55 



the background equal in some parts to the Appenines or 

 the P3rrenees, — thus stands Quebec, unequalled in beauty 

 and sublimity. 



In the winter this Queen of the West puts on a robe of 

 unrivalled whiteness, which, on the approach of summer, 

 she throws off for one of dazzling splendor. Viewed from 

 the river, she seems enthroned in majesty and grandeur, 

 and clothed in vestments of silver. 



I have basked in the climes of the Mediterranean, 

 bathed in the delights of an Italian sunset, watched at 

 midnight the belching of Vesuvius from the famed Bay of 

 Naples ; wandered o'er its classic ground, and pondered 

 amid the ruins of the once-famed and now recovered cities 

 of Pompeii and Hbrculaneum ; and though the mind may 

 become entranced, amid the many scenes of thrilling 

 interest of a by-gone age ; — and though in these respects, 

 Quebec must yield the palm to the Italy op the past : yet 

 for grandeur and sublimity of scenery, Quebec is not to 

 be surpassed by that, or any other place. 



The future of Quebec will, or I am much mistaken, sur- 

 pass the expectation of the most ardent of its well-wishers. 

 Already have we our Grand Trunk Railroad, nearly nine 

 hundred miles of unbroken length ; giving us a daily com- 

 munication with the Upper Province and the United 

 States. Soon may we hope to be in possession of our 

 North Shore Railroad ; which will give us greater facili- 

 ties of communication, thence onward to our Great Lakes 

 and the Far West, and which, perhaps, may become a 

 stepping-stone to the route to the Pacific ; seeing that by 

 a line drawn on the chart from the shores of England to 

 the chief cities of the Chinese empire ; Quebec is, or very 

 nearly is, one of the points of intersection. 



