the sea, over which he must cross in all sorts of weather, that his deservedly wide and high reputation rests as a contributor to letters. They bear internal evidence that the author is a man of wide and varied reading, tolerant mind, keen sympathy with the life around him, from the man to the "marine ascidian," and one who can not only observe well, but place the result of his observations before the public with most agreeable perspicuity.

He must be considered a Highlander to the backbone, too much engrossed with the endless wonders and beauties of his own land ever to seek novelty or excitement beyond it; for we understand he travels seldom, and never far, his life having been entirely spent within the bounds of that Scotland he loves so well, and to which he is so attentive. But the currents of thought from the outside ever are borne in upon him on the wings of a voluminous correspondence from many points of the compass, for the "Hermitage" by the beautiful Loch Leven is a harbour of refuge for literary and scientific celebrities from many quarters, who are charmed to call him their friend. As an indication of the varied character of his intellectual sympathies and studies, it may be mentioned that Mr Stewart was elected in 1876 a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; while he is likewise a Fellow of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh; of the Geological and National History Societies of Glasgow; Honorary Bard of the Celtic Society of St Andrews; and a corresponding member of several learned Continental Societies. He is noted as an admirable conversationalist. He was married in 1852 to Miss Morrison of Sallachan House, Ardgour, eldest daughter of the late Captain Morrison, R. N., and has a family of one son and two daughters.

Altogether, he has lived an active, wholesome, useful life, and we may slightly alter the words of the poet and say—

Ir is our painful duty this month to record the death, at Edinburgh, of a real good Highlander, Mr Donald C. Macpherson, of the Advocates' Library. The deceased was a native of Bohuntin, Lochaber, and was well known to every one in any way connected with Celtic literature. Birth and early training in a district where the Gaelic is spoken with great fulness and purity, fitted him for using his native language with a power and richness which but few in our, or in any day, could wield. A firstclass education gave a definiteness and exactness to his consideration of the structure and history of the language, and enabled him to bring to bear upon his study of it all the light that ancient and classical sources could afford. Added to this personal equipment was the position he held as one of the Librarians to the Library of the Faculty of Advocates, and of which he did not fail to avail himself for the elucidation of everything connected with his favourite pursuit, and the augmentation of his large and interesting store of the literature and lore of his native Highlands,

The result of all this was that the deceased became one of our best Gaelic scholars and a trustworthy authority on all matters connected with his native language, and it is doubtful if many will be found in the future able to qualify themselves to fill his place. The amount of positive work done by our late friend to enrich the stock of our Celtic literature is not generally known. So retiring and sensitive was his modesty that he shrunk from the slightest public mention of his labours, and he seldom adhibited his name to any of his productions. Among his published works are "An Duanaire," a collection of Gaelic songs previously unpublished; the Gaelic Translation of a Catholic Prayer-book and Catechism; a new, accurate, and complete edition of Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair's poems; "Am Feilleire," a Gaelic almanac; and only last year Part I. of a new Gaelic Grammar. We learn that at the time of his death he was engaged on some other ecclesiastical work. He had been of considerable service to Mr J. F. Campbell in the preparation of "Leabhar na Feinne;" to Mr Jerram in editing his "Sean Dana ;" and to the editor of the recently published Catholic version of the New Testament. He was for a few years editor of, and always a contributor to, the Gael, and his valuable articles on the "Macdonalds of Keppoch," which appeared in the last volume of the Celtic Magazine, are still fresh in the recollection of the reader. His early death will be sincerely regretted by all who were fortunate enough to know him. His kind and modest behaviour, and his willingness to place his assistance and information at the disposal of any one who put them in request, made him the favourite of all. He was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and of spotless life and character. He died of disease of the heart, brought on by a recent and very severe attack of rheumatic fever; and his death was painfully sudden, being found dead in his room on the morning of Wednesday, the 23d of June, having only the previous evening removed into new lodgings. Ever since he had the attack of rheumatic fever his health continued in a most unsatisfactory and precarious condition; and when during a recent visit to Edinburgh we spent some time in his company, he expressed himself seriously apprehensive as to the immediate future, while his more intimate friends had little or no hope of his recovery. In early life he was the pupil of James Munro of Kilmonivaig, the well-known Gaelic scholar and author of the Gaelic Grammar, and under his tuition he soon became well versed in the literature of the Highlands, and had his appetite whetted with a desire to completely master it. We believe that his original intention was to educate himself for the priesthood, but he soon abandoned this idea, finding it not quite congenial to his taste. His position in the Advocates' Library afforded him facilities for prosecuting his Celtic and Antiquarian researches, which were unique, and for which we really envied his position. While never losing sight of his Celtic studies, he was well up, not only in English literature, but also in that of Greece and Rome, Germany and France. We understand that he had in preparation an edition of the poems of Ian Lom, the famous Lochaber bard, for publication. We are also informed that he was recently approached by the authorities of St Benedict's Monastery and College, Fort-Augustus, with the view of his being appointed a professor of the Gaelic language in that institution.

He died in the prime of life, and his remains were carried north and interred in his native Braes of Lochaber.

