259 ERNEST ATHERLEY; OR, SCENES AT HOME AND ABROAD, BY LORD WILLIAM LENNOX. CHAP. XIII. "Go then; 'tis vai to hover Thus round a hope that's dead: At length my dream is over; T'was sweet, t'was false, 'tis fled! MOORE. Quebec-Character of the original "cool as a cucumber"-A death-blow to my hopes. We have digressed. Return we to the then capital of Lower Canada; where, at the period I write of, the Governor-General resided. The city of Quebec is situated on a very lofty point of land, on the northwest side of the river St. Lawrence. Nearly facing it, on the opposite shore, there is another point. Between the two the river is contracted to the breadth of three-quarters of a mile; but, after passing through this strait, it expands to the breadth of nearly six miles, taking a great sweep behind the promontory whereon Quebec stands. The city derives its name from the word Quebeic, which, in the Algonquin tongue, signifies a sudden contraction of a river. The wide foot of the river immediately before the town is called the basin; and is sufficiently deep and spacious to float upwards of one hundred sail of the line. The city itself has a very romantic appearance. An immense projecting rock, with an impregnable citadel; the bright steeples of the cathedrals and churches; the houses, barracks, nunneries, and warehouses, rising gradually one above another, in the form of an amphitheatre, and which, being covered with tin to prevent conflagration, and so put on that it never rusts, have the appearance of being covered with silver when the rays of the sun shine on the buildings, and remind one of a scene in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. The crowd of shipping is beneath. On the left stands Point Levi, thickly covered with houses, and here and there the wild Indian wigwam. On the right is the fruitful and highly-cultivated Island of Orleans, with its rustic dwellings clothed with lofty trees. Beyond is seen the falls of Montmorency, bursting through a mystic chasm over a ledge of broken rocks, until it comes to the brink of a precipice, down which it descends in one uninterrupted and nearly perpendicular fall of two hundred and forty feet; these, and the mountains in the distance, form a most impressive and grand object. It was a bright and sunny day when we landed; and although nothing could exceed the kindness or hospitality of the gallant captain of the Rokeby, we were all delighted at being delivered from the narrow confines of our berths, in which for six long weeks we had been "cabined, cribbed, confined,' and not a little pleased at once again having our eyes relieved from the wearisome view of sky and water. Those who have made a long sea-voyage will easily enter into our feelings, and imagine the happiness of once again touching terra firma. A brief description of Quebec may not be uninteresting. From Cape Diamond, situated one thousand feet above the level of the river, the scenery surpasses, for beauty, grandeur, and diversity, all that Í have ever seen in Canada, or, indeed, in any part of the globe. In the variegated expanse that is laid open before you, stupendous rocks, lofty mountains, immense rivers, trackless forests, tranquil lakes, highly cultivated lands, rich fields of pasture, fertile valleys, well-stocked orchards, deep-wooded glens, bold promontories, shady lanes, the most luxuriant vegetation, thriving farms, elegant villas, lowly-thatched cottages, clustered with vines, clematis, jessamine, sweet scented verbena, and brier, and surrounded with gardens, in which blue hydrangias, fuchsias, hollyocks, dahlias, rhododendrons, azaleas, and roses grow in wild profusion. Romantic villages, venerable churches, covered with ivy and moss, hamlets, towns, in turn strike the attention, and the senses are almost bewildered in contemplating the vastness of the scene. Nature is here seen on the grandest scale; and it is scarcely possible for the imagination to picture to itself anything more exquisitely sublime than are the several prospects presented to the sight of the delighted spectator. It has often been said that the charm of a summer's morning is in the upland and the extensive view, and that those who have never beheld the rising sun from a mountain top know not how fair the world is. The place to be chosen for a view of sunrise, such a view as Claude loved to pourtray with his magic pencil, is some elevation near the sea coast; and here on Cape Diamond did I take my stand, on the morning after my arrival in Quebec, and from a height of a thousand feet looked down upon the chequered beauty of the land, and the wide expanse of ocean. By the time that half of the solar disc was above the horizon the sea was of that "Dolce color di oriental saffiro" in which the boats, with their dark lug sails, as they returned from the deep sea fishing, projected their streaky shadows for miles, although each seemed but a speck. The mist now melted away, and the fields and woods were all arrayed in gold. The smoke began to twine upwards from the lowly cottages; the sheep were unfolded; and man began the toil and labour of the day. Those who have beheld the beauties of the rising sun, will feel that the breast which such a sight cannot calm must indeed be a troubled one: I almost forgot the misery of leaving my fatherland, and all that it held dear to me, in the bright prospect that met my eyes. Lovely as was the scenery in the environs of Quebec, the city itself could not boast of much attraction, and I soon began to feel