American continent, most of the plants and animals | perforations, that occur on various parts of the shores. differ specifically from those of the Old World. Many of (Lyell's Geology, vol. ii.) the smaller kinds of annual and perennial plants are People. common to Canada and regions lying much further to the S., which may be accounted for by the high summer temperature, whilst the deep winter snows effectually protect their roots through the severest seasons; but the trees and larger shrubs, which find no such shelter, belong for the most part to more northern and arctic regions. Of the smaller plants, the Zizania aquatica may be noticed as peculiar to Canada, and abounding in most of the swamps (a grass not unlike rice, and affording food to birds, and occasionally to the Indian tribes), and the ginseng, and Canadian lily, common to this country and Kamtchatska. From the sap of the maple (acer saccharinum), as it rises in the earlier part of spring, sugar is made in considerable quantities; in collecting which, from trees scattered over thousands of acres, whilst the snow still covers the ground, much hardship is frequently endured: these districts are called sugaries, and are a valuable description of property. The mode of procuring it is by inserting a small cane shoot through an incision made in the bark, the sap being received in a wooden trough placed under it; it is afterwards boiled, and then left to cool into a hard solid mass, of a dark brown colour, which is moulded by the form of the jars which contain it; the value of the article is about half of that produced from the sugar. cane. Most of the oak growing in the woods is unfit for ship-building, and the greater part of the timber used for that purpose is imported from New England. The species called the live oak, which grows in the warmer parts of the colony, is, however, said to be well adapted for ship timber; the various kinds of wood available for no other purpose, serve to supply the pot and pearl-ash manufactories. Amongst the wild animals, ranging through these unreclaimed regions, are the American elk, fallow deer, bear, wolf, fox, wild cat, racoon, martin, otter, and various species of Viverra and Mustele; the beaver, hare, grey and red squirrel; and in the more southern parts, the buffalo and roebuck: the bears usually hybernate, if the season has enabled them to get sufficiently fat for the purpose; if not, they migrate to a more southerly climate. (Richardson's Fauna Borealis, p. 16.) Amongst the birds, may be noticed the wild pigeon, quail, partridge, and different kinds of grouse; of the water birds, the species are very numerous, as might be inferred from the general character of the region, where, in the basin of the St. Laurence, and the numerous lakes occupying the elevated table-lands around it, half the fresh water on the surface of the globe is collected; a humming bird (the smallest of its genus) is also indigenous, and may be seen in the Quebec gardens, flitting round the flowers, and constantly on the wing. Amongst the reptiles, the rattlesnake is occasionally met with. Fish, in great variety and abundance, are found in the lakes and rivers; in which respect few streams can rival the St. Laurence; the sturgeon is common, and the salmon and herring fisheries are considerable; seals are also met with occasionally, in large shoals, in the lower parts of the river. Forests can only exist where the prevailing winds bring with them sufficient moisture, but they may usually be taken as a measure of the fertility of the soil, no less than of the humidity of the climate: in this respect, therefore, taken generally, Canada must be considered a fertile region; the upper province much more so than the lower one. Tobacco, hemp, flax, and the different kinds of grain and of pulse, are successfully cultivated; as are all the commoner fruits and vegetables of England; melons of different species abound, and are probably indigenous; as are also the strawberry and raspberry: these last flourish luxuriantly in the woods; and on the plains behind Quebec are gathered in great quantities, and taken to that market. Pears and apples succeed well, both there and at Montreal; and on the shores of Lake Erie, the grape, peach, and nectarine, as well as all the hardier kinds of fruit, arrive at the greatest perfection.

