"At the present moment, in 1871, when, it is said, the Jesuits' Barrack is on the eve of being returned to the Quebec authorities, our readers will no doubt be pleased to learn how and when this valuable property came into the possession of the Military Government. We are indebted to J. M. LeMoine, Esq., President of the Literary and Historical Society, for a copy of the ukase of Governor Murray converting the old College of the Jesuits, on the Upper Town Market Place, into a barrack, which it has remained ever since. It is extracted from some rare old manuscripts belonging to that institution. The orthographical mistakes exist in the original, and we have allowed them to reappear:—
By His Excellency the Hon. James Murray, Esq., Capt. General and
Governor-in-Chief of the Province of Quebec and the territories
thereupon depending in America, Vice-Admiral of the same, Major-
General of His Majesty's Forces, and Colonel Commandant of the 2nd
Battalion of the Royal American Regiment of Foot, &c., &c., &c.
To Captain James Mitchelson, Captain William Martin, Lieut. Smith,
Messieurs Amiot, Boisseau and Moore:
Whereas it appears to me that proper Quarters and Barracks are much wanted for the officers and troops in this garrison, and it being apprehended that the Jesuits' College may be fitted up for that purpose—You are hereby authorized and impowered to survey the same, calling to your assistance such number of tradesmen as you may judge necessary, in which survey, regard is to be had to a sufficient number of Fire Places and Chimneys, to ascertain with precision the number of officers and private soldiers the said College will contain, and to make an estimate of the expense that will attend the repairs thereof. And whereas the Contractors' provisions are at present lodged in the said college, other magazines should be found to lodge the same. You are therefore further impowered to inspect and survey that building known by the name of the Intendant's Palace, and to ascertain also the charges that will attend the fitting up the same to contain the quantity of six thousand barrels, reporting to me on the back hereof your proceedings upon the warrant, which shall be to you and every of you sufficient authority.
Given under my hand and seal at Quebec, this 4th day of June, 1765. (sd) JAS. MURRAY. By His Excellency's command. (Counters'd,) J. GOLDFRAP, D. Sectry.
General Arnold's soldiers having during the winter of 1775 established themselves in and near the French Intendant's Palace, facing the St. Charles, Governor Carleton decided to sacrifice the stately pile of buildings in order to dislodge the enemy. A lively fire was in consequence opened from the guns on the ramparts, near Palace Gate, and the magnificent structure was soon riddled with shot. It stood in rear of Vallière's furniture factory and Boswell's brewery. Thus was acquired the Jesuits' Barrack, and thus perished the Intendant's Palace."—(Chronicle, 27_th Dec._, 1871.)
D'Auteuil street, bounded to the west by an open space—the Esplanade— lined on one side by shade trees, on the other by the verdant slopes of the glacis and city walls, deserves a passing notice. Bouchette describes it thus:—"The Esplanade, between St. Louis and St. John's Gate, has a length of 273 yards, by an average breadth of 80, except at the Ste. Ursula bastion, where it is 120 yards. It is tolerably level, in some places presenting a surface of bare rock. This is the usual place of parade for the troops of the garrison, from whence every morning in summer the different guards of the town are mounted; in winter the Jesuits' Barracks drill ground is generally used for parades. The musters and annual reviews of the militia belonging to the city are held there. [78]
The Esplanade is still used as a parade ground, if not by our city militia by our provincial troops. Right well can we recall the manly form of the Commander of the "B" Battery, Lieut.-Colonel T. B. Strange, bestriding a noble charger, putting his splendid, though not numerous corps, through their drill on the Esplanade. We have also sometimes caught sight there of our gay Volunteers. Occasionally these grounds are used by the divers lacrosse clubs for their athletic games—the doyen of our city littérateurs, the Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, in a graphic portraiture of the "Quebec of the Past," has most feelingly retraced the vanished glories, the military pageants, the practical jokers, the City Watch, the social gatherings, which his youthful eyes witnessed of yore on the Esplanade and on Durham Terrace. We have attempted to render in English a striking chapter of this sparkling effusion:—
OLDEN TIMES IN THE ANCIENT CAPITAL.
"There is not only the quaint city of Champlain—of Montmagny—of Frontenac—of Bishop Laval—of Governor de Vaudreuil and Montcalm—of Lord Dorchester and Colonel Dambourges—that is rapidly fading away; there is not merely the grim fortress of the French régime, the city of early English rule, disappearing piecemeal in the dissolving shadows of the past. A much more modern town—newer even than that so graphically pictured by our old friend Monsieur de Gaspé—the Quebec of our boyhood—of our youth—the Quebec embalmed in the haunted chambers of memory prior to 1837—it also each day seems retreating— crumbling—evanescing.