Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present Part 11

Professor of Roman Law,--Hon. Ed. James Flynn.

Professor of Commercial Law,--Hon. Richard Alleyn, J.S.C.

Secretary,--Thos. Chase Casgrain, Barrister.

Professor of Internal Pathology,--Dr. Jas. Arthur Sewell, M.D.

Professor of External Pathology,--Dr. J. E. Landry, M.D.

Professor of Toxicology, etc.,--Dr. Alfred Jackson, M.D.

Professor of Descriptive Anatomy,--Dr. Eusebe Lemieux, M.D.

Professor of Medical Jurisprudence,--Dr. H. A. LaRue, M.D.

Professor of General Pathology,--Dr. Simard, M.D.

Professor of Materia Medica, etc.,--Dr. Chas. Verge, M.D.

Professor of Practical Anatomy, etc.,--Dr. Laurent Cattelier, M.D.

Professor of Clinical--Children's Diseases,--Dr. Arthur Vallee, M.D.

Professor of Clinical--Old People's Diseases,--Dr. Michael Ahern, M.D.

Professor of Comparative Zoology, Anatomy and Physiology,--Dr. L. J.

A. Simard, M.D.

Professor of Political Economy,--Hon. C. T. A. Langelier.

Professor of Physical Science,--Rev. Mr. Laflamme.

Professor of French Literature,--Rev. Ed. Methot.

Professor of Greek Literature,--Rev. L. Baudet.

Professor of Mineralogy,--Rev. J. C. Laflamme.

Professor of Natural Law,--Mgr. Beng. Paquet.

Professor of Dogmatic Theology,--Rev. L. H. Paquet.

Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Rev. L. N. Begin.

On the conspicuous site where stands the unpretending brick structure known as our present House of Parliament, (which succeeded to the handsome cut stone edifice destroyed by fire in 1864) one might, in 1660, have seen the dwelling of a man of note, Ruette d'Auteuil. D'Auteuil became subsequently Attorney General and had lively times with that st.u.r.dy old ruler, Count de Frontenac. Ruette d'Auteuil had sold the lot for $600 (3,000 livres de 20 sols) to Major Provost, who resold it, with the two story stone house thereon erected, for $3,000, to Bishop de St. Vallier.

The latter having bequeathed it to his ecclesiastical successor, Bishop Panet ceded it in the year 1830 to the Provincial Government for an annual ground rent of 1,000--this rent is continued to the Archbishop by the Provincial Government of Quebec. No one now cares to enquire how Bishop Panet made such an excellent bargain, though a cause is a.s.signed.

Palace Street was thus denominated from its leading direct from the Upper Town to the Intendant's Palace--latterly the King's woodyard. In earlier days it went by the name of _Rue des Pauvres_, [49] (Street of the Poor,) from its intersecting the domain of the _Hotel Dieu_, whose revenues were devoted to the maintenance of the poor sheltered behind its ma.s.sive old walls. Close by, on Fabrique street, Bishop de St. Vallier had founded _le Bureau des Pauvres_, where the beggars of Quebec (a thriving cla.s.s to this day) received alms, in order to deter them from begging in the country round the city. The success which crowned this humble retreat of the mendicant led the philanthropic Bishop to found the General Hospital in the Seigneurie de Notre Dame des Anges, beyond St. Roch. He received there nuns of the Convents of the Ursulines and of the Hotel Dieu and gave them the administration of the newly founded establishment, where, moreover, he at a more recent date resided as almoner of the poor.

At the western corner of Palace and St. John streets, has stood since 1771, a well known landmark erected to replace the statue of Saint John the Baptist, which had, under the French _regime_, adorned the corner house. After the surrender of Quebec to the British forces, the owners of the house, fearing the outer barbarians might be wanting in respect to the saint's effigy, sent it to the General Hospital, where it stood over the princ.i.p.al entrance until a few years back. They replaced it by a wooden statue of General Wolfe, sculptured by the Brothers Cholette, at the request of George Hipps, a loyal butcher. The peregrinations of this historic relic, in 1838, from Quebec to Halifax--from Halifax to Bermuda, thence to Portsmouth, and finally to its old niche at Wolfe's corner, St.

John Street, whilst they afforded much sport to the middies of H. M. Ship _Inconstant_, who visited our port that summer and carried away the General, were the subject of several newspaper paragraphs in prose and verse.

Finally, the safe return of the "General" with a brand new coat of paint and varnish in a deal box, consigned to His Worship, the Mayor of Quebec sent by unknown hands, was made an occasion of rejoicing to every friend of the British hero whom Quebec contained, and they were not few.

Some of the actors of this practical joke, staunch upholders of Britannia's sovereignty of the sea, now pace the quarter deck, t'is said, proud and stern admirals.

The street and hill leading down from the parochial Church, (whose t.i.tle was _Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary_,) to the outlet, where Hope Gate was built in 1786, was called Ste. Famille street from its vicinity to the Cathedral, which, as the parish church of the citizens of Quebec, was formerly called the Ste.

