Montreal. Montreal is in the Lower Province, but is very central to both the provinces; and it is, moreover, the chief town in Canada. This would have done very well, but for an unforeseen misfortune. It will be remembered by most readers that in 1837 took place the Mackenzie-Papineau rebellion, of which those who were then old enough to be politicians heard so much in England. I am not going back to recount the history of the period, otherwise than to say that the English Canadians at that time, in withstanding and combating the rebels, did considerable injury to the property of certain French Canadians, and that when the rebellion had blown over and those in fault had been pardoned, a question arose whether or no the Government should make good the losses of those French Canadians who had been injured. The English Canadians protested that it would be monstrous that they should be taxed to repair damages suffered by rebels, and made necessary in the suppression of rebellion. The French Canadians declared that the rebellion had been only a just assertion of their rights, that if there had been crime on the part of those who took up arms that crime had been condoned, and that the damages had not fallen exclusively or even chiefly on those who had done so. I will give no opinion on the merits of the question, but simply say that blood ran very hot when it was discussed. At last the Houses of the Provincial Parliament, then assembled at Montreal, decreed that the losses' should be made good by the public treasury; and the English mob in Montreal, when this decree became known, was roused to great wrath by a decision which seemed to be condemnatory of English loyalty. It pelted Lord Elgin, the Governor General, with rotten eggs, and burned down the Parliament House. Hence, there arose, not unnaturally, a strong feeling of anger on the part of the local Government against Montreal; and moreover there was no longer a House in which the Parliament could be held in that town. For these conjoint reasons it was decided to move the seat of Government again, and it was resolved that the Governor and the Parliament should sit alternately at Toronto in Upper Canada, and at Quebec in Lower Canada, remaining four years at each place. They went at first to Toronto for two years only, having agreed that they should be there on this occasion only for the remainder of the term of the then Parliament. After that they were at Quebec for four years; then at Toronto for four; and now are again at Quebec. But this arrangement has been found very inconvenient. In the first place there is a great na tional expenditure incurred in moving old records, and in keeping double records, in moving the library, and as I have been informed even the pictures. The Government clerks also are called on to move as the Government moves; and though an allowance is made to them from the national purse to cover their loss, the arrangement has nevertheless been felt by them to be a grievance, as may be well understood. The accommodation also for the ministers of the Government, and for members of the two Houses has been insufficient. Hotels, lodgings, and furnished houses could not be provided to the extent required, seeing that they would be left nearly empty for every alternate space of four Indeed it needs but little arguyears. ment to prove that the plan adopted must have been a thoroughly uncomfortable plan, and the wonder is that it should have been adopted. Lower Canada had undertaken to make all her leading citizens wretched, providing Upper Canada would treat hers with equal severity. This has now gone on for some twelve years, and as the system was found to be an unendurable nuisance it has been at last admitted that some steps must be taken towards selecting one capital for the country. I should here, in justice to the Canadians, state a remark made to me on this matter by one of the present leading politicians of the colony. I cannot think that the migratory scheme was good; but he defended it, asserting that it had done very much to amalgamate the people of the two provinces; that it had brought Lower Canadians into Upper Canada, and Upper Canadians into Lower Canada, teaching English to those who spoke only French before, and making each pleasantly acquainted with the other. I have no doubt that something, perhaps much, has been done in this way; but valuable as the result may have been, I cannot think it worth the cost of the means employed. The best answer to the above argument consists in the undoubted fact that a migratory Government would never have been established for such a reason. It was so established because Montreal, the central town, had given offence, and because the jealousy of the provinces against each other would not admit of the Government being placed entirely at Quebec, or entirely at Toronto. But it was necessary that some step should be taken; and as it was found to be unlikely that any resolution should be reached by the joint provinces themselves, it was loyally and wisely determined to refer the matter to the Queen. That Her Majesty has constitutionally the power to call the Parliament of Canada at any town of Canada which she may select, admits, I conceive, of no doubt. It is, I imagine, within her prerogative to call the Parliament of England where she may please within that realm, though her lieges would be somewhat startled if it were called otherwhere than in London. It was therefore well done to ask Her Majesty to act as arbiter in the matter. But there are not wanting those in Canada who say that in referring the matter to the Queen it was in truth referring it to those by whom very many of the Canadians were least willing to be guided in the matter; to the Governor General namely, and the Colonial Secretary. Many indeed in Canada now declare that the decision simply placed the matter in the hands of the Governor General. Be that as it may, I do not think that any unbiassed traveller will doubt that the best possible selection has been made, presuming always, as we may presume in the discussion, that Montreal could not be selected. I take for granted that the rejection of Montreal was regarded as a sine quá non in the decision. To me it appears grievous that this should have been so. It is a great thing for any country to have a large, leading, world-known city, and I think that the Government should combine with the commerce of the country in carrying out this object. But commerce can do a great deal more for Government than Government