Sillery--(the historian Ferland assigns as the probable spot, the
land on which the late Lieutenant-Governor Caron built his mansion
"Clermont," now occupied by Thomas Beckett, Esquire.) The remains of
this missionary, when excavated, were headless--which exactly agrees
with the entry in the _Jesuits' Journal_, May, 1655, which
states that Jean Liégeois was scalped--his head cut off and left at
Sillery, while his mutilated body, discovered the next day by the
Algonquins, the allies of the French, was brought to Sillery,
(probably the Jesuits' residence, the same solid old structure close
to the foundations of the Jesuits' chapel and monument at the foot of
the Sillery Hill, which many here have seen), from whence it was
conveyed to the Lower Town in a boat and escorted to the Jesuits'
College, with the ceremonies of the R. C. Church.
[61] Three Nuns of the Hôtel-Dieu Convent, according to authorities quoted
by Mr. Faucher, were buried in the vault (_caveau_) of the Jesuits'
Chapel. The sisterhood had been allowed the use of a wing of the Jesuits'
College, where they removed after the conflagration of the 7th June, 1755,
which destroyed their hospital.
4. _Mère_ Marie Marthe Desroches de Saint-François-Xavier, a young
woman of 28 years, who succumbed to small-pox on the 16th August,
1755.
5. _Mère_ de l'Enfant-Jésus, who expired on the 12th May, 1756.
6. _Mère_ de Saint-Monique, who died in July, 1756, the victim of
her devotion in ministering to the decimated crew of the ship
"Leopard," sunk in the port by order of Government to arrest the
spread of the pestilential disease which had raged on the passage.
Mr. Faucher closes his able report with a suggestion that a monument
ought to be raised, to commemorate the labours and devotion of the
Jesuits, on the denuded area on which stood their venerable College.
_Relation de ce qui s'est passé lors des Fouilles faites par ordre du
Gouvernement dans une partie des fondations du_ COLLÈGE DES JÉSUITES
_de Québec, précédée de certaines observations par_ FAUCHER DE SAINT
MAURICE. _Quebec. C. Darveau_--1879.
[62] Pierre DuCalvet was sent under warrant of Gen. Haldimand, a prisoner
on 29th September, 1780, on board the "Canceaux." He was then removed on
14th November, 1780, to the Military prison in Quebec, where he remained
until the 13th December, 1781, when the Provost Martial, Miles Prentice
placed him at the Franciscan convent, under the charge of Father DeBerey,
where he remained until the 2nd May, 1784. He followed Governor Haldimand
who had sailed in the "Atalante" on the 26th November, 1784, to England,
to sue him in an English Court of Justice for illegal arrest, and was lost
at sea in the "Shelburne" on his return to Canada.
[63] The following inscription was on the coffin plate:
(1) Count Frontenac--"Cy gyt le Haut et Puissant Seigneur, Louis de
Buade, Comte de Frontenac, Gouverneur-Général de la Nouvelle-France.
Mort à Québec, le 28 novembre 1698."--(_Hist. of Canada, Smith,
Vol._ 1, _p._ 133.)
(2) Gov de Callières.--"Cy gyst Haut et Puissant Seigneur, Hector de
Callières, Chevalier de Saint-Louis, Gouverneur et Lieutenant-
Général de la Nouvelle-France, décédé le 26 mai 1703."--(_Ibid.,
p._ 148.)
(3) Gov. de Vaudreuil.--"Cy gist Haut et Puissant Seigneur, Messire
Philippe Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, Grande Croix de l'Ordre
Militaire de Saint-Louis, Gouverneur et Lieutenant-Général de toute
la Nouvelle-France décédé le dixième octobre 1725."--(_Ibid.,
p._ 190.)
(4) M. de la Jonquière--"Cy repose le corps de Messire Jacques-Pierre de
Taffanel, Marquis de la Jonquière, Baron de Castlenau, Seigneur de
Hardars-magnas et autres lieux, Commandeur de l'Ordre Royal et
Militaire de Saint-Louis, Chef d'Escadre des Armées Navales,
Gouverneur et Lieutenant-Général poor le Roy en tout la Nouvelle-
France, terres et passes de la Louisiane. Décédé à Québec, le 17 mai
1752, à six heures-et-demie du soir, âgé de 67 ans."--(_Ibid.,
p._ 222.)
[64] Faillon, Vol. III, p. 372.
[65] The laying of the corner stone of this lofty building whose
proportions must have seemed colossal to our fathers, was done with grand
masonic honors on the 14th August, 1805, by the Hon. Thos. Dunn, President
of the Province of Lower Canada, and administrator of the Government,
assisted by William Holmes, Esq., M.D., Deputy Grand Master of Ancient and
Accepted Free-Masons. Several coins of that reign were deposited under the
stone. Amongst the members of the craft, we find the names of Joseph
Bouchette, Claude Dénéchaud, Joseph Plante, Angus Shaw, Thomas Place,
David Monro, the architect's name is Edward Cannon, grand-father of
Messrs. Ed. J. Lawrence and James Cannon, our esteemed fellow-citizens;
Rev. Dr. Sparks delivered a splendid oration, to be found in the _Quebec
Mercury_, of 17th August, 1805.
Hujusce Fori Municipalis, Anglicè UNION HALL, ex Senates provincialis
consulto erecti,
THOMAS DUNN Vir Honorabilis Provinciae Proetectus Politiaeque
Administrator. Adstantibus et Curatioribus Selectis.
Hon. _John Young_ Praese, Hon. _John Antoine Panet_ Comitiae
Provincialis Rogatore.
_Jonathan Sewell_ Armigero Cognitore Regio,
_John Painter_ et _John Blackwood_, Armigeris, Pacis
Curatoribus;
_Joseph Bouchette_ Armigero Mensorum Principali,
_John Caldwell, Claude Dénéchaud, John Coltman, John Taylor, Joseph
Plante, Angus Shaw, Thomas Place_ et _David Monro_,
de Quebec Armigeris,
Nec non et multis _Latomorum_ hujus Urbis, quorum _William
Holmes_ Armiger,
M D fuit summus Magister Deputatus, adjuvantibus, hunc primum Lapidem
posuit, dei XIV. Mensis Sextilis, Anno Salutis MDCCCV.
Nummi quoque Regis Regnantis
GEORGE III.
Suppositi sunt,
_Videlicet_.
Nummus Aureus Anglicè _Guinea_, aureum etiam Dimidium ejus et Triens;
Nummus argenteus solidos quinque Anglicos valans, solidus dimidium solidi,
et quarta pars; nummus Aeranus denarios duos Anglicos valens; denarius
obolus; et quadrans.
EDWARD CANNON, Architectus.
[66] A MONUMENT OF THE OLDEN TIME.--Inserted in the wall enclosing the lot
of ground between Buade street and the Basilica, about midway from the
front entrance of the church, is to be seen a slab of very fine marble,
bearing the following inscription. It is the only one in the plate:--
"In memory
of
Mary,
wife of Thomas Ainslie, Esq.,
Collector of His Majesty's Customs of Quebec,
who died March 14th, 1767,
aged 25 years.
If Virtues Charms had pow'r to save
Her faithful votaries, from the grave;
With Beauty's ev'ry form supply'd
The lovely AINSLIE ne'er had died."
[67] John Hale who died in 1842, had six sons: 1st, Edward, who died at
Quebec in May, 1874; 2nd, Jeffery Hale; 3rd, Miss Hale; 4th, Bernard Hale,
now in England; 5th, Richard Hale, late 81st; 6th, William, late Capt.
52nd, who died at Ste. Anne, district of Three Rivers, about 1845; 7th,
Mrs. Hotham; 8th, George Hale; 9th, Miss Elizabeth Harriet Hale, who in
1838 married Commander John Orlebar, R.N.
[68] We are indebted to Professor H. LaRue, M.D., for the following notes
relative to an address delivered by him at a dinner given by the Notaries
Public in 1872:--"The first physician who entered Quebec narrowly escaped
being hung," says Dr. LaRue. "I said that he had narrowly escaped the
gallows; had he been hung I would not say it. It occurred thus:--Champlain
had just landed in the Lower Town and had laid the foundation of his
abode, when some of his followers hatched a plot against his life. The
scheme leaked out, the ring leader was arraigned, found guilty and hung;
so far as I know, this was the first execution which took place in Canada.
Some how or other, Surgeon Bonnerme, one of Champlain's followers, was
mixed up in the matter, imprisoned, but his innocence having shortly after
been established, he was acquitted. Dr Bonnerme died the following year
(1609) at Quebec, of scurvy. If Bonnerme was the first physician who came
to Quebec, he was not, for all that, the first medical man who landed in
New France; another had preceded him: Louis Hebert, the first citizen of
Quebec and of all Canada. Before Hebert's day the French who came to
Quebec came there for no other object than barter, hunting and fishing;
none had thought of settling permanently there. Louis Hebert was the first
proprietor in Quebec, the first land owner in Canada; as such, historians
recognize him as the first Citizen of Quebec--the _first Canadian_: a
surgeon, let us bear in mind. Louis Hebert visited New France in 1606, two
years before the foundation of Quebec. He spent the winter of 1606-7--a
merry one--at Port Royal, Acadia, in the company of Samuel de Champlain
and Lescarbot. Lescarbot was the first lawyer who found his way to New
France; Lescarbot was the first historian of the country; he was gifted
with wit--a proclivity to mild satire; each page of his history reveals
the lawyer familiar with the Bar and its lively forensic display. The
winter of 1606-7, at Port Royal, was remarkable for good cheer; appetising
repasts, the product of the chase or of the sea, were the order of the day
to that extent that Lescarbot declared that Port Royal fare was as
_recherché_ as that of _Rue aux Ours_, in Paris--apparently the "Palais
Royal" of the French capital in those times. The third or fourth physician
of New France was Robert Giffard, Seignior of Beauport, who also was the
first settler in that parish; not only was Giffard the first resident of
Beauport, but, I have reason to believe, he was also the first settler--
_habitant_--of the rural districts in Canada. Thus, the first citizen of
all Canada would appear to have been a physician; thus, after Champlain
the two founders of the colony would have been physicians. Giffard's Lodge
was situated on some portion of Col. Gugy's farm; the leading families of
Canada look to Giffard as one of their progenitors; Archbishop Taschereau
is one of his descendants.
"The first Royal Notary--_Notaire Royal_--of Canada was M. Audouard, whose
first minute rests in the vaults of the Prothonotary of Quebec. But two
deeds at least had been executed before this first minute. The deed of
_partage_ of the Hébert family (1634), and the last will of Champlain
(1635). These two instruments were executed before Mêtres Duchaîne and De
la Ville, _greffiers_; the _greffiers_ were _Notaires_ also. Another fact
worthy of note is that the first time a Notary's services were put in
requisition was at the instance of the heirs of Hébert, the physician."--
_Morning Chronicle_, 12th April, 1881.
[69] _Chansons populaires du Canada_, &c., par Ernest Gagnon, 1865.
[70] The father of French-Canadian history; born in 1809, died in 1866.
[71] The tablet on his monument, in Mount Hermon Cemetery, bears the
following inscription:--
IN MEMORY OF ROBERT CHRISTIE, ESQ.
A native of Nova Scotia, he early adopted Canada as his country, and
during a long life faithfully served her. In the War in 1812 as a Captain,
4th Batt., he defended her frontier; in peace, during upwards of 30 years,
he watched over her interests as member of Parliament for the County of
Gaspé; and in the retirement of his later years recorded her annals as her
historian.
He died at Quebec on the 13th October, 1856, aged 68, leaving behind him
the memory of a pure career and incorruptible character.
_Integer vitae scelerisque purus._
The inscription, which we think worthy of commendation for the chasteness
and conciseness of its style, is from the pen of (the late) J. B. Parkin,
Esq., advocate, of this city; the most lasting monument, however, of the
honoured deceased is that which was the product of his own brain, his
History of Canada. This work is unfortunately incomplete, though the
materials of a posthumous volume are still extant; but it is to be
regretted that Mr. Christie's widow has been robbed, and that by the hand
of no common thief, of some most important documents collected by and
belonging to her late husband--_Quebec Mercury, 5th Nov._, 1859.
[72] Opposite to Mr. Narcisse Turcotte, jeweller, on Mountain Hill.
[73] The Basilica Minor, or Roman Catholic Parish Church, built in 1647,
restored after the siege of 1759, was consecrated by Bishop Laval on the
18th July, 1666, under the name of the Church of the Immaculate
Conception. It is the oldest church in North America. Its length is 216
feet by 108 in breadth, and is capable of containing a congregation of
4,000 persons. "It originated in a gift, in 1644, on the part of Couillard
and Guillemette Hebert, his wife, of 80 perches of land in superficies,
for a parish church, on condition on the part of the _Fabrique_, or
church authorities, that they would furnish a pew in perpetuity in said
church for them and their successors, on their paying them a sum of 30
livres, _tournois_, at each mutation. The Church was begun in 1644
and 1645, on this spot, out of collections made in the years 1643 and 1644
together, until the price for which were sold 1,270 beaver skins--worth
about 8,000 livres--was given by the Quebec merchants. The partners of the
India Company presented the church with a bell."--_Histoire abrégée de
l'Église de Quebec_.
[74] The Indian Fort (_Fort des Hurons_) was built to protect the
unfortunate Hurons who, after the butchery of 1648-49, had sought refuge
at Quebec. It is conspicuous on an old plan of Quebec of 1660, republished
by Abbé Faillon. It stood on the northern slope of Dufferin Terrace, on
the side to the east of the present Post Office, south-east of the Roman
Catholic Parish Church.
[75] _Voyage Sentimental_--LaRue, page 96.
[76] "THE VOLTIGEURS, 1812.--This corps, now forming under the command of
Major De Salaberry, is completing with a despatch worthy of the ancient
war-like spirit of the country. Capt. Perrault's company was filled up in
48 hours, and was yesterday passed by His Excellency the Governor; and the
companies of Captains Duchesnay, Panet and L'Ecuyer have nearly their
complement. The young men move in solid columns towards the enlisting
officers, with an expression of countenance not to be mistaken. The
Canadians are awakening from the repose of an age secured to them by good
government and virtuous habits. _Their anger is fresh_, the object of
their preparations simple and distinct. They are to defend their King,
known to them only by acts of kindness and a native country, long since
made sacred by the exploits of their forefathers."--(From the _Montreal
Canadian Courant_, 4th May, 1812.) Does the sacred fire still burn as
bright? We hope so.
