The main edifice is 298 feet in length, five stories high; a plain,

massive structure of cut-stone, much improved in appearance since the

addition, in 1876, of the present superstructure, which relieves the

unbroken monotony of its form. The work is a great ornament not only to

the immense building itself, but to the city. The task of designing the

superstructure was entrusted to the taste and talent of J. F. Peachy,

architect. The superstructure is in the French mansard roof style, with

handsome cupolas on the east and west ends, surmounted with flag-staffs

and weather vanes. In the centre towers a dome far above all, surmounted

by a gilt-iron cross in the modern Grecian style--the upright shaft and

arms being formed at four right angles. The crown ornaments on the centre

top and ends of the arms are all of wrought iron and weigh about 700 lbs.

The base is strongly braced and bolted to an oak shaft, secured to the

truss work of the dome so firmly as to resist the fiercest gale of wind or

any other powerful strain. It is 11 feet six inches in height and the arms

are 7 feet six inches across. Mr. Philip Whitty, iron worker and,

machinist, of St. James street, was the builder of this cross, and its

handsome design and solidity reflect credit upon his taste and

workmanship. We believe that it is intended to have a picture gallery in

the superstructure under the central dome. The entire roof is strongly

trussed and braced with iron bolts. This portion of the work was done

under the superintendence of Mr. Marcou. We understand that it is also the

intention to erect two balconies on the eastern end, fronting the St.

Lawrence--these balconies to be supported by Corinthian columns. From the

base to the present superstructure, the building was originally 80 feet

high; it now stands 202 feet high from the base to the top of the cross on

the central dome.

In 1880, another important addition, involving a heavy outlay, was

planned. A lofty wing, 265 feet in length has been added to this

imposing pile of buildings; it covers a large area in the seminary

garden and connects on each story with the main structure, from which

it stands out at right angles. Both buildings are intended to form but

one, and seen from Levi or from the River St. Lawrence, it looks like

an extension of the Laval University itself. The edifice is fireproof,

its internal division walls are of brick, its rafters of iron; the

floors are brick lined with deals as a preventive against dampness.

The iron rafters were wrought at Lodelinsart, near Charleroi, Belgium;

they weigh 400 tons, and cost laid down 1-1/2 cent per lb.

The basement and the ceiling of the first flat are vaulted over. The

refectory takes up a whole wing of the first story. The masonry of the

upper corridors rests on eighteen cast iron columns, weighing 3,000

lbs. each. The ceiling of the refectory is exceedingly strong and

handsome; every story, in fact, is vaulted from top to bottom.

A corridor eight feet wide and two hundred and sixty-five feet long,

intersects the centre of each story. All the vestibules, corridors and

passages are paved with ceramic square blocks brought from Belgium.

The most notable part of the structure is the main staircase, entirely

of iron and stone; it contains 120 steps 8 feet long, 16 feet broad, 5

inches high, each step hewn out of a single block. The iron material

weighs about 37,000 lbs. There is also another flight of steps made of

iron. A hydraulic elevator in the centre of the building will provide

an easy access to every story.

The roofed galleries, eight feet wide, attached to each story on the

front, present promenades and views unrivaled in the city looking

towards Levi and the Island of Orleans. On a large stone or the

loftiest part of the front wall, over the window, is inscribed--

_Conditum_, 1880.

The arch of the entrance to the Court House burnt in 1872, which, it

was said, had formed part of the old Récollet Church, destroyed by

fire on 6th Sept., 1796, has been used to build the arch of the porch

which leads from the seminary garden to the farm-yard in rear. There

are 230 windows in this new wing which has a mansard roof. It is

computed that 4,000,000 bricks have been employed in the masonry. The

architect is J. F. Peachy.

_STAFF OF THE LAVAL UNIVERSITY IN 1881._

Rector, Revd. Ed. Méthot,--Superior of Quebec Seminary.

Professor of Commercial and Maritime Law,--Hon. Napoleon

Casault, J.S.C.

Professor of Civil Procedure,--Hon. Ulric J. Tessier, J.Q.B.

Professor of Civil Law, etc.,--Hon. Chas. Thos. A. Langelier.

Professor of Roman Law,--Hon. Ed. James Flynn.

Professor of Commercial Law,--Hon. Richard Alleyn, J.S.C.

Secretary,--Thos. Chase Casgrain, Barrister.

Professor of Internal Pathology,--Dr. Jas. Arthur Sewell, M.D.

Professor of External Pathology,--Dr. J. E. Landry, M.D.

Professor of Toxicology, etc.,--Dr. Alfred Jackson, M.D.

Professor of Descriptive Anatomy,--Dr. Eusèbe Lemieux, M.D.

Professor of Medical Jurisprudence,--Dr. H. A. LaRue, M.D.

Professor of General Pathology,--Dr. Simard, M.D.

Professor of Materia Medica, etc.,--Dr. Chas. Verge, M.D.

Professor of Practical Anatomy, etc.,--Dr. Laurent Cattelier, M.D.

Professor of Clinical--Children's Diseases,--Dr. Arthur Vallée, M.D.

Professor of Clinical--Old People's Diseases,--Dr. Michael Ahern, M.D.

Professor of Comparative Zoology, Anatomy and Physiology,--Dr. L. J.

A. Simard, M.D.

Professor of Political Economy,--Hon. C. T. A. Langelier.

Professor of Physical Science,--Rev. Mr. Laflamme.

Professor of French Literature,--Rev. Ed. Méthot.

Professor of Greek Literature,--Rev. L. Baudet.

Professor of Mineralogy,--Rev. J. C. Laflamme.

Professor of Natural Law,--Mgr. Beng. Paquet.

Professor of Dogmatic Theology,--Rev. L. H. Paquet.

Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Rev. L. N. Begin.

On the conspicuous site where stands the unpretending brick structure

known as our present House of Parliament, (which succeeded to the handsome

cut stone edifice destroyed by fire in 1864) one might, in 1660, have seen

the dwelling of a man of note, Ruette d'Auteuil. D'Auteuil became

subsequently Attorney General and had lively times with that sturdy old

ruler, Count de Frontenac. Ruette d'Auteuil had sold the lot for $600

(3,000 livres de 20 sols) to Major Provost, who resold it, with the two

story stone house thereon erected, for $3,000, to Bishop de St. Vallier.

The latter having bequeathed it to his ecclesiastical successor, Bishop

Panet ceded it in the year 1830 to the Provincial Government for an annual

ground rent of £1,000--this rent is continued to the Archbishop by the

Provincial Government of Quebec. No one now cares to enquire how Bishop

Panet made such an excellent bargain, though a cause is assigned.

Palace Street was thus denominated from its leading direct from the Upper

Town to the Intendant's Palace--latterly the King's woodyard. In earlier

days it went by the name of _Rue des Pauvres_, [49] (Street of the

Poor,) from its intersecting the domain of the _Hôtel Dieu_, whose

revenues were devoted to the maintenance of the poor sheltered behind its

massive old walls. Close by, on Fabrique street, Bishop de St. Vallier had

founded _le Bureau des Pauvres_, where the beggars of Quebec (a thriving

class to this day) received alms, in order to deter them from begging in

the country round the city. The success which crowned this humble retreat

of the mendicant led the philanthropic Bishop to found the General

Hospital in the Seigneurie de Notre Dame des Anges, beyond St. Roch. He

received there nuns of the Convents of the Ursulines and of the Hôtel Dieu

and gave them the administration of the newly founded establishment,

where, moreover, he at a more recent date resided as almoner of the poor.

At the western corner of Palace and St. John streets, has stood since

1771, a well known landmark erected to replace the statue of Saint John

the Baptist, which had, under the French _régime_, adorned the corner

house. After the surrender of Quebec to the British forces, the owners of

the house, fearing the outer barbarians might be wanting in respect to the

saint's effigy, sent it to the General Hospital, where it stood over the

principal entrance until a few years back. They replaced it by a wooden

statue of General Wolfe, sculptured by the Brothers Cholette, at the

request of George Hipps, a loyal butcher. The peregrinations of this

historic relic, in 1838, from Quebec to Halifax--from Halifax to Bermuda,

thence to Portsmouth, and finally to its old niche at Wolfe's corner, St.

John Street, whilst they afforded much sport to the middies of H. M. Ship

_Inconstant_, who visited our port that summer and carried away the

General, were the subject of several newspaper paragraphs in prose and

verse.

Finally, the safe return of the "General" with a brand new coat of paint

and varnish in a deal box, consigned to His Worship, the Mayor of Quebec

sent by unknown hands, was made an occasion of rejoicing to every friend

of the British hero whom Quebec contained, and they were not few.

Some of the actors of this practical joke, staunch upholders of

Britannia's sovereignty of the sea, now pace the quarter deck, t'is said,

proud and stern admirals.

The street and hill leading down from the parochial Church, (whose title

was _Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin

Mary_,) to the outlet, where Hope Gate was built in 1786, was called

Ste. Famille street from its vicinity to the Cathedral, which, as the

parish church of the citizens of Quebec, was formerly called the Ste.

Famille Church. On the east side, half way up the hill still exist the

ruins of the old homestead of the Seigneurs de Léry--in 1854, occupied by

Sir E. P. Taché, since, sold to the Quebec Seminary. A lofty fence on the

street hides from view the hoary old poplar trees which of yore decked the

front of the old manor. On the opposite side, a little higher up, also

survives the old house of Mr. Jean Langevin, father of the Bishop of

Rimouski, and of Sir H. L. Langevin. Here in the closing days of French

Dominion lived the first Acadian, who brought to Quebec the news of the

dispersion of his compatriots, so eloquently sung by Longfellow, Dr.

Lajus, of French extraction, who settled at Quebec and married a sister of

Bishop Hubert. On the northern angle of this old tenement you now read

"_Ste. Famille_ street."

St. Stanislas street, the western boundary of the ancient estate of the

Jesuits--on the eastern portion of which their college was built in 1637--

owes its saintly nomenclature to the learned order--no doubt desirous of

handing down to posterity an enduring souvenir of a valiant ascetic,

though youthful member of the fraternity. Its northern end reaches at

right angles to Ste. Hélène street in a line with the old tenement

recently occupied by the late Narcisse Constantin Faucher, Esq.,

Barrister--recently leased by the late Lieut.-Col. John Sewell, one of Sir

Isaac Brock's officers at Queenstown Heights in 1812 In 1835 it was the

home of a Mrs. Montgomery. That year it was burglarized in a somewhat

romantic--shall we say--humane manner by Chambers' murderous gang; the

aged and demure mistress of the house and her young maid servant being

rolled up in the velvety pleats of the parlor carpet and deposited gently,

tenderly and unharmed in the subterranean and discreet region of the

cellar, so that the feelings of either should not be lacerated by the

sight of the robbery going on above stairs.

Who will dare assert that among the sanguinary crew who in 1836, heavily

ironed, bid adieu to Quebec forever, leaving their country for their

country's good--in the British Brig _Ceres_, all bound as permanent

settlers to Van Dieman's Land--who will dare assert there was not some

Jack Sheppard, with a tender spot in his heart towards the youthful

_Briseis_ who acknowledged Mrs. Montgomery's gentle sway.

A conspicuous landmark on St. Stanislas street is Trinity Chapel.

Of yore there stood in rear of the chapel the "Theatre Royal," opened 15th

February, [50] 1832, where the Siddons, Keans and Kembles held forth to

our admiring fathers. Church and theatre both owed their birth to the late

Chief Justice Sewell. The site of this theatre was purchased some years

back by the ecclesiastical authorities of St Patrick Church. Thus

disappeared the fane once sacred to Thespis and Melpomene, its fun-loving

votaries, as such, knew it no more.

