Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal

“ The first pioneer social movements of Montreal under British rule were those embracing the care of the aged and that of foundlings and abandoned children. These were found together under one roof but in different departments in the Hôpital Général of the “Grey Nuns” or the “Sisters of Charity” according to their official title. At the time of the capitulation the above, with the Hôtel Dieu, founded on May 17, 1642, since the early days of the colony, sufficed for the charitable needs of the small community ”

“ Montreal in general is a well built town, but incapable of any defence. The churches are elegant, and the houses of some of their principal men are really magnificent; though few in number. The Hotel Dieu is by far the finest hospital I ever saw, every thing in it is extremely neat and convenient. ”

“ The work was discontinued about 1860, when preparations were being made to open the present Hôtel Dieu on Pine Avenue, and the building was opened on September 8, 1860, by the Congregation Nuns as a convent school under the name of the “Pensionnat du Mont St. Marie.”
On account of the disasters from fires the statistics of the Hôtel Dieu for the first century of its work are incomplete, but from 1760 to 1860 the exact number of cases of invalids admitted is 82,121. By 1909, when the 250th anniversary of the arrival of the three Hospitaliers was celebrated, the number had mounted to 119,352. ”

“ I would not be in Montreal while Antichrist is there. He has come to destroy the Catholic religion." I felt quite happy when I found myself once more safe in New York; and it has only been since my return from Montreal, and the conviction I had there formed, that it was in vain for me to attempt to get a fair investigation into the Hotel Dieu Nunnery, that I seriously thought of publishing a book. Under some disadvantages this volume has been prepared, and unfortunately its publication has been delayed to a season when it will be difficult to transmit it promptly to all parts of the country. ”

“ It would be vain for any body who has merely visited the Convent from curiosity, or resided in it as a novice, to question my declarations. Such a person must necessarily be ignorant of even the existence of the private rooms, unless informed by some one else. Such rooms however, there are, and I could relate many things which have passed there during the hours I was employed in them, as I have stated.
One night I was called to sit up with an old nun, named Saint Clare, who, in going down-stairs, had dislocated a limb, and lay in a sick-room adjoining an hospital. ”

“ So far the only places of worship at Ville Marie are the chapels of the Hôtel Dieu and the fort, and the small stone church of Our Lady of Bon Secours, just erected. Montreal has been in existence for thirty-five years, and has about a thousand inhabitants. At the Sault there are between two and three hundred permanent Indian residents and three Jesuit Fathers ”

“ My parents were both from Scotland, but had been resident in Lower Canada some time before their marriage, which took place in Montreal; and in that city I spent most of my life. ”

“ Montreal is a long square, situated on the bank of the river which, rising insensibly, divides the whole into high and low town, without any appreciable line of demarkation. The Hôtel-Dieu, the King's storehouses and the place d'Armes are in the lower town; this is also the merchants' quarter. In the upper town are the Seminary, the parish church, the Recollects, the Jesuits, the ladies of the Congregation, the Governor and the greater part of the officers. ”

“ It is commonly known in Montreal that some of the priests occasionally withdraw from their customary employments, and are not to be seen for some time, it being understood that they have retired for religious study, meditation and devotion, for the improvement of their hearts. ”

“ Whoever shall explore the Hotel Dieu Nunnery, at Montreal, will find unquestionable evidence that the descriptions of the interior of that edifice, given in this book, were furnished by one familiar with them; for whatever alterations may be attempted, there are changes which no mason or carpenter can make and effectually conceal; and therefore, there must be plentiful evidence in that institution of the truth of my description.
There are living witnesses, also, who ought to be made to speak, without fear of penances, tortures, and death ”

