Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present Part 15

28th March.--A detachment was ordered on service to Ste. Marie Nouvelle Beauce and St. Joseph, returning on the 31st under the command of Lieutenant Hale, consisting of two officers, two sergeants, one corporal, 18 privates; total, 23.

At right angles from Buade Street, opposite the wall [66] which surrounds St. Joseph Cemetery, enclosed between the Basilica and the street, there exists, since the earliest times, a short, narrow street--more properly a lane--_Treasury Street_. The French know it as _Rue du Tresor_, because under French rule, the Government Office, where public monies were paid out, stood in the vicinity. Until the departure of the English garrison and removal of the Commissariat Staff, in 1871, Treasury Street was one of the avenues which led contractors and others to the Royal Commissariat Department, at the east end of St. Louis Street. Here, for years, were dealt out lavishly either the old French or Spanish piastres during the war of 1812-14, the proceeds of the army bills, and later on, English sovereigns, guineas and doubloons, &c. The Commissariat office was situate facing the Ring, and after the departure of the British troops, about 1871, was used as the office and dwelling of the Deputy Adjutant General of Militia. The lot, which, with the garden in rear, reaches to Mount Carmel Street, had been bought by the Ordnance from Mr. Peter Brehault in the early part of the century.

Prince Edward had brought to Quebec from Gibraltar, in 1791, as his Secretary, Capt. John Hale, 2nd Queen's Regiment. Capt. Hale was the eldest son of Brevet Major John Hale, [67] of the 47th, who served under General Wolfe at Quebec. Major J. Hale subsequently became General Hale.

Capt. John Hale, after stopping at Quebec with the Prince, subsequently returned to Halifax with him. He was afterwards appointed by the Imperial authorities Deputy Paymaster General to the Forces in Canada. He, it was, who owned the lot on which the Commissary-General's office stood. This occurred previous to 1812. He sold the property to Peter Brehault, who had come out to Canada as an employe to John Muire, Esq. Mr. Brehault resold it to the Imperial Government, the Paymaster's Office being merged into the Commissariat Office. The Ursuline nuns have named, after their patron Saint, Ste. Ursule, the first street to the west, which intersects at right angles, St. Louis and Ste. Anne streets. Ste. Ursule and Ste. Anne streets and environs seem to have been specially appropriated by the disciples of Hippocrates. Physicians [68] and surgeons there a.s.suredly do congregate, viz.: Dr. James Sewell, his son, Dr. Colin Sewell, Drs.

Landry, Lemieux, Simard, Belleau, Russell, Russell, Jr., Gale, Ross, Baillargeon, Roy, Fortier, LaRue, Parke, Rowand, Henchey, Vallee, Marsden, Jackson--distinguished physicians. Notwithstanding that it is the abode of so many eminent members of the Faculty, the locality is healthy; nay, conducive to longevity.

The streets Aylmer, Burton, Bagot, Craig, Carleton, Dorchester, Dalhousie, Haldimand, Hope, Metcalf, Murray, Prevost, Richmond, perpetuate the memory of thirteen English Governors, while four French Governors have left their names on as many thoroughfares--Buade, Champlain, d'Aillebout, Montmagny.

Many of the luxurious dwellings on the Cape date back to 1840 or so; this now aristocratic neighborhood, after the conquest and until 1830, was occupied by carters, old French market gardeners and descendants of French artisans, &c.--such were the early tenants of Des Carrieres, Mont Carmel, Ste. Genevieve, St. Denis, Des Grissons streets.--"_Mais nous avons change tout cela._"

A few years since, the Town Council, on motion of Councillor Ernest Gagnon, whose name is identified with our popular songs, [69] disturbed the nomenclature of that part of D'Aiguillon street, _extra muros_, by subst.i.tuting the name of "Charlevoix." To that section of St. Joseph street, _intra muros_, was conferred the name of our respected historian, F. X Garneau. [70] To St. Francois street, the name of the historian, Ferland, was awarded; the historian, Robert Christie, [71] has also his street. This met with general approval.

