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RoyalBank Letter Publishedby Royal Bank of Canada Vol.73 No. 4 July/August1992 In Praiseof Montreal A t 350 years of age, the great metropolison the St. Lawrenceis celebratinga rich and colourful heritage.Its societyis built on understanding, toleranceand generosity.As such, it represents a rare experimentin human relations.Its special spiritis more relevantthan ever this year ... Montrealisnot just any city. Its age alone sets it apart H6telDieu hospital, still very much a goingconcern. frommost North American communities, which are A draftof settlersfrom France in 1651brought in merepups compared. It is extraordinaryin many MargueriteBourgeoys, who started the settlement’s respects:thesecond-largest French-speaking cityin the firstschool in a convertedstable and founded worldin themidst of an English-speakingcontinent; Congrégationde Notre Dame, the well-known a greatinternational seaport 1,600 kilometres from teachingorder. Later, Marie Marguerite d’Youville thenearest coast; a majorland transportation centre formedthe charitable order called the Grey Nuns, onan islandcut off from the mainland by broadand settingMontreal on the road to becominga tumultuousstretches of river; a denseconcentration manufacturingcentre by puttingthe sisters into the ofpeople and vehicles amid a mazeof hills and valleys businessof sewingclothing, tents and sails. coveredwith traffic-snarling iceand snow for much In the meantimeanother legend was born.When ofthe year. a floodthreatened to destroyhis tiny colony, de Itis fitting that the chronicles ofsuch an unlikely Maisonneuveprayed for deliverance and the waters placeshould begin with a mystery.When Jacques receded.In thanksgivinghe planted a large wooden Cartierfirst sailed up theSt. Lawrence River from crosson MountRoyal. His gesture is commemorated Quebecin Octoberof 1534,he founda villageof todayin theilluminated cross on thecrest of the about1,000 souls called Hochelaga. The Breton mountain.It is to Montrealwhat the Eiffel Tower explorerwas hospitably greeted by thenatives, who isto Paris -- the landmark bywhich the city is chiefly took him up the mountainwhich he namedMont identified. Réal.But when other Frenchmen returned to thespot Theformative years of VilleMarie de Montréal a fewyears later, Hochelaga had disappeared. wereones of hardshipand mortal peril. The French Montreal’sfounding issimilarly rooted in romance. and theirAlgonquin and Huronallies were at war Thestory goes that in 1639 a Frenchrm-al tax collector withthe Iroquois. The habitants risked lethal ambush namedJér6me Le Royerde La Dauversiérewas on everytime they strayed from the wooden stockade his kneesat masswhen he hearda mysticalvoice whichenclosed their houses. Nevertheless, Ville instructinghimto establisha medical mission in New Marie’spopulation had climbed to about 3,000 at the France.He joinedforces with a Parisianpriest named endof the17th century. JacquesOlier who had alsoreceived a mysterious Thecrude habitation of a fewyears before was commandto founda missionon Montrealisland. beginningtorealize its destiny as a metropolis--a Theyorganized a syndicate to launchan expedition centrewhich controls activity in thehinterland. ledby a devoutprofessional soldier named Paul de Missionaries,soldiers and traders used it asa base Chomedy,Sieur de Maisonneuve. forexpeditions after a trucewas struck with the Notthe least remarkable feature of Montreal isthe Iroquois.Place-names inthe present metropolitan area prominentrole women have played in itshistory. At haveechoes over large parts of North America where de Maisonneuve’sside when his party of 45 landed explorersfrom New Francesowed the seedsof onthe island in Mayof 1642 was a 35-year-oldnurse settlement:La Salle, Joliet, Marquette, Duluth, namedJeanne Mance, who presentlyopened the Cadillac,etc. Their journeys gave their mother country a claimon an immenseswath of territoryfrom the seekingtheir fortunes in the new world. One of the Rocky Mountainsto the Gulf of Mexico.The principalways of makinga fortune,particularly establishmentof trading posts such as Detroitand amongthe Scots, was fur trading. In theearly 1790s SaultSte. Made launched Montreal on itscareer as the localtraders banded together to formthe a headoffice venue. From it, the remote branches legendaryNorth West Company, with its enormous of the fur tradewere supervised, supplied and freightercanoes manned by hardyvoyageurs. financed. Amongthe Scots who prosperedin the furtrade Montrealhas always stood stage centre in Canadian wasJames McGill, whose benefactions established the affairs,never more so thanin the British take-over city’sfirst university. When McGill opened its doors ofthe country. Contrary topopular belief, the French in 1843,it hada ready-mademedical