Canada does not appear to be rich in minerals, bnt iron abounds in some districts; veins of silver-lead have been met with in St. Paul's Bay (50 m. below Quebec), and coals, salt, and sulphur, are also known to exist in the colony. No volcanos have been discovered, but authentic accounts are preserved of several violent earthquakes: amongst others, one in 1663, when tre mendous convulsions, lasting for six months, extended from Quebec to Tadeausac (130 m. below it), which broke up the ice of the rivers, and caused many great land-slips and dislocations; in 1791, earthquakes were also frequent and violent, in the same region; and the shores, both of the Gulph and River St. Laurence (like those of the great lakes, as previously noticed), present many proofs of former convulsions in the horizontal banks of recent shingle and shells, and in clevated limestone strata, with wave-scooped marks, and lithodomous

The majority of the population in Lower Canada are of French origin, and are for the most part descendants of settlers from Normandy, established in the colony previously to 1759. Their number at that period was about 70,000, and in 1831 they had increased (according to the census) to upwards of 400,000; the most rapid augmentation probably of any on record from births alone. Neither the conquest, nor the long period which has since elapsed, has wrought any great change in their character and habits; nor has their increasing numbers induced them to make any considerable encroachments on the wilderness around: on the contrary, they have continued within their original limits, subdividing the land more and more, and submitting to a constantly decreasing ratio of comfort. They are frugal, honest, industrious, and hospitable, but cling with unreasoning tenacity to ancient prejudices and customs; by temperament, cheerful, social, engaging, and (from the highest to the lowest) distinguished for courtesy and real politeness. they retain all the essential characteristics of the French provinces under the ancient regime, and present the spectacle of an old, uneducated, stationary society, in a new and progressive world. A few seignorial families possess large, but not very valuable, properties: the class wholly dependent on wages is a very small one; and the great majority consists of a hard-working yeomanry (usually called habitans), amongst whom there is almost a uni versal equality of condition and property, and of ignorance too; for scarcely one of them can read or write. From the public colleges and seminaries established in the cities and other central points by the early possessors of the country, chiefly by the Jesuits (where the education resembles that of our public grammar-schools, and is entirely in the hands of the Catholic clergy), between 200 and 300 annually finish their education, and are dispersed through the community: nearly the whole of these are of the class of habitans, and return to reside amongst them, mostly as notaries or surgeons; and thus, living on terms of complete social equality, though with greatly superior knowledge, in communities which possess nothing in the shape of municipal institutions, they possess almost despotic influence over popular opinion and conduct in all public matters. The habitans under the old feudal tenures have cleared two or three belts of land along the St. Laurence, and cultivate them on the worst system of small farming; their farms and residences being all so connected, that the country of the seignories appears like a continuous village. They spin and weave their own wool and flax, and make their own soap, candles, and sugar. What energy and enterprise there exist in the community (beyond the portion required by this sort of routine) is exerted in the fur trade and in hunting, which, it appears, they still monopolise through the whole valley of the Mississippi. Lord Durham's Report, pp.11-13.) The Anglo-Saxon portion of the population of Lower Canada consists almost wholly of persons who have emigrated from the United Kingdom, or the descendants of such, subsequent to 1759. A considerable addition was made to their numbers by U. S. loyalists in 1787; at a subsequent period many families from Vermont have settled in the townships adjoining that state, and since the formation of the American Land Company many have emigrated through their exertions. A majority of the labouring class in this portion of the population are Irish Catholics; the rest are English or Scotch Protestants, by whom the reSources of the country, so far as they have been called forth, have been mainly developed. It is also by these that the internal and foreign commerce has been created, which is wholly in their hands, as well as a large portion of the retail trade of the province; besides this, they possess the best cultivated farms in the province, and are owners of fully half the more valuable seignories. (Lord Durham's Report, p. 14.) The inhabitants of the upper province consist principally of the descendants of U. S. loyalists, previously to 1787, and of subsequent settlers, or their descendants, from the United Kingdom and the States: an extensive emigration from the former, subsequent to 1828, nearly doubled the previous population of the province. Of the immigrants from the U. Kingdom, many were half-pay army or navy officers, and of the working classes a considerable proportion were Irish. The Catholic population of the upper province is estimated at one fifth part of the whole in the back part of the Niagara district some Dutch settlers are estab lished; and a few French families along the Detroit. The population at present is estimated at 400,000, scattered for the most part along an extensive frontier, with very imperfect means of inter-communication; the more thickly-settled districts being, of course, in the occupation of the older section of residents, who are for the most part owners also of the wild lands in those districts. The number of immigrants from the U. Kingdom, which landed at the port of Quebec in the nine years ending

