During last session, he was before the legislature again, and succeeded in getting a bill passed to enable him to sell his lands by lottery, and to erect a large cotton manufactory in the midst of the lots. The bill was reserved for the Queen's assent, which was received a short time since. Let us hope he will, on this occasion, be more successful in a pecuniary point of view.

ALEXANDER MURRAY, Esq.

MR. MURRAY, the able assistant of Sir W. E. Logan in the Canadian geological survey, is the second son of the late Anthony Murray, Esquire, of Dollerie and Creiff, in the county of Perth, Scotland. He was born on the 2nd of June, 1811. The family estate, of which his elder brother is the present possessor, though not large, and never entailed, has descended uninterruptedly from father to son, since the commencement of the sixteenth century. On his father's side his family came direct from the old house of Tallibardine; on his mother's, from the old princes of Orkney, and the St. Clairs of Roslyn, on the one hand; while on the other, they inherit the blood of the Grahams of Fintry (his mother's mother being a Graham of Fintry); one cadet of which family was the great and gallant John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee. Mr. Murray's career has been strange and eventful. His early youth was spent in the royal navy; and he was educated for that service at the Royal Naval college, Portsmouth. From the early part of 1825, to the year 1829, he served chiefly in the Mediterranean, and was present at the action of Navarino (20th October, 1827) as an unpassed midshipman, on board her Majesty's sloop, Philomel, commanded by Lord Ingestre, now the Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot. In 1829, while in England, he passed his examination for navigation, at the college; and, at Malta, in 1830, he passed for seamanship, qualifying for promotion, which he never got. After this time, he served partly in the West Indies, and partly on the home station, and finally, again in the Mediterranean, until 1835, when still perceiving no hopes of promotion, he left the service altogether, and went to England. Two years after while at home, in Scotland, he married Fanny Cooper Judkins, sister of a well known commander on one of the Cunard royal mail steamships; and, shortly afterwards, emigrated to Canada, where he had previously bought land, intending permanently to

settle in the country. This he probably might have done, had not a series of family misfortunes compelled him to return to England in 1841. He had scarcely been established in Canada, before the rebellion broke out, during the continuance of which he served as a volunteer in various capacities; at one time attaching himself to the naval brigade, at Chippawa, under Commander (now Captain) Drew, R.N.

While in London, in 1842, Mr. Murray became acquainted with Mr. (now Sir W. E.) Logan, who kindly gave him an introduction to Sir Henry de la Beche, at that time director of the British geological survey, the result of which introduction has shaped his career through life ever since. During the summer and autumn of that year, he worked as an amateur with one or two of the geological parties under that gentleman's direction, and was pretty constantly engaged with the staff, at the museum of practical geology. In the winter of 1842-3, when the survey of this province was finally determined on by the Canadian government, and Sir William Logan was appointed director of it, that gentleman was pleased to apply for Mr. Murray's appointment as his assistant, on the grounds of certain recommendations given to him by Sir H. de la Beche; and this application being granted, Mr. Murray was duly appointed, and has served in that capacity ever since, with credit and ability.

In connection with the geological examination of the country, it was found necessary in many parts to make extensive topographical surveys, and to this subject a great portion of Mr. Murray's time and attention has been directed in the wild regions of the Gaspé peninsula, in the first instance; and afterwards, in the unexplored parts between lake Huron and the Ottawa river, including lake Nipissing, and the country around it. Latterly he has been trying to work out the stratigraphical arrangement of a newly discovered system of rocks, now known as the Huronian series; and, we believe, he was the first to demonstrate their unconformable relations with the formations of the lower Silurian age.

It is said that Mr. Murray's career would present an ample field to a novelist, owing to the many adventures in which he has figured, and his many escapes from drowning. Twice when he was in the navy, while endeavoring to rescue two persons who had fallen overboard, one of whom he did save. Afterwards he escaped as nearly as possible, being carried over Niagara Falls; he was also on board the Clyde steamship when wrecked in the gulf; and lastly, he had an escape off the island of Campment d'Ours, lake Huron, so lately as August, 1861.*

There is something romantic touching his last escape. Mr. Murray, with three others, was out in an open boat, which was upset in a heavy squall; and, being a good distance from shore, and unable to place the boat again on her bottom, all on board would, no doubt, have been carried away by the current and lost,

MR. ALEXANDER MCLACHLAN.

ALEXANDER MCLACHLAN is another of our few Canadian poets of any note or repute. He is the son of a Scotch mechanic, and was born in the village of Johnston, Renfrewshire, in the year 1820. Though he enjoyed but few of the advantages of education, then common to Scotland, he was, from his boyhood, a voracious reader, and those who have listened to the lectures delivered by him in different parts of Canada, and elsewhere, are convinced of his profound and accurate acquaintance with the principal British authors. In his youth, he was a tailor and a chartist leader; but, like many others, after visiting the neighboring republic, he became completely cured of his youthful folly. He first came to Canada in 1840, and spent the greater portion of his time, since his arrival in Canada, in the "bush," or backwoods, until the muse brought him before the public as a successful author and writer of poetry, and as a lecturer. He has published three volumes of poetry, and delivered lectures on poetry and kindred snbjects in most of the principal towns of Canada, and in the state of New York. From a sketch of him contained in a Guelph paper, published some time ago, we make an extract, highly eulogistic of his merits and talents:

