Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present Part 9

Again, one follows the patriotic Irish n.o.bleman, in 1793, plighting his faith to a lovely and n.o.ble bride, Pamela Sims, the youthful daughter of the Duke of Orleans, by Madame de Genlis.

A few short years and the ghastly phantom of death, in a dismal prison, in the dearly loved land of his birth, spreads a pall over what might have been to his unfortunate country, a career full of honour. Alas! brave, n.o.ble Edward! Poor, pretty little Pamela, alas!

The Castle had its suns.h.i.+ne and its shadows. Many still survive to tell of an impressive, and gloomy pageant. On the 4th September, 1819, previous to their transfer to the chancel of the Anglican Cathedral, were exposed in state in the Chateau, the mortal remains of the late Governor-General, His Grace Charles Gordon Lennox, Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Aubigny, who, on the 28th August, 1819, had died of hydrophobia.

The revolving wheel of time ushers in, with his successor, other actors, and other scenes. One likes to recall the presence there of a graceful and n.o.ble Chatelaine, his daughter, Lady Sarah Lennox, the devoted wife of the administrator of the Government of Lower Canada, Sir Peregrine Maitland, "a tall, grave officer, says Dr. Scadding, always in military undress, his countenance ever wearing a mingled expression of sadness and benevolence, like that which one may observe on the face of the predecessor of Louis Philippe, Charles the Tenth," whose current portraits recall, not badly, the whole head and figure of this early Governor of Upper Canada.

"In an outline representation which we (Dr. Scadding) accidentally possessed, of a panorama of the battle of Waterloo, on exhibition in London, the 1st Foot Guards were conspicuously to be seen, led on by 'Major General Sir Peregrine Maitland.'" [38]

With persons of wider knowledge, Sir Peregrine was invested With further a.s.sociations. Besides being the royal representative in these parts, he was the son-in-law of Charles Gordon Lennox, fourth Duke of Richmond, a name that stirred chivalrous feelings in early Canadians of both Provinces; for the Duke had come to Canada as Governor-in- Chief, with a grand reputation acquired as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and great benefits were expected, and probably would have been realized, from his administration, had it been of long continuance.

But he had been suddenly removed by an excruciating death. Whilst on a tour of inspection in the Upper Province, he had been fatally attacked by hydrophobia, occasioned by the bite of a pet fox. The injury had been received at Sorel; its terrible effects were fatally experienced at a place near the Ottawa river called Richmond.

Some of the prestige of the deceased Duke continued to adhere to Sir Peregrine Maitland, for he had married the Duke's daughter, a graceful and elegant woman, who was always at his side here (York, now Toronto), and at Stanford Cottage across the lake. She bore a name not unfamiliar in the domestic annals of George III., who once, it is said, was enamored of a beautiful Lady Sarah Lennox, grandmother, as we suppose, or some other near relative of the Lady Sarah Lennox here before us. However, conversationists whispered about (in confidence) something supposed to be unknown to the general public, that the match between Sir Peregrine and Lady Sarah had been effected in spite of the Duke. The report was that there had been an elopement, and it was naturally supposed that the party of the sterner s.e.x bad been the most active agent in the affair. To say the truth, however, in this instance it was the lady who precipitated matters. The affair occurred at Paris, soon after the Waterloo campaign. The Duke's final determination against Sir Peregrine's proposals having been announced, the daughter suddenly withdrew from the father's roof, and fled to the lodgings of Sir Peregrine, who instantly retired to other quarters.

The upshot of the whole thing, at once romantic and unromantic, included a marriage and a reconciliation, and eventually a Lieutenant- Governors.h.i.+p for the son-in-law, under the Governors.h.i.+p-in-Chief of the father, both despatched together to undertake the discharge of vice-regal functions in a distant colony. At the time of his marriage with Lady Sarah Lennox, Sir Peregrine had been for some ten years a widower. [39] After the death of the Duke of Richmond, Sir Peregrine became administrator, for a time of the general government of British North America.

