less
after a five years residence with them; but our expectations had not been
realized. Our hope of settling a township, to be represented in Parliament
by one of our own people, was now forever blasted. I remembered too, that
many of the colonists had been unjustly incited against my course; but in
the retrospect my heart did not condemn me. Errors many, no doubt I had
committed; but I was grateful, when reviewing the whole ground, for a
conscience void of offence toward God and man; and I finally took my leave
of all, craving the choicest blessings of Heaven to rest upon that infant
colony and its interests.

On the nineteenth day of January, 1837, I left Wilberforce, passing
through Brantford, Hamilton, Queenston, Lewiston, and from thence
to Rochester. During my journey, I could not avoid feeling sad and
despondent, as my mind incessantly returned to the review of my mission,
upon which I could look with no other decision than that of an entire
failure. I had spent my time, wasted my substance for naught, and was now
returning to my dependant family,--that, with myself, had been stripped of
nearly every means of comfort and support.

What would my Rochester friends think of my conduct? Notwithstanding all
my despondency and evil foreboding at that time, I am now well satisfied
that my labor was not all in vain, but that some good did result from it.

As I drew near the city, a gloom like thick darkness overshadowed me: I
thought of the unfavorable transactions which had occurred between the
directors of the colony and my friends in Rochester, and fell to
wondering how they would receive me.

On the twenty-third of January, 1837, I finally re-entered the city
penniless; but as I soon found, not so friendless as my fears would have
it. Among, the first to welcome me back to my old home, was that friend
of "blessed memory," Everard Peck, who had been apprised of some of the
losses I had met and the trials I had passed through. This gentleman was
also one of the first to propose to be one of five men, who should loan me
one hundred dollars each, for five years. Through the disinterested
kindness of this worthy gentleman, I was in a few days after my arrival,
well established in a store of provisions and groceries. The five kind
gentlemen, to whom I was so deeply indebted for the loan, were: Everard
Peck, George A. Avery, Samuel D. Porter, Levi W. Sibley, and Griffith,
Brother & Co.

This noble act of generosity a