ation, who, gratified by the liberality of their new
rulers, cheerfully took the oath of allegiance. For many years, indeed
it may be said until the close of the war of 1814, the population
remained almost entirely French. England had been so long engaged in
war, and the annual expenditure of life in her armies and her navies was
so great, that she could not permit, much less encourage, emigration.

At the close of the war of 1814, the census of the population in the two
Canadian provinces was as follows:--In Lower Canada, between three and
four hundred thousand; in Upper Canada, from thirty to forty thousand,
of which nineteen-twentieths were of French extraction. But the
emigration during the last twenty-five years of peace has made a
considerable change. The population of Lower Canada has increased to
six hundred thousand, and that of Upper Canada now amounts to upwards of
four hundred thousand. As the emigration has been almost wholly from
the British dominions, it may be now fairly assumed that, taking the two
provinces together, the English and French population are now on a par
as to numbers; the English preponderate in the Upper province as much as
the French do in the Lower. But if we are to consider the two nations
of settlers as to their respective value as emigrants to the provinces,
on the point of capital, industry, and enterprise, the scale will
descend immediately in favour of the English population. The French are
inactive, adverse to speculation, or even improvement. Every _habitant_
is content with his farm as handed down to him by his progenitor, and
the higher classes who hold the seigneuries are satisfied with their
seignorial rights and the means of exaction which they afford to them.
The privileges of these seigneurs, or lords of the manor, in Lower
Canada, are very extensive, and a bar to all improvement or advance.
They hold the exclusive right of hunting and fishing; all the water
privileges, such as the erection of saw-mills, etcetera, are insured to
them. The _habitant_ is even compelled to send his flour to be ground
at the mill of the lord of the manor. At the sale of every property,
the lord of the manor receives one-twelfth of the proceeds. Thus, if a
farm worth a few hundred pounds was to fall into the hands of an
enterprising man, and he was to raise it to the value of thousands, more
than the prime-cost would be deducted for the lord of the manor if he
were compelled to part