lady, who had already spoken, what she meant by the word "sparking?" e mas os bazeal, "I calculate, Mister," she replied, “that you “must be an old-country man; otherwise you would not be ignorant of the import of the "word." stribe ↑utone for tab Or

7

I told her, that I was a true son of St. Pa trick, and that she must impute any ignorance to this unfortunate circumstance.esang oxóm ad *

And pray, Sir," rejoined she, "how do you spark in that there country of yours??s tot I answered, that if, by sparking," she meant the preliminary intercourse between two persons intending to be married, the European custom was this: When a young man is desirous of paying his addresses to any particular lady, if The has had no previous acquaintance with her, he contrives to be introduced to her by some respectable person, who is their mutual friend. Shortly after this introduction, he endeavours to obtain leave of the lady to solicit the permission of her parents to continue his addresses; and if he is successful in his first overture, and receives encouragement both from the lady and her father, he begomes a regular visitor at the house, until Cupid has shot his arrows to a reasonable depth in both hearts, and the lady gives her consent to bind up all their wounds in the bands of wedlock. This, said I, is a brief sketch of the way, by which we Europeans enter on the cares and pleasures of the

married state.

Will you, Madam, in return, be

pleased to inform me of the method which you Americans pursue in effecting a similar object?

The lady replied, "I should have no objection "to give such information, if so be that you old "country folk did not seem to ridicule our custom "of sparking, though it is not in reality half so "ridiculous as your own. Now, Mister, what can "be more preposterous, than to see a young man "and a young woman merely exchanging looks "for almost half a year together in the company "of their parents, without any other knowledge "of one another than might be obtained by an "hour's conversation? Now, I vow, it is too much "for a spirited woman to bear."

The voluble lady then entered unblushingly into minute explanations, at which I was surprised, and which were too gross to be repeated in these pages. She added as a finale: "But you old-country folk· "think it such an almighty disgrace for a lady to "have a child before she is married, that you despise the woman who has thus acted, all the days "of her life. Now, I vow, my Betty was two years old before I married; but, I calculate, I "am not a bit the worse for that, neither. What "do you think, Mister?"

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Were I to speak my own opinion, Madam, and judge from appearances, I should consider you, even at this moment, as good as new; but, if you require the sentiments of my country on subjects

of this nature, they are briefly comprehended in
this delightful stanza : ob von Framtide¦hat!
yon HoThe traveller, if he chance to stray,
striga May turn uncensur'd to his way to
Polluted streams again are pure:

And deepest wounds admit a cure;
But woman
But woman no redemption knows,

knows,jon Ter

The wounds of honour never close.

The idea of being considered as good as new, by a young man, had caused her face to brighten up to such a degree, that I fancied for a moment she was really going to exchange the withered looks of five-and-forty for the crimson cheeks and smooth unwrinkled brow of sixteen; but the stanza which unfortunately followed, soon drove the smile from her countenance, and left it a perfect perfect picture of rage, disappointment, and revenge.

"And pray, Mister," said she, "what does that "boasted country of yours mean by the wounds of "honour ?"

t

.3

My dear Madam, I replied, I must leave you to judge of that, from the nature of our conver-3 sation.in}

"O! you have got such dreadful nice notions!: "in that there country of yours, that I know not "what to think of you. In America we have more? "agreeable notions; but in Europe you substitute "certain refinements in their place, most of which "are so very opposite to the rules of nature, that I "do not suppose I shall ever think much of your

"country or its customs. Your refined ideas and "exalted sentiments may do very well for Metho "dist Preachers' wives; but I do not. think they "will ever accord with the feelings of spirited "women in any country."

Her arguments were so forcible and convincing, and her notions of virtue and honour so just, at least in her own eyes, that I shrunk into absolute insignificance and silence,-convinced of course of the absurdity of European forms, and a convert to nature and American liberty!!

The women of Upper Canada pride themselves on being good housewifes; and as few servants are to be met with in the country, they have ample opportunity for the exercise of their talents in the performance of domestic duties. But they are so particularly careful of themselves, that they compel their poor hen-pecked husbands to do the greatest part of their work. A Canadianis, in fact, a slave to his wife in the most extensive sense of that term. He is obliged to answer all her calls, to obey all her commands, and to execute all her t commissions, without a murmur. No West Indians slave-driver issues his mandates to the sable sons of Africa in a more authoritative tone, than a Canadian fair one to him who is at once her Lord and Servant.

It is very common in Canada and indeed throughout all America, for travellers to stop for refreshment at private houses, when taverns are not

convenient. I was returning some time ago, with Mrs. Talbot, from a visit to the Falls of Niagara, when we stopped one night at a very respectable private house, in the London District. As I had some slight acquaintance with the lady and gentleman of the house previous to my marriage, every exertion was made by the former to entertain Mrs. T. in a style suited to the occasion; for it was her first appearance in that part of America. The gentleman was engaged in agricultural pursuits, in a remote corner of his farm, when we arrived; but a blast of the horn soon brought him to the door. He scarcely had time to salute me and pay his. respects to Mrs. T., when his own good lady ordered him to put up our horses, and to return with all possible dispatch. During his absence, she was busily employed in laying the cloth for supper, although the materials of which it was to be composed were still in a very awkward state for mastication. The bread, for instance, was yet in the flour-bag, the chickens were feeding at the barn-door; the tea was in the grocer's canister, and the cream in the cow's udder. In a country like America, however, where the transition from non-entity to existence is almost instantaneous, these were very trifling considerations; and, before the lapse of an hour,

+ You may obtain at private houses every accommodation afforded by a tavern, with the exception of spirituous liquors. The charges,for a charge is always made,are somewhat less than at the taverns.