The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-29 00:00:00

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the district I visited, and over an extensive tract of
country beyond it, no doubt can be entertained.
16. It may be questionable, however, whether the
principal mineral wealth of the townships of Lower
Canada will be found eventually to consist in their au-
riferous deposits. Copper ore, magnetic and specular
oxide of iron, and other materials capable of economic
application, are found in the regions so named ; and al-
though I am unwilling in a document of this nature,
where nothing should be introduced which is not sus-
ceptible of proof, to admit opinions which are speculative,
I am bound to say that statements have been made to me
on what purports to be high authority, which seem to
warrant the expectation that some of these articles will,
at no distant day, be worked to advantage.
17. My second visit was paid to the district which is
probably doing more at the present time than any other
single section of the province to enable Canada to enter
the markets of the world as a purchaser. In my last
year's report I adverted to the fact that the returns for
1850 and 1851 showed that in those years the exports
of timber and agricultural produce from this Province
were nearly balanced in respect of value ; the returns
for 1852 exhibit a similar result. The products of the
forest exported during that year being valued at,
1,051,713/. 9s. 7d., and agricultural products, includ-
ing " animals and their products," " vegetable foods,"
and " agricultural products," at 1,214,2141. 3s. 10d,
Of the vast amount of wealth represented in this esti-
mate by the products of the forest the valley of the
Ottawa furnishes a large and increasing proportion.
18. This important region takes the name by which
it is designated in popular parlance from the mighty
stream which flows through it, and which though it be
but a tributary of the St. Lawrence, is one of the
largest of the rivers that run uninterruptedly from the
source to the discharge within the dimensions of the
Queen. It drains an area of about 80,000 square
miles, and receives at various points in its course the
waters of streams, some of which equal in magnitude
the chief rivers of Great Britain. These streams open
up to the enterprise of the lumbermen the almost inex-
haustible pine forests with which this region is clothed,
and afford the means of transporting their produce to
market. In improving these natural advantages con-
siderable sums are expended by private individuals.
50,0001. currency was voted by Parliament last session
for the purpose of removing certain obatieles to the
navigation of the Upper Ottawa, by the construction of
a canal at a point which is now obstructed by rapids.
19. From the nature of the business, the lumbering
trade falls necessarily in a great measure into the hands
of persons of capital, who employ large bodies of men
at points far removed from markets, and who are there-
fore called upon to make considerable advances in pro-
viding food and necessaries for their labourers, as well as
in building slides and otherwise facilitating the passage
of timber along the streams and rivers. Many thou-
sands of men are employed during the winter in these
remote forests, preparing the timber which is transported
during the summer in rafts,
or, if sawn, in boats to
Quebec when destined for England, and up the Richelieu
River when intended for the United States. It is a
most interesting fact, both in a moral andhygienic view,
that for some years past intoxicating liquors have been
rigorously excluded from almost all the shanties (as the
dwellings of the lumbermen in these distant regions are
styled), and that, notwithstanding the exposure of the
the men to cold during the winter and wet in the spring
the result of the experiment has been entirely satis-
factory.
20. The bearing of the lumbering business on the
settlement of the country is a point well worthy of
notice. The farmer who undertakes to cultivate un-
reclaimed land in new countries generally finds that not
only does every step of advance which he makes in the
wilderness by removing him from the centres of trade
and civilisation, enhance the cost of all he has to purs
chase, but that, moreover, it diminishes the value of
what he has to sell. It is not so, however, with the far-
mer who follows in the wake of the lumbermen. He
finds, on the contrary, in the wants of the latter
a steady demand for all that he produces, at
a price not only equal to that procurable in the
ordinary marts, but increased by the cost of
transport from them to the scene of the lumbering
operations. This circumstance, no doubt, powerfully
contributes to promote the settlement of those districts,
and attracts population to the sections of the country
which, in the absence of any such inducement, would
probably remain for long periods uninhabited.
21. The country of the Ottawa, besides its wealth
in timber and water power, and considerable tracts of
fertile soil, is believed to be rich in minerals, which
may. probably at some future period be turned to ac-
count. It is also worthy of remark that the route of
the Ottawa, the Mattawa, Lake Nipissing, and French
River, is that by which Europeans first penetrated the
West. Along this route Champlain, in 1615, pro-
ceeded as far as Lake Nepissing, and thence to the vast
and tranquil inland sea to which he gave the appropriate
designation of La Mer Douce. The Recollect father,
Le Caron, bore the Gospel to the Huron tribes along
the same tract, and was followed soon after by those
Jesuit missionaries whose endurance and sufferings con-
stitute the truly heroic portion of American annals.
This route has been for some time past in a great
measure abandoned for that of the St. Lawrence and
the Lakes. The distance, however, from Montreal to
the Georgian Bay, immediately facing the entrance of
Lake Michigan, is, via the Ottawa about 400 miles,
against upwards of 1,000 via the St. Lawrence. From
this point to the _ Sauitt_bt. Marie, the highest of the
three narrows (Sault St. Marie, Detroit, and Niagara)
at which the regions lying on either side of the four
great lakes, Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, ap-
proach each other, is a distance of about 150 miles. It
is highly probable, therefore, that before many years
have elapsed, this route will be again looked to a,s fur-
nishing a favourable line for railway, if not water com-
munication with the fertile regions of the north-west.
