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 Title: A warning to the Canadian land company, in a letter 
 
 addressed to that body 
 
 Publisher, year: Kingston, U.C. : Printed at the Herald Office, 1824 
 
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 ISBN of reproduction: 978-1-77096-097-8 
 
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A WARNING 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CANADIAN LAND COMPANY, 
 
 IN a letter 
 
 ADDRESSED TO THAT BODY 
 
 RESIDENT IN 
 
 UPPER CANADA. 
 
 1824. 
 
 
 KINGSTON, U. C. 
 
 PRINTED AT THE HERALD OFFICE. 
 
 18 24 . 
 
TO TflE CANADIAN PUBLIC. 
 
 H AVING dispatched the following letter addressed to the Cana 
 diaii Land Company for publication in London, at the solici- 
 t'Uiun of frien is, to whom 1 showed the manuscript, I have been in- 
 duced to give it to Mr. Thomson for publication here; which certain- 
 ly may answer a good end, a* it will afford an opportunity to any in 
 this country, who may see things in a different point of view from 
 myself, to combat my positions, so that the Company maybe in no 
 danger of being led astray by wrong information. 
 
 The und rtaking they are about to engage in. is of vast national 
 importance, as respects both Great Britain and this country. For 
 the latter, it may fix its destiny for at least a century to come, and 
 may have more to do with the destinies of the former, than some, glo- 
 rying in their might, may be able or willing to foresee. For my own 
 part, I heartily concur in the following sentiments, taken from a late 
 essay, on the subject of a free trade to China. , 
 
 England ! if thou’d’st be England still, 
 
 Secore from kutuii r, as from present ill ; 
 
 Nerve well thy Tiia-muti-antic arm. 
 
 And worlds combin’d, can’t do thee harm. 
 
 Eut if thou damm’st the channels up, 
 
 Through which the life’s blood free should flow, 
 
 And it be wither’d ; then thy cup 
 Will flow with grief and bitter woe.” 
 
 It is then of the first consequence, that the Company should pro- 
 reed on the fullest information ; for a few wrong steps at the com- 
 mencement, may plunge both themsejves and the Province, into irre- 
 mediable evils. It has already been attempted to impose on them a 
 belief, that the only thing wanted here is capital. No idea can be 
 more erroneous, and if the Company act upon such an assumption, 
 they will do so at their cost. To say that this country wants nothing 
 but capital, is just the same as saying of a man who is starving to 
 death, because he cannot swallow on account of a swelling in his 
 throat, that lie wants nothing but fqpd ! What signifies giving such 
 a man food ? will he mb spit it out and slaver his chin with it ? All 
 the food in the world will not save him from death : neither will all 
 the Capital, the Canadian Company can throw into this Province, 
 impart to it the ! ea^t benefit. As fast as it is injected, it will disdain- 
 fully flow back, incensed at its ignoble servitude. 
 
 Has not Canada a swelling in her throat? Though she have one 
 of the widest throats in the world, it is literally stopped up. She is 
 not able to receive solid food, but must, like first & second childhood, 
 be fed with pap. till her whole frame be as ricketty as an old wicker 
 basket, when she may be kii ked and cuffed to the Devil, at the plea- 
 sure of every upstart sycophant. Her throat must be unstopped; 
 the St. Lawrence must be undamtned, before any solid food can be 
 administered, to nourish her vitals, and brace her sinews. Have 
 you not had experience of the effect of a Utile Capital being thrown 
 into the Province ? During the war was not abundance of Capital 
 thrown into the Province ? Where is it now ? Has it staid her* ? 
 
Ill 
 
 no, it has lied, because there was no employment for it. So would it 
 be with the Company’s Capital ; it would make a wonder us show 
 for a little while ; but yet a little while, and the hue and cry bout 
 the scarcity of money would he again raised. Suppose we had all 
 the Capital of England in Canada, and were prohibited from selling, 
 and forced to buy every necessary at the dearest rate, don't you think, 
 that constant buying, and consuming, would bring it to an end ? — 
 Will the Company’s Capital open to us foreign markets? no, but it 
 will clear our lands. What signifies clearing the lands, if their pro* 
 duce cannot be sold ? It is Capital thrown away, and profits nobo- 
 dy. 'Die condition of this province is not irremediable, and whe- 
 ther the Company bring forward their Capital or no, is of r.mall con- 
 sequence, if the Representatives of the people, prove but the true 
 friends of the. people. 
 
 Let Canada be thrown open to the world, and her natural advan- 
 tages made true account of, and there will be no want of Capital, 
 whether through the introduction of Companies, or individuals. Ca- 
 pital will always naturally tiud its way to countiies, where it can be 
 securely and profitably employed, and will a* naturally shun every 
 region, where tyranny, folly and madness bear sway. 
 
 It is with much ado I can suppress my indignation, whenever my 
 thoughts turn to the way in which wc are treated respecting the Trade 
 with China and the East Indies. I can see the matter in no other 
 light than as a direct, open, and undisguised robbery upon us. W T e 
 have been most impudently told by the Boird of Directors of the 
 East India Company, that they have given orders at Canton for a 
 quantity of INFERIOR. Tea, to be shipped for Canada. Gracious 
 Heaven! what impudence! what an unpardonable insult to a million 
 of brave people, who have so lately shed their blood, to preserve Ca- 
 nada in the sovereignty of England. And yet wc are not taxed / ! ! 
 O ! no, not tnxed! ! / If this country be n*t taxed, pray what coun- 
 try is taxed? Are there verily such silly boobies in Canada as to 
 suppose their taxes light, because the Taxing-man calls upon them for 
 only an annual seven and six pence, while they pay for every pound 
 of Tea they consume three or four shillings more than they ought? & 
 more than they would, if “free to follow nature was the mo le.” — 
 And for what do they pay it? why truly, to support the shameful ex- 
 travagance of a Company of F gating Merchants. Cm it endure ? 
 oughfit to endure? Surely our frowning Gulph, will some day in- 
 gulph tlie swindling cargoes of their groaning ships. Let every man 
 in Canada, peruse the following extract from an American paper, 
 and if he have a heart glowing with one spars of patriotic feeling, it 
 will enkindle in him the never dying hope, that liia Country will one 
 day have justice. 
 
 First Voyage of an American Ship to China. 
 
 The following is a letter from the lion. John Jay, United States 
 Secretary for Foreign Affairs, from Mr. Shaw, a citiv.cn ol Massachu - 
 setts, written on his return in the ship JCmpress of Chinn. It con- 
 tains an interesting and well written account of the first Amen :&n 
 
IV 
 
 
 voyage to China, and will afford gratification to those who take an 
 interest in the history and progress ol American Commerce. 
 
 The policy <f the navigation law* f the mother country had been 
 to restrict our commerce while we were colonics or provinces : the 
 first fruits of our Independence were a free trade with all the world. 
 'The rights of persons and of property had been as sacred and secure 
 before, as after the Revolution ; BUT THE BLESSINGS OF A 
 FREE COM vtERCE AND UNRESTRICTED ENTERPRIZE 
 SOON WROUGHT A M \NIFEST AND WONDERFUL 
 CHANGE IN OUR COUNTRY. 
 
 Major Shaw undertook this commercial enterprise soon after the 
 disbandment of our Revolutionary Army. He had served his coun- 
 try as a Captain in Col. C r ane’s Continental Massachusetts Regi- 
 ment of Artillery, and his lOnduct and character were so distinguish- 
 ed that he had acquired the confidence and esteem of Major General 
 Knox, and had been appointed Aid-de-camp to that admired and 
 gallant officer. 
 
 In January, 1786, .Major Shaw was elected by the Continental 
 Congress, United States’ Consul to reside at Canton, having been no- 
 minated by Mr. Pinckney, of South Carolina. He was the first Con- 
 sul appointed by this nation. Mr. Thomas Randall was two days 
 afterwards elected Vice Consul at the same place. 
 
 Major S. died in 1794. off the Cape of Good Hope, when on his 
 return to his native land. — [ Salem Gazette. 
 
 Ncw-York , 19 Ih Jlfai/, 1785. 
 
 Sir: The first vessel that has been fitted out by the inhabitants 
 of the United States of America, for essaying a commerce with those 
 of the Empire of China, being by the favor of Heaven, safe returned 
 to this port, it becomes my duty to communicate to you, for the in- 
 formation of the fathers of the country, an account of the reception 
 their citizens have met with, and the respect with which their flag 
 has been treated in that distant region ; especially as some circum- 
 stances have occurred which had a tendency to attract the attention 
 of the Chinese towards a people of whom they ha<e hitherto had but 
 very confused ideas, and which served, in a peculiar manner, to place 
 the Americans in a more conspicuous point of view than has com- 
 monly attended the introduction of other nations in that ancient and 
 extensive empire. 
 
 The ship employed on this occasion, is about three hundred and 
 sixty tons burthen, built in America, and equipped with forty three 
 persons, under the command of John Green, Esq. The subscriber 
 had the honour of being appointed agent for their commerce, by the 
 gent’emen at whose risk the first experiment has been undertaken. 
 
 On the 22d of February, 1784, the ship sailed from New-York, ^'ar- 
 rived the 2 1st of March at St. Jago, the prim ipal of the Cope do Verd 
 Islands. Having, paid our respects to the Portuguese Viceroy, anil, 
 with his permission, t>ken such refreshments as were necessary, we 
 left those Islands on the 27 and pursued our voyage. After a plea- 
 sant passage, in which nothing extraordinary occurred, we came to 
 anchor in the streights of Sunda on the 18th of July. It was no 
 
V 
 
 small addition to our happiness on this occasion, It, meet there two 
 ship* belongu g to our good allies the French. The Com. M D’Or- 
 tlelm, and hi* officers, welcomed us in the most affectionate manner; 
 and as his own ship vr*« immediately uouud to Canton, gave us an 
 invitation to go in company with him. 'Phis friendly offer was most 
 cheerfully accepted, dj* die Commodore furnished u« with bis signals 
 by day and night, and added such instructions tor out passage through 
 the Chine*e seas, as would have been exceedingly be official, had any 
 unfortunate accident occasioued our separation. Happily we pursu- 
 ed our route together. 
 