One of the Duke of Richmond's sons was lost in the ill-fated steamer _President_ in 1840. In December, 1824, Sir Peregrine revisited Quebec with Sir Francis Burton, Lieutenant-Governor, in the _Swiftsure_, steamer escorting some very distinguished tourists. A periodical notices the arrivals at the old Chateau as follows:--

"Sir Peregrine is accompanied by Lord Arthur Lennox, Mr. Maitland, Colonels Foster, Lightfoot, Coffin and Talbot, with the Hon. E. G.

Stanley (from 1851 to 1869 Earl of Derby), grandson of Earl Derby, M.

P. for Stockbridge; John E. Denison, Esq., (subsequently Speaker of the House of Commons), M. P. for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and James S.

Wortley, Esq. (afterwards Lord Wharncliffe), M. P. for Bossiney in Cornwall. The three latter gentlemen are upon a tour in this country from England, and we are happy to learn, that they have expressed themselves as being highly gratified with all they have hitherto seen in Canada."--(_Canadian Review_, 1824.)

Quebecers will be pleased to learn that the name of Sir Peregrine Maitland is pleasantly preserved by means of Maitland Scholars.h.i.+ps in a grammar school for natives at Madras, and by a Maitland Prize in the University of Cambridge. Sir Peregrine, as patron of education, opened an era of progress which his successors Lords Elgin, Dufferin and Lorne have continued in a most munificent manner.

A curious glimpse of high life at Quebec, in the good old days of Lord Dalhousie, is furnished in a letter addressed to _Delta_, of Blackwood's Magazine, by John Galt, the novelist, the respected father of our gifted statesman, Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt. [40]

The talented author of the "_Annals of the Parish_," after expatiating on the dangers he had that day incurred in crossing over from Levis to Quebec in a canoe, among the ice-floes, thus alludes to the winter amus.e.m.e.nts:--

QUEBEC, 22nd February, 1827.

MY DEAR SIR,--I am under very great obligations to you. A copy of the "Laird" having come to the castle from the New York publishers, Lady Dalhousie lent it to me. * * * I am much pleased with Quebec. It is at present filled with Highland regiments, in which I have many acquaintances and the hospitality of the other inhabitants is also unbounded, for the winter suspends all business, and pleasure is conducted as if it were business. The amateurs have a theatre, and I wrote a piece for them, in which a Londoner, a Glasgow merchant, an Irish girl, a Yankee family and a Highlander were introduced. It was adapted entirely to the place, and in quiz of a very agreeable custom --of everybody calling on strangers. Dr. Dunlop performed the Highlander beyond anything I ever saw on the regular stage. The whole went off with more laughter than anything I have ever seen, for the jokes being local and personal (supplied by upwards of thirty contributors), every one told with the utmost effect."

"This farce, says Delta, composed at Quebec by J. Galt, and performed there before the Earl of Dalhousie (then Governor-General), was named "The Visitors, or a Trip to Quebec," and was meant as a good humoured satire on some of the particular usages of the place. An American family figured as the visitors, and the piece opened with a scene in an hotel, when a waiter brings in a tea-tray loaded with cards of callers, and the explanation of the initials having had reference to people, many of whom were present at the performance, tended much to make the thing pa.s.s off with great eclat. It seems that a custom prevails there to a punctilious extent, of all the inhabitants of a certain grade calling upon strangers and leaving their cards.

"This flash of harmless lightning, however, a.s.sumed somewhat of a malignant glare when seen from the United States. The drift of the performance was, it seems, hideously misrepresented by some of the newspapers, and it was said that Mr. Galt had ungratefully ridiculed the Americans, notwithstanding the distinction and hospitality with which they had received him. It thus came to pa.s.s that he promised, when next in New York, to write another farce, in which liberty as great should be taken with his own countrymen. "An Aunt in Virginia"

was the product of this promise, and with the alterations mentioned and a change of scene from New York to London, it was published under the name of "Scotch and Yankees.""

