This, And The Building Opposite, St. Bridget's Asylum, With
Its Growing Fringe Of Trees And Green Plots, Are Decided Ornaments To The
Grande Allee.
The old burying ground of 1832, with all its ghastly memories of the
Asiatic scourge, has assumed quite an
Ornate, nay a respectable aspect.
Close to the toll-bar on the Grande Allee, may yet be seen one of
the meridian stones which serve to mark the western boundary of the city,
beyond the Messrs. Lampson's mansion. On the adjoining domain, well named
"Battlefield Cottage," formerly the property of Col. Charles Campbell, now
owned by Michael Connolly, Esq., was the historic well out of which a cup
of water was obtained to moisten the parched lips of the dying hero, James
Wolfe, on the 13th September, 1759. The well was filled in a few years
ago, but not before it was nigh proving fatal to Col. Campbell's then
young son, - (Arch. Campbell, Esq., of Thornhill.) Its site is close to the
western boundary fence, in the garden, behind "Battlefield Cottage." Here
we are at those immortal plains - the Hastings of the two races once
arrayed in battle against one another at Quebec. The western boundary of
the Plains is a high fence enclosing Marchmont, for years the cherished
family seat of John Gilmour, Esq., now occupied by Col. Fred Turnbull, of
the Canadian Hussars.
On the north-east corner of the Belvedere Road, may be seen a range of
glass houses, put up by J. Doig, formerly gardener at Benmore.
A few minutes more brings the tourist to the Hon. D. Price's villa, Wolfe-
field, where may be seen the precipitous path up the St. Denis burn, by
which the Highlanders and British soldiers gained a footing above, on the
13th September, 1759, and met in battle array to win a victory destined to
revolutionize the New World. The British were piloted in their ascent of
the river by a French prisoner brought with them from England - Denis de
Vitre, formerly a Quebecer of distinction. Their landing place at Sillery
was selected by Major Robert Stobo, who had, in May, 1759, escaped from a
French prison in Quebec, and joined his countrymen, the English, at
Louisbourg, from whence he took ship again to meet Admiral Saunders' fleet
at Quebec. The tourist next drives past Thornhill, for years owned by
Arch. Campbell, Esq., P.S.C., Sir Francis Hincks' old home when Premier to
Lord Elgin. Opposite appear the leafy glades of Spencer Wood, so grateful
a summer retreat, that Lord Elgin used to say, "There he not only loved to
live, but would like to rest his bones." Next comes Spencer Grange, the
seat of J. M. LeMoine, Esq.; then Woodfield, the homestead, of the Hon.
Wm. Sheppard [152] in 1847, later on of Messrs. John Lawson and Jas Gibb.
[153] Facing the Woodfield property, on the Gomin Road, are visible the
extensive vineries and peach houses of Hon. Geo. Okill Stuart, Judge of
the Vice-Admiralty Court. The eye next dwells on the rustic church of St.
Michael, embowered in evergreens. This handsome little temple of worship
where the Governors of Canada usually attended, when living at Spencer
Wood, contain several memorial window. Southwards looms out, at Sous-
les-Bois, the stately convent of Jesus-Marie; on the edge of the bank,
to the south-east, at Pointe-a-Pizeau, stands the R. C. Church of St.
Colomb de Sillery, in a most commanding position; on the Sillery heights,
north-west of the Church of St. Michael, the late Bishop George J.
Mountain owned a delightful summer retreat, recently sold to Albert H.
Furniss, Esq.; then you meet with villas innumerable - one of the most
conspicuous is Benmore House, Col. Rhodes' country seat. Benmore is well
worthy of a call, were it only to procure a bouquet. This is not merely
the Eden of roses; Col. Rhodes has combined the farm with the garden. His
underground rhubarb and mushroom cellars, his boundless asparagus beds and
strawberry plantations, are a credit to Quebec.
Next come Clermont, [154] Beauvoir, [155] Kilmarnock, [156] Cataraqui,
[157] Kilgraston, [158] Kirk-Ella, [159] Meadow Bank, [160] Ravenswood,
[161] Dornald, [162] until, after a nine miles' drive, Redclyffe closes
the rural landscape - Redclyffe, [163] on the top of Cap Rouge
Promontory. There, many indications yet mark the spot where Roberval's
ephemeral colony wintered as far back as 1542. You can now, if you like,
return to the city by the same route, or select the Ste. Foye Road,
skirting the classic heights where General Murray, six months after the
first battle of the Plains, lost the second, on the 28th April, 1760; the
St. Foye Church was then occupied by the British soldiers. Beausejour is a
beautiful demesne, where M. Ls. Bilodeau has several reservoirs, for the
propagation of trout. Your gaze next rests on Holland House, Montgomery's
headquarters in 1775, behind which is Holland tree, overshadowing, as of
yore, the grave of the Hollands. [164]
The view, from the St. Foye Road, of the gracefully meandering St. Charles
below, especially during the high tides, is something to be remembered.
The tourist shortly after detects the iron pillar, surmounted by a bronze
statue of Bellona, presented in 1855 by Prince Napoleon Bonaparte -
intended to commemorate the fierce struggle at this spot on the 28th
April, 1760. In close vicinity, appear the bright parterres or
umbrageous groves of Bellevue, [165] Hamwood, [166] Bijou, [167]
Westfield, [168] Sans-Bruit, and the narrow gothic arches of Finlay
Asylum; soon you re-enter by St. John's Suburbs, with the broad basin of
the St. Charles and the pretty Island of Orleans staring you in the face.
The principal objects to be noted in this street are: on the north side,
St. John's Church, built in 1848 - a large but not very elegant temple of
R. C. worship, capable of seating 2,000 persons; on the south side, St.
Mathew's Church, (Church of England,) a handsome structure, whose
beginnings, in 1828; were associated with the late Bishop G. J. Mountain's
ministrations and munificence.
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