But, it is said, “it is rather hard to assume that mutilated selections would receive the sanction of Protestant commissioners, who had received their education at three Protestant Universities-the Archbishop of Dublin, who had heen educated at Oxford—Dr. Sadlier, who had been educated at Trinity College, Dublin-and Mr. Carlisle, a Presbyterian clergyman." With respect to an education at Oxford, I suppose it is meant that this is a pledge that the proper principles of the Protestant religion inculcated at that University, are to afford a security in the Archbishop of Dublin against the invasion of those principles in the Board of Education. The argument, Sir, is a strong one, and would be a good one if it did not happen to be refuted by that which is proverbially acknowledged to be worth a thousand arguments, namely, a fact; that fact is this, and I lament to have it to write-that the Archbishop of Dublin, as President of a College at Oxford, delivered from the pulpit, and published from the press, a body of well arranged and well digested truths, which were consonant as far as they went, with the principles which ought to be inculcated in that University; but the very next year his Grace accepted the Archiepiscopal mitre in this unfortunate country, and undertook to carry into effect for the Prime Minister of England, a system which the year before, he had himself publicly denounced-and justly and unansweredly denounced, as a compound of Popery and Paganism, at Oxford. The detailed comparison of his Grace's sentiments, and of the Board, are fully before the public, they remain unanswered, and unanswerable, and it is rather hard to impute to us as an ebullition of faction in Ireland, the adherence to those principles, which his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, had published as the principles of the Protestant Church at Oxford. Is it faction, Sir, that we cannot conveniently accommodate the policy of my Lord Grey, by surrendering our religion and our Bibles at his Lordship's behest? Is it faction, Sir, that we cannot profess one set of principles one year, and shift them like a scene in a comedy, to please a Prime Minister, the next? If not, Sir, then I pledge myself on behalf of the Church of Ireland, that when the Archbishop of

Dublin shall reconcile even to the semblance of convertency the principles which he published at Oxford in one year, with those which he undertook to bring into action in the Metropolitan See of Ireland the next, under the policy of Lord Grey, that every Bishop and every Clergyman in Ireland, will unanimously join him in that Board of Education, which till then, on his Grace's own authority, as an opinion, we shall denounce as a compound of Pagan ignorance, and Popish superstition.

It has been bitterly complained of, that persons were excluded from the public meetings, to petition against the Board, who were not friendly to the object for which they were convened. This statement to my certain knowledge is incorrect-the Archbishop of Dublin himself, received a formal notification of the meeting on the subject in Dublin, and his Grace did not chose to avail himself of the privilege afforded him.

It has been also made a subject of bitter lamentation, that "an agitation is going on in Ireland, which insults the Roman Catholic population by the application of such epithets as Idolaters,' 'superstitious believers,' ' mutilators of the Scriptures,' &c. Look, Sir, I pray you, to what a lamentable pass the Protestant religion is arrived-but one or two short years ago, the whole body of the British Senate, Archbishops, Bishops, and all the Peers of the realm, called, in the most solemn manner, the God of Heaven to witness the idolatry and superstition of the Popish church; and now an Archbishop of the Protestant religion, whose duty it is to testify against this, and to labour to reform these unhappy people, is represented as gravely complaining to these very Peers, that Ireland is agitated. How?-Because men are found to say, what they every one themselves had sworn!!! As to the Peers-is this a compliment to their conscience, or their understanding ?-as to Irelandalas, poor country! when those who ought to be the pillars of the truth, take part with the ministers of superstition, to complain that truth is spoken, and to mutilate and suppress the Word of Life, which they ought to teach and preach even to the death-what prospect is there of your improvement-what hope can be indulged of your salvation!

