on Lake Ontario, which was viewed by Beauharnois with much jealousy, and caused him to make frequent representations home, urging upon his Government the necessity of their employing effective means to restrict the British colonists within the line of demarcation then claimed by the Canadians as their lawful boundary; upon which a clause for establishing a correct line between the English and French territories in America was inserted in the Treaty of Peace, concluded at Aixla-Chapelle in 1748; and the French, anticipating the confirmation of such a line as would confine the English within the limit of their actual settlement, sent out, at the suggestion of Count de Gallisonniere (who had been appointed to succeed Count de Beauharnois), 10,000 settlers, which powerful accession to their population added not a little to their pride and pretension. The principal event, in the domestic economy of the colony, during the administration of Frontenac, was the check given, by a royal edict, to the acquisition of lands by the Jesuits, by which their future acquisitions were to be held in mortmain. Gallisonniere had given great proofs of his capability as a Governor, and had succeeded in organizing a new colony, composed of Acadians and Canadians, when he was relieved by Monsieur de Jonquiere, a person every way inferior to his predecessor in talent and integrity, who disgraced his government by acts of corruption unworthy a public functionary, and closed his career at Quebec 17th May, 1752, unregretted by every class of his countrymen. His successor in the government was the Marquis du Quesne, whose first act was to strengthen the French territory on the Ohio, by building a fort, which he named after himself, the alleged object being to keep the English within the Allegany Mountains, which led the English to a similar precaution, by erecting a fort (which they called Necessity) in the immediate vicinity of their jealous neighbours, to prevent them from attempting future incursions on their trading-grounds, and seducing the Indians from the friendly intercourse which then subsisted between them and the British traders; but a serious quarrel having unfortunately occurred between the two garrisons, which led to the death of one of the French officers, the French commandant eagerly availed himself of the opportunity for breaking this neutrality, and, having a superior force, attacked Fort Necessity, and obliged the British to capitulate. After this event news arrived of a general war in Europe, and also that Du Quesne had been superseded in the government of Canada by the Marquis de Vaudreuil de Cavagnal, who shortly arrived and assumed the government in July, 1755. An opportunity was very early afforded Vaudreuil to signalize himself in opposing the invasion of General Braddock, who had entered Canada with a small force by a pass of the Allegany Mountains; this party Vaudreuil repulsed with great loss, killing General Braddock, and forcing his troops to retreat in great confusion: they fortunately, however, fell back on a large reinforcement, and, being reorganized by General Johnson, repaired their previous reverse of fortune, by gallantly withstanding an attack of a very large force, near Lake George, under the command of General Baron Deiskau, when, after a severe contest, the French retired to Crown Point, leaving their general, who had been severely wounded, and many prisoners, in the hands of the British, for which brilliant success General Johnson was raised to the dignity of a Baronet. The following year General Montcalm, whose valour has been recorded as well in defeat as in triumph, arrived in Canada with a powerful reinforcement, and commenced his campaign with a series of successes, which raised him, as a soldier, high in the estimation of the Canadians; but a lamentable circumstance took place after his capture of Fort George, which must leave a stain on his military reputation for conducting honourable warfare that can never be obliterated, viz. the massacre of two thousand British troops, by his Indians, after they had been made prisoners; which barbarous act may be said to have resulted in the ultimate loss of Canada to the French, as both the English colonists and British ministry had become so determined to retaliate for such wanton and unprecedented barbarity, that the energies of Lord Chatham, the British minister, were successful in stimulating the Government to send out an armament that should destroy the dominion of France in America. An expedition was, therefore, sent against Quebec, in 1759, under the command of General Wolfe and Admiral Saunders, which was to be combined with a movement of the British colonists on the frontier. Wolfe's first attack upon the French, at Montmorenci, was unsuccessful; but having, through the coolness and intrepidity of his soldiers under cover of the night, made good his landing in that part of the harbour called Wolfe's Cave, and gained the ascent of the heights, he met his antagonists on the plains of Abraham, where, after a severe conflict, in which the conquering and conquered had each to deplore the loss of their brave and intrepid commanders, British valour proved triumphant, and before the pulse of Britain's expiring hero had ceased to throb, victory added another gem to the British Crown. The entire conquest of Canada was not effected till the 8th of September, 1760, on which day Montreal was ceded by capitulation to General Amherst, who the previous year had reduced the Forts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point on Lake Champlain; and Sir William Johnson having the same year taken Fort Niagara, the entire subjugation of Canada was accomplished. The desire of acquiring territory by any government must be supposed to