 On our arrival at the Island of Macao, the French Consul for Chi- 
 na. Monsieur Vicilard, with some other gentlemen of his nation, 
 came on board to congratulate and welcome us to that part of the 
 world, and kindlv undertook the introduction of the Americans to 
 the Portuguese Governor. The iltle time that we were there was 
 taken up by the good offi es of the Consul, and those of the Swedes 
 and Imperialists, who -til remained at Macao. The oilier Euro- 
 peans had repaired to Canton. Three day afterwards, we finished 
 our outward bound voyage. Previous to coming to anchor, we salu- 
 ted rhe shipping in the river with thirteen guns, which were answered 
 bv the several commodores of the European nations, each of whom sent 
 an officer to compliment us on our arrival. These visits were re- 
 turned by the Captain and Supercargoes in the afternoon, who were 
 again saluted by the respective ships, as they finished their respec- 
 tive visits When the French sent their officers to congraiulate us, 
 they added to the obligations we were under to them, by furnishing 
 men. boats, and anchors, to assist us in coming to safe and conveni- 
 ent moorings. Nor did their good offices stop here ; they furnished 
 us with part of their baukfall, # insisted that until we were settled, 
 we should take up our quarters with them at Canton: 
 
 The day of our arrival at Canton, August 50, and the two following 
 days, we were visited by the Chinese merchants, and the chiefs and 
 gentlemen of the several Lump an establishments. The Chinese 
 are very indulgent towards us ; they styled us the New People, and 
 when by the map we conveyed to them an idea of the extent of our 
 country, with its present and increasing population, they were highly 
 pleased at the prospect of so considerable a market for the produc- 
 tions of theirs 
 
 We left Canton the 27th December, S' on our return, refreshed at 
 the Cape of Goad Hope ; where we found a most friendly reception. 
 After n maining there five days we sailed for America, <§* arrived in 
 this port on the 1 1th instant. 
 
 To every lover of his country, as well as to those more immediate- 
 ly concerned in commerce, it must be a ph asing r flection that a 
 communication is thus happily opened between ns and the eastern 
 extreme of the gh be ; and it adds very sensibly to the pleasure of 
 this reflection, that the voyage lias been performed in ?o short a 
 space of time, and attended with the loss onlv of one man. To 
 Captain Green and his officers every commendation is due, Cor their 
 unwearied and successful endeavors in bringing it to this most for- 
 
VI 
 
 tunate issue, which full j justifies the confidence reposed in the enter- 
 prise. 
 
 Permit me, sir, te accompany this letter with the two pieces el 
 silk, presented me bv the Fuen of Canton, a mark of his good dis- 
 position towards the American nation. In that view I consider my- 
 self as peculiarly honoured in being charged with thii testimony of 
 the friendship of the Chinese fur a people who may in a few years 
 prosecute a commerce with the subjeits of that empire, under advan- 
 tagesequal, if not superior, to those enjoyed by any other nation 
 whatever. 
 
 1 have the honour to be, with the most perfect respect, sir, your 
 most obedient ami very humble servant, SAMUEL SHAW. 
 
 The honourable the .Minister of the United States for Foreign . ifj'airs . 
 
 Mr. Jay laid this letter and the l.vo pieces of silk mentioned in it, 
 before Congress. They were pleased to return the silk to Mr. Shaw, 
 and ordered Mr. Jay to inform him that they felt a peculiar satisfac- 
 tion in the successful issue of that first effort of the citizens ol Ame- 
 rica, to establish a direct trade with China, which did so much ho- 
 nour to its undertakers and conductors.” 
 
 Tt was the sentiment of some of the wisest statesmen of whom 
 Gieat Britain could ever boast, that. Canada should be left nothing to 
 envy in her neighbouring States* A sentiment which if uttered in 
 vain, will assuredly in no far distant times, involve consequences of 
 direful import to our mother country. “ Aim meministi verbum pre- 
 ceptor is"? 
 
 If the Representatives of the people be aware of their strength, 
 and of the sacredness of their trust; if they be alive to the causes of 
 our dilapidated and degraded state, they will have the glory to up- 
 lift us from the mire, ami start us in a race of prosperity with the IJ. 
 States, who, though she have been running these forty years, we should 
 not dispair of overtaking. 
 
 We are told, on all hands, what wonderful natural facilities we 
 have for trade and commerce ! How pleasing it must be to a child, 
 to be shewn heaps of the nicest cherries in the world ! but alas ! if the 
 child be denied a taste of them, what would be its feelings? why 
 like ours, whoare amused with talk about our trading facilities, with- 
 out being allowed to avail ourselves of them. As a plaster for out- 
 sores, at the crisis of ther utmost smarting, we are deridingly told to 
 GROW HEMP ! ! ! * and in the very quintessence of complaisance, 
 the House of Assembly votes some hundreds of pounds to buy a ma- 
 chine for dressing it ! Surely the members must have been craz.y. — 
 I cannot withstand the temptation of giving another extract from an 
 American paper. Heavens! what a contrast to nur desolate, grass- 
 growing streets, and our few greedy, starving pedlars, self-dubbcd 
 Merchants ! 1 ! 
 
 Appearance nf our Wharves. — -The present is truly a busy time in 
 Nevv-York. The southern and the northern markets seem to be em- 
 ploying every hand, and tasking the strengtli of every mercantile 
 
 * Fit recommendation to a desponding people 1 
 
 
Vll 
 
 mind. The multitude of goods on the wharves, and the great quan- 
 tities going to the sume destination, are cheering sights to the lover of 
 his country’s commerce. In a few weeks we may expect our navi- 
 gation to close, and therefore, every hand is strained in making up 
 supplies for the interior. The book-keeper wields his pen in haste, 
 and the active salesman dashes down the restless piece of goods on 
 the counter. The Auctioneer has few monotonous repetitions to 
 make, for the sound of the hammer is a finale as delightful to some 
 ears, as that of Miss Kelly’s melody to the dilletaoti. 
 
 W hat a bustle on tl>e wharves ! W hat a hurry and confusion on 
 the deck of a vessel just ready for departure ! Trunks, chests, and 
 band boxes, crowd the wharf ; men with hurried steps, and beautiful 
 females with anxious face*, blend themselves with the confusion. — 
 Even a saunterer may sometimes perceive horses shipping for the 
 south, and cows with their docile calves, stepping stately over the 
 deck of the vessel. Mere comes the passenger, with an umbrella or 
 a bundle in his hand ; and .then follows at his heels the grinning black 
 waiter, with his trank on his head. — [„V. Fork Fat. 
 
 Our Assemblymen ought to reflect on the good natured and com* 
 plying disposition of the British Legislature. It is butask & have, as is 
 shewn by their ready assent to the Canada Trade act, # to the East In- 
 dia Company’s supplying us with Tea, direct from China. Both, to be 
 sure are monstrous absurdities, and pernirious in the extreme ; but 
 the British Government cannot be blamed for this. They granted 
 what we asked, and humbly begged, and prayed for, and how were 
 they to know, that what we so humbly and earnestly besought them 
 to grant, would choke us? They complied with our wishes, and me- 
 rit our thanks, and we ought to receive their ready assent to our de- 
 sires, as a pledge of their sincerity and good will towards us. It is 
 to the besotted ignorance, or servility, or treachery of individuals a- 
 mong ourselves, this country is indebted for it’s present calamitous 
 situation ; nothing to the Hritish Government. 
 
 A due pondering on this tact will awaken our Representatives to 
 Ihe expediency of shoving past the Legislative Council, and thrusting 
 themselves into the notice of our Sovereign, backed and strengthened 
 by the earnest supplications of the whole body of their constituents. 
 It is thus, and thus alone, our country can ever attract the respect of 
 the British King, the British Parliament, or the British people. 
 What! suppose they, it: their first application, should meet with a 
 rebuff? Let them try again, and again, and again. Let them beg, 
 entreat. & implore. It is manly Ik Christian like to persevere. We 
 are expressly and strictly commanded to perseverance by the words 
 of our Saviour. St. Luke XI. 8,9, JO verses, “ I say unto you, though 
 he will not rise, because he is his friend , because of his importunit y, 
 he will rise and give him as muni/ as he needeth.” 
 
 “ And 1 say unto you, ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye 
 shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. “ For every one 
 that asketh, receiveth ; and he that seeketh lindeth ; and to him that 
 knocked! it shall be opened.” 
 
 
Till 
 
 What can be more plain than this? We are affectionately, bat 
 peremptorily enjoined, by the highest of all authorities, to reiterate 
 our prayers, till they are granted. We are commanded to be even 
 importunate in «>ur demands, and not to cease asking (ill we obtain 
 our desires ; consequently every member of Assembly who shall ob- 
 ject to petition His Majesty for a redress of our manifold grievances, 
 fails to discharge one of the most; important Christian duties. The 
 way is so clear to our Representatives, that 1 see not how they can 
 mistake. 
 
