representatives for the Assembly, except Halifax, which chooses four. The City of Halifax, which is the capital of the country, and the third town. in British America, chooses two members, and seventeen other towns elect one each. This body exercises the usual functions of a Commons House, voting taxes, passing laws, subject to the approbation of the Council and Governor, and of the Sovereign and Council at home. The Council consists of twelve members, the Chief Justice of the province being its president. The next in rank is the Bishop of Nova Scotia, and ten other members who are nominated by the Go

vernment.

The Church of England is considered as the established sect, but with how little justice will be apparent from the fact that out of a population of 170,000 it does not include in its communion more than 30,000 of the inhabitants. In 1787 Nova Scotia was erected into a Bishop's see, which includes Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island. There are 27 resident clergy, with five visiting missionaries, all connected with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. The Bishop of Nova Scotia has a salary of £2,000 a year, and the Archdeacon of £300.

The Presbyterian Churches are chiefly formed of emigrants from Scotland, and constitute the most numerous community in the country. There are ten officiating ministers within the pale of "the Kirk." The Provincial Presbyterian Synod of Nova Scotia is divided into the Presbyteries of Halifax, Pictou, and Cape Breton, and consists of 17 ministers. They receive no support from Government, but have, since 1784, derived assistance from a society in Glasgow, which having required their entire union with the Church of Scotland, has excited some discussion, as all the Presbyteries are not prepared for that measure. Their number at the last census was 37,225.

The Roman Catholics stand next in numerical importance. This community consists of some of the early inhabitants, and Highland and Irish emigrants. There are about 1400 Indians who also profess this faith, but it is said without effecting a beneficial change in their manners. They have four or five chapels, which they decorate in their own style, and they are very zealous for the ritual usages of that community. Dr. Fraser is the Vicar Apostolic, who has under his charge 18 priests, from France and Britain. It appears from a letter of his in the Annales de la Propagation de la Foi that he computes the number of Catholics in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton at 60,000. This, if accurate, is a startling increase since 1827, when, by the census, the members of that community in Nova Scotia did not exceed 21,000. The Baptist churches are the most numerous body of Protestant dissenters in the colony. This denomination commenced about forty or fifty years ago, when men of strong heads and warm hearts, but in many cases plain in manner, and utterly untaught in human lore, began to seek out in the remote and scattered settlements those that were perishing for the bread of life.

Thus commenced a flourishing community which, in 1829, could number in Nova Scotia alone 2255 church members, and who have now increased to 4549, with 24 ministers. Although independent in their

church government, they hold an annual conference, in which questionable points are amicably adjusted.

The Wesleyan Methodists form a less numerous body. They have 10 circuits, with 14 travelling preachers, and at the last census, 9408 members In the statistics of 1827 there were 2968 Lutherans, and 5077 other dissenters. We presume the former are German settlers, but whether they have ministers of their own church we do not know. Amongst the 5077 dissenters there are some Independents, but we acknowledge with deep humiliation that their actual state is to us unknown. There exists at the prosperous town of Yarmouth one Congregational church, of which Mr. Holland, sent out by the Missionary Society, was the minister. Of its present condition we know nothing. In Halifax, the capital, in 1820, Dalhousie College was founded on the model of that of Edinburgh; but the institution that takes the highest collegiate rank is that at Windsor, which enjoys all the privileges of a university, being entitled to confer degrees, and to teach the whole circle of the sciences. It is provided with a President, three or four Professors, and a Curriculum that extends over a term of five years. The Parliamentary grant for its support was withdrawn in 1833, and it now depends on a vote of the Provincial Government, and annual subscriptions amounting to about £500 a year. A very illiberal clause in its laws, requiring subscription from all students to the 39 articles, has of late been repealed. The average number of students may be stated at 20 annually. The Presbyterians have formed an academy at Pictou, where the languages, with natural and moral philosophy, are taught. It receives a grant of £400 per annum from the Provincial Government, and was attended, in 1833, by 40 youths. The Baptist churches also have a seminary, called Horton Academy, for the education of boys of that denomination, in which there are generally a few young men studying, with a view to greater efficiency in the ministry.

As so large a majority of the inhabitants of this colony are not members of the episcopal church, it cannot be a matter of surprise that there should be a strong dissenting interest in the House of Representatives, disposed on every fitting opportunity to repress the assumptions of the dominant sect. The public press re-echoes the sentiment of the public mind on this question, and the following passage from the Pictou Colonial Patriot will indicate the general state of feeling. "Let us look at the Council Board, our Lord Bishop, his relations, the relations of his relations, and the members of his church. Nova Scotia is a dissenting community. What advice is such a council likely to give? This we think the government of the province sufficiently indicates. We have a bishop and his clergy well endowed, without a single individual to inform the Crown that British munificence has thus sown the seeds of dissatisfaction in every corner of the province. We have dissenting clergy, for the sake of these beneficed men, in a state of degradation; and for the sake of our Lord Bishop and his aggrandizing and monopolizing plans, we have overy species of education beyond the pale of the church put down hr hampered. The very commissioners for managing our little schools eave been of his Lordship's nomination."