"Mr. McLachlan's powers have been comparatively slow in developing themselves. His is indeed still a young mind. We confess that we like minds of this rather than those of a meteoric character; for, not unfrequently, the sudden splendor of the latter, like that of the meteor, is transient, and too often passes away without leaving any lasting impress. When nature designs to accomplish anything great and permanent, she generally works silently and gradually; there is nothing startling and spasmodic in her efforts. How quietly she drops the little acorn into the lap of mother earth, and how slowly she rears the giant oak, which stands proudly rooted for centuries. Considerations of this nature leads us to believe, that, as yet, we have had but a partial manifestation of our poet's powers. Fine and rare as are many of his thoughts, we predict that they are only first fruits of a richer harvest. Still, we are fearless in asserting, that there are contained in the present volume* some pieces of a character to place its author in no mean rank among the acknowledged poets of the nineteenth

had their position not been perceived by a young girl on shore, Margaret Walker, the daughter of the only settler there, who, like another Grace Darling, resolutely and bravely entered a boat, pulled to their rescue, and saved their lives. This heroic girl surely deserves a medal from the Humane Society.

*"The Emigrant and other Poems,”—Toronto: Rollo & Adam, 1861.

century; appreciation may come slowly, but sooner or later, come it must and will; for where genius has implanted his seal, we have proof that the gods have issued a message that needs must find access to the heart. And when we prophesy, that there are among these poems some which will attain an immortality that but few of the author's warmest friends and most ardent admirers little dream, we undoubtedly rely upon the future for a verification of our prediction."

As to his ability as a lecturer, the following notice from the pen of Professor George, of Queen's college, Kingston, speaks for itself:

"Those who had the opportunity of listening to the lecture of Mr. McLachlan, on Wednesday evening, in the city hall, will not soon forget the high intellectual enjoyment they experienced. The subject chosen (i. e. "great men,") by the lecturer, is indeed a high one, and if handled by an ordinary man, would not only prove a failure, but could hardly be other than a miserable caricature. But Mr. McLachlan is not an ordinary man-hence his audience saw no arrogancy in the choice of his high subject, just because there was no failure in the execution. It was, indeed, treated throughout with the wisdom, knowledge, and taste of a master mind. No outline of the lecture could do any justice to it, as it plainly belongs to that class of intellectual performances, which must be looked at as a whole, if the mind would realise the force of the reasoning, and appreciate fully the beauties of the most appropriate illustrations. The strain of the lecturer's thinking is marked as might be inferred from his high poetic genius by much originality. Some of the thoughts are exceeding grand, while the general strain was admirable, just; and the practical reflections simple, pointed, and wholesome. The style and manner of the lecturer have a natural majesty, beautifully in keeping with the character of his theme. It is hardly too much praise to say, that had the great men of whom he spoke been present, they would have listened with no little satisfaction to the profound principles so clearly stated, and so ably illustrated."

Mr. McLachlan's chief aim in becoming an author and lecturer, is to be an exponent of the minds of the working men of Canada; in fact, to be to Canada, if possible, what Burns was to Scotland. His desire is to ameliorate the condition of the working classes. He has shewn the mental workings of the working man, for the purpose of getting all the rich, who obtain their living by means of head work instead of hand work, or without work of any kind, to see that the real distinction between the two classes consists less in intrinsic worth, than in fortuitous antecedents. He has endeavored to expose the sympathies, antipathies, and some of the powers of mind of the working men, so that the rich may be induced to treat their less fortunate fellow-creatures more honorably and charitably;

in short, that they may see that the working man is a man, not differing but in fortune from themselves. His ambition is to stand shoulder to shoulder with Burns and Miller, as a pioneer in establishing the literature of the working classes.

MR. J. MCCARROLL.

JAMES MCCARROLL, the talented subject of this notice, was born of a respectable family in the town of Lanesbora, in the county of Longford, Ireland, on the 3rd August, 1815. His father's side of the house was, in some way or other, connected with the Cardens of Templemore, who evinced much interest in McCarroll's family; for, on his father running away to enlist, Sir John Carden followed him with a view to providing for him more suitably, but, ere he had effected his generous purpose, the hand of the spoiler was on the brave old knight, he died.

Young McCarroll went early to school, studied earnestly and with success. He obtained a knowledge of the classics; and then his schoolboy life was over. His family came to Canada in 1831; and in the wild forests of Upper Canada took up their abode. Here he encountered all the vicissitudes of a settler of that period. His taste for letters, however, soon prompted him to seek a more genial atmosphere. He began to contribute scraps both of prose and verse to some of the provincial journals; and the manner, in which they were received, was so gratifying, that it may be said to have determined his after literary career.

In 1845, his whole energies were devoted to the press; and he has continued ever since to be connected with it, advancing steadily more and more in public favor, daily becoming more popular. He has been the unsuccessful proprietor of two journals, the editor of several, the literary critic of more than one daily, and the contributor to many. All that he ever wrote, has been received in a manner which must have been most gratifying to his feelings. His story," The New Guager," published in the Anglo-American Magazine of Toronto," The Adventures of a Night," and "The New Life Boat," are too well known and have been two highly eulogized for us to endeavor to say more about them. Mr. McCarroll is best known as a poet. "Madeline" is spoken of highly, and when we add that his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, on his late visit paid our poet a very high compliment on the composi