A volume would not suffice to detail the brilliant receptions, gay routs, _levees_, state b.a.l.l.s given at the Castle during Lord Dorchester's administration--the lively discussions--the formal protests originating out of points of precedence, burning _questions de jupons_ between the touchy magnates of the old and those of the new _regime_. Whether la Baronne de St. Laurent would be admitted there or not? Whether a de Longueuil's or a de Lanaudiere's place was on the right of Lady Maria, the charming consort of His Excellency Lord Dorchester--a daughter of the great English Earl of Effingham? Whether dancing ought to cease when their Lords.h.i.+ps the Bishops entered, and made their bow to the representative of royalty? Unfortunately Quebec had then no Court Journal, so that following generations will have but faint ideas of all the witchery, the stunning head-dresses, the _decolletees_, high-waisted robes of their stately grandmothers, whirled round in the giddy waltz by whiskered, epauletted cavaliers, or else courtesying in the demure _menuet de la cour_.

In August, 1796, when Isaac Weld, Jr., visited Quebec, he describes the old part of the chateau as chiefly taken up with the public offices, all the apartments in it, says he, "are small and ill-contrived; but in the new part (Haldimand Castle) which stands in front of the other, facing the square (the ring), they are s.p.a.cious and tolerably well furnished, but none of them can be called elegant. This part is inhabited by the Governor's family. * * * * Every evening during summer, when the weather is fine, one of the regiments of the garrison parades in the open place before the chateau, and the band plays for an hour or two, at which time the place becomes the resort of numbers of the most genteel people of the town, and has a very gay appearance." (_Weld's Travels through the States of North America in_ 1795-6-7, vol. 1, p. 351)

In 1807, when the deadly duel between England and Imperial France was at its height, Great Britain sent New France as her Viceroy, a military Governor, equally remarkable for the sternness of his rule and for his love of display, hence the name of "Little King Craig," awarded to Sir James Craig. To meet his requirements the House of a.s.sembly voted in 1808, a sum of 7,000 to repair the Chateau St. Louis. Sir James took up his quarters in the interim, in Castle Haldimand. The Chateau St. Louis received an additional story and was much enlarged. In 1812 an additional sum of 7,980 19s 4d was voted to cover the deficit in the repairs. Little King Craig inhabited Chateau St. Louis during the winters of 1809-10-11, occupying Spencer Wood during the summer months. The _Chateau_ stables were subsequently converted into a riding school, afterwards into a theatre, where the exhibition of Harrison's Diorama caused the awful tragedy of 12th June, 1846. [41] The Earl of Durham, in 1838, struck with the commanding position of this site, had the charred ruins of the old Chateau removed and erected a lofty platform which soon was called after him "Durham Terrace."

In 1851-2-3-4, Haldimand Castle was repaired at a cost of $13,718.42. In 1854, Hon. Jean Chabot, member for Quebec and Commissioner of Public Works, had Durham Terrace much enlarged; the adjoining walls were repaired at an expense of $4,209.92. More expenditure was incurred in 1857. When the Laval Normal School was installed there, Bishop Langevin, then Princ.i.p.al, had the wing erected where the chapel stands. The vaulted room used as a kitchen for the Laval Normal School, was an old powder magazine; it is the most ancient portion of the building. The present Castle was, by Order in Council of 14th February, 1871, transferred by the Dominion authorities to the Government of the Province of Quebec, together with Durham Terrace, the Sewell Mansion, facing the Esplanade (Lieutenant- Governor's office), also, the site and buildings of the Parliament House, on Mountain Hill.

The extension of this lofty and beautiful Terrace, suggested to the City Council by the City Engineer in his report of 1872, necessarily formed a leading feature in the splendid scheme of city improvements, originated by the Earl of Dufferin, with the a.s.sistance of Mr. Lynn, an eminent Irish engineer, and of our City Engineer, le Chevalier Baillairge. An appeal was made by a true and powerful friend to Quebec (Lord Dufferin) to our gracious Sovereign, who contributed munificently from her private purse, for the erection of the new gate, called after her late father, the Duke of Kent--Kent Gate, in remembrance of his long sojourn (1791-4) in this city. Large sums were also granted by the Dominion, it is thought, chiefly through the powerful influence of Lord Dufferin, seconded by Sir H. L.

Langevin; an appeal was also made for help to the City Council and not in vain; it responded by a vote of $7,500.

The front wall was built at the expense of the Dominion Government, and occupies part of the site of the old battery, erected on that portion of the chateau garden granted to Major Samuel Holland in 1766.