 Tiie House having undergone an important change, the Country is 
 full of hope. Less babbling and more work ; more economy and 
 less parsimony: less puerility, and more manliness; less brazen- 
 faced impudence, and more modest merit; less sycophancy, and 
 more independence of spirit; less unintelligible jargoa, and more 
 common-sense talk ; les*of self interested views, and more enlarged 
 views for the public good ; less wandering and groping after inappli- 
 cable precedents, and more examples worthy of imitation ; fewer 
 statutes, and more addresses to the King; fewer Canal Commission- 
 ers and better roans; 'ewer taxes on resident industry and more on 
 lazy Absentees; one Stitute to knock two hundred on the head; 
 and an immediate recurrence to the Act of Settlement, 12 and 13 
 William III, which says “ That no person who has an offi e or place 
 of profit under the King, or receives a pension from the Crown, 
 shall be capable of servjng as a member of the Hou^e of Comint ns. 5 * 
 Such are the t opes of the Country. That they may not be disap- 
 pointed is the dsvout wish of 
 
 The Public’s most obedient. 
 
 And most Devoted Servant, 
 
 
 »Yov. 20, 1824. 
 
 THE AUTHOR; 
 
TO THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE 
 CANADIAN IAND COMPANY. 
 
 Q EJTTLEMEN, 
 
 He who now addresses you is an Englishman, 
 hut for some years past resident in Upper Canada. The 
 first wish of liis heart, is, to see the connexion subsisting 
 between the Canadas and the Mother Country, loosened 
 from the sickly bonds of a servile dependence of the one, 
 on the charitable bounty of the other, and fixed upon the 
 broad, and indestructible basis of reciprocal profit and 
 advantage. 
 
 It is, then, with indescribable pleasure he has learnt 
 through the medium of the Public Prints, that this fine 
 Country has at length so far attracted the notice of bis 
 Majesty’s Ministers, and many persons of capital iu 
 England, as to have matured the project of forming a Com- 
 pany for the purchase and settlement of the Crown and 
 Clergy Reserves, which have hitherto been such an afflict- 
 ing curse as no country before ever laboured under. 
 
 He has perused in a news-paper, extracts from a pam- 
 plet said to have lately arrived in this country, entitled 
 “ Information relative to the Canadian Land Company 
 which pretends to set forth the causes that have most ope- 
 rated to retard the improvement and settlement of Upper 
 Canada, and the advantage to arise from a proper direction 
 of the capital of the Company. The author of said pam- 
 phlet cannot be charged with entire ignorance of the causes 
 of the present supine condition of Upper Canada, because 
 he sets forth some most notable ones ; but he cannot have 
 a full acquaintance with them, or he subjects himself to a 
 charge of disingenuousness, for he says not a word of 
 some very obvious causes, which are more perniciously 
 operative than all those enumerated put together, as by- 
 
2 
 
 and-bve, will be made appear; and which, until removed* 
 will continue the bane of the Province, and act upon 
 imported capital, as the atmospheric air acts upon iron.— 
 With respect to the advantages which are to result from 
 the capital and labours o£the Company, the author of the 
 pamphet has given them an attractive aspect, a most allu- 
 ringly smiling and dimpled face ; but let the Company be- 
 ware, lest, 
 
 Peradventure they find each dimple a dell, 
 
 And wish like Sir Isaac,* the Province at Hell. 
 
 The first object of the Company unquestionably is pro- 
 fit. The queries submitted by them to sundry persons re- 
 sidents of Canada, put the matter beyond a doubt. In- 
 deed it would be quite ridiculous to suppose otherwise. — 
 Then it materially concerns them to know, how they are 
 to make a profit. Some one has pretended to tell them 
 the causes which have retarded the prosperity of the Pro- 
 vince, and the effects which are to follow, from throwing 
 into the country “ that stimulous which alone is wanting — 
 Capital.” I observe that the venerable Doctor Strachan 
 is one of the persons, who undertakes to answer the que- 
 ries of the Company. Now of all the men in the Province 
 I should have supposed that Doctor St radian was the 
 most capable of giving the Company complete and satisfac- 
 tory information; for, let it be fully known that he is a 
 Legislative aud Executive Councillor, is thought to have 
 the nomination of Executive Councillors generally, from 
 the circumstance of his success in surrounding and 
 strengthening himself in that post of dignity and trust, by 
 his young pupils, most ol whom are encouraged confident- 
 ly to elevate their views to that exalted point, and is known 
 to have the private ear of his superiors, and in short is 
 shrewdly suspected of having been virtually the Governor 
 
 * s 
 
 Canadas 
 
 1 .ao v o.i n in ir< British House of Commons, wished the 
 at the bottom of the S^a. 
 
 
3 
 
 of the country for many years. I say, therefore, that lie, of 
 all men, should lie ihc most capable of piloting the Cana- 
 dian Company, through the shoals & quicksands, that be- 
 set them on all sides. Yet behold his advice, read, I 
 pray, his answer to the following query of the Company, 
 “ What is the cause of that difference, which all travellers 
 have remarked, between the United States and Canada, 
 where the soil and climate are so similar? In the former 
 every thing is represented as alive, active and prosperous ; 
 in the latter all dull and languid ? 
 
 “This question admits of a most satisfactory answer/' 
 (indeed it docs, Doctor, hut that, you are either incapable 
 or unwilling to give) “ Upper Canada w as first settled by 
 refugees from the United States, after the Peace of 1783, 
 all of whom were destitute and w holly w ithout capital ; 
 every accession of inhabitants (not excepting the Doctor) 
 lias been nearly of the same description. Whatever 
 w ealth has been found in the Province, has been made en- 
 tirely from the soil ; never yet had one single capitalist 
 come into the country, purchased a large tract of land, 
 built mills, made roads, and, as the Americans say, prepa- 
 red it for settlement. The consequence lias been apparent 
 langour, compared with the neighbouring States, many 
 persons becoming comfortable, hut never acquiring great 
 capitals. But in the American States many purchased 
 large tracts, spent many hundred thousand dollars in their 
 preparation for location, sold at high prices, and after a 
 few years, recovered the capital laid out seven fold. The 
 same may he done in Canada at this moment, and with the 
 certainty of speedier returns than the speculators on the o- 
 ther side, as liie population is much greater than the parts 
 of the country were, where they commenced their opera- 
 tions.” 
 
 This is all very fine, hut w ould it not have been as well, 
 
4 
 
 since the good Doctor says « the same may he done in Ca- 
 nada at this moment, and with the certainty of speedier 
 returns than the speculators on the other side (which by 
 the way, is an ambiguity of expression unworthy so learned 
 a gentleman, and an Executive Councillor) if he had told 
 the Company how it is to be done? He would thereby 
 have conferred a lasting obligation on the Company and 
 on the Province, the people ot which latter, most hcarti.y 
 wish the former, all the gains the thing is susceptible of 
 producing. 
 
 I flatter myself I am addressing men who can discern 
 and judge, and who arc nothing afraid to envisage the 
 truth, though it should dispel some of the golden dreams, 
 the good Doctor’s unctous answers are calculated to ex- 
 cite. While your money is still in your pockets, you 
 have time to deliberate in safety. Throw it away upon 
 the lands of this country, under the precious idea, that Ca- 
 pital is the only stimulous wanted ; and it is lost, irretriev- 
 ably lost. Fallacious thought ! Capital cannot heal the 
 wounds inflicted upon a Country by political disabilities. 
 In a country abused and betrayed by ignorant and selfish 
 cunning, Capital will not abide ; in such a country it can- 
 not he invested, but to the sorrow and grief of its owners, 
 who might perhaps withdraw it from active circulation, 
 and have the pain to see it at once reduced to a mer ecaput 
 mortuum . 
 
 Speculators in lands in the United Stales, and specu- 
 lators in lands in Upper Canada, stand upon very differ- 
 ent grounds. The former invested their capitals under 
 every moral certainty of immense gain ; while the latter, 
 like desperate gamblers, stake their venture against phy- 
 sical impossibilities. How Doctor Strachan could draw 
 a parallel between the United Stales and this country, e- 
 king out? even a preference for the latter, as offering more 
 
9 
 
 speedy reimbursement to speculators in lands, is to me in- 
 conceivable. It is done in the very teeth of common 
 seuae $ in defiance of all experience and judgement, and 
 in derision of all better understanding. 
 
 The United States legislates for itself. Canada is le- 
 gislate d/cn*, three thousand miles off. The. United States 
 receives into its bosom as Citizens, the people of all the 
 earth : Canada is so fastidious as to reject Jlmericans . be- 
 neath whose axes alone her interminable forests can 
 fall. The United States has an uninterrupted commerce 
 w ith all the world, whereby the cultivators of the soil are 
 always insured a cash price for their commodities ; Cana- 
 da has but one market, and that shut against her for what 
 onght to be her staple (Wheat) except when it is above a 
 certain price in England, which can only happen in time 
 of war, or other calamity : w hereby the miserable Cana- 
 dian Farmer is nearly always reduced to the necessity of 
 swapping his pittance of produce with pedlars, for such 
 truck as they may have oil hand at extortionate prices.— 
 Commonly to demand Cash for his produce, w ould be to 
 court insult. The United States can import every earthly 
 commodity, directly from the country of its growth, produce, 
 -or manufacture and consequently is supplied in all cases 
 at the cheapest possible rate : Cauada in this respect, lies 
 under many grevious restrictions, and for most articles of 
 the first necessity pays three prices. The United States 
 lias judiciously sold its wild lands, and taxed them, to in- 
 sure their settlement. T1 he insensate Land granting de- 
 partments of Canada, have givenlaway to hungry depen- 
 dants and favorites, most of the choice lauds in the coun- 
 try, except such as have been reserved for the Crow n and 
 Clergy : and, as they have cost nothing, so nothing it costs 
 to the holders, to let them lie idle, for the aggrandizement 
 of their great grand children of the fifth or sixth gcuera- 
 
it 
 
 tion, if perchance tilings should so fall but, as to cause 
 them to he of value. * 
 
 Now let me ask, what parallel is here, between the li- 
 nked States and Canada? and where is the great wonder, 
 if in the United States, every thing is " alive, active, and 
 prosperous” ; and in Canada, “• dull and languid” ? though 
 their respective soil and climate be similar, and the natu- 
 ral facilities for commerce, be as Bishop McDonell truly 
 says, immensely in favour of Canada? aud let the saga- 
 cious Doctor Slrachan, if he can, point out, for the bene- 
 fit of mankind, how, and what amount of Capital, will cure 
 the chilling ague, under which this country groans, and 
 which it is confidently believed, he has himself most large- 
 ly contributed to engender. 
 
