elder is succeeding them. Thus the district has suffered irreparable loss, and much of its original beauty has faded away before the devouring element.

The south-west branch, with its pretty lake, has a fine settlement; but the remote parts of the southern parishes, like those of the north, are still shaded by the indigenous forest.

The fine farms that slope towards the principal streams, and the rich intervales attached to them, are favourable for pastures; hence the produce of the dairy, with beef, mutton, and pork, are sent in considerable supplies to the market of St. John. A more extended notice of this country would be but to repeat observations already supplied for other places, and there is a sameness in the features of the district not to be improved by minute description.

County of York.

Still ascending the river, we come to the County of York, a more extensive district than either of the two last described. It is bounded on the south-east by Sunbury, south-west by Charlotte, north-west by Carlton, and north-east by Northumberland. Its parishes are Fredericton, St. Mary, Douglas, Kingsclear, Queensbury, Prince William, Southampton, and Dumfries. Notwithstanding a part of this county is rather level, the valley of the St. John passes across it with a diminished breadth, being flanked by higher hills than those below. The features of the country are ruder in their outlines, and a thinning off of the population is manifest on the banks of the river.

Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick, is in the parish of that name, which reaches from Kingsclear to the boundary of Sunbury, embracing a few scattered settlements in its vicinity. It was formerly called St. Ann's, and was made the seat of Government by Sir Guy Carlton in 1785. It is eighty-five miles from St. John by water, and was supposed to be at the head of navigation. Fredericton is extremely pleasantly situated upon a beautiful level and obtuse point of land, formed by a bold curve on the south side of the stream, commanding a view of the river and the Nashwaak. A range of moderately elevated hills bends around the southern side of the plain, two miles long and half a mile wide. Thus encircled by the river and high

ground, a fertile and well-cultivated tract is occupied at its northern extremity by the capital. The streets are wide and parallel to each other, and space is afforded by the abundance and cheapness of land to favour the cultivation of gardens and the planting of ornamental trees, which have added much to the natural beauty of the situation. The inclined surfaces of the hills to the south are also partially cultivated, and occupied by the College and a number of handsome cottages. From these hills there is a fine view of the river, its intervales, and the fields bordering upon the evergreen forest. Several of the public buildings are of the best class. The Government House, the residence of the Lieutenant-Governor, is a spacious stone building, situated at a beautiful spot on the bank of the river, at the western extremity of the town. King's College is also a substantial building of freestone, and of a chaste architecture. It is 170 feet long and 60 feet wide, containing 22 rooms for students, a chapel, two lecture-rooms, and apartments for the accommodation of the Vice-President and two Professors. The Province Hall, in which the different legislative bodies assemble, is a plain wooden structure, yet very commodious. The Chamber of the Legislative Council is finished in good taste, and by no means with a very scrupulous regard to economy. The Offices of the Provisional Secretary and Crown-lands departments are built of stone. Besides these, there are an Episcopal Church, Scotch Church, Methodist Chapel, Baptist Chapel, Roman Catholic Chapel, Collegiate and Madras Schools, Baptist Seminary, three Banks, an Hospital, Almshouse, Court-house, Gaol, and Market-house. The principal Barracks are situated on the bank of the river, in the town; they will accommodate one thousand infantry and a company of artillery. The quarters of the officers open into a pretty square, surrounded by stately trees. Fredericton has been visited by several conflagrations; in 1825, the Government House, with one-third of the town, was laid in ruins. The public institutions are three Banks, a Fire Insurance Company, two Mill and Manufacturing Companies, Public Library, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Church Society, Bible Association, Wesleyan Missionary Society, Temperance and Abstinence Societies: Societies of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick; Savings Bank, Infant School, and other charitable associations,

It was supposed by Governor Carlton, after New Brunswick was separated from Nova Scotia, that Fredericton, from its central position, was the most eligible site for the seat of Government, and head-quarters of the military; but the contemplated advantages of the places have never been realised. From its peculiar situation, it is almost incapable of being fortified; and while it offers little protection against invasion across the frontier, its distance from the coast would prevent it from sending succour to repel an attack upon the seaboard. The opinion is yearly strengthened, that St. John should now be the capital; and if the Provinces be united into one principality-which is most desirable for their future security, it is probable that the centre of the local administration for New Brunswick would be at this place.

St. John will continue to command the trade of the whole river. The lumberman, when once fairly embarked on his raft of timber, continues to descend the stream until he reaches its mouth; and the surplus agricultural produce of the rural districts will be carried to the brisk market of a seaport town, whence exportations are made with every facility.

From such and other like causes, St. John is rapidly advancing in wealth and population, while Fredericton remains almost stationary, and in some degree dependent upon the money that flows from the military chest. Remove from the capital its warlike establishment, the Legislature, and the public functionaries of high salaries, and it would soon be a plain country village, whose inhabitants would have to look to agricultural and manufacturing pursuits for their support. If columns of British infantry are terrible on the fields of an enemy's country, they are also to be dreaded in a Provincial village among their friends and countrymen. It is true that their officers may impart a degree of taste, etiquette, and gentlemanly deportment to certain classes; but more frequently are their errors imitated, and habits introduced unfavourable to that industry by which alone a new Province can be redeemed from a wilderness state, or rendered a fit abode for a civilised people. The growth of the imperial, moustache, or copious whisker is but too often cultivated by those whose better interest it would be to bring to perfection the nutritious and valuable productions of the country.

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