"Upon Our Coquettish Rivers In Europe They May Whisper Of Loves Along
Their Flowery Banks And Under The Vine-Clad
Terraces that overhang
them, like the curtains of a saloon; but here, in this grand severity
of nature, upon these
Immense, half desert plains, in the silence of
these gloomy forests, on the banks of this majestic river that is ever
speeding onward to the eternal ocean, we may feel emotions that are
truly sublime. If, in this quiet solitude, should we open the soul to
a dream of love, it takes the serious tone; it needs must be a pure
being that dares to breathe to the heavens and to the waves these
sacred words, 'I love thee,' and that can add the promise and the
pledge of the Canadian song:
"Jamais je ne t'oublierai."
"Ne'er will I forget thee!" [106]
Among the streets of Quebec, most celebrated in our annals by reason of
the incidents which attach thereto, one may name the frowsy and tortuous
highway which circulates from the foot of Mountain Hill, running for a
distance of two hundred feet below the Cape, up to the still narrower
pathway which commences west of St. James street and leads to the foot of
the hill "de la canoterie;" [107] all will understand we mean the
leading commercial thoroughfare of olden time, [108] Sault-au-Matelot
street. Is it because a sailor, no doubt only partially relieved from the
horrors of sobriety, there made a wild leap? or are we to attribute the
name to the circumstance of a dog named "Matelot" ("Sailor") there taking
a leap? [109] Consult Du Creux. Our friend, Joseph Marmette,
appropriated it for the reception of his hero, "Dent de Loup," who escaped
without broken bones after his leap. [110]
The western portion of the still narrower pathway of which we have just
spoken, rejoices in the name of "Ruelle des Chiens," (Dog Lane); [111] the
directories name it Sous-le-Cap street. It is so narrow that, at certain
angles, two carts passing in opposite directions, would be blocked. Just
picture to yourself that up to the period of 1816, our worthy ancestors
had no other outlet in this direction at high water to reach St. Roch,
(for St. Paul street was constructed subsequently to 1816, as M. de Gaspe
has informed us.) Is it not incredible? As, in certain passes of the Alps,
a watchman no doubt stood at either extremity of this lane, provided with
a speaking trumpet to give notice of any obstruction and thus prevent
collisions. This odoriferous locality, especially during the dog-days, is
rather densely populated. The babes of Green Erin, with a sprinkling of
young Jean Baptistes, here flourish like rabbits in a warren. Miss Kitty
Ellison and her friend. Mr. Arbuton, in their romantic wanderings, were
struck with the mise en scene of Dog Lane: -
"Now that Prescott Gate, by which so many thousands of Americans have
entered Quebec since Arnold's excursionists failed to do so, is
demolished, there is nothing left so picturesque and characteristic as
Hope Gate (alas!
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