THE EDITOR IN CANADA.

IX.

I NOW had to bid farewell to Canada, at least for a time, and I did so with very genuine regret; for it is impossible that any one could have been placed under deeper obligations to its people, from the GovernorGeneral down to the humblest inhabitant, than I have been. This must have been apparent to those who perused my previous articles. I was only a few days in the country when the Government supplied me with a free pass over the Inter-Colonial Railway, which extends from the Lower Provinces to Quebec, a distance of about 700 miles. I was also offered passes from the managers of private railway companies, of which in some cases I found it impossible to avail myself. I was supplied with one over the whole of the Grand Trunk system, extending to considerably over a thousand miles; as also over the Great Western Railway of Canada, the the Toronto and Nippissing line, and several others; and from one end of the Dominion to the other I was received and treated by all-officials and private gentlemen-in the most hospitable and warm-hearted manner. For this I now beg to tender my genuine and most hearty acknowledgments. And I do so with the greatest cordiality, knowing that I expressed opinions, in these letters and elsewhere regarding certain Government measures, which were not palatable to some of those in high office, but whose personal kindness was not in the slightest degree affected in consequence. In this connection I may be permitted to reproduce some of the introductory remarks from a letter sent in April last to the Free Press by a gentleman holding a high and important permanent office in the Interior Department of the Dominion Government. Referring to my special correspondence in that journal, he says-"Your special commissioner having closed the account of his visit to Canada, and as I am quite sure his letters must have excited among the people of the Northern Counties of Scotland an interest in this Dominion which they never experienced before, I have thought it probable that the present would be a good time to renew my somewhat irregular correspondence, and from this period forth to endeavour to follow up the good work so effectively done by Mr Mackenzie.. Will you permit me a few words, by way of introduction, in reference to some points in the admirable correspondence of your commissioner? It is but simple justice to him to say that no man of equal prominence has ever crossed the Atlantic who ever showed a truer appreciation of the merits of this section of Her Majesty's Colonial Empire than Mr Mackenzie. His letters were the honest, fearless expression of opinions arrived at after careful personal observation of the people and the country; and, let me add, they were the opinions of a man of sound sense and mature judgment. There was no exaggeration of the advantages we offer to intending emigrants, but a plain, unvarnished statement of how men whose names, places of abode, and family history were given, many of whom came here. penniless but a few years ago, had succeeded, and grown rich and comfortable by the simple exercise of ordinary energy and prudence, Nor,

on the other hand was there any hesitation in adversely criticising and condemning what, in the correspondent's opinion, was wrong or faulty. If the truth and nothing but the truth be told about Canada, and by persons whose words carry weight to those to whom they are addressed, the Canadian people are ready to abide by the verdict of their friends at home. Mr Mackenzie told the sober facts, but he must excuse me if I differ from him, as I frankly told him I did, in connection with one or two conclusions at which he has arrived."

These conclusions refer to my criticism on the Government policy in only encouraging people with money to emigrate, and on their having in the past extended greater encouragement to Russian Mennonites and Icelanders than to their own Highland countrymen. It is not my intention at present to discuss these questions further than I have already done, but although this is to be the last of the present series, it is my intention to write occasional articles from time to time on the Dominion, it advantages as a field of emigration, and the various aspects in which the place, its people, and institutions have presented themselves to my mind.

Since my return home I had numerous enquiries, personally and by letter, for information regarding Canada as a field for emigration and its attractions generally; but I invariably declined to give any beyond what I have already given in the Free Press and in the Celtic Magazine. This apparently uncivil resolve it is my purpose to maintain; for I do not intend to incur blame for the non-success of people who will fail to get on in Canada, as they will everywhere else, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, entirely through faults of their own. The Government have their regularly appointed and paid agents, ready to give official information, and to these I must respectfully refer all intending emigrants to the Dominion.

Leaving Niagara in the evening, I passed over to the American side of the river, where I had my luggage examined by the Custom-House officials, a duty which they performed in the most polite manner and with as little inconvenience as possible. This is more than I can say of the Canadian officials of the same class. On my first arrival on Canadian soil, at Saint John, New Brunswick, I found the Custom-House officers a most uncivil, troublesome lot, though I had nothing dutiable in my possession. This was almost a miracle, for nearly everything is taxed in Canada but the fresh air. From Niagara I took the Hudson River route, touching at Buffalo, on Lake Erie, and at Albany, the Capital of the State of New York, on my way. At both these places we had to change carriages, an inconvenience in the middle of the night such as one seldom meets with on any of the through lines on the American Continent, and one which, I was afterwards told, I might have avoided, had I taken the Erie Railroad. The run along the noble Hudson, after passing Albany next morning, was, however, worth a good deal of inconvenience; surrounded as it is with some of the most magnificent scenery on the American Continent; and having travelled nearly 600 miles we arrived at

NEW YORK CITY

at ten A.M., where, among some very genuine Scots, I remained for six days, specially to get home in the State of Nevada, which I found was to sail on the following Thursday, with Captain Braes and his officers, who