1838, amounted to 263,089: of these, 165,000 proceeded to or pursuits. But would such a determination be either the upper province; but of the whole number, from politic or proper? We answer, certainly it would not. 50 to 60 per cent., re-emigrated, after a short residence America has been settled, civilised, and improved only to the U. States. The greatest number which emigrated through perpetual encroachments on the natives; and to in any one year was in 1832, when 51,746 arrived at Que- say that these should cease, would be to say that vast bec; the smallest number was in 1838, when 4,992 only tracts of fine country should be doomed to continued reached that port. Within the period spoken of there barbarism were also 50,000 estimated to have reached the provinces Distribution and Tenure of Lands in the Lower Proby way of New York and the Erie canal; a like propor-rince, Government, &c-About 1-38th part of the area of tion of whom also re-emigrated. (Lord Durham's Re- the prov. is estimated to be under some sort of cultivation. port, pp. 76, 77., Append. C.) The arrangements made for The extent of land surveyed in each district, down to 10th conveying and locating these immigrants (mostly of the July, 1838, was in the Montreal district, 2,286,750 acres ; poor labouring classes, and two thirds of the number Three Rivers, 2,098,908 do.; Quebec, 1,383,666 do. ; GasIrish) were most imperfect and unsatisfactory; causing pé,400,639 do.; making a total of 6,169,963 statute acres. an enormous amount of suffering to them, and a very (Lord Durham's Rep., Append. B., p. 176.) This is digreat inconvenience and alarm to the residents of Que- vided into townships averaging about 70,000 sq. acres, and bec. The crowded state of the vessels, and deficiency of is exclusive of an allowance of 5 per cent. for highways, food, induced disorders of an infectious nature, so that a and of a block of land, set off for the British American Land quarantine station had to be established at Grosse Isle (a Company, in the co. Sherbrook, distr. of Three Rivers. desert spot about 10 m. below Quebec, and a fever hos- containing 585,089 acres. The land comprised in the pital on Point Levi), to obviate the spread of infection seigniorial districts amounts to about 8,300,000 acres ; of through the city; and funds had to be raised and dis- this last, the whole has been granted by the crown, subtributed, by a voluntary society, to relieve the wants ject to an obligation to concede to actual settlers, and of such as were unable to obtain or unfit for employ- 4,300,000 acres have been thus conceded. Of the township land 3,500,000 acres have been disposed of" for other than public purposes." The grants made by the French government previously to the conquest were on one uniform system. Seigniories (or manors containing from 9 to 36 sq. leagues) were created in favour of certain leading individuals, who were bound to grant or "concede" a specified portion to any applicant; the profit, to the seignior, being derived from payment of a small rent, from services which the censitaire (or tenant) was bound to perform; from 1-12th of the corn ground (by compulsion) at the seigniorial mill; and from a fine on the transference of the property (other than by inheritance).

ment.

The disturbances of which Canada has been recently the theatre, and which, it is not very likely, will soon subside, will most probably prevent, for a lengthened period, any considerable influx of immigrants. And, certainly, if we look to the well-being of the immigrants, which is the principal consideration, this is not much to be regretted. There can be no doubt that the valley of the Mississippi offers incomparably greater advantages to industrious immigrants, whether with or without capital, than can be enjoyed in any part of Canada. It has a better climate, a better and a cheaper soil, and is free from the greater number of those social grievances that disturb and embitter society in Canada. The wonder, in fact, is, not that so many of the emigrants to Canada have left it for the U. States, but that any considerable portion of them should have remained behind.

This wretched sort of tenure, copied in great part from the feudal system existing in France previously to the Revolution, was unfortunately maintained after the British acquired possession of the country The consequence has been that the French pop. has been confined to a comparatively limited extent of territory, and has never amalgamated with the British; for, by enabling every individual to obtain a portion of land, which, as the pop. încreased, became gradually less, with remain at home; and being subject to feudal regulations and services, the occupiers were bound, as it were, to a routine system. Hence the French Canadians exhibit a singular want of activity and enterprise; and the portion of the prov. which they occupy has a dense and a poor pop., strongly attached, as already seen, to ancient habits and modes of existence.