But we are called on to sympathize with the sufferings of those who are engaged in the maintainance of this system, and who have to complain of the "moral assassination of their characters." And we are told of the melancholy instance of a Presbyterian minister who was deserted by his congregation, because he approved of the Board of Education. As to this minister, Sir, I grant, he is to be pitied, less, however, for his fate, than for his crime. I rejoice to hear of the fidelity of his congregation-it is time for a congregation to abandon their minister, when he deserts the Word and the authority of his Creator. As to the reproaches that are cast on the Protestant commissioners, it is readily admitted, that for these they are deserving of compassion. If men are reproached for the cause of truth, and in the path of duty, supported by the Word of their God and the testimony of their conscience, it is their privilege, according to that Word, to "rejoice, and be exceeding glad," and therefore, so far from complaining, we see the apostles of our blessed Lord," rejoicing that they were worthy to suffer shame for his name," and we are called on to sympathize, not their sorrows, but their joys. But when men suffer under the just, indignant rebuke of truth, for destroying the cause of God and of his Word, then, indeed, they are truly to be pitied-no Scripture to support no hope to cheer-no testimony of conscious integrity, that is ratified by the authority of God, to uphold them, when they have sacrificed the glory of the eternal World to some contemptible expediency, or some criminal policy of this-when they have thrown away

the substance to grasp at the shadow, however fatally injurious the result of their conduct to their fellow creatures, it is universally to be allowed, that they are objects of deep commiseration, as it regards themselves. Pity must not presume to arrest the rod of justice; but justice cannot forbear to mingle her tears with those of pity.

How are the miseries of their condition aggravated, when the calumnies of which they complain, are derived, not from their enemies, but from themselves? Who ever thought of imputing to the Protestant commissioners, that any one of them would actually dare to set forth the Popish principle, that the Bible was not fit to be put into the hands of our children? Who ever thought, however criminal we considered the policy of the Board, that any one of them actually held an opinion of the Bible, in common with the blasphemies and superstitions of Dr. Doyle, Mr. Sheil, and Mr. Maguire ? Alas! Sir, how hapless is the condition of the culprit, when the miserable admissions of the defence, outnumber even the counts of the indictment? How hapless is escape from the terrible severity of censure, when the melancholy confession of the truth sets even detraction itself at defiance ? With the hope, Sir, that your Magazine shall long afford a pledge of what Oxford and Trinity College ought to maintain, with respect to the Word of God,

I remain,

Your Friend and Servant,

PHILO VERITAS.

Canada! we never meet that word, without feeling a rush of combined sensations to our heart; we scarce know whether pleasurable or otherwise. A flowery scene rises before our eyes, and all the witchery of that noble land comes like a summer gleam across our soul. Yet not unmingled with pain do we experience these feelings, the memory of friends, driven from this once happy land, now settled in peace with their families, but for ever lost to us, comes to our mind, and then we turn to the mighty operations in the state, which have thus exiled so many thousands of our brethren from their English home, and in long and gloomy train uprise our wrongs and sufferings-but we will not continue the picture, we do not intend to be learned in this month, and we have no need to be gloomy or desponding, so drawing a veil over our sketch, let us turn to subjects more immediately connected with our title, and fain are we to say, that he must be a thorough crying philosopher, who can read some of these "Canadian Tours," &c. without hearty laughter. But the causes of this mirth are by no means the same in all. At one time we take up a volume written by some blockhead of scribbling notoriety, and at his dull vague theories we cannot help laughing, and anon we get some semi-political essay, which, with its crude fantasies, is only prevented from being mischievous by its utter inanity; there we sit, and laughing view the hubbub created by the follies promulgated by the Martineau class, who with a smattering of technical terms, " Corn, currency, capital," and all the cant of trades' unions, waste, paper, pens and ink, and their own time-the least valuable of the lot-and come before the public as writers on population and

"Dull dexterity of groping well."