_TRINITY CHURCH._

The church of the "Holy Trinity," St. Stanislas street, Quebec, was

erected on a site which, judging from the discovery of a skeleton,

when the foundations were laid, had been a cemetery.

The architecture of this church is Doric, and is considered correct

both internally and externally. It is a substantial building of good

proportions, 90 feet in length by 49 in breadth, is supplied with an

organ and bell. It is commodious and capable of seating 700 persons.

The sittings are free. It contains a beautiful marble monument, by

Manning, of London, which was erected to the memory of the late Hon.

Jonathan Sewell, LL.D., the founder of the church, also a few other

tablets in memory of different members of the family of Sewell. The

present incumbent and proprietor is the Rev. Edmund Willoughby Sewell,

M.A., but it is confidently expected that ere long it will pass into

the hands of an incorporated body, with whom the future presentment of

the officiating clergyman will rest.

On a tin-plate on the corner-stone of the chapel, the following

inscription occurs:

"Quebec, 15th September, 1824.

On Thursday was deposited in a private manner, under a stone at

the north-east angle of the new Chapel of Ease to the English

Cathedral, a tin plate having the following Latin inscription:

Anno Dm. Christi MDCCCXXIV Regnante

Georgio Quarto, Britaniarum Rege Fidet

Defensore Reverendissimo Patre in Deo

Jacob Mountain S. T. P. Episcopo Quebecensi,

Hanc Capellam, ad perpetuum honorem

Sacrosanctae Trinitatis, et in usum Fidelium

Ecclesiae Anglican dedicatam Vir honorabilis

Jonothan Sewell, Provinciae Canadae inferioris

Judex Primarius, et Henrietta ejus uxor

Adificaverunt

Edmundo Willoughby Sewell, clerico, uno de eorum filiis Capellano

primo

G. BLAICKLOCK, _Architecto_

J. PHILIPS, _Conditore_

On the other side is the inscription on the monument:

IN MEMORY OF

JONATHAN SEWELL, LL.D.

The Pious and Liberal Founder of this Chapel.

Endowed with talents of no common order

He was selected in early life to fill the highest offices

in this Province

He was appointed Solicitor General A.D. 1793,

Attorney and Advocate General and Judge of the Court of Vice

Admiralty, A.D. 1795, Chief Justice of the Province and Chairman

of the Executive Council A.D. 1809.

Speaker of the Legislative Council A.D. 1809.

Distinguished in his public capacity,

He shone equally conspicuous as a statesman and a jurist.

Naturally mild and courteous, he combined the meekness of the

Christian

with the authority of the Judge.

Beloved at home as a kind father, a firm friend and an

affectionate husband.

Respected abroad as an acknowledged example of truth, faithfulness

and integrity;

He has left a name to which not only his descendants in all future

ages, But his country may recur

With just pride, deep reverence, and a grateful recollection.

He was born in Boston, Mass., June 6th, 1766, and died in this

city, in the Fulness of the Faith in Christ, November 13th, 1839

in the 74th year of his age

This tribute to departed worth is erected by his sorrowing widow."

The southern extreme of St. Stanislas street terminates at the

intersection of Ste. Anne street, past the old jail, which dated from

1810. Lugubrious memories crowd round this massive tolbooth--of which the

only traces of the past are some vaulted lock-up or cells beneath the

rooms of the Literary and Historical Society, one of which, provided with

a solid new iron door, is set apart for the reception of the priceless

M.S.S. of the society. The oak flooring of the passages to the cells

exhibit many initials, telling a tale of more than one guilty life--of

remorse--let us hope, of repentance.

The narrow door in the wall and the iron balcony, over the chief entrance

leading formerly to the fatal drop which cut short the earthly career of

the assassin or burglar [51] was speedily removed when the directors of

the Morrin College in 1870 purchased the building from Government to

locate permanently the seat of learning due to the munificence of the late

Joseph Morrin, M.D.

The once familiar inscription above the prison door, the rendering of

which in English was a favourite amusement to many of the juniors of the

High School, or Seminary, on their way to class, that also has

disappeared:

"_Carcer iste bonos a pravis vindicare possit_!"

May this prison teach the wicked for the edification of the good."

The damp, vaulted cells in the basement, where the condemned felon in

silence awaited his doom, or the airy wards above, where the impecunious

debtor or the runaway sailor meditatively or riotously defied their

traditional enemies the constable and policeman, now echo the Hebrew,

Greek and Latin utterances of the Morrin College professors, and on

meeting nights the disquisitions before the Literary and Historical

Society, of lecturers on Canadian history, literature or art.

It is the glory and privilege of the latter institution in accordance with

the object of its Royal Charter, to offer to citizens of all creeds and

nationalities, a neutral ground, sacred to intellectual pursuits. It dates

back to 1823, when His Excellency, George Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie,

assisted by the late Dr. John Charlton Fisher, LL.D., and ex-editor of the

New York _Albion_, successfully matured a long meditated plan to promote

the study of history and of literature. The Literary and Historical

Society held its first meeting in the _Château St. Louis_. It is curious

to glance over the list of names in its charter. [52] It contained the

leading men on the Bench, in the professions, and in the city. In 1832 the

library and museum occupied a large room in the Union building facing the

Ring. From thence they were transferred to the upper story of the

Parliament Buildings, on Mountain Hill, where a portion of both was

destroyed by the conflagration which burnt down the stately cut-stone

edifice in 1854, with the stone of which in 1860, the Champlain Market

Hall was built. What was saved of the library and museum was transferred

to apartments in St Louis street, then owned by the late George Henderson,

J.P. [53] The next removal, about 1860, brought the institution to Masonic

Hall, corner of Garden and St. Louis streets. Here, also, the fire-fiend

assailed the treasures of knowledge and specimens of natural history, of

the society, which, with its household gods, flitted down to a suite of

rooms above the savings bank apartments in St. John Street, from whence,

about 1870, it issued to become an annual tenant in the north wing of the

Morrin College, where it has flourished ever since.

In the protracted and chequered existence of this pioneer among Canadian

literary associations, one day, above all others is likely from the

preparations--pageant and speeches which marked it, to be long remembered

among Quebecers as a red letter day in the annals of the society. The

celebration in December, 1875 of the centennial of the repulse of

Brigadier General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold, who, at

dawn on the 31st December, 1775, attempted to take the old fortress by

storm. The first, with a number of his followers, met with his death at

Près-de-Ville, in Champlain street; the other was carried wounded in the

knee, to the General Hospital, St. Roch's suburbs, whilst 427 of his

command were taken prisoners of war and incarcerated until September

following in the Quebec Seminary, the Récollet Convent and the Dauphin

Prison, since destroyed, but then existing, a little north of St. John's

Gate, inside. The worthy commander of the "B" Battery, Lieut.-Col. T. B.

Strange, R.A., then stationed at the Citadel of Quebec, having consented to

narrate the incidents which marked the attack of Brigadier General Richard

Montgomery at Près-de-Ville (which we reserve for another page,) the

description of Col. Benedict Arnold's assault on the Sault-au-Matelot

barriers, was, left to ourselves. We subjoin a portion of the address

delivered by us at this memorable centenary. It embodies an important

incident of Quebec history:

_ARNOLD'S ASSAULT ON SAULT-AU-MATELOT BARRIERS._

MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

"The event which we intend commemorating this evening, is one at

peculiar interest to us as Canadians, and more especially so to us as

Quebecers, the narrow, I may say, the providential escape of the whole

Province from foreign subjugation one century ago. It is less a

chapter of Canadian annals I purpose to read to you this night, than

some minute details little known, and gleaned from the journals left

by eye witnesses of the thrilling hand to hand fight which took place

a few hundred yards from where you sit, under our walls, on the 31st

December, 1775, between Col. Arnold's New England soldiery and our own

garrison.

Possibly, you may not all realize the critical position of the city on

that memorable morning. Next day, a Sunday, ushered in the new year.

Think you there was much "visiting," much festivity, on that new

year's day? alas! though victory crowned our banner, there was

mourning in too many Canadian homes; we, too, had to bury our dead.

Let us take a rapid glimpse of what had proceeded the assault.

Two formidable parties, under experienced leaders, in execution of the

campaign planned by George Washington and our former Deputy Post

Master General, the able Benjamin Franklin, had united under the walls

of Quebec. Both leaders intimately knew its highways and by-ways.

Brigadier General Richard Montgomery, before settling near New York,

had held a lieutenant's commission in His Britannic Majesty's 17th

Foot, had taken part in the war of the conquest, in 1759, and had

visited Quebec. Col. Benedict Arnold, attracted by the fame of our

Norman horses, had more than once been in the city with the object of

trading in them.

Benedict Arnold was indeed a daring commander. His successful journey

through trackless forests between Cambridge and Quebec--his descent in

boats through rivers choked with ice, and through dangerous rapids;

the cold, hunger and exposure endured by himself and his soldiers,

were feats of endurance of which any nation might justly feel proud.

Major-General Sir James Carmichael Smyth, a high authority on such

matters, says of this winter campaign: "It is, perhaps, one of the

most wonderful instances of perseverance and spirit upon record." So

much for the endurance and bravery of our foes. I am compelled to pass

unnoticed many important incidents of the campaign in order to reach

sooner the main facts.

What was the real state of the Colony on that identical 31st December,

one hundred years ago? Why, it was simply desperate. The wave of

invasion had surged over our border. Fort after fort, city after city,

had capitulated--Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Fort St. John, Fort

Chambly, Montreal, Sorel, Three Rivers. Montgomery with his victorious

bands had borne everything before him like a tornado. The Canadian

peasantry dreaded the very sight of warriors who must be ball-proof,

as they were supposed, by a curious mistake, to be "incased in plate-

iron," _vêtus de tole_, instead _de toile_. [54] The red [54a] and

black flag of successful rebellion floated over the suburbs of Quebec.

Morgan's and Humphries' riflemen were thundering at the very gates of

the city, those dear old walls--(loud applause)--which some Vandals

are longing to demolish, alone kept away the wolf.

Levi, Sillery, Ste Foye, Lorette, Charlesbourg, the Island of Orleans,

Beauport and every inch of British territory around the city were in

possession of the invaders, every house in the suburbs sheltered an

enemy--every bush in the country might conceal a deadly foe. Treachery

stalked within the camp--disaffection was busy inside and outside of

the walls. At first many of the citizens, English as well as French,

seemed disinclined to take part in the great family quarrel which had

originated at Boston--the British of New England pitted against the

British of Canada. The confusion of ideas and opinions must at first

have been great. Several old British officers who had served in the

wars of the conquest of Canada, had turned their swords against their

old messmates--their brothers-in-arms--amongst others, Richard

Montgomery, Moses Hazen and Donald Campbell. Quebec, denuded of its

regulars, had indeed a most gloomy prospect to look upon. No soldiers

to man her walls except her citizens unaccustomed to warfare--no

succour to expect from England till the following spring--scantiness

of provisions and a terrified peasantry who had not the power, often

no desire, to penetrate into the beleaguered city during winter.

Were not these trying times for our worthy sires?

Such was the posture of affairs, when to the general joy, our gallant

Governor Guy Carleton, returned and rejoined his dauntless little army

at Quebec, having succeeded, thanks to Captain Bouchette and other

brave men, in eluding the vigilance of the enemy in possession of

Three Rivers, Sorel and Montreal. Turn over the records of those days

and yon will see the importance our fathers attached to the results of

the Sault-au-Matelot and Près-de-Ville engagements.

