds of milk made one pound of cheese, twenty five pounds of nfilk, one pound of bultcr. We have had no end of advice from the cabinet ministers to go into mixed farrrjing as if they knew anything about it or as if it were something they had just di in 1892. , highly f whose lities we ter mak- jvorks of Montreal, engineer- h mason Redpath ;tc., their vages and ,s finished, [uaintance them with cotchman. lie Rovmd I repeating contained, Id animals came on ls out over ion of them »ertson did had great dry ashes, He was Johnston's) ling printed ngland, for 5 a fertilizer, place, pre- luld be use- ctions must ling 'or his ;ut through cut in June, by lyi and ain bottom e ends rest- came. My ollowed out intion later, it up scien- of cheese, had no end ng as if they lad just di» HISTORY OF TUB OTTAWA VALl K 61 '"covered. "Such insincerity seems to pass current and serve thfir'ir pur- pos<; and keep the shams in perpetual power. John Robertson had anticipated all this and fifty year."* ago de- clared it openlv as nothing new. The hired girls milked 60 cows and Mr. and Mrs kobertson made the cheese. A visit to his farm forty five years since would have shown these lawycr-farmcis the practi cal work- ing of what they have only read in periodicals. He kept s«r, carefully accounts of all his outlay on the whole crops of the farm, thr it he could by a look at his books, give you at once a statement of wha*. every hun- dred pounds cost that grew or was raised on the whole faro 1. He was very successful in the application of liquid manners, dropped or run from a barrel on Jiis root crops. Ensilage and mixed grasses were the only things of our day that he had not tested. A description of the flora and fauna is not' to be neglected in the history of any land, but the success of its hard working and close continuous thinking, and maturing plans for the performance by its people ought to be recoirded for the benefit of posterity. We owe so much to the thinking men and women, as binds us to cherish their memory, and note their modes of successful acuon and operation. His land was swamp and had to be raised by drains that doubled its value. On returning home we discovered a whole cheese under the scat of our buggy. When speaking of it to his wife she said: "If ye hadn't been a favorite you would not have got it." Scotchmen are proverbial for the control of their emotions but he was a man of deep feelings. We have witnessed this on many occasions. But he disclaimed any .sympathy when the terrible fire swept all his buildings and crops awjiy, . He said he had plenty in the bank. He never rebuilt the ruins. His religious views were clear and well defined, that in believing and giving , credit to the truth that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, '. oiir sins are forgiven in his substitutionary sufferings, and that we begin our life of righteousness from our forgiveness — that the invisible spirit leads us in that life of obedience — that the uncreated One is infinite in? love, power, goodness, etc., carrying out his plans, in his works of crQa<- tion and providence and redemption; extending to every ihing even th# minutest in creation. But with this strong stand on the divine side, he was equally clear on the human side, holding that our responsibilities, tOs care, labor, and exertion, can never be shaken off; that every thing of" [duty V '*hin the bounds of human possibility should be performed. This; lis the aed of millions and should be that of the race. The Thompsons had to remove boulders for fences and drains, and [level down hills and fill hollow.s, to make their lands the beautifiul level fields that almost smile in your eyes as you pass them. The Davidsons, Nesbitts, Grahams, Gourlays, Richardson, Morgans, Grants, Hartins, Bradleys, and a thousand others, had soils ready to the plow, Imore easilv cultivated, in some cases richer in quality; but John Robert- Ison, with his low level, stiff, clay soil, was at once the most scientific, ind the most successful agriculturist in the Ottawa Valley ^ The disas- trous fire of 1870, that ran over fourteen townships, swept' away from urn the labors of a lifetime. His splendid dwelling house, with bams, itables, feeding houses of every kind, were consumed; ail save his live b'ock that roamed over unfenced fields, green turnips, crop plots, potato 63 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. fields, in that August drought, maddened with the pain of being un- milked for days as we saw them, and heard their bellowing groans that moved our pity to beg the hi ed girls, whom we met as we drove past, to milk them, for once on the ground, promising them pay for their trouble. We are always sorry to see these ruins as we pass, they wake up so many old associations and reflections. Between Honeywells and Hell's Corners, for several years the only settlers were, Capt. Le Breton, William Bell, Sergeant Vincent, Mr. Bearman, grandfather of the pres- ent generation, with his good old lady, both a little inclined to Quakeri- son, and Robert Boyd, carpenter, a thin line drawn o-t scarcely within hearing distance of each other by the sound of a long tin horn. Nepean township covered tne site of the city before there was a city, town or village. The first Mrs. Honeywell taught school for the very few families then in the place Burrows seems to haVe taught a kind ot ifiilitary school for the children of the people under Col. By, who was a kind of governor, in his Utile coterie. But the first school- house was raised near Robertson's as he boarded the teacher or teach- ers free of cost for years. We remember he proposed to spend what he would have to pay in board, for his two grandsons, W. Goodfellow, and Ebenezer B. Brown at Ottawa, if we could procure him a fit teacher, and add this to his saia'*y in the section. We sent him the man and he was there over twenty years. Stories were told of a wooden church built and supplied at his own expense by a Mr. Burroughs, who was pious and preached free, a plan tii.^t highly recommends itself at this day could it be carried out. There was a lull in the canal works and Redpath and McKay built, with the idle iiien, the first stone cl.urch where St Andrew's now stands. The locks a;^d bridge were finished before we saw the country in 1833, and a litt. ' graveyard lay about where the church stands with a road lying south around it. But Hull was the graveyard for years, at the first for bot^h sides. McKay was an elder respected highly in the church, and we often met John Redpath in synod; a very strong man. He afterwards went into the refining of sugar and left great riches. Thomas McKay was afterwards an Honor- able in the legislature of the provinces. Rev. McKenzie, of Williamstown, seems to have been the first Protestant or Presbyterian minister that preached in Bytown. He also baptised Thomas Robinson, the first boy born and baptised in the little • village. Mrs. Friel, daughter of Daniel O'Connor, afterwards county treasurer, was the first girl born in Bytown. Lyman Perkins built his first blacksmith shop beside the little graveyard, and Donald McLeod built hi.*; in the country, beside Francis Davidson's, east of the stoney swamp. .The Catholics working on the canal, formed a settlement and bulk a church farther east, near the present Methodist and Presbyterian church. South of Mr. Robertson's were two very unassuming farmers, James Mcintosh and Francis Abbott, The former left early, the latter raised a large family of sons and daughters. The sons located in various places and followed various occupations. One daughter married Mr. John Nelson, a very strong farmer in Nepean on the Rideau. Their eldest son is Presbyterian minister in Bristol, Quebec province. The family, so numerous, were very musical in youlhful dayi Mr. Marsdflp an old salt that escaped from his ship and went round teaching vocal HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 63 muiic, was wont to declare when the "Habbotfs took hall the parts Hi was in my helement and the ole thing was 'evenly." They were a very ap'eeable pleasant family, the best of neighbors. "Franlc" was till lately in office on the Rideau canal. Frank — we like to use the term of boyhood, and he will not obicct — well, we have been friends for many years, and never anything else, and we wish thee a long and happy career of many years yet, and then a happy exit and everlasting glory; and have we any old friends of those days that we would not associate with thee in the wish ? Not one. We are finding this Nepean a large place and much of it yet to survey. We go back to the Flats. Capt. LcBrcton got these Flats. Some say he built a mill here. We have no recollection of it, but we often visited his mill, at what is now Britannia, which had a great run of customers for many years. The Captain was English and patronized mostly his country- men in his employ, ,o that you could with your young ear distinguish several Englisn dialects in the conversations among the hands. Britan- nia of to-day is a small riverside retreat where distinguished citizens re- sort to for fresh air and bathing. Houses with three or more rooms can be had for the season at moderate amounts, and people who live in good large houses in the city can get much closer together there and enjoy in wooden walls on the bea"tiful currents of the Deschenes rapids. We have several of these watering places within easy range of the city. Could some of our ear'y pioneers rise from their dusty beds and shake off the daisies, and look at the luxuries enjoyed by their great grand- children, they would be wonderfully charmed and delighted. Near the southwest corner of Nepean lived Henry Warran, a Pres- byterian. He lumbered, and soon became so acquainted A'ith the river that he was a safe pilot for years. Some of his family live in the Gatineau country, but most of them went west. Samuel Courtney, whose sister in-law was Mrs. Thompson of the wealthy family in the shoe store business in Montreal, lived east of Warren, and Henry Bishop, father of Mr. B shop, of Wellington street, had a fine place and sandstone quarries, out of which very much of the decoration of the parliament and other buildings of the city wa>) produced, which lay be- tween Courtney's and Pollock's. The Tierneys settled west of the Da- vidsons. Their descendants are there, fond of fine horses and cultiva- ting very beautiful farm.s on that pleasant southern slope of the town- ship. Coming from Bell's Corners to the Scott settlement, you pass be- hind Hare's and Watson's on the .sandy hills, to Dan Hobbs, a well de- veloped Irishman, whose sons, with their brotherin-law, James Hocg, a Scot, gave and took some hard and heavy blows in the days of the Shiners. One of the Watson girls married a young teacher, who was decidedly the best in metliods and qualifications we ever met in a com- mon school in our days of superintendent. He develop^^d the young Hares, (whose mother was a Shillington,) theGrahamsand others, into bright scholars, who afterwards became doc- tors, clergymen and }>rofessor?, and their sisters, clergymen's wives of a superior order of intellect and refinement. Closp by HobbsJ, ia, HISTORY OP THB' OTTAWA VALLEVr dev«lop€t! Wfcll their farm, built good structures on it, and rfOw furnish mill< for city vise, whilst John, one jjran»lson, is making hiiDsdf a name and a place in the grocery business on Wellington street. Clo.s^e by him lived a Fren-chmati, Antoine l^crnoine, an honest enterprising fellow, who married M'i^^ Mary, eldest daughter of Thomas I^ng. He became a Presbyterian with his wife, and raised a family of fourteen prosperous sons and daughi'"crs, two of whom are wives of two cousin.««, Ncsbitts. The Lemoine boj 's, of say a dozen, all exce-'t one or two, stayed in the country, and have done much for its prosperity. Some of them are now in the United States. Several brothers of the Ncsbitta, who all raised large families ', occupy a great space of the country in their des- cendants, who have built fine durable stone houses and raised fine ani- mals John Nesbitt, who lived to be very aged, was long an elder in the church. John Clarke, some of whose sons are there and a multitude of grand- sons, was long an elder. One son, John, was a great lover of horseflesh in Clydesdale and American blood; enriched tho people and himself by the great improvement I'n .stock. The late Mr. Rcilly of Richmond, and the father of the writei", did also coniribute largely to the improve- ment of horses in the Ottawa valley from the days of Farmer and Hurd- man of Hull. Stewart is now Hull's j,Meatest horseman. John Thomp- son, James Davidson, John Clarke, VVm Gourlay, Richard Kidd, Thos. Graham, Hugh Gourlay, ,tohn H. Lewis and Thomas Clarke, have during 40 years contributed the i.iost to increase the value of shorthorns atid to develop and popularize the Durhams as a valuable, profitable race (>{ cattle. Didsberry, an Englishman, first introduced the stock on the Ottawa. Hor^. Thomas McKay, Wm. Hycrs, John Gourlay and after him Hugh Gourlay and Allen Grant have done most to popularize that valuable milking race, the Ayrshires. Plantagenet and Rams ly yearly present fine specimens of Ayrshire stock, whilst the M. P. for R.ussell, Mr. Edwards, has perhaps the best lot of Durhams now in the vrhole Ottawa Valley. Twenty-five or thirty years ago Robert Kenney ot''Hull, sustained for years the highest repu- tation in Durham stock and I'ong wooled sheep. In this latter article, John Nesbitt, known as Lord John, was among the first to raise long wooled sheep ojf good size and quality. John Thompson, J (ugh Gour- lay, Samuel Sisson, Thomas and Wm. Graham, William Gourlay of Fitzroy, Robert Alexander's sons and a (cw others have been the lead- ing sheep risers and with Robert Kenny of Hull, and VVm. Kemp of fC6ulbourn, have all expended time and money and pains to produce -the best in Cotswolds, Leicesters, Lincolns, and the families of the "downs. Merivalc is not a village but a succession of fine farm houses. John Nesbitt is now dead. Robert Baine, who is an elder, is a great milkman, with a great family. One son is a mmister in Ashton. One was a medical student and died at college in Montreal, very much re- gretted as a fine young man. The late Thomas Clarke, son of Elder Clarke, was a very successful stock man, took great interest in the affairs of the township and county, and left a large family. James Caldwell has been a very eminent and successful man as farmer and milkman. His parents were most highly -especced for honesty, piety, good citizen >hip and general cxceilcncy. The family have all been pjllars in th-j I HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY McthoHi!«t church, and one of the most musical families In the land; th«v succeeded the Campbells now of Campbell's Bay, on their landa m f\ Huntley. The late John Bovce was long a teacher of the first order in the Mcrivale schoolhouse, leaves a large family of enterprising people be- hind him. He also took a great interest in municipal affairs. About fifty years ago a Presbyterian church of sided logs was built in th« centre of that rich settlement, and after occasional supplies for jome time, the first minister ordained at Ashton, April, 185 1, was installed there and for 17 years, ministered to the people with some degree of ac- ceptance and success. Many were addea to the church, and nve young men, who are talented and acceptable preachers in the church, were from that field. Many of the young men of those families in that field are good farmers, mechanics, merchants, and professional men. Their present pastor is the second they have had in forty years. Bell's Cor- ners, a part of the charge, has some faithful people, lone ruled by Elder George Arnold, who is no more among them. T. Robertson and Mr. Moody are now their elders. The whole congregation is most flourish- ing with a fine new church in Merivale, and the old stone church at the corners is still true to the old Presbyterian cause. Mr. Whillans has another station with a little church on the Rich- mond Road, about three miles out of town, a little west of the John Heney farm, formerly that of Peter Aylen, whose P. A. V. still shows his mark on the stone barn. This is a fine plain between the two lines of railway, the C P. R. and the Parry Sound. Peter Aylen was a great lumberer and long known. as king of the shiners. Peter, went afterwards to Hull, and was a specialty as a gardener, farmer, architect, and great engrafter and budder in the orchard line. This family consisted of three sons and adanghter. Two of them were lawyers, one a doctor. Peter married the eldest daughter of the late C. Symmes, Esq., and their fam- ily of sons are in prominent places, one being like his father very distin- guished in the law. The late Peter Aylen was a man of fine parts, of liberal education, a kind-hearted warm friend. His wife, is a sober-minded, well-balanced superior women of 'excellent taste and refinement. Hon. James Skead built a great steam saw mill on the river side, west of Aylen's old place, and carried on business for some time in lum- ber. Botn he and his brother Robert lumbered extensively and were of great service to the country. James was a very honorable man, in- dependent of his title as a mmiber of the"tegislative council. Hjs only son married Miss Moore, daughter of David Moore of Hull, the wealthi' est lumberman on the Ottawa, next to James McLaren. The rest of his family were daughters, all beautiful.. The eldest was Mrs. Wright. Their fine residence attracted the attention of all passers on the Aylmer road. One of Mr. Robert Skead's sons married Miss Brough and went to Manitoba. Another married Miss Munroe, the handsome daughter of a Presbyterian clergyman in the easte n provinces, and is now engaged in mica minirji^ on the Gntinemv /norher son resides in the city and takrs a great interest in the welfare of the church of which he is an et- teenied member and elder, also an employ of the Government. On the road leading to March Menrs. George 0%ks, William Purdie, Andrew Graham, lumberer, Thomas and Jehn Graham, fanners. The 66 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. former told the boys that he broupfht fifty pounds worth of fisH hooks from Ireland when he ramc out, of course he could have matched Lord Stanley of Preston. John Ncsbitt, farmer, one of the finest horsemen, (called Lord John), was married to a Miss Davidson and had a large *'amily of sons and daucjhters. One son lives in the old homestead, m^ir- ried to a Miss Humphrey's. One lives in Torbolton, married to a Miss Watts. One resides near Richmond. They are all well-doing, manag- ing fairmets. One dauy^hter is Mrs. W. McBride, another is Mrs. David Wilson, and Mrs. Wm-Gourlay of Fitzroy is another. They are all in most respectable circumstances. The youngest son of the last marriage is Mr. Colburn Nesbitt of Aylmer, Que., whose wife is a Miss PHtchard, very prosperous in their affairs. One of the Shouldice family lives west of Mr. Nesbitt and with Mr. Christian, fills up to the Messrs. Beatty at the town line of March. Be- tween Mr. Hugh Bells, which escaped the fire with the church, and Mr. Chapman's, east of, the stoney swamp, a long thick bush, regarded as little worthless frog ponds, and swales, with stones protruding through whatever soil was not under, and even what was under water, the tim- bers swamp, elm, cedar, balsam, hemlock and small spruce unattractive. Next to this the Davidson scnlement, where Mr. Francis Davidson with his large family of sons and daughters had large possessions and lum- bered extensively for years. Mr. Samuel Davidson took an active part in the direction of affairs in the township, being Reeve for many years, and of much value in the county council. They were all good farmers, with the best of land and the purest stock in cattle, sheep and hogs. Samuel and Hugh married sisters, daughters of Mr. John Bell, merchant from Clonis, Cavan, Irclan*. James married a Miss Alexander and they had a large family of sons and daughters. The eldest daughter is Mrs. Thomas Graham, her husband being tlie eldest son of Mr. John Graham, P. M., of Huntley. Some of the others are married in the city, as Mrs. Champhness whose husband is in the customs of Her Majesty in the city; some of the sons are farmers. Mr. Samuel Davidson's sons are druggists and dentists, in good practice here. Mr. Francis Davidson belonged to a very respect- able family in the north of Ireland, some of his brothers talented Presby- terian ministers. Beyonti this seitlement are Mackeys and Eadies. All these with their numerous neighbors contributed to the development of the country and the formation of society in the first half, especially the second^quarter of the pres-nt century. Mr. Peter Campbell built a large stone house on the 2nd concession, Ottawa front, the best then in the whole range, as the sliauti^s began lo be replaced, and was a resident for many y tars. The house is now in the possession of one of the Honeywells. Mr Jonn, son of Wm, Bell, married a Miss Campbell. Opposite Mr. Cnm}jbell on Ricicau fiontowelt Mr Dan Hobbs, with a. large family of sons atid daughters. One daughter married James Hogg a Scot, who wi:h tiiC brotliers-in law, all powerful young men, got into frequent conflicts wim \hc Shiner:- dealt and received many a heavy blow in these enjonuicrs. The b'uners were raftsmen, chiefly Irish, em- ployed in the luaiovr, rough and ready for a conflict when mellowed with poteen. TiiCy cr^i^pcvi the cars off a horse belonging to Mr. Hobbs, that might be sten irian/ a yvov aiter oa the highway bearing the marks HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA YAUJK <5f of these Vandali. They had to waHc fireni the foot vp to the ke*d of 4w rapids in running their timber cribi, and were opon for m ekallenge wmf day. Jannes Hogg who was fierce as an aag;le and fearless as a Mon, wm living near by and on hand to help to settle scores wkh the Shiners. These latter were in such bad order that many another darin|; spirit stepped in to help to give a good account of them when not too nunMr- ous. When whiskey was in they were not much in the habk of reckon- ing numbers on either side. In summer time the river was noariy covered with rafts, that were being taken to Quebec, each havinf its swarm of hands, in some cases all the crew, Shiners, as they got on better alone than mixed, for they regarded the French, though co-religionistB, as a kind of rivals that must be looked after and kept in bounds, as well as the landlubbers round these rapids or in the villages on the river. Bernard Hughes had a large family peacably disposed, avoiding the Shiners and mixing themselves up in no quarrels. Mess pork sometimes sold from forty to even fifty dollars a barrel, and the story was told of a farmer who had purchased a large stock of herrings in barrels, which he fed very freely to his men on the farm. The thing, to use the western phrase, became monotonous. Remonstrances were made in vain against using them so often. One of the hands got a newspaper, a rare thmg at that time, and folding up a rusty herring, started to show it to Judge Armstrong, highly esteemed as one of our first Judges, an honest pains- taking gentleman. The employer followed the man, begging, entreating, then energetically remonstrating with him to return as tney neared tlw Judge's place ; On on? Condition would he return, provided a weather was killed and the provisions diversified. They went on a little farther and the farmer at length gave in. They returned, the fat sheep was dressed, part of it cooked for the evening meal, ^nd the strike was de- clared off. Two brothers, Plunkett, one the grandfather of John, the merchant, on Wellington street, got their lands in Nepean. Near the Flunketts ' were the Switzers, one of whom is a merchant now in town. The Evans of whom a son is storekeeping in Rochesterville, and a sister has prop- erty in quarry lime and stone. The old gentleman is yet living who seemed to be a middle-aged man fifty years ago. He tells me he has a cousin a Bishop. His family were very intelligent and cultivated. The Leslie family are close by, one of whom was the setrond wife of Mr. Thomas Clarke, a fine wife and mother. One son, William, lived up the Gatineau, married a Miss Gibson of Masham. They were a nice family. A half sister, Mary Jane Lark, lived in our house for years, an upright girl, and came back with her husband to get married hy me at Aylmer, she died in middle life. Mr. John Boyce was one of the early teachers in Merivale, as they now term it was much interested inmunici- pal affairs afterwards. His family occupy good positions as able and independent farmers, Between 1828'and 1833 Hugh Bell, the O'Grady's, George Sparks, John Davidson, Timothy McCarthy, John Tiemey, and Malcom McLeod, blacksmith, came to their lands. The writer in the atlas says, there were only five schools in the county in 1833, but he must have been misinformed. There were two in Huntley that year, mmm I HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY two in March, one taip[ht by Mr. Bishop, grandfather of the Lawyer Bishop, and one at Capt. Streets. In Nrpcan, there was one at Mr. John Robertsons, and one in the village of Hytown. Besides Mrs. Honeywell taught in her own house. Preacher Jones taught and preached in his first shanty in North Gower, and the Burritts settled at the rapids about three or four years before the end of 1800, and had children born there in the last century, one of whom at fourteen taught school and he was the second teacher they had. Then a Miss Burritt was a tutor in Mr. Braddish Billings and, a very young girl at that time, and the children of the surrounding fami- lies,, were included in the little school. Then Mr. Shirriffhad one taught at the Chats which made eleven in 1833, for Mr. Shirriff had removed from there to Bytown to the Crown Timber office before 1833. It is a poor method of writing history if you have any regard for truth, to sit down in your easy chair and correspond with people at a distance for your material, to construct your work for posterity. Mc- Leods, Mowatts, Hamils, Steinsons, Colwels, Ltmoines, and some others filled up to the border along Rideau front. After the canal was finished, many went and settled east of Davidson's settlement, and built the Catholic church close to which, and almost together stand a little Presbyterian and Methodist churches of brick, where one would do well were the people united. Along the Jock or Good Wood you meet Craigs, Monaghans, O'Mearas, Keives, Kilrays, Costalos, Cassidays and Conroys, Moylans, Quenlands and Watters, O'Grady's and Greens, HefTernans' Hoolaghans, Kelly's and McLaughlans, with many others who all set themselves to clear lands, build houses and fences, accord- ing to the order of the times. Beyond this circle were the Hawleys, Latimers, Henderson, Browns and Nesbitts. T. G. Anderson came to Bell's Corners, then to Hintonburgh; McDoftalds, Bradleys, James Smith, the great horsebuyer. He was going to a fair at BelKs Corners, his man wanted to go and purchase a cow which he would not permit, but set him to plant a new kind of potatoes he had got. The man worked away doggedly, planted a good part, then buried the rest in a pit, got to the fair and brought home Kis cow. James did not discover the thing till the mass of stalks discovered themselves by showing above ground, almost too late to dis- tribute them. The Lenaghans, Brennans, and Stapletons, moved in later. Mr. William Foster, whose son is a very successful tanner in the pretty village of Pembroke, resides here, whose brother Archibald Foster of the city, was once in the same region. The Germans, McLeods, were fond of good stock, Durhams and norses. Michael Long brought the Blacksmith McLeod a nice piece of wood to get made into a pretty sleigh tongue and well ironed. When he saw it finished he thought it was reduced too light and said he wanted it so strong and solid. McLeod cut a thick elm pole and ironedl it with the back on, Mike considered it would be fit to draw masts with. These were some of the jolly aid stems from which the seediiiigs grew that cover so large a part of the happy, old, wealthy townshiip of Nepean. How many others, as well deserving of a notice^ must we leave out for want of ^>ace ? The Roman Catholics left the others fcr in tbe rear, m the matter and biMineas of chiiKh building. At Butt's HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY 69 Comers they had a union church, but they are all separate now, and the Presbyter ;ins hold the old stone building which keeps together, but re- flects no ere dit on the builder. It was ailways connected with a church in the Nesbitt and Hopper settlement log at ftrst, but replaced by a larger and better frame building with a good congregation. They have only had two ministers in forty years, which speaks well for the people. Outside of the city there are four Presbyterian churches, four Methodist churches, three Episcopal churches and one Catholic church. School houses were increased, as the population demanded, sections were formed, intellectual, culture by good teachers, obtained, and en- joyed to gratification. There may be some danger of the teachers be- coming a guild and proposing certain courses that may not be the best for human development. If any peculiarity of our mind should be neglected or not cultivated in the proper time and manner, the individ- ual is not permitted to be what he would be under a better culture. The greatest care should be taken to let the mind unfold whatever may be in its nature rejecting the vicious. The endless school controversies are sapping the life of the community. We may yet have a government that will rigidly compel five and a half or six hours a day with three hours on Saturday to the branches of study, necessary, to a proper education in the common school. It is not the church; nor is the church the common school. There is no room for the distinction between the civil and sacred, or the sacred and secular, except what the clergy get up for a special purpose. If we live, move and have our existence in the ureat I Am which few will doubt or deny, then the boy is in his line of duty during his study of Arithmetic, Geometry, and all mathematical science as far as the due proportion can be given them with a view to his calling for which he is being fitted and equipped as at his morning or evening or daily prayers. Is it not baneful that it is not so considered ? Is a religious education only con- sisting in the studies of the dogmas as they say of a particular sect, then no wonder that our streets are vocal with neglected illbred children on Sundays. , Their minds have not breadth,' they are one sided and that often the worst side. Obedience is the first and most essential thing or prin- ciple to be taught, nay impressed on the child mi.d else its days will be few and vicious. Does our strife and quarrel arise from our clinging, closely to the only rule of faith or our divergence from it to our own theories? Please reply. One man tells you there is no eternal punish- ment, another that there is no eternal happiness, but both are levened to the centre with the love of money and power. What care they that eternal life and eternal death are revealed in the like terms and would not, otherwise, have ever been discovered. Let them have power to tyrannise over men's right and liberties and trample them under their feet These men are one sided, their education was neglected or mis- formed. The parents, the clergy, the educators, are under fearful re- sponsibilities. The caricatures of humanity that ue produce in our hpme schools and colleges, produce all the disorder we groan under, keep mankind in the suds out of which they \]o not 'emerge like Wibcr- force (Soapy Sam) with clean hands. In England the government is preparing tts own overthrow by a sectarian schuolbiH as our govern* I'3|W" OP TMS OTTAWA YALLEY ment Is meddHns to ^ iMMt bf tite • am y atf tw of a Provincial r\f^, and ifttahos so long to correct bhindoM and raake reflections to no just pur- pose. At the end of the wars with the French, they had given Napoleon Bonaparte, the renowned Cersican, and Emperor of tlie French, a safe retreat amd comfortable lodgings at the eKpense of the English, in the Isle of St Helena, the large army was to be reduced to a peace footing; so those troops, that had served on this continent, being the last en- listed into the service, were the first to be disbanded. Canada having come into the possession ofthe English, as a part of the conquest from the French, was to be coloni-zed, and the regiments that had some notion C) take the hoat down the Jock or Goo J Wood to Cnapman's far«v», whtro a \>iig|j[o.i and two yoke of oxen sent by Mr. Wright, were to tjkke M,n t*»ro<'^l>. He be- came more troubled at seeing the water and soon leaped out of the beat rushed wildly through the woods, and they ovwii-jok h»ni lyin^^ on the hay in Chaprwan's barn in a violent fit. Dr. Collis .vas pr>«t^Ut, j^nd ho bled lum. A swift messenger was sent to Perth for nnothrr, hut he died before anything could oe done. Chapman drove his rcnnins 'o Hull on the waggon sent for him, and the boat sent to meet him took the hcdy to Quebec, where he was buried with the honors becoming his rank. Chapman was rewarded with fo.ir hundred acres of land. llic hydrophobia was induced by the bite of his pet fox on his heel His fauks and defects were forgotten in the kindr.es.. of his vj.sit and entertainment, and the sadness and suddenness of his death, \x hk:!i threw a cloMd over the villagers for some time after. He had given the nanne of his nephew, the Earl of March, to the unsurveyed town.ship on the river at the dinner at Sergeant Hill's, the whole term of office in tiie country being only one year. Lumbermen like Mr. Wilson and others had lands round the village. Robinson Lyon, brother of the Captain kept hotel, was a fine horseman, but excelled all others at the violin. . He lived long in Richmond, then in Bytown, and finished a popular career in Amprior. The Government built a school in Richmond and paid one or two school masters for a year or two, fifty pounds a year, bvit soon withdrew the grant. The schoolhouse was used for a preaching station for Catho- lics and Protestants alike. The first to officiate in it was a priest. Mc- DoneU, who was Bishop of Kingston before his end caiuc. Mr. Heaiiy a Methodist, was second. Mr. Glen, a Presbyterian, was third. Judg- ing from the names, the Episcopalians must have been the most nkHi\er- ous as they built an Episcopalia^i church before all others. Mr. Glen lived but a short time among them and seemed to wear out in waatng .swamps, travelling to Torbolton, Kemptvitle, Pr«ecott, and other places. I Mr. Burns was th« first Episcopal minister for some years. Their ' dkurch and Mr. Pinhey's house were buitt about the same time, antf St ,^ Andre jv's Presbyterian church in Bytown. The Presbyterian dlurch ia Richmond was not built till after the decease of Mr. Glen. It was a neat little frame building on the line of street con»i»g from North Gower, crossing the Jock aiKi tenwtiiating on ' the Rich'^tond and Perth Roads. Rev. David Evans was its fiv*i; settled pastor. Mr. Philips was then its prominent ruling elder. from about 1840 to 1848 when Mr. Evans removed to Kitley Corners. Rev. John Flood was the Church of England ininiater contemporary with Mr. Evans. Mr. Flood was born a Roman Catholic but became a member of the Episco- pal church, and being disposed to study, pursued his course with great disadvantages, reading with firelight and 'fat pine" chips, instead of the dip of those times.' The pine chip was .smoky but the rezinous odour was at agreeable as incen.se and determination overcomes difficulty. JIf r. Flood got merited credit for his persevrrance and success. He was BI9T0AT or THI OTTAWA YALLEY took 20th Jown I two le be- :boat »n the H dis- likes the application of the term Rev. to clergymen, considering it tho usurpation of an exclusively divine title : "Holy and reverend in His name." Hearing of our career at Knox College, he came to visu us, and a lasting friendship then began and has contmued. The Frre church movement had given a great impulse and North Gower Presbyterians caught and acted on the inspiration. Dr. Finlay preached to uhem and to the Huntley people several times with great acceptance. The most prominent young Presbyters in this Pertli Pres- hyteiy, at that time, had gone into the Free church movements aliout the inkidle of their divinity coiitse, and the demand for preachers was sc great that they did not return to finish their studies at Quec . or Dundee or Edinburgh, and it seemed to us that they were slightly dis- posed to look askance at the qualification of those who had taken the time and advantage of a full course. However the Ph. D. was new to them and they tried to get up wit at its expense. But it was a well merited honor and the wearer was unquestionably bevond them in natural talents where the D. D. might come under the rufe of the fisher- man's application on his mackarel barrel, one D. for damaged and D. Dv for doubly damaged. These young clergymen were by no means de> fective in wit, humor, and fun, although Scotchmen that could look aw* fully sober and grave at the right time. Dr. Finlay is now a very accomplished author, which no one of his mimickers ever became. Dr. Finlay was called to a congregation and was leaving Richmond, and a Rev. Mr. Lowry was applying for the place and submitted to an examination conducted by Rev. John Flood as superintendent. The Greek readings were in the Iliad which, wlien finished, was pronounced satisfactory by Mr. Flood, but might, perhaps, have been a little better rendered. Mr. Hinton always full of humor, could not lose so fair an opening, and requested Mr. Flood to give them the benefit of the finer interpretation of so beautiful a passage ? This slip of Mr. Flood was unfortunate as his readings in the classics from his beginning late in life were not extensive. However, he tried it, making many periods and failing a little in trying to do justice to the translation. Dr. Finlay who had been a success in the school said, Robert Btreh would translate it for them. 'He was the .son of Sergeant Birch and was preparing to take orders in the Church of England. Robert waHced im> ill a dashing, ofTf-handcd, manly style for a hoy, took up the book read, transUted or interpreted sali.sfactorily. Mr. Flood blushed red. Mr. Hinton declared himself well pleased witti the translatibto. Hia4*n, HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY r^. i<#l Finlay, Birch, and those present, enjoyed the »cenc, Lowry did not nC fer but Hob was the hero. Some timo after this a fjood thinjjj happened in the Presbytery of Perth which some of the survivors yet remember. A student was be- incj CK imined for license and was lold to read and translate the first page in tile thirteenth book of Virgil. The candidate said he had not read the b ;(>k. But a young doinine said no matter he can read. So he read. Now translate. He began and ran down easily till about half way w'len he ca-ne to a dead stand. One Presbyter rushed to his side to get him out of the .slough but slid down the page with hesitancy till he reached the chasm. Another hurried to the rescue. Let me help, I am the best Latin scholar in the Presbytery. Here the poor candidate was .sandwiched between these two great Latin scholars. The latter gentleman drew up at the same awful stand point. None seemed will- ing to imitate the noble Roman by leaping into or over the chasm. Can you furnish a supplement? said the G. T. The candidate took the hint, fille I the hiatus and to the satisfaction of all finished the translation. The two learned gentlemen quietly re^^umed their seats well satisfied with the irn')ortant aid thev had rendered so timely. An aged minister hearing of t,h is case said : It reminded him of a car^Jidate on trial for ordination, »vho was cautiously admonished by an aged Scotch clergy- man to be careful to translate his Hebrew correctly, for if you make! mistakes or hlun 'ers there is no one here fit to correct you. Mr. Flood was an indefatigable worker though not always in harmony with his Bishop John, Toronto, who always ruled with a rod of iron and no slack HmmI. The Bishop had iswied a pastoral, in which he asked the Roman Catholics to unite with them in saving to them the clergy reserves, and offering them an equivalent when the Jesuits' estates would come up for legislation or adjudication. Was the profoun 1 Protestant silence main- tained in Quebec when $300,000 was lecrislatcd mto the hands of the Jesuits, the quid pro quo in this case ? A Liberal wrote strictures on the . pastoral. Mr. Flood rushed to the rescue, to be reconciled to his bishop with the head of the Liberal who refused to surrender his head to the block. In his next letter Mr. Flood quoted Dr. Beggs. His friend ex- amined the Edinbu/^k Witness, and found the quotation objections which Dr. Beggs demolished. This made hard against him but his friend after correcting Ws careless readifig invited him to go on with the controversy, assuring him that while there was a shot in the locker he was welcome to a share of it. The thing proceeded no farther but the Bishop re- wariled the attempt by a good promotion. The old "Admiral,' his father-in-law, thanked the Liberal when they met as being the occasion, if not the cause of this clergyman's elevation. Capt. Lyon, of Richmond was some time a parliamentarian. His family, largely boys, took to professions or mercantile life. They were all talented and VVilliam, who died a comparatively young man, w»s of t'-%e very highest type for ho' arable and manly conduct in every de- partment of the business of Hfe. We had reason to know that his friendship was very sincere, true and valuable. In his early demise t c country su.^t^ined a very sifiwal lo«s. G. B. Lyon, who added Fellows, kMe k«ki the in sit «KstiNfHtsli«A plase M tk« bar; and as a pwVltc ma« HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 17 ry of s be- page read 50 he t half is side cy till lelp, I ) did ate latter d will- chasm- lok the slation. satisfied minister :rial for clergy-, u make, r. Flood with his no slack ! Roman /es, and ic up for ;e main- Is of the es on the lis bishop id to the riend ex- )ns which lend after itrovcrsy, , welcome iishop re- tiral,' his occasion, Irian. His rhey were in, was of every oc" ^ that hts demise t e sd Fellows, ivtVlk ma* and M. P. We recollect laboring with might and main to prepare our lessons and gain time to hear him conduct cases at the court, admiring his eloquence and dignity of manner, even when his opponent, Mr. Harvey was most abusive. Robert was our school mate, talented, amiable and very oblifjing ; was afterwards able at the bar, a representa- tive man in the legislature and a judge. His early death left Miss Foster a young widow to mourn his great loss. Some of the younger brothers are in the medical profession, one married a Miss Rieley: another Miss Riley married Mr. IC^i^on, and after his death, Mr. Martin, who has greatly distinguished himself in the law and in the legislature of Mani- toba as attorney-general of the Greenwa^' "^vcrnment, and more at Ot- tawa as M. F. f'apt Lewis ran a parliai nt y career like his fellow-offi- cers of Richmond. Olio of his sons, Jo'in Bo.vcr, was a man of high standing in the city and very deservedly so — his first wife was sister of John Street, of March, i;nd his second, a sister of Zak Wilson, now high in Her Majesty's customs. Both were worthy of their high position. Mr. Lewis died young, having filled the important offices of rccortler, mayor and M. P. Robert Lewis, like so many, followed lumbering. One sister was Mrs. W. Lyon and then Mrs. Louder, the other is Mrs. Chas. Pinhey, of this city. Edward Malloch followed his honest calling so carefully that he brought up his family, f.iving them a fine education; two of his sons sat on the bench, nnd the third E.lw:ird was merchant in Richmond in its best days. He married the then beautiful Miss Hill, afterwards gave up the store an' I sat in parliament for over 20 years. One daughter married Rev. Mr. Milne of Smith's Falls; another is Lady Grant. One son was our schoolmate, was called to the bar and died young; the other is a successful physician. Capt Lett died young in Richmond, leaving a widow and two sons, Andrew and William I'itlman. The widow married Dr. Stewart and had one daughter, tali and beautiful, who married Mr. McCraken, a successful lumberman. Andrew Lett married the talented and handsome Miss Emily Hyde, of Huntle}', and lived there a farmer. One of his fair girls is Mrs. Dr. Baird. W. P. Lett married the second daughter of Mr. Joseph Hinton, of Richmond, and was long and favorably known in this city, as talented editor, brilliant and witty poet, and in his latter years as city clerk. Mrs. Lett lost her life by a railway accident, very much missed by a large circle of friends. Mr. Joseph Hinton like Mr. Malloch was not a soldier but went into the storekeeping for years — a very kind, honorable man in business and in the affairs of the county, lived to a good old age, very highly .steemed by all who knew him His son, the late Robert, was well known in his native village and Hintonburgh and the cijy. His first wife was a Miss Burrows, his second a Miss Hyde, dauglitcr of Thomas Hyde and the beautiful Mary Somcrvillt, and his third Victoria, daughter of the late Lyman Perkins. Mr. Hinton's eldest daughter married Mr. G^oi^c Patterson, one of the earliest merchants of this city, and now considerable time dead. Mrs. Patterson is still in health and vigorr The youngest Miss Hinton mar- ried our much esteemed friend, Donald Grant, for years a very success- ful manager for the Hon. Thomas McKay in his large business. Mr. Grant was a warm hearted friend, liberal with his purse to good objects in HISTORY OF THE 'OTTAWA VALLEY eafly life, anhinf for it but to undo the horse aad find a lodging. In a tittfe time a light i« a ivindow attracted mv altentiMi and fe -:V ing my way t? i:hc gate, fellbwed ej ^'^ ■■*»»!, the hbtwc waj SJ n reached, the Icai^^ af a f»«4l Md wmi 4l»io»d, A yaxMig i HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLXV Ich hm ady o( She matron jsperity 3r Hill. )f as a mission- dismal tlcss he iccounU jccptical n came on, and vn mar- ;. The Dublin, churches jeems to teaching, nerations 1 a.tiflog rvices of e Church his con- y arising ; Captain , he had ck in the ted must / fond of limal to a or flock. Episcopal as a very Episcopal c Ottawa d the St. ith a por- ig swamp> iwn on a it became i tree had broke my lad find a n mtvA fa -V waj w n cam<» out, very attrntlvcly-heard my short statement of disaster, at took my lior^c t*^ the siafcif, proposing to bo with his lantern and pot my bags into a s.if*, place, \Mlluch he did. He then introduced me to his family of mother and sisters, a portion only of the family. Despite my remonstr.inces tncy persisted in .serving up rcfros'imcnts, which wa* done with very good taste. Afterwards a sister conducted family wor- ship reading Isaiah, 32 ciia)iter, in a sensible conversational becoming style and manner, rn.ild'ig a running comment and offering an extem- porary i)rayer- Whct!'er k was because it was the first T had heard from the lips of a woinaai or whether it was the Christian spirit it breathed throughout, or the aiin»wped me to my room, where, grate ful that I had found such a resting pJfjce, instead of sitting all night on raybroken cart in the woods motnetitarily expecting to hear the growl of a prowler of the forest, .^ter a sweet sleep in a nice bed and room, I was aut by the dawn, cvrt a maple pole, and had my axletree made by breakfast. Young Mr. Sproule helped me to put it to the wheels and body, and v^ e parted with greater gratitude than could be clothed in words of any language. One brother married Miss Hopper •f the family well-known in Nepea», and(kept store at March Corners for a time, then at old Stittsville, in the ,ho»sc built by Howard & Thompson, and occupied for a time bf>' Mr. McKaskill, who had kept at Bell's Corners before the days of George Arnold. Another was deuuty regis- trar in the county office in this city. The youngest remained, we think, on the farnt*. ,The>' were a highty' respectable family But meeting in my early teens with that kind people and that middle-aged lady of such gentle, majestic, Christian spirit ; fifty years have not in their slow pro- gress or voiucrilic swift«e«i been able to obliterate the- impression from my " it i^uimiKWMW^iJ ■-w iMi 80 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY If the Invisible Almiffhty Spirit can in a meeting, for a monwnti in this beclouded world, create such feelings, in sin-stained souls, what shall be the divine delight when kindred redeemed spirits shall encompass that throne whereon the Man rcigneth; who was here below, "an hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, as rivers of waters in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." Rev. John Flood was long the incumbent, a convert from Catholicism. Mr Petit was his successor. He took rather a peculiar way of collecting his sal- ary. He posted up printed bills of the names of the contributors and what they had paid during the year. It gave offc:nce but he survived it. The Presbyterians built a little frame church but Mr. Glen did not re- main very long and after being some time vacant they secured the Rev. David Evans who was many years their pastor. He supplied Huntley and Fitzroy as a prirt of liis charge in connection with Richmond. After hin. came Rev. P. Lindsav then Rev. Wm. White. Mr. Mc- Cleland, whose amiable wife was a Miss Bailey from Aylmer, was their pastor for some years. Fallowfield and the Jock above Richmond be- came the wings and under their present pastor are doing exceedingly well. They are made up of very intelligent, respectable families. They have a neat brick church at Fallowfield and a good frame church at the Jock. Many interesting stories are told of the long, tiresomes travels of the early preachers through long, dark wood: and deep, interminable swamps, the short sleeps and long fasts which were so kindly alleviated by Sergeant Hill, in whose hotel, they all, of every denomination, seemed to find a kindly home, pleasant faces and refreshments of the best provisions and in the richest abundance. More than forty years ago a member of the Presbyter>' of Perth was sent several times to supply North Gower and took Richmond in the afternoon, occupying a school house in which Mr. Bryson, father of the d*y goods merchant, taught the advanced classes. Though there was BO intention to interfere with the rights of the k-rk, then vacant, yet the Smiths, Browns and Jones were neither gtateful nor satisfied, and gave no attendance at ♦he altar. The Jock church is in the old Gordon settle- ment and is a well attended, fiourishing congregation. The last preacher had Stittsville in connection, but it is supplied from the city by Rev. Mr. Daubey. The Methodist church has a long history in Richmond, and an extensive list of preachers, with very few of whom we have had the pleasure of acquaintance. The first Roman Catholic church was built about two years after the Episcopal. The first services were held by an ex-chaplain of the aramy, Mr. Mcdonell, afterwards bishop of Kingstc, but he s«ems to have boMi but a wayfaring man at Richmond. Father Heron appears to have been their first settled priest. We never met him but were well acquainted with his successor, Father Peter Smith from County Cavan, Ireland, who ruled there many years, and had both hands full on many a fair day held twice a year in the village. He was o( gi|f»ntic stature, and when nraunted on a splendid chai^er with a long wmp, or even ou foot, he was a terror to evil-doers. We recollect Rev. Mr. Smart of Brockville, who was almost equal to the p> 'f>»edin^ houses. This plan has been abandoned almost universally now, and the best farmers stall-feed. Salted meat, especially pork from the west, was the order of the day. Beef killed in the fall, salted, sometimes kept frozen, was packed in wheat straw for use. But years passed before butchers became popular. Game was very abundant. Deer, bears, rabbits and hares were very plentiful, and were shot and trapped at will, and there were no closed seasons. Venison was sent round as people succeeded in shooting, and the benevo- lent principle was highly cultivated. Wild geese, and especially wild ducks in flocks, frequented the streams and lakes. But the most plentiful of all was the wild pigeon that came in spring, flying in clouds almost obscurinjT the sun. The woods were swarming with them all summer. Old muskets or shot guns as Americans say, were freely used and many wpre the victims. Partridges drummed in the vicinity of their brooding mates, often within hearing of one another. River, lake, stream and brook teamed with fishe.s — these remain but not in such numbers; but the winged creatures have almost wholly disappeared. For a quarter of a century hardly a wild pigeon has been seen in hundreds of miles. An odd duck or partridge turns up, and a rabbit or a mink very seldom, but otter, beaver and martin are scarcely ever caught. The fox and the skunk are with us, but the racoon is nowhere hereabouts now. There was no effort for years to keep pure the breeds of cattle or sheep. Mix- t*irf^ .1/ white-faced Herefords. and long-honed Devons with inferior •>rff.t;,i ih^wing indications of the ancestry in a state of degredation, .*'ere the ct>;if;TK.>n flocks on farm* everywhere. Sheep averaging 3 lb. a clip, have given place t^ some of 7 or 8 lb clif^ and twice the weight in flesh. Hogs were lengthy in limb and snout. Berkshires, Yorkshires, and Sufiblks v/ere yet in the future, but now very common. It is not to be wondered at if agriculture had not made much progress in a land of stumps with plowing difficult and .stump extractors uninvented, and afl implements in the most primitive state. tnm H HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. Mrs. Stewart of Beckwith was unequalled in the land as wife, mother, chvirch member, benevolent Christian and good neighbor. She lived to a good old age a model of excellence, helping the needy, strengthening the feeble-minded, supporting weak Christians and young professors of religion, with a kind word and an open hand to everyone. The eldest daughter married her cousin, Neil Stewart, a worthy elder in the Beck- ' ith church. The second daughter is the wife of Thomas Simpson, the third, who was Mrs. Dewar, died young; the fourth, Mrs. James Conn, who kept store long in Mr. Sumner's place, whose very enterprising sons since his early death, have built a fine stone store and dwelling house and do a large business; her daughter is now the widow of the late Dr. Potter, whose brother is one of the most eminent physicians and large- hearted, trustworthy men in the city, and whose immense practice ac* cords well with the great range of his experience and ability. The eldest son, Sandy Stewart, lives at White Lake and is in the cheese business. The second, Neil, was long and favorably known as farmer, owner of a small steam sawmill, and councillor and reeve of Goul- bourn. His youngest son John, married Miss Kennedy, eldest daughter of Robert Kennedy, the pious-ruling, influential elder in Ashton, sound in the faith, enthusiastic in the temperance movement, and indefatigable in the works of faith and labors of love. Mrs. Kennedy was a McDiar- (■id, a g;ood woman; their family like that of Jacob's was thirteen; but unlike his in that they were twelve girls and one boy. The last died young, the girls-married wisely, and are mothers of a numerous interest- ing offspring. Tlie Episcopal church and the Methodist congregations at Ashton arc not large or numerous, though of some time standing. The Presbyterian was an offshoot from Beckwith and had been ministered to m connection with that church since the disruption. The writer was the first ordained minister who, after three pleasant years of labor, gave place to Mr. P Gray, an excellent and worthy man, who after some years went toKin<;;slon and after a successful ministry died there. Their next minister was Mr. McKinnon, for a number of years, then Mr. McAli.^ter, son of Elder McAlisterof Kingston. Their next minister died with them when very young. They have now Mr. George Bavne, brought up in Nepean. From a very small beginning, the congregation has grown to be self-sustaining with a large and beauti- ful stone church. Some of the first elders are succeeded by their sons in office. The growth has been steady not spasmodic and the future of the place may be considered as hopeful and prosperous. Applcton, a flourishing village on the Mississippi, has been associated with it for some years, with a good assembly of attentive hearers. James Wilson, near the centre of Goulbourn, was the first, like Mrs. Stewart, tf plant and col- lect an orchard of any pretentions; but all seedlings of consuderable value. They sold well at Kempt's fair and Richmond fair as well as elsewhere, the taste of the people being not yet vkiated by more luxuriant and kis- cious fruits. We remember well, perhaps fifty years ago when sent to get horses shod by j«hn Barber, a famous worktiian in his line, in James Wilson's enij>l«y, iMimiring the you»g flourishing orckard and the large number •f beehives, as things were in thar day and to be wondered at as sources W w«*ith,as well as pleasant anil attra«:tev«. N«t fiar firoin Wilson's, some HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEV «3' the horses N ilson's number sources V s, soaie of whose dffscendents we have met on the Gatineau, dwelt the Cathcart ' family, distantly allied to the heroic >(encral who had both limbs shot off in the great battle in the Crimea and by his own request was lifted from his horse, and set on a piece of (li*iibl«d cannon, that he might give com- mands while he lived. He was a descendant of the famous warTior in the days of the peerless Nelson of imperisKable memory. These- Cath- carts, too, had seen service at Lunily's Lane and elsewhere, and tbeir co«mies never discovered that they had backs. They were unfortunate in worldly enterprise; fire and lightning doing tyxuch dire work of destruction to the amount •( many thousands of dolisM's in buildings and stock, including a new steam saw mill — all very much regretted. Eastward on both sides of the Jock, you meet the Mackeyi, Eadies, O'Grady's, Greens, Bennetts, Craigs, McBridea, Gam- bles, and further up the stream the Mortons and Shillingtons, ancestors of the doctor and druggists, and farmers near by and in thecJty. There is a post office at Hazeldean, with some workshops and aslore. It vmy be called a village on the principle that Lever adopts the Imhman's vM- lage, "a blacksmith shop, a Sunday school, and a pouud." Eafjloaon's Corners hao some reiemblanceto a village twenty years afo.; btk it is a deserted viMage containing wooden ruins, and two residents, Mr. Eagle- son and Mr. Scharf. The Goulbourn half of Ashton is better hvik aiid rather larger tlian BeN's Corners. * Goulbourn, in which Richmond is situated, was oaled after an English nobleman and contains about 55,000 acres, very mticfa varied in quality of soil, not half of it fit for cultivation. Tks lighter soils would produce certain kinds of crops, but whilst land is plentiful, it is unlikely that time and labour will be spent on a quality of soil so unprodwctive. That part of this township on the north end called Haaledean was set- tled very soon after Richmond, or contemporary with it and Masck and Huntley. WiMiam Hodgins, grandfather of the present M. P., w*s among the first. James Bell, who married the widow of Ad^ulMrt : Adams, was very early planted on the hill beside Mr. Hodgins. The other brothers Hodgins went to Huntley and Fitzroy and lumberod. Abbot Lewis, blacksmith, had his house and shop on the highest kitt-top on the north of Mr. Hodgins' His sons followed the same business, and were very ingenious mechanics. They went west. James MuNigMi opposite J. Bell has followed careful farming. John Young purchased Bell's farm at a high price in the estijnation of many but sold it much higher. George Morgan purchased higher still, but parted with it, as im- possible to make it pay now in the altered times and prices current. Robert Young long occupied the beautiful farm on the hill, butting on the town line of March, where John Barber, blacksmith buik a pretty white sandstone house. John Young's house had blue limestone come^ and decorations, varying the white sandstone. John Culbert lived south of the north east branch of the Carp. Dr. Colar Church built a fine stone house east of R. Young, and .south of that. BiHy Bradley kept tavern, south of the Carp east of the I2th line. His sons, Joshua aiMl Samuel occupied the same lands. William Kemp soHih of that, thou John McCurdy and Jackson Stitt at old StittsriHe On the west Mdc op- posite the Bradleys and Kemp, Robert Grant got a large f»rm and store in our boyhood, as also William Hod|fins. Mr. Grant 84 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. family by t'ic first marriajje, but four sons and two daughters by his second. His first wife was a Miss Powell, his second a Miss Hardie. Mr. HoJgins had two sons, James, who died young, and John, the father of the M P. for Carleton, and several daughters. One of these is the mother of the M. P. P. at present. Mr. Grant took great interest in municionl affairs, so n<^ ''!(' his son RoHert, who is married to Miss Sarah, third daughter of Mr. W. Gourlay of Huntley. Robert is a prosper- ous .sjiciititic tdr.iicr. John Grant is also a successful farmer south of Robert. The other t\\o brothers, William and James are fine business men in hanlware, corner of Bank and Sparks streets in the city. One Miss Grant became the wife of John Gourlay, Huntley, the other is Mrs. Tempkton, Winnipep;, Man. South of John Grant, Charles Hartin on the old f.irm and mill site, son of David and Miss Malcomson, who is married to Miss Wilson, daughter of David Wilson of Huntley. On the Huntley si<1c J^mes and John Hartin had fine farms. James Stitt lived above the McG.i: chapel. This is replaced by a much larger brick building than the old white fraine church of former days. The Bradley's and Mr. Kemj) married daughters of George Clark of March. Above Old Stitts\ ilie Andrew Argue, Baker, and John Wright filled up to the pines. Wm. Cuthbert, farmer and local preacher, James Cherry and Joseph Magee lived near the chapel. James Walker and the Scharfs tilled up from the town line of Nepean all the good land. W. Eagleson at the corner with a little store, with his vigorous wife, a Miss Shore, bid fair to get up, not only a business, but a village with blacksmith, shoe- maker, carpenter, weaver, etc , but all the little wooden cottages are rot- ting without an inhaiiitant. Eagleson and Scharf were the only two there when we passed through some time ago, a deserted village, we are sorry to report. 'Thomas Alexander who sold 200 to my father. James Arthur, Jacob Stuart and James Birch, occupied the oasis in the pine desert, south of Stittsville. Then Mr. Crawford and Mr, Ford with many brothers of the Simpsons, Cherry, the tanner, and a few others, fill up to Ashton. All on the west side of the town.ship, from north to south, except Elder Dividson, are Irish, the Atlas to the contrary notwithstanding. Stitts- ville at th^ railroad station, is a thriving little place with three stores, a hotel, and several mechanic shop.s and tasty private dwellings. John Sumner, an Englishman, opened the first, and for a long time the only store in A' ton, then called ' Sumncrs' Corners. He had large potash works carried on, from which some have supposed the place took its pres- ent nam?. Donald McFarland kept the only tavern for many years in the place, a peaceable and quiet house. Neil Stewart, a son of John Stewart, of Brckwith, long time reeve of Goulbourn, was of highland descent; all the others were Irish by birth or lineage. When Sumner lefw for Carleton, James Conn took his place in store and post office. Hif> wife was Janet Stewart, and his sons have built a great stone house for store and dwelling and have been the le:^ding busi-^ess men in the place ever since. The little stone church of the Presbyterians is re- placed by a Mf htly looking edifice. There is an Episcopal church there, the leading supj^orter of which, in its beginning, was Mr. Shore, whose wife was Miss Fanny Acres, of March. The Methodists arc not numerous in the place We are not HISTOUY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY 85 y his 1*, the lese is est in ) Miss rosper- uth of usiness , One is Mrs. rtin on who is On the itt lived r brick radley's Above ) to the rry and Scharfs iagieson tiore, bid th, shoe- s are rot- only two e, we are ur, Jacob south of rothers of 3 Ashton. •pt Elder g, Stitts- : stores, a igs. John e the only •rre potash iSkitspres- y years in )n of John f highland 1 Sumner )OSt office. ,tone house men in the ians is re- ;r of which, y Acios, of We are not aware that any other denomination has any people there now. From Sergeant V.-\ughan.s to the Joek is a fine settlement. The pretty little Presbyterian church tlit r*?. is well filled with an intellifjcnt, cnquiritg looking audience. The Shillington settlement extends towards tne \ il- !age of Richmond with the Mortons and others. The Brownlees, soith irid east of this trends towards North Gower. Mr McFadden, an old Hnldicr from Tyrone, who lived near Ashton, was about one h»m<1red, ant' a Sergeant Stcinzell close by lived to be nearly a hundred. Sumner had a little saw mill on the Jock at As'^ton, but was not of long- duration, and Mr. Neil Stewart built a small steam mill in its place but there was t'xi little lumber to be much supply. Mr. Stewart was not lotig lived. His wife, Mrs. Stewart, was Mi.ss Cram of Bcckwith or Carlctou Pla e, a sweet-tempered, plcr.sant an(l excellent woman, who dieil be- fore him. They left a fine faniiK'. Mr. Siiore carried on business in the wa^'gon atMl carriage making. From .Archie Campbell, who v as '^"e of the earliest blacksmiths down to the present, there has been a uccc-; ion of workmen in every trade. Mr. Turner, who married a M ss Cram, sister of Mrs. Neil Stewart, built and followed his business here for > ears. The Beckwith side of Ashton was occupied by the Clarks, Drummonds, McNabbs. The 1 rcsbytcrian congregation was then com- posed of the hearers of Dr. Cooke of Belfast, Dr McDonald ofFerintosh, the apostle of the Highlands These s])oke the gaelir and were among the warmest friends of the young minister Others had been the hearers of Dr Burns of Paisley, then of Toronto. Some others came from hear- ing men of far less celebrity; but fancy the notions produced by learning these things on his first visit around the little flock ! He had been talk- ing away to them as so niaiiy ])\a'u\ country farmers, that aid not require ?ny stilted language or scientific figures, or striking illustrations. He had told them his story from the open bible without a scrap of paper be- fore him. They had*forgotten the talents and the eloquence of the above old heroes and had given the kindliest and closest attention. What was he to do now on his new discovery? The world of the past must answer. He must hold on his way ignoring the discoveries, ex- cept to stimulate to more careful study, a greater exertion to place eternal truth clearly and forcible I e fore the minds of the audience. When the teacher was removed by the vote of the court, and the men, old and young, had remonstrated with their might against the change, but could not prevail to keep him, old men and full grown strong young men burst into tears. Among those still living who can attest this as true are, Dr. Wardrope and J. B. Duncan and Robert Keinedy elder, and Peter Campbell of Galetta. So much may be said for the soundness, kindness and goodness of the people of Ashton. The south branch of the Carp river, one of the many tribulaiiv.a of the Ottawa, rises in Goulbourn, in the k>wlands above old Stittsville, a creek passing between it and the Canadian Pacific railroad, and winding through the fsirms of Messrs. Kemp, Hartin, Grant, etc., unites below the town line, in the first conccssioi of March, with the north branch, which rises in Nepcan, near the i acMJ, and runs westerly to the junc- tion, it was in our early recollection a clear stream, all its length except an odd tree across it, which was used instead of a better bridge for cross- nSTOKY OF THE OTTArWA VALLEY. km •n foot. BeaveMi ettera, minks, oauskrats, wcfc its aboriginal in- kabksMits, Our first voyage on its placid waters was in a log canoe with WIKam Acres, to mapect his traps placed under the grass drawn on the banks inarking the landing of the muskrat, some of which he brought kome. William Harper, then a boy, showed us the stumps and some dead poles with the marks where the beavers had bit them round with theif teeth which then excited our boyish amazement, and still further when we heard that they drew these poles with their tails and dug clay Mid plastered the poles in the stream to make dams for their luxurious dwellings. The tail scenaed to be a great and useful implement as well as the teeth. The river now, for miles, resembles a long narrow lake grown full of tall coarse grasses. A dead sea. It is a govenimcnt work for 25 miles to dredge it and prevent its being injurious as well as useless. Public and private roads suffer by it. The Hartin brothers had a .saw mill on ks south branch and cut as long as the timber lasted around it. They offered a site near the mill for a Presbyterian church and logs of white pine were sided and laid on the ground. David claimed (he was bui a bo) then) that as he was giving the ground and would have to saw a go«'»'] deal of the kimber he should have the choice of a pew when built, which they all cordially agreed to, except Jacob Stewart, who made a funny ohjection "gee him the pulpit." The project was abandoned, The Methodists built a log church close by, which the facetious James Bell termed "Mud street chapel." It is yet standing. Rev. Mr. Horner held revivals in it on the mode of prostration. Crowds attended and trottUe atKl' litif^ation followed. The mode was not adopted and the services of this evangelist have been dispensed with. The Magee chapel, a neat little white church, further south, was erected, and beyond that, in a forest of giant maples, they had a camp ground at which we spent a week. We were often invited to lead their prayer meetings amid the greatest excitement we ever had to that time witnessed. Whole families from far away. Clarendon and Hull, and many other places were there encamped in board huts, tents an<] sheds. Many preachers were there, and many sermons daily delivered to the vast, attentive audience. Prayer meetings followed the sermon and were greatly prolonged, some one leading till exhausted, his voice was lest in the responses and another started up to take his place. Often in evenings, continuing tiJl midnight. Rev. Ben Nankieville presided and with a long tin horn summoned them from walk or conversation to at- tend the services. One night after eleven o'clock the preachers and other notabks were very politely invited to take tea in the capacious tent of Brother McCurdy. Whilst doing great justice to the excellent, weH prepared refreshments, the doctrine of predestination was served up for discussion. Some one said the Presbyterians did not believe it themselves. Mr James Lowry referred them to me for a ^pply We admitted tiie doctrine, but said it was very inconvenient to discuss it then and there. However, they were in the mood for it, after a fine supper moistened by old hyson. Questions were piled in upon the stu- dent £rora every quarter. W. P'itz B. Healey and James Stitt stood in the door, holding by the frame, to prevent their being hustled in and hundfods stood aMMUbd. All admitted the di^trine of fore knowledge : :mi HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY 87 [ m- with the ught iomc with irther clay irious If ell as full of miles Public lill on They white as but saw a n built, Tiade a idoned, i James Horner led and and the > chapel, id that, spent Tiid the d many sheds, to the ion and :)ice was Often in xled and ^n to at- ;hcrs and apacious jxccUent, :erved up lelicve it ply We discuss it er a fine the stu- stood in d in and lowlctlg^' : We maintained that it was so intimately connected with fore appn'nt- Bcnt that they must stand t fall together on the ground; that we can- not possibly know that a thing exists if it does not really and certainly exist; that it it equally impossible to know that a thing will exist if itd future existence is not fixed and certkin. Dr. A. Clarke has said that past, present and future are all present with the Deity. On this reasoning his present purposes are his past pur- poses, and what is right now to do or purpose could not be othc rwise in past purpose or deed, and so for ever. That man acts willingly unt aess to prefer our own plans to all others, and so many willin(^ to be led without thinking, and so many man worshippers, that could not turn f'-'^m the objects of their devotion to reform anything. Arguments, the ' le re«t, are lost on multitudes — dollnrs take them The old lady's arfju- mei against the education of her boy was to the point with so many : •*Fi«'- shillings stands a man more stead, than all tlic books that ere he rcuu." These ignorant, purchasable wretches, arc winked at because Hiey belong to our party, or they count in voting for our party; pcrhaj)S Qiicturaged by men that wish to be thought of as honest and honorable. These early reformers would have had experts from a Distance, to make the asiessment according to the native \aliie of the land, wild or unim- proved, and exclusive of buildings, stork, and all else, as these arise from the toil and industry of the laborer. This valuation to be permanent as the soil itself, as the matter once fairly adjusted would satisfy, and \.\\c ejtpense of assessment be avoided for ever after. If a farm or any lands became the site of towns or villages, the lots could be valued accordingly, liut no man can point out the object: to ke gi>ined by assessing a house and lot a thousand times in as n. ny years, except to reduce taxes, which they ne\ cr do unless to give cm- pieyment to idlers at the expense of the honest. The treasurer con! ' be elected for five years giving good security for his behaviour. Allot the time for each section of the county to pay, and let everyone pay, ',r be compelled to pay by the authority of the treasurer. There would then kc no expcn.se for collecting. How quiet, just and pure is such a 1 Ian compared with the millions of perjuries, and acts of dishonesty, p> rpe- tratcd by a blind adherence to the barbarous plans of the dark ages? Is it pleasant that any party in church or state, should keep on the down- hiM course of degenerjicy, dragging humanity through the slough, in- cruasing the poverty as well as misery of the race, insensible to all ad- vancement, only tending to discord, hatred and anarchy, rtLeliion and bloodshed ? Are they reasoning or unreasoning people, who multiply offices to make retainers to pocket the people's money without giving an f huivalent; multiplying idlers to live on the labor and toil of their fellows that a few may be enriched, arid all patriotism and progress crushed out of I'.umanity ? Soils do not change in value, permanent houses change as little, why then disturb this estimate from ) ear to year, except to keep to old customs? Some traditions of our fathers are good : such as in- uuitry, truthfulness, honesty; but from the days of Nimrod to our tihys, rMen have arisen to interrupt our peace, retard our industries, tax our powers of endurance, and embitter and shorten our lives; that they may ride into power and glory on our backs, as if we were so many beasts of burden, saddled and bridled for the purpose. Boundless love is professed for our dear Motherland, but only "in word and tongue," to catch votes and popularity. What do they love ? Her rockbound, sea-beaten coasts — her broad, fertile valleys and sunny hiHsides, her daisies and primroies, he: well selected, high-bred varietirs of animals, her peace-loving, indu.strious, but manly and unconquerable people, tlneir liberal policy by which they are increasing their commerce paying oft' their crushing nation;.! debt, diminishing pauperism every year, i»«cr|>cr in the rat catching; fraternity of Hudson's Baj', or a herring or seal fisUcr on the Labrador coast ? VV'hat will some men stick at if a thron ' is in view ? The English must be a mightily dclnlcd people, that can listen to these hollow sounds of lojalty from Mini who lax the labor of their artisans and mechanics ten to fifteen per cent, higher than thr\t of a foreign na- tion, and grant them patents of nobility asa rewaid for their wcllstudied unfeigned hypocricy- If the Sovereign hi rself attended to the elevation of these unprincipled creatures above the common herd; when she touched them with her little sword, or bound, on their politically gouty "lower extremity" the ribbon garter, she woul I hesitate to perform the ceremony, on cases, th.-it if wellknown, should be in fetters. Salisbury is good at these thip;;3 and BcaconsticKI at his last fall is said to have elevated only five hundred of these single timbers. Combinations easily subdue individuals Often very worthy men arc singled out for this ele- vation, but in nine case.« out of ten it is the gentleman who has washed the soiled linen lor the highly unprincipled leader. If these lifts in society cannot be, but at the sacrifice of the many, they should cease. Will the time ever come when men will not be daz- zled with such gorgeous shows, bowinf; flie knees to such empty shadows? Of late, years politicians have threatened us with that fero- cious beast "direct taxation." ^ Oh ! gentleman what have we done or left undone, that you should iirHict upon the generations to come such immeasurable, incalculable, untold miseries — a yoke that could never be broken, never removed, but be crushing and galling to the last hour of the last man's life ? Calamity of calamities 1! They will think Icfore in- volving us in such disaster. It would load out county treasurers xvithout additional pay and compel us to look after the outFay of the money in- stead of our continuing indolence. Every one would find out what was to be raised and for what paid out. Our customs gentry pensioned, and dismissed, with every sentiment of respect, and the places sol . '1 hous ands of oflRces demolished, and their overworked occuponts retired on a yearly allowance. Then the degraded burners of kerosene wouhl be compelled to pay seven cents a gallon retail, or discontinue its use, ex cept in the short nights of summer. Lamentation and darkness uonid cover the west end of the peninsula, and the oilmen would commit that awful felo de se, which ought to be carefully avoided. What woul J be- come of our investments to make for men shoddy wooUens, and coatly cottons, when we are such imbeciles that we cannot con.pete with iiittlli- gent men of other countries. Then we would have to pay twenty five or twenty per cent of their present price for the goods, the other coun- tries would hasten to d«luge our slaughterfields with, they would so re- joice at our degradation and ruin so blue. Foreigners would come and settle on our wild lards and we would be obliged to import Kruger and a number of his Boors to teach us how to hold the power of squeezing money out of them, keeping them dis — no unfranchised till we got ihe wealth aad ihcy got death. We would be unable to elect a cleyer politician, and the work of the clergy in that line would be killed. The govenmient have too much regj»rd for our happiness, to sufiCer our country to enter such, a cycle of unmingled HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. tHat I the \ the iew ? theie isans I na- iicHed ation 1 she u the ishury have easily us elc- , ashed many, je daz- emply it fcro- one or ,ic svtch icvcr he .irof 0>c oic in- ivilfiont )ncy in- hat was lied, and 1 hous ired on a ovd1^. . IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. / &?- t/j :A 1.0 I.I 1.25 If le iiiM •^ i^ IIIII2.2 1^ u£ mil 2.0 1.4 1.8 1.6 V] vQ C*J^ rijk^ 'V ^> Photographic Sdences Corporation ^ \ \\ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 '^v^ -«^\ WtiS ^>. Q a r^^^ ^ f<^ PU* ■M.t^-: 92 HISTWRY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. protected manufacture's prodMctions are costing mucli more than ttiey are worth, and robbing the treasury, but furnishing some election funds for a government that they think deserves tioiuitions. 'Offices have been multiplied without siint or end. The hierarchy rule and domineer; their sermons do not contain the truth citlicr about the decisions of the Frivy Council, or the position of the friends in Manitolra. The leaders of tl e people cause them to err and they tl^at are led by them are destroycc'. The battle between church and state has been pretty well thrashed out in this country and any interference to\v;uds a return to such a union ivill wake up a power that the church cannot control, if the Vatican were even transferred to Quebec. Sir ChfTrlcs and his bishops will soon secure the well-merited con»cmpt they now laLor for, as the heaven-inspired are not much in their favor. Gloucester is said to ha\e had a first white inl abitant in 1603, a Mr Ferguson, on the OUawa front, but he disappeared leaving no traces of his existence and no one has reported where he went. The first actual settler was Mr. Braddish Billin^js, a son of Dr. Billings, a U. E. L., who had been a surgeon in the rc\ olutionary army and had settled at Brock- ville, 1792. Braddish, born in 1783, was nine year? old when they came to this province, as the youth grew up he became like most of tie early settlers fond of lumbering. Mr. Wright of Hull, had been in the busi- ness a few ) cars and Mr. Billings, with a couple of mm, took o«t staves for him, oak at that time being very plentiful on the banks of the rivers. The Rideau bank from the Isthmus was covered with the finest of tim- ber, offering a field of enterprise unequalcd in value. You might cut what you pleased and where you found it most convenient, as no fees were charged for any timber of any kind growing on the soil of the lands known as British North America. The beautiful banks of this river were terraced by nature and must have attracted attention even when in forest, to such a young man so eminently practical as Mr. Billings. '" These slopes inclining to the west and south, showed early what they would become under the hands o( the skilful and industrioi s, as they now appear in fertile fields and pleasant market gardens. Mr. Billings, with his men, built the first shanty against a rock where his fire could burn harmlessly all the long winter nights. His men wure Yankees, Blakely, Moor, and Stowell. His supplies must have been brought from the St. Lawrence or from Hull but Mr. Wright supplied to some extent the new comers, but chiefly his own extensive busiiicss. The river was navigable from Burritt's Rapids to Hog's Back Rapids for floats, scows, canoes, and such crafts of which they made good use, as tl.cre were no roads cut or blazed. He brought a cow down the bank and ihcy sai'ed a scov/ on the water tying the cow to a pole at night, the men spending the night sleeping on the scow. The scow got frozen in above Lojg Island, and had to be secured by poles arui withes mooriiig it to the shore to save it in the breakup in spring. Tlicy Jxad to carry down their provisions from where the scow was held in tlie icc to the sh?nly. The Billings were of old English descent. Bradclish was born at Goshen, n^ar Boston, Mass. Mr. Charles Billings has traced his family name tlirough his English ancestry, back to Genr 1 counts, of the same nauic, as the old Guelphs HISTORY OF T!IE OTTAWA VALLET. 