"Fair land of peace! to Britain's rule and throne Adherent still, yet happier than alone, And free as happy, and as brave as free, Proud are thy children, justly proud of thee. Few are the years that have sufficed to change This whole broad land by transformation strange. Once far and wide the unbroken forests spread Their lonely waste, mysterious and dread-- Forest, whose echoes never had been stirred By the sweet music of an English word; Where only rang the red-browed hunter's yell, And the wolf's howl through the dark sunless dell. Now fruitful fields and waving orchard trees Spread their rich treasures to the summer breeze. Yonder, in queenly pride, a city stands, Whence stately vessels speed to distant lands; Here smiles a hamlet through embow'ring green, And there the statelier village spires are seen; Here by the brook-side clacks the noisy mill, There the white homestead nestles on the hill; The modest school-house here flings wide its door To smiling crowds that seek its simple lore; There Learning's statelier fane of massive walls Wooes the young aspirant to classic halls, And bids him in her hoarded treasure find The gathered wealth of all earth's gifted minds." --PAMELA S. VINING. Since writing the foregoing, I accidentally came across _The Canadas, &c._, by Andrew Picken, published in London in 1832, a work which I had never previously met with. It is written principally for the benefit of persons intending to emigrate to Canada, and contains notices of the most important places in both Provinces. I have made the following extracts, thinking that they would prove interesting to those of my readers who wish to get a correct idea of our towns and villages fifty years ago.