[77] The Hôtel Dieu is fully described at page 63 of "QUEBEC PAST AND
PRESENT."
[78] Bouchette's British Dominions in North America, 1832, p. 254.
[79] The practical jokers in our good city were numerous and select; we
might mention the Duke of Richmond's sons, Lord Charles and Lord William
Lennox: Col. Denny, 71st Highlanders; the brilliant Vallières de St. Real,
later on Chief. Justice; Petion Christie, P. A. De Gaspé, the writer; L.
Plamondon, C. Romain and other legal luminaries; recalling the days of
Barrington in Ireland, and those of Henry Cockburn in Scotland; their
_petit souper, bon mots_, boisterous merriment, found a sympathetic
chronicler in the author of "The Canadians of Old". _Facile princeps_
for riotous fun stood Chas. R. Ogden, subsequently Attorney-General, as
well known for his jokes as for his eloquence: he recently died a judge at
the Isle of Wight.--(J. M. L.)
[80] The first idea of utilising the ruins of the Château St. Louis, burnt
in 1834, is due to His Excellency the Earl of Durham, Governor-General and
High Commissioner in Canada from the 29th May to the 1st November, 1838.
George Lambton, Earl of Durham, died in England in 1840. He was one of our
ablest administrators, and with all his faults, one of the most
ungenerously treated public men of the day by the Metropolitan statesmen.
[81] "Le Chien d'Or--the History of an Old House,"--MAPLE LEAVES, 1873, p.
89. [82] "His constant attendance when he went abroad," says Mère
Juchereau.
[83] The _Old Régime in Canada_, p. 177-9.
[84] John George Lambton, Earl of Durham, was born at Lambton Castle, in
April, 1792, and died at the Isle of Wight, on the 28th July, 1840,
broken-hearted at the apparent failure of his Canadian mission.
"Lord Durham," says Justin McCarthy, "was a man of remarkable character.
It is a matter of surprise how little his name is thought of by the
present generation, seeing what a strenuous figure he seemed in the eyes
of his contemporaries, and how striking a part he played in the politics
of a time which has even still some living representatives. He belonged to
one of the oldest families in England. The Lambtons had lived on their
estate in the north in uninterrupted succession since the Conquest. The
male succession, it is stated, never was interrupted since the twelfth
century. They were not, however, a family of aristocrats. Their wealth was
derived chiefly from coal mines, and grew up in later days; the property
at first, and for a long time, was of inconsiderable value. For more than
a century, however, the Lambtons had come to take rank among the gentry of
the country, and some member of the family had represented the city of
Durham in the House of Commons from 1727 until the early death of Lord
Durham's father, in December, 1797, William Henry Lambton, Lord Durham's
father, was a staunch Whig, and had been a friend and associate of Fox.
John George Lambton, the son, was born at Lambton Castle, in April, 1792.
Before he was quite twenty years of age, he made a romantic marriage at
Gretna Green with a lady who died three years after. He served for a short
time in a regiment of Hussars. About a year after the death of his first
wife, he married the eldest daughter of Lord Grey. In 1828 he was raised
to the Peerage with the title of Baron Durham."--_History of Our Own
Times_, page 9.--Justin McCarthy.
[85] I use the term advisedly, for had he followed out the Colborne policy
and gibbetted the "Bermuda exiles," he would have had one sin less to
atone for, at the hands of Lord Brougham and other merciless enemies in
England.
[86] Thanks to the late Mr. J. B. Martel, then Secretary of the Harbour
Commission, Quebec, we may designate in a few words the site which the
Quebec Bank now possesses. This extent of ground (at that period a beach
lot), was conceded to the Seminary by the Marquis de Denonville in 1687,
and confirmed by the King, the 1st March, 1688. The 25th August, 1750,
Messire Christophe de Lalane, Directeur du Séminaire des Missions
Étrangères à Paris, made a concession of it to Mons. Nicholas René
Levasseur, _Ingénieur_, formerly chief contractor of the ships of "His
Most Christian Majesty." On the 24th June, 1760, a deed of sale of this
same property, to Joseph Brassard Deschêneaux, consisting of a two-story
house and a wharf (_avec les peintures au-dessus de la porte_.) On the 8th
September, 1764, a deed of sale to Alexander McKenzie, purchase money,
$5,800. On the 19th April, 1768, Joseph Deschêneaux assigned his mortgage
to Mr. John Lymburner. On the 11th August, 1781, a deed of concession of
the beach in the rear, to low water mark, by the Seminary to Adam
Lymburner. The 5th November, 1796, a deed of sale by the attorney of Adam
Lymburner. Subsequently Angus Shaw became the proprietor in consideration
of $4,100. On the 17th October, 1825, a judicial sale, to the late Henry
Atkinson, Esq.
[87] Hon. D.A. Ross.
[88] This attempt, although ushered in with a brilliant victory on 28th
April 1760, failed.
[89] Born in 1765; died in 1820; resided at Quebec, 1741-46.
[90] See _Histoire de la Gazette de Québec_--Gérin, p. 24.
[91] The "Neptune" Inn was opened as a house of public entertainment for
captains, by William Arrowsmith, on 1st May, 1809 (See _Quebec Mercury,_
1st May, 1809.)
[92] DOINGS OF THE PRESS GANG AT QUEBEC, 1807--_Le Canadien_ newspaper, of
September, 1807, thus records the death, on the 13th September of that
year, of Simon Latresse, from the discharge of fire arms.--It had taken
place on the evening of the preceding Saturday, the perpetrator being one
of the crew of H.M. man-of-war _Blossom_, commanded by Captain George
Picket. "Latresse," says this journal, "was at the time attending a dance
in St. John suburbs, when a press-gang, under the charge of Lieut. Andrel,
entered. Latresse was laid hold of, but his great strength and activity
enabled him to shake off his captors. He then took to his heels and
received from one of them a pistol shot, the ball going through his body.
He was a native of Montreal, aged 25 years; had been for seven years a
voyageur to Michilimakinac; was noted for his fidelity and attachment to
his employers. Latresse leaves a widowed mother of 75 years of age to
mourn his loss, of whom he was the support". The poet Quesnel wrote a fine
piece of verse to commemorate the event. It is to be found in the
_Bibliothèque Canadienne_ of 1826.
[93] Quebec, 5th December, 1816. "At a meeting of the Board of Green
Cloth, held at the "Neptune" Inn, John Wm. Woolsey in the chair, it was
unanimously decided to establish a Merchants' Exchange in the lower part
of the Neptune Inn, &c. (Then follow the resolutions.) Subscription to be
two guineas per annum.
"On motion of John Jones, Esq., Resolved that the following gentlemen do
form a Committee of Management:--Thomas Edward Brown, James Heath, George
Symes, John W. Woolsey and Robert Melvin."
[94] William Finlay, an eminent merchant of Quebec, and one of its chief
benefactors, made several bequests which the city authorities invested in
the purchase of this market. Mr. Finlay died at the Island of Madeira,
whether he had gone for his health, about the year 1831.
[95] "ROMPU VIF," 1752--A good deal of patriotic indignation has been
bubbled over at the mention of what was termed the Old World mode of
punishing high treason against the State. With respect to the atrocious
sentence pronounced by Chief Justice Osgood, at Quebec, in 1797, carried
out on the criminal David McLane, the "disembowling and hanging"
particulars (so well related by an eye-witness, the late P. A. DeGaspé,
Esq.,) ought not to be considered such a novelty in Canada.
A Montreal antiquary, Mr. P. S. Murphy, has unearthed a sentence
pronounced at Montreal in the good old Bourbon times, 6th June, 1752,
which shows that the terrible punishment of "breaking alive" (rompu vif)
was in force under the French _régime_.
"Belisle," says Mr. P. S. Murphy, "was condemned to 'torture ordinary and
extraordinary,' then to be broken alive on a scaffold erected in the
market place. The awful sentence was carried out to the letter, his body
buried in Guy street, Montreal, and a _Red Cross_ erected to mark the
spot."
_Translation_.--Extract from the requisition of H. C. Majesty's
Attorney:--
"I require for the King that Jean Baptiste Goyer dit Belisle be arraigned
and convicted of having wilfully and feloniously killed the said Jean
Favre by a pistol shot and several stabs with a knife, and of having
similarly killed the said Marie-Anne Bastien, wife of the said Favre, with
a spade and a knife, and of having stolen from them the money that was in
their house; for punishment of which that he be condemned to have his
arms, legs, thighs and backbone broken, he alive, on a scaffold, which
shall be erected for that purpose in the market place of this city, at
noon, then on a rack, his face turned towards the sky, he be left to die.
The said Jean Baptiste Goyer dit Belisle, being previously put to the
torture ordinary and extraordinary, his dead body shall be carried by the
executioners to the highway which lies between the house lately occupied
by the said accused and the house lately occupied by the said Jean Favre
and his wife. The goods and chattels of the said Jean Baptiste Goyer dit
Belisle confiscated to the King, or for the benefit of those who may have
a right to them, or of those not liable to confiscation, the sum of 300
livres fine being previously set apart, in case that confiscation could be
made for the benefit of His Majesty.
"(Signed), FAUCHER.
"Done at Montreal, the 6th June, 1752."
[96] The most spacious, the most remarkable of these substantial vaults of
French construction, are those which now belong to the Estate Poston, on
the north side of Notre Dame street, nearly opposite the church Notre Dame
des Victoires. It is claimed that these vaults were so constructed as not
only to be fire proof but water-proof likewise at the seasons of high
water, in spring and autumn. This vault is now occupied by Messrs.
Thompson, Codville & Co. as Inland Revenue and Customs bonded warehouses.
[97] "_Cours d'Histoire du Canada_," _Ferland, Vol._ 1, _p._ 280.
[98] _Concession de la Barre aux Jésuites_, _Sept._ 16, 1683.
[99] _Cul-de-Sac_ means a street without an issue. The filling in of
this old market place, by the wharves on which Champlain Market Hall now
stands, has totally altered this locality.
[100] M. de Laval, in 1661, described the city as follows:--
"Quebecum vulgo in superiorem dividitur et inferiorem urbem. In inferiore
sunt portus, vadosa navium ora, mercatorum apoticae ubi et merces
servantur, commercium quodlibet peragitur publicum et magnus civium
numerus commoratur."
[101] George Allsop, a British merchant, came from England to this country
in the last century with Thomas Aylwin, grandfather of Judge Thos. Cushing
Aylwin. The Hale family were already in Canada, and became intimate with
the Allsops. George Allsop had six sons, all born in the Montcalm House
ramparts. At the time of Robert Allsop's birth his mother was placed for
safety in the vaults of the Citadel, at the time of the siege (1775) says
a family tradition. These six sons were as follows:--
George Waters Allsop, eldest, sent home to the Bluecoat School to be
educated; he was a Latin and Greek scholar, and a person of eminence
in other respects.
John Allsop, merchant in London.
Carleton Allsop, Consul-General to Colombia.
Robert Allsop, Deputy Commissary-General.
James Allsop, Paymaster 1st Batt., 44th Foot.
William Allsop, merchant, died at sea on a voyage to Buenos Ayres, and
was buried on the Patagonian coast, all co-seigneurs of Seignories of
Jacques Cartier and d'Auteuil.
James Allsop, at the age of 17, was taken by Hon. John Hale, Receiver-
General, into his office, St. John street, at $600 per annum. This
house was afterwards occupied by a Mrs. Stinson (I think as a
boarding-house); sold to Judge Aylwin, who left it by will to his
nephew, Robt S. Bradley, who now owns it.
James Allsop did not like the drudgery of Mr. Hale's office, who sent
him to England with a recommendation to the late Duke of Kent, asking
for a Paymastership. There were difficulties at first, he not being
considered old enough; but at last he was gazetted to one in the 1st
Batt., 44th Regt., and this Battalion was ordered to New Orleans, Hon.
Col. Mullins (Lord Ventry's son), commanding, who, being seized with a
panic on the field, disgraced himself, lost his presence of mind on
seeing the destruction the Americans were dealing out to the British
troops, by firing behind their cotton bags, and was in consequence the
cause of the death of Hon. Col. Pakenham, brother-in-law to the Duke
of Wellington. Miss Pakenham was a celebrated beauty, and engaged to
marry the Duke on his return from the Peninsular War; but having,
unfortunately, taken the small-pox during the Duke's absence, her
father wrote to the Duke to absolve him from his promise, she having
become so much disfigured from its effects, but the Duke was too
honourable, and married her. They were both in Brussels. My father,
who was Paymaster to the 2nd Battalion of the 44th, was at Waterloo.
We remained in Brussels some years.--(_Diary of Mrs. Chas. Aylwin_.)
[102] See Appendix--"La Négresse Rose."
[103] Quebecers will remember with pleasure the presence in our midst of
this famous Polar navigator in August, 1880, and his lady, whose
kindliness of manner and elegant French, won the hearts of many. The
instructive torpedo lectures of the scientific commander of the
_Northampton_ iron-clad, Capt. Fisher, will likewise retain a corner
in the chambers of memory.
[104] In fact, the spot where the remains of the great geographer and
discoverer are supposed to rest, seems to be the site on which the new
Post Office in the Upper Town has lately been built. Another theory,
however, is lately propounded by an Ottawa antiquary. See QUEBEC PAST AND
PRESENT.
[105] XAVIER MARMIER.--This writer was born at Pontcartier, France, in
1809, and early evinced a passion for travel. Having visited Switzerland
and Holland, he came to Paris in 1830. Being well versed in German
literature, he edited for ten years the _Revue Germanique_, during
which period he travelled and wrote much. In 1836-38 he went as the
Secretary of a scientific expedition to the north of Europe. He spent
several weeks at Archangel, visited Iceland, Greenland, and other
hyperborean regions, and after his return published many works, among
which may be mentioned Travels in Iceland and Greenland (7 vols., 8vo,
with elaborate maps and numerous folio plates), the Literature of Denmark
and Sweden, Souvenirs of Voyages and Traditions, Popular Songs of the
North, Letters on Holland and on Russia, Finland and Poland, Poems of a
Traveller, the Rhine and the Nile, Letters upon Algeria and the Adriatic,
A Summer on the Baltic, &c, &c, besides voluminous essays in reviews and
magazines. He was recalled from travels to become librarian of the
Department of the Marine, and in 1847 was appointed in charge of the
library of Sainte Geneviève. He is still (in 1881) living in Paris.
[106] _Lettres sur l'Amérique, par X Marmier, Canada, États-Unis, Havane,
Rio de la Plata_, 2 _Vols., Paris_, 1851.
