Lockport, State of New York,
May 1, 1833.
My dear Madam,
IT was very unexpectedly but most joyously that I received your kind
communication respecting the sailing of the _Bristol_, {196} and I lost
no time in leaving Thornhill for New York. I am now on my way thither,
and hope to find a few leisure intervals during my journey to fill my
sheet, reserving merely a small space for a postscript, that I may
communicate, should all be well, the tidings of the safe arrival of the
endeared party: they have much occupied my thoughts of late, and,
sometimes, with too much of anxious solicitude, for which I have as often
felt reproved; for such has been God’s mercy to us hitherto, that it is
not merely infirmity, but positive sin to be distrustful of his
faithfulness and love. I feel much indebted to you and Miss Ford, for
your peculiar kindness to my dear Mary. I am never surcharged with
feeling, I wish it were my habit; but still great kindness quite affects
me, and as requital will be ever out of my power, I must look to the
beneficent and faithful retributor above, and would give vent to the
utterance of my heart in the language of the holy and grateful apostle,
“The Lord grant that you may both find mercy of the Lord,” and especially
“in that day.”
Your kind present of the newspapers, &c., will be very acceptable, and
yet, perhaps you are hardly aware of the extent of either our political
or literary information. We have two monthly magazines published in
York, and three or four newspapers, and from New York we have two weekly
newspapers, designed expressly for English readers—the _Albion_ and the
_Emigrant_, full of English news and English literature; so that in a
month or six weeks, we have all the cream of the London and country news,
as well as the best of the lighter articles from the British periodicals.
The _Edinburgh_ and _Quarterly Reviews_ are reprinted at two-thirds of
the English price; also the _Christian Observer_, and other standard and
monthly and quarterly works. Messrs. Harper, also, in New York, reprint
the best of the English works in the _Family Library_, at three and
sixpence each, executed like Murray’s, and their series amounts already
to fifty-three volumes. Another series is furnished by Lee and Carey, at
Philadelphia, and a third of a religious sort at Boston; so that in a few
months, when I can spare a few pounds, I hope to be able to furnish my
family with an extent of literature far beyond my capabilities in
England. Among my own congregation we have also a book society, well
supported and well supplied; we are, therefore, not a little chagrined
when your boasting Englishers think of us as in a semi-barbaric land of
literary destitution: for we not only feel ourselves a part of the great
nation, but regard ourselves on nearly an equal footing as to the
comforts and luxuries, while in many respects we feel that we have the
most decided advantage, so we warn you not to treat us either politically
or personally with scorn.
On the day I left York, government despatches had just arrived, which
announced the dismissal of our two Crown Officers, the Attorney and
Solicitor General, owing, it is supposed, to too great freedom in debate
in our House of Assembly—the ferment it excited was almost
ludicrous—“_delenda est Carthago_” was emphatically pronounced. The Whig
Ministry must be annihilated. The province, though hardly prepared for
such a measure, must at once be severed—such despotism could not be
endured. I acted, as I generally do on such occasions, as pacificator,
and smilingly quoted the well known lines of old Dr. Byron, in the
conclusion of his _Bedlamite_—
“Kill your enemies’, kill a fool’s head of your own,
They’ll die of themselves, if you let them alone.”
It is whispered also that our excellent and deserving governor (Sir John
Colborne) has not escaped censure; this I am truly grieved to hear, for
his services cannot be too highly estimated, and our province is indebted
to him beyond all expression. I fear, however, that his removal is not
very remote; he is too pious, and too tame a politician, to give
satisfaction to the administration at home; but my contracting limits
oblige me hastily to conclude, and to assure yourself and Miss Ford how
truly I remain,
Yours, gratefully,
GEORGE MORTIMER.
P.S. June 6, New York. Yesterday the dear party arrived all in health
and safety. Never did I feel more truly thankful.