can do for commerce. Government has selected Ottawa as the capital of Canada; but commerce has already made Montreal the capital, and Montreal will be the chief city of Canada, let Government do what it may to foster the other town. The idea of spiting a town because there has been a row in it seems to me to be preposterous. The row was not the work of those who have made Montreal rich and respectable. Montreal is more centrical than Ottawa,-nay, it is as nearly centrical as any town can be. It is easier to get to Montreal from Toronto, than to Ottawa;-and if from Toronto, then from all that distant portion of Upper Canada, back of Toronto. To all Lower Canada Montreal is, as a matter of course, much easier of access than Ottawa. But having said so much in favour of Montreal, I will again admit that, putting aside Montreal, the best possible selection has been made. When Ottawa was named, no time was lost in setting to work to prepare for the new migration. In 1859 the Parliament was removed to Quebec, with the understanding that it should remain there till the new buildings should be completed. These buildings were absolutely commenced in April 1860, and it was, and I believe still is, expected that they will be com All pleted in 1863. I am now writing in the winter of 1861; and, as is necessary in Canadian winters, the works are suspended. But unfortunately they were suspended in the early part of October, on the 1st of October,-whereas they might have been continued, as far as the season is concerned, up to the end of November. We reached Ottawa on the 3rd of October, and more than a thousand men had then been just dismissed. the money in hand had been expended, and the Government,so it was said,could give no more money till Parliament should meet again. This was most unfortunate. In the first place the suspension was against the contract as made with the contractors for the building; in the next place there was the delay; and then, worst of all, the question again became agitated whether the colonial legislature were really in earnest with reference to Ottawa. Many men of mark in the colony were still anxious -I believe are still anxious,-to put an end to the Ottawa scheme, and think that there still exists for them a chance of success. And very many men who are not of mark are thus united, and a feeling of doubt on the subject has been created. 225,000l. has already been spent on these buildings, and I have no doubt myself that they will be duly completed, and duly used. We went up to the new town by boat, taking the course of the river Ottawa. We passed St. Ann's, but no one at St. Ann's seemed to know anything of the brothers who were to rest there on their weary oars. At Maxwellstown I could hear nothing of Annie Laurie or of her trysting place on the braes, and the turnpike man at Tara could tell me nothing of the site of the hall, and had never even heard of the harp. When I go down South I shall expect to find that the negro melodies have not yet reached "Old Virginie." This boat conveyance from Montreal to Ottawa is not all that could be wished in convenience, for it is allied too closely with railway travelling. Those who use it leave Montreal by a railway; after nine miles, they are changed into a steamboat. Then they encounter another railway, and at last reach Ottawa in a second steamboat. But the river is seen, and a better idea of the country is obtained than can be had solely from the railway cars. The scenery is by no means grand, nor is it strikingly picturesque; but it is in its way interesting. For a long portion of the river the old primeval forests come down close to the water's edge, and in the fall of the year the brilliant colouring is very lovely. It should not be imagined, as I think it often is imagined,—that these forests are made up of splendid trees, or that splendid trees are even common. When timber grows on undrained --- ground, and when it is uncared for, it does not seem to approach nearer to its perfection than wheat or grass do under similar circumstances. Seen from a little distance the colour and effect is good, but the trees themselves have shallow roots and grow up tall, narrow, and shapeless. It necessarily is so with all timber that is not thinned in its growth. When fine forest trees are found, and are left standing alone by any cultivator who may have taste enough to wish for such adornment, they almost invariably die. They are robbed of the sickly shelter by which they have been surrounded; the hot sun strikes the uncovered fibres of the roots, and the poor solitary invalid languishes and at last dies. As one ascends the river, which by its breadth forms itself into lakes, one is shown Indian villages clustering down upon the bank. Some years ago these Indians were rich, for the price of furs, in which they dealt, was high; but furs have become cheaper, and the beavers with which they used to trade are almost valueless. That a change in the fashion of hats should have assisted to polish these poor fellows off the face of creation must, one may suppose, be very unintelligible to them; but nevertheless it is probably a subject of deep speculation. If the reading world were to take to sermons again and eschew their novels, Messrs. Thackeray, Dickens, and some others would look about them and inquire into the causes of such a change with considerable acuteness. They might not, perhaps, hit the truth, and these Indians are much in that predicament. It is said that very few pure-blooded Indians are now to be found in their villages, but I doubt whether this is not erroneous. The children of the Indians are now fed upon baked bread, and on cooked meat, and are brought up in houses. They are nursed somewhat as the children of the white men are nursed; and these practices no doubt have done much towards altering their appearance. The negroes who have been bred in the States, and whose fathers have been so bred before them, differ both in colour and form from their brothers who have been born and nurtured in Africa. I said in the last chapter that the city of Ottawa was still to be built; but I must explain, lest I should draw down on my head the wrath of the Ottawaites, that the place already contains a population of 15,000 inhabitants. As, however, it is being prepared for four times that number-for eight times that number let us hope-and as it straggles over a vast extent of ground, it gives one an idea of a city in an active course of preparation. In England we know nothing about unbuilt |