"Persons are apt to deceive themselves as well as to be deceived," said
my husband; "and having once fixed their minds on any one subject, will
only read and believe those things that accord with their wishes."

This young man was evidently disappointed in not finding all things as
fair and pleasant as at home. He had never reflected on the subject, or
he could not have been so foolish as to suppose he would encounter no
difficulties in his first outset, in a settlement in the woods. We are
prepared to meet with many obstacles, and endure considerable
privations, although I dare say we may meet with many unforeseen ones,
forewarned as we have been by our Canadian friend's letters.

Our places are taken in the stage for Lachine, and if all is well, we
leave Montreal to-morrow morning. Our trunks, boxes, &c. are to be sent
on by the forwarders to Cobourg.--August 22.

Cobourg, August 29.--When I closed my last letter I told you, my dear
mother, that we should leave Montreal by sunrise the following day; but
in this we were doomed to be disappointed, and to experience the truth
of these words: "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not
what an hour may bring forth." Early that very morning, just an hour
before sunrise, I was seized with the symptoms of the fatal malady that
had made so many homes desolate. I was too ill to commence my journey,
and, with a heavy heart, heard the lumbering wheels rattle over the
stones from the door of the hotel.

I hourly grew worse, till the sister of the landlady, an excellent young
woman, who had previously shown me great attention, persuaded me to send
for a physician; and my husband, distracted at seeing me in such agony,