[107] The Jesuit Fathers were in the habit of fastening the painters of
their canoes at the foot of the hill, "la _canoterie_," on their return
by water from their farm called "_Ferme des Anges_," hence its name.
We borrow from the "Directory for the City and Suburbs of Quebec" for
1791, by Hugh McKay, printed at the office of the _Quebec Herald_,
the following paragraph, "_Rues Ecartées_" (out-of-the-way streets)--
"_La Canoterie_ (canoe landings) follows the street Sault-au-Matelot,
commencing at the house of Cadet (where Mr. O. Aylwin resides), and
continues up to Mr. Grant's distillery; St. Charles street commences there
and terminates below Palace Gate; St. Nicholas street extends from Palace
Gate to the water's edge, passing in front of the residence of the widow
La Vallée; the old ship yard opposite to the boat yard, Cape Diamond
street commences at the wharf owned by Mr. Antrobus and terminates at the
outer extremity of that of Mons. Dunière, underneath Cape Diamond, the
streets Carrière, Mont Carmel, Ste. Geneviève, St. Denis, Des Grisons, are
all situated above St. Louis street" (Mr. Louis Dunière was M.P. in 1828.)
[108] Mr. T. P. Bédard sends us the following note on this street:--"Au
17ème siècle, la rue Sault-au-Matelot était la rue commerciale par
excellence avec la rue Notre-Dame, c'était là où ce faisait toutes les
affaires, la rue St. Pierre actuelle étant alors envahie par l'eau durant
les grandes marées."
[109] Did the dog belong to Champlain? an antiquary asks us.
"Ad laevum fluit amnis S. Laurentii, ad dextram S. Caroli fluviolus. Ad
confluentem, Promontorium assurgit, _Saltum Nautae_ vulgo vocant, ab
cane hujus nominis qui se alias ex eo loco praecipitem dedit." (Historia
Canadensis.--Creuxius, p. 204.)
[110] François de Bienville.
[111] In that early, dark, but not unhappy era of Quebec municipal
existence, in June, 1842, when the great novelist, Chas. Dickens,
perambulated our thoroughfares and surveyed our battle fields, did the
author of "Pickwick," in his rambles, meet in this odoriferous lane any of
those "roving, gentlemanly, philosophic, republican" porkers, such as had
crossed his path in the "empire city" of the West, and which, as typical
New York pigs, have since become famous. "A select party," says he, "of
half a dozen gentlemanly hogs have just now turned the corner."
"Here is a solitary swine lounging homeward by himself. He has only one
ear, having parted with the other to vagrant dogs in the course of his
city rambles. But he gets on very well without it, and leads a roving,
gentlemanly, vagabond life, somewhat answering to that of our club men at
home. He leaves his lodgings every morning at a certain hour, throws
himself upon the town, gets through the day in some manner quite
satisfactory to himself, and regularly appears at the door of his own
house again at night, like the mysterious master of Gil Blas. He is a free
and easy, careless, indifferent kind of pig, having a very large
acquaintance among other pigs of the same character, whom he rather knows
by sight than conversation, as he seldom troubles himself to stop and
exchange civilities, but goes grunting down the kennel, turning up the
news and small talk of the city, in the shape of cabbage-stalks and offal,
and bearing no tails but his own, which is a very short one, for his old
enemies the dogs have been at that too, and have left him hardly enough to
swear by. He is in every respect a Republican pig, going wherever he
pleases, and mingling with the best society, on an equal if not superior
footing, for every one makes way when he appears, and the haughtiest give
him the wall if he prefer it. He is a great philosopher, and seldom moved,
unless by the dogs before mentioned."--(_Dickens' American Notes_, p. 38.)
[112] CANADA'S ROYAL VISITORS--WHO HAVE BEEN HERE SINCE 1787.--"Canada has
been honoured with visits from the following Royal personages:--His Royal
Highness Prince William Henry (afterwards William IV.) uncle of Her
Majesty Queen Victoria, landed in Quebec in 1787. H.R.H. Prince Edward,
Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, visited Canada in 1791, four years
later than his brother. H.R.H. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and heir
apparent of the British Crown, was in this country in 1860, and laid the
corner-stone of the Parliament Buildings at Ottawa. H.R.H. Prince Alfred,
Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, was here in 1861, H.R.H.
Prince Leopold in May, 1880. H.E.H. Prince de Joinville, son of Louis
Philippe, King of France, was in Canada the same year as Prince Alfred.
Prince Napoleon Bonaparte, cousin of Napoleon III., Emperor of France,
also in 1861. H.R.H. Prince Arthur, third son of the Queen, in 1869.
H.R.H. the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, in 1871. H.R.H. Dom Pedro, Emperor
of Brazil, in 1876 (Centennial year); and Her Royal Highness the Princess
Louise and H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh (his second visit), in 1878. It
will thus be seen that Queen Victoria's father, uncle and five of her
children have been in Canada."
[113] Opened by him in 1831.
[114] "Travels through North America during the years 1825-26," By Carl
Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach.
[115] Prescott Gate levelled in 1871.
[116] These steps went into Prescott Gate.
[117] The R. C. Bishop's Palace, on whose site the present brick
structure, Parliament House, was since erected.
[118] Bleak House, on the St. Louis Heights, was, until 1871, the quarters
of the Colonel of Engineers.
[119] The Abbé de Fénélon was the half-brother of the illustrious
Archbishop of Cambray, the author of "Telemachus." He was tried by
Frontenac and the Superior Council for having, at the preceding Easter,
preached at Montreal a violent sermon against the _corvées_ (enforced
labor) to build up Fort Frontenac, &c. He refused to acknowledge the
competency of the tribunal to try him, appeared before it with his hat on,
&c. Frontenac had him committed for contempt. Altogether it was a curious
squabble, the decision of which was ultimately left to the French King.--
(Parkman's Frontenac, p. 37, M. Faillon, _La Colonie Française, Vol.
III, pp. 515, 517.)
[120] Montcalm, de Vaudreuil, de Longueuil, de Bougainville, LaCorne, de
Beaujeu, Taché, de Léry, de St. Ours and others constituted this party of
honourable men.
[121] MÉMOIRES sur les affaires du Canada, 1749-60.
[122] Servants, lackeys and nobodies were named store-keepers, "_leur
ignorance et leur bassesse ne font point un obstacle_," say the
_Mémoires_, 1749-60.
[123] "He (deCallières), says Parkman, laid before the King a plan, which
had, at least, the recommendation of boldness and cheapness. This was to
conquer New York with the forces already in Canada, aided only by two
ships of war. The blow, he argued, should be struck at once, and the
English taken by surprise. A thousand regulars and six hundred Canadian
Militia should pass Lake Champlain and Lake George, in canoes and bateaux,
cross to the Hudson, and capture Albany, where they would seize all the
river-craft, and descend the Hudson to the town of New York, which, as
Callières states, had then about two hundred houses and four hundred
fighting men. The two ships were to cruise at the mouth of the Harbour,
and wait the arrival of the troops, which was to be made known to them by
concerted signals, whereupon they were to enter and aid in the attack. The
whole expedition, he thought, might be accomplished in a month, so that by
the end of October, the King would be master of the country....
It will be well to observe what were the instructions of the King towards
the colony which he proposed to conquer. They were as follows: If any
Catholics were found in New York, they might be left undisturbed, provided
that they took an oath of allegiance to the King. Officers, and other
persons who had the means of paying ransoms, were to be thrown into
prison. All lands in the colony, except those of Catholics swearing
allegiance, were to be taken from the owners, and granted under feudal
tenure to the French officers and soldiers. All property, public or
private, was to be seized, a portion of it given to the grantees of the
land, and the rest sold on account of the King. Mechanics and other
workmen might, at the discretion of the commanding officer) be kept as
prisoners to work at fortifications and do other labor. The rest of the
English and Dutch inhabitants, men, women, and children were to be carried
out of the colony, and dispersed in New England, Pennsylvania or other
places, in such manner, that they could not combine in any attempt to
recover their property and their country. And that the conquest might be
perfectly secure, the nearest settlements of New England were to be
destroyed, and those more remote, laid under contribution.--(_Count
Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV_, _p._ 187-9.)
[124] See Appendix, _verbo_ "CONQUEST IN NEW YORK."
[125] THE CHIEN D'OR A LEGEND OF QUEBEC.
[126] L'INTENDANT BIGOT.
[127] For the names of the victims and further particulars, vide 2nd
Volume du Dictionnaire Généalogique, par l'Abbé Tanguay.
[128] These bricks were found to be only 1-1/2 inches thick, of a dark
flinty appearance and as hard as iron, and seemed to be composed of silica
and oxide of iron.
The Jesuit College had been occupied as a barrack, under the warrant of
General J. Murray, in 1765. (J. M. L.)
[129] _Cours d'Histoire du Canada_, Vol. II, p. 140.
[130] Louis XV.
[131] Smith's History of Canada, Vol. II., p. 105.
[132] _Life of Lord Nelson_, by Robert Southey, LL.D.
[133] See Judge Henry's Diary of the Siege of 1775.
[134] The friends of the history will, no doubt, rejoice to learn that the
Literary and Historical Society has acquired the interesting diaries and
correspondence of Mr. James Thompson.
[135] Named after George Pozer, an aged Quebec millionaire, who for years
resided in the house subsequently occupied as a book-store by the late
Chas. Hamel. This eccentric old German was a native of Wesel, Germany. He
had emigrated in the last century to New York, from thence to London,
England, from thence to Quebec. He died here in 1840, immensely wealthy,
the cause of his death being a cold be caught in attending Parliament, at
Kingston, to remonstrate against what he considered the encroachments of
the City Council, at Quebec, who, to remove obstructions in the public
streets, had forcibly done away with the projecting steps of "Freemasons'
Hall," the _Chien d'Or_ building, for years the property of George Pozer.
George Pozer was the grandfather of Hon. M. Pozer, the portly Senator for
Beauce.
[136] Ryland street recalls the astute and able secretary and adviser to
many Governors, the Hon. Herman W. Ryland, who died in 1836, at Mount
Lilac, Beauport.
[137] St. Ours street reminds the student of history of that brave French
brigadier who on the glorious battle-field of the 13th September, 1759,
shed his blood to uphold the lost cause of France.
[138] Dambourgès street perpetuates the name of the intrepid Lieutenant
(afterwards Colonel) Dambourgès, who, on the 31st December, 1775, in the
Sault au Matelot engagement, helped so zealously to uphold the flag of Old
England.
[139] Hon. William Grant had wedded, at Montreal, on the 11th September,
1770, the widow of the third Baron de Longueuil, who had expired in 1755.
Hon Wm. Grant's decease is thus mentioned in the _Quebec Mercury_, on
the 7th October, 1805:--"Died, on Saturday, of an inflammation in his
bowels, after a short illness, William Grant, Esq., of St. Roch. He came
to this country shortly after the conquest; (about 1763). Under the old
constitution (prior to 1774) he was many years a Privy and Legislative
Councillor. Under the present one, he was three times elected a
representative to the House of Assembly for the Upper Town of Quebec. He
also, at different periods, filled several other important stations in the
Province, in all which he manifested ability, assiduity and activity. He
embarked in speculative enterprise at an early age, whence his life may be
truly said to have been a life of distinguished usefulness. His
possessions are extensive and valuable". On a portion of the lot acquired
and still occupied by Mr. Prudent Vallée, from the heirs of the late Peter
Brébaut, on the 4th May, 1833, by deed, before L. T. McPherson, Esq., N.
P., there remains still the massive ruins of what in the early part of the
century was a stately stone dwelling, with vaulted rooms in the basement.
The edifice faced towards St. Vallier street, and was surrounded by a high
wall, with an iron gate on the St. Vallier street side, and an iron
_porte-cochère_, enclosing what was once no doubt a blooming garden;
it is now densely built over, since the great fire of 1845 swept over the
locality like a tornado. This ostentations mansion is described in Mr.
Vallée's deed as the "Manor House," and we are led to believe that here
for many a long day flourished the enterprising and wealthy "Seignior of
St. Roch," the Hon. Wm. Grant, Receiver-General of His Majesty's rents,
with Madame La Baronne de Longueuil, his respected spouse. The Grant
estate, by a patent from Sir James Craig, dated 11th March, 1811,
subsequently included what is now a most populous portion of St. Roch,
styled "La Vacherie," because the city cows were daily brought to these
moist lands adjoining the St. Charles. However, this opulent family had
another manor, built by the Baronne very shortly after her marriage with
Mr. Grant, in 1770, on the lovely Island of St. Hélène, opposite to
Montreal. She had also erected, opposite to Molson's brewery, a
_banal_ mill to grind the corn garnered in the neighborhood. The St.
Hélène manor was probably the country seat during the summer mouths, and
the St. Vallier street mansion _la maison de ville_ of its busy and
successful master, who died in 1805, ten years after his noble lady, who
had expired on the 25th February, 1795.
[140] This gentleman (Mr. William Henderson) was for many years Secretary
of the Quebec Fire Assurance Company. I believe he is still living, and
that he resides at Frampton, in the County of Dorchester, P.Q.
[141] Renaud & Brown's Mills at present.
[142] Report No. 3 of Commissioners of the Harbour of Quebec.
[142] Queen's Birthday, Brochure, 1880.
[144] QUEBEC PAST AND PRESENT, p. 353.
[145] QUEBEC AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS.--Chas. Roger, 1864.
CHAPTER IV.
[146] The residence of Jos. Shehyn, Esq., M.P.P., occupies now this
historic site.
[147] SAUNDERS SIMPSON.--He was Prevost Marshal in Wolfe's army of
Louisbourg, Quebec and Montreal, and cousin of my father's. He resided in
that house, the nearest to St. Louis Gate, outside, which has not
undergone any external alteration since I was a boy.--_From unpublished
Diary of Deputy Commissary General Jas. Thompson._
[148] Recent evidence extracted by Dr. H. H. Miles, out of Jas. Thompson's
papers and letters, strengthen the theory previously propounded, and
indicate Miss Mary Simpson, daughter of Saunders Simpson, as the famed
Quebec beauty of 1782.
[149] Paint and extensive repairs have very much improved the historical
house--owned and partly occupied by Mr. Green, Surveyor of H. M. Customs,
Quebec--this year until May tenanted by George Stewart, Esq., author of
"_Lord Dufferin's Rule in Canada_," "_The Great St. John Fire_, 1877," &c.
