On two sides of the pedestal are inserted bronze panels, with inscriptions cast in bold relief; one of which thus briefly records the place, circumstances, and date of the conquering hero's death:
Here Died
WOLFE
Victorious
September the 13th, 1759.
The other is as follows:
"This pillar was erected
By the British Army in Canada, A.D. 1849;
His Excellency Lieut.-General Sir Benjamin
d'Urban,
G.C.B.; K.C.H.; K.C.T.S., &c.,
Commander of the Forces,
To replace that erected by Governor-General
Lord Aylmer, G.C.B.,
Which was broken and defaced, and is deposited
underneath.
From the foregoing, all admit that the Plains of Abraham must recall
memories equally sacred to both nationalities inhabiting Quebec.
The 13th September, 1759, and the 28th April, 1760, are two red-letter
days in our annals; the undying names of Wolfe and Montcalm claim the
first, the illustrious names of Levis and Murray, the second.
In the September engagement Montcalm's right wing rested on the Ste.
Foye road; his left on the St. Louis road, near the Buttes-à-Nepveu
(Perrault's Hill.)
In the April encounter, Murray's hardy warriors occupied the greatest portion of the north-western section of the plateau. His right wing rested on Coteau Ste. Genevieve, St. John Suburbs, and his left reached to the edge of the cliff, overhanging the St Lawrence, near Marchmont. On the 13th September, the French began the fight; on the 28th April it was the British who fired first. Fifteen years later, in 1775, the Heights of Abraham became the camping ground of other foes. This time the British of New England were pitted against the British of New France; we all know with what result.
BATTLEFIELD PARK.
The departure from our shores of England's red coated legions, in 1871, amongst other voids, left waste, untenanted, and unoccupied, the historic area, for close on one century reserved as their parade and exercising grounds on review days—The Plains of Abraham. This famous battle-field does not, we opine, belong to Quebec alone; it is the common property of all Canada. The military authorities always so careful in keeping its fences in repair handed it over to the Dominion, which made no provision for this purpose. On the 9th March, 1875, the Dominion Government leased it to the Corporation of the city of Quebec, for ten years of the lease under which it was held from the Religious Ladies of the Ursulines of Quebec, provided the Corporation assumed the conditions of the lease, involving an annual rental of two hundred dollars.