IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)
1.0 !ri^ i^
I.I
1^
1^ 111112.0
22
1.8
1.25
1.4 |,.6
4 6"
►
V]
<?
/^
'■^'
(?
A
7
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. )4S80
(716) 873-4S03
CIHM/ICMH
Microfiche
Series.
CIHIVI/ICIVIH
Collection de
microfiches.
Canadian Institute for Historicai ly/licroreproductions
institut Canadian de microreproductions hiatoriques
1980
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes tachniquas at bibliographiquaa
Th^
to
The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Features of this
copy which may be bibliographically unique,
which may alter any of the images in the
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checked below.
m
n
n
Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur
I I Covers damaged/
Couverture endommagde
Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restaur^e et/ou pelliculie
I I Cover tifie missing/
Le titre de couverture manque
I I Coloured maps/
D
Cartes g6ographiques en couleur
Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)
Coloured plates and/or illustrations/
Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur
Bound with other material/
Reli6 avec d'autres documents
Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/
La reliure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion le long de la marge intdrieure
Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte,
mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas AtA filmdes.
Additional comments:/
Commentaires supplimentaires:
L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire
qu'il lui a AtA possible de se procurer. Les details
de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du
point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la m6thode normale de filmage
sont indiqu6s ci-dessous.
□ Coloured pages/
Pages de couleur
□ Pages damaged/
Pages endommag^es
ryi Pages restored and/or laminated/
bZJ Pages restaurdes et/ou pelliculdes
Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
Pages d^colories, tachet6es ou piqu6es
Pages detached/
Pages ddtachdes
Showthrough/
Transparence
Quality of print varies/
Quality indgale de I'impression
Includes supplementary material/
Comprend du materiel suppldmentaire
Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible
Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., have been retilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partiellement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure,
etc., ont 6X6 filmdes d nouveau de fapon 6
obtenir la meilleure image possible.
D
D
D
n
n
Th
poi
of
flH
Ori
bei
the
sio
oti
fir!
sio
or
Th(
shi
Tl^
wh
Ma
dif
ent
be(
rigl
req
me
This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/
Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous.
10X
14X
18X
22X
26X
30X
v/
12X
16X
20X
24X
28X
32X
The copy filmed here het been reproduced thenks
to the generosity of:
Library of the Public
Archives of Canada
L'exemplaire film* fut reproduit grAce k la
g6n6rositA de:
La bibliothdque des Archives
publiques du Canada
The images appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in Iceeping with the
filming contract specifications.
Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.
The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON-
TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.
Les images suivantes ont 6x6 reproduites avec le
plus grand so!n, compte tenu de la condition at
de la nettetA de l'exemplaire filmA, et en
conformity avec les conditions du contrat de
fiimage.
Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en
papier est imprim6e sont film6s en commenpant
par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la
dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'Impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second
plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires
originaux sont filmis en commen^ant par la
premiere page qui comporte une empreinte
d'Impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par
la derniire page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.
Un des symboles suivants apparaTtra sur la
derniire image de cheque microfiche, selon le
cas: le symbole — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE ", le
symbole V signifie "FIN ".
Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:
Les cartas, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre
filmAs d des taux de reduction diffArents.
Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre
reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est filmA A partir
de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite,
et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre
d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
illustrent la mAthode.
1
2
3
1 2 3
4 5 6
p
■«
XJLS
n»vmmtt
JCXt\AXXXKXr.XAXXXXXXXtlCXXXl?
«aM>*«M^
•rUK;
f
QCEBIC GASEISOS GLOB
ST. LOUfS >TriEET AND m^ STORIED PAST.
XXXXXXXXXXXXKXXXXXXXXXXX\ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
tjummjmmaMsrM-»rmitm»jnamKmMmmuu-mK^mam^
ISpiiMi
-..»•■
/^t^-'//7^i
Y^^t
QUEBEC MRISON CLUB
Established lith September, 1879*
ST. LODIS STREET AND ITS STORIED PAST.
A Christmas Sketch specially printed by the Club
for its Guests.
Quebec:
MoRNixo Chroniclk " Stkam Printing Establishment.
1891. •
^'■' .J
/97/
16th NOVEMBER, 1890.
PATRON.
His Excellency) Lord Stanlry op PBKSTOir>
Governor General of Canada.
MONOF^AFtY MEMBERS.
Hifl Honor the Honble. A. R. Akorrs, Lt.-Governor of the Provincd
of Quebec.
Hon. Sir A. P. Carox, Minister of Militia.
Major General Ivor C. J. Hkrbkrti C.B., Cummandingr Militia of
Canadn.
Colonel Walkrk Powell, Adjt. General.
PRESIDENT.
Lt-Oolonel T. J. DucHCSNAr. D A.G., Commanding 7th Military
District.
V!CE PRESIDENT.
Lt-Colonel J. Bkll ForsttH) Commanding '' Queen's Own Canadian
Hussars.
SECRETARY TREASURER.
