Chapter III: The "ancient Capital." (3)

Mr. Lemay, in replying for French literature, said--It is particularly
agreeable to be called on to speak on this occasion because it affords
me the opportunity to render to our host an evidence of the admiration
and friendship which I bear towards him this evening. It is now over
twenty years since we were together at College, and the same tastes
which pleased us then govern us now. The same destiny which led us
towards the bar guided us also on the paths of literature. The speaker
here improvised a magnificent address to the genius of French-Canadian
letters. He alluded to the first pages of Canadian history written in
the blood of martyrs, thus giving to the Canadian people a literature
of heroes. The speaker then traced the changeful epochs from the days
of the soldiers of the sword to the warriors of the pen, and he drew
forth loud applause as he alluded to the brave polemists who traced
their literary endeavors in the brave work of defending their country
and redeeming its liberties. In quoting Sir Geo. Cartier's well known
line, "O Canada, my country and my love," ("O Canada, mon pays, mes
amours,") the eloquent orator elicited the warm and hearty applause of
the assemblage. From the troublous days of 1837 to the present moment,
Mr. Lemay reviewed the various efforts at literary renown of the
French Canadian people, and concluded one of the finest speeches of
the evening amidst the tumultuous applause of his sympathising
auditors.

The next toast was that of the Literary and Historical Society and of
the _Institut Canadien_ of Quebec.

Mr. J. M. LeMoine, in replying to the first part of the toast said:--

GENTLEMEN,--In the name of the Literary and Historical Society of
Quebec, I thank you cordially for the health just proposed--As the
President of a society numbering close on 400 members, who though
diverse in creed and language, are united for one common object--the
promotion of culture and science and the encouragement of historical
studies,--I cannot help feeling I stand here somehow in the character
of a representative man. In tendering a welcome to Mr. Fréchette, our
honoured guest, I can add but little to the sentiments conveyed in the
resolution adopted at our last meeting and which you have heard read.
In presence of so many distinguished persons, several of whom have
made their mark, at the Bar--or on the Bench--the forum--in
literature--in the bank parlor or in the counting house,--with so many
fluent speakers here present and prepared to applaud, with all the
graces of oratory and fervour of patriotism,--the distinction
conferred on French Canada, by the highest literary tribunal in
France--convinced myself of the honour which Mr. Fréchette's laurels
must confer on this ancient and picturesque Province of Quebec, with
its glorious though yet unrevealed destinies, I feel proud as a
Canadian in standing here, the bearer even of a solitary rosebud for
the fragrant _bouquet_, which a grateful country offers this
night to its gifted child. Alas! had not the relentless hand [32] of
death--had not a self-imposed fate, darker even than death, removed
from our midst, another "mind pregnant with celestial fire," Canada
this night might possibly have counted two laurel-crowned poets--Louis
Honoré Fréchette and Octave Crémazie. For I am not one of those who
refuse to recognize Canadian talent; on the contrary, I feel myself
moved to rejoice in our wealth of intellect. I am reminded to be
brief; around me there is a surging stream of eloquence ready to burst
through its floodgates. I must give way. With your permission, I shall
therefore merely ask a question. What propitious turn of fortune?
which of the benign fairies who watched over his natal hour has Mr.
Fréchette to thank for his present success? How came it to pass that,
though he was born a poet, he should have to undergo an ordeal like
another great poet (whom posterity may specially claim as an
historian) the author of the "Lays of Ancient Rome," of emancipating
himself from his earthy--at one time not burdensome--thraldom before
soaring on the wings of poesy to that lofty region, where his classic
diction and lyric power attracted the attention of those worthy but
fastidious gentlemen, yclept "The Forty Immortals of the French
Academy." I have mentioned a very illustrious name in the Republic of
Letters,--a name as dear to Britain as that of our Laureate ought to
be to Canada--that of Macaulay--historian, essayist, poet. You all
know how his parliamentary defeat as candidate for Edinburgh in 1847,
rescued him forever from the "dismal swamp" of politics, providing his
wondrous mind, with leisure to expand and mature, in the green fields
of literature. If New France has not yet produced such a gorgeous
genius as he, of whom all those who speak Chatham's tongue are so
justly proud, it has however out of its sparse population of one
million, put forth a representative whom Old France with its thirty-
eight millions has deemed a fit subject to honour in an unmistakable
way. Shall I tell you how, figuratively, if you should prefer, ended
for Fréchette the "day of tumult"?

That _Ignis Fatuus_, ambition, has allured, as you are aware,
more than one youthful fowler to an uncertain swampy hunting ground,
called "politics." Mr. Fréchette was one of the unfortunate. This game
preserve, I pronounce "uncertain" because owing to several
inexplicable eventualities sportsmen innumerable, therefrom return
empty handed, whilst others, Mr. Chairman, make up, we know, pretty
good bags. The Son of Apollo, whilst thus hunting one gruesome, windy
morning, fortunately for us, sank in a boggy, yielding quicksand.
Luckily he extricated himself in time, and on reaching the margin of
the swamp, there stood an old pet of his tethered as if waiting for
its loved rider, a vigorous Norman or Percheron steed. Our friend
bestrode him, cantered off, and never drew rein until he stood,
panting perhaps, but a winner in the race, on the top of a mount,
distant and of access arduous, called Parnassus.

In conclusion, Mr. LeMoine quoted the memorable lines from Macaulay,
written the night when his parliamentary defeat at Edinburgh, in 1847,
restored him to letters:--

The day of tumult, strife, defeat, was o'er,
Worn out with toil, and noise, and scorn, and spleen,
I slumbered and in slumber saw once more
A room in an old mansion, long unseen.

