possess, over the British possessions in this hemis- been commenced at Alexandria, extending in the phere; and to contend against prejudices, that same direction, probably it never will be finished. have been engendered by misrepresentations Descending that river, we arrive at Norfolk, only which have been industriously disseminated, and to be again disappointed, and on reaching Wilwhich have been strengthened in no ordinary de-mington, in North Carolina, the terminus of the gree, by the apparently superior condition of the Northern railroad, the appearance of things have American population, in the vicinity of the Canadian boundary line; and which is incorrectly supposed to demonstrate an advanced state of society throughout the entire Union, than which no conclusion could be more erroneous. European writers, who have visited that Country and who have partially travelled in the Northern section of the United States, have been at a loss to account for the comparatively prosperous condition of our American neighbours, when compared wtih that of the Colonies; and have been led to attribute this discrepance to superior intelligence and activity, the offspring of republican institutions; but which in reality, is the result of intense exertion and untiring industry-the legacy left them by the original settlers of the country, one far superior to wealth and fortune. Throughout the whole extent of the United rather deteriorated than improved. Thence a steamboat conveys the traveller in ten or twelve hours to Charleston, South Carolina, the population of which has not increased to any extent in the last twenty years; although during the season when cotton is shipped, it is a place of considerable commercial activity. A similar remark will apply to Savannah, the place of shipment from Georgia; although recently it is on the increase, owing to the projected railroads which are in part completed, connecting it with Florida, and by which, produce can be conveyed from the shores of the Ohio. In North Carolina education has been but little disseminated among the lower order of whites, and in Georgia, where the country people are termed "Crackers," they are the most miserable looking and ignorant class of persons to be conceived; and I never met one of them, without thinking of the Palmer in "Marmion,” and repeating to myself,- "Poor wretch! the mother that him bare, If we pass on to Mobile, at the mouth of the Alabama River, we find a place of more activity, but dependent entirely upon the shipment of cotton, and affected in a most extraordinary degree, by the slightest fluctuation in the price of that article in the British market,-showing conclusively, that it has no innate resources upon which to rely; and it is only on arriving at New Orleans that we witness the busy scenes of Baltimore, Boston and New York; but which is referable to the introduction of northern enterprise, and the establishment of European Houses there. American insti States, the same fundamental laws prevail, and the same free institutions exist; and yet the British Colonies offer no more striking contrast, than is exhibited between the Northern and Southern States. The moment you cross the Potomac and enter Virginia, you meet with the same inertness, with which the inhabitants of the British Provinces are charged; and after you leave Baltimore, generally speaking, there is no longer to be seen, the energy and enterprise of the North. The railroad will transport the traveller in less than two hours, from that stirring and thriving city to Washington, and a sail of half an hour will convey him to Alexandria, the commerce of which at one time exceeded that of New York; but the streets appear to be deserted, and the town is said to have scarcely advanced within the Last half century. It is true, a railroad has recent-tutions and example, have wrought no change in ly been commenced, which will lead into the interior, and a canal connects with the Cumberland mines in another direction; but as yet with little accompanying benefit, if a judgment can be formed from the appearance of the place. Proceeding to Richmond, the capital of the State, although it is a more busy place, yet it has not made that progress, which from its position, one would be led to expect; and a canal that was commenced soon after the close of the revolutionary war, meant to extend to the Blue Ridge, connecting it with James River at Richmond is not yet completed; and now that a railroad has the character of the original inhabitants of the place, among whom there are old persons, as I understood when there, who have never crossed the street, which separates the American from the French and Spanish Municipality. Advancing up the Mississippi, Baton Rouge, Vicksburg, Natchez, and Memphis, are the only places at which the steamboats usually call, Louisville, on the Ohio, is reached—a distance of five hundred miles from New Orleans in a direct line, and by the circuitous route of the river probably two hundred more. Louisville is a place of considerable trade, settled, as the Western States necessarily were, from the north, and where I even met with two natives of Nova Scotia; but it is not till Cincinnati is reached that the enter prise and energy of the Northern States is fully developed, in the establishment of extensive iron and cotton manufactories, the curing of immense quantities of pork, and the employment of Germans in the cultivation of the vine, and extensively in horticultural and agricultural pursuits. I am aware that much of the backward condition of the Southern States, may be attributed to the existence of slavery, which tends to degrade labour; yet after making every allowance for this incubus, for such it really is, still they stand out in marked contrast with the North; and even the tardy advancement they have made may be attributed to the immigration of persons from that section of the Union, who have engaged in mercantile and partially in mechanical pursuits, or who are cultivating farms in Virginia