Lt-Colonel Arthur Evanturel, 9th Battalion, " Voltigeurs del
Quebec/'
COMMITTEE.
Lt-Colonel li. P. Vohl, (Retired List).
Lt-Colonel J. P. Turnbull, Comdt. RoVal School of Cavalry.
Lt-Colonel C. E. Montizambkrt, Conidt Royal S< A. &: Asst.
Insp. of Artillery.
Lt-Colonel G. Amtot, Commanding 9th Battaliom, " Volti-
geure de Quebec."
Lt-Colonel Thoq. Roy, 9th Battalion, '• Voltigeurs de Quebec."
Lt-ColonelJ. E> PROWBR,Commanding^h Battalion, " Royal Rifles.*'
Major Crawford Lindsay, Commanding Quebec Field Battery^
Major J. F. Wilson, Commanding " B '^ Battery, R, C. A.
Capt. Ed. Montizamrkrt. Hh Royal Rifles.
Capt. £. H. T. Heward, Royal School of Cavalry.
Dr. Hy. Russell, Surgeon, Q. 0. C. H.
AUDITORS.
Capt. Arthur Awkr^T.
Capt. L. F, Pinault, 9th Batt, V. Q.
yco 96
The projected Quebec Oarrison Club Building.
** This handsome structure was a part of the original Duf*
ferin improveinonts, and great praise is due to our Deputy-
Commissioner of Crown Lands, E. E. Tach^, Esq., for the
trouble he has taken in drafting these beautiful plans, so as
to presence the old original building entire, while at the same
time, by adding the additional story, towers, entrance hall,
and wing, he gives us the toot ensemble of a Norman Regal
chateau of the last century.
The early history of the R. E. office in Quebec is inter-
woven not a little with our old system previous to Respon-
sible Government, when the commanding officer of Royal
Engineers was a most important personage, and second only
in authority to the Governor-General himself, who was also
a military officer and commander-in-chief. Vn those days,
before the Crown Lands were vested in the Provincial Gov-
ernment, the C. R. E. sat at the land -board, in order to re«
tain reserves for the Crown, or for military purposes, and in
other ways to advise the Governor -General in such matters ;
but unfortunately all the old and interesting records of that
period were removed with the head-quarters under Sir John
Oldfield, R.E., to Montreal in 1839 and destroyed in the
great fire in 1852.
At a very early date after the conquest the R. E. office
Was located in a wing of the Parliament House, near Prescott
Gate, and also in the old Chdteau St. Louis ; but upon the
purchase of the present building, with the land attached, at
the foot of the Citadel hill, from Archibald Ferguson, Esq.,
on the 5th July, 1819, removed thither, and there remained
as the C. R. E. quarters until the withdrawal of the troops
a few years ago, in accordance with the change of policy in
Kngland, in regard to the Colonies, requiring Colonel Hamil-
ton, R. E. , the last Imperial Commandant of this garrison in
1871, to hand it over to the care of the Canadian Militia,
whose pride it ever will be to preserve and perpetuate the
memories of the army of worthies and statesmen who have
sat and worked within its walls." — {Morning Chronicle,
Christmas Supplement, 1881,)
<l
%
0)
O
(A
OS
C/)
0)
0)
(0
00
<l)
I
11
The projected Quebec Gari
Quebec Garrison Club building.
^^m?F^S^lPff!5?!!!^??!!'^^
^^mm.
^4^ding,
A CHRISTMAS SKETCH.
ST. LOUIS STREET -ITS STORIED PAST.
(Dedicated to Quebec Garrison Club. )
** r can re-people with the past and of
The present there is still for eye and thought
And meditation chasten'd down, enough."
— Childe Harold,
One of those soft, bright September evenings, just as the
lessening beams of the setting sun glinted over our church
spires and over the gilt vane of the new city gates, — Lord
Diift'erin's parting token of interest in the " Walled ctiy of
the North," — I happened to be standing on the lofty arch
which spans St. Louis Gate, in company M'^ith a true friend
of the Ancient Capital, Wm. Kirby, F.R.S.C., the admired
author of the "Golden Dog " novel, — that day my honored
guest at Spencer Grange.
Our gaze took in from end to end the suggestive pano-
rama disclosed by this aristocratic thoroughfare. " Why not
compare notes," said I, "on the men and incidents of the
past, connected with the dwellings lining the street ? "
As t proceeded, quoting history and naming the old and
new residents, my esteemed friend, the Niagara poet and
novelist, seemed as if inspired by this pensive, dreamy
scene. How often since have I regretted not having prevail-
ed on him to commit to paper his glowing thoughts?
" St. Louis Gate ! " said Kirby, — " I mean the old gate —
why that takes one back more than two hundred years.