 The Doctor says, that for the last seven years, the in- 
 flux of Emigrants has been upwards of 10,000 annually; 
 but he does not say. how many scores of the 7U,000 have 
 remained in the country. Now such an assertion, with- 
 out qualification is calculated entirely to mislead the Com- 
 pany, by inducing a belief, that during the last seven 
 years, the country has gained an accession of 70,000 new 
 settlers : whereas, the fact is, that very few of this number 
 have remained in the Province. Eight tenths of them be- 
 yond all question, have gone to swell the population of 
 the United States, and rarely indeed has it occurred, for 
 some four years past, that any possessing money, have 
 lacked sagacity to perceive the folly of vesting it here. 
 
 r l he present state ot Upper Canada is truly deplorable. 
 Perhaps no country professing Christianity, at this day, 
 exhibits such striking evidences of imbecile misrule. No 
 imaginable amount of capital, expended in it, could cure 
 or alleviate the maladies under which it labors. Supine 
 
 * I In. Legislature Iihs lately pased an act taxing the lands I Ijtlieve; 
 the 8U1 of a penny per acre. 
 
7 
 
 and morbid, It is iususoeptible to the enkindling influence 
 of gold, which, though ever so lavishly applied, can force 
 no result, but disappointment, vexation and chagrin. — 
 The wisdom of the British Parliament alone can apply 
 the remedy, that will exalt the country into life and joy. 
 
 The Reserved Lands of Upper Canada even iu their 
 present wild state, under a liberal and fostering policy, 
 would undoubtedly be worth eight or tea times what Go- 
 vernment will think of asking, or the Company will, or 
 ought to think of giving for them \ but under present cir- 
 cumstances, the Company must be losers, if they obtain 
 them for half a dollar an acre ; for where can they find pur- 
 chasers? Who will settle upon their lands? They 
 might, to be sure, sell a few of the lots, that are situated 
 immediately in the vicinities of settlements, upou a very 
 long credit, if they would agree to take iu payment, fire- 
 wood, blighted rye, smutty wheat, lean cows, half starved 
 two-year-olds, now and then a quarter of skinny veal, 
 and from time to time, a day's labor at double the general 
 price. Thus, some few lots might he sold ; hut 1 am not 
 aware of any possible mode, by which the company could 
 ever recover back their capital. If any other person be 
 aware of such mode, lie would do great public service by 
 setting it forth. As for Emigrants, who might be induced 
 to purchase on a credit, having had previously prepared 
 fur them a log house, and a few acres of land, they would 
 soon discover the impracticability of ever acquiring from 
 the utmost efforts of their industry, the means of paying 
 the purchase money, and would tly to the United States, to 
 escape the ruin and misery awaiting them in Canada. — 
 Under such a state of things, I imagine the Company 
 would feel some dismay, and begin to consider, that they 
 had laid out their capital on a Will o'the wisp. The 
 onuses would then become' the immediate object of their 
 
8 
 
 research, which after much pain and labour having disco- 
 vered, they would naturally feel a desire to get them re- 
 moved, but no sooner would they dare openly to express 
 such desire, than a deep-mouthed pack would open upon 
 them the cry of “ Radical,” il Yankee, which would re- 
 verberate through Hill and Dale, till each syeopliautish 
 tongue from the Executive Councillor’s down to the odious 
 Big bugs of Quarter Sessions, and his understrappers, 
 was parched with feverish bellowing. Such, would be 
 the solace of the Company, for throwing into the Country 
 « the stimulous, which alone is wanting — Capital.’’ 
 
 It is of the first consequence, that the Company should 
 know, in what manner roads are to he opened to the Re- 
 serves, and how they are to effect the contemplated clear- 
 ings on the lots. It must be understood, and it is impor- 
 tant that every one who embarks his money in the enter- 
 prize should understand, that these Reserves are not in a 
 body, but interspersed through the Townships, embosom- 
 ed in the depths of the forests, and environed by the wild 
 lands already granted to Soldiers, Sailors, half-pay Offi- 
 cers, Officers of Militia, U. E. Loyalists, their sons and 
 daughters; to Surveyors, and Upper favorites, and under 
 favorites, brawlers about loyalty, and defamers of their 
 more loyal but unfortunately better informed neighbors. 
 
 I give from Mr. Gourlay’s Statistics the plan of a 
 Township, the blank squares being the granted lots, the 
 black the Clergy, and the diagonal lines the Crown Re- 
 serves. 
 
0 
 
 Now let me aslc, how roads are to be opened to the Re- 
 serves ? Arc they to he opened at the expense of the 
 Company? if so, only two sevenths of the land, are bur- 
 thened with the charge of making the whole marketable, 
 and five sevenths are immediately for sale, in opposition to 
 the two sevenths, which being of the same quality, and un- 
 chargeable with the cxpence of opening roads, can, & will 
 be offered cheaper, than the two sevenths can be afforded, 
 and will assuredly obtain a preference from all such as 
 have money to pay for them. What prospect theu, can the 
 Company have, of disposing of their lands to any but such 
 needy objects, and for such kind of pay, as before descri- 
 bed? Let it net be lost sight of, that the Speculators in 
 the United States, bought TRACTS of Land, not patch- 
 es here and there, to which they were obliged to open 
 roads through other people's lands, no, they had the 
 whole exclusive benefit of their capital and labors. Con- 
 ditioned as this Province is, it is impossible that the Cana- 
 dian Company can invest their capital in ii, but to their 
 own discomfiture. The difficulties of settling the Reserves 
 here pointed oi*t, there are certainly three ways of over- 
 coming, One is, for the Company to purchase, from the 
 grantees on the best terms they can, all the Lands in the 
 vicinities of the Reserves, to which there are a. present no 
 roads. Another, is to stipulate with the Legislature of 
 the Province to pass an act, to r akeit compulsory on pro- 
 prietors of such lands to join the Company in making Roads 
 and Fences, under pain of forfeiture of the lands to the 
 Company, which in many cases would befall, seeing, that 
 many of the proprietors arc in indigent circumstances ; or 
 finally, to stipulate for an act imposing on said lands, a tax 
 of a shilling an acre per annum, which i:i two years time 
 will cause them all to he sold by the Sheriff to pay the tax- 
 es, when they might fall into the possession of the comna* 
 
 13 
 
hy on easy terms. These are the only means I can at pre* 
 sent think of, for removing the above named obstacles to 
 the profit of the Company. How far the two latter would 
 be expedient or just, I leave it to wiser heads than mine 
 to determine ; but it will fully inform the good people of 
 England, how desperate must be the disease, which can 
 conjure up the suggestion of such desperate remedies, and 
 hold up to scorn and detestation the parties, who by their 
 bewildering projects, and the scandalous abuse of their 
 power, have reduced this fine Province to so distempered 
 a condition, as scarcely to admit of cure. 
 
 It should be observed that as far as the reserves are si- 
 tuated in such concessions of settled Townships (not po- 
 pulous townships, as Doctor Strachan calls them, for it is 
 quite absurd to talk of populous townships in Upper Ca- 
 nada) as have roads already passing through them, their 
 being interspersed among cultivated farms is a great addi- 
 tion to their value. Dot this is the case only with a few 
 of the Reserves ; for even in the old settled townships, it 
 rarely occurs, that roads are opened past flie third conces- 
 sion, all beyond being in a state of nature, except, that 
 most of the valuable timber has been culled out. It may 
 perhaps be necessary to explain what a concession means. 
 It is that range of farms which extends from East to 
 West through the whole length of a Township. In the 
 old Towships the farms were laid out in what are called 
 lots, being 105 chains or seven furlongs deep and nine- 
 teen chains or two furlongs wide, which give 200 Acres. 
 The first range from the South, is called the first conces- 
 sion, that immediately behind it the second concession, 
 and so on. Detween the concessions there are roads cal- 
 led concession roads, (that is, marked on the maps, few are 
 yet opened) sixty-six feet wide, whio'h at intervals are in- 
 tersected by roads running through the concessions, called 
 
11 
 
 forty foot roads. I apprehend the word concession, is de- 
 rived from the circumstance of these lands havins been 
 conceded by the Crown to the U. E. Loyalists, U. E. 
 meaning United Empire. 
 
 Great as are the obstacles above named to the profit of 
 the Company, they fall into the shade of our political dis- 
 qualifications. 1 have before observed, that the United 
 States has an uninterrupted trade with all the world. — 
 Of course every thing, and every body, is (( alive, active 
 and prosperous. Canada is without trade; and of course 
 all is (i dull and languid” not il apparent ” dullness, not 
 “ apparent langour,” as Doctor Straehan calls it, but real, 
 horrid dullness, real enfeebling langour, such as is the 
 generator and nurse of vicious propensities in man ; a de- 
 vouring morbid affection, which gnaws at the vitals of the 
 country ; and threatens its population with extirpation ; 
 and must assuredly, if the prohibitory and restrictive mea- 
 sures be persevered in, sooner or later, cause this Upper 
 Province at least, to become a part of the United States. 
 Then it will be, Lackadaisy ! who’d a’ thought it? 
 
