Montgomery's fate, sent an aide-de-camp to enquire if any of the
American prisoners would identify the body. A field officer, who had
commanded in Arnold's Division, consented to perform the sad office. He
followed the aide-de-camp to the Pres-de-Ville guard, and singled out
from among the other bodies his General's remains, by the side of which
lay his sword, at the same time pronouncing with the deepest emotion a
glowing eulogium of the worth and character of him who, frozen stiff
and cold, had been found half buried in his winding-sheet--a Canadian
snow-drift. Deeply impressed by the scene and circumstances, Sir Guy
Carleton ordered that his late enemy be interred in the foreign soil
with the glory of martial, burial honours. In the Chateau Museum may be
seen a sword which was picked up in the morning after Montgomery's
repulse. It is in a good state of preservation, much care evidently
having since been bestowed upon it.
[Illustration: SIR GUY CARLETON]
"Of these five sieges, in the years 1629, 1690, 1759, 1760 and 1775,
none were pushed with more spirit and apparent prospects of success than
this blockade of the city by the two armies sent by Congress in the
autumn of 1775, under the advice of the illustrious General George
Washington; and, had there been a governor less firm, less wise and less
conciliating than Sir Guy Carleton, the Star-Spangled Banner would now
be floating from Cape Diamond.
Fort after fort, town after town, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Saint John,
Chambly, Montreal, Sorel and Three Rivers, had hoisted the white emblem
of surrender, but there still streamed to the breeze the banner of St.
George on the Citadel. With the black flag of rebellion over the suburbs
and the American riflemen of undisputed courage and determination
thundering at the gates, never had a brave little garrison to contend
against greater odds, nor leader to accept a more unequal contest, no
help from Britain being possible."
"When news reached Congress that the assault on Quebec had failed; that
Montgomery had been left dead on the snowy heights, and Arnold had been
borne from the field; that cold, hunger and small-pox were wasting the
army, and that discipline was forgotten, the expedient was resorted to
of appointing commissioners to go to Montreal to confer with Arnold, and
arrange a plan for the rectification of Canadian affairs."
They were received by General Arnold in the most polite manner,
conducted to the Chateau de Ramezay, the headquarters of the Continental
Army, where a "genteel" company of ladies and gentlemen had assembled to
welcome them, after which they supped with Arnold, probably in the
dining-room adjoining the _Salon_.
In a vaulted cellar next to the subterranean kitchens and dungeons,
Benjamin Franklin set up his printing press, the first in the city, and
with it issued manifestoes to the people, to try and induce them to join
in rebellion, and send delegates to the Congress at Philadelphia.
[Illustration: COPYRIGHT.
Vault in which Benjamin Franklin set up his printing press, 1775.]
The instructions given to Franklin and the other members of the
commission directed them to extend to the Canadians, "whom the Americans
regarded as brothers," the means of assuring their own independence.
They were also to demonstrate to the people of Canada the necessity of
adopting decisive and prompt measures for coming under the protection of
the American confederation.
Through the doors of the Chateau then entered Chase, Carroll, of
Carrolltown (who was expected to have influence with the French people,
and especially with the clergy), and others great in the young American
Commonwealth's struggle for freedom. From the antiquated ovens,
doubtless the brown bread and baked beans of New England succeeded the
roast beef of Old England, and the _entrees_, _fricassees_ and _pates_
of the French _cuisine_.
In the gloom of this chamber Franklin no doubt uttered some of his wise
sayings, gems of philosophy, which in his "Poor Richard's Almanac" had
for years been familiar in every chimney corner of New England.
[Illustration: Franklin]
In the _Montreal Gazette_, which is still in circulation, the present
voluminous and influential journalism of the Metropolis of the Dominion
had here its origin in the setting up of this old hand printing-press,
similar to if not the same which is now preserved in the Patent Office
at Washington. For it Franklin sometimes made his own type and ink,
engraved the wood cuts, and even carried in a wheelbarrow through the
streets of Philadelphia the white paper required for the printing of his
paper, the _Pennsylvania Gazette_. It is now called the _Saturday
Evening Post_, and has about it a certain quaintness and originality
suggestive of the great mind which gave such an impetus to the American
and Canadian press of over a century ago.
