Life in the Clearings versus the BushMoodie, Susanna
History
Life in the Clearings versus the Bush
Moodie, Susanna
Frontier and pioneer life -- Ontario; Moodie, Susannah, 1803-1885; Ontario -- Description and travel
But while I have endeavoured to point out the error of gentlemen
bringing delicate women and helpless children to toil in the woods, and
by so doing excluding them from all social intercourse with persons in
their own rank, and depriving the younger branches of the family of the
advantages of education, which, in the vicinity of towns and villages,
can be enjoyed by the children of the poorest emigrant, I have never
said anything against the REAL benefits to be derived from a judicious
choice of settlement in this great and rising country.
God forbid that any representations of mine should deter one of my
countrymen from making this noble and prosperous colony his future home.
But let him leave to the hardy labourer the place assigned to him by
Providence, nor undertake, upon limited means, the task of pioneer in
the great wilderness. Men of independent fortune can live anywhere. If
such prefer a life in the woods, to the woods let them go; but they will
soon find out that they could have employed the means in their power in
a far more profitable manner than in chopping down trees in the bush.
There are a thousand more advantageous ways in which a man of property
may invest his capital, than by burying himself and his family in the
woods. There never was a period in the history of the colony that
offered greater inducements to men of moderate means to emigrate to
Canada than the present. The many plank-roads and railways in the course
of construction in the province, while they afford high and remunerative
wages to the working classes, will amply repay the speculator who
embarks a portion of his means in purchasing shares in them. And if
he is bent upon becoming a Canadian farmer, numbers of fine farms, in
healthy and eligible situations, and in the vicinity of good markets,
are to be had on moderate terms, that would amply repay the cultivator
for the money and labour expended upon them.
There are thousands of independent proprietors of this class in
Canada--men who move in the best society, and whose names have a
political weight in the country. Why gentlemen from Britain should
obstinately crowd to the Backwoods, and prefer the coarse, hard life of
an axeman, to that of a respectable landed proprietor in a civilised
part of the country, has always been to me a matter of surprise; for a
farm under cultivation can always be purchased for less money than must
necessarily be expended upon clearing and raising buildings upon a wild
lot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account