For more than twenty-five years, the 31st December, 1775, was annually

commemorated, generally by a club dinner given at Ferguson's Hotel,

(Freemasons' Hall?) or at some other hotel of note--sometimes a

Château ball was added by the Governor of the Province. In 1778, we

find in the old _Quebec Gazette_, a grand _fête champêtre_, given by

Lady Maria Carleton and her gallant partner Sir Guy, at the Red House,

a fashionable rustic Hostelry, kept by Alex. Menut, the prince of

Canadian _Soyers_ of those days, who had been _Maître d'Hôtel_ to

General Murray, and selected that year by Their Excellencies. It stood

on the Little River road, (the land is now owned by Mr. Tozer) about

two miles from Quebec. It reads thus in the _Gazette_ of 8th January,

1778:

Quebec, 8th January, 1778._

"Yesterday, seventh night, being the anniversary of the victory

obtained over the Rebels in their attack upon this City in the year

1775, a most elegant Ball and Supper were given at Menut's Tavern by

the Gentlemen who served in the Garrison during that Memorable Winter.

The Company, consisting of upwards of two hundred and thirty Ladies

and Gentlemen, made a grand and brilliant appearance, and nothing but

mirth and good humour reigned all night long. About half-past six, His

Excellency, Sir Guy Carleton, Knight of the Bath, our worthy Governor

and Successful General, dressed in the militia uniform, (which added

lustre to the Ribbon and Star) as were also all the gentlemen of that

corps who served under him during the siege, entered the assembly room

accompanied by Lady Maria, &c., &c., and the Ball was soon opened by

her Ladyship and the Honorable Henry Caldwell, Lieutenant Colonel

Commandant of the British Militia. The dancing continued until half-

past twelve, when the Ladies were conducted into the supper room,

where Mr. Menut exhibited fresh proofs of that superior excellence in

the _culinary_ art he so justly claims above his Peers.... The

company in general broke up about four in the morning, highly

satisfied with their entertainment and in perfect good humour with one

another. May that disposition prevail until the next and every

succeeding 31st of December, and may each return of that glorious day

(the event of which was not only the preservation of this garrison;

but of the whole Province) be commemorated with the same spirit and

unanimity in grateful remembrance of our happy deliverance from the

snares of the enemy, and with grateful acknowledgements of those

blessings of peace and tranquility of Government and Laws we now enjoy

in consequence of that day's success."

The _Gazette_ of the following year carefully chronicles the gathering

of the Veterans of 1775.--"Thursday last being the anniversary of the

31st December, a Day which will be ever famous in the annals of this

country for the defeat of Faction and Rebellion, the same was observed

with the utmost festivity In the evening a ball and cold Collation was

given by the gentlemen who composed the Garrison in the winter of

1775, to His Excellency and a numerous and brilliant assembly of

Ladies and Gentlemen, the satisfaction every one felt in Commemorating

so Glorious an event, strongly appeared by the joy which was visible

in every contenance."

In 1790, according to the _Quebec Herald_, the annual dinner was

held at the _Merchant's Coffee House_, by about 30 survivors of

the Veterans, who agreed to meet twice a year, instead of once, their

joviality apparently increasing with their age.

In 1794, [55] the _Gazette_ acquaints us that the Anniversary

Dinner was to be held at Ferguson's Hotel, on the 6th May. [56] We

find both nationalities fraternising in these loyal demonstrations. M.

DeBonne (afterwards Judge DeBonne) taking his place next to loyal John

Coffin, of Près-de-Ville fame, and probably Simon Fraser and the Hon.

Hugh Finlay, will join Lieutenant Dambourgès and Col Dupré, in

toasting King George III. under the approving eye of Lt. Col.

Caldwell, Wolfe's Deputy Quarter-Master General. Col. Caldwell, lived

to a green old age, and expired in this city in 1810. Our esteemed

fellow-citizen, Errol Boyd Lindsay, remembers him well, and in front

of whom I stand, a stalwart Volunteer of 1837, Col. Gugy, is now

relating how when a lad he once dined with Col. Caldwell, some seventy

years ago, at Belmont, amidst excellent cheer.

The _Quebec Gazette_ teems with loyal English and French songs of

1775, for a quarter of a century, and for more than twenty-five years

the anniversary banquet, ball or dinner was religiously kept up.

But we must hie away from these "junketings"--these festive boards,

which our loyal ancestors seem to have infinitely enjoyed. We must hie

away the long wished for "snow storm," the signal of attack has come.

'Tis five o'clock before dawn. Hark to the rattle of the alarm drum.

Hark! Hark to the tolling of every city bell (and you know Quebec

bells are numerous) louder! louder even than the voice of the easterly

storm. To ARMS! To ARMS! resounds in the Market Place--the _Place

d'Armes_--and in the streets of our slumbering city.

Instead of giving you my views on the attack, I shall summon from the

silent, the meditative past, one of the stirring actors in this

thrilling encounter, an intrepid and youthful Volunteer, under Arnold,

then aged seventeen years, John Joseph Henry. He will tell you how his

countrymen attacked us:

"It was not," says Judge Henry, "until the night of the 31st

December, 1775, that such kind of weather ensued as was considered

favorable for the assault. The fore part of the night was

admirably enlightened by a luminous moon. Many of us, officers as

well as privates, had dispersed in various directions among the

farm and tippling houses of the vicinity. We well knew the signal

for rallying. This was no other than a "snow storm." About 12

o'clock, P.M., the heaven was overcast. We repaired to quarters.

By 2 o'clock we were accoutred and began our march. The storm was

outrageous, and the cold wind extremely biting. In this northern

country the snow is blown horizontally into the faces of the

travellers on most occasions--this was our case.

When we came to Craig's house, near Palace Gate, a horrible roar

of cannon took place, and a ringing of all the bells of the city,

which are very numerous, and of all sizes. Arnold, leading the

forlorn hope, advanced, perhaps, one hundred yards, before the

main body. After these followed Lamb's artillerists. Morgan's

company led in the secondary part of the column of infantry.

Smith's followed, headed by Steele, the Captain from particular

causes being absent. Hendrick's company succeeded and the eastern

men so far as known to me, followed in due order. The snow was

deeper than in the fields, because of the nature of the ground.

The path made by Arnold, Lamb, and Morgan was almost

imperceptible, because of the falling snow. Covering the locks of

our guns, with the lappets of our coats, holding down our heads

(for it was impossible to bear up our faces against the imperious

storm of wind and snow), we ran, along the foot of the hill in

single file. Along the first of our run, from Palace Gate, for

several hundred paces, there stood a range of insulated buildings,

which seemed to be store-houses, we passed these quickly in single

file, pretty wide apart. The interstices were from thirty to fifty

yards. In these intervals, we received a tremendous fire of

musketry from the ramparts above us. Here we lost some brave men,

when powerless to return the salutes we received, as the enemy was

covered by his impregnable defences. They were even sightless to

us, we could see nothing but the blaze from the muzzles of their

muskets.

A number of vessels of various sizes lay along the beach, moored

by their hawsers or cables to the houses. Passing after my leader,

Lieutenant Steele, at a great rate, one of those ropes took me

under the chin, and cast me head long down, a declivity of at

least fifteen feet. The place appeared to be either a dry-dock or

a saw-pit. My descent was terrible, gun and all was involved in a

great depth of snow. Most unluckily, however, one of my knees

received a violent contusion on a piece of scraggy ice, which was

covered by the snow. On like occasions, we can scarcely expect, in

the hurry of attack, that our intimates should attend to any other

than their own concern. Mine went from me, regardless of my fate.

Scrambling out of the cavity, without assistance, divesting my

person and gun of the snow, and limping into the line, I attempted

to assume a station and preserve it. These were none of my

friends--they knew me not. I had not gone twenty yards, in my

hobbling gait, before I was thrown out, and compelled to await the

arrival of a chasm in the line, when a new place might be

obtained. Men in affairs such as this, seem in the main, to lose

the compassionate feeling, and are averse from being dislodged

from their original stations. We proceeded rapidly, exposed to a

long line of fire from the garrison, for now we were unprotected

by any buildings. The fire had slackened in a small degree. The

enemy had been partly called off to resist the General, and

strengthen the party opposed to Arnold in our front. Now we saw

Colonel Arnold returning, wounded in the leg, and supported by two

gentlemen; a parson, Spring, was one, and, in my belief, a Mr.

Ogden, the other. Arnold called on the troops, in a cheering

voice, as we passed, urging us forward, yet it was observable

among the soldiery, with whom it was my misfortune to be now

placed, that the Colonel's retiring damped their spirits. A cant

term "We are sold," was repeatedly heard in many parts throughout

the line. Thus proceeding, enfiladed by an animated but lessened

fire, we came to the first barrier, where Arnold had been wounded

in the onset. This contest had lasted but a few minutes, and was

somewhat severe, but the energy of our men prevailed. The

embrasures were entered when the enemy were discharging their

guns. The guard, consisting of thirty persons, were, either taken

or fled, leaving their arms behind them. At this time it was

discovered that our guns were useless, because of the dampness.

The snow which lodged in our fleecy coats was melted by the warmth

of our bodies. Thence came that disaster. Many of the party,

knowing the circumstance, threw aside their own, and seized the

British arms. These were not only elegant, but were such as

befitted the hand of a real soldier. It was said, that ten

thousand stand of such arms had been received from England, in the

previous summer, for arming the Canadian militia. These people

were loath to bear them in opposition to our rights. From the

first barrier to the second, there was a circular course along the

sides of houses, and partly through a street, probably of three

hundred yards or more. This second barrier was erected across and

near the mouth of a narrow street, adjacent to the foot of the

hill, which opened into a larger, leading soon into the main body

of the Lower Town. Here it was, that the most serious contention

took place: this became the bone of strife. The admirable

Montgomery, by this time, (though it was unknown to us) was no

more; yet, we expected momentarily to join him. The firing on that

side of the fortress ceased, his division fell under the command

of a Colonel Campbell, of the New York line, a worthless chief,

who retreated, without making an effort, in pursuance of the

general's original plans. The inevitable consequence was, that the

whole of the forces on that side of the city, and those who were

opposed to the dastardly persons employed to make the false

attacks, embodied and came down to oppose our division. Here was

sharp-shooting. We were on the disadvantageous side of the

barrier, for such a purpose. Confined in a narrow street, hardly

more than twenty feet wide, and on the lower ground, scarcely a

ball, well aimed or otherwise, but must take effect upon us.

Morgan, Hendricks, Steele, Humphrey's, and a crowd of every class

of the army, had gathered into the narrow pass, attempting to

surmount the barrier, which was about twelve or more feet high,

and so strongly constructed, that nothing but artillery, could

effectuate its destruction. There was a construction, fifteen or

twenty yards within the barrier, upon a rising grounde, the cannon

of which much overtopped the height of the barrier, hence, we were

assailed by grape shot in abundance. This erection we called the

platform. Again, within the barrier, and close into it, were two

ranges of musketeers, armed with musket and bayonet, ready to

receive those who might venture the dangerous leap. Add to all

this, that the enemy occupied the upper chambers of the houses, in

the interior of the barrier, on both sides of the street, from the

windows of which we became fair marks. The enemy, having the

advantage of the ground in front, a vast superiority of numbers,

dry and better arms, gave them an irresistible power, in so narrow

a space. Humphreys, upon a mound, which was speedily erected,

attended by many brave men, attempted to scale the barrier, but

was compelled to retreat, by the formidable phalanx of bayonets

within, and the weight of fire from the platform and the

buildings. Morgan, brave to temerity, stormed and raged;

Hendricks, Steele, Nichols, Humphreys, equally brave, were sedate,

though under a tremendous fire. The platform, which was within our

view, was evacuated by the accuracy of our fire, and few persons

dared venture there again. Now it was, that the necessity of

occupancy of the houses, on our side of the barrier, became

apparent. Orders were given by Morgan to that effect. We entered.