"For nearly one hundred and seventy years there has been hardly a week,
except only when a British army held Philadelphia, when this paper has
not been sent to press regularly."
His identification with the history of letters in the United States and
Canada was an epoch in the development of both. In the great army of
newsboys in America Franklin was the first; he was also the first editor
of a monthly magazine in the country, his having on its title page the
Prince of Wales' Feathers, with the motto: 'Ich Dien.'
"He has never been surpassed in the editorial faculty, at the same time
being apt as compositor, pressman, verse-maker, compiler and reporter;
but as adviser, satirist and humorist he was perhaps at his best. His
one and two line bits of comment and wisdom were models of pithiness,
and few writers have equalled him in masterly skill in argument. He is
spoken of by David Hume as the first great man of letters to whom
England was beholden to America."
In addition to these qualifications, he founded the Library of
Philadelphia, the American post-office system, made several valuable
inventions for the improvement of heating, was the first to call
practical attention to ventilation, and to attempt experiment with
electricity. "He founded the American Philosophical Society, and led to
the foundation of the High School system in the State of Pennsylvania,
assisted in opening its first hospital, and helped to defend the city
against an attack of Indians. He was a leading factor in securing the
union and independence of the Colonies, being the principal mover in the
repeal of the Stamp Act." He made valuable meteorological discoveries,
improved navigation, and was an earnest advocate of the abolition of
slavery; so that in sending Benjamin Franklin to Canada at this critical
juncture, she was compelled to hold to her political convictions against
one of the intellectual giants of the day. On discovering the patriotic
obstinacy of the Canadians, he wrote to Congress, saying:--
"We are afraid that it will not be in our power to render our country
any further service in this colony."
Perceiving the hopelessness of the situation, and that not even his
matchless logic could win sympathy in his project, he left Montreal on
May 11, and thus ended the efforts to coerce Canada into a struggle
which was to try so sorely the energy and fortitude of the thirteen
colonies--efforts which had cost them the life of one of their greatest
generals--Richard Montgomery.
Franklin, when leaving, had under his escort some ladies who were
returning to the United States. Of one of these he wrote to Congress,
saying:--
"We left Mrs. Walker and her husband at Albany. They took such liberties
in taunting us at our conduct in Canada that it came almost to a
quarrel. We parted civilly, but coldly. I think they both have an
excellent talent for making enemies, and I believe where they live they
will never be long without them!"
Charles Carroll, who was associated with Franklin in trying to obtain
the concurrence of the Canadians in revolt, was of a family which had
always stood at the head of the colonial aristocracy, and which had
owned the most ample estate in the country. His character was mild and
pleasing, his deportment correct and faultless. By his eloquence
everyone was charmed, and many were persuaded, but even his great and
subtle powers in argument were abortive here. Through his daughter,
Polly Carroll, he became associated afterwards with the most dignified
circles of the British aristocracy. In the year 1809 two of his
grand-daughters were celebrated beauties in the most exclusive social
circles of Washington and Baltimore. The eldest, during a tour with her
husband through Europe, formed a warm friendship with Sir Arthur
Wellesley, afterwards the great Duke of Wellington. On becoming a widow
and returning to London, he introduced her to his elder brother, the
Marquis of Wellesley, whose wife she subsequently became. Her younger
sister married Colonel Hervey, who acted as aide-de-camp to the hero of
Waterloo on that momentous occasion. This family, therefore, was closely
identified with that great struggle between the two nations who had
fought on Canadian soil a few years before Carroll set foot upon it.
During the first Presidential court, many distinguished Frenchmen came
to America; some in official capacities, others from curiosity, and many
were driven into forced or voluntary exile by the French Revolution.
Among these were M. de Talleyrand, the exiled Bishop of Autun, the Duke
de Liancourt, the Duke de la Rochefoucauld, Louis Philippe d'Orleans and
his two brothers, the Duke de Montpensier and the Count de Beaujolais.
Louis Philippe lodged in a single room over a barber's shop in
Philadelphia. On one occasion, when entertaining some friends at dinner,
he apologized with a courtly grace for seating one-half his guests on
the side of a bed, saying he had himself occupied less comfortable
places without the consolation of an agreeable company.
