EARLY DAYS IN UPPER CANADA: LETTERS OF JOHN LANGTON. Edited
by W. A. Langton: (Mac: millan. 21s.)—A young Cambridge man went out to Ontario in 1833, bought land in the backwoods, built a log cabin, felled the trees and tilled the soil. He described his egperiences. in long letters to his father at home—letters of exceptional interest. Seldom have the trials of a new settler been so vividly described. Again, we are made to realize that Ontario, or Upper Canada as it was then, attracted Many colonists of good social standing, like John Langton himself. Bankers will notice how difficult it was to trade or even to farm when banks were few and unstable and currency was scarce. Most of Langton's neighbours gave up farming after a while, as he himself did, and sought more remunerative and less arduous occupations. Langton went into the timber trade and afterwards became Vice-Chancellor of Toronto University and Auditor-General of the Dominion. His letters relating to his public work are of value for the history of Canada, but they are far less thrilling than his youthful epistles from his farm. We commend the book heartily to all students of Empire history ; it is illustrated with contemporary drawings.
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