“ If the Jesuits and Nuns at Montreal are anxious for a full and impartial scrutiny of the Hotel Dieu Convent, Maria Monk is ready to oblige them with some facilities for that object; provided she may carry them out to all their extent and application. Mr. Ogden has one affidavit, and knows the whole matter; as can incontestably be proved by Mr. A. P. Hart, an Attorney of Montreal; and we recommend Dr. Robertson to issue his warrant for the apprehension of Lartigue, Bonin, Dufresne, and Richards, they are enough to begin with ”

“ The other class of persons who verily believe the "Awful Disclosures," are the religious community in Canada. We think that scarcely a well-informed person can be discovered in Montreal or Quebec, who does not feel assured, that the interior of the Hotel Dieu Nunnery is most faithfully depicted by Maria Monk. Many persons are now inhabitants of New York who formerly resided in Montreal, some of whom have been upon terms of familiar intimacy for years with those Roman Priests, who are specified as the principal actors in the scenes depicted in that book ”

“ Jeanne Mance, daughter of the attorney-general of Nogent-le-Roi, among the vine-clad hills of Champagne, who had bound herself to perpetual chastity from a remarkably early age, gladly joined in this religious undertaking. The company had in view the establishment of communities of secular priests, and of nuns to nurse the sick, and teach the children—the French as well as the savages. Madame de Bullion, the rich widow of a superintendent of finance, contributed largely towards the enterprise, and may be justly considered the founder of Hotel Dieu of Montreal. ”

“ Before I took the veil, I was ornamented for the ceremony, and was clothed in a rich dress belonging to the Convent, which was used on such occasions; and placed not far from the altar in the chapel, in the view of a number of spectators who had assembled, perhaps about forty. ”

“ Standing near the door, we dipped our fingers in the holy water, crossed and blessed ourselves, and proceeded up to the sleeping-room, in the usual order, two by two. ”

“ They were watched by hostile Iroquois Indians who lurked in the shadow of the trees.
All this was long long ago. There are no more Indians wearing blankets nowadays. But on this spot where mass was said rises the great solid city of Montreal with its two nationalities, French and English, trying to live in harmony.
This statue stands in Place d'Armes Square, just in front of the famous Notre Dame church, with its twin towers, two hundred and twenty-seven feet high. In these towers hang some famous chimes. ”

“ The grim corbels and winged angels that are carved on the grey stone, whose very uncouthness tells of time gone by when our ancestors worshipped within their walls, give an additional interest to the temples of our forefathers. But, though the new church at Montreal cannot compare with our York Minster, Westminster Abbey, and others of our sacred buildings, it is well worthy the attention of travellers, who will meet with nothing equal to it in the Canadas. ”

“ Comment avez-vous pu mettre dans votre esprit qu'appuyés de nos propres forces, nous eussions présumé de penser à un si glorieux dessein? Si Dieu n'est point dans l'affaire de Montréal, si c'est une invention humaine, ne vous en mettez point en peine, elle ne durera guère. ”

“ Laurence, towards La Prairie, and the rapids above and below the island of St. Anne's. The royal mountain (Mont Real) , with its wooded sides, its rich scenery, and its city with its streets and public buildings, lie at your feet: with such objects before you the eye may well be charmed with the scenery of Montreal.
We receive the greatest attention from the master of the hotel, who is an Italian. The servants of the house are very civil, and the company that we meet at the ordinary very respectable, chiefly emigrants like ourselves, with some lively French men and women. ”

“ I suffered greatly from the cold, though I had warm clothing, including a heavy overcoat which had done me good service the previous winter at Montreal when the thermometer stood at thirty degrees below zero.
Near the hotel are a dozen, or more, costly and grotesque edifices, much adorned with carved wood statues of horrible-looking beasts and devils, covered with bronze and gold. There are temples of Buddha, and gorgeous mausoleums of kings who died five hundred years ago, situated in a park of big trees ”

“ We have visited Montreal, a glorious morning drive, with such views from the resting places and the marble fountains, and such perfume from the blossoming groves! The church and convent of Montreal are noble monuments of the age when the new life gave inspiration to architecture, which devoted its best powers to the service of the church, that by symbolic imagery it might express and perpetuate for thousands of generations the thoughts of eternal life. ”