and Western Georgia-resuscitating the worn-out soil and rendering it productive. It will be seen from this brief survey of the Southern portion of the American Union, that whatever improvement has been made in the condition of the country, is mainly attributable to the presence of people from the North and from the New England States, who have carried with them the same indomitable energy and enterprise which enabled the latter to establish for themselves and their posterity a prosperous and happy home, on the comparatively bleak and barren shores of Massachusetts and Maine,-to form themselves into incipient republics, and ultimately to incite the other States to take up arms against the government of the Parent Country, when it sought to violate the constitution, and ultimately to succeed in establishing the independence of the United States. Scarcely had this happened, when the first French revolution astonished the world, the germ of which had been transported from America; and England became involved in a war with France, which lasted upwards of twenty years, during which the Colonies necessarily experienced but little of that fostering care, so necessary for their advancement; the energies of the nation being directed against the common enemy. Their trade was also cramped and circumscribed by those restrictive laws, once deemed so essential to British interests in the Mother Country. Still immigration had gone on slowly but steadily advancing, and in 1827, the population of Nova Scotia, including Cape Breton, according to the census of that year, was 153,848,-that of New Brunswick was probably 100,000,-of Prince Edward Island, 40,000; while that of Lower Canada, which in 1763 was 70,000, had increased in 1825 to 450,000; and that of Upper Canada, which in 1783 was estimated at only 10,000 souls, in 1826 had reached 231,778. The population of Prince Edward Island has now attained, if my recollection serves me, 70,000-that of New Brunswick, 170,000,-of Nova Scotia, 200,000; and United Canada contains nearly two millions of inhabitants. While the British Colonies were gradually increasing during the long French and short American war, the United States were advancing in their career of prosperity, owing to causes with which their institutions had nothing to do. Occupying a neutral position, they monopolized almost all the carrying trade of France; men of property fled from that country and San Domingo, and an influx of wealth, amounting almost to plethora, was the inevitable result. Since that period, immigration has been directed to their shores, from the Continent of Europe and the British Isles, every pains having been taken to allure immigrants thither; until the population, which, at the termination of the war of independence, did not exceed three millions, at present is upwards of twenty. At the period when that event occurred, the British Provinces were still in their infancy, Canada having but recently been conquered by the British arms, and Nova Scotia, which had repeatedly changed masters, together with Cape The application of steam to the propulsion of Breton and Prince Edward Island, then called the vessels on rivers and lakes, opened up a new era, Island of St. John, having been permanently and facilitated the settlement of the far distant ceded by the treaty of 1763. At this time there West; and an unrestricted and profitable comwere in these Colonies a large population of Aca-merce has been carried on by its active citizens, dian French, to which was added, at the close of with the most remote parts of the globe; while at the revolutionary war, an influx of refugees from the United States, who settled in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, which was then formed into a distinct Province; and numbers of these loyal men, with their families, also sought refuge in Canada home manufactories and the useful arts have been introduced, and have made considerable progress. This is the bright and most pleasing side of the picture; but, on the other hand, faction has reared its hydra-head;-the North is arrayed against the South, and the South against the North,--the new new. States against the old, and the old against the Then the two prominent parties of Whigs and Democrats, which are doggedly opposed to each other, are split up into Free-Soilers, Unionists, State-rights Men, Abolitionists, Barn-Burners, Old Hunkers, Young Americans, and Old Fogies; and every four years the Union is convulsed to its very centre, as is the case at the present moment, with reference to the selection of a President, involving a struggle for office. adopted in relation to British subjects, who are at present toiling amid disappointment and estrangement, many of whom have relatives in Canada, a vast number of these men would avail themselves of the offer of one hundred acres, on similar terms, who would become excellent members of society, the more firmly attached to British rule from what they have seen of Republican institutions. With reference to soil and climate, I can perThe extension of territory, growing out of the ceive no advantage which the United States posacquisition of Texas, and the consequent Mexican sess in either of these respects, over the British war, must have the effect of perpetuating the Colonies; nor are they at all richer in mineral excitement which at present prevails; and may resources, which abound in Nova Scotia, New ultimately lead to disastrous results, affecting the Brunswick and Canada. As to soil, that of the integrity of the Union, should Congress deter- States of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, mine that the area of slavery shall not be enlarged, and even New York, does not equal in fertility in accordance with the prevailing sentiments of that of the British Provinces; and although the the age, the dictates of humanity, and even the spring may open a little earlier south of New interest of the new States themselves, which may England, yet the same bleak and inclement weahereafter