That room, methought, was curtained from the light;
Yet through the curtains shone the moon's cold ray
Full on a cradle, where, in linen white,
Sleeping life's first sleep, an infant lay.

* * * * *

And lo! the fairy queens who rule our birth
Drew nigh to speak the new-born baby's doom:
With noiseless step, which left no trace on earth,
From gloom they came, and vanished into gloom.

Not deigning on the boy a glance to cast
Swept careless by the gorgeous Queen of Gain.
More scornful still, the Queen of Fashion passed,
With mincing gait and sneer of cold disdain.

The Queen of Power tossed high her jewelled head
And o'er her shoulder threw a wrathful frown.
The Queen of Pleasure on the pillow shed
Scarce one stray rose-leaf from her fragrant crown.

Still fay in long procession followed fay;
And still the little couch remained unblest:
But, when those wayward sprites had passed away,
Came One, the last, the mightiest, and the best.

Oh! glorious lady, with the eyes of light,
And laurels clustering round thy lofty brow,
Who by the cradle's side didst watch that night,
Warbling a sweet strange music, who wast thou?

"Yes, darling; let them go," so ran the strain:
"Yes; let them go, gain, fashion, pleasure, power,
And all the busy elves to whose domain
Belongs the nether sphere, the fleeting hour.

"Without one envious sigh, one anxious scheme,
The nether sphere, the fleeting hour assign.
Mine is the world of thought, the world of dream,
Mine all the past, and all the future mine.

* * * * *

"Of the fair brotherhood who share my grace,
I, from thy natal day, pronounce thee free;
And, if for some I keep a nobler place,
I keep for none a happier than for thee.

* * * * *

"No; when on restless night dawns cheerless morrow,
When weary soul and wasting body pine,
Thine am I still in danger, sickness, sorrow,
In conflict, obloquy, want, exile, thine;

"Thine where on mountain waves the snowbirds scream,
Where more than Thule's winter barbs the breeze,
Where scarce, through lowering clouds, one sickly gleam
Lights the drear May-day of Antarctic seas;

* * * * *

"Amidst the din of all things fell and vile,
Hate's yell, and envy's hiss, and folly's bray,
Remember me!"

_FORT ST. LOUIS, CHÂTEAU ST. LOUIS, HALDIMAND CASTLE._

_CHÂTEAU ST. LOUIS._

In Professor Kalm's saunter round Quebec, his description of the public edifices, in 1749, is worthy of note:

"The Palace (Château Saint Louis) says he, 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,
extending 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 the
river exhibit a charming prospect. This 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 in the court-yard; and
when the Governor, or the Bishop comes in or goes out, they must all
appear 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 _Récollets_, which is very near the palace."

Such it seemed, in 1749, to the learned Swedish naturalist and philosopher Peter Kalm. How many rainbow tints, poetry and romance can lend to the same object, we may learn from the brilliant Niagara novelist, William Kirby! In his splendid historical novel "Le Chien d'Or," whilst venturing on the boldest flights of imagination, he thus epitomises some striking historical features of the state residence of the French Viceroys of Canada.

"The great hall of the Castle of St. Louis was palatial in its
dimensions and adornment. 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 France.

"Over the Governor's seat hung a gorgeous escutcheon of the Royal
arms, draped with a cluster of white flags, sprinkled 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
settlements 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 confederacy of the Five Nations, but the still more powerful
league of New England and the other English Colonies. 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 Mère Marie de l'Incarnation--the first superior 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." (Page 109.)

It were difficult to group on a smaller and brighter canvass, so many of the glorious figures of our storied past.

In the days of de Montmagny and later, the _Jesuits' Journal_ retraces gay scenes at the Château in connection with the festivals of the patron saints, of St. Joseph, whose anniversary occurred on the 19th March, and of St. John the Baptist, whose _fête_ happened on the 24th June.

For a long time the old Château, was the meeting place of the Superior Council.

"On any Monday morning one would have found the Superior Council in
session in the antechamber of the Governor's apartment, at the Château
St. Louis. The members sat at a round table, at the head was the
Governor, with the Bishop on his right and the Intendant on his left.
The councillors sat in the order of their appointment, and the
attorney-general also had his place at the board. As La Hontan says,
they were not in judicial robes, but in their ordinary dress and all
but the Bishop wore swords. The want of the cap and the gown greatly
disturbed the Intendant Meules, and he begs the Minister to consider
how important it is that the councillors, in order to inspire respect,
should appear in public in long black robes, which on occasions of
ceremony they should exchange for robes of red. He thinks that the
principal persons of the colony should thus be induced to train up
their children to so enviable a dignity; "and" he concludes, "as none
of the councillors can afford to buy red robes, I hope that the King
will vouchsafe to send out nine such; as for the black robes, they can
furnish those themselves."

"The King did not respond, and the nine robes never arrived. The
official dignity of the Council was sometimes exposed to trials
against which even red gowns might have proven an insufficient
protection. The same Intendant urges that the tribunal ought to be
provided immediately with a house _of its own_."

"It is not decent," he says, "that it should sit in the Governor's
antechamber any longer. His guards and valets make such a noise, that
we cannot hear each other speak. I have continually to tell them to
keep quiet, which causes them to make a thousand jokes at the
councillors as they pass in and out. As the Governor and the council
were often on ill terms, the official head of the colony could not
always be trusted to keep his attendants on their good behaviour."
(Parkman's _Old Regime_, p. 273.)

