Picturesque Quebec
by
James MacPherson Le Moine
Part 14 out of 14
of his nation, by _Generals Brock and Carpenter_; the chief bears in his
hand the wampum or collar, on which is marked the tomahawk given by his
late Majesty George III. The gold medal on his neck was the gift of his
Majesty on this presentation.
"They were accompanied and introduced into England on the _14th December_,
1824, by Mr. W. Cooper, who though an Englishman, they state to be a chief
of their nation, and better known to them as chief _Tourhaunchi_."
N.B.--It may be well to say that from the earliest times the Lorette
Indians have been in the habit of electing as "Honorary Chiefs" Quebecers
of note, who may have rendered service to the tribe. A large oil painting
is now in the possession of William D. Campbell, Esq., of Quebec,
exhibiting the installation as a Chief, in 1837, of the late Robert Symes,
J.P., of Quebec.
[319] _Ononthio_ means the _Great Mountain_, the name the Indians gave
Governor de Montmagny and his successors.
[320] The 8 is pronounced _oui_.
[321] May, 1675, Louis XIV and Colbert granted Monsieur le Comte Talon,
Intendant, the Seigniory des Islets, "together with those three
neighboring villages to us belonging the first called Bourg Royal, the
second Bourg La Reine, the third, Bourg Talon, subsequently changed into
the Barony of Orsainville."--(_Ferland_, Vol. II p 59.)
[322] I am happy to be able to throw some additional light on the early
times of this mysterious ruin, which has much perplexed Quebec
antiquaries. 'Tis probable this stately mansion was built by the great
Intendant Talon as the baronial _château_, permitted by his grant,
(see _Seignorial Documents_, 1852,--page 444 and 488) according to
which he was empowered to establish gaols, "a four-post gibbet, a post
with an iron collar on which his arms should be engraved." Of all this
redoubtable feudal pomp there are no vestiges now extant. How the
_château_ fared from Talon's time to Bigot's, remains a mystery.
After the conquest, the land came by purchase into the possession of the
Stewart family, lately represented by Charles Grey Stewart--a most
interesting and lengthy letter from Charles Stewart, describing the winter
months spent in the Hermitage in 1775-6, whilst Arnold held for Congress
the environs of Quebec, will be given hereafter, Mr. Wm. Crawford the late
owner of the land and ruins, having kindly allowed me the use of his title
deeds. I find therein stated "Charles Stewart, avocat et notaire demeurant
à Québec, propriétaire du fief de Grand Pré, autrefois dit De la
Mistanguenne ou Mont Plaisir, à la Canardière par acte de vente du 26 Juin
1780, devant Jean Antoine Panet, N.P., concède a titre de cens et rentes
seigneuriales ... à Monsieur Jean Lees, le Jeune, Simon Fraser, le Jeune,
et William Wilson, négotiant en cette ville, 10 arpents de front situés
dans le fief Grand Pré ou Mont Plaisir à la Canardière an lieu nommé la
Montagne on l'Hermitage, prenant d'un bout, vers le sud aux terres de
Joseph Bédard, et Jean Baptiste Le Roux dit Cardinal, et allant en
profondeur vers le nord quatorze arpents ou environ, jusqu'à la vieille
clôture du verger, icelui verger compris en la présente concession et
vente, les dix arpents de front joignant du côté du sud-ouest ou fief de
la Trinité, appartenant au Séminaire, et du côté du nord-ouest à la terre
de Jean Chattereau, ensemble la maison à deux étages, une grange et un
étable en bois, construits sur les dits dix arpents."
[_Translation_.]