arise from at least two motives,-the extension of their trade, and the providing an asylum, by emigration, for their surplus population; and, if we may judge from the proclamation issued immediately after the cession of the colony, dated the 7th of October, 1763, which invited British settlers, under the promised protection of British laws, to locate themselves in this newly-acquired country, and the ordinance promulgated the following year, directing that the laws and practice. of the English courts should be administered in the newly-established courts of civil and criminal jurisprudence in the province, we may fairly conclude that such was the object of Great Britain in conquering Canada; and, had those salutary measures been adhered to with that firmness which might have been expected from a powerful government, however unpalatable it might have been to the Canadians, whose leaders would naturally perceive in such a change the decline of their influence, this end would have been peaceably secured; but a wavering, weak, and timid policy led the Government, in their attempt to correct an error, to commit a blunder, for having, by an impolitic measure, excited the New England colonies to rebellion, they thought (by that erroneous system of conciliation which, it is to be regretted, has too frequently characterized the measures of later administrations) to create a spirit of loyalty in their new subjects, by restoring to them their laws and customs as they existed at the conquest; which act of suicide on the hopes of the British settlers and of British ascendancy was committed in the year 1774 by the Quebec Act, or 14 Geo. III. c. 83, now justly considered as the primary cause of all those difficulties which have agitated the country, impeded its progress, and brought it into its present critical situation. The long and tedious contest between Great Britain and the old colonies having resulted in the separation of the now United States froin under her dominion, a great number of loyalists, warmly attached to the mother-country, and anxious to remain under its valuable institutions, retired to Canada, and settled, in the year 1784, in the upper part of the province (Canada being then combined in one province, called the "Province of Quebec"), which having in a very few years, by means of emigration and the active enterprise and industry of British, and British descendants, so increased, as to require legislative provisions suitable to their peculiar situation (in a colony essentially French, though bearing the privileged title of "British subjects"), and to the promotion and growth of British principles in the country to which their loyalty had brought them, a representation was made to the British Parlia ment (in which many Canadians then joined) for a representative constitution, with such a modification of the laws, both French and English, as, through the wisdom of Parliament might be adapted, with justice, to the interests of the mixed population of which the newly-acquired territory was composed. Had the terms of this petition even been complied with, British influence would have increased in a much greater ratio than it did under the subsequent expedient of divid ing the province into Upper and Lower Canada, which took place by the Act 31 Geo. III. c. 31, giving to each province a legislature composed of three branches, as a type and transcript of the British Constitution; for, whilst the upper province continues to increase and prosper rapidly under those privileges which its inhabitants duly appreciated and turned to good account, the lower province, totally unfitted by ignorance and prejudice for the boon unfortunately bestowed upon it, employed the advantages which the Constitution accorded to it was intended to confer (by giving them power to legislate and provide such Acts as would improve the condition of the country, and advance its prosperity to an extent that should render it worthy the name of a "British Province," the acquirement of which had cost so much British blood and treasure) in passing Acts inimical to trade and emigration, and characterised by a jealousy and hatred of everything British, or that could lead to the increase of British influence, and frequently bursting out into acts of the most unbridled opposition,-nay, insult to the instructions conveyed to them by the representative of their Sovereign. Thus did Lower Canada pursue a system of useless legislation, opposition to the Government, and annoyance and persecution to the minority of their fellow-subjects of British origin developed in every session of the provincial legislature, from its first assemblage-the 17th December, 1792, under Governor Clarke, till its dissolution in 1837, by the Earl of Gosford. The decided French character which Lower Canada still exhibits, from the style of its buildings, the dress and language of the "habitans," and the peculiar construction of their vehicles, would lead a stranger, on arriving at Quebec, to suppose he had been landed in a province of France. The costume of the Canadians is, indeed, somewhat fanciful; it is composed of an entire suit of grey cloth manufactured by themselves, called étoffe du pays, with a capote tied round the waist by a ceinture, or party-coloured sash, wearing on their head a bonnet -bleu, or rouge-and on their feet the mocasin; those for common use are made by themselves from beef-skin, called souliers de bœuf, and, being saturated with oil, are entirely impervious to wet, whilst those for extraordinary occasions are made of deer-skin by the Indians, and fancifully worked. The paysannes, or habitans women, wear a figured cotton jacket, or mantelet, with a blue-striped worsted petticoat, a straw hat, and mocasins, as used by the men. They bear