faculty which regimedid not end on thePlains of Abraham in 1759. hadbeen operating in theMontreal General Hospi- Itactually ended in Montreal almost a yearlater -- talsince 1822. The city would go onto achieve great on September8, 1760.Then, the governorof New eminencein theworld of medicine. Some of itsmost France,Marquis de Vaudreuil,surrendered his illustriouscitizens have been medical pioneers: Sir remaining2,000 men to a muchmore powerful British WilliamOsier, Wilder Penfield, Hans Selye, Paul force. David,Jacques Genest, and (though he isremembered Accompanyingthe British were several hundred for otherreasons) Norman Bethune. civilianbusinessmen engaged in supplyingthe army. Montreal’sother three universities andassociate The majorityof the seatsof learning all have their areas of distinction. soldiersand traders were Forexample, Ecole Polytechnique, theengineering Butfor religious Protestantswho for schoolof Uuiversité deMontrral, isCanada’s largest tolerance,it might sometime held services producerof engineers.And any listing of respected be an American in Catholicchurches businessschools in NorthAmerica must include citytoday withthe blessing of the "HEC"-- t~coledes HautesI~tudes Commerciales curés.The firstnon- --which has played a seminalrole in theburgeon- Catholic place of ing commercial-industrialnetwork known as "Que- worshipto bebuilt was not a Protestantchurch, but becInc." The National Theatre School and the unique a synagoguefor Jewish traders. This was appropriate Ecoledu Cirque(a feederof talentto theworld- for a citywhich would one day containCanada’s renownedCirque du Soleil) bring the city distinction largestJewish population, and whose culture would ofa lessearnest kind. be richlyinfluenced by Jewish ways. Fromits earliest days, Montreal has served as a Religioustolerance is an abiding Montreal theme, hubfor continental transportation. This role was withepisodes of intoleranceserving to emphasizethe strengthenedin 1825 with the completionof the normalstate of good will by contrasting with it. Had LachineCanal to bypass it notbeen for a Britishlaw guaranteeing Canadian the rapidson the St. RomanCatholics freedom of worshipand other Lawrence which had rights,Montreal might be an Americancity today. Montrealloses blockedaccess to the Thiswas the Quebec Act, passed only months before itsstatus as southernGreat Lakes. Montrealwas captured by a revolutionaryAmerican Canada’scapital Witha populationex- armyin November,1775. ceeding22,000, the little Theoccupying army issued an appealfrom George citythen was booming. Washingtonto theCanadiens to "unitewith us in Amongthe new buildings raised at aroundthat time an indiSsolubleunion." The local folk rejected it wasNotre Dame Basilica, incorporating exquisite mainlybecause they did not trust the Americans to woodcarvings by Canadienartisans. Its twin tow- respecttheir religion and civillaws. The great ers,added in the early 1840s, were the precursors of BenjaminFranklin made an arduousjourney north Montreal’slofty skyline; for many years they were topersuade them to jointhe United States, but, as thetallest structures inCanada. one historianput it, they"gave him the cold In thelatter 1840s a greatwave of immigration shoulder."Commanded by the famousGeneral cameas a resultof the potato famine in Ireland. Like BenedictArnold, the Americans withdrew in June, New Yorkand Boston,Montreal became a reposi- 1776. toryof Irishculture, now manifested in itsSt. The end of the RevolutionaryWar broughtan Patrick’sDay parade. The parade has evolved into influxof American loyalists. They joined a burgeoning a celebrationofthe city’s multiculturai character. Ev- populationof immigrants from England and Scotland eryyear, thousands ofparticipants of all ages and ethnicorigins march before crowds of hundredsof vasttransportation empires -- Canadian Pacific and thousands.Montreal’s Irish dement is honouredin CanadianNational, then composed of severaldiffer- theshamrock onits flag, which also displays the sym- entcompanies. The city still owes much of itseco- bolsof BourbonFrance, Scotland and England-- nomicimportance to its position as an interchange thefleur de lys, thistle and rose. pointfor rail, road, fresh-water andocean-going ship- Fora numberof yearsMontreal was the capital ping.It is Canada’slargest container port, from of Canada,then composed of thefuture Ontario and whencecargo is transshipped bytrain or truck all over Quebec,and there was no reasonto expectthat it Canadaand large parts of theUnited States. wouldnot retain this status indefinitely. Thenin 1849 Formany years it wasCanada’s premier passenger anEnglish-speaking mob,enraged by a billwhich they port,where ocean liners landed multitudes of im- claimedwould reward the Patriote rebels of 1837-38, migrantsfrom Europe. Most