9i English Guelphs of the middle ages. The Gernian counts of the name were p-'cn of pa . ticular eminence and manly chivalry. Rev. Mr. Diidict of Ivickinjiham showed us parchments very aged proving his ancestors in r.uitzcrland to have been men of highly honorable name and position,^""! Uqsc docu- ments of much value can bring no wealth to tlicir owner in tie present generation. Still there can be nothing degradii>g or dishonor?' Ic in the line of connection with such an elevated class of ancestors, be t cy ever so remote. Ir Germany, and the low countries, all the sons of counts held the .same exalted rank In other countries like England, tlic eldest son only inherits the title of the father. Count John of Nassau, broliur of William of Orange, the Silent Prince, had six sons, patriot-s heroes c\ cry one sacrificed his life for his country's liberties in the wars wiili tl\c Spaniards. Another young Count Nassau, a commander in the ;irii.y of the patriots, fell mortally wounded and was made prisoner. When a priest was introduced he turned away his face on the bed. ButthrL- i; i the humanity of the Spanish general, when his cousins were invited to see him. on the promise that they would be safe, hfe met them and ex- erted himself to entertain them and impress on them that he gloried in lay- ing down his life for his country's cause- When he expired they brought his remains from the Spanish camp, the grief of his fellow soldiers in the camp was great and some of them enquired how he bore himself in so great .luffcnhgs. They said he died like a Nassau- If Braddish Billings had the blood of cents flowing in his veins, his clear head was not disturbed with lofty pi..^ntions above his circumstances, but like a man of sound judgment, a practical business man, he built the first dwelling, as he had made the first timber in the township, yet unsnrveyed. Like a man of faith and sense too, he early began to provide for him.self and his household. Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart, with ducal blood in their veins, would burn at the stake rather than di.shonor themselves by sacrificing their convictions Their destruction became the eternal disgrace, shame and ignominy of their enemies. The young lady that became the wife of Mr. Braddish Billings was Mij-s Lamira Dow. Her father lived near Merrickville, called his place Kilmarnock, showing his Scotch origin, although Americanized. She was, s .y, 17 years old, when she married. Her birthplace was Cambridge, Washington county. New York. She had been an energetic teacher for some mouths, but she was told they had no money, and they would give her notes, but she must take wheat for her pay. She made up her account.s, took the notes in her pocket, walked thirty miles to Brockvillc, but the merchant would not cash them, nor give anything but goods, and that on) when the wheat was delivered. She walked home, collected the wheat in due time, drove it to Brockville, received her store pay and returned in safety. After coming home with Mr. Billings, young and beautiful as she really was, she stepped lightly and gaily into the corn-field, and assisted her husband in pulling and husking their first crop of a four acre fieKl. Their shanty was built against a rock, which served as the back of the chimney, against which the logs burned all night through the cold of winter The shanty has disappeared long ago, but the rock with its dark brown face still remains visible.. . A thousand mothers mig^t be cited to tell how well they worked during that age in garden, field an I meadow. Would occasional mild exercises •mm HISTORY Oil THE OTTAWA VALLEVi of that kind injure the taper fingers and fair faces of their charming, grand-daughters ? A Httle browning in the flower garden is pleasant and healthy. Ladies arc not averse to labor, even continuous and diffi- cult, provided it be in the lines that are customary and of high repute, and remunerative. They make, they cherish the customs and fasliions. They will drive teams, ride steeplechases, take hurdle high leaps, do things "infra dig" at times, and for which, they would blame Lord Rosebcry. Mrs. Billings was no stranger to the canoe and paddle. Steam and electricity have nearly dispensed with the labor of man and beast, to say the least of it, in our labor-saving age. Billings tried to lloat in cribs from the Upper Ridcau the lumber for his first farmhouse, '."hich is yet standing in good shape. Seven dollars a month and board round was Miss Dow's salary as teacher. This style of boarding when houses of large size were only one room, was, or would be amusing to us in the present day. A young gentleman in Ohio, then an eloquent, distinguished lawyer, now an emit - ent judge, told us of his experience "going round with the scholars." The males retired with candle light, kicked off their pants in bed, the others extinguished the lights, retired without light in summer and by the fire- light in winter. In the rising the one party got into the tights under cover; the other sat up, clothed and aliglited on the floor in full dress ex- cept the boots. But in spite of crowded circumstances and early incon- veniences, the morals of those times were immeasurably higher than in our cities today. Miss Dow did not teach long, but she possessed the material out of which good wives are manufactured. Mr. Billings seemed to divine this and secured her in her teens. Many a pine tree grew on the borders of streams, that twenty feet long of its thick end could have been sided down to between thirty-six and forty inches by twenty inches. This, when excavated or dug out, to say, one and a half or two inches of a shell, made a good canoe, not ea.sily upset but safe. The bark canoe was very light, easily taken over rough places, but frail and easily broken up. On one of these sailing ex- peditions to Mr. Dow's and returning they collided with the c :ioe of Mr. Tiberius Wright, son of the old Squire, and father of Alonzo the M. P., and Mr. Billings' canoe was driven into the rapid so that it was out of his power to strike the beach, or land Mrs. Billing.s. Mr. Wright could render them no help, as they were carried down the swift dashing cur- rent. Mrs. Billings with her infant in her lap kept her seat as she paddled in the bow. Then as the water dashed into the canoe, she baled it out in the terrible emergency, as the little craft rolled and tossed in the foam- ing waves, among the huge rocks, that every moment threatened their destruction. It was a narrow escape, rescued from the jaws of grim death. Mr. Wright leaped ashore from his canoe, and rushed down the banks in consternation, lest by his foul, they should be engulfed among such swells and he was ready to aid when they struck the shore. She did not lose presence of mind nor faint till all was safe. Mr. Wright was profuse in his apologies as he felt sO much in fault We have not heard of any one since, red men or white, trying the experiment of such a run. For several years Mr. Braddish Billings was monarch in Gloucester. Ira and Elkana, his brother? built in Nepean in 1813. Jonathan Marble Dow about the same time in Nepean got lands, and died of cholera in HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 95 1832, the first year of Ibat terrible plague. We found, on consulting Miss Sabra Billings, that she was the first girl born in Gloucester and her brother the first boy, that she was the young sailor on the rapids, in that canoe race. Looking at her fine lace and majestic form with the corre- sponding vigor of thought and intellect, the ease and facility with which she conversed on so many topics, wc questioned whether we had met any one in this region to match her since her time. Hale, healthy and pleasant, she is not fastidious, voluntarily telling you her age, and gaily chatting on the events of early times, and the changes so many years have witnessed. She has been a benevolent giver, and steady worker in the church, useful and ornamental in society. Leaving her pleasant dwelling on the hill side and reflecting on the interview, it seemed to us an unsolved mystery, that a lady of such aspect, parts, and endowments should remain to this day, without blessing a husband and his home, with affection, congeniality, womanly dignity, and sobermindedness be- fitting a countess or a duchess. We saw with her, a sister seemingly much younger, a retiring, but very pleasant looking lady. It was agree- able to drop in and renew old friendship after an absence of some years. Mr. Elkana Billings, the lawyer, we remember in our school days, as a gentleman of talent energy, and fond of the young science of geology, then coming into notoriety. He left BytOA^n, and went to Montreal, where he published a geological monthly magazine very highly spoken of among scholars. Some of ^-^x* brothers are deceased. One is a strong farmer on part of the old lar ds. Mr. Charles Billings has also a fine farm but has been township clerk for years. We have seen his history of the family in M. S. or type-writiuj; in which he traces his longline. He is a kind of thirty third cousin of Queen Victoria but he missed an introduction lo her when in London so recently, though he brought home a stone from the old "Dcrry walls away." ♦He had a grand tour of England, Ireland, Scotland, and France, and describes to the life the many scenes, places and points of interest, embraced in his extensive tour. We have been told on good authority,, that a young gentleman asked Mr. Billings to give him permission to besiege the citadel of Sabrz's affections, but whether the fortress was impregnable or not, she did not say, but said it would not suit, but she introduced him to one whom he married and the union was happy and productive of much good. If the history of the Billings' family were published it would be very readable and would throw much light on the history of their life and times in this young country of their adoption. The township lies in the corner of the county with Russell on the east, the Ottawa river on its north side, the Rideau on the west, and Osgoode on the south. For six or seven years Mr. Billings' neighbors were across the Rideau in Nepean and he was the solitary occup; "t, the monarch of the township. About the year iSigCapt Wilson of the navy, and Mr. Otterson came in, but they planted themselves southward on the right bank of the Rideau. The Capt. was a prominent, popular man, whose house was the resort of all travellers, especially those searching for farms and being well informed and very communicative, he did good service to these strangers in di- recting where to find suitable localities on which to settle. Old Mr. Johnston, the, father of that Johnston settlement was di- rected to where his location ticket pointed, and when he returned, told l« lilSlORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. the Captain he J.jrl a harrf scra'»'».leto find i^. and the Capt. w.Te «o nmusetl W caDcicI it "hani sTah})lc" to this 6%y. Mr. and Mrs. O'Cotinor, tke JaHver aiwl motl^cr of the rich Hf»cen*J«»nLs of that name, made the Cap- tain's their resting place, ?««5 weary an'i foo^sorr, they carried their bnfj- ?'«vi Mrs. O'Connor was so deligiitcd with the jolly old Capt:»in, and the place wlierc she was so rested and refreshed, that she declared if ever they would he able they would buy the place, which they did afterwards, but sold it again. Contcmt''orary with the O'Connors Capt. Smith came in i82t, and took lands north of the Billings estate. He, like Mr. Billings, took much interest in municipal afTairs and the commis.sioii of the peace, at once a popular and useful man. Glouce.stcr contains 83.573 acres of land, and nearly all good- The M<~Kenna, brothers, IrLshmen, came in 18 19, and who>-e offspring are s' 1 in the region. The Christian name Hugh seems to imply French connection or orijjin. But in the middle ages there were intermarriages between French, Scotch, Irish and English from }>easanls to peers and princes, that the name as well as many others came to be international- John Holdcn came the same year with a nmncroiis family, and in pos- session of such help, took great contracts of clearing from Mr. Billings, thus making his the largest clearing in the township compared with which the others were Httle openings. M.iiiy of these first settlers lived to be very old people from whatever country they came. Several were drowned attempting to cross the ice in a dangerous state, in that rapid running Rideau; among others Mr. Hoiucn when about eight y*^ars in the coimtry. About 1822 the Holisters and the Carmans came and settled there. Bishop Carman the E{)iscopal Methodist clergyman was of this family, whose usefuUness and energy is known in all the churches. The survey of the township was made about 1820, which aided much in the settlements, as the lots could be identified, and the men knew where to improve and build. Cunningham, McFadden, Brush, Telford, and others, came in after the above names, and one encouraged another in clearing and raising such productions as they could use and sell to advantage. Mr. Thomas McKay of New Edinburgh, got a little mill on the place he afterwards built, so fine and so large a building, and began to grind for the people and to purchase wheat to meet the de- mand of the settlers. The lumbermen, however, were the best purchas- ers of flour, pork, hay and oats, and himbering was the principal business of the country, that brought money in, and consumed the spare produce of the farmers. The Rideau river was not fordable in spring and fall, or at any high flood, and the current being swift was not inviting for canoes or any other crafts to ferry over. The people began to speak of the possibility of constructing a bridge. But the conversations, proposals and plans wtre many, before they could decide to get to work. At length the subtcription was begun, e\ try one contributing, according to his ability, and finally the bridge was built. First it was known as the farmer's bridge, as it was the voluntary subscription of the farmers fur- nished the funflhs to build it, then Billings' Bridge, the name it still enjoys, v^ Private enterprise is slow, but it is capaWc of meeting all the de^ nian<^.s of a»y C9tinfcry. Our S«artfs »f Works with o«ir Metkods •£ HISTOKY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 97 ■ '^ Cap- bng- r'lited and buy orary th of icipal useful The g are "rench Tiages s and tional- n pos- iillings, 1 with 5 lived al were t rapid '^-ars in me and lan was all the aided ■je men Brush, ouraged use and :a little ing, and the de- purchas- business produce d fall, or ir canoes c of the jroposals ork. At >rding to n as the mers fui^ ill enjoys. the de- itkodis 9i fw«nce have been (?enp of tineves prepannpf men to corrupt onr another, elraji ilowii to pc>vcrty the millions, and thtinsclves and their abettors to perdition. But these men, with their consciences burned out, think there is no violation of tho law of God in thieving from the nation because it is not an individual man. That they do these' thirtgs under forms of law, and arc sustained by one another, make the offence the nK>rc aftrivated. Should they be able to keep their supporters duped and deluded to tbc end, and with the aid »f the clergy, escape the judgments of men, yet there is a jud^e they cannot escape. Owr indirect methock of racing revenue, and the covetous people tkat handle it, work up innunttrable ways of wroiifj oloing, ans of immorality and sin pre- sent themselves, and rich extortioners, and tbteves rua gr*ai: risks of assassination and robbery. Sanctimonious hypoorites are in tlv; church for wealth, power and greatness; the authors and abettors of crime in the state, a tariff so high as to stir unprincipled merchants to cheat in the revenue, and officers to take bribe?!, and for every dollar's worlh we get in improvements we pay five. The two old Conservatives, Washington and Hamilton, estab- lished in the minds of the Congress of the United States, that by in- direct tax they could raise ten for one by direct tax, the same old cr)' was echoed by a candidate the other night in Moiitreai, which everyone knows is false. He reads the Bishop's progress and catechism. What have our leading politicians done for their country between 1878 and 1896 but contrive to transfer our earninjfs, the fruit of our toil, into their own pockets, leaving us the poorer every year ? Robin Hood and his merry men took from the rich on the highway and sometimes cave it to the needy, but our Hoods take it from the poor in imposts, and give it to the rich in companies and combines under the name of governing us. They first vote their own salaries, then those of the officers under tLem, then fix that of the employees, and we ask discriminating men, compfC- tent to judge, if the commonest employee in ofBce is not able to live in as good a style as our best middle class farmers can ? Our history since 1878, shows that real estate has lost one tiilrd of its value. They are become sc conscience-seared, that they can, un- blus)}ingly, defend the swindles in contracts, openly dedariqg they w31 ref>eat them if they can. The hopelessness of the case is, tbs^ the fainbei^ deluded, gerrymandered multitude keep them in oiHce; eodorse thw outrageous, unrighteous, infernal frauds. Why is the cost of ruling us so immensely oppressive ? We are not unruly people: The Govcn>> ment is always in the law courts, and ten to one, always losing cases that should not be in law, and millions waited on lawyers that earn them nothing, but like the Irishman, "gain them loss." Two hundred and six- teen representatives, when forty would do better and more work. Most of these are lawyers who know how to ruin their clients, but never ei^ rich them. But our strictures on such doings resemble the young tioblfr man who said, when asked to address an august assembly of the nobiUly, that it would be "^casting pearls before . . ine.** -Poisoning, assassination, revolution, must ever be the toMift of m^ rule, and who is to blame for it all? Docs honest goverooent provoke opposition ? Under the great chief, years 9go, I^ord Raglan, Duiwl 'I l\ 9« 1 ISTORY OF THE OTTAWA ▼AUbKY. 0*C*fM%dl, Mtti alli«rB, such, ^M (hfty at the poHs in Quebec lUMnrters were elected. On the milk of our contractors, the DominkMi "raW««, s irWs, knouts and bullocks" are raised, and we have a fine flock. What w»uld the dead M. J*.'s of sixty years ago say if they saw ow present rulers in their polden chariots — Our hierarchial stretchers ? The provoked execrations, of our sun-browned farmers, and their toiling wives, careworn and exhausted by fourteen hours daily labor to keep out of the work house, and make ends meet, cannot but pursue a class of men, whose love of money renders them callous to every sentiment of humanity, invincible to honor, impervious to disgrace, swallowed up by covetousness in church and state. From such monstrous vampires of humanity, such land leeches, lovers of filthy lucre, good Lord deliver the people of this Dominion, and all peoples in like condition. Private companies take care of the outlay, and do not, if possible, follow a los- ing course. The bridge began to be built round the north side of the river and the community increased. A school was begun in Mr Billings'. Miss Burritt taught hi their house as a i^o\ criicss, but the children around were admitted till a proper schoolhouse could be erected. A post office was established, and a town hall, and little church followed. Mr. Collins next taught what they regarded as the first public school and was followed by Mait- land and Colquhoim, and others in succession. Attendance was very limited for years. The Methodists built the first church towards the south of the township. It was hoped that a village would have grown up in time, but the business of the country was chiefly lumber and potash, and no inducement was held out for years from any source till M. K. Dickenson took hold of the Island where now there is a thriving village- Presbyterians met in goodly numbers in houses, as in CapL Collins and others, where the young minister of Nepean officiated. The Moodies, Blairs, Findlays, Cuddies, Blyths, Dunlops, many of them were members in Nepean, ("The church at the Beaver"), at Hoppers and Nesbitts. The distinction between labor and capital was unknown. Some lumberers were able to supply themselves but most had to be fur- nished at a ruinous per centage, and as prices fluctuated greatly, it was not uncommon for the hewer to bring home as much money as his em- ployer. Peace reigned between the parties. No strikes were ever thotight of. Now, the least thing creates a strike, and such barbarous savages arre we that no reasoning will prevail to make us submit to arbitration. The settlements were formed by the U. E. L., always in the van,' who saw, from their New England experience, a fortune in the intact forests, where they might cut and take away without let or hindrance. Good lands were discovered and possessed, and when surveyed, the titles ■ecwred. They easily discovered where the best lands lay in the wide fickds of their limits, (if that name is applicable to unsurveyed lands), ami' tbey knew enough of a new country not to fear going farther into the isrest to get the better situation. The new-comers from the old worid ImkI everything to learn about land-clearing and stock-raising and build-, iMf and even fencing, and had to acdirnatize. He as a tenant was not: ace in lo iDcd to command but to obey. In s»ch cases, one oAturaSyJ k4, the odier followed, voted with and for his leader. To these Asm (If Mikeet, tke odMars callod ftlioni J were a ild iid ano t i i or olanaM HISTORY or THE OTTAWA VALLBY. 99( Ih officers and men. The form<-r with most of the Vankees were Justices •f the Peace, a tide that pica' ed .Iiem and gave tijcm power and author- ity which wete irresistible. They had one policy, held all offices, and soon were known as *Hi»e family compact," holding the destinies of the multitudes which they had go « crned from the first beginning. Against their doings there was no appeal nor redress, not even by kying their petitions of grievances at the feet of the monarch, who was too €ar away and under other influ- ences and other skies. This disastrous principle had produced two revo- lutions in England, terrible and bloody, dethroning two despotic kings and securing equal rights to some extent for the downtiodder A third was precipitated in America, which lost to the empire thirteen colon- ies, heariy all it possessed; This created a schism in the Anglo-Saxon race, the healing of whicK though most desirable, may not be possible for many generations. We have had several rebellions in these provinces caused by mulish stubbornness of the dominant party, detrimental to the peace, and disastrous to the prosperity of our people, and always ending in conceding more by compulsion than at first demanded, and if given with a good grace, would hare cost less of blood and treasure, prevented so many heartburnings and alienations of feelings and affec- tions, compacted and consolidated in a blessed oneness and cordiality of the who)e community. When a ruling party or cabinet setts itsv?lf into the hands ot design- ing men, whether clerical or political, it may reckon on opposition. They may throw the red brickbats of "rebel" and "disloyal" in perfect showers, at tkc beads of Oliver Cromwell, William of Orange, and George Washington, but they cannot keep on the head of the little despot Charlie, nor save the little-minded james from exile, nor yet pre- vent the formation of a great rival, foreign nation, formed of their own kith and kin. When they have driven into banishment for a time, the men who dare to ask the rights refused their fellows and themselves, they are obliged to concede, though with a bad grace, these rights, and more, bring back the banished and reinstate them in their possessions, whilst their own reputations vanish into the obscurity of the rapparee and the assassin. How pleased would be the cabinet of the great stretcher to assign to prison and warder in Kingston, Laurier and Mc- Carthy, as former cabinets did their compatriots, to Niagara and Brock- ville;_but they may not be able. The terms "disloyal" and "rebel" are often thrown at the heads 6f the most reputable and valuable men in the community but they are too harmless to injure except by returning in the faces of these ^pclters themselves as we have witnessed during the last twenty years. ' Willie McDougal went to the nor' west and to thenor'west went he," "says he to himself I'll feather my nest if the half breeds and I can agree." Colonies and Parliaments must cease to be the places, where needy, designing, knavish and greedy politicians may feather their nests. We ought to have some thing more independent than pensioners of the Bishc»s. We may as well abolish the pariiaments, and let the Bishops niie, then we will have legislation ats it ought to be, bills drawn up m language, clear and forcible, logical and consi-stent, models of literary beanty and excel- leocc The country would economise with no legislature to swppoft oa 100 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. I : the Governor-General would not have to "fellowship" and to swaUev whole, such cabinet ministers. We once asked a very talented gentlemen, who had then spent a good part of a long useful life, vv'-y he had not entered parliament ? His answer was i^pcculiar: "that he would then have to shake hands with people he would not spit on." He was an aristocratic liberal. It took many years to make the roads even passable in Gloucester. One near the Rideau was c)nly blazed and cleared of brush and poles. This led by Capt. Wilson's to I'rescott through Kcinptvillc, to travel with a jumper, or train on one horse, the other being more used by oxen. Some early bridges like at Cumming's Island were of slow construction where passengers had to go on the stringers and animals had to ford it. Some tlrowning cases are reported. From Capt. Wilsons they had to ferry across the stream and travel down the Nepean side to Bytown, but the other road was blazed and could be used as better in winter than in summer to Hillinps' liriclge, but from there to New Edinburgh was stony, muddy, crooked, and narrow and not much to speak of for many years. That to Green's Creek was little better for years after Clement Bradley and Benjamin Rathwcll. Robert Skead, and others, got lands on it. The road to Hawthorne, E ist Gloucester, and settlements round the Mcr Blue was pushed, and the lands occupied between 1828 and 1836. What is called J mcville, was started by Sergeant Templeton, George Sparks, and others. About 1833 Bi ly. Hill, Little, Low, Savage, and others, settled along the Russell road. Some of these little places have several names as, Ramsay's Corners, Taylorville. From 28 to 37, Mr. Gregor Stewart and Sergeant Johnston settled along here. Billings' Bridge beqainc a stirring place, as we approach the middle of this cen- tury. Churches, scho >\s, Town Hall, mechanics .shops, stores and busi- ness places were constructed whilst an impulse was giv^n to busines.s in general. Mr. Hugh Masson about the same time began to make his iron and steam ploughs, and perform many other operations in the busi- ness with marked success and acceptance to the public. Latterly he has taken to private banking on a nice little paying scale He is a respected citizen, a goo 1 ncig'ibor, a genial, pleasant gentleman. His wife is a dauglucr of Mr. Alexander Kennedy. Her mother was a Miss McDiar- mid of L;r,iark Co , ucar Carleton Place. They had a numerous family of fine looking dauglvcrs and some sons. The eldest son, a superior young man, died of lockjaw. He had cut his foot and the wound had healed and seemed all right. He had come with several of his sisters to Aylmer, rendering ns a real kindness in a serv^ice of song at a church festival. They had fine voices, cultivated them well, and never failed to do justice to the pi ;ce, and dv^light the audience. The value of that ser- vice was much eniianccd by the good will with which it was rendered. A few days after tliis, unfavorable symptom" appeared The skill of the physician was exhausted and was utterly unavailing- With great sorrow, we, among his other many friends, witnessed his extreme, excruciating agonies, which he endured with fortitude, meekness and patience, ana tke end was perfect peace. One of his sisters married John Anderson, a cabinet maker, then afterwards a Presbyterian minister of un loubted piety. One married Mr. McMillan, long an efficient assistant to that very able teacher^ Dr. HISTOUT or THE •TTAWA VALLRT. I«I Thorburn, aini n©w |N-inc«pal of the CoHcgiate Institute, whkk the Dr. hekl for about twenty years. Both very acceptable and successful head roasters. Another married Mr. Mcintosh, a grammar school teacher, now an active insurance agent. Another married Mr. Dalglish, mer- chant She diet! young. Another wedded Mr. Dewar. and went to this Sarnia region. One, we thought the finest, is unmarried. The younger brothers arc bachelors. Three brotlicrs of the Kennedys were elders in the church, devout men. Mrs. Robert Kennedy, a fine woman, good and true, was sister of Mrs. Alexander Kennedy, and Mr>». Donald K'in- ncdy v/as Mi.ss Buckham of Torbolton. Robert, i ic surviver, is now far advanced in years and has alwavs borne a chara.:ler eminently Christian. Mr. Bartram, of Her Majesty's Customs, resides on this side the bridge beside the store opposite the hotel. The buildings are good. The Pres- byterian church is not pretentious, but like what shouL. be rather than the showy things, the age delights in. It was a chapel of ease to Knox church and was usually supplied by the wealthy city ministers, who took the fees these afternoons for the services rendered It has been recently .settled as a charge under Mr. Morrison. From peculiar circumstances it was not subjected to the hard nursing, as were other places in thr suburbs, that had to fight their way to every position they gained. Poor policy on the part of the clergy. The more church organizations in a city the better. No salary of a city minister should be all )w«.d above two thousand dollars a year, and no country miustcr's salary below one thousand. With free manses this would be sufficient. The church should not permit the display of human pride usually made in the huge, useless church buildings which stand as monuments, evi- den ing the neglect of human .soul.s. and encouraging the disposition and the Chri.stlessness of wealthy ministers of religion. Has the church broken loose from her moorings to gorge on ,- minister and compel ten others to put up with an equal sum among them all ? Or is he worth the ten doing the work of the ten ? The large loaf and the big fish argu- ments have a povverful influence against church growth. The grand im- pulse given by the Free church movement is followed by an age of moderatism and a breaking loose from the truths of pure religion, plea- sure takinfT the place of spiritual devotion. Tiie.se things ought not so \ to be. A very loud and bitter cry was raised against patronage. Do'ibtless there was a cause- To fast and tithe may be faultless, but you need not boast of it in your prayer, but should the clergy enjoin this and com- pel payment by law, it is a curse. Were patronage necessary, which we deny, it would be safer in the ham's ol an honorable layman, than in those of a Bishop, or two or three domineering, despotic Presbyters. Is the ecclesiastic, who clandestinely calumniates you, destroying your in- fluence and livelihood, any better than the highwayman who demands your purse ? Thiese men, powerful by wealth and cunning, rule among others who are only cyphers to be placed where they please. How often is the wicked justified and the just condemned ? What stories of blood, the history of the nations present in the murder of their best patriot citizens I It is one thing to place a minister at the point of the bayonet, and another to deprive him of his just rights through an un- juadfiable partiality. Inuendoes, misrepresentations, calumnies, and HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA V/ULLEY. ■ f jHttfe storms of prejudice accomplish their low designs, like the hoMcst Quaker with the objectionable dopf. "Dofj," said he, "I will not kM thee, only give thee a bad name." So he cried in tlie street, bad dog I bad dog I The crowd took up the cry as mal do;;! mad dog ! and ^m; chase soon waxed warm and the dog lost his life. With what seem- ing demotion these men pray for what they have before determined not to receive ? A false report may be circulated privately, and the party injured r^ay mt know of it for j'ears.till it is past remedy. We heard of a case Ma devoted missionary whom we know well as a man far superior to his detractorsi but a false report was got up a'.^ linst him by his enemies, the man sent to investigate took the report of the.d exftminint^, he bought the squatter's claim from John Scott, about the year 1836, and called the place Cummings Island. At that time such a claim was called the good will. The Island is crossed by Rideau street, wliich tifVns up stream at the bank and here the bank is high and steep. A fine iron bridge now spans across from each bank to the Island w'uch divides tlie river into equal streams- The road leading eastward to Cumberland has long been known as the King's Road and the Mont- real Road It had been cut out in the reign of Queen Victoria's male predecessors on her throne, and as it led toward Montreal to Hawkes- bury, it got the name from the most important place. The original bridg- ing of the river was only abutments at first with stringers laid on them, and for years uncovered by log or plank. People generally walked on the stringers but the horses had to ford the stream. They were not near so high above the water as now. But the unbroken forest kept up the streams and rivers all summer. The volume of water was much larger than now. With a current running so swiftly from such a deep volume of water, it was no easy thing for women to pass on flatted stringers, nor even for men. Thev required to be sober-minded or "level-headed." One man, Peter Kinmond by name, attempting to cross, fell off and was drowned before the eyes of his wife, who was powerless to help him in the least. She was a daughter of John Sharpe, sister of William Sharpe, afterwards a fine workman as a stonemason; The east corner with the pointed Gothic arched vvindows of the Presbyterian church in Ayhner is a standing monument of his superior skill and workmanship. He did very honest jobs in his day. He was a straightforward, upright man. A road from what is now the village of New Edinburgh ran past Bejr'iwood Cemetery and formed a junction with the Montreal Road. Froti. -ong Island to New Edinbrrn^h the settlement was formed on the east oi the Kidcau radiating fro/n Mr. Braddish Billings, the first of all the settlers. The belt for miles back to Green's Creek and far beyond it was covered with the finest timbers, and very soon became a vast lum- bering region before men thought of surveying and bounding limits or any duties were paid to Government for the privilege of cutting such forests. Quebec was thus sup[)lied with the most merchantable tirabLX .1 100 RXSSOftT OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 1 J'' n ' '' ' 1. ■1 1 1 ever floated to its markets. All matmer of supplies were drawn by oSiHi^ on jumpers. > They also drew the lumber to the ice to be raftcJ, or io the banks if the current was rapid to be roiled in and rnftcd in calAi water. They were the most valuable of the brute creatnrcffor labor on the farm, in summer living in the woods at night, and in \Vinter fed on hay from the beaver meadows, corn stalks, sheaf oats, and summer turnips; with yoke chain and crotch, could lay many pieces a day on the river. If fatally injured by accident, whether the bone broken was the leg or the neck, the flesh was good to be eaten and the skin could be dressed and worn for moccasins. The horns could summon to the sa- voury meal, or chase away the yelping pack from pursuing the startled elk. The road at first down the Rideau bank to the Ottawa was any- thing but a straight line. Hovv^ever, by improvement from year to year, it has become a beautiful drive, an excellent country road. Before we leave the Island, Mr. Robert Cummings, the eldest son, and proprietor of the place deserves at least a brief notice. He has been popular since his boyhood, has filled every place of note in his township and county, except a seat in Parliament, for which he is eligible, and to which he would do no dishonor. We are not much acquainted with Mr. Cummings and know not his views, but if he is of our mind, the seat should be wiped and well dusted before he would occup]?' it, as so many have been soiled of late years by disreputables. Ihe air is surcharged with microbes from Curran and othei bridges, m^^mmoth swindles on railroads, canal locks, and contracts in every dej/artment, and boodle in every form, that the diseases of lying, perjury, dishonesty, are caught easily and soon become fatal; baffling all medical skill, and more than decimating the community. But death never catches these fellows un- awares. They have provided well for their own. That Mr. Cummings knows his own business and attends to it, his establishment manifestly indicates. He still continues to manufacture carriages, waggons, sleighs and cutters, though the business is not so lucrative as in former times. Combinations with large capital have pushed individuals into the back- ground. Still he is doing a good, legitimate business. His store is. de- servedly well patronized, and doing splendidly for a locality so near a large city, with so much competition. He has no protection, no bonus, has asked no exemption from taxation in his municipality. Why is the attention of bonusing parties not called to such cases ? To bonus one is to put down another, and to bonus all of the same craft is to destroy the taxpayer. One such bonus only prepares the receiver to seek another and a third, for the lover of wealth is never satisfied. ; He will rush from place to place as he hopes to get gain. If an M. P. so much the worse for his competitors. His influence will secure the more, and he has neither heart nor soul but that of a miser, who would swallow .hole provinces and be still as lean as the lean kine or the blasted ear-i He will start a factory everywhere he gets a bonus and make the carts here turn out the wheelbarrows there, and the bobsleds in a third, or become insolvent, a thing so easily done afld so profitable. Will this immorality not bring any land to ruin ?-— They bone us. Is it not reasonable that every man should have a fair right to the fruit of his" la- bor, that he should not be compelled lo support the combinations of ihe i..ost grasping and dishonest, that the competition should be on a fair HiSTORV OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 107 or to caUn labor :r fed on the as the Lild be Lhe sa- itavtled *s any- .0 year, est son, las been ownship , and to with Mr. the scat so many rcharged ndles on ,00 die in e caught lorc than eUows un- :ummi«gs manifestly ns, sleighs \et times, the back- ore is.de- so near a no bonus, Vhy is the )nus one is Jestroy the :k another V If an M. p. secure the who v'ould Tkine or the [bonus and lie bobsleds profitable. I us. Is it not lit of his" '»a- ^tions o! the on a fa\r f.ilts of brain and muscle should be rewarded. The bocus enables men to hold for higher rates, and extort with impun- ity. Extortioners shall not inherit the Kingdom of 'Go 1. Perhaps they do not care for toat but prefer their position in this life. Mountains of lead are lighter than the responsibilities that rest on the rulers that grant the bonus and encourage the iraud Might is discanJed from being con- sidered right, but, these quiet sti*als from the many to give to the few arc samples of that old barbarous principle, and worse, for no chance is given ta hold one's own v'ithoi#t violation of law, which they are very suick to punish. H©w strangUar. isact le or dbe Idle- tlay. enty soon idley hters Hull lived. city. vas a eorge wharf, Dcred, entto potato useful ,d fine isively, ne old highly of her : house e write )soB in irnishes le river on the s, Esq., (ts the oldest )reacher death in reach- he was lot rally entioned in the est pine i the ma- risi^g *® r as your '. a W- J s«n»wic 109 It horizon. You take in the whole level country to Cornwall, Prescott and Brockville along the St. Lawrence. Looking westward you see the spires of the churches, the prominent buildings of the city and away to- wards the west side of the county. Half a mile off on the east is a large old orchard, and at your feet, several pretty young orchards, not large but seemingly healthy and thriving, indicating that they may be culti- vated with success. This is one of the best positions from which to get a surpassinc:fly interesting view of a whole region of country without break or interruption. It enhances one's idea of the riches of the lands our people possess, and if many of them would only look at, it would ,Mve them a more profound view of their iesponsibility to see that our c )'intry is governed by a class of men, possessed at least, of intelligence and honesty. The farmers of this region must be eminently successful, if we are to judge by fine buildings, the fertile fields in their ummcr bloom, the great milk herds that cover their deep green pastur s, the large teams and milk waggons driving to and from the city on the fine macadamized road that stretches into Cumberland. The pioneers have left an intelligent, enterprising race behind them to inherit their really valuable possessions. With a soil so rich and productive, an atmosphere so clear and salubrious, a market for their products so near and so steady, religious advantages so convenient, these people should write the Divine truths of the Ivevelation of God, if not on their gates and doors, as was comrnandcd of old, at least on t!ie hearts and menriories of their off- spring, that they may guard their rii;ht.s, civil and ecclesiastical, with eter- nal vigilance. The Ru.sscll road lies south of the King's or MontrealRoad, running from Cumming's Island through Eastman's Springs to Russell and Dun- can ville, and thence to the St. Lawrence. Ramsay's Comers or Taylor- ville lies on this road nearly midway between the Island and Eastman's Springs. Here there is a nice little Presbyterian church, and post office Tlie Piymnuth Brethren hold their meetings in a schoolhouse at the Cor- ners. They are nearly all preachers, though only one occupies the plat form at a time. We think they ought to set some apart to teach, who could give them.sclvcs largely to prepare food for the others. Beaten oil for the lamps is the best of all. East of this is another little Presbyterian church with a good attciulance. It is a little to the right of the road southward. Here we met old friends from Huntley;the Hustons. Boyds and others, all doing »vell in that place. One of the Boyd family has a fine establishment at the Springs, of mills, store and shops, etc. Wc were entertained too in the family of our old friend the late William Sharpe, glad to make the acquaintance of his family for his sake, as we held him in hi;.^h esteem as an upright man. The Crowls, one of whom is a clergyman, another a good teacher; and the Lilicos, one an elder, live near the church. In early times Mr. Duncan was the only one who made and fur- nished the oatmeal, so highly prized and extensively used by sensible people. Rev. Dr. Rencoul, a professor from Australia, at the Pan Pres- byterian Council in Toronto said, (and he is a very eloquent and very talented divine), that he hac travelled some in both hemispheres and many parts of the Globe, and the best men he met anywhere were raised 9a porridge and the shorter catechism. Mr Duncan n»ust have held the '.'P*" HISTORY air THB OTTAWA TA le confession of faith as the Professor. At aM events he fiiiiitski.d the stuff the porridge *s made of, and left his name to the viHage- Re- cently we met a Rev. Mr. Duncan, a descendant of his, the field of who«c kbor is in western Ontario; a man, if we mistake not, who wiH be heard from, Mr. Loux, afterwards M. P., i ichased the mill, and his son con ducts the business up to date. Rev. Mr. McDiarmid supplied these little churches for years, tien Rev. George Bayne After his removal to Ash- toNf Rev. Mr. McCauley, who is now with them. Ch» this ro^d from Janesville w ere very early settled : George Spares, brother of Nicholas Sparks of the city and father of the surveyor, James McLay, John Whil- lins, father of John, Thomas and George; Mrs. W. Sharpe and otb is; William Whillins of the Workman stOiC is a descendent. Thomas Whil- lins is father of the two clergymen, one in Nepean, the other in the east- ern townships. This table land lies west and south of the great quag- mire swamp, known as the Mcr Bh'c, a lit'-le continent of peat, mud; deep, damp and shaky, covered with en .berries growing wild, and whose cultivation no one has yv.*t ittempted. They are gathered by parties wl o often hang out a flag t.i t thev may keep in sight, lest they lose their latitude and lonf,itude. '". Alexander Anderson, long ar.d favorably known as an esi .Tied t. .. in Knox Church on Daly street, before the division of that c ^regation, lived in this quarter. Some of his family are here, some in ; nd around the city. We knew him in our school days and .regarded him as a good and true man. Law, Little, Bailey, Savage, Hill, McGregor, Payton, Findlay, Johnston, Bradburn, Ballantyne, Dowal, Dempsey, Tremblay. Kelly, with many others, located along the lines of these roads and towards the bank of the Ottawa river. The village of St. Joseph has a church, a school, some stores, hotels, a smith's shop and perhaps some others. The nuns on the west of it have a great farm, a fine house and mill, vast flocks of sheep growing long wool late m June, roam the large fields. The sheds are long enough to adorn show-grounds. The settlement is French. The few English are at a great loss for want of a school as they do not amalgamate. Cyrville on the Russell Road is a very insignificant village. Its site was taken up by two brothers named Cyr. The French around these places seem to be very industrious. • Dupuis, a medalist, has seen service at Chataguay, where a handful of French chased kv- eral times their number of Americans in a fog. This was a source of great glory to the French, showing their valour, and not very dishonoring to the Americans as they only committed the blunder of conHiig out and losing themselves i« the mist that magnified the size and the num- ber of their Miemics. They were bewildered in a strange )mnd. Tlie French were very brave for so smaU a detachment of troops. They have merited and we have given them great credit for the galiaaft stand they took, .and the heroic display they made of their fighting quaKties. Gideon Olmstead early platnted himself in Gloucester. Sone of the Olmsteads are in Nepean, some in Hull. Others we found in Letchfield when we had a ramble in that part <^ the Valley. Gideon, among the Christian names still survives in their families. The Eastman's Springs take their name from the proprietor. They rise in a lai^e swamp tMt aids in feeding Boarbrook. They say they possess several kinds of medicinal waters, and multitiMles of viMloto •nj/tff very highiyr tke ^mm HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. Ill they spend at the place. When out west we were enquiring at a dnig store for a species of water, termed in the Hoosier dialect, Blue Lick, A gentleman standing by and hearing the conversation, and as the drug- fist had not the article, said he could make it or give the recipe, '. iz : ake a pail full of soft water from the cistern, put into it rjx eggs laid by a deceased hen, well beaten, stir long and carefully, then shake up well before drinking. Still the people had great faith in the Kentucky Blue Lick and drank of it freely, certainly not so much for pleasure as health. Around this part of the township crop up names like Sims, Hall, Tie, Clarke, Kettles. The township was organized in 1832, postmaster, poundkeeper, town clerk, a.ssessors, collectors, patl. masters and constables were appointed or perhaps elected. The court had made the appointments up to this time, •fhe first tax collected the first year was fifteen dollars. The south end of the township was settled by the workmen from the canal, scattering over the land pretty near each other. Browns, Gambles, Lees, Majors, McKennas, Telford, Skiffingtons and Johnstons, took up the lands their descendants still occupy. It is a fine plain of agricultural land, and the people with anything like a fair opportunity might accumulate a remun- eration for their labor. The manufacturer holds a high place in the hearts of the governing body in our land. He is largely protected and always claiming far more. Combines of merchants fix their prices and furnish only what will keep these prices up. The machine takes our money and builds the railroads and equips them for the companies, and they dictate what we must pay in freight and fare on the investment of our own money in their possession, and as we have said above, one me- chanic bonused to the detriment of another not so favored. (We can give names.) Farmers are producers, but nobody, in the estimation of the powers that be, but let the farmers take their stand and send twenty- five or thirty members to the House, and before two years you will see a change. But farmers are kept poor by too much labor, and too low prices to pay, and are presumed to be unworthy of pains or trouble on their behalf. Let them hew wood and draw water for ever. A boy with pipe and soap suds can blow a bubble that will look rainbow-colored as it floats so as to attract the eyes of a whole crowd till it breaks. There are men who can place so vividly before themselves and their fellow- men, future prospects that they readily embark in the projects. The disasters of the past do not warn them. They have neither eyes nor ears for them. The half par stock and the half pay earnings of the Canadian Pacific ought to teach, never to permit a Government to give another dollar to a public railway which is the property of a private company. A speculation that will pay can command a large number; what will not pay should not be done. The Methodists built the first church in South Gloucester, a very unpretentious structure. The sect was only young at that time and tiie teal of early days was muqh cherished. Of Israel in the wilderness k was said : "I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love i^thtne espousals when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown It was customary too at that time tor other denomina- tions to assist the one that had resolution and courage enough t* ouild the first church in the place and support religious ordinances. I*' U li 113 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. -^4 Would it not be well if true charity were more manifest among the men of alt creeds ? Many people travelled far to hear the truth from a man after their own desires. The Curries, Pinks, Davis's, came from rvciwthe mountain range of Hull to Mr Cruikshanks at Hytown. The first, Mr. and Mrs. Pritchard rode on horses from North Wakefield to the same St. Andrews' ch'tich. It was expected that a village of note and some pretentions would spring up on the east side of Long Island, but beyond the shanties first built during the days of construction of the cana', it never attained to anything. The tendency then, as now, was to the town or city. Can men of enter, )rise be blamed for doing what they deem best and most profitable, especially if their genius or temperament inclines them in that direction ? A few years on the farm satisfied Mr. Workman, that it was not the sphere in which to exhaust his energies, and the event showed that his judgment was not at fault. Many who u ould have made good farmers, had they followed it up with perse\ cranco, arc now in the cities doing very little. Some are good for nothing anyw here. Some of the old settlers have disappeared from Gloucester leaving scions on the farms to preserve and perpetuate <^'^cir names on the old places. Tne Dunlops are mostly in the city, l.ie Mood'es in and around the city in various occupations. So it may be said of the Cuddies, Blyths, Blairs, Findlays, who could have been successful at any employment on the farm, in the shop behind the counter, or anywhere. Having far to travel to the churches some sold out and purchased in more convenient places, or they went into business more suited to their capacities. Schools multi- plied to meet the grofwth of the population. With the extensive cli ar- ing of the woods of the country, the development of business and the in- crease of population, church accommodation must be provided. At first the buildings were log, then frame, finally brick and stone, where the people were sensible enough to erect such. M. K. Dickenson, Esq., M. P., gave a great impulse to Long Island. The village of Manotick owes its existence, or is very largely indebted to his energy, skill and enterprise. Rev. James Whyte was the first Presbyterian minister settled in the village and its environs. Its present pastor is Rev. William Findlay, formerly of Portland and Cantley. All around is a fine agricultural country. But that particular department of our industry has been far below par for several years past, and there are no signs of its rising into any activity. If all men are created equal, they soon show grasping and holding fast what they seize, a most marked inequality. The burden of taxation is chiefly borne by those whose means of living, property or in- come is visible *o the assessor. Tax is levied on the most poverty- stricken they can collect from, and on all classes till they reach above mediocrity; from that upward they seem to be lightly laden with the ex- penses of governing country or city. This is a manifest injustice; a w icked, senseless, despotic course, grinding the industrious inhabitants of the country to pauperism. The hardest men you meet arc those who hold in the .ni.ser's t?rasp their wealth which they have made in that border land, between a fair living profit and a wild unwarrantable, un- just extortion. One cent a yard extra on one million yarde ©f cotton ^oods will net the extortioner ten thousand dollars. If he setis am^ HisTorr or thb ammA tallst. IIS men man sMTthe :, Mr. same some eyond T.i\ it :o the : they •ament :iot the lat his armcrs, doing he old irms to )unlops various indlays, , in the to the aces, or Is multi- e cUar- d the in- At first lere the n, Esq., danotick kill and ed in the Findlay, ricultural been far sing into ping and urden of ;rty or in- poverty- ch above th the ex- justice; * habitants those who ie in that table, «n- ; «f cotton setts M^r one-tenth of that it wiM be one thoosaMd. He my not smtdc hb Apt lo sweetly on the little as on the much, but the vaiqakoua principle it the same, and the merchant who Hves in this fraud sfanits himself out of the best society In the universe. This rule is of universal application. It ii in the power of every man to be honest. The exceptions are when by fleecing and fraud and oppression, they are impoverished, and disables, and driven into actj tJicy at one time abhorred. This is no excuse for dishonesty. Better die In the poorhouse where their extortioners must bear some at least of their npkeeping than be dishonest But such is the idolatrous disposition of our fallen humanity, that men will worship wealth in the hands of fools, mad men, the most noted scoundrels, yea, the father of Kes himself; and hence the tendency to get wealth by any means the most unfair. Strikes have been mstituted to meet the overreaching employer but they are illegimate and almost al- ways fail of their object, and when the toiler is reduced to starvation, and the capitalist circumvented the strike has to be called off and some» times the wages are lowered, and always the time lost is more than the rise in pay can eqital. There are samples of empk>vers acting honorabl^ with their hands. We never met a man who had been in the employ of the late Alexander Christie who would not gladly cater it again. We have hoatd of landlords m the Old work) who got up improvements on their estates to give work and wages in hard times, to aroid or relieve distress; — all parties are gainers in such cases. There are cravens, ill- tempered and lazy, who wiH live on the labors of others as indigent as themselves. Some fellows are mean enough to let their wives provide for them. The inequality among us sixty years ago was not half so discemable as now. When prices had fallen in Quebec the hewer would bring home as much for his year's toil as the Uimberer for all his planning and saug- gting for a fortune. Now a timber limit is a fortime witfaoat tourhirig it with your hand. The early settlers raised the sheep asd made their own woollen clothing and blankets, and many did their own tailoring from necessity. The border tafiff wais very low. Men were able to purchase forms and pay for them in a few yean by their labors. The rich man did not come to poverty, bat the poor man imprt^ved and became richer. Now we And the poor man growM^ fmneier, and the rich man grows richer. "Home^ and poor bouscf are becoming the order of the day. Sho»ld the country ceotinae a finr OMre years on the down-grade and sinking so deeply m debt, ban kn iyi c y must follow. It must surely ap- pear a mighty mislake to treat the people of these provinces as if they were as rich as the old Rotnaas, when tyrant warriors, great commanders, kings, and emperors with their panoplied legends, had conquered all the barbarians over the earth; gathered their wealth, spoils and plunder home to the eternal city; leaving them hungry, houseless and naked, but giving them in exchange, Roman civilization and the knowledge of wearing Roman clothing when they could get it, a career which poster- ity has held in everlasting contempt and condemnation; and which orators can hardly find language to point in colors sufficiently cloudy- dark and gloomy and which never man has been found to justify. Could any greater blunder be committed than to make the salaries of our rulers, legislators, jrfelges an .1 government employees, so iar o«it of \ i : i 1.. ! •; 114 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. a proportion with the salaries, incomes, and earnings of others ol the mul- titude. This entirely mo. and over two and a half millions of "hereditary bondsmen," keep the yoke on the neck of five millions. One half million lives on the other four and a half millions. These latter might be free but most of them love their chains. We do not know one man on a hundred acre farm that saved above his out- lay one hundred dollars a year for the last fifteen ye^^rs above his neces- sary expenditure, nor a farm that has yielded one per cent, on the money invested. Some can scarcely pay their taxes. Will there be a reckoning ? Will the dupes wake up ? The jijdgment is coming fo/* thes. political gamesters, and, as the employer said to the carpenter, there will be no putty there that day. If the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and sinner appear. Osgoodc, like otlirr portions of the- ro'intrv that were first explored by lumbermen for Inmber purposes, then for settlements, being far back from the St. Laurence, was naturally later in its being occupied. Ne- pean and Gloucester were ten 3'ears later than Hull in their settlement. The beginning of Richmond village and the Township of Goulburn about nine years after Nep^an and Gloucester. The filling up after these beginnings, came very gradii .lly and slowly. Osgoodevvas among the last in the county of CarK.ton to be taken and inhabited. Swamps formed no obstacle to winter lumbering provided the streams, could Moat the pieces, the wealth of the timber crop could he easilv secured. Lumbermen selected and marked out the choicest portions of the lands and kepL^ them in view for use as future farms- With the light canoe paddles and a couple of guns, a party of young fellows could explore as far as the navigation permitted the opportunity, and could portage past rapids that they could run down on their return trip, and so spy out ';he lumber groves on the face of the country, especially near the streams, as short drawing wa.« the secret of much profit. In these explorations they required little provisions as game was so plentiful in these new realms They could sleep in their canoe, staked out in the water a little from the shore, secure from danger in the stream. Or they coukd swing them- selves high up in hammocks on poles high above the reach of prowlers or nightly depredators in those days of wild exciting adventure. Gen- tlemen from the settlements of Glengarry and Cornwall explored the Nation and formed settlements on its banks. The Castor was found to be one of its tributaries up which a party sailed near to its source behind Prescott Here were extended plains on the banks of these little rivers just covered with white pine and white oak lumber of the most excellent quality in the world, and in the greatest abundance; yes, in profusioni* No timber duties or fees were yet thought of being exacted by the Govern- ment, though they came to be reserved in Hkc Patents afterwards, m re- HISTORY 01- THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 115 garcis white pine trees as well as mines of jjoM and silver. These treas- ures that cost only the prcparai ion, t ouUl easily be flontcd on these smooth streams to the Ottawa river, then to the Quebec market. The keen eyes of the explorers soon tictected money in abundance in these inviting fields, and made up tticir minrls to pursue the business. Sur- veyor IVlcDonald hati run the liies on the south and cast of it, in laying out the townships on these sides (if it, whilst the Rideau river and the town line of Gloucester bounded the other two sides. He probably gave it the name before a man harl cut a stick within its bounds The u E. L. made sctMements alon^ the St. Lawrence frontier, taking up or drawing as it was termed the lands from the Crown, granted so fiedy to all early settlers. As many of them had borne arms in the Revolutionary war, on the side of the British, they were specially favored, for they had to leave the United States and seek the protection of those they had fought for under the old flag. Some of tnese were daring spirits, fine horsemen, very much at home in the saddle. Little consideration was given to the horses killed, provided these young troopers accomplished the scouting they were sent on, and carried the despatches in quick time that were entrusted to their keeping. The emergency must be met, the threatened attack baffled or warded off, the junction formed of the scat- tered forces at any cost. .The sacrifice of one life might save a troop or a squadron. Archibald McDoncIl was one of these fearless, courageous youths that in the war of 1812 — 15, distinguished himself as an oflficer of militia in his native Glengarry. His father had fought in the ranks of the King's forces south of the line- His mother was a daughter of Alexander McDonell, born in the region of Albany, New York. They had to make their escape and settled in Cornwall, named after General Lord Cornwallis, whore career reflected but little glory on the arms of his country. Osgoode takes its name from a distinguished Englishman. Archibald McDoncIl was promoted for his bravery and rose rapidly, and often bore despatches from one commander to another. He had many hairbreadth escapes, hard hot rides on duty, and is reported to have killed two horses on the same night, and to have been forty-eight hours at a stretch in ti e saddle At the close of the war he had to give up these rather lively trips on horseback. He betook himself to lumbering and after spendinj^ some years at that, to farming. He drew 800 acres in Osgoode and his wife being of U. E. L. descent drew 200, making a thousand, a nice little farm. The McDonalds and McDonells seem at one time to have been all or nearly all the population of Glengarry. Hon. John Sandfield M Donald was of Cornwall, Glengarry. He was one of our honest politicians. It is sad to think that such men are so lonely and so rare. Mr. William York is said to have left home on the same day with Col- McDoncIl and to have reached on the same day, and settled not far away, though they did not meet for sonie time, each thinking he was the lone setiLr- Tnis was about 1827- Richard Hall and Samuel Loney came in 182S. The next year Robert Grant came- Peter McLaren in 1832, Cquire Hanna, and Ser^fcant Mcintosh, Duncan Cameror\, John McNabb, Henry Brown, Thomas Bailey, an Englishman, John Ferfinrer, Harris and Hood located near the Rideau. Cas.sidy brothers and a few others were all that came till after the finishing of the canal.* Tken4licre ' IT ti6 HISTORY or THE OTTAWA VALLBT. I' was nn influx that scnHered o^er and occupied large tracts. Four, tix or ci^ht were rcqiiircil \o raise ev^n a shanty, so they had to help each other The rest of their labors wcic lonely, each single man in his little clearing till they got families. With so many miles of impenetrable, thick bush between, Is it won- derful th.-it thrsc early settlers of Osgoode were ijjnorant of Hv c^wn, that was only beginning to be made out ot Cork's '1 Du n, shanties built to house the workers on the canal? These were superseded soon after by better buildings. They knew nothing of the Ottawa above their Nation river, the outlet into the Ottawa, down which they sailed their timber as best they could till they could band all together in a raft. Tows, cribs, mullnets, and loose in single prices almost all forms were adopted to get the pieces floated to form the rafts for market. They found work enough to clear lands, raise crops, and support life in their new homes. They went to a mill as far as Dickenson's Landing on the St. LawrerKC. Chryslers afterwards was considered near. These, of course, were visited only from necessity. They economised clothing and had litte inter- course with the outside world for some years. If thev heard in the great distance the rumbling sound of blasting rocks in the Rideau canal they supposed it to be the distant thunder, foreboding the nor'western squall so very common sixty years ago in these parts of the country Isolated so comjjletely on the hanks of their little river highway, so magnificently stocked with fish, fowl and fur bearing animals, they "had not yet heard of the birth of the little hamlet that was to be the future capital of this large and lengthy Dominion, whose present fifty thousand inhabitants may soon number half a million. Their fine road in winter enaoled them to travel in sleighs, round to the St. Lawrence. They canoed the same highway in summer, They spun, wove and made their clothing and blankets, dressed skins anil made caps, mitts and moccasins. 1 hey raised their own hay, oats, potatoes, turnips, onions and cabbage; made their cheese and butter, raised their beef, mutton and poultry; and lived very nuich like the sons ot Irish Kings. Chrysler's mill was almost in their neighborhood in war times, and Chataguay was not far away. These were the .scenes of the success of the Voltiguers and the Glen- garries, under Col. McDonell, as the fields of fame. Wilkinsont the Atiicrican, had been sent to take or invest Montreal. Hampton was following with succour to the number of several thousand. To prevent the junction of these forces, De Salabery was sent, to harass them to the best of hi.s ability. His three hundred men were the Cana- dian fencibles and Voltiguers. Reaching Allen's Corners, he pot infor- mation that the Yankees were not far off, and he hastily constructed a block house of the few logs from the chopping, and with tree tops, and brush and stakes, resembling an Arabian Zeraba, a brush fence of tliorns, tops out; and sent out scouts to sec how near and how strong the enemy might be. De Salabery knew it not, but Lieut. -Col. MeV^onell h.ad just reached the fords of the Chataguay river. This was said to be the finest, fastest march of the war, being one hundn-d and seventy miles in sixty hours with the poorest accommodation of boats for rowing among the islands of the lake, and the most wretched roads, he led his six hun- dred men and about fifty trusty Indians, on which little band Iz^.r.l was advancing. At th's critical point Dc Salabery 's men retrcatetl or fell HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VAIXET, 117 r. fhe each > little back on him in hot haste describing the force that would be InstnDtly upon them almost producing a panic. Do Salabery held his boy trump- ctcr»tight by the collar, to prevent a runaway, and itispired him with courage, ordering him to sound the advance with all his might, which he vadcntly did. This not only quieted the men who had fallen hack on his second line of defence, but it was so that they formed quickly to re ccive the charge of Purdy with his four thousand men, and ready to sell their lives as dearly as they could. The sharp ear of McDoncIl heanl the call giving it the true intrrpretation as. a mighty cry for helj), or- dered his men to cheer with all their lung power, and sent his fifty In- dians to scatter in the woods towards their friends, ami u hoop for their lives, which they did to purpose. The Amcricati commanders hearing the unhearthly whoops and yells of so long aline of Indians, the sounding of so many bugles and hearty cheering of the little army at both ends so far apart and tiie Indians in the middle, considering themselves in emin- ent peril, and tiiat an overwhelming force was about to be precipitated upon them, halted the van, then broke and retreated somewhat dis- orderly, a kind of IJull's run. The bravery of our Keys, that has never been called into question, would have no doubt sustained them, and they might have conquered four or five times their numbers, but the \merican boys being olT their own soil, did not wait to try. , De Salabery with his boy buglar, and McDoncIl with his strategy, aiul their strong-voiced followers, were worth an army. De Salabery was e\ ery inch a hero, and his gallant little trumpeter, with trusty eompanifs would have covered themselves with glory as they did, without firiivj a sliot, but with the greatest advantages, mstead of brush fences, what pr'ispccL had they against fifteen or sixteen times tlieir numbers ? I'he timely arrival of the unlooked for hero Mc- Donell, his keen car, ciuick intellect, and ready application of his soldierly resources, :5avefl Dc Silabery aiid his little force from annihilation, and won for the little army undying reiiown. The memory of such men is imperishable. Time never eciii)ses the sun of their gibry. The memory of D^i Salabery is per[)ctuate'l in a monument erected to him and lately unveiled in the presence of some of his young lady desceinlents- Col. McDoncll's is not so much cherished in cold marble, as in tlic warm hearts of a living, liberal, numerous offspring, highly esteemed by all who know them, the noljiest monuments, rhe strangest part of the thing was that the contracted, self-conceited governor of thy country in that day, took to himself the credit of thus rolling back the waves of Yankee aggression, never even mentioning the name of McDonell in his despatches to England. We had some peculiar rulers in tho:»3 times. Sir James Craig's character is g' .-en as "sinister, stubborn, ill-natured and proud." He appointed ju ges to sit in the legislature, and when that was opposed, he dissolved the Ifo'ise and sent them to the country, and they came back stronger with in(rv.-ased majorities. He tried it again but with worse effect, suspended newspapers, tried to have their editors punished in Eng- land, but thev refused there to consider the act? treason. • Craig was a great disciplinarian. Mis successor, Sir George Prevost, "self conceited, very untrnthfui," whose vacillating policy is credited with many of the reverses of that campaign. Alas ! falschriod seems to be perpetuated Ill 'It 1 ii8 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. down among our politicians in overflowing measure, having inherited it from their father who was a "liar from the becjinning and abode not in the truth." Governors must have made lying somehow respectable, for there are many members of the House who are such known stretchers that no one believes them even if they stumble on the truth at odd times, and the brazen-faced fellows that stump the country, can stand and tell the most glaring falsehoods, knowing well that any informed man must reject their trash. How the abyss is e ilarging itself for these fellows! How sad and humiliating to think, that men for a little unreal distinction in this world, voluntarily bind themselves in chains of ever- lasting darkness, of heat without light for ever and ever. Governor Gower is scarcely mentioned except in the name of an odd township, or street of some city. Queer stories are told of that war. The Ameri- can, General Swift, killed in an engagement with General Evans, had in his pocket silver spoons looted from the house where he c.mcd- Parlia- mentarians go not into such petty thieving but do it on a grand scale or on wholesale principles. When the uprising comes and these poor, false-hearted plunderers are shot clown or stabbed in the heart, will any tears be shed over their wretched, rotten carcfascs ? Will men not raise their thanksgiving to Heaven for such deliverance and say, "Thou hast given them blood to drinl< for they are worthy." It is very unpleasant to have to write these things but the truth demant's ♦'hat thty should not be concealed nor passed over without notice. 1 he life of Col. Mc- Doncll had so many such incidents in it, and he had seen so much ser- vice that the brief notice here given, had it been omitted, would have left a blank in this short historical sketch that nothing rise was capable of filling or compensating for its absence The grist mill of Mr. McLaren was at their doors, and things were beginning to look up in 1833, the first year I breathed the air of my adopted Canada, then a very little boy. Hugh McKenna and James Telford used to tell a good story of a discovery they once made. Each man ovmed a steer of fair proportions and the pair did the work of both farms, regarding themselves no doubt, as near relations being so much pnder the same yoke. A new road had been cut through South Glou- cester from the Rideau bank to the Johnston and Fenton settlement. Horned cattle roamed the woods in summer for their health and enter- tainment. These steers in the leafy grove came out on thisnew cutroad and followed it eastward to its end, and turning southward, buried them- selves in the woods and were lost to their owners. These together soon gave chase, watching their tracks, and found tiiemselves at the road end without getting a sight of their oxen. The fresh foot marks, as they left the road nd made a path, rather a trail, in the fresh mud so black and .«voft, led ihem to follow After travelling what they thought, a long dis- tance, and despairing of finding or overtaking them, they began to ob- serve some increase in the foot marks before them, forming a pathway. They could not tell whether deer or cattle had formed the company in which they supposed theirs must have mingled. Finally they reached the clearing of Col. McDonell, and found their steers with his stock. Here was something '.mexpected, domestic animals, a clearing and better .till, a neighbor they had not heard of nor dreamed of till this hour. After a night of friendly intercourse they returned next day^by the way HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 119 crited it not in able, for tretchers h at odd an stand informed for these c unreal of ever- jovernor :ownship, e Ameri- is, had in Parlia- scale or CSC poor, will any not raise rhou ha?t in pleasant ly should if Col. Mc- much ser- ould have capable of hings were air of my ind James .de. Each 3rk of both ; so much iouth GJou- settlement, and enter- ew cutroad uried them- :jether soon le road end as they left 3 black and , a long dis- gan to ob- a pathway. :ompany in ey reached I his stock. g and better ill this hour, by the way they came, with the truant steers before them. The enterprising Col. McDonell collected his neighbors, only five or six families in all, and they agreed to cut a road leading to that cut by the people of Gloucester. They followed the ox track, sent one boy before, whistling, singing, shouting, and they brushed the road and blazed it after him, avoiding too. abrupt turns. This new road became their winter road to Bvtown for all tneir new settlement, where they got milling done at McKnys, New Edinburgh, and Wrights in Hull, and where they procured supplies for their little store. Capt Le Breton had built on the Flats but .soon after went to Britannia. The road having been now cut through con- necting Osgoode'snew settlement with Bytown.it was travelled on horse- back in summer and began to be improved in its worst places, so it be- came the highway to market, mill and store. Peter McLaren like Sans Bradley was a confirmed bachelor. The first death reported in the settlement is that of Colin Campbell. All the men in the place attended the funeral, half of them carrying the coffin at a time, relieving each other. The road had only been cleared of the brush to the little graveyard on the bank of the stream. Thty had several falls over logs and roots, but the box coffin held together until they accomplished their sorrowful and heavy task. Kenmore was named after Mr. McLaren's native place. Here Mr. McTavish was first Post master and held office for many years. Soon after Campbell several other deaths followed. A stranger was killed by the fall of a tree. Many of the new settlements had no deaths to record for many years. The bulk of the early adventurers were hardy, healthy people, and the change of clima^,-^ seemed to toughen and make them more vigorous. The Roman Catholics seem to have raised the first church. The Me- thodists the next, and secured the services of Rev. Thomas Carroll, who preached to them before the church was built and seems to have been very popular. The man of the Atlas said Rev. J. Cruikshanks looked after the Episcopalians, but here as elsewhere, he is ill-informed, which snows that people should know whereof they write. Rev. J. Cruikshanks was for many years minister of St Andrew's church, Bytown. No doubt he oc- casionally preached in Osgoode and looked after the interest of Presby- terians as the ministers did in those times, though now they get little re- . cognition for services performed so long ago, but they seek not glory of men; their record is on high. The settlement was pre-eminently Scotch as the names sufficiently indicate. Mr. Cruikshanks married several, among them, Mr. T. Far- linger and Miss York. But John McNabb and Grace McDonell walked into Bytown for the purpose, without waiting for a stray clergyman- Mr. Cruikshanks married Mr. Duncan Cameron and Miss Margaret Grant. The filling up of the township was slow at first for some years, but the rich soil soon attracted settlers as the information spread. ' Then with the new-comers and so many marriages of the grown up young people of the families, the lands became occupied so that scarcely a vacant lot remained, and few parts of the country show greater evidences of care and industry. Metcalfe and Vernon are thriving villages and consider- able business is done in them. The former has a Mechanic's Institute, with the seeming disf)ositiom in the people to keep up with che intelK- j^ence and progress of the age^ Many changes have be^i made in ido HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. f (1 il these parts. The Johnstown district covered from below Prescott to the Ottawa rivrr, and all westward was unexplored. The next change was to form ( le Dalhousie district, after that the Ottawa district, then Luc county ot Csrleton. Archibald! McDondl was squire, Col., Assist.-Adj.- General, ana was representative in the large district meetings. After the organization of township and county councils, Arthur Allen, Esq., was Reeve of Osgoode for many years, after liim John Dow, Esq., served fcr about the same length of time in the councils. The Reeves took much interest in the schools, which multiplied in number with the growth of the population. Lands were cleared of stumps, some draining done, and some improvement in slock raisinjT by the introduction of new blood, so that the old races of part Devon and VVhitefaced Herefords were superseded by Durham and Ayrsbirc strains or a trend in that di- rection. They got their clearings enlarged and well fenced, log shanties gave place to frame, brick and stone houses. At first people plastered stone houses on the stone walls and the cold climate made damp sweat- ing walls from the stove heat Some one recoumiendcd rough casting the outside waHs which prevented this dampness. But all properly built stone houses are made air tight with mortar and bond timber which built in is furred up with good strips, then lathed and plastered. This makes two air-tight walls with dead air between and no house can be drier or more healthy. Then their coolness all through summer is of great moment. The prejudice of men to the contrary notwithstanding, a stone house is the best, the healthiest, and the most durable of all buildings of which we have knowledge. The Rev. Mr. Lochead was superintendent of schools as soon as there was such office instituted, and greatly encouraged education. About the time of his leaving, a church was organized in Metcalfe vil- lage. Rev. James White was successor to him in church and schools, and a worker in both. He moved to Manotick, and after some years there, he breathed his last Mr- Ira Morgan had written something he requested and held his hands whilst the spirit took its flight to the spirit land- About this time Mr. Lockhead was actively engaged in North Gower, after which he retired, living some years in Almonte, where his son, Cameron L., kept store. After this he retired to live with his youngest daughter, Mrs. Hugh Gourlay, at Elmwood in Huntley. Here he preached at the funeral ot one who had been a most sincere Calvinist, John Gourlay, who died in hi? eighty-ninth year. He was bom in TuU- yard, did business for some )'ears in the town of Drumquin, County of Tyrone, Ireland, where the writer was born. He had property in lands one mile out of that town where he built and planted, then sold out and came to Canada in 1833 and settled in March. His wife, Jane Lowiy, had died in her eighty-fourth year, preceding him five years, a spiritually minded goAd wife and mother, and devout follower of her beloved Sav- iour. She left a memory to be cherished by every child she brought up. Her husband and herself were iniiustrious, upright and successful. He left behind him an honest, i.vi:t.'oful, irreproachable character; a legacy which his children regar led as far superior to wealth, splendor and glit- ter. Mr. Lochead lived sotnc year^ there and was buned in Almonte. His wife, a Cameron, survived hiiu several ycus and now sleeps by ber HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. rai racy gUt- >nte. her husband. Mr. Ira Morgan became Reeve o(Oagoo6e in i970, aad heW the post for years. He wa^^ a successful man, took deep interest in agri- culture, stock fairs and the fj^neral progress of his province. He was a popular man, wl\c>se sudden death was felt and deeply regretted. James Grant, a son of the pioneer, was the first young school teacher in Os;:joode. His school house was a log shanty, roof scooped, Hoor and nches, home-made split basswood with ornamental corners, and door and windows without panel or stain. But the work was said to have been 7ood both asreq^arded the building and the Icachnif After the embryo store of Cok McDotiell, the first re^u\tti' thir.{^ of tKe kind, was in a good, scooped lo'^ siianty. It was hotel ^n-H «t.