lowed the general track, but the grand object of discovery in that age was less the New World than the Oid, less the fertility and beauty of the Western Continent, than the opulence of India. The voyage of Columbus himself was to find a way across the ocean to India. When it was ascertained that the New World lay in the path, the object was to discover a north-west passage. Henry VII., in 1497, sent out John Cabot, the Italien, with six ships to the north. Newfoundland was the first discovery, whence they reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but returned to England, having formed no settlement. Some abortive attempts were subsequently made by English merchants to colonize, but the first actual fixture on the soil was made by France.

the principles of Popery were exhibited to their usu extent, in the perpetual exclusion of Protestants an other heretics, and all Jews from the colony. By th peace of 1632 between England and France, a peace. which as strongly marked British ignorance as Frene. inactivity, the great provinces of Quebec, Nova Scoti and Cape Breton, were ceded to France. In 166| from the feebleness and misgovernment of the Company the French King, by the advice of Colbert, erected £ Canadas into a Royal Government, encouraged hi disbanded soldiers to make settlements, and ga estates to their officers, with land under the feudal te nure to the soldiers, a form of property which st subsists. The cruelties perpetrated on the Indians produced desperate retaliation; and to prevent surprises. Francis I. of France, sent Giovanni Varazano, a Flo- the government ordered that the settlements shoul: rentine, with an expedition, which discovered Florida, be concentrated; no lands being allowed to be cul and thence sailing back to the 50° of latitude, took for- vated, but such as were near each other. This mal possession of the country, and called it La Nou- accounts for the peculiar military style of the French velle France. The battle of Pavia in 1525, and the Canadian townships, and is one of the causes why the capture of Francis, paralyzed French discovery, but south-west frontier has been nearly deserted, and 2 the cod fishery at Newfoundland, which so early as such constantly exposed to the encroachments of the 1517 had ships engaged in it from the chief naval most encroaching of all powers, the United States. L powers of Europe, naturally fixed the European eye 1682, the Mississippi was descended to the sea by the on the Canadian shore. Jacques Cartier, a fisherman French, who took nominal possession of all the cour of St. Maloes, after traversing the Gulf of St. Law-tries watered by that great river, and in honour of Louis rence, returned in 1545, with a Royal commission, XIV., called it Louisiana. For half a century the three large vessels, and a number of volunteers. He sailed up the St. Lawrence, so called, from its being discovered on that Saint's day, the 10th of August, anchored off Quebec, then called Stada Cona. He then went up the river in his pinnace and boats, until, on the 3d of October, he reached the island, which, from its hill, he called Mont Royal, now Montreal. In 1540, the French sent out an expedition with the Signor de Robeval, commissioned by Francis as Viceroy in Canada. The French are bad colonists, and the chief result of their settlement on the coast was to teach the use of fire-arms to the Indians in the north,-a fatal present, which resulted in the almost total extinction of those unfortunate barbarians. Quebec was founded in 1608. In fourteen years after, its population had not amounted to fifty souls.

jealousies of the French and English colonists produced frequent hostilities, hostilities as obscure as they were criminal, and as worthless as they were either. But it is remarkable, as an instance of the important conse quences which may arise from slight events, that those attacks on the British produced the Convention a Albany, in July, 1754, when Franklin proposed a plan for the union of the States, and the levy of men and money to resist the French. This plan was finally the basis of the Federal Union. The Seven Years' Wɛ fixed the attention of Europe once more upon Canada. In 1756, the Marquis de Montcalm, a major-general in the service, and an officer of high character, was sent out with large reinforcements. He fell on the British forts, feebly garrisoned, and unprepared to resist se powerful a force. The troops and colonists were France has been alternately the support and the defeated, and they returned with nearly 2000 prisoners. scourge of Rome. At this period she was governed The French can be remarkably courteous on occasion, by Richelieu. He formed a company of clergy and yet no soldiery have ever exhibited more startling laity, called the Company, composed of a hundred instances of a sudden change from courtesy to massacre. partners. The leading object was the conversion of Whether Montcalm felt himself embarrassed by the the Indians to Popery; the second the fur trade, and number of his prisoners, or was determined to strike terror the old dream of a passage to China. This was the by bloody execution, he suffered his Indian allies to fall most liberal of all donatives, if the King had known upon those brave men, unarmed as were, and on what he was giving away; for it conveyed the soil of the faith of capitulation. T Canada, with the monopoly of its trade, to the Company, dered in cold blood. P on the simple acknowledgment of fealty to the sove-barity was ever unvisit reign, and the presentation of a crown of gold at each act cost Montcalm his w accession to the throne. Under the new system, honour, and France

