66 Secretary of State's Office, Downing-Street, "27th MAY, 1818. “SIR, "RICHARD TALBOT, ESQUIRE, having engaged to take out to Canada the Settlers whose names are hereunto annexed, you are in the first instance to assign to him a grant of land, in the proportion of One Hundred acres for each male individual above the age of Seventeen years who may accompany him. And as the Settlers become located on the land assigned to him, repay to him the sums affixed to their respective names; drawing on my Under-Secretary for the amount. (Signed) "I have the honour to be, &c. &c. "BATHURST." "Sir John Cope Sherbrooke, "Governor of Canada," &c. On receipt of these letters, which were tantamount to marching orders for our busy band of settlers, we prepared for our immediate departure to the place of embarkation. As a particular account of the subsequent proceedings of the whole party will be found in these volumes, the preceding Introduction, will, it is hoped, be considered sufficiently copious. ANY MAN LIVING MAY MAKE A BOOK WORTH READING, IF HE WILL BUT SET DOWN WITH TRUTH WHAT HE HAS SEEN OR HEARD,-NO MATTER WHETHER THE BOOK IS WELL WRITTEN OR NOT. GRAY. REGIONS MOUNTAINOUS AND WILD, THINLY INHABITED AND LITTLE CULTIVATED, MAKE A GREAT PART OF THE EARTH; AND HE THAT HAS NEVER SEEN THEM, MUST LIVE UNACQUAINTED WITH MUCH OF THE FACE OF NATURE, AND WITH ONE OF THE GREAT SCENES OF HUMAN EXISTENCE. SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. LETTER I. DEPARTURE FOR COVE-FEELINGS ON CONTEMPLATING THE COUN- CORK HARBOUR, June 13th, 1818. THE celebrated Lady Morgan has justly observed, "that there are certain emotions which no eloquence can paint, which good sense shrinks from "attempting, and which, however strongly con"ceived by the mind, pourtrayed by the fancy, or "felt by the heart, become feeble and languid "through the coldness of detail." Never did I feel so forcibly the truth of this sentiment, as I do at this instant; and never until now, were the feelings of my soul of that acute nature which language would in vain attempt to delineate in all their force and poignancy. The thought of separating myself for ever from a beloved country, from the companions of my youth and the friends of my hosom, produces such an assemblage of conflicting sensations in my mind, that, were it not for the solacing hope of independence beyond the Western Main, and the exhilarating idea of a constant interchange of sentiment with those who may deem me worthy of their correspondence,-this feeble spirit, devoid of every other support, would, I fear, soon sink beneath the burden of its sad reflections. You had frequently endeavoured to persuade me, that, in the first moments of keen affliction, it is useless to contend with the overwhelming sorrows of the heart; but the justness of this remark, I was, as you may recollect, always unwilling to admit. Now, however, I am satisfied, from painful experience, that, in such cases, we vainly look around us for sensible objects, which, though not sufficiently potent to eradicate our sorrows, may serve at least to divert them;-that man, of himself, is more eminently "a creature of circumstances," than the wisest or the humblest of us is willing to allow ;-that human nature is rightly said, on the highest possible authority, to inherit the property of looking too much at "the things which are seen," at those objects which urgently force themselves on the immediate attention of our spirits; and that consequently, the more elevating and important considerations, of whose benign and salutary impressions we are at other times susceptible, are frequently, on these more trying occasions, either totally forgotten, or allowed to exert their influence without effect. While enveloped in this mental gloom, we lose our relish for the captivating scenery of nature, which, in its almost infinite variety of forms, is calculated to 1 inspire delight: But her charms in vain present themselves to one, whose heart is ill at ease, and who is either lingering with mixed sensations of complacency and regret on the past, or is yielding the reins to his imagination in excursive anticipations respecting the future. These keen emotions have taught me, that if the first ebullitions of sorrow receive no sudden check, but are permitted to expend their rage, they will, like the troubled waves of the ocean after a violent storm, gradually subside, and imperceptibly qualify us for resuming our former placidity, without losing the more soothing portion of our regrets. 66 66 Sensible, however, that "while the mind con66 templates its own distress, it is acted upon and never acts, and that, by indulging in this contemplation, it only becomes more unfit for action,' -I shake off the lethargy that already begins to steal upon my faculties. Lamenting no longer what is remediless, I will not seem desirous of exciting your sympathy by further sorrowful allusions to events now beyond human control; but will proceed to the fulfilment of my parting promise, and have only to request that you will kindly Accept whate'er Æneas can afford. After bidding you perhaps an eternal adieu, on the morning of the 4th instant, I passed through the most romantic country imaginable; but, not |