[150] Major Perrault and his esteemed father, the Prothonotary, a warm
friend to education, both lived there many years.
[151] Three only now exist.
[152] My old friend died in 1867--regretted as a scholar, an antiquarian
and the type of the old English gentleman.
[153] This realm of fairy land, so rich in nature's graces, so profusely
embellished by the late James Gibb, Esq., President of the Quebec Bank,
was recently sold for a rural cemetery.
[154] The stately home of Thomas Beckett, Esq.
[155] The picturesque villa of R. R. Dobell, Esq.
[156] A mossy old hall founded by Mr. McNider in the beginning of the
century; now occupied by the Graddon family.
[157] The grand mansion of the late Chas E. Levey, Esq.
[158] Owned by Mr. Morgan.
[159] The highly cultivated farm and summer residence of Andrew Stuart,
Esq.
[160] The property of Charles Ernest Levey, Esq.
[161] The beautiful home of W. Herring, Esq.
[162] The rustic abode of the late Hon. John Neilson, now owned by his
eldest son, John Neilson, P. L. Surveyor, advantageously known by his
popular notes on Canadian Birds. Dornald with its umbrageous glens,
undulating meadows, broad and dense hard wood groves, seems a veritable
Eden to the feathered tribe and offers innumerable opportunities of
observation to the eye of a naturalist.
[163] Recently acquired by James Bowen, Esq., founded by the late W.
Atkinson, Esq., in 1820.
[164] For account of the duel, which laid law one of the Hollands, see
_Maple Leaves_ for 1863. The tree, however, has lately been destroyed by a
storm.
[165] A stately Convent of Congregational Nuns.
[166] The ornate country seat of Robt. Hamilton, Esq.
[167] The cosy dwelling of And. Thompson, President Union Bank.
[168] The homestead of Hon. D. A. Ross, late Atty.-Genl., Province of
Quebec.
PART II--ENVIRONS OF QUEBEC
[169] A. Brulart de Sillery, Marquis de Puisieux, was Minister of Foreign
Affairs in France from 1747 to 1751.--O'Callaghan's _Paris Document
Table_, vol. x.
[170] His career furnishes a curious instance of the lavish expenditure
which ambitious sovereigns formerly required on such grand occasions. Let
us quote his biographer's own words: "Son entrée dans Rome fut superbe; il
était dans un carosse ouvert, en forme de calèche, tout brillant d'or,
même jusqu'aux roues qui étaient dorées. Ses chevaux étaient ferres avec
des plaques d'argent qui ne tenaient que par un seul clou, afin que,
venant à se détacher, elles fussent ramassées par les pauvres, à qui,
outre cela, il faisait jeter quantité d'argent. Son carosse était entouré
de douze gentilshomme bien montes et superbement vêtus; et de douze valets
de pied d'une rich livrée, suivis des carosses que le Pape avait envoyé
pour lui faire honneur. Sa Sainteté fut sur un balcon pour voir son
entrée. M. l'ambassadeur était vêtu en Chevalier de Malte, avec sa croix
enrichie de diamants. Ce fut dans ce superbe équipage qu'il fit les
visites des cardinaux."
[171] An authentic record still remains of the foundation of the mission;
it is written in the language of Virgil, by Father Deguen, its first
missionary, and heads the register of baptisms, marriages and burials of
the mission. It runs thus: "Dominus de Sillery, eques militenses et
sacerdos non adpridem factus, vir imprimis plus, reductionem Sancti
Josephi, una et amplius leaca, suprâ Kebicum ad ripas magni fluminis."
Jacta sunt fundimenta domûs, Julii, 1637, et 14 Aprilis anni, 1638.--
_Bressani_, _Appendix_, p. 300.
[172] Il y avait (des petite forts) à Sillery, sur les fiefs Saint Michel,
Saint François, Saint Sauveur, à Beauport, à l'Ile d'Orléans. "Les
_Hiroquois_," dit la mère de l'Incarnation, "craignent extrêmement les
cannons; ce qui fait qu'ils n'osent s'approcher des forts." Les habitants,
afin de leur donner la chasse et de la terreur, ont des redoutes en leurs
maisons pour se défendre avec de petites pièces.--_Abbé Ferland's Notes_,
p 92.
[173] _History of the Hôtel-Dieu_, Mère Juchereau.
[174] Abbé Faillon's _Histoire de la Colonie Française en Canada_, vol.
ii., p. 28.
[175] The hotel was later kept by one Pierre Letarte.
[176] Faillon cautions students to be careful not to confound the name of
the parish of Ste. Foye with the name "Sainte Foix" which M. Puiseaux had
given to his manor, higher up than Quebec on the shore of the St.
Lawrence.--_Ibid_, vol. iii, p. 319.
[177] "Jacques Brassier, Jean Tavernier, Nicholas Josselin, Etienne Robin
dit Desforges, René Douspin Jean LeComte, and Francois Crusson dit Pelate,
belonged to those immortal seventeen heroes who, led on by their brave and
youthful commander, Adam Dollard Desormeaux, shed their blood so nobly for
the salvation of the nascent colony at Montreal at the Longue Sault, on
21st May, 1660."--(See Faillon, vol. ii., p 416.)
[178] Manuscript owned by G. B. Faribault, Esq.
[179] _Histoire de la Colonie Française en Canada_, Faillon, vol. iii., p.
222.
[180] The insecurity produced in the colony at this period by the
incessant inroads of the Five Nations was such that several colonists were
on the eve of, and some did, return to France.
"Les familles françaises éparses sur les bords du St. Laurent, se
trouvaient exposées à des dangers continuels. Pendant le jour, les hommes
étaient attaqués au coin des champs, à l'orée d'un bois, sur les eaux du
grand-fleuve. Pour tomber tout-à-coup sur leurs victimes, les maraudeurs
iroquois se tenaient cachés tantôt derrière un arbre renversé, tantôt dans
un marais, ou au milieu des joncs du rivage pendant la nuit, ils rôdaient
autour des maisons, cherchant à surprendre quelques familles sans
défense."--(_Ferland, Histoire du Canada_: Vol. I., p. 398.)
Hence the French houses in each settlement were generally close to one
another for mutual protection; the church in the centre to sound the
tocsin of alarm.
[181] _Relations des Jésuites_, 1652, p. 7.
[182] _Histoire du Canada_--Ferland. Vol. I, page 109.
[183] "Monsieur de Courcelles, qui en fut le chef (de l'expédition), y
apporta toute la diligence possible, de sorte qu'il se trouva prêt à
partir le 9 Janvier, 1666, accompagné de M. duGas, qu'il prit pour son
lieutenant, de M. de Salampar, gentilhomme volontaire, du Père Pierre
Raffeix, Jésuite, de 300 hommes du Régiment Carignan Salières et de 200
volontaires, habitants des colonies françaises, chacun ayant aux pieds des
raquettes, dont ils n'étaient pas accoutumés de se servir et tous sans en
excepter les chefs et M. de Courcelles même étant chargés chacun de 25 ou
30 livres de biscuit etc. A peine pourrait on trouver dans toutes les
histoires une marche plus difficile et plus longue, que le fut celle de
cette petite armée, et il fallut un courage français et la constance de M.
de Courcelles pour l'entreprendre * * * il fallait faire trois cent lieues
sur les neiges, traverser continuellement sur la glace des lacs et des
rivières en danger de faire autant de chutes que de pas, ne coucher que
sur la neige au milieu des forêts, et souffrir un froid qui passe de
beaucoup la rigueur des plus rudes hivers de l'Europe.
"Cependant nos troupes estant allées le premier jour à Sillery, pour
recommander le succès de leur entreprise à l'Archange Saint Michel, Patron
de ce lieu là, plusieurs eurent des le troisième jour, le nez, les
oreilles, les genoux et les doigts, ou d'autres parties du corps gelées et
le reste du corps couvert de cicatrices."--_Relations des Jésuites_,
1666, page 6.
[184] This crack regiment had covered itself with glory at the battle of
St. Gothard in 1664, when 80,000 Turks had been cut to pieces by the army
of Count Coligny.--(_Histoire de la Mère de l'Incarnation_, Casgrain,
p. 425-6.)
[185] "Le vingt-cinq Janvier," says Ferland, "ils étaient sur les glaces à
l'entrée du lac Saint Pierre. Le froid était plus vif, que les jours
précédents; des glaçons accumulés barraient presque la route qu'ils
suivaient. Les volontaires accoutumés de longue main à rencontrer ces
difficultés savaient les surmonter; ils étaient vêtus à la manière du
pays, et portaient habits, bonnets et chaussures de peaux de bêtes; aussi
ils pouvaient sans danger braver le froid. Il n'en était pas ainsi des
soldats français, encore peu habitués à la sévérité du climat, et qui
n'étaient pas pourvus de couvertures suffisantes. L'on fut contraint de
reporter aux Trois Rivières plusieurs d'entre eux dont les uns s'étaient
blessés sur les glaces, et les autres avaient les mains, les bras et les
pieds gelés."--(_Cours d'Histoire du Canada_, vol. ii, p. 467.)
[186] Baron Vincent Saint Castin, was from Oléron, in Béarn. Originally a
Colonel in the King's Guards, he came to Canada in 1665, a Captain in the
Carignan Regiment. He was, in 1680-1, in command of Fort Penobscot in
Maine. He married Matilda, the daughter of Madockawando, Sachem of the
Penobscots, by which tribe he was adopted and elevated to the rank of
Chief. He played a conspicuous part in the wars of that day, signed
treaties with the Governors of New England. Having amassed a property of
300,000 crowns, he retired eventually to France, where he had an estate.
He was succeeded by his son in the Government of Penobscot. His daughters
married advantageously in the colony. We find one of them, Mademoiselle
Brigitte de Saint Castin, amongst the pupils of the Ursuline Nuns at
Quebec, about the beginning of the last century.--_"Les Gouverneurs
Généraux du Canada le ménagent et ceux de la Nouvelle Angleterre le
craignent," says La Hontan._
[187] _Notes on the Environs of Quebec_, 1855.
[188] Occupied by Michael Stevenson, Esq.
[189] The temple for Catholic worship, erected at Pointe à Puizeau about
1854, is very picturesquely located; its stained glass windows, its
graceful new spire, frescoed ceilings, add much to its beauty. The Rev'd
Messire George Drolet has succeeded to the Rev. Father Harkin, who had
been in charge ever since the late Abbé Ferland was appointed secretary to
the Archbishop of Quebec and Military Chaplain to the Forces. For some
time in 1877, St. Columba Church was in the spiritual charge of
Monseigneur de Persico.
[190] From the noise it makes before easterly gales.
[191] The _Jesuits in North America_, Parkman--pages 282-3. Vimont,
_Relation_, 1645, 2-22.
[192] Breweries, however, and other manufactories had been in operation in
the colony as early as 1668, as we glean from the following entry in the
_Jesuits' Journal_:--
"Et parce qu'un pais ne peut pas se former entièrement sans l'assistance
des manufactures, nous voyons déjà celle des souliers et des chapeaux
commencée, celle des toiles et des cuirs projetée, et on attend que la
multiplication qui se fait des moutons, produise suffisement des laines
pour introduire celle des draps, et c'est ce que nous espérons dans peu
puisque les bestiaux se peuplent assez abondamment, entr-autres les
chevaux qui commencent à distribuer dans tout le pais. La brasserie que
Monsieur Talon fait construire, ne servira pas peu aussi pour la commodité
publique, soit pour l'épargne des boissons enivrantes, qui causent ici de
grands désordres, auxquels on pourra obvier par cette antre boisson qui
est très saine et non malfaisante, soit pour conserver l'argent dans le
pais qui s'en divertit par l'achat qu'on fait en France de tant de
boissons, soit enfin pour consumer le surabondant des bleds qui si sont
trouves quelquefois en telle quantité que les laboureurs n'en pouuaient
avoir le débit."--_Relations des Jésuites_, 166, p. 3. On the site of
Talon's brewery, was built the Intendant's Palace, in the rear of
Boswell's Brewery.
[193] _Heriot's Travels_, 1806, p. 98.
The Jesuit, Father Ennemond Massé died at Sillery, 12th May, 1646, aged
seventy-two.
[194] _Histoire de la Colonie Française en Canada, vol. II, p._ 115.
[195] _Faillon_, vol. III, p. 318.
[196] In 1684, at the review of French troops at Fort Fontenac, appear
among others _Captaines de la Côte_; the _Captain de la Côte de Beauport_,
Duchesnay, Laferté and Meseray, of Cap. Rouge. (Paris Documents, vol. IX,
p 234.)
[197] "Along this road was the favorite drive of the Canadian belle."--
_Hawkins' Picture of Quebec_.
[198] Madame Pean's house in St. Louis street stood where the Officers
Barracks have been since built. We take her to have been that pretty Ang.
De Meloises, a pupil of the Ursuline Nuns, mentioned in the _Historie
des Ursulines de Québec_.
[199] _Quebec, Past and Present_; Maple Leaves--1865.
[200] The monument erected by the inhabitants of Sillery, to the memory of
the Revd. Père Ennemond Masse, S. J., first Missionary to Canada, was
inaugurated on Saturday afternoon, the 26th June, 1870, in presence of the
inhabitants of Sillery, and of several literary gentlemen of the environs.
Revd. G. V. Cazeau, addressed those present, and was followed by the Abbes
Laverdière and Casgrain, and by Hon'l P. C. A. Chauveau and Mr. R. R.
Dobell.
Mr. Dobell delivered a lengthy and able address on the worth of the good
missionary but dwelt chiefly on the career of the benevolent Commander
Brulart de Sillery:
At our suggestion, the monument was made by its inscriptions to
commemorate the merit of both:
The speakers all paid a high tribute to the researches of the Revd. Abbes
Laverdière and Casgrain, through whose labors the resting place of the
Revd. Père Masse were discovered, and with whom originated the idea of
erecting this monument.
The ground upon which the monument stands was given by Mr. Henry
Lemesurier: and Mr. R. R. Dobell has nobly assisted Messrs. Laverdière and
Casgrain in carrying out the project.
The monument is plain but elegant, and altogether about 20 feet high. It
is of cut-stone, with four marble tablets surmounted by a marble cross.
One of the tablets bears the following inscription:
The Inhabitants of Sillery
Have erected this Monument to the Memory of
PÈRE ENNEMOND MASSE, S.J.,
First Missionary in Canada,
Buried in 1646,
In the Church of Saint Michel,
On the Domain of Saint Joseph of Sillery.