"On ascending," says Abbe Faillon, "from the Lower to the Upper Town by a tortuous road, contrived betwixt the rocks, and on the right hand side, we reach the Cemetery. [72] This road, which terminated at the Parish Church, [73] divided itself into two,--on one side it led to the Jesuits (Jesuits'

College) and to the Hospital (Hotel Dieu); and on the other, to the Indian Fort [74] and to the Castle of Saint Louis. The Castle and King's Fort, guarded by soldiers night and day, under the orders of the Governor, was of an irregular shape, flanked by bastions, fortified by pieces of artillery, and contained in its interior several _suites_ of apartments separated one from the other. At the distance of about forty toises (240 feet) from the Castle was seen, on the south side, a small garden, fenced in, for the use of the Governor, and in front, towards the west, was the _Place d'Armes_ (now the _Ring_), in the form of a trapezium."

St. John street, for years without a rival as chief commercial thoroughfare for retail trade in dry goods, sees its former busy aspect daily fleeting since the invasion of that bitter foe to wheeled vehicles-- the street railway. Its glory is departing: the mercer's showy counter and shelves are gradually replaced by vegetable and fruit stores. Stately shops on Desfosses, Crown and Craig streets are rapidly diverting the _Pactolus_ of the city custom northwards. In the dark ages of the Ancient Capital, when this lengthy, narrow lane was studded with one-story wooden or stone tenements, Old Sol occasionally loved to look down and gladden with his rays its miry footpaths. To our worthy grandfathers 'twas a favorite _rendezvous_--the _via sacra_--the Regent street--the _Boulevard des Italiens_--where the _beau monde_ congregated at 4 P.M., sharp; where the merry jingle of the tandem _grelots_ invaded the frosty air in January; where the freshest toilettes, the daintiest bonnets--those "ducks of bonnets" invented fifty years ago by Mrs. T--d--ensnared admirers; where marten or "silver fox" m.u.f.fs of portentous size--all the rage then--kept warm and coursing the stream of life in tiny, taper hands, cold, alas! now in Death's pitiless grasp; where the old millionaire, George Pozer, c.h.i.n.ked his English guineas or piled up in his desk his army bills. Alas! Jean Bourdon, the pioneer of our land surveyors, you, who, more than two centuries ago, left your name to this vaunted locality--your street as well as your name are getting to be things of the past! Shall we bid adieu to this oft travelled over thoroughfare without deigning a parting glance, as we saunter on, at that low old-fas.h.i.+oned house, No. 84, on the north side of the street, where, for a quarter of a century and more, Monsieur Charles Hamel's book and church ornament emporium held its own against all the other book stores? It is now occupied as a dwelling and a notarial office by an ex-Mayor and late member for the city, P. A.

Tourangeau, Esq., N.P. Vividly, indeed, can we recall the busy aspect of its former counter, studded with gilt madonnas, rosaries, some in bra.s.s mountings, variegated Job beads for the million; others set in ebony and silver for rich _devotes_, flanked with wax tapers, sparkling church ornaments, bronze crucifixes--backed with shelves of books bearing, some, the _visa_ of Monseigneur de Tours--the latter for the faithful; others in an inner room, without the _visa_--these for city _litterateurs_; whilst in a shady corner-cupboard, imported to order--sometimes without order-- stood a row of short-necked but robust bottles, labelled "_Grande Chartreuse_" and "_Benedictine_," for the especial delectation of a few Quebec Brillat-Savarins--the _gourmets_!