One would like to know what King Louis XIII re-
plied to his far-seeing Prime Minister — Cardinal de Riche-
lieu — when he reported to him that a crooked path in wood-
crowned Stadacona, leading through the forest primeval, by
a narrow clearance called la Grande Allee^ all the way to
Sillery, was called Louis street ; that he, Richelieu, had or-
mmmm
dered that his own uarme should be given to another forest
path near the Coteau Ste. Genevieve, now Richelieu street,
and that it ran parallel to another uneven road, called after a
pious French Duchess — d'Aiguillon street, whilst the street
laid out due north parallel to kSt. Louis street, took the name
of the French Queen, the beautiful Anne of Austria. Did the
royal master of Versailles realise then what a fabulous
amount of Canadian history would be transacted on this rude
avenue of his nascent capital in New France?" " Sup-
pose," said I to the poet, " we saunter down the street as far
as Dufferin Terrace, refreshing our memory and feasting our
eyes on the pageants and stirring events of yore— of which
this street has been the arena ? "
* * A sight which doubtless powerfully appealed to every
Britieh heart must have been the spectacle presented at St.
Louis Gate, on the afternoon after tlie surrender of the keys
of Quebec, by de Ramsay, to Brigadier General Townshend :
the 18th September, 1759. Let us peer through the mist of
years, and watch the measured tread of Wolfe's veterans :
the three companies of Louisbourg Grenadiers and some
light infantry, under the command of Lt. Col. Murray, "pre-
ceded," saj^s Capt. Knox, their comrade inarms, "by fifty
men of the Royal Artillery and one gun with lighted match
and with the British colours hoisted on its carriage, the
Union flag being displayed on the citadel. " ' ' Captain Paliser
with a large body of seamen and inferior officers at the same
time took possession of the lower town, and hoisted colours on
the summit of the declivity (Mountain Hill) leading from
th« high to the low town "
Halt t says Murray to his victorious men, on reaching
through the battered city, " the grand parade (the Ring)
where the flag-gun will be left-fronting the Main guard "...
Such, says this contemporary historian, Capt. John
Knox, of the 43rd, the mode of taking possession of Quebec,
" There, on your right, I added, is the steep, winding
ascent to our famous Citadel, built on plans submitted by
the Royal Engineers, approved of by the great Duke of
Wellington, and constructed, 1821-32, at a cost of $25,000,-
000. Up to 169S, the French had not thought necessary to
fortify Cape Diamond ; in 1694, St. Louis and St. John's
mmm
'
gates Mere erected. In 1775, Capts. Gordon and Mann,
li. K , had drafted a plan for a temporary Citadel. lu
1779, it was begun by Capt. Twiss, R. E. In 1793, Capt.
Fisher reported it had gone to decay and applied at head-
quarters for plans to protect St. Louis and St. John's gates.
Shortly after his arrival in Canada^ Lord Dufferin
selected this very airy post for his summer holiday home,
after each Parliamentary recess, A noble terrace and ball*
room were since added ; Princess Louise, ona of Queen Vic-
toria's fair daughters, and her consort of the lordly house
of Argyle, occupy it at the present moment. Let us not in-
trude, at this late hour, on the privacy of these cultured city
guests. H. R. H. may possibly, at this very instant, be en-
gaged in painting, from the Prince's Feather Bastion, — a
gorgeous Canadian sunset — just as the sun god is giving his
last kiss to the green groves of Levis and dropping an expir-
ing ray on the chasm of placid waters 350 feet below, pushing
their wavelets to the ocean, whilst Lord Lome is revolving
in his own mind, the best means to secure long life and suc-
cess to his pet creation, the Royal Society of Canada.
Art and Literature, stalking hand in hand, is this not a
winsome sight for you and me, my dear poet ?
But to revert to our grim, casemated citadel, who now
will write the garrison chronicles of the hundred and one
dashing British regiments, previously quartered there ?
They too, had their days of scares and dire alarms, in
1837-8, when those rank rebels, the Chasseurs Canadien^y *
meditated mischief and were only, as they later on pretend-
ed, prevented by a bright moon, from creeping up, under the
veil of night to surprise the sentries and take possession of
the impregnable fortress, to which had been removed for
safe-keeping, the specie of our Canadian Banks. If success-
♦ To a stalwart old chasseur of 1837-8, 1 am indebted for the form
of the oath taken. The candidate for initiation was admitted in a
room> then blindfolded and made to kneel between two men. one of
whom held a pistol to his ear, the other pointing a poniard to his
heart. The form of oath was then read. The candidate swore to keep
secret the proceedings of the Patriotes, in the approaching rising, con-
senting to have his throat cut if he failed. The bandage was then
removed and the oath signed.
(For further partio Uars, see p. 252-3 of '* Picturesque Quebec.")
ful, according to some rabid toriee of that period, lesArnjlais
were all to be " shot, piked or hamstrung !"
Life in the casemates and on the hog's back was not,
however, always perilous, precarious, uncertain. Times were,
when returning from the Satui day tandem drive, in winter,
from Billy Button's noted rustic hostelry, at Lorette, the
absorbing topic at mess, was a projected garrison ball on the
citadel, or a moose or cariboo hunt on the Laurentian ridge,
north of Quebec, or at Les Jardins in rear of Baie SL Paul,
under the guidance of Vincent, Gros Louis, Tahourenche or
Tsioiii, the infatigable Huron Nimrods of Indian Lorette.