The exiled Prince fell in love with the beautiful Miss Bingham, the
reigning belle of the city. On her royal suitor's asking her fair hand
from her father, the American citizen declined the alliance with the
French Prince, saying to him:--"Should you ever be restored to your
hereditary position you will be too great a match for her; if not, she
is too great a match for you."
[Illustration: Rich Montgomery]
One year from the fall of Montgomery, the event was celebrated by
special religious services and social functions in Quebec, the city he
had never succeeded in entering. "At nine o'clock grand mass was
celebrated by the Bishop in the Cathedral. On this occasion those who
had shown sympathy with the Congress troops had to perform public
penance. The officers of the garrison and the militia, with the British
inhabitants, met at 10 o'clock, waited upon Carleton, and then
proceeded to the English Church. After the service a parade took place
when a _feu de joie_ was fired. Carleton himself gave a dinner to sixty
people, and a public _fete_ was given at seven o'clock, which ended with
a ball."
About fifty years later, at Montgomery Place, on the banks of the
Hudson, an aged face, with eyes dimmed with the tears of long years of
waiting, looked sadly at the vessel that was bringing back to her the
dust of her young soldier husband, which had so long lain in the gorge,
near the fatal bastion. Forty-three years before, he had buckled on his
sword to fight for what he considered a righteous cause, at the command
of his leader, Washington. Expecting a speedy return, he marched away as
she listened to the drum beats growing fainter and fainter in the
distance, and, after half a century had passed, he was still to her the
young soldier in his brave, blue coat, who had kissed her for that long
farewell. All that is left on Canadian soil to recall this gallant
though luckless soldier is the low-ceiled cottage where his body was
laid out, a small tablet on the precipice, which reads, "Here Montgomery
fell, 1775," and another of white marble, in the courtyard of the
military prison in the Citadel, recently erected by two patriotic
American girls in memory of the volunteers who fell with him.
One hundred New Year's Eves came and passed away, and, on Dec. 31st,
1875,
"There was a sound of revelry by night,
And Canada's Capital had gathered there
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright
The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men."
It was with no desire to re-kindle the rancours and strifes of that
distant period, but to properly celebrate an event of such importance,
and commemorate that night of blustering storm, gallant attack and sore
defeat a century before, that the Centennial Montgomery Ball was given.
Soldiers and citizens, in the costumes of 1775, some in the identical
dress worn by their ancestors in that memorable repulse; and the ladies
in toilettes of the same period, received their guests as they entered
the ball-room, the approaches to which were tastefully decorated. "Half
way between the dancing and receiving rooms was a grand, double
staircase, the sides of which were draped with the white and golden
lilies of France, our Dominion Ensign, and the Stars and Stripes of the
neighbouring Republic. On the other side of the broad steps were stacks
of arms and warlike implements. Facing the guests as they ascended the
stairs, among the huge banners which fell gracefully about the dark
musketry, and parted to right and left above the drums and trumpets,
there hung from the centre a red and black pennant--the American colours
of 1775. Immediately underneath was the escutcheon of the United States,
on which, heavily craped, was suspended the hero's sword--the weapon by
which, one hundred years before, the dead, but honoured and revered hero
had beckoned on his men, and which only left his hand when he like 'a
soldier fell.'
"Underneath the kindly tribute to the dead General were the solemn
prayerful initials of _Requiescat in Pace_.
"At the foot of the trophy were piled two sets of old flint-lock muskets
and accoutrements, and in the centre a brass cannon, which was captured
from the Americans in 1775, and which bore the 'Lone Star' and the
figure of an Indian--the Arms of the State of Massachusetts. This
military tableau vividly recalled the troublous times of long ago, and
spoke of the patience and pluck, the bravery and sturdy manhood of a
bygone century.
"On the stroke of the hour of midnight, the clear, clarion notes of a
trumpet thrilled all hearts present. A panel in the wainscotting of the
lower dancing-room flew open as if by magic, and out jumped a jaunty
little trumpeter with a slashed and decorated jacket and the busby of a
hussar. The blast he blew rang in tingling echoes far and wide, and a
second later the weird piping and drumming of an unfamiliar music were
heard in a remote part of the barracks.
