dent within the influence of a railway in the United States is 12s. 6d. per annum. The population on and within fifteen miles of the Grand Trunk Railway is about a million and a-half, and is rapidly increasing; making the most ample allowance for competition by water, it can fairly be estimated for the Grand Trunk at 8s. a-head.

"The export of flour from Upper Canada is now about two millions barrels ayear. The average cost at present of conveying it to the Atlantic seaboard is a dollar and three-quarters (7s. 3d. sterling) a barrel. It is not too much to assume that when the Grand Trunk line is completed to the west, at least three-fourths of the above amount will be carried by it."

Of this large amount of bread-stuffs 400,000 barrels are required by the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; and the State of Maine, in the chief city and port of which is one of the termini of the line, takes yearly 700,000 barrels, equal to about 70,000 tons. Coincidently with this demand the wheat crop of Upper Canada is stated to have quadrupled in ten years, and to have afforded, in 1854, a surplus over the quantity required for domestic consumption of twelve millions of bushels. We have promised not to weary our readers with statistics, so we shall barely remind them that the population of Upper Canada, which in 1811 was 77,000, was shown by the census of 1851 to have increased to 952,000, and that it is now believed to be little short of 1,400,000; that the value of the imports of the province in five years, 1849 to 1853, increased from three to close upon eight millions of pounds; and that during the same period the revenue rose from £513,431 £1,522,659.

to

Need we go further in proof that the rail in Canada is a great fact? and can we adduce more satisfactory evidence, than the rapid, and yet substantial, growth of railway enterprise, of the public confidence in the magnitude and availability of the internal resources of that great province? Those resources remained undeveloped in forest, field, and river, until freedom begat self-reliance, and self-reliance engendered public confidence, home as well as colonial; from thence sprang the rail, now the indispensable pathway to material prosperity. Along it Canada seems likely to advance with a speed scarcely, if at all, inferior

to that attained by the neighbouring commonwealth. The experiment is truly curious and interesting, no less in its apparent results than in its speculative future. By the concession of responsible government, the colony has been, in truth, set free from British domination as completely as the United States were by the Declaration of Independence. In the one case the revolution has been as a friendly dissolution of partnership between father and son, in which the older and stronger relative renounces his claim to filial obedience, while the younger and weaker retains a right to parental protection. In the other case, the separation has thrown parent and child altogether upon their own respective resources. It remains to be seen whether the wisdom and good feeling of the Colonial Government will suffice to overcome this great difficulty, and yet, if rightly used, great advantage of their position; or whether the colonial relation be really incompatible with provincial independence. There are, unquestionably, many obstacles in the way of Canada, which had no existence in the case of the American colonies, and amongst the most formidable of these are the two systems of law, and the two languages still countenanced by the Government. The common law and the common tongue of England were the inheritance of the United States, with which they began business as a nation. Canada has been vexed with seignorial rights, English clergy reserves, and a French Church establishment, and is impeded in the work of settling such questions by the want of a common medium of discussion. At a debate in the provincial parliament, on the election of Speaker, described by Mr. Weld in his interesting and truthful "Vacation Tour," last autumn, there were "ten specimens of oratory-seven in French and three in English. Among the speakers were Mackenzie, the celebrated leader of the rebel movement at Toronto, whose action and language abounded with excitement and violence; Papineau, the O'Connell of Canada; Hincks, and M.Nab. The French Canadians, were, however, far more eloquent and energetic than the English members. At present (Mr. Weld adds) few persons in Upper Canada are conversant with French, and consequently members of parliament