There were also for the petted red coats and the city belles,
days of tears or of joy, when the regiments on their removal
to other garrisons, claimed or forgot to claim some of the
Quebec or Montreal fair ones as their not unwilling brides.
As we hurry past, let us glance, on the gorge of the west
bastion on the ascent, at the spot, where rested from the 4th
January, 1776, to the 16th June, 1818, the remains of the rash
Brigadier General Richard Montgomery, until their removal
to St. Paul's Church, New York, at the request of Jane Liv^
ingstone, his sorrowing widow who had a suitable monument
erected to his memory. Let us hail as we pass the Garrison
Club, founded on the 11th September, 1879, the shades of all
those eminent Royal Engineer officers, who, of yore, vied with
one another in devising plans to make our fortalice impregn^
able, GotherMann, Twiss, Bruyeres, Durnford. Duberger,
By, the founder of Bytown, now Ottawa. In this long, low
building, for years the head-quarters of the Royal Engineers,
the Quebec Garrison Club now holds forth ; adjoining, en-
shrined in garden plots and shade trees, still stands the old
Sewell manor, built by Chief Justice Jonathan Sewell, in
1804, where this eminent jurist and ripe scholar closed his
long and distinguished career, on the 12th November, 1839.
The chronicles of his famous old mansion, now the quarters
of our Dominion School of Cavalry, would, alone, fill a volume.
At the corner of d'Auteuil and St. Louis streets, on a lot
owned, in 1791, by the Chief Justice's father-in-law. Hon.
Wm. Smith, an eminent U. E. Loyalist and our Chief Justice
in 1786, a double modern residence now stands. It was oc-
cupied, in 1860, by our Governor 'General, Lord Monck. Div-
I.
" LL.H
[
ided since into two tenements, it is owned and tenanted by
Judge G. N. Bo8s6 and by Judg^t A. B. Routhier, F.R.S.C.
At the next house, resided and died on the 17th December,
1847, the Hon. W. Smith, son of the Chief Justice and the
author of Smith's History of Canada^ the first volume of
which was published at Quebec, in 1815. In 1812-3 the
American prisoners taken at Detroit, &c., occupied for a time
this tenement. For years, it was the cosy mansion of the late
Sheriff AUeyn.
We have just walked past a wide expanse of verdure,
fringed with graceful maples and elms — sacred to military
evolutions — the Esplanade, — extending from St. Louis to
St. John's Gate, facing the green slope, crowned by the
city fortifications. On our left, you can notice a low, old
rookery. One hundred years ago it sheltered a brave U. E.
Loyalist family — the Coffins ; it was since purchased by the
City Council. In this penurious, squeezed up local, the
Recorder daily holds his Court. Next to it, with a modem
cut stone front occurs our modest City Hall, acquired from
the heirs Dunn, at present quite inadequate to municipal
requirements. On one corner, opposite, dwells the Hon. P.
Pelletier, Senator ; on the other, Sir H. L. Langevin,— for
years one of our leadinpj statesmen . Within a stone's throw
up St. Ursule street, still exists the massive, spacious man-
sion of the late Sir James Stuart, Bart. This eminent jurist
closed here his career in 1853. The house was afterward
bought by his nephew, the late Judge of Vice-Admiralty.
George Okill Stuart, who expired in it, in April, 1884.
One would imagine the street was predestined to be the
head-quarters of our ermined sages, ever since the Court of
La Senechaussee sat about 1660, at the eastern end in a state-
ly building, since removed. On, or near, the site now stands
the dwelling and study of James Dunbar, Q. C. Let us try
and name some of these eminent gentlemen of the long robe :
Judges Lotbini^re, Mabane, Dunn, Elmsley, Sewell, Rene
Edouard Caron, (subsequently a respected Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor), Van Felson, Jos. N. Boss^, Tessier, Bonaventure
Caron, Guillaume Bo8s6, Routhier, Duval, Taschereau,
Fiaet, Maguire, Cr^mazie, Chauveau, with candidates for
the Bench at every second door. Some barristers have held
10
m
out in that street for more than a half century. Sir N. F.
Belleau occupies still the house he acquired in 1835. One
land mark of our Republican neiglibora will some day or
other disappear, couper Gobert's little shop, where was
laid out on Sunday, 31st December, 1775; Kichard Mont-
gomery's stiflFened remains brought in from Pr^s-de-Ville.
There stands solitary, half-lit up by the departing orb
of day, a spacious, old, not very ornate edifice familiar to
you. In rear is seen from the street the lofty, solid wall of
historic Mount Carmel. Judge Geo. J. Irvine's dainty
gardan bowers, and some Lombardy poplars, occupy the
the place where of yore was erected Dupont de Neuville's
wind-mill and cavalier. No trace now of the frowning
three-gun bittery, in position in October, 1690 — a portion of
the city defences against Admiral Phips.
