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THE OLD JUDGE; OR, LIFE IN A COLONY. BY THE AriHOE OE ^^SAM SLICK, THE CL OCKMAKER,” “ THE ATTACHE,” &C. Habeoque senectnti magnam gratiam, quae mihi sermonis aviditatem aiixit, potionis et cibi sustulit. Ciceko de Senectute. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. 5 si' LONDON: HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET, F, Shoberl, Jun,, Printer to H R.H. Prince Albert, 51, Rupert St., Haymarket. PEEFACE. The following sketches of Life in a Colony” were drawn from natiu'e, after a residence of half a century among the people, whose habits, manners, and social condition, they are intended to delineate. I have adopted the form of a tour, and the character of a stmnger, for the double purpose of avoiding the prolixity of a journal, by the omission of tedious details, and the egotism of an author, by making others speak for themselves in their own way. The utmost care has been taken to exclude any thing that could by any possibility be sup- posed to have a personal reference, or be the subject of annoyance. The “ dramatis per- sonae” of this work are, therefore, ideal repre- sentatives of their several classes, having all IV PREFACE. the characteristics and peculiarities oftheir own set, but no actual existence. Should they be found to resemble particular individuals, I can assure the reader tliat it is accidental, and not intentional it ; and I trust will be considered, as it really is, the unavoidable result of an attempt to delineate the features of a people among whom there is such a strong family likeness. In my previous works, I have been fortunate enough to have avoided censure on this score, and I have been most anxious to render the present book as unobjectionable as its pre- decessors. Political sketches I have abstained from altogether; provincial and local affairs are too insignificant to interest the general reader, and the policy of the Colonial Office is foreign to my subject. The absurd import- ance attached in this country to trifles, the grandiloquent language of rural politicians, the fiimsy veil of patriotism, under which selfishness strives to hide the deformity of its visage, and the attempt to adopt the machinery ; PEEFACE. V of a large empire to the government of a small colony, present many objects for ridicule or satire; but they could not be approached without the suspicion of personality, and the direct imputation of prejudice. As I con- sider, however, that the work would be incom- plete without giving some idea of the form of government imder which the inhabitants of the lower colonies live, I have prepared a very brief outline of it, without any comment. Those persons who take no interest m such matters, can pass it over, and leave it for others who may prefer information to amuse- ment. I have also avoided, as far as practicable, topics common to other coimtries, and endea- vom^ed to select scenes and characters pecu- liai' to the colony, and not to be found in books. Some similarity there must necessarily be be- tween aU branches of the Anglo-Saxon family, speaking the same language, and living under modifications of the same form of government but still, there are shades of difierence which, A 3 ; VI PREFACE. though not strongly remarked, are plainly dis- cernible to a practised eye. ' Facies non omnibus una nec tamen diversa. This distinctive character is produced by the necessities and condition of a new country, by the nature of the climate, the want of an Esta- blished Church, hereditary rank, entailment of estates, and the subdivision of labour, on the one hand, and the absence of nationality, inde- pendence, and Kepublican institutions, on the other. Colonists differ again in like manner from each other, according to the situation of their some being merely agri- respective country ; cultural, others commercial, and many par- taking of the character of both. A picture of any one North American Province, therefore, will not, in all respects, be a true representa- tion of another. The Nova Scotian, who is more particularly the subject of this work, is often found superintending the cultivation of a farm, and building a vessel at the same time PREFACE. Vll and is not only able to catch and cure a cargo of fish, but to find his way with it to the West Indies or the MediteiTanean ; he is a man of all work, but expert in none—knows a little of many things, but nothing well. He is ir- regular in his pursuits, “ all things by tui’iis, and nothing long,” and vain of liis ability or information, but is a hardy, frank, good- natured, hospitable, manly fellow, and withal quite as good-looking as his air gives you to understand he thinks himself to be. Such