re mur

tion. The first policy of any country should be to make its conquests a part of itself, to put an end to all recollections of their former state, and to make them feel that they are to be separated no more; this effect is to be produced only by a connexion in language, religion, and constitution. The British Government neglected the whole three, and the Canadians remain, French, Papists, and feudalists, to this hour. By these means they have always continued a separate people, still regarding them.selves as connected with the country of the original settlers, imbibing French politics from the cradle, and retaining the hereditary antipathy to England. Violence, of course, is bad policy. But it ought to have been the part of the British Government, at the period of their conquest, to have insisted on making British law, language, and religion, paramount in the country; aud all this would have been accomplished within a generation by the simple adoption of our language in all public proceedings, encouraging its use among the rising population, planting Protestant churches in the principal districts, and enuring the people to the safe, clear, and powerful operation of British law.

Its first fruits were to direct the eye of British Council to Canada, to rouse the national indignation to second the Government, and to enable the great Lord Chatham, then Prime Minister, to achieve the conquest of the whole of the French Colonies in North America. T In 1759, Canada was invaded in three quarters. Eight thousand men, destined for the attack on Quebec, were put under the command of the memorable Wolfe. Montcalm had about thirteen thousand men, including militia and Indians. The first attack of the British on his intrenchments at Montmorency failed, with the loss of upwards of six hundred men killed and wounded. The second daring attempt was to throw the army on the heights of Abraham above the city. The soldiers had to climb up the precipice by the shrubs and roots of trees growing amongst the rocks, and on the morning of the 13th of December, 1739, the French General was astonished by seeing the British line drawn up within sight of Quebec. Montcalm instantly advanced to the attack; he has been charged with rashness in encountering this hazard, but he was a brave soldier with a high reputation at stake, and it may be fairly questioned, if suffering himself to be enclosed within his own walls, and insulted by an inferior force, would not have tarnished his character with the suspicious and haughty Court of Versailles. He marched out instantly, without waiting for a corps of two thousand men which he had detached on observation. It is remarkable to us, who have lived in an age where artillery formed the great arm of war, that this battle was fought almost wholly without artillery, the French having but two guns, and the English but one of small calibre, which the sailors had dragged up the precipice with ropes. But the British weapon is the bayonet, and with that in their hands they never have been beaten on fair ground. Both generals exposed themselves gallantly, and both fell; Montcalm advancing at the head of a column; Wolfe advancing at the head of his grenadiers, receiving three successive wounds in the wrist, in the groin, and the mortal one in his breast. As he lay on the ground, he heard the cry, "they run, they run." "Who run?" he asked. "The French," was the answer. "Then I die contented," were his words as he expired. The battle cost the English six hundred in killed and wounded, the French fifteen hun-One instance is equivalent to a volume. At the moment dred. This victory was followed by the capitulation of Quebec. The Peace of 1763 extinguished all the pretensions of France to Canada and Nova Scotia.

The Government of the British Colonies and Conquests has always been gentle; every privilege consistent with public quiet has been uniformly granted, and lar ⚫ontributions from England, in support of the , have habitually relieved the Colonists on. But in Canada this lenity was which has finally resulted in aliena

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The British conquest was of infinite importance to the Canadas. As in every country where Britain has obtained the unquestioned supremacy, commerce, cultivation, justice, and security followed. The Canadas, while under the French government, had been proverbial for misfortune. Nothing prospered with them. France, harshly, haughtily, and ignorantly governed at home, was always the worst mother of colonies. Spain, though equally harsh, haughty, and ignorant, in some degree corrected those vices by her indolence. left her colonies to a sleepy "Council of the Indies," who left the colonies to themselves, and requiring to know little of their condition further than they paid their annual tribute from their mines, suffered them to escape that most vexatious of all public sufferings, the vexation of perpetual experiments. But, with France, all was pernicious activity. Every new reign produced a new Minister, who had a Panacea for every State disease, who began by changing all that had been done before him, threw every thing into confusion, and left the confusion to be still more confused by his successor.

when common policy would have dictated to France the absolute necessity of supporting the credit of the colony, when the British troops were actually on their way to attack the Canadas, the provinces were left at the mercy of a Royal Intendant, named Bigot, who notoriously plundered them to the most astonishing amount; a plunder which the Court of Versailles, as if double insanity ruled the hour, actually retaliated by dishonouring the Intendant's bills, thus ruining the holders of the bills to the sum of half a million sterl

ing, and also destroying the paper currency to the amount of four millions sterling, of which four per cent. alone was ever recovered.

