On Friday, the 25th of February, 1848, the new parliament was held at Montreal. Messrs. L.H. Lafontaine and Benjamin Holmes were returned for the city. On the occasion Mr. L.J. Papineau, who had been in pleasant exile so long in Paris, although he could have returned in 1843, found himself elected in the Union parliament. He was little changed, but his star had waned, while that of Lafontaine was in the ascendant. On March 10th Mr. Lafontaine accepted office as Premier and attorney-general and with his friend Baldwin formed the Lafontaine-Baldwin ministry. During this year the Canadian merchants suffered great commercial depression, owing to the working out of the free trade act of 1846. “Three-fourths of the merchants were bankrupt and real estate was practically unmarketable.” The session of 1849 saw the advent into political life of George Etienne Cartier, the erstwhile rebel. He was born in Verchères county, at St. Antoine, but was educated at the college of St. Sulpice at Montreal. His early law studies were in the office of M. Edouard Rodier and he was called to the bar and began practice in Montreal in 1835. He came early under the magnetic influence of Mr. Papineau and we find him a member of the “Fils de Liberté” and engaged in the fight under Doctor Nelson at St. Denis, thence flying as a proscribed man to the States. He quietly returned later, when the embargo was raised, and settled down again to practice law at Montreal, but still keeping his attention on politics.