Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present Part 71

John Allsop, merchant in London.

Carleton Allsop, Consul-General to Colombia.

Robert Allsop, Deputy Commissary-General.

James Allsop, Paymaster 1st Batt., 44th Foot.

William Allsop, merchant, died at sea on a voyage to Buenos Ayres, and was buried on the Patagonian coast, all co-seigneurs of Seignories of Jacques Cartier and d'Auteuil.

James Allsop, at the age of 17, was taken by Hon. John Hale, Receiver- General, into his office, St. John street, at $600 per annum. This house was afterwards occupied by a Mrs. Stinson (I think as a boarding-house); sold to Judge Aylwin, who left it by will to his nephew, Robt S. Bradley, who now owns it.

James Allsop did not like the drudgery of Mr. Hale's office, who sent him to England with a recommendation to the late Duke of Kent, asking for a Paymastership. There were difficulties at first, he not being considered old enough; but at last he was gazetted to one in the 1st Batt., 44th Regt., and this Battalion was ordered to New Orleans, Hon.

Col. Mullins (Lord Ventry's son), commanding, who, being seized with a panic on the field, disgraced himself, lost his presence of mind on seeing the destruction the Americans were dealing out to the British troops, by firing behind their cotton bags, and was in consequence the cause of the death of Hon. Col. Pakenham, brother-in-law to the Duke of Wellington. Miss Pakenham was a celebrated beauty, and engaged to marry the Duke on his return from the Peninsular War; but having, unfortunately, taken the small-pox during the Duke's absence, her father wrote to the Duke to absolve him from his promise, she having become so much disfigured from its effects, but the Duke was too honourable, and married her. They were both in Brussels. My father, who was Paymaster to the 2nd Battalion of the 44th, was at Waterloo.

We remained in Brussels some years.--(_Diary of Mrs. Chas. Aylwin_.)

[102] See Appendix--"La Negresse Rose."

[103] Quebecers will remember with pleasure the presence in our midst of this famous Polar navigator in August, 1880, and his lady, whose kindliness of manner and elegant French, won the hearts of many. The instructive torpedo lectures of the scientific commander of the _Northampton_ iron-clad, Capt. Fisher, will likewise retain a corner in the chambers of memory.

[104] In fact, the spot where the remains of the great geographer and discoverer are supposed to rest, seems to be the site on which the new Post Office in the Upper Town has lately been built. Another theory, however, is lately propounded by an Ottawa antiquary. See QUEBEC PAST AND PRESENT.

[105] XAVIER MARMIER.--This writer was born at Pontcartier, France, in 1809, and early evinced a pa.s.sion for travel. Having visited Switzerland and Holland, he came to Paris in 1830. Being well versed in German literature, he edited for ten years the _Revue Germanique_, during which period he travelled and wrote much. In 1836-38 he went as the Secretary of a scientific expedition to the north of Europe. He spent several weeks at Archangel, visited Iceland, Greenland, and other hyperborean regions, and after his return published many works, among which may be mentioned Travels in Iceland and Greenland (7 vols., 8vo, with elaborate maps and numerous folio plates), the Literature of Denmark and Sweden, Souvenirs of Voyages and Traditions, Popular Songs of the North, Letters on Holland and on Russia, Finland and Poland, Poems of a Traveller, the Rhine and the Nile, Letters upon Algeria and the Adriatic, A Summer on the Baltic, &c, &c, besides voluminous essays in reviews and magazines. He was recalled from travels to become librarian of the Department of the Marine, and in 1847 was appointed in charge of the library of Sainte Genevieve. He is still (in 1881) living in Paris.

[106] _Lettres sur l'Amerique, par X Marmier, Canada, etats-Unis, Havane, Rio de la Plata_, 2 _Vols., Paris_, 1851.

[107] The Jesuit Fathers were in the habit of fastening the painters of their canoes at the foot of the hill, "la _canoterie_," on their return by water from their farm called "_Ferme des Anges_," hence its name.

We borrow from the "Directory for the City and Suburbs of Quebec" for 1791, by Hugh McKay, printed at the office of the _Quebec Herald_, the following paragraph, "_Rues Ecartees_" (out-of-the-way streets)-- "_La Canoterie_ (canoe landings) follows the street Sault-au-Matelot, commencing at the house of Cadet (where Mr. O. Aylwin resides), and continues up to Mr. Grant's distillery; St. Charles street commences there and terminates below Palace Gate; St. Nicholas street extends from Palace Gate to the water's edge, pa.s.sing in front of the residence of the widow La Vallee; the old ship yard opposite to the boat yard, Cape Diamond street commences at the wharf owned by Mr. Antrobus and terminates at the outer extremity of that of Mons. Duniere, underneath Cape Diamond, the streets Carriere, Mont Carmel, Ste. Genevieve, St. Denis, Des Grisons, are all situated above St. Louis street" (Mr. Louis Duniere was M.P. in 1828.)

