stone, with high, steep roofs, containing a double row of projecting garret windows, very lofty chimneys, and the roofs principally covered with sheets of tin. The shops are also small and mean, and greatly inferior in the extent and variety of their contents to those of Montreal and Toronto; though the prices charged are, as we thought, higher here than in either of these. "The public buildings are scattered over the city with so much irregularity, that their position seems to be as much the effect of accident as design. Several of them, however, are so prominently placed and advantageously seen, that they relieve, in some degree, the general monotony of the mass of ordinary houses, and are thus far ornamental to the town; while the spires of the churches, the dome of the Parliament House, and other elevated points rising from the general surface, with their tinned roofs glittering in the sun, give a liveliness and variety to the picture presented by the city, from every point of view, which no other place in Canada, and indeed few places on the globe, present. "The earliest of the public buildings erected in Quebec was undoubtedly the castle of St. Lewis, of which Champlain laid the foundation on the 6th of May, 1624. The position chosen for it was a most commanding one, on the very edge of an almost perpendicular precipice of rock 200 feet above the river, yet close to its edge; as, between the cliff and the stream, there is only just room enough for one narrow avenue, called Champlain Street. The castle erected here was regarded as the palace of the French governors, who received in it the fealty and homage of the several seigneurs holding their lands according to the feudal tenure of the times. Nor is this practice discontinued; for, according to Mr. Hawkins, in his Picture of Quebec, the sovereignty of England having succeeded to that of France, with all its ancient rights and privileges, the king's representative, in the person of the English governor, receives the same homage at the present day as was paid by the seigneurs of former times; this being one of the conditions on which the feudal tenure is sustained. His words are these: 66 6 Fealty and homage are rendered at this day (1834) by the seigneurs 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 Seigneur 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. Having delivered up his sword, he kneels on one knee before the Governor, and placing his right hand between those of the Governor, he repeats aloud the ancient oath of fidelity; after which a solemn act is drawn up in a register kept for that pur pose, which is signed by the Governor and Seigneur, and countersigned by the proper officers.' "In this castle the French and English governors resided till 1809, when it was found necessary to erect a temporary new building for their use while the old one underwent repair; and £10,000 were expended for this purpose under the administration of Sir James Craig. After this it continued to be the seat of government as before; and all the proclamations and ordinances issued, and all the messages sent to the legislative assemblies by the governor in the king's name, were dated from the castle of Quebec. It was also the scene of all the public levees and private entertainments of the governors and their families; and was therefore the constant resort of all the gay and fashionable society of the province. In 1834, however, this ancient edifice was entirely destroyed by a fire, which broke out on the 23d of January, in the depth of winter, when Lord Aylmer occupied it as his official residence; and notwithstanding every exertion made to save it, the thermometer being at 229 below zero, and the fire-engines only capable of being worked by a constant supply of warm water, the castle was soon reduced to ashes. It has never since been rebuilt; but Lord Durham, during his short stay here, had the site cleared of the ruined heaps that still covered it, and the whole area of the former edifice leveled, floored with wood, and converted into a beautiful platform, with a fine iron railing at the edge of the precipice, making it one of the most beautiful promenades imaginable-commanding an extensive view of the St. Lawrence down as far as the island of Orleans-the harbor filled with ships immediately before it, and the opposite bank of the river, with Point Levi, the village of D'Aubigny, and the road leading up through one continuous line of cottages to the Falls of Chaudière. "The site on which the Parliament House stood is of even earlier date than that of the castle of St. Lewis; there being good reason to believe that it occupied the first spot of ground which was cleared by Champlain for his fort, on founding the city in 1608. Here, too, as at the castle, the site stands on a mass of rock made level by art, and extending to the brink of a perpendicular precipice, of about 100 feet above the river, the narrowest part of which is commanded by its guns. Along the edge of this precipice, beyond the area occupied by the late Parliament House, still runs the Grand Battery of Quebec, the promenade on which, and the view from its platform, is scarcely inferior to that already described on the site of the old castle of St. Lewis." PLAINS OF ABRAHAM.-This celebrated battle-field lies a short distance southwest of the citadel. A monument is here erected on the spot where Gen. Wolfe is said to have died, with this simple inscription: Here fell Wolfe victorious." A beautiful monument is also erected, of recent date, to the memories of both Wolfe and Montcalm, within the city walls, with this inscription: "Immortal memory of Wolfe and Montcalm." WOLFE'S MONUMENT-QUEBEC. 