 Let the Company ponder well upon this fact. As to the 
 effect, they can have no doubt, having the corroborating tes- 
 timony of (( all travellers”. The cause they have enqui- 
 red after from parties, who have either been unable, or 
 have deemed it prudent not to tell. They have it now in 
 its nakedness, and until it be removed, the Company can- 
 not with prudence embark a shilling of capital in the coun- 
 try, or conscientiously invite a single Englishman to quit 
 his native land, for this abode of poverty, apathy, & lan- 
 gour, where the grass grows greener in the streets than in 
 tUe meadows : all that the Company can be justified in 
 saying to such of their countrymen, as direct their views to 
 foreigu parts, is, that Upper Canada is one of the fairest 
 portions of the earth, possessing every advantage of soil, 
 

 12 
 
 climate, and natural facility for Agriculture, Trade and 
 Commerce ; but let it be remembered, that the same tilings 
 may be said of Turkey. 
 
 Can the fact be dwelt upon without pain, that the Pro- 
 vince of a country possessing absolute dominion in the 
 East Indies, styled the Queen of the Ocean, and a Pro- 
 vince too, which could be carved into a hundred Englands, 
 and which, it cannot be disguised, has been preserved in 
 the sovereignty of its parent state, solely by the determi- 
 ned, and unparalelled loyally, bravery and fortitude of its 
 people, should be under the cruel and monstrous necessi- 
 ty of smuggling through aforeign land, every ounce of Tea, 
 and every particle of India goods it consumes ? and now, 
 after representation of this crying evil to his Majesty ? s Mi- 
 nisters through the legislature of the country, it is affected 
 to be redressed by another more enormous, and more cal- 
 culated to excite disgust. The people of Canada are now 
 to receive their Tea direct from Chiua, through the East 
 India Company , at such prices as they may please to be- 
 stow it. Thus, what should help to furnish the legitimate 
 revenue of both the Provinces, must be put into the pock- 
 ets of a monopolizing company of merchants, and the peo- 
 ple deprived of carrying on a lucrative trade with their 
 neighbors in the States, which they assuredly could com- 
 mand, were a free, and unshackled commerce permitted 
 to the Canadas with China, and the East Indies. What 
 hut dullness and langour can be expected in a Province so 
 treated ? "What but loss, disappointment and chagrin, 
 can attend a Company who embark a capital in the clear- 
 ing of its lands ? and what but pining and regret can be 
 the portion of the unfortunate families, who might be en- 
 ticed to vegetate upon them ? for I defy any one to call it 
 living. 
 
 Why ; J what is the reason, that tine Canadas should not 
 
 r 
 
13 
 
 be put on a footing with the United Slates in respect to 
 trade ? Is it anticipated that we should he the worse sub- 
 jects, for being treated kiijdly and justly ? or the worse 
 customers to the parent country, for becoming opulent? or 
 meaner bulwark of lier liberty and independence, from 
 becoming a strong and efficient people ? Why are means 
 a for encouraging our agriculture pompously talked of, 
 while our trade and commerce are bound hand and foot ? 
 Is the prosperity of British Agriculture ever spoken of, 
 but in connection with trade and commerce, as mutually 
 nourishing and supporting each other? Then why ex- 
 pect agriculture to flourish in Canada while her trade and 
 commerce languish ? Cause and effect have the same re- 
 lations to each other in America, as in Europe. W ould 
 the Agriculture of the United States flourish in its present 
 extraordinary degree, were her trade like that of Canada ? 
 I can in no way discern, how the people of the United 
 States are entitled to greater advantages than the people 
 of Canada, except that they fought against Great Britain, 
 until they obtained all their desires ; nor can 1 discover 
 why the people of Canada should enjoy fewer advanta- 
 ges than the poeple of the States, seeing, that they have 
 always fought for Great Britain, and have, more, than 
 once, bled freely in her cause ; and I cannot help attribu- 
 ting the present forlorn condition of Canada to a wretch- 
 edly weak and blind policy, which I fervently pray, may 
 soon give place to one, enlarged, liberal, and enlightened, 
 worthy of the times in which we live, and of the British 
 Empire, and calculated to bind this people for ever, it’s 
 grateful subjects, and desirable customers. 
 
 The sanguine Doctcr Strachan concludes one of his an- 
 swers to the queries of the Company, in the following no- 
 table words ; “ In fine, were a little Capital thrown into 
 the Province, and the public attention drawn towards it. 
 
14 
 
 r/ 
 
 lands would rise four fold, and yet be cheap to the actual 
 settler, as the produce would rise in proportion, from the 
 rajiid advancement of Commerce . , of onterprize, and in- 
 crease of circulating medium.” 
 
 Now let us suppose the Company commence operations 
 at once, upon a thousand lots, and resolve to clear twenty 
 acres on each lot, which 1 should imagine is about the 
 quantity they would fix on, rather less than more : estima- 
 ting the cost at £3 Halifax the acre, the same would a 
 mount to £60,000, the quantity being 20,000 Acro6. To 
 accomplish this 1000 Americans must be hired, who will 
 by commencing on the first of April, have the land prepa- 
 red in due season to seed down with wheat, allowing them 
 twenty weeks for the operation, besides putting up 1000 
 log houses. The Company now prudently consider they 
 have done enough for the first season, and pay off the A- 
 mericans, who, having no more work, depart from the 
 country, taking with them their earnings, except what it 
 may have cost for their maintenance, which may be about 
 forty dollars a man. Now, where is the Capital that is 
 thrown into the Province by this manoeuvre ? It is £10,000 
 spent for the labourer’s maintenance, and £2500 expend- 
 ed in seed wheat, reckoning a bushel for the acre, and 
 2s. 6 d. Halifax for the bushel. Some monopolizers of 
 lots, adjoining the Reserve, may inform the Company, 
 that the lands can be cleared by Emigrants ; but let them 
 beware how they listen to shcIi tales. Let us now take a 
 view of the situation of the Company. Suppose the prime 
 cost of the lands to be half a dollar an acre, each lot has 
 cost £6^ 10s. to clear and $eed down, which makes the 
 total cost of the lot £87 10s. We w ill presume on the 
 first thousand lots being so advantageously situated as to 
 be deemed worth eight dollars per acre, in their then condi- 
 tion ; but there being no purchasers for Cash, the Comp ft- 
 
15 
 
 ny have determined to sell them to newly arrired emi- 
 grants, from England, Ireland, and Scotland, who are 
 W'ell recommended by die Ministers of their respective 
 Parishes, for honesty, sobriety, and industry, and further*, 
 are furnished with certificates of their skill in various 
 branc’nes of field husbandry ; but having spent their all in 
 transporting themselves and families to Canada, they arc 
 penneyless, except with the reservation of just so much as 
 will furnish a bare sustenance, till the crop of wheat comes 
 round. So it is resolved to give the thousand loits to 
 a thousand emigrants, for £100 each, on the liberal credit 
 of ten years, subject meanwhile to the legal interest of the 
 province, which is six per cent, or twenty four pounds a 
 year ; and there can appear no danger in the step, seeing 
 that the purchasers are not to get their deeds till the whole 
 of the purchase money, with interest, is paid. 
 
 Here then there is a sale of 800,000 Acres of Land for 
 £400,000 which have cost the Company only £87.500. — 
 In ten years the purchase money is to be paid, which will 
 cover the advance four and a half fold, and in the mean 
 time the Company will derive a revenue of £24,000, or a- 
 bout 20 per cent, per Annum on the Capital. 
 
 Let it be presumed, that as the land is all new, and the 
 seed skilfully putin, the wheat will turn out a full crop, say 
 20 bushels to the acre, so that each emigrant has actually 
 400 bushels of wheat One hundred will be expended in 
 reaping, threshing and carrying to market, 20 must be re- 
 served for seed, and 30 carried to mill ; so that he ha? 
 250 bushels to peddle away, for a little cash (perhaps e- 
 nough to buy him a Cow) a little pork, a good deal of 
 whiskey, a modicum of Tea and Sugar, a few remnants of 
 stuffs, cottons, bobbins and tapes, leaving shoes and stock- 
 ings out of the question, the whole to the amount of £31 5s. 
 the value of his 250 bushels of wheat at 8s. 6tf. a bushel. 
 
16 
 
 
 By this titne a years interest has become ilue ; but as the 
 man has nut been upon the land long enough to turn him- 
 self, the Agent of the Company, very justly, takes this 
 matter into consideration ; the poor fellow carries an ho- 
 nest front, states candidly how he has disposed of his 
 wheat, speaks confidently about the next year’s crop, and 
 of his ultimate success, having increased his store by a 
 
 Cow, and laid in a whole years provision and clothing, 
 besides having put in his new seed. This is a flattering 
 
 account for the Agent to write home to the Company, and 
 though not a farthing of the £24,000 due for the first 
 year’s interest, is remitted home, still it is in prospect, and 
 they have the satisfaction to know, that it is in sure hands. 
 The Emigrant had certainly put in his seed, but being un- 
 used to work among stumps, and being but indifferently 
 supplied with borrowed implements, the consequence is, 
 that the crop falls rather short of his expectations, say 
 that he measures out 15 bushels to the Acre, or 300 bush- 
 els in all, and Which as there are so many new cultivators 
 of the article, has unfortunately fallen to 2s. the bushel ; 
 & what is more unfortunate still, as the last year Beach nuts 
 and indian corn had entirely failed, Pork has advanced 
 considerably in price ; and as a vessel from England had 
 been lost, coming up the St. Lawrence, with a quantity of 
 shop goods on board, sfilfts and cottons had took a rise ; 
 and, as Tea and Whiskey had been lately very difficult to 
 smuggle, on account of some of the poor smugglers having 
 been shot by tbe Custom House Officers, they had advan- 
 ced also ; so that, on balancing accounts this time with the 
 Pedlar, although he had narrowed his requirements with- 
 in the smallest possible compass, he finds himself twenty 
 dollars three and six pence in debt. The pedlar tells 
 him it is of no consequence ; he w ill with pleasure wait 
 till the next harvest, and hopes he will in the meantime 
 
17 
 
 use his shop tor what little matters lie may want. It ma) 
 be asked, “ What was the man doing all the winter, and 
 through the summer while the wheat was growing’’ ? ] 
 
 answer that he was providing his family with firewood? 
 jobbing with his neigbours for promises of jobs in return, 
 for a “ meal of victuals,” attending bees,* cobbling, and 
 patching old shoes, going to mill, (this is a serious job) 
 hunting in the woods for his Cow, (more serious stili) cut- 
 ting forked sticks for pitch forks, and such like tinkering 
 jobs. He did not, nor had he it in his power to do a sin- 
 gle thing, calculated to advance the value of bis farm a 
 shilling. 
 
