What—dost thou think I'll bend to thee?
The free in soul are ever free:
Nor force, nor poverty can bind
The subtle will—the thinking mind.
TO
JOHN LOVELL, ESQ.,
OF MONTREAL,
WHO WAS ONE OF THE FIRST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL
PIONEERS IN ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL LITERATURE IN THE
CANADIAN COLONIES,
THIS WORK,
WHICH OWES ITS EXISTENCE TO HIS GENEROUS CARE,
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
BY HIS GRATEFUL AND OBLIGED FRIEND,
SUSANNA MOODIE.
DECEMBER, 1855.
| Transcriber's Note: The Table of Contents is not contained in the book but has been created for the convenience of the reader of this etext. |
CHAPTER
MY GRANDFATHER AND HIS SONS.
There was a time—a good old time—when men of rank and fortune were not ashamed of their poor relations; affording the protection of their name and influence to the lower shoots of the great family tree, which, springing from the same root, expected to derive support and nourishment from the main stem.
That time is well-nigh gone for ever. Kindred love and hospitality have decreased with the increase of modern luxury and exclusiveness, and the sacred ties of consanguinity are now regarded wi