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diff --git a/35225.txt b/35225.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e7d8724 --- /dev/null +++ b/35225.txt @@ -0,0 +1,26571 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Toronto of Old, by Henry Scadding + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Toronto of Old + +Author: Henry Scadding + +Release Date: February 9, 2011 [EBook #35225] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TORONTO OF OLD *** + + + + +Produced by Marcia Brooks, Ross Cooling and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Canada Team at +http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet +Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + + TORONTO OF OLD + +[Illustration] + + H. SCADDING. D.D. + + + + +[Illustration] + + Toronto of Old: + + Collections and Recollections + + ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE + + EARLY SETTLEMENT AND SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CAPITAL OF ONTARIO. + + By HENRY SCADDING, D.D. + +[Illustration] + + TORONTO: + ADAM, STEVENSON & CO. + 1873. + + + + + Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year One + Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy-three, by Adam, Stevenson & Co., + in the office of the Minister of Agriculture. + + + Hunter, Rose & Co., + Printers, Stereotypers and Bookbinders, + Toronto. + + + + + TO + + THE RIGHT HONOURABLE + + The Earl of Dufferin, K.C.B. + + GOVERNOR GENERAL OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA, + A KEEN SYMPATHIZER WITH + THE MINUTE PAST, AS WELL AS THE MINUTE PRESENT, + OF THE PEOPLE COMMITTED TO HIS CHARGE, + + This Volume, + + TREATING OF THE INFANCY AND EARLY YOUTH + OF AN IMPORTANT CANADIAN CIVIC COMMUNITY + NOW FAST RISING TO MAN'S ESTATE, + + IS + + (BY PERMISSION GRACIOUSLY GIVEN,) + THANKFULLY AND LOYALLY DEDICATED + + + + +[Illustration] + + PREFACE. + + +It is singular that the elder Disraeli has not included in his +"Curiosities of Literature" a chapter on Books originating in Accident. +It is exactly the kind of topic we might have expected him to discuss, +in his usual pleasant manner. Of such productions there is doubtless +somewhere a record. Whenever it shall be discovered, the volume here +presented to the reader must be added to the list. A few years since, +when preparing for a local periodical a paper of "Early Notices of +Toronto," the writer little imagined what the sheets then under his hand +would finally grow to. The expectation at the time simply was, that the +article on which he was at work would assist as a minute scintilla in +one of those monthly meteoric showers of miscellaneous light literature +with which the age is so familiar; that it would engage, perhaps, the +attention for a few moments of a chance gazer here and there, and then +vanish in the usual way. But on a subsequent revision, the subject thus +casually taken up seemed capable of being more fully handled. Two or +three friends, moreover, had expressed a regret that to the memoranda +given, gathered chiefly from early French documents, there had not been +added some of the more recent floating folklore of the community, some +of the homely table-talk of the older people of the place; such of the +mixed traditions, in short, of the local Past of Toronto as might seem +of value as illustrations of primitive colonial life and manners. It was +urged, likewise, in several quarters, that if something in this +direction were not speedily done, the men of the next generation would +be left irremediably ignorant of a multitude of minute particulars +relating to their immediate predecessors, and the peculiar conditions +under which were so bravely executed the many labours whereby for +posterity the path onward has been made smooth. For many years the +writer had quietly concerned himself with such matters. Identified with +Toronto from boyhood, to him the long, straight ways of the place +nowhere presented barren, monotonous vistas. To him innumerable objects +and sites on the right hand and on the left, in almost every quarter, +called up reminiscences, the growth partly of his own experience and +observation, and partly the residuum of discourse with others, all +invested with a certain degree of rational, human interest, as it seemed +to him. But still, that he was sometime to be the compiler of an +elaborate volume on the subject never seriously entered his thoughts. +Having, however, as was narrated, once tapped the vein, he was led step +by step to further explorations, until the result was reached which the +reader has now placed before him. + +By inspection it will be seen that the plan pursued was to proceed +rather deliberately through the principal thoroughfares, noticing +persons and incidents of former days, as suggested by buildings and +situations in the order in which they were severally seen; relying in +the first instance on personal recollections for the most part, and then +attaching to every coigne of vantage such relevant information as could +be additionally gathered from coevals and seniors, or gleaned from such +literary relics, in print or manuscript of an early date, as could be +secured. Here and there, brief digressions into adjacent streets were +made, when a house or the scene of an incident chanced to draw the +supposed pilgrim aside. The perambulation of Yonge Street was extended +to the Holland Landing, and even to Penetanguishene, the whole line of +that lengthy route presenting points more or less noteworthy at short +intervals. Finally a chapter on the Marine of the Harbour was decided +on, the boats and vessels of the place, their owners and commanders, +entering, as is natural, so largely into the retrospect of the +inhabitants of a Port. + +Although the imposing bulk of the volume may look like evidence to the +contrary, it has been our ambition all along not to incur the reproach +of prolixity. We have endeavoured to express whatever we had to say as +concisely as we could. Several narratives have been disregarded which +probably, in some quarters, will be sought for here. But while anxious +to present as varied and minute a picture as possible of the local Past, +we considered it inexpedient to chronicle anything that was unduly +trivial. Thus if we have not succeeded in being everywhere piquant, we +trust we shall be found nowhere unpardonably dull: an achievement of +some merit, surely, when our material, comprising nothing that was +exceptionally romantic or very grandly heroic, is considered. And a +first step has, as we conceive, been taken towards generating for +Toronto, for many of its streets and byways, for many of its nooks and +corners, and its neighbourhood generally, a certain modicum of that +charm which, springing from association and popular legend, so +delightfully invests, to the prepared and sensitive mind, every square +rood of the old lands beyond the sea. + +It will be proper, after all, however, perhaps to observe, that the +reader who expects to find in this book a formal history of even Toronto +of Old, will be disappointed. It was no part of the writer's design to +furnish a narrative of every local event occurring in the periods +referred to, with chronological digests, statistical tables, and +catalogues exhibiting in full the Christian names and surnames of all +the first occupants of lots. For such information recourse must be had +to the offices of the several public functionaries, municipal and +provincial, where whole volumes in folio, filled with the desired +particulars, will be found. + +We have next gratefully to record our obligations to those who during +the composition of the following pages encouraged the undertaking in +various ways. Especial thanks are due to the Association of Pioneers, +whose names are given in detail in the Appendix, and who did the writer +the honour of appointing him their Historiographer. Before assemblages +more or less numerous, of this body, large abstracts of the Collections +and Recollections here permanently garnered, were read and discussed. +Several of the members of this society, moreover, gave special _seances_ +at their respective homes for the purpose of listening to portions of +the same. Those who were so kind as to be at the trouble of doing this +were the Hon. W. P. Howland, C. B., Lieutenant-Governor; the Rev. Dr. +Richardson; Mr. J. G. Worts (twice); Mr. R. H. Oates; Mr. James Stitt; +Mr. J. T. Smith; Mr. W. B. Phipps (twice).--The Canadian Institute, by +permitting the publication in its Journal of successive instalments of +these papers, contributed materially to the furtherance of the work, as +without the preparation for the press from time to time which was thus +necessitated, it is possible the volume itself, as a completed whole, +would never have appeared. To the following gentlemen we are indebted +for the use of papers or books, for obliging replies to queries, and for +items of information otherwise communicated:--Mr. W. H. Lee of Ottawa; +Judge Jarvis of Cornwall; Mr. T. J. Preston of Yorkville; Mr. W. +Helliwell of the Highland Creek; the late Col. G. T. Denison of +Rusholme, Toronto; Mr. M. F. Whitehead of Port Hope; Mr. Devine of the +Crown Lands Department; Mr. H. J. Jones of the same Department; Mr. +Russel Inglis of Toronto; Mr. J. G. Howard of Toronto; the Rev. J. Carry +of Holland Landing; Major McLeod of Drynoch; the Rev. George Hallen of +Penetanguishene; the Ven. Archdeacon Fuller of Toronto; Mr. G. A. Barber +of Toronto; Mr. J. T. Kerby of Niagara; the Rev. Saltern Givins of +Yorkville; the Rev. A. Sanson of Toronto; the Rev. Dr. McMurray of +Niagara; the Rev. Adam Elliott of Tuscarora; Mr. H. J. Morse of Toronto; +Mr. W. Kirby of Niagara; Mr. Morgan Baldwin of Toronto; Mr. J. McEwan of +Sandwich; Mr. W. D. Campbell of Quebec; Mr. T. Cottrill Clarke of +Philadelphia.--Mrs. Cassidy of Toronto kindly allowed the use of two +(now rare) volumes, published in 1765, by her near kinsman, Major Robert +Rogers. Through Mr. Homer Dixon of the Homewood, Toronto, a long loan of +the earliest edition of the first _Gazetteer_ of Upper Canada was +procured from the library of the Young Men's Christian Association of +Toronto.--The Rev. Dr. Ryerson, Chief Superintendent of Education, and +Dr. Hodgins, Deputy Superintendent, courteously permitted an +unrestricted access to the Departmental Library, rich in works of +special value to any one prosecuting researches in early Canadian +history. To Mr. G. Mercer Adam we are much beholden for a careful, +friendly interest taken in the typographical execution and fair +appearance generally of the volume. + +The two portraits which, in no mere conventional sense, enrich the work, +were engraved from miniatures very artistically drawn for the purpose, +from original paintings never before copied, in the possession of Capt. +J. K. Simcoe, R. N., of Wolford, in the County of Devon. + +The circulation to be expected for a book like the present must be +chiefly local. Nevertheless, it is to be presumed that there are persons +scattered up and down in various parts of Canada and the United States, +who, having been at some period of their lives familiar with Toronto, +and retaining still a kindly regard for the place, will like to possess +such a memorial of it in the olden time as is here offered. And even in +the old home-countries across the Atlantic--England, Scotland and +Ireland--there are probably members of military and other families once +resident at Toronto, to whom such a reminder of pleasant hours, as it is +hoped, passed there, will not be unacceptable. For similar reasons the +book, were its existence known, would be welcome here and there in +Australia and New Zealand, and other colonies and settlements of +England. + +In an attempt to narrate so many particulars of time, place, person and +circumstance, it can scarcely be hoped that errors have been wholly +avoided. It is earnestly desired that any that may be detected will be +adverted to with kindness and charity, and not in a carping tone. +Unfairly, sometimes, a slip discovered, however trivial, is emphatically +dwelt on, to the ignoring of almost all the points in respect of which +complete accuracy has been secured, at the cost of much painstaking. +Conscious that our aim throughout has been to be as minutely correct as +possible, we ask for consideration in this regard. A certain slight +variety which will perhaps be noticed in the orthography of a few Indian +and other names is to be attributed to a like absence of uniformity in +the documents consulted. While the forms which we ourselves prefer will +be readily discerned, it was not judged advisable everywhere to insist +on them. + + 10 Trinity Square, Toronto, + June 4th, 1873. + + + + +[Illustration] + + CONTENTS. + + + PAGE. + + Introductory, 1 + + Sect. I. Palace Street to the Market Place, 25 + + " II. Front Street: from the Market Place to Brock + Street, 48 + + " III. From Brock Street to the Old French Fort, 67 + + " IV. From the Garrison back to the place of beginning, 78 + + " V. King Street: From John Street to Yonge Street, 88 + + " VI. " From Yonge Street to Church Street, 98 + + " VII. " Digression Southwards at Church + Street: Market Lane, 109 + + " VIII. " St. James' Church, 117 + + " IX. " " _Continued_, 129 + + " X. " " " 139 + + " XI. " Digression northward at Church + Street: the Old District Grammar + School, 152 + + " XII. " From Church Street to George St., 172 + + " XIII. " Digression into Duke Street, 180 + + " XIV. " From George Street to Caroline + Street, 184 + + " XV. " From Caroline Street to Berkeley + Street, 195 + + " XVI. From Berkeley Street to the Bridge and across it, 201 + + " XVII. The Valley of the Don: + + (1). From the Bridge on the Kingston Road + to Tyler's, 225 + + (2). From Tyler's to the Big Bend, 228 + + (3). From the Big Bend to Castle Frank Brook, 234 + + (4). Castle Frank, 236 + + (5). On to the Ford and the Mills, 241 + + Sect. XVIII. Queen Street: from the Don Bridge to Caroline + Street, 244 + + " XIX. " Digression at Caroline Street: + History of the Early Press, 258 + + " XX. " From George Street to Yonge St. 284 + Memories of the Old Court House, 290 + + " XXI. " From Yonge Street to College + Avenue, 305 + Digression Southward at Bay St., 308 + Osgoode Hall, 312 + Digression Northward at the College + Avenue, 318 + + " XXII. " From the College Avenue to Brock + Street and Spadina Avenue, 326 + + " XXIII. " From Brock Street and Spadina + Avenue to the Humber, 345 + + " XXIV. Yonge Street: From the Bay to Yorkville, 375 + + " XXV. " From Yorkville to Hogg's Hollow, 411 + + " XXVI. " From Hogg's Hollow to Bond's + Lake, 445 + + " XXVII. " From Bond's Lake to the Holland + Landing, with Digressions to + Newmarket and Sharon, 466 + + " XXVIII. " Onward, from Holland Landing to + Penetanguishene, 496 + + " XXIX. The Harbour: Its Marine, 1793-99, 508 + + " XXX. Do. do. 1800-14, 525 + + " XXXI. Do. do. 1815-27, 538 + + " XXXII. Do. do. 1828-63, 563 + + Appendix. 577 + + Index. 581 + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + INTRODUCTORY. + + +In French colonial documents of a very respectable antiquity, we meet +with the name Toronto again and again. It is given as an appellation +that is well-known, and its form in the greater number of instances is +exactly that which it has now permanently assumed, but here and there +its orthography varies by a letter or two, as is usually the case with +strange terms when taken down by ear. In a Memoir on the state of +affairs in Canada, transmitted to France in 1686, by the Governor in +Chief of the day, the Marquis de Denonville, the familiar word appears. +Addressing the Minister de Seignelay, the Marquis says: "The letters I +wrote to Sieurs du Lhu and de la Durantaye, of which I sent you copies, +will inform you of my orders to them to fortify the two passages leading +to Michilimaquina. Sieur du Lhu is at that of the Detroit of Lake Erie, +and Sieur de la Durantaye at that of the portage of Toronto. These two +posts" the marquis observes, "will block the passage against the +English, if they undertake to go again to Michilimaquina, and will serve +as retreats to the savages our allies either while hunting or marching +against the Iroquois." + +Again, further on in the same Despatch, Denonville says: "I have heard +that Sieur du Lhu is arrived at the post of the Detroit of Lake Erie, +with fifty good men well-armed, with munitions of war and provisions and +all other necessaries sufficient to guarantee them against the severe +cold, and to render them comfortable during the whole winter on the spot +where they will entrench themselves. M. de la Durantaye is collecting +people to entrench himself at Michilimaquina and to occupy the other +pass which the English may take by Toronto, the other entrance to lake +Huron. In this way" the marquis assures de Seignelay, "our Englishmen +will have somebody to speak to. All this, however," he reminds the +minister, "cannot be accomplished without considerable expense, but +still" he adds, "we must maintain our honour and our prosperity." + +Du Lhu and de la Durantaye here named were the French agents or +superintendents in what was then the Far West. Du Lhu is the same person +whose name, under the form of Duluth, has become in recent times so well +known, as appertaining to a town near the head of Lake Superior, +destined in the future to be one of the great Railway Junctions of the +continent, like Buffalo or Chicago. + +The Englishmen for whom M. de Denonville desired an instructive +reception to be prepared were some of the people of Governor Dongan of +the province of New York. Governor Dongan either could not or would not +restrain his people from poaching for furs on the French King's domain. +When Denonville wrote his despatch in 1686 some of these illicit traders +had been recently seen in the direction of Michilimackinac, having +passed up by the way of Lake Erie. To intercept them on their return, +the Marquis reports that he has stationed "a bark, some canoes and +twenty good men" at the river communicating from Lake Erie with that of +Ontario near Niagara, by which place the English who ascended Lake Erie +must of necessity pass on their return home with their peltries. "I +regard, Monseigneur," continues Denonville to the minister, "as of +primary importance the prohibition of this trade to the English, who, +without doubt, would entirely ruin ours both by the cheaper bargains +they could give the Indians, and by attracting to them the Frenchmen of +our colony who are accustomed to go into the woods." Governor Dongan was +also always holding communications with the Iroquois and spiriting them +on to resist French encroachments. He even audaciously asserted that his +own sovereign--it soon became doubtful who that was, whether James II. +or William of Orange--was the rightful supreme lord of the Iroquois +territory. + +As to the particular spot intended when Denonville says M. de la +Durantaye is about to occupy "the pass which the English may take by +Toronto," there may seem at first to be some ambiguity. + +In 1686 the vicinage of Lake Simcoe, especially the district between +Lake Simcoe and Lake Huron, appears to have been commonly known as the +Toronto region. We deduce this from the old contemporary maps, on one or +other of which Matchedash bay is the Bay of Toronto; the river Severn is +the Toronto river; Lake Simcoe itself is Toronto Lake; the chain of +Lakes passing south-eastward from the neighbourhood of Lake Simcoe and +issuing by the Trent in the Bay of Quinte is also the Toronto river or +lake-chain, and again, the Humber, running southwesterly from the +vicinity of Lake Simcoe into Lake Ontario, is likewise occasionally the +Toronto river; the explanation of all which phraseology is to be found +in the supposition that the Severn, the Trent chain of lakes, and the +Humber, were, each of them, a commonly-frequented line of +water-communication with a Toronto region--a well-peopled district--"a +place of meeting," the haunt of numerous allied families and friendly +bands. (That such is the most probable interpretation of the term +Toronto, we shall hereafter see at large.) + +The spot to be occupied by de la Durantaye for the purpose of defending +"the Pass at Toronto" might therefore be either in the Toronto region +itself at the Lake Huron end of the trail leading from Lake Ontario, or +at the Lake Ontario end of the same trail, at the point where English +trespassers coming from the direction of the Iroquois territory would +disembark, when intending to penetrate to Michilimackinac by this route. + +At the first-mentioned point, viz, the Lake Huron end of the trail, it +was early recommended that a fort should be established, as we learn +from letter twenty-three of Lahontan, but we do not hear that such a +structure was ever erected there. The remains of solid buildings that +have been found in that quarter are those of Jesuit mission-houses, and +not of a formal fort established by the French government. At the +last-mentioned spot, on the contrary, viz, the Lake Ontario end of the +trail, it is certain that a fortified trading-post was early erected; +the official designation of which, as we shall presently learn, was Fort +Rouille, but the name by which it came in the course of time to be +popularly known was Fort Toronto, as being the object which marked and +guarded the southern terminus of the trail or portage leading to the +district in the interior commonly called the Toronto region. + +It was here then, near the embouchure of the modern Canadian Humber, +that "our Englishmen," as Denonville expressed himself, crossing over on +illicit errands from Governor Dongan's domain to that of the King of +France, were to find "somebody to speak to." + +[Sidenote: 1687.] + +The order sent to Durantaye was indeed not immediately executed. In 1687 +Denonville reports as follows to the authorities at Paris: "I have +altered" he says, "the orders I had originally given last year to M. de +la Durantaye to pass by Toronto and to enter Lake Ontario at +Gandatsi-tiagon to form a junction with M. du Lhu at Niagara. I have +sent him word," he continues, "by Sieur Juchereau, who took back the two +Hurons and Outaouas chiefs this winter, to join Sieur du Lhu at the +Detroit of Lake Erie, so that they may be stronger, and in a condition +to resist the enemy, should he go to meet them at Niagara." + +In 1687 the business in contemplation was something more serious than +the mere repression of trespass on the part of a few stray traders from +Governor Dongan's province. The confederated Iroquois were, if possible, +to be humbled once for all. From the period of Montmagny's arrival in +1637 the French settlements to the eastward had suffered from the fierce +inroads of the Iroquois. The predecessor of Denonville, de la Barre, had +made a peace with them on terms that caused them to despise the French; +and their boldness had since increased to such a degree that the +existence of the settlements was imperilled. In a Report to the minister +at Paris on this subject M. de Denonville again names Toronto; and he +clearly considers it a post of sufficient note to be classed, for the +moment, with Fort Frontenac, Niagara and Michilimackinac. To achieve +success against the Iroquois, he informed the minister, 3000 men would +be required. Of such a force, he observes, he has at the time only one +half; but he boasts of more, he says, for reputation's sake: "for the +rest of the militia are necessary to protect and cultivate the farms of +the country; and a part of the force," he then adds, "must be employed +in guarding the posts of Fort Frontenac, Niagara, Toronto, and +Michilimackinac, so as to secure the aid which he expects from Illinois +and from the other Indians, on whom however he cannot rely," he says, +"unless he shall be able alone to defeat the five Iroquois nations." + +The campaign which ensued, though nominally a success, was attended with +disastrous consequences. The blows struck, not having been followed up +with sufficient vigour, simply further exasperated "the five Iroquois +nations," and entailed a frightful retaliation. In 1689 took place the +famous massacre of Lachine and devastation of the island of Montreal. +Denonville was superseded as his predecessor de la Barre had been. The +Count de Frontenac was appointed his successor, sent out for the second +time, Governor General of New France. + +[Sidenote: 1749.] + +Some years now elapse before we light on another notice of Toronto. But +at length we again observe the familiar word in one of the Reports or +Memoirs annually despatched from Canada to France. In 1749 M. de la +Galissoniere, administrator in the absence of the Governor in Chief, de +la Jonquiere, informs the King's minister in Paris that he has given +orders for erecting a stockade and establishing a royal trading post at +Toronto. + +This was expected to be a counterpoise to the trading-post of Choueguen +on the southern side of the Lake, newly erected by the English at the +mouth of the Oswego river, on the site of the present town of Oswego. +Choueguen itself had been established as a set-off to the fort at the +mouth of the Niagara river, which had been built there by the French in +spite of remonstrances on the part of the authorities at New York. + +Choueguen at first was simply a so-called "beaver trap" or trading-post, +established by permission, nominally obtained, of the Iroquois; but it +speedily developed into a strong stone-fort, and became, in fact, a +standing menace to Fort Frontenac, on the northern shore of the Lake. +Choueguen likewise drew to itself a large share of the valuable peltries +of the north shore, which used before to find their way down the St. +Lawrence to Montreal and Quebec. The goods offered at the English +trading-post of Choueguen were found to be superior to the French goods, +and the price given for furs was greater there than on the French side +of the water. The storekeeper at Niagara told the Abbe Picquet, of whom +we shall hear again presently, that the Indians compared the +silver-trinkets which were procured at Choueguen with those which were +procured at the French Stores; and they found that the Choueguen +articles were as heavy as the others, of purer silver and better +workmanship, but did not cost them quite two beavers, whilst for those +offered for sale at the French King's post, ten beavers were demanded. +"Thus we are discredited" the Abbe complained, "and this silver-ware +remains a pure loss in the King's stores. French brandy indeed," the +Abbe adds, "was preferred to the English: nevertheless that did not +prevent the Indians going to Choueguen. To destroy the trade there," he +affirms, "the King's posts ought to have been supplied with the same +goods as Choueguen and at the same price. The French ought also," he +says, "to have been forbidden to send the domiciliated Indians thither: +but that" he confesses, "would have been very difficult." + +Choueguen had thus, in the eyes of the French authorities, come to be a +little Carthage that must be put down, or, at all events, crippled to +the greatest possible extent. + +Accordingly, as a counterpoise in point of commercial influence, +Toronto, as we have seen, was to be made a fortified trading post. "On +being informed" says M. de la Galissoniere, in the document referred to, +bearing date 1749, "that the northern Indians ordinarily went to +Choueguen with their peltries by way of Toronto on the northwest side of +Lake Ontario, twenty-five leagues from Niagara, and seventy-five from +Fort Frontenac, it was thought advisable to establish a post at that +place and to send thither an officer, fifteen soldiers, and some +workmen, to construct a small stockade-fort there. Its expense will not +be great," M. de la Galissoniere assures the minister, "the timber is +transported there, and the remainder will be conveyed by the barques +belonging to Fort Frontenac. Too much care cannot be taken," remarks the +Administrator, "to prevent these Indians continuing their trade with the +English, and to furnish them at this post with all their necessaries, +even as cheap as at Choueguen. Messrs. de la Jonquiere and Bigot will +permit some canoes to go there on license and will apply the funds as a +gratuity to the officer in command there. But it will be necessary to +order the commandants at Detroit, Niagara, and Fort Frontenac, to be +careful that the traders and store-keepers of these posts furnish goods +for two or three years to come, at the same rates as the English. By +these means the Indians will disaccustom themselves from going to +Choueguen, and the English will be obliged to abandon that place." + +De la Galissoniere returned to France in 1749. He was a naval officer +and fond of scientific pursuits. It was he who in 1756, commanded the +expedition against Minorca, which led to the execution of Admiral Byng. + +[Sidenote: 1752.] + +From a despatch written by M. de Longueil in 1752, we gather that the +post of the Toronto portage, in its improved, strengthened state, is +known as Fort Rouille, so named, doubtless from Antoine Louis Rouille, +Count de Jouy, Colonial Minister from 1749 to 1754. M. de Longueil says +that "M. de Celeron had addressed certain despatches to M. de +Lavalterie, the commandant at Niagara, who detached a soldier to convey +them to Fort Rouille, with orders to the store-keeper at that post to +transmit them promptly to Montreal. It is not known," he remarks, "what +became of that soldier." About the same time, a Mississague from Toronto +arrived at Niagara, who informed M. de Lavalterie that he had not seen +that soldier at the Fort, nor met him on the way. "It is to be feared +that he has been killed by Indians," he adds, "and the despatches +carried to the English." + +An uncomfortable Anglophobia was reigning at Fort Rouille, as generally +along the whole of the north shore of Lake Ontario in 1752. We learn +this also from another passage in the same despatch. "The store-keeper +at Toronto, says," M. de Longueil writes to M. de Vercheres, commandant +at Fort Frontenac, "that some trustworthy Indians have assured him that +the Saulteux (Otchipways,) who killed our Frenchman some years ago, have +dispersed themselves along the head of Lake Ontario; and seeing himself +surrounded by them, he doubts not but they have some evil design on his +Fort. There is no doubt," he continues, "but 'tis the English who are +inducing the Indians to destroy the French, and that they would give a +good deal to get the Savages to destroy Fort Toronto, on account of the +essential injury it does their trade at Choueguen." + +Such observations help us to imagine the anxious life which the lonely +occupants of Fort Rouille must have been leading at the period referred +to. From an abstract of a journal or memoir of the Abbe Picquet given in +the Documentary History of the State of New York (i. 283), we obtain a +glimpse of the state of things at the same place, about the same period, +from the point of view, however, of an interested ecclesiastic. The Abbe +Picquet was a doctor of the Sorbonne, and bore the titles of King's +Missionary and Prefect Apostolic of Canada. He established a mission at +Oswegatchie (Ogdensburg) which was known as _La Presentation_, and which +became virtually a military outpost of Fort Frontenac. He was very +useful to the authorities at Quebec in advocating French interests on +the south side of the St. Lawrence. The Marquis du Quesne used to say +that the Abbe Picquet was worth ten regiments to New France. His +activity was so great, especially among the Six Nations, that even +during his lifetime he was complimented with the title of "Apostle of +the Iroquois." When at length the French power fell he retired to +France, where he died in 1781. In 1751 the Abbe made a tour of +exploration round Lake Ontario. He was conveyed in a King's canoe, and +was accompanied by one of bark containing five trusty natives. He +visited Fort Frontenac and the Bay of Quinte; especially the site there +of an ancient mission which M. Dollieres de Kleus and Abbe d'Urfe, +priests of the St. Sulpice Seminary had established. "The quarter is +beautiful," the Abbe remarks, "but the land is not good." He then +visited Fort Toronto, the journal goes on to say, seventy leagues from +Fort Frontenac, at the west end of Lake Ontario. He found good bread and +good wine there, it is stated, and everything requisite for the trade, +whilst they were in want of these things at all the other posts. He +found Mississagues there, we are told, who flocked around him; they +spoke first of the happiness their young people, the women and children, +would feel if the King would be as good to them as to the Iroquois, for +whom he procured missionaries. They complained that instead of building +a church, they had constructed only a canteen for them. The Abbe +Picquet, we are told, did not allow them to finish; and answered them +that they had been treated according to their fancy; that they had never +evinced the least zeal for religion; that their conduct was much opposed +to it; that the Iroquois on the contrary had manifested their love for +Christianity. But as he had no order, it is subjoined, to attract them, +viz., the Mississagues, to his mission at _La Presentation_--he avoided +a more lengthened explanation. + +The poor fellows were somewhat unfairly lectured by the Abbe, for, +according to his own showing, they expressed a desire for a church +amongst them. + +A note on the Mississagues in the Documentary History (i. 22) mentions +the neighbourhood of Toronto as one of the quarters frequented by that +tribe: at the same time it sets down their numbers as incredibly few. +"The Mississagues," the note says, "are dispersed along this lake +(Ontario), some at Kente, others at the river Toronto (the Humber), and +finally at the head of the Lake, to the number of 150 in all; and at +Matchedash. The principal tribe is that of the Crane." + +The Abbe Picquet visited Niagara and the Portage above (Queenston or +Lewiston); and in connection with his observations on those points he +refers again expressly to Toronto. He is opposed to the maintenance of +store-houses for trade at Toronto, because it tended to diminish the +trade at Niagara and Fort Frontenac, "those two ancient posts," as he +styles them. "It was necessary," he says, "to supply Niagara, especially +the Portage, rather than Toronto. The difference," he says, "between the +two first of these posts and the last is, that three or four hundred +canoes could come loaded with furs to the Portage (Queenston or +Lewiston); and that no canoes could go to Toronto except those which +cannot pass before Niagara and to Fort Frontenac--(the translation +appears to be obscure)--such as the Ottawas of the Head of the Lake and +the Mississagues: so that Toronto could not but diminish the trade of +these two ancient posts, which would have been sufficient to stop all +the savages had the stores been furnished with goods to their liking." + +In 1752, a French military expedition from Quebec to the Ohio region, +rested at Fort Toronto. Stephen Coffen, in his narrative of that +expedition, which he accompanied as a volunteer, names the place, but he +spells the word in accordance with his own pronunciation, Taranto. "They +on their way stopped," he says "a couple of days at Cadaraghqui Fort, +also at Taranto on the north side of Lake Ontario; then at Niagara +fifteen days." + +[Sidenote: 1756.] + +In 1756, the hateful Choueguen, which had given occasion to the +establishment of Toronto as a fortified trading-post, was rased to the +ground. Montcalm, who afterwards fell on the Plains of Abraham, had been +entrusted with the task of destroying the offensive stronghold of the +English on Lake Ontario. He went about the work with some reluctance, +deeming the project of the Governor-General, De Vaudreuil, to be rash. +Circumstances, however, unexpectedly favoured him; and the garrison of +Choueguen, in other words, of Oswego, capitulated. "Never before," said +Montcalm, in his report of the affair to the Home Minister, "did 3,000 +men, with a scanty artillery, besiege 1,800, there being 2,000 enemies +within call, as in the late affair; the party attacked having a superior +marine, also, on Lake Ontario. The success gained has been contrary to +all expectation. The conduct I followed in this affair," Montcalm +continues, "and the dispositions I made, were so much out of the +ordinary way of doing things that the audacity we manifested would be +counted for rashness in Europe. Therefore, Monseigneur," he adds, "I beg +of you as a favour to assure his Majesty that if he should accord to me +what I most wish for, employment in regular campaigning, I shall be +guided by very different principles." Alas, there was to be no more +"regular campaigning" for Montcalm. His eyes were never again to gaze +upon the battle fields in Bohemia, Italy and Germany, where, prior to +his career in Canada, he had won laurels. + +The success before Choueguen in 1756 was followed by a more than +counterbalancing disaster at Fort Frontenac in 1758. In that year a +force of 3,000 men under Col. Bradstreet, detached from the army of +Abercromby, stationed near Lake George, made a sudden descent on Fort +Frontenac, from the New York side of the water, and captured the place. +It was instantly and utterly destroyed, together with a number of +vessels which had formed a part of the spoil brought away from +Choueguen. On this occasion we find that the cry _Hannibal ante Portas_! +was once more fully expected to be heard speedily within the stockade at +Toronto. M. de Vaudreuil, the Governor-General, informs the Minister at +Paris, M. de Massiac, "that should the English make their appearance at +Toronto, I have given orders to burn it at once, and to fall back on +Niagara." + +[Sidenote: 1759.] + +One more order (the last), issuing from a French source, having +reference to Toronto, is to be read in the records of the following +year, 1759. M. de Vaudreuil, again in his despatch home, after stating +that he had summoned troops from Illinois and Detroit, to rendezvous at +Presqu'isle on Lake Erie, adds,--"As those forces will proceed to the +relief of Niagara, should the enemy wish to besiege it, I have in like +manner sent orders to Toronto, to collect the Mississagues and other +natives, to forward them to Niagara." + +[Sidenote: 1760.] + +The enemy, it appears, did wish to besiege Niagara; and on the 25th of +July they took it--an incident followed on the 18th of the next +September by the fall of Quebec, and the transfer of all Canada to the +British Crown. The year after the conquest a force was despatched by +General Amherst from Montreal to proceed up the country and take +possession of the important post at Detroit. It was conveyed in fifteen +whale-boats and consisted of two hundred Rangers under the command of +Major Robert Rogers. Major Rogers was accompanied by the following +officers: Capt. Brewer, Capt. Wait, Lieut. Bhreme, Assistant-Engineer, +and Lieut. Davis of the Royal Train of Artillery. The party set out from +Montreal on the 12th of September, 1760. The journal of Major Rogers +has been published. It includes an account of this expedition. We give +the complete title of the work, which is one sought after by +book-collectors: "The Journals of Major Robert Rogers, containing an +Account of the several Excursions he made under the Generals who +commanded on the Continent of North America during the late War. From +which may be collected the most material Circumstances of every Campaign +upon that continent from the commencement to the conclusion of the War. +London: Printed for the Author, and sold by J. Millan, bookseller, near +Whitehall, MDCCLXV." + +We extract the part in which a visit to Toronto is spoken of. He leaves +the ruins of Fort Frontenac on the 25th of September. On the 28th he +enters the mouth of a river which he says is called by the Indians "The +Grace of Man." (The Major probably mistook, or was imposed upon, in the +matter of etymology.) + +Here he found, he says, about fifty Mississaga Indians fishing for +salmon. "At our first appearance," he continues, "they ran down, both +men and boys to the edge of the Lake, and continued firing their pieces, +to express their joy at the sight of the English colours, until such +time as we had landed." About fifteen miles further on he enters another +river, which he says, the Indians call "The Life of Man." + +"On the 30th," the journal proceeds:--"We embarked at the first dawn of +day, and, with the assistance of sails and oars, made great way on a +south-west course; and in the evening reached the river Toronto (the +Humber), having run seventy miles. Many points extending far into the +water," Major Rogers remarks, "occasioned a frequent alteration of our +course. We passed a bank of twenty miles in length, but the land behind +it seemed to be level, well timbered with large oaks, hickories, maples, +and some poplars. No mountains appeared in sight. Round the place where +formerly the French had a fort, that was called Fort Toronto, there was +a tract of about 300 acres of cleared ground. The soil here is +principally clay. The deer are extremely plenty in this country. Some +Indians," Major Rogers continues, "were hunting at the mouth of the +river, who ran into the woods at our approach, very much frightened. +They came in however in the morning and testified their joy at the news +of our success against the French. They told us that we could easily +accomplish our journey from thence to Detroit in eight days; that when +the French traded at that place (Toronto), the Indians used to come +with their peltry from Michilimackinac down the river Toronto; that the +portage was but twenty miles from that to a river falling into Lake +Huron, which had some falls, but none very considerable; they added that +there was a carrying-place of fifteen miles from some westerly part of +Lake Erie to a river running without any falls through several Indian +towns into Lake St. Clair. I think Toronto," Major Rogers then states, +"a most convenient place for a factory, and that from thence we may very +easily settle the north side of Lake Erie." + +"We left Toronto," the journal then proceeds, "the 1st of October, +steering south, right across the west end of Lake Ontario. At dark, we +arrived at the South Shore, five miles west of Fort Niagara, some of our +boats now becoming exceeding leaky and dangerous. This morning, before +we set out, I directed the following order of march:--The boats in a +line. If the wind rose high, the red flag hoisted, and the boats to +crowd nearer, that they might be ready to give mutual assistance in case +of a leak or other accident, by which means we saved the crew and arms +of the boat commanded by Lieutenant M'Cormack, which sprang a leak and +sunk, losing nothing except the packs. We halted all the next day at +Niagara, and provided ourselves with blankets, coats, shirts, shoes, +moccasins, &c. I received from the commanding officer eighty barrels of +provisions, and changed two whale-boats for as many batteaux, which +proved leaky. In the evening, some of my party proceeded with the +provisions to the Falls (the rapid water at Queenston), and in the +morning marched the rest there, and began the portage of the provisions +and boats. Messrs. Bhreme and Davis took a survey of the great cataract +of Niagara." + +[Sidenote: 1761.] + +At the time of Major Rogers' visit to Toronto all trading there had +apparently ceased; but we observe that he says it was most convenient +place for a factory. In 1761, we have Toronto named in a letter +addressed by Captain Campbell, commanding at Detroit, to Major Walters, +commanding at Niagara, informing him of an intended attack of the +Indians. "Detroit, June 17th, 1761, two o'clock in the morning. Sir,--I +had the favour of yours, with General Amherst's despatches. I have sent +you an express with a very important piece of intelligence I have had +the good fortune to discover. I have been lately alarmed with reports of +the bad designs of the Indian nations against this place, and the +English in general. I can now inform you for certain it comes from the +Six Nations; and that they have sent belts of wampum and deputies to all +the nations from Nova Scotia to the Illinois, to take up the hatchet +against the English, and have employed the Mississaguas to send belts of +wampum to the northern nations. Their project is as follows:--The Six +Nations, at least the Senecas, are to assemble at the head of French +Creek, within five-and-twenty leagues of Presqu'isle; part of the Six +Nations (the Delawares and Shawnees), are to assemble on the Ohio; and +at the same time, about the latter end of the month, to surprise Niagara +and Fort Pitt, and cut off the communication everywhere. I hope this +will come time enough to put you on your guard, and to send to Oswego, +and all the posts in that communication. They expect to be joined by the +nations that are to come from the North by Toronto." + +[Sidenote: 1767.] + +Eight years after the occupation of the country by the English, a +considerable traffic was being carried on at Toronto. We learn this from +a despatch of Sir William Johnson's to the Earl of Shelburne, on the +subject of Indian affairs, bearing date 1767. Sir William affirms that +persons could be found willing to pay L1,000 per annum for the monopoly +of the trade at Toronto. Some remarks of his that precede the reference +to Toronto give us some idea of the commercial tactics of the Indian and +Indian trader of the time. "The Indians have no business to follow when +at peace," Sir William Johnson says, "but hunting. Between each hunt +they have a recess of several months. They are naturally very covetous," +the same authority asserts, "and become daily better acquainted with the +value of our goods and their own peltry; they are everywhere at home, +and travel without the expense or inconvenience attending our journey to +them. On the other hand, every step our traders take beyond the posts, +is attended at least with some risk and a very heavy expense, which the +Indians must feel as heavily on the purchase of their commodities; all +which considered, is it not reasonable to suppose that they would rather +employ their idle time in quest of a cheap market, than sit down with +such slender returns as they must receive in their own villages?" He +then instances Toronto. "As a proof of which," Sir William continues, "I +shall give one instance concerning Toronto, on the north shore of Lake +Ontario. Notwithstanding the assertion of Major Rogers," Sir William +Johnson says, "that even a single trader would not think it worth +attention to supply a dependent post, yet I have heard traders of long +experience and good circumstances affirm, that for the exclusive trade +of that place, for one season, they would willingly pay L1,000--so +certain were they of a quiet market--from the cheapness at which they +could afford their goods there." + +Although after the Conquest the two sides of Lake Ontario and of the St. +Lawrence generally were no longer under different crowns, the previous +rivalry between the two routes, the St. Lawrence and Mohawk river +routes, to the seaboard continued; and it was plainly to the interest of +those who desired the aggrandisement of Albany and New York to the +detriment of Montreal and Quebec, to discourage serious trading +enterprises with Indians on the northern side of the St. Lawrence +waters. We have an example of this spirit in a "Journal of Indian +Transactions at [Fort] Niagara, in the year 1767," published in the +documentary History of New York (ii. 868, 8vo. ed.), in which Toronto is +named, and a great chieftain from that region figures--in one respect, +somewhat discreditably, however. We give the passage of the journal to +which we refer. The document appears to have been drawn up by Norman +M'Leod, an Indian agent, visiting Fort Niagara. + +"July 17th, [1767.] Arrived Wabacommegat, chief of the Mississagas. [He +came from Toronto, as we shall presently see.] July 18th. Arrived +Ashenshan, head-warrior of the Senecas, belonging to the Caiadeon +village. This day, Wabacommegat came to speak to me, but was so drunk +that no one could understand him." + +Again: "July 19th. Had a small conference with Wabacommegat. +Present--Norman M'Leod, Esq.; Mr. Neil MacLean, Commissary of +Provisions; Jean Baptiste de Couagne, interpreter. Wabacommegat spoke +first, and, after the usual compliments, told that as soon as he had +heard of my arrival, he and his young men came to see me. He then asked +me if I had any news, and desired I should tell all I had. Then he gave +four strings of wampum. I then told them--Children, I am glad to see +you. I am sent here by your father, Sir William Johnson, to take care of +your trade, and to prevent abuses therein. I have no sort of news, for I +suppose you have heard of the drunken Chippewas that killed an +Englishman and wounded his wife very much, above Detroit; they are sent +down the country by consent and approbation of the head men of the +nation. I am sorry to acquaint you that some of your nation that came +here with Nan-i-bo-jou, killed a cow and a mare belonging to Captain +Grant, on the other side of the river. I am persuaded that all here +present think it was very wrong, and a very bad return for the many good +offices done by the English in general towards them, and in particular +by Captain Grant, who had that day fed the men that were guilty of the +theft. I hope and desire that Wabacommegat and the rest of the chiefs +and warriors here present, will do all in their power to discover the +thief, and bring him in here to me the next time they return, that we +may see what satisfaction he or they may give Captain Grant for the loss +of his cattle. [I gave seven strings of wampum.] Children, I am sorry to +hear you have permitted people to trade at Toronto. I hope you will +prevent it for the future. All of you know the reason of this belt of +wampum being left at this place. [I then showed them a large belt left +here five or six years ago by Wabacommegat, by which belt he was under +promise not to allow anybody whatever to carry on trade at Toronto.] +Now, children, I have no more to say, but desire you to remember and +keep close to all the promises you have made to your English father. You +must not listen to any bad news. When you hear any, good or bad, come to +me with it. You may depend upon it I shall always tell you the truth. [I +gave four strings of wampum.] + +"Wabacommegat replied: 'Father, we have heard you with attention. I +think it was very wrong in the people to kill Captain Grant's cattle. I +shall discover the men that did it, and will bring them in here in the +fall. We will allow no more trade to be carried on at Toronto. As to +myself, it is well known I don't approve of it, as I went with the +interpreter to bring in those that were trading at that place. We go +away this day, and hope our father will give us some provisions, rum, +powder and shot, and we will bring you venison when we return.' I +replied, it was not in my power to give them much, but as it was the +first time I had the pleasure of speaking to them, they should have a +little of what they wanted." + +In the January previous to the conference, two traders had been arrested +at Toronto. Sir William Johnson, in a letter to Gen. Gage, writes thus, +under date of January 12, 1767. "Capt. Browne writes me that he has, at +the request of Commissary Roberts, caused two traders to be apprehended +at Toronto, where they were trading contrary to authority. I hope +Lieut.-Gov. Carleton," Sir William continues, "will, agreeable to the +declaration in one of his letters, have them prosecuted and punished as +an example to the rest. I am informed that there are several more from +Canada trading with the Indians on the north side of Lake Ontario, and +up along the rivers in that quarter, which, if not prevented, must +entirely ruin the fair trader." In these extracts from the +correspondence of Sir William Johnson, and from the Journal of +transactions at Fort Niagara, in 1767, we are admitted, as we suspect, +to a true view of the status of Toronto as a trading-post for a series +of years after the conquest. It was, as we conceive, a place where a +good deal of forestalling of the regular markets went on. Trappers and +traders, acting without license, made such bargains as they could with +individuals among the native bands frequenting the spot at particular +seasons of the year. We do not suppose that any store-houses for the +deposit of goods or peltries were maintained here after the conquest. In +a MS. map, which we have seen, of about the date 1793, the site of the +old Fort Rouille is marked by a group of wigwams of the usual pointed +shape, with the inscription appended, "Toronto, an Indian village now +deserted." + +[Sidenote: 1788.] + +In 1788 Toronto harbour was well and minutely described by J. Collins, +Deputy Surveyor General, in a Report presented to Lord Dorchester, +Governor-General, on the Military Posts and Harbours on Lakes Ontario, +Erie and Huron. "The Harbour of Toronto," Mr. Collins says, "is near two +miles in length from the entrance on the west to the isthmus between it +and a large morass on the eastward. The breadth of the entrance is about +half a mile, but the navigable channel for vessels is only about 500 +yards, having from three to three and a half fathoms water. The north or +main shore, the whole length of the harbour, is a clay bank from twelve +to twenty feet high, and rising gradually behind, apparently good land, +and fit for settlement. The water is rather shoal near the shore, having +but one fathom depth at one hundred yards distance, two fathoms at two +hundred yards; and when I sounded here, the waters of the Lake were very +high. There is good and safe anchorage everywhere within the harbour, +being either a soft or sandy bottom. The south shore is composed of a +great number of sandhills and ridges, intersected with swamps and small +creeks. It is of unequal breadths, being from a quarter of a mile to a +mile wide across from the harbour to the lake, and runs in length to the +east five or six miles. Through the middle of the isthmus before +mentioned, or rather near the north shore, is a channel with two fathoms +water, and in the morass there are other channels from one to two +fathoms deep. From what has been said," Mr. Collins proceeds to observe, +"it will appear that the harbour of Toronto is capacious, safe and well +sheltered; but the entrance being from the westward is a great +disadvantage to it, as the prevailing winds are from that quarter; and +as this is a fair wind from hence down the Lake, of course it is that +which vessels in general would take their departure from; but they may +frequently find it difficult to get out of the harbour. The shoalness of +the north shore, as before remarked, is also disadvantageous as to +erecting wharfs, quays, &c. In regard to this place as a military post," +Mr. Collins reports, "I do not see any very striking features to +recommend it in that view; but the best situation to occupy for the +purpose of protecting the settlement and harbour would, I conceive, be +on the point and near the entrance thereof." (The knoll which +subsequently became the site of the Garrison of York, is probably +intended. Gibraltar point, on the opposite side of the entrance, where a +block house was afterwards built, may also be glanced at.) + +The history of the site of Fort Toronto would probably have differed +from what it has been, and the town developed there would, perhaps, have +assumed at its outset a French rather than an English aspect, had the +expectations of three Lower Canadian gentlemen, in 1791, been completely +fulfilled. Under date of "Surveyor General's Office [Quebec], 10th June, +1791," Mr. Collins, Deputy Surveyor-General, writes to Mr. Augustus +Jones, an eminent Deputy Provincial Surveyor, of whom we shall hear +repeatedly, that "His Excellency, Lord Dorchester, has been pleased to +order one thousand acres of land to be laid out at Toronto for Mr. +Rocheblave; and for Captain Lajoree, and for Captain Bouchette seven +hundred acres each, at the same place, which please to lay out +accordingly," Mr. Collins says, "and report the same to this office with +all convenient speed." + +We may suppose that these three French gentlemen became early aware of +the spot likely to be selected for the capital of the contemplated +Province of Upper Canada, and foresaw the advantages that might accrue +from the possession of some broad acres there. Unluckily for them, +however, delay occurred in the execution of Lord Dorchester's order; and +in the meantime, the new Province was duly constituted, with a +government and land-granting department of its own; and, under date of +"Nassau [Niagara], June 15, 1792," Mr. Augustus Jones, writing to Mr. +Collins, refers to his former communication in the following +terms:--"Your order of the 10th of June, 1791, for lands at Toronto, in +favour of Mr. Rocheblave and others, I only received the other day; and +as the members of the Land Board think their power dissolved by our +Governor's late Proclamation relative to granting of Lands in Upper +Canada, they recommend it to me to postpone doing anything in respect of +such order until I may receive some further instructions." + +We hear no more of the order. Had M. Rocheblave, Captain Lajoree and +Captain Bouchette become legally seized of the lands assigned them at +Toronto by Lord Dorchester, the occupants of building-lots in York, +instead of holding in fee simple, would probably have been burdened for +many a year with some vexatious recognitions of quasi-seignorial rights. + +On Holland's great MS. map of the Province of Quebec, made in 1791, and +preserved in the Crown Lands Department of Ontario, the indentation in +front of the mouth of the modern Humber river is entitled "Toronto Bay"; +the sheet of water between the peninsula and the mainland is not named: +but the peninsula itself is marked "Presqu'isle, Toronto;" and an +extensive rectangular tract, bounded on the south by "Toronto Bay" and +the waters within the peninsula, is inscribed "Toronto." In Mr. +Chewett's MS. Journal, we have, under date of Quebec, April 22, 1792, +the following entry: "Received from Gov. Simcoe a Plan of Points Henry +and Frederick, to have a title page put to them: also a plan of the Town +and township of Toronto, and to know whether it was ever laid out." We +gather from this that sometime prior to Governor Simcoe's arrival, it +had been in contemplation to establish a town at Toronto. + +The name Toronto pleased the ear and took the fancy of sentimental +writers. We have it introduced by an author of this class, in a work, +entitled "Voyage dans la Haute Pensylvanie et dans l'Etat de New York, +par un Membre adoptif de la nation Oneida;" published at Paris in 1801, +but written prior to 1799, as it is inscribed to Washington. The author +describes a Council pretended to be held at Onondaga, where chiefs and +sachems speak. They discourse of the misery of man, of death, of the +ravages of the small-pox. Siasconcet, one of the sages, relates his +interview with Kahawabash, who had lost his wife and all his friends by +the prevailing malady. Siasconcet exhorts him to suffer in silence like +a wise man. Kahawabash replies, "Siasconcet! n'as-tu pas souvent entendu +les cris plaintifs de l'ours, dont la compagne avoit ete tuee? N'as-tu +pas souvent vu couler les larmes des yeux du castor qui avait perdu sa +femelle ou ses petits? Eh bien! moi, suis-je inferieur a l'ours ou au +castor? Non: je suis homme, aussi bon chasseur, aussi brave guerrier que +tes sachems: comment empecher l'arc de s'etendre quand la corde casse? +La cime du chene ou la tige du roseau de ployer, quand l'orage eclate? +Lorsque le corps est blesse, Siasconcet, il en decoule du sang; quand le +coeur est navre, il en decoule des larmes: voila ce que je dirai a tes +vieillards; je verrai ce qu'ils me repondront." + +In the reply of Siasconcet, we have the reference to Toronto to which we +have alluded, and which somewhat startled us when we suddenly lighted +upon it in the work above-named. "Eh, bien!" Siasconcet said: "eh, bien! +Kahawabash, pleure sous mon toit, puisque ton bon genie le veut, et pour +plaire au mauvais, que tes yeux soient secs quand tu seras au feu +d'Onondaga." "Que faut-il donc faire sur la terre," rejoined Kahawabash, +"puisque l'un veut ce que l'autre ne veut pas?" "Que faut-il faire?" +answered Siasconcet, "considerer la vie comme un passage de Toronto a +Niagara. Que de difficultes n'eprouvons-pas nous pour doubler les caps, +pour sortir des baies dans lesquelles les vents nous forcent d'entrer? +Que de chances contre d'aussi freles canots que les notres? Il faut +cependant prendre le temps et les choses comme ils viennent, puisque +nous ne pouvons pas les choisir; il faut nourrir, aimer sa femme et ses +enfans, respecter sa tribu et sa nation; jouir du bien quand il nous +echeoit; supporter le mal avec courage et patience; chasser et pecher +quand on a faim, se reposer et fumer quand on est las; s'attendre a +rencontrer le malheur puisque on est ne; se rejouir quand il ne vient +pas; se considerer comme des oiseaux perches pour la nuit sur la branche +d'un arbre, et qui, au point du jour, s'envolent et disparaissent pour +toujours." + +Familiar with the modern two-hours' pleasure-trip from Toronto to +Niagara, we were, for the moment unprepared for the philosophic sachem's +illustration of the changes and chances of mortal life. We forgot what +an undertaking that journey was in the days of the primitive birch +canoe, when in order to accomplish the passage, the whole of the +western portion of Lake Ontario, was wont to be cautiously and +laboriously coasted. + +The real name of the author of the "Voyage dans la Haute Pensylvanie" +was Saint-Jean de Crevecoeur. + +To the narrative just given is appended information, which, if +superfluous, will nevertheless be read locally now, with some curiosity. +The note explains that Toronto and Niagara, are "postes considerables de +l'Ontario: le premier, situe a l'ouest de ce lac, est forme par une baie +profonde et commode, ou le Gouvernement Anglais a fait construire un +chantier, et une ville a laquelle on a donne le nom d'York; le second, +situe au sud-ouest, est forme par l'embouchure de la riviere Niagara, a +l'est de laquelle est la forteresse du meme nom, et a l'ouest la pointe +des Mississagues, sur laquelle on construit une nouvelle ville, destinee +a etre la capitale du Haut Canada." + +The annotator speaks, we see, of the town on Mississaga point and the +other new town on the opposite side of the lake in the same terms: both +are in process of construction; and the town on Mississaga point, he +still thinks is destined to be the capital of Upper Canada. + +[Sidenote: 1796.] + +The language of the note recalls the agitation in the public mind at +Niagara in 1796, on the subject of the seat of Government for Upper +Canada--a question that has since agitated Canada in several of its +sub-sections. The people of Niagara in 1796, being in possession, +naturally thought that the distinction ought to continue with them. +Governor Simcoe had ordered the removal of the public offices to the +infant York: there to abide, however, only temporarily, until the West +should be peopled, and a second London built, on a Canadian Thames. Lord +Dorchester, the Governor-in-Chief, at Quebec, held that Kingston ought +to have been preferred, but that place, like Niagara, was, it was urged, +too near the frontier in case of war. In 1796, Governor Simcoe had +withdrawn from the country, and the people of Niagara entertained hopes +that the order for removal might still be revoked. The policy of the +late Governor, however, continued to be carried out. + +[Sidenote: 1793.] + +Three years previously, viz., in 1793, the site of the trading post +known as Toronto had been occupied by the troops drawn from Niagara and +Queenston. At noon on the 27th of August in 1793, the first royal salute +had been fired from the garrison there, and responded to by the +shipping in the harbour, in commemoration of the change of name from +Toronto to York--a change intended to please the old king, George III., +through a compliment offered to his soldier son, Frederick, Duke of +York. + +For some time after 1793, official letters and other contemporary +records exhibit in their references to the new site, the expressions, +"Toronto, now York," and "York, late Toronto." + +[Sidenote: 1795.] + +The ancient appellation was a favorite, and continued in ordinary use. +Isaac Weld, who travelled in North America in 1795-7, still speaks in +his work of the transfer of the Government from Niagara to Toronto. +"Niagara," he says, "is the centre of the _beau monde_ of Upper Canada: +orders, however," he continues, "had been issued before our arrival +there for the removal of the Seat of Government from thence to Toronto, +which was deemed a more eligible spot for the meeting of the Legislative +bodies, as being farther removed from the frontiers of the United +States. This projected change," he adds, "is by no means relished by the +people at large, as Niagara is a much more convenient place of resort to +most of them than Toronto; and as the Governor, who proposed the +measure, has been removed, it is imagined that it will not be put in +execution." + +[Sidenote: 1803.] + +In 1803-4, Thomas Moore, the distinguished poet, travelled on this +continent. The record of his tour took the form, not of a journal in +prose, but of a miscellaneous collection of verses suggested by +incidents and scenes encountered. These pieces, addressed many of them +to friends, appear now as a subdivision of his collected works, as Poems +relating to America. The society of the United States in 1804 appears to +have been very distasteful to him. He speaks of his experience somewhat +as we may imagine the winged Pegasus, if endowed with speech, would have +done of his memorable brief taste of sublunary life. Writing to the Hon. +W. R. Spencer, from Buffalo,--which he explains to be "a little village +on Lake Erie,"--in a strain resembling that of the poetical satirists of +the century which had just passed away, he sweepingly declares-- + + "Take Christians, Mohawks, Democrats, and all, + From the rude wigwam to the congress-hall, + From man the savage, whether slav'd or free, + To man the civilized, less tame than he,-- + 'Tis one dull chaos, one unfertile strife + Betwixt half-polished and half-barbarous life; + Where every ill the ancient world could brew + Is mixed with every grossness of the new; + Where all corrupts, though little can entice, + And nought is known of luxury, but its vice!" + +He makes an exception in a note appended to these lines, in favour of +the Dennies and their friends at Philadelphia, with whom he says, "I +passed the few agreeable moments which my tour through the States +afforded me." These friends he thus apostrophises:-- + + "Yet, yet forgive me, oh! ye sacred few, + Whom late by Delaware's green banks I knew: + Whom known and loved thro' many a social eve, + 'Twas bliss to live with, and 'twas pain to leave. + Not with more joy the lonely exile scann'd + The writing traced upon the desert's sand, + Where his lone heart but little hoped to find + One trace of life, one stamp of human kind; + Than did I hail the pure, th' enlightened zeal, + The strength to reason and the warmth to feel, + The manly polish and the illumined taste, + Which, 'mid the melancholy, heartless waste, + My foot has traversed, oh! you sacred few, + I found by Delaware's green banks with you." + +After visiting the Falls of Niagara, Moore passed down Lake Ontario, +threaded his way through the Thousand Islands, shot the Long Sault and +other rapids, and spent some days in Montreal. + +The poor lake-craft which in 1804 must have accommodated the poet, may +have put in at the harbour of York. He certainly alludes to a tranquil +evening scene on the waters in that quarter, and notices the situation +of the ancient "Toronto." Thus he sings in some verses addressed to Lady +Charlotte Rawdon, "from the banks of the St. Lawrence." (He refers to +the time when he was last in her company, and says how improbable it +then was that he should ever stand upon the shores of America): + + "I dreamt not then that ere the rolling year + Had filled its circle, I should wander here + In musing awe; should tread this wondrous world, + See all its store of inland waters hurl'd + In one vast volume down Niagara's steep, + Or calm behold them, in transparent sleep, + Where the blue hills of old Toronto shed + Their evening shadows o'er Ontario's bed; + Should trace the grand Cadaraqui, and glide + Down the white rapids of his lordly tide. + Through massy woods, 'mid islets flowering fair, + And blooming glades, where the first sinful pair + For consolation might have weeping trod, + When banished from the garden of their God." + +We can better picture to ourselves the author of Lalla Rookh floating on +the streams and other waters "of Ormus and of Ind," constructing verses +as he journeys on, than we can of the same personage on the St. Lawrence +in 1804 similarly engaged. "The Canadian Boat Song" has become in its +words and air almost a "national anthem" amongst us. It was written, we +are assured, at St Anne's, near the junction of the Ottawa and the St. +Lawrence. + +Toronto should be duly appreciative of the distinction of having been +named by Moore. The look and sound of the word took his fancy, and he +doubtless had pleasure in introducing it in his verses addressed to Lady +Rawdon. It will be observed that while Moore gives the modern +pronunciation of Niagara, and not the older, as Goldsmith does in his +"Traveller," he obliges us to pronounce Cataraqui in an unusual manner. + +Isaac Weld, it will have been noticed, also preferred the name Toronto, +in the passage from his Travels just now given, though writing after its +alteration to York. The same traveller moreover indulges in the +following general strictures: "It is to be lamented that the Indian +names, so grand and sonorous, should ever have been changed for others. +Newark, Kingston, York, are poor substitutes for the original names of +the respective places, Niagara, Cataraqui, Toronto." + +[Illustration] + + + + + "Dead vegetable matter made the humus; into that the roots of + the living tree were struck, and because there had been + vegetation in the past, there was vegetation in the future. And + so it was with regard to the higher life of a nation. Unless + there was a past to which it could refer, there would not be in + it any high sense of its own mission in the world. . . . . . + They did not want to bring the old times back again, but they + would understand the present around them far better if they + would trace the present back into the past, see what it arose + out of, what it had been the development of, and what it + contained to serve for the future before them."--_Bishop of + Winchester to the Archaeological Institute, at Southampton, Aug. + 1872._ + + + + +[Illustration] + + TORONTO OF OLD + + I. + + PALACE STREET TO THE MARKET PLACE. + + +In Rome, at the present day, the parts that are the most attractive to +the tourist of archaeological tastes, are those that are the most +desolate; quarters that, apart from their associations, are the most +uninviting. It is the same with many another venerable town of the world +beyond the Atlantic, of far less note than the old Imperial capital, +with Avignon, for example; with Nismes and Vienne in France; with Paris +itself, also, to some extent; with Chester, and York, and St. Albans, +the Verulam of the Roman period, in England. + +It is the same with our American towns, wherever any relics of their +brief past are extant. Detroit, we remember, had once a quaint, +dilapidated, primaeval quarter. It is the same with our own Toronto. He +that would examine the vestiges of the original settlement, out of which +the actual town has grown, must betake himself, in the first instance, +to localities now deserted by fashion, and be content to contemplate +objects that, to the indifferent eye, will seem commonplace and +insignificant. + +To invest such places and things with any degree of interest will appear +difficult. An attempt in that direction may even be pronounced +visionary. Nevertheless, it is a duty which we owe to our forefathers to +take what note we can of the labours of their hands; to forbid, so far +as we may, the utter oblivion of their early efforts, and deeds, and +sayings, the outcome of their ideas, of their humours and anxieties; to +forbid, even, so far as we may, the utter oblivion of the form and +fashion of their persons. + +The excavations which the first inhabitants made in the construction of +their dwellings and in engineering operations, civil and military, were +neither deep nor extensive; the materials which they employed were, for +the most part, soft and perishable. In a few years all the original +edifices of York, the infant Toronto, together with all the primitive +delvings and cuttings, will, of necessity, have vanished. Natural decay +will have destroyed some. Winds, fires, and floods will have removed +others. The rest will have been deliberately taken out of the way, or +obliterated in the accomplishment of modern improvements, the rude and +fragile giving way before the commodious and enduring. + +At St. Petersburg, we believe, the original log-hut of Peter the Great +is preserved to the present day, in a casing of stone, with a kind of +religious reverence. And in Rome of old, through the influence of a +similar sacred regard for the past, the lowly cottage of Romulus was +long protected in a similar manner. There are probably no material +relics of our founders and forefathers which we should care to invest +with a like forced and artificial permanence. But memorials of those +relics, and records of the associations that may here and there be found +to cluster round them,--these we may think it worth our while to collect +and cherish. + +Overlooking the harbour of the modern Toronto, far down in the east, +there stands at the present day, a large structure of grey cut-stone. +Its radiating wings, the turret placed at a central point aloft, +evidently for the ready oversight of the subjacent premises; the +unornamented blank walls, pierced high up in each storey with a row of +circular-heading openings, suggestive of shadowy corridors and cells +within, all help to give to this pile an unmistakable prison-aspect. + +It was very nearly on the site of this rather hard-featured building +that the first Houses of Parliament of Upper Canada were placed--humble +but commodious structures of wood, built before the close of the +eighteenth century, and destroyed by the incendiary hand of the invader +in 1813. "They consisted," as a contemporary document sets forth, "of +two elegant Halls, with convenient offices, for the accommodation of the +Legislature and the Courts of Justice."--"The Library, and all the +papers and records belonging to these institutions were consumed, and, +at the same time," the document adds, "the Church was robbed, and the +Town Library totally pillaged."--The injuries thus inflicted were a few +months afterwards avenged by the destruction of the Public Buildings at +Washington, by a British force. "We consider," said an Address of the +Legislative Council of Lower Canada to Sir George Prevost, "the +destruction of the Public Buildings at Washington as a just retribution +for the outrages committed by an American force at the seat of +Government of Upper Canada." + +On the same site succeeded the more conspicuous and more capacious, but +still plain and simply cubical brick block erected for legislative +purposes in 1818, and accidentally burned in 1824. The conflagration on +this occasion entailed a loss which, the _Canadian Review_ of the +period, published at Montreal, observes, "in the present state of the +finances and debt of the Province, cannot be considered a trifling +affair." That loss, we are informed by the same authority, amounted to +the sum of two thousand pounds. + +Hereabout the Westminster of the new capital was expected to be. It is +not improbable that the position at the head, rather than the entrance, +of the harbour was preferred, as being at once commanding and secure. + +The appearance of the spot in its primaeval condition, was doubtless more +prepossessing than we can now conceive it ever to have been. Fine groves +of forest trees may have given it a sheltered look, and, at the same +time, have screened off from view the adjoining swamps. + +The language of the early _Provincial Gazetteer_, published by +authority, is as follows: "The Don empties itself into the harbour, a +little above the Town, running through a marsh, which when drained, will +afford most beautiful and fruitful meadows." In the early manuscript +Plans, the same sanguine opinion is recorded, in regard to the morasses +in this locality. On one, of 1810, now before us, we have the +inscription: "Natural Meadow which may be mown." On another, the legend +runs: "Large Marsh, and will in time make good Meadows." On a third it +is: "Large Marsh and Good Grass." + +At all events, hereabout it was that York, capital of Upper Canada, +began to rise. To the west and north of the site of the Houses of +Parliament, the officials of the Government, with merchants and +tradesmen in the usual variety, began to select lots and put up +convenient dwellings; whilst close by, at Berkeley Street or Parliament +Street as the southern portion of the modern Berkeley Street was then +named, the chief thoroughfare of the town had its commencing-point. +Growing slowly westward from here, King Street developed in its course, +in the customary American way, its hotel, its tavern, its +boarding-house, its waggon-factory, its tinsmith shop, its bakery, its +general store, its lawyer's office, its printing office, its places of +worship. + +Eastward of Berkeley Street, King Street became the Kingston road, +trending slightly to the north, and then proceeding in a straight line +to a bridge over the Don. This divergency in the highway caused a number +of the lots on its northern side to be awkwardly bounded on their +southern ends by lines that formed with their sides, alternately obtuse +and acute angles, productive of corresponding inconveniencies in the +shapes of the buildings afterwards erected thereon; and in the position +of some of them. At one particular point the houses looked as if they +had been separated from each other and partially twisted round, by the +jolt of an earthquake. + +At the Bridge, the lower Kingston road, if produced westward in a right +line, would have been Queen Street, or Lot Street, had it been deemed +expedient to clear a passage in that direction through the forest. But +some way westward from the Bridge, in this line, a ravine was +encountered lengthwise, which was held to present great engineering +difficulties. A road cut diagonally from the Bridge to the opening of +King Street, at once avoided this natural impediment, and also led to a +point where an easy connection was made with the track for wheels, which +ran along the shore of the harbour to the Garrison. But for the ravine +alluded to, which now appears to the south of Moss Park, Lot Street, or, +which is the same thing, Queen Street, would at an early period, have +begun to dispute with King Street, its claim to be the chief +thoroughfare of York. + +But to come back to our original unpromising stand-point. + +Objectionable as the first site of the Legislative Buildings at York may +appear to ourselves, and alienated as it now is to lower uses, we cannot +but gaze upon it with a certain degree of emotion, when we remember that +here it was the first skirmishes took place in the great war of +principles which afterwards with such determination and effect was +fought out in Canada. Here it was that first loomed up before the minds +of our early law-makers the ecclesiastical question, the educational +question, the constitutional question. Here it was that first was heard +the open discussion, childlike, indeed, and vague, but pregnant with +very weighty consequences, of topics, social and national, which, at the +time, even in the parent state itself, were mastered but by few. + +Here it was, during a period of twenty-seven years (1797-1824), at each +opening and closing of the annual session, amidst the firing of cannon +and the commotion of a crowd, the cavalcade drew up that is wont, from +the banks of the Thames to the remotest colony of England, to mark the +solemn progress of the sovereign or the sovereign's representative, to +and from the other Estates in Parliament assembled. Here, amidst such +fitting surroundings of state, as the circumstances of the times and the +place admitted, came and went personages of eminence, whose names are +now familiar in Canadian story: never, indeed, the founder and organiser +of Upper Canada, Governor Simcoe himself, in this formal and ceremonious +manner; although often must he have visited the spot otherwise, in his +personal examinations of every portion of his young capital and its +environs. But here, immediately after him, however, came and went +repeatedly, in due succession, President Russell, Governor Hunter, +Governor Gore, General Brock, General Sheaffe, Sir Gordon Drummond, Sir +Peregrine Maitland. + +And, while contemplating the scene of our earliest political conflicts, +the scene of our earliest known state pageants in these parts, with +their modest means and appliances, our minds intuitively recur to a +period farther removed still, when under even yet more primitive +conditions the Parliament of Upper Canada assembled at Newark, just +across the Lake. We picture to ourselves the group of seven +crown-appointed Councillors and five representatives of the Commons, +assembled there, with the first Speaker, McDonell, of Glengary; all +plain, unassuming, prosaic men, listening, at their first session, to +the opening speech of their frank and honoured Governor. We see them +adjourning to the open air from their straightened chamber at Navy Hall, +and conducting the business of the young Province under the shade of a +spreading tree, introducing the English Code and Trial by Jury, +decreeing Roads, and prohibiting the spread of Slavery; while a boulder +of the drift, lifting itself up through the natural turf, serves as a +desk for the recording clerk. Below them, in the magnificent estuary of +the river Niagara, the waters of all the Upper Lakes are swirling by, +not yet recovered from the agonies of the long gorge above, and the leap +at Table Rock.--Even here, at the opening and close of this primaeval +Legislature, some of the decent ceremonial was observed with which, as +we have just said, the sadly inferior site at the embouchure of the Don +became afterwards familiar. We learn this from the narrative of the +French Duke de Liancourt, who affords us a glimpse of the scene at +Newark on the occasion of a Parliament there in 1795. "The whole retinue +of the Governor," he says, "consisted in a guard of fifty men of the +garrison of the fort. Draped in silk, he entered the Hall with his hat +on his head, attended by his adjutant and two secretaries. The two +members of the Legislative Council gave, by their speaker, notice of it +to the Assembly. Five members of the latter having appeared at the bar, +the Governor delivered a speech, modelled after that of the King, on the +political affairs of Europe, on the treaty concluded with the United +States (Jay's treaty of 1794), which he mentioned in expressions very +favourable to the Union; and on the peculiar concerns of Canada." +(Travels, i. 258.) + +By the Quebec Act, passed in 1791, it was enacted that the Legislative +Council for Upper Canada should consist of not fewer than seven members, +and the Assembly of not less than sixteen members, who were to be called +together at least once in every year. To account for the smallness of +the attendance on the occasion just described, the Duke explains that +the Governor had deferred the session "on account of the expected +arrival of a Chief Justice, who was to come from England: and from a +hope that he should be able to acquaint the members with the particulars +of the Treaty with the United States. But the harvest had now begun, +which, in a higher degree than elsewhere, engages in Canada the public +attention, far beyond what state affairs can do. Two members of the +Legislative Council were present, instead of seven; no Chief Justice +appeared, who was to act as Speaker; instead of sixteen members of the +Assembly, five only attended; and this was the whole number that could +be collected at this time. The law required a greater number of members +for each house, to discuss and determine upon any business; but within +two days a year would have expired since the last session. The Governor, +therefore, thought it right to open the session, reserving, however, to +either house the right of proroguing the sitting, from one day to +another, in expectation that the ships from Detroit and Kingston would +either bring the members who were yet wanting, or certain intelligence +of their not being able to attend." + +But again to return to the Houses of Parliament at York.--Extending from +the grounds which surrounded the buildings, in the east, all the way to +the fort at the entrance of the harbour, in the west, there was a +succession of fine forest trees, especially oak; underneath and by the +side of which the upper surface of the precipitous but nowhere very +elevated cliff was carpeted with thick green-sward, such as is still to +be seen between the old and new garrisons, or at Mississaga Point at +Niagara. A fragment, happily preserved, of the ancient bank, is to be +seen in the ornamental piece of ground known as the Fair-green; a strip +of land first protected by a fence, and planted with shrubbery at the +instance of Mr. George Monro, when Mayor, who also, in front of his +property some distance further on, long guarded from harm a solitary +survivor of the grove that once fringed the harbour. + +On our first visit to Southampton, many years ago, we remember observing +a resemblance between the walk to the river Itchen, shaded by trees and +commanding a wide water-view on the south, and the margin of the harbour +of York. + +In the interval between the points where now Princes Street and Caroline +Street descend to the water's edge, was a favourite landing-place for +the small craft of the bay--a wide and clean gravelly beach, with a +convenient ascent to the cliff above. Here, on fine mornings, at the +proper season, skiffs and canoes, log and birch-bark were to be seen +putting in, weighed heavily down with fish, speared or otherwise taken +during the preceding night, in the lake, bay, or neighbouring river. +Occasionally a huge sturgeon would be landed, one struggle of which +might suffice to upset a small boat. Here were to be purchased in +quantities, salmon, pickerel, masquelonge, whitefish and herrings; with +the smaller fry of perch, bass and sunfish. Here, too, would be +displayed unsightly catfish, suckers, lampreys, and other eels; and +sometimes lizards, young alligators for size. Specimens, also, of the +curious steel-clad, inflexible, vicious-looking pipe-fish were not +uncommon. About the submerged timbers of the wharves this creature was +often to be seen--at one moment stationary and still, like the +dragon-fly or humming-bird poised on the wing, then, like those nervous +denizens of the air, giving a sudden dart off to the right or left, +without curving its body. + +Across the bay, from this landing-place, a little to the eastward, was +the narrowest part of the peninsula, a neck of sand, destitute of +trees, known as the portage or carrying-place, where, from time +immemorial, canoes and small boats were wont to be transferred to and +from the lake. + +Along the bank, above the landing-place, Indian encampments were +occasionally set up. Here, in comfortless wigwams, we have seen Dr. Lee, +a medical man attached to the Indian department, administering from an +ordinary tin cup, nauseous but salutary draughts to sick and +convalescent squaws. It was the duty of Dr. Lee to visit Indian +settlements and prescribe for the sick. In the discharge of his duty he +performed long journeys, on horseback, to Penetanguishene and other +distant posts, carrying with him his drugs and apparatus in saddle-bags. +When advanced in years, and somewhat disabled in regard to activity of +movement, Dr. Lee was attached to the Parliamentary staff as Usher of +the Black Rod.--The locality at which we are glancing suggests the name +of another never-to-be-forgotten medical man, whose home and property +were close at hand. This is the eminent surgeon and physician, +Christopher Widmer. + +It is to be regretted that Dr. Widmer left behind him no written +memorials of his long and varied experience. Before his settlement in +York, he had been a staff cavalry surgeon, on active service during the +campaigns in the Peninsula. A personal narrative of his public life +would have been full of interest. But his ambition was content with the +homage of his contemporaries, rich and poor, rendered with sincerity to +his pre-eminent abilities and inextinguishable zeal as a surgeon and +physician. Long after his retirement from general practice, he was every +day to be seen passing to and from the old Hospital on King Street, +conveyed in his well-known cabriolet, and guiding with his own hand the +reins conducted in through the front window of the vehicle. He had now +attained a great age; but his slender form continued erect; the hat was +worn jauntily, as in other days, and the dress was ever scrupulously +exact; the expression of the face in repose was somewhat abstracted and +sad, but a quick smile appeared at the recognition of friends. The +ordinary engravings of Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the +blood, recall in some degree the countenance of Dr. Widmer. Within the +General Hospital, a portrait of him is appropriately preserved. One of +the earliest, and at the same time one of the most graceful +lady-equestrians ever seen in York was this gentleman's accomplished +wife. At a later period a sister of Mr. Justice Willis was also +conspicuous as a skilful and fearless horse-woman. The description in +the Percy Anecdotes of the Princess Amelia, youngest daughter of George +II., is curiously applicable to the last-named lady, who united to the +amiable peculiarities indicated, talents and virtues of the highest +order. "She," the brothers Sholto and Reuben say, "was of a masculine +turn of mind, and evinced this strikingly enough in her dress and +manners: she generally wore a riding-habit in the German fashion with a +round hat; and delighted very much in attending her stables, +particularly when any of the horses were out of order." At a phenomenon +such as this, suddenly appearing in their midst, the staid and +simple-minded society of York stood for a while aghast. + +In the _Loyalist_ of Nov. 15, 1828, we have the announcement of a +Medical partnership entered into between Dr. Widmer and Dr. Diehl. It +reads thus: "Doctor Widmer, finding his professional engagements much +extended of late, and occasionally too arduous for one person, has been +induced to enter into partnership with Doctor Diehl, a respectable +practitioner, late of Montreal. It is expected that their united +exertions will prevent in future any disappointment to Dr. Widmer's +friends, both in Town and Country. Dr. Diehl's residence is at present +at Mr. Hayes' Boarding-house. York, Oct. 28, 1828." Dr. Diehl died at +Toronto, March 5, 1868. + +At the south-west corner of Princes Street, near where we are now +supposing ourselves to be, was a building popularly known as Russell +Abbey. It was the house of the Hon. Peter Russell, and, after his +decease, of his maiden sister, Miss Elizabeth Russell, a lady of great +refinement, who survived her brother many years. The edifice, like most +of the early homes of York, was of one storey only; but it exhibited in +its design a degree of elegance and some peculiarities. To a central +building were attached wings with gables to the south: the windows had +each an architectural decoration or pediment over it. It was this +feature, we believe, that was supposed to give to the place something of +a monastic air; to entitle it even to the name of "Abbey." In front, a +dwarf stone wall with a light wooden paling surrounded a lawn, on which +grew tall acacias or locusts. Mr. Russell was a remote scion of the +Bedford Russells. He apparently desired to lay the foundation of a solid +landed estate in Upper Canada. His position as Administrator, on the +departure of the first Governor of the Province, gave him facilities +for the selection and acquisition of wild lands. The duality necessarily +assumed in the wording of the Patents by which the Administrator made +grants to himself, seems to have been regarded by some as having a touch +of the comic in it. Hence among the early people of these parts the name +of Peter Russell was occasionally to be heard quoted good-humouredly, +not malignantly, as an example of "the man who would do well unto +himself." On the death of Mr. Russell, his property passed into the +hands of his sister, who bequeathed the whole to Dr. William Warren +Baldwin, into whose possession also came the valuable family plate, +elaborately embossed with the armorial bearings of the Russells. Russell +Hill, long the residence of Admiral Augustus Baldwin, had its name from +Mr. Russell, and in one of the elder branches of the Baldwin family, +Russell is continued as a baptismal name. In the same family is also +preserved an interesting portrait of Mr. Peter Russell himself, from +which we can see that he was a gentleman of portly presence, of strongly +marked features, of the Thomas Jefferson type. We shall have occasion +hereafter to speak frequently of Mr. Russell. + +Russell Abbey became afterwards the residence of Bishop Macdonell, a +universally-respected Scottish Roman Catholic ecclesiastic, whose +episcopal title was at first derived from Rhesina _in partibus_, but +afterwards from our Canadian Kingston, where his home usually was. His +civil duties, as a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada, +required his presence in York during the Parliamentary sessions. We have +in our possession a fine mezzotint of Sir M. A. Shee's portrait of +Bishop Macdonell. It used to be supposed by some that the occupancy of +Russell Abbey by the Bishop caused the portion of Front Street which +lies eastward of the Market-place, to be denominated Palace Street. But +the name appears in plans of York of a date many years anterior to that +occupancy. + +In connection with this mention of Bishop Macdonell, it may be of some +interest to add that, in 1826, Thomas Weld, of Lulworth Castle, +Dorsetshire, was consecrated as his coadjutor, in England, under the +title of Bishop of Amylae. But it does not appear that he ever came out +to Canada. (This was afterwards the well-known English Cardinal.) He had +been a layman, and married, up to the year 1825; when, on the death of +his wife, he took orders; and in one year he was, as just stated, made a +Bishop. + +Russell Abbey may indeed have been styled the "Palace"; but it was +probably from being the residence of one who for three years +administered the Government; or the name "Palace Street" itself may have +suggested the appellation. "Palace Street" was no doubt intended to +indicate the fact that it led directly to the Government reservation at +the end of the Town on which the Parliament houses were erected, and +where it was supposed the "Palais du Gouvernement," the official +residence of the representative of the Sovereign in the Province would +eventually be. On an Official Plan of this region, of the year 1810, the +Parliament Buildings themselves are styled "Government House." + +At the laying out of York, however, we find, from the plans, that the +name given in the first instance to the Front street of the town was, +not Palace Street, but King Street. Modern King Street was then Duke +Street, and modern Duke Street, Duchess Street. These street names were +intended as loyal compliments to members of the reigning family; to +George the Third; to his son the popular Duke of York, from whom, as we +shall learn hereafter, the town itself was named; to the Duchess of +York, the eldest daughter of the King of Prussia. In the cross streets +the same chivalrous devotion to the Hanoverian dynasty was exhibited. +George street, the boundary westward of the first nucleus of York, bore +the name of the heir-apparent, George, Prince of Wales. The next street +eastward was honoured with the name of his next brother, Frederick, the +Duke of York himself. And the succeeding street eastward, Caroline +Street, had imposed upon it that of the Princess of Wales, afterwards so +unhappily famous as George the Fourth's Queen Caroline. Whilst in +Princes Street (for such is the correct orthography, as the old plans +show, and not Princess Street, as is generally seen now,) the rest of +the male members of the royal family were collectively commemorated, +namely, the Duke of Clarence, the Duke of Kent, the Duke of Cumberland, +the Duke of Sussex, and the Duke of Cambridge. + +When the Canadian town of York was first projected, the marriage of the +Duke of York with the daughter of the King of Prussia, Frederica +Charlotta Ulrica, had only recently been celebrated at Berlin. It was +considered at the time an event of importance, and the ceremonies on the +occasion are given with some minuteness in the Annual Register for 1791. +We are there informed that "the supper was served at six tables; that +the first was placed under a canopy of crimson velvet, and the victuals +(as the record terms them) served on gold dishes and plates; that +Lieutenant-General Bornstedt and Count Bruhl had the honour to carve, +without being seated, that the other five tables, at which sat the +generals, ministers, ambassadors, all the officers of the Court, and the +high nobility, were served in other apartments; that supper being over, +the assembly repaired to the White Hall, where the trumpet, timbrel, and +other music, were playing; that the flambeau dance was then began, at +which the ministers of state carried the torches; that the new couple +were attended to their apartment by the reigning Queen and the Queen +dowager; that the Duke of York wore on this day the English uniform, and +the Princess Frederica a suit of _drap d'argent_, ornamented with +diamonds." In Ashburton's "New and Complete History of England, from the +first settlement of Brutus, upwards of one thousand years before Julius +Caesar, to the year 1793," now lying before us, two full-length portraits +of the Duke and Duchess are given.--New York and Albany, in the +adjoining State, had their names from titles of a Duke of York in 1664, +afterwards James II. His brother, Charles II., made him a present, by +Letters Patent, of all the territory, from the western side of the +Connecticut river to the east side of Delaware Bay; that is, of the +present States of Connecticut, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey. + +On the green sward of the bank between Princes street and George Street, +the annual military "Trainings" on the Fourth of June, "the old King's +birthday," were wont to take place. At a later period the day of meeting +was the 23rd of April, St. George's day, the fete of George IV. Military +displays on a grand scale in and about Toronto have not been uncommon in +modern times, exciting the enthusiasm of the multitude that usually +assembles on such occasions. But in no way inferior in point of interest +to the unsophisticated youthful eye, half a century ago, unaccustomed to +anything more elaborate, were those motley musterings of the militia +companies. The costume of the men may have been various, the fire-arms +only partially distributed, and those that were to be had not of the +brightest hue, nor of the most scientific make; the lines may not always +have been perfectly straight, nor their constituents well matched in +height; the obedience to the word of command may not have been rendered +with the mechanical precision which we admire at reviews now, nor with +that total suppression of dialogue in undertone in the ranks, nor with +that absence of remark interchanged between the men and their officers +that are customary now. Nevertheless, as a military spectacle, these +gatherings and manoeuvres on the grassy bank here, were effective; they +were always anticipated with pleasure and contemplated with +satisfaction. The officers on these occasions,--some of them +mounted--were arrayed in uniforms of antique cut; in red coats with wide +black breast lappets and broad tail flaps; high collars, tight sleeves +and large cuffs; on the head a black hat, the ordinary high-crowned +civilian hat, with a cylindrical feather some eighteen inches high +inserted at the top, not in front, but on the left side (whalebone +surrounded with feathers from the barnyard, scarlet at the base, white +above). Animation was added to the scene by a drum and a few fifes +executing with liveliness "The York Quickstep," "The Reconciliation," +and "The British Grenadiers." And then, in addition to the local cavalry +corps, there were the clattering scabbards, the blue jackets, and +bear-skin helmets of Captain Button's dragoons from Markham and +Whitchurch. + +Numerously, in the rank and file at these musterings--as well as among +the officers, commissioned and non-commissioned--were to be seen men who +had quite recently jeopardized their lives in the defence of the +country. At the period we are speaking of, only some six or seven years +had elapsed since an invasion of Canada from the south. "The late war," +for a long while, very naturally, formed a fixed point in local +chronology, from which times and seasons were calculated; a fixed point, +however, which, to the indifferent new-comer, and even to the +indigenous, who, when "the late war" was in progress, were not in bodily +existence, seemed already to belong to a remote past. An impression of +the miseries of war, derived from the talk of those who had actually +felt them, was very strongly stamped in the minds of the rising +generation; an impression accompanied also at the same time with the +uncomfortable persuasion derived from the same source, that another +conflict was inevitable in due time. The musterings on "Training-day" +were thus invested with interest and importance in the minds of those +who were summoned to appear on these occasions, as also in the minds of +the boyish looker-on, who was aware that ere long he would himself be +required by law to turn out and take his part in the annual militia +evolutions, and perhaps afterwards, possibly at no distant hour, to +handle the musket or wield the sword in earnest. + +A little further on, in a house at the north-west corner of Frederick +Street, a building afterwards utterly destroyed by fire, was born, in +1804, the Hon. Robert Baldwin, son of Dr. William Warren Baldwin, +already referred to, and Attorney-General in 1842 for Upper Canada. In +the same building, at a later period, (and previously in an humble +edifice, at the north-west corner of King Street and Caroline Street, +now likewise wholly destroyed,) the foundation was laid, by +well-directed and far-sighted ventures in commerce, of the great wealth +(locally proverbial) of the Cawthra family, the Astors of Upper Canada, +of whom more hereafter. It was also in the same house, prior to its +occupation by Mr. Cawthra, senior, that the printing operations of Mr. +William Lyon Mackenzie were carried on at the time of the destruction of +his press by a party of young men, who considered it proper to take some +spirited notice of the criticisms on the public acts of their fathers, +uncles and superiors generally, that appeared every week in the columns +of the _Colonial Advocate_; a violent act memorable in the annals of +Western Canada, not simply as having been the means of establishing the +fortunes of an indefatigable and powerful journalist, but more notably +as presenting an unconscious illustration of a general law, observable +in the early development of communities, whereby an element destined to +elevate and regenerate is, on its first introduction, resisted, and +sought to be crushed physically, not morally; somewhat as the white +man's watch was dashed to pieces by the Indian, as though it had been a +sentient thing, conspiring in some mysterious way with other things, to +promote the ascendancy of the stranger. + +The youthful perpetrators of the violence referred to were not long in +learning practically the futility of such exploits. Good old Mr. James +Baby, on handing to his son Raymond the amount which that youth was +required to pay as his share of the heavy damages awarded, as a matter +of course, by the jury on the occasion, is said to have added:--"There! +go and make one great fool of yourself again!"--a sarcastic piece of +advice that might have been offered to each of the parties concerned. + +A few steps northward, on the east side of Frederick Street, was the +first Post Office, on the premises of Mr. Allan, who was postmaster; and +southward, where this street touches the water, was the Merchants' +Wharf, also the property of Mr. Allan; and the Custom House, where Mr. +Allan was the Collector. We gather also from Calendars of the day that +Mr. Allan was likewise Inspector of Flour, Pot and Pearl Ash; and +Inspector of Shop, Still and Tavern Duties. In an early, limited +condition of society, a man of more than the ordinary aptitude for +affairs is required to act in many capacities. + +The Merchants' Wharf was the earliest landing-place for the larger craft +of the lake. At a later period other wharves or long wooden jetties, +extending out into deep water, one of them named the Farmers' Wharf, +were built westward. In the shoal water between the several wharves, for +a long period, there was annually a dense crop of rushes or flags. The +town or county authorities incurred considerable expense, year after +year, in endeavouring to eradicate them--but, like the heads of the +hydra, they were always re-appearing. In July, 1821, a "Mr. Coles' +account for his assistants' labour in destroying rushes in front of the +Market Square," was laid before the County magistrates, and audited, +amounting to L13 6_s._ 3_d._ In August of the same year, the minutes of +the County Court record that "Capt. Macaulay, Royal Engineers, offered +to cut down the rushes in front of the town between the Merchants' Wharf +and Cooper's Wharf, for a sum not to exceed ninety dollars, which would +merely be the expense of the men and materials in executing the +undertaking: his own time he would give to the public on this occasion, +as encouragement to others to endeavour to destroy the rushes when they +become a nuisance;" it was accordingly ordered "that ninety dollars be +paid to Capt. Macaulay or his order, for the purpose of cutting down the +rushes, according to his verbal undertaking to cut down the same, to be +paid out of the Police or District funds in the hands of the Treasurer +of the District." + +We have understood that Capt. Macaulay's measures for the extinction of +the rank vegetation in the shallow waters of the harbour, proved to be +very efficient. The instrument used was a kind of screw grapnel, which, +let down from the side of a large scow, laid hold of the rushes at their +root and forcibly wrenched them out of the bed of mud below. The entire +plant was thus lifted up, and drawn by a windlass into the scow. When a +full load of the aquatic weed was collected, it was taken out into the +open water of the Lake, and there disposed of. + +Passing on our way, we soon came to the Market Square. This was a large +open space, with wooden shambles in the middle of it, thirty-six feet +long and twenty-four wide, running north and south. + +By a Proclamation in the _Gazette_ of Nov. 3, 1803, Governor Hunter +appointed a weekly market day for the Town of York, and also a place +where the market should be held. + +"Peter Hunter, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor, &c. Whereas great prejudice +hath arisen to the inhabitants of the Town and Township of York, and of +other adjoining Townships, from no place or day having been set apart or +appointed for exposing publicly for sale, cattle, sheep, poultry, and +other provisions, goods, and merchandize, brought by merchants, farmers, +and others, for the necessary supply of the said Town of York; and, +whereas, great benefit and advantage might be derived to the said +inhabitants and others, by establishing a weekly market within that +Town, at a place and on a day certain for the purpose aforesaid; + +"Know all men, That I, Peter Hunter, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor of the +said Province, taking the premises into consideration, and willing to +promote the interest, and advantage, and accommodation of the +inhabitants of the Town and Township aforesaid, and of others, His +Majesty's subjects, within the said Province, by and with the advice of +the Executive Council thereof, have ordained, erected, established and +appointed, and do hereby ordain, erect, establish and appoint, a Public +Open Market, to be held on Saturday in each and every week during the +year, within the said Town of York:--(The first market to be held +therein on Saturday, the 5th day of November next after the date of +these presents), on a certain piece or plot of land within that Town, +consisting of five acres and a half, commencing at the south-east angle +of the said plot, at the corner of Market Street and New Street, then +north sixteen degrees, west five chains seventeen links, more or less, +to King Street; then along King Street south seventy-four degrees west +nine chains fifty-one links, more or less, to Church Street; then south +sixteen degrees east six chains thirty-four links, more or less, to +Market Street; then along Market Street north seventy-four degrees east +two chains; then north sixty-four degrees, east along Market Street +seven chains sixty links, more or less, to the place of beginning, for +the purpose of exposing for sale cattle, sheep, poultry, and other +provisions, goods and merchandize, as aforesaid. Given under my hand and +seal at arms, at York, this twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of +our Lord one thousand eight hundred and three, and in the forty-fourth +year of His Majesty's reign. P. Hunter, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor. By +His Excellency's command, Wm. Jarvis, Secretary." + +In 1824, the Market Square was, by the direction of the County +magistrates, closed in on the east, west, and south sides, "with a +picketting and oak ribbon, the pickets at ten feet distance from each +other, with three openings or foot-paths on each side." + +The digging of a public well here, in the direction of King Street, was +an event of considerable interest in the town. Groups of school-boys +every day scanned narrowly the progress of the undertaking; a cap of one +or the other of them, mischievously precipitated to the depths where the +labourers' mattocks were to be heard pecking at the shale below, may +have impressed the execution of this public work all the more indelibly +on the recollection of some of them. By referring to a volume of the +_Upper Canada Gazette_, we find that this was in 1823. An unofficial +advertisement in that periodical, dated June the 9th, 1823, calls for +proposals to be sent in to the office of the Clerk of the Peace, "for +the sinking a well, stoning and sinking a pump therein, in the most +approved manner, at the Market Square of the said town (of York), for +the convenience of the Public." It is added that persons desirous of +contracting for the same, must give in their proposals on or before +Tuesday, the first day of July next ensuing; and the signature, "by the +order of the Court," is that of "S. Heward, Clerk of the Peace, H. D." +(Home District). + +The tender of John Hutchison and George Hetherington was accepted. They +offered to do the work "for the sum of L25 currency on coming to the +rock, with the addition of seven shillings and sixpence per foot for +boring into the rock until a sufficient supply of water can be got, +should it be required." The work was done and the account paid July +30th, 1823. The charge for boring eight feet two inches through the rock +was L3 1_s._ 3_d._ The whole well and pump thus cost the County the +modest sum of only L28 1_s._ 3_d._ The charge for flagging round the +pump, for "logs, stone and workmanship," was L5 2_s._ 41/2_d._, paid to +Mr. Hugh Carfrae, pathmaster. + +Near the public pump, auctions in the open air occasionally took place. +A humourous chapman in that line, Mr. Patrick Handy, used often here to +be seen and heard, disposing of his miscellaneous wares. With Mr. Handy +was associated for a time, in this business, Mr. Patrick McGann. And +here we once witnessed the horrid exhibition of a public whipping, in +the case of two culprits whose offence is forgotten. A discharged +regimental drummer, a native African, administered the lash. The sheriff +stood by, keeping count of the stripes. The senior of the two +unfortunates bore his punishment with stoicism, encouraging the negro to +strike with more force. The other, a young man, endeavoured for a little +while to imitate his companion in this respect; but soon was obliged to +evince by fearful cries the torture endured. Similar scenes were +elsewhere to be witnessed in Canada. In the _Montreal Herald_ of +September 16th, 1815, we have the following item of city news, given +without comment: "Yesterday, between the hours of 9 and 10, pursuant to +their sentences, Andre Latulippe, Henry Leopard, and John Quin, received +39 lashes each, in the New Market Place." The practice of whipping and +even branding of culprits in public had begun at York in 1798. In the +_Gazette and Oracle_ of Dec. 1st, 1798, printed at York, we have the +note: "Last Monday William Hawkins was publicly whipped, and Joseph +McCarthy burned in the hand, at the Market Place, pursuant to their +sentence." The crimes are not named. + +In the Market Square at York, the pillory and the stocks were also from +time to time set up. The latter were seen in use for the last time in +1834. In 1804, a certain Elizabeth Ellis was, for "being a nuisance," +sentenced by Chief Justice Allcock to be imprisoned for six months, and +"to stand in the pillory twice during the said imprisonment, on two +different market days, opposite the Market House in the town of York, +for the space of two hours each time." In the same year, the same +sentence was passed on one Campbell, for using "seditious words." + +In 1831 the wooden shambles were removed, and replaced in 1833 by a +collegiate-looking building of red brick, quadrangular in its +arrangement, with arched gateway entrances on King Street and Front +Street. This edifice filled the whole square, with the exception of +roadways on the east and west sides. The public well was now concealed +from view. It doubtless exists still, to be discovered and gloated over +by the antiquarian of another century. + +Round the four sides of the new brick Market ran a wooden gallery, which +served to shade the Butchers' stalls below. It was here that a fearful +casualty occurred in 1834. A concourse of people were being addressed +after the adjournment of a meeting on an electional question, when a +portion of the overcrowded gallery fell, and several persons were caught +on the sharp iron hooks of the stalls underneath, and so received fatal +injuries. The killed and wounded on this memorable occasion were:--Son +of Col. Fitz Gibbon, killed; Mr. Hutton, killed; Col. Fitz Gibbon, +injured severely; Mr. Mountjoy, thigh broken; Mr. Cochrane, injured +severely; Mr. Charles Daly, thigh broken; Mr. George Gurnett, wound in +the head; Mr. Keating, injured internally; Mr. Fenton, injured; Master +Gooderham, thigh broken; Dr. Lithgow, contused severely; Mr. Morrison, +contused severely; Mr. Alderman Denison, cut on the head; Mr. Thornhill, +thigh broken; Mr. Street, arm broken; Mr. Deese, thigh broken; another +Mr. Deese, leg and arm broken; Mr. Sheppard, injured internally; Mr. +Clieve, Mr. Mingle, Mr. Preston, Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Leslie (of the +Garrison), Master Billings, Mr. Duggan, Mr. Thomas Ridout, Mr. Brock, +Mr. Turner, Mr. Hood (since dead), severely injured, &c. + +The damage done to the northern end of the quadrangle during the great +fire of 1849 led to the demolition of the whole building, and the +erection of the St. Lawrence Hall and Market. Over windows on the second +storey at the south east corner of the red brick structure now removed, +there appeared, for several years, two signs, united at the angle of the +building, each indicating by its inscription the place of "The Huron and +Ontario Railway" office. + +This was while the Northern Railway of Canada was yet existing simply as +a project. + +In connection with our notice of the Market, we give some collection +which may serve to illustrate-- + + EARLY PRICES AT YORK. + +During the war it was found expedient by the civil authorities to +interfere, in some degree, with the law of supply and demand. The +Magistrates, in Quarter Sessions assembled, agreed, in 1814, upon the +following prices, as in their opinion fair and equitable to be paid by +the military authorities for provisions:--Flour, per barrel, L3 10_s._ +Wheat, per bushel, 10_s._ Pease, per bushel, 7_s._ 6_d._ Barley and Rye, +the same. Oats, per bushel, 5_s._ Hay, per ton, L5. Straw, L3. Beef, on +foot, per cwt. L2 5_s._; slaughtered, per lb., 71/2_d._ Pork, salted, per +barrel, L7 10_s._; per carcass, 71/2_d._ Mutton, per lb., 9_d._ Veal, +8_d._ Butter, 1_s._ 3_d._ Bread, per loaf of 4 lb_s._, 1_s._ 6_d._ In +April, 1822, peace then reigning, York prices were:--Beef, per lb., +2_d._ _a_ 4_d._ Mutton, 4_d._ _a_ 5_d._ Veal, 4_d. a_ 5_d._ Pork, 2_d._ +_a_ 21/2_d._ Fowls, per pair, 1_s._ 3_d._ Turkeys, each, 3_s._ 9_d._ +Geese, 2_s._ 6_d._ Ducks, per pair, 1_s._ 10_d._ Cheese, per lb., 5_d._ +Butter, 71/2_d._ Eggs, per doz., 5_d._ Wheat, per bushel, 2_s._ 6_d._ +Barley, 48 lbs., 2_s._ Oats, 1_s._ Pease, 1_s._ 11/2_d._ Potatoes, per +bushel, 1_s._ 3_d._ Turnips, 1_s._ Cabbages, per head, 2_d._ Flour, per +cwt., 6_s._ 3_d._ Flour, per barrel, 12_s._ 6_d._ Tallow, per lb., 5_d._ +Lard, per lb., 5_d._ Hay, per ton, L2 10_s._ Pork, per barrel, L2 10_s._ +Wood, per cord, 10_s._ + +As allied to the subject of early prices at York, we add some excerpts +from the day-book of Mr. Abner Miles, conductor of the chief hotel of +the place, in 1798. It would appear that the resident gentry and others +occasionally gave and partook of little dinners at Mr. Miles', for which +the charges are roughly minuted on some long, narrow pages of folded +foolscap now lying before us. It will be seen from the record that the +local "table-traits," as Dr. Doran would speak, were, as nearly as +practicable those of the rest of the Empire at the period. At the new +capital, however, in 1798, hosts and guests must have laboured under +serious difficulties. + +In July, 1798, the following items appear against the names, conjointly +of Messrs. Baby, Hamilton, and Commodore Grant:--Twenty-two dinners at +Eight shillings, L8 16s. Sixteen to Coffee, L1 12s. Eight Suppers, 16s. +Twenty-three quarts and one pint of wine, L10 11s. 6d. Eight bottles of +porter, L2 8s. Two bottles of syrup-punch, L1 4s. One bottle of brandy +and one bottle of rum, 18s. Altogether amounting to L26 5s. 6d. (The +currency throughout Mr. Miles' books is that of New York, in which the +shilling was seven pence half-penny. The total just given denoted +between L16 and L17 of modern Canadian money. It is observable that in +the entries of which we give specimens, whiskey, the deadly bane of +later years, in not named.) On the 17th June, Thomas Ridout, Jonathan +Scott, Col. Fortune, Surveyor Jones, Samuel Heron, Mr. Jarvis [the +Secretary], Adjutant McGill, and Mr. Crawford are each charged 16s. as +his quota of a "St. John's dinner." On the 4th of June, an entry against +"the Chief Justice" [Elmsley], runs thus: Eighteen dinners at Eight +shillings, L7 4s. Three bottles Madeira, L1 7s. One bottle brandy, 10s. +Five bottles of port wine, four bottles of porter and one pint of rum +are charged, but the value is not given. The defect is supplied in a +later entry against the Chief Justice, of seven dinners (42s.); where +two pints of port wine are charged 9s.; one pint of brandy, 5s.; two +bottles port wine, 18s.; one bottle white wine, 9s.; one bottle of +porter, 6s. On this occasion "four took coffee," at a cost of 8s. +Elsewhere, three dinners are charged to the Chief Justice, when three +bottles of wine were required; one pint of brandy, and two bottles of +porter, all at the rates already quoted. A "mess dinner" is mentioned, +for which the Chief Justice, Mr. Hallowell, and Mr. Cartwright pay 6s. +each. One bottle of port, one of Madeira, and one of brandy were +ordered, and the "three took coffee," as before at 2s. a head. Again, at +a "mess dinner," of four, the names not given, two bottles of port and +one bottle of porter were taken. A "club" appears to have met here. In +July, 1798, a charge against the names of "Esq. Weekes," "Esq. Rogers," +and Col. Fortune, respectively, is "liquor in club the 11th at dinner, +1s. 6d." On July 6th "Judge Powell" is charged for supper, 2s.; for one +quart of wine, 9s. On the same day "Judge Powell's servant" had a "gill +brandy, 1s. 3d. and one glass do., 8d." A few days afterwards, a +reverend wayfarer calls at the inn; baits his beast, and modestly +refreshes himself. The entry runs:--"Priest from River La Tranche, 3 +quarts corn and half-pint of wine. Breakfast, 2s 6d." On another day, +Capt. Herrick has a "gill gin sling, 1s. 3d.; also immediately +afterwards a "half-pint of gin sling, 3s." At the same time Capt. Demont +has "gill rum sling, 1s. 3d.," and "gill rum, 1s." Capt. Fortune has +"half-pint wine, 2s.," and "Esq. Weekes," "gill brandy, 1s. 3d." Col. +Fortune has "gill sour punch, 2s." This sour punch is approved of by +"Dunlap"--who at one place four times in immediate succession, and +frequently elsewhere, is charged with "glass sour punch, 2s." Jacob +Cozens takes "one bottle Madeira wine, 10s.;" Samuel Cozens, "one bottle +Madeira wine, 10s., and bread and cheese, 1s.;" and Shivers Cozens, +"bottle of wine, 10s., and bread and cheese, 1s. Conets Cozens has +"dinner, 2s., a gill of brandy, 1s., and half a bushel of seed corn, +7s." On the 5th of July, Josiah Phelps has placed opposite his name, +"one glass punch, 3s.; three bowls sour punch, 9s.; gill rum, 1s.; two +gin slings, 2s. 6d.; bowl punch, 3s.; gill rum, 1s.; two gills syrup +punch, 4s.; supper, 2s." About the same time Corporal Wilson had "two +mugs beer, 4s." On the 6th of July Commodore Grant had "half-pint rum, +for medson, 2s.; and immediately after another half-pint rum, for do., +2s." One "Billy Whitney" figures often; his purchases one day were: +"gill rum sling, 1s. 6d.; do., 1s. 6d.; half-pound butter, 1s. 3d." +Capt. Hall takes "one gill punch, 2s.; glass rum, 6d., and half-gallon +punch, 7s." He at the same time has two dollars in cash advanced to him +by the obliging landlord, 16s. + +Mr. Abner Miles supplied customers with general provisions as well as +liquors. On one occasion he sells, "White, Attorney-General," three +pounds of butter for 7s. 6d., and six eggs for 1s. 6d. He also sells +"President Russell" forty-nine pounds and three-fourths, of beef at 1s. +per pound; Mr. Attorney-General White took twenty-three pounds and a +half at the same price. That sold to "Robert Gray, Esq.," is described +as "a choice piece," and is charged two pence extra per pound. The +piece, however, weighed only seven pounds, and the cost was just eight +shillings and two pence. Other things are supplied by Mr. Miles. Gideon +Badger buys of him "one yard red spotted cassimere, 20s.; one and a-half +dozen buttons, 3s; and a pair shears, 3s." At the same time Mr. Badger +is credited with "one dollar, 8s." Joseph Kendrick gets "sole leather +for pair of shoes for self, by old Mr. Ketchum, 6s." Mr. Miles moreover +furnishes Mr. Allan with "237 feet of inch-and-half plank at 12s., 33s.; +two rod of garden fence at 10s., 20s." We suppose the moneys received +were recorded elsewhere generally; but on the pages before us we have +such entries as the following: "Messrs. Hamilton, Baby and Grant settled +up to 4th of July, after breakfast." "Dr. Gamble, at Garrison," obtained +ten bushels of oats and is to pay therefor L4. A mem. is entered of +"Angus McDonell, dr., Dinner sent to his tent." and "Capt. Demont, cr. +By note of hand for L26 5s. Halifax currency, L42 York." On the same day +the Captain indulges in "a five dollar cap, 40s.," and "one gill rum, +1s." That some of Mr. Miles' customers required to be reminded of their +indebtedness to him, we learn from an advertisement in the _Gazette and +Oracle_ of August 31, 1799. It says: "The Subscriber informs all those +indebted to him by note or book, to make payment by the 20th September +next, or he will be under the disagreeable necessity of putting them +into the hands of an attorney. Abner Miles, York, August 28th, 1799." +Mr. Miles' house was a rendezvous for various purposes. In a _Gazette +and Oracle_ of Dec 8, 1798, we read--"The gentlemen of the Town and +Garrison are requested to meet at one o'clock, on Monday next, the 10th +instant, at Miles' Hotel, in order to arrange the place of the York +Assemblies for the season. York, Dec 8, 1798." In another number of the +same paper an auction is advertised to take place at Miles' Tavern. + +In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of July 13th, 1799, we read the following +advertisement: "O. Pierce and Co. have for sale: Best spirits by the +puncheon, barrel, or ten gallons, 20s. per gal. Do. by the single +gallon, 22s. Rum by the puncheon, barrel, or ten gallons, 18s. per gal. +Brandy by the barrel, 20s. per gal. Port wine by the barrel, 18s. per +gal. Do. by single gallon, 20s. per gal. Gin, by the barrel, 18s. per +gal. Teas--Hyson, 19s. per lb.; Souchong, 14s. do.; Bohea, 8s. do. +Sugar, best loaf, 3s. 9d. per lb. Lump, 3s. 6d. Raisins, 3s. Figs, 3s. +Salt six dollars per barrel or 12s. per bushel. Also, a few dry goods, +shoes, leather, hats, tobacco, snuff, &c., &c. York, July 6, 1799." These +prices appear to be in Halifax currency. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + II. + + FRONT STREET, FROM THE MARKET PLACE TO BROCK STREET. + + +The corner we approach after passing the Market Square, was occupied by +an inn with a sign-board sustained on a high post inserted at the outer +edge of the foot-path, in country roadside fashion. This was Hamilton's, +or the White Swan. It was here, we believe, or in an adjoining house, +that a travelling citizen of the United States, in possession of a +collection of stuffed birds and similar objects, endeavoured at an early +period to establish a kind of Natural History Museum. To the collection +here was once rashly added figures, in wax, of General Jackson and some +other United States notabilities, all in grand costume. Several of these +were one night abstracted from the Museum by some over-patriotic youths, +and suspended by the neck from the limbs of one of the large trees that +over-looked the harbour. + +Just beyond was the Steamboat Hotel, long known as Ulick Howard's, +remarkable for the spirited delineation of a steam-packet of vast +dimensions, extending the whole length of the building, just over the +upper verandah of the hotel. In 1828, Mr. Howard is offering to let his +hotel, in the following terms:--"Steamboat Hotel, York, U. C.--The +proprietor of this elegant establishment, now unrivalled in this part of +the country, being desirous of retiring from Public Business, on account +of ill-health in his family, will let the same for a term of years to be +agreed on, either with or without the furniture. The Establishment is +now too well-known to require comment. N. B. Security will be required +for the payment of the Rent, and the fulfilment of the contract in every +respect. Apply to the subscriber on the premises. U. Howard, York, Oct +8th, 1828." + +A little further on was the Ontario House, a hotel built in a style +common then at the Falls of Niagara and in the United States. A row of +lofty pillars, well-grown pines in fact, stripped and smoothly planed, +reached from the ground to the eaves, and supported two tiers of +galleries, which, running behind the columns, did not interrupt their +vertical lines. + +Close by the Ontario House, Market Street from the west entered Front +Street at an acute angle. In the gore between the two streets, a +building sprang up, which, in conforming to its site, assumed the shape +of a coffin. The foot of this ominous structure was the office where +travellers booked themselves for various parts in the stages that from +time to time started from York. It took four days to reach Niagara in +1816. We are informed by a contemporary advertisement now before us, +that "on the 20th of September next [1816], a stage will commence +running between York and Niagara: it will leave York every Monday, and +arrive at Niagara on Thursday; and leave Queenston every Friday. The +baggage is to be considered at the risk of the owner, and the fare to be +paid in advance." In 1824, the mails were conveyed the same distance, +_via_ Ancaster, in three days. In a post-office advertisement for +tenders, signed "William Allan, P. M.," we have the statement: "The +mails are made up here [York] on the afternoon of Monday and Thursday, +and must be delivered at Niagara on the Wednesday and Saturday +following; and within the same period in returning." In 1835, Mr. +William Weller was the proprietor of a line of stages between Toronto +and Hamilton, known as the "Telegraph Line." In an advertisement before +us, he engages to take passengers "through by daylight, on the Lake +Road, during the winter season." + +Communication with England was at this period a tedious process. So late +as 1836, Mrs. Jameson thus writes in her Journal at Toronto (i. 182): +"It is now seven weeks since the date of the last letters from my dear +far-distant home. The Archdeacon," she adds, "told me, by way of +comfort, that when he came to settle in this country, there was only one +mail-post from England in the course of a whole year, and it was called, +as if in mockery, the Express." To this "Express" we have a reference in +a post-office advertisement to be seen in a _Quebec Gazette_ of 1792: "A +mail for the Upper Countries, comprehending Niagara and Detroit, will be +closed," it says, "at this office, on Monday, the 30th inst., at 4 +o'clock in the evening, to be forwarded from Montreal by the annual +winter Express, on Thursday, the 3rd of Feb. next." From the same paper +we learn that on the 10th of November, the latest date from Philadelphia +and New York was Oct. 8th: also, that a weekly conveyance had lately +been established between Montreal and Burlington, Vermont. In the +_Gazette_ of Jan. 13, 1808, we have the following: "For the information +of the Public.--York, 12th Jan., 1808.--The first mail from Lower Canada +is arrived, and letters are ready to be delivered by W. Allan, +Acting-Deputy-Postmaster." + +Compare all this with advertisements in Toronto daily papers now, from +agencies in the town, of "Through Lines" weekly, to California, +Vancouver's, China and Japan, connecting with Lines to Australia and New +Zealand. + +On the beach below the Steamboat Hotel was, at a late period, a market +for the sale of fish. It was from this spot that Bartlett, in his +"Canadian Scenery," made one of the sketches intended to convey to the +English eye an impression of the town. In the foreground are groups of +conventional, and altogether too picturesque, fishwives and squaws: in +the distance is the junction of Hospital Street and Front Street, with +the tapering building between. On the right are the galleries of what +had been the Steamboat Hotel; it here bears another name. + +Bartlett's second sketch is from the end of a long wharf or jetty to the +west. The large building in front, with a covered passage through it for +vehicles, is the warehouse or freight depot of Mr. William Cooper, long +the owner of this favourite landing place. Westwards, the pillared front +of the Ontario house is to be seen. Both of these views already look +quaint, and possess a value as preserving a shadow of much that no +longer exists. + +Where Mr. Cooper's Wharf joined the shore there was a ship-building +yard. We have a recollection of a launch that strangely took place here +on a Sunday. An attempt to get the ship into the water on the preceding +day had failed. Delay would have occasioned an awkward settling of the +ponderous mass. We shall have occasion hereafter to speak of the early +shipping of the harbour. + +The lot extending northward from the Ontario House corner to King street +was the property of Attorney-General Macdonell, who, while in attendance +on General Brock as Provincial aide-de-camp, was slain in the engagement +on Queenston Heights. His death created the vacancy to which, at an +unusually early age, succeeded Mr. John Beverley Robinson, afterwards +the distinguished Chief Justice of Upper Canada. Mr. Macdonell's remains +are deposited with those of his military chief under the column on +Queenston Heights. He bequeathed the property to which our attention has +been directed, to a youthful nephew, Mr. James Macdonell, on certain +conditions, one of which was that he should be educated in the tenets of +the Anglican Church, notwithstanding the Roman Catholic persuasion of +the rest of the family. + +The track for wheels that here descended to the water's edge from the +north, Church Street subsequently, was long considered a road remote +from the business part of the town, like the road leading southward from +Charing-cross, as shewn in Ralph Aggas' early map of London. A row of +frame buildings on its eastern side, in the direction of King Street, +perched high on cedar posts over excavations generally filled with +water, remained in an unfinished state until the whole began to be out +of the perpendicular and to become gray with the action of the weather. +It was evidently a premature undertaking; the folly of an over-sanguine +speculator. Yonge street beyond, where it approached the shore of the +harbour, was unfrequented. In spring and autumn it was a notorious +slough. In 1830, a small sum would have purchased any of the building +lots on either side of Yonge Street, between Front Street and Market +Street. + +Between Church Street and Yonge Street, now, we pass a short street +uniting Front Street with Wellington Street. Like Salisbury, Cecil, +Craven and other short but famous streets off the Strand, it retains the +name of the distinguished person whose property it traversed in the +first instance. It is called Scott Street, from Chief Justice Thomas +Scott, whose residence and grounds were here. + +Mr. Scott was one of the venerable group of early personages of whom we +shall have occasion to speak. He was a man of fine culture, and is +spoken of affectionately by those who knew him. His stature was below +the average. A heavy, overhanging forehead intensified the thoughtful +expression of his countenance, which belonged to the class suggested by +the current portraits of the United States jurist, Kent. We sometimes, +to this day, fall in with books from his library, bearing his familiar +autograph. + +Mr. Scott was the first chairman and president of the "Loyal and +Patriotic Society of Upper Canada," organized at York in 1812. His name +consequently appears often in the Report of that Association, printed by +William Gray in Montreal in 1817. The objects of the Society were "to +afford relief and aid to disabled militiamen and their families: to +reward merit, excite emulation, and commemorate glorious exploits, by +bestowing medals and other honorary marks of public approbation and +distinction for extraordinary instances of personal courage and fidelity +in defence of the Province." The preface to the Report mentions that +"the sister-colony of Nova Scotia, excited by the barbarous +conflagration of the town of Newark and the devastation on that +frontier, had, by a legislative act, contributed largely to the relief +of this Province." + +In an appeal to the British public, signed by Chief Justice Scott, it is +stated that "the subscription of the town of York amounted in a few days +to eight hundred and seventy-five pounds five shillings, Provincial +currency, dollars at five shillings each, to be paid annually during the +war; and that at Kingston to upwards of four hundred pounds." + +Medals were struck in London by order of the Loyal and Patriotic Society +of Upper Canada; but they were never distributed. The difficulty of +deciding who were to receive them was found to be too great. They were +defaced and broken up in York, with such rigour that not a solitary +specimen is known to exist. Rumours of one lurking somewhere, continue +to this day, to tantalize local numismatists. What became of the bullion +of which they were composed used to be one of the favourite vexed +questions among the old people of York. Its value doubtless was added to +the surplus that remained of the funds of the Society, which, after the +year 1817, were devoted to benevolent objects. To the building fund of +the York General Hospital, we believe, a considerable donation was made. +The medal, we are told, was two and one-half inches in diameter. On the +obverse, within a wreath of laurel, were the words "FOR MERIT." On this +side was also the legend: "PRESENTED BY A GRATEFUL COUNTRY." On the +reverse was the following elaborate device: A strait between two lakes: +on the North side a beaver (emblem of peaceful industry), the ancient +cognizance of Canada: in the background an English Lion slumbering. On +the South side of the Strait, the American eagle planing in the air, as +if checked from seizing the Beaver by the presence of the Lion. Legend +on this side: "UPPER CANADA PRESERVED." + +Scott Street conducts to the site, on the north side of Hospital Street, +westward of the home of Mr. James Baby, and, eastward, to that of Mr. +Peter Macdougall, two notable citizens of York. + +A notice of Mr. Baby occurs in Sibbald's _Canadian Magazine_ for March, +1833. The following is an extract: "James Baby was born at Detroit in +1762. His family was one of the most ancient in the colony; and it was +noble. His father had removed from Lower Canada to the neighbourhood of +Detroit before the conquest of Quebec, where, in addition to the +cultivation of lands, he was connected with the fur-trade, at that time, +and for many years after, the great staple of the country. James was +educated at the Roman Catholic Seminary of Quebec, and returned to the +paternal roof soon after the peace of 1783. The family had ever been +distinguished (and indeed all the higher French families) for their +adherence to the British crown; and to this, more than to any other +cause, are we to attribute the conduct of the Province of Quebec during +the American War. Being a great favourite with his father, James was +permitted to make an excursion to Europe, before engaging steadily in +business; and after spending some time, especially in England, rejoined +his family. * * * There was a primitive simplicity in Mr. Baby's +character, which, added to his polished manners and benignity of +disposition, threw a moral beauty around him which is very seldom +beheld." + +In the history of the Indian chief Pontiac, who, in 1763, aimed at +extirpating the English, the name of Mr. Baby's father repeatedly +occurs. The Canadian _habitans_ of the neighbourhood of Detroit, being +of French origin, were unmolested by the Indians; but a rumour had +reached the great Ottawa chief, while the memorable siege of Detroit was +in progress, that the Canadians had accepted a bribe from the English to +induce them to attack the Indians. "Pontiac," we read in Parkman's +History, p. 227, "had been an old friend of Baby; and one evening, at an +early period of the siege, he entered his house, and, seating himself by +the fire, looked for some time steadily at the embers. At length, +raising his head, he said he had heard that the English had offered the +Canadian a bushel of silver for the scalp of his friend. Baby declared +that the story was false, and protested that he never would betray him. +Pontiac for a moment keenly studied his features. 'My brother has +spoken the truth,' he said, 'and I will show that I believe him.' He +remained in the house through the evening, and, at its close, wrapped +himself in his blanket and lay down upon a bench, where he slept in full +confidence till morning." Note that the name Baby is to be pronounced +Baw-bee. + +Mr. Macdougall was a gentleman of Scottish descent, but, like his +compatriots in the neighbourhood of Murray Bay, so thoroughly +Lower-Canadianized as to be imperfectly acquainted with the English +language to the last. He was a successful merchant of the town of York, +and filled a place in the old local conversational talk, in which he was +sometimes spoken of as "Wholesale, Retail, Pete McDoug,"--an expression +adopted by himself on some occasion. He is said once to have been much +perplexed by the item "ditto" occurring in a bill of lading furnished of +goods under way; he could not remember having given orders for any such +article. He was a shrewd business man. An impression prevailed in +certain quarters that his profits were now and then extravagant. While +he was living at Niagara, some burglars from Youngstown broke into his +warehouse; and after helping themselves to whatever they pleased, they +left a written memorandum accounting for their not having taken with +them certain other articles: it was "because they were marked too high." + +That he was accustomed to affix a somewhat arbitrary value to his +merchandise, seems to be shown by another story that was told of him. He +was said, one day, when trade in general was very dull, to have boasted +that he had that very morning made L400 by a single operation. On being +questioned, it appeared that it had been simply a sudden enlargement of +the figure marked on all his stock to the extent of L400. + +One other story of him is this: On hearing a brother dealer lament that +by a certain speculation he should, after all, make only 5 per cent., he +expressed his surprise, adding that he himself would be satisfied with +3, or even 2, (taking the figures 2, 3, &c., to mean 2 hundred, 3 +hundred, &c.)