Famille Church. On the east side, half way up the hill still exist the ruins of the old homestead of the Seigneurs de Lery--in 1854, occupied by Sir E. P. Tache, since, sold to the Quebec Seminary. A lofty fence on the street hides from view the h.o.a.ry old poplar trees which of yore decked the front of the old manor. On the opposite side, a little higher up, also survives the old house of Mr. Jean Langevin, father of the Bishop of Rimouski, and of Sir H. L. Langevin. Here in the closing days of French Dominion lived the first Acadian, who brought to Quebec the news of the dispersion of his compatriots, so eloquently sung by Longfellow, Dr.

Lajus, of French extraction, who settled at Quebec and married a sister of Bishop Hubert. On the northern angle of this old tenement you now read "_Ste. Famille_ street."

St. Stanislas street, the western boundary of the ancient estate of the Jesuits--on the eastern portion of which their college was built in 1637-- owes its saintly nomenclature to the learned order--no doubt desirous of handing down to posterity an enduring souvenir of a valiant ascetic, though youthful member of the fraternity. Its northern end reaches at right angles to Ste. Helene street in a line with the old tenement recently occupied by the late Narcisse Constantin Faucher, Esq., Barrister--recently leased by the late Lieut.-Col. John Sewell, one of Sir Isaac Brock's officers at Queenstown Heights in 1812 In 1835 it was the home of a Mrs. Montgomery. That year it was burglarized in a somewhat romantic--shall we say--humane manner by Chambers' murderous gang; the aged and demure mistress of the house and her young maid servant being rolled up in the velvety pleats of the parlor carpet and deposited gently, tenderly and unharmed in the subterranean and discreet region of the cellar, so that the feelings of either should not be lacerated by the sight of the robbery going on above stairs.

Who will dare a.s.sert that among the sanguinary crew who in 1836, heavily ironed, bid adieu to Quebec forever, leaving their country for their country's good--in the British Brig _Ceres_, all bound as permanent settlers to Van Dieman's Land--who will dare a.s.sert there was not some Jack Sheppard, with a tender spot in his heart towards the youthful _Briseis_ who acknowledged Mrs. Montgomery's gentle sway.

A conspicuous landmark on St. Stanislas street is Trinity Chapel.

Of yore there stood in rear of the chapel the "Theatre Royal," opened 15th February, [50] 1832, where the Siddons, Keans and Kembles held forth to our admiring fathers. Church and theatre both owed their birth to the late Chief Justice Sewell. The site of this theatre was purchased some years back by the ecclesiastical authorities of St Patrick Church. Thus disappeared the fane once sacred to Thespis and Melpomene, its fun-loving votaries, as such, knew it no more.

_TRINITY CHURCH._

The church of the "Holy Trinity," St. Stanislas street, Quebec, was erected on a site which, judging from the discovery of a skeleton, when the foundations were laid, had been a cemetery.

The architecture of this church is Doric, and is considered correct both internally and externally. It is a substantial building of good proportions, 90 feet in length by 49 in breadth, is supplied with an organ and bell. It is commodious and capable of seating 700 persons.

The sittings are free. It contains a beautiful marble monument, by Manning, of London, which was erected to the memory of the late Hon.

Jonathan Sewell, LL.D., the founder of the church, also a few other tablets in memory of different members of the family of Sewell. The present inc.u.mbent and proprietor is the Rev. Edmund Willoughby Sewell, M.A., but it is confidently expected that ere long it will pa.s.s into the hands of an incorporated body, with whom the future presentment of the officiating clergyman will rest.

On a tin-plate on the corner-stone of the chapel, the following inscription occurs:

"Quebec, 15th September, 1824.

On Thursday was deposited in a private manner, under a stone at the north-east angle of the new Chapel of Ease to the English Cathedral, a tin plate having the following Latin inscription:

Anno Dm. Christi MDCCCXXIV Regnante Georgio Quarto, Britaniarum Rege Fidet Defensore Reverendissimo Patre in Deo Jacob Mountain S. T. P. Episcopo Quebecensi, Hanc Capellam, ad perpetuum honorem Sacrosanctae Trinitatis, et in usum Fidelium Ecclesiae Anglican dedicatam Vir honorabilis Jonothan Sewell, Provinciae Canadae inferioris Judex Primarius, et Henrietta ejus uxor Adificaverunt

Edmundo Willoughby Sewell, clerico, uno de eorum filiis Capellano primo

G. BLAICKLOCK, _Architecto_ J. PHILIPS, _Conditore_

On the other side is the inscription on the monument:

IN MEMORY OF JONATHAN SEWELL, LL.D.

The Pious and Liberal Founder of this Chapel.

Endowed with talents of no common order He was selected in early life to fill the highest offices in this Province He was appointed Solicitor General A.D. 1793, Attorney and Advocate General and Judge of the Court of Vice Admiralty, A.D. 1795, Chief Justice of the Province and Chairman of the Executive Council A.D. 1809.