“ There is none of the hurry and push of most American cities, seen even, to a degree, in Montreal. To-day seems long enough for its duties and its pleasures, and to-morrow is left to take care of itself. Even the public buildings have the stamp of antiquity upon them, and are, in consequence, interesting, though few of them are architecturally beautiful.
The churches of Quebec have none of the grandeur of those of Montreal. Most prominent among them is the Anglican Cathedral, a plain, gray stone edifice in St. Ann street. ”

“ A ridiculous event occurred in this church in 1694, which is recorded as the "prie dieu incident," and which caused a certain amount of taking of sides and dissension and scandal at Montreal and Quebec, and was the subject of dispatches to France; it illustrates how very human men were at this time. M. De Callières, the governor of Montreal, was present with all the élite of Montreal, at the ceremony of the initiation of two Recollect novices into the order and he was kneeling at a prie dieu, or kneeling desk, in the middle of the church, "near the altar," in the place of honour. ”

“ I had felt quite bold and resolute when I first consented to go to Montreal, and also during my journey: but when I stepped on shore in the city, I thought of the different scenes I had witnessed there, and of the risks I might run before I should leave it. We got into a caleche, and rode along towards the hotel where we were to stop. We passed up St. Paul's Street ”

“ I presume this was the first hotel, rather a contrast to that of the present day, which is yearly crowded with an increased number of fashionable visitors from all parts of the Dominion, in search of health or amusement. This hotel has been very lately enlarged and fitted up with every modern convenience. Parties leaving Montreal by the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and getting off at Louiseville, will find vehicles waiting to take them to St. ”

“ In catholic countries there are few public buildings, either for use or ornament, but are in some way connected with religion, and most frequently with charity. There are several charitable catholic institutions in Quebec: the principal of these is the Hôtel-Dieu, founded in 1637 by the Duchess d’Aiguillon, (sister to Cardinal Richelieu,) for the poor sick. The establishment consists of a superior and thirty-six nuns. The General Hospital is a similar institution, consisting of a superior and forty-three nuns, founded by St. ”

“ To appreciate the unique features of Montreal, it is necessary that you should be there on the Sabbath, the gala-day of the Catholics. Then it is that the peasantry flock into the city from all directions, and, when they are pouring into the huge cathedral by thousands, dressed in a thousand fantastic fashions, cracking their jokes, and laughing as they move along, the entire scene is apt to fill one with peculiar feelings. ”

“ In Ottawa the Parliament Buildings and the octagonal Library, in178 Toronto, and, to some extent, in Montreal, the Universities’ buildings, are Victorian Gothic. The later buildings of the University in Montreal, excepting the Girls’ College, are not so interesting; but there are two railroad stations, a hotel, cathedral, with several banks, insurance buildings, and residences that call for more than passing notice. Perhaps the finest building in all Canada is the Château Frontenac, in Quebec,—built by Bruce Price of New York,—on the Dufferin Terrace, overlooking the St. ”

“ It was a time in which men held their breath. The fascination of that sight was terrible. All were dismayed. All were paralyzed. The "Victoria," that Grand Hotel which was St. John to every traveller who came here—that massive pile of brick and stone—was no longer the standing monument of the city's enterprise. An engine might have saved it, but the engine was not there.
The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
GERMAIN STREET, SHOWING VICTORIA HOTEL.
This spacious hotel was commenced by a Joint Stock Company in 1870, and was built on the corner of Germain and Duke Streets. ”

“ The Catholic Cathedral in the quiet square is very remarkable for its double tier of galleries, and for being painted and decorated gaudily from floor to roof. The Young Men's Christian Association has erected another of its fine buildings at Montreal. The society seems to thrive and to be doing an enormous work of good throughout the length and breadth of the American Continent. ”