QUEBEC 



4896 



QUEBEC 



The older streets are narrow and some of 

 them are crooked. Those leading from the 

 Lower to the Upper Town are steep and wind- 

 ing. In numerous places stairways lead up and 

 down the slope and save time and distance. 

 In the Upper Town the streets resemble more 

 closely those of a modern city, and the main 

 thoroughfares throughout the city are fre- 

 quented by the electric car and the automo- 

 bile. In all the older parts of the city buildings, 

 shrines and monuments of the past intermingle 

 with modern structures, methods and devices, 

 but the most interesting feature of it all is 

 the overshadowing influence of a past age 

 whose grasp the progress of the present has not 

 been able to weaken. Serene in the possession 

 of a unique and potent past, Quebec is the most 

 interesting and striking example of a medieval 

 French city. 



Buildings, Monuments and Parks. The best 

 residences and the most important public build- 

 ings, together with the promenades and public 

 gardens, are in the Upper Town. The buildings 

 of the provincial parliament and departments 

 of the government are the most important pub- 

 lic structures. The grounds are adorned with 

 monuments and statues reared to the memory 

 of the heroes of a former age Cartier, Fron- 

 tenac, Laval, Maisonneuve, Wolfe, Montcalm 

 and Levis. The post office, courthouse, cus- 

 tomhouse and city hall are all imposing and 

 stable structures, and well worth visiting. The 

 Roman Catholic Cathedral contains several 

 paintings by eminent artists, but in the Older 

 Basilica and the adjoining seminary one may 

 see a collection of great merit. The Anglican 

 Cathedral and the Jewish Synagogue are fine 

 structures, as is the Church of Notre Dame des 

 Victories, so named because of the victory over 

 Sir William Phipps in 1690. Laval University 

 has a number of interesting buildings, the 

 oldest dating from 1666. This institution and 

 the Seminary of Quebec are at the head of 

 French culture in the New World. The uni- 

 versity has a number of excellent libraries and 

 a valuable museum. In the chapel of the 

 Ursulines is the tomb of Montcalm, and prob- 

 ably (for no one can positively affirm the fact) 

 the remains of Champlain lie buried in the 

 Basilica. Seven miles below the city are Mont- 

 morenci Falls, a beautiful cascade 250 feet high. 



The most attractive spot in the city and the 

 one place frequented alike by visitors and in- 

 habitants is Dufferin Terrace, a promenade 

 1,400 feet long and about 200 feet above the 

 river. Directly back of it is the Government 



Garden, beautiful in lawns and flowers. Here 

 is a monument erected by the inhabitants to 

 the memory of Wolfe and Montcalm and 

 bearing this inscription in Latin: 



Valor gave them a common death, 



History a common fame 

 And posterity a common monument. 



East of the Terrace is the picturesque Cha- 

 teau Frontenac, one of the most complete 

 modern hotels in America. At one's feet lies 

 the Lower Town, and beyond the great river 

 flows majestically to the sea. Above and back 

 of the Terrace rises the citadel from whose 

 parapets a still broader view, including the 

 island of Orleans, the town of Levis across the 

 river and the blue summits of the Notre Dame 

 Mountains may be obtained. The population 

 in 1911 was 78,190. See QUEBEC TER-CENTE- 



NARY. J.A.D. 



Consult Parker's Quebec, the Place and the 

 People; Dionne's Quebec Under Two Flags. 



QUEBEC, BATTLE OF, the battle that deter- 

 mined the destiny of a continent, fought be- 

 tween the French and the English on the Plains 

 of Abraham, adjoining the city of Quebec, 

 September 13, 1759. This battle was the turn- 



MAP OF BATTLE FIELD 



ing point in the long struggle of the French and 

 English for the possession of North America. 

 In 1759 William Pitt, Prime Minister of Great 

 Britain, resolved to complete the conquest of 

 the French in America and bring the French 

 and Indian Wars to an end (see FRENCH AND 

 INDIAN WARS). He planned two campaigns. 

 One, under General Amherst, was to invade 

 Canada by way of Lake Champlain and capture 

 Fort Ticonderoga and Montreal ; the other, un- 

 der General Wolfe, was to sail up the Saint 

 Lawrence River and capture Quebec. 



Early in June, Wolfe with a trained army of 

 9,000 men appeared before Quebec and began 

 a siege of the city which the French consid- 

 ered could not be taken by assault, since the 

 high, steep promontory upon which the fortress 

 was built made the fort inaccessible from the 

 river, while the guns of the fort could sink any 



