And blest were those who found a happy home
In thy loved shades, without one throb of care
No murmurs heard, save from the distant foam
That rolled in column's o'er the great Chaudière.
And I have watched the moon in grandeur rise
Above the tinted maple's leafy breast,
And take her brillant pathway through the skies,
Till half the world seemed lulled in peaceful rest.
Oh! these were hours whose soft enchanting spell
Came o'er the heart in thy grove's deep recess,
Where e'en poor Shenstone might have loved to dwell,
Enjoying the pure balm of happiness!
But soon, how soon, a different scene I trace,
Where I have wandered, or oft musing stood,
And those whose cheering looks enhanced the place,
No more shall smile on thee, lone Spencer Wood!
"This is one of the most beautiful spots in Lower Canada, and the property (1830) of the late Hon. Michael Henry Perceval, who resided there with his accomplished family, whose highly cultivated minds rendered my visits to Spencer Wood doubly interesting. The grounds and grand walks are tastefully laid out, interspersed with great variety of trees, planted by the hand of nature. This scenery is altogether magnificent, and particularly towards the east, where the great precipices overhang Wolfe's Cove. This latter place has derived its name from the hero, who, with his British troops, nobly ascended its frowning cliffs on the 13th September, 1759, and took possession of the Plains of Abraham."—ADAM KIDD, 1830. —(The HURON CHIEF and other poems—Adam Kidd.)
[227] The illustrious Chancellor of the Exchequer, Spencer Perceval, assassinated by Bellingham on the 11th May, 1812, probably took the name of Spencer from the Earls of Egmont and Northampton, connected with the Percevals.
[228] Mrs. P. Sheppard died 28th August, 1877.
[229] Died July the 7th, 1878.
[230] Mr. P. Lowe, during many years in charge of the conservatory, furnished us with the following note:—"The hot-houses belonging to Henry Atkinson, while in my charge, consisted of pinery, stove and orchid house. In the pinery were grown specimens of the Providence, Enville, Montserrat and Queen pines—a plant of the latter variety, in fruit, being exhibited at the Horticultural Exhibition, Montreal, in September, 1852, the fruit of which weighed between five and six pounds, tang the first pine-apple exhibited of Canadian growth, but not the first grown at Spencer Wood, it was noticed in the Illustrated London News. The following are the names of a few of the plants grown in the stove-house:—Ardisia; Alamanda; Amaryllis, Achimenes; Aschynanthus, Asclepias, Begonias, Crinums, Centradinias; Calumnmas, Drymonias; Euphorbias, Franciscia; Goidfussia; Gesneras, in twelve varieties; Gloxinias, in twenty-four varieties; Gloriosa; Gardenias; Hibiscus; Inga; Ipomaea; Justicia; Lamandra; Legastrema; Musa-Cavendishii, which we fruited—the only one fruited in the province to this day, to my knowledge—the bunch of fruit weighed ninety pounds; Maranta; Melastomas, Mennetties; Nymphas; Osbeekias, Penteas, Passiflora; Peideum; Stephenotis, Streluzias; Russellea; Ruellea; Rondilitia, Tabernaemonana; Tradescantia; Vinca; Clerodendrons, &c., &c. In the orchid house, the following are a portion of the names of plants grown be me:—Bletia; Bolbophyllum; Cyppripedium; Cymbedium; Catazetum; Cattleya; Brassavoleas, Dendrobiums, Epidendrons, Aerides; Gongora; Gomezia; Maxallaria; Oncidium, Plurathalis; Pholidota; Physosiphon; Plurathalles; Peristerias, Ripsalis, Stanhopeas; Zygopetalum, &c., &c. The houses containing the above were heated by hot-water pipes for atmospheric heat and open tanks for bottom heat; they were the most complete of the kind I have seen either in Canada or Great Britain—so much so, that, during my stay with Mr. Atkinson, we used to produce for Christmas and New Year's Day pine-apples, cucumbers, rhubarb, asparagus and mushrooms, all in the same house."
[231] Mr. DeGaspé married, 1811, Susanna, daughter of Thos. Allison, Esq., a captain of the 6th Regiment, infantry, and of Theresse Baby, the latter's two brother officers, Captains Ross Lewin and Bellingham, afterwards Lord Bellingham, married at Detroit then forming part of Upper Canada, two sisters, daughters of the Hon. Jacques Duperon Baby.