Part 2 — CHAPTER III. (continued 6)

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. This gate, being of quite recent construction and of massive, as well as passably handsome, appearance, is not included in the general scheme of improvement. The erection of a life-size statue of Samuel Champlain, the founder of Quebec, upon its summit, is, however, talked of.

Palace or the Palais gate is the third and last of the old French portals of the city, and derives its title from the fact that the highway which passed through it led to the palace or residence of the Intendants of New France, which has also given its name to the present quarter of the city lying beneath the cliff on the northern face of the fortress, where its crumbling ruins are still visible in the immediate neighborhood of the passenger terminus of the North Shore Railway. Erected under French rule, during which it is believed to have been the most fashionable and the most used, it bade a final farewell to the last of its gallant, but unfortunate French defenders, and to that imperial power which, for more than one hundred and fifty years, had swayed the colonial destinies of the Canadas and contested inch by inch with England, the supremacy of the New World, when a portion of Montcalm's defeated troops passed out beneath its darkening shadows on the fatal 13th September, 1759. After the capitulation of Quebec, General Murray devoted himself at once to the work of strengthening the defences of the city, and the attention in this respect paid to Palace gate appears to have stood him in good stead during the following year's campaign, when the British invaders, defeated in the battle of St. Foye, were compelled to take shelter behind the walls of the town and sustain a short siege at the Hands of the victorious French under deLévis. In 1791, the old French structure, now a decayed ruin, was razed by the English, but, in the meanwhile, during 1775, it had gallantly withstood the assaults and siege of the American invaders under Montgomery and Benedict Arnold. The somewhat ornate substitute, by which it was replaced is said to have resembled one of the gates of Pompeii, and seems to have been erected as late as the year 1830 or 1831, as, in the course of its demolition, in 1874, an inscription was laid bare, attesting the fact that at least the timbers and planking had been put up by local workmen in 1831. It is not intended to rebuild this gate under the Dufferin plan, on account of the great volume of traffic, more especially since the completion of the North Shore Railway, to whose terminus the roadway which leads over its site is the most direct route. To mark that memorable spot, however, it is intended to flank it on either side with picturesque Norman turrets rising above the line of the fortification wall.

Hope Gate, also on the northern face of the ramparts, was the first of the two purely British gates of Quebec, and was erected in 1786 by Colonel Henry Hope, Commandant of the Forces and Administrator of the Province, from whom it takes its name. It was demolished in 1874 for no especial reason, this gate being no obstacle whatever to the growing requirements of traffic, as will be readily understood from its situation. Like Palace Gate, too, it is not to be rebuilt—its approaches being easily commanded and its position on the rugged, lofty cliff being naturally very strong.

Its site, however, will be marked in the carrying out of the Dufferin Improvements by flanking Norman turrets.

The last of the city gates proper, wholly of British origin, but the first that grimly confronted in by-gone days the visitor approaching the city from the water-side and entering the fortress, is, or rather was, Prescott Gate, which commanded the steep approach known as Mountain Hill. This gate, which was more commonly known as the Lower Town gate, because it led to that part—the oldest—of the city known by that name, was erected in 1797, (to replace a rough structure of pickets which existed at this point from the time of the siege by the Americans in 1775) by General Robert Prescott, who served in America during the revolutionary war, and, after further service in the West Indies, succeeded Lord Dorchester as the British Governor-General in Lower Canada in 1796, dying in 1815, at the age of 89 years, and giving his name to this memento of his administration, as well as to Prescott, Ontario. Old Prescott Gate was unquestionably a great public nuisance in times of peace, its demolition, in 1871, consequently provoked the least regret of all in connection with the obliteration of those curious relics of Quebec's historic past. For reasons, which are obvious, it would be impossible to replace Prescott Gate with any structure of a like character, without impeding seriously the flow of traffic by way of such a leading artery as Mountain Hill. It will, however, be replaced by a light and handsome iron bridge of a single span over the roadway with flanking Norman turrets.

KENT GATE.

For the information of our visitors and strangers generally, we may explain that, a few years since, the western fortification wall between St. John's gate and the military exercising ground in past years, known as the Esplanade, was cut through to form a roadway communicating between the higher levels of the Upper Town and the St. Louis suburbs, now styled Montcalm Ward.