--We shall hear of Mr. Macdougall again in connection with +the marine of the harbour. + +Of Yonge Street itself, at which we now arrive, we propose to speak at +large hereafter. Just westward from Yonge Street was the abode, +surrounded by pleasant grounds and trees, of Mr. Macaulay, at a later +period Sir James Macaulay, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, a man +beloved and honoured for his sterling excellence in every relation. A +full-length portrait of him is preserved in Osgoode Hall. His peculiar +profile, not discernable in that painting, is recalled by the engraving +of Capt. Starky, which some readers will remember in _Hone's Every-Day +Book_. + +Advancing a little further, we came in front of one of the earliest +examples, in these parts, of an English-looking rustic cottage, with +verandah and sloping lawn. This was occupied for a time by Major +Hillier, of the 74th regiment, aide-de-camp and military secretary to +Sir Peregrine Maitland. The well-developed native thorn-tree, to the +north of the site of this cottage, on the property of Mr. Andrew Mercer, +is a relic of the woods that once ornamented this locality. + +Next came the residence of Mr. Justice Boulton, a spacious family +domicile of wood, painted white, situated in an extensive area, and +placed far back from the road. The Judge was an English gentleman of +spare Wellington physique; like many of his descendants, a lover of +horses and a spirited rider; a man of wit, too, and humour, fond of +listening to and narrating anecdotes of the _ben trovato_ class. The +successor to this family home was Holland House, a structure of a +baronial cast, round which one might expect to find the remains of a +moat; a reproduction, in some points, as in name, of the building in the +suburbs of London, in which was born the Judge's immediate heir, Mr. H. +J. Boulton, successively Solicitor-General for Upper Canada, and Chief +Justice of Newfoundland. + +When Holland House passed out of the hands of its original possessor, it +became the property of Mr. Alexander Manning, an Alderman of Toronto. + +It was at Holland House that the Earl and Countess of Dufferin kept high +festival during a brief sojourn in the capital of Ontario, in 1872. +Suggested by public addresses received in infinite variety, within +Holland House was written or thought out that remarkable cycle of +rescripts and replies which rendered the vice-regal visit to Toronto so +memorable,--a cycle of rescripts and replies exceedingly wide in its +scope, but in which each requisite topic was touched with consummate +skill, and in such a way as to show in each direction genuine human +sympathy and heartiness of feeling, and a sincere desire to cheer and +strengthen the endeavour after the Good, the Beautiful and the True, in +every quarter. + +Whilst making his visit to Quebec, before coming to Toronto, Lord +Dufferin, acting doubtless on a chivalrous and poetical impulse, took up +his abode in the Citadel, notwithstanding the absence of worthy +arrangements for his accommodation there. + +Will not this bold and original step on the part of Lord Dufferin lead +hereafter to the conversion of the Fortress that crowns Cape Diamond +into a Rheinstein for the St. Lawrence--into an appropriately designed +castellated habitation, to be reserved as an occasional retreat, +nobly-seated and grandly historic, for the Viceroys of Canada? + +We now passed the grounds and house of Chief-Justice Powell. In this +place we shall only record our recollection of the profound sensation +created far and wide by the loss of the Chief-Justice's daughter in the +packet ship _Albion_, wrecked off the Head of Kinsale, on the 22nd of +April, 1822. A voyage to the mother country at that period was still a +serious undertaking. We copy a contemporaneous extract from the _Cork +Southern Reporter_:--"The _Albion_, whose loss at Garrettstown Bay we +first mentioned in our paper of Tuesday, was one of the finest class of +ships between Liverpool and New York, and was 500 tons burden. We have +since learned some further particulars, by which it appears that her +loss was attended with circumstances of a peculiarly afflicting nature. +She had lived out the tremendous gale of the entire day on Sunday, and +Captain Williams consoled the passengers, at eight o'clock in the +evening, with the hope of being able to reach Liverpool on the day but +one after, which cheering expectation induced almost all of the +passengers, particularly the females, to retire to rest. In some short +time, however, a violent squall came on, which in a moment carried away +the masts, and, there being no possibility of disengaging them from the +rigging, encumbered the hull so that she became unmanageable, and +drifted at the mercy of the waves, till the light-house of the Old Head +was discovered, the wreck still nearing in; when the Captain told the +sad news to the passengers, that there was no longer any hope; and, soon +after she struck. From thenceforward all was distress and confusion. The +vessel soon went to pieces, and, of the crew and passengers, only six of +the former and nine of the latter were saved." The names of the +passengers are added, as follows: "Mr. Benyon, a London gentleman; Mr. +N. Ross, of Troy, near New York; Mr. Conyers, and his brother-in-law, +Major Gough, 68th regiment; Mr. and Mrs. Clarke, Americans; Madame +Gardinier and son, a boy about eight years of age; Col. Prevost; Mr. +Dwight, of Boston; Mrs. Mary Pye, of New York; Miss Powell, daughter of +the Honourable William Dummer Powell, Chief-Justice of Upper Canada; +Rev. Mr. Hill, Jamaica, coming home by the way of the United States; +Professor Fisher, of New Haven, Connecticut; Mr. Gurnee, New York; Mr. +Proctor, New York; Mr. Dupont, and five other Frenchmen; Mrs. Mary +Brewster; Mr. Hirst, Mr. Morrison, and Stephen Chase." + +The _Weekly Register_ of York, of June 13, 1822, the number that +contains the announcement of the wreck of the _Albion_ packet, has also +the following paragraph: "Our Attorney-General arrived in London about +the 22nd of March, and up to the 11th of April had daily interviews of +great length with ministers. It gives us real pleasure to announce,"--so +continues the editorial of the _Weekly Register_--"that his mission is +likely to be attended with the most complete success, and that our +relations with the Lower Provinces will be put on a firm and +advantageous footing. We have no doubt that Mr. Robinson will deserve +the general thanks of the country." A family party from York had +embarked in the packet of the preceding month, and were, as this +paragraph intimates, safe in London on the 22nd of March. The disastrous +fate of the lady above named was thus rendered the more distressing to +friends and relatives, as she was present in New York when that packet +sailed, but for some obscure reason, she did not desire to embark +therein along with her more fortunate fellow townsfolk. + +After the house and grounds of Chief-Justice Powell came the property of +Dr. Strachan, of whom much hereafter. In view of the probable future +requirements of his position in a growing town and growing country, Dr. +Strachan built, in 1818, a residence here of capacious dimensions and +good design, with extensive and very complete appurtenances. A brother +of the Doctor's, Mr. James Strachan, an intelligent bookseller of +Aberdeen, visited York in 1819, soon after the first occupation of the +new house by its owners. The two brothers, John and James, had not seen +each other since 1799, when John, a young man just twenty-one, was +setting out for Canada, to undertake a tutorship in a family at +Kingston; setting out with scant money outfit, but provided with what +was of more value, a sound constitution, a clear head, and a good strong +understanding trained in Scottish schools and colleges, and by familiar +intercourse with shrewd Scottish folk. + +As James entered the gates leading into the new mansion, and cast a +comprehensive glance at the fine facade of the building before him and +over its pleasant and handsome surroundings, he suddenly paused; and +indulging in a stroke of sly humour, addressed his brother with the +words, spoken in grave confidential undertone,--"I hope it's a' come by +honestly, John!" + +On his return to Scotland, Mr. James Strachan published "A Visit to the +Province of Upper Canada in 1819," an interesting book, now scarce and +desired by Canadian collectors. The bulk of the information contained in +this volume was confessedly derived from Dr. Strachan. + +The bricks used in the construction of the house here in 1818 were +manufactured on the spot. One or two earlier brick buildings at York +were composed of materials brought from Kingston or Montreal; recalling +the parallel fact that the first bricks used for building in New York +were imported from Holland; just as in the present day, (though now, of +course, for a different reason,) houses are occasionally constructed at +Quebec with white brick manufactured in England. + +We next arrived at a large open space, much broken up by a +rivulet--"Russell's Creek,"--that meandered most recklessly through it. +This piece of ground was long known as Simcoe Place, and was set apart +in the later plan for the extension of York westward, as a Public +Square. Overlooking this area from the north-west, at the present day, +is one of the elms of the original forest--an unnoticeable sapling at +the period referred to, but now a tree of stately dimensions and of very +graceful form, resembling that of the Greek letter Psi. It will be a +matter of regret when the necessities of the case shall render the +removal of this relic indispensable. + +At the corner to the south of this conspicuous tree, was an inn long +known as the Greenland Fishery. Its sign bore on one side, quite +passably done, an Arctic or Greenland scene; and on the other, vessels +and boats engaged in the capture of the whale. A travelling sailor, +familiar with whalers, and additionally a man of some artistic taste and +skill, paid his reckoning in labour, by executing for the landlord, Mr. +Wright, these spirited paintings, which proved an attraction to the +house. + +John Street, which passes north, by the Greenland Fishery, bears one of +the Christian names of the first Governor of Upper Canada. Graves +Street, on the east side of the adjoining Square, bore his second +Christian name; but Graves Street has, in recent times, been transformed +into Simcoe Street. + +When the Houses of Parliament, now to be seen stretching across Simcoe +Place, were first built, a part of the design was a central pediment +supported by four stone columns. This would have relieved and given +dignity to the long front. The stone platform before the principal +entrance was constructed with a flight of steps leading thereto; but the +rather graceful portico which it was intended to sustain, was never +added. The monoliths for the pillars were duly cut out at a quarry near +Hamilton. They long remained lying there, in an unfinished state. In the +lithographic view of the Parliament Buildings, published by J. Young, +their architect, in 1836, the pediment of the original design is given +as though it existed. + +Along the edge of the water, below the properties, spaces and objects +which we have been engaged in noticing, once ran a shingly beach of a +width sufficient to admit of the passage of vehicles. A succession of +dry seasons must then have kept the waters low. In 1815, however, the +waters of the Lake appear to have been unusually high. An almanac of +that year, published by John Cameron, at York, offers, seriously as it +would seem, the subjoined explanation of the phenomenon: "The comet +which passed to the northward three years since," the writer suggests, +"has sensibly affected our seasons: they have become colder; the snows +fall deeper; and from lesser exhalation, and other causes, the Lakes +rise much higher than usual." + +The Commissariat store-houses were situated here, just beyond the broken +ground of Simcoe Place; long white structures of wood, with the shutters +of the windows always closed; built on a level with the bay, yet having +an entrance in the rear by a narrow gangway from the cliff above, on +which, close by, was the guard-house, a small building, painted of a dun +colour, with a roof of one slope, inclining to the south, and an arched +stoup or verandah open to the north. Here a sentry was ever to be seen, +pacing up and down. A light bridge over a deep water-course led up to +the guard-house. + +Over other depressions or ravines, close by here, were long to be seen +some platforms or floored areas of stout plank. These were said to be +spaces occupied by different portions of the renowned canvas-house of +the first Governor, a structure manufactured in London and imported. +The convenience of its plan, and the hospitality for which it afforded +room, were favourite topics among the early people of the country. We +have it in Bouchette's _British North America_ a reference to this +famous canvas house. "In the spring (_i. e._ of 1793)," that writer +says, "the Lieutenant-Governor moved to the site of the new capital +(York), attended by the regiment of the Queen's Rangers, and commenced +at once the realization of his favourite project. His Excellency +inhabited, during the summer, and through the winter, a canvas-house, +which he imported expressly for the occasion; but, frail as was its +substance, it was rendered exceedingly comfortable, and soon became as +distinguished for the social and urbane hospitality of its venerable and +gracious host, as for the peculiarity of its structure," vol. i. 80. +After this allusion to the home Canadian life of the first Governor, the +following remarks of de Liancourt, on the same subject, will not appear +out of place:--"In his private life," the Duke says, "Gov. Simcoe is +simple, plain and obliging. He inhabits [the reference now is to Newark +or Niagara] a small, miserable wooden house, which formerly was occupied +by the Commissaries, who resided here on account of the navigation of +the Lake. His guard consist of four soldiers, who every morning come +from the fort [across the river], and return thither in the evening. He +lives in a noble and hospitable manner, without pride; his mind is +enlightened, his character mild and obliging; he discourses with much +good sense on all subjects; but his favourite topics are his projects, +and war, which seem to be the objects of his leading passions. He is +acquainted with the military history of all countries: no hillock +catches his eye without exciting in his mind the idea of a fort which +might be constructed on the spot; and with the construction of this fort +he associates the plan of operations for a campaign, especially of that +which is to lead him to Philadelphia. [Gen. Simcoe appears to have been +strongly of the opinion that the United States were not going to be a +permanency.] On hearing his professions of an earnest desire of peace, +you cannot but suppose, either that his reason must hold an absolute +sway over his passion, or that he deceives himself." _Travels_, i. 241. + +Other traits, which doubtless at this time gave a charm to the home-life +of the accomplished Governor, may be gathered from a passage in the +correspondence, at a later period, of Polwhele, the historian of +Cornwall, who says, in a letter addressed to the General himself, dated +Manaccan, Nov. 5th, 1803:--"I have been sorely disappointed, once or +twice, in missing you, whilst you were inspecting Cornwall. It was not +long after your visit at my friend Mr. Hoblyn's, but I slept also at +Nanswhydden. Had I met you there, the _Noctes Atticae_, the _Coenae +Deorum_, would have been renewed, if peradventure the chess-board +intervened not; for rooks and pawns, I think, would have frightened away +the Muses, familiar as rooks and pawns might have been to the suitors of +Penelope." _Polwhele_, 544. + +The canvas-house above spoken of, had been the property of Capt. Cook +the circumnavigator. On its being offered for sale in London, Gov. +Simcoe, seeing its possible usefulness to himself as a moveable +government-house purchased it. + +Some way to the east of the Commissariat store-houses was the site of +the Naval Building Yard, where an unfinished ship-of-war and the +materials collected for the construction of others, were destroyed, when +the United States forces took possession of York in 1813. + +It appears that Col. Joseph Bouchette had just been pointing out to the +Government the exposed condition of the public property here. In a note +at p. 89 of his _British North America_ that officer remarks: "The +defenceless situation of York, the mode of its capture, and the +destruction of the large ship then on the stocks, were but too +prophetically demonstrated in my report to headquarters in Lower Canada, +on my return from a responsible mission to the capital of the Upper +Province, in the early part of April. Indeed the communication of the +result of my reconnoitering operations, and the intelligence of the +successful invasion of York, and the firing of the new ship by the +enemy, were received almost simultaneously." + +The Governor-in-Chief, Sir George Prevost, was blamed for having +permitted a frigate to be laid down in an unprotected position. There +was a "striking impropriety," as the Third Letter of _Veritas_, a +celebrated correspondent of the Montreal _Herald_ in 1815, points out, +"in building at York, without providing the means of security there, as +the works of defence, projected by General Brock, (when he contemplated, +before the war, the removal of the naval depot from Kingston to York, by +reason of the proximity of the former to the States in water by the +ice), were discontinued by orders from below, [from Sir George Prevost, +that is], and never resumed. The position intended to have been +fortified by General Brock, near York, was," _Veritas_ continues, +"capable of being made very strong, had his plan been executed; but as +it was not, nor any other plan of defence adopted, a ship-yard without +protection became an allurement to the enemy, as was felt to the cost of +the inhabitants of York." + +In the year 1832, the interior of the Commissariat-store, decorated with +flags, was the scene of the first charitable bazaar held in these parts. +It was for the relief of distress occasioned by a recent visitation of +cholera. The enterprise appears to have been remarkably successful. We +have a notice of it in Sibbald's _Canadian Magazine_ of January, 1833, +in the following terms: "All the fashionable and well-disposed attended; +the band of the gallant 79th played, at each table stood a lady; and in +a very short time all the articles were sold to gentlemen,--who will +keep 'as the apple of their eye' the things made and presented by such +hands." The sum collected on the occasion, it is added, was three +hundred and eleven pounds. + +Where Windsor Street now appears--with its grand iron gates at either +end, inviting or forbidding the entrance of the stranger to the prim, +quaint, self-contained little village of villas inside--formerly stood +the abode of Mr. John Beikie, whose tall, upright, staidly-moving form, +generally enveloped in a long snuff-coloured overcoat, was one of the +_dramatis personae_ of York. He had been, at an early period, sheriff of +the Home District; at a later time his signature was familiar to every +eye, attached in the _Gazette_ to notices put forth by the Executive +Council of the day, of which rather aristocratic body he was the Clerk. + +Passing westward, we had on the right the spacious home of Mr. +Crookshank, a benevolent and excellent man, sometime Receiver-General of +the Province, of whom we shall again have occasion to speak; and on the +left, on a promontory suddenly jutting out into the harbour, "Captain +Bonnycastle's cottage," with garden and picturesque grove attached; all +Ordnance property in reality, and once occupied by Col. Coffin. The +whole has now been literally eaten away by the ruthless tooth of the +steam excavator. On the beach to the west of this promontory was a much +frequented bathing-place. Captain Bonnycastle, just named, was +afterwards Sir Richard, and the author of "Canada as it was, is, and may +be," and "Canada and the Canadians in 1846." + +The name "Peter," attached to the street which flanks on the west the +ancient homestead and extensive outbuildings of Mr. Crookshank, is a +memento of the president or administrator, Peter Russell. It led +directly up to Petersfield, Mr. Russell's park lot on Queen Street. + +We come here to the western boundary of the so-called New Town--the +limit of the first important extension of York westward. The limit, +eastward, of the New Town, was a thoroughfare known in the former day as +Toronto Street, which was one street east of Yonge Street, represented +now by Victoria Street. At the period when the plan was designed for +this grand western and north-western suburb of York, Yonge Street was +not opened southward farther than Lot [Queen] Street. The roadway there +suddenly veered to the eastward, and then, after a short interval, +passed down Toronto Street, a roadway a little to the west of the +existing Victoria Street. + +The tradition in Boston used to be, that some of the streets there +followed the line of accidental cow-paths formed in the olden time in +the uncleared bush; and no doubt other old American towns, like ancient +European towns generally, exhibit, in the direction of their +thoroughfares, occasionally, traces of casual circumstances in the +history of the first settlers on their respective sites. The practice at +later periods has been to make all ways run as nearly as possible in +right lines. In one or two "jogs" or irregularities, observable in the +streets of the Toronto of to-day, we have memorials of early waggon +tracks which ran where they most conveniently could. The slight +meandering of Front Street in its course from the garrison to the site +of the first Parliament Buildings, and of Britain Street, (an obscure +passage between George Street and Caroline Street), may be thus +explained; as also the fact that the southern end of the present +Victoria Street does not connect immediately with the present Toronto +Street. This last-mentioned irregularity is a relic of the time when the +great road from the north, namely, Yonge Street, on reaching Queen +Street, slanted off to the eastward across vacant lots and open ground, +making by the nearest and most convenient route for the market and the +heart of the town. + +After the laying-out in lots of the region comprehended in the first +great expansion of York, of which we have spoken, inquiries were +instituted by the authorities as to the improvements made by the +holders of each. In the chart accompanying the report of Mr. Stegman, +the surveyor appointed to make the examination, the lots are coloured +according to the condition of each, and appended are the following +curious particulars, which smack somewhat of the ever-memorable +town-plot of Eden, to which Martin Chuzzlewit was induced to repair, and +which offered a lively picture of an infant metropolis in the rough. (We +must represent to ourselves a chequered diagram; some of the squares +white or blank; some tinted blue; some shaded black; the whole entitled +"Sketch of the Part of the Town of York west of Toronto +Street.")--"Explanation: The blank lots are cleared, agreeable to the +notice issued from His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, bearing date +September the fourth, 1800. The lots shaded blue are chiefly cut, but +the brush not burnt; and those marked with the letter A, the brush only +cut. The lots shaded black, no work done. The survey made by order of +the Surveyor-General's office, bearing date April the 23rd, 1801." A +more precise examination appears to have been demanded. The explanations +appended to the second plan, which has squares shaded brown, in addition +to those coloured blue and black, are: "1st. The blank lots are cleared. +2nd. The lots shaded black, _no work done_. 3rd. The lots shaded brown, +_the brush cut and burnt_. 4th. The lots shaded blue, _the brush cut and +not burnt_. N.B. The lots 1 and 2 on the north side of Newgate Street +[the site subsequently of the dwelling-house of Jesse Ketchum, of whom +hereafter], are mostly clear of the large timber, and some _brush cut_ +also, but _not burnt_; therefore omitted in the first report. This +second examination done by order of the Honourable John Elmsley, Esq." + +The second extension of York westward included the Government Common. +The staking out of streets here was a comparatively late event. Brock +Street, to which we have now approached, had its name, of course, from +the General officer slain at Queenston, and its extra width from the +example set in the Avenue to the north, into which it merges after +crossing Queen Street. + +A little to the west of Brock Street was the old military +burying-ground, a clearing in the thick brushwood of the locality: of an +oblong shape, its four picketed sides directed exactly towards the four +cardinal points. The setting off of the neighbouring streets and lots at +a different angle, caused the boundary lines of this plot to run askew +to every other straight line in the vicinity. Over how many a now +forgotten and even obliterated grave have the customary farewell volleys +here been fired!--those final honours to the soldier, always so +touching; intended doubtless, in the old barbaric way, to be an +incentive to endurance in the sound and well; and consolatory in +anticipation to the sick and dying. + +In the mould of this old cemetery, what a mingling from distant +quarters! Hearts finally at rest here, fluttered in their last beats, +far away, at times, to old familiar scenes "beloved in vain" long ago; +to villages, hedgerows, lanes, fields, in green England and Ireland, in +rugged Scotland and Wales. Many a widow, standing at an open grave here, +holding the hand of orphan boy or girl, has "wept her soldier dead," not +slain in the battle-field, indeed, but fallen, nevertheless, in the +discharge of duty, before one or other of the subtle assailants that, +even in times of peace, not unfrequently bring the career of the +military man to a premature close. Among the remains deposited in this +ancient burial-plot are those of a child of the first Governor of Upper +Canada, a fact commemorated on the exterior of the mortuary chapel over +his own grave in Devonshire, by a tablet on which are the words: +"Katharine, born in Upper Canada, 16th Jan., 1793; died and was buried +at York Town, in that Province, in 1794." + +Close to the military burial-ground was once enacted a scene which might +have occurred at the obsequies of a Tartar chief in the days of old. +Capt. Battersby, sent out to take command of a Provincial corps, was the +owner of several fine horses, to which he was greatly attached. On his +being ordered home, after the war of 1812, friends and others began to +make offers for the purchase of the animals; but no; he would enter into +no treaty with any one on that score. What his decision was became +apparent the day before his departure from York. He then had his poor +dumb favourites led out by some soldiers to the vicinity of the +burying-ground; and there he caused each of them to be deliberately shot +dead. He did not care to entrust to the tender mercies of strangers, in +the future, those faithful creatures that had served him so well, and +had borne him whithersoever he listed, so willingly and bravely. The +carcasses were interred on the spot where the shooting had taken place. + +Returning now again to Brock Street, and placing ourselves at the middle +point of its great width--immediately before us to the north, on the +ridge which bounds the view in the distance, we discern a white object. +This is Spadina House, from which the avenue into which Brock Street +passes, takes its name. The word Spadina itself is an Indian term +tastefully modified, descriptive of a sudden rise of land like that on +which the house in the distance stands. Spadina was the residence of Dr. +W. W. Baldwin, to whom reference has already been made. A liberal in his +political views, he nevertheless was strongly influenced by the feudal +feeling which was a second nature with most persons in the British +Islands some years ago. His purpose was to establish in Canada a family, +whose head was to be maintained in opulence by the proceeds of an +entailed estate. There was to be forever a Baldwin of Spadina. + +It is singular that the first inheritor of the newly-established +patrimony should have been the statesman whose lot it was to carry +through the Legislature of Canada the abolition of the rights of +primogeniture. The son grasped more readily than the father what the +genius of the North American continent will endure, and what it will +not. + +Spadina Avenue was laid out by Dr. Baldwin on a scale that would have +satisfied the designers of St. Petersburg or Washington. Its width is +one hundred and twenty feet. Its length from the water's edge to the +base of Spadina Hill would be nearly three miles. Garnished on both +sides by a double row of full grown chestnut trees, it would vie in +magnificence, when seen from an eminence, with the Long Walk at Windsor. + +Eastward of Spadina House, on the same elevation of land, was Davenport, +the picturesque and chateau-like home of Col. Wells, formerly of the +43rd regiment, built at an early period. Col. Wells was a fine example +of the English officer, whom we so often see retiring from the camp +gracefully and happily into domestic life. A faithful portrait of him +exists, in which he wears the gold medal of Badajoz. His sons, natural +artists, and arbiters of taste, inherited, along with their aesthetic +gifts, also lithe and handsome persons. One of them, now, like his +father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the army, was highly distinguished in +the Crimea; and on revisiting Toronto after the peace with Russia, was +publicly presented with a sword of honour. The view of the Lake and +intervening forest, as seen from Davenport and Spadina, before the +cultivation of the alluvial plain below, was always fine. (On his +retirement from the army, the second Col. Wells took up his abode at +Davenport.) + + + + +[Illustration] + + III. + + FROM BROCK STREET TO THE OLD FRENCH FORT. + + +Returning again to the front. The portion of the Common that lies +immediately west of the foot of Brock Street was enclosed for the first +time and ornamentally planted by Mr. Jameson. Before his removal to +Canada, Mr. Jameson had filled a judicial position in the West Indies. +In Canada, he was successively Attorney-General and Vice-Chancellor, the +Chancellorship itself being vested in the Crown. The conversational +powers of Mr. Jameson were admirable: and no slight interest attached to +the pleasant talk of one who, in his younger days, had been the familiar +associate of Southey, Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In a +volume of poems by Hartley Coleridge, son of the philosopher, published +in 1833, the three sonnets addressed "To a Friend," were addressed to +Mr. Jameson, as we are informed in a note. We give the first of these +little poems at length: + + "When we were idlers with the loitering rills, + The need of human love we little noted: + Our love was nature; and the peace that floated + On the white mist, and dwelt upon the hills, + To sweet accord subdued our wayward wills: + One soul was ours, one mind, one heart devoted, + That, wisely doating, asked not why it doated, + And ours the unknown joy, which knowing kills. + But now I find how dear thou wert to me; + That man is more than half of nature's treasure, + Of that fair Beauty which no eye can see, + Of that sweet music which no ear can measure; + And now the streams may sing for others' pleasure, + The hills sleep on in their eternity." + +The note appended, which appears only in the first edition, is as +follows: "This sonnet, and the two following, my earliest attempts at +that form of versification, were addressed to R. S. Jameson, Esq., on +occasion of meeting him in London, after a separation of some years. He +was the favourite companion of my boyhood, the active friend and sincere +counsellor of my youth. 'Though seas between us broad ha' roll'd' since +we 'travelled side by side' last, I trust the sight of this little +volume will give rise to recollections that will make him ten years +younger. He is now Judge Advocate at Dominica, and husband of Mrs. +Jameson, authoress of the 'Diary of an Ennuyee,' 'Loves of the Poets,' +and other agreeable productions." + +Mr. Jameson was a man of high culture and fine literary tastes. He was, +moreover, an amateur artist of no ordinary skill, as extant drawings of +his in water-colours attest. His countenance, especially in his old age, +was of the Jeremy Bentham stamp. + +It was from the house on the west of Brock Street that Mrs. Jameson +dated the letters which constitute her well-known "Winter Studies and +Summer Rambles." That volume thus closes: "At three o'clock in the +morning, just as the moon was setting on Lake Ontario, I arrived at the +door of my own house in Toronto, having been absent on this wild +expedition [to the Sault] just two months." York had then been two years +Toronto. (For having ventured to pass down the rapids at the Sault, she +had been formally named by the Otchipways of the locality, +_Was-sa-je-wun-e-qua_, "Woman of the Bright Stream.") + +The Preface to the American edition of Mrs. Jameson's "Characteristics +of Women" was also written here. In that Introduction we can detect a +touch due to the "wild expedition" just spoken of. "They say," she +observes, "that as a savage proves his heroism by displaying in grim +array the torn scalps of his enemies, so a woman thinks she proves her +virtue by exhibiting the mangled reputations of her friends:" a censure, +she adds, which is just, but the propensity, she explains, is wrongly +attributed to ill-nature and jealousy. "Ignorance," she proceeds, "is +the main cause; ignorance of ourselves and others; and when I have heard +any female acquaintance commenting with a spiteful or a sprightly levity +on the delinquencies and mistakes of their sex, I have only said to +myself, 'They know not what they do.'" "Here, then," the Preface +referred to concludes, "I present to women a little elementary manual or +introduction to that knowledge of woman, in which they may learn to +understand better their own nature; to judge more justly, more gently, +more truly of each other; + + 'And in the silent hour of inward thought + To still _suspect_, yet still _revere_ themselves + In lowliness of heart.'" + +Mrs. Jameson was unattractive in person at first sight, although, as +could scarcely fail to be the case in one so highly endowed, her +features, separately considered, were fine and boldly marked. +Intellectually, she was an enchantress. Besides an originality and +independence of judgment on most subjects, and a facility in +generalizing and reducing thought to the form of a neat aphorism, she +had a strong and capacious memory, richly furnished with choice things. +Her conversation was consequently of the most fascinating kind. + +She sang, too, in sweet taste, with a quiet softness, without display. +She sketched from nature with great elegance, and designed cleverly. The +seven or eight illustrations which appear in the American edition of the +"Characteristics," dated at Toronto, are etched by herself, and bear her +autograph, "Anna." The same is to be observed of the illustrations in +the English edition of her "Commonplace Book of Thoughts, Memories, and +Fancies;" and in her larger volumes on various Art-subjects. She had +super-eminently beautiful hands, which she always scrupulously guarded +from contract with the outer air. + +Mrs. Jameson was a connoisseur in "hands," as we gather from her +Commonplace Book, just mentioned. She there says: "There are hands of +various character; the hand to catch, and the hand to hold; the hand to +clasp, and the hand to grasp; the hand that has worked, or could work, +and the hand that has never done anything but hold itself out to be +kissed, like that of Joanna of Arragon, in Raphael's picture." Her own +appeared to belong to the last-named class. + +Though the merest trifles, we may record here one or two further +personal recollections of Mrs. Jameson; of her appreciation, for +example, of a very obvious quotation from Horace, to be appended to a +little sketch of her own, representing a child asleep, but in danger +from a serpent near; and of her glad acceptance of an out-of-the-way +scrap from the "Vanity of Arts and Sciences" of Cornelius Agrippa, which +proved the antiquity of _charivaries_. "Do you not know that the +intervention of a lady's hand is requisite to the finish of a young +man's education?" was a suggestive question drawn forth by some youthful +maladroitness. Another characteristic dictum, "Society is one vast +masquerade of manners," is remembered, as having been probably at the +time a new idea to ourselves in particular. The irrational +conventionalities of society she persistently sought to counteract, by +her words on suitable occasions, and by her example, especially in point +of dress, which did not conform to the customs in vogue. + +Among the local characters relished by Mrs. Jameson in Canada was Mr. +Justice Hagerman, who added some of the bluntness of Samuel Johnson to +the physique of Charles James Fox. She set a high value on his talents, +although we have heard her, at once playfully and graphically, speak of +him as "that great mastiff, Hagerman." From Mrs. Jameson we learned that +"Gaytay" was a sufficient approximation in English to the pronunciation +of "Goethe." She had been intimately acquainted with the poet at Weimar. + +In the Kensington Museum there is a bust, exceedingly fine, of Mrs. +Jameson, by the celebrated sculptor Gibson, executed by him, as the +inscription speaks, "in her honour." The head and countenance are of +course somewhat idealized; but the likeness is well retained. In the +small Boston edition of the "Legends of the Madonna" there is an +interesting portrait of Mrs. Jameson, giving her appearance when far +advanced in years. + +Westward from the house and grounds whose associations have detained us +so long, the space that was known as the Government Common is now +traversed from south to north by two streets. Their names possess some +interest, the first of them being that of the Duke of Portland, Viceroy +of Ireland, Colonial Secretary, and three times Prime Minister in the +reign of George the Third; the other that of Earl Bathurst, Secretary +for the Colonies in George the Fourth's time. + +Eastward of Bathurst Street, in the direction of the military +burying-ground, there was long marked out by a furrow in the sward the +ground-plan of a church. In 1830, the military chaplain, Mr. Hudson, +addressed to the commander of the forces a complaint "of the very great +inconvenience to which the troops are exposed in having to march so far +to the place of worship, particularly when the weather and roads are so +unfavourable during a greater part of the year in this country, the +distance from the Barracks to the Church being two miles:" adding, "In +June last, the roads were in such a state as to prevent the Troops from +attending Church for four successive Sundays." He then suggested "the +propriety of erecting a chapel on the Government reserve for the +accommodation of the Troops." The Horse Guards refused to undertake the +erection of a chapel here, but made a donation of one thousand pounds +towards the re-edification of St. James' Church, "on condition that +accommodation should be permanently provided for His Majesty's Troops." +The outline in the turf was a relic of Mr. Hudson's suggestion. + +The line that defined the limit of the Government Common to the north +and east, (and west, of course, likewise), prior to its division into +building lots, was a portion of the circumference of a great circle, "of +a radius of a 1,000 yards, more or less," whose centre was the Fort. On +the old plans of York, acres of this great circle are traced, with two +interior concentric arcs, of radii respectively of eight and five +hundred yards. + +We now soon arrive at the ravine of the "Garrison Creek." In the rivulet +below, for some distance up the valley, before the clearing away of the +woods, salmon used to be taken at certain seasons of the year. Crossing +the stream, and ascending to the arched gateway of the fort, (we are +speaking of it as it used to be), we pass between the strong +iron-studded portals, which are thrown back: we pass a sentry just +within the gate, and the guard-house on the left. At present we do not +tarry within the enclosure of the Fort. We simply glance at the +loopholed block-house on the one side, and the quarters of the men, the +officers, and the commandant on the other; and we hurry across the +gravelled area, recalling rapidly a series of spirit-stirring ordinal +numbers--40th, 41st, 68th, 79th, 42nd, 15th, 32nd, 1st--each suggestive +of a gallant assemblage at some time here; of a vigorous, finely +disciplined, ready-aye-ready group, that, like the successive +generations on the stage of human life, came and went just once, as it +were--as the years rolled on, and the eye saw them again no more. + +We pass on through the western gate to the large open green space which +lies on the farther side. This is the Garrison Reserve. It bears the +same relation to the modern Toronto and the ancient York as the Plains +of Abraham do to Quebec. It was here that the struggle took place, in +the olden time, that led to the capture of the town. In both cases the +leader of the aggressive expedition "fell victorious." But the analogy +holds no further; as, in the case of the inferior conquest, the +successful power did not retain permanent possession. + +The Wolfe's Cove--the landing-place of the invader--on the occasion +referred to, was just within the curve of the Humber Bay, far to the +west, where Queen Street now skirts the beach for a short distance and +then emerges on it. The intention had been to land more to the eastward, +but the vessels containing the hostile force were driven westward by the +winds. + +The debarkation was opposed by a handful of Indians, under Major Givins. +The Glengary Fencibles had been despatched to aid in this service, but, +attempting to approach the spot by a back road, they lost their way. A +tradition exists that the name of the Grenadier's Pond, a lagoon a +little to the west, one of the ancient outlets of the waters of the +Humber, is connected with the disastrous bewilderment of a party of the +regular troops at this critical period. It is at the same time asserted +that the name "Grenadier's Pond" was familiar previously. At length +companies of the Eighth Regiment, of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, +and of Incorporated Militia, made their appearance on the ground, and +disputed the progress inland of the enemy. After suffering severely, +they retired towards the Fort. This was the existing Fort. The result is +now matter of history, and need not be detailed. As portions of the +cliff have fallen away from time to time along the shore here, numerous +skeletons have been exposed to view, relics of friend and foe slain on +the adjacent common, where, also, military ornaments and fragments of +fire-arms, used frequently to be dug up. Some of the bones referred to, +however, may have been remains of early French and Indian traders. + +The _Loyalist_ newspaper of May 9, 1829, published at York, speaks of +the re-interment on that day of the remains of an officer killed at the +battle of York. The article runs as follows:--"The late Capt. +McNeil.--It will be recollected by many of the inhabitants of York that +this officer fell while gallantly fighting at the head of his Company of +Grenadiers of the 8th Regiment, in defence of the place, on the morning +of the 27th of April, 1813. His remains which so eminently deserved +rites of honourable sepulture, were from unavoidable circumstances +consigned to earth by the hands of the enemy whom he was opposing, near +the spot where he fell, without any of those marks of distinction which +are paid to departed valour. + +"The waters of the Lake," the _Loyalist_ then proceeds to say, "having +lately made great inroads upon the bank, and the grave being in danger +of being washed away, it may be satisfactory to his friends to learn, +that on these circumstances being made known to Major Winniett, +commanding the 68th Regiment at this Post, he promptly authorized the +necessary measures to be taken for removing the remains of Capt. McNeil, +and placing them in the Garrison Burial Ground, which was done this day. +A firing-party and the band attended on the occasion, and the remains +were followed to the place of interment by the officers of the Garrison, +and a procession of the inhabitants of the town and vicinity." + +The site of the original French stockade, established here in the middle +of the last century, was nearly at the middle point between the +landing-place of the United States force in 1813, and the existing Fort. +West of the white cut-stone Barracks, several earthworks and grass-grown +excavations still mark the spot. These ruins, which we often visited +when they were much more extensive and conspicuous than they are now, +were popularly designated "The Old French Fort." + +It is interesting to observe the probable process by which the +appellation "Toronto" came to be attached to the Trading-post here. Its +real name, as imposed by the French authorities, was Fort Rouille, from +a French colonial minister of that name, in 1749-54. This we learn from +a despatch of M. de Longeuil, Governor-in-Chief of Canada in 1752. And +"Toronto," at that period, according to contemporaneous maps, denoted +Lake Simcoe and the surrounding region. Thus in Carver's Travels through +North America in 1766-8, in p. 172, we read, "On the north-west part of +this lake [Ontario], and to the south of Lake Huron, is a tribe of +Indians called the Mississagues, whose town is denominated Toronto, from +the lake [_i. e._ Lake Simcoe] on which it lies, but they are not very +numerous." This agrees with Lahontan's statements and map, in 1687. + +What Carver says of the fewness of the native inhabitants is applicable +only to the state of things in his day. The fatal irruption of the +Iroquois from the south had then taken place, and the whole of the Lake +Simcoe or Toronto region had been made a desert. Before that irruption, +the peninsula included between Notawasaga Bay, Matchedash, or Sturgeon +Bay, the River Severn, Lake Couchichin and Lake Simcoe was a locality +largely frequented by native tribes. It was especially the head-quarters +of the Wyandots or Hurons. Villages, burial-grounds, and cultivated +lands abounded in it. Unusual numbers of the red men were congregated +there. + +It was in short the place of meeting, the place of concourse, the +populous region, indicated by the Huron term Toronto. + +In the form Toronton, the word Toronto is given by Gabriel Sagard in his +"Dictionnaire de la Langue Huronne," published at Paris in 1636. + +With Sagard it is a kind of exclamation, signifying "Il y en a +beaucoup," and it is used in relation to men. He cites as an +example--"He has killed a number of S. (the initial of some hostile +tribe)." "Toronton S. ahouyo." + +In the Vocabulary of Huron words at the end of Lahontan's second volume, +the term likewise appears, but with a prefix,--A-toronton,--and is +translated "Beaucoup." Sagard gives it with the prefix O, in the phrase +"O-toronton dacheniquoy," "J'en mange beaucoup." + +We are not indeed to suppose that the Hurons employed the term Toronto +as a proper name. We know that the aborigines used for the most part no +proper names of places, in our sense of the word, their local +appellations being simply brief descriptions or allusion to incidents. +But we are to suppose that the early white men took notice of the +vocable Toronto, frequently and emphatically uttered by their red +companions, when pointing towards the Lake Simcoe region, or when +pressing on in canoe or on foot, to reach it. + +Accordingly, at length, the vocable Toronto is caught up by the white +voyageurs, and adopted as a local proper name in the European sense: +just as had been the case already with the word Canada. ("Kanata" was a +word continually heard on the lips of the red men in the Lower St. +Lawrence, as they pointed to the shore; they simply meant to +indicate--"Yonder are our wigwams;" but the French mariners and others +took the expression to be a geographical name for the new region which +they were penetrating. And such it has become.) + +We can now also see how it came to pass that the term Toronto was +attached to a particular spot on the shore of Lake Ontario. The mouth of +the Humber, or rather a point on the eastern side of the indentation +known as Humber Bay, was the landing place of hunting parties, trading +parties, war-parties, on their way to the populous region in the +vicinity of Lake Simcoe. Here they disembarked for the tramp to Toronto. +This was a Toronto landing-place for wayfarers bound to the district in +the interior where there were crowds. And gradually the starting-place +took the name of the goal. The style and title of the terminus _ad quem_ +were usurped by the terminus _a quo_. + +Thus likewise it happened that the stockaded trading-post established +near the landing on the indentation of Humber Bay came to be popularly +known as Fort Toronto, although its actual, official name was Fort +Rouille. + +In regard to the signification which by some writers has been assigned +to the word Toronto, of "trees rising out of the water"--we think the +interpretation has arisen from a misunderstanding of language used by +Indian canoe-men. + +Indian canoe-men in coasting along the shore of Lake Ontario from the +east or west, would, we may conceive, naturally point to "the trees +rising out of the water," the pines and black poplars looming up from +the Toronto island or peninsula, as a familiar land-mark by which they +knew the spot where they were to disembark for the "populous region to +the north." The white men mixing together in their heads the description +of the landmark and the district where, as they were, emphatically told, +there were crowds, made out of the expressions "trees rising out of the +water," and "Toronto," convertible terms, which they were not. + +As to the idea to which Capt. Bonnycastle gave currency, by recording it +in one of his books on Canada, that Toronto, or Tarento, was possibly +the name of an Italian engineer concerned in the construction of the +fort,--it is sufficient to reply that we know what the official name of +the Fort was: it was Fort Rouille. Sorel, and Chambly, and it may be, +other places in Canada, derived their names from officers in the French +service. But nothing to be found in the early annals of the country +gives any countenance to Capt. Bonnycastle's derivation. It was probably +a mere after-dinner conversational conjecture, and it ought never to +have been gravely propounded. + +We meet with Toronto under several different forms, in the French and +English documents; but the variety has evidently arisen from the +attempts of men of different degrees of literary capacity and +qualification, to represent, each as he best could, a native vocable +which had not been long reduced to writing. The same variety, and from +the same cause, occurs in a multitude of other aboriginal terms. + +The person who first chanced to write down Toronto as Tarento was +probably influenced by some previous mental familiarity with the name of +an old Italian town; just as he who first startled Europeans by the +announcement that one of the Iroquois nations was composed of Senecas, +was doubtless helped to the familiar-looking term which he adopted, by a +thought of the Roman stoic. (Pownall says Seneca is properly Sen-aga, +"the farther people," that is in relation to the New England Indians; +while Mohawk is Mo-aga, "the hither people." Neither of the terms was +the name borne by the tribe. According to the French rendering, the +Mo-agas were Agnies; the Sen-agas Tsonnontouans.) + +The chivalrous and daring La Salle must have rested for a moment at the +Toronto Landing. In his second expedition to the West, in 1680, he made +his way from Fort Frontenac to Michilimackinac by the portage from the +mouth of what is now the Humber to Lake Huron, accompanied by a party of +twenty-four men. + +In the preceding year he had penetrated to the Mississippi by the Lake +Erie route. But then also some of his company unexpectedly found +themselves in close proximity to Toronto. The Franciscan Friar, +Hennepin, sent forward by La Salle from Fort Frontenac with seventeen +men, was compelled by stress of weather, while coasting along the north +side of Lake Ontario, to take shelter in the Humber river. It was then +the 26th of Nov. (1678); and here he was delayed until the 5th of +December. Hennepin speaks of the place of his detention as Taiaiagon: a +word erroneously taken to be a local proper name. It means as we are +assured by one formerly familiar with the native Indians, simply a +Portage or Landing-place. So that there were numerous Taiaiagons. One is +noted in particular, situated, the _Gazetteer_ of 1799 says, "half way +between York and the head of the Bay of Quinte:" probably where Port +Hope now stands. It is marked in the old French maps in that position. +(On one of them a track is drawn from it to "Lac Taronthe;" that is to +the chain of Lakes leading north-westerly to Lake Toronto, _i. e._ Lake +Simcoe.) The Taiaiagon of Hennepin is stated by him to be "at the +farther end of Lake Ontario," and "about seventy leagues from Fort +Frontenac:" too far, of course. Again: the distance from Taiaiagon to +the mouth of the Niagara river, is made by him to be fifteen or sixteen +leagues; also too far, if Toronto is the site of his Taiaiagon. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + IV. + + FROM THE GARRISON BACK TO THE PLACE OF BEGINNING. + + +We now enter again the modern Fort; passing back through the western +gate. On our right we have the site of the magazine which so fatally +exploded in 1813; we learn from Gen. Sheaffe's despatch to Sir George +Prevost, that it was "in the western battery." + +In close proximity to the magazine was the Government House of the day, +an extensive rambling cluster of one-storey buildings; all "riddled" or +shattered to pieces by the concussion, when the explosion took place. +The ruin that thus befel the Governor's residence led, on the +restoration of peace, to the purchase of Chief Justice Elmsley's house +on King street, and its conversion into "Government House." + +From the main battery, which (including a small semi-circular bastion +for the venerable flag-staff of the Fort) extends along the brow of the +palisaded bank, south of the parade, the royal salutes, resounding down +and across the lake, used to be fired on the arrival and departure of +the Lieutenant-Governor, and at the opening and closing of the +Legislature. + +From the south-eastern bastion, overlooking the ravine below, a +twelve-pounder was discharged every day at noon. "The twelve-o'clock +gun," when discontinued, was long missed with regret. + +At the time of the invasion of Canada in 1812, the garrison of York was +manned by the 3rd regiment of York militia. We have before us a relic of +the period, in the form of the contemporary regimental order-book of the +Fort. An entry of the 29th of July, 1812, showing the approach of +serious work, has an especial local interest. "In consequence of an +order from Major-General Brock, commanding the forces, for a detachment +of volunteers, under the command of Major Allan, to hold themselves in +readiness to proceed in batteaux from the Head of the Lake to-morrow at +2 o'clock, the following officers, non-commissioned officers and +privates will hold themselves in readiness to proceed at 2 o'clock, for +the purpose of being fitted with caps, blankets and haversacks, as well +as to draw provisions. On their arrival at the Head of the Lake, +regimental coats and canteens will be ready to be issued to them." The +names are then given. "Capt. Heward, Lieut. Richardson, Lieut. Jarvis, +Lieut. Robinson. Sergeants Knott, Humberstone, Bond, Bridgeford." + +In view of the test to which the citizen-soldiers were about to be +subjected, the General, like a good officer, sought by judicious praise, +to inspire them with self-confidence. "Major-General Brock," the +order-book proceeds, "has desired me (Captain Stephen Heward) to +acquaint the detachment under my command, of his high approbation of +their orderly conduct and good discipline while under arms: that their +exercise and marching far exceeded any that he had seen in the Province. +And in particular he directed me to acquaint the officers how much he is +pleased with their appearance in uniform and their perfect knowledge of +their duty." + +On the 13th of August, we learn from other sources, Brock was on the +Western Frontier with 700 soldiers, including the volunteers from York, +and 600 Indians; and on the 16th the old flag was waving from the +fortress of Detroit; but, on the 13th October, the brave General, though +again a victor in the engagement, was himself a lifeless corpse on the +slopes above Queenston; and, in April of the following year, York, as we +have already seen, was in the hands of the enemy. Such are the ups and +downs of war. It is mentioned that "Push on the York Volunteers!" was +the order issuing from the lips of the General, at the moment of the +fatal shot. From the order-book referred to, we learn that "Toronto" was +the parole or countersign of the garrison on the 23rd July, 1812. + +The knoll on the east side of the Garrison Creek was covered with a +number of buildings for the accommodation of troops, in addition to the +barracks within the fort. Here also stood a block-house. Eastward were +the surgeon's quarters, overhanging the bay; and further eastward +still, were the commandant's quarters, a structure popularly known, by +some freak of military language, as Lambeth Palace. Here for a time +resided Major-General AEneas Shaw, afterwards the owner and occupant of +Oak Hill. + +On the beach below the knoll, there continued to be, for a number of +years, a row of cannon dismounted, duly spiked and otherwise disabled, +memorials of the capture in 1813, when these guns were rendered useless +by the regular troops before their retreat to Kingston. The pebbles on +the shore about here were also plentifully mixed with loose canister +shot, washed up by the waves, after their submersion in the bay on the +same occasion. + +From the little eminence just referred to, along the edge of the cliff, +ran a gravel walk, which led first to the Guard House over the +Commissariat Stores, in a direct line, with the exception of a slight +divergence occasioned by "Capt. Bonnycastle's cottage;" and then +eastward into the town. Where ravines occurred, cut in the drift by +water-courses into the bay, the gulf was spanned by a bridge of hewn +logs. This walk, kept in order for many years by the military +authorities, was the representative of the path first worn bare by the +soft tread of the Indian. From its agreeableness, overlooking as it did, +through its whole length the Harbour and Lake, this walk gave birth to +the idea, which became a fixed one in the minds of the early people of +the place, that there was to be in perpetuity, in front of the whole +town, a pleasant promenade, on which the burghers and their families +should take the air and disport themselves generally. + +The Royal Patent by which this sentimental walk is provided for and +decreed, issued on the 14th day of July, in the year 1818, designates it +by the interesting old name of Mall, and nominates "John Beverley +Robinson, William Allan, George Crookshank, Duncan Cameron and Grant +Powell, all of the town of York, Esqs., their heirs and assigns forever, +as trustees to hold the same for the use and benefit of the +inhabitants." Stretching from Peter Street in the west to the Reserve +for Government Buildings in the east, of a breadth varying between four +and five chains, following the line of Front Street on the one side, and +the several turnings and windings of the bank on the other, the area of +land contained in this Mall was "thirty acres, more or less, with +allowance for the several cross streets leading from the said town to +the water." The paucity of open squares in the early plans of York may +be partly accounted for by this provision made for a spacious Public +Walk. + +While the archaeologist must regret the many old landmarks which were +ruthlessly shorn away in the construction of the modern Esplanade, he +must, nevertheless, contemplate with never-ceasing admiration that great +and laudable work. It has done for Toronto what the Thames embankment +has effected for London. Besides vast sanitary advantages accruing, it +has created space for the erection of a new front to the town. It has +made room for a broad promenade some two or three miles in length, not, +indeed, of the _far niente_ type, but with double and treble railway +tracks abreast of itself, all open to the deep water of the harbour on +one side, and flanked almost throughout the whole length on the other, +by a series of warehouses, mills, factories and depots, destined to +increase every year in importance. The sights and sounds every day, +along this combination of roadways and its surroundings, are unlike +anything dreamt of by the framers of the old Patent of 1818. But it +cannot be said that the idea contained in that document has been wholly +departed from: nay, it must be confessed that it has been grandly +realized in a manner and on a scale adapted to the requirements of these +latter days. + +For some time, Front Street, above the Esplanade, continued to be a +raised terrace, from which pleasant views and fresh lake air could be +obtained; and attempts were made, at several points along its southern +verge, to establish a double row of shade trees, which should recall in +future ages the primitive oaks and elms which overlooked the margin of +the harbour. But soon the erection of tall buildings on the newly-made +land below, began to shut out the view and the breezes, and to +discourage attempts at ornamentation by the planting of trees. + +It is to regretted, however, that the title of Mall has not yet been +applied to some public walk in the town. Old-world sounds like +these--reeve, warden, provost, recorder, House of Commons, railway, (not +_road_), dugway, mall--like the chimes in some of our towers, and the +sung-service in some of our churches--help, in cases where the +imagination is active, to reconcile the exile from the British Islands +to his adopted home, and even to attach him to it. Incorporated into our +common local speech, and so perpetuated, they may also be hereafter +subsidiary mementoes of our descent as a people, when all connection, +save that of history, with the ancient home of our forefathers, will +have ceased. + +In 1804, there were "Lieutenants of Counties" in Upper Canada. The +following gentlemen were, in 1804, "Lieutenants of Counties" for the +Counties attached to their respective names. We take the list from the +_Upper Canada Almanac_ for 1804, published at York by John Bennett. The +office and title of County-Lieutenant do not appear to have been kept +up: "John Macdonell, Esq., Glengary; William Fortune, Esq., Prescott; +Archibald Macdonell, Esq., Stormont; Hon. Richard Duncan, Esq., Dundas; +Peter Drummond, Esq., Grenville; James Breakenridge, Esq., Leeds; Hon. +Richard Cartwright, Esq., Frontenac; Hazelton Spencer, Esq., Lenox; +William Johnson, Esq., Addington; John Ferguson, Esq., Hastings; +Archibald Macdonell, Esq., of Marysburg, Prince Edward; Alexander +Chisholm, Esq., Northumberland; Robert Baldwin, Esq., Durham; Hon. David +William Smith, Esq., York; Hon. Robert Hamilton, Esq., Lincoln; Samuel +Ryerse, Esq., Norfolk; William Claus, Esq., Oxford; (Middlesex is +vacant); Hon. Alexander Grant, Esq., Essex; Hon. James Baby, Esq., +Kent." + +Another old English term in use in the Crown Lands Office of Ontario, if +not generally, is "Domesday Book." The record of grants of land from the +beginning of the organization of Upper Canada is entitled "Domesday +Book." It consists now of many folio volumes. + +The gravelled path from the Fort to the Commissariat Stores, as +described above, in conjunction with a parallel track for wheels along +the cliff all the way to the site of the Parliament Buildings, suggested +in 1822 the restoration of a carriage-drive to the Island, which had +some years previously existed. This involved the erection or rather +re-erection of bridges over the lesser and greater Don, to enable the +inhabitants of York to reach the long lines of lake beach, extending +eastward to Scarborough Heights and westward to Gibraltar Point. + +All the old accounts of York in the topographical dictionaries of "sixty +years since," spoke of the salubriousness of the peninsula which formed +the harbour. Even the aborigines, it was stated, had recourse to that +spot for sanative purposes. All this was derived from the article in D. +W. Smith's Gazetteer, which sets forth that "the long beach or +peninsula, which affords a most delightful ride, is considered so +healthy by the Indians, that they resort to it whenever indisposed." + +So early as 1806 a bridge or float had been built over the mouth of the +Don. In the _Gazette_ of June 18, in that year, we have the notice: "It +is requested that no person will draw sand or pass with loaded waggons +or carts over the new Bridge or Float at the opening of the Don River, +as this source of communication was intended to accommodate the +inhabitants of the town in a walk or ride to the Island. York, 13th +June, 1806." + +In a MS. map of this portion of the vicinity of York, dated 1811, the +road over the float is marked "Road from York to the Lighthouse." In +this map, the lesser Don does not appear. A pond or inlet represents it, +stretching in from the bay to the river. A bridge spans the inlet. There +is a bridge also over the ravine, through which flows the rivulet by the +Parliament Buildings. + +Health, however, was not the sole object of all these arrangements. A +race-course had been laid out on the sandy neck of land connecting the +central portion of the peninsula with the main shore. Here races were +periodically held; and we have been assured, by an eye-witness, that +twelve fine horses at a time had been seen by him engaged in the contest +of speed. The hippodrome in question was not a ring, but a long straight +level stadium, extending from the southern end of the second bridge to +the outer margin of the lake. + +When invasion was threatened in 1812, all the bridges in the direction +of the Island were taken down. An earthwork was thrown up across the +narrow ridge separating the last long reach of the Don from the Bay; and +in addition, a trench was cut across the same ridge. This cut, at first +insignificant, became ultimately by a natural process the lesser Don, a +deep and wide outlet, a convenient short-cut for skiffs and canoes from +the Bay to the Don proper, and from the Don proper to the Bay. + +On the return of peace, the absence of bridges, and the existence, in +addition, of a second formidable water-filled moat, speedily began to be +matters of serious regret to the inhabitants of York, who found +themselves uncomfortably cut off from easy access to the peninsula. From +the _Gazette_ of April 15, 1822, we learn that "a public subscription +among the inhabitants had been entered into, to defray the expense of +erecting two bridges on the River Don, leading from this town towards +the south, to the Peninsula." And subjoined are the leading names of +the place, guaranteeing various sums, in all amounting to L108 5s. The +timber was presented by Peter Robinson, Esq., M.P.P. The estimated +expense of the undertaking was L325. The following names appear for +various sums--fifty, twenty, ten, five and two dollars--Major Hillier, +Rev. Dr. Strachan, Hon. J. H. Dunn, Hon. James Baby, Mr. Justice +Boulton, John Small, Henry Boulton, Col. Coffin, Thomas Ridout, sen., W. +Allen, Grant Powell, Samuel Ridout, J. S. Baldwin, S. Heward, James E. +Small, Chas. Small, S. Washburn, J. B. Macaulay, G. Crookshank, A. +Mercer, George Boulton, Thomas Taylor, Joseph Spragge, George Hamilton, +R. E. Prentice, A. Warffe, W. B. Jarvis, B. Turquand, John Denison, +sen., George Denison, John and George Monro, Henry Drean, Peter +McDougall, Geo. Duggan, James Nation, Thomas Bright, W. B. Robinson, J. +W. Gamble, William Proudfoot, Jesse Ketchum, D. Brooke, jun., R. C. +Henderson, David Stegman, L. Fairbairn, Geo. Playter, Joseph Rogers, +John French, W. Roe, Thomas Sullivan, John Hay, J. Biglow, John Elliot. + +On the strength of the sums thus promised, an engineer, Mr. E. Angell, +began the erection of the bridge over the Greater Don. The _Gazette_ +before us reports that it was being constructed "with hewn timbers, on +the most approved _European_ principle." (There is point in the +italicised word: it hints the impolicy of employing United States +engineers for such works). The paper adds that "the one bridge over the +Great Don, consisting of five arches, is in a forward state; and the +other, of one arch, over the Little Don, will be completed in or before +the month of July next, when this line of road will be opened." It is +subjoined that "subscriptions will continue to be received by A. Mercer, +Esq., J. Dennis, York, and also by the Committee, Thomas Bright, William +Smith and E. Angell." + +By the _Weekly Register_ of June 19, in the following year, it appears +that the engineer, in commencing the bridge before the amount of its +cost was guaranteed, had calculated without his host; and, as is usually +the case with those who draw in advance on the proceeds of a supposed +public enthusiam, had been brought into difficulties. We accordingly +find that "on Friday evening last, pursuant to public notice given in +the _Upper Canada Gazette_, a meeting of the subscribers, and other +inhabitants of the town of York, was held at the house of Mr. Phair, in +the Market-place, for the purpose of taking into consideration the +circumstances in which the engineer had been placed by constructing a +bridge, the charge of which was to be defrayed by voluntary +subscription, over the mouth of the river Don." + +Resolutions were passed on the occasion, approving of Mr. Angell's +proceedings, and calling for additional donations. A new committee was +now appointed, consisting of H. J. Boulton, Esq., Dr. Widmer, S. Heward, +Esq., Charles Small, Esq., and Allan McNab, Esq.--The editor of the +_Weekly Register_ (Fothergill) thus notices the meeting: "It is +satisfactory to find that there is at length some probability of the +bridge over the Don in this vicinity being completed. We are, +ourselves," the writer of the article proceeds to say, "the more anxious +on this account, from the hope there is reason to entertain that these +and other improvements in the neighbourhood will eventually lead to a +draining of the great marsh at the east end of this town; for until that +is done, it is utterly impossible that the place can be healthy at all +seasons of the year. The public are not sufficiently impressed with the +alarming insalubrity of such situations. We beg to refer our readers," +the editor of the _Register_ then observes, "to a very interesting +letter from Dr. Priestly to Sir John Pringle in the Philosophical +Transactions for 1777; and another from Dr. Price to Dr. Horsley in the +same work in 1774; both on this subject, which throw considerable light +upon it." And it is added, "We have it in contemplation to republish +these letters in this work, as being highly interesting to many persons, +and applicable to various situations in this country, but particularly +to the neighbourhood of York." + +The desired additional subscriptions do not appear to have come in. The +works at the mouth of the Don proper were brought to a stand-still. The +bridge over the Lesser Don was not commenced. Thus matters remained for +the long interval of ten years. Every inhabitant of York, able to +indulge in the luxury of a carriage, or a saddle horse, or given to +extensive pedestrian excursions, continued to regret the +inaccessibleness of the peninsula. Especially among the families of the +military, accustomed to the surroundings of sea-coast towns at home, did +the desire exist, to be able, at will, to take a drive, or a canter, or +a vigorous constitutional, on the sands of the peninsula, where, on the +one hand, the bold escarpments in the distance to the eastward, on the +other, the ocean-like horizon, and immediately in front the long rollers +of surf tumbling in, all helped to stir recollections of (we will +suppose) Dawlish or Torquay. + +In 1834, through the intervention of Sir John Colborne, and by means of +a subsidy from the military chest, the works on both outlets of the Don +were re-commenced. In 1835 the bridges were completed. On the 22nd of +August in that year they were handed over by the military authorities to +the town, now no longer York, but Toronto. + +Some old world formalities were observed on the occasion. The civic +authorities approached the new structure in procession; a barricade at +the first bridge arrested their progress. A guard stationed there also +forbade further advance. The officer in command, Capt. Bonnycastle, +appears, and the Mayor and Corporation are informed that the two bridges +before them are, by the command of the Lieutenant-Governor, presented to +them as a free gift, for the benefit of the inhabitants, that they may +in all time to come be enabled to enjoy the salubrious air of the +peninsula; the only stipulation being that the bridges should be free of +toll forever to the troops, stores, and ordnance of the sovereign. + +The mayor, who, as eye-witnesses report, was arrayed in an official robe +of purple velvet lined with scarlet, read the following reply: "Sir--On +the part of His Majesty's faithful and loyal city of Toronto, I receive +at your hands the investiture of these bridges, erected by command of +His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, and now delivered to the +Corporation for the benefit and accommodation of the citizens. In the +name of the Common Council and the citizens of Toronto, I beg you to +convey to His Excellency the grateful feelings with which this new +instance of the bounty of our most gracious sovereign is received; and I +take this occasion on behalf of the city to renew our assurances of +loyalty and attachment to His Majesty's person and government, and to +pray, through His Excellency, a continuance of royal favour towards this +city. I have, on the part of the corporation and citizens, to request +you to assure His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor that His +Excellency's desire and generous exertions for the health and welfare of +the inhabitants of this city are duly and gratefully appreciated; and I +beg you to convey to His Excellency the best wishes of myself and my +fellow-citizens for the health and happiness of His Excellency and +family. Permit me, Sir, for myself and brethren, to thank you for the +very handsome and complimentary manner in which you have carried His +Excellency's commands into execution." + +"Immediately," the narrative of the ceremonial continues, "the band, who +were stationed on the bridge, struck up the heart-stirring air, 'God +save the King,' during the performance of which the gentlemen of the +Corporation, followed by a large number of the inhabitants, passed +uncovered over the bridge. Three cheers were then given respectively for +the King, for His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, for the Mayor and +Council of the City of Toronto, and for Capt. Bonnycastle. The +gentlemanly and dignified manner in which both the addresses were read +did credit to the gentlemen on whom these duties devolved; and the good +order and good humour that prevailed among the spectators present were +exceedingly gratifying." + +We take this account from the Toronto _Patriot_ of August 28th, 1835, +wherein it is copied from the _Christian Guardian_. Mr. R. B. Sullivan, +the official representative of the city on the occasion just described, +was the second mayor of Toronto. He was afterwards one of the Judges of +the Court of Common Pleas. + +The bridges thus ceremoniously presented and received had a short-lived +existence. They were a few years afterwards, seriously damaged during +the breaking up of the ice, and then carried away bodily in one of the +spring freshets to which the Don is subject. + +The peninsula in front of York was once plentifully stocked with goats, +the offspring of a small colony established by order of Governor Hunter, +at Gibraltar Point, for the sake, for one thing, of the supposed +salutary nature of the whey of goat's milk. These animals were dispersed +during the war of 1812-13. Governor Hunter may have taken the idea of +peopling the island at York with goats from what was to be seen, at an +early day, on Goat Island, adjoining the Falls of Niagara. A multitude +of goats ran at large there, the descendants of a few reared originally +by one Stedman, an English soldier, who, on escaping a massacre of his +comrades in the neighbourhood of what is now Lewiston, at the hands of +the Iroquois, soon after the conquest of the country, fled thither, and +led, to the end of his days, a Robinson-Crusoe-kind of life. + + + + +[Illustration] + + V. + + KING STREET, FROM JOHN STREET TO YONGE STREET. + + +After our long stroll westward, we had purposed returning to the place +of beginning by the route which constitutes the principal thoroughfare +of the modern Toronto; but the associations connected with the primitive +pathway on the cliff overlooking the harbour, led us insensibly back +along the track by which we came. + +In order that we may execute our original design, we now transport +ourselves at once to the point where we had intended to begin our +descent of King Street. That point was the site of a building now wholly +taken out of the way--the old General Hospital. Farther west on this +line of road there was no object possessing any archaeological interest. + +The old Hospital was a spacious, unadorned, matter-of-fact, two-storey +structure, of red brick, one hundred and seven feet long, and sixty-six +feet wide. It had, by the direction of Dr. Grant Powell, as we have +heard, the peculiarity of standing with its sides precisely east and +west, north and south. At a subsequent period, it consequently had the +appearance of having being jerked round bodily, the streets in the +neighbourhood not being laid out with the same precise regard to the +cardinal points. The building exhibited recessed galleries on the north +and south sides, and a flattish hipped roof. The interior was +conveniently designed. + +In the fever wards here, during the terrible season of 1847, frightful +scenes of suffering and death were witnessed among the newly-arrived +emigrants; here it was that, in ministering to them in their distress, +so many were struck down, some all but fatally, others wholly so; +amongst the latter several leading medical men, and the Roman Catholic +Bishop, Power. + +When the Houses of Parliament, at the east end of the town, were +destroyed by fire in 1824, the Legislature assembled for several +sessions in the General Hospital. + +The neighbourhood hereabout had an open, unoccupied look in 1822. In a +_Weekly Register_ of the 25th of April of that year, we have an account +of the presentation of a set of colours to a militia battalion, mustered +for the purpose on the road near the Hospital. "Tuesday, the 23rd +instant," the _Register_ reports, "being the anniversary of St. George, +on which it has been appointed to celebrate His Majesty's birthday, +George IV., [instead of the 4th of June, the fete of the late King,] the +East and West Regiments, with Capt. Button's Troop of Cavalry, which are +attached to the North York Regiment, on the right, were formed in line +at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, on the road in front of the +Government House, and a Guard of Honour, consisting of 100 rank and file +from each regiment, with officers and sergeants in proportion, under the +command of Lieut.-Col. FitzGibbon, were formed at a short distance in +front of the centre, as the representatives of the militia of the +Province, in order to receive the rich and beautiful Colours which His +Majesty has been graciously pleased to command should be prepared for +the late incorporated Battalion, as an honourable testimony of the high +sense which His Majesty has been pleased to entertain of the zeal and +gallantry of the militia of Upper Canada." + +The _Register_ then proceeds: "At 12 o'clock, a Royal Salute was fired +from the Garrison, and the Lieutenant-Governor with his staff having +arrived on the ground, proceeded to review the widely-extended line; +after which, taking his station in front of the whole, the band struck +up the nation anthem of 'God save the King.' His Excellency then +dismounted, and accompanied by his staff, on foot, approached the Guard +of Honour, so near as to be distinctly heard by the men; when, +uncovering himself, and taking one of the Colours in his hand, in the +most dignified and graceful manner, he presented them to the proper +officer, with the following address:--"Soldiers! I have great +satisfaction in presenting you, as the representatives of the late +incorporated Battalion, with these Colours--a distinguished mark of His +Majesty's approbation. They will be to you a proud memorial of the past, +and a rallying-point around which you will gather with alacrity and +confidence, should your active services be required hereafter by your +King and Country.'--His Excellency having remounted, the Guard of Honour +marched with band playing and Colours flying, from right to left, in +front of the whole line, and then proceeded to lodge their Colours at +the Government House." + +"The day was raw and cold," it is added, "and the ground being very wet +and uneven, the men could neither form nor march with that precision +they would otherwise have exhibited. We were very much pleased, however, +with the soldier-like appearance of the Guard of Honour, and we were +particularly struck by the new uniform of the officers of the West York, +as being particularly well-adapted for the kind of warfare incident to a +thickly-wooded country. Even at a short distance it would be difficult +to distinguish the gray coat or jacket from the bole of a tree. There +was a very full attendance on the field; and it was peculiarly +gratifying to observe so much satisfaction on all sides. The Colours, +which are very elegant, are inscribed with the word Niagara, to +commemorate the services rendered by the Incorporated Battalion on that +frontier; and we doubt not that the proud distinction which attends +these banners will always serve to excite the most animating +recollections, whenever it shall be necessary for them to wave over the +heads of our Canadian Heroes, actually formed in battle-array against +the invaders of our Country. At 2 o'clock His Excellency held a Levee, +and in the evening a splendid Ball at the Government House concluded the +ceremonies and rejoicings of the day." The Lieut. Governor on this +occasion was Sir Peregrine Maitland, of whom fully hereafter. + +The building on King Street known as "Government House" was originally +the private residence of Chief Justice Elmsley. For many years after its +purchase by the Government it was still styled "Elmsley House." As at +Quebec, the correspondence of the Governor-in-Chief was dated from the +"Chateau St. Louis," or the "Castle of St. Louis," so here, that of the +Lieutenant-Governor of the Western Province was long dated from "Elmsley +House." Mr. Elmsley was a brother of the celebrated classical critic and +editor, Peter Elmsley, of Oxford. We shall have occasion frequently to +speak of him. + +On the left, opposite Government House, was a very broken piece of +ground, denominated "Russell Square;" afterwards, through the +instrumentality of Sir John Colborne, converted into a site for an +educational Institution. Sir John Colborne, on his arrival in Upper +Canada, was fresh from the Governorship of Guernsey, one of the Channel +Islands. During his administration there he had revived a decayed Public +School, at present known as Elizabeth College. Being of opinion that the +new country to which he had been transferred was not ripe for a +University on the scale contemplated in a royal Charter which had been +procured, he addressed himself to the establishment of an institution +which should meet the immediate educational wants of the community. + +Inasmuch as in the School which resulted--or "Minor College" as it was +long popularly called--we have a transcript, more or less close, of the +institution which Sir John Colborne had been so recently engaged in +reviving, we add two or three particulars in regard to the latter, which +may have, with some, a certain degree of interest, by virtue of the +accidental but evident relation existing between the two institutions. +From a paper in Brayley's Graphic and Historical Illustrator (1834), we +gather that Elizabeth College, Guernsey, was originally called the +"School of Queen Elizabeth," as having been founded under Letters Patent +from that sovereign in 1563, to be a "Grammar-school in which the youth +of the Island (_juventus_) may be better instructed in good learning and +virtue." The temple or church of the suppressed Order of Gray Friars +(Friars minors or Cordeliers), with its immediate precincts, was +assigned for its "use," together with "eighty quarters of wheat rent," +accruing from lands in different parts of the Island, which had been +given to the friars for dispensations, masses, obits, &c. By the +statutes of 1563 the school was divided into six classes; and books and +exercises were appointed respectively for each, the scholars to be +admitted being required "to read perfectly, and to recite an approved +catechism of the Christian religion by heart." + +In all the six classes the Latin and Greek languages were the primary +objects of instruction; but the Statutes permitted the master, at his +discretion, "to add something of his own;" and even "to concede +something for writing, singing, arithmetic, and a little play." For more +than two centuries the school proved of little public utility. In 1799 +there was one pupil on the establishment. In 1816 there were no +scholars. From that date to 1824 the number fluctuated from 15 to 29. In +1823, Sir John Colborne appointed a committee to investigate all the +circumstances connected with the school, and to ascertain the best mode +of assuring its future permanent efficiency and prosperity, without +perverting the intention of the foundress. The end of all this was a new +building (figured in Brayley) at a cost of L14,754 2_s._ 3_d._; the +foundation-stone being laid by Sir John in 1826. On August the 20th, +1829, the revived institution was publicly opened, with one hundred and +twenty pupils. "On that day," we are told, "the Bailiff and Jurats of +the Island, with General Ross, the Lieutenant-Governor [Sir John +Colborne was now in Canada], his staff, and the public authorities, +headed by a procession consisting of the Principal, Vice-Principal, and +other masters and tutors of the school (together with the scholars), +repaired to St. Peter's Church, where prayers were read by the Dean, Dr. +Durand, and _Te Deum_ and other anthems were sung. They then returned to +the College, where, in the spacious Examination Hall, a crowded assembly +were addressed respectively by the Bailiff and President-director +[Daniel de Lisle Brock, Esq.], Colonel de Havilland, the Vice-President, +and the Rev. G. Proctor, B.D., the new Principal, on the antiquity, +objects, apparent prospects, and future efficiency of the institution." + +Under the new system the work of education was carried on by a +Principal, Vice-Principal, a First and Second Classical Master, a +Mathematical Master, a Master and Assistant of the Lower School, a +Commercial Master, two French Masters and an Assistant, a Master of +Drawing and Surveying, besides extra Masters for the German, Italian, +and Spanish languages, and for Music, Dancing, and Fencing. The course +of instruction for the day scholars, and those on the foundation, +included Divinity, History, Geography, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, +English, Mathematics, Arithmetic, and Writing, at a charge in the Upper +School of L3 per quarter; and in the Lower or Preparatory School, of L1 +per quarter; for Drawing and Surveying, 15_s._ per quarter. The terms +for private scholars (including all College dues and subscriptions for +exhibitions and prizes of medals, &c.) varied from L60 annually with the +Principal, to L46 annually with the First Classical Teacher. + +The exhibitions in the revived institution were, first, one of L30 per +annum for four years, founded by the Governor of Guernsey in 1826, to +the best Classical scholar, a native of the Bailiwick, or son of a +native; secondly, four for four years, of, at least, L20 per annum, +founded by subscription in 1826, to the best scholars, severally, in +Divinity, Classics, Mathematics, and Modern Languages; thirdly, one for +four years, of L20 per annum, founded in 1827 by Admiral Sir James +Saumarez, to the best Theological and Classical scholar; fourthly, one +of L20 per annum, for four years, from 1830, to the best Classical +scholar, given by Sir John Colborne in 1828. There were also two, from +the Lower to the Upper School, of L6 per annum, for one year or more, +founded by the Directors in 1829. + +The foregoing details will, as we have said, be of some interest, +especially to Canadians who have received from the institution founded +by Sir John Colborne in Russell Square an important part of their early +training. "Whatever makes the past, the distant and the future +predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking +beings." So moralized Dr. Johnson amidst the ruins of Iona. On this +principle, the points of agreement and difference between the +educational type and antitype is this instance, will be acknowledged to +be curious. + +Another link of association between Guernsey and Upper Canada exists in +the now familiar name "Sarnia," which is the old classical name of +Guernsey, given by Sir John Colborne to a township on the St. Clair +river, in memory of his former government. + +Those who desire to trace the career of Upper Canada College _ab ovo_, +will be thankful for the following advertisements. The first is from the +_Loyalist_ of May 2, 1829. "Minor College. Sealed tenders for erecting a +School House and four dwelling-houses will be received on the first +Monday of June next. Plans, elevations and specifications may be seen +after the 12th instant, on application to the Hon. Geo. Markland, from +whom further information will be received. Editors throughout the +Province are requested to insert this notice until the first Monday in +June, and forward their accounts for the same to the office of the +_Loyalist_, York. York, 1st May, 1829." + +The second advertisement is from the _Upper Canada Gazette_ of Dec. 17, +1829. "Upper Canada College, established at York. Visitor, the +Lieutenant-Governor for the time being. This College will open after the +approaching Christmas Vacation, on Monday the 8th of January, 1830, +under the conduct of the Masters appointed at Oxford by the Vice +Chancellor and other electors, in July last. Principal, the Rev, J. H. +Harris, D.D., late Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge. Classical +Department: Vice Principal, The Rev. T. Phillips, D.D., of Queen's +College, Cambridge. First Classical Master: The Rev. Charles Mathews, +M.A., of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. Second Classical Master: The Rev. W. +Boulton, B.A., of Queen's College, Oxford. Mathematical Department: The +Rev. Charles Dade, M.A., Fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, and late +Mathematical Master at Elizabeth College. French, Mr. J. P. De la Haye. +English, Writing and Arithmetic, Mr. G. A. Barber and Mr. J. Padfield. +Drawing Master, Mr. Drury. (Then follow terms, &c.) Signed: G. H. +Markland, Secretary to the Board of Education. York, Upper Canada, Dec. +2, 1829." + +After Russell Square on the left, came an undulating green field; near +the middle of it was a barn of rural aspect, cased-in with upright, +unplaned boards. The field was at one time a kind of _Campus Martius_ +for a troop of amateur cavalry, who were instructed in their evolutions +and in the use of the broadsword, by a veteran, Capt. Midford, the +Goodwin of the day, at York. + +Nothing of note presented itself until after we arrived at the roadway +which is now known as Bay Street, with the exception, perhaps, of two +small rectangular edifices of red brick with bright tin roofs, dropped, +as it were, one at the south-west, the other at the north-west, angle of +the intersection of King and York Streets. The former was the office of +the Manager of the Clergy Reserve Lands; the latter, that of the +Provincial Secretary and Registrar. They are noticeable simply as being +specimens, in solid material, of a kind of minute cottage that for a +certain period was in fashion in York and its neighbourhood; little +square boxes, one storey in height, and without basement; looking as if, +by the aid of a ring at the apex of the four sided roof, they might, +with no great difficulty, be lifted up, like the hutch provided for +Gulliver by his nurse Glumdalclitch, and carried bodily away. + +As we pass eastward of Bay Street, the memory comes back of Franco +Rossi, the earliest scientific confectioner of York, who had on the +south side, near here, a depot, ever fragrant and ambrosial. In his +specialities he was a superior workman. From him were procured the +fashionable bridecakes of the day; as also the _noyeau, parfait-amour_, +and other liqueurs, set out for visitors on New Year's Day. Rossi was +the first to import hither good objects of art: fine copies of the +Laocoon, the Apollo Belvidere, the Perseus of Canova, with other +classical groups and figures sculptured in Florentine alabaster, were +disseminated by him in the community. + +Rossi is the Italian referred to by the author of "Cyril Thornton" in +his "Men and Manners in America," where speaking of York, visited by him +in 1832, he says: "In passing through the streets I was rather surprised +to observe an _affiche_ intimating that ice-creams were to be had +within. The weather being hot, I entered, and found the master of the +establishment to be an Italian. I never ate better ice at +Grange's"--some fashionable resort in London, we suppose. The outward +signs of civilization at York must have been meagre when a chance +visitor recorded his surprise at finding ice-creams procurable in such a +place. + +Great enthusiasm, we remember, was created, far and near, by certain +panes of plate glass with brass divisions between them, which, at a +period a little later than Cyril Thornton's (Captain Hamilton's) visit, +suddenly ornamented the windows of Mr. Beckett's Chemical Laboratory, +close by Rossi's. Even Mrs. Jameson, in her book of "Winter Studies and +Summer Rambles," referring to the shop fronts of King Street, +pronounces, in a naive English watering-place kind of tone, "that of the +apothecary" to be "worthy of Regent Street in its appearance." + +A little farther on, still on the southern side, was the first place of +public worship of the Wesleyan Methodists. It was a long, low, wooden +building, running north and south, and placed a little way back from the +street. Its dimensions in the first instance, as we have been informed +by Mr. Petch, who was engaged in its erection, were 40 by 40 feet. It +was then enlarged to 40 by 60 feet. In the gable end towards the street +were two doors, one for each sex. Within, the custom obtained of +dividing the men from the women; the former sitting on the right hand of +one entering the building; the latter on the left. + +This separation of the sexes in places of public worship was an oriental +custom, still retained among Jews. It also existed, down to a recent +date, in some English Churches. Among articles of inquiry sent down from +a Diocesan to churchwardens, we have seen the query: "Do men and women +sit together indifferently and promiscuously? or, as the fashion was of +old, do men sit together on one side of the church, and women upon the +other?" In English Churches the usage was the opposite of that indicated +above: the north side, that is, the left on entering, was the place of +the women; and the south, that of the men. + +In 1688, we have Sir George Wheler, in his "Account of the Churches of +the Primitive Christians," speaking of this custom, which he says +prevails also "in the Greek Church to this day:" he adds that it "seems +not only very decent, but nowadays, since wickedness so much abounds, +highly necessary; for the general mixture," he continues, "of men and +women in the Latin Church is notoriously scandalous; and little less," +he says, "is their sitting together in the same pews in our London +churches." + +The Wesleyan chapel in King Street ceased to be used in 1833. It was +converted afterwards for a time into a "Theatre Royal." + +Jordan Street preserves one of the names of Mr. Jordan Post, owner of +the whole frontage extending from Bay Street to Yonge Street. The name +of his wife is preserved in "Melinda Street," which traverses his lot, +or rather block, from east to west, south of King Street. Two of his +daughters bore respectively the unusual names of Sophronia and +Desdemona. Mr. Post was a tall New-Englander of grave address. He was, +moreover, a clockmaker by trade, and always wore spectacles. From the +formal cut of his apparel and hair, he was, quite erroneously, sometimes +supposed to be of the Mennonist or Quaker persuasion. + +So early as 1802, Mr. Post is advertising in the York paper. In the +_Oracle_ of Sept. 18, 1802, he announces a temporary absence from the +town. "Jordan Post, watchmaker, requests all those who left watches with +him to be repaired, to call at Mr. Beman's and receive them by paying +for the repairs. He intends returning to York in a few months. Sept. 11, +1802." In the close of the same year, he puts forth the general notice: +"Jordan Post, Clock and Watchmaker, informs the public that he now +carries on the above business in all its branches, at the upper end of +Duke Street. He has a complete assortment of watch furniture. Clocks and +watches repaired on the shortest notice, and most reasonable terms, +together with every article in the gold and silver line. N. B.--He will +purchase old brass. Dec 11, 1802." + +Besides the block described above, Mr. Post had acquired other valuable +properties in York, as will appear by an advertisement in the _Weekly +Register_ of Jan. 19, 1826, from which also it will be seen that he at +one time contemplated a gift to the town of one hundred feet frontage +and two hundred feet of depth, for the purpose of a second Public +Market. "Town Lots for Sale. To be sold by Auction on the Premises, on +Wednesday the first day of February next, Four Town Lots on King Street, +west of George Street. Also, to be leased at the same time to the +highest bidder, for twenty-one years, subject to such conditions as will +then be produced. Six Lots on the west side of Yonge Street, and Twenty +on Market Street. The Subscriber has reserved a Lot of Ground of One +Hundred Feet front, by Two Hundred Feet in the rear, on George Street, +for a Market Place, to be given for that purpose. He will likewise lease +Ten Lots in front of said intended Market. A plan of the Lots may be +seen and further particulars known, by application to the Subscriber. +Jordan Post. York, Jan. 4, 1826." + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + VI. + + KING STREET, FROM YONGE STREET TO CHURCH STREET. + + +Where Yonge Street crosses King Street, forming at the present day an +unusually noble _carrefour_, as the French would say, or rectangular +intersection of thoroughfares as we are obliged to word it, there was, +for a considerable time, but one solitary house--at the north-east +angle; a longish, one-storey, respectable wooden structure, painted +white, with paling in front, and large willow trees: it was the home of +Mr. Dermis, formerly superintendent of the Dock-yard at Kingston. He was +one of the United Empire Loyalist refugees, and received a grant of land +on the Humber, near the site of the modern village of Weston. His son, +Mr. Joseph Dennis, owned and commanded a vessel on Lake Ontario in 1812. +When the war with the United States broke out, he and his ship were +attached to the Provincial Marine. His vessel was captured, and himself +made a prisoner of war, in which condition he remained for fifteen +months. He afterwards commanded the Princess Charlotte, an early +steamboat on Lake Ontario. + +To the eastward of Mr. Dennis' house, on the same side, at an early +period, was an obscure frame building of the most ordinary kind, whose +existence is recorded simply for having been temporarily the District +Grammar School, before the erection of the spacious building on the +Grammar School lot. + +On the opposite side, still passing on towards the east, was the Jail. +This was a squat unpainted wooden building, with hipped roof, concealed +from persons passing in the street by a tall cedar stockade, such as +those which we see surrounding a Hudson's Bay post or a military +wood-yard. At the outer entrance hung a billet of wood suspended by a +chain, communicating with a bell within; and occasionally Mr. Parker, +the custodian of the place, was summoned, through its instrumentality, +by persons not there on legitimate business. We have a recollection of a +clever youth, an immediate descendant of the great commentator on +British Law, and afterwards himself distinguished at the Upper Canadian +bar, who was severely handled by Mr. Parker's son, on being caught in +the act of pulling at this billet, with the secret intention of running +away after the exploit. + +The English Criminal Code, as it was at the beginning of the century, +having been introduced with all its enormities, public hangings were +frequent at an early period in the new Province. A shocking scene is +described as taking place at an execution in front of the old Jail at +York. The condemned refuses to mount the scaffold. On this, the +moral-suasion efforts of the sheriff amount to the ridiculous, were not +the occasion so seriously tragic. In aid of the sheriff, the officiating +chaplain steps more than once up the plank set from the cart to the +scaffold, to show the facility of the act, and to induce the man to +mount in like manner; the condemned demurs, and openly remarks on the +obvious difference in the two cases. At last the noose is adjusted to +the neck of the wretched culprit, where he stands. The cart is +withdrawn, and a deliberate strangling ensues. + +In a certain existing account of steps taken in 1811 to remedy the +dilapidated and comfortless condition of the Jail, we get a glimpse of +York, commercially and otherwise, at that date. In April, 1811, the +sheriff, Beikie, reports to the magistrates at Quarter Sessions "that +the sills of the east cells of the Jail of the Home District are +completely rotten; that the ceilings in the debtors' rooms are +insufficient; and that he cannot think himself safe, should necessity +oblige him to confine any persons in said cells or debtors' rooms." + +An order is given in May to make the necessary repairs; but certain +spike-nails are wanted of a kind not to be had at the local dealers in +hardware. The chairman is consequently directed to "apply to His +Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, that he will be pleased to direct +that the spike-nails be furnished from the King's stores, as there are +not any of the description required to be purchased at York." A +memorandum follows to the effect that on the communication of this +necessity to His Excellency, "the Lieutenant-Governor ordered that the +Clerk of the Peace do apply for the spike-nails officially in the name +of the Court: which he did," the memorandum adds, "on the 8th of May, +1811, and received an answer on the day following, that an order had +been issued that day for 1500 spike-nails, for the repair of the Home +District Jail: the nails," it is subjoined, "were received by carpenter +Leach in the month of July following." + +Again: in December, 1811, Mr. Sheriff Beikie sets forth to the +magistrates in Session, that "the prisoners in the cells of the Jail of +the Home District suffer much from cold and damp, there being no method +of communicating heat from the chimneys, nor any bedsteads to raise the +straw from the floors, which lie nearly, if not altogether, on the +ground." He accordingly suggests that "a small stove in the lobby of +each range of cells, together with some rugs or blankets, will add much +to the comfort of the unhappy persons confined." The magistrates +authorize the supply of the required necessaries, and the order is +marked "instant." (The month, we are to notice, was December.) + +At a late period, there were placed about the town a set of posts having +relation to the Jail. They were distinguished from the ordinary rough +posts, customary then at regular intervals along the sidewalks, by being +of turned wood, with spherical tops, the lower part painted a pale blue: +the upper, white. These were the "limits"--the _certi denique +fines_--beyond which, _detenus_ for debt were not allowed to extend +their walks. + +Leaving the picketted enclosure of the Prison, we soon arrived at an +open piece of ground on the opposite (north) side of the +street,--afterwards known as the "Court House Square." One of the many +rivulets or water-courses that traversed the site of York passed through +it, flowing in a deep serpentine ravine, a spot to be remembered by the +youth of the day as affording, in the winter, facilities for skating and +sliding, and audacious exploits on "leather ice." In this open space, a +Jail and Court House of a pretentious character, but of poor +architectural style, were erected in 1824. The two buildings, which were +of two storeys, and exactly alike, were placed side by side, a few yards +back from the road. Their gables were to the south, in which direction +were also the chief entrances. The material was red brick. Pilasters of +cut stone ran up the principal fronts, and up the exposed or outer +sides of each edifice. At these sides, as also on the inner and +unornamented sides, were lesser gables, but marked by the portion of the +wall that rose in front of them, not to a point, but finishing square in +two diminishing stages, and sustaining chimneys. + +It was intended originally that lanterns should have surmounted and +given additional elevation to both buildings, but these were discarded, +together with tin as the material of the roofing, with a view to cutting +down the cost, and thereby enabling the builder to make the pilasters of +cut stone instead of "Roman cement." John Hayden was the contractor. The +cost, as reduced, was to be L3,800 for the two edifices. + +We extract from the _Canadian Review_ for July, 1824, published by H. H. +Cunningham, Montreal, an account of the commencement of the new +buildings: "On Saturday, the 24th instant, [April, 1824,] his Excellency +the Lieutenant-Governor, attended by his staff, was met by the +Honourable the Members of the Executive Council, the Judges of the Court +of King's Bench, and the Gentlemen of the Bar, with the Magistrates and +principal inhabitants of York, in procession, for the purpose of laying +the foundation-stone of the new Jail and Court House about to be erected +in this Town.--A sovereign and half-sovereign of gold, and several coins +of silver and copper, of the present reign, together with some +newspapers and other memorials of the present day, were deposited in a +cavity of the stone, over which a plate of copper, bearing an +appropriate inscription, was placed; and after his Excellency had given +the first blow, with a hammer handed to him for the purpose, the +ceremony concluded with several hearty cheers from all who were +present.--If the question were of any real importance," the writer adds, +"we might have the curiosity to inquire why the deposit was made in the +south-east, rather than in the north-east corner of the building?"--a +query that indicates, as we suppose, a deviation from orthodox masonic +usage. + +In one of the lithographic views published in 1836 by Mr. J. Young, the +Jail and Court House, now spoken of, are shewn. Among the objects +inserted to give life to the scene, the artist has placed in the +foreground a country waggon with oxen yoked to it, in primitive +fashion.--Near the front entrance of the Jail, stood, to the terror of +evil-doers, down to modern times, a ponderous specimen of the "parish +stocks" of the old country, in good condition. + +After 1825, the open area in front of the Jail and Court House became +the "Public Place" of the town. Crowds filled it at elections and other +occasions of excitement. We have here witnessed several scenes +characteristic of the times in which they occurred. We here once saw a +public orator run away with, in the midst of his harangue. This was Mr. +Jesse Ketchum, who was making use of a farmer's waggon as his rostrum or +platform, when the vehicle was suddenly laid hold of, and wheeled +rapidly down King Street, the speaker maintaining his equilibrium in the +meanwhile with difficulty. Mr. Ketchum was one of the most benevolent +and beneficent of men. We shall have occasion to refer to him hereafter. + +It was on the same occasion, we believe, that we saw Mr. W. L. McKenzie +assailed by the missiles which mobs usually adopt. From this spot we had +previously seen the same personage, after one of his re-elections, borne +aloft in triumph, on a kind of pyramidal car, and wearing round his neck +and across his breast a massive gold chain and medal (both made of +molten sovereigns), the gift of his admirers and constituents: in the +procession, at the same time, was a printing-press, working as it was +conveyed along in a low sleigh, and throwing off handbills, which were +tossed, right and left, to the accompanying crowd in the street. + +The existing generation of Canadians, with the lights which they now +possess, see pretty clearly, that the agitator just named, and his +party, were not, in the abstract, by any means so bad as they seemed: +that, in fact, the ideas which they sought to propagate are the only +ones practicable in the successful government of modern men. + +Is there a reader nowadays that sees anything very startling in the +enunciation of the following principles?--"The control of the whole +revenue to be in the people's representatives; the Legislative Council +to be elective; the representation in the House of Assembly to be as +equally proportioned to the population as possible; the Executive +Government to incur a real responsibility; the law of primogeniture to +be abolished; impartiality in the selection of juries to be secured; the +Judiciary to be independent; the military to be in strict subordination +to the civil authorities; equal rights to the several members of the +community; every vestige of Church-and-State union to be done away; the +lands and all the revenues of the country to be under the control of the +country; and education to be widely, carefully and impartially +diffused; to these may be added the choice of our own Governor." + +These were the political principles sought to be established in the +Governments of Canada by the party referred to, as set forth in the +terms just given (almost _verbatim_) in Patrick Swift's Almanac, a well +known popular, annual _brochure_ of Mr. McKenzie's. It seems singular +now, in the retrospect, that doctrines such as these should have created +a ferment. + +But there is this to be said: it does not appear that there were, at the +time, in the ranks of the party in power, any persons of very superior +intellectual gifts or of a wide range of culture or historical +knowledge: so that it was not likely that, on that side, there would be +a ready relinquishment of political traditions, of inherited ideas, +which their possessors had never dreamt of rationally analyzing, and +which they deemed it all but treason to call in question. + +And moreover it is to be remembered that the chief propagandist of the +doctrines of reform, although very intelligent and ready of speech, did +not himself possess the dignity and repose of character which give +weight to the utterances of public men. Hence, with the persons who +really stood in need of instruction and enlightenment, his words had an +irritating, rather than a conciliatory and convincing effect. This was a +fault which it was not in his power to remedy. For his microscopic +vision and restless temperament, while they fitted him to be a very +clever local reformer, a very clever local editor, unfitted him for the +grand _role_ of a national statesman, or heroic conductor of a +revolution. + +Accordingly, although the principles advocated by him finally obtained +the ascendancy, posterity only regards him as the Wilkes, the Cobbett, +or the Hunt of his day, in the annals of his adopted country. In the +interval between the outbreak or feint at outbreak in 1838, and 1850, +the whole Canadian community made a great advance in general +intelligence, and statesmen of a genuine quality began to appear in our +Parliaments. + +Prior to the period of which we have just been speaking, a name much in +the mouths of our early settlers was that of Robert Gourlay. What we +have to say in respect to him, in our retrospect of the past, will +perhaps be in place here. + +Nothing could be more laudable than Mr. Gourlay's intentions at the +outset. He desired to publish a statistical account of Canada, with a +view to the promotion of emigration. To inform himself of the actual +condition of the young colony, he addressed a series of questions to +persons of experience and intelligence in every township of Upper +Canada. These questions are now lying before us; they extend to the +number of thirty-one. There are none of them that a modern reader would +pronounce ill-judged or irrelevant. + +But here again it is easy to see that personal character and temperament +marred the usefulness of a clever man. His inordinate self-esteem and +pugnaciousness, insufficiently controlled, speedily rendered him +offensive, especially in a community constituted as that was in the +midst of which he had suddenly lighted; and drove, naturally and of +necessity, his opponents to extreme measures in self-defence, and +himself to extreme doctrines by way of retaliation: thus he became +overwhelmed with troubles from which the tact of a wiser man would have +saved him. But for Gourlay, as the event proved, a latent insanity was +an excuse. + +It is curious to observe that, in 1818, Gourlay, in his heat against the +official party, whose headquarters were at York, threatened that town +with extinction; at all events, with the obliteration of its name, and +the transmutation thereof into that of Toronto. In a letter to the +Niagara _Spectator_, he says:--"The tumult excited stiffens every nerve +and redoubles the proofs of necessity for action. If the higher classes +are against me, I shall recruit among my brother farmers, seven in eight +of whom will support the cause of truth. If one year does not make +Little York surrender to us, then we'll batter it for two; and should it +still hold out, we have ammunition for a much longer siege. We shall +raise the wind against it from Amherstburgh and Quebec--from Edinburgh, +Dublin and London. It must be levelled to the very earth, and even its +name be forgotten in Toronto." + +But to return for a moment to Mr. McKenzie. On the steps of the Court +House, which we are to suppose ourselves now passing, we once saw him +under circumstances that were deeply touching. Sentence of death had +been pronounced on a young man once employed in his printing-office. He +had been vigorously exerting himself to obtain from the Executive a +mitigation of the extreme penalty. The day and even the hour for the +execution had arrived; and no message of reprieve had been transmitted +from the Lieutenant-Governor. As he came out of the Sheriff's room, +after receiving the final announcement that there could be no further +delay, the white collars on each side of his face were wet through and +through with the tears that were gushing from his eyes and pouring down +his cheeks! He was just realizing the fact that nothing further could be +done; and in a few moments afterwards the execution actually took place. + +We approach comparatively late times when we speak of the cavalcade +which passed in grand state the spot now under review, when Messrs. Dunn +and Buchanan were returned as members for the town. In the pageant on +that occasion there was conspicuous a train of railway carriages, drawn +of course, by horse power, with the inscription on the sides of the +carriages--"Do you not wish you may get it?"--the allusion being to the +Grand Trunk, which, was then only a thing _in posse_. + +And still referring to processions associated in our memory with Court +House Square, the recollection of another comes up, which once or twice +a year used formerly to pass down King Street on a Sunday. The +townspeople were familiar enough with the march of the troops of the +garrison to and from Church, to the sound of military music, on Sundays. +But on the occasions now referred to, the public eye was drawn to a +spectacle professedly of an opposite character:--to the procession of +the "Children of Peace," so-called. + +These were a local off-shoot of the Society of Friends, the followers of +Mr. David Willson, who had his headquarters at Sharon, in Whitchurch, +where he had built a "Temple," a large wooden structure, painted white, +and resembling a high-piled house of cards. Periodically he deemed it +proper to make a demonstration in town. His disciples and friends, +dressed in their best, mounted their waggons and solemnly passed down +Yonge Street, and then on through some frequented thoroughfare of York +to a place previously announced, where the prophet would preach. His +topic was usually "Public Affairs: their Total Depravity." + +The text of all of Willson's homilies might, in effect, be the following +mystic sentence, extracted from the popular periodical, already +quoted--Patrick Swift's Almanac: "The backwoodsman, while he lays the +axe to the root of the oak in the forests of Canada, should never forget +that a base basswood is growing in this his native land, which, if not +speedily girdled, will throw its dark shadows over the country, and +blast his best exertions. Look up, reader, and you will see the +branches--the Robinson branch, the Powell branch, the Jones branch, the +Strachan branch, the Boulton twig, &c. The farmer toils, the merchant +toils, the labourer toils, and the Family Compact reap the fruit of +their exertions." (Almanac for 1834.) + +Into all the points here suggested Mr. Willson would enter with great +zest. When waxing warm in his discourse, he would sometimes, without +interrupting the flow of his words, suddenly throw off his coat and +suspend it on a nail or pin in the wall, waving about with freedom, +during the residue of his oration, a pair of sturdy arms, arrayed, not +indeed in the dainty lawn of a bishop, but in stout, well-bleached +American Factory. His address was divided into sections, between which +"hymns of his own composing" were sung by a company of females dressed +in white, sitting on one side, accompanied by a band of musical +instruments on the other. + +Considerable crowds assembled on these occasions: and once a panic arose +as preaching was going on in the public room of Lawrence's hotel: the +joists of the floor were heard to crack; a rush was made to the door, +and several leaped out of the windows.--A small brick school-house on +Berkeley Street was also a place where Willson sometimes sought to get +the ear of the general public.--Captain Bonnycastle, in "Canada as it +Was, Is, and May Be," i. 285, thus discourses of David Willson, in a +strain somewhat too severe and satirical; but his words serve to show +opinions which widely prevailed at the time he wrote: "At a short +distance from Newmarket," the Captain says, "which is about three miles +to the right of Yonge Street, near its termination at the Holland +Landing, on a river of that name running into Lake Simcoe, is a +settlement of religious enthusiasts, who have chosen the most fertile +part of Upper Canada, the country near and for miles round Newmarket, +for the seat of their earthly tabernacle. Here numbers of deluded people +have placed themselves under the temporal and spiritual charge of a high +priest, who calls himself David. His real name is David Willson. The +Temple (as the building appropriated to the celebration of their rites +is called,) is served by this man, who affects a primitive dress, and +has a train of virgin-ministrants clothed in white. He travels about +occasionally to preach at towns and villages, in a waggon, followed by +others, covered with white tilt-cloths; but what his peculiar tenets are +beyond that of dancing and singing, and imitating David the King, I +really cannot tell, for it is altogether too farcical to last long: but +Mr. David seems to understand clearly, as far as the temporal concerns +of his infatuated followers go, that the old-fashioned signification of +_meum_ and _tuum_ are religiously centered in his own _sanctum_. It was +natural that such a field should produce tares in abundance." + +The following notice of the "Children of Peace" occurs in Patrick +Swift's Almanac for 1834, penned, probably, with an eye to votes in the +neighbourhood of Sharon, or Hope, as the place is here called. "This +society," the Almanac reports, "numbers about 280 members in Hope, east +of Newmarket. They have also stated places of preaching, at the Old +Court House, York, on Yonge Street, and at Markham. Their principal +speaker is David Willson, assisted by Murdoch McLeod, Samuel Hughes, and +others. Their music, vocal and instrumental, is excellent, and their +preachers seek no pay from the Governor out of the taxes." + +On week-days, Willson was often to be seen, like any other industrious +yeoman, driving into town his own waggon, loaded with the produce of his +farm; dressed in home-spun, as the "borel folk" of Yonge Street +generally were: in the axis of one eye there was a slight +divergency.--The expression "Family Compact" occurring above, borrowed +from French and Spanish History, appears also in the General Report of +Grievances, in 1835, where this sentence is to be read: "The whole +system [of conducting Government without a responsible Executive] has so +long continued virtually in the same hands, that it is little better +than a family compact." p. 43. (In our proposed perambulation of Yonge +Street we shall have occasion to speak again of David Willson.) + +After the Court House Square came the large area attached to St. James' +Church, to the memories connected with which we shall presently devote +some space; as also to those connected with the region to the north, +formerly the play-ground of the District Grammar School, and afterwards +transformed into March Street and its purlieus. + +At the corner on the south side of King Street, just opposite the Court +House, was the clock-and-watch-repairing establishment of Mr. Charles +Clinkenbroomer. To our youthful fancy, the general click and tick +usually to be heard in an old-fashioned watchmaker's place of business, +was in some sort expressed by the name Clinkunbroomer. But in old local +lists we observe the orthography of this name to have been +Klinkenbrunner, which conveys another idea. Mr. Clinkenbroomer's +father, we believe, was attached to the army of General Wolfe, at the +taking of Quebec. + +In the early annals of York numerous Teutonic names are observable. +Among jurymen and others, at an early period, we meet with Nicholas +Klinkenbrunner, Gerhard Kuch, John Vanzantee, Barnabas Vanderburgh, +Lodowick Weidemann, Francis Freder, Peter Hultz, Jacob Wintersteen, John +Shunk, Leonard Klink, and so on. + +So early as 1795 Liancourt speaks of a migration hither of German +settlers from the other side of the Lake. He says a number of German +settlers collected at Hamburg, an agent had brought out to settle on +"Captain Williamson's Demesne" in the State of New York. After +subsisting for some time there at the expense of Capt. Williamson, (who, +it was stated, was really the representative of one of the Pulteneys in +England), they decamped in a body to the north side of the Lake, and +especially to York and its neighbourhood, at the instigation of one +Berczy, and "gained over, if we may believe common fame," Liancourt +says, "by the English;" gained over, rather, it is likely, by the +prospect of acquiring freehold property for nothing, instead of holding +under a patroon or American feudal lord. + +Probably it was to the accounts of Capt. Williamson's proceedings, given +by these refugees, that a message from Gov. Simcoe to that gentleman, in +1794, was due. Capt. Williamson, who appears to have acquired a supposed +personal interest in a large portion of the State of New York, was +opening settlements on the inlets on the south side of Lake Ontario, +known as Ierondequat and Sodus Bay. + +"Last year," Liancourt informs us, "General Simcoe, Governor of Upper +Canada, who considered the Forts of Niagara and Oswego, . . . as English +property, together with the banks of Lake Ontario, sent an English +officer to the Captain, with an injunction, not to persist in his design +of forming the settlements." To which message, "the Captain," we are then +told, "returned a plain and spirited answer, yet nevertheless conducted +himself with a prudence conformable to the circumstances. All these +difficulties, however," it is added, "are now removed by the prospect of +the continuance of peace, and still more so by the treaty newly +concluded." (Of Mr. Berczy, and the German Settlement proper, we shall +discourse at large in our section on Yonge Street.) + + + + +[Illustration] + + VII. + + KING STREET: DIGRESSION SOUTHWARDS AT CHURCH STREET: MARKET LANE. + + +Across Church Street from Clinkunbroomer's were the wooden buildings +already referred to, as having remained long in a partially finished +state, being the result of a premature speculation. From this point we +are induced to turn aside from our direct route for a few moments, +attracted by a street which we see a short distance to the south, +namely, Market Lane, or Colborne Street, as the modern phraseology is. + +In this passage was, in the olden time, the Masonic Hall, a wooden +building of two storeys. To the young imagination this edifice seemed to +possess considerable dignity, from being surmounted by a cupola; the +first structure in York that ever enjoyed such a distinction. This +ornamental appendage supported above the western gable, by slender +props, (intended in fact for the reception of a bell, which, so far as +our recollection extends, was never supplied), would appear +insignificant enough now; but it was the first budding of the +architectural ambition of a young town, which leads at length to +turrets, pinnacles, spires and domes. + +A staircase on the outside led to the upper storey of the Masonic Hall. +In this place were held the first meetings of the first Mechanics' +Institute, organized under the auspices of Moses Fish, a builder of +York, and other lovers of knowledge of the olden time. Here were +attempted the first popular lectures. Here we remember +hearing--certainly some forty years ago--Mr. John Fenton read a paper on +the manufacture of steel, using diagrams in illustration: one of them +showed the magnified edge of a well-set razor, the serrations all +sloping in one direction, by which it might be seen, the lecturer +remarked, that unless a man, in shaving, imparted to the instrument in +his hand a carefully-studied movement, he was likely "to get into a +scrape."--The lower part of the Masonic Hall was for a considerable +while used as a school, kept successively by Mr. Stewart and Mr. +Appleton, and afterwards by Mr. Caldicott. + +At the corner of Market Lane, on the north side, towards the Market, was +Frank's Hotel, an ordinary white frame building. The first theatre of +York was extemporized in the ball-room of this house. When fitted up for +dramatic purposes, that apartment was approached by a stairway on the +outside. + +Here companies performed, under the management, at one time, of Mr. +Archbold; at another, of Mr. Talbot; at another, of Mr. Vaughan. The +last-named manager, while professionally at York, lost a son by drowning +in the Bay. We well remember the poignant distress of the father at the +grave, and that his head was bound round on the occasion with a white +bandage or napkin. Mrs. Talbot was a great favourite. She performed the +part of Cora in Pizarro, and that of Little Pickle, in a comedy of that +name, if our memory serves us. + +Pizarro, Barbarossa or the Siege of Algiers, Ali Baba or the Forty +Thieves, the Lady of the Lake, the Miller and his Men, were among the +pieces here represented. The body-guard of the Dey of Algiers, we +remember, consisted of two men, who always came in with military +precision just after the hero, and placed themselves in a formal manner +at fixed distances behind him, like two sentries. They were in fact +soldiers from the garrison, we think. All this appeared very effective. + +The dramatic appliances and accessories at Frank's were of the humblest +kind. The dimensions of the stage must have been very limited: the +ceiling of the whole room, we know, was low. As for orchestra--in those +days, the principal instrumental artist of the town was Mr. Maxwell, +who, well-remembered for his quiet manner, for the shade over one eye, +in which was some defect, and for his homely skill on the violin, was +generally to be seen and heard, often alone, but sometimes with an +associate or two, here, as at all other entertainments of importance, +public or private. Nevertheless, at that period, to an unsophisticated +yet active imagination, innocent of acquaintance with more respectable +arrangements, everything seemed charming; each scene, as the bell rang +and the baize drew up, was invested with a magical glamour, similar in +kind, if not equal in degree, to that which, in the days of our +grandfathers, ere yet the modern passion for real knowledge had been +awakened, fascinated the young Londoner at Drury Lane. + +And how curiously were the illusions of the mimic splendors sometimes in +a moment broken, as if to admonish the inexperienced spectator of the +facts of real life. In the performance of Pizarro, it will be remembered +that an attempt is made to bribe a Spanish soldier at his post. He +rejects and flings to the ground what is called "a wedge of massive +gold:"--we recollect the _sound_ produced on the boards of the stage in +Frank's by the fall of this wedge of massive gold: it instantly betrayed +itself by this, as well as by its nimble rebound, to be, of course, a +gilded bit of wood. + +And it is not alone at obscure village performances that such +disclosures occur. At an opera in London, where all appearances were +elaborately perfect, we recollect the accidental fall of a goblet which +was supposed to be of heavy chased silver, and also filled with wine--a +contretemps occasioned by the giddiness of the lad who personated a +page: two things were at once clear: the goblet was not of metal, and +nothing liquid was contained within it: which recalls a mishap +associated in our memory with a visit to the Argentina at Rome some +years ago: this was the coming off of a wheel from the chariot of a +Roman general, at a critical moment: the descent on this occasion from +the vehicle to the stage was a true step from the sublime to the +ridiculous; for the audience observed the accident, and persisted in +their laugh in spite of the heroics which the great commander proceeded +to address, in operatic style, to his assembled army. + +It was in the assembly-room at Frank's, dismantled of its theatrical +furniture, that a celebrated fancy ball was given, on the last day of +the year 1827, conjointly by Mr. Galt, Commissioner of the Canada +Company, and Lady Mary Willis, wife of Mr. Justice Willis. On that +occasion the general interests of the Company were to some extent +studied in the ornamentation of the room, its floor being decorated with +an immense representation, in chalks or water-colour, of the arms of the +association. The supporters of the shield were of colossal dimensions: +two lions, rampant, bearing flags turning opposite ways: below, on the +riband, in characters proportionably large, was the motto of the +Company, "Non mutat genus solum." The sides and ceiling of the room, +with the passages leading from the front door to it, were covered +throughout with branchlets of the hemlock-spruce: nestling in the +greenery of this perfect bower were innumerable little coloured lamps, +each containing a floating light. + +Here, for once, the potent, grave and reverend signiors of York, along +with their sons and daughters, indulged in a little insanity. Lady Mary +Willis appeared as Mary, Queen of Scots; the Judge himself, during a +part of the evening, was in the costume of a gay old lady, the Countess +of Desmond, aged one hundred years; Miss Willis, the clever amateur +equestrienne, was Folly, with cap and bells; Dr. W. W. Baldwin was a +Roman senator; his two sons William and St. George, were the Dioscuri, +"Fratres Helenae, lucida Sidera;" his nephew, Augustus Sullivan, was Puss +in Boots; Dr. Grant Powell was Dr. Pangloss; Mr. Kerr, a real Otchipway +chief, at the time a member of the Legislature, made a magnificent +Kentucky backwoodsman, named and entitled Captain Jedediah Skinner. Mr. +Gregg, of the Commissariat, was Othello. The Kentuckian (Kerr), +professing to be struck with the many fine points of the Moor, as +regarded from his point of view, persisted, throughout the evening, in +exhibiting an inclination to purchase--an idea naturally much resented +by Othello. Col. Givins, his son Adolphus, Raymond Baby, and others, +were Indian chiefs of different tribes, who more than once indulged in +the war-dance. Mr. Buchanan, son of the British Consul at New York, was +Darnley; Mr. Thomson, of the Canada Company's office, was Rizzio; Mr. G. +A. Barber was a wounded sailor recently from Navarino (that untoward +event had lately taken place); his arm was in a sling; he had suffered +in reality a mutilation of the right hand by an explosion of gunpowder, +on the preceding 5th of November. + +Mr. Galt was only about three years in Canada, but this short space of +time sufficed to enable him to lay the foundation of the Canada Company +wisely and well, as is shewn by its duration and prosperity. The feat +was not accomplished without some antagonism springing up between +himself and the local governmental authorities, whom he was inclined to +treat rather haughtily. + +It is a study to observe how frequently, at an early stage of Upper +Canadian society, a mutual antipathy manifested itself between visitors +from the transatlantic world, tourists and settlers (intending and +actual), and the first occupants of such places of trust and emolument +as then existed. It was a feeling that grew partly out of personal +considerations, and partly out of difference of opinion in regard to +public policy. A gulf thus began at an early period to open between two +sections of the community, which widened painfully for a time in after +years;--a fissure, which, at its first appearance, a little philosophy +on both sides would have closed up. Men of intelligence, who had risen +to position and acquired all their experience in a remote, diminutive +settlement, might have been quite sure that their grasp of great +imperial and human questions, when they arose, would be very imperfect; +they might, therefore, rationally have rejoiced at the accession of new +minds and additional light to help them in the day of necessity. And on +the other hand, the fresh immigrant or casual visitor, trained to +maturity amidst the combinations of an old society, and possessing a +knowledge of its past, might have comprehended thoroughly the exact +condition of thought and feeling in a community such as that which he +was approaching, and so might have regarded its ideas with charity, and +spoken of them in a tone conciliatory and delicate. On both sides, the +maxim _Tout comprendre, c'est tout pardonner_ would have had a salutary +and composing effect, "for," as the author of Realmah well says, "in +truth, one would never be angry with anybody, if one understood him or +her thoroughly." + +We regret that we cannot recover two small "paper pellets of the brain," +of this period, arising out of the discussions connected with the +appointment of an outsider (Mr. Justice Willis) to the Bench of Upper +Canada. They would have been illustrative of the times. They were in the +shape of two advertisements, one in reply to the other, in a local +Paper: one was the elaborate title-page of a pamphlet "shortly to +appear," on the existing system of Jurisprudence in Upper Canada; with +the motto "Meliora sperans;" the other was an exact counterpart of the +first, only in reversed terms, and bearing the motto "Deteriora timens." + +In the early stages of all the colonies it is obviously inevitable that +appointments _ab extra_ to public office must occasionally, and even +frequently, be made. Local aspirants are thus subject to +disappointments; and men of considerable ability may now and then feel +themselves overshadowed, and imagine themselves depressed, through the +introduction of talent transcending their own. Some manifestations of +discontent and impatience may thus always be expected to appear. But in +a few years this state of things comes naturally to an end. In no +public exigency is there any longer a necessity to look to external +sources for help. A home supply of persons "duly qualified to serve God +in Church and State" is legitimately developed, as we see in the United +States, among ourselves, and in all the other larger settlements from +the British Islands. + +The _denouement_ of the Willis-trouble may be gathered from the +following notice in the _Gazette_ of Thursday, July 17th, 1828, now +lying before us: "His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor has been +pleased to appoint, by Commission under the Great Seal, Christopher +Alexander Hagerman, Esq., to be a Judge in the Court of King's Bench for +this Province, in the room of the Hon. John Walpole Willis, _amoved_, +until the King's pleasure shall be signified." + +Lady Mary Willis, associated with Mr. Galt in the Fancy Ball just spoken +of, was a daughter of the Earl of Strathmore. A trial of a painful +nature known as Willis v. Bernard in the annals of the Common Pleas, +arising out of circumstances connected with Judge Willis's brief +residence in Canada, took place in 1832 before the Chief Justice of +England and a special jury, at Westminster, Mr. Sergeant Wilde acting +for the plaintiff; Mr. Sergeant Spankie, Mr. Sergeant Storks and Mr. +Thesiger, for the defendant: when a thousand pounds were awarded as +damages to the plaintiff. On this occasion Mr. Galt was examined as a +witness. Judge Willis was afterwards appointed Chief Justice of +Demerara. + +In the _Canadian Literary Magazine_ for April, 1833, there is a notice +of Mr. Galt, with a full-length pen-and-ink portrait, similar to those +which used formerly to appear in _Fraser_. In front of the figure is a +bust of Lord Byron; behind, on a wall, is a Map shewing the Canadian +Lakes, with York marked conspicuously. From the accompanying memoir we +learn that "Mr. Galt always conducted himself as a man of the strictest +probity and honour. He was warm in his friendships, and extremely +hospitable in his Log Priory at Guelph, and thoroughly esteemed by those +who had an opportunity of mingling with him in close and daily intimacy. +He was the first to adopt the plan of opening roads before making a +settlement, instead of leaving them to be cut, as heretofore, by the +settlers themselves--a plan which, under the irregular and patchwork +system of settling the country then prevailing, has retarded the +improvement of the Province more, perhaps, than any other cause." + +In his Autobiography Mr. Galt refers to this notice of himself in the +_Canadian Literary Magazine_, especially in respect to an intimation +given therein that contemporaries at York accused him of playing +"Captain Grand" occasionally, and "looking down on the inhabitants of +Upper Canada." He does not affect to say that it was not so; he even +rather unamiably adds: "The fact is, I never thought about them [_i. e._, +these inhabitants], unless to notice some ludicrous peculiarity of +individuals." + +The same tone is assumed when recording the locally famous +entertainment, given by himself and Lady Willis, as above described. +Having received a hint that the colonelcy of a militia regiment might +possibly be offered him, he says: "This information was unequivocally +acceptable; and accordingly," he continues, "I resolved to change my +recluseness into something more cordial towards the general inhabitants +of York. I therefore directed one of the clerks [the gentleman who +figured as Rizzio,] to whom I thought the task might be agreeable, to +make arrangements for giving a general Fancy Ball to all my +acquaintance, and the principal inhabitants. I could not be troubled," +he observes, "with the details myself, but exhorted him to make the +invitations as numerous as possible." + +In extenuation of his evident moodiness of mind, it is to be observed +that his quarters at York were very uncomfortable. "The reader is +probably acquainted," he says in his Autobiography, "with the manner of +living in the American hotels, but without experience he can have no +right notion of what in those days (1827,) was the condition of the best +tavern in York. It was a mean two-storey house; the landlord, however, +[this was Mr. Frank,] did," he says, "all in his power to mitigate the +afflictions with which such a domicile was quaking, to one accustomed to +quiet." + +Such an impression had his unfortunate accommodation at York made on +him, that, in another place, when endeavouring to describe Dover, in +Kent, as a dull place, we have him venturing to employ such extravagant +language as this: "Everybody who has been at Dover knows that it is one +of the vilest [hypochondriacal] haunts on the face of the earth, except +Little York in Upper Canada." We notice in Leigh Hunt's _London Journal_ +for June, 1834, some verses entitled "Friends and Boyhood," written by +Mr. Galt, in sickness. They will not sound out of place in a paper of +early reminiscences: + + "Talk not of years! 'twas yesterday + We chased the hoop together, + And for the plover's speckled egg + We waded through the heather. + + "The green is gay where gowans grow, + 'Tis Saturday--oh! come, + Hark! hear ye not our mother's voice, + The earth?--she calls us home. + + "Have we not found that fortune's chase + For glory or for treasure, + Unlike the rolling circle's race, + Was pastime, without pleasure? + + "But seize your glass--another time + We'll think of clouded days-- + I'll give a toast--fill up my friend! + Here's 'Boys and merry plays!'" + +But Market Lane and its memories detain us too long from King Street. We +now return to the point where Church Street intersects that +thoroughfare. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + VIII. + + KING STREET: ST. JAMES' CHURCH. + + +The first Church of St. James, at York, was a plain structure of wood, +placed some yards back from the road. Its gables faced east and west, +and its solitary door was at its western end, and was approached from +Church Street. Its dimensions were 50 by 40 feet. The sides of the +building were pierced by two rows of ordinary windows, four above and +four below. Altogether it was, in its outward appearance, simply, as a +contemporary American "Geographical View of the Province of Upper +Canada," now before us, describes it, a "meeting-house for +Episcopalians." + +The work just referred to, which was written by a Mr. M. Smith, before +the war of 1812, thus depicts York: "This village," it says, "is laid +out after the form of Philadelphia, the streets crossing each other at +right angles; though the ground on which it stands is not suitable for +building. This at present," the notice subjoins, "is the seat of +Government, and the residence of a number of English gentlemen. It +contains some fine buildings, though they stand scattering, among which +are a Court-house, Council-house, a large brick building, in which the +King's store for the place is kept, and a meeting-house for +Episcopalians; one printing and other offices." + +The reservation of land in which the primitive St. James' Church stood, +long remained plentifully covered with the original forest. In a +wood-cut from a sketch taken early in the present century, prefixed to +the "Annals of the Diocese of Toronto," the building is represented as +being in the midst of a great grove, and stumps of various sizes are +visible in the foreground. + +Up to 1803 the Anglican congregation had assembled for Divine Worship in +the Parliament Building; and prior to the appointment of the Rev. Mr. +Stuart, or in his absence, a layman, Mr. Cooper, afterwards the +well-known wharfinger, used to read the service. In March, 1799, there +was about to be a Day of General Thanksgiving. The mode proposed for its +solemn observance at York was announced as follows in the _Gazette and +Oracle_ of March 9: "Notice is hereby given that Prayers will be read in +the North Government Building in this Town, on Tuesday, the 12th +instant, being the day appointed for a General Thanksgiving throughout +the Province to Almighty God for the late important victories over the +enemies of Great Britain. Service to begin half after eleven o'clock." + +We give a contemporary account of the proceedings at an important +meeting of the subscribers to the fund for the erection of the first St. +James' Church at York, in 1803. It is from the _Oracle and Gazette_ of +January 22, in that year. + +"At a Meeting of the subscribers to a fund for erecting a Church in the +Town of York, holden at the Government Buildings, on Saturday the 8th +day of January instant, the Hon. Chief Justice [Elmsley] in the Chair. +Resolved unanimously: That each subscriber shall pay the amount of his +subscription by three instalments: the first being one moiety in one +month from this day; the second being a moiety of the residue in two +months; and the remainders in three months: That Mr. William Allan and +Mr. Duncan Cameron shall be Treasurers, and shall receive the amount of +the said subscriptions; and that they be jointly and severally +answerable for all moneys paid into their hands upon the receipt of +either of them: That His Honour the Chief Justice, the Honourable P. +Russell, the Honourable Captain McGill, the Reverend Mr. Stuart, Dr. +Macaulay, Mr. Chewett, and the two Treasurers, be a Committee of the +subscribers, with full power and authority to apply the moneys arising +from subscriptions, to the purpose contemplated: Provided, nevertheless, +that if any material difference of opinion should arise among them, +resort shall be had to a meeting of the subscribers to decide. That the +Church be built of stone, brick, or framed timber, as the Committee may +judge most expedient, due regard being had to the superior advantages of +a stone or brick building, if not counterbalanced by the additional +expense: That eight hundred pounds of lawful money, be the extent upon +which the Committee shall calculate their plan; but in the first +instance, they shall not expend beyond the sum of six hundred pounds (if +the amount of the sums subscribed and paid into the hands of the +Treasurers, together with the moneys which may be allowed by the British +Government, amount to so much), leaving so much of the work as can most +conveniently be dispensed with, to be completed by the remaining two +hundred pounds: Provided, however, that the said six hundred pounds be +laid out in such manner that Divine Worship can be performed with +decency in the Church: That the Committee do request the opinion of Mr. +Berczy, respecting the probable expenses which will attend the +undertaking, and respecting the materials to be preferred; due regard +being had to the amount of the fund, as aforesaid; and that after +obtaining his opinion, they do advertise their readiness to receive +proposals conformable thereto. N.B. The propriety of receiving +contributions in labour or materials is suggested to the Committee. A. +MacDonell, Secretary to the Meeting." + +In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of June 4, 1803, D. Cameron and W. Allan are +inviting tenders for the supply of certain materials required for +"building a Church in this Town." + +"Advertisement. Wanted. A quantity of Pine Boards and Scantling, Stones +and Lime, for building a Church in this Town. Any person inclined to +furnish any of these articles will please to give in their proposals at +the lowest prices, to the subscribers, to be laid before the Committee. +D. Cameron, W. Allan. York, 1st June, 1803." + +It would seem that in July the determination was to build the Church of +stone. + +"On Wednesday last, the 6th instant," says the _Oracle and Gazette_, +July 9th, 1803, "a meeting of the subscribers to the fund for erecting a +Church in this Town was held at the Government Buildings, on which +occasion it was unanimously resolved: That the said Church should be +built of Stone. That one hundred toises of Stone should accordingly be +contracted for without delay. That a quantity of two-inch pine plank, +not exceeding 6,000 feet, should also be laid in; and a reasonable +quantity of Oak studs, and Oak plank, for the window-frames and +sashes.--A future meeting we understand," the _Oracle_ adds, "will be +held in the course of the season, at which, when the different Estimates +and Proposals have been examined, and the extent which the fund will +reach, has been ascertained, something decisive will be settled." + +The idea of building in stone appears to have been subsequently +relinquished; and a Church-edifice in wood was decided on. We are +informed that the Commandant of the Garrison, Col. Sheaffe, ordered his +men to assist in raising the frame. + +In 1810, a portion of the church-plot was enclosed, at an expense of L1 +5s. for rails, of which five hundred were required for the purpose. At +the same time the ground in front of the west-end, where was the +entrance, was cleared of stumps, at an expense of L3 15s. In that year +the cost for heating the building, and charges connected with the Holy +Communion, amounted to L1 7s. 6d., Halifax currency. + +In 1813, Dr. Strachan succeeded Dr. Stuart as incumbent of the church; +and in 1818 he induced the congregation to effect some alterations in +the structure. From an advertisement in an early _Gazette_ of the year +1818, it will be seen that the ecclesiastical ideas in the ascendant +when the enlargement of the original building was first discussed, were +much more in harmony with ancient English Church usages, than those +which finally prevailed when the work was really done. With whomsoever +originating, the design at first was to extend the building eastward, +not southward; to have placed the Belfry at the west end, not at the +south; the Pulpit was to have been placed on the north side of the +Church; a South Porch was to have been erected. The advertisement +referred to reads as follows:--"Advertisement. Plans and Estimates for +enlarging and repairing the Church will be received by the subscribers +before the 20th of March, on which day a decision will be made, and the +Contractor whose proposals shall be approved of, must commence the work +as the season will permit. The intention is: 1st. To lengthen the Church +forty feet towards the east, with a circular end; thirty of which to +form part of the body of the Church, and the remaining ten an Altar, +with a small vestry-room on the one side, and a Government Pew on the +other. 2nd. To remove the Pulpit to the north side, and to erect two +Galleries, one opposite to it, and another on the west end. 3rd. To +alter the Pews to suit the situation of the Pulpit, and to paint and +number the same throughout the Church. 4th. To raise a Belfry on the +west end, and make a handsome entrance on the south side of the Church, +and to paint the whole building on the outside. Thomas Ridout, J. B. +Robinson, Churchwardens. William Allan. Feb. 18, 1818." + +The intentions here detailed were not carried into effect. On the north +and south sides of the old building additional space was enclosed, which +brought the axis of the Church and its roof into a north and south +direction. An entrance was opened at the southern end, towards King +Street, and over the gable in this direction was built a square tower +bearing a circular bell-turret, surmounted by a small tin-covered spire. +The whole edifice, as thus enlarged and improved, was painted of a light +blue colour, with the exception of the frames round the windows and +doors, and the casings at the angles, imitating blocks of stone, +alternately long and short, which were all painted white. + +The original western door was not closed up. Its use, almost +exclusively, was now, on Sundays and other occasions of Divine Worship, +to admit the Troops, whose benches extended along by the wall on that +side the whole length of the church.--The upper windows on all the four +sides were now made circular-headed. On the east side there was a +difference. The altar-window of the original building remained, only +transformed into a kind of triplet, the central compartment rising above +the other two, and made circular headed. On the north and south of this +east window were two tiers of lights, as on the western side. + +In the bell-turret was a bell of sufficient weight sensibly to jar the +whole building at every one of its semi-revolutions. + +In the interior, a central aisle, or open passage, led from the door to +the southern end of the church, where, on the floor, was situated a pew +of state for the Lieutenant-Governor: small square pillars at its four +corners sustained a flat canopy over it, immediately under the ceiling +of the gallery; and below this distinctive tester or covering, suspended +against the wall, were the royal arms, emblazoned on a black tablet of +board or canvas. + +Half-way up the central aisle, on the right side, was an open space, in +which were planted the pulpit, reading-desk and clerk's pew, in the old +orthodox fashion, rising by gradations one above the other, the whole +overshadowed by a rather handsome sounding-board, sustained partially by +a rod from the roof. Behind this mountainous structure was the altar, +lighted copiously by the original east window. Two narrow side-aisles, +running parallel with the central one, gave access to corresponding rows +of pews, each having a numeral painted on its door. Two passages, for +the same purpose ran westward from the space in front of the pulpit. To +the right and left of the Lieutenant-Governor's seat, and filling up +(with the exception of two square corner pews) the rest of the northern +end of the church, were two oblong pews; the one on the west +appropriated to the officers of the garrison; the other, on the east, to +the members of the Legislature. + +Round the north, west, and south sides of the interior, ran a gallery, +divided, like the area below, into pews. This structure was sustained by +a row of pillars of turned wood, and from it to the roof above rose +another row of similar supports. The ceiling over the parts exterior to +the gallery was divided into four shallow semi-circular vaults, which +met at a central point. The pews everywhere were painted of a buff or +yellowish hue, with the exception of the rims at the top, which were +black. The pulpit and its appurtenances were white. The rims just +referred to, at the tops of the pews, throughout the whole church, +exhibited, at regular intervals, small gimlet-holes: in these were +inserted annually, at Christmas-tide, small sprigs of hemlock-spruce. +The interior, when thus dressed, wore a cheerful, refreshing look, in +keeping with the festival commemorated. + +Within this interior used to assemble, periodically, the little world of +York: occasionally, a goodly proportion of the little world of all Upper +Canada. + +To limit ourselves to our own recollections: here, with great +regularity, every Sunday, was to be seen, passing to and from the place +of honour assigned him, Sir Peregrine Maitland,--a tall, grave officer, +always in military undress; his countenance ever wearing a mingled +expression of sadness and benevolence, like that which one may observe +on the face of the predecessor of Louis Philippe, Charles the Tenth, +whose current portrait recalls, not badly, the whole head and figure of +this early Governor of Upper Canada. + +In an outline representation which we accidentally possessed, of a +panorama of the battle of Waterloo, on exhibition in London, the 1st +Foot Guards were conspicuously to be seen led on by "Major-General Sir +Peregrine Maitland." It was a matter of no small curiosity to the boyish +mind, and something that helped to rouse an interest in history +generally, to be assured that the living personage here, every week, +before the eye, was the commander represented in the panorama; one who +had actually passed through the tremendous excitement of the real scene. + +With persons of wider knowledge, Sir Peregrine was invested with +further associations. Besides being the royal representative in these +parts, he was the son-in-law of Charles Gordon Lennox, fourth Duke of +Richmond, a name that stirred chivalrous feelings in early Canadians of +both Provinces; for the Duke had come to Canada as Governor-in-Chief, +with a grand reputation acquired as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; and +great benefits were expected, and probably would have been realized from +his administration, had it been of long continuance. But he had been +suddenly removed by an excruciating death. Whilst on a tour of +inspection in the Upper Province, he had been fatally attacked with +hydrophobia, occasioned by the bite of a pet fox. The injury had been +received at Sorel; its terrible effects were fatally experienced at a +place near the Ottawa, since named Richmond. + +Some of the prestige of the deceased Duke continued to adhere to Sir +Peregrine Maitland, for he had married the Duke's daughter, a graceful +and elegant woman, who was always at his side, here and at Stamford +Cottage across the Lake. She bore a name not unfamiliar in the domestic +annals of George the Third, who once, it is said, was enamoured of a +beautiful Lady Sarah Lennox, grandmother, as we suppose, or some other +near relative, of the Lady Sarah here before us at York. Moreover, +conversationalists whispered about (in confidence) something supposed to +be unknown to the general public--that the match between Sir Peregrine +and Lady Sarah had been effected in spite of the Duke. The report was +that there had been an elopement; and it was naturally supposed that the +party of the sterner sex had been the most active agent in the affair. + +To say the truth, however, in this instance, it was the lady who +precipitated matters. The affair occurred at Paris, soon after the +Waterloo campaign. The Duke's final determination against Sir +Peregrine's proposals having been announced, the daughter suddenly +withdrew from the father's roof, and fled to the lodgings of Sir +Peregrine, who instantly retired to other quarters. The upshot of the +whole thing, at once romantic and unromantic, included a marriage and a +reconciliation; and eventually a Lieutenant-Governorship for the +son-in-law under the Governorship-in-Chief of the father, both +despatched together to undertake the discharge of vice-regal functions +in a distant colony. At the time of his marriage with Lady Sarah Lennox, +Sir Peregrine had been for some ten years a widower. On his staff here +at York was a son by his first wife, also named Peregrine, a subaltern +in the army. + +After the death of the Duke of Richmond, Sir Peregrine became +administrator, for a time, of the general government of British North +America. The movements of the representative of the Crown were attended +with some state in those days. Even a passage across from York to +Stamford, or from Stamford to York, was announced by a royal salute at +the garrison. + +Of a visit to Lower Canada in 1824, when, in addition to the usual +suite, there were in the party several young Englishmen of distinction, +tourists at that early period, on this continent, we have the following +notice in the _Canadian Review_ for December of that year. After +mentioning the arrival at the Mansion House Hotel in Montreal, the +_Review_ proceeds: "In the morning His Excellency breakfasted with Sir +Francis Burton, at the Government House, whom he afterwards accompanied +to Quebec in the Swiftsure steamboat. Sir Peregrine is accompanied," the +_Review_ reports, "by Lord Arthur Lennox, Mr. Maitland, Colonels Foster, +Lightfoot, Coffin and Talbot; with the Hon. E. G. Stanley [from 1851 to +1869, Earl of Derby], grandson of Earl Derby, M.P. for Stockbridge, John +E. Denison, Esq. [subsequently Speaker of the House of Commons], M.P. +for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and James S. Wortley, Esq. [afterwards Lord +Wharncliffe], M.P. for Bossiney in Cornwall. The three latter +gentlemen," the magazine adds, "are now upon a tour in this country from +England; and we are happy to learn that they have expressed themselves +as being highly gratified with all that they have hitherto seen in +Canada." + +It will be of interest to know that the name of Sir Peregrine Maitland +is pleasantly preserved by means of Maitland Scholarships in a Grammar +School for natives at Madras; and by a Maitland Prize in the University +of Cambridge. The circumstances of the institution of these memorials +are these as originally announced: "The friends of Lieutenant-General +Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B., late Commander in Chief of the Forces in +South India, being desirous of testifying their respect and esteem for +his character and principles, and for his disinterested zeal in the +cause of Christian Truth in the East, have raised a fund for the +institution of a prize in one of the Universities, and for the +establishment of two native scholarships at Bishop Corrie's Grammar +School at Madras; such prize and scholarships to be associated with the +name of Sir Peregrine Maitland. In pursuance of the foregoing scheme, +the sum of L1,000 has been given to the University of Cambridge for the +purpose of instituting a prize to be called "Sir Peregrine Maitland's +Prize," for an English essay on some subject connected with the +propagation of the Gospel, through missionary exertions in India and +other parts of the heathen world." This Prize, which is kept up by the +interest accruing every three years, has been awarded at Cambridge +regularly since 1845. + +The successor to Sir Peregrine Maitland in the Government of Upper +Canada was another distinguished military officer, Sir John Colborne. +With ourselves, the first impression of his form and figure is +especially associated with the interior in which we are supposing the +reader to be now standing. We remember his first passing up the central +aisle of St James's Church. He had arrived early, in an unostentatious +way; and on coming within the building he quietly inquired of the first +person whom he saw, sitting in a seat near the door: Which was the +Governor's pew? The gentleman addressed happened to be Mr. Bernard +Turquand, who, quickly recognizing the inquirer, stood up and extended +his right arm and open hand in the direction of the canopied pew over +which was suspended the tablet bearing the Royal Arms. Sir John, and +some of his family after him, then passed on to the place indicated. + +At school, in an edition of Goldsmith then in use, the name of "Major +Colborne" in connection with the account of Sir John Moore's death at +Corunna had already been observed; and it was with us lads a matter of +intense interest to learn that the new Governor was the same person. + +The scene which was epitomized in the school-book, is given at greater +length in Gleig's Lives of Eminent British Military Commanders. The +following are some particulars from Colonel Anderson's narrative in that +work: "I met the General," Colonel Anderson says, "on the evening of the +16th, bringing in, in a blanket and sashes. He knew me immediately, +though it was almost dark, squeezed me by the hand and said 'Anderson, +don't leave me.' At intervals he added 'Anderson, you know that I have +always wished to die in this way. I hope the people of England will be +satisfied. I hope my country will do me justice. You will see my friends +as soon as you can. Tell them everything. I have made my will, and have +remembered my servants. Colborne has my will and all my papers.' Major +Colborne now came into the room. He spoke most kindly to him; and then +said to me, 'Anderson, remember you go to ----, and tell him it is my +request, and that I expect, he will give Major Colborne a +lieutenant-colonelcy.' He thanked the surgeons for their trouble. He +pressed my hand close to his body, and in a few minutes died without a +struggle." + +He had been struck by a cannon ball. The shot, we are told, had +completely crushed his shoulder; the arm was hanging by a piece of skin, +and the ribs over the heart, besides been broken, were literally +stripped of flesh. Yet, the narrative adds, "he sat upon the field +collected and unrepining, as if no ball had struck him, and as if he +were placed where he was for the mere purpose of reposing for a brief +space from the fatigue of hard riding." + +Sir John Colborne himself afterwards at Ciudad Rodrigo came within a +hair's-breadth of a similar fate. His right shoulder was shattered by a +cannon shot. The escape of the right arm from amputation on the field at +the hands of some prompt military surgeon on that occasion, was a +marvel. The limb was saved, though greatly disabled. The want of +symmetry in Sir John Colborne's tall and graceful form, permanently +occasioned by this injury, was conspicuous to the eye. We happened to be +present in the Council Chamber at Quebec, in 1838, at the moment when +this noble-looking soldier literally vacated the vice-regal chair, and +installed his successor Lord Durham in it, after administering to him +the oaths. The exchange was not for the better, in a scenic point of +view, although the features of Lord Durham, as his well-known portrait +shews, were very fine, suggestive of the poet or artist. + +Of late years a monument has been erected on Mount Wise at Plymouth, in +honour of the illustrious military chief and pre-eminently excellent +man, whose memory has just been recalled to us. It is a statue of +bronze, by Adams, a little larger than life; and the likeness is +admirably preserved. (When seen on horseback at parades or reviews +soldiers always averred that he greatly resembled "the Duke." Dr. Henry, +in "Trifles from my Portfolio" (ii. 111.) thus wrote of him in 1833: +"When we first dined at Government House, we were struck by the strong +resemblance he bore to the Duke of Wellington; and there is also," Dr. +Henry continues, "a great similarity in mind and disposition, as well as +in the lineaments of the face. In one particular they harmonize +perfectly--namely, great simplicity of character, and an utter dislike +to shew ostentation.") + +On the four sides of the granite pedestal of the statue on Mount Wise, +are to be read the following inscriptions: in front: John Colborne, +Baron Seaton. Born MDCCLXXVIII. Died MDCCCLXIII. On the right side: +Canada. Ionian Islands. On the left side: Peninsula. Waterloo. On the +remaining side: In memory of the distinguished career and stainless +character of Field Marshal Lord Seaton, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.H. This +Monument is erected by his friends and comrades. + +Accompanying the family of Sir John Colborne to their place in the +Church at York was to be seen every Sunday, for some time, a +shy-mannered, black-eyed, Italian-featured Mr. Jeune, tutor to the +Governor's sons. This was afterwards the eminent Dr. Jeune, Master of +Pembroke College at Oxford, a great promoter of reform in that +University, and Bishop of Lincoln. Sir John himself was a man of +scholarly tastes; a great student of history, and a practical modern +European linguist. + +Through a casual circumstance, it is said that full praise was not +publicly given, at the time, to the regiment commanded by Sir John +Colborne, the 52nd, for the particular service rendered by it at the +battle of Waterloo. By the independent direction of their leader, the +52nd made a sudden flank movement at the crisis of the fight and +initiated the final discomfiture of which the Guards got the sole +praise. At the close of the day, when the Duke of Wellington was rapidly +constructing his despatch, Colonel Colborne was inquired for by him, and +could not, for the moment, be found. The information, evidently desired, +was thus not to be had; and the document was completed and sent off +without a special mention of the 52nd's deed of "derring do." + +During the life-time of the great Duke there was much reticence among +the military authorities in regard to the Battle of Waterloo from the +fact that the Duke himself did not encourage discussion on the subject. +All was well that had ended well, appeared to have been his doctrine. He +once checked an incipient dispute in regard to the great event of the +18th of June between two friends, in his presence, by the command, +half-jocose, half-earnest: "You leave the Battle of Waterloo alone!" He +gave L60 for a private letter written by himself to a friend on the eve +of the battle, and was heard to say, as he threw the document into the +fire, "What a fool was I, when I wrote that!" + +Since the death of the Duke, an officer of the 52nd, subsequently in +Holy Orders,--the Rev. William Leeke--has devoted two volumes to the +history of "the 52nd or Lord Seaton's Regiment;" in which its movements +on the field of Waterloo are fully detailed. And Colonel Chesney in his +"Waterloo Lectures; a Study of the Campaign of 1815" has set the great +battle in a new light, and has demolished several English and French +traditions in relation to it, bringing out into great prominence the +services rendered by Blucher and the Prussians. + +The Duke's personal sensitiveness to criticism was shewn on another +occasion: when Colonel Gurwood suddenly died, he, through the police, +took possession of the Colonel's papers, and especially of a Manuscript +of Table Talk and other _ana_, designed for publication, and which, had +it not been on the instant ruthlessly destroyed, would have been as +interesting probably as Boswell's. + +On Lord Seaton's departure from Canada, he was successively Lord High +Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, and Commander-in-Chief in Ireland. +He then retired to his own estate in the West of England, where he had a +beautiful seat, in the midst of the calm, rural, inland scenery of +Devonshire, not far from Plympton, and on the slope descending southward +from the summits of Dartmoor. The name of the house is Beechwood, from +the numerous clean, bold, magnificent beech trees that adorn its +grounds, and give character to the neighbourhood generally. In the +adjoining village of Sparkwell he erected a handsome school-house and +church. + +On his decease at Torquay in 1863 his remains were deposited in the +Church at Newton Ferrers, the ancient family burying-place of the +Yonges. + +Mrs. Jameson's words in her "Winter studies and Summer Rambles," express +briefly but truly, the report which all that remember him, would give, +of this distinguished and ever memorable Governor of Canada. "Sir John +Colborne," she says incidentally, in the Introduction to the work just +named, "whose mind appeared to me cast in the antique mould of +chivalrous honour; and whom I never heard mentioned in either Province +but with respect and veneration." Dr. Henry in "Trifles from my +Portfolio," once before referred to, uses similar language. "I believe," +he says, "there never was a soldier of more perfect moral character than +Sir John Colborne--a Bayard without gasconade, as well as _sans peur et +sans reproche_." The title "Seaton," we may add, was taken from the name +of an ancient seaport town of Devon, the Moridunum of the Roman period. + + + + +[Illustration] + + IX. + + KING STREET: ST. JAMES' CHURCH--(_Continued_.) + + +At the southern end of the Church, in which we are supposing ourselves +to be, opposite the Lieutenant-Governor's pew, but aloft in the gallery, +immediately over the central entrance underneath, was the pew of Chief +Justice Powell, a long narrow enclosure, with a high screen at its back +to keep off the draughts from the door into the gallery, just behind. +The whole of the inside of the pew, together with the screen by which it +was backed, was lined with dark green baize or cloth. The Chief's own +particular place in the pew was its central point. There, as in a focus, +surrounded by the members of his family, he calmly sat, with his face to +the north, his white head and intelligent features well brought out by +the dark back-ground of the screen behind. + +The spectator, on looking up and recognizing the presence of the Chief +Justice thus seated, involuntarily imagined himself, for the moment, to +be in court. In truth, in an absent moment, the Judge himself might +experience some confusion as to his whereabouts. For below him, on his +right and left, he would see many of the barristers, attorneys, jurors +and witnesses (to go no farther), who on week days were to be seen or +heard before him in different compartments of the Court-room. + +Chief Justice Powell was of Welsh descent. The name is, of course, Ap +Howell; of which "Caer Howell," "Howell's Place," the title given by the +Chief Justice to his Park-lot at York, is a relic. His portrait exists +in Toronto, in possession of members of his family. He was a man of +rather less than the ordinary stature. His features were round in +outline, unmarked by the painful lines which usually furrow the modern +judicial visage, but wakefully intelligent. His hair was milky white. +The head was inclined to be bald. + +We have before us a contemporary brochure of the Chief's, from which we +learn his view of the ecclesiastical land question, which for so long a +period agitated Canada. After a full historical discussion, he +recommends the re-investment of the property in the Crown, "which," he +says, "in its bounty, will apply the proceeds equally for the support of +Christianity, without other distinction:" but he comes to this +determination reluctantly, and considers the plan to be one of +expediency only. We give the concluding paragraph of his pamphlet, for +the sake of its ring--so characteristically that of a by-gone day and +generation: "If the wise provision of Mr. Pitt," the writer says, "to +preserve the Law of the Union [between England and Scotland], by +preserving the Church of England predominant in the Colony, and touching +upon her rights to tythes only for her own advantage, and by the same +course as the Church itself desiderates in England (the exchange of +tythes for the fee simple), must be abandoned to the sudden thought of a +youthful speculator [_i. e._, Mr. Wilmot, Secretary for the Colonies, +who had introduced a bill into the Imperial Parliament for the sale of +the Lands to the Canada Company], let the provision of his bill cease, +and the tythes to which the Church of England was at that time lawfully +entitled be restored; she will enjoy these exclusively even of the Kirk +of Scotland: but if all veneration for the wisdom of our Ancestors has +ceased, and the time is come to prostrate the Church of England, bind +her not up in the same wythe with her bitterest enemy; force her not to +an exclusive association with any one of her rivals; leave the tythes +abolished; abolish all the legal exchange for them; and restore the +Reserves to the Crown, which, in its bounty, will apply the proceeds +equally for the support of Christianity, without other distinction." + +In the body of the Church, below, sat another Chief Justice, retired +from public life, and infirm--Mr. Scott--the immediate predecessor of +Chief Justice Powell; a white-haired, venerable form, assisted to his +place, a little to the south of the Governor's pew, every Sunday. We +have already once before referred to Mr. Scott. + +And again: another judicial personage was here every week long to be +seen, also crowned with the snowy honours of advanced age--Mr. Justice +Campbell--afterwards, in succession to Chief Justice Powell, Chief +Justice Sir William Campbell. His place was on the west side of the +central aisle. Sir William Campbell was born so far back as 1758. He +came out from Scotland as a soldier in a Highland regiment, and was +taken prisoner at Yorktown when that place was surrendered by Cornwallis +in 1781. In 1783 he settled in Nova Scotia and studied law. After +practising as a barrister for nineteen years he was appointed +Attorney-General for the Island of Cape Breton, from which post, after +twelve years, he was promoted to a Judgeship in Upper Canada. This was +in 1811. Fourteen years afterwards (in 1825), he became Chief Justice. + +The funeral of Sir William Campbell, in 1834, was one of unusual +impressiveness. The Legislature was in session at the time, and attended +in a body, with the Bar and the Judges. At the same hour, within the +walls of the same Church, St. James', the obsequies of a member of the +Lower House took place, namely, of Mr. Roswell Mount, representative of +the County of Middlesex, who had chanced to die at York during the +session. + +A funeral oration on the two-fold occasion was pronounced by Archdeacon +Strachan.--Dr. Henry, author of "Trifles from my Portfolio," attended +Sir William Campbell in his last illness. In the work just named, his +case is thus described: "My worthy patient became very weak towards the +end of the year," the doctor says, "his nights were restless--his +appetite began to fail, and he could only relish tit bits. Medicine was +tried fruitlessly, so his doctor prescribed snipes. At the point of the +sandy peninsula opposite the barracks," Dr. Henry continues, "are a +number of little pools and marshes, frequented by these delectable +little birds; and here I used to cross over in my skiff and pick up the +Chief Justice's panacea. On this delicate food the poor old gentleman +was supported for a couple of months; but the frost set in--the snipes +flew away, and Sir William died." (ii. 112.) + +Appended to the account of the funeral ceremonies, in the York _Courier_ +of the day, we notice one of those familiar paragraphs which sensational +itemists like to construct, and which stimulate the self-complacency of +small communities. It is headed Longevity, and then thus proceeds: "At +the funeral of the late Sir W. Campbell, on Monday, there were twenty +inhabitants of York, whose united ages exceed fourteen hundred and fifty +years!" + +It is certain that there were to be seen moving up the aisles of the old +wooden St. James', at York, every Sunday, a striking number of venerable +and dignified forms. For one thing their costume helped to render them +picturesque and interesting. The person of our immediate ancestors was +well set off by their dress. Recall their easy, partially cut-away black +coats and upright collars; their so-called small-clothes and buckled +shoes; the frilled shirt-bosoms and the white cravats, not apologies for +cravats, but real envelopes for the neck. (The comfortable, well-to-do +Quaker of the old school still exhibits in use some of their homely +peculiarities of garb.) And then remember the cut and arrangement of +their hair, generally milky white, either from age or by the aid of +powder; their smoothly-shaven cheek and chin; and the peculiar +expression superinduced in the eye and the whole countenance, by the +governing ideas of the period, ideas which we are wont to style +old-fashioned, but which furnished, nevertheless, for the time being, +very useful and definite rules of conduct. + +Two pictures, one, Trumbull's Signing of the Declaration of +Independence; the other, Huntingdon's Republican Court of Washington +(shewn in Paris in 1867), exhibit to the eye the outward and visible +presentment of the prominent actors in the affairs of the central +portion of the Northern Continent, a century ago. These paintings may +help to do the same, in some degree, for us here in the north, also; any +one of the more conspicuous figures in the congregation of the old St. +James's, at York, might have stepped out from the canvas of one or other +of the historic works of art just named. On occasions of state, even the +silken bag (in the case of officials at least) was attached to the nape +of the neck, as though, in accordance with a fashion of an earlier day +still, the hair were yet worn long, and required gathering up in a +receptacle provided for the purpose. + +It seems to-day almost like a dream that we have seen in the flesh the +honoured patriarchs and founders of our now great community-- + + "Zorah, Nahor, Haran, Abram, Lot, + The youthful world's gray fathers in one knot;"-- + +that our eyes really once beheld the traces on their countenances of +their long and varied experiences, of their cares, and processes of +thought; the traces left by the lapse of years, by times, rough and +troublous, not merely heard of by the hearing of the ear, as existing +across the Lakes or across the Seas, but encountered in their own +persons, in their own land, at their own hearths; encountered and +bravely struggled through:--that we were eye-witnesses of their +cheerfulness and good courage after crisis upon crisis had thus passed +over them; eye-witnesses again, too, of their earnest devotedness to the +duties of calmer days, discharged ever honestly and well according to +the beliefs and knowledge of the period, and without the realization, in +many an instance, of the reach and vastness of the scheme of things +which was being wrought out:--that with our own eyes we saw them, again +and again, engaged within consecrated walls, in solemn acts which +expressed, in spite of the vicissitudes which their destiny had brought +with it, their unaffected faith in the unseen, and their living hope in +relation to futurity. + +All this, we say, now seems like a dream of the night, or a mystic +revelation of the scenes of a very distant period and in a very distant +locality, rather than the recollections of a few short years spent on +the spot where these pages are indited. The names, however, which we +shall produce will have a sound of reality about them: they will be +recognized as familiar, household words still perpetuated, or, at all +events, still freshly remembered in the modern Toronto. + +From amongst the venerable heads and ancestral forms which recur to us, +as we gaze down in imagination from the galleries of the old wooden St. +James', of York, we will single out, in addition to those already spoken +of, that of Mr. Ridout, sometimes Surveyor-General of the Province, +father of a numerous progeny, and tribal head, so to speak, of more than +one family of connections settled here, bearing the same name. He was a +fine typical representative of the group to which our attention is +directed. He was a perfect picture of a cheerful, benevolent-minded +Englishman; of portly form, well advanced in years, his hair snowy-white +naturally; his usual costume, of the antique style above described. + +Then there was Mr. Small, Clerk of the Crown, an Englishman of similar +stamp. We might sketch the rest separately as they rise before the +mind's eye; but we should probably, after all, convey an idea of each +that would be too incomplete to be interesting or of much value. We +therefore simply name other members of the remarkable group of reverend +seniors that assembled habitually in the church at York. Mr. Justice +Boulton, Colonel Smith, sometime President of the Province; Mr. Allan, +Mr. M'Gill, Mr. Crookshank, Colonel Givins, Major Heward, Colonel Wells, +Colonel Fitzgibbon, Mr. Dunn, Dr. Macaulay, Dr. Baldwin, Dr. Lee, Mr. +Samuel Ridout, Mr. Chewett, Mr. McNab (Sir Allan's father); Mr. Stephen +Jarvis, who retained to the last the ancient fashion of tying the hair +in a queue. + +We might go on with several others, also founders of families that still +largely people York and its vicinity; we might mention old Captain +Playter, Captain Denison, Mr. Scarlett, Captain Brooke, sen., and +others. Filial duty would urge us not to omit, in the enumeration, one +who, though at a very early period removed by a sudden casualty, is +vividly remembered, not only as a good and watchful father, but also as +a venerable form harmonizing perfectly in expression and costume with +the rest of the group which used to gather in the church at York. + +Of course, mingled with the ancients of the congregation, there was a +due proportion of a younger generation. There was for example Mr. Simon +Washburn, a bulky and prosperous barrister, afterwards Clerk of the +Peace, who was the first, perhaps, in these parts, to carry a glass +adroitly in the eye. There was Dr. Grant Powell, a handsome +reproduction, on a larger scale, of his father the Chief, as his +portrait shews; there were the Messrs. Monro, George and John; the +Messrs. Stanton; Mr. Billings; the Messrs. Gamble, John and William; Mr. +J. S. Baldwin, Mr. Lyons, Mr. Beikie, and others, all men of note, +distinguishable from each other by individual traits and characteristics +that might readily be sketched. + +And lastly in the interstices of the assemblage was to be seen a +plentiful representation of generation number three; young men and lads +of good looks, for the most part, well set-up limbs, and quick +faculties; in some instances, of course, of fractious temperament and +manners. As ecclesiastical associations are at the moment uppermost, we +note an ill habit that prevailed among some of these younglings of the +flock, of loitering long about the doors of the church for the purpose +of watching the arrivals, and then, when the service was well advanced, +the striplings would be seen sporadically coming in, each one imagining, +as he passed his fingers through his hair and marched with a shew of +manly spirit up the aisle, that he attracted a degree of attention; +attracted, perhaps, a glance of admiration from some of the many pairs +of eyes that rained influence from a large pew in the eastern portion of +the north gallery, where the numerous school of Miss Purcell and Miss +Rose held a commanding position. + +It would have been a singular exception to a general law, had the +interior into which we are now gazing, and whose habitues we are now +recalling, not been largely frequented by the feminine portion of +society at York. Seated in their places in various directions along the +galleries and in the body of the old wooden church, were to be regularly +seen specimens of the venerable great-grandmammas of the old English and +Scottish type (in one or two instances to be thought of to this day with +a degree of awe by reason of the vigour, almost masculine, of their +character); specimens of kindly maiden aunts; specimens of matronly +wives and mothers, keeping watch and ward over bevies of comely +daughters and nieces. + +Lady Sarah Maitland herself cannot be called a fixed member of society +here, but having been for so long a time a resident, it seems now, in +the retrospect, as if she had been really a development of the place. +Her distinguished style, native to herself, had its effect on her +contemporaries of the gentler sex in these parts. Mrs. Dunn, also, and +Mrs. Wells, may likewise be named as special models of grace and +elegance in person and manner. In this all-influential portion of the +community, a tone and air that were good prevailed widely from the +earliest period. + +It soon became a practice with the military, and other temporary +sojourners attached to the Government, to select partners for life from +the families of York. Hence it has happened that, to this day, in +England, Ireland and Scotland, and in the Dependencies of the Empire on +the other side of the globe, many are the households that rise up and +call a daughter of Canada blessed as their maternal head. + +Local aspirants to the holy estate were thus unhappily, now and then, to +their great disgust, baulked of their first choice. But a residue was +always left, sufficient for the supply of the ordinary demand, and +manifold were the interlacings of local connections; a fact in which +there is nothing surprising and nothing to be condemned: it was from +political considerations alone that such affinities came afterwards to +be referred to, in some quarters, with bitterness. + +Occasionally, indeed, a fastidious young man, or a disappointed widower, +would make a selection in parts remote from the home circle, quite +unnecessarily. We recall especially to mind the sensible emotion in the +congregation on the first advent amongst them of a fair bride from +Montreal, the then Paris of Canada; and several lesser excitements of +the same class, on the appearance in their midst of aerial veils and +orange blossoms from Lobo, from New York, from distant England. Once the +selection of a "helpmeet" from a rival religious communion, in the town +of York itself, led to the defection from the flock of a prominent +member; an occurrence that led also to the publication of two polemical +pamphlets, which made a momentary stir; one of them a declamation by a +French bishop; the other, a review of the same, by the pastor of the +abandoned flock. + +The strictures on the intelligence and moral feeling of the feminine, as +well as the masculine portion of society at York, delivered by such +world-experienced writers as Mrs. Jameson, and such enlightened critics +as were two or three of the later Governors' wives, may have been just +in the abstract, to a certain extent, as from the point of view of old +communities in England and Germany; but they were unfair as from the +point of view of persons calmly reviewing all the circumstances of the +case. Here again the maxim applies: _Tout comprendre, c'est tout +pardonner_. + +We have said that the long pew on the west side of the Governor's seat +was allotted to the military. In this compartment we remember often +scanning with interest the countenance and form of a youthful and +delicate-looking ensign, simply because he bore, hereditarily, a name +and title all complete, distinguished in the annals of science two +centuries ago--the Hon. Robert Boyle: he was one of the aides-de-camp of +Sir Peregrine Maitland. Here, also, was to be seen, for a time, a Major +Browne, a brother of the formerly popular poetess, Mrs. Hemans. Here, +too, sat a Zachary Mudge, another hereditary name complete, +distinguished in the scientific annals of Devonshire. He was an officer +of Artillery, and one of Sir John Colborne's aides-de-camp; for some +unexplained reason he committed suicide at York, and his remains were +deposited in the old military burying-ground. In this pew familiar forms +were also--Major Powell, Capt. Grubbe, Major Hillier, Capt. Blois, Capt, +Phillpotts, brother of the Bishop. + +The compartment on the east side of the Governor's pew, was as we have +said, appointed for the use of the members of the Legislature, when in +session. Here at certain periods, generally in mid-winter, were to be +observed all the political notabilities of the day; for at the period we +are glancing at, non-conformists as well as conformists were to be seen +assisting, now and again, at public worship in St. James' Church. + +In their places here the outward presentments of Col. Nichol (killed by +driving over the precipice at Queenston), of Mr. Homer (a Benjamin +Franklin style of countenance), of Dr. Lefferty, of Hamnet Pinhey, of +Mahlon Burwell, of Absalom Shade, of other owners of old Canadian names, +are well remembered. The spare, slender figure of Mr. Speaker Sherwood, +afterwards a judge of the King's Bench, was noticeable. Mr. Chisholm, of +Oakville, used facetiously to object to the clause in the Litany where +"heresy and schism" are deprecated, it so happening that the last term +was usually, by a Scotticism, read "Chisholm." Up to the Parliamentary +pew we have seen Mr. William Lyon McKenzie himself hurriedly make his +way, with an air of great animation, and take his seat, to the visible, +but, of course, repressed disconcertment of several honourable members, +and others. + +Altogether, it was a very complete little world, this assemblage within +the walls of the old wooden church at York. There were present, so to +speak, king, lords, and commons; gentle and simple in due proportion, +with their wives and little ones; judges, magistrates and gentry; +representatives of governmental departments, with their employes; +legislators, merchants, tradespeople, handicraftsmen; soldiers and +sailors; a great variety of class and character. + +All seemed to be in harmony, real or conventional, here; whatever feuds, +family or political, actually subsisted, no very marked symptoms thereof +could be discerned in this place. But the history of all was known, or +supposed to be known, to each. The relationship of each to each was +known, and how it was brought about. It was known to all how every +little scar, every trivial mutilation or disfigurement, which chanced to +be visible on the visage or limb of any one, was acquired, in the +performance of what boyish freak, in the execution of what practical +jest, in the excitement of what convivial or other occasion. + +Here and there sat one who, in obedience to the social code of the day, +had been "out," for the satisfaction, as the term was, of himself or +another, perhaps a quondam friend--satisfaction obtained (let the age be +responsible for the terms we use), in more than one instance, at the +cost of human life. + +(Pewholders in St. James' Church from its commencement to about 1818, +were President Russell: Mr. Justice Cochrane: Mr. Justice Boulton: +Solicitor General Gray: Receiver General Selby: Christopher Robinson: +George Crookshank: William Chewett: J. B. Robinson: Alexander Wood: +William Willcocks: John Beikie: Alexander Macdonell: Chief Justice +Elmsley: Chief Justice Osgoode: Chief Justice Scott: Chief Justice +Powell: Attorney General Firth: Secretary Jarvis: General Shaw: Col. +Smith: D'Arcy Boulton: William Allan: Duncan Cameron: John Small: Thomas +Ridout: William Stanton: Stephen Heward: Donald McLean: Stephen Jarvis: +Capt. McGill: Col. Givins: Dr. Maccaulay: Dr. Gamble: Dr. Baldwin: Dr. +Lee: Mr. St. George: Mr. Denison: Mr. Playter: Mr. Brooke: Mr. Cawthra: +Mr. Scadding: Mr. Ketchum: Mr. Cooper: Mr. Ross: Mr. Jordan: Mr. +Kendrick: Mr. Hunt: Mr. Higgins: Mr. Anderson: Mr. Murchison: Mr. +Bright: Mr. O'Keefe: Mr. Caleb Humphrey.--The Churchwardens for 1807-8 +were: D'Arcy Boulton and William Allan. For 1809: William Allan and +Thomas Ridout. For 1810: William Allan and Stephen Jarvis. For 1812: +Duncan Cameron and Alexander Legge.) + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + X. + + KING STREET: ST. JAMES' CHURCH--(_Continued._) + + +It is beginning, perhaps, to be thought preposterous that we have not as +yet said anything of the occupants of the pulpit and desk, in our +account of this church interior. We are just about to supply the +deficiency. + +Here was to be seen and heard, at his periodical visits, Charles James +Stewart, the second Bishop of Quebec, a man of saintly character and +presence; long a missionary in the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada, +before his appointment to the Episcopate. The contour of his head and +countenance, as well as something of his manner even, may be gathered +from a remark of the late Dr. Primrose, of Toronto, who, while a +stranger, had happened to drop in at the old wooden church when Bishop +Stewart was preaching: "I just thought," the doctor said, "it was the +old King in the pulpit!" _i. e._, George III. + +Here Dr. Okill Stewart, formerly rector of this church, but subsequently +of St. George's, Kingston, used occasionally, when visiting York, to +officiate--a very tall, benevolent, and fine featured ecclesiastic, with +a curious delivery, characterized by unexpected elevations and +depressions of the voice irrespective of the matter, accompanied by long +closings of the eyes, and then a sudden re-opening of the same. Whenever +this preacher ascended the pulpit, one member of the congregation, Mr. +George Duggan, who had had, it was understood, some trivial disagreement +with the doctor during his incumbency in former years, was always +expected, by on-lookers, to rise and walk out. And this he accordingly +always did. The movement seemed a regular part of the programme of the +day, and never occasioned any sensation. + +Here the Rev. Joseph Hudson officiated now and then, a military +chaplain, appointed at a comparatively late period to this post; a +clergyman greatly beloved by the people of the town generally, both as a +preacher and as a man. He was the first officiating minister we ever saw +wearing the academical hood over the ordinary vestment. + +Here, during the sittings of Parliament, of which he was chaplain, Mr. +Addison, of Niagara, was sometimes to be heard. The Library of this +scholarly divine of the old school was presented by him _en bloc_ to St. +Mark's Church, Niagara, of which he was incumbent. It remained for some +years at "Lake View," the private residence of Mr. Addison; but during +the incumbency of Dr. McMurray, it has been removed to the rectory-house +at Niagara, where it is to continue, in accordance with the first +rector's will, for the use of the incumbent for the time being. + +It is a remarkable collection, as exhibiting the line of reading of a +thoughtful and intelligent man of the last century: many treatises and +tracts of contemporary, but now defunct interest, not elsewhere to be +met with, probably, in Canada, are therein preserved. The volumes, for +the most part, retain their serviceable bindings of old pane-sided calf; +but some of them, unfortunately, bear marks of the havoc made by damp +and vermin before their transfer to their present secure place of +shelter. Mr. Addison used to walk to and from Church in his canonicals +in the old-fashioned way, recalling the Johnsonian period, when clergy +very generally wore the cassock and gown in the streets. + +Another chaplain to the Legislative Assembly was Mr. William Macaulay, a +preacher always listened to with a peculiar attention, whenever he was +to be heard in the pulpit here. Mr. Macaulay was a member of the +Macaulay family settled at Kingston. He had been sent to Oxford, where +he pursued his studies without troubling himself about a degree. While +there he acquired the friendship of several men afterwards famous, +especially of Whately, sometime Archbishop of Dublin, with whom a +correspondence was maintained. + +Mr. Macaulay's striking and always deeply-thoughtful manner was set off +to advantage by the fine intellectual contour of his face and head, +which were not unlike those to be seen in the portrait of Maltby, +Bishop of Durham, usually prefixed to Morell's Thesaurus. + +One more chaplain of the House may be named, frequently heard and seen +in this church--Dr. Thomas Phillips--another divine, well read, of a +type that has now disappeared. His personal appearance was very clerical +in the old-fashioned sense. His countenance was of the class represented +by that of the late Sir Henry Ellis, as finely figured, not long since, +in the _Illustrated News_. He was one of the last wearers of hair-powder +in these parts. In reading the Creed he always endeavoured to conform to +the old English custom of turning towards the east; but to do this in +the desk of the old church was difficult. + +Dr. Phillips was formerly of Whitchurch, in Herefordshire. He died in +1849, aged 68, at Weston, on the Humber, where he founded and organized +the parish of St. Philip. His body was borne to to its last +resting-place by old pupils. We once had in our possession a pamphlet +entitled "The Canadian Remembrancer, a Loyal Sermon, preached on St. +George's Day, April 23, 1826, at the Episcopal Church (York), by the +Rev. T. Phillips, D.D., Head Master of the Grammar School. Printed at +the _Gazette_ Office." + +There remains to be noticed the "pastor and master" of the whole +assemblage customably gathered together in St. James' Church--Dr. John +Strachan. On this spot, in successive edifices, each following the other +in rapid succession, and each surpassing the other in dignity and +propriety of architectural style, he, for more than half a century, was +the principal figure. + +The story of his career is well known, from his departure from Scotland, +a poor but spirited youth, in 1799, to his decease in 1867, as first +Bishop of Toronto, with its several intermediate stages of activity and +promotion. His outward aspect and form are also familiar, from the +numerous portraits of him that are everywhere to be seen. In stature +slightly under the medium height, with countenance and head of the type +of Milton's in middle age, without eloquence, without any extraordinary +degree of originality of mind, he held together here a large +congregation, consisting of heterogeneous elements, by the strength and +moral force of his personal character. Qualities, innate to himself, +decisiveness of intellect, firmness, a quick insight into things and +men, with a certain fertility of resource, conspired to win for him the +position which he filled, and enabled him to retain it with ease; to +sustain, with a graceful and unassuming dignity, all the augmentations +which naturally accumulated round it, as the community, of which he was +so vital a part, grew and widened and rose to a higher and higher level, +on the swelling tide of the general civilization of the continent. + +In all his public ministrations he was to be seen officiating without +affectation in manner or style. A stickler in ritual would have declared +him indifferent to minutiae. He wore the white vesture of his office with +an air of negligence, and his doctor's robe without any special +attention to its artistic adjustment upon his person. A technical +precisian in modern popular theology would pronounce him out now and +then in his doctrine. What he seemed especially to drive at was not +dogmatic accuracy so much as a well-regulated life, in childhood, youth +and manhood. The good sense of the matter delivered--and it was never +destitute of that quality--was solely relied on for the results to be +produced: the topics of modern controversy never came up in his +discourse: at the period to which we refer they were in most quarters +dormant, their re-awakening deferred until the close of a thirty years' +peace, but then destined to set mankind by the ears when now relieved +from the turmoil of physical and material war, but roused to great +intellectual activity. + +Many a man that dropped in during the time of public worship, inclined +from prejudice to be captious, inclined even to be merry over certain +national peculiarities of utterance and diction, which to a stranger, +for a time, made the matter delivered not easy to be understood, went +out with quite a different sentiment in regard to the preacher and his +words. + +In the early days of Canada, a man of capacity was called upon, as we +have seen in other instances, to play many parts. It required tact to +play them all satisfactorily. In the case of Dr. Strachan--the voice +that to-day would be heard in the pulpit, offering counsel and advice as +to the application of sacred principles to life and conduct, in the +presence of all the civil functionaries of the country, from Sir +Peregrine Maitland to Mr. Chief Constable Higgins; from Chief Justice +Powell to the usher of his court, Mr. Thomas Phipps; from Mr. Speaker +Sherwood or McLean to Peter Shaver, Peter Perry, and the other popular +representatives of the Commons in Parliament;--the voice that to-day +would be heard in the desk leading liturgically the devotions of the +same mixed multitude--to-morrow was to be heard by portions, large or +small, of the same audience, amidst very different surroundings, in +other quarters; by some of them, for example, at the Executive Council +Board, giving a lucid judgment on a point of governmental policy, or in +the Chamber of the Legislative Assembly, delivering a studied oration on +a matter touching the interests and well-being of the whole population +of the country, or reading an elaborate original report on the same or +some cognate question, to be put forth as the judgment of a committee: +or elsewhere, the same voice might be heard at a meeting for patriotic +purposes; at the meeting of a Hospital, Educational, or other important +secular Trust; at an emergency meeting, when sudden action was needed on +the part of the charitable and benevolent. + +Without fail, that voice would be heard by a large portion of the +juniors of the flock on the following day, amidst the busy commotion of +School, apportioning tasks, correcting errors, deciding appeals, +regulating discipline; at one time formally instructing, at another +jocosely chaffing, the sons and nephews of nearly all the well-to-do +people, gentle and simple, of York and Upper Canada. + +To have done all this without awkwardness shews the possession of much +prudence and tact. To have had all this go on for some decades without +any blame that was intended to be taken in very serious earnest; nay, +winning in the process applause and gratitude on the right hand and on +the left--this argues the existence of something very sterling in the +man. + +Nor let us local moderns, whose lot it is to be part and parcel of a +society no longer rudimentary, venture to condemn one who while +especially appointed to be a conspicuous minister of religion, did not +decline the functions, diverse and multiform, which an infant society, +discerning the qualities inherent in him, and lacking instruments for +its uses, summoned him to undertake. Let no modern caviller, we say, do +this, unless he is prepared to avow the opinion that to be a minister of +religion, a man must, of necessity, be only partially-developed in mind +and spirit, incapable, as a matter of course, of offering an opinion of +value on subjects of general human interest. + +The long possession of unchallenged authority within the immediate area +of his ecclesiastical labours, rendered Dr. Strachan for some time +opposed to the projects that began, as the years rolled on, to be mooted +for additional churches in the town of York. He could not readily be +induced to think otherwise than as the Duke of Wellington thought in +regard to Reform in the representation, or as ex-Chancellor Eldon +thought in regard to greater promptitude in Chancery decisions, that +there was no positive need of change. + +"Would you break up the congregation?" was the sharp rejoinder to the +early propounders of schemes for Church-extension in York. But as years +passed over, and the imperious pressure of events and circumstances was +felt, this reluctance gave way. The beautiful cathedral mother-church, +into which, under his own eye, and through his own individual energy, +the humble wooden edifice of 1803 at length, by various gradations, +developed, forms now a fitting mausoleum for his mortal remains--a +stately monument to one who was here in his day the human main-spring of +so many vitally-important and far-reaching movements. + +Other memorials in his honour have been projected and thought of. One of +them we record for its boldness and originality and fitness, although we +have no expectation that the aesthetic feeling of the community will soon +lead to the practical adoption of the idea thrown out. The suggestion +has been this: that in honour of the deceased Bishop, there should be +erected, in some public place, in Toronto, an exact copy of Michael +Angelo's Moses, to be executed at Rome for the purpose, and shipped +hither. The conception of such a form of monument is due to the Rev. W. +Macaulay, of Picton. We need not say what dignity would be given to the +whole of Toronto by the possession of such a memorial object within its +precincts as this, and how great, in all future time, would be the +effect, morally and educationally, when the symbolism of the art-object +was discovered and understood. Its huge bulk, its boldly-chiselled and +only partially-finished limbs and drapery, raised aloft on a plain +pedestal of some Laurentian rock, would represent, not ill, the man whom +it would commemorate--the character, roughly-outlined and incomplete in +parts, but, when taken as a whole, very impressive and even grand, which +looms up before us, whichever way we look, in our local Past. + +One of the things that ennoble the old cities of continental Europe and +give them their own peculiar charm, is the existence of such objects in +their streets and squares, at once works of art for the general eye, and +memorials of departed worth and greatness. With what interest, for +example, does the visitor gaze on the statue of Gutenberg at Mayence; +and at Marseilles on that of the good Bishop Belzunce!--of whom we read, +that he was at once "the founder of a college, and a magistrate, +almoner, physician and priest to his people." The space in front of the +west porch of the cathedral of St. James would be an appropriate site +for such a noble memorial-object as that which Mr. Macaulay +suggests--just at the spot where was the entrance, the one sole humble +portal, of the structure of wood out of which the existing pile has +grown. + +Our notice of the assembly usually to be seen within the walls of the +primitive St. James', would not be complete, were we to omit all mention +of Mr. John Fenton, who for some time officiated therein as parish +clerk. During the palmy days of parish clerks in the British Islands, +such functionaries, deemed at the time, locally, as indispensable as the +parish minister himself, were a very peculiar class of men. He was a +rarity amongst them, who could repeat in a rational tone and manner the +responses delegated to him by the congregation. This arose from the +circumstance that he was usually an all but illiterate village rustic, +or narrow-minded small-townsman, brought into a prominence felt on all +sides to be awkward. + +Mr. Fenton's peculiarities, on the contrary, arose from his +intelligence, his acquirements, and his independence of character. He +was a rather small shrewd-featured person, at a glance not deficient in +self-esteem. He was a proficient in modern popular science, a ready +talker and lecturer. Being only a proxy, his rendering of the official +responses in church was marked perhaps by a little too much +individuality, but it could not be said that it was destitute of a +certain rhetorical propriety of emphasis and intonation. Though not +gifted, in his own person, with much melody of voice, his acquisitions +included some knowledge of music. In those days congregational psalmody +was at a low ebb, and the small choirs that offered themselves +fluctuated, and now and then vanished wholly. Not unfrequently, Mr. +Fenton, after giving out the portion of Brady and Tate, which it pleased +him to select, would execute the whole of it as a solo, to some +accustomed air, with graceful variations of his own. All this would be +done with great coolness and apparent self-satisfaction. + +While the discourse was going on in the Pulpit above him, it was his +way, often, to lean himself resignedly back in a corner of his pew and +throw a white cambric handkerchief over his head and face. It +illustrates the spirit of the day to add, that Mr. Fenton's employment +as official mouth-piece to the congregation of the English Church, did +not stand in the way of his making himself useful, at the same time, as +a class-leader among the Wesleyan Methodists. + +The temperament and general style of this gentleman did not fail of +course to produce irritation of mind in some quarters. The _Colonial +Advocate_ one morning averred its belief that Mr. Fenton had, on the +preceding Sunday, glanced at itself and its patrons in giving out and +singing (probably as a solo) the Twelfth Psalm: "Help, Lord, for good +and godly men do perish and decay; and faith and truth from worldly men +are parted clean away; whoso doth with his neighbour talk, his talk is +all but vain; for every man bethinketh now to flatter, lie and feign!" +Mr. Fenton afterwards removed to the United States, where he obtained +Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. His son was a clever and ingenious +youth. We remember a capital model in wood of "Caesar's Bridge over the +Rhine," constructed by him from a copper-plate engraving in an old +edition of the Commentaries used by him in the Grammar School at York. + +The predecessor of Mr. Fenton in the clerk's desk was Mr. +Hetherington--a functionary of the old-country village stamp. His habit +was, after giving out a psalm, to play the air on a bassoon; and then to +accompany with fantasias on the same instrument such vocalists as felt +inclined to take part in the singing. This was the day of small things +in respect of ecclesiastical music at York. A choir from time to time +had been formed. Once, we have understood, two rival choirs were heard +on trial in the Church; one of them strong in instrumental resources, +having the aid of a bass-viol, clarionet and bassoon; the other more +dependent on its vocal excellencies. The instrumental choir triumphantly +prevailed, as we are assured: and in 1819 an allowance of L20 was made +to Mr. Hetherington for giving instruction in church music. One of the +principal encouragers of the vocalist-party was Dr. Burnside. But all +expedients for doing what was, in reality, the work of the congregation +itself were unreliable; and the clerk or choir-master too often found +himself a solitary performer. Mr. Hetherington's bassoon, however, may +be regarded as the harbinger and foreshadow of the magnificent organ +presented in after-times to the congregation of the "Second Temple" of +St. James', by Mr. Dunn--a costly and fine-toned instrument (presided +over, for a short time, by the eminent Dr. Hodges, subsequently of +Trinity Church, New York), but destined to be destroyed by fire, +together with the whole church, after only two years of existence, in +1839. + +In the conflagration of 1839 another loss occurred, not so much to be +regretted; we refer to the destruction of a very large triplet window of +stained glass over the altar of the church, containing three life-size +figures by Mr. Craig, a local "historical and ornamental painter," not +well skilled in the ecclesiastical style. As home-productions, however, +these objects were tenderly eyed; but Mrs. Jameson in her work on Canada +cruelly denounced them as being "in a vile tawdry taste."--Conceive, in +the presence of these three Craigs, the critical authoress of the +"History of Sacred and Legendary art," accustomed, in the sublime +cathedrals of Europe, to + + "See the great windows like the jewell'd gates + Of Paradise, burning with harmless fire." + +Mr. Dunn, named above as donor of an organ to the second St. James', had +provided the previous wooden church with Communion Plate. In the +_Loyalist_ of March 1, 1828, we read: "The undersigned acknowledges the +receipt of L112 18 5 from the Hon. John Henry Dunn, being the price of a +superb set of Communion Plate presented by him to St. James' Church at +this place. J. B. Macaulay, Church Warden, York, 23rd Feb., 1828." + +Before leaving St. James' Church and its precincts, it may be well to +give some account of the steps taken in 1818, for the enlargement of the +original building. This we are enabled to do, having before us an all +but contemporary narrative. It will be seen that great adroitness was +employed in making the scheme acceptable, and that pains were shrewdly +taken to prevent a burdensome sense of self-sacrifice on the part of the +congregation. At the same time a pleasant instance of voluntary +liberality is recorded. "A very respectable church was built at York in +the Home District, many years ago"--the narrative referred to, in the +_Christian Recorder_ for 1819, p. 214, proceeds to state--"which at that +time accommodated the inhabitants; but for some years past, it has been +found too small, and several attempts were made to enlarge and repair +it. At length, in April 1818, in a meeting of the whole congregation, it +was resolved to enlarge the church, and a committee was appointed to +suggest the most expeditious and economical method of doing it. The +committee reported that a subscription in the way of loan, to be repaid +when the seats were sold, was the most promising method. No subscription +to be taken under twenty-five pounds, payable in four instalments." + +"Two gentlemen," the narrative continues, "were selected to carry the +subscription paper round; and in three hours from twelve to thirteen +hundred pounds were subscribed. Almost all the respectable gentlemen +gave in loan Fifty Pounds; and the Hon. Justice Boulton, and George +Crookshank, Esq., contributed L100 each, to accomplish so good an +object. The church was enlarged, a steeple erected, and the whole +building with its galleries, handsomely finished. In January last +(1819)," our authority proceeds to say, "when everything was completed, +the pews were sold at a year's credit, and brought more money than the +repairs and enlargement cost. Therefore," it is triumphantly added, "the +inhabitants at York erect a very handsome church at a very little +expense to themselves, for every one may have his subscription money +returned, or it may go towards payment of a pew; and, what is more, the +persons who subscribed for the first church count the amount of their +subscription as part of the price of their new pews. This fair +arrangement has been eminently successful; and gave great satisfaction." + +The special instance of graceful voluntary liberality above referred to +is then subjoined in these terms: "George Crookshank, Esq., +notwithstanding the greatness of his subscription, and the pains which +he took in getting the church well finished, has presented the clergyman +with cushions for the pulpit and reading desk, covered with the richest +and finest damask; and likewise cloth for the communion-table." "This +pious liberality," the writer remarks, "cannot be too much commended; it +tells us that the benevolent zeal of ancient times is not entirely done +away. The congregation were so much pleased," it is further recorded, +"that a vote of thanks was unanimously offered to Mr. Crookshank for his +munificent present." (The pulpit, sounding-board, and desk had been a +gift of Governor Gore to the original church, and had cost the sum of +one hundred dollars.) + +When the necessity arose in 1830 for replacing the church thus enlarged +and improved, by an entirely new edifice of more respectable dimensions, +the same cool, secular ingenuity was again displayed in the scheme +proposed; and it was resolved by the congregation (among other things) +"that the pew-holders of the present church, if they demanded the same, +be credited one-third of the price of the pews that they purchased in +the new church, not exceeding in number those which they possessed in +the old church; that no person be entitled to the privilege granted by +the last resolution who shall not have paid up the whole purchase money +of his pew in the old church; that the present church remain as it is, +till the new one is finished; that after the new church is completed, +the materials of the present one be sold to the highest bidder, and the +proceeds of the same be applied to the liquidation of any debt that may +be contracted in erecting the new church, or furnishing the same; that +the upset price of pews in the new church be twenty-five pounds +currency;" and so on. + +The stone edifice then erected (measuring within about 100 by 75 feet), +but never completed in so far as related to its tower, was destroyed by +fire in 1839. Fire, in truth, may be said to be, sooner or later, the +"natural death" of public buildings in our climate, where, for so many +months in every year, the maintenance within them of a powerful +artificial heat is indispensable. + +Ten years after the re-edification of the St. James' burnt in 1839, its +fate was again to be totally destroyed. But now fire was communicated to +it from an external source--from a general conflagration raging at the +time in the part of the town lying to the eastward. On this occasion was +destroyed in the belfry of the tower, a Public Clock, presented to the +inhabitants of Toronto, by Mr. Draper, on his ceasing to be one of their +representatives in Parliament. + +In the later annals of St. James' Church, the year 1873 is memorable. + +Several very important details in Mr. Cumberland's noble design for the +building had long remained unrealized. The tower and spire were absent: +as also the fine porches on the east, west, and south sides, the turrets +at the angles, and the pinnacles and finials of the buttresses. +Meanwhile the several parts of the structure where these appendages +were, in due time, to be added, were left in a condition to shew to the +public the mind and intention of the architect. + +In 1872, by the voluntary munificence of several members of the +congregation, a fund for the completion of the edifice in accordance +with Mr. Cumberland's plans was initiated, to which generous donations +were immediately added; and in 1873 the edifice, of whose humble +"protoplasm" in 1803 we have sought, in a preceding section, to preserve +the memory, was finally brought to a state of perfection. + +By the completion of St. James' Church, a noble aspect has been given to +the general view of Toronto. Especially has King Street been enriched, +the ranges of buildings on its northern side, as seen from east or west, +culminating centrically now in an elevated architectural object of +striking beauty and grandeur, worthy alike of the comely, cheerful, +interesting thoroughfare which it overlooks, and of the era when the +finial crowning its apex was at length set in its place. + +Worthy of special commemorative record are those whose thoughtful +liberality originated the fund by means of which St. James' Church was +completed. The Dean, the Very Rev. H. J. Grasett, gave the handsome sum +of Five thousand dollars. Mr. John Worthington, Four thousand dollars. +Mr. C. Gzowski, Two thousand dollars. Mr. J. Gillespie, One thousand +dollars. Mr. E. H. Rutherford, One thousand dollars. Mr. W. Cawthra, One +thousand dollars. Mr. Gooderham and Mr. Worts, conjointly, One thousand +dollars. Miss Gordon, the daughter of a former ever-generous member of +the congregation, the Hon. J. Gordon, One thousand dollars. Sums, in +endless variety, from Eight Hundred dollars downwards, were in a like +good spirit offered on the occasion by other members of the +congregation, according to their means. An association of young men +connected with the congregation undertook and effected the erection of +the Southern Porch. + +Let it be added, likewise, that in 1866, the sum of Fourteen thousand +nine hundred and forty-five dollars was expended in the purchase of a +peal of bells, and in providing a chamber for its reception in the +tower--a free gift to the whole community greatly surpassing in money's +worth the sum above named: for have not the chimes, with all +old-countrymen at least, within the range of their sound, the effect of +an instantaneous translation to the other side of the Atlantic? Close +the eyes, and at once the spirit is far, far away, hearkening, now in +the calm of a summer's evening, now between the fitful wind-gusts of a +boisterous winter's morn, to music in exactly the same key, with exactly +the same series of cadences, given out from tree-embosomed tower in some +ancient market-town or village, familiar to the listener in every turn +and nook, in days bygone. + +And further, let it be added, that in 1870, to do honour to the memory +of the then recently deceased Bishop Strachan, the congregation of St. +James "beautified" the chancel of their church at a cost of Seven +thousand five hundred dollars, surrounding the spacious apse with an +arcade of finely carved oak, adding seats for the canons, a decanal +stall, a bishop's throne, a pulpit and desk, all in the same style and +material, elaborately carved, with a life-like bust in white marble of +the departed prelate, by Fraser of Montreal, in a niche constructed for +its reception in the western wall of the chancel, with a slab of dark +stone below bearing the following inscription in gilded letters:-- + + "NEAR THIS SPOT REST THE MORTAL REMAINS OF JOHN STRACHAN, FIRST + BISHOP OF TORONTO, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE NOVEMBER THE 1ST, + 1867, IN THE NINETIETH YEAR OF HIS AGE AND THE TWENTY-NINTH OF + HIS EPISCOPATE. HIS CONSPICUOUS LABOURS, FORESIGHT, AND + CONSTANCY IN THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCH AND COMMONWEALTH, AS AN + EDUCATOR, AS A MINISTER OF RELIGION, AS A STATESMAN, FORM AN + IMPORTANT PORTION OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF WESTERN CANADA. DURING + THIRTY-FIVE YEARS HE WAS RECTOR OF THIS CHURCH AND PARISH. IN + REMEMBRANCE OF HIM, THE CONGREGATION HAVE BEAUTIFIED THE CHANCEL + AND ERECTED THIS MEMORIAL. EASTER, 1870." + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XI. + + KING STREET: DIGRESSION NORTHWARD AT CHURCH STREET: THE OLD DISTRICT + GRAMMAR SCHOOL. + + +Immediately north of the church plot, and separated from it by an +allowance for a street, was a large field, almost square, containing six +acres. In a plan of the date 1819, and signed "T. Ridout, +Surveyor-General," this piece of ground is entitled "College Square." +(In the same plan the church reservation is marked "Church Square;" and +the block to the west, "Square for Court House and Jail.") The fact that +the Jail was to be erected there accounts for the name "Newgate Street," +formerly borne by what is now Adelaide Street. + +In the early days, when the destined future was but faintly realized, +"College Square" was probably expected to become in time, and to +continue for ever, an ornamental piece of ground round an educational +institution. The situation, in the outskirts of York, would be deemed +convenient and airy. + +For many years this six-acre field was the play-ground of the District +Grammar School. Through the middle of it, from north to south, passed a +shallow "swale," where water collected after rains; and where in winter +small frozen ponds afforded not bad sliding-places. In this moist +region, numerous crayfish were to be found in summer. Their whereabouts +was always indicated by small clay chimneys of a circular form, built by +the curious little nipping creatures themselves, over holes for the +admission of air. + +In different places in this large area were remains of huge pine-stumps, +underneath the long roots of which it was an amusement to dig and form +cellars or imaginary treasure-vaults and powder-magazines. About these +relics of the forest still grew remains of the ordinary vegetation of +such situations in the woods; especially an abundance of the +sorrel-plant, the taste of which will be remembered, as being quite +relishable. In other places were wide depressions showing where large +trees had once stood. Here were no bad places, when the whim so was, to +lie flat on the back and note the clouds in the blue vault over head; +watch the swallows and house-martins when they came in spring; and +listen to their quiet prattle with each other as they darted to and fro; +sights and sounds still every year, at the proper season, to be seen and +heard in the same neighbourhood, yielding to those who have an eye or +ear for such matters a pleasure ever new; sights and sounds to this day +annually resulting from the cheery movements and voices of the direct +descendants, doubtless, of the identical specimens that flitted hither +and thither over the play-ground of yore. + +White clover, with other herbage that commonly appears spontaneously in +clearings, carpeted the whole of the six acres, with the exception of +the places worn bare, where favourable spots had been found for the +different games of ball in vogue--amongst which, however, cricket was +not then in these parts included--except, perhaps, under a form most +infantile and rudimentary. After falls of moist snow in winter, gigantic +balls used here to be formed, gathering as they were rolled along, until +by reason of their size and weight they could be urged forward no +further: and snow castles on a large scale were laboriously built; +destined to be defended or captured with immense displays of gallantry. +Preparatory to such contest, piles of ammunition would be stored away +within these structures. It was prohibited, indeed, in the articles to +be observed in operations of attack and defence, to construct missiles +of very wet snow; to dip a missile in melted snow-water prior to use; to +subject a missile after a saturation of this kind, to the action of a +night's frost; to secrete within the substance of a missile any foreign +matter; yet, nevertheless, occasionally such acts were not refrained +from; and wounds and bruises of an extra serious character, inflicted by +hands that could not always be identified, caused loud and just +complaints. Portions of the solid and extensive walls of the +extemporized snow-fortresses were often conspicuous in the play-ground +long after a thaw had removed the wintry look from the rest of the +scene. + +The Building into which the usual denizens of the six-acre play-ground +were constrained, during certain portions of each day, to withdraw +themselves, was situated at a point 114 feet from its western, and 104 +from its southern boundary. It was a large frame structure, about +fifty-five long, and forty wide; of two storeys; each of a respectable +altitude. The gables faced east and west. On each side of the edifice +were two rows of ordinary sash windows, five above, and five below. At +the east end were four windows, two above, two below. At the west end +were five windows and the entrance-door. The whole exterior of the +building was painted of a bluish hue, with the exception of the window +and door frames, which were white. Within, on the first floor, after the +lobby, was a large square apartment. About three yards from each of its +angles, a plain timber prop or post helped to sustain the ceiling. At +about four feet from the floor, each of these quasi-pillars began to be +chamfered off at its four angles. Filling up the south-east corner of +the room was a small platform approached on three sides by a couple of +steps. This sustained a solitary desk about eight feet long, its lower +part cased over in front with thin deal boards, so as to shut off from +view the nether extremities of whosoever might be sitting at it. + +On the general level of the floor below, along the whole length of the +southern and northern sides of the chamber, were narrow desks set close +against the wall, with benches arranged at their outer side. At right +angles to these, and consequently running out, on each side into the +apartment, stood a series of shorter desks, with double slopes, and +benches placed on either side. Through the whole length of the room from +west to east, between the ends of the two sets of cross benches, a wide +space remained vacant. Every object and surface within this interior, +were of the tawny hue which unpainted pine gradually assumes. Many were +the gashes that had furtively been made in the ledges of the desks and +on the exterior angles of the benches; many the ducts cut in the slopes +of the desks for spilt ink or other fluid; many the small cell with +sliding lid, for the incarceration of fly or spider; many the initials +and dates carved here, and on other convenient surfaces, on the wainscot +and the four posts. + +On the benches and at the desks enumerated and described, on either +side, were ordinarily to be seen the figures and groups which usually +fill up a school interior, all busily engaged in one or other of the +many matters customary in the training and informing the minds of boys. +Here, at one time, was to be heard, on every side, the mingled but +subdued sound of voices conning or repeating tasks, answering and +putting questions; at another time, the commotion arising out of a +transposition of classes, or the breaking up of the whole assembly into +a fresh set of classes; at another time, a hushed stillness preparatory +to some expected allocution, or consequent on some rebuke or admonition. +It was manifest, at a glance, that the whole scene was under the spell +of a skilled disciplinarian. + +Here, again, the presiding genius of the place was Dr. Strachan. From a +boy he had been in the successful discharge of the duties of a +schoolmaster. At the early age of sixteen we find that he was in charge +of a school at Carmyllie, with the grown-up sons of the neighbouring +farmers, and of some of the neighbouring clergy, well under control. At +that period he was still keeping his terms and attending lectures, +during the winter months, at King's College, Aberdeen. Two years +afterwards he obtained a slightly better appointment of the same kind at +Denino, still pursuing his academical studies, gathering, as is evident +from his own memoranda, a considerable knowledge of men and things, and +forming friendships that proved life-long. Of his stay at Denino he +says, in 1800: "The two years which I spent at Denino were, perhaps, as +happy as any in my life; much more than any time since." "At Denino," +the same early document states, "I learned to think for myself. Dr. +Brown [the parish-minister of the place, afterwards professor at +Glasgow,] corrected many of my false notions. Thomas Duncan [afterwards +a professor at St. Andrew's] taught me to use my reason and to employ +the small share of penetration I possess in distinguishing truth from +error. I began to extend my thoughts to abstract and general ideas; and +to summon the author to the bar of my reason. I learned to discriminate +between hypotheses and facts, and to separate the ebullitions of fancy +from the deductions of reason. It is not to be supposed that I could or +can do these things perfectly; but I began to apply my powers: my skill +is still increasing." + +Then for two years more, and up to the moment of his bold determination +to make trial of his fortunes in the new world beyond the seas, he is in +charge of the parish-school of Kettle. We have before us a list of his +school there, March the 22nd, 1798. The names amount to eighty-two. +After each, certain initials are placed denoting disposition and +capability, and the direction of any particular talent. Among these +names are to be read that of D. Wilkie, afterwards the artist, and that +of J. Barclay, afterwards the naval commander here on Lake Erie. We +believe that Thomas Campbell, author of the Pleasures of Hope, was also +for a time under his care. + +In the history of Dr. Strachan's educational labours in Canada, the +school at York presents fewer points of interest than that at Cornwall, +which is rendered illustrious by having had enrolled on its books so +many names familiar in the annals of Upper Canada. Among the forty-two +subscribers to an address accompanying a piece of Plate in 1833, there +are Robinsons, and Macaulays, and McDonells, and McLeans, and Joneses, +and Stantons, and Bethunes; a Jarvis, a Chewett, a Boulton, a +Vankoughnet, a Smith of Kingston, an Anderson; with some others now less +known.--So illustrative is that address of the skill and earnest care of +the instructor on the one hand, and of the value set upon his efforts by +his scholars, on the other, after the lapse of many years, that we are +induced to give here a short extract from it. + +"Our young minds," the signers of the address in 1833 say, referring to +their school-days in Cornwall--"our young minds received there an +impression which has scarcely become fainter from time, of the deep and +sincere interest which you took, not only in our advancement in learning +and science, but in all that concerned our happiness or could affect our +future prospects in life." To which Dr. Strachan replies by saying, +among many other excellent things--"It has ever been my conviction that +our scholars should be considered for the time our children; and that as +parents we should study their peculiar dispositions, if we really wish +to improve them; for if we feel not something of the tender relation of +parents towards them, we cannot expect to be successful in their +education. It was on this principle I attempted to proceed: strict +justice tempered with parental kindness; and the present joyful meeting +evinces its triumph: it treats the sentiments and feelings of scholars +with proper consideration; and while it gives the heart and affections +full freedom to shew themselves in filial gratitude on the one side, and +fatherly affection, on the other, it proves that unsparing labour +accompanied with continual anxiety for the learner's progress never +fails to ensure success and to produce a friendship between master and +scholar which time can never dissolve." + +Notwithstanding the greater glory of the school at Cornwall, (of which +institution we may say, in passing, there is an engraving in the +board-room of the Toronto Mechanics' Institute,) the lists of the school +at York always presented a strong array of the old, well-known and even +distinguished, Upper Canadian names. This will be seen by a perusal of +the following document, which will also give an idea of the variety of +matters to which attention was given in the school. The numerous family +names which will at once be recognized, will require no comment.--The +intervals between the calling up of each separate class for examination +appear to have been very plentifully filled up with recitations and +debates. + +"Order of examination of the Home District Grammar School [at York]. +Wednesday, 11th August, 1819. First Day. The Latin and Greek Classes. +Euclid and Trigonometry. Thursday, 12th August. Second day. To commence +at 10 o'clock. Prologue, by Robert Baldwin.--Reading Class.--George +Strachan, _The Excellence of the Bible_. Thomas Ridout, _The Man of +Ross_. James McDonell, _Liberty and Slavery_. St. George Baldwin, _The +Sword_. William McMurray, _Soliloquy on Sleep_. Arithmetic Class--James +Smith, _The Sporting Clergyman_. William Boulton, jun., _The Poets New +Year's Gift_. Richard Oates, _Ode to Apollo_. Orville Cassell, _The +Rose_. Book-keeping.--William Myers, _My Mother_. Francis Heward, _My +Father_. George Dawson, _Lapland_.--First Grammar Class.--Second Grammar +Class.--_Debate on the Slave Trade_. For the Abolition: Francis Ridout, +John Fitzgerald, William Allan, George Boulton, Henry Heward, William +Baldwin, John Ridout, John Doyle, James Strachan. Against the Abolition: +Abraham Nelles, James Baby, James Doyle, Charles Heward, Allan McDonell, +James Myers, Charles Ridout, William Boulton, Walker Smith.--First +Geography Class.--Second Geography Class. James Dawson, _The Boy that +told Lies_. James Bigelow, _The Vagrant_. Thomas Glassco, _The Parish +Workhouse_. Edward Glennon, _The Apothecary_.--Natural History.--Debate +by the Young Boys: _Sir William Strickland_, Charles Heward. _Lord +Morpeth_, John Owens. _Lord Hervey_, John Ridout. _Mr. Plomer_, Raymond +Baby. _Sir William Yonge_, John Fitzgerald. _Sir William Windham_, John +Boulton. _Mr. Henry Pelham_, Henry Heward. _Mr. Bernard_, George +Strachan. _Mr. Noel_, William Baldwin. _Mr. Shippen_, James Baby. _Sir +Robert Walpole_, S. Givins and J. Doyle. _Mr. Horace Walpole_, James +Myers. _Mr. Pulteney_, Charles Baby.--Civil History.--William Boulton, +_The Patriot_. Francis Ridout, _The Grave of Sir John Moore_. Saltern +Givins, _Great Britain_. John Boulton, _Eulogy on Mr. Pitt_. Warren +Claus, _The Indian Warrior_. Charles Heward, _The Soldier's Dream_. +William Boulton, _The Heroes of Waterloo_.--Catechism.--_Debate on the +College at Calcutta_. Speakers: _Mr. Canning_, Robert Baldwin. _Sir +Francis Baring_, John Doyle. _Mr. Wainwright_, Mark Burnham. _Mr. +Thornton_, John Knott. _Sir D. Scott_, William Boulton. _Lord Eldon_, +Warren Claus. _Sir S. Lawrence_, Allan Macaulay. _Lord Hawkesbury_, +Abraham Nelles. _Lord Bathurst_, James McGill Strachan, _Sir Thomas +Metcalf_, Walker Smith. _Lord Teignmouth_, Horace Ridout.--Religious +Questions and Lectures.--James McGill Strachan, Anniversary of the York +and Montreal Colleges anticipated for 1st January, 1822. Epilogue, by +Horace Ridout." + +In the prologue pronounced by "Robert Baldwin," the administration of +Hastings in India is eulogized: + + "Her powerful Viceroy, Hastings, leads the way + For radiant Truth to gain imperial sway; + The arts and sciences, for ages lost, + Roused at his call, revisit Brahma's coast." + +Sir William Jones is also thus apostrophized, in connection with his +"Asiatic Researches": + + "Thy comprehensive genius soon explored + The learning vast which former times had stored." + +The Marquis of Wellesley is alluded to, and the college founded by him +at Calcutta: + + "At his command the splendid structures rise: + Around the Brahmins stand in vast surprise." + +The founding of a Seat of Learning in Calcutta suggests the necessity of +a similar institution in Canada. A good beginning, it is said, had been +here made in the way of lesser institutions: the prologue then proceeds: + + "Yet much remains for some aspiring son, + Whose liberal soul from that, desires renown, + Which gains for Wellesley a lasting crown; + Some general structures in these wilds to rear, + Where every art and science may appear." + +Sir Peregrine Maitland, who probably was present, is told that he might +in this manner immortalize his name: + + "O Maitland blest! this proud distinction woos + Thy quick acceptance, back'd by every muse; + Those feelings, too, which joyful fancy knew + When learning's gems first opened to thy view, + Bid you to thousands smooth the thorny road, + Which leads to glorious Science's bright abode." + +"The Anniversary of York and Montreal Colleges anticipated" is a kind of +Pindaric Ode to Gratitude: especially it is therein set forth that +offerings of thankfulness are due to benevolent souls in Britain: + + "For often there in pensive mood + They ponder deeply on the good + They may on Canada bestow-- + And College Halls appear, and streams of learning flow!" + +The "Epilogue" to the day's performances is a humorous dissertation in +doggrel verse on United States innovations in the English Language: a +pupil of the school is supposed to complain of the conduct of the +master: + + "Between ourselves, and just to speak my mind, + In English Grammar, Master's much behind: + I speak the honest truth--I hate to dash-- + He bounds our task by Murray, Lowth and Ashe. + I told him once that Abercrombie, moved + By genius deep had Murray's plan improved. + He frowned upon me, turning up his nose, + And said the man had ta'en a maddening dose. + Once in my theme I put the word _progress_-- + He sentenced twenty lines, without redress; + Again for 'measure' I transcribed 'endeavour'-- + And all the live-long day I lost his favour." &c, &c. + +At the examination of the District School on August 7th, 1816, a similar +programme was provided. + +John Claus spoke the prologue on this occasion, and the following boys +had parts assigned them in the proceedings. The names of some of them +appear in the account for 1819, just given: John Skeldon, George +Skeldon, Henry Mosley, John Doyle, Charles Heward, James Myers, John +Ridout, Charles Ridout, John FitzGerald, John Mosley, Saltern Givins, +James Sheehan, Henry Heward, Allan McDonell, William Allan, John +Boulton, William Myers, James Bigelow, William Baldwin, St. George +Baldwin, K. de Koven, John Knott, James Givins, Horace Ridout, William +Lancaster, James Strachan, David McNab, John Harraway, Robert Baldwin, +Henry Nelles, Warren Shaw, David Shaw, Daniel Murray. + +In 1816, Governor Gore was at the head of affairs. He is advised, in the +Prologue spoken by John Claus, to distinguish himself by attention to +the educational interests of the country: (The collocation of names at +the end will excite a smile.)-- + + "O think what honour pure shall bless thy name + Beyond the fleeting voice of vulgar fame! + When kings and haughty victors cease to raise + The secret murmur and the venal praise, + Perhaps that name, when Europe's glories fade, + Shall often charm this Academic shade, + And bards exclaim on rough Ontario's shore, + We found a Wellesley and Jones in Gore!" + +We have ourselves a good personal recollection of the system of the +school at York, and of the interest which it succeeded in awakening in +the subjects taught. The custom of mutual questioning in classes, under +the eye of the master, was well adapted to induce real research, and to +impress facts on the mind when discovered. + +In the higher classes each lad in turn was required to furnish a set of +questions to be put by himself to his class-fellows, on a given subject, +with the understanding that he should be ready to set the answerer right +should he prove wrong. And again: any lad who should be deemed competent +was permitted to challenge another, or several others, to read or recite +select rhetorical pieces: a memorandum of the challenge was recorded: +and, at the time appointed, the contest came off, the class or the +school deciding the superiority in each case, subject to the criticism +or disallowance of the master. + +It will be seen from the matters embraced in the programme given above, +that the object aimed at was a speedy and real preparation for actual +life. The master, in this instance, was disembarrassed of the traditions +which, at the period referred to, often rendered the education of a +young man a cumbersome, unintelligent and tedious thing. The +circumstances of his own youth had evidently led him to free himself +from routine. He himself was an example, in addition to many another +Scottish-trained man of eminence that might be named, of the early age +at which a youth of good parts and sincere, enlightened purpose, may be +prepared for the duties of actual life, when not caught in the +constrictor-coils of custom, which, under the old English +Public-School-system of sixty years since, used sometimes to torture +parent and son for such a long series of years. + +Dr. Strachan's methods of instruction were productive, for others, of +the results realized in his own case. His distinguished Cornwall pupils, +were all, we believe, usefully and successfully engaged in the real work +of life in very early manhood. "The time allowed in a new country like +this," he said to his pupils at Cornwall in 1807, "is scarcely +sufficient to sow the most necessary seed; very great progress is not +therefore to be expected: if the principles are properly engrafted we +have done well." + +In the same address his own mode of proceeding is thus dwelt upon: "In +conducting your education, one of my principal objects has always been +to fit you for discharging with credit the duties of any office to which +you may hereafter be called. To accomplish this, it was necessary for +you to be accustomed frequently to depend upon, and think for +yourselves: accordingly I have always encouraged this disposition, which +when preserved within due bounds, is one of the greatest benefits that +can possibly be acquired. To enable you to think with advantage, I not +only regulated your tasks in such a manner as to exercise your judgment, +but extended your views beyond the meagre routine of study usually +adopted in schools; for, in my opinion, several branches of science may +be taught with advantage at a much earlier age than is generally +supposed. We made a mystery of nothing: on the contrary, we entered +minutely into every particular, and patiently explained by what +progressive steps certain results were obtained. It has ever been my +custom, before sending a class to their seats, to ask myself whether +they had learned anything; and I was always exceedingly mortified if I +had not the agreeable conviction that they had made some improvement. +Let none of you, however, suppose that what you have learned here is +sufficient; on the contrary, you are to remember that we have laid only +the foundation. The superstructure must be laid by yourselves." + +Here is an account of his method of teaching Arithmetic, taken from the +introduction to a little work on the subject, published by himself in +1809: "I divide my pupils," he says, "into separate classes, according +to their progress. Each class has one or more sums to produce every day, +neatly wrought upon their slates: the work is carefully examined; after +which I command every figure to be blotted out, and the sums to be +wrought under my eye. The one whom I happen to pitch upon first, gives, +with an audible voice, the rules and reasons for every step; and as he +proceeds the rest silently work along with him, figure for figure, but +ready to correct him if he blunder, that they may get his place. As soon +as this one is finished, the work is again blotted out, and another +called upon to work the question aloud as before, while the rest again +proceed along with him in silence, and so on round the whole class. By +this method the principles are fixed in the mind; and he must be a very +dull boy indeed who does not understand every question thoroughly before +he leaves it. This method of teaching Arithmetic possesses this +important advantage, that it may be pursued without interrupting the +pupil's progress in any other useful study. The same method of teaching +Algebra has been used with equal success. Such a plan is certainly very +laborious, but it will be found successful; and he that is anxious to +spare labour ought not to be a public Teacher. When boys remain long +enough, it has been my custom to teach them the theory, and give them a +number of curious questions in Geography, Natural Philosophy and +Astronomy, a specimen of which may be seen in the questions placed +before the Appendix." + +The youths to be dealt with in early Canadian schools were not all of +the meek, submissive species. With some of them occasionally a sharp +regimen was necessary; and it was adopted without hesitation. On this +point, the address just quoted, thus speaks: "One of the greatest +advantages you have derived from your education here, arises from the +strictness of our discipline. Those of you who have not already +perceived how much your tranquillity depends upon the proper regulation +of the temper, will soon be made sensible of it as you advance in years. +You will find people who have never known what it is to be in habitual +subjection to precept and just authority, breaking forth into violence +and outrage on the most frivolous occasions. The passions of such +persons, when once roused, soon become ungovernable; and that impatience +of restraint, which they have been allowed to indulge, embitters the +greatest portion of their lives. Accustomed to despise the barriers +erected by reason, they rush forward to indulgence, without regarding +the consequences. Hence arises much of that wretchedness and disorder to +be met with in society. Now the discipline necessary to correct the +impetuosity of the passions is often found nowhere but in well-regulated +schools: for though it should be the first care of parents, they are too +apt to be blinded by affection, and grant liberties to their children +which reason disapproves. . . . . . That discipline therefore, which you +have sometimes thought irksome will henceforth present itself in a very +different light. It will appear the teacher of a habit of the greatest +consequence in the regulation of your future conduct; and you will value +it as the promoter of that decent and steady command of temper so very +essential to happiness, and so useful in our intercourse with mankind." + +These remarks on discipline will be the more appreciated, when it is +recollected that during the time of the early settlements in this +country, the sons of even the most respectable families were brought +into contact with semi-barbarous characters. A sporting ramble through +the woods, a fishing excursion on the waters, could not be undertaken +without communications with Indians and half-breeds and bad specimens of +the French _voyageur_. It was from such sources that a certain idea was +derived which, as we remember, was in great vogue among the more +fractious of the lads at the school at York. The proposition circulated +about, whenever anything went counter to their notions, alway was "to +run away to the Nor'-west." What that process really involved, or where +the "Nor'-west" precisely was, were things vaguely realized. A sort of +savage "land of Cockaigne," a region of perfect freedom among the +Indians, was imagined; and to reach it Lakes Huron and Superior were to +be traversed. + +At Cornwall the temptation was in another direction: there, the idea was +to escape to the eastward: to reach Montreal or Quebec, and get on board +of an ocean-going ship, either a man-of-war or merchantman. The flight +of several lads with such intentions was on one occasion intercepted by +the unlooked-for appearance of the head-master by the side of the +stage-coach as it was just about to start for Montreal in the dusk of +the early morning, with the young truants in or upon it. + +As to the modes of discipline:--In the school at York--for minor +indiscretions a variety of remedies prevailed. Now and then a lad would +be seen standing at one of the posts above mentioned, with his jacket +turned inside out: or he might be seen there in a kneeling posture for a +certain number of minutes; or standing with the arm extended holding a +book. An "ally" or apple brought out inopportunely into view, during the +hours of work, might entail the exhibition, article by article, slowly +and reluctantly, of all the contents of a pocket. Once we remember, the +furtive but too audible twang of a jewsharp was followed by its owner's +being obliged to mount on the top of a desk and perform there an air on +the offending instrument for the benefit of the whole school. + +Occasionally the censors (senior boys appointed to help in keeping +order) were sent to cut rods on Mr. McGill's property adjoining the +play-ground on the north; but the dire implements were not often called +into requisition: it would only be when some case of unusual obstinacy +presented itself, or when some wanton cruelty, or some act or word +exhibiting an unmistakable taint of incipient immorality, was proven. + +Once a year, before the breaking-up at midsummer, a "feast" was allowed +in the school-room at York--a kind of pic-nic to which all that could, +contributed in kind--pastry, and other dainties, as well as more +substantial viands, of which all partook. It was sometimes a rather +riotous affair. + +At the south-east corner of the six-acre play-ground, about half-an-acre +had been abstracted, as it were, and enclosed: here a public school had +been built and put in operation: it was known as the Central School, and +was what would now be called a Common School, conducted on the "Bell and +Lancaster" principle. Large numbers frequented it. + +Between the lads attending the Central School, and the boys of the +Grammar School, difficulties of course arose: and on many occasions +feats of arms, accompanied with considerable risk to life and limb, were +performed on both sides, with sticks and stones. Youngsters, ambitious +of a character of extra daring, had thus an opportunity of +distinguishing themselves in the eyes of their less courageous +companions. The same would-be heroes had many stories to tell of the +perils to which they were exposed in their way to and from school. Those +of them who came from the western part of the town, had, according to +their own shewing, mortal enemies in the men of Ketchum's tannery, with +whom it was necessary occasionally to have an encounter. While those +who lived to the east of the school, narrated, in response, the attacks +experienced or delivered by themselves, in passing Shaw's or Hugill's +brewery. + +Mr. Spragge, the master of the Central School, had enjoyed the superior +advantage of a regular training in England as an instructor of the +young. Though not in Holy Orders, his air and costume were those of the +dignified clergyman. Of the Central School, the words of Shenstone, +spoken of a kindred establishment, became, in one point at all events, +true to the letter:-- + + "E'en now sagacious foresight points to shew + A little bench of bishops here,-- + And there, a chancellor in embryo, + Or bard sublime." + +A son of Mr. Spragge's became, in 1870, the Chancellor of Ontario, or +Western Canada, after rising with distinction through the several grades +of the legal profession, and filling previously also the post of +Vice-Chancellor. Mr. John Godfrey Spragge, who attained to this +eminence, and his brothers, Joseph and William, were likewise pupils in +their maturer years, in the adjoining more imposing Royal Grammar or +Home District School. + +Mr. Spragge's predecessor at the Central School was Mr. Appleton, +mentioned in a preceding section; and Mr. Appleton's assistant for a +time, was Mr. John Fenton. + +Across the road from the play-ground at York, on the south side, +eastward of the church-plot, there was a row of dilapidated wooden +buildings, inhabited for the most part by a thriftless and noisy set of +people. This group of houses was known in the school as "Irish-town;" +and "to raise Irish-town," meant to direct a snowball or other light +missive over the play-ground fence, in that direction. Such act was not +unfrequently followed by an invasion of the Field from the insulted +quarter. Some wide chinks, established in one place here between the +boards, which ran lengthwise, enabled any one so inclined, to get over +the fence readily. We once saw two men, who had quarrelled in one of the +buildings of Irish-town, adjourn from over the road to the play-ground, +accompanied by a few approving friends, and there, after stripping to +the skin, have a regular fight with fists: after some rounds, a number +of men and women interfered and induced the combatants to return to the +house whence they had issued forth for the settlement of their dispute. + +The Parliamentary Debates, of which mention has more than once been made +in connection with the District School, took place, on ordinary +occasions, in the central part of the school-room; where benches used to +be set out opposite to each other, for the temporary accommodation of +the speakers. These exercises consisted simply of a memoriter +repetition, with some action, of speeches, slightly abridged, which had +actually been delivered in a real debate on the floor of the House of +Commons. But they served to familiarize Canadian lads with the names and +characters of the great statesmen of England, and with what was to be +said on both sides of several important public questions; they also +probably awakened in many a young spirit an ambition, afterwards +gratified, of being distinguished as a legislator in earnest. + +On public days the Debates were held up-stairs on a platform at the east +end of a long room with a partially vaulted ceiling, on the south side +of the building. On this platform the public recitations also took +place; and here on some of the anniversaries a drama by Milman or Hannah +Moore was enacted. Here we ourselves took part in one of the hymns or +choruses of the "Martyr of Antioch." + +(Other reminiscences of Dr. Strachan, the District Grammar School, and +Toronto generally, are embodied in "The First Bishop of Toronto, a +Review and a Study," a small work published by the writer in 1868.) + +The immediate successor of Dr. Strachan in the school was Mr. Samuel +Armour, a graduate of Glasgow, whose profile resembled that of Cicero, +as shewn in some engravings. Being fond of sporting, his excitement was +great when the flocks of wild pigeons were passing over the town, and +the report of fire-arms in all directions was to be heard. During the +hours of school his attention, on these occasions, would be much drawn +off from the class-subjects. + +In those days there was not a plentiful supply in the town of every book +wanted in the school. The only copy that could be procured of a +"Eutropius," which we ourselves on a particular occasion required, was +one with an English translation at the end. The book was bought, Mr. +Armour stipulating that the English portion of the volume should be sewn +up; in fact, he himself stitched the leaves together.--In Mr. Armour's +time there was, for some reason now forgotten, a barring-out. A pile of +heavy wood (sticks of cordwood whole used then to be thrust into the +great school-room stove) was built against the door within; and the +master had to effect, and did effect, an entrance into his school +through a window on the north side. Mr. Armour became afterwards a +clergyman of the English Church, and officiated for many years in the +township of Cavan. + +The master who succeeded Mr. Armour was Dr. Phillips, who came out from +England to take charge of the school. He had been previously master of a +school at Whitchurch, in Herefordshire. His degree was from Cambridge, +where he graduated as a B. A. of Queen's in the year 1805. He was a +venerable-looking man--the very ideal, outwardly, of an English country +parson of an old type--a figure in the general scene, that would have +been taken note of congenially by Fuller or Antony a Wood. The costume +in which he always appeared (shovel-hat included), was that usually +assumed by the senior clergy some years ago. He also wore powder in the +hair except when in mourning. According to the standards of the day, Dr. +Phillips was an accomplished scholar, and a good reader and writer of +English. He introduced into the school at York the English public-school +traditions of the strictest type. His text books were those published +and used at Eton, as Eton then was. The Eton Latin Grammar, without note +or comment, displaced" Ruddiman's Rudiments"--the book to which we had +previously been accustomed, and which really did give hints of something +rational underlying what we learnt out of it. Even the Eton Greek +Grammar, in its purely mediaeval untranslated state, made its appearance: +it was through the medium of that very uninviting manual that we +obtained our earliest acquaintance with the first elements of the Greek +tongue. Our "Palaephatus" and other Extracts in the _Graeca Minora_ were +translated by us, not into English, but into Latin, in which language +all the notes and elucidations of difficulties in that book were given. +Very many of the Greek "genitives absolute," we remember, were to be +rendered by _quum_, with a subjunctive pluperfect--an enormous mystery +to us at the time. Our Lexicon was _Schrevelius_, as yet un-Englished. +For the Greek Testament we had "Dawson," a vocabulary couched in the +Latin tongue, notwithstanding the author's name. The chevaux-de-frise +set up across the pathways to knowledge were numerous and most +forbidding. The Latin translation, line for line, at the end of Clarke's +Homer, as also the _Ordo_ in the Delphin classics, were held to be +mischievous aids, but the help was slight that could be derived from +them, as the Latin language itself was not yet grasped. + +For whatever of the anomalous we moderns may observe in all this, let +the good old traditional school-system of England be responsible--not +the accomplished and benevolent man who transplanted the system, pure +and simple, to Canadian ground. For ourselves: in one point of view, we +deem it a piece of singular good fortune to have been subjected for a +time to this sort of drill; for it has enabled us to enter with more +intelligence into the discussions on English education that have marked +the era in which we live. Without this morsel of experience we should +have known only by vague report what it was the reviewers and essayists +of England were aiming their fulminations against. + +Our early recollections in this regard, we treasure up now among our +mental curiosities, with thankfulness: just as we treasure up our +memories of the few years which, in the days of our youth, we had an +opportunity of passing in the old father-land, while yet mail coaches +and guards and genuine coachmen were extant there; while yet the +time-honoured watchman was to be heard patrolling the streets at night +and calling the hours. Deprived of this personal experience, how tamely +would have read "School-days at Rugby," for example, or "The Scouring of +the White Horse," and many another healthy classic in recent English +literature--to say nothing of "The Sketch Book," and earlier pieces, +which involve numerous allusions to these now vanished entities! + +Moreover, we found that our boyish initiation in the Eton formularies, +however little they may have contributed to the intellectual furniture +of the mind at an early period, had the effect of putting us _en +rapport_, in one relation at all events, with a large class in the old +country. We found that the stock quotations and scraps of Latin employed +to give an air of learning to discourse, "to point a moral and adorn a +tale," among the country-clergy of England and among members of +Parliament of the ante-Reform-bill period, were mostly relics of +school-boy lore derived from Eton books. Fragments of the _As in +praesenti_, of the _Propria quae maribus_; shreds from the Syntax, as _Vir +bonus est quis_, _Ingenuas didicisse_, and a score more, were instantly +recognized, and constituted a kind of talismanic mode of communication, +making the quoter and the hearer, to some extent, akin. + +Furthermore; in regard to our honoured and beloved master, Dr. Phillips +himself; there is this advantage to be named as enjoyed by those whose +lot it was, in this new region, to pass a portion of their impressible +youth in the society of such a character: it furnished them with a +visible concrete illustration of much that otherwise would have been a +vague abstraction in the pictures of English society set before the +fancy in the _Spectator_, for instance, or Boswell's _Johnson_, and +other standard literary productions of a century ago. As it is, we doubt +not that the experience of many of our Canadian coevals corresponds with +our own. Whenever we read of the good Vicar of Wakefield, or of any +similar personage; when in the biography of some distinguished man, a +kind-hearted old clerical tutor comes upon the scene, or one moulded to +be a college-fellow, or one that had actually been a college-fellow, +carrying about with him, when down in the country the tastes and ideas +of the academic cloister--it is the figure of Dr. Phillips that rises +before the mental vision. And without doubt he was no bad embodiment of +the class of English character just alluded to.--He was thoroughly +English in his predilections and tone; and he unconsciously left on our +plastic selves traces of his own temperament and style. + +It was from Dr. Phillips we received our first impressions of Cambridge +life; of its outer form, at all events; of its traditions and customs; +of the Acts and Opponencies in its Schools, and other quaint +formalities, still in use in our own undergraduate day, but now +abolished: from him we first heard of Trumpington, and St. Mary's, and +the Gogmagogs; of Lady Margaret and the cloisters at Queen's; of the +wooden bridge and Erasmus' walk in the gardens of that college; and of +many another storied object and spot, afterwards very familiar. + +A manuscript Journal of a Johnsonian cast kept by Dr. Phillips, when a +youth, during a tour of his on foot in Wales, lent to us for perusal, +marks an era in our early experience, awakening in us, as it did, our +first inklings of travel. The excursion described was a trifling one in +itself--only from Whitchurch, in Herefordshire, across the Severn into +Wales--but to the unsophisticated fancy of a boy it was invested with a +peculiar charm; and it led, we think, in our own case, to many an +ambitious ramble, in after years, among cities and men.--In the time of +Dr. Phillips there was put up, by subscription, across the whole of the +western end of the school-house, over the door, a rough lean-to, of +considerable dimensions. A large covered space was thus provided for +purposes of recreation in bad weather. This room is memorable as being +associated with our first acquaintance with the term "Gymnasium:" that +was the title which we were directed to give it.--There is extant, we +believe, a good portrait in oil of Dr. Phillips. + +It was stated above that Cricket was not known in the playground of the +District Grammar School, except possibly under the mildest of forms. +Nevertheless, one, afterwards greatly distinguished in the local annals +of Cricket, was long a master in the School. + +Mr. George Antony Barber accompanied Dr. Phillips to York in 1825, as +his principal assistant, and continued to be associated with him in that +capacity. Nearly half a century later than 1826, when Cricket had now +become a social institution throughout Western Canada, Mr. Barber, who +had been among the first to give enthusiastic encouragement to the manly +English game, was the highest living local authority on the subject, and +still an occasional participator in the sport. + +We here close our notice of the Old Blue School at York. In many a +brain, from time to time, the mention of its name has exercised a spell +like that of Wendell Holmes's _Mare Rubrum_; as potent as that was, to +summon up memories and shapes from the Red Sea of the Past-- + + "Where clad in burning robes are laid + Life's blossomed joys untimely shed, + And where those cherish'd forms are laid + We miss awhile, and call them dead." + +The building itself has been shifted bodily from its original position +to the south-east corner of Stanley and Jarvis Street. It, the centre of +so many associations, is degraded now into being a depot for "General +Stock;" in other words, a receptacle for Rags and Old Iron. + +The six acres of play-ground are thickly built over. A thoroughfare of +ill-repute traverses it from west to east. This street was at first +called March Street; and under that appellation acquired an evil report. +It was hoped that a nobler designation would perhaps elevate the +character of the place, as the name "Milton Street" had helped to do for +the ignoble Grub Street in London. But the purlieus of the neighbourhood +continue, unhappily, to be the Alsatia of the town. The filling up of +the old breezy field with dwellings, for the most part of a wretched +class, has driven "the schoolmaster" away from the region. His return +to the locality, in some good missionary sense, is much to be wished; +and after a time, will probably be an accomplished fact. + +[Since these lines were written, the old District Grammar School +building has wholly vanished. It will be consolatory to know that, +escaping destruction by fire, it was deliberately dismantled and taken +to pieces; and, at once, walls of substantial brick overspread the whole +of the space which it had occupied.] + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XII. + + KING STREET FROM CHURCH STREET TO GEORGE STREET. + + +We were arrested in our progress on King Street by St. James' Church. +Its associations, and those of the District Grammar School and its +play-ground to the north, have detained us long. We now return to the +point reached when our recollections compelled us to digress. + +Before proceeding, however, we must record the fact that the break in +the line of building on the north side of the street here, was the means +of checking the tide of fire which was rolling irresistibly westward, in +the great conflagration of 1849. The energies of the local fire-brigade +of the day had never been so taxed as they were on that memorable +occasion, Aid from steam-power was then undreamt-of. Simultaneous +outbursts of flame from numerous widely-separated spots had utterly +disheartened every one, and had caused a general abandonment of effort +to quell the conflagration. Then it was that the open space about St. +James' Church saved much of the town from destruction. + +To the west, the whole sky was, as it were, a vast canopy of meteors +streaming from the east. The church itself was consumed, but the flames +advanced no further. A burning shingle was seen to become entangled in +the luffer-boards of the belfry, and slowly to ignite the woodwork +there: from a very minute start at that point, a stream of fire soon +began to rise--soon began to twine itself about the upper stages of the +tower, and to climb nimbly up the steep slope of the spire, from the +summit of which it then shot aloft into the air, speedily enveloping and +overtopping the golden cross that was there. + +At the same time the flames made their way downwards within the tower, +till the internal timbers of the roofing over the main body of the +building were reached. There, in the natural order of things, the fire +readily spread; and the whole interior of the church, in the course of +an hour, was transformed, before the eyes of a bewildered multitude +looking powerlessly on, first into a vast "burning fiery furnace," and +then, as the roof collapsed and fell, into a confused chaos of raging +flame. + +The heavy gilt cross at the apex of the spire came down with a crash, +and planted itself in the pavement of the principal entrance below, +where the steps, as well as the inner-walls of the base of the tower, +were bespattered far and wide with the molten metal of the great bell. + +While the work of destruction was going fiercely and irrepressibly on, +the Public Clock in the belfry, Mr. Draper's gift to the town, was heard +to strike the hour as usual, and the quarters thrice--exercising its +functions and having its appointed say, amidst the sympathies, not loud +but deep, of those who watched its doom; bearing its testimony, like a +martyr at the stake, in calm and unimpassioned strain, up to the very +moment of time when the deadly element touched its vitals. + +Opposite the southern portal of St. James' Church was to be seen, at a +very early period, the conspicuous trade-sign of a well-known furrier of +York, Mr. Joseph Rogers. It was the figure of an Indian Trapper holding +a gun, and accompanied by a dog, all depicted in their proper colours on +a high, upright tablet set over the doorway of the store below. Besides +being an appropriate symbol of the business carried on, it was always an +interesting reminder of the time, then not so very remote, when all of +York, or Toronto, and its commerce that existed, was the old French +trading-post on the common to the west, and a few native hunters of the +woods congregating with their packs of "beaver" once or twice a-year +about the entrance to its picketted enclosure. Other rather early +dealers in furs in York were Mr. Jared Stocking and Mr. John Bastedo. + +In the _Gazette_ for April 25, 1822, we notice a somewhat pretentious +advertisement, headed "Muskrats," which announces that the highest +market price will be given in cash for "good seasonable muskrat skins +and other furs at the store of Robert Coleman, Esquire, Market Place, +York." + +Mr. Rogers' descendants continue to occupy the identical site on King +Street indicated above, and the Indian Trapper, renovated, is still to +be seen--a pleasant instance of Canadian persistence and stability. + +In Great Britain and Europe generally, the thoroughfares of ancient +towns had, as we know, character and variety given them by the +trade-symbols displayed up and down their misty vistas. Charles the +First gave, by letters patent, express permission to the citizens of +London "to expose and hang in and over the streets, and ways, and alleys +of the said city and suburbs of the same, signs and posts of signs, +affixed to their houses and shops, for the better finding out such +citizens' dwellings, shops, arts, and occupations, without impediment, +molestation or interruption of his heirs or successors." And the +practice was in vogue long before the time of Charles. It preceded the +custom of distinguishing houses by numbers. At periods when the +population generally were unable to read, such rude appeals to the eye +had, of course, their use. But as education spread, and architecture of +a modern style came to be preferred, this mode of indicating "arts and +occupations" grew out of fashion. + +Of late, however, the pressure of competition in business has been +driving men back again upon the customs of by-gone illiterate +generations. For the purpose of establishing a distinct individuality in +the public mind the most capricious freaks are played. The streets of +the modern Toronto exhibit, we believe, two leonine specimens of +auro-ligneous zoology, between which the sex is announced to constitute +the difference. The lack of such clear distinction between a pair of +glittering symbols of this genus and species, in our Canadian London, +was the occasion of much grave consideration in 1867, on the part of the +highest authority in our Court of Chancery. Although in that _cause +celebre_, after a careful physiognomical study by means of photographs +transmitted, it was allowed that there _were_ points of difference +between the two specimens in question, as, for example, that "one looked +older than the other;" that "one, from the sorrowful expression of its +countenance, seemed more resigned to its position than the other"--still +the decree was issued for the removal of one of them from the +scene--very properly the later-carved of the two. + +Of the ordinary trade-signs that were to be seen along the thoroughfare +of King Street no particular notice need be taken. The Pestle and +Mortar, the Pole twined round with the black strap, the Crowned Boot, +the Tea-chest, the Axe, the Broad-axe, the Saw, (mill, cross-cut and +circular), the colossal Fowling-piece, the Cooking-stove, the Plough, +the Golden Fleece, the Anvil and Sledge-Hammer, the magnified +Horse-Shoe, each told its own story, as indicating indispensable wares +or occupations. + +Passing eastward from the painted effigy of the Indian Trapper, we soon +came in front of the Market Place, which, so long as only a low wooden +building occupied its centre, had an open, airy appearance. We have +already dwelt upon some of the occurrences, and associations connected +with this spot. + +On King street, about here, the ordinary trade and traffic of the place +came, after a few years, to be concentrated. Here business and bustle +were every day, more or less, created by the usual wants of the +inhabitants, and by the wants of the country farmers whose waggons in +summer, and sleighs in winter, thronged in from the north, east and +west. And hereabout at one moment or another, every lawful day, would be +surely seen, coming and going, the oddities and street-characters of the +town and neighbourhood. Having devoted some space to the leading and +prominent personages of our drama, it will be only proper to bestow a +few words on the subordinates, the Calibans and Gobbos, the Nyms and +Touchstones, of the piece. + +From the various nationalities and races of which the community was a +mixture, these were drawn. There was James O'Hara, for example, a poor +humourous Irishman, a perfect representative of his class in costume, +style and manner, employed as bellman at auctions, and so on. When the +town was visited by the Papyrotomia--travelling cutters-out of +likenesses in black paper (some years ago such things created a +sensation),--a full-length of O'Hara was suspended at the entrance to +the rooms, recognized at once by every eye, even without the aid of the +"Shoot easy" inscribed on a label issuing from the mouth. (In the +_Loyalist_ of Nov. 24, 1827, we have O'Hara's death noted. "Died on +Friday the 16th instant, James O'Hara, long an inhabitant of this Town, +and formerly a soldier in His Majesty's service.")--There was Jock +Murray, the Scotch carter; and after him, William Pettit, the English +one; and the carter who drove the horse with the "spring-halt;" (every +school-lad in the place was familiar with the peculiar twitch upwards of +the near hind leg in the gait of this nag.) + +The negro population was small. Every individual of colour was +recognizable at sight. Black Joe and Whistling Jack were two +notabilities; both of them negroes of African birth. In military bands a +negro drummer or cymbal-player was formerly often to be seen. The two +men just named, after obtaining discharge from a regiment here, gained +an honest livelihood by chance employment about the town. Joe, a +well-formed, well-trained figure, was to be seen, still arrayed in some +old cast-off shell-jacket, acting as porter, or engaged about horses; +once already we have had a glimpse of him in the capacity of sheriff's +assistant, administering the lash to wretched culprits in the Market +Place. The other, besides playing other parts, officiated occasionally +as a sweep; but his most memorable accomplishment was a melodious and +powerful style of whistling musical airs, and a faculty for imitating +the bag-pipes to perfection.--For the romantic sound of the name, the +tall, comely negress, Amy Pompadour, should also be mentioned in the +record. But she was of servile descent: at the time at which we write +slavery was only just dying out in Upper Canada, as we shall have +occasion to note hereafter more at large. + +Then came the "Jack of Clubs." Lord Thurlow, we are told, once enabled a +stranger to single out in a crowd Dunning, afterwards Lord Ashburton, by +telling him to take notice of the first man he saw bearing a strong +resemblance to the "Jack of Clubs." In the present case it was a worthy +trader in provisions who had acquired among his fellow-townsmen a +sobriquet from a supposed likeness to that sturdy court-card figure. He +was a short, burly Englishman, whose place of business was just opposite +the entrance to the Market. So absolutely did the epithet attach itself +to him, that late-comers to the place failed to learn his real name: all +which was good-humouredly borne for a time; but at last the distinction +became burdensome and irritating, and Mr. Stafford removed in disgust to +New York. + +A well-known character often to be seen about here, too, was an +unfortunate English farmer of the name of Cowper, of disordered +intellect, whose peculiarity was a desire to station himself in the +middle of the roadway, and from that vantage-ground to harangue any +crowd that might gather, incoherently, but always with a great show of +sly drollery and mirthfulness. + +On occasions of militia funeral processions, observant lads and others +were always on the look-out for a certain prosperous cordwainer of the +town of York, Mr. Wilson, who was sure then to be seen marching in the +ranks, with musket reversed, and displaying with great precision and +solemnity the extra-upright carriage and genuine toe-pointed step of the +soldier of the days of George the Second. He had been for sixteen years +in the 41st regiment, and ten years and forty-four days in the 103rd; +and it was with pride and gusto that he exhibited the high proficiency +to which he had in other days attained. The slow pace required by the +Dead March gave the on-looker time to study the antique style of +military movement thus exemplified. + +It was at a comparatively late period that Sir John Smythe and Spencer +Lydstone, poets, were notabilities in the streets; the latter, Mr. +Lydstone, recognizable from afar by a scarlet vest, brought out, ever +and anon, a printed broadside, filled with eulogiums or satires on the +inhabitants of the town, regulated by fees or refusals received. The +former, Sir John Smythe, found in the public papers a place for his +productions, which by their syntactical irregularities and freedom from +marks of punctuation, proved their author (as a reviewer of the day once +observed) to be a man _supra grammaticam_, and one possessed of a genius +above commas. But his great hobby was a railway to the Pacific, in +connection with which he brought out a lithographed map: its peculiarity +was a straight black line conspicuously drawn across the continent from +Fort William to the mouth of the Columbia river. + +In a tract of his on the subject of this railway he provides, in the +case of war with the United States, for steam communication between +London in England and China and the East Indies, by "a branch to run on +the north side of the township of Cavan and on the south side of Balsam +Lake." "I propose this," he says, "to run in the rear of Lake Huron and +in the rear of Lake Superior, twenty miles in the interior of the +country of the Lake aforesaid; to unite with the railroad from Lake +Superior to Winnipeg, at the south-west main trading-post of the +North-West Company." The document is signed "Sir John Smythe, Baronet +and Royal Engineer, Canadian Poet, LL.D., and Moral Philosopher." + +The concourse of traffickers and idlers in the open space before the old +Market Place were free of tongue; they sometimes talked, in no subdued +tone, of their fellow-townsfolk of all ranks. In a small community every +one was more or less acquainted with every one, with his dealings and +appurtenances, with his man-servant and maid-servant, his horse, his +dog, his waggon, cart or barrow. + +Those of the primitive residentiaries, to whom the commonalty had taken +kindly, were honoured in ordinary speech with their militia-titles of +Colonel, Major, Captain, or the civilian prefix of Mister, Honourable +Mister, Squire or Judge, as the case might be; whilst others, not held +to have achieved any special claims to deference, were named, even in +mature years, by their plain, baptismal names, John, Andrew, Duncan, +George, and so on. + +And then, there was a third marking-off of a few, against whom, for some +vague reason or another, there had grown up in the popular mind a +certain degree of prejudice. These, by a curtailment or national +corruption of their proper prenomen, would be ordinarily styled Sandy +this, Jock that. In some instances the epithet "old" would irreverently +precede, and persons of considerable eminence might be heard spoken of +as old Tom so-and-so, old Sam such-a-one. + +And similarly in respect to the sons and nephews of these worthy +gentlemen. Had the community never been replenished from outside +sources, few of them would, to the latest moment of their lives, have +ever been distinguished except by the plain John, Stephen, Allan, +Christopher, and so on, of their infancy, or by the Bill, Harry, Alec, +Mac, Dolph, Dick, or Bob, acquired in the nursery or school. + +But enough has been said, for the present at least, on the humors and +ways of our secondary characters, as exemplified in the crowd +customarily gathered in front of the old Market at York. We shall now +proceed on our prescribed route. + +The lane leading northward from the north-west corner of Market Square +used to be known as Stuart's Lane, from the Rev. George Okill Stuart, +once owner of property here. On its west side was a well-known inn, the +Farmers' Arms, kept by Mr. Bloor, who, on retiring from business, took +up his abode at Yorkville, where it has curiously happened that his name +has been attached to a fashionable street, the thoroughfare formerly +known as the Concession Line. + +The street running north from the north-east angle of Market Square, now +known as Nelson Street, was originally New Street, a name which was +commemorative of the growth of York westward. The terminal street of the +town on the west, prior to the opening of this New Street, had been +George Street. The name of "New Street" should never have been changed, +even for the heroic one of Nelson. As the years rolled on, it would have +become a quaint misnomer, involving a tale, like the name of "New +College" at Oxford--a College about five hundred years old. + +At a point about half-way between New Street and George Street, King +Street was, in 1849, the scene of an election _fracas_ which, in distant +quarters, damaged for a time the good name of the town. While passing in +front of the Coleraine House, an inn on the north side of the street, +and a rendezvous of the unsuccessful party, some persons walking in +procession, in addition to indulging in the usual harmless groans, flung +a missile into the house, when a shot, fired from one of the windows, +killed a man in the concourse below. + +Owing to the happy settlement of numerous irritating public questions, +elections are conducted now, in our towns and throughout our Provinces, +in a calm and rational temper for the most part. Only two relics of evil +and ignorant days remain amongst us, stirring bad blood twice a year, on +anniversaries consecrated, or otherwise, to the object. A +generous-hearted nation, transplanted as they have been almost _en +masse_ to a new continent, where prosperity, wealth and honours have +everywhere been their portion, would shew more wisdom in the repudiation +than they do in the recognition and studied conservation, of these +hateful heirlooms of their race. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XIII. + + KING STREET--DIGRESSION INTO DUKE STREET. + + +On passing George Street, as we intimated a moment ago, we enter the +parallelogram which constituted the original town-plot. Its boundaries +were George Street, Duchess Street, Ontario Street (with the lane south +of it), and Palace Street. From this, its old core, York spread westward +and northward, extending at length in those directions respectively +(under the name of Toronto) to the Asylum and Yorkville; while eastward +its developments--though here less solid and less shapely--were finally +bounded by the windings of the Don. Were Toronto an old town on the +European Continent, George Street, Duchess Street, Ontario Street and +Palace Street, would probably now be boulevards, showing the space once +occupied by stout stone walls. The parallelogram just defined represents +"the City" in modern London, or "la Cite" in modern Paris--the original +nucleus round which gradually clustered the dwellings of later +generations. + +Before, however, we enter upon what may be styled King Street proper, it +will be convenient to make a momentary digression northwards into Duke +Street, anciently a quiet, retired thoroughfare, skirted on the right +and left by the premises and grounds and houses of several most +respectable inhabitants. At the north-west angle of the intersection of +this street with George Street was the home of Mr. Washburn; but this +was comparatively a recent erection. Its site previously had been the +brickyard of Henry Hale, a builder and contractor, who put up the wooden +structure, possessing some architectural pretensions, on the south-east +angle of the same intersection, diagonally across; occupied in the +second instance by Mr. Moore, of the Commissariat; then by Dr. Lee, and +afterwards by Mr. J. Murchison. + +(The last named was for a long time the Stultz of York, supplying all +those of its citizens, young and old, who desired to make an attractive +or intensely respectable appearance, with vestments in fine broadcloth.) + +A little to the north, on the left side of George Street, was the famous +Ladies' School of Mrs. Goodman, presided over subsequently by Miss +Purcell and Miss Rose. This had been previously the homestead of Mr. +Stephen Jarvis, of whom again immediately.--Two or three of these +familiar names appear in an advertisement relating to land in this +neighbourhood, in the _Gazette_ of March 23rd, 1826.--"For Sale: Three +lots or parcels of land in the town of York, the property of Mrs. +Goodman, being part of the premises on which Miss Purcell now resides, +and formerly owned by Col. Jarvis. The lots are each fifty feet in width +and one hundred and thirty in depth, and front on the street running +from King Street to Mr. Jarvis's Park lot. If not disposed of by private +sale, they will be put up at auction on the first day of May next. +Application to be made to Miss Purcell, or at the Office of the _U. C. +Gazette_. York, March 10, 1826." + +Advancing on Duke Street eastward a little way, we came, on the left, to +the abode of Chief Justice Sir William Campbell, of whom before Sir +William erected here in 1822 a mansion of brick, in good style. It was +subsequently, for many years, the hospitable home of the Hon. James +Gordon, formerly of Amherstburgh. + +Then on the right, one square beyond, at the south-easterly corner where +Caroline Street intersects, we reached the house of Mr. Secretary +Jarvis, a man of great note in his day, whose name is familiar to all +who have occasion to examine the archives of Upper Canada in the +administrations of Governors Simcoe, Hunter and Gore. A fine portrait of +him exists, but, as we have been informed, it has been transmitted to +relatives in England. Mr. Stephen Jarvis, above named, was long the +Registrar of Upper Canada. His hand-writing is well-known to all holders +of early deeds. He and the Secretary were first cousins; of the same +stock as the well-known Bishop Jarvis of Connecticut, and the Church +Historian, Dr. Samuel Farmer Jarvis. Both were officers in incorporated +Colonial regiments before the independence of the United States; and +both came to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. Mr. Stephen Jarvis was +the founder of the leading Canadian family to which the first Sheriff +Jarvis belonged. Mr. Samuel Peters Jarvis, from whom "Jarvis Street" has +its name, was the son of Mr. Secretary Jarvis. + +On the left, one square beyond the abode of Mr. Secretary Jarvis, came +the premises and home of Mr. Surveyor General Ridout, the latter a +structure still to be seen in its primitive outlines, a good specimen of +the old type of early Upper Canadian family residence of a superior +class; combining the qualities of solidity and durability with those of +snugness and comfort in the rigours of winter and the heats of summer. +In the rear of Mr. Ridout's house was for some time a family +burial-plot; but, like several similar private enclosures in the +neighbourhood of the town, it became disused after the establishment of +regular cemeteries. + +Nearly opposite Mr. Ridout's, in one of the usual long, low Upper +Canadian one-storey dwellings, shaded by lofty Lombardy poplars, was the +home of the McIntoshes, who are to be commemorated hereafter in +connection with the Marine of York: and here, at a later period, lived +for a long time Mr. Andrew Warffe and his brother John. Mr. Andrew +Warffe was a well-known employe in the office of the Inspector General, +Mr. Baby, and a lieutenant in the Incorporated Militia. + +By one of the vicissitudes common in the history of family residences +everywhere, Mr. Secretary Jarvis's house, which we just now passed, +became afterwards the place of business of a memorable cutler and +gunsmith, named Isaac Columbus. During the war of 1812, Mr. Columbus was +employed as armourer to the Militia, and had a forge near the garrison. +Many of the swords used by the Militia officers were actually +manufactured by him. He was a native of France; a liberal-hearted man, +ever ready to contribute to charitable objects; and a clever artizan. +Whether required to "jump" the worn and battered axe of a backwoodsman, +to manufacture the skate-irons and rudder of an ice-boat, to put in +order a surveyor's theodolite, or to replace for the young geometrician +or draughtsman an instrument lost out of his case, he was equally _au +fait_. On occasion he could even supply an elderly lady or gentleman +with a set of false teeth, and insert them. + +In our boyhood we had occasion to get many little matters attended to at +Mr. Columbus's. Once on leaving word that a certain article must be +ready by a particular hour, we remember being informed that "must" was +only for the King of France. His political absolutism would have +satisfied Louis XIV. himself. He positively refused to have anything to +do with the "liberals" of York, expressly on the ground that, in his +opinion, the modern ideas of government "hindered the King from acting +as a good father to the people." + +An expression of his, "first quality, blue!" used on a particular +occasion in reference to an extra finish to be given to some steel-work +for an extra price, passed into a proverb among us boys at school, and +was extensively applied by us to persons and things of which we desired +to predicate a high degree of excellence. + +Over Columbus's workshop, at the corner of Caroline Street, we are +pretty sure his name appeared as here given; and so it was always +called. But we observe in some lists of early names in York, that it is +given as "Isaac Collumbes." It is curious to note that the great +discoverer's name is a latinization of Colon, Coulon, Colombe, +descendant each of _columba_, dove, of which _columbus_ is the masculine +form. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XIV. + + KING STREET--FROM GEORGE STREET TO CAROLINE STREET. + + +We now retrace our steps to King Street, at its intersection with George +Street; and here our eye immediately lights on an object connected with +the early history of Education in York. + +Attached to the east side of the house at the south-east angle of the +intersection is a low building, wholly of stone, resembling a small +root-house. Its structure is concealed from view now by a coating of +clapboards. This was the first school-house possessing a public +character in York. + +It was where Dr. Stuart taught, afterwards Archdeacon of Kingston. The +building was on his property, which became afterwards that of Mr. George +Duggan, once before referred to. (In connection with St. James' Church, +it should have been recorded that Mr. Duggan was the donor and planter +of the row of Lombardy poplars which formerly stood in front of that +edifice, and which figured conspicuously in the old engravings of King +Street. He was an Irishman of strong opinions. He once stood for the +town against Mr. Attorney-General Robinson, but without success. When +the exigencies of later times required the uprooting of the poplar +trees, now become overgrown, he warmly resented the removal and it was +at the risk of grievous bodily harm that the Church-warden of the day, +Mr. T. D. Harris, carried into effect the resolution of the Vestry.) + +Dr. Stuart's was the Home District School. From a contemporary record, +now before us, we learn that it opened on June the first, 1807, and that +the first names entered on its books were those of John Ridout, William +A. Hamilton, Thomas G. Hamilton, George H. Detlor, George S. Boulton, +Robert Stanton, William Stanton, Angus McDonell, Alexander Hamilton, +Wilson Hamilton, Robert Ross, Allan McNab. To this list, from time to +time, were added many other old Toronto or Upper Canadian names: as, for +example, the following: John Moore, Charles Ruggles, Edward Hartney, +Charles Boulton, Alexander Chewett, Donald McDonell, James Edward Small, +Charles Small, John Hayes, George and William Jarvis, William Bowkett, +Peter McDonell, Philemon Squires, James McIntosh, Bernard, Henry and +Marshall Glennon, Richard Brooke, Daniel Brooke, Charles Reade, William +Robinson, Gilbert Hamilton, Henry Ernst, John Gray, Robert Gray, William +Cawthra, William Smith, Harvey Woodruff, Robert Anderson, Benjamin +Anderson, James Givins, Thomas Playter, William Pilkington. The French +names Belcour, Hammeil and Marian occur. (There were bakers or +confectioners of these names in York at an early period.) + +From the same record it appears that female pupils were not excluded +from the primitive Home District School. On the roll are names which +surviving contemporaries would recognize as belonging to the _beau +monde_ of Upper Canada, distinguished and admired in later years. + +A building-lot, eighty-six feet in front and one hundred and seventeen +in depth, next to the site of the school, is offered for sale in the +_Gazette_ of the 18th of March, 1822; and in the advertisement it is +stated to be "one of the most eligible lots in the Town of York, and +situated in King Street, in the centre of the Town." + +To the left, just across from this choice position, was, in 1833, Wragg +& Co.'s establishment, where such matter-of-fact articles as the +following could be procured: "Bending and unbending nails, as usual; +wrought nails and spikes of all sizes [a change since 1810]: ox-traces +and cable chains; tin; double and single sheet iron: sheet brass and +copper; bar, hoop, bolt and rod iron of all sizes; shear, blister and +cast steel; with every other article in the heavy line, together with a +very complete assortment of shelf goods, cordage, oakum, tar, pitch, and +rosin: also a few patent machines for shelling corn." (A much earlier +resort for such merchandize was Mr. Peter Paterson's, on the west side +of the Market Square.) + +Of a date somewhat subsequent to that of Messrs. Wragg's advertisement, +was the depot of Mr. Harris for similar substantial wares. This was +situated on the north side of King Street, westward of the point at +which we are now pausing. It long resisted the great conflagration of +1849, towering up amidst the flames like a black, isolated crag in a +tempestuous sea; but at length it succumbed. Having been rendered, as it +was supposed, fire-proof externally, no attempt was made to remove the +contents of the building. + +To the east of Messrs. Wragg's place of business, on the same side, and +dating back to an early period, was the dwelling house and mart of Mr. +Mosley, the principal auctioneer and appraiser of York, a well-known and +excellent man. He had suffered the severe calamity of a partial +deprivation of the lower limbs by frost-bite; but he contrived to move +about with great activity in a room or on the side-walk by means of two +light chairs, shifting himself adroitly from the one to the other. When +required to go to a distance or to church, (where he was ever punctually +to be seen in his place), he was lifted by his son or sons into and out +of a wagonette, together with the chairs. + +On the same (north) side was the place where the Messrs. Lesslie, +enterprising and successful merchants from Dundee, dealt at once in two +remunerative articles--books and drugs. The left side of the store was +devoted to the latter; the right to the former. Their first +head-quarters in York had been further up the street; but a move had +been made to the eastward, to be, as things were then, nearer the heart +of the town. + +This firm had houses carrying on the same combined businesses in +Kingston and Dundas. There exists a bronze medal or token, of good +design, sought after by collectors, bearing the legend, "E. Lesslie and +Sons, Toronto and Dundas, 1822." The date has been perplexing, as the +town was not named Toronto in 1822. The intention simply was to indicate +the year of the founding of the firm in the two towns; the first of +which assumed the name of Toronto at the period the medal was really +struck, viz., 1834. On the obverse it bears a figure of Justice with +scales and sword: on the reverse, a plough with the mottoes, "Prosperity +to Canada," "La Prudence et la Candeur."--A smaller Token of the same +firm is extant, on which "Kingston" is inserted between "Toronto" and +"Dundas." + +Nearly opposite was the store of Mr. Monro. Regarding our King Street as +the Broadway of York, Mr. Monro was for a long time its Stewart. But the +points about his premises that linger now in our recollection the most, +are a tasteful flower-garden on its west side, and a trellised verandah +in that direction, with canaries in a cage, usually singing therein. Mr. +Monro was Mayor of Toronto in 1840. He also represented in Parliament +the South Riding of York, in the Session of 1844-5. + +At the north-west corner, a little further on, resided Mr. Alexander +Wood, whose name appears often in the Report of the Loyal and Patriotic +Society of 1812, to which reference before has been made, and of which +he was the Secretary. A brother of his, at first in copartnership with +Mr. Allan, and at a later period, independently, had made money, at +York, by business. On the decease of his brother, Mr. Alexander Wood +came out to attend to the property left. He continued on the same spot, +until after the war of 1812, the commercial operations which had been so +prosperously begun, and then retired. + +At the time to which our recollections are just now transporting us, the +windows of the part of the house that had been the store were always +seen with the shutters closed. Mr. Wood was a bachelor; and it was no +uncosy sight, towards the close of the shortening autumnal days, before +the remaining front shutters of the house were drawn in for the evening, +to catch a glimpse, in passing, of the interior of his comfortable +quarters, lighted up by the blazing logs on the hearth, the table +standing duly spread close by, and the solitary himself ruminating in +his chair before the fire, waiting for candles and dinner to be brought +in. + +On sunny mornings in winter he was often to be seen pacing the sidewalk +in front of his premises for exercise, arrayed in a long blue over-coat, +with his right hand thrust for warmth into the cuff of his left sleeve, +and his left hand into that of his right. He afterwards returned to +Scotland, where, at Stonehaven, not far from Aberdeen, he had family +estates known as Woodcot and Woodburnden. He died without executing a +will; and it was some time before the rightful heir to his property in +Scotland and here was determined. It had been his intention, we believe, +to return to Canada.--The streets which run eastward from Yonge Street, +north of Carleton Street, named respectively "Wood" and "Alexander," +pass across land that belonged to Mr. Wood. + +Many are the shadowy forms that rise before us, as we proceed on our +way; phantom-revisitings from the misty Past; the shapes and faces of +enterprising and painstaking men, of whose fortunes King Street +hereabout was the cradle. But it is not necessary in these reminiscences +to enumerate all who, on the right hand and on the left, along the now +comparatively deserted portions of the great thoroughfare, amassed +wealth in the olden time by commerce and other honourable +pursuits,--laying the foundation, in several instances, of opulent +families. + +Quetton St. George, however, must not be omitted, builder of the solid +and enduring house on the corner opposite to Mr. Wood's; a structure +that, for its size and air of respectability; for its material, brick, +when as yet all the surrounding habitations were of wood; for its tinned +roof, its graceful porch, its careful and neat finish generally, was, +for a long time, one of the York lions. + +Mr. Quetton St. George was a French royalist officer, and a chevalier of +the order of St. Louis. With many other French gentlemen, he emigrated +to Canada at the era of the Revolution. He was of the class of the +noblesse, as all officers were required to be; which class, just before +the Revolution, included, it is said, 90,000 persons, all exempt from +the ordinary taxes of the country. + +The surname of St. George was assumed by M. Quetton to commemorate the +fact that he had first set foot on English ground on St. George's day. +On proceeding to Canada, he, in conjunction with Jean Louis, Vicomte de +Chalus, and other distinguished _emigres_, acquired a large estate in +wild lands in the rough region north of York, known as the "Oak Ridges." + +Finding it difficult, however, to turn such property speedily to +account, he had recourse to trade with the Indians and remote +inhabitants. Numerous stations, with this object in view, were +established by him in different parts of the country, before his final +settlement in York. One of these posts was at Orillia, on Lake +Couchiching; and in the Niagara _Herald_ of August the 7th, 1802, we +meet with the following advertisement:--"New Store at the House of the +French General, between Niagara and Queenston. Messrs. Quetton St. +George and Co., acquaint the public that they have lately arrived from +New York with a general assortment of Dry Goods and Groceries, which +will be sold at the lowest price for ready money, for from the +uncertainty of their residing any time in these parts they cannot open +accounts with any person. Will also be found at the same store a +general assortment of tools for all mechanics. They have likewise +well-made Trunks; also empty Barrels. Niagara, July 23." + +The copartnership implied was with M. de Farcy. The French General +referred to was the Comte de Puisaye, of whom in full hereafter. The +house spoken of still exists, beautifully situated at a point on the +Niagara River, where the carriage-road between Queenston and the town of +Niagara approaches the very brink of the lofty bank, whose precipitous +side is even yet richly clothed with fine forest trees, and where the +noble stream below, closed in towards the south by the heights above +Lewiston and Queenston, possesses all the features of a picturesque +inland lake. + +Attached to the house in question is a curious old fire-proof structure +of brick, quaintly buttressed with stone: the walls are of a thickness +of three or four feet; and the interior is beautifully vaulted and +divided into two compartments, having no communication with each other: +and above the whole is a long loft of wood, approached by steps on the +outside. The property here belonged for a time in later years to +Shickluna, the shipbuilder of St. Catharines, who happily did not +disturb the interesting relic just described. The house itself was in +some respects modernized by him; but, with its steep roof and three +dormer windows, it still retains much of its primitive character. + +In 1805 we find Mr. St. George removed to York. The copartnership with +M. de Farcy is now dissolved. In successive numbers of the _Gazette and +Oracle_, issued in that and the following year, he advertises at great +length. But on the 20th of September, 1806, he abruptly announces that +he is not going to advertise any more: he now once for all, begs the +public to examine his former advertisements, where they will find, he +says, an account of the supply which he brings from New York every +spring, a similar assortment to which he intends always to have on hand: +and N. B., he adds: Nearly the same assortment may be found at Mr. +Boiton's, at Kingston, and at Mr. Boucherville's, at Amherstburgh, "who +transact business for Mr. St. George." + + IMPORTS AT YORK IN 1805. + +As we have, in the advertisements referred to, a rather minute record of +articles and things procurable and held likely to be wanted by the +founders of society in these parts, we will give, for the reader's +entertainment, a selection from several of them, adhering for the most +part to the order in which the goods are therein named. + +From time to time it is announced by Mr. St. George that there have +"just arrived from New York":--Ribbons, cotton goods, silk tassels, +gown-trimmings, cotton binding, wire trimmings, silk belting, fans, +beaded buttons, block tin, glove ties, cotton bed-line, bed-lace, +rollo-bands, ostrich feathers, silk lace, black veil lace, thread do., +laces and edging, fine black veils, white do., fine silk mitts, +love-handkerchiefs, Barcelona do., silk do., black crape, black mode, +black Belong, blue, white and yellow do., striped silk for gowns, +Chambray muslins, printed dimity, split-straw bonnets, Leghorn do., +imperial chip do., best London Ladies' beaver bonnets, cotton wire, +Rutland gauze, band boxes, cambrics, calicoes, Irish linens, +callimancoes, plain muslins, laced muslins, blue, black and yellow +nankeens, jeans, fustians, long silk gloves, velvet ribbons, Russia +sheetings, India satins, silk and cotton umbrellas, parasols, white +cottons, bombazetts, black and white silk stockings, damask table +cloths, napkins, cotton, striped nankeens, bandana handkerchiefs, +catgut, Ticklenburg, brown holland, Creas a la Morlaix, Italian +lutestring, beaver caps for children. + +Then we have: Hyson tea, Hyson Chaulon in small chests, young Hyson, +green, Souchong and Bohea, loaf, East India and Muscovado sugars, +mustard, essence of mustard, pills of mustard, capers, lemon-juice, +soap, Windsor do., indigo, mace, nutmegs, cinnamon, cassia, cloves, +pimento, pepper, best box raisins, prunes, coffee, Spanish and American +"segars," Cayenne pepper in bottles, pearl barley, castor oil, British +oil, pickled oysters. + +Furthermore, china-ware is to be had in small boxes and in sets; also, +Suwarrow boots, bootees, and an assortment of men's, women's and +children's shoes, japanned quart mugs, do. tumblers, tipped flutes, +violin bows, brass wire, sickles, iron candlesticks, shoe-makers' +hammers, knives, pincers, pegging awls and tacks, awl-blades, +shoe-brushes, copper tea-kettles, snaffle-bits, leather shot belts, horn +powder flasks, ivory, horn and crooked combs, mathematical instruments, +knives and forks, suspenders, fish-hooks, sleeve-links, sportsmen's +knives, lockets, earrings, gold topaz, do., gold watch-chains, gold +seals, gold brooches, cut gold rings, plain do., pearl do., silver +thimbles, do. teaspoons, shell sleeve buttons, silver watches, beads. In +stationery there was to be had paste-board, foolscap paper, second do., +letter paper, black and red ink powder and wafers. + +There was also the following supply of Literature:--Telemachus, Volney's +Views, Public Characters, Dr. Whitman's Egypt, Evelina, Cecilia, Lady's +Library, Ready Reckoner, Looking Glass, Franklin's Fair Sex, Camilla, +Don Raphael, Night Thoughts, Winter Evenings, Voltaire's Life, Joseph +Andrews, Walker's Geography, Bonaparte and the French People, Voltaire's +Tales, Fisher's Companion, Modern Literature, Eccentric Biography, Naval +do., Martial do., Fun, Criminal Records, Entick's Dictionary, Gordon's +America, Thompson's Family Physician, Sheridan's Dictionary, Johnson's +do., Wilson's Egypt, Denon's Travels, Travels of Cyrus, Stephani de +Bourbon, Alexis, Pocket Library, Every Man's Physician, Citizen of the +World, Taplin's Farriery, Farmer's Boy, Romance of the Forest, +Grandison, Campbell's Narrative, Paul and Virginia, Adelaide de Sincere, +Emelini, Monk, Abbess, Evening Amusement, Children of the Abbey, Tom +Jones, Vicar of Wakefield, Sterne's Journey, Abelard and Eloisa, Ormond, +Caroline, Mercutio, Julia and Baron, Minstrel, H. Villars, De Valcourt, +J. Smith, Charlotte Temple, Theodore Chypon, What has Been, Elegant +Extracts in Prose and Verse, J. and J. Jessamy, Chinese Tales, New +Gazetteer, Smollett's Works, Cabinet of Knowledge, Devil on Sticks, +Arabian Tales, Goldsmith's Essays, Bragg's Cookery, Tooke's Pantheon, +Boyle's Voyage, Roderick Random, Jonathan Wild, Louisa Solomon's Guide +to Health, Spelling-books, Bibles and Primers. + +Our extracts have extended to a great length: but the animated picture +of Upper Canadian life at a primitive era, which such an enumeration of +items, in some sort affords, must be our apology. + +In the _Gazette_ of July 4, 1807, Mr. St. George complains of a +protested bill; but consoles himself with a quotation-- + + Celui qui met un frein a la fureur des flots, + Sait aussi des mechants arreter des complots. + +Rendered rich in money and lands by his extemporized mercantile +operations, Mr. St. George returned to his native France soon after the +restoration of Louis XVIII., and passed the rest of his days partly in +Paris and partly on estates in the neighbourhood of Montpellier. During +his stay in Canada he formed a close friendship with the Baldwins of +York; and on his departure, the house on King Street, which has given +rise to these reminiscences of him, together with the valuable +commercial interests connected with it, passed into the hands of a +junior member of that family, Mr. John Spread Baldwin, who himself, on +the same spot, subsequently laid the foundation of an ample fortune. + +(It is a phenomenon not uninteresting to the retrospective mind, to +observe, in 1869, after the lapse of half a century, the name of Quetton +St. George reappearing in the field of Canadian Commerce.) + +Advancing now on our way eastward, we soon came in front of the abode of +Dr. Burnside, a New-England medical man of tall figure, upright +carriage, and bluff, benevolent countenance, an early promoter of the +Mechanics'-Institute movement, and an encourager of church-music, vocal +and instrumental. Dying without a family dependent on him, he bequeathed +his property partly to Charities in the town, and partly to the +University of Trinity College, where two scholarships perpetuate his +memory. + +Just opposite was the residence of the venerable Mrs. Gamble, widow of +Dr. Gamble, formerly a surgeon attached to the Queen's Rangers. This +lady died in 1859, in her 92nd year, leaving living descendants to the +number of two hundred and four. To the west of this house was a +well-remembered little parterre, always at the proper season gay with +flowers. + +At the next corner, on the north side, a house now totally demolished, +was the original home of the millionaire Cawthra family, already once +alluded to. In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of June 21, 1806, Mr. Cawthra, +senior, thus advertises:--"J. Cawthra wishes to inform the inhabitants +of York and the adjacent country, that he has opened an Apothecary Store +in the house of A. Cameron, opposite Stoyell's Tavern in York, where the +Public can be supplied with most articles in that line. He has on hand +also, a quantity of Men's, Women's, and Children's shoes and Men's hats. +Also for a few days will be sold the following articles, Table Knives +and Forks, Scissors, Silver Watches, Maps and Prints, Profiles, some +Linen, and a few Bed-Ticks, Teas, Tobacco, a few casks of fourth proof +Cognac Brandy, and a small quantity of Lime Juice, and about twenty +thousand Whitechapel Needles. York, June 14, 1806." And again, on the +27th of the following November, he informs the inhabitants of York and +the neighbouring country that he had just arrived from New York with a +general assortment of "apothecary articles;" and that the public can be +supplied with everything in that line genuine: also patent medicines: +he likewise intimates that he has brought a general assortment of Dry +Goods, consisting of "broad cloths, duffils, flannels, swansdown, +corduroys, printed calicoes, ginghams, cambrick muslins, shirting, +muslin, men and women's stockings, silk handkerchiefs, bandana shawls, +pulicat and pocket handkerchiefs, calimancoes, dimity and check; also a +large assortment of men's, women's, and children's shoes, hardware, +coffee, tea and chocolate, lump and loaf sugar, tobacco, &c., with many +other articles: which he is determined to sell on very low terms at his +store opposite Stoyell's tavern." York, Nov. 27, 1806. (The Stoyell's +Tavern here named, had previously been the Inn of Mr. Abner Miles.) + +Immediately across, at the corner on the south side, was a depot, +insignificant enough, no doubt, to the indifferent passer-by, but +invested with much importance in the eyes of many of the early +infantiles of York. Its windows exhibited, in addition to a scattering +of white clay pipes, and papers of pins suspended open against the panes +for the public inspection, a display of circular discs of gingerbread, +some with plain, some with scalloped edge; also hearts, fishes, little +prancing ponies, parrots and dogs of the same tawny-hued material; also +endwise in tumblers and other glass vessels, numerous lengths or stems +of prepared saccharine matter, brittle in substance, white-looking, but +streaked and slightly penetrated with some rich crimson pigment; +likewise on plates and oval dishes, a collection of quadrangular viscous +lumps, buff-coloured and clammy, each showing at its ends the bold +gashing cut of a stout knife which must have been used in dividing a +rope, as it were, of the tenacious substance into inch-sections or +parts. + +In the wrapping paper about all articles purchased here, there was +always a soupcon of the homely odors of boiled sugar and peppermint. The +tariff of the various comestibles just enumerated was well known; it was +precisely for each severally, one half-penny. The mistress of this +establishment bore the Scottish name of Lumsden--a name familiar to us +lads in another way also, being constantly seen by us on the title-pages +of school-books, many of which, at the time referred to, were imported +from Glasgow, from the publishing-house of Lumsden and Son. + +A little way down the street which crosses here, was Major Heward's +house, long Clerk of the Peace for the Home District, of whom we had +occasion to speak before. Several of his sons, while pursuing their +legal and other studies, became also "mighty hunters;" distinguished, we +mean, as enthusiastic sportsmen. Many were the exploits reported of +them, in this line. + +We give here an extract from Mr. McGrath's lively work, published in +1833, entitled "Authentic letters from Upper Canada, with an Account of +Canadian Field Sports." "Ireland," he says, "is, in many places, +remarkable for excellent cock-shooting, which I have myself experienced +in the most favourable situations: not, however, to be compared with +this country, where the numbers are truly wonderful. Were I to mention," +Mr. McGrath continues, "what I have seen in this respect, or heard from +others, it might bring my graver statements into disrepute." + +"As a specimen of the sport," he says, "I will merely give a fact or two +of, not unusual success; bearing, however, no proportion to the quantity +of game. I have known Mr. Charles Heward, of York," he proceeds to +state, "to have shot in one day thirty brace at Chippewa, close to the +Falls of Niagara--and I myself," Mr. McGrath continues, "who am far from +being a first-rate shot, have frequently brought home from twelve to +fourteen brace, my brothers performing their part with equal success." + +But the younger Messrs. Heward had a field for the exercise of their +sportsman skill nearer home than Chippewa. The Island, just across the +Bay, where the black-heart plover were said always to arrive on a +particular day, the 23rd of May, every year, and the marshes about +Ashbridge's bay and York harbour itself, all abounded with wild fowl. +Here, loons of a magnificent size used to be seen and heard; and vast +flocks of wild geese, passing and re-passing, high in air, in their +periodical migrations. The wild swan, too, was an occasional frequenter +of the ponds of the Island. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XV. + + KING STREET, FROM CAROLINE STREET TO BERKELEY STREET. + + +Returning again to King Street: At the corner of Caroline Street, +diagonally across from the Cawthra homestead, was the abode, when +ashore, of Captain Oates, commander of the _Duke of Richmond_ sloop, the +fashionable packet plying between Niagara and York. + +Mr. Oates was nearly connected with the family of President Russell, but +curiously obtained no share in the broad acres which were, in the early +day, so plentifully distributed to all comers. By being unluckily out of +the way, too, at a critical moment, subsequently, he missed a bequest at +the hands of the sole inheritor of the possessions of his relative. + +Capt. Oates was a man of dignified bearing, of more than the ordinary +height. He had seen service on the ocean as master and owner of a +merchantman. His portrait, which is still preserved in Toronto, somewhat +resembles that of George IV. + +A spot passed, a few moments since, on King Street, is associated with a +story in which the _Richmond_ sloop comes up. It happened that the +nuptials of a neighbouring merchant had lately taken place. Some youths, +employed in an adjoining warehouse or law-office, took it into their +heads that a _feu de joie_ should be fired on the occasion. To carry out +the idea they proceeded, under cover of the night, to the _Richmond_ +sloop, where she lay frozen in by the Frederick Street wharf, and +removed from her deck, without asking leave, a small piece of ordnance +with which she was provided. They convey it with some difficulty, +carriage and all, up into King Street, and place it in front of the +bridegroom's house; run it back, as we have understood, even into the +recess underneath the double steps of the porch: when duly ensconced +there, as within the port of a man-of-war, they contrived to fire it +off, decamping, however, immediately after the exploit, and leaving +behind them the source of the deafening explosion. + +On the morrow the cannon is missed from the sloop (she was being +prepared for the spring navigation): on instituting an inquiry, Capt. +Oates is mysteriously informed the lost article is, by some means, up +somewhere on the premises of Mr. J. S. Baldwin, the gentleman who had +been honoured with the salute, and that if he desired to recover his +property he must despatch some men thither to fetch it. (We shall have +occasion to refer hereafter to the _Richmond_, when we come to speak of +the early Marine of York Harbour.) + +Passing on our way eastward we came immediately, on the north side, to +one of the principal hotels of York, a long, white, two-storey wooden +building. It was called the Mansion House--an appropriate name for an +inn, when we understand "Mansion" in its proper, but somewhat forgotten +sense, as indicating a temporary abode, a place which a man occupies and +then relinquishes to a successor. The landlord here for a considerable +time was Mr. De Forest, an American who, in some way or other, had been +deprived of his ears. The defect, however, was hardly perceptible, so +nicely managed was the hair. On the ridge of the Mansion House roof was +to be seen for a number of years a large and beautiful model of a +completely-equipped sailing vessel. + +We then arrived at the north-west angle of King and Princes streets, +where a second public well (we have already commemorated the first,) was +sunk, and provided with a pump in 1824--for all which the sum of L36 +17_s._ 6_d._ was paid to John James on the 19th of August in that year. +In the advertisements and contracts connected with this now obliterated +public convenience, Princes Street is correctly printed and written as +it here meets the eye, and not "Princess Street," as the recent +corruption is. + +Let not the record of our early water-works be disdained. Those of the +metropolis of the Empire were once on a humble scale. Thus Master John +Stow, in his _Survey of London, Anno 1598_, recordeth that "at the +meeting of the corners of the Old Jurie, Milke Street, Lad Lane, +Aldermanburie, there was of old time a fair well with two buckets; of +late years," he somewhat pathetically adds, "converted to a pump." + +Just across eastward from the pump was one of the first buildings put up +on King Street: it was erected by Mr. Smith, who was the first to take +up a building lot, after the laying-out of the town-plot. + +On the opposite side, a few steps further on, was Jordan's--the +far-famed "York Hotel"--at a certain period, the hotel _par excellence_ +of the place, than which no better could be found at the time in all +Upper Canada. The whole edifice has now utterly disappeared. Its +foundations giving way, it for a while seemed to be sinking into the +earth, and then it partially threatened to topple over into the street. +It was of antique style when compared with the Mansion House. It was +only a storey-and-a-half high. Along its roof was a row of dormer +windows. (Specimens of this style of hotel may still be seen in the +country-towns of Lower Canada.) + +When looking in later times at the doorways and windows of the older +buildings intended for public and domestic purposes, as also at the +dimensions of rooms and the proximity of the ceilings to the floors, we +might be led for a moment to imagine that the generation of settlers +passed away must have been of smaller bulk and stature than their +descendants. But points especially studied in the construction of early +Canadian houses, in both Provinces, were warmth and comfort in the long +winters. Sanitary principles were not much thought of, and happily did +not require to be much thought of, when most persons passed more of +their time in the pure outer air than they do now. + +Jordan's York Hotel answered every purpose very well. Members of +Parliament and other visitors considered themselves in luxurious +quarters when housed there. Probably in no instance have the public +dinners or fashionable assemblies of a later era gone off with more +_eclat_, or given more satisfaction to the persons concerned in them, +than did those which from time to time, in every season, took place in +what would now be considered the very diminutive ball-room and +dining-hall of Jordan's. + +In the ball-room here, before the completion of the brick building which +replaced the Legislative Halls destroyed by the Americans in 1813, the +Parliament of Upper Canada sat for one session. + +In the rear of Jordan's, detached from the rest of the buildings, there +long stood a solid circular structure of brick, of considerable height +and diameter, dome-shaped without and vaulted within, somewhat +resembling the furnace into which Robert, the huntsman, is being +thrust, in Retzsch's illustration of Fridolin. This was the public oven +of Paul Marian, a native Frenchman who had a bakery here before the +surrounding premises were converted into a hotel by Mr. Jordan. In the +_Gazette_ of May 19, 1804, Paul Marian informs his friends and the +public "that he will supply them with bread at their dwellings, at the +rate of nine loaves for a dollar, on paying ready money." + +About the same period, another Frenchman, Francois Belcour, is +exercising the same craft in York. In _Gazettes_ of 1803, he announces +that he is prepared "to supply the ladies and gentlemen who may be +pleased to favor him with their custom, with bread, cakes, buns, etc. +And that for the convenience of small families, he will make his bread +of different sizes, viz., loaves of two, three, and four pounds' weight, +and will deliver the same at the houses, if required." He adds that +"families who may wish to have beef, etc., baked, will please send it to +the bake-house." In 1804, he offers to bake "at the rate of pound for +pound; that is to say he will return one pound of Bread for every pound +of Flour which may be sent to him for the purpose of being baked into +bread." + +After the abandonment of Jordan's as a hotel, Paul Marian's oven, +repaired and somewhat extended, again did good service. In it was baked +a goodly proportion of the supplies of bread furnished in 1838-9, to the +troops, and incorporated militia at Toronto, by Mr. Jackes and Mr. +Reynolds. + +As the sidewalks of King Street were apt to partake, in bad weather, of +the impassableness of the streets generally at such a time, an early +effort was made to have some of them paved. Some yards of foot-path, +accordingly, about Jordan's, and here and there elsewhere, were covered +with flat flagstones from the lake-beach, of very irregular shapes and +of no great size: the effect produced was that of a very coarse, and +soon a very uneven mosaic. + +At Quebec, in the neighborhood of the Court House, there is retained +some pavement of the kind now described: and in the early lithograph of +Court House Square, at York, a long stretch of sidewalk is given in the +foreground, seamed over curiously, like the surface of an old Cyclopean +or Pelasgic wall. + +On April the 26th, 1823, it was ordered by the magistrates at Quarter +Sessions that "L100 from the Town and Police Fund, together with +one-fourth of the Statute Labour within the Town, be appropriated to +flagging the sidewalks of King Street, commencing from the corner of +Church Street and proceeding east to the limits of the Town, and that +both sides of the street do proceed at the same time." One hundred +pounds would not go very far in such an undertaking. We do not think the +sidewalks of the primitive King Street were ever paved throughout their +whole length with stone. + +After Jordan's came Dr. Widmer's surgery, associated with many a pain +and ache in the minds of the early people of York, and scene of the +performance upon their persons of many a delicate, and daring, and +successful remedial experiment. Nearly opposite was property +appertaining to Dr. Stoyell, an immigrant, non-practising medical man +from the United States, with Republican proclivities as it used to be +thought, who, previous to his purchasing here, conducted, as has been +already implied, an inn at Mrs. Lumsden's corner. (The house on the +other side of Ontario Street, westward, was Hayes' Boarding House, +noticeable simply as being in session-time, like Jordan's, the temporary +abode of many Members of Parliament.) + +After Dr. Widmer's, towards the termination of King Street, on the south +side, was Mr. Small's, originally one of the usual low-looking domiciles +of the country, with central portion and two gable wings, somewhat after +the fashion of many an old country manor-house in England. + +The material of Mr. Small's dwelling was hewn timber. It was one of the +earliest domestic erections in York. When re-constructed at a subsequent +period, Mr. Charles Small preserved, in the enlarged and elevated +building, now known as Berkeley House, the shape and even a portion of +the inner substance of the original structure. + +We have before us a curious plan (undated but old) of the piece of +ground originally occupied and enclosed by Mr. Small, as a yard and +garden round his primitive homestead: occupied and enclosed, as it would +seem, before any building lots were set off by authority on the +Government reserve or common here. The plan referred to is entitled "A +sketch showing the land occupied by John Small, Esq., upon the Reserve +appropriated for the Government House at York by His Excellency Lt. Gov. +Simcoe." An irregular oblong, coloured red, is bounded on the north side +by King Street, and is lettered within--"Mr. Small's Improvements." +Round the irregular piece thus shewn, lines are drawn enclosing +additional space, and bringing the whole into the shape of a +parallelogram: the parts outside the irregularly shaped red portion, are +colored yellow: and on the yellow, the memorandum appears--"This added +would make an Acre." The block thus brought into shapely form is about +one-half of the piece of ground that at present appertains to Berkeley +House. + +The plan before us also incidentally shows where the Town of York was +supposed to terminate:--an inscription--"Front Line of the Town"--runs +along the following route: up what is now the lane through Dr. Widmer's +property: and then, at a right angle eastward along what is now the +north boundary of King Street opposite the block which it was necessary +to get into shape round Mr. Small's first "Improvements." King Street +proper, in this plan, terminates at "Ontario Street:" from the eastern +limit of Ontario Street, the continuation of the highway is marked "Road +to Quebec,"--with an arrow shewing the direction in which the traveller +must keep his horse's head, if he would reach that ancient city.--The +arrow at the end of the inscription just given points slightly upwards, +indicating the fact that the said "Road to Quebec" trends slightly to +the north after leaving Mr. Small's clearing. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XVI. + + FROM BERKELEY STREET TO THE BRIDGE AND ACROSS IT. + + +We now propose to pass rapidly down "the road to Quebec" as far as the +Bridge. First we cross, in the hollow, Goodwin's creek, the stream which +enters the Bay by the cut-stone Jail. Lieutenant Givins (afterwards +Colonel Givins), on the occasion of his first visit to Toronto in 1793, +forced his way in a canoe with a friend up several of the meanderings of +this stream, under the impression that he was exploring the Don. He had +heard that a river leading to the North-West entered the Bay of Toronto, +somewhere near its head; and he mistook the lesser for the greater +stream: thus on a small scale performing the exploit accomplished by +several of the explorers of the North American coast, who, under the +firm persuasion that a water highway to Japan and China existed +somewhere across this continent, lighted upon Baffin's Bay, Davis +Strait, the Hudson River, and the St. Lawrence itself, in the course of +their investigations. + +On the knoll to the right, after crossing Goodwin's creek, was Isaac +Pilkington's lowly abode, a little group of white buildings in a grove +of pines and acacias. + +Parliament Street, which enters near here from the north, is a memorial +of the olden time, when, as we have seen, the Parliament Buildings of +Upper Canada were situated in this neighbourhood. In an early section of +these Recollections we observed that what is now called Berkeley Street +was originally Parliament Street, a name which, like that borne by a +well-known thoroughfare in Westminster, for a similar reason, indicated +the fact that it led down to the Houses of Parliament. + +The road that at present bears the name of Parliament Street shews the +direction of the track through the primitive woods opened by Governor +Simcoe to his summer house on the Don, called Castle-Frank, of which +fully, in its place hereafter. + +Looking up Parliament Street we are reminded that a few yards westward +from where Duke Street enters it, lived at an early period Mr. Richard +Coates, an estimable and ingenious man, whose name is associated in our +memory with the early dawn of the fine arts in York. Mr. Coates, in a +self-taught way, executed, not unsuccessfully, portraits in oil of some +of our ancient worthies. Among things of a general or historical +character, he painted also for David Willson, the founder of the +"Children of Peace," the symbolical decorations of the interior of the +Temple at Sharon. He cultivated music likewise, vocal and instrumental; +he built an organ of some pretensions, in his own house, on which he +performed; he built another for David Willson at Sharon. Mr. Coates +constructed, besides, in the yard of his house, an elegantly-finished +little pleasure yacht, of about nine tons burden. + +This passing reference to infant Art in York recalls again the name of +Mr. John Craig, who has before been mentioned in our account of the +interior of one of the many successive St. Jameses. Although Mr. Craig +did not himself profess to go beyond his sphere as a decorative and +heraldic painter, the spirit that animated him really tended to foster +in the community a taste for art in a wider sense. + +Mr. Charles Daly, also, as a skilful teacher of drawing in water-colours +and introducer of superior specimens, did much to encourage art at an +early date. In 1834 we find Mr. Daly promoting an exhibition of +Paintings by the "York Artists and Amateur Association," and acting as +"Honorary Secretary," when the Exhibition for the year took place. Mr. +James Hamilton, a teller in the bank, produced, too, some noticeable +landscapes in oil. + +As an auxiliary in the cause, and one regardful of the wants of artists +at an early period, we name, likewise, Mr. Alexander Hamilton; who, in +addition to supplying materials in the form of pigments and prepared +colours, contributed to the tasteful setting off of the productions of +pencil and brush, by furnishing them with frames artistically carved and +gilt. + +Out of the small beginnings and rudiments of Art at York, one artist of +a genuine stamp was, in the lapse of a few years, developed--Mr. Paul +Kane; who, after studying in the schools of Europe, returned to Canada +and made the illustration of Indian character and life his specialty. By +talent exhibited in this class of pictorial delineation, he acquired a +distinguished reputation throughout the North American continent; and by +his volume of beautifully illustrated travels, published in London, and +entitled "Wanderings of an Artist among the Indians of North America," +he obtained for himself a recognized place in the literature of British +Art. + +In the hollow, a short distance westward of Mr. Coates's, was one of the +first buildings of any size ever erected in these parts wholly of stone. +It was put up by Mr. Hutchinson. It was a large square family house of +three storeys. It still exists, but its material is hidden under a +coating of stucco. Another building, wholly of stone, was Mr. Hunter's +house, on the west side of Church Street. A portion of Hugill's Brewery +likewise exhibited walls of the same solid, English-looking substance. +We now resume our route. + +We immediately approach another road entering from the north, which +again draws us aside. This opening led up to the only Roman Catholic +church in York, an edifice of red-brick, substantially built. Mr. Ewart +was the contractor. The material of the north and south walls was worked +into a kind of tesselated pattern, which was considered something very +extraordinary. The spire was originally surmounted by a large and +spirited effigy of the bird that admonished St. Peter, and not by a +cross. It was not a flat, moveable weathercock, but a fixed, solid +figure, covered with tin. + +In this building officiated for some time an ecclesiastic named O'Grady. +Mingling with a crowd, in the over-curious spirit of boyhood, we here, +at funerals and on other occasions, first witnessed the ceremonial forms +observed by Roman Catholics in their worship; and once we remember being +startled at receiving, by design or accident, from an overcharged +_aspergillum_ in the hands of a zealous ministrant of some grade passing +down the aisle, a copious splash of holy water in the eye. + +Functionaries of this denomination are generally remarkable for their +quiet discharge of duty and for their apparent submissiveness to +authority. They sometimes pass and repass for years before the +indifferent gaze of multitudes holding another creed, without exciting +any curiosity even as to their personal names. But Mr. O'Grady was an +exception to the general run of his order. He acquired a distinctive +reputation among outsiders. He was understood to be an unruly presbyter; +and through his instrumentality, letters of his bishop, evidently never +intended to meet the public eye, got into general circulation. He was +required to give an account of himself, subsequently, at the feet of the +"Supreme Pontiff." + +Power Street, the name now applied to the road which led up to the Roman +Catholic church, preserves the name of the Bishop of this communion, who +sacrificed his life in attending to the sick emigrants in 1847. + +The road to the south, a few steps further on, led to the wind-mill +built by Mr. Worts, senior, in 1832. In the possession of Messrs. +Gooderham & Worts are three interesting pictures, in oil, which from +time to time have been exhibited. They are intended to illustrate the +gradual progress in extent and importance of the mills and manufactures +at the site of the wind-mill. The first shows the original structure--a +circular tower of red brick, with the usual sweeps attached to a +hemispherical revolving top; in the distance town and harbour are seen. +The second shows the wind-mill dismantled, but surrounded by extensive +buildings of brick and wood, sheltering now elaborate machinery driven +by steam power. The third represents a third stage in the march of +enterprise and prosperity. In this picture gigantic structures of +massive, dark-coloured stone tower up before the eye, vying in colossal +proportions and ponderous strength with the works of the castle-builders +of the feudal times. Accompanying these interesting landscape views, all +of them by Forbes, a local artist of note, a group of life-size +portraits in oil, has occasionally been seen at Art Exhibitions in +Toronto--Mr. Gooderham, senior, and his Seven Sons--all of them +well-developed, sensible-looking, substantial men, manifestly capable of +undertaking and executing whatever practical work the exigencies of a +young and vigorous community may require to be done. + +Whenever we have chanced to obtain a glimpse of this striking group +(especially the miniature photographic reproduction of it on one card), +a picture of Tancred of Hauteville and his Twelve Sons, "all of them +brave and fair," once familiar as an illustration appended to that +hero's story, has always recurred to us; and we have thought how +thankfully should we regard the grounds on which the modern Colonial +patriarch comforts himself in view of a numerous family springing up +around him, as contrasted with the reasons on account of which the +enterprising Chieftain of old congratulated himself on the same +spectacle. The latter beheld in his ring of stalwart sons so many +warriors; so much good solid stuff to be freely offered at the shrine of +his own glory, or the glory of his feudal lord, whenever the occasion +should arise. The former, in the young men and maidens, peopling his +house, sees so many additional hands adapted to aid in a bloodless +conquest of a huge continent; so much more power evolved, and all of it +in due time sure to be wanted, exactly suited to assist in pushing +forward one stage further the civilizing, humanizing, beautifying, +processes already, in a variety of directions, initiated. + + "Peace hath her victories, + No less renowned than war;" + +and it is to the victories of peace chiefly that the colonial father +expects his children to contribute. + +When the families of Mr. Gooderham and Mr. Worts crossed the Atlantic, +on the occasion of their emigration from England, the party, all in one +vessel, comprised, as we are informed, so many as fifty-four persons +more or less connected by blood or marriage. + +We have been told by Mr. James Beaty that when out duck shooting, now +nearly forty years since, he was surprised by falling in with Mr. Worts, +senior, rambling apparently without purpose in the bush at the mouth of +the Little Don: all the surrounding locality was then in a state of +nature, and frequented only by the sportsman or trapper. On entering +into conversation with Mr. Worts, Mr. Beaty found that he was there +prospecting for an object; that, in fact, somewhere near the spot where +they were standing, he thought of putting up a wind-mill! The project at +the time seemed sufficiently Quixotic. But posterity beholds the large +practical outcome of the idea then brooding in Mr. Worts's brain. In +their day of small things the pioneers of new settlements may take +courage from this instance of progress in one generation, from the rough +to the most advanced condition. For a century to come, there will be +bits of this continent as unpromising, at the first glance, as the mouth +of the Little Don, forty years ago, yet as capable of being reclaimed by +the energy and ingenuity of man, and being put to divinely-intended and +legitimate uses.--Returning now from the wind-mill, once more to the +"road to Quebec," in common language, the Kingston road, we passed, at +the corner, the abode of one of the many early settlers in these parts +who bore German names--the tenement of Peter Ernst, or Ernest as the +appellation afterwards became. + +From these Collections and Recollections matters of comparatively so +recent a date as 1849 have for the most part been excluded. We make an +exception in passing the Church which gives name to Trinity Street, for +the sake of recording an inscription on one of its interior walls. It +reads as follows:--"To the Memory of the Reverend William Honywood +Ripley, B.A., of University College, Oxford, First Incumbent of this +Church, son of the Rev. Thomas Hyde Ripley, Rector of Tockenham, and +Vicar of Wootton Bassett in the County of Wilts, England. After devoting +himself during the six years of his ministry, freely, without money and +without price, to the advancement of the spiritual and temporal welfare +of this congregation and neighbourhood, and to the great increase +amongst them of the knowledge of Christ and His Church, he fell asleep +in Jesus on Monday the 22nd of October, 1849, aged 34 years. He filled +at the same time the office of Honorary Secretary to the Church Society +of the Diocese of Toronto, and was Second Classical Master of Upper +Canada College. This Tablet is erected by the Parishioners of this +Church as a tribute of heartfelt respect and affection. Remember them +that have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word of God: +whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation." + +Canadian society in all its strata has been more or less leavened from +England. One of the modes by which the process has been carried on is +revealed in the inscription just given. In 1849, while this quarter of +Toronto was being taken up and built over, the influence of the +clergyman commemorated was singularly marked within it. Mr. Ripley, in +his boyhood, had been trained under Dr. Arnold, at Rugby; and his father +had been at an early period, a private tutor to the Earl of Durham who +came out to Canada in 1838 as High Commissioner. As to the material +fabric of Trinity Church--its erection was chiefly due to the exertions +of Mr. Alexander Dixon, an alderman of Toronto. + +The brick School-house attached to Trinity Church bears the inscription: +"Erected by Enoch Turner, 1848." Mr. Turner was a benevolent Englishman +who prospered in this immediate locality as a brewer, and died in 1866. +Besides handsome bequests to near relations, Mr. Turner left by will, +to Trinity College, Toronto, L2,000; to Trinity Church, L500; to St. +Paul's L250; to St. Peter's L250. + +Just opposite on the left was where Angell lived, the architect of the +abortive bridges over the mouths of the Don. We obtain from the York +_Observer_ of December 11, 1820, some earlier information in regard to +Mr. Angell. It is in the form of a "Card" thus headed: "York Land Price +Current Office, King Street." It then proceeds--"In consequence of the +Increase of the population of the Town of York, and many applications +for family accommodation upon the arrival of strangers desirous of +becoming settlers, the Subscriber intends to add to the practice of his +Office the business of a _House Surveyor_ and _Architect_, to lay out +Building Estate, draw Ground plans, _Sections_ and _Elevations_, to +_order_, and upon the most approved _European_ and _English_ customs. +Also to make _estimates_ and provide contracts with _proper securities_ +to prevent impostures, for the performance of the same. E. Angell. +N.B.--Land proprietors having estate to dispose of, and persons +requiring any branch of the above profession to be done, will meet with +the most respectful attention on application by letter, or at this +office. York, Oct. 2, [1820]." + +The expression, "York Land Price Current Office," above used is +explained by the fact that Mr. Angell commenced at this early date the +publication of a monthly "Land Price Current List of Estates on Sale in +Upper Canada, to be circulated in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales." + +Near Mr. Angell, on the same side, lived also Mr. Cummins, the manager +of the _Upper Canada Gazette_ printing office; and, at a later period, +Mr. Watson, another well-known master-printer of York, who lost his life +during the great fire of 1849, in endeavouring to save a favourite press +from destruction, in the third storey of a building at the corner of +King and Nelson streets, a position occupied subsequently by the +Caxton-press of Mr. Hill. + +On some of the fences along here, we remember seeing in 1827-8, an +inscription written up in chalk or white paint, memorable to ourselves +personally, as being the occasion of our first taking serious notice of +one of the political questions that were locally stirring the people of +Upper Canada. The words inscribed were--No Aliens! Like the Liberty, +Equality, Fraternity, which we ourselves also subsequently saw painted +on the walls of Paris; these words were intended at once to express and +to rouse public feeling; only in the present instance, as we suppose +now, the inscription emanated from the oligarchical rather than the +popular side. The spirit of it probably was "Down with Aliens,"--and not +"Away with the odious distinction of Aliens!" + +A dispute had arisen between the Upper and the Lower House as to the +legal terms in which full civil rights should be conferred on a +considerable portion of the inhabitants of the country. After the +acknowledgment of independence in 1783, emigrants from the United States +to the British Provinces came in no longer as British subjects, but as +foreigners. Many such emigrants had acquired property and exercised the +franchise without taking upon themselves, formally, the obligations of +British subjects. After the war of 1812, the law in regard to this +matter began to be distinctly remembered. The desire then was to check +an undue immigration from the southern side of the great lakes; but the +effect of the revival of the law was to throw doubt on the land titles +of many inhabitants of long standing; doubt on their claim to vote and +to fill any civil office. + +The consent of the Crown was freely given to legislate on the subject: +and in 1825-6 the Parliament resolved to settle the question. But a +dispute arose between the Lower and Upper House. The Legislative Council +sent down a Bill which was so amended in terms by the House of Assembly +that the former body declared it then to be "at variance with the laws +and established policy of Great Britain, as well as of the United +States; and therefore if passed into a law by this Legislature, would +afford no relief to many of those persons who were born in the United +States, and who have come into and settled in this Province." The Upper +House party set down as disloyal all that expressed themselves satisfied +with the Lower House amendments. It was from the Upper House party, we +think, that the cry of "No Aliens!" had proceeded. + +The Alien measure had been precipitated by the cases of Barnabas Bidwell +and of his son Marshall, of whom the former, after being elected, and +taking his seat as member for Lennox and Addington, had been expelled +the House, on the ground of his being an alien; and the latter had met +with difficulties at the outset of his political career, from the same +objection against him. In the case of the former, however, his alien +character was not the only thing to his disadvantage. + +It was in connection with the expulsion of Barnabas Bidwell that Dr. +Strachan gave to a member of the Lower House, when hesitating as to the +legality of such a step, the remarkable piece of advice, "Turn him out, +turn him out! Never mind the law!"--a _dictum_ that passed into an adage +locally, quoted usually in the Aberdeen dialect. + +Barnabas Bidwell is thus commemorated in Mackenzie's Almanac for 1834: +"July 27, 1833: Barnabas Bidwell, Esq., Kingston, died, aged 69 years +and 11 months. He was a sincere friend of the rights of the people; +possessed of extraordinary powers of mind and memory, and spent many +years of his life in doing all the good he could to his +fellow-creatures, and promoting the interests of society." + +Irritating political questions have now, for the most part, been +disposed of in Canada. We have entered into the rest, in this respect, +secured for us by our predecessors. The very fences which, some forty +years ago, were muttering "No Aliens!" we saw, during the time of a late +general election, exhibiting in conspicuous painted characters, the +following exhortation: "To the Electors of the Dominion--Put in Powell's +Pump"--a humorous advertisement, of course, of a particular contrivance +for raising water from the depths. We think it a sign of general peace +and content, when the populace are expected to enjoy a little jest of +this sort. + +A small compact house, with a pleasant flower garden in front, on the +left, a little way on, was occupied for a while by Mr. Joshua Beard, at +the time Deputy Sheriff, but afterwards well known as owner of extensive +iron works in the town. + +We then came opposite to the abode, on the same side, of Mr. Charles +Fothergill, some time King's Printer for Upper Canada. He was a man of +wide views and great intelligence, fond of science, and an experienced +naturalist. Several folio volumes of closely written manuscript, on the +birds and animals generally of of this continent, by him, must exist +somewhere at this moment. They were transmitted to friends in England, +as we have understood. + +We remember seeing in a work by Bewick a horned owl of this country, +beautifully figured, which, as stated in the context, had been drawn +from a stuffed specimen supplied by Mr. Fothergill. He himself was a +skilful delineator of the living creatures that so much interested him. + +In 1832 Mr. Fothergill sat in Parliament as member for Northumberland, +and for expressing some independent opinions in that capacity, he was +deprived of the office of King's Printer. He originated the law which +established Agricultural Societies in Upper Canada. + +In 1836, he appears to have been visited in Pickering by Dr. Thomas +Rolph, when making notes for his "Statistical Account of Upper Canada." +"The Township of Pickering," Dr. Rolph says, "is well settled and +contains some fine land, and well watered. Mr. Fothergill," he +continues, "has an extensive and most valuable museum of natural +curiosities at his residence in this township, which he has collected +with great industry and the most refined taste. He is a person of +superior acquirements, and ardently devoted to the pursuit of natural +philosophy." P. 189. + +It was Mr. Fothergill's misfortune to have lived too early in Upper +Canada. Many plans of his in the interests of literature and science +came to nothing for the want of a sufficient body of seconders. In +conjunction with Dr. Dunlop and Dr. Rees, it was the intention of Mr. +Fothergill to establish at York a Museum of Natural and Civil History, +with a Botanical and Zoological Garden attached; and a grant of land on +the Government Reserve between the Garrison and Farr's Brewery was +actually secured as a site for the buildings and grounds of the proposed +institution. + +A prospectus now before us sets forth in detail a very comprehensive +scheme for this Museum or Lyceum, which embraced also a picture gallery, +"for subjects connected with Science and Portraits of individuals," and +did not omit "Indian antiquities, arms, dresses, utensils, and whatever +might illustrate and make permanent all that we can know of the +Aborigines of this great Continent, a people who are rapidly passing +away and becoming as though they had never been." + +For several years Mr. Fothergill published "The York Almanac and Royal +Calendar," which gradually became a volume of between four and five +hundred duodecimo pages, filled with practical and official information +on the subject of Canada and the other British American Colonies. This +work is still often resorted to for information. + +Hanging in his study we remember noticing a large engraved map of +"Cabotia." It was a delineation of the British Possessions in North +America--the present Dominion of Canada in fact. It had been his +purpose in 1823 to publish a "Canadian Annual Register;" but this he +never accomplished. While printing the _Upper Canada Gazette_, he edited +in conjunction with that periodical and on the same sheet, the "Weekly +Register," bearing the motto, "Our endeavour will be to stamp the very +body of the time--its its form and pressure: we shall extenuate nothing, +nor shall we set down aught in malice." From this publication may be +gathered much of the current history of the period. In it are given many +curious scientific excerpts from his Common Place Book. At a later +period, he published, at Toronto, a weekly paper in quarto shape, named +the "Palladium." + +Among the non-official advertisements in the _Upper Canada Gazette_, in +the year 1823, we observe one signed "Charles Fothergill," offering a +reward "even to the full value of the volumes," for the recovery of +missing portions of several English standard works which had belonged +formerly, the advertisement stated, to the "Toronto Library," broken up +"by the Americans at the taking of York." It was suggested that probably +the missing books were still scattered about, up and down, in the town. +It is odd to see the name of "Toronto" cropping out in 1823, in +connection with a library. (In a much earlier York paper we notice the +"Toronto Coffee House" advertised.) + +Mr. Fothergill belonged to the distinguished Quaker family of that name +in Yorkshire. A rather good idea of his character of countenance may be +derived from the portrait of Dr. Arnold, prefixed to Stanley's Memoir. +An oil painting of him exists in the possession of some of his +descendants. + +We observe in Leigh Hunt's _London Journal_, i. 172, a reference to +"Fothergill's Essay on the Philosophy, Study and Use of Natural +History;" and we have been assured that it is our Canadian Fothergill +who was its author. We give a pathetic extract from a specimen of the +production, in the work just referred to: "Never shall I forget," says +the essayist, "the remembrance of a little incident which many will deem +trifling and unimportant, but which has been peculiarly interesting to +my heart, as giving origin to sentiments and rules of action which have +since been very dear to me." + +"Besides a singular elegance of form and beauty of plumage," continues +the enthusiastic naturalist, "the eye of the common lapwing is +peculiarly soft and expressive; it is large, black, and full of lustre, +rolling, as it seems to do, in liquid gems of dew. I had shot a bird of +this beautiful species; but, on taking it up, I found it was not dead. I +had wounded its breast; and some big drops of blood stained the pure +whiteness of its feathers. As I held the hapless bird in my hand, +hundreds of its companions hovered round my head, uttering continued +shrieks of distress, and, by their plaintive cries, appeared to bemoan +the fate of one to whom they were connected by ties of the most tender +and interesting nature; whilst the poor wounded bird continually moaned, +with a kind of inward wailing note, expressive of the keenest anguish; +and, ever and anon, it raised its drooping head, and turning towards the +wound in its breast, touched it with its bill, and then looked up in my +face, with an expression that I have no wish to forget, for it had power +to touch my heart whilst yet a boy, when a thousand dry precepts in the +academical closet would have been of no avail." + +The length of this extract will be pardoned for the sake of its +deterrent drift in respect to the wanton maiming and massacre of our +feathered fellow-creatures by the firearms of sportsmen and missiles of +thoughtless children. + +Eastward from the house where we have been pausing, the road took a +slight sweep to the south and then came back to its former course +towards the Don bridge, descending in the meantime into the valley of a +creek or watercourse, and ascending again from it on the other side. +Hereabout, to the left, standing on a picturesque knoll and surrounded +by the natural woods of the region, was a good sized two-storey +dwelling; this was the abode of Mr. David MacNab, sergeant-at-arms to +the House of Assembly, as his father had been before him. With him +resided several accomplished, kind-hearted sisters, all of handsome and +even stately presence; one of them the belle of the day in society at +York. + +Here were the quarters of the Chief MacNab, whenever he came up to York +from his Canadian home on the Ottawa. It was not alone when present at +church that this remarkable gentleman attracted the public gaze; but +also, when surrounded or followed by a group of his fair kinsfolk of +York, he marched with dignified steps along through the whole length of +King Street, and down or up the Kingston road to and from the MacNab +homestead here in the woods near the Don. + +In his visits to the capital, the Chief always wore a modified highland +costume, which well set off his stalwart, upright form: the blue bonnet +and feather, and richly embossed dirk, always rendered him conspicuous, +as well as the tartan of brilliant hues depending from his shoulder +after obliquely swathing his capacious chest; a bright scarlet vest with +massive silver buttons, and dress coat always jauntily thrown back, +added to the picturesqueness of the figure. + +It was always evident at a glance that the Chief set a high value on +himself.--"May the MacNab of MacNabs have the pleasure of taking wine +with Lady Sarah Maitland?" suddenly heard above the buzz of +conversation, pronounced in a very deep and measured tone, by his manly +voice, made mute for a time, on one occasion, the dinner-table at +Government House. So the gossip ran. Another story of the same class, +but less likely, we should think, to be true, was, that seating himself, +without uncovering, in the Court-room one day, a messenger was sent to +him by the Chief Justice, Sir William Campbell, on the Bench, requiring +the removal of his cap; when the answer returned, as he instantly rose +and left the building, was, that "the MacNab of MacNabs doffs his bonnet +to no man!" + +At his home on the Chats the Emigrant Laird did his best to transplant +the traditions and customs of by-gone days in the Highlands, but he +found practical Canada an unfriendly soil for romance and sentiment. +Bouchette, in his _British Dominions_, i. 82, thus refers to the +Canadian abode of the Chief and to the settlement formed by the clan +MacNab. "High up [the Ottawa]," he says, "on the bold and abrupt shore +of the broad and picturesque Lake of the Chats, the Highland Chief +MacNab has selected a romantic residence, Kinnell Lodge, which he has +succeeded, through the most unshaken perseverance, in rendering +exceedingly comfortable. His unexampled exertions in forming and +fostering the settlement of the township, of which he may be considered +the founder and the leader, have not been attended with all the success +that was desirable, or which he anticipated." + +Bouchette then appends a note wherein we can see how readily his own +demonstrative Gallic nature sympathized with the kindred Celtic spirit +of the Highlander. "The characteristic hospitality that distinguished +our reception by the gallant Chief," he says, "when, in 1828, we were +returning down the Ottawa, after having explored its rapids and lakes, +as far up as Grand Calumet, we cannot pass over in silence. To voyageurs +in the remote wilds of Canada," he continues, "necessarily strangers +for the time to the sweets of civilization, the unexpected comforts of a +well-furnished board, and the cordiality of a Highland welcome, are +blessings that fall upon the soul like dew upon the flower. 'The sun was +just resigning to the moon the empire of the skies,' when we took our +leave of the noble chieftain," he adds, "to descend the formidable +rapids of the Chats. As we glided from the foot of the bold bank, the +gay plaid and cap of the noble Gael were seen waving on the proud +eminence, and the shrill notes of the piper filled the air with their +wild cadences. They died away as we approached the head of the rapids. +Our caps were flourished, and the flags (for our canoe was gaily +decorated with them) waved in adieu, and we entered the vortex of the +swift and whirling stream." + +In 1836, Rolph, in his "Statistical Account of Upper Canada," p. 146, +also speaks of the site of Kinnell Lodge as "greatly resembling in its +bold, sombre and majestic aspect, the wildest and most romantic scenery" +of Scotland. "This distinguished Chieftain," the writer then informs us, +"has received permission to raise a militia corps of 800 Highlanders, a +class of British subjects always distinguished for their devoted and +chivalrous attachment to the laws and institutions of their noble +progenitors, and who would prove a rampart of living bodies in defence +of British supremacy whenever and wherever assailed." + +The reference in Dean Ramsay's interesting "Reminiscences of Scottish +life and Character," to "the last Laird of MacNab," is perhaps to the +father of the gentleman familiar to us here in York, and who filled so +large a space in the recollections of visitors to the Upper Ottawa. "The +last Laird of MacNab before the clan finally broke up and emigrated to +Canada was," says the Dean in the work just named, "a well-known +character in the country; and, being poor, used to ride about on a most +wretched horse, which gave occasion to many jibes at his expense. The +Laird," this writer continues, "was in the constant habit of riding up +from the country to attend the Musselburgh races [near Edinburgh]." A +young wit, by way of playing him off on the race course, asked him in a +contemptuous tone, "Is that the same horse you had last year, +Laird?"--"Na," said the Laird, brandishing his whip in the +interrogator's face in so emphatic a manner as to preclude further +questioning, "Na! but it's the same _whup_!" (p. 216, 9th ed.) + +We do not doubt but that the MacNabs have ever been a spirited race. +Their representatives here have always been such; and like their kinsmen +in the old home, too, they have had, during their brief history in +Canada, their share of the hereditary vicissitudes. We owe to a +Sheriff's advertisement in the _Upper Canada Gazette or American Oracle_ +of the 14th of April, 1798, published at Niagara, some biographical +particulars and a minute description of the person of the Mr. MacNab who +was afterwards, as we have already stated, Usher of the Black Rod to the +House of Assembly and father of his successor, Mr. David MacNab, in the +same post; father also of the Allan MacNab, whose history forms part of +that of Upper Canada. + +In 1798, imprisonment for debt was the rigorously enforced law of the +land. The prominent MacNab of that date had, it would appear, become +obnoxious to the law on the score of indebtedness: but finding the +restraint imposed irksome, he had relieved himself of it without asking +leave. The hue and cry for his re-capture proceeded as follows: "Two +hundred dollars reward! Home District, Upper Canada, Newark, April 2, +1798. Broke the gaol of this District on the night of the 1st instant, +[the 1st of April, be it observed,] Allan MacNab, a confined debtor. He +is a reduced lieutenant of horse," proceeds the Sheriff, "on the +half-pay list of the late corps of Queen's Rangers; aged 38 years or +thereabouts; five feet three inches high; fair complexion; light hair; +red beard; much marked with the small-pox; the middle finger of one of +his hands remarkable for an overgrown nail; round shouldered; stoops a +little in walking; and although a native of the Highlands of Scotland, +affects much in speaking the Irish dialect. Whoever will apprehend, &c., +&c., shall receive the above reward, with all reasonable expenses." + +The escape of the prisoner on the first of April was probably felt by +the Sheriff to be a practical joke played off on himself personally. We +think we detect personal spleen in the terms of the advertisement: in +the minuteness of the description of Mr. MacNab's physique, which never +claimed to be that of an Adonis; in the biographical particulars, which, +however interesting they chance to prove to later generations, were +somewhat out of place on such an occasion: as also in a postscript +calling on "the printers within His Majesty's Governments in America, +and those of the United States to give circulation in their respective +papers to the above advertisement," &c. + +It was a limited exchequer that created embarrassment in the early +history--and, for that matter, in much of the later history as well--of +Mr. MacNab's distinguished son, afterwards the baronet Sir Allan; and no +one could relate with more graphic and humorous effect his troubles from +this source, than he was occasionally in the habit of doing. + +When observing his well-known handsome form and ever-benignant +countenance, about the streets of York, we lads at school were wont, we +remember, generally to conjecture that his ramblings were limited to +certain bounds. He himself used to dwell with an amount of complacency +on the skill acquired in carpentry during these intervals of involuntary +leisure, and on the practical results to himself from that skill, not +only in the way of pastime, but in the form of hard cash for personal +necessities. Many were the panelled doors and Venetian shutters in York +which, by his account, were the work of his hands. + +Once he was on the point of becoming a professional actor. Giving +assistance now and then as an anonymous performer to Mr. Archbold, a +respectable Manager here, he evinced such marked talent on the boards, +that he was seriously advised to adopt the stage as his avocation and +employment. The Theatre of Canadian public affairs, however, was to be +the real scene of his achievements. Particulars are here unnecessary. +Successively sailor and soldier (and in both capacities engaged in +perilous service); a lawyer, a legislator in both Houses; Speaker twice +in the Popular Assembly; once Prime Minister; knighted for gallantry, +and appointed an Aide-de-camp to the Queen; dignified with a baronetcy; +by the marriage of a daughter with the son of a nobleman, made the +possible progenitor of English peers--the career of Allan MacNab cannot +fail to arrest the attention of the future investigator of Canadian +history. + +With our local traditions in relation to the grandiose chieftain above +described, one or two stories are in circulation, in which his young +kinsman Allan amusingly figures. Alive to pleasantry--as so many of our +early worthies in these parts were--he undertook, it is said, for a +small wager, to prove the absolute nudity of the knees, &c., of his +feudal lord when at a ball in full costume: (the allegation, +mischievously made, had been that the Chief was protected from the +weather by invisible drawers.) The mode of demonstration adopted was a +sudden cry from the ingenuous youth addressed to the Chief, to the +effect that he observed a spider, or some such object running up his +leg!--a cry instantly followed by a smart slap with the hand, with the +presumed intention of checking the onward course of the noxious thing. +The loud crack occasioned by the blow left no room for doubt as to the +fact of nudity; but the dignified Laird was somewhat disconcerted by the +over zeal of his young retainer. + +Again, at Kingston, the ever-conscious Chief having written himself down +in the visitors' book at the hotel as The MacNab, his juvenile relative, +coming in immediately after and seeing the curt inscription, instantly +entered his protest against the monopoly apparently implied, by writing +_himself_ down, just underneath, in conspicuous characters, as The Other +MacNab--the genius of his coming fortunes doubtless inspiring the merry +deed.--He held for a time a commission in the 68th, and accompanied that +regiment to York in 1827. Riding along King Street one day soon after +his arrival in the town, he observed Mr. Washburn, the lawyer, taking a +furtive survey of him through his eyeglass. The proceeding is at once +reciprocated by the conversion of a stirrup into an imaginary lens of +large diameter, lifted by the strap and waggishly applied to the eye. +Mr. Washburn had, we believe, pressed matters against the young officer +rather sharply in the courts, a year or two previously. A few years +later, when member for Wentworth, he contrived, while conversing with +the Speaker, Mr. McLean, in the refreshment-room of the Parliament +House, to slip into one of that gentleman's coat pockets the leg-bone of +a turkey. After the lapse of a few minutes, Mr. MacNab, as chairman of a +committee of the whole House, is solemnly seated at the Table, and Mr. +Speaker, in his capacity as a member, is being interrogated by him on +some point connected with the special business of the committee. At this +particular moment, it happens that Mr. Speaker, feeling for his +handkerchief, discovers in his pocket the extraordinary foreign object +which had been lodged there. Guessing in an instant the author of the +trick, he extricates the bone and quick as thought, shies it at the head +of the occupant of the Chair. The House is, of course, amazed; and Mr. +MacNab, in the gravest manner, directs the Clerk to make a note of the +act.--We have understood that the house occupied by Mr. Fothergill +(where we paused a short time since) was originally built by Allan +MacNab, junior, but never dwelt in by him. + +We now arrived at the Don bridge. The valley of the Don, at the place +where the Kingston Road crosses it, was spanned in 1824 by a long wooden +viaduct raised about twenty-five feet above the marsh below. This +structure consisted of a series of ten trestles, or frames of hewn +timber supporting a roadway of plank, which had lasted since 1809. A +similar structure spanned the Humber and its marshes on the west side of +York. Both of these bridges about the year 1824 had become very much +decayed; and occasionally both were rendered impassable at the same +time, by the falling in of worn-out and broken planks. The York papers +would then make themselves merry on the well-defended condition of the +town in a military point of view, approach to it from the east and west +being effectually barred. + +Prior to the erection of the bridge on the Kingston Road, the Don was +crossed near the same spot by means of a scow, worked by the assistance +of a rope stretched across the stream. In 1810, we observe that the +Humber was also crossed by means of a ferry. In that year the +inhabitants of Etobicoke complained to the magistrates in session at +York of the excessive toll demanded there; and it was agreed that for +the future the following should be the charges:--For each foot +passenger, 21/2d.; for every hog, 1d.; for every sheep, the same; for +horned cattle, 21/2d. each, for every horse and rider, 5d.; for every +carriage drawn by two horses, 1s. 3d. (which included the driver); for +every carriage with one horse, 1s. It is presumed that the same tolls +were exacted at the ferry over the Don, while in operation. + +In 1824 not only was the Don bridge in bad repair, but, as we learn from +a petition addressed by the magistrates to Sir Peregrine Maitland in +that year, the bridge over the Rouge in Pickering, also, is said to be, +"from its decayed state, almost impassable, and if not remedied," the +document goes on to state, "the communication between this town (York) +and the eastern parts of the Province, as well as with Lower Canada by +land, will be entirely obstructed." + +At length the present earthwork across the marsh at the Don was thrown +up, and the river itself spanned by a long wooden tube, put together on +a suspension principle, roofed over and closed in on the sides, with the +exception of oblong apertures for light. It resembled in some degree the +bridges to be seen over the Reuss at Lucerne and elsewhere in +Switzerland, though not decorated with paintings in the interior, as +they are. Stone piers built on piles sustained it at either end. All was +done under the superintendence of a United States contractor, named +Lewis. It was at him that the _italics_ in Mr. Angell's advertisement +glanced. The inuendo was that, for engineering purposes, there was no +necessity for calling in the aid of outsiders. + +From a kind of small Friar-Bacon's study, occupied in former years by +ourselves, situated on a bold point some distance northwards, up the +valley, we remember watching the pile-driver at work in preparing the +foundation of the two stone piers of the Don bridge: from where we sat +at our books we could see the heavy mallet descend; and then, after a +considerable interval, we would hear the sharp stroke on the end of the +piece of timber which was being driven down. From the same elevated +position also, previously, we used to see the teams crossing the high +frame-work over the marsh on their way to and from Town, and hear the +distant clatter of the horses' feet on the loosely-laid planks. + +The tubular structure which succeeded the trestle-work bridge did not +retain its position very long. The pier at its western extremity was +undermined by the water during a spring freshet, and gave way. The +bridge, of course, fell down into the swirling tide below, and was +carried bodily away, looking like a second Ark as it floated along +towards the mouth of the river, where at length it stranded and became a +wreck. + +On the breaking up of the ice every spring the Don, as is well known, +becomes a mighty rushing river, stretching across from hill to hill. +Ordinarily, it occupies but a small portion of its proper valley, +meandering along, like an English tide-stream when the tide is out. The +bridge carried away on this occasion was notable so long as it stood, +for retaining visible marks of an attempt to set fire to it during the +troubles of 1837. + +The next appliance for crossing the river was another tubular frame of +timber, longer than the former one; but it was never provided with a +roof, and never closed in at the sides. Up to the time that it began to +show signs of decay, and to require cribs to be built underneath it in +the middle of the stream, it had an unfinished, disreputable look. It +acquired a tragic interest in 1859, from being the scene of the murder, +by drowning, of a young Irishman named Hogan, a barrister, and, at the +same time, a member of the Parliament of Canada. + +When crossing the high trestlework which preceded the present +earth-bank, the traveller, on looking down into the marsh below, on the +south side, could see the remains of a still earlier structure, a +causeway formed of unhewn logs laid side by side in the usual manner, +but decayed, and for the most part submerged in water, resembling, as +seen from above, some of the lately-discovered substructions in the +lakes of Switzerland. This was probably the first road by which wheeled +vehicles ever crossed the valley of the Don here. On the protruding ends +of some of the logs of this causeway would be always seen basking, on a +warm summer's day, many fresh-water turtles; amongst which, as also +amongst the black snakes, which were likewise always to be seen coiled +up in numbers here, and among the shoals of sunfish in the surrounding +pools, a great commotion would take place when the jar was felt of a +waggon passing over on the framework above. + +The rest of the marsh, with the exception of the space occupied by the +ancient corduroy causeway, was one thicket of wild willow, alder, and +other aquatic shrubbery, among which was conspicuous the _spiraea_, known +among boys as "seven-bark" or "nine-bark" and prized by them for the +beautiful hue of its rind, which, when rubbed, becomes a bright scarlet. + +Here also the blue iris grew plentifully, and reeds, frequented by the +marsh hen; and the bulrush, with its long cat-tails, sheathed in +chestnut-coloured felt, and pointing upwards like toy sky-rockets ready +to be shot off. (These cat-tails, when dry and stripped, expand into +large, white, downy spheres of fluff, and actually are as inflammable as +gunpowder, going off with a mighty flash at the least touch of fire.) + +The view from the old trestlework bridge, both up and down the stream, +was very picturesque, especially when the forest, which clothed the +banks of the ravine on the right and left, wore the tints of autumn. +Northward, while many fine elms would be seen towering up from the land +on a level with the river, the bold hills above them and beyond were +covered with lofty pines. Southward, in the distance, was a great +stretch of marsh, with the blue lake along the horizon. In the summer +this marsh was one vast jungle of tall flags and reeds, where would be +found the conical huts of the muskrat, and where would be heard at +certain seasons the peculiar _gulp_ of the bittern; in winter, when +crisp and dry, here was material for a magnificent pyrotechnical +display, which usually, once a year, came off, affording at night to +the people of the town a spectacle not to be contemned. + +Through a portion of this marsh on the eastern side of the river, Mr. +Justice Boulton, at a very early period, cut, at a great expense, an +open channel in front of some property of his: it was expected, we +believe, that the matted vegetation on the outer side of this cutting +would float away and leave clear water, when thus disengaged; but no +such result ensued: the channel, however, has continued open, and is +known as the "Boulton ditch." It forms a communication for skiffs +between the Don and Ashbridge's Bay. + +At the west end of the bridge, just across what is now the gore between +Queen Street and King Street, there used to be the remains of a military +breastwork thrown up in the war of 1812. At the east end of the bridge, +on the south side of the road, there still stands a lowly edifice of +hewn logs, erected before the close of the last century, by the writer's +father, who was the first owner and occupant of the land on both sides +of the Kingston road at this point. The roadway down to the original +crossing-place over the river in the days of the Ferry, and the time of +the first corduroy bridge, swerving as it did considerably to the south +from the direct line of the Kingston road, must have been in fact a +trespass on his lot on the south side of the road: and we find that so +noteworthy an object was the solitary house, just above the bridge, in +1799, that the bridge itself, in popular parlance, was designated by its +owner's name. Thus in the _Upper Canada Gazette_ for March 9, 1799, we +read that at a Town Meeting Benjamin Morley was appointed overseer of +highways and fence-viewer for the section of road "from Scadding's +bridge to Scarborough." In 1800 Mr. Ashbridge is appointed to the same +office, and the section of highway placed under his charge is on this +occasion named "the Bay Road from Scadding's bridge to Scarborough." + +This Mr. Ashbridge is the early settler from whom Ashbridge's Bay was so +called. His farm lay along the lower portion of that sheet of water. +Next to him, westward, was the property of Mr. Hastings, whose Christian +name was Warren. Years ago, when first beginning to read Burke, we +remember wondering why the name of "the great proconsul" of Hindustan +looked so familiar to the eye: when we recollected that in our childhood +we used frequently to see here along the old Kingston road the name +Warren Hastings appended in conspicuous characters, to placards posted +up, advertising a "Lost Cow," or some other homely animal, gone +astray.--Adjoining Mr. Hasting's farm, still moving west, was that of +Mr. Mills, with whose name in our mind is associated the name of "Hannah +Mills," an unmarried member of his household, who was the Sister of +Charity of the neighbourhood, ever ready in times of sickness and +bereavement to render, for days and nights together, kindly, sympathetic +and consolatory aid. + +We transcribe the full list of the appointments at the Town Meeting of +1799, for the sake of the old locally familiar names therein embodied; +and also as showing the curious and almost incredible fact that in the +language of the people, York at that early period, 1799, was beginning +to be entitled "the City of York!" + +"Persons elected at the Town Meeting held at the City of York on the 4th +day of March, 1799, pursuant to an Act of Parliament of the Province, +entitled an Act to provide for the nomination and appointment of Parish +and Town Officers within this Province. Clerk of the Town and +Township,--Mr. Edward Hayward. Assessors,--(including also the Townships +of Markham and Vaughan) Mr. George Playter and Mr. Thomas Stoyles. +Collector,--Mr. Archibald Cameron. Overseers of the Highways and Roads, +and Fence-viewers,--Benjamin Morley, from Scadding's Bridge to +Scarborough; James Playter, from the Bay Road to the Mills; Abraham +Devans, circle of the Humber; Paul Wilcot, from Big-Creek to No. 25, +inclusive, on Yonge Street, and half Big-Creek Bridge; Daniel Dehart, +from Big-Creek to No. 1 inclusive, on Yonge Street, and half Big-Creek +Bridge. Mr. McDougal and Mr. Clarke for the district of the city of +York. Pound Keepers: Circle of the Don, Parshall Terry, junr.; Circle of +the Humber, Benjamin Davis; Circle of Yonge Street, No. 1 to 25, James +Everson; Circle of the City, etc., James Nash. Townwardens, Mr. +Archibald Thompson and Mr. Samuel Heron. Other officers, elected +pursuant to the 12th clause of the said Act: Pathmasters and +Fence-viewers, Yonge Street, in Markham and Vaughan, Mr. Stilwell +Wilson, lots 26 to 40, Yonge Street; Mr. John H. Hudrux, 41 to 51, Yonge +Street, John Lyons, lots 26 to 35. John Stulz, Pathmaster and +Fence-viewer in the German Settlement of Markham. David Thompson, do. +for Scarborough." + +It is then added:--"N. B.--Conformably to the resolutions of the +inhabitants, no hogs to run at large above three months old, and lawful +fences to be five feet and a half high. Nicholas Klingenbrumer, +constable, presiding." Furthermore, the information is given that "the +following are Constables appointed by the Justices: John Rock, Daniel +Tiers and John Matchefosky, for the city, etc. Levi Devans for the +District of the Humber, Thomas Hill from No. 1 to 25, Yonge Street; +Balser Munshaw, for Vaughan and first Concession of Markham; ---- +Squantz for the German settlement of Markham. By order of the +Magistrates: D. W. Smith." Also notice is given that "Such of the above +officers as have not yet taken the oath, are warned hereby to do so +without loss of time. The constables are to take notice that although +for their own ease they are selected from particular districts, they are +liable to serve process generally in the county." + +When, in 1799, staid inhabitants were found seriously dignifying the +group of buildings then to be seen on the borders of the bay, with the +magnificent appellation of the "City of York," it is no wonder that at a +later period indignation is frequently expressed at the ignominious +epithet of "Little," which persons in the United States were fond of +prefixing to the name of the place. Thus for example, in the _Weekly +Register_ so late as June, 1822, we have the editor speaking thus in a +notice to a correspondent: "Our friends on the banks of the Ohio, 45 +miles below Pittsburg, will perceive," the editor remarks, "that +notwithstanding he has made us pay postage [and postage in those days +was heavy], we have not been unmindful of his request. We shall always +be ready at the call of charity when not misapplied; and we hope the +family in question will be successful in their object.--There is one +hint, however," the editor goes on to say, "we wish to give Mr. W. +Patton, P. M.; which is, although there may be many "_Little_" Yorks in +the United States, we know of no place called "_Little York_" in Canada; +and beg that he will bear this _little_ circumstance in his recollection +when he again addresses us." + +Gourlay also, as we have seen, when he wished to speak cuttingly of the +authorities at York, used the same epithet. In gubernatorial +proclamations, the phrase modestly employed is--"Our Town of York." + +A short distance east from the bridge a road turned northward, known as +the "Mill road." This communication was open in 1799. It led originally +to the Mills of Parshall Terry, of whose accidental drowning in the Don +there is a notice in the _Gazette_ of July 23, 1808. In 1800, Parshall +Terry is "Overseer of Ways from the Bay Road to the Mills." In 1802 the +language is "from the Bay Road to the Don Mills," and in that year, Mr. +John Playter is elected to the office held in the preceding year by +Parshall Terry. (In regard to Mr. John Playter:--The solitary house +which overlooked the original Don Bridge and Ferry was occupied by him +during the absence of its builder and owner in England; and here, Mr. +Emanuel Playter, his eldest son, was born.) + +In 1821, and down to 1849, the Mill road was regarded chiefly as an +approach to the multifarious works, flour-mills, saw-mills, +fulling-mills, carding-mills, paper-mills and breweries, founded near +the site of Parshall Terry's Mills, by the Helliwells, a vigorous and +substantial Yorkshire family, whose heads first settled and commenced +operations on the brink of Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side, in 1818, +but then in 1821 transferred themselves to the upper valley of the Don, +where that river becomes a shallow, rapid stream, and where the +surroundings are, on a small scale, quite Alpine in character--a +secluded spot at the time, in the rudest state of nature, a favourite +haunt of wolves, bears and deer; a spot presenting difficulties +peculiarly formidable for the new settler to grapple with, from the +loftiness and steepness of the hills and the kind of timber growing +thereabout, massive pines for the most part. Associated with the +Helliwells in their various enterprises, and allied to them by +copartnerships and intermarriage, were the Skinners and Eastwoods, all +shrewd and persevering folk of the Midland and North-country English +stock.--It was Mr. Eastwood who gave the name of Todmorden to the +village overlooking the mills. Todmorden, partly in Yorkshire, and +partly in Lancashire, was the old home of the Helliwells. + +Farther up the river, on the hills to the right, were the Sinclairs, +very early settlers from New England; and beyond, descending again into +the vale, the Taylors and Leas, substantial and enterprising emigrants +from England. + +Hereabout were the "Forks of the Don," where the west branch of that +stream, seen at York Mills, enters. The hills in this neighbourhood are +lofty and precipitous, and the pines that clothed them were of a +remarkably fine growth. The tedious circuit which teams were obliged to +make in order to get into the town from these regions by the Don bridge +has since been, to some extent, obviated by the erection of two +additional bridges at points higher up the stream, north of the Kingston +road. + + + + +[Illustration] + + XVII. + + THE VALLEY OF THE DON. + + _I.--From the Bridge on the Kingston Road to Tyler's._ + + +Retracing our steps; placing ourselves again on the bridge, and, turning +northwards, we see on the right, near by, a field or rough space, which +has undergone excavation, looking as though the brick-maker or potter +had been at work on it: and we may observe that large quantity of the +displaced material has been spread out over a portion of the marshy +tract enclosed here by a bend of the river westward. What we see is a +relic of an effort made long ago, by Mr. Washburn, a barrister of York, +to whom reference has been made before, to bring this piece of land into +cultivation. In its natural state the property was all but useless, from +the steepness of the hill-side on the one hand, and from the ever wet +condition of the central portion of the flat below on the other. By +grading down the hill and filling in the marsh, and establishing a +gentle slope from the margin of the stream to the level of the top of +the bank on the right, it was easy to see that a large piece of solid +land in an eligible position might be secured. The undertaking, however, +was abandoned before the work was finished, the expense probably being +found heavy, and the prospect of a return for the outlay remote. + +At a later period Mr. O'Neill, with greater success and completeness, +cut down the steep ridges of the bank at Don Mount, a short distance up, +and filled in the marsh below. These experiments show how the valley of +the Don, along the eastern outskirts of the town, will ultimately be +turned to account, when the necessities of the population demand the +outlay. At present such improvements are discouraged by the length of +time required to cover large surfaces of new clay with vegetable mould. +But in future years it will be for mills and factories, and not for +suburban and villa purposes, that the parts referred to will be held +valuable. + +These marshes along the sides of the Don, from the point where its +current ceases to be perceptible, appear to be remains of the river as +it was at an epoch long ago. The rim or levee that now, on the right and +left, confines and defines the meanderings of the stream in the midst of +the marshes, has been formed by the alluvial matter deposited in the +annual overflowings. The bed of the stream has probably in the same +manner been by degrees slightly raised. The solid tow-path, as it were, +thus created on each side of the river-channel, affords at present a +great convenience to the angler and fowler. It forms, moreover, as shown +by the experiments above alluded to, a capital breastwork, towards which +the engineer may advance, when cutting down the adjoining hills, and +disposing of their material on the drowned land below. + +Once more imagining ourselves on the bridge, and looking obliquely to +the north-west, we may still discern close by some remains of the short, +shallow, winding ravine, by which in winter the sleighs used to ascend +from the level of the river, and regain, through a grove of pines and +hemlocks, the high road into the town. As soon as the steady cold set +in, every year, the long reaches and grand sweeps of the river Don +became peculiarly interesting. Firmly frozen over everywhere, and coated +with a good depth of snow, bordered on each side by a high shrubbery of +wild willow, alder, wych-hazel, dog-wood, tree-cranberry and other +specimens of the lesser brushwood of the forest, plentifully overspread +and interwoven in numerous places with the vine of wild grape, the whole +had the appearance of a fine, clear, level English coach-road or +highway, bounded throughout its winding course by a luxuriant hedge, +seen as such English roads and their surroundings were wont to be, all +snow-clad, at Christmas-tide, from the top of the fast mail to Exeter, +for example, in the old coaching days. + +Down the river, thus conveniently paved over, every day came a cavalcade +of strong sleighs, heavily laden, some with cordwood, some with sawn +lumber, some with hay, a whole stack of which at once, sometimes, would +seem to be on the move. + +After a light fall of snow in the night, the surface of the frozen +stream would be marked all over with foot-prints innumerable of animals, +small and great, that had been early out a-foraging: tracks of +field-mice, minks and martens, of land-rats, water-rats and muskrats; of +the wild-cat sometimes, and of the fox; and sometimes of the wolf. Up +this valley we have heard at night the howling of the wolf; and in the +snow of the meadows that skirt the stream, we have seen the +blood-stained spots where sheep had been worried and killed by that +ravenous animal. + +In one or two places where the bends of the river touched the inner high +bank, and where diggings had abortively been made with a view to the +erection of a factory of some kind, beautiful frozen gushes of water +from springs in the hill-side were every winter to be seen, looking, at +a distance, like small motionless Niagaras. At one sheltered spot, we +remember, where a tannery was begun but never finished, solid ice was +sometimes to be found far on in the summer. + +In the spring and summer, a pull up the Don, while yet its banks were in +their primeval state was something to be enjoyed. After passing certain +potasheries and distilleries that at an early period were erected a +short distance northward of the bridge, the meadow land at the base of +the hills began to widen out; and numerous elm trees, very lofty, with +gracefully-drooping branches, made their appearance, with other very +handsome trees, as the lime or basswood, and the sycamore or +button-wood.--At a very early period, we have been assured that brigades +of North-west Company boats, _en route_ to Lake Huron, used to make +their way up the Don as far as the "Forks," by one of which they then +passed westward towards the track now known as Yonge-street: they there +were taken ashore and carried on trucks to the Holland river. The help +gained by utilizing this piece of water-way must have been slight, when +the difficulties to be overcome high up the stream were taken into +account. We have conversed with an early inhabitant who, at a more +recent period, had seen the North-west Company's boats drawn on trucks +by oxen up the line of modern Yonge-street, but, in his day, starting, +mounted in this manner, from the edge of the bay. In both cases they +were shifted across from the Lake into the harbour at the +"Carrying-place"--the narrow neck or isthmus a little to the west of the +mouth of the Don proper, where the lake has now made a passage. + +We add one more of the spectacles which, in the olden time, gave +animation to the scene before us. Along the winding stream, where in +winter the sleighs were to be seen coming down, every summer at night +would be observed a succession of moving lights, each repeated in the +dark water below. These were the iron cressets, filled with unctuous +pine knots all ablaze, suspended from short poles at the bows of the +fishermen's skiffs, out in quest of salmon and such other large fish as +might be deemed worth a thrust of the long-handled, sharply-barbed +trident used in such operations. Before the establishment of mills and +factories, many hundreds of salmon were annually taken in the Don, as in +all the other streams emptying into Lake Ontario. We have ourselves been +out on a night-fishing excursion on the Don, when in the course of an +hour some twenty heavy salmon were speared; and we have a distinct +recollection of the conspicuous appearance of the great fish, as seen by +the aid of the blazing "jack" at the bow, nozzling about at the bottom +of the stream. + + _2.--From Tyler's to the Big Bend._ + +Not far from the spot where, at present, the Don-street bridge crosses +the river, on the west side and to the north, lived for a long time a +hermit-squatter, named Joseph Tyler, an old New Jersey man, of +picturesque aspect. With his rather fine, sharp, shrewd features, set +off by an abundance of white hair and beard, he was the counterpart of +an Italian artist's stock-model. The mystery attendant on his choice of +a life of complete solitude, his careful reserve, his perfect +self-reliance in regard to domestic matters, and, at the same time, the +evident wisdom of his contrivances and ways, and the propriety and +sagacity of his few words, all helped to render him a good specimen in +actual life of a secular anchorite. He had been in fact a soldier in the +United States army, in the war of Independence, and was in the receipt +of a pension from the other side of the lakes. He was familiar, he +alleged, with the personal appearance of Washington. + +His abode on the Don was an excavation in the side of the steep hill, a +little way above the level of the river-bank. The flue of his winter +fire-place was a tubular channel, bored up through the clay of the +hill-side. His sleeping-place or berth was exactly like one of the +receptacles for human remains in the Roman catacombs, an oblong recess, +likewise carved in the dry material of the hill. To the south of his +cave he cultivated a large garden, and raised among other things, the +white sweet edible Indian corn, a novelty here at the time; and very +excellent tobacco. He moreover manufactured pitch and tar, in a little +kiln or pit dug for the purpose close by his house. + +He built for himself a magnificent canoe, locally famous. It consisted +of two large pine logs, each about forty feet long, well shaped and +deftly hollowed out, fastened together by cross dove-tail pieces let in +at regular distances along the interior of its bottom. While in process +of construction in the pine woods through which the "Mill road" passes, +on the high bank eastward of the river, it was a wonderment to all the +inquisitive youth of the neighbourhood, and was accordingly often +visited and inspected by them. + +In this craft he used to pole himself down the windings of the stream, +all the way round into the bay, and on to the landing-place at the foot +of Caroline-street, bringing with him the produce of his garden, and +neat stacks of pine knots, ready split for the fishermen's lightjacks. +He would also on occasion undertake the office of ferryman. On being +hailed for the purpose, he would put across the river persons anxious to +make a short cut into the town from the eastward. Just opposite his den +there was for a time a rude causeway over the marsh. + +At the season of the year when the roads through the woods were +impracticable, Tyler's famous canoe was employed by the Messrs. +Helliwell for conveying into town, from a point high up the stream, the +beer manufactured at their Breweries on the Don. We are informed by Mr. +William Helliwell, of the Highland Creek, that twenty-two barrels at a +time could be placed in it, in two rows of eleven each, laid lengthwise +side by side, still leaving room for Tyler and an assistant to navigate +the boat. + +The large piece of meadow land on the east side of the river, above +Tyler's abode, enclosed by a curve which the stream makes towards the +west, has a certain interest attached to it from the fact that therein +was reproduced, for the first time in these parts, that peculiarly +pleasant English scene, a hop-garden. Under the care of Mr. James Case, +familiar with the hop in Sussex, this graceful and useful plant was here +for several seasons to be seen passing through the successive stages of +its scientific cultivation; in early spring sprouting from the surface +of the rich black vegetable mould; then trained gradually over, and at +length clothing richly the poles or groups of poles set at regular +distances throughout the enclosure; overtopping these supports; by and +by loading them heavily with a plentiful crop of swaying clusters; and +then finally, when in a sufficiently mature state, prostrated, props and +all, upon the ground, and stripped of their fragrant burden, the real +object of all the pains taken.--From this field many valuable pockets of +hops were gathered; and the quality of the plant was pronounced to be +good. Mr. Case afterwards engaged extensively in the same occupation in +the neighbourhood of Newmarket. + +About the dry, sandy table-land that overlooked the river on each side +in this neighbourhood, the burrows of the fox, often with little +families within, were plentifully to be met with. The marmot too, +popularly known as the woodchuck, was to be seen on sunny days sitting +up upon its haunches at holes in the hill-side. We could at this moment +point out the ancient home of a particular animal of this species, whose +ways we used to note with some curiosity.--Here were to be found racoons +also; but these, like the numerous squirrels, black, red, flying and +striped, were visible only towards the decline of summer, when the maize +and the nuts began to ripen. At that period also, bears, he-bears and +she-bears, accompanied by their cubs, were not unfamiliar objects, +wherever the blackberry and raspberry grew. In the forest, moreover, +hereabout, a rustle in the underbrush, and something white seen dancing +up and down in the distance like the plume of a mounted knight, might at +any moment indicate that a group of deer had caught sight of one of the +dreaded human race, and, with tails uplifted, had bounded incontinently +away. + +Pines of a great height and thickness crowded the tops of these hills. +The paths of hurricanes could be traced over extensive tracts by the +fallen trunks of trees of this species, their huge bulks lying one over +the other in a titanic confusion worthy of a sketch by Dore in +illustration of Dante; their heads all in one direction, their upturned +roots, vast mats of woody ramifications and earth, presented sometimes a +perpendicular wall of a great height. Occasionally one of these upright +masses, originating in the habit of the pine to send out a wide-spread +but shallow rootage, would unexpectedly fall back into its original +place, when, in the clearing of the land, the bole of the tree to which +it appertained came to be gashed through. In this case it would +sometimes happen that a considerable portion of the trunk would appear +again in a perpendicular position. As its top would of course show that +human hands had been at work there, the question would be propounded to +the new comer as to how the axe could have reached to such a height. The +suppositions usually encouraged in him were, either that the snow must +have been wonderfully deep when that particular tree was felled, or else +that some one of the very early settlers must have been a man of +exceptional stature. + +Among the lofty pines, here and there, one more exposed than the rest +would be seen, with a piece of the thickness of a strong fence-rail +stripped out of its side, from its extreme apex to its very root, +spirally, like the groove of a rifle-bore. It in this manner showed that +at some moment it had been the swift conductor down into the earth of +the contents of a passing electric cloud. One tree of the pine species, +we remember, that had been severed in the midst by lightning, so +suddenly, that the upper half had descended with perfect +perpendicularity and such force that it planted itself upright in the +earth by the side of the trunk from which it had been smitten. + +Nor may we omit from our remembered phenomena of the pine forests +hereabout, the bee-trees. Now and then a huge pine would fall, or be +intentionally cut down, which would exhibit in cavernous recesses at a +great distance from what had been its root end, the accumulated combs +of, it might be, a half century; those of them that were of recent +construction, filled with honey. + +A solitary survivor of the forest of towering pines which, at the period +to which we are adverting, covered the hills on both sides of the Don +was long to be seen towards the northern limit of the Moss Park +property. In the columns of a local paper this particular tree was thus +gracefully commemorated:-- + + Oh! tell to me, thou old pine tree, + Oh! tell to me thy tale, + For long hast thou the thunder braved, + And long withstood the gale; + The last of all thy hardy race, + Thy tale now tell to me, + For sure I am, it must be strange, + Thou lonely forest tree. + + Yes, strange it is, this bending trunk, + So withered now and grey, + Stood once among the forest trees + Which long have passed away: + They fell in strength and beauty, + Nor have they left a trace, + Save my old trunk and withered limbs + To show their former place. + + Countless and lofty once we stood; + Beneath our ample shade + His forest home of boughs and bark + The hardy red man made. + Child of the forest, here he roamed, + Nor spoke nor thought of fear, + As he trapped the beaver in his dam, + And chased the bounding deer. + + No gallant ship with spreading sail + Then ploughed those waters blue, + Nor craft had old Ontario then, + But the Indians' birch canoe; + No path was through the forest, + Save that the red man trod; + Here, by your home, was his dwelling place, + And the temple of his God. + + Now where the busy city stands, + Hard by that graceful spire, + The proud Ojibeway smoked his pipe + Beside his camping fire. + And there, where those marts of commerce are + Extending east and west, + Amid the rushes in the marsh + The wild fowl had its nest. + + But the pale face came, our ranks were thinn'd, + And the loftiest were brought low, + And the forest faded far and wide, + Beneath his sturdy blow; + And the steamer on the quiet lake, + Then ploughed its way of foam, + And the red man fled from the scene of strife + To find a wilder home. + + And many who in childhood's days + Around my trunk have played, + Are resting like the Indian now + Beneath the cedar's shade; + And I, like one bereft of friends, + With winter whitened o'er, + But wait the hour that I must fall, + As others fell before. + + And still what changes wait thee, + When at no distant day, + The ships of far off nations, + Shall anchor in your bay; + When one vast chain of railroad, + Stretching from shore to shore, + Shall bear the wealth of India, + And land it at your door. + +A short distance above the hop ground of which we have spoken, the Don +passed immediately underneath a high sandy bluff. Where, after a long +reach in its downward course, it first impinged against the steep cliff, +it was very deep. Here was the only point in its route, so far as we +recall, where the epithet was applicable which Milton gives to its +English namesake, when he speaks of-- + + "Utmost Tweed, or Ouse, or _gulphy_ Don." + +This very noticeable portion of the river was known as the "Big Bend." +(We may observe here that in retaining its English name, the Don has +lost the appellation assigned to it by the French, if they ever +distinguished it by a name. The Grand River, on the contrary, has +retained its French name, notwithstanding its English official +designation, which was the Ouse. The Rouge, too, has kept its French +name. It was the Nen. The Indians styled this, or a neighbouring stream, +Katabokokonk, "The River of Easy Entrance." The Thames, however, has +wholly dropped its French title, LaTranche. We may subjoin that the +Humber was anciently called by some, St John's River, from a trader +named St. John; and by some, as we have already learnt, Toronto River. +In Lahontan's map it is marked Tanaouate. No interpretation is +given.--Augustus Jones, the early surveyor of whom we shall have +occasion frequently to speak, notes in one of his letters that the +Indian name for the Don was Wonscoteonach, "Back burnt grounds;" that +is, the river coming down from the back burnt country, meaning probably +the so-called Poplar Plains to the north, liable to be swept by casual +fires in the woods. The term is simply descriptive, and not, in the +modern sense, a proper name.) + +Towards the summit of the high bluff just mentioned, the holes made by +the sand-martins were numerous. Hereabout we have met with the snapping +turtle. This creature has not the power of withdrawing itself wholly +within a shell. A part of its protection consists in the loud +threatening snap of its strong horny jaws, armed in front with a +beak-like hook bent downwards. What the creature lays hold of, it will +not let go. Let it grasp the end of a stout stick, and the sportsman may +sling it over his shoulder, and so carry it home with him. When allowed +to reach its natural term of life, it probably attains a very great age. +We remember a specimen captured near the spot at which we are pausing, +which, from its vast size, and the rough, lichen-covered condition of +its shell, must have been extremely old. We also once found near here a +numerous deposit of this animal's eggs; all white and spherical, of the +diameter of about an inch, and covered with a tough parchment-like skin. + +The ordinary lesser tortoises of the marsh were of course plentiful +along the Don: their young frequently to be met with creeping about, +were curious and ever-interesting little objects. Snakes too there were +about here, of several kinds: one, often very large and +dangerous-looking, the copper-head, of a greenish brown colour, and +covered with oblong and rather loose scales. The striped garter-snake of +all sizes, was very common. Though reported to be harmless, it always +indulged, when interfered with, in the menacing action and savage +attempts to strike, of the most venomous of its genus.--Then there was +the beautiful grass-green snake; and in large numbers, the black +water-snake. In the rank herbage along the river's edge, the terrified +piping of a pursued frog was often heard. + +It recurs to us, as we write, that once, on the banks of the Humber, we +saw a bird actually in the grasp of a large garter-snake--just held by +the foot. As the little creature fluttered violently in the air, the +head of the reptile was swayed rapidly to and fro. All the small birds +in the vicinity had gathered together in a state of noisy excitement; +and many spirited dashes were make by several of them at the common foe. +No great injury having been as yet inflicted, we were enabled to effect +a happy rescue. + +From the high sandy cliff, to which our attention has been drawn, it was +possible to look down into the waters of the river; and on a sunny day, +it afforded no small amusement to watch the habits, not only of the +creatures just named, but of the fish also, visible below in the stream; +the simple sunfish, for example, swimming about in shoals (or _schools_, +as the term used to be); and the pike, crafty as a fox, lurking in +solitude, ready to dart on his unwary prey with the swiftness and +precision of an arrow shot from the bow. + + _3.--From the Big Bend to Castle Frank Brook._ + +Above the "Big Bend," on the west side, was "Rock Point." At the water's +edge hereabout was a slight outcrop of shaly rock, where crayfish were +numerous, and black bass. The adjoining marshy land was covered with a +dense thicket, in which wild gooseberry bushes and wild black-currant +bushes were noticeable. The flats along here were a favourite haunt of +woodcock at the proper season of the year: the peculiar succession of +little twitters uttered by them when descending from their flight, and +the very different deep-toned note, the signal of their having alighted, +were both very familiar sounds in the dusk of the evening. + +A little further on was "the Island." The channel between it and the +"mainland" on the north side, was completely choked up with logs and +large branches, brought down by the freshets. It was itself surrounded +by a high fringe or hedge of the usual brush that lined the river-side +all along, matted together and clambered over, almost everywhere by the +wild grape-vine. In the waters at its northern end, wild rice grew +plentifully, and the beautiful sweet-scented white water-lily or lotus. + +This minute bit of insulated land possessed, to the boyish fancy, great +capabilities. Within its convenient circuit, what phantasies and dreams +might not be realized? A Juan Fernandez, a Barataria, a New +Atlantis.--At the present moment we find that what was once our charmed +isle has now become _terra firma_, wholly amalgamated with the mainland. +Silt has hidden from view the tangled lodgments of the floods. A carpet +of pleasant herbage has overspread the silt. The border-strip of +shrubbery and grape-vine, which so delightfully walled it round, has +been improved, root and branch, out of being. + +Near the Island, on the left side, a rivulet, of which more immediately, +pouring down through a deep, narrow ravine, entered the Don. On the +right, just at this point, the objectionable marshes began to disappear, +and the whole bottom of the vale was early converted into handsome +meadows. Scattered about were grand elm and butternut, fine basswood and +buttonwood trees, with small groves of the Canadian willow, which +pleasantly resembles, in habit, the olive tree of the south of Europe. +Along the flats, remains of Indian encampments were often met with; +tusks of bears and other animals; with fragments of coarse pottery, +streaked or furrowed rudely over, for ornament. And all along the +valley, calcareous masses, richly impregnated with iron, were found, +detached, from time to time, as was supposed, from certain places in the +hill-sides. + +At the long-ago epoch when the land went up, the waters came down with a +concentrated rush from several directions into the valley just here, +from some accidental cause, carving out in their course, in the enormous +deposit of the drift, a number of deep and rapidly descending channels, +converging all upon this point. The drainage of a large extent of +acreage to the eastward, also at that period, found here for a time its +way into the Don, as may be seen by a neighbouring gorge, and the deep +and wide, but now _dry_ water-course leading to it, known, where the +"Mill road" crosses it, as the "Big Hollow." + +Bare and desolate, at that remote era, must have been the appearance of +these earth-banks and ridges and flats, as also those in the vicinity of +all our rivers: for many a long year they must have resembled the +surroundings of some great tidal river, to which the sea, after ebbing, +had failed to return. + +One result of the ancient down-rush of waters, just about here, was that +on both sides of the river there were to be observed several striking +specimens of that long, thin, narrow kind of hill which is popularly +known as a "hog's back." One on the east side afforded, along its ridge, +a convenient ascent from the meadows to the table-land above, where +fine views up and down the vale were obtainable, somewhat Swiss in +character, including in the distance the lake, to the south. Overhanging +the pathway, about half-way up, a group of white-birch trees is +remembered by the token that, on their stems, a number of young men and +maidens of the neighbourhood had, in sentimental mood, after the manner +of the Corydons and Amaryllises of classic times, incised their names. + +The west side of the river, as well as the east, of which we have been +more especially speaking, presented here also a collection of convergent +"hog's backs" and deeply channelled water-courses. One of the latter +still conducted down a living stream to the Don. This was the rivulet +already noticed as entering just above the Island. It bore the graceful +name of "Castle Frank Brook." + + _4.--Castle Frank._ + +Castle Frank was a rustic chateau or summer-house, built by Governor +Simcoe in the midst of the woods, on the brow of a steep and lofty bank, +which overlooks the vale of the Don, a short distance to the north of +where we have been lingering. The construction of this edifice was a +mere _divertissement_ while engaged in the grand work of planting in a +field literally and entirely new, the institutions of civilization. + +All the way from the site of the town of York to the front of this +building, a narrow carriage-road and convenient bridle-path had been cut +out by the soldiers, and carefully graded. Remains of this ancient +engineering achievement are still to be traced along the base of the +hill below the Necropolis and elsewhere. The brook--Castle Frank +Brook--a little way from where it enters the Don, was spanned by a +wooden bridge. Advantage being taken of a narrow ridge, that opportunely +had its commencing point close by on the north side, the roadway here +began the ascent of the adjoining height. It then ran slantingly up the +hill-side, along a cutting which is still to be seen. The table-land at +the summit was finally gained by utilizing another narrow ridge. It then +proceeded along the level at the top for some distance through a forest +of lofty pines, until the chateau itself was reached. + +The cleared space where the building stood was not many yards across. On +each side of it, the ground precipitously descended, on the one hand to +the Don, on the other to the bottom of the ravine where flowed the +brook. Notwithstanding the elevation of the position, the view was +circumscribed, hill-side and table-land being alike covered with trees +of the finest growth. + +Castle Frank itself was an edifice of considerable dimensions, of an +oblong shape; its walls were composed of a number of rather small, +carefully hewn logs, of short lengths. The whole wore the hue which +unpainted timber, exposed to the weather, speedily assumes. At the gable +end, in the direction of the roadway from the nascent capital, was the +principal entrance, over which a rather imposing portico was formed by +the projection of the whole roof, supported by four upright columns, +reaching the whole height of the building, and consisting of the stems +of four good-sized, well-matched pines, with their deeply-chapped, +corrugated bark unremoved. The doors and shutters to the windows were +all of double thickness, made of stout plank, running up and down on one +side, and crosswise on the other, and thickly studded over with the +heads of stout nails. From the middle of the building rose a solitary, +massive chimney-stack. + +We can picture to ourselves the cavalcade that was wont, from time to +time, to be seen in the summers and autumns of 1794-'5-'6, wending its +way leisurely to the romantically situated chateau of Castle Frank, +along the reaches and windings, the descents and ascents of the forest +road, expressly cut out through the primitive woods as a means of access +to it. + +First, mounted on a willing and well-favoured horse, as we will suppose, +there would be General Simcoe himself--a soldierly personage, in the +full vigour of life, advanced but little beyond his fortieth year, of +thoughtful and stern, yet benevolent aspect--as shewn by the medallion +in marble on his monument in the cathedral at Exeter--revolving ever in +his mind schemes for the development and defence of the new Society +which he was engaged in founding; a man "just, active, enlightened, +brave, frank," as the French Duke de Liancourt described him in 1795; +"possessing the confidence of the country, of the troops, and of all +those who were joined with him in the administration of public affairs." +"No hillock catches his eye," the same observant writer remarks, +"without exciting in his mind the idea of a fort which might be +constructed on the spot, associating with the construction of this fort +the plan of operations for a campaign; especially of that which should +lead him to Philadelphia, _i. e._, to recover, by force of arms, to the +allegiance of England, the Colonies recently revolted." + +By the side of the soldier and statesman Governor, also on horseback, +would be his gifted consort, small in person, "handsome and amiable," as +the French Duke again speaks, "fulfilling," as he continues to say, "all +the duties of the mother and wife with the most scrupulous exactness; +carrying the latter so far," DeLiancourt observes, "as to be of great +assistance to her husband by her talent for drawing, the practice of +which, in relation to maps and plans, enabled her to be extremely useful +to the Governor," while her skill and facility and taste in a wider +application of that talent were attested, the French traveller might +have added, by numerous sketch-books and portfolios of views of Canadian +scenery in its primitive condition, taken by her hand, to be treasured +up carefully and reverently by her immediate descendants, but +unfortunately not accessible generally to Canadian students. + +This memorable lady--memorable for her eminent Christian goodness, as +well as for her artistic skill and taste, and superior intellectual +endowments--survived to the late period of 1850. Her maiden name is +preserved among us by the designation borne by two of our townships, +East and West "Gwillim"-bury. Her father, at the time one of the +aides-de-camp to General Wolfe, was killed at the taking of Quebec. + +Conspicuous in the group would likewise be a young daughter and son, the +latter about five years of age and bearing the name of Francis. The +chateau of which we have just given an account was theoretically the +private property of this child, and took its name from him, although the +appellation, by accident as we suppose, is identical, in sound at all +events, with that of a certain "Castel-franc" near Rochelle, which +figures in the history of the Huguenots. + +The Iroquois at Niagara had given the Governor a title, expressive of +hospitality--Deyonynhokrawen, "One whose door is always open." They had, +moreover, in Council declared his son a chief, and had named him Tioga; +or Deyoken, "Between the Two Objects;" and to humour them in return, as +Liancourt informs us, the child was occasionally attired in Indian +costume. For most men it is well that the future is veiled from them. It +happened eventually that a warrior's fate befell the young chieftain +Tioga. The little spirited lad who had been seen at one time moving +about before the assembled Iroquois at Niagara, under a certain +restraint probably, from the unwonted garb of embroidered deerskin, in +which, on such occasions, he would be arrayed; and at another time +clambering up and down the steep hill-sides at Castle Frank, with the +restless energy of a free English boy, was at last, after the lapse of +some seventeen years, seen a mangled corpse, one in that ghastly pile of +"English dead," which, in 1812, closed up the breach at Badajoz. + +Riding with the Governor, out to his rustic lodge, would be seen also +his attached secretary, Major Littlehales, and one or other of his +faithful aides-de-camp, Lieutenant Talbot or Lieutenant Givins; with men +in attendance in the dark green undress of the famous Queen's Rangers, +with a sumpter pony or two, bearing packages and baskets filled with a +day's provender for the whole party. A few dogs also, a black +Newfoundland, a pointer, a setter, white and tan, hieing buoyantly about +on the right and left, would give animation to the cavalcade as it +passed sedately on its way-- + + "Through the green-glooming twilight of the grove." + +It will be of interest to add here, the inscription on General Simcoe's +monument in Exeter Cathedral:--"Sacred to the memory of John Graves +Simcoe, Lieutenant-General in the army, and Colonel of the 22nd Regiment +of Foot, who died on the 25th day of October, 1806, aged 54. In whose +life and character the virtues of the hero, the patriot and the +Christian were so eminently conspicuous, that it may justly be said, he +served his king and his country with a zeal exceeded only by his piety +towards God." Above this inscription is a medallion portrait. On the +right and left are figures of an Indian and a soldier of the Queen's +Rangers. The remains of the General are not deposited in Exeter +Cathedral, but under a mortuary chapel on the estate of his family +elsewhere. + +Our cavalcade to Castle Frank, as sketched above, was once challenged on +the supposed ground that in 1794 there were no horses in Western +Canada.--Horses were no doubt at that date scarce in the region named; +but some were procurable for the use of the Governor and his suite. In a +"Journal to Detroit from Niagara, in 1793, by Major Littlehales," +printed for the first time in the _Canadian Literary Magazine_, for May, +1833, we have it mentioned that, on the return of an exploring party, +they were met at the end of the plains, near the Salt Lake Creek, by +Indians, "bringing horses for the Governor and his suite." The French +_habitans_ about Sandwich and Detroit were in possession of horses in +1793, as well as their fellow countrymen in Lower Canada. + +After the departure of General Simcoe from Canada, Castle Frank was +occasionally made the scene of an excursion or pic-nic by President +Russell and his family; and a ball was now and then given there, for +which the appliances as well as the guests were conveyed in boats up the +Don. At one time it was temporarily occupied by Captain John Denison, of +whom hereafter. About the year 1829, the building, shut up and +tenantless at the time, was destroyed by fire, the mischievous handiwork +of persons engaged in salmon-fishing in the Don. A depression in the dry +sand just beyond the fence which bounds the Cemetery of St. James, +northward, shews to this day the exact site of Castle Frank. The +quantity of iron that was gathered out from this depression after the +fire, was, as we remember, something extraordinary, all the window +shutters and doors having been, as we have said, made of double planks, +fastened together with an immense number of stout nails, whose heads +thickly studded the surface of each in regular order. + +The immediate surroundings of the spot where Castle Frank stood, +fortunately continue almost in their original natural state. Although +the site of the building itself is outside the bounds of the Cemetery of +St. James, a large portion of the lot which at first formed the domain +of the chateau, now forms a part of that spacious and picturesque +enclosure. The deep glen on the west, immediately below where the house +was built, and through which flows (and by the listener may be +pleasantly _heard_ to flow) the brook that bears its name, is to this +day a scene of rare sylvan beauty. The pedestrian from the town, by a +half-hour's easy walk, can here place himself in the midst of a forest +solitude; and from what he sees he can form an idea of the whole +surrounding region, as it was when York was first laid out. Here he can +find in abundance, to this day, specimens, gigantic and minute, of the +vegetation of the ancient woods. Here at the proper seasons he can still +hear the blue jay; the flute notes of the solitary wood-thrush, and at +night, specially when the moon is shining bright, the whip-poor-will, +hurriedly and in a high key, syllabling forth its own name. + + _5.