It Is Evidently Of Very Great Age, Though
Each Summer As Green, As Fruitful As Ever; The Oldest Inhabitant Cannot
Recall When It Was Smaller.
If trees could reveal what has passed under
their boughs, would not the veteran hawthorn tell of wounded men
Resting
beneath it; of the strange garb and cries of combatants, English, French,
Celts, Canadians and Indians, on that luckless 28th April, 1760, when
Murray's soldiers, were retreating in hot haste from St. Foye and placing
the city walls between them and Levi's victorious legions; of shot, shell
and bullets, [281.] whistling through its hoary branches, on that
memorable 13th of September, 1759, when the Sauvages d'Ecosse, with
their reeking claymores, were slashing at, and pursuing the French, flying
from the battle field, over the St. Foye heights, to the French Camp on
the north bank of the St. Charles, in a line with the Marine Hospital.
Various indeed for as are the attractions of stately trees; we can
understand why this one is the pride of Westfield. To us, an old denizen
of the country, a stately tree has ever been a companionable; in fact, a
reverential object. In our eyes 'tis not only rich in its own native
beauty; it may perchance also borrow interest from associations and become
a part of our home - of ourselves: it may have overshadowed the rustic
seat, where, in our infant years, one dear to us and now departed, read
the Sunday hymn or taught us with a mother's sanctifying love to become a
good citizen, in every respect worthy of our sire. Perchance it may have
been planted on the day of our birth; it may also commemorate the natal
hour of our first-born, and may it not like ourselves, in our early days,
have required the fostering care of a guardian spirit, - the dews from
heaven to refresh it and encourage its growth. Yes, like the proprietor of
Westfield, we dearly love the old trees of our home.
We were invited to ascend to the loftiest point of this dwelling, and
contemplate from the platform on the roof the majestic spectacle at our
feet. Far below us waved the nodding pinnacles of countless forest trees;
beyond and around us, the site of the old battle-fields of 1759 and 1760,
to the east, the white expanse of the St. Lawrence sleeping between the
Beauport, Orleans and Point Levi shores; to the northwest, the snake-like
course of the St. Charles, stealing through fertile meadows, copses of
evergreens - until, by a supreme effort, it veers round the compass at the
Marine Hospital; there, at sunset, it appears as if gamboling in the light
of the departing luminary, whose rays anon linger in fitful glances on the
spires of Lorette, Charlesbourg and St. Sauveur, until they fade away, far
away in the cerulean distance, over the sublime crags of
Tsononthouan,
- "of these our hills
the last that parleys with the setting sun."
or else gild in amber tints, the wooded slopes of the lofty ridges to the
west.
Westfield, forms part of a larger expanse of land, formerly known as the
"Upper Bijou," crowning the heights, overhanging the valley of the St.
Charles, where existed the "Lower Bijou," marshy and green meadows, once
sacred to snipe, and on which the populous suburb St. Sauveur has recently
sprung up. It was granted in free and common soccage, to the late Charles
Grey Stewart, Esq., in 18 - ; he resided there many years.
In 1870, this lovely old homestead, became the property of the Hon. David
Alex. Ross, Barrister, M.P.P. for the county of Quebec, its present
occupant. Several embellishments have been added to it by this gentleman
and his lady; at present, the views, groves, parterres of Westfield during
the summer months are more attractive than ever.
COUCY-LE-CASTEL.
"Sol Canadien, terre cherie
Par des braves tu fus peuple,
Ils cherchaient, loin de leur patrie,
Une terre de liberte,
Qu'elles sont belles, nos campagnes,
Au Canada qu'on vit content!
About the year 1830 that portion of the environs of Quebec watered by the
River St. Charles, in the vicinity of Scott's bridge, had especially
attracted the attention of several of our leading citizens as pleasant and
healthy abodes for their families. Two well known gentlemen in particular,
the bearers of old and respected names, the late Honorable Mr. Justice
Philippe Panet, and his brother the Honorable Louis Panet, "Senator
selected two adjoining lots covering close on eighty acres, on the banks
of the St. Charles, the Cahire-Coubat of ancient days. The main road to
the east intervenes between the Hon. Judge Panet's seat and the mossy old
dwelling in which Col. Arnold had his head-quarters during the winter of
1775-76, now the residence of the Langlois family. Judge Panet built there
an elegant villa on an Italian design, brought home after returning from
the sunny clime of Naples, the rooms are lofty and all are oval. Several
hundred sombre old pines surround the house on all sides.
The neighboring villa, to the west, was planted by the Honorable Louis
Panet, about 1830; also the grounds tastefully laid out in meadows,
plantations and gardens, symmetrically divided off by neat spruce, thorn,
and snowball hedges, which improve very much their aspect. One fir hedge,
in particular, is of uncommon beauty. To the west an ancient pine, a
veritable monarch of the forest, rears his hoary trunk, and amidst most
luxuriant foliage looks down proudly on the young plantation beneath him,
lending his hospitable shades to a semi-circular rustic seat - a grateful
retreat during the heat of a summer's day. Next to this old tree runs a
small rill, once dammed up for a fish-pond, but a colony of muskrats
having "unduly elected domicile thereat," the finny denizens disappeared
as if by magic; and next, the voracious rodents made so many raids
into the vegetable garden that the legal gentleman, who was lord of the
manor, served on them a notice to quit, by removing the dam.
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