National Republican., 1883-08-09
An American View Of the Ancient Capital Of
Canada.
A Belated Fragment Of Dead Century
Lingering Asleep.
The St Lawrence and the Scenery About the City
The Citadel.
Wolfe and MonteaIm In Marble Overlook.
Ing the Historic Plains of Abraham.
Special Letter.


QUEBEC, Aug. 81 think IL is 100 and
something; cannot be quite sure of the last
date, for l am waiting anxiously for the SOL
dier, pallid and powder-grimed, who will
come either up Hope hill or down from the
citadel, to tell us the issue Of the days fight
If he were only here and could say whether
it is Wolfe or Montgomery who is killed, or
Montcalm or Arnold defeated, could settle
the date in my mind.
But really, do you know it is extremely
difficult to realize it is 1888, and that we are
still in America. The old town (which as
cends in conformation as it decreases in age),
was founded in 1908 by the indomitable
Cortier, and successive generations have con-
tributed 10 its store of historic memories until
now it stands confessed the most ancient and
most interesting city north of Mexico. 1t is
built on three terraces, the first of which is
called Lower Town, and forms with BEAUFORT
the oldest portion of the settlement the
second is known as Upper Town, and contains
the Basilioa, Laval university, the new par
lament houses, the convent of the Ursulines,
the seminary chapel, the gray nunnery, the
old Jesuit barracks, the governors garden,
and all tho nicer class of dwellings
and stores the third is crowned by the
citadel, the plains of Abraham, the jail, and
the Wolfe monument, and from its summit
there is a view | have neven seen surpassed
To the right, the st. Lawrence rolls its mighty
flood the harbor is filed with shipping, the
new quay creeps slowly out to its deep sea"
destination, and Point Levy is idealized by
distance into o cloudland city. To the left
slopes away the relenting ruggedness of Cape
Diamond, until it meets in the plains of
Sillcoy, and is lost in tho purple bosom of the
Laurentine hills. The plains of Abraham
have turned their harvest of death to
A. tur rf xuha tha In hrnr
molested about the grave OF Wolfe; the Mar
tello towers crumble away in the sunshine,
and birds nests choke the loopholes, and
vines haunt from the caves. Below, the city
looks like page out of the Arabian
Nights" for the roofs and spires are sheathed
in tin and sparkle as bravely as if Of silver.
This, by the way, is distinctive feature of
Quebec; the tin is of SO pure a quality that
it does not need to be painted to preserve 1t
from the weather, and some of the shin giles
on the Basilica, which were fifty years old,
were almost as bright as their new neighbors
on the English cathedral
We began our day by breakfasting at the
Chen dor the oldest inn in Canada it en-
joyed somewhat sinister reputation in its
early days as the scene of those several as
sassinations, and the family feuds out of which
they grew are commemorated on the corner
stone of the house under the symbol of a dog
gnawing bone; verse in old French tells
of Philibert's patient waiting for revenge,
which was crowned with such success. A
lighter charm is thrown over the place by the
fact that it was the residence Of the young
girl of whom Lord Nelson became SO des-
perately enamored that his government re-
called him from Quebec, urged thereto by his
relatives, who did not want an innkeeper's s
daughter for "my lady" From the CHEN d.
Or we started for the falls of Montmorehci,
driving through the two Streets where, alas,
st. Johns Gate and Hope Gate are now but
memories! Crossing the st. Charles river
where Jacque Cartier first landed, and where
Noel Brulast do Sillery and Nine. de Peltrie
so soon after planted the cross-we entered
the suburban BEAUFORT. 1t is a quaint viii
lage of one street, which is eight miles long,
and flanked by houses of the simplest
and neatest; they are one-storied, and as
white as paint and endless scrubbing
can make them. The chief features of the
place are the madhouse and the church. The
first is surrounded by extensive grounds and
is one of the cheerfulest most home like
maisons do sante l have ever seen. The
women and men are in different houses and
everything is done that can brighten their
awful fate. In the MaisOn de Femmes" the
bars are hidden by curtains of muslin and lace
crimson blinds and window gardens;" each
patient is allowed to cultivate plat of flowers
and to spend more than half the day in the
open air; tho gardens are filed with chairs,
settees, games and hammocks, and serene
amid the mad world rises the statue of Jo-
seph of Nazareth the patron saint of the es-
tablishment. The house for tho men is not
quite SO attractive, for as q rule they are so
much more violent than the women that they
break and destroy nearly all attempts at
decoration, in spite of which, however, the
efforts are persisted in.
The church of heauport is little Notre
Dame being fac simile of the Montreal
parish church, and it's silver towers and gray
walls harmonize well with the green back
ground of Orleans isle and the fertile plains
of Loretto and Villery.
Between BEAUFORT and the falls are two
houses dear to the colonial heart, which is as
English as a New York dude-the summer
and winter residences of the Duke of Kent
Queen Victoria's father. They are simple
structures, the one of stone, the other of
wood and the kindly old man who lived there
has left behind him memory as Jepderly
cherished as-well, say as Lord Dufferin, for
he is the most popular man English Canada
has ever known.
The falls of Montmorenci are very beauti-
ful. The clear brown water, after fretting
and chafng over stony bed through q narrow
channel, makes bold leap of nearly 800 feet
to the ST. Lawrence, 1t is torn to spray in
> the descent, and sways like silver veil in
the epassng winds. 1t is a favorite coasting
place i.,Iyinter for the cataract freezes, and
the impetus acquired from the great height
of the start" carries the "sledder" half way
to Orleans isle.
This last named is an exquisite spot, and is
familiar to Europe through its sculptured
presentment on the monument of Wolfe in
Westminster abbey. 1t was the scene of his
great stragetic movement on Quebec-the &C.
casiOn when death was swallowed up in vic
tory" The monument upon the plains of
Abraham is plain shaft surmonted by he'll
met and sword and bearing on its face the
single line, Here died Wolfe victorious"
Montcalm, whose death occurred at the
same moment, is also buried where he fell,
his grave being hole torn in the earth by a
shell which exploded at his side. 1t was in
the garden of the Ursuline convent, and the
spot is now included in the chapel inclosure :
two tablets one by Lord Aylmer and one by
France, are set in tho wall and herald his
virtues, and his skull reposes in the rooms of
the chaplain of the convent, here IL is re-
spected in its twofold capacity of "memento
mort" AID hero's relic,
The Ursuline chapel is nothing architectur-
ally, but it is the repository of some Of the
finest sacred pictures on the continent; il
shares this honor with the seminary chapel,
and truly the paintings of the two Cham
pagnes, Vanloo, Dieu, and one or two of the
Florentine school, recall the happiest work of
Raphael and Rubens,
The Laval university is noble building
and is one of Canadas most famous institu-
tOns. 10 fronts ON the river, between which
and ii runs the Grand battery. This last Is
one of the splendid relics of the military days
Of Oughap nd fba ouu we a gullnn loOly