Monsieur Hamel, a sly, courteous, devout old bachelor, had a honied word, a holy, upturned glance, a jaunty welcome for all and every one of his numerous "devotes" or fas.h.i.+onable _pratiques_. A small fortune was the result of the attention to business, thrift and correct calculations of this pink of French politeness. Monsieur Chas. Hamel, honoured by his familiars with the sobriquet "Lily Hamel," possibly because his urbanity was more than masculine, in fact, quite lady-like--the _creme de la creme_ of commercial suavity. This stand, frequented by the Quebec gentry from 1840 to 1865, had gradually become a favourite stopping place, a kind of half-way house, where many aged valetudinarians tarried a few minutes to gossip with friends equally aged, homeward bound, on bright winter afternoons, direct from their daily "const.i.tutional" walk, as far as the turnpike on St. John's road. Professor Hubert Larue [75] will introduce us to some of the _habitues_ of this little club, which he styles _Le Club des Anciens_, a venerable brotherhood uniting choice spirits among city _litterateurs_, antiquarians, superannuated Militia officers, retired merchants: Messrs. Henry Forsyth, Long John Fraser, Lieut.-Colonel Benjamin LeMoine, F. X. Garneau, G. B. Faribault, P. A. De Gaspe, Commissary-General Jas. Thompson, Major Lafleur, Chs. Pinguet, the valiant Captain of the City Watch in 1837. The junior members counted from fifty to sixty summers; their seniors had braved some sixty or seventy winters. After discussing the news of the day, local antiquities and improvements, there were certain topics, which possessed the secret of being to them eternally young, irresistibly attractive: the thrilling era of Colonel De Salaberry and General Sir Isaac Brock; the Canadian _Voltigeurs_, [76] the American War of 1812-14, where a few of these veterans had clanked their sabres and sported their epaulettes, &c. With the exception of an esteemed and aged Quebec merchant, Long John Fraser, all now sleep the long sleep, under the green sward and leafy shades of Mount Hermon or Belmont cemeteries, or in the moist vaults of some city monastery.

On revisiting lately these once famous haunts of our forefathers, the new proprietor, ex-Mayor Tourangeau, courteously exhibited to us the _antiques_ of this heavy walled tenement, dating back possibly to the French _regime_, perhaps the second oldest house in St. John street.

In a freshly painted room, on the first story, in the east end, hung two ancient oil paintings, executed years ago by a well-remembered artist, Jos. Legare, for the owners, two octogenarian inmates--his friends, Messrs. Michel and Charles Jourdain, architects and builders. They were charged some seventy years ago with the construction of the District Court House (burnt in 1872) and City Jail (now the Morrin College.) Messrs.

Jourdain had emigrated to Canada after the French Revolution of 1789. They had a holy horror of the guillotine, though, like others of the _literati_ of Quebec in former days, they were well acquainted with the doctrines and works of Voltaire, Diderot, and d'Alembert. One of the Jourdains, judging from his portrait, must have been a shrewd, observant man. Later on, the old tenement had sheltered the librarian of the Legislative Council, Monsieur Jourdain--a son--quite a _savant_ in his way, and whose remains were escorted to their last resting place by the _elite_ of the Canadian population. It is a mistake to think that culture and education were unknown in those early times; in some instances the love of books prevailed to that degree that, in several French- Canadian families, ma.n.u.script copies then made at Quebec exist to this day, of the Latin and French cla.s.sics from the difficulty of procuring books; there being little intercourse then with Paris book-stores, in fact, no importations of books. Among many quaint relics of the distant days of the Messrs. Jourdain and of their successor, Monsieur Audiverti _dit_ Romain, we saw a most curiously inlaid _Marqueterie_ table, dating, we might be tempted to a.s.sert, from the prehistoric era!

Innumerable are the quaint, pious or historical souvenirs, mantling like green and graceful ivy, the lofty, fortified area, which comprises the Upper Town of this "walled city of the North". An incident of our early times--the outraged Crucifix of the Hotel Dieu Convent, [77] and the Military Warrant, appropriating to urgent military wants, the revered seat of learning, the Jesuits' College, naturally claim a place in these pages.

