York--my uncle Richard was a widower, and childless; his wife having
died several months previously. His only relatives on this side of the
Atlantic were two maiden sisters, a few years younger than himself. He
never contracted a second matrimonial alliance, and for some time after
his arrival here his sisters lived in his house, and were dependent
upon him for support. After the lapse of a few years both of them
married and settled down in homes of their own. The elder of them
subsequently became my mother. She was left a widow when I was a mere
boy, and survived my father only a few months. I was an only child,
and as my parents had been in humble circumstances, the charge of my
maintenance devolved upon my uncle, to whose kindness I am indebted for
such educational training as I have received. After sending me to
school and college for several years, he took me into his store, and
gave me my first insight into commercial life. I lived with him, and
both then and always received at his hands the kindness of a father, in
which light I eventually almost came to regard him. His younger
sister, who was married to a watchmaker called Elias Playter, lived
at Quebec from the time of her marriage until her death, which took
place in 1846. Her husband had been unsuccessful in business, and
was moreover of dissipated habits. He was left with one child--a
daughter--on his hands; and as my uncle was averse to the idea of his
sister's child remaining under the control of one so unfit to provide
for her welfare, he proposed to adopt the little girl as his own. To
this proposition Mr. Elias Playter readily assented, and little Alice
was soon domiciled with her uncle and myself in Toronto.

Brought up, as we were, under the same roof, and seeing each other
every day of our lives, a childish attachment sprang up between my
cousin Alice and myself. As the years rolled by, this attachment
ripened into a tender affection, which eventually resulted in an