ather had changed to variable and fine.

On steaming up the harbour, I was greatly surprised and very much
pleased to see such an alteration as Toronto has undergone for the
better since 1837. Then, although a flourishing village, be-citied, to
be sure, it was not one third of its present size. Now it is a city in
earnest, with upwards of twenty thousand inhabitants--gas-lit, with good
plank side-walks and macadamized streets, and with vast sewers, and fine
houses, of brick or stone. The main street, King Street, is two miles
and more in length, and would not do shame to any town, and has a much
more English look than most Canadian places have.

Toronto is still the seat of the Courts of Law for Western Canada, of
the University of King's College, of the Bishopric of Toronto, and of
the Indian Office. Kingston has retained the militia head-quarter
office, and the Principal Emigrant Agency, with the Naval and Military
grand depots; so that the removal of the seat of Government to Montreal
has done no injury to Toronto, and will do very little to Kingston: in
fact, I believe firmly that, instead of being injurious, it will be very
beneficial. The presence of Government at Kingston gave an unnatural
stimulus to speculation among a population very far from wealthy; and
buildings of the most frail construction were run up in hundreds, for
the sake of the rent which they yielded temporarily.

The plan upon which these houses were erected was that of mortgage; thus
almost all are now in possession of one person who became suddenly
possessed of the requisite means by the sale of a large tract required
for military purposes. But this species of property seldom does the
owner good in his lifetime; and, if he does reclaim it, there is no
tenant to be had now; so that the building decays, and in a very short
time becomes an incumbrance. Mortgages only thrive where the demand is
superior and certain to the investment; and then, if all goes smoothly,
mortgager and mortgagee may benefit; but where a mechanic or a
storekeeper, with little or no capital, undertakes to run up an
extensive range of houses to meet an equivocal demand, the result is
obvious. If the houses he builds are of stone or brick, and well
finished, the man who loans the money is the gainer; if they are of
wood, indifferently constructed and of green materials, both must
suffer. So it is a speculation, and, like all speculations, a good deal
of repudiation mixes up