hear long speeches which they do not comprehend. The tedium of this infliction was exemplified by the impatience manifested by several honourable members, who, by various mocking tones and noises, more ingenious than gentlemanly, endeavoured to put down French orators." No such absurdity as this confusion of tongues would have been permitted for a moment in Congress, notwithstanding the variety of race in some of the States. It is a sore aggravation of Canadian difficulties, which the Anglo-Saxon colonists would never have allowed to be established had their enfranchisement not been a friendly compromise rather than an open rupture. In another respect also the United States were fortunate. The time of their undertaking to do for themselves was one in which both sword and gown yet retained their precedence before the mere purse. The use of arms was then the pride of the gentleman, and the valued privilege of the citizen; there was no reluctance ever shown by the colonists to undertake their own protection against any enemies, and they seldom failed to show their competency to the work. The act of revolt was indeed the means of specially calling forth the military virtue, which, when joined with a patriotic spirit, commands the respect of the generous portion of mankind, and is decried only by those who see in the poverty and weakness of their fellows an opportunity for the profitable exercise of low cunning. A formidable obstacle in the way of Canada was the prevalence of the colonial spirit of corrupt dependence, under whose influence demagogues taught that a nation could enjoy freedom, and yet commit the defence of it to the arms of others. It is cheering to observe that this delusion is passing away, that the establishment of an effective militia is no longer opposed, and that the force of regular troops in the province has been reduced from 8,000 or 10,000 to some 1,600 or 1,700:

"When I arrived in the province in June, 1847," says Lord Elgin, "I found that certain articles imported by the commissariat for the use of the troops, and purchased with British funds, were chargeable on their introduction into the colony with duties which went into the provincial treasury; and it was not until the sessions of 1849 and 1850, that the alterations in the

law were effected, which put an end to this anomaly. As there was at that time hardly any semblance of a civil force in the province, her Majesty's troops were constantly required to render services which would have been discharged more effectually and more consistently with British practice, by a body of police. I am happy to say that a very different spirit has been manifested in meeting the requirements which the recent reductions in the military establishment of the province have occasioned; and that there seems to be every disposition to provide the funds necessary for the organisation and establishment of an efficient local force. I am confident," he adds, "that nothing will more effectually tend to the security of the empire, or to the establishment of a high standard of national and manly morals among the colonists, than the assumption by themselves of some portion of the responsibility in respect of self-defence, and the preservation of internal tranquillity, which has heretofore been cast upon the mother country."

We mention these matters in connexion with the rail, because, viewing that as a social and political, no less than a commercial institution, we see in its operations many chances of escape from the difficulties of the situation. The locomotive may be expected to abolish distinctions of language at no distant period, and upon that will follow an assimilation of manners, which will end in a unity of laws and customs. The dispersion of the population, immigrant and native, which two thousand miles of railway in active operation can scarcely fail to cause, will also naturally tend toward the production of the same result. With the increase of wealth, brought by an extended commerce, it may be hoped the inclination to "pull at the exchequer" will continue to decline, so as that in no long time the entire of the provincial expenditure shall be borne by the revenue of the province. There is an earnest of this given in the arrangements for defence, to which we have alluded; there is an earnest of something much better in the unanimous vote by the Canadian Parliament of £20,000 as the munificent contribution of the province toward the relief of the widows and orphans of the soldiers and sailors belonging to either of the allied forces, who may fall in the service of their country during the present war. With Lord Elgin we think it not "too much to expect, that, if at some future day, when the material

strength of these flourishing provinces shall have been more fully developed, her Majesty should chance to be engaged in a contest which carries with it, as the present contest does, the sympathies of all her people, the same spirit which prompts to this liberal contribution in the cause of charity, may lead Canadians to desire to share with their brethren of the mother country the glories and the sacrifices of honourable warfare."

Until the relations between the imperial and colonial governments shall arrive at this condition, something will be wanting to full equality and friendly independence; and towards the attainment of that goal we venture to think the extension of railway communica tion, as proposed, into the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, would contribute valuable aid.

It

may seem but a poor speculation to invest money in carrying on the rail through the howling wilderness between the St. Lawrence and Halifax; yet its early political result would, in all probability, be a confederation of the North American colonies. That would involve a supremacy of English law and language throughout the new union, a more complete reliance upon colonial resources, and, we should hope, a more firm and permanent connexion with England, upon terms of the strongest moral obligation; a binding together by the ties of blood and common interest, unhampered by any bond more galling than the link of a

common

crown. That this consummation would be the solution most agreeable to the majority of the Canadians we are convinced, well assured as we are that Mr. Weld's judgment, formed upon his ob

servations at the opening of the Provincial Parliament, is perfectly correct. "I was gratified to find" (he says), "that, with few exceptions, a loyal and affectionate spirit exists towards England, although the mace was particularly offensive to some republican spirits of the sterner sex seated near me, who were loud in their denunciations of the gingerbread absurdity,' as they styled it, of the whole affair.'