-j-3 , , dry- goods, groceries and liquors, a general assortment kcf* by i*fO gentle- men, altcrwards well known in Bytown, Joseph Coombs, Jailor, and Richard Stathem on Sussex street for many years. Some wags in those times would, talk of being alile to can-v at once on their backs the dry , goods in one of these young stores. They were not long so. Allison, the h-'^torian, describing the Polish nobility to the number of thirty tlioui^ k1, assembling on horseback to elect a king, presents these aristo- crats as each carrying on his back all his wealth in rich furs and jewelry. Each expected to be elected king like the Americans. Some one said no thorough going American ever suicides as everyone hopes to k* President some day. The land was damp, the roads without a ditch, and it was hard except in winter to stocK a store. Sales were slow, custom- ers few, and credits good. You might carry some on horseback or o« your own back, but wheeling there was none for some years after. These stalwart old men, McDonells, Stewarts, Campbells, Cameroiw, Grants, Robertsons, Dalglishes, Rodneys, McEwans, made a fine impres- sion upon us in youthful days, as able, hardy, healthy, vigorous citizens; but they have all passed away rn^.h many others we cannot now name, though as deserving of a place a.i any in our brief little historical record. Printers are a very superior race of men but they sometimes make you say 'foundation' for 'fabrication ' Dr. John Owen, the prince of theolo- gians, was a luminous as well as a voluminous writer, but he had great trouble with the proof sheets of his works. The printers could manage his latin but so many Greek and Hebrew words came up in his exposi- tions and theological treatises that made difficult work for the printers, and for his corrections; but someone having heard of these troubles, and having seen an edition of the Scriptures where even misprints escaped the redactor, decided that the Dr. must find consolation that he fared no worse th*n the most sacred of books had done in the pnnters' hands. Instead f 'Princes have persecuted me,' the men of type made it, 'Prin- ters have persecuted me.' They had to be endured in these ages since the discovery of the art, as a great improvement on the manuscript vol- umes of antiquity. It met a furious opposition from the men who copied and whose work it superseded and wrecked. The people of Metcalfe have built a splendid hall in their viMage, and were preparing to have it opened by Mr. Ira Morgan, who had been one of their >^Med public men, but his sudden death by the electric r •n Elgin ittreet, threw a pall of horror and sorrow and surprise over ti the c«aim«nity. They carried in his remains as they were tiaking him j to^iie ceanetery. Mrs. Moif an resides in the city, an amiable lady, who ' I I'al !i''' 122 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. I ' l-'i ''I had Veen married only fourteen months when she suffered so k'^enlyfclt a bereavement, in which she had the sympathy of the wholr community. A. T. Baker, Esq., M. P. P., succeeded Mr. I. Morgan as Reeve, for sev- eral years a gentleman of great popularity and enterprise The schools had reached twenty in number for some years before this time and the buildings were greatly improved in appearance and accommodntion. Farm houses multiplied. Young families live near the old homes ofthcir childhood. Most of.thc children and grandchildren of the pioneers ar'.- still their representatives on these old farms. Some ha\ e gone to the city and to the west, or got into situations suitable to tl'cir tastes and capacities. The villages are growing and business is on the int rcase. The best history of a place is the success of honest industry of tlie people, and the fortitude with which they endure and pass through trials and tribulations when they come upon them.. Kenmore has some fine shops producing good agricultural implements. Under-draining, a necessity al- most everywhere, is essentially so in these level filains, like what Ameri- cans out west call "bottom lands." By this simple process of letting out the water the heavy clays loose much of their adhesiveness, become more porciis, drink in much of the rains that leave the ammonia, the plant food in soil, as they filter or leech through. Besides this the v. atcr rimnirg all winter from the lower earth pre- pares that on the surface for imbibing the snow water in the spring, in- stead of its lying on the thick, wet soil till evr.joration in the sun carries it away, making the seeding so much later, and keeping the soil several degrees colder. Then drained lanil is ready for every shower which disappears under the roots of plants, instead ot lying visible till absorbed in the atmosphere. This gives nutrition to the plants instead of sadden- ing and turni ig the soil into an acid condition, injurious to plant life. On this common sense plan of agriculture, the land, being warm and dry, can be seeded eaily, the plants will be better nourished and mature in some less time, and be very much better in quality and weight than on wet, carelessly tilled soil, with a shade less cost of labor. Farmers cannot now give working men twelve dollars a month and board all the year with wl eat below seventy cents a bushel, and beef and pork, four and a half to five cents a pound, everything else in proportion. All that can possibly be done by machinery must be so done and the land better cultivated. The experiment might be tried, of giving double or treble cultiva- tion and leaving more in grass, so that with good dressing, the quality and bulk of the returns might be greatly increased. The land being put into far better condition would be more satisfactory to the owners and operators. A friend of ours remarks that the satisfaction of looking at animals well-lormed, thriving, improved breeds is a compensation in part at least for the care bestowed and the provisions expended on the ani- mals. It will require great labor and much outlay to improve the land suflFiiciently, but the stock taken in one's own farm mfay pay better than taken anywhere else, and will not be exposed to burglars or bank robbers, or the bursting of other bubbles that are only lotteries. The Govern- ments of most countries have become too burdensome for the poor men- dicant mukitude to long endure. Somd talk of, the government of the people, by the people, and for their benefit. Is that the case ? Is it not HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 123 ;n1y-fclt iiunity. for sev- schools and the Kliition, ofthcir ;ers ar'.' to the stes and se. The people, als and le shops :ssity al- Anieri- letting become he plant irth pre- ring, in- I carries several er which ibsorbed ■ sadden- life. On dry, can in some on wet, cannot he year ur and a :hat can d better cultiva- quality leing put lers and oking at n in part the ani- the land tter than ; robbers, Govcrn- oor men- it of the Is it not for the wealthy, and by the wealthy ? Oligarchies go under the soft name of democracy. Every man seems approachable by money. The people are the source of all income and those that rule in city and coun- try, are the tax collectors, and so lordly and with so much dignity they do pocket it. Rev. Lyman Beecher is reported in a prayer to have said, "grant that we may never despise our rulers an'l grant that they may not so act as that we cannot help it." It is sad, pitiably sad, that men elected to high posts of honor throw away all responsibility and honest\', coiiipel- ling people to treat them with merited contempt; ministers of the Gos- pel and ministers of the Crown to be capable of iittiring tmLruths and doing dishonest deeds, destroy at once in the mintis of many all regard for religion and civil liberty, make agnostics, socialists and infidels in crowds and thousands. Instead of building up the church and renovating the state, making society healthy and happy, they do all they can to dis- solve the fabric of society and bring dire confusion. The low state of morals and positive irreligion among public men ilnniii^g out in tlieir public actions, has driven people to the conclusion that they are actuated by no principK but hold truth, honesty and ri«:(htcousnc:is in contempt. This naturally produces Patrons, P. P. Associations; oppositions of ever)' kind. It is surely a plain, palpable fact that if the leaders of a legislature would begin their career by an honest endeavor to do justly and keep to truth, there would be no oppositions, except by men without principle that could not long be maintained or supported. Would men of the mental calibre of Hons., Louis Joseph Papineau, William Lyon M< Ken- zie, Robert Gourlay. not to mention surb f^minent names as Chan< cllor Blake, Hon. Edward Blake, Baldwin, La Fontaine, Rniph, Nelson, Brown. Dorion, Sicotte, J. S. McDonald, Alexander McKcnzie, Wilfrid Laurier, Sir R. Cartwright. and not least, Mr. Dalton McCarthy, with a host of other giants in intellect, politics, law and literature — would men like these stake their reputation on going into opposition to a Govern- ment that was endeavoring to govern a people, many or few, incorrupt- ibly and honestly ? If the people who furnish the public money and control tl^e elec- tions, could be induced to think what misery they art entailinpj on their own offspring for long continued generations, they surely would be in- duced to make a change in the leaders of their parties. If half our em- ployees were pensioned off, half the boards of Government dismissed and abolished, the Senate discontinued, and the representation reduced to one half in the Dominion and the provinces, all permanent salaries much reduced, and the business of the country simplified, things would begin to return to a normal or a reasonable course, and a healthier tone would be felt. " We are top-heavy. The country cannot endure the burdens now upon its back. It is the last ounce. Sliould any party, Tory, Re- form, Patron, Protestant Protective Association or any other, delight in bringing oh a reign of terror ? These Michaevils, Ahithophels and Judas Iscariot will have a hot time hereafter and even here sometimes fire comes from or>e party and devours the otiicr. The prophet is comnvis- sioned to say "I will kindle a fire in the house of Hazael and it shaH dc- v«Mr the palaces of Ben-haded." This would be a dci)lorable state of Mkl: w^« i-j t* l»ktfB« r 124 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA yiAIXZT. I That such men are prosperous and so poweTftrt for evil, seems to te* fleet on the Government of the world; but not more so than that Islam- ism gained a large portion of the human race. Or that Gengis-Khan and Timour or Tainarlaiie conquered so many tribes and his descendents held the sceptre till their overthrow so recently at Delhi, where the fa- mous Major General Nicholson lost his life in storming the city, himself the great prominent figure leading on the heroic few that entered the breach and drove before them the hoards of sepoys, as he sat terribly disabled, and cheered them as they delivered their running fire and cleared the place of its scores of thousands. A number of the Hindu priests called at the camp of Major General Nicholson, some years earlier than the revolt and asked to be shown the General's tent On 'being conducted into his presence they prostrated themselves and per- formed their devotional services to him as if he were some divinity. He looked at them till they concluded. He then ordereo each priest to re- ceive a number of stripes of a moderate order on the bare shoulders for a punishment, charging the sergeant to see that it was not severe, then or- dered them into his presence and explained to them that he was a man like themselves, and that their actions were ra "^k idolatry, and none should dare to worship any but the true God. Nevcrihelcfs a sect was organ- ized among thtm, called the Ni-col-Seens. The curse of the Lord is in the house of the thief though he know it not in his wealth and diversified delights. Osgoode has now a great number of post offices, with facilities for daily mails to most of them. There is a large mileage of macadamized roads running through various parts of the township and in a good s: of repair for travel. A daily stage runs between the city and Metca..- The Bytovvn and Prescott Railway, now the Ottawa and St Lawrence, lies on the west side of the township and east of the Rideau river. This was one of the earliest built roads in the Dominion. The able president of the company, the man who engineered it through difficulties all but insuperable, was the late talented Robert Bell, Esq., for several years M. P. for Russell. Mr. Bell began his career as a surveyor or civil en- gineer, and excellent he was at that employment He became editor of The Packet yN\\\c\i he purchased from its founder, Mr. Harris, who was ap- pointed Crown Land Agent for Renfrew. Henry J. Friel, Esq., who was sometime after Mayor of Ottawa, was associated with Mr. Bell. The latter bought out tl.c paper and became sole proprietor and editor, and changed its named to The Citixtn. Mr. John George Bell was the assist- ant editor and manager of The Citizen all his short k£e. His father, Mr. John Bell, was a merchant from Clonis, County Cavan, Ireland. Mrs. J. G. Bell was a Miss De Ortell from Quebec. Two of his sisters arc the widows of Mr. Samuel and Mr. Hugh Davidson, gcntleracn who were highly respected in their lifetime. The former, an upright man, was Reeve in his township a«d county for noany years.. The railway far move tiian the paper taxed Mr. Bell's ingenuity and energies to the utmost. The Government of that day had not learned the happy art of bor- vo\y ing in England and involving the country beyond remedy in debt to n.akc railway kings, cotton and woollen princes, and unholy combines against the multitudes. Free road bed.^ free importation of materials, and ten thousand dollars a mile out of the public funds, borroucd wkfa a HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 12$ and blue prospect of ever being repaid, were not then common, with millions of acres of land, free even of taxes, all handed over to irresponsible cor- porations with the power of taxing the public as they please in their carrying traffic. These with innumerable other advantages are given under forms of law. In other countries m ealthy men form companies and carry out great enterprises under Government control and regula- tions, and increase their wealth, just as men embark in business without the bonus, to beggar the people and enable them to dictate prices. In many cases these bonuses are barricaded so as their very work- men cannot seize for the arrears of wages. Such a state of things deeply ruid dangerously corrupts the morals of a people; influences their leaders (ot evil, thinking that what is the practice in high life, cannot be so bad after all for imitation by poorer people. The Government absolutely re- fused to let a pri\ ate company touch the C. P. R. when that company had a number of names in it, possessing great wealth, and in their hancfs the road would not have cost the country half what it absorbed as it was eventually constructed. T/te Mo?ttreal Star raged with fury at the small pickings of some rascals connected with the poor Mercier cabinet; now he is well pleased, employed with the present Quebec men who will not lower theii* salaries, nor economize, nor dismiss useless officers, nor abolish the Legislative council, though they have to borrow at unreasonable rates and tax Montreal directly to pay the interest. This is a humiliation for the (U spots that dismissed a cabinet for a trifle, because opponents. Mr. Bell and his company had not wealth enough to build a road but had to borrow from the banks. Lumberers, merchants, farmers, en- ('orsed his paper and when the notes matured, retired them by new made ones. We had these facts from some of his endorsers. He told us himself of c> Welsh' company, "Ebwyvale," we think he called it, which aided him greatly with good, kind treatment, and suffered not in the transaction. The banks, especially the Quebec, were friendly and were no loosers. His friends were legion, and we never heard a man speak of him but wished him success. Many a one spoke to Mrs. Bell of the seeming im- possibility ofcarrj'ing it through, for obstructions insuperable, rose before the minds of many, but she always replied : "Robert is adequate to the task." She was like ma i} that adorn our pages, a superior woman. No otlicr man then in the land except Alexander Christie, who was em- ployed about the same time on the New York and Erie, could engineer such an undertaking in the circumstances. It was navigating a craft against adverse winds on mountain billows- He was among the intellec- tual giants of the age. He sacrificed much in the undertaking, but he completed it willi honor- His company decreed him a dinner at the con- summation. Many old Scotchmen and Irishmen were at the banquet. Temperance had not made great inroads or encroachments then on the rights of man. To become mellow was only a veniel sin. They could steep the thistle, or drown the shamrock, or float the rose without note or comment from prying outside inter-meddlers. When the ''whistle was wet," the "clay moistened", the stern disposition softened down con- siderably. Pat, John and Sandy surrounded him. Their congratulations were honesi, friendly and warm as the hearts from whence they issued, and taking 1 is freely extended hand in tbeir firm grasp. One old Scot taking him for a countryman of his own and for the honor of the old knolls and hillsides said : "Misther Bell, folk ivery what ken thit we're the saat o' the earth." 126 IISTOUY OF Tin; OTTAWA VALLEY. Bell had head and intellect to be the first minister of . Crown In any country. He was very benevolent, possessed great conversational powers, and sparkled with anecdote to o'/irflowing. Some of our readers will perhaps remember that the Grand Tr»ink took its straight line three miles to the north, Icavinf^ Kingston out in the cold. The connection had to be made by "Buss." Mr. Bell ha I j,'rtt hold of the lioor and his foot on the step Roing in, when at a glani.^ he saw some Cabinet minis- ters, and the fine face and well devek)ped form of the Hon. George Brown at the other cntl. "Oh," said he, "you are all honorabks here." Come on Mr. Bell, said Hon. George. If Sir Edmund Head remains a little longer yoii will be an Hon. too. How many do you think he has made already? I would have to count them, said Mr. Bell. Well, thirty-nine, said Mr. Brown. It reminds me, Mr. Brown said, of the law lord in Scotland, Chief Justice Kaims. He had just married his fourth wife, and wasgoin^f down Princess street, Edinburgh, when an old apple woman at a corner raised her pious hands in devotion and said : "Gid spare you Lord Kaims." His Lordship ^topped and looking \ er\' keenly at the old lady, sain Falls. After many years there he removed to Mandauman, where the late Rev. James Chestnut cfliciated. A fine country road connects Osgoode station with Wellington. The road ter- minates at Prescott, but has been swallowed up by that pelican oi the Canadian desert, that has shown such a vampire appetite for little rail- roads, lands and money. It would have swallowed the Grand Trunk but for its length which would have been like the eel with the crane. We doubt if any man can teM what that road has cost, but if it has beggared us with debt, k has made several millionaires. According to the reason- ing of a Cabinet minister, it was to carry the counnerce of the east. With its traas continental, double oceanic route, it wiH | robably close or dry i^ the Suez Canal, and by ks so often breakinf bulk, enrich the day laborers at each end, keopnif; so many more men in the country, and io- creasinf^ ]mr§ely the home market. The kindness of our Go\ ernment to railroads and banks is proverbial; and should command the gratitude of the working classes, or if they had not five cents in tke pocket of their i. ^ged pantSjflrbecause they wellk«ow that the country is rich and tlNk tl.eie is plenty piled up in the banks for an> ekctien to secure for i sentatives the frieads of the wealthy, who can m turn buy so much tai from the poor producers. i tA,-msA HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 127 Quebec is looking up the high salaries of their officials, enabling them to buy so much more yrovisions from the farmers that they will soon wipe o« It their little debts of $30,000,000. The habitants, but especially 77/^ J/<^///r/tf/SA»r, are to be congratulated on their wisdom and steady pcrsevcr^^nce in the choice of such wise and upright legislators. Real estate will soon increase in value, though it sadly deteriorated. The Os- goo"^'" people, say two fifths, have fallen off in fifteen years, every dol- lar Li. >ui; lit down to sixty cents. How pleasant it must be to ha»^c a policy supported by your friends that in eighteen years has reduced your lands two-fifths in value and in five years more will bring them to one half. Wild lands are an exception for the giants to the railroads, t one dollar an acre, were bought back at two dollars an acre, because the government so badly needed these lands for prairie preserves, to en- courage the increase of wild game; and cash was plenty. The average sakry of the clergy would not reach the average pension of the retired employees of the Government, whilst the average wage of laborers, with no hope of pension, will not go half way. Reform is much reeded to keep our top heavy system from toppling over altogether. The growth of families have enabled them to improve school houses and dwelling houses in spite of the depression and bad times, a"d it is said that aeon- tract hasljeen let to remove mud from the Castor at $300 a mile. We have not learned the particulars. The government that builds railroads should open these streams as so much of the health of the country is at stake. They would build to James' Bay or Greenland, and borrow $300,- 'ic 0,000. but they would not ini prove the flooded streams by a few thou'snnds. The people of Osgoode may be congratulated on the fact, that with the majority of the people of these provinces, they have no sympathy with these false principles and do not endorse them. It is strange that potiiiJ'ins cannot keep to the truth- Can falsehood be a foundation on which to conduct the government of a people ? We remember a Judge from Michigan, ."tumping in New York, pointing to the low wages and the starving condition of the working people across the line in Canada, when nine-tenths of his audience could have contradicted him on tk e r^pof. Their working people then had sixty cents a day without boara in the fall and nothing to do in the winter. This we know and can give li c evidence. We can give a case in the church courts; a clergyman, [he c' nirman of a committee, appointed to get the arrears of salary col- ]< cici', gave in writing, the statement, that there was no sum specified or promised to the minister by the congregation; consequently they did not owe anything. One member of the court had mo(?erated the caH, wriiii '^ the amount to be paid. The brethren had sustained the call, and indic od the man and settled him in the congrcjT^ation; yet these men .>=at 1 uf.e, when they knew he was falsifying, and adopted this mon- slro; ly false repor., and engrossed it in their records. If this should be called in question we can p'-oduce the records. Politicians makeitfcp ibie and fiisliionable, to kill with this dry rot, every principle of truti , jrslice ',xx\d honor in the community. The clergy follow the politicians. iJ' I'l e slow find glitter of tie countless victories of the Romans could r.o: y(5(p{)or: ?' c despotisms of the Tu uperors, aHthe gay clothi"g of the c:.v\<,licrs ccul-i not prevent a revolution, which alone saved the country m HISTORY Oi THE OTTAWA VALLEY, •1 It; i rf}' ll'l Mid llft«.! it •«•( ©f the low <{?gii\'1ation in which the impure kini^s, quoens, Prince Ruperts, etc., had involved it, by ahnost proaiiscuous inter- coitrae of lite sexes, court beauties, and ladic^s and gentlemen of fashion and styic (Falfle leaders in the state deceive, Impoverish and enslave; false lea urs hi the church make metchandisc of their hearers. Wc have found rosHiy ready, even in the Ottawa Valley and city, to condemn the vices of tke leaders, that act only as deceivers for their own gain; but they have hardly the moral courage to dismiss these men and get better ones. Some get soothed up, and the purchasable get bought up, and the wretched degredation goes on, till the stubble and brush get dried up so that the application of the match produces a conflagration. The de- cci\ersare cast off. New men man the ship and a prosperous voyage begins, the nation is lifted to a higher plane, or experiences a renovation, t^onest men look back, make comparisons, aud ask themselves how or why they endured so long a humiliation so deep and so shameful ? Our comnui'.iity is simk very low in its morals. The love of money never seemed to us so great or so intense, and men never before seemed to us so unscrupulous in the means of acquiring it. Nothing could be more disgusting or appalling to an honest mind, than the way public funds are wasted on the vilest scum of the community. If the people have taken a stand for reform, it was not till "the last hough was in the pot," till the treasury was empty, deficit after ileficit >vai run or suffered, all sources exhausted, even that of borrowing scarcely possible. The prodigal's rags carefully examined may lead to a new resolution in favor of a re- formation. It may be admitted that when the burglars have done their horrid work of breaking up and carrying away our all, it is not easy to face the butcher and the baker, the coal man, the tailor, the doctor, the coal oil agent, not to mention the grocers and drygoods men. The country is reduced to the deepest } overty, and sunk over- whelmingly in debt, and nine-tcr.ths of the money is stolen from us, and is in the possession of the millionaires who own the railroads, and we may say the canals into the bargain, especially the Tay canal. The people are largely to blame. They know that to elect such vultures is to debase their country and thctiiselves. If those who are now elected would take for their model tlie Long Parliament and investigate the ras- cality of which some yet left in the 1 Touse are so deeply implicated in, and measure out their dues to the tyrants, expose their fraud ai.d de- ceit, they would elevate the state into a healthy condition. King Charles I. raised loans by Privy seal. Our Charlies raise loans in Eng- land and put us in for them without benefit, except the privilege of .pay- ing very sweetly for the seat on their car, or walking behind their chariots. Their promises amounted to nothing as there was no performance. Mag- nificent improvements, increase of wages, short hours of work; in a word, from three to five times the outlay necessary to house these empkjyees; and the same proportion between their salaries and the earmnf s ©f the whole people that support them. Let us have things ia proportiofi. We do not cry down wages, nor is it any advantage to cry them »p. K" the farmer CHM'^ot pay the hired help he must cease to employ. Rewards should bear a rcUtioii to tke performances. The fnanuliact*>rcr shottld not receive more ior Mb inveetments thail in the ra«M •( iIm: laborer em- •1 kings, IS intcr- fashion :; false c have :mn the lin; but t better up, and Iried uf) rhe de- voyage ovation, how or il? Our y never ;d to us >e more Linds are 'e taken • till the sources rodigal's of a re- >ne their easy to tor, the ik over- 1 us, and and wc al. The Itures is elected ; rhe ras- ;alccl in, AiA de- King in Eng- e of pay- chariots. ^e. Mag- n a word, nployees; s (»f «he oportioii. M wp* tf Rewards r siiottkl borer cm- r HISTORY OF THB OTVAWA VALLST. 190 n pii^red, . the mcrckant Mtd h» d«Hts, Chepfjce* «if1Hi warm, not what he oan get but what they are worth. Inventions that are not labor-saving, an abandoned as unproBtable, aa such always shovid be- Then why •M establish this proportion throuf hoot Iftie conunurHty from the Go«> emor General's salary, through aN classes of the employed to the day laborer, aiso the washing woman wid the sowing girl ? Multitudes of both sexes now prefer the bbor of propolltfv themodvcs on wheels to sitting on the saddle, or (he soft cushionea oonioges, and thousands more would do so but for the extoction of the wheel makers. Whatever our pretentions be we are all laborers. Can morality in business then not be restored ? Must it be lost sight of, and injustice, and fraud, and falsehood forever reign ? In our readings we learn that in the good old times hi merry Eng* land, when they dare not publish a ttanslation of the Scriptures in the Anglo-Saxon, few of the people could read, and scholars were drifiren frow the country and had to escape to the Netherlands or Geneva. These reformers were determined to get the Scriptures in the hands of their countrymen, and they oubiished what was known as the Geneva B«b)e, which was very much esteemed by the whole people. John Wickliff* prepared a version in his mother tongue, »nd everv reformer followed in bis wake, full, of anxiety to stimulate the intellect of the |Mople by this most pov.'erful weapon, trusting that friends of truth, .sea captains and others, would ^t theui into circulation; and so from Grcneva tbcy uent it forth, a judicious translation, the work of the refugct"^, from- English intolerance. In spile of the scholarly attainments of the transla- tors, and the watchfulness and care of the proof readers, an error in the printing in one edition escaped them.. It may not have been attended U> aitcr the correction, and made bad work with tbol odttion. The pxia* tec p«t fhcc for peoco. "Blessed »re the "plaoe** makers" This »palies so Mtcrally to the Dom>nioii, from its beginmng under John A. McDoa- akl to its death under Dr. Tupper, tbot it might be chiiated thot tbejr wore brought up on this and other erroneous editions Arrather English edition omits '*not" after 'thoa siMit' in the seventh coRMnondmerK, an ommisston very fatal but perhaps not inapplicable to some cases, like the 'place makers' to them ah. Otir despoiled intoftects, deformed lawyers, despkiring politicians, all the defeated, disappointed, desperate cases, have found great clemency from those cabinets for nMny years, under fine premieri. "Place-making" has been the funda- mental part of their system. They have made places by the thousands that are not only not required, but injurious, and filled them with incap- ablos or worse in many cases. The Bench and the Bar, the Custom House, the Post Office, the inspectorships of everything, the multiplrcn- tion of departments and employees, almost without number or end, over a handful of people, entirely inadequate to bear such a loa '.a \ r?- -Im d rc tw i i rta nco ? Aninst this there must be revolt, untess the people can be kept in profound ignorance of these thin{|;s. Real estate has fallen over onetnird, produce of every kind nearly one half, population almost standing still- How are these huge salaries to be raised ? That pet organ, The Montreal Star, says they have pocketed nearly one half of the $300,000,000 borrowed from England. So little truth is told in the press, people may not credit this. But we have endowed so many knights, baronets and lords, or rather they have endowed themselves at our expense, that the Dominion is a combination of pride and poverty, aristocrats and serfs, millionaires and paupers. We can neither live m the land nor lekve it. Notices of farms for sale have stood till the posts that bear them up are nearly rotten, and no one to buy them. But if they cannot sell the lands, and the stock and other produce bring them nothing, thousands of them are so low bred as to take bribes and sell themselves for a few dollars, or the promise of some improvement to purchase a constituency. Some times these promises were not kept, but made to serve the purpose of elections. It may yet come to be known that ail these large salaries of these hirelings are raised by the people, and they may some day ask these lords of creation to step down from their high perch and come nearer in equality. The most glaring injustice is manifest in making places of emolument, when the work is not donei nor required, and the pay is taken out of the poor, scanty rewards of sewing women and girls, whose labors are so poorly rewarded, and out •fthe farmer whose crops will not pay hMf what they cost to raise them at high wages. Our youth must be taught p«r.tkdhirc, that the good name of our country be not trailed in the mire by every scandal-monger; traified to keep a good conscience fitted for the government of self as well as of the multitude. No man should be promoted to rule, who does not fear (jod and hate covetousness. In order to do this, the same principle should pervade every soul of the electorate, according to the great legal authori* ties, such as Lord Brougham, the elected and the constituents are one as he is cho.sen to represent them. They are accountable to one another, and all accountable to the Supreme Ruler. There is, we fear, a vast de- parture from the simplicity of the earlier times. Men seemed to be more honest, true and sincere then than now. It could not be attributed to the influence of preachers as they were very thinly sown in the land at that time. The people must have been trained in good principles as they lasted during that generation. Our members of Parliament were irreproachable. They had not an accusation of fraud or falsehood laid t«.their charge. In time, bad votes were put in. and bad representatives elected. Needless offices have been invented by the great schemers, and burdens, qrirvotis to be borne, have been laid on all who do not dis- honestly conceal their property from the assessor. In the days when i<.ev. John Carroll preached to a few Wesleyans in Osfoode, and women rode twenty-five miles on horses to hear Rev. Mr. Cruikshanks, there were earnestness and truthfulne.ss in the hearts of the settlers and many of them are so yet, We remember in these times they teW of a devoted mini.stcr visiting his people and about noon he rcecfaed a kouse, whcr*-: r'lc liidy said she would ask him to dinner, but ikc ettly hMl herrin^^. I (c assured Iter nothing could please him better. RVTOItT or TUB M I AW A TadXKT. 131 lie WM Hi<»h)jr entertrnMctl auxl very kmdljr treated. T>>e woman Wihif AKoverecThts refined Uste feasted Ktm m hn caJb after on the ektectabM inny tribes from the coast of tke ice-boond, vea bectea Labrador. Few people are so theugbtful in these d c f e P Ma t e daya. We Wave recommended tree piaRtmc in erety tOfimtMp ak>n£ tlM Ottawa. Every road should be decorated. Every acre of poor land covered with young, healthy trees. Those rarieties that frew on these plains in a state of nature shoukd be re-introd«ced wherever poasible and at the earliest convenience, as they would thrrve and conne to perfec- tion in a .Hoil where they were foond so choice, beautifid and mature sixty yvATA a(;o. The sensrbie farmer who adopts this plan will lay op for nis chiUitr n what he cannot now dream oC, realise or estimate, There B no mineral or metal, saK or soapstorte, neither nicr^el nor mica, not even what may be termed upland in Osgoode. But there may be un- told wcakh in aluminum with which the clay soil abounds. This doubt- \tm will yet be produced at a reasonable cost* Then who can e.^timate its value in a country so far from the sea coast ? It is likely to be avail- sWe for many purposes, and ar it is free from rust when free from salt, it ii likely to be more durable thi.n other metals. We have not heard of any objections to the aluminutii boats in the Arctic explorations lately ORAde- Probably they were not much in sah water during that brief expeaNtioN. ' * Osgoode has done much in the erection of churches. The Roman Catholics have one, the Metho lists two, the Baptists two, the Presby- terians five. Many good bridges have be^n made and the roads have been f reatly improved. The (Castor has so many branches and small tributaries that a vast number of bridges of large span are required and ■lany little ones. Most, of the large families wbo p)i\nted themselves here at the first, are still well represented. Some have migrated to the city and gone into successful business operations- Some have gone to the west. Most of them are very industrious. Hope is entertained of ■ruch good resulting from the deepening of the feeders of the Ca.stor; a»d the removal of obstructions which would greatly improve the land on its banks and let ofT the waters from the flats. In dropping seasons a kind of iron rust shows on the straw which must lighten the yield and iafure the feeding qualities. Draining will cure thi« or prevent it, and DO port more requires this attention. Thousands of acres are growing blackheads, sweet fiag and willows, and unfit for any ptTTpose. Carleton people have burned with loyahy to the Government They have elec- ted Ibe men that others cast out and the party has not gi\ en them a faUnt in return for their devotion. Could the man of, the Tay canal wIm has experience in opening waterways, not secure a grant of a few te ope« the Castor and the Carj) ? Twenty five thousand to M would do much and the people could furnish the remainder with sitch cncowragement. One cent a head on the Dominion would do it ~The«c people have paid into the treasury indirectly for nearly a cen- tury and have never been refunded one dollar. If governnicuis e::ist for the ifood of the people what have we got ? If for thems. I cs what •M they worth to us ? They expend on the agricultural farm or Experi- oicntal Farm in half a year what would drain these rivers to perfection, fianners dry lands on their banks. What does the Experimental 132 HISTORY OF IHE OTTAWA VALtE"?. Farm do but spend for us ? At the last Fair in Ottawa the farmers were far in advance of them in the fruits of the land and of everything except decorations;^. This wart must be got off the face, or it may turn to a can- cer of an incurable nature with the Government. No man can begot to say that he considers it a benefit, but a fraud on the country. We have asked the question of a multitude and get answers in the negative. It's no use. It is a waster to destroy. It is a very nice home for place men. These are the replies you get. If it were a government contractor did the work he would get a quarter of a million and net two hundred thous< and on the job. Bu^ it can be let by auction in fair competition. Carleton never required any attention to keep it in line, so they can expend elsewhere without a fault being found by these patient people. Shou4d admirers of Government say, let those benefitted make the out- lay. Very weW, dismiss the Board of Works, the Board of Agriculture, other boards and offices that are useless. Let the Experimental Farm sustain itself or cease to waste our substance as they now do, and the farmers will attend to themselves, and the wealthy will build railroads and canals, where they pay and are required. Contractors employ Italians, Fins, Chinamen, and would employ Kurds if it suited, and let their countrymen starve if money can be made by it on their fat jobs, '^ar paternals have certain tried parties on hand to keep the others in iine and themselves ever in place. Is the Board of Agriculture a benefit to the farmers? Do they not expend far more on themselves and their employees than they give to the societies ? Can the farmers not sustain their own shows if they are profitable ? Does the money wasted on the Board and oflficers not come first out of the farmers' purse ? » Docs one hundred and fifty expended on the Board procure fifty to t';ie farmers out of the two hundred paid in ? If the people are the source of vli taxa- tion, then all that live on them are parasites. Is the oak anything the better of the mistletoe ? But your principles applied woiikl dissolve civil government ? Not necessarily. It would dis.solve the thieves that keep us in the rankest poverty and oppression; that keep themselves in power by our money. We would denounce Mcrcier but would we sparer Tail- Ion ? Would .society be the Icscr if half the Government of Europe and two thirds of Asia, and three-fourths of America were dissolved and su- perceded by honest men ? We have no spleen to gratify against free government, honest administration, correct adjastn>ent of the burdens that must be borne. Who at this hour has a doubt that the machinery of Government is too complex to be long endured unless at the expense of what men hold dear ? It seems that a new course «vnst be adopted and pursued. A generation must be trained to reform the abuses under which we labor, or the best citizens will leave the land. \ trencration of school teachers is wanted free from cost, who wou^ lock «tt things as they are and then as they ought to be, and try to ap{dy the remedy. No •ne should object to religion in the school, but generally those wtM have the least, cry the loudest. But when there are so many things to be taucht, little time can be given te one thing, and the thing showM be, not a fancy but a fact. Is it religion m a boy to smash your win d o w% injure you, ^eal from you ? Then the teacher and trustees should good the losses, else they make the old flag of rei^on cever the vfoes ttf tfM bettoralev pit. HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 133 The name of religion should not cover, deep, deadly iniquity, and ti>ose v/ho so emp'oy it should be withered by the contempt of honest uien.' Had my teacher of Caldee or of Syriac ' cen a Babylonian or a Damascene must I worship Nebuchadnezzar's golden image ? If my teacher of Arabic was a Musselman, must I therefore embrace Islamism ? Part of my Hebrew I learned from a Jew, was I then under any neces- sity to become a Jew with Mr. Hirchfelder ? Or remain a Christian with Dr. Rintoul ? Why was I to have been sent to a young Catholic phest to study my first Latin? Had you asked my father to avoid the danger of my being proselytised to Romanism, he would have smil- ed- Hytown grammar school was got up in time, but it was all the same. We yield to no man in maintaining the necessity of religion, but the home is the place to begin and cherish it, else the school cannot do it. It may be a help, but it cannot take the place of home and the church if the)' neglect it at home. The fault then is in the clergy, who should look after it carefully. A Cardinal at Toledo or Saragossa in teaching me Spanish would not make me embrace his religion more than his country. There is so much M\y put forth by Protestant min- isters, often only for popularity about religion in the schools and only reading a passage of Scripture and a prayer prepared for the occasion. It is a fine theme for splendid eloquepce, righteous indignation and re- ligious enthusiasm. Such clergy take so great interest in family train- ing, church training, stirring up souls for truth and godliness everwhere, that killing and lying and stealing, swearing, drinking and Sabbath pro- fanation are all disappearing, and Scriptural knowledge as spiritual life and the highest morality in politicians and electors and judges and traders shine in their glory. " Oh, enter not into judgement with thy servants." We have had converse with the inhabitants of Osgoode and found them better developed in many things than the people of some other parts. They give some attention to the politics and government of the country. To the industry of the people they justly trace the derivation of the means of liquidating all expenditures ; that industry may be plied in the fields, the forests and the mines, the foundries and the factories, the stores, the banks and the work.shops. Now every source of wealth of profit and of gain should contribute its just and fair proportion to the expense of conducting the government of the country. If some fool had said that Canada should not be made a slaughter market for the goods of other countries, it would have been laughed to scorn, and treated as the ravings of a disordered brain, and its author regarded as not safe to be out of an asylum; but Sir John McDonald declared it and the rapt admirers of that great one have echoed it over all the lands and its reverberations are heard after the worms have devoured his body. Yet it is a i. ..>crable, worthless fallacy, and not the product of a mind that had understanding. But express this in the hearing of his ad- mirers and they would burn you on a brush pile. Som« of our merchartts make a slaughter market of our city continually. Is it injurious to those who buy at half-price ? Is it injurious to the ©yer-stocked mer- chant to be able to use the cash instead of the uselesi stock ? If tlte manufacturer over-produce or the merchant over-stock, they will sooo learn to d« better. Moft people profit, or at least Umm hy their cwn w * ji - ■. ■ ^ it- HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. ps; if fMt, let them get out of the way of abler men.- Others ' may succeed' wliere they failed. A wholesale merchant or manfacturer wmmy be abte to distribute the unsold balance of his overstock amonp^ his steady customers at the slaughter price, benefitting himself with them and the customers all round, or he may send it abroad doing good all round. Sir John's curse is a blessing in disguise, but he preferred to curse us without rather t^an bless us with it. What showers of blessings these men have given us in i8 years iiMce 1878 ? What curses they have turned away from us ? Individuals have bees bribed, whole constituencies have been bought, seats in Par- Nament stolen, judges have soiled their ermnie, penitentiary birds ap- pointed returning officers, ballot boxes stuffed, villainous gerrymanders, diabolical franchise acts, senatorial appoitStments one-sided, and the last efforts to make way for a hierarchical establishment and union of c'uirch and state, and now beaten by their own friends, with the mark of ( aii^ •o their brow, and four hundred appointments in their arms, they have heen ieaominiously kicked downstairs, rn a worse plight than were the BMn of the Pacific scandal. The new Goverrunent may do better for us but Conservatives are nearly unanimous in declaring that we can be no worse. Such is history in 1896. Our best men in the land have had so Jfreat cause for humiliation that si!lch black hearted villainy could be pcr- brmed or evea conceived by men in hu.nan shape, that men under tlie flag of English civilization could be so lost to every sense of honor, truth, justice, Christian principle, and manly ccnduct, as to f'cbauch a wrolc land and hold up its people to the contempt of Turks, Kiirds and Mata- bcles. Heaven gave us a government in anger and took it away in wrath? We are sure many a prayer was offered for its removal and to be substituted by a better, prayers that have been mercifu'.iy answered. Our own earnest prayer is that these men now chosen may fear God, Wve truth and honesty, hate covetousness, reform the i.ius and the whole system of administration, that the land may have rest for many years from the oppression, deceit, hypocritical misrule, misery and de- gradation so long endured. Osgoode possessed in Rev. W. Lochead a good organizer. The young of the congregation were well instructed. He came there an •rdained minister. He had spent some years in Albany and Cherry Valley, N.Y. His bearing was always dignified and geni 'manly. His discourses were clear, sound, forcible and expository. He formed the congregations in Osgoode and Gloucester about 1847. The congregation grew ami prospered. He went to North Gower about 1858. He re- mained in North Gower until he retired from preaching. He was scholarW but very unassuming. The great Brooklyn orator. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher began to call his Wednesday evening exercises talks. These prayer meeting exercises were very edifying. Whatever vagaries he held in theory no one ever doubted that he was possessed e without study. His sermons were, of necessity, like .lis evening addresses or Beecher talks. We do his memory no in- justice by stating the facts. Fault was found with the occasional sermons he preached before Presbytery for their not having been thoiu^ht ont. His contemporaries who are yet alive can correct me if I a, a wrong. , Very few men can think in the crowd, and quite as few on thei; logs in 1, the pulpit. The lamps were to be fed with beaten oil, which is as it should be. Dr. Mason told his students if they wrote two sermons in the week for a few years they would v. rite themselv fools. Can the turbine wheel revolve if the wat* sup .1 is not kept up in the dam? Congregations that are neglectec perish t"or lack of k'l.v ledge. Those ■ that have too many meetings become dy)>j.icpti»j for want of time to study Scripture, think, digest and apply wha*^ they read and hear. One might *havc twenty Bibles in his possession, and know nothing of their contents for want of reading. One might Ijave a great library and be ignorant of the contents of books and of their authors, treasuring up nothing valu- , able in his mind. ExcitemctV is )"^t the life but often the death of re- l^i, ' !i! °: i¥i HISTORY THE OTTAWA VM >T. ifien. Ift'the soul. In tfie early times s>Tmo»js were pieached at the openiiifs of Pre^bytatyr. They are still in the United States, and com- muuiMH are held there, but nothing of the kind have we had here in all theee fears; and beneome are of opinion that the church has parted her hawser, and been blown out of port by adverse winds, and is dangerously drifting upon the shoals and quick- sands of other denonainations, and perilously near shipwreck. It grates sadly on our ears to hear Presbyterians say that Presby- terianiom is degeneratir^. One man says I despair of hearing the Gospel prcakched in our pulpit; another says : Well, we thought our minister could not hunt up a poorer preacher than himself, but he found one; • Another still, that his preacher has a slicwer of words but little in them. A reply to them all may be, to be carefj.1 not to confound Presbyterian- ism with its lame and biind advocates ard defenders. These men may have their backs to it, a»id you may be in their sliadow, and its light may be obscured from you under such an eclipse, like the dark moon obscur- MC; Ike sun's light from a part of the'earth by her passage between. If you doubt this turn to your New Testament, and see how much the Kf[fat of that which was made glorious was darkened by the sancticnoni- OMS hypocrites, who monopolized the pi'^ty of their times, as sitting in Moses scat, m the only true cxi;osiiois of the God given system of truth, and you will not be surpriscii that men in sheep's clothing roak? merchandise of you to-day. Tlicv may take a\\r!y from you the key of knowledge as their predecessors did iVoro others, bijt 3'ou have a remedy. We once knew a oase when the preacher was tcllinj; them old stories and triiing in t*\e pulpk, some went out, staid a while »nd came in ar:avn,the others did not return till tlic minister catnc out, like the actor he was, ••d rushed to a.sk after the welfare of the family! He \\ns iol'.\ they wore protty wcU, but vsould t>c much better if they liad uiorc Gospd HISTORY OF THE OTTA W'A VALLEY. 137 MW fewer old' Stories told them from the pulpit, and ended by giving ktm his choice to reform or they would go elsewhere. The reformation began in the pulpit the next Sunday and continued. Truth is infallible, but the men who administer or hide it are not The people can either reform or dismiss them, or go elsewhere. No man should oppos<; re- form. A very penetratmg lay-man says, not under his breath, that thirty-five percent, of the preachers should have some other occupation and about five or six percent, are fit to supply respectable congregations. We do not say this witness is not true. There is surely a remedy. Let salt be cast into the water. Let the love of truth be cultivated. Men are their brothers' keepers. The man who will not prepare his scrn^on, has no right to preach, and is not called to preach. Is every kind of trash and rubbish to be trailed ii.to the pulpit and eternal truth excluded, or made to blush in company with such filthy dreams? "When a nation is punished for its sin, 'tis in the church the leprosies begin." Steps should be taken to drive out the pharasees or hyprocrites. Purge our the old leaven. One of our strong congregations, in this vale of which wc write, had an able preacher for years, but he did not visit enough ; iher- they got another who was great on the visitinsr but nothing at the <'esk. They were not backward in requesting his removal. They mag- Ified his visiting powers, not forgetting the preaching powers of the i( 1 ner. We suggested that they keep him and biing back the other on< . but they thought wc were jesting Like a young preacher we remcml cr in the south who could read a fine sermon, and a. young elder who could word a fine prayer. A young lady who heard them recommended that they should go together and each do what he could do best North Gower is one of the three gores in the Cou.ity of Carleton con- taining about 33.0(X) acres. It is all occupied at this writing •except what is worthless or useless, of which there is very little. The features of the landscape resemble other places. It was a great field for lumber- ing. The first lumberers were UE. Loyalists who explored its groves and prepared square timber for market. It was driven loose or a few sticks netted together on Stevens' Cieek to the Ridcau and Ottaw t, then ■put in cribs. These cribs might be in vidth whatever they chose. There were no slid.<» at rapids to limit them, as such improvements 1 ad not begun to be made at such an early stage in our history, and cnbs on the Rideau oould only be formed after the canal was built, as they would have been sent into single timbers pitching into the Ottawa over the falls At New Edinburgh. gs free, and it was not very safe, but the best had to be iionc. In the early times when the timber was growing near the rii er or on level lands, oxen could draw it on a crolch from the stump to the ice, but when it had to be brought a distance horses were better. A bob sled, with a bimk on t'lc back or middle beam, and the piece was drawn with one end on the bunk and the other on the road. In course of time Mr. Robert Frascr of Cumberland, a man of gen- ius, proposed to use a sleigh at each end. He had to fight the battle that every reformer and inventor have to fight. The lumberers were very Conservative and proposed the ustial difficulties of filling hollows, levelling rMids. He met them all by the con.sideration of the use of draught with two or three or four pieces for one. An old lumberer af Lochabar saw the improvement at first description and adopted it. Mr. Robert Kenny of Aylmer and his sons fell in with it. The Hurdman family, his brothers-in-law took it up and the timber hauling was revolu- tionized. But the time of square timber was passing into that of logs and sawed lumber. The bobs were made with short runners six inches wide shod with steel and slid on the snow leaving scarcely a mark. A pair of horses are said to draw four pieces of one hundred feet each as eayily as one piece of the four flragging on the road; that would be on the oid reckoning ten tons. Mr. Fraser did not get half the credit he merited for his discovery. For as we happen to know well he is a man of intellectual pith and power and possessed of good principles and has raised a family that we believe will do him credit. One of his sons has made an impression as a scholar and close student now in the Queen's University, King.ston. Some say the Gowers took theirname from their forms, others from .some English nobleman, which is more probable, but of very little con- sequence. Lumberers were the first settlers, others followed as the way opened and they could secure their lands. Lumber was the chief source of wealth all over the land. Potash followed from the land clearing, the labor in both cases being very well rewarded. The Rideau formed one boundary of the township. The survey of Marlboro made by de Pen- sicr twenty five years before, fixed its southern limit. The settlements were made from different points at first and it is said the pioneers lived for years on their new lands before the people of one settlement became acquainted with those of another, from isolation and the dense woods between. Those making timber within hearing of the great pines they cut, made their first acquaintance in the Quebec market selling their lumber, or at their meeting on tbe river sailing down to market. Shanty roads, those cut for the lumberinf , were their only roads for years, ex- cept the rivers for canoes and boats in summer. At the junction of Stephens' Cre«k with the Rideau, the first land was taken up by Richard Garlick, \ iz : Lot 24, on the ist Concession. Then beside him Sabra Beam»n and Stephen Blanchard. all of U. E- L. descent, settled down on their lands after lumbering two years from 1820 before bringing in .Ibeir '^milics. Rev. Peter Jones, a retired Methodist preacher, aod Annie Eastman, his wife, of U. E. L extraction, drew lands at the, site of tkc future village of North Gowcr, built a shanty that was his home, f HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. »3p the ■cfctol, and dlvrch. He cleared land and cropped it, taught school and ■■Bached, the audience room being his own shanty. The shanty was a ■ne scooped building with ornamental corners, the floor planks of split basswood/ The attendance at church and day school was thin. The Garlick settlement claimed the first schoolhouse, scooped log, •nd respectable, and taught by a Mr. Gove, an American. Their nearest neighbors were the people of Burritt's Rapids on one side, and Rich^ mond oh the other. The next schoolhouse was both school and preaching house, built near Mr. Jones', where a Mr. Hazleton, who was very lame, said to be fit ftir nothing else, taught for years. Perhaps his it^rmity was neither his fault nor detrimental to his calling- He may not have been a "lame tcac'.er." The boy said to his mother, "There is Dick, the lame preacher," who hearing it, corrected him by saying : "No it's lame Dick, the preacher." A lame foot or a wry neck in a Prince, though unfortunate, would not militate against his claims to royalty, Hazleton got twent) -five j-ounds a year, and ''board round with the scholars." This was then considered a good remuneration. Sometimes families were put to somev\li at of a disadvantage in those days when first coming out to this country. An emigrant family purchasing iVom a settler had to live with the out-going family for weeks in a shanh', i8 by 24 feet in a single apartment. The lumberers and their hands soon discovered the quality of the lands, and settlements follow cd. Ihe river was the boundary of North Gawer on one side, and the .survey of the town line on the north of Marlboro in the end of the last century marked out another- De Pen- sier had been the first sur\ i yor, followed by Steadman, who laid out several townships around. Roads by which supplies wer? got to the shanties and timber road.s connecting shanties with rivers and creeks, were long their only roads. Many brothers of the Eastmans settled in the township and built t'-'c first steam mill.- Two of these brothers were killed with some of the r .iten by the explosion of the boiler of the mill engine. Between 1822 and 1826 the Ewans, Christies, Covalls, Mains, Myers, Clarkes, Cassid.iys, VVallficcs, came. Beatnan brought with him Snay, Hazleton and Riclly. Mr. William Thompson had come to South Gower in 18 17 and in 1826 came to North Gower. After residing some time here he visited olii Scotland and sailed in the first steamer ever built oh the Clyde. He had to bring from the South Gower his neighbors to h( Ip him to r:iisc a frame barn, so few were the settlers around him: When he moved in, there was neither school nor church, mill nor smithy, store nor postoffice nearer than Richmond on the one side or Burritt's Rapids on the other. James Lindsay came in 1829. Mr. Lindsay was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1802 His father, brothers and sistcis, a very numerous CamHy, settled in Rnuisay. James went to a store in Oi;densburg, N. Y-, where he soon showed business capacity, was well liked and respected. The 5rm was so pleased with his management, busii-tss capacities and powers, that they built a store in Wad(!in:;ton, ease of Ogdensburg on Uke St. I^w fence,' and sent him there, aiui hen ado them profit for some years. Tix village and surroundings, a lar^c Scotch sctiltmcnl, .i', Richmond was a village, the important centre of a new settlement, with hundreds of people, officers and men of the army, with Col. Burke, the Crown land agent, for the benefit and convenience of the settlers. A road was opened through the long swamp to Jackson Stitts' who was a soNJicr. and this road was prolonged as the third line of Huntley to the Chats. Hugh Bell's war. connected with Stittsville by Robert.sons and what is now Hazledean, though far from pleasant for man or beast, from the toug'\ thick, soft blue clay. But they .vere a vast im- provement on the original Maze with a tree across a creek, which had served hitherto for the most daring as well as the most delicate cf our rural population to cross where the wading v/as too deep for comlort, profit or 1 easurc. The lands are not too level but dry and fit for tillage. The creeks are sma 1 except Stevens' and no lakes or pond of any note. Does this in an)' wav jiccount for the entire absence of Baptists or river brethren in that locality ? Tl^e Methodists, Episcopalians and Presby- terians seemed to absorb the inhabitants as there are very few of other denominations in the towns'iin. it was now expected that Richmond having open connection with the surrounding settlements so fa.st filling up, would soon become a city, or at least a town of some magnitude. It had so many army officers and men of genius, intelligence and wealth, maintaining order, discipline and activity; the results were not fully realized. It failed to attract business people and to grov/. Lumber absorbed the attention of every one, clearings enlarged and crops were raised, hay, oats, pork arxi flour, with the lumber maket in view. Some fine houses have been recently erected, but the place looked nearly as well fifty years ag^ m to-day. There were some very energetic men among its early inhabitants. The Lyons, Mallochs, Hintons, Maxwells, Wilsons, McElroys and many others made their mark. Besic' ■'s these were many very successful farm- e»s in the environs of the young village. There were many hangen oa mod hard drinkers, fa«n that never come to mnch anywhere. Thejr m h " 111 :)SS 1431 BTSTORY or THE OTTAWA VALLET. worehip wealth and the shadows of greatness, bask in the smile "ot the fremt copy in a crude way their frivolities, md when their little i{=jnoble race is nin, they leave' an example worthy o. execration and are soon forgotten. Bytown grew slowly but went on without a boom, and but for the degradation from the drinking habits would have risen far above its attainments. Rum-sellers never rise to the dignity of respectability. No country can prosper that legislates to enrich the few at the expense of the many, or ever rise to a place of eminence. For the riches are obtained on principles of immorality and the possessors lie under the curse of the Lord that is in the house of the thief. How can money, made by selling drink, do good? How can money made by fraud and injustice, thrive, increase and do good to its |»osses- sors ? Society should put down the business of fraud in every form it takes, should refuse to employ men that drink, should refuse to elect not merely dishonest politicians but doubtful ones. Rulers profess great interest in education, but they would reduce our best systems to barbar- ism if permitted. Their places and emoluments are more to them than all else. The people deserve it, they are so pleased to be imposed on. Then we have the cry of the necessity of religion in the schools. Wc do need it there as it is so left out of the homes and only scientifically touched in the churches. But the so-called godly schools send forth the worst samples. We will have no education worth the name till a reno- vation is experienced in the family, and youths are trained tq love truth and honesty instead of the young reprobates they now are, destroying property for their vicious amusement. There are some educated , thinkers that are beneficial to their kind, others are ingeniously contriv- ing the ways of imposing heavier burdens on the people, already galled with the weight of their yoke. Our cities are overloaded with paupers or idlers, so that with our extravagance in education, the many arc un- able to bear it, and the few keep them, deluded by very many ways and means. Our governments in city and country are a terror to well-doers. Richmond had two half yearly Fairs established at an early period, that were of signal service to all the farmers around, as they couJd there buy and sell cattle, sheep and horses to great advantage. Towards evening these Fairs became the mast noisy when fists and sticks and whip handles were freely used. Often the portly form of Father Smith, with or without a horse, but seldom without? whip, which he did not scruple to use in cases of necessity, (that were not few), but he managed to scatter those who delighted in war. Bytown was infested at the same time with the Shiner tribes under the same curse of whiskey. These gentlemen were employed ir^ the lumber trade and during their visits here in summer with their rafts, and in winter to hire and go to the woods made no cnc\ of broils and quarrels at the bottom of all which was the liquor. \W have seen accounts of these people written by those who never saw ono of them, declaring them to be Orangemen, which they never were, bnt their antagonists. We had a treat to an account of them uniting with Orangmcji to kill off the French Canadians, a state- ment which the Great Stretcher himself could hardly equal. One in sober reasc.n asks why such unblushing contradictions of facts can be harbored in an)' rational mind, not to say get into print. The Shiners were raftsmen generally from ihc Emerald Isle, who were capable of a t .' r HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 143 pretty poor! fight when half drunk, or as they said, "three sheets in the wind ' Tl\cy were a terror for years to people going to mar .v:t in town. They were at enmity with the Canadian French nearly as much as with the Protestant fellow craftsmen, wishing the monopoly of the shanty business to be in their own hands, if that had been a possibility. These two races or the portions of them, not the most remarkable for their up- bringing, with a t^ood sprinkling of rather loose Protestants, kept the place in a state of turmoil for years. Men anrl even horses carried for life the marks of these entertainments. An old horse of the redoubtable Dan Ilobbs had both ears cropped and could be seen for many years after the q• at elections and they would have a fair 'count*. Her boy brother asked in his innocence : "Would not a fair *duke' suit some of yoo as well ?" Some clergymen are recommending to their brethren the religion of Shakespeare, and even caricatures of the religious experi- ence 01 his pious countrymen and women by Ian McLaren, arc strongly recommended to ministers, as well as Dickens and Thackeray, and many others quite as pious as these, so that if our j'oung ministers follow thc.«»e exhortations, wnat noble samples of piety our pulpits will soon exhibit ? Webhes, Rutherfords and McChincs ! After Mr. Evans left for Kitley's Corners and the people of North Gower es oused the cause of the Free Church. The Thompson brothers mmI sisters took a very active part and great interest in the little strug- ghmg station that could get only partial supplies, generally voluntary services, rendered by members of Presbytery. Congregations then wil- Uagly sent their ministers two to four Sundays in the three months be- tween mcetingj •( Presbytery. Home missionaries were so few as to be rarely available. These supplies though only keeping the places from Mtter destitution, were received with gratitude by the people. The meetings were well attended. Gilbert Thompson entertained the preach- ers, as we weM resnembei' staying with him often. The proper organiza- tion of the Ptesbyterians into a congregation was by the Rev. W. Lock- head at Gower Corners before it could be called a village. Wellington and Osgoode stations were united with it as a congregation. The first birtk in the township was in the family of Peter Jones. The first mar- ria|;e is in dispute. Some say Hugh Mcintosh and Rhoda Eastman. Others say Levi Eastman and Margaret Buchannan by Rev. P. Jones, WM the first in the township. The other couple went to live at Merrick- vittc. Thr Eastmans were mMnerous. The Beaman family was large, several of whom lost their lives by a better explosion i* their steam mill. Several of their hands were killed at tlic sM»e time. It was a great wreck, a lamentable affair. There weM few sattlers up to 1824, between that and 1828. The Christies, McEwans, C«vells, Cassidays, Qarkes, Wallaces, Mains, Myers came in 9m4 fiMed up tke place and assisted much in its progress and general early devoiopntent. Wellington ■tfillage sn th; left bank of the Rideau and n«rth <»f Stevens' Creek has a respectable appearance, a fine site, a little roAiiic with a pretty sheet of water on its east side, between Lindsay's whan and the bridge. Recently, an iron span has been put into the wooden bridge, greatly improving it for the communication with Os- goode. Tfce common country roads here are good with the finest farms stretching out on every side. In business this village has had neither boom nor stagnancy. Its situation is such that its increase and growth can hardly conflict with the development qf other places, occupying a kind of central position from North Gower village, M motick, Richmond, Osgoode station, Kemptville and Burritt's Ranids. Its environs are fa- vorable to its enlargement, and its shippiMjj; facilities far exceed most of its neighbors. In municipal affairs the Craigs, Cnllandars, Coles, Lind- '^^ys, Fentons, McEwans, Andrews, Wallaces, Hartwells, Blakelejrs, T{a«[gs, Mackeys, Ronan.s, Grahams, and many others have been vety mV OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY, •45 CimfTtar »amf>« Bgmhig oa thdr rotl^ for many yean past. The ^HiiNrc of Manotick, the Ind'mm name for Long Liland, ia the youngest of tnc villa((ea. It occupies the comers of four townshtpa. Os(;^oo^, Gloocaa- ter ami Nrpean have each a portion bat North Gower the g;rcatest (Nurt. U owes httle to any of them. Ciothicrscenicd the chief occupant o( the Isiand, but did nothing to help the village tiU M> K. Dickenson, who found but ocic log house on the lower part of the Island, came and pur- chased the place. He was a vij^orous niember of the Fbrwarding Co., at Ottawa before he sat for Carleton in the House of Commons, or went to build his little city. He is grandson of the pioneer gentleman, who long ago gave his name to Dickenson's Landing at the Rapids on the St. Lawrence- He has been Mayor of our city and was always a man of success. His village is three miles from the Manotick station and about fifteen miles from the city. The other inhabitants of the south of the Island, Tighes and Dough- neys, did not take to townbuildii g. The place ia fine for business and growth. The Presbyterian minister, Rev. James Whyte, labored here for tome time and died here. Rev. Mr. Findlay is the present pastor. He came from Cantley and Portland. Mr. Dickenson's energy, enter- prise and wealth drew others to the place, so that he is the source of its progress and business activity. Tree planting has not found much favor yet in North Gower but it will. Dr. Johnston is said to have written to KMDe of the few papers of his time, after a visit to Edinburgh, how ab- surd it was for the Scotch to talk of hanging their criminals on trees; that be had not seen one between that city and the Tweed big enough to fU6f>end a good sized hoy on. The landed proprietors stoutly denied his statements, but began to plant profusely, and very soon the highways and farms were fringed on their borders with whatever would grow of oak, Ash, yew, spruce, larch, birch and pine down to the poplar and syca- nv>re of the vale. What a revolution to witness ! It is still told by the very old peop4e that in those fine old times the criminal was mercifully permitted to enjoy the melanchr'v satisfaction of choosing the beautifnl tree he was t» adorn, dancing foi a while with nothing under his feet. One young hopeful, when conducted by his faithful attendants to the happy spot, is said to have chosen a very young one, a mere twig; when remonstrated with by his friends to choose a fitter ene for the purpose, as that was bwt a rod, and too young to bear his weight, stuck firmly to his choice assuring them that he was ia »o hurry and would wait with Wcoming patience till it grew up. They should try the planting of trees in these parts for though we have not dreamed of their being used for such base and ignoble purposes as stated above, yet they may be found very useful before the end of the next century. They will fill up a gap widening every year between the demand and the supply. This yawning and widening must continue until the aluminum age is reached, when it will take the place of iron, tin and lumber. As it is about the specific gravity of heavy hardwood, it could be rolled as thin as sheet iron or tin nailed to studding, o'.tside and insic c, makit^ the most beautiful walk, partitions and the roofing for flat roofs on girders of the same metal; even doors can be made of k. And by that time we will have glass, two and-one half or three inches thick for windows, or even dcor^, which the well-bred boys from our S l\ W. i^: h 11 146 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. I ost Christian schools, will not be able to smash without putting them- st''* es to too much labor. What would tranioire then; when our rapids and great falls have furnished light, i eat and locomotion, dismissing the horse and cultivating the soil, perhaps propel! n^ our bicycles to rest our feet ? They will serve for ornament and coolir:g shade, attracting show- ers, arresting and breaking che force of wind" currents, breathing out oxygen in the summer sunshine, exhaling nitrogen in the darkness to feed other plants, enriching the air and the earth, dividing the "lights and shades, whose well accorded strife gives all the strength and color of our life;" diffusing health, pleasure and beauty all around. In all these parts the school accommodation is adequate to the de- mand and the increase of the population. The subject of education should hold a much higher place in the mindi, of parents than it has at- tained to. It is useless to call the attention of *^he clergy to it for they have too much to do to keep the attention of the people away from their own neglects of study by contriving meetings for every night — boy meetings, girl meetings, old women meetmgs, old men meetings. Chris- tian Endeavor Societies, Christian associations that are sometimes secu- lar under a fine name. Then, a subject so popular with legislatures and with the clergy; the workingman, his long hours and low wages. Did they give themselves to the .training of the young in the principles of Christianity, they would have to. learn it themselves and leave their popu- lar subject, and the people might seek or go into other denominations, and their salaries take the dry rot. People are allowed to neglect their children., to hand them over to professional Siuiday school teachers, whose theology is the latest fad, picked up in these Christian gatherings, where even preachers rail at old theology, and eulogize the descent of man, or the ascent of man, or the second probation, or the inju.otice of eternal punishment. 'All heathen. Pagan and Mohammaden nations hate Christianity, as many hate in Christian nations, and would with fire and sword rid the earth of it if they were able- Their conduct is enough to make Chmstian blood boil and indignation overflow in denunciations, when they restrain bullets and shells. There are professing Christians who would affect to be shocked if you expres.sed a doubt in their hearing, of the final salvation of the bloodiest Kurd, coming from butchering old women and young infants in Armenia. They practice what they preach, professing the salvation of the heathen, they save their money from all missionary fads, leaving the Creator of these natural brute beasts to do with them as he pleases. The Greek church in Russia denounces and persecutes the Riscolnicks dissenters. The Catholics doubt the salvation of Protestants. Many Protestants, alas, pay them back. Some make a hobby of some rite to be observed after a particular manner or form. Others cling tc some form of ordination or appointing its ministers. Some hang to theories about the rights, duties and powers of the civil magistrate. Others for or against lay patronage. Some delight in talkative meetings. Others in the frisky tramp, the fife and drum. What a pretty figure the human family cits at present on the face of the world I How disgraceful to its name I reachers arc becoming extravagant in cities, and the outlay on thrm is becoming burdensome ("or what they give in r6tum. The press is bectMiinif to speak freely on it in Toronto and elsewlierev The HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA TALLEY. H7 CTctrava j»r»c« in legtshitfon, m the exectrtive, m the administration of the )aws, thi' Board of Works, ererywhere, that the means of living to the nK)st ts gfreatly diminished. There is hardly a day of the week that there is not a begg-ar at my door, some days several. Politicians have cried up the working man so high that he regards himself as s* precious that he cannot work on a farm but at a wage ruinous to the farmer, who is now resolving to work less land and do without them. Then the cities are crowded and no work of any note worth the outlay. They abhor soup kitchens, but would do useless snow shovelling well. There are many who are not parasites, whose hundreds and thousands are not filched out of the people's pockets, who are oppressed to keep up the parasites in the persons of cheating, renters, extortionate rates, or empty tenements, a property that whII not sell as there are no buyers, aftd popu- lation is being thinned out of city and country. Now a good education would do good to our rising youth, but judg- ing from a number of samples we meet in the city, that education has been thrown away on, and has made them much worse than the most ignorant in the land. Our police force is like that of Montreal or New York. Th y can worry and annoy peaceable citizens, but cannot make an arrest of rowdies, for that would break the record of their measured tramp, and no moderate policeman would so disgrace himself Wc sup- Eose cities in their wisdom keep these forces, not because they are useful, ut ornamental, and people will pay well for an ornament. We now remember a young teacher, Mr. Fannen, who impressed us on our first visit to his school. He was the right man. vVe asked him to hold a public examination on a fixed day. Many teachers came. The ex- amination passed off so satisfactorily that the young teachers that were present saw fit to take hints from his plans and methods, and in three months evidences of improvement in the schools were visible. The Hares, Bells, Watsons, Grahams and others were trained there. One of the Hares is at the head of a fine ladies' college at Whitby. One was an esteemed professor in Guelph Agricultural College. Hi'- widow, quite young yet, lives near by, and her brother, Dr. Graham, is a very distinguish-^d and successful man in the South. Another brother is a partner of iiryson in the dry goods business, etc. Mr- John Robertson of Bells Corners wished for a man that could train two of his grandsons for rommercial life- He proposed to give in addition to the salary of the section what he would have to pay for the board of the boys in the city, for the satisfaction of having them under his own inspection. We sent him the man who taught there nearly a quarter of a century, training a multitude for high positions in the business of society and the world. Several of his boys are doing business in the city among whom we may mention Mr. E. B. Brown on Sparks street, and Mr. F. A. Scott on Wel- lington street, the Messrs. Arnold, retired; Mr. Moody, blacksmith; Baker and his brother, Mr. Moody the undertaker and others, besides many enterprising farmers around Bells Corners. Many of the young ladies trained in these schools have taken high and honorable positions in the community. Teachers should encourage pupils to collect and bring with them to school botanical specimens, so many days in the month for c«mpariend its forces, its keenest attention, continued industry, its untiring applica tiont to consummate a work so indispensable, so desirable, so profit- able. If there is a single subject within man's journey across this earth, in the description of which, unvarnished truth resembles rhetorical bom- bast, it is that of heaven-originating, heaven-inspiring and heaven-tend- ing education. It is the work of a lifetime. We beein it with our first impressions and we learn till the last conscious hour of life. Can the mind be too early impressed with correct ideas, wisdom, the love of truth, when the price thereof is above rubies ? Wealth may cast its eyes on another and desert us. The tarnished gold may take wings and fly from us. Diamonds may consume in the fire. But true learning shall have an endless reign in earth and Heaven. We can say this in the history of this township, which is at least not behind in the work of edu- cation. If our words of encouragement could stimulate the youths of our valley to reach the highest, brightest, noblest attainments in pure correct learning, it would be to us indeed, the highest gratification. Words cannot adequ«*ely set forth the worth of honesty. No line of ai^ument can, with sufhcient force, impress its importance on the young mind. To secure it early and then hold it fast with all our might, as our very life, that we may be able in old age to look back on a career of scores of years, spent in a world where there are some rough characters, speaking mildly, and be able to challenge them to produce an instance or ciwe, in which you have neither cheated, over-reached, nor taken of any of them an undue advantage. You may say we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man, and wind up with the sublime exclamation, "Yet not I, but the grace of God which was within me." Thanks be to God there are some such men on the earth. What is there to hinder the millions to enter at an early stage on such a course and follow it to the end ? There is more enjoyment to vouth stored up in cultivating the love of truth and justice, than they now of yet. There is nothing but danger and positive dishonor and nisery in vice, gambling, the love of lies and the course of the world. Why should youths suflfer themselves to be fettered by these, when the ennobling gifts of heaven are lield out to them for acceptance? Treasures s« rich and imperishable should be the first things secured by our youth in tlic home and school, the first indelible impressions traced on the im- nxnrtal mind, the first spiritual indentations made on the immaterial soul. Lying and stealing are the most despicable and contemptible traits in depraved man, alas, regarded only as defects, because they art almost maiversal. The love of truth planted within, will renovate ana raise up omr nature from its ruins, become at once the law of action, bursting our chains, establishing us in erect manhood, and giving co cur words and actions the ring of the true metal. The opposite course may be ex- prewed in the words of the poet: "Tyranny sends the chain that must abridge the noble swgep of all tbeir privileges ; ^ives liberty the last, the il shock, slip* the slave's collar on abd siup's the lock," Our young be txained to speak truth one with anothci, and co be honest i5» HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. :ill Ifariboro lies southwest of North Gower and southeast of Goulboam mmi is bounded on the southwest by Montague, in Lanark, and divided hom Oxford on the south '^ast by the Rideau. A line drawn ti0Mi so that all that were interested and able on both sides must five ahcipinc; hand if the thing was ever to be done. In 1824 the first bridge was built on the Rideau by subscription, but the Court at Perth gave some assistance. The people soon becnme wards of the Government, and everything got in that manner was like a gift, as if it had not to be raised indirectly from the people. The muni- cipal council became a vast improvement on the old plan. The bridge was of immense service to the settlers. People travelled up and down. tke river banks to get across with teams. Oxen were the teams for some titme ami jumpers the winter sleighs. Some enterprising young fellows tkought they could plough among the slumps with horses. At first they kMrrowed the land with horses, whilst the oxen still did the ploughing. The first horses were light and swift for such work and in contrast with tke pony built Canadian, known as Yankee horses, though the Ameri- cans themselves admit that their best trotters :\re traced back to Cana- dKan sirss. These again are traced to the Arabs and Barbs of the ages of the Crusades, when French, English and continental Europe were pre- cipitated on Asia, and returned not only with Arab horses but with large experience otherwise collected, such as, urbanity of manners, better ac- quaintance with other branches of the race, the valor of Saracen soldiers under such leaders as Saladin There was very little attention paid to stock-raising in mediaeval Europe, except that the French and English began to cultivate the race breeds that have in modern times come to such perfection. The Canadian horses must have had some strain of the imported Arabs as they were fast and very serviceable. They were very moderate priced. Thirty dollars would be an average price and forty was counted a high price for a fine horse then in Montreal The first child bom in Marlboro was Edmund the son of Stephen Burritt, and the first girl was Harriet, daughter of Edmund Burritt. These were the first children born in the county, which was then the Johnstown district. The Depencier family had left but a son returned and Mr. Harris came with him in 1816 and settled on lands. Mills from the Richmond colony, and their friends the Goods, about two years after located in Marlboro from Goulboum. Dempseys, Danbars and Moores from the same place, up to 1820. John Pierce, a genuine Irishman, came in 1826, settled on a beautiful plain, but very far from other inhabitants. John Pierce, a son of his, was the first Reeve of Marlboro after the municipal act was passed, and came into force. Thty kept hotel from early times, a very respectable place to halt, rest and refresh at. Stephen Burritt was the first Justice of the Peace. He had authority to celebrate marriage. Mr. Olmsted, an American, had come and opened an hotel, and his two daughters, Polly and Charlotte, were the first that Burritt united with two Americaas, Slocum and Seaton. The Mackeys were northern Irish, who came and settled not far from Pierce. One was reeve after Pierce. Some of them are in Nepe^n and elsewhere 1 hey must have been intelligent aod managing peoplf^ A son of one faniily in Marlboro studied for the Pres- bytenaM church, a very promising young man, became a fine sehokir HISTORY OF TFIE OTTAWA VALLEY. 