On this site a deal of stirring and some social incidents
of Canadian history were enacted. Here was the mansion,
where on 4th February, 1667, Judge L. Th^antre Chartier
de Lotbini^re, Lieutenant-General of the French King, gave
the first grand ball in New France — possibly in North
America. Watch the magnificent Marquis of Tracy, intro-
ducing to the distinguished host, his gorgeously habited
young guardsmen— sprigs of the French nobility ; — he is
followed by Governor de Courcelles — Intendant Talon and
other dignitaries. Such a novelty as a grand ball — among
la creme de la crime of society at Quebec — did not pass un-
heeded ; a pious ecclesiastic wrote an account of it to France,
expressing, hesitaintly, the hope that no evil results might
follow !
Nearly a century later, stood here the head-quarters of
Brigader-General James Murray — the Commandant at
Quebec. Old memoirs tell how rudely our first Governor's
sleep was interrupted on the night of the 26th April, 1760,
by the officer of the watch, admitting to his presence, the
half-frozen French cannonier, whom Capt. McCartney, of the
sloop-of-war ** Race Horse," had had rescued that night
from the ice floes carried by the tide past Quebec. British
troopers conveyed him up Mountain Hill to vSt. Louis street
on a *• sailor's hammock," to General Murray's head-quarters.
The ill-fated sergeant before expiring had just, on swallow-
'
f-'mm^i:
11
I
ing cordials, recovered enough strength to tell defiantly —
one may suppose — the alarn\ing tidings of the presence of
Levi's 12,000 men at St. Augustin, on their march to Que-
bec. Sleep did not revisit the astounded warrior that night.
Orders were promptly issued for a large body of troops to go
at break of day and gather in Murray's detachments at the
outposts, at Sillery, Ste. Foye, Ancient Lorette, &c.
This was not, however, the only exciting experience the
stern General was doomed to encounter, at Quebec.
On the 9th May, 1760, writes Sergeant James Thomp-
son, one of Murray's stalwart troopers. General Murray was
startled by the news of the appearance round Pointe Levi, of
a ship-of-war, the " Leostoflf,' a fresh arrival from sea, " seen
tacking across and across between Pointe Levi and the op-
posite shore. " Was she English or French ? As yet she
had showed no colors. Was she a friend from the white cliffs
or old England, or a foe from Brest or L'Orient ? Hope and
relief or defeat and surrender ?
The news he says, *' electrified" the General, who was
at that moment *' in a meditative mood, sitting before the
fire in the chimney place." All uncertainty ceased when
the '' Leostoff " hoisted the meteor flac of England, in re-
sponse to the English colors, ordered by Murray to be dis-
played from the Citadel. The whole city guns roared out
a salute ; on the 16th, the arrival in port of the " Vanguard '
and the " Diana, "other frigates, meant that the old regime
was closed for ever.
The French legions, expecting an immediate attack on
their trenches, took to flight, leaving their breakfast still
cooking in camp.
This solid edifice, the bright home of Judge Elmsley at
the dawn of the century, was subsequently acquired by the
Ordance Department, as an officers barracks for one of the
regiments of British troops stationed at Quebec, and has re-
mained ever since as quarters to the Dominion staff of ofia-
cers. t
1 It is now occupied by Lt.-Col. Forest, Lt-Col. Tasohereau,
and other members of the Dominion Forces.
12
* I was here interrupted by my genial frienil. *' You
have omitted one not unimportant episode. Here also, added
Mr. Kirby, lived and flourished the beautiful Angeli<iue de
Meloises, Madame Hughes Pean, Intendant Bigot's charmer.
In the rosy days of my youth and romance, when Quebec
appeared to me like a poem, I described it a follows : ' ' The
family mansion of the des Meloises was a tall and rather
E retentions edifice, overlooking the fashionable Rue Saint
louis, where it still stands, old and melancholy, as if mourn-
ing over its departed splendors. Few eyes look up nowa-
days to its broad facade. It was otherwise ^hen the beauti-
ful Angelique sat of summer evenings on the balcony, sur-
rounded by a bevy of Quebec's fairest daughters, who loved
to haunt her windows, where they could see and be seen to
the best advantage, exchanging salutations, smiles and re-
partees with the gay young officers and gallants who rode
or walked along the lively thoroughfare."
"Enough! Enough! Poet, my friend. These were fes-
tive times, but was there aught in them to make us proud? " *
Now my poetical friend, we are getting near to
sacred ground. Shall I say ^^ Sta, viator ^heroem calcas T*
for, a hero expired here ; I do verily believe.
Tarry with me one moment, within the lobby of this
long, narrow high -peaked, antique, French tenement facing
Parloir street. Doubtless its active present proprietor, Mr.
P. Campball, livery stable keeper, will ere long replace it,
alas ! with some modern structure more suitable to his call-
ing.
