The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec is indebted to his son John
Neilson, of Dornald, for a precious relic, the iron lever of the first
Press used at Quebec in 1764—precious, indeed, as a souvenir of Canadian
Journalism.
There are indeed many Scotch names associated with the Quebec Press. Space precludes us from enlarging more on this subject. In alluding to notable Quebec Journalists we are bound to name Daniel Wilkie, LL.D., the editor of the Quebec Star,—a literary gazette—in 1818—still better remembered as the esteemed instructor of Quebec youth for forty years.
Dr. Wilkie was born at Tollcross, in Scotland, in 1777, one year later than John Neilson: he settled in Quebec in 1803, and died here on the 10th May, 1851. His pupils had the following truthful words inscribed on the monument they erected to their patron in Mount Hermon cemetery:
"He was a learned scholar
And indefatigable student of philosophy and letters,
An able and successful instructor of youth,
Of genuine uprightness and guileless simplicity
A devout, benevolent and public spirited man."
The Abbé Vignal resided at the corner of St. Louis and Parloir street, previous to joining the Sulpiciens. In October, 1661, he was roasted alive and partly eaten by the Mohawks at Isle à la Pierre, la Prairie de la Magdeleine, near Montreal. In our day, the judicial and parliamentary heads, and the Bar have monopolized the street. In it have resided at various times, Sir N. F. Belleau, Chief Justice Duval, the Judges Taschereau, Tessier, Bossé, Caron, Routhier; Hon. H. L. Langevin, P. Pelletier, M.P.; Messrs. Bossé, Baby, Alleyn, Languedoc, Tessier, Chouinard, Hamel, Gauthier, Bradley, Dunbar, cum multis aliis, some of whose rustic clients are as early birds as those in the days of Horace, and scruple not to wake up their trusted advisers, "sub galli cantum." [23]
St. Louis street legal luminaries are careful not to endanger their hard- earned reputations by delivering their consultations with the oracular, Solon-like gravity of the barristers who flourished in the palmy days of Hortensius or Justinian. 'Twould be an anachronism. The traditional fee, however, is rarely omitted. A busy day, indeed, in this neighborhood, watched over by the shades of Louis XIII., St. Louis street, is, in each year, the 1st of September, when the close of the sultry midsummer vacation brings round "the first day of term," then
"Grave gownsmen, full of thought, to 'chambers hie, From court to court, perplexed, attorneys fly; … each! Quick scouring to and thro', And wishing he could cut himself in two That he two places at a time might reach, So he could charge his six and eightpence each." —(The Bar, a Poem, 1825.)
Matters judicial, legal, financial, etc., have much changed—we are inclined to say improved—in Canada, especially for the Judges. "I will not say," writes the satirical La Hontan, "that justice is more chaste and disinterested here than in France; but, at least, if she is sold, she is sold cheaper. We do not pass through the clutches of advocates, the talons of attorneys and the claws of clerks. These vermin do not infest Canada yet. Everybody pleads his own cause. Our Themis is prompt, and she does not bristle with fees, costs and charges. The judges have only four hundred francs a year—a great temptation to look for law in the bottom of the suitor's purse. Four hundred francs! Not enough to buy a cap and gown, so these gentry never wear them." [24] Justice is not now sold, either in Quebec or elsewhere, but judges, on the other hand, viz., in Ottawa, receive, not "four hundred francs," but thirty-five thousand francs ($7,000) a year, and have "enough to buy a cap and a gown," yea, and a brilliant red one, to boot. Voilà un progrès.
On an old plan, in our possession, of the Cape and Mount Carmel, showing the whereabouts of lots and the names of their proprietors, drawn by Le Maître Lamorille, a royal surveyor, bearing date 20th May, 1756, and duly sanctioned by the French Intendant Bigot on the 23rd January, 1759, can be seen at Mont Carmel, St. Louis street, a lot marked "No. 16, M. Pean." [25]
M. Pean, Town Major of Quebec, a trusted confederate of the Intendant Bigot, the proprietor of this land, was the husband of the beautiful Angélique de Meloises, the inamorata of the voluptuous and munificent Intendant. In her youth she had been a pupil of the Ursuline nuns. In his Reminiscences of Quebec, 2nd edition republished in 1859, Col. Cockburn thus alludes to this St. Louis street house (now Dominion property and occupied by Lt.-Col. Forest and Lt.-Col. D'Orsonnes). "It sometimes happened in those days, when a gentleman possessed a very handsome wife, that the husband was sent to take charge of a distant post, where he was sure to make his fortune. Bigot's chère amie was Madame P—— in consequence of which as a matter of course, Mr. P—— became prodigiously wealthy. Bigot had a house that stood where the officers barracks in St Louis street, now (1851) stands. One New Year's Day he presented this house to Madame P—— as a New Year's gift."