On another tablet was inscribed:
The Church of Saint Michel,
Which formerly stood on this spot,
Was built by
The Commander of Sillery,
Founder (in 1637) of the St. Joseph Domain.
The ceremony throughout was of a most interesting character, serving to
mark an important event in the history of Canada.
[201] The Plains of Abraham. Notes, original and selected, by Lt. Col.
Beatson, Royal Engineers--Gibraltar: Printed at the Garrison Library
Press, 1858. This volume is very rare.
[202] Donation du 10 Octobre, 1648, et du 1er Février, 1652, par Adrien
Duchesne à Abraham Martin, de 30 arpents de terre.
Concession du 16 Mai, 1650, par la Compagnie de la Nouvelle France, de 12
arpents de terre à Abraham Martin.
Vente du 1er Juillet, 1667, aux Dames Ursuline de Quebec, par les
héritiers d'Abraham Martin, d'un terrain contenant 32 arpents en
superficie.
[203] A creature of Bigot, Capt. DeVergor, on the 13th of September, 1759,
after allowing his militia men to return home on leave, was in charge of
the post at Wolfefield, where Wolfe ascended after taking the Captain
prisoner; this was the key to the position. Ferland and other writers have
imputed treason to DeVergor.
[204] "MONTCALM EN CANADA."
In a work published at Tournai, in 1861, _par un ancien missionnaire_, at
page 193, Père Martin notices the discrepancies between the various
writers whom he had consulted. "It is difficult at the present day, to
decide with certainty as to the numbers of the two armies who met on the
Plains of Abraham; ancient writers are no more in accord than modern. Here
are some of the estimates:
FRENCH. ENGLISH.
L'Intendant Bigot,....................... 3,500 3 to 4,000
Montreuil, Major Général,................ ... 4,500
Doreil, Commissaire,..................... 3,000 6,000
Colonel Fraser,.......................... 5,000 4,000
(Sullivan says the forces were equal, but that Wolfe's soldiers were
disciplined veterans, and that the half of Montcalm's were militia and
Indians.)
Hawkins,................................. 5,000 4,800
Bancroft,................................ 5,000 5,000
Garneau,................................. 4,500 8,000
Beatson,................................. 7,500 4,828
Dussieux,................................ 4,500 5,000
The estimates given by Garneau, of the English, and by Lt. Col. Beatson,
of the French, are evidently exaggerated. The estimates of Knox and
Ferland deserves also notice, even if only from the discrepancy they
present."
[205] Montcalm, when he heard that the English had ascended the hill and
were formed on the high ground at the back of the town scarcely credited
the intelligence ... but he was soon undeceived. He saw clearly that the
English fleet and army were in such a situation that the Upper and Lower
Town might be attacked in concert, and that nothing but a battle could
save it. Accordingly he determined to give them battle.--_The Annual
Register for the year_ 1759.
[206] Local tradition relates that, on receiving, about 8 o'clock in the
morning of the 13th September, the startling intelligence that the English
were in possession of the Plains, MONTCALM (hitching up his breeches with
both hands, as was his custom) briskly exclaimed, "_if that be the case
it is time we were hastening thither; for we must drive them into the
river before noon._"--R. S. B.
[207] "The English troops were exhorted to reserve their fire; and they
bore that of the enemy's light troops in front (which was galling though
irregular) with the utmost patience and good order, waiting for the main
body of the enemy which fast advanced upon them. At forty yards distance
our troops gave their fire, which took place in its full extent, and made
a terrible havoc among the French."--_The Annual Register for_ 1759.
"General Wolfe ordered the men to load with an additional bullet which did
great execution.
"As soon as the French came within musket-shot they began to fire, but the
British reserved their fire until the enemy were within twenty yards."
--_Beatson's Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain from_ 1729
_to_ 1790.
[208] The Canadian militia (of which more than half of Montcalm's forces
consisted) were without bayonets.--MONTCALM'S _Letter of 24th August_,
1759.
[209] The authenticity of this famous, prophetic letter has been attacked
by subsequent writers: among others by Francis Parkman.
[210] For a description of the spot where MONTCALM expired, see _Album
du Touriste_.
[211] _Knox's Journal_, Vol. ii., pp. 14, 21, 24, 28, Aug. 21 "The
project of erecting a fortress on the Island of Coudres, for a garrison of
three thousand men, is laid aside for want of proper materials, and the
season being too far advanced for such an undertaking. The enterprise of
storming Quebec is also given up as too desperate to hope for success." P.
28.
[212] Denis de Vitré, then a prisoner of war in England, had been induced
to come to Canada, partly by threats, partly by promises, to pilot the
English fleet. According to the Diary of old James Thompson, both Cugnet
and Davis had indicated the spot when Wolfe landed at Sillery. Stobo
claimed the credit of it, and according to Panet's Diary, it was on his
advice, that on the 21st July, 1759, was undertaken the expedition to
Deschambeault and neighboring parishes, where 100 Quebec ladies of
respectability secreted there--had been captured and brought back.
[213] "For sale, the elegant villa of the late Sir Frederic Haldimand,
K.B., delightfully situated near the Falls of Montmorency, with the farm-
house.--Quebec, 1st December, 1791."--_Supplement to the Quebec Gazette,
22nd Dec._, 1792.
[214] Our port must have presented quite a warlike aspect--over and above
the _Ulysses_ and _Resistance_ frigates there had preceded the Prince's
arrival, the following ships of war, forming part of Commodore Sawyer's
squadron: The flag ship _Leander_, 50 guns, Capt. J. Bevelay; the
_Resource_, Commander Paul Minihin; the _Ariadne_, Commander Osburn; the
_Thisbe_, Capt. Coffin, was also arrived from a cruise, and four
transports, one named the _Lord Mulgrave_, with detachments of the 5th,
25th and 54th regiments, were anchored before the city.
[215] The list of the partners of Prince Edward's grandson H. R. H. the
Prince of Wales, at the ball, etc., given in his honour in Quebec, by the
Mayor and citizens, at the Music Hall, on the 21st August, 1860,
comprises: 1. Mrs. Langevin (wife of Sir H. L. Langevin, M.P.P., and Mayor
of Quebec); 2. Mrs. Cartier (wife of Sir George Etienne Cartier, Attorney
General); 3. Miss Irvine (daughter of Colonel Irvine, then Provincial
Aide-de-Camp); 4. Miss Price; 5. Miss LeMesurier (since married to Capt.
Carter); 6. Miss Derbyshire (Mrs. J. Adamson); 7. Miss Clementina Sewell;
8. Miss Caron (daughter of Hon. Justice Caron, and now wife of Mr. Justice
Taschereau); 9. Lady Milne; 10. Miss Napier, of Montreal (since married to
Capt. Bell); 11. Mrs. Serocold (wife of Captain Serocold and daughter of
the Hon. Chief Justice Duval); 12. Miss Dunscomb (daughter of the
Collector of Customs at Quebec); 13. Miss Fischer (daughter of the
Attorney General of New Brunswick); 14. Miss Mountain (daughter of the
late Bishop of Quebec); 15. Miss Agnes Anderson; 16. Mrs. Ross; 17. Mrs.
Alex. Bell; 18. Miss Tilley (daughter of Sir Leonard Tilley); 19. Mrs. R.
H. Smith.
[216] He was created Field Marshal in 1827.
[217] Monsieur Jean Laforme was, indeed, a high authority on hair
dressing. Our youthful grandmothers of 1791 would have no other than
Monsieur Laforme to dress their hair for the _Château_ balls. A memorable
instance has been handed down to posterity of the awful dilemma in which,
either a press of engagements or an oversight, placed the Court
_peruquier_, from which his genius alone extricated him. The
beautiful Mrs. P----t, the consort of the Speaker of the Legislative
Assembly in 179-, had to attend at a ball at the Castle St. Louis.
Unfortunately she had omitted engaging in time Laforme to arrange her hair
for the evening in question; and every hour of the day on which the ball
was to take place, being bespoken, the hair-dresser at his wit's ends said
that he would guarantee that she would yet go to the ball, but she must
place herself entirely in his hands. "Well," said the _Grande Dame_,
"what, then, am I to do?" "Bah!" said the _peruquier_, "'tis easily
settled; I shall _do_ your hair the day _previous_."--"But then how am I
to sleep with my hair done up?" "Oh! that is again easily arranged--you
will sleep in _fauteuil_. I will have your hair and head padded and
strapped down." And thus was it done and she went to the ball.
[218] The Hon. Hugh Finlay was Deputy Postmaster General for Canada from
1774 to 1800, when he was succeeded by George Heriot, who wrote a folio of
travels on Canada. Hugh Finlay had served under Benjamin Franklin, the
first English Deputy Postmaster General for the _then_ British American
Provinces, from 1750 to 1774, when he resigned. When he took the
appointment the postage on letters was insufficient to cover his salary,
£300 per annum.
[219] "Away," exclaimed the Prince to the excited voters, "with those
hated distinctions of English and Canadians; you are all my august
father's beloved subjects."
[220] The anecdote of the officer, who, on being ordered on foreign
service, cut off his queue and buried it with military honors, is
humorously related by Erskine Neale, in the Duke's biography, p. 325.
[221] Christie's History of Canada.
[222] This curious incident is mentioned in the _Maple Leaves_ for
1865, in connection with a mess dinner, when a gentleman friend of one of
the young Hollands was proved to be a beautiful female in disguise, who
afterwards married the brother of an English nobleman.
[223] Since these lines were written in 1865, many changes have come over
Marchmont--our esteemed neighbor was suddenly called away, leaving his
beautiful house to his devoted wife; she, too, alas! has paid the debt of
nature in May, 1880.
[224] "Ce capitaine avait avec lui beaucoup d'habitants de Lorette, dont
le lieu était à portée de ce poste; ils lui demandèrent permission d'aller
travailler la nuit chez eux, il la leur accorda (on prétend que ce fut à
condition d'aller aussi travailler pour lui, sur une terre qu'il avait
dans cette paroisse)."--_Mémoire sur les affaires du Canada_, 1749-60, p.
114.
[225] Captain Chandler was appointed, in 1800, commissioner to settle the
domain accruing from the Jesuits' estates; subsequently he became Seigneur
of Nicolet, where he died about 1863.
[226] We give here the poetical tribute paid by Adam Kidd to a spot where
he appears to have spent many happy hours, as a guest of the Percevals,
together with, his notes to the poem:--
SPENCER WOOD
Through thy green groves and deep receding bowers,
Loved Spencer Wood! how often have I strayed,
Or mused away the calm, unbroken hours,
Beneath some broad oak's cool, refreshing shade
There, not a sound disturbed the tranquil scene,
Save welcome hummings of the roving bee,
That quickly flitted o'er the tufted green,
Or where the squirrel played from tree to tree.
And I have paused beside that dimpling stream,
Which slowly winds thy beauteous groves among
Till from its breast retired the sun's last beam,
And every bird had ceased its vesper song.
The blushing arbors of those classic days,
Through which the breathings of the slender reed,
First softly echoed with Arcadia's praise,
Might well be pictured in this sheltered mead.
And blest were those who found a happy home
In thy loved shades, without one throb of care
No murmurs heard, save from the distant foam
That rolled in column's o'er the great Chaudière.
And I have watched the moon in grandeur rise
Above the tinted maple's leafy breast,
And take her brillant pathway through the skies,
Till half the world seemed lulled in peaceful rest.
Oh! these were hours whose soft enchanting spell
Came o'er the heart in thy grove's deep recess,
Where e'en poor Shenstone might have loved to dwell,
Enjoying the pure balm of happiness!
But soon, how soon, a different scene I trace,
Where I have wandered, or oft musing stood,
And those whose cheering looks enhanced the place,
No more shall smile on thee, lone Spencer Wood!
"This is one of the most beautiful spots in Lower Canada, and the property
(1830) of the late Hon. Michael Henry Perceval, who resided there with his
accomplished family, whose highly cultivated minds rendered my visits to
Spencer Wood doubly interesting. The grounds and grand walks are
tastefully laid out, interspersed with great variety of trees, planted by
the hand of nature. This scenery is altogether magnificent, and
particularly towards the east, where the great precipices overhang Wolfe's
Cove. This latter place has derived its name from the hero, who, with his
British troops, nobly ascended its frowning cliffs on the 13th September,
1759, and took possession of the Plains of Abraham."--ADAM KIDD, 1830.
--(The HURON CHIEF and other poems--Adam Kidd.)
[227] The illustrious Chancellor of the Exchequer, Spencer Perceval,
assassinated by Bellingham on the 11th May, 1812, probably took the name
of Spencer from the Earls of Egmont and Northampton, connected with the
Percevals.
[228] Mrs. P. Sheppard died 28th August, 1877.
[229] Died July the 7th, 1878.
[230] Mr. P. Lowe, during many years in charge of the conservatory,
furnished us with the following note:--"The hot-houses belonging to Henry
Atkinson, while in my charge, consisted of pinery, stove and orchid house.
In the pinery were grown specimens of the Providence, Enville, Montserrat
and Queen pines--a plant of the latter variety, in fruit, being exhibited
at the Horticultural Exhibition, Montreal, in September, 1852, the fruit
of which weighed between five and six pounds, tang the first pine-apple
exhibited of Canadian growth, but not the first grown at Spencer Wood, it
was noticed in the _Illustrated London News_. The following are the names
of a few of the plants grown in the stove-house:--_Ardisia; Alamanda;
Amaryllis, Achimenes; Aschynanthus, Asclepias, Begonias, Crinums,
Centradinias; Calumnmas, Drymonias; Euphorbias, Franciscia; Goidfussia;
Gesneras_, in twelve varieties; _Gloxinias_, in twenty-four varieties;
_Gloriosa; Gardenias; Hibiscus; Inga; Ipomaea; Justicia; Lamandra;
Legastrema; Musa-Cavendishii_, which we fruited--the only one fruited in
the province to this day, to my knowledge--the bunch of fruit weighed
ninety pounds; _Maranta; Melastomas, Mennetties; Nymphas; Osbeekias,
Penteas, Passiflora; Peideum; Stephenotis, Streluzias; Russellea; Ruellea;
Rondilitia, Tabernaemonana; Tradescantia; Vinca; Clerodendrons,_ &c., &c.
In the orchid house, the following are a portion of the names of plants
grown be me:--_Bletia; Bolbophyllum; Cyppripedium; Cymbedium; Catazetum;
Cattleya; Brassavoleas, Dendrobiums, Epidendrons, Aerides; Gongora;
Gomezia; Maxallaria; Oncidium, Plurathalis; Pholidota; Physosiphon;
Plurathalles; Peristerias, Ripsalis, Stanhopeas; Zygopetalum_, &c., &c.
