There is an abundance of charitable institutions at Montreal (and) all well managed.. among the Roman Catholics especially there are many institutions on an enormous scale.. I have hardly seen a beggar in the streets or in the country. There is a great absence of poverty, except perhaps among the lowest French population.. Happily there is at present (1871) a kindly feeling between the Roman Catholics and Protestants, each pursuing their own course without molesting the other. The general cost of living (is) much the same as in an ordinary English town.. Dinner parties are frequent in Montreal. There is perhaps a little too much expense devoted to them; and this prevents all but the wealthy from indulging in such hospitalities.