153 others in stock- were improving As far back as the society not w«th abilities far above mediocrity. His life was brief, not livl.ig ionff enough to be settled in a congre^jation. lie was highly estecmcJ," and his loss was much regretted by his fellow students as well as friends and acquaintances. Reeve Mackey, like his predecessors, was a man of talents and ability. This township was then in advance of perhaps all raising. At least they had introduced shorthorns aud the common stock by this introduction of new blood. 185 1, a shorthorn sire ivas used and sold by auction, wishing to keep him too long, Mr. Mackey bought him at a very moder ate price. This news was conveyed by a Mr. Simpson of Goulbourn to a Mr. Gourlay of March, who at once drove up and secured him, Mr Mackey generously handing him over at what he cost him at the sale. This fine animal greatly increased the value of stock to these March people, who had purchased some of the same kind from Didsbory in March, he having imported some from England. This was about the time John Thompson purchased the Lantjjley str-rk and James Daviiison bought the pure white Durham calf from Did.s^.v«ty that he kept for years and then sold to John Thompson. It aftcrwartis passed into the posses- sion of John Clarke, Nepean, and was estimated as having increased the value of stock over ten thousand dollars in thirteen or fourteen years. Hon. Thomas McKay had introduced Ayrshires, but the finest animal of that family was brought from the Gilmours, Quebec, calved on the ship from Scotland, a savage creature, but the most beautiful that had ever appeared at the agricultural exhibitions in the county. About 1830 the Harbesons came. Three gentlemen held the office of town clerk for nearly half a century, Burritt, Johnston and Wiggins. After the new municipal act the Reeves were : Pierce, Mackey, Kidd, Connor, Mills, Most of the Burritts have gone from their old home. One became county registrar in the city, some are in the woollen busi- ness in New Edinburgh- One or two remain in the old homes at the Rapids. The Reids, McCordicks, Waldos, came about the finishing of the canal. Sowle began the instruction of his neighbor youths in night schools. This could only be temporary and about the year 1822, a school house was built of logs of cuurse. This was afterwards purchased for a dwelling by Major Campbell and a much better erected in its stead. Henry Burritt, a boy of 14, was the first teacher. The laws in that period were not very strict nor very rigidly enforced. But we have known boys far superior to advanced men in our experience of superin- tendinjr school. The first attempts at education outside the family circle was by nigbt school, a method that has not received enough of attention. Half grown people that cannot be spared from farm or kitchen in the day- time, might ret-eive great advantaijc from such short hours' training. The attention can be better cultnatod, being more sliut up to the subject in the lamplight from the surroundings. A politician in these lands whose principal offence was that hedied poverty-stricken, which is worse than plundering the public purse and die rich, against whom the trials broke down in court, as he had tiie consent of his cabinet for his acts, which were not felonious; seeing the neglected condition of the young men of his province, encouraged night scaools, and ga\e some public aid lU HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. ^_ |4j , * J, r ^ i f .. 1 '. ;-■ if f ^k r. ^m HI \ i^si r to the teachers to help on the work. He compelled those in the employ of the- Government to pay their bills or leave. His talents and jjood deeds went for nothing. The "less righteous" party was the stronger, and the greater plunderers prevailed. But from this small beginning in Marlboro public education rose with the necessity of the population, and has been kept in a state of eflficiency. The Episcopalians built the first church, and they got occasional supplies from Mr. Patton of Kempt- ville. Merrick erected his saw mill at the Falls of Merrickville about the third year of the settlement, three or four years before the Wright itiIII in Hull. The Presbyterians of Marlboro have no church but come to North Gower. These towr>ships are associated for court purposes. The canal has one lock at Burritt's Rapids, which is thirty-five miles from Ottawa and ten miles from Kemptville, the nearest railway station. It is no part of our business as a narrator of events to tell the farmers what they should sow or plant but from travels and observations we find forest trees diminishing and prices largely mcreasing- Suggestions are not dictations. Recommendations are not commands, free men can act as they please. If they are afraid of failure they will not try experiments. Marlboro offers the fairest test to prove how that a thin soil on a limestone bottom, can be made to pay under forest and orchard. We have not got all the data to prove the point in either the fruit or the lumber, but we know of apple trees not twenty-five years planted, that net two dollars a tree in good years- This is good interest on the plant rent and trouble. The land can be cultivated close to the trees, and if fruit and forest trees were alternately planted in rows thirty-six feet, six feet every way under each tree may be left and kept clean with the hoe or buckwheat. The forest trees could be left till well grown except ne- cessity demanded their being cut. It may cost twenty-five cents each to get a young forest tree raised and planted, black or white walnut, oak, hickory, maple, cherry, elm,, pine or basswood. That at 5 per cent, compound interest will double, say in fifteen years 50 cents, in 30 years $1, in 45 years $2 and in 60 years $4. This may appear like looking a long way ahead, but the capital laid out is small, and that, one's own labor. The rent of the land under the trees would be very little, not a cent a tree. Cultivation would secure a greater growth. But if not fit for cultivation, only forest land, the rent would be still less as grazing land. It is not easy to ascertain the growth of trees without measure- ment followed up for years. Mr. John Nelson of Nepean on the Rideau banks, told us of a little oak he was going to cut for a train stake but his man remonstrated that it was too small stripped of its bark to fill an inch auger hole, and he let it stand. It is growing still and ii about forty years old. He refused six dollars for it and it still grows. Hickory would be as valuable, and maple with its sugar producing qualities as well as its value as lumber for furniture, flooring and other things would equal butternut. Cherry, white pine, ash, cedar, all which grow well on rocky land might prove equally valuable. We are estimating on present prices. Who can tell wlifit advance they willinakc in sixty years? You might content yourself with 4,cxx) or with i6,cxx) forest trees on 100 acres with some thousands of fruit trees among them, which would have their bearing powers ex- hausted ere thi' forest trees had reached their time of cutting. HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 155 In sixty years thrse forest trees would on the present rate of prices be worth about $30,000, and their cost, rent and labor about. $20,000, giving you the crops for the ^orkinpj. There is no danger of the supply exceeding the demand. It might easily in fruit trees but not in the forest varieties. It is unnecessary to dwell on this theme. A word i.s sufficient to the wise But who will adopt it •n even a small scale ? A wise man would only cut from necesF'tv, as trees when a good size {jrow much larger every year than when small as everyone knows. Th€ finest forms and the choicest qualities should be selected as the most merchant- able and the most profitable. The good, the beautiful and the 1 s ful could be cultivated to be enjoyed. Why should not men come to know the qualities of the soil and use the knowledge thus obtained to the best advantages and the most profitabl- ids? This is according to the order of nature and the fitness of things. The soil alone can do nothing for itself or you, but would remnin a Sahara forever, or grow grass, weeds, shrubs, forests wild and irregular. Earth cannot transform itself into vegetable, but plant the vegct;il>lc seed or plant and it begins to dissolve the mineral and absorb it and convert it into vegetable forms and lift, feeding itself on the ver>' rocks that decompose under this vital power, are incorporated into and become vegetable. Chemistry has not told us how she would return the vege- table into the mineral. It belongs to a higher order, maintains its or- ganization, nourishes itself, appropriates to its use what previous to ex- pet ience and knowledge of the case, would have been pronounced impossible The animal again consumes the vegetable, appropriatinff and distributing to every part of its whole organization. The plant incorporates the crystals, the animals the plants. Hence rocks fal^ to dust, and sloping hillsides dissolve into vegetable forms in beauty colorsi figures evoking admiration, creating appctiie and affording the greatest gratification. The ambient atmosphere with its golden sunlight, genial heat and mollifying moisture acts on crystal, vegetaole and animal, contributing to the onward progress of things, causing the most tender and delicate as well as the most hardy, rugged and robust specimens of vegetable life to germinate from their seeds, and bursting tl.e clod to inhale with its leaves as lungs the air, light and heat, to circulate the sap as blood in the veins and dissolving and digesting with its roots as stomachs, the crystalline earth carrying on the process of development day and night incessantly. All these forms of li*" wither, decay and die and are translated into other forms or as the old k >man has it : "All things revolve into all things." They do not make themselves. Visiting the rocky hills around the Mattawa we saw red pines very tall standing on large rocks with so little earth that you would ask where is their visible means of support ? There has been a great effort in our age by scientific pliilosophers to dis- cover the origin of life, and so much has been said an'^' written, that one looking at these trees on these rocks s thrown into reflections as to their derivation of nourishment to be able to exist in such unfavorable locali- ties. You fall back on your readings of t1>c productions of the savants of the modern schools of Europe as well as those of America, and ask what light they shed on these king-loms of nature, if you may so call them, and what secrets have they broujjht into view by their henncti- It ■s« •TTAWA VALLET. caily sealed cucumbers and bottled hay tea, and you find the phi1o90f]4ta« Wfkh all their instruments and fine terms unsatisfactory. Protoplasn I Electable term the scientific philosophers glibly employ to cover an un- known quantity. About forty years af;o an anxious enquirer wrote to Tfu Herald and Presbyter o\ Cincinnati askinj "What is protoplasm ?" The learned editor replied ab ignorantio. Wc «^o no^ know. Prof. Huxley, pen in hand, sitting in his laboratory, with his big jar of protoplasm sealed up and labelled, "not to be opened," writes thus : "Life must proceed from life, and this idea is victorious along the whole line of modern biology." These gentlemen will not define protoplasm. They seem to have reached the lowest strata, the indefinable, the ne plus ultra, the foundation of creation. Yet the word must be plastic, mouldable, some thing, of some kind, even if it should be inaudible, intang- ible, invisible and incomprehensible, yet thinkable according to these scientific authorities. A Philadelphia chemist of some note thinks it m«st have been the origin of the earth, i\nd of all creation, from the mite mvisiWe to the most unwieldy elephan*-, or the greatest .«ea monster of Hm mighty deep. The thing would be worth investigating could it only be accomplished. It retembles the seul of Socrates, which he wished his disciple not to confound with hrs carcase. Protoplasm is not the oigmism, soul, body, life, but something else which can not be discovered, detected or •ktermined, at least by our senses. "The vdlture's eye hath not seen it." Suppose a {^^rain of wheat is placed in the earth at a favorable time when and where it will be susceptible of moisture, heat, air, light, some visible, some invisible, acting on the seed by which it puts forth a germ, goes down and forms rootlets in the soil, at the same time it pushes a bud into the air, bursting the clods and developing in the light. Is protoplasm the substance within the bran, hull, shell or envelope, or is it some- thing without, above and beyond the starch, gluten, flour, that the seed contains? Is it one or all of the environments, elements so seemingly necessary to its existence ? Or is protoplasm a romantic term evolved from the fertile protoplastic brain of the learned scientific philosopher, a term invented to cover our profound ignorance and conceal the truth? Should we subject the animal kingdom to investigation the thing may be more complicated, but the reasoning will be nearly the same, consid- ered analogically. The female bird, whether it be the humming bird or the ostrich, lays an egg. That egg with the application of heat and other surroundings soon shows a living creature within, which in d»e time bursts the shell, issuing from its dark confinement into light and liberty. Protoplasm must be within the shell or without it. People of ordinary intelligence can admit that the little being is sustained by the substance within which no more solvei the mystery of its creation than the starch of the grain of wheat solves that of its springing to life; but when the shell is broken and the bird picks up its nourishment they cannot see how it is fed by a protoplasm outside the shell or prison walls while they are unbroken, and to which hitherto it has been forbidden access. Seeds are, tc ah appearance, dca'' inatter till placed in conlitions vhere they aresuscept- I jle of vitality. The egg, if left a certain time, will become incapable of i.fe in tkc most favored conditions. The same holds of the healthiest HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 157 plant seeds, if proper conditions are wanting, though they ma\- endure to a period more remote. The fact of possible vitality is not qiestioned in these cases. But where is protoplasm ? What light does so learned a term throw on the origin of life ? Is it the cause or the occasion of life t Is it any discovery ? Such a dream of philosophers may remove the cause a little farther back into the dark mystery, but gives no solu- tions. The visible beginning of the chicken was the egg, of the plant was the seed. To trace these back a thousand generations throws no light on the origin. Protoplasm may serve as a little play of the imag- ination, but as none of our senses cognise it, and it gives no explanatiion, it cannot be science ; for science professes to be knowledge, therefore protoplasm is fancy. Investigations show protoplasm to be a nonentity. Creation con- fronts the protoplast and he is silent br'ore the only wise, true, good, Omnipotent Creator in whom all beings have their existences. He makes, preserves, governs every creature and every act. All are his offspring. Their works are his- An invisible life-giving agency must be admitted and to call this protoplasm is low, vulgar, barbarous, utterly be- neath and unworthy of the name of a .scientific philosopher. It is not like the genius of an Englishman, nor of a Roman, nor even of a Scythian. Why attribute to plastic matter what it lays no claim to ? It is not only pleasant and entertaining, but intensely interesting to sit and listen to the Huxleys, Tyndalls, Hamiltons, Murchisons, and an almost innumer- able host of scholars, when they learnedly and eloquently talk on the phenomena of mind and matter and investigate the origin of life; but dreams are not science, the loftiest theories are not knowledge, the most sublime flights of fancy are not ascertained facts, however charming or delightful they may be to hear or read. They say, like produces like, and men do not gather grapes of thorns ©r figs of thistles, but if creative power be left out, all the efforts in the laboratory must ever be absolutely abortive. It is reported that when the bees lose a queen they will gather the essences of certain herbs and flowers and apply them to the egg in the comb during the state or time •f incubation, and the young queen eventually appears. These are only the visible applications of materials, that without the aid of creative power would be utterly inadequate to accomplish the end in view. The mysterious communication of life no created man knows, perhaps no angels' eyes have ever witnes.sed the secret. Investigation is in many things legitimate, and in certain conditions not forbidden, and may in- crease our knowledge, even vivisection, though very unpleasant and to the poor animal painful, may not be a sin. But when we have hatched a theory and dreamed over it for years, then dogmatise over it as a cer- tainty, we contribute nothing to science except to bring it into contempt. We have made this little digression because even in botany foundation- less theories are laid before young students who are not prepared to op- pose them, but whose tendency is to hide the ejldy of creation under some miserable subterfuge. Scientiste are regarded as thinking men, by way of eminence; why should they lose themselves in idolatry, in a wilderness of speculation, and mere inventions about the origin of life, which they cannot discover in their alembics nor comprehend in the mightiest stretch of their intcllitjcnce, but which shine in the light of i5» HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. t !i ,1; Revelation to the eye of the soul. "Through faith we underst? ' th«(t the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things wkich arc seen were not made of things which do appear." Man should use his understand inj» to employ the forces of nature, which his intellipfnce may direct In pitat ndvnnta|^e< The fissility of rocks shows that tree roots nay j cnctratc then), shape themselves to the openings, and with no visible appearance of support, maintain themselves erect, wave their jjreen flag all sufiuncr, grateful for the drenching deluge that washed their stems and leaves from insect pests, mollifying the soil and the very rocks on which they thri\ e and flourish. In the great la- boratory of nature these workmen convert earth crystal and rock into living vegetable fibre, adaptablf; to so many nameless purposes and uses in our business economy. The more congenial the soil, the greater the profits will be. We have no ooubt that the workmen on the Central Canada railroad by their reckless fires consumed more than a million dollars' worth of forests in the year 1870, to the people ofCarlcton. But that ab.sorbing, consuming forty cents on the dollar concern, never pro- posed them any recompense. Their vast traffic in freight from India and China has done wonders for this Dominion. Judicious labor timely employed rcpresentin;j; cash will be paid with compound interest in fruit and forest trees well planted and kept. For fences, plant a row of maples round the place 1 1 feet apart. This is not half the labor of planting posts, and the trees will grow where posts will not stand. Surround these with a wire fence attached to a strip one by two inches, .six feet long, set against the trees, tied with a tarred cord, and a pad to save the tree bark and to hold the wire fence in place. The wind will not disturb the trees. Maples are sure growers and sugar producers. This mode of fencing is cheap and durable. Stone houses are the best for farm or city. They are less expensive than brick, and ten times as enduring. Clean cut rock work, well built, three stories high and flat roof, well furred inside and carefully plastered, will never go out of style. It is sightly, salubrious, satisfactory, commodious and comfortable. The science of grafting is well known, and perhaps as old as antediluvian times The husbandman Noah likely understood it well. Fit the growth of last year to the stock, wood to wood and bark to bark, carefully cut and make airtight with grafting wax, composed of an equal weight of tallow, beeswax and resin, dissolved together and applied to the wounds. The wax may be put on hot or cold. The Christian life is engrafting into the living stock, and its goal is the house not made with hands. If one confines his planting to valuable forest trees, he may plant four times as many in the straight lines. Over 16,000 may grow well on 100 acres, and 33 feet between the lines. After ten years' cultivation the farm is enriched and the young trees well up. lOO acres may be cut into ten lots for pasture, each field to be eaten three days in the 30 days. 100 cows may be fed on it from May 15th till Oct, 15., provi^dthat the dressing is scattered with a light harrow within a week after the cattle leave it. Tlie great provincial park on the north may supply pine and other lumber as well as preserve game and a grand water supply. But how great will be the demand in the coming ages, of which ours is the precursor ? We fancy there is a fortune in sight for the man who has HnrrcRV or the ottawa vai,i.fv. t59 ' thitt ich are nature. iiWty of s to the iiisclves f (Ichige he soil re at la- ck into nd uscH iter the Central million fn. Hut er pr«- n India aid with t. For lis is not )sts will one by ;d cord, ice. The id sugar : houses ick, and i stories ill never ious and )s as old >d it well. : to bark, an equal }plied to stian life tade with ay plant w well on iltivation ay be cut ; 30 days, i that the he cattle pine and ly. But rs is the who has tlie pjenius and courajje to work It out. Our early settlers possessed and cvitiviited a hi(;h moral tone and spirit. I'eoplc seldom lied otic to Another. Charfi^es of fraud or dishonesty were very few and rare. The usii.il percrntaj^e of the [)coplc wo»ild get into debt and perhaps not make the ^{rcaiest effort to get free; move to another place, and be un- able, or forget to liquidate if more prosperous. Hut with these few ex- ceptions little fault could be found with the conduct of the people in general. They were kindly disposed to one another, and were generous and hospitable in their treatment of strangers from other lands. An o-'cn door, a friendly grectin;^ and ample entertainment awa' "d t+»e wayfarer, and when rested and refreshed and all the news he had was extracted he was forwarded on his journey and furnished with all the information respecting footpaths in the woods, new brushed out roads and way marks. Thieving, burglary, mob violence, were unheard of and whether it arose from our being so top-heavy with magistrates, but there were very few cases of assault. Few misunderstandings arose among them. Too much whiskey might cause a free fi;;jht, but the quarrel wa.« made up when the drink was out, and friendship at once restored. There was too much "harmless" Sabbath visiting. The sparse condition of the settlements accounted for this, fortlicre were few or no ministers for a number of years, and the good morals cannot be attributed to that useful and necessary class of men. Families maintained their religion and morality that had not a visit from a clergymen in a quarter of a century. We had no cry about religion in the schools, and no mobs of those school religious scamps to injure person or property as now. It is amusing to hear of what city ministers have travelled on horse back, who perhaps never kept a horse two years of their lives, and elders telling of long rides that tney made once in a twelvemonth, or half a dozen times in a long life, whilst those who have had many long wearisome rides, say not a syllable about them. Some young writers delight to image out some wonderful minis- ter who has done so and so. Editors should clip these ten feet long fox- tail stories, or the old ministers should correct the idolatry when imagina- tion only has furnished the statements. Good morals vyere cultivated before the anxiously looked for ministers arrived. In the absence of the clergy the Justices of the Peace performed the marriage ceremony. But the people and the magistrates themselves had little faith in these performances, for when a minister came, the fact that they were legal did not prevent a J. P. from having it repeated. There were some very head-strong or high strung people in that age, who thought that every Chri.stian rite ought to belong exclusively to their party or favored denomination. Politicians are full of such an idea as well as religious sects. How could there be a thinker or one of any note outside of their favored circle ? Would not the nation perish if their party were not its rulers ? How would anyone dare to speak of piety existing outside the wails of their denomination. Of course they are the pco| L-. and wisdom will die with them- Loyalty is always asso- ciated with tlieir policy. Loyalty to the nation and loyalty to the tyr- ranical ruler, are two things which some are unwilling to distinguish. Each pwr:\ I'ns the same right to charge rebellion on the other because loyalty is so ili defined. fr l69 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. • r 1 'j Some wouki say Charles Stuart was very loyal when he was ruling without a Parliament and levying war on his people. Otbcrs would say Oliver Cromwell was loyal when he made the enemies of Knp;Iand quail before hb "army, whose back tio enemy ever saA^." Little minds clad in the panop'' ♦^^heir own authority rcj^ard all differing from them as rebels and co call rebel vociferously. Granting these excellent men all they citiiui of loyalty in their own bosoms to what they deem the object of loyalty, they may not possess that superior principle that would grant equal rights to ot'^ers who may be as anxious for the true prosperity of their country as themselves can be. Men may be clear- sighted, profound thinkers, much more loyal when necessity arises, than those haughty spirits whose throats and lips are ever booming forth their loyalty. John Churchill, the undaunted warrior Duke of Marlboro, with whose title the township was honorably named, possessed a very pecu- liar kind of loyalty. The traitorous deeds of this uncompromising parti- zan were not known till long after his great name as a hero was estab- lished. "Tell me one good deed that CromvVell ever did ?" said Dr. Johnston to the old laird, Boswell. "Gad sar, he part kings ken that they had a lith i' ther neck. James Stuart had so revolutionized the army and navy, and even the universities by injudicious dismissals and ap- pointments, that the best blood of his country, the abkst men of his empire took such a stand against, that he ignominiously abdicated his throne and kingdom. Loyalty to the despotic king and to the rights of free men, could not dwell together in the same mind. Marlboro pre- ferred James to William the liberator, whom he regarded with the most uncompromising and deadly hatred. A politician of the mould and cast of James and Charles, he could see nothing to admire m the policy of the Dutch English William, and he carried his bitter enmity to such a pitch as to betray his country. Learning that a small expedition was to be sent to the coast of France to try and regain what Mary Tudor had lost, he sent a messenger to notify the abdicated James, who at once communicated with Louis and preparations were made to slaughter the troops as they were being rowed in the boats from the squadron to the shore. A fire was opened on them with deadly effect from masked batteries and before they could return to the protection of the ships, many lost their lives. Marlboro in rendering the attempt a failure besmeared himself with the blood of his countrymen, and covered his memory with an infamous stain. This base act only saw the light when access was had to the papers of James after Marlboro had become a hero and fattened the plains of the low coun- tries with the blood of almost countless thousands, and was himself numbered with the dead. Had one dared to hint that John Churchill was a traitor or disloyal, how many, ignorant of the fact, would have rushed to smash his head. What a cry, disloyalty ? and traitor ? But these have been used too often and by the wrong party. Limited mon- archy is one of the mildest forms of government. Responsible govern- ment for the people by the people, is safest, but people require care and training to be able to maintain these sacred rights and privileges There are so many mercenaries, venal souls that will take bribes, home-born slaves that are beneath contempt except for their votes- Their purchased^ HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. I6l sUre-owners, shanMlessly hold up their brazen faces as if bribery were a virtue. "Unreasoning," they apply freely to their liberal opponents. In what light are these bribers viewed by all honest men ? They are low, mean, sneaking thieves that tiade in souls and slaves of men- Honor, honesty, truthfulness, they abhor utterly unless their vile weapons cannot be employed to advantage. Th*? men who act on this low, cun- ning putrid principle that debauches a human soul into such corruption, resemble church and barn burners, and the robbers of widows and orphans. Whether they buy the man, city, county, or whole province, it is the same rankling iniquitj^. Injustice is the same in little or much. One infallible rule of faith denounces these as crimes. Hebrew morality forbids gifts as blinding the eyes. Even the old Trojan objects to and not provoked and raised an opposition, there would have been no room for bribery, but now the thing has become intolerable, and if persisted in, will create a rebellion, such as the land should never have to witness, not to say endure. Bcecher, in dealing in a sermon, with the New York judges, said if he held the gate of Heaven in his hands, and ^ne of them came for admission, he would slam it in his face. There was a minister in the Old World whose hired man used to ^ig the potatoes on Sunday to have them fresh for dinner. His brethren were disturbed about it, but how would they stop it One said, let me try ? So they were dining with him, and Dr. A told a strange dream ke had. "I had died," said he, "and was going to Heaven, and at the gate was asked, ''Who are you ?" "I said. Dr. A and wish admis- sion." ''You cannot get in with that package." I looked and sure enough, there I had under my arm It bundle of manuscript sermons. On my way back I met yourself. Dr. T , and said Dr. T-;^ where Mre you going ? You said, to Heaven. I said, you can never get in with that on your back. "What had I on my back? — a bag of potatoes. Will that gate be open to these impenitent sharpers who take every opportunity to humiliate their country and corrupt one another ? Such men as the heroic Duke have been used in the hands of an overruling Providence to destroy the power of the foes of Great Britain, but had such men been let carry out their own intentions, they wouU' have been the greatest Iocs their country ever encountered; her tyranny would have been complete and the unrepented transgressions of her raonarchs, and their aristocracy following in the footsteps of their wicked- ness, had called down the vengeance of Heaven for her ruin, whilst another nation had been raised up to take her place, leaving her in the degraded position of one of the basest of kingdoms. The men whose ancestors held their country together in defiance of her foes abroad and her tyrants and despots at home who set her name higher on the roll of fan.e than ancient Rome ever was, and made the name of an English man so much more respected abroad than a citizen of that republic wh« m e broad acres of an English dukedom. Obstacles there were seemingly insuperable, but to the descendant of the Kents thcvt followed Harold, the second to the defeat of Dane and Norwegian, yielcliikj at last, it is true, on the field of Hastings, but not so much van- q«islied as wearied with conquest; was not to be deterred with difficul- ties. He was of Kentish blood though s<>mewhat Americanized. Valor is not lacking in his posterity for every o.ne knows that the Gitineau's ■K>nafch, if an itisult wereoffered.couldsway his sceptre with un at last. The middle aged Tory blundering of the Earl of Bute, Premier of George III. had lost the thirteen colonies to the Empire in spite of the remonstrances of the best friends of England, the Chathams, Burkes, Sherridans, Broughams and such like men, who told them they could not conquer America, but their conciliatory councils were cast to the winds by the brute majority, led secretly by proud churchmen ; as the brute majority so led in our days, has ruined the country, plunged us overwhelmingly in debt for great works, which are given away to irre- sponsible corporations, who would, if suffered, soon femove the last vestiges of our liberties. It was considered the best disposition that could be made of wild lands, worthless without settlers, but rich in forest treasures, to make grants of it to hardy colonists, whose grandsons and great grandsons have suffered themselves to be led by designing politi- cal cunning foxes, with all kinds of false issues to delude them, and themselves millionaires, bring us to the verge of ruin. The most wretched land policy has been pursued — our wild lands given to corpor- ations or ranchers, large portions taken back at four times their value and left unoccupied, our country put in debt for the cash borrowed and given away ; that is, divided among our borrowers. It was not so in the early days. The lands were freely given to actual settlers or such men as encouraged such and did much to improve the country. Mr. Wright being a member of the house had deservedly much influence with the Government, and materially helped the settlers. Very many got their lands and patents from the Crown through his hands There was an im- mense amount of treasure in the living forest which if only sold as the land was cleared must have realized great sums. This led to spending freely> nc thought of hard times coming. Now the people tell plainly that they were better ofT 40 years ago than to-day wit' ill their clcar- lllgl HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLKY. 171 most :orpor- value id and in the ings fijmprovements, crops, stock and buildin^^s. The Dominion Gov- ernment for nearly two decades have as pjood as given away our^timber limits, helped the favored few at the expense of the toiling many, and CI c >uraged pauperism. West of Mooseau's spread along dwell the Aliens', Edward Wright, Willie Wright that married Miss Skead, Thomas Roberts the Welshman. Mr. I^atchford, a genuine Irishman, finely instructed in gardening and agricultural business, conducted a large farm in all branches of its oper- ations for many years with great satisfaction and success for M r. Riggles Wright. Mr. James Wadsworth, lumberer, lived on the north of the turnpike. The famous preacher of Philadelphia, Dr. Wadsworth, was a cousin. His seni.ons published after his death are the most readable compositions of the age, rich in gospel truths, full of illustrations of the higher type. Suffice it to say of these discourses that they were to the reading world of America what the sermons of Dr. Guthrie were to the British Isles — richly instructive and entertaining. Mr Wadsworth had one daughter by his first wife. His second wife he rescued from the nunnery. She had been sent to this city, and contrived to get him word, and between them she made bcr escape and he married ner im- mediately. They are both dead some time, and are said to have made a charitable use of their wealth. Miss Wadsworth was afterwards Mrs. Thomas McKord, a son of Mr. Justice McKord of Aylmer. Tlie Judge was very talented and full of humor. Meeting me one day in a violent snow storm at the post office, calling my attention to the contrast in the color of our noses, said that iiis was so saturated with brandy that the Aakes fizzled off it Mke raindrops off a hot iron, whilst they stuck to mine till thawed off by the natural heat. He had passed a judgment on a case of some importance and wished me to wr-tie an editorial notice of it in the Jifms and sent a volume of Chitty with the places marked *on which he based his decision, and the book was to remain until he sent for it. The notice was satisfactory, but the book was forgotten- Meet- ing sometime after, we remarked that we hoped he would not consider that he had lost the right to claim the book because he had left it so long ; when he said abruptly : "Did you see the notice in the window of my office that whoever had the first volume of Chitty should come and take the second, as it was useless alone." We expressed great sorrow that we had not seen it in time. Shortly after Pontiac was erected into a county, an electicM was Held when Thomas Fenwick and Thomas McKord were both scrutineers far one of the candidates, whom the people did not admire, and as in that period of our history an election was not hurried through in one day with indecent haste, but lasted several day:>, the boys thought of giving an entertainment to the two yomg lawyers; so with baskets of fowl and decanters of brandy they set off, tke lawyers suspecting nothing, and found a fine tent in the thick cedar swamp. After the repast and th«tr thirst assuaged witn the brandy, of which poor Fenwick had a ddicate fondness, they found they were prisoners with pickets t* guard thea weM armed. Thinking discretion the better part of valor, they submMed wkh a ?eod grace, knowing well that the member would be elected without them, though not the one they came to aid and secure. The report soon came down and there must be some nctM:e of it in the most r<-|f in HISTORY or THE ©TTAWA VALLEY. IM ^1 'I , J- ff H moflest •«tjrl« 'hi Th/ Titms, and as they had been complimenting eadi •thcr in the court in a tough case some tune before, anu the jud^c, W. K. McKord, Esq., was the father of the one, and f^rcatly admired the talents of the other, he let them have it out, so they were a little distant for a few weeks, but 71^ TVm/j declared that Pilate and Herod were made friends. When they got free and came down they •saluted each other as Pilate and Herod till the novelty wore off. Mr. Thos. McKord supplied his readers with a finely written digest of the laws of Quebec. He died a young man- Miss McKord, daughter of the Judge, whose mother wis an Arnoldi, married Judge Powlett To return to our local course : The great Conroy farm lay south of Sheriff Coutlics down to the Rapids where their large ss.wmills and lumber yards stand. Mrs. Conroy, who was the daughter of William McConnell, managed this great farm with marked ab Ilty for many years, securing from it large profits. Mr. Robert Conroy was from Maharafelt, Ireland. He said that was "his calf ground." He was very extensively and successfully employed in lumber, merchandise, hotel keeping, and other public- spirited undertakings, went often to Quebec and made much wealth They lived in a fine house in the village, where they built several houses, had a magnificent garden and fine grounds, and were both long lived. North of this were the Hurdmans' farms and dwellings. They luiii- bered extensively and with much success. William ma/ricd Miss Smith, a daughter of Col. Smith of Gloucester, and owns the fine s*t of saw mill buildings on the rocks between Eddy's and the "Kettle," as the great falls was formerly called. Some of the younger brothers married daughters of Mr. Thomas Fraser of Fitzroy. A sister of the Hiir Imans' married Mr. Robert Fraser of Cumberland, a womanof fine qnaliiics and an excellent wife and mother. Robert Fraser is a man of genius and undoubted talents; though not among the wealthy, yet far siijicrior to many in the truthfulness and honesty which are such rare graces among the rich and great- North of the Hurdmans were the Aylwin family, whose brother was the able politician and judge whom we often saw at Ayimer at court before the appointment cf Judge M( Kord. East of his farm were Mr. Radmir, and Routleys, Filsimmons, Curries, Moffets, Pinks, Haworths and McHarveys, coverinj^^ a large space to the moun- 'ain side. Cominjt east of these you pass the farms of Duncans, Bene- dicts, Hon. R. W. Scott, till you reach the large Brigham stone house and farm The old English gentleman, Mr. Farmer, lived close by here a considerable time in the early history of the place, famous for the cattle and horses he imported from England and introduced here, and the Ptonc-wall fences he built, improvements which even then cost too much to pay in the line of agriculture. Returning up the Ayimer Road westward to Mr. Foran's large stone house, Olmsteads and Rcnaldo McConnell on the river front, an honorable man, whose wife was a d;uighter of Rev. Meech, sometime the minister of the old Presby- terian Church, the first of the family in the Ottawa County. Mr. ?«lc- Conncll went to the Mattawa and was drowned ; his widow still survives, and his son is an excellent business man, dwelling in a lovely spot on the river bank, looking on the elevated range of the Laurentians acrots the river. The house is in a red pinr grove, am' Mrs McConnell ii a fine sample of a good looking-lady, wife and housickeeper. HISTORY or THE OTTAWA VALLET. in Richard McConnell built like his neighbor (John Koran) a fine stont bouse, with a beautiful foreground to ihe road, well planted, now a fin« grove. He lumbered extensively in stiuare timber, white and red pine, whilst Mr- Renal^io and his brother-in-law Mr. Meach, sometimes took out a whole raft of red pine spars, which they some years sold at an average of thirty dollars each, at other times as low as ten, one year make largely then others lose heavily. Judge LaP'ontainc lived west of Mr. R. McConnell, then Bell, the Urimses, Chamberlain, Heath, Egan and Wright, one of whose sons was an esteemed physician, lately deceased. Above these on the next line was Robert Kenney, a very strong farmer, lumberer, man of general business, a gentleman well in- formed on most subjects, especially on agriculture and stock raising, at which he led the way in his county in almost every department. Mr. Kenney was well read and of sound mind ori mo.st religious subjects, and a great friend to education, ready with sound dvice and open i>urse when necessary. He was for some years conf.ncc to his home, being rather fleshy and unable to get about. He did n. t lose control of his locomotive powers, although inclined to be rheumatic. \t has afforded the writer great pleasure in having the opportunity of spending whole Sunday afternoons with him in discussing great truths. He died recently at a good old age leaving a good reputation behind him. John Gordon s farm and R. Klock"s lie behind these. Simon Hill, whose farm is north of the village, was very aged in my young days. He lumbered in early life and furnished lime to builders in after times. His son William went to Australia. His daughter mar- ried first Mr. Kenny, then after his death, Mr. Joseph Neil. They have the old farm since her father's demise. Mr- Charles Symmcs owned the land on which most of the village of Aylmer is built. He was very popular, held many offices being mayor of the village and county. He sold many of his village lots in Constitue. You paid interest at 6 per cent, on the value, and redeem ulien you please or never if you paid the interest. If you left, the buildings and improvements remained the Sroperty of the first party that soUI. As a citizen he was much esteemed, liss Symmes married her cousin, Henry Symmes, ^'ho with his brother lumbered. They had a large family. The second Miss Symmes was Mrs. P. Aylen, whose .sons are doing well in various professions. The third daughter was Mrs. Cruise, whose daughters married gentlemen in theemploy of the Government. One son is, as was his father, a very distinguished lawyer in HmH. Some of his brothers are civil engineers and wer? long years in the sur- vey of the Canadian Pacific Railway. One of Mr. Charles Symmes' sons resides in Ottawa and holds a government appointment at the slides. Three others reside in Aylmer. Edmond spent some years in British Columbia and returned to his old home in preference to the wilds of the west Thomas is on the north of the villa^je, largely em- ployed in gardening and supplying the city with fruits of various des- criptions Tiberius occupies the pleasant old homestead in the centre of the village. 1 he youngest sister died very young. * They are all like their parents, highly respected and esteemed and very inoffensive citizens. On the west of the village Mr. Harvey Parker had a farm- He was twice .married, had a number of children and lived to be far advanced in ;; - i- 1>! It- -i. »74 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. years. Beside him was Peter Aylen's farm. We have seen him before in the settlement of Nepean- He was know n as kinjj nf the Shiners during; his lumbering o{)craticms Originally a sailor, we do not know from what ^art of the British Isles he nailed, but he was a well-read old gentleman when we made his acquaintance; a thinker and not deficient in natural oratory, that sometimes came out on the hustings at election contests and never failed to make an impression. But he belonged to the party that had long and up hill work ere it got much foothold in this country, if yet it may be said to have attained such a position. The hereditary policy of the Stuarts, intensified by the inhumanity of the Mc lici, which separated society into the two very natural divisions, des- potic, absolute tyrants, and abject, unreasoning, soulless slaves; had so deeply burned itself into men as to be almost irradically established. Power, wealth and display always on the side of the oppressor, carry the unthinking, mostly the many, against the lovers of freedom and fair play, so that it requires eternal vigilance to keep nations from des- cending into the rude conditions of barbarism. Were the Stuarts and the Bourbons and the Bonapartes happy in the spoliation of the races ? Are the plunderers of a people happy in surveying the ruins they have made ? The flourishing, peaceful prosper- ity of a country or a people, helped by the consciousne.ss that you have done your duty in aiding them to that enjoyment, ought to be con- sidered the highest rewards by rulers, politicians, teachers and the people themselves, who embark in these developments in the progress of nations, society, and felicity of humanity in general. The contrast between Kossuth and Georgy, between Napoleon Bonaparte and Guizot, Crom- well and Charles Stuart, William Henry Nassau Prince of Orange and Louis XIV Bourbon of France; the contrast between Catharine de Medici and Mary Stuart of the Revolution, show clearly if anything can, that the lover of truth, justice and honor, occupies an elevation im- measurably above that of the low thieves that plunder the nation thjough the public treasury, trample on the liberties of their own flesh and blood, inhumanly butcher men made in the innage of God, if they stand in the way of their ambitious designs. The "Austrian butcher", as they termed the General Hanau, who by the aid of Russia, had then overcome the patriot Maygais, in his visit to England, had to be protected by the police from the brooms of the fac- tory hands as His brutal Excellency inspected' the places of business, distilleries, breweries and workshops. Their brutal violence provokes revenge in the minds of the most peacably disposed. The Abimelecks, Absaloms, Zimris, in Jewish histoiy with Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, were not set forth to be copied any more than tke Richlieus, Borgeas and the Jeffries, or the Beatons, Sharps and Lauders. Many of the first settlers, though not claiming perfection for themselves, were mightily opposed to the principles that composed these characters, and were very little afraid to express their views. Among these people there were several ladies well trained as weR as highly educated, who were models in many ways. They were the wives of professional men, and their taste, tc :t, management and mat- ronly movements so silent, so pleasant, of husband and household placed them, if we be permitted the expression, more among tke angel% than HISl UV OI THE OTTAWA VALLBT. 175 among the refined £ nners of our race. Attend a party at one of their houses and you comIJ see and judge for yourself. The lady would be in the: place, and at the time, to receive and warmly welcome every guest, and order the attentions necessary. The guests would be so selec- ted as to be deli'fjhted to meet in such a congenial atmosphere. The leaders in the conversation were well chosen and :ieighted with interest- ing subjects, free from controversial tinge and tendency. That harmony, humor, healthy instruction and improvement were the natural inevitable result. Then at the table she would contrive to place a lady modestly talkative and silver-tongued, by the side of a taciturn gentleman. She would mate a voluble gentleman with a sweet amiable lady of not too great a flow of words. In such arrangements there were no feelings of restraint, but a flow of soul-gentle and genial as a river with a free cur- rent without a cataract in its whole course. When we resided in Indi- ana we remember a display not unlike the above. We were very shaky with the "chills" fever and ague, and going to a meeting of the Presbytery, our steps were tottering truly, but a young man just a short time before ordamed to the ministry, saw, and rushing up seized our satchel and carried it off against our but feeble remonstrance. When seated most of the members came to enquire after the health, frightened we suppose by the evidence given by the countenance, an act of kind- ness that left irtdelible impressions. Two of our doctors were sent to the best house in the little place as the custom is to show the greatest kindness to the best established and richest ministers, which ho doubt their superior talents command. One of the doctors was a man of great weight in the church, (300 lbs avoird.,) but he was a great audible res- pirator. The other doctor was thin, delicate, sensitive and nervous, who could not sleep beside such a man. The next day after so sleepless a night he was poorly and as the train was to pass down he asked leave of absence which was kindly given. Your humble servant also got early leave for the same just reason. So the moment we were clear of the place, going to the station, he told us his grievance in which we cordially sympathized. He had been frightened sleepmg with an old clergyman, who was often entertained at his father's. It was moonlight and the old gentleman's hair being long scattered over the pillow in the silver light, and his snore corresponded in the like longitudes, the boy fled in terror to his mother's room, and could never get over his horror at the awe-inspiring verberations of the uvula in the air current rushing from the lungs. Now, said the Dr., it may be my weakness, but you have invited to your city the Presby- tery to hold its next meeting. How can you arrange for these ^rong breathtts ? Oh ! we can meet the case. So for this indomitable snorer we got a room in the best house of our people, this great Dr., and if need be mated him wsth a fine old eider, who always was at meetings with his ear trumpet. Dr. M came to our house and found these two had been located, and declared it the most fitting of arrangements as he said : •' The elder could not hear thunder and Dr. F could not wake him nor prevent his going to sleep by his loudest reverberations. The arrangement was so complete that it never called forth a remark and Dr. M remained with us during the meeting which Usted for sooMi m 3?' V. m Uli tl. , ''• i| . ;.•«," 176 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY, Mr. John Gordon, a very orij^inal character, was a shoemaker. His wife \v;i> a daughter of the Presbyterian minister, Mr. Meach, a very peaceable and amiable women. Their large family were all j^ently dis- posed as they grew up and betook themselves to various employments. The (.laughters married well, one became the wife of a Presbyterian clergymen. Mr. Gordon, being brought up a Presbyterian thought the Presbyterians of Hull too frigid for his own somewhat fiery temperament to be congenial companions in ecclesiastical fellowship, and Methodism, being then, as it were, grown vip from an infancy a quarter of a century before, he threw himself into it with the rapt enthusiasm of a Savanarola or a Luther, embracing with it the temperance cause, then in its swad- dling bands. He labored as a layman and artizan indefatiguably in both these fields the greater part of a long life. He was sometimes carried away by appearances, as some goo \ people are, and when they are un- deceived are very sorry they cannot repair the injuries they have done the sincere but unostentatious. Shallow people cannot detect sincerity but they hail the easily assumed appearance if there is money in the background. John was not shallow nor cowardly. He filled the office of constable of the superior courts and overtook many a swift-footed fugitive from justice. With both hands so full of business he could not always please his brethren in everything and was at times subjected to church trials or discipline, but it generally happened that if one court punished, the higher to which he appealed reversed it. We have this on the authority of his talented son, who distinguished himself in McGill College, and continues to do so in his practice at the Bar. The following, however, we have from a superior source of infor- mation, wnich we are at liberty to disclose if it is contradicted or called in question. His brethren ecclesiastically pressed a point and would have hlrn bruiight to trial; he modestly declined their jurisdiction, but said he would not be unwilling to be tried by outsiders. So it was de- cided to elect a court to consist of a sheriff and two lawyers. The sheriff was a Roman Catholic, one lawyer was a kind of Universalist pro- fessedly, the other professed nothing -xcc^jt perhaps French infidelity. The first gentleman, on hearing the accusations and the defence, said he thought the *tn was pardonable, and his church, the Catholic, had a broad breast, and if he would cast himself into the bosom of that church and confess his faults they would absolve him, confirm to him all the Profound affection of that church in all its length, breadth and depth ; he second referee or judge in the case said he concurred in the opinion of the first and believing in the salvation of all men, even the worst, he concluded that if the subject was penitent, he was not beyond the reach of forgiveness. The third said that he once sympathized with French infidels of a particular school, but he had been converted from that to Calvinism, and he now believed in eternal punishment John Calvin had barned servetus (which he was not then bound to provsj and he thought some sinners merited that and should get their desert^ing. The case before them was such. He was a great transgressor and justly merited everlasting burnings. This could only be regariled as a demurrer or a protest: as the other two agreed. Though this whole farce tirai seems incredible, yet to those who knew the parties, it is perfectly char icteristic of every one of them. If he went through this meek trial il I HBTOIT OF THB OTTAWA VALLEY. 177 His very ly dis- ments. rterian rht the ament odism, :entury inarola swad- in both carried are un- re done incerity in the te office 't-footed luld not ;cted to le court nguished ; at the of infor- ar called d would tion, but was de- he sheriff ilist pro- infidelity. e, said he c, had a at church n all the id depth ; le opinion worst, he the reach ;h French n that tc hn Calvin ) and he -ing. The ind justly I demurrer farce t«a4 jctly char ck triiU » I to eoolbafid his accmers; for we know htm too imtimately, to beticve b« wcild caricature religion. We visited him in his last illness and were kopcessed with the clearness of his religious views. He spoke', 't ii true, a^nst \h€ despotism of the clergy but a message he sent by us to a special friend of his in the city, is of some note. * Tell — that there ii no more og run and had three fine sons educated for his own pro- fession. We called on him for a subscription for a church then being built. He said he had spent his life building up churches, but he gave a good subscription in pijes of stones ready quarried. Color, his eldest, married Miss Hodgins and they raised a large family of doctors and dentists. Levi Ruggles, at his mother's instigation, added ihe study of law to his other eminent attainment, and though one of the finest of ^rgicons went into the practice of law in connection with Mr. Carter,, of Moatfeal< Carter & Church was the law firm in Aylmer, where he practiced successfully for years. He married the highly educated and refined Miss Bell, of London, England, daughter of a gentleman of the law and niece of General Bell. She was of pleasing manner, refined taste and elegance. The young talented lawyer soon entered politics and became a cabinet minister in the Quebec Government, which post he fitted (the law firm in Montreal was Chapleau and Church) with ability and credit for many years. He was created a judge and adorned the bench as talented, upright and impartial. He died comparatively young leaving two daughters and a son with their bereaved mother to lament their loss amid the sympathy of the multitudes. Howard Church, a vet/ A^hole-souled young man had married and settled down to his practice in Aylmer, when he was taken with typhoid fever, a disease he so much dreaded in his youth, and died long before his father and mother. Robert A. Young was a gentleman of refinement and notary who contributed much to the advancement of society in the rising vil- liage. Mrs. Younfj vns Miss Norman, daughter of Richard Norman, a retired banker of London, England. Dr. Church was in the habit of I m 17S HISTOItT OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. W\ & -i I h i IV m m saying that she was the nearest perfection of any woman he ever saw, sweet in temper, amiable and kind and good. Her only brother is Cannon Norman, of Quebec and Montreal, very highly esteenied as a gentleman and a divine. Mrs. Young was dying of consumption and Mr. Young ruptured a blood vessel, and both were buried together in the Mountain cemetery of Montreal. It was a great bereavement to a large family of very young children whom they left very rich. Captain James Blackburn came into Hull about 1832. He was the first to navigate a stecim boat, between Aylmer and the Chats, calling at March, Torbolton and Quyon, and some other places on the route, but would land a passenger almost anywhere, sending a boat to the shore. The Lady Colbourn, the Emerald, and one or two others, be- fore and after these have plied on that fine sheet of water. Captain Walter Findlay and Capt. Leech were .some time in the service. Capt Cumming was a long time in the employ of the Union Forwarding Com- pany, and like the others, his predecessors, was very popular. Mrs. Cum- ming was from Kingston, esteemed a great beauty when she came to Aylmer. She still survives by many years her hu.sband, and with her children ; some of whom are married here, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Henry, another is in Montreal. We remember a beautiful boy died in Aylmer, and one son, we think, survives. Mrs. Capt. Findlay was a Miss Mc- Caskill, daughter of the very popular merchant of Bell's Corners and Stittsville, Capt. Blackburn had a turn for politics and was elected in 1834 two years after he came to the country with a Mr. Bowman. Jas. Johnston, Daniel O'Conner, and Peter Aylen, sr., were the principal speakers on the hustings, and made it very hot for the other side. Politics ran high just then, for about that time J. L; Papineau, the patriot, with some, the arch rebel in the estimation of others was in the zenith of his power and manhood. The Captain was a genial soul fond of games, giving them a kind of respectability, initiating old and young into their mysteries. He was very popular on the lake and on the land. Glasgow was his birthplace in July 22, 1799. After being merchant, river cap- tain and M.P., he went to Illinois and died of cholera in Bairdstown, of that state in 185 1, and was buried there. Mrs. Blackburn was a si.ster of the late Sir James Campbell, firm of J. and W. Campbell, of Gl;isgow He never forgot the captain's widow or her family. She died in Ottawa not long ago, after residing some years with her daughter, Mrs. Chen.p • .ell, whose polite husband vs Henry Chepmell, son of an English "liiirch clergyman. A daughtci' Jesse was a Mrs. Hamilton. He was drowned, and she went to the western states and married there. Our acquaintance with them was of the pleasantest kind for y^ars. One daughter wf-s a Mrs. Atrill, whose little daughter Bessie went to the Ladies school taught by the Misses Fenwick in Aylmer, a dear gentle amiable child. We believe they left Ottawa years ago for Montreal. Mn. Capt. Blackburn's nephew is Mr. CampbellBannerman. which lalttr name he took as great wealth accrued to him by his mother's family in the name Bannennan. He is a member of Mr. Gladstone's cabinet, and said to be the mqgt able and pains-taking war minister England has had for years. We wish him a long and peaceful reign, for ukj happiness anfl the fame and the glory of the granti old mother land, to which we wirfi profound peace for long ages to cor>,e. HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. I» Mr. John E^an was ksng one of the leading kMnbermen and- mer- chants of Aylmer ; an M.P. also for years. He was of commandmg as- pect and very gentlemanly dcr'anor. He was called away while still in the prime and vigor of life, ivlrs. Egan is also some years gone. The family live in the city. One daughter, Mrs. Thistle, is a widow very vouRg yet. The sons are wealthy and prosperous. The ladies are very refined and highly respected by all. Besides the stores of the lumber- men. Messrs. Prentiss, two McLeans and Devlin, father of the rising M.P. for Ottawa County, were all successful in their time as storekeepers in general. Holts, Boultons, Conroys, Klocksand some others furnished ample hotel accommodation. Mr. Murphy, and alter him Mr, Haldane, governed the jail for years successfully. Mr. Thos. Fenwick, a brother of Dr. Eenwick of Montreal, Mr. Thos. McKord, son of Mr. Justice W. K. McKord, Mr. Peter Aylen, scholarly and talented, with Mr. DeLisle and Mr. Flemming did the pleading at the bar with great efficiency and often with eloquence, wit and humor in abundance. Thomas Fenwick could get the truth out peculiarly at times. He had a case of deer shoot- ing between two hunters and he asked the poor fellow on the stand was it a *' ferae naturae y yes; a wild beast, yes. Mr. Thompson after a num- ber oi years left and settled on Sussex street in Ottawa. Mr. Lindsay for years furni.shed the bushmen and farmers with axes in fine temper and form and abundant in number. His son, T. Lindsay, though young but full of the business principle, bids fair to be one of our princely mer- chants in the city if spared. James Walker, Thomas Smith and the Blewitt brothers were long the men of the anvil, hammer and sledge, attending to the wants of man and horse to the entire satisfaction of the large community. Mr. M. Marion, blacksmith of French-Canadian parentage, made fine use of his anvil at the corner of Aylmer and Deschenes roads, for on the visit of the first Governor-General to Aylmer they fired from it the royal salute of the twenty- one guns. We hear that he is now hale and hearty at Edmonton, N. W. T. Mr. Smith is now deceased. Capt. Dey left, his son became a judge in Montreal before we were grown up enough to cross the river, and we thought he was succeeded in the place by Mr. Snow, but we have been corrected on that I )y Mr. W. Hurdman, »vho was a near neighbor. It is Sheriff Coutlce who occupies the old Pey place and has enjoyed it a long time, and cultivated with much good taste fruits and flowers, especially the latter, naturalizing wild flowers and sending them for decoration to parties where they were greatly admired. He was also a kindly distributor of such curiosities. Mrs. Coutlee was a Miss Clegg, and they brouglit up a fine intelligent family. James Bailey, a long time the undertaker, "shawed the dead into their last dresses. He was very ingenious as a cabinet maker, extensively read and a man of thought. One of his sons is a clerf,ymen now in the United States, Several of his daughters married clergymen. One was Mrs. Nelson of Bristol, One was ^o^le time in Richmond, now in Tor- onto. When treating of RicluiiOnc! we entirely omitted to mention Rev. Mr. Lindsay, who married Miss McElroy. and was a number t>{ years pastor there; also Mr. Bennet wlio owns the old L>6n mill and farm, a great jtock raiser in heavy draught horses as well as cattle and sheep, etc. J. J. Roney was long the suf crintenclent of schools for Ottawa is f: it m i8o HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. county, but even men prow old and wear out. He was succeeded by Boulton McGratH, a jrp .xt mathematician, full of originality almost to explosiveness. His fieUJ is nearly as large as a European kintrilom and to the shame of the Government be it spoken, his salary is as meagre as his labor is immense. The summer of 1854 Aylmer was threatened with fire from the woods, which brought all the male inhabitants to the rescue, with all the Frenchmen who had ponies and water barrels. A large belt was care- fully watered and watched, and the danger passed away or was avoided. This brought the thinkers of the place together, and .several questions were asked, considered and answered. One said. Why is nothing better than a common school in a thriving village like this? Before the people returned home it was resolved to call a meeting and try to organize an academy. Meetings wore called, well attended, and many things con- sidered — adjourned and met again -so during the winter a great lecturer came there, Rev. Dr. West, who, when consulted, gave great encourage- ment to the enterprise. Finally a governing body was -organized, con- sisting of C. C. Symmes, Esq., mayor of the village; Peter Aylen, jr., Robert Kenny, T- B. Prentiss, R. A. Young, Richard McConnell and J. L Gourlay. The last was elected president, and Mr. Symmes secretary- treasurer. Application was made to the Government of Upper and Lower Canad.''. for an act of incorporation which was granted, and an endowment of ;tioo annually or $400. It was called the "Aylmer Academy." It was not a separate school, yet the Hon. Mr. Chanveau persisted in so calling it in his reports, against all remonstrances on our part- Ronian Catholics availed themselves of its advantages. The ob- ject and aim was to make it a proper connecting link between the cona- mon school and the college or university. The higher branches of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, English grammar and the Latin and Greek classics and elocution, etc., were taught efficiently and most care- fully and steadily since it was opened, and we hope will long continue to be so taught. They employed a succession of well qualified teachers. Among others may be mentioned Messrs. Shelden, Lochead, McGrath, Reid, Sheldon- again after he had become a lawyer, Miss Lizzie Symmes and others, all well qualified and very careful, painstaking and faithful in the execution of their work. A great amount was expended, and an effort made and well sustained to get the building in order, which commended the instruction far and wide beyond the bounds of the county. It was to be a place of thoroui^h training and it fully met the expectations. By the persistent efforts of the directors and kindly responses of the people, or as Mr. R. McConnell, one of its efficient managers, said : "by the perse erancc of the saints," it was got out of debt. We never could learn in thirteen years reporting and drawing the endowment and paying it over to the teacher, why the educational department persisted in keeping that word "Protestant" in their printed annual reports. Nor can we see to this day how the knowledge of arts sciences, languages, etc., an be affected by the religion of the teacher, whether Protestant or Catholic. There must be some other reason for that settled deter- mined disposition to maintain separate schools. Quebec has no national schools, they are cither Catholic or separate. The Govemraeat should HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. l8i not have anything to do with them. Let the churches look after them. This would remove a jjreat bone of contention from the state, and effect a great economy in the outlay of the funds- Six thousand years have not been Si sufficient time to teach the millions, that the money comes out of their own pockets, to make princely merchants, bloated specula- tors, Knights, Baronets, railway kings, fat lawyers; that give the great endowments t> colleges, and the extravagantly high salaries to cabinets and their far too numerous employees, that make cunning, crafty, easy- going clergyircn increase to 200 lbs., sometimes 300 lbs. avoird., so that they have grcnt weight in the courts of the church, and wonderful popu- larity among the fashionable, pleasure-loving multitudes of riomenal Christians. If ten men can agree on a truth, why not ten thousand or ten thousand million ? If there is ground for one man disagreeing from the multitude the same holds of every other man of that multitude, conse- quently there ca^n be nothing certain. We are all afloat. If men do not bring the same qualifications to the study, is that the fault of the truth ? Is not truth ever the same ? Ever new, always a representation of things as they are, never otherwise. The very highest authority in the Catholic Church, the Pope himself, instructs his people in the United States to abandon the feeble separate school lor the national, and tha' the strong schools must have teachers qualified as public national teachers. This is good common sense. It is far reaching if properly carried out, and will abolish all separate schools the world over. If the children of the feeble schools will not be injured, neither will they of the strong. How profitable would union be instead of division in education, politics or religion ? It would imply the breaking up of habits long cherished, deep-rooted, in which men are brought up from generation to generation. It would dissipate to the winds, prejudices that have fes- tered and eaten like cankers in the souls of millions — relax the firmest grip on money bags, open the tightest fist, unlock the miser's hoards, and with the diffusion of knowledge would be the increase of love and enjoy- ment. How many little things irritate and injure when they do no good; but rivet the chains of slavery in some of its myriad forms on so many that should be free to follow a life long career of education and industry. We have recommended the Protestants of Quebec to give up their sep- arate schools and insist on all schools being national, as the only practi- cal thing for a country so thinly settled. It would be ?. great saving. Schools are within speaking distance of one another, wliilst those in attendance are by the very system taught hatred to one another. We recommend the same to the Catholics of Ontario. It applies to Manitoba and every othef province. The votaries of separate schools may grind their teeth and shut their hard fists and knock down our recommenda- tions, and turn and kick them for falling, but facts remain the same. The mind is not nourished on foundationless fabrications, fictions and pagan- ish prejudices. Education, the moulding of the infant mind, is lar^jely in the hands of the parents. It is always found that through whatever vicissitudes man passes he never loses the mould, mental or spiritual, impressed on him by the hands of his mother. She should therefore be capable of giving the right form of mind, suited to theobligatiotis of the present as well as to be capable of the joys of the future. I83 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. 1 1- t|- Education is an essential work/a work of life, and when men ate willing to meet the expenses of giving youth the start, is it not mortal sin to retard the progress or to sow scot Is of liiscord in youthful minds, just budding into a useful development ? Theatrical fooleries were kept out of the Aylmcr Academy. Solid learning was the aim. Vices were punished with suspension. Penitence procured a restoration. Every- thing was required to be done decently and in order, and the results have been most encouraging. Aylme«", when wc first saw it in winter snows, was a very little place, with unpretentious wooden buildings, no churches, schooliiouscs, court house, no pra ui stone structures to decor- ate or adorn, or convey to the visitor, si cli an idea of wealth, comfort and refinement as those of the present day. The wharf, to which the small steamer, Lady Colbourn was tied up, was scarcely visible above the ice and snow. That beautiful macadamized road, affording such a a fine drive to Sabbath breakers and gamblers from the city, had not been hatched in the brain of any of its wealthy promoters. It was how- ever, the centre of young energetic men, indicating powers sufficient for great development. ' I'lic Symmes, Conrovs, Aylens, Chamberlains. Hills, Heaths, Wrijihts, Holts, Boultnns, McLeans, Egans. Iiadies, Kennys, Grimes, Prentiss, Thompson, Klocks, Parkers, Dr. Church, Richies; some earlier, some later, either kitjibrrcd, or kept store or hotel, tanned or made mocassins. We were under a mistake about Mrs. Conroy; she was not the sister but the cousin of Mr. R. McConnell, a daughter of Mr. William McConnell, who lived where Bell afterwards lived. Bell was of French extraction, descended probably from a British soldier of that name as many of them married French wives like W. B. Bradley of Huntley. Most of the first houses were logs that anyone tould hew in a day or two's practice, but many were left round and anyone could chink and plaster the spaces between. No Pat Mularkey of the trowel craft was needed; no John Whelan to build chimneys. The stovepipe could be put through the roof, scoops or shingles. Mark Cuzner was required to i.irike tin or sheet iron stoves and pipes, even from the first dawn of its civilization. Shingles were made by hand and so good as to last 30 years. On the west of Aylmer were the Parkers, Holts, Breckenridges, Moores, McCooks, Taylors, Neils, Cat's, Mcrl fields, Lusks, and ranging north of these, the Ferris, Maxwells, McCkll.inds, Erones, Duncans, and near the mountains, Haworths. Moffetts, Pinks, Currys, Davies, Blairs. Hurdmans lived east as well as west of the village. Olmsteds, Aliens, and Roberts the butcher, first in the village then beside the graveyard of Hull, then the oldest in the valley west of the city. Roberts came from Wales to Hintley. then Aylmer and Hull. His sons lived at the Carp, in Ottawa, and Montreal. Mr. J. F. Taylor when a young man, was bookkeeper for Mr. Wright. A good story is told of him. Mr. Wright came in very much annoyed at a man vapouring round insulting every- one. He had been evidently "set up" as the fumes were quite dis- tinguishable. Mr. Wright mentioned what he deserved. Young Taylor thought hew as in some measure, bound to see his master's wishes car- ried out, and asked if he wished him "Ia?.ed." Wrii^ht nodded in the affirmative. Taylor hung up his coat, walked out and laid him over a HISTORY OF TOT OTTAWA VALU" it3 few times till lie "caved in", cried, "enough" and promised to reform hia manners. Taylor came in, put on his coat and returned to his pen with as much composure as if he had been assisting his sweetheart down the steps of Holt's old stage. After this was known, the most obstreperous subsided if only threatened with a visit from James F. Taylor. When the writer became acquainted with him, he was a very quiet, sober regis- trar, living with his second wife, a very agreeable lady, formerly M^iss Eady. Mr. Taylor was a member of the Methodist church, but too sober for that proverbially restless, energetic community. For ages what is now, the province of Quebec, had no registry office for deeds or iiortgages. We think Mr. Tavlor was the first of the race of registrars in the couTity of Ottawa. Hitherto all conveyancing was done by .lotaries, or as the Scotch would have it, '"writers to the signet." Twenty mortgages might be piled upon a place and the purchaser could not know unless the notary gave him the information, which was rarely vouch.«afed. English men bought farms from the French owner?, not suspecting mortgages, and after paying the principle a mortgaRe would turn up, and tlicy would pay it rather than lose their investment. Then another would crop out and be paid likewise. Soon the grievance was discovered, nid the legislature was compelled to provide the remedy. After this all had to be recorded to give them validity. Aylmer had a targe number of French in its population, but they did not take to farm- ing in the beautifii! lands lying between it and the mountain. As you t^o past Ralners and Simmond's to the mountain, nothing can be more inviting to the lover of agriculture than such a soil. In all thit fine belt of country from below Lochaber to Portage du Fort, the farmers became rich while lumbering lasted. Their hay brought them from $I5 to |20 a ton more or less; their oats 40 to 50 cents a bushel. Teams drew in the shanty at $1.50 and their keep, and men drove their oats and hay to the shan»ies, co\ cring three or four dollars a day and upwards when they '"lirnished their own provisions. We had not then reached the pitches of refinement we have reached and left in the rear since. Tariffs were moderate and the much talked of family compact was mild compared with the party that succeeded them. The little finger of the present is t";icker than the whole body of that administration. Eardlcy township, the west of Aylmer, may be regarded as a con- tinuation of the settlement begun in Hull. Some names already men rioned belo'ijj: to this region. Additional names may be given as the Findlays, Kiddcrs, Walkers, McAli.sters. Prominent among these as a central figure was Colonel Mcl-ean. an old Hudson's Bay Co. man, I Highlander by birth, m fiixtire tall, erect and majestic, a genial friend, highly intellectual, and hrimful of stories of the ice-bound north, its fur- hunting fraternities, wild goose chases, fishing, canoeing, esquimaux dog sledging snd snowshocing, in all of which he had been trained and ' xperienced from his niitiation until his becoming a factor in the com- jjany. He settled down to farming in Eardley, trieu some experiments, discussed with his neighbors the depth of ploughing, the quantities of seeds to the acre. He set the example of doubling the quantity ol clover seed to the acre, and found that it grew finer and taller, the stems supporting one another, so that a chip basket thrown on it was upheld without sinking perceptibly down, that the animals would eat it without ' «8.c HISTORY OK THE OTTAWA VALLKY (;'l 1,1 rejecting any, and that the roots if dug up and cleared of the earth would in some cases produce 20 tons weight to an acre, unfoUim^ the value of so much vejjctable to be decomposed by ploughing down in the soil. He told us of a journey he once made on snowshocs from Hudson's Bay to Lachinc in 14 days. His weapons were a light fowling piece, tomahawk and jackUnife with flint, watch and compass, soft deer- skin clothing and mocassins and mitts protected him from the weather. When he found at night a dry pole of tree he set it on fire and camped beside it, sleeping in boughs for the night The burning tree was a pro- tection against wolves, though he seems to have met with none, and bears were then in their caves, as they generally are during winter weather. He sometimes had to turn from his direct route on account of hills too steep to climb on snowshoes, or streams dashing over precipitous rocks, and that sometimes for a long way, did not form ice stro ,g enough to bear his weight to cross over. Game was by no means abundant, and he had to economize his pemican and other provisions. The reader may form an estimate of such a trip. A strong man, in addition to his weapons, loaded with two weeks' provision, and alone on such an excursion, through an unbroken forest for fourteen days and nights. The object was to bring a message to Governor Simpson, of impending dangers to the company, that steps migiit be taken to avoid. Men had not dreamed of telegraph wires or ocean cables, and the St. Lawrence was as little navigable ill winter as Hu( son's or Davie's straits. Col. McLean had four sons and one daughte* who married my old school- mate and warm friend, Mr. Charles Stewart He was born at Vankleck Hill, a nephew of William Stewart, Esa, M. P. for Ottawa, Mr. Roderick Stewart and Mrs. John Durie, sr. He possessed undoubted talents, but was a little too fond of amusements with the boys, letting slip the time which might otherwise have been utilized, but he generally managed to navigate through. Rev. John Robb, the teacher, though gifted with a critical ear, was dull of hearing, and Charlie never failed to take advantage of a whisper, especially in translating a perplexing complicated ser^mce of Livi, describing Hanni- bal's climbing and crossing the Alps. He would manage the construction and translation with energy and sometimes elegance. He was a true and trusty friend in those young days and would warn you faithfully to beware of those who met you with a blr nd smile, when they are back- biters and detractors. Anyone who ha; noted carefully the condition and actings of his fellow-men, can hardly^ refuse to endorse the idea in the words of Thomas Boston: "That thi:> world is a wilderness, in which the clearest light men can carry with tht m, will not frighten away the wild beasts that inhabit it, and simply because they, are men and .not wild beasts." He detested hypocricy as we ever did and honestly warned you against being deceived. He went to Chicago during our college days, and, sorry to say, we never saw him afterwards. The Col's eldest son, John Warren McLean, mairried Miss Bolton of Aylmer, and died in middle age leaving the young widow and some children. The young widow afterwards married Irvine Allen, a young lawyer, whose brother Sam was drowned in the Lievre, found with his feet entangled in the brush of a fallen tree top and his head in the water. He had gone on a survey. HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VAIXEV. 