Beside the buildings already enumerated, there are three Nunneries in Montreal,- that of the Black, the Grey, and the Congregational Orders.

The Hotel Dieu, in St. Paul Street, is the residence of the Black Nuns, and was founded so early as 1614, for the reception of the poor, the sick, and the maimed: It is still devoted to this benevolent purpose; and the nuns, belonging to the institution, are thirty-six in number.

The Grey Nunnery was founded in the year 1753, for the reception of lunatics, foundlings, and other invalids. The establishment consists of twenty four sisters.

The congregation of Notre Dame, or Our Lady, whose nunnery is in Notre Dame Street, was founded about the year 1650, for the education of young females professing the Roman Catholic religion.

How much soever the secluded life of a nun may seem to be opposed to the spirit of the Gospel,— which enjoins those who profess it to "let their light so shine before men, that they, seeing their good works, may glorify their Father which is in heaven,”—it is impossible to look upon them in this country with any other than charitable eyes. Their lives and fortunes are dedicated to the most useful and beneficent purposes; and scandal herself has never, I believe, been able to collect materials of crimination, or with envenomed tongue to utter her spite against their characters. Their

lives are, as far as human scrutiny extends, without blemish. Their course of mercy and benevolence is like that of a deep river, noiseless: They "do not their alms before men;" and, I trust, notwithstanding the errors of judgment under which they may labour, "their Father who has seen them in secret, will hereafter reward them openly."-Yet it must be regarded as a happy circumstance, that the partial seclusion from the world, which is effected by means of these establishments, modified as they are in Quebec and Montreal, is not popular even in Lower Canada. It would certainly be most preposterous to encourage the formation of additional insulated societies of females, under solemn vows of perpetual celibacy, in an infant colony which requires an increasing population to render it still more flourishing, and in which, it will afterwards be shewn, the fair sex fall much below their due proportion in point of number, and are therefore greatly enhanced in value. Besides, all the benefits accruing to the Roman Catholic community in these provinces, from the institution of nunneries, would be as fully realized, were none of the youthful and unthinking novices in them ever to take the veil or to utter rash vows before their Maker: Their personal services in another sphere of life would in that case become available, whenever providential events might call them out of such a good school of discipline. Without the absurd vows into which the sis

ters are required to enter, the experience which they generally gain, by a long residence in a strictly religious society, would be made a great blessing to the public: For, on the marriage of the several accomplished individuals, and their removal to distant parts of the country, the wisdom acquired in this way would be more extensively diffused; and, under such restrictions, the establishment of Protestant nunneries, how terrifying soever the sound may be, would be a real blessing in many kingdoms in which the Reformed religion is professed. -But in the present constitution of Catholic nunneries, all these more diffusive advantages are lost, by the indelible disgrace which is studiously made to attach to the bare expression of a desire to quit what is usually called "a Religious House," and to abandon "the infallible guidance" of their ghostly superiors.

Monreal now contains, as before observed, several private buildings, of a very respectable description; but, instead of improving the aspect of the city, they serve only to expose the older buildings, by a comparison which their present low condition cannot endure. The stars of the universe would be the objects of our highest admiration, if the superior radiance of the sun and moon did not incline us to look upon those twinkling orbs as the inferior works of the Deity: In like manner, the untravelled inhabitants of Montreal would still consider their ancient buildings as models of

architecture, had not these more elegant structures arisen,

To shame the meanness of their humble sheds.

Montreal is now supplied with water from a reservoir, erected for the purpose on the Citadel Hill. The water is forced into this reservoir from the river, by means of a steam-engine. The conducting pipes are of cast iron, and are sunk so low in the ground, that the water contained in them can never freeze. This work was undertaken by a Scotch gentleman of the name of Porteous, who has, by his indefatigable exertions, realized a splendid fortune in this country. The cistern which holds the water, is, I think, One Hundred feet above the level of the river.

There are two Banking-houses in Montreal; the one, called after the city, with a capital of 250,000 pounds, and the other, designated the Canada Bank, with a capital of 300,000 pounds. Each is governed by a President and Directors, who are chosen annually. This city was, till lately, destitute of these necessary media to commercial enterprize; and it was only after they had long experienced the inconvenience of the old mode of transacting their business, that the resident merchants entered with spirit into the plan of Banking Companies, the members of which have been thus enabled severally to extend their own concerns,

and to afford important assistance to their reputable neighbours without injury to themselves. The conductors of these Banking Establishments are generally cautious and prudent men, who, while lending their influence and a portion of their capital to communicate an elasticity to public spirit and a facility to money transactions, seem anxious to avoid any imitation of their Republican friends in those monstrous habits of unguarded speculation which have terminated, in many instances, in the ruin of the parties interested. In infant concerns of this description, an excess of circumspection is perhaps the safer and more laudable extreme; and though such a course will not quickly make the fortunes of the members who have embarked their capital, it will gradually produce an adequate compensation to them, and will ultimately give a character of credit and stability to their restricted issues, that will not be moved by the rude shocks to which all affairs of traffic are occasionally liable.

The principal public library is one established by subscription, called THE MONTREAL LIBRARY. It belongs to a number of persons who subscribed for shares, to form a capital for the purchase of books, and a building for their reception and preservation. It contains about Eight Thousand volumes, among which are many valuable publications. Independent of this, there are two circulating libraries, the property of booksellers, both of which are tolerably well supplied with new works!