eral when he was present in a province in
his official capacity.

The city where the first assembly of Lower Canada met in 1792 was one of
great historic interest. The very buildings in which the government
transacted its business had echoed to the tread of statesmen, warriors,
and priests of the old regime. The civil and military branches of the
government then occupied apartments in the old Chateau St. Louis,
elevated on the brink of an inaccessible precipice. On a rocky eminence,
in the vicinity of a battery close to Prescott Gate, erected in 1797, was
an old stone building, generally known as the Bishop's Palace. Like all
the ancient structures of Quebec, this building had no claims to elegance
of form, although much labour and expense had been bestowed on its
construction. The chapel of this building, situated near the
communication with the lower {306} town, was converted into a chamber, in
which were held the first meetings of the representatives of Lower Canada.

On the 17th of December, the two houses assembled in their respective
chambers in the old palace, in obedience to the proclamation of
Major-General Alured Clarke, who acted as lieutenant-governor in the
absence of the governor-general, Lord Dorchester. Among the officers who
surrounded the throne on that occasion, was probably his Royal Highness
the Duke of Kent, who was in command of the 7th Royal Fusiliers, then
stationed in the old capital. On so momentous an occasion, the
assemblage was large, and comprised all the notabilities of English and
French society. In the legislature were not a few men whose families had
long been associated with the fortunes of the colony. Chaussegros de
Lery, St. Ours, Longueuil, Lanaudiere, Rouville, Boucherville, Salaberry,
and Lotbiniere, were among the names that told of the old regime, and
gave a guaranty to the French Canadians that their race and institutions
were at last protected in the legislative halls of their country. M.
Panet, a distinguished French Canadian, was unanimously elected the
speaker of the first assembly of French Canada.

[Illustration: Prescott Gate and Bishop's palace at Quebec in 1830.]

Now let us leave the Bishop's Palace, among the rocks of old Quebec, and
visit the humble village of Newark, where Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe
opened his first legislature under the new constitution in the autumn of
1792. Across the rapid river was the territory of the Republic, which
was engage