Of the public edifices, the new catholic cathedral, completed in 1829, is undoubtedly the most splendid, and is, in fact, superior to any other in British America. Its style is a species of Gothic; it is 255 feet 6 inches in length, and 134 feet 6 inches in breadth. The flanks rise 61 feet above the terrace, and there are six towers, of which the three belonging to the main front are 220 feet high. It is faced with excellent stone, and roofed with tin. The principal window is 64 feet in height, and 32 broad. On the roof has been formed a promenade, 76 feet by 20, elevated 120 feet, and commanding a most delightful view. The interior contains 1244 pews, equal to the accommodation of at least 10,000 persons. There are five public and three private entrances to the first floor, and four to the galleries, so disposed that this vast congregation can easily assemble and disperse in a few minutes. The building comprises seven chapels, all visible from the front entrance, and nine spacious aisles. The high altar bears a resemblance to that at St. Peter’s at Rome, the pulpit to that of the cathedral at Strasburg. The large window is painted, but not in good style; it is intended that it shall be filled hereafter with stained glass. The other catholic edifices belong mostly to the order of St. Sulpice, by whose members, as formerly mentioned, Montreal was chiefly founded, and who hold the superiority of the whole island upon which it stands. Their seminary, which is a large and commodious building adjoining the cathedral, occupies three sides of a square, 132 feet long by 90 deep, and is surrounded by spacious gardens. To extend its benefits, the order have lately, at an expense of 10,000_l._, erected a handsome additional building, 210 feet by 45. In these establishments, the numerous students, attending all the branches of learning and philosophy, are taught at very moderate charges. There are two large nunneries; the principal one, called the Congregation of Notre Dame, contains a superior and sixty sisters, who receive boarders at a low rate, and send teachers to different parts of the district. The _Sœurs Gris_ (Grey Sisters) consist of a superior and twenty-four nuns, who admit into their spacious apartments the infirm poor, and are said to treat them with great humanity. The Hôtel Dieu is a large conventual structure, occupied by a superior and thirty-six nuns, and is also appropriated to the reception of the sick and indigent. Its utility is limited by the smallness of its funds, notwithstanding occasional grants from the legislature. The Monastery of the Recollets, which occupies extensive grounds at the end of Notre Dame-street, is now demolished, though its church is still used for public worship. [Illustration: _Interior of the Cathedral, Montreal._]