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INFLUENCES platitudes concerning the glory of the British Empire and the majesty of its Queen. Morever, ashamed of their nasal Yankee twang, and being unable to rid themselves of it, they sent their children to pri- vate schools to learn to speak in accents "cultahed" and to imitate sundry other manners of the British gentry. And they pushed into oblivion their American ancestors, and boasted only of those that had allegedly lived in England as members of "renowned English families". Even Hiram Capron spoke of his family as being" an old English one". Until 1854, the Governor's Road strongly influenced the develop- ment of Paris. It increased the value of the fertile land and the gypsum deposits around the Forks, and encouraged Holme, Capron, and other pioneers to establish themselves here. And after the found- ing of the village, it was an artery along which goods flowed in from Dundas and Hamilton, to be exchanged for farm products that then flowed out. Furthermore, this highway determined where the economic and social centre of the village should at first lie; for naturally the earlier houses, shops, and taverns were concentrated along or near it, par- ticularly on Dundas and Dumfries Streets. And all the churches, the first market, the town hall, and the schools were in this same locality. In fact, by I850 the larger part of the present town-area south of the Forks had been settled. The Village Fathers regarded the Governor's Road as being essen- tial to the welfare and development of the community. In 1849 they borrowed £50ooo and lent it to the Paris and Dundas Road Company for the gravelling and planking of the highway between Shipman's Corners and Eastwood, and for the reducing of the grades in and near Paris. They made this loan partly because the road from Hamilton to Eastwood, through Brantford and Burford, had recently been planked, and was therefore diverting much traffic from the Paris-Dundas route. Carters and coach drivers particularly disliked the steep grade where Church Street climbs up towards the Queen's Ward School, and so they were by-passing Paris. Soon after the road had been improved, the council regretted having lent the money; for although at first the flow of coach and freight-wagon traffic increased greatly, it declined sharply between I854 and i855 when the' railways were built, with the result that the company failed in 1859, and the municipality had to take over the maintenance of part of the right-of-way. The council tried to rid itself of this burden; but it was forced to make repairs and collect tolls as late as 1873, although periodically it rented the three toll-gates to a private individual, as in 1869, when it rented them for a term of five years to John Mcllroy for an annual payment of $1250. In 1868, under municipal control, the gross revenues were $1593; and the disbursements were $128 for repairs, $290 for gate-keeper's wages, $120 for the salary of the superintendent, and about $I500 for inter- 87