Life in the Clearings versus the Bush Part 38

The Wesleyan Methodists always "pray the old year out and the new year in," as it is termed here, and they could not celebrate its advent in a more rational and improving manner. Their midnight anthem of praise is a sacred and beautiful offering to Him, whose vast existence is not meted out like ours, and measured by days and years.

Large parties given to very young children, which are so common in this country, are very pernicious in the way in which they generally operate upon youthful minds. They foster the pa.s.sions of vanity and envy, and produce a love of dress and display which is very repulsive in the character of a child. Little girls who are in the constant habit of attending these parties, soon exchange the natural manners and frank simplicity so delightful at their age, for the confidence and flippancy of women long hacked in the ways of the world.

For some time after I settled in the town, I was not myself aware that any evil could exist in a harmless party of children playing together at the house of a mutual friend. But observation has convinced me that I was in error; that these parties operate like a forcing bed upon young plants, with this difference, that they bring to maturity the seeds of _evil_, instead of those of goodness and virtue, and that a child accustomed to the heated atmosphere of pleasure, is not likely in maturer years to enjoy the pure air and domestic avocations of home.

These juvenile parties appear to do less mischief to boys than to girls.

They help to humanize the one, and to make heartless coquets of the other. The boys meet for a down-right romping play with each other; the girls to be caressed and admired, to show off their fine dresses, and to gossip about the dress and appearance of their neighbours.

I know that I shall be called hard-hearted for this a.s.sertion; but it is true. I have frequently witnessed what I relate, both at my own house and the houses of others; and those who will take the pains to listen to the conversation of these miniature women, will soon yield a willing a.s.sent to my observations, and keep their little ones apart from such scenes, in the pure atmosphere of home. The garden or the green field is the best place for children, who can always derive entertainment and instruction from nature and her beautiful works. Left to their own choice, the gay party would be a _bore_, far less entertaining than a game of blind-man's buff in the school-room, when lessons were over. It is the vanity of parents that fosters the same spirit in their children.

The careless, disrespectful manner often used in this country by children to their parents, is an evil which in all probability originates in this early introduction of young people into the mysteries of society. They imagine themselves persons of consequence, and that their opinion is quite equal in weight to the experience and superior knowledge of their elders. We cannot imagine a more revolting sight than a young lad presuming to treat his father with disrespect and contempt, and daring presumptuously to contradict him before ignorant idlers like himself.

"You are wrong, Sir; it is not so"--"Mamma, that is not true; I know better," are expressions which I have heard with painful surprise from young people in this country; and the parents have sunk into silence, evidently abashed at the reproof of an insolent child.

These remarks are made with no ill-will, but with a sincere hope that they may prove beneficial to the community at large, and be the means of removing some of the evils which are to be found in our otherwise pleasant and rapidly-improving society.

I know that it would be easier for me to gain the approbation of the Canadian public, by exaggerating the advantages to be derived from a settlement in the colony, by praising all the good qualities of her people, and by throwing a flattering veil over their defects; but this is not my object, and such servile adulation would do them no good, and degrade me in my own eyes. I have written what I consider to be the truth, and as such I hope it may do good, by preparing the minds of emigrants for what they will _really find_, rather than by holding out fallacious hopes that can never be realized.

In "Roughing it in the Bush," I gave an honest personal statement of _facts_. I related nothing but what had really happened; and if ill.u.s.trations were wanting of persons who had suffered _as much_, and been reduced to the same straits, I could furnish a dozen volumes without having to travel many hundred miles for subjects.

We worked hard and struggled manfully with overwhelming difficulties, yet I have been abused most unjustly by the Canadian papers for revealing some of the mysteries of the Backwoods. Not one word was said _against the country_ in my book, as was falsely a.s.serted. It was written as a warning to well-educated persons not to settle in localities for which they were unfitted by their _previous habits and education_. In this I hoped to confer a service both on them and Canada; for the _prosperous_ settlement of such persons on cleared farms must prove more beneficial to the colony than their _ruin in the bush_.

It was likewise very cruelly and falsely a.s.serted, that I had spoken ill of the _Irish people_, because I described the revolting scene we witnessed at Grosse Isle, the actors in which were princ.i.p.ally Irish emigrants of the _very lowest cla.s.s_. Had I been able to give the whole details of what we saw on that island, the terms applied to the people who furnished such disgusting pictures would have been echoed by their own countrymen. This was one of those cases in which it was _impossible_ to reveal the _whole truth_.

The few Irish characters that occur in my narrative have been drawn with an _affectionate_, not a malignant hand. We had very few Irish settlers round us in the bush, and to them I never owed the least obligation. The contrary of this has been a.s.serted, and I am accused of _ingrat.i.tude_ by one editor for benefits I never received, and which I was too proud to ask, always preferring to work with my own hands, rather than to _borrow_ or _beg_ from others. All the kind acts of courtesy I received from the _poor Indians_ this gentleman thought fit to turn over to the Irish, in order to hold me up as a monster of ingrat.i.tude to his countrymen.

In the case of Jenny Buchannon and John Monaghan, _the only two Irish people_ with whom I had anything to do, the benefits were surely mutual.

Monaghan came to us a runaway apprentice,--not, by-the-bye, the best recommendation for a servant. We received him starving and ragged, paid him good wages, and treated him with great kindness. The boy turned out a grateful and attached creature, which cannot possible confer the opposite character upon us.

