The Structures With Which They Were Replaced, Together With The
Two Additional And Similarly Guarded Openings - Hope And Prescott
Gates
- Provided for the public convenience or military requirements by
the British Government since the Conquest, have experienced the same
fate
Within the last decade to gratify what are known as modern ideas
of progress and improvement - vandalism would, perhaps, be the better
term. No desecrating hand, however, can rob those hallowed links, in
the chain of recollection, of the glorious memories which cluster
around them so thickly. Time and obliteration itself have wrought no
diminution of regard for their cherished associations.
To each one of them an undying history attaches, and even their vacant
sites appeal with mute, but surpassing eloquence to the sympathy, the
interest and the veneration of visitors, to whom Quebec will be ever
dear, not for what it is, but for what it has been. To the quick
comprehension of Lord Dufferin, it remained to note the inestimable
value of such heirlooms to the world at large. To his happy tact we
owe the revival of even a local concern for their preservation; and to
his fertile mind and aesthetic taste, we are indebted for the
conception of the noble scheme of restoration, embellishment and
addition in harmony with local requirements and modern notions of
progress, which is now being realized to keep their memories intact
for succeeding generations and retain for the cradle of New France its
unique reputation as the famous walled city of the New World. It has
more than once been remarked by tourists that, in their peculiar
fondness for a religious nomenclature, the early French settlers of
Quebec must have exhausted the saintly calendar in adapting names to
their public highways, places and institutions. To this pardonable
trait in their character, we must unquestionably ascribe the names
given to two of the three original gates in their primitive lines of
defence - St. Louis and St. John's gates - names which they were allowed
to retain when the Gallic lilies drooped before the victorious flag of
Britain. The erection of the original St. Louis gate undoubtedly dates
back as far as 1694. Authentic records prove this fact beyond
question; but it is not quite so clear what part this gate played in
subsequent history down to the time of the conquest, thought it may be
fairly presumed that it rendered important services in connection
especially with the many harassing attacks of the Iroquois tribes in
the constant wars which were waged in the early days of the infant
colony with those formidable and savage foes of the French. One thing
is certain, however, that it was one of the gates by which a portion
of Montcalm's army, after its defeat on the Plains of Abraham, passed
into the city on its way back, via Palace gate and the bridge
of boats over the St. Charles, to the Beauport camp. In 1791, after
Quebec had fallen into British hands, St. Louis gate was reported to
be in a ruinous condition, and it became necessary to raze it to the
ground and rebuild it. Between this date and 1823, it appears to have
undergone several changes; but, in the latter year, as part of the
plan of defence, including the Citadel, adopted by the Duke of
Wellington, and carried out at an enormous cost by England, it was
replaced by another structure, retaining the same name. About this
time seem to have been also constructed the singularly tortuous
outward approaches to this opening in the western wall of the city,
which were eventually so inconvenient to traffic in peaceful days, of
whatever value they might have been from a military stand-point in
trying hours half-a-century ago. These were also removed with the gate
itself in 1871. On the vacant site of the latter, in accordance with
Lord Dufferin's improvment project, a magnificent memorial gate, which
the citizens had unanimously agreed to call "The Dufferin gate," is
now (1880) erected.
The intention of naming it "The Dufferin gate," however, was
abandoned. H.R.H. the Princess Louise, in deference to its traditions
and with a graceful appreciation of the feelings of the French element
of the population, having recently expressed the desire that it should
be allowed to retain its original appellation.
Before their departure from Canada, Lord and Lady Dufferin had the
pleasure of assisting at the ceremony of laying the corner stone of
this new gate, as well as of the new terrace, which bears their name,
and of fairly starting those important works on the high road to
realization.
As an interesting link between the present and the past, St. John's
gate holds an equally prominent rank and claims an equal antiquity
with St. Louis gate. Its erection as one of the original gates of the
French fortress dates from the same year and its history is very much
the same. Through it another portion of Montcalm's defeated forces
found their way behind the shelter of the defences after the fatal day
of the Plains of Abraham. Like St. Louis gate, too, it was pulled down
on account of its ruinous condition in 1791 and subsequently rebuilt
by the British Government in the form in which it endured until 1865,
when it was demolished and replaced, at an expense of some $40,000 to
the city, by its present more ornate and convenient substitute, to
meet the increased requirements of traffic over the great artery of
the upper levels - St. John street. St. John's gate was one of the
objective points included in the American plan of assault upon Quebec
on the memorable 31st December, 1775; Col. Livingston, with a regiment
of insurgent Canadians, and Major Brown, with part of a regiment from
Boston, having been detailed to make a false attack upon the walls to
the south of it and to set fire to the gate itself with combustibles
prepared for that purpose - a scheme in which the assailants were
foiled by the depth of snow and other obstacles.
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