It consequently became necessary, in keeping with the aesthetic spirit of the whole Dufferin scheme, to fill up in some way this unsightly gap without interfering with the traffic. It was finally decided to erect here one of the proposed memorial gates, which is altogether therefore an addition to the number of the existing gates or their intended substitutes. This edifice, has been designed to do homage to the memory of Edward, Duke of Kent, the father of Queen Victoria. This gate will be the most imposing of all in the entire circuit of the fortifications, while it has had the signal honour of further being reserved for a handsome subscription towards its cost from Her Majesty's privy purse and dedication at the hands of H. R. H. the Princess, who laid its corner stone with appropriate ceremonial during the month of June, 1879.

THE CITADEL GATES.

Besides the foregoing, however, the fortress possesses in reality two other gates of much interest to the stranger. When the famous Citadel, commanding the entire harbour and surrounding country, was constructed on Cape Diamond, the number of existing gates was increased from five to seven by the erection of the Chain and Dalhousie, or Citadel gates, leading to that great fortalice of British power, which may be aptly styled the summum opus of the magnificent but costly system of strategic works that has earned for Quebec its title of the Gibraltar of America. But, as these belong to the Citadel, which is an independent stronghold of itself, rather than to the defensive works of the city proper, it suffices to mention that they were erected under the administration of the Earl of Dalhousie, in 1827, and that they are well worthy of a visit of inspection—the one being a handsome and formidable barrier of its class and the other of very massive construction and considerable depth.

The proposed Château St. Louis or Castle of St. Louis, must be regarded as the crowning feature of the Dufferin scheme of embellishment and was designed by the late Governor General to serve as a vice-regal residence during the sojourn of the representative of the Crown in Quebec, as well as to revive the historic splendors of the ancient pile of that name, which formed the abode of the early Governors of New France. Of course, this noble structure only exists as yet on paper; but, should it ever be erected, it will be a striking object from any point whence the Citadel is visible as it will rise to a considerable height above its highest battlements, standing out in bold relief to the east of the building known as the Officers' Quarters, with a frontage of 200 feet, and an elevation partly of 60 and partly of 100 feet, with a basement, two main stories, and mansard roof and two towers of different heights, but of equally charming design—the style of architecture of the whole being an agreeable mélange of the picturesque Norman and Elizabethan.

THELLER AND DODGE'S ESCAPE FROM THE CITADEL.

The Citadel has been described in detail elsewhere; [144] it is, therefore, unnecessary to allude to it further than recording here a startling episode in which it played a conspicuous part in those days of foes and alarm, during the Insurrection of 1838:—

