the continental wars with the armies of Napoleon, and would have been found a host in themselves.  I must own that my British spirit was fairly aroused, and as I could not aid in subduing the enemies of my beloved country with my arm, I did what little I could to serve the good cause with my pen.  It may probably amuse my readers, to give them a few specimens of these loyal staves, which were widely circulated through the colony at the time.

AN ADDRESS TO THE FREEMEN OF CANADA

  Canadians! will you join the band—­
    The factious band—­who dare oppose
  The regal power of that bless’d land
    From whence your boasted freedom flows? 
  Brave children of a noble race,
    Guard well the altar and the hearth;
  And never by your deeds disgrace
    The British sires who gave you birth.

  What though your bones may never lie
    Beneath dear Albion’s hallow’d sod,
  Spurn the base wretch who dare defy,
    In arms, his country and his God! 
  Whose callous bosom cannot feel
    That he who acts a traitor’s part,
  Remorselessly uplifts the steel
    To plunge it in a parent’s heart.

  Canadians! will you see the flag,
    Beneath whose folds your fathers bled,
  Supplanted by the vilest rag[1]
    That ever host to rapine led? 
  Thou emblem of a tyrant’s sway,
    Thy triple hues are dyed in gore;
  Like his, thy power has pass’d away—­
    Like his, thy short-lived triumph’s o’er.

  Ay!  Let the trampled despot’s fate
    Forewarn the rash, misguided band
  To sue for mercy, ere too late,
    Nor scatter ruin o’er the land. 
  The baffled traitor, doomed to bear
    A people’s hate, his colleagues’ scorn,
  Defeated by his own despair,
    Will curse the hour that he was born!

  By all the blood for Britain shed
    On many a glorious battle-field,
  To the free winds her standard spread,
    Nor to these base insurgents yield. 
  With loyal bosoms beating high,
    In your good cause securely trust;
  “God and Victoria!” be your cry,
    And crush the traitors to the dust.

[1] The tri-coloured flag assumed by the rebels.

This outpouring of a national enthusiasm, which I found it impossible to restrain, was followed by

THE OATH OF THE CANADIAN VOLUNTEERS

  Huzza for England!—­May she claim
    Our fond devotion ever;
  And, by the glory of her name,
  Our brave forefathers’ honest fame,
    We swear—­no foe shall sever
  Her children from their parent’s side;
    Though parted by the wave,
  In weal or woe, whate’er betide,
    We swear to die, or save
  Her honour from the rebel band
  Whose crimes pollute our injured land!