But, some Manchester schoolman among our readers will exclaim-"We sat down to read a description of the rail, and scarcely have we got upon the train when we are hurried off into a discussion of knotty points of colonial politics." We can only answer, in excuse for our wanderings, that not being shareholders in any colonial railway company, we have considered the rail not exclusively as a dividend-making machine, but as also a sign, at once, and an agent of social and national advancement. It can, we are well aware, only serve the latter purpose, while it is successfully accomplishing the former; and we see ample ground for confidently expecting that the results of the present extraordinary movement of railway enterprise in Canada will not disappoint either the economist or the statesman. In the meantime we trust that our tale may confirm the faith of believers in free institutions-nay, that it may go some way towards convincing sceptics that, notwithstanding the evidence of recent events, and the weight of princely opinion, great designs can be conceived and carried into execution, even though "unity of purpose and action, impenetrable secrecy, and uncontrolled despotic power," be a wanting in the British system.

FREDERICK PILON was born at Cork, about the year 1750 or '51; the exact date we have been unable to ascertain. He became a good classical scholar at a very early age, and exhibited powers of oratory which he never omitted an opportunity of displaying in the several debating societies which then existed in his native city. Before he reached his twentieth year, his friends sent him to Edinburgh to study medicine; but he disliked dry lectures and practical anatomy, and being partial to the Muses, determined to try a road to fortune of his own selection. The stage was his choice; but nature had not seconded inclination. With genius and industry, he possessed neither voice nor figure. He contrived to obtain an appearance on the boards of the Scottish metropolis, as Oroonoko; but although his conception was good, his physical defects were too obvious, and the experiment proved a failure. After a few more trials he felt convinced that he had made a mistake, but having incurred the displeasure of his family, he was without any other immediate resource, and found himself compelled to endure the drudgery of a strolling actor's life for three or four years, at various provincial theatres in the northern parts of the kingdom. At length he returned to Cork, and made a solitary and unsuccessful debut in The Earl of Essex. Less obstinate than many others in the same predicament, he yielded to the advice of some judicious counsellors, and abandoned a profession for which he appeared to be totally unfit. He then repaired to London, the great mart for unemployed talent in every line, and commenced literary adventurer. He had a ready pen, an active imagination, and a mind tolerably well stored with desultory reading. His manners were agreeable, and his temper conciliatory. Almost immediately on his arrival, he was engaged by Griffin the bookseller, then printer of The Morning Post, to write

for that paper, and his articles gave much satisfaction; but, in a short time, his employer died, and he lost the situation. In this necessity, he took to writing occasional tracts on any incidental topic which presented itself. Henderson was at that period (1777) in the first run of his success. Pilon produced a critical " Essay on Hamlet as performed by Henderson," which attracted much notice, and contained some acute reasoning and sound observations. This pamphlet, which went through two editions in one year, obtained for him the friendship and patronage of the elder Mr. Colman, and an introduction to write for his theatre. He was fortunate in his selection of applicable subjects, founded on passing events, and met with considerable success. If his pieces do not overflow with ingenuity or invention, or fail to excite strongly the auditor or reader, it must be remembered that they were chiefly written on the spur of the moment, to answer a particular purpose; and that he was seldom allowed either the time or opportunity to correct or improve them. They are, at least, agreeable and inoffensive, and if the humour is neither rich nor exuberant, it never lapses into coarseness or indelicacy.

