Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago | Page 2

Canniff Haight
only by that, but from private letters afterwards received from different parts of the Dominion, conveying expressions of commendation which I had certainly never anticipated. This is as much as need be said about the origin and first publication of the papers which make up the principal part of this volume. I do not deem it necessary to give any reasons for putting them in book form; but I may say this: the whole has been carefully revised, and in its present shape I hope will meet with a hearty welcome from a large number of Canadians.
In conclusion, I wish to express my thanks to the Hon. J.C. Aikins, Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, for information he procured for me at the time of publication, and particularly to J.C. Dent, Esq., to whom I am greatly indebted for many useful hints.

CONTENTS.

DEDICATION
PREFACE

CHAPTER I.
The prose and poetry of pioneer life in the backwoods--The log house-- Sugar making--An omen of good luck--My Quaker grandparents--The old home--Winter evenings at the fireside--Rural hospitality--Aristocracy versus Democracy--School days--Debating societies in the olden time--A rural orator clinches the nail--Cider, sweet and otherwise-- Husking in the barn--Hog killing and sausage making--Full cloth and corduroy--Winter work and winter amusements--A Canadian skating song.

CHAPTER II.
The round of pioneer life--Game--Night fishing--More details about sugar-making--Sugaring-off--Taking a hand at the old churn--Sheep- washing--Country girls, then and now--Substance and Shadow--"Old Gray" and his eccentricities--Harvest--My early emulation of Peter Paul Rubens--Meeting-houses--Elia on Quaker meetings--Variegated autumn landscapes--Logging and quilting bees--Evening fun--The touching lay of the young woman who sat down to sleep.

CHAPTER III.
Progress, material and social--Fondness of the young for dancing-- Magisterial nuptials--The charivari--Goon-hunting--Catching a tartar-- Wild pigeons--The old Dutch houses--Delights of summer and winter contrasted--Stilled voices.

CHAPTER IV.
The early settlers in Upper Canada--Prosperity, national and individual-- The old homes, without and within--Candle-making--Superstitions and omens--The death-watch--Old almanacs--Bees--The divining rod--The U. E. Loyalists--Their sufferings and heroism--An old and a new price list-- Primitive horologes--A jaunt in one of the conventional "carriages" of olden times--Then and now--A note of warning

CHAPTER V.
Jefferson's definition of "Liberty"--How it was acted upon--The Canadian renaissance--Burning political questions in Canada half a century ago-- Locomotion--Mrs. Jameson on Canadian stagecoaches--Batteaux and Durham boats

CHAPTER VI.
Road-making--Weller's line of stages and steamboats--My trip from Hamilton to Niagara--Schools and colleges--Pioneer Methodist Preachers-- Solemnization of matrimony--Literature and libraries--Early newspapers-- Primitive editorial articles

CHAPTER VII.
Banks--Insurance--Marine--Telegraph companies--Administration of Justice--Milling and manufactures--Rapid increase of population in cities and towns--Excerpts from Andrew Picken
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY:--
Early schools and schoolmasters--Birth of the American Republic--Love of country--Adventures of a U.E. Loyalist family ninety years ago--The wilds of Upper Canada--Hay bay--Hardships of pioneer life--Growth of population--Division of the Canadian Provinces--Fort Frontenac--The "dark days"--Celestial fireworks--Early steam navigation in Canada--The country merchant Progress--The Hare and the Tortoise
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS EARLY DAYS
Paternal memories--A visit to the home of my boyhood--The old Quaker meeting-house--Flashes of silence--The old burying ground--"To the memory of Eliza"--Ghostly experiences--Hiving the Bees--Encounter with a bear--Giving "the mitten"--A "boundary question"--Song of the bullfrog-- Ring--Sagacity of animals--Training-days--Picturesque scenery on the Bay of Quinte--John A. Macdonald--A perilous journey--Aunt Jane and Willet Casey

CHAPTER I.
"I talk of dreams, For you and I are past our dancing days." --Romeo and Juliet.
THE PROSE AND POETRY OF PIONEER LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS--THE LOG HOUSE-- SUGAR MAKING--AN OMEN OF GOOD LUCK--MY QUAKER GRANDPARENTS--THE OLD HOME--WINTER EVENINGS AT THE FIRESIDE--RURAL HOSPITALITY--ARISTOCRACY versus DEMOCRACY--SCHOOL DAYS--DEBATING SOCIETIES IN THE OLDEN TIME--A RURAL ORATOR CLINCHES THE NAIL--CIDER, SWEET AND OTHERWISE--HUSKING IN THE BARN--HOG KILLING AND SAUSAGE MAKING--FULL CLOTH AND CORDUROY-- WINTER WORK AND WINTER AMUSEMENTS--A CANADIAN SKATING SONG.

I was born in the County of ----, Upper Canada, on the 4th day of June, in the early part of this present century. I have no recollection of my entry into the world, though I was present when the great event occurred; but I have every reason to believe the date given is correct, for I have it from my mother and father, who were there at the time, and I think my mother had pretty good reason to know all about it. I was the first of the family, though my parents had been married for more than five years before I presented myself as their hopeful heir, and to demand from them more attention than they anticipated. "Children," says the Psalmist, "are an heritage, and he who hath his quiver full of them shall not be ashamed; they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." I do not know what effect this had on my father's enemies, if he had any; but later experience has proved to me that those who rear a numerous progeny go through a vast deal of trouble and anxiety. At any rate I made my appearance on the stage, and began my performance behind the footlights of domestic bliss. I must have been a success, for I called forth a great deal of applause from my parents, and received their undivided
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