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Impressions of Canada on travellers part 3 · Canadian Scenery

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Section twenty of Canadian Scenery, Volume one. This is a LibriVox recording.
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All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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please visit LibriVox dot org. Canadian Scenery, Volume one by Nathaniel Parker
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Willis. Towards the end of April, the townspeople begin, according to a
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law of the province, to break up the ice and snow from before their
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doors, and by the first week in May the streets are tolerably clear.
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The intermediate state, as may be supposed, is a perfect chaos, through
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which the stumbling pedestrian, like the arch fiend of old, pursues his way
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and swims or sinks, or wades or creeps. Meanwhile, the landscape begins
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to exchange its snowy mantle for a russet brown. A few wild fowl and
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woodcocks, with some small birds, cautiously make their appearance. The sheltered bottoms
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of the pine woods throw out the earliest flowers. The Saint Lawrence and Charles
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rivers become gradually disperth in device and enlivened by the gliding sail. Still,
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however, the foot of spring seems lingering. The Mists exhaled by the warmth
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of the sun, frequently encounter the keen northwest and are again precipitated in heavy
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snow showers. Snow still blocks up the roads and fills the dells and ditches,
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sheltered from the influence of the sun, thus preserving the gloomy aspect of
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winter through the month of May. The town or rather city, of Quebec
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is built on the northern extremity of a narrow strip of high land which follows
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the course of the Saint Lawrence for several miles to its confluence with the Charles.
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The basis of this height is a dark slate rock of which most of
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the buildings in the town are constructed. Cape Diamond terminates the promontory with a
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bold precipice towards the Saint Lawrence, to which it is nearly perpendicular, at
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the height of three hundred twenty feet. It derives its name from the crystals
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of courts found in it, which are so abundant that after a shower the
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ground glitters with them. The lower town is built round the foot of these
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heights, without the fortifications which with the upper town occupy their creston bleak pre
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eminence. The former, snug and dirty, is the abode of thriving commerce
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and the most of the lower classes employed about the navy. The latter,
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cold and lofty, is the seat of government and principal residence of the military,
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and claims in consequence that kind of superiority which some heads have been said
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to assert over the inglorious belly. To speak, the truth, neither has
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much to boast on the score of either beauty or convenience. Among the principal
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buildings, the government House or Castle of Saint Louis may take precedence, being
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a thin blue building which seems quivering like a theatrical side scene, on the
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verge of the precipice towards the Saint Lawrence. Its front resembles that of a
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respectable gentleman's house in England. The interior contains comfortable family apartments for occasions of
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public festivity. There is another building on the opposite side of the courtyard,
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much resembling a decayed jail. The furniture is inherited and paid for by each
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successive governor. The grand entrance to the chateau is flanked on one side by
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this grim moldering pile, and on the other by the stables with their appropriate
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dunghills. There is a small garden on the bank of the river, commanding,
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as does the chateau itself, an interest view of the opposite shores of
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the Saint Lawrence. These rise boldly precipitous, clothed with pine and cedar groves,
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and studded with white villages and detached farms, beyond which the eye re
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opens on successive chains of wooded mountains, fading blue in the distant horizon.
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Meanwhile, the river below is spreading broadly towards the north until it meets and
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divides round the Isle of Orleans. In front of the chateau is an open
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space of ground with great capabilities of being converted into a handsome square, but
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at this season a formidable barrier of bogland is all that it presents to the
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bewildered pedestrian who endeavors vainly to steer for the castle gate. On one side
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of it stands the Protestant Cathedral Church, an unfinished building much more than large
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enough for the congregation usually assembled in it. In style and arrangement, it
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resembles a London parochial church, and has nothing about it reproachable with earthly beauty.
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There is a good organ but mute for want of an organist, and
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there is no choir. The heavy flatness of the service amply secures the English
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Church from all dangers of being crowded within the overflowings of its neighbor, the
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Catholic Cathedral, and which are still displayed with knowing considerable degree of splendor.
