Indiana Republican, Volume 2, Number 54, Madison, Jefferson County, 20 December 1817 — Page 1

R LI Uj

MO O "where liberty dwells, there is my country. )L. II. No. 2 MADISON, (INDIANA) SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1817. Whole No. 54.

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klPTION OP QUEBEC.

hansom's Tour to Canada

y published at N. York. mountains begin to rise,

bduce more interesting sce-

The country in view havn invariably flat. About

fck we came in sight of the

of Abraham, on the left,

lose of point Levi on the

Istween which were fifteen mty sail of merchantmen

psofwar, riding at anchor;

id of Orleans appearing in

tk ground of this interest-

ture. rapidly passed Wolfe's and were brought to with ble dexterity, at a wharf

it convenient height; for the

?s m this wild channel from

4 feet.

h and for half a mile round

ccipice, which consists of

slate there is but just room e narrow street. The rock

st perpendicular till near

J; and as you look up from

tcr to the stone wall, which c summit of the hill, with inj bastions, you wonder prevents the ponderous

J from falling upon your

his dismal ditch, where it air.e exposed to a strong which has since been Gown, on the iistdavof

pher, fell gen. Montgomery

'J's aid-de-camp, M'Phcrson,

- very first fire from the afid their disheartened folswerc easily made prisoners, a hopeless conflict. The being then four feet thick the around.

j 1 1 was told upon the spot, i Canadian burgher of con-

... - 1 j pi appearance who said he

1 the place at the time of

;ack, that, the town might

keen taken by

surprise,

general Arnold had pushed his opportunity, when he first reached point Levi, instead of waiting for the commander in chief, who was then down the St. Lawrence. In the mean time the citizens had recovered from the panic into which they had been thrown by so unexpected an event. Sir Guy Charlton had thrown himself into the town, and the favorable moment for the attack was irretrievably lost. The unfortunate general was interred by the British commander, upon one of the bastions of the citadel, with what are called the honors of war. Almost perpendicularly over the spot where Montgomery fell, on the very brink of the precipice, which is here not less than two hundred feet high, in lieu of the ancient fort or chateau of

St. Levis, which name, by courtesy of England it yet retains, is erected the government house, the apartments of which are occupied by the various officers of the civil and military departments, under the orders of the gov. gen. of British America ; the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia being included under his command. But his residence is in a convenient building on the opposite side of the square. The lower town, from which we have not yet regularly ascended, is a dismal congeries of the most wretched buildings rising, in darkness visible, amidst every kind of filth between the rock and the river, which is said to have washed the very base of the promontory, when Jacques Cartier first sailed from the craggy spot! I quitted the narrow confines with the alacrity of a fugitive escaping from the confinement of a prison, by a long flight of steps ending in slope after slope, down which trickles perpetually, the superfluous moister of the upper town, the streets of which in wet weather, are raised over the head of the unfortunate passenger by those projected spouts which are so common in the anti. quated towns of Germany. The upper town, at a height of 1 50 feet frcm which it overlooks the lower, and shows the shipping so perpendicularly below, that you think you could toss a bis-

cuit into them trom tne rampans, is completely fortified with walls and gates, and all other inconveniences of a garrisoned town, such as centinels on guard, at every avenue, &c. independent of the citadel, which with its outworks, of considerable extent, occupies an elevation 200 feet higher. The cathedral and the seminary for the clergy, together with the Jesuit's college, opposite, now converted into a barrack for the troops, who mate its once tran-

quil walls resound twice a day with the animating sounds of martial music- the bugle the fife ad and spirit stirring drum. These extensive establishments, all originally devoted to religious exercises, together with the hotel Dieu, as it is called, after the name of a similar institution in Paris, being a hospital for the sick and single sisters who attend them ; the monastray of the Recollects, now taken down to make room for more useful edifices ; and the convent Usulinc nuns, with other religious establishments, and t.heir courts and gardens occupied one half of the ground within the walls, leaving the streets narrow, irregular, and invariably up hill and down, a circumstance which must render

them singularly inconvenient in frost and snow. Such is the famous city of Quebec, for the acquisition of which general Wolfe willingly devoted his life in the year 1759; the only memento of which circumstance, upon the spot, is a wooden figure of the celebrated hero, in his broad skirted coat with slashed sieves, painted, standing in a niche at the corner of a street in the attitude of commanding the decisive action, which forever separated Canada from the dominion of France. It is called St. John street, and it leads to the gate of St. Louis, whence through I know not how many covered ways, protected by a like number of salient angles (I may probably be incorrect, in the terms of fortification, never having made the science of destruction my particular study) it finally disgorges the weary pas. passenger, thwarted by recurring obstacles, upon the open air of the adjacent commons. We are now upon the plains of Abraham ; yet the ascent continues sufficient to cover the scene of action from the fire of the batteries. Turning round when you arrive at the summit, and looking down the river between the two steeples of the Catkolic nnd Protestant Cathedrals, you

have what I thought the most interesting view of Quebec, because it embraces in the same cocp d'aeil the principal objects in the vicinity .-Overlooking the basin which is six miles wide, you behold the island of Orleans stretched out before you till it terminates in undistinguishing haze, whilst on the left you have the north coast, rising gradually into distant mountains, from which the river Montgomery precipitating itself into the St. Lawrence, is all but seen through a grove of firs, and the view terminates abruptly in the perpendicular promontory of cape Tourment, which is 2000 feet high, and therefore may be aecnt the distance o 30

miles. On the right you have the rocks of Point Levi, and behold the shipping in .the harbor an immense depth below. Imagine the effect of this whole fairy scene, connected as it is by the broad surfaces of the river, which is seen again upon the edge of the horizon winding round the stupendous bluff above mentioned in its course towards the sea. The field of battle lies a mile west. The common re 11.31111 bare and uncultivated, srd a little to the left of the rraU to Montreal you perceive a very iarge stone, -near which the general fell. It may easy be distinguished by the repeated efforts c f British visitors to possess themselves of the minute specimen of this monument of national prowess, to carry home with them as rc lies on their return to England. It is a whitish granite of a finer grain than usual. This interesting spot has been devoted to history, not by an En glish professor of the fine arts, but by our countryman West who considers himself acting patriotically as a British subject in celebrating any event which is counted honorable to the British arms, that had occurred before the revolution, which established the independence of his country. The French governor of Quebec, M, de Moncalm, fell likewise cn the field of battle, yet sucli is the injustice of mankind to those who seek the bubble honor in thc cannon's mouth, that the man' who died in defence of his country is never mentioned with applause, because unsuccessful f whilst the victorious invador of a foreign shore is pufled to the skies by the meretricious trumpet of fame.

Stale Legislature.

HOUSE OF REPR SHJTA J IVES. Saturday, December 5. Mr. Daniel, presented a bill, on the subject of joint estates and obligations, which was read, and ordered to be read a second time on Monday next. : Mr. Sullivan, frornthejoint commute, on the subject of revising the laws, made the following report, viz: That a committee of revision t; consist of three on the parr of the senate, and five on the j art of the house of representatives, with power to select thru or more clerks, to be en ployed ir revising such laws as the con mitte may thiijk proper: or sue. laws as may be, by order of ei ther house, refered to the com mittee of revision. The bill for cUngirg the venw was read the sccma! time, tf-' committed to a committee