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 QUEBEC 139 Quebec. An elective assembly was granted to the provinces in 1791, and in 1841 responsible government was introduced. For further his- torical details, see CANADA, DOMINION OF. QUEBEC, a county of the province of Quebec, Canada, on the N. bank of the St. Lawrence, including territorially, though not politically, the city of Quebec ; area, 2,598 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 19,607, of whom 14,681 were of French, 3,321 of Irish, 772 of English, and 547 of Scotch origin or descent. It is watered by the Batiscan, St. Anne, and St. Charles rivers, and other streams. Capital, Charlesbourg. QIJEBKC, a fortified city and port of entry of the Dominion of Canada, capital of the prov- ince of Quebec, situated on the N". W. bank of the river St. Lawrence, at its confluence with the St. Charles, nearly 400 m. from the gulf of St. Lawrence, and 140 m. (in a direct line) N. E. of Montreal, in Lit. 46 49' 6" N., Ion. 71 13' 45" W.; pop. in 1861, 59,990; in 1871, 69,699 (the decrease being attributed to the withdrawal of the British regiments forming the garrison). Of the latter number, 40,890 were of French, 12,345 of Irish, 3,974 of Eng- lish, and 1,861 of Scotch origin, and 52,357 were Roman Catholics. Quebec is built on the northern extremity of an elevated tongue of land which forms the left bank of the St. Lawrence for several miles. Cape Diamond, so called from the numerous quartz crystals formerly found there, is the loftiest part of the headland, 333 ft. above the stream, and crowned with the vast fortifications of the citadel. These occupy about 40 acres, and with their outlying works obtained for Que- bec the appellation of the " Gibraltar of America." From the citadel a line of wall runs westward toward the cliffs overhanging the valley of the St. Charles, and is thence continued around the brow of the promon- tory till it connects once more with Cape Dia- Quebee, from Point Levi. mond near the governor's garden. This circuit is about 2f m. in extent, and is pierced by five gates, now dismantled. The walls and ramparts outside of the citadel proper, though still mounted with cannon, are no longer kept in repair. The modern changes in artillery have necessitated the construction at enormous cost of a vast system of defensive works on the heights beyond Point Levi, and others are contemplated. Cape Diamond, Durham ter- race, the grand battery, and the vast balcony on the university building, on the east and north, and the ramparts between St. Louis and St. John gates, on the south and west, afford prospects rivalled by few in America. The city is divided into the upper and the lower town. The former comprises the walled city with the two suburbs of St. Louis and St. John, between the walls and the plains of Abraham. The lower town is the portion which encircles the base of the promontory from beneath Cape Diamond to the mouth of the St. Charles, to- gether with the suburbs of St. Roch, St. Sau- veur, and Boisseauville. A very large part of the city within the walls, or the upper town proper, is taken up with the buildings and grounds of great religious corporations, the seminary and Laval university, the Ursulines and the H6tel-Dieu, and the ancient Jesuit col- lege, founded in 1633, and occupied as a bar- rack after 1812. It is now proposed (1875) to erect a building for the provincial legisla- ture on its site. Over the remaining irregu- lar surface, not covered by military works, are crowded the quaint mediaeval streets and dwellings, built generally of stone, two or three stories high, and roofed, like the public buildings, with shining tin. Here are situated the parliament house, post office, court house, city hall, the residences of the officers of the