185 earth » the fn in from wling decr- ather. .mped a pro- :, and winter >unt of ipitous :nough indant, The ddition luch an nights, lending en had Lwrence u Col. school- rt, Esq., »r. He sements \fe been ;v. John hearing, :ially in T Hanni- struction } a true ifully to re back- :ondition idea in in which ,way the and .not honestly iring our The Col's mer, and rn. The 't. whose entangled had goDC William, tbe eldest, met his death by drowning likewise He was the original nropnc^nr of the Aylniir Tmiej. Mis sons publish a spirited paper in Carlcton Phce. James Allen, the ) oun^jest brother, went to the Fraser river or laitish CoUiMibia to flip; ^jo'd, And we hear, made money and lost it over and over again. Mr. Mector McLean lives in the old homestead. He ran as one of three for the Commons, and when the election was voidetl, people said had he nm again he woiihl have been successful. Mr. Hryson of Coulongc carried it. One of the sons lives in Ottawa, and one is in British Cohnnhia, whilst his wife anti two very nice children reside in Ottawa. I^'arthcr west anti about the line of Onslow lived some brothers. Frenchmen, named Veleau. Wm. Veleau was a shoemaker. His wife said : "My Willyam he smart, Ife very smart man, that time he's not .sick." Joe, however, w;\s the pink of the family. He kept a "bush tavern" and did the honors right lordly. Mrs. Joe Veleau was of Indian blood as pure as couUl be. Introducing her to Dr. Church, or spiakiug of her cxcellcticies to the fine old physi- cian, he said : "Dr. Church, my wife some lady, some smiaw," evidently mearung that she was a lady ever, if she was a sijiiaw. The place was a great resort of the French engaged in making timber for the Quebec market and for the Irish Shiners. Shantymen of all creeds patronized Joe Veleau, who did a striking credit business in the whiskey line. Sometimes he succeeded in gettin}^[from the boss what the men owed him, but not always. The bulk o( the hands employed were unmarried and the rest of them had left their wives in the Old Country till they could be brought over the sea. Most of them were never troubled with money on their persons. They got their pay generally on the raft at Quebec and spent the most of it there. Some of them did not save enough to pay Dr. Van Courtlandt or De Cellc or Church, to cure them and fit them to go back to the woods in September. In passing up and returning they drank deep p» tations at Joe Vcleau's tavern. One would raise his glass and say, Well Joe, here's luck." Another, Joe here's fortune. But the silver was not forthcoming and Joe assured the callers that luck and fortune had broken liim. Just west of this in Onslow lived a man whose name we did not learn, known as Andrew, the Swede. We have seen some of his family. One daughter was drowned, although reckoned a great and daring swimmer. The Quyon village was not then founded, except a house or two, but it has gradually grown to a nice village. It was helped a little by that crazy extravagant folly of the government* in giving A. P. McDonalJ a contract to build a ship canal at the Chats' Rapids and waste about a million. Strong inducements were held out to build houses, to be used as boarding houses for the workingmen, • and then when the county was pleased with the bright prospects of a ship canal the whole thing was dropped and the people remained, and betook themselves to other callings. It recovered in time, the eiTects of the wet blanket thrown over it, and became a healthy, enterprising, little community. Two years a^o in passing through it, we observeo many shops, hotels, and very neat commodious dwelling houses, indicating a healthy progressing people. At an early date the Union Forwarding Company built a warehouse, and freight and bsLggage were elevated by a pony turning a shaft up to the level of the R R. track on which they I. UG^ EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) '/ <• // // .^ €^, ^J" :/. d^ (/j u^ % 1.0 I.I 1.25 1^ 1^ [2.5 2.2 20 1.8 U IIIIII.6 V] <^ /] VI c^: /^ y /^ Photographic Sciences Corporation ^ ^ ^ iV <^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. )4580 (716) 872-4503 % O^ #1 ^1 'ij,*- It ip- Cp. ' i « :-^f^: I if ■A^i- 1 86 TTRTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLBT. were taken Ijy a '.andem horse team on an elevated picturesque railway to tije ferry boat that crossed to Arnprior and up to Portage du Fort, whence they were conveyed over land to Musk Rat Lake, and by steamer to Pembroke. Three parallel lines of railways cover the same country now. On the north shore the Chapleau & Church Railway. On the south «hore the C. P. R. and the Parry Sound Railway. The soil on both sid6s of the Ottawa is rich, deep and of excellent quality up to the Laurentian hills on the north shore and to Fort William. But it requires deep draining and a high style of cultivation to make it as productive as it is capable of becoming under such treatment. Open drains are com- mon on both sides of the river but only careful farmers are making covered drains. These keep the run of water aM winter, changing the nature of the soil, and enabling the hands to work two full wet ks earlier than on the undrained land. It must be honestly admitted that farmers are vtry severely tried with the badness of the times, the low prices for produce, and the outrageous prices they pay for coal oil, binding twine and machinery. They should, however, drain a field every year in the best possible manner. Of course we are bound up in winter and our summer season is short and crowded with business. Cheap drains can be made, but deep ones are far the most profitable. One of six feet deep will take av/ay twice as much water as two, four feet deep, or per- 'laps as much as three. The land will endure drought much better and ;ven heavy summer rains, the soil being so much more porous will ab- sorb from the atmosphere or drink in the rains without injury to the crops. The lands are well adapted to raising all kinds of grain, and of the best quality for clovers and grasses of- almost every description. Cattle, sheep, hogs and horses, have done well from the earliest settle- ments to the present time. Few diseases trouble them, and they can be bred or grown to as fine a size and form as in any country in the world, and at as reasonable a cost or expenditure. It was a long time after the first settlement before what is now the city of Hull v/as even a village. Its growth was very slow. The pion- eers took to clearing land and making farms, Mr. Wright carrying on all the business. Having so much land, he was as it were, located in the midst of the earth, and except to house workmen and helpers, he was not disposed to trouble himself about building a city. Very few houses were built for many years. We recollect when only two houses stood on what is now the principal street. The people wanted land they could call their own, forever. Mr. Wright's own dwelling, then the most beautiful house in the country, was on that pretty elevation above the present tollgate- Mrs. Judge Scott, whose husband was a very distin- guished gentleman of the law for some time in Bytown, resided in it with her di-ughter for years. Mrs. Ruggles Wright lived in one of the new stone houses built as the beginning of the city of Hull. Mr. Tiberius Wright was on the east side of the Gatineau, where his son Alonzo occupied. Mr. Christopher Wright dwelt near Chelsea on the hill above what was called the rafting ground, this side of which stands the little village of Ironsides. Mrs. C. Wright, his second wife, was a daughter of Mr. James Armstrong of March, our next neighbor. He was a clear- headed man, full of entertaining stories of the early history of the settle- ments, as well as that of his native Cavan, Ire' nd. He was no dishonor HISTORY OF THE O'TAWA VALLET. 18; Hway Fort, d by same y. On ioil on to the iquires tivc as com- naking ng the earlier armers :cs for twine in the ind our ins can iix feet or per- ter and will ab- to the and of cription. t settle- Toy can y in the now the he pion- ng on all d in the , he was w houses es stood ley could the most bove the ry distin- i'ed in it le of the ■. Tiberius n Alonzo hill above the little daughter as a clear- the settle- » dishonor to the land cither of his birth or of his adoption. He and my father were great adepts in the science of numbers. Discovering niv growing fondness for the same, his genius led him to search and send us many a puzzler, and was tickled at.rl pleased to get the solution written out and sent him. Mrs. Tiberius Wright, Jr., has a fine lar^e family of chil rcn and live south of the homestead. The home of Mr. Aloiizo Wight, M. P. for a long time in Ottawa county, is well-known to rich and poor. A magnificent frame house with a large well-stocked conservatory, and the most beautiful surroundings, well becoming the monarch of the Gatineau, who dispenses the hospitalities in a style and manner little short of princely grandeur. The large farm on the east bank of the river is very fine indeed, exhibiting several natur 1 terraces, all facing the southwest, and whether garden or orchard, cultivated fields or pastures and meadows, present an aspect so picturesque, on so grand a scale, and with such taste, showing as it were the artificial fini.sh of a master's hand. His fields of the finest cows, his stables of blood horses, and what some greatly admire (though we never could), a perfect stock of dogs — sone lion-like in their huge size, all indicating immense wealth. The Sparks's wealth vvas prodigious. North of Mr. Wright the Main family reside, grandchildren of the late Mr. Andrew Main, so lont:; a successful merchant in Ottawa. They lost their father years ago :m( I a son was drowned below Eaton Chute. The widow was a Miss Hamil ton. She has a large and fine family. They did not belong to the early inhabitants. On the west side opposite the Wrights, were the Steeles, Brooks, Hudsons, Churches, Sheffields, Chamberlains and many others had taken lands on which afterwards the villages of Chelsea and Ironsides were formed. Andrew and David Blackburn migrated to Hull in 1829 and settled above Chelsea, Andrew on the west side. David took lot No. II on the nth range and ii on the I2th range. They sailed from Glasgow on the 9th of July of that year on the brig Amity; Captain E. Roy, and in fifty-one days, reached Montreal. In two days more they got to By town. Col. By was then on the canal works. They made application to the land agent, Burrows, and furnished with a list of vacant lots, were directed to Mr. Chamberlain. They were ferried over in a log canoe to see and take the lands. The next year Andrew a.ssittecl the Chamberlain brothers to make their first timber, floated down the river above the bridge. Andrew's wife was a Mi.ss Pollock, and they raised a fine family of sons and daughters. One daughter is Mn;. Thomas Brown, who has two beautiful children. Her husband is a fine prosperous man, besides a legacy is left her in the old land. Twenty-seven of the relatives are buried in the cemetery at Cantley. David Blackburn the only surviving brother, is in wonderfully good health, considering his broken limbs and his difficulties of locomotion. He is a cheerful, good old Christian, with a high appreciation of the value of religion. When a boy preacher, we renieniber meeting him at Wakefield, to which he walked or rode, and led the singing many a day. He is the only elder in the congregation in Cantley at the present time of writing. He told us he and his people were the only family six miles north of Mr Tiberius Wright and wife, who were tiicn healthy, vigorous people, living where their son now resides. In the year 1831 Horace King brought a gang of hands to cut logs for the Hamilton miUs at Hawkes t88 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. F U; l^ iji|<: i 'III bury. Mr. Justice Hamilton and son were a Hfctimt lumbering^. Lum- bering now began to be pushed with a vengeance on the Gatineau. Wright, Chamberlain, Hall, Hamilton, Leamy, McGbey, Gilmour and many snialler concerns, secured all the limits thought to be worth taking ip; and bought from the Government all the best of the lands available, o make farms for horses and oxen in summer time. Afterwards to raise shorthorns and others for beef, these farms were well cultivated. Dwel- lings, stores and all necessary buildings were erected, giving to each establishment the aspect of a village. Mr. James McLaren, then a young, intelligent, aspiring man, saw a mill site, with a little thing in the way of a saw mill, which he purchased from a Frenchman, and began his mil- lionaire career. He bought logs from farmers along the river banks for 75 miles, or as far as he could procure them, giving a fair price in cash or goods as they chose He soon furnished flour and then oatmeal for the whole region above him on the river, and then drygoods and groceries. Next he set to spinning and weaving, becoming in a few years an extensive manufacturer, long before protection, for he was a Liberal, and was generally if not always successful. He died at Buck ingham some time ago leaving $6,000,000 or over and daily increasing. He built the great mills at New Edinburgh, which were burned before his demise. He purchased the Buckingham mills and acquired very large timber limits on the Lievre as well as the Gatineau. He stood V ery high in the estimation of men whose opinions were of much value. According to the account of Mr. David Blackburn, his fat'..ar, Mr. Andrew Blackburn, was born at Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, Scotland, December 9th, 1770; and his mother. Miss Isabella Lenox, born in Ster- ling, August, 1775- He died 29th April, 1855, and his wife in January, i860, buried in Cantley cemetery. The father and two sons, Andrew and David, came out the same year together, and the mother and a younger brother, father of Lenox, came out the next year, 1830. James, the M. P., and the Capt. came out in 1832, the year of the first great out- burst of cholera in the British Isles. James was born in Glasgow, July 22, 1799. He married Miss Campbell, sister of Sir James Campbell of Glasgow, as we have already narrated. The Blackbums were the hicjhest up white settlers on the Gatineau in their time of location. John Knox Blackburn and his cousin, Lenox Blackburn, very excellent and intelli- gent young men, are yet unmarried. Mr. Robert Blackburn, now de- ceased, resided in New Edinburgh, where his family still reside. He was the wealthiest of all the relatives of that name, Mr. Ash was one of the early teachers in Chelsea. We baptized some of his children. He is long dead but his widow survives. Most of his children are married and in different parts of the country. Mr. Elder and his wife were early in among the settlers of Hull. He is dead some years, but she was alive at the house of her son-in-law, Mr. Mclntyre, near the Sixes, when we used to meet there. She is the mother of Mrs. Reid, who has the post office above Eaton chute. Mrs. Elder must 1: ■ nearly one hundred years old. About the year 1830, a Mr. William Lavis came to the Gatineau beside Mr. David Blackburn. He had five sons and three daughters, one of whom Mr. Blackburn married. She is some time dead, but her son has a fine famil> of sons Lum- ineau. r and :aking ilable, ) raise Dwel- each ^oung, AT ay of is mil- ks for 1 cash eal for is and a few was a Buck reasing. before :d very ; stood much sr, Mr. Gotland, in Ster- fanuar> , Andrew • and a . James, reat out- )w, July pbell of : hisjhest in Knox d intelli- now de- ide. He baptized 5. Most itry. Uv. !e IS dead i-law, Mr. le is the te. Mrs. r 1830, a Hackburn. Blackburn y of sons HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 189 the esti- the nice the and daughters with whom Mr. David lives very happily in his old afc. He persists in hoeing in the garden in summer, and following up the old honest industry. William Davis, the oldest son of the family got lost in the woods shortly after they located there v-\nd the people turned out with guns and horns to search for him but weic unsut ssful in their hunt. In his wanderings he came at last on a creek bank and turning down the stream till he reached the Gatineau, following it till he came out at Mr Tiberius Wright's. An old writer savs if you want to find the ocean, "take a river by the hand and follow it down." William must have had a rough passage over fallen trees and through brushwood but he seems to have seen no wild beasts, nor met with any accident; but his kind reception and ready refreshments from the hospitable hands of Mrs. T. Wright must have been sweet after about sixty hours fasting cind exercise. A vigorous young Englishman can endure a good deal. We z^s, willing to accord the like powers to a Scotch or Irishman. Mrs. Blackburn, the present daughter-in-law of David, was widow of his nephew before his 'son married her, which shows the mate in which she was held by the Blackburn family. Her sister is wife of Mr. Davis, a son of the old pioneer, with a large family of children. Mr. Thomas Kirk from Londonderry, Ireland, came to Gatineau shortly after the Blackburns and got land on both sides ot the river and at a place where the stream is flat and placid for some distance, a thing not very common on that rapid river; there he -stablishcJ what was long known as Kirk's ferry. Teams and load^. nero ferried on a scow. ^That seems to have ceased as nothing larger than a small boat has been seen there for years. Mrs. Kirk wasa„iVi.iss Green, whose brother was a shipping merchant of Londonderry. Their family con- sisted of eight daughters and two sons. The eldest son was a surveyor and dwelt at Stratford, Ontario. On a visit there w« met a son of his, an intelligent young man; his father was out of town at the time. John Kirk, the other son, married a Miss Brooks and lived on the right bank of the river opposite his father. They are both dead some years. Two daughters of theirs are married to two brothers by the name of Green, their grandmother's maiden name. One lives in Hull city, the other in Chelsea. They are very intelligent young men, employed in the lumber at present but well qualified for any employment. The ladies are very accomplished and pleasant womca Another sister is Mrs. Brooks at Lowe. One of their brothers lives near Desert and the other at Detriot, Michigan, U.S. Mr. Kirk's eldest daughter was Mrs. Eaton, now in the United States. The second was Mrs. John Steven- son who had nine daughters and three sons. The sons are on and near the homestead One daughter is Mrs. H\ tton near Desert with a fine family, one is Mrs. Samuel McClelland ah ■ a fine family, another is Mrs. Blyth of the city. Some young members are at home yet unmarried. Mr. Hutton was in the employ of the McLarens in the lumber business. He is now a very successful farmer. Another of John Stevenson's daughters is Mrs. Paterson, who lives on the river bank a few miles east of the Peche, where a son is now a merchant. The third daughter of T. Kirk became Mrs. Ricar aunt by marriage to Mr. Wright ex-M.P. The family we believe live m the U.S. The fourth daughter became Ux». William Strachan. She is the ; «: K ^;;S--' 190 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VAILEY. mother of leven sons and three daughters. Two of the sons are dead. One was orouglit home ill and died. Another was superintending a large gang in a quarry and was blown up and his remains brought home for burial. Two brothers and one sister live with their mother, now a widow. One is doing well in the* Western States. Two live east of Cantley. Thomns is married to Miss Church, and Alexander to Miss Earlc of WakefiiJd. One daughter is Mrs. Charles Pink, at the moun- tain, Hull ; the other lives up the Ottawa. Widow Carman is the fifth Kirk daughter, has five sons ar.d four daughters, all married but one and live in various parts around about. Mrs. Heney was the sixth. Mr. Heney is one of our wealthy citizens. Their eldest daughter died very young, very highly spoken of, and one son was drowned, a young . man of fine parts and very much esteemed. The other son is lately married to Miss Street, daughter of the ^ell-known John Street, son of the old Captain of Maich. One married daughter lives in New Bruns- wick, one in the eastern townships, and we think two at the St. Latvrencc, whilst the \oungest, best an'd beautiful one is but recently married. The seventh daughter of Thomas Kirk was drowned in the Gatineau, a dangerous river, from its steep riig.;cd banks. "She was the loved of all, yet none o'er her low bed may weep." The eighth was Mrs. Chamberlain, lived as Kazabazua, died young. Mr. Chamberlain afterwards married Miss Stevenson, daughter of Thomas Stevenson. She is now a widow with a son and a daughter, both young. On the same side of the river with the Eaton chute, between and opposite Mrs. Reid's post office, Mr. Patenson resided, who died recently. He began life on^ the Gatineau as a teacher, and followed it for years successfully, and then settled down as a farmer. One of his sons is at McGill College preparing to be a Presbyterian Minister. One lives at Buck- ingham. One on the homestead with his mother and two sisters and his wife, with a daughter and two sons, very pretty, well behaved children, and their mother, grandmother and aunts are all very superior women. The family are all very liberal in their views regarding other demonin- ations, but distinguished Presbyterians never disturbed by the short- lived spasmodic efforts of others trying to get a foothold where they have none, and almost no people without prosy letising. A young energetic farmer and miner, Mr. Wilson lives near them and the Messrs. Blackburn. He has built a fine house and seems very prosperous. His wife is a Miss Cooper of the neigbhorhood. They have stverai children. Mr. Davis, a son of the old pioneer, lives close by on the main road from the city. Mr. Prudhomme keeps store and hotel close by, a very oblig- ing Frenchman. Some years ago a Mr. Brown lost his life and drowned his team attempting to cross at one of these ferries. The banks are as we have said very steep, and Mr. Brown drove his team down And the horses got on the scow, and the wheeh struck with force but did not get on, and the ferry-man either had not made it very secure, or the shock drove it from its moorings, t^c waggon went down between the bank and the boat, taking horses and man with it, and there was not help or means to save the life of either man or animals. There is a fine macadamized road on the west side of the iiverfrom Hull to Wakefield ; and a fairly passable road on the east side and botk nolonged over a hundred miles north ; but the river is bridgdess to ifti HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. 191 dead. ling a home low a ;ast of i Miss moun- e fifth ut one sixth, r died young . 5 lately son of Bruns- he St. ecently i in the was the hth was iberlain ;venson. ;en and •ecently. or years ons is at at Buck- s and his children, women. iemonin- the Port- iere they \ young e Messrs. Dus. His children, oad from ;ry oblig- drowned ks are as and the id not get the shock 5 bank 3H»el t help or i-iver from : and botk Jess to ili source except the one bridge at Mr. Alonzo Wright's, two miles this side of Chelsea. The people think it too expensive to build brir'ges even where they are much needed. The government of Quebec are so greedy, that all that can be raised in revenue cannot half satisfy that greed, and since it was a province the men of all shades in politics, brought up in the same extravagant school, have run it so hopelessly in debt that nothing of any consequence can be obtained for roads or bridges excepting where the creamy rich milk producing contractors can afford to nouri.sh the suckh'ngs of the legislature. The helpless people cannot be taught that public works done by governments cost double what they would by private enterprise- We sheuld have said William and Andrew Blackburn arc unmarried. John Knox Blackburn has a fine wife and a fine boy. We made a mis- take in the name. At Cantley proper the store "is run" by the Messrs. Brown, a blacksmith shop by a Mr. Brown, married to a Miss Brown, daughter of Andrew on the river bank. The widow Brown is a sister of Mr. James Walker, formerly of Aylmer. David and Andrew Brown are brothers of Thomas, noted above, the wealthiest, but the others are good comfortable farmers. Mr. McNeil is a mill owner. The Gows, Thomp- sons and Mulligans are good farmers. East of these is the Catholic church. A large French and Irish settlement is extended towards fhe Licvre. North east of it Portland has a few settlers and a Pro-byterian church that was supplied some years by Rev. Mr. Borthwick, afteiwards by^Rev. Mr. Findlay in connection with Cantley Presbyterian cln ich. Thei.e have been more recent than some others in the county that will come in for consideration in good time if we are well and able to c*o it. Several brothers named McClelland, very intelligent and comfor- table farmers, with large well brought up families, strictly temperate, youths of both sexes, that must do well and make the world the better for having lived in it. John Smith keeps a nice little store beside the church facing to the west towards Mr. Cooper's. Mr. Smith is reputed as most honest in his line of business, and the least disposed to ex- tortionate prices. Good men ought to pray that such men may be multiplied by the thousand. We nave many times visited the United States, eastern, middle and western, and wc have been over this Domin- ion from the City of Quebec to Sarnia many times^ and the impression made upon us is indelible that the percentage charged by most mer- chants and traders in the United States and British America, are, when compared with that of the like business men in the British Isles, simply extortionate. If a fortune is not made in 25 or 30 years, it is a dead failure. Now if one man can accumulate $ioo,0(X) or $500,000 or $1,- 000,000 pr ten millions in a few years, how many are kept grinding in poverty to permit such amassing of wealth in one or a few men's hands? fextortion is in men's esteem generally confined in money lenders and bankers and companies proverbially soulless. Does it not appear very conspicuous in lumber merchants, dry goods men, railroad men, specu- lators in stocks, men not at all defective in the feelings of humanity but formed by habit to these high charges, and when the choice comes be- tween loosing or selling others out of hous,e and home, it takes tH' m a ver' short time to decide. They see as clearly as noon day the hard- ,shij)-, self-denials, and even sufferings people endure, compelled to kve 193 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. from year to year without becoming a dollar richer, but often poorer; but the thing is too common to be noticed or make any im- pression. . Wc have referred to a few callings, but it applies everywhere lawyers, doctors, mechanics, any man who charges more than a living profit on his labor and risks. It is true of men who are able and do not aid according to the requirements, good objects as well as give in chari- ties and coun.sel to industry when they are not able to aid. Does it add to the happ ncss of humanity, that a few are unreasonably wealthy, and a million unreasonably pinched with distressing poveity ? We hail as a heaven given boon to society the man or the woman, the lady or gentle- man who can with quiet calm, loose or cut the gordian knot, that the tyrant custom has formed and help with their gentle, or fheir strong hands, or contrive, inVcnt or in any wise legitimately encourage to a bettering of the condition, by finding employment or starting new in- duct lic?, so that people can make a living, and at the same time cultivate in the.r souls a higher ideal, of the ding time the largest portion. Now Masham is the greater, k is a fine church and a wealthy congregation in appearance. The settlement has good land, well cultivated and exhibitirrg all sigp^ of prosperity. The great disruption of 1844 in Scotland was car- ried to Canada and a scries of services were held by deputations from the Kirk and the Fi'ee Church. Wm. Bums, afterwards the first mis- sionary to China, travelled over the provinces, preaching everywhere, he could, not so much as a Free Church man, as a great revivdist, for which there was necessity aad his faithful labors were greatly blessed to many. Rev John McT ish preached in English and Gaelic and was a great iuccese- Rev. John McDonald also Rev. Thomas McLachlan aod many others came. The result was that at the next meeting of the Synod, the thing was discussed, and they divided, 39 remaining with the estab- lishment and 23 leaving and forming th^ Free Church of Canada. Mr. Thomas Wardrope, a student of Queen's. Kingston, who had not com- pleted his course, but was then teaching the Grammar school juat founded in Bytown, and united with the Free Church, and was calki^ by that party to be pastor of Sandy Hill church, Daly street. He waf ■ISIUXT Of TZLB QKrTJ TALurr. ll i 1 1 ] lfe> m Nl :i ai^. ordamed h\ ^Ww little stone chorch then owned by the Metn/xHsts ir Upper Town as it was then called) by the Presbytery of Ki:>gjstor.. Two ministers from that Presbytery, Rev. Mr. Gordon of (hwK'Poque, and Rev. Mr Smart of Brockville, with Dr. Robert Bums from Toronto, ar»d Rev. Andrew Melville, just arrived from the Free Chufch C'l' Scot- land formed the Ordaining Presbytery. Dr. Hums preaclied, jn-csided and put the questions to the young minister, Mr. Melville offered the ordination prayer, which Dr Burns afterwards commented on for it.v peculiar excellencies, Mr. Smart gave the charge to the minister, Mr. Gordon to the people. Dr. Burns took great care that everything wai done to avoid the possibility of litigation. When the minister signifieti his acceptance of the call, Dr. Burns, at the proper time, requested Mr. Smart to go outside the door and proclaim three times that if any one objected to the ordination he must do it then. The gentleman bcint» English, and from the Congregational Church originally, and unacquain*. ed with the Scotch mode of procedure, returned and reported that he found no one at the door to address. The Dr. told him to go and make his proclamation even if he found no one, which he did, and retumccl to attend to his other duties. In his address to the pastor he said yom «rc not to be a sheep thief stealing out of other men's folds. It. was oirr privi- lege to be a school-boy in By-Town then, and be present at this meeting. No thought was taken of the organization of congregations. The first Free Church Presbytery formed here was that of Perth, and \Oit first ordination in it was the Rev. John Corbett He had been caOMl t» Pembroke and preached there a day or two, but some one had iMaoe a remark that reached him, and he ran away to By-Tovm without ftriae them time to make a respectable opposition to his qualif cations. Me was taken to task by the Presbytery for his precipitarKy. Mr. Wardr»pe had to act as a kind of Episcopos, directing the njovements of such ministers as came his way, so Mr. Corbett was sent to Wakefield and was accepted there. Mr. Wardrope moderated his call as he afterwards did one for meat Ashton, and another after that at Aylraer. Mr. Johnston of Ramsay, Mr. Melville of Perth, and Mr. Findlay of DaIhouMe,(hivmg come from the U. S.,)formed the Presbytery for Mr. Corbert's ordina- tion, Mr. Wardrope, the clerk, being absent. It was the usual cusfeom to put the salary promised the minister in the cafl. In twenty years experience in that Presbytery we never knew it to be omitted. Such a call would not be sustained, but sent back to be completed, or wooM be rejected by the Presbytery altogether. The salary was four hundred dollars, a small amount compared with our days The congrefKationn ever got any aid in raising the ministers salary. There wasnodiing provkJeC yet by the church to assist the feeble. Mr. Gwrbett told «s that John Supple of Pembroke, when they met, always left ten dollars rolled op in his (Mr. Corbett's) hand at parting, which was thoughtful and kind, being much needed, as his salary was very small for years, or during his stay with them. The settlers were not wealthy for some years, and they had much hard work clearing land, cutting saw logs, making timber, securing clothing and provisions far young numerous families. The elace was healthy and i)rolific in raising loyal rubjects to her Britaak , [ajesty. Some of the people, like the Pritc'bards and Curries, had oonc frequently if not pretty regularly to St- .\ntry, is supposed ta We of great ser- vice. It will carry freight and passengers more speedily than the oW plan, but there is not much to transport south so long as lumbering^ continues. It would not pay to carry lumber as the river is such that it costs little to float down logs and not one of them need be lost. The ci rrent of the water will perhaps average five miles an hour. Mercharws will get their freit;Iit quickly, but they will be kept high and dry of customers unless they sell near the Ottawa prices. One can come down in the morning and make his purchases in the city and return in the eveninj. The farmers used to keep many horses sometimes waggoning and sleigh- ing up goods, then in the winter drawint^ lofifs, whilst in the summer they did their farm work. These are n» more on the road, and black- smiths get no such amount of horse- shocinf4 and waggon repairing andl sleigh-shoeing as formerly Many workinen are dismissed, and things are tamed down from the busy bustle of other days, when the public roals were almost double tracked with heavy teams. New modes of farminrjf must be adopted to suit the great changes. North Wakefield is a neat little village on the river bank with the store of Andrew Pritchard latterly in the hands of his son-in-law Blaii« very lately deceased, a fine young man who was highly esteemed. The hotel is kept by Mr. Moore. There are some churches. Rev, Boyd, a Calvinistic Episcopalian, resides south of the village, a very well inf»r«i- ed and friendly gentleman, who a.ssurcs us that most of the ministers of that denomination are Calvin ists. Mrs. Andrew Pritc'nerd and some «<" her numerous family still reside in the place. She w.'is an Eady itom Hull, or Aj'lrnet- Above this on the west side is the old McAfee settle- ment. The fath . r was a great a friend of ours in youthful days, and his son in Alwtn was not less so. The next place of halting is Farrelton, 'H.. ia •96 HISTOKT Of THE OTTAWA VALLEY. directly north of Mr. McGoey's home, with a fine stone Catholic Church. South of thM is a scattered settlement penetrating into the hills taking up such lands as are arable, and with what aid the^ get from the lumber- ing, carving out a living as best they can. The girls as they grow up come to the city and \- employment in various ways, and the boys go to the 'United States in many, if not most cases, thus depleting the country of its vigorous healthy young citizens, to build up a fortune for themselves, whilst the\ make as far as they can a prosperous country for our neighbors. We have in these hills iron, phosphate and mica. Wc dig no iron now, nor phosphate, but what comes with mica and the Utter is not taken out so briskly as some time ago. What is the matter? No market. War without peace in tariffs, has shut the markets. Would a typhoon or a cyclone wake up our government? The Karly settlers of Wakefield and Masham were nearly all raised p.nd trained in the Irish Presbyterian church, one of the best schools for forming the minds of orderly Christians. The Scotch element was small h»it gooH. The congregation was self-sustaining from the first. There was no Home Mission fund to draw on and no station to associate them with but the shanties above them and the new formations of settlements. Cjfou MPg congregations was the plan to secure a living to the minister, Lut they had no station available. The modern plan of grouping in some cases is to secure the more money from the Home — ission, or the aug- incntn'ion funds. Mr. James McLaren's milling, store-keeping and manufacturing, hroiij3['it in a gooilly number that still remain and give good aid, but Mr. Da\ id McLaren has moved his family to Ottawa since his father's death, which diminishes the number in attendance. The Episcopalians and Metliodists have churches in these villages in a flourishing condition. The whole region of country is well adapted for summer residences and for tourists anfl ]iainters. They could hardly light on a spot that would not afford a sketch of scenery worthy of the best developed talents. The scenery on the Baltimore & Ohio, the Panhandle, the Catawissa and the blue ridge of Virginia arc greatly admired, 90 are the hills of New Hamp- shire, the green mountains of Vermont and the Banks of the Andro- scogan, but we '; jcstion if any of these could take the palm from the Gatineau country hills, lakes and streams for over a hundred miles. We have not crossed the Rockies, but we have seen nothing so wild in all states this side the father of waters as to excel the beauty of these northern acclivities. Health seekers will soon discover that it is the land for them to visit. Its splendid springs, fine lake fishing, and shooting in the moun- tains, the healthy nutritious vegetables, and the mutton and beef, turkeys, gccse, ducks, and poultry of all kinds, with fresh eggs, milk and the best butter and cheese are enough to attract in great numbers. Houses of entertainment are plentiful, but ere long far superior struc- tures will be prepared, and their visitors and occupants will not be few. Then the doctors must not be left out. To begin with Chelsea, which is fairly.among the hills, Dr. Davies stands so high in his profession with all that know him, that it suffices to say that he is physician to the King of the Gatineau, who has deservedly passed on him the highest encomiums. The doctor is a hard working man, with wide range of travel ■ and a vaurt HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 197 kurch. akinf( mber- iw up yt go ig the tie for mntry mica- id the latter ? V^ould raised ols for ,s small There e them ;ments. linistcr, n some f\e aug- cturing, but Mr. s death, ans and mdition. ces and ould not ts. The and the kr Hamp- Andro- Vom the es. We 'ild in all of these ■ them to le moun- ,nd beef, milk and numbers, ior struc- : be few. , which is ,n with all e King of comiums. .nd a vast practice. Mrs. Dr. Davis is a Pritchard and well sufttains tfce »iiioWlru«- ive re»| ectability of her ancestry. They have at Wakefield Br. Stevcnion, a son of elder Thomas Stevenson, whose go«d ©Id lady is a Pritchard and aunt of Mrs. Dr. Davis. Dr. Stevenson stands very hifih in his calling and in the esteem of the multitude. He is favorably known far and near as an excellent and a safe and skilful practitionrr. The honest well-established reputation of these physicians makes it safe for strangers who may have to consult them. The hotels of Mr. Moore and Mr. Dunn and others at Chelsea, and Mrs. Johii.stone and others at Pcchc furnish the best entertainment. Our first visit t* this region above North Wakefield was made on iiorseback about the September of 1856 in company with John Corbett. The occupants were thinly spread out between Parrels and old Mr. Brooks, the father of the multitude of that name now settled round about the old place in I^we. The old gentleman and his good old lady entertained us very kindly, and utterly refused to take any remuneration as we were on a mission to the upper .settlements. Many of these people were our old neighbors. Havinji; spoken before a great audience in our boyhood or college days, and been reported to tlir papers in rather rose- oolored style by a y ng friend who now lives in > v Edinburgh : A notice that created a summer's controversy between the Bytown papers, a poetic defender referred to us as the boy preacher. When the Upper Gatineau people heard of the boy preacher being available for a visit, sent him the politest kind of invitation to come and spend some days among them. We were in the habit of plavfully .speaking of our friend and travelling companion as the vicar. Well, the vicar rode a pony lar^jer of course, than a Cotswold sheep, with a profuse decoration ot hair. The little fellow ambled along at the Irishman's "three feet gallop" whilst ours was a dark grey, tail and lengthy from a "Messenger" sire and a French-Canadian dam. He was a very fast but rough trotter, and was sold to one who loved the turf and became a great prize- winner. Lowe then was a forest with few patches cleared. In rainy weather it is vet very deep and dirty in places; then it was nearly impas.sJMe, one held the horses at the gully whilst the other got through on Iwys and roots. One horse was sent thrc»ugh and caught by the first man, the other sent after at a safe distance, and followed not too closely by the other man. The little horse half waded, half swam, the tall onc^ threw mud high and far in his passage through. The saddles bad to be care- fully wiped with leaves to allow a remount; sometimes we took the nar- row path round these deep pits, through the tall brush, pushing through between a large tree and a nigh perpendicular rock, with our toes held pretty near the ears of the horses to keep from being rubbed off. Fire often flashed from the shoes as the horses climbed the steep rocks. We reached the Gilmour farm and took tea with Mr. Lunam, now an elder near Campbell's Bay, a very aged man by this time but still living. We reached the Hamilton farm before dark and spent the night with a very hospitable couple with no family, Mr. William Leslie and his wife, a Miss Gibson from Nfasham. A few settlers like the Keeleys, Chamberlains, Gabies, were thinly drawn out along the road from Stag Cretk and Lowe. fli BTii-jr^ ■9B HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. i^ mn .m Kazubazua was only th*i stream with its natural stone bridge. The present site of the village was not cleared then, but was a beautiful pine forest, with unlimiced sui), ly of blue-berries on the sandy plains. Mr. Andrew Pritchard built a mill and dwelling on the little river bank where his son Andrew now does business. He is a very kind, obliging, good business man. His wife is the handsome daughter of Sergt. Brock of Aylwin and they have very pretty children. We can speak personally of their kindness and polite oi*^tention when we lived near them. We •emember calling the attention of the Vicar to a tree standing on a bare stone £.nd that sitting on a large flat rock. The roots went down around the stone and entered the fissures of the rock, mooring it there in the most secure manner to the soil, if such it can be called. There it stood waving its green flag in lights and shades, in storm and calm, living and thriving in health and ^or in spite of such hard and harsh nursing. Such a lesson in botaii We did not speculate on how the seed ger- minated on the cold barren stone and struck its rootlets around it with- out dying in the drought, or whether the earth onjc covered it but was washed off" by the rains of years. That remarkable tree had inhaled the heat of many a summer, imbibed its rains and dews, weathered many a wintry blast and pelting ice storm. The cold bare stone on which it sat could not be removed without cutting away more than half its roots; then a sudden squall would have laid its head in the dust. It suggests how the branches of the race who have received, revealed'rcligion, nave held with the most unrelaxing grasp the sacred Scriptures. Without these the lining preacher would be a shorn Sampson or a dead branch in the vine. It is the oil to his lamp. It is the fire to his genius, the life oi his life, his spiritual wealth, his treasury. It can decide controversies lor those who would not admit human authority. It inspires with the loVe of frcedon and development. Without it the most elevated, civil- ized races would descend from the fair and healthy regions «f enlighten, ment, to the feted, dismal, deep swamps of barbarism. Truly to receive it is to receive its Divine Author. We could n»t now point out the lo- cality of that peculiar tree. The mountains anu hiUs of this region wete then covered from base to summit with the gummy balsam, the curved kt o':ty spruce and the evergreen pine. Years ago tie devouring fire ran over and consumed those lovely sceties laying bare the rocks, strewing them with black burned brands^ stmnps and shattered fragments, leaving them for a time a perfect deso- lation. But nature has kindly come to the rescue, and clothed the naked waste with balm of Gilead and poplars, pretending to rival neither in beauty nor value their predecessors, but a vast improvement on the bare jacrged rocks and rug^^d cliffs, and if not again consumed, wiM become forests of pulpwood, when the spruce and fir families have been ex- hausted. Leaving Pritchards you pass Chamberlain's house and smith- shop and across the chasm into the village with its little Methodist church and the stores of Irwin and Grace; the hotels of Barton* a Huntley man, and Marks, a Fitzroy man, and Snub, a liberal-minded French Canadian. Mr. James Robb, whose wife is adaughter of Elder Thomas Steven- son, pu chased the cast portion of the Gilmour farm, and the Joint brothers the west [)art. Both tiicse families were very obliging and m HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 199 •ccommo^Uting Wc held mcctinfjs on Sabbath afternoons and week evenings in the school house on their lot. From this in the break up ot the roads vvc were taken to visit a sick man up near Thorn, and having come on wheels without our furs in the sunshine, Mr. Marks generously wrapped us in his huge coon coat and at 3 o'clock in the morning after the roughest of drives that we remember, we reached the home and found thi" inmates old hearers fiom Ashton, Simpson by name. We talked long and pleasantly. We had to write his will, having some vo- cation in tliat line, but he revived and we understand he is still alive. A Mr. Anderson from Filzroy has raised a large family of sons and daugh- ters in the village. One son married a Miss Pritchard and has built a pretty house in the place. The other sons are farmers and mechanics living aroiiiul Mr. Shipman's; the last houae on the north side. Mr. Reid who had kept store in Lowe for some time has commenced at the new station. The railway gives such accommodatio'i to travel that these mer- chants must iDtct the emergency of the people coming to town for bargains. T. Lindsay, fresh from the country, is drawing crowds on Wellington street. They must encourage the growth and make the vil- lages meet soon though they be on the sandy plains where the dead pines are swept off in the early winter for fuel, and the blueberries do so abound in their i)roper season and time. Going west from the railway you soon reach the bank of the Danford Creek, a branch or a tributary of the Kazuhazua. Along this creek the road runs for miles. The settlement is pretty old for that part of the country. Shipman is a grandson of the Shipman, the first owner ofa mill on the falls at Almonte 60 years ago, when Wylie was long" the only storekeeper in Ramsay at that place, both reputed honest and honorable men in their times and employments. The Wiggins are connections of the local preacher of Aylwin. Heneys are related to those of the city. The McKinnons, Mitchells and Camerons from that side also. The Milfords from Hunt- ley and the Howards and Hodgins are from Fitzroy. Then you have the Minors, Johnstons, Jamiesons and duffs, all from Ontario and farther southwest the Simpsons from Ashton. The farms have passably good buildings, respectable, and the fields generally in a' good state of cultivation. Crops often fine, hay in all the samples of hanly grasses is very abundant, oats, barley, rye, even spring wheat and Indian corn can be made profitable crops on the elevated table lands and fertile valleys. . This kind of country gives the greatest facilities for underdraining with- out which the fairest soils under the sun do not j'ield their full strength. A species of tile for which there is ample material could be made, for covering a drain hollowed in the centre, say ten inches wide, twenty-four inches long, slightly arched and to lap at the ends ready to take the earth filling. Should men start indusaifes of this kind to advantage the farmer and pay the tilemakcr, and develope the resources of the soil in their fulness or drag along for another cycle without deviation from the old bea':en paths ? The numberless streams, outlets of countless lakes, that with swift currents have cut deep their channels, givmg such facili- ties, surely the genius of the people, stimulated by necessity will make the demand and the provision to supply the demand. Such a tile could be made flat on each side, r,ay about two inches, to lie on the earth bank, aoo HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. and arched up by say two inches high in the middle. The centre of the draiq could be pared out two or three inches below the sides and leave space for a good current of water to flow all winter. The fields would be in condition for cultivating two weeks earlier, the nature of the soil changed and the results of careful labor perfectly surprising. Opposite the region we have taken our readers over, and east of the river, John Robert McConncll and his wife a Miss Adams, ovvn a farm of three or four hundred acres of fine land with thousands of acres of rocky pasture that can never be purchased except it -ontains mineral The McConnells are like most of the people around them, northern Irish, though many of her people are in good government offices in England. He was sick all the first winter we spent there and being a worthy and honored elder in the congregation we saw them very often and were most favorably impressed with the excellency of their character and upright Christian principles. Mr. McConnell was agent in the north of Ireland for a nobleman there, doing a good business, travelling often to England, making sales of cattle and the like at which he was an expert. When they came to this quarter they bought the fine farm on which they havcjdwelt for several years. They would willingly sell it as they cannot manage it but by hired help which is too costly a luxury in our times. The restrictions put on commerce are such that what the farmer sells brings him nothing in return. What he uses or consumes has to make the fat livings for others who fatten on our revenues whilst the toiler slaves away on an income for his labors that his tormenters laugh at. Will the day of these poor old "hayseeds" ever come ? Or are the farmers forever to be the hereditary bondsmen for political tricksters ? Well, we think Mr. McConnell would be as happy as secretary for Lord Londonderry as the independent freeholder of the county of Ottawa, with an estate free for ever which in some places would be worth an in- dependent fortune. His farm to a man with a family of boys would be a great boon, a very fine thing. Mrs. McConnell is a finely balanced woman, gifted with poetic humour and not only educated but trained. Her retiring nature prevents her from being known among poetical writers. At the urgent instigation of her husband she read me some oi her pieces — paintings of events and occurrences in the surroundings, which were true poetry, really beauiiful. They would not disgrace some of the most highly esteemed poets in genius and choice of language, not only in the "Botius flomems dortnif^.l" moods, but in their brighter, more elastic and ecstatic states of mind, when the afflatus is the more happily felt and acted upon. 'The Burial of Sir John Moore", "The Fall of Senecharib" or "Lord Lochinvar", weuld not outshine some of ker modest pieces that few have ever heard. She would not have let tl»ein appear but at t! c urgent request of her husband. Hers resembles the genius of Burns in Aorking \\x> little occurrences, that Q:\^xy one might do, but that scarcely any but those' gifted in that particular line ever cm. The poetic vein is admirable but the fine conjugal care bestowed oa her husband in his feeble health, was most endearing and cominai»d«d the respect and esteem of every one. We regarded these people as those that would have been of stf^Mil aid in other societies but so far from ever) o le where the> are located at to be shut off from do;ng the good in their power, in oLher circumstances' HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 20I Several people on that river are alike thrown out of circles they might so well adorn, aiid offices they might so eminently fill. But it may be for the good of some, even many, that they are there. They keep a large rowboat for a ferry but the banks are very steep in the winter to take loads up and down. The ice is generally good as the current is not ^ swift There are several places where the river could bo bridged, but the cost to the farmers would be very heavy and the province is hope- lessly in debt by the squandering of senseless politicians, that no such thing can be expected of them. Government aid is always a question- able plan as the money must in the long run come out of the pockets of the people, and on the indirect imbecile plans our people have been so long trained into, and they are so stagnant as not to be capable of seeing that it costs them now three times as much to furnish the means in- directly as directly, but they are so cast iron in mind that they cannot be induced to look at their own interest, or that of their country so blinded are they by party prejudice. They can give no reason for their conduct yet each cultivates more self-importance than twenty men tkat can give a reason. Mr. McConnell has been very useful as an elder in the congregation in the days of his vigor. We regarded him as a "primus inter pares" in that field where such men were much needed. He knows how to pro- duce the best of crops and raise the best of cattle, but he is near the time when the grasshopper becomes a burden, when the strong men bow themselves and those that look out of the windows be darkened. He is a man of extensive reading and thought, converses well on most sub- jects and is very social in disposition. His acquaintance with relipri««8 principles is extensive but his hearing is defective which is against tke free flow of conversation, and troubles him a good deal in the dhurcb meetings. There is nothing narrow or contracted about him. Hi« reading is from the best sources on both sides in politics and his heart is large enough to love his neighbor as himself and with a pure heart fervently. He and his wife are the most enlightened and devoid, J Christians we had the pleasure of being acquainted with in that mission fieW. When in his vigor he must have been a model man as his wife is a very superior woman. West of the river northward is the fine farm of Mr. Heney, a com- fMtable farmer, whose lands extend to the road joining Sergeant Brock on the old Hamilton farm. He has been successful in raising a stock of Shetland ponies, very pretty and fine little drivers. There is hut one farm occupied between Ka/abazua and his place that of the late Robert, Reid, an elder in Ae church at Aylwin. Only one daughter survives of Mr- Reid's fainiily. West of Mr. Brock towards the new railroad the land is good. The first farm is that of Mr. Robert McAfee, an estimable elder in 'the church, a man of very liberal disposition and a trusty friend. His kindly wife v a Miss Nelson from Masham, a connection of the Nelsons of Nepean. They have a fine family of sons and daughters. The eldest son is married, has a nice wife and children. A son is in Wakefield in the McLaren store, r*nd another at McGill College. Above kJR on the next range Mr. Morrison, wife and some fine healthy boys. On one side of them Mr. Andersoii, wife and one fine boy. His father- iM-law Mr. McCambly, wife and gr anddaughteri Miss Cooke, are very J03 HISTORY or THE OTTAWA VALLEY. too. end is a ago. very very musical One son of Mr. McCambly is on the same clearing. Farther north, Mr. McNally and large family inclining to learning and teaching. Steplicn Uir, brought up in March, moved and settled there with a large family. He is in good circumstances. Mr. John McAfee and a large 'family of sons and daughters, .some of them settled around him, an honest old couple they are. One son is a blacksmith in the village. Some other mechanics occupy the village. All of them keep cows. Hay is easily procured which is a great convenience betimes. On the south side of these IS Mr. Molyneaux, whose brother fell in the American Civil War, and whose father after untirir ; efforts, got a pension from the United States. He has been, twice married and has a large family. Mr. Erwin is another farmer close by. Then Mr. 3igley, with three beauti- ful girls and some fine boys. A Mr. Draper from March went early to locate in that quarter with a large family of sons and daughters, most of thr*m married, such as Mrs. Graham, Mrs. McConneli, Mrs. Wigans. Mr. Ellard of Pickauock, iias a store in Wigan's place. But Mr. Ben Rcid has been the leading business man in the'place, with a large family of sons and one daughter married, and residing in the city. The sons ncnrly all take to the mercantile life, and are very successful Ben Reid's is about the only farm we know there, level from end to and not broken by rocks and mountains. W. Reid, his brother, farmer, but his very excellent wife was taken from him some tifne They had three sons and a daughter. She is Mrs. Dr- Gordon, a beautiful and good woman, with nice children. The Doctor is a successfuT physician, stands deservedly high in his profession, and is also a kind, worthy, friendly gentleman. W. McConneli is now very ad- vanced in years and has several sons and daughters married and living round about him. A fine settlement is beyond the river opnosite Ayl- win. Ogilvie, McCanns, Mulligans, sons of Thomas Mulligan of March who died lately, form part of it. Then further south is Mr. Quinn who is now rich through mica mines, sold at a fine advantage. Oppo- site Mr. Quinn lived an Episcopal clergyman, who went home to Eng- land at 70 or more and brought out a young wife. We believe he is removed. There is an island in the river between them, where a bridge might be stretched across to great advantage. The Littles beside the Aylwin church are very substantial farmers and generous, kind, obliging men. One of their sisters, an industrious young woman, is married to Mr. Moody, a connection of the Moodys in this city and Nepean. They reside near the Pickanock on fine land. Some beautiful hills stand round in sight from Aylwin. The place is a paradise for health. What John McMahon said of Aylmer to a newly- come resident is very applicable to this region: "Aylmer is a vtry healthy place. No priest ever died here yet." In our excursion there nearly 40 years ago we started up in a bark canoe and landing on the point at a bend or curve in the stream, we saw a whole fleet of both bark and log canoes after the service in a little log church, Mr. Thos. Mulligan invited all present to dine with him and have a service after- wards. We sailed up, and Mrs. Mulligan, a very kind, hospitable lady, had dinner waiting; splendid potatoes of large growth, and Down's mutton, with a fine variety of all other good things, to which, it seemed! to us, they did very aflaple justice. After the large crowd was served. R Tl D f w HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. tit IS a lewly- vtry there >n the both Thos. after- lady, Down's ecmedi ervedi light, but it was No injury was old Mr. Draper's the rc'i'gfous services began, many standing outside for want of room. Then we sailed down to Aylwui in r^in, landeil in darkness, found many in the schoolhouse who stood on tlie benches, affording as miicli accom- modation as possible, but when the desks were covered with youths, their was limited stan\ould be decorative first of all and farms would seU b'*e has b^en laid in a bank and connected with a box where a supply was kept up the year round at a very trifling expense : A wooden box pipe 2x2 inside with at. iroii pipe to connect it with the box or watering trough. The water runs over and down the ditch of the road. It is a great accommodation, and calls forth the gratitude of most travellers. Having taken you r^ist these artificial wells that exist in our imagination but whose originals in nature are abundant for the opening up, we take some pleasure in bringing you to the habitation of a Scotchman, a Mr. Bean, whose store and post office you pass, and whose little children are amon^ the prettiest, most sprightly, intellectual and kindly, we have met with for their years and opportunities. Mr. Bean has lost a first and second wife and is still a young man. He is very successful in trading, having spent years in Montreal and gained a varied experience, he came here and established a business and a reputation. It is a little Presby- terian settlement, McGee, Mclntyre, and the Thompson brothers are across the river, also Wilsons, Shouldices and others. Fifty people could be convened at 7 p. m. on Sabbath evenings, of the most attentive hearers. Two or three miles bring you past as many dwellings and a French hotel, and \ ou reach Mr. D. Brock's, a fine old gentleman of few words, being dull of hearing. Mrs. Brock and Miss Brock are among the most agreeable and energetic of that whole region. The snow-white table linen, the tastily-served-up viands, and the good grace with which you were in- vited would create an appetite independent of the rolling hills, the Cas- cades, the wild woods, and the muscular exercise in steadily holding your seat secure behind your nettled steed. This is the place, say travellers, for the best dinner on the road. It will be a grand place for summer tourists as there can be no healthier spot on the American continent. .Here the valley begins to widen on each side of the stream. Mr. James Wright, who when a boy at school, was for years our next door neighbor, occupies with some of his brothers a most pleasant stretch of land, on the east side. The Wriglits, Clellands and Grants and some others have their fine farms on the plain, stretching miles in length and .some depth to the hills which embosom them on the east, north and south, while the valley dips towards the west to the river bank. The soil is alluvial, deep, and fertile. Mr. James Wright lost his excellent wife some time ago, and has no family except by adoption. We made reference to the Gordon name above. We had a grandmother Mary Gordon on the paternal side and a grandmother, Rebecca Gordon on the maternal side, whom we never saw, but they are reported to us 1 ill '1 v- ma 206 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. u if' M' 9a baring heen the most earnest Christians in their conjjregations. Two of our great grandfathers were John Gordon and James Gordon, sound intellectual seccdcrs, and so liberal and so far removed from bigotr>'* iS to be church-wardens in the English churches in their parishes, Prcsljy- terians being sometimes the majority. This order of things kept peace on the detested tithe question which tliey were through long ages com- pelled to endure. Tney were Whigs, hard, levelheaded, admiring a Ejlicy which Chatham, Burke, Fox and Sheridan and other great intcl- cts were not ashamed of. Call them foal eaters if you will, but even rat soup v^as a luxury before the boom was broken in the Foyle below the maiden city. They hailed the advent of Dutch William and that rarest and best of princesses, whoie true history has yet to be given to the reading world. Motley calls special attention to the battered helmrt of Williams (in the Netherlands), whose stingy Queen would not replace it by a new one. The Gonlons from Aberdeen and their friends of those times endured many a privation, suffered many a hard blow and lost many a fine colt and fat steer, in turning lands into smiling gardens and fields of verdure and fertility, on the inhospitable slopes of the black, and till their coming, barren north of the Green Isle. We are grateful that we can look back to men worthy of so- much honor who were lovers of freedom almost to idolatry. We look in vain for perfection in any man but the men of this name havr obtained as high a position as any others in all the walks of lite, literature, legislation and religion in the empire. Lord George said some hard things against the Government of his day and against the French Queen, but he was not then himself, his great talents were blighted and he deserved better treatment than he received. Had an Oliver not the despotism of his times and compelled respect at home and abroad for the name of an Englishman; had William not taught them toleration and lifted them to empire and above the fear of enemies, England would have been today a fourth-rate power instead of holding the destinies of the nations in her hands as she does. The Gordon of our day who has only touched our soil is proving himself to be among the most elevated of intellects and the best ballasted of statesmen. The wisest and most talented and up- right government on earth, under the most powerful and best beloved of sovereigns, in choosing such a man to govern the Dominion, has said to the world : "This is the man the British Empire delights to honpr. He has thus far shown that he is worthy, and there is not a man in this Dom- inion who has seen him, heard him or read of him, but endorses the wisdom of the choice and delights to honor the man as the most fit and suitable for the situation. It is also very gratifying to see in the press of our neighbors that they hold the same estimate of the noble Earl of Aberdeen. Then the Uountess of Aberdeen is the image of health and happiness, so humane and so queenly, so gifted and so affable, with the endowment that would grace an Empress, and yet the gentleness that so deeply sympathises with the daughters of toil, that she can without descending, inspire their minds and teach them how to better their co«- ditions and rise with the progress of civilization and refinement. Of this magnanimous self-denying Countess it may be truly said in tlie words of a distinguished nobleman : HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VAIXET. 20r much or. He lis Dom- rses the fit and : press of Earl of alth and with the less that without "Polite as all her life in courts has been, ( • And good as she the world had never seen." ^ ! When we look at the system of the universe,, lift up our eyes to the myriads of stars so hidden from the day, and ask ourselves wore we on the most distant of these now within our range of vision, perched on its loftiest mountain summiti could we see other worlds as far beyond, that are now hidden from our view ? If so, in whatever direction we roam, and wherever we turn our. eyes, unlimited space occupied by archipela- goes of starry worlds, unfolds itself, then how inconceivably infinite and glorious must the Creator be whom the heaven of heavens cannot con- tain ? How infinitely great beyond conception are the perfections of that Being who can form countless (at least by us) millions of intcllccis like those we have faintly attempted to describe, bring them togellirr, qualify them for the supreme work of government and providentially confer them on a people so little deserving of such favors ! We hail their advent among us as a luminous epoch in the history of our young Dominion. Could our humble pen give an adequate description of their excellent qualities or do full justice to their heads and their hearts, it would be the most luminous page in our feeble effort to write a correct history of the Ottawa Valley, to which their Excellencies have come to sojourn and from this centre to govern, influence and bless 5.000,000 of people. If in the sacred words of the sublime prophets our governments would "cease to do evil and learn to do well," jf our peojjle would influ- ence their friends in other lands, we might have accessions to our num- bers during the administration of the Earl of Aberdeen, as would actually increase us by millions. Hearing daily the statements of the people freely expressed — there is but one wish, one hope, one desire, one prayei, that His Excellency's government during his term of office may outshine that of all his predecessors in the happiness of his noble family, honest government in this Dominion, and havin? done their work well, may retire in health and wealth, bearing with them the blessings of a grateful people to fill the highest place and enjoy the highest honors within the gift of the exhalted sovereign of our great empire; and when full of days and a glorious career of doing good has been run, and their offspring has been fitted to take their place, that they "shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars for ever and ever." Returning from our pleasant ramble among the Gordons, many of whom occupy your river banks, we introduce you to Mr. Hastcy, whose pleasant family hospitably entertained us. He has a fine large farm of beautiful fertile lands, and he cultivates extensively. He has a great stock of fine cows. He took us through his fields where the crops were very abundant. He lives about twenty miles from the Desert, the htgnest up village as a market place or depot for trading on theGatineau river. At this place the sensible growth of the river and the wearing away of its banks are very visible. The banks must be hundreds of feet further apart than they were when the first buildings were erected by the lumberers. At Aylwin they have had to bridge several cuts in the banks that carried parts of the public highway into the stream. Quick- sand abounds in the bottoms of the banks, easily dislodged and the overflow in the spring and rapid current carries away the deposits. li 2o8 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. lilmki m From this farm northward the settlers are few til! you reach BoucUettc, a |)retty little village, chiefly French, with a large well built Catholic church at the south end of the high hill top. The priest has a very fine, well-kept garden before his house, the best garden along the river, showing a commendable taste, an extensive knowledge of small fruits and flowers, and great care and painstaking in designing and set- ting them off to the best advantage. If John Milton taught the English gardening, the priest of Bouchette teaches his people practically the same, and the passers-My carry off a good impression of the intelligence and industry of the priest, as well as a conviction that even very far north many valuable things can be raised in gardens to the best advan- tage. The village occupies a great elevation above the river, the houses, being nearly all frame, are well painted, and the little place seems to be alive with artizans and mechanics. One solitary house passed, nearly a milq north of the village, and you enter a place of rocky woods like a defile and emerge on the clearing of that fine old farm at Sixes, known as the Hamilton farm, ^'ow it is the Edwards farm, well cleared, well fenced, and wrought up to the highest state of cultivation, at least for these parts. The stock was originally the red, long and small homed Devons, quiet feeders, good milker.->, moderate-sized cattle. Latterly by crossing with short-homed Durhams they have grown to be large, weU- formed and fleshy. The steers at 3 to 4 years old made splendid beef for the shanties. A few hogs only appear but poultry of all kinds frora the large turkey and goose to the smallest chicken, seem to be exten- sively raised. These with calves, yeirlings, etc., looked very fine, show- ing great care and attention. A friend travelled with us once who examined the very large stock of all ages, and pronounced them as in fine condition and highly credi- table to those who had them in charge. Mr. McCallum of Cumberland spent some time on the farm; some time in the woods superintending operations both summer and winter He is a man of intelligence, adapted to the position. Mr. Roddick is always there having charge of the store, post office, farm, and all else in the* establishment. He it a gentleipan thoroughly qualified at home in every department He pM- sesses high attainments, a reader and thinker; everything on the friace exhibits his skill, taste and refinement Miss Clelland was hoisekeeper, with a younger assistant, who ha« since married her brotlv:r. A better choice has rarely been made as everything seemed as orderly kept as if they expected company or the proprietor to drop in at any moment. Everything seemed to indicate that it was one of the pleasantest of dw«i- ling places. Mr. Roddick is a brother of Dr. Roddick, a very successful physician in Montreal. One would naturally ask why this bachelor brother exiles himself from the society and the employments of a city for which he seems so well adapted, to the solitude of a farm and Httle store, away from church and almost from the habitations of men. He has of course very active employment, so many callers at the store, and S9 many hands on the farm, with all the management necessary at swch a depot. We admired his Christmas decorations of the parlor that- re- mained for weeks on exhibition, chiefly colored prints pinned up; his choice of books for select reading proving the companionship he chooses. When D'Arcy McGee was told by an ignorant opponent in our Houw HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. 809 •f Commons, that his eloquent speech was copied or plapiaristcd from- Sheridan; he, when an opportunity offered for defence, told the hon. S;ntleman that his statement was unfortunate as Sheridan had only ree speeches reported or printed, and these were delivered in connec- tion with the trial of Warren Hastings and would not apply; bu» that in any case he preferred the company of good books to that of middling men. Mr. Rodilick's spare time could be well employed though it seemed to us that his time was largely if not completaly mortgaged be- fore it came into his hands. The books were within easy reach, so that the odds and ends of time could be well employed. A son of Mr. Mc- Callums's, an active young fellow, was then on the farm assisting in the management of the large stock that appeared in so healthy and thrivini a condition. We could not help thinking that W, C. Edwards & Co. were to be congratulated on having so many reliable Presbyterians in so many places of trust and importance in so extensive a business. Leaving this Edwards farm.'in a little time you are again in the rocky hills, sandy, {ravelty, much broken, in a word, useless, unless the hills contain minerals not yet discovered. Passing these you come out on a level plain of some extent with good farms extending from Mr. Hutton's on the east, on the river bank to the west side of the block of table land, where Mr. Murphy keeps hotel and general entertainment for travellers. This land is like the Hastey and Wright farms, very good and productive. Creeks are nu- merous but not deep gorges, in many parts easily reached by stock in the pastures, clear limpid running streams. The surrounding swamps furnish cedar in abundance for the best of fencing. Everything is easily taken to market here, as the Desert is only an hour's drive from this locality. The country beyond is hilly, rocky and barren for some dis- tance and the farms of sandy land are occupied chiefly by French people and Indians as the country round the Desert is an Indian reserve land regulated in sales chiefly by the priests of the Catholic church to which the Indians belong, of such of them as have made any move from their original savage superstiHons. The soil is pobr, not fit to produce grey peas, but the aspect is not uneven, no hills of note for several miles. What the ground fail" to produce is made up by the employment in the lumber business during winter months when wages are good and there is plenty of employment. Situated icx) miles north of the Ottawa river, It could not be thought likely to raise cereals to great advantage, but much farther up on good land, patches of which can be found here and there, every kind of crops are prodluced giving good returns per acre. On account of the size of the county and county town lying on the river Ottawa, courts have to be held sometimes in very inadequate halls or rooms but with a jail in the front. Tliey are not so inconvenienced as were some of the counties in the United States. The pleasant old Judge McClnng told of a time in Ohio when there was neither jail nor court houi^e in several counties in the state, and a judge held court in a barn, and the stable close by was devoted to hold the prisoners with a constable at the back to guard the little box opening or out-put, and outside in front, to guard the door two constables held their vigilant walks. The attendance was large as a case of some moment was to be tried. Tlic juige was very attentive to febe i tio HISTORY OF Tfl« OTTAWA VALLiT". evidence, as judges generally are, and at the close when he summed Ofi and gave judgment, assigning the reason on which he based it in forcible and wcll-^'PiiMied language; the satisfaction of the people with the ver- dict found expression by a man far back in the barn shouting out: "Well done gimlet eyes." (The Judge had a crooked eye.) The profound silence that followed this outburst of applause was broken by His Honor asking sharply, Who is that interrupting the court ? Again the silence that might be felt was broken by the same voice confessing more softly, "Wall 1 guess it must be this old boss." "Mr. Sheriff," said the judge, "take tli.1t old horse to the stable," which of course was done accortlingly and the business of the court proceeded without further interruption. In young countries and settlements inconveniences must be endured until things can be bettered by the improving times and circumstances. The village of Desert is the most northerly in the county and the terminus of the Gatineau Valley Rai'way. It seems to have been orig- inally built on the bank of the Gatineau at the junction with the river Desert. 1 here is a large Catholic stone church built there. Hall and other lumberers seem to have pushed their way and their business up to that point, and to have secured all the limits of value at an early day. Mr. Logue's store is the greatest in all that region. The others may be called appendages of the lumber business. The Desert must have been early explored and navigable for canoes. We have heard stories from some old Hudson's Bay men who ran away from the company, using it to escape down stream. A white man was generally contented with one or two squaws, a middle-aged and a young one. Warren Hastings swore in his defence in the House of Commons that he was astonished at hii own moderation when the "Begum" treasures were so grcAt a temptatkm and piled up to lie idle or to no purpose. As you enter from the soutk Mr. Baxter, whose wife was a Miss Baird, a daughter of John Baird of Filzroy, and who has a sawmill down west of his new comfortable dwei- lin^, occupies the left hand side of the street, a man of business talent and enterprise. On the right hand is Mr. Chapman, chiefly employed with lumber. Mr. Moore, a bachelor, works at the carpenter trade and is an intelligent man though not in very food health. They have a beauti- ful house and are very nicely situated. i The Edwards lumbering flm have a fir»e house, amy amount of stables, great yard, store and post oflfice with all necessary equipments for a great establishment. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the managers «tf the place, and better, we think, could not be selected. He is a very active biii^incss man, well adapted to the place and the employment, and Mrs. Smith is full of energy, keeps a clean tasty house, and with a smile and a kind word is ready to meet and entertain you. Mrs. Moore has a fine house where the family, chiefly daughters, reside. They are refined, musical young ladies, and do much for the little congregation m the place. Mrs. Moore keeps an hotel in another part of the village. It stretches down to thd bank of the Desert river, over which there is a hifh strong bridge, and along the north bank a continuation of the village. Several stores, workshops of carpenters and blacksmiths' shops fill up here and there along the lines of the dwell'ugs and stores. The site is pleasant for a village, and it may grow to a larger place if circumstances Nivor it as the terminus of the railway. One or two elements are lacking. r HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VAJLUCT. mnt ©f pments •f the active di Mrs. lie and s a fine refined, in the jge. It >a hifh village, fill up site is [Stances lAckinf. The refion for several miles is Indian territory, and now thatthek father, Sirjoiin A. Macdonald, is dead, thrse orphans are under trustees, and CM not Alienate or sell the lands. The other and worse drawback is the poverty of the soil of the whole surrounding country. There are fertile spots here and there taken by lumberers, then sold to some of their trusty foremen or workers who have earned the money and secured the property. These people can raise plenty and make a good livelihood, but the country will not bear many inhabitants and there are no feeders to build up a place. To talk of carrying on the railroad to James' Bay is another of those deceitful plans of plunder, of which fo many have been practised, unfortunately, of late years, with such success for the Schemers and So disastrous to the pioneers of the country. The country is going into debt Annually to enrich corporations- Could anyone tell the traffic to be brought from James' Bay ? Uncaught fish and animals, (the latter very few, not even running foxes), and as for shingle* on the stumps there are no stumps for them to stand on. Explorers nave found > nothing but stunted cedar shrubs, white birch rods, and spruces that could not be dignified with the name of poles because of their insignifi- cance. On the north side of the Desert river on an elevation of sandy soil with good fields surrounding, stands the Gilmour farm mr^ than half a mile from the mouth of the stream. It is a fine place with build- ings for all purposes. The stone dwelling houses, warehouses, stables, all in good repair. Mr. and Mrs. Miller kept the place for years. They 'iHwe left for a farm some miles back from the Gilmour bank on the easf side. It is said to be a good place but far away. They aic Presbyterians and have a family of fine children. They are intelligent, friendly, pros- perous people, and their removal is a loss to the Presbyterian cause; for though they do not leave the church they cannot attend regularly. Mr. Quail was at the head of the store and books when we saw him, and he has since married Mrs. Miller's sister. This is a judicious arrangemecit as she is clever, energetic and a good housekeeper. We visited in company with a kind friend the large establishment of Mr. James Maclaren, some miles west on the same river bank, a beautiful place well kept. A new married pair from Masham reside there; his brother was a foreman in the shanty for that wealthy firm. Mr. Mc- Laren has since died leaving his whole family millionaires. The business is r»ot carried on so extensively as the burnt mills at New Edinburgh have not been re-built, but they do a large business still on many of the numerous limits that that man of so irrepressible enterprise secured in his day. We were pleased with the business capacity and talents of these young people, sorry that we cannot recollect their names as we write. The gifts and talents and fitness of ' idividuals in the world not being their own but divine endowments, ought to be esteemed by all men as excellencies in their fellow men. Every man or every one seems fitted to the place and duties to be performed in the work of the world. The Governor of the world being everywhere present, has in his hands all these parties that ke may accomplish his designs by them during the days he has alotted to these hirelings on the earth, he has created and governs and each one deserves his due mead of praise at the hands of his fellow creatures. The Presbyterian cause is feeble at the Desert, but *^iore numerous than the Methodist or the Episcopal church. They ha«« u TI2 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. a student in summer from the college, who is very acceptable, as yourig men generally are now, but in winter they get only a monthly supply in connection with Aylwin. Aylwin, hov/ever, is not pestered with supply on the day, thus vacated from lay nonsense as some other places near the city, whose mutterings are loud enough to be heard if the parties concerned have ears to hear. The railroad is nearing the Desert and the public road is less and less travelled. Blacksmiths along it are di i- missing their extra help, able to do the diminished business themselves. The convenience is great to travellers, as they can come to the city in the morning, do their shopping at Lindsay's or elsewhere, see their friends, enjoy a day in the city, and get home atui be nothing out of pocket on the purchases. The Roman Catholics at Desert must be more numerous than the other denominations taken toge i.her. Most if not all the Indians are of that communion. The Presbyterians come next though at a vast dis- tance as to numbers. They are associated with Aylwin in winter and get a student from McGill in summer. In the student's absence they get a day in the month in winter of supply, and are acknowledged a part of that Aylwin field. Aylwin was first supplied from Wakefield by Mr. Corbett, then by Mr. Whyte, after which for say, a quarte'-of a century, they have had settled ministers or missionaries aided by home mission funds. The railroad passes far enough behind Aylwin to be of little use to it in regard to growth or development as a village or town. Freight is carried by rail at about the same rate as by teams. These latter with sleighs, wagons, etc., are laid aside but it is a great conveni- ence for passengers. In comfortable cars they can in one day do all their shopping, and return home from the city, instead of the old three days, two on the road in storm and calm, and one in the city. Mr. Beamer proposes to take the road to the south of James' Bay, which of course, he can easily do with a strong government at his back. This happy Dominion has few private railroad companies. Companies get their charters. They are frienc'y to the Government, but have no money so the government gives so many thousand dollars a mile, and whatever is necessary for equipment, then the endowed company charges the public high freight and the people with a smile of pleasure submit. Pro- tective tariff enables the manufacturer to sell at the rate of the imported article and the tariff or duty, and we purchase at his rate and pay the duty afterwards to support our generous government. Hence tlie rail- road men and the manufacturers and bankers and etc., are a part ef the [governing body and we, like the Romans of the days of the Empire, are happy and contented. We have not tiavillcd far above the Desert, consequently cannot write much history of a country yet uninhabited and which is not likely ever to be inhabited. If we are to judge from maps in our possession, which we purchased at the sale of the late Mr. John Egan.and conducted by Mr. Doyle the country is so covered with lakes, ponds and ' rocky hills that neither settlements nor railroads are likely to be soon found there. The forests are dwarfed after you pass the timber limits, now held and worked, that they are of no value and would not pay for cut- ting and transporting to any city of the land. The very few who have snowshoed the country, report unfavorably of its capabilities and to n HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 2l3 push a railway into such a region where nothing is needed to be taken to it and nothing to be brought from it, would be not merely to get money under false pretences and throw it away for nothing and to no purpose, but would prove that the projectors and those who furnished them the . means were fit subjects for certificates of lunacy or, altogether stark mad. One thing might be done with that country. The enterprising govern- ment of Quebec who have so thoroughly economized since the last elec- tion, might make it a park or grand preserve. Running a line east and west above the settlements and timber limits, say 50G miles in length and 500 miles north, 250,000 s([uare miles, could be set off as a park for the preservation of game forests such as they are, and protect the waters as the sources of our rivers. This would be a public enterprise that woL'ld immortalize them through the ages. It would be a field for the exercise of patronage, where disappointed politicians could be placed as forest rangors, game-keepers, in.spectors of fisheries, fish hatchers and constables or mounted police. How many offices they could make and fill. Let Mr. Beamer once get into it with his railway and there is an end to all these projects. Or let an')tiier election come and Mcrcier be- come the premier their chance is lost forever. They may not entertain the project suggested from a humble source, but we would be direlect in our duty as a citizen did we not offer the proposal. The Protestant churches at the Desert are not pretentions. The Babel builditig fever has not taken so deeply in the country places is in the cities. " Fowers that brave the skies" have been raised in ov:r cities so that the congregations have all they can do for 30 or 40 years to pay interest and principle, without caring much for the feeble country scat- tered coigregatioKs. whose hard-worked ministers get a fourth or a fifth of what is lavished on their more talented brethren in the happier city homes. Trie quost'oi might be asked, with some show of propriety too, if these brethren lodfjed in these palatial mansions show much concern for the couKrv cottager with his large family and the wolf within a rod of his door? Did the giant preacher of Brooklyn care much for the poor brother in tribilalion when he expended $300,000 on the beautiful e-^tate on the Hudson that would not now bring $.