1841.] Grandfathers and Grandchildren. with an artist's eye at an infant's hand "to 641 which and observation I collect the Other limbs are not wanted, so they are for the present left to themselves; and ill would they shift for themselves if they had any thing to do for they are cold; all the vitality, as yet but weak, is gathered together, that none of its force should be wasted, and is in the main trunkso that you generally find the extremities of children cold. Then as growth comes on, what a change! Vitality is strong, youth pinches in the waist, there is no longer the big trunk, vitality is now strong and compact, and the vital heat can afford to be dissipated, to be thrown into the extremities, that they too may be called into vigorous action, and at the same time carry - off the fever heat and violence of grown nature. Then again when we decline, as it is fairly enough said, to second childhood, how certain is the return? The vital heat retreats to the citadel, and calls in all its forces, to maintain that which has less strength, and cannot afford to be dissipated; and so old people have cold hands and cold feet again, the trunk increases, and there is room for the whole strength to garrison in. The hot-headed youth, and cool-headed man, are expressions from You see by the variety of my speculations, that I begin to cast great things in my mind, and, in truth, I find myself growing in fondness, and am already an incipient fool of a grandfather; but I shall be cautious how I draw the curtain from the cradle, and present the babe to your more near and scrutinizing view, lest I meet with what befell our friend Hermes we have been talking about, who wrapt up his ugly bantling Pan, and flew with him to Olympus, and into the presence of the gods, with— "Look ye all at my beautiful child." ter; They all burst out in a roar of laughand perhaps I might join in the laugh, should one be set up, for in that case Jupiter was the grandfather. -Vive, Valeque. Z. THE CANADAS. THERE are peculiarities in the present state of England and Europe, which might much better occupy the attention of our political economists, than endless squabbles about poor rates and corn-laws. The especial characteristic of our age is the progress of manufactures and matters connected with commerce. The last age was a warlike one-the age before, a scientific one. Of course, there were years of peace in the one, and masses of ignorance in the other. But the image and superscription of an extraordinary propensity to scientific research certainly distinguished the 17th century. And with Marlborough at one end of the next, and Napoleon at the other, the warlike usage of the 18th needs not dread much scepticism. But our present age is the reign of the power-loom, the steam-boat, the railroad, and a crowd of inferior, yet vigorous, manipulators of the rude material of human comfort, and human dominion, over the sterility and stubbornness of our general mother. Fifty thousand pounds of cotton, fifty years ago, were enough for the fingers of all the weavers of England-fifty millions are nearer the demand at the present moment! And the demand is growing; and, though there are fluctuations in trade, the trade is still grow ing and though merchants complain of overworking, (and when did they not complain?) yet every day sees some striking and powerful invention for working more, adopted in the great factories, and their produce swelling from warehouse to warehouse, until the land is loaded with the labours of Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, and the hundred other depots of the forge, the mine, and the loom. And the striking feature of the case is, that it is utterly impossible to stop this progress. No law can bind human invention. All the Parliaments since the Wittenagemote, could not prevent an Arkwright from abandoning his barber's block, to teach wires and springs to weave gowns and petticoats innumerable, without the help of man; or a Watt, to leave the mending of barometers, or the polishing of spectacle-glasses, for the creation of that colossal drudge, the fiery giant who defies the storm, and treads the ocean like a master, or on the land carries a village on his back, with the speed of a bird! This process must go on, until every labour of the human hand is superseded by the wheels and straps of machinery. The first result, of course, will be the gradual dismissal of the multitude whose labour now aids the wheels and straps. But time will finish the system; and our factories, instead of being filled with the busy hum of man, woman, and child, will be as silent as the neighbouring cemetery, or exhibit nothing but a solitary watchman parading through the wood and iron population of hooks and rollers, and bars, and barrels, taking care that they keep the peace, and do their work without flaming out against each other. The inevitable consequence will be the dispersion of the English workmen. But where shall they go? It is remarkable that all the European nations are following precisely the same course, all buying, borrowing, or stealing machinery. All laying prohibitory laws on British produce, and all toiling, most foolishly we admit, to raise every inch of every possible manufacture, within their own frontiers. British commerce, in objects of this kind, is continually the source of that grim jealousy with which the beggar spirit of the foreigner rejoices in every opportunity of thwarting the prosperity of England. Some of them, of course, must be slower in this process than others, and some may wait till the next century, but the principle is laid down, and the result is inevitable. Yet, all this tends to a great consummation. The filling of those mighty spaces of the earth which Providence has given into the hands of The Canadas in 1841. By Sir Richard Bonnycastle, Lieutenant-Colonel Royal Engineers, and Lieutenant-Colonel in the Militia of Upper Canada. 