66 HERE FELL WOLFE VICTORIOUS." A broken column! few and brief It tells unfading glory shed The trumpet's tone, the battle shout, The clashing sword, the cannon's roar, And the last shout, "They fly!" once more And marching round the hero's bed, Are seen the host he nobly led For England's glory there. But years have passed, and silence reigns A broken column! brief, yet high Wolfe fell in the moment of victory, and Montcalm, who was mortally wounded in the action, expired soon after. The French, panic-struck by the loss of the battle and the death of their commander-in-chief, surrendered the city before even a single battery had been opened against it. This important event, which transferred the possession of Canada from the French to the English nation, occurred on the 13th Sept., 1759. The following is an English account of the attack on Quebec by Montgomery and Arnold, in 1775 and 1776: "At the period of the American Revolution, it is well known that Canada did not join the revolted colonies, but continued firm in her allegiance to the Crown; and hence it became the land of refuge to the many loyalists who were driven from the United States by the success of their war of Independence. As it was believed, however, by the Americans of that day, that an attack on Quebec would be successful, and if so, would induce all Canada to join their cause, such an attack was planned, and its execution committed to two American generals, Montgomery and Arnold. The British troops usually retained in Canada for its defense had been sent on to Boston, so that the province was almost destitute of military force, there being scattered throughout all Canada only about 800 men. In this state of things Gen. Montgomery advanced from Lake Champlain on St. John's, and after a short resistance took it; he then marched on against Montreal, which being perfectly defenseless, surrendered to the American arms on the 12th of November, 1775. At the same time Gen. Arnold was known to Montgomery to be advancing toward Quebec, from the New England States, by way of the Kennebec River through Maine, which at this late period of the year was a most daring undertaking. After passing thirty-two days in the wild forests and swamps, and suffering almost incredible hardships and privations in this hitherto untrodden wilderness, Arnold and his followers reached the banks of the St. Lawrence, by the Chaudière River, on the 4th of November, in the same year. From thence they descended to Point Levi, opposite to Quebec, where they arrived on the 9th, crossed over on the night of the 13th, and landed 500 men at Wolfe's Cove without being perceived either by the sentries or from the ships of war. "On the 1st of December this force was joined by a much larger one under General Montgomery, from Montreal. By these two the city was invested, and several bombardments of it made with shot and shells, but without producing much effect. A night attack was at length determined on by Montgomery on the southern, and Arnold on the northern, side of the Lower Town. Both attacks were made with great courage and impetuosity, but both failed. In the former, Gen. Montgomery and nearly all his personal staff were killed; in the latter, Gen. Arnold was wounded, and with most of his followers taken prisoners. The loss of the Americans in these attacks was upward of 100 killed and wounded, and of the British, only one naval officer killed, and seventeen men killed and wounded. The Americans did not, however, give up the attempt to reduce Quebec; as, during all the winter following they continued to receive reinforcements, and to invest the town; and in the spring of the year ensuing, May, 1776, they renewed their attack on the citadel. Gen. Carleton, the English commander of the garrison, having received an important accession to his force by the arrival of a small squadron under the command of Sir Charles Douglas, bringing to his aid provisions, ammunition, and men, was enabled to baffle every attempt made on the city, and ultimately to make a sally on the enemy, when they retreated, and abandoned their post. "This was the last attack made on Quebec by any foreign foe, and as since that period the citadel has been gradually strengthened and improved, under every successive governor of the province, it is now in a condition to resist ten times the force ever yet brought against it, and could not, so long as it contained supplies of provisions, and an adequate number of brave and faithful men, be conquered by any force likely to be brought against it from this continent." GENERAL MONTGOMERY.- -A tablet has been placed on the rock of Cape Diamond, near the spot where General Montgomery fell, with his two aids-de-camp, Majors McPherson and Cheeseman, at Pres-de-ville, in the attack upon Quebec by the American forces, in the winter of 1775-6. The tablet is raised about fifty feet from the road, and bears the following inscription: HERE MAJOR-GENERAL MONTGOMERY FELL, DECEMBER 31ST, 1775. "It has long been a matter of surprise to our neighbors of the United States, who, during the summer months, pour in a continual stream of visitors to our celebrated city, that no clue could be found by them to indicate the spot where Montgomery fell. The event must ever remain memorable in our colonial history as terminating the last hostile struggle before the city of Quebec. 66 Quebec is much indebted to the late Mr. Hawkins for the labor he has bestowed in bringing before the public the various historical reminiscences connected with the city, and this tablet, erected by him, is a fresh proof of the interest he takes in perpetuating the recollection of every incident connected with the many warlike and memorable events illuming the annals of our American Gibraltar." See HAWKINS' QUEBEC. |