The native Indian tribes still occupy portions of this colony on lakes Superior and Huron, and along the whole extent towards the N. boundaries; but their numbers are rapidly diminishing, and they are fast degene-out any immediate outlay, young men were tempted to rating from their original spirit and character, so that the utter extinction of the race seems inevitable, as civilisation advances on the wilderness, to which, only, they appear to be adapted. Various attempts have been made, from 1776, downward, to settle and instruct them in agriculture and the arts, but with very little success. There are five of these settlements in the lower province; the number of Indians at which is estimated at 3,437, the most numerous being the Iroquois and Algonquins. (Part. Report, 1837; Report of Gen. Darling, 1828.) It is stated in these reports that some years back the Indians were able to supply our settlements (then suffering from famine) with some corn; but they have been driven back by subsequent settlers; and the introduction of the fur trade has also tended to indispose them from settling: those located on the reserves of the colony are a degenerate race, and live much like the gypsies amongst us. Those of the Six Nations (who were the firm allies of the British in the first American war) are estimated at 2,149; the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinté 337; the other tribes at 6,428: they occupy tracts along the rivers St. Clair, Aux Sables, Detroit, Thames, Ouse, and Credit ; lakes Simcoe, Rice, Mud, and Balsam, and Point Peter: the great Manitouwanning (containing about 1,000,000 acres) is also appropriated to Indians, who choose to settle. The lands are held under the crown in joint tenancy to them and their posterity, and are not allowed to be leased or sold without its consent. Besides the above, there are other tribes round the shores of lakes Michigan, and the S. side of Lake Superior (about 2,000 in all), who consider themselves as owing allegiance to the British crown, and attend to receive presents annually there are also many tribes on the N. sides of lakes Huron and Superior, who consider that vast tract their own, and occupy it as hunting-grounds. Large sums have been expended by religious societies in futile efforts to improve them; and the Indian department of government has occasionally cost 150,0007. in a single year: the object of the last, however, has rather been to make the services of the Indians available in war, than with a view to their permanent improvement; the Hudson's Bay and Canada companies have, also, not scrupled to employ them in the same way; and the report above referred to states, that without a change of system in both respects the fate of the Indians is sealed." But the truth is, that, however it may be changed, their fate is "sealed." Experience has sufficiently proved that the red men are incapable of any real civilisation; and nothing can prevent their extermination other than the abiding by a determination not to enter their territories, or to interfere in any degree with their grounds, habits,

Since the prov. came under the British government, the plans under which land has been granted and sold have differed very widely at different periods; but have very rarely, indeed, been established on sound principles. The township lands have been granted in many modes, differing both in their character and object: at first, they were granted to settlers in free and common soccage, with a reservation to resume all, or any part, if required for military purposes, but subject to no other conditions: the quantity, so granted to each individual, being limited to 100 acres for himself, and 50 acres additional for each member of his family; the governor having authority to increase this amount, by 1,000 acres. These favourable terms were meant to attract settlers from the colonies, which now form the U. States. In 1775 this arrangement was superseded, and the Quebec Act of the preceding year having restored the French code and language, corresponding instructions were given, that future grants should again be made in fief and scigniory, and three seigniories were thus created. In 1791 the regulations of 1763 were revived, though with certain conditions annexed to them, which in practice were avoided; and this mode continued till 1826: but the constitutional act of 1791 also enacted that a reserve for the support of a Protestant clergy should be made, in respect of every grant, equal in value, as near as could be estimated, to 1-7th part of the land granted. crown reserves, to a like extent, originated in the view of supplying, first by sales and ultimately by rents, an independent source of revenue, and obviating the necessity of taxes, and consequently of such disputes as had led to the independence of the U. States. These reserves, however, have proved most serious obstacles to the welfare of the colony, which the mis-construction, or violation, of the act, has aggravated, by increas ing their extent beyond what appears to have been contemplated. (Lord Durham's Report, Append. B., pp. 6, 7.) From 1806, downward, no new townships were granted; and the grants, on to 1814, were in lots of 200 acres, to actual settlers, and few in number. From the last date, grants were made on "location tickets," requiring the erection of a house, and the clearing and cultivating 4 acres, before the title was perfected. In 1826 the new mode of selling land by auction, at a minimum