22. I enclose the supplement of a local newspaper,
which contains copies of the addresses that were pre-
sented to me at various points in my progress up the
Ottawa. Your Grace will observe with satisfaction the
uniform testimony which they bear to the prosperity of
the country and the contentment of the inhabitants.
Reports which reach me from other parts of the province
speak on this point the same language. Canada has
enjoyed seasons of prosperity before, but it is doubtful
whether any previous period in the history of the colony
can be cited at which there was so entire an absence of
those bitter, personal, and party animosities which divert
attention from material interests, and prevent co-opera-
tion for the public good.
23. Into the political causes which have mainly con-
-1 tributed to this gratifying result I do not now propose
to enquire. When the irritation by which periods of
transition are unhappily attended shall have entirely
passed away, it is not improbable that Canadians will
acknowledge the advantages they have derived from the
steady application of sound principles to the administra-
tion of their affairs, and that they will look back with
satisfaction to the period at which they began to feel
practically that the interests which they have in common
are more important than those which divide them, and
that faithful allegiance to the Crown is not inconsistent
with the exercise of those faculties and the indulgence of
those aspirations which in communities as in individuals
are proper to maturity.—l have, &c.
(Signed) ELGIN AND KINCARDINE.
His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, &c. &c.
N

EW LITERARY SOCIETY. We are glad to learn that
a literary society is being formed at Holt, Norfolk,
under the patronage of the Right Hon. the Lord Hast-
ings and the leading clergymen and gentlemen in the
neighbourhood, and the principal tradesmen in the town.
Its objects are to provide a reading-room, form a library
of useful works, and arrange for the delivery of occa-
sional lectures. We heartily wish the society success.
.A. GOOD EXAMPLE,— On Thursday last a treat was
given to the children of the St. James's District Day
eyltreet, Hampstead-road, on the f
ter-
mination o
year, by the lady visitors of the
Schools, in
their
rn
first
schools. The children, to the number of 320, assem-
bled in the Infant School-room, at four o'clock, and
after a plentiful meal of bread and butter, cake, and
milk, they were taken up to the girl's school-room,
which had been tastefully decorated, under the super-
intendence of the clergyman's wife, with evergreens,
flowers, and flags, and a Christmas-tree, eleven feet high,
hung with toys and sweetmeats, and lighted by gas.
After a short address from the Rev. Dr. Stebbing, and
singing a Christmas hymn, the tree was stripped, and
each child received a toy and a bag of sugar-plums.
Senors DAVIES'S PUNS.- -Baillie (commonly called
long Baillie: a very clever man, but odd) complained to
our friend Scrope B. Davies, in riding, that he had a
stitch in his side. " I don't wonder at it," said Scrope,
"for you ride like a tailor." Whoever had seen Baillie
on horseback with his very tall figure on a small nag,
would not deny the justice of the repartee. When Brum•
mel was obliged (by that affair of poor Meyler, who
thence acquired the name of " Dick the Dandy-killer"----
it was about money, and debt, and all that) to retire to
France, he knew no French, and having obtained a
grammar for the purpose of study, our friend Scrope
Davies was asked what progress Brummel had made in
French ; heresponded, ",that Brummel had been stopped,
like Buonaparte in Russia, by the Elements." I have
put this pun into Beppo, which is a fair exchange and
no robbery ; for Scrope made his fortune at several din-
ners (as he owned himself) by repeating occasionally, as
his own, some of the buffooneries with which I had
encountered him in the morning.—ilfurray's Beauties of
Byron.
Bra PHILIP SIDNEY'S DEATH.—After having had a
horse shot under him, Sidney received a wound from a
musket-bullet on the left thigh a little above the knee.
As he was carried from the field a well-known incident
occurred, which Lord Brooke, his re b'loff miller and com-
panion, thus describes :—‘, As he passed along by the
rest of the army, where his uncle the General was he
soon became faint and thirsty from excess of bleeding,
and called for some drink, which was presently brought
him ; but, as he was putting the bottle to his mouth, he
saw a poor soldier carried along, who had eaten his last
at the same feast, ghastly casting up his eyes at the
bottle, which Sidney perceiving took it from his head
before he drank, and delivered it to the poor man with
these words :—' Thy necessity is yet greater than
mine.'" The wound unfortunately proved mortal, and
after many days of severe suffering lie died at Arnheim,
in the arms of his wife, and of his faithful secretary,
William Temple, on the 7th of October, 158 G, in the
thirty-third year of his age. On the fatal intelligence
reaching England, a general mourning was ordered, and
affectionat,ly observed by all ranks and classes of
people. His body was brought home, and interred in
Old St. Paul's Cathedral, in the month of February
following • the funeral being attended by all foreigners
in England, the diplomatic corps, most of the nobility,
and an immense concourse of people. No man perhaps
was ever more universally admired, and none, certainly,
more tenderly and respectfully remembered. "He
trod," says the author of the " Effigies Poetise," from
his cradle to his grave, amid incense and flowers, and
died in a dream of glory."—.l. Crossley's " Sidney and
the Arcadia."