is the gentleman known throughout America as ^Ir. Blue Nose, a sobriquet acquired from a superior potato of that name, of the good qualities of which he is never tired of talking, being anxious, like most men of small property, to exhibit to the best advantage the little he had. Altliough this term is applicable to all natives, it is more particularly so to that por- tion of the population descended from emi- grants from the New England States, either pre- viously to, or immediately after, the American vm PREFACE. Revolution. The accent of the Blue Nose is provincial, inclining more to Yankee than to English, his utterance rapid, and his conversa- tion liberally garnished with American phraseo- logy, and much enlivened with dry humour. From the diversity of trades of which he knows something, and the variety of occupations in which he has been at one time or another engaged, he uses indiscriminately the technical terms of all, in a manner that would often puzzle a stranger to pronounce whether he was a landsman or sailor, a farmer, mechanic, lum- berer, or fisherman. These characteristics are more or less common to the people of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton, and the scene of these sketches might perhaps to a very great extent be laid, with equal propriety, in those places as in Nova Scotia. But to Upper and Lower Canada they are not so applicable. The town of lUinoo, so often mentioned in this work, is a fictitious place. I have selected it in preference to a real one, to prevent the PREFACE. IX possible application of my remarks to any of the inhabitants, in accordance with the earnest desire I have already expressed to avoid giving offence to any one. Some of these sketches have already appeared in ‘‘ Fraser’s Magazine” for the year 1847. These have been revised, and their order somewhat transposed, so as to make them blend harmoniously with the ad- ditional numbers contained in these volumes. Having made tliese explanations, I now submit the work to the public. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. PAGE I. Chapter The Old Judge . ... .1 Chapter II. How many Fins has a Cod ? or, Forty Years Ago . : . .14 Chapter III. Asking a Governor to Dine . 47 Chapter IV. The Tombstones . .100 Chapter V. A Ball at Government House . .120 Chapter VI. The Old Admiral and the Old General . 162 Chapter VII. The First Settlers . .196 Chapter VIII. Merrimakings . 20.5 Chapter IX. Schoolmaster or, the Thaler 230 The ; Hecke Chapter X. The Lone House . 2.54 Chapter XI. The Keeping-room of an Inn; or, Judge Beler’s Ghost. No. I. 281 NOTICE. The copyright of this Work being the exclusive property of Mr. Colburn, any person attempting to infringe his right will be im- mediately prosecuted. The Publisher also begs to state that, by the late Copyright Act, the 5 and 6 Victoria, c. 45, it is enacted, that any person having in his possession, within the United Kingdom, for sale or hire, one or more copies printed abroad of any English work protected by the Act referred to, is liable to a penalty, which, incases affecting his interest, he intends to enforce. The public are further informed, that the Act 5 and 6 Victoria, c. 47, s. 24, prohibits the importation of all works printed in foreign countries, of which the copyright has not exprned. Even single copies, though for the especial use of the importers, and marked with their names, are excluded ; and the Customs’ officers in the different ports are strictly enjoined to carry this regulation into effect. N.B . —The above regulations are in force in all British colonies and dependencies, as well as in the United Kingdom. THE OLD JUDGE; OR, LIFE IN A COLONY. CHAPTER I. THE OLD JUDGE. A few days ago two strangers were shown into my study : one of them, stepping aside, pointed to his companion, and said, “ This, sir, is the Reverend Gabriel Gab of Olympus.” The other performed the same kind office for his friend, saying, “ And this, sir, is the Reverend Elijah Warner, of the Millerite per- suasion, from Palmyra, United States of America.” The former, whose name was by no means inappro- priate, explained, with great volubility, the object of their visit, which he said was twofold : first, to pay their respects to me ; secondly, to make some inquiries about the great bore in the river in my neighbourhood. Had there been a mirror in the room, I should have been tempted to have pointed to it, as they would have there seen two much greater bores in their own persons ; for, if there is any one subject more than VOL. I. B ' 1 / 2 THE OLD JUDGE ; OR, another, of which I am heartily tired, it is the extra- ordinary tide of this remarkable river.

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