This was near day-light. The houses were a shelter, from which we

might fire with much accuracy. Yet, even here, some valuable lives

were lost. Hendricks, when aiming his rifle at some prominent

person, died by a straggling ball through his heart. He staggered

a few feet backwards, and fell upon a bed, where he instantly

expired. He was an ornament of our little society. The amiable

Humphreys died by a like kind of wound, but it was in the street,

before we entered the buildings. Many other brave men fell at this

place; among these were Lieutenant Cooper, of Connecticut, and

perhaps fifty or sixty noncommissioned officers and privates. The

wounded were numerous, and many of them dangerously so. Captain

Lamb, of the York artillerists; had nearly one-half of his face

carried away, by a grape or canister shot. My friend Steele lost

three of his fingers, as he was presenting his gun to fire;

Captain Hubbard and Lieutenant Fisdle, were all among the wounded.

When we reflect upon the whole of the dangers of this barricade,

and the formidable force that came to annoy us, it is a matter of

surprise that so many should escape death and wounding as did. All

hope of success having vanished, a retreat was contemplated, but

hesitation, uncertainty, and a lassitude of mind, which generally

takes place in the affairs of men, when we fail in a project, upon

which we have attached much expectation, now followed. The moment

was foolishly lost, when such a movement might have been made with

tolerable success. Captain Laws, at the head of two hundred men,

issuing from Palace Gate, most fairly and handsomely cooped us up.

Many of the men, aware of the consequences, and all our Indians

and Canadians (except Natanis [57] and another,) escaped across

the ice, which covered the Bay of St. Charles, before the arrival

of Captain Laws. This was a dangerous and desperate adventure, but

worth while the undertaking, in avoidance of our subsequent

sufferings. Its desperateness consisted in running two miles

across shoal ice, thrown up by the high tides of this latitude--

and its danger, in the meeting with air holes, deceptively covered

by the bed of snow. Speaking circumspectly, yet it must be

admitted conjecturally, it seems to me, that in the whole of the

attack, of commissioned officers, we had six killed, five wounded,

and of non-commissioned and privates, at least one hundred and

fifty killed, and fifty or sixty wounded. Of the enemy, many were

killed and many more wounded, comparatively, than on our side,

taking into view the disadvantages we laboured under; and that but

two occasions happened when we could return their fire, that is,

at the first and second barriers. Neither the American account of

this affair, as published by Congress, nor that of Sir Guy

Carleton, admit the loss of either side to be so great as it

really was, in my estimation * * * * * as to the British, on the

platform they were fair objects to us. They were soon driven

thence by the acuteness of our shooting. * * * *

Perhaps there never was a body of men associated, who better

understood the use and manner of employing a rifle, than our

corps; while by this time of the attack, they had their guns in

good order. When we took possession of the houses, we had a great

range. Our opportunities to kill, were enlarged. Within one

hundred yards, every man must die. The British however were at

home--they could easily drag their dead out of sight, and bear

their wounded to the Hospital. It was the reverse with us. Captain

Prentis, who commanded the provost guards, would tell me of seven

or eight killed, and fifteen or twenty wounded; opposed to this

the sentries, (who were generally Irishmen, that guarded us with

much simplicity, if not honesty,) frequently admitted of forty or

fifty killed, and many more wounded. The latter assertions

accorded with my opinion. The reasons for this belief are these:

when the dead, on the following days, were transported on the

carioles which passed our habitation for deposition in the "dead

house," we observed many bodies, of which none of us had any

knowledge; and again when our wounded were returned to us from the

hospital, they uniformly spoke of being surrounded there, in its

many characters, by many of the wounded of the enemy. To the great

honor of General Carleton, they were all, whether friends or

enemies, treated with like attention."

The Continentals of Brigadier-General Montgomery had settled on the

following plan of attack:--Col Livingston, with his three hundred

Canadians and Major Brown, was to simulate an attack on the western

portion of the walls--Montgomery to come from Holland House down by

Wolfe's Cove, creep along the narrow path close to the St. Lawrence

and meet Arnold on his way from the General Hospital at the foot of

Mountain Hill, and then ascend to Upper Town.

The brilliant _fête littéraire_ held by the Literary and Historical

Society to commemorate the event was thus noticed in the _Morning

Chronicle_ of Dec 30th, 1875:

_THE LITERARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S CENTENARY FÊTE._

It would be hardly possible to imagine a more graceful or unique

gathering than that which assembled in the rooms of the Literary and

Historical Society last evening, for the purpose of celebrating with

all possible _éclat_ that gloriously memorable event, the repulse

of the troops commanded by General Richard Montgomery, of the American

Army, whilom officer of the 17th Regiment of Infantry in the service

of his Britannic Majesty George III, who on the blusterous wintry

morning of the 31st December, 1775, attempted an assault upon the

redoubts and fortifications which at that time did the duty of our

present Citadel, and whose intrepidity was rewarded with a soldier's

death, and his want of success formed the nucleus of the power which

is so firmly established in this Royal Canada of ours to day.