be formed, it being very generally ad- ther everywhere prevails until June, which is mitted at the South, that hired labour would be experienced in the extreme north of New Brunsinfinitely more advantageous than that of slaves. wick; and it is not until Mobile and New Orleans The great difficulty attending their manumission are reached, that its chilling influence ceases to being, as to the disposal of them if they were free; be felt. In the Southern States the summer seaas when they have been enfranchised, even to a son is prolific of disease; and such is the malaria partial extent, they are found to be an incum- of North and South Carolina, that exposure at brance-so much so, that there is evidently a night is almost certain death; and even the nedetermination to expatriate them by legal enact- groes who cultivate the rice plantations, suffer ment. Add to all this, the interminable excite- from the miasma arising from the low and swampy ment and turmoil, caused by the frequent recur-lands, which generally proves fatal to those who rence of elections for State officers, judges, and have been unaccustomed to it from infancy. other local public functionaries, and it will at once be perceived, that the United States offer but little inducement to the lover of domestic tranquillity and happiness, to select that country for his permanent abode. During my tours through the United States, I have frequently come in contact with natives of the British Isles, who were employed in the manufactories at the North, whom I found very intelligent men, and who had been disappointed in the expectations they had formed, previous to their arrival. The wages they obtained, they said, were nominally higher, but employment was very uncertain; and they could live better in England on a dollar a day, than they could in the United States. The only advantage which they offered, over the Mother Country, was in the greater facilities afforded for educating their children; but which may be as readily obtained in the Colonies. I would here observe, that a Bill has recently passed the House of Representatives, granting one hundred and sixty acres of land, to settlers not worth five hundred dollars. Were this plan If we revert to the British Provinces, we find a totally altered state of affairs, from what existed even five-and-twenty years ago; and had one-half the concessions been made to the former Colonies, they never would have revolted-whose object was not to rebel, but to obtain an acknowledg ment of their rights as British subjects. Those laws which were formerly inimical to trade, have been repealed, and the vessel of the Colonist may freely navigate every sea; the sole and exclusive right to levy duties and expend the revenue which they yield, has been conceded to their legislative bodies; the Crown Lands, of immense value, over which in the United States, Congress exercises paramount control, have been surrendered to the local governments. The Custom House, which furnished such ample ground of complaint, to the former Colonies of Great Britain, retains but the shadow of its former self, there being no longer any Imperial duties to collect. The management of the Post Office and its revenues has been yielded to the Provincial Governments. And the Colonial Governors must select for their advisers, men who possess the confidence by any community in America. In New Bruns of a majority of the representatives of the people Thus, in a financial point of view, the position cf the Colonist is superior to that of the citizen of the United States. With reference to the superior natural and other advantages which the British Provinces possess over the United States, it would far exceed the proper limits of this paper were I to attempt minutely to describe them. In the Bay of Fundy, on the coast of Nova Scotia, around Prince Edward Island, and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the water literally teems with life; and no where can the fisheries be carried on more beneficially for internal consumption and the supply of foreign markets. Swarms of fishing vessels from Salem, Cape Cod, Marble Head, and other places in their vicinity, annually proceed to the fishing grounds to the northward of Prince Edward Island and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which can only compete with the British fishermen, by means of a bounty that is granted by the State Legislature, owing to the length of the voyage, and the fish having to be brought home salted down in bulk, and cured after their arrival, foreigners not being allowed to land and cure the fish near where they are caught. When Prince Edward Island was surrendered by the French, in 1745, it had 10,000 head of black cattle; several of the farmers raised annually 12,000 bushels of wheat; and it was so much improved as to be called the granary of Canada. It is yet a fine agricultural country, where several English gentlemen of wealth and standing, have purchased delightful residences; and if the island is not so productive as it should be, it is owing to the indolent habits of its population, many of whom are French, and the unfortunate propensity for lumbering and ship-building, which formerly prevailed to such an extent as to involve those engaged in these pursuits in inevitable ruin, during the panic of 1826. Cape Breton, lying to the eastward of Nova Scotia, and forming part of that Province, from which it is separated by the Gut of Canso, is also a highly fertile island; the eastern and northeastern portions of which have been settled chiefly by immigrants from Scotland; and it abounds with mineral coal of the finest quality, the mines of which are worked by a wealthy English company, as are those of Pictou, on the eastern part of Nova Scotia proper. That Province is in a high state of cultivation; the blessings of education have there been widely diffused; and it possesses a population not to be exceeded, as respects comfort and intelligence, wick the lumbering pursuit has produced the same