The houses containing the above were heated by hot-water pipes for
atmospheric heat and open tanks for bottom heat; they were the most
complete of the kind I have seen either in Canada or Great Britain--so
much so, that, during my stay with Mr. Atkinson, we used to produce for
Christmas and New Year's Day pine-apples, cucumbers, rhubarb, asparagus
and mushrooms, all in the same house."
[231] Mr. DeGaspé married, 1811, Susanna, daughter of Thos. Allison, Esq.,
a captain of the 6th Regiment, infantry, and of Theresse Baby, the
latter's two brother officers, Captains Ross Lewin and Bellingham,
afterwards Lord Bellingham, married at Detroit then forming part of Upper
Canada, two sisters, daughters of the Hon. Jacques Duperon Baby.
[232] The copy of Audubon's works here alluded to, was the same, we opine,
as that generously presented by the illustrious _savant_ to Mr. Martyn,
chronometer-maker, St Peter street,--an ardent ornithologist, whose roof
sheltered the great naturalist, in Quebec in 1842.
Audubon made several excursions round Quebec to study our birds, was the
honoured guest of the late Henry Atkinson, at Spencer Wood, and visited
the collection of Canadian birds of Hon. William Sheppard, at Woodfield.
[233] His last work in the cause of natural history is the publication of
his "_Tableau Synoptique des Oiseaux du Canada_," got the use of schools,
which must have entailed no small amount of labour, a sequel to "_Les
Oiseaux du Canada_," 2 vols., 1860.
[234] These stones and inscriptions were donated to the author of "_Quebec
Past and Present_"--by the city authorities on taking down the City Gates.
[235] Pierre Herman Dosquet, born at Lille in Flanders in 1691, arrived in
Canada in 1721, was shortly afterwards sent a missionary to the Lake of
Two Mountains, was made a bishop in 1725, purchased Samos from Nicholas de
la Nouiller, in 1731, where he built a country house in 1732. Sold it some
years afterwards to the Quebec Seminary, visited France in 1733 and
resigned his see and left the country in 1739 and died in Paris in 1777.
[236] Judge Adam Mabane died in 1792.
[237] A fairy plot of a flower garden was laid out near the edge of the
cliff to the north-east, with a Chinese Pagoda enclosing the trunk of a
large tree at one side, and a tiny Grecian temple at the other.
[238] Probably the four-gun battery mentioned in the account of the Battle
of the Plains. We also find in a diary of the siege operations on the same
day, "A mortar and some l8-pounders were carried to Samos, three quarters
of a league from the town. Batteries were erected there, which fired
before night on the man-of-war that had come to anchor opposite, _L'Ance
du Foulon_, which was forced to sheer off."
[239] "Who can visit the sylvan abode, sacred to the repose of the
departed without noticing one tomb in particular in the enclosure of Wm.
Price, Esq. we allude to that of Sir Edmund Head's gifted son? The
troubled waters of the St. Maurice and the quiet grave at Sillery recall
as in a vision, not only the generous open-hearted boy, who perished in
one and sleeps in the other, but they tell us also of the direct line of a
good old family cut off--a good name passing away, or if preserved at all,
preserved only on a tombstone."--_Notman's British Americans_.
[240] The late Bishop is the author of a collection of poems known as the
_Songs of the Wilderness_, many of the subjects therein having been
furnished in the course of his apostolic labours in the Red River
settlement.
[241] The following is the extract from the _True Witness_ referred
to: "In the reign of George II, the see of York falling vacant, His
Majesty being at a loss for a fit person to appoint to the exalted
situation, asked the opinion of the Rev. Dr. Mountain, who had raised
himself by his remarkable facetious temper to the See of Durham. The Dr.
wittily replied. 'Hadst thou faith, thou wouldst say to this mountain (at
the same time laying his hand on his breast) be removed and cast into the
sea (see).' His Majesty laughed heartily, and forthwith conferred the
preferment on the facetious doctor."
[242] "En 1865, les Iroquois furieux d'avoir vu manquer l'effet de leurs
propositions faites aux Hurons, firent des incursions dans la colonie et
jusqu'au bas de Québec. Au mois de mai, on plantait le blé d'Inde dans les
environs de Québec; un frère Jésuite avait voulu engager les Algonquins à
faire la garde chacun leur tour et pour leur donner l'exemple, le bon
Frère avait voulu être la première sentinelle. Il s'était donc avancé en
explorant dans les bois (c'était dans le voisinage de la propriété
actuelle de M. le Juge Caron, sur le Chemin du Cap Rouge), tout â coup le
Frère reçut deux coups de feu qui l'étendirent à terre grièvement blessé,
et en même temps deux Iroquois, sortant d'un taillis, l'assommèrent et lui
enlevèrent la chevelure. (Cours d'histoire de l'abbé Ferland à
l'Université Laval). Page 4, _Journal de l'Instruction Publique_, pour
Janvier, 1865."
[243] The Hon. Wm. Sheppard, then President of the Literary and Historical
Society of Quebec. Lady Dalhousie had presented to this Society, founded
by her husband in 1824, her herbarium (see Vol. I _Transactions_, Literary
and Historical Society, page 255).
[244] For anything good in this short sketch of our Wild Flowers, the
reader is indebted to Mr. S. S. Sturton, whose paper on the _Wild Flowers
of Quebec_ was our guide.--J. M. L.
[245] Mr. Wheeler is a younger brother of J. Talboys Wheeler, the eminent
writer on the classics, but better known latterly as the Historian of
India.
[246] The History of Emily Montague, by Mrs. Brooke, London, 1769.
[247] It has been excessively difficult to procure even one copy of this
now old book, the edition being out of print more than sixty years ago.
The _Literary and Historical Society_ of Quebec, is indebted to Edwin
King Esq., Post Office Inspector, Montreal, for the only copy I ever saw.
Tradition recalls that Mrs. Brooks the novelist, was the wife of a
military Chaplain, stationed in Quebec in 1766. [248] The vinery contains
the following new varieties, etc:--Black Alicante Foster's Seedling,
White, Muscat Hamburg, Lady Downs, Golden Hamburg, also the common Black
Hamburg, Joslyn St. Albans, Muscat of Alexandria, Sweet Water, Black St.
Peter's, &c., &c. The conservatory is stocked with seventy Camellia
Japonica of the newest varieties, twenty varieties of choice Azelias;
Chorozemas, Heaths, Epacris, Dillwynia, Eriostemon, Acacias, Geraniums,
Fuchias, with a large collection of creeping plants, &c.
[249] William Smith was second son of Chief Justice William Smith, of
Quebec, born on 7th February, 1769, educated at Kensington Grammar School,
London, and came to Canada with his father in 1786. He was appointed, soon
after, Clerk of the Provincial Parliament, and subsequently Master in
Chancery of the Province of Lower Canada, and, in 1814, was appointed by
Earl Bathurst a member of the Executive Council. He was the author of the
first English "History of Canada, from its first discovery to the year
1791," a standard work in two volumes. He died at Quebec, 17th December,
1847.
William Smith married Susan, who died at Quebec, 26th Jan, 1819, daughter
of Admiral Charles Webber, of the County of Hampshire, England, by whom he
left five children:
1. William Breudenell Smith, late Colonel of the 15th Regt., (now of
London.)
2. Charles Webber Smith, of London, married Anna Chelworth, and died in
1879, without issue.
3. Emily Ann Smith, married the Rev. Geo., son of General Mackie, late
Governor of St. Lucia, and left issue Rev. Dr. Mackie, was for years
the Rector of the Anglican Cathedral at Quebec.
4. Louisa Janet Smith, married her cousin Robert Smith, son of Chief
Justice Sewell.
5. Caroline Susanna Smith, married Henry, son of Andrew Stuart, M. P.,
Quebec.--_Magazine of American Hist._, _June_ 1881.
[250] A plan drawn by Jeremiah McCarthy, P. L. S., dated 1802, shows what
was the Smith estate on St. Louis Street, in the early part of the
century.
[251] _CHIEF JUSTICE WILLIAM SMITH._
(1728-1793.)
Chief Justice William Smith was the eldest son of William Smith, who was a
member of His Majesty's Council, and afterwards Judge of the King's Bench
for the State of New York. He was born at New York, 18th June, 1728. In
his youth, he was sent to a grammar school, and afterwards to Yale
College, Connecticut, where he greatly distinguished himself by his
learning. He was an excellent Greek and Hebrew scholar, and a thorough
mathematician. He was appointed Chief Justice of New York, 24th April,
1780. At the breaking out of the rebellion in 1775, he was a staunch
Loyalist, and left New York in the same vessel with the King's troops and
Sir Guy Carleton, and landed at Plymouth, 16th January, 1784. As A reward
for his loyalty, he was made Chief Justice of Lower Canada, 1st September,
1785, and came to Canada in the Frigate "Thistle" of 28 guns, with Lord
Dorchester, the Governor-General of Canada, landing at Quebec, 23rd
October, 1786. Chief Justice Smith was the author of the "History of the
Province of New York, from the first settlement to the year 1732." He
married, 3d November, 1752, Janet, daughter of James Livingstone, Esq., of
New York, and died at Quebec, 6th December, 1793. His Royal Highness,
Prince Edward, fourth son of King George III, with a numerous train of
friends, followed the remains to the grave from his late dwelling on St.
Louis street. He owned the land on which his son-in-law, Chief Justice
Sewell, subsequently built his mansion, down, he the lot (inclusive) on
which stood his dwelling, and where his son the Hon. William Smith, died
in 1847. It is now the property of sheriff Chs. Alleyn.
[252] The Quebec Library Association founded by Lord Dorchester at Quebec
in 1779.
[253] An accurate and interesting account of the hardships and sufferings
of the band of heroes who traversed the wilderness in the campaign against
Quebec 1775, by John Joseph Henry, Esq., late President of the Second
Judicial District of Pennsylvania--Lancaster, printed by William Greer
1812.
Henry, according to the preface written by his daughter, was born Nov. 4th
1758, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1775--being then 17 years
of age, he joined a regiment of men raised in Lancaster Co. for the
purpose of joining Arnold, who at that time was stationed in Boston. His
book is addressed to "my dear children" and assures them "upon the honour
of a gentleman and an honest man, that every word here related, to the
best of his recollection and belief is literally true." He with an officer
and seven men were dispatched in advance of the army "for the purpose of
ascertaining and marking the paths which were used by the Indians at the
numerous places in the wilderness towards the head of the river Kennebec,
and also to ascertain the course of the river Chaudière." Each day's
proceedings are carefully noted, and are really highly interesting,
showing the great privations they had to endure.
[254] The remains of this old French chapel were recently discovered, (the
site belongs to R. R. Dobell & Co.) and a small monument erected to Father
Massé who was interred there in 1646.
[255] "7th September, 1759.--Fine warm weather, Admiral Holmes' squadron
weighed early this morning. At six o'clock we doubled the mouth of the
Chaudière, which is near half a mile over; and at eight we came to anchor
off Cap Rouge. Here is a spacious cove, into which the river St. Michael
disembogues, and within the mouth of it are the enemy's floating
batteries. A large body of the enemy is well entrenched round the cove,
(which is of circular form) as if jealous of a descent in those parts;
they appear very numerous, and may amount to about one thousand six
hundred men, besides their cavalry, who are cloathed in blue, and mounted
on neat horses of different colours; they seem very alert, parading and
counter marching between the woods on the heights in their rear, and their
breastworks, in order to make their number show to the greater advantage.
The lands all around us are high and commanding, which gave the enemy an
opportunity of popping at our ships, this morning, as we tacked in working
up."--_Knox's Journal, Siege of Quebec_, 1759, vol. ii., page 56.
[256] _AN EARL ON FOX-HUNTING._
The Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham addressed the following letter to
the _Pall Mall Gazette_, in May 1870:--Sir,--The fox is tolerated,
nay preserved (under the penalty of conventional ostracism against his
slayers,) because he is the only animal with whose intellect man may
measure himself upon equal terms without an overwhelming sense of the odds
in his favour. The lion, the elephant, the ibex, the chamois, and the red
deer are beasts of chase falling before man, but the fox alone can cope
with him in point of intellect and sagacity, and put him to all his
shifts. It is this ingredient in fox-hunting--viz: the consciousness of
having to do with a foe worthy of him, which brings men of all ages,
sorts, kinds, intellects, characters, and professions to the covert side,
uniting together occasionally as odd an assemblage as ever went into the
ark. No man, when he puts on his top-boots in the morning, can say whether
he may not be about to assist at a run which may live in story like the
Billesdon Coplow or the Trojan War, and of which it shall be sufficient,
not only to the fortunate sportsman himself but to his descendants of the
third and fourth generation, to say--he was there!
Villiers, Cholmondeley, and Forester made such sharp play,
Not omitting Germaine, never seen till to-day:
Had you jug'd of these four by the trim of their pace
At Bib'ry you'd thought they had been riding a race.
_Billesdon Coplow_.
"Their fame lives still. But what, O ye sentimentalists! would ye prepare
both for fox and fox-hunter? If the fox was not regarded as the only
animal possessed of these talents and capabilities, he must shortly rank
as a sneaking little robber of hen-roosts, the foe of the good wife and
gamekeeper, and become as extinct as a dodo. Were the fox himself
consulted, I am sure that he would prefer to this ignoble fate the present
pleasant life which he is in the habit of leading upon the sole condition
of putting forth all his talent and dying game when wanted."
[257] I am indebted for a deal of information contained in this
communication to McPherson LeMoyne, Esq., Seigneur of Crane Island, P.Q.,
and lately President of the Montreal Club for the _protection of fish
and game_.
[258] Chs. Panet, Esq., ex-member for the County of Quebec.
[259] The sanguinary battle of Fontenoy was fought on the 11th May, 1745.
The Duke of Cumberland, subsequently surnamed "the butcher," for his
brutality at Culloden, commanding the English, &c, the French led by
Maréchal de Saxe. This defeat, which took place under the eye of Louis XV
cost the British 4041, their allies the Hanoverians, 2762 and the Dutch
1541 men. Success continued to attend the French arms at Ghent, Bruges,
Oudenarde, and Dendermond, which were captured--(_Lord Mahon_) Wolfe,
Murray and Townshend were at Fontenoy. The battle of Lauffeld took place
on the 2nd July, 1747, the English commanded by Cumberland, the French by
Saxe, the chief of the English Cavalry, Sir John Ligonier, being taken
prisoner--(_Lord Mahon_). The French victory of Carillon, in which
the Militia of Canada bore a conspicuous part, was won near Lake George,
8th July, 1758. The English army, under General Abercrombie, though more
numerous, was repulsed with great slaughter.
