QUEBEC (CITY) QUEDLINBURG 143 half boarders, and 400 day scholars, together with 55 pupil teachers and 200 pupils belong- ing to the female department of the Laval nor- mal school ; the congregation of Notre Dame, with their chief convent and school near St. Koch's church, established in 1843 by the Rev. Z. Charest, and having two schools in the city with 2,100 pupils in 1875, most of whom are educated without cost to the parents; and the "Brothers of the Christian Schools," founded in 1842 by the late Archbishop Baillargeon, -with three residences and six schools and a com- mercial academy founded by the Eev. Joseph Auclair, educating gratuitously 2,500 pupils, and receiving in return the bare necessaries of life from the free bounty of the citizens. There are several flourishing literary societies, fore- most among which is the Quebec literary and historical society, the oldest chartered institu- tion of the kind in Canada, founded in 1824. It still has a valuable library, though a great portion of its most precious books and man- uscripts were destroyed with the parliament buildings in 1854. The Canadian institute, the entomological society, and the St. Patrick's literary institute possess valuable libraries, as well as the society of advocates, the board of trade, and the merchants' exchange. There are five daily newspapers (three of which are in the French language), one tri-weekly, four weekly, and three monthly periodicals. The site of Quebec was visited by Cartier in 1534- '5, and the city was founded by Champlain in 1608. It was taken by the English in 1629, and restored to France by the treaty of 1632. In 1636 it had 100 inhabitants. It was the colony of a concessionary company, who did not fulfil their promises to the settlers, and hence its growth was slow. The magistrate, named by the company, was called a syndic, and had powers similar to those of a mayor. The king, dissatisfied with the management of the company, took the colony into his own hands, and in 1663 appointed a governor and created the sovereign council of Quebec, who were charged with its government. In 1690 the neighboring English colonies made an un- successful maritime expedition against it. In 1711 the attempt was renewed, with no better success. The first attempt at erecting stone fortifications was made after the first of these attacks, the place having been previously pro- tected only by palisades. In 1734 it had, in- cluding its suburbs, only 4,603 inhabitants. In 1759, during the seven years' war, the English Gen. James "Wolfe attacked the city and bombarded it. On Sept. 13 took place the first battle of the plains of Abraham, in which both the contending generals fell, and England gained at one blow an American em- pire. On Sept. 18 Quebec capitulated after a siege of 69 days. The French attempted its recapture, and in the following spring the second battle of the plains of Abraham was fought, and victory sided with the French colonists; but at the treaty of peace in 1763 694 TOL. xiv. 10 Louis XV. ceded the whole of New France to the English. Quebec, ruined by Wolfe's bom- bardment, rose slowly from its ashes, though its commerce increased. In 1764 the first newspaper, the "Quebec Gazette," published in two languages, made its appearance. In 1775 the city had only 5,000 inhabitants. In December, 1775, a small American force under Gen. Montgomery attempted its capture, but failed, with the loss of about 700 men and their commander (Dec. 31). In 1792, the year after the inauguration of the representative system in Canada, the first Lower Canadian parliament was convoked at Quebec, and the city remained the seat of government for the lower province till the union of the Canadas in 1841. During this period its growth was steady and moderately rapid; in 1844 its pop- ulation was 32,876, besides 2,797 in the sub- urbs. Two terrible fires occurred in 1845, at a month's interval, in the faubourgs of St. Roch and St. John ; nearly 3,000 houses were burned, and property to the amount of more than $8,000,000 was destroyed. Large confla- grations also occurred in 1862 and 1866; and great improvements have since been made in the fire department and a more secure style of building adopted. In 1851 Quebec again be- came the capital for four years tinder the ar- rangement for alternating capitals adopted in 1849, and kept up till 1858, when Ottawa be- came the seat of government. After the erec- tion of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, Quebec became the capital of the province of Quebec. QUEDLDTBIIRG, a town of Prussia, in the prov- ince of Saxony, beautifully situated near the lower Hartz mountains, on the Bode, a tribu- tary of the Saale, 31 m. S. "W. of Magdeburg; pop. in 1871, 16,402. Two arms of the Bode divide the old from the new town, and there are four suburbs, one laid out in 1862. The castle, on a rocky eminence, once the residence of the local abbesses, is in decay, and is partly used as a school. The Schlosskirche, with re- markable art treasures, was made in 1838 the theme of a special work by Ranke and Kugler. There are seven Protestant churches, and one Catholic. A gymnasium was established here by Luther and Melanchthon. The ruined con- vent of St. Wipertus is now a barn. In the Bruhl garden are monuments of Klopstock and Carl Ritter, who were born here. Qued- linburg is a market for seeds, agricultural and garden products, cattle, books, and woollen goods. The see of Quedlinburg was celebra- ted from the 10th to the 18th century for its abbesses, who had a seat in the diet as prin- cesses of the German empire. The first ab- bess was Matilda, daughter of Otho I. (963- 999). In 1539 the abbesses joined the refor- mation. Conspicuous among those of the 18th century were Anne Amalia, a sister of Fred- erick the Great, and Sophia Albertina, a daugh- ter of King Adolphus Frederick of Sweden, who was the last, retiring in 1802, but retain- ing the title till her death.
