The progress of Canada—we speak of the whole dominion recently created by the confederation of Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick[110]—has been marvellous, and in no respect, perhaps, has the growth of the country shown itself in a more marked manner than in the development of its railway system. It was in 1848, or almost immediately after the completion of the magnificent canal system of Canada proper, and by which vessels of 800 tons could pass from the ocean to Lake Ontario, and _vice versâ_, that the Canadians discovered it was necessary, notwithstanding their unrivalled inland navigation, to combine with it an equally good railway communication—that was if they were to continue to be the carriers of the products of the western states through the valley of the St. Lawrence. They found that their neighbours to the south had commenced their railways in all directions, but more particularly to connect the cities on the Atlantic Coast with the Western Lakes, and accordingly in 1849 an Act was passed by the Canadian Government pledging a 6 per cent. guarantee on one-half the cost of all railways made under its provisions. Under this Act, the Northern Railway, which runs from Toronto to Collingwood, the Great Western Railway, which runs from Windsor on the Detroit River (opposite Detroit) to the Niagara River, and the St. Lawrence and Atlantic, now forming part of the Grand Trunk line, running from Montreal to Portland, were commenced. In 1852, however, the Government, fearing the effect of an indiscriminate guarantee, repealed the law of 1849, and passed an Act guaranteeing one-half of the cost of one main trunk line of railway throughout the province, and it was under this Act that the Grand Trunk Railway was projected. These terms were subsequently modified by granting a fixed sum of £3,000 per mile of railway forming part of the main trunk line. It is true that prior to these dates railways existed in Canada. There was, for example, the horse railway from La Prairie, nine miles above Montreal, to St. John’s, on the Richelieu River, which was opened in July, 1836, and was first worked with locomotives in 1837. There was also the horse railway between Queenstown and Chippewa, which was opened in 1839; but with these exceptions and the length of the Lachine Railway, a line running from Montreal for seven miles to the westward, the railway system of Canada cannot be said to have commenced until after the passing of the Railway Act in 1849, and even then it was not for about a year that any substantial progress was made. But after that date the works of the several lines were pushed forward rapidly, and in 1853 the lines from Montreal to Sherbrooke, from Toronto to Bradford, and from Hamilton to Suspension Bridge were opened. In 1854 the line between Montreal and Quebec was opened, the first train having carried Lord Elgin, who was then _en route_ to England. In the same year the Great