The Intendant's Valet De Chambre, Anxious To Save Some Of
His Master's Wardrobe, Also Perished In The Flames.
His Secretary,
passing barefooted from the Palace to the river front, was so much
frozen that he died in the Hospital of the Hotel-Dieu a few days
afterwards.
[127]
"The Palace was afterward rebuilt under the direction of M. Begon at
the expense of His Majesty, and of which the plans and elevation now
presented are presumed to be a correct and faithful illustration. The
principal entrance appears to have been from that side next the cliff,
opposite the 'Arsenal,' - or from the present line of St. Valier
street - with large store buildings, magazines, &c., on either side of
the entrance, and in the rear of that stood the building known as the
'Prison.' It would appear that La Potherie's remark, in 1698,
of the first construction resembling a little town in itself, would
also apply to the group of the second construction - as no less than
twenty in number are shown on some of the old plans of this period.
From sketches taken on the spot by an officer of the Fleet in Wolfe's
expedition of 1759, and published in London two years afterwards,
there can be little doubt, for want of room elsewhere, that the Palace
was converted into barracks and occupied immediately after the
surrender of Quebec by the troops under General Murray, and continued
to be used as such until it fell into the hands of the American
insurgents under Arnold, in 1775, and was destroyed by the cannon from
the ramparts. The assumption is strengthened, if not confirmed, by the
occupation of the Jesuit College as barracks the following year the
amount of accommodation in both cases, a full regiment - would be the
same; hence the comfortable quarters in the 'Palais' by the rebel
force under Arnold, which would accommodate the most of his men.
"The appearance of this once celebrated structure in its general
aspect was more imposing from its extent than from any architectural
ornate embellishments. The style was the French domestic of that
period, of two clear stories in height, the extreme frontage was 260
feet, with projecting wings at either end of 20 feet (vide plan), the
depth from the front of the wings to the rear line 75 feet, and the
central part 58 feet; the height from the site level to the apex of
roof about 55 feet, and to the eaves line about 33 feet; in the
basement there were no less than 9 vaults, 10 feet high to the crown
of the arch running along the whole front, as shown in the elevation.
The apartments in the two stories are divided longitudinally by a wall
from one end to the other, and comprise altogether about 40 in number,
allotted into barrack-rooms as per original military plans.
"The roof is plain and steep, and only broken by the pedimented wings
at each end of the building, with chimney stacks and stone coping over
the transverse fire walls, and otherwise relieved by a small octagonal
cupola of two sections placed in the centre of the roof.
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