"After the affair of St. Denis," says Roger, [145] "the murder of Lieutenant Weir, the matter of St. Charles, the storm and capture of the Church of St. Eustache, and the battle of Toronto, there were filibustering attempts to invade Canada, neither recognized by the Government of the United States nor by the bulk of the people, but indulged in by a party, sentimental with regard to liberty, and by others to whom plunder and excitement were congenial. In one of these filibustering expeditions, 'General' Sutherland, 'Brigadier General' Theller, Colonel Dodge, Messrs. Brophy, Thayer and other residents, if not citizens, of the United States, sailed from Detroit in the schooner Anne for Bois Blanc, which having been seized, an attack was made on Fort Maiden on the 8th of January, 1838, terminating in the capture of Theller, Dodge, Brophy and some others; General Sutherland having been afterwards captured on the ice, at the mouth of the River Detroit, by Colonel John Prince, of the Canadian Militia. The prisoners, after having been for a time in gaol at Toronto, were transferred, some to Fort Henry, at Kingston, and others, among whom were Sutherland, Theller and Dodge, to the Citadel of Quebec, which was then occupied by a battalion of the Guards, and there imprisoned, but treated with consideration and courtesy. It was not, however, unnatural that they should endeavor to escape. They were taken out of their prison-house daily for an airing, in charge of a guard, and, as it would appear, were not altogether denied the opportunity of conversing with persons who were friendly to them. Theller, in an account of the Rebellion in Canada, edited, it is said, by General Roberts, of Detroit, himself minutely details the nature and manner of his intercourse with a Mr. P. S. Grace, while under the charge of the military in Cape Diamond; how he succeeded in bribing soldiers' wives, and in cultivating the friendship of officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the Guards, much of which is exaggerated, and some of which is untrue. Some of the sergeants, for small presents, Theller asserts, did whatever he required in the way of bringing books and newspapers from town and articles of food and drink from the canteen, which is undoubtedly true, but no man in the regiment, either directly or indirectly, connived at the escape. It was the result of clever management on the part of Theller, Dodge and his companions, and of unsuspecting stupidity on the part of the sentry who guarded the door of the prison, and, indeed, of all who seemed to have had intercourse with the prisoners. The escape was thus effected:—On a dark, rainy night, late in October, 1838, an iron bar having been previously cut through with a file given them from without, the sawing having been effected during performances on the shrill fife of one of the fifers of the garrison, which a prisoner had borrowed for the purpose of passing away the time and keeping up the spirits of his companions in misfortune, some of whom were despondent, Theller's conversation seduced a sentry into conversation, next to smoke a pipe, then to drink a tumbler of London porter, drugged with rathermore than 'three times sixty drops' of laudanum. The sentry struggled hard to prevent the drowsiness that was stealing over him; he spoke thick, and muttered that he had never before drank anything so good or so strong. He walked about in the rain to keep himself awake, and staggered a little. * * * It resulted in the escape of Dodge, Thayer, Theller and Partridge, who, after several hair-breadth escapes and hazardous incidents, found themselves outside of their old quarters." "The escaping party," adds Roger, "moved cautiously forward, at respectable distances from each other, along the canteen, and then got out into the middle of the great square to elude the sentry at the magazine. While there a sergeant came rushing from the guard-room towards the officers' quarters, the red, or as they appeared dark, stripes being visible on a white undress jacket. It seemed to be an alarm. There were only three sentinels between the escaping party and the flagstaff, where the descent was intended. Abreast was one whose duty was to guard the back part of the magazine and a pile of firewood which was there corded up, and also to prevent soldiers from going to the canteen. Another stood opposite the door of the officers' mess-room. There was room enough in the darkness to pass these sentinels, and Theller and his companions no longer crawled, but walked upright, one by one, quietly, but passing along as quickly as possible. Parker, however, after the sergeant passed, became much excited and terrified, and lost his way. He made some noise, and a sentry challenged, but without answering, the rest hurried towards the half-moon battery where the flagstaff is. Passing round the old telegraph post on one side, near the stabling attached to the officers' quarters, a sentinel there with side- arms only, or, as he is technically termed 'a flying Dick,' challenged, and Theller asserts he promptly answered, 'Officer of the guard,' when the countersign being demanded, he muttered, 'teen,' having learned during the confinement that the countersign of the Guards ordinarily ended so—seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, or such like—and the sentry, fancying from the cap with a gold lace band on it, which, having undone his cloak, Theller placed upon his head, that he was one of the officers, suffered him to pass. Parker had got among the firewood, and was making a noise. Dodge was running about on the top of the wall, making signals for Grace and other friends who were to be outside, but could see no one there. The haulyards of the flagstaff were then partially cut down with a penknife. An alarm was now given by an officer of the garrison who accidentally came upon Culver, one of the escaping party, and in a moment the drums beat and the guard turned out. The officers rushed out of the mess-room. An artilleryman detected Parker, and the cry arose that the American prisoners were loose and escaping. Some immediately ran towards the prison, whilst others dragged Parker to the guard-room, and yet others began to search about for the 'General,' Colonel Dodge, Culver and Hall, whom Parker intimated, in reply to a question put to him by an officer, had not come out. There was no alternative but to jump from the wall to the flat part of the precipice below, on which the wall is built, what Theller first did. For an instant he hung by his hands, then dropped, and alighted on his feet on the solid rock, falling back on his head. He was stunned, and lay a minute or two unconscious. When he came to himself, he heard Dodge inquiring if he was hurt, and replied in the negative, telling him to throw down the bundle of cloaks and leap upon them. Theller had broken the outer bone of his leg and dislocated his right ankle joint, but had been so stunned that he scarcely felt any pain. Culver descended next, and was stunned, the blood gushing from his nose and mouth; he had, it is said, also fractured his leg. Culver was more fortunate, as he alighted on a pile of cloaks, and was little, if at all, hurt. Dodge then, throwing down the piece of rope which he had cut from the haulyards to be used in the next descent, also slipped down the wall upon the pile of cloaks, and was unhurt. The second descent was made with the aid of the rope, the end of which was held by two of the party, while Theller with his wounded leg slipped down over a piece of cedar post which had been accidentally placed against the wall of the ditch. Culver followed, then Hall held the rope alone for Dodge, and afterwards descended himself as all had done on the first leap, caught as he came to the ground, however, by the rest of the party. Dodge, in saving Hall from falling after or as he leaped, sprained his wrist. The whole party, however, managed to crawl up the outer wall of the ditch, which was faced with dry stone, by inserting their hands in the interstices and using their feet as well as they could. They rested on the summit of the glacis for a moment, and saw the search that was being made for them inside by lights that were flashing about into every nook and cranny."

