THE STATUES
AT THE KERMESSe
For a long while, the only two statues on the front of the Législative Building were those of Frontenac and Lord Elgin. Frontenac is represented by the sculptor in the attitude he mus t hâve assumed when he gave bis proud answër:to Phipp's envoy : " Go and tell your mastiar that I will send my reply by the mouth of my cannpn^'' and a small cannon is shown on the bero's right side. Elgin, '' the friehd of Canadians/* holds in his hand the celebrated Bill of Indemnity which he signed in spite of thé angry shouts of the riders who burned down the IJarliament Buildings and threw eggs and stones in the face of the noble lord (Montréal', 1849).
Thèse two statues are the subject of the foUowlng aréiole which was printed in a sériai called La K/ermesH^ publish^ in connection with a Kermesse or great fancy fair held for a charitable institution in 1892.
What I am about to relate is so very étrange that I wonder whethér my readers will follow me to the end of my story.
Frontenac, the bronze Frontenac, put up by the Province of Québec in a niche, with a cannon • • • •
Well?
Well, he came down from the front of the Parliament Building and went to the Kermesse !
He had been talking about it ail the previous evening with Lord Elgin, who had finally consented to follow him.
'^ Bruce/' said he, ^^you must recollect a good many people still in Québec. Corne, it will amuse you ; only, you wont be able to go incognito. It is différent for me. They published a print of a bishop as my portrait, and thanks to that lucky mistake, no one will recognize me. I want to go and hâve a look at those English ladies who now réside in my old capital of two centuries ago.
<v .-—Il ^-'■■'^'•^•^immmt^^m^^^m^m^Êmm^rmmmmi0mÊ0mmfmî'mÊ>f^^''^^^^Km^fmitU
^' Those English ladies ! You are mistaken, nearly everybody speak» French • . • •
^* Ha ! there is Baptiste.
" Baptiste ! Baptiste ! " called out Frontenac.
^* What do you want, Sir ?
"Bring me a ladder. I am going down town to night."
'' AU correct, Sir."
" Hum, multered Elgin, on the contrary it seems to me far from correct."
" Are you coming with me, Bruce ?'*
" You hâve only to slide down, my lord," said Baptiste.
" Come, hurry up, my friend."
^^ I follow you, said Lord Elgin," leaping down.
The two old governors looked into each other's faces and shook hands ; then they walked towards Grande Allée.
When they got near St. Louis Gâte, Frontenac stretched out his arms towards the upper town and muttered between his teeth :
.124 GOVERÎ^MENT BUILDINGS
*^ That miscreant Raraeztay, who capitula ted just as Le vis was about to arrive ; at the moment when the Engli A were to be çaught between two fires ; in spite of Vaudreuil, of Joatinès, of La Rochebeaucour ; in spite of common sensé ! No he was not a Frenchman, he was a Scotch man • . • •
" Buade, 'Buade, speak not ag^iinst the Scotch, they hâve more than once shown themselves your friends.
^* You at least were one. I often feel inclined to lean over so as to see you sign your bill of indemnity in spite of.theclamours of the Upper Ganadians and the omelette-makers in Montréal."
By this time they had reached the paviliou where ail the beauty and fashion of the city meets pightly and where is held that brilliant assembly desîgnated by a Flemish or Dutch name : the Kermesse.
Frontenac retained his stiffi manner of old and his bronze eye-brows frowned sternly
JlMWi ■
IN X^UEBEC 125
'•^wlien the 4oor-keeper aaked. him for hîs «^eftlrMce- laoney y five cents.
*^ Tàke my hat and hold your tongne," he
'said. The door-keeper had never seen such
a hat and found it heavy. He did not ask
^*Elgin foF hîs money : the good governor.iad
tâucha,.lordIy air and such a pleasant smile...
As the two heroes entered the room their teyes were dazzled by the electric light.
•"I»«innot get accustomed to that machine/' saîd Frontenac. "Besides it is a long time since I hâve seen ladies so close and it ail dances before my sight like fire- . Aies. . . — O la Divine! la Divine ! thy poçtraît is at Versailles where no one knows .thee in thy garboif Miner va. As forme, at least, my memory still lives and I am called by my name. Thou didst dread the poor Chateaib: Saint-Louis and Quebec's . rUggèd rock ; but . hère thou wouldst hâve been queen. . . • Champlain's wife, d' Aiileboust's wife and Denonville's wife had not the same aversion and their names are vçneratèd anà glorified. A Minerva, a woman of
fashîon, when she bore the name of Comtesse de Frontenac ; when her husband carried terror among the Iroquois, defeated hostile fleets and lorded it over a country ten times larger than France !...."
