Mr. Tache, The "Syndic Des Marchands," Was Not Only An Upright And Wealthy Merchant, He Was Also Gifted With The Poetical Fire; He, It Was, Who Wrote The First French Poem Issued In Canada, "Le Tableau De La Mer."

Jean Tache was also an extensive holder of real estate in and round Quebec, warehouses (des voutes) on the Napoleon wharf; a country seat on the Ste.

Foye road, subsequently the property of Surveyor- General Samuel Holland - Holland Farm; lastly, the well-known business stand, where, in 1847, Mr. St. Michel printed James Bell Forsyth's news sheet, the Morning Chronicle.

Commercial ruin overtook the worthy Lower Town magnate, Monsieur Tache; his ships and cargoes, during the war of the conquest, like the rest of poor, deserted Canada, fell into English hands, being captured at sea; out of the disaster Jean Tache saved naught but his honourable name.

We fail to trace for a time the fortunes of his Mountain Hill Counting House. At the dawn of this century the premises were used as a famous coffee-house, the "Neptune" Inn, [91] a noted place of resort for merchants, masters and owners of ships. Like the Golden Fleece Tavern of Corinth, which seems to have sheltered the father of History - Herodotus - in the year 460 B.C., its "banqueting saloon" was roomy, though every word uttered there also smacked of the salt water. The old "Neptune" was probably occasionally looked up in 1807 by the Press Gang, which, in those days, was not a thing to be laughed at.

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