"Charles Stewart, advocate and notary, residing at Quebec, proprietor of
the _Fief_ Grand Pré, formerly styled De la Mistanguenne or Mont
Plaisir, at the Canardière, by deed of sale, bearing date the 26th June,
1780, before Jean Ant. Panet, N.P., conceded _à titre de cens et rentes
Seigneuriales_ ... to Mr. Jean Lees, junior, Simon Fraser, junior, and
William Wilson, merchants of this city, ten arpents, in front, situated in
the _Fief_ Grand Pré, or Montplaisir, at the Canardière, at the place
named The Mountain or the Hermitage, beginning on one side, towards the
south, at the lands of Joseph Bédard and Jean Baptiste LeRoux dit
Cardinal, and running in the depth towards the north, fourteen arpents or
thereabouts, to the old orchard fence--said orchard included in this
concession and deed of sale, the ten arpents in part joining towards the
north-west, to the _Fief de la Trinité_ belonging to the (Quebec)
Seminary, and on the north-east side joining the land of Jean Chattereau,
together with the two-story house, barn, wooden stable, built on the said
ten arpents."
The property was resold the 12th August, 1805, by John Lees, _et al._, to
Charles Stewart, Esq., Comptroller of Customs, Quebec. It is now owned by
Léger Brousseau, Esq.
[323] The fascinating daughter of Lord Clifford, famous in the legendary
history of England, as the mistress of Henry II. shortly before his
accession to the throne, and the subject of an old ballad. She is said to
have been kept by her royal lover in a secret bower at Woodstock, the
approaches to which formed a labyrinth so intricate that it could only be
discovered by the clew of a silken thread, which the king used for that
purpose. Here Queen Eleanor discovered and poisoned her, about 1173.--
(_Noted names of Fiction_, 1175. See also Woodstock--_Waverley Novels_.)
[324] I am indebted to my late old friend the Abbé Ferland for the
following remark: "I visited Château Bigot during the summer of 1834. It
was in the state described by Mr. Papineau in the interior, the walls were
still partly papered. It must not be forgotten that about the beginning of
this century a club of _Bons-vivant_ used to meet frequently in the
Château."
Three celebrated clubs nourished here long before the Stadacona and St.
James' Club were thought of. The first was formed in Quebec, about the
beginning of this century. It was originally called (after its London
prototype) says Lambert, the Beef Steak Club, which name it soon changed
for that of the Barons Club. It consisted of twenty-one members, "who are
chiefly the principal merchants in the colony, and are styled barons. As
the members drop off, their places are filled by knights elect, who are
not installed as barons until there is a sufficient number to pay for the
entertainment which is given on that occasion." John Lambert, during the
winter of 1807, attended one of the banquets of installation, which was
given in the Union Hotel (now the _Journal de Quebec_ office, facing
the Place d'Armes.) The Hon. Mr. Dunn, the President of the Province, and
Administrator, during the absence of Sir Robert S. Milnes, attended as the
oldest baron. The Chief Justice and all the principal officers of the
government, civil and military, were present. This entertainment cost 250
guineas. "The Barons Club," says W. Henderson, "was a sort of _Pitt
Club_,--all Tories to the back-bone. It was a very select affair--and
of no long duration. Among the members, if my memory serves me right, were
John Coltman, George Hamilton, Sir John Caldwell, Sir George Pownall,
Herman Wistius Byland, George Heriott, (Postmaster and author) Hon.
Matthew Bell, Gilbert Ainslie, Angus Shaw." (Notes of W. Henderson.)
The other club went under the appropriate name of "Sober Club,"--_lucus
a non lucendo_ perhaps: it flourished about 1811; we believe one of the
By-laws enacted that the members were expected to get _elevated_ at least
once a year. It seems to be more than likely that it was the Club of
Barons, and not the Sober Club, who caroused under the romantic walls of
the Hermitage. The third Club flourished at Montreal in 1785 and later, it
took the name of the Beaver Club) and was, I believe, composed of old
_Northwesters_.
[325] It is painful to watch the successive inroads perpetrated by
sportsmen and idlers on the old Château. In 1819, an old Quebecer, Mr.
Frederick Wyse, visited it; doors, verandah, windows and everything else
was complete. He, too, lost his way in the woods, but found it again
without the help of an Indian beauty. It was then known as the haunted
house, supposed to contain a deal of French treasure, and called _La
Maison du Bourg Royal_.
[326] Error--he was a bachelor. These unions were not uncommon. We find
the Baron de St. Castin marrying Matilda, the daughter of Madocawando--an
Indian beauty; he became a famous Indian Chief, helping D'Iberville, in
Acadia, and left a numerous progeny of olive colored princesses with eyes
like a gazelle's.