Pilon lived habitually beyond his means, and found himself compelled by the pressure of debt to retire to France. During his absence, his affairs were accommodated by his friends, and he returned to England, when he married Miss Drury, a young lady of Kingston, Surrey, in 1787. He died in little more than one year after, on the 17th of January, 1788, and was buried at Lambeth. With respect to his private character, it appears that for a considerable portion of his life, he indulged in habits of extravagance and dissipation. Those who exist on the precarious revenues of chance, are sometimes tempted to anticipate what fortune frequently fails to realise. Thus Pilon

often experienced the want of that halfguinea which had been forestalled for the luxury of the preceding day; and his love of venison and turbot led to the compulsory omission of a more necessary meal. His dissipation, however, was not of that kind which Dr. Johnson has ascribed to Savage-lonely, selfgratifying, and obscure. Pilon loved the social festivity and enlivening conversation, as well as the more substantial indulgences of the table; and, still better, he could subdue his ruling passion at the call either of friendship or necessity, and, to relieve the wants of others, could cheerfully deny himself the gratification he had planned, and in which he so much delighted. His table talk was above the average, and although he seldom sent forth brilliant coruscations of wit, or effusions of fancy, his reasoning was clear, and he had words and argument in ample supply. His knowledge of the world. rendered him an agreeable companion, while the gentleness of his nature made him no less acceptable as a friend. He has been thus described by one who knew him intimately and loved him well.

Gifford speaks contemptuously of Pilon, in the preface to the "Mæ. viad;" but Gifford, although a wholesome satirist, is not always as just as he is severe, and sometimes exercises the flagellating rod with more of prejudice than discretion.

Pilon was the author of thirteen dramatic pieces, enumerated in the following list:

1. The Invasion, or a Trip to Brighthelmstone, a farce, acted at Covent Garden, on the 4th Nov., 1778, with moderate success.

2. The Liverpool Prize, a farce, produced at Covent Garden, on the 22nd of February, 1779, and repeated seventeen times.

3. Illumination, or the Glazier's Conspiracy, a prelude. This trifle was brought out for Lee Lewes's benefit, and ran eight nights. It had reference to the illumination which took place on the acquittal of Admiral Keppel.

4. The Device, or the Deaf Doctor, a farce. This piece failed on its first representation, September 27th, 1779, but in the following February was brought forward again, at Covent Garden with alterations, under the title of the Deaf Lover, and met with good success. It was revived in

1819 for William Farren, then in his first London season.

5. The Siege of Gibraltar, a musical farce, acted at Covent Garden in 1780, and repeated only five times. At the conclusion, Admiral Rodney ́s fleet appeared in the bay, supposed to be returning from his victory over the Spaniards under Don Juan de Langara, off Cape St. Vincent.

6. The Humours of an Election, a farce, produced at Covent Garden, on the 19th of September, 1780. This piece had a run of fourteen nights, and was revived in 1806 for Liston to represent the character of Goose, originally acted by Edwin. Pilon in this farce has introduced many of the corrupt practices which take place at elections, but he falls far below the humour which the subject permitted.

7. Thelyphthora, or more Wives than One, a farce, utterly condemned on the second night. This trifle, as well as another, subsequently acted on the 20th of April, called Chit Chat, or the Penance of Polygamy (by B. Walwyn), was written in ridicule of the doctrines expounded in Dr. Martin Madan's "Thelyphthora," an apology for polygamy, which drove the reverend divine from his popularity and pulpit. However absurd or erroneous Madan's principles might be, they were ludicrously exaggerated in both these farces. He did not approve of, or recommend polygamy in general, but thought that it might be tolerated under particular circumstances. Madan was a gentleman of independent fortune, educated for the bar; but he went into orders from the purest motives, and became a favourite preach

er.

He is said to have built the chapel of the Lock Hospital at his own expense, and after having reimbursed himself, to have given it to that charitable institution-an instance of clerical disinterestedness as commendable as it is rare. His situation as a chaplain of the hospital made him peculiarly well acquainted with the miseries resulting from seduction and prostitution; this induced him to write his Thelyphthora," a book which made a great stir at the time, but has now sunk completely into oblivion.

One of the best jokes made against Madan was an epigram, in which the writer solicited the hand of his daughter. He acknowledged that he had one wife already, but presumed that would