Fredericton

“ Youth and age alike join in the fairy scene. Arch glances pass from courtly cavaliers to beautiful maidens who "blush at the praise of their own loveliness." The rustle of silken draperies sound to the ear as unseen music at the hand of the warbling genii. Robes of spotless purity and gossamer texture flit around, keeping time to the merry ringing silvery peals of girlish merriment. Such are the scenes that greet the eye and ear in roaming amid the gay throng at Government House, Fredericton, on the New Year's Eve of 1828. ”

“ Sons of gentlemen, both in military and private life, were the owners of thorough-bred horses, each claiming the highest distinctions regarding full-blooded pedigree. These were Fredericton's glorious days—days of sport; days of chivalry; days of splendour and high life. On the evening in question, a festive board was spread with all the eclat attending a dinner party. Some hours previous a grand assemblage had gathered on the race course to witness a race between Captain Douglas' mare Bess, and a celebrated racer introduced on the course by Lieutenant-Colonel Tilden, ridden by his groom. ”

“ Anns, where Fredericton was afterwards built, there were only two English speaking settlers, Benjamin Atherton, who lived on the site of Government House, and Philip Wade whose house stood on the river bank in front of the present Cathedral.
Speaking of the hardships endured by the founders of Fredericton, Peter Fisher observes: “Scarcely had they begun to construct their cabins, when they were surprised by the rigors of an untried climate; their habitations being enveloped in 367 snow before they were tenantable.... The privations and sufferings of some of these people almost exceed belief. ”

“ Looking upwards, the scene is still more picturesque and animated;—the face of the country exhibits more extensive cultivation,—the settlements are more numerous,—the woods seem to recede from the shores, yielding their ancient sovereignty of the soil to the untiring industry of man. The best view of Fredericton is had from the opposite side of the river, from whence the town presents a very pleasing appearance. Gay spires and white-walled buildings are seen stretching along the shore for a considerable distance ”

“ Many of the Malecites, of whom there are about 700 in New Brunswick, have intermarried with the French of the upper St. John counties.
A few miles above Maugerville appear the embowered banks and hills of the capital of the province.
Fredericton is a base for hunters in the fall and winter, and for fishermen in the spring. At all times it is an agreeable place of residence. Tourists are most impressed by the park-like rows of shady streets and by the bulk and effectiveness of provincial and government buildings which seem irrelevant in so village-like and placid a community. ”

“ The goal must be reached. Fredericton must be the only stopping place. One at least was to be disappointed. Four miles have yet to be passed. Larry Stivers is ahead, with visions of hopeful victory before him. He is suddenly stopped. One of the brave animals dropped dead on the spot. Hope instantly vanished. Captain H—— wins the race, while the former arrives shortly after his contestant with the dead animal upon the sleigh. Fredericton is reached. A distance of eighty-five miles is trotted in six hours and thirty minutes, inclusive of twenty minutes for rest and dinner. ”

“ In 1784 the Home Government granted their petition, and the result was the formation of the present province of New Brunswick, with a government similar to that of Nova Scotia. Fredericton became its capital, although its chief town was St. John. The people of this province did not pay the same attention to farming as the settlers of the other provinces, because the very valuable timber and fisheries of the country made it more profitable to engage in lumbering and fishing than in tilling the soil. ”

“ Fredericton, a town of about 9000 inhabitants, on the St. John river, by which it has a daily communication with the city of St. John, 90 miles distant, by steamer, is the capital and seat of government. New Brunswick has considerable mineral wealth; coal and iron are abundant, and the climate is less foggy than that of Nova Scotia; but these great natural advantages are suffered to lie nearly dormant. The colonists are very hardy and extremely loyal ”

“ The town of Fredericton is laid out with great regularity; the streets crossing at right angles, as in almost all American towns. The public buildings are not numerous; the principal are—the Government House, the College already mentioned, and the barracks, which are good and commodious. The Episcopal church is a very unpretending building; there are besides, four other places of religious worship in the town for the Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and Roman Catholic inhabitants. ”

“ You will accompany her to-morrow after luncheon, as she is anxious to commence." "It is to be hoped that we will meet with success as, judging from the appearance of the stores in this city, there is not much to select from," said Mary Douglas, "but, Miss Cheenick, only think, it will be our first attempt at shopping in Fredericton." "How much better and more convenient if there were exclusive dry goods stores as in England," said Lady Rosamond. "It is rather amusing to see all kinds of groceries and provisions on one side, and silks, satins and laces on the other. ”

“ Can one who has suffered? The muffled throes of crushed hearts are the only response. God pity them!
CHAPTER XI. FREDERICTON: ITS BUILDINGS, PUBLIC HOUSES, AMUSEMENTS, ETC.
The year following the great fire was marked by great progress throughout the Province. Farmers were again in homes which they had built upon the site of those destroyed by the devouring element. Fields once more showed signs of cultivation. With Sir Howard Douglas to stimulate the prosperity of his people, progress was the watchword—the general impulse. ”

“ The 52nd Regiment, as yet stationed in Fredericton, still maintained their unbounded popularity, entertained their many friends at princely dinners, gave an unlimited number of balls, parties and festive gatherings. The race course still continued to be the daily resort for the distinguished horsemen. Races were a favorite pastime. Cricket and foot-ball had now become quite common. On the old square situated between York street and Wilmot's alley the youths of the city daily assembled to practise these sports, while the military occupied a space within their own ground. ”

“ It soon became and has remained the largest town in the province, but for military reasons was not chosen as the capital (see Fredericton) . Its growth has been checked by several destructive fires, especially that of June 1877, when half of it was swept away, but it has since been rebuilt in great part of more solid materials. ”