In 1775, a new era commenced. The American war broke out, in which the Canadas were suddenly involved. At the close of its first year, Montgomery, with a large body of the insurgents, invaded Lower Canada. The small towns, wholly unprotected and unprovided with means of defence, speedily fell into his hands, and Montreal was captured, with the chief stores and provisions of the province. A second division moved against Quebec, under Arnold. On the 8th of November he had reached Point Levi, opposite the town. If he had been enabled to cross the river in the first surprise, he must have overpowered the few troops there, and been master of Canada! But the British had, in the person of General Carleton the governor, one of those true military geniuses who are made to strike brilliant strokes in war. Carleton, while struggling with the American forces near Montreal, was informed of the extreme peril of Quebec. He knew that it was defenceless, and that the probability was that it would fall before his arrival. But he adopted the bold decision to save it if possible. He followed up the decision with masterly skill; deceived Montgomery by a movement to the rear; evaded Arnold's army, which had now passed the river; and, to the utter astonishment of the enemy and the joy of Quebec, entered the city without the loss of a man.

This exploit, and its consequences, deserve to be dwelt on as among the instances where gallantry compensates for want of force, and where the mightiest interests often turn upon the talent of the individual. With all Carleton's exertions, the state of the city seemed all but hopeless. He had but 350 regular troops, which, with 450 seamen, and volunteers from the people, made up but 1800 men. Arnold and Montgomery then joined their forces, and as capture by surprise was hopeless, commenced the siege. But the means of besieging were few among the native armies, and the siege was soon turned into a blockade. An American blockade in the month of December was too trying to the human frame to be patiently borne by men exposed to the terrible severity of the winter, and Montgomery, a daring soldier, determined to put an end to the enterprise at once, by either defeat or victory. On the morning of the 31st of December he advanced in silence, at the head of a column, to attempt the citadel by assault. Darkness and a heavy snow-storm concealed his approach. He reached the passage leading to the gate of the fortress unobserved. But there he was challenged by a sentinel, the alarm was instantly spread through the garrison. They crowded to the scene of conflict, and a tremendous fire was opened from the heavy guns, which completely commanded

passage, where the Americans stood thick and

crowding, without being able either to advance retreat. The groans and cries of those unfortunate me told how heavily they suffered. At length the groan sunk, the cannon and musquetry ceased to fire, and th garrison waited under arms for the dawn to show the with what enemy they had been contending in the darkness of this dreadful night, and what other enemy they had still to encounter. At the tardy day-break. the Canadian Christmas, they could see nothing bu an expanse of snow; the storm had continued to fa during the night, and the dead were covered by the one vast winding sheet. On removing the snow, fallen Americans were found, and among them Mon gomery, who had died sword in hand. This faile finished the siege. The Americans withdrew to some distance, kept up the semblance of a blockade, and finally, in May, withdrew.

The Americans for two years made repeated attacks on Canada; they almost universally returned with dis grace. A frontier of 1300 miles long could not be pretected by the handful of British troops in the Canadas amounting to scarcely 4000 men, nor by the Canadia: militia, scattered among the little towns of a wilderness. extending as far as from Paris to Moscow, and as unpeopled as a Russian desert. The Americans, of course, took some of the defenceless towns, but all their inve sions finally concluded in defeat, and in a glad escape across the St. Lawrence. It was the misfortune of the Canadas that at this period they were put into the hands of General Sir George Prevost, an officer whe seemed to think that no battle should be fought where there was a chance of opposition, and that to carry his troops safe off the field was the chief business of a general. Sir George Prevost's last display, where, at the head of eleven thousand men,―troops trained under Wellington, and accustomed to see the veterans of France fly before them, he retreated from the front of an American post, garrisoned by but fifteen hundred regulars, settled the public opinion upon the subject. Sir George was shortly after ordered to return home, but before the affairs of his governorship could be brought before the public he died. The naval war in its commencement was unlucky on the part of England. By the most singular oversight no preparation was made by the British naval authorities to blockade the American harbours on the breaking out of hostilities. In consequence, their cruisers escaped to make havo amongst the British merchantmen. Several of the British frigates were taken, but the wonder was at an end when the inequality of force was known, the Americans habitually rating their vessels below the truth. Thus, the nominal thirty gun frigate generally carried ten or a dozen guns above the number, while the forty-eight gun frigate, in size, strength, and guns, was little less than a British sixty-four. But when this most disingenuous contrivance was discovered,

