3oo 



LIFE IN MONTREAL. [Chap. VII. 



showing them how they damn my relations and friends. Our 

 parson [St. James's] shakes his head, doesn't like it, but sub- 

 mits. The St. George's (Evangelical) folk say, it only means 

 that people can't be saved unless they believe in Christ ! Our 

 synods (composed equally of clergy and laity) could stop the 

 use of it, if they chose. . . . 



" The great event of the week has been the assassination of 

 D'Arcey McGee, our M.P., and the most brilliant speaker in 

 Canada, on returning from the House, where he had just made 

 an eloquent appeal about the Nova Scotia troubles. Men have 

 been taken up on suspicion ; but whoever was the actual mur- 

 derer, there is no doubt that he was murdered by Fenianism, 

 of which he was the great opponent. It is the first great 

 Fenian crime since the raid ; and of course no one knows what 

 next. Meanwhile City, Province, and Dominion have offered 

 large rewards ; and investigations go on with closed doors. 

 The city has decreed a public funeral to-morrow (at 9 a.m.) 

 which I shall attend. As every possible society is to walk, I 

 presume only ladies and the great unwashed will be spectators. 

 The Fenians, I presume, will walk to avoid suspicion. At the 

 last election, I was one of very many who refused to vote for 

 McGee, on account of his drunkenness. Poor man, it was in 

 his blood : and the bulk of his friends, social and political, led 

 him on. I think the election (in which he ran great risk of 

 being beaten by a teetotal opponent) finished his wavering ; 

 and soon after he made his wife pour out all the cellar-drink, 

 and did not drink to the day of his death. It was a noble 

 grace of repentance ; for his health fell sadly, and the doctors 

 and friends were all urging him to drink. A few weeks ago, 

 he went, with health restored and excellent spirits, to parlia- 

 ment : and here is the end. The poor widow and daughters 

 were here ; they will be pensioned by Government : they have 

 had to endure a great lying-in-state this week. It happened we 

 had a temperance meeting, the evening of the murder, to urge 

 upon our new licensing board (the Chairmen of the City Council 

 Committees), to refuse licences to grocers. We shan't succeed 

 this year; but the number of groggeries will be greatly reduced. 



