"At sunset we stopped to take in wood at Gannanoque, a village sweetly placed on a swelling hillock above the river. Here I entered some of the houses, and found considerable comfort, plenty of dirt, and a good many pigs, who seemed on the best possible terms with the children. An Irishwoman, standing at her door, her eldest son in her arms, a fine bright-eyed urchin, told me, in return for my compliments on the healthy appearance of the child, that she 'had been afther bathing him; for sure he had made himself dirty with playing with the pig.'
"The full moon had risen high when we left the last of the isles behind us; and late at night we emerged from the St. Lawrence, and arrived at Kingston, the tin roofs of which shone brightly in the moonlight.
"Kingston is an important town, and is the port of the Rideau Canal, which connects Bytown and the Ottawa with Lake Ontario. A walk through the streets by moonlight enabled us to see the market-house, a stone building, considered to be the finest in Upper Canada.
"Keeping along the north shore of Lake Ontario, we stopped at several thriving little ports, and arrived in Toronto early on the afternoon of Saturday.
"Toronto is the chief city of Upper Canada, and is evidently a highly prosperous place. It has a thoroughly Anglo-Saxon cast about it, and looks new and bright. The streets are long and wide, the houses generally of brick, high and regular; and everywhere is the appearance of vigorous trade and rapid extension. The houses of the richer classes are fully equal to those in the suburbs of Montreal; while no old dilapidated dwellings, like those which appear in that city, are here visible. There are many fine public buildings—St. Lawrence Hall, the Banks, the Parliament House, and many others. The grounds of King's College are well worth a visit. Toronto is at present the seat of Government, and the Governor-General resides here.
"This city, and its people, present many points of favourable contrast with the older cities and population of Lower Canada. The soil and climate may perhaps be more favourable, and the vicinity of American energy may have some effect; but the secret of the greater growth of this province may be traced to its settlement by American Loyalists in 1783. These men, driven away from their country by their adherence to the British Crown, here found a refuge and new home. The whole land along the St. Lawrence, above the French settlements, was formed into townships, and farms were allotted to these, the 'United Empire Loyalists,' who thus became the fathers of Upper Canada. The population of Upper Canada was not more than 210,000 in 1830, now it is nearly 1,000,000. Much of the land in the Province is equal to any in the world; and nature seems to have given every aid to the formation of a great country. All that is wanting would seem to be that independence, which, with all its reputed vices, would appear to be the condition of Anglo-Saxon progress. Canada has been hitherto the resort of British settlers only, while the United States have become a home for all the world."
What precedes was written nearly thirty-six years ago. I need not apologise for its crudeness, for I only represent, in plain words, the impressions of the time. And I think I have troubled the reader quite enough about my "first visit to America, and the reason for it." I may say, however, that my trip induced many other visits to the growing countries of North America. I was, to some extent, a pioneer traveller to the other side of the Atlantic.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Reciprocity Treaty with the United States.
After asking various questions in the House of Commons, to which I received unsatisfactory replies, I brought the subject of the Reciprocity Treaty with the United States before the House of Commons late one night in February, 1865. My observations, as reported in "Hansard," were:—