owe a vast debt of gratitude, since by the foresight, judgment, and skill displayed by that able and experienced officer-his timely measures of precaution, his right direction of the energies of the people, and his subsequent unshrinking performance of a painful but imperious duty, whereby many of the evils wherewith the entire country was threatened were averted, and confidence and tranquillity restored,-informed Bishop Macdonell and myself, that he could receive one hundred thousand emigrants from the United Kingdom annually, for the next ten years to come." In corroboration I also cited the authority of Sir George Arthur to the same effect, and concluded thus:— "The Highland proprietors, suffering from great redundancy of population, and inadequate means for their subsistence, are willing to spare us some of their faithful, and, to us, invaluable, settlers. I have the authority of the Rev. Dr. M'Leod, a name revered by the Highlanders in Canada, as it is deservedly here, that the people desire to go to Canada, and that they prefer it to any other colony: the British Government are then bound to give effect to their own principles, sentiments, and views. They tell us they are convinced of its necessity. You have now a right to demand of them, where is the obstacle? Every one who wishes well to the Colonies and the empire, should unite to establish a systematic British Colonization to Canada. It is the sine quâ non without which every legislative measure would be unproductive of great benefit. We call on you for your co-operation. Shall we forbid the wilderness to blossom like the rose? Shall we forbid the trees of the forest to fall before the axe of industry, and rise again transformed into the habitations of ease and elegance? Shall we doom an immense region to perpetual desolation, that might resound with the voice of human gladness? Shall that mighty arm of this vast empire, with its exhaustless soil, which a beneficent God has destined. to support innumerable multitudes, be condemned to everlasting barrenness, whilst within a day's journey of you thousands and thousands of your fellow subjects, good, orderly, valuable people, are restricted to one meal a day, and not even certain that that will be ensured them? A systematic British Emigration is equally desirable in a national, philanthropic, and

two Roman Catholic Bishops from America, Bishop Purcell, from Cincinnati, and Bishop Clancey, from Charleston, had been carrying on a bitter controversy, as to which country Irish emigrants should proceed to; the former highly commending the United States, the latter seriously warning them against that republic, and recommending most warmly the British American provinces. In the dilemma in which the Irish bishops were placed by these unseemly contradictions, I was invited to a conference with the bishops, at the house of that venerable and respected prelate, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Crotty, at Cove, and proceeded with my friend, Bishop Macdonell, thither for that purpose. A day was devoted to this discussion: the matter was fully, fairly, and keenly discussed.

I had fortified myself with an abundance of documentary and other evidence to show the state of Irish immigrant settlers in Canada. From Valcartier to Sandwich, I showed to the venerable prelates, that wherever Irishmen had settled down, -there were exceptions, of course, in all cases,-they had provided themselves with a peaceful, comfortable home, and by their conduct had not only benefited themselves and their posterity, but were materially adding to the strength and wealth of the country, in whose defence, indeed,—in the hour of danger, they had proved their loyalty by taking up arms and rushing as one man to the point where invasion or rebellion was threatened. Such was the state in which Irishmen were placed in Canada; not, as was represented, ready to fly from it at the first opportunity, and seek a more congenial soil,— for they had found the means of maintaining themselves and families in comparative comfort; and their conduct showed that they were not likely to be deprived of the advantages they had obtained by industry, frugality, and honesty. At the close of the discussion, the bishops delivered their opinions seriatim; and it was a source of great delight to me, that those opinions were unanimously in favour of Emigration to British North America; and what was equally gratifying, there appeared to be a determination on the part of those prelates to encourage it by all the means in their power. Since that period, the

hostile feeling towards Canada gradually diminished, and, under the influence of truth, properly disseminated, is now rapidly disappearing.

I returned from Cork to London, to proceed to Petworth to meet the yeomanry of Sussex, at the audit dinner at Colonel Wyndham's. This meeting was highly interesting on two accounts: the chair was filled by Mr. Murray, the uncle to the mayor of Toronto, who was the instrument, under Providence, of saving that city from the rebels in December, 1837; and the presence of the Rev. Mr. Sockett, the Rector of Petworth, who had done more than any one individual in England to promote the Emigration of the suffering labouring classes to Canada. Under these circumstances, the meeting was extremely interesting, and eminently useful; and one of the provincial papers, commenting on the several addresses delivered on the occasion, remarked :-"Two years ago, the spring was anxiously looked for, in order to embark armed forces to put down the rebellion in Canada. The present year opens with better prospects. Thousands of persons are preparing to embark for that country, to pursue the vocations of peace. The clangor of war is over; and no country presents fairer prospects to the industrious emigrants than does Canada. The St. Lawrence is the Rhine, and more than the Rhine, to our possessions in British America. It is a river destined to convey British talent, labour, and capital to a wilderness, and convert it into one of the finest empires on earth.”

At this time, I also received a letter from the Rev. Dr. McLeod, dated October 29, 1839, which it is highly important to introduce:

"Glasgow, October 29th, 1839.

"I have witnessed with extreme delight, the zeal, ability, and perseverance with which you are prosecuting a plan for an extensive Emigration to Canada; and I have listened with equal pleasure to the vast mass of interesting matter and information you have imparted relative to that noble Colony. I beg leave to send, for your perusal, a copy of a Memorial proposed to be forwarded to Her Majesty's Government, by the Destitution