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The enticing ceremonies of the Roman Worship I was present at the service on Easter
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Sunday. A train of not less than fifty stoled priests and choristers surrounded the
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tapered altar. The bishop officiated in plenis pontificalibus, nor lacked the miter precious
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and or refrigiate, while the pealing organ, incense rolling from silver sensors,
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and kneeling crowds thronging the triple aisles presented a spectacle on which few are rigid
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enough, either in belief or unbelief, to look upon with absolute indifference.
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A lofty pile of gingerbread cakes ornamented with tinsel was carried to the bishop to
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receive his blessing, and a sprinkling of holy water, after which they were
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distributed among the people who received them with most devout eagerness. These cakes I
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understood to be the pious offering of some devotee more rich than wise, who
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certainly adopted a somewhat ludicrous expedient to bribe the rage of ill requited heaven with
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gingerbread. In Catholic countries there are few buildings either for use or ornament,
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but are in some way connected with religion, and most frequently with charity.
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There are several charitable Catholic institutions in Quebec. The principle of these is the
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Hotel du founded in sixteen thirty seven by the Duchess Dieguian, sister to Cardinal
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Richelieu, for the poor sick. The establishment consists of a superior and thirty
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six nuns. The General Hospital is a similar institution, consisting of a superior
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and forty three nuns, founded by Saint Vallier, Bishop of Quebec, in
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sixteen ninety three for poor sick mendicants. It stands about a mile from the
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town in a pleasant meadow watered by the charles. The style of building is
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simple and well suited to the purposes of the establishment, consisting only of such
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plain roofs as piety could raise. The present superior is a lady of Irish
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extraction, her age apparently bordering on thirty. In this conventual seclusion, devoted
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to what might seem well to the mind of a delicate female, the most
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disgusting duties of humanity, she exhibits that easy elegance and sad, soft and
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cheerfulness of manner so often affected and rarely attained by the many votaries who dress
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their looks and carriage in the glass of fashion. She conducted us with the
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greatest politeness through every part of the building, which, as well as the
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Hotel Dieu in point of order, neatness, and arrangement seem singularly adapted to
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the comfort and recovery of the unfortunate beings to whose reception they are consecrated.
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Their funds I understood to be small and managed with strict economy. They receive
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a small sum annually from the government, in addition to the revenue arising from
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their domain lands. There is no distinction in the admission of Catholic or Protestant.
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The hand of charity has spread a couch for each in his infirmities.
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Both houses have a small pharmacopeia in charge of a sister instructed in medicine.
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The several duties of tending the sick by night, cooking, et cetera,
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are distributed by rotation. Employment is thus equally secured to all, and the
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first evil of cankering, thought effectually prevented. Good humor and contented cheerfulness seem
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to be no strangers to these fail full dresses seem, nay perhaps are for
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without ascribing any miraculous effect to the devotion of a cloister, it is no
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unreasonable supposition that in an establishment of this kind, the duties and occupations of
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which prevent seclusion from stagnating into apathy, or thought from fretting itself into peevishness,
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a greater degree of tranquility, and this is happiness, may possibly be
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obtained than commonly falls to the lot of those who drudge through the ordinary callings,
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or weary themselves with the common enjoyments of society. Grave men have doubted
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whether the purposes of these institutions might not be better answered by our common hospital
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establishments, and have even indulged themselves in a sneer at the idea of young
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men being attended in sickness by nuns. On the question generally, it may
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be observed that few who have any knowledge of the system of common hospitals can
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be at a loss to appreciate the difference betwixt the tender solicitude with which charity
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smooths for conscience sake the bed of suffering, and the heartless grudging attendants which
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hospital nurses usually inflict upon their victims. If the actions of the mind produce
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a sensible effect on the frame, particularly in sickness, this is no immaterial
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circumstance in a medical point of view. Even when the hour of human aid
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is passed, it is perhaps still something that the last earthy objects should be
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a face of sympathy, and the last duties of humanity be paid with a
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semblance of affection. For those who dedicate themselves to this ministry, some apology
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may be urged to such as admit motives as at least an extenuating circumstance in
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the consideration of error. The moral critics, perhaps, who are foremost to
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condemn their practice as superstitions, revolt less from the superstition than from the self
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sacrifice. It requires let the lash of satire fall mercilessly on mere bigots wherever
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they are found. But against the spirit, which abjuring the pleasures, devotes
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itself to the most painful duties of life. What argument can be directed which
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may not be left for its refutation to the prayers and blessings of the poor.
