To the year 1722 we may attribute the beginning of work on the fortifications of Montreal under Chaussegros de Léry. Up to that date there had been much talk of building a worthy defence around the city, but still the old wooden palisading was continued. The truth is that the Montrealers ever have been sluggards in city planning; they have never taken a forward move until forced by a crisis. "Prevention being better than cure," never rose beyond a theory. The same tardiness has been shown in hygienic and sanitary and general civic improvement. The wars with the Indians had produced a brave race of Montrealers, so that they relied rather on their personal valour than on fortifications. In the moment of danger, the wisdom of having strong fortifications was felt by all, but the danger passed, they became forgetful and apathetic again. In 1693 the palisade built by de Callières was restored, and in 1709 de Longueuil had called a meeting in the Seminary Hall, "where," says the Engineer de Catalogue, "each one was given the liberty to speak out his mind; as there were no troups and few inhabitants, it was proposed to curtail the town by a fourth, by making a palisading at St. Francis Xavier Street, cutting down the fruit gardens of the Recollects (in the northwest) and others; but as I thought differently, I made them see that fifty men in the mill and granary of the Seigneurs were sufficient to defend this part and the more retrenchments and enclosures the enemy should find to force, the more obstacles he would find in forcing the rest of the town." Thus all things remained in the same state as before.
References
Extent of walls from A to B, 218 ft.; A to C 88 ft.; C to D, 202 ft.; B to D, 108 ft.; E—entrance; F—mill; G G G G—small towers; H—walls.
ELEVATIONS OF FORTIFICATIONS ERECTED AT CHAUS. DE LERY.
DE LERY'S PLANS OF THE FORTIFICATION