pay a Frenchman for English goods; the piano at the evening party of Mrs. What's-her-name, makes Dutch concert with the music of Madame Chose's soirée, in the next house. Sad to say, the two races do not blend: they are like oil and water; the English the oil, being the richer, and at the top. The upper classes sometimes intermarry with those of different origin; the lower very rarely.

The greater energy of the Anglo-Saxon race tells in everything. They are gradually getting possession of the largest shops in the town, and the best farms in the country; nearly all the trade is in their hands; their numbers, assisted by immigration, increase more rapidly. The distinguishing characteristic of the Englishman is discontent; of the French, content; the former always struggling to gain the class above him, the latter often subsiding into that below. The time is not very remote when, by the constant action of these laws, the masses of the weaker family will be but the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the stronger.

These French Canadians have many virtues besides their fatal one of content; they are honest, sober, hardy, kind to each other, courteous in their manners, and religious to superstition. They served with loyalty and valor in the last American war; the most brilliant achievement of the time was by a body of their militia at Chateaugay, numbering only three hundred men, under the gallant de Salaberry. General Hampton, with nearly twenty times their force, and a strong artillery, attacked them soon after he crossed the frontier, in his invasion of Lower Canada. He was repeatedly, and finally repulsed; the defensive position was so well chosen and handled, that the assailants became confused in the woods, and fired upon each other. In the end, leaving a good many prisoners in the hands of the victors as memorials of their visit, they hastily evacuated the country.

Efforts are now being made to extend education in Lower Canada; but there is great objection to it among the habitans, and indifference on the subject among their superiors. The people are wonderfully simple and credulous. A few years ago, at a country town, an exhibition of the identical serpent which

tempted Eve, raised no small contribution towards building a church, thus rather turning the tables on the mischievous reptile. Many of their expressions savor strongly of the national maritime pursuits of their ancestors, the early settlers; such as "embarquer" used as "to get into a conveyance ;" "baliser ” a road, is to mark its direction through the snow with the tops of fir trees; while the pronunciation even of the educated is peculiar, as, for example, "bon swere for "bon soir." A party of Canadian ladies were the other day admiring a painting in one of the churches; a traveller from the United States, who was going about sight-seeing, was looking at it at the same time, and intruded himself somewhat abruptly on their conversation: after a few preliminary remarks, he observed, "That the Canadians do not speak the pure language like the French." "Alas, no," retorted one of the ladies, "we speak it much as the Americans do English."

Since Canada became a portion of the English empire, many of the laws relating to property have been found harassing and unsuitable, and have been changed by the representatives of the people. The action of those on bankruptcy is different from that in England: by settlements on another person, the property is secured from the effects of a failure; and this sometimes falls very injuriously and unjustly on the creditor. When a merchant starts in business he can settle ten thousand pounds on his wife, though at the time he may not possess half the money; a year after, he fails, when his debts and credits may be very large. The settlement on his wife stands as the first claim, which probably the creditor can meet, but no assets remain for the real debts; -so that the advantages of the failure are like Sir Boyle Roche's reciprocity-all on one side. In spite of the occasional occurrence of instances of this sort, the mercantile community of Quebec, as a body, hold a deservedly high position.

There was a great panic a few years ago, when the alteration in the duties on Baltic timber took place, but time has shown that the trade of the St. Lawrence, in that most important branch, is not in the least injured by it; indeed, on the contrary, that it has since largely increased: as fast as the trees can be cut down and shipped, our wonderful little island buys them all up. They

now send us large quantities of flour and corn, and will soon be able to send us more, as the free-trade to England gives them the encouragement of very high prices; a relaxation by our corn laws would, of course, deprive them of their trade as they at present enjoy it-in monopoly.

The article they are most in want of in Canada, at present, is man—even the pauper; when they get that raw material, they soon manufacture it into "comfortable goods." As our production of this commodity is so rapidly increasing, we should take pains to supply their markets better. Poor wanderers! we should not speak lightly of their mournful lot—they find the struggle for their coarse food too fierce at home: farewell friends

farewell the land they still love, though it only gave them the cruel gift of life! Trust me, the emigrant ship and the Canadian forest are not beds of roses. But there, with patient industry, they can always, in the end, work out prosperity.