At other times, startling incidents threw a pall over the old pile. Thus in August 1666, we are told of the melancholy end of a famous Indian warrior: "Tracy invited the Flemish Bastard and a Mohawk chief named Agariata to his table, when allusion was made to the murder of Chasy. On this the Mohawk, stretching out his arm, exclaimed in a Braggart tone, "This is the hand that split the head of that young man." The indignation of the company may be imagined. Tracy told his insolent guest that he should never kill anybody else; and he was led out and hanged in presence of the Bastard. [33]

Varied in language and nationality were the guests of the Château in days of yore: thus in 1693, the proud old Governor Frontenac had at one and the same time Baron Saint Castin's Indian father-in-law, Madocawando, from Acadia, and "a gentleman of Boston, John Nelson, captured by Villebon, the nephew and heir of Sir Thomas Temple, in whose right he claimed the proprietorship of Acadia, under an old grant of Oliver Cromwell." (Parkman's _Frontenac_, p. 357.)

_FORT ST. LOUIS_

Ere one of the last vestiges of the _ancien régime_, Haldimand Castle, disappears, a few details culled from reliable sources may not be unacceptable, especially as by fire, repairs and the vicissitudes of time, the changes are so great, as to render difficult the delineation of what it originally formed part of in the past.

Grave misconceptions exist as to what constituted the stately residence of our former Governors. Many imagine that the famous _Château St. Louis_, was but one structure, whilst in reality, it was composed at one time of three, viz:--Fort St. Louis, Château St. Louis and Haldimand Castle, the present Normal School. The writer has succeeded in collecting together nine views of the Fort and Château St. Louis since the days of Champlain down to modern times. Champlain's "brass bell" is conspicuous in more than one of the designs.

According to Father DuCreux, the first fort erected by Champlain on the crest of the promontory, _arx aedificata in promontarii cuspidine_, was not placed on the site of Dufferin Terrace, but at the south-east point of the area, which is now occupied by the Grand Battery, north-east of the present Parliament building and looking down on Sault-au-Matelot street. Champlain subsequently removed it to a still more elevated site; its bastions, towers and ramparts surrounded the space on which the former Governor's residence, soldier's barracks, magazine, &c., were constructed.

"The fortress, says Bouchette, (Fort) of St. Louis covered about four
acres of ground, and formed nearly a parallelogram; on the western
side two strong bastions on each angle were connected by a curtain, in
the centre of which was a sallyport: the other faces presented works
of nearly a similar description, but of less dimensions." [34]

We may add that Fort St. Louis, shown on the plan of Quebec of 1660, published by Abbé Faillon, and more plainly exhibited on Jeffery's map of Quebec, published in London in 1760, disappears after the conquest. No mention is made of it in 1775, and still less in 1784, as a fortress.

Champlain, in his deposition, [35] sworn to, on the 9th Nov. 1629, in London, before the Right Worshipful Sir Henry Martin, Knight, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, describes minutely, the armament and belongings of Fort St. Louis, on the 9th August 1629, when he surrendered it to the Kirkes: cannon such as they were, and ammunition he seems to have had in abundance, without forgetting what he styles "the murderers with their double boxes or charges," a not excessively deadly kind of _mitrailleuse_ or Gatling gun, we should imagine; the Fort also contained a smith's forge, carpenter's tools, machinery for a windmill, and a handmill to grind corn, a brass bell--probably to sound the tocsin, or alarm, at the approach of the marauding savages of Stadacona, the array of muskets--(thirteen complete)--is not formidable. Who was the maker of his pistol-proof coats-of-mail?

_NEW CHÂTEAU ST. LOUIS._

"Such dusky grandeur clothed the height
Where the huge castle holds its state,
And all the steep slope down
Whose ridgy back heaves to the sky,
Piled deep and massy, close and high
Mine own romantic town."
(Scott's _Marmion_.)

"Few circumstances of discussion and enquiry, says Hawkins, are more
interesting than the history and fate of ancient buildings, especially
if we direct our attention to the fortunes and vicissitudes of those
who were connected with them. The temper, genius and pursuits of an
historical era are frequently delineated in the features of remarkable
edifices, nor can any one contemplate them without expressing
curiosity, concerning those who first formed the plan, and afterwards
created and tenanted the structure. These observations apply
particularly to the subject of this chapter.

The history of the ancient Castle of St. Louis, or Fort of Quebec, for
above two centuries the seat of Government in the Province (of
Quebec), affords subjects of great and stirring interest during its
several periods. The hall of the old Fort during the weakness of the
colony was often a scene of terror and despair at the inroads of the
persevering and ferocious Iroquois, who, having passed or overthrown
all the French outposts, more than once threatened the fort itself and
massacred some friendly Indians within sight of its walls. Here, too,
in intervals of peace, were laid those benevolent plans for the
religious instruction and conversion of the savages which at one time
distinguished the policy of the ancient governors. At a later era,
when, under the protection of the French kings, the province had
acquired the rudiments of military strength and power, the Castle of
St. Louis was remarkable as having been the site whence the French
governors exercised an immense sovereignty, extending from the Gulf of
St. Lawrence, along the shores of that noble river, its magnificent
lakes, and down the course of the Mississippi to its outlet below New
Orleans. The banner which first streamed from the battlements of
Quebec was displayed from a chain of forts which protected the
settlements throughout this vast extent of country, keeping the
English colonies in constant alarm, and securing the fidelity of the
Indian nations. During this period the council-chamber of the castle
was the scene of many a midnight vigil [36]--many a long deliberation
and deep-laid project to free the continent from the intrusion of the
ancient rival of France and assert the supremacy of the Gallic lily.
At another era, subsequent to the surrender of Quebec to the British
armies, and until the recognition of the independence of the United
States, the extent of empire of the government of which the Castle of
Quebec was the principal seat, comprehended the whole American
continent north of Mexico. It is astonishing to reflect for a moment,
to how small, and, as to size, comparatively insignificant an island
in the Atlantic ocean this gigantic territory was once subject. Here
also was rendered to the representative of the French king, with all
its ancient forms, the fealty and homage of the noblesse and military
retainers, who held possessions in the province under the crown. A
feudal ceremony, suited to early times, which imposed a real and
substantial obligation on those who performed it, not to be violated
without forfeiture and dishonour. The king of Great Britain having
succeeded to the rights of the French crown, this ceremony is still
retained.