The

upset price, was adopted, the purchase-money being payable by four annual instalments, without interest. In 1831, the purchase-money was to be repaid by half yearly instalments; and in 1837, to obviate the bad effects of giving credit on such sales, the purchase-money was made payable at the time of sale: but in prac.lic bishop of Quebec, paid by the government out of tice this has not been effected. Besides the grants made under these different regulations, other exceptional ones have been made-mostly in reward of public services; such as those to the militia of the revolutionary war, and of that of 1812 many valid claims in these respects still remaining to be settled: there has also been an exceptional sale of nearly 800,000 acres to the British N. American Land Company. The crown reserves must be considered as virtually abandoned when the auction sales were introduced; and an act of the imperial legislature has authorised the sale of 1-4th part of the clergy reserves, at a rate not exceeding 100,000 acres annually. In these various ways, about 3,500,000 acres have been disposed of. (For some remarks on the policy of these grants, see post.) Of late years a revenue has been derived from timber property in both provinces: originally the right of cutting timber was a monopoly in the hands of contractors, for supplying that article for the navy, who usually sold licenses to merchants and Jumber-men, by whom all the legal trade was in consequence engrossed. In 1824 licenses to cut were first offered by government by auction: the value of an acre of timber, at the price charged for these, is often very much greater than that required for land, and the first instalment has been paid frequently for land solely in the view of cutting down the timber. The Ottawa is the chief seat of the trade, which is, in a great measure, forced and factitious; and which, while it is of no real advantage to Canada, entails a heavy burden on Great Britain. In fact, but for the unjust and oppressive regu lation by which a duty of 25s. a load is laid on Baltic timber, while timber from British America is only charged with a duty of 1s, very little, indeed, of the latter would be imported. The amount received on the Sales of crown land in the lower province, from 1828 to 1837 inclusive, was 33,8534.; on clergy reserves, 50,4257.; timber duties, 58,0857. In the upper province, for the same period, crown lands 33,8534; clergy reserves, 114,618.; timber duties, 58,0857. The timber is chiefly red and white pine and oak.

when formed: there are 44 clergymen, and 53 churches and chapels, finished and in progress. The bishop states that from 15 to 20 additional clergymen are required for the present wants of the colony. (Lord Durham's Report, Apppend. C., p. 59.). There is also a Cathocertain public revenues, and under him a body of secular clergy, for the seigniories, and some female monastic establishments. The Protestant dissenters have places of worship, and ministers in various parts of the province. The ministers of what are called "missions," are paid through the medium of the Society for Propagating the Gospel, to whom an annual parliamentary grant is made for the purpose. The ministers of the Church of Scotland are in part paid by the general government, and in part by their congregations; the other sects support their own clergymen. As respects charitable institutions, and the relief of the poor, certain sums are granted annually by the legislative assembly, under certain acts" for securing and supporting the indigent, the insane, and foundlings;" and for "the aid of such religious communities as receive and administer relief to sick and infirm persons, and foundlings;" other benevolent societies, unconnected with religion, are occasionally assisted in the same way; these are mostly managed by nuns, or by benevolent Protestant ladies. The general hospital of the Grey nuns, the Ladies' Benevolent Society, the orphan asylum, and the house of industry, at Montreal; the convent of Ursuline nuns at Three Rivers; the Hôtel Dieu, and two other asylums, at Quebec; are the chief of these: 4,6091. 6s. 8d. currency were granted for this purpose in 1838: this has exclusive reference to the resident poor. For emigrants, an hospital was established by a provincial act of 1823; a fever hospital was also subsequently erected at Point Levi, and a fund created, to give medical assistance to sick emigrants, and assist indigent ones to reach their destination; a poll-tax of 5s. currency on those coming out under government sanction; and 108. on all others was also levied on ship-masters, and the amount divided, equally, between the Quebec Emigrant Hospital and Society, and the Montreal General Hospital, and Emigrant Society; besides which occasional grants have continued to be made, for these purposes, by the legislature, from time to time. For the relief of mariners, a duty of a penny a ton is levied on every vessel arriving from any port out of the limits of the province: the portion received at Quebec goes to support the marine hospital there, which was built by a public grant; that received at Montreal goes to the general hospital of that city: various acts have also passed to establish depôts for the relief of shipwrecked mariners. There are four such at Anticosti, one near Cape Chat, and another at Magdalene River. Another class of persons have become regular objects of legislative relief; viz. the small farmers of particular localities, in consequence of the failure of their crops; in some cases, to supply immediate want; in others, to enable them to procure seed corn, and seed potatoes; this is usually done by way of loan-the repayment being quite hopeless: the pernicious tendency of this, and the gross partiality and abuses it has occasioned, are stated, in a very forcible way, in Lord Durham's Report (p. 35., and Appendix B., pp. 22, 23.). As respects the vagrant poor, much complaint is made by townships bordering on the seigniories, of the burden caused by an influx from these; whilst no township poor are found levying contributions in the seigniories. In the Quebec district a like complaint is made, by parishes on the S. bank, of similar visitations from those on the N. side: but they do not appear to have hitherto produced any remedial measures.