[260] Chs. Tarieu de Lanaudière, Knight of St. Louis, commanded a portion
of the Canadian Militia at Carillon, and also during the campaign of 1759.
Under the English rule he was Aide de Camp to Sir Guy Carleton--served in
1775, and accompanied the General to England, where George III rewarded
him handsomely. He was called to the Legislative Council, and appointed
Deputy Postmaster General of Canada.
[261] _Knox's Journal_. Vol. I, p. 179.
[262] The Bureau was at the foot of Mountain Hill, next to (the Old
Neptune) _Chronicle_ Office.
[263] For many years, it was the practice to close the gates of Quebec at
gun fire (10 p.m.) for carriages, leaving the wicket open only for
pedestrians, in the troublous days of 1837-8, the wicket at times was
closed.
[264] Mr. Jean Taché, the first owner of the "Old Neptune Inn," and of a
poetical turn, wrote the first Canadian poem, intituled _Tableau de la
Mer_.
[265] _History of French Dominion in North and South America_.--Jeffery,
London, 1760, page 9.
[266] Montgomery Place, on the Hudson, is now the residence of Mrs. Ed.
Livingston, a country seat of unrivalled beauty.--"It is," says _Downing_,
"one of our oldest improved country seats, having been originally the
residence of General Montgomery, the hero of Quebec. On the death of his
widow, it passed into the hands of her brother, Edward Livingston, Esq.,
the late Minister in France."--page 31.
[267] Major Samuel Holland was also a first rate Engineer. He was, says
Abbé Bois, one of the legatees of the late Gen. Wolfe, and died at Quebec,
28th Dec, 1801.
[268] My old friend, the late Wm. Price, Esq., of Wolfe's Field, to whose
literary taste and happy memory, I am indebted for several incidents in
these pages, and whose written statement I still hold, anent the
mysterious stranger could not at the time furnish me with her name, it had
escaped his memory, but, as he informed me since he had furnished it to
Lady Head, his amiable neighbor of Spenser Wood. (Her name was Neville).
[269] The old Château Garden.--This lot, 3 acres, 3 yards, 9-1/2 feet in
superficies, was granted to Major Samuel Holland by letters-patent, under
the great seal, on the 12th March, 1766, with certain reservations as to
the requirements for barracks or fortifications. The Major does not seem
to have taken possession of it--but about 1780, General Haldimand having
tendered Major Holland the sum of £800 as an indemnity for the use of the
land, and the amount being refused, Government took possession of the lot
and erected there a five-gun battery. Major Holland died in 1801, and by
his will, dated 25th Oct., 1800, bequeathed the property to his wife,
Marie Josette Rolet, and his children, John Frederick, Charlotte, Susannah
and George Holland, in equal shares.
[270] The original Holland House stood a little behind the present
mansion.
[271] The last will and codicil of S. Holland was executed before Chs.
Voyer and colleague, N.P., at Quebec, and bears date 14th and 25th
December, 1800. The Château St. Louis property is therein thus described:
--"Un grand emplacement proche le Château St. Louis, donné et accordé au
dit Sieur Testateur, cultivé actuellement en jardin."
[272] The Gomin road took its name from Dr. Gomin, a French botanist and
physician, whose dwelling according to plans in the possession of the
"Seigneurs" the Seminary of Quebec stood some two hundred years ago on or
near the spot where the cottage of Jas. Connolly, Esq., now exists.
[273] This property has since passed by sherrif's sale into the hands of
Arch. Campbell, Esquire, of Thornhill, and is actually owned by Israel
Tarte, M.P.P.
[274] This deed was passed at Quebec before W. Fisher Scott, N.P. It
purports to have been executed "in the Gaoler's Room," _entre les deux
guichets_, in the common gaol of the district of Quebec. Some of those
who signed it must have been in custody, why or wherefore does not appear.
[275] A truculent gardener, it is said, who had been left in charge, some
years back, converted the monumental slabs into grinding stones, on the
15th November, 1871, a violent storm broke in twain the Holland Tree.
[276] The iron statue erected in 1863, to commemorate the Battle of St.
Foye, fought April 28th, 1760.
[277] Vol. ii., p. 224.
[278] Subsequently Col. of the American Rebel Regiment called the
"Congress Own."--See _Quebec Gazette_, 7 March, 1838.
[279] Bleak House, on the St. Louis Heights.
[280] "John King, living on General Murray's farm, at _Sans bruit_,
having the best pasturage for cattle in the neighborhood during the
summer, well watered by several runs, informs all those who may choose to
send him their cows that they will be well taken care of, and that he will
send them cow-herds to town every morning at six o'clock, who will bring
them home every evening between five and six. The price will be two
dollars for the summer, to be paid said King on St. Michael's day."--
_Quebec Gazette, 4th April_, 1768.
[281] Cannon balls, shot and shell, and rusty bayonets have been dug up in
the neighborhood. Old metallic buttons, with the figure XV., were picked
up showing that they once ornamented the scarlet uniforms of many gallant
fellows of that XVth Regiment, who, "at eight in the morning on the 28th
April, 1760," had issued triumphantly from St. John Gate--_never to
return_.
[282] Emery de Caen dined here with the Jesuits, 6th August, 1632.--
_Relations des Jésuites_.
[283] Cahire-Coubat (expressive of windings, says Sagard,) called by
Jacques Cartier, the river Ste. Croix (of the Holy Cross), and
subsequently denominated the River St. Charles, in compliment says La
Potherie, to Charles de Boues, Grand Vicar of Pontoise, founder of the
first mission of the Récollets in New France.
[284] "Champlain a certainement jeté un grand jour sur cette question, en
prouvant aussi bien qu'il était possible de le faire, que Jacques Cartier
avait hiverné dans la rivière Saint Charles, et en faisant lui-même des
investigations sur les lieux. Seulement il pourrait bien se faire qu'on
pris trop à la lettre un mot de son édition de 1632, où il dit que les
vaisseaux de Cartier hivernèrent là où était de son temps la demeure des
Jésuites. Quant à Charlevoix, non-seulement il n'a pas, éclairci la
question, mais il n'a fait que l'embrouiller. Tout ce qu'il dit la dessus,
à très peu d'exception près, est plein d'erreurs, et inconciliable avec la
situation et la conformation des lieux décrits par le capitaine Malouin."
[285] The late Amable Berthelot, one of our antiquarians, in reviewing the
papers published by Mr. Jos. Hamel, in 1843, on the recent discovery of
the wreck of the _Petite Hermine_, on the _Ferme des Anges_, at the mouth
of the Lairet stream, thus expressed himself, p. 3:--"Il ne me fut pas
difficile, en suivant attentivement le texte du second voyage de Jacques
Cartier, tel que nous le donne Lescarbot, de prouver, jusqu'à l'évidence,
que ce navigateur Malouin avait réellement passé l'hiver à la rivière St.
Charles, et non à celle qui porte aujourd'hui le nom de Jacques Cartier;
et je crois que depuis ma dissertation, il n'est resté en ce pays aucun
doute sur ce sujet."
[286] "Le lundi, onzième jour d'octobre, nous arrivasmes au Hâble de
Sainte Croix, ou estaient nos navires, et trouvasmes que les maistres et
mariniers qui estaient demeurés avaient fait un fort devant lesdits
navires, tout clos de grosses pièces de bois plantées debout, joignant les
unes aux autres, et tout à l'entour garni d'artillerie, et bien en ordre
pour se défendre contre tout le pays."--(_Second voyage de Jacques
Cartier_, p. 48). Republished by Literary and Historical Society of
Quebec, in 1843. At the foot, we read, "On pense que ce fort a dû être
bâti à l'endroit où la petite Rivière Lairet se décharge dans la Rivière
St. Charles." "The exact spot in the River St. Charles, where Cartier
moored his vessel, is supposed on good authority to have been the site of
the old bridge (a little higher up than the present), called Dorchester
Bridge, where there is a ford at low water, close to the Marine Hospital.
That it was on the east bank, not far from the former residence of Chas.
Smith, Esq., is evident from the river having been frequently crossed by
the natives coming from Stadacona, to visit their French guests."
(_Hawkins' Picture of Quebec_, p. 47) The Abbé Faillon in his elaborate
work--_Histoire de la Colonie Française au Canada_, 1865--in some valuable
notes on Jacques Cartier, p. 496, discusses the erroneous views of
Charlevoix and Father Leclerc, and corroborates the accepted belief about
the St. Charles and not the Jacques Cartier River, as being the spot where
the great discoverer wintered in 1535-36.
[287] Would this river be the Lairet or the St. Charles? We like to give
every circumstance calculated to throw light thereon: writers seem to
agree that Jacques Cartier, wintered in the St. Charles, as Champlain
says, in his edition of 1632, on the Jesuits' property--it may, however,
have been a few acres to the east or west of the spot generally indicated.
[288] "Le Capitaine fit renforcer le Fort tout à l'entour de gros fossés,
larges, et profonds avec porte à pont-levis et renforts de rangs ou pans
de bois au contraire des premiers. Et fut ordonné pour le guet de la
nuit.... cinquante hommes à quatre quarts, et à chacun changement des dits
quarts les trompettes sonnantes; ce qui fut fait selon la dite
ordonnance."--_Voyage de Jacques Cartier_, page 52.
[289] It is evident that the Beauport entrenchments were to be on a vast
scale In those days of _corvées_ and forced labor, when it was merely
necessary to command _de par le roi_, it was easy to bring together
large bodies of men. "M. de Montcalm arrive à Québec (from Montréal),
commanda tout le monde pour travailler à des retrenchements qui furent
tracés vers une paroisse nominée Beauport. Comme il pensait que ces
ouvrages ne seraient pas en état avant l'arrivée des vaisseaux anglais, ce
qui pourrait être d'un jour à l'autre, il envoya un ordre à M. de Lévis,
qui était à Montréal, de commander, générallement, tous les hommes de ce
gouvernement à de descendre à Québec, et qu'on avait besoin d'un coup de
main. Il envoya à cet égard des ordres précis et conformes, dans tontes
les paroisses, qui mirent tout le monde en mouvement." (_Memoirs sur les
affaires du Canada_, 1749-1760.) Finally, Vaudreuil decided that
Montreal would furnish 1,500 men only for this service.
[290] This bake-house appears to have been somewhere at the foot of
Abraham's Hill.
[291] It crossed the St Charles a little higher than the Marine Hospital,
exactly at the foot of Crown Street.
[292] A small bridge supported on masonry has since been built on this
spot, exactly across the main road, at Brown's mills, Beauport.
[293] _The Great River_. Such was the name the Lorette Huron Indians
pressed Hon. Mr. Panet to take when they elected him their honorary chief.
[294] A famous _Chasseur_ of Lake St. Charles.
[295] Robert Buchanan's fine lines describe well the sudden coming of
winter:
"Then, with a gust,
Old Winter tumbled shrieking from the hills,
His white Hair flowing in the wind."
[296] Emma Duchesnay, wife of Robt. LeMoine, Esq., Ottawa, was the last
born there.
[297] Beauport Church, it is said, was built on this _Fief du Buisson_.
[298] "Une chandelle faite avec la graisse d'un pendu."
[299] Le mot chirurgien--qui était la profession de Gifart, se présente
naturellement, mais l'article manque....Oh! le C, si c'était un R? plus de
doute l'affaire serait claire.
[300] NOTE.--In a parliamentary Document of 1852, it is stated to have
been conceded on 15th January, 1634.
[301] By an ordinance of the Special Council, obtained through Sir Poulet
Thompson, in the troublous times of 1838-41, these gentlemen made safe
their well-beloved charter.
[302] Mr. Ryland, writing to Sir James Craig under date 22nd August, 1810,
thus describes his interview with the Ministers of State, the Earl of
Liverpool, Lord Bathurst, Mr. Percival, Mr. Peel, Lord Camden, the Marquis
of Wellesey, &c "On entering the room I found it was a meeting of the
Cabinet Ministers, eight in number, Lord Liverpool desired me to take a
seat between him and Mr. Percival.... I then repeated an observation I had
made in my first interview with Lord Liverpool, concerning Bédard in
particular as the leader of the anti-government party, who has now so
committed himself as to render it impossible he be employed....
"H. W. RYLAND."
(Christie's History of Canada.)
[303] MR. RYLAND TO SIR J. H. CRAIG, K.B.
London, 14th August, 1810.
"Dear Sir,--I yesterday had the honor to dine with the Earl of Liverpool
at Coombe Wood; the party consisted of His Lordship, Lady Liverpool, Lord
and Lady Bathurst, Lord Ashley and his sister, I believe, Sir Joseph and
Lady Banks, Mr. Peel the Under-Secretary of State, and a lady whose name I
do not recollect.
I had some conversation with Mr. Peel, before dinner, concerning the state
of things in Canada, and I was mortified to find that he had but an
imperfect idea of the subject....
He told me that he had read Lord Granville's despatch of October, 1789, to
Lord Dorchester, which I had recommended to his attention, and he seemed
to think a re-union of the Provinces a desirable object....
H. W. RYLAND."
(Christie's History of Canada.)
[304] In 1871, Mr. John Henderson Galbraith expired at Mount Lilac,
leaving to his widow his beautiful country-seat, on which he had expended
some $25,000. The foundry or machine shop was closed, and under the
intelligent care of Miss Elizabeth Galbraith, Mount Lilac continues to
produce each summer ambrosial fruit and exquisite flowers.
[305] Originally a brewery owned by Intendant Talon, and sold to the
French King, in 1686 for 15,000 _écus_. Later on the Intendant's Palace,
in magnificence rivalled the _Château St. Louis_.
[306] _Kahir-Koubat_ "a meandering stream" Ahatsistari's house (formerly
"Poplar Grove," the homestead of L. T. McPherson, Esq.), on the north bank
of the St. Charles, was called _Kahir-Koubat_ by N. Monpetit. Here
formerly dwelt, we are told, Col. De Salaberry, the hero of Châteauguay,
until 1814.
