To Scotchmen in the Colonies...

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Printing in Victorian Canada was often a very time consuming process. Just one paragraph from the paper shown here would take about 90 minutes to set up - letter by letter, space by space on a setting stick. The entire sheet adds up to almost 21 hours of work, done by the Printer, or divided amongst any apprentices. Add to that the effort of printing each sheet individually (a speedy professional could press 40-50 sheets an hour), and the drying time for the ink as well as the time needed to bring all the printed sheets together into what we would recognize as a "newspaper", and, well... let's just say you've got a lot of work cut out for you.

All of that work would of course be completed after the author had written their piece, and had paid the Printer for the space in their publication. As the many supplies required for a printing press (including paper) began to be manufactured in Canada in the 1830s, prices dropped, and the entire process became more accessible. More printers, a greater number of publications, and increased readership led to staggering amounts of personal opinions becoming public. During times of political and cultural tension these opinions tended towards the lengthy, but were anything but prosaic. Grandiose Victorian language simply meant more work for the apprentice, and more money for the Printer.

Sources
Toronto Reference Library 2015, "To Scotchmen in the Colonies and at Home"
The Canadian Encyclopedia 2013, "Print Industry"
YouTube, "BCPrinter" A brief video showing a visit to the Print Shop at Black Creek Pioneer Village, Toronto.