Each district has its own judges, whose jurisdiction (except Gaspé) is independent of the others, and only subject to the court of appeal. A sheriff is also appointed for each district, and grand voyer, or general inspector of the roads. These appear to be the only characteristics; but as respects judicial affairs, Gaspé is dependent on Quebec; and the roads of St. Francis are surveyed by the grand voyers of Montreal and Three Rivers. The subdivisions of these districts are counties, townships, parishes, and extra-parochial places: that of Montreal has 19, Quebec 13, Three Rivers 5, St. Francis 3, and Gaspé 2 counties, respectively; they are chiefly political subdivisions, marked out for the purpose of returning members to the provincial parliament. The parishes and townships are merely divisions for such local purposes as the repairs of roads, inspection of fences, water-courses, &c.: each is subdivided into sections (not exceeding 10); the parishes vary much in extent, and those which are Catholic also serve for limits, in the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of that church: the townships usually enclose a square of 10 miles. There are in all 175 seigniories, 33 fiefs, and 160 townships. The cities of Quebec and Montreal were incorporated under temporary acts, which have been allowed to expire without renewal; these were the only municipal corporations in the province. In the Catholic parishes, churchwardens are appointed, and in some focalities," a council of notables," to manage the secular affairs of the church. and what are called the funds of "the fabrique," under old French ordinances, so doubtful and contradictory, as to cause frequent litigation. The income of their clergy is derived from the 26th bushel of all grain grown by the parishioners; this, however, is contingent on the proprietor being a Catholic. When an estate passes into Protestant hands, this right is lost: and hence the natural aversion of the priests to any Protestant settlements being made within the seigniories; nor is there any provision for the Catholic clergy, in the event of any part of the French population settling beyond the seigniories, which, no doubt, has had some effect in confining it within their limits. There are no provisions or regulations for the poor; and this as well as all other local matters, were under the immediate direction and control of the colonial legislature, whose time appears to have been chiefly occupied by affairs, such as usually come under the cognisance of parish vestries and corporations in England. The ecclesias-themselves of it. tical government of the Church of England vests in the bishop of Quebec (whose jurisdiction extends over both provinces), an archdeacon of Quebec, and under them rectors for each parish, and ministers for each mission

According to the system of elementary schools established by the provincial legislature, each county was divided into districts (usually smaller than the parishes or townships): the number has varied under different acts, but latterly there were said to be about 1,000 schools, with 40,000 scholars; and the funds granted for their support amounted to 25,0007. annually; the patronage and irresponsible management of this grant (amounting to half the whole ordinary civil expenditure of the province) were vested in the county members. The teachers appointed were for the most part so utterly ignorant as to be unable to write, and the extent of their exertions amounted to teaching the children the catechism by rote. When the act sanctioning this groSS political job came to be renewed, the legislative council properly refused their sanction. (Lord Durham's Report, p. 35.) There is an act still in force (41 Geo. 3. c. 17.)

by which a majority of the inhabitants" of any parish cr township, by petition to the government, may subject the whole of it to the expense of erecting schoolhouses, and accommodation for teachers, but none have availed

