ABRAHAM GESNER REVIEW OF HIS SCIENTIFIC WORK. 43- 



people. There has been some change in the denominational 

 status of the population. The number of clergy of the Church 

 of England has more than doubled. The relative change in 

 numbers of the Roman Catholic population, then imminent, 

 has come about, and they are now the most numerous of all the 

 Christian bodies. The Baptists and Methodists have greatly 

 increased. King's College, established in 1828, had been 

 thrown open to all denominations, but there still remained a 

 course in divinity in connection with the Church of England. 

 The social conditions of the population in New Brunswick half a 

 century ago, as described in this book, contrast greatly with the 

 existing state of society. The isolation of the people in the 

 winter time no longer exists ; and social pleasures are not now, 

 as then, so much limited to the coldest season of the year. 

 Nevertheless, according to this author, the City of St. John at 

 that day had grown from its foundation by the Loyalists sixty 

 years before to a population of 26,000 souls. The revenues of 

 the city were only £5,000 per annum ; a contrast to the large 

 amount collected for civic purposes at the present day. 



In speaking of " society " in St. John and Fredeiicton in 

 those old colonial times. Dr. Gesner says : 



"There is a constant struggle between the aristocratic prin- 

 ciple and the spirit of freedom and equality characteristic of the 

 American. Persons who have risen from the lower ranks, and 

 have arrived at affluence, are apt to overrate their importance : 

 and such as have the advantage of birth and education are fre- 

 quently supercilious. It is to be regretted that from these 

 causes endless jealousies arise, and society is divided into small 

 circles and parties." 



The author of " New Brunswick " devotes a short chapter to 

 the geology and mineralogy of the province, and another to its 

 natural history; and the work closes with "Notes to Emigrants."' 