--On to the Ford and the Mills._ + +We now resume our ramble up the valley of the Don. Northward of the +gorge, where Castle Frank Brook entered, and where so many other +deep-cut ravines converge upon the present channel of the stream, the +scenery becomes really good. + +We pass along through natural meadows, bordered on both sides by fine +hills, which recede by a succession of slight plateaux, the uppermost of +them clothed with lofty pines and oaks: on the slope nearest to "the +flats" on the east, grew, along with the choke-cherry and may-flower, +numbers of the wild apple or crab, beautiful objects when in full bloom. +Hereabout also was to be found the prickly ash, a rather uncommon and +graceful shrub. (The long-continued precipitous bank on the west side of +the Don completely covered with forest, with, at last, the roof of the +rustic chateau appearing above, must have recalled, in some slight +degree, the Sharpham woods and Sharpham to the mind of anyone who had +ever chanced to sail up the Dart so far as that most beautiful spot.) + +Immediately beyond the Castle Frank woods, where now is the property +known as Drumsnab, came the estate of Captain George Playter, and +directly across on the opposite side of the river, that of his son +Captain John Playter, both immigrants from Pennsylvania. When the town +of York was in the occupancy of the Americans in 1813, many of the +archives of the young province of Upper Canada were conveyed for safe +keeping to the houses of these gentlemen. But boats, with men and +officers from the invading force, found their way up the windings of the +Don; and such papers and documents as could be found were carried away. + +Just below Drumsnab, on the west side of the stream, and set down, as it +were, in the midst of the valley, was, and is, a singular isolated mound +of the shape of a glass shade over a French clock, known in the +neighbourhood as the "Sugar Loaf." It was completely clothed over with +moderate sized trees. When the whole valley of the Don was filled with a +brimming river reaching to the summit of its now secondary banks, the +top of the "Sugar Loaf," which is nearly on a level with the summit of +the adjacent hills, must have appeared above the face of the water as an +island speck. + +This picturesque and curious mound is noticed by Sir James Alexander, in +the account which he gives of the neighbourhood of Toronto in his +"L'Acadie, or Seven Years' Explorations in British America":--"The most +picturesque spot near Toronto," says Sir James, "and within four miles +of it, is Drumsnab, the residence of Mr. Cayley. The mansion is roomy +and of one storey, with a broad verandah. It is seated among fields and +woods, on the edge of a slope; at the bottom winds a river; opposite is +a most singular conical hill, like an immense Indian tumulus for the +dead; in the distance, through a vista cut judiciously through the +forest, are seen the dark blue waters of Lake Ontario. The walls of the +principal room are covered with scenes from Faust, drawn in fresco, with +a bold and masterly hand, by the proprietor."--(Vol. 1. p. 230.) + +In the shadow thrown eastward by the "Sugar Loaf," there was a "Ford" in +the Don, a favourite bathing-place for boys, with a clean gravelly +bottom, and a current somewhat swift. That Ford was just in the line of +an allowance for a concession road; which from the precipitous character +of the hills on both sides, has been of late years closed by Act of +Parliament, on the ground of its supposed impracticability for ever,--a +proceeding to be regretted; as the highway which would traverse the Don +valley at the Ford would be a continuation of Bloor street in a right +line; and would form a convenient means of communication between Chester +and Yorkville. + +In the meadow on the left, just above the Ford, a little meandering +brook, abounding in trout, entered the Don. Hereabouts also was, for a +long while, a rustic bridge over the main river, formed by trees felled +across the stream. + +Proceeding on our way we now in a short time approached the great colony +of the Helliwells, which has already been described. The mills and +manufactories established here by that enterprising family constituted +quite a conspicuous village. A visit to this cluster of buildings, in +1827, is described by Mr. W. L. Mackenzie, in his "Sketches of Canada," +published in London, by Effingham Wilson, in 1833. At page 270 of that +work, the writer says: "About three miles out of town, in the bottom of +a deep ravine, watered by the river Don, and bounded also by beautiful +and verdant flats, are situated the York Paper Mills, distillery and +grist-mill of Messrs. Eastwood & Co.; also Mr. Shepard's axe-grinding +machinery; and Messrs. Helliwell's large and extensive Brewery. I went +out to view these improvements a few days ago, and returned much +gratified with witnessing the paper-manufacture in active operation--as +also the bold and pleasant scenery on the banks of the Don. The river +might be made navigable with small expense up to the brewery; and if the +surrounding lands were laid out in five-acre lots all the way to town, +they would sell to great advantage." + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XVIII. + + QUEEN STREET, FROM THE DON BRIDGE TO CAROLINE STREET. + + +We return once more to the Don Bridge; and from that point commence a +journey westward along the thoroughfare now known as Queen Street, but +which at the period at present occupying our attention, was +non-existent. The region through which we at first pass was long known +as the Park. It was a portion of Government property not divided into +lots and sold, until recent times. + +Originally a great space extending from the first Parliament houses, +bounded southward and eastward by the water of the Bay and Don, and +northward by the Castle Frank lot, was set apart as a "Reserve for +Government Buildings," to be, it may be, according to the idea of the +day, a small domain of woods and forest in connection with them; or else +to be converted in the course of time into a source of ways and means +for their erection and maintenance. The latter appears to have been the +view taken of this property in 1811. We have seen a plan of that date, +signed "T. Ridout, S. G.," shewing this reserve divided into a number of +moderate sized lots, each marked with "the estimated yearly rent, in +dollars, as reported by the Deputy Surveyor [Samuel S. Wilmot]." The +survey is therein stated to have been made "by order of His Excellency +Francis Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor." + +The number of the lots is eighty-three. None of them bear a larger +amount than twenty dollars. Some of them consisting of minute bits of +marsh, were expected to yield not more than one dollar. The revenue from +the whole if realised would have been eleven hundred and thirty-three +dollars. In this plan, what is now Queen street is duly laid down, in +direct continuation of the Kingston Road westward, without regard to the +engineering difficulties presented by ravines; but it is entitled in +large letters, "Dundas Street." On its north side lie forty-six, and on +its south, thirty-seven of the small lots into which the whole reserve +is divided The scheme was never carried into effect. + +The Park, as we remember it, was a tract of land in a state of nature, +densely covered, towards the north, with massive pines; and towards the +south, with a thick secondary growth of the same forest tree. Through +these woods ran a devious and rather obscure track, originating in the +bridle-road cut out, before the close of the preceding century, to +Castle Frank; one branch led off from it to the Playter-estate, passing +down and up two very steep and difficult precipices; and another, +trending to the west and north, conducted the wayfarer to a point on +Yonge Street about where Yorkville is now to be seen. + +To the youthful imagination, the Park, thus clothed with veritable +forest-- + + The nodding horror of whose shady brows + Awed the forlorn and wandering passenger-- + +and traversed by irregular, ill-defined and very solitary paths, leading +to widely-separated localities, seemed a vast and rather mysterious +region, the place which immediately flashed on the mind, whenever in +poem or fairy tale, a wild or wold or wilderness was named. As time +rolled on, too, it actually became the haunt and hiding-place of lawless +characters. + +After passing, on our left, the burial-plot attached to the first Roman +Catholic Church of York, and arriving where Parliament Street, at the +present day, intersects, we reached the limit, in that direction, of the +"Reserve for Government Buildings." Stretching from the point indicated, +there was on the right side of the way, a range of "park lots," +extending some two miles to the west, all bounded on the south by what +at the present time is Queen Street, but which, from being the great +thoroughfare along the front of this very range, was long known as "Lot +Street." (In the plan above spoken of, it is marked, as already stated, +"Dundas Street," it being a section of the great military way, bearing +that name, projected by the first Governor of Upper Canada to traverse +the whole province from west to east, as we shall have occasion +hereafter to narrate.) + +In the early plan of this part of York, the names of the first locatees +of the range of park-lots are given. On the first or easternmost lot we +read that of John Small. On the next, that of J. White. + +In this collocation of names there is something touching, when we recall +an event in which the first owners of these two contiguous lots were +tragically concerned. Friends, and associates in the Public Service, the +one as Clerk of the Crown, the other as Attorney-General for Upper +Canada, from 1792-1800, their dream, doubtless, was to pass the evening +of their days in pleasant suburban villas placed here side by side in +the outskirts of the young capital. But there arose between them a +difficulty, trivial enough probably at the beginning, but which, +according to the barbaric conventionality of the hour, could only be +finally settled by a "meeting," as the phrase was, in the field, where +chance was to decide between them, for life or death, as between two +armies--two armies reduced to the absurdity of each consisting of one +man. The encounter took place in a pleasant grove at the back of the +Parliament Building, immediately to the east of it, between what is now +King Street and the water's edge. Mr. White was mortally wounded and +soon expired. At his own request his remains were deposited in his +garden on the park-lot, beneath a summer-house to which he had been +accustomed to retire for purposes of study. + +The _Oracle_ of Saturday, January 4, 1800, records the duel in the +following words:--"Yesterday morning a duel was fought back of the +Government Buildings by John White, Esq., his Majesty's +Attorney-General, and John Small, Esq., Clerk of the Executive Council, +wherein the former received a wound above the right hip, which it is +feared will prove mortal." In the issue of the following Saturday, +January 11th, the announcement appears:--"It is with much regret that we +express to the public, the death of John White, Esq." It is added: "His +remains were on Tuesday evening interred in a small octagon building, +erected on the rear of his Park lot." "The procession," the _Oracle_ +observes, "was solemn and pensive; and shewed that though death, 'all +eloquent,' had seized upon him as his victim, yet it could not take from +the public mind the lively sense of his virtues. _Vivit post funera +virtus._" + +The _Constellation_ at Niagara, of the date January 11th, 1800, also +records the event, and enjoying a greater liberty of expression than the +Government organ at York, indulges in some just and sensible remarks on +the irrational practice of duelling in general, and on the sadness of +the special case which had just occurred. We give the _Constellation_ +article: + +"Died at York, on the 3rd instant, John White, Esq., Attorney-General of +this Province. His death was occasioned by a wound he received in a duel +fought the day before with John Small, Esq., Clerk of the Executive +Council, by whom he was challenged. We have not been able to obtain the +particulars of the cause of the dispute; but be the origin what it may, +we have to lament the toleration and prevalency of a custom falsely +deemed honourable, or the criterion of true courage, innocency or guilt, +a custom to gratify the passion of revenge in a single person, to the +privation of the country and a family, of an ornament of society, and +support: an outrage on humanity that is too often procured by the meanly +malicious, who have preferment in office or friendship in view, without +merit to gain it, and stupidly lacquey from family to family, or from +person to person, some wonderful suspicion, the suggestions of a soft +head and evil heart; and it is truly unfortunate for Society that the +evil they bring on others should pass by their heads to light on those +the world could illy spare. We are unwilling to attribute to either the +Attorney-General or Mr. Small any improprieties of their own, or to say +on whom the blame lies; but of this we feel assured, that an explanation +might easily have been brought about by persons near to them, and a +valuable life preserved to us. The loss is great; as a professional +gentleman, the Attorney-General was eminent, as a friend, sincere; and +in whatever relation he stood was highly esteemed; an honest and upright +man, a friend to the poor; and dies universally lamented and we here +cannot refuse to mention, at the particular request of some who have +experienced his goodness, that he has refused taking fees, and +discharged suits at law, by recommending to the parties, and assisting +them with friendly advice, to an amicable adjustment of their +differences: and this is the man whom we have lost!" + +For his share in the duel Mr. Small was, on the 20th January, 1800, +indicted and tried before Judge Allcock and a jury, of which Mr. Wm. +Jarvis was the foreman. The verdict rendered was "Not Guilty." The +seconds were--Mr. Sheriff Macdonell for Mr. Small, and the Baron DeHoen +for Mr. White. + +(In 1871, as some labourers were digging out sand, for building +purposes, they came upon the grave of Attorney-General White. The +remains were carefully removed under the inspection of Mr. Clarke +Gamble, and deposited in St. James' Cemetery.) + +Mr. White's park-lot became afterwards the property of Mr. Samuel +Ridout, sometime Sheriff of the County, of whom we have had occasion to +speak already. A portion of it was subsequently owned and built on by +Mr. Edward McMahon, an Irish gentleman, long well known and greatly +respected as Chief Clerk in the Attorney General's office. Mr. McMahon's +name was, for a time, preserved in that of a street which here enters +Queen Street from the North. + +Sherborne Street, which at present divides the White park-lot from Moss +Park commemorates happily the name of the old Dorsetshire home of the +main stem of the Canadian Ridouts. The original stock of this family +still flourishes in the very ancient and most interesting town of +Sherborne, famous as having been in the Saxon days the see of a bishop; +and possessing still a spacious and beautiful minster, familiarly known +to architects as a fine study. + +Like some other English names, transplanted to the American continent, +that of this Dorsetshire family has assumed here a pronunciation +slightly different from that given to it by its ancient owners. What in +Canada is Ri-dout, at Sherborne and its neighbourhood, is Rid-out. + +On the park-lot which constituted the Moss-Park Estate, the name of D. +W. Smith appears in the original plan. Mr. D. W. Smith was acting +Surveyor-General in 1794. He was the author of "A Short Topographical +Description of His Majesty's Province of Upper Canada in North America, +to which is annexed a Provincial Gazetteer:"--a work of considerable +antiquarian interest now, preserving as it does, the early names, +native, French and English, of many places now known by different +appellations. A second edition was published in London in 1813, and was +designed to accompany the new map published in that year by W. Faden, +Geographer to the King and Prince Regent. The original work was compiled +at the desire of Governor Simcoe, to illustrate an earlier map of Upper +Canada. + +We have spoken already in our progress through Front Street, of the +subsequent possessor of Mr. Smith's lot, Col. Allan. The residence at +Moss Park was built by him in comparatively recent times. The homestead +previously had been, as we have already seen, at the foot of Frederick +Street, on the south-east corner. To the articles of capitulation on the +27th April, 1813, surrendering the town of York to Dearborn and +Chauncey, the commanders of the United States force, the name of Col. +Allan, at the time Major Allan, is appended, following that of +Lieut.-Col. Chewett. + +Besides the many capacities in which Col. Allan did good service to the +community, as detailed during our survey of Front Street, he was also, +in 1801, Returning Officer on the occasion of a public election. In the +_Oracle_ of the 20th of June, 1801, we have an advertisement signed by +him as Returning Officer for the "County of Durham, the East Riding of +the County of York, and the County of Simcoe"--which territories +conjointly are to elect one member. Mr. Allan announces that he will be +in attendance "on Thursday, the 2nd day of July next, at 10 o'clock in +the forenoon, at the Hustings under the Colonnade of the Government +Buildings in the Town of York--and proceed to the election of one Knight +to represent the said county, riding and county in the House of +Assembly, whereof all freeholders of the said county, riding and county, +are to take notice and attend accordingly." + +The writ, issuing from "His Excellency, Peter Hunter, Esq.," directs the +returning officer "to cause one Knight, girt with a sword, the most fit +and discreet, to be freely and indifferently chosen to represent the +aforesaid county, riding and county, in Assembly, by those who shall be +present on the day of election." + +Two candidates presented themselves, Mr. A. Macdonell and Mr. J. Small. +Mr. Macdonell was duly elected, "there appearing for him," we are +briefly informed in a subsequent number of the _Oracle_, "112 +unquestionable votes; and for J. Small, Esq. 32: majority, 80." + +In 1804 there was another election, when the candidates were Mr. A. +Macdonell again, Mr. D. W. Smith, of whom above, and Mr. Weekes. The +address of the last-named gentleman is in the _Oracle_ of May 24th. It +is addressed to the Free and Independent Electors of the East Riding of +York. He says: "I stand unconnected with any party, unsupported by any +influence, and unambitious of any patronage, other than the suffrages of +those who consider the impartial enjoyment of their rights, and the +free exercise of their privileges as objects not only worthy of the +vigilance of the legislator, but also essential to their political +security and to their local prosperity. The opportunity of addressing +myself to men who may be inclined to think with freedom, and to act with +independency, is to me truly desirable; and the receiving of the +countenance and support of those characters, must ever bear in my mind +impressions more than gratifying." + +"It will not accord with my sentiments," the address proceeds to say, +"to express myself in the usual terms of zeal and fidelity of an +election candidate; inasmuch as that the principle of previous +assurances has frequently, in the exercise of the functions of a +representative, have been either forgotten or occasionally abandoned; +but I hope it will not be considered vaunting in me to assert that that +zeal and the fidelity which have manifested themselves in the discharge +of my duty to my clients, will not be abated in supporting a more +important trust--the cause of the public!" + +In the _Oracle_ of April 7th is an address put forth by friends on the +part of Mr. D. W. Smith, who is at the moment absent. It is "to the free +and independent electors of the County of Durham, the East Riding of the +County of York, and the County of Simcoe." It runs as follows: "The +friends of the Hon. D. W. Smith beg leave to offer that gentleman to +represent you in the ensuing Parliament. His honour, integrity and +ability, and the essential services which, in different capacities, he +hath rendered to the Province, are so well known and felt that his +friends consider the mentioning of his name only to be the most powerful +solicitation which they can use on the present occasion, to obtain for +him your favour and suffrage." To this address the following paragraph +is added on May the 5th: "The friends of Mr. Smith consider it as their +duty further to intimate, that from late accounts received from him in +England, it was his determination to set out from that country so as to +arrive here early in the summer of this present year." + +On the 2nd of May Mr. Macdonell's address came out. He speaks like a +practised orator, accustomed to the outside as well as the interior of +the House. He delivers himself in the following vigorous style:-- + +"To the Worthy Inhabitants of the East Riding of the County of York, and +Counties of Durham and Simcoe: Friends and Fellow Subjects. In +addressing you by appellations unusual, I believe, on similar +occasions, no affectation of singularity has dictated the innovation: my +terms flow from a more dignified principle, a purer source of ideas, +from a sentiment of liberal and extensive affection, which embraces and +contemplates not only such of you as by law are qualified to vote, but +also such as a contracted and short-sighted policy has restrained from +the immediate enjoyment of that privilege. Your interests, inseparably +the same, and alike dear and interesting to me, have always been equally +my care; and your good-will shall indiscriminately be gratifying, +whether accompanied with the ability of advancing my present pursuit, or +confined to the wishes of my succeeding in it. + +"The anxious anticipation of events, which has engaged so many persons +unto such early struggles to supplant me, forces me also to anticipate +the dissolution of parliament, in declaring my disposition to continue +(if supported by my friends at the next general election) in that +situation which I have now the honour of filling in parliament; a +situation, which the majority of suffrages which placed me in it, +justifies the honest pride of supposing, was not obtained without merit, +and inspires the natural confidence of presuming, will not be lost +without a fault. + +"I stoop with reluctance, gentlemen, to animadvert upon some puny +fabrications calculated to mislead your judgment, and alienate your +favour. It has been said that I am canvassing for a seat elsewhere. No! +gentlemen: the satisfaction, the pride, of representing that division of +this Province, which, comprehending the capital, is consequently the +political head, is to me, too captivating an object of political +ambition to suffer the view of it to be intercepted in my imagination +for a moment, by the prospect of any inferior representation. Be +assured, therefore, gentlemen, that I shall not forsake my present post, +until you or life shall have forsaken me. + +"Another calumny of a darker hue has been fabricated. I have been +represented as inimical to the provincial statute which restrains many +worthy persons migrating into this Province from voting at elections, +under a residence of seven years. A more insidious, a more bare-faced +falsehood, never issued from the lips of malice; for during every +session of my sitting in parliament, I have been the warmest, and +loudest advocate for repealing that statute and for rendering taxation +and representation reciprocal. + +"I shall notice a third expedient, in attempting which, detraction (by +resorting to an imposture so gross as to carry its own refutation upon +the very face of it) has effectually avowed its own impotency:--It has +been whispered that I have endeavoured to increase the general rate of +assessments within the Home District. Wretched misrepresentation! I +should have been my own enemy indeed, if I had lent myself to such a +measure. On the contrary; my maxim has been, and shall ever continue to +be, that so much of the public burden as possible should be shifted from +the shoulders of the industrious farmers and mechanics, upon those of +the more opulent classes of the community; persons with large salaries +and lucrative employments: the shallow artifice of these exploded lies +suggests this natural reflection, that slander could find no real +foundation to build upon, when reduced to the necessity of rearing its +fabrics upon visions. + +"To conclude, gentlemen, I have no interests separate from yours, no +country but that which we inhabit in common. In all situations, under +all circumstances, I have been the friend of the people and the votary +of their rights. I have never changed with the times, nor shifted sides +with the occasion; and you may therefore reasonably confide that I shall +always be, gentlemen, your most devoted and most attached servant, A. +Macdonell, York, 2nd May, 1804." + +An attempt had also been made to induce Mr. R. Henderson to become a +candidate at this election. He explained the reason why he declined to +come forward, in the following card:--"The subscriber thinks it a duty +incumbent on him thus publicly to notify his friends who wished him to +stand as a candidate at the ensuing election for York and its adjacent +counties; that he declines standing, having special business that causes +his absence at the time of the election. He hopes that his friends will +be pleased to accept of his grateful acknowledgments for the honour they +wished to confer on him. But as there are several candidates who solicit +the suffrages of the Public, they cannot be at a loss. He leaves you, +gentlemen, to the freedom of your own will. He has only to observe that +were he present on the day of election, he would give his vote to the +Honourable David William Smith. I am, Gentlemen, your obedient and +obliged servant, R. Henderson, York, 26th May, 1804." + +Mr. Henderson's occupation was afterwards that of a local army +contractor, &c., as may be gathered from an advertisement which is to +be observed in the _Oracle_ of September 6, 1806:--"Notice. The +subscriber having got the contract for supplying His Majesty's troops at +the garrison with fresh beef, takes the liberty of informing the public +that he has engaged a person to superintend the butchering business, and +that good fresh beef may be had three times a week. Fresh pork and +mutton will be always ready on a day's notice; poultry, &c. Those +gentlemen who may be pleased to become customers, may rely on being well +served, and regularly supplied. If constant customers, &c., a note of +the weight will be sent along with the article. Families becoming +constant customers, will please to send a book by their servant, to have +it entered, to prevent any mistakes. The business will commence on +Monday, the 1st of September next. R. Henderson, York, Aug. 28, 1806." + +The grazing ground of Mr. Henderson's fat cattle was extensive. In the +same paper we have a notice bearing his signature, announcing that "the +subscriber has a considerable number of fat cattle running at large +between the town and the Humber. They are all branded on the horns with +R. H." The notice continues: "If any of said cattle should be offered +for sale to butchers or others, it is hoped no one will purchase them, +as they may suppose them to be stolen. A number of fat cattle is still +wanted, for which cash will be paid." + +The result of the election at York in 1804 is announced in the _Oracle_ +of June 16. As was probably to be expected, Mr. Macdonell was the man +returned. Thus runs the paragraph: "On Monday last the 11th instant, the +election of a Knight to represent the counties of Durham and Simcoe and +the East Riding of the County of York, took place at the Government +Buildings in this town. At the close of the poll, Angus Macdonell was +declared to be duly elected to represent the said counties and riding. +We have not yet been able to collect any further returns," the Editor +adds, "but as soon as practicable they will be laid before the public." + +On the 4th of the following August, accordingly, the following complete +list was given of members returned at the election of 1804. Alexander +Macdonell and W. B. Wilkinson, Esqrs., Glengarry and Prescott. Robert +Isaac D. Grey, Esq., Stormont and Russell. John Chrysler, Dundas. Samuel +Sherwood, Esq., Grenville. Peter Howard, Esq., Leeds. Allan McLean, +Esq., Frontenac. Thomas Dorland, Esq., Lennox and Addington. Ebenezer +Washburn, Esq., Prince Edward. David McGregor Rogers, Esq., Hastings and +Northumberland. Angus Macdonell, Esq., Durham, Simcoe and East Riding of +York. Solomon Hill and Robert Nelles, Esqrs., West Riding of York, First +Lincoln, and Haldimand. Isaac Swayzey and Ralph Clench, Esqs., 2nd, 3rd +and 4th Ridings of Lincoln. Benaiah Mallory, Esq., Norfolk, Oxford and +Middlesex. John McGregor, Esq., Kent. Matthew Elliott and David Cowan, +Esqrs., Essex. + +The Mr. Weekes who, as we have seen, was an unsuccessful candidate for a +seat in parliament in 1804 was nevertheless a member of the House in +1806, representing the constituencies to which he had previously offered +himself. In 1806 he was killed in a duel with Mr. Dickson at Niagara, +another victim to the peculiar social code of the day, which obliged +gentlemen on certain occasions of difference to fire pistols at each +other. In the _Oracle_ of the 11th of October, 1806, we read the +announcement: "Died on Friday, the 10th instant, at night, in +consequence of a wound received that morning in a duel, William Weekes, +Esq., Barrister-at-law, and a Member of the House of Assembly for the +counties of York, Durham and Simcoe." In the next issue of the paper, +dated October 25, 1806, we have a second record of the event in the +following terms, with a eulogy on Mr. Weekes' character: "It is with +sentiments of the deepest regret that we announce to the public the +death of William Weekes, Esq., Barrister-at-law in this Province; not +only from the melancholy circumstances attendant on his untimely death, +but also from a view of the many virtues this Province is deprived of by +that death. In him the orphan has lost a father, the widow a friend, the +injured a protector, society a pleasing and safe companion, and the Bar +one of its ablest advocates. Mr. Weekes was honest without the show of +ostentation. Wealth and splendour held no lure for him; nor could any +pecuniary motives induce him to swerve in the smallest degree from that +which he conceived to be strictly honourable. His last moments were +marked with that fortitude which was the characteristic of his life, +convinced of the purity of which, he met death with pleasure. + +"His funeral was delayed longer than could have been wished, a form of +law being necessary previous to that ceremony. He was interred on +Tuesday, the fourteenth. His funeral," it is added, "was attended by a +respectable assemblage of people, from the house of John MacKay, Esq., +in the following order:--mourners, John MacKay, Esq.; three Members of +the House of Assembly, of which he was a member: viz., Ralph Clench, J. +Swayzey, Robert Nelles; Dr. West, Surgeon of the American Garrison, Dr. +Thomas, 41st Regt., Dr. Muirhead, Niagara; the Gentlemen of the Bar; the +Magistrates of the place; and a numerous concourse of people from town +and country." + +This duel, as we have been informed, was fought on the United States +side of the river, near the French Fort. + +Mr. Weekes, we believe, was an unmarried man. He was fond of solitary +rambles in the woods in search of game. Once he was so long missing that +foul play was suspected; and some human remains having been found under +a heap of logs on the property of Peter Ernest, Peter Ernest was +arrested; and just as the evidence was all going strongly against him, +Mr. Weekes appeared on the scene alive and well. + +One more of these inhuman and unchristian encounters, with fatal result, +memorable in the early annals of York, we shall have occasion to speak +of hereafter when, in our intended progress up Yonge Street, we pass the +spot where the tragedy was enacted. + +Mr. Weekes was greatly regretted by his constituents. "Overwhelmed with +grief," they say in their address dated the 20th September, 1806, to the +gentleman whom they desire to succeed him, "at the unexpected death of +our late able and upright Representative; we, freeholders of these +Counties of York, Durham and Simcoe, feel that we have neglected our +interests in the season of sorrow. Now awake, it is to you we turn; +notwithstanding the great portion of consolation which we draw from the +dawning of our impartial and energetic administration. (The allusion is +to Gov. Gore.) + +"Fully persuaded that the great object of your heart is the advancement +of public prosperity, the observance of the laws, and the practice of +religion and morality, we hasten with assurances of our warmest support, +to invite you from your retreat to represent us in Parliament. Permit +us, however, to impress upon you, that as subjects of a generous and +beloved King; as a part of that great nation which has for so long a +time stood the bulwark of Europe, and is now the solitary and +inaccessible asylum of liberty; as the children of Englishmen, guarded, +protected and restrained by English laws; in fine, as members of their +community, as fathers and sons, we are induced to place this confidence +in your virtue, from the firm hope that, equally insensible to the +impulse of popular feeling and the impulse of power, you will pursue +what is right. This has been the body of your decisions; may it be the +spirit of your counsels! (Signed by fifty-two persons, residing in the +Town and Township of York.)" The names not given. + +These words were addressed to Mr. Justice Thorpe. His reply was couched +in the following terms: "Gentlemen: With pleasure I accede to your +desire. If you make me your representative I will faithfully discharge +my duty. Your confidence is not misplaced. May the first moment of +dereliction be the last of my existence. Your late worthy representative +I lament from my heart. In private he was a warm friend; at the Bar an +able advocate, and in Parliament a firm patriot. It is but just to draw +consolation from our Governor, when the first act of his administration +granted to those in the U. E. list and their children, what your late +most valuable member so strenuously laboured to obtain. Surely from this +we have every reason to expect that the liberal interests of our beloved +sovereign, whose chief glory is to reign triumphantly enthroned on the +hearts of a free people, will be fulfilled, honouring those who give and +those who receive, enriching the Province and strengthening the Empire. +Let us cherish this hope in the blossom; may it not be blasted in the +ripening." A postscript is subjoined: "P. S. If influence, threat, +coercion or oppression should be attempted to be exercised over any +individual, for the purpose of controlling the freedom of election, let +me be informed.--R. T." + +In 1806 Judges were not ineligible to the Upper Canadian Parliament. Mr. +Justice Thorpe and Governor Gore did not agree. He was consequently +removed from office. Some years later, when both gentlemen were living +in England as private persons, Mr. Thorpe brought an action for libel +against Mr. Gore, and obtained a favourable verdict. + +We now proceed on our prescribed course. So late as 1833, Walton, in his +"York Commercial Directory, Street Guide, and Register," when naming the +residents on Lot Street, as he still designates Queen Street, makes a +note on arriving at two park lots to the westward of the spot where we +have been pausing, to the effect, that "here this street is intercepted +by the grounds of Capt. McGill, S. P. Jarvis, Esq., and Hon. W. Allan; +past here it is open to the Roman Catholic Church, and intended to be +carried through to the Don Bridge." + +The process of levelling up, now become so common in Toronto, has +effectually disposed of the difficulty temporarily presented by the +ravine or ancient water-course, yet partially to be seen either in front +of or upon the park lots occupied by the old inhabitants just named; and +Queen Street, at the present hour, is an uninterrupted thoroughfare in a +right line, and almost on a level the whole way, from the Don in the +east to the Lunatic Asylum in the west, and beyond, on to the gracefully +curving margin of Humber Bay.--(The unfrequented and rather tortuous +Britain Street is a relic of the deviation occasioned by the ravine, +although the actual route followed in making the detour of old was +Duchess Street.) + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XIX. + + QUEEN STREET--DIGRESSION AT CAROLINE STREET--HISTORY OF THE EARLY PRESS. + + +A little to the south of Britain Street, between it and Duchess Street, +near the spot where Caroline Street, slightly diverging from the right +line, passes northward to Queen Street, there stood in the early day a +long, low wooden structure, memorable to ourselves, as being, in our +school-boy days, the Government Printing Office. Here the _Upper Canada +Gazette_ was issued, by "R. C. Horne, Printer to the King's Most +Excellent Majesty." + +We shall have occasion hereafter to notice among our early inhabitants +some curious instances of change of profession. In the present case, His +Majesty's Printer was in reality an Army Surgeon, once attached to the +Glengary Light Infantry. And again, afterwards, the same gentleman was +for many years the Chief Teller in the Bank of Upper Canada. An incident +in the troubles of 1837 was "the burning of Dr. Horne's house," by a +party of the malcontents who were making a show of assault upon the +town. The site of this building, a conspicuous square two-storey frame +family residence, was close to the toll-bar on Yonge Street, in what is +now Yorkville. On that occasion, we are informed, Dr. Horne "berated the +Lieutenant-Governor for treating with avowed rebels, and insisted that +they were not in sufficient force to give any ground of alarm." + +The _Upper Canada Gazette_ was the first newspaper published in Upper +Canada. Its first number appeared at Newark or Niagara, on Thursday, +the 18th of April, 1793. As it was apparently expected to combine with a +record of the acts of the new government some account of events +happening on the continent at large, it was made to bear the double +title of _Upper Canada Gazette, or American Oracle_. Louis Roy was its +first printer, a skilled artizan engaged probably from Lower Canada, +where printing had been introduced about thirty years previously, soon +after the English occupation of the country. + +Louis Roy's name appears on the face of No. 1, Vol. I. The type is of +the shape used in contemporaneous printing, and the execution is very +good. The size of the sheet, which retained the folio form, was 15 by 91/2 +inches. The quality of the paper was rather coarse, but stout and +durable. + +The address to the public in the first number is as follows:--"The +Editor of this paper respectfully informs the public that the flattering +prospect which he has of an extensive sale for his new undertaking has +enabled him to augment the size originally proposed from a Demy Quarto +to a Folio. + +"The encouragement he has met will call forth every exertion he is +master of, so as to render the paper useful, entertaining and +instructive. He will be very happy in being favoured with such +communications as may contribute to the information of the public, from +those who shall be disposed to assist him, and in particular shall be +highly flattered in becoming the vehicle of intelligence in this growing +Province of whatever may tend to its internal benefit and common +advantage. In order to preserve the veracity of his paper, which will be +the first object of his attention, it will be requisite that all +transactions of a domestic nature, such as deaths, marriages, &c., be +communicated under real signatures. + +"The price of this _Gazette_ will be three dollars per annum. All +advertisements inserted in it, and not exceeding twelve lines, will pay +4s. Quebec currency; and for every additional line a proportionable +price. Orders for letter-press printing will be executed with neatness, +despatch and attention, and on the most reasonable terms." + +An advertisement in the first number informs the public that a Brewery +is about to be established under the sanction of the +Lieutenant-Governor. "Notice is hereby given, that there will be a +Brewery erected here this summer under the sanction of His Excellency +the Lieutenant-Governor, and encouraged by some of the principal +gentlemen of this place; and whosoever will sow barley and cultivate +their land so that it will produce grain of a good quality, they may be +certain of a market in the fall at one dollar a bushel on delivery. W. +Huet, Niagara, 18th April, 1793." + +The number dated Niagara, May 2, 1793, "hath" the following +advertisement:--"Sampson Jutes begs leave to inform all persons who +propose to build houses, &c., in the course of this summer, that he hath +laths, planks and scantlings of all kinds to sell on reasonable terms. +Any person may be supplied with any of the above articles on the +shortest notice. Applications to be made to him at his mill near Mr. +Peter Secord's." + +In the Number for May 30, 1793, we have ten guineas reward offered for +the recovery of a Government grindstone:--"Ten Guineas Reward is offered +to any person that will make discovery and prosecute to conviction, the +Thief or Thieves that have stolen a Grindstone from the King's Wharf at +Navy Hall, between the 30th of April and the 6th instant. John McGill, +Com. of Stores, &c., &c., for the Province of Upper Canada. Queenstown, +16th May, 1793." + +The Anniversary of the King's Birth-day was celebrated at Niagara in +1793, in the following manner:--"Niagara, June 6. On Tuesday last, being +the Anniversary of His Majesty's birthday, His Excellency the +Lieutenant-Governor had a Levee at Navy Hall. At one o'clock the troops +in garrison and at Queenston fired three volleys; the field-pieces above +Navy Hall, under the direction of the Royal Artillery, and the guns of +the Garrison, fired a Royal Salute. His Majesty's schooner, the +Onondago, at anchor in the river, likewise fired a Royal Salute. In the +evening His Excellency gave a Ball and elegant Supper at the Council +Chamber, which was most numerously attended." + +In the second volume (1794) of the _Gazette and Oracle_, Louis Roy's +name disappears. G. Tiffany becomes the printer. In 1798 it has assumed +the Quarto form, and is dated "West Niagara," a name Newark was +beginning to acquire. + +No _Gazette_ is issued April 29th, 1798. An apology for the omission +constitutes the whole of the editorial of the Number for May 5. It says: +"The Printer having been called to York last week upon business, is +humbly tendered to his readers as an apology for the _Gazette's_ not +appearing." + +In 1799, the _Gazette_ being about to be removed across permanently to +York, the new capital, whither also all the government offices were +departing, Messrs. S. and G. Tiffany decide on starting a newspaper on +their own account for Niagara. It is called the "_Canada +Constellation_," and its terms are four dollars per annum. It is +announced to appear weekly "opposite the Lion tavern." The date of the +first number is July 20. In the introductory address to the public, the +Messrs. Tiffany make use of the following rather involved language:--"It +is a truth long acknowledged that no men hold situations more +influential of the minds and conduct of men than do printers: political +printers are sucked from, nursed and directed by the press: and when +they are just, the community is in unity and prosperity; but when +vicious, every evil ensues; and it is lamentable that many printers, +either vile remiss in, or ignorant of, their duty, produce the latter or +no effect; and to which of these classes we belong, time will unfold." + +The public means of maintaining a regular correspondence with the outer +world being insufficient, the enterprising spirit of the Messrs. Tiffany +led them to think of establishing a postal system of their own. In the +_Constellation_ for August 23, we have the announcement: "The printers +of the _Constellation_ are desirous of establishing a post on the road +from their office to Ancaster and the Grand River, as well as another to +Fort Erie; and for this purpose they propose to hire men to perform the +routes as soon as the subscriptions will allow of the expense. In order +to establish the business, the printers on their part will subscribe +generously, and to put the design into execution, but little remains for +the people to do." + +We can detect in the _Constellation_ a natural local feeling against the +upstart town of York, which had now drawn away almost every thing from +the old Newark. Thus in the number for November the 14th, 1799, a +communication from York, signed _Amicus_, is admitted, written plainly +by one who was no great lover of the place. It affords a glimpse of the +state of its thoroughfares, and of the habits of some of its +inhabitants. _Amicus_ proposes a "_Stump Act_" for York; _i. e._, a +compulsory eradication of the stumps in the streets: so that "the people +of York in the space of a few months may" as he speaks. "relapse into +intoxication with impunity; and stagger home at any hour of the night +without encountering the dreadful apprehension of broken necks." + +The same animus gives colour to remarks on some legal verbiage recently +employed at York. Under the heading "Interesting Discovery" we read: "It +has been lately found at York that in England laws are made; and that a +law made in England is the law of England, and is enforced by another +law; that many laws are made in Lower Canada and follow up, that is, +follow after, or in other words are made since, other laws; and that +these laws may be repealed. It is seldom," continues the writer in the +_Constellation_, "that so few as one discovery slips into existence at +one birth. Genius is sterile, and justly said to be like a breeding cat, +as is verified in York, where by some unaccountable fortuity of events +all genius centres; at the same time with the above, its twin kitten +came forth, that an atheist does not believe as a Christian." + +In another number we have some chaffing about the use of the word +_capital_. In an address on the arrival of Governor Hunter, the +expression, "We, the inhabitants of the Capital," had occurred. "This +fretted my pate," the critic pretends to complain. "What can this be? +Surely it is some great place in a great country was my conclusion; but +where the capital is, was a little beyond my geographical acquaintance. +I had recourse to the books" he continues: "all the gazettes and +magazines from the year One I carefully turned over, and not one case +among all the addresses they contained afforded me any instruction: 'We, +the inhabitants of the cities of London and Westminster, of Edinburgh, +Dublin, Paris, &c.,' only proved to me that neither of these is the +Capital. But as these are only _little_ towns in young countries, and +cannot be so forward as to take upon themselves the pompous title of +_capital_, it must be in America." He then professes to have consulted +the _Encyclopaedia Eboretica_, or, "A Vindication in support of the great +Utility of New Words," lately printed in Upper Canada, and to have +discovered therein that the Capital in question "was, in plain English, +York." He concludes, therefore, that whenever in future the expression +"We, the inhabitants of the Capital" is met with, it is to be translated +into the vernacular tongue, "We, the inhabitants of York, assembled at +McDougall's, &c." + +There is mention made above of a Stump Act. We have been assured that +such a regulation was, at an early day, in force at York, as a deterrent +from drunkenness. Capt. Peeke, who burnt lime at Duffin's Creek, and +shipped it to York in his own vessel, before the close of the last +century, was occasionally inconvenienced by the working of the Stump +Act. His men whom he had brought up with him to assist in navigating his +boat would be found, just when especially wanted by himself, laboriously +engaged in the extraction of a great pine-root in one or other of the +public thoroughfares of the town, under sentence of the magistrate, for +having been found, on the preceding day, intoxicated in the streets. + +The _Constellation_ newspaper does not appear to have succeeded. Early +in 1801 a new paper comes out, entitled the _Herald_. In it, it is +announced that the _Constellation_, "after existing one year, expired +some months since of starvation, its publishers departing too much from +its constitution (advance pay)." The printer is now Silvester Tiffany, +the senior proprietor of the _Constellation_. It is very well printed +with good type; but on blue wrapping paper. In little more than two +years, viz., on the 4th June, 1802, it announced that the publication of +the _Herald_ is suspended; that it will appear only "on particular +occasions;" but Mr. Tiffany hopes it "will by and by receive a revival." +Other early papers published at the town of Niagara were the _Gleaner_, +by Mr. Heron; the _Reporter_; the _Spectator_. The _Mail_ was +established so late as 1845. Its publication ceased in 1870, when its +editor, Mr. Kirby, was appointed to the collectorship of the Port of +Niagara. Down to 1870 Mr. Tiffany's "imposing stone," used in the +printing of the _Constellation_, did duty in the office of the _Mail_. + +In 1800, the _Upper Canada Gazette or American Oracle_ is issued at +York, weekly, from the office of William Waters and T. G. Simons. In the +number for Saturday, May the 17th, in that year, we read that on the +Thursday evening previous, "His Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq., +Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Province, arrived in +our harbour on board the Toronto; and on Friday morning, about nine +o'clock, landed at the Garrison, where he is at present to reside." + +We are thus enabled to add two items to the table of dates usually +given, shewing the introduction of Printing at different points on this +Continent: viz., the dates 1793 and 1800 for Niagara and York +respectively. The table will now stand as follows:-- + +1639, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Stephen Day and Samuel Green; 1674, +Boston, John Foster; 1684, Philadelphia, Wm. Bradford; 1693, New York, +Wm. Bradford (removed from Philadelphia); 1730, Charleston, Eleazer +Phillips; 1730, Bridgetown, Barbadoes, David Harry and Samuel Keimer; +1751, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Bartholomew Green, jun., and John Bushell; +1764, Quebec, Wm. Brown and Thos. H. Gilmore; 1771, Albany, Alex. and +Jas. Robertson; 1775, Montreal, Chas. Berger and Fleury Mesplet; 1784, +St. George's, Bermuda, J. Stockdale; 1793, Newark (Niagara), Louis Roy; +1795, Cincinnati, S. Freeman; 1800, York (Toronto), Wm. Waters and T. G. +Simons. + +As at York and Niagara, the first printers in most of the places named +were publishers of newspapers. + +It may be added that a press was in operation in the City of Mexico in +1569; and in the City of Lima in 1621. The original of all the many +Colonial Government _Gazettes_ was the famous royal or exclusively court +news sheet, published first at Oxford, in November, 1665, entitled the +_Oxford Gazette_, and in the following year, at London, and entitled +then and ever afterwards to this day, the _London Gazette_. + +In 1801, J. Bennett succeeds Messrs. Waters and Simons, and becomes the +printer and publisher of the _Gazette or Oracle_. In that year the +printing-office is removed to "the house of Mr. A. Cameron, King +Street," and it is added, "subscriptions will be received there and at +the Toronto Coffee House, York." From March 21st in this year, and +onward for six weeks, the paper appears printed on blue sheets of the +kind of material that used formerly to be seen on the outsides of +pamphlets and magazines and Government "Blue-books." The stock of white +paper has plainly run out, and no fresh supply can be had before the +opening of the navigation. The _Herald_, at Niagara, of the same period, +appeared, as we have already noticed, in the like guise. + +On Saturday, December 20th, 1801, is this statement, the whole of the +editorial matter: "It is much to be lamented that communication between +Niagara and this town is so irregular and unfrequent: opportunities now +do not often occur of receiving the American papers from our +correspondents; and thereby prevents us for the present from laying +before our readers the state of politics in Europe." In the number for +June 13th, the editorial "leader" reads as follows:--"The _Oracle_, +York, Saturday, June 13th. Last Monday was a day of universal rejoicing +in this town, occasioned by the arrival of the news of the splendid +victory gained by Lord Nelson over the Danes in Copenhagen Roads on the +2nd of April last: in the morning the great guns at the Garrison were +fired: at night there was a general illumination, and bonfires blazed in +almost every direction." The writer indulges in no further comments. + +It would have been gratifying to posterity had the printers of the +_Gazette and Oracle_ endeavoured to furnish a connected record of "the +short and simple annals" of their own immediate neighbourhood. But these +unfortunately were deemed undeserving of much notice. We have +announcements of meetings, and projects, and subscriptions for +particular purposes, unfollowed by any account of what was subsequently +said, done and effected; and when a local incident is mentioned, the +detail is generally very meagre. + +An advertisement in the number for the 27th August, 1801, reminds us +that in the early history of Canada it was imagined that a great source +of wealth to the inhabitants of the country in all future time would be +the ginseng that was found growing naturally in the swamps. The market +for ginseng was principally China, where it was worth its weight in +silver. The word is said to be Chinese for "all-heal." In 1801 we find +that Mr. Jacob Herchmer, of York, was speculating in ginseng. In his +advertisement in the _Gazette and Oracle_ he "begs leave to inform the +inhabitants of York and its vicinity that he will purchase any quantity +of ginseng between this and the first of November next, and that he will +give two shillings, New York currency, per pound well dried, and one +shilling for green." + +At one period, it will be remembered, the cultivation of hemp was +expected to be the mainstay of the country's prosperity. In the Upper +Canada Almanac for 1804, among the public officers we have set down as +"Commissioners appointed for the distribution of Hemp Seed (gratis) to +the Farmers of the Provinces, the Hon. John McGill, the Hon. David W. +Smith, and Thomas Scott, Esquires." + +The whole of the editorial matter of the _Gazette and Oracle_ on the 2nd +of January, 1802, is the following: "The _Oracle_, York, Saturday, +January 2, 1802. The Printer presents his congratulary compliments to +his customers on the New Year." Note that the dignified title of Editor +was yet but sparingly assumed. That term is used once by Tiffany at +Newark, in the second volume. After the death of Governor Hunter, in +September, 1805, J. Bennett writes himself down "Printer to the King's +Most Excellent Majesty." Previously the colophon of the publication had +been: "York, printed by John Bennett, by the authority of His Excellency +Peter Hunter, Esq., Lieut.-Governor." + +Happening to have at hand a bill of Bennett's against the Government we +give it here. The modern reader will be able to form from this specimen +an idea of the extent of the Government requirements in 1805 in regard +to printing and the cost thereof. We give also the various attestations +appended to the account:-- + + York, Upper Canada, 24th June, 1805. + + The Government of Upper Canada, + + To John Bennett, Government Printer. + + Jan. 11. 300 copies Still Licenses, 1/2 sheet foolscap, pica type 0 16 6 + + March 30. Printing 20 copies of an Act for altering the time of issuing + Licenses for keeping of a House of Public Entertainment, + 1/4 sheet demy, pica type 0 3 4 + + April 5. Inserting a Notice to persons taking out Shop, Still or + Tavern Licenses, 6 weeks in the _Gazette_, equal to 41/2 + advertisements 1 16 0 + + April 16. 1,000 copies of Proclamation, warning persons that possess + and occupy Lands in this Province, without due + titles having been obtained for such Lands, forthwith + to quit and remove from the same, 1/2 sheet demy, + double pica type 4 18 4 + + April 22. 100 copies of an Act to afford relief to persons entitled to + claim Land in this Province as heirs or devisees of the + nominees of the Crown, one sheet demy, pica type 3 6 3 + + Printing Marginal notes to do 0 5 0 + + May 14. Printing 1,500 copies of the Acts of the First Session of + the Fourth Parliament, three sheets demy, pica type 45 0 0 + + Marginal Notes to do., at 5s. per sheet 0 15 0 + + Folding, Stitching and Covering in Blue Paper, at 1d. 6 5 0 + -------- + Halifax currency L63 5 9 + + Amounting to sixty-three pounds five shillings and nine-pence + Halifax currency. Errors excepted. + (Signed) John Bennett. + + John Bennett, of the Town of York, in the Home District, maketh + oath and saith, that the foregoing account amounting to + sixty-three pounds five shillings and ninepence Halifax + currency, is just and true in all its particulars to the best of + his knowledge and belief. + (Signed) John Bennett. + + Sworn before me at York, this 20th day of July, 1805. + (Signed) Wm. Dummer Powell, J. + + Audited and approved in Council 6th August 1805. + (Signed) Peter Russell, + _Presiding Councillor_. + + (_Examined_) + (Signed) John McGill, + _Inspector Genl. P. P. Accts._ + [A true copy.] + John McGill, + Inspector Gen. P. P. Accts. + +Bennett published "The Upper Canada Almanac," containing with the matter +usually found in such productions the Civil and Military Lists and the +Duties, Imperial and Provincial. This work was admirably printed in fine +Elzevir type, and in aspect, as well as arrangement, was an exact copy +of the almanacs of the day published in London. + +A rival Calendar continued to be issued at Niagara entitled "Tiffany's +Upper Canada Almanac." This was a roughly-printed little tract, and +contained popular matter in addition to the official lists. It gave in a +separate and very conspicuous column in each month "the moon's place" on +each day in respect to a distinct portion of the human body with +prognostications accordingly. And in the "Advertisement to the reader" +it was set forth, that "in the calculation of the weather the most +unwearied pains have been taken; and the calculator prays, for his +honour's sake, that he may have not failed in the least point; but as +all calculation may sometimes fail in small matters," the writer +continues, "no wonder is it that in this, the most important, should be +at times erroneous. And when this shall unfortunately have been the case +with the Upper Canada Almanac, let careful observers throw over the +error the excess of that charity of which their generous souls are +composed, and the all-importance of the subject requires; let them +remember that the task, in all the variety and changes of climates and +seasons, is arduous beyond that of reforming a vicious world, and not +less than that of making a middle-sized new one." + +In the number of the _Oracle_ for September 28th, 1805, which is in +mourning, we have the following notice of the character of Governor +Hunter, who had deceased on the 23rd of the preceding August at +Quebec:--"As an officer his character was high and unsullied; and at +this present moment his death may be considered a great public loss. As +Lieut.-Governor of Upper Canada, his loss will be severely felt; for by +his unremitting attention and exertions he has, in the course of a very +few years, brought that infant colony to an unparalleled state of +prosperity." An account is then given of the procession at the funeral. +The 49th and 6th Regiments were present; also Lieut.-Col. Brock, +Commanding. At the grave one round was fired slowly and distinctly by +eleven field pieces, followed by one round of small arms, by regiments; +then a second round of artillery, followed in like manner by the small +arms; and, lastly, a third round of artillery, and a third round of +small arms. The mourners were, the Hon. Thomas Dunn, President of the +Province (Lower Canada). Col. Bowes, Major Curry, Hon. Mr. Craigie, Col. +Green, Major Robe, Capt. Gomm and Mr. William Green. + +In 1813, during the war with the United States, Cameron is the printer +of the official paper, which now for a time assumed the title of _The +York Gazette_. Mr. John Cameron also published "The Upper Canada +Almanac," from which we have already had occasion to quote, but it put +in no claim to an official character. It did not contain the Civil +Lists, but, as stated in the title page, "some Chinese sayings and +Elegant Aphorisms." It bore as a motto the following lines:-- + + "Ye who would mend these wicked times + And morals of the age, + Come buy a book half full of rhymes, + At three-pence York per page. + It would be money well outlaid, + So plenty money is; + Paper for paper is fair trade: + So said "Poor Richard Quiz." + +Among the aphorisms given is this one: "Issuers of paper-change, are +entitled to thanks from the public for the great accommodation such +change affords. They might render the accommodation more extensive were +they to emit a proportionate number of half-penny bills." At one place +the query is put, "When will the beard be worn, and man allowed to +appear with it in native dignity? And if so, how long before it will +become fashionable to have it greased and powdered?" In the almanac for +1815, towards the end, the following paragraph appears:--"York +supernatural prices current: Turnips 1 dollar per bushel; Potatoes, +long, at 2 ditto; Salt 20 ditto; Butter per lb. 1 ditto; Indifferent +bread 1 shilling N. Y. cy. per lb.; Conscience, a contraband article." + +In Bennett's time the Government press was, as we have seen, set up in +Mr. Cameron's house on King Street. But at the period of the war in 1812 +Mr. Cameron's printing office was in a building which still exists, +viz., the house on Bay Street associated with the name of Mr. Andrew +Mercer. During the occupation of York by the United States force, the +press was broken up and the type dispersed. Mr. Mercer once exhibited to +ourselves a portion of the press which on that occasion was made +useless. For a short period Mr. Mercer himself had charge of the +publication of the _York Gazette_. + +In 1817 Dr. Horne became the editor and publisher. On coming into his +hands the paper resumed the name of _Upper Canada Gazette_, but the old +secondary title of _American Oracle_ was dropped. To the official +portion of the paper there was, nevertheless, still appended abstracts +of news from the United States and Europe, summaries of the proceedings +in the Parliaments of Upper and Lower Canada, and much well-selected +miscellaneous matter. The shape continued to be that of a small folio, +and the terms were four dollars per annum in advance; and if sent by +mail, four dollars and a half. + +In 1821 Mr. Charles Fothergill (of whom we have already spoken) became +the Editor and Publisher of the _Gazette_. Mr. Fothergill revived the +practice of having a secondary title, which was now _The Weekly +Register_; a singular choice, by the way, that being very nearly the +name of Cobbett's celebrated democratic publication in London. After Mr. +Fothergill came Mr. Robert Stanton, who changed the name of the private +portion of the _Gazette_ sheet, styling it "_The U. E. Loyalist_." + +In 1820 Mr. John Carey had established the _Observer_ at York. The +_Gazette_ of May 11, 1820, contains the announcement of his design; and +he therein speaks of himself as "the person who gave the Debates" +recently in another paper. To have the debates in Parliament reported +with any fulness was then a novelty. The _Observer_ was a folio of +rustic, unkempt aspect, the paper and typography and matter being all +somewhat inferior. It gave in its adherence to the government of the +day, generally: at a later period it wavered. Mr. Carey was a tall, +portly personage who, from his bearing and costume might readily have +been mistaken for a non-conformist minister of local importance. The +_Observer_ existed down to about the year 1830. Between the _Weekly +Register_ and the _Observer_ the usual journalistic feud sprung up, +which so often renders rival village newspapers ridiculous. With the +_Register_ a favourite sobriquet for the _Observer_ is "Mother C----y." +Once a correspondent is permitted to style it "The Political Weathercock +and Slang Gazetteer." Mr. Carey ended his days in Springfield on the +River Credit, where he possessed property. + +The _Canadian Freeman_, established in 1825 by Mr. Francis Collins was a +sheet remarkable for the neatness of its arrangement and execution, and +also for the talent exhibited in its editorials. The type was evidently +new and carefully handled. Mr. Collins was his own principal compositor. +He is said to have transferred to type many of his editorials without +the intervention of pen and paper, composing directly from copy mentally +furnished. Mr. Collins was a man of pronounced Celtic features, roughish +in outline, and plentifully garnished with hair of a sandy or reddish +hue. + +Notwithstanding the colourless character of the motto at the head of its +columns "Est natura hominum novitatis avida"--"Human nature is fond of +news," the _Freeman_ was a strong party paper. The hard measure dealt +out to him in 1828 at the hands of the legal authorities, according to +the prevailing spirit of the day, with the revenge that he was moved to +take--and to take successfully--we shall not here detail. Mr. Collins +died of cholera in the year 1834. We have understood that he was once +employed in the office of the _Gazette_; and that when Dr. Horne +resigned, he was an applicant for the position of Government Printer. + +The _Canadian Freeman_ joined for a time in the general opposition +clamour against Dr. Strachan,--against the influence, real or supposed, +exercised by him over successive lieutenant-governors. But on +discovering the good-humoured way in which its fulminations were +received by their object, the _Freeman_ dropped its strictures. It +happened that Mr. Collins had a brother in business in the town with +whom Dr. Strachan had dealings. This brother on some occasion thought it +becoming to make some faint apology for the _Freeman's_ diatribes. "O +don't let them trouble you," the Doctor replied, "they do not trouble +me; but by the way, tell your brother," he laughingly continued, "I +shall claim a share in the proceeds." This, when reported to the Editor, +was considered a good joke, and the diatribes ceased; a proceeding that +was tantamount to Peter Pindar's confession, when some one charged him +with being too hard on the King: "I confess there exists a difference +between the King and me," said Peter; "the King has been a good subject +to me; and I have been a bad subject to his Majesty."--During Mr. +Collins' imprisonment in 1828 for the application of the afterwards +famous expression "native malignity" to the Attorney-General of the day, +the _Freeman_ still continued to appear weekly, the editorials, set up +in type in the manner spoken of above, being supplied to the office from +his room in the jail. + +In the early stages of society in Upper Canada the Government +authorities appear not only to have possessed but to have exercised the +power of handling political writers pretty sharply. In the Kingston +_Chronicle_ of December 10th, 1820, we have recorded the sentence +pronounced on Barnabas Ferguson, Editor of the Niagara _Spectator_, for +"a libel on the Government." Mr. Ferguson was condemned to be imprisoned +eighteen months; to stand in the pillory once during his confinement; to +pay a fine of L50, and remain in prison till paid; and on his liberation +to find security for seven years, himself in L500, and two sureties in +L250 each. No comment is made by the _Chronicle_ on the sentence, and +the libel is not described. + +The local government took its cue in this matter from its superiors of +the day in the old country. What Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer says in his +sketch of the life of Cobbett helps to explain the action of the early +Upper Canada authorities in respect to the press. "Let us not forget," +says the writer just named, "the blind and uncalculating intolerance +with which the law struggled against opinion from 1809 to 1822. Writers +during this period were transported, imprisoned, and fined, without +limit or conscience; and just when government became more gentle to +legitimate newspapers, it engaged in a new conflict with unstamped ones. +No less than 500 venders of these were imprisoned within six years. The +contest was one of life and death." + +So early as 1807 there was an "opposition" paper--the _Upper Canada +Guardian_. Willcocks, the editor, had been Sheriff of the Home District, +and had lost his office for giving a vote contrary to the policy of the +lieutenant-governor for the time being. He was returned as a member of +parliament; and after having been imprisoned for breach of privilege, he +was returned again, and continued to lead the reforming party. The name +of Mr. Cameron, the publisher of the _Gazette_ at York was, by some +means, mixed up with that of Mr. Willcocks, in connection with the +_Upper Canada Guardian_ in 1807, and he found it expedient to publish +in the _Gazette_ of June 20, the following notice: "To the +Public--Having seen the Prospectus of a paper generally circulated at +Niagara, intended to be printed in Upper Canada, entitled the _Upper +Canada Guardian or Freeman's Journal_, executed in the United States of +America, without my knowledge or consent, wherein my name appears as +being a party concerned; I therefore think it necessary to undeceive my +friends and the inhabitants of Upper Canada, and to assure them that I +have no connection with, nor is it my most distant wish or intention in +any wise to be connected with the printing or publication of said paper. +John Bennett."--When the war of 1812 broke out the _Guardian_ came to an +end; its editor at first loyally bore arms on the Canadian side, but at +length deserted to the enemy, taking with him some of the Canadian +Militia. He was afterwards killed at the siege of Fort Erie. + +The newspaper which occupies the largest space in the early annals of +the press at York is the _Colonial Advocate_. Issuing first at Queenston +in May, 1824, it was removed in the following November to York. Its +shape varied from time to time: now it was a folio: now a quarto. On all +its pages the matter was densely packed; but printed in a very mixed +manner: it abounded with sentences in italics, in small capitals, in +large capitals; with names distinguished in like decided manner: with +paragraphs made conspicuous by rows of index hands, and other +typographical symbols at top, bottom and sides. It was editorial, not in +any one particular column, but throughout; and the opinions delivered +were expressed for the most part in the first person. + +The _Weekly Register_ fell foul of the _Advocate_ at once. It appears +that the new audacious nondescript periodical, though at the time it +bore on its face the name of Queenston, was nevertheless for convenience +sake printed at Lewiston on the New York side of the river. Hence it was +denounced by the _Weekly Register_ in language that now astonishes us, +as a United States production; and as in the United States interest. +"This paper of motley, unconnected, shake-bag periods" cried the Editor +of the _Weekly Register_, "this unblushing, brazen-faced _Advocate_, +affects to be a Queenston and Upper Canadian paper; whereas it is to all +intents and purposes, and radically, a Lewiston and genu-wine Yankee +paper. How can this man of truth, this pure and holy reformer and +regenerator of the unhappy and prostrate Canada reconcile such barefaced +and impudent deception?" + +Nothing could more promote the success of the _Colonial Advocate_ than a +welcome like this. To account for the _Register's_ extraordinary warmth, +it is to be said that the _Advocate_ in its first number had happened to +quote a passage from an address of its Editor to the electors of the +County of Durham, which seemed in some degree to compromise him as a +servant of the Government. Mr. Fothergill had ventured to say "I know +some of the deep and latent causes why this fine country has so long +languished in a state of comparative stupor and inactivity, while our +more enterprising neighbours are laughing us to scorn. All I desire is +an opportunity of attempting the cure of some of the evils we labour +under." This was interpreted in the _Advocate_ to mean a censure upon +the Executive. But the _Register_ replied that these words simply +expressed the belief that the evils complained of were remediable only +by the action of the House of Assembly, on the well-known axiom "that +all law is for the people, and from the people; and when efficient, must +be remedied or rectified by the people; and that therefore Mr. +Fothergill was desirous of assisting in the great work." + +The end in fact was that the Editor of the _Register_, after his return +to parliament for the County of Durham, did not long retain the post of +King's Printer. After several independent votes in the House he was +dismissed by Sir Peregrine Maitland in 1826, after which date the +awkwardness of uniting with a Government Gazette a general newspaper +whose editor, as a member of the House of Assembly, might claim the +privilege of acting with His Majesty's opposition, came to an end. In +1826 we have Mr. Fothergill in his place in the House supporting a +motion for remuneration to the publisher of the _Advocate_, on the +ground that the wide and even gratuitous circulation of that paper +throughout Canada and among members of the British House of Commons, +"would help to draw attention in the proper quarter to the country." + +Here is an account of McKenzie's method in the collection of matter for +his various publications, the curious multifariousness of which matter +used to astonish while it amused. The description is by Mr. Kent, editor +of a religious journal, entitled _The Church_, published at Cobourg in +1838. Lord Clarendon's style has been exactly caught, it will be +observed: "Possessed of a taste for general and discursive reading," +says Mr. Kent, "he (McK.) made even his very pleasures contribute to the +serious business of his life, and, year after year, accumulated a mass +of materials, which he pressed into his service at some fitting +opportunity. Whenever anything transpired that at all reflected on a +political opponent, or whenever, in his reading, he met with a passage +that favoured his views, he not only turned it to a present purpose, but +laid it by, to bring it forward at some future period, long after it +might have been supposed to be buried in oblivion." + +The Editor of the _Advocate_, after his flight from Canada in 1837, +published for a short time at New York a paper named _McKenzie's +Gazette_, which afterwards was removed to Rochester: its term of +existence there was also brief. In the number for June, 1839, we have +the following intelligence contributed by a correspondent at Toronto: a +certain animus in relation to the military in Canada, and in relation to +the existing Banks of the country, is apparent. "Toronto, May 24th: The +93rd Regiment is still in quarters here. The men 660 strong, all +Scotchmen, enlisted in the range of country from Aberdeen to Ayrshire: a +highland regiment without highlanders: few or none of Englishmen or +Irishmen among them. They are a fine-looking body of men: I never saw a +finer. I wished to go into the garrison, but was not permitted to do so. +Few of the townspeople have that privilege. ---- has made the fullest +enquiries, and tells me that a majority of the men would be glad to get +away if they could: they would willingly leave the service and the +country. He says they are well-informed, civil and well-behaved, and +that for such time as England may be compelled to retain possession of +the Canadas by military force, against the wishes of the settled +population he would like to have this regiment remain in Toronto. ---- +tells me that a few _soups_ have been kept at Queenston during the +winter, because if they desert it is no matter: the regulars are all at +Drummondville, near the Falls, and a couple of hundred blacks at +Chippewa watching them. The Ferry below the Falls is guarded by old men +whose term of service is nearly out, and who look for a pension. It is +the same at Malden, and in Lower Canada. The regiments Lord Durham +brought were fine fellows, the flower of the English army. + +"The Banks here tax the people heavily, but they are so stupid they +don't see it. All the specie goes into the Banks. I am told that the +Upper Canada Bank had at one time L300,000 in England in Commissariat +bills of Exchange: their notes in circulation are a million and a +quarter of paper dollars, for all of which they draw interest from the +people, although not obliged to keep six cents in their money-till to +redeem them. All the troops were paid in the depreciated paper of these +fraudulent bankrupt concerns, the directors of which deserve the +Penitentiary: the contracts of the Commissariat are paid in the same +paper as a 10 per cent. shave: and the troops up at Brantford were also +paid in Bank notes which the Bank did not pretend to redeem; and it +would have offended Sir George [Arthur], who has a share in such +speculations (as he had when in VanDieman's Land), had any one asked the +dollars. Sir Allan McNab, who has risen from poverty to be president _de +facto_, solicitor, directors and company of the Gore Bank, ever since +its creation, is said to be terribly embarrassed for want of money. He +is not the alpha and omega of the Bank now. He has quarrelled with his +brother villains. The money paid to Canada from England to uphold troops +to coerce the people helps the Banks." + +In the same number of the _Gazette_ published at Rochester we have an +extract from a production by Robert Gourlay himself, who in his old age +paid a final visit of inspection to Canada. In allusion to a portion of +Gourlay's famous work published in 1822, the extract is headed in +_McKenzie's Gazette_ "Robert Gourlay's 'Last Sketch' of Upper Canada." +It is dated at Toronto, May 25th. Having just presented one gloomy view, +we will venture to lower the reader's spirits a particle more, by giving +another. Let allowance be made for the morbid mental condition of the +writer: the contrast offered by the Canada of to-day will afterwards +proportionably exhilarate. + +"What did Upper Canada gain," Gourlay asks, "by my banishment; and what +good is now to be seen in it? Cast an eye over the length and breadth of +the land" he cries, "from Malden to Point Fortune, and from the Falls to +Lake Simcoe: then say if a single public work is creditable, or a single +institution as it should be. The Rideau Canal!--what is it but a +monument of England's folly and waste; which can never return a farthing +of interest; or for a single day stay the conquest of the province. The +Welland Canal!--Has it not been from beginning till now a mere struggle +of misery and mismanagement; and from now onward, promising to become a +putrid ditch. The only railway, of ten miles; with half completed; and +half which cannot be completed for want of funds! The macadamised roads, +all in mud; only causing an increase of wear and tear. The province +deeply in debt; confidence uprooted; and banks beleaguered! + +"Schools and Colleges, what are they?--Few yet _painted_, though +lectures on natural philosophy are now abundant. The Cobourg seminary +outstaring all that is sanctimonious: so airy and lank that learning +cannot take root in it. A college at Sandwich built before the war, but +now a pig stye; and one at Toronto indicated only by an approach. The +edifices of the Church!--how few worthy of the Divine presence--how many +unfinished--how many fallen to decay. The Church itself, wholly +militant: Episcopalians maintaining what can never be established; +Presbyterians more sour than ever, contending for rights where they have +none whatever: Methodists so disunited that they cannot even join in a +respectable groan; and Catholic priests wandering about in poverty +because their scattered and starving flocks yield not sufficient wool +for the shears. One institution only have I seen praiseworthy and +progressing--The Penitentiary; but that is a concentrated essence, +seeing the whole province is one: and which of you, resident +land-holders, having sense or regard for your family would remain in it +a day, could you sell your property and be off?" + +Some popular Almanacs of a remarkable character also emanated from +McKenzie's press. Whilst in the United States he put forth the _Caroline +Almanac_, a designation intended to keep alive the memory of the cutting +out of the _Caroline_ steamer from Fort Schlosser in 1837, and her +precipitation over the Falls of Niagara, an act sought to be held up as +a great outrage on the part of the Canadian authorities. In the Canadian +Almanacs, published by him, intended for circulation especially among +the country population, the object kept in view was the same as that so +industriously aimed at by the _Advocate_ itself, viz., the exposure of +the shortcomings and vices of the government of the day. At the same +time a large amount of practically useful matter and information was +supplied. + +The earlier almanac was entitled "Poor Richard, or the Yorkshire +Almanac," and the compiler professed to be one "Patrick Swift, late of +Belfast, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Esq., F.R.I., Grand-nephew of the +celebrated Doctor Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, etc., +etc., etc." This same personage was a contributor also of many pungent +and humorous things in prose and verse in the columns of the _Advocate_ +itself. In 1834 the Almanac assumed the following title: "A new Almanac +for the Canadian True Blues; with which is incorporated The +Constitutional Reformer's Text Book, for the Millenial and Prophetic +Year of the Grand General Election for Upper Canada, and total and +everlasting Downfall of Toryism in the British Empire, 1834." It was +still supposed to be edited by Patrick Swift, Esq., who is now dubbed +M.P.P., and Professor of Astrology, York. + +In the extract given above from what was styled Gourlay's "Last Sketch" +of Upper Canada, the query and rejoinder, "Schools and Colleges, where +are they? Few yet _painted_, though lectures on Natural Philosophy are +now abundant"--will not be understood, without remark. The allusion is +to an advertisement in the _Upper Canada Gazette_ of Feb. 5, 1818, which +Gourlay at the time of its appearance thought proper to animadvert upon +and satirize in the Niagara _Spectator_. It ran as follows: "Natural +Philosophy.--The subscriber intends to deliver a course of Popular +Lectures on Natural Philosophy, to commence on Tuesday, the 17th inst., +at 7 o'clock p.m., should a number of auditors come forward to form a +class. Tickets of admission for the Course (price Two Guineas) may be +had of William Allan, Esq., Dr. Horne, or at the School House. The +surplus, if any, after defraying the current expenses, to be laid out in +painting the District School. John Strachan, York, 3rd Feb., 1818." + +As was to be expected, Dr. Strachan was a standing subject of invective +in all the publications of Gourlay, as well as subsequently in all those +of McKenzie. Collins, Editor of the _Freeman_, became, as we have seen, +reticent in relation to him; but, more or less, a fusilade was +maintained upon him in McKenzie's periodicals, as long as they issued. + +In McKenzie's opposition to Dr. Strachan there was possibly a certain +degree of national animus springing from the contemplation of a Scottish +compatriot who, after rising to position in the young colony, was +disposed, from temperament, to bear himself cavalierly towards all who +did not agree with him in opinion. In addition, we have been told that +at an early period in an interview between the two parties, Dr. Strachan +once chanced to express himself with considerable heat to McKenzie, and +proceeded to the length of showing him the door. The latter had called, +as our information runs, to deprecate prejudice in regard to a +brother-in-law of his, Mr. Baxter, who was a candidate for some post +under the Educational Board, of which Dr. S. was chairman; when great +offence was taken at the idea being for a moment entertained that a +personal motive would in the slightest degree bias him when in the +execution of public duty. + +At a late period in the history of both the now memorable +Scoto-Canadians, we happened ourselves to be present at a scene in the +course of which the two were brought curiously face to face with each +other, once more, for a few moments. It will be remembered that after +the subsidence of the political troubles and the union of Upper and +Lower Canada, McKenzie came back and was returned member of Parliament +for Haldimand. While he was in the occupancy of this post, it came to +pass that Dr. Strachan, now Bishop of Toronto, had occasion to present a +petition to the united House on the subject of the Clergy Reserves. To +give greater weight and solemnity to the act he decided to attend in +person at the bar of the House, at the head of his clergy, all in +canonicals. McKenzie seeing the procession approaching, hurried into the +House and took his seat; and contrived at the moment the Bishop and his +retinue reached the bar to have possession of the floor. Affecting to +put a question to the Speaker, before the Order of the Day was proceeded +with, he launched out with great volubility and in excited strain on the +interruptions to which the House was exposed in its deliberations; he +then quickly came round to an attack in particular on prelates and +clergy for their meddling and turbulence, infesting, as he averred, the +lobbies of the Legislature when they should be employed on higher +matters, filling with tumultuous mobs the halls and passages of the +House, thronging (with an indignant glance in that direction) the very +space below the bar set apart for the accommodation of peaceably +disposed spectators. + +The House had only just assembled, and had not had time to settle down +into perfect quiet: members were still dropping in, and it was a mystery +to many, for a time, what could, at such an early stage of the day's +proceedings, have excited the ire of the member for Haldimand. The +courteous speaker, Mr. Sicotte, was plainly taken aback at the sudden +outburst of patriotic fervour; and, not being as familiar with the Upper +Canadian past as many old Upper Canadians present were, he could not +enter into the pleasantry of the thing; for, after all, it was +humourously and not maliciously intended; the orator in possession of +the floor had his old antagonist at a momentary disadvantage, and he +chose to compel him while standing there conspicuously at the bar to +listen for a while to a stream of _Colonial Advocate_ in the purest +vein. + +After speaking against time, with an immense show of heat for a +considerable while--a thing at which he was an adept--the scene was +brought to a close by a general hubbub of impatience at the outrageous +irrelevancy of the harangue, arising throughout the House, and obliging +the orator to take his seat. The petition of the Bishop was then in due +form received, and he, with his numerous retinue of robed clergy, +withdrew. + +We now proceed with our memoranda of the early press. When Fothergill +was deprived of his office of King's Printer in 1825, he published for a +time a quarto paper of his own, entitled the _Palladium_, composed of +scientific, literary and general matter. Mr. Robert Stanton, King's +Printer after Fothergill, issued on his own account for a few years, a +newspaper called _The U. E. Loyalist_, the name, as we have seen, borne +by the portion of the _Gazette_ devoted to general intelligence while +Mr. Stanton was King's Printer. The _U. E. Loyalist_ was a quarto sheet, +well printed, with an engraved ornamental heading resembling that which +surmounted the New York _Albion_. The _Loyalist_ was conservative, as +also was a local contemporary after 1831, the _Courier_, edited and +printed by Mr. George Gurnett, subsequently Clerk of the Peace, and +Police Magistrate for the City of Toronto. The _Christian Guardian_, a +local religious paper which still survives, began in 1828. The _Patriot_ +appeared at York in 1833: it had previously been issued at Kingston; its +whole title was "_The Patriot and Farmer's Monitor_," with the motto, +"Common Sense," below. It was of the folio form, and its Editor, Mr. +Thos. Dalton, was a writer of much force, liveliness and originality. +The _Loyalist_, _Courier_ and _Patriot_ were antagonists politically of +the _Advocate_ while the latter flourished; but all three laboured under +the disadvantage of fighting on the side whose star was everywhere on +the decline. + +Notwithstanding its conservatism, however, it was in the _Courier_ that +the memorable revolutionary sentiments appeared, so frequently quoted +afterwards in the _Advocate_ publications: "the minds of the +well-affected begin to be unhinged; they already begin to cast about in +their mind's eye for some new state of political existence, which shall +effectually put the colony without the pale of British connection;" +words written under the irritation occasioned by the dismissal of the +Attorney and Solicitor-General for Upper Canada in 1833. + +For a short time prior to 1837, McKenzie's paper assumed the name of +_The Constitution_. A faithful portrait of McKenzie will be seen at the +beginning of the first volume of his "Life and Times," by Mr. Charles +Lindsey, a work which will be carefully and profitably studied by future +investigators in the field of Upper Canadian history. Excellent +portraits of Mr. Gurnett and of Mr. Dalton are likewise extant in +Toronto. + +Soon after 1838, the _Examiner_ newspaper acquired great influence at +York. It was established and edited by Mr. Hincks. Mr. Hincks had +emigrated to Canada with the intention of engaging in commerce; and in +Walton's _York Directory_, 1833-34, we read for No. 21, west side of +Yonge Street, "Hincks, Francis, Wholesale Warehouse." But Mr. Hincks' +attention was drawn to the political condition of Canada, especially to +its Finance. The accident of living in immediate proximity to a family +that had already for a number of years been taking a warm and active +interest in public affairs, may have contributed to this. In the +Directory, just named, the Number after 21 on the west side of Yonge +Street, is 23, and the occupants are "Baldwin, Doctor W. Warren; +Baldwin, Robert, Esq., Attorney, &c., Baldwin and Sullivan's Attorney's +Office, and Dr. Baldwin's Surrogate Office round the corner, in King +Street, 1951/2." It was not unnatural that the next door neighbour of Dr. +Baldwin's family, their tenant, moreover, and attached friend, should +catch a degree of inspiration from them. The subsequent remarkable +career of Mr. Hincks, afterwards so widely known as Sir Francis Hincks, +has become a part of the general history of the country. + +About the period of the Union of Upper and Lower Canada, a local +tri-weekly named _The Morning Star and Transcript_ was printed and +published by Mr. W. J. Coates, who also issued occasionally, at a later +date, the _Canadian Punch_, containing clever political cartoons in the +style of the London _Punch_. + +We have spoken once, we believe, of the _Canadian Freeman's_ motto, +"_Est natura hominum novitatis avida_;" and of the _Patriot's_, just +above, "_Common Sense_." Fothergill's "_Weekly Register_" was headed by +a brief cento from Shakespeare: "Our endeavour will be to stamp the very +body of the time--its form and pressure--: we shall extenuate nothing, +nor shall we set down aught in malice." + +Other early Canadian newspaper mottoes which pleased the boyish fancy +years ago, and which may still be pleasantly read on the face of the +same long-lived and yet flourishing publications, were the "_Mores et +studia et populos et praelia dicam_," of the Quebec _Mercury_, and the +"_Animos novitate tenebo_" of the Montreal _Herald_. The _Mercury_ and +_Herald_ likewise retain to this day their respective early devices: the +former, Hermes, all proper, as the Heralds would say, descending from +the sky, with the motto from Virgil, _Mores et studia et populos et +praelia dicam_: the latter the Genius of Fame, bearing in one hand the +British crown, and sounding as she speeds through the air her trump, +from which issues the above-cited motto. Over the editorial column the +device is repeated, with the difference that the floating Genius here +adds the authority for her quotation--Ovid, _a la_ Dr. Pangloss. +Underneath the floating figure are many minute roses and shamrocks; but +towering up to the right and left with a significant predominance, for +the special gratification of Montrealers of the olden time, the thistle +of Scotland. + +Besides these primitive mottoes and emblematic headings, the _Mercury_ +and _Herald_ likewise retain, each of them, to this day a certain +pleasant individuality of aspect in regard to type, form and +arrangement, by which they are each instantly to be recognized. This +adherence of periodicals to their original physiognomy is very +interesting, and in fact advantageous, inspiring in readers a certain +tenderness of regard. Does not the cover of _Blackwood_, for example, +even the poor United States copy of it, sometimes awaken in the chaos of +a public reading-room table, a sense of affection, like a friend seen in +the midst of a promiscuous crowd? The English Reviews too, as circulated +among us from the United States, are conveniently recognized by their +respective colours, although the English form of each has been, for +cheapness' sake, departed from. The _Montreal Gazette_ likewise +survives, preserving its ancient look in many respects, and its high +character for dignity of style and ability. + +In glancing back at the supply of intelligence and literature provided +at an early day for the Canadian community, it repeatedly occurs to us +to name, as we have done, the _Albion_ newspaper of New York. From this +journal it was that almost every one in our Upper Canadian York who had +the least taste for reading, derived the principal portion of his or her +acquaintance with the outside world of letters, as well as the minuter +details of prominent political events. As its name implies, the _Albion_ +was intended to meet the requirements of a large number of persons of +English birth and of English descent, whose lot is cast on this +continent, but who nevertheless cannot discharge from their hearts their +natural love for England, their natural pride in her unequalled +civilization. "_Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt_," was +its gracefully-chosen and appropriate motto. + +Half a century ago, the boon of a judicious literary journal like the +_Albion_ was to dwellers in Canada a very precious one. The Quarterlies +were not then reprinted as now; nor were periodicals like the +Philadelphia _Eclectic_ or the Boston _Living Age_ readily procurable. +Without the weekly visit of the _Albion_, months upon months would have +passed without any adequate knowledge being enjoyed of the current +products of the literary world. For the sake of its extracted reviews, +tales and poetry the New York _Albion_ was in some cases, as we well +remember, loaned about to friends and read like a much sought after book +in a modern circulating library. And happily its contents were always +sterling, and worth the perusal. It was a part of our own boyish +experience to become acquainted for the first time with a portion of +Keble's _Christian Year_, in the columns of that paper. + +The _Albion_ was founded in 1822 by Dr. John Charlton Fisher, who +afterwards became a distinguished Editor at Quebec. To him Dr. Bartlett +succeeded. The New York _Albion_ still flourishes under Mr. Cornwallis, +retaining its high character for the superior excellence of its matter, +retaining also many traits of its ancient outward aspect, in the style +of its type, in the distribution of its matter. It has also retained its +old motto. Its familiar vignette heading of oak branches round the +English rose, the thistle of Scotland, and the shamrock, has been +thinned out, and otherwise slightly modified; but it remains a fine +artistic composition, well executed. + +There was another journal from New York much esteemed at York for the +real respectability of its character, the _New York Spectator_. It was +read for the sake of its commercial and general information, rather +than for its literary news. To the minds of the young the Greek +revolution had a singular fascination. We remember once entertaining the +audacious idea of constructing a history of the struggle in Greece, of +which the authorities would, in great measure, have been copious +cuttings from the _New York Spectator_ columns. One advantage of the +embryo design certainly was a familiarity acquired with the map of +Hellas within and without the Peloponnesus. Navarino, Modon, Coron, +Tripolitza, Mistra, Missolonghi, with the incidents that had made each +temporarily famous, were rendered as familiar to the mind's eye as +Sparta, Athens, Thebes, Thermopylae, and the events connected with each +respectively, of an era two thousand years previously, afterwards from +other circumstances became. Colocotroni, Mavrocordato, Miaulis, +Bozzaris, were heroes to the imagination as fully as Miltiades, +Alcibiades, Pericles, and Nicias, afterwards became. + +Partly in consequence of the eagerness with which the columns of the +_New York Spectator_ used to be ransacked with a view to the composition +of the proposed historical work, we remember the peculiar interest with +which we regarded the editor of that periodical at a later period, on +falling in with him, casually, at the Falls of Niagara. Mr. Hall was +then well advanced in years; and from a very brief interview, the +impression received was, that he was the beau ideal of a veteran editor +of the highest type; for a man, almost omniscient; unslumberingly +observant; sympathetic, in some way, with every passing occurrence and +every remark; tenacious of the past; grasping the present on all sides, +with readiness, genial interest and completeness. In aspect, and even to +some extent in costume, Mr. Hall might have been taken for an English +bishop of the early part of the Victorian era. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XX. + + QUEEN STREET, FROM GEORGE STREET TO YONGE STREET.--MEMORIES OF THE OLD + COURT HOUSE. + + +When we pass George Street we are in front of the park-lot originally +selected by Mr. Secretary Jarvis. It is now divided from south to north +by Jarvis street, a thoroughfare opened up through the property in the +time of Mr. Samuel Peters Jarvis, the Secretary's son. Among the +pleasant villas that now line this street on both sides, there is one +which still is the home of a Jarvis, the Sheriff of the County. + +Besides filling the conspicuous post indicated by his title, Mr. +Secretary Jarvis was also the first Grand Master of the Masons in Upper +Canada. The archives of the first Masonic Lodges of York possess much +interest. Through the permission of Mr. Alfio de Grassi who has now the +custody of them, we are enabled to give the following extracts from a +letter of Mr. Secretary Jarvis, bearing the early date of March 28th, +1792:--"I am in possession of my sign manual from his Majesty," Mr. +Jarvis writes on the day just named, from Pimlico, to his relative +Munson Jarvis, at St. John, New Brunswick, "constituting me Secretary +and Registrar of the Province of Upper Canada, with power of appointing +my Deputies, and in every other respect a very full warrant. I am also" +he continues, "very much flattered to be enabled to inform you that the +Grand Lodge of England have within these very few days appointed Prince +Edward, who is now in Canada, Grand Master of Ancient Masons in Lower +Canada; and William Jarvis, Secretary and Registrar of Upper Canada, +Grand Master of Ancient Masons in that Province. However trivial it may +appear to you who are not a Mason, yet I assure you that it is one of +the most honourable appointments that they could have conferred. The +Duke of Athol is the Grand Master of Ancient Masons in England. Lord +Dorchester with his private Secretary, and the Secretary of the +Province, called on us yesterday," Mr. Jarvis proceeds to say, "and +found us in the utmost confusion, with half a dozen porters in the house +packing up. However his Lordship would come in, and sat down in a small +room which was reserved from the general bustle. He then took Mr. Peters +home with him to dine: hence we conclude a favourable omen in regard to +his consecration, which we hope is not far distant. Mrs. Jarvis," the +Secretary informs his relative, "leaves England in great spirits. I am +ordered my passage on board the transport with the Regiment, and to do +duty without pay for the passage only. This letter," he adds, "gets to +Halifax by favour of an intimate friend of Mr. Peters, Governor +Wentworth, who goes out to take possession of his Government. The ship +that I am allotted to is the _Henneker_, Captain Winter, a transport +with the Queen's Rangers on board." + +The Prince Edward spoken of was afterwards Duke of Kent and father of +the present Queen. Lord Dorchester was the Governor-General of the +Province of Quebec before its division into Upper and Lower Canada. Mr. +Peters was _in posse_ the Bishop of the new Province about to be +organized. It was a part of the original scheme, as shewn by the papers +of the first Governor of Upper Canada, that there should be an episcopal +see in Upper Canada, as there already was at Quebec in the lower +province. But this was not carried into effect until 1839, nearly half a +century later. + +When Jarvis Street was opened up through the Secretary's park-lot, the +family residence of his son Mr. Samuel Peters Jarvis, a handsome +structure of the early brick era of York, in the line of the proposed +thoroughfare, was taken down. Its interior fittings of solid black +walnut were bought by Captain Carthew and transferred by him without +much alteration to a house which he put up on part of the Deer-park +property on Yonge Street. + +A large fragment of the offices attached to Mr. Jarvis's house was +utilized and absorbed in a private residence on the west side of Jarvis +Street, and the gravel drive to the door is yet to be traced in the less +luxuriant vegetation of certain portions of the adjoining flower +gardens. Mr. Secretary Jarvis died in 1818. He is described by those who +remember him, as possessing a handsome, portly presence. Col. Jarvis, +the first military commandant in Manitoba, is a grandson of the +Secretary. + +Of Mr. McGill, first owner of the next park-lot, and of his personal +aspect, we have had occasion to speak in connection with the interior of +St. James' Church. Situated in fields at the southern extremity of a +stretch of forest, the comfortable and pleasantly-situated residence +erected by him for many years seemed a place of abode quite remote from +the town. It was still to be seen in 1870 in the heart of McGill Square, +and was long occupied by Mr. McCutcheon, a brother of the inheritor of +the bulk of Mr. McGill's property, who in accordance with his uncle's +will, and by authority of an Act of Parliament, assumed the name of +McGill, and became subsequently well known throughout Canada as the Hon. +Peter McGill. + +(The founder of McGill College in Montreal was of a different family. +The late Capt. James McGill Strachan derived his name from the +marriage-connection of his father with the latter.) + +In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of Nov. 13th, 1803, we observe Mr. McGill, +of York, advertising as "agent for purchases" for pork and beef to be +supplied to the troops stationed "at Kingston, York, Fort George, Fort +Chippewa, Fort Erie, and Amherstburg." In 1818 he is Receiver-General, +and Auditor-General of land patents. He had formerly been an officer in +the Queen's Rangers, and his name repeatedly occurs in "Simcoe's +History" of the operations of that corps during the war of the American +Revolution. + +From that work we learn that in 1779 he, with the commander himself of +the corps, then Lieut.-Col. Simcoe, fell into the hands of the +revolutionary authorities, and was treated with great harshness in the +common jail of Burlington, New Jersey; and when a plan was devised for +the Colonel's escape, Mr. McGill volunteered, in order to further its +success, to personate his commanding officer in bed, and to take the +consequences, while the latter was to make his way out. + +The whole project was frustrated by the breaking of a false key in the +lock of a door which would have admitted the confined soldiers to a room +where "carbines and ammunition" were stored away. Lieut.-Col. Simcoe, it +is added in the history just named, afterwards offered Mr. McGill an +annuity, or to make him Quartermaster of Cavalry; the latter, we are +told, he accepted of, as his grandfather had been an officer in King +William's army; and "no man," Col. Simcoe himself notes, "ever executed +the office with greater integrity, courage and conduct." + +The southern portion of Mr. McGill's park-lot has, in the course of +modern events, come to be assigned to religious uses. McGill Square, +which contained the old homestead and its surroundings, and which was at +one period intended, as its name indicates, to be an open public square, +was secured in 1870 by the Wesleyan Methodist body and made the site of +its principal place of worship and of various establishments connected +therewith. + +Immediately north, on the same property, the Roman Catholics had +previously built their principal place of worship and numerous +appurtenances, attracted possibly to the spot by the expectation that +McGill Square would continue for ever an open ornamental piece of +ground. + +A little farther to the north a cross-street, leading from Yonge Street +eastward, bears the name of McGill. An intervening cross-street +preserves the name of Mr. Crookshank, who was Mr. McGill's +brother-in-law. + +The name that appears on the original survey of York and its suburbs as +first occupant of the park-lot westward of Mr. McGill's, is that of Mr. +George Playter. This is the Captain Playter, senior, of whom we have +already spoken in our excursion up the valley of the Don. We have named +him also among the forms of a past age whom we ourselves remember often +seeing in the congregation assembled of old in the wooden St. James'. + +Mr. Playter was an Englishman by birth, but had passed many of his early +years in Philadelphia, where for a time he attached himself to the +Society of Friends, having selected as a wife a member of that body. But +on the breaking out of the troubles that led to the independence of the +United States, his patriotic attachment to old far-off England compelled +him, in spite of the peaceful theories of the denomination to which he +had united himself, promptly to join the Royalist forces. + +He used to give a somewhat humorous account of his sudden return to the +military creed of ordinary mundane men. "Lie there, Quaker!" cried he to +his cutaway, buttonless, formal coat, as he stripped it off and flung it +down, for the purpose of donning the soldier's habiliments. But some of +the Quaker observances were never relinquished in his family. We well +remember, in the old homestead on the Don, and afterwards at his +residence on Caroline Street, a silent mental thanksgiving before meals, +that always took place after every one had taken his seat at the table; +a brief pause was made, and all bent for a moment slightly forwards. The +act was solemn and impressive. + +Old Mr. Playter was a man of sprightly and humorous temperament, and his +society was accordingly much enjoyed by those who knew him. A precise +attention to his dress and person rendered him an excellent type in +which to study the costume and style of the ordinary unofficial citizen +of a past generation. Colonel M. F. Whitehead, of Port Hope, in a letter +kindly expressive of his interest in these reminiscences of York, +incidentally furnished a little sketch that will not be out of place +here. "My visits to York, after I was articled to Mr. Ward, in 1819," +Colonel Whitehead says, "were frequent. I usually lodged at old Mr. +Playter's, Mrs. Ward's father. [This was when he was still living at the +homestead on the Don.] The old gentleman often walked into town with me, +by Castle Frank; his three-cornered hat, silver knee-buckles, broad-toed +shoes and large buckles, were always carefully arranged."--To the +equipments, so well described by Colonel Whitehead, we add from our own +boyish recollection of Sunday sights, white stockings and a gold-headed +cane of a length unusual now. + +According to a common custom prevalent at an early time, Mr. Playter set +apart on his estate on the Don a family burial-plot, where his own +remains and those of several members of his family and their descendants +were deposited. Mr. George Playter, son of Captain George Playter, was +some time Deputy Sheriff of the Home District; and Mr. Eli Playter, +another son, represented for some sessions in the Provincial Parliament +the North Riding of York. A daughter, who died unmarried in 1832, Miss +Hannah Playter, "Aunt Hannah," as she was styled in the family, is +pleasantly remembered as well for the genuine kindness of her character, +as also for the persistency with which, like her father, she carried +forward into a new and changed generation, and retained to the last, the +costume and manners of the reign of King George the Third. + +Immediately in front of the extreme westerly portion of the park lot +which we are now passing, and on the south side of the present Queen +Street in that direction, was situated an early Court House of York, +associated in the memories of most of the early people with their first +acquaintance with forensic pleadings and law proceedings. + +This building was a notable object in its day. In an old plan of the +town we observe it conspicuously delineated in the locality +mentioned--the _other_ public buildings of the place, viz., the +Commissariat Stores, the Government House, the Council Chamber (at the +present north-west corner of York and Wellington Streets), the District +School, St. James's Church, and the Parliament House (by the Little +Don), being marked in the same distinguished manner. It was a plain +two-storey frame building, erected in the first instance as an ordinary +place of abode by Mr. Montgomery, father of the Montgomerys, once of the +neighbourhood of Eglinton, on Yonge Street. It stood in a space defined +by the present line of Yonge Street on the west, by nearly the present +line of Victoria Street on the east, by Queen Street on the north and by +Richmond Street on the south. Though situated nearer Queen Street than +Richmond Street, it faced the latter, and was approached from the +latter.--It was Mr. Montgomery who obtained by legal process the opening +of Queen Street in the rear of his property. In consequence of the +ravine of which we have had occasion so often to speak, the allowance +for this street as laid down in the first plans of York had been closed +up by authority from Yonge Street to Caroline Street. + +It was seriously proposed in 1800 to close up Queen Street to the +westward also from Yonge Street "so far as the Common," that is, the +Garrison Reserve, on the ground that such street was wholly unnecessary, +there being in that direction already one highway into the town, namely, +Richmond Street, situated only ten rods to the south. In 1800 the +southern termination of Yonge Street was where we are now passing, at +the corner of Montgomery's lot. At this point the farmers' waggons from +the north turned off to the eastward, proceeding as far as Toronto +Street, down which they wended their way to Richmond Street, and so on +to Church Street and King Street, finally reaching the Market Place. + +Of the opening of Yonge Street through a range of building lots which in +1800 blocked the way from Queen Street southwards, we shall speak +hereafter in the excursion which we propose to make through Yonge Street +from south to north, the moment we have finished recording our +collections and recollections in relation to Queen Street. + + _Memories of the Old Court House._ + +In the old Court House, situated as we have described, we received our +first boyish impressions of the solemnities and forms observed in Courts +of Law. In paying a visit of curiosity subsequently to the singular +series of Law Courts which are to be found ranged along one side of +Westminster Hall in London--each one of them in succession entered +through the heavy folds of lofty mysterious-looking curtains, each one +of them crowded with earnest pleaders and anxious suitors, each one of +them provided with a judge elevated in solitary majesty on high, each +one of them seeming to the passing stranger more like a scene in a drama +than a prosaic reality--we could not but revert in memory to the old +upper chamber at York where the remote shadows of such things were for +the first time encountered. + +It was startling to remember of a sudden that our early Upper Canadian +Judges, our early Upper Canadian Barristers, came fresh from these +Westminster Hall Courts! What a contrast must have been presented to +these men in the rude wilds to which they found themselves transported. +Riding the Circuit in the Home, Midland, Eastern and Western Districts +at the beginning of the present century was no trivial undertaking. +Accommodation for man and horse was for the most part scant and +comfortless. Locomotion by land and water was perilous and slow, and +racking to the frame. The apartments procurable for the purposes of the +Court were of the humblest kind. + +Our pioneer jurisconsults in their several degrees, however, like our +pioneers generally, unofficial as well as official, did their duty. They +quietly initiated in the country, customs of gravity and order which +have now become traditional; and we see the result in the decent dignity +which surrounds, at the present day, the administration of justice in +Canada in the Courts of every grade. + +Prior to the occupation of Mr. Montgomery's house as the Court House at +York, the Court of King's Bench held its sessions in a portion of the +Government Buildings at the east end of the town, destroyed in the war +of 1813. On June 25, 1812, the Sheriff, John Beikie, advertises in the +_Gazette_ that "a Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the +Home District will be holden at the Government Buildings in the town of +York on Tuesday, the fourteenth day of July now next ensuing, at the +hour of ten o'clock in the forenoon, of which all Justices of the +Peace, Coroners, Gaolers, High Constables, Constables and Bailiffs are +desired to take notice, and that they be then and there present with +their Rolls, Records, and other Memoranda to do and perform those things +which by reason of their respective offices shall be to be done." + +It is with the Court Room in the Government Buildings that the Judge, +Sheriff and Crown Counsel were familiar, who were engulfed in Lake +Ontario in 1805. The story of the total loss of the government schooner +Speedy, Captain Thomas Paxton, is widely known. In that ill-fated vessel +suddenly went down in a gale in the dead of night, along with its +commander and crew, Judge Cochrane, Solicitor-General Gray, Mr. Angus +McDonell, Sheriff of York, Mr. Fishe, the High Bailiff, an Indian +prisoner about to be tried at Presqu'Isle for murder, two interpreters, +Cowan and Ruggles, several witnesses, and Mr. Herchmer, a merchant of +York; in all thirty-nine persons, of whom no trace was ever afterwards +discovered. + +The weather was threatening, the season of the year stormy (7th +October), and the schooner was suspected not to be sea-worthy. But the +orders of the Governor, General Peter Hunter, were peremptory. Mr. +Weekes, of whom we have heard before, escaped the fate that befel so +many connected with his profession, by deciding to make the journey to +Presqu'Isle on horseback. (For the seat in the House rendered vacant by +the sudden removal of Mr. McDonell, Mr. Weekes was the successful +candidate.) + +The name of the Indian who was on his way to be tried was Ogetonicut. +His brother, Whistling Duck, had been killed by a white man, and he took +his revenge on John Sharp, another white man. The deed was done at Ball +Point on Lake Scugog, where John Sharp was in charge of a trading-post +for furs belonging to the Messrs. Farewell. The Governor had promised, +so it was alleged, that the slayer of Whistling Duck should be punished. +But a twelvemonth had elapsed and nothing had been done. The whole +tribe, the Muskrat branch of the Chippewas, with their Chief +Wabbekisheco at their head, came up in canoes to York on this occasion, +starting from the mouth of Annis's creek, near Port Oshawa, and +encamping at Gibraltar Point on the peninsula in front of York. A guard +of soldiers went over to assist in the arrest of Ogetonicut, who, it +appears, had arrived with the rest. The Chief Wabbekisheco, took the +culprit by the shoulder and delivered him up. He was lodged in the jail +at York. + +During the summer it was proved by means of a survey that the spot where +Sharp had been killed was within the District of Newcastle. It was held +necessary, therefore, that the trial should take place in that District. +Sellick's, at the Carrying Place, was to have been the scene of the +investigation, and thither the _Speedy_ was bound when she foundered. +Mr. Justice Cochrane was a most estimable character personally, and a +man of distinguished ability. He was only in his 28th year, and had been +Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island before his arrival in Upper +Canada. He was a native of Halifax, in Nova Scotia, but had studied law +in Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the Bar in England. + +In the old Court House, near which we are now passing, were assigned to +convicted culprits, with unflinching severity and in a no inconsiderable +number of instances, all the penalties enjoined in the criminal code of +the day--the lash, the pillory, the stocks, the gallows. We have +conversed with an old inhabitant of Toronto, who had not only here heard +the penalty of branding ordered by the Judge, but had actually seen it +in open court inflicted, the iron being heated in the great wood-stove +that warmed the room, and the culprit made to stretch out his hand and +have burnt thereon the initial letter of the offence committed. + +Here cases came up repeatedly, arising out of the system of slavery +which at the beginning was received in Canada, apparently as an +inevitable part and parcel of the social arrangements of a colony on +this continent. + +On the first of March, 1811, we have it on the record, "William Jarvis, +of the Town of York, Esq. (this is the Secretary again), informed the +Court that a negro boy and girl, his slaves, had the evening before been +committed to prison for having stolen gold and silver out of his desk in +his dwelling-house, and escaped from their said master; and prayed that +the Court would order that the said prisoners, with one Coachly, a free +negro, also committed to prison on suspicion of having advised and aided +the said boy and girl in eloping with their master's property." +Thereupon it was "Ordered,--That the said negro boy, named Henry, +commonly called Prince, be re-committed to prison, and there safely kept +till delivered according to law, and that the girl do return to her said +master; and Coachly be discharged." + +At the date just mentioned Slavery was being gradually extinguished by +an Act of the Provincial Legislature of Upper Canada, passed at Newark +in 1793, which forbade the further introduction of slaves, and ordered +that all slave children born after the 9th of July in that year should +be free on attaining the age of twenty-five. + +Most gentlemen, from the Administrator of the Government downwards, +possessed some slaves. Peter Russell, in 1806, was anxious to dispose of +two of his, and thus advertised in the _Gazette and Oracle_, mentioning +his prices:--"To be sold: a Black Woman named Peggy, aged forty years, +and a Black Boy, her son, named Jupiter, aged about fifteen years, both +of them the property of the subscriber. The woman is a tolerable cook +and washerwoman, and perfectly understands making soap and candles. The +boy is tall and strong for his age, and has been employed in the country +business, but brought up principally as a house servant. They are each +of them servants for life. The price of the woman is one hundred and +fifty dollars. For the boy two hundred dollars, payable in three years, +with interest from the day of sale, and to be secured by bond, &c. But +one-fourth less will be taken for ready money. York, Feb. 19th, 1806. +Peter Russell." + +According to our ideas at the present moment, such an advertisement as +this is shocking enough. But we must judge the words and deeds of men by +the spirit of the age in which they lived and moved. + +Similar notices were common a century since in the English newspapers. +It is in fact asserted that at that period there were probably more +slaves in England than in Virginia. In the London _Public Advertiser_, +of March 28th, 1769, we have, for example, the following: "To be sold, a +Black Girl, the property of J. B----, eleven years of age, who is +extremely handy, works at her needle tolerably, and speaks English +perfectly well; is of an excellent temper, and willing disposition. +Enquire of Mr. Owen, at the Angel Inn, behind St. Clement's Church, in +the Strand." And again, in the Edinburgh _Evening Courant_ of April +18th, 1768, we have, "A Black Boy to sell. To be sold a Black Boy with +long hair, stout made and well limbed; is good tempered; can dress hair, +and take care of a horse indifferently. He has been in Britain near +three years. Any person that inclines to purchase him may have him for +L40. He belongs to Captain Abercrombie, at Brighton. This advertisement +not to be repeated." + +The poet sings-- + + "Slaves cannot breathe in England: if their lungs + Receive our air, that moment they are free; + They touch our country and their shackles fall." + +But this was not true until Lord Mansfield, in 1772, uttered his famous +judgment in the case of James Somerset, a slave brought over by a Mr. +Stewart from Jamaica. Cowper's lines are in reality a versification of a +portion of Lord Mansfield's words. A plea had been set up that +villeinage had never been abolished by law in England; _ergo_, the +possession of slaves was not illegal. But Lord Mansfield ruled: +"Villeinage has ceased in England, and it cannot be revived. The air of +England," he said, " has long been too pure for a slave, and every man +is free who breathes it. Every man who comes into England," Lord +Mansfield continued, "is entitled to the protection of English law, +whatever oppression he may heretofore have suffered, and whatever may be +the colour of his skin: _Quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses._ +Let the negro be discharged." But this is a digression. + +Peter Russell's Peggy had been giving him uneasiness a few years +previous to the advertisement copied above. She had been absenting +herself without leave. Of this we are apprised in an advertisement dated +York, September 2nd, 1803. It runs as follows: "The subscriber's black +servant Peggy, not having his permission to absent herself from his +service, the public are hereby cautioned from employing or harbouring +her without the owner's leave. Whoever will do so after this notice may +expect to be treated as the law directs. Peter Russell." + +In the papers published at Niagara advertisements similar to those just +given are to be seen. In the Niagara _Herald_ of January 2nd, 1802, we +have, "For sale: A negro man slave, 18 years of age, stout and healthy; +has had the small pox and is capable of service either in the house or +out-doors. The terms will be made easy to the purchaser, and cash or new +lands received in payment. Enquire of the printer." And again in the +_Herald_ of January 18th: "For sale: the negro man and woman, the +property of Mrs. Widow Clement. They have been bred to the business of a +farm; will be sold on highly advantageous terms for cash or lands. Apply +to Mrs. Clement." + +Cash and lands were plainly beginning to be regarded as less precarious +property than human chattels. In 1797 purchasers, however, were still +advertising. In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of October 11th, in that year, +we read; "Wanted to purchase, a negro girl from seven to twelve years of +age, of good disposition. For fuller particulars apply to the +subscribers, W. and J. Crooks, West Niagara, Oct. 4th." At York, in +1800, the _Gazette_ announces as "to be sold"--"A healthy strong negro +woman, about thirty years of age; understands cooking, laundry and the +taking care of poultry. N.B.--She can dress ladies' hair. Enquire of the +Printers. York, Dec 20, 1800." + +In respect to the following notice some explanation is needed. We +presume the "Indian slave" spoken of must have been only part Indian. +The detention of a native as a slave, if legal, would have been +difficult. Mr. Charles Field, of Niagara, on the 28th of August, 1802, +gave notice in the _Herald_: "All persons are forbidden harbouring, +employing, or concealing my Indian slave Sal, as I am determined to +prosecute any offender to the extremity of the law; and persons who may +suffer her to remain in or upon their premises for the space of +half-an-hour, without my written consent, will be taken as offending, +and dealt with accordingly." + +In the early volumes of the _Quebec Gazette_ these slave advertisements +are common. A rough wood-cut of a black figure running frequently +precedes them. It appropriately illustrates the following one: "Run away +from the subscriber on Tuesday, the 25th ult., a negro man, named +Drummond, near six feet high, walks heavily; had on when he went away a +dark coloured cloth coat and leather breeches. Whoever takes up and +secures the said negro, so that his master may have him again, shall +have Four Dollars reward, and all reasonable charges paid by John +McCord. Speaks very bad English and next to no French." Another reads +thus: "To be sold, a healthy Negro Boy, about fifteen years of age, well +qualified to wait on a gentleman as a Body Servant. For further +particulars inquire of the Printers." + +Mr. Sol.-General Gray, lost in the _Speedy_, manumitted by his will, +dated August 27th, 1803, and discharged from the state of slavery in +which, as that document speaks, "she now is," his "faithful black woman +servant, Dorinda," and gave her and her children their freedom; and that +they might not want, directed that L1200 should be invested and the +interest applied to their maintenance. To his black servants, Simon and +John Baker, he gave, besides their freedom, 200 acres of land each, and +pecuniary legacies. The Simon here named went down with his master in +the _Speedy_; but John long survived. He used to state that his mother +Dorinda, was a native of Guinea, and to describe Governor Hunter as a +rough old warrior, who carried snuff in an outside pocket, whence he +took it in handfuls, to the great disfigurement of his ruffled +shirt-bosoms. His death was announced in the public papers by telegram +from Cornwall, Ontario, bearing date January 17, 1871. "A coloured man," +it said, "named John Baker, who attained his 105th year on the 25th +ult., died here to-day. He came here as a chattel of the late Colonel +Gray, in 1792, having seen service in the Revolutionary war. +Subsequently he served throughout the war of 1812. He was wounded at +Lundy's Lane, and has drawn a pension for fifty-seven years." Mr. Gray, +it may be added, was a native of our Canadian town of Cornwall. His +place of abode in York was in what is now Wellington Street, on the lot +immediately to the west of the old "Council Chamber" (subsequently the +residence of Chief Justice Draper.) + +We ourselves, we remember, used to gaze, in former days, with some +curiosity at the pure negress, Amy Pompadour, here in York, knowing that +she had once been legally made a present of by Miss Elizabeth Russell to +Mrs. Captain Denison. + +But enough of the subject of Canadian slavery, to which we have been +inadvertently led. + +The old Court House, when abandoned by the law authorities for the new +buildings on King Street, was afterwards occasionally employed for +religious purposes. By an advertisement in the _Advocate_, in March, +1834, we learn that the adherents of David Willson, of Whitchurch, +sometimes made use of it. It is there announced that "the Children of +Peace will hold Worship in the Old Court House of York, on Sunday, the +16th instant, at Eleven and Three." Subsequently it became for a time +the House of Industry or Poor House of the town. + +Besides the legal cases tried and the judgments pronounced within the +homely walls of the Old Court House, interest would attach to the +curious scenes--could they be recovered and described--which there +occurred, arising sometimes from the primitive rusticity of juries, and +sometimes from their imperfect mastery of the English language, many of +them being, as the German settlers of Markham and Vaughan were +indiscriminately called, Dutchmen. Peter Ernest, appearing in court with +the verdict of a jury of which he was foreman, began to preface the same +with a number of peculiar German-English expressions which moved Chief +Justice Powell to cut him short by the remark that he would have to +commit him if he swore:--when Ernest observed that the perplexities +through which he and the jury had been endeavouring to find their way, +were enough to make better men than they were express themselves in an +unusual way.--The verdict, pure and simple, was demanded. Ernest then +announced that the verdict which he had to deliver was, that half of the +jury were for "guilty" and half for "not guilty." That is, the Judge +observed, you would have the prisoner half-hanged, or the half of him +hanged. To which Peter replied, that would be as his Lordship +pleased.--It was a case of homicide. Being sent back, they agreed to +acquit. + +Odd passages, too, between pertinacious counsel and nettled judges +sometimes occurred, as when Mr. H. J. Boulton, fresh from the Inner +Temple, sat down at the peremptory order of the Chief Justice, but +added, "I will sit down, my Lord, but I shall instantly stand up again." + +Chief Justice Powell, when on the Bench, had a humorous way +occasionally, of indicating by a kind of quiet by-play, by a gentle +shake of the head, a series of little nods, or movements of the eye or +eyebrow, his estimate of an outre hypothesis or an ad captandum +argument. This was now and then disconcerting to advocates anxious to +figure, for the moment, in the eyes of a simple-minded jury, as oracles +of extra authority. + +Nights, likewise, there would be to be described, passed by juries in +the diminutive jury-room, either through perplexity fairly arising out +of the evidence, or through the dogged obstinacy of an individual. + +Once, as we have heard from a sufferer on the occasion, Colonel Duggan +was the means of keeping a jury locked up for a night here, he being the +sole dissentient on a particular point. That night, however, was +converted into one of memorable festivity, our informant said, a +tolerable supply of provisions and comforts having been conveyed in +through the window, sent for from the homes of those of the jury who +were residents of York. The recusant Colonel was refused a moment's rest +throughout the live-long night. During twelve long hours pranks and +sounds were indulged in that would have puzzled a foreigner taking +notes of Canadian Court House usages. + +When 10 o'clock a.m. of the next day arrived, and the Court +re-assembled, Colonel Duggan suddenly and obligingly effected the +release of himself and his tormentors by consenting to make the +necessary modification in his opinion. + +Of one characteristic scene we have a record in the books of the Court +itself. On the 12th of January, 1813, as a duly impanelled jury were +retiring to their room to consider of their verdict, a remark was +addressed to one of their number, namely, Samuel Jackson, by a certain +Simeon Morton, who had been a witness for the defence: the remark, as +the record notes, was in these words, to wit, "Mind your eye!" to which +the said Jackson replied "Never fear!" The Crier of the Court, John +Bazell, duly made affidavit of this illicit transaction. Accordingly, on +the appearance in court of the jury, for the purpose of rendering their +verdict, Mr. Baldwin, attorney for the prosecution, moved that the said +Jackson be taken into custody: and the Judge gave order "that Samuel +Jackson do immediately enter into recognizances, himself in L50, and two +sureties in L25 each, for his appearance on the Saturday following at +the Office of the Clerk of the Peace, which," as the record somewhat +inelegantly adds, "he done." He duly appeared on the Saturday indicated, +and, pleading ignorance, was discharged. + +In the Court House in 1822 was tried a curious case in respect of a +horse claimed by two parties, Major Heward, of York, and General +Wadsworth, commandant of the United States Garrison at Fort Niagara. +Major Heward had reared a sorrel colt on his farm east of the Don; and +when it was three years old it was stolen. Nothing came of the offer of +reward for its recovery until a twelvemonth after the theft, when a +young horse was brought by a stranger to Major Heward, at York, and +instantly recognized by him as his lost property. Some of the major's +neighbours likewise had no doubt of the identity of the animal, which, +moreover, when taken to the farm entered of his own accord the stable, +and the stall, the missing colt used to occupy, and, when let out into +the adjoining pasture, greeted in a friendly way a former mate, and ran +to drink at the customary watering place. Shortly after, two citizens of +the United States, Kelsey and Bond, make their appearance at York and +claim the horse which they find on Major Heward's farm, as the property +of General Wadsworth, commandant at Fort Niagara. Kelsey swore that he +had reared the animal; that he had docked him with his own hands when +only a few hours old; and that he had sold him about a year ago to +General Wadsworth. Bond also swore positively that this was the horse +which Kelsey had reared, and that he himself had broken him in, prior to +the sale to General Wadsworth. It was alleged by these persons that a +man named Docksteader had stolen the horse from General Wadsworth at +Fort Niagara and had conveyed him across to the Canadian side. + +In consequence of the positive evidence of these two men the jury gave +their verdict in favour of General Wadsworth's claim, with damages to +the amount of L50. It was nevertheless generally held that Kelsey and +Bond's minute narrative of the colt's early history was a fiction; and +that Docksteader, the man who transferred the animal from the United +States side of the river to Canadian soil, had also had something to do +with the transfer of the same animal from Canada to the United States a +twelvemonth previously. + +The subject of this story survived to the year 1851, and was recognized +and known among all old inhabitants as "Major Heward's famous horse +Toby." + +Within the Court House on Richmond Street took place in 1818 the +celebrated trial of a number of prisoners brought down from the Red +River Settlement on charges of "high treason, murder, robbery, and +conspiracy," as preferred against them by Lord Selkirk, the founder of +the Settlement. When our neighbourhood was itself in fact nothing more +than a collection of small isolated clearings, rough-hewn out of the +wild, "the Selkirk Settlement" and the "North West" were household terms +among us for remote regions in a condition of infinite savagery, in +comparison with which we, as we prided ourselves, were denizens of a +paradise of high refinement and civilization. Now that the Red River +district has attained the dignity of a province and become a member of +our Canadian Confederation, the trial referred to, arising out of the +very birth-throes of Manitoba, has acquired a fresh interest. + +The Earl of Selkirk, the fifth of that title, was a nobleman of +enlightened and cultivated mind. He was the author of several literary +productions esteemed in their day; amongst them, of a treatise on +Emigration, which is spoken of by contemporaries as an exhaustive, +standard work on the subject. For practically testing his theories, +however, Lord Selkirk appears to have desired a field exclusively his +own. Instead of directing his fellow-countrymen to one or other of the +numerous prosperous settlements already in process of formation at +easily accessible and very eligible spots along the St. Lawrence and the +Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron, he induced a considerable body of them to +find their way to a point in the far interior of our northern continent, +where civilization had as yet made no sensible inroad; to a locality so +situated that if a colony could contrive to subsist there, it must +apparently of necessity remain for a very long period dismally isolated. +In 1803, Bishop Macdonell asked him, what could have induced a man of +his high rank and great fortune, possessing the esteem and confidence of +the Government and of every public man in Britain, to embark in an +enterprise so romantic; and the reply given was, that, in his opinion, +the situation of Great Britain, and indeed of all Europe, was at that +moment so very critical and eventful, that a man would like to have a +more solid footing to stand upon, than anything that Europe could offer. +The tract of land secured by Lord Selkirk for emigration purposes was a +part of the territory held by the Hudson's Bay Company, and was +approached from Europe not so readily by the St. Lawrence route as by +Hudson's Strait and Hudson's Bay. The site of the actual settlement was +half-a-mile north of the confluence of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers, +streams that unitedly flow northward into Lake Winnipeg, which +communicates directly at its northern extremity with Nelson River, whose +outlet is at Port Nelson or Fort York on Hudson's Bay. The population of +the Settlement in the beginning of 1813 was 100. Mr. Miles Macdonell, +formerly a captain in the Queen's Rangers, appointed by the Hudson's Bay +Company first Governor of the District of Assiniboia, was made by the +Earl of Selkirk superintendent of affairs at Kildonan. The rising +village was called Kildonan, from the name of the parish in the county +of Sutherland whence the majority of the settlers had emigrated. + +The Montreal North West Company of Fur Traders was a rival of the +Hudson's Bay Company. Whilst the latter traded for the most part in the +regions watered by the rivers flowing into Hudson's Bay, the former +claimed for their operations the area drained by the streams running +into Lake Superior. + +The North West Company of Montreal looked with no kindly eye on the +settlement of Kildonan. An agricultural colony, in close proximity to +their hunting grounds, seemed a dangerous innovation, tending to injure +the local fur trade. Accordingly it was resolved to break up the infant +colony. The Indians were told that they would assuredly be made "poor +and miserable" by the new-comers if they were allowed to proceed with +their improvements; because these would cause the buffalo to disappear. +The colonists themselves were informed of the better prospects open to +them in the Canadian settlements and were promised pecuniary help if +they would decide to move. At the same time, the peril to which they +were exposed from the alleged ill-will of the Indians was enlarged upon. +Moreover, attacks with fire-arms were made on the houses of the +colonists, and acts of pillage committed. The result was that in 1815, +the inhabitants of Kildonan dispersed, proceeding, some of them, in the +direction of Canada, and some of them northwards, purposing to make +their way to Port Nelson, and to find, if possible, a conveyance thence +back to the shores of old Scotland. Those, however, who took the +northern route proceeded only as far as the northern end of Lake +Winnipeg, establishing themselves for a time at Jack River House. They +were then induced to return to their former settlement, by Mr. Colin +Robertson, an agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, who assured them that a +number of Highlanders were coming, via Hudson's Bay, to take up land at +Kildonan. This proved to be the fact; and, in 1816, the revived colony +consisted of more than 200 persons. On annoyance being offered to the +settlement by the North West Company's agent, Mr. Duncan Cameron, who +occupied a post called Fort Gibraltar, about half a mile off, Mr. Colin +Robertson, with the aid of his Highlandmen, seized that establishment, +and recovered two field-pieces and thirty stand of arms that had been +taken from Kildonan the preceding year. Cameron himself was also made a +prisoner. (Miles Macdonell, Governor of Assiniboia, had been captured by +the said Cameron in the preceding year, and sent to Montreal.) A strong +feeling was aroused among the half-breeds, far and near, who were in the +interest of the North West Company. In the spring of 1816, Mr. Semple, +the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, appeared in person at the Red +River, having been apprized of the growing troubles. During an angry +conference on the 18th of June, with a band of seventy men, headed by +Cuthbert, Grant, Lacerte, Fraser, Hoole, and Thomas McKay, half-breed +employes of the North West Company, he was violently assaulted; and in +the melee he was killed, together with five of his officers and sixteen +of his people. Out of these events sprang the memorable trials that took +place in the York Court House in 1818. + +The Earl of Selkirk being desirous of witnessing the progress made by +his emigrants at Red River, paid a visit to this continent in the autumn +of 1815. On arriving at New York he heard of the dispersion at Kildonan, +and the destruction of property there. He proceeded at once to Montreal +and York to consult with the authorities. The news next reached him that +his colony had been re-established, at least partially. He immediately +despatched a trusty messenger, one Lagimoniere, with assurances that he +himself would speedily be with them, bringing proper means of +protection. But Lagimoniere was waylaid and never reached his +destination. + +It happened, about this time, in consequence of the peace just +established with the United States, that the De Meuron, Watteville and +Glengarry Fencible Regiments were disbanded in the country. About eighty +men of the De Meuron, with four of the late officers, twenty of the +Watteville, and a few of the Glengarry, with one of their officers, +agreed to accompany Lord Selkirk to the Red River. On reaching the +Sault, the tidings met the party of the second dispersion of the colony, +and of the slaughter of Governor Semple and his officers. The whole band +at once pushed on to Fort William, where were assembled many of the +partners of the North West Company, with Mr. McGillivray, their +principal Agent. Here were also some of the persons who had been made +prisoners at Kildonan. + +Armed simply with a commission of a Justice of the Peace, Lord Selkirk +then and there, at his encampment opposite Fort William across the +Kaministigoia, issued his warrant for the arrest of Mr. McGillivray. + +It is duly served and Mr. McGillivray submits. Two partners who came +over with him as bail are also instantly arrested. The prisoners had +been previously liberated and information was procured from them. + +Warrants were then issued for the arrest of the remainder of the +partners, who were found in the Fort. Some resistance was now offered. +The gate of the Fort was partially closed by force; but a party of +twenty-five men instantly rushed up from the boats and cleared the way +into the Fort. At the signal of a bugle-call more men came over from +the encampment, and their approach put an end to the struggle. The +arrests were then completed, and the remaining partners were marched +down to the boats. "At the time this resistance to the warrant was +attempted there were," our authority informs us, "about 200 Canadians, +_i. e._, French, in the employment of the Company, in and about the +Fort, together with 60 or 70 Iroquois Indians, also in the Company's +service." + +The Earl of Selkirk was plainly a man not to be trifled with; a chief +who, in the olden time, would have been equal to the roughest emergency. + +The prisoners brought down from Fort William, and after the lapse of +nearly two years placed at the Bar in the Old Court House of York, were +arraigned as follows: "Paul Brown and F. F. Boucher, for the murder of +Robert Semple, Esq., on the 18th of June, 1816; John Siveright, +Alexander McKenzie, Hugh McGillis, John McDonald, John McLaughlin and +Simon Fraser, as accessories to the same crime; Cooper and Bennerman, +for taking, on the third of April, 1815, with force and arms, eight +pieces of cannon and one howitzer, the property of the Right Hon. +Thomas, Earl of Selkirk, from his dwelling house, and putting in bodily +fear of their lives certain persons found therein." The cannons were +further described as being two of them brass field-pieces, two of them +brass swivels, four of them iron swivels.