The arrangements made by the Society for the reception of their

unusually numerous guests and the decorations of the various

apartments, were all that could be wished--commodious and tasteful. In

the entrance hall the Royal standard floated, and there the B. Battery

Band was placed. Turning up the left hand flight of steps the visitor

--passing the large class room of Morrin College, transformed for the

nonce into spacious refreshment buffets--was ushered into the lecture

room, from the galleries of which flags of many nations and many

colours were drooping. The raised dais, occupied during the delivery

of the addresses by James Stevenson, Esq., Senior Vice-President, L. &

H. Society, in the chair; Lieut.-Col. Bland Strange, R. S. M.

Bouchette, Esq., Dr. Boswell, Vice-Presidents, J. M. LeMoine, Esq.,

and Commander Ashe, R.N., ex-Presidents, was flanked on either side

with the blue and silver banners of St. Andrew's Society, bearing the

arms and escutcheon of Scotia, and their proud motto "_Nemo me

impune lascessit_." Bunting and fresh spruce foliage gave an air of

freshness to all the adornable parts of the room. Immediately opposite

the lectern, which was illuminated with wax candles, placed in last

century candlesticks, and attached to the gallery railings, was a fine

collection of Lochaber axes, clustered around a genuine wooden Gaelic

shield studded with polished knobs of glittering brass. Long before

the hour of eight the company had increased to such an extent that the

room was crowded to the doors, but not inconveniently as the

ventilation was unexceptionable. With accustomed punctuality, James

Stevenson, Esq., acting in the absence of the President, opened the

meeting with some highly appropriate remarks relative to the

historical value of the subjects about to be discussed and summarising

very succinctly the events immediately previous to the beleaguering of

the fortress city. He alluded in stirring terms to the devotion which

had been manifested by the British and French defenders, who resolved

rather to be buried in the ruins than surrender the city. He stated

that he thought it especially meet and proper that the Literary and

Historical Society here should have taken up the matter and dealt with

it in this way. He alluded in eulogistic terms to the capability of

the gentlemen about to address them and, after regretting the

unavoidable absence of Lt-Col. Coffin, a lineal descendant of an

officer present, formally introduced the first speaker, Lieutenant-

Colonel Strange, commandant of Quebec Garrison, and Dominion Inspector

of Artillery. This gallant officer, who on rising was received with

loud and hearty cheering by the audience, plunged with characteristic

military brevity _in medias res_, simply remarking, at the outset,

that he, in such a position, was but a rear rank man, while Colonel

Coffin would have been a front-ranker; but his soldierly duty was

to fill that position in the absence of him to whom the task would

have been officially assigned. The subject which formed a distinct

section of the major topic of the evening was then taken up. Inasmuch

as it is our intention, and we believe that of the Society, to

reproduce faithfully in pamphlet form the graphic, interesting and

detailed word-pictures of the ever memorable events of the 31st

December, 1775, as given by the learned and competent gentlemen who

addressed the meeting, it suffices to say in the present brief notice

of the proceedings that Colonel Strange exhaustively treated that

portion which referred to the attack and defence at Pres-de-Ville--the

place in the vicinity of which now stands the extensive wharves of the

Allan Company. Many incidents of the siege, utterly unknown to

ordinary readers of history were recalled last night, and many things

that have hitherto been dubious, or apparently unaccountable explained

away. The story of the finding of the snow-covered and hard-frozen

corpse of the unfortunate General and his Aide-de-Camp, was told with

much pathos, as were details of his burial. The references to

descendants of then existing families still residents in Quebec, were

extremely interesting, because many were among the audience. At the

conclusion of Colonel Strange's admirable resumé, and some further

pointed remarks from the Chairman, Mr. J. M. LeMoine, who is _par

excellence_ and _par assiduité_ our Quebec historian, whose life has

been mainly devoted to compilation of antiquarian data touching the

walls, the streets, the relics, the families, the very Flora, and

Fauna of our cherished Stadacona--commenced his erudite and amusing

sketches of the day, taken from the stand point of the enemy's

headquarters, and the fray in the Sault-au-Matelot. Interspersing in

his own well digested statement of events, he chose the best

authenticated accounts from contemporaneous participants, British,

French Canadian and American, proving that the record as presented by

Col. Strange and himself last night, was a "plain unvarnished truthful

tale," a reliable mirror in which was faithfully reflected all that

was historically interesting as affecting Quebec in the Campaign of

1775-6. When Mr. LeMoine had terminated his address, which was of

considerable length, Mr. Stevenson concluded this portion of the

proceedings with a most eulogistic and deserved recognition of the

devotion which the two gentlemen who had read during the evening had

shewn in preparing their respective papers, and a vote of thanks to

them was heartily and unanimously accorded. He also made reference to

the topic of the day, the restoration and embellishment of our oft-

besieged, city, gracefully attributing honour where it was due, first

and foremost to His Excellency the Governor-General, Earl of Dufferin,

at whose instigation the plans had been prepared; secondly, to His

Worship the Mayor, Owen Murphy, Esq., (who was present), for his

untiring exertions and valuable assistance in developing, maturing and

preparing the way for an early completion of said designs, which are

to make Quebec a splendid architectural example of the deformed,

transformed; thirdly, to the hearty co-operation of the public, aided

in their views by the enterprise of the proprietor of the _Morning

Chronicle_, who had prepared the splendid illustrations of these

improvements, thereby reflecting infinite credit upon himself. After a

few other remarks the ladies and gentlemen were invited to inspect the

library, which for the rest of the evening was the centre of

attraction. The _coup d'oeil_, when once one had fairly entered

into this beautifully designed, permanent focus of intellectual

wealth, around whose walls were ranged the imperishable memorials of

nearly all of man's genius that has been thought worthy of

preservation, was striking and memorable. As in the lecture room,

those emblems, which are our symbolical as well as actual rallying

points in all times of trouble or war, draped and covered the book

shelves which contain the essence of almost all that human

intelligence, human thought, human wit, man's invention and ingenuity

has as yet brought to light. Here, historian and poet, geographer and

engineer, humorist and preacher, dramatist and theologian, are

congregated, serving in the one great cause of public instruction and

the expansion of the limitless ramifications which exist in the ever

growing tree of knowledge. The student and litérateur, the bibliophile

and dilletante novel reader, the most frequent visitors here last

night were replaced by groups of fair women and patriotic men

assembled to commemorate an event which had a marked effect upon the

history of this continent in this nineteenth century, which will

expire a few hours after these lines meet the reader's eyes. In lieu

of study and thought, the attention of the throng was attracted to the

splendid stand of arms reaching from floor to ceiling, and which was

as it were defended by the Dominion standard that fell in long

festoons behind. In the centre of a diamond-shaped figure, made up of

scores of sabres pointing inwards, was a large glittering star of

silvery steel bayonets. In chronological order were pink and gilt

tablets, containing each one the names of the Lieutenant-Governors of

Canada, commencing with Carleton, in 1775, and proceeding through the

noble list, which includes Haldimand, Dorchester, Dalhousie, Gosford,

Colborne, Durham, Sydenham, Bagot, Cathcart, Elgin, Head, Monk,

Lisgar, down to the present glorious epoch, when this prosperous

country is vice-regally and right royally presided over by Lord

Dufferin, in the year of grace, 1875--on the opposite side of the

room, under a similar spiky coronet of bristling steel, was hung the

sword of the dead and vanquished, but honoured and revered hero, the

trusty blade which only left Montgomery's hands, when in his death-

throes he 'like a soldier fell,' and the pitiless snow became his

winding-sheet. On a table below this interesting and valuable historic

relic, now in possession, as an heirloom, of J. Thompson Harrower,

Esq., of this city, was exhibited the full uniform of an artillery

officer of the year 1775. Several quaint old sketches and paintings

were placed around the Library, which, with the Museum, was converted

for the time into an extempore conversazione hall, and while the

melodies of the 'B' Battery band were wafted hither and thither

through the building, the dames and cavaliers gossiped pleasantly over

their tea or coffee and delicacies provided by the members for the

guests, and declared, with much show of reason, that the Literary and

Historical Society's centennial entertainment was a red-letter day in

the annals of that learned and well-deserving body."

_THE JESUITS' CHURCH._

This little church, of which the corner stone was laid by the Marquis de

Tracy, "Lieutenant du Roi, dans toutes ses possessions Françaises en

Amérique," on 31st May, 1666, existed until 1807. "It is built," says

Kalm, "in the form of a cross. It has a round steeple, and is the only

church that has a clock." The oldest inhabitant can yet recall, from

memory, the spot where it stood, even if we had not the excellent drawing

made of it with a half dozen of other Quebec views, by an officer in

Wolfe's fleet, Captain Richard Short. It stood on the site recently

occupied by the shambles, in the Upper Town, facing the Russell House.

Captain Short's pencil bears again testimony to the exactitude, even in

minute things, of Kalm's descriptions: his Quebec horses, harnessed one

before the other to carts. You see in front of the church, in Captain

Short's sketch, three good sized horses, harnessed one before the other,

drawing a heavily laden two-wheeled cart. The church was also used until

1807 as a place of worship for Protestants. Be careful not to confound the

Jesuits' Church with the small chapel in the interior of their college

(the old Jesuit Barracks) contiguous thereto. This latter chapel had been

commenced on the 11th July, 1650. The Seminary Chapel and Ursulines

Church, after the destruction by shot and shell, in 1759, of the large

Roman Catholic Cathedral, were used for a time as parish churches. From

beneath the chief altar of the Jesuits' Church was removed, on the 14th

May, 1807, the small leaden box containing the heart of the founder of the

Ursulines' Convent, Madame de la Peltrie, previously deposited there in

accordance with the terms of her last will.

You can see that the pick-axe and mattock of the "_bande noire_" who

robbed our city walls of their stones, and demolished the Jesuits' College

and city gates, were busily employed long before 1871.

_THE JESUITS' BARRACKS._

There are few, we will venture to say, who, in their daily walk up or down

Fabrique Street, do not miss this hoary and familiar land mark, the

Jesuits' College. When its removal was recently decreed, for a long time

it resisted the united assaults of hammer and pick-axe, and yielded,

finally, to the terrific power of dynamite alone.

The Jesuits' College, older than Harvard College, at Boston, takes one

back to the dawn of Canadian history. Concerning the venerable

institution, we translate the following from the French of Mr. T. B.

Bédard. It appeared originally in the _Journal de Quebec_:--

"The recent discovery of human bones at the Jesuit Barracks has

excited the curiosity of the public in general, and especially of

antiquarians and all interested in historical research. Naturally, the

question presents itself--who were the individuals interred where

these bones were found, and what was this place of sepulture? An

attentive study of the subject leads me to believe that the remains of

the three skeletons discovered, with two skulls only, are those of

Brother Jean Liégeois, Père du Quen, and Père Francois du Peron,

deceased at Chambly, and whose mortal remains were sent to Quebec for

interment. The spot where the bones were found must have been the site

of the chapel built at the same time as the other portions of the

Jesuits' College. But inasmuch as the demolition of this more than

venerable edifice approaches completion, a sketch of the history of

its construction may not be amiss.

"Let us preface by saying, with the learned Abbés Laverdière and

Casgrain, that the residence or the Convent of Notre Dame de la

Recouvrance, burnt together with the chapel of the same name in 1640,

should not be confounded with the College (turned later on into

barracks), the foundations of which were not laid until several years

afterwards. The Chapel of Notre Dame de la Recouvrance and the

Jesuits' house attached thereto, were situated upon the ground upon

which the Anglican Cathedral now stands. In the conflagration of 1640,

chapel and residence were destroyed; the registers of Civil Status

burnt, and the Jesuits lost all their effects. 'We had gathered

together in that house,' writes Father Lejeune, 'as in a little store,

all the maintenance and support of our other residences and of our

missions. Linen, clothing, and all the other necessaries for twenty-

seven persons whom we had among the Hurons, were all ready to be

conveyed by water into that distant country.' After this disaster, the

Jesuits were sheltered for some time at the Hôtel Dieu. In 1637 the

Fathers of the Company of Jesus in Canada set forth to the Company of

New France that they wished to build a college and a seminary for the

instruction of Indian youths, the Hurons dwelling 200 leagues from

Quebec having sent them six, with the promise of a larger number, and

also for the education of the country, and that, for this purpose,

they sought a grant of land. The Company of New France awarded them

twelve acres of ground in Quebec to build a seminary, church,

residence, &c. This grant was made at a meeting of the Directors of

the Company, at the hôtel of the celebrated Fouquet, on the 18th

March, 1637. It was not, however, until the spring of 1647 that the

work of digging the foundations of the College was begun--the first

stone being laid on the 12th June. 'The same day,' says the _Journal

des Jésuites_, 'was laid the first stone of the foundations of the

offices of the main-building of the Quebec house. In 1648, we

completed the half of the large main-building, in 1649, our building

was completed as regards the exterior masonry and the roof; but the

interior had not yet been touched.' In July, 1650, the foundations of

the chapel were commenced, and on the 18th October, 1651, it was

sufficiently advanced to allow the pupils of the college to receive

therein Governor de Lauzon. 'The scholars,' says again the _Journal

des Jésuites_, 'received Monsieur the Governor in our new chapel,

_latinâ oratione et versibus gallicis_, &c., &c. The Indians

(scholars) danced, when mass was first celebrated in the chapel.' On

the 29th May, 1655, a great misfortune befell the good Fathers. The

brother known as Jean Liégeois was treacherously assassinated. He was

their business man; several times he had crossed over from Canada to

France in their interests; he was also their architect, and had

superintended the building of the residences at their various

missions, as well as the erection of the college. On the day in

question, while engaged in the fields near Sillery, seven or eight

Agniers (Iroquois) suddenly surrounded him, captured him without

resistance, and, put a bullet through his heart, and, adds the

_Journal des Jésuites_, one of them scalped him, while another

chopped off his head, which they loft upon the spot. On the following

day the Algonquins found his body and brought it to Sillery, whence it

was conveyed in a boat to Quebec, where it was exposed in the chapel,

and, on the 31st May, after the usual offices, 'it was interred at the

lower end of the chapel; that is to say, in one of the two sides where

the altar of the Congregation des Messieurs is now located.' To

understand these last words, it is necessary to explain that nearly

two years later, on the 14th February, 1657, Father Poncet founded

this congregation; and it was M. de Lauzon-Charny, Master of the Woods

and Forests of New France, son of Governor de Lauzon, who was elected

Prefect of the first members of the body to the number of twelve. This

same M. de Charny had married the daughter of M. Giffard, the first

Seigneur of Beauport; but his wife dying two years after that

marriage, M. de Charny passed over to France, where he entered holy

orders, subsequently returning to Canada with Mgr. de Laval, whose

grand vicar he became, as well as the first ecclesiastical dignitary,

inasmuch as he replaced him at the Conseil Souverain at the period of

the difficulties between the Bishop of Petrea and Governor de Mesy.

"But to return to the interments in the Jesuits' Chapel. The next

which took place was that of Father de Quen, who died on the 8th

October, 1659, of contagious fever brought into the colony by vessels

from beyond the seas. It was he, who, in 1647, discovered Lake St.

John, and, in 1653, celebrated the Mass at the Hôtel Dieu, when the

Sister Marie de L'Incarnation embraced the religious profession.

Father de Quen was buried on the morning of the 9th _praesente

corpore, dictae duae missae privatae, in summo altari, dum diceretur

officium_. He was 59 years of age. The _Journal des Jésuites_

does not say that he was interred in the chapel, but it is easy to

infer the fact from the _two private_ masses said in presence of

the body, and also because the entry of his burial does not appear in

the parish register. Moreover, it is also the opinion of Rev. Messrs.

Laverdière and Casgrain, as published in the _Journal des Jésuites_.

On the 15th November, 1665, arrived at Quebec, coming from the

Richelieu River, a vessel bringing the body of Father François du

Peron, who died on the 10th at Fort St. Louis (Chambly). The body was

exposed in the Chapel of the Congregation, and 'on the 16th, after the

service at which the Marquis de Tracy assisted, it was interred in the

vault of the chapel towards the confessional on the side of the

street,' and Father le Mercier, who wrote the foregoing, adds that

'there remains room only for another body.'

"From the preceding, it appears that three interments took place in

the Jesuits' Chapel (the only ones mentioned in the _Journal des

Jésuites_), and it is probable that the place remaining for only

one more body was never filled. The remains of three bodies having

been found, it seems to me therefore reasonable to conclude that they

are those of Brother Liégeois and Fathers de Quen and du Peron. It is

true only two skulls have been recovered, but it must be remembered

that Brother Liégeois had his head chopped off and left upon the spot,

as remarks the text, so that it is easy to conjecture that the

Iroquois dragged his body further off, when it was found in a headless

condition and thus buried. With respect to the site of the chapel, the

text already cited relative to Father du Peron indicates sufficiently

that it was alongside the street; and a reference to the map of Quebec

in 1660 shows in fact the street skirting the Jesuits' property as it

does to-day. Further, the excavations which, at the request of Père

Sachez, Dr. Larue and others, Hon. Mr. Joly, with a good will which

cannot be too highly praised, has ordered to be made, have already

laid bare the foundations of a well outlined building upon the very

site where tradition locates the chapel and where the bones have been

found.

"As it was stated at the time of the finding of the skeletons that one

of them was supposed to be that of a nun of the Hôtel Dieu, Mr. Bédard

applied to the authorities of that institution for information on the

subject and received an answer from the records which conclusively

proves that the nun in question was buried in the vault of the

Jesuits' Church and not in their Chapel."