 Another year’s interest is now due, and the poor man is 
 horror struck on seeing the agent of the Company enter 
 his door. His consternation, however quickly subsides, 
 and gives way to the most cheering anticipations. The 
 Agent who has numerous correspondents, has just received 
 letters from Genesee, from Albany and New- York. At 
 Genesee, Wheat is quoted at a dollar a bushel, at Alba- 
 ny a dollar and a quarter, and at New- York, flour at se- 
 ven dollars a barrel. The Agent kindly addresses the 
 Emigrant, Well John, is the interest ready ?” “ Dang 
 it, no measter, ray crap o’ weeat didna turn out as it shud 
 a done, by five bushels to the yaker ; then they gin nothin 
 for’t, I cudna get moor nor two shillin a bushel, all over’t 
 village ; then they wunna gi one a liapanny in money, one 
 must tak it all in trayad, as the call it ; then they axin sitch 
 a proice for every thin ; they axt my woife hafe a dollar a 
 yard for this, lse sure they wudna a haxt moor nor ten 
 pence for’t at woam, that the w udna ; things warn’t a 
 thisen in England, for lse teeam’d mony a looad o’ weeat 
 
 * When a Barn or other frame building 1 is to be put up, the neighbours are 
 called together to assist ; and this is called a Bee. Whisky ^flowing in rills, 
 they are generally scenes of riot and drunkenness. 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 to Stafford market for Squire Compton o’t hills, and lie’s 
 gotten ten shillins a bushel for’t next market day all in 
 goold*” “ Well, John cheer up, never mind, have a good 
 heart, I've good news, wheat is a dollar a bushel in Gene- 
 gee, six and three pence at Albany, and flour seven dol- 
 lars a barrel in New- York, Cash.” — “ Why that’s sum- 
 mut loike, but Ise sure we could never do a this ens, then 
 d’ye think weeat ’ll tak a start here?” — 1 “ Certainly, if it 
 rises in the States, why should it not rise here?” — “ I dun- 
 na kuooa, but folks sen as how they’ll no trayad in this 
 coontry,God knooas they’ll trayaded me foinely ’’ — i( Well, 
 well, let us hope for better times. There is every pros- 
 pect of good .prices, and every one will be able to wipe off 
 old scores ” — “ I shod loike to see it” says John ; “ for I 
 canna aboide to be iu debt.” 
 
 Thus, the second year passes over, and no return from 
 honest John ; but the company are amused, and their 
 hopes buoyed up, with the flattering account of prices in 
 Genesee, Albany and New-York! The season comes 
 round again, John has ten bushels to the Acre, the price 
 is three shillings a bushel in truck ; honest John seeing 
 his wife and children pining in rags, in a fit of desperation 
 sells his wheat to a strange pedlar for two shillings Cash, 
 and starts off bag and baggage to the States ; so the land 
 with all its improvements reverts again to the Company. 
 If any one can discover profit in a ruinous operation like 
 this, he must have more penetration than his neighbours j 
 and I appeal to every disinterested man of sense in Cana- 
 da, whether in its progress and result, it could be far other- 
 wise than as I have stated? It is here obvious that the 
 price of the Land, has nothing to do with John’s running 
 away ; for, supposing it to have been but half the sura sta- 
 ted, John must still have run away ; neither can any thing 
 be imputed to his treatment by the Company, which was 
 
19 
 
 kind and conciliating. To what then is imputable this 
 direful result ? 
 
 Let us now for a moment reflect on the situation of the 
 Company’s Agents. The first batch of setilers have all 
 run away, the second are ripening to follow them, and 
 lands are clearing for the third ; the Company i9 thrown 
 into consternation, and notwithstanding former experience 
 of the honour and probity, ability, activity and zeal of their 
 Agents, incline to attribute the disastrous state of their af- 
 fairs to their mismanagement. A hundred pretended 
 friends, write home confidential and villainous insinua- 
 tions to their prejudice, which have an effect proportioned 
 to the disappointments of the Company, which are aggra- 
 vated by the flattering hopes generated by the former cor- 
 respondence of their Agents, whose letters now hint for 
 the first time, at the causes of the tremendous and ruinous 
 evil, of which they are the wo-begone spectators, and of 
 which they run the hazard of being deemed the authors. 
 The mind shrinks with horror from contemplating the pe- 
 rils of their condition. Half of them perhaps quit in dis- 
 gust, and ten to one but the other half are imprisoned and 
 banished for sedition. 
 
 It has been seen as Doctor Straclian predicted that lands 
 have risen four fold, in consequence of having a little 
 Capital thrown into the Province ; but how has the pro- 
 duce risen “from the rapid advancement of commerce, of 
 enterprize , and of circulating medium”? What rapid 
 advancement of Commerce? how has it advanced ? nobo- 
 dy is sensible of it. Still the lands have risen which w as 
 to be a consequence of the said advancement of commerce, 
 which was to be a consequence of throwing a little capital 
 into the Province. And what enterprize? Why we 
 have seen the enterprize of the Canadian C ompany, 
 and of Honest John ; their commencement, progress, and 
 
20 
 
 final issue; and as for the increase of circulating medium, 
 we have seen that it is £12,500 per thousand lots, which 
 is out of circulation again in the twinkling of an eye ; for 
 while this province is enslaved by debt y and such things 
 as its Trade and Commerce have no existence, but in the 
 empty unmeaning prate of its shallow rulers, what circu- 
 lating medium can it have, other than its lands, which the 
 Heverend Doctor Straclian, with a miraculously prophe- 
 tic spirit calls “in some degree a circulating medium”? — 
 I have shown that they are indeed a circulating me- 
 dium, in the case ot Honest John, in which they have so 
 jocundly circulated again into the Canadian Company's 
 possession, with all their improvements. I fancy the Re- 
 verend Legislative and Executive Councillor’s snug loca- 
 tions, with those of his pupils and political friends and ad- 
 herents, the amount of which if known would perhaps at 
 once surprise and disgust the British Public, will have to 
 remain in their present impervious retreats, till they launch 
 out some of their own capital, to cause “ public attention to 
 be drawn towards” them, or offer to the Canadian Comp’y, 
 some fairer and more rational prospect for the beneficial 
 employment of theirs. 
 
 Gentlemen, be assured, that no customers, but such as 
 have money, and a good round sum too, can by any possi- 
 bility become to you a source of profit. In this country 
 there are none such to be found. The few persons here 
 who have money, if they want lands, know better how to 
 obtain them, than through your medium. Situated as this 
 Province is, there are no earthly means by which you 
 could extract a ty the part of any capital you might invest 
 in its lands. W hatever brilliant hopes may have been ex- 
 cited by the tales of selfish and cunning men, you will find 
 from experience to be a most gross and barefaced delusion. 
 I w rite not merely to disappoint individuals. I write not 
 
St 
 
 in enmity to Doctor Strachan; for he is a man I never con- 
 versed with — never eame in contact with, in any shape 
 
 never saw : neither do I write to deter you from the pro- 
 secution of your project, which I heartily wish to sec pur- 
 sued with vigorous zeal. I write to dissipate every vain 
 illusion, to frustrate every machination, which may he in 
 train for party aggrandizement upon your ruin, to prepare 
 you for a prudent, and energetic exercise of your influ- 
 ence, to remove the obstacles to your snccess, that you 
 may at once secure your own prosperity, and that of this 
 fine Province, with the blessings of its people. 
 
 Till Canada is placed upon an equal footing with the 
 United States, with respect to trade and commerce, it is 
 in vain to hope she will become populous, rich, or pros- 
 perous. Indeed, it is not to be desired that she should 
 become populous ; for an accumulation of people, without 
 an accumulation of means for their advantageous employ- 
 ment and support, is only an accumulation of misery. — 
 Therefore previous to the Company's committing them- 
 selves in any bargain wtth the Government, they should 
 use their influence with his Majesty’s Ministers to procure 
 a repeal of every restrictive or prohibitory law, which af- 
 fects the trade and commerce of Canada, leaving her ports 
 accessible to all the world, laden with articles, the growth, 
 produce and manufacture of their respective countries, un- 
 der such regulations as the people of Canada shall them- 
 selves adopt, and permitting the Ships of Canada to trade 
 
 directly w ith all parts of the world : the Province to regu- 
 late its own duties and imposts, as well in its commerce 
 with the United States of America ; as in every other 
 case. 
 
 This might appear on the first view, rather too exlen 
 sive a requirement, and perhaps incompatible with our 
 state as a Colony; but suppose it granted in its fullest ex 
 
 i 
 
tent ; let ns examine what would be the effect to both 
 England and Canada. The geographical position of the 
 latter is such, as to give it the command of the whole 
 North Western region of America, whence there is a direct 
 communication with the Atlantic Ocean, by a continuous 
 chain of Lakes, connected with the St. Lawrence, one 
 of the most magnificent rivers in the world, of the outlet 
 of which Canada is possessed. The American shores of 
 the lakes as far as the Michigan Territory, are already to- 
 lerably peopled, and are peopling at an unparalleled rate. 
 The inhabitants of C anada are a diffusely scattered, & con- 
 sequently a weak & inefficient population. It must be ta- 
 ken for granted that it is a desideratum witliGreat Britain, 
 to maintain her sovereignty over this portion of the globe; 
 and it must be conceded, that the most effectual mode of 
 securing that object, is to conciliate the affections of the 
 people, who, though they may not all know, or be able to 
 define the precise, and immediate cause of their wretched- 
 ness, can compare their condition with that of their neigh- 
 bours, and discover at least by the comparison, that they 
 are wretched ; the one experiencing all the enlivening joys 
 of existence, the other the fullness of its bitterness. Of 
 this the British Government ought to be fully aware, and 
 to leave no cause to its subjects in Canada to repine. E- 
 verv possible means should be adopted to increase, and 
 condense her population, to which end nothing can he so 
 effectual, as to encourage her agriculture and her com- 
 merce. 
 