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the natural remedy was applied.

were sent from the British ports, the American cruisers were chased into their harbours, and the action of the Shannon and Chesapeake, in which the former captured her antagonist in eleven minutes, and captured her by boarding, settled the question of the true superiority.

of wind to the southward, the weather is overcast, the atmosphere becomes damp, fog and snow follow, and the thermometer rises. Yet such is the elasticity of man, that this season, which would seem to put an end to all human occupation, and even to be fatal to human life, is the grand holiday of Canada. Every man prepares his sleigh or cariole; all business is at an end, and amusement, or rather amusements of every kind, become the great business of life. Friends who have not seen each other for the half-year before, now renew their intercourse. Balls and dinners follow in rapid succession. Pic-nic parties are given in all directions. The snow-storm may block them up, but it renews the face of the country with a fresh covering, and those sons and daughters of gaiety fly at full speed over an unobstructed landscape, with a delight actually enhanced by the severity of the season. But travelling over the rivers and lakes is sometimes hazardous. Even in the severest frost, there are weak places to be occasionally found in the ice, which the moment they are touched by the sleigh give way, and carry down the horse, the vehicle, and all that it contains. In general, however, those weak places are of small size, and if a moment is allowed, the driver jumps on the strong ice, seizes the rope, which, in

Heavier frigates the north. As a whole, it is cold, but the sky is clear, the sun bright even in winter, and the air healthy. In the north of Lower Canada, snow begins in November, but seldom continues long on the ground till December, when the actual winter begins, and the snow, several feet deep, remains on the ground nearly till In touching on this great subject, some slight no- May. The degree of frost, during this period is starttice of the soil and climate may naturally be expected. ling to our European ears. Its usual range for the So far as it is ascertained, the geological structure four months from December, is from 25 to 32 below of Upper Canada exhibits a granite country, accom- zero, or 64 below the freezing point. Twenty is the panied with calcareous rocks of a soft texture, and in average. In 1790, Mercury froze at Quebec. The horizontal strata. That the whole country has been lime-stone rocks are often split by the frost. During subjected to violent physical convulsions, it is evident the peculiarly cold nights, the forests groan and crack from the singular contortions of the rivers, and the with the expansion of their vessels, as if they were immense chasms found in the mountains, from the in-cutting down by innumerable axes. But on a change dications of volcanic eruptions, and the vast masses of rocks on the surface having the appearance of vitrification. Earthquakes are rare, but have been terrible. An earthquake, in 1663, convulsed Quebec and the surrounding country to an extent of 600 miles by 300. Thus an extent of 180,000 square miles, or about three times the size of Great Britain was heaved up at once; such are the measureless powers of nature. The quantity of good soil in Canada is proportionate to that of any other country of the globe, and it is remarkable, that the best lands are those on which the hardest pieces of timber are found, such as the oak and maple, &c. The soil in some places is singularly fertile. Fifty bushels of wheat an acre are a frequent produce. In some instances even a hundred bushels have been produced. The country to the west of Lake Superior, which has been called the fag end of the world, has been yet nearly untried. It is supposed to be dreary and wild, an alternation of swamp and sand, the winter excessive; strong whiskey is frozen to the consistence of honey. But the summers, like those of all northern regions are often intensely hot. When man is once settled there, the wilderness itself will undergo a change, the swamps will be drained, the sands covered with corn. With these changes the climate itself will be changed. With contemplation of such accidents, is round every horse's iron, coals, and man, all things may be accomplished in any country of the globe. The soil of Upper Canada is chiefly composed of brown clay and loam, in-casions, is to begin by strangling the horse. As soon termixed with marl; iron, copper, and coal, are to be found, with all the other common minerals of Europe. It is conceived that the entire of Upper Canada has, subsequently to the deluge, been one great lake, in which the mountains were islands. The waters of the lakes themselves have been evidently subsiding within human memory, and though there seems to be a provision, as has been already remarked, for their perpetual existence, yet there seems to be also a provision for the future increase of the population, in the increase of dry land. The climate of the Canadas, of course, varies as the country ranges from the south to