Though a considerable sum had been granted to foster Jesuit establishments

at Quebec by a young French nobleman, René de Rohault, son of the Marquis

de Gamache, as early as 1626, it was on the 18th March, 1637, only, that

the ground to build on, "twelve arpents of land, in the vicinity of Fort

St. Louis" were granted to the Jesuit Fathers. In the early times, we find

this famous seat of learning playing a prominent part in all public

pageants; its annual examinations and distribution of prizes called

together the _élite_ of Quebec society. The leading pupils had, in

poetry and in verse, congratulated Governor d'Argenson on his arrival in

1658. On the 2nd July, 1666, a public examination on logic brought out,

with great advantage, two most promising youths, the famous Louis Jolliet,

who later on joined Father Marquette in his discovery of the Mississippi,

and a Three Rivers youth, Pierre de Francheville, who intended to enter

Holy Orders. The learned Intendant Talon was an examiner; he was remarked

for the erudition his Latin questions displayed. Memory likes to revert to

the times when the illustrious Bossuet was undergoing his Latin

examinations at Navarre, with the Great Condé as his examiner; France's

first sacred orator confronted by her most illustrious general.

How many thrilling memories were recalled by this grim old structure?

"Under its venerable roof, oft had met the pioneer missionaries of New

France, the band of martyrs, the geographers, discoverers, _savants_

and historians of this learned order: Dolbeau, de Quen, Druilletes,

Daniel, de la Brosse, de Crepieul, de Carheil, Bréboeuf, Lallemant,

Jogues, de Noue, Raimbeault, Albanel, Chaumonot, Dablon, Ménard, LeJeune,

Massé, Vimont, Ragueneau, Charlevoix, [58] and crowds of others." Here

they assembled to receive from the General of the Jesuits their orders, to

compare notes, mayhap to discuss the news of the death or of the success

of some of their indefatigable explorers of the great West; how the "good

word" had been fearlessly carried to the distant shores of Lake Huron, to

the _bayous_ and perfumed groves of Florida, or to the trackless and

frozen regions of Hudson's Bay.

Later on, when France had suppressed the order of the Jesuits, and when

her lily banner had disappeared from our midst, the College and its

grounds were appropriated to other uses--alas! less congenial.

The roll of the English drum and the sharp "word of command" of a British

adjutant or of his drill sergeant, for a century or more, resounded in the

halls, in which Latin orisons were formerly sung; and in the classic

grounds and grassy court, [59] canopied by those stately oaks and elms,

which our sires yet remember, to which the good Fathers retreated in sweet

seclusion, to "say" their _Breviaries_ and tell their beads, might have

been heard the coarse joke of the guard room and coarser oath of the

trooper.

It had been claimed as a "magazine for the army contractor's provisions on

14th November, 1760." On the 4th June, 1765, His Excellency General James

Murray had it surveyed and appropriated for quarters and barracks for the

troops, excepting some apartments. The court and garden was used as a

drill and parade ground until the departure of Albion's soldiers. Here was

read on the 14th November, 1843, by Major-General Sir Jas. Hope's

direction, the order of the day, at the morning parade, congratulating

Major Bennet and the brave men of the 1st Royals, whom he was escorting to

England in the ill-fated transport "Premier," on the discipline and good

conduct manifested by them during the incredible perils they had escaped

at Cape Chatte when the Premier was stranded.

How singular, how sad to think that this loved, this glorious relic of the

French _régime_, entire even to the Jesuit College arms, carved in

stone over its chief entrance, should have remained sacred and intact

during the century of occupation by English soldiery--and that its

destruction should have been decreed so soon as the British legions, by

their departure, in 1871, had virtually handed it over to the French

Province of Quebec?

The discovery of the 28th August, 1878, of human remains beneath the floor

of this building--presumed to be those of some of the early missionaries--

induced the authorities to institute a careful search during its

demolition. These bones and others exhumed on the 31st August, and on the

1st and 9th September, 1878, were pronounced by two members of the

Faculty, Drs. Hubert Larue and Chas. E. Lemieux, both Professors of the

Laval University, (who signed a certificate to that effect) to be the

remains of three [60] persons of the male sex and of three [61] persons of

the female sex. Some silver and copper coins were also found, which with

these mouldering remains of humanity, were deposited under lock and key in

a wooden box; and in September, 1878, the whole was placed in a small but

substantial stone structure, in the court of the Jesuit Barracks, known as

the "Regimental Magazine," pending their delivery for permanent disposal

to Rev. Père Sachez, Superior of the Jesuits Order in Quebec.

In May, 1879, on opening this magazine, it was found that the venerable

bones, box and all had disappeared, the staple of the padlock on the door

having been forced. By whom and for what purpose, the robbery?

_THE RÉCOLLET CONVENT._

Let us walk on, and view with the Professor's eyes the adjoining public

edifice in 1749, the Récollet Convent, "a spacious building," says Kalm,

"two story high, with a large orchard and kitchen garden." It stood

apparently on the south-eastern extremity of the area, on which the

Anglican Cathedral was built in 1804, across what is now the southern

prolongation of Treasury Street; it is said its eastern end occupied a

portion of the site now occupied by the old _Place d'Armes_--now the

Ring.

Its church or chapel was, on 6th September, 1796, destroyed by fire; two

eye-witnesses of the conflagration, Philippe Aubert DeGaspé and Deputy-

Commissary-General James Thompson, the first in his _Mémoires_, the second

in his unpublished _Diary_, have vividly portrayed the accident.

"At the date of the conflagration of the Récollets Church, 6th

September, 1796, the bodies of those who had been interred there were

taken up. The remains of persons of note, those among others of Count

de Frontenac, were re-interred in the Cathedral (now the Basilica), it

is said, under the floor of the Chapel N. D. of Pity. The leaden

coffins, which, it appears, had been placed on iron bars in the

Récollets Church, had been partially melted by the fire. In Count de

Frontenac's coffin was found a small leaden box, which contained the

heart of that Governor. According to a tradition, handed down by Frère

Louis, the heart of Count de Frontenac was, after his death, sent to

his widow in France. But the haughty Countess refused to receive it,

saying that 'she did not want a dead heart, which when beating did not

belong to her.' The casket containing the heart was sent back to

Canada and replaced in the Count's coffin, where it was found after

the fire." (_Abbé H. R. Casgrain_.)

The Church faced the Ring and the old Château; it formed part of the

Récollet Convent, "a vast quadrangular building, with a court and well

stocked orchard" on Garden Street; it was occasionally used as a state

prison. The Huguenot and agitator, Pierre DuCalvet, [62] spent some dreary

days in its cells in 1781-84; and during the summer of 1776, a young

volunteer under Benedict Arnold, John Joseph Henry, (who lived to become a

distinguished Pennsylvania Judge), was immured in this monastery, after

his capture by the British, at the unsuccessful attack in Sault-au-Matelot

Street, on the 31st December, 1775, as he graphically relates in his

_Memoirs_. It was a monastery of the Order of Saint Francis. The

Provincial, in 1793, a well-known, witty, jovial and eccentric personage,

Father Félix DeBerey, had more than once dined and wined His Royal

Highness Prince Edward, the father of our gracious Sovereign, when

stationed in our garrison in 1791-4, with his regiment, the 7th Fusiliers.

The Récollet Church was also a sacred and last resting place for the

illustrious dead. Of the six French Governors who expired at Quebec, four

slept within its silent vaults, until the translation, in 1796, of their

ashes to the vaults of the Basilica, viz: (1) Frontenac, (2) de Callières,

(3) Vaudreuil, (4) de la Jonquière. [63] Governor de Mesy had been buried

in the Hôtel-Dieu Cemetery, and the first Governor, de Champlain, it is

generally believed, was interred near the Château Saint Louis, in a

"sépulchre particulier," near the spot now surmounted by his bust, on

which, in 1871, was erected the new Post Office.

On the south-west side of the Château, on the site where stands M. A.

Berthelot's old dwelling on St. Louis Street, now owned by James Dunbar,

Esq., Q.C., could be seen a building devoted to the administration of

Justice, _La Sénéchaussée_ (Séneschal's Jurisdiction), and which bore

the name of "The Palace." It was doubtless there that, in 1664, the

Supreme Council held its sessions. In 1665 it was assigned to the Marquis

de Tracy, for a residence whilst in the colony. From the _Place d'Armes_,

the higher road (_Grande Allée_) took its departure and led to Cap Rouge.

On the right and left of this road, were several small lots of land given

to certain persons for the purpose of being built upon. The Indian Fort

was that entrenchment of which we have spoken, which served as a last

hiding place to the sad remains of the once powerful Huron nation, forming

in all eighty four souls, in the year 1665. It had continued to be

occupied by them up to the peace with the Iroquois. After the arrival of

the troops, they took their departure in order to devote themselves to the

cultivation of the lands.

Besides the buildings of the Reverend Jesuit Fathers, those of the

Ursulines (nuns), and those of the Hospital (Hôtel Dieu), in the Upper

Town, could be seen in a house situated behind the altar part of the

Parish Church, where dwelt Monseigneur de Laval. It was, probably, what he

called his Seminary, and where he caused some young men to be educated,

destined afterwards for the priesthood.

It was at the Seminary the worthy prelate resided with his priests, to the

number of eight, which, at that period, comprised all the secular clergy

of Quebec. There, also, was the Church of Notre Dame, in the form of a

Latin cross. [64]

Couillard Street calls up one of the most important personages of the era

of Champlain, Guillaume Couillard, the ancestor of Madame Alexandre de

Léry _née_ Couillard. It would fill a volume to retrace the historical

incidents which attach themselves to "La Grande Place du Fort," which in

the early part of the century was known as the "Grand Parade" before the

Castle, and is now called the _Ring_. We have pointed out a goodly number

in the first pages (10-16) of the "Album du Touriste." To what we have

already said we shall add the following details:

_THE UNION HOTEL._

It would appear that the site upon which the Union Hotel was built [65]

(1805), and where previously stood the dwelling of Dr. Longmore, Staff

Medical Officer, now occupied by the offices of the _Journal de Quebec,

&c._, was owned by Governor D'Ailleboust, about the year 1650. He had

reserved to himself, on the 10th January, 1649, the strip of ground

comprised between Fort and Treasury Streets on the one side, and the

streets Buade and Ste. Anne on the other side. At the corner of Treasury

and Buade Streets, on the west, Jean Côté possessed a piece of ground

(_emplacement_) which he presented as a dowry in 1649, to his daughter

Simonne, who married Pierre Soumandre.

The grounds of the Archbishop's Palace formed part of the field possessed

by Couillard, whose house stood in the now existing garden of the

Seminary, opposite the gate which faces the principal alley, the

foundations of which were discovered and brought to light by the Abbé

Laverdière in 1866. The Union Hotel was for years the meeting place of our

festive ancestors, when the assembly balls brought together the Saxon and

the Gaul; it also recalls warlike memories of 1812.

_THE AMERICAN PRISONERS._

In looking over old fyles of our city journals, we find in the _Quebec

Mercury_ of 15th September, 1812, the following item:

"On Friday, arrived here the detained prisoners taken with Gen. Hull,

at Detroit. The non-commissioned officers and privates immediately

embarked on board of transports in the harbour, which are to serve as

their prison. The commissioned officers were liberated on their

parole. They passed Saturday morning at the Union Hotel, where they

were the gazing-stock of the multitude, whilst they, no way abashed,

presented a bold front to the public stare, puffed the smoke of their

cigars into the faces of such as approached too near. About two

o'clock they set off in a stage, with four horses, for Charlesbourg,

the destined place of their residence."

