330 FRENCH AND ENGLISH LAWS. year, according to the practice in England; and all the inhabitants are eligible as candidates, without reference to their religious tenets. In consequence of the prevalence of French law, as originally introduced on the first occupation of the country by France in 1605, there is a curious intermixture of British and Gallic principles and rules in the administration of justice. As far as criminal proceedings extend, the courts are regulated by the code of England; and the various enactments are expounded, and put into practical and efficient operation, through the constitutional medium of judges, justices of the peace, juries, &c. Frequent differences have, for some time past, arisen between the Government and the House of Representatives, respecting the constitution of the Legislative Council, which is composed, as an intelligent Canadian informed me, of placemen who vote always as the executive may direct them. Some improvements, however, are in agitation for the reformation of the existing abuses, especially with regard to the appropriations of money; the administration of which is to be taken out of the grasp of the executive, and placed in the hands of the popular branch. In reference to commerce, the timber trade, or traffic in timber, is the great staple of the country. Of this, the merchants are grievously complaining at the present moment, in conse OPPRESSIVE DUTIES ON TIMBER. 331 quence of the comparative duties imposed on Canadian timber, and that exported from the northern states of Europe, not being so favourable to the colony as they have a right to expect. It does appear, I confess, to be a matter of good policy, as well as of justice, that the imposts levied on the importation into Great Britain of our colonial produce should be lighter, and more advantageous to the interests of our possessions abroad, than those exacted from the subjects of foreign nations. I understand that some beneficial alteration is, indeed, contemplated by the government at home with respect to this subject, as also to the legislative and administrative powers of the colonial parliament, which has been for some time, as I have hinted, in a state of unpleasant collision with the former regarding an extension of its privileges. This is due, I think, to the Canadians, who have ever proved themselves well affected towards the mother-country, to which they are attached by principles of affection and steady loyalty, and from the prosperous advancement of whom great national benefits are to be derived, both in a naval and commercial point of view, serving, as the colonies do, as a fine nursery for British seamen. The duties levied on colonial imports from England are very moderate, amounting to not more than two and a half per cent, and on wines and spirits the charges are but trifling. 332 CLIMATE AND FRUITS. Respecting the climate of Lower Canada, the winters are more severe than those of the Upper Province; but though the cold is extreme, the atmosphere is so dry and pure, that this season is marked by a series of gaieties and amusements beyond those prevailing during the summer, and when a greater facility of travelling is enjoyed, in consequence of the smooth and hardened state of the roads effected by the intense frost. Sledging is, at this time, carried on with great vivacity and equal rapidity. In reference to fruits and vegetables, as great a variety is produced here as in Europe, during the summer months; at which period melons, among other luxuries, ripen in great perfection in the open air. I shall now pause in my scribbling mania; for should I speculate on your sympathy too far, it may, perchance, fail me altogether; and, in that case, my laborious pot-hooks and hangers will find a melancholy refuge on the back of the fire. Therefore, as a ship is just starting for the white cliffs of Old Albion, I shall commit, at once, my well-blotted paper to the winds and waves, trusting to your usual indulgence to pardon all the deficiencies of my poor epistle, hastily penned as it has been, like all the former ones, and for which the best excuse is, that it is dictated by affection. Adieu ! LETTER XIII. Arrival at Quebec of the Royal William Steam-Boat-Embark in her for Nova Scotia--Passage down the St. LawrenceMiramichi-Dreadful Conflagration-Arrive at Halifax Windsor, Nova Scotia the College there Annapolis Condition of the Soil - Bay of Fundy - St. John's, New Boston, N. America, 20th September, 1831. MY DEAR FRIEND, I had laid down Quebec, previously to my reaching it, as the most northerly point of my tour; and had fully decided, according to a route that I had marked out, to return immediately thence to the United States, in order to revisit, once more, the springs of Ballston and Saratoga, during the height and throng of the fashionable season, and afterwards to proceed to New England, the most interesting section of the Union. This plan would have conducted me through some pleasing scenery from Montreal to 334 EXCURSION DOWN THE ST. LAWRENCE St. John's, on the river Richelieu, which runs, for some distance, nearly parallel with the St. Lawrence, and would have led me through the entire length of the picturesque Lake Champlain, with whose waters the latter river immediately communicates. But my original intention was altogether changed by a strong temptation that offered, and which I could not possibly resist, to extend my excursion as far as Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This inducement presented itself in the arrival of the Royal William steamboat at Quebec, from Montreal, on her first voyage to Halifax, the capital of the former province. I had thus afforded me the excellent opportunity of seeing the entire length of the St. Lawrence to the ocean, and also of becoming acquainted with another fine portion of his Britannic Majesty's dominions. It was the first experiment of the kind that had ever been made. The vessel destined to communicate with the two capitals was perfectly new and commodious, and the occasion was therefore by no means to be lost. Having, consequently, made the necessary arrangements, and taken leave of my kind friends in Quebec, I embarked on board the Royal William on the 24th of August; and, amid the loud acclamations of a thronging multitude that crowded the shores of the river, on this her first voyage, and the complimentary discharge of cannon, we left the |