About 50,000 acres of land have been granted for the support of religion and schools. These lands were considered by the episcopal party as appropriated to the support of schools conducted upon the principles of the church; but the non-episcopal party contend that the schoollands may be applied for the purposes of general education, and bills have been brought in and passed by the Assembly and Council of the province, for the appointment of trustees to administer the school-lands upon a liberal basis. The Lieutenant-Governor, Sir C. Campbell, withheld his assent, and the whole question was referred to the Colonial Office at home. The opinion of the law officers of the Crown was taken by Lord Glenelg, who decidedly think that the exclusive claim of the episcopal party cannot be sustained. We do not doubt but that Lord John Russell will instruct the Lieutenant-Governor to pass those bills, which will for ever destroy so unrighteous a monoply.

CAPE BRETON.

Cape Breton, though forming part of the government of Nova Scotia, claims, on account of its insular character, a separate notice. It is divided from the north-east coast of Nova Scotia by St. George's Bay and the Strait Causeau. The whole island, in its greatest length,

is 100 miles, and in its greatest breadth only 80, and comprising an area of about 2,000,000 acres. At the census of 1827, the population was returned at 18,700; but the census was confessedly inaccurate, and is supposed to have understated the number of the inhabitants. Sydney is the capital and principal town of the island, at which is stationed a clergyman of the Church of England and two schoolmasters, a Methodist preacher, and a Roman Catholic priest, who has a handsome chapel. As many of the inhabitants are Scottish emigrants, it is presumed that there are Presbyterian as well as Baptist ministers, but, if so, their names and localities are to us unknown.

NEW BRUNSWICK.

This extensive and important country lies nearly north and south between Nova Scotia and Canada, having the United States on the one side, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the other. According to M. Bouchette, it comprises 27,704 square miles. By the census of 1834, the population amounted to 119,457. It is divided into 11 counties, that are chiefly arranged up the rivers and waters upon which the inhabitants are located.

St. John's City is the capital, and, being incorporated, is governed by a Mayor, Aldermen, and a Commonalty, who preside over a population of about 10,000. The general government is assimilated to that of the parent country, the House of Assembly consisting of twentyeight members, and the Lieutenant-Governor's Legislative Council of twelve. The Roman Catholics have a bishop and 17 priests, with about 16,000 members. The Episcopal church is within the diocese of Nova Scotia, under the government of an archdeacon and 26 clergy. The members of this church are 79,000, and so form the majority of the population. The Scotch, or Presbyterian church, has 12 ministers, who receive from Government a stipend of £50 each, with about 6000 members. The Baptists have 25 ministers and churches in one association, and are computed to be about 10,000. The Wesleyan body has 17 circuits, with 26 preachers, and 2638 members. We are not aware that there is any Congregational church in this colony. A college has been founded at Frederickton, endowed with 6000 acres of land; and, by liberal grants from the Crown, and the province, a handsome building has been erected. It is open to students of every denomination. In 1836, £2200 were voted for its support. The Baptists are about to establish an academy in this town, on the plan of the one at Horton, Nova Scotia. There are nine grammar-schools, and 285 parish schools throughout the colony.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

This interesting island is situated in a bay of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, bounded on the west and south by New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, from which it is separated by the Northumberland Strait, which, in some parts, is only nine miles across. On the east it is bounded by Cape Breton, at a distance of 27 miles, and on the north by the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its length is about 140 miles, and its breadth varying from 15 to 34 miles, with an area of 2134 square miles. The population, in 1833, was 28,925. It is governed, like the other American colonies, by a Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and House of Assembly, the nine members of the former being appointed by the sovereign, and the 18 members of the House of Assembly elected by the people.

The town of St. Andrew's is the residence of the Roman Catholic bishop, where they have a large chapel, besides 10 or 12 other places of worship throughout the island. There are three Episcopalian clergymen, four Wesleyan Methodist ministers, and 13 Scotch Presbyterians. There are three Baptist chapels, but we are not aware that there are any Congregationalist.

Is the largest and most important island on the eastern coast of North America. Its extreme length is about 420 miles, and its greatest breadth 300 miles, and excluding its broken and rugged shore, the circumference may be stated at 1000 miles. The population of this island has been in a state of continued and rapid increase. By the census, in 1836, with the district of Togo, it amounted to nearly 75,000. The government of this island was long administered by the naval commanders appointed to cruise on its coast: but, in 1832, after great popular excitement, a constitutional government was established on the most liberal basis, the Assembly being elected by a suffrage almost universal. The House of Assembly consists of 14 members, and the Council of nine. St. John's is situated on the coast, like all the other towns, for little is known of its interior. It is the seat of government there, and has the largest share in the commerce of the island. As this island was first permanently colonized, in 1623, by Sir George Calvert, afterwards Lord Baltimore, that he and his emigrant countrymen might enjoy the free exercise of the Roman Catholic faith, so, by the constant emigration of Irish labourers, the members of that church have formed the greater part of the population. Their number, according to the last census, in 1836, was 36,899. The Protestant Dissenters amounted to 10,591, and the Episcopalians only to 2718; yet, strange to say, Dr. Spencer, late Archdeacon of Bermuda, has been appointed, during the past year, Bishop of Newfoundland, with a body of 10 clergy, throughout that