The Union Hotel here mentioned is the identical building erected for a

hotel by a company in 1805, and now owned by the _Journal de Quebec_,

facing the ring.

Were these prisoners located at Charlesbourg proper, or at that locality

facing Quebec, in Beauport, called _Le Canardière_, in Judge de Bonne's

former stately old mansion, on which the eastern and detached wing of the

Beauport Lunatic Asylum now stands?

Tradition has ever pointed to this building as that which sheltered the

disconsolate American warriors in 1812, with the adjoining rivulet,

_Ruisseau de l'Ours_, as the boundary to the east which their parole

precluded their crossing.

The result of the American defeat at Detroit had been important--"one

general officer (Wadsworth), two lieutenant-colonels, five majors, a

multitude of captains and subalterns, with nine hundred men, one field-

piece and a stand of colors, were the fruits of the victory, the enemy

having lost in killed, wounded, missing and prisoners, upwards of fifteen

hundred." (Christie's History.)

Amongst the American prisoners sent down to Quebec was the celebrated

General Winfield Scott, who lived to cull laurels in the Mexican war. He

was then Col. Scott, and there is yet (1878) living in Quebec an old

resident, R. Urquhart, who well remembers, when a boy, seeing the "tall

and stern American Colonel." He was six feet five inches in height.

(Lossing, p. 408.)

Of these prisoners taken at Detroit, twenty-three had been recognized as

British born and deserters from the English army. they were sent to

England for trial. It is yet possible that some of the veterans of 1812,

by their diaries or other sources of information, may tell us who were the

Charlesbourg or Beauport captives in 1812. They had not been under

restraint much more than a week, when, by the following advertisement in

the _Quebec Mercury_, dated 29th September, we find the British Government

attending to their comforts with a truly maternal foresight:--

Commissary General's Office,

QUEBEC, 28th Sept., 1812

"Wanted for the American prisoners of war, comfortable warm clothing,

consisting of the following articles:

Jackets,

Shirts,

Trowsers,

Stockings,

Moccassins or Shoes.

Also 2000 pounds of soap."

From which it is clear John Bull intended his American cousins should not

only be kept warm, but suitably scrubbed as well. Two thousand lbs. of

soap foreshadowed a fabulous amount of scrubbing. Colonel Scott and

friends were evidently "well off for soap."

Colonel Coffin, of Ottawa, the annalist of the War of 1812, in reply to a

query of mine, writes me:

"Scott remained in Canada from the date of his surrender, 23d October,

1812, to the period of his departure from Quebec, say May, 1813. But

he was on parole the whole time, and from Quebec, as given in his life

by Mansfield, p. 55, he went in a cartel to Boston, and soon after was

exchanged. Under these circumstances, I do not think it likely that he

would have been escorted militarily in custody anywhere. Winder may

have been also taken to Quebec, or he may have been exchanged on the

Western frontier. Armstrong's 'War of 1812' will probably give the

details."

The _Quebec Mercury_, of 27th October, 1812, contains the following:

"The prisoners taken at Detroit and brought down to Quebec are on the

point of embarking for Boston for the purpose of being exchanged. Five

cannon are now lying in the _Château_ Court taken at Detroit."

In retaliation for the twenty-three American prisoners sent for trial to

England, as deserters from the British army, the American Government had

ordered that forty-six British prisoners of war should be detained in

close confinement.

"In consequence of this," says Christie, "the Governor ordered all the

American officers, prisoners of war, without exception of rank, to be

immediately placed into close confinement as hostages, until the

number of forty-six were completed over and above those already in

confinement. In pursuance of this order, Generals Winder, Chandler and

Winchester were conveyed from their quarters in the country at

Beauport to a private house in Quebec, where their confinement was

rendered as little inconvenient as their situation could admit of."

They were exchanged in April, 1814, against British officers,

prisoners of war in the States.

In connection with General Scott's captivity at Quebec, Lossing relates a

little incident, which redounds to his credit:--

"When the prisoners were about to sail from Quebec, a party came on

board the vessel, mustered the captives and commenced separating from

the rest those who, by their accent, were found to be Irishmen. These

they intended to send to England for trial as traitors in a frigate

lying near, in accordance with the doctrine that a British subject

cannot expatriate himself. Scott, who was below, hearing a tumult on

deck, went up. He was soon informed of the cause, and at once entered

a vehement protest against the proceedings. He commanded his soldiers

to be absolutely silent, that their accent might not betray them. He

was repeatedly ordered to go below, and as repeatedly refused. The

soldiers obeyed him. Twenty-three had been already detected as

Irishmen, but not another one became a victim. The twenty-three were

taken on board the frigate in irons. Scott boldly assured them that if

the British Government dared to injure a hair of their head, his own

Government would fully avenge the outrage. He at the same time as

boldly defied the menacing officers, and comforted the manacled

prisoners in every way. Scott was exchanged in January, 1813, and at

once sent a full report of this affair to the Secretary of War. He

hastened to Washington in person, and pressed the subject upon the

attention of Congress. Fortunately, the President never had occasion

to exercise this retaliation, the British Government having abstained

from carrying out in practice, in the case of the American prisoners,

its cherished doctrine of perpetual allegiance.

"The final result of Scott's humane and courageous conduct in this

matter was very gratifying to himself. Almost three years after the

event at Quebec, he was greeted by loud huzzahs as he was passing a

wharf on the East River side of New York city. It came from a group of

Irishmen, who had just landed from an emigrant ship. There were

twenty-one out of the twenty-three prisoners for whom he had cared so

tenderly. They had just returned from a long confinement in English

prisons. They recognized their benefactor, and, says Scott's

biographer, "nearly crushed him by their warm-hearted embraces."

(Lossing's Field Book, p. 409.)

Some years back a discussion took place in the columns of the

_Morning Chronicle_, of Quebec, as to the names of the volunteers

of Bell's Cavalry who had escorted the U. S. prisoners of war in

1812 from Beauport to Quebec. The following extract from our diary

throws some light on this subject:

_THE LAST SURVIVORS OF BELL'S CAVALRY IN 1812._

"Among more than one strange meeting, which that welcome haven of

the wearied wayfarer, the way-side inn, has brought me, in course

of many peregrinations through the length and breadth of the

Province of Quebec, none can I recall less anticipated, than the

one which happened to me this 22nd March, 1881. I reached that

night at 10.30, direct from the Kennebec Railway, the parlor of

Monsieur Lessard's Temperance Hotel at St. Joseph, Beauce. (Such

the euphonious name the Licence Act awards to these fallacious

emblems of comfort or good cheer). After a lengthy interview, I

next day parted, possibly for ever, from an old and withered

_sabreur_ of 1812, the last survivor, I think, of that dashing

volunteer cavalry corps, raised by Capt. the Hon. Matthew Bell at

Quebec in 1812.

I had the rare luck of having from the very lips of this

octogenarian, an account of the share he had in conducting as one

of the cavalry detachment detailed to escort Colonel Winfield

Scott and brother officers from Beauport, where they were confined

as prisoners on _parole_, to the district prison in St. Stanislas

street (the Morrin College) from whence the "big" Colonel and his

comrades were taken and lodged in Colonel Coffin's house in St.

Louis street.

How different the careers! Scott in time became the hero of the

war with Mexico, and the dashing cavalry corporal who escorted

him, aged now 89, after 30 years tenure of office, still holds the

position of village Postmaster, in the township of Broughton,

Beauce. Among the incidents of which my ancient acquaintance seems

proud, is that of his having played at cards with General Scott

and his captive comrades.

"Charles Hy. J. Hall," (such his clear and well written autograph

authenticating the memorandum I drew up for him) a roystering

_militaire_ and _bon vivant_, in our good city, seventy years ago,

presents in his person a rare instance of mental and physical

faculties well preserved until the end--memory, sight, mind,

appetite, all unimpaired.

I was so interested when he informed me that he had been one of

Col. Bell's cavalry, (I felt convinced that, of all the members of

this dashing corps, he was the last survivor,) that I questioned

him very closely, and cross-examined him on such matters of

detail, which an eye-witness alone could know. Mr. Hall, the son

of the late Wm. Hall, of Fabrique street, Quebec, is connected

with several of our most noted families. His father came to Canada

about 1783, from the adjoining provinces,--a United Empire

Loyalist, and became wealthy. Subjoined will be found a short

statement taken down as it fell from the lips of my new

acquaintance, and authenticated by his signature. Mr. Chas. Hall

is Postmaster of Broughton, County of Beauce."--(_Diary of J. M.

LeMoine_.)

* * * * *

"I am now 89 years of age. My father, the late Wm. Hall, a well-

to-do Quebecer, whose partner in business I subsequently was,

lived at what I should call No. 1 Fabrique street (the house

lately vacated by Behan Bros). I was born in a house in St. John

street. I loved to roam--have travelled the world over and

received some hard knocks in my day. As to that part of my career,

which seems particularly to interest you--the war of 1812--I

regret I cannot tell you as much as you wish to know. In 1812 I

joined Capt. the Hon. Matthew Bell's Volunteer Cavalry; we

numbered between 90 to 100 men. Our uniform was blue coat, red

collar,--silver braid; arms, a sabre and holster pistols. As

volunteers every man furnished his own horse, suits, etc. My

horse, which cost me thirty guineas, I refused sixty for from Col.

McNeil; our mounts were of Canadian, American, and English

pedigree.

We were commanded by Col. Bell; Hon Wm. Sheppard (late of

Woodfield), was our Major, Mr. Hale, our Captain, Wm. Henderson,

our Lieutenant. I cannot say, in reply to your question, whether

the late Hammond Gowan was our Cornet. Our house stood next to

that where General Brock had lived, in Fabrique street. I was, in

1812, one of the escort who took General Winfield Scott, Col.

Winder,----from Beauport; I remember well the big Col. Scott, as I

played cards with the American officers who were, on their parole,

quartered in Judge DeBonne's house, on the site of which the east

wing of the Lunatic Asylum has since been erected. I formed part

of the escort who conducted the American officers to the Quebec

jail, in St. Stanislas street, previous to their being located in

a St. Louis street house. During the war, under Sir George

Prevost, I formed, in March, part of the detachment of cavalry,

sent with a company of the 103rd, to the parish of St. Joseph,

Beauce, to arrest some militia men who had refused to enlist. The

ice-bridge before Quebec, started a few minutes after our last

horse had crossed.

CHAS. HY. J. HALL

St. Joseph, Beauce, 23rd March, 1881.

N B.--I can read yet without glasses; I reckon I am the last

survivor of Bell's Cavalry.--_Morning Chronicle_, 28th _April_,

1881.

QUEBEC TROOP OF LIGHT CAVALRY.

_Extract from a Troop Order Book of Captain Bell's Troop, dated

Quebec, 1st March, 1813._

NOTES RESPECTING THE FORMATION OF THE TROOP.

[Furnished by Lt.-Col. Turnbull, Q.O.C.H.]

This Troop was first formed by Capt. Bell, under an order of H. E.

Sir G. Prevost, dated 22nd April, 1812, as a part of 3rd

Battalion, Quebec Militia.

22nd May, 1812.--William Sheppard and Hammond Gowan are appointed

Sergeants. Mr. Hale attached to the Troop as Cornet.

27th June.--Intelligence of the declaration of war reached Quebec.