--In each case the verdict was +"not guilty." + +The Judges were Chief Justice Powell, Mr. Justice Campbell, Mr. Justice +Boulton, and Associate Justice W. Allan, Esq. The counsel for the Crown +were Mr. Attorney-General Robinson and Mr. Solicitor-General Boulton. +The counsel for the prisoners were Samuel Sherwood, Livius P. Sherwood, +and W. W. Baldwin, Esq. + +The juries in the three trials were not quite identical. Those that +served on one or other of them are as follows:--George Bond, Joseph +Harrison, Wm. Harrison, Joseph Shepperd, Peter Lawrence, Joshua Leach, +John McDougall, jun., Wm. Moore, Alexander Montgomery, Peter Whitney, +Jonathan Hale, Michael Whitmore, Harbour Stimpson, John Wilson, John +Hough, Richard Herring. + +The Earl of Selkirk was not present at the trials. He had proceeded to +New York, on his way to Great Britain. He probably anticipated the +verdicts that were rendered. The North-West Company influence in Upper +and Lower Canada was very strong. + +At a subsequent Court of Oyer and Terminer held at York, a true bill +against the Earl and nineteen others was found by the Grand Jury, for +"conspiracy to ruin the trade of the North-West Company." Mr. Wm. Smith, +Under-Sheriff of the Western District, obtained a verdict of L500 +damages for having been seized and confined by the said Earl when +endeavouring to serve a warrant on him in Fort William; and Daniel +McKenzie, a retired partner of the North-West Company, obtained a +verdict of L1,500 damages for alleged false imprisonment by the Earl in +the same Fort.--Two years later, namely, in 1820, Lord Selkirk died at +Pau, in the South of France. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXI. + + QUEEN STREET--FROM YONGE STREET TO COLLEGE AVENUE.--DIGRESSION SOUTHWARD + AT BAY STREET; OSGOODE HALL; DIGRESSION NORTHWARD AT THE AVENUE. + + +Leaving now the site of our ancient Court House, the spot at which we +arrive in our tour is one of very peculiar interest. It is the +intersection at right angles of the two great military ways carved out +through the primitive forest of Western Canada by order of its first +Governor. Dundas Street and Yonge Street were laid down in the first MS. +maps of the country as highways destined to traverse the land in all +future time, as nearly as practicable in right lines, the one from east +to west, the other from south to north. They were denominated "streets," +because their idea was taken from the famous ancient ways, still in +several instances called "streets," which the Romans, when masters of +primitive Britain, constructed for military purposes. To this day it is +no unpleasant occupation for the visitor who has leisure, to track out +the lines of these ancient roads across England. We ourselves once made +a pilgrimage expressly for the purpose of viewing the intersection of +Iknield Street and Watling Street, in the centre of Dunstable, and from +our actual knowledge of what Canada was when its Yonge Street and Dundas +Street were first hewn out, we realized all the more vividly the +condition of central England when the Roman road-makers first began +their work there. + +Dundas Street has its name from the Right Hon. Henry Dundas, Secretary +of State for the Colonies in 1794. In that year Governor Simcoe wrote as +follows to Mr. Dundas:--"Dundas Street, the road proposed from +Burlington Bay to the River Thames, half of which is completed, will +connect by an internal communication the Detroit and settlements at +Niagara. It is intended," he says, "to be extended northerly to York by +the troops, and in process of time by the respective settlers to +Kingston and Montreal." In another despatch to the same statesman he +says:--"I have directed the surveyor, early in the next spring to +ascertain the precise distance of the several routes which I have done +myself the honour of detailing to you, and hope to complete the Military +Street or Road the ensuing autumn." In a MS. map of about the same date +Dundas Street is laid down from Detroit to the Pointe au Bodet, the +terminus on the St. Lawrence of the old boundary line between Upper and +Lower Canada. From the Rouge River it is sketched as running somewhat +further back than the line of the present Kingston Road; and after +leaving Kingston it is drawn as though it was expected to follow the +water-shed between the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence. A road is sketched, +running from the Pointe au Bodet to the Ottawa, and this Road is struck +at an acute angle by Dundas Street. + +A manuscript note appears on the map, "The Dundas Street is laid out +from Oxford to the Bay of Quinte; it is nearly finished from Oxford to +Burlington Bay." + +In 1799 the _Constellation_, a paper published at Niagara, informs its +readers, under the date of Friday, August 2nd, in that year, that "the +wilderness from York to the Bay of Quinte is 120 miles; a road of this +distance through it," it then says, "is contracted out by Government to +Mr. Danforth, to be cut and completed by the first of July next; and +which, when completed, will open a communication round the Lake by land +from this town [Niagara] with the Bay, Kingston, &c. Hitherto," the +_Constellation_ continues, "in the season of winter our intercourse with +that part of the province has been almost totally interrupted. Mr. +Danforth has already made forty miles of excellent road," the editor +encourages his patrons by observing, "and procured men to the number +sufficient for doing the whole extent by the setting in of winter. It +would be desirable also," Mr. Tiffany suggests, "were a little labour +expended in bridging the streams between Burlington Bay and York; indeed +the whole country," it is sweepingly declared, "affords room for +amendment in this respect." + +It is plain from this extract that if the men of the present generation +would have a just conception of what was the condition of the region +round Lake Ontario seventy years ago, they must pay a visit to the head +of Lake Superior and perform the journey by the Dawson road and the rest +of the newly-opened route from Fort William to Winnipeg. + +The _Gazette_ of December 14, 1799, was able to speak approvingly of the +road to the eastward. "The road from this town (York) to the Midland +District is," it says, "completed as far as the Township of Hope, about +sixty miles, so that sleighs, waggons, &c., may travel it with safety. +The report which has been made to the Government by the gentlemen +appointed to inspect the work is," the _Gazette_ then proceeds to say, +"highly favourable to Mr. Danforth, the undertaker; and less +imperfections could not be pointed out in so extensive a work. The +remaining part," it is added, "will be accomplished by the first of July +next." The road to which these various extracts refer, is still known as +the Danforth Road. It runs somewhat to the north of the present Kingston +Road, entering it by the town line at the "Four Mile Tree." + +Yonge Street, which we purpose duly to perambulate hereafter, has its +name from Sir George Yonge, a member of the Imperial Government in the +reign of George III. He was of a distinguished Devonshire family, and a +personal friend of Governor Simcoe's. + +The first grantee of the park-lot which we next pass in our progress +westward was Dr. Macaulay, an army surgeon attached successively to the +33rd Regiment and the famous Queen's Rangers. His sons, Sir James +Macaulay, first Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and Colonel John +Simcoe Macaulay, a distinguished officer of Engineers, are well +remembered. Those who have personal recollections of Dr. Macaulay speak +of him in terms of great respect. The southern portion of this property +was at an early period laid out in streets and small lots. The +collection of houses that here began to spring up was known as Macaulay +Town, and was long considered as bearing the relation to York that +Yorkville does to Toronto now. So late as 1833 Walton, in his Street +Guide and Register, speaks of Macaulay Town as extending from Yonge +Street to Osgoode Hall. + +James Street retains the Christian name of Dr. Macaulay. Teraulay Street +led up to the site of his residence, Teraulay Cottage, which after +having been moved from its original position in connection with the +laying out of Trinity Square off Yonge Street, was destroyed by fire in +1848. The northern portion of Macaulay Town was bounded by Macaulay +Lane, described by Walton as "fronting the fields." This is Louisa +Street. + +Of the memorable possessor of the property on the south side of Queen +Street, opposite Macaulay Town, Mr. Jesse Ketchum, we shall have +occasion to speak hereafter, when we pass his place of abode in our +proposed journey through Yonge Street. The existing Free Kirk place of +worship, known as Knox Church, stands on land given by Mr. Ketchum, and +on a site previously occupied by a long oblong red brick chapel which +looked towards what is now Richmond Street, and in which a son-in-law of +his, Mr. Harris, officiated to a congregation of United Synod +Presbyterians. The donor was probably unconscious of the remarkable +excellence of this particular position as a site for a conspicuous +architectural object. The spire that towers up from this now central +spot is seen with peculiarly good effect as one approaches Toronto by +the thoroughfare of Queen Street whether from the east or from the west. + + _Digression Southward at Bay Street._ + +Old inhabitants say that Bay Street, where we are now arrived, was at +the first in fact "Bear Street," and that it was popularly so called +from a noted chase given to a bear out of the adjoining wood on the +north, which, to escape from its pursuers, made for the water along this +route. Mr. Justice Boulton's two horses, Bonaparte and Jefferson, were +once seen, we are told, to attack a monster of this species that +intruded on their pasture on the Grange property a little to the west. +They are described as plunging at the animal with their fore feet. In +1809, a straggler from the forest of the same species was killed in +George Street by Lieut. Fawcett, of the 100th regiment, who cleft the +creature's head open with his sword. This Lieut. Fawcett was afterwards +Lieut.-Col. of the 100th, and was severely wounded in the war of 1812. + +Bay street, as we pass it, recalls one of the early breweries of York. +We have already in another place briefly spoken of Shaw's and Hugill's. +At the second north-west corner southward, beer of good repute in the +town and neighbourhood was manufactured by Mr. John Doel up to 1847, +when his brewery was accidentally burnt. Mr. Doel's name is associated +with the early post-office traditions of York. For a number of years he +undertook and faithfully accomplished the delivery with his own hands of +all the correspondence of the place that was in those days thus +distributed. His presence at a door in the olden time was often a matter +of considerable interest. + +In the local commotions of 1837, Mr. Doel ventured in an humble way to +give aid and comfort to the promoters of what proved to be a small +revolution. We cannot at this hour affirm that there was anything to his +discredit in this. He acted, no doubt, in accordance with certain honest +instincts. Men of his class and stamp, shrewd in their ideas and sturdy +against encroachments, civil and religious, abound in old Somersetshire +where he first drew breath. His supposed presumption in having opinions +on public questions induced the satirists of the non-progressive side to +mention him occasionally in their philippics and pasquinades. His name +has thus become associated in the narrative of Upper Canadian affairs +with those of the actual chiefs of the party of reform. In 1827, Robert +Randal, M.P., was despatched to London as a delegate on the part of the +so-called "Aliens" or unnaturalized British subjects of United States +origin. A series of burlesque nominations, supposed to be suggested by +Randal to the Colonial Secretary, appeared at this time, emanating of +course from the friends of the officials of the day. We give the +document. It will be seen that Mr. Doel is set down in it for the +Postmaster-Generalship. The other persons mentioned will be all readily +recalled. + +"Nominations to be dictated by the Constitutional Meeting, on Saturday +next, in the petition for the redress of grievances to be forwarded to +London by Ambassador Randal. Barnabas Bidwell--President of Upper +Canada--with an extra annual allowance for a jaunt, for the benefit of +his health, to his native State of Massachusetts. W. W. Baldwin--Chief +Justice and Surgeon-General to the Militia Forces--with 1,000,000 acres +of land for past services, he and his family having been most shamefully +treated in having grants of land withheld from them heretofore. John +Rolph--Attorney-General, and Paymaster-General to the Militia--with +500,000 acres of land for his former accounts as District Paymaster, +faithfully rendered. Marshall S. Bidwell--Solicitor-General--with an +annual allowance of as much as he may be pleased to ask for, rendering +no account--for the purpose of 'encouraging emigration from the United +States,' and a contingent account if he shall find it convenient to +accompany the President to Massachusetts. The Puisne Judges--to be +chosen by ballot in the Market Square, on the 4th of July in each and +every year, subject to the approval of W. W. B., the Chief Justice. +Their salaries to be settled when going out of office. Jesse Ketchum, +Jos. Sheppard, Dr. Stoyell, and A. Burnside--Executive and Legislative +Councillors. Joint Secretaries--William Lyon McKenzie and Francis +Collins, with all the printing. John Carey--Assistant Secretary, with as +much of the printing as the Joint Secretaries may be pleased to allow +him. Moses Fish--Inspector of Public Buildings and Fortifications. J. S. +Baldwin--Contractor-General to the Province, with a monopoly of the +trade. T. D. Morrison--Surveyor-General and Inspector of Hospitals. +Little Doel--Postmaster-General. Peter Perry--Chancellor of the +Exchequer and Receiver-General. The above persons being thus amply +provided for, their friends, alias their stepping stones," the document +just quoted proceeds to state, "may shift for themselves; an +opportunity, however, will be offered them for 'doing a little business' +by disposing of all other public offices to the lowest bidder, from whom +neither talent nor security will be required for the performance of +their duties. Tenders received at Russell Square, Front Street, York. +The Magistracy, being of no consequence, is to be left for after +consideration. The Militia, at the particular request of Paul Peterson, +[M.P. for Prince Edward,] to be done away altogether; and the roads to +take care of themselves. The Welland Canal to be stopped immediately, +and Colonel By to be recalled from the Rideau Canal. N.B. Any +suggestions for further _improvements_ will be thankfully received at +Russell Square, as above."--(The humour of all this can of course be +only locally understood.) + +Mr. Doel arrived in York in 1818, occupying a month in the journey from +Philadelphia to Oswego, and a week in that from Oswego to Niagara, being +obliged from stress of weather to put in at Sodus Bay. At Niagara he +waited three days for a passage to York. He and his venerable helpmeet +were surviving in 1870, at the ages respectively, of 80 and 82.--Not +without reason, as the event proved, they lived for many years in a +state of apprehension in regard to the stability of the lofty spire of a +place of worship close to their residence. In 1862, that spire actually +fell, eastward as it happened, and not westward, doing considerable +damage. Mr. Doel died in 1871. + +By the name of the short street passing from Adelaide Street to Richmond +Street, a few chains to the west of Mr. Doel's corner, we are reminded +of Harvey Shepard, a famous worker in iron of the former time, whose +imprint on axe, broad axe or adze, was a guarantee to the practical +backwoodsman of its temper and serviceable quality. Harvey Shepard's axe +factory was on the west side of this short street. Before his +establishment here he worked in a smithy of the customary village type, +on King Street, on the property of Jordan Post. Like Jordan Post +himself, Harvey Shepard was of the old fashioned New England mould, +elongated and wiry. After a brief suspension of business, a placard hung +up in the country inns characteristically announced to his friends and +the public that he had resumed his former occupation and that he would, +"by the aid of Divine Providence," undertake to turn out as good axes as +any that he had ever made; which acknowledgement of the source of his +skill is commendable surely, if unusual. So also, there is no one who +will refuse to applaud an epigrammatic observation of his, when +responding to an appeal of charity. "Though dealing usually in iron +only, I keep," he said, "a little stock of silver and gold for such a +call as this." The factory on Shepard Street was afterwards worked by +Mr. J. Armstrong, and subsequently by Mr. Thomas Champion, formerly of +Sheffield, who, in 1838, advertised that he had "a large stock of +Champion's warranted cast steel axes, made at the factory originally +built by the late Harvey Shepard, and afterwards occupied by John +Armstrong. As Shepard's and Armstrong's axes have been decidedly +preferred before any others in the Province," the advertisement +continues, "it is only necessary to state that Champion's are made by +the same workmen, and from the very best material, to ensure for them +the same continued preference."--We now return from our digression +southward at Bay Street. + +Chief Justice Elmsley was the first possessor of the hundred acres +westward of the Macaulay lot. He effected, however, a certain exchange +with Dr. Macaulay. Preferring land that lay higher, he gave the southern +half of his lot for the northern half of his neighbour's, the latter at +the same time discerning, as is probable, the prospective greater value +of a long frontage on one of the highways into the town. Of Mr. Elmsley, +we have had occasion to speak in our perambulation of King Street in +connection with Government House, which in its primitive state was his +family residence; and in our progress through Yonge Street hereafter we +shall again have to refer to him. In 1802 he was promoted from a Puisne +Judgeship in Upper Canada to the Chief Justiceship of Lower Canada. + +The park-lot which follows was originally secured by one who has +singularly vanished out of the early traditions of York--the Rev. T. +Raddish. His name is inscribed on this property in the first plan, and +also on part of what is now the south-east portion of the +Government-house grounds. He emigrated to these parts under the express +auspices of the first Lieutenant-Governor, and was expected by him to +take a position of influence in the young colony of Upper Canada. But, +habituated to the amenities and conveniencies of an old community, he +speedily discovered either that an entirely new society was not suited +to him or that he himself did not dovetail well into it. He appears to +have remained in the country only just long enough to acquire for +himself and heirs the fee simple of a good many acres of its virgin +soil. In 1826 the southern portion of Mr. Raddish's park-lot became the +property of Sir John Robinson, at the time Attorney General.--The site +of Osgoode Hall, six acres, was, as we have been assured, the generous +gift of Sir John Robinson to the Law Society, and the name which the +building bears was his suggestion. + + _Osgoode Hall_. + +The east wing of the existing edifice was the original Osgoode Hall, +erected under the eye of Dr. W. W. Baldwin, at the time Treasurer of the +Society. It was a plain square matter-of-fact brick building two storeys +and a half in height. In 1844-46 a corresponding structure was erected +to the west, and the two were united by a building between, surmounted +by a low dome. In 1857-60 the whole edifice underwent a renovation; the +dome was removed; a very handsome facade of cut stone was put up; the +inner area, all constructed of Caen stone, reminding one of the interior +of a Genoese or Roman Palace, was added, with the Court Rooms, Library +and other appurtenances, on a scale of dignity and in a style of +architectural beauty surpassed only by the new Law Courts in London. The +pediment of each wing, sustained aloft on fluted Ionic columns, seen on +a fine day against the pure azure of a northern sky, is something +enjoyable. + +Great expense has been lavished by the Benchers on this Canadian _Palais +de Justice_; but the effect of such a pile, kept in its every nook and +corner and in all its surroundings in scrupulous order, is invaluable, +tending to refine and elevate each successive generation of our young +candidates for the legal profession, and helping to inspire amongst them +a salutary esprit de corps. + +The Library, too, here to be seen, noble in its dimensions and aspect, +must, even independently of its contents, tend to create a love of legal +study and research. + +The Law Society of Osgoode Hall was incorporated in 1822. The Seal bears +a Pillar on which is a beaver holding a Scroll inscribed Magna Charta. +To the right and left are figures of Justice and Strength (Hercules.) + +An incident associated in modern times with Osgoode Hall is the +Entertainment given there to the Prince of Wales during his visit to +Canada in 1860, on which occasion, at night, all the architectural lines +of the exterior of the building were brilliantly marked out by rows of +minute gas-jets. + +Here, too, were held the impressive funeral obsequies of Sir John +Robinson, the distinguished Chief Justice of Upper Canada, in 1862. In +the Library is a large painting of him in oil, in which his finely cut +Reginald Heber features are well delineated. Sayer Street, passing +northward on the east side of Osgoode Hall, was so named by Chief +Justice Robinson, in honour of his mother. In 1870 the name was changed, +probably without reflection and certainly without any sufficient cause. + +The series of paintings begun in Osgoode Hall, conservative to future +ages of the outward presentment of our Chief Justices, Chancellors and +Judges, is very interesting. All of them, we believe, are by Berthon, of +Toronto. No portrait of Chief Justice Osgoode, however, is at present +here to be seen. The engraving contained in this volume is from an +original in the possession of Capt. J. K. Simcoe, R. N., of Wolford, in +the County of Devon. + +After filling the office of Chief Justice in Upper Canada, Mr. Osgoode +was removed to the same high position in Lower Canada. He resigned in +1801 and returned to England. Among the deaths in the _Canadian Review_ +of July, 1824, his is recorded in the following terms:--"At his Chambers +in the Albany, London, on the 17th of February last, Wm. Osgoode, Esq., +formerly Chief Justice of Canada, aged 70. By the death of this +gentleman," it is added, "his pension of L800 sterling paid by this +Province now ceases." It is said of him, "no person admitted to his +intimacy ever failed to conceive for him that esteem which his conduct +and conversation always tended to augment." Garneau, in his History of +Canada, iii., 117, without giving his authority, says that he was an +illegitimate son of George III. Similar tattle has been rife from time +to time in relation to other personages in Canada. + +A popular designation of Osgoode Hall long in vogue was "Lawyers' Hall:" + + "Farewell, Toronto, of great glory, + Of valour, too, in modern story; + Farewell to Courts, to Lawyers' Hall, + The Justice seats, both great and small: + Farewell Attorneys, Special Pleaders, + Equity Draftsmen, and their Readers. + Canadian Laws, and Suits, to song + Of future Bard, henceforth belong." + +Thus closed a curious production in rhyme entitled _Curiae Canadenses_, +published anonymously in 1843, but written by Mr. John Rumsey, an +English barrister, sometime domiciled here. In one place is described +the migration of the Court of Chancery back from Kingston, whither it +was for a brief interval removed, when Upper and Lower Canada were +re-united. The minstrel says: + + "Dreary and sad was Frontenac: + Thy duke ne'er made a clearer sack, + Than when the edict to be gone + Issued from the Vice-regal Throne. + _Exeunt omnes_ helter skelter + To Little York again for shelter: + Little no longer: York the New + Of imports such can boast but few: + A goodly freight, without all brag, + When comes 'mongst others, Master Spragge. + And skilful Turner, versed in pleading, + The Kingston exiles gently leading." + +To the last three lines the following note is appended:-- + + "J. G. Spragge, Esq., the present very highly esteemed and + respected Master of the Court of Chancery; R. T. Turner, Esq., a + skilful Equity Draftsman and Solicitor in Chancery. See + _Journals of House of Assembly, 1841_." + +The notes to _Curiae Canadenses_ teem with interesting matter relating to +the laws, courts, terms, districts and early history, legal and general, +of Lower as well as Upper Canada. A copious table of contents renders +the volume quite valuable for reference. The author must have been an +experienced compiler, analyst and legal index maker. In the text of the +work, Christopher Anstey's poetical "Pleader's Guide" is taken as a +model. As a motto to the portion of his poem that treats of Upper Canada +he places the line of Virgil, "_Gensque virum truncis et duro robore +nata_," which may be a compliment or not. The title in full of Mr. +Rumsey's brochure, which consists of only 127 octavo pages, is as +follows:--"Curiae Canadenses; or, The Canadian Law Courts: being a Poem, +describing the several Courts of Law and Equity which have been erected +from time to time in the Canadas; with copious notes, explanatory and +historical, and an Appendix of much useful Matter. Itur in antiquam +sylvam, stabula alta ferarum; Procumbunt piceae, sonat icta securibus +ilex, Fraxineaeque trabes: cuneis et fissile robur Scinditur: advolvunt +ingentes montibus ornos.--_Virgil._ By Plinius Secundus. Toronto: H. and +W. Rowsell, King Street, 1843." The typography and paper are admirable. +The _Curiae_, in a jacket of fair calf, should be given a place on the +shelves of our Canadian law libraries. + +We pause for a moment at York Street, opposite the east wing of Osgoode +Hall. + +It rather puzzles one to conceive why York Street received its name. If +a commemoration of the Duke of York of sixty years since was designed, +the name of the whole town was that sufficiently already. Frederick +Street, besides, recorded his specific Christian name, and Duke Street +his rank and title. Although interesting now as a memento of a name +borne of old by Toronto, York Street, when Toronto was York, might well +have been otherwise designated, it seeming somewhat irrational for any +particular thoroughfare in a town to be distinguished by the name of +that town.--A certain poverty of invention in regard to street names has +in other instances been evinced amongst us. Victoria Street, for +example, was for a time called Upper George Street, to distinguish it +from George Street proper, so named from George, Prince of Wales, the +notable Prince Regent. It is curious that no other name but George +should have been suggested for the second street; especially, too, as +that street might have been so fittingly named Toronto Street, as being +situated within a few feet of the line of the original thoroughfare of +that name which figures so largely in the early descriptions of +York.--If in "York Street" a compliment had been intended to Charles +Yorke, Secretary at War in 1802, the orthography would have been "Yorke +Street." + +After all, however, the name "York Street" may have arisen from the +circumstance that, at an early period, this was for teams on their way +to York, the beaten track, suddenly turning off here to the south out of +Dundas or Lot Street, the line of road which, if followed, would have +taken the traveller to Kingston. + +The street on the west of the grounds of Osgoode Hall is now known as +University Street. By the donor to the public of the land occupied by +the street, it was designated Park Lane--not without due consideration, +as is likely. In London there is a famous and very distinguished Park +Lane. It leads from Oxford Street to Piccadilly, and skirts the whole of +the east side of Hyde Park. The position of what was our Park Lane is +somewhat analogous, it being open along its whole length on the left to +the plantations of an ornamental piece of ground. Unmeddled with, our +Park Lane would have suggested from time to time in the mind of the +ruminating wayfarer pleasant thoughts of a noble and interesting part of +the great home metropolis. The change to University Street was +altogether uncalled for. It ignored the adjoining "College Avenue," the +name of which showed that a generally-recognized "University Street" +existed already: it gave, moreover, a name which is pretentious, the +roadway indicated being comparatively narrow. + +Of the street on the east side of the grounds of Osgoode Hall we have +already spoken. But in connection with the question of changes in street +names, we must here again refer to it. In this case the name "Sayer" has +been made to give place to "Chestnut." "Elm Street," which intersects +this street to the north, probably in some vague way suggested a tree +name. "Elm Street," however, had a reason for its existence. Many +persons still remember a solitary Elm, a relic of the forest, which was +long conspicuous just where Elm Street enters Yonge Street. And there is +a fitness likewise in the names of Pine Street and Sumach Street, in the +east; these streets, passing through a region where pines and sumachs +once abounded. But the modern Chestnut Street has nothing about it in +the past or present associated with chestnut trees of any kind. The +name "Sayer" should have been respected. + +It is unfortunate when persons, apparently without serious retrospective +thought, have a momentary chance to make changes in local names. +Chancery might well be invoked to undo in some instances what has been +done, and to prohibit like inconsiderate proceedings in the future. +Equity would surely say that a citizen's private right should be +sustained, so long as it worked no harm to the community; and that +perplexity in the registration and description of property should not +needlessly be created. + +Although we shall forestall ourselves a little, we may here notice one +more alteration in a street-name near Osgoode Hall. William Street, +immediately west of the Avenue leading to the University, has in recent +times been changed to Simcoe Street. It is true, William Street was +nearly in a line with the street previously known as Simcoe Street; +nevertheless, starting as it conspicuously did somewhat to the west of +that line, it was a street sufficiently distinct to be entitled to +retain an independent name. Here again, an item of local history has +been obliterated. William Street was a record on the soil of the first +name of an early Chief Justice of Upper Canada, who projected the street +and gave the land. Dummer Street, the next street westward, bears his +second name. + +Of "Powell," his third name we have already spoken elsewhere, and shall +again almost immediately have to speak. + +When it shall be proposed to alter the name of Dummer Street, with the +hope, perhaps, of improving the fame of the locality along with its +name, let the case of March Street be recalled. In the case of March +Street, the rose, notwithstanding a change of name, retained its +perfume: and the Colonial Minister of the day, Lord Stanley, received +but a sorry compliment when his name was made to displace that of the +Earl of March. (It was from this second title of the Duke of Richmond +that March Street had its name.)--It is probable that the Dummer Street +of to-day, like the March Street of yesterday, would, under another +name, continue much what it is. In all such quarters, it is not a change +of name that is of any avail: but the presence of the schoolmaster and +home-missionary, backed up by landlords and builders, studious of the +public health and morals, as well as of private interests. + + _Digression Northward at the College Avenue._ + +The fine vista of the College Avenue, opposite to which we have now +arrived, always recalls to our recollection a certain bright spring +morning, when on reaching school a whole holiday was unexpectedly +announced; and when, as a mode of filling up a portion of the +unlooked-for vacant time, it was agreed between two or three young lads +to pay a visit to the place on Lot Street where, as the report had +spread amongst us, they were beginning to make visible preparations for +the commencement of the University of King's College. The minds of +growing lads in the neighbourhood of York at that period had very vague +ideas of what a University really was. It was a place where studies were +carried on, but how or under what conditions, there was of necessity +little conception. Curiosity, however, was naturally excited by the talk +on the lips of every one that a University was one day to be established +at York; and now suddenly we learned that actual beginnings were to be +seen of the much-talked-of institution. On the morning of the fine +spring day referred to, we accordingly undertook an exploration. + +On arriving at the spot to which we had been directed, we found that a +long strip of land running in a straight line northwards had been marked +out, after the manner of a newly-opened side line or concession road in +the woods. We found a number of men actually at work with axes and +mattocks; yokes of oxen, too, were straining at strong ploughs, which +forced a way in amongst the roots and small stumps of the natural +brushwood, and, here and there, underneath a rough mat of tangled grass, +bringing to light, now black vegetable mould, now dry clay, now loose +red sand. Longitudinally, up the middle of the space marked off, several +bold furrows were cut, those on the right inclining to the left, and +those on the left inclining to the right, as is the wont in primitive +turnpiking. + +One novelty we discovered, viz., that on each side along a portion of +the newly-cleared ground, young saplings had been planted at regular +intervals; these, we were told, were horse-chestnuts, procured from the +United States expressly for the purpose of forming a double row of trees +here. In the neighbourhood of York the horse-chestnut was then a rarity. + +Everywhere throughout the North American continent, as in the numerous +newly-opened areas of the British Empire elsewhere on the globe's +surface, instances, of course, abound of wonderful progress made in a +brief interval of time. For ourselves, we seem sometimes as if we were +moving among the unrealities of a dream when we deliberately review the +steps in the march of physical and social improvement, which, within a +fractional portion only of a retrospect not very extended, can be +recalled, in the region where our own lot has been cast, and, in +particular, in the neighbourhood where we are at this moment pausing. + +The grand mediaeval-looking structure of University College in the +grounds at the head of the Avenue, continues to this day to be a +surprise somewhat bewildering to the eye and mind, whenever it breaks +upon our view. It looks so completely a thing of the old world and of an +age long past away. To think that one has walked over its site before +one stone was laid upon another thereon, seems almost like a mental +hallucination. + +A certain quietness of aspect and absence of overstrain after +architectural effect give the massive pile an air of great genuineness. +The irregular grouping of its many parts appears the undesigned result +of accretion growing out of the necessities of successive years. The +whole looks in its place, and as if it had long occupied it. The +material of its walls, left for the most part superficially in the +rough, has the appearance of being weather-worn. An impression of age, +too, is given by the smooth finish of the surrounding grounds and +spacious drives by which, on several sides, the building is approached, +as also by the goodly size of the well-grown oaks and other trees +through whose outstretched branches it is usually first caught sight of, +from across the picturesque ravine. + +Of the still virgin condition of the surrounding soil, however, we have +some unmistakeable evidence in the ponderous granitic boulders every +here and there heaving up their grey backs above the natural greensward, +undisturbed since the day when they dropped suddenly down from the +dissolving ice-rafts that could no longer endure their weight. + +Seen at a little distance, as from Yonge Street for example, the square +central tower of the University, with the cone-capped turret at its +north-east angle, rising above a pleasant horizon of trees, and outlined +against an afternoon sky, is something thoroughly English, recalling +Rugby or Warwick. On a nearer approach, this same tower, combined with +the portal below, bears a certain resemblance to the gateway of the +Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, as figured in Palgrave's "Anglo-Saxons;" and +the elaborate and exquisite work about the recessed circular-headed +entrance enables one to realize with some degree of certainty how the +enriched front of that and other noble mediaeval structures, seen by us +now corroded and mutilated, looked when fresh from the hands that so +cunningly carved them. + +In the two gigantic blind-worms, likewise, stretched in terrorem on the +sloping parapets of the steps leading to the door, benumbed, not dead; +giving in their extremities, still faint evidence of life, we have a +sermon in stone, which the brethren of a masonic guild of Wykeham's day +would readily have expounded. As we enter a house devoted to learning +and study, is it not fitting that the eye should be greeted with a +symbol of the paralyzing power of Science over Ignorance and +Superstition? + +Moreover, sounds that come at stated intervals from that central tower, +make another link of sympathy with the old mother-land. Every night at +nine, "swinging slow with solemn roar," the great bell of the University +is agreeably suggestive of Christ Church, Oxford, St. Mary's, Cambridge, +and other places beyond the sea, which to the present hour give back an +echo of the ancient Curfew. + +And if to this day the University building, in its exterior aspect and +accidents, is startling to those who knew its site when as yet in a +state of nature, its interior also, when traversed and explored, tends +in the same persons to produce a degree of confusion as between things +new and old; as between Canada and elsewhere. Within its walls are to be +seen appliances and conveniences and luxuries for the behoof and use of +teacher and student, unknown a few years since in many an ancient seat +of learning. + +In a library of Old World aspect and arrangement, is a collection rich +in the Greek and Latin Classics, in Epigraphy and Archaeology, beyond +anything of the kind in any other collection on this continent, and +beyond what is to be met with in those departments in many a separate +College within the precincts of the ancient Universities--a pre-eminence +due to the tastes and special studies of the first president and other +early professors of the Canadian Institution. + +Strange, it is, yet true that hither, as to a recognized source of +certain aid in identification and decipherment, are duly transmitted, by +cast, rubbing and photograph, the "finds" that from time to time create +such excitement and delight among epigraphists, and ethnologists, and +other minute historical investigators in the British Islands and +elsewhere. + +There used to be preserved in the Old Hospital a model in cork and +card-board, of the great educational establishment to which, in the +first instance, the Avenue was expected to form an approach. It was very +curious. Had it been really followed, a large portion of the park +provided for the reception of the University would have been covered +with buildings. A multitude of edifices, isolated and varying in +magnitude, were scattered about, with gardens and ornamental grounds +interspersed. These were halls of science, lecture-rooms, laboratories, +residences for president, vice-president, professors, officials and +servants of every grade. On the widely extended premises occupied by the +proposed institution, a population was apparently expected to be found +that would, of itself, have almost sufficed to justify representation in +Parliament--a privilege the college was actually by its charter to +enjoy. We should have had in fact realized before our eyes, on a +considerable scale, a part of the dreams of Plato and More, a fragment +of Atlantis and Utopia. + +When the moment arrived, however, for calling into visible being the +long contemplated seat of learning, it was found expedient to abandon +the elaborate model which had been constructed. Mr. Young, a local +architect, was directed to devise new plans. His ideas appear to have +been wholly modern. Notwithstanding the tenor of the Royal Charter, +which suggested the precedents of the old universities of "our United +Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland," wherever it should be practicable +to follow them, the architecture and arrangements customary in those +places were ignored. Girard College, Philadelphia, seems to have +inspired the new designs. However, only a minute fragment of one of the +buildings of the new plan was destined ever to exist. + +The formal commencement of the abortive work took place on the 23rd of +April, 1842--a day indelibly impressed on the memory of those who +participated in the proceedings. It was one of the sunniest and +brightest of days. In the year just named it happened that so early as +St. George's day the leaves of the horse-chestnut were bursting their +glossy sheaths, and vegetation generally was in a very advanced stage. +A procession, such as had never before been seen in these parts, slowly +defiled up the Avenue to the spot where the corner-stone of the proposed +University was to be laid. + +A highly wrought contemporary description of the scene is given in a +note in _Curiae Canadenses_: "The vast procession opened its ranks, and +his Excellency the Chancellor, with the President, the Lord Bishop of +Toronto, on his right, and the Senior Visitor, the Chief Justice, on his +left, proceeded on foot through the College Avenue to the University +grounds. The countless array moved forward to the sound of military +music. The sun shone out with cloudless meridian splendour; one blaze of +banners flushed upon the admiring eye.--The Governor's rich +Lord-Lieutenant's dress, the Bishop's sacerdotal robes, the Judicial +Ermine of the Chief Justice, the splendid Convocation robes of Dr. +McCaul, the gorgeous uniforms of the suite, the accoutrements of the +numerous Firemen, the national badges worn by the Office-bearers of the +different Societies, and what on such a day (St. George's) must not be +omitted, the Red Crosses on the breasts of England's congregated sons, +the grave habiliments of the Clergy and Lawyers, and the glancing lances +and waving plumes of the First Incorporated Dragoons, all formed one +moving picture of civic pomp, one glorious spectacle which can never be +remembered but with satisfaction by those who had the good fortune to +witness it. The following stanza from a Latin Ode," the note goes on to +say, "recited by Master Draper, son of the late Attorney-General, after +the ceremony, expresses in beautifully classical language the proud +occasion of all this joy and splendid pageantry:-- + + "Io! triumphe! flos Canadensium! + Est alma nobis mater; aemula + Britanniae haec sit nostra terra,-- + Terra diu domibus negata!" + +Another contemporary account adds: "As the procession drew nearer to the +site where the stone was to be laid, the 43rd Regiment lined the way, +with soldiers bearing arms, and placed on either side, at equal +intervals. The 93rd Regiment was not on duty here, but in every +direction the gallant Highlanders were scattered through the crowd, and +added by their national garb and nodding plumes to the varied beauty of +the animated scene. When the site was reached," this account says, "a +new feature was added to the interest of the ceremony. Close to the +spot, the north-east corner, where the foundation was to be deposited, a +temporary building had been erected for the Chancellor, and there, +accompanied by the officers of the University and his suite, he took his +stand. Fronting this was a kind of amphitheatre of seats, constructed +for the occasion, tier rising above tier, densely filled with ladies, +who thus commanded a view of the whole ceremony. Between this +amphitheatre and the place where the Chancellor stood, the procession +ranged itself." + +The Chancellor above spoken of was the Governor General of the day, Sir +Charles Bagot, a man of noble bearing and genial, pleasant aspect. He +entered with all the more spirit into the ceremonies described, from +being himself a graduate of one of the old universities. Memories of +far-off Oxford and Christ Church would be sure to be roused amidst the +proceedings that rendered the 23rd of April, 1842, so memorable amongst +us. A brother of Sir Charles' was at the time Bishop of Oxford. In his +suite, as one of his Secretaries, was Captain Henry Bagot, of the Royal +Navy, his own son. Preceding him in the procession, bearing a large +gilded mace, was an "Esquire Bedell," like the Chancellor himself, a +Christ Church man, Mr. William Cayley, subsequently a member of the +Canadian Government. + +Although breaking ground for the University building had been long +delayed, the commencement now made proved to be premature. The edifice +begun was never completed, as we have already intimated; and even in its +imperfect, fragmentary condition, it was not fated to be for any great +length of time a scene of learned labours. In 1856 its fortune was to be +converted into a Female Department for the over-crowded Provincial +Lunatic Asylum. + +The educational system inaugurated in the new building in 1843 was, as +the plate enclosed in the foundation-stone finely expressed it, +"praestantissimum ad exemplar Britannicarum Universitatum." But the +"exemplar" was not, in practice, found to be, as a whole, adapted to the +genius of the Western Canadian people. + +The revision of the University scheme with a view to the necessities of +Western Canada, was signalized by the erection in 1857 of a new building +on an entirely different site, and a migration to it bodily, of +president, professors and students, without departing however from the +bounds of the spacious park originally provided for the institution; and +it is remarkable that, while deviating, educationally and otherwise, in +some points, from the pattern of the ancient universities, as they were +in 1842, a nearer approach, architecturally, was made to the mediaeval +English College than any that had been thought of before. Mr. +Cumberland, the designer of the really fine and most appropriate +building in which the University at length found a resting place, was, +as is evident, a man after the heart of Wykeham and Wayneflete. + +The story of our University is a part of the history of Upper Canada. +From the first foundation of the colony the idea of some such seat of +learning entered into the scheme of its organization. In 1791, before he +had yet left England for the unbroken wilderness in which his Government +was to be set up, we have General Simcoe speaking to Sir Joseph Banks, +the President of the Royal Society, of "a college of a higher class," as +desirable in the community which he was about to create. "A college of a +higher class," he says, "would be eminently useful, and would give a +tone of principles and of manners that would be of infinite support to +Government." In the same letter he remarks to Sir Joseph, "My friend the +Marquis of Buckingham has suggested that Government might allow me a sum +of money to be laid out for a Public Library, to be composed of such +books as might be useful in the colony. He instanced the Encyclopaedia, +extracts from which might occasionally be published in the newspapers. +It is possible," he adds, "private donations might be obtained, and that +it would become an object of Royal munificence." + +It was naturally long before the community of Upper Canada was ripe for +a college of the character contemplated; but provision for its ultimate +existence and sustenance was made, almost from the beginning, in the +assignment to that object of a fixed and liberal portion of the public +lands of the country. + +In 1819-20, Gourlay spoke of the unpreparedness of Upper Canada as yet +for a seat of learning of a high grade. Meanwhile, as a temporary +expedient, he suggested a romantic scheme. "It has been proposed," he +says, "to have a college in Upper Canada; and no doubt in time colleges +will grow up there. At present, and for a considerable period to come, +any effort to found a college would prove abortive. There could neither +be got masters nor scholars to ensure a tolerable commencement for ten +years to come; and a feeble beginning might beget a feeble race of +teachers and pupils. In the United States," he continued, "academies +and colleges, though fast improving, are yet but raw; and greatly +inferior to those in Britain, generally speaking. Twenty-five lads sent +annually at public charge from Upper Canada to British Universities, +would draw after them many more. The youths themselves, generally, would +become desirous of making a voyage in quest of learning.--Crossing the +ocean on such an errand would elevate their ideas, and stir them up to +extraordinary exertions. They would become finished preachers, lawyers, +physicians, merchants; and, returning to their native country, would +repay in wisdom what was expended in goodness and liberality. What more +especially invites the adoption of such a scheme is the amiable and +affectionate connection which it would tend to establish between Canada +and Britain. But it will not do at present to follow out the idea." + +Gourlay's prediction that "in time colleges will grow up there" has been +speedily verified. The town especially, of which in its infant state he +spoke in such terms of contempt, has been so prolific of colleges that +it is now become a kind of Salamanca for the country at large; a place +of resort for students from all parts. It is well probably for Canada +that the scheme of drafting a batch of young students periodically to +the old country, was not adopted. Canada would thereby possibly, on the +one hand, have lost the services of some of the cleverest of her sons, +who, on obtaining academic distinction would have preferred to remain in +the mother country, entering on one or other of the public careers to +which academic distinction there opens the ready path; and, on the other +hand, she should, in many an instance, it is to be feared, have received +back her sons just unfitted, in temper and habit, for life under +matter-of-fact colonial conditions. + +In the original planting of the Avenue, up whose fine vista we have been +gazing, the mistake was committed of imitating nature too closely. +Numerous trees and shrubs of different kinds and habits were mingled +together as they are usually to be seen in a wild primitive wood; and +thus the growth and fair development of all were hindered. The +horse-chestnuts alone should have been relied on to give character to +the Avenue; and of these there should have been on each side a double +row, with a promenade for pedestrians underneath, after the manner of +the great walks in the public parks of the old towns of Europe. + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXII. + + QUEEN STREET--FROM THE COLLEGE AVENUE TO BROCK STREET AND SPADINA + AVENUE. + + +Pursuing our way now westward from the Avenue leading to the University, +we pass the Powell park-lot, on which was, up to recent times, the +family vault of the Powells, descendants of the Chief Justice. The whole +property was named by the fancy of the first possessor, Caer-Howell, +Castle Howell, in allusion to the mythic Hoel, to whom all ap-Hoels +trace their origin. Dummer Street, which opens northward a little +further on, retains, as we have said, the second baptismal name of Chief +Justice Powell. + +Beverley House and its surroundings, on the side opposite Caer Howell +estate, recall one whose name and memory must repeatedly recur in every +narrative of our later Canadian history, Sir John Robinson.--This was +the residence temporarily of Poulett Thomson, afterwards Lord Sydenham, +while present in Toronto as Governor-General of the Canadas in 1839-40. +A kitchen on a large scale which he caused to be built on the premises +of Beverley House, is supposed to have been an auxiliary, indirectly, in +getting the Union measure through the Upper Canada Parliament. In a +letter to a friend, written at Montreal in 1840, he gives a sketch of +his every-day life: it describes equally well the daily distribution of +his time here in Toronto. "Work in my room," he says, "till three +o'clock; a ride with my aide-de-camp till five; work again till dinner; +at dinner till nine; and work again till early next morning. This is my +daily routine. My dinners last till ten, when I have company, which is +about three times a week; except one night in the week, when I receive +about 150 people." + +His policy was, as we know, very successful. Of the state of things at +Toronto, and in Upper Canada generally, after the Union measure had been +pushed through, he writes to a friend thus: "I have prorogued my +Parliament," he says, "and I send you my Speech. Never was such +unanimity! When the Speaker read it in the Commons, after the +prorogation, they gave me three cheers, in which even the ultras united. +In fact, as the matter stands now, the Province is in a state of peace +and harmony which, three months ago, I thought was utterly hopeless." + +In a private letter of the following year (1841), he alludes to his +influence in these terms: "I am in the midst," he says, "of the bustle +attending the opening of the Session, and have, besides, a ministerial +'crisis' on my hands. The latter I shall get through triumphantly, +unless my _wand_, as they call it here, has lost all power over the +members, which I do not believe to be the case." This was written at +Kingston, where, it will be remembered, the seat of Government was +established for a short time after the union of Upper and Lower Canada. + +Through Poulett Thomson, Toronto for a few months and to the extent of +one-half, was the seat of a modern feudal barony. On being elevated to +the peerage, the Governor-General, who had carried the Union, was +created Baron Sydenham of Sydenham in Kent and Toronto in Canada. + +At one time it was expected that Toronto would be the capital of the +United Province, but its liege lord pronounced it to be "too far and out +of the way;" though at the same time he gives it as his opinion that +"Kingston or Bytown would do." Thus in 1840, and in July, 1841, he +writes: "I have every reason to be satisfied with having selected this +place (Kingston) as the new Capital. There is no situation in the +Province so well adapted for the seat of Government from its central +position; and certainly we are as near England as we should be anywhere +else in the whole of Canada. My last letters reached me," he says, "in +fifteen days from London! So much for steam and railways." Being in very +delicate health, it had been Lord Sydenham's intention to return to +England in September, 1841. On the 5th of June he writes at Kingston to +a friend: "I long for September, beyond which I will not stay if they +were to make me Duke of Canada and Prince of Regiopolis, as this place +is called." But he was never more to see England. On the 4th of the +September in which he had hoped to leave Canada, he suffered a fracture +of the right leg and other injury by a fall from his horse. He never +rallied from the shock. His age was only 42. + +The Park lot which follows that occupied by Chief Justice Powell was +selected by Solicitor-General Gray, of whom fully already. It afterwards +became the property of Mr. D'Arcy Boulton, eldest son of Mr. Justice +Boulton, and was known as the Grange estate. The house which bears the +name of the "Grange," was built at the beginning of the brick era of +York, and is a favourable specimen of the edifices of that period. +(Beverley House, just noted, was, it may be added, also built by Mr. +D'Arcy Boulton.) + +The Grange-gate, now thrust far back by the progress of improvement, was +long a familiar landmark on the line of Lot-street. It was just within +this gate that the fight already recorded took place between Mr. Justice +Boulton's horses, _Bonaparte_ and _Jefferson_, and the bears. A +memorandum of Mr. G. S. Jarvis, of Cornwall, in our possession, affirms +that Mr. Justice Boulton drove a phaeton of some pretensions, and that +his horses, _Bonaparte_ and _Jefferson_, were the crack pair of the day +at York. As to some other equipages he says: "The Lieut. Governor's +carriage was considered a splendid affair, but some of the Toronto cabs +would now throw it into the shade. The carriage of Chief Justice Powell, +he adds, was a rough sort of omnibus, and would compare with the jail +van used now." (We remember Bishop Strachan's account of a carriage sent +up for his own use from Albany or New York; it was constructed on the +model of the ordinary oval stage coach, with a kind of hemispherical +top.) + +To our former notes of Mr. Justice Boulton, we add, that he was the +author of a work in quarto published in London in 1806, entitled a +"Sketch of the Province of Upper Canada." + +John Street, passing south just here, is, as was noted previously, a +memorial, so far as its name is concerned, of the first Lieutenant +Governor of Upper Canada. On the plan of the "new town," as the first +expansion westward, of York, was termed,--while this street is marked +"John," the next parallel thoroughfare eastward is named "Graves," and +the open square included between the two, southward on Front Street, is +"Simcoe-place." The three names of the founder of York were thus +commemorated. The expression "Simcoe-place" has fallen into disuse. It +indicated, of course, the site of the present Parliament Buildings of +the Province of Ontario. Graves Street has become Simcoe Street, a +name, as we have seen, recently extended to the thoroughfare northward, +with which it is nearly in a right line, viz., William Street, which +previously recorded, as we have said, the first Christian name of Chief +Justice Powell. The name "John Street" has escaped change. The name +sounds trivial enough; but it has an interest. + +In the minds of the present generation, with John Street will be +specially associated the memorable landing of the Prince of Wales at +Toronto in 1860. At the foot of John Street, for that occasion, there +was built a vast semi-colosseum of wood, opening out upon the waters of +the Bay; a pile whose capacious concavity was densely filled again and +again, during the Prince's visit, with the inhabitants of the town and +the population of the surrounding country. And on the brow of the bank, +immediately above the so-called amphitheatre, and exactly in the line of +John Street, was erected a finely designed triumphal arch, recalling +those of Septimus Severus and Titus. + +This architectural object, while it stood, gave a peculiarly fine finish +to the vista, looking southward along John Street. The usually +monotonous water-view presented by the bay and lake, and even the +common-place straight line of the Island, seen through the frame-work of +three lofty vaulted passages, acquired for the moment a genuine +picturesqueness. An ephemeral monument; but as long as it stood its +effect was delightfully classic and beautiful. The whole group--the arch +and the huge amphitheatre below, furnished around its upper rim at equal +intervals with tall masts, each bearing a graceful gonfalon, and each +helping to sustain on high a luxuriant festoon of evergreen which +alternately drooped and rose again round the whole structure and along +the two sides of the grand roadway up to the arch--all seen under a sky +of pure azure, and bathed in cheery sunlight, surrounded too and +thronged with a pleased multitude--constituted a spectacle not likely to +be forgotten. + +Turning down John Street a few chains, the curious observer may see on +his left a particle of the old area of York retaining several of its +original natural features. In the portion of the Macdonell-block not yet +divided into building-slips we have a fragment of one of the many +shallow ravines which meandered capriciously, every here and there, +across the broad site of the intended town. To the passer-by it now +presents a refreshing bit of bowery meadow, out of which towers up one +of the grand elm-trees of the country, with stem of great height and +girth, and head of very graceful form, whose healthy and undecayed limbs +and long trailing branchlets, clearly show that the human regard which +has led to the preservation hitherto of this solitary survivor of the +forest has not been thrown away. This elm and the surrounding grove are +still favourite stations or resting-places for our migratory birds. +Here, for one place, in the spring, are sure to be heard the first notes +of the robin. + +At the south-west angle of the Macdonell block still stands in a good +state of preservation the mansion put up by the Hon. Alexander +Macdonell. We have from time to time spoken of the brick era of York. +Mr. Macdonell's imposing old homestead may be described as belonging to +an immediately preceding era--the age of framed timber and +weather-board, which followed the primitive or hewn-log period. It is a +building of two full storeys, each of considerable elevation. A central +portico with columns of the whole height of the house, gives it an air +of dignity. + +Mr. Macdonell was one more in that large group of military men who +served in the American Revolutionary war, under Col. Simcoe, and who +were attracted to Upper Canada by the prospects held out by that officer +when appointed Governor of the new colony. Mr. Macdonell was the first +Sheriff of the Home District. He represented in successive parliaments +the Highland constituency of Glengary, and was chosen Speaker of the +House. He was afterwards summoned to the Upper House. He was a friend +and correspondent of the Earl of Selkirk, and was desired by that +zealous emigrational theorist to undertake the superintendence of the +settlement at Kildonan on the Red River. Though he declined this task, +he undertook the management of one of the other Highland settlements +included in the Earl of Selkirk's scheme, namely, that of Baldoon, on +Lake St. Clair; Mr. Douglas undertaking the care of that established at +Moulton, at the mouth of the Grand River. + +Mr. Macdonell, in person rather tall and thin, of thoughtful aspect, and +in manner quiet and reserved, is one of the company of our early +worthies whom we personally well remember. An interesting portrait of +him exists in the possession of his descendants: it presents him with +his hair in powder, and otherwise in the costume of "sixty years since." +He died in 1842, "amid the regrets of a community who," to adopt the +language of a contemporary obituary, "loved him for the mild excellence +of his domestic and private character, no less than they esteemed him as +a public man." + +Mr. Miles Macdonell, the first Governor of Assiniboia, under the +auspices of the Hudson's Bay Company, and Alexander Macdonell, the chief +representative in 1816 of the rival and even hostile Company of the +North-West Traders of Montreal, were both near relations of Mr. +Macdonell of York, as also was the barrister, lost in the _Speedy_, and +the well-known R. C. Bishop Macdonell of Kingston. Col. Macdonell, slain +at Queenston, with General Brock, and whose remains are deposited +beneath the column there, was his brother. His son, Mr. Allan Macdonell, +has on several occasions stood forward as the friend and spirited +advocate of the Indian Tribes, especially of the Lake Superior region, +on occasions when their interests, as native lords of the soil, seemed +in danger of being overlooked by the Government of the day. + +On Richmond Street a little to the west of the Macdonell block, was the +town residence of Col. Smith, some time President of the Province of +Upper Canada. He was also allied to the family of Mr. Macdonell. Col. +Smith's original homestead was on the Lake Shore to the west, in the +neighbourhood of the river Etobicoke. Gourlay in his "Statistical +Account of Upper Canada," has chanced to speak of it. "I shall describe +the residence and neighbourhood of the President of Upper Canada from +remembrance," he says, "journeying past it on my way to York from the +westward, by what is called the Lake Road through Etobicoke. For many +miles," he says, "not a house had appeared, when I came to that of +Colonel Smith, lonely and desolate. It had once been genteel and +comfortable; but was now going to decay. A vista had been opened through +the woods towards Lake Ontario; but the riotous and dangling undergrowth +seemed threatening to retake possession from the Colonel of all that had +once been cleared, which was of narrow compass. How could a solitary +half-pay officer help himself," candidly asks Gourlay, "settled down +upon a block of land, whose very extent barred out the assistance and +convenience of neighbours? Not a living thing was to be seen around. How +different might it be, thought I, were a hundred industrious families +compactly settled here out of the redundant population of England!" + +"The road was miserable," he continues; "a little way beyond the +President's house it was lost on a bank of loose gravel flung up between +the contending waters of the lake and the Etobicoke stream." He here +went astray. "It was my anxious wish," he says, "to get through the +woods before dusk; but the light was nearly gone before the gravel bank +was cleared. There seemed but one path, which took to the left. It led +me astray: I was lost: and there was nothing for it but to let my little +horse take his own way. Abundant time was afforded for reflection on the +wretched state of property flung away on half-pay officers. Here was the +head man of the Province, 'born to blush unseen,' without even a +tolerable bridle-way between him and the capital city, after more than +twenty years' possession of his domain. The very gravel-bed which caused +me such turmoil might have made a turnpike, but what can be done by a +single hand? The President could do little with the axe or wheelbarrow +himself; and half-pay could employ but few labourers at 3s. 6d. per day +with victuals and drink." He recovers the road at length, and then +concludes: "after many a weary twist and turn I found myself," he says, +"on the banks of the Humber, where there was a house and a boat." + +Col. Smith did something, in his day, to improve the breed of horses in +Upper Canada. He expended considerable sums of money in the importation +of choice animals of that species from the United States. + +The house which led us to this notice of President Smith is, as we have +said, situated on Richmond Street. On Adelaide Street, immediately south +of this house, and also a little west of the Macdonell block, was a +residence of mark, erected at an early period by Mr. Hugh Heward, and +memorable as having been the abode for a time of the Naval Commissioner +or Commodore, Joseph Bouchette, who first took the soundings and +constructed a map of the harbour of York. His portrait is to be seen +prefixed to his well-known "British Dominions in North America." The +same house was also once occupied by Dr. Stuart, afterwards Archdeacon +of Kingston; and at a later period by Mrs. Caldwell, widow of Dr. +Caldwell, connected with the Naval establishment at Penetanguishene. Her +sons John and Leslie, two tall, sociable youths, now both deceased, were +our classmates at school. We observe in the _Oracle_ of Saturday, May +28, 1803, a notice of Mr. Hugh Heward's death in the following terms: +"Died lately at Niagara, on his way to Detroit, after a lingering +illness, Mr. Hugh Heward, formerly clerk in the Lieutenant-Governor's +office, and a respectable inhabitant of this town (York)." + +Just beyond was the abode of Lieut. Col. Foster, long Adjutant General +of Militia; an officer of the antique Wellington school, of a fine type, +portly in figure, authoritative in air and voice; in spirit and heart +warm and frank. His son Colley, also, we here name as a congenial and +attached schoolboy friend, likewise now deceased, after a brief but not +undistinguished career at the Bar. + +A few yards further on was the home of Mr. John Ross, whose almost +prescriptive right it gradually became, whenever a death occurred in one +of the old families, to undertake the funeral obsequies. Few were there +of the ancient inhabitants who had not found themselves at one time or +another, wending their way, on a sad errand, to Mr. Ross's doorstep. On +his sombre and very unpretending premises were put together the +perishable shells in which the mortal remains of a large proportion of +the primitive householders of York and their families are now reverting +to their original dust. Almost up to the moment of his own summons to +depart hence, he continued to ply his customary business, being favoured +with an old age unusually green and vigorous, like "the ferryman austere +and stern," Charon; to whom also the "inculta canities" of a plentiful +supply of hair and beard, along with a certain staidness, taciturnity +and rural homeliness of manner and attire, further suggested a +resemblance. Many things thus combine to render Mr. John Ross not the +least notable of our local dramatis personae. He was led, as we have +understood, to the particular business which was his usual avocation, by +the accident of having been desired, whilst out on active service as a +militiaman in 1812, to take charge of the body of Gen. Brock, when that +officer was killed on Queenston Heights. + +While in this quarter we should pause too for a moment before the former +abode of Mr. Robert Stanton, sometime King's Printer for Upper Canada, +as noted already; afterwards editor of the _Loyalist_; and subsequently +Collector of Customs at York:--a structure of the secondary brick +period, and situated on Peter Street, but commanding the view eastward +along the whole length of Richmond Street. Mr. Stanton's father was an +officer in the Navy, who between the years 1771 and 1786 saw much active +service in the East and West Indies, in the Mediterranean, at the siege +of Gibraltar under General Elliott, and on the American coast during +the Revolutionary war. From 1786 to 1828 he was in the public service in +several military and civil capacities in Lower and Upper Canada. In 1806 +he was for one thing, we find, issuer of Marriage Licences at York. From +memoranda of his while acting in this capacity we make some extracts. +The unceremoniousness of the record in the majority of cases, is +refreshing. The names are all familiar ones in Toronto. The parties set +down as about to pledge their troth, either to other, had not in every +instance, in 1872, passed off the scene. + +1806, Nov. 26, Stephen Heward to Mary Robinson. Same date, Ely Playter +to Sophia Beaman. Dec. 11, same year, Geo. T. Denison to C. B. +Lippincott. 1807, Feb. 3, Jordan Post to M. Woodruffe. July 13, Hiram +Kendrick to Hester Vanderburg. Dec. 28, Jarvis Ashley to Dorothy +McDougal. 1808, Jan. 13, D'Arcy Boulton, Jun., to Sally Ann Robinson. +March 17, James Finch to M. Reynolds. April 9, David Wilson to Susannah +Stone. May 2, John Langstaff to Lucy Miles. May 30, John Murchison to +Frances Hunt. August 8, John Powell, Esq., to Miss Isabella Shaw. Sept. +12, Hugh Heward to Eliza Muir. 1809, April 14, Nicholas Hagarman to +Polly Fletcher. May 18, William Cornwall to Rhoda Terry. June 19, John +Ashbridge to Sarah Mercer. June 21, Jonathan Ashbridge to Hannah Barton. +July 15, Orin Hale to Hannah Barrett. Aug. 5, Henry Drean to Jane +Brooke. Dec. 14, John Thompson to Ann Smith. 1810, March 8, Andrew +Thomson to Sarah Smith. March 30, Isaac Pilkington to Sarah McBride. +June 2, Thomas Bright to Jane Hunter. July 3, John Scarlett to Mary +Thomson. Sept. 10, William Smith to Eleanor Thomson. June 22, William B. +Sheldon to Jane Johnson. July 30, Robert Hamilton, gent., to Miss Maria +Lavinia Jarvis. 1811, Sept. 20, George Duggan to Mary Jackson. + +In one or two instances we are enabled to give the formal announcement +in the _Gazette and Oracle_ of the marriage for which the licence issued +by Mr. Stanton was so curtly recorded. In the paper of Jan. 27, 1808, we +have: "Married, on the 13th instant, by the Rev. G. O. Stuart, D'Arcy +Boulton, jun., Esq., barrister, to Miss Sarah Robinson, second daughter +of the late C. Robinson, Esq., of York." + +And in the number for August 13, in the same year we read: "Married by +the Rev. G. O. Stuart, on Monday the 8th instant, John Powell, Esq., to +Miss Shaw, daughter of the Hon. AEneas Shaw, of this place (York)." To +this announcement the editor, as we suppose, volunteers the observation: +"This matrimonial connexion of the amiable parties we think replete +with, and we wish it productive of, the most perfect human happiness." + +A complimentary epithet to the bride is not unusual in early Canadian +marriage notices. In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of Dec. 29, 1798, we have +a wedding in the Playter family recorded thus: "Married last Monday, Mr. +James Playter to the agreeable Miss Hannah Miles, daughter of Mr. Abner +Miles of this town." In the same paper for Feb. 24, 1798, is the +announcement: "Married in this town (Niagara), by the Rev. Mr. Burke, +Captain Miles Macdonell of the Royal Canadian Volunteers, to the amiable +Miss Katey Macdonell." (This union was of brief duration. In the +_Constellation_ of Sept 6, 1799, we observe: "Died lately at Kingston, +Mrs. Macdonell, of this town (Niagara), the amiable consort of Captain +Miles Macdonell of the Canadian Volunteers.") + +Again: in the _Gazette and Oracle_ for Saturday Oct, 26, 1799: "Married, +last Monday, by the Rev. Mr. Addison, Colonel Smith, of the Queen's +Rangers, to the most agreeable and accomplished Miss Mary Clarke." (This +was the Col. Smith who subsequently was for a time President of Upper +Canada.) + +In the _Constellation_ of Nov. 23, 1799, in addition to the +complimentary epithet, a poetical stanza is subjoined: thus: "Married at +the seat of the Hon. Mr. Hamilton, at Queenston, on Sunday last, Mr. +Thomas Dickson, merchant, to the amiable Mrs. Taylor, daughter of +Captain Wilkinson, commanding, Fort Erie. + + For thee, best treasure of a husband's heart; + Whose bliss it is that thou for life art so; + That thy fond bosom bears a faithful part + In every casual change his breast may know." + +But occasionally the announcement is almost as terse as one of Mr. +Stanton's entries. Thus in the _Constellation_ of Dec. 28, 1799, Mr. +Hatt's marriage to Miss Cooly appears with great brevity: "Married at +Ancaster, Mr. Richard Hatt to Miss Polly Cooly." + +A magistrate officiates sometimes, and his name is given accordingly. In +the _Gazette and Oracle_ of March 2, 1799, we have: "Married on Tuesday +last, by William Willcocks, Esq., Sergeant Mealy, of the Queen's +Rangers, to Miss M. Wright, of this town." + +(Somewhat in the strain of the complimentary marriage notices are the +following: "We announce with much pleasure an acquisition to society in +this place by the arrival of Prideaux Selby, Esq., and Miss +Selby.--_Gazette_, Dec. 9, 1807. The York Assembly which commenced on +Thursday the 17th instant, was honoured by the attendance of His +Excellency and Mrs. Gore. It was not numerous. We understand that Mrs. +Firth, the amiable Lady of the Attorney General, lately arrived, was a +distinguished figure."--_Gazette_, Dec. 23, 1807.) + +The family of Mr. Stanton, senior, was large. It was augmented by twins +on five several occasions. Not far from Mr. Stanton's house, a lesser +edifice of brick of comparatively late date on the north side of +Richmond Street, immediately opposite the premises associated just now +with the memory of President Smith, may be noted as having been built +and occupied by the distinguished Admiral Vansittart, and the first +example in this region of a cottage furnished with light, tasteful +verandahs in the modern style. + +We now return from our digression into Richmond and Adelaide Streets, +and again proceed on our way westward. + +The grantee of the park-lot which followed Solicitor-General Gray's, was +the famous Hon. Peter Russell, of whom we have had occasion again and +again to speak. A portion of the property was brought under cultivation +at an early period, and a substantial farm-house put up thereon--a +building which in 1872 was still in existence. The name attached to this +house and clearing was Petersfield. + +Human depredators prowled about a solitary place like this. At their +hands in 1803, Mr. Russell suffered a serious loss, as we learn from an +advertisement which about midsummer in that year appeared in several +successive numbers of the _Oracle_. It ran as follows: "Five Guineas +Reward. Stolen on the 12th or 13th instant from Mr. Russell's farm, near +this town, a Turkey Hen, with her brood of six half-grown young ones. +Whoever will give such information and evidence as may lead to the +discovery of the Thieves shall receive from the subscriber the above +reward upon conviction of any of the delinquents. Peter Russell, York, +Aug. 15th, 1803." Another advertisement has been mentioned to us, +issuing from the same sufferer, announcing the theft of a Plough from +the same farm. + +Similar larcenies were elsewhere committed. In the _Gazette_ of June 12, +1802, we read: "Forty dollars reward.--Mr. Justice Allcock offers a +reward of forty dollars to any one who will give information of the +person or persons who stole and carried away from his farm near the +Garrison a number of iron teeth from two harrows. The same reward will +also be given to any one who will give such information as will convict +any person or persons of having bought such iron teeth, or any part of +them, knowing the same to be stolen. If more than one was concerned, the +same reward will be given to any accomplice upon his giving such +information as will convict the other party or parties concerned with +him, and every endeavour used to obtain a pardon. Note. It has been +ascertained that two blacksmiths in the town did, about the time these +teeth were stolen, purchase harrow-teeth from a soldier, since deserted, +and that another soldier was in company when such teeth were offered for +sale. 28th May, 1802." + +Again, in the same paper we have:--"Twenty dollars reward will be paid +by the subscriber to any person who will discover the man who is so +depraved and lost to every sense of social duty, as to cut with an axe +or knife, the withes which bound some of the fence round the late Chief +Justice's Farm on Yonge Street, and to throw down the said Fence. +Independent of the above inducement, it is the duty of every good member +of society to endeavour to find out who the character is that can be +guilty of such an infamous act, in order that he may be brought to +justice. Robert J. D. Gray, York, June 28th, 1803." + +Occasionally notices of a reverse order appear. A homely article picked +up on the Common was judged to be of sufficient importance to its owner +to induce the finder to advertise as follows in the _Oracle_ of +Saturday, Aug. 14th, 1802:--"Found lately near the Garrison, a Cow-bell. +Whoever has lost the same, may have it again by applying to the Printer +hereof, on paying the expense of this advertisement, and proving +property. York, Aug. 7, 1802." + +Again, in the _Oracle_ of Feb. 25, 1804:--"Found on Saturday last, the +11th instant, a Bar of Iron. The owner may have it again, by applying to +the Printer hereof. York, Feb. 8th." And again: "Found on Friday, the +5th instant, two silk handkerchiefs. The owner can have them again by +applying to the Printer, and paying the expense of this advertisement. +York, Oct. 12th, 1804." In October, 1806, an iron pot was picked up: +"Found, on Sunday last, the 12th instant, on the beach opposite Messrs. +Ashbridge's, an Iron Pot capable of containing about two pails full. +Whoever may own the above-mentioned Pot, may have it again by proving +property, and paying charges, on application to Samuel Lewis or to the +Printer hereof. York, Oct. 16th, 1806." + +A barrel of flour was found on the beach near the Garrison in 1802, and +was thus advertised: "The Public are hereby informed that there has been +a barrel of flour left on the beach near the Garrison by persons +unknown. Whoever will produce a just claim to the same may have it, by +applying to the Garrison Sergeant-Major, and paying the expense of the +present advertisement. J. Petto, G. S. Major, York, March 22, 1802." + +Once more: in the _Gazette_ of Dec. 3, 1803: "On the 26th ult. the +subscriber found one-half of a fat Hog on the Humber Plains, which he +supposes to be fraudulently killed, and the other half taken away. The +part which he found he carried home and dressed, and requests the owner +to call, pay expenses, and take it away. John Clark, Humber Mills, Dec. +2, 1803." + +Peter Russell's name became locally a household synonym for a _helluo +agrorum_, and not without some show of reason, as the following list in +successive numbers of the _Gazette and Oracle_ of 1803 would seem to +indicate. Of the lands enumerated he styles himself, at the close of the +advertisement, the proprietor. We have no desire, however, to perpetuate +the popular impression, that all the said properties had been patented +by himself to himself. This, of course, could not have been done. He +simply chose, as he was at liberty to do, after acquiring what he and +his family were entitled to legally, in the shape of grants, to invest +his means in lands, which in every direction were to be had for a mere +song. + +The document spoken of reads thus: "To be sold.--The Front Town Lot, +with an excellent dwelling-house and a kitchen recently built thereon, +in which Mr. John Denison now lives, in the Town of York, with a very +commodious water-lot adjoining, and possession given to the purchaser +immediately. The Lots Nos. 5, 6, and 7 in the 2nd, and lots No. 6 and 7 +in the 3d concession of West Flamboro' township, containing 1,000 acres, +on which there are some very good mill seats; the lots No. 4 and 5, in +the 1st concession of East Flamboro' with their broken fronts, +containing, according to the Patent, 600 acres more or less; the lots +No. 1, 3 and 4 in the 2nd, and lots No. 2 and 3 in the 3rd concession of +Beverley, containing 1,000 acres; the lots No. 16 in the 2nd and and 3rd +concession of the township of York containing 400 acres; the lots 32 +and 33 with their broken fronts, in the 1st, and lots No. 31 and 32 in +the 2nd concession of Whitby, containing 800 acres; the lots 22 and 24 +in the 11th, lot 23 in the 12th, and No. 24 in the 13th and 14th +concessions of Townsend, containing a 1,000 acres; the lots No. 12, 13 +and 14 in the 1st and 2nd concession of Charlotteville, immediately +behind the Town plot, containing 1,200 acres; the lots Nos. 16 and 17 in +the 1st concession of Delaware township, on the river Thames (La +Tranche) containing 800 acres; the lots Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 in the +10th; No. 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 in the 11th, and Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 7 in the +12th concession of Dereham, containing 3,000 acres, with mill-seats +thereon; and also the lots Nos. 22, 24, 25, 26, and 28 in the 1st, Nos. +22, 23, 25, 27 and 28 in the 3rd, Nos. 22, 24, 25, 26 and 28 in the +11th, and Nos. 22, 24, 25, 26 and 28 in the 12th concession of Norwich, +containing 600 acres, with mill-seats thereon. The terms are either +cash, or good bills of exchange on London, Montreal and Quebec, for the +whole of such purchase, in which case a proportionably less price will +be expected, or the same for one moiety of each purchase, and bonds +properly secured for principal and interest, until paid, for the other. +The prices may be known by application to the proprietor at York. Peter +Russell." + +Clearly, an idea of the prospective value of property in Canada had +dawned upon the mind of Mr. Russell in the year 1803; and he aimed to +create for himself speedily a handsome fortune. His plans, however, in +the long run, came to little, as in another connexion, we have heard +already. + +Survivors of the primitive era in Upper Canada have been heard sometimes +to express, (like Lord Clive, after his dealings with the rajahs,) their +surprise that they did not provide for themselves more largely than they +did, when the broad acres of their adopted country were to be had to any +extent, almost for the asking. But this reflection should console them; +in few instances are the descendants of the early very large +land-holders much better off at the present hour than probably they +would have been, had their fathers continued landless. + +Mr. Russell died at York on the 30th of September, 1808. His obituary +appears in the _Gazette and Oracle_ of the following day. "Departed this +life on Friday, the 30th ultimo, the Hon. Peter Russell, Esquire, +formerly President of the Government of the Province, late Receiver +General, and Member of the Executive and Legislative Councils: a +gentleman who whilst living was honoured, and sincerely esteemed; and of +whose regular and amiable conduct, the Public will long retain a +favoured and grateful remembrance." + +Of the funeral, which took place on the 4th of October, we have a brief +account in the paper of Oct. 8, 1808. It says: "The remains of the late +Hon. Peter Russell were interred on Wednesday the 4th instant with the +greatest decorum and respect. The obsequies of this accomplished +gentleman were followed to the grave by His Excellency the Lieut. +Governor (Gore) as Chief Mourner; with the principal gentlemen of the +town and neighbourhood; and they were feelingly accompanied by all +ranks, evincing a reverential awe for the Divine dispensation. An +appropriate funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Okill Stuart. The +Garrison, commanded by Major Fuller, performed with becoming dignity the +military honours of this respected veteran, who was a Captain in the +Army on half-pay." The editor then adds: "deeply impressed with an +ardent esteem for his manly character, and the irreparable loss +occasioned by his death, we were not among those who felt the least at +this last tribute of respect to his memory and remains." (The Major +Fuller, above named, was the father of the Rev. Thomas Brock Fuller, in +1873 Archdeacon of Niagara.) + +As we have elsewhere said, Mr. Russell's estate passed to his unmarried +sister, Miss Elizabeth Russell, who, at her own decease, devised the +whole of it to Dr. W. W. Baldwin and his family. The Irish family to +which Mr. Russell belonged was originally a transplanted branch of the +Aston-Abbotts subdivision of the great English family of the same name; +and a connexion, through intermarriages, had long subsisted between +these Russells and the Baldwins of the County of Cork. Russell Hill in +the neighbourhood of Toronto, is so called from a Russell Hill in +Ireland, which has its name from the Russells of the County of +Cork.--During the Revolutionary war, Mr. Russell had been Secretary to +Sir Henry Clinton, Commander-in-chief of the Army in North America from +1778 to 1782. + +At the beginning of Peter Russell's advertisement of properties, it will +have been observed that he offered for sale "an excellent dwelling-house +in the town of York," described as being in the occupation of Mr. John +Denison. The building referred to, situate, as it is further mentioned, +on a "front town lot, with a very convenient water-lot adjoining," was +the "ornamental cottage" noted in our journey along Front Street, as +having been once inhabited by Major Hillier, of the 74th. On its site +was afterwards built Dr. Baldwin's town residence, which subsequently +became first a Military Hospital, and then the head office of the +Toronto and Nipissing Railroad. + +But Petersfield was also associated with the history of Mr. Denison, who +was the progenitor of the now numerous Canadian family of that name. +Through an intimacy with Mr. Russell, springing out of several years' +campaigning together in the American Revolutionary war, Mr. Denison was +induced by that gentleman, when about to leave England in an official +capacity in company with General Simcoe, to emigrate with his family to +Upper Canada in 1792. He first settled at Kingston, but, in 1796, +removed to York, where, by the authority of Mr. Russell, he temporarily +occupied Castle Frank on the Don. He then, as we have seen, occupied +"the excellent dwelling-house" put up "on a front lot" in the town of +York by Mr. Russell himself; and afterwards, he was again accommodated +by his friend with quarters in the newly-erected homestead of +Petersfield. + +We have evidence that in 1805 a portion of Petersfield was under +cultivation, and that under Mr. Denison's care it produced fine crops of +a valuable vegetable. Under date of York, 20th December, 1805, in a +contemporary _Oracle_, we have the following advertisement: "Potatoes: +To be sold at Mr. Russell's Farm at Petersfield, by Mr. John Denison, in +any quantities not less than ten bushels, at Four Shillings, York +Currency, the bushel, if delivered at the purchaser's house, or Three +Shillings the bushel, if taken by them from the Farm." + +And again, in the _Gazette_ of March 4, 1807: "Blue Nose Potatoes. To be +sold at Mr. Russell's Farm near York. The price three shillings, York +currency, the bushel, if taken away by the purchasers, or they will be +delivered anywhere within the precincts of the Town, at Four Shillings, +in any quantity not less than ten bushels. Application to be made to Mr. +John Denison, on the premises, to whom the above prices are to be paid +on delivery. Feb. 14, 1807." + +Our own personal recollection of Mr. Denison is associated with +Petersfield, the homely cosiness of whose interior, often seen during +its occupancy by him, lighted up by a rousing hospitable fire of great +logs, piled high in one of the usual capacious and lofty fire-places of +the time, made an indelible impression on the boyish fancy. The +venerable Mrs. Sophia Denison, too, Mr. Denison's better half, was in +like manner associated in our memory with the cheery interior of the +ancient Petersfield farm-house--a fine old English matron and mother, of +the antique, strongly-marked, vigorous, sterling type. She was one of +the Taylors, of Essex; among whom, at home and abroad, ability and +talent, and traits of a higher and more sacred character, are curiously +hereditary. We shall have occasion, further on, to speak of the +immediate descendants of these early occupants of Petersfield. + +On the south side of the expansion of Queen Street, in front of +Petersfield, and a little beyond Peter Street (which, as we have +previously noticed, had its name from Peter Russell) was the abode of +Mr. Dunn, long Receiver-General of Upper Canada. It was (and is) a +retired family house, almost hidden from the general view by a grove of +ornamental trees. A quiet-looking gate led into a straight drive up to +the house, out of Queen Street. Of Mr. Dunn we have already discoursed, +and of Mrs. Dunn, one of the graceful lady-chiefs in the high life of +York in the olden time. In the house at which we now pause was born +their famous son, Alexander Roberts Dunn, in 1833; who not only had the +honour of sharing in the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava in +1856, now so renowned in history and song, but who, of all the six +hundred there, won the highest meed of glory. + +Six feet three inches in stature, a most powerful and most skilful +swordsman, and a stranger to fear, Lieut. Dunn, instead of consulting +his own safety in the midst of that frightful and untoward melee, +deliberately interposed for the protection of his comrades in arms. Old +troopers of the Eleventh Hussars long told with kindling eyes how the +young lieutenant seeing Sergeant Bentley of his own regiment attacked +from behind by two or three Russian lancers, rushed upon them +single-handed, and cut them down; how he saved the life of Sergeant +Bond; how Private Levett owed his safety to the same friendly arm, when +assailed by Russian Hussars. Kinglake, the historian of the Crimean war, +records that the Victoria Cross placed at the disposal of the Eleventh +Hussars was unanimously awarded by them to Lieut. Dunn; the only cavalry +officer who obtained the distinction. + +To the enthusiasm inspired by his brilliant reputation was mainly due +the speedy formation in Canada of the Hundredth Regiment, the Prince of +Wales' Royal Canadian Regiment, in 1857. Of this regiment, chiefly +raised through his instrumentality, Mr. Dunn was gazetted the first +major; and on the retirement of the Baron de Rottenburg from its +command, he succeeded as its Lieutenant Colonel. + +In 1864 he was gazetted full Colonel: at the time he had barely +completed his twenty-seventh year. Impatient of inactivity, he caused +himself to be transferred to a command in India, where he speedily +attracted the notice of General Napier, afterwards Lord Napier of +Magdala; and he accompanied that officer in the expedition against King +Theodore of Abyssinia. While halting at Senafe in that country, he was +accidently killed by the sudden explosion of his rifle while out +shooting deer. The sequel can best be given, as well as an impression of +the feelings of his immediate associates on the deplorable occasion, by +quoting the touching words of a letter addressed at the time to a near +relative of Colonel Dunn, by a brother officer: + +"In no regiment," says this friend, "was ever a commanding officer so +missed as the one we have just so unhappily lost: such a courteous, +thorough gentleman in word and deed, so thoughtful for others, so +perfect a soldier, so confidence-inspiring a leader. Every soldier in +the regiment misses Colonel Dunn; he was a friend, and felt to be such, +to every one of them. The regiment will never have so universally +esteemed a commander again. We all feel that. For myself I feel that I +have lost a brother who can never be replaced. I can scarcely yet +realize that the dear fellow is really dead, and as I pass his tent +every morning I involuntarily turn my head, expecting to hear his usual +kind salutation, and to see the dear, handsome face that has never +looked at me but with kindness. I breakfasted with him on the morning of +the 25th, and he looked so well as he started off with our surgeon for a +day's shooting. Little did I think that I had looked on his dear old +face for the last time in life. . . . I cannot describe to you what a +shock the sad news was to every one, both in my regiment and indeed in +every one in the camp. Our dear Colonel was so well known, and so +universally liked and respected. + +"Next day, Sunday, the 26th of January, he was buried about 4 o'clock +p.m.. I went to look at the dear old fellow, before his coffin was +closed, and his poor face, though looking so cold, was yet so handsome, +and the expression of it, so peaceful and happy. I cut off some of his +hair, which lately he wore very short, a lock of which I now send you, +keeping one for myself, as the most valuable souvenir I could have of +one I loved very dearly. And I knelt down to give his cold forehead a +long farewell kiss. He was buried in uniform, as he had often expressed +a wish to me to that effect. Every officer in the camp attended his +funeral, and, of course, the whole of his own regiment, in which there +was not a single dry eye, as all stood round the grave of their lost +commander. He has been buried in a piece of ground near where our camp +now stands, at the foot of a small hill covered with shrubbery and many +wild flowers. We have had railings put round the grave, and a stone is +to be placed there with the inscription: In memory of A. R. Dunn, V.C., +Col. 33rd Regiment, who died at Senafe on 25th January, 1868, aged 34 +years and 7 months." + +Thus in remote Abyssinia rest the mortal remains of one who in the happy +unconsciousness of childhood, sported here in grounds and groves which +we are now passing on Queen Street. In numerous other regions of the +earth, once seemingly as unlikely to be their respective final +resting-places, repose the remains of Canadian youth, who have died in +the public service of England. We are sharing in the fortune and history +of the mother country, and like her, or rather like the ubiquitous Roman +citizen of old, we may even already ask "_Quae caret ora cruore +nostro?_"--sadly as individuals, perhaps, but proudly as a people. + +The occupant of Mr. Dunn's house at a later period was Chief Justice +McLean, who died here in 1865. He was born at St. Andrews, near +Cornwall, in 1791. At the battle of Queenston, he served as Lieutenant +in Capt. Cameron's No. 1 Flank Company of York Militia, and received a +severe wound in the early part of the engagement. He was afterwards for +some time Speaker of the House. An admirable full-length painting of +Chief Justice McLean exists at Osgoode Hall. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXIII. + + QUEEN STREET, FROM BROCK STREET AND SPADINA AVENUE TO THE HUMBER. + + +Immediately after the grounds and property of Mr. Dunn, on the same +side, and across the very broad Brock Street, which is an opening of +modern date, was to be seen until recently, a modest dwelling-place of +wood, somewhat peculiar in expression, square, and rather tall for its +depth and width, of dingy hue; its roof four-sided; below, a number of +lean-to's and irregular extensions clustering round; in front, low +shrubbery, a circular drive, and a wide, open-barred gate. This was the +home of one who has acquired a distinguished place in our local annals, +military and civil--Colonel James Fitzgibbon. + +A memorable exploit of his, in the war with the United States in 1813, +was the capture of a force of 450 infantry, 50 cavalry and two guns, +when in command himself, at the moment, of only forty-eight men. He had +been put in charge of a depot of stores, at the Beaver Dams, between +Queenston and Thorold. Colonel Boerstler, of the invading army, was +despatched from Fort George, at Niagara, with orders to take this depot. +Fitzgibbon was apprized of his approach. Reconnoitring, and discovering +that Boerstler had been somewhat disconcerted, on his march, by a +straggling fire from the woods, kept up by a few militiamen and about +thirty Indians under Captain Kerr, he conceived the bold idea of dashing +out and demanding a surrender of the enemy! Accordingly, spreading his +little force judiciously, he suddenly presented himself, waving a white +pocket-handkerchief. He was an officer, he hurriedly announced, in +command of a detachment: his superior officer, with a large force, was +in the rear; and the Indians were unmanageable. (Some extemporized +war-whoops were to be heard at the moment in the distance.) + +The suggestion of a capitulation was listened to by Colonel Boerstler as +a dictate of humanity. The truth was, Major DeHaren, of the Canadian +force, to whom, in the neighbourhood of what is now St. Catharines, a +message had been sent, was momentarily expected, with 200 men. To gain +time, Fitzgibbon made it a matter of importance that the terms of the +surrender should be reduced to writing. Scarcely was the document +completed when DeHaren arrived. Had there been the least further delay +on his part, how to dispose of the prisoners would have been a +perplexing question. + +Lieutenant Fitzgibbon was now soon Captain Fitzgibbon. He had previously +been a private in the 19th and 61st Regiments, having enlisted in +Ireland at the age of seventeen. On the day of his enrolment, he was +promoted to the rank of sergeant; and a very few years later he was a +sergeant-major. He saw active service in Holland and Denmark. His title +of Colonel was derived from his rank in our Canadian Militia. + +His tall muscular figure, ever in buoyant motion; his grey, +good-humoured vivacious eye, beaming out from underneath a bushy, +light-coloured eyebrow; the cheery ring of his voice, and its animated +utterances, were familiar to everyone. In the midst of a gathering of +the young, whether in the school-room or on the play-ground, his +presence was always warmly hailed. They at once recognized in him a +genuine sympathizer with themselves in their ways and wants; and he had +ever ready for them words of hope and encouragement. + +Our own last personal recollection of Colonel Fitzgibbon is connected +with a visit which we chanced to pay him at his quarters in Windsor +Castle, where, in his old age, through the interest of Lord Seaton, he +had been appointed one of the Military Knights. Though most romantically +ensconced and very comfortably lodged, within the walls of the noblest +of all the royal residences of Europe, his heart, we found, was far +away, ever recurring to the scenes of old activities. Where the light +streamed in through what seemed properly an embrasure for cannon, +pierced through a wall several yards in thickness, we saw a pile of +Canadian newspapers. To pore over these was his favourite occupation. + +After chatting with him in his room, we went with him to attend Divine +Service in the magnificent Chapel of St. George, close by. We then +strolled together round the ramparts of the Castle, enjoying the +incomparable views. Since the time of William IV. the habit of the +Military Knights is that of an officer of high rank in full dress, +cocked hat and feather included. As our venerable friend passed the +several sentries placed at intervals about the Castle, arms were duly +presented; an attention which each time elicited from the Colonel the +words, rapidly interposed in the midst of a stream of earnest talk, and +accompanied by deprecatory gestures of the hand, "Never mind _me_, boy! +never mind _me_!" + +Colonel Fitzgibbon took the fancy of Mrs. Jameson when in Canada. She +devotes several pages of her "Winter Studies" to the story of his life. +She gives some account of his marriage. The moment he received his +captaincy, she tells us, "he surprised General Sheaffe, his commanding +officer, by asking for a leave of absence, although the war was still at +its height. In explanation, he said he wished to have his nuptials +celebrated, so that if a fatal disaster happened to himself, his bride +might enjoy the pension of a captain's widow. The desired leave was +granted, and after riding some 150 miles and accomplishing his purpose, +he was back in an incredibly short space of time at head-quarters again. +No fatal disaster occurred, and he lived," Mrs. Jameson adds "to be the +father of four brave sons and one gentle daughter." + +The name of Colonel Fitzgibbon recalls the recollection of his sister, +Mrs. Washburne, remarkable of old, in York, for dash and spirit on +horseback, spite of extra _embonpoint_; for a distinguished dignity of +bearing, combined with a marked Hibernian heartiness and gaiety of +manner. As to the "four brave sons and one gentle daughter," all have +now passed away: one of the former met with a painful death from the +giving way of a crowded gallery at a political meeting in the Market +Square, as previously narrated. All four lads were favourites with their +associates, and partook of their father's temperament. + +Of Spadina Avenue, which we crossed in our approach to Col. Fitzgibbon's +old home, and of Spadina house, visible in the far distance at the head +of the Avenue, we have already spoken in our Collections and +Recollections, connected with Front Street. + +In passing we make an addition to what was then narrated. The career of +Dr. Baldwin, the projector of the Avenue, and the builder of Spadina, is +now a part of Upper Canadian history. It presents a curious instance of +that versatility which we have had occasion to notice in so many of the +men who have been eminent in this country. A medical graduate of +Edinburgh, and in that capacity, commencing life in Ireland--on settling +in Canada, he began the study of Law and became a leading member of the +Bar. + +On his arrival at York, from the first Canadian home of his father on +Baldwin's Creek in the township of Clarke, Dr. Baldwin's purpose was to +turn to account for a time his own educational acquirements, by +undertaking the office of a teacher of youth. In several successive +numbers of the _Gazette and Oracle_ of 1802-3 we read the following +advertisement: "Dr. Baldwin understanding that some of the gentlemen of +this Town have expressed some anxiety for the establishment of a +Classical School, begs leave to inform them and the public that he +intends on Monday the first day of January next, to open a School in +which he will instruct Twelve Boys in Writing, Reading, and Classics and +Arithmetic. The terms are, for each boy, eight guineas per annum, to be +paid quarterly or half-yearly; one guinea entrance and one cord of wood +to be supplied by each of the boys on opening the School. _N.B._--Mr. +Baldwin will meet his pupils at Mr. Willcocks' house on Duke Street. +York, December 18th, 1802." Of the results of this enterprise we have +not at hand any record. + +The Russell bequest augmented in no slight degree the previous +possessions of Dr. Baldwin. In the magnificent dimensions assigned to +the thoroughfare opened up by him in the neighbourhood of Petersfield, +we have probably a visible expression of the large-handed generosity +which a pleasant windfall is apt to inspire. Spadina Avenue is 160 feet +wide throughout its mile-and-a-half length; and the part of Queen Street +that bounds the front of the Petersfield park-lot, is made suddenly to +expand to the width of 90 feet. Maria Street also, a short street here, +is of extra width. The portion of York, now Toronto, laid out by Dr. +Baldwin on a fraction of the land opportunely inherited, will, when +solidly built over, rival Washington or St. Petersburg in grandeur of +ground-plan and design. + +The career of Dr. Rolph, another of our early Upper Canadian +notabilities, resembles in some respects, that of Dr. Baldwin. Before +emigrating from Gloucestershire, he began life as a medical man. On +arriving in Canada he transferred himself to the Bar. In this case, +however, after the attainment of eminence in the newly adopted +profession, there was a return to the original pursuit, with the +acquisition in that also, of a splendid reputation. Both acquired the +local style of Honourable: Dr. Rolph by having been a member of the +Hincks-ministry from 1851 to 1854; Dr. Baldwin by being summoned, six +months before his decease, to the Legislative Council of United Canada, +while his son was Attorney-General. + +Mr. William Willcocks, allied by marriage to Dr. Baldwin's family, +selected the park-lot at which we arrive after crossing Spadina Avenue. +A lake in the Oak Ridges (Lake Willcocks) has its name from the same +early inhabitant. In 1802 he was Judge of the Home District Court. He is +to be distinguished from the ultra-Reformer, Sheriff Willcocks, of Judge +Thorpe's day, whose name was Joseph; and from Charles Willcocks, who in +1818 was proposing, through the columns of the _Upper Canada Gazette_, +to publish, by subscription, a history of his own life. The +advertisement was as follows (what finally came of it, we are not able +to state):--"The subscriber proposes to publish, by subscription, a +History of his Life. The subscription to be One Dollar, to be paid by +each subscriber; one-half in advance; the other half on the delivery of +the Book. The money to be paid to his agent, Mr. Thomas Deary, who will +give receipts and deliver the Books. Charles Willcocks, late Lieutenant, +City of Cork Militia. York, March, 17th, 1818." + +This Mr. Charles Willcocks once fancied he had grounds for challenging +his name-sake, Joseph, to mortal combat, according to the barbaric +notions of the time. But at the hour named for the meeting, Joseph did +not appear on the ground. Charles waited a reasonable time. He then +chipped off a square inch or so of the bark of a neighbouring tree, and, +stationing himself at duelling distance, discharged his pistol at the +mark which he had made. As the ball buried itself in the spot at which +aim had been taken, he loudly bewailed his old friend's reluctance to +face him. "Oh, Joe, Joe!" he passionately cried, "if you had only been +here!" + +Although Joseph escaped this time, he was not so fortunate afterwards. +He fell, as we have already noted in connexion with the Early Press, +"foremost fighting" in the ranks of the invaders of Upper Canada in +1814. The incident is briefly mentioned in the Montreal _Herald_ of the +15th of October, in that year, in the following terms: "It is officially +announced by General Ripley (on the American side, that is), that the +traitor Willcocks was killed in the sortie from Fort Erie on the 4th +ult., greatly lamented by his general and the army." Undertaking with +impetuosity a crusade against the governmental ideas which were locally +in the ascendant, and encountering the resistance customary in such +cases, he cut the knot of his discontent by joining the Republican force +when it made its appearance. + +The Willcocks park-lot, or a portion of it, was afterwards possessed by +Mr. Billings, a well-remembered Commissariat officer, long stationed at +York. He built the house subsequently known as Englefield, which, later, +was the home of Colonel Loring, who, at the time of the taking of York, +in 1813, had his horse killed under him; and here he died. Mr. Billings +and Colonel Loring both had sons, of whom we make brief mention as +having been in the olden times among our own school-boy associates, but +who now, like so many more personal contemporaries, already noted, are, +after brief careers, deceased. An announcement in the Montreal _Herald_ +of February 4th, 1815, admits us to a domestic scene in the household of +Colonel, at the time Captain, Loring. (The Treaty of Peace with the +United States was signed at Ghent, on the 24th of December, 1814. Its +effect was being pleasantly realized in Canada, in January, 1815). "At +Prescott," the _Herald_ reports, "on Thursday, 26th January, the lady of +Capt. Loring, Aide-de-Camp and Private Secretary to His Honor +Lieut.-Gen. Drummond, was safely delivered of a daughter." The _Herald_ +then adds: "The happy father had returned from a state of captivity with +the enemy, but a few hours previous to the joyful event." Capt. Loring +had been taken prisoner in the battle of Lundy's Lane, in the preceding +July. + +The first occupant of the next lot (No. 16) westward, was Mr. Baby, of +whom we have spoken in former sections. Opposite was the house of +Bernard Turquand, an Englishman of note, for many years first clerk in +the Receiver-General's department. He was an early promoter of amateur +boating among us, a recreation with which possibly he had become +familiar at Malta, where he was long a resident. Just beyond on the same +side, was the dwelling-place of Major Winniett,--a long, low, one-storey +bungalow, of a neutral tint in colour, its roof spreading out, +verandah-wise, on both sides. + +After the name of Mr. Baby, on the early plan of the park-lots, comes +the name of Mr. Grant--"the Hon. Alexander Grant." During the +interregnum between the death of Governor Hunter and the arrival of +Governor Gore, Mr. Grant, as senior member of the Executive Council, was +President of Upper Canada. The Parliament that sat during his brief +administration, appropriated L800 to the purchase of instruments for +illustrating the principles of Natural Philosophy, "to be deposited in +the hands of a person employed in the Education of Youth;" from the +debris of which collection, preserved in a mutilated condition in one of +the rooms of the Home District School building, we ourselves, like +others probably of our contemporaries, obtained our very earliest +inkling of the existence and significance of scientific apparatus. + +In his speech at the close of the session of 1806, President Grant +alluded to this action of Parliament in the following terms: "The +encouragement which you have given for procuring the means necessary for +communicating useful and ornamental knowledge to the rising generation, +meets with my approbation, and, I have no doubt, will produce the most +salutary effects." Mr. Grant was also known as Commodore Grant, having +had, at one time, command of the Naval Force on the Lakes. + +After Mr. Grant's name appears that of "E. B. Littlehales." This is the +Major Littlehales with whom those who familiarize themselves with the +earliest records of Upper Canada become so well acquainted. He was the +writer, for example, of the interesting journal of an Exploring +Excursion from Niagara to Detroit in 1793, to be seen in print in the +_Canadian Literary Magazine_ of May, 1834; an expedition undertaken, as +the document itself sets forth, by the Lieut.-Governor, accompanied by +Captain Fitzgerald, Lieutenant Smith of the 5th Regiment, and +Lieutenants Talbot, Grey and Givins, and Major Littlehales, starting +from Niagara on the 4th of February, arriving at Detroit on the 18th, by +a route which was 270 miles in length. The return began on the 23rd, and +was completed on the 10th of the following month. + +It was in this expedition that the site of London, on the Thames, was +first examined, and judged to be "a situation eminently calculated for +the metropolis of all Canada." "Among other essentials," says Major +Littlehales, "it possesses the following advantages: command of +territory--internal situation--central position, facility of water +communication up and down the Thames into Lakes St. Clair, Erie, Huron, +and Superior,--navigable for boats to near its source, and for small +craft probably to the Moravian settlement,--to the southward by a +small portage to the waters flowing into Lake Huron--to the south-east +by a carrying-place into Lake Ontario and the River St. Lawrence; the +soil luxuriantly fertile,--the land rich and capable of being easily +cleared, and soon put into a state of agriculture,--a pinery upon an +adjacent high knoll, and other timber on the heights, well calculated +for the erection of public buildings,--a climate not inferior to any +part of Canada." + +The intention of the Governor, at one time, was that the future capital +should be named Georgina, in compliment to George III. Had that +intention been adhered to, posterity would have been saved some +confusion. To this hour, the name of our Canadian London gives trouble +in the post-office and elsewhere. Georgina was a name not inaptly +conceived, suggested doubtless by the title "Augusta," borne by so many +places of old, as, for example, by London itself, the Veritable, in +honour of the Augustus, the Emperor of the day. We might perhaps have +rather expected Georgiana, on the analogy of Aureliana (Orleans), from +Aurelius, or Georgia, after Julia, a frequent local appellation from the +imperial Julius.--Already, had Georgius, temp. Geo. II., yielded Georgia +as the name of a province, and later, temp. Geo. III., the same royal +name had been associated with the style and title of a new planet, the +Georgium Sidus, suggested probably by the Julium Sidus of Horace. We +presume, also, that the large subdivision of Lake Huron, known as the +Georgian Bay, had for its name a like loyal origin. (The name Georgina, +is preserved in that of a now flourishing township on Lake Simcoe.) + +An incident not recorded in Major Littlehales' Journal was the order of +a grand parade (of ten men), and a formal discharge of musketry, issued +in jocose mood by the Governor to Lieut. Givins; which was duly executed +as a ceremony of inauguration for the new capital. + +The capture of a porcupine, however, somewhere near the site of the +proposed metropolis is noted by the Major. In the narrative the name of +Lieut. Givins comes up. "The young Indians who had chased a herd of deer +in company with Lieut. Givins," he says, "returned unsuccessful, but +brought with them a large porcupine: which was very seasonable," he +remarks, "as our provisions were nearly exhausted. This animal," he +observes, "afforded us a good repast, and tasted like a pig." The +Newfoundland dog, he adds, attempted to bite the porcupine, but soon got +his mouth filled with the barbed quills, which gave him exquisite pain. +An Indian undertook to extract them, he then says, and with much +perseverance plucked them out, one by one, and carefully applied a root +or decoction, which speedily healed the wound. + +From Major Littlehales' Journal it appears that it was the practice of +the party to wind up each day's proceedings by singing "God save the +King." Thus on the 28th Feb., before arriving at the site of London, we +have it recorded: "At six we stopped at an old Mississagua hut, upon the +south side of the Thames. After taking some refreshment of salt pork and +venison, well-cooked by Lieutenant Smith, who superintended that +department, we, as usual, sang God save the King, and went to rest." + +The Duke de Liancourt, in his _Travels in North America_, speaks of +Major Littlehales in the following pleasant terms: "Before I close the +article of Niagara," he says, "I must make particular mention of the +civility shewn us by Major Littlehales, adjutant and first secretary to +the Governor, a well-bred, mild and amiable man, who has the charge of +the whole correspondence of government, and acquits himself with +peculiar ability and application. Major Littlehales," the Duke says, +"appeared to possess the confidence of the country. This is not +unfrequently the case with men in place and power; but his worth, +politeness, prudence, and judgment, give this officer peculiar claims to +the confidence and respect which he universally enjoys." + +In the _Oracle_ of Feb. 24, 1798, a report of the death of this officer +is contradicted. "We have the pleasure of declaring the account received +in December last of the death of Col. Littlehales premature. Letters +have been recently received from him dated in England." He had probably +returned home with Gen. Simcoe. In the same paper a flying rumour is +noticed, to the effect "that His Excellency Governor Simcoe is appointed +Governor General of the Canadas." + +Major Littlehales afterwards attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, +and was created a baronet in 1802. In 1801 he was appointed +under-Secretary for Ireland; and he held this office for nineteen years. + +Major Littlehales' park-lot became subsequently the property of Capt. +John Denison, and from him descended to his heir Col. George Taylor +Denison, from whom the street now passing from south to north has its +name, Denison Avenue. This thoroughfare was, in the first instance, the +drive up to the homestead of the estate, Bellevue, a large white +cheery-looking abode, lying far back but pleasantly visible from Lot +Street through a long vista of overhanging trees.--From the old Bellevue +have spread populous colonies at Dovercourt, Rusholme and elsewhere, +marked, like their progenitor, with vigour of character, and evincing in +a succession of instances strong aptitude for military affairs. Col. +Denison's grandson, G. T. Denison _tertius_, is the author of a work on +"Modern Cavalry, its Organisation, Armament and Employment in War," +which has taken a recognized place in English strategetical literature. + +In accordance with an early Canadian practice, Capt. John Dennison set +apart on his property a plot of ground as a receptacle for the mortal +remains of himself and his descendants. He selected for this purpose a +picturesque spot on land possessed by him on the Humber river, entailing +at the same time the surrounding estate. In 1853,--although at that date +an Act of Parliament had cancelled entails,--his heir, Col. G. T. +Denison, _primus_, perpetually connected the land referred to, together +with the burial plot, with his family and descendants, by converting it +into an endowment for an ecclesiastical living, to be always in the gift +of the legal representative of his name. This is the projected rectory +of St. John's on the Humber. In 1857, a son of Col. Denison's, Robert +Britton Denison, erected at his own cost, in immediate proximity to the +old Bellevue homestead, the church of St. Stephen, and took steps to +make it in perpetuity a recognized ecclesiastical benefice. + +The boundary of Major Littlehales' lot westward was near what is now +Bathurst Street. In front of this lot, on the south side of Lot street, +and stretching far to the west, was the Government Common, of which we +have previously spoken, on which was traced out, at first ideally, and +at length in reality, the arc of a circle of 1,000 yards radius, having +the Garrison as its centre. Southward of the concave side of this arc no +buildings were for a long time permitted to be erected. This gave rise +to a curiously-shaped enclosure, northward of St. Andrew's Market-house, +wide towards the east, but vanishing off to nothing on the west, at the +point where Lot Street formed a tangent with the military circle. + +Of Portland Street and Bathurst Street we have already spoken in our +survey of Front Street. Immediately opposite Portland Street was the +abode, at the latter period of his life, of Dr. Lee, to whom we have +referred in our accounts of Front and George Streets. Glancing northward +as we pass Bathurst Street, which, by the way, north of Lot Street, was +long known as Crookshank's Lane, we are reminded again of Mr. Murchison, +whom we have likewise briefly commemorated elsewhere. The substantial +abode to which he retired after acquiring a good competency, and where +in 1870 he died, is to be seen on the east side of Bathurst Street. + +The names which appear in the early plans of York and its suburbs, as +the first possessors of the park lots westward of Major Littlehales', +are, in order of succession, respectively, Col. David Shank, Capt. +Macdonell, Capt. S. Smith, Capt. AE. Shaw, Capt. Bouchette. We then +arrive at the line of the present Dundas road, where it passes at right +angles north from the line of Queen Street. This thoroughfare is not +laid down in the plans. Then follow the names of David Burns, William +Chewitt and Alexander MacNab (conjointly), Thomas Ridout and William +Allan (conjointly), and Angus Macdonell. We then reach a road duly +marked, leading straight down to the French Fort, Fort Rouille, commonly +known as Fort Toronto. Across this road westward, only one lot is laid +off, and on it is the name of Benjamin Hallowell. + +Most of the names first enumerated are very familiar to those whose +recollections embrace the period to which our attention is now being +directed. Many of them have occurred again and again in these papers. + +In regard to Col. David Shank, the first occupant of the park lot +westward of Major Littlehales', we must content ourselves with some +brief "Collections." In the Simcoe correspondence, preserved at Ottawa, +there is an interesting mention of him, associated, as it appropriately +happens, with his neighbour-locatees to the east and west here on Lot +Street. In a private letter to the "Secretary at War," Sir George Yonge, +from Governor Simcoe, dated Jan. 17th, 1792, announcing his arrival at +Montreal, _en route_ for his new Government, still far up "the most +august of rivers," Capt. Shank is spoken of as being on his way to the +same destination in command of a portion of the Queen's Rangers, in +company with Capt. Smith. + +There is noted in the same document, it will be observed, a gallant +achievement of Capt. Shaw's, who, the Governor reports, had just +successfully marched with his division of the same regiment all the way +from New Brunswick to Montreal, in the depth of winter, on snow-shoes. +"It is with infinite pleasure," writes Governor Simcoe to Sir George +Yonge, "that I received your letter of the 1st of April by Capt. +Littlehales. On the 13th of June," he continues, "that officer overtook +me on the St. Lawrence, as I was on my passage in batteaux up the most +august of rivers. It has given me great satisfaction," the Governor +says, "that the Queen's Rangers have arrived so early. Capt. Shaw, who +crossed in the depth of winter on snow-shoes from New Brunswick, is now +at Kingston with the troops of the two first ships; and Captains Shank +and Smith, with the remainder, are, I trust, at no great distance from +this place,--as the wind has served for the last 36 hours, and I hope +with sufficient force to enable them to pass the Rapids of the +Richelieu, where they have been detained some days." Governor Simcoe +himself, as we learn from this correspondence, had landed at Quebec on +the 11th of November preceding (1791), in the "Triton," Capt. Murray, +"after a blustering passage." + +In addition to the lot immediately after Major Littlehales', Col. Shank +also possessed another in this range, just beyond, viz., No. 21. + +The Capt. Macdonell, whose name appears on the lot that follows Col. +Shank's first lot, was the aide-de-camp of Gen. Brock, who fell, with +that General, at Queenston Heights. Capt. Macdonell's lot was afterwards +the property of Mr. Crookshank, from whom what is now Bathurst Street +North had, as we have remarked, for a time the name of Crookshank's +Lane. + +Capt. S. Smith, whose name follows those of Capt. Macdonell and Col. +Shank, was afterwards President Smith, of whom already. The park lot +selected by him was subsequently the property of Mr. Duncan Cameron, a +member of the Legislative Council, freshly remembered. At an early +period, the whole was known by the graceful appellation of Gore Vale. +Gore was in honour of the Governor of that name. Vale denoted the ravine +which indented a portion of the lot through whose meadow-land meandered +a pleasant little stream. The southern half of this lot now forms the +site and grounds of the University of Trinity College. Its brooklet will +hereafter be famous in scholastic song. It will be regarded as the +Cephissus of a Canadian Academus, the Cherwell of an infant Christ +Church. The elmy dale which gives such agreeable variety to the park of +Trinity College, and which renders so charming the views from the +Provost's Lodge, is irrigated by it. (The cupola and tower of the +principal entrance to Trinity College will pleasantly, in however humble +a degree, recall to the minds of Oxford-men, the Tom Gate of Christ +Church.)--After the decease of Mr. Cameron, Gore Vale was long occupied +by his excellent and benevolent sister, Miss Janet Cameron. + +On the steep mound which overhangs the Gore Vale brook, on its eastern +side, just where it is crossed by Queen Street, was, at an early period, +a Blockhouse commanding the western approach to York. On the old plans +this military work is shown, as also a path leading to it across the +Common from the Garrison, trodden often probably by the relief party of +the guard that would be stationed there in anxious times. + +In the valley of this stream a little farther to the west, on the +opposite side of Queen Street, was a Brewery of local repute: it was a +long, low-lying dingy-looking building of hewn logs; on the side towards +the street a railed gangway led from the road to a door in its upper +storey. Conspicuous on the hill above the valley on the western side was +the house, also of hewn logs, but cased over with clap-boards, of Mr. +Farr, the proprietor of the brewery, a north-of-England man in aspect, +as well as in staidness and shrewdness of character. His spare form and +slightly crippled gait were everywhere familiarly recognized. Greatly +respected, he was still surviving in 1872. His chief assistant in the +old brewery bore the name of Bow-beer. (At Canterbury, we remember, many +years ago, when the abbey of St. Augustine there, now a famous +Missionary College, was a Brewery, on the beautiful turretted gateway, +wherein were the coolers, the inscription "Beer, Brewer," was +conspicuous; the name of the brewer in occupation of the grand monastic +ruin being Beer, a common name, sometimes given as Bere; but which in +reality is Bear.) + +The stream which is here crossed by Queen Street is the same that +afterwards flows below the easternmost bastion of the Fort. A portion of +the broken ground between Farr's and the Garrison was once designated by +the local Government--so far as an order in Council has force--and +permanently set apart, as a site for a Museum and Institute of Natural +History and Philosophy, with Botanical and Zoological Gardens attached. +The project, originated by Dr. Dunlop, Dr. Rees and Mr. Fothergill, and +patronized by successive Lieutenant-Governors, was probably too bold in +its conception, and too advanced to be justly appreciated and earnestly +taken up by a sufficient number of the contemporary public forty years +ago. It consequently fell to the ground. It is to be regretted that, at +all events, the land, for which an order in Council stands recorded, was +not secured in perpetuity as a source of revenue for the promotion of +science. In the Canadian Institute we have the kind of Association which +was designed by Drs. Dunlop and Rees and Mr. Fothergill, but minus the +revenue which the ground-rent of two or three building lots in a +flourishing city would conveniently supply. + +Capt. AEneas Shaw, the original locatee of the park-lot next westward of +Colonel Shank's second lot, was afterwards well known in Upper Canada as +Major General Shaw. Like so many of our early men of note he was a +Scotchman; a Shaw of Tordorach in Strathnairn. Possessed of great vigour +and decision, his adopted country availed itself of his services in a +civil as well as a military capacity, making him a member of the +legislative and executive councils. The name by which his house and +estate at this point were known, was Oakhill. The primitive domicile +still exists and in 1871 was still occupied by one of his many +descendants, Capt. Alex. Shaw.--It was at Oakhill that the Duke of Kent +was lodged during his visit to York in his second tour in Upper Canada. +The Duke arrived at Halifax on the 12th of September, 1799, after a +passage from England of forty-three days, "on board of the Arethusa." + +Of Col. Joseph Bouchette, whose name is read on the following allotment, +we have had occasion already to speak. He was one of the many French +Canadians of eminence who, in the early days, were distinguished for +their chivalrous attachment to the cause and service of England. The +successor of Col. Bouchette in the proprietorship of the park lot at +which we have arrived, was Col. Givins.--He, as we have already seen, +was one of the companions of Gov. Simcoe in the first exploration of +Upper Canada. Before obtaining a commission in the army, he had been as +a youth employed in the North-West, and had acquired a familiar +acquaintance with the Otchibway and Huron dialects. This acquisition +rendered his services of especial value to the Government in its +dealings with the native tribes, among whom also the mettle and ardor +and energy of his own natural character gave him a powerful influence. +At the express desire of Governor Simcoe he studied and mastered the +dialects of the Six Nations, as well as those of the Otchibways and +their Mississaga allies.--We ourselves remember seeing a considerable +body of Indian chiefs kept in order and good humour mainly through the +tact exercised by Col. Givins. This was at a Council held in the garden +at Government House some forty years since, and presided over by the +then Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Colborne. + +Col. Givins was Superintendent of Indian Affairs down to the year 1842. +In 1828 his name was connected with an incident that locally made a +noise for a time. A committee of the House of Assembly, desiring to have +his evidence and that of Col. Coffin, Adjutant General of Militia, in +relation to a trespass by one Forsyth on Government property at the +Falls of Niagara, commanded their presence at a certain day and hour. On +referring to Sir Peregrine Maitland, the Lieutenant-Governor at the +time, and also Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, permission to obey the +mandate of the House was refused. Col. Givins and Col. Coffin were then +arrested by the Sergeant-at-arms, after forcible entry effected at their +respective domiciles, and were kept confined in the common gaol until +the close of the session. + +The following is Col. Coffin's letter to Major Hillier, private +secretary to the Governor, on the occasion: "York, March 22nd, 1828. +Sir,--I beg leave to request that you will state to the Lieutenant +Governor that in obedience to the communication I received through you, +that His Excellency could not give me permission to attend a Committee +of the House of Assembly for the reason therein stated, that I did not +attend the said Committee, and that in consequence thereof, I have been +committed this evening to the common gaol of the Home District, by order +of the House of Assembly. I have therefore to pray that His Excellency +will be pleased to direct that I may have the advice and assistance of +the Crown Officers, to enable me take such steps as I may be instructed +on the occasion. I have the honour, &c., N. Coffin, Adjt. Gen. of +Militia." + +No redress was to be had. The Executive Council reported in regard to +this letter that upon mature consideration they could not advise that +the Government should interfere to give any direction to the Crown +Officers, as therein solicited. Sir Peregrine Maitland was removed from +the Government in the same year. Sir George Murray, who in that year +succeeded Mr. Huskisson as Colonial Secretary, severely censured him for +the line of action adopted in relation to the Forsyth grievance. + +Colonels Givins and Coffin afterwards brought an action against the +Speaker of the House for false imprisonment, but they did not recover: +for the legality of the imprisonment, that is the right of the House to +convict for what they had adjudged a contempt, was confirmed by the +Court of King's Bench, by a solemn judgment rendered in another cause +then pending, which involved the same question. + +Although its hundred-acre domain is being rapidly narrowed and +circumscribed by the encroachments of modern improvement, the old family +abode of Col. Givins still stands, wearing at this day a look of +peculiar calm and tranquillity, screened from the outer world by a dark +grove of second-growth pine, and overshadowed by a number of acacias of +unusual height and girth. + +Governor Gore and his lady, Mrs. Arabella Gore, were constant visitors +at Pine Grove, as this house was named; and here to this day is +preserved a very fine portrait, in oil, of that Governor. It will +satisfy the ideal likely to be fashioned in the mind by the current +traditions of this particular ruler of Upper Canada. In contour of +countenance and in costume he is plainly of the type of the English +country squire of a former day. He looks good humoured and shrewd; +sturdy and self-willed; and fond of good cheer. + +The cavalier style adopted by Gov. Gore towards the local parliament was +one of the seeds of trouble at a later date in the history of Upper +Canada. "He would dismiss the rascals at once." Such was his +determination on their coming to a vote adverse to his notions; and, +scarcely like a Cromwell, but rather like a Louis XIV., though still +not, as in the case of that monarch, with a riding-whip in his hand, but +nevertheless, in the undress of the moment, he proceeded to carry out +his hasty resolve. + +The entry of the incident in the Journals of the House is as follows: +"On Monday, 7th April, at 11 o'clock a.m., before the minutes of the +former day were read, and without any previous notice, the Commons, to +the great surprise of all the members, were summoned to the bar of the +Legislative Council, when his Excellency having assented, in his +Majesty's name, to several bills, and reserved for his Majesty's +pleasure the Bank bill, and another, to enable creditors to sue joint +debtors separately, put an end to the session by the following +speech:--'Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen +of the House of Assembly,--The session of the provincial legislature +having been protracted by an unusual interruption of business at its +commencement, your longer absence from your respective avocations must +be too great a sacrifice for the objects which remain to occupy your +attention. I have therefore come to close the session and permit you to +return to your homes. In accepting, in the name of his Majesty, the +supply for defraying the deficiency of the funds which have hitherto +served to meet the charges of the administration of justice and support +of the civil government of this province, I have great satisfaction in +acknowledging the readiness manifested to meet this exigence.'" + +Upper Canadian society was, indeed, in an infant state; but the growing +intelligence of many of its constituents, especially in the non-official +ranks, rendered it unwise in rulers to push the feudal or paternal +theory of government too far. The names of the majority in the +particular division of the Lower House which brought on the sudden +prorogation just described are the following:--McDonell, McMartin, +Cameron, Jones, Howard, Casey, Robinson, Nellis, Secord, Nichol, +Burwell, McCormack, Cornwall. Of the minority: Van Koughnet, Crystler, +Fraser, Cotter, McNab, Swayze, and Clench. + +Six weeks after, Governor Gore was on his way to England, not recalled, +as it would seem, but purposing to give an account of himself in his own +person. He never returned. He is understood to have had a powerful +friend at Court in the person of the Marquis of Camden. + +One of the "districts" of Upper Canada was called after Governor Gore. +It was set off, during his regime, from the Home and Niagara districts. +But of late years county names have rendered the old district names +unfamiliar. In 1837, "the men of Gore" was a phrase invested with +stirring associations. + +The town of Belleville received its name from Gov. Gore. In early +newspapers and other documents the word appears as Bellville, without +the central _e_, which gives it now such a fine French look. And this, +it is said, is the true orthography. "Bell," we are told, was the +Governor's familiar abbreviation of his wife's name, Arabella: and the +compound was suggested by the Governor jocosely, as a name for the new +village: but it was set down in earnest, and has continued, the sound at +least, to this day. This off-hand assignment of a local name may remind +some persons that Flos, Tay and Tiny, which are names of three now +populous townships in the Penetanguishene region, are a commemoration of +three of Lady Sarah Maitland's lap-dogs. Changes of names in such cases +as these are not unjustifiable. + +In fact, the Executive Council itself, at the period of which we are +speaking, had occasionally found it proper to change local names which +had been frivolously given. In the _Upper Canada Gazette_ of March 11th, +1822, we have several such alterations. It would seem that some one +having access to the map or plan of a newly surveyed region, had +inscribed across the parallelograms betokening townships, a fragment of +a well-known Latin sentence, "_jus et norma_," placing each separate +word in a separate compartment. In this way Upper Canada had for a time +a township of "Jus," and more wonderful still, a township of "Et." In +the number of the _Gazette_ of the date given above these names are +formally changed to Barrie and Palmerston respectively. In the same +advertisement, "Norma," which might have passed, is made "Clarendon." + +Other impertinent appellations are also at the same time changed. The +township of "Yea" is ordered to be hereafter the township of "Burleigh," +with a humorous allusion to the famous nod, probably. The township of +"No" is to be the township of Grimsthorpe; and the township of "Aye," +the township of Anglesea.