“ The condition of the settlers in the neighbourhood of Fredericton, St. John, and other large towns, is very different from that of the adventurous men who go forth to make a clearing in the woods;—their difficulties not being numerous, nor the labour so incessant, as that which the first settler has to encounter. The farms of the former are generally in a high state of cultivation: the rude log-hut has given place to a well-built and commodious dwelling-house, where the farmer, with his family and a numerous establishment of household servants, mechanics, and labourers, reside. ”

“ It looks more like a quaint watering-place than a city, though there are some fine buildings.... We took a great fancy to the place, which was like a new child's picture book, and I was rather disappointed to learn it is not to be our home. But Fredericton, where we are going, has superior advantages in some respects, and will very likely be quite as pretty.
Halifax. June 19, 1867.
Rex and I went down to the fish-market that I might see it. Coming back we met an old North American Indian woman. Such a picturesque figure. We talked to her, and Rex gave her something. ”

“ These are the occupations of an emigrant’s wife; and if a female cannot resolve to enter upon them cheerfully, she should never think of settling in the woods of Canada or New Brunswick.
The grand features of American scenery cannot be viewed to greater advantage than when sailing down one of those vast rivers which roll the accumulated tributes of a thousand streams in one majestic flood to the ocean. For this reason, I would recommend any traveller wishing to proceed from Fredericton to St. John, to take his passage by one of the steam-boats which ply between these places. ”

“ In the neighborhood of Hawkshaw and Pokiok will also be found good camping-grounds meeting all needful requirements, and within easy reach of the Shogomoc River and Lakes. There are other good places nearer Fredericton if desired. Of course, if there are athletic young men in the party—not forgetting young women who love outdoor life and are able to handle pole and paddle—the locality of a difficult piece of swift water, or even that of a sheer rapid, may purposely be chosen to have plenty of fun close at hand. ”

“ It is hardly too much to say that in his intercourse at Oxford in the early ’seventies with men of influence who were then undergraduates the imperialist movement in England substantially began. On returning to Canada he became principal of the chief New Brunswick school at Fredericton (where in 1878 he married) , and for fifteen years he did excellent work in this capacity. But in 1889 he was again drawn more directly into the imperialist cause. ”

“ Its industries include canneries, tanneries and wooden ware factories. The river is navigable for large steamers up to the city, and above it by vessels of lighter draught. Two bridges, passenger and railway, unite the city with the towns of St Marye’s and Gibson on the east side of the river, at its junction with the Nashwaak. The city was founded in 1785 by Sir Guy Carleton, and made the capital of the province, in spite of the jealousy of St John, on account of its superior strategical position. ”

“ In the following year New Brunswick was divorced from Nova Scotia and made an independent province, and a short time afterward Fredericton became the seat of New Brunswick government. Immigrants from Old and New England continued to arrive in Nova Scotia and permanent settlements were established whose names still abide. From 1776 to 1784 and during the Napoleonic wars Halifax was the centre of considerable naval and military agitation. In 1793 a provincial regiment was enlisted and precautions were taken for the defence of the capital against a sea attack by the French. ”

“ Not only the journals of the Canadian Interior, but those of the Maritime Provinces as well, showed their interest in this affair, which had so aroused the temperance people of Quebec and Ontario. The following, published (p. 103) in The Templar, is taken from The Intelligencer, Fredericton, New Brunswick:
"We have set out the facts of the case at some length, because it involves much more than the position and prospects of the dismissed official. ”

“ The best way to enjoy all that St. John contains is to settle down quietly in a comfortable hotel or other stopping-place, call at the Tourist Bureau, register and obtain their St. John Booklet with map, purchase McAlpine’s Road Map of St. John, N.B., and County, and then become familiar with the city and environs by using the street railway, and taking rambles from place to place. Helpful maps also are the St. John River Steamship Co.’s, showing the places on the river as far up as Fredericton ”

“ I knew it in the Civil War and reconstruction days, and on and on till now: And it has not failed its duty.
Fredericksburg’s history brims with achievement and adventure. It has not been tried in this volume to tell all of these. I have tried to tell a simple story, with the flame of achievement burning on the shrines and the echoes of old days sweeping through it, like low winds in the pine woods; to make men and women more vivid than dates and numbers. ”

“ Following the War of 1812, Fredericksburg’s trade revived and increased, and the city settled down to a full enjoyment of that remarkably cultural era—the only classical civilization America has ever known—which lasted until the Civil war and which has been made famous in song and story and the history of the old South. The families of the early settlers had by now become wealthy; the plantation masters owned hundreds of slaves, farmed thousands of acres and lived in their handsome old Colonial mansions in the most magnificent style the times could afford. ”

“ Dancing continued until two o’clock Thursday morning, when lights were out and the gayest day in the long annals of the Picture City between the hills of the Rappahannock, “historic Fredericksburg,” became one of her treasured memories; not to be forgotten, but to be kept alive with her traditions by the descendants of the splendid men and women who have made and preserved her history, and caused her to become known to the world. ”

“ For many years after the Civil war, Fredericksburg’s connection with the great tragedy was told in the lines of patient suffering that webbed the faces of the older generation. It was a town of sombre, black figures—the widows and daughters of soldiers—gentle creatures who moved about in quiet dignity, bravely concealing the anguish hidden in their hearts, and smilingly making the best of such disordered conditions and distressing circumstances as before they had never known. It was a town filled with broken, crushed men, ill fitted for the harsher demands of their new lives ”

“ Subtly rich with the elegance of the past, it looks proudly back across its two and a half centuries, but it has not forgotten how to live in the present, and combines delightfully all that it has of the old with much that is new and modern.
Perhaps no other community in the country has had a more intimate and constant association with the political and historic growth of America than Fredericksburg. ”