2 vols. Great Britain, is the palpable pur pose. Excluded from the European markets, England will necessarily look with a steadier eye to the colonial. Her workmen, sinking into indolence at home, will necessarily look for occupation beyond the sea; and the consequence will ultimately be, that this country, supplying the great transoceanic regions with manufactures produced without an effort, without subjecting man to disease, unhealthy air, or even to irksome confinement, will obtain wealth without effort, sustain empire without difficulty, and act as the guide, sustainer, and sovereign of mighty realms, inhabited by nations speaking her language, enlightened by her literature, and at tached to her by the noblest of all ties parental memories, and the inheritance of a pure religion. Is this all to be deemed fantastic? Certainly not. It is the very thing which is realizing hour by hour. The operation is but begun; we see only the first burst of the great stream of civilization forcing its way among the obstructions of 6000 years. But those very obstructions, once mastered, will only increase the volume and strength of the current; and we shall see, for the first time, the great problem solved of the art of making dependent states free without insubordination, strong without revolt, and civilized without corruption. In this spirit, we look to the Canadas, and receive, with patriotic interest, all solid knowledge contributed by our countrymen. The importance of the Canadas, the vast variety of their produce, the population which is continually pouring into them, and their influence on the manufacturing opulence and industry of Great Britain, give the strongest possible interest to all the substantial information which we can acquire on the subject. We have had a good deal of slight and general description from amateur travellers during the few past years; and we are indebted to them for picturesque descriptions of the scenery, and amusing anecdotes of the people. But the work which supplies us with our present information is of a more substantial order, and by an individual more than usu ally qualified-a lieutenant-colonel in the British engineers; who bore the commission of lieutenant-colonel commanding the militia of several dis VOL, L. NO, CCCXIII, tricts in Upper Canada; and who, in the pursuit of his various duties, has examined the country in its whole vast extent, from Labrador to Lake Huron. This clever writer, wisely adopting Aristotle's famous precept, to begin at the beginning, commences with the departure of his ship from the London Docks, and gives us a sketch of his voyage across the Atlantic-amatter for which he apologizes, but we think unnecessarily, and regret only that he did not give it at much greater length. However, he gives us valuable remarks on some precautions which ought to be adopted by all emigrants in the usual sailing vessels. First of all, he advises them to ascertain particularly in what class the vessel is rated on Lloyd's books, and take care not to be deceived by having AE. 1. printed or written on her placard, in such a manner as to make the second letter, E, almost invisible-a trick frequently performed. A. 1. is a firstclass vessel, as to security in insurance lists. AE. 1. is an old ship, which may, however, be perfectly seaworthy, and, by making minute enquiries, this is easily ascertained. He further advises, that the character of the master who is to navigate the vessel, should be ascertained as to sobriety and seamanship; that the fitness and quantity of the sea stores should be looked into; that a sufficient quantity of fresh provisions should be laid in by the owners of the vessel; that the nature and strength of her crew should be considered; as also the provision of nautical instruments, chronometers and barometers, &c., which are seldom to be found on board of traders. Now, we are perfectly satisfied of the value of those precautions; but we are equally satisfied that they can never be adopted by the majority of persons for whom they are intended. What hope, for instance, could the poor farmer or labourer have, of ascertaining any one of those points from a rapacious shipowner or sulky captain? The only true expedient would be, the appointment of public officers to inspect the condition of every emigrant ship, to take care that they should be in proper order in every sense of the word; and this in spite of the tricks of owners, or the ignorance of untaught and vulgar personages, from whose misconduct so many 2 V dreadful casualties may arise. We know no subject more befitting the attention of the accomplished minister who now presides over the home department. He recommends further, that the embarkation should take place, if possible, in April or May, and should not by any means be delayed later than June; thus insuring the best season of the year for the voyage, long days and short nights down the Channel and across the Atlantic, and arrival in fine weather, by which the settlers are enabled to go as far westward as they please, and establish themselves before the winter sets in. The passage down the Channel scarcely gives the idea of a sea voyage. It is a succession of panoramic views, now of France, now of Eng. land, marked by names which belong to history, and teeming with personal and public recollections. It is only when England is left on the lee, that the true feeling of the sea voyage begins. The voyager then finds himself in a new world; he watches every sail that appears along the horizon "every ripple in the water is marked, to see if it is not formed by some unknown monster in the deep" - the voyager begins to know the faces of the sailors, visits the caboose, descends into the hold, listens to the sailor's song of an evening on the forecastle, and begins to ask the master and the mate the situation of the ship, the chances of the weather, and the probable duration of the voyage. The voyage continued with no more than the usual alternation of calms and gales, until they reached the banks of Newfoundland. On the passage they were surrounded at one period by dolphins, some of which they caught, and which Colonel Bonnycastle describes as abounding in much more brilliant colours than are generally conceived, though he repels the common notion, that those colours increase in beauty in the dying fish. On the contrary, though they certainly change, the change is from brightness to faint ness. But he tells us, that when in the water, nothing can exceed the beauty of the dolphin as he plays round the ship. The green tinge of the transparent wave gives him the most gorgeous appearance, and the brilliancy of his colours, when illumined by the sunshine, surpasses de scription. However, the Colonel does attempt the description, to our ideas very successfully; and the creature certainly appears an extraordinary combination of all kinds of brilliancy. Speaking of one of those which they caught, he says, " Its colours