Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present Part 8

John Renaud, Esq. M. Grave, Superieur, Seminaire 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. Gaspe, 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. DeLery.

Jenkins Williams. Hon. Geo. Pownall.

Isaac Ogden, Judge of Admiralty. Hon. Henry Caldwell.

Messire Panet, Cure of Riviere Hon. William Grant.

Ouelle. Hon. Francois Baby.

Sir Thomas Mills. Hon. Saml. Holland.

Francois Dambourges, Esq. Hon. Geo. Davidson.

Capt. Fraser, 34th Regt. Hon. Chas. De Lanaudiere.

Kenelm Chandler, Esq. Hon. LeCompte Dupre.

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 st.u.r.dy 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 cla.s.ses. 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 Duniere.

Hon. Hugh Finlay. J. Sewell.

Hon. J. A. Panet. John Craigie.

Hon. Thos. Dunn. Wm. Grant.

Hon. Ant. Juchereau d.u.c.h.esnay 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 Lery, ........... " " ........ 12 0 0 John Blackwood, ......... " " ........ 10 0 0 Wm. Burns, .............. " " ........ 20 0 0 Le Seminaire 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 d.u.c.h.esnay, .... " " ........ 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, Cure 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 Lanaudiere, ... " " ........ 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, Riviere 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_)

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE OLD CHaTEAU STONE]

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 Chateau_, 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 doc.u.ment 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 Chateau, 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 Chateau 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 _debris_ of the Chateau 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 impa.s.sable. 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 compa.s.s), 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 cheri_. 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 _hotesse_ in Gil Blas, _elle me prit la mesure du pied jusqu'a la tete_, 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.

"I really do think there is no luxury equal to that of lying before a good fire on a good spruce bed, after a good supper, and a hard moose chase in a fine clear frosty moonlit starry night. But to enter into the spirit of this, you must understand what a moose chase is: the man himself runs the moose down by pursuing the track. Your success in killing depends on the number of people you have to pursue and relieve one another in going first (which is the fatiguing part of snow- shoeing), and on the depth and hardness of the snow, for when the snow is hard and has a crust, the moose cannot get on, as it cuts his legs, and then he stops to make battle. But when the snow is soft, though it be above his belly, he will go on three, four or five days, for then the man cannot get on so fast, as the snow is heavy and he only gets his game by perseverance--an Indian never gives him up." Then follows a most graphic description of a hunt--closing with the death of the n.o.ble quarry.

"Pray," continues Lord Edward, "write to uncle Richmond, I would write if there was time, but I have only time to fill up this."

Tom Moore adds, that the plan of Lord Edward's route through the woods was forwarded from Quebec to the Duke of Richmond, by Mr. Hamilton Moore, in a letter dated Quebec, May 22nd, 1789, this letter closes with the following:--"Lord Edward has met with the esteem and admiration of all here."

In a subsequent epistle to Mr. Ogilvie, his step-father, dated "Quebec, 12th April, 1789," Lord Edward mentions the death of the Lieut.-Governor of Quebec (Major Patrick Bellew). "It is a place of 1,600 a year, and I think would do well for Charles. The day before he died I was in treaty for his Lieut.-Colonelcy in the 44th Regiment."

Later, on 4th May, 1789, he writes from Montreal, and speaks gratefully of the open-handed hospitality extended to him, and of the kind lady friends he met at Quebec. (Page 67.)

Alas! generous youth, what foul fiend, three year later, inspired you, with Tom Paine as your adviser, to herd at Paris with the regicide crew, and howl the "_Carmagnole_" and "_ca Ira_," with the hideous monsters who revelled in blood under the holy name of liberty?