"Fealty and homage is rendered at this day (1834) by the seigniors to
the Governor, as the representative of the sovereign, in the following
form: His Excellency being in full dress and seated in a state chair,
surrounded by his staff, and attended by the Attorney-General, the
seignior, in an evening dress and wearing a sword, is introduced into
his presence by the Inspector General of the Royal Domain and Clerk of
the Land Roll, and having delivered up his sword, and kneeling upon
one knee before the Governor, places his right hand between his and
repeats the ancient oath of fidelity; after which a solemn act is
drawn up in a register kept for that purpose, which is signed by the
Governor and the seignior, and countersigned by the proper officers."
--(Hawkin's _Picture of Quebec_.)

The historian, Ferland, _Notes sur les Registres de Notre Dame de
Quebec_, relates one of the earliest instances (1634) of the manner
the _foi et hommage_ was rendered. It is that of Jean Guion (Dion?)
vassal of Robert Giffard, seignior of Beauport: "Guion presents
himself in the presence of a notary, at the principal door of the
manor-house of Beauport; having knocked, one Boulle, farmer of
Giffard, opened the door and in reply to Guion's question, if the
seignior was at home, replied that he was not, but that he, Boulle,
was empowered to receive acknowledgments and homage for the vassals in
his name. After the which reply, the said Guion, being at the
principal door, placed himself on his knees, on the ground, with bare
head and without sword or spurs, and said three times these words:
'Monsieur de Beauport, Monsieur de Beauport, Monsieur de Beauport, I
bring you the faith and homage which I am bound to bring you on
account of my _fief_ Du Buisson, which I hold as a man of faith
of your seigniory of Beauport, declaring that I offer to pay my
seigniorial and feudal dues in their season, and demanding of you to
accept me in faith and homage as aforesaid.'" (Parkman's _Old
Regime_, p 246.)

"Of these buildings (says Bouchette), the Castle of St. Louis being
the most prominent object on the summit of the rock--will obtain the
first notice.

"It is a handsome stone building seated near the edge of a precipice,
* * and supported towards the steep by a solid work of masonry, rising
nearly half the height of the edifice, and surmounted by a spacious
gallery, * * * The whole pile is 162 feet long by 45 feet broad, and
three stories high * * * Each extremity is terminated by a small wing,
giving to the whole an easy and regular character.

"It was built shortly after the city was fortified with solid works,
* * *--for a long series of years it was neglected, so much as to be
suffered to go to decay, and ceasing to be the residence of the
Commander-in-Chief, was used only for the offices of Government until
the year 1808, when a resolution passed the Provincial Parliament for
repairing and beautifying it; the sum of £1,000 was at the same time
voted, and the work forthwith commenced.

"The money applied was inadequate to defray the expenses--upon the
grand scale the improvements were commenced, but an additional grant
was made to cover the whole charge, * * *

"Sir James Craig took possession of it, etc.

"The part properly called the Château occupies one side of the square
or court-yard; on the opposite side stands an extensive building
(Haldimand Castle) divided among the offices of Government, both civil
and military, that are under the immediate control of the Governor, it
contains also a handsome suite of apartments where the balls and other
public entertainments of the court are always given. During the
dilapidated state of the Château, this building was occupied by the
family of the Governors. Both the exterior and the interior are in a
very plain style, it forms part of the curtain that ran between the
two exterior bastions of the old fortress of St. Louis, adjoining it
are several other buildings of smaller size, appropriated to similar
uses, a guard house, stables, and extensive riding house, of these
works only a few vestiges remain, except the eastern wall, which is
kept in solid repair. The new guard house and stables, both fronting
the parade, have a very neat exterior, the first forms the arc of a
circle and has a colonnade before it, the stables are attached to the
riding house, which is spacious, and in every way well adapted to its
intended purpose, it is also used for drilling the city militia"--
(Bouchette's _Topography of Lower Canada_, 1815, p. 431-4.)

The brilliant biographer of "Frontenac" and author of the, "Old Regime," thus sums up from the official correspondence of the French Governors and Intendants the foundation, reconstructions and alterations in the Fort and Château.

"This structure," says Francis Parkman, "destined to be famous in
Canadian history, was originally built by Samuel de Champlain. The
cellar still remains under the wooden platform of the present Durham
(now Dufferin) Terrace. Behind the château was the area of the fort,
now an open square. In the most famous epoch of its history, the time
of Frontenac, the château was old and dilapidated, and the fort was in
sad condition." "The walls are all down," writes Frontenac in 1681,
"there are neither gates nor guard-houses, the whole place is open."
On this the new Intendant Meules was ordered to report what repairs
were needed. Meanwhile la Barre had come to replace Frontenac, whose
complaints he repeats. He says that the wall is in ruins for a
distance of a hundred and eighty _toises_. "The workmen ask 6,000
francs to repair it. I could get it done in France for 2,000. The cost
frightens me. I have done nothing."--(_La Barre au Ministre_, 1682).
Meules, however, received orders to do what was necessary, and, two
years later, he reports that he had rebuilt the wall, repaired the
fort, and erected a building, intended at first for the council,
within the area. This building stood near the entrance of the present
St. Louis street, and was enclosed by an extension of the fort wall.