 Let Great Britain then throw open the commerce of Ca- 
 nada to all the world, and there is an instantaneous, arid 
 irresistible attraction to Capitalists, & the labouring popu- 
 lation which universally follow in their train. From “ dull 
 and languid*’ all becomes “ alive, active, and prosperous”. 
 Our fertile lands would be sought after with avidity by 
 
23 
 
 wealthy anil substantial cultivators from Great Britain^ 
 the United States, France, Holland and Germany. A- 
 griculture, which is now hut a burlesque term for our lili- 
 putian torturings of the soil would shine forth ia autumnal 
 splendour ; filling with overflowing abundance the Cities 
 of Quebec and Montreal, which would immediately be- 
 come the grand emporiums of the North West. Then 
 might Canada justly boast of her superior natural facili- 
 ties for commerce. Now, they but add poignancy to her 
 grief. Then indeed might she boast of her “ populous 
 townships”, and of her active, bustling, prosperous and 
 high spirited people, of her teeming revenue, her noble 
 roads, her irriguous channels, her expansive fresh water 
 seas, her unparalleled inland navigation, and of her unin- 
 terrupted cultivation of the arts of peace, from her natural 
 “ ability to resent injuries anil redress wrongs.” View- 
 ing her in this position, what would be the effect to En- 
 gland ? Instead of an annual expence, as Cauada now is, 
 she might draw from it annually a revenue, a grateful tri- 
 bute of affection to the bountiful parent of such innumera- 
 ble and substantial blessings. Say she would lose the 
 present pitiful advantage of supplying us from the ports of 
 London, Liverpool or Bristol with foreign commodities, 
 the growth produce and manufacture of other countries and 
 climes. The same commodities would he brought hither, 
 in ten or twenty fold abundance, direct from their respec- 
 tive countries, by means of her capital and her shipping, 
 whereby her Canadian subjects would be relieved from ail 
 oppressive tax, and enabled to drive an advantageous 
 trade in such commodities, from their superior cheapness, 
 with their neighbours in the States, to whom their own 
 Sea board is inaccessible hut at great charge, and whose 
 Government, relying for its revenue on duties on importa- 
 tions, outstep all rational bounds in the regulation of their 
 
24 
 
 
 Tariff. That species of trade which lias been the founda- 
 tion of England’s prosperity, which has enabled her tri- 
 umphantly to resist a world in arms, and which, while it 
 is preserved to her, will continue to uphold her greatness 
 and her glory, the sale of her manufactures, whereby her 
 population is enriched, beyond any former precedent, 
 would be increased with Canada, in a forty fold degree; 
 for no predicted calculations, which should wear the sem- 
 blance of rationality, could keep pace with the influx o£ 
 wealthy population to a country so eminently gifted to in- 
 sure the happiness of man. The people of the manufac- 
 turing districts of England, want but to be made fully 
 sensible of the new and never ending demand, that would 
 be created for their manufactures, by throwing open these 
 Provinces to all the world, to incite them to a simulta- 
 neous and impressive call upon his Majesty’s Ministers, 
 instantly to knock off the fetters whieh bind and oppress 
 them to the injury of all his Majesty’s subjects on both 
 sides the Atlantic. 
 
 Behold ! in some ten years lienee, Eugland again plun- 
 ged in war. Its origin is of no earthly consequence. Iti 
 its progress, events might, and in all probability would a- 
 rise, to embroil her with the United States, unless the new 
 attitude assumed by this Province might act as a mentor 
 to the Statesmen of the latter, and by it’s sage counsel 
 sharpen their relish for the arts of peace. Suppose the 
 two countries, however engaged in war. The troops of 
 Great Britain need not be diverted from other important 
 objects for our defence. This country could not only de- 
 fend itself with effect, but keep employed such a body of 
 the United States troops, to watch its motions, as might 
 insure the safety of our West India islands. Should it 
 be feared that our exaltation should incline us to assert our 
 independence, let it be remembered, that history affords 
 
25 
 
 iro example of Colonies being severed from their parent 
 states by acts of kindness. The day may come in after 
 times, when it may be expedient, both for England and 
 Canada, that the latter should be independent ; but till 
 then, England has but to strengthen the Islands of New- 
 foundland and Cape Breton, and she keeps the key of our 
 Treasure. 
 
 I can view the subject in no light, through which I can 
 perceive, that Great Britain can be ih any shape a loser, 
 by bracing & strengthening Canada in the manner propor 
 sed. On the contrary, every position in which the matter 
 can appear, affords the mo9t cheering anticipations, that 
 she will be immensely the gainer. One question is invol- 
 ved in the subject, which might place Great Britain in the 
 situation of the Dog in the manger. The people of the 
 United States, situated on the Lakes would willingly be 
 supplied with the commodities of the East, and the West, 
 the North, aud the South, through the channel of the St. 
 Lawrence, as being by far the cheapest medium. These 
 with the permission of Great Britain, the Canadas could 
 furnish. Great Britain will not be allowed to furnish 
 them through the Sea Ports of the United States. Then 
 it is a question, shall the Canadians be allowed to furnish 
 them or not ? If not, I cannot see the particular use of 
 possessing the mouth of the St. Lawrence ; and must re- 
 gard all talk about our natural facilities for commerce, as 
 a vain and empty boast ; and every tine scheme for impro- 
 ving our Agriculture, and giving as Doctor Strachan says, 
 d a new impetus to the Province,” as idle, and trumpery 
 balderdash, calculated to amuse the ignorant for a season, 
 but ultimately to awaken them to a keener sense of their 
 degraded and hopeless state. 
 
 Another source of profit to the Canadians would be 
 found in receiving and transporting to foreign markets, 
 
 D 
 
I 
 
 96 
 
 the produce of the United States, which is now forced 
 from its natural channel, to swell the pride and conse- 
 quence of the City of New-York, by the operation of that 
 costly pest, commonly called the “Canada Trade Act,” 
 to obtain which suicidal enactment, the befooled people of 
 this Country suffered themselves to be taxed three thou- 
 sand pounds ; and the British Legislature in its over anxi- 
 ety to grant every request coming from Canada, was found 
 so off its guard as to legislate for the injury of both Pro- 
 vinces, at the suggestion and prayer of the younger, and 
 most besotted : one example of the horrors, to which a 
 people are subject, whose Legislators reside three thou- 
 sand miles off. The chimera of growing hemp, to sup- 
 plant Russia in the supply of the English market is but a 
 sorry palliation for the loss of so substantial a benefit as 
 was derived from the transportation ©f American produce 
 down the St. Lawrence, and across the Atlantic. Though 
 the people of Canada may be, and are, ignorant enough, 
 they are not quite such egregious fools as to expect a pro- 
 fit from growing hemp, however high the authorities which 
 may preach up its advantages. The British Navy must 
 learn to do without cordage if it looks to Canada to fur- 
 nish it with hemp. We would rather have permission to 
 go to Russia to buy hemp for our own consumption. — 
 Why is 11 ussia Hemp a conspicuous article in the every 
 day Prices Current of the United, States ? Out upon the 
 drivelling policy that would make a Hell of each natural 
 Paradise ! At the moment I am writing, there are hun- 
 dreds, I may say thousands of its most efficient people, 
 who are only restrained from quitting this Province by the 
 impossibility of selling their property for half what it has 
 cost them. 
 
 W ere I actually as rich as Rothschild is reported to be, 
 I would on no account advance a copper for any such pur- 
 
pose, as settling the lands of this Province, while it labors 
 under its present political restraints; hut if they were re- 
 moved in the manner pointed out, 1 would cheeri'uly ad- 
 veuture my whole fortune, neither the King of Naples 
 nor the desolating Ferdinand should touch a farthing of 
 it,’ whatever temptations they might hold out, the whole 
 should be employed here, and 1 should feel much stvonger 
 anticipations of a ten fold return for my investment, than 
 if T undertook the working of forty gold mines, and were 
 insured the finding of an Abidean Diamond once a month. 
 
