This is apparently the epoch of demonstrations by iron- clads.
During the past week, Montreal has been receiving a squadron of French cruisers with what the descriptive reporters term "indescribable enthusiasm." On Sunday, the Admiral and the officers and crew of the Bisson' were treated with special distinction, and a magnificent ceremony was arranged for their benefit at the Church of Notre Dame. More than twenty thousand persons are said to have been present, and it is declared that none but the high dignitaries of the Church have ever before been so honoured. "It was more like a triumphal fête in honour of a conquering army," says the Dalziel telegram, " than a mere sacerdotal function. At 9 o'clock in the morning the procession formed at the City Hall, with bands and French flags, and marched to the Bisson.' They escorted the officers and crew to and from the church. When the procession entered the church, the Marseillaise ' was played on the organ, and the officers and crew were seated inside the altar-rail." In the course of his sermon, the Abbo5 Avin, of Paris, asked his hearers " to remember that they were children of France, and to be always true to her." It is curious to note the enthusiasm for France which exists in Lower Canada, in spite of the extreme clericalism of the French Canadians.
