ST. LOUIS STREET-ITS STORIED PAST. 



One of those soft, bright September evenings, just as 

 the lessening beams of the setting sun glinted over our 

 church spires, and over the gilt vane of the new city 

 gates, — Lord Dufferin's parting token of interest in the 

 " Walled city of the North," I happened to be stand- 

 ing on the lofty arch which spans St. Louis Gate, in com- 

 pany with a trusty friend of the Ancient Capital, Wm. 

 Kirby, F. E. S. C, the admired author of the "Golden 

 Dog " novel, — that day, my honored guest, at Spencer 

 Grange. 



Our gaze took in from end to end the suggestive 

 panorama disclosed by this aristocratic thoroughfare. 

 "Why not compare notes," said I, "on the men and 

 incidents of the past, connected with the dwellings 

 lining the street ? " 



As I proceeded, quoting history and naming the old 

 and new residents, my esteemed friend, the Niagara 

 poet and novelist, seemed as if inspired by this pensive, 

 dreamy scene. How often since have I regretted not 

 having prevailed on him to commit to paper his glowing- 

 thoughts ? 



— " St, Louis Gate ! " said Kirby, — " I mean the old 

 gate — why that takes one back more than two hundred 

 years. One would like to know what King Louis XIII 

 replied to his far-seeing Prime Minister, Cardinal de 

 Eichelieu, when he reported to him that a crooked 

 path in wood-crowned Stadacona, leading through the 

 forest primeval, by a narrow clearance called la Grande 

 Altie, all the way to Sillery, was named Louis street ; 

 that he, Eichelieu, had ordered that his own name 