|.o,ooo? Sir William D uvson hints that the descendants of Noah must have been rlfluenced by the traditions preserved in the family of the immense cities and fine huge piles of casi lei an ^ towers built by the antediluvian gj-nts. He nrg'it have drawn di parallel between the tower in the Plains of Shinar, an 1 the bulky jumi>los of stone and lime, the embodiments of the pride of Pagan and Christian structures; uncalled for by any religious necessity of either ancient or modern times. The proud abettors of these un- wieldy structures are fond of quoting the Temple, a place to which the males went only three times a year. Why not refer to the syiruj[ogucs in which the people were taught the Scriptures every Sabbath day. If these proud architects, projectors and builders when they leave us should find their destiny in the place of the giants, the philosopher Wallaston, would say it was according to the "fitness of things." The ministerial garb is not always a proof of Christianity in the man, and few will ever acknowledfT.- that a great church is a proof of deep piety in the congre- gation. Th.e Presbyterian church, .so grand in the city, so plain in the country, would not be considered by a stranger as of the same family. ■f .,1 n IV 214 HISTORY or THF. OTTAWA VALLEY. Generally speaking there is ntstt any mie. Congregations do abotrt «s they like, one man rules the whole combine. The many agree to the proposal. Should the people support the missionary, which they gener- ally do, so far good; should i*. be otherwise, he has nothing to fall back .on for support. There is a piiuciple of cohesiveness essential to the well-being of society, that principle is not selfishness, and till that principl« is better cultivated the Presbyterian church cannot thrive in some parts of the world. There are some congregations that never had a Presby- terlal visitation in their history; the district we write of is in that category. The people are kind by disposal but the organizations are not very com- plete and in any organization one sinner may destroy much good. A little attention and encouragement aid people greatly, whereas neglect is very detrimental, for everyone is happy in the discharge of duty and not often otherwise. Many accidents have happened on the railway thus for several have lost life or limb and one poor fellow both limbs. They could not be set and had to be amputated, others have been set and re- covered. The story is told of a Scotch boy whose leg was broken and the doctor set it and he was doing well, but the boy's mother was not contented. She wished to get a bone-setter, Rob. McPherson by name in the hills, to see it. The leg was nearly well but she got a bed in the cart and the boy in and dro>>e to the place. They lifted the boy out and laid him on the floor and the surgeon examined the leg and pronounced it doing well. He was lifted into the bed on the cart and driven home. The old lady expressed much satisfaction with Rob's skill, the boy said aye to all, but as they neared the house, she repeated her eulogies on Rob, and the boy said aye, "But a was na sick a fool as to let him handle the sair leg." The railway authorities are, however, content to leave them in the doctors' hands. What ive have said of the other parts of that river and hJtl country is very applicable to Desert, so well filled with places of entertainment for those seeking health and rest. The young physician, Dr. Mulligan, and his very pleasant young wife are an acquisition to the place. The doctor is building up an excellent practise and name in the village and its environs. There is more level country visible from an elevated stand- point here than perhaps in the hundred miles to the great Capital itself. Much of it is light soil requiring fertilizers, but there is no question of the excellent productions to be raised in the surrounding localities. The waters are pure and clear and abundant, and the finny tribes plentiful for the taking without let or hindrance- The game of the hills and dales is like that of kindred mountain and valley scenery. It would require a close union among the denominations to make it possible to sustain reli- gion. All the Protestants would not be able to maintain one minister; how must it be with so many. The arguments for union appeal ^ith great force to that part of h'iman nature, the most sensitive of all the nervous system, the pocket. It is not easy to write the history of a place and people, whilst the actors are busy on the stage. The late talented and now much lamented Alonzo Wright, so long the M. P, for Ottawa, in our late conversation whilst he ordered his vehicles round the buildings and drives several times, observed that it was too early to write the ms- tory of Hull, Many of its actors are still alive and are likely to livelong and happily. After Mr. Ainsley's time the saints have been cared for by HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA TALLIY. 2I5 the Rev. Adam Hood Burwell, who was Episcopal preacher in Bytown. Mr. Burwell was apparently a warm-hearted Christian, who was carried by the enthusiasm of the times in favor of second advent views which took more deeply in Hull than in Bytown, and met with a thousand fold more opposition, not from the denominations so much as from the mob. A little before this time peculiar utterances had been heard in Rev. Edward Irving's church that astonished so many as a new revelation of the spiritual gilts that the church might expect everywhere as a faithful church. Mr. Burwell entered into these views with a vigor and freshness that was to say the least of it, very remarkable. He hastened to publish his views in some rather well-written pamphlets. These came into our hands among our earliest readings, and compelled attention to the no- tions for the fulfillment of prophecy as taken from Daniel and the Reve- lations. Edward Irving was a very able divine and possessed a most thorough acquaintance with the language, literature and theology of his country. His style was clear, forcible and attractive, whilst assistant to Dr. Chalmers and after he settled in his congregation in the Capital of the empire. He was run after by the wealthy and the whimsical, and his congregation thought if the church ever needed the gifts of tongues she needed them now, to go into the world for the conversion of the millions- Mr. Burwell going a step farther maintained that to deny the necessity of those gifts, was equal to sin against the Holy Spirit, their author. A man of fervor, Burwell, declared to his people from the pul- pit, and in the parlor, shop and store, his newlv-found views that struck most people with the force of all new ideas. His success in Hull seemed considerable, several influential people becomingobedienttothenew faith. There was nothing in all this unreasonable, at least nothing to stir up opposition. Every man has a right to think if he has ?. right to live or be considered an individual. A man is as responi.il: 'e for his belief as he is for his actions, as everyone of us shall give an account of himself unto God. But no man has a right tb judge another as to what he shall be- lieve. Nevertheless the mob in Hull undertook to dictate to those who took up the new opinions, or at least to greatly disturb their meetings. The late Andrew Leamy, a famous old warrior, took sometimes an active hand in these troubles. Often from sharp and angry words they went to blows, marking each others faces very picturesquely. A Mr. Orr was very severely handled and it was doubtful if he would recover for some time. He never recovered fully. His head was badly mauled and he was slightly deranged dQring his life, and rambled about with a long tin horn as his trumpet, considering himself the Angel Gabriel sent to warn men of their doom. We have heard this once in our time at Bell's Corners and were informed by the late George Arnold that he was the Angel Gabriel who was blowing it to gather sinners, the stock of which never run out, to hear his warnings. Hull was Catholic and Episcopalian in its early days, few Methodists «r Presbyterians showed in it till very much later on, and whilst only a few in the town- ship became evangelists a Mr. Pink and a Mr. Lucas, there was .^uite a number in Hull village that embraced the doctrines and organized the congregation, and as Mr. Lucas was wont to say; "we of the Apostolic church," so they had apostles and prophets and even angels. Dr. Mc- -Laren was long known as the angel of the swamp. ^^ 1:1 tl6 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. It was never so rank in the Prssbyterian church as to be considered a heresy, and no man was persecuted if he did express the wish of the hope that he might live to see his Saviour in the flesh. It was considered far too visionary to be of any importance as a doctrine or a truth. No temporal kingdom could equal the kingdom of the universe over which the Messiah reigns since His resurrection and ascension to glorv- He came first to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He will come again without sin unto salvation, and to judge the world, but there is no third coming taught in the Scripture revelation. The objectionable thing was the opposition these men met with in carrying out their devo- tions. Sneers and ill names arc not pleasant to be borne, but when mobs proceed to violence there is great ipjury, and no good purpose could be served by such conduct, either to the rioters themselves, or to the churches they claim to champion and very great injury done to their fellow Christians they so unreasonably oppose. The lumber trade brought many ungovernable people to the Chaudiere in those early times. The Irvingites had after Mr. Burvvell's departure a Mr. Roberts, an ex- ceedingly tall man, for the pulpit, but he was not succcessful in building up a congrciL^ation, and since his time no revival of the party seems to have taken place. The Episcopal church was always in an organized state in Hull. Sometimes it was associated with Aylmer, and the min- ister resided on the way between. Latterly Canon Johnston lived per- manently in Hull, giving up Aylmer. The Presbyterians came in by families and got an organization formed in connection with the west end of Ottawa, now known as Erskine church, and Rev. Joseph Whyte was their pastor for several years Then the Hull congregeition was asso- ciated with Chelsea, under Mr. Dempster deceased, who was a very effi- cient pastor, and Chelsea was associated with Cantley. Hull ivith mis- ionary aid got along alone. Some time ago Rev. Mr. Scott was settled there and still resides there as their pastor. Great improvements have taken place in Hull in 50 years. From a mere hamlet it has grown to a city with considerable manufactories. Its quarries have supplied stone for buildings in Ottawa. Eddy has from vast lumbering become an immense paper manufacturer. Stores, shops, mills, especially the Hurdman lumber mills, and many enterprising business establishments have been got up and improvements seem the order of the day. The Presbyterian congregation of Hull was begun with the colony. Mr. Wright began to plant here in the beginning of the century. It was of the Congregational type as New England Congregationalists were called by that name, having the same truths and having elders as rulers in the church almost corresponding to the sister denomination. This form of government had some advantages in a new colony of fami- lies as there are no hindrances in the way of a minister engaging with the people and laboring among them. It is not, so compact and script- ural in tl^e relation of corigregations to one another as the Presbyterian but it is democratic and opijos^d to hierarchical despotism. Despots, unjust and untruthful ministers will be found in all denominations, in spite of their eternal vigilance to avoid it. Under snch men the people suffera ^reat loss of spirituality, even more than when without a minister, because these creep m and brini,' with them, if not pernicious doctrines, practices that stealthily corrupt the people. The men who preach truth HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. •17 and justice in the pulpit do right, but when these same men act falsehood and injustice in the week between the Sundays, they prove that they have taken the scribes and Pharisees for their models and not the King and head of the f-hurch. The gold ring and the gay clothing, are as of old, doing great injury to the life of the church. Vital religion becomes a stranger in the city and in the country. The congregation in Hull was not large but it had some good men like the Deys, Esterbrooks, RoUin the Tanner, Symmes, Hill, Church, Stewart, Pinks, Curries, Moffats, Davies, Blairs They built a little stone church on a site given by Truman Waller. Their first minister from the United States was a trial if possible to nurture a congregation. They told us there was a lack of congeniality between him and the people, and he soon returued to his own land. Another came and was much liked, but the field was too limited for the cjifted man, whose talents commanded soon after a wider scope and range. As in the world of commerce foes will be im- potent in the face of highly exalted gifts and shining talents. They shame, yes, frown down opposition. This second man was induced to leave and goto a field of f^reater usefulness, for which the people were extremely sorry. A third came and remained, of whom there is more known, whose descendants are in the country. Rev. Mr. Meach was their preacher for several years. His salary was small as the people were few and scattered widely, but he easily procured lands and gave the farm and the lake his name to this day, Mcach's Lake and Mcach's farm is now occupied by a very respectable and upright Scotch family, by the name of Russell. The Deys went to Montreal where one was appointed a judge after- wards. Rollins and Esterbrooks went to the Western States. Other active workers left for more inviting fields of enterprise. The congrega- tion was scattered, not by the despotism of church courts or bishops, not by internal strife or dissentions, but by the want of numbers and a leader. If a fortune heaves in sight, or a prospect of bettering their con- dition opens up, people will leave the most pleasant homes and break up very endearing ties of kindred to secure the end. Are they to be blamed? The fiery eloquence of Edward Irving had set old sedate London in excitement, spme thinking the Pentacostal days were to re- turn and that the miracle workers were to be sent out to turn the nations into a state of Paradise. Rev. Adam Hood Burwell eloquently and ably propagated these notions, and one or two Presbyterian families or heads of families were pleased with the views he advanced and for a time joined the party. Mr. Rnggies Wright opposed these views and refused his hall for their propagation. Mr. Alonzo Wright did not join them, out fiercely opposed the mobs, sometimes led by his uncle, Mr. Andrew Leamy who handled them roughly. Some Presbyterians like the Curries travelled on foot to Bytown to hear Mr. Cruikshanks; so the poor old Hull church was deserted and forsaken. Mr. Irving was a cousin of our esteemed friend, Mr. A. Irving of Pembroke, (to whom we are indebted for special favors, and of whose genuine kindness as well as intellectual superiority and genius we can hardly speak too higlily,) was a most popular young man when assistant to Dr. Chalmers the great Scottish divine of that day. and now in the metropolis of the world of letters as well as statesmanship, was carried on the cresfr of the wave of 2l8 •HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLBY. lii '3'' ! ill i:*^- that novel tide that had set in, and without enquiring why these gifts had ceased or been withheld by an all-wise ruler, thought the utterances in his coiip;regation might be the beginning of a time of enlightenment and conversion of immeasureable extent, and results the most moment- ous and extraordinary. He evidently like other leaders of ability and full of fervor had no idea of forming a sect. For a time a considerable class were taken with them. Brilliant minds with vivid imaginations are easily carried away with new things in religion, and these fresh things seemed to introduce the most important and glorious events ever recorded in the history of humanity. Mr. Burwell published here in full sympathy with the movement. Like Dr. Gumming of London he went into the idea of the fulfilment of prophecy, a very taking and entertaining subject to many minds. He had only a few in Bytown but a great many in Hull, from therivef to the mountain and from Aylmerto the Gatineau Point, his disciples were numerous. Their offices were as numerous a^ they could get names to cover in the New Testament, so that a convert could scarcely fail to get an ofifice. This is one of the peculiarities of little sects to try to gam popularity, passing every proselyte through a kind of coronation, so that they rise about fifty per cent in their own estimation when they thus discover what splendid people they are; by being employed in something visible and tangible. Were the rulers of the churches as anxious for the spiritual welfare of the people as for the increase of their numbers and the outward forms of religion, they would be revolutionized for good. We are so much taken with externals that to tell us we have a handsome face and fine figure, we are more pleased than with coarse features and uncomely form, with a profusion of intellectual abilities. Such is our nature or rather such is it become. In how many minds is the noisy rush of the crowd and its excitement preferred to the duties and delights of the closet and the careful contemplation of truth in re- tirement. The Creator of man delights in truth in heart and can there be truth in the inward parts unless the truths of the Revelation are planted there ? The mind lives by these truths no matter what the sect to which the man is attached. Spiritual nourishment is preferable to the noise of the street owner and the prayer on the house-to?, or the Molah on the top of the Mosque. There was some petty persecution of these some- what deluded people, that was disgraceful and which Alonzo Wright did h s utmost to put down. Mr. Wright could not resist the blandishments of Sir John A. Macdonald. But he retired disgusted with the immorali- ties of the parties, in making a set of millionaires by reducing the honest inhabitants to the low level of mendicants, controlling the constituencies and keeping power in their hands. In our last drive together he kindly proposed to place his papers on the early history of Hull at my disposal and wished he were able to have aided me still farther. He was a student in his youth and in his early married life, which was very happy, he was an omniverous reader. His bosom incnd, the distinguished lawyer, Peter Aylen, used to tease him on being so devoted to the luminous (voluminous) pages of Gibbon, the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, that he had time for nothing else. His communications to the Aylmer Times in its best days, woke up a deep interest. His wit, humor, elasticity of thought, and the wide rang^e HISTORY OF THB OTTAWA VALLBY. aif • gifts ranees nment jment- y and lerable jns are things corded npathy ito the subject any in atineau rous as convert ities of Dugh a :ir own are; by alers of i for the y would have a I coarse abilities, ninds is ; duties h in re- in there : planted :o which noise of on the e some- ight did shments mmorali- e h«nest ituencies apers on 5 to have lis early ler. His ;ase him bon, the ling else. ke up a ide range of his knowledge mad? his articles very readable. His style was vigor- ous and clear, among the best compositions in our language. He was capable of holding a high place among our finest literary writers. He seldom spoke in the House, but he distinguished himself and made the best impression on the audience. In private life he was very friendly and kind-hearted on all possible occasions making you feel at home and at your ease, and affording you very much enjoyment in his society. Swallowed up in his parliamentary career, he took to no enterprise ex- cept to enjoy himself on his beautiful fertile farm and among the multi- tude of his pretty animals, highly fed and well diversified in classes, kmds and breeds. His stock is traceable up the river on the various farms freely distrib'ited for improvement of the cattle of the settlements. He is very much missed and great sympathy is expressed for his wife who must feel the loss beyond all others. One of his brothers lives south of his place on the river bank with a large family, chiefly daughters. Mr. Ruggles Wright was the only one of the family that lived in the village, now the city of Hull. His sons were numerous. Some are in the United States. Mr. Charles has been long and favorably known and hi^^hly respected as a resident of the Island, where he has carried on vast works in stone, lime and cement for a lifetime. Another brother is fond of mining. He lives in the city and is interested in several gold mines, and has passed many thousands through his hands. We take great interest in him and wish his gold finding may be a great success. Were the Wrights altogether tney would be a host. The pioneer and two of his grandsons have been members of Parliament. The M. P.'s are both gone. Some of them should write their history for the benefit of future generations. If we have omitted anythiRg essential in these cases we shall be happy to insert in our second volume should we be enabled to get it through the press. We shall be glad if any of our numerous frionds whose case may have been overlooked will set us right by giving us the particulars for correction. The Presbyterian congregation of Aylmer met at first in the com- mon schoolhouse, then they got the free use of the town hall which was the property of Mr. Symm'es. This they fitted up with the old pews and pulpit from the old stone church at the Messrs. Hurdman property. When the Methodists, who had used the same hall, built their church, they invited the Presbyterians to use the basement with themselves, but at different hours, so the pulpit and pews were taken up there till the new Presbyterian church was built, and we suppose they are there still. To enable them to build the new church, which required to be more costly than they were able to meet, they concluded to get a bill passed in the Legislature of Upper and Lower Canada, to enable them to sell some property on which the old church stood, that had been erected by the early settlers from New England in the fifst quarter of this nineteenth century. Alanson Cooke, Esq., lumberman, was our M. P. for the county of Ottawa at that time and took charge of the bill. It had been read in the House and had reached the private bills' committee when it was killed by the member for Carleton who had the majority of Episco- palians on the committee. The member for Sherbrooke, who was a judge afterwards and had charge of the bill in Mr. Cooke's absence, wrote us the fate of the bill, advising us to tkke advantage of a temporary '30 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. I- ■.!•'. ■ Wt ,-)• i !.3 ', act then in force, that enabled trustees or those in possession of church lots, graveyar Is, etc., that had no provision in their deeds for a succession of tr istces, to meet and according to the specified lormaHties appoint such, lo Irjinfr the records with a notary, which they did, and it was to have the power and force as a clause in the original deed. The manse was occupied by the Episcopal minister, then in Hull and Aylmer, who had got the use of it for ten years on condition of building a kitchen to the frame house and a stable. They were both of cedar logs and the kitchen was a hideous caricature of round logs with their ends not cut off at the corners. The member for Carleton, and perhaps the clergyman, thought that the deed had lapsed, and being in possession they could claim the property, hence the fight that threw out the bill. Having met the case and supplied the defect in the deed by the provisions pointed out by our learned friend, the congregation determined to sell and got an order in court to that effect. The minister withstood and was dispos- sessed by the sheriff. As he was put on the street a gentleman went in who was married to a granddau;:;l\ter of the original donor, Truman Waller, and claimed that his wife was heiress and having purchased the good will of the other grandchildren of Mr. Waller, considered his claim unimpeachable Mr. L. R. Church conducted the case very ably, though it was his first one, but could not prove a conspiracy as the deed was good and the supplement that remedied the defect lawful. When Mr. Hughes took possession forcibly, the writ to eject the minister was amended to include all others. So when he was put on the street and the place locked he broke in but was imprisoned for a night and let out in the morning. The congregation paid the cost for the minister, who con- sidered himself terribly persecuted by these Presbyterians, but they let Mr. Hughes pay his own, which ^vas $125. The Presbyterians sold the property to the Hurdmans, who removed the old buildings and fences, incorporating the site or land with their farm around ii and the proceeds went into the new beautiful church in Aylmer, built more than thirty years ago. That church was planned, the materials collected for it, the contracts made, the funds gathered by subscription in the other congre- gation connected with it, and in Ottawa and Montreal, by the minister they then had; and whose salary ran in arrears and he would not let it be raised by coercion, though a very gifted lawyer proposed to bear the expenses of the court, if only permitted, This is a great fault with some ministers. They trust too much to the honor and honesty of the people and they would not be deceived if their brethren were not unfaithful and untrustworthy in such cases in the duties they owe one another. No presbytery is guiltless that permits a congregation to withhold his rights from their minister. What language can depict their conduct when they encourage the injustice ? How can they look for blessings when their conduct is such to a brother minister ? The story of the Kirk minister and the boy at the little rill will here be appropriate. The story runs that this good minister was visiting the members of his congregation and in crossing a small creek, ('a bit burnie') met a boy who had swept and gathered together the sand, muck and dust a\ a liable at a turn of the little run. The minister says : "Well my lad, what are you doing here?" "I'm making a kirk, sar." "Have you a door to it?" Aye yondher it is, pointing to an opening in the end of I! .HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 221 the heap. "And windows?" Aye, sar, pointing to scores he had made in the sides raised a little above the level. "Have you got pews and a pulpit?" "Oo aye, Di'nt yc see them there ?" pointing to scuu- ridges he had raised in the heap or formation, and a mound at the end hollowed out to stand in. O yes, I see they are all right, but have you ? minister and congregation tooccupy it ? "Na, sar, I ha na gotdhi'- cno igli yet to mak them." How much sordid dust is sometimes collected in ministers and con- gregations ? To dust they soon return but are not troubled about it or they would strive to do better. In the formation of congregations the moulders are like the Scotchman, "beggin his dike he had ta tak sic stanes as were on the grun." The yovuig minister is left to organize the young congregation. Of course in the estimatioii of most of the people he is far fitter H\an an old minister. There is no supervision. He may get on well or ill. If the latter, he can be sent off, ami his brethren will sympathize with the unruly that make the place to hot for him to live there. Many in the congregation are pcacably disposed and not of suffi- cient courage to excrci.se healthy, public opinion in the community. They pay their dues allright and would like others to do the same , espe- cially to the minister, but they fear to get into trouble if they should in- sist, so they are quiet, and neutral and two or three sons of Belial rule the flock and would make war if resisted. ShouW they happen to have wealth, the others say if they leave or do not pay, we arc helpless and plenty of minister will so far forget their duty as to take part with these adversaries against their ordained brother. It would tend greatly to the church's peace, safety and growth if these adversaries could be con- trolled. The young ' iiiister is unable to rule these men and so tliey rule the congregation and all submit. The ministers g^ve him no aid lest their popularity should wane with the rich. We know of only one Presbyterial visit round ail congregations in tbe Ottawa Valley for 50 years- Some were never so visited since they were formed. This is not true Presbyterianism. It is dishonorable to the name and disastrous to the welfare of that fine old cause. The young minister may be much to blame because he lets men neglect their duties. To pay what they promise is a duty, and whilst it would be counted selfish in tht minister, and he fears that, yet he is guilty in letting a man neglect to pay up his debts. Men should not be let do wrong if possible. Ministers will lose and suffer rather than compel payment. The men who are bad pay or pay not are the men to give him the worst name whilst they cheat him and make him all tb.e trouble. These adversaries exercise tyrannical rule in many places, k is a more serious thing than most men are aware of, to become an enemy or adversary of a good man or a good cause. When the kingdom of Israel was at its greatest height and glory in the days of King Solomon, and the Hebrew tongue was in its greatest purity, Solomon said to Hiram> King of Tyre : There is not an adversary, (Satan in Hebrew), and again later in his life the Lord stirred him up a Satan, Hadad the Edomite, and agjiin God stirred him up an adversary, (Satan) Razen who fled from the King of Zobah and became caut .in of a band and reigned in Damascus- He was a (Sat?,n) adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon. This term is the name in the New Testament i; M I i HISTORY or THE OTTAV... V.^LLEY. fiven to the greatest enemy of man, the one that fills the hearts of mca and women to lie even to the Holy Spirit. He troubled J :)b and David and figures extensively in the Old Testament times as the serncnt, called in the New Testament the old serpent, the devil, and Satan that dcceiv- eth the nations — the dragon who is Satan. Christ calls Judas Iscariot Satan and Peter, Satan, because under his influence in making opposition to his Master. Now who would like to be under such influence? Good men forget themselves, permit Satan to deceive them by carelessly mis- judging or not properly governing themselves, their temper, appetites, passions and actions; Satan thereby getting an advantage of them, and would sift them as wheat, lead them captive at his will, suggest doubts about God's words or promises and thrcatenings, and reigns over them bv usurpation. He is a king, has a kingdom and is going al)Out continu* ally and silently, but like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. But he may be resisted and dri\ en off, gut no place and run offT— but if n>cn let any one sin reign in them, Satan holds the citadel and though he may not conquer the whole yet he may hold a "cabul", a border city in a man's empire till dispossessed. In wicked men he reigns supreme and without a rival. The condition is terribly dangerous. He is an unclean spirit »»;< vie, a lying spirit in another, teaches one extortion, another usury, fills one with pride, another with meanness, and low cunning and deceit. "We are not ignorant of his devices." We should make against him the strongest resistance, wrestle against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked- ness in high places. Mr. Samuel Bell was one of the successful men of Ayhner. He entered the employ of Mr. R. Conroy on his arrival in this country from his native Ireland. Mrs. Klock and Mrs. W. Kenny were sisters of his, and another who lived up the Ottawa, and some of whose family we have seen up the Gatineau. Mr. Bell soon displayed hb capacity for business and accordingly was at once promoted. He purchased al kinds of produce from the surrounding farmers, for special use in the business of the hotel, store, raifl, farm, shanty, and also for ready sale on his own account to purchasers, always doing something to his own advan- tage, without prejudice to the interest of his employer. He sooh ac- cumulated money to lend. In a country where so much lumbering was done on a small, as well as a large scale, there were many ready to bor- row, and being often so much in need to get their timber out and down to Quebec market, they were willing to give any interest demanded. Mr. Allen was always speculating and would give five dollars for a loan of fifty for a month. Samuel Bell, Robert Stewart, Dermody, young John McCooke and Robert H. Klock had always some to lend and the custom of this enormous intere.st hid from sight the crime of usury. A teamster would come from the shanty with his due bill and Doyle, Egan's chief clerk, would affect not to have the money, so Dermody would go out to borrow it and return with the report that he could get it but the wcmm must have so much; the teamster would think of the trouble of cwming for it again, perhaps the ice being too bad to get across, and would cow- sent to submit to the shave. Thepe men made money in this «pjest»on- able manner. Mr. Bell in his managing way mack many thousaiKi& Dermody told of the beginning of bis wealth mx the Okl C« Mn ( H a r « HMTO«Y or TUB OTTAWA VALLEY. aas Gentlemen who were raising fine sheep, wouIH instruct their herdmen not to raise more than one lamb on the dam, ao one of the twins was to go for what the herdman could get as his own profit, and Mr. Dcrmody got these for little and fed them well so that they sold to good jutlges, nearly as high as their twin brothers or sisters from the rich man's flock. The art of making and saving once learned, the A^ay to wealth is open. Rich men are not the happiest though almost everyone aspires after wealth. S itTi. Hell accumulated many thousands. He married very late in life the widow McLaughlin but left no issue. She had no family and after his death married Mr. Thomas Beatty on the south shore of the Ottawa, having taken a compromise out of Sam's fortune. Mr. Robert Klock was the chief executor of Sam Bell and fell heir to a large share of the wealth, b"t the other relatives were provided for and none of them forgotten. Mr. Robert H. Klock's wife, a good woman; was a sister of Mrs. Lindsay, another good woman; and Mr. James Klock, his brother, whose agreeable wife was a Miss Boulton, daughter of the well-known Mr. Boulton of Aylmer who long kept a re- spectable hotel on the corner, both brothers took to contract lumber- drawing like many others and made money. After their uncle's death Mr, Robert Klock got limits and wrought in the square timber business for years, selling in the Quebec market. Those who supported his policy and could make interest could secure from Sir John A Macdonald timber limits at the merest nominal prices. Mr. Klock like many others got into his good graces and benefitted accordingly at the put)lic expense. The settled policy was, make a little aristocracy of weadthy men at the sacrifice of the millions. What a world the future will be for those mil- lionaires and bankers who keep their agents turning the crank and grind- ing human beings to powder at their eight or nine per cent, with their large dividends for so little labor, and others bearing all the burden of taxation. These are evils under the sun that sensible men, not cranks and thieves, could remedy if they would. No governing body has any right to give away to favorites the property of the people, if that is any- thing but a name gotten up for popularity. The people are kept in ignor- ance of these things by the newspaper organ of their party and filled with lies against their opponents, and their prejudices will not permit them to read the other side. Robert Klock planned. James Klock helped him to execute, worked harder too, but did not secure so large a share of the fruits. Mrs. R. Klock died some years ago. His death was more recent. His family are highly spoken of. One son is a physician in the city in good repute with a good practice, increasing daily, which he well merits. Two others live at what is now Klock's Mills, where they have a beautiful little village, which seen from the C. P. R. looks very finely situated and thriving-like. Of course it is chiefly for their own residences and the people they employ in their large lumbering business. The place was formerly known as Aumond's Creek. The papers reported a sale of Klock's limits made some time ago amounting to neariy three hundred and fifty thousand dollars; not a trifling sum for the riches in lumber grown without any outlay on the public domain. Mr. Joseph Aumond formerly of this city, took up large limits and worked them for yeafs in that quarter, following the McConnells who seem to have been the first to get to the Mattawa country from which they brought square HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLE*. tjoikerand red pine tp* •» in great abmtlance. Robert, the eldest, is a member of parliament, the youngest is .n the old home in Ayliiicr. One of their sisters is married to Dr. Church, » j^randson of the far-fanicd P. H. Church, M. D. The other is married t > i Presbyterian cicrjjyinan in western Ontario. Mr. James Klock s family are nearly all around them. One daughter is Mrs. Lr. Church. One s( ii, a doctor, as fine a looking man as any we have setn on the Ottawa, when we last met him at Campbell's Bay. He is lii-ire married and has a fine practice at the Quyon and around it. About 1868 Dr. Freeland took ct ^rge of the Presbyterian conj^rcj'A tion of Aylmerand was doing a good work in Bible instruction amon^' the younjr people of that place. He was a talented preacher descrvinjr of a much better field. Tli«- b'-'*thrrn were so pious, howev er, that they harassed him nearly to death on the s:ore of some old rumour or gos-^ip of old wives' tongues that was perhai 8 over a quarter of a century did and which they could make nothing of after a good deal of fuss a?id smoke but no fire. The liberal education and commanding talents of the poor old gentleman combined with his energy in his work roused some oppositi( n in little minds but he was permitted to go on with his work till one day coming in snow blind or sun blind he walked into an open cellar and in the fall broke a limb. He was taken down to the hospital in the city for treatment, and when we saw him the bones had been set and the leg in a kind of box with charcoal on each side of it, but it never recovered and he died. He was succeeded by a young man not long ordaineo and married, who spoke out audibly of what a work he was going to do there. We heard him ourselves. His vaporings soon exap- forated, and he left without making the promised impressions or being considered ver>' extraordinary. An old fellow student, Mr. Jamicson, was there for some years. After him came a fair sample of an Irishman reputed a good preacher, who after a few years went to the Northwest. Since that they have had students and miAsionaries till of late they have had a young man ordained who is well reported for his talents and industry. The Church of England was organized as the first of all denominations in Hull sometime between the first planting of the colony in 1800 and the thin scattered settlements in March and Huntley and Richmond in 18 18. The Hull congregation took in such Episcopalians as were in Nepean and Gloucester at that time, and Rev. Amos Ainsley ministered to them, going up sometimes to March to hold services in the little church burk by Mr. Pinhey on his •wn fai«i. Bytown was not yet laid out, nor thought of, beyond the Kttlc landing at Collins' first store, alierwards ©ailed the Richmond landing. Mr. Sparks bought in 1826. After this Col. By came arwi located the canal. Shanties began then to be raised and Corkstown was named. Then came Rev. Adam Hood Burwcll, who seems to have largely filled the place of Mr. Ainsley who was not there in 1833. Mr. Burwdl must have labored m'lch among the Hull people as there was no village, only the settlement on the farms around Mr. Wright, whose possessions were: so largo as to leave him almost alorve in the earth, so many people were taken with Mr. Burwell, who still re- mained in the Church of England though propagating what afterwards was called Irvingism. HISTORY my TUK OTTAWA VAIXIY. IS L, IS a r. One ncd P. luan in J ihctTi. looking him at at the anu>iij^ :scrvinj^ I at thty r gos-^ip iiry oUl iiss and ;8 of ihc d some is work in open hospital )een set it never lot long he was Ml e\ ap- beiiig iinicson, rishman rthwest. cy have :nts and linations ) and the in i8i8. Nepean o them, ch buik it, nor rwards ter this : raised ell. who 3t there peopte ind Mr. alone m stiH re- lerwards .0 A cvniMcraMe time elapsed before Mr. J*hniton, ftfteiivards (Garten jrUvmiton, mmdc t« Htill. In tl)« interval, the people seemed to avail theittselves •Tthc services of Mr. Meach, the Conf;ref;atiofi»l^PreshytfM i«n, as the connectitig litkk between Mr. Ainslcx and Mr Johnson, abcuMt 1840, who retiMmcd and rcsicn built him a stone house oppoiiitc Richard McConnell, which Mr. Ra«Wttor bought, and Mr. Johnston resided the rest of his davs in Hud. Tbc £p*s- co|).dians built a Biie stone church in Aylmcr, long before the Mctbodtsls and Presbyterians got thotrs erected, which were built nearly about tbc same tin»e, the former a little in advance of the latter. The Mrthodials had a UMk stone church down the road, now a dwelling near tbc Grimes' before Aylmcrsprang up to he a piace. They had in early boaes used tchoothouscs and private dwellings for their n>eetings. In our recotlectiMi they had Messrs. Hui>tingtort, Robinsf^ii, Sanderson, john5tt ti, (brolA>cr •f tbc )u<^X two ArirtKtronfs, with others whose names wc do not m- Member now. I'neir people seemed to be nnore in mn^ around Ayixker towards the movntaiit. They had few in the eastern part of the town- ship and no gathering in the city of Hull in early times, or the place tbc city now occupies. ki our timea co«»p)c of young men came down from the oountiy to arranp^e for the titne of a mArria^i^e. My fsunity sent tKcm to Mr. Sanderson. I was in Montreal and could not do it The young gentleman iiKroduccd the prospective groom. Yes, said he, Mr. Sanderson, I want you to put me throu^^h, I never did the iike be* fore. So he was put through in due cours'i. The aghcivlkmre of the north shore was not wrought up beyond tbe ordinary. They were contented with the fine crops that the new stumpy 6ekls produced as snipjAy for the lumber business that swallowed up aU cbt. The cattle were the common breeds from the Eastern Statci*. Mr. Wright broufibt some improved stock, but Mr. Farmer, an E ngfa k m an, introduced some from England, but the stock was not kept up by a suc- cession of thoroughbred sires, and half-breeds degenerated, as is usual in such cases. Tao InmberinK Grilled attention njore to horses as the ttmbcr had to be dr.iwn some distances and the heavy horses Farmer had impKMted, greatly increased the si/c and weight for the heavy work. A. multitude of fine large colts were raised from a farmer horse of Hurd- man's. This style of horse soon came into good demand and brought a biffh price as best fitted for lumber-drawing and carting overland between steasaboats. On the south side of the river light horses of good style and swift footed were introduced, greatly admired by the your>g people for tbc saddle and sleigh as well as for the ploutjh. The heavy buikls soon became more popular. Reilly and Wilson of Richmond introduced first Dragons, tlien Clydes. John Young, but especially John Clarke, brought the heaviest and finest of all. In a short time farms were cov- ered with great twelve to sixteen hundred weights up to fifteen or twenty in number without a roadster arnon!^ them. During the civil war in the United States Canadians exported far into tlie i.vousands, war horses and great dr.iught horses, a fine one bring- ing four hundred dollars in the city of New York. Americans with great weahh will give high prices for valuable horses. There is no better cotintry in the world to raise and grow choice horses than the vailcy of tl)C Ottawa. Their lower joints are clean and well-formed for endurance. OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. i The hired man has the best and the same money will Tbe pasture hmds are dry, the grass j;oorl, and colts are seldom in the mud, and the ary snow of winter is so much more favorable than slop and slush is fields and yards. A horse raised here will sell in New York at about a fourth to a third more than one of like proportions raised in the middle states. Wages in the early times was more in proportion to prices than ia after times or at present. No farmer can now pay high wages without giving his own time for nothing. The stumpers harangue us on mixed farming which they have read from papers or heard from others, but their mixed farming like their two row barley is only to di- vert attention from more important issues. Prices are about half what they were forty years ago. With cheese at seven cents and butter at fourteen, mixed farming comes to grief. of k. His wages are higher than formerly procure him double what it did then, whilst the farmer gets only half wiMt he was wont to get and the men clamour for shorter houis which he cannot give them. Ore hundred dollars a year with board was coHntcd good wages for many years and the man's family^ lived as well as his employer's, but to bring wages to ten or twelve cents an hour is to shut out labor. Now the vote is hunted up by the politician and the laborecs govern the country. Newspapers arc wild, extravagantly wild, on high wages. T' . iiired man must get time to read the papers, whilst the farmer has no -. The farmer must educate the children of the hired ntan, then he nust give him a wage his land will not pay. the next will be a pension. When tbe franchise was confined, many people were not cliscovered or known, now they have got to enjoy great prominence. Let us be devoutly pratefwl for the reformation. We read of millions collected in the cities in a stote of demi-starvation asking to be led to war rather than starve. It would be safer to work for moderate waf^es on the farm. Not to noentiontho sacrifice of human life and the namcjles^ horror of the battle-field, tbis would be the most effectual way of v*^asting and con- suming the earnti^ and saxings of ages, and should they survive the carnage, they coi>W make fame the order of the day and the glory of butchering their fellow men, the theme of their exultation, when wealth was annihilated and the smoke of the cities they had left ir «shes was ascending the skies. The condition of the farmer who has his all in- vested in land stock and implements must be more tbt: object of the politician and the newspaper man, whilst they neglect in no wise the condition of the laborer and his oiTsprin money and character, unfit them Ibeti' occupations* and entail on them and theirs the greater misery. tbe reflective side of Christianity, the sober honest thinking, is as ffOtUfi^ as the active, the boisterous, the bustle of work, the impetuosity dwi mmkM so omch show and carries so many off their feet, and even for If im- HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLIT. m es was all in- of the ise the worth hthood it with f they place.'- old as reathe n the m for y, If as jm- tuosity even lo«c their head, then surely the working away q«tetly with head and hands, saving all that can be made out of our toil and labor, cultivating contentment with our lot and economising the rewards of our efforts is, if not the only, certainly the brightest hope before as of bettering aud improving our condition. It is not the high wages for half time, but the steady employment that compensates best. Twenty-six doilajw a month without board for six months if the man is idle six months, should h« board himself at twenty-five cents a day, would leave him only sixty- four dollars and seventy-five cents, which is less than twenty-five cents a day, which is seventy-eight dollars. American farmers do not employ men six months in the year generally. One quarter dollar a day and board is better than their employ. This looks small but can you pro- duce a farmer who will get so much in the year out of his labor and three per cent, on his investment? We remember men working well in tbt harvest fields for five dollars a month with board. The farmer's working hours are longer than his man's and his reward much less if his stock in the farm be taken into the account. The newspaper man and the politi- cian should find out the farmer's gains in the year on his investment and his labor, if they did they would begin to devise means to save him a little from bearing so much of the burden of so many high-salaried me« in the Dominion. The farmer has some stake besides his vote which thv- politicians of the past have done their utmost to make worthless. Ocean cables, steamships, railroads, that have made so many millionaires, have so swallowed up the capacities of our politicians that they think not of the wrongs they have inflicted, the debts they have involved us in and the discouiagements thrown in the way of the people, making pro- gress as they would if their burdens were made lighter. The gorgeous idea of protection by which the people's pockets are emptied into the lap of the manufacturer without contributiug orjc cent to the revenue, the price of the product being as high as that of the imported article with the revenue added has so deluded and intoxicated the politician that he is quite incapable of reasoning, they have seen everything through colored glasses or seen it double. The farmer's wealth is doubled, his produce doubled, the prices doubled, the home market doubled, wages doubled, contentment and happiness doubled. The wealth of the manufacturer increased forty fold and the coun'ry has been so prosperous that there is no room to pile up the fruits and the goods. This lesson has been taught everyone from the editor to the newsboy and the drain- digger. They sing in chorus the wealth and prosperity of the people in which they are joined^ by the man shivering over her sawhorse and begging for work. The prosperity of the country became the watchword of half the community, if you contradicted them they gnashed on you with their teeth. It was rolled along from Newfoundland to Vancouver's Island. It was rolled along the valleys and over the mountains up to the clouds, but it smelt of Bishop Cameron's inspiration, coulc. not be admitted, but was hurled back in the faces of its inventors to their utter confusion and the opposite inspiration was inhaled by honest men, and men of truth and in the quarters where least expected, and the reply is a lesson the most striking, and except to fools, the most instructive of any thing in the whole land for years. To deceive men is inexusable, yea, unpardonable It is the blin4 leading the blind, and deep is the ditch io 228 'TORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. V fi^i Irv! which they land. The meeting of the two leaders after the election was Hke that of the banker and the lawyer after the defeat of their party. They met in the parlor of the hotel as drscrihrd by the western editor. "Joe fell on the Major's neck and the Major fell upon Joe's neck and they both wept and Joe said to the Major this is h — 11." The defeated gentry feel as if in a scene of enchantment as if they found nothing real anywhere Their occupation is gone to return no more. They are not likely to cry up the prosperity of the country. Everything they contem- plate is sure to put forth as a mirror their great disasters. The best thing they can do will be to turn their attention to the condition of their neighbors whose yearly contributions iiulircctly have swelled their store of wealth, and lend them at 3^ per cent, as they receive about that for bank deposits or say 4 per cent, and encourage the draining, stumping, removing stones and levelling of their fields. This will improve the farms and make the country improve in every respect around them It will turn barren land to productiveness, brown fields to ven'ure, and instead of scanty returns they m ill yield bountifully. It would greatly encourage the improvement of stock and give a new impulse to the farmer to better his condition, stimulate his genius to reach a higher standard of agriculture, raise and feed better animals, and more profitable crops, evoke something in his nature favorable to himself and to the gen- eral benefit of his race. This would be to retaliate 011 themselves for their selfish love of money, starve the appetite for usury and would also wake upa forgivenness in the people once fleeced but now befriended m their day of need. It would do more, even produce gratitude for their generosity as a proof that their repentance was really genuine, and put the humble farmer a step or two on the way to prosperity if not inde- per>dence. Their lands thus cleared of stumps and stones, well under- drained, sub.'^oiled and top-dressed, would soon yield in richest produc- tions more than would pay back the loan as well as reward the owner and tiller of the soil besides greatly improving it for the time to come. What an advantage it would be to m( cV.anics and small traders to get little sums in their pinch at a mnc'crate rate. Money is generally locked up in banks where they lend at 8 or 9 per cent, giving dividends of sixteen percent, or over free from any taxation to either Government or municipality, and where these poor men cannot borrow except to their utter ruin. The institutions should be held to five per cent, or taxed two per cent, on their whole stock and restricted to not more than seven per cent, on their short loans- The corporations make rules, their servants or employees must carry them out. and usury, fraud, and often oppression, freely follow, No institution should be permitted unlimited power to extort above what i.s just and equal from the community, For two years the whole land has been convulsed over the Manitoba School Bill of 1890, drawn up by Mr. M rtin, afterwards M. P. for Winni peg, and who defended it with great alility in the Dominion Parliament. It was displeasing to the bishops ap(' tbey procured an appeal to the Privy Council. That highest tribunal in the empire decided that it was constitutional. A second appeal was sent and decided that the minority had an appeal to the governor-in council in the event of a grievance. The Government hypoci'itically, as themselves and suppoilirs have amply proved since, to keep the solid Catholic vote, took up the matter HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLET. V as if the Privy Councii had commanded them to Icj^slate, oerciog t!)-- goveriiment of Manitoba to enact a separate school law. In two elections the people of Manitoba refused to do this. Then arose dissension in the Bowell Cabinet. One half supported the Preiviier, the other was in revolt, declaring" the; Premier's incapacity to lead "Such talented statesmen. The Premier dpscribed these as "a nest of traitors." The leaders in the ne... were Hon. G. Foster, and Sir C. H. Tupper, their object being to bring Sir C. Tiipper, Bart., to become Premier alter the dethronement of Sir McKenzie Bowell. When it was found the Bart., was hkely to ome thoy returned to their allegiance. So the Carons, the Angers, all the re- '^oiters returned and became a happy family, reconciled and cemented together in undying friendships, all agreed on coercion. A sixth unne- cessary extra parliament was called to pass the bill which, with Hercu- lean labor they got only to a second reading and the session did nothing but under the forms of law relieve the country people of about half a million of dollars. Hon. Clarke Wallace disgusted with coercion, resigned office and emoluments, biit the others clung to the thousands with the fidelity of true monev grabbers, their watchword being, no surrender. Hon. Clarke Wallace was beginning to secure popularity when he went back on hinnh self and lost cast in North Grey. There he threw overboard coercion, planking it on the Liberals who always repudiated h. Politicians who build and destroy what they have built, are to be pitied as well as laughed at, as they prove themselves too shaky for any but idiots to put confi- dence in. Quum Dens vult perdere primunt dementit. The ninety-nine hours' session showed the calibre of the Baronet. The profundity of the motions and resolutions of Foster and the windy Baronet, show that if they have lost their thousands attached to office, they will shift hun- dreds of thousands from the almost empty pockets of the Canadians to the rather full pockets of the members. How little regard for one another these men show ? No sooner is the Baronet elected by the inspiration of Bishop Cameron, than he kicks out Foster and takes the lead of the House. How could such a man expect an orderly patient hearing from any meeting he should address He was not able to dislodge the Pre- mier till the parliament expired, then he became a kind of de facto pre- mier for a few short Weeks, Oh! how he regrets relinquishing the 14,000 a year with the pickings in London. His elevation and fall were s(: near together that the great I. I. L elevated above the clouds in such sunlight was plunged into the thick darkness in the cold storage of oppositiotU' Hannibal sitting in the burnt ruins of Carthage was only a beginning to this The parliament expired, the adverse election tipped the scale and all was lost. Truthfulness they never knew but have beo; > upedl. ;ng the opposite since they were bom. Honesty, if they were ev r instructed ?n it, has been under an irredeemable mortgage sine- they entered on man- hood, and honor is a word that never figured in their vocabulary, but as Horace Greeley once said of some of their politicians. "It is no use to kick a dead ass." The defeat was a calamity. "The '*traitors" with the Baronet at their head thought they would sweep the Dominion in the felection and establish aperpe.ual reign of pride and poverty for another cycle of delusions. The Tuppers regarded themselves as our hereditary rulers and all the millions as hereditary bondsmen They had htohaa 1^ '^■'■ 230 HISTORY OF THl OTTAWA VALLEY. i ' V'H the compact and filled aQ openings in the Senate and on the Bench with disappointed politicians who were ready to sustain them in every thing s-iit ap to the Senate or the courts as the records of the country clearly show- No one would charge the judges with perverting judgment only f'c evidence was so clear on the suitable side that the decision was made eai|i,\ The reports of minorities were never made by the friends of the Government. This spoke volumes for the appointments. Fallen human nature presents many peculiar features. The juror was in a corner on the trial of the bishops in the days of James II. If he favored the bishops, he brewed no more for the king, if he favored the king he brewed no more for the bishops. The Government charged the Liberals with Dbstruction in the last session, now they are charged with the same. This last obstruction had money in it. That was the brewer's trouble. If obstruction was wrong for one it was wrong for both. On the Coercion Bill men voted for the first reading and against the second there seemed to be nothing sincere in them throughout They do in power and undo it in opposition. We have contended for a great abbreviation of the legislating material to below one half. A gentleman of this city thinks thirty-three per cent, of the clergy should be at some other honest calling, we think fifty per cent, of our M. P. gentlemen are very unfit to legislate. Some portions of the race are more for orna- ment than use, these for neither and very expensive as a luxury. There seems to be lack of judgment in being up to public gaze, wasting time, debating the folly of making offices and appointments which could not be constitutionally admitted and filled. The country it is admitted, has run down for many years and it may take double the time to get it in good running order again. The railroad companies, navigation compan- ies, manufacturing companies and numerous combines have been related ao nearly in affinity or consanguinity with the Government and its sup- porters tha.flittle or no hope could be entertained of anything for th« farmer but what could be ground out of him. . He asks no favors at the expense of his fellow laborers, only that his labor shall receive a fair r ward not inferior to that of the mechanic and the hard worked employe of Government, but to get less for his toil and no per centage on his in- vestment in land stock and machinery, whilst he contributed to tho wealth or the idleness of others in any other place or calling. Most of ttie improvements of the country have been done at the farmers' ex- pense. He has been the strong beast of burden for every government to pack, till now like the old horse, with ringbone and spavin and spring- halt, galled back, fretted breast and diminished grinders, he lies down under the load and the whip of his oppressor. They have made the country pay for the railroads, handed them over to parties, powerful enough to tax their produce all it can endure. Every man in every kind of business, office or calling, likes to have the lion's share if possible. The 25,ocx),ooo acres made as a grant to the C. P. R. has not been patented but as sold. Sir John and the other cunning foxes knew that little of it would be sold during the twenty years' exemption from taxation So they waited for discoveries that they might secure the best and out-hector himself. They hold lands high and wait till settlers have made them valuable. They had friends at court. Adversity is no use to many people, the HISTORY OF THE v »TTAWA VALLEY. h 3^1 mortar and the pestle are in vain, madness is in their hearts. But they will work out their own destruction The passing wonder is that people giftc' with intelligence can ever let such men be leaders or ever be induced to follow them. Someone has said that a man who could not tell pease from barley shonM not be at the head of the agriculture of the country. In the United States an expert in the milk business testified that he could not tell cow's milk from mare's. But a minister of rail- roads should know a locomotive from a wheelbarrow, and the minister of marine and fisheries should be better acquainted with the finny tribes thati to confound a mudpout with a whale. In education the north shore of the Ottawa is not in a state of effi- cncy except in very few places. The idea of a separate Protestant school is a blind only. There is no provincial school system. It is only religion that is taught in the common school, if that term can be em- ployed. A distinguished lawyer said the boys were very polite as he met them, pulled off their caps and bowed their salutation, but when he asked them in French what they were studying said in the politest way, "petit catechism." The great defect in common branches of an educa- tion so apparent, must have moved the late Premier Mereier to establish night schools, which was deeply interested in, both in city and country, but which on his dismissal disappeared like a vision in sleep, or the melt- ing snow in the spring. The counties around Ottawa were among the earliest to form agri- cultural societies and show fairs were held every fall. Township societies and fairs were organized and were almost exclusively in the interest of the farmer and mechanic, who were the producers and inventors of ma- chinery and instruments of service in farm, garden, dairy, and cheese and butter making. Of late years these have greatly degenerated and Are now much against the farmers' interest. A few stock raisers that feed a few animals beyond all bounds and cart them about from city to city and fair to fair are carrying away the prizes among them and shutting the farmers up to their township shows, as they can not afford to feed a few animals to bursting, that they might compete with professional breeders, but be useless on the farm as brood or milch animals and even too fat for butcher's purposes. Fast hoiees are valuable for special pur- poses but when they are used for racing and gambling it is a perversion from legitimate use to shameful abuse of the animal and still more de- grading to the degenerate souls that win or lose money on them. The legitimate exercise of these fleet steeds is very entertaining to onlookers and even a young Lochinvar may carry off a willing bride to rouse the enthusiasm of the party and defy their fleetest steeds to capture her, and she too may be better mated than with a soulless body or booby as you please; but the betting can be avoided and save young jjitople from the facile deseftsus avemus of gambling under the very eyes of the law and the eyes of the House of Commons. Things that belong not to the de- corative, good, or the useful should not be encouraged. It may pay the large stock raiser and the fine horse fancier but the public purse should not be dived down into too far for this kind of gratification. Our purse is light and cannot meet such demands. In i8 years we have gone in debt an average of about $16,000,000 a year. The interest costs us neariy $3 a bMd 00 every soul in the population annually. It it a time 23a HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. It I: It it '■ft ■i: H t* be liberal to gamblers at fairs or anywhere else ? But we observe there is hope of improvement. Ad rsity has its blessinjijs not to be despised. The men that wrecked themselves by recklessly borrowing these past years are now out of position and crying loudly, bitterly against the Government borrowing. The morals of some men change with the change in their circumstances, but their advice is now good. Now, whatever may be said of fat or lean cattle the object of a fair should be the encouragement of the competitors to improve stock, prod- uce, machinery. The comparison at the fair may help this and the pere- grinating exhibitors need not be shut out, nor should the manager ex- clude the farmer exhibitors. Great cities that are so largely the gainers by these exhibitions should contribute the necessary funds and not have the audacity to come to any government to ask $50,000 for an exhibition. They know well that it must come largely out of the farmers that reap only the benfit of the sight-seeing. Our people are getting like the Romans that required only bread and shows. Fireworks, music, racing, are all fine in their proper place and way, but they cost us too much like the whistle. Were we out of debt instead of being overloaded with it we might indulge in outlay. Four million nine hundred thousand of our people need to economise and benefit nothing by such like outlay- The estimates as- tonish the Opposition but after the present year whose outlay they caused when in power, they will likely be as much astonished as the other. Let the talk about economy induce the cities to drop their demands. Imported stock for improvement came into the country before a fair was held for their exhibition. Has the Experimental Farm increased the productiveness of the farms in its environs? Would these lands, become less fertile were all these fancied aids abolished ? If we could get the report of all the prizes given in the great central fairs like Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, and locate round each of these centres what they get and the proportion spent on mountebank part and on the outside exhibitors tliat travel from fair to fair with stock and machinery, it would show things in a clearer light. So much encouratjement to vice, so much thrown uselessly away, squandered on worse than folly, when we have to borrow to pay our annual interest to English lenders. There is also much destruction of human life that no value can be set upon. All is vanity and vexation of Si^irit. In a valley next neiglibor to the Ottawa Valley there is a delightful spot named Chautauqua. It is very pictiirtsque, abounding in mountain, valley, hill and dale, river and rill, with tjroves and gardens, green mead- ows and golden grain, fields wavin? with tall green corn, tents and cot- tages on the sunny slopes, and in the shady groves, the sweet summer resort of the literati and the religious, the man of business and the lady of fashion. The gentleman of leisure and of learning meets the gentle- man of unbounded wealth, and the gentleman in delicate health seeking pleasure or robust vigor in the cooling breezes or leafy green shades, in the hazel dells or the tufted firs that crown the brows of the lofty moun- tains. The societies prescril courses of reading and studies for gradu- ates, undergraduates, post grtiduates and all classes and kinds of readers. Lecturers on all kinds of subjects frequent it in summer. It is a sort of finishing school for those who wish tu establish their fame as little short HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. ^33 . ) of world-wide renown. Inter alia in 1896 it received a visit from Bishop Vincent of the Methodist Episcopnl church, concerning whom, a very reliable writer to.the press of Philadelphia, reports a lecture, deliv- ered to an audience of a thousand people in which he read with approba- tion from what he called a very refined and most Christian woman, charging; Mary with being a sinner and the child Jesus with being born m sin, and the sin put upon the church as a miracle. She repudiates the doctrine of the Trinity as not known till 51 1, A. D., denying the necessity of the atonement. The bishop said he personally believed in the divinity of Christ, but dwelt not on it nor a word on the Trinity but sternly de- nounced preaching dogma from the pulpit. All that people needed was to receive Christ, as a man to be saved, not troubling themselves about the miraculous statements in the Scriptures. The Bishop seems to know more about the fine qualities of his correspondent than of the teachings of the New Testament. These two sinners direct a united attack on the humble Virgin, a thing easily done as she was not present to defend herself. Why these brilliant spirits remain in the Christian church is a wonder, when Islamism and Confusianism are open to them and the Chinese Duke Li, could have fraternized with them if not too old, and established them against the dogmas of Christianity, of which they seem to be hopelessly innocent People of common attainments discover the dogma of the Trinity in the writings of Moses, Samuel and David, existing long before the New Testament was written or the pro- ductions of theology in systematic order by Augustine, Calvin or Hodge and a thousand others. If we believe Moshiem, Waddington and otherr 511 A. D. or the sixth century was not more remarkable than others for display of genius or great scholars to invent dogma. Was it a revolt from the extreme of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin which wafted this pair to the other extreme of charging home impurity. It is quite as dangerons to believe too little as too much. The narrative of Mary is true indicating no sin and no disposition to deceive the ages. Christians as M^ell as Jews admit the mysteries of their religion. Religion without mystery could not be true. Our existence is a mystery — the union of soul and body, the influence of the one on the other, the associa- tion of our ideas are all inexplicable mysteries. The generation of Eve from Adam without a mother was as extraordinary as the generation of Jesus from Mary without a father. Each is a creation. "A body hast thou prepared me." Jesus Christ is the head of the new creation, "the first-born of every creature", the first begotten from the dead, He is before all things and by him all things consist. Adam was first formed then Eve. He called their name Adam in the day when they were created. Ever since the wife is called by her husband's name while he lives and she as a widow after his decease. The captive girls of the Midianites were "Nepesh Adam" human souls, daughters of Adam Nunb. The portion of Adam is formed into the lovely beautiful Eve. The por- tion of Mary is formed into the human body of the Mediator God mani- fest in the flesh. Their is no sin in either. Each is created by the hand of God himself, the Spirit that garnished the heavens. The second man is the Lord from heaven, the union of the divine and human na- tures, in the Mediator, in contrast with the first man of the earth earthy. Without this union Jesus could not be a Saviour. He is fairer than the M •3i HISIUKV OF THE OTTAWA 'VALLKY sons of men. Grace is ponied into his lips and to him the Spirit is g;tvm without measure. Stephen spake of Moses as exceedinefair. The face ■■&- sweet, never jfT-ords. He put them away igns in Heaven, may be men that encircles him and capable of pouring of Jesus Christ did shine as the sun. His mouth is man spake like this man. He is King of Kings and must reign till death is destroyed. He died for p- by his sacrifice, obtained eternal re(lem|)tion for makes intercession for us there to the Father, cannot see the grandeur of Christ nor the glory tii*t his work, and yet talk of refinement, in a woman torrents of abuse on the most blessed among women, and the most sub- lime and soul satisfying doctrines of Revelation. Such refinement 1 Such Christians! Can they be descended from Adam and Eve or are they not from an inferior source, a less worthy origin ? We may defy any one to tell the story of Mary and the mysterious birth as that is told if there were a sin to hide. Fancies never change facts- God saw in the future the race as fallen and it pleased Him to provide a remedy/ W«iS it not meet that one in the nature that had sinned and fallen should raise it again ? "Made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Elizabeth says "the mother of my Lord." Is it likely that a refined woman, that would even dare to speak lightly ofthemother would value the advocacy he intercession of her Son ? Her prayer would be vain even if her ribald language did not bring her under execration. Human- ity, education, refinement, high Christian principle, the modesty that m highly adorns the female; all protest to high Heaven against such un- clean thoughts from the heart, clothed in such language from tke lips and the pen of a woman whose sex Jesus Christ has so exalted and ' adorned in the hidden man of the heart with godliness showing itself in good works. In that beautiful form, unequalled in the wide range of creation, the woman, should there not be cultivated, that which excels all the glorious beauty of outward form, the variegated shades of the rainbow, the gorgeous radiance of the setting sun, the roses of Sharon or Cashmere, the complex excellency of vision shining out from the con- trasts of the most complimentary colors in the richest flowers, wild or cultivated, over the face of this blessed world, "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which in the sight of God is of great price." This too will endear her to her race and kind, make the plainest face to bloom in the eyes ofuie husband and he will kiss the cheek, be it white, rosy, pale, olive, brown or black, with an admiration unfathomable. This beauty of the soul will bring the brightest beams from the dullest eye, and the moulding, heaven-tending influence of such a woman will brighten her own s>veet home and greatly contribute to the elevation of society where that influence can be exerted. Set the most rigid bounds to your feelings which words cannot expreps, and they will burst their barriers as the image comes up in your thoughts of a woman once exceedingly beautiful, wise and prudent, always sweet, gentle and kind, whose piety never blanched, and whose fortitude never failed, but whose removal from your hearth and home, impoverished you more than if millions had been stolen from your treasury. Lo»d I-ittleton said of his treasure : 'Polite as all her life in courts had been and good as she the world had never seen.' m «««^OIY OF Tm OTTAWA VALLIY. •35 Our readers jvill excuse us if we do not polute our thoughts or our pen and paj^es, with a description of the contrast. We pity and- pray for the repentance of a woman who can unscx herself and pervert facts. She is a dangerous leader of women. A bishop capable of endorsing luch imbecility, such extravagance, is in danger of being reckoned a demagogue. His elevation has turned him giddy. He nad been safer in the simplicity of the primitive church than lording it in this mauier. These two people are offenders agaiast the good taste of refined society and should be denied admission to it anywhere. Had the bishop and his much admired correspondent been trained in a knowledge of that little catechism gotten up by some sensible Englishman at old Westminster, the one would have had her mind too clear and sound to have written fuch a bungle of a letter, and tbe bishop, even a tulclian, would have understanding in revealed truth too profound, to occupy a position for- bidden in Scripture or put forth such false doctirne as salvation by a man only. His thoughts of inspired truth, and of its eternally binding author- ity, would have produced a fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom in which he seems deficient. That woman (should be a lady) ought to reconsider her rash judgment about the Creator. Is anything too hard for him. Sarah bears in her 91st year. A Virgin brings forth Immanuel. The bishop should reconsider his divinity and repent in dust and ashes and reform his teaching lest his wall of hay and stumble be burnt to ashes. • Almost in harmony with the foregoing, a little later in this year, 1896, another clergyman from the Isles of the ocean visited the east end of our valley, sounding a note of warning in favor of evolution as in ac- cordance with all science. Is science the knowledge of facts as found by experience ? It must be in its infancy requiring greater develop- ment ere it can be reconciled with ascertained facts. This Wesleyan orator is not very sure whether man grew by evolution into his present form, and then stood still or rather took to degeneracy, for giants seldom appear in our race in modern centuries. This law, if it be a law of evo- lution, has been inoperative for six thousand years in our own experience as a race and people as wc all resemble one another; no branch striking out to leave the others, by taking on and budding wings or horns, or de- veloping more in hands or feet, or taking on more beautiful hies of colour, or adding another to the five senses already developed. E\ olu- tion has in our own species stood still, for say, six thousand years. The same is true of the monkey tribes that are nearest to us in resemblance of the brute creation. Among these there is only improvement, not evo- lution. This Professor thinks Adam and Eve were created but is not sure. Care in matching and assortment, climate and food, make great im- provement in creatures. We have no evidence in our history of one animal becoming another by evolution. Some old species may drop out but we know of no new ones appearing. There may be degeneracy. These (nepioi) children of sciencedonot mean any insult by their nunscry stories, but having wealth and leisure can entertain the lovers of novelty who are not prepared to combat them and care nothing whcihet they are true or fals.!. Sir William Dawson, the monarch of the whole empire of modem research and the prince of scientists in all his carefully written 4 23^ HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLIY. )' I U^ works never looks on evolution in any other light than that of tjnproTe- meiit or dcvclopnient, of which every plant and animal are capable. Shallow thinkers are so pleased with phantoms of discoveries as to be up and rc.idy to proclaim them on the house-tops. So much passes for science which is only on the hypothetical side of it that not a few are intoxicated with these fantastic forms that like atmospheric vapors are ever chaiifjing their forms as the wind blows them swiftly away into the domain of dreams and cloudland. These authors and lecturers are not without interest as they treat of subjects much better than novels and are often eloquent, suggestive, entertaining; assisting in their place the observer and the experimenter. An old Covenanter lady in Pennsylvania objected to having the Psalms of David exchanged for light hym'ns as they would run through the heads of the children like Robin Hood's ballads. What we demur to in these theories is their unfounded condition. If the account of crea- tion given by Moses is incorrect why do they not give a correct one ? They swing their battering rams against the walls of his fine old fort or citadel but they have not moved a stone and the defenders feel so safe that they hang out no bed of feathers or a sack of chaff to deaden the blow of the rani's head. An old Hebrew, thongh not a very spiritual man, would say to these men, "IVe know that God spake by Afoses" but we know not whence ye are. An old Scotchman praying before bed- time (was heard by two young preachers passing his door in the mooo- light who had themselves officiated in the church of which the old man was an elder) for the spiritual wants of the flock confessed that "they had been fed with an empty spoon that day." This P'nglish evolutionist Wesleyan Professor and the America* Episcopal I^lethodist Bishop require a careful overhauling, such as the Presbyterians gave Drs. Smith and Briggs, or the infidel dogmas they teach will lie at the doors of their denominations. There will not be a jeer uttered by a sincere Christian at the loudest stroke of the ecclesiasti- cal rod on the backs of such wise scientists. One objects to the dogma of creation, the other on redemption, for if Jesus had been a sinnef he could not have been a Redeemer. The man or the woman who would read the first chapter of tlic Gospel by Matthew, and the first and second chapters of the Gospel by Luke, weigh the announcements of the angels and the expressions of Elizabeth and Mary, the just character given to Joseph and then entertain doubts and remain sceptical, are among the most hopelrss and incurable cases in our unfortunate fallen and degraded race. Pec v 'Ic i all< of Iiones tdonbts. That looks like a blind lei^der, a sleeping sentinel, an honest thief, a white negro. It is impossible for the true God to lie, is it honest to doubt His word ? Christianity triumphant in the face of all opposition for nineteen hundred years and stronger to-day than ever is a standing miracle, a testimony to the truth, a fulfillment of the prophecies going before for long ages by inspiration, and prophetic from the Most High God, the Maker and possessor of Heaven and earth. The man who doubts that these starry Heavens around us were created, the man who doubts the divinity of the Son, of God and the humanity ot the Son c. Mary, and presumes to teach men, must rank far below the very least in the Kingdom of Heaven. Physic is better for such tha* metaphysics. fT ISICWLV or T«E OTTAWA VALLEY, 237 The w««nan who c&« wvtic sock omtrtiths oT the humble, inteilectud MbKmc Mary, so full of E^c and truth, who asked of the angel how she could be a mother, wiiiist a pure girl in her virifinity, and was told that it must be a creation by that Spirit that 'Varnished the Heavens," and said, "behold t^e handmaiden of Jehovah. Be it unto me accordini^ to tliy word," whoi.? whole conduct is so blameless throughout her his- tory that could utter from tongue or pen such low vulgar falsehoods, were she a duchess or a princess, is too low to fall. Chautauqua as a fa- mous tummer resort cannot continue to collect such spirits and maintain its character for even worldly respectability, spirits that administer the bi^eful poison of such low degrading, debasing polluting filthiness. O, Chautauqua. Chautauqua, strike thy tents, burn thy cottages, leave thy pretty plains and sunny slopes to the ranch or the ploughman and the vine dresser, rather than be the hot-bed of lying heresies, that would root grow and ripen, in the minds of thy visitors to their destruction, and would shut them with the dogs and without the walls of the great Jeru- salem. Without the city, yea the maker of a lie, the lover of a lie, will be cast into the abyss, the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death, whatever worlds of meaning may be contained in that most ter- rible of terribles the second death. Audacious woman who had the hardihood to write such loud and bitter falsehoods against an innocent woman, one of thine own sex, to condemn the just, and make thee an abomination to the Lord; should thy civilized sisters of every Ian.' ponr on thee the sulphuric acid of their virtuous indignation? Nay, they will pray for thee if perhaps the thoughts of thy heart may be forgiven thee. Thy utterances are from the gall of bitterness within thee, poor deluded sister. O, ecclesiastical dignitary, lord over God's heritage, elevated above thy brethren to be a model fdr them to copy, is this thy commis- sion, to read, approve and endorse a sickly letter from a distracted fe- naale, the product of a dyspeptic stomach, or an hysterical brain, instead of the divine incorrupLible Word. A prophet may tell his dreams, may hide himself in an inner chamber but the teacher of lies shall be stopped. Drop thy reveries, cast thy mitre in the dust, gird thee with sackcloth, sit in ashes, till thy spirit attain the humility, sobriety and commoa sense, essential to the preaching of the Holy Word. Dr. Harper of Chicago lectures at Chautauqua after Bishop Vincent He affirms that God could not make a man of Semitic blood that would «»ralk uprightly, so of natural consequence these sons of Shem could not give us the truth. Is the Shcinite any worse than himself surrounded as he is with light, refinement of society, civilization, laws and customs ? Jeremiah, Daniel, Queen Esther, and the Messiah the Prince, were of that race. Did any of these warn us against errors in the Scriptures ? Did Jesus Chris- confirm the truth of such Scriptures as fellows like these doubt about. These doubters will draw disciples after them but they will not be followers of the Lamb. Joe Smith and Herbert Spencer tried their hands at making a new Bible but failed. Harper might try the task. Why set himself up to teach a Bible that he doubts the truth of ? The professors and trustees of colleges repudiate with indignation the sale of degrees but who ever obtained a degree without the being forth coming before or after. If they would not be so lavish of their parch- ments in certifying to qualities not possessed and attainments never . 