"Nearer and nearer every moment came the sharp shrill notes of the fifes
and the quick detonation of the drum-stick taps. The rattle of the drums
came closer and closer, when two folding-doors opened, and through them
stalked in grim solemnity the 'Phantom Guard,' led by the intrepid
Sergeant Hugh McQuarters.
"Regardless of the festive decorations and the bright faces around them,
the 'Guard' passed through the assembly as if they were not. On through
salon and passage--past ball-room and conversation parlor--they glided
with measured step, and halting in front of the 'Montgomery Trophy,'
paid military honours to the memento of a hero's valiant, if
unsuccessful act. Upon their taking close order, the Bombardier, who
personated the dead Sergeant, and who actually wore the blood-stained
sword-belt of a man who was killed in the action commemorated, advanced
and delivered an address to the Commander of the Quebec Garrison, of
which the concluding words were:--
'We ask of you to pay us now one tribute,
By firing from these heights one last salute.'
"The grave, sonorous words of the martial request were hardly uttered,
ere through the darkness of the night the great cannon boomed,--a
soldier's welcome and a brave man's requiem,--which caused women's
hearts to throb and men's to beat exultingly." While the whole air
trembled with the sullen reverberations, which echoed from crag to crag,
the glare of rockets lit up the path of Pres-de-Ville, as the signal
lights had done one hundred winters before.
At the suggestion of the American Consul, the old house on St. Louis
street, in which the body of Montgomery was laid out January 1st, 1776,
was decorated with the American flag, and brilliantly illuminated, in
honour of him who had so nobly tried to do what he considered his duty.
And thus the years of the century, as they rolled around, have in a
great measure smoothed away the animosities which marked those days that
tried men's souls, when the sons of those who had played around the same
old English hearths fought to the death for liberty or loyalty. That the
angry strifes are forgotten, leaving only the memory of the bravery
which distinguished the star actors in the great drama, needs no further
proof than can be found on a green hill near the Palisades, in the State
of New York, where one hundred and twenty years ago a warm young heart,
beating beneath the soldier's red coat, was stilled by American justice.
The granite shaft on the spot tells its sad and sombre story:--
Here died, October 2nd, 1780,
Major John Andre, of the British Army, who, entering
the American lines on a Secret Mission to
Benedict Arnold for the Surrender of
West Point, was taken prisoner,
tried and condemned
as a spy.
His death, though according to the stern code of
war, moved even his enemies to pity, and
both armies mourned the fate of
one so young and so brave.
In 1821 his remains were removed to
Westminster Abbey.
A hundred years after his execution this stone was
placed above the spot where he lay, by a citizen of
the States against which he fought; not to perpetuate
a record of strife, but in token of those
better feelings which have since united
two nations, one in race, in language
and religion, with
the earnest hope that
this friendly union
will never be
broken.
"He was more unfortunate than criminal,
An accomplished man and a gallant officer."
--George Washington.
An American visitor to Quebec was recently shown the cannon used in the
trophy, which the British Corporal proudly explained had been taken at
Bunker Hill.
"Ah! yes, friend," the stranger replied, "you have the cannon, but we
have the hill."
On the top of the monument, near Boston, which marks the spot on which
this battle took place, are two guns similar to this one, the
inscription on which corroborates the soldier's statement; it reads:--
"Sacred to Liberty."
This is one of the four cannon which constituted
the whole train of field
artillery possessed by
the British Colonies
of
North America,
at the commencement of the
War
on the 19th of April, 1775.
This cannon and its fellow belonged to
a number of citizens of
Boston.
The other two, the property of the Government
of Massachusetts, were taken by the enemy.
[Illustration]
With the failure of the American expedition, and the return of the
British troops to Montreal, the Chateau again became Government
headquarters and was called Government House.
When internal and international tranquillity were completely restored,
and the people were permitted to return to their ordinary avocations of
life, Sir Guy Carleton established himself at Quebec with his wife, the
Lady Maria, and their three children, one of whom had been born in
Canada. She had joined him at Montreal, being the bearer of the
decoration of the Order of the Bath, which she had received from the
hands of the King to present to her husband. Sir Guy Carleton or Lord
Dorchester was one of those men "who, during a long and varied public
life, lived so utterly irreproachably, that his memory remains unstained
by the charge of any semblance of a vice."