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The most objectionable part of the institution seems to be the committing of insane
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persons of both sexes to the charge of females. The answer is that there
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is no other asylum for them. The blame therefore attaches to the police of
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the country, for it is evident that women are very inadequate to the charge
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of such patients as require coercive treatment, particularly men. The Ursuline Content,
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founded by Madame de la Peltry in sixteen thirty nine for the education of female
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children, stands within the city. It has both its interior decoration and the
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dress of its inhabitants a greater appearance of wealth than the general hospital and Hotel
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Dieu. Among the orderments of the chapel, we were particularly directed to the
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skull and bones of a missionary who had been murdered by the Savages for attempting
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their conversion. It is perhaps doubtful, considering the general indifference of the Indians
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on matters of religious controversy, whether this was the real and sole offense by
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which he won the crown of martyrdom. These nuns have generally about two hundred
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little girls under their care, but I was sorry to observe their education bought
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with their health. Not one of them but had a pallid, sickly appearance,
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arising probably from much confinement during a long winter and an atmosphere highly heated
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with stoves joined to the salt unwholesome diet generally used by the Canadians. The
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Seminary is a collegiate institution for the gratuitous instruction of the Catholic youth of Canada.
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The number of scholars is commonly about two hundred. The expenses of professors
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teaching, et cetera, are defrayed by the revenue arising from the signiorial domains
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belonging to the establishment. The course of studies here qualifies for ordination. There
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is a small museum or Cabinet de physique, which seems in a growing condition.
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It contains, beside natural curiosities, electrical apparatus, telescopes, and other
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instruments of science. The library is somewhat too theological. There is a small
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hall attached to it, in which I perceived are common prayer books, testaments,
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et cetera, and company, with many divines, as well as Catholic
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and Protestant bail and a few travelers in philosophers, but the greater part theologians.
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The old Palace, beside the chambers for the Council and House of Assembly,
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contains a good public library. The nature of the collection, may be
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defined general, is the reverse of that of the seminary library. There is
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a good assortment of historical works of a standard quality, and of travels,
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but no classics, probably because none of the inhabitants affect to read them.
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A library is also on the eve of being established by the officers of the
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Staff and Garrison. But the society of Quebec is generally on too limited a
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scale, and too exclusively military or commercial, to foster any considerable spirit of
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literature or science. An attempt was made during Sir g. Provost's administration to
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establish a society on the plan of the Royal Institution, but it fell to
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the ground for want of a sufficiency of efficient members, eleven being the supposed
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necessary quantum to begin with. Nor is this seeming scarcity surprising when we consider
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that the short Canadian summers appropriated to business, and that during the tedious winter
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the men are never tired of dinners nor the ladies of dancing. There are
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some peculiar and interesting features in the neighborhood of Quebec. The lofty banks of
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the Saint Lawrence, from Cape Diamond to Cape Rouge, are composed of clay
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slate, generally of a dark color, sometimes of a dull red, whence
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the name of Cape Rouge. The bed of the river is of the same
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crumbling stone, and being tricherated by time in the elements, gives its sand
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a close resemblance, both in coloring consistency to Smith's filings Bear. However,
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as they are of soil, these perpendicular cliffs are everywhere clothed with a luxuriant
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verdure of shrubs and trees, whose roots, wreathing themselves round barren rocks,
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seem to woo from the charity of the heavens the nutriment denied them by a
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niggerd parent about two miles above Quebec, a break in the magnificent line of
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cliffs forms the little recess called Wolf's Cove. A steep pathway leads up the
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heights to the plains of Abram. Traces of fieldworks are still visible on the
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turf, and the stone is pointed out on which the hero expired. The
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cove is at present appropriated to the reception of lumber which comes down the river
