Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-09-28

ueai ON wnere and how you do your
measuring. From the river level nt
average tide TO the level of the citadel 1t
Is probably that high; but on the point
Of wild beauty no description can be too
extravagant. From q distance, Quebec
rises like q series Of great terfaced and
pinnacled palaces and temples. Tho
lower town, or towns, along tho st.
Lawrence and st. Charles. are not at
first visible. and the great rock above Is
thick set with stone houses, churches,
colleges and government buildings, ris-
ing one behind the other in sublime
view. and varied by pointed roofs. spires.
minarets. cupolas and lofty official struc-
lures in n way that combines all the ro-
nance Of east and west. Of ancient and
modern.
All Canadians are proud of Quebec.
True, they sometimes criticise the streets
OF the lower town-those of the upper
town cannot get very dirty If there Is
any rain-and often say the wharves
ought TO be in better order and the pco-
pie a little more modern and enterpris-
ing, but still they all love Quebec. And
the American who spends his summer
vacation there cannot bear to think of it
as changed and "improved." II is a bit
of France Of the Seventeenth century
thinly vanished by Americanism of the
Nineteenth century. Here one finds the
real antique. Bear in mind that these
people are the French of Louis Kills
time. They had nothing to do with ia
grande Revolution" and the great Bona
IL ,,.. - al 4
thusasm Of 'o3; they had no confiscation
OF estates or church property, and they
look with unmitigated horror ON the
anti-Catholic performances Of the pres-
cnt French government. They pay
tithcs according TO the original contract
Of 10000: they have many local saints
and miraculous shrine of st. Anne;
they are devoted to their pastors, and
have lately. after long struggle, Sc
cured restitution to the Jesuits for the
latter's long ago coniiscated estates
And how marvolously they have been
sustained The planting of the colony
and its preservation against the Indians
seem almost miraculous. When the
English took tho country there were in
all Canada but 200 French; now there
are 800 900, and they claim that 600, 900
have gone TO the United States. And
there has been no French immigration TO
speak of. In other words, the French of
1850 have in l29 years multiplied forty
fold-fccundity unparalleled since the
days of Israel in Egypt. No wonder
some of their poetic enthusiasts predict
that there Is yet TO be French speaking
nation on this continent, and they are
It's predestined ancestors.
But To return to Quebec. II was dis
covered, as aforesaid, in 1885, and the
town was founded July 3, 1908, by
Champlain, it became finally English in
1850, and it is no small compliment to
British craftsmanship that in thirteen
years the French were so well satisfied
as to stand out solidly against the Amer
leans. The city has been besieged six
times mot counting the lndians), and,
captured twice 10y the British. Truly it
is historic. In the whole province are
l,350,027 people by the last census, of
whom siN-sevenths are French, and in
the city are about 10000. One would
not think so either at first view, but the
upper town is vast, populated rock.
scarped and graded till habitable, and
with dwellings stuck on all the little Off
sets like swallows nests on the beams of
q barn