MONTMORENCV MONTREAL. 



49 



his favour ; but Richelieu was resolved Lo make an 

 example of the bravest, most generous and most 

 amiable man in France, and the marshal was con- 

 demned to death by the parliament of Toulouse. 

 The king extended his mercy so far as to allow the 

 execution to be private, and it took place in the hotel 

 de ville, in Toulouse, October 30, 1632. 



MONTMORENCY, FALLS OF; a beautiful cas- 

 cade, on a river of the same name, in Lower Canada, 

 seven miles below Quebec. The falls*- are very near 

 the junction of this river with the St Lawrence. 

 The breadth of the river at the top of the cascade is 

 about 100 feet, ami the perpendicular descent 246 

 feet. 



MONTPELL1ER ; a city of France, capital of 

 He'rault; Ion. 3 53' E.; lat. 43 36' N.; 70 miles 

 north-west of Marseilles, 375 miles from Paris. It 

 is an episcopal see. Population, 35,850. It is 

 situated five miles, from the sea, between the small 

 rivers Masson and Lez, on a declivity. Many of the 

 streets are steep and irregular, and in the interior of 

 the town they are winding, narrow, and dark. In 

 the suburbs are the most regular streets, and the 

 best houses ; the buildings are mostly of stone. It 

 contains a cathedral, numerous churches, hospitals, 

 and other charitable institutions. The public pro- 

 menade, called Peyrou, is one of the finest in Europe; 

 an equestrian statue of Louis XIV. was erected in it 

 in 1829. Montpellier has long been the seat of a 

 celebrated university, particularly famous for its 

 school of medicine ; this still subsists, under the 

 name of an academy, and has three faculties. The 

 anatomical theatre is capable of containing 20CO 

 persons. Other establishments are a botanical gar- 

 den, museum, cabinet of natural history and anatomy, 

 the observatory, and public library of 35,000 volumes 

 nnd many valuable manuscripts. It is defended by a 

 citadel, which commands the town and neighbour- 

 hood. The principal manufacture is verdigris, in 

 which it carries on a considerable trade, as also in 

 wool, which is brought from the Mediterranean ; 

 wine, aqua vilae, Hungary water, cinnamon water, 

 essence of bergamot, lemons, &c., and likewise great 

 quantities of woollen carpets, fustians, and silk stock- 

 ings. These commodities are sent by the canal to 

 Cette, which is the seaport of Montpellier. This 

 town is particularly celebrated for the salubrity of its 

 air, and for its extensive and interesting prospects, 

 which on the one hand embrace the Pyrenees, and 

 on the other the Alps. It is much visited by invalids 

 from foreign countries. 



MONTPENSIER, ANN MARIA LOUISE, of Orleans 

 (usually known as mademoiselle de), was born at 

 Paris in 1627. Her father, Gaston, duke of Orleans, 

 bequeathed his eccentric, impetuous, and vindictive 

 temper to his daughter. She joined the faction of 

 Conde' in the war of the Fronde, and had the boldness 

 to fire upon the troops of Louis XIV. from the Bas- 

 tile. This outrage awakened the hostility of the 

 king and the court against her, so that they opposed 

 every plan of marriage which was agreeable to her, 

 and made only such propositions as she could not 

 but refuse. At the age of forty-four, she determined 

 to give her hand to count Lauzun. She obtained 

 permission to take this step, and brought him a for- 

 tune of 20,000,000 of francs, four duchies, the seign- 

 eury of Domb^s, the county of Eu, and the palace of 

 Luxembourg. The contract was already concluded 

 when the queen and the prince of Conde persuaded 

 Louis XIV. to retract his consent. It has been sup- 

 posed, however, that the parties were secretly mar- 

 ried; but it is not settled whether it was before or 

 after the ten years' imprisonment of Lauzun, at 1'ign- 

 erol, for his conduct towards Mad. Montespan. He 

 finally obtained his freedom on condition that the 



duchess should cede the seigneury of Dombes and 

 the county of Eu to the duke of Maine. She gladly 

 consented to this sacrifice for the sake of living with 

 him; but her Imppiness was of short duration. Lau- 

 zun saw in her a violent and ambitious woman, yet 

 glowing with the passions of youth, and she looked 

 upon him as ungrateful, perfidious, and false. His 

 insolence finally so exasperated the princess, that 

 she forbade him ever to appear again in her presence. 

 She lived in retirement from that time, and died in 

 1693, little regretted and almost forgotten. Her 

 Memoirs are interesting. 



MONTREAL; a city of Lower Canada, the first 

 in size, and the second in rank, in that province. It 

 is in a district of the same name, and on the south 

 side of the island of Montreal, in the St Lawrence, 

 at the head of ship navigation. It is 180 miles above 

 Quebec, 200 below lake Ontario, 243 from Albany, 

 and 300 from Boston; lat. 45 30' N.; Ion. 73 22' 

 W.; population, in 1821, 18,767; in 1830, about 

 25,000. The harbour, though not large, is always 

 secure for shipping during the time that the river is 

 not frozen ; and vessels drawing fifteen feet of water 

 can lie close to the shore. The general depth of 

 water is from three to four and a half fathoms. The 

 greatest inconvenience is the rapid of St Mary, about 

 a mile below the city: vessels cannot ascend this 

 without a strong wind from the north-east. Montreal 

 is divided into Upper and Lower town, but one is 

 very little elevated above the other. The streets are 

 for the most part laid out in a regular manner, gener- 

 ally rather narrow, excepting the new ones. The 

 houses are mostly built of grayish stone, with roofs 

 covered with sheet-iron or tin. Many of them are 

 large and handsome, and in modern style. The 

 principal public buildings are the general hospital, 

 the Hotel Dieu, the convent of Notre Dame, a mag- 

 nificent French cathedral, an English church, the 

 Catholic seminary, the Protestant college, the court- 

 house, and the government-house. Montreal is the 

 great emporium of the fur trade, which is of vast 

 extent and importance. It is also the channel through 

 which commerce is carried on between Canada and 

 the United States. A canal, nine miles long, has 

 been completed around one of the rapids below the 

 city, called the Lachine canal. A regular steam- 

 boat communication is kept up, during the summer, 

 between Montreal and Quebec. A great portion of 

 the inhabitants are of French descent; and the French 

 and English languages are about equally" spoken in 

 the transaction of ordinary business, and even in the 

 court? of justice. There is a college at Montreal, 

 styled university of M' Gill college, endowed by the 

 late honourable James M'Gill, and chartered in 1821. 

 Its governors are the governor in chief, the lieuten- 

 ant-governors of Lower and Upper Canada, the lord 

 bishop of Quebec, the chief-justice of Upper Canada, 

 and the chief-justice of Montreal, for the time being. 

 It has a principal and eight professors. There is 

 another institution, called the college of Montreal, 

 which has a principal and four professors. The me- 

 chanics' institution, the natural history society, the 

 library of 8000 volumes, and the advocates' library, 

 are of great utility. 



MONTREAL; an island of Lower Canada, in the 

 river St Lawrence, at the confluence of Ottawa river, 

 thirty-two miles long and ten and a half broad. It 

 forms the county of Montreal, and is divided into 

 nine parishes. In general, its surface is level, and 

 it is extremely fertile. The largest mountain on the 

 island is one mile distant from the city. The base is 

 surrounded by neat country houses and gardens, and 

 the mountain itself is covered with lofty trees. The 

 view, from this elevation, embraces the city, the 

 river, and a wide extent of the surrounding country. 



