[[1]] Bouchette's "Topography of Canada."
[[2]] The James Ross Cuthbert of this letter was the son of the Hon. James Cuthbert who had served in the navy as lieutenant of the flagship at the siege of Carthagena, in 1721. He afterwards entered the 42nd Regiment on its formation. He was present in the 15th Regiment at the capture of Louisbourg and served under Wolfe at Quebec, carrying to England the despatches of Brigadier-General Murray to whom he was aide-de-camp.
After the conquest, having left the army and become a settler in Canada, he was appointed by Lord Dorchester one of the members of the first legislative council. In the invasion of 1775, he was particularly active in visiting the American camp at Sorel, was taken prisoner by the Americans and sent in irons to Albany. During his absence they burned his manor house and destroyed his property. His son, James Ross Cuthbert, married an American, a daughter of Doctor Rush, of Philadelphia. A sister of this lady was married to a Captain Manners of the 49th.
Brock writes of them both to his sister-in-law in England, begging her to call on Mrs. Manners, who was then living at Barnet. He says, "Her sister Mrs. Ross Cuthbert, a charming little creature, makes her husband, (my most intimate friend and with whom I pass a great part of my leisure hours) a most happy man."
CHAPTER IX
AFFAIRS IN EUROPE, 1808
Early in 1808, Colonel Brock left Quebec to take command in Montreal. Shortly afterwards he was appointed acting brigadier-general by Sir James Craig, an appointment which was confirmed in September. In a letter to his brother, Brock wrote that, although General Ferguson had been newly appointed major-general, he thought he would not likely come, as was intended, to Canada, but that he (Brock) would succeed him both in rank and command at Quebec. Montreal, in 1808, was both a lively and a hospitable place. The magnates of the North-West Company were established there, and entertained with a lavishness that was not to be found elsewhere. The fame of the Beaver Club has remained unrivalled in Canada.
Montreal, the old Ville Marie, once the fortified Indian stronghold of Hochelaga, was founded in 1642 by Maisonneuve. Soon afterwards the hospital or Hôtel Dieu was established by Madame de Bouillon, and in 1650, the cathedral of Notre Dame was founded by Marguerite de Bourgeois. Montreal can therefore claim an antiquity almost equal to that of Quebec.
For more than fifty years a struggle continued between the French settlers and their Indian foes. At one most critical time in 1660, the whole island, up to the palisades that surrounded the town, was swept by war parties, and only the sacrifice of Dollard (sometimes called Daulac) and his seventeen associates, saved the place. In 1665 the Marquis de Tracy arrived with the Carignan Regiment and established forts at Ste. Thérèse, Sorel, and Chambly, naming the two latter places after officers in his regiment.