With due deference to the opinions of others, me thinks
this was in September, 1759, the surgery of Dr. Arnoux, Jr.,
where Montcalm was brought wounded from the Plains of
* It sometimes happened, says Col. Cockbum, R.A., in those days,
when a gentleman possessed a very handsome wife, that the hus-
band was sent to take charge of a distant post, where he was sure
to make his fortune. Bigot's chire amie, was a handsome Madame
P , in consequence of which as a matter of course, Mr. P. be-
came prodigiously wealthy. Bigot had a house that stood where
the Ofl&oers Barracks? in St. Louis street now standt ; one New Year's
Day, he presented this house to Madame P , as a New Year's
gift ; such was the magnificence of this gentleman."
{Quebec and iU Envirom in 1831.)
13
Abraham, through St. Louis Gate and where the ilhistrious
patient had his wounds attended to. X
"On what grounds, enquired Mr. Kirby, do you settle
on this spot, as the locality where expired the hero ? No
one yet has cleared up this debivted point."
Captain John Knox, a contemporary, appears tome quite
astray, in his account of the event ; even Frs. Parkman and
subsequent historians, have failed to solve the problem.
" Well, I replied, the disquisition would involve much
more space than this sketch could afford. "
I challenged investigation, in a French essay, in 1871,
in r Album dtl Tourifife ; I repeated the challenge in an
English review, in 1890, the Canadian Antiquarian., of
Montreal, but no one, so far has picked up the glove.
What a sorrowful sight, this artistocratic thoroughfare
must have disclosed, about noon, on the 13th September,
1759, when Wolfe's iutrepid rival, with face bronzed by
Italian and Canadian suns, was returning from his last
battle-field, supported by two grenadiers, on his black
t At 8 p.m. on the 14th. his mortal remains, in a rude coffin,
Were laid in the hole, within the Ursuline Chapel— which a shell
from the Ensrlish fleet had made. We notice, as we pass, the enter-
ance to the hoary old Monastery alive With memories of eld.
*' A curious pictorial plan or map of the original Convent is still
in existence. In this St. Lewis Street appo vra merely a broad road
between the oriarinal forest street, and is called ** La Grande All<Se,"
Without a building immediately on either aide.
" At a little distance to the north of " La Grande All^e>" is a
narrow path called ' le Petit Chemin,' running parallel, and leading
into the forest. 'The house of Mde. de la Pel trie, the founder of the
Convent, is described a» occupying, in 1642, the Corner of Garden
Street. T'he Ursuline Convent stood at the north, wesf of Mde. de la
Peltrie's house, abutting on " Le Petit Chemin," which ran parallel
td St. Louis Street, and fronting towards Garden Street, It is re-
presented as being a well proportioned and substantial building,
two stories high, with an attic, four chimneys, and a cupola or belfry
in the centre. The number of windows in front was eleven, fn
other compartments of this interesting map, are seen La Mere de
V Incarnation instructing the young Indian girls, under an ancient
oak tree, and other nuns proceeding to visit the savages. In La
Grande All^e, the present St. Louis Street, we see Mr. Daillelxiutthe
Governor on horseoackj and Mde. de laPelrrie entering her house,
<KC.
" This plan is probably the most ancient, as it is the most in-
teresting representation extant of any portion of Quebec.'*
mmm
wwmm
I
14
charger, and c< mrteously greeting, but with down cast counte-
tiance, some poor women, horrified at his appearance, and
telling them that he was not seriously hurt and not to weep
for him !
Varied indeed are the incidents and spectacles recalled
by this historic street.
At the corner opposite to this spot lived Abb6 Vi^
gnal, previous to his joining the SidpicieiiH, in Montreal. In
October, 1661, he was captured by the Iroquois, at La
Prairie de la Magddeine^ near Montreal, roasted alive and
partly oaten by these fiends incarnate.
Nineteen years previous, on a blustery vSaturday night
in December, 1775, the peaceable denizens of St. £x)uis street
had been startled from their sleep at 5 a. m. , by the loud
voice of the officer on duty, Capt. Fraser, rushing down
the street, towards the main guard at the Recollects, ex-
claiming at beat of drum * ' To ai^rns ! To arms ! " The
solitary sentry making his rounds on the St. John bastion,
in the gathering storm, had reported an armed body of men,
as if marching to assault the city gates. It was the feint
entrusted to Col. Livingstone, while the Commander-in-
Chief, Richard Montgomery, and his intrepid lieutenant,
Col. Benedict Arnold, were marching under cover of night,
intending to meet him at the foot of Mountain Hill which
they were to ascend and storm Quebec. — Sed Diis aliter
vimim !
Facing Garden street we shall meet the Academy of
Music and next to it, the St. Louis Hotel.
On, on we go, past the imposing new Court House, just
completed on the site of the former one, dating back to 1814
and destroyed by fire 1st February, 1871.
In this neighborhood also, in 1764, BroWn and Gilmor©
printed, twenty-four years before the London Times, the
first number of the Quebec Gazette ''two doors higher than
the Secretary's office" wherever the latter may have been.
The venerable sheet died of old age 110 years later, in 1874,
merged into the Quebec Morning Chronicle.
