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a Scot, Mr. Redpath !—men
distinguished, for their benefactions, wealth and intelligence. If you
should long for more proof of the feelings of Scotchmen towards mental
culture and education; Look round! Reflect
on
the spot where you stand! To whom does Quebec owe this roof which shelters
us to night, the Morrin College! To the thoughtful munificence of a
Scotchman, Dr. Joseph Morrin. Honor to his name.
(Loud applause.)
On every side we look, some memento
recalls for Scotia’s sons, a glorious past. Before you, there, stands the
quaint model of the first steamship which crossed with steam the Atlantic:
the "Royal William," manned by a Scot, Capt. John MacDougall. A Scot, at
Quebec, in 1831, George Black, laid her keel in the shipyard, at Ance
des Mêres, owned by Messrs. Sheppard & Campbell.
To whom does the Literary and
Historical Society owe its origin? To a progressive and public spirited
Vice-roy of Canada, George Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie, a Scotch nobleman.
Would you like to hear how it
originated? We will briefly tell you. In the autumn of 1823, His
Excellency the Governor General of Canada assembled round
him the elite of Quebec Society and
invited their co-operation to a literary project over which he had long
meditated. On the 6th January
1824, we next find him, surrounded by the most distinguished citizens of
Quebec of all origins, at the Chateau-Saint Louis yonder, his official
residence:
the Sewells, Stuarts, Aylwins,
Bayfields, Sheppards, Wicksteads, Mountains, McCords, McKenzies, Morrins,
Wilkies, Henrys, Blacks, Primroses—join hands with the Valliéres, the
Signal, the Demers, the Carons, the Garneaus, the Bouehettes, the
Farihaults, the Taschereaus, the Perraults ; the Charter of the
Society is drafted, with the
able assistance of Dr. John Charlton Fisher, ex-Editor of the New York
Albion, recently settled in Quebec; and was subsequently sanctioned by
His Majesty, George IV. |
