THE RISING VILLAGE 1834

To
HENRY GOLDSMITH, ESQ.
ANNAPOLIS ROYAL.



MY DEAR HENRY,

Allow me to address this Poem to your notice, that in so doing I may gratify the feelings of affection which a fond Brother entertains for you.

     The celebrated Author of the "DESERTED VILLAGE" has pathetically displayed the anguish of his Countrymen, on being forced, from various causes, to quit their native plains, endeared to them by so many delightful

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recollections; and to seek a refuge in regions at that time unknown, or but little heard of. It would, perhaps, have been a subject of astonishment to him, could he have known, that, in the course of events, some of his own relations were to be natives of such distant countries, and that a grandson of his brother Henry, to whom he dedicated his "TRAVELLER," would first 10
draw his breath at no great distance from the spot where

      "Wild Oswego spreads her swamps around,
      And Niagara stuns with thundering sound."

In the RISING VILLAGE I have endeavoured to describe the sufferings which the early settlers experienced, the difficulties which they

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surmounted, the rise and progress of a young country, and the prospects which promise happiness to its future possessors. You, my dear Brother, were bom in this portion of the globe, and no person can form a better opinion how far I have succeeded in the attempt which I have made, or judge more correctly of the truth of the descriptions. 20

        I remain, my dear HENRY,
        Your affectionate Brother,

        OLIVER GOLDSMITH