PREFACE. 
Canada having become, of late, a very prominent and 
engrossing object of attention, it is hoped that it may not be 
altogether uninteresting to the public, to consider it in a 
new point of view. It is here presented in a light on which 
there can be no clashing of opinion, no discordancy of senti- 
ment : the smiling face of Nature, the harmony and beauty 
of the works of God, may be turned to by men of all parties 
as a refreshing relief from the stern conflict of political war- 
fare. During a residence of some years in the Lower Pro- 
vince, the Author has felt it to be no common privilege to be 
able to solace himself by these simple but enchanting studies, 
amidst the fatigues of labour, and the stormy politics and 
martial alarms of the times ; and even now, the recollection 
of those pleasant scenes sheds forth a lustre which gilds the 
