That Single Discharge Disabled So Many Of Our Guns, That We
Had To Get Others Then In The Lower Town, And Our Men Were So Weak
That They Could Not Drag Them Up, But Which Was At Last Done With The
Help Of The Sailors Just Arrived In The Fleet.
In about three days after the arrival of the "Lowestoffe" the
remainder of the Fleet came up to Quebec, and finding that the French
had some ships lying above Wolfe's Cove, they went up to look after
them.
As soon as the French had seen them coming on, they slipp'd
their cables, and endeavor'd to get out of the way with the help of
the flood-tide, but the Commodore's ship got upon a ledge of rocks,
and stuck fast, and the crew took to the boats, and got ashore,
leaving the ship to take care of itself. There was found, on board of
this ship, one Mons. Cugnet and an Englishman call'd Davis, both of
whom had their hands tied behind their back, and a rope about their
neck, and they were inform'd that they both were to be hang'd at the
yard-arm so soon as the ship's company had finish'd their breakfast!
Monsieur Cugnet was the person who, at the Island of Orleans, gave
General Wolfe the information where would be the best place to get up
the bank above the Town, and Davis, who had been taken prisoner by the
French, some years before, had given some other kind of information,
and they both were to be punish'd as spies. However, they not only got
off with their lives, but were afterwards, well rewarded by our
Government. The former was appointed French-Translator to the
Government Offices, and something more, which enabled him to live
respectably; and Davis, who had been a grenadier-soldier, got a
pension of twenty five pounds a year: they both lived a long time in
the enjoyment of it."
MORTON LODGE.
The extensive green pastures which General James Murray owned, in 1768, on
the St. Foy road, under the name of Sans bruit, [280] form at present
several minor estates. One of the handsomest residences of this well
wooded region was Morton Lodge, on the south side of the highway, and
bounded by the Belvidere road, - about thirty-two acres in extent. It was
honored with this name by one of its former owners, the builder of the
lodge, some sixty years ago - the late James Black, Esquire. Morton Lodge
is built in the cottage style, with a suite of roomy apartments forming a
spacious wing in rear; the lawns in front of the house, with a grove of
trees, add much to its beauty; a handsome conservatory to the east opens
on the drawing room; it is located in the centre of a flower garden. The
additional attraction of this residence, when owned by the late David
Douglas Young was an extensive collection of paintings, purchased at
various times by the owner both in Canada and in Europe: the French,
Flemish and Italian schools were well represented, as well as Kreighoff's
winter scenery in Canada.
Morton Lodge, for many years was the residence of David Douglass Young,
Esquire, once President of the Quebec Bank, and formerly a partner of the
late George B. Symes, Esquire. Mr. Young claimed, on the maternal side, as
ancestor, Donald Fraser, one of Fraser's (78th) Highlanders, a regiment
which distinguished itself at the taking of Quebec, whilst fighting under
Wolfe, on these same grounds.
Forming a portion of this estate, to the west, may be noticed a cosy
little nest, Bruce's Cottage, as it was formerly called - now
Bannockburn - surrounded on all sides by trees, lawns and flowers.
WESTFIELD.
"What, sir, said I," cut down Goldsmith's hawthorn bush, that supplies
so beautiful an image in the DESERTED VILLAGE! 'Ma foy,' exclaimed the
bishop (of Ardagh,) 'is that the hawthorn bush? then ever let it be
saved from the edge of the axe, and evil to him that would cut from it
a branch." - Howitt's Homes and Haunts of British Poets.
At Mount Pleasant, about one mile from St. John's Gate, a number of
agreeable suburban residences have sprung up, as if by enchantment, within
a few years. This locality, from the splendid view it affords of the
valley of St. Charles, the basin of the St. Lawrence and surrounding
country, has ever been appreciated. The most noticeable residence is a
commodious cut-stone structure, inside of the toll, erected there a few
years back by the late G. H. Simard, Esq., member for Quebec, and later,
purchased by the late Fred. Vannovous, Esq., Barrister. Its mate in size
and appearance a few acres to the west, on the St. Foye road, is owned by
the Hon. Eugene Chinic, Senator. In the vicinity, under the veil of a
dense grove of trees, your eyes gather as you drive past, the outlines of
a massive, roomy homestead, on the north side of the heights, on a site
which falls off considerably; groups of birch, maple, and some mountain
ash and chesnut trees, flourish in the garden which surrounds the house;
in rear, flower beds slope down in an enclosure, whose surface is
ornamented with two tiny reservoirs of crystal water, which gushes from
some perennial stream, susceptible of great embellishment at little cost,
by adding Jets d'eau. The declivities in rear seem as if intended
by nature to be laid out into lovely terraces, with flowers or verdure to
fringe their summits.
In the eastern section of the domain stands,
"The hawthorne bush, with seats beneath the shade,
For talking age and whispering lovers made."
Whether it blossoms on Christmas Day, like the legendary White Thorn of
Glastonbury, "which sprang from Joseph of Arimathea's dry staff, stuck by
him in the ground when he rested there" deponent sayeth not. This majestic
and venerable tree, branching out like a diminutive cedar of Lebanon, is
indeed the pride of Westfield.
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