Denonville next appears on the scene, with his usual disposition to
fault-finding. "The so-called château," he says (1685), "is built of
wood, and is dry as a match. There is a place where with a bundle of
straw it could be set on fire at any time,... some of the gates will
not close, there is no watchtower, and no place to shoot from."--
(_Denonville au Ministre_, 20 _Août_, 1685).

When Frontenac resumed the Government, he was much disturbed at the
condition of the château, and begged for slate to cover the roof, as
the rain was coming in everywhere. At the same time the Intendant
Champigny reports it to be rotten and ruinous. This was in the year
made famous by the English attack, and the dramatic scene in the hall
of the old building when Frontenac defied the envoy of Admiral Phipps,
whose fleet lay in the river below. In the next summer, 1691,
Frontenac again asks for slate to cover the roof, and for 15,000 or
20,000 francs to repair his mansion.

In the next year the king promised to send him 12,000 francs, in
instalments. Frontenac acknowledges the favour, and says that he will
erect a new building, and try in the meantime not to be buried under
the old one, as he expects to be every time the wind blows hard.--
(_Frontenac au Ministre_, 15 _Septembre_, 1692). A misunderstanding
with the Intendant, who had control of the money, interrupted the
work. Frontenac writes the next year that he had been "obliged to send
for carpenters during the night, to prop up the château, lest he
should be crushed under the ruins." The wall of the fort was, however,
strengthened, and partly rebuilt to the height of sixteen feet, at a
cost of 13,629 francs. It was a time of war, and a fresh attack was
expected from the English.--(_Frontenac et Champigny au Ministre_, 4
_Nov_, 1693). In the year 1854, the workmen employed in demolishing a
part of this wall, adjoining the garden of the château, found a copper
plate bearing an inscription in Latin as follows--

D. O. M.
Anno reparatae salutis
Millesimo sexcentesimo nonagesimo tertio
Regnante Augustissimo Invictissimo ac
Christianissimo Galliae Rege
Rege Ludovico Magno XIIII
Excellentissimus ac Illustrissimus Dnûs Dnux
Ludovicus de Buade
Comes de Frontenac, totius Novae Franciae
Semel et iterum Provex,
Ab ipsomet, triennio ante rebellibus Novae
Angliae incolis, hanc civitatem Quebecensem,
Obsidentibus, pulsis, fusis ac penitus
Devictis,
Et iterum hocce supradicto anno obsidionem
Minitantibus
Hanc arcem cum adjectis munimentis
In totius patriae tutelam populi salutem
Nec non in perfidae, tum Deo, tum suo Regi
Legitimo, gentis iterandum confusionem
Sumptibus regies oedificari
Curavit,
Ac primarium hunc lapidem
Posuit,

JOANNES SOULLARD, Sculpsit

(_Translation_)

"In the year of Redemption, 1693, under the reign of the Most August,
Most Invincible, and Most Christian King of France, Louis the Great,
fourteenth of that name, the Most Excellent Louis de Buade, Count of
Frontenac, Governor for the second time of all New France, seeing that
the rebellious inhabitants of New England, who three years ago were
repulsed, routed, and completely vanquished by him, when they besieged
this town of Quebec, are threatening to renew the siege this very
year, has caused to be built, at the expense of the King, this
Citadel, with the fortifications adjoining thereto, for the defence of
the country, for the security of the people, and for confounding again
that nation perfidious alike towards its God and its lawful King, and
he (_Frontenac_) has placed here this first stone."

A year later, the rebuilding of the château was begun in earnest.
Frontenac says that nothing but a miracle has saved him from being
buried under its ruins, that he has pulled everything down, and begun
again from the foundation, but that the money has given out.--
(_Frontenac au Ministre_, 4 _Nov._, 1694) Accordingly, he and the
Intendant sold six licenses for the fur trade, but at a rate unusually
low, for they brought only 4,400 francs.

The King hearing of this sent 6,000 more. Frontenac is profuse in
thanks, and at the same time begs for another 6,000 francs, "to
complete a work which is the ornament and beauty of the city" (1696).
The Minister sent 8,000 more, which was soon gone; and Frontenac drew
on the royal treasurer for 5,047 in addition. The Intendant complains
of his extravagance, and says that he will have nothing but
perfection; and that besides the château, he has insisted on building
two guard-houses, with mansard roofs, at the two sides of the gate. "I
must do as he says," adds the Intendant, "or there will be a quarrel."
(_Champigny au Ministre_, 13 _Oct._, 1697). In a letter written two
days after, Frontenac speaks with great complacency of his château,
and asks for another 6,000 francs to finish it. As the case was urgent
he sold six more licenses at 1,000 francs each, but he died too soon
to see the completion of his favorite work (1698). The new château was
not finished before 1700, and even then it had no cistern. In a pen
sketch of Quebec, on a manuscript map of 1699, preserved in the Dépôt
de Cartes de la Marine, the new château is distinctly represented. In
front is a gallery or balcony resting on a wall and buttresses at the
edge of the cliff. Above the gallery is a range of high windows, along
the face of the building, and over these a range of small windows and
a mansard roof. In the middle is a porch opening on the gallery, and
on the left extends a battery, on the ground now occupied by a garden
along the brink of the cliff. A water-colour sketch of the château
taken in 1804, from the land side, by William Morrison, Jr., is in my
possession. [37] The building appears to have been completely
remodelled in the interval. It is two stories in height, the mansard
roof is gone, and a row of attic windows surmount the second story. In
1809 it was again remodelled at a cost of ten thousand pounds
sterling, a third story was added, and the building, resting on the
buttresses which still remain under the balustrade of Durham
(Dufferin) Terrace, had an imposing effect when seen from the river.
It was destroyed by fire in 1834.--(Parkman's _Old Regime_.)