Enough of these; let us turn to the other fund of laughter, of which the present volume affords no mean specimen. On comparison with other works written on this very popular subject, the reader will find that, although you may laugh with Tiger Dunlop and Mr. Magrath, yet you much more frequently laugh at the writers who, in the words of Hall "take walk and make book." (But who differed, oh, ye gods, from his volumes?) Who can restrain a guffaw when we find descriptions of scenery which had been voted indescribable? But putting all these aside, and leaving them to their probable fate, let us show what may be really profitable or amusing reading for the public. Of the latter class may be ranked such men as Howieson, Stuart, Evans, and many others, who profess little further than giving a book of travels, and who do that well; but with the former class, the profitable, we have more immediately to do now, and this is divided into two subdivisions, that comprising information for the majority of emigrants, the poorer ranks of settlers, and that which, as in the work before us, is addressed more directly to the higher grades of persons. Of the former of these, we have abundance, and we have in a former number, treated of such, but of the latter, we had none, until this present volume was sent before the public. It was a great deficiency, and has been amply filled up. It had been allowed on all hands

that it was a desideratum, that those of the higher rank about to emigrate, should obtain information. The works published gave ample instructions to those who could live on meal and potatoes, but to the civilized family it was an unbuoyed channel, and they who sailed it were on all sides liable to fraud, accident, and expense; in proportion, therefore, to the want of the information hitherto, should the public appreciate it when offered them.

This volume comes before the public under peculiar circumstances; it is not the work of any one pen one part of the letters are from a family, settled for some time; the rest from the members of the Editor's family, who sailed from Ireland, and thus we have the circumstantial detail of the voyage and land journeys at the same time that the farming operations of the located family are laid before us. Now although we are spared the dull dry account of a Canadian diary, and are not burdened with "trees cut and girdled, ditto burned," &c., yet we have enough to shew what the requisite proceedings actually are. We said that more than one pen had been employed in this work, and to this does it owe much of the very pleasing diversity of style, and we turn from the tender regrets of the lady to the manly hopes of the gentleman, and again to the rich and vivid sporting letters of Mr. Magrath. We have also more than once recognised our old friend Martin Doyle. The first letter contains an account of the expenses incurred in the voyage and the journey through the country to the settlement, the total for which, for nine individuals, is only £135; then we have lists of provender, not bad in their way; then the expenses in the Bush, as the uncleared forest is called, including stock of all kinds; in short, it appears that this lot of settlers were located, for little more than £400. We shall not offend the ladies' eyes with the list of gentlemen's apparel, but nevertheless, it is very useful for them to know what sort of materials may fall beneath their delicate fingers, which must do all work, from making a fire to sewing a new collar on the Sunday

shirt. Some excellent advice to go out with a wife, and not for one; they must be scarce commodities there, and a young widow with a parcel of brats,which here are the plague, but there are the pride of life,-would surely meet encouragement. Some hints on the voyage, as not to put yourself to a month's additional tossing, by engaging a berth in a cheap vessel, with as good sailing qualities as a beef barrel, but to get one of the prime liners from Liverpool, where the bill of fare is such as to tempt us to go only for amusement, wines, including claret and champaigne, and board and bed for thirty-five pounds. Marvellous!

The second letter is highly useful and interesting, and gives a most graphic account of the raising a log house, which after all is no bad roost. We suppose the settler at York, U. C., and paying a visit to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, to enquire what lands are to be disposed of:

"Being there informed that he can purchase certain lots of wild land in an unsettled part of the country, at from five to ten shillings an acre, he next proceeds to inspect their situation and quality. And with this view he travels in a public conveyance as far as is practicable, say 15 miles, and hires a waggon to carry him from thence to the settlement nearest the land he wishes to inspect, ay five miles, and there procures an intelligent person acquainted with the township, lots, &c. to act as his guide, with whom he sets forward for the land on foot; and finding that instead of performing the remaining have expected, in a few hour's walk, he ten miles, and of reaching it, as he may will, perhaps for the first time in his life, be obliged to dispense with the luxury of a good bed, and dispose himself to rest as boughs of the hemloc in the small he best may, upon one composed of the shantyt of a new settler.