[307] Beyond the unmistakable vestiges of its having been of early French
construction, there is nothing known of the origin under French rule, of
Bigot's little _Château_. History is replete with details about his
peculations and final punishment in the Bastile of France; possibly the
legends in prose and in verse, which mantle round the time-worn rein, have
no other foundation than the fictions of the poet and the novelist. Thanks
to Amédée Papineau, W. Kirby, Jos. Mannette, Beaumanoir, Bigot's Château,
is now immortalized in song.
[308] Ahatsistari, such the name of the former great Huron warrior, which
Mr. Montpetit was allowed to assume when recently elected Honorary Chief
of the Council of Sachems, possibly for the service rendered to the tribe
as their historiographer.
[309] The French named the Wyandats, Hurons, from their style of wearing
their hair--erect and thrown back, giving their head, says the Historian
Ferland, the appearance of a boar's head, "_une hure de sanglier_."
[310] The Dutch called them Maquas; the English, Mohawks, probably from
the name of the river Mohawk which flows into the Hudson.
[311] The Mission of St. Joseph, composed of 400 Huron families, was
suddenly attacked by the Iroquois on the 4th July, 1648.
[213] St. Ignace was surprised and taken on 16th March, 1649.
[313] Ste. Marie mission-house was given to the flames by the Jesuits
themselves on 15th May, 1649.
[314] St Jean was ravaged on 7th December, 1649.
[315] This parish was called after the celebrated Church of _Santa Casa_,
of Loretto, in Italy. The Huron Missionary, Father Chaumonot, had arranged
their huts around the church, which he had erected in imitation of the
Loretto Chapel in Italy, where he had seen a vision of angels.
[316] A census of the settlement taken on 19th January, 1879, exhibits the
population as composed of 326 souls, divided as follows:--Adult Males,
94; Adult Females, 137; Boys, 49; Girls, 56. Total, 336. 143 males to 193
females; bachelors must have been at a premium in the settlement. We
understood that a complete history of the tribe is now in course of
preparation by the Rev. Prosper Vincent, a son of Chief Vincent.
[317] An excellent sketch in French has been published of _Tahourenche_
and his tribe, in the Opinion Publique, under the _nom de plume_ of
_Ahatsistari_, which we think ourselves warranted in crediting to the
elegant pen of A. N. Montpetit, one of their honorary Chiefs.
[318] Probably the same as alluded to in a quaint old engraving, presented
us by John Neilson, Esq., P.L.S., a son of the Hon. John Neilson, himself
an honorary Chief of the Lorette Hurons. Under the portrait of Chief
Nicholas is printed "Nicholas Vincent Isawanhoni," principal Christian
chief and Captain of the Huron Indians, established at _La Jeune Lorette_,
near Quebec, habited in the costume of his country, as when presented to
his Majesty George IV. on the 7th of April, 1826, with three other chiefs
of his nation, by _Generals Brock and Carpenter_; the chief bears in his
hand the wampum or collar, on which is marked the tomahawk given by his
late Majesty George III. The gold medal on his neck was the gift of his
Majesty on this presentation.
"They were accompanied and introduced into England on the _14th December_,
1824, by Mr. W. Cooper, who though an Englishman, they state to be a chief
of their nation, and better known to them as chief _Tourhaunchi_."
N.B.--It may be well to say that from the earliest times the Lorette
Indians have been in the habit of electing as "Honorary Chiefs" Quebecers
of note, who may have rendered service to the tribe. A large oil painting
is now in the possession of William D. Campbell, Esq., of Quebec,
exhibiting the installation as a Chief, in 1837, of the late Robert Symes,
J.P., of Quebec.
[319] _Ononthio_ means the _Great Mountain_, the name the Indians gave
Governor de Montmagny and his successors.
[320] The 8 is pronounced _oui_.
[321] May, 1675, Louis XIV and Colbert granted Monsieur le Comte Talon,
Intendant, the Seigniory des Islets, "together with those three
neighboring villages to us belonging the first called Bourg Royal, the
second Bourg La Reine, the third, Bourg Talon, subsequently changed into
the Barony of Orsainville."--(_Ferland_, Vol. II p 59.)
[322] I am happy to be able to throw some additional light on the early
times of this mysterious ruin, which has much perplexed Quebec
antiquaries. 'Tis probable this stately mansion was built by the great
Intendant Talon as the baronial _château_, permitted by his grant,
(see _Seignorial Documents_, 1852,--page 444 and 488) according to
which he was empowered to establish gaols, "a four-post gibbet, a post
with an iron collar on which his arms should be engraved." Of all this
redoubtable feudal pomp there are no vestiges now extant. How the
_château_ fared from Talon's time to Bigot's, remains a mystery.
After the conquest, the land came by purchase into the possession of the
Stewart family, lately represented by Charles Grey Stewart--a most
interesting and lengthy letter from Charles Stewart, describing the winter
months spent in the Hermitage in 1775-6, whilst Arnold held for Congress
the environs of Quebec, will be given hereafter, Mr. Wm. Crawford the late
owner of the land and ruins, having kindly allowed me the use of his title
deeds. I find therein stated "Charles Stewart, avocat et notaire demeurant
à Québec, propriétaire du fief de Grand Pré, autrefois dit De la
Mistanguenne ou Mont Plaisir, à la Canardière par acte de vente du 26 Juin
1780, devant Jean Antoine Panet, N.P., concède a titre de cens et rentes
seigneuriales ... à Monsieur Jean Lees, le Jeune, Simon Fraser, le Jeune,
et William Wilson, négotiant en cette ville, 10 arpents de front situés
dans le fief Grand Pré ou Mont Plaisir à la Canardière an lieu nommé la
Montagne on l'Hermitage, prenant d'un bout, vers le sud aux terres de
Joseph Bédard, et Jean Baptiste Le Roux dit Cardinal, et allant en
profondeur vers le nord quatorze arpents ou environ, jusqu'à la vieille
clôture du verger, icelui verger compris en la présente concession et
vente, les dix arpents de front joignant du côté du sud-ouest ou fief de
la Trinité, appartenant au Séminaire, et du côté du nord-ouest à la terre
de Jean Chattereau, ensemble la maison à deux étages, une grange et un
étable en bois, construits sur les dits dix arpents."
[_Translation_.]
"Charles Stewart, advocate and notary, residing at Quebec, proprietor of
the _Fief_ Grand Pré, formerly styled De la Mistanguenne or Mont
Plaisir, at the Canardière, by deed of sale, bearing date the 26th June,
1780, before Jean Ant. Panet, N.P., conceded _à titre de cens et rentes
Seigneuriales_ ... to Mr. Jean Lees, junior, Simon Fraser, junior, and
William Wilson, merchants of this city, ten arpents, in front, situated in
the _Fief_ Grand Pré, or Montplaisir, at the Canardière, at the place
named The Mountain or the Hermitage, beginning on one side, towards the
south, at the lands of Joseph Bédard and Jean Baptiste LeRoux dit
Cardinal, and running in the depth towards the north, fourteen arpents or
thereabouts, to the old orchard fence--said orchard included in this
concession and deed of sale, the ten arpents in part joining towards the
north-west, to the _Fief de la Trinité_ belonging to the (Quebec)
Seminary, and on the north-east side joining the land of Jean Chattereau,
together with the two-story house, barn, wooden stable, built on the said
ten arpents."
The property was resold the 12th August, 1805, by John Lees, _et al._, to
Charles Stewart, Esq., Comptroller of Customs, Quebec. It is now owned by
Léger Brousseau, Esq.
[323] The fascinating daughter of Lord Clifford, famous in the legendary
history of England, as the mistress of Henry II. shortly before his
accession to the throne, and the subject of an old ballad. She is said to
have been kept by her royal lover in a secret bower at Woodstock, the
approaches to which formed a labyrinth so intricate that it could only be
discovered by the clew of a silken thread, which the king used for that
purpose. Here Queen Eleanor discovered and poisoned her, about 1173.--
(_Noted names of Fiction_, 1175. See also Woodstock--_Waverley Novels_.)
[324] I am indebted to my late old friend the Abbé Ferland for the
following remark: "I visited Château Bigot during the summer of 1834. It
was in the state described by Mr. Papineau in the interior, the walls were
still partly papered. It must not be forgotten that about the beginning of
this century a club of _Bons-vivant_ used to meet frequently in the
Château."
Three celebrated clubs nourished here long before the Stadacona and St.
James' Club were thought of. The first was formed in Quebec, about the
beginning of this century. It was originally called (after its London
prototype) says Lambert, the Beef Steak Club, which name it soon changed
for that of the Barons Club. It consisted of twenty-one members, "who are
chiefly the principal merchants in the colony, and are styled barons. As
the members drop off, their places are filled by knights elect, who are
not installed as barons until there is a sufficient number to pay for the
entertainment which is given on that occasion." John Lambert, during the
winter of 1807, attended one of the banquets of installation, which was
given in the Union Hotel (now the _Journal de Quebec_ office, facing
the Place d'Armes.) The Hon. Mr. Dunn, the President of the Province, and
Administrator, during the absence of Sir Robert S. Milnes, attended as the
oldest baron. The Chief Justice and all the principal officers of the
government, civil and military, were present. This entertainment cost 250
guineas. "The Barons Club," says W. Henderson, "was a sort of _Pitt
Club_,--all Tories to the back-bone. It was a very select affair--and
of no long duration. Among the members, if my memory serves me right, were
John Coltman, George Hamilton, Sir John Caldwell, Sir George Pownall,
Herman Wistius Byland, George Heriott, (Postmaster and author) Hon.
Matthew Bell, Gilbert Ainslie, Angus Shaw." (Notes of W. Henderson.)
The other club went under the appropriate name of "Sober Club,"--_lucus
a non lucendo_ perhaps: it flourished about 1811; we believe one of the
By-laws enacted that the members were expected to get _elevated_ at least
once a year. It seems to be more than likely that it was the Club of
Barons, and not the Sober Club, who caroused under the romantic walls of
the Hermitage. The third Club flourished at Montreal in 1785 and later, it
took the name of the Beaver Club) and was, I believe, composed of old
_Northwesters_.
[325] It is painful to watch the successive inroads perpetrated by
sportsmen and idlers on the old Château. In 1819, an old Quebecer, Mr.
Frederick Wyse, visited it; doors, verandah, windows and everything else
was complete. He, too, lost his way in the woods, but found it again
without the help of an Indian beauty. It was then known as the haunted
house, supposed to contain a deal of French treasure, and called _La
Maison du Bourg Royal_.
[326] Error--he was a bachelor. These unions were not uncommon. We find
the Baron de St. Castin marrying Matilda, the daughter of Madocawando--an
Indian beauty; he became a famous Indian Chief, helping D'Iberville, in
Acadia, and left a numerous progeny of olive colored princesses with eyes
like a gazelle's.
[327] Melospiza melodia.
[328] Zonotrichia leuchophry.
[329] The Hon. Mr. Dunn, Administrator of the Province in 1807, was the
senior baron; Hons. Matthew Bell, John Stewart, Messrs. Muir, Irvine,
Lester, McNaught, Grey Stewart, Munro, Finlay, Lymburner, Paynter; these
names were doubtless also to be found amongst the Canadian barons; the
Hon. Chas. de Lanaudière, once a general in the Hungarian service, was the
only French Canadian member.
[330] Book of Carthon.
[331] From Travellers' Guide Book, 1829.
APPENDIX
[332] See _Quebec Past and Present_, page 34.
[333] Relation de 1665, p. 25, Journal des Jésuites, 10 juillet 1665.
[334] Lettres de Marie de l'Incarnation, lettre 76e, p. 621.
[335] Archives de la Marine, vol. Canada, T. II, de 1670 à 1676, 20 août
1670.
[336] _Ibid._, lettres de Colbert à M. Talon, 11 février 1671.
[337] Relation de 1668, p. 3.
[338] Relation de 1667, p. 3.
[339] Archives de la Marine. Registre des dépêches de Colbert pour les
Indes, 1671, fol. 18.
[340] Relation de 1672, p. 2.
[341] Archives de la Marine. Registre des dépêches, ann. 1674 et 1675.
Lettre du 16 mai 1674 à M. de Frontenac.
[342] _Mémoire pour servir d'Intruction à Monsieur le Comte de Frontenac
sur l'Entreprise de la Nouvelle-York_, 7 _juin_ 1689.
[343] The names of the Huguenot families who settled New Oxford, as far as
ascertained, are as follows--
1 Montee, 1 Bureau l'aîné, 1 Jermon,
1 Peter Cante, 1 Jean Maillet, 1 Elle Dupeu,
2 Ober Germon, 2 Jean Martin, 1 Andre Segourne,
1 Jean Milleton, 4 Bertrand De Tuffeau, 3 M. Baurdille,
6 Rene Grignon, M. Germaine, 5 M. Alard,
M. Boudinot, Benj. Faneuil, Jean Beaudoin.
1 J. Dupeu,
[344] In 1870, when these lines were penned, the massive gates, hoary with
age, were already doomed--a portion of the materials like the stones of
Nelson's Abbey were robbed to build up houses near by.
[345] Memoirs de P.A. DeGaspé.
[346] The quips, pranks and _bon mots_ of this jolly corps would fill
a small volume. The bar was represented by the witty Chief Justice
Vallière, the fun loving Charles Richard Ogden, afterwards Attorney-
General, and recently Judge of the Isle of Wight; and the army by a choice
spirit of the 71st, Col. Denny.
[347] Market and cemetery have since disappeared.
[348] In this niche, at the time of the conquest, could be seen, just over
the door of the house, a statue of St John the Baptist. The inhabitants,
fearing that the introduction of so many heretics in Sept., 1769, might
subject the saint's statue to slight, had conveyed it to the General
Hospital nunnery, where Mr. D. De Gaspé asserts, it is to this day. To
fill its place, nothing occurred to the minds of the English, as more
suitable, than the wooden image of their young hero, Wolfe. As there is a
clause in the title deeds of this property making it incumbent on the
owners to maintain constantly in repair "General Wolfe," the "General" it
is to be hoped, will continue to flourish for many years yet--the only
notable difference being that, by his elevation of late years, he appears
closer to heaven than in the days of the Cholette Brothers, and therefore
safer from the attacks of practical jokers, middies, &c.
[349] Where the Music Hall, Louis street, has since been erected. The
first meeting of the Quebec City Corporation took place about 1834 in the
same house which Miss Napier had rented.
[350] Wolfe and Montcalm's monument in process of erection in 1827, was
recently restored, thanks to the efforts of Hy. Fry, Esq., and of a few
other public-spirited citizens.
End of Project Gutenberg's Picturesque Quebec, by James MacPherson Le Moine