 I will now direct the attention of the Company to ano- 
 ther point important for them to achieve, to insure the suc- 
 cess of their undertaking. It should be guaranteed by the 
 British Government to every settler in Canada, of whate- 
 ver uation or religion, that he shall be recived as a British 
 subject, and enjoy all the rights, privileges, and immuni- 
 ties of such from the day of his taking the oath of alle- 
 giance as by law prescribed, and Commissioners, or Ma- 
 gistrates should be enjoined under penalty, to admiuister 
 such oath to all who present themselves for the purpose 
 of taking it With the above preliminaries firmly gua- 
 ranteed, the Company may safely proceed ; but 1 recom- 
 mend them to stipulate for all the Crown Reserves (I 
 would on no account take a part of any of the Reserves,) 
 all the Clergy Reserves, all the School Reserves, all the 
 ungranted lots in newly surveyed Townships, and at least 
 a million of Acres of unsurveyed lands. For the Crown, 
 Clergy, and the School Reserves, the Company ought 
 not to give more than 2 s. 6d. Halifax per acre; for the un- 
 granted lots in newly surveyed Townships not more than 
 one and six pence, and for the wild unsurveyed lands not 
 more than one Shilling. The Government ought to cease 
 granting lands, and all grants of Reserves (if any have 
 ?>een made) since the formation of tho Company lias been 
 
2 $ 
 
 publicly talked of, ought to be declared null and void, ex- 
 cept such as may have been made for actual services. — 
 As soon as the bargain is completed, trusty and expert A- 
 gents should be despatched to France, Holland, Germany, 
 and tbe United States, where the utmost publicity should 
 be given to the views of the Company, and means adopt- 
 ed for facilitating the conveyance of such Capitalists, with 
 their families and followers, as chose to migrate. In the 
 first instance, great temptations should be held out to men 
 of capital ; for it should be well understood by the Compa- 
 ny, that it is not by their first operations, they can expect 
 to make their profits, but by the natural rise in the value 
 of their lands, from the settlement of men of capital in the 
 heart of them ; and let the Company beware how they un- 
 dertake the clearing of Lands; for insomuch as they dab- 
 ble in that way, they will rue it. Clearing land is no bu- 
 siness for the Company to undertake. They will be bet- 
 ter cleared, and at a cheaper rate, by the purchasers of the 
 lands themselves, & it will be wisely done of the Compa- 
 ny, to use every exertion in their power to procure wealthy 
 Americans for their first settlers, none being so expert in the 
 art of clearing lands, and arranging the economy of a farm 
 in the wilderness ; and none being likely to prove more 
 peaceable, orderly, or better disposed subjects, in short, 
 their example would be highly beneficial to the settlers 
 who followed, and thereby greatly promote the ultimate 
 success of this glorious enterprize. 
 
 It is enough for the Company to occupy themselves in o- 
 pening good roads, and constructing bridges, in diligent- 
 ly seeking out the most eligible, and clearing scites for 
 villages (hereafter to be Cities) erecting in each a few un" 
 expensive huts, for the accommodation of a Blacksmith, a 
 Carpenter, a \V heelwright, a Mason, a Taylor a Shoe- 
 maker ; and in building here ami there a Grist and Saw 
 
Mill. These and other objects, of which experience will 
 point out the necessity, will be found abundantly to en- 
 gage the capital of the Company, without plunging in a 
 mad career of clearing lands and making loans to settlers, 
 as I observe has sagely been suggested. Men w ith mo- 
 ney, I again aver, are the only safe marks for the Compa- 
 ny to treat with. If they can pay for their lands at the 
 time of purchase, so much the better, if not, still if they 
 have money, their lands will be improved with it ; in which 
 case, if they revert again to the Company, it is verily a 
 profit. The case would be very different from that of ho- 
 nest John. It might indeed he advisable in some cases to 
 make loans, which will naturally suggest to the Company 
 the propriety of establishing a Hank in the Province, as 
 the greatest engine of improvement they can possibly intro- 
 duce, and an admirable means of furthering their own un- 
 dertaking. 
 
 So entire would be the confidence of the Public in a 
 Bank established by such a Company, that it would be 
 the universal depository of the savings of the Province, 
 which as it would confer upon the Company, most import 
 tant benefits, so w ould it enable them to dispense to the 
 public extensive good. 
 
 For the accommodation of the first settlers, it would be 
 advisable for the Company to be provided with a sufficient 
 number of Pot-Ash Kettles, to hire to persons, who would 
 gladly undertake to erect works in the neighborhoods of 
 the new clearings, w hereby the adventurers would have 
 the advantage of selling their ashes, which would be no 
 inconsiderable saving to them, and rescue in the aggregate 
 an immense property from waste. 
 
 I have said that clearing lands is no business for the 
 Company to undertake. It must be understood, that in 
 some cases it would be expedient for the Company to as* 
 
e’ist settlers in clearing and draining Cedar and Hemlock 
 Swamps, which comprise the most valuable meadow lands 
 in the Country ; but which, from the great expence of the 
 operations of clearing and draining, being above the com- 
 pass of individuals, remain mostly in their original state ; 
 which if cleared, would open anew and increasing source 
 of wealth, add infinitely to the salubrity of the climate, and 
 contribute to the annihilation of noxious reptiles, insects 
 and vermin. 
 
 The Company should he proprietors of at least half a 
 dozen farms in convenient situations, which should be pla- 
 ced under the management of the most experienced farm- 
 ers that could be found, in order to serve as models to set- 
 tlers, who should be encouraged to visit them, to view the 
 effect of the judicious treatment of the various qualities of 
 soil, the value of the diversity of manures which abound, 
 but which are made no account of, to witness the applica- 
 tion of a variety of agricultural implements, of which they 
 have no knowledge, and above all the superior beauty and 
 value of the Company’s cattle. Each farm should have 
 upon it an experienced Orchardist and a Nursery-man, 
 for the purpose of rearing the choicest fruit and forest 
 trees, and thorn quicks for hedges, the whole for sale to 
 the settlers, who should be encouraged by every means to 
 attend to their cultivation as soon as possible; for it should 
 be understood, that the general mode of clearing, is, to 
 cut all down “ smack smooth,” leaving the cleared lands 
 in a body, and the woods in a body. Not a tree is left 
 standing on the clearing, except the pines, which are kill- 
 ed by girdling, that they may stand a chance of being up- 
 rooted by some favouring gale of wind. This together 
 with the ragged rail fences, gives the Country when the 
 crops are off the ground, a most desolate, cheerless and 
 wild aspect, sickening to the eye of an Englishman who 
 has been used to behold with ecstacy the impervious 
 green hedges, and the magnificent timber trees, which bar- 
 ricade and adorn, each field and meadow, and help to 
 swell the mass of riches of Ins native land. From tins 
 circumstance, in process of time, great inconvenience will 
 assuredly be felt; for in many situations, timber for many 
 valuable purposes cannot be procured, but from a great 
 
31 
 
 distance, and consequently at a great expence. This is 
 not felt at present ; but it will be the sure consequence of 
 a much longer delay in planting timber trees, wuich are 
 slow of growth. I therefore point out this object to the 
 Company, as one inviting their immediate attention, aud 
 strenuous exertions to promote. , Young Oak=, Ashes, 
 Elms, Hickory s, Maples, Locusts, Chesuuts and Wal- 
 nuts, and every choice kind of Apple, Pear, Plum and 
 Cherry tree, should be found in abundance in the Com- 
 pany's nurseries for the cheap supply of the settlers. — 
 Various other objects will engage the attention of the 
 Company : but experience will best point them out. One 
 other stipulation with the Government I had almost for- 
 gotten to mention, which is that the purchase money for 
 the lands should be laid out as soon as may be in the im- 
 provement of our internal navigation. 
 
 Let the Company beware how they engage to find Emi- 
 grants employment on their arrival in this country. I 
 have been puzzling my brains, to discover in what way the 
 Company could give employment to such Emigrants, but 
 to no purpose. It has been seen, that the business of the 
 Company in the first instance, is, to open Roads, construct 
 bridges, and clear scites for villages, &c. &c. These ob- 
 jects, to be accomplished on the cheapest principle, to which 
 the Company will of course ever have a steady eye, must 
 be performed by contract, and that with Americans . — 
 Europeans have no knowledge of such business, and 
 could not perform it for the whole capital of the Compa- 
 ny . Set two of the strongest raw Europeans that ever 
 appeared in Canada, to chop down a tree, that shall take 
 them three quarters of a day to fell; then set two slim 
 yankee youths of fifteen to chop down a similar tree, and 
 they shall accomplish it in an hour, without the least fa- 
 tigue, while the Europeans shall be incapable of labour 
 for three days afterwards, and it may be pretty lucky if 
 both, or one escape without loss of life or limb. In 
 process of time to be sure, the Gompauy may erect Iron 
 works, open Lead mines, Marble quarries, &c. and when 
 they find it expedient to engage in such undertakings, they 
 can engage to furnish employment to Emigrants, but not 
 till then. Let the Company inspire life and energy a- 
 
mong their own wealthy settlers, and the people getie* 
 rally ; and let the Government prooceed to improve the in- 
 ternal navigation, and immediately there is no lack of em- 
 ployment for Emigrants, and no lack of emigrants to be 
 employed, without any pledge from the Company. 
 
 1 recommend to every Gentleman of the Company who 
 may not have read Mr. Robert Go ur fay’s publication on 
 Canadian affairs, to read it immediately. He will there 
 ^find a mass of true and valuable information, he can no 
 where find besides. When his book shall have been ex- 
 tensively perused, and duly considered, I trust that though 
 he may never be able to obtain redress of the wrongs he 
 lias sustained, he will live in the esteem of all good and 
 virtuous men. Meanwhile, let his manly and benevolent 
 heart be soothed under his cruel and unmerited sufferings, 
 by the assurance that he has the blessings of thousands in 
 C pper Canada, who only wait for better times, to afford 
 him a substantial proof of their gratitude for his great and 
 zealous efforts in tlaeir behalf, one consequence of which 
 they contemplate in the formation of the Canadian Land 
 Company, which I have now the honour to address. 
 
 Impelled by a strong sense of duty, I have been indu- 
 ced to submit this hasty production to the consideration of 
 the Company and the British Public, and I humbly hope 
 it will be received as it is meant. 1 have endeavoured to 
 convey the exact impressions of my mind upon the vast 
 and glorious undertaking about to be engaged in, by a 
 respectable body of my Countrymen, who, generally" 
 speaking, I am confident, can have but feint ideas of the 
 difficulties that surround them. I have, in as concise a 
 manner as 1 knew how, pointed them out. There will be 
 danger in supposing I have drawn an overcharged picture. 
 Experience will inform you that 1 have written in the 
 spirit of Truth. Allow me now the honour to subscribe 
 myself 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Yonr most obedient 
 
 Humble Servant, 
 
 AN ENGLISHMAN^ 1 
 Upper Canada , October 31, 1824.