"Ön getting up next morning, not perfectly refreshed: after drinking his tea without the agreeable accompaniment of cream, or even milk, he proceeds with his guide, who, instructed by the index posts of the surveyor of the township, at length exclaims "this is the lot;"-when, the weary emigrant, seating himself upon a log, and looking round him, ponders

*A tree of the fir kind.

upon the impracticability of bringing his family so far into the bush, and to a lot perhaps badly supplied with water, and covered with pines, (an invariable indication of inferior land,) he decides upon further inspection, and at length fixes on a lot, under more favourable circumstances, upon which to found his future habitation and his home.

"He retraces his steps with altered feelings; his thoughts occupied by pleasing anticipations of the future improvement of his estate, and is received at the shanty he had left, with all that hospitality which characterises the new settler, who will share his last loaf with his expected neighbour.

"The emigrant returns to York, concludes the purchase of his land, and hires, or purchases horses and waggon to convey his family and baggage to the farm of another comfortable settler in his vicinity, with whom he has bargained for their accommodation, at a moderate rate, and for a supply of excellent provisions for as many weeks as he shall be employed in the formation of his own residence.

"With this interesting object at heart, he hires as many men as circumstances will permit; a yoke of oxen and a sleigh, which is the only vehicle that should be brought into the woods until a road be regularly formed. The master and his men start before the oxen, to prepare what is termed a Bush-road, which is done by felling and drawing aside all trees under five inches diameter, from the line of march, and by cutting a pass through any fallen timber of larger dimensions; thus leaving the great trees standing, round which, the others being cleared away, the oxen and sleigh can ply without difficulty. "About an hour before nightfall preparation is made for sleeping, and, what is termed a camp, is formed for this purpose, in a summary way, by placing a ridge pole of ten feet upon two forked sticks six feet in length, and stuck firmly in the ground. Against this ridge pole are laid, at one side, a set of poles, obliquely; leaving the other side, which forms the front, entirely open, not only to admit the heat of a large fire, which is lighted up before it, but the smoke, also, to banish the musquetos. A thick coat of hemlock boughs, or of bark stripped quickly from the standing trees, and covering the poles, keeps off the rain or dew.

"By this time the oxen have arrived with the bed-clothes, provisions, &c. and then comes on the interesting scene of cooking. The frying-pan (" contrived a double debt to pay") not only supplies

successions of savoury pork, but also of bread or paste cakes, not less enticing from the oily drippings of the meat with which they are fried. After a hard day's work in the Bush, this is no unwelcome supper. Your epicures sometimes bring biscuits.

"The oxen are tied to a tree, having hay, or maple branches as their provender, and each of the party having composed himself, with his feet to the blazing fire, sinks into repose, upon the floor of this temporary shelter, strewn thickly with the small boughs or tops of the hemlock tree.

"Breakfast being over by dawn of day, the party move on as before for five miles farther, and having at length arrived at the selected settlement, a substantial camp or wigwam is erected, to accommodate all who are to be engaged in the building of the house.

a

A

"The oxen are sent back, to return on certain day to draw the logs together, and the "Lord of this silent domain," commences active operations; not so very silent, however, as the axe resounds through the wood, and the expert choppers speedily make a sufficient clearance, furnishing, at the same time, the necessary timber for the building. wise settler will take care not to leave any trees standing close to the site of his intended mansion; a friend of mine Lieut. who neglected this precaution, having just completed his roof, was sitting under it with the utmost complacency, when a tremendous crash from a falling tree of great dimensions, laid the entire edifice level with the ground; he himself, by a miraculous escape, was taken out uninjured.

"To return to our new settler. Having determined on the plan, and proper scantlings, he has the logs cut accordingly, to the right lengths, and drawn together where the formation of the house is to take place.

"The walls are contrived in the same manner as a schoolboy makes a crib, except that they must be upright; but like that they have corresponding notches, cut out of the ends of the respective logs that their adjoining surfaces may close, with as little space as possible between them, and that the coins or angles may be thus strongly braced.

"The elevation must depend on the room required within; where upper apartments are intended, it must rise accordingly, and proportionably higher in a log house, which is generally finished with a shed, or pent-house roof.