the appearance of a contented, happy, and, hitherto, loyal people, though their loyalty never was of much value, or to be relied on, for their extreme ignorance occasioned them to be easily led to good or evil, according as either of those qualities predominate in those under whose more immediate influence the circumstances of the moment may place them. The Canadians have some very useful qualities; they are very skilful drivers, and expert batteau and canoe men, and, for the latter qualifications, added to their being peculiarly hardy, and cheerful under privations and difficulties, they have been selected as voyageurs to the NorthWest and Hudson Bay Companies: in passing through the rapids they generally cheer themselves and enliven those whom they are conducting with a French ditty, or Canadian boat-song. Notwithstanding the opposition which the factious legislature has always offered to improvements, some symptoms of a British colony are exhibited at Quebec by the few public edifices and private English residences that have been reared since the conquest; amongst the most conspicuous of which are the New Court-House and gaol. The Protestant cathedral is a neat and unostentatious edifice, with a light and lofty spire, which, like the roof, and in accordance with the general usage on all public and private buildings, is covered with tin, that, on a bright day, gives a brilliant appearance to the city. The château of St. Louis, the former residence of the Governors, situated near the edge of the precipice on Cape Diamond, is a very extensive building, and in 1808 was repaired and beautified at a very great expense, by the province, to render it a suitable habitation for the royal representative, but was, during the period of Lord Aylmer's administration, accidentally destroyed by fire, and the turbulent state of the provincial legislature has prevented their passing an Act for building or replacing it. The passage up the River St. Lawrence, prior to the year 1816, was both tedious and inconvenient, but since that time has (through the enterprise of the late respected Mr. John Molson, an Englishman of capital and industry, and one of the oldest of the British settlers,) bcen so supplied with steam-boats, as to cause the passage now to be as expeditiously accomplished as a similar distance can be in any part of the world. PETER PIVOT'S LETTERS FROM NEW BRUNSWICK TO HIS FRIENDS AT THE DEPOT. You ask me for some account of the Indians of this province; and I know you to be too well informed upon the subject, generally, to expect in the description any portion of that romance which formerly belonged to every sketch of Indian character. They are of the Milicite tribe, which has never, I believe, been remarkable for any of those warlike qualities and that lofty spirit which formerly distinguished the "Five Nations," and other powerful tribes in North America. They are, however, a very superior race to the Micmacs, who inhabit Nova Scotia, and the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence: they are expert fishermen and hunters, and, with common industry and foresight, might still obtain a comfortable livelihood-according to their own rude notions of comfort-from the woods and rivers of the country; but they are to the last degree improvident, and, like their northern brethren the Esquimaux, it is pretty frequently either a feast or a famine with them. Nature, or, what has been aptly termed second nature, "habit," has fortunately endowed the Indian with astonishing powers of endurance both of hunger and fatigue: accompanied only by his dog, he penetrates fearlessly into the deepest recesses of the forest, traversing the wilderness to his selected hunting-ground, with surprising speed and unerring skill: if he fall in with game, he feasts; if not, he simply tightens his broad leathern girdle, as often as the vacuum caused by fasting may permit, and, thus stifling the pangs of hunger, he pursues his way, at a long jog-trot, until he reaches the objects of his search, or sinks down reduced to the necessity of staying the immediate demands of nature by such wild berries or herbs as he can always resort to in extremity. Such is the hard and lonely life of the native hunter, but it is a life which, with all its privations, he prefers to every other; and it would seem less difficult to tame the tiger or hyena than to persuade him to renounce it, and submit, upon any terms, to the usages and occupations of civilized society: yet it must be said, in his defence, that the encouragement held out to him to attempt to gain his bread by agriculture has not hitherto been very great, and the gains of a successful winter in the woods are often sufficiently large to justify his predilection for the chase-for, if the wild animals are now less numerous than formerly, the value of their skins and furs is proportionably increased. The first opportunity I enjoyed of seeing an Indian assemblage was on the first day of the year, when all within reach are in the habit of presenting themselves at the Government House at Fredericton, to receive the annual presents, which are still provided for them at this season. The deputation, on the occasion alluded to, consisted of about one hundred men and women, decked out in their best and gayest attire; and they were received with great ceremony by his Excellency and family, surrounded by the principal inhabitants of the place. The party marched into the drawing-room, in single, or, as we should say, in "Indian files," the men by one door, led by old Thoma, their chief, and the women by another, headed by their lady governess." There is even yet about the Indian, fallen as he is from his ancient character, an air of dignity that seems to be inherent in him: his move |