BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.

ex-ten-sive [L. ex, out; tendo, to stretch], large, occupying a considerable area. ex-ces-sive [L. ex, beyond; cedo, to go], violent, extreme, immoderate. di-verts [L. diverto, from de, from; verto, to turn], turns away, changes the direction of; also amuses, entertains.

THE most extensive of our foreign territories is British North America, covering an area nearly as large as the whole of Europe. It must not be supposed, however, that the influence of this portion of our dominions is commensurate with its extent. Although its dimensions are vast, its population is small, being only about 3,600,000, or one-sixth more than that of Scotland. A great part of this immense region is altogether uninhabitable, and the larger proportion of the people are found in Canada, which forms only a small division of the whole. The climate is much more severe than that of England, although the latitude of some portions is the same. During several of the winter months the -rivers and lakes are ice-bound; but for a short period of summer the heat is intense. The cause of the excessive cold of winter may be said to be threefold. The position of the continent, sloping towards the polar regions, renders it open to the icy blasts of the north, from which it is protected by no sheltering hills; there is but a small portion of the continent within the tropics, while even that is of a mountainous character, retaining little of the sun's heat; and the rising ground towards the western coast diverts the warm winds, which otherwise would blow eastwards and relieve the rigour of the climate.

British North America comprises, Canada, formerly divided into Upper and Lower, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward's Island, Columbia, Vancouver Island, and the wide tract of land known as the Hudson Bay Territory. The last mentioned belongs to a corporation known as the Hudson Bay Company. It is valuable for the furs and skins which are bought from the Indians, of whom various tribes have here their abode, the principal being the Chippeways, the Crees, and the Stone Indians. Numerous trading stations or forts are established round the shores of Hudson Bay, to which the trappers

bring their spoils of the chase, to be exchanged for firearms, spirits, beads, and other simple articles, esteemed as luxuries by the red-skinned children of the wilderness. The life which the servants of the Company lead at these stations is lonely in the extreme, but such are the charms of solitude, that after a few years' residence, the customs of cities become distasteful, and after a short visit to their homes in Britain, they sigh for the rugged grandeur of the sterile west. In common with this region, Labrador has a cold and dreary climate. The castern coasts of America in this respect resemble those of Asia, while the western coasts are more genial, like those of Europe.

Newfoundland is a large island, chiefly remarkable for the sand banks which lie near it, where a very extensive cod fishery is carried on. Above the sand banks dense fogs frequently occur, caused probably by the condensation of the vapours from the warm current of the Gulf Stream, by the cold waters near the coast. It is in Heart's Content Bay, a small inlet of the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of Newfoundland, that the American ends of the Atlantic telegraph cables are brought on shore, the British ends rising out of the water at Valentia Island, a small island on the coast of Kerry, in Ireland.

Nova Scotia, or New Scotland, as the words mean, is the nearest American country to Britain, and has for its capital Halifax with our finest colonial dockyard. From this place to Galway in Ireland is only 1800 miles across the Atlantic, a distance traversed by steamers in six days. Vancouver Island, on the west coast, abounds with coal, and has a climate not unlike that of Britain. In Columbia, near which it lies, gold was discovered in 1856, so that since that period it has received a large influx of immigrants in search of the precious ore.

The most important of our American possessions is Canada. It is there that the population is greatest, the ground most productive, and the arts of industry most actively pursued. This country, it may be said, is three times as large as Great Britain, so that it offers an excellent field for the enterprising agriculturist or labourer who wishes for fields afresh in which to try his success. Before 1759,

Canada belonged to the French. In that year Upper Canada was captured by the British, and in the following year Lower Canada also passed into our hands. The most memorable battle in connection with the struggle was that of Quebec, fought in 1759, on the plains of Abraham. In this engagement both the English and the French generals—Wolfe and Montcalm-fell, after distinguishing themselves by personal bravery, in remembrance of which a memorial has been erected, giving credit to each for his valour.

Canada borders on the north-eastern frontier of the United States, from which it is separated by the St. Lawrence, a river connected with a series of magnificent fresh-water lakes, Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario, which are unrivalled for size, and together form a convenient means of inland navigation. Between Lakes Erie and Ontario are the famous falls of Niagara. The roar of their waters rushing over the rocks may be heard miles away, while close to the falls the sound is deafening. The name, which is of Indian origin-O-ni-aw-ga-rah-meaning literally the thunder of the water, is exceedingly appropriate when we consider the immense mass of water which is for ever pouring over the rocks, and the din which it constantly raises. The immense water system of river and lake enables the Canadian farmer to transport his grain or timber with great ease to the various trading ports, and forms a highway for commerce, greatly to the advantage of Canada. During four or five months, however, the St. Lawrence is frozen up.

