Life in the Clearings versus the Bush | Page 5

I knew that their prayers would follow me on
my long journey, and the cherub Hope was still at my side, to whisper
of happy hours and restored health and spirits. I blessed God, for the
love of those young kindred hearts, and for having placed their home in
such a charming locality.
Next to the love of God, the love of nature may be regarded as the
purest and holiest feeling of the human breast. In the outward beauty of
his creation, we catch a reflection of the divine image of the Creator,
which refines the intellect, and lifts the soul upward to Him. This innate
perception of the beautiful, however, is confined to no rank or situation,
but is found in the most barren spots, and surrounded by the most
unfavourable circumstances; wherever the sun shines and warms, or the
glory of the moon and stars can be seen at night, the children of genius
will find a revelation of God in their beams. But there is not a doubt
that those born and brought up among scenes of great natural sublimity
and beauty, imbibe this feeling in a larger degree, and their minds are
more easily imbued with the glorious colouring of romance,--the
inspired visions of the poet.
Dear patient reader! whether of British or Canadian origin, as I wish to
afford you all the amusement in my power, deign to accompany me on
my long journey. Allow me a woman's privilege of talking of all sorts
of things by the way. Should I tire you with my desultory mode of
conversation, bear with me charitably, and take into account the

infirmities incidental to my gossiping sex and age. If I dwell too long
upon some subjects, do not call me a bore, or vain and trifling, if I pass
too lightly over others. The little knowledge I possess, I impart freely,
and wish that it was more profound and extensive, for your sake.
Come, and take your seat with me on the deck of the steamer; and as
we glide over the waters of this beautiful Bay of Quinte, I will make
you acquainted with every spot worthy of note along its picturesque
shores.
An English lady, writing to me not long ago, expressed her weariness
of my long stories about the country of my adoption, in the following
terms:--"Don't fill your letters to me with descriptions of Canada. Who,
in England, thinks anything of Canada!"
Here the pride so common to the inhabitants of the favoured isles spoke
out. This is perhaps excusable in those who boast that they belong to a
country that possesses, in an eminent degree, the attributes bestowed by
old Jacob on his first-born,--"the excellency of dignity, and the
excellency of power." But, to my own thinking, it savoured not a little
of arrogance, and still more of ignorance, in the fair writer; who, being
a woman of talent, should have known better. A child is not a man, but
his progress is regarded with more attention on that account; and his
future greatness is very much determined by the progress he makes in
his youth.
To judge Canada by the same standard, she appears to be a giant for her
years, and well worthy the most serious contemplation. Many are the
weary, overtasked minds in that great, wealthy, and powerful England,
that turn towards this flourishing colony their anxious thoughts, and
would willingly exchange the golden prime of the mother country for
the healthy, vigorous young strength of this, her stalwart child, and
consider themselves only too happy in securing a home upon these free
and fertile shores.
Be not discouraged, brave emigrant. Let Canada still remain the bright
future in your mind, and hasten to convert your present day-dream into
reality. The time is not far distant when she shall be the theme of many

tongues, and the old nations of the world will speak of her progress
with respect and admiration. Her infancy is past, she begins to feel her
feet, to know her own strength, and see her way clearly through the
wilderness. Child as you may deem her, she has already battled bravely
for her own rights, and obtained the management of her own affairs.
Her onward progress is certain. There is no if in her case. She possesses
within her own territory all the elements of future prosperity, and she
must be great!
The men who throng her marts, and clear her forests, are workers, not
dreamers,--who have already realized Solomon's pithy proverb, "In all
labour is profit;" and their industry has imbued them with a spirit of
independence which cannot fail to make them a free and enlightened
people.
An illustration of the truth of what I advance, can be given in the pretty
town we