The _Morning Chronicle_ will furnish us condensed accounts, which we will try and complete:--

_LE CRUCIFIX OUTRAGe._

"An interesting episode in the history of Canada during the last century attaches to a relic in the possession of the Reverend Ladies of the Hotel Dieu, or, more properly, "the Hospital of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ," of which the following is a synopsis taken from l'Abbe H. G. Casgrain's history of the inst.i.tution:--

"On the 5th October, 1742, it was made known that a soldier in the garrison in Montreal, named Havard de Beaufort, professed to be a sorcerer, and, in furtherance of his wicked pretensions, had profaned sacred objects. He had taken a crucifix, and having besmeared it with some inflammable substance--traces of which are still to be seen upon it--had exposed it to the flames, whilst he at the same time recited certain pa.s.sages of the Holy Scripture. The sacrilege had taken place in the house of one Charles Robidoux, at Montreal. Public indignation at this profanation of the sacred symbol and of the Scripture was intense; the culprit was arrested, tried and convicted, and sentenced to make a public reparation, after which he was to serve three years in the galleys. To this end he was led by the public executioner, with a cord around his neck, bareheaded and barefooted, wearing only a long s.h.i.+rt, and having a placard on his breast and back on which was inscribed the legend "Desecrator of holy things" (_Profanateur des choses saintes_), in front of the parish church in Montreal, and being placed on his knees, he made the _amende honorable_ to G.o.d, to the King and to Justice, and declared in a loud and intelligible voice that he had rashly and wickedly desecrated the sacred image of Jesus Christ, and had profaned the words of Holy Scripture. He was then brought to all the cross-roads of the town, where he was scourged by the public executioner, and afterwards lodged in prison to await the sailing of the vessel which was to convey him to France, where he was to undergo the remainder of his sentence. The Bishop of Quebec, (whose vast diocese then included all of North America) immediately wrote a letter to Montreal, inviting the people to make reparation by penances and public prayers for the outrage committed, and ordering a public procession from the parish church to that of Notre Dame de Bonsecours, where the veneration of the cross took place. He then obtained the crucifix from the magistrates, and forwarded it to the reverend ladies of the Hotel Dieu in Quebec, accompanied by a letter in which he directed that it should be placed in their chapel, and that on a certain day the veneration of it should be made in reparation of the insult offered the Saviour of the world in his sacred image on the cross. The nuns placed it in a reliquary, and to this day it occupies a prominent position on the high altar. In virtue of a brief of His Holiness the Pope, dated the 15th December, 1782, a plenary indulgence was granted to any one who, having fulfilled the usual conditions, should visit the Hotel Dieu chapel on the first Friday in March of each year. By an indult of the Supreme Pontiff, dated 21st March, 1802, this indulgence was transferred to the first Friday of October, when the veneration of the relic takes place annually.

The cross is of some sort of dark wood, about five or six inches long, bearing a bra.s.s figure of our Saviour, with the inscription I. N. R.

I. (_Jesus Nazarene Rex Judaeorum_) overhead and the skull and cross-bones beneath. Attached to it is the certificate of authenticity and the seal of the Bishop, Monseigneur de Pontbriand. In accordance with this arrangement, public service was held in the chapel of the hospital yesterday. The crucifix, enclosed in a gorgeous reliquary and surrounded with a number of lighted tapers, flowers and other ornaments, was placed on one of the lateral altars. Solemn ma.s.s was sung at eight o'clock by the Rev. Mr. Rheaume, of the Seminary, the musical portion being rendered in a most impressive manner by the reverend mothers, to organ accompaniment. In the afternoon, at two o'clock, solemn vespers were chanted by the community, after which an eloquent and impressive sermon was preached by Rev. Father Lepinto, S.J., followed by the benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, which was given, by Rev. Mr. Fraser, of the Seminary, who had previously read a solemn form of "Reparation" in the name of all present, and in which all joined. The _Tantum Ergo_ and other hymns were sung by the nuns, and after the chanting of the CXVI. Psalm, the relic was venerated, each one devoutly kissing it, during which the choir of nuns sang the _Crux fidelis_. Altogether the ceremony was a very impressive one, as was evidenced by the solemn, subdued manner of the large congregation a.s.sembled."--(_Morning Chronicle_, _2nd Oct._, 1880.)

