Picturesque Quebec, By James Macpherson Le Moine










































































































































 -  By whom and for what purpose, the robbery?


THE RECOLLET CONVENT.

Let us walk on, and view with the Professor's - Page 104
Picturesque Quebec, By James Macpherson Le Moine - Page 104 of 451 - First - Home

Enter page number    Previous Next

Number of Words to Display Per Page: 250 500 1000

By Whom And For What Purpose, The Robbery?

THE RECOLLET CONVENT.

Let us walk on, and view with the Professor's eyes the adjoining public edifice in 1749, the Recollet Convent, "a spacious building," says Kalm, "two story high, with a large orchard and kitchen garden." It stood apparently on the south-eastern extremity of the area, on which the Anglican Cathedral was built in 1804, across what is now the southern prolongation of Treasury Street; it is said its eastern end occupied a portion of the site now occupied by the old Place d'Armes - now the Ring.

Its church or chapel was, on 6th September, 1796, destroyed by fire; two eye-witnesses of the conflagration, Philippe Aubert DeGaspe and Deputy- Commissary-General James Thompson, the first in his Memoires, the second in his unpublished Diary, have vividly portrayed the accident.

"At the date of the conflagration of the Recollets Church, 6th September, 1796, the bodies of those who had been interred there were taken up. The remains of persons of note, those among others of Count de Frontenac, were re-interred in the Cathedral (now the Basilica), it is said, under the floor of the Chapel N. D. of Pity. The leaden coffins, which, it appears, had been placed on iron bars in the Recollets Church, had been partially melted by the fire. In Count de Frontenac's coffin was found a small leaden box, which contained the heart of that Governor. According to a tradition, handed down by Frere Louis, the heart of Count de Frontenac was, after his death, sent to his widow in France. But the haughty Countess refused to receive it, saying that 'she did not want a dead heart, which when beating did not belong to her.' The casket containing the heart was sent back to Canada and replaced in the Count's coffin, where it was found after the fire." (Abbe H. R. Casgrain.)

The Church faced the Ring and the old Chateau; it formed part of the Recollet Convent, "a vast quadrangular building, with a court and well stocked orchard" on Garden Street; it was occasionally used as a state prison. The Huguenot and agitator, Pierre DuCalvet, [62] spent some dreary days in its cells in 1781-84; and during the summer of 1776, a young volunteer under Benedict Arnold, John Joseph Henry, (who lived to become a distinguished Pennsylvania Judge), was immured in this monastery, after his capture by the British, at the unsuccessful attack in Sault-au-Matelot Street, on the 31st December, 1775, as he graphically relates in his Memoirs. It was a monastery of the Order of Saint Francis. The Provincial, in 1793, a well-known, witty, jovial and eccentric personage, Father Felix DeBerey, had more than once dined and wined His Royal Highness Prince Edward, the father of our gracious Sovereign, when stationed in our garrison in 1791-4, with his regiment, the 7th Fusiliers.

The Recollet Church was also a sacred and last resting place for the illustrious dead.

Enter page number   Previous Next
Page 104 of 451
Words from 54358 to 54858 of 236821


Previous 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 Next

More links: First 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200
 210 220 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300
 310 320 330 340 350 360 370 380 390 400
 410 420 430 440 450 Last

Display Words Per Page: 250 500 1000

 
Africa (29)
Asia (27)
Europe (59)
North America (58)
Oceania (24)
South America (8)
 

List of Travel Books RSS Feeds

Africa Travel Books RSS Feed

Asia Travel Books RSS Feed

Europe Travel Books RSS Feed

North America Travel Books RSS Feed

Oceania Travel Books RSS Feed

South America Travel Books RSS Feed

Copyright © 2005 - 2022 Travel Books Online