The superior colleges and schools, that exist under the management of the Catholic clergy, have been previously noticed: at present there exists no means of college education for Protestants within the province, and con

sequently the desire of obtaining general and professional | means of subjecting the executive council to any sort of instruction annually draws a great many young men to responsibility; for the legislative council was confesthe U. States: in respect to the commoner kinds of sedly, in practice, merely an instrument in the hands education, the British pop. are scarcely better off than of the executive council to restrain the popular branch the French. of the legislature, to which it was generally opposed; The roads and bridges of the province are under the hence, from first to last, "the assembly were in a control of a "grand voyer" and deputy for each dis- state of continuous warfare with the executive, for the trict, a surveyor of roads for each parish or township, purpose of obtaining the powers inherent to a repreand an overseer of highways for each section of either sentative body, by the very nature of a representative of the latter. The grand voyer opens new roads, and government. (Lord Durham's Report, pp. 28-31.) sees established ones kept in repair throughout the dis- The great business of the colonial legislature appears trict; and decides, by a procés verbal, the share each to have consisted in what is usually called parish bufarm ought to contribute of whatever work is done by siness in England; this was the necessary consequence "joint labour." There appears to be no appeal from his of there being no local bodies, with authority to manage authority: the other officers are his representatives, each local affairs, or levy local rates; hence the general within his respective bounds. Two kinds of public high- practice of making parliamentary grants for local works; ways are recognised- —FRONT and BYE roads: the former and the situation of such a colony makes these of such priare those which run between two ranges of "con- mary importance, that the number of roads and bridges cessions," or through the front range of the river; the constructed is the test by which the merits of a colonial different portions of these are maintained by the farms legislature are usually estimated. In this respect, howwhich they limit: those of the townships are usually of a ever, the views of the assembly of Lower Canada appear square form, whilst the seigniorial farms have 10 breadths to have been very narrow and exclusive, and to have to 1 length; and hence the latter have the smallest extent afforded just cause of complaint to the upper province, of road to maintain. The bye roads are repaired by by causing the suspension of their vigorous efforts to "joint labour," and so, in fact, is a considerable portion connect their territories with the great highway of the of the other, such as hills, marshes, bridges, or any parts St. Laurence. Nor is the character of their other legisof more than average difficulty, as well as through all lative measures such as to entitle the assembly to any unconceded and all uncultivated lands, the contributors great share of admiration or respect. During the 45 being "all those to whom the road is useful," that is, those years of its existence, it effected little or no reform in who must pass over it to get to church or market. No local the acknowledged evils of the civil code; and its attempts rates are levied for these purposes, but charges, usually de- in this respect had exclusive reference, not to the law frayed in England by parish or county rates, frequently itself, but merely to its administration; and resulting, come out of the provincial treasury for such purposes, and as they did, in statutes passed only for limited periods large sums have from time to time been granted by the le- (which were sometimes renewed and sometimes allowed gislature, and disbursed by commissioners appointed by to expire), they for the most part caused additional unthe governor. Mr. Bouchette, the surveyor general (Top. certainty and confusion. (Lord Durham's Report, dpDict.), states the sums voted for repair of roads and canals, pend. B., pp.9—12.) from 1814 to 1830, to be 384,172., of which, however, 25,000l. was granted for the Welland Canal in the upper prov. This heavy expenditure does not appear to have pro. duced corresponding results, for the roads in general are very bad, and the lines of communication very incomplete: in this respect, the blocks of land called "crown," and clergy reserves," have proved the greatest nuisauces, for they are dispersed over every part of a township, one between every two settlements. The present law, whereby the roads are regulated, was passed in 1796, and the system sanctioned by it appears to be generally reprobated by the settlers; and turnpikes have been suggested as very desirable for the colony, and also the establishment of a highway rate.