The gentlemen composing the Troop, to the number of 34,

volunteered their services, to act when and where the Government

thought proper.

27th July.--The Troop declared independent of the 3rd Battalion,

Quebec Militia. In case of alarm, to assemble on their private

parade, in front of the Castle, by order of General Glasgow.

October.--Mr. Hale appointed Lieutenant, and Mr. Sheppard, Cornet,

dated 24th April last.

19th December.--The Troop to be held in readiness to march on

active service early in the spring.

15th February, 1813.--Orders received to add 25 dismounted men to

the Troop.

MUSTER ROLL.

QUEBEC LIGHT CAVALRY, BELL'S TROOP.

1st March, 1813.

_Officers._

Captain (Commandant) Matthew Bell.

Lieutenant Edward Hale,

Cornet W. G Sheppard,

Quarter-Master Benjamin Racy, (from the Ste. Marie, Nouvelle

Beauce Battalion), attached to the Troop.

_N.C. Officers_

Sergeant Hammond Gowan, Corporal Charles Hall,

" Wm. Henderson, " Wm. Sheppard,

" Alex. Gowan, Acting " G. Wilson,

" James Heath, Acting Trumpeter Thos. Pearson.

_Privates_

On the full establishment, furnishing horse, clothing, &c.:--

*William Turner, John Stansfield, *James Capper,

*Wm. Thomas, James McCallum, Robert Page,

*John Patterson, John Connolly, John White,

William Price, Peter Burnet, William Hoogs,

John Dempster, *James Dick, J. G. Clapham,

*John Campbell, James Henderson, George Chapman,

Andrew Moire, George Cossar, *James Black,

James Oliver, *John McQuay, William Henderson,

John Racy, Archibald Campbell, *Amos Priest,

William Moore, James George, James McCallum,

*David Robertson, Webb Robinson, John McCallum,

James Whyte, Daniel Buckley, Frank Bell.

_Dismounted Party._

Age. Ft. In.

James Winton . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 5 10

*Frederick Petry . . . . . . . . . . 19 5 10

*George Burns . . . . . . . . . . . 19 5 10

Henry Connolly . . . . . . . . . . . 16 5 10

*Francis Martineau . . . . . . . . . . . ..

Daniel Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

James Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . 19 5 9

Frederick Wyse . . . . . . . . . . . 27 5 9

John Menzies . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 5 9

David Flynn . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 5 8-1/2

*William Graves . . . . . . . . . . . 21 5 8

*Richard Burns. . . . . . . . . . . . 22 5 8

*James Loan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 5 7-1/2

Alexander Russell . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..

*William Parker . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..

*Charles Gethings . . . . . . . . . . 19 5 7

*Thomas Burney. . . . . . . . . . . . 21 5 7

John Chillas . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 5 7

George C. Ross. . . . . . . . . . . . 17 5 8

*Godfroi Langlois . . . . . . . . . . 20 5 10

George Patterson. . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..

Peter Legget. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..

J. Dion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..

David Denny . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..

Wm. Hobb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..

[Note: * Reside in Upper Town.]

Troop Order, 1st March.--Foot drills on Mondays, Wednesdays and

Fridays in the Riding House at 12 o'clock till further orders.

8th March.--The Captain commanding desires that the following

articles be provided as soon as possible by each person in the

Troop, to enable him to comply with the General Orders of the

Commander-in-Chief, dated 19th December last, viz: Helmet; blue

cloth forage cap; black silk handkerchief or stock; dress jacket,

undress jacket (plain), plain linen jacket (stable); a pair of

brown linen trowsers; a pair of grey cloth overalls; a pair of

grey cloth or stockinett pantaloons; a pair of half boots and

spurs; two flannel shirts; two pair flannel drawers; three pairs

of stockings; one pair of shoes; one razor; one knife; one brush;

one curriecomb, brush and mane comb; one linen haversack; one

linen nose-bag; one linen bag for necessaries.

The dismounted men may make their undress jacket of strong brown

linen if they prefer it.

Quarter-Master Racy will shew patterns and give any information

that may be required. The Captain wishes the different articles to

be good and strong, but not of an expensive kind.

28th March.--A detachment was ordered on service to Ste. Marie

Nouvelle Beauce and St. Joseph, returning on the 31st under the

command of Lieutenant Hale, consisting of two officers, two

sergeants, one corporal, 18 privates; total, 23.

At right angles from Buade Street, opposite the wall [66] which surrounds

St. Joseph Cemetery, enclosed between the Basilica and the street, there

exists, since the earliest times, a short, narrow street--more properly a

lane--_Treasury Street_. The French know it as _Rue du Trésor_, because

under French rule, the Government Office, where public monies were

paid out, stood in the vicinity. Until the departure of the English

garrison and removal of the Commissariat Staff, in 1871, Treasury Street

was one of the avenues which led contractors and others to the Royal

Commissariat Department, at the east end of St. Louis Street. Here, for

years, were dealt out lavishly either the old French or Spanish piastres

during the war of 1812-14, the proceeds of the army bills, and later on,

English sovereigns, guineas and doubloons, &c. The Commissariat office was

situate facing the Ring, and after the departure of the British troops,

about 1871, was used as the office and dwelling of the Deputy Adjutant

General of Militia. The lot, which, with the garden in rear, reaches to

Mount Carmel Street, had been bought by the Ordnance from Mr. Peter

Bréhault in the early part of the century.

Prince Edward had brought to Quebec from Gibraltar, in 1791, as his

Secretary, Capt. John Hale, 2nd Queen's Regiment. Capt. Hale was the

eldest son of Brevet Major John Hale, [67] of the 47th, who served under

General Wolfe at Quebec. Major J. Hale subsequently became General Hale.

Capt. John Hale, after stopping at Quebec with the Prince, subsequently

returned to Halifax with him. He was afterwards appointed by the Imperial

authorities Deputy Paymaster General to the Forces in Canada. He, it was,

who owned the lot on which the Commissary-General's office stood. This

occurred previous to 1812. He sold the property to Peter Bréhault, who had

come out to Canada as an employé to John Muire, Esq. Mr. Bréhault resold

it to the Imperial Government, the Paymaster's Office being merged into

the Commissariat Office. The Ursuline nuns have named, after their patron

Saint, Ste. Ursule, the first street to the west, which intersects at

right angles, St. Louis and Ste. Anne streets. Ste. Ursule and Ste. Anne

streets and environs seem to have been specially appropriated by the

disciples of Hippocrates. Physicians [68] and surgeons there assuredly do

congregate, viz.: Dr. James Sewell, his son, Dr. Colin Sewell, Drs.

Landry, Lemieux, Simard, Belleau, Russell, Russell, Jr., Gale, Ross,

Baillargeon, Roy, Fortier, LaRue, Parke, Rowand, Henchey, Vallée, Marsden,

Jackson--distinguished physicians. Notwithstanding that it is the abode of

so many eminent members of the Faculty, the locality is healthy; nay,

conducive to longevity.

The streets Aylmer, Burton, Bagot, Craig, Carleton, Dorchester, Dalhousie,

Haldimand, Hope, Metcalf, Murray, Prevost, Richmond, perpetuate the memory

of thirteen English Governors, while four French Governors have left their

names on as many thoroughfares--Buade, Champlain, d'Aillebout, Montmagny.

Many of the luxurious dwellings on the Cape date back to 1840 or so; this

now aristocratic neighborhood, after the conquest and until 1830, was

occupied by carters, old French market gardeners and descendants of French

artisans, &c.--such were the early tenants of Des Carrières, Mont Carmel,

Ste. Geneviève, St. Denis, Des Grissons streets.--"_Mais nous avons

changé tout cela._"

A few years since, the Town Council, on motion of Councillor Ernest

Gagnon, whose name is identified with our popular songs, [69] disturbed

the nomenclature of that part of D'Aiguillon street, _extra muros_, by

substituting the name of "Charlevoix." To that section of St. Joseph

street, _intra muros_, was conferred the name of our respected historian,

F. X Garneau. [70] To St. François street, the name of the historian,

Ferland, was awarded; the historian, Robert Christie, [71] has also his

street. This met with general approval.

"On ascending," says Abbé Faillon, "from the Lower to the Upper Town by a

tortuous road, contrived betwixt the rocks, and on the right hand side, we

reach the Cemetery. [72] This road, which terminated at the Parish Church,

[73] divided itself into two,--on one side it led to the Jesuits (Jesuits'

College) and to the Hospital (Hôtel Dieu); and on the other, to the Indian

Fort [74] and to the Castle of Saint Louis. The Castle and King's Fort,

guarded by soldiers night and day, under the orders of the Governor, was

of an irregular shape, flanked by bastions, fortified by pieces of

artillery, and contained in its interior several _suites_ of apartments

separated one from the other. At the distance of about forty toises (240

feet) from the Castle was seen, on the south side, a small garden, fenced

in, for the use of the Governor, and in front, towards the west, was the

_Place d'Armes_ (now the _Ring_), in the form of a trapezium."

St. John street, for years without a rival as chief commercial

thoroughfare for retail trade in dry goods, sees its former busy aspect

daily fleeting since the invasion of that bitter foe to wheeled vehicles--

the street railway. Its glory is departing: the mercer's showy counter and

shelves are gradually replaced by vegetable and fruit stores. Stately

shops on Desfosses, Crown and Craig streets are rapidly diverting the

_Pactolus_ of the city custom northwards. In the dark ages of the

Ancient Capital, when this lengthy, narrow lane was studded with one-story

wooden or stone tenements, Old Sol occasionally loved to look down and

gladden with his rays its miry footpaths. To our worthy grandfathers 'twas

a favorite _rendezvous_--the _via sacra_--the Regent street--the

_Boulevard des Italiens_--where the _beau monde_ congregated at 4 P.M.,

sharp; where the merry jingle of the tandem _grelots_ invaded the frosty

air in January; where the freshest toilettes, the daintiest bonnets--those

"ducks of bonnets" invented fifty years ago by Mrs. T--d--ensnared

admirers; where marten or "silver fox" muffs of portentous size--all the

rage then--kept warm and coursing the stream of life in tiny, taper hands,

cold, alas! now in Death's pitiless grasp; where the old millionaire,

George Pozer, chinked his English guineas or piled up in his desk his army

bills. Alas! Jean Bourdon, the pioneer of our land surveyors, you, who,

more than two centuries ago, left your name to this vaunted locality--your

street as well as your name are getting to be things of the past! Shall we

bid adieu to this oft travelled over thoroughfare without deigning a

parting glance, as we saunter on, at that low old-fashioned house, No. 84,

on the north side of the street, where, for a quarter of a century and

more, Monsieur Charles Hamel's book and church ornament emporium held its

own against all the other book stores? It is now occupied as a dwelling

and a notarial office by an ex-Mayor and late member for the city, P. A.

Tourangeau, Esq., N.P. Vividly, indeed, can we recall the busy aspect of

its former counter, studded with gilt madonnas, rosaries, some in brass

mountings, variegated Job beads for the million; others set in ebony and

silver for rich _dévotes_, flanked with wax tapers, sparkling church

ornaments, bronze crucifixes--backed with shelves of books bearing, some,

the _visa_ of Monseigneur de Tours--the latter for the faithful; others in

an inner room, without the _visa_--these for city _littérateurs_; whilst

in a shady corner-cupboard, imported to order--sometimes without order--

stood a row of short-necked but robust bottles, labelled "_Grande

Chartreuse_" and "_Bénédictine_," for the especial delectation of a few

Quebec Brillat-Savarins--the _gourmets_!