that indescribable vacuity and listlessness of a garrison life. However exciting the duty of an aid-de-camp may be on active service, it is far different in the piping times of peace, the principal employment being to act as military groom of the chambers during the morning, write invitations to dinners and balls, ride out with the General, carve at the dinner table, talk" pipeclay" with the martinets of the service, make up a rubber of whist, and flirt with the garrison belles. Occasionally we were enlivened with horse-racing and private theatricals, in which gentlemen jockeys and amateur actors thought themselves equal to the Buckles and Kembles of the day. A description of these amusements would not interest the general reader; I shall therefore proceed to say that I witnessed one sight in Canada which no pen can describe, no pencil pourtray-the mighty cataract of Niagara. I saw it in the bright sunshine of a summer's day. I gazed upon it with awe-struck admiration in the pure light of as brilliant a moon as ever shone in the starry firmament. I stood for hours near the foaming waters, until the scene was so impressed on my mind that it cannot be obliterated "while memory holds her seat." Inwardly I exclaimed "Vedi Niagara è pomori !" During my stay in Quebec, I became acquainted with one, who, as he will figure in rather a prominent character in these pages, requires an especial notice. The hero in question was the honourable Charles Plantagenet Coolhurst, commonly called "Charley Coolhurst." He was a scion of a noble house; but having come into the world a few years after his elder brother, had nothing but his own wits and handsome person to live upon. The titles of "free and easy," "London assurance," and the "cool of the evening," were usually appended to his name, for reasons which will be perfectly intelligible to the acute reader, and certainly no one ever deserved them more than did this genuine son of effrontery. His was a character that Charles Mathews alone could hit off on the histrionic stage; although on the drama of real life we could name one or two of his prototypes. How Coolhurst managed to live in the style he did was a mystery to the world at large; his dress, equipages, house, were all of the most recherché description; he never owed a farthing, always had money in his purse. The interest of the fortune bequeathed to him by his father amounted to four hundred a year, and the produce of his own brain, perhaps, brought him in a hundred more. To solve this difficult problem, we must remark Charley's" abilities were so great and attractive that he lived upon the world. He was no vulgar sponge, no modern Jeremy Diddler, satisfied with any sort of dinner, or content with borrowing a few shillings. He flew at higher game, as the sequel of his chequered history will prove. To conciliate man and woman kind was Coolhurst's first object; and this he effected in a variety of ways. His primary movement was to make himself acquainted with all the news and topics of the day; he got at all that was going on before and behind the curtain of the universal theatre, by which means he was ever ready to take a prominent part when called upon, even at the shortest notice. He could amuse the old Dowager with scandal against some rival chaperon; he could flatter the leader of ton by tirades against those who did not yield obedience to her allegiance; he could gratify the proud aristocrat with courtly anecdotes; he could delight the prolix country gentleman by listening to his "poor-rate" conversation; he could cajole the parliamentary man by quoting passages from his last “inaudible in the gallery" speech; he could please the belle of the season by enumerating the list of her conquests; he could keep the faded that " beauty, the antiquated miss, the unpartnered dames, and the “wall flowers" of many years' standing, in perfect good humour, by his adroit compliments. He was equally popular with the young men of the day, in discoursing about Melton, or entering into the merits and demerits of a Derby favourite. He could ingratiate himself with the sedate, by his temperate remarks and judicious opinions; he could win the lighthearted by his never-failing flow of spirits. With all classes Coolhurst was most popular; not alone from the varied powers of conversation which he possessed, but for the tact with which he brought them forward. There was another cause which operated much in his favour— he was an excellent listener. He would attend to a disquisition upon logarithms; he would hearken to a treatise upon the irrigation of land; he would hear with patience an harangue against the national debt; he would undergo the infliction of being" button-held," while an elderly beau told of the conquests of his early days; he would show no signs of impatience if a young Oxonian described the life at this celebrated seat of learning; he would not turn a deaf ear to the lamentations of some stiff-laced, antiquated dame upon the altered manners, the fast answers and short petticoats of the rising generation; and he was never known to yawn but upon one occasion, and that was when a disappointed bas bleu read him a tragedy of five acts, with a prologue and epilogue to boot. Nay, so great were his powers of endurance, that he would sit for hours listening to the most prozy, prolix, and tedious details, only interrupting the delighted narrator with sundry ejaculations, "really!" "wonderful!" "how extraordinary!" "most graphic !" "what a memory!" In