e cliff was his Versailles, and hither came the quality
of the district to pay their court and attend the receptions of the
Governor. The Seigneur's wife was gowned according to the latest
intelligence from Paris, with _coiffe poudre_, court-plaster, ribbons,
and fan. She could curtsey with fine grace and dance the stately
minuet; and her sprightly conversation was the amazement of those
visitors who have recorded their impressions of Quebec. La Potherie,
in 1698, and Charlevoix, in 1720, both remarked upon the purity of the
French language as spoken in these _salons_ of the far-distant West.

In spite of clerical anathema, the first ball in Canada was given at
Fort St. Louis as early as 1646, and from that time forward social
life at Quebec steadily progressed. The Marquis de Tracy with his
suite of nobles and the regiment of Carignan-Salieres brought unwonted
lustre to the remote court; and when a native order of noblesse was
founded a few years later, the Chateau on the St. Lawrence reflected
the elegance and gaiety of France itself.

[Illustration: NEW ST. JOHN'S GATE]

The account of Madame de Vaudreuil's reception at Versailles in 1709,
or the Duc de Saint-Simon's comment upon that lady's wit and
deportment, affords a high certificate of the _savoir vivre_ of the
old fortress town; and the letters of the Marquis de Montcalm, keen
connoisseur of social arts, show that the drawing-rooms of the Rue du
Parloir were far from uncongenial. Moreover, the fascinating Angelique
des Meloises was something more in the history of New France than the
prototype of the heroine in _Le Chien d'Or_.

Towards the close of the French period Quebec had a population of
about seven thousand, of whom more than half lived in the Lower Town.
Here, on the narrow strand beneath the cliff, the tenements stood in
irregular groups, parted by winding streets. Up the hill, too, these
tortuous pathways ran, changing, now and then, to breakneck stairs
where the declivity was specially steep. The graded slope of Mountain
Street zigzagged from the harbour up to the Castle, while on the St.
Charles side the ascent was commonly made by way of Palace Hill. The
Upper Town was chiefly occupied by public buildings, which comprised
the Chateau, the Cathedral, churches, schools, and convents. Here also
the streets followed no definite plan, but ambled hither and thither
along the uneven summit. Out through the city gates ran the roads of
St. Louis and St.