QUEBEC (1,359), formerly called Lower Canada, one of the Canadian provinces occupying that part of the valley of the St. Lawrence, and a narrow stretch of fertile, well-cultivated land on the S. of the river, which is bounded on the S. by the States of New York and Maine, and on the E. by New Brunswick; it is twice the size of Great Britain, and consists of extensive tracks of cultivated land and forests interspersed with lakes and rivers, affluents of the St. Lawrence; the soil, which is fertile, yields good crops of cereals, hay, and fruit, and excellent pasturage, and there is abundance of mineral wealth; it was colonised by the French in 1608, was taken by the English in 1759-60, and the great majority of the population is of French extraction.

QUEBEC (63), the capital of the above province, and once of all Canada, a city of historical interest, is situated on the steep promontory, 333 feet in height, of the NW. bank of the St. Lawrence, at the mouth of the St. Charles River, 300 m. from the sea, and 180 m. below Montreal; it is divided into Upper and Lower, the latter the business quarter and the former the west-end, as it were; there are numerous public buildings, including the governor’s residence, an Anglican cathedral, and a university; it is a commercial centre, has a large trade in timber, besides several manufacturing industries; the aspect of the town is Norman-French, and there is much about it and the people to remind one of Normandy.

QUEDLINBURG (19), an old town of Prussian Saxony, on the river Bode, at the foot of the Harz Mountains, 32 m.  SW. of Magdeburg, founded by Henry the Fowler, and where his remains lie; was long a favourite residence of the emperors of the Saxon line; it has large nurseries, an extensive trade in flower seeds, and sundry manufactures.

QUEEN ANNE’S BOUNTY, a fund established in 1704 for the augmentation of the incomes of the poorer clergy, the amount of which for distribution in 1890 was L176,896; it was the revenue from a tax on the Church prior to the Reformation, and which after that was appropriated by the Crown.

QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS, a small group of islands on the W. coast of North America, N. of Vancouver’s Island, 80 m. off the coast of British Columbia, a half-submerged mountain range, densely wooded, with peaks that rise sheer up 2000 ft.

QUEENBOROUGH, a town on the Isle of Sheppey, 2 m.  S. of Sheerness, between which and Flushing, in Holland, a line of steamers plies daily.

QUEEN’S COLLEGE, a college for women in Harley Street, London, founded in 1848, and incorporated by Royal Charter in 1853, of which Maurice, Trench, and Kingsley were among the originators; attendance of three years entitles to the rank of “Associate,” and of six or more to that of “Fellow”; it is self-supporting.

QUEEN’S COLLEGES, colleges established in Ireland in 1845 to afford a university education to members of all religious denominations, and opened at Belfast, Cork, and Galway in 1849, the first having 23 professors, with 343 students; the second 23 professors, with 181 students; and the third 37 professors, with 91 students.  There is also a Queen’s College in Melbourne.