Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser

Letter to the editor of the Village Record.

"Last week I returned from a visit to Montreal, and was highly gratified with the novelties to an American's eyes, which that city affords—The buildings, the manners of the people, the religion, &c. were all very different from any thing which I had been accustomed to. I saw the ceremonies of a catholic funeral, visited two convents of nuns, and the chapel and apartments of an ancient college of Jesuitical friars. The nuns generally appeared cheerful and happy—but I should be much better satisfied with regard to their actual enjoyment, if I could be an invisible witness of their actions. They looked almost all of them past 30 and I did not see one who made me sigh and wish she was not confined within the cloister.—Miss A—i—, the daughter of E—A—, the revolutionary general, was the most interesting woman I saw: she had been there about seven years, and appears to be very much beloved by the holy sisterhood.

"The country about Montreal, is very beautiful. The landscape from the mountain back of the city, surpasses in variety and beauty of scenery any thing which I have ever before witnessed. The St. Lawrence is there a majestic river, and every other feature in the prospect, is on a grand and extensive scale. The roofs of many buildings in the city are covered with bright tin, which give the place a very brilliant appearance at a little distance, on a clear sun shining day."