HALDIMAND CASTLE

After sketching Fort St. Louis, begun in 1624,--a refuge against the Iroquois, and whose bastions rendered useless disappeared shortly after the conquest, as well as giving the history of the Château St. Louis proper, destroyed by fire 23rd January, 1834, it behoves us to close the narrative with a short account of the origin of the wing or new building still extant, and used since 1871 as the Normal School. This structure generally, though improperly styled the _Old Château_, dates back to the last century. On the 5th May, 1784, the corner stone was laid with suitable ceremonies, by the Governor-General, Sir Frederick Haldimand; the Château St. Louis had been found inadequate in size for the various purposes required, viz.: a Vice-regal residence, a Council room for the Legislative, the Executive and Judiciary Councils, &c.

The Province was rapidly expanding, as well as the Viceroy's levees, official balls, public receptions, &c.; suites of rooms and stately chambers, became indispensible.

The following incident occurred during its construction:--On the 17th September, 1784, the workmen at the Château in levelling the yard, dug up a large stone with a Maltese cross engraved on it, bearing the date "1647." One of Wolfe's veterans, Mr. James Thompson, Overseer of Public Works, got the masons to lay the stone in the cheek of the gate of the new building. A wood-cut of the stone, gilt at the expense of Mr. Ernest Gagnon, City Councillor in 1872, appeared in the _Morning Chronicle_ of the 24th June, 1880. Let us hope when the site shall be transferred, that the Hon. Premier will have a niche reserved for this historic relic as was so appropriately done by Sir H L Langevin, for the "Chien d'Or" tablet when the new city Post Office was built in 1871-3.

Haldimand Castle soon became a building of note. On the 19th January, 1787, the anniversary of the Queen's Birthday--Charlotte of Mecklenburg, consort of George III., the first grand reception was held there. In the following summer, the future monarch of Great Britain, William IV., the sailor prince, aged 22 years, visited his father's loyal Canadian lieges. Prince William Henry had then landed, on 14th August, in the Lower Town from H. M. frigate "Pegasus." Traditions repeat that the young Duke of Clarence enjoyed himself amazingly among the _beau monde_ of Quebec, having eyes for more than the scenic beauties of the "Ancient Capital," not unlike other worthy Princes who came after him.

"He took an early opportunity of visiting the Ursulines, and by his
polite and affable manner quite won the hearts of those worthy
ladies."--(_Histoire des Ursulines_, vol. III, p. 183.)

Sorel, in honour of his visit, changed its name into Fort William Henry. Among other festivities at Quebec, Lord Dorchester, Governor-General, the successor to Sir Frederick Haldimand, on the 21st August, 1787, treated H. R. Highness to a grand pyrotechnic display. "Prince William Henry and his company, being seated on an exalted platform, erected by the Overseer of Public Works, James Thompson, over a powder magazine joining the end of the new building (Haldimand Castle), while the fireworks were displayed on an eminence fronting it below the _old_ Citadel."--(_Thompson's Diary._)

_THE QUEBEC AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY._

In the stately reception room of the Castle was founded, in 1789, the _Quebec Agricultural Society_.

"On the 6th April, the rank and fashion, nobility and clergy of all
denominations, as well as commoners, crowded at the _Château St.
Louis_, to enter their names as subscribers to the Quebec Agricultural
Society, warmly patronized by his Excellency Lord Dorchester, Hon.
Hugh Finlay, Deputy Postmaster-General, was chosen Secretary.

The _Quebec Gazette_ of the 23rd April, 1789, will supply the names,
the list is suggestive on more points than one.

Rev. Philip Tosey, Military M. Pierre Florence, Rivière
Chaplain. Ouelle
T. Monk, Atty-Genl. T. Arthur Coffin
G. B. Taschereau, Esq. Capt. Chas. St. Ours.
Peter Stewart, Esq. Aug. Glapion, Sup. Jésuites.
Malcolm Fraser, Esq. A. Hubert, Curé de Québec.
William Lindsay, Esq. Juchereau Duchesnay, Esq.
J. B. Deschêneaux, Esq. L. de Salaberry, Esq.
John Lees, Esq. P. Panet, P.C.
John Renaud, Esq. M. Grave, Supérieur, Séminaire
John Young, Esq. John Craigie, Esq.
Mathew Lymburner, Esq. Berthelot D'Artigny, Esq.
John Blackwood, Esq. Perrault l'Aine, Esq.
M. L. Germain, fils. George Allsopp, Esq.
A. Panet, Esq. Robert Lester, Esq.
P. L. Panet, Esq. Alex. Davidson, Esq.
A. Gaspé, Esq., St. Jean Port The Chief Justice (W. Smith).
Joly. Hon. Hugh Finlay.
M. Ob. Aylwin. Hon. Thos. Dunn.
The Canadian Bishop. Hon. Edw. Harrison.
M. Bailly, Coadjutor. Hon. John Collins.
T. Mervin Nooth, Dr. Hon. Adam Mabane.
Henry Motz, Dr. Hon. J. G. C. DeLéry.
Jenkins Williams. Hon. Geo. Pownall.
Isaac Ogden, Judge of Admiralty. Hon. Henry Caldwell.
Messire Panet, Curé of Rivière Hon. William Grant.
Ouelle. Hon. Francois Baby.
Sir Thomas Mills. Hon. Saml. Holland.
François Dambourges, Esq. Hon. Geo. Davidson.
Capt. Fraser, 34th Regt. Hon. Chas. De Lanaudière.
Kenelm Chandler, Esq. Hon. LeCompte Dupré.
J. T. Cugnet, Esq. Major Mathews.
J. F. Cugnet, Esq. Capt. Rotson.

