Looking to us down the ages;
No old heroes sweeping by,
In their warlike panoply;
Yet heroic deeds are done,
Where no battle’s lost or won—
In the cottage, in the woods,
In the lonely solitudes—
Pledges of affection given,
That will be redeemed in heaven.
In 1783, when a regular survey and settlement of Western Canada commenced, the inhabitants of the Lower Province extended westward, only a few miles above Coteau du lac, upon the St. Lawrence, at Lake St. Francis; but not a house was built within several miles of the division line of the two Provinces, which is above Montreal, about 40 miles, on the north shore. On the south side there was the Fort of Oswegotchie. Besides the squatters around the military posts at Carleton Island, Oswego, and Niagara, there were a few inhabitants at Detroit and Sandwich, of French origin, where a settlement had sprung up in 1750.