The conception of Red River Settlement being an Idyllic Paradise was not confined to the writer, whose picture we have described as "Apples of Gold." It was a self-contained spot, distant from St. Anthony Falls (now Minneapolis) some four or five hundred miles, and this was its nearest neighbor of importance. Our astronomers thus describe it as an orb in space, and the celebrated Milton and Cheadle Expedition of 1862 looked upon it as an "oasis." It was often represented as being enclosed behind the Chinese wall of Hudson's Bay Company exclusiveness, and thus as hopelessly retired. The writer remembers well, when entering Manitoba, in the year after it ceased to be Red River Settlement, as he called upon the pioneer of his faith, who, for twenty years, had held his post, the old man said, when youthful plans of progress were being advanced to him, oh, rest! rest! there are creatures that prefer lying quietly at the bottom of the pool rather than to be always plunging through the troublous waters. Certainly, to the old people, there was a feeling of freedom from care, as of its being a lotus-eater's land--an Utopia; an Eden, before sin entered, and before "man's disobedience brought death into the world and all our woe." We are not disposed to press Milton's metaphor any further in regard to the disturbers who came in upon Frank Larned's peaceful scene. The time for opening up Rupert's Land was approaching. The agitation of the people themselves, the constant petitions to Great Britain and Canada called for it. The set time had come; 1857 was a red letter year in this advance. In that year the British Parliament appointed a large and powerful committee to investigate all phases of Rupert's Land, its history; government; geological, climatic, physical, agricultural, social, and religious conditions. The blue book of that year is a marvel of intelligent work. In this same year the British Government sent out the Palliser-Hector Expedition to Rupert's Land to obtain expert evidence in regard to all these points being considered by the Parliamentary Committee. Also in this year the Canadian Government dispatched the Dawson-Hind Expedition to obtain detailed information as to the physical and soil conditions of the prairie region, and it is said that the report of this party of explorers is one of the most accurate, sane, and useful accounts ever given of this prairie country. With all this attention being paid to the country and with the press of Canada awakened to see the possibility of extending Canada in this direction, it is not to be wondered at, that adventurous spirits found out this Eden and sought in it for the tree of life, perchance often finding in it the tree of evil as well as that of good. Of course, to the modern philosopher the disturbances of these peaceful seats is simply the symptom of progress and the struggle that is bound to take place in all development.