_THE JESUITS' BARRACKS._

"At the present moment, in 1871, when, it is said, the Jesuits'

Barrack is on the eve of being returned to the Quebec authorities, our readers will no doubt be pleased to learn how and when this valuable property came into the possession of the Military Government. We are indebted to J. M. LeMoine, Esq., President of the Literary and Historical Society, for a copy of the ukase of Governor Murray converting the old College of the Jesuits, on the Upper Town Market Place, into a barrack, which it has remained ever since. It is extracted from some rare old ma.n.u.scripts belonging to that inst.i.tution. The orthographical mistakes exist in the original, and we have allowed them to reappear:--

By His Excellency the Hon. James Murray, Esq., Capt. General and Governor-in-Chief of the Province of Quebec and the territories thereupon depending in America, Vice-Admiral of the same, Major- General of His Majesty's Forces, and Colonel Commandant of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal American Regiment of Foot, &c., &c., &c.

To Captain James Mitchelson, Captain William Martin, Lieut. Smith, Messieurs Amiot, Boisseau and Moore:

Whereas it appears to me that proper Quarters and Barracks are much wanted for the officers and troops in this garrison, and it being apprehended that the Jesuits' College may be fitted up for that purpose--You are hereby authorized and impowered to survey the same, calling to your a.s.sistance such number of tradesmen as you may judge necessary, in which survey, regard is to be had to a sufficient number of Fire Places and Chimneys, to ascertain with precision the number of officers and private soldiers the said College will contain, and to make an estimate of the expense that will attend the repairs thereof.

And whereas the Contractors' provisions are at present lodged in the said college, other magazines should be found to lodge the same. You are therefore further impowered to inspect and survey that building known by the name of the Intendant's Palace, and to ascertain also the charges that will attend the fitting up the same to contain the quant.i.ty of six thousand barrels, reporting to me on the back hereof your proceedings upon the warrant, which shall be to you and every of you sufficient authority.

Given under my hand and seal at Quebec, this 4th day of June, 1765.

(sd) JAS. MURRAY. By His Excellency's command.

(Counters'd,) J. GOLDFRAP, D. Sectry.

General Arnold's soldiers having during the winter of 1775 established themselves in and near the French Intendant's Palace, facing the St.

Charles, Governor Carleton decided to sacrifice the stately pile of buildings in order to dislodge the enemy. A lively fire was in consequence opened from the guns on the ramparts, near Palace Gate, and the magnificent structure was soon riddled with shot. It stood in rear of Valliere's furniture factory and Boswell's brewery. Thus was acquired the Jesuits' Barrack, and thus perished the Intendant's Palace."--(_Chronicle_, 27_th Dec._, 1871.)

D'Auteuil street, bounded to the west by an open s.p.a.ce--the Esplanade-- lined on one side by shade trees, on the other by the verdant slopes of the glacis and city walls, deserves a pa.s.sing notice. Bouchette describes it thus:--"The Esplanade, between St. Louis and St. John's Gate, has a length of 273 yards, by an average breadth of 80, except at the Ste.