--The name "Et" may recall the street known as +"Of" alley, on the south side of the Strand, in London, which "Of" is a +portion of the name and title "George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham," +distributed severally among a cluster of streets in that locality. + +Gov. Gore was so fortunate as to be away from his Province during the +whole of the war in 1812-13-14. He obtained leave of absence to visit +England in 1811, and returned to his post in 1815, the Presidents, Isaac +Brock, Roger Hale Sheaffe, and Gordon Drummond, Esquires, reigning in +the interim. + +Under date of York U. C., Sept., 30, 1815, we read the following +particulars in the _Gazette_ of the day:--"Arrived on Monday last the +25th instant, His Excellency Francis Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of +the Province of Upper Canada, to reassume the reins of government. His +Excellency was received with a cordial welcome and the honours due to +his rank; and was saluted by his M. S. Montreal, and Garrison." + +We are also informed that "On Wednesday the 27th instant, he was waited +on by a deputation, and presented with the following address: To His +Excellency, Francis Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of +Upper Canada, &c., &c., &c. We, the Judges, Magistrates and principal +Inhabitants of the Town of York, in approaching your Excellency to +express our great satisfaction at beholding you once more among us, feel +that we have still greater reason to congratulate ourselves on this +happy event. Our experience of your past firm and liberal +administration, by which the prosperity of the Province has been so +essentially promoted, teaches us to anticipate the greater benefit from +its resumption; and this pleasing anticipation is confirmed by our +knowledge of that paternal solicitude which induced you while in England +to bring, upon all proper occasions, the interests of the Colony under +the favourable attention of His Majesty's Government; a solicitude which +calls forth in our hearts the most grateful emotions. We rejoice that +the blessings of peace are to be dispensed by one who is so well +acquainted with the wants and feelings of the Colony; and we flatter +ourselves that York, recovering from a state of war, (during which she +has been twice in the power of the enemy), will not only forget her +disasters, but rise to greater prosperity under your Excellency's +auspicious administration. York, September 27th, 1815. Thos. Scott, +C.J., W. Dummer Powell, John Strachan, D.D., John McGill, John Beikie, +M.P., Grant Powell J.P., W. Chewett, J.P., J. G. Chewett, W. Lee, Sam. +Smith, W. Claus, Benjamin Gale, D. Cameron, D. Boulton, jun., George +Ridout, And. Mercer, Thomas Ridout, J.P., W. Jarvis, Sec. and Reg., S. +Jarvis, J.P., John Small, J.P., W. Allan, J.P., J. Givins, E. MacMahon, +J. Scarlett, S. Heward, Thos. Hamilton, C. Baynes, John Dennis, P. K. +Hartney, Jno. Cameron, E. W. McBride, Jordan Post, jun., Levi Bigelow, +John Hays, T. R. Johnson, Lardner Bostwick, John Burke, John Jordan, W. +Smith, sen., W. Smith, jun., J. Cawthra, John Smith, Alex. Legge, Jordan +Post, sen., Andrew O'Keefe, S. A. Lumsden, John Murchison, Thomas Deary, +Ezek. Benson, A. NcNabb, Edward Wright, John Evans, W. Lawrence, Thos. +Duggan, George Duggan, Benjamin Cozens, Philip Klinger, and Sheriff +Ridout. To which His Excellency was pleased to make the following +answer: Gentlemen: After so long an absence from this place it is +particularly gratifying to find the same sentiments of cordiality to +me, and of approbation of my conduct, which I experienced during my +former residence in this Province. It is but doing me justice to say +that, while in Europe, I paid every attention in my power to promote +your prosperity; and such, you may be assured, shall be my future +endeavour when residing amongst you; earnestly hoping that, under the +fostering care of our Parent State, and under that security which Peace +alone can bestow, this Colony will speedily become a valuable, though +distant part of the British Empire. York, 27th September, 1815." + +On the 7th of the following month, it is announced that "His Royal +Highness, the Prince Regent acting in the name and on the behalf of His +Majesty, has been pleased to appoint Thomas Fraser, Esquire, of +Prescott, Neil McLean, Esquire, of Cornwall, Thomas Clark, Esquire, of +Queenston, and William Dickson, Esquire, of Niagara, to be members of +the Legislative Council; Samuel Smith, Esquire, of Etobicoke, to be a +member of the Executive Council, and Doctor John Strachan, to be an +Honorary Member of the same Council." + +By one of the acts passed during the administration of Gov. Gore, the +foundation was laid of a parliamentary library, to replace the one +destroyed or dispersed during the occupation of York in 1813. In the +session of 1816, the sum of L800 was voted for the purchase of books for +the use of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly. + +The sum of L800 for such a purpose contrasts poorly, however, with the +L3,000 recommended in the same session, to be granted to Gov. Gore +himself, for the purchase of "Plate." The joint address of both Houses +to the Prince Regent, on this subject, was couched in the following +terms: "To his Royal Highness, George, Prince of Wales, Prince Regent of +the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, &c., &c., &c.: May it +please your Royal Highness: We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal +subjects, the Legislative Council and House of Assembly of the Province +of Upper Canada, in Provincial Parliament assembled, impressed with a +lively sense of the firm, upright, and liberal administration of Francis +Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of this Province, as well as of his +unceasing attention to the individual and general interests of the +Colony during his absence, have unanimously passed a bill to appropriate +the sum of three thousand pounds, to enable him to purchase a service +of plate, commemorative of our gratitude. Apprized that this spontaneous +gift cannot receive the sanction of our beloved Sovereign in the +ordinary mode, by the acceptance of the Lieutenant-Governor in his name +and behalf; we, the Legislative Council and Assembly of the Province of +Upper Canada, humbly beg leave to approach your Royal Highness with an +earnest prayer that you will approve this demonstration of our +gratitude, and graciously be pleased to sanction, in His Majesty's name, +the grant of the Legislature, in behalf of the inhabitants of Upper +Canada. Wm. Dummer Powell, Speaker, Legislative Council Chambers, 26th +March, 1816. Allan Maclean, Speaker, Commons House of Assembly, 25th +March, 1816." + +To which, as we are next informed, his Excellency replied: "Gentlemen: I +shall transmit your address to His Majesty's Ministers, in order that +their expression of your approbation of my past administration may be +laid at the feet of His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent. Government +House, York, 26th March, 1816." The Bill which suggested this allowance +was popularly spoken of as the "Spoon-bill." The House that passed the +measure was the same that, a few weeks later, was so abruptly dismissed. + +The name on the allotment following that occupied successively by Col. +Bouchette and Col. Givins, is "David Burns." Mr. Burns, who had been a +Navy surgeon, was the first Clerk of the Crown for Upper Canada, and one +of the "Masters in Chancery." He died in 1806. In the _Gazette and +Oracle_ of Saturday, Feb. 15th, in that year, we have verses to the +memory of the late David Burns, Esq. We make the following extract, +which is suggestive:-- + + "Say, power of Truth, so great, so unconfined, + And solve the doubt which so distracts my mind-- + Why Strength to Weakness is so near allied? + Perhaps 'tis given to humble human pride. + At times perchance frail Nature held the sway, + Yet dimm'd not it the intellectual ray: + Reason and Truth triumphant held their course, + And list'ning hearers felt conviction's force: + No precept mangled, text misunderstood, + He thought and acted but for public good: + His reasoning pure, his mind all manly light, + Made day of that which else appear'd as night. + In him instruction aim'd at this great end-- + Our fates to soften and our lives amend. + Yet he was man, and man's the child of woe: + Who seeks perfection, seeks not here below." + +From the paper of September, 1806, it appears that numerous books were +missing out of the library of the deceased gentleman. His administrator, +Alexander Burns, advertises: "The following books, with many others, +being lent by the deceased, it is particularly entreated that they may +be immediately returned:--Plutarch's Lives, 1st volume; Voltaire's +Works, 11th do., in French, half-bound; Titi Livii, Latin, 1st do.; +Guthrie's History of Scotland, 1st and 2nd do.; Rollin's Ancient +History, 1st do.; Pope's Works, 5th do.; Swift's Works, 5th and 8th do., +half-bound; Moliere's, 6th do., French." + +Of Col. W. Chewett, whose name appears next, we have made mention more +than once. His name, like that of his son, J. G. Chewett, is very +familiar to those who have to examine the plans and charts connected +with early Upper Canadian history. Both were long distinguished +_attaches_ of the Surveyor-General's department. In 1802, Col. W. +Chewett was Registrar of the Home District. + +Alexander Macnab, whose name occurs next in succession, was afterwards +Capt. Macnab, who fell at Waterloo, the only instance, as is supposed, +of a Canadian slain on that occasion. In 1868, his nephew, the Rev. Dr. +Macnab, of Bowmanville, was presented by the Duke of Cambridge in person +with the Waterloo medal due to the family of Capt. Macnab. + +Alexander Macnab was also the first patentee of the plot of ground +whereon stands the house on Bay Street noted, in our account of the +early press, as being the place of publication of the _Upper Canada +Gazette_ at the time of the taking of York, and subsequently owned and +occupied by Mr. Andrew Mercer up to the time of his decease in 1871. + +Of Messrs. Ridout and Allan, whose names are inscribed conjointly on the +following park lot, we have already spoken; and Angus Macdonell, who +took up the next lot, was the barrister who perished, along with the +whole court, in the _Speedy_. + +The name that appears on the westernmost lot of the range along which we +have been passing is that of Benjamin Hallowell. He was a near +connection of Chief Justice Elmsley's, and father of the Admiral, Sir +Benjamin Hallowell, K.C.B. We observe the notice of Mr. Hallowell's +death in the _Gazette and Oracle_ of the day, in the following +terms:--"Died, on Thursday last (March 28th, 1799), Benjamin Hallowell, +Esq., in the 75th year of his age. The funeral will be on Tuesday next, +and will proceed from the house of the Chief Justice to the Garrison +Burying Ground at one o'clock precisely. The attendance of his friends +is requested." + +Associated at a later period with the memories of this locality is the +name of Col. Walter O'Hara.--In 1808 an immense enthusiasm sprang up in +England in behalf of the Spaniards, who were beginning to rise in +spirited style against the domination of Napoleon and his family. Walter +Savage Landor, for one, the distinguished scholar, philosopher and poet, +determined to assist them in person as a volunteer. In a letter to +Southey, in August, 1808, he says: "At Brighton, I preached a crusade to +two auditors: _i. e._, a crusade against the French in Spain: +Inclination," he continues, "was not wanting, and in a few minutes +everything was fixed." The two auditors, we are afterwards told, were +both Irishmen, an O'Hara and a Fitzgerald. Landor did not himself remain +long in Spain, although long enough to expend, out of his own resources, +a very large sum of money; but his companions continued to do good +service in the Peninsula, in a military capacity, to the close of the +war. + +In a subsequent communication to Southey, Landor speaks of a letter just +received from his friend O'Hara. "This morning," he says, "I had a +letter from Portugal, from a sensible man and excellent officer, Walter +O'Hara. The officers do not appear," he continues, "to entertain very +sanguine hopes of success. We have lost a vast number of brave men, and +the French have gained a vast number, and fight as well as under the +republic." + +The Walter O'Hara whom we here have Landor speaking of as "a sensible +man and excellent officer" is the Col. O'Hara at whose homestead, on a +portion of the Hallowell park-lot, we have arrived, and whose name is +one of our household words. Colonel O'Hara built on this spot in 1831, +at which date the surrounding region was in a state of nature. The area +cleared for the reception of the still existing spacious residence, with +its lawn, garden and orchards, remained for a number of years an oasis +in the midst of a grand forest. A brief memorandum which we are enabled +to give from his own pen of the Peninsular portion of his military +career, will be here in place, and will be deemed of interest. + +"I joined," he says, "the Peninsular army in the year 1811, having +obtained leave of absence from my British Regiment quartered at +Canterbury, for the purpose of volunteering into the Portuguese army, +then commanded by Lord Beresford. I remained in that force until the end +of the war, and witnessed all the varieties of service during that +interesting period, during which time I was twice wounded, and once fell +into the hands of a brave and generous enemy." + +From 1831 Col. O'Hara held the post of Adjutant-General in Upper Canada. +His contemporaries will always think of him as a chivalrous, +high-spirited, warm-hearted gentleman; and in our annals hereafter he +will be named among the friends of Canadian progress, at a period when +enlightened ideas in regard to government and social life, derived from +a wide intercourse with man in large and ancient communities, were, +amongst us, considerably misunderstood. + +After passing the long range of suburban properties on which we have +been annotating, the continuation, in a right line westward, of Lot +Street, used to be known as the Lake Shore Road. This Lake Shore Road, +after passing the dugway, or steep descent to the sands that form the +margin of the Lake, first skirted the graceful curve of Humber Bay, and +then followed the irregular line of the shore all the way to the head of +the Lake. It was a mere track, representing, doubtless, a trail trodden +by the aborigines from time immemorial. + +So late as 1813 all that could be said of the region traversed by the +Lake Shore Road was the following, which we read in the "Topographical +Description of Upper Canada," issued in London in that year, under the +authority of Governor Gore:--"Further to the westward (_i. e._ of the +river Humber)," we are told, "the Etobicoke, the Credit, and two other +rivers, with a great many smaller streams, join the main waters of the +Lake; they all abound in fish, particularly salmon......the Credit is +the most noted; here is a small house of entertainment for passengers. +The tract between the Etobicoke and the head of the Lake," the +Topographical Description then goes on to say, "is frequented only by +wandering tribes of Mississaguas." + +"At the head of Lake Ontario," we are then told, "there is a smaller +Lake, within a long beach, of about five miles, from whence there is an +outlet to Lake Ontario, over which there is a bridge. At the south end +of the beach," it is added, "is the King's Head, a good inn, erected for +the accommodation of travellers, by order of his Excellency +Major-General Simcoe, the Lieutenant-Governor. It is beautifully +situated at a small portage which leads from the head of a natural canal +connecting Burlington Bay with Lake Ontario, and is a good landmark. +Burlington Bay," it is then rather boldly asserted, "is perhaps as +beautiful and romantic a situation as any in interior America, +particularly if we include with it a marshy lake which falls into it, +and a noble promontory that divides them. This lake is called Coote's +Paradise, and abounds with game." (Coote's Paradise had its name from +Capt. Coote, of the 8th, a keen sportsman.) + +As to "the wandering tribes of Mississaguas," who in 1813 were still the +only noticeable human beings west of the Etobicoke, they were in fact a +portion of the great Otchibway nation. From time to time, previous and +subsequent to 1813, and for pecuniary considerations of various amounts +they surrendered to the local Government their nominal right over the +regions which they still occupied in a scattered way. In 1792 they +surrendered 3,000,000 acres, commencing four miles west of Mississagua +point, at the mouth of the river Niagara for the sum of L1,180 7s. 4d. +On the 8th of August, 1797, they surrendered 3,450 acres in Burlington +Bay for the sum of L65 2s. 6d. On the 6th September, 1806, 85,000 acres, +commencing on the east bank of the Etobicoke river, brought them L1,000 +5s. On the 28th of October, 1818, "the Mississagua tract Home District," +consisting of 648,000 acres, went for the respectable sum of L8,500. On +the 8th of February, 1820, 2,000 acres, east of the Credit reserve, +brought in L50. + +All circumstances at the respective dates considered, the values +received for the tracts surrendered as thus duly enumerated may, by +possibility, have been reasonable. Lord Carteret, it is stated, proposed +to sell all New Jersey for L5,000, 150 years ago. But there remains one +transfer from Mississaga to White ownership to be noticed, for which the +equivalent, sometimes alleged to have been accepted, excites surprise. +On the 1st of August, 1805, a Report of the Indian Department informs +us, the "Toronto Purchase" was made, comprising 250,880 acres, and +stretching eastward to the Scarboro' Heights; and the consideration +accepted therefor was the sum of ten shillings. Two dollars for the site +of Toronto and its suburbs, with an area extending eastward to Scarboro' +heights. The explanation, however, is this, which we gather from a +manuscript volume of certified copies of early Indian treaties, +furnished by William L. Baby, Esq., of Sandwich. The Toronto purchase +was really effected in 1787, by Sir John Johnson, at the Bay of Quinte +Carrying-place; and "divers good and valuable considerations," not +specified, were received by the Mississagas on the occasion. But the +document testifying to the transfer was imperfect. The deed of August 1, +1805, was simply confirmatory, and the sum named as the consideration +was merely nominal. + +On the early map from which we have been taking the names of the first +locatees of the range of park-lots extending along Queen Street from +Parliament Street to Humber Bay, we observe the easternmost limit of the +"Toronto Purchase" conspicuously marked by a curved line drawn +northwards from the water's edge near the commencement of the spit of +land which used to fence off Ashbridge's Bay and Toronto Harbour from +the lake. + +In 1804, the Lake Shore Road stood in need of repairs, and in some +places even of "opening" and "clearing out." In the _Gazette and Oracle_ +of Aug. 4th, in that year, we have an advertisement for "Proposals from +any person or persons disposed to contract for the opening and repairing +the Road and building Bridges between the Town of York and the Head of +Burlington Bay." "Such proposals," the advertisement goes on to say, +"must state what prices the Party desirous of undertaking the aforesaid +work will engage to finish and complete the same, and must consist of +the following particulars: At what price per mile such person will open +and clear out such part of the road leading from Lot Street, adjoining +the Town of York (beginning at Peter Street) to the mouth of the Humber, +of the width of 33 feet, as shall not be found to stand in need of any +causeway. With the price also per rod at which such party will engage to +open, clear out, and causeway such other part of the same road as shall +require to be causewayed, and the last-mentioned price to include as +well the opening and clearing out, as the causewaying such Road. The +causewaying to be 18 feet wide; as also the price at which any person +will engage to build Bridges upon the said Road of the width of 18 feet. + +"And the same Commissioners will also receive proposals from any person +or persons willing to engage to cut down three Hills at the following +places viz:--One at the Sixteen Mile Creek, another between Sixteen and +Twelve Mile Creek, and the third at the Twelve Mile Creek. And also for +repairing, in a good and substantial manner, the Bridge at the outlet of +Burlington Bay. All the before-mentioned work to be completed, in a good +and substantial manner, on or before the last day of October next, and, +when completed, the Money contracted to be given shall be paid by the +Receiver General." This advertisement is issued by William Allan and +Duncan Cameron, of York; James Ruggles and William Graham, of Yonge +Street; and William Applegarth, of Flamboro' East, Commissioners for +executing Statute passed in Session of present year. + +We now return to that point on Queen Street where, instead of continuing +on westward by the Lake Shore Road, the traveller of a later era turned +abruptly towards the north in order to pass into Dundas Street proper, +the great highway projected, as we have observed, by the first organizer +of Upper Canada and marked on the earliest manuscript maps of the +Province, but not made practicable for human traffic until comparatively +recent times. + +From an advertisement in the _Gazette and Oracle_ of August, 1806, we +learn that Dundas Street was not, in that year, yet hewn out through the +woods about the Credit. "Notice is hereby given," thus runs the +advertisement referred to, "that the Commissioners of the Highways of +the Home District will be ready on Saturday, the 23rd day of the present +month of August, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, at the Government +Buildings in the town of York, to receive proposals and to treat with +any person or persons who will contend to open and make the road called +Dundas Street, leading through the Indian Reserve on the River Credit; +and also to erect a Bridge over the said River at or near where the said +Road passes. Also to bridge and causeway (in aid to the Statute Labour) +such other parts of such Road passing through the Home District, when +such works are necessary, and for the performance of which the said +Statute Labour is not sufficient. Thomas Ridout, Clerk of the Peace, +Home District. York, 6th August, 1806." + +The early line of communication with the Head of the Lake was by the +Lake Shore Road. The cross thoroughfare between the park lots of Mr. +Bouchette or Col. Givins and Mr. David Burns, was opened up by Col. G. +T. Denison, senior, with the assistance of some of the embodied militia. + +The work of opening the road here, as well as further on through the +forest, was at first undertaken by a detachment of the regulars under +the direction of an officer of the Royal Engineers. The plan adopted, we +are told, was first to fell each tree by very laboriously severing it +from its base close to the ground, and then to smooth off the upper +surface of the root or stump with an adze. As this process was +necessarily slow, and after all not likely to result in a permanently +good road, the proposal of Colonel, then Lieutenant, Denison, to set his +militia-men to eradicate the trees bodily, was accepted--an operation +with which they were all more or less familiar on their farms and in +their new clearings. A fine broad open track, ready, when the day for +such further improvements should arrive, for the reception of plank or +macadam, was soon constructed. + +Immediately at the turn northwards, out of the line of Lot Street, on +the east side, was Sandford's Inn, a watering place for teams on their +way into York, provided accordingly with a conspicuous pump and great +trough, a long section of a huge pine-tree dug out like a canoe. Near +by, a little to the east, was another notable inn, an early rival, as we +suppose, of Sandford's: this was the Blue Bell. A sign to that effect, +at the top of a strong and lofty pole in front of its door, swung to and +fro within a frame. + +Just opposite, on the Garrison Common, there were for a long while low +log buildings belonging to the Indian department. One of them contained +a forge in charge of Mr. Higgins, armourer to the Department. Here the +Indians could get, when necessary, their fishing-spears, axes, knives +and tomahawks, and other implements of iron, sharpened and put in order. +One of these buildings was afterwards used as a school for the +surrounding neighbourhood. + +Immediately across from Sandford's, on the park lot originally occupied +by Mr. Burns, was a house, shaded with great willow-trees, and +surrounded by a flower-garden and lawn, the abode for many years of the +venerable widow of Captain John Denison, who long survived her husband. +Of her we have already once spoken in connection with Petersfield. She +was, as we have intimated, a sterling old English gentlewoman of a type +now vanishing, as we imagine. The house was afterwards long in the +occupation of her son-in-law, Mr. John Fennings Taylor, a gentleman +well-known to Canadian M.P.'s during a long series of years, having been +attached as Chief Clerk and Master in Chancery first to the Legislative +Council of United Canada and then to the Senate of the Dominion. + +To the right and left, as we passed north, was a wet swamp, filled with +cedars of all shapes and sizes, and strewn plentifully with granitic +boulders: a strip of land held in light esteem by the passers-by, in the +early day, as seeming to be irreclaimable for agricultural purposes. + +But how admirably reclaimable in reality the acres hereabout were for +the choicest human purposes, was afterwards seen, when, for example, the +house and grounds known as Foxley Grove, came to be established. By the +outlay of some money and the exercise of some discrimination, a portion +of this same cedar swamp was rapidly converted into pleasure ground, +with labyrinths of full-grown shrubbery ready-prepared by nature's hand. +Mr. James Bealey Harrison, who thus transformed the wild into a garden +and plaisaunce, will be long remembered for his skill and taste in the +culture of flowers and esculents choice and rare: as well as for his +eminence as a lawyer and jurist. + +He was a graduate of Cambridge; and before his emigration to Canada, had +attained distinction at the English bar. He was the author of a work +well known to the legal profession in Great Britain and here, entitled +"An Analytical Digest of all the Reported Cases determined in the House +of Lords, the several Courts of the Courts of the Common Law in Banc and +Nisi Prius, and the Court of Bankruptcy, from Michaelmas Term, 1756, to +Easter Term, 1843; including also the Crown Cases Referred: in Four +Volumes." During the regime of Sir George Arthur, Mr. Harrison was +Secretary of the Province and a member of the Executive Council; and at +a later period he was Judge of the County and Surrogate Courts. The +memory of Judge Harrison as an English Gentleman, genial, frank and +straightforward, is cherished among his surviving contemporaries. + +On turning westward into Dundas Street proper, we were soon in the midst +of a magnificent pine forest, which remained long undisturbed. The whole +width of the allowance for road was here for a number of miles +completely cleared. The highway thus well-defined was seen bordered on +the right and left with a series of towering columns, the outermost +ranges of an innumerable multitude of similar tall shafts set at various +distances from each other, and circumscribing the view in an irregular +manner on both sides, all helping to bear up aloft a matted awning of +deep-green, through which, here and there, glimpses of azure could be +caught, looking bright and cheery. The yellow pine predominated, a tree +remarkable for the straightness and tallness of its stems, and for the +height at which its branches begins. + +No fence on either hand intervened between the road and the forest; the +rider at his pleasure, could rein his horse aside at any point and take +a canter in amongst the columns, the underwood being very slight. +Everywhere, at the proper season, the ground was sprinkled with wild +flowers--with the wild lupin and the wild columbine; and everywhere, at +all times, the air was more or less fragrant with resinous exhalations. + +In the heart of the forest, midway between York and the bridge over the +Humber, was another famous resting place for teams--the Peacock +Tavern--a perfect specimen of a respectable wayside hostelry of the +olden time, with very spacious driving-houses and other appropriate +outbuildings on an extensive scale. + +Not far from the Peacock a beaten track branched off westerly, which +soon led the equestrian into the midst of beautiful oak woods, the trees +constituting it of no great magnitude, but as is often the case on sandy +plains, of a gnarled, contorted aspect, each presenting a good study for +the sketcher. This track also conducted to the Humber, descending to the +valley of that stream where its waters, now become shallow but rapid, +passed over sheets of shale. Here the surroundings of the bridle-road +and foot-path were likewise picturesque, exhibiting rock plentifully +amidst and beneath the foliage and herbage. + +Here in the vale of the Humber stood a large Swiss-like structure of +hewn logs, with two tiers of balcony on each of its sides. This was the +house of Mr. John Scarlett. It was subsequently destroyed by fire. Near +by were mills and factories also belonging to Mr. Scarlett. He was well +connected in England; a man of enlightened views and fine personal +presence. He loved horses and was much at home in the saddle. A shrewd +observer when out among his fellow men, at his own fireside he was a +diligent student of books. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXIV. + + YONGE STREET--FROM THE BAY TO YORKVILLE. + + +The tourist of the present day, who, on one of our great lake-steamers, +enters the harbour of Toronto, observes, as he is borne swiftly along, +an interesting succession of street vistas, opening at intervals inland, +each one of them somewhat resembling a scene on the stage. He obtains a +glimpse for a moment of a thoroughfare gently ascending in a right line +northward, with appropriate groups of men and vehicles, reduced prettily +to lilliputian size by distance. + +Of all the openings thus transiently disclosed, the one towards which +the boat at length shapes its course, with the clear intention of +thereabout disburdening itself of its multifarious load, is quickly seen +to be of preeminent importance. Thronged at the point where it descends +to the water's edge with steamers and other craft, great and small, +lined on the right and left up to the far vanishing-point with handsome +buildings, its pavements and central roadway everywhere astir with life, +its appearance is agreeably exciting and even impressive. It looks to +be, what in fact it is, the outlet of a great highway leading into the +interior of a busy, populous country. The railway station seen on the +right, heaving up its huge semicircular metal back above the subjacent +buildings, and flanking the very sidewalk with its fine front and lofty +ever-open portals, might be imagined a porter's lodge proportioned to +the dignity of the avenue whose entrance it seems planted there to +guard. + +We propose to pass, as rapidly as we may, up the remarkable street at +the foot of which our tourist steps ashore. It will not be a part of our +plan to enlarge on its condition as we see it at the present time, +except here and there as in contrast with some circumstance of the past. +We intend simply to take note, as we ramble on, of such recollections as +may spring up at particular points, suggested by objects or localities +encountered, and to recall at least the names, if not in every instance, +characteristic traits and words and acts, of some of the worthies of a +byegone generation, to whose toil and endurance the present occupants of +the region which we shall traverse are so profoundly indebted. + +Where Yonge Street opened on the harbour, the observer some forty years +ago would only have seen, on the east side, the garden, orchard and +pleasure grounds of Chief Justice Scott, with his residence situated +therein, afterwards the abode of Mr. Justice Sherwood; and on the west +side the garden, orchard, pleasure-grounds and house of Mr. Justice +Macaulay, afterwards Chief Justice Sir James Macaulay, and the +approaches to these premises were, in both cases, not from Yonge Street +but from Front Street, or from Market Street in the rear. + +The principal landing place for the town was for a series of years, as +we have elsewhere stated, at the southern extremity of Church Street: +and then previously, for another series of years, further to the east, +at the southern extremity of Frederick Street. The country and local +traffic found its way to these points, not by Yonge Street, south of +King Street, but by other routes which have been already specified and +described. + +Teams and solitary horses, led or ridden, seen passing into Yonge +Street, south of King Street, either out of King Street or out of Front +Street, would most likely be on their way to the forge of old Mr. Philip +Klinger, a German, whose name we used to think had in it a kind of anvil +ring. His smithy, on the east side, just south of Market Street, now +Wellington Street, was almost the only attraction and occasion of resort +to Yonge Street, south of King Street. His successor here was Mr. Calvin +Davis, whose name became as familiar a sound to the ears of the early +townsfolk of York as Mr. Klinger's had been. + +It seems in the retrospect but a very short time since Yonge Street +south of King Street, now so solidly and even splendidly built up, was +an obscure allowance for road, visited seldom by any one, and for a long +while particularly difficult to traverse during and just after the rainy +seasons. + +Few persons in the olden time at which we are glancing ever dreamed +that the intersection of Yonge Street and King Street was to be the +heart of the town. Yet here in one generation we have the Carfax of +Toronto, as some of our forefathers would have called it--the +Quatrevoies or Grand Four-cross-way, where the golden milestone might be +planted whence to measure distances in each direction. + +What are the local mutations that are to follow? Will the needs of the +population and the exigencies of business ever make of the intersection +of Brock Street and Queen Street what the intersection of Yonge and King +Streets is now? + +In the meantime, those who recall the very commonplace look which this +particular spot, viz.: the intersection of King Street and Yonge Street, +long wore, when as yet only recently reclaimed from nature, cannot but +experience a degree of mental amazement whenever now they pause for a +moment on one of the crossings and look around. + +A more perfect and well-proportioned rectangular meeting of four great +streets is seldom to be seen. Take the view at this point, north, south, +west, or east, almost at any hour and at any season of the year, and it +is striking. + +It is striking in the freshness and coolness and comparative quiet of +early morning, when few are astir. + +It is striking in the brightness and glow of noon, when the sons and +daughters of honest toil are trooping in haste to their mid-day meal. + +A few hours later, again, it is striking when the phaetons, +pony-carriages, and fancy equipages generally, are out, and loungers of +each sex are leisurely promenading, or here and there placidly engaged +in the inspection and occasional selection of "personal requisites,"--of +some one or other of the variegated tissues or artificial adjuncts +demanded by the modes of the period,--while the westering sun is now +flooding the principal thoroughfare with a misty splendour, and on the +walls, along on either side, weird shadows slanting and elongated, are +being cast. + +Then, later still, the views here are by no means ordinary ones, when +the vehicles have for the most part withdrawn, and the passengers are +once more few in number, and the lamps are lighted, and the gas is +flaming in the windows. + +Even in the closed up sedate aspect of all places of business on a +Sunday or public holiday, statutable or otherwise, these four streets, +by some happy charm, are fair to see and cheery. But when drest for a +festive gala occasion, when gay with banners and festoons, in honour of +a royal birthday, a royal marriage, the visit of a prince, the +announcement of a victory, they shew to special advantage. + +So, also, they furnish no inharmonious framework or setting, when +processions and bands of music are going by, or bodies of military, +horse or foot, or pageants such as those that in modern times accompany +a great menagerie in its progress through the country--elephants in +oriental trappings, teams of camels clad in similar guise, cavaliers in +glittering mediaeval armour, gorgeous cars and vans. + +And again, in winter, peculiarly fine pictures, characteristic of the +season, are presented here when, after a plentiful fall of snow, the +sleighs are on the move without number and in infinite variety; or when, +on the contrary, each long white vista, east, west, north, and south, +glistening, perhaps, under a clear December moon, is a scene almost +wholly of still life--scarcely a man or beast abroad, so keen is the +motionless air, the mercury having shrunk down some way below the +zero-line of Fahrenheit. + +But we must proceed. From the Lake to the Landing is a long journey. + +In the course of our perambulations we have already noticed some +instances in the town of long persistency in one place of business or +residence. Such evidences of staidness and substantiality are common +enough in the old world, but are of necessity somewhat rare amid the +chances, changes, and exchanges of young communities on this continent. +An additional instance we have to note here, at the intersection of King +Street and Yonge Street. At its north-east angle, where, as in a former +section we have observed, stood the sole building in this quarter, the +house of Mr. John Dennis, for forty years at least has been seen with +little alteration of external aspect, the Birmingham, Sheffield and +Wolverhampton warehouse of the brothers Mr. Joseph Ridout and Mr. +Percival Ridout. A little way to the north, too, on the east side, the +name of Piper has been for an equal length of time associated +uninterruptedly with a particular business; but here, though outward +appearances have remained to some extent the same, death has wrought +changes. + +Near by, also, we see foundries still in operation where Messrs. W. B. +Sheldon, F. R. Dutcher, W. A. Dutcher, Samuel Andrus, J. Vannorman and +B. Vannorman, names familiar to all old inhabitants, were among the +foremost in that kind of useful enterprise in York. Their advertisement, +as showing the condition of one branch of the iron manufacture in York +in 1832, will be of interest. Some of the articles enumerated have +become old-fashioned. "They respectfully inform their friends and the +public that they have lately made large additions to their +establishments. They have enlarged their Furnace so as to enable them to +make Castings of any size or weight used in this province, and erected +Lathes for turning and finishing the same. They have also erected a +Steam Engine of ten horse power, of their own manufacture, for +propelling their machinery, which is now in complete operation, and they +are prepared to build Steam Engines of any size, either high or low +pressure. Having a number of experienced engineers employed, whose +capability cannot be doubted, they hope to share the patronage of a +generous public. They always keep constantly on hand and for sale, +either by wholesale or retail, Bark Mills, Cooking, Franklin, Plate and +Box Stoves, also, a general assortment of Hollow Ware, consisting of +Kettles, from one to one hundred and twenty gallons; Bake-Ovens, +Bake-Basins, Belly-Pots, High Pans, Tea Kettles, Wash-Kettles, Portable +Furnaces, &c. Also are constantly manufacturing Mill-Gearing of all +kinds; Sleigh Shoes, 50, 56, 30, 28, 15, 14, and 7 pound Weights, Clock +and Sash Weights, Cranes, Andirons, Cart and Waggon Boxes, Clothiers' +Plates, Plough Castings, and Ploughs of all kinds." + +In 1832 Mr. Charles Perry was also the proprietor of foundries in York, +and we have him advertising in the local paper that "he is about adding +to his establishment the manufacture of Printing Presses, and that he +will be able in a few weeks to produce Iron Printing Presses combining +the latest improvements." + +We move on now towards Newgate Street, first noticing that nearly +opposite to the Messrs. Sheldon and Dutcher's foundry were the spirit +vaults of Mr. Michael Kane, father of Paul Kane, the artist of whom we +have spoken previously. At the corner of Newgate Street or Adelaide +Street, on the left, and stretching along the southern side of that +Street, the famous tannery-yard of Mr. Jesse Ketchum was to be seen, +with high stacks of hemlock-bark piled up on the Yonge Street side. On +the North side of Newgate Street, at the angle opposite, was his +residence, a large white building in the American style, with a square +turret, bearing a railing, rising out of the ridge of the roof. Before +pavements of any kind were introduced in York, the sidewalks hereabout +were rendered clean and comfortable by a thick coating of tan-bark. + +Mr. Ketchum emigrated hither from Buffalo at an early period. In the +_Gazette_ of June 11, 1803, we have the death of his father mentioned. +"On Wednesday last (8th June), departed this life, Mr. Joseph Ketchum, +aged 85. His remains," it is added, "were interred the following day." +In 1806 we find Jesse Ketchum named at the annual "town meeting," one of +the overseers of highways and fence viewers. His section was from "No. 1 +to half the Big Creek Bridge (Hogg's Hollow) on Yonge Street." Mr. +William Marsh, jun., then took up the oversight from half the Big Creek +Bridge to No. 17. In the first instance Mr. Ketchum came over to look +after the affairs of an elder brother, deceased, who had settled here +and founded the tannery works. He then continued to be a householder of +York until about 1845, when he returned to Buffalo, his original home, +where he still retained valuable possessions. He was familiarly known in +Buffalo in later years as "Father Ketchum," and was distinguished for +the lively practical interest which he took in schools for the young, +and for the largeness of his annual contributions to such institutions. +Two brothers, Henry and Zebulun, were also early inhabitants of Buffalo. + +Mr. Ketchum's York property extended to Lot Street. Hospital Street +(Richmond Street) passed through it, and he himself projected and opened +Temperance Street. To the facility with which he supplied building sites +for moral and religious uses it is due that at this day the +quadrilateral between Queen Street and Adelaide Street, Yonge Street and +Bay Street, is a sort of miniature Mount Athos, a district curiously +crowded with places of worship. He gave in Yorkville also sites for a +school-house and Temperance Hall, and, besides, two acres for a +Children's Park. The Bible and Tract Society likewise obtained its House +on Yonge Street on easy terms from Mr. Ketchum, on the condition that +the Society should annually distribute in the Public Schools the amount +of the ground rent in the form of books--a condition that continues to +be punctually fulfilled. The ground-rent of an adjoining tenement was +also secured to the Society by Mr. Ketchum, to be distributed in Sunday +Schools in a similar way. Thus by his generous gifts and arrangements in +Buffalo, and in our own town and neighbourhood, his name has become +permanently enrolled in the list of public benefactors in two cities. +Among the subscriptions to a "Common School" in York in 1820, a novelty +at the period, we observe his name down for one hundred dollars. +Subscriptions for that amount to any object were not frequent in York in +1820. (Among the contributors to the same school we observe Jordan +Post's name down for L17 6s. 3d.; Philip Klinger's for L2 10s.; Lardner +Bostwick's for L2 10s.) + +Mr. Ketchum died in Buffalo in 1867. He was a man of quiet, shrewd, +homely appearance and manners, and of the average stature. His brother +Seneca was also a character well known in these parts for his natural +benevolence, and likewise for his desire to offer counsel to the young +on every occasion. We have a distinct recollection of being, along with +several young friends, the objects of a well intended didactic lecture +from Seneca Ketchum, who, as we were amusing ourselves on the ice, +approached us on horseback. + +It seems singular to us, in the present day, that those who laid out the +region called the "New Town," that is, the land westward of the original +town plot of York, did not apparently expect the great northern road +known as Yonge Street ever to extend directly to the water's edge. In +the plans of 1800, Yonge Street stops short at Lot Street, _i. e._, +Queen Street. A range of lots blocks the way immediately to the south. +The traffic from the north was expected to pass down into the town by a +thoroughfare called Toronto Street, three chains and seven links to the +east of the line of Yonge Street. Mr. Ketchum's lot, and all the similar +lots southward, were bounded on the east by this street. + +The advisability of pushing Yonge Street through to its natural terminus +must have early struck the owners of the properties that formed the +obstruction. We accordingly find Yonge Street in due time "produced" to +the Bay. Toronto Street was then shut up and the proprietors of the land +through which the northern road now ran received in exchange for the +space usurped, proportionate pieces of the old Toronto Street. In 1818, +deeds for these fragments, executed in conformity with the ninth section +of an Act of the local Parliament, passed in the fiftieth year of George +III., were given to Jesse Ketchum, William Bowkett, mariner, son of +William Bowkett, and others, by the surveyors of highways, James Miles +for the Home District, and William Richardson Caldwell for the County of +York, respectively. + +The street which supplied the passage-way southward previously afforded +by Toronto Street, and which now formed the easterly boundary of the +easterly portions of the lots cut in two by Yonge Street, was, as we +have had occasion already to state in another place, called Upper George +Street, and afterwards Victoria Street. + +(The line of the now-vanished Toronto Street is, for purposes of +reference, marked with fine lines on the map of Toronto by the Messrs. +H. J. and J. O. Browne.) + +What the condition of some of the lots to which we have been just +referring was in 1801, we gather from a surveyor's report of that date, +which we have already quoted (p. 64), in another connection. We are now +enabled to add the exact terms of the order issued to the surveyor, Mr. +Stegman, on the occasion: "Surveyor General's Office, 19th Dec., 1800 +Mr. John Stegman: Sir,--All persons claiming to hold land in the town of +York, having been required to cut and burn all the brush and underwood +on the said lots, and to fall all the trees which are standing thereon, +you will be pleased to report to me, without delay, the number of the +particular lots on which it has not been done. D. W. Smith, Acting +Surveyor General." + +The continuation of the great northern highway in a continuous right +line to the Bay, from its point of issue on Lot Street, _i. e._, Queen +Street, was the circumstance that eventually created for Yonge Street, +regarded as a street in the usual sense, the peculiar renown which it +popularly has for extraordinary length. A story is told of a tourist, +newly arrived at York, wishing to utilize a stroll before breakfast, by +making out as he went along the whereabouts of a gentleman to whom he +had a letter. Passing down the hall of his hotel, he asks in a casual +way of the book-keeper--"Can you tell me where Mr. So-and-so lives? +(leisurely producing the note from his breast-pocket wallet). It is +somewhere along Yonge Street here in your town." "Oh yes," was the +reply, when the address had been glanced at--"Mr. So-and-so lives on +Yonge Street, about twenty-five miles up!" We have heard also of a +serious demur on the part of a Quebec naval and military inspector, at +two agents for purchases being stationed on one street at York. However +surprised, he was nevertheless satisfied when he learned that their +posts were thirty miles apart. + +Let us now direct our attention to Yonge Street north of Queen Street. + +For some years previous to the opening of Yonge Street from Lot Street +to the Bay, the portion of the great highway to the north, between Lot +Street and the road which is now the southern boundary of Yorkville, was +in an almost impracticable condition. The route was recognized, but no +grading or causewaying had been done on it. In the popular mind, indeed, +practically, the point where Yonge Street began as a travelled road to +the north, was at Yorkville, as we should now speak. + +The track followed by the farmers coming into town from the north veered +off at Yorkville to the eastward, and passed down in a hap-hazard kind +of way over the sandy pineland in that direction, and finally entered +the town by the route later known as Parliament Street. + +In 1800 the expediency was seen of making the direct northern approach +to York more available. In the _Gazette_ of Dec. 20th, 1800, we have an +account of a public meeting held on the subject. It will be observed +that Yonge Street, between Queen Street and Yorkville, as moderns would +phrase it, is spoken of therein, for the moment, not as Yonge Street, +but as "the road to Yonge Street." "On Thursday last, about noon," the +_Gazette_ reports, "a number of the principal inhabitants of this town +met together in one of the Government Buildings, to consider the best +means of opening the road to Yonge Street, and enabling the farmers +there to bring their provisions to market with more ease than is +practicable at present." The account then proceeds: "The Hon. +Chief-Justice Elmsley was called to the chair. He briefly stated the +purpose of the meeting, and added that a subscription-list had been +lately opened by which something more than two hundred dollars in money +and labour had been promised, and that other sums were to be expected +from several respectable inhabitants who were well-wishers to the +undertaking, but had not as yet contributed towards it. These sums, he +feared, however, would not be equal to the purpose, which hardly could +be accomplished for less than between five and six hundred dollars. Many +of the subscribers were desirous that what was already subscribed should +be immediately applied as far as it would go, and that other resources +should be looked for." + +A paper was produced and read containing a proposal from Mr. Eliphalet +Hale to open and make the road, or so much of it as might be required, +at the rate of twelve dollars per acre for clearing it where no +causeway was wanted, four rods wide, and cutting the stumps in the two +middle rods close to the ground; and seven shillings and sixpence, +provincial currency, per rod, for making a causeway eighteen feet wide +where a causeway might be wanted. Mr. Hale undertook to find security +for the due performance of the work by the first of February following +(1801). The subscribers present were unanimously of opinion that the +subscription should be immediately applied as far as it would go. Mr. +Hale's proposition was accepted, and a committee consisting of Mr. +Secretary Jarvis, Mr. William Allan, and Mr. James Playter, was +appointed to superintend the carrying of it into execution. Additional +subscriptions would be received by Messrs. Allan and Wood. + +At the same meeting a curious project was mooted, and a resolution in +its favour adopted, for the permanent shutting up of a portion of Lot +Street, and selling the land, the proceeds to be applied to the +improvement of Yonge Street. There was no need of that portion of Lot +Street, it was argued, there being already convenient access to the town +in that direction by a way a few yards to the south. We gather from this +that Hospital Street (Richmond Street) was the usual beaten track into +the town from the west. + +"It had been suggested," says the report of the meeting, "that +considerable aid might be obtained by shutting up the street which now +forms the northern boundary of the town between Toronto Street and the +Common, and disposing of the land occupied by it. This street, it was +conceived, was altogether superfluous," the report continues, "as +another street equally convenient in every respect runs parallel to it +at the distance of about ten rods; but it could not be shut up and +disposed of by any authority less than that of the Legislature." A +petition to the Legislature embodying the above ideas was to lie for +signature at Mr. McDougall's Hotel. + +The proposed document may have been duly presented, but the Legislature +certainly never closed up Lot Street. Owners of park lots westward of +Yonge Street may have had their objections. The change suggested would +have compelled them to buy not only the land occupied by Lot Street, but +also the land immediately to the south of their respective lots; +otherwise they would have had no frontage in that direction. + +In the _Gazette_ of March 14, 1801, we have a further account of the +improvement on Yonge Street. We are informed that "at a meeting of the +subscribers to the opening of Yonge Street held at the Government +Buildings on Monday last, the 9th instant, pursuant to public notice, +William Jarvis, Esq., in the chair, the following gentlemen were +appointed as a committee to oversee and inspect the work, one member of +which to attend in person daily by rotation: James Macaulay, Esq., M.D., +William Weekes, Esq., A. Wood, Esq., William Allan, Esq., Mr. John +Cameron, Mr. Simon McNab. After the meeting," we are then told, "the +committee went in a body, accompanied by the Hon. J. Elmsley, to view +that part of the street which Mr. Hale, the undertaker, had in part +opened. After ascertaining the alterations and improvements necessary to +be made, and providing for the immediate building of a bridge over the +creek between the second and third mile-posts, the Committee adjourned." +All this is signed "S. McNab, Secretary to the Committee. York, 9th +March, 1801." + +A list of subscribers then follows, with the sums given. Hon. J. +Elmsley, 80 dollars; Hon. Peter Russell, 20; Hon. J. McGill, 16; Hon. D. +W. Smith, 10; John Small, Esq., 20; R. J. D. Gray, Esq., 20; William +Jarvis, Esq., 10; William Willcocks, Esq., 15; D. Burns, Esq., 20; Wm. +Weekes, Esq., 15; James Macaulay, Esq., 20; Alexander Macdonell, Esq., +the work of one yoke of oxen for four days; Alexander Wood, Esq., 10; +Mr. John Cameron, 15; Mr. D. Cameron, 10; Mr. Jacob Herchmer, 5; Mr. +Simon McNab, 5; Mr. P. Mealy, 5; Mr. Elisha Beaman, 10; Thomas Ridout, +Esq., 4; Mr. T. G. Simons, 4; Mr. W. Waters, 5; Mr. Robert Young, 10; +Mr. Daniel Tiers, 5; Mr. John Edgell, 5; Mr. George Cutter, 10; Mr. +James Playter, 6; Mr. Joseph McMurtrie, 5; Mr. William Bowkett, 6; Mr. +John Horton, 4; Mr. John Kerr, 2. Total, 392 dollars. + +The money collected was, we may suppose, satisfactorily laid out by Mr. +Hale, but it did not suffice for the completion of the contemplated +work. From the _Gazette_ of Feb. 20 in the following year (1802), we +learn that a second subscription was started for the purpose of +completing the communication with the travelled part of Yonge Street to +the north. + +In the _Gazette_ just named we have the following, under date of York, +Saturday, Feb. 20, 1802: "We whose names are hereunto subscribed, +contemplating the advantage which must arise from the rendering of +Yonge Street accessible and convenient to the public, and having before +us a proposal for completing that part of the said street between the +Town of York and lot No. 1, do hereby respectively agree to pay the sums +annexed to our names towards the carrying of the said proposal into +effect; cherishing at the same time the hope that every liberal +character will give his support to a work which has for its design the +improvement of the country, as well as the convenience of the public: +*the Chief Justice, 100 dollars; *Receiver-General, 20; *Robt. J. D. +Gray, 20 (and two acres of land when the road is completed); John +Cameron 40; *James Macaulay, 20; *Alexander Wood, 20; *William Weekes, +20; John McGill, 16; Wilson, Humphreys and Campbell, 15; D. W. Smith, +10; Thomas Scott, 10; *Wm. Jarvis, 10; *John Small, 10; *David Burns, +10; *Wm. Allan, 10; Alexander McDonell, 10; Wm. Smith, 10; Robert +Henderson, 10; *Simon McNab, 8; John McDougall, 8; D. Cozens, 8; Thomas +Ward, 8; *Elisha Beaman, 6; Joseph Hunt, 6; Eli Playter, 6; John +Bennett, 6; *George Cutter, 6; James Norris, 51/4; Wm. B. Peters, 5; John +Leach, 5; John Titus, 5; Wm. Cooper, 5; *Wm. Hunter, 5; J. B. Cozens, 5; +*Daniel Tiers, 5; Thomas Forfar, 5; Samuel Nash, 5; Paul Marian, 3; +Thomas Smith, 3; John McBeth, 3." It is subjoined that "subscriptions +will be received by Mr. S. McNab, Secretary, and advertised weekly in +the _Gazette_. Those marked thus (*) have paid a former subscription." + +In the _Gazette_ of March 6, 1802, an editorial is devoted to the +subject of the improvement of Yonge Street. It runs as follows: "It +affords us much pleasure to state to our readers that the necessary +repair of Yonge Street is likely to be soon effected, as the work, we +understand, has been undertaken with the assurance of entering upon and +completing it without delay; and by every one who reflects upon the +present sufferings of our industrious community on resorting to a +market, it cannot but prove highly satisfactory to observe a work of +such convenience and utility speedily accomplished. That the measure of +its future benefits must be extreme indeed, we may reasonably expect; +but whilst we look forward with flattering expectations of those +benefits we cannot but appreciate the immediate advantage which is +afforded to us, in being relieved from the application of the statute +labour to circuitous by-paths and occasional roads, and in being enabled +to apply the same to the improvement of the streets, and the nearer and +more direct approaches to the Town." + +The irregular track branching off eastward at Yorkville was an example +of these "circuitous by-paths and occasional roads." Editorials were +rare in the _Gazettes_ of the period. Had there been more of them, +subsequent investigators would have been better able than they are now, +to produce pictures of the olden time. Chief Justice Elmsley was +probably the inspirer of the article just given. + +The work appears to have been duly proceeded with. In the following +June, we have an advertisement calling a meeting of the committee +entrusted with its superintendence. In the _Gazette_ of June 12, 1802, +we read: "The committee for inspecting the repair of Yonge Street +requests that the subscribers will meet on the repaired part of the said +street at 5 o'clock on Monday evening, to take into consideration how +far the moneys subscribed by them have been beneficially expended. S. +McNab, Secretary to Committee. York, 10th June, 1802." + +In 1807, as we gather from the _Gazette_ of Nov. 11, in that year, an +effort was made to improve the road at the Blue Hill. A present of Fifty +Dollars from the Lieutenant Governor (Gore) to the object is +acknowledged in the paper named. "A number of public-spirited persons" +the _Gazette_ says, "collected on last Saturday to cut down the Hill at +Frank's Creek. (We shall see hereafter that the rivulet here was thus +known, as being the stream that flowed through the Castle Frank lot.) +The Lieutenant-Governor, when informed of it, despatched a person with a +present of Fifty Dollars to assist in improving the Yonge Street road." +It is then added by "John Van Zante, pathmaster, for himself and the +public,"--"To his Excellency for his liberal donation, and to the +gentlemen who contributed, we return our warmest thanks." + +These early efforts of our predecessors to render practicable the great +northern approach to the town, are deserving of respectful remembrance. + +The death of Eliphalet Hale, named above, is thus noted in the _Gazette_ +of Sept. 19, 1807:--"Died on the evening of the 17th instant, after a +short illness, Mr. Eliphalet Hale, High Constable of the Home District, +an old and respectable inhabitant of this town. From the regular +discharge of his official duties" the _Gazette_ subjoins, "he may be +considered as a public loss." + +The nature of the soil at many points between Lot Street and the modern +Yorkville was such as to render the construction of a road that should +be comfortably available at all seasons of the year no easy task. Down +to the time when macadam was at length applied, some twenty-eight years +after Mr. Hale's operations, this approach to the town was notorious for +its badness every spring and autumn. At one period an experiment was +tried of a wooden tramway for a short distance at the worst part, on +which the loaded waggons were expected to keep and so be saved from +sinking hopelessly in the direful sloughs. Mr. Sheriff Jarvis was the +chief promoter of this improvement, which answered its purpose for a +time, and Mr. Rowland Burr was its suggester. But we must not forestall +ourselves. + +We return to the point where Lot Street, or Queen Street, intersects the +thoroughfare to whose farthest bourne we are about to be travellers. + +After passing Mr. Jesse Ketchum's property, which had been divided into +two parts by the pushing of Yonge Street southward to its natural +termination, we arrived at another striking rectangular meeting of +thoroughfares. Lot Street having happily escaped extinction westward and +eastward, there was created at this spot a four-cross-way possessed of +an especial historic interest, being the conspicuous intersection of the +two great military roads of Upper Canada, projected and explored in +person by its first organiser. Four extensive reaches, two of Dundas +Street (identical, of course, with Lot or Queen Street), and two of +Yonge Street, can here be contemplated from one and the same standpoint. +In the course of time the views up and down the four long vistas here +commanded will probably rival those to be seen at the present moment +where King Street crosses Yonge Street. When lined along all its sides +with handsome buildings, the superior elevation above the level of the +Lake of the more northerly quadrivium, will be in its favour. + +Perhaps it will here not be out of order to state that Yonge Street was +so named in honour of Sir George Yonge, Secretary of War in 1791, and +M.P. for Honiton, in the county of Devon, from 1763 to 1796. The first +exploration which led to the establishment of this communication with +the north, was made in 1793. On the early MS. map mentioned before in +these papers, the route taken by Governor Simcoe on the memorable +occasion, in going and returning is shewn. Explanatory of the red dotted +lines which indicate it, the following note is appended. It reveals the +Governor's clear perception of the commercial and military importance +of the projected road: "Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe's route on foot and in canoes +to explore a way which might afford communication for the Fur-traders to +the Great Portage, without passing Detroit in case that place were given +up to the United States. The march was attended with some difficulties, +but was quite satisfactory: an excellent harbour at Penetanguishene: +returned to York, 1793." + +(On the same map, the tracks are given of four other similar excursions, +with the following accounts appended respectively:--1. Lieut.-Gov. +Simcoe's route on foot from Niagara to Detroit and back again in five +weeks; returned to Niagara March 8th, 1793. 2. Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe's +route from York to the Thames; down that river in canoes to Detroit; +from thence to the Miamis, to build the fort Lord Dorchester ordered to +be built: left York March 1794; returned by Lake Erie and Niagara to +York, May 5th, 1794. 3. Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe's track from York to Kingston +in an open boat, Dec. 5th, 1794. 4. Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe's route from +Niagara to Long Point on Lake Erie, on foot and in boats: returned down +the Ouse [Grand River]: from thence crossed a portage of five miles to +Welland River, and so to Fort Chippawa, September, 1795.) + +The old chroniclers of England speak in high praise of a primeval but +somewhat mythic king of Britain, named Belin: + + "Belin well held his honour, + And wisely was good governour." + +says Peter de Langtoft, and his translator, Robert de Brunn; and they +assign, among the reasons why he merited such mention at their hands, +the following: + + "His land Britaine he yode throughout, + And ilk county beheld about; + Beheld the woods, water and fen. + No passage was maked for men, + No highe street thorough countrie, + Ne to borough ne citie. + Thorough mooris, hills and valleys + He made brigs and causeways, + Highe street for common passage, + Brigs over water did he stage." + +This notice of the old chroniclers' pioneer king of Britain has again +and again recurred to us as we have had occasion to narrate the +energetic doings of the first ruler of Upper Canada, here and +previously. What Britain was when Belin and his Celts were at work, +Canada was in the days of our immediate fathers--a trackless wild. That +we see our country such as it is to-day, approaching in many respects +the beauty and agricultural finish of Britain itself, is due to the +intrepid men who faced without blenching the trials and perils +inevitable in a first attack on the savage fastnesses of nature. + +A succinct but good account is given of the origin of Yonge Street in +Mr. Surveyor General D. W. Smith's Gazetteer of 1799. The advantages +expected to accrue from the new highway are clearly set forth; and +though the anticipations expressed have not been fulfilled precisely in +the manner supposed, we see how comprehensive and really well-laid were +the plans of the first organizer of Upper Canada. + +"Yonge Street," the early Gazetteer says, "is the direct communication +from York to Lake Simcoe, opened during the administration of his +Excellency Major-General Lieut.-Governor Simcoe, who, having visited +Lake Huron by Lake aux Claies (formerly also Ouentaronk, or Sinion, and +now named Lake Simcoe), and discovered the harbour of Penetanguishene +(now Gloucester) to be fit for shipping, resolved on improving the +communication from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron, by this short route, +thereby avoiding the circuitous passage of Lake Erie. This street has +been opened in a direct line, and the road made by the troops of his +Excellency's corps. It is thirty miles from York to Holland's river, at +the Pine Fort called Gwillimbury, where the road ends; from thence you +descend into Lake Simcoe, and, having passed it, there are two passages +into Lake Huron; the one by the river Severn, which conveys the waters +of Lake Simcoe into Gloucester Bay; the other by a small portage, the +continuation of Yonge Street, to a small lake, which also runs into +Gloucester Bay. This communication affords many advantages; merchandize +from Montreal to Michilimackinac may be sent this way at ten or fifteen +pounds less expense per ton, than by the route of the Grand or Ottawa +River; and the merchandize from New York to be sent up the North and +Mohawk Rivers for the north-west trade, finding its way into Lake +Ontario at Oswego (Fort Ontario), the advantage will certainly be felt +of transporting goods from Oswego to York, and from thence across Yonge +Street, and down the waters of Lake Simcoe into Lake Huron, in +preference to sending it by Lake Erie." + +We now again endeavour to effect a start on our pilgrimage of +retrospection up the long route, from the establishment of which so many +public advantages were predicted in 1799. + +The objects that came to be familiar to the eye at the entrance to Yonge +Street from Lot Street were, after the lapse of some years, on the west +side, a large square white edifice known as the Sun Tavern, Elliott's; +and on the east side, the buildings constituting Good's Foundry. + +The open land to the north of Elliott's was the place generally occupied +by the travelling menageries and circuses when such exhibitions began to +visit the town. + +The foundry, after supplying the country for a series of years with +ploughs, stoves and other necessary articles of heavy hardware, is +memorable as having been the first in Upper Canada to turn out real +railway locomotives. When novelties, these highly finished ponderous +machines, seen slowly and very laboriously urged through the streets +from the foundry to their destination, were startling phenomena. We have +in the _Canadian Journal_ (vol. ii. p. 76), an account of the first +engine manufactured by Mr. Good at the Toronto Locomotive Works, with a +lithographic illustration. "We have much pleasure," the editor of the +_Canadian Journal_ says "in presenting our readers with a drawing of the +first locomotive engine constructed in Canada, and indeed, we believe, +in any British Colony. The 'Toronto' is certainly no beauty, nor is she +distinguished for any peculiarity in the construction, but she affords a +very striking illustration of our progress in the mechanical arts, and +of the growing wants of the country. The 'Toronto' was built at the +Toronto Locomotive Works, which were established by Mr. Good, in +October, 1852. The order for the 'Toronto' was received in February, +1853, for the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railroad. The engine was +completed on the 16th of April, and put on the track the 26th of the +same month. Her dimensions are as follows: cylinder 16 inches diameter, +stroke 22 inches, driving wheel 5 feet 6 inches in diameter, length of +internal fire box 4 feet 6 inches, weight of engine 25 tons, number of +tubes 150, diameter of tubes 2 inches." + +With property a little to the north on the east side, the name of +McIntosh was early associated, and--Canadian persistency again--is still +associated. Of Captains John, Robert and Charles McIntosh, we shall have +occasion to speak in our paper on the early Marine of York harbour. It +was opposite the residence of Captain John McIntosh that the small riot +took place, which signalized the return home of William Lyon Mackenzie, +in 1849, after the civil tumults of 1837. Mr. Mackenzie was at the time +the guest of Captain McIntosh, who was related to him through a marriage +connexion. + +Albert Street, which enters Yonge Street opposite the McIntosh property, +was in 1833 still known as Macaulay Lane, and was described by Walton as +"fronting the Fields." From this point a long stretch of fine +forest-land extended to Yorkville. On the left side it was the property +partly of Dr. Macaulay and partly of Chief Justice Elmsley. The fields +which Macaulay Lane fronted were the improvements around Dr. Macaulay's +abode. The white entrance gate to his house was near where now a street +leads into Trinity Square. Wykham Lodge, the residence of Sir James +Macaulay after the removal from Front Street, and Elmsley Villa, the +residence of Captain J. S. Macaulay, (Government House in Lord Elgin's +day, and subsequently Knox College,) were late erections on portions of +these spacious suburban estates. + +The first Dr. Macaulay and Chief Justice Elmsley selected two adjoining +park lots, both of them fronting, of course, on Lot Street. They then +effected an exchange of properties with each other. Dividing these two +lots transversely into equal portions, the Chief Justice chose the upper +or northern halves, and Dr. Macaulay the lower or southern. Dr. Macaulay +thus acquired a large frontage on Lot Street, and the Chief Justice a +like advantage on Yonge Street. Captain Macaulay acquired his interest +in the southern portion of the Elmsley halves by marriage with a +daughter of the Chief Justice. The northern portion of these halves +descended to the heir of the Chief Justice, Capt. John Elmsley, who +having become a convert to the Church of Rome, gave facilities for the +establishment of St. Basil's college and other Roman Catholic +Institutions on his estate. Of Chief Justice Elmsley and his son we have +previously spoken. + +Dr. Macaulay's clearing on the north side of Macaulay lane was, in +relation to the first town plot of York, long considered a locality +particularly remote; a spot to be discovered by strangers not without +difficulty. In attempting to reach it we have distinct accounts of +persons bewildered and lost for long hours in the intervening marshes +and woods. Mr. Justice Boulton, travelling from Prescott in his own +vehicle, and bound for Dr. Macaulay's domicile, was dissuaded, on +reaching Mr. Small's house at the eastern extremity of York, from +attempting to push on to his destination, although it was by no means +late, on account of the inconveniences and perils to be encountered; and +half of the following day was taken up in accomplishing the residue of +the journey. + +Dr. Macaulay's cottage might still have been existent and in good order; +but while it was being removed bodily by Mr. Alexander Hamilton, from +its original site to a position on the entrance to Trinity Square, a few +yards to the eastward, it was burnt, either accidentally or by the act +of an incendiary. Mr. Hamilton, who was intending to convert the +building into a home for himself and his family, gave the name of +Teraulay Cottage--the name by which the destroyed building had been +known--to the house which he put up in its stead. + +A quarter of a century sufficed to transform Dr. Macaulay's garden and +grounds into a well-peopled city district. The "fields," of which Walton +spoke, have undergone the change which St. George's Fields and other +similar spaces have undergone in London: + + St. George's Fields are fields no more; + The trowel supersedes the plough; + Huge inundated swamps of yore + Are changed to civic villas now. + The builder's plank, the mason's hod, + Wide and more wide extending still, + Usurp the violated sod. + +The area which Dr. Macaulay's homestead immediately occupied now +constitutes Trinity Square--a little bay by the side of a great stream +of busy human traffic, ever ebbing and flowing, not without rumble and +other resonances; a quiet close, resembling, it is pleasant to think, +one of the Inns of Court in London, so tranquil despite the turmoil of +Fleet Street adjoining. + +Trinity Square is now completely surrounded with buildings; nevertheless +an aspiring attic therein, in which many of these collections and +recollections have been reduced to shape, has the advantage of +commanding to this day a view still showing within its range some of the +primitive features of the site of York. To the north an extended portion +of the rising land above Yorkville is pleasantly visible, looking in the +distance as it anciently looked, albeit beheld now with spires +intervening, and ornamental turrets of public buildings, and lofty +factory flues: while to the south, seen also between chimney stacks and +steeples and long solid architectural ranges, a glimpse of Lake Ontario +itself is procurable--a glimpse especially precious so long as it is to +be had, for not only recalling, as it does, the olden time when "the +Lake" was an element in so much of the talk of the early settlers--its +sound, its aspect, its condition being matters of hourly observation to +them--but also suggesting the thought of the far-off outer ocean +stream--the silver moat that guards the fatherland, and that forms the +horizon in so many of its landscapes. + +To the far-off Atlantic, and to the misty isles beyond--the true _Insulae +Fortunatoe_--we need not name them--the glittering slip which we are +still permitted to see yonder, is the highway--the route by which the +fathers came--the route by which their sons from time to time return to +make dutiful visits to hearthstones and shrines never to be thought of +or named without affection and reverence.--Of that other ideal +ocean-stream, too, and of that other ideal home, of which the poet +speaks, our peep of Ontario may likewise, to the thoughtful, be an +allegory, by the help of which + + In a season of calm weather, + Though inland far we be, + Our souls have sight of that immortal sea + Which brought us hither; + Can in a moment travel thither-- + And see the children sport upon the shore, + And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore! + +The Church with the twin turrets, now seen in the middle space of +Trinity Square, was a gift of benevolence to Western Canada in 1846 from +two ladies, sisters. The personal character of Bishop Strachan was the +attraction that drew the boon to Toronto. Through the hands of Bishop +Longley of Ripon, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, a sum of L5,000 +sterling was transmitted by the donors to Bishop Strachan for the +purpose of founding a church, two stipulations being that it should be +forever, like the ancient churches of England, free to all for worship, +and that it should bear the name of The Holy Trinity. The sum sent built +the Church and created a small endowment. Soon after the completion of +the edifice, Scoresby, the celebrated Arctic navigator, author of "An +Account of the Arctic Regions, with a History and Description of the +Northern Whale Fishery," preached and otherwise officiated within its +walls. Therein, too, at a later period was heard the voice of Selwyn, +Bishop of Lichfield, but previously the eminent Missionary Bishop of New +Zealand. Here also, while the Cathedral of St. James was rebuilding, +after its second destruction by fire in 1849, Lord Elgin was a constant +devout participant in Christian rites, an historical association +connected with the building, made worthy of preservation by the very +remarkable public services of the Earl afterwards in China and +India.--We recall at this moment the _empressement_ with which an +obscure little chapel was pointed out to us in the small hamlet of +Tregear in Cornwall, on account of the fact that John Wesley had once +preached there. Well then: it may be that with some hereafter, it will +be a matter of curiosity and interest to know that several men of +world-wide note, did, in their day, while sojourning in this region, +"pay their vows" in the particular "Lord's House" to which we now have +occasion to refer. + +In the grove which surrounded Sir James Macaulay's residence, Wykham +Lodge, we had down to recent years a fragment of the fine forest which +lined Yonge Street, almost continuously from Lot Street to Yorkville, +some forty years since. The ruthless uprooting of the eastern border of +this beautiful sylvan relic of the past, for building purposes, was +painful to witness, however quickly the presence of rows of useful +structures reconciled us to the change. The trees which cluster round +the great school building in the rear of these improvements will long, +as we hope, survive to give an idea of what was the primeval aspect of +the whole of the neighbourhood. + +The land on the opposite side, a little to the north of the point at +which we have arrived, viz., Carleton Street--long remaining in an +uncultivated condition, was a portion of the estate of Alexander Wood, +of whom we have already spoken. His family and baptismal names are +preserved, as we have before noted, in "Wood" Street and "Alexander" +Street. + +The streets which we passed southward of Wood Street, Carleton, Gerrard, +Shuter, with Gould Street in the immediate vicinity, had their names +from personal friends of Mr. McGill, the first owner, as we have seen, +of this tract. They are names mostly associated with the early annals of +Montreal, and seem rather inapposite here. + +Northward, a little beyond where Grosvenor Street leads into what was +Elmsley Villa, and is now Knox College, was a solitary green field with +a screen of lofty trees on three of its sides. In its midst was a Dutch +barn, or hay-barrack, with movable top. The sward on the northern side +of the building was ever eyed by the passer-by with a degree of awe. It +was the exact spot where a fatal duel had been fought. + +We have seen in repeated instances that the so-called code of honour was +in force at York from the era of its foundation. "Without it," +Mandeville had said, "there would be no living in a populous nation. It +is the tie of society; and although we are beholden to our frailties for +the chief ingredient of it, there has been no virtue, at least that I am +acquainted with, which has proved half so instrumental to the civilizing +of mankind, who, in great societies, would soon degenerate into cruel +villains and treacherous slaves, were honour to be removed from among +them." Mandeville's sophistical dictum was blindly accepted, and trifles +light as air gave rise to the conventional hostile meeting. The merest +accident at a dance, a look, a jest, a few words of unconsidered talk, +of youthful chaff, were every now and then sufficient to force persons +who previously, perhaps, had been bosom friends, companions from +childhood, along with others sometimes, in no wise concerned in the +quarrel at first, to put on an unnatural show of thirst for each other's +blood. The victim of the social usage of the day, in the case now +referred to, was a youthful son of Surveyor-General Ridout. + +Some years after the event, the public attention was drawn afresh to it. +The surviving principal in the affair, Mr. Samuel Jarvis, underwent a +trial at the time and was acquitted. But the seconds were not arraigned. +It happened in 1828, eleven years after the incident (the duel took +place July 12, 1817), that Francis Collins, editor of the _Canadian +Freeman_, a paper of which we have before spoken, was imprisoned and +fined for libel. As an act of retaliation on at least some of those who +had promoted the prosecution, which ended in his being thus sentenced, +he set himself to work to bring the seconds into court. He succeeded. +One of them, Mr. Henry John Boulton, was now Solicitor-General, and the +other, Mr. James E. Small, an eminent member of the Bar. All the +particulars of the fatal encounter, were once more gone over in the +evidence. But the jury did not convict. + +Modern society, here and elsewhere, is to be congratulated on the change +which has come over its ideas in regard to duelling. Apart from the +considerations dictated by morals and religion, common sense, as we +suppose, has had its effect in checking the practice. York, in its +infancy, was no better and no worse in this respect than other places. +It took its cue in this as in some other matters, from very high +quarters. The Duke of York, from whom York derived its name, had himself +narrowly escaped a bullet from the pistol of Colonel Lennox: "it passed +so near to the ear as to discommode the side-curl," the report said; but +our Duke's action, or rather inaction, on the occasion helped perhaps to +impress on the public mind the irrationality of duelling: he did not +return the fire. "He came out," he said, "to give Colonel Lennox +satisfaction, and did not mean to fire at him; if Colonel Lennox was not +satisfied, he might fire again." + +Just to the north of the scene of the fatal duel, which has led to this +digression, was the portion of Yonge Street where a wooden tramway was +once laid down for a short distance; an experiment interesting to be +remembered now, as an early foreshadowing of the existing convenient +street railway, if not of the great Northern Railway itself. +Subterranean springs and quicksands hereabout rendered the primitive +roadmaker's occupation no easy one; and previous to the application of +macadam, the tramway, while it lasted, was a boon to the farmers after +heavy rains. + +Mr. Durand's modest cottage and bowery grounds, near here, recall at the +present day, an early praiseworthy effort of its owner to establish a +local periodical devoted to Literature and Natural History, in +conjunction with an advocacy of the cause of Temperance. A diligent +attention to his profession as a lawyer did not hinder the editor of the +_Literary Gem_ from giving some of his leisure time to the observation +and study of Nature. We accordingly have in the columns of that +periodical numerous notes of the fauna and flora of the surrounding +neighbourhood, which for their appreciativeness, simplicity, and +minuteness, remind us of the pleasant pages of White's "Natural History +of Selborne." The _Gem_ appeared in 1851-2, and had an extensive +circulation. It was illustrated with good wood-cuts, and its motto was +"Humanity, Temperance, Progress." The place of its publication was +indicated by a square label suspended on one side of the front entrance +of a small white office still to be seen adjoining the cottage which we +are now passing. + +The father of Mr. Durand was an Englishman of Huguenot descent, who +emigrated hither from Abergavenny at a very early period. Having been +previously engaged in the East India mercantile service, he undertook +the importation of East India produce. After reaching Quebec and +Montreal in safety, his first consignments, embarked in batteaux, were +swallowed up bodily in the rapids of the St. Lawrence. He nevertheless +afterwards prospered in his enterprise, and acquired property. Nearly +the whole of the eastern moiety of the present city of Hamilton was +originally his. He represented the united counties of Wentworth and +Halton in several parliaments up to 1822. A political journal, entitled +_The Bee_, moderate and reasonable in tone, was, up to 1812, edited and +published by him in the Niagara District. Mr. Durand, senior, died in +1833, at Hamilton, where he filled the post of County Registrar. His +eldest son, Mr. James Durand, when, in 1817, member for Halton, enjoyed +the distinction of being expelled from the House of Assembly. A +Parliament had just expired. He offered some strictures on its +proceedings, in an address to his late constituents. The new House, +which embraced many persons who had been members of the previous +Parliament, was persuaded to vote the Address to the electors of Halton +a libel, to exclude its author from the House, and to commit him to +prison. His instant re-election by the county of Halton was of course +secured. We observe from the evidence of Mr. James Durand before the +celebrated Grievance Committee of 1835, that he was an early advocate of +a number of the changes which have since been carried into effect. This +Mr. Durand died in 1872 at Kingston, where he was Registrar for the +County of Frontenac. + +We have been enabled to present these facts, through the kindness of Mr. +Charles Durand, who, in a valuable communication, further informs us +that besides being among the earliest to engage in mercantile +enterprises in Upper Canada, his father had also in 1805, a large +interest in the extensive flour mills in Chippawa, known as the +Bridgewater Mills: mills burnt by the retreating American army in 1812, +at which period Mr. Durand, senior, was in the command of one of the +flank companies of Militia, composed of the first settlers in the +neighbourhood of the modern Hamilton: moreover he was the first who ever +imported foxhounds into Upper Canada, a pack of which animals he caused +to be sent out to him from England, being fond of the hunter's sport. +With these he hunted near Long Point, on Lake Erie, in 1805, over a +region teeming at the time with deer, bears, wolves and wild turkeys. +Mr. Peter Des Jardins, from whom the Dundas Canal has its name, was, in +1805, a clerk in the employment of Mr. Durand. (Omitted elsewhere, we +insert here a passing notice of Mr. J. M. Cawdell, another +well-remembered local pioneer of literature. He published for a short +time a magazine of light reading, entitled the _Rose harp_, the bulk of +which consisted of graceful compositions in verse and prose by himself. +Mr. Cawdell had been an officer in the army. Through the friendship of +Mr. Justice Macaulay (afterwards Sir James), he was appointed librarian +and secretary to the Law Society of Osgoode Hall. He died in 1842.) + +Proceeding now onward a few yards, we arrived, in former times, at what +was popularly called the Sandhill--a moderate rise, showing where, in +by-gone ages, the lake began to shoal. An object of interest in the +woods here, at the top of the rise, on the west side, was the "Indian's +Grave," made noticeable to the traveller by a little civilized railing +surrounding it. + +The story connected therewith was this: When the United States forces +were landing in 1813, near the Humber Bay, with the intention of +attacking the Fort and taking York, one of Major Givins' Indians, +concealed himself in a tree, and from that position fired into the boats +with fatal effect repeatedly. He was soon discovered, and speedily shot. +The body was afterwards found, and deposited with respect in a little +grave here on the crest of the Sandhill, where an ancient Indian burying +ground had existed, though long abandoned. It would seem that by some +means, the scalp of this poor Indian was packed up with the trophies of +the capture of York, conveyed by Lieut. Dudley to Washington. From being +found in company with the Speaker's Mace on that occasion, the foolish +story arose of its having been discovered over the Speaker's chair in +the Parliament building that was destroyed. + +"With the exception," says Ingersoll, in his History of the War of +1812-14, "of the English general's musical snuff-box, which was an +object of much interest to some of our officers, and a scalp which Major +Forsyth found suspended over the Speaker's chair, we gained but barren +honour by the capture of York, of which no permanent possession was +taken." + +Auchinleck, in his History of the same war, very reasonably observes, +that "from the expertness of the backwoodsmen in scalping (of which he +gives two or three instances), it is not at all unlikely that the scalp +in question was that of an unfortunate Indian who was shot while in a +tree by the Americans, in their advance on the town." It was rejected +with disgust by the authorities at Washington, Ingersoll informs us, and +was not allowed to decorate the walls of the War Office there. Colonel +W. F. Coffin, in his "1812: The War and its Moral," asserts that a +peruke or scratch-wig, found in the Parliament House, was mistaken for a +scalp. + +Building requirements have at the present day occasioned the almost +complete obliteration of the Sandhill. Innumerable loads of the loose +silex of which it was composed have been removed. The bones of the +Indian brave, and of his forefathers, have been carried away. In a +triturated condition, they mingle now, perhaps, in the mortar of many a +wall in the vicinity. + + A noble race! but they are gone, + With their old forests wide and deep, + And we have built our houses on + Fields where their generations sleep. + Their fountains slake our thirst at noon, + Upon their fields our harvest waves, + Our lovers woo beneath their moon-- + Then let us spare at least their graves! + +Vain, however, was the poet's appeal. Even the prosaic proclamations of +the civil power had but temporary effect. We quote one of them of the +date of Dec. 14th, 1797, having for its object the protection of the +fishing places and burying grounds of the Mississaga Indians: + +"Proclamation. Upper Canada. Whereas, many heavy and grievous complaints +have of late been made by the Mississaga Indians, of depredations +committed by some of his Majesty's subjects and others upon their +fisheries and burial places, and of other annoyances suffered by them by +uncivil treatment, in violation of the friendship existing between his +Majesty and the Mississaga Indians, as well as in violation of decency +and good order: Be it known, therefore, that if any complaint shall +hereafter be made of injuries done to the fisheries and to the burial +places of the said Indians, or either of them, and the persons can be +ascertained who misbehaved himself or themselves in manner aforesaid, +such person or persons shall be proceeded against with the utmost +severity, and a proper example made of any herein offending. Given under +my hand and seal of arms, at York, this fourteenth day of December, in +the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, and in +the thirty-eighth year of his Majesty's reign. Peter Russell, President, +administering the government. By his Honour's command, Alex. Burns, +Secretary." + +As to the particular ancient burial-plot on the Sandhill north of York, +however, it may perhaps be conjectured that prior to 1813 the +Mississagas had transferred to other resting places the bulk of the +relics which had been deposited there. + +Off to the eastward of the sandy rise which we are ascending, was one of +the early public nursery gardens of York, Mr. Frank's. Further to the +North on the same side was another, Mr. Adams'. Mr. Adams was a tall, +oval-faced, fair-complexioned Scotchman. An establishment of the same +kind at York more primitive still, was that of Mr. Bond, of whom we +shall have occasion to speak by and by. + +Kearsny House, Mr. Proudfoot's, the grounds of which occupy the site of +Frank's nursery garden, is a comparatively modern erection, dating from +about 1845; an architectural object regarded with no kindly glance by +the final holders of shares in the Bank of Upper Canada--an institution +which in the infancy of the country had a mission and fulfilled it, but +which grievously betrayed those of the second generation who, relying on +its traditionary sterling repute, continued to trust it. With Kearsny +House, too, is associated the recollection, not only of the president, +so long identified with the Bank of Upper Canada, but of the financier, +Mr. Cassells, who, as a kind of _deus ex machina_, engaged at an annual +salary of ten thousand dollars, was expected to retrieve the fortunes of +the institution, but in vain, although for a series of years after being +pronounced moribund it continued to yield a handsome addition to the +income of a number of persons. + +Mr. Alexander Murray, subsequently of Yorkville, and a merchant of the +olden time at York, occupied the residence which preceded Kearsny House, +on the Frank property. One desires, in passing, to offer a tribute to +the memory of a man of such genuine worth as was Mr. Murray, although +the singular unobtrusiveness which characterized him when living seems +almost to forbid the act. + +The residue of the Sandhill rise that is still to be discerned westward +of Yonge Street has its winsome name, Clover Hill, from the designation +borne by the home of Captain Elmsley, son of the Chief Justice, situate +here. The house still stands, overshadowed by some fine oaks, relics of +the natural wood. The rustic cottage lodge, with diamond lattice +windows, at the gate leading in to the original Clover Hill, was on the +street a little further on. At the time of his decease, Captain Elmsley +had taken up his abode in a building apart from the principal residence +of the Clover Hill estate; a building to which he had pleasantly given +the name of Barnstable, as being in fact a portion of the outbuildings +of the homestead turned into a modest dwelling. + +Barnstable was subsequently occupied by Mr. Maurice Scollard, a veteran +attache of the Bank of Upper Canada, of Irish birth, remembered by all +frequenters of that institution, and by others for numerous estimable +traits of character, but especially for a gift of genuine quiet humour +and wit, which at a touch was ever unfailingly ready to manifest itself +in word or act, in some unexpected, amusing, genial way. Persons +transacting business at the India House in London, when Charles Lamb was +a book-keeper there, must have had the solemn routine of the place now +and then curiously varied by a dry "aside" from the direction of his +desk. Just so the habitues of the old Bank, when absorbed in a knotty +question of finance, affecting themselves individually, or the +institution, would oftentimes find themselves startled from their +propriety by a droll view of the case, gravely suggested by a venerable +personage sure to be somewhere near at hand busily engaged over a huge +ledger. + +They who in the mere fraction of a lifetime have seen in so many places +the desert blossom as the rose, can with a degree of certainty, realize +in their imagination what the whole country will one day be, even +portions of it which to the new comer seem at the first glance very +unpromising. Our Sandhill here, which but as yesterday we beheld in its +primeval condition, with no trace of human labour upon it except a few +square yards cleared round a solitary Indian grave, to-day we see +crowned along its crest for many a rood eastward and westward with +comfortable villas and graceful pleasure-grounds. The history of this +spot may serve to encourage all who at any time or anywhere are called +in the way of duty to be the first to attack and rough-hew a forest-wild +for the benefit of another generation. + +If need were to stay the mind of a newly-arrived immigrant friend +wavering as to whether or not he should venture permanently to cast in +his lot with us, we should be inclined to direct his regards, for one +thing, to the gardens of an amateur, on the southern slope of the rise, +at which we are pausing, where choice fruits and flowers are year after +year produced equal to those grown in Kent or Devon; we should be +inclined to direct his regards, likewise, to the amateur cultivator +himself of those fruits and flowers, Mr. Phipps--a typical Englishman +after a residentership in York and Toronto of half a century. + +But we must push on.--To the north of our Sandhill, a short distance, on +the east side, was a sylvan halting place for weary teams, known as the +Gardeners' Arms. It was an unpretending rural wayside inn, furnished +with troughs and pump. The house lay a little way back from the road. +Its sign exhibited an heraldic arrangement of horticultural implements. +Another rural inn, with homely name, might have been noted, while we +were nearer Lot Street: the Green Bush Tavern. But this was a name +transferred from another spot, far to the north on Yonge Street, when +the landlord, Mr. Abrahams, moved into town. In the original locality, +the sign was a painted pine-tree or spruce of formal shape--not the +ivy-bush, the sign referred to by the ancient proverb when it said, +"Wine needeth it not"--"Vino vendibili non opus est suspensa hedera." + +On the right, beyond the Gardeners' Arms, appeared in this region at an +early date, at a considerable distance from each other, two or perhaps +three flat, single-storey square cottages, clapboarded and painted +white, with flat four-sided roofs, door in the centre and one window on +either side: little wooden boxes set down on the surface of the soil +apparently, and capable, as it might seem, of being readily lifted up +and transported to any other locality. They were the first of such +structures in the outskirts of York, and were speedily copied and +repeated in various directions, being thought models of neatness and +convenience. + +Opposite the quarter where these little square hutches were to be seen, +there are to be found at the present day, the vineyards of Mr. Bevan; to +be found, we say, for they are concealed from the view of the transient +passenger by intervening buildings. Here again we have a scene +presenting a telling contrast to the same spot and its surroundings +within the memory of living men: a considerable area covered with a +labyrinth of trellis work, all overspread with hardy grapes in great +variety and steadily productive. To this sight likewise we should +introduce our timid, hesitating new comer, as also to the originator of +the spectacle--Mr. Bevan, who after a forty years' sojourn in the +vicinity of York and Toronto, continues as genuinely English in spirit +and tone now as when he first left the quay of his native Bristol for +his venture westward. While engaged largely in the manufacture of +various articles of wooden ware, Mr. Bevan adopted as a recreation the +cultivation of the grape, and the making of a good and wholesome wine. +It is known in commerce and to physicians, who recommend it to invalids +for its real purity, as Clintona. + +Just before reaching the first concession-road, where Yorkville now +begins, a family residence of an ornamental suburban character, put up +on the left by Mr. Lardner Bostwick, was the first of that class of +building in the neighbourhood. His descendants still occupy it. Mr. +Bostwick was an early property owner in York. The now important square +acre at the south-east angle of the intersection of King Street and +Yonge Street, regarded probably when selected, as a mere site for a +house and garden in the outskirts of the town, was his. The price paid +for it was L100. Its value in 1873 may be L100,000. + +The house of comparatively modern date, seen next after Mr. Bostwick, is +associated with the memory of Mr. de Blaquiere, who occupied it before +building for himself the tasteful residence--The Pines--not far off, +where he died; now the abode of Mr. John Heward. + +Mr. de Blaquiere was the youngest son of the first Lord de Blaquiere, of +Ardkill, in Ireland. He emigrated in 1837, and was subsequently +appointed to a seat in the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. In his +youth he had seen active service as a midshipman. He was present at the +battle of Camperdown in the Bounty, commanded by Captain Bligh. He was +also in the Fleet at the Nore during the mutiny. He died suddenly here +in his new house in 1860, aged 76. His fine character and prepossessing +outward physique are freshly remembered. + +Thus again and again have we to content ourselves with the interest that +attaches, not to the birth-places of men of note, as would be the case +in older towns, but to their death-places. Who of those that have been +born in the numerous domiciles which we pass are finally to be ranked as +men of note, and as creators consequently of a sentimental interest in +their respective birth-places, remains to be seen. In our portion of +Canada there has been time for the application of the requisite test in +only a very few instances. + +The First Concession Road-line derived its modern name of Bloor Street +from a former resident on its southern side, eastward of Yonge Street. +Mr. Bloor, as we have previously narrated, was for many years the +landlord of the Farmers' Arms, near the market place of York, an inn +conveniently situated for the accommodation of the agricultural public. +On retiring from this occupation with a good competency, he established +a Brewery on an extensive scale in the ravine north of the first +concession road. In conjunction with Mr. Sheriff Jarvis, he entered +successfully into a speculation on land, projecting and laying out the +village of Yorkville, which narrowly escaped being Bloorville. That name +was proposed: as also was Rosedale, after the Sheriff's homestead; and +likewise "Cumberland," from the county of some of the surrounding +inhabitants. The monosyllable "Blore" would have sufficed, without +having recourse to a hackeyned suffix. That is the name of a spot in +Staffordshire, famous for a great engagement in the wars between the +Houses of Lancaster and York. But Yorkville was at last decided on, an +appellation preservative in part of the name just discarded in 1834 by +Toronto. + +Mr. Bloor was an Englishman, respected by every one. That his name +should have become permanently attached to the Northern Boulevard of the +City of Toronto, a favourite thoroughfare, several miles in extent, is a +curious fact which may be compared with the case of Pimlico, the famous +west-end quarter of London. Pimlico has its name, it is said, from Mr. +Benjamin Pimlico, for many years the popular landlord of a hotel in the +neighbourhood. Bloor Street was for a time known as St. Paul's road: +also as the Sydenham road. + +While crossing the First Concession Line, now in our northward journey, +the moment comes back to us when on glancing along the vista to the +eastward, formed by the road in that direction, we first noticed a +church-spire on the right-hand or southern side. We had passed that way +a day or two before, and we were sure no such object was to be seen +there then; and yet, unmistakeably now, there rose up before the eye a +rather graceful tower and spire, of considerable altitude, complete from +base to apex, and coloured white. + +The fact was: Mr. J. G. Howard, a well-known local architect, had +ingeniously constructed a tower of wood in a horizontal, or nearly +horizontal, position in the ground close by, somewhat as a shipbuilder +puts together "the mast of some vast ammiral," and then, after attending +to the external finish of, at least, the higher portion of it, even to a +coating of lime wash, had, in the space of a few hours, by means of +convenient machinery raised it on end, and secured it, permanently, in a +vertical position. + +We gather some further particulars of the achievement from a +contemporary account. The Yorkville spire was raised on the 4th of +August, 1841. It was 85 feet high, composed of four entire trees or +pieces of timber, each of that length, bound together pyramidically, +tapering from ten feet base to one foot at top, and made to receive a +turned ball and weather-cock. The base was sunk in the ground until the +apex was raised ten feet from the ground; and about thirty feet of the +upper part of the spire was completed, coloured and painted before the +raising. The operation of raising commenced about two o'clock p.m., and +about eight in the evening, the spire and vane were seen erect, and +appeared to those unacquainted with what was going on, to have risen +amongst the trees, as if by magic. The work was performed by Mr. John +Richey; the framing by Mr. Wetherell, and the raising was superintended +by Mr. Joseph Hill. + +The plan adopted was this: three gin-poles, as they are called, were +erected in the form of a triangle; each of them was well braced, and +tackles were rove at their tops: the tackles were hooked to strong +straps about fifty feet up the spire, with nine men to each tackle, and +four men to steady the end with following poles. It was raised in about +four hours from the commencement of the straining of the tackles, and +had a very beautiful appearance while rising. The whole operation, we +have been told, was conducted as nearly as possible in silence, the +architect himself regulating by signs the action of the groups at the +gin-poles, being himself governed by the plumb-line suspended in a high +frame before him. + + "No workman steel, no ponderous axes rung; + Like some tall palm, the noiseless fabric sprung." + +Perhaps Fontana's exploit of setting on end the obelisk in front of St. +Peter's, in Rome, suggested the possibility of causing a tower and spire +complete to be suddenly seen rising above the roof of the Yorkville St. +Paul's. On an humble scale we have Fontana's arrangements reproduced. +While in the men at the gin-poles worked in obedience to signs, we have +the old Egyptians over again--a very small detachment of them indeed--as +seen in the old sculptures on the banks of the Nile. + +The original St. Paul's before it acquired in this singular manner the +dignified appurtenance of a steeple, was a long, low, barn-like, wooden +building. Mr. Howard otherwise improved it, enlarging it by the addition +of an aisle on the west side. When some twenty years later, viz., in +1861, the new stone church was erected, the old wooden structure was +removed bodily to the west side of Yonge Street, together with the +tower, curtailed, however, of its spire. + +We have been informed that the four fine stems, each eighty-five feet +long, which formed the interior frame of the tower and spire of 1841, +were a present from Mr. Allan, of Moss Park; and that the Rev. Charles +Matthews, occasionally officiating in St. Paul's, gave one hundred +pounds in cash towards the expense of the ornamental addition now made +to the edifice. + +The history of another of Mr. Howard's erections on Yonge Street, which +we are perambulating, illustrates the rapid advance and expansion of +architectural ideas amongst us. In the case now referred to it was no +shell of timber and deal-boards that was taken down, but a very handsome +solid edifice of cut-stone, which might have endured for centuries. The +Bank of British North America, built by Mr. Howard, at the corner of +Yonge Street and Wellington Street in 1843, was deliberately taken down, +block by block, in 1871, and made to give place to a structure which +should be on a par in magnificence and altitude with the buildings put +up in Toronto by the other Banks. Mr. Howard's building, at the time of +its erection, was justly regarded as a credit to the town. Its design +was preferred by the directors in London to those sent in by several +architects there. Over the principal entrance were the Royal Arms, +exceedingly well carved in stone on a grand scale, and wholly disengaged +from the wall; and conspicuous over the parapet above was the great +scallop-shell, emblem of the gold-digger's occupation, introduced by Sir +John Soane, in the architecture of the Bank of England. (The Royal Arms +of the old building have been deemed worthy of a place over the entrance +to the new Bank.) + +The Cemetery, the gates and keeper's lodge of which, after crossing the +concession road and advancing on our way northward, we used to see on +the left, was popularly known as "The Potter's Field"--"a place to bury +strangers in." Its official style was "The York General or Strangers' +Burying Ground." In practice it was the Bunhill Fields of York--the +receptacle of the remains of those whose friends declined the use of the +St. James's churchyard and other early burial-plots. + +Walton's Directory for 1833, gives the following information, which we +transfer hither, as well for the slight degree of quaintness which the +narrative has acquired, as also on account of the familiar names which +it contains. "This institution," Walton says, "owes its origin to Mr. +Carfrae, junior. It comprises six acres of ground, and has a neat +sexton's house built close by the gate. The name of the sexton is John +Wolstencroft, who keeps a registry of every person buried therein. +Persons of all creeds and persons of no creed, are allowed burial in +this cemetery: fees to the sexton, 5s. It was instituted in the fall of +1825, and incorporated by Act of Parliament, 30th January, 1826. It is +managed by five trustees, who are chosen for life; and in case of the +death of any of them, a public meeting of the inhabitants is called, +when they elect a successor or successors in their place. The present +trustees (1833) are Thomas Carfrae, jun., Thomas D. Morrison, Peter +Paterson, John Ewart, Thomas Helliwell." + +(Mr. Carfrae was for some years the collector of Customs of the Port of +York. The other trustees named were respectively the medical man, +iron-merchant, builder, and brewer, so well known in the neighbourhood.) + +A remote sequestered piece of ground in 1825, the Potter's Field in 1845 +was more or less surrounded by buildings, and regarded as an impediment +in the way of public improvement. Interments were accordingly +prohibited. To some extent it has been cleared of human remains, and in +due time will be built over. Its successor and representative is the +Toronto Necropolis, the trustees of which are empowered, after the lapse +of twenty-one years, to sell the old burying-ground. + +Proceeding on, we were immediately opposite the Red Lion Tavern, +anciently Tiers', subsequently Price's, on the east side; a large and +very notable halting-place for loaded teams after the tremendous +struggle involved in the traverse of the Blue Hill ravine, of which +presently. + +In old European lands, in times by-gone, the cell of a hermit, a +monastery, a castle, became often the nucleus of a village or town. With +us on the American continent, a convenient watering or baiting place in +the forest for the wearied horses of a farmer's waggon or a stage-coach +is the less romantic _punctum saliens_ for a similar issue. Thus +Tiers's, at which we have paused, may be regarded as the germ of the +flourishing incorporation of Yorkville. Many a now solitary way-station +on our railroads will probably in like manner hereafter prove a centre +round which will be seen a cluster of human habitations. + +We discover from a contemporary _Gazette_ that so early as 1808, +previous, perhaps, to the establishment of the Red Lion on Yonge Street, +Mr. Tiers had conducted a public house in the Town of York. In the +_Gazette_ of June 13, 1808, we have the following announcement. It has +an English ring; "Beefsteak and Beer House.--The subscriber informs his +friends and the public that he has opened a house of entertainment next +door to Mr. Hunt's, where his friends will be served with victualing in +good order, on the shortest notice, and at a cheap rate. He will furnish +the best strong beer at 8d. New York currency per gallon if drank in his +house, and 2s. 6d. New York currency taken out. As he intends to keep a +constant supply of racked beer, with a view not to injure the health of +his customers, and for which he will have to pay cash, the very small +profits at which he offers to sell, will put it out of his power to give +credit, and he hopes none will be asked. N.B. He will immediately have +entertainment for man and horse. Daniel Tiers. York, 12th January, +1808." + +The singular _Hotel de Ville_ which in modern times distinguishes +Yorkville, has a Flemish look. It might have strayed hither from Ghent. +Nevertheless, as seen from numerous points of view, it cannot be +characterized as picturesque, or in harmony with its surroundings.--The +shield of arms sculptured in stone and set in the wall above the +circular window in the front gable, presents the following charges +arranged quarterly: a Beer-barrel, with an S below; a Brick-mould, with +an A below; an Anvil, with a W below; and a Jackplane, with a D below. +In the centre, in a shield of pretence, is a Sheep's head, with an H +below. These symbols commemorate the first five Councillors or Aldermen +of Yorkville at the time of its incorporation in 1853, and their trades +or callings; the initials being those respectively of the surnames of +Mr. John Severn, Mr. Thomas Atkinson, Mr. James Wallis, Mr. James +Dobson, and Mr. Peter Hutty. Over the whole, as a crest, is the Canadian +Beaver. + +The road which enters from the west, a little way on, calls up memories +of Russel-hill, Davenport and Spadina, each of them locally historic. We +have already spoken of them in our journey along Front Street and Queen +Street, when, in crossing Brock Street, Spadina-house in the distance +caught the eye. It is a peculiarity of this old bye-road that, instead +of going straight, as most of our highways monotonously do, it meanders +a little, unfolding a number of pretty suburban scenes. The public +school, on the land given to Yorkville by Mr. Ketchum, is visible up +this road. + +In this direction were the earliest public ice-houses established in our +region, in rude buildings of slab, thickly thatched over with pine +branches. Spring-water ice, gathered from the neighbouring mill-ponds, +began to be stored here in quantities by an enterprising man of African +descent, Mr. Richards, five-and-thirty years ago. + +On the east side of Yonge Street, near the northern toll-gate, stood Dr. +R. C. Horne's house, the lurid flames arising from which somewhat +alarmed the town in 1837, when the malcontents of the north were +reported to be approaching with hostile intent. Of Dr. Horne we have +already spoken, in connexion with the early press of York. + +Were the tall and very beautiful spire which in the present day is to be +seen where the Davenport Road enters Yonge Street, the appendage of an +ecclesiastical edifice of the mediaeval period--as the architecture +implies--it would indicate, in all probability, the presence of a Church +of St. Giles. St. AEgidius or Giles presided, it was imagined, over the +entrances to cities and towns. Consequently, fancy will always have it, +whenever we pass the interesting pile standing so conspicuously by a +public gate, or where for a long while there was a public gate, leading +into the town, that here we behold the St. Giles' of Toronto. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXV. + + YONGE STREET, FROM YORKVILLE TO HOGG'S HOLLOW. + + +Of long standing is the group of buildings on the right after passing +the Davenport Road. It is the Brewery and malting-house of Mr. Severn, +settled here since 1835. The main building over-looks a ravine which, as +seen by the passer-by on Yonge Street, retains to this day in its +eastern recess a great deal of natural beauty, although the stream below +attracted manufacturers at an early period to its borders at numerous +points. There is a picturesque irregularity about the outlines of Mr. +Severn's brewery. The projecting galleries round the domestic portion of +the building pleasantly indicate that the adjacent scenery is not +unappreciated: nay, possibly enjoyed on many a tranquil autumn evening. + +Further on, a block-house of two storeys, both of them rectangular, but +the upper turned half round on the lower, built in consequence of the +troubles of 1837, and supposed to command the great highway from the +north, overhung a high bank on the right. (Another of the like build was +placed at the eastern extremity of the First Concession Road. It was +curious to observe how rapidly these two relics acquired the character +and even the look, gray and dilapidated, of age. With many, they dated +at least from the war of 1812.) + +A considerable stretch of striking landscape here skirts our route on +the right. Rosedale-house, the old extra-mural home, still existent and +conspicuous, of Mr. Stephen Jarvis, Registrar of the Province in the +olden time, afterwards of his son the Sheriff, of both of whom we have +had occasion to speak repeatedly, was always noticeable for the +romantic character of its situation; on the crest of a precipitous bank +overlooking deep winding ravines. Set down here while yet the forest was +but little encroached on, access to it was of course for a long time, +difficult and laborious. + +The memorable fancy-ball given here at a comparatively late period, but +during the Sheriff's lifetime, recurs as we go by. On that occasion, in +the dusk of evening, and again probably in the gray dawn of morning, an +irregular procession thronged the highway of Yonge Street and toiled up +and down the steep approaches to Rosedale-house--a procession consisting +of the simulated shapes and forms that usually revisit the glimpses of +the moon at masquerades,--knights, crusaders, Plantagenet, Tudor and +Stuart princes, queens and heroines; all mixed up with an incongruous +ancient and modern canaille, a Tom of Bedlam, a Nicholas Bottom "with +amiable cheeks and fair large ears," an Ariel, a Paul Pry, a Pickwick, +&c., &c., not pacing on with some veri-similitude on foot or respectably +mounted on horse, ass, or mule, but borne along most prosaically on +wheels or in sleighs. + +This pageant, though only a momentary social relaxation, a transient but +still not unutilitarian freak of fashion, accomplished well and cleverly +in the midst of a scene literally a savage wild only a few years +previously, may be noted as one of the many outcomes of precocity +characterizing society in the colonies of England. + +In a burlesque drama to be seen in the columns of a contemporary paper +(the _Colonist_, of 1839) we have an allusion to this memorable +entertainment. The news is supposed to have just arrived of the union of +the Canadas, to the dismay, as it is pretended, of the official party, +among whom there will henceforth be no more cakes and ale. A messenger, +Thomas, speaks: + + List, oh, list--the Queen hath sent + A message to her Lords and trusty Commons-- + All--What message sent she? + Thomas.--Oh the dreadful news! + That both the Canadas in one be joined.--(_faints._) + +Sheriff William then speaks: + + Farewell ye masquerades, ye sparkling routs: + Now routed out, no more shall routs be ours; + No gilded chariots now shall roll along; + No sleighs that sweep across our icy path,-- + Sleighs! no: this news that slays our warmest hopes, + Ends pageantry, and pride and masquerades. + +The characters in the dramatic _jeu d'esprit_, from which these lines +are taken, are the principal personages of the defeated party, under +thinly disguised names, Mr. Justice Clearhead, Mr. John Scott, William +Welland, Judge Brock, Christopher, Samuel, Sheriff William, as above, +and Thomas, &c. Rosedale is a name of pleasant sound. We are reminded +thereby of another of the same genus, but of more recent application in +these parts--Hazeldean--the pretty title given by Chief Justice Draper +to his rural cottage, which overhangs and looks down upon the same +ravine as Rosedale, but on the opposite side. (A residence of the Earl +of Shaftesbury in Kew-foot Lane near Richmond, on the Thames is called +Rosedale House, and is associated with the memory of the poet Thomson, +who is said to have written his _Castle of Indolence_ there.) + +The perils and horrors encountered every spring and autumn by travellers +and others in their ascent and descent of the precipitous sides of the +Rosedale ravine, at the point where the primitive Yonge Street crossed +it, were a local proverb and by-word: perils and horrors ranking for +enormity with those associated with the passage of the Rouge, the +Credit, the Sixteen, and a long list of other deeply ploughed +watercourses intersected of necessity by the two great highways of Upper +Canada. + +The ascent and descent of the gorge were here spoken of collectively as +the "Blue Hill." Certain strata of a bluish clay had been remarked at +the summit on both sides. The waggon-track passed down and up by two +long wearisome and difficult slopes cut in the soil of the steep sides +of the lofty banks. After the autumnal rains and during the thaws at the +close of winter, the condition of the route here was indescribably bad. +At the period referred to, however, the same thing, for many a year, was +to be said of every rood of Yonge Street throughout its thirty miles of +length. + +Nor was Yonge Street singular in this respect. All our roads were +equally bad at certain seasons every year. We fear we conveyed an +impression unfavourable to emigration many years ago, when walking with +two or three young English friends across some flat clayey fields +between Cambridge and the Gogmagogs. It chanced that the driftways for +the farmers' carts--the holls as they are locally called, if we remember +rightly--at the sides of the ploughed land were mire from end to end. +Under the impulse of the moment, pleased in fact with a reminder of home +far-distant, we exclaimed, "Here are Canadian roads!" The comparison +was altogether too graphic; and our companions could never afterwards +be got to entertain satisfactory notions of Canadian civilization. + +But English roads were not much better a century ago. We made a note +once of John Moody's account of Lady Townley's journey with her +coach-and-four and large household to London, from the veritable +old-country York, in Sir John Vanbrugh's comedy of the Provoked Husband, +so perfect a parallel did it furnish to the traveller's experience here +on Yonge Street on his way from the Canadian York to the Landing in +stage-coach or farmer's waggon in the olden time. + +"Some impish trick or other," said John Moody, "plagued us all the day +long. Crack goes one thing: bounce goes another: Woa, says Roger--then +sowse! we are all set fast in a slough. Whaw, cries Miss: scream go the +maids: and bawl just as tho' they were stuck: and so, mercy on us! this +was the trade from morning to night." + +The mode of extricating a vehicle from a slough or mudhole when once in, +may be gathered from a passage in McTaggart's "Three Years in Canada," +ii., 205. The time referred to is 1829: "There are few roads," McTaggart +says, "and these are generally excessively bad, and full of mudholes in +which if a carriage fall, there is great trouble to get it out again. +The mail coaches or waggons are often in this predicament, when the +passengers instantly jump off, and having stripped rails off the fence, +they lift it up by sheer force. Coming up brows they sometimes get in; +the horses are then taken out, and yoked to the stern instead of the +front; and it is drawn out backwards." + +The country between York and Lake Huron was, as we have already seen, +first explored by Governor Simcoe in person, in 1793. It was also +immediately surveyed, and in some measure occupied; and so early as +1794, we read in a _Gazette_ the following notice: "Surveyor-General's +Office, Upper Canada, 15th July, 1794. Notice is hereby given that all +persons who have obtained assignments for land on Dundas Street, leading +from the head of Burlington Bay to the upper forks of the River Thames, +and on Yonge Street leading from York to Lake Simcoe, that unless a +dwelling-house shall be built on every lot under certificate of +location, and the same occupied within one year from the date of their +respective assignments, such lots will be forfeited on the said Roads. +D. W. Smith, Acting Surveyor General." + +All the conditions required to be fulfilled by the first settlers were +these: "They must within the term of two years, clear fit for +cultivation and fence, ten acres of the lot obtained; build a house 16 +by 20 feet of logs or frame, with a shingle roof; also cut down all the +timber in front of and the whole width of the lot (which is 20 chains, +133 feet wide), 33 feet of which must be cleared smooth and left for +half of the public road." To issue injunctions for the performance of +such work was easy. To do such work, or to get such work effectually +done, was, under the circumstances of the times, difficult. Hence Yonge +Street continued for some years after 1794 to be little more than a +rambling forest wheel-track through the woods. + +In 1794, as we have before heard, Mr. William Berczy, brought over from +the Pulteney Settlement, on the south side of Lake Ontario, sixty German +families, and conducted them to the township of Markham, north-east of +York, where lands had been assigned them. In effecting this first +lodgement of a considerable body of colonists in a region entirely new, +Mr. Berczy necessarily cut out by the aid of his party, and such other +help as he could obtain, some kind of track through the forest, along +the line of Yonge Street. He had already once before successfully +accomplished a similar work. He had, we are told, hewn out a waggon road +for emigrants through trackless woods all the way from Philadelphia to +the Genesee country, where the Pulteney Settlement was. + +In 1795, Mr. Augustus Jones, a Deputy Provincial Surveyor, who figures +largely in the earliest annals of Upper Canada, was directed by the +Lieutenant Governor to survey and open in a more effective manner the +route which Mr. Berczy and his emigrants had travelled. A detachment of +the Queen's Rangers was at the same time ordered to assist. + +On the 24th December, 1795, Mr. Jones writes to D. W. Smith, Acting +Surveyor General:--"His Excellency was pleased to direct me, previous to +my surveying the township of York, to proceed on Yonge Street, to survey +and open a cart-road from the harbour at York to Lake Simcoe, which I am +now busy at (_i. e._ I am busily engaged in the preparations for this +work.) Mr. Pearse is to be with me in a few days' time with a detachment +of about thirty of the Queen's Rangers, who are to assist in opening the +said road." + +Then in his Note-book and Journal for the new year 1796, he records the +commencement of the survey, thus:--"Monday, 4th (January, 1796). Survey +of Yonge Street. Begun at a Post near the Lake, York Harbour, on Bank, +between Nos. 20 and 21, the course being Mile No. 1, N. 16 degrees W., +eighty chains, from Black Oak Tree to Maple Tree on the right side, +along the said Yonge Street: at eighteen chains, fifty links, small +creek; at twenty-eight chains, small creek; course the same at +thirty-two eighty: here First Concession. At, N. 35 W. to 40-50, At +39-50 swamp and creek, 10 links across, runs to the right: then N. 2 E., +to 43 chains in the line. At 60-25, small creek runs to right; swampy to +73; N. 29 W. to 77, swamp on right. Then N. to 80 on line. Timber +chiefly white and black oak to 60, and in many places windfalls thereon: +maple, elm, beech, and a few oaks, black ash; loose soil. Mile No. 2 do. +80 chains; rising Pine Ridge to 9 on top," &c., and so on day by day, +until Tuesday, February 16th, when the party reached the Landing. + +For Mile No. 33 we have the entry. "Course do. (N. 9 W.) 80 chains; +descended; at 10 chains, small creek; cross aforesaid small creek; at +30, several cedars to 35-50; at 33, creek about 30 links across, runs to +left; at 80 chains, hemlock tree on the right bank small creek; hemlock, +pine, a few oak; broken soil. At Mile 34, do., 53 chains to Pine tree +marked at Landing; timber, yellow and white Pines; sandy soil; slight +winds from the north; cloudy, cold weather." + +The survey and opening of the Street from York bay to the Landing thus +occupied forty-three days (January 4, to February 16). Three days +sufficed for the return of the party to the place of beginning. The +memoranda of these three days, and the following one, when Mr. Jones +presented himself before the Governor, in the Garrison at York, run +thus: "Wednesday, 17th, returned back to a small Lake at the +twenty-first mile tree; pleasant weather, light winds from the west. +Thursday, 18th, came down to five mile tree from York; pleasant weather. +Friday, 19th, came to the town of York; busy entering some of my field +notes; weather as before. Saturday, 20th, went to Garrison, York, and +waited on His Excellency the Governor, and informed him that Yonge +Street is opened from York to the Pine Fort Landing, Lake Simcoe. As +there is no provision to be had at the place," Mr. Jones proceeds, "His +Excellency was pleased to say that I must return to Newark, and report +to the Surveyor General, and return with him in April next, when the +Executive will sit, and that my attendance would be wanted. Pleasant +weather, light winds from the west." + +The entry on the following Monday is this: "The hands busy at repairing +(caulking) the boat to return to Burlington Bay, and thence to Newark; +light winds from south, a few clouds. Tuesday, 23rd, high winds from the +south-west hinder going on the Lake. Wednesday, 24th, high winds from +the south drove a great quantity of ice into the harbour; obliged me to +leave the boat and set out by land; went to the Etobicoke. Thursday, +25th, came along the Lake to the 16 mile creek; winds left from south, +thaw. Friday, 26th, came down to my house, Long Beach; calm, thaw," &c. + +Then on Tuesday, the 1st of March, 1796, the entry is: "Came down to +12-mile creek; lame in my feet; high winds from N. W., frosty night. +Wednesday, 2nd, came down to Newark; some snow, calm, frosty weather. +Thursday, 3rd, busy entering some field notes; some snow, calm weather. +Friday, 4th, busy protracting Yonge Street; cold weather, high winds +from N. W." Finally, on Monday, 7th March (1796), we have the entry: +"Busy copying of Yonge Street; high winds from the north, cold, snow +fell last night about six inches." + +Some romance attaches to the history of Mr. Augustus Jones. We have his +marriage mentioned in a _Gazette_ of 1798, in the following terms: "May +21, Married, at the Grand River, about three weeks since, A. Jones, +Esq., Deputy Surveyor, to a young lady of that place, daughter of the +noted Mohawk warrior, Terrihogah."--The famous Indian Wesleyan +missionary, Peter Jones, called in the Indian tongue +Kah-ke-wa-quo-na-by, Sacred Waving Feathers, was the issue of this +marriage. + +Peter Jones, in his published autobiography, thus speaks: "I was born at +the heights of Burlington Bay, Canada West, on the first day of January, +1802. My father, Augustus Jones," he continues, "was of Welsh +extraction. His grandfather emigrated to America previous to the +American Revolution, and settled on the Hudson River, State of New York. +My father, having finished his studies as a land surveyor in the City of +New York, came with a recommendation from Mr. Colden, son of the +Governor of that State, to General Simcoe, Governor of Upper Canada, and +was immediately employed by him as the King's Deputy Provincial +Surveyor, in laying out town plots, townships and roads in different +parts of the Province. This necessarily brought him in contact with the +Indian tribes, and he learned their language and employed many of them +in his service. He became much interested in the Indian character--so +much so that he resolved to take a wife from amongst them. Accordingly, +he married my mother, Tuh-ben-ah-nee-quay, daughter of Wahbanosay, a +chief of the Mississaga tribe of the Ojibway nation. I had one brother, +older than myself, whose name was Tyenteneget (given to him by the +famous Captain Joseph Brant), but better known by the name of John +Jones. I had also three younger brothers and five sisters. My father +being fully engaged in his work, my elder brother and myself were left +entirely to the care and management of our mother, who, preferring the +customs and habits of her nation, taught us the superstitions of her +fathers--how to gain the approbation of the Munedoos (or gods,) and how +to become successful hunters. I used to blacken my face with charcoal, +and fast, in order to obtain the aid of personal gods or familiar +spirits, and likewise attended their pagan feasts and dances. For more +than fourteen years I lived and wandered about with the Indians in the +woods, during which time I witnessed the woful effects of the firewater +which had been introduced amongst us by the white people." + +There is a discrepancy, it will be observed, between the _Gazette_ and +the autobiography, in regard to the name and tribe of the father of Mr. +Jones' Indian bride. The error, no doubt, is on the side of the +_Gazette_. + +It is pleasant to find, in 1826, the now aged surveyor writing in the +following strain to his missionary son, in a letter accompanying the +gift of a horse, dated Coldsprings, Grand River: "Please to give our +true love to John and Christina," he says, "and all the rest of our +friends at the Credit. We expect to meet you and them at the camp +meeting. I think a good many of our Indians will come down at that time. +I send you Jack, and hope the Lord will preserve both you and your +beast. He is quiet and hardy: the only fault I know he stumbles +sometimes; and if you find he does not suit you as a riding horse, you +can change him for some other; but always tell your reasons. May the +Lord bless you! Pray for your unworthy father, Augustus Jones." + +Augustus Jones was, as has been already seen, concerned in the very +earliest survey of York and the township attached. As we have at hand +the instructions issued for this survey, we give them. It will be +noticed that the Humber is therein spoken of as the Toronto River, and +that the early settler or trader St. John is named, from whom the Humber +was sometimes called St. John's River. The document likewise throws +light on the mode of laying out townships by concessions. On general +grounds, therefore, it will not be inappropriate in an account of the +early settlement of Yonge Street. + +"Surveyor-General's Office, Province of Upper Canada, 26th January, +1793.--Description of the Township of York (formerly Toronto), to be +surveyed by Messrs. Aitken and Jones.--The front line of the front +concession commences adjoining the township of Scarborough, (on No. 10), +at a point known and marked by Mr. Jones, running S. 74 deg. W. from said +front one chain, for a road; then five lots of twenty chains each, and +one chain for a road; then five lots more of twenty chains each, and one +chain for a road; and so on till the said line strikes the River +Toronto, whereon St. John is settled. The concessions are one hundred +chains deep, and one chain between each concession, to the extent of +twelve miles." + +We subjoin a further early notice of Mr. Augustus Jones, which we +observe in a letter addressed to him by John Collins, Deputy +Surveyor-General, dated "Quebec, Surveyor-General's Office, January +23rd, 1792." Mr. Collins mentions that he has recommended Mr. Jones to +the notice of Governor Simcoe, who was at the time in Quebec, _en route_ +for his new Province in the west.--"Colonel Simcoe, the Governor of your +Province," Mr. Collins says, "is now with us. I have taken the liberty +to recommend you to him in the manner I think you merit, and I cannot +doubt but that you will be continued in your salary." + +Another early surveyor of note, connected with the primitive history of +Yonge Street, was John Stegmann, a German, who had been an officer in a +Hessian regiment. He was directed in 1801, by the Surveyor-General, D. +W. Smith, to examine and report upon the condition of Yonge Street. The +result was a document occupying many sheets. We will give some extracts +from it. They will furnish a view of the great thoroughfare which we are +beginning to perambulate, as it appeared a few years after Jones' +expedition. Though somewhat dryly imparted, the information will +probably not be without interest. + +(The No. 1 referred to is the first lot after crossing the Third +Concession Road from the Lake Shore.) "Agreeable to your instructions," +Mr. Stegmann says to Mr. Smith, "bearing date June the 10th, [1801], for +the examination of Yonge Street, I have the honor to report thereon as +follows: That from the town of York to the three mile post on the Poplar +Plains the road is cut, and that as yet the greater part of the said +distance is not passable for any carriage whatever, on account of logs +which lie in the street. From thence to Lot No. 1 on Yonge Street the +road is very difficult to pass, at any time, agreeable to the present +situation in which the said part of the street is. The situation of the +street from No. 1 to Lot 95 on Yonge Street will appear as per margin." + +We have then a detail of his notes as to the condition of the road +opposite every lot all the way to the northern limit of the townships of +King and Whitchurch. Of No. 1 in the township of York, on the west side +of Yonge Street, it is reported that the "requisition of Government" is +"complied with, except a few logs in the street not burnt." Of Lot 1 on +the east side also, that it is complied with, except a "few logs not +burnt."--No. 2, west side, complied with; the street cut but not burnt. +East side, complied with; some logs in the street not burnt; and in some +places narrow. No. 3, west side, complied with, except a few logs not +burnt; east side, complied with; the clearing not fenced; no house; some +logs in the street not burnt. No. 5, west side, complied with; east +side, non-compliance. No. 8, west side, complied with; the street cut, +but not burnt. East side, complied with; the street cut, but logs not +burnt; here the street, it is noted, goes to the eastward of the line on +account of the hilly ground. No. 3, west side, complied with in the +clearing; the street bad and narrow. East side, non-compliance; street +bad and narrow, and to the east of the road. No. 16, west side, nothing +done to the road; about 5 acres cut; not fenced and no house thereon. +East side, complied with. No. 17, west side, complied with; the +underbrush in the street cut but not burnt.--East side, complied with, +except logs in the street not burnt. No. 18, west side, well complied +with. East side, well complied with. No. 25, west side, complied with. +East side, complied with;--nothing done to the street, and a +school-house erected in the centre of the street. This is the end of the +township of York. + +Then on No. 33, west side, Vaughan, clearing is complied with; no house, +and nothing done to the street. East side, Markham, clearing is +complied with; south part of the street cut but not burnt; and north +part of the street nothing done. No. 37, Vaughan, clearing complied +with, but some large trees and some logs left in the street. Markham, +some trees and logs left in the streets; some acres cut, but not burnt; +no fence, and a small log house. No. 55, Vaughan, clearing complied +with; the street cut and logs not burnt. Markham, clearing complied +with; the street cut and logs not burnt; a very bad place for the road +and may be laid out better. No. 63, west side, King, non-compliance. +East side, Whitchurch, non-compliance; and similarly on to No. 88, on +which, in King, the clearing is complied with; not fenced; the street +good; in Whitchurch clearing is complied with, and nothing done to the +street. No. 93, King, four acres cut, and nothing done to the street. +Whitchurch, six acres clear land, and nothing done to the street. Here +King and Whitchurch and the Report end. + +Mr. Stegmann then perorates thus: "Sir,--This was the real situation of +Yonge Street when examined by me; and I am sorry to be under the +necessity to add at the conclusion of this report, that the most ancient +inhabitants of Yonge Street have been the most neglectful in clearing +the street; and I have reason to believe that some trifle with the +requisition of Government in respect of clearing the street." + +Mr. Berczy brought over his sixty-four families in 1794. The most +ancient inhabitants were thus of about seven years' standing. If we men +of the second generation regarded Yonge Street as a route difficult to +travel, what must the first immigrants from the Genesee country and +Pennsylvania have found it to be? They brought with them vehicles and +horses and families and some household stuff. "The body of their +waggons," we are told in an account of such new-comers in the +_Gazetteer_ of 1799, "is made of close boards, and the most clever have +the ingenuity to caulk the seams, and so by shifting off the body from +the carriage, it serves to transport the wheels and the family." Old +settlers round Newmarket used to narrate how in their first journey from +York to the Landing they lowered their waggons down the steeps by ropes +passed round the stems of saplings, and then hauled them up the ascent +on the opposite side in a similar way. + +We meet with Mr. Stegmann, the author of the above quoted report, in +numerous documents relating to surveys and other professional business +done for the Surveyor-General. His clear, bold handwriting is always +recognizable. His mode of expressing himself is vigorous and to the +point, but slightly affected by his imperfect mastery of the English +language. He gives the following account of himself in his first +application to the Surveyor-General, asking for employment. "My name is +John Stegmann," he says, "late lieutenant in the Hessian Regiment of +Lossberg, commanded by Major-General de Loos, and served during the +whole war in America till the reduction took place in the month of +August, 1783, and by the favour and indulgence of His Excellency, Lord +Dorchester, I obtained land in this new settlement and township of +Osnabruck, and an appointment as Surveyor in the Province; I have a wife +and small family to provide for."