4 ■ mSTOKY OF TH« OTTAWA VALL«Y 1 ^¥: Ml -4= > ill M the cotn—unity wouki not be so pestered with doctors i^noraat of the first eletnenti of eridence. Christ knew that the ancient Scrip- tures would be acttmcked bv these raveninp; wolves in Hhceps' clothin(>[ and fortified in advance what might seem the most obscure and weak in the eyes of men. Instance the case of Jonah which wc have heard mockers and scoffers term "the big fish story." The unbounded impu- dence in which he says, God has done his best with these men, but that they could not give us the Scriptures free from scientific errors, is only equalled by his deplorable ignorance of the Scriptures and the power of God. Can God not bring truth out of the mouth of the Father of Lies ? "All that a man hath will he give for his life." Is he ignorant of the fact that "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit," that Scripture is not f^iven in ' Se words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth, {the ta grammata) the things written. The dark, unutterably profound, ignorance of the Biole these people show is deplorable. How they dare and defy the Omnipotent to arms ! How they would curtail and limit His power ! God is long-sufTcring, but they may some day feel this power, they now mock and despise- It is a misfortune that people so ignorant and self-conceited should visit these beautiful valleys, poisoning the minds of audiences with these pernicious soul-destroying blasphemous heresies. The certificate of a college or university to tneir learning, of which perhaps they know nothing, gives a sanction in the eyes of the vulgar, to the rubbish with ivhich they build, the smoke of which may yet suffocate them. Wandering stars to whom may be reserved the blackness of darkness, may with their dark light- nings delude and ensnare the unconverted and the ungodly. Or repent- ance unto life may be given them — who can tell ? Grace is a mighty monarch and reigns through righteousness to eternal life by Jesus Cnrist our Lord. A visitor, a distinguished clergymen from the Isles of the ocean, (Emerald Isle) in this year of grace, made a detour through our pleasant valley, bringing with him to us the salutations of his church delivering us some discourses on the most precious subjects, elegant in diction and eloquent in delivery. He belongs to the highest class of intellect and though modest and unassuming, one of the most finished and polished orators we have heard in the Ottawa Valley, The sermons were far above any ever delivered in this city by anyone. In discussing truths the most sublime with the earnestness, fervor and eloquence becoming them, his language was so fitly chosen, so beautifully arranged and so thoroughly Anglo-Saxon as to make him clearly, easily understood by everyone, even moderately acquainted with our English tongue. His reading of the Scriptures convened a larger, clearer, grander meaning than that of an ordinary reader. Even the church intimations were read with a new force and excellence grandly superior to the common meth- ods- His text was from the song of Solomon, "set me as a seal on thy heart, as a seal on thine arm, for love is strong as death, burning coals of God." A sublime exposition of the passage followed. He was not afraid nor ashamed to proclaim his pure orthodoxy, which was more practical than the so-called practical preaching of these parts, and thati vast crowd receiv-.l it. with breathless attention, showing at once thej power that the doctrines of grace can have when preached with unctiMij art RISrORT OF THB OTTAWA VALL9Y »39 |af the fice« of the wmithi^ thousands there testified. In his loftiest fli||;hts tile impassioned orator never threw his words in clusters, as wc have often heard, causing an unintelligible blank, greatly obscuring their meaning. On the contrary the articulation was so distinct, so clear that yoo fancied every letter shone forth in every well weighed word that was used throughout the whole, whilst the tone and accent filled the ear, kindled the fires of the soul in a rapture of enthusiastic delight. His sub- lime thoughts of God which he uttered with a faith so profound and a pathos so intense ;tnd a tender affection in such sympathy with his nearersas to make us feel, if we did not utter aloud with jacob, "This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of Ifcaven. This kind of preaching disarms the higher critic, makes ashamed the cold formalist, warming up the heart to inwardly avow undying love and eternal obedience. It was the best we ever neard in any place we have travelled on this continent. There was no hunt ciier metaphors, no far-fetched illustrations, no smatterings of science, but the man, the speech, the actions, all living, all natural, all becoming the pulpit and the messenger of the King of Kings, the author of life eternal. We were pleased, edified, electrified, with our eyes on the preacher and our hearts m our eyes. If Irish Presbyterians raise such boys and their college! give such theology and polish, that nation will soon be in the Presby- terian church. Knox church was full and all were captivated The fireacher put his soul into the theme and they gave it a hearty reception t was the water of lile from the throne and they drank it. It came in power and the Holy Spirit. They wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb. God demands obedience, commands us to believe in the name of His Son. To receive him for salvation is obedience, is receiving the atonement, sealing the truth. The atoning blood covers our failures every one. His divine nature sustained His human, and he ransomed, redeemed, purchased us, and Heaven for us. The Spirit by the Holy Word creates faith in us. Christ's obedience is His i .J our righteous- ness. All are ours and we are Christ's, He in us by faith. The Father is reconciled to us by the atonement and we to Him by receiving it. The lords of Philistia said David would reconcile himself to Saul with their heads. They had more soul and sounder divinity thar\ the lecturers of Chautauqua. Salvation is by ransom. To redeem He came under the law. Salvation was proclaimed first in the promise of the Father, then wrought out by the Son, and is now applied in the Gospel ky the Spirit, includ- ing the Crown, Kingdom, Inheritance, Glory, God Himself; thy God thy glory. Knowledge of God in us is Heaven begun, eternal life. "One greater man restores us and regains the blessful seats." Rev. McCaughan's visit refreshed many. It was the bundle of myrrh, his godly doctrines gave power to the feeble, inspired more courage in the strong, dismissed doubts, made the dumb tongue sing. It was infusing the truths of heavenly life, expelling the poisonous errors of death, the sweet aroma of the lea\ es and blossoms and fruit of the Tree of Life from the atmos- phere of the New Jerusalem, incomparably superior to the "Sabean odours wafted from the spicy shores of Araby the blest." We can only give a passing glance to this most distinguished of our visitors in these brief annals, whilst he deserves the fullest acknowledgement as an elo- (|ueat orator and clear-headed sound divine. 240 HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA VALLBY Mr. Renaldo McConnell was the only one we knew of hereabouts* tfiat tried to domcsti .te the fur-bearing animals, minks, beavers and> otters, but his bound i ivere too limited and his woo Jen walls too in- secure to confine these coy, cute creatures. They stayed some time but diminished and (lisa[)pcared. Deer parks are not uncommon i any country but they have not received the attention that insures su^ :ess. A domain mi^ht be fenced with a cedar hedge that in twenty-five or thirty years would be secure, provided the gaps were prevented or kept filled. Or a row or dou!)le row of trees, indiginous to tl\e scl, could be planted at a very moderate cost, cutting down on the sides those likely to fall on it by storms. All in the line, which need not be a straight line, could be marked and left and the spaces between filled 'ip with suitable young trees. The young trees might be planted on tfie surface spreading the roots and covering wifh surface earth. This we have found to be the best plan. Booms could be stretched a ross streams and rock difficulties overcome, amphibious animals could dive- under or crawl over booms but would return again and only a few that you cared to retain would climb the hedge and get away. Ontario could enclose such a preserve on her r.orth territory. The Americans have legally prohibited deer-killing till it is said they have immense herds of Moose and others along the norwestern states but they have permitted the anni- liilation almost totally of the Buffalo. The poled Angus or black Galo- way furnishes a hyde not a bad substitute for the Buffalo robe. The question of profit has to be considered but excepting rapacious and dan- gerous predatory creatures regard should be had to the preservation of the fauna of our country with such a nurthern belt suitable for that purpose. In this first volume we have stated the facts not intentionally to the injury or the advantage of anyone. Write us if any correction is ne- cessary, and for information in Volume 2nd, which will begin with the early days of Bytown, for which much is collected and written. Having lived in the valley from childhood and been familiar with it from Mont- real to Mattawa and from the Gulf St. Lawrence to the Huron, we ask information from correspondents on the upper and lower Ottawa that \« may furnish a record of facts and events that should not be lost from the generations to conic. , ?w DIFFICUI^TIES OF RKUIOION. THE first great difficulty in religion is that humanity has broken the restraints of law and separated itself from God. The vessel has parted its cable, left its anchor and is driver ^y adverse winds of passion upon trackless seas, with dim hopes of regaining its former anchorage, or re-uniting the broken strains of the cable that bound it to the peaceful shore. Yet in the deepest degradation and widest wanderings, man cannot wholly forget his origin. Unhappy creature, he can neither forgive his offences nor renovate his debased nature. Alienation from God is atheism, and yet atheism is abhorrent to his mind. He has strug- gled through the ages to give hin'self a religion and failed utterly to even satisfy himself. Beginning with Cain, who struck out from the family religion, down to Herbert Sjiencer, how many vain attempts have been made and systems pro- posed, to meet this confessed want? The religions that cover the earth are an insult and an abhorrence to the unknown God, whom men ignorantly worship. Despoiled man sought to clothe himself with leaves at the beginning ; in subsequent ages he has wrapped himself in any rags that come in his "'%y ; to slake his burning thirst he plunges into the most polluted waters ; endeavoring to find his way home, buries himself in frightful deserts, a " waste howling wild- erness." If truth has not had a lodgment in his mind in his early training, the greater e/olutiou in his talents, the more he mingles with the world, in the more sovereign contempt he holds religion. He professes to know almost nothing of his soul, less still of a future state, and least of all the Author ofh«s being. Two thousand years ago, the Greeks had an altar to the unknown God, evidently thinking He ought to be worshipped. Agnostics scarcely believe that now. Paul showed the Greeks that this ignorance was inexcusable in the face of the visible creation. Had specimens of those Greeks been frozen and laid away above the snow .me in the mountains to be waked from that catalepsy in the genial light of the 19th century, would they present a more antique appearance than some modem thinkers? What has the religions of China, Hindostan and the neighboring countries done for their votaries? The star worship of the Assyrians, the sun worship of the Persians, the polythism, as it may be termed, of ancient Greeks and Romans ; the idolatries of Scythians and savage Scandinavians accomplished no more for these nations than kissing the dust from the feet of hideously stupid idols does for the degraded, swarthy African. Home spun theories of religion never satisfy men, though they would delight to be their own Saviour. Elevated natures — Moral Esthetes, tax their imaginations largely and fancy they find God in his works. The lofty mountains infinitely variegated, that cast the long shadows over the plains in the morning and evening seem to strike them with wonder. The beauty of the green woods, the flowery meadows, the waving corn and the golden grain kindle a kind of enthusi- astic devotion ; the ocean lashed into tempest, rolling its foaming billows as if to overwhelm the earth with its funnel shaped waterspouts, etc., raised to the clouds by the furious monsoons from the burning desert, present a kind of savage grandeur to the eye and the mind. The (surpassing magnificence of the starry heavens, (a revelation of the infinite) contemplated in the calm clear evening with ill 343 DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. tI ■J il allthe interest modem discovery throws us, presenting countless archipilagos of systems like our solar system, must fill the mind with profound reverence and carry it away in ecstasy. Finding everything so full of God they suppose they have found religion. Often there is a terrible recoil. Everything is full of God but themselves. They discover that all the impressions made by the beauty and grandeur of nature are not religion. Leaving the fantasia of imagination that never regenerates the soul, we might turn to the thinkers, the philosophers, who profess to explain everything but often end in doubting everything, and see what they bring forth. Spinoza, Hume, Strauss, Hegel, Renan, Spencer, in the dif- ferent countries of Europe, have sought to give a religion or a philosophy equiva- lent to a religion. Have they succeeded ? The drift of their teaching is to de- stroy a belief in the external world. They say we do not see objects only the light that shows them or their images, or that makes the sensation or impression in the organs and the idea in the mind being unlike, so far as we know the object of vision ; these objects may have no existences and everything may be reduced to mind. As to creation Herbert Spencer has only the atomic theory of Epi- curus to propose. Atoms falling in straight lines with the semi-velocity could never strike each other to form globes. If they fall in oblique line, what gave the turn ? Was the law of gravitation then in existence, are questions they are in duty bound to answer. They may have done great thinking and contributed something to the stock of knowledge ; but so far as giving a religion to man is concerned they fail utterly and are merely destructives. The human mind in healthy exercise exhibits its qualities, endowments, termed its powers or faculties. Is it composed of these ? Is it not one and in- divisible, acting in so many directions or channels, imagining, judging, willing? Circumscribed limited, it may be very active pressing on to the highest culture. No field of observation should be so attractive to it as that of religion. This is our salvation. If we have a vestige of doubt to eradicate it, we should examine the Book claiming to be the only rule of faith and duty, the sovereign guide of our life and destiny ; hear its statements. Consider the times, places, circum- stances of its coming to us — interrogate history, philosophy, science, be unspar- ing in our researches but honest in our convictions on a point so vital. In true religion, God communicates his will or law to man for ais obedience. Obedience supposes command. The rejection of this is atheism, depriving us of all belief. This implies that God is sovereign and yet free — that His spirit can make him- self understood by ours — that we are free agents and yet dependent — that he admits our prayers to influence His will and hold a place iu His divine govern- ment. Can we comprehend these things. Yet these are the postulates of religion. Reject them and you have no religion. In the domain of miracles and mysteries the mind is at sea. They are indescribable as life it- elf is. Our existence is a mystery ; the comprehension of thoughts flowing from mind to mind ; how impressions are made upon us by external objects — how we think, will love, hate,are all mysteries. We ask no explanations of these things, take them as self-evident truths necessary to our being. Is there any royal road to religion ? I will believe the Bible to be the word of God, and the only rule of faith till they prove it false. Will they do so ? Dr. Briggs has not proven a verse or sentence in the Penteteuch to be not written by Moses. Could he uproot the references to Moses in both Testaments, the remains would be too fragmentary for even such a redactor as himself to construct an intelligent revelation. Is it not surprising that any scholar having read the Scriptures should father such an objection r In his higher criticism he holds that they offered no sacrifices in the desert. This fallacious statement few would trouble themselves to contradict. To attack K*^' DIFFICULTIES OK RELIGION. 843 ce to r rt. ck part of Revelation is to attack the whole, and to shield him is to place the church court in antagonism to the whole of Christianity. Let us resume — a true religion must be mysterious. Its very sublimity makes it the more so. The tallest pines and the loftiest towers project the lengthiest shadows. In order to commend itself to mankind must Christianity tamely and complacently divest itself of miracle and mystery? Why, its strength lies in its influxibility. Myster- ies and miracles do not themselves convert, but they accompany and seal the truths that do. The cup may convey to the parched lips of the fever stricken patient the remedy prescribed by the kind physician, but the cup cures him not. The rift in the strata of rock may keep the little rill coming from the spring deep in the mountain side so that the traveller can refresh himself — without this opening it had run hidden under the rocks and lost itself under the sands. The purest of the sons of men could not redeem from eternal death, make atonement for son or forgive the transgressions of others ; but if the Son of God will unite his divine nature with the human nature then, the divine man, the God man can do these things not as man but as God man mediator. The altar sanctifies the gifts. The God sustains the man. It is most important to know that the word of God is the means of our regeneration, that we are born of the Spirit, born of God, pass from death to lif? ; does it so concc..'» us to know how this seed oper- ates on the heart, how the spirit performs his creative work ; the grand design of a revelation is the conversion, sanctification and salvation of men ; the truths revealed accomplish this. Of what use would the things concealed from us be except to gratify a vain curiosity which heaven will never indulge. Revealed truths have a bearing on our salvation ; we have no reason to suppose that what is kept secret from us has the least relation to our salvation. To let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, to sustain our spiritual life by every word that proceedeth out of ofthe mouth of God, is a life's work. Were this life triple the length it now is, what time have we for anything else ? Moses hushed this tendency in his day. " Secret things belong to the Lord, but these that are revealed belong to us and to our chil- dren forever." In the early ages there were men to whom revelations from God were most welcome, and whose desires centred on a coming Messiah, but whose bodily eyes did not, like Simeon's, see that salvation. Since the advent of Christ there have been multitudes to whom a crucified Saviour was most precious and regeneration most necessary. If mysteries and miracles are difficulties we be- lieve the first disciples understood them no better than we do ; could grapple no better with them than we can. But they were saved. Converts were made among the ignorant, the learned, the sages ; and on tribunals, and on thrones, as well as among soldiers and slaves. History does not record that one gtr.er- ation understood these things better than another. Did this obscurity render them unhappy, when every truth essential to their salvation was radiant with light and glory? Let us receive into our hearts the same sublime, pure, yet simple truths, and they will save us. We have seen that religion and mystery are inseparable — that the truths, the mysteries envelope are easily understood whilst it would be unjust and unreason- able to demand an account of the mysteries which do not bear on our salvation even remotely and the knowledge of which if even possible would serve us no visible purpose. Human religions have had their origin in and many of them have been associated with deeds revolting and loathsome. On such grounds the enetnies of Christianity have charged it with avoiding investigation and research and assert that to remove the veil would be to discover its weakness. This charge is false. Men can readily discover whether it springs from the spirit of truth or from the spirit of error. How could men receive a religion as divine 244 DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. that concealed the evidences or its divinity. The sacred scriptures purport to be spoken and written by men moved by a divine impulse at par- ticular ages of our history and are to be judged by the same laws of evidence as other writings. If ihey endure the test receive them, if not turn to the wisdom of the sages and get from tiiem what revelation has not been able to supply. The scholarly attainments of the first writer, Moses, cannot be called in question — he was no dupe nor could he so easily deceive the Egyptians were he so dis- l)Osed. No doubt existed in any mind that God was with him in the presence of the signs and wonders he did, Jesus Christ did nothing, taught nothing in secret, but openly. This thing was not done iu a corner. jBacon's idols of the grove and the cave had no place in such minds. Religion was thus established by argument, persuasion and the power of the invisible spirit of the Lord. Christianity is therefore the religion of conviction, not of the sword and power and authority It is spoken as to wise men, and they are to judge of its excel- lency. Nothing so persuasive as an atonement — the crucifixion becomes the divine power in the soul. The Holy Writings so clearly show man's sinful con- dition, so fully describe the remedies and their effectual application as to produce on the mind the most indellible impression of their divinity. Morality violated and down trodden was elevated and established on its true foundation. The " do and live " of all human religions, the impossibiliiy with man was met by the " live and do " of truth. Christianity first gives life, the basis of all moral and spiritual action. Love, the source of this life, never sets bounds to its conquests or the possibility of its labors having an end. That would be unhappiness. Love holds an eternal reign in every soul that has passed from death to life. It is neither vanquished nor wearied with conquering.. This religion heralded from heaven in the light of day established by notable miracles and surrounded by monu- ments to this day is the lands of its birth and its adoption founds its character- istic on argument. When you demonstrate a point to a pfoper degree it should be received without dispute. But suppose it contained a contradiction. Sup- pose a proposition evidently false should never-the-less be true — then evidence would not be a characteristic of truth and no :ligion could be proved true — for what evidently seemed false was true and viee versa. A line the diameter of a circle is shorter than a line the circumference of the same circle reverse this and you have no evidence to prove anything in mathematics. We cannot see that even miracles could render a religion credible that contained absurdities. If there is anything capable of taxing the powers of the most logical reasoner it is that of the Trinity, one God in three persons. With great humility should such a subject be contempleted. Christians generally agree on the doctrine of the Trinity. The unity of God as well as His eternal power is manifest in creation. Revelation unfolds his personality as well as his unity. The Son becomes incarnate, whilst the Father who is with him does not. The Father upholds the honor of justice whilst the son who is with him becomes obedient unto death on the cross. The Holy Spirit does r.ot become incarnate, but proceeds from the Father and the Son, whilst the Father and the Son do not proceed. These truths are far above reason, but di not oppose or revolt it. We do not say there are three essences and but one essence in the same sense in the divine nature, nor three persons and yet but one person in the same sense. Can we say that we have a clear conception of either the essence or the personality. When we say the eternal Son of God becomes man and so was and continues to be God and man in two distinct natures and one person we neither define nor pretend to comprehend that union more than that of soul and body. We do not attempt to define the DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. *45 nature of the work of the Holy Si)irit on human souls any more than we would try to define Himself the illimitable. The most exalted reason cannot reach these sublime doctrines, but it is not offended with them and does not revolt against them. There is no absurity or contradiction in these revelations, nor the state- ments we make of these doctrtnes. A contradiction to us is the opposition of two two known ideas or that a thing is what it is not. I have the evidence of sight and touch that this paper on which I write and this pencil with which I write are not the same thing or that the one is not the other. To reverse this would be to me a contradiction. The finite cannot grasp the infinite. A human mind is so limited in its conception of the essence and the personality of the self-existing being that a contradiction in these revelations is to it impossible. There- fore, it is very unsafe, very hazardous, to say there is a contradiction in points on which his knowledge at best is but confused. When we consult what God has revealed of himself to us we find there is in Him what is so far above us as to be a foundation for the belief that in the Divine nature there is a Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In one aspect three, in another one, and yet how three and but one surpasses the limits of our intelligence — the mystery we know nothing about, believe nothing about as respecting which we are not conscious of having any responsibility. You may ask why believe these doctrines ? They are revealed to us. Each acts a great part, takes a deep interest in our salvation. The Holy Father in infinite wisdom and love planned our eternal felicity. The Son with natural and supernatural afiection bare our sins. 'J'he Holy Spirit with ineffable tenderness communicates spiritual life and nourishes it in us to fit us for eternal felicity. All this creates in us gratitude, admiration and love ; turns us from transgression and enables us to work out our salvation. Who does not need to believe these doctrines ? Are they not essential to our happiness ? Must our souls, made in the image of God, perish for lack of know- ledge ? The very doctrine of the divine purposes in which rash and restless spirits have been plunging for more than eighteen centuries must be proclaimed, that men may make their " calling and election sure." The profound darkness of these mysteries gives us no trouble, whilst the truths they envelope bear strictly on our salvation, are deluged with a prodigality of light almost dazzling the soul in the effulgence of their glory and beauty. " Light is sweet and it is a pleas- ant thing for the eye? to behold the sun," and the green fields of earth and ihe blue expanse of Heaven are not unhealthful in their endless variety. Christianity has no contradiction, whilst it furnishes arguments in limitless variety accom- panied by the clearest evidence for our increase of knowledge in its sublime doctrines, and guards against our overstepping the limits of our mind in our in- vestigation and researches. Argument supported by evidence establishes truth, but to disregard evidence as characteristic of truth would be to extinguish our knowledge and so no truth could be established. On this point if evidence car- ried no conviction we could be under no obligation to receive the teachings of any religioh because we are not obliged to receive an absurdity. Constituted as we are we cannot believe an absurdity unless under strong delusion for it revolts our reason and contradicts the evidences of our senses. Some think religion should be an endless day, a blaze of sunshine without cloud or shadow, darkness or eclipse — that the goodness of God engages him to give us a religion free from difhculties or stumbling blocks, radiant with truth and easy of compre- hension. May not most of the hindrances be of our own formation. We do not leap into the world with our faculties full blown. The mountain summit is reached by climbing. Inactivity is not enjoyment. Faith the greatest source of our knowledge is far above gold or rubies or diamonds. Bless your God ,1" ¥: 4 1 346 DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. then who has given you the easy light in which to secure the precious gems of truth ; and the clouds and shadows even the night of mysteries when reason itself enjoys repose and the opiate of sleep wraps it in the softest coverings whence it awakes like a giant refreshed from the grandest pursuits and the high- est enjoyments. It is useless to waste time reviewing the religion of China, Hondoston Africa and the Isles of the seas. They are not even moral Confucius, the hoary sages of India, Zoroaster and many others have not left indelible impressions of even a negative morality on the races and nations that claimed them as leaders. Islamism the nearest of human religions to Christianity, has borrowed all its moral principles from the Christian scriptures. Mahomet it is said could neither read or write. But he professed to have conversed with the Angel Gabriel for many years. Sergius, the monk, a runaway from the Christians, may have done more for him than the angel, in writing the fugitive scraps , that his successors collected, with additions and amendations that compose the Koran. Yet this religion of the false prophet is not fitted for the nations, carrying with it poly- gamy and despotism, antagonistic to freedom, progress and civilizaiion. Its good points are belief in one God, Creator and Governor and its hostility to idolatry. The Jewish religion, whilst admitting proselytes, made no pretensions to universality. It preserved among a people the knowledge and worship of the one living and true God till the coming of Messiah the Prince, the promise of the prophets and the desire of all nations. Human religions are unprofitable and vain. They impose on the neck a yoke too severe, grievous and unendur- able. Happiness as the reward of labor is the point where they all terminate. The more one in conscience undertakes to obey the law the more he discovers he has to do. He must repent, he must pardon himself — he must regenerate himself — efface sin from his nature, compel himself to love God, or there is for him no hope in any of these human religions. Can he do these ; can the con- demned criminal grant his own pardon and walk out to liberty ? Without this there is no religion. The anguish of soul must be great when he turns in vain to all created beings for aid. The entire universe cannot fill the desires of his heart. The uncreated God now comes to his aid with a religion suited to fill all his empty desires, all his famished soul requires — Redemption from bond- age, atonement for offences, justification from guilt, regeneration of nature, and transformation into the image of the heavenly ; finally resurrection and eternal life. This blessed religion was at first committed to a few simple fishermen, who quilted their nets and boats, to learn it, and then announced it to the nations of the earth. They made no pretensions to influence, power or wealth, to literature, philosophy or eloquence. They told the story of love. Their Master's life,teachings and death, they simply exhibited to the multitude and they recognized in Him what for three thousand years the famished souls of men had craved in vain ; ** His disciples multiplied in Jerusalem daily and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." Synagogues, schools and privata houses were thronged with devout, enquiring worshippers : idol temples were deserted, schools of philosophy emptied, the wisdom of sages thrown into the shade, fires died out on the altars, and three centuries later when Julien the Emperor sum- moned the pagans of the world to meet Him and revive the old religion. He was met at the shrine by a solitary priest carrying a single goose under his arm for an offering. Did these uneducated fishermen construct this system from their own wisdom, or did they receive it from Heaven ? This religion reconciles reason and faith, love and fear, grace and justice, liberty and obedience, ex- hibits truth entire, claims a universality of application and is adapted to eveiy DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. 347 ;e, cx- eveiy creature. The difficulties are — how are we to be put in possession of it? If God will give a religion to man, it must be communicated ; it must be revealed. We may suppose that God was free either to give or not to give man a religion ; unless we suppose that in creating man in His own image Ke bound Himself to give him the means of being; happy. A revelation from Hirn would commend itself to us and to act consistent and like Himself. He would furnish the means of knowing and deciding that it was His own word. There is a company of people in the world called Christians. They have been here more than 1800 years. Their existence need not be proved, but may be freely taken for granted. They have writings called scriptures which they have preserved with the most sacred and scrupulous care. Another class or race of men exist in the world called Jews or Hebrews, whose history is interwoven with the history of the nations for about 4,000 years. This fact we need not wait to prove. These people have Scriptures that they have preserved pure and entire with the most religious care and exactness which is easily proved. The Jewish Scriptures are termed the Old Testament, the Christians the New Testament. They are called the word of God and contain and teach what we are to believe concerning Him and what duties we owe to Him and to our fellow men. Is it difficult to know that these scriptures are from God ? He has taken caie to engrave His character on the record. A large class of men take the book and examine its contents with honest heart and find that the wants of their nature are so well described, and the pro- visions made for them are so ample, and they feel their inner nature so satisfied and renovated by the power and influence of these holy writings, they enjoy a peace and happiness that no philosophy or science can ever give. They accept the teachings and work of Christ as all sufficient and bless Him from the depths of their souls for such favors. This is one way opened into the citadel of faith ; a path trodden by the great bulk of the saved. The other method, is to come with an honest heart scholarly preparations, and investigate the evidences that lie open to all enquiries concerning the book, and their authors, whether they are the genuine productions of these men, were written at the times specified and have been transmitted pure and uncorrupted to us. These two paths inay be termed the highways of the ages opened to men into the demain of faith. Should these be set aside, despised neglected, on the plea that God should con- vert us in a moment by a miracle, or some means not indicated by himself it would be to demand of him more than he has engaged or bound himself to fur- nish. If he determined to save us by knowledge or wisdom, it must be left to himself what communications to make and what means we should employ to possess ourselves of this knowledge. He has done more for us than for elect angels, who learn by the church his manifold wisdom desire to look into these mysteries but cannot fathom them. To refuse the truth till the mysteries should be solved would be to reject it forever. Nature is full of mysteries but practically they give us no trouble ; why should we treat religion otherwise ? Our nature is very limited but we do not complain that we have only five senses instead of twenty, making the range of our sensations four-fold greater than it now is and Vastly multiplying our thoughts and ideas. We have very limited notion of li^ht but it is associated with darkness. Light is very sweet and pleasant, but did it ever enter our heads to object to the idea of darkness ? The night is es- teemed and valued by everyone. It is rest for the weary. It wraps the memory of sorrow and. pains in a soft thick vail of oblivion. It reveals immensity to the eye* of the beholder and gives the man of science ineffable delight as he tries to estimate the size and distances of these mighty orbs. To the mind hallowed by truth the night of mysteries gives exquisite delight unfolding the immensity of 4 348 DIKFICULTIES OF REIJGIUN. Ev ^Ki the l>eing who has bowed the heavens and condescended to converse as it were with his creature without undue familiarity. The feebleness of our knowledge is accounted for in the narrow limits of the human mind. We are thinkers, it is true, but a little application shows us that in the region of thought we are very circumscribed. We can attend to a subject more or less closely, but how often is the train of thought broken up or interrupted by other fugitive thoughts obtruding, and we detect ourselves away from the point and must return. If the mind attempts several subjects or trains of thought at the same time it is overpowered and can do justice to none of them. Dissipation weakens the mind, and we would regard him as a prodigi- ous man who could attend to several subjects at once. We hear of cases like Julius Ctesar's dictating to several writers at the same time, but some allowance must be made for the hireling panegyrists of the times. Experience will show any of us that to treat a subject properly thought must be concentrated, all else must be shut off, and we must be deaf to sounds and blind to surrounding ob- jects if we are to attend to the one thing, not to speak of several things at the same time. If you consider that excellence of the mind we term the affec- tions, the application is much the same. In the words of One who knew the mind better than all others we read, " No man can serve two masters," a per- son cannot indulge a number of passions at once, as the one will overturn the other. The love of money and the love of pleasure or glory antagonize one another or take the mind by turns, but some one is sure to be in the ascendancy. The mind may be absorbed in a subject so much as to wholly exercise itself in that one channel, leaving the other faculties idle, as if they e^cisted not, or it could not employ itself in any of them, and the man may be for the time a thinking or a feeling being and completely so. Or if you turn to the external senses or the sensational part of your nature, the impression made on the organ, say the odors of the roses or some very rich perfume, the sensation wholly occu- pies you for the moment and you have no room for anything besides ; or the vision of a landsape or beautiful scenery, like a magnolia grove or a flowering poplar, or a peach orchard in full bloom, your attention is completely engaged with the vision or the scent to the exclusion of surrounding objects. The same may be remarked of the charm of exquisite music and many other things. It is said that a pain tolerable in the day is insupportable in the darkness because the mind turns its power on it, other attractions being wanting to distract or divide the attention. All this applies so well to the subject of religion that, as we see persons employed in any profound study like scientific subjeets, they find the progress very slow, and if slow in these human sciences how much more so in the abysmal depths of the mysteries of religion. The narrow limits in which the mind is enclosed, and the manner in which it is distracted, having some fugitive thoughts ever tugging at it, asserting their claims to attention — the thoughts on cares of the body, health, comforts, the provision for the future, all urging a warfare within, a struggle for the ascend- ancy — is it at all astonishing the slow progress it is capable of making in the knowledge of abtruse subjects? Another reason of the limits of our knowledge is that these mysteries of religion are calculated to strike our minds with the greatest astonishment, and to overwhelm it with a deep sense of its own insig- nificance to grapple with such subjects. What do they treat of but that which is most impenetrable ? They treat of the divine essence. His illimitable attri- butes, the perfections of the Uncreated One, whatever has been considered the most immense, grand and inspiring in his exalted nature ; what is the most ele- vated and sublime ^ what has excited the wonder and commanded the admir&- DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. »49 tion of the best balanced, gifted and mighty endowed minds in all ages. Can creatures limited, confined, have any other than confused notions of commimi- cations made to them from the infinite mind ? This holds not merely in our present state, whilst we see but through a glass darkly, but we can never be anything but creatures finite and circumscribed, whilst God is always infinite and beyond all comprehension. The limited ran never reach the illimitable. Canst thou by searching find out God ; canst thou find out the Almighty to per- fection ? Who maketh Arcturus, Orion, Pleiades and the chambers of the south? Who doelh great things past finding out and wonders without number? He gocth by me and I see him not ; he passeth on also but I perceive him not. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth ? Declare if thou hast understanding who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest, and who nath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; when the morning stars sang together and all the sous of God shouted for joy ! Or shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if it had issued out of the womb ! When I made the cloud the garment thereof and thick darkness the swaddling band for it, and brake up for it my decreed place and set bars and doors, and said hitherto shall thou come but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed. Should it astonish us that creatures confined to a small portion of this earth cannot sound these depths ? Is it not laudable to attempt it ? Sometimes with impatient wing we take the flight, but when we have exhausted our strength and found no restmg place we return with weary wing to the ark. In other words, let lis rest securely on the Rock that is higher than we. Moses prayed to behold the divine glory. Paul, that he might proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ. I^t us, with these mightiest spirits of our race, seek to know wh.it we are capable of at- taining to of this incomprehensible Being, that we cultivate more exalted ideas of His immensity and grandeur. It would indicate want of sense and defect in the understanding to be dissatisfied with religion, because we cannot compre- hend its infinite Author and the deep things it contains of Himself. Are we dis- pleased that we arc creatures endowed with intelligence ? Do we not thank the Son who has given us an understanding that we may know him that is true? Shall we not bnghten up our enquiries and push our investigations as far as our powers will permit with the hope of seeing one day face to face and knowing as we are known. Another cause of the obscurity of our knowledge is that the simplest truth and the least complicated objects have depths beyond the " reach of thought," because there is no object in creation, no truth in all the fields of knowledge that is not bound by one eud, if we mi 50 say, to infinity, and how can the mind comprehend these unless it can comi^rehend that infinity? Here I am placed in the centre of multitudes of things foreign to me — sights, sounds, odors, flavors, lights, shades and figures to all appearance the least complete possible, but in depth they transcend the power of my thought. The sensations they produce stir up a series of inquiries in the mind that I cannot answer ; difficul- ties that I cannot solve ; obscurities that reason cannot illumine. Impressed with these sensations and perceptions, I ask myself: Is this knowledge of these actions real or only fanciful? Have these things a real existence independent of me, or are they only impressions or fancies in my mind ? Is the idea of the object in my mind like the object ? Some reputed philosophers question the existence of the external object. Cannot the author of all this produce these impressions and form these ideas in my mind without the presence of surround* ing objects ? On the contrary, will a being who is truth itself and possessed of -I: 2S0 Dirpicui.TiEs or religion. such creative powers deceive me by giving sensations and perceptions of ad- ventilious objects that have no real exisltnce? Contact with the objects pro- duces impressions ; these impres.sions remain, I am compelled to believe, in their existence or renounce my common sense because they surround me, but I cannot comprehend the simplest of them without comprehending that infinity to which they are so mysteriously united. Myriads of other things come up for discussion that I cannot settle. I3ut is it not safe for me to conclude *hat the evidence they present is satisfactory and that without further question I should believe and receive that evidence on which theii' real existence is fully estab- Ii.shed ? The Supreme Being alone can see all the evidence, know all circum- stances and relations that connect the minutest of His works with himself — *' Known unto God are all His works from the foundation of the world." The subjects on which religion leaves so much obscurity do not rest on simple prin- ciples that can be comprehended in an instant. Subjects require more or less time to unfold them according to their nature. The ablest calculator cannot make a demonstration of a complicated problem in a moment. He must have time; perhaps must do it in parts or sections; and if the onlookers are dull it will take the longer time to make his explanations clear to their capacities. One has to prove to himself by a succession of ideas what he cannot take in by a single view. A man on a mountain top can take a survey at a glance of a great stretch of country on the level plains below compared to what he could on foot, or even at a high rate of speed. The infinite intelligence of the mys- terious Being who created all things has every evidence; all things open before him, from before the birth of time till time shall be no longer, far more perfectly ihan a single thought can be in our mind. We cannot suppose a succession of ideas in the infinite mind. All time is before Him. I am is his memorial to all generations. Great divines have supposed that He had all possible plans before Him when He made the universe, and that He chose the best. We think the supposition destroys itself; imperfect plans could have no place in a perfect in- finite intelligence. Were religion cumbered with the details of abstruse doc- trines, and we were required to study all the e, would a thousand years suffice for such an effort? Suppose one wished to commend the excellency of a system, say the Copernican or Newtonian astronomy, and I should furnish a dozen other systems, we can only judge by a careful comparison — now apply this to the uni- verse; when could the comparison be made, and what bearing would it have on our duties, and, absorbed as we are in cares and anxieties, what attention could we give to such vast designs? Religion reveals but very imperfectly its myster- ies, and maintains a discreet silence upon myriads of doctrines, because not one of them is required to be known in order to the discharge of duty, and to study these with our present powers would 4)e like asking us to point out objects in the blue heavens in a cloudless day or in the dark, unfathomed caves of earth or ocean. Who ever could explain the work in our inner nature of that mysterious spirit from on high ot the wind that bloweth where it listeth through the limitless universe in an mstant ? Our restless curiosity has not been grati- fied by revelation that would lead us to multiply speculation to infinity and turn us not only from doing good to others but from bringing our thought into obedi- ence to Christ and purifying our souls in obeying the truth. The very restric- tion of our knowledge is a standing monument of infinite wisdom. This contracted, fleeting life is inseparable from losses, trials, sorrows, suf- ferings, miseries. Prisoners of hope we are, it is true, but exiles, aliens, foreign- ers and strangers in a foreign land. The objections against religion and the objections agamst the complications of our calamities are capable of nearly the DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. aS» to :ts ,ti- iru uf- he same answer. It is that we are still clothed with malcrial bodies — that the fearful festering wounds of sin are not yet completely healed — that reason is en- slaved — the circle of oar thoughts contracted — the soul hungering and thirsting for knowledge ; its true aliment is affected at every step in its mvestigaiions, fettered, imprisoned — windless to take its lofty flight from a world where selfish- ness reigns sui)reme ; smitten with blindness it kncws not itself much less the infinite. Truth is so sublime, and the soul is so little that tropes, metaphors, images, figures, are essential to teach us to know even in pari. Yet, how feeble these are to the realities. What is u kid for a sin's offering to the sacrafice on Calvalry? What is the white robed high priest with his jewelled breast and shoulders representing the twelve tribes to the Great High Priest of our religion, Christ Jesus, who is p-ssed into the Heavens having obtauie \ eternal redemp- tion for us? We are children here, but manhood is to be reached and then placed in the midst of the most exalted environments, we shall not so slowly proceed in our accpiirements. We might here take a lesson from the fiery Tish- bite. He ran before the chariot of the unworthy monarch lo the entrance of Jesreel, and receiving there a notice that his head would not stand on his body by that time next day, he then fled for his life, and when at considerable dis- tance, wearied out, he threw himself down to sleep under a juniper tree and prayed for death. Had he any will to make ? Anything to betpieath ? A cloak and belt — he would give his flesh to the vultures and his bones to the jackals — he seems not to know yet of his translation. Ready he was to leave his woes and sorrows and the warfare with the Queen, who was disappointed at not finding him to slake her thirst with his blood, then rather pleased that he had exiled himself from her dominion. He had kings to anoint and a piophet to train ere he stepped into the chariot of fire and look up the reins for his serial flight lo a crown and throne. At the translation, when the whirlwind subsided, Elisha took his mantle and returned homeward, wailing out his regrets for the master ne had lost. Did Elijah regret the world he left? Did he mourn his departure? Had he to gather up all his strength and resolution to meet what was like death and resurrection too — to summon all his fortitude to grapple with the last enemy? Alas! How we have to tear ourselves away — wrench ourselves off as if plucking up trees by the root — our attachment is so great we must be torn away. Is Heaven so uninviting — Heaven, the city of the perfec- tion of knowledge, love, obedience and felicity, the great central kingdom of God's dominions around which revolve all the^e central suns with all their plan- etary systems, like so many archipelagos — so little enchanting that sinners can- not drop their burdens, enter the strait gate and follow the highway where the ransomed of the Lord are hastening onward to glory eternal? Embruted men to whom the perfection of beauty has no attractions ! The rum shop — that covetousness which is idolalory — the love of gain, to gratify which they make their wealth a leverage to oppress and extort their mites from the poverty stricken of their own species — these, and the ten thousands of others that might be named, carry them headlong. They not only do not give to the needy as commanded but contrive to rob them of the product of their toil. This high- handed robbery is chargeable against governments in kingdoms, states and pro- vinces, against manufacturers and merchants, combines, bankers and money lenders, against every form of extortion in the hands of rich or poor. Then, how speech and language is corrupted and polluted with blasphemous expres- sions, oaths and curses without number. What a vehicle to pollute one another is conversation corrupted by the vileness of the heart from which it comes and contrived and uttered to produce laughter and amusement absolutely indf icate ill, •5« DIKKlCULTIbM Ol* REI.KilUN. and calculated only tu ofTend the ear of innocence. Wars are looked upon as horrible because thousands are slain and other thousands wounded, and nations arc plundered and spoiled, both the con(|uerors and (he van(|uished, but drunk- enness and riotous living are the common occurrences and scarcely rebuked. With what eagerness do some, and with what deliberation do others place them- selves in that catalogue of whom it is declared they shall not inherit the king- dom of heaven. What an experience will it be to those to see the victims of their fraud, rapine and cruelty pardoned, purified and admitted to Heaven and they themselves left out. The door of repentance is open and the way of re- formation is possible. The greatest difficulties of religion are of our own mak- ing. They are, in the practical part of religion, so clear, plain and palpable. Lives there a man who does not know that liars shall go into pardilion — that deceit, extortion, fraud and a host of like evils are crimson in color. The diffi- culties of the speculative pale before the degradation produced by these practi- cal defects in their degrading, dehumanizing influences on society and the world. The objectors to religion because of its difficulties should present one free from ur with at least fewer difficulties and we would gladly receive it. The doc- trine of the Trinity is very mysterious we fully admit. The object of our ador- ation is one God in three persons. The union of the divine and human natures in the i)erson of the mediator is a depth unfathomable, but what sinner can afford to reject, what sinner does not need to believe in, a mediator so qualified and suitable ? The manner in which the divine Spirit operates upon the soul IS indescribable, ineffable ; but who will deny the necessity of his work in the renovation of our nature and its preparation for the ccllestial state. The plans, purposes, foreknowledge, designs, decrees, of the Eternal Father arc declared to us in the sacred Scriptures. These no created intelligence can fathom or comprehend. The lovers and defenders of religion are not all of gigantic in- tellects, perhaps cannot state arguments in the clearest light or arrange their evidences and proofs in the most perfect order. They may not be able to sat- isfy every inquirer, for some are not easily satisfied. They may not be able to see alike the same points of doctrine, so that forbearance and meakness is often taxed in the best tempered men. The golden rule is not always observed. These things are often used against religion. Collect then all the difficulties we admit, add to them if you please those we do not admit, and form your sys- tem. Wc shall then request you to show us in opposition to this a system which is not loaded with greater and more inextricable difficulties. Do you prefer atheism, and say we cannot prove the existence of God ; how do you account for time, space, forms ? Here are mysteries infinitely less defensible to rational beings than those of religion. " The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood b/ the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so they are without excuse." Do you opp)ose the doctrine of a Providence preserving and governing all creatures ; their noovements and actions ; alleging that all things are under laws and do not require intervention or supervision ? Did you ever know laws to execute themselves ? Should you prepare statute books and pile them as high as B^n Lomond they would lie there hannless for ever as to execution. Whence come the laws that you speak of? Are they creattd or of eternal ex- istence according to the fitness of things ? Perhaps you think that to notice the little concerns of the world is beneath the dignity of an uncreated and eternal existence? Remember that if thefr creation was not unworthy of Him neither is their care and government. Could infinite wisdom and power create beings Dirncui.TiEs UK relioiun. »53 that would be unguvcnublc ? Wuuld He create intelligent moral beings except according to laws the observance of which would be the virtue and felicity of these beings and His own glory ? What can you conceive to be a duty that is not prescribed? Speaking of laws and revelations : — Can you suppose that shepherds, poets, tentmakciii, fishermen, hu&bundmen, vinedressers, and if ^ou will historians and warriors, have ueen able of themselves to speak of the origin of the world, the furmatiun of man, the philosophy of his nature, its desires and duties, the perfection of God, government and history, in a style far more sub- lime and much better sustained than all the sagtfk of the East, the wise men of Greece, and the philoso|)hers of Rome ; names that made antiquity venerable, and whose fame has not yet died away in the world. If you say the religions arc alike, or there is no authority but our own—" that man made his own tem- ple." How then account for the preservation of the holy writings? The anxi- ety in man to teach truth to his species ; in fact to carry it over the broad earth in the face of the most overwhelming difficulties ? How would you account for that fearlessness of men, otherwise timid, braving all dangers, sacrifi'^ing life itself where the maintenance of truth is concerned? How do you account for the progress of human society in all lands where truth has been planted, a pro- gress you look for in vain where Christianity is not in advance of it? Despot- isms disappear before liberty, the captive set free, and that blot of humanity, slavery, destroyed. Investigate all the religions in the world, where will you find a light without darkness, a day without night? If the difficulties in religion were multiplied —its doctrines less clearly proved, our knowledge more circum- scribed and limfted — we should receive it with deepest gratitude as infinitely preferable to all other systems to which the human attention has ever been di- rected. The bare possibility of its truth should lead us to embrace it, to avoid the evil and secure the good. The Christian religion proves itself from God and claims for its author the homage of every man and woman of God's crea- tion. Can a rational creature take any other part than admit the force of thr. reasoning supported by evidences so cogent ? We must receive this religion o». " make God a liar" by rejecting His own testimony of His own Son. If the truths of God were generally, not to say universally received, how soon they would change the face of society? Every man would speak truth — hypocrisy, fraud, injustice, violence and wars would cease — contentment, kindness, love to God and mar , would have a glorious reign. Should not this hold in the British Empire? Should not party strife disappear that all professing Chris- tians should be one — then as the Indian Empire of England is largely Mahcm- cdan, and to the Christian and Mahoinedan there is but one God, the Creator and Governor, should there not be one Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer? Could not the resources of our intelligence and wealth be. employed under God to accomplish this unity of Christianity among ourselves and the conversion of our fellow subjects for the honor of the kingdom of Christ, the prosperity of the British Empire and the regeneration of society over those parts of the world. Faith is a deep mystery in religion. We occupy a day between two dark* nights ; the night of the past and the night of the future, both cloudy, shadowy and gloomy. The revelation of trutli covered nearly 4,000 years. Is it a small task to dig up facts connected with these truths on which our faith rests from the rubbish of traditions, and from the systems of bitter enemies, captious, so- phistical, fraudulent, in the mists that have condensed around them during these cycles of rolling years ? Do we wish to satisfy ourselves of the reality of future felicity? We must plunge in quest of it into periods that do not yet exist ; project our enquiries into ages to come and walk by faith not by sight — 354 DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. !m lea e our kin and country like the patriarch for parts unknown and create for ourselves new orders of things now too shadowy to have any real existence. " Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The history of so many tribes of our »■ so obscure, fabulous, fragmentary, and b ,3 to be raked up from mo: scattered over many lands, stones, bows, marble slabs, pottery and such cimiatters, to read and decipher, as have tried the patience and scholarly attainments of our most talented and educated men. Amid all this conftision and uncertainty, the volumes of Revelation spoken and written "at various times" are complete, perfect, infallible, every word of which is pure, and the very life and nutriment of the human soul. Nothing has been added to it ; nothing taken from it in all the transcriptions, nothing changed, nothing lost. To the faith in its truth we immolate all the theories of human religions, all the systems of human reason, all the pleasures of sense. We have learned to believe in the incarnation, the atonement, the resurrection and ascension, and we hope, in virtue of these great facts, we shall be delivered from the bondage of sin, and have an entrance ministered to us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom, to partake in the felicity and glory of the blessed God — to these hopes we sacrifice the charms of the visible creation, the wealth of the universe, the phantasia of greatness, the kingdoms of the world and all their fading glory. The mind is as capable of believing as it is of rea- soning or loving, or even of thinking — these peculiarities are in harmony not in conflict. The ''nitiatory point of faith seems clearly to be the evidence of the senses or of the object in contact with our sensitive nature. We see, hear, touch and regard as real existences the objects with which we come in contact. To these experiences of our own we add that of others — we see with their eyes, heai with their ears, walk with their feet, think and reflect with their minds, and thus increase our knowledge, multiply our universe and reach or grow up to the measure of the stature of well-informed beings. This second species of evi- dence rests on testimony that is the testimony of others, as distinguished from the testimony of our own senses. One mind comes in contact with another, recognizes its usefulness, submits to its authority and receives its testimony, which takes rank with our own experience. Let us try to illustrate. On a ser- ene night, when myriads of stars sparkle in the blue expanse, two men occupy a point of observation. One lifts his eyes to the sublimity of the boundless fir- mament, where the gorgeous splendours of the starry vault fill him with admira- tion. Their magnificence, mysterious manifestations and glory furnish such awe inspiring evidence of that Infinite One, who in wisdom formed them all, that he stands impressed with that profound reference such a spectacle is cal- culated to produce. Here are abundant evidences of the object or of the senses on which faith is founded.* His companion, with a mind gifted, cultivat- ed, profoundly reverent, capable of great emotion, yes, ecstacy, stands a stranger to all this captivating vision, manifests not the least enthusiasm amid such transcendent glory. In vain has he devoted his mind to thought, in vain cultivated superior talents, to stand statue-like in the centre of such a scene. He is blind, he has never seen the light, has not an idea of a color in the rain- bow, cannot paint one tint of the rose whilst enthusiastically admiring its fra- grance. " Not to him returns day, nor the blest approach of even or mom."- Ignorant of what has kindled up the mind of his friend, of the felt delight and what inspired it, he must wait the revelation to produce in him a kindred faith — a rapturous emotion, a corresponding admiration. Excepting this defect, both possess the like susceptibilities, are capable of the like faith in the exis- tence of these objects. The blind man may form an idea of space or distance DirFICULVIES OF RELIGION. »5S ra- it :e by pacing the earth, hearing sounds near or remote, but has not a conception of light, shade or beauty. His friend may convey to him an idea of these celes- tial globes, their magnitudes, distances ; but not a notion of the radiant glory in which they shine. The glowing description arrests his attention, stimulates his curiosity, wakes up his thoughts; he concentrates his mental resources, cal- culates distances, admires the greatness and the order in their revolutions. ' Everything is new, striking, original, his faith grows with every flash on his mental vision — what a labor you say to form an obscure idea of what his friend by only opening his eyes can discover in the highest perfection. Are we sure that the eyes of his mind have not seen the grandeur of the universe in all but its sparkling colors, and the greatness of the effort to form this notion the more deeply rooted is his faith. On the other hand, the impression is not so pro- found, he can renew it at a glance, but the glory vanishes on shutting his eyes — and the reward generally accords with the labor. It costs the other far more and will prove worthy of the expenditure. He receives with avidity the testi- mony, believes in it and endeavors to form in his soul an adequate idea of the visible heavens. Here we find the philosophy of the human mind in accord and harmony with the sacred word: " Blessed are they that have not seen and yet believed." No illustration is perfect. But those who have not seen their Saviour in the flesh, nor witnessed the miracles by which he attested his mis- sion and doctrines, must think, study, adopt a course of deep, serious reflection, suspend their pleasures, set aside for a time their worldly avocations to gain impressions of truth and cultivate this noble faith. In a word, it has pleased our Sovereign Creator so to constitute us here and to represent our career on earth as a race we must run, a v/arfare, we must accomplish, a victory we must win a kingdom, we must take by force and violence, and the principle that must actuate and govern is faith. " This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." This is better adapted to the state of probation in which we are placed. The faith that rests upon the direct knowledge of the objects costs but little to examine them — but a Icok -but that which requires much labor, which lodges the truth within us, giving us so much nourishment and vigor to the mind must be much stronger faith. Hence divine truth is "full of faith and worthy of all acceptation." Faith is so natural to the mind that all inventors of human religions have given it the highest honor by placing it at the founda- tion of all their systems. Nothing can be more scientific, more reasonable, as it is not the peculiarity of privileged natures but the common heritage of the human race. It may be stronger in some exalted characters than in others less elevated ; the objects are nearer, more vivid, whilst the evidences are alike open to all. Who does not believe that there is a city called London ? They have never been there, but they have heard of it so often, read so much about it, that they know more doubt it than if they had lived there twenty years. But to believe a strange truth that few have heard is not so easy, especially if the nuil- titude rejects it — this puts one to the greater test — this shows the dignity and the grandeur of faith. Galileo and Newton, Descartes and Locke, among many others, at great labor enriched their minds with grand truths, and, as the reward of their researches, cultivated and enjoyed such powerful faith as en- abled them to dispense with the assistance of the crowds of their contempor- aries. When the mind would bathe in the ocean of thought and is in danger of being carried away in the waves by the under-tow of doubts, then appears the value of faith which enables it to swim through the swells and the foam of the billows to the beautiful and tranquil beach of truth and certainty. If the mind is not an empty vessel to be filled with truth it certainly has a receptivity ^^f 2s6 DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. 4?--: into which truth may be showered from the bright clouds of revelation which it has the power of absorbing, holding, enjoying and being enriched and carried forward in the light and sweetness of it to the accomplishment of all its designs and commands. Truth is the light of the mind. It may be said, when we have reasoned out a subject from the premises to the conclusion, what more do we want? Much more; the way may be long or the route circuitoi's, the mind wearied with a long induction of particulars, and if doubt disturb not in the course reason leaves the truth wilhotit you ; whereas, faith plants it within, in- terweaves it with our nature, vivifying and invigorating ii, giving it a triumph over the most stubborn doubts and difficulties. " Seeing is believing," they say, but great must be the difference between vision and faith without the presence of the objects. In the long history of the race the mightiest deeds have been done by the men of faith. Such men have secured for themselves the estima- tion of others — their faith has been the strength of the weak and the salvation of the fainting, and men and nations nave b/^en mighty or feeble in proportion as they have cultivated or neglected this greai virtue. In great emergencies in fearful crises the victory has always been to him who had faith and who hoped against hope. Last year they lionized Columbus who gave Europe the New World. That intrepid hero animated by a strong faith went from one sovereign to another, begging an outfit and in return offer- ing them a world. He refuses to be turned aside by the ridicule and the con- tempt of courtiers and buffoons till he got from Ferdinand and Isabella his little fleet that he might realize his dream. Battling for months amid the wastes of ocean, amid the dangers of of an adventurous navigation, amid the cries of a mutinous crew, seeing his death written in the angry eyes of his sailors, he keeps his faith, he lives by his faith, and asks only three days, the last of which pre- sents to him this conquest." Consult the pages of history, the warriors of an- tiquity. Gideon is called to raise an army of peasants to drive out the invading foes of his country. He asks evidences that he may be successful ; he believes in these evidences, and when his army is reduced to 300 men his faith is not dimmished. As directed, he takes his servant and glides steathily to the camp, hears a dream narrrated and ihtrepreted, and with the faith and courage of a hero he gave the word and three hundred trumpet blasts, threw his enemies into a panic, and in the light of 300 lamps they thought a huge army was upon them, and the war cry, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, terrified them, so that in the darkness they slew one another. The faith of Gideon and his heroes became contagious — the people of the land rose to the greatness of the occasion and hotly pursued the fugitives till they made an end of their enemies. Another intrepid leader with three hundred heroes appears in the history of the Greek struggles for liberty. Leonides, King of Sparta, with three hundred men was sent to defend the pass of Thermopylae, between the mountain and the sea Against 800,000 Persians. It seems most unreasonable and unjust to send such a handful of noted warriors to immolate themselves in the pass. The king sent back the allies retaining only his 300 heroes who were to conquer or licrish. Lofty souls they determined to set an example, not to the Greeks alone, but to the men of all ages by courage the most heroic and deeds, the most daring and splendid on the battle fields of the world. The Persian said : " Deliver us your arms." The Spartan said, "Come and take them." The Persian said his fol- lowers were so numerous that if they let fly their arrows toward the sun they would darken bis light. The Spartan said, " The Greeks can fight in the shade," Could it be anything but a mighty natural faith that sustains such intrepid heroes, till one alone was lift alive to tell a tale of such thrilling interest? It is held^ DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. aS7 too, that this natural faith gives men a presentiment of victory and its diminution a presentiment of defeat as they enter the battle field and engage in the deadly conflict, a presentiment that realizes itself. There are forms of government and of politics that have long endured, not because they are the best adapted to the people or the times, but because the people are accustomed to them, believe in them and hold them fast in their convictions. There are people that hardly change the form of their clothing from generation to generation for centuries. The ancient Romans are said to have believed that they could build a city that would last forever, an idea perpetuated from age to age which may have aided them in their great conquests. They never treated with their enemies but as victors. When they purchased a peace with Brenus the Gaul for so many pounds weight in gold and the chief threw his great sword into the scale vowed he would have the weight of it extra, they took back the gold to the treasury and renewed the \yar. When Hannibal the Carthagenean had beaten them at Can- nase and sent two bushels of rings worn by Roman Knights slain in that battle to Carthage as a trophy of the victory — when the imprudent Varo has lost them an army and escape to Rome they gave him a vote of thanks in the Senate because he did not despair of the safety of the republic showing how much importance they attached to faith. Laws the most unjust, even barbarous, arc passed and people are attached to them and preserve them intact for ages. What else keeps the antagonist policies of nations but the faith of the parties in them ? Faith often attaches itself to an individual and a man will lead a multitude in politics or war. They do not weigh the reasons, they only believe in the men and obey them and their weakness is turned to strength by such a faith. Riche- lieu, Carour, Palmerston, Beaconfield, Gladstone, may be named among states- men ; among warriors, William of Normandy, Cromwell, Conde, Parma, the Nassaus, Marlboro, Bonaparte, Wellington, Ney and others ; amonp; seamen, Blake, Nelson, De Winters, etc. — characters wonderful, gifted and mighty, who divided the empire of the world of men among them in their times and countries. They understood the men they controlled and the sublimity of their faith car- ried them through their vast achievements. Faith has been the principle of the greatest deeds the world has witnessed. Credulity is not faith. Men may re- port what is not true so often that they almost believe such things. It is delus- ion. Faith does not absolutely require truth for its basis, but what is not true cannot last, must be discovered and give way to something new though errone- ous. Human religions being pure inventions of men, must- in the growing light of years and ages be discovered as baseless, and be abandoned for something supposed to be better, and the superstitious notions held by many are but the dregs of old cast off beliefs of former times, that cannot bear the light of more intelligent ages. Such Pagan relics oppress instead of strengthening the mind, They were tyrannical to the moral perfections of man. They were a stagnant pool in which intellect could make no advancement and no improvement in moral culture. The true religion proposes the renovation of the mmd. Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God; and further proposes that we should find the greatest happiness on earth in the regeneration of our nature, "He that believeth on him is not condemned." ** He that beL'eveth not is condemned." " Great peace have they that love thy law. " Great happiness there is in the growth of faith. It is most strange that men with such cravings for the Infinite should be capable of idolatry have been entangled in more refined science of politics, which have swallowed their whole devotions. How many in our lands make politics their religion ; smile at the mysticisms of Christians tbrgetting that their mysticisms are less tender, rot at «58 DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. ^■S' all spiritual and far more inconceivable to thinking men. Appearances may be deemed real, but when found unreal enthusiasm ends in disgiist. When faith dies or its foundations dissolve the man is deeply grieved and humiliated to think he had committed himself to a baseless faith that deserted him in the hour of need. Would it not be infinitely preferable to cast it away and take a faith that never will desert you, but make you conqueror and more than conqueror through Him that loved us. All men should make themselves acquainted with this faith and if it possess excellencies above others, give it the preferance. In Christian lands the evidence ot its importance and excellencies are very manifest. The greatest, the most absorbing characteristic is that eternal salvation is suspended on it. If thou shalt confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God had raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. Many other passages confirm this fact. Salvation is inseparably connected with faith. He that believeth not shall be damned. This faith stands in contrast with faith in all other religions in that it changes the whole life of man and pre- pares him for salvation, which begins here on earth and is consummated in glory and eternal life. Faith saves us only by receiving the truths of the gospel into the mind 'hat regenerate and refine it. Truth lies out of the mind, are no part of it, till fai'lj brmgs them in and enables it by repentance to retrace its steps backward to obtain and cherish the convictions of its great need of salva- tion and of God's willingness to confer salvation upon it. The soul thus pene- trated by the truth is freed from the fears and the terrors of divine retribution, joy and pe'ace spring up where trouble and sorrow reigned and the sinner par- doned emancipated has all the powers of the mind and heart turned towards his benefactor. The man under the clear impression that he is forgiven can now forgive that is loved, can in return love his father in heaven and his brethren on earth, They can " bear one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ," since a loving saviour has borne " their sins in his own body on the tree." Can such a one stray from the path of life when it is a highway smoothed for his feet can he fail in benevolence who is conscious of having received everything he possesses. He willingly submits to that government which he knows is con- ducted by the wisest of Beings, offers his supplications to him who gives them a place in bis imperial rule and whose very spirit teaches how to pray and " maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." •' This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." Revolutions in human souls are so very mysterious that those who were the greatest persecutors became the most forgiving, the greatest haters the most affectionate, the most patient, pains-taking instructors of the ignorant and ungovernable. Humility takes the place of pride, and a man becomes all things lo all men that he may win them to this rehgion in order to their salvation. Faith is instrumental in lodging truth in the inward parts and then the life is one of faith. The great apostle says " The life 1 now live in the flesh I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Is the man of faith misrepresented ? Is he provoked to anger, wrath, revenge ? Is he encompassed by ungodly men, who are rich while he is poor ! Will he envy them ease, weakh, pleasures ? His well grounded faith in that Providence who rules and reigns accounts foi his submission, patience and tranquility. " We know that aU things work together for good to them that love God ; to them that are the called according to his purpose." Had faith only a finite object to rest on its success would be limited, its triumphs bounded ; but when its foundation and author is God, who includes in himself all principles, regulates and sustains all, how could such a faith fail? The believer is to call on God DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. ^59 in trouble, who will hear and deliver his soul, and he shall glorify (lod. Be- sides, he knows that he must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom of Heaven. The eye of faith sees the refuge ; strength, present help in trouble — wi'h such encouragement, such succor in view, can he fail to cultivate what is beautiful, lovely, pure and of good report in the whole field of morals ; in a word, can he fail to work out his own salvation when Ood works in him both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Love may be cdllcd a characteristic of faith, or a quality, to speak philosophically. In scripture " faith worketh by love." Faith that takes in the truths which regenerate our natures manifests itself especially by love. The man who loves never calculates or measures the extent of duty. He would doubt its existence could he set bounds to its oper- ations and say I can go no farther. Love shows itself in obedience. The ob- ject of his love being the Infinite, the unconditioned he gives the rein to love so that if the scene of his operations were too confined he would seek wider fields, new fields to conquer, that he might luxuriate in his new element, as in former times he may have done in vices. Love is its own reward ; exercise inflames it ; the more we love the more we desire to love. It generously sacrifices, and nothing is so enjoyable to the soul. Fire draws from the circumambient air to feed its flame and intensify its force and brightness. Love is inflamed to a greater degree by its own motions. The more truths you imbibe the more faith grows. Creation, Providence, revelation are three fields in which faith gathers, information spreading its roots deeply in each field acquiring a vigor and a force to be embodied to carry out the principle of active obedience. Almost any kind of knowledge, but especially heavenly knowledge, creates a thirst for more. Faith impels us on to the gratification of our desires, and love mingles in all the researches, making the exercise both easy, refreshing, profitable and de- lightful. There is virtue in the very desire, as it attracts the mind to the source of knowledge, the supreme beauty. Faith fills all the capacities of the soul ; is the source of all that is grand and noble in action, because Christ is its author and finisher, a foundation immovable and eternal. No soul, nor any portion of the soul, could be barren under such an influence whicli widens, deepens, lengthens and prepares it to make a divine increase and growth. Faith eman- ates from the Saviour, who sheds it into our souls and cherishes it there to per- fection. Can a ransomed soul fail to love ? He who commands obedience be- came obedient unto death for us — how attractive that makes obedience and how much delight is it capable of yielding when we discover our nature purified in the process. The obedience of faith is the forerunner of future glory. It brings the future to be present. The holy activity of Jesus Christ in bringing life and immortality to light by the Gospel has been such a mighty example that Paul was willing to endure all things for the elects' sakes, that they might obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Christianity, eternally young instinct, with its author's life, fills its votaries with a faith un- conquerable to carry through the great enterprises according to the command- ment of the everlasting, God to make known his truth to " all nations for the obedience of faith " and to extend and establish his empire over the whole world. We go back to the early days of the history of our holy religion and see how he that w?s to come projected his shadow back to the days of Eve and Abel and how the faithful put " their trust in the shadow " and, nourished by a faith the most unfeigned and heroic, they performed the mightiest deeds record- ed in the world's history. Add to that the history of the struggles of the church for nineteen centuries against all the world. For nearly three hundred years with no weapon but faith, she withstood the potentates of the nations and their 3] J ! ' t •it f. ii u :-i'l\ SttfO DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. i armies-^bled at every pore — her apostles and bishops, her Pauls and her Polli- carpes were beheaded or burnt ; her confessors and her martyrs bore their tes- timony in the face of opposition the most barbarous, and magistrates the most severe, terrific and unrelenting ; and they loved not their lives even unto death. Upon such a survey who can help concluding that if there be any principle that can stimulate to deeds the most noble, the most exalted and praiseworthy, no and to trials and suffering ineffable and the most excrutiating, it can be other than Christian faith. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. We have no sympathy with hero worship ; we condemn it as un- worthy of man. Peter said: "I am a man"; the angel said : see thou do it not, worship God." We have occasionally apotheoses in the church and min- isters sometimes slightly adored and others, even as good or better, dispised. These things are simply abominable. But casting all this to the winds we may see in the energetic work of the church, in all her branches, a proof beyond all controversy, the vitality, energy and activity of the principle of faith in all its subjects and votaries. Beyond this there is satisfaction and a certainty in faith. We do not refer to the external evidences of r^iligion which have multiplied in the ages, which the agnostics and sceptics of these times treat with a supercili- ous contempt, and which perhapr, not many in a thousand trouble themselves to look at. No j we refer to the e\idences the Christian has in his own mind, which everyone can reach and lay his hand on ; the love of Christ in his soul, which raises his faith above every other belief. Can you prove to the true Christian that he does not love God ? He may not be able to convey to you proofs satisfactory, because feelings cannot be expressed in words, nor can words drive them away. That which has given him the power to love God must be from God. Christianity gives him that power, therefore it must be the truth. If God by this gives a man power to love him, will you venture to per- suade him that he does not know the truth? We have established facts that faith springs from truth taken inlo the heart. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Ye great scholars, profound thinkers of the nine- teenth century, restlessly active .spirits, who have unlimited faith in your money- making powers, in combinations and syndicates to fill your houses with treasures — you have faith in the power of the viewless winds — of the waterfalls, steam and electricity ; you have faith in chemistry to dissolve or combine the elements in the composition of the globe ; sever the precious metals from the dross ; the aluminum from the thick clay ; you believe in gravitation and astronomy ; in cultivating the earth and navigating the seas. Many of you believe in almost everything but religion. You have human faith but not divine faith — natural faith, but not Christian faith. Your form may be of the finest mould; your talents of the highest order ; intellects clear and vigorous. Your career may be a model of success. Your wealth millions. You may be princely merchants, sagacious statesmen, shrewd politicians, prosperous bankers, successful manufacturers, talented lawyers ; whatever may be your occupation or employment, you may acquit yourselves well, faithfully and with credit, but what will you do with all these things in a few years if you be without that saving faith. Can you not examine this faith and consider well those heavenly truths that feed it and give it health and vigor and beauty ? What we may say cannot cause you to em- brace itt That must be your own voluntary act. Arguments do not convert men. Life communicates life. God converts, using the means of his own choice. But is tlie faith we speak of worthy of no consideration ? Should the revealed truth of God be refused or lightly esteemed ? Is the human soul, the highest part of the creation of God, unworthy of eternal life ? Can a prudent DtrFICULTIBS OP RELIGION. s6x man object lo a single sacrifice religion demands? Are fraud, falsehood, cruelty, oppression and wrong preferable? Is there anything shameful the Gospel re- quires you to believe or practice ? " It is the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth." Paul says to the Saints at Rome, " Now unto Him that is of power to establish you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandments of the everlasting God made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. To God only wise be glory, through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen." The faith of many is dim and feeble when it should be clear and powerful, because of the abuse of the distinction between moral evidence and mathemat- ical evidence. You have a clear idea that iwo even numbers added together the result is an even number ; that the radii of a circle are equal to one another ; that the spokes of a well-balanced wheel are of equal length. I'his is mathematical, or if you will, mechanical evidence. An even number multiplied by itself produces an even number. This is a clear notion of the subject. Moral evidence on the other hand is founded on testimony worthy of credit. Why shoald this evidence not be as strong as the other? That there is such a country as Hindostan and such a city in that country as Delhi I have not the least doubt, though I know personally nothing of either by my own observation or experience. I have read that a great general, the brave Major-General Nichol- son, stormed Delhi with a party of British troops, drove out the thousands of Sepoys and received the wounds that occasioned his death. I can only be per- suaded of the existence, say of Delhi, by a kind of evidence that I may call moral, but to me as certain as any other. Could all the travellers and writers conspire together to deceive me as to the existence of the capital of that em- pire of the great Timoor or Tamarlane ? You can no more convince me of this than that you can convince me that two and two make five. You could not destroy nor even weaken the testimony of which an intelligent man is con- vinced that Hindostan exists, and that Delhi, a city in that country, exists, if the existence of Delhi is illusory, that two and two make four is also illusory, and the existence of a city cannot be proved to the man who has not seen it. On such principles we could not believe that Demosthenes or Cicero existed ; Hanibal or Fabius existed. We should not have a shadow of the past that would not be swept away into the gulf of annihilation. The common sense of men compels the admission that moral evidence is as sound, as firm, as reliable as mathematical evidence. This may disabuse the mind that evidence changes with the objects. By the same kind of evidence that we prove the existence of great historical characters we prove the existence of the noted scripture characters and by no other, and objections, if they hold to one case hold with equal tenacity to the others. The truth of a fact depends not so much on the nature of the fact as on the evidences by which it is supported, provided it does not imply a contradiction. It may be admitted that stronger proofs are necessary to form and establish the belief in extraordinary events than in those of daily occurrence — to induce the belief that a man of great Vealth or of ex- traordinary talents and learning is humble rather than proud of his gifts — that a friend is as faithful in adversity as in prosperity, than that he is less so. But must it not be admitted that what is proof of ordinary facts or events iit proof of extraordinary. Evidences apply alike to the natural and to the supernatural. Is it not most unreasonable to admit arguments and evidences as valid in the one case and not in the other? The stoutest objectors to moral arguments and a6a DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. evidences urge the abuse of the distinction on the plea that there is so much at stake. Oh, if religion be not true, if we are being deceived by designing char acters — all is lost, all is vain. Might it not be urged that the men who give the most attention to religion are certainly as happy if not as suceessful as those who neglect it ? We hear no complaints, no self-reproach, no loud and bitter cry among the neglectors of religion, that they have taken no pains to assure themselves that there is nothing in it, by carefully examining its claims and weighing with keen discrimination the evidences by which it is established. If religion is a dream it is so pleasant a dream that one never awakes from it with a guilty conscience, never reproaches himself with wasting the energies of an immortal soul in doubts of its own existence or that of its Lord, or of having deceived himself with an irrational, vissionary, baseless faith. The Christian religion is inflexible by its strength. The strong evidences, the powerful argu- ments which sustain it are so abundant and varied that it can with magnanimity dispense with fraudulent, fanciful feeble arguments as unnecessary, even injur- ious. The eminent George Whiteheld is reported to have said, " Christianity has truth for its bases, heaven for motives, hell for th»eatenings, and eternity for arguments." The preacher may use great discrimination, collect the most invincible proofs, employ the most powerful reasonings to establish his doctrines, produce living impressions and league together himself and the possessors of faith to cheerfully wave their banners peacefully, maintain their stand in calm defiance of defeat from any combination, heathen, pagan, mahomedan, ration- alist or errorists of any description in the universe. Some object that circum- stances and details have not been minutely given by the sacred writers. It might suffice that it is the communication of divine wisdom who has kept back nothing profitable. . The mind is not burdened with non-essentials. Inquisitive geniuses, have you any doubt about the facts (you have scanty details) of the battles of Hastings, Cressy, Agincourt, Australitz, Waterloo^ Flodden, Baqnock- burn? Any doubts that Hannibal, Alexander, Cyrus and Caesar existed, though we have few details, and some doubtful? Your regrets should be rather that so little attention is given to the myriads of facts so well established that so great ignorance of holy writing prevails, that minds are so barren of true knowledge, and so full of fancy, fable, superstition, that there is little intellectual and moral development and so much consequent poverty and misery. Can we have a natural, vigorous growth of faith whilst the sources and feeders of it are so neg- lected ? We are ignorant of ourselves, and it is a most difficult task to under- take to know ourselves. The estimate men generally form of their own charac- ters is an inexhaustible source of ridicule. Self blinded men are multitudinous. The most imperfect men form and express estimates of others bodily and intel- lectually as if they had concluded that they were only blocked out, or that the scaffolding of such creatures had been only set up whilst themselves were su- perb — perfect in mind and body. Most tender of themselves they fall foul of the whole human race. Here and there a hero, or a beauty, or a millionaire may command their adoration. How many heavy phlegmatic characters fancy themselves philosopers possessing an understanding uncommon, enlightened, accurate, clear, fefined, and this opinion is so profound and deep-rooted that the forces of an empire combined could not drive them out of it. Politicians believe their policy alone true, worthy to be held and acted upon, and that the nation must perish should the reins of government get by a possibility into the hands of their opponents. When such a calamity takes place and the dreaded predicted horrors occur not, they never become wiser by the events but con- tinue to propagate the deceit to future generations. The history of the British DirricuLTiEs or religion •«3 Kmpire is full of illustrations of this melancholy fkct. Advanced as are the men ot the Anglo-Saxon world, what laughing-stocks they make of themselves to the less civilized world in this respect. Let a party but get defeated in an election, nothing short of civil war will suffice to reinstate them in i)Ower. Knglishmen who laughed at the late civil war (unpleasantness Americans call it) in America are not (juite out of the woods themselves. To our shame be it spoken, but with reverence to the clergy, that " for the good of the church " they never fail to inflict, if fairly in their power and not injurious to their own popularity, the heaviest penalties — the most unheard of cruelties. Who has not met with men of the least developed minds, not to mention cultivated or educated minds, who set themselves up as capable of deciding what is for the good of the church and society, men who give endless trouble. Their self-conceit is marvellous. They think themselves humble, gentle, lamb- like, benevolent. You hint their defects — their talents cover everything — or that no one offers them incense but themselves — they cannot help the wretched taste of the age — great men are calumniated and|misunderstood while they live. You happen in with a company of slanderers and take a stand against their vice, all at once the party will be every one of your opinion, the most hvpocrit- ical will assume the garb of the most innocent, each thinkina; himself in no sense whatever such a sinner as he condemns. Such is our vanity — we cannot believe that we are in any sense what we are. If any of our readers think we are only indulging in a little play of the imagination, no stronger proof could be adduced of the point we are demonstrating, that it is extremely difficult for a man to know himself. If we would examine ourselves, and not be always abroad engaged with external things, and ask whether our good deeds arose from sincere or selfish motives — whether our faults were mere surprises or from iniemal corruption, we would soon know whether we would deny the truth with Peter, or die for it with Ste])hen. We refuse tQ see ourselves in the portraits others draw of us. How greatly we admire the courage of preachers who are gone, but do we tolerate from the lips of the living what we admire in the dis- course of the dead? Elijah, Nathan, John the Baptist, Stephen, John Knox, Massilon, are heroes, but let the men of to-day take such a stand — how auda- cious ! what presumption ! Preach the pure truth and take " the sack." We know some who have done so more than once. Do preachers grow wise by experience and their sermons become harmless? Will congregations prefer the stillness of the grave to the activity of imbibing Christian doctrines and prac- ticing Christian virtues? " Character" is the Diana of these days. " It was not the words of Paul but the character behind them that produced such effect on his audience," says a young modern. How unsafe is such teaching ? We hold that it is the incorruptible word that God appoints as the means of con- version and which produces character. Our esteemed young friends fresh from our schools of learning should be better acquainted with Paul, whose " speech and preaching were not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demon- stration of the spirit and power." " Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth." The glory of God and the salvation of souls are the motives impelling youths into the ministry. Paul preached Jesus Christ, not his own character. Christ opened to men the scriptures. Character, science, history, may be all used as illustrations. We have known old preachers who have cunningl/, carefully avoided doctrines and preached the characters of apostles, prophets, patri archs, and were very happy in their work for long years, but such old kings will not be admonished. We are ao honest in Justifying ourselves if not ic coa* •«4 DirricvLTiBs or religion. demning others that the admonition of our best and most faithful friend would turn us against him. To have discovered our weak points makes him detested. Now the man of faith has a very full discovery of his condition as exactly like that of other men, except that this precious faith enables him to more fully un- veil himself, that he may seriously and resolutely use all available means for his thorough reformation. His faith must grow by cultivatton to fill up till there be no room for its enemies in the same mind. The destiny of the believer is to be changed into the image of the heavenly, " to be filled with all the ful- ness of God." Faith anticipates the future. Had we only to open our eyes to see the objects faith would be simply easy — but when we must read, reflect, pursue carefully a long course of study, consult men of learning and experience, suspend our labors and pleasures, investigate, meditate, assure ourselves that we are not imposed upon by designing men ; snowing most clearly that our ex- ercises and effort correspond and are in fit proportion to our condition, regard- ed as a state of probation in this world. Night of futurity we regard as a justifiable expression, because we know so little about the future. Could we open our eyes to the delights, joys and pleasures of Paradise flourished full into our view? Would it be difficult to sacrifice the pleasures of the world to secure them ? But it requires the forti- tude of a martyr, and in the strictest propriety of speech all Christians are martyrs, to immolate all that is considered valuable on the earth, on the truth and fulfilment of the promises of a future felicity. When we consider how sen- sible things engross the whole capacity of the mind, and that the more remote the object ofat'ainment may be the less calculated is it to impress, and as so little, if anything, is left of power to attend to abstract truths, and such truths, when the objects of their contemplation are involved in a night of cloudy and thick, deep oblivion, where the promises, like the flashes of lightning in a tempestuous night, throw a vivid and lurid glare at intervals, as if to light us across the chasms, or as if to span or contract the distances between the promises and their complete fulfilment. We are told of a felicity that is eternal, but we see it not and know little if anything of what it consists. We are informed of a great eternal Father who has promised it; but he is the invisible one whom no man hath seen or can see. We must go from principle to principle, from promise to conclusions, to arrive at a fixed assurance " that He is, and that He is the re- warder of all them that dilligently seek Him." This involves us in a greater difficulty. It is an entrance into the idea of which He is — the unsearchable in- finite existence whose immeasureable vastness overwhelms and confounds our limited intelligence. We have an idea of time from the succession of day and night and the seasons of the revolving year, but we have not a clear idea of our eternal duration. We have no difficulty in receiving the testimony of our Cre- ator that our soul is immortal and eternal We are assured that our bodies will be raised spiritual and incorruptible. But have we any idea of a spiritual body or any adeauate conception of unknown faculties, an unknown economy of new heavens and a new earth wherein righteousness dwelleth ? Can I give any des- cription of one race whom I have never known or conversed wiUi ; or of that still more exalted angelic society who are to be my associates in the glorifica- tion of my great King Creator? I imagine I picture to myself a state of happy unmingled bliss, dreams of enjoyment ineffable, sublime, but when I attempt to delineate them I am told they bear no proportion to anything in the whole wide ran^e of human knowledge in our present state. We form most extravagant notions of human greatness. To sit in the seat of a president, or wear a daz- zling crown, or occupy a throne, and sway a sceptre over millions of our fellow DiririCULTIES or RELIGION. S65 men, what motives to do and dare and endure. Ambitious men would secure immense wealth, become men of great consi cration, lame, power, influence, renown. Put these all in one scale with all that sheen and tinsel you can at- tach to them; then, in the opposite scale, attach a crown of glory, an inheritance in heaven, a kingdom appointed us by the King of Kings — who would not es- teem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Kgypt, choose and receive a kingdom that cannot be moved, look for a city that hath founda- tions whose builder and maker is God ? Uut who do choose these enter the strait gate, choose life halt or maimed? The most vehement disclaimers against God's making choice among us for salvation, are the very men who neg- lect and despise salvation. What a consolation, what gratitude should it gen- erate in our hearts to be able to survey with the eyes of faith, the apostolic, the prophetic, the patriarchal, the aniideluvian ages, to go to the beginning of the creation of God and examine the evidence on which religion securely rests, and tearing up incredulity by the roots, and making study supply the place of expe- rience, snd hope the place of vision, we sacrifice sloth, languor, pleasures and a thousand other evils to the claims of truth, that we may live by faith and pray without ceasing ; that we may multiply opportunities of doing good to all men as we have opportunity, especially to ihose who are of the household of faith. One of the most mysterious doctrines of religion, and one that creates the greatest difficulty in very many inquiring minds, is the application of truth to the soul. The production of faith in us, our embracing Jesus Christ as our only Saviour, and the resultant connection with his flock, the church all com- bined, may be attributed to the Holy Spirit as his divine work, as the applica- * tion of redemption, the regeneration of the soul. It is set out to us in the Holy Scriptures under various names, such as being born again, born of the Spirit, bom of God, a passing from death to life, conversion, and also other expres- sions to the like purpose ; as renewed in the spirit of your mind, created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works, etc. Nothing in the physical world can be adduced to set it forth o appropriately as these expressions, since it is a spirit- ual change, or as the apostle says, " to open men's eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God." No subject of this change can give a clear account of the work in his own mind. Every portion of our nature is more or less affected in the transition, sensational, emotional, intellectual, spiritual. " The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth ; so is everyone that is bom of the Spirit." With the forming of Christian faith in the mind begins the passage from death to life. Faith is the bond of union with the Lord. Born in sin by nature, a child of wrath, sitting in darkness, dead in sin — he is made alive ; called out of darkness into God's marvelious light — men are thus " made kings and priests to God." The change of the soul agrees with the change in the condition, so he is to " walk worthy of God, who hath called him to his kingdom and glory." The spirit of God comes on the man, gives him a new heart, expels the low grovelling notions, fills him with grace, produces in him a magnanimity assortable with the elevation, the dignity, the grandeur to which he is called of God. When the young Benjamite came to consult Samuel, the prophet, on a trivial point, he went away a king annointed. But how can that uncultivated, country youth assume the regal functions, main- tain the dignity and polish of the palace, the discrimination of the judge, the sagacity of the statesman and the marshal valor of the warrior? Samuel said, in parting with him, " the spirit of the Lord will come upon thee — and thou shalt be turned into another man." There are the most ample gifls and quali- c6f) DTKriCULTIE.^ Or RKl.tOION. fications for the impt-rial splendor. Besides these heavenly endowments the king in Israel must write with his own hand the law ot Moses, and read in it all the days of his life. There would be a cultivation of legal knowledge and talents, and it is but natural to conclude that, as a careful student, he could readily ac- (|uire all necessary information for performing all the functions of royalty. A man in becoming a Christian is not, like Saul, made another man, but a new man. The Holy S|)irit, in planting the truth in the soul, impresses it profoundly with the necessity of the study of the whole revealed will of God, by which it is nourished as a babe with pure milk. The unconverted sinner is low born, his father is an Amorite, his mottier a Hititc ; his thoughts are low, sensual, grov- elling ; he must be born from above, to a state of grace, ele* ated, sublime ; his thoughts raised, purified by the " wisdom from above." The s^ime gracious spirit that created the human nature of Jesus Christ creates men anew to Christ lesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that they should walk m. This noble biith gives them a high descent, the blood royal of Christ flows in their veins, and as He is so are they: "each one resembled the chil- dren of a king." It is sometimes objected that the Orientals abounded in the most striking figures of speech, but are the figures not the most appropriate, placing the facts in the clearest and most striking light, conveying to the mind the most convmcing, pleu.sing, satisfying realities ? Do you express astonish- ment at such a change produced by the spirit of God in the soul? Consider the change on an infant bom into the world in respect to sight, hearing, respira- tion, nourishment, and almost all its sensations; is it not a new mode of exist- ence, compared with its previous state? A Christian gives himself to be led by the Spirit, taught by the Spirit, guided by His counsel, moulded or conformed to the image of the Son of God. What idea can I form of the union between my soul and body? Of the mode of subsistence of my soul when it leaves the the body? How do I know my soul? Is it by idea, or sentiment, or experi- ence or its operations? How do I think? Is it by the use of the brain, the nerves, or all the parts of the body and soul combined? Does the loss of a hand or foot impair the thinking power? Can sensations be conveyed to my roind other than through the bodily organ? I may use these impressions to in- crease ray knowledge by reflection, abstract, thought and comparisons. How do I imagine and propose hypothesis, collect facts and arrive at conclusions, or deduct these from the various objects around, as the works of God and evi- dences of His power, wisdom and goodness, and so inerease my information ; but how is the lesson communicated ? What is to prevent my believing that I shall hear, see, think and converse with others when the body is reduced to dust and is no more in form till raised again from the dead ? If a crucified Saviour and a crucified penitent thief could meet in Paradise, then there is no room for doubt of the capability of the soul for knowledge, action and enjoy- ment, whether in the body or out of the body. The genius of the Christian religion supposes that a man shotild make the best use of bis reason, not by renouncing but by exercising it, to enable him to decide that no claims can be so strong on him as those of his Creator, and that the true use of reason is to lead him to God. It is, impossible, perhaps, to demonstrate the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Jesus Christ has brought it clearly to light. The like may be said of the doctrine of Providence, it is so complicated, difficult and mysterious. Jesus Christ has shown us that our Heavenly Father feedeth the ravens, numbers the hairs of our head, pro- vides for the animate and governs the animate and inanimate creation. What- ever dislike men may have in submitting to human authority, can they hesitate DirricuLTiES or rklioion. 167 in submitting to the authority of (Jod, when that is the condition of entering His Kingdom? It is a revolution in man's ideas turning from error to truth, darkness to light, from disobedience to obedience, or the wisdom of the just. The spirit is the author of this change in the mind, and the instrument he em- ploys to produce it is the Scriptures, which make men wise unto salvation. The appointcik means are so far above hiim.in reason, that it never, unaided, could have attained to such a lofty height. Who could think that God would send his Son in the likenesH of sinful Hesh and for sin to condemn sin in the Hesh? Who could imagine that the spirit of God would inspire men in our sin-blighted race to write the will of God for our guidance and associate it with the history of so many nations for more than two-thirds of the whole period of human exist- ence here below and make it the meaits of the regeneration of that sin-laden race? That the spirit should come and enter into the soul, festering with en- mity against God as a dead body with mortification and putridity and make it clean, through the word, and pure through faith, and then to obey from the heart the form of doctrines delivered us ? These things could never enter the heart of man. Hence the authority of God was necessary to impress these things upon us — reason, darkened reason, in its highest efforts was totally inadequate to the task. Can men be called Christians who attach themselves to virtue and cultivate moral truths on the greatest-happiness principle (Bentham) or when it assorts with their worldly-mindedness? They take no reckoning of the future world. Christianity refines our taste that we may attain to pleasures worthy of the excellency of the mind, and more compatible with the exalted nature of religion. The love of money and the love of religion cannot exist long in the same mind : one must destroy the other. How can men worship in spirit if their heads (not to say their hearts) are full of consuls, bonds, stocks, extor- tions, comers, limits, bills of exchange, ships (like the carnal Jews wi'ricui.TtK.s or rkliuiok. «77 gives to this soul a light above the brightness of midday sun, it will burst the barriers and volunteer into the service of Christ and begin the work of its sal- vation. The spirit giveth life and life displays itself by activity. If it be said that these strong expressions are oriental figures of speech ; wc reply. Fire is a figure, but if not put out it may become a conflagration and represents great destruction — endless sufferings. Tiie ftirnace that purifies the precious metals represents trials and purification. Strong figures indeed, but their meaning is clear, their significance great, or they mean nothing. If the preparation for, and the preservation to glory is not accomplished by the powerof God, by what is it done ? The words are inspired by the Holy Spirit, who knows what to employ ; words which the Holy Spirit teacheth. To be the subjtct of this divine work is the highest favor conferred on man, and it works agreeably to our con- stitution given us by the Creator. The difficulties of Christianity may be im- mense in its depths, unfathomable, but can anything take its place ? To what shall we turn ? Has this religion the words of eternal life? Then bless your God from the depth of your soul that He has given it, and in it, explained with satisfactory c^^arness, what would otherwise be inexplicable. In the whole system of the Christian religion there is no doctrine to some minds sc full of difficulty to comprehend as that of punishment, and that such punishment should be eternal and before appointed and predetermined. The enemies of Christianity place it in clear and well known expressions, "that God created men to damn them," and persist in maintaining that Christians believe and teach such a doctrine. The same parties hold that safety from punishment and preparation for felicity depend on our own choice. The strange thing is that so few make the choice. We have not met with such characters nor have we found them in history. They do make such a choice, but not of them elves, till a mighty work has moved them to it, some as Saul of Tarsus or John Bunyan of Bedford j others like Jeremiah or John the Baptistc, Nathaniel and others in every stage and stale between these extremeties. Hence churches, schools of learning, missions, and a world of outlay of wealth, labor and patience as out- ward efforts additional to all divine labors to move towards this accomplishment. Why all this ifa wish can save us ? What sect in Christendom that is not put- ting forth effort ? Does not this universality of effort imply a divine work as its basis ? God works in us and we respond or we oppose, and the disease is mental or moral, not physical. Some reason thus : " After one has formed habits of sin he is not responsible. " How would one of our judges treat a criminal who had accustomed himself to quarrelling with men till he could not keep his hands from shedding blood? Would he say the more he was addicted to crimes the less responsible he became to society ? Is a man not responsible when he cannot cease from sin ? Men will not come to be saved nor receive the love of truth, nor incline their hearts to wisdom. They oppose the express will of God as to repentance or faith, or sanctification. Men have nothing to do with the secret will of God, but with His commands. He has connected obedience with salva- tion. Let men not sever this connection. It Wiis revealed to Paul that he would reach Rome and appear before Caesar, but he took great pains about the ship, the health of the passengers and the sailors and the landing to fulfil the prediction. What calamities God suf- fered them to endure with the loss of the ship and cargo, and all but the precious lives of the people. He knows how to deliver the godly and punish the wicked. Dr. Campbell charges the God of the Old Testament with inciting Abraham to murder his son — he will charge H m in his next lecture with the murder of Christ, because He did not answer His prayer to save Him from that hour. a7« birricuLTiBs or rblioion. To some minds the trial of Abraham's faith as ranking with the patience of Job is an event the most sublime in the ancient world. The author of that faith knew what it could endure and for others benefit, as well as that of Abraham and Isaac, he tried it and stayed his hand when raised to make the last act of the sacrifice. It tells to all ages of ihc world that the God of the Old Testament would do in the fulness of time, even for men a little more profane than the learned professor. He would probably say all these things were done by the Devil, but did the latter not ask permission from God before he dared stir up the enemies of Job, or of Christ to carry out the counsel of God. Talents so very respectable should not be wasted beating tne air in promulgating doctrines nobody can believe, and attacking the strongholds of truth, when he might as well attack the sublimeiies of the firmament. His mind was perhaps, lost bal- last, in his wide wanderings through the waste howling wilderness ot Hitlite migration. But to return — " God has ordained the reprobate to dishonor and wrath for their sins to the praise of his glorious justice." (W. C. F.) — " foreor- dained them to dishonor and wrath to be for their sin inflicted to the praise of the glory of his justice." (L. C.) This is very different from "treating men to damnation " or compelling them to sin and delighting in their destruction. The more criminal the culprit the more deserving of punishment. If to punish ill desert is not unjust, it cannot be unjust to determine to punish or predetermine to punish. Nations legislate to punish individuals for crimes and the persons may not be born for ages after, and no one objects to the law as sinful, or its execution as unjust. The liability to punish is in the breach of the law. The legislature is not the authority of the sin. It lays no physical disability in the way of the offender. That it is ignorant of the transgressor in advance does not in any wise interfere with the conditions of things. This applies in the destiny of the dregs of humanity to the rewards of their evil deeds. Benhadded the Syrian, with thirty-two confederates, kings, marauders and plunderers, were wantonly attacking Israel. Ahab, after a very decisive victory, made a league with him and sent him away safely. The prophet tells him, forasmuch as thou has let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, there- fore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. That wicked king hf.d repeated evidences of divine goodness, to have attached him to virtue and obedience, but headstrong adherence to idolatry works ruin. The Syrian king commanded his captains to fight only with Ahab, the man that had showed him mercy. Ahab would in spite of warnings overthrow the predictions, fight in disguise and leave the king of Judah to be the victim ; or save his life by ignominious fight. The stone from the sling makes a dent in the giant's temples, the arrow at a venture finds a crevice in the armor, king's necks are not invul- nerable. Pharaoh will follow into the sea if it should be his destruction. Who hath hardened himself against God and prospered? Multitudes take no interest in truth, despise all warnings and rush headlong to destruction. Saul seems the only one in the company saved on the way to Damascus ; though the light shone gloriously to the eyes of all. Hazael brings a soothing message to the sot Ben- hadded and the next day suffocates the man capable of recovery. How quickly sinners mature in crime. Is thy servant a dog that he should do this great thing ? Yes, dog, lion, tiger, if jieed be, to secure a crown or dominion. A kingdom, even a vineyard, a Herodias, one wedge of gold, will prove fatal, and men prepare themselves for destruction, whilst God prepares the vessels of mercy for the glory he has ordained them. There is a strong disposition in men to turn their thoughts from the tiansgressors to find fault with the punishment DIirriCULTIIS OK RELIGION. «79 not the sin. Even reverend and learned doctors have engaged all their resources of reason and logic to prove tl.ai Ksaii and Judas Iscariot « ill be saved. Could thy establish this point they would end all controversy and all further effort in religion; for if Jud.is is not in perdition there is no danger of any one and no perdition to avoid, no distinction between virtue and vice. Dr. Adam Clarke established that all knowledge with God is present knowledge. Archbishop Tilotson poured oceans of contempt on the idea and asked how it explained things ? But with the leave of the archbishop we think the Dr. the more philo- sophical. For if eternity is present with the great I Am then what was, and is, and is to come are all before him, and if it is just to punish them it is just to determine to do it, or as we .say of the past in predetermining to do it. The difficulty disappears. The present knowledge of present events proves their existence, as the foreknoiv ledge of things proves their future existence or the knowledge of things past that they existed. Their existence, however, depends not on the knowledge of them, but on the power that produces them ; but it is positive proof that there is nothing accidental or contingent with G6d. It proves, moreover, that there is no injustice in the punishmei>t of men, who before God, are not only sinners ; but like Ahab and others remain impenitent, obstinate and determinate in the face of all warnings, threatenin^s, mercies and favors. The remedy for sinners is returning to God at his invitation and repent and believe the gospel, and do works ment for repentance. Why do sinners persist in their transgressions ? Why delight in provoking the most merciful God, to cause his indignation to burn like fire against them, when they might break off their sins by repentance and obtain mercy ? Why fill up their lives with practicing all manner of rebellion, and then find fault with that righteous government that will bring every word into judg- ment, should sinners prefer to have God against them than on their side ; and to continue to fill up the measure of their sins, till wrath shall come upon them to the uttermost ? Acquaint thyself now with God and be at peace. Science in our day is proud and hauty, flinging up its heels against Scrip- ture and declaring itself wise above what is written. If science were well es- tablished or had an immovable foundiiion, its claims would be less pretentious and more admissible, but the ascertained facts are few and easily reckoned. Its theories are legion, and young men are carried away with the lofty and elo- quent speculations of learned writers without wailing to weigh or measure, or perhaps bringing with them the capacities to discriminate in the case. As- tronomy since the days of Copernecies, Kepler and especially Newton is among the best established branches of science, and except Newton's principle of gravitation it professes only to be out on the highway or the hilltops of discov- ery. Medical science is kindly feeling its way to relieve human suffering, hav- ing done much yet confessing itself face to face with inaccessible mountains or arrested by chasms and gorges, over which it can yef throw no bridge on which to cross to the other side. Geology having shifted its foundations so often within half a century cannot lay much claim to science much less tell how things were created or wliat creation is, whether done in the analytic or synthetic process. Yet the pride of our human depravity is such that the sciolists sit in judgment on Revelation, instead of admitting that they themselves are the criminals not the judges. Agnostics glory in their shame, they ought to, and they do know better. Men of sense admit gladly every i;'.ct established by honest investigation and careful experiment, conceding all legitimate claims of human authority whilst deeply deploring the self-sufficiency that sets aside without cere mony the highest authority. They admit grudgingly that the Word of God is IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // {/ ^ fe ./ fA :/.. 1.0 28 I.I t 1^ 1^ |Z2 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1 6 ^ 6" ► fliotographic Sciences Corporation ■17 iV 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145S0 (716)872-4503 "% ». #^ ^i. •^-.^^ ^'^ vV ;i?,'■■^■'■^v■■'■':l>,:■; 280 DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. P tii contained in the Scriptures, but hesitate to take the Scriptures as the Revelation of God. They would divide and sub-divide, and alter and subtract, showing what is human, what divine, what is inspired, what not, what is more, and what is most inspired. They are such metaphysicians, such hair splitters, such judges of what revelation ought to be and ought not io be. They have not yet ventured to drop out the parts not inspired, as they think, nor divided the hu- man parts from the divine. They are only hinting such things, yet hoping for some bold editor to spring up that will do what they are feeling the way to and wish accomplished. Paul writing to Timothy speaks of the writings held by the Jews as the Law, the Prophets, and Psalms, as the " Holy Scriptures, " and that " all Scripture "referring to these " is given by Inspiration of God " (Theop neustos). Now one would suppose that to be sufficient ; but Peter tells that the ,' Prophesy came not of old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. " Paul also certifies us that he taught " In the words ^which the Holy Spirit teacheth, " as in contrast " with the words which man's wisdom teacheth. " Men have labored to make Christianity ra- tional and scientific, but theh they find it useless, resembling that remarkable creature among insects that when it looses its sting dies. It may be mortifying to human pride to admit that the foolishness of God is wiser than their wisdom, and the weakness of God far above their strength, but such is the case. It pleases God by orthodox doctrines to impart to men faith, and by the " foolish- ness of preaching to save them that believe. " Scientific Christianity has made no converts and it is not to be expected that it ever will. Who will dare to say how far God's inspiration goes and where it ends ? All Scripture (Pasa Graphe) and (Ta Grammata) the words of the original, Hebrew and Greek are inspired, breathed into the writers from God, not merely the thoughts, or as we say, the sentiments and ideas, but the words. He shall tell thee words whereby thou and thy house shall be saved. Words may be called the clothing of ouv thoughts; but more so, as we cannot tnink without language, the act is the embodiment of the intention. God has given a commission to the true preacher, not to the wise nor speculate, but " Preach My Word. " Obedience is here in demand and will be found more successful than the noblest oratory, the most eloquent delivery, the most etheral speculations of philosophy, the most refined human ingenuity, The church, the whole church, should set its face against the employment of such speculative professors whose rarified imaginations carry them away from the sound doctrines of Scriplnre, to indulge in fable and fancy. It may seem harsh to dismiss a professor ; but the injury to the church by leading its young men into the atmosphere of speculation, which, however pleasing to them for a time, must end in ruin to themselves, and greater destruction to the church ; for whilst promising apparent liberty is on>y bringing her children into bondage. These unstable souls carrie<^ about by every wind of doctrine, soon produce much instability in others and under the notion of originality produce " original nothings. " These men make difficulties in religion where none exist, call on question the best established facts, throw their lightweight into the scale of men of corrupt minds, who handle the Word of God deceitfully and make merchan- dise of their hearers. Many men of wealth dabble in science and make it the rage, when most of their lucubrations are only science falsely so called. Then it has become very meritorious to push out large volumns of endeavors to re- concile science and scripture since the days r*" Dr. Chalmers, Hugh Millar and Professor Hitchcock. The established facts ^i.' science are not, cannot be in conflict with Scripture, and need no reconciliation ; whilst most people will ad- mit the impossibility of harmonizing what are not fact? with scripturs^l truths. DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION; ^f Perhaps the most rational idea that we can form of the Supreme Heing, the Living God, is that the past and the f.iture are \vit!i him as is the present, if it is even comprchensil)le by our finite rational minds. We bring up the past in memory and recollection, b it to the infinite mind all is clear standing before Him from eternity. We take in the future periods by projecting our thoights forward and an icipating times and events from our experierjce of the past ; but to Him the future is preseni,one day as a tho isand years, and a tl-ojsand years as one day. Then this idea is the most philosophical, it being infinite in every perfection requires nothing like our memory, as everything is open before Him, and the future as the present, comprehended in His infinite wisdom as well as His eternal existence. The past, present and future are only applicable to created being who had a beginning and many of whom have an end. This idea, rational and philosphical, is the scriptural noiion we have of (lod. He knows the thoughts of oir minds before they are formed there, as well as in their pre- sent existence. He accommodates His revelation of Himself to us according to the mode of speech in the language given us in our constitution as rational creatures. The use of such terms might not be necessary to si)irits or disem- bodied souls. We cannot tell. A thousand years as a watch in the night or as a moment. He is the same yesterday, to-day and forever, I am is His memorial to all generations. Before Abraham was I am. This eminently cor- rect idea kept before the mind will relieve it from any difficulty arising out of our crude notions of God's dealing with men in afflictiondispensations, chastise- ments, punishments, and the like, where we would err from scanty knowledge of the cases in question. It may also quiet our minds on what is so great a stumbling block to some not very clear or profound thinkers about divine pur- poses and decrees. It is not considered unj ist or partial to call men now to the fellowship of the Gospel, and unite them lo Ghrist in this calling. We have not heard of any plea of injustice set up against the conversion of many souls in ministrations of the Gospel, whilst all are not converted. It will not be con- sidered unjnst to punish wicked men in the judgm'int for unrepented sins. Nor can it be unjust to so determine beforehand humanly speaking. " Known unto God are all His works from the foundation of the world. " The narrow limits of our knowledge and the employment of language suited to our capacities should not be a reflection on the nature and actions of the Diety. The past and the future being wrapped up in the present with Him, it is not unscientific to say that an hour and ten thousand years are the same to Him, that limit and succession have no place or application to Him. The Christian has no quarrel with science, as it establishes truth, he only objects to the falacies imposed on him by the would be scientist. The word infinite must be applied to every perfection of the Supreme Creator, Ruler and possessor of the universe, else we could suppose a being infinite in every attribute, and that being must be un- created, one who inhabits eternity, who can learn nothing from any creature He has produced and cannot be over reached by anyone nor deceived by appear- ance like those who see through a glass darkly and are but of yesterday and know nothing. He is infinitely wise in counsel and excellent in working. Our difficulties regarding His plans and their execution arise from our limited ac- quaintance with Him, our too contracted notions of His perfection and our inflated and exorbitant ideas of ourselves, our fancied powers and rights. And what have we that we did not receive ? Our knowledge and the language that exhibits it to others are all given us, lent us by Him in whom are hid all the trea.sures of wisdom and knowledge. The only remedy for a sinner is a return (0 God bv Jesus Christ,. a careful, diligent investigation^ a profound search 88a DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. ..Hi i'-w lis ft e; of the Revelation of God to man, the Holy Writings of the Old and New Testa- ment, every word of which is God-inspired and necessary to the new life of the man who lives not by bread alone but by every word that procedeth out of the mouth of God. Let us not try to leach God how to govern, but as children learn of Him who is meek and constitutes Himself our teacher and guide, and we shall find rest for our weary laboring souls, transformation into the image of His Son, be madef partakers of the Divine nature and bear the image of the Heavenly and wear a crown and eternal weight of glory. This crown of glory is not placed carelessly on the heads of men as a mere gratuity, nor yet given as a reward of their own unaided labors. The invitation is given to lost men to believe in Christ as the only begotten eternal Son of God. They comply, receive Christ, who dwells by faith in their hearts and at once they begin to bear much fruit. This is their Father's will. This is carry- ing out the Father's design, conformity to the. image of His Son. The word of truth which they receive is the instrument. The invisible Spirit of God is the efficacious originator and internal worker in this human temple, presenting the attractions of Christ and the salvation He offers or brings with Him into the heart and soul, showing the hatefulness of sin as enmity against God, the ne- cessity of spurning and avoiding it on the one hand and of preparing for giory, honor and eternal life on the other. Does his faith grow, his love burn with a vehement flame, his hope heave and cast its anchor in heave, his humility deepen and extend in view of his deliverance from sins so agrivated, his love expand in length, breadth, depth and height, corresponding in some measure to that love which creates it, his zeal for the conversion jf sinners increase and grow, his principles take a deeper root within his soul, his readiness to show , mercy with cheerfulness unfold itself, these and the like graces prove that his calling .^nd election is being made sure, that he is now chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth. He has no disposi- tion to parabolise or allegorise the Words of God on the narrative of the creation and the unhappy fall of man, like the pretending scholars of the Old Testament, the Workmans and the Sampsons, to whose double thrones the Old Testament will not bow. Where were these wits when the foundations of the earth were laid ? The believer cannot leave the Word of God, and entertain the fables of v'orldly wise interpreters like these modern critics. If the framing of the world by the Word of God is allegorical so is the ark and the deluge, so is Abraham's departure from Misopotamia and sojourn in Canaan, so is the story of Joseph, the burning bush, the passage of the Red Sea, the desert wanderings, subjugation of Palestine, the Temple, the Captivities ; all written not for our learning but for our entertainment, like the Arabian Knights, Robison Cruso, and the heart of Midsothian. O bewildered scholars ! Has your much learning made you mad ? Is it wonderful that there are few conversions, that the most earnest preachers of truth cry over their little success, and raise their wail over the burned stones, dust and rubbish of Zion ! Howl O gate, cry O city. Euter into the rock, hide thee in the dust for the fear of the Lord. Ye profound thinkers, ye great scholars wading for half a c^intury up to the ears and chin in the deluge of your eloquent theories and witty allegorical inventions, how would it do for you to leave for ? while your fancies and return to the path of common sense, and believe »vith Paul that the world was framed by the Word of God, or with John that all things were made by Him, that by Him all things consist, that the woman being deceived was in the transgression. But what do these statements of an infallible interpretation signify to the authority of the allegorical gentlemen who prefer the authority jof the scientific philosopher DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. 283 to the atithority of Clod. So deferential are they to the men of knowledge that the sacrifice of truth costs thorn not a thought. By what authority does Dr. Workman and others speak for the scholars of the Old Testament ? Has Dr. Green given up the histotial for the allegorical in Genuses ? Has the Presby- terian church in America or the British Isles, or the Reformed church of France, the Christians of Switzerland, the Waldensean or the churches in Australia, or anywhere given up the historical account of the creation or the fall ? An occa- sional comet may flash out among the fixed stars, but his flight has been so rapid and his career so brief that his phosphoascense is soon buried in the ob- livion, and his name forgotten whilst the few that were daz/.led by his sudden appearance and collapse, soon recover them.selves, and the church continues in hei wonted orbit without an eclipse. When the sacred writers allegorise or parabolise they let you know, but Moses gives you not a hint of either, and Moses proves himself too honest a man to plagerise, or merely edit, collect or redact the writings of predecessors without a sign of credit given them or a mention of their names or works. He gives the words of Balaam Balack, and many others more honorable, but you cannot discover from him any author except, "The Lord spake unto Moses." If he begins his history of the creation without first proving the Being of God, he does not fail to multiply the proofs as he proceeds. Creation proves a Creator. The orderly government of the universe, with all the apurtinances t if irtw.', amply prove a providence that before determined the times and the season? ar«d sot the bounds of all our habitations. The invisible things of Him, His Eternal T. wer and Godhead are clearly seen from the creation of the world. They are understood by the things that are made, inferred from them, so that sceptics are without excuse. Jesus Christ gave not the least encouragement to doubting, chided the disciples for it. Wherefore didst thou doubt. When the passage of the Red Sea is opened and the way to the Jorden and the very heart of Canaan laid open, is it not sinful to doubt, and in our hearts go back into Egypt? If a professed scholar sets at defiance the external and internal evidences at his disposal, and publishes his doubts to the world and aids in multiplying sceptics and infidels, he is surely not for but against Christ, places himself outside the Gibraltar of Christianity and joins his forces, be they ever so few and feeble, to the armies that assail the church of Christ. It is the manifest duty of every scholar to cultivate faith and give his doubts to the winds Everyone calling himself a Christian should turn away his ears and eyes from these wandering stars, of whatever magnitude they may be, lest they involve him in the blackness of darkness for e'er, and apply the words of the disciples to the Jewish rulers in this case ; whether it be right to hearken unto these hopest doubters more than unto God, judge ye. If there be anything in the Scripti -es not the Word of God, it is necessary to complete the narative, consequv itly it comes under the rule of Scripture, the engrafted word which is able to save the soul. If words saved the people at the meeting in the house of Cornelius, then every word of God is good and in- spired, and essential to the nourishment of the soul in every feature of its spirit- ual life. Every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be re- ceived with thanks given, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. Is it hatred of God a preconceived dislike to his word that arms so many who would like to be thought honest scholars and fair minded men to raise objec- tions, invent and contrive difficu' es when they know how hard it is for the many to overcome themselves and keep the faith when the roaring lion seeks their overthrow ? Why not seek the hidden wisdom ordained before the world to the glory of believers? True, men may not agree in the interpretation, but 384 blftlCUI/l'IKS OK kEMCloK. I is; are ihey to gloiy in this thing as if ScrijUuie- must have a doiil)lc meaning or Christ were divided ? How deHlerious this course pursued by these scholars is on the rank and file of the church, turning iheir minds lo toniroversy when they should bend their whole force on the study of triitn on which no doubt should ever be cast. Let ihcm prove their speculations. 'Jhc remparts of truth will not be shaken by the noise and array of these pop guns. In order to accpiire the habit of piety there is only one course open '.u us, the daily performance of all i.s duties. Christianity is largely a system of leaching, lis author places the intellectual training largely before the emo.ional. Everyone knows how. restricted is the period in which attention can be given to these things, and if that is neglected or suffered to pass unimproved, how shall we escape. To us it locks sin against the Holy Spirit, to set minds adrift from the pure truth He seeks to impress on them, turning away their ears from the truth to fable. No amount of popularity, or the praise of men, can possibly compensate for the self inflicted injury done himself in the dishonesty, guilt, villiany, in torturing, misrepre- senting, hiding the meaning of truth as if it were falsehood. Can piety, sancti- fication,be obtained without pains, labor and devotion to duty ? The man who neglects this is guilty, and the man who turns others to speculation and relaxa- tion of duty is equally guilty. One member m^y defraud for a corporation of a hundred or a thousand and be guilty, so is every man of the thousand that ap- proves his deeds equally guilty. The love of these sins caimot accord with the love of Christ in the soul. The love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred concerning the faiih and pierced themselves through with many sor- rows. This love is so ardent in the rich men of our day as to burn out all con- victions of wrongdoing, and sear their consciences into a cinder. Eveiy wicked- ness is employed to make wealth. Then when it is rotting in banks that give only to a certain extent interest and very low on deposits, half what they charge the borrower, these money men will lend at a ruinous per centage if they can, or on security three or four times the value, or as the appraiser is generally in their interest after a deposit is extorted from the borrower a valuation is made so low that he is swindled out of what he put up and the money cankers on. What resemblance have these slaves of mammon to Christ. What are they but tlKJ most virulent cancers consuming their own species, that are like the orientals prostrate under the wheels of their idols' cars. Are these wealthy slaves happy? Can their covenant with death save them from His syth ? Or their agreement with hell save them from its blue blazes and brimstone burnir.gs ? The trusts of oils, sugar, woollen, cotton and coal and insurances with every other combine are the white rots of humanity iii these degenerate days, and yet the clergy pro- nounce eulogies on our jige as if we were in the Zenetli of the millenium or in the heart of paradise itself. We have mentioned Daniel holding out the idea of repentance to the idola- trous Belshazzer, and showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of his tranquility ; and Peter to Simon Magus, repent of thy wickedness and pray God if the thoughts of thy heart may be forgiven thee. We say by the author- ity that commands repentance and remission of sins to be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, to all these enormous robbers of the poor in their lowering wages and extortionate prices repent and make restitution. What will your hundreds of millions do for you as impenitents in the abyss to which yju are driving with bicycle speed and recklessness. Others as mad in their love of the world as you repented. Zacheus gave half his goods to feed the poor and made a declaration unknowu in the mouth of a covetous mer- hirlricui.Tiiis or keliriun. ««5 chant, so that it is certain he repented and was accepted, but the extortioners of our day can gain by his experience only when they follow his example, \vhi<'.h is very doubtful, but which we earnestly exhort them to do, as their eternal des- tinies may be sus|)ended on their immediate actions. The Mediator was sent to bless such as ) ou are by turning every one of you away from your iniquities. Turn, gentlemen, at these reproofs and on the foundation such promises afTord and escape from the wrath to come. It was better for Saul of Jarsus, it was better for John Uunyan, it was better for humanity in all after ages that they repented and gave the ages a sample or more of how the chief of sinners can be saved. Then there is one grand statement for the encouragement of such Jerusalem sinners as we treat of and there is an efficiency about it almost start- ling only requiring the sinner's submission for its accomplishment and perfection. It is perhaps the lengthiest Greek word in the New Testament. We render it " that He might gather together in one" seven Saxon words contained in the one, and it not fully translated. The reader will excuse my giving the original word in English letters (Anakephalaiosasthai), the literal ran ering would be " that He might again gather together in One Head all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which arc on earth even in Him. " The gatherer as evidently the Father by His Holy Spirit, employing what subordinate means He may see good and fit. The power must be the most unquestionable, the means the most unobjectionable, as the results always prove inconiestably. The one Head is the Omnipotent Saviour, and the again implies at first a oneness, then a sad break up and scattering necessitating this second gathering. The parties gathered are the unfallen angels in their confirmation in alliegence to their King and Head. These are the things in heaven and the fallen sons of men redeemed by the precious blood of the Son of God, their Redeemer and Saviour, shed for the remission of their sins. The angels were fallible if not gathered under their King then they cannot fall, Adam and Kve were fallible and did fall, so did some of the angels, who are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness till the judgment of the great day. Angels are gathered, con- firmed, under Christ their King in the empire of heaven above, men fallen are gathered again into the service of their King from the colony of earih. But there is no gathering again from the aby-ss of darkness, no redemption thence. This is the grand encouragement for sinners of the darkest, deepest, deadliest hue who will not stubbornly resist divine grace to be drawn in and associated in this divine gathering. They were scattered by the fall and its fatal conse- quences from the true worshij) observed by the loyal angels and by our first parents at the origin of our race, and God's mode of uniting them again is this regathering in His Son even in Him. He that gathereth not with Christ, scat- tereih abroad for ever. Will men so love'the perishing things of this life as to sign and seal their eternal condemnation. The Redeemer shed tears over such lost souls as these that reservec' their own for the place of weeping and wailing. Will the millions and millionaires and the wretched poor that are as great money lovers though they cannot get it, cast themselves away as (the dross of silver) reprobates, who no man cares for, not even themselves, conjuring up difficulties in religion where none exist, except those wholly of their own making, when heaven's gates are not shut day or night till by their own hands these .sinners bar them against themselves and judge theraselve. unworthy of eternal life? To the sincere Christian, whether he hold the place of leader or follower, teacher or learner, who addresses himself earnestly to the work of acquainting himself with God and cultivating true devotion, there is the greatest of all pos- sible encouragements. Take this as an instance, " In whom (Christ) ye also W- a86 blKFlCULTIES UF RELIGION. trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation ; in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of pro- mise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the pur- chased possession, unto the praise of His glory. " In ("!hrist, united to Him by faith that worketh by love the believer is freed from the danger of condemna- tion, he is a new creature, he is a king and a priest to (iod, justified, pardoned an(J accepted, with his heart and spirit renewed, he is to oppose and conquer every form of sin indwelling and foreign, to till his soul as a treasury with the Word of Christ, promote the reign of the grace of (iod within his heart, live by the faith of the Son of God, and cultivate pure, tender, kindly affection to all the saints, rule his own spirit as well as his household, ever to speak truth with his fellow man, practice moderation, justice and temperance always ; but can he accomplish all this ? Yes, by grace, through Christ strengthening him, he can wait on the Lord and renew his strength, mount up with wings as eagles, run and not weary, walk and not faint. The promises of the gospel, exceeding great and precious, make him partaker of the divine nature, his adoption into the family of God makes him of the seed royal and blood royal of heaven, each Christian resembles the child of a king , old things are passed away, all things are become new, heart, spirit, conduct, character and life. His belief of the truth, pregnant with a world of knowledge about God and Christ to know which is li!'e eternal, has lifted him out of his corrupt state of nature from darkness to light, opened his blind eyes and healed them, Uiat they see the light and he be- lieves in this light, is no longer of the night or of darkness, then he is vigilent, walking circumspectly in wisdom, redeeming the time that the adversary may not get an advantage. It may be asked, Is he always conqueror? Alas, he is often fooled, but never suspends hostilities, never treats with the enemy, but as a conqueror, and sometimes rices to be more than conqueror through Him that loved him. The princes of the house of Orange, we are told often confessed that they learned more by their own blunders than otherwise. The Christian learns caution, patience, experience and hope, his penitence is real, and he strengthens the weak parts, but his source of true knowledge is the word of truth, the gospel of his salvation. Alexander's high birth kept him out of the Olympic games unless kings were his competitors. The Christian's high birth keeps him from all mean, sinful things. He cannot, he is unable to make up his mind to sin deliberately as worldlings do. because he is born of God. He is in daily communications with God, who speaks to him in His Word and hears and records his prayers. Enock walked with God. Yes, in that age that Sav- ants in their ignorance and blunderings call barbarous. By the new covenant of grace in Christ the way is opened for the flowing forth of gifts and favors. The Christian dispensation is by way bf eminence, the dispensation of the Spirit, which implies much more than even the Christian can be aware of in this limited confined condition, largely enlightened as it undoubtedly is, for he is only at school here, cultivating his powers to reach their manhood. Now the aid of Him in whori we live and move and have our being is so graciously given to carry on the work He has begun, that after men believe in Christ they are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory. The new born babe must be nourishhd, and the sincere milk of the word is given him that he may grow thereby. First life, then growth. The Holy Spirit is the author of this life, growth and health. The worldings receive him not, because he is invisible, and they look only at things that are seen, temporal and perish- ing. But believers know him for he dwelleth with them and in them, there DIFFICULTIES OF RELIGION. >87 bodies are his temples, guiding them into all truth, influencing their prayers and all their good wDiks. In the uhove (|uotati()U the Holy S|)irit is called a seal and an earnest a double security to the believer. The seal binds in the coven- ant. No man may reve»"se the writing in the name and sealed with the ring of the Persian king, how much surer this writing of ihe Lord and the human soul in covenant, ihe Greek in purchasing from the Persian the fine fabricks in merchaniile dealing, gave a piece of gold as an earnest which confirmed the contract, this the Persian kept till the remainder was paid and the Greek .vho returned not to fulfil the contract, lost the earnest. In this case the earnest makes the inheritance sure, the earnest is never lost. The word Holy generally comes before the Spirit, which is not always applied in the use of Father and Son, not because there is any distinction but because it is the work of the Spirit to make us holy. Then he is called the s|)irit of promise for two reasons, he is the promised spirit of the New Govenant, as the Holy Ghild Jesus was the pro- mise of the Old Testament. As the desire of all nations, the expectation of his people, the fulfilment of propliccies and promises, Christ came. The disciples were commanded to tarry at Jerusalem till they were endued with power from on high to wait for the promise which they had from Christ, they waited, and the fiftieth day, the first day of the week Penticost, the promise was fulfilled, the Spirit came, ihey were furnished, endued, endowed foi the work and went forth to conquer the world for their risen Lord. Then he is the spirit of promise, because he usually, if not always, raisi s the hopes, exalts the mind and more clearly opens up the way of the soul by a promise. Peter bears his infallible testimony here to the power of the promises. Exceeding gr?at and precious by which we are made partakers of the divine nature,having escaped the pollutions in the world through lusts. The word exceeding is the hyperbole so often used in the latter writings of the apostles, an indefinite word expressing an unknown quantity to us, what we cannot measure in the bulk fathom, in depth, nor measure, in lati- tude, or longitude, nor by diameters, immeasurably incomprehensibly great, the excellence of the new economy above the old, the excellence of the Christian above the Jewish dispensation exceed in glory, the voice from the excellent glory, from heaven itself, how well applied to the promises of God, which are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Are they not worthy of all faith, all trust, all confidence. Canaan was the land of promise, Isaac was by promise, Christ by promise, the Spirit by promise, salvation, eternal life, heaven, all by promise. Should any of my readers be without Christ, a stranger to the covenant of promise, under the wrath of God and exposed at any moment to the pouring out on him that wrath to the uttermost. What profit can he gain by the world, or pleasure, or wealth and loose his own soul, fail to obtain eternal life, and be cast away for the ages of ages, into the blackness of darkness, to take part only in the eternal wail of the lost? Think fellow mortal of your danger and be persuaded to escape from it. Will you be satisfied with the excuse that you could not fathom the mys- teries of religion ? That you could not believe in a God or a heaven you never saw is no plea for how much do you believe in that lies in the region of the in- visible. Your sin is against the living God that has lent you your existence. He opens the door of His kingdom to you and you pass it by and tran.sgress against your own soul, prefer death to life, turn the tnithof it into a lie, worship the creature in the face, under the eyes of the Creator. You reject the atone- ment made by the Son of God that sacrifice of the .sincerest and purest love ever unfolded in the created uni%erse. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life. By giving His life, shedding His blood, He redeemed us. a88 DirriCULTIES OF RELIGION. Wc arc purchased, ransomed, redeemed, but not wiih corru|)til)lc ihioKs as silver and Kold -but with the precious l)lood of Christ— again redeemed us by His blood out of every kindred, and redeemed without money, l)Oiighi back, boiiglu with a |)rice. These ex|)ressions ought to settle all conirovcrsies about the redeemed. You despise the Spirit offering so often to apply that mcritoiiotis sacrifice to cover all your demerit and ihe deformity of your fallen guilty spirit. If you are chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and Ixlief of the truth, you can only be saved by bclievini, the truth, and through that tnitlt being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In love you are set out for salvation, then redeemed, ransomed, then sanctified, and ma