Thirteen Years of a Busy Woman's Life

by Mrs. Alec-Tweedie

“In case of the death of the transferor, the transferees will cause him to be buried in the churchyard of the parish of St. L—— with a service of the value of twenty dollars, the body being present or on the nearest possible day, and the second of the value of ten dollars at the end of the year, and they will have said for him as soon as possible the number of twenty-five Low Masses or Requiems for the repose of his soul.

“The transferees will be obliged to take care of their sisters, Josephte and Esther, as long as they are unmarried; to lodge, light, and feed them at their own tables, and have to keep them in clothing, footgear, and headgear at need; and as they have always been at the house of their father, and in case they be not satisfied with the board of the transferees and decide to live apart, the transferees shall pay them annually at the rate of ten bushels of good corn, one hundred pounds of good pork, twenty bushels of potatoes, twenty pounds of butcher’s beef, six pounds of rice, three pounds of tea, three pounds of coffee, twelve pounds of sugar, twelve pounds of soap—these articles every year.

“The transferees will also take them to and from church on Sundays and on feast days.”

This extraordinary deed was only drawn in 1866. The old man is now dead, also one of the girls; the other is in a convent out West, and my friend managed to compromise with her for a small sum instead of letting her sit at his table, keep her in clothing, or provide her with potatoes.

In Ottawa I was the guest of the man who was probably doing more than anyone else for the agricultural development of Canada. The great strides with which in this Department she has surprised the world were primarily due to the enterprise of a Scotchman, Professor James Robertson, who held the post of Agricultural Commissioner from 1895 to 1904. He has written volumes on the subject, as well as being successful practically. It will be remembered that this able man had come to speak for me in London at the International Council of Women earlier in the year. After writing London, I ought to have put Eng., as no Canadian thinks of our London unless it has “Eng.” after it.

As a boy he left his father’s farm in the Lowlands of Scotland, where he had been working, and, full of enthusiasm and enterprise, sailed for Canada. He had much practical knowledge at his back, and many theoretical ideas in his mind, that he found difficult to work out in the narrow limits of a Scotch homestead. That lad’s name is probably one of the best known and most respected in Canada to-day, and yet it is not so many years since he landed, for he is still in the prime of life.

Professor James Robertson is a wonderful man; he retains his Scotch accent, has made practical use of his shrewd, hard-headed, far-sighted upbringing, and has about the most extraordinary capacity for work of almost any man I know. His energy is unbounded, and his physical powers of endurance marvellous.

Since I was in Canada in 1900, the increase of population and the output of the land is simply amazing. Roughly speaking, the population was then six millions; to-day it numbers over seven millions.

Growth! Growth! Growth! Wherever one turns there is growth in Canada; her cultured lands; her enormous crops; her untold mineral and forest wealth; her wonderful fisheries and water power; her gigantic railroads; her large cities—one knows not where they end. The Dominion Government with its experimental farms, and agricultural colleges, with its free grants of land which in 1910 equalled half of Scotland in area, affords, to Canadian and immigrant alike, facilities unparalleled in history. With such bountiful natural resources, such able statesmen at the helm, and such advantages from modern discoveries; when the rapidity of locomotion binds the ends of the earth together, and nations from divers continents hold daily converse with each other, rendering the world’s contemporary history an open book, the young country of the twentieth century has advantages never even dreamt of by the pioneers of past ages.

Surely Canada should be the nursery of Empire builders, and her sons the makers of history, and she will continue so, unless too much laudation turns her head, and she ceases to strive.