The length of Dufferin Terrace is 1420 feet, and it is 182 feet above the level of the St. Lawrence. It forms part of the city fortifications. The site can be resumed by the Commander of the Forces (the Governor-General) whenever he may deem it expedient for objects within the scope of his military authority.

Durham Terrace, increased to four times its size, now forms a link in the Dufferin plans of city embellishment, of which the corner stone was laid by the Earl of Dufferin on the 18th October, 1878, and was authentically recognized as "Dufferin Terrace" in April and May, 1879, in the official records of the City Council; several iron plates were inserted in the flooring with the inscription, "_Dufferin Terrace, H. Hatch, contractor, C. Baillairge, engineer._" But a famous name of the past, which many loved to connect with this spot--that of Louis de Buade, Count de Frontenac, was not forgotten. The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, on the 18th April, 1879, presented to the City Council a pet.i.tion, asking among other things, that one of the handsome kiosks on the Terrace should bear the name of Frontenac; their prayer was granted, and by a resolution moved on 9th May, 1879, by Mr. P. Johnson, C.C., and seconded by Alderman Rheaume, the five kiosks of Dufferin Terrace were named _Victoria, Louise, Lorne, Frontenac, Plessis_.

It is the site of the present Normal School, adjacent to this historic spot, which has been selected for the palatial hotel in contemplation.

LAYING OF CORNER STONE OF DUFFERIN TERRACE

"The laying of the corner stone of Dufferin Terrace took place the same day (18th Oct., 1878) as that of the two city gates, the St.

Louis and the Kent Gate. The ceremony was performed in the presence of thousands. His Wors.h.i.+p the Mayor (R. Chambers) received His Excellency the Earl of Dufferin, and with him were present many of the Aldermen and Councillors, with the City Engineer and contractors, the members of the Judiciary, Consul-General of Spain, Consuls of France, Belgium and the United States, Dean Stanley, of London, England; Mrs.

Stevenson, sister to the Countess of Dufferin, Messrs. Russell Stevenson, R. R. Dobell, Simon Peters, Dr. Marsden, Jas. Motz, many ex-Aldermen and ex-Councillors, Alexander Woods, Chairman of the Harbour Commission, W. S. Desbarats, W. G. Sheppard, Wm. White, Very Revd. H. Hamel, His Lords.h.i.+p Judge Taschereau, late of the Supreme Court, Hon. Judge H. Taschereau, Judge of the Superior Court, &c.

"A handsome trowel and mallet were handed to His Excellency the manufacture of Mr. Cyrille Duquet. On the face of the trowel a splendid likeness of the Governor-General was embossed, and an appropriate inscription was engraved thereon. On the plate of the foundation stone the inscription reads as follows:--"Dufferin Terrace, laid by His Excellency the Earl of Dufferin, Governor-General of the Dominion of Canada, on the 18th day of October, 1878, in presence of the Dominion and city authorities and dignitaries, and an immense concourse of people from all parts of Canada, also His Honor Luc Letellier de St. Just, Lieut.-Governor of the Province of Quebec, R. Chambers, Esq., Mayor of the city of Quebec. City Aldermen--Hon.

John Hearn, Patrick Henchey, Louis Bourget, R. F. Rinfret, Francois Gingras, J. P. Rheaume, Germain Guay, F. O. Vallerand, Esqs. City Councillors--Onesime Beaubien, Andrew Hatch, Guillaume Bouchard, F. X.

Langevin, Jean Docile Brosseau, Francis McLaughlin, John C. Burns, William McWilliam, William Convey, J. F. Peachy, John Delaney, F. W.

Roy, Peter Johnston, Willis Russell, Charles Brochu, Richard Turner, Esqs. City Clerk--L. A. Cannon, Esq. City Treasurer--C. J. L.

Lafrance, Esq. City Accountant--M. F. Walsh, Esq. City Legal Adviser-- L. G. Baillairge, Esq. City Notary--A. G. Tourangeau, Esq. Owen Murphy, Esq., ex-Mayor; Chas. Baillairge, Chevalier, City Engineer."

In the leaden box, placed within the stone, were laid mementoes of the occasion, similar to those placed in the proper receptacle in the stone laid in the morning at St. Louis Gate, with the addition of beautifully executed portraits of Lord and Lady Dufferin, from the studio of Messrs. Ellison & Co.