Speaker of the Legislative Council A.D. 1809.

Distinguished in his public capacity, He shone equally conspicuous as a statesman and a jurist.

Naturally mild and courteous, he combined the meekness of the Christian with the authority of the Judge.

Beloved at home as a kind father, a firm friend and an affectionate husband.

Respected abroad as an acknowledged example of truth, faithfulness and integrity; He has left a name to which not only his descendants in all future ages, But his country may recur With just pride, deep reverence, and a grateful recollection.

He was born in Boston, Ma.s.s., June 6th, 1766, and died in this city, in the Fulness of the Faith in Christ, November 13th, 1839 in the 74th year of his age This tribute to departed worth is erected by his sorrowing widow."

The southern extreme of St. Stanislas street terminates at the intersection of Ste. Anne street, past the old jail, which dated from 1810. Lugubrious memories crowd round this ma.s.sive tolbooth--of which the only traces of the past are some vaulted lock-up or cells beneath the rooms of the Literary and Historical Society, one of which, provided with a solid new iron door, is set apart for the reception of the priceless M.S.S. of the society. The oak flooring of the pa.s.sages to the cells exhibit many initials, telling a tale of more than one guilty life--of remorse--let us hope, of repentance.

The narrow door in the wall and the iron balcony, over the chief entrance leading formerly to the fatal drop which cut short the earthly career of the a.s.sa.s.sin or burglar [51] was speedily removed when the directors of the Morrin College in 1870 purchased the building from Government to locate permanently the seat of learning due to the munificence of the late Joseph Morrin, M.D.

The once familiar inscription above the prison door, the rendering of which in English was a favourite amus.e.m.e.nt to many of the juniors of the High School, or Seminary, on their way to cla.s.s, that also has disappeared:

"_Carcer iste bonos a pravis vindicare possit_!"

May this prison teach the wicked for the edification of the good."

The damp, vaulted cells in the bas.e.m.e.nt, where the condemned felon in silence awaited his doom, or the airy wards above, where the impecunious debtor or the runaway sailor meditatively or riotously defied their traditional enemies the constable and policeman, now echo the Hebrew, Greek and Latin utterances of the Morrin College professors, and on meeting nights the disquisitions before the Literary and Historical Society, of lecturers on Canadian history, literature or art.

It is the glory and privilege of the latter inst.i.tution in accordance with the object of its Royal Charter, to offer to citizens of all creeds and nationalities, a neutral ground, sacred to intellectual pursuits. It dates back to 1823, when His Excellency, George Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie, a.s.sisted by the late Dr. John Charlton Fisher, LL.D., and ex-editor of the New York _Albion_, successfully matured a long meditated plan to promote the study of history and of literature. The Literary and Historical Society held its first meeting in the _Chateau St. Louis_. It is curious to glance over the list of names in its charter. [52] It contained the leading men on the Bench, in the professions, and in the city. In 1832 the library and museum occupied a large room in the Union building facing the Ring. From thence they were transferred to the upper story of the Parliament Buildings, on Mountain Hill, where a portion of both was destroyed by the conflagration which burnt down the stately cut-stone edifice in 1854, with the stone of which in 1860, the Champlain Market Hall was built. What was saved of the library and museum was transferred to apartments in St Louis street, then owned by the late George Henderson, J.P. [53] The next removal, about 1860, brought the inst.i.tution to Masonic Hall, corner of Garden and St. Louis streets. Here, also, the fire-fiend a.s.sailed the treasures of knowledge and specimens of natural history, of the society, which, with its household G.o.ds, flitted down to a suite of rooms above the savings bank apartments in St. John Street, from whence, about 1870, it issued to become an annual tenant in the north wing of the Morrin College, where it has flourished ever since.

In the protracted and chequered existence of this pioneer among Canadian literary a.s.sociations, one day, above all others is likely from the preparations--pageant and speeches which marked it, to be long remembered among Quebecers as a red letter day in the annals of the society. The celebration in December, 1875 of the centennial of the repulse of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold, who, at dawn on the 31st December, 1775, attempted to take the old fortress by storm. The first, with a number of his followers, met with his death at Pres-de-Ville, in Champlain street; the other was carried wounded in the knee, to the General Hospital, St. Roch's suburbs, whilst 427 of his command were taken prisoners of war and incarcerated until September following in the Quebec Seminary, the Recollet Convent and the Dauphin Prison, since destroyed, but then existing, a little north of St. John's Gate, inside. The worthy commander of the "B" Battery, Lieut.-Col. T. B.

Strange, R.A., then stationed at the Citadel of Quebec, having consented to narrate the incidents which marked the attack of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery at Pres-de-Ville (which we reserve for another page,) the description of Col. Benedict Arnold's a.s.sault on the Sault-au-Matelot barriers, was, left to ourselves. We subjoin a portion of the address delivered by us at this memorable centenary. It embodies an important incident of Quebec history:

_ARNOLD'S a.s.sAULT ON SAULT-AU-MATELOT BARRIERS._