Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/148

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140 QUEBEC (CITY) provincial government and of the wealthy cap- italists, the principal hotels, finest stores, and chief places of amusement. The suburbs of St. Louis and St. John extend southward and westward along the plateau ; the former along the foot of the citadel to that part of the Wolfe's Monument. plains of Abraham where Wolfe conquered, and where a modest column stands with the inscription : " Here Wolfe died victorious, Sept. 13, 1759;" the latter lower down on the slope, skirting the verge of the acclivity. A hand- some iron column, surmounted by a bronze statue of Bellona, in memory of the victory of the chevalier de Levis over Gen. Murray in 1760, was erected here in 1854, the statue be- ing presented by Prince Napoleon Bonaparte. These suburbs, which are constantly encroach- ing on the historic plains, contain many beauti- ful private residences, and several large conven- tual establishments and churches. The lower town proper was the most ancient part of Quebec, surrounding the old church of Notre Dame des Victoires on the east, built on the site of Champlain's residence, and comprising chief- ly what is now the Champlain ward. It com- municates with the upper town by the Cham- plain steps and the steep and winding C6te de la Montagne or Mountain street. Here, around Notre Dame des Victoires and the Champlain market, are the principal wharves and steam- boat and ferry landings. It is the busiest and most crowded mart of the city, and a conglom- eration of irregular streets. St. Peter street leads northward from this quarter to the custom house, on the very apex of the beach formed by the confluent waters. Here, beneath the guna of the grand battery 200 ft. above, are the great commercial establishments, the mer- chants' exchange, the banking houses, whole- sale stores, and bonded warehouses. St. Paul's street connects with St. Peter's before the cus- tom house, and stretches westward on the nar- row strand between the cliff and the bay, amid breweries, distilleries, manufactories, and gas works, till it meets, near the mouth of the St. Charles, St. Joseph street, the main artery of the large suburb St. Roch. On the banks of the St. Charles are the principal ship yards. St. Roch and Boisseauville are the home of the laboring classes. The chief institutions here are the large convent and schools of the sisters of Notre Dame near the church of St. Roch, and the general hospital on the banks of the St. Charles. From Pres-de-ville, at the foot of Cape Diamond, proceeding S. W. as far as Sillery, the shore of the St. Lawrence is indented with 17 coves, all filled with lum- ber rafts. The opposite shore of the St. Law- rence, from New Liverpool to and beyond Point Lcvi, presents a scene of activity scarcely sur- passed by the city itself. New Liverpool is connected with Quebec by a steam ferry, has several factories and mills, a large trade in lumber, and the church of St. Romuald, the finest on the lower St. Lawrence. Adjoining New Liverpool is South Quebec, with a popu- lation of 8,000 (increasing rapidly), and im- mense lumber yards from which large yearly shipments are made. It is the stopping place of the transatlantic steamers from Liverpool. St. Joseph, between South Quebec and Levis, has as large a business as the former. The town of Levis or Point Levi, situated on the right bank opposite the island of Orleans, just where the main branch of the St. Lawrence turns eastward, is the terminus of the Grand Trunk railway and of the Levis and Kenne- bec railway. It has several churches, a thri- ving college, a succnrsal of the seminary of Quebec, a convent with a large female acad- emy, several other flourishing schools, hotels, telegraph offices, extensive lumber and ship yards, and a considerable trade. Quebec has many fine buildings. The custom house, on the bank of the river, is an imposing Doric edifice with a dome and a facade of noble columns, approached by a long flight of steps. Of the church edifices, the cathedral of Notre Dame is the most remarkable. It was elevated in October, 1874, to the rank of a basilica, on the occasion of the second centenary of the erection of the see of Quebec. It is a plain edifice externally, with a cut stone front added to it in 1844, and unpleasantly contrasting with the remainder of the structure. It is 216 ft. long, 180 wide, and about 80 in interior ele- vation, capable of seating 4,000 persons, with a spacious sanctuary, a richly decorated high altar, and several original paintings of great value. The Protestant cathedral, a plain gray edifice surmounted by a tall spire, stands in the centre of a large square, enclosed with an iron fence. S. E. of it is the parade ground, a central point, adorned with a fine fountain. The garden of the fortress, another fine pro-