" Will you take somethîng?" gracefully asked a young hidy from the refreshment table.
" I will take flags from the enemy," said the old warrior in thundering tones, " and hang them up myself in the cathedral." Then, lowering his tone, he said :
" Thank you, belle demoiselle^'
The hf-lle demoiselle was as pale as a ghost and trembled in ail her limbs. The man of bronze tried to smile.
" Pardon me/' he added, " I ara getting very cross since I am stuck up in that niche. Hère is some stamped paper which you can easily get changed by applying to your great collector and numismatist Cyrille Tessier. It is worth fifty livres. Take a ticket in the Tombola for me and try to win a trip to Europe. I would not be sorry
to have a chance to speak ray mind to those rascals who have upset everything in Paris and expelled my good friends the Franciscan ' monks from their convents. Then I would like to go to Versailles to call up the shade of Louis the Great and • • • • to see the portrait of La Divine.'*
Elgin had left his companion and was chatting quietly with a lady whose pleasant face and white hair had first attracted his attention.
" I think I recognize you, madam '', said the noble lord. '^ Are you not related to Mr. K. . . ., one of the habitués of Spencer Wood, some forty years ago ?
" Yes, Your Excellency/' replied Madame B* . . . with her cheerful smile.
" I think you are the only person I know hère to-night. You were very young when I lived in Québec and used to pay a visit every week to my old friends in St. Louis street, Mademoiselle Baby and Mademoi-
selle de La Naudière. Do the people like Lord Stanley ? "
^* I tliiiik so. Like you, he refuseisr to give his support to fan a tics, and in this he shows himself a devoted servant of the Englîsh Crown. Lady Stanley is charmirig and' most ' distinguée.
'- Do you like being in your niche ? " " Yes and no. I see things which pain me, while others give me pleastire* - KȔmas possible, I look upon what is beatitfifuiat>di-' I close my eyes to what is ridiculous.
'* Ah ! then, my lord, you must. • The Governor smiled^ in a ktndly: man^ ner. ^
" If Hébert had given me a hafe, like- Frontenac, I would hâve preferred i*. I suflfered greatly from oold last winter?^ bat not so much as Madame Micmao> my nei^-v bour. By the way, could you not spare, ipei a blanket for the little savage in the Indian Groiip ? It is really pitifulïto^see him», I often hear him cough and I dahfc uniierptand how. Hébert. . . . — Whô are those two clergymen ? "
" Monseigneur Paquet and Monsieur Roussel of the Québec Seminary."
'^. . . . Yes, I recognize them now ; they are the first two graduâtes of Laval University and I myself handed them their diplomas of Bachelor of Arts at the grand inaugural cereraony at Laval Univerdity on the 21rst September 1854, in the présence of my cabinet-ministers, of ail the Canadian Catholic bishops, of the officers of garrisonandof an immense audience. Beside me stood Monseigneur Turgeon, Rev. Mr.
Casault, the rector, and Bishop de Charbonnel who had first delivered an admirable address."
" You also, my lord, made a speech that day which was much spoken of. Every body was pleased to heàr you speak such good French and so fluently."
A group of men stood a little apart. They surrounded Frontenac whom they had recognized by his dress and questioned him about Louis XIV, Colbert, Champigny,
13(y GOVERNMENt BUILDINGS
PhippB and the Canadians o£ the latter erid of the 17th century.
At that moment the half past nine o'clock gun thanderred from Cape Diamond bastion.
" My gun firing of its own accord!^' laughîngly exclaimed Frontenac. " It is time to go back to our places."
" So soon/' said a young journalist, a future member of the Royal Sckîiety who, meanwhile, had charge of the local news column in a morning paper. " Leav.e us at least a mémento of y our visit."
" A; mémento ? I am quite wiliing. I will .
give you a counsel :
" Honour simplidty and frugaJUy^, " There is too much luxury in thisîcouiifcryiv and too much feasting in Québec*
" Frugality is the virtue of po^<«e^fiï^:^ races.
'* Imifcate y our fathers wbor lived» in the heroîcdays of Canada. Remain- simpl^^ so^er^^^ religions ; you are already a people> yoij..
will become a nation/'
IN quv^KO V 131 :
" As to poKtics ?'•• •. '^ sai(L tbôi jour-»
nalist.