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from the States and Upper Province in rafts, which frequently cover the surface of
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half an acre. When the wind is favorable, they spread ten or twelve
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square sails, and at other times they are pulled down. The men who
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navigate them build small wooden houses on them, and thus transported with their families,
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poultry and frequently cattle, form a complete floating village. A great proportion
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of the timber is brought from Lake Champlain, and the trade is almost wholly
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in the hands of the Americans. A second crescent like recess, about a
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mile from Wolfe's Cove, conceals the little village of Selori. Nothing can be
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more romantic than the seclusion of this charming spot. The river road to it
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turns round the foot of gigantic cliffs which seem interposed betwixt it and the world's
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turmoil. The heights which encircle it are deeply wooded to their summits, and
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retire sufficiently from the river to leave a pleasant meadow and hop ground round the
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village, consisting of about half a dozen neat white houses, one of which
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is an inn. On the river's edge stands the ruin of an old religious
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house built by French missionaries for the purpose of preaching to the Huron tribes who
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then inhabited this neighborhood. There is now no trace of those missionaries or of
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their labors, except in the little village of Loretto, which contains the only
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surviving relics of the once powerful Huron nation. So efficaciously have disease and gunpowder
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seconded the converting zeal of Europeans. Beside the road which winds under the cliffs
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Selori has two leading to Quebec through the woods. These woods cover the greatest
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part of the country betwixt the Saint Foix road and the river, offering all
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the luxury of shade and Sylvan loveliness to the few disposed to accept it.
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I say the few, for the fashionables of Quebec commonly prefer making a kind
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of rotten row of the plains of Abram, round which they parade with the
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periodical uniformity of blind horses in a mill. Lake Charles is generally talked of
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as one of the pleasantest spots round Quebec, and instances have been known of
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parties of pleasure reaching it. It is about three miles in length, and
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perhaps one at its greatest breadth. Towards the middle of it, two rocky
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points shoot out, so as to form, properly speaking, two lakes connected
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by a narrow channel. A scattered hamlet, taking its name from the lake,
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is seen with its meadows in tufted orchards along the right bank of the
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outward basin. Wooded heights rise on the opposite shore, and surrounded the whole
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of the interior lake, descending everywhere to the water's edge, the whole forming
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a scene of lovely loneliness, scarcely intruded on by the canoe of the silent
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angler. There is more in the whole landscape to feel than to talk about,
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so that it is little wonderful that an excursion to Lake Charles should be
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more frequently talked about than made. The Huron. Village of Loretto stands on
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the left bank of the Charles, about four miles below the lake eight from
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Quebec. The river immediately on passing the bridge below, the village rushes down
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its broken bed of granite with a descent of about seventy feet, and buries
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itself in the windings of the deeply shadowed glen below. A part of the
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fall is diverted to turn a mill which seems fearfully suspended above the foaming torrent.
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The village covers a plot of ground very much in the manner of an
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English barrack, and although reverse of the straggling Canadian method, it is in
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fact the method of their ancestors. I found the children amusing themselves with little
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bows and arrows. The houses had generally an air of poverty and slovenliness,
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that, however, of their principal chief, whom I visited, was neat
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and comfortable. One of their old men gave me a long account of the
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manner in which the Jesuits had contrived to trick them out of their seniorial rights
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and possession of the grant of land made them by the King of France,
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which consisted originally of four leagues, by one in breadth from Salori north,
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two leagues of this which were taken from them by the French government upon promise
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of an equivalent. They give up, he said, as lost. But
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as the property of the Jesuits is at present in the hands of commissioners appointed
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by our government, they were in hopes of recovering the remainder, which it
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never could be proved that their ancestors either gave sold lent, or in any
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way alienated. End of Canadian Scenery, Volume one by Nathaniel Parker Willis