Ursula bastion, where it is 120 yards. It is tolerably level, in some places presenting a surface of bare rock. This is the usual place of parade for the troops of the garrison, from whence every morning in summer the different guards of the town are mounted; in winter the Jesuits'

Barracks drill ground is generally used for parades. The musters and annual reviews of the militia belonging to the city are held there. [78]

The Esplanade is still used as a parade ground, if not by our city militia by our provincial troops. Right well can we recall the manly form of the Commander of the "B" Battery, Lieut.-Colonel T. B. Strange, bestriding a n.o.ble charger, putting his splendid, though not numerous corps, through their drill on the Esplanade. We have also sometimes caught sight there of our gay Volunteers. Occasionally these grounds are used by the divers lacrosse clubs for their athletic games--the _doyen_ of our city _litterateurs_, the Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, in a graphic portraiture of the "Quebec of the Past," has most feelingly retraced the vanished glories, the military pageants, the practical jokers, the City Watch, the social gatherings, which his youthful eyes witnessed of yore on the Esplanade and on Durham Terrace. We have attempted to render in English a striking chapter of this sparkling effusion:--

_OLDEN TIMES IN THE ANCIENT CAPITAL._

"There is not only the quaint city of Champlain--of Montmagny--of Frontenac--of Bishop Laval--of Governor de Vaudreuil and Montcalm--of Lord Dorchester and Colonel Dambourges--that is rapidly fading away; there is not merely the grim fortress of the French _regime_, the city of early English rule, disappearing piecemeal in the dissolving shadows of the past. A much more modern town--newer even than that so graphically pictured by our old friend Monsieur de Gaspe--the Quebec of our boyhood--of our youth--the Quebec embalmed in the haunted chambers of memory prior to 1837--it also each day seems retreating-- crumbling--evanescing.

Where are those das.h.i.+ng regiments which every Sunday at 4 p.m. (we were not such Puritans then as now) paraded in the open s.p.a.ce facing the Esplanade walls, under the approving eye of the beauty and fas.h.i.+on of all Quebec, a.s.sembled from outside and from inside of the walls-- the men proud of their bottle-green or dark-blue coats and white duck pants--all the vogue then--while the softer s.e.x and juveniles were apparelled in the gayest of toilettes--brightest of colors--loudest of contrasts: white--pink--green! How densely packed, our Esplanade!

Little boys and girls crowding in every corner of the lovely precipitous lawn which, amphitheatre-like, stretches down--a hanging garden of verdure and beauty. The splendid regimental bands of music, the gaudily uniformed staff officers curvetting on their chargers, with nodding plumes and heavy, glittering epaulettes (alas! the navy now seems to have monopolised the gold lace for their shoulder- straps), and those irresistible sappers with their bushy beards heading the pageant, and those incomparable drum-majors, who could fling high in the air their _batons_, and catch them so gracefully in their descent. How their glittering coats did enrapture the crowd! All these wondrous sights of our youth, where will we now find them?

The mounting guard, the _Grand Rounds_ at noon, when one of the regimental bands (there were here nearly always two, and an honorable rivalry existed between them) struck up a martial strain, whilst every sentry in the city was relieved. What a treat this was to every one, without forgetting the Seminary Externes (pupils), with their blue coats and sashes of green or of variegated tints.

More than one of those lithesome youths came to grief for having rushed away from the _Gradus ad Parna.s.sum_ to those Elysian Fields, ostensibly to hear the band--possibly to cast a sly glance at "sweet sixteen" chatting with the _Militaires_ off duty. Here, too, was the spot where amateurs came to hear new pieces of music--the latest from London. Durham Terrace was the favoured locality from whence the new waltz--the fas.h.i.+onable march--the latest opera--was launched into city existence; from thence it found its way to the _salons_ of the wealthy: such the history of _Di tanti palpiti_ and other sweet emanations of great masters.

Where, now, are those squads of jolly tars, in navy blue, irrepressible in their humors when on sh.o.r.e, far from the quarterdecks of the trim frigates anch.o.r.ed under Cape Diamond: upsetting the cake- stands, the spruce beer kegs--helping open-handed to the contents the saucy street urchins, or, handing round, amidst the startled wayfarers, pyramids of horse cakes, trays of barley-sugar and peppermints, like real princes dispensing the coin of the realm. Where are those noisy gangs of swaggering raftsmen--those _voyageurs_ from the _pays d'en haut_, with their glittering costumes--hats festooned with red or blue ribbons, sashes of variegated colors, barred s.h.i.+rts-- tightly wedged, three by three, in _caleches_, like Neapolitans-- patrolling the streets--interlarding a French song occasionally with an oath, tolerably profane--at all times to be met, whether in the light of day or the still hours of night. No police in those halcyon days; but with the thickening shades of evening issued forth that venerable brotherhood, the City Watch.

The watch, did we say? Where are now these dreamy wanderers of the night, carolling forth, like the muezzin in Eastern cities, their hourly calls, "All's well!" "Fine night!" "Bad weather!" as the case might be--equally ready with their rattles to sound the dread alarm of fire, or with their long _batons_ to capture belated midnight brawlers, that is, when they saw they had a good chance of escaping capture themselves. Their most formidable foes were not the thieves, but the gay Lotharios and high-fed swells of the time, returning from late dinners, and who made it a duty, nay, a crowning glory, to thrash the Watch! Where now are those practical jokers who made collections of door-knockers (the house-bell was not then known), exchanged sign- boards from shop-doors, played unconscionable tricks on the simple- minded peasants on market-days--surrept.i.tiously crept in at suburban b.a.l.l.s, in the guise of the evil one, and, by the alarm they at times created, unwittingly helped _Monsieur le Cure_ to frown down upon these mundane junkettings.

One of these escapades is still remembered here. [79]

Four of these gentlemanly practical jokers, one night, habited in black like the Prince of Darkness, drove silently through the suburbs in a _cariole_ drawn by two coal-black steeds, and meeting with a well-known citizen, overcome by drink, asleep in the snow, they silently but vigorously seized hold of him with an iron grip; a _cahot_ and physical pain having restored him to consciousness, he devoutly _crossed_ himself, and, presto! was hurled into another snow-drift. Next day all Quebec had heard in amazement how, when and where Beelzebub and his infernal crew had been seen careering in state after nightfall. Oh! the jolly days and gay nights of olden times!

But the past had other figures more deserving of our sympathy. The sober-sided sires of the frolicsome gentry just described: the respected tradesmen who had added dollar to dollar to build up an independence--whose savings their children were squandering so recklessly; those worthy citizens who had filled without stipend numerous civic offices, with a zeal, a whole-heartedness seldom met with in the present day--at once churchwardens, justices of the peace, city fathers, members of societies for the promotion of agriculture, of education, for the prevention of fires; who never sat up later than nine of the clock p.m., except on those nights when they went to the old Parliament Building to listen in awe to fiery Papineau or eloquent Bourdages thunder against the _Bureaucracy_; who subscribed and paid liberally towards every work of religion, of charity, of patriotism; who every Sat.u.r.day glanced with trembling eye over the columns of the _Official Gazette_, to ascertain whether Government had not dismissed them from the Militia or Commission of the Peace, for having attended a public meeting, and having either proposed or seconded a motion backing up Papineau and censuring the Governor.

Thrilling--jocund--simple war-like time of 1837, where art thou flown?"

The "sunny Esplanade," the "Club," the "Platform," in those days "rather small," the "Rink," "Montmorency Falls," "Lake Charles," the "Citadel" and its "hog's-back," it would appear, inspired the bard of the 25th King's Own Borderers--for years forming part of our garrison--on this favourite regiment embarking for England, to waft to the old Rock the following poetic tribute.?

_FAREWELL TO QUEBEC._

Adieu, ye joys of fair Quebec!

We've got what's coa.r.s.ely termed the sack.

Adieu, kind homes that we have entered; What hopes and joys are around ye centered!

Adieu, ye flights of Lower Town stairs!

To mount you often, no one cares.

Adieu, that Club, with cook whose skill Makes none begrudge his dinner bill.

Adieu, O sunny Esplanade!

You suit us loungers to a shade.

Adieu, thou Platform, rather small, For upper-ten, the band and all.