Originally a French colony, the province of Lower Canada still bears the marks and traces of its founders in the language of the people, but throughout Upper Canada the population is almost entirely English. Those of French origin are chiefly Roman Catholic in religion, but all the forms of Protestantism are found among the other settlers. The principal Canadian towns are Ottawa the capital, Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, and Kingston. Quebec, sometimes called on account of its position, the Gibraltar of America, is the capital of Lower Canada, and Montreal, in the same province, is remarkable for a very large cathedral.

In 1867, the colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New

Brunswick were incorporated into one dominion under the name of Canada. The territory thus formed is divided into four provinces-Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick; Ontario being the new name of the old province of Upper Canada, and Quebec the new title of Lower Canada. Ottawa is the capital of the new dominion. Various attempts have been made to separate Canada from the British crown, but hitherto without success. Whether, however, it remains part of our empire, becomes absorbed into another country, or forms an independent government of its own, its future is likely to be one of prosperity; for the excellent soil and other natural advantages only require an increased population to render them still more productive.

EXERCISE.-55. COMPOSITION.

1. Account for the excessive cold of North America.

2. Compare the eastern coast of British America with the west.

3. Write out all that is said in this lesson about Newfoundland, altering as many of the words as you can.

4. Write out what you know about the Niagara Falls.

5. Make a list of places mentioned in this lesson, classifying them into lakes, rivers, etc.

6. Why is the French language spoken in Lower Canada ?

WEALTH VERSUS ENJOYMENT.

BISHOP JEREMY TAYLOR.*

trans-i-ent [L. trans, across or beyond; eo, to go], momentary, of short duration, fleeting. fu-ga-cious [L. fugio, to flce], apt to flee away, volatile. vest-ments [L. vestio, to clothe], garments, clothes, com-pla-cen-cy [L. con, with; placeo, to please], satisfaction.

SUPPOSE a man gets all the world, what is it that he gets? It is a bubble and a phantasm, and hath no reality beyond a present transient use; a thing that is impossible to be en

* JEREMY TAYLOR, the son of a barber, though the lineal representative of Dr. Rowland Taylor, who suffered martyrdom in the reign of Queen Mary, was born at Cambridge, in 1613, and died Bishop of Down and Connor, at Lisburn, Ireland, August 13, 1667. He was one of the most imaginative and eloquent of the divines of the Church of England in the seventeenth century, and he has been styled by some the "Shakspeare," and by others the "Spenser" of our theological literature. His" Holy Living" and "Holy Dying," are, perhaps, the best and most popular of his numerous works.

joyed, because its fruits and usages are transmitted to us by parts and by succession. He that hath all the world (if we can suppose such a man) cannot have a dish of fresh summer fruits in the midst of winter, not so much as a green fig; and very much of its possessions is so hid, so fugacious, and of so uncertain purchase, that it is like the riches of the sea to the lord of the shore; all the fish and wealth within all its hollownesses are his, but he is never the better for what he cannot get; all the shell-fishes that produce pearls, produce them not for him; and the bowels of the earth hide their treasures in undiscovered retirements; so that it will signify as much to this great proprietor, to be entitled to an inheritance in the upper region of the air: he is so far from possessing all its riches, that he does not so much as know of them, nor understand the philosophy of its minerals.

I consider that he who is the greatest possessor in the world, enjoys its best and most noble parts, and those which are of most excellent perfection, but in common with the inferior persons, and the most despicable of his kingdom. Can the greatest prince enclose the sun, and set one little star in his cabinet for his own use, or secure to himself the gentle and benign influence of any one constellation? Are not his subjects' fields bedewed with the same showers that water his gardens of pleasure?

Nay, those things which he esteems his ornament and the singularity of his possessions, are they not of more use to others than to himself? For suppose his garments splendid and shining, like the robe of a cherub, or the clothing of the fields all that he that wears them enjoys, is that they keep him warm, and clean, and modest: and all this is done by clean and less pompous vestments; and the beauty of them, which distinguishes him from others, is made to please the eyes of the beholders: the fairest face or the sparkling eye cannot perceive or enjoy its own beauties, but by reflection. It is I that am pleased with beholding his gaiety; and the gay man, in his greatest bravery, is only pleased because I am pleased with the sight: 50 borrowing his little and imaginary complacency from the delight that I have, not from any inherency in his own possession.