[327] Melospiza melodia.
[328] Zonotrichia leuchophry.
[329] The Hon. Mr. Dunn, Administrator of the Province in 1807, was the
senior baron; Hons. Matthew Bell, John Stewart, Messrs. Muir, Irvine,
Lester, McNaught, Grey Stewart, Munro, Finlay, Lymburner, Paynter; these
names were doubtless also to be found amongst the Canadian barons; the
Hon. Chas. de Lanaudière, once a general in the Hungarian service, was the
only French Canadian member.
[330] Book of Carthon.
[331] From Travellers' Guide Book, 1829.
APPENDIX
[332] See _Quebec Past and Present_, page 34.
[333] Relation de 1665, p. 25, Journal des Jésuites, 10 juillet 1665.
[334] Lettres de Marie de l'Incarnation, lettre 76e, p. 621.
[335] Archives de la Marine, vol. Canada, T. II, de 1670 à 1676, 20 août
1670.
[336] _Ibid._, lettres de Colbert à M. Talon, 11 février 1671.
[337] Relation de 1668, p. 3.
[338] Relation de 1667, p. 3.
[339] Archives de la Marine. Registre des dépêches de Colbert pour les
Indes, 1671, fol. 18.
[340] Relation de 1672, p. 2.
[341] Archives de la Marine. Registre des dépêches, ann. 1674 et 1675.
Lettre du 16 mai 1674 à M. de Frontenac.
[342] _Mémoire pour servir d'Intruction à Monsieur le Comte de Frontenac
sur l'Entreprise de la Nouvelle-York_, 7 _juin_ 1689.
[343] The names of the Huguenot families who settled New Oxford, as far as
ascertained, are as follows--
1 Montee, 1 Bureau l'aîné, 1 Jermon,
1 Peter Cante, 1 Jean Maillet, 1 Elle Dupeu,
2 Ober Germon, 2 Jean Martin, 1 Andre Segourne,
1 Jean Milleton, 4 Bertrand De Tuffeau, 3 M. Baurdille,
6 Rene Grignon, M. Germaine, 5 M. Alard,
M. Boudinot, Benj. Faneuil, Jean Beaudoin.
1 J. Dupeu,
[344] In 1870, when these lines were penned, the massive gates, hoary with
age, were already doomed--a portion of the materials like the stones of
Nelson's Abbey were robbed to build up houses near by.
[345] Memoirs de P.A. DeGaspé.
[346] The quips, pranks and _bon mots_ of this jolly corps would fill
a small volume. The bar was represented by the witty Chief Justice
Vallière, the fun loving Charles Richard Ogden, afterwards Attorney-
General, and recently Judge of the Isle of Wight; and the army by a choice
spirit of the 71st, Col. Denny.
[347] Market and cemetery have since disappeared.
[348] In this niche, at the time of the conquest, could be seen, just over
the door of the house, a statue of St John the Baptist. The inhabitants,
fearing that the introduction of so many heretics in Sept., 1769, might
subject the saint's statue to slight, had conveyed it to the General
Hospital nunnery, where Mr. D. De Gaspé asserts, it is to this day. To
fill its place, nothing occurred to the minds of the English, as more
suitable, than the wooden image of their young hero, Wolfe. As there is a
clause in the title deeds of this property making it incumbent on the
owners to maintain constantly in repair "General Wolfe," the "General" it
is to be hoped, will continue to flourish for many years yet--the only
notable difference being that, by his elevation of late years, he appears
closer to heaven than in the days of the Cholette Brothers, and therefore
safer from the attacks of practical jokers, middies, &c.
[349] Where the Music Hall, Louis street, has since been erected. The
first meeting of the Quebec City Corporation took place about 1834 in the
same house which Miss Napier had rented.
[350] Wolfe and Montcalm's monument in process of erection in 1827, was
recently restored, thanks to the efforts of Hy. Fry, Esq., and of a few
other public-spirited citizens.
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