On the occasion of his last appearance in an official character he
arrived to make his final inspection of the troops. After general parade
the officers waited upon him to pay their last respects to one who had
been the bulwark of Canada through her greatest vicissitudes. The
leave-taking of their old General, whom they never expected to see
again, was marked by the deepest feelings of regard and regret. His
connection with Canadian history covered a period marked by events of a
nature the most critical, the results of which will colour the entire
future of the Dominion.
[Illustration]
Between the years eighteen thirty-seven and forty, when Canada was torn
by internal rebellion, the Earl of Elgin, who was then Governor-General,
drove in hot haste to the Chateau, where had sat the special council
during the suspension of the Constitution. After giving the Queen's
sanction to what was called by a certain party "The Rebel Indemnity
Bill," he rushed into one door and out of another, when this Peer of the
Realm, in all the dignity of coach and four, postillions and outriders,
was pelted with rotten eggs and other unpleasant missiles. Then, in the
dark of night, at the instance of some so-called politicians, the mob
moved on to the Parliament buildings, and, most unfortunately for
Montreal, deliberately set them on fire; which act resulted ultimately
in the removal of the seat of government to Ottawa and the decline of
the glory of the old Chateau.
[Illustration]
THE FUR KINGS.
[Illustration: Sir William Alexander]
It was to the French explorers whose names stand "conspicuous on the
pages of half-savage romance," and to their successors the Scotch
fur-kings, that we owe much of the geographical knowledge of the
northern part of the Continent. There is some uncertainty as to who was
the discoverer of the Mackenzie River, which carries its waters to the
ice-fields of Polar seas, but it bears the name of one claimant to the
distinction, Sir Alexander Mackenzie.
Of the other waterways of the region much valuable information was
obtained by Alexander Henry in his intercourse with the native tribes.
To Sir William Alexander was given the honour of being the first
Scotchman to cross the Rocky Mountains. Like his fellow countrymen, he
was distinguished by the same characteristics which made their fathers
in tartan and kilt foemen "worthy of any man's steel," and themselves
fit successors of the bearers of such honourable names as duLuth, Joliet
and de La Verandrye. A few rods from the gate of the Chateau de Ramezay
is a tall warehouse which bears on its peaked gable the date 1793. It
was in this old building that the early business years of John Jacob
Astor, the New York millionaire, were spent. It was the property of the
North-West Fur Company, which was the centre of so much that was
romantic and captivating. This Company was an association of Scottish
and Canadian merchants, who, in the political changes which had taken
place, had supplanted those purely French. In energy and enterprise they
did not exceed their predecessors, but had more capital and influence at
their command.
In consequence of their more lavish measures, they were called the
"Lordly Nor' Westers." Full justice has been done them by the pen of
Washington Irving, who, in writing the tale of "Astoria," that
Northwestern "Utopia," so splendid in its conception, but so lamentable
in its failure, became familiar with their life in all its phases. He
says:--"To behold the North-West Company in all its grandeur it was
necessary to witness the annual gathering at Fort William. On these
occasions might be seen the change since the unceremonious time of the
old French traders, with their roystering _coureurs des bois_ and
_voyageurs_ gaily returning from their adventurous trading in the
pathless regions of the West. Then the aristocratic character of the
Briton, or rather the feudal spirit of the Highlander, shone out
magnificently. Every partner who had charge of an inferior post felt
like the chieftain of a Highland clan. To him a visit to the grand
conference at Fort William was a most important event, and he repaired
thither as to a meeting of Parliament. They were wrapped in rich furs,
their huge canoes being freighted with every luxury and convenience. The
partners at Montreal were the lords of these occasions, as they ascended
the river, like sovereigns making a progress. At Fort William an immense
wooden building was the council chamber and also the banqueting hall,
decorated with Indian arms and accoutrements, and with trophies of the
fur trade. The great and mighty councils alternated with feasts and
revels." These old days of primitive bartering are gone forever from the
St. Lawrence, but to-day as it flows in majesty to the ocean, carrying
with it one-third of the fresh water of the world, it is a great highway
for the commerce of the globe.