_THE LOYAL LEAGUE._

Could that patriotic feeling which, ten years later, in 1799, enlisted Quebecers of all creeds to support Great Britain, then at war with regicide France, have been inspired by the sturdy old chieftain, who hailed from the Castle,--General Robert Prescott? It was indeed a novel idea, that loyal league, which exhibited both R. C and Anglican Bishops, each putting their hands in their pockets to help Protestant England to rout the armies of the "eldest son of the Church," represented by the First Consul; so general and so intense was the horror inspired by revolutionary and regicide France.

Though in the past, as at present, attempts were occasionally made to
stir up discord amongst our citizens, there appears more than once,
traces of enlarged patriotism and loyalty to the mother country,
animating all classes. This seems conspicuous in the public invitation
by men of both nationalities, inserted in a public journal, for 1799,
to form a national fund in order to help England with the war waged
against France; this invitation not only bears the signatures of
leading English citizens, but also those of several Quebecers of
French extraction, rejoicing in old and historic names such as the
following."--(_Quebec, Past and Present_, page 244.)

Hon. William Osgood, C. Justice. John Young.
Hon. Francois Baby. Louis Dunière.
Hon. Hugh Finlay. J. Sewell.
Hon. J. A. Panet. John Craigie.
Hon. Thos. Dunn. Wm. Grant.
Hon. Ant. Juchereau Duchesnay Rob. Lester.
Hon. George Pownall. Jas. Sheppard, Sheriff.

Mr. Panet, one of the signers, was Speaker of our Commons for twenty-
two years later on. The city journals contain the names and amounts
subscribed, as follows:--

J. Quebec .................................. £300 0 0
Wm. Osgood ................................. 300 0 0
George Pownall ............................. 100 guineas
Henry Caldwell ............................. £300 0 0
George W. Taylor, .. per annum during war... 5 0 0
A. J. Baby, ............. " " ........ 5 0 0
Geo. Heriot, ............ " " ........ 50 0 0
Chs. De Léry, ........... " " ........ 12 0 0
John Blackwood, ......... " " ........ 10 0 0
Wm. Burns, .............. " " ........ 20 0 0
Le Séminaire de Quebec, . " " ........ 50 0 0
J. A. Panet, ............ " " ........ 30 0 0
John Wurtele, ........... " " ........ 4 0 0
Wm. Grant, .............. " " ........ 32 4 5
Wm. Bouthillier, ........ " " ........ 3 10 0
Juchereau Duchesnay, .... " " ........ 20 0 0
James Grossman, ......... " " ........ 10 0 0
Henry Brown, ............ " " ........ 0 10 0
Thos. Dunn, ............. " " ........ 66 0 0
Peter Boatson, .......... " " ........ 23 6 8
Antoine Nadeau, ......... " " ........ 0 6 0
Robert Lester, .......... " " ........ 30 0 0
Le Coadjutor de Quebec, . " " ........ 25 0 0
Thos. Scott, ............ " " ........ 20 0 0
Chs. Stewart, ........... " " ........ 11 2 2
Samuel Holland, ......... " " ........ 20 0 0
Jenkin Williams, ........ " " ........ 55 11 1
Francois Baby, .......... " " ........ 40 0 0
G. Elz. Taschereau, ..... " " ........ 10 0 0
M. Taschereau, Curé de St. Croix, " ........ 5 0 0
Thos. Taschereau, ....... " " ........ 5 0 0
Monro & Bell, ........... " " ........ 100 0 0
J. Stewart, ............. " " ........ 11 13 4
Louis Dumon, ............ " " ........ 23 6 8
Rev. Frs. de Montmollin, " " ........ 10 0 0
Xavier de Lanaudière, ... " " ........ 23 6 8
Peter Stewart, .......... " " ........ 11 2 2
Messire Raimbault, Ange-Gardien, " ........ 4 13 5
Messire Villase, Ste. Marie, " ........ 4 13 4
Messire Bernard Panet, Rivière Ouelle, ..... 5 0 0
Messire Jacques Panet, Islet, " ....... 25 0 0

See _Quebec Gazette_, 4th July, 1799.
See _Quebec Gazette_, 29th August, 1799.

_AN ANTIQUE STONE._

"Praetorian here, Praetorian there, I mind the bigging o't"--
(_The Antiquary_)

Some years back a spicy little controversy was waged among our Quebec
antiquarians as to the origin and real date of the stone in the wall
adjoining the _Old Château_, the two last figures of the inscription
being indistinct.

Was it 1646, 1647 or 1694? After deep research, profound cogitation
and much ink used in the public prints, 1647, the present date,
prevailed, and Mr. Ernest Gagnon, then a City Councillor, had this
precious relic restored and gilt at his cost.

The date 1647 also agrees with the Jesuits _Relation_, which states
that, in 1647, under Governor de Montmagny, one of the bastions was
lined with stone; additional light was thrown on this controversy, by
the inspection of a deed of agreement, bearing date at Fort St. Louis,
19th October, 1646, exhumed from the Court House vaults, and signed by
the stonemasons who undertook to _revetir de murailles un bastion qui
est au bas de l'allee du Mont Caluaire, descendant au Fort St. Louis_,
for which work they were to receive from _Monsieur Bourdon_, engineer
and surveyor, 2,000 _livres_ and a puncheon of wine.