The citadel is the object of greatest interest in Quebec. The approach is up a steep hill forming the glacis. Threatened by guns in all directions, you must pass by a winding road through a detached fortification, and arrive at the gate into the body of the place. The front is a high revêtement of cut stone, with several embrasures for cannon, and numerous loopholes for mus ketry from the bomb-proof barracks within. There are certain ineffectual forms of jealousy as to admission, kept up; my companion's uniform procured us immediate entrance. To the unprofessional eye this place appears impregnable, and is, no doubt, of great strength, in spite of one or two weak points, which the captain pointed out to me in confidence. It may, however, be considered perfectly safe from any besieging force likely to be brought against it from the American continent, for many years

to come.

On the last day of the year 1775, the American general Montgomery was slain, and most of his followers shared his fate or were taken, in an attack on this stronghold: it was defended by General Carlton, the loyal inhabitants, and the crews of some English merchant ships; with about one hundred regular troops and invalids.

In the year 1838, Theller, Dodge, and three other state prison. ᏢᎪᎡᎢ 1.

ers, from the Canadian rebellion, made their escape in a snowy night from this citadel, while in charge of a battalion of the guards; to the infinite chagrin of the officers, the two first got clear away from the town, the others were retaken, one with his leg broken by a fall from the walls.

A short time after this day's expedition, I was highly pleased at finding on my table an invitation to a military ball, which was to take place at the barracks; this offered the wished-for opportunity of judging if the living beauties of Quebec were as worthy of admiration as the inanimate. From those I had already seen walking about, I was inclined to decide very favorably; but there is no such place for forming an opinion on these matters as a ball-room.

Having discovered that ten o'clock was the proper hour to go, I presented myself punctually at that time at the door of the barracks, and, with a crowd of other guests, walked up stairs. The rooms were ornamented with flags and stars of swords, bayonets and ramrods, arranged about the walls in a very martial manner; but the passages had an air of rural simplicity, carpeted with green baize and overhung with boughs of trees: little side rooms were turned into bowers, sofas supplying the places of rustic seats, and wax lights of sunshine. Though the passages did not appear to lead anywhere in particular, they seemed to be very much frequented by some of the couples, after the dances, and the bowers were never unoccupied.

At one end of the ball-room was the regimental band, whence the lungs of some dozen or so of strong-built soldiers, assisted by the noisiest possible musical contrivances, thundered forth the quadrilles and waltzes. It was a very gay sight: about eighty dancers were going through a quadrille as I entered the room; the greater number of the gentlemen were in their handsome uniforms of red, blue, and green; good looking, with the light hair, fresh complexion, and free and honest bearing of Englishmen; some were mere boys, having just joined from school, with very new coats and very stiff collars and manners. Then there were the Canadian gentlemen, with their white neckcloths and black clothes, generally smaller and darker than their Eng lish fellow-subjects, and much more at home in the dance.

On a range of sofas at one end of the room sat the mammas and chaperons, attended by the elderly gentlemen; here also were the young ladies who were not dancing, but they were very few. I obtained a place in this group of lookers on, and found myself seated next an elderly young lady of rather an angular cast of mind and body; as she did not dance much, she had ample opportunity to give me the names and "historiettes" of the company. She was one of those whose tastes had taken a literary turn, and she had read nearly all Byron's poems, with Shakspeare from beginning to end. On the strength of this, she lamented to me the intellectual inferiority of many of her fair fellow-citizens; telling me in confidence that they did not read much, that, before their education was finished, they began receiving visitors and going into society. She wondered how sensible men could find pleasure in the conversation of silly girls, who talk of nothing but their amusements. Ill natured thing! As she spoke, a quadrille broke up, and the dancers passed us by, two and two, on their way to the favorite passage and the bowers. The gentlemen seemed to find great pleasure in the conversation, whatever it was about; and no wonder, with such rich bright black eyes to help it out.

The young ladies were nearly all clad in white muslin, very simply, but very tastefully; I do not think I ever before saw so many so becomingly dressed, in proportion to their number; the fashions were much the same as in England, perhaps a little older in date.

They were generally very attractive, but it would have been difficult to single out any one with much higher claims to beauty than her companions. Most of them had dark eyes and hair, and complexions tinted with the burning summer sun; their figures were light and graceful, their manners peculiarly winning. There is one thing in which the Canadian ladies certainly excel, that is, dancing; I never saw one dance badly, and some of them are the best waltzers and polkistes I have ever seen in a ball-room.

I see my friend the Captain coming; on his right arm rests a little white glove with a little hand in it; and a pair of large, merry blue eyes, shaded by long, fair ringlets, are looking up