"His Excellency having given the _coup de grace_ to the foundation stone with the silver mallet, the proceedings were closed."-- (_Morning Chronicle_, 19th Oct., 1878.)

The new city gate erected on the site of the old St. Louis Gate, instead of being called Dufferin Grate, as it had been contemplated, was allowed to retain its time-honored name, St. Louis Gate; the public of Quebec, however, were resolved that some conspicuous monument should recall to Quebecers the fragrant memory of its benefactor, Lord Dufferin; on the visit in June, 1879, of His Excellency Lord Lorne and H.R.H. the Princess Louise, a request was made on them by the citizens, through their chief executive officer, the Mayor of Quebec (R. Chambers), to name and open to the public our world-famous Terrace. On the 9th June, 1879, our distinguished visitors performed this auspicious ceremony in presence of thousands, and in the following words confirmed the name previously entered in the Corporation records:--

_INAUGURATION OF DUFFERIN TERRACE, 9th JUNE, 1879._

"According to notice previously given, the inauguration of Dufferin Terrace occurred at half-past two o'clock in the afternoon. When that hour arrived a ma.s.s of people variously estimated at from eight to fifteen thousand, but probably containing about ten thousand, occupied the Terrace. The appearance from an elevated place of this sea of humanity was indeed wonderful. The band pavilion in the centre of the garden had been reserved for the Viceregal party, and was covered in carpet and scarlet cloth, with two chairs of state. The entrance to the pavilion was kept by the City Police, while "B" Battery furnished the band and guard of honour, and played the National Anthem as the distinguished party arrived on the field.

The Mayor and members of the City Council had previously walked in a body to the pavilion from the City Hall, and now His Wors.h.i.+p conducted His Excellency and Her Royal Highness to the dais, and addressing himself to the Governor-General, said:--

"MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY.--On behalf of the Corporation and citizens of Quebec, permit me to thank Your Excellency for acceding to our request that you would be pleased to open in person this public promenade, and also Her Royal Highness for graciously honouring us by her presence.

"The corner stone of this structure was laid by Your Excellency's predecessor, the Earl of Dufferin (18th Oct., 1878).

"It will be gratifying to the n.o.ble Lord to learn that the work in which he took so lively an interest has been inaugurated by Your Excellency, and that the ceremony was graced by the presence of Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise.

"I have, therefore, respectfully to request that Your Excellency may be pleased to give the name which the Terrace is henceforth to bear, and to signify if it is the pleasure of Your Excellency that it be opened to the public."

His Excellency replied:--"I am happy to accede to your request to signify that this Terrace shall be called after your late Governor- General, Dufferin, and that it is now open to the public."

Rounds of applause followed His Excellency's remarks, and loud cheers were given for the Earl of Dufferin, Her Royal Highness and His Excellency." (_Morning Chronicle_, 10th June, 1879.)

Parallel with Ste. Anne street, and terminated by Dauphin street, a tortuous, rugged little lane, now known as St. Andrew's street, leads past St Andrew's schoolhouse, to the chief entrance of the Presbyterian house of wors.h.i.+p; a church opened at the beginning of the century, repaired and rendered quite handsome a few years ago, but much damaged by fire on the 30th April, 1881. In connection with the erection of this structure, a doc.u.ment was recently exhumed from the archives of the Literary and Historical Society, which throws much light on an important section of the former population of the city. It is a memorial to His Majesty George III., signed at Quebec on the 5th October, 1802, by the Rev. Dr Sparks'

congregation and by himself. The first inc.u.mbent of St. Andrew's Church-- commenced in 1809, and opened for wors.h.i.+p on the 30th November, 1810--was the Reverend Doctor Alexander Sparks, who had landed at Quebec in 1780, became tutor in the family of Colonel Henry Caldwell at Belmont, St. Foye road, and who died suddenly in Quebec, on the 7th March, 1819. Dr. Sparks had succeeded to the Rev. George Henry, a military chaplain at the time of the conquest; the first Presbyterian minister, we are told, who officiated in the Province, and who died on the 6th July, 1795, aged 86 years.

One hundred and forty-eight signatures are affixed to this dusty doc.u.ment of 1802.