_Jenny's love and affection_ will sufficiently prove _our ingrat.i.tude_ to _her_. To the good qualities of these people I have done ample justice.

In what, then, does my ingrat.i.tude to the _Irish people_ consist? I should feel much obliged to the writer in the _London Observer_ to enlighten me on this head, or those editors of Canadian papers, who, without reading for themselves, servilely copied a _falsehood_.

It is easy to pervert people's words, and the facts they may represent, to their injury; and what I have said on the subject of education may give a handle to persons who delight in misrepresenting the opinions of others, to accuse me of republican principles; I will, therefore, say a few words on this subject, which I trust will exonerate me from this imputation.

That all men, morally speaking, are equal in the eyes of their Maker, appears to me a self-evident fact, though some may be called by His providence to rule, and others to serve. That the welfare of the most humble should be as dear to the country to which he belongs as the best educated and the most wealthy, seems but reasonable to a reflective mind, who looks upon man as a responsible and immortal creature; but, that _perfect equality_ can exist in a world where the labour of man is required to procure the common necessaries of life--where the industry of one will create wealth, and the sloth of another induce poverty--we cannot believe.

Some master spirit will rule, and the ma.s.ses will bow down to superior intellect, and the wealth and importance which such minds never fail to acquire. The laws must be enforced, and those to whom the charge of them is committed will naturally exercise authority, and demand respect.

Perfect equality never did exist upon earth. The old republics were more despotic and exclusive in their separation of the different grades than modern monarchies; and in the most enlightened, that of Greece, the plague spot of slavery was found. The giant republic, whose rising greatness throws into shade the once august names of Greece and Rome, suffers this heart-corroding leprosy to cleave to her vitals, and sully her fair fame, making her boasted vaunt of _equality_ a base lie--the scorn of all Christian men.

They thrust the enfranchised African from their public tables--born beneath their own skies, a native of their own soil, a free citizen by their own Declaration of Independence; yet exclaim, in the face of this _black_ injustice--"Our people enjoy equal rights." Alas! for Columbia's _sable sons!_ Where is their equality? On what footing do they stand with their white brethren? What value do they place upon the negro beyond his price in dollars and cents? Yet is he equal in the sight of Him who gave him a rational soul, and afforded him the means of attaining eternal life.

We are advocates for _equality of mind_--for a commonwealth of intellect; we earnestly hope for it, ardently pray for it, and we feel a confident belief in the possibility of our theory. We look forward to the day when honest labour will be made honourable; when he who serves, and he who commands, will rejoice in this freedom of soul together; when both master and servant will enjoy a reciprocal communion of mind, without lessening the respect due from the one to the other.

But equality of station is a dream--an error which is hourly contradicted by reality. As the world is at present const.i.tuted, such a state of things is impossible. The rich and the educated will never look upon the poor and ignorant as their equals; and the voice of the public, that is ever influenced by wealth and power, will bear them out in their decision.

The country is not yet in existence that can present us a better government and wiser inst.i.tutions than the British. Long may Canada recognise her rule, and rejoice in her sway! Should she ever be so unwise as to relinquish the privileges she enjoys under the sovereignty of the mother country, she may seek protection _nearer_ and _fare worse!_ The sorrows and trials that I experienced during my first eight years'

residence in Canada, have been more than counterbalanced by the remaining twelve of comfort and peace. I have long felt the deepest interest in her prosperity and improvement. I no longer regard myself as an alien on her sh.o.r.es, but her daughter by adoption,--the happy mother of Canadian children,--rejoicing in the warmth and hospitality of a Canadian Home!

May the blessing of G.o.d rest upon the land! and her people ever prosper under a religious, liberal, and free government!

For London.

A National Song.

"For London! for London! how oft has that cry From the blue waves of ocean been wafted on high, When the tar through the grey mist that mantled the tide, The white cliffs of England with rapture descried, And the sight of his country awoke in his heart Emotions no object save home can impart!

For London! for London! the home of the free, There's no part in the world, royal London, like thee!

"Old London! what ages have glided away, Since cradled in rushes thy infancy lay!

In thy rude huts of timber the proud wings lay furl'd Of a spirit whose power now o'ershadows the world, And the brave chiefs who built and defended those towers, Were the sires of this glorious old city of ours.

For London! for London! the home of the free, There's no city on earth, royal London, like thee!

"The Roman, the Saxon, the Norman, the Dane, Have in turn sway'd thy sceptre, thou queen of the main!

Their spirits though diverse, uniting made one, Of nations the n.o.blest beneath yon bright sun; With the genius of each, and the courage of all, No foeman dare plant hostile flag on thy wall.

For London! for London! the home of the free, There's no city on earth, royal London, like thee!

"Old Thames rolls his waters in pride at thy feet, And wafts to earth's confines thy riches and fleet; Thy temples and towers, like a crown on the wave, Are hail'd with a thrill of delight by the brave, When, returning triumphant from conquests afar, They wreathe round thy altars the trophies of war.

For London! for London! the home of the free, There's no part in the world, royal London, like thee!

"Oh, London! when we, who exulting behold Thy splendour and wealth, in the dust shall be cold, May sages, and heroes, and patriots unborn, Thy altars defend, and thy annals adorn!

May thy power be supreme on the land of the brave, The feeble to succour, the fallen to save, And the sons and the daughters now cradled by thee, Find no city on earth like the home of the free!"