neck, and drags him from the water. It is a curious fact, that the established way of escape on those oc

as the noose is drawn tight and his windpipe thus stopped, the horse becomes motionless, floats on his side, and is easily dragged to the solid ice, where, on the noose being opened, respiration soon returns, and the horse in a few minutes is galloping away as spiritedly as ever, while if he had been suffered to struggle, he would only have exhausted himself and finally sunk. This accident and this recovery has been known to occur so much as three times a day to the same horse. But travelling on the frozen lakes is more dangerous still, from vast rifts which run from side to side, from one to six feet broad. The drivers,

ing, and also destroying the paper currency to the crowding, without being able either to advance retreat. The groans and cries of those unfortunate told how heavily they suffered. At length the gr In 1775, a new era commenced. The American war sunk, the cannon and musquetry ceased to fire, and broke out, in which the Canadas were suddenly in- garrison waited under arms for the dawn to show the volved. At the close of its first year, Montgomery, with what enemy they had been contending in with a large body of the insurgents, invaded Lower darkness of this dreadful night, and what other ener Canada. The small towns, wholly unprotected and they had still to encounter. At the tardy day-break unprovided with means of defence, speedily fell into the Canadian Christmas, they could see nothing his hands, and Montreal was captured, with the chief an expanse of snow; the storm had continued to f stores and provisions of the province. A second divi- during the night, and the dead were covered by t sion moved against Quebec, under Arnold. On the 8th one vast winding sheet. On removing the snow, of November he had reached Point Levi, opposite the fallen Americans were found, and among them Me town. If he had been enabled to cross the river in the gomery, who had died sword in hand. first surprise, he must have overpowered the few troops finished the siege. The Americans withdrew to s there, and been master of Canada! But the British distance, kept up the semblance of a blockade,= had, in the person of General Carleton the governor, finally, in May, withdrew. one of those true military geniuses who are made to The Americans for two years made repeated attach strike brilliant strokes in war. Carleton, while on Canada; they almost universally returned with struggling with the American forces near Montreal, grace. A frontier of 1300 miles long could not be p was informed of the extreme peril of Quebec. He knew tected by the handful of British troops in the Canadis that it was defenceless, and that the probability was amounting to scarcely 4000 men, nor by the Canadi that it would fall before his arrival. But he adopted militia, scattered among the little towns of a wilderness the bold decision to save it if possible. He followed up the decision with masterly skill; deceived Montgomery by a movement to the rear; evaded Arnold's army, which had now passed the river; and, to the utter astonishment of the enemy and the joy of Quebec, entered the city without the loss of a man.

extending as far as from Paris to Moscow, and as peopled as a Russian desert. The Americans, of cours took some of the defenceless towns, but all their in sions finally concluded in defeat, and in a glad escap across the St. Lawrence. It was the misfortune of the Canadas that at this period they were put into the This exploit, and its consequences, deserve to be hands of General Sir George Prevost, an officer whe dwelt on as among the instances where gallantry com- seemed to think that no battle should be fought when pensates for want of force, and where the mightiest there was a chance of opposition, and that to carry his interests often turn upon the talent of the individual. troops safe off the field was the chief business of With all Carleton's exertions, the state of the city general. Sir George Prevost's last display, where, a seemed all but hopeless. He had but 350 regular the head of eleven thousand men,-troops trained under troops, which, with 450 seamen, and volunteers from Wellington, and accustomed to see the veterans of the people, made up but 1800 men. Arnold and France fly before them, he retreated from the front of Montgomery then joined their forces, and as capture an American post, garrisoned by but fifteen hundred by surprise was hopeless, commenced the siege. But regulars, settled the public opinion upon the subject. means of besieging were few among the native Sir George was shortly after ordered to return home, but and the siege was soon turned into a blockade. before the affairs of his governorship could be brought eness blockade in the month of December was before the public he died. The naval war in its comkuman frame to be patiently borne by mencement was unlucky on the part of England. By rrible severity of the the most singular oversight no preparation was made Adier, determi by the British naval authorities to blockade the Ameri y either de an harbours on the breaking out of hostilities. In Decembe equence, their cruisers escaped to make havo + the British merchantmen. Several of the tes were taken, but the wonder was at an incanalit was known, the

nect