ge 
‘Shakspeare’s plays in “his own hand- 
writitig?- ‘Tf he did, and found the ortho- 
graphy incorrect, I ain ready to’ adinit 
Shakspeare’s ignorance of Latin, (in 
‘spite of the testiincny of bis friend Jon- 
*son,)- of all the modern languages 
‘except his owi, But if Dr. Farmer 
‘founds bis position upon the state of the 
‘prmted copies, published by ignorant 
‘editors aud blundering printers, after the 
‘demise of the author, { must be allowed 
to question bis authority, But I shall 
eave the subject to Mr. Lofft, who is, I 
“trust, as willing as he is certainly able to 
do it full justice. “He will, [ hope, lead 
‘Dr. Fartuer before the ‘tribunal of the 
‘public, from the eminence to which he 
“was raised, a8 a commentator on Shak- 
‘speare, by the suffrages of friends to 
whom bis amiable manners, various learn- 
itig, and many virtues so justly endeared 
him. Your's, &e. Ne ae 
——a ’ 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
: SIR, 
| HAVE lately received the following 
OM description’ of the inhabitants of Que- 
+ bec, froma friend who is now resident 
there: [hope it is worthy of a place in 
your miscellany. 
* You are aware that there are in fact 
three different nations resident in Ca- 
* nada—The English, the Indians, and the 
' French, or, as they are alw ays called, the 
Canadians. The latter compose about 
“two-thirds of the people, and the’ Bnglish 
* the Jeast’ portion of all. Montreal, in- 
~ deed, and all the upper province is filled 
“with Scotch and English families, who 
“have retired from their native country. 
~ They purchase land for a mere trifle, and 
live upon it for even less—nay, in short, 
» fead tlie golden age in perfection, and 
think of nothing but! to make good the 
motto “vivamus dim vivimus.”’ Tn 
Quebec, and the vicinity, the case alters : 
the English, who settle here, are the ar- 
‘ny, the professional then, and the mer- 
‘chants. The governor, and some few 
officers, are dashing men, and seldom 
stay long in the place. The clergy are 
only three, besides the bishop, ‘but are 
» pleasant respectable men. The physi- 
~ erans and lawyers are but few. The mer- 
chants, who consist of thirty or perhaps 
fifty men, chiefly young ones, are by no 
means well informed: they have heen,” 
* generally speaking, ‘educated- in the 
countipe-house, or ‘Manchester cotton- 
works, and having picked up a compe-" 
teney, have set up for wen of fashion and 
uoportance. ‘The Indians, in great‘ num- 
Description of the Tihabitants of Quebee. 
[ene 
“bers, cross the river ‘every ‘morning in 
canoes, made of bark, perfectly safe, 
“though so light that they carry them on 
their shoulders. They are’a mild, honest 
set of people, and are proud of the notice 
the Eniglist) take of them. They gene- 
rally speak a little of our fanguage, and 
all of them French, as being the mote 
generally used; for ia fact, Lam almost 
tlie only person in Quebec ignorant of it, 
The Indians are all converted to the 
Roman Catholic church, the outward 
pomp of which is calculated to please 
their dispositions: indeed they are sin- 
cularly fond of shew. They wear clothés 
of any shave, or materials, so that the 
colour is dashiig, and the women espe- 
cially load their ears, chins, and nosés, 
with great weights of lead, tin, glass, or 
paste-beads. 
account of the Canadians. PerhapsT may 
be prejudiced against them from my na- 
‘tural dislike of the French, but I think 
them a very unpleasant, nay, disgusting 
people. They ‘are honest, and amongst 
themselves sociable, obligmg and polite, 
and they are very civil to us. The higher 
classes dress elegantly, and live gaily; the 
lower ones wear neither shoes nor’stock- 
ings, the men are almost naked, and the 
women’s dress is very unbecoming in- 
deed; though on the Sunday all is gaiety, 
The men cast off their filthy trowsers, 
and straw bonnets, and the women their 
immense caps and short hooped petti- 
coats; and you then sce little difference 
between a lady and her maid, a gentle- 
man and his shoe-black, for they are all 
equally ignorant and void of manners. 
They are all Roman catholics, ignorant, 
stupid, superstitions, and blindly devoted 
to their priests, many of whom are in- 
deed wolves in sheep’s clothing. The 
highest classes have semetimes a little 
instruction, bat the middle and Jower 
orders can never read or write. The 
clergy find it necessary to keep themiin 
the dark, for their own interest, and they 
overruled a plan which the | English 
wished to adopt, that of establishing a 
school forthe gratuitous education of the 
Canadians in the Canadian language and 
religion.” ; 
<r 
Lo the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, . 
F the following observations on the 
change of colour, which takes place 
in some animals at different seasons of 
the year, and on one or two of those ani- 
mals which are reinarkable for ‘this 
change, come within the scope of your 
. ~ valuable 
[ sliall now give you some | 