This musty, dry-as-dust, old document gives rise to several enquiries.
One not the least curious, is the luxurious mode of life, which the
puncheon of wine supposes among stonemasons at such a remote period of
Quebec history as 1646. Finally, it was decided that this stone and
cross were intended to commemorate the year in which the Fort St.
Louis Bastion, begun in 1646, was finished, viz., 1647.

This historic stone, which has nothing in common with the

"Stone of Blarney
On the banks of Killarney,"

cropped up again more than a century later, in the days when Sergeant
Jas. Thompson, one of Wolfe's veterans, was overseer of public works
at Quebec--(he died in 1830, aged 98.) We read in his unpublished
diary. "The cross in the wall, September 17th, 1784. The miners at the
Château, in levelling the yard, dug up a large stone, from which I
have described the annexed figure (identical with the present), I
could wish it was discovered soon enough to lay conspicuously in the
wall of the new building, (Haldimand Castle), in order to convey to
posterity the antiquity of the Château St. Louis. However, I got the
masons to lay the stone in the cheek of the gate of new building."
Extract from _James Thompson's Diary_, 1759-1830.

Col. J. Hale, grandfather to our esteemed fellow townsman, E. J. Hale,
Esq., and one of Wolfe's companions-at-arms, used to tell how he had
succeeded in having this stone saved from the _débris_ of the Château
walls, and restored a short time before the Duke of Clarence, the
sailor prince (William IV), visited Quebec in 1787.

Occasionally, the Castle opened its portals to rather unexpected but, nor the less welcome, visitors. On the 13th March, 1789, His Excellency Lord Dorchester had the satisfaction of entertaining a stalwart woodsman and expert hunter, Major Fitzgerald of the 54th Regiment, then stationed at St. John, New Brunswick, the son of a dear old friend, Lady Emilia Mary, daughter of the Duke of Richmond. This chivalrous Irishman was no less than the dauntless Lord Edward Fitzgerald, fifth son of the Duke of Leinster, the true but misguided patriot, who closed his promising career in such a melancholy manner in prison, during the Irish rebellion in 1798. Lord Edward had walked up on snowshoes through the trackless forest, from New Brunswick to Quebec, a distance of 175 miles, in twenty-six days, accompanied by a brother officer, Mr. Brisbane, a servant and two "woodsmen." This feat of endurance is pleasantly described by himself.

Tom Moore, in his biography of this generous, warmhearted son of Erin, among other dutiful epistles addressed by Lord Edward to his mother, has preserved the following, of which we shall give a few extracts:--

QUEBEC, March 14, 1789.

DEAREST MOTHER,--I got here yesterday after a very long and, what some
people would think, a very tedious and fatiguing journey; but to me it
was, at most, only a little fatiguing, and to make up for that, it was
delightful and quite new. We were thirty days on our march, twenty-six
of which we were in the woods, and never saw a soul but our own party.

You must know we came through a part of the country that had always
been reckoned impassable. In short, instead of going a long way about,
we determined to try and get straight through the woods, and see what
kind of country it was. I believe I mentioned my party in a letter to
Ogilvie (his step-father) before I left St. Anne's or Fredericton: it
was an officer of the regiment, Tonny, and two woodsmen. The officer
and I used to draw part of our baggage day about, and the other day
steer (by compass), which we did so well, that we made the point we
intended within ten miles. We were only wrong in computing our
distances and making them a little too great, which obliged us to
follow a new course, and make a river, which led us round to Quebec,
instead of going straight to it. * * * I expect my leave by the first
despatches. * * * I shall not be able to leave this part of the world
till May, as I cannot get my leave before that. How I do long to see
you. Your old love, Lord Dorchester, is very civil to me. I must,
though, tell you a little more of the journey. After making the river,
we fell in with some savages, and travelled with them to Quebec; they
were very kind to us, and said we were "all one brother," "all one
indian." They fed us the whole time we were with them. You would have
laughed to have seen me carrying an old squaw's pack, which was so
heavy I could hardly waddle under it. However, I was well paid
whenever we stopped, for she always gave me the best bits and most
soup, and took as much care of me as if I had been her own son; in
short, I was quite _l'enfant chéri_. We were quite sorry to part:
the old lady and gentleman both kissed me very heartily. I gave the
old lady one of Sophia's silver spoons, which pleased her very much.
When we got here, you may guess what figures we were. We had not
shaved nor washed during the journey; our blanket-coats and trousers
all worn out and pieced, in short, we went to two or three houses and
they would not let us in. There was one old lady, exactly the
_hôtesse_ in Gil Blas, _elle me prit la mesure du pied jusqu'à
la tête_, and told me there was one room, without a stove or bed,
next a billiard room, which I might have if I pleased, and when I her
told we were gentlemen, she very quietly said, "I dare say you are,"
and off she went. However, at last we got lodgings in an ale house,
and you may guess ate well and slept well, and went next day well
dressed, with one of Lord Dorchester's aide-de-camps to triumph over
the old lady; in short, exactly the story in Gil Blas.

We are quite curiosities here after our journey, some think we were
mad to undertake it, some think we were lost; some will have it we
were starved; there were a thousand lies, but we are safe and well,
enjoying rest and good eating, most completely. One ought really to
take these fillips now and then, they make one enjoy life a great deal
more.

The hours here are a little inconvenient to us as yet; whenever we
wake at night we want to eat, the same as in the woods, and as soon as
we eat we want to sleep. In our journey we were always up two hours
before day, to load and get ready to march, we used to stop between
three and four, and it generally took us from that till night to
shovel out the snow, cut wood, cook and get ready for night, so that
immediately after our suppers we were asleep, and whenever any one
awakes in the night, he puts some wood on the fire, and eats a bit
before he lies down again; but for my part, I was not much troubled
with waking in the night.