There still stands on the east corner of Haldimand and
St; Louis streets, the spacious, modernized old Kent House,
the winter-quarters, 1791-94, of H. R. H. Prince Edward,
15
Quden Victoria's father^ the Btem Colonel of the 7th Fusi'
liers, at that time in garrison at Quebec.
The Quebec Gazette of the 4th March, 1794, advertiBea
the mansion as *' Miss Mabane's elegant house, No. 6 Port
St. Louis street ;" it was then occupied by the Lord Bishop
Mountain.
Next to it, is the high peaked, antique Commissariat
Building, purchased in the early part of the century, from
(ild Peter Brehaut — ^tted out witn solid iron shutters, by
the Imperial Government for the safe keeping, before the
era of banks and police in Quebec, of the specie paid out to
the troops and army contractors. At the departure of the
Commissariat Ji^taflf, in 1871, it was put in thorough repair
by the Dominion Government, and is now Used as the Mili-
tia Bureau and residence of the D< A. G., Lt^-Col. T. J-
Duchesnay, Commanding 7th Military District, and Presi-
dent of the Quebec Garrison Club.
Now we have reached the east end of St. Louis street,
where it is intersected by DesCarri^res street, leading to the
Cape. I can scarcely forbear telling you of a sight I witness--
ed here in the troublous days of 1837*8. General Theller and
Colonel Dodge, the Yankee sympathisers, had escaped the
night previous from their cells on the Citadel, by drugging
with laudanum and porter the British sentries on their beat}
it was establisht* I that they had then let themselves down
froim the Bastion by using the flagstaff haliards. All Quebec
Was on the alert. The Commandant of the garrison, Sir
James Macdonald, an old Waterloo veteran, had worked
himself into a white heat, when he heard of the escape of
the American prisoners. The sentries were <loubled at the
city gates ; no vehicles allowed to leave, except after under-
going a searching investigation.
I can re-call the bakers' carts and other vehicles fyling
down St. Louis street to I'rescott Gate ; and fancy I can yet
hear the profane language uttered by the Jehus on being
(Challenged and stopped by the sentries. Few then were
aware of the mode of escape of the distressed Warriors; the
captives had been concealed by those rank rebels, the ^'' Chas-
seurs CanadienSy a sedret and daring club, each member
bound by a terrible oath to promote the rising of the patriotea. ''
T
10
The Orandft Place (or Ring) to the east of the Court House
for two centuries or more played an important part in city
pageants, public meetings, military parades. Until the year
of the castle's destruction by fire, in 1834, the Tandem and
Driving Clubs in winter used to meet there and the first
turnout each fall, presided by the English Governor, occupy-
ing the adjoiniug chateau, was a memorable one. The King
was planted with shade trees by the Mayor of Quebec,
Thomas Pope, Esq., in 1862; recently it has been provided
with a fountain and a diminutive jet (Vecm, •
On the site adjoining the residence of James Dunbar,
Esq., Q.C., No. 1 St. Louis street, one would now seek in
vain for any vestige of the Palais or Senechatmste of 1664,
where sat the Sovereign Council. In 1665 it was allotted as
the residence of the proud Marquis of Tracy, on his arrival
from France. Francis Parkman will acquaint us with this
great dignitary of the ancien rtfjiyne: —
" VVhen Tracy set sail he found no lack of followers. A
throng of younc nobles embarked with him, eager to explore
the marvels and mysteries of the western world. The King
gave him two hundred soldiers of the regiment of Carignan-
Sali^res, and promised that a thousand more should follow.
On the thirtieth of June, 1665, he anchored in the basin of
Quebec. The broad, white standard, blazoned with the arms
of France, proclaimed the representative of royalty, and
Point Levi and Cape Dianiond and tlie distant Cape Tour-
meiite roared back the sound of saluting cannon. All Quebec
was on the ramparts or at the landing-place, and all eyes
Were strained at the two vessels as they slowly emptied their
crowded decks into the boats alongside. The l>oats at length
drew near, and the lieutenant-general and his suite landed
on the quay with a pomp such as Quebec had never seen be*
fore.
" Tracy was a veteran of sixty two years, portly and tall,
* one of the largest men I ever saw,' writes Mother Mary.
" The Chevalier de Chaumont walked by his side, and
young nobles surrounded him, gorgeous in lace and ribbons
and majestic in leonine wigs. Twenty-four guards in the
King's livery led the way, followed by four pages and six va-
let! ; and thus while the Frenchmen shouted and the Indians
le
y
d
It
f »
17
stared, the august procession threaded the Streets of the
Lower To>^ n, and climbed the steep pathway that scaled the
cliffs above. Breathing hard, they reached the top, passed
on the left the dilapidated walls of the fort and the shed of
mingled wood and masonry which then bore the name of the
castle of St. Louis, passed on the right the old house of Couil-
lard and the site of Laval's new seminary, and scon reached
the square between the Jesuit College and the Cathedral.