disastrous results, which are everywhere its attendants; and the consequence is, that cleared land may be obtained at a reasonable rate, numbers of farmers having been ruined, and there is abundance of public land in the market. Greater attention is being paid to emigration than formerly, and the public schools are under the surveillance of a Superintendent, in whom the utmost confidence may be placed. The river St. John, flowing through the heart of the Province, and emptying into the Bay of Fundy, and the Miramichi, which discharges its waters into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connect the interior with the ocean at two distant points. Of the natural and ample resources of Canada, it were unnecessary to say more, than that with a soil of the richest quality, with lakes and rivers of immense magnitude, and with a climate unsurpassed in salubrity in any part of America, it offers every inducement to the emigrant in search of a home; whom the means of water communication will enable to reach the most distant points of settlement, with ease and facility. At length, as in Virginia, the attention of the inhabitants of Canada is being turned to railroad improvement, by which the river Detroit will be connected, in a direct line, with the head of Lake OntarioToronto with the Georgian Bay and the beautiful Lake Simcoe-Kingston with Montreal—and Bytown with the St. Lawrence. And should the negotiations at present going on with British Companies prove successful, a main trunk line will connect Canada with the Atlantic, at the spacious harbour of Halifax,—the other terminus of which will ultimately be on the shores of the Pacific. In addition to the natural advantages and resources of the British Provinces, the British subject-and to such I would more particularly address myself-has the happiness and privilege of continuing to live under British institutions, and is protected by laws that are promptly and impartially administered. Republican institutions may be all very well for those who have been born, educated and brought up under them; and it is evident that no other form of government would suit the American people, who consider monarchy and despotism as synonymous terms. But that they afford greater or even equal protection to life, or secure a greater degree of freedom-either civil or religious, than is possessed by the' inhabitants of the British Colonies, I very much doubt; and the opinion I entertain will, I am sure, meet with approval from every dispassionate and unpre-required to render these Provinces as flourishing judiced American, who has visited Europe, and as the United States, is the vigorous improvement observed the operation of the British Constitution. of the advantages they possess, a cordial union That a native of the British Isles may perma- among themselves, and enlightened legislation. nently fix his abode in the United States, and will A prevailing characteristic of the present age, is experience much hospitality and kindness, I read-an impious discontent-from which the citizens of ily admit; but he will not meet with congenial the Republic, possessing all the points of Chartism, minds among the American population, nor those are not exempt. To check and control this evil habits and tastes to which he has been accustomed; propensity of our nature, should be the study and he can feel no interest in the political struggle, endeavour of every man who values the welfare which is continually occurring; and the tangled and tranquillity of himself and those around him; web of American politics, it would be folly in him and of this all may be assured, that the absence to attempt to unravel. He may even swear alle- of contentment is the fruitful source of much of giance to the United States, and renounce that the discomfort and disappointment in life. which he owes to his native country; but while this invests him with the rights of a citizen, it will not exalt him in the estimation of those among whom he has established his home. The true American is an ardent admirer and lover of his country, and like the knight of old, is ready to break a lance with whoever doubts the peerless perfection of the object of his affection; and he doubts the fidelity and truthfulness of the man, in his new character, who would renounce his fealty to his sovereign, and "With soul so dead Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land; Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, From wandering on a foreign strand.” It is to the Provinces, therefore, that a British subject should direct his steps, when quitting, probably forever, the home of his childhood; where he will enjoy liberty without licentiousness; is eligible to fill every office of trust or emolument, to which he can reasonably aspire, and for which he may be qualified; where he will retain the proud and enviable position of a subject of that sovereign, upon whose empire the sun never sets -may listen to those national airs that have gladdened his heart from childhood; be cheered on his way to the temple of his God, by the sound of the church-going bell, reminding him, perhaps, of "The village church among the trees. Where once his marriage vows were given, and be protected by that noble flag, which, "for With the removal of all vexatious restrictions upon trade, has vanished all civil and religious disabilities in the British Colonies,-all disqualifications founded on difference in religious creeds; everywhere liberal and ample provision is made for the promotion of education; and all that is ILLUSION. AMICUS. Ah! "could we think !" but who that sails E'er dreamt of storms, and rising gales, Of graves "five fathom deep Who that beholds the blooming rose, Who thinks upon December's snows, Her loveliest robe puts on! Is gazing, joy imprest, His glories lost shall be.- Could we time's secret working trace FORGET ME NOT. G. Flower of remembrance fond, the token, The rushing current of regret restrain, Who that e'er wept does not too dearly know. G. |