are not only narrow, but the footpaths are interrupted by slanting cellar-doors, and other projections. St. Paul's, the principal street for shops and trade, is the longest, widest, and best in the lower town. Parallel with it, dividing the old town from the more modern, extends Rue de Notre Dame. Small narrow streets cross between both. At the upper part of a kind of square, in which the principal market stands, there is a monument to the memory of Lord Nelson. It is a Doric column, on a square pedestal, and surmounted by a colossal statue of the admiral. On the pedestal are figures and representations in basso rilievo, emblematical of the principal actions of our great naval hero. The new or upper part of Montreal contains many handsome fashionable-looking houses, built of fine light bluish stone, and some of the neighbouring villas are commodious residences. The Champ de Mars is a pretty, but not very fashionable, esplanade, planted round with Lombardy poplars: the houses on its west side are handsome genteel buildings. Here the troops are reviewed, and here the military bands usually perform in the evenings, during summer and autumn. To the north-east extends the Quebec suburb; to the north the suburbs St. Lawrence, St. Peter, and St. Louis; to the west those of St. Antoine, Recollet, and Ste. Anne. Many of the houses in each are built of wood, but within the space once encompassed by the walls there are no wooden buildings; and this city and Quebec* have more truly the aspect of old European towns than any other in America. * The old streets very much resemble those in some parts of Amiens, and other towns in Picardy. The older parts of the city of Boston may lay some claim to apparent antiquity; but, with this exception, all the towns in the United States, with their wide rectangular streets, and large airy houses, lighted with a multitude of windows, present an appearance which at once unfolds the tale of their late birth and recent growth, as well as the taste and ideas of the spirits that have brought them into existence. Many of the public buildings are more imposing in their appearance than those of Quebec. Among these the new Catholic cathedral, although the most modern, demands the first attention. It is unquestionably the largest temple in America: although the cathedral at Mexico may perhaps surpass it in rich embellishment. It was even said that none in France, unless it be those of Notre Dame, Amiens, and Rouen, and those only, would surpass it, when finished, in their interior grandeur. * The old church, which nearly interrupted the middle of Notre Dame Street, was levelled, in order to extend the site of the new edifice. Its foundation stone was laid in September, 1824, and it was opened for the celebration of high mass in the autumn of 1829. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Its length is 255 feet, breadth 234, and the height of the walls 112 feet. The style of architecture is taken from the Gothic of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It has two massive high towers, and four apparent towers. It has one superior altar, and six of less grandeur. It has five public, and three private entrances; and from 10,000 to 12,000 people, which it will accommodate, may disperse in five or six minutes. The eastern window behind the altar is thirtythree feet broad, and seventy high; the other windows are ten feet by thirty-six feet. From 7000 to 8000 persons frequently congregate within this edifice. It will, when finished, probably cost about 100,000l. * This is too much to expect in the present age; and particularly in Canada, where labour is dear: the sculptured embellishments of those cathedrals, and their rich Gothic ornamental work, would cost sums too great to be afforded in America. Besides the cathedral, there are several Catholic churches; one of these, of plain modern appearance, but of large size, was built in the suburbs, on the appointment of a bishop, in 1823. The bells of the Catholic churches are always ringing, and, outraging all pretence to harmony, are consequently a most disagreeable annoyance to musical ears. The whole island of Montreal is comprised in one seigniory, and belongs to the clergy of the seminary of St. Sulpice. In exacting the lods et ventes due on the mutation of land, they are very liberal, and usually commute for these fines. The island is divided into nine beautiful parishes, and into 1374 concessions, forming 25 ranges or côtes. The seminary retains also a small domain for its special use. The principal English church is a handsome capacious edifice: its style partakes of the plain Grecian taste, and it is surmounted by a high and remarkably beautiful spire. The interior, in which there is an excellent organ, displays arrangements in which elegance and good order have been studied. The Scotch kirk is a mean building, standing close to the Champ de Mars. The methodists have a very handsome chapel: there is also a church built by American Protestants, and a Scotch dissenting chapel. The court-house and prison are substantial, respectable-looking buildings, separated from, but close to, each other; standing in a range between Notre Dame Street, and the Champ de Mars, and occupying the site where once stood the college of the Jesuits. The government house, or the residence of the military commandant, is an old low building, somewhat respectable in appearance, but not imposing. Since the prohibition of monasteries, the old convent of the Recollets* was for some time used for barracks; and afterwards, with the church and land, sold to an individual, from whom the church was afterwards bought for the use of Irish Catholics, by the Catholic fabrique of Montreal. Three nunneries still flourish in this city; and, like the nuns of Quebec, the usefulness of their lives in ameliorating the sufferings of others, or by the elementary instruction they afford to young females, cannot be too much applauded. There are lands, and a beautiful island, near Montreal, belonging to these nunneries. In the Hôtel Dieu, which was founded in 1644 by Madame Bouillon, the mère supérieure and thirty-six nuns devote their attention to the sick poor. The convent of La Congrégation de Notre Dame, usually called the Sœurs Noires, or black sisters, from their dressing in black stuff, founded in 1650, as already noticed in the historical sketch, by Marguerite de Bourgeois, for instructing young females, has a mère supérieure and sixty nuns, whose duties are directed to the education of young girls. The convent of Sœurs Grises, or grey sisters, the * The last of this order of mendicants, in Canada, was alive at Montreal, in 1825. VOL. II. X chapel and garden of which faces St. Paul's Street, was intended by Madame Youville, a young widow, who founded it in 1752, as a general hospital (Hôpital général des Sœurs Grises) for "the infirm and invalid poor." It is at present a most benevolnet institution, in which the insane and old invalids find an asylum. The nuns also devote their attention with motherly tenderness to the care of foundlings. This excellent charity is conducted with much neatness and propriety. The seminary of St. Sulpicius at Montreal, founded, in 1650, by the Abbé Quelus, and a handsome new college, afford the Canadians not only the benefits of elementary instruction, but the advantages of a complete course of education. The college has a principal, and professors of theology, rhetoric, philosophy, mathematics, and Greek; five regents of the humanity classes, two tutors, and a French and an English teacher. This edifice stands at the west end of the city, and its size and appearance is respectable. There are usually from 200 to 300 students at this college. Their dress does not correspond with our academic ideas. Their blue frocks, with a partycoloured worsted sash round the middle, resemble the costume of the Blue Coat Scholars. Some of the best lands on the island belong to this institution. The English university of M'Gill college was founded and endowed by the will of the late honourable James M'Gill of this city, and established in 1821 by royal charter. Its management is ruled by the governor-in-chief, and the lieutenant-governors of Lower and Upper Canada, the bishop of Quebec, and the chief justices of Quebec and Montreal, for the time being, as governors; and the course of stu |