46 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
by many others, until in 1837 there were no less than forty journals 
in the province, some of them written with ability though too 
often very abusive and personal. A small paper called “ The 
Register,” was printed in 1823 in Charlottetown, the capital of 
Prince Edward Island. The first newspaper that appeared in New 
Brunswick was “ The Royal New Brunswick Gazette and General Ad- 
vertiser,” which appeared in St. John, in 1784. For many years the 
Canadian Gazette of Quebec exercised much influence in politics. Mr. 
John Neilson was editor of the latter for years and made it a moderate 
organ of British opinion when he dissevered all political relations with 
Papineau. A paper widely circulated in the provinces before and 
after the union was the “ New York Albion,” edited for years by Dr. 
John Fisher, who was also editor of the “ Quebec Gazette,’ and wrote 
the pithy inscription on the monument raised in 1827 to Wolfe and 
Montcalm through the exertions of Lord Dalhousie. 
Mortem. Virtus. Communem. 
Famam. ‘Historia. 
Monumentum. Posteritas. 
Dedit. 
This paper printed the best class of English literature which other- 
wise could hardly have reached the homes of many people. It even en- 
couraged an artistic taste, for it gave once a year a copy of a fine English 
steel plate to every subscriber. In those days English newspapers did 
not circulate to any extent in a country where postage was exorbitant. 
People had all they could do to pay postage rates on letters. The poor 
settler was often unable to pay the three or four shillings or even more, 
imposed on letters from their old homes across the sea, and it was not. 
unusual to find in country post offices a large accumulation of dead- 
letters, refused or neglected on account of the expense. The manage- 
ment of the Post Office by Imperial officers was one of the grievances 
of the people of the provinces generally. It was carried on for the bene- 
fit of a few persons and not for the convenience or solace of the many 
thousands who were anxious for news of their kin across the ocean. 
The practice of medicine and surgery was for many years in the 
hands of men educated in Great Britain and the United States, but 
quackery was very common in the rural districts and it became neces- 
sary from time to time to pass legislative enactments to require licenses 
from regular medical boards. Young Canadians who wished to study 
medicine were obliged to go to Europe or to the United States or to 