[108] Mr. T. P. Bedard sends us the following note on this street:--"Au 17eme siecle, la rue Sault-au-Matelot etait la rue commerciale par excellence avec la rue Notre-Dame, c'etait la ou ce faisait toutes les affaires, la rue St. Pierre actuelle etant alors envahie par l'eau durant les grandes marees."

[109] Did the dog belong to Champlain? an antiquary asks us.

"Ad laevum fluit amnis S. Laurentii, ad dextram S. Caroli fluviolus. Ad confluentem, Promontorium a.s.surgit, _Saltum Nautae_ vulgo vocant, ab cane hujus nominis qui se alias ex eo loco praecipitem dedit." (Historia Canadensis.--Creuxius, p. 204.)

[110] Francois de Bienville.

[111] In that early, dark, but not unhappy era of Quebec munic.i.p.al existence, in June, 1842, when the great novelist, Chas. d.i.c.kens, perambulated our thoroughfares and surveyed our battle fields, did the author of "Pickwick," in his rambles, meet in this odoriferous lane any of those "roving, gentlemanly, philosophic, republican" porkers, such as had crossed his path in the "empire city" of the West, and which, as typical New York pigs, have since become famous. "A select party," says he, "of half a dozen gentlemanly hogs have just now turned the corner."

"Here is a solitary swine lounging homeward by himself. He has only one ear, having parted with the other to vagrant dogs in the course of his city rambles. But he gets on very well without it, and leads a roving, gentlemanly, vagabond life, somewhat answering to that of our club men at home. He leaves his lodgings every morning at a certain hour, throws himself upon the town, gets through the day in some manner quite satisfactory to himself, and regularly appears at the door of his own house again at night, like the mysterious master of Gil Blas. He is a free and easy, careless, indifferent kind of pig, having a very large acquaintance among other pigs of the same character, whom he rather knows by sight than conversation, as he seldom troubles himself to stop and exchange civilities, but goes grunting down the kennel, turning up the news and small talk of the city, in the shape of cabbage-stalks and offal, and bearing no tails but his own, which is a very short one, for his old enemies the dogs have been at that too, and have left him hardly enough to swear by. He is in every respect a Republican pig, going wherever he pleases, and mingling with the best society, on an equal if not superior footing, for every one makes way when he appears, and the haughtiest give him the wall if he prefer it. He is a great philosopher, and seldom moved, unless by the dogs before mentioned."--(_d.i.c.kens' American Notes_, p. 38.)

[112] CANADA'S ROYAL VISITORS--WHO HAVE BEEN HERE SINCE 1787.--"Canada has been honoured with visits from the following Royal personages:--His Royal Highness Prince William Henry (afterwards William IV.) uncle of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, landed in Quebec in 1787. H.R.H. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, visited Canada in 1791, four years later than his brother. H.R.H. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and heir apparent of the British Crown, was in this country in 1860, and laid the corner-stone of the Parliament Buildings at Ottawa. H.R.H. Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, was here in 1861, H.R.H.

Prince Leopold in May, 1880. H.E.H. Prince de Joinville, son of Louis Philippe, King of France, was in Canada the same year as Prince Alfred.

Prince Napoleon Bonaparte, cousin of Napoleon III., Emperor of France, also in 1861. H.R.H. Prince Arthur, third son of the Queen, in 1869.

H.R.H. the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, in 1871. H.R.H. Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, in 1876 (Centennial year); and Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise and H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh (his second visit), in 1878. It will thus be seen that Queen Victoria's father, uncle and five of her children have been in Canada."

[113] Opened by him in 1831.

[114] "Travels through North America during the years 1825-26," By Carl Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach.

[115] Prescott Gate levelled in 1871.

[116] These steps went into Prescott Gate.

[117] The R. C. Bishop's Palace, on whose site the present brick structure, Parliament House, was since erected.

[118] Bleak House, on the St. Louis Heights, was, until 1871, the quarters of the Colonel of Engineers.

[119] The Abbe de Fenelon was the half-brother of the ill.u.s.trious Archbishop of Cambray, the author of "Telemachus." He was tried by Frontenac and the Superior Council for having, at the preceding Easter, preached at Montreal a violent sermon against the _corvees_ (enforced labor) to build up Fort Frontenac, &c. He refused to acknowledge the competency of the tribunal to try him, appeared before it with his hat on, &c. Frontenac had him committed for contempt. Altogether it was a curious squabble, the decision of which was ultimately left to the French King.-- (Parkman's Frontenac, p. 37, M. Faillon, _La Colonie Francaise, Vol.

