- Who will dare assert there was not some
Jack Sheppard, with a tender spot in his heart towards the youthful
Briseis who acknowledged Mrs. Montgomery's gentle sway.
A conspicuous landmark on St. Stanislas street is Trinity Chapel.
Of yore there stood in rear of the chapel the "Theatre Royal," opened 15th
February, [50] 1832, where the Siddons, Keans and Kembles held forth to
our admiring fathers. Church and theatre both owed their birth to the late
Chief Justice Sewell. The site of this theatre was purchased some years
back by the ecclesiastical authorities of St Patrick Church. Thus
disappeared the fane once sacred to Thespis and Melpomene, its fun-loving
votaries, as such, knew it no more.
TRINITY CHURCH.
The church of the "Holy Trinity," St. Stanislas street, Quebec, was
erected on a site which, judging from the discovery of a skeleton,
when the foundations were laid, had been a cemetery.
The architecture of this church is Doric, and is considered correct
both internally and externally. It is a substantial building of good
proportions, 90 feet in length by 49 in breadth, is supplied with an
organ and bell. It is commodious and capable of seating 700 persons.
The sittings are free. It contains a beautiful marble monument, by
Manning, of London, which was erected to the memory of the late Hon.
Jonathan Sewell, LL.D., the founder of the church, also a few other
tablets in memory of different members of the family of Sewell. The
present incumbent and proprietor is the Rev. Edmund Willoughby Sewell,
M.A., but it is confidently expected that ere long it will pass into
the hands of an incorporated body, with whom the future presentment of
the officiating clergyman will rest.
On a tin-plate on the corner-stone of the chapel, the following
inscription occurs:
"Quebec, 15th September, 1824.
On Thursday was deposited in a private manner, under a stone at
the north-east angle of the new Chapel of Ease to the English
Cathedral, a tin plate having the following Latin inscription:
Anno Dm. Christi MDCCCXXIV Regnante
Georgio Quarto, Britaniarum Rege Fidet
Defensore Reverendissimo Patre in Deo
Jacob Mountain S. T. P. Episcopo Quebecensi,
Hanc Capellam, ad perpetuum honorem
Sacrosanctae Trinitatis, et in usum Fidelium
Ecclesiae Anglican dedicatam Vir honorabilis
Jonothan Sewell, Provinciae Canadae inferioris
Judex Primarius, et Henrietta ejus uxor
Adificaverunt
Edmundo Willoughby Sewell, clerico, uno de eorum filiis Capellano
primo
G. BLAICKLOCK, Architecto
J. PHILIPS, Conditore
On the other side is the inscription on the monument:
IN MEMORY OF
JONATHAN SEWELL, LL.D.
The Pious and Liberal Founder of this Chapel.
Endowed with talents of no common order
He was selected in early life to fill the highest offices
in this Province
He was appointed Solicitor General A.D. 1793,
Attorney and Advocate General and Judge of the Court of Vice
Admiralty, A.D. 1795, Chief Justice of the Province and Chairman
of the Executive Council A.D. 1809.
Speaker of the Legislative Council A.D. 1809.
Distinguished in his public capacity,
He shone equally conspicuous as a statesman and a jurist.
Naturally mild and courteous, he combined the meekness of the
Christian
with the authority of the Judge.
Beloved at home as a kind father, a firm friend and an
affectionate husband.
Respected abroad as an acknowledged example of truth, faithfulness
and integrity;
He has left a name to which not only his descendants in all future
ages, But his country may recur
With just pride, deep reverence, and a grateful recollection.
He was born in Boston, Mass., June 6th, 1766, and died in this
city, in the Fulness of the Faith in Christ, November 13th, 1839
in the 74th year of his age
This tribute to departed worth is erected by his sorrowing widow."
The southern extreme of St. Stanislas street terminates at the
intersection of Ste. Anne street, past the old jail, which dated from
1810. Lugubrious memories crowd round this massive tolbooth - of which the
only traces of the past are some vaulted lock-up or cells beneath the
rooms of the Literary and Historical Society, one of which, provided with
a solid new iron door, is set apart for the reception of the priceless
M.S.S. of the society. The oak flooring of the passages to the cells
exhibit many initials, telling a tale of more than one guilty life - of
remorse - let us hope, of repentance.
The narrow door in the wall and the iron balcony, over the chief entrance
leading formerly to the fatal drop which cut short the earthly career of
the assassin or burglar [51] was speedily removed when the directors of
the Morrin College in 1870 purchased the building from Government to
locate permanently the seat of learning due to the munificence of the late
Joseph Morrin, M.D.
The once familiar inscription above the prison door, the rendering of
which in English was a favourite amusement to many of the juniors of the
High School, or Seminary, on their way to class, that also has
disappeared:
"Carcer iste bonos a pravis vindicare possit!"
May this prison teach the wicked for the edification of the good."
The damp, vaulted cells in the basement, where the condemned felon in
silence awaited his doom, or the airy wards above, where the impecunious
debtor or the runaway sailor meditatively or riotously defied their
traditional enemies the constable and policeman, now echo the Hebrew,
Greek and Latin utterances of the Morrin College professors, and on
meeting nights the disquisitions before the Literary and Historical
Society, of lecturers on Canadian history, literature or art.
It is the glory and privilege of the latter institution in accordance with
the object of its Royal Charter, to offer to citizens of all creeds and
nationalities, a neutral ground, sacred to intellectual pursuits.