*^ As ta poUfeîo^j be on your guoM agâînst the' JB^st&nnais'. Remaîn ftiiéhftii ta En glandai fôr^yaa owe her allfegiàncev Refi^ect the rightsof others ; but insist upon^your fightsi being» respeeted . Let there be- na yieldîag on that^peinfe^f Beinember that^the^flagheldi by a firm hand is the only> one^ that> is iiesT, peoted/V
The vétéran had drawn himself up ito his»
fullheight; on his featuves 8hon0ia lodk^ofi ino<^mpaPeMe maj e«ity ^ softened hy patesnali regard. » Takilig- Elgin'B arm^.he saidai^^ Let us go noWi" Then turning»,.ta thèv doorn^ keeper/ fae said^ : . ^^ Give me. my; hàti amkMh&r this médal called Kebeca libe^atar.^ Judg^^ Baby wili give you ten poundis for it.
An .hour latieri^ Elgin, stan^oUipig in bis uaual plapei recaïled-ta mî^d^ ail ?1die incidentis of the evenmg aiïd -team' coui^^u^ do^n hl9 bi^onsse cheek^ whije À^tcep^aiedi
132 GOVKRNMENT BUILDINGS
this passage of his famous speech at the inauguration of Laval University :
*^ "When, at night, a inîsty veil covers the firmament and hides the stars from mortal eyes, think not that those heavenlj bodies hâve quenched their fires. Wait and soon the breeze will scatter the clouds and the bright stars will shine in the azuré with a new and more radiant brilliancy.
" When, with soûl oppressed, and heart disturbed by passions, you no longer see the sublime light of Faith, awaît in prayer and do not allow yourselves to be overwhelmed by doubt. Soon a divine breath will dispel the darkness and eternal truths will appear to your minds more luminous and more évident than ever.
" Yes," he murmured, "itis quite true :
I hâve a French heart in a Scoth bosom. ...
I would hâve liked to hâve died in Québec.
.... My whole being is moved at the recollection of thé past, and nay ancestors ôf Normaudy and the Isle of Saints hâve
IN QUBBEG ' 133
bequettthed me traditions and beliefs whic^h^ without my knowing it, hâve penetrated to the very marrow of ray bones."
" My good Canadians/' said Frontenaq^ " how they hâve remained Christian and French ! • • • This Kermesse has been organized for a branch of the Hospitalier Sisters established at Notre-Dame-des-Anges by niy friend Bishop de Saint- Vallier ; or rather for the infirm, the poor, the unfortunate.
God be praised ! old France is not déad yet.
• . . . But they ! Iberville, Sainte-Hélène, ail the Society of Château Saint-Louisy where are they ? Is that their knell I hear tolling in the air ? Midnight rings out from the Tower clock.
" The sky is duU and cold. The lonely moon
Grudgingly bestows her rays on earth ;
The forest wind utters a heart-rending cry -,
The waves of the St. Lawrence sound like a wailing voice,
And the brazen throated bell toUs from hour to hour
Its resounding knell in the cloudy sky."
134 QOVERNMENT BUILDINGS
Long didthe old Governor speak. In spite of Nature's gloom, there was a joyfulness in his voice, and when dawn broughtout the undulating peaks of the Laurentians, in the north, the echoes of the fountain and of the campanile repeated for the last time :
" O my good Canadians ! "
Liste des gouvernements de la province de Québec depuis V établissement de la Confédération.
Min Min Min Min Min Min Min Min Min Min Min Min Min
stère Chauveau
stère Ouimet
stère de Boucherville ....
stère Joly
stère Chapleau
stère Mousseau
stère Ross
stère Taillon
stère Mercier
stère de Boucherville ....
stère Taillon
stère Flynn
stère Marchand
1er juillet. . 1867.
27 février.. 1873.
22 septembre 1874.
8 mars 1878.
31 octobre.. 1879.
1er août 1882.
23 janvier. . 1884.
22 janvier . . 1887.
29 janvier . . 1887- 21 décembre. 1891.
16 décembre. 1892.
11 mai 1896.
24 mai 1897.
Liste des membres du Conseil Exécutif de la province de Québec {1er juillet 1897J.
Les honorables MM. F.-G. Marchand, J. Shehyn, J.-E. Robidoux, H. Archambault, G.-W. Stephens, F.-G. Miville Dechêne, S -N. Parent, Ad. Turgeon, J.-J. Guerin et H.-T. Duffy.