The principal officers of the government are appointed by the crown, and hold their appointments during pleasure. The chief of these are,the assistant civil secretary, provincial secretary and registrar, receivergeneral, inspector-general of accounts, &c.; there are also 6 collectors of customs; 3 judges at Quebec, and 3 at Montreal; with numerous other functionaries. There is also an unpaid magistracy, appointed by the crown, who are required to possess immovable property, beyond all liabilities, of at least 3007. currency; and commissioners. who sit in the small cause courts, which are held weekly in the cities, and on the first and third Saturday of each month in the rural districts, with power of adjournment. As regards the superior courts of justice, the judges Government of the Lower Province. - Previously to presiding in each district have supreme jurisdiction. its suspension, the constitution of this prov. rested The delay, expense, and uncertainty in the administration on the authority of an act of the imperial parliament, of the law in civil suits, is much and justly complained of. passed in 1791 (31 Geo. 3. c. 31.). By this act (which Trial by jury was introduced, with the rest of the crimiproposed to extend the forms and advantages of the nal and civil law of England, in 1763; the juries were, at British constitution to the colony) a legislative council first, exclusively taken from the cities, and subsequently and a house of assembly were created; each of these had (by a government order) were selected by the sheriffs, the power of framing laws, which, to be valid, required from these, and from the adjacent country, for 15 leagues the assent of both houses, and of the provincial govern- around. An act was subsequently passed, extending ment, by which they were transmitted to England, for these limits to the whole district; this gave the French the sanction of the crown: the council was to consist of an entire preponderance, and, as it was a temporary act, not less than 15, nor more than 23 members, to be the legislative council refused to renew it, and conscnominated by the crown during life. The House of As-quently it expired in 1836; since which, there has been sembly was composed of 52 members, and now of 83 in reality no jury law whatever, and the composition of members; those of the counties elected by proprietors of juries has been wholly in the hands of government, who land of the ann. val. of 40s., those of the towns by the have directed the sheriffs to act in conformity to the preowners of tenements of the ann. val. of 57., or by renters vious order. All this, in the excited state of the public of tenements of 107 a year, having been residents in the mind, prevents any chance of impartial verdicts where colony, and paid not less than one year's rent: the mem- race interferes, and destroys all confidence in the admibers were elected for four years, but the governor had nistration of criminal justice. The French code of civil the power of dissolving the house within that period. It law was re-established in the province in 1774, by an was ordained that they should meet annually at least: imperial act, usually called the Quebec Act; from this, their functions and powers resembled and were nearly as commercial cases have been subsequently excepted, but extensive as those of the British Commons. The ex- there is great difference of opinion as to what constiecutive government remained, as before, in a governor appointed by the crown, who is assisted by an executive council of 15 members; and for carrying on the provincial government the crown appears to have at first almost wholly relied on its territorial resources, and on duties imposed by imperial acts that had been passed prior to the introduction of this representative system into the colony. At length the government was obliged to accept the assembly's offer of raising an additional revenue by fresh taxes: this gave the latter some control in the levying and appropriation of part of the public income, and step by step they obtained the entire control, every portion of the reserved revenue being given up to them in 1832 (with the exception of the casual and territorial funds), by the 1st and 2d Wm. 4. c. 23. But it still remained without the least control or influence over the conduct or appointment of the public functionaries, by which the affairs of the province were administered; hence, the contest was continued after its financial demands had been conceded; and the civil list appears to have been refused, in consequence of the determination of the assembly not to give up its only

tutes a commercial case.

The external trade of Lower Canada (as well as a considerable portion of that of the upper province) is carried on through the medium of the ports of Quebec, Montreal, St. John's, Coteau du Lac, and Stanfield. From the U. Kingdom Canada imports coals, metals, cordage, E. India produce, and various kinds of British manufactures; from the British W. India colonies, sugar, molasses, rum, coffee, and hard woods; from the U. States, beef, pork, biscuit, rice, and tobacco. Owing to the unjust and oppressive preference given to Canadian timber in the markets of Great Britain, it forms by far the principal article of export from the colony. The next article is corn, especially wheat, which, however, is supposed to be mainly derived from the U. States; and then follow ashes, furs, fish, &c. In 1834, the total value of the exports from Canada amounted to 1,018,9227. The imports chiefly consist of cottons, woollens, silks, linens, glass, hardware, coal, &c. Their total value in 1834 was 1.063,6457. The total revenue derived from taxes in 1836 amounted to 102,0277.

Canada was ceded by France to England in 1763: