Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present Part 30

_SPENCER WOOD._

On the South side of the St. Louis road, past Wolfe and Montcalm's famed battle-field, two miles from the city walls, lies, embowered in verdure, the most picturesque domain of Sillery--one might say of Canada--Spencer Wood. [226]

This Celebrated Vice-Regal Lodge was (1780-96) known as Powell Place, when owned by General Henry Watson Powell. It took its name of Spencer Wood from the Right Honorable Spencer Perceval, [227] the ill.u.s.trious relative of the Hon. Henry Michael Perceval, whose family possessed it from 1815 to 1833, when it was sold to the late Henry Atkinson, Esquire, an eminent and wealthy Quebec merchant. Hon. Mr. Perceval, member of the Executive and Legislative Council, had been H. M.'s Collector of Customs at Quebec for many years, and until his death which took place at sea, 12th October, 1829. The Percevals lived for many years in affluence in this sylvan retreat. Of their elegant receptions Quebecers still cherish pleasant reminiscences. Like several villas of England and France, Spencer Wood had its periods of splendor alternated by days of loneliness and neglect, short though they were. Spencer Wood, until 1849, comprised the adjoining property of Spencer Grange. Mr. Atkinson that year sold the largest half of his country seat--Spencer Wood--to the Government, as a gubernatorial residence for the hospitable and genial Earl of Elgin, reserving the smaller half (now owned by the writer), on which he built conservatories, vineries, a pinery, orchid house, &c., far more extensive than those of Spencer Wood proper. Though the place was renowned for its magnificence and princely hospitality in the days of Lord Elgin, there are amongst the living plenty to testify to the fact that the lawns, walks, gardens, and conservatories were never kept up with the same intelligent taste and lavish expenditure as they were during the sixteen years (1833-1849) when this country seat owned for its master Mr. Atkinson.

_THE LATE HONORABLE MRS. M. H. PERCEVAL. FORMERLY OF SPENCER WOOD, QUEBEC._

Through the kindness of Mrs. Peter Sheppard, of Quebec, we are enabled to furnish some further particulars touching the estimable and accomplished lady who, during the protracted sojourn of her family at Spencer Wood, seems to have won the hearts of all those admitted to her charmed circle some fifty years ago. Mrs. Sheppard [228] not only renders to the worth of her lamented friend a merited tribute, she also furnishes a curious page of Quebec history, Quebec festivities in the olden times, which may interest our readers. "The Honorable Michael H. Perceval was closely connected with the Earl of Egmont's family, who were Percevals. The "Spencer" was borrowed from the Earl's eldest son "Spencer;" the name was given to their beautiful domain purchased from old LeHoullier about 1815, as well as to their eldest son, Col. (now Major General) Spencer Perceval, who was here in garrison in 1840, in the Coldstream Guards, as well as his uncle, Col.

Perceval, also serving in the Guards. When a girl in my teens, many happy days did I spend in the Perceval family, who were as pa.s.sionately fond of music, as I then was. They had "at homes" every Monday, one week for dancing, the next for music, (the latter I never missed attending, to play on the harp,) they had also grand dinners _de ceremonie_. Amongst the _habitues_ I can yet recall some names; Hon. Mathew Bell and lady; (Mrs. B. was a Miss McKenzie, of Three Rivers,) Miss Bell (Mrs. Walker,) Sir John Pownal, the Montizamberts, Judge Kerr and Misses Kerr, Miss Uniacke, the d.u.c.h.esnays, the Vanfelsons, De Gaspes, Babys and others. (I may be wrong in quoting some names after half a century.)

Mr. Perceval, was a member of the Legislative Council, as well as Collector of Customs, an imperial appointment which yielded him 8000 in fees per annum. English and French society were equally welcome under his hospitable roof. His beautiful and accomplished wife, was the eldest daughter of Sir Charles Flower, Lord Mayor of London, in 1809--had filled the position of Lady Mayoress, when 18 years of age, her father being a widower; she brought her husband 40,000 and subsequently inherited 100,000. She was eminently fitted to grace Spencer Wood--her beauty, her refined and cordial manners made her receptions eminently attractive. Her education was perfect, she was mistress of four languages, English, French, Italian and Latin, which studies she took great trouble in keeping up and which she herself taught to her children, ten in number, besides teaching them the piano, the harp and drawing. Instead of fancy work the young ladies were taught to repair their clothes and do plain sewing; this did not prevent them from making most brilliant matches. The family left Spencer Wood in 1828, to spend a year in Italy, at Florence, intending to return, but the Hon. M. H. Perceval, died at sea on the 12th Oct., 1829, and the family never returned.

The daughters married as follows: the eldest, Eliza, was wedded to Sir George Denys, Bart.; the second, Caroline, to Col. Alexander Houstoun, of Clerkington; the third, Isabella, to a wealthy French n.o.bleman, Baron de Veauce; the fourth, Mary Jane, to Sir James Matheson, Bart.; the fifth died at the age of 18. The eldest son [229] "Spencer" is a General officer. There were several other sons; George Ramsay, who entered the army, Michael Henry and Col. Charles Perceval.

I can recall the time also when Lady Dalhousie and Mrs. Sheppard, of Woodfield, would come to Spencer Wood, in their botanizing excursions.

Spencer Wood, later on, was also a favorite resort of Lady Aylmer, in 1832, whilst at an earlier period, the Duke of Richmond's family, in 1818, used to come and ramble about the grounds, lunching there with all the junior folks.

This charming and beloved lady, my old friend, Ann Perceval, died at Lewes Castle, Stornaway. Scotland, the seat of her son in law, Sir James Matheson, on the 23rd Nov., 1876, most deservedly regretted, at the very advanced age of eighty-seven years."--24 January, 1877.

Spencer Wood garden is described in London's _Encyclopedia of Gardening_, page 341, and also in the _Gardener's Magazine_ for 1837, at page 467. Its ornate style of culture, which made it a show-place for all strangers visiting Quebec, was mainly due to the scientific and tasty arrangements of an eminent landscape gardener, M. P. Lowe, [230] now in charge of the Cataraqui conservatories.

Well can we recall the time when this lordly demesne extended from Wolfefield, adjoining Marchmont, to the meandering Belle-Borne brook, which glides past the porter's lodge at Woodfield, due west, the historic stream _Ruisseau Saint Denis_, up which clambered the British hero, Wolfe, to conquer or die, intersecting it at Thornhill. It was then a splendid old seat of more than one hundred acres, a fit residence for the proudest n.o.bleman England might send us as Viceroy--enclosed east and west between two streamlets, hidden from the highway by a dense growth of oak, maple, dark pines and firs--the forest primeval--letting in here and there the light of heaven on its labyrinthine avenues; a most striking landscape, blending the sombre verdure of its h.o.a.ry trees with the soft tints of its velvety sloping lawn, fit for a ducal palace. An elfish plot of a flower garden, alas! how much dwarfed, then stood in rear of the dwelling to the north, it once enjoyed the privilege of attracting many eyes. It had also an extensive and well-kept fruit and vegetable garden, enlivened with flower beds, the centre of which was adorned with the loveliest possible circular fount in white marble, supplied with the crystal element from the Belle-Borne rill by a hidden aqueduct; conservatories, graperies, peach and forcing houses, pavilions picturesquely hung over the yawning precipice on two headlands, one looking towards Sillery, the other towards the Island of Orleans, the scene of many a cosy tea-party; bowers, rustic chairs _perdues_ among the groves, a superb bowling green and archery grounds. The mansion itself contained an exquisite collection of paintings from old masters, a well- selected library of rare and standard works, illuminated Roman missals, rich portfolios with curious etchings, marble busts, quaint statuettes, medals and medallions, _objets de vertu_ purchased by the millionaire proprietor during a four years' residence in Italy, France and Germany.

Such we remember Spencer Wood in its palmiest days, when it was the ornate home of a man of taste, the late Henry Atkinson, Esquire, the President of the Horticultural Society of Quebec.

May I be pardoned, for lingering lovingly on this old spot, recalling "childhood scenes" of one dear to me and mine!

The following, written by a valued old friend of Mr. Atkinson, is dated Brighton, England:

On a sketch of Spencer Wood sent to the writer (Miss A.), with her alb.u.m, Oct. 18, 1848.

Dear Spencer Wood! What a group of pleasing remembrances are cl.u.s.tered around me as I gaze upon this visible image and type of thee. Thy cla.s.sic lawn, with its antiquated oaks and solemn pines; thy wood- crowned cliffs and promontories, with the sparkling sunlight reflected on a thousand sheaves from the broad surface of Jacques Cartier's river, hundreds of feet below. And then the quiet repose of thy ample mansion, with its stores of art and models of taste within and without; thy forest shades, thy gardens, thy flowers and thy fruit.

But most of all, thy gay and happy inmates, their glad and joyous hearts beating with generous emotions, and their countenances brightened with the welcome smile. Ah! how I seem to hear, as in time past I have heard, their lively prattle, or their merry laugh echoing across the lawn, or through the flower garden, or along the winding paths down the steep slope to the pavilion.

And can it be that I shall never again realize these happy scenes! I would fain hope otherwise; but life is a changeful drama, and time fleeting; this world is _not_ our home.

Adieu, then, dear friends. May G.o.d's blessing ever rest upon you; and should it be His providence that we meet not again here, may we all so use His dealings with us in this disciplinary state that we may be sure to meet.

Brighton, Dec. 20th. In memory of some pleasant moments.

E. E. DOUGLa.s.s.

In the beginning of the century Spencer Wood, as previously stated, was known as Powell Place. His Excellency Sir James Henry Craig spent there the summers of 1808-9-10. Even the healthy air of Powell Place failed to cure him of gout and dropsy. A curious letter from Sir James to his secretary and _charge d'affaires_ in London, H. W. Ryland, Esquire, dated "Powell Place, 6th August, 1810," has been, among others, preserved by the historian Robert Christie. It alludes in rather unparliamentary language to the _coup d'etat_ which had on the 19th March, 1810, consigned to a Quebec dungeon three of the most prominent members of the Legislature, Messrs. Bedard, Taschereau and Blanchet, together with Mr. Lefrancois, the printer of the _Canadien_ newspaper, for certain comments in that journal on Sir James' colonial policy. Sir James had spent the greatest part of his life in the army, actively battling against France; a Frenchman for him was a traditional enemy. This unfortunate idea seems more than once to have inspired his colonial policy with regard to the descendants of Frenchmen whom he ruled.

Born at Gibraltar, of Scotch parents, James Henry Craig entered the English service in 1763 at the age of 15, and on many occasions distinguished himself by his courage. During the war of the American revolution he served in Canada, and was present at the unfortunate affair of Saratoga.

_SIR JAMES CRAIG TO MR. RYLAND._

QUEBEC, Powell Place, 6th August, 1810.

My Dear Ryland,--Till I took my pen in my hand I thought I had a great deal to say to you, and now I am mostly at a loss for a subject. * * *

We have remained very quiet; whatever is going on is silently. I have no reason to think, however, that any change has taken place in the public mind; _that_ I believe remains in the same state. Bishop Plessis, on the return from his tour, acknowledged to me that he had reason to think that some of his _cures_ had not behaved quite as they ought to have done; he is now finis.h.i.+ng the remainder of his visitations.

Blanchette and Taschereau are both released on account of ill-health; the former is gone to Kamouraska to bathe, the latter was only let out a few days ago. He sent to the Chief Justice (Sewell) to ask if he would allow him to call on him, who answered, by all means. The Chief Justice is convinced he is perfectly converted. He a.s.sured him that he felt it to be his duty to take any public occasion, by any act whatever that he could point out, to show his contrition and the sense he entertained of his former conduct.

He told the Chief Justice in conversation that Blanchette came and consulted him on the subject of publis.h.i.+ng the paper, "Prenez vous par le bout du nez," and that having agreed that it would be very improper that it should appear, they went to Bedard, between whom and Blanchette there were very high words on the occasion. I know not what Panet is about, I have never heard one word of or about him. In short, I really have nothing to tell you, nor do I imagine that I shall have, till I hear from you. You may suppose how anxious I shall be till that takes place. We have fixed the time for about the 10th September; till then I shall not come to any final resolution with respect to the bringing the three delinquents to trial or not. I am, however, inclined to avoid it, so is the B----; the C. J. is rather, I think, inclined to the other side, though aware of the inconvenience that may arise from it. Blanchette and Taschereau have both, in the most unequivocal terms, acknowledged the criminality of their conduct, and it will be hinted that if Bedard will do the same it may be all that will be required of them; at present his language is that he has done nothing wrong, and that he does not care how long he is kept in prison.

We have begun upon the road to the towns.h.i.+ps (the Craig Road, through the Eastern Towns.h.i.+ps) * * * We shall get money enough, especially as we hope to finish it at a third of what it would have cost if we would have employed the country people. (It was made by soldiers.)

The scoundrels of the Lower Town have begun their clamour already, and I should scarcely be surprised if the House should ask, when they meet, by what authority I have cut a road without their permission.

The road begins at St. Giles and will end at the towns.h.i.+p of s.h.i.+pton.

Yours most faithfully,

(Signed,) J. H. CRAIG.

(History of Canada, Christie, vol. VI., p. 128.)

Very different, and we hope more correct, views are now promulgated on colonial matters from Powell Place.

If Sir James, wincing under bodily pain, could write angry letters, there were occasions on which the "rank and fas.h.i.+on" of the city received from him the sweetest epistles imaginable. The 10th of August of each year (his birthday, perhaps) as he informs us in another letter, was sacred to rustic enjoyment, conviviality and the exchange of usual courtesies, which none knew better how to dispense than the st.u.r.dy old soldier.

The English traveller, John Lambert, thus notices it in his interesting narrative in 1808:--"Sir James Craig resided in summer at a country house about four or five miles from Quebec, and went to town every morning to transact business. This residence is called Powell Place, and is delightfully situated in a neat plantation on the border of the bank which overlooks the St. Lawrence, not far from the spot where General Wolfe landed and ascended to the heights of Abraham. Sir James gave a splendid breakfast _al fresco_ at this place in 1809 to all the princ.i.p.al inhabitants of Quebec, and the following day he allowed his servants and their acquaintances to partake of a similar entertainment at his expense."--(Lambert's Travels, 1808, p. 310.)

Spencer Wood has ever been a favourite resort for our Governors--Sir James Craig--Lord Elgin--Sir Edmund Walker Head--Lord Monk--Lord Lisgar, and Lord Dufferin on his arrival in 1872, none prized it so highly, none rendered it more attractive than the Earl of Elgin. Of his _fetes champetres_, _recherches_ dinners, _chateau_ b.a.l.l.s, a pleasant remembrance still lingers in the memory of many Quebecers and others. Several circ.u.mstances added to the charms and comfort of Spencer Wood in his day.

On one side of St. Louis Road stood the gubernatorial residence, on the opposite side at Thornhill, dwelt the Prime Minister, Sir Francis Hincks.

Over the vice-regal "walnuts and wine," how many knotty state questions have been discussed, how many despatches settled, how many political points adjusted in the stormy days which saw the abolition of the Seignioral Tenure and Clergy Reserves. At one of his brilliant postprandial speeches,--Lord Elgin was much happier at this style of oratory than his successor, Sir Edmund Head,--the n.o.ble Earl is reported to have said, alluding to Spencer Wood, "Not only would I spend here the rest of my life, but after my death, I should like my bones to rest in this beautiful spot;" and still China and India had other scenes, other triumphs, and his Sovereign, other rewards for the successful statesman.

Sir Edmund Head's sojourn at Spencer Wood was marked by a grievous family bereavement; his only son, a promising youth of nineteen summers, was, in 1858, accidentally drowned in the St. Maurice, at Three Rivers, while bathing. This domestic affliction threw a pall over the remainder of the existence of His Excellency, already darkened by bodily disease. Seclusion and quiet were desirable to him.

A small private gate still exists at Spencer Grange, which at the request of the sorrowful father was opened through the adjoining property with the permission of the proprietor. Each week His Excellency, with his amiable lady, stealing a few moments from the burthen of affairs of State, would thus walk through un.o.bserved to drop a silent tear on the green grave at Mount Hermon, in which were entombed all the hopes of a n.o.ble house. On the 12th March, 1860, on a wintry evening, whilst the castle was a blaze of light and powdered footmen hurried through its sounding corridors, to relieve of their fur coats and m.u.f.flers His Excellency's guests asked at a state dinner that night--Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Geo. E. Cartier, Mr.

Pennefather and others--the alarm of fire was sounded, and in a couple of hours, of the magnificent pile a few charred ruins only remained. There was no State dinner that night.

One of the last acts of the Ministry in retiring in 1861, was the signing of the contract to rebuild Spencer Wood. The appropriation was a very n.i.g.g.ardly one, in view of the size of the structure required as a vice- regal residence. All meretricious ornaments in the design were of course left out. A square building, two hundred feet by fifty, was erected with the main entrance, in rear, on the site of the former lovely flower garden. The location of the entrance and consequent sacrifice of the flower garden for a court, left the river front of the dwelling for the private use of the inmates of the _Chateau_ by excluding the public.

Lord Monk, the new Governor-General, took possession of the new mansion and had a plantation of fir and other trees added to conceal the east end from public gaze. Many happy days were spent at Spencer Wood by His Lords.h.i.+p and family, whose private secretary, Denis G.o.dley, Esq., occupied the picturesque cottage "Bagatelle," facing the Holland Road, on the Spencer Grange property. If ill.u.s.trious names on the Spencer Wood Visitor's Register could enhance the interest the place may possess, foremost, one might point to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, visiting in 1860 the site probably more than once surveyed and admired, in 1791-4, by his grand-father, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, in his drives round Quebec, with the fascinating Baroness de St. Laurent. Conspicuous among all those familiar with the portals of Spencer Wood, may be mentioned other Royal Princes--the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Arthur, Princess Louise, Prince Leopold; with Dukes and Earls--the Duke of Newcastle, Manchester, Buckingham, Argyll, Athol. Sutherland, Prince Napoleon, Generals Grant, Sherman, &c.

Since Confederation, Spencer Wood has been successively tenanted by Sir.

N. F. Belleau, Lieutenant-Governor Caron, Lieutenant-Governor Letellier de St. Just, and Lieutenant-Governor Robitaille, the present occupant of the seat.

To the late Lieut.-Governor Letellier is due the initiation of the _soirees litteraires_, which united under his hospitable roof the literary talent of the Ancient Capital, and his successor, Lieut.-Governor Robitaille, not only followed this enlightened course, but also added _soirees musicales_ and _artistiques_.

Spencer Wood was not included in the schedule and division of property handed over by the Dominion Government to the Province of Quebec--it was, however, about that time presented as a gift to our province, solely as a gubernatorial residence--as such to be held, and consequently cannot be sold by the Government of the Province of Quebec.

HENRY WATSON POWELL was commissioned a Lieutenant in the 46th Foot, March 10th, 1753. He was promoted to a captaincy in the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Foot, September 2nd, 1756, but upon that battalion's being detached from the 11th and renumbered in 1758, his regimental number became the 64th. He served in the expedition against the French West India Islands in 1759, and went with his regiment to America in 1768.

June 2nd, 1770, he became Major of the 38th Foot, and July 23rd, 1771, Lieutenant-Colonel of the 53rd Foot, which was then stationed at Minorca. He accompanied his corps to Canada in the spring of 1776, and on June 10th of that year, a few days after his arrival, Sir Guy Carleton appointed him a Brigadier General and a.s.signed him to the 2nd Brigade, which consisted of the 34th, 53rd and 20th Regiments. When Gen. Gordon's brigade was broken up on the death of that officer, August 1st, 1776, the 62nd was added to Powell's brigade, and in November of that year, upon General Nesbit's death, Gen. Powell was transferred to the command of the 1st Brigade, consisting of the 9th, 47th, 31st and 21st Regiments, save that the 53rd was subst.i.tuted for the 21st. Gen. Powell served under Gen. Carleton in 1776, and the next year accompanied Burgoyne. In organizing the troops for Burgoyne's expedition in 1777, Gen. Powell was a.s.signed to the 2nd Brigade, consisting of the 20th, 21st and 62nd Regiments. The 62nd was left at Ticonderoga, however with Prince Frederick's (German) Regiment and a portion of Captain Borthwick's company of the Royal Artillery July 5th when the Americans evacuated that fort, and August 10th Gen. Powell was sent back to a.s.sume command of that post, his regiment, the 53rd, being also ordered to relieve the 62nd. Though he successfully repelled the American Col. Brown's attack on Ticonderoga and for four days maintained a gallant defence, the enemy retreating September 22nd, yet inasmuch as a considerable part of four companies of the 53rd were surprised in the old French lines and at the outposts by the American advance, and a number of American Prisoners were recaptured, the affair was not one of unmixed satisfaction to either side.