a possession of which all
the difficulties were already overcome, and of which the consequent
advantages were secure and within reach! That loss might have been
guarded against--yes, that land consecrated by the blood of a Montcalm,
a Jumonville, and so many brave Frenchmen who shared their dangers, and
were united with them in fate--that country honoured with the name of
New France--that country where we may yet trace her children enjoying
the manners and customs of their forefathers--that country might yet
have existed under its rightful princes, if the Cabinet of Versailles
had known the true position it held--had erected there a new throne and
had placed upon it a Prince of the Royal Family--it would have ruled
to-day over that vast region, and preserved the treasures vainly spent
in its defence."

After the conquest the Chateau de Ramezay was saved from being a mere
fur-trading post by becoming the city residence of the Baron de
Longueuil, a Canadian feudal lord, the towers, embattlements and chapel
of whose castle were visible on the south side of the river. The founder
of this house, which to-day holds the only hereditary feudal barony of
Canada, was Charles LeMoyne, who came to Canada in 1642 with
Maisonneuve. This man was the son of an innkeeper at Dieppe (France),
who it is alleged was descended from a younger branch of the old Norman
family of LeMoyne, the head of the house being the Marquis de Longueuil.

Fourteen years after his arrival in Canada, LeMoyne received the
Seigniory of Longueuil, he having in the meantime amassed a considerable
fortune in the fur trade.

The eldest son, who was named after his father, was born in 1656, and
in recognition of his services at a siege of Quebec, and against the
Iroquois, he was made a Baron of France in 1700 by Louis 14th. The old
deed of nobility is to this day in an almost perfect condition.

An original sketch of the Chateau de Longueuil, taken after a fire which
partially destroyed it in 1792, is still in possession of the family.
The Chateau, or in reality the Castle, was built by the first Baron in
1699, and for nearly a hundred years sheltered the family of LeMoyne.

It stood partly on the ground now occupied by the front of the present
parish church of Longueuil, and partly across the highway, at a corner
of the Chambly road. The north-west tower was located as late as 1835,
but was covered with earth by the excavation for the new church. The
Chateau, c