The prose and poetry of pioneer life in the backwoods—The log house— Sugar making—An omen of good luck—My Quaker grandparents—The old home—Winter evenings at the fireside—Rural hospitality—Aristocracy versus Democracy—School days—Debating societies in the olden time—A rural orator clinches the nail—Cider, sweet and otherwise— Husking in the barn—Hog killing and sausage making—Full cloth and corduroy—Winter work and winter amusements—A Canadian skating song.

CHAPTER II.

The round of pioneer life—Game—Night fishing—More details about sugar-making—Sugaring-off—Taking a hand at the old churn—Sheep- washing—Country girls, then and now—Substance and Shadow—"Old Gray" and his eccentricities—Harvest—My early emulation of Peter Paul Rubens—Meeting-houses—Elia on Quaker meetings—Variegated autumn landscapes—Logging and quilting bees—Evening fun—The touching lay of the young woman who sat down to sleep.

CHAPTER III.

Progress, material and social—Fondness of the young for dancing—
Magisterial nuptials—The charivari—Goon-hunting—Catching a tartar—
Wild pigeons—The old Dutch houses—Delights of summer and winter
contrasted—Stilled voices.

CHAPTER IV.

The early settlers in Upper Canada—Prosperity, national and individual— The old homes, without and within—Candle-making—Superstitions and omens—The death-watch—Old almanacs—Bees—The divining rod—The U. E. Loyalists—Their sufferings and heroism—An old and a new price list— Primitive horologes—A jaunt in one of the conventional "carriages" of olden times—Then and now—A note of warning

CHAPTER V.

Jefferson's definition of "Liberty"—How it was acted upon—The Canadian renaissance—Burning political questions in Canada half a century ago— Locomotion—Mrs. Jameson on Canadian stagecoaches—Batteaux and Durham boats

CHAPTER VI.

Road-making—Weller's line of stages and steamboats—My trip from
Hamilton to Niagara—Schools and colleges—Pioneer Methodist Preachers—
Solemnization of matrimony—Literature and libraries—Early newspapers—
Primitive editorial articles

CHAPTER VII.

Banks—Insurance—Marine—Telegraph companies—Administration of Justice—Milling and manufactures—Rapid increase of population in cities and towns—Excerpts from Andrew Picken

SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY:—

Early schools and schoolmasters—Birth of the American Republic—Love of country—Adventures of a U.E. Loyalist family ninety years ago—The wilds of Upper Canada—Hay bay—Hardships of pioneer life—Growth of population—Division of the Canadian Provinces—Fort Frontenac—The "dark days"—Celestial fireworks—Early steam navigation in Canada—The country merchant Progress—The Hare and the Tortoise

RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS EARLY DAYS

Paternal memories—A visit to the home of my boyhood—The old Quaker meeting-house—Flashes of silence—The old burying ground—"To the memory of Eliza"—Ghostly experiences—Hiving the Bees—Encounter with a bear—Giving "the mitten"—A "boundary question"—Song of the bullfrog— Ring—Sagacity of animals—Training-days—Picturesque scenery on the Bay of Quinte—John A. Macdonald—A perilous journey—Aunt Jane and Willet Casey