III, pp. 515, 517.)

[120] Montcalm, de Vaudreuil, de Longueuil, de Bougainville, LaCorne, de Beaujeu, Tache, de Lery, de St. Ours and others const.i.tuted this party of honourable men.

[121] MeMOIRES sur les affaires du Canada, 1749-60.

[122] Servants, lackeys and n.o.bodies were named store-keepers, "_leur ignorance et leur ba.s.sesse ne font point un obstacle_," say the _Memoires_, 1749-60.

[123] "He (deCallieres), says Parkman, laid before the King a plan, which had, at least, the recommendation of boldness and cheapness. This was to conquer New York with the forces already in Canada, aided only by two ships of war. The blow, he argued, should be struck at once, and the English taken by surprise. A thousand regulars and six hundred Canadian Militia should pa.s.s Lake Champlain and Lake George, in canoes and bateaux, cross to the Hudson, and capture Albany, where they would seize all the river-craft, and descend the Hudson to the town of New York, which, as Callieres states, had then about two hundred houses and four hundred fighting men. The two ships were to cruise at the mouth of the Harbour, and wait the arrival of the troops, which was to be made known to them by concerted signals, whereupon they were to enter and aid in the attack. The whole expedition, he thought, might be accomplished in a month, so that by the end of October, the King would be master of the country....

It will be well to observe what were the instructions of the King towards the colony which he proposed to conquer. They were as follows: If any Catholics were found in New York, they might be left undisturbed, provided that they took an oath of allegiance to the King. Officers, and other persons who had the means of paying ransoms, were to be thrown into prison. All lands in the colony, except those of Catholics swearing allegiance, were to be taken from the owners, and granted under feudal tenure to the French officers and soldiers. All property, public or private, was to be seized, a portion of it given to the grantees of the land, and the rest sold on account of the King. Mechanics and other workmen might, at the discretion of the commanding officer) be kept as prisoners to work at fortifications and do other labor. The rest of the English and Dutch inhabitants, men, women, and children were to be carried out of the colony, and dispersed in New England, Pennsylvania or other places, in such manner, that they could not combine in any attempt to recover their property and their country. And that the conquest might be perfectly secure, the nearest settlements of New England were to be destroyed, and those more remote, laid under contribution.--(_Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV_, _p._ 187-9.)

[124] See Appendix, _verbo_ "CONQUEST IN NEW YORK."

[125] THE CHIEN D'OR A LEGEND OF QUEBEC.

[126] L'INTENDANT BIGOT.

[127] For the names of the victims and further particulars, vide 2nd Volume du Dictionnaire Genealogique, par l'Abbe Tanguay.

[128] These bricks were found to be only 1-1/2 inches thick, of a dark flinty appearance and as hard as iron, and seemed to be composed of silica and oxide of iron.

The Jesuit College had been occupied as a barrack, under the warrant of General J. Murray, in 1765. (J. M. L.)

[129] _Cours d'Histoire du Canada_, Vol. II, p. 140.

[130] Louis XV.

[131] Smith's History of Canada, Vol. II., p. 105.

[132] _Life of Lord Nelson_, by Robert Southey, LL.D.

[133] See Judge Henry's Diary of the Siege of 1775.

[134] The friends of the history will, no doubt, rejoice to learn that the Literary and Historical Society has acquired the interesting diaries and correspondence of Mr. James Thompson.

[135] Named after George Pozer, an aged Quebec millionaire, who for years resided in the house subsequently occupied as a book-store by the late Chas. Hamel. This eccentric old German was a native of Wesel, Germany. He had emigrated in the last century to New York, from thence to London, England, from thence to Quebec. He died here in 1840, immensely wealthy, the cause of his death being a cold be caught in attending Parliament, at Kingston, to remonstrate against what he considered the encroachments of the City Council, at Quebec, who, to remove obstructions in the public streets, had forcibly done away with the projecting steps of "Freemasons'

Hall," the _Chien d'Or_ building, for years the property of George Pozer.

George Pozer was the grandfather of Hon. M. Pozer, the portly Senator for Beauce.

[136] Ryland street recalls the astute and able secretary and adviser to many Governors, the Hon. Herman W. Ryland, who died in 1836, at Mount Lilac, Beauport.

[137] St. Ours street reminds the student of history of that brave French brigadier who on the glorious battle-field of the 13th September, 1759, shed his blood to uphold the lost cause of France.

[138] Dambourges street perpetuates the name of the intrepid Lieutenant (afterwards Colonel) Dambourges, who, on the 31st December, 1775, in the Sault au Matelot engagement, helped so zealously to uphold the flag of Old England.