generalized were a dark but lively blue on the back, interspersed with magnificent spots of ultramarine; next came a band, joining by imperceptible gradations with the former, of a dark but clear sea-green, covered with the same eye-like spots; then another band, or shade of light or vivid sea-green, also similarly, but less frequently spotted. The centres of the sides were painted with orange, red, and golden colours, intimately blended, and the belly passed into a cerulean blue and a brilliant white. Few maculæ occupy these last shades. The tail was subdued white, with golden shades. The head was similarly coloured as the body, the bands continuing along it ; but the beauty of the dorsal fin exceeds any attempt at description-the blue with which it was coloured was dark, and at the same time transparent. The other fins were of a lighter, but less lively blue; the mouth and lips of a pale white." They were now rapidly approaching the banks of Newfoundland, a sort of halfway house for which the voyagers to America always look out, with the eagerness of people weary of the monotony of sea and sky. They gradually perceived the vicinity of the Banks, by the flights of birds, the colour of the water, and the fog which seems to lie more or less at all times over these huge submarine mountains. On finding the sea shoaling gradually, all hands were busy fishing, and they hauled up twenty-one large cods; but such is the habitual abundance of this grand fish depot, that they looked upon themselves as in ill luck. He vindicates the character of Mother Carey's chickens, and classes the notion of their portending storms among vulgar errors, as in his voyages he had often met them without mischief. But the sea is a perilous element after all. One adventure was near bringing his voyage to a premature termination. On the 1st of September, in the middle of the night, they had a perfect calm; but in a moment there came on one of those heavy squalls to which the Banks are subject, and took the ship aback; a circumstance attended with considerable danger to a heavily loaded vessel, but most frequently occurring to merchantmen, the masters of which in general, owing to their want of hands, are too careless about carrying sail, and will not take in a stitch of canvass during a calm. After the squall they had a starlight night, but a still narrower escape. A high sea was running, and on a sudden the mate, whose watch it was, loudly called the master out of his bed, telling him that a ship, with all sail set, was coming on them right before the wind. The helmsman, in a fright, put the helm the wrong way; and the master had but just time himself to right the vessel, when the stranger shot athwart our stern, so near that it almost touched us. The two masters congratulated each other on their escape. The source of the hazard seems to have been, as in nine cases out of ten, negligence; there being no lights in the forecastle, a precaution which should be always taken at night. They soon had another peril. If all the emigrant vessels were as unlucky as the ship carrying out this officer, (which we presume to have been a transport in the Government service,) we should not be surprised if calamities were still more common than they unfortunately have been within the last few years. They had run on, meeting sharks, whales, grampuses, and flying fish; and at length approached the American shore in a most hazardous proximity. On the 4th, the night was stormy. They ran all this night seven knots and a half an hour, though their reckoning was by no means assured, and the master had never sailed in those seas before. "I feel convinced," says the Colonel, "that he did not conceive he was near the land, as he would certainly not have made all sail in a dark stormy night. And I believe he was not a little surprised, when, on the morning of the 5th September, at about five o'clock, the day. light showed him, during the heaviest part of the gale, the land of America!" Before them now lay a long line of high, bold, romantic shore-the ironbound coast of the island of Cape Breton. They now met another severe gale, in the mouth of the Gulf of St Lawrence. It lasted from mid-day until night; and-"the venturous master carrying, as usual, rather a heavy press of sail when it came on, sprung the fore-yard, and, not being able to ease off the mainsail, was in absolute fear that his mainmast would have gone by the board; which, or else the upsetting of the vessel, must have happened, if the weak crew, after great exertions, had not succeeded in letting it fly." They were now approaching the St Lawrence, when they saw a phenomenon which it would have been well worth the voyage and all its perils to see. "About two in the morning, the mate suddenly roused all the sleepers in their hammocks, by calling loudly for the master to come on deck, as he observed a most unusual appearance on the lee-bow. The weather had been cold, but there was a clear starry firmament, when in a moment the heavens became overcast to the southward, and an instantaneous and intensely brilliant light, resembling a fiery aurora, shot out of the sea, and rendered every thing minutely discernible, even to the mast-head. The mate and his watch immediately put the helm down, called up the whole crew, and awakened the captain; but before this was accomplished, the light had spread more vividly than ever over the whole sea, and the waves, hitherto tranquil, became much agitated, while thick dark clouds from the land seemed to threaten dreadful weather. The spectacle continued to increase in beauty. The whole sea, as far as could be seen, was at length one entire sheet of an awfully brilliant flame, above which shone, along the base of the high, frowning, and dark land abreast of them, a long and magnificent line of fire." "The fish, plentiful in these latitudes, and of a large size, seemed alarmed; long, tortuous, darting lines of light, in a contrary direction to the sea, showed immense numbers of large fish, flying about as if they were lost. The wind, which had increased a little, had a peculiar hollow sound; and, after a length of time passed in contemplating this splendid and extraordinary scene, day broke slowly, the sun rising very fiery and gloomily." "To sail on a sea of fire," the writer observes, "is the only similitude I can fancy to this really awful scerfe. I have frequently seen the waters of the ocean on fire, as it is vulgarly |