It would take us too far to describe the subsequent incidents of this clever plan of escape. The patriots of St. Roch, Dr. Rousseau, Grace, Hunter and others, provided means of escape for the "sympathisers" which baffled all the ingenuity of the Commandant of the Quebec garrison, an old Waterloo hero, Sir James Macdonald, who certainly spared neither time, men nor trouble to recover the Citadel prisoners, but in vain.

We must find room here for another singular incident in connection with the Citadel and the Insurrection of 1837-8:—

"THE MEN OF '37."

THE SECRET SOCIETY OF THE "CHASSEURS"—RECOLLECTIONS OF A VETERAN—PROPOSED CAPTURE OF QUEBEC.

"A representative of the Montreal Witness, in a conversation with Mr. Rouillard, Inspector of Buildings, ascertained that he had taken a somewhat prominent part in the stirring scenes of the Rebellion of 1837. The old gentleman's eyes lit up with the fire of youthful enthusiasm when recounting the deeds of the "Sons of Liberty," and the secret society of the "Chasseurs."

"I was vigorous and strong in those days, and from my mother inherited an ardent love for the country in which I was born. Her letters in those days so magnetized me with patriotism that I could willingly lay down my life for the cause. I can only, however, give you a mere sketch to-day of some of the incidents and adventures through which I passed. The 'Sons of Liberty,' in Quebec and Montreal, numbered over 20,000 men, but within this body there was a secret society called 'Les Chasseurs,' all picked and trustworthy men. They formed a secret society and had their signs and passwords. It is singular that, though many of those men were placed in perilous positions when the revelations of our secrets would have saved them, not one traitor was found to betray the cause, and even to this day the secrets of the fraternity are unknown. Not very long ago I had occasion to go to Quebec, and was introduced to one of the Provincial ministers. I gave the sign of the 'Chasseurs' of forty-three years ago. He looked up surprised and returned the countersign. We had not met since the memorable émeute in the stable yard on St. James street.

We used to meet for drill and pistol practice in the upper story of the house still standing on the corner of Dorchester and Sanguinet streets.

There I remember one of our leaders harangued us. He is still alive, and Montreal's citizens know him well. He urged us to be brave and show no mercy in sweeping every obstacle from oar path, and when we gained our liberty we would have 'ample time for— tears, repentance and regret.' There used to be a loyal association called 'The Doric Club,' which met on Great St. James street near our rendezvous. Our men and the members of this club used to have many rencontres, until it culminated in a challenge from the 'Chasseurs' who sent a cartel to the sixty members of the Doric Club, offering to meet them with thirty of their picked men. The President of the Doric Club sent back a cold formal reply to the effect that they wished to have nothing to do with traitors and rebels.

"Our secret society had formed the daring design of seizing the citadel of Quebec on the same plan as Wolfe's Highlanders. We had our rendezvous within a short march of Quebec and on the eventful night numbered about 1,500 men, two hundred of whom had come from Montreal and the rest from St. Jerome, Three Rivers and other places. Each man was armed with a pair of pistols and a bowie- knife, and carried on his shoulders a bundle of straw.

They had thirty ladders which were to be used in scaling the narrow glacis which led to the citadel. The object was to make a regular roadway of these ladders, almost like a trellis work bridge, up which the patriots might easily pass. The night was dark and stormy. We had been waiting in the cold in our white blanket coats and white tuques, to assimilate to the color of the snow, when the order arrived to prepare to march. The second signal came at half-past eleven, and everything was in readiness for the attack. At a quarter to twelve the chief came in as pale as death and gave the order to disband, as the storm had suddenly ceased and the moon shone bright and clear, much to the discomfiture of the patriots, who looked forward to an easy victory. That chief, who still lives, said it was providential that the storm had cleared off before the attack had been made, for if it had continued and only cleared when the patriots were placing their scaling ladders in the glacis, not a man would have survived, as the British troops could have trained several guns on this particular spot and swept every living thing into destruction."

Mr. Rouillard said the Roman Catholic clergy were much opposed to their society, because it was secret, and had done all in their power to break it up, and England is indebted for her supremacy in North America to-day to the exertions and assistance given her in that troublous period by the Roman Catholic clergy." (Montreal Witness, 29th November 1880.)