The bells were ringing in a frenzy of welcome. Laval in
pontificals, surrounded by priests and Jesuits, stood waiting
to receive the Deputy of the King ; and as he greeted Tracy
and offered him the holy water he looked with anxious cu-
riosity to see what manner of man he was."
Let me, in closing, point out the vanished splendor of
the historic pile, which cost both France and England, fa-
bulous sums, from 1620 to 1834, to keep it in repair. How
many proud French Viceroys held here their quasi-regal court,
to impress the surrounding savage tribes, with the idea of
French power ? How many distinguished English noblemen
succeeded them? Cham plain, de Montmagny, d'Aillebout, de
Lauzon, d'Argenson, d'Avaugour, de Mesy, de Courcelle, de
Vaudreuil, de la Galissonni^re, de Ramezay, de Beauharnois,
de Longueuil, de la Jonqui^re, Duquesne ; General J. Murray,
Sir Guy Carleton, Sir Fred. Haldimand, Lord Dorchester,
General Prescott, Sir J. H. Craig, Sir George Prevost, Sir
J, Coal Sherbrooke, Duke of Richmond, Earl of Dalhousie,
Sir James Kempt, Earl of Aylmer.
I am sure, my dear poet, you must have seen much
in the antique chateau which the historian Farkrnan failed to
discover.
Professor Pierre Kalm described it in 1749 as follows : —
" The Palace is situated on the west or steepest side of the
mountain, just above the lower city. It is not properly a
palace, but a large building of stone two stories high, extend-
ing north and south. On the west side of it is a court-yard,
surrounded partly with a wall, and partly with houses. On
the east side, or towards the river, is a gallery as long as the
whole building, and about two fathoms broad, paved with
smooth flags, and included on the outside by iron rails, from
whence the city and river exhibit a charming prospect. This
18
gallery serves as a very agreeable walk after dinner, and
those who come to speak with the Governor-General wait
here till he is at leisure.
" The palace is the lodging of the Governor-General of
Canada, and a number of soldiers mount the guard before it,
both at the gate and at the court-yard ; and when the Gov-
ernor or the Bishop comes in or goes out, they must all ap-
pear in arms and beat the drum. The Governor-General has
his own chapel, where he hears prayers ; however, he often
goes to mass at the church of the Recolhts, which is very near
the palace."
You, Mr. Kirby, have found the secret of surrounding
the historic pile, where so much of Canadian history was
transacted, with a rare glamour of romance.
Let me quote your own words : " The great hall of the
Castle of St. Louis was palatial in its dimensions and adorn-
ment. The panels of wainscoting upon the walls were hung
with paintings of historic interest, portraits of the Kings,
Governors, Intendants and Ministers of State, who had been
instrumental in the colonization of New Fiance.
"Over the Governor's seat hung a gorgeous escutcheon of
the Royal arms, draped with a cluster of white flags, sprink-
led with golden lilies, — the emblems of French Sovereignty
in the colony. Among the portraits on the walls, beside
those of the late (Louis XIV.) and present King (Louis XV.),
which hung on each side of the throne, might be seen the
features of Richelieu, who first organized the rude settle-
ments on the St. Lawrence in a body politic, a reflex of feudal
France ; and of Colbert, who made available its natural
wealth and resources, by peopling it with the best scions of
the Mother Land, — the noblesse and peasantry of Normandy,
Brittany and Aquitaine. There, too, might be seen the
keen, bold features of Cartier, the first discoverer, and of
Champlain, the first explorer of the new land, and the
founder of Quebec. The gallant, restless Louis Buade de
Frontenac, was pictured there, side by side with his fair
countess, called by reason of her surpassing loveliness ' The
Divine.' Vaudreuil, too, who spent a long life of devotion
to his country, and Beauharnois, who nourished its young
strength until it was able to resist not only the powerful
Si
confederacy of the Five Nations, but the still more powerful
league of New England and the other English colonie«.
There, also, were seen the sharp, intellectual face of Laval,
its first Bishop, who organized the Church and education in
the colony ; and of Talon, wisest of Intendants, who devoted
himself to the improvement of agriculture, the increase of
trade, and the well-being of all the King's subjects in New
France. And one more portrait was there, worthy to rank
among the statesmen and rulers of New France, — the pale,
calm, intellectual features of M^re Marie de I'lncarnation, —
the first Superioress of the Ursulines of Quebec, who, in
obedience to heavenly visions, as she believed, left France to
found schools for the children of the new colonists, and who
taught her own womanly graces to her own sex, who were
destined to become the future mothers of New France."
" Well said," my eloquent friend ! "I chimed in. Yoit
seem to have left little to add anent the whilhom splendor of
the old Chateau St. Louis. One thing yet remains to complete
the ornamentation of the historic site on which it stood: A
Monument to the immortal founder of Qlebec ; worthy
of Cham plain, worthy of Quebec. To me it is a dream of
my youth. May we both be spared to see it !"
J. M. LeMoine.
Spencer Grange,
Christmas Eve, 1890.