CHAPTER XXIV.

GOVERNOR OF NEW BRUNSWICK.

SIR HOWARD had now attained the rank of MajorGeneral, and in 1824 was appointed LieutenantGovernor of New Brunswick, and Major-General in command of the troops in that province, together with those in Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Bermuda. He embarked with his family in the frigate Samarang,' Captain Sir William Wiseman, Bart., and had a rough passage to Halifax, where he had landed thirty years before in a blue jacket and tarpaulin, but now came with decorations on his breast, and received almost royal honours. The vessels in the harbour were dressed with flags, officers in uniform waited his arrival on the beach, and cannon gave a salute as he left the ship. Little did those around dream what was passing through his mind in the midst of this pageant; for his thoughts had turned to the incidents of his first visit, and his heart swelled with gratitude to the Power which had given it this sequel. He used to say that the contrast struck him the more from his encountering on the beach a member of the Council whom he had met there in 1796 a subaltern in the Royal Fusiliers. This was the Honourable Justice Haliburton, the author of Sam Slick,' but Sir Howard mistook him for some one else at the moment, and asked him what had

become of little Haliburton of the Fusiliers. "Little Haliburton!" said the humourist, thoughtfully. "Oh, yes, I know! He left the Fusiliers, sold out, turned lawyer, got made a judge, came out to Halifax, and here he is to meet the Governor :" when again he stretched out his hand, which Sir Howard shook with a hearty laugh.

Sir Howard inspected the troops in the province, and then proceeded to St. John's, in the Gulf of Fundy. Here he was received with every mark of respect, and entered on the duties of his government.

The colony of New Brunswick dates its origin from 1764, when it was established by a body of New Englanders, who settled at the mouth of the River St. John, in what is now called the county of Sunbury. The population received an addition in 1783 from an influx of American Royalists, who abandoned their homes in New York and Boston on the Declaration of Independence, and came to live under English rule. The numbers were further increased by emigration, and Sir Howard found them amount to upwards of 74,000, of whom only 3227 claimed descent from the New Englanders.

The Governor of a colony then held a different position from at present, when he merely represents the Sovereign, the government being vested in Ministers nominated by a Parliament. Sir Howard was associated with a Parliament, but responsible to the Ministers at home, who formed their views on his reports. The weal of a colony thus depended greatly on the Governor's abilities; and his proved equal to the post. He came to a wilderness,

carried it through a terrible visitation, and left it a thriving province.

The New Brunswick of 1824 could boast of only five roads, and these were but roads by courtesy. Three led severally to St. John's, St. Andrew's, and Chatham, from the capital Fredericton; another ran in the direction of Quebec, and the fifth led to Halifax. They were constructed on the Roman plan of going up hill and down, and attracted little traffic, the colonists preferring to settle on the banks of the rivers, where they had the advantage of water communication. Sir Howard turned his first attention to this deficiency, and designed a road to connect Fredericton with the port of St. John's, by the Narapia river, pushing it forward with great rapidity; and the colonists were astonished to see a way opened that saved a third of the distance. It was so constructed that horses could trot the course without danger or distress, though it crossed a lofty ridge of slate. "In fact," writes a clergyman of New Brunswick to the author of this work, "Telford or M'Adam could hardly have designed a better." Comfortable inns garnished the wayside, and insured the traveller good entertainment, whether he stopped at the sign of the "Government House," or that of the "Douglas Arms." The St. John's road was but the beginning of a system, and was soon followed by others, which opened up New Brunswick in every direction, while he contracted for the navigation of the St. John by a steamer, almost the first introduced in a British colony.

1

1 The Rev. Edwin Jacob, D.D., of Mapledown, New Brunswick.

But it struck him that he could know little of the deficiencies of his government unless he visited its remotest parts, and he waited for neither roads nor steamers to carry him through. His old Indian habits made the task easy, and he penetrated forests and forced his way up streams to back settlements, hardly known by name, startling the inhabitants with a sight of the Governor. "I have received accounts of his visits to every part of the country," writes the Rev. Dr. Jacob to the author. "It has been especially observed to me, by persons likely to have taken particular notice of his peculiar habits, that Sir Howard showed himself determined to know men and things as they really were, and was accustomed to go in all directions, closely inspecting the abodes and occupations of the rich and the poor, and discovering a kind interest in the welfare of all classes."

His progresses brought him to perceive that the colonists were very backward in farming, and conducted its operations in the most primitive manner, whence he applied himself to promote a better system. He had not the advantage of personal experience, but he took counsel of the best agriculturists at home, and disseminated their suggestions. He also established agricultural societies, and obtained them the support of public grants, while he encouraged improvements by prizes, which he often distributed himself. He introduced a better arrangement in the construction of dwellings, affording more accommodation and domestic comfort, and he extended the same principle to churches and schools. These measures resulted in a general elevation of the popula

tion. Farmers multiplied their crops, and carried on their work with superior implements, and the regenerating influence was apparent both in their stock and seeds. The remotest settler felt a stimulus to exertion, when any moment might bring the Governor into his cabin, with a greeting for each of his household, and an interest in all his proceedings.