26 TEE EMIGRATION QUESTION. 



Irish character, indeed I ought to be one of the last 

 persona in the world to do so; but I must mention as a 

 significant fact, that the one of England's colonies which 

 has least of the Irish element in it is also the one which 

 is most loyal to England, and through good report and 

 evil report most devoted to British connexion. 



A large proportion of the 506,000 immigrants returned 

 under the head of " Irish " are, as I mentioned before, 

 Ulstermen, or Scotch-Irish, as they are called in the 

 United States. Many of these are settled in Ontario, 

 and wherever you find an Ulster settler you find a 

 man who is doing well. There are two reasons for this 

 success,' of which the first of course is character. The 

 Ulster farmer is frugal and industrious, a staunch Pro- 

 testant, and a law-abiding good citizen. He can drive a 

 hard bargain and stick to it. He does not cringe before 

 wealth or power, neither does he stand bareheaded before 

 his landlord at one moment and take a shot at him 

 the next. Treat him with respect, and he will do the 

 same to yon. He has not been brought up to look to any 

 one for help, but to depend upon his own shrewdness and 

 his own strong arm. Hence he possesses a rugged inde- 

 pendence of character, which fits him well for a settler's 

 life in Canada. The second reason of his success is, that 

 as a rule he possesses the means for a fair start in a new 

 country. Thanks to Ulster tenant-right and the enor- 

 mous competition for land, he can always get a good 

 price for his farm. He can get an extra good price for 

 it, because land both in England and Ireland is at a 

 fictitious value ; but there is this difference between the 

 two countries, that whereas in the former the excess of 



