A strong defensive position, on the right bank of the River Jacques
Cartier, about 30 miles above Quebec. - Acquired by purchase from the
Seignior, 26th June, 1818.
THE ENVIRONS OF QUEBEC.
INTRODUCTION.
"Oh give me a home where the maple and pine
Around the wild heights so majestically twine;
Oh give me a home where the blue wave rolls free
From thy bosom, Superior, down to the sea."
"Could you not write the history of 'Our Parish,' and also sketch briefly
our country seats, marking out the spots connected with historical
events?" Thus discoursed one day to us, in her blandest tones, a fair
denizen of Sillery. There was a poser for a galant homme; a crusher
for the first litterateur of ... the parish. In vain did we allege
we were not a "Christopher North," but a mere retiring "antiquaire" - a
lover of books, birds, flowers, &c. The innate civility of a Frenchman
elicited from us an unreflective affirmative reply. Thus, compassionate
reader, was entrapped, caught and committed the first litterateur
of Sillery - irrevocably handed over to the tender mercies of all the
critics, present and future, in and out of the parish. Oh, my friends,
what a crunching up of literary bones in store! what an ample repast was
thus prepared for all the reviewers - the Jeffreys and LaHarpes - in and out
of the parish, should the luckless litterateur fail to assign fairy
scenery - important historical events - great battles, not only to each
renowned spot, but even to the merest potato-patch, turnip-ground or
cabbage-garden within our corporate limits?
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