addition to the above merits, Coolhurst had obtained the character of being the best-natured, liberal fellow in the world; and this he had got at a small cost to himself. It is true he was ever doing obliging acts; his great connection placed many advantages in his way; he received large presents of venison and game-a great boon in those days, when gentlemen did not act as "licensed victuallers;" he had, also, stores of orders to see Carlton House, St. James's Palace, Windsor Castle, the Regent's Cottage at Virginia Water, Sion, Osterly, Oatlands, Belvedere, Gunnersbury, Wanstead, and other houses, then beyond the reach of the million. He was ever on the look out for admissions to panoramas, picture galleries, theatres, operas, and concerts; and with this foundation of food for the body and mind, he was never at loss to find those, who in return for his costless offerings, would repay him with dinners and invitations to country houses. Upon one occasion, the "Cool of the evening" passed a week at a villagetura in Norfolk, without any bidding from the host and hostess; and being asked how he accomplished it, Charley replied, Oh, I know the Elstrees were not on speaking terms; and as I was slightly acquainted with both, I felt assured that if I went each would think the other had invited me; besides, had I been discovered, I should have sported a face,' and stood my Lord out that he had asked me when he was slightly elated with wine, or my Lady when she was intoxicated with joy at my introducing her as the most spirituelle lady in England, to the De Staël." Charley was an early riser, and always took time by the forelock;" he usually commenced his "cruise for a cutlet" before others were thinking of a breakfast; and armed with gifts, smalltalk, scandal, and news, he would surprise the sleepy porter, yawning footman, or jaded valet, by knocking them up before ten o'clock. "Tell your master I've a word to say to him. I'll walk into the library. Bring me the newspaper," would this "cool hand" say, as, despite of all remonstrances, he ushered himself into the morning room. Occasionally he would follow the servant up-stairs, and on his name being announced, before an answer could be given, would exclaim, “It's only me, old fellow: I've some information that will astound you. Once inside the door, Charley made it a boast that he never returned without gaining some point, a breakfast or a dinner. If he was put to his wits' end, and had not fallen in with a prize during the day, he would boldly drive up to the house where any of his friends happened to be dining, and sending up a message, requested to see the person he had selected to carry out his ruse. In nineteen cases out of twenty some little commotion was created, and the chances were very much in favour of its being noticed by the host. "Nothing wrong I hope?" would the Am phitryon ask. Oh, nothing; Charley Coolhurst wishes to see me on business for a minute or two. "Pray ask him into the library; and if he happens to be disengaged, say how happy I shall be, if he will excuse the shortness of the notice, and join us." As a matter of course the "Cool of the evening" was disengaged, although he declared that Sir Thomas Longlete was expecting him at White's; and after much coquetting Coolhurst made his appearance, and, by his attentive listening and brilliant conversation, completely earned the dinner his ingenuity had obtained for him. Our hero did everything methodically; he had a system peculiar to himself about leaving cards. You must sow them like mustard-and-cress, at different periods," would he say, "so that instead of bringing forth a crop of dinners all at once, you may have a succession." Knightsbridge Barracks, the Tower, Bank, and Horseguards, and the Officers' "mess room" at St. James's were always sure finds" when Coolhurst was "pot-hunting." Knowing the industrious habits of my new acquaintance, I should not have been surprised at any manœuvre that he had practised successfully in his native land; but to find him located in Quebec, after a transatlantic passage scot free, did astound me; and it was not for some time that I became aware of the skill he had evinced on this trying occasion. The "Dauntless" frigate had recently been commissioned, and Coolhurst having ascertained that the honourable Arthur Lonsdale was about to be appointed to her, lost no time in calling at the "Albany." "Is Captain Lonsdale up?" he enquired; "if not, give him this card when you go to him, and say I will return in a quarter of an hour. Tell him I've just come from the Admiralty; he'll understand." "My bell has just rung sir," responded the valet; "pray walk into the dining-room, I'm sure my master will be happy to see you at breakfast; it will be ready at ten.' "I've already half promised to breakfast with him, if possible I will get back in time," rejoined the schemer, who, finding he had run his fox to earth, did not want to appear too anxious to dig him out. Charley never threw a chance away; he knew that the magic word Admiralty would produce a wonderful effect on the young sailor's mind, and that he would whet his friend's impatience by a temporary absence. Five minutes before the appointed hour, Coolhurst was ushered into the snug dining-room on the ground-floor of that paradise of bachelors, the Albany, where he found Lonsdale anxiously expecting him. "Well, old fellow, I congratulate you! the Dauntless is to be commissioned next week, at Portsmouth, and you are appointed to her-I happen to |