--Descendants of his are still to be +found in the neighbourhood of Pine Grove in Vaughan. Their name is now +Anglicised by the omission of one of the final _n_'s. The rivulet at the +Blue Hill was spoken of, in 1799, as "Castle Frank Creek." It is the +stream which runs through the Castle Frank lot. Mr. Stegmann was +concerned in the building of the first bridge at this point. We have a +letter of his to the Acting Surveyor-General, D. W. Smith, referring to +timber, which he has provided for the structure. In the same he also +takes occasion to mention that the fatigue party of soldiers who were +assisting Mr. Jones in the opening of Yonge Street, had as yet received +no compensation. + +He says: "Sir,--You were pleased to order me to inform you what time I +should want a team for to get the timber for the bridge at Castle Frank +Creek, for which I am ready, whenever you please to send the same." He +then adds: "The party of Rangers now on this road begged of me to inform +you that they have not received any pay for the work since they have +been out with Mr. Jones." This note is dated, "Castle Frank Creek, Feb. +27, 1799." On the 4th of the following March, he dates a note to Mr. D. +W. Smith in the same way, "Castle Frank Creek," and asks to have a +"bush-sextant" supplied to him. He says: "Sir,--I beg you will have the +goodness to send me by the bearer a Bush-sextant, and am, sir, your most +obedient and very humble servant, John Stegmann, Deputy-Surveyor." +(According to some, the Blue Hill had its name from the circumstance +that the bridge at its foot was painted blue). + +The names of other early surveyors may be learned from the following +notice, taken from a _Gazette_: "Surveyor-General's Office, York, 25th +April, 1805. That it may be known who are authorized to survey lands on +the part of the Crown within this Province, the following list is +communicated to the public of such persons as are duly licensed for that +purpose, to be surveyors therein, viz., William Chewett, York; Thomas +Smith, Sandwich; Abraham Iredell, Thomas Welch, Augustus Jones, William +Fortune, Lewis Grant, Richard Cockrell, Henry Smith, John Rider, Aaron +Greeley, Thomas Fraser, Reuben Sherwood, Joseph Fortune, Solomon +Stevens, Samuel S. Wilmot, Samuel Ryckman, Mahlon Burwell, Adrian +Marlet, Samuel Ridout, George Lawe. (Signed), C. B. Wyatt, +Surveyor-General." + +Of Mr. Berczy, above spoken of, we shall soon have to give further +particulars. We must now push on. + +Just beyond the Blue Hill ravine, on the west side, stood for a long +while a lonely unfinished frame building, with gable towards the street, +and windows boarded up. The inquiring stage-passenger would be told, +good-humouredly, by the driver, that it was Rowland Burr's Folly. It +was, we believe, to have been a Carding or Fulling Mill, worked by +peculiar machinery driven by the stream in the valley below; but either +the impracticability of this from the position of the building, or the +as yet insignificant quantity of wool produced in the country made the +enterprise abortive. + +Mr. Burr was an emigrant to these parts from Pennsylvania in 1803, and +from early manhood was strongly marked by many of the traits which are +held to be characteristic of the speculative and energetic American. +Unfortunately in some respects for himself, he was in advance of his +neighbours in a clear perception of the capabilities of things as seen +in the rough, and in a strong desire to initiate works of public +utility, broaching schemes occasionally beyond the natural powers of a +community in its veriest infancy. A canal to connect Lake Ontario with +the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, _via_ Lake Simcoe and the valley of the +Humber, was pressed by him as an immediate necessity, years ago; and at +his own expense he minutely examined the route and published thereon a +report which has furnished to later theorizers on the same subject much +valuable information. + +Mr. Burr was a born engineer and mechanician, and at a more auspicious +time, with proper opportunities for training and culture, he would +probably have become famed as a local George Stephenson. He built on +his own account, or for others, a number of mills and factories, +providing and getting into working order the complicated mechanism +required for each; and this at a time when such undertakings were not +easy to accomplish, from the unimproved condition of the country and the +few facilities that existed for importing and transporting inland, heavy +machinery. The mills and factories at Burwick in Vaughan originated with +him, and from him that place takes its name. + +The early tramway on Yonge Street of which we have already spoken was +suggested by Mr. Burr; and when the cutting down of the Blue Hill was +decided on, he undertook and effected the work. + +It is now some forty years since the peculiar clay of the Blue Hill +began to be turned to useful account. In or near the brick-fields, which +at the present time are still to be seen on the left, Messrs. James and +William Townsley burnt kilns of white brick, a manufacture afterwards +carried on here by Mr. Nightingale, a family connection of the Messrs. +Townsley. Mr. Worthington also for a time engaged on the same spot in +the manufacture of pressed brick and drain tiles. The Rossin House +Hotel, in Toronto, and the Yorkville Town Hall were built of pressed +brick made here. + +Chestnut Park, which we pass on the right, the residence now of Mr. +McPherson, is a comparatively modern erection, put up by Mr. Mathers, an +early merchant of York, who, before building here, lived on Queen +Street, near the Meadows, the residence of Mr. J. Hillyard Cameron. +Oaklands, Mr. John McDonald's residence, of which a short distance back +we obtained a passing glimpse far to the west, and Rathnally, Mr. +McMaster's palatial abode, beyond, are both modern structures, put up by +their respective occupants. Woodlawn, still on the left, the present +residence of Mr. Justice Morrison, was previously the home of Mr. +Chancellor Blake, and was built by him. + +Summer Hill, seen on the high land far to the right, and commanding a +noble view of the wide plain below, including Toronto with its spires +and the lake view along the horizon, was originally built by Mr. Charles +Thomson, whose name is associated with the former travel and postal +service of the whole length of Yonge Street and the Upper Lakes. In Mr. +Thompson's time, however, Summer Hill was by no means the extensive and +handsome place into which it has developed since becoming the property +and the abode of Mr. Larratt Smith. + +The primitive waggon track of Yonge Street ascended the hill at which we +now arrive, a little to the west of the present line of road. It passed +up through a narrow excavated notch. Across this depression or trench a +forest tree fell without being broken, and there long remained. Teams, +in their way to and from town, had to pass underneath it like captured +armies of old under the yoke. To some among the country folk it +suggested the beam of the gallows-tree. Hence sprang an ill-omened name +long attached to this particular spot. + +Near here, at the top of the hill, were formerly to be seen, as we have +understood, the remains of a rude windlass or capstan, used in the +hauling up of the North-West Company's boats at this point of the long +portage from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron. + +So early as 1799 we have it announced that the North-West Company +intended to make use of this route. In the Niagara _Constellation_, of +August, 3, 1799, we read: "We are informed on good authority that the +North-West Company have it seriously in contemplation to establish a +communication with the Upper Lakes by way of York, through Yonge Street +to Lake Simcoe, a distance of about 33 miles only." The _Constellation_ +embraces the occasion to say also, "That the government has actually +begun to open that street for several miles, which example will +undoubtedly be no small inducement to persons who possess property on +that street and its vicinity to exert themselves in opening and +completing what may be justly considered one of the primary objects of +attention in a new country, a good road." + +The _Gazette_ of March 9, in this year (1799) had contained an +announcement that "The North-West Company has given twelve thousand +pounds towards making Yonge Street a good road, and that the North-West +commerce will be communicated through this place (York): an event which +must inevitably benefit this country materially, as it will not only +tend to augment the population, but will also enhance the present value +of landed property." + +Bouchette, writing in 1815, speaks of improvements on Yonge Street, "of +late effected by the North-West Company." "This route," he says in his +Topographical description, "being of much more importance, has of late +been greatly improved by the North-West Company for the double purpose +of shortening the distance to the Upper Lakes, and avoiding any contact +with the American frontiers." + +As stated already in another connection, we have conversed with those +who had seen the cavalcade of the North-West Company's boats, mounted on +wheels, on their way up Yonge Street. It used to be supposed by some +that the tree across the notch through which the road passed had been +purposely felled in that position as a part of the apparatus for helping +the boats up the hill. + +The table-land now attained was long known as the Poplar Plains. +Stegmann uses the expression in his Report. A pretty rural by-road that +ascends this same rise near Rathnally, Mr. McMaster's house, is still +known as the Poplar Plains road. + +A house, rather noticeable, to the left but lying slightly back, and +somewhat obscured by fine ornamental trees that overshadow it, was the +home for many years of Mr. J. S. Howard, sometime Postmaster of York, +and afterwards Treasurer of the counties of York and Peel: an estimable +man, and an active promoter of all local works of benevolence. He died +in Toronto in 1866, aged 68. + +This house used to be known as Olive Grove; and was originally built by +Mr. Campbell, proprietor and manager of the Ontario House Hotel, in +York, once before referred to; eminent in the Masonic body, and father +of Mr. Stedman Campbell, a local barrister of note, who died early. + +Mashquoteh to the left, situated a short distance in, on the north side +of the road which enters Yonge Street here, is a colony transplanted +from the neighbouring Spadina, being the home of Mr. W. Warren Baldwin, +son of Dr. W. W. Baldwin, the builder of Spadina. "Mashquoteh" is the +Ochipway for "meadow." We hear the same sounds in Longfellow's +"Mushkoda-sa," which is, by interpretation, "prairie-fowl." + +Deer Park, to the north of the road that enters here, but skirting Yonge +Street as well, had that name given it when the property of Mrs. Heath, +widow of Col. Heath of the H. E. I. Company's Service. On a part of this +property was the house built by Colonel Carthew, once before referred +to, and now the abode of Mr. Fisken. Colonel Carthew, a half-pay officer +of Cornish origin, also made large improvements on property in the +vicinity of Newmarket. + +Just after Deer Park, to avoid a long ravine which lay in the line of +the direct route northward, the road swerved to the left and then +descended, passing over an embankment, which was the dam of an adjacent +sawmill, a fine view of the interior of which, with the saw usually in +active motion, was obtained by the traveller as he fared on. This was +Michael Whitmore's sawmill. + +Of late years the apex of the long triangle of Noman's land that for a +great while lay desolate between the original and subsequent lines of +Yonge Street, has been happily utilized by the erection thereon of a +Church, Christ Church, an object well seen in the ascent and descent of +the street. Anciently, very near the site of Christ Church, a solitary +longish wooden building, fronting southward, was conspicuous; the abode +of Mr. Hudson, a provincial land surveyor of mark. Looking back +southward from near the front of this house, a fine distant glimpse of +the waters of Lake Ontario used to be obtained, closing the vista made +in the forest by Yonge Street. + +Before reaching Whitmore's sawmill, while passing along the brow of the +hill overlooking the ravine, which was avoided by the street as it ran +in the first instance, there was to be seen at a little distance to the +right, on some rough undulating ground, a house which always attracted +the eye by its affectation of "Gothic" in the outline of its windows. On +the side towards the public road it showed several obtuse-headed lancet +lights. This peculiarity gave the building, otherwise ordinary enough, a +slightly romantic air; it had the effect, in fact, at a later period, of +creating for this habitation, when standing for a considerable while +tenantless, the reputation of being haunted. + +This house and the surrounding grounds constituted Springfield Park, the +original Upper Canadian home of Mr. John Mills Jackson, an English +gentleman, formerly of Downton in Wiltshire, who emigrated hither prior +to 1806; but finding public affairs managed in a way which he deemed not +satisfactory, he returned to England, where he published a pamphlet +addressed to the King, Lords and Commons of the United Kingdom of Great +Britain and Ireland, entitled, "A View of the Political Situation of the +Province," a brochure that made a stir in Upper Canada, if not in +England, the local House of Assembly voting it a libel. + +Our Upper Canadian Parliament partially acquired the habit of decreeing +reflections on the local government to be libels. Society in its infancy +is apt to resent criticism, even when legitimate. Witness the United +States and Mrs. Trollope. At the same time critics of infant society +should be themselves sufficiently large-minded not to expect in infant +society the perfection of society well developed, and to word their +strictures accordingly. + +In the preface to his pamphlet, which is a well-written production, Mr. +Jackson gives the following account of his first connection with Canada +and his early experience there:--"Having by right of inheritance," he +says, "a claim to a large and very valuable tract of land in the +Province of Quebec, I was induced to visit Lower Canada for the purpose +of investigating my title; and being desirous to view the immense lakes +and falls in Upper Canada, where I had purchased some lands previous to +my leaving England, I extended my travels to that country, with which I +was so much pleased, that I resolved to settle on one of my estates, and +expended a considerable sum on its improvement (the allusion is probably +to Springfield Park); but considering neither my person nor property +secure under the system pursued there, I have been obliged to relinquish +the hope of its enjoyment." + +The concluding sentences of his appeal will give an idea of the burden +of his complaint. To his mind the colony was being governed exactly in +the way that leads finally to revolt in colonies. The principles of the +constitution guaranteed by the mother country were violated. One of his +grievances was--not that a seventh of the public land had been set apart +for an established Church, but--that "in seventeen years not one acre +had been turned to any beneficial account; not a clergyman, except such +as England pays or the Missionary Society sends (only five in number), +without glebe, perquisite or parsonage house; and still fewer churches +than ministers of the established religion." + +He concludes thus: "I call upon you to examine the Journals of the House +of Assembly and Legislative Council; to look at the distribution and use +made of the Crown Lands; the despatches from the Lieutenant-Governor +[Gore]; the memorials from the Provincial Secretary, Receiver-General +and Surveyor-General; the remonstrances of the Six Nations of Indians; +and the letters from Mr. Thorpe [Judge Thorpe], myself and others, on +the state of the Colony, either to the Lords of the Treasury or to the +Secretary of State. Summon and examine all the evidence that can be +procured here (England), and, if more should appear necessary, send a +commission to ascertain the real state of the Province. Then you will be +confirmed in the truth of every representation I have made, and much +more which, for the safety of individuals, I am constrained to +withhold. Then you will be enabled to relieve England from a great +burden, render the Colony truly valuable to the mother country, and save +one of the most luxuriant ramifications of the Empire. You will perform +the promise of the crown; you will establish the law and liberty +directed by the (British) Parliament; and diffuse the Gospel of Christ +to the utmost extremity of the West. You will do that which is +honourable to the nation, beneficial to the most deserving subjects, and +lovely in the sight of God." + +This pamphlet is of interest as an early link (its date is 1809) in the +catena of protests on the subject of Canadian affairs, from Whiggish and +other quarters, culminating at last in Lord Durham's Report. +Nevertheless, what the old French trader said of Africa--"Toujours en +maudissant ce vilain pays, on y reviens toujours"--proved true in +respect to Canada in the case of Mr. Jackson, as in the case likewise of +several other severe critics of Canadian public affairs in later times. +He returned and dwelt in the land after all, settling with his family on +Lake Simcoe, where Jackson's Point and Jackson's Landing retain his +name, and where descendants of his still remain. + +Mr. Jackson had possessions likewise in the West Indies, and made +frequent visits thither, as also to England, where at length he died in +1836. Up to about that date, we observe his name in the Commission of +the Peace. + +In the _Loyalist_ of May 24, 1828, a Biblical work by Mr. Jackson is +advertised for sale at York. Thus runs the notice:--"Just received from +England, and for sale at the book stores of Messrs. Meighan and Lesslie +& Sons, York, a few volumes of 'The History from the Creation of the +World to the death of Joshua, authenticated from the best authorities, +with Notes, Critical, Philosophical, Moral and Explanatory: by John +Mills Jackson, Esq., formerly Gentleman Commoner of Ball. Coll. in the +University of Oxford.'" (Then follow laudatory notices of the work from +private sources.) + +Fifty years ago, in Canada, English families, whose habits and ideas +were more in harmony with Bond Street than with the backwoods, had, in +becoming morally acclimatised to the country, a tremendous ordeal to +pass through: how they contrived to endure the pains and perils of the +process is now matter of wonder. + +One of Mr. Jackson's sons, Clifton, is locally remembered as an early +example in these parts of the exquisite of the period--the era of the +Prince Regent and Lord Byron. By extra-sacrificing to the Graces, at a +time when _articles de cosmetique et de luxe_ generally were scarce and +costly in Canada, he got himself into trouble.--In 1822 he had occasion +to make his escape from "durance vile" in York, by opening a passage, +one quiet Sunday morning, through the roof of the old jail. He was +speedily pursued by Mr. Parker, the warden, and an associate, Mr. +Garsides; overtaken at Albany, in the State of New York; apprehended +under a feigned charge; and brought back to York. Among the inhabitants +of some of the villages between Albany and Youngstown, a suspicion arose +that a case of kidnapping was in progress, and Messrs. Parker and +Garsides were exposed to risk of personal violence before they could +reach the western bank of the Niagara river, with their prey. By a happy +turn of affairs, a few years later, Mr. Clifton Jackson obtained a +situation in the Home Colonial Office, with a good salary. + +To distinguish Mr. Mills Jackson from another proprietor on Yonge +Street, also called Jackson, the alliterative epithet, "Jacobin," was +sometimes applied to him, in jocose allusion to his political +principles, held by the official party to be revolutionary. In regard to +the other Jackson, some such epithet as "Jacobin" would not have been +inapplicable. On the invasion of Canada in 1812 by the United States, he +openly avowed his sympathy with the invaders, and was obliged to fly the +country. He was known and distinguished as "Hatter Jackson," from the +business which he once followed. After the war he returned, and +endeavoured, but in vain, to recover possession of the land on Yonge +Street which he had temporarily occupied. + +In the _Gazette_ of Nov. 11, 1807, we have Mr. Jackson's advertisement. +Almost anticipating the modern "Hats that are Hats," it is headed +"Warranted Hats," and then proceeds: "The subscriber, having established +a hat manufactory in the vicinity of York on a respectable scale, +solicits the patronage and support of the public. All orders will be +punctually attended to, and a general assortment of warranted hats be +continually kept at the store of Mr. Thomas Hamilton, in York. Samuel +Jackson. Yonge Street, Nov. 10, 1807." + +An earlier owner of the lot, at which we are now pausing, was Stillwell +Wilson. In 1799, at the annual York Township meeting, held on the 4th +March in that year at York, we find Stillwell Wilson elected one of the +Overseers of Highways and Fence-viewers for the portion of Yonge Street +from lot 26 to lot 40, in Markham and Vaughan. At the same meeting, Paul +Wilcot is elected to the same office, "from Big Creek to No. 25, +inclusive, and half Big Creek Bridge; and Daniel Dehart, from Big Creek +to No. 1, inclusive, and half Big Creek Bridge." "The Big Creek" +referred to was, as we suppose, the Don at Hogg's Hollow. + +In 1821, Stillwell Wilson is landlord of the Waterloo House, in York, +and is offering to let that stand; also to let or sell other valuable +properties. In the _Gazette_ of March 25, 1820, we have his +advertisement:--"For sale or to let, four improved farms on Yonge +Street, composed of lots Nos. 20 and 30 on the west side, and 15 and 20 +on the east side of the street, in the townships of York and Vaughan. +These lands are so well known that they require no further encomiums +than the virtues they possess. For title of which please apply to the +subscriber at Waterloo House, York, the proprietor of said lands. P. +S.--The noted stand known by the name of the Waterloo House, which the +subscriber at present possesses, is also offered to be let on easy +terms; as also an excellent Sawmill, in the third concession of the +township of York, east of Yonge Street, only ten miles from town, on the +west branch of the river Don. Stillwell Wilson." + +In 1828, for moneys due apparently to Jairus Ashley, some of Stillwell's +property has been seized. Under the editorial head of the _Loyalist_ of +December 27th of that year, we find the following item:--"Sheriff's +Sale.--At the Court House, in the Town of York, on Saturday, 31st +January next, will be sold, Lot No. 30, in the first Concession of the +Township of Vaughan, taken in execution as belonging to Stillwell +Wilson, at the suit of Jairus Ashley. Sale to commence at 12 o'clock +noon." + +In our chapter on the Early Marine of York, we shall meet with Stillwell +Wilson again. We shall then find him in command of a slip-keel schooner +plying on the Lake between York and Niagara. The present owner of his +lot, which, as we have seen, was also once Mr. Jackson's--Mr. Jacobin +Jackson's, is Mr. Cawthra. (Note the tendency to distinguish between +individuals bearing the name of Jackson by an epithet prefixed. A +professional pugilist patronized by Lord Byron was commonly spoken of as +"Gentleman Jackson.") + +As we reach again the higher land, after crossing the dam of Whitmore's +mill, and returning into the more direct line of the street, some rude +pottery works met the eye. Here in the midst of woods, the passer-by +usually saw on one side of the road, a one horse clay-grinding machine, +laboriously in operation; and on the other, displayed in the open air on +boards supported by wooden pins driven into the great logs composing the +wall of the low windowless building, numerous articles of coarse brown +ware, partially glazed, pans, crocks, jars, jugs, demijohns, and so +forth; all which primitive products of the plastic art were ever +pleasant to contemplate. These works were carried on by Mr. John +Walmsley. + +A tract of rough country was now reached, difficult to clear and +difficult to traverse with a vehicle. Here a genuine corduroy causeway +was encountered, a long series of small saw-logs laid side by side, over +which wheels jolted deliberately. In the wet season, portions of it, +being afloat, would undulate under the weight of a passing load; and +occasionally a horse's leg would be entrapped, and possibly snapped +short by the sudden yielding or revolution of one of the cylinders +below. + +We happen to have a very vivid recollection of the scene presented along +this particular section of Yonge Street, when the woods, heavy pine +chiefly, after having been felled in a most confused manner, were being +consumed by fire, or rather while the effort was being made to consume +them. The whole space from near Mr. Walmsley's potteries to the rise +beyond which Eglinton is situated, was, and continued long, a chaos of +blackened timber, most dismaying to behold. + +To the right of this tract was one of the Church glebes so curiously +reserved in every township in the original laying out of Upper +Canada--one lot of two hundred acres in every seven of the same area--in +accordance with a public policy which at the present time seems +sufficiently Utopian. Of the arrangement alluded to, now broken up, but +expected when the Quebec Act passed in 1780 to be permanent, a relic +remained down to a late date in the shape of a wayside inn, on the right +near here, styled on its sign the "Glebe Inn"--a title and sign +reminding one of the "Church Stiles" and "Church Gates" not uncommon as +village ale-house designations in some parts of England. + +Hitherto the general direction of Yonge Street has been north, sixteen +degrees west. At the point where it passes the road marking the northern +limit of the third concession from the bay, it swerves seven degrees to +the eastward. In the first survey of this region there occurred here a +jog or fault in the lines. The portion of the street proposed to be +opened north failed, by a few rods, to connect in a continuous right +line with the portion of it that led southward into York. The +irregularity was afterwards corrected by slicing off a long narrow +angular piece from three lots on the east side, and adding the like +quantity of land to the opposite lot--it happening just here that the +lots on the east side lie east and west, while those on the west side +lie north and south. After the third concession, the lots along the +street lie uniformly east and west. + +With young persons in general perhaps, at York in the olden time, who +ever gave the cardinal points a thought, the notion prevailed that Yonge +Street was "north." We well remember our own slight perplexity when we +first distinctly took notice that the polar star, the dipper, and the +focus usually of the northern lights, all seemed to be east of Yonge +Street. That an impression existed in the popular mind at a late period +to the effect that Yonge Street was north, was shown when the pointers +indicating east, west, north and south came to be affixed to the apex of +a spire on Gould Street. On that occasion several compasses had to be +successively taken up and tried before the workmen could be convinced +that "north" was so far "east" as the needle of each instrument would +persist in asserting. + +The first possessor of the lot on the west side, slightly augmented in +the manner just spoken of, was the Baron de Hoen, an officer in one of +the German regiments disbanded after the United States Revolutionary +War. His name is also inscribed in the early maps on the adjacent lot to +the north, known as No. 1 in the township of York, west side. + +At the time of the capture of York in 1813, Baron de Hoen's house, on +lot No. 1, proved a temporary refuge to some ladies and others, as we +learn from a manuscript narrative taken down from the lips of the late +venerable Mrs. Breakenridge by her daughter, Mrs. Murney. That record +well recalls the period and the scene. "The ladies settled to go out to +Baron de Hoen's farm," the narrative says. "He was a great friend," it +then explains, "of the Baldwin family, whose real name was Von Hoen; and +he had come out about the same time as Mr. St. George, and had been in +the British army. He had at this time a farm about four miles up Yonge +Street, and on a lot called No. 1. Yonge Street was then a corduroy road +immediately after leaving King Street, and passing through a dense +forest. Miss Russell, (sister of the late President Russell) loaded her +phaeton with all sorts of necessaries, so that the whole party had to +walk. My poor old grandfather (Mr. Baldwin, the father of Mrs. +Breakenridge) by long persuasion at length consented to give up +fighting, and accompany the ladies. Aunt Baldwin (Mrs. Dr. Baldwin) and +her four sons, Major Fuller, who was an invalid under Dr. Baldwin's +care, Miss Russell, Miss Willcox, and the whole cavalcade sallied forth: +the youngest boy St. George, a mere baby, my mother (Mrs. Breakenridge) +carried on her back nearly the whole way. + +"When they had reached about half way out," the narrative proceeds, +"they heard a most frightful concussion, and all sat down on logs and +stumps, frightened terribly. They learned afterwards that this terrific +sound was occasioned by the blowing up of the magazine of York garrison, +when five hundred Americans were killed, and at which time my uncle, Dr. +Baldwin, was dressing a soldier's wounds; he was conscious of a strange +sensation: it was too great to be called a sound, and he found a shower +of stones falling all around him, but he was quite unhurt. The family at +length reached Baron de Hoen's log house, consisting of two rooms, one +above and one below. After three days Miss Russell and my mother walked +into town, just in time to prevent Miss Russell's house from being +ransacked by the soldiers. + +"All now returned to their homes and occupations," the narrative goes on +to say, "except Dr. Baldwin, who continued dressing wounds and acting as +surgeon, until the arrival of Dr. Hackett, the surgeon of the 8th +Regiment. Dr. Baldwin said it was most touching to see the joy of the +poor wounded fellows when told that their own doctor was coming back to +them." It is then added: "My mother (Mrs. Breakenridge) saw the poor 8th +Grenadiers come into town on the Saturday, and in church on Sunday, with +the handsome Captain McNeil at their head, and the next day they were +cut to pieces to a man. My father (Mr. Breakenridge) was a student at +law with Dr. Baldwin, who had been practising law after giving up +medicine as a profession, and had been in his office about three months, +when he went off like all the rest to the battle of York." + +The narrative then gives the further particulars: "The Baldwin family +all lived with Miss Russell after this, as she did not like being left +alone. When the Americans made their second attack about a month after +the first, the gentlemen all concealed themselves, fearing to be taken +prisoners like those at Niagara. The ladies received the American +officers: some of these were very agreeable men, and were entertained +hospitably; two of them were at Miss Russell's; one of them was a Mr. +Brookes, brother-in-law of Archdeacon Stuart, then of York, afterwards +of Kingston. General Sheaffe had gone off some time before, taking every +surgeon with him. On this account Dr. Baldwin was forced, out of +humanity, to work at his old profession again, and take care of the +wounded." + +Lot No. 1 was afterwards the property of an English gentleman, Mr. +Harvey Price, a member of our Provincial Government, as Commissioner of +Crown Lands, whose conspicuous residence, castellated in character, and +approached by a broad avenue of trees, was a little further on. In 1820, +No. 1 was being offered for sale in the following terms, in the +_Gazette_ of March 25th: "That well known farm No. 1, west side of Yonge +Street, belonging to Captain de Hoen, about four or five miles from +York, 210 acres. The land is of excellent quality, well-wooded, with +about forty acres cleared, a never failing spring of excellent water, +barn and farm house. Application to be made to the subscriber at +York.--W. W. Baldwin." + +Baron de Hoen was second to Mr. Attorney-General White, killed in the +duel with Mr. Small in 1800 (January 3rd). In the contemporary account +of that incident in the Niagara _Constellation_, the name is +phonetically spelt _De Hayne_. In the above quoted MS. the name appears +as de Haine. + +In our progress northward we now traverse ground which, as having been +the scene of a skirmish and some bloodshed during the troubles of 1837, +has become locally historic. The events alluded to have been described +from different points of view at sufficient length in books within reach +of every one. We throw over them here the mantle of charity, simply +glancing at them and passing on. + +Upper Canada, in miniature and in the space of half a century, curiously +passed through conditions and processes, physical and social, which old +countries on a large scale, and in the course of long ages, passed +through. Upper Canada had, in little, its primaeval and barbaric but +heroic era, its mediaeval and high-prerogative era, and then, after a +revolutionary period of a few weeks, its modern, defeudalized, +democratic era. Without doubt the introduction here in 1792 of an "exact +transcript" of the contemporary constitution of the mother country, as +was the boast at the time, involved the introduction here also of some +of the spirit which animated the official administrators of that +constitution in the mother country itself at the period--the time of the +Third George. + +We certainly find from an early date, as we have already seen, a +succession of intelligent, observant men, either casual visitors to the +country, or else intending settlers, and actual settlers, openly +expressing dissatisfaction at some of the things which they noted, +experienced or learned, in respect of the management of Canadian public +affairs. These persons for the most part were themselves perhaps only +recently become alive to the changes which were inevitable in the +governmental principles of the mother country; and so were peculiarly +sensitive, and even, it may be, petulant in regard to such matters. But, +however well-meaning and advanced in political wisdom they may have +been, they nevertheless, as we have before intimated, exhibited +narrowness of view themselves, and some ignorance of mankind, in +expecting to find in a remote colonial out-station of the empire a state +of things better than that which at the moment existed at the heart of +the empire; and in imagining that strictures on their part, especially +when acrimonious, would, under the circumstances, be amiably and +submissively received by the local authorities. + +The early rulers of Canada, Upper and Lower, along with the members of +their little courts, were not to be lightly censured.--They were but +copying the example of their royal Chief and his circle at Kew, Windsor, +or St. James'. Of the Third George Thackeray says: "He did his best; he +worked according to his lights; what virtue he knew he tried to +practice; what knowledge he could master he strove to acquire." And so +did they. The same fixity of idea in regard to the inherent dignity and +power of the Crown that characterized him characterized them, together +with a like sterling uprightness which commanded respect even when a +line of action was adopted that seemed to tend, and did in reality tend, +to a popular outbreak. + +All men, however, now acquiesce in the final issue. The social turmoil +which for a series of years agitated Canada, from whatever cause +arising; the explosion which at length took place, by whatever +instrumentality brought on, cleared the political atmosphere of the +country, and hastened the good time of general contentment and +prosperity which Canadians of the present day are enjoying.--After all, +the explosion was not a very tremendous one. Both sides, after the +event, have been tempted to exaggerate the circumstances of it a little, +for effect. + +The recollections which come back to us as we proceed on our way, are +for the most part of a date anterior to those associated with 1837; +although some of the latter date will of course occasionally recur. + +The great conspicuous way-side inn, usually called Montgomery's was, at +the time of its destruction by the Government forces in 1837, in the +occupation of a landlord named Lingfoot. The house of Montgomery, from +whom the inn took its name, he having been a former occupant, was on a +farm owned by himself, beautifully situated on rising ground to the +left, subsequently the property and place of abode of Mr. James Lesslie, +of whom already. + +Mr. Montgomery had once had a hotel in York, named "The Bird in Hand," +on Yonge Street, a little to the north of Elliott's. We have this inn +named in an advertisement to be seen in the _Canadian Freeman_ of April +17, 1828, having reference to the "Farmer's Store Company." "A general +meeting of the Farmer's Storehouse Company," says the advertisement, +"will be held on the 22nd of March next, at 10 o'clock, a.m., at John +Montgomery's tavern, on Yonge Street, 'The Bird in Hand.'--The farmers +are hereby also informed that the storehouse is properly repaired for +the accommodation of storage, and that every possible attention shall be +paid to those who shall store produce therein. John Goessmann, clerk." + +The Farmer's Store was at the foot of Nelson Street. Mr. Goessmann was a +well-known Deputy Provincial Surveyor, of Hanoverian origin. In an +address published in the _Weekly Register_ of July 15, 1824, on the +occasion of his retiring from a contest for a seat in the House as +representative for the counties of York and Simcoe, Mr. Goessmann +alluded as follows to his nationality: "I may properly say," he +observed, "that I was a born British subject before a great number of +you did even draw breath; and have certainly borne more oppressions +during the late French war than any child of this country, that never +peeped beyond the boundary even of this continent, where only a small +twig of that all-crushing war struck. Our sovereign has not always been +powerful enough to defend all his dominions. We, the Hanoverians, have +been left the greater part during that contest, to our own fate; we have +been crushed to yield our privileges to the subjection of Bonaparte, his +greatest antagonist," &c. + +Eglinton, through which, at the present day, Yonge Street passes +hereabout, is a curious stray memorial of the Tournament in Ayrshire, +which made a noise in 1839. The passages of arms on the farther side of +the Atlantic that occasionally suggest names for Canadian villages, are +not always of so peaceful a character as that in the Earl of Eglinton's +grounds in 1839; although it is a matter of some interest now to +remember that even in that a Louis Napoleon figured, who at a later +period was engaged in jousts of a rather serious kind, promoted by +himself. + +About Eglinton the name of Snider is notable as that of a United Empire +Loyalist family seated here, of German descent. Mr. Martin Snider, +father of Jacob and Elias Snider and other brothers and sisters, +emigrated hither at an early period from Nova Scotia, where he first +took up his abode for a time after the revolution.--Among the names of +those who volunteered to accompany General Brock to Detroit in 1813, we +observe that of Mr. Jacob Snider. In later years, a member of the same +family is sheriff for the County of Grey, and repeatedly a +representative in Parliament of the same county. + +The Anglicised form of the German name Schneider, like the Anglicised +form of a number of other non-English names occurring among us, +illustrates and represents the working of our Canadian social system; +the practical effect of our institutions, educational and municipal. Our +mingled population, when permitted to develop itself fairly; when not +crushed, or sought to be crushed into narrow alien moulds invented by +non-Teutonic men in the pre-printing-press, feudal era, becomes +gradually--if not English--at all events Anglo-Canadian, a people of a +distinct type on this continent, acknowledged by the grand old mother of +nations,--Alma Britannia herself, as eminently of kin. + +We have specially in mind a group from the neighbourhood of Eglinton, +genuine sons of our composite Canadian people, Sniders, Mitchells, +Jackeses, who, now some years ago, were to be seen twice every day at +all seasons, traversing the distance between Eglinton and Toronto, +rising early and late taking rest, in order to be punctually present +at, and carefully ready for, class-room or lecture room in town; and +this process persevered in for the lengthened period required for a +succession of curriculums; with results finally, in a conspicuous degree +illustrative of the blending, Anglicising power of our institutions when +cordially and loyally used. Similar happy effects springing from similar +causes have we seen, in numerous other instances and batches of +instances, among the youth of our Western Canada, drawn from widely +severed portions of the country. + +Beyond Eglinton, in the descent to a rough irregular ravine, the home of +Mr. Jonathan Hale was passed on the east side of the street; one of the +Hales, who, as we have seen, were forward to undertake works of public +utility at a time when appliances for the execution of such works were +few. Mr. Hale's lot became afterwards a part of the estate of Jesse +Ketchum of whom we have spoken. + +In 1808, the _Gazette_ (October 22) informs us, the sheriff, Miles +Macdonell, is about to sell "at Barrett's Inn, in the Town of York," the +goods and chattels of Henry Hale, at the suit of Elijah Ketchum. +Likewise, at the same time, the goods and chattels of Stillwell Wilson, +at the suit of James McCormack and others. + +On the west side, opposite Mr. Ketchum's land, was a farm that had been +modernized and beautified by two families in succession, who migrated +hither from the West Indies, the Murrays and the Nantons. In particular, +a long avenue of evergreen trees, planted by them and leading up to the +house, was noticeable. While these families were the owners and +occupants of this property, it was named by them Pilgrims' Farm. +Subsequently Pilgrims' Farm passed into the hands of Mr. James Beaty, +one of the representatives of Toronto in the House of Commons in Canada, +who made it an occasional summer retreat, and called it Glen Grove. + +It had been at one period known as the MacDougall farm, Mr. John +MacDougall, of York, having been its owner from 1801 to 1820. Mr. +MacDougall was the proprietor of the principal hotel of York. Among the +names of those elected to various local offices at the annual +Town-meeting held in 1799 at "the city of York," as the report in the +_Gazette and Oracle_ ambitiously speaks, that of Mr. MacDougall appears +under the head of "Overseers of Highways and Roads and Fence-viewers." +He and Mr. Clark were elected to act in this capacity for "the district +of the city of York." That they did good service we learn from the +applause which attended their labours. The leading editorial of the +_Gazette and Oracle_ of June 29, 1799, thus opens: "The public are much +indebted to Mr. John MacDougall, who was appointed one of the +pathmasters at the last Town-meeting, for his great assiduity and care +in getting the streets cleared of the many and dangerous (especially at +night) obstructions thereon; and we hope," the writer says, "by the same +good conduct in his successors in the like office, to see the streets of +this infant town vie with those of a maturer age, in cleanliness and +safety." + +In the number of the same paper for July 20 (1799), Mr. MacDougall's +colleague is eulogized, and thanked in the following terms: "The +inhabitants of the west end of this Town return their most cordial +thanks to Mr. Clark, pathmaster, for his uncommon exertions and +assiduity in removing out of their street its many obstacles, so highly +dangerous to the weary traveller." Mr. MacDougall was the first grantee +of the farm immediately to the south of Glen Grove (lot number three). + +On high land to the right, some way off the road, an English-looking +mansion of brick with circular ends, was another early innovation. A +young plantation of trees so placed as to shelter it from the north-east +winds, added to its English aspect. This was Kingsland, the home of Mr. +Huson, likewise an immigrant from the West Indies. It was afterwards the +abode of Mr. Vance, an Alderman of Toronto. + +One or two old farm houses of an antique New Jersey style, of two +storeys, with steepish roofs and small windows, were then passed on the +left. Some way further on, but still in the low land of the irregular +ravine, another primitive rustic manufactory of that article of prime +necessity, leather, was reached. This was "Lawrence's Tannery." A bridge +over the stream here, which is a feeder to the Don, was sometimes spoken +of as Hawke's bridge, from the name of its builder. In the hollow on the +left, close to the Tannery, and overlooked from the road, was a +cream-coloured respectable frame-house, the domicile of Mr. Lawrence +himself. In his yard or garden, some hives of bees, when such things +were rarities, used always to be looked at with curiosity in passing. + +The original patentees of lots six, seven, eight and nine, on the west +side of the street just here, were four brothers, Joseph, Duke, Hiram +and John, Kendrick, respectively. They all had nautical proclivities; +or, as one who knew them said, they were, all or them, "water-dogs;" and +we shall hear of them again in our chapter on the Early Marine of York +harbour. + +In 1799, Duke Kendrick was about to establish a pot-ashery on number +seven. His advertisement appears in the _Gazette_, of December, 21, +1799. It is headed "Ashes! Ashes! Ashes!" The announcement then follows: +"The subscriber begs leave to inform the public that he is about to +erect a Pot-ashery upon lot No. 7, west side of Yonge Street, where he +will give a generous price for ashes; for house-ashes, ninepence per +bushel; for field-ashes, sixpence, delivered at the Pot-ash." It is then +added: "He conceives it his duty to inform those who may have ashes to +dispose of, that it will not be in his power to pay cash, but +merchandize at cash price. Duke W. Kendrick. York, Dec. 7, 1799." In the +year following, Mr. Allan advertises for ashes to be delivered at +pot-ash works in York. In the _Gazette_ for November 29, 1800, we have: +"Ashes wanted. Sevenpence Halifax currency per bushel for house-ashes +will be given, delivered at the Pot-ash works, opposite the Gaol; and +fivepence same currency, if taken from the houses; also, eightpence, New +York currency for field-ashes delivered at the works. W. Allan. York, +21st November, [1800]." + +We now speedily arrived at the commencement of the difficult descent +into the valley of the great west branch of the Don. Yonge Street here +made a grand detour to the east, and failed to regain the direct +northerly course for some time. As usual, wherever long inclined planes +were cut in the steep sides of lofty clay banks, the condition of the +roadway hereabout was, after rain, indescribably bad. After reaching the +stream and crossing it on a rough timber bridge, known anciently +sometimes as Big Creek bridge and sometimes as Heron's bridge, the track +ascended the further bank, at first by means of a narrow hogsback, which +conveniently sloped down to the vale; afterwards it made a sweep to the +northward along the brow of some broken hills, and then finally turned +westward until the direct northern route of the street was again +touched. + +The banks of the Don are here on every side very bold, divided in some +places into two stages by an intervening plateau. On a secondary flat +thus formed, in the midst of a grass-grown clearing, to the left, as the +traveller journeyed from York, there was erected at an early date the +shell of a place of worship appertaining to the old Scottish Kirk, put +up here through the zeal of Mr. James Hogg, a member of that communion, +and the owner, for a time at least, of the flour mills in the valley, +near the bridge. From him this locality was popularly known as Hogg's +Hollow, despite the postal name of the place, York Mills. + +Mr. Hogg was of Scottish descent and a man of spirit. He sent a cartel +in due form in 1832 to Mr. Gurnett, editor of the _Courier_. An article +in that paper had spoken in offensive terms of supposed attempts on the +part of a committee in York to swell the bulk of a local public meeting, +by inviting into town persons from the rural parts. "Every wheel of +their well-organized political machine was set in motion," the _Courier_ +asserted, "to transmute country farmers into citizens of York. +Accordingly about nine in the morning, groups of tall, broad-shouldered, +hulking fellows were seen arriving from Whitby, Pickering and +Scarborough, some crowded in waggons, and others on horseback; and Hogg, +the miller, headed a herd of the swine of Yonge Street, who made just as +good votes at the meeting as the best shopkeepers in York." No hostile +encounter, however, took place, although a burlesque account of an +"affair of honour" was published, in which it was pretended that Mr. +Hogg was saved from a mortal wound by a fortunate accumulation, under +the lappel of his coat, of flour, in which his antagonist's bullet +buried itself. + +Mr. Hogg died in 1839. Here is an extract from the sermon preached by +the Rev. Mr. Leach on the occasion of his funeral: "He was faithful to +his word and promise," the preacher said,--"and when surrounded with +danger and strongly instigated, and tempted to a departure from public +faith by the enemies of his country his determination expressed in his +own words, was 'I will die a Briton.' Few men had all the veins of +nature more clearly and strongly developed; and few men had a better +sense of what is due to God." + +The circuit of the hills overhanging the mills below was always tedious; +but several good bits of scenery were caught sight of. On the upland, +after escaping the chief difficulties, on the left hand a long low +wooden building was seen, with gable and door towards the road. This was +an early place of worship of the Church of England, an out-post of the +mission at York. The long line of its roof was slightly curved downwards +by the weight of a short chimney built at its middle point for the +accommodation of an iron stove within. Just before arriving at the gate +of the burying-ground attached to this building, there were interesting +glimpses to the left down into deep woody glens, all of them converging +southward on the Don. In some of them were little patches of pleasant +grass land. But along here, for the most part, the forest long remained +undisturbed. + +The church or chapel referred to was often served by divinity students +sent out from town; and frequently, no doubt, had its walls echoed with +prentice-attempts at pulpit oratory. Gourlay says that this chapel and +the Friends' Meeting House near Newmarket were the only two places of +public worship on Yonge Street in 1817, "a distance of nearly forty +miles." A notice of it is inserted in "A visit to the Province of Upper +Canada in 1819, by James Strachan," (the Bishop's brother)--a work +published at Aberdeen in 1820. + +"My brother," Mr. Strachan says, p. 141, "had, by his exertions and +encouragement among the people, caused a chapel to be built about eight +miles from York, where he officiates once a month, one of the young +students under his care reading the service and a sermon on the +intermediate Sundays. On his day of doing duty," Mr. S. continues, "I +went with him and was highly gratified. The chapel is built in a thick +wood. . . . . . . . . . . The dimensions are 60 by 30 feet; the pews are +very decent, and what was much better, they were filled with an +attentive congregation. As you see very few inhabitants on your way out, +I could not conceive where all the people came from." A public baptism +of five adults is then described. + +Some six and twenty years later (in 1843), the foundation stone of a +durable brick church was laid near the site of the old frame chapel. On +that occasion Dr. Strachan, now Bishop Strachan, named as especial +promoters of the original place of worship, Mr. Seneca Ketchum and Mr. +Joseph Sheppard, "the former devoting much time and money in the +furtherance of the work, and the latter giving three acres of land as a +site, together with a handsome donation in cash." A silver medal which +had been deposited under the old building was now transferred to a +cavity in the foundation stone of its proposed successor. It bore on the +obverse, "Francis Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor, 1816," and on the +reverse--"Fifty-sixth of George Third." To it were now added a couple +of other medals of silver: one bore on the obverse, "John Strachan, +D.D., Bishop of Toronto; Alexander Sanson, Minister, 1843;" and on the +reverse, "Sixth of Victoria." The other had inscribed on it the name of +the architect, Mr. J. G. Howard, with a list of other churches erected +in Upper Canada under his direction. + +Among the persons present during the ceremony were Chief-Justice +Robinson, Vice-Chancellor Jameson, the Hon. and Rev. A. Cavendish, and +the Rev. G. Mortimer, of Thornhill. Prior to the out-door proceedings a +remarkable scene had been witnessed within the walls of the old +building. Four gentlemen received the rite of confirmation at the hands +of the Bishop, all of them up to a recent date, non-conformists; three +of them non-conformist ministers of mark, Mr Townley, Mr. Leach (whom we +heard just now pronouncing an eulogy on Mr. Hogg,) and Mr. Ritchie; the +fourth, Mr. Sanson, not previously a minister, but now in Holy Orders of +the Church of England, and the minister appointed to officiate in the +new church. + +At the present day Yonge Street crosses Hogg's Hollow in a direct line +on a raised embankment which the ancient Roman road-makers would have +deemed respectable--a work accomplished about the year 1835, before the +aid of steam power was procurable in these parts for such purposes. Mr. +Lynn was the engineer in charge here, at that time. The picturesque +character of the valley has been considerably interfered with. +Nevertheless a winding road over the hills to the right leading up to +the church (St. John's) has still some sylvan surroundings. In truth, +were a building or two of the chalet type visible, the passer-by might +fancy himself for a moment in an upland of the High Alps, so Swiss-like +is the general aspect. + +It may be added that the destruction of the beautiful hereabout has to +some extent a set-off in the fine geological studies displayed to the +eye in the sides of the deep cuts at both ends of the great causeway. +Lake Ontario's ancient floor here lifted up high and dry in the air, +exhibits, stratum super stratum, the deposits of successive periods long +ago. (The action of the weather, however, has at the present time +greatly blurred the interesting pictures of the past formerly displayed +on the surface of the artificial escarpments at Hogg's Hollow.) + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXVI. + + YONGE STREET, FROM HOGG'S HOLLOW TO BOND'S LAKE. + + +Beyond the hollow, Mr. Humberstone's was passed on the west side, +another manufacturer of useful pottery ware. A curious incident used to +be narrated as having occurred in this house. The barrel of an old +Indian fowling-piece turned up by the plough in one of the fields, and +made to do duty in the management of unwieldy back logs in the great +fire-place, suddenly proved itself to have been charged all the while, +by exploding one day in the hands of Mr. Humberstone's daughter while +being put to its customary use, and killing her on the spot. Somewhat +similarly, at Fort Erie, we have been told, in the fire which destroyed +the wharf at the landing, a condemned cannon which had long been planted +in the pier as a post, went off, happily straight upwards, without doing +any damage. + +Mr. Humberstone saw active service as a lieutenant in the incorporated +militia in 1812. He was put in charge of some of the prisoners captured +by Colonel Fitzgibbon, at the Beaver Dams, and when now nearing his +destination, Kingston, with his prisoners in a large batteau, he, like +the famous Dragoon who caught the Tartar, was made a prisoner of himself +by the men whom he had in custody, and was adroitly rowed over by them +to the United States shore, where being landed he was swiftly locked up +in jail, and thence only delivered when peace was restored. + +The next memorable object, also on the left, was Shephard's inn, a noted +resting-place for wayfarers and their animals, flanked on the north by +large driving sheds, on the south by stables and barns: over the porch, +at an early period, was the effigy of a lion gardant, attempted in wood +on the premises. Constructiveness was one of the predominant faculties +in the first landlord of the Golden Lion. He was noted also for skilful +execution on several instruments of music: on the bassoon for one. In +the rear of the hotel, a little to the south, on a fine eminence, he put +up for himself after the lapse of some years, a private residence, +remarkable for the originality of its design, the outline of its many +projecting roofs presenting a multitude of concave curves in the Chinese +pagoda style. + +In several buildings in this neighbourhood an effort was at one time +made, chiefly, we believe, through the influence of Mr. Shephard, to +reproduce what in the west of England are called cob-walls; but either +from an error in compounding the material, or from the peculiar +character of the local climate, they proved unsatisfactory.--The +Sheppards, early proprietors of land a little farther on, were a +different family, and spelt their name differently. It was some members +of this family that were momentarily concerned in the movement of 1837. + +In Willowdale, a hamlet just beyond Shephard's, was the residence of Mr. +David Gibson, destroyed in 1837 by the Government forces. We observe in +the _Gazette_ of January 6th, 1826, the announcement, "Government House, +York, 29th December, 1825. His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor has +been pleased to appoint David Gibson, gentleman, to be a surveyor of +land in the Province." In the practice of the profession indicated he +was prosperous, and also as a practical farmer. He likewise represented +North York in the Provincial Parliament. When the calm came after the +tumult of 1837, he was appointed one of the Superintendents of +Colonization Roads. He died at Quebec in 1864. + +A road turning off at right angles to the eastward out of Willowdale led +to a celebrated camp-meeting ground, on the property of Mr. Jacob +Cummer, one of the early German settlers. It was in a grand maple +forest--a fine specimen of such trysting places. It was here that we +were for the first time present at one of the peculiar assemblies +referred to, which, over the whole of this northern continent, in a +primitive condition of society at its several points, have fulfilled, +and still fulfil, an important, and we doubt not, beneficent function. + +This, as we suppose, was the scene of the camp-meeting described in +Peter Jones' Autobiography. "About noon," he writes on Tuesday, the +10th of June, 1828, "started for the camp ground. When we arrived we +found about three hundred Indians collected from Lake Simcoe and Scugog +Lake. Most of those from Lake Simcoe have just come in from the back +lakes to join with their converted brethren in the service of the +Almighty God. They came in company with brother Law, and all seemed very +glad to see us, giving us a hearty shake of the hand. The camp ground +enclosed about two acres, which was surrounded with board tents, having +one large gate for teams to go in and out, and three smaller ones. + +"The Indians occupied one large tent, which was 220 feet long and 15 +feet broad. It was covered overhead with boards, and the sides were made +tight with laths to make it secure from any encroachments. It had four +doors fronting the camp ground. In this long house the Indians arranged +themselves in families, as is their custom in their wigwams. Divine +service commenced towards evening. Elder Case first gave directions as +to the order to be observed on the camp ground during the meetings. +Brother James Richardson then preached from Acts ii. 21; after which I +gave the substance in Indian, when the brethren appeared much affected +and interested. Prayer-meeting in the evening. The watch kept the place +illuminated during the night." The meeting continued for four days. + +Where the dividing line occurs between York and Markham, at the angle on +the right was the first site of the sign of the Green Bush, removed +afterwards, as we have noted, to the immediate outskirts of York; and to +the left, somewhere near by, was a sign that used to interest from its +peculiarity, the Durweston Gate: a small white five-barred gate, hung by +its topmost bar to a projection from a lofty post, and having painted on +its lower bars "Durweston Gate," and the landlord's name. It was +probably a reproduction by a Dorsetshire immigrant of a familiar object +in his native village. + +Not excluding from our notes, as will be observed, those places where +Shenstone sighed to think a man often "found the warmest welcome" we +must not forget Finch's--a great hostelry on the right, which we soon +reached as we advanced northward, of high repute about 1836, and +subsequently among excursion parties from town, and among the half-pay +settlers of the Lake Simcoe region, for the contents of its larder and +the quality of its cooking. Another place of similar renown was Crew's, +six or eight miles further on. + +When for long years, men, especially Englishmen, called by their +occasions away from their homes, had been almost everywhere doomed to +partake of fare too literally hard, and perilous to the health, it is +not to be wondered at, when, here and there, at last a house for the +accommodation of the public did spring up where, with cleanly quarters, +digestible viands were to be had, that its fame should speedily spread; +for is it not Dr. Samuel Johnson himself who has, perhaps rather +sweepingly said, "there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man +by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn." + +Where a long slope towards the north begins soon after Finch's a village +entitled Dundurn was once projected by Mr. Allan McNab, afterwards the +famous Sir Allan, acting, we believe at the time as agent for Mr. H. J. +Boulton; but Dundurn never advanced beyond incipience. The name was +afterwards familiar as that of Sir Allan's chateau close by Hamilton. + +A well-travelled road now soon turned off to the right leading to +certain, almost historic mills in Markham, known as the German Mills. In +the _Gazetteer_ of 1799 these mills are referred to. "Markham township +in the east riding of the County of York fronts Yonge Street," it is +stated in that early work, "and lies to the northward of York and +Scarborough. Here" it then adds "are good mills and a thriving +settlement of Germans." + +The German Mills are situated on Lot No. 4 in the third concession, on a +portion of the Rouge or Nen--a river which the same _Gazetteer_ informs +its readers was "the back communication from the German settlement in +Markham to Lake Ontario. The expectation in 1799 was, as the _Gazetteer_ +further shows, that this river, and not either the Humber or the Don, +would one day be connected with the Holland river by a canal." It was not +certainly known in 1794, where the river which passed the German Mills +had its outlet. In Iredell's plan of Markham of that date, the stream is +marked "Kitcheseepe or Great River," with a memorandum attached--"waters +supposed to empty into Lake Ontario to the eastward of the Highlands of +York." Information, doubtless, noted down, by Iredell, from the lips of +some stray native. Kitche-seepe, "Big River" is of course simply a +descriptive expression, taken as in so many instances, by the early +people, to be a proper name. (It does not appear that among the +aborigines there were any proper local names, in our sense of the +expression.) + +The German Mills were founded by Mr. Berczy, either on his own account +or acting as agent for an association at New York for the promotion of +German emigration to Canada. When, after failing to induce the +Government to reconsider its decision in regard to the patents demanded +by him for his settlers, that gentleman retired to Montreal, the German +Mills with various parcels of land were advertised for sale in the +_Gazette_ of April 27, 1805, in the following strain: "Mills and land in +Markham. To be sold by the subscriber for payment of debts due to the +creditors of William Berczy, Esq., the mills called the German Mills, +being a grist mill and a saw mill. The grist mill has a pair of French +burs, and complete machinery for making and bolting superfine flour. +These mills are situated on lot No. 4 in the third concession of +Markham; with them will be given in, lots No. 3 and 4 in the third +concession, at the option of the purchaser. Also, 300 acres being the +west half of lot No. 31, and the whole of lot 32 in the second +concession of Markham. Half the purchase money to be paid in hand, and +half in one year with legal interest. W. Allan. N.B.--Francis Smith, who +lives on lot No. 14 in the third concession, will show the premises. +York, 11th March, 1805." + +It appears from the same _Gazette_ that Mr. Berczy's vacant house in +York had been entered by burglars after his departure. A reward of +twenty dollars is offered for their discovery. "Whereas," the +advertisement runs, "the house of William Berczy, Esq., was broken open +sometime during the night of the 14th instant, and the same ransacked +from one end to the other; this is to give notice that whoever shall +lodge an information, so that the offender or offenders may be brought +to justice, shall upon conviction thereof receive Twenty Dollars. W. +Chewett. York, 18th April, 1805." + +We have before referred to Mr. Berczy's embarrassments, from which he +never became disentangled; and to his death in New York, in 1813. His +decease was thus noticed in a Boston paper, quoted by Dr. Canniff, p. +364, "Died--In the early part of the year 1813, William Berczy, Esq., +aged 68; a distinguished inhabitant of Upper Canada, and highly +respected for his literary acquirements. In the decease of this +gentleman society must sustain an irreparable loss, and the republic of +letters will have cause to mourn the death of a man eminent for genius +and talent." + +The German Mills were purchased and kept in operation by Capt. Nolan, of +the 70th Regiment, at the time on duty in Canada; but the speculation +was not a success. We have heard it stated that this Captain Nolan was +the father of the officer of the same name and rank who fell in the +charge of the Light Brigade at the very first outset, when, at +Balaclava, + + "Into the valley of Death + Rode the six hundred." + +The _Gazette_ of March 19, 1818, contains the following curt +announcement: "Notice. The German Mills and Distillery are now in +operation. For the proprietors, Alexander Patterson, Clerk, 11th March, +1818." Ten years later they are offered for sale or to lease in the _U. +C. Loyalist_ of April 5, 1828. (It will be observed that they once bore +the designation of Nolanville.) "For sale or to be leased," thus runs +the advertisement, "all or any part of the property known and described +as Nolanville or German Mills, in the third concession of the township +of Markham, consisting of four hundred acres of land, upwards of fifty +under good fences and improvements, with a good dwelling-house, barn, +stable, saw-mill, grist-mill, distillery, brew-house, malt-house, and +several other out-buildings. The above premises will be disposed of, +either the whole or in part, by application to the subscriber, William +Allan, York, January 26, 1828. The premises can be viewed at any time by +applying to Mr. John Duggan, residing there." + +In the absence of striking architectural objects in the country at the +time, we remember, about the year 1828, thinking the extensive cluster +of buildings constituting the German Mills a rather impressive sight, +coming upon them suddenly, in the midst of the woods, in a deserted +condition, with all their windows boarded up. + +One of our own associations with the German Mills is the memory of Mr. +Charles Stewart Murray, afterwards well-known in York as connected with +the Bank of Upper Canada. He had been thrown out of employment by Capt. +Nolan's relinquishment of the mills. He was then patronized by Mr. +Thorne of Thornhill. + +In our boyish fancy, a romantic interest attached to Mr. Murray from his +being a personal friend of Sir Walter Scott's, and from his being +intimately associated with him in the excursion to the Orkneys, while +the Pirate and the Lord of the Isles were simmering in the Novelist's +brain. "Not a bad Re-past," playfully said Sir Walter after partaking +one day of homely meat-pie at the little inn of one Rae. Lo! from Mr. +Murray's talk, a minute grain to be added to Sir Walter's already huge +cairn of _ana_. Mr. M., too, was imagined by us, quite absurdly +doubtless, to be an hereditary devotee of the Pretender, if not closely +allied to him by blood. (His grandfather, or other near relative, had, +we believe, really been for a time secretary to Prince Charles Edward +Stuart) + +A mile or two beyond where the track to the German Mills turned off, +Yonge Street once more encountered a branch of the Don, flowing, as +usual, through a wide and difficult ravine. At the point where the +stream was crossed, mills and manufactories made their appearance at an +early date. The ascent of the bank towards the north was accomplished, +in this instance, in no round-about way. The road went straight up. +Horse-power and the strength of leather were here often severely tested. + +On the rise above, began the village of Thornhill, an attractive and +noticeable place from the first moment of its existence. Hereabout +several English families had settled, giving a special tone to the +neighbourhood. In the very heart of the village was the home, +unfailingly genial and hospitable, of Mr. Parsons, one of the chief +founders of the settlement; emigrating hither from Sherborne in +Dorsetshire in 1820. Nearer the brow of the hill overlooking the Don, +was the house of Mr. Thorne, from whom the place took its name: an +English gentleman also from Dorsetshire, and associated with Mr. Parsons +in the numerous business enterprises which made Thornhill for a long +period a centre of great activity and prosperity. Beyond, a little +further northward, lived the Gappers, another family initiating here the +amenities and ways of good old west-of-England households. Dr. Paget was +likewise an element of happy influence in the little world of this +region, a man of high culture; formerly a medical practitioner of great +repute in Torquay. + +Another character of mark associated with Thornhill in its palmy days +was the Rev. George Mortimer, for a series of years the pastor of the +English congregation there. Had his lot been cast in the scenes of an +Oberlin's labours or a Lavater's, or a Felix Neff's, his name would +probably have been conspicuously classed with theirs in religious +annals. He was eminently of their type. Constitutionally of a spiritual +temperament, he still did not take theology to be a bar to a scientific +and accurate examination of things visible. He deemed it "sad, if not +actually censurable, to pass blind-folded through the works of God, to +live in a world of flowers, and stars, and sunsets, and a thousand +glorious objects of Nature, and never to have a passing interest +awakened by any one of them." Before his emigration to Canada he had +been curate of Madeley in Shropshire, the parish of the celebrated +Fletcher of Madeley, whose singularly beautiful character that of Mr. +Mortimer resembled. Though of feeble frame his ministerial labours were +without intermission; and his lot, as Fletcher's also, was to die almost +in the act of officiating in his profession. + +An earlier incumbent of the English Church at Thornhill was the Rev. +Isaac Fidler. This gentleman rendered famous the scene of his Canadian +ministry, as well as his experiences in the United States, by a book +which in its day was a good deal read. It was entitled "Observations on +Professions, Literature, Manners, and Emigration in the United States +and Canada." Although he indulged in some sharp strictures on the +citizens of the United States, in relation to the matters indicated, and +followed speedily after by the never-to-be-forgotten Mrs. Trollope, his +work was reprinted by the Harpers. Mr. Fidler was a remarkable +person,--of a tall Westmoreland mould, resembling the common pictures of +Wordsworth. He was somewhat peculiar in his dress, wearing always an +extremely high shirt-collar, very conspicuous round the whole of his +neck, forming a kind of spreading white socket in which rested and +revolved a head, bald, egg-shaped and spectacled. Besides being +scholarly in the modern sense, Mr. Fidler possessed the more uncommon +accomplishment of a familiarity with the oriental languages. + +The notices in his book, of early colonial life have now to us an +archaic sound. We give his narrative of the overturn of a family party +on their way home from church. "The difficulty of descending a steep +hill in wet weather may be imagined," he says, "The heavy rains had made +it (the descent south of Thornhill) a complete puddle which afforded no +sure footing to man or beast. In returning from church, the ladies and +gentlemen I speak of," he continues, "had this steep hill to descend. +The jaunting car being filled with people was too heavy to be kept back, +and pressed heavy upon the horses. The intended youthful bridegroom (of +one of the ladies) was, I was told, the charioteer. His utmost skill was +ineffectually tried to prevent a general overturn. The horses became +less manageable every moment. But yet the ladies and gentlemen in the +vehicle were inapprehensive of danger, and their mirth and jocularity +betrayed the inward pleasure they derived from his increasing straggles. +At last the horses, impatient of control, and finding themselves their +own masters, jerked the carriage against the parapet of the road and +disengaged themselves from it. The carriage instantly turned over on its +side; and as instantly all the ladies and gentlemen trundled out of it +like rolling pins. Nobody was hurt in the least, for the mire was so +deep that they fell very soft and were quite imbedded in it. What +apologies the gentleman made I am unable to tell, but the mirth was +perfectly suspended. I overtook the party at the bottom of the hill, the +ladies walking homewards from the church and making no very elegant +appearance." + +As an example of the previously undreamt of incidents that may happen to +a missionary in a backwoods settlement, we mention what occurred to +ourselves when taking the duty one fine bright summer morn, many years +ago, in the Thornhill Church, yet in its primitive unenlarged state. A +farmer's horse that had been mooning leisurely about an adjoining field, +suddenly took a fancy to the shady interior disclosed by the wide-open +doors of the sacred building. Before the churchwardens or any one else +could make out what the clatter meant, the creature was well up the +central passage of the nave. There becoming affrighted, its ejection was +an awkward affair, calling for tact and manoeuvring. + +The English Church at Thornhill has had another incumbent not +undistinguished in literature, the Rev. E. H. Dewar, author of a work +published at Oxford in 1844, on the Theology of Modern Germany. It is in +the form of letters to a friend, written from the standpoint of the +Jeremy Taylor school. It is entitled "German Protestantism and the Right +of Private Judgment in the Interpretation of Holy Scripture." The +author's former position as chaplain to the British residents at Hamburg +gave him facilities for becoming acquainted with the state of German +theology. Mr. Dewar, to superior natural talents, added a refined +scholarship and a wide range of accurate knowledge. He died at Thornhill +in 1862. + +The incumbent who preceded Mr. Dewar was the Rev. Dominic E. Blake, +brother of Mr. Chancellor Blake; a clergyman also of superior talents. +Previous to his emigration to Canada in 1832, he had been a curate in +the county of Mayo. He died suddenly in 1859. It is remarked of him in a +contemporary obituary that "his productions indicated that while +intellect was in exercise his heart felt the importance of the subjects +before him." These productions were numerous, in the form of valuable +papers and reports, read or presented to the local Diocesan Society. + +It is curious to observe that in 1798, salmon ascended the waters of the +Don to this point on Yonge Street. Among the recommendations of a farm +about to be offered for sale, the existence thereon of "an excellent +salmon fishery" is named. Thus runs the advertisement (_Gazette_, May +16, 1798): "To be sold by public auction, on Monday, the 2nd of July +next, at John McDougall's hotel, in the town of York, a valuable Farm, +situated on Yonge Street, about twelve miles from York, on which are a +good log-house, and seven or eight acres well improved. The advantages +of the above farm, from the richness of its soil and its being well +watered, are not equalled by many farms in the Province; and above all, +it affords an excellent salmon fishery, large enough to support a number +of families, which must be conceived a great advantage in this infant +country. The terms will be made known on the day of sale." + +As we move on from Thornhill with Vaughan on the left and Markham on the +right, the name of another rather memorable early missionary recurs, +whose memory is associated with both these townships--Vincent Philip +Mayerhoffer. + +Notwithstanding its drawbacks, early Canadian life, like early American +life generally, became, in a little while, invested with a curious +interest and charm; by means, for one thing, of the variety of character +encountered. A man might vegetate long in an obscure village or country +town of the old mother country before he rubbed against a person of V. +P. Mayerhoffer's singular experience, and having his wits set in motion +by a sympathetic realization of such a career as his. + +He was a Hungarian; born at Raab in 1784; and had been ordained a +presbyter in the National Church of Austria. On emigrating to the United +States, he, being himself a Franciscan, fell into some disputes with the +Jesuits at Philadelphia, and withdrew from the Latin communion and +attached himself, in company with a fellow presbyter named Huber, to the +Lutheran Reformed. As a recognized minister of that body he came on to +Buffalo, where he officiated for four years to three congregations, +visiting at the same time, occasionally, a congregation on the Canada +side of the river, at Limeridge. He here, for the first time, began the +study of the English language. Coming now into contact with the clergy +of the Anglican communion, he finally resolved to conform to the +Anglican Church, and was sent by Bishop Stewart, of Quebec, to the +German settlement in Markham and Vaughan. Here he officiated for twenty +years, building in that interval St. Stephen's Church in Vaughan, St. +Philip's in the 3rd concession of Markham, and the Church in Markham +village, and establishing a permanent congregation at each. + +He was a vigorous, stirring preacher in his acquired English tongue, as +well as in his vernacular German. He possessed also a colloquial +knowledge of Latin, which is still a spoken language in part of Hungary. +He was a man of energy to the last: ever cheerful in spirit, and +abounding in anecdotes, personal or otherwise. It was from him, as we +remember, we first heard the afterwards more familiarized names of +Magyar and Sclave. + +His brother clergy of the region where his duty lay were indebted to him +for many curious glimpses at men and things in the great outer world of +the continent of Europe. During the Napoleonic wars he was "Field +Chaplain of the Imperial Infantry Regiment, No. 60 of the Line," and +accompanied the Austrian contingent of 40,000 men furnished to Napoleon +by the Emperor of Austria.--He was afterwards, when the Austrian Emperor +broke away from Napoleon, taken prisoner with five regiments of the +line, and sent to Dresden and Mayence. He was at the latter place when +the battle of Leipsic was fought (Oct. 16, 17, 18, 19, 1813.) He now +left Mayence without leave, the plague breaking out there, and got to +Oppenheim, where a German presbyter named Muller concealed him, till the +departure of the French out of the town. After several adventures he +found his way back to the quarters of his regiment now acting in the +anti-French interest at Manheim, where he duly reported himself, and was +well received. After the war, from the year 1816, he had for three years +the pastoral charge of Klingenmunster in the diocese of Strasbourg. He +died in Whitby, in 1859. + +A memoir of Mr. Meyerhoffer has been printed, and it bears the following +title: "Twelve years a Roman Catholic Priest; or, the Autobiography of +the Rev. V. P. Meyerhoffer, M.A., late Military Chaplain to the Austrian +Army and Grand Chaplain of the Orders of Free Masons and Orangemen of +Canada, B.N.A., containing an account of his career as Military +Chaplain, Monk of the Order of St. Francis, and Clergyman of the Church +of England in Vaughan, Markham and Whitby, C.W." + +He had a musical voice which had been properly cultivated--This, he used +to say, was a source of revenue to him in the early part of his public +career, those clergy being in request and receiving a higher +remuneration, who were able to sing the service in a superior manner. +His features were strongly marked and peculiar, perhaps Mongolian in +type; they were not German, English, or Italian. Were the concavity of +the nose and the projection of the mouth a little more pronounced in +"Elias Howe," the medallions of that personage would give a general idea +of Mr. Mayerhoffer's profile and head. + +In his younger days he had acquired some medical knowledge, which stood +him in good stead for a time at Philadelphia, when he and Huber first +renounced the Latin dogmas. His taste for the healing art was slightly +indulged even after the removal to Canada, as will be seen from an +advertisement which appears in the _Courier_ of February 29, 1832. (From +its wording it will be observed that Mayerhoffer had not yet become +familiarized with the English language.) It is headed thus: "The use and +direction of the new-invented and never-failing Wonder Salve, by D. V. +P. Mayerhoffer, of Markham, U.C., H.D., 5th concession." + +It then proceeds: "Amongst all in the medicine-invented unguents his +salve takes the first place for remedy, whereby it not in vain obtains +the name of Wonder Salve for experience taught in many cases to deserve +this name; and being urged to communicate it to the public, I endeavour +to satisfy to the common good of the public. It is acknowledged by all +who know the virtue of it, and experienced its worth, it ought to be +kept in every house, first for its inestimable goodness, and, second, +because the medicine the older it gets the better it is: money spent for +such will shew its effect from its beginning for twenty years, if kept +in a dry place, well covered. In all instances of burns, old wounds, +called running sores, for the tetter-worm or ring, &c., as the +discussions and use will declare, wrapped round the box or the medicine. + +"It is unnecessary to recommend by words this inestimable medicine, as +its value has received the approbation of many inhabitants of this +country already, who sign their names below for the surety of its virtue +and the reality of its worth, declaring that they never wish to be +without it in their houses by their lifetimes. In Markham, Mr. Philip +Eckhardt, jun., do. do., sen., Godlieb Eckhardt, Abraham Eckhardt, John +Pingel, jun., Mr. Lang, Mr. Large, John Perkins, John Schall, Charles +Peterson, Luke Stantenkough, Peter March. In Vaughan, Jacob Fritcher, +Daniel Stang. Recommended by Dr. Baldwin, of York. The medicine is to be +had in the eighth concession of Markham, called Riarstown, by Sinclair +Holden; in the fifth concession by Christopher Hevelin and T. Amos; in +the town of York, in J. Baldwin's and S. Barnham's stores; on Yonge +Street, by Parsons and Thorne. Price of a box, two shillings and +sixpence, currency. January 11, 1832." + +Military associations hang about the lands to the right and left of +Richmond Hill. The original possessor of Lot No. 22 on the west side, +was Captain Daniel Cozens, a gentleman who took a very active part in +opposition to the revolutionary movement which resulted in the +independence of the United States. He raised, at his own expense, a +company of native soldiers in the royalist interest, and suffered the +confiscation of a considerable estate in New Jersey. Three thousand +acres in Upper Canada were subsequently granted him by the British +Crown. His sons, Daniel and Shivers, also received grants. The name of +Shivers Cozens is to be seen in the early plans of Markham on lots 2, 4 +and 5 in the 6th concession. + +Samuel died of a fit at York in 1808; but Shivers returned to New Jersey +and died there, where family connexions of Captain Cozens still survive. +There runs amongst them a tradition that Captain Cozens built the first +house in our Canadian York. Of this we are informed by Mr. T. Cottrill +Clarke, of Philadelphia. We observe in an early plan of York the name of +Shivers Cozens on No. 23 in Block E, on the south side of King Street: +the name of Benjamin Cozens on No. 5 on Market Street: and the name of +Captain Daniel Cozens on No. 4 King Street, (new town), north side, with +the date of the grant, July 20, 1799. It is thus quite likely that +Captain Cozens, or a member of his family, put up buildings in York at a +very early period. + +We read in the Niagara _Herald_, of October 31, 1801, the following: +"Died on the 6th ult., near Philadelphia, Captain Daniel Cozens." In the +_Gazette & Oracle_, of January 27, 1808, we have a memorandum of the +decease of Samuel Cozens: "Departed this life, on the 29th ult., Mr. +Samuel D. Cozens, one of the first inhabitants of this town [York]. His +remains were interred with Masonic honours on the 31st." + +Another officer of the Revolutionary era was the first owner, and for +several years the actual occupant, of the lot immediately opposite +Captain Cozens'. This was Captain Richard Lippincott, a native of New +Jersey. A bold deed of his has found a record in all the histories of +the period. The narrative gives us a glimpse of some of the painful +scenes attendant on wars wherein near relatives and old friends come to +be set in array one against the other. + +On the 12th of April, 1782, Captain Lippincott, acting under the +authority of the "Board of Associated Loyalists of New York," executed +by hanging, on the heights near Middleton, Joshua Huddy, an officer in +the revolutionary army, as an act of retaliation,--Huddy having +summarily treated, in the same way, a relative of Captain Lippincott's, +Philip White, surprised within the lines of the revolutionary force, +while on a stolen visit of natural affection to his mother on Christmas +Day. + +On Huddy's breast was fastened a paper containing the following written +notice, to be read by his co-revolutionists and friends when they should +discover the body suspended in the air.--"We, the Refugees, having long +with grief beheld the cruel murders of our brethren, and finding nothing +but such measures carrying into execution, therefore determined not to +suffer without taking vengeance for the numerous cruelties; and thus +begin, having made use of Captain Huddy as the first object to present +to your view; and further determine to hang man for man while there is a +Refugee existing. Up goes Huddy for Philip White." + +When the surrender of Capt. Lippincott was refused by the Royalist +authorities, Washington ordered the execution of one officer of equal +rank to be selected by lot out of the prisoners in his hands. The lot +fell on Capt. Charles Asgill of the Guards, aged only nineteen. He was +respited however until the issue of a court-martial, promised to be held +on Capt. Lippincott, should be known. The court acquitted; and Capt. +Asgill only narrowly escaped the fate of Andre, through prompt +intervention on the part of the French Government. The French minister +of State, the Count de Vergennes, to whom there had been time for Lady +Asgill, the Captain's mother, to appeal--received directions to ask his +release in the conjoint names of the King and Queen as "a tribute to +humanity." Washington thought proper to accede to this request; but it +was not until the following year, when the revolutionary struggle ended, +that Asgill and Lippincott were set at liberty. + +The former lived to succeed to his father's baronetcy and to become a +General officer. Colonel O'Hara, of Toronto, remembered dining at a +table where a General Sir Charles Asgill was pointed out to him as +having been, during the American revolutionary war, for a year under +sentence of death, condemned by General Washington to be hanged in the +place of another person. + +Capt. Lippincott received from the Crown three thousand acres in Upper +Canada. He survived until the year 1826, when, aged 81, and after +enjoying half-pay for a period of forty-three years, he expired at the +house of his son-in-law in York, Colonel George Taylor Denison, who gave +to his own eldest son, Richard Lippincott Denison, Captain Lippincott's +name. (A few miles further on, namely, in North and East Gwillimbury, +General Benedict Arnold, known among United States citizens as "the +traitor," received a grant of five thousand acres.) + +In connexion with Richmond Hill, which now partially covers the fronts +of Captain Cozens' and Captain Lippincott's lots, we subjoin what +Captain Bonnycastle said of the condition of Yonge Street hereabout in +1846, in his "Canada and the Canadians." + +"Behold us at Richmond Hill," he exclaims, "having safely passed the +Slough of Despond which the vaunted Yonge Street mud road presents +between the celebrated hamlet of St. Albans and the aforesaid hill." + +And again: "We reached Richmond Hill, seventeen miles from the Landing, +at about 8 o'clock (he was moving southward) having made a better day's +journey than is usually accomplished on a road which will be macadamized +some fine day;--for the Board of Works," he proceeds to inform the +reader, "have a Polish engineer hard at work surveying it; of course, no +Canadian was to be found equal to this intricate piece of engineering; +and I saw a variety of sticks stuck up; but what they meant I cannot +guess at. I suppose they were going to grade it, which is the favourite +American term." + +The prejudices of the Englishman and Royal Engineer routinier here crop +out. The Polish engineer, who was commencing operations on this +subdivision of Yonge Street, was Mr. Casimir Stanislaus Gzowski, whose +subsequent Canadian career renders it probable that in setting up "the +variety of sticks," the meaning of which Capt. Bonnycastle does after +all guess at, he understood his business. We are assured that this +portion of Yonge Street was in fact conspicuous for the superior +excellence of its finish. + +Captain Bonnycastle indulges in a further little fling at civilians who +presume to undertake engineering duties, in a story which serves to fill +a page or two of his book, immediately after the above remarks on Yonge +Street, about Richmond Hill. He narrates an incident of his voyage +out:-- + +"A Character," he says, "set out from England to try his fortune in +Canada. He was conversing about prospects in that country, on board the +vessel, with a person who knew him, but whom he knew not. 'I have not +quite made up my mind,' said the character, 'as to what pursuit I shall +follow in Canada; but that which brings most grist to the mill will +answer best; and I hear a man may turn his hand to anything there, +without the folly of an apprenticeship being necessary; for if he have +only brains, bread will come; now what do you think would be the best +business for my market?' 'Why,' said the gentleman, after pondering a +little, 'I should advise you to try civil engineering; for they are +getting up a Board of Works there, and want that branch of industry very +much, for they won't take natives: nothing but foreigners and strangers +will go down.' 'What is a civil engineer?' said the Character. 'A man +always measuring and calculating,' responded his adviser, 'and that will +just suit you.' 'So it will,' rejoined Character, and a civil engineer +he became accordingly, and a very good one into the bargain, for he had +brains, and had used a yard measure all his lifetime."--Who "the +Character" was, we do not for certain know. + +A short distance beyond Richmond Hill was the abode of Colonel Moodie, +on the right,--distinguished by a flag-staff in front of it, after the +custom of Lower Canada, where an officer's house used to be known in +this way. (In the neighbourhood of Sorel, as we remember, in the winter +of 1837, it was one of the symptoms of disaffection come to a head, when +in front of a substantial habitan's home a flag-staff was suddenly seen +bearing the inscription "----, Capitaine, elu par le peuple.") + +Colonel Moodie's title came from his rank in the regular army. He had +been Lieut.-Colonel of the 104th regiment. Sad, that a distinguished +officer, after escaping the perils of the Peninsular war, and of the war +with the United States here in 1812-13, should have yet, nevertheless, +met with a violent death in a petty local civil tumult. He was shot, as +all remember, in the troubles of 1837, while attempting to ride past +Montgomery's, regardless of the insurgent challenge to stop. + + "Thou might'st have dreamed of brighter hours to close thy chequered life + Beneath thy country's victor-flag, sure beacon in the strife; + Or in the shadow of thy home with those who mourn thee now, + To whisper comfort in thine ear, to calm thine aged brow. + Well! peaceful be thy changeless rest,--thine is a soldier's grave; + Hearts like thine own shall mourn thy doom--meet requiem for the brave-- + And ne'er 'till Freedom's ray is pale and Valour's pulse grown cold + Shall be thy bright career forgot, thy gloomy fate untold." + +So sang one in the columns of a local contemporary paper, in "Lines +suggested by the Lamented Death of the late Colonel Moodie." + +At a certain period in the history of Yonge Street, as indeed of all the +leading thoroughfares of Upper Canada, about 1830-33, a frequent sign +that property had changed hands, and that a second wave of population +was rolling in, was the springing up, at intervals, of houses of an +improved style, with surroundings, lawns, sheltering plantations, +winding drives, well-constructed entrance-gates, and so on, indicating +an appreciation of the elegant and the comfortable. + +We recall two instances of this, which we used to contemplate with +particular interest, a little way beyond Richmond Hill, on the left: the +cosy, English-looking residences, not far apart, with a cluster of +appurtenances round each--of Mr. Larratt Smith, and Mr. Francis Boyd. +Both gentlemen settled here with their families in 1836. + +Mr. Smith had been previously in Canada in a military capacity during +the war of 1812-13, and for many years subsequently he had been Chief +Commissary of the Field Train Department and Paymaster of the Artillery. +He died at Southampton in 1860. + +Mr. Boyd, who emigrated hither from the county of Kent, was one of the +first, in these parts, to import from England improved breeds of cattle. +In his house was to be seen a collection of really fine paintings, +amongst them a Holbein, a Teniers, a Dominichino, a Smirke, a Wilkie, +and two Horace Vernets. The families of Mr. Boyd and Mr. Smith were +related by marriage. Mr. Boyd died in Toronto in 1861. + +Beyond Mr. Boyd's, a solitary house, on the same side of Yonge Street, +lying back near the woods, used to be eyed askance in passing:--its +occupant and proprietor, Mr. Kinnear, had in 1843 been murdered therein +by his man-servant, assisted by a female domestic. It was imagined by +them that a considerable sum of money had just been brought to the house +by Mr. Kinnear. Both criminals would probably have escaped justice had +not Mr. F. C. Capreol, of Toronto, on the spur of the moment, and purely +from a sense of duty to the public, undertaken their capture, which he +cleverly effected at Lewiston in the United States. + +The land now began to be somewhat broken as we ascended the rough and +long-uncultivated region known as the Oak Ridges. The predominant tree +in the primitive forest here was the pine, which attained a gigantic +size; but specimens of the black oak were intermingled. + +Down in one of the numerous clefts and chasms which were to be seen in +this locality, in a woody dell on the right, was Bond's Lake, a pretty +crescent-shaped sheet of water. We have the surrounding property offered +for sale in a _Gazette_ of 1805, in the following terms; "For Sale, Lots +No. 62 and 63, in the first concession of the township of Whitchurch, on +the east side of Yonge Street, containing 380 acres of land: a deed in +fee simple will be given by the subscriber to any person inclined to +purchase. Johnson Butler. N.B. The above lots include the whole of the +Pond commonly called Bond's Lake, the house and clearing round the same. +For particulars enquire of Mr. R. Ferguson and Mr. T. B. Gough at York, +and the subscriber at Niagara. March 23, 1805." + +Bond's farm and lake had their name from Mr. William Bond, who so early +as 1800 had established in York a Nursery Garden, and introduced there +most of the useful fruits. In 1801 Mr. Bond was devising to sell his +York property, as appears from a quaint advertisement in a _Gazette_ of +that year. He therein professes to offer his lot in York as a free gift; +the recipient however being at the same time required to do certain +things. + +"To be given away," he says, "that beautifully situated lot No. one, +fronting on Ontario and Duchess Streets: the buildings thereon are--a +small two-and-a-half storey house, with a gallery in front, which +commands a view of the lake and the bay: in the cellar a never failing +spring of fine water; and a stream of fine water running through one +corner of the lot; there is a good kitchen in the rear of the house, and +a stable sufficient for two cows and two horses, and the lot is in good +fence. + +"The conditions are, with the person or persons who accept of the above +present, that he, she or they purchase not less than two thousand +apple-trees at three shillings, New York currency, each; after which +will be added, as a further present, about one hundred apple, thirty +peach, and fourteen cherry trees, besides wild plums, wild cherries, +English gooseberries, white and red currants, &c. There are forty of the +above apple trees, as also the peach and cherry trees, planted regular, +as an orchard, much of which appeared in blossom last spring, and must +be considered very valuable: also as a kitchen garden, will sufficiently +recommend itself to those who may please to view it.--The above are well +calculated for a professional or independent gentleman; being somewhat +retired--about half-way from the Lake to the late Attorney General's and +opposite the town-farm of the Hon. D. W. Smith [afterwards Mr. Allan's +property.] Payment will be made easy; a good deed; and possession given +at any time from the first of November to the first of May next. For +further particulars enquire of the subscriber on the premises. William +Bond. York, Sep. 4, 1801."--The price expected was, as will be made out, +750 dollars. The property was evidently the northern portion of what +became afterwards the homestead-plot of Mr. Surveyor General Ridout. + +It would appear that Mr. Bond's property did not find a purchaser on +this occasion. In 1804 he is advertising it again, but now to be sold by +auction, with his right and title to the lot on Yonge Street. In the +_Gazette_ of August 4, 1804, we read as follows:--"To be sold by +auction, at Cooper's tavern, in York, on Monday, the twentieth day of +August next, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon (if not previously +disposed of by private contract), that highly cultivated lot opposite +the Printing Office [Bennett's] containing one acre, together with a +nursery thereon of about ten thousand apple, three hundred peach, and +twenty pear trees, and an orchard containing forty-one apple trees fit +for bearing, twenty-seven of which are full of fruit; thirty peach and +nine cherry trees full of fruit; besides black and red plums, red and +white currants, English gooseberries, lilacs, rose bushes, &c., &c., +also a very rich kitchen garden. + +"The buildings are a two-and-a-half storey house, a good cellar, stable +and smokehouse. On the lot is a never-failing spring of excellent water, +and fine creek running through one corner most part of the year. The +above premises might be made very commodious for a gentleman at a small +expense; or for a tanner, brewer, or distiller, must be allowed the most +convenient place in York. A view of the premises (by any person or +persons desirous of purchasing the same) will be sufficient +recommendation. The nursery is in such a state of forwardness that if +sold in from two to three years (at which time the apple trees will be +fit to transplant) at the moderate price of one shilling each, would +repay a sum double of that asked for the whole, and leave a further gain +to the purchasers of the lot, buildings, and flourishing orchard +thereon. A good title to the above, and possession given at any time +after the first of October next. + +"Also at the same time and place the right as per Register, to one +hundred acres in front of lot 62, east side Yonge Street, for which a +deed can be procured at pleasure, and the remainder of the lot procured +for a small sum. It is an excellent soil for orchard, grain and pasture +land. There is a field of ten acres in fence besides other clearing. It +is a beautiful situation, having part of the Lake commonly called Bond's +Lake, within the said lot, which affords a great supply of Fish and +Fowl. Terms of payment will be made known on the day of sale. For +further particulars enquire of the subscriber on the former premises, or +the printer hereof. William Bond. York, 27th June, 1804." + +Thirty years later we meet with an advertisement in which the price is +named at which Lot No. 63 could have been secured. Improvements expected +speedily to be made on Yonge Street are therein referred to. In a +_Gazette_ of 1834 we have: "A delightful situation on Yonge Street, +commonly called Bond's Farm, containing 190 acres, beautifully situated +on Bond's Lake upon Yonge Street, distant about 16 miles from the city +of Toronto: price L350. The picturesque beauty of this lot," the +advertisement says, "and its proximity to the flourishing capital of +Upper Canada, make it a most desirable situation for a gentleman of +taste. The stage-coaches between Toronto and Holland Landing and +Newmarket pass the place daily; and there appears every prospect of +Yonge Street either having a railroad or being macadamized very +shortly. Apply (if by letter, free of postage) to Robert Ferrie, at +Hamilton, the proprietor." + +In the advertisement of 1805, given above, Bond's Lake is styled a pond. +The small lakes in these hills seemed, of course, to those who had +become familiarized with the great lakes, simply ponds. The term "lake" +applied to Ontario, Huron, and the rest, has given a very inadequate +idea of the magnitude and appearance of those vast expanses, to externs +who imagine them to be picturesque sheets of water somewhat exceeding in +size, but resembling, Windermere, Loch Lomond, or possibly Lake Leman. +"Sea" would have conveyed a juster notion: not however to the German, +who styles the lakes of Switzerland and the Tyrol, "seas." + +Bond's Lake inn, the way-side stopping place in the vale where Yonge +Street skirts the lake, used to be, in an especial degree, of the old +country cast, in its appliances, its fare, its parlours and other +rooms. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXVII. + + YONGE STREET: FROM BOND'S LAKE TO THE HOLLAND LANDING, WITH DIGRESSIONS + TO NEWMARKET AND SHARON. + + +We now speedily passed Drynoch, lying off to the left, on elevated land, +the abode of Capt. Martin McLeod, formerly of the Isle of Skye. The +family and domestic group systematized on a large scale at Drynoch here, +was a Canadian reproduction of a chieftain's household. + +Capt. McLeod was a Scot of the Norse vikinger type, of robust manly +frame, of noble, frank, and tender spirit; an Ossianist too, and, in the +Scandinavian direction, a philologist. Sir Walter Scott would have made +a study of Capt. McLeod, and may have done so. He was one of eight +brothers who all held commissions in the army. His own military life +extended from 1808 to 1832. As an officer successively of the 27th, the +79th, and the 25th regiments, he saw much active service. He accompanied +the force sent over to this continent in the War of 1812-13. It was then +that he for the first time saw the land which was to be his final home. +He was present, likewise, at the affair of Plattsburg; and also, we +believe, at the attack on New Orleans. He afterwards took part in the +so-called Peninsular war, and received a medal with four clasps for +Toulouse, Orthes, Nive, and Nivelle. He missed Waterloo, +"unfortunately," as he used to say; but he was present with the allied +troops in Paris during the occupation of that city in 1815. Of the 25th +regiment he was for many years adjutant, and then paymaster. Three of +his uncles were general officers. + +It is not inappropriate to add that the Major McLeod who received the +honour of a Companionship in the Order of St. Michael and St. George for +distinguished service in the Red River Expedition of 1870, was a son of +Captain McLeod of Drynoch. + +That in and about the Canadian Drynoch Gaelic should be familiarly heard +was in keeping with the general character of the place. The ancient +Celtic tongue was in fact a necessity, as among the dependents of the +house there were always some who had never learned the English language. +Drynoch was the name of the old home in Skye. The Skye Drynoch was an +unfenced, hilly pasture farm, of about ten miles in extent, yielding +nutriment to herds of wild cattle and some 8,000 sheep. Within its +limits a lake, Loch Brockadale, is still the haunt of the otter, which +is hunted by the aid of the famous terriers of the island; a mountain +stream abounds with salmon and trout; while the heather and bracken of +the slopes shelter grouse and other game. + +Whittaker, in his _History of Whalley_, quoted by Hallam in his _Middle +Ages_, describes the aspect which, as he supposes, a certain portion of +England presented to the eye, as seen from the top of Pendle Hill, in +Yorkshire, in the Saxon times. The picture which he draws we in Canada +can realize with great perfectness. "Could a curious observer of the +present day," he says, "carry himself nine or ten centuries back, and +ranging the summit of Pendle, survey the forked vale of Calder on one +side and the bolder margins of Ribble and Hodder on the other, instead +of populous towns and villages, the castles, the old tower-built house, +the elegant modern mansion, the artificial plantation, the enclosed park +and pleasure-ground, instead of uninterrupted enclosures which have +driven sterility almost to the summit of the fells, how great then must +have been the contrast when, ranging either at a distance or immediately +beneath, his eye must have caught vast tracts of forest-ground, +stagnating with bog or darkened by native woods, where the wild ox, the +roe, the stag and the wolf, had scarcely learned the supremacy of man, +when, directing his view to the intermediate spaces, to the widening of +the valleys, or expanse of plains beneath, he could only have +distinguished a few insulated patches of culture, each encircling a +village of wretched cabins, among which would still be remarked one rude +mansion of wood, scarcely equal in comfort to a modern cottage, yet +there rising proudly eminent above the rest, where the Saxon lord, +surrounded by his faithful cotarii, enjoyed a rude and solitary +independence, having no superior but his sovereign." + +This writer asks us to carry ourselves nine or ten centuries back, to +realize the picture which he has conceived. From the upland here in the +vicinity of Drynoch, less than half a century ago, gazing southwards +over the expanse thence to be commanded, we should have beheld a scene +closely resembling that which, as he supposed, was seen from the summit +of Pendle in the Saxon days; while at the present day we see everywhere, +throughout the same expanse, an approximation to the old mother-lands, +England, Ireland, and Scotland, in condition and appearance: in its +style of agriculture, and the character of its towns, villages, hamlets, +farm-houses, and country villas. + +We now entered a region once occupied by a number of French military +refugees. During the revolution in France, at the close of the last +century, many of the devotees of the royalist cause passed over into +England, where, as elsewhere, they were known and spoken of as +_emigres_. Amongst them were numerous officers of the regular army, all +of them, of course, of the noblesse order, or else, as the inherited +rule was, no commission in the King's service could have been theirs. +When now the royal cause became desperate, and they had suffered the +loss of all their worldly goods, the British Government of the day, in +its sympathy for the monarchical cause in France, offered them grants of +land in the newly organized province of Upper Canada. + +Some of them availed themselves of the generosity of the British Crown. +Having been comrades in arms they desired to occupy a block of +contiguous lots. Whilst there was yet almost all western Canada to +choose from, by some chance these Oak Ridges, especially difficult to +bring under cultivation and somewhat sterile when subdued, were +preferred, partly perhaps through the influence of sentiment; they may +have discovered some resemblance to regions familiar to themselves in +their native land. Or in a mood inspired and made fashionable by +Rousseau they may have longed for a lodge in some vast wilderness, where +the "mortal coil" which had descended upon the old society of Europe +should no longer harass them. When twitted by the passing wayfarer who +had selected land in a more propitious situation, they would point to +the gigantic boles of the surrounding pines in proof of the intrinsic +excellence of the soil below, which must be good, they said, to nourish +such a vegetation. + +After all, however, this particular locality may have been selected +rather for them than by them. On the early map of 1798 a range of nine +lots on each side of Yonge Street, just here in the Ridges, is bracketed +and marked, "French Royalists: by order of his Honor," _i.e._, the +President, Peter Russell. A postscript to the _Gazetteer_ of 1799 gives +the reader the information that "lands have been appropriated in the +year of York as a refuge for some French Royalists, and their settlement +has commenced." + +On the Vaughan side, No. 56 was occupied conjointly by Michel Saigeon +and Francis Reneoux; No. 57 by Julien le Bugle; No. 58 by Rene Aug. +Comte de Chalus, Amboise de Farcy and Quetton St. George conjointly; No. +59 by Quetton St. George; No. 60 by Jean Louis Vicomte de Chalus. In +King, No. 61 by Rene Aug. Comte de Chalus and Augustin Boiton +conjointly. On the Markham side: No. 52 is occupied by the Comte de +Puisaye; No. 53 by Rene Aug. Comte de Chalus; No. 54 by Jean Louis +Vicomte de Chalus and Rene Aug. Comte de Chalus conjointly;--No. 55 by +Jean Louis Vicomte de Chalus; No. 66 by le Chevalier de Marseuil and +Michael Fauchard conjointly; No. 57 by the Chev. de Marseuil; No. 58 by +Rene Letourneaux, Augustin Boiton and J. L. Vicomte de Chalus +conjointly; No. 59 by Quetton St. George and Jean Furon conjointly; No. +60 by Amboise de Farcy. In Whitchurch, No. 61 by Michel Saigeon. + +After felling the trees in a few acres of their respective allotments, +some of these emigres withdrew from the country. Hence in the Ridges was +to be seen here and there the rather unusual sight of abandoned +clearings returning to a state of nature. + +The officers styled Comte and Vicomte de Chalus derived their title from +the veritable domain and castle of Chalus in Normandy, associated in the +minds of young readers of English History with the death of Richard +Coeur de Lion. Jean Louis de Chalus, whose name appears on numbers 54 +and in 55 Markham and on other lots, was a Major-General in the Royal +Army of Brittany. At the balls given by the Governor and others at York, +the jewels of Madame la Comtesse created a great sensation, wholly +surpassing everything of the kind that had hitherto been seen by the +ladies of Upper Canada. Amboise de Farcy, of No. 58 in Vaughan and No. +60 in Markham, had also the rank of General. Augustin Boiton, of No. 48 +in Markham and No. 61 in Vaughan, was a Lieutenant-Colonel. + +The Comte de Puisaye, of No. 52 in Markham, figures conspicuously in the +contemporary accounts of the royalist struggle against the Convention. +He himself published in London in 1803 five octavo volumes of Memoirs, +justificatory of his proceedings in that contest. Carlyle in his "French +Revolution" speaks of de Puisaye's work, and, referring to the so-called +Calvados war, says that those who are curious in such matters may read +therein "how our Girondin National forces, _i.e._, the Moderates, +marching off with plenty of wind music, were drawn out about the old +chateau of Brecourt, in the wood-country near Vernon (in Brittany), to +meet the Mountain National forces (the Communist) advancing from Paris. +How on the fifteenth afternoon of July, 1793, they did meet:--and, as it +were, shrieked mutually, and took mutually to flight, without loss. How +Puisaye thereafter,--for the Mountain Nationals fled first, and we +thought ourselves the victors,--was roused from his warm bed in the +Castle of Brecourt and had to gallop without boots; our Nationals in the +night watches having fallen unexpectedly into _sauve qui peut_." + +Carlyle alludes again to this misadventure, when approaching the subject +of the Quiberon expedition, two years later, towards the close of La +Vendee war. Affecting for the moment a prophetic tone, in his peculiar +way Carlyle proceeds thus, introducing at the close of his sketch de +Puisaye once more, who was in command of the invading force spoken of, +although not undividedly so. "In the month of July, 1795, English +ships," he says, "will ride in Quiberon roads. There will be debarkation +of chivalrous _ci-devants_, (_i.e._ ex-noblesse), of volunteer prisoners +of war--eager to desert; of fire-arms, proclamations, clothes chests, +royalists, and specie. Whereupon also, on the Republican side, there +will be rapid stand-to arms; with ambuscade-marchings by Quiberon beach +at midnight; storming of Fort Penthievre; war-thunder mingling with the +roar of the mighty main; and such a morning light as has seldom dawned; +debarkation hurled back into its boats, or into the devouring billows, +with wreck and wail;--in one word, a _ci-devant_ Puisaye as totally +ineffectual here as he was at Calvados, when he rode from Vernon Castle +without boots." + +The impression which Carlyle gives of M. de Puisaye is not greatly +bettered by what M. de Lamartine says of him in the _History of the +Girondists_, when speaking of him in connexion with the affair near the +Chateau of Brecourt. He is there ranked with adventurers rather than +heroes. "This man," de Lamartine says, "was at once an orator, a +diplomatist, and a soldier,--a character eminently adapted for civil +war, which produces more adventurers than heroes." De Lamartine +describes how, prior to the repulse at Chateau Brecourt, "M. de Puisaye +had passed a whole year concealed in a cavern in the midst of the +forests of Brittany, where, by his manoeuvres and correspondence he +kindled the fire of revolt against the republic." He professed to act in +the interest of the moderates, believing that, through his influence, +they would at last be induced to espouse heartily the cause of +constitutional royalty. + +Thiers, in his "History of the French Revolution," vii. 146, speaks in +respectful terms of Puisaye. He says that "with great intelligence and +extraordinary skill in uniting the elements of a party, he combined +extreme activity of body and mind, and vast ambition:" and even after +Quiberon, Thiers says "it was certain that Puisaye had done all that lay +in his power." De Puisaye ended his days in England, in the +neighbourhood of London, in 1827.--In one of the letters of Mr. Surveyor +Jones we observe some of the improvements of the Oak Ridges spoken of as +"Puisaye's Town." + +It is possibly to the settlement, then only in contemplation, of emigres +here in the Oak Ridges of Yonge Street, that Burke alludes, when in his +Reflections on the French Revolution he says: "I hear that there are +considerable emigrations from France, and that many, quitting that +voluptuous climate and that seductive Circean liberty, have taken refuge +in the frozen regions, and under the British despotism, of Canada." + +"The frozen regions of Canada," the great rhetorician's expression in +this place, has become a stereotyped phrase with declaimers. The reports +of the first settlers at Tadousac and Quebec made an indelible +impression on the European mind. To this day in transatlantic +communities, it is realized only to a limited extent that Canada has a +spring, summer and autumn as well as a winter, and that her skies wear +an aspect not always gloomy and inhospitable. "British despotism" is, of +course, ironically said, and means, in reality, British constitutional +freedom. (In some instances these Royalist officers appear to have +accepted commissions from the British Crown, and so to have become +nominally entitled to grants of land.) + +There are some representatives of the original emigres still to be met +with in the neighbourhood of the Oak Ridges; but they have not in every +instance continued to be seised of the lands granted in 1798. The Comte +de Chalus, son of Rene Augustin, retains property here; but he resides +in Montreal. + +An estate, however, at the distance of one lot eastward from Yonge +Street, in Whitchurch, is yet in the actual occupation of a direct +descendant of one of the first settlers in this region. Mr. Henry +Quetton St. George here engages with energy in the various operations of +a practical farmer, on land inherited immediately from his father, the +Chevalier de St. George, at the same time dispensing to his many friends +a refined hospitality. If at Glenlonely the circular turrets and pointed +roofs of the old French chateau are not to be seen,--what is of greater +importance, the amenities and gentle life of the old French chateau are +to be found. Moreover, by another successful enterprise added to +agriculture, the present proprietor of Glenlonely has brought it to pass +that the name of St. George is no longer suggestive, as in the first +instance it was, of wars in La Vendee and fightings on the Garonne and +Dordogne, but redolent in Canada, far and wide, only of vineyards in +Languedoc and of pleasant wines from across the Pyrenees. + +A large group of superior farm buildings, formerly seen on the right +just after the turn which leads to Glenlonely, bore the graceful name of +Larchmere,--an appellation glancing at the mere or little lake within +view of the windows of the house: a sheet of water more generally known +as Lake Willcocks--so called from an early owner of the spot, Col. +Willcocks, of whom we have spoken in another section. Larchmere was for +some time the home of his great grandson, William Willcocks Baldwin. The +house has since been destroyed by fire. + +Just beneath the surface of the soil on the borders of the lakelets of +the Ridges, was early noticed a plentiful deposit of white shell-marl, +resembling the substance brought up from the oozy floor of the Atlantic +in the soundings preparatory to laying the telegraph-cable. It was, in +fact, incipient chalk. It used to be employed in the composition of a +whitewash for walls and fences. It may since have been found of value as +a manure. In these quarters, as elsewhere in Canada, fine specimens of +the antlers of the Wapiti, or great American stag, were occasionally dug +up. + +The summit level of the Ridges was now reached, the most elevated land +in this part of the basin of the St. Lawrence; a height, however, after +all, of only about eight hundred feet above the level of the sea. The +attention of the wayfarer was hereabout always directed to a small +stream, which the road crossed, flowing out of Lake Willcocks: and then +a short distance further on, he was desired to notice a slight swale or +shallow morass on the left. The stream in question, he was told, was the +infant Humber, just starting south for Lake Ontario; while the swale or +morass, he was assured, was a feeder of the east branch of the Holland +River, flowing north into Lake Simcoe. + +Notwithstanding the comparative nearness to each other of the waters of +the Holland and the Humber, thus made visible to the eye, the earliest +project of a canal in these parts was, as has once before been observed, +for the connection, not of the Holland river and the Humber, but of the +Holland river and the Rouge or Nen. The Mississaga Indians attached +great importance to the Rouge and its valley as a link in one of their +ancient trails between Huron and Ontario; and they seem to have imparted +to the first white men their own notions on the subject. "It apparently +rises," says the _Gazetteer_ of 1799, speaking of the Rouge or Nen, "in +the vicinity of one of the branches of Holland's river, with which it +will probably, at some future period, be connected by a canal." A +"proposed canal" is accordingly here marked on one of the first +manuscript maps of Upper Canada. + +Father St. Lawrence and Father Mississippi pour their streams--so +travellers assure us--from urns situated at no great distance apart. +Lake Itaska and its vicinity, just west of Lake Superior, possess a +charm for this reason. In like manner, to compare small things with +great, the particular quarter of the Ridges where the waters of the +Humber and the Holland used to be seen in near proximity to each other, +had always with ourselves a special interest. Two small lakes, called +respectively Lake Sproxton and Lake Simon, important feeders of the +Rouge, a little to the east of the Glenlonely property, are situated +very close to the streams that pass into the east branch of the Holland +river; so that the conjecture of the author of the _Gazetteer_ was a +good one. He says, "apparently the sources of the Rouge and Holland lie +near each other." + +After passing the notable locality of the Ridges just spoken of, the +land began perceptibly to decline; and soon emerging from the confused +glens and hillocks and woods that had long on every side been hedging in +the view, we suddenly came out upon a brow where a wide prospect was +obtained, stretching far to the north, and far to the east and west. +From such an elevation the acres here and there denuded of their woods +by the solitary axemen could not be distinguished; accordingly, the +panorama presented here for many a year continued to be exactly that +which met the eyes of the first exploring party from York in 1793. + +As we used to see it, it seemed in effect to be an unbroken forest; in +the foreground bold and billowy and of every variety of green; in the +middle distance assuming neutral, indistinct tints, as it dipped down +into what looked like a wide vale; then apparently rising by successive +gentle stages, coloured now deep violet, now a tender blue, up to the +line of the sky. In a depression in the far horizon, immediately in +front, was seen the silvery sheen of water. This, of course, was the +lake known since 1793 as Lake Simcoe; but previously spoken of by the +French sometimes as Lake Sinion or Sheniong; sometimes as Lake +Ouentironk, Ouentaron, and Toronto--the very name which is so familiar +to us now, as appertaining to a locality thirty miles southward of this +lake. + +The French also in their own tongue sometimes designated it, perhaps for +some reason connected with fishing operations, _Lac aux Claies_, Hurdle +Lake. Thus in the _Gazetteer_ of 1799 we have "Simcoe Lake: formerly +Lake aux Claies, Ouentironk, Sheniong, situated between York and +Gloucester upon Lake Huron: it has a few small islands and several good +harbours." And again on another page of the same _Gazetteer_, we have +the article: "Toronto Lake (or Toronto): lake le Clie [_i. e._ Lac aux +Claies] was formerly so called by some: (others," the same article +proceeds to say, "called the chain of lakes from the vicinity of +Matchedash towards the head of the Bay of Quinte, the Toronto lakes and +the communication from the one to the other was called the Toronto +river:" whilst in another place in the _Gazetteer_ we have the +information given us that the Humber was also styled the Toronto river, +thus: "Toronto river, called by some St. John's; now called the +Humber.") + +The region of which we here obtained a kind of Pisgah view, where + + "The bursting prospect spreads immense around" + +on the northern brow of the Ridges, is a classic one, renowned in the +history of the Wyandots or Hurons, and in the early French missionary +annals. + +It did not chance to enter into the poet Longfellow's plan to lay the +scene of any portion of his song of Hiawatha so far to the eastward; and +the legends gathered by him + + From the great lakes of the Northland, + From the mountains, moors and fenlands, + Where the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, + Feeds among the reeds and rushes-- + +tell of an era just anterior to the period when this district becomes +invested with interest for us. Francis Parkman, however, in an agreeably +written work, entitled "The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth +Century," has dwelt somewhat at length on the history of this locality, +which is the well-peopled Toronto region, _lieu ou il y a beaucoup de +gens_, of which we have formerly spoken. (p. 74.) + +In the early Reports of the Jesuit fathers themselves, too, this area +figures largely. They, in fact, constructed a map, which must have led +the central mission-board of their association, at Rome, to believe that +this portion of Western Canada was as thickly strewn with villages and +towns as a district of equal area in old France. In the "Chorographia +Regionis Huronum," attached to Father du Creux's Map of New France, of +the date 1660, given in Bressani's Abridgment of "the Relations," we +have the following places conspicuously marked as stations or +sub-missions in the peninsula bounded by Notawasaga bay, Matchedash or +Sturgeon bay, the river Severn, Lake Couchichin, and Lake Simcoe, +implying population in and round each of them:--St. Xavier, St. Charles, +St. Louis, St. Ignatius, St. Denis, St. Joachim, St. Athanasius, St. +Elizabeth, St. John the Baptist, St. Joseph, St. Mary, St. Michael, La +Conception, St. Mary Magdalene, and others. + +(In Schoolcraft's American Indians, p. 130, ed. 1851, the scene of the +story of Aingodon and Naywadaha is laid at Toronto, by which a spot +near Lake Simcoe seems to be meant, and not the trading-post of Toronto +on Lake Ontario.) + +But we must push on. The end of our journey is in sight. The impediments +to our advance have been innumerable, but unavoidable. In spite of +appearances, "Semper ad eventum festina," has all along been secretly +goading us forward. + +The farmhouses and their surroundings in the Quaker settlement through +which, after descending from the Ridges on the northern side, we passed, +came to be notable at an early date for a characteristic neatness, +completeness, and visible judiciousness; and for an air of enviable +general comfort and prosperity. The farmers here were emigrants chiefly +from Pennsylvania. Coming from a quarter where large tracts had been +rapidly transformed by human toil from a state of nature to a condition +of high cultivation, they brought with them an inherited experience in +regard to such matters; and on planting themselves down in the midst of +an unbroken wild, they regarded the situation with more intelligence +perhaps than the ordinary emigrant from the British Islands and interior +of Germany, and so, unretarded by blunders and by doubts as to the +issue, were enabled very speedily to turn their industry to profitable +account. + +The old _Gazetteer_ of 1799 speaks in an exalted sentimental strain of +an emigration then going on from the United States into Canada. "The +loyal peasant," it says, "sighing after the government he lost by the +late revolution, travels from Pennsylvania in search of his former laws +and protection; and having his expectations fulfilled by new marks of +favour from the Crown in a grant of lands, he turns his plough at once +into these fertile plains [the immediate reference is to the +neighbourhood of Woodhouse on Lake Erie], and an abundant crop reminds +him of his gratitude to his God and to his king." + +We do not know for certain whether the Quaker settlers of the region +north of the Ridges came into Canada under the influence of feelings +exactly such as those described by the _Gazetteer_ of 1799. In 1806, +however, we find them coming forward in a body to congratulate a new +Lieutenant-Governor on his arrival in Upper Canada. In the _Gazette_ of +Oct. 4, 1806, we read: "On Tuesday, the 30th September (1806), the +following address from the Quakers residing on Yonge Street was +presented to his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor: "The Society of the +people called Quakers, to Francis Gore, Governor of Upper Canada, +sendeth greeting. Notwithstanding we are a people who hold forth to the +world a principle which in many respects differs from the greater part +of mankind, yet we believe it our reasonable duty, as saith the Apostle, +'Submit yourselves unto every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, +whether it be the king as supreme, or unto governors as unto them that +are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of +them that do well:' in this we hope to be his humble and peaceful +subjects. Although we cannot for conscience sake join with many of our +fellow-mortals in complimentary customs of man, neither in taking up the +sword in order to shed human blood--for the Scripture saith that 'it is +righteousness that exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any +people'--we feel concerned for thy welfare and the prosperity of the +province, hoping thy administration may be such as to be a terror to the +evil-minded and a pleasure to them that do well: then will the province +flourish and prosper under thy direction; which is the earnest desire +and prayer of thy sincere friends.--Read and approved in Yonge Street +monthly meeting, held the 18th day of the ninth month, 1806. Timothy +Rogers and Amos Armitage are appointed to attend on the Governor +therewith." Signed by order of the said meeting, Nathaniel Pearson, +clerk." + +To this address, characteristic alike in the peculiar syntax of its +sentences and in the well-meant platitudes to which it gives expression, +his Excellency was pleased to return the following answer: "I return you +my thanks for your dutiful address and for your good wishes for my +welfare and prosperity of this province. I have no doubt of your proving +peaceful and good subjects to his Majesty, as well as industrious and +respectable members of society. I shall at all times be happy to afford +to such persons my countenance and support. Francis Gore, +Lieut.-Governor. Government House, York, Upper Canada, 30th Sept., +1806." + +The Timothy Rogers here named bore a leading part in the first +establishment of the Quaker settlement. He and Jacob Lundy were the two +original managers of its affairs. On the arrival of Governor Peter +Hunter, predecessor to Gov. Gore, Timothy Rogers and Jacob Lundy with a +deputation from the settlement, came into town to complain to him of the +delay which they and their co-religionists had experienced in obtaining +the patents for their lands. + +Governor Hunter, who was also Commander-in-Chief and a Lieut.-General in +the army, received them in the garrison, and after hearing how on coming +to York on former occasions they had been sent about from one office to +another for a reply to their inquiries about the patents, he requested +them to come to him again the next day at noon. Orders were at the same +instant despatched to Mr. D. W. Smith, the Surveyor-General, to Mr. +Small, Clerk of the Executive Council, to Mr. Burns, Clerk of the Crown, +and to Mr. Jarvis, Secretary and Registrar of the Province (all of whom +it appeared at one time or another had failed to reply satisfactorily to +the Quakers), to wait at the same hour on the Lieut.-Governor, bringing +with them, each respectively, such papers and memoranda as might be in +their possession, having relation to patents for lands in Whitchurch and +King. + +Governor Hunter had a reputation for considerable severity of character; +and all functionaries, from the judge on the bench to the humblest +employe, held office in those days very literally during pleasure. + +"These gentlemen complain,"--the personages above enumerated having duly +appeared, together with the deputation from Yonge Street--"These +gentlemen complain," the Governor said, pointing to the Quakers, "that +they cannot get their patents." + +Each of the official personages present offered in succession some +indistinct observations; expressive it would seem of a degree of regret, +and hinting exculpatory reasons, so far as he individually was +concerned. + +On closer interrogation, one thing however came out very clear, that the +order for the patents was more than twelve months old. + +At length the onus of blame seemed to settle down on the head of the +Secretary and Registrar, Mr. Jarvis, who could only say that really the +pressure of business in his office was so great that he had been +absolutely unable, up to the present moment, to get ready the particular +patents referred to. + +"Sir!" was the Governor's immediate rejoinder, "if they are not +forthcoming, every one of them, and placed in the hands of these +gentlemen here in my presence at noon on Thursday next (it was now +Tuesday), by George! I'll un-Jarvis you!"--implying, as we suppose, a +summary conge as Secretary and Registrar. + +It is needless to say that Mr. Rogers and his colleagues of the +deputation carried back with them to Whitchurch lively accounts of the +vigour and rigour of the new Governor--as well as their patents. + +General Hunter was very peremptory in his dismissals occasionally. In a +_Gazette_ of July 16, 1803, is to be seen an ominous announcement that +the Governor is going to be very strict with the Government clerks in +regard to hours: "Lieut.-Governor's office, 21st June, 1803. Notice is +hereby given that regular attendance for the transaction of the public +business of the Province will in future be given at the office of the +Secretary of the Province, the Executive Council office, and the +Surveyor-General's office, every day in the year (Sundays, Good Friday, +and Christmas day only excepted) from ten o'clock in the morning until +three in the afternoon, and from five o'clock in the afternoon until +seven in the evening. By order of the Lieutenant-Governor, Jas. Green, +Secretary." + +Soon after the appearance of this notice, it happened one forenoon that +young Alexander Macnab, a clerk in one of the public offices, was +innocently watching the Governor's debarkation from a boat, preparatory +to his being conveyed up to the Council-chamber in a sedan-chair which +was in waiting for him. The youth suddenly caught his Excellency's eye, +and was asked--"What business he had to be there? Did he not belong to +the Surveyor-General's office? Sir! your services are no longer +required!" + +For this same young Macnab, thus summarily dismissed, Governor Hunter, +we have been told, procured subsequently a commission. He attained the +rank of captain and met a soldier's fate on the field of Waterloo, the +only Upper Canadian known to have been engaged or to have fallen in that +famous battle. (We have before mentioned that so late as 1868, Captain +Macnab's Waterloo medal was presented, by the Duke of Cambridge +personally, to the Rev. Dr. Macnab, of Bowmanville, nephew of the +deceased officer.) + +Two stray characteristic items relating to Governor Hunter may here be +subjoined. The following was his brief reply to the Address of the +Inhabitants of York on his arrival there in 1799:--"Gentlemen, nothing +that is in my power shall be wanting to contribute to the happiness and +welfare of this colony." (_Gazette_, Aug. 24, 1799)--At Niagara, an +Address from "the mechanics and husbandmen" was refused by him, on the +ground that an address professedly from the inhabitants generally had +been presented already. On this, the _Constellation_ of Sep. 10 (1799), +prints the following "anecdote," which is a hit at Gov. Hunter. +"Anecdote.--When Governor Simcoe arrived at Kingston on his way here to +take upon him the government of the Province, the magistrates and +gentlemen of that town presented him with a very polite address. It was +politely and verbally answered. The inhabitants of the country and town, +who move not in the upper circles, presented theirs. And this also his +Excellency very politely answered, and the answer being in writing, is +carefully preserved to this day." + +Among the patents carried home by Mr. Timothy Rogers, above named, were +at least seven in which he was more or less personally interested. His +own lot was 95 on the west or King side of Yonge Street. Immediately in +front of him on the Whitchurch or east side, on lots 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, +and 96, all in a row, were enjoyed by sons or near relatives of his, +bearing the names respectively of Rufus Rogers, Asa Rogers, Isaac +Rogers, Wing Rogers, James Rogers, and Obadiah Rogers. + +Mr. Lundy's name does not appear among those of the original patentees; +but lots or portions of lot in the "Quaker Settlement" are marked at an +earlier period with the names of Shadrach Lundy, Oliver Lundy, Jacob +Lundy, Reuben Lundy, and perhaps more. + +In the region just beyond the Ridges there were farmers also of the +community known as Mennonists or Tunkers. Long beards, when such +appendages were rarities, dangling hair, antique-shaped, buttonless, +home-spun coats, and wide-brimmed low-crowned hats, made these persons +conspicuous in the street. On the seat of a loaded country-waggon, or on +the back of a solitary rustic nag, would now and then be seen a man of +this community, who might pass for John Huss or John a Lasco, as +represented in the pictures. It was always curious to gaze upon these +waifs and strays from old Holland, perpetuating, or at least trying to +perpetuate, on a new continent, customs and notions originating in the +peculiar circumstances of obscure localities in another hemisphere three +hundred years ago. + +Simon Menno, the founder and prophet of the Mennonists, was a native of +Friesland in 1496. He advocated the utmost rigour of life. Although +there are, as we are informed, modernized Mennonists now in Holland, at +Amsterdam, for example, who are distinguished for luxury in their +tables, their equipages and their country seats, yet a sub-section of +the community known as Uke-Wallists, from one Uke Walles, adhere to the +primitive strictness enjoined by Menno. Their apparel, we are told, is +mean beyond expression, and they avoid everything that has the most +distant appearance of elegance or ornament. They let their beards grow +to an enormous length; their hair, uncombed, lies in a disorderly manner +on their shoulders; their countenances are marked with the strongest +lines of dejection and melancholy; and their habitations and household +furniture are such as are only fitted to answer the demands of mere +necessity. "We shall not enlarge," Mosheim adds, "upon the circumstances +of their ritual, but only observe that they prevent all attempts to +alter or modify their religious discipline, by preserving their people +from everything that bears the remotest aspect of learning and science; +from whatever, in a word, that may have a tendency to enlighten their +devout ignorance." + +The sympathies of our primitive Tunkers beyond the Ridges, were, as we +may suppose, with this section of the fatherland Mennonists. + +Thus, to get the clue to social phenomena which we see around us here in +Canada, we have to concern ourselves occasionally with uninviting pages, +not only of Irish, Scottish and English religious history, but of German +and Netherlandish religious history likewise. Pity 'tis, in some +respects, that on a new continent our immigrants could not have made a +_tabula rasa_ of the past, and taken a start _de novo_ on another +level--a higher one; on a new gauge--a widened one. + +Though only a minute fraction of our population, an exception was early +made by the local parliament in favour of the Mennonists or Tunkers, +allowing them to make affirmations in the Courts, like the Quakers, and +to compound for military service.--Like Lollard, Quaker and some other +similar terms, Tunker, _i. e._ Dipper, was probably at first used in a +spirit of ridicule. + + _Digression to Newmarket and Sharon._ + +When Newmarket came in view off to the right, a large portion of the +traffic of the street turned aside for a certain distance out of the +straight route to the north, in that direction. + +About this point the ancient dwellers at York used to take note of signs +that they had passed into a higher latitude. Half a degree to the south +of their homes--at Niagara, for example--they were in the land, if not +of the citron and myrtle, certainly of the tulip-tree and pawpaw--where +the edible chestnut grew plentifully in the natural woods, and the peach +luxuriantly flourished. + +Now, half a degree the other way, in the tramontane region north of the +Ridges, they found themselves in the presence of a vegetation that spoke +of an advance, however minute, towards the pole. Here, all along the +wayside, beautiful specimens of the spruce-pine and balsam-fir, +strangers in the forest about York, were encountered. Sweeping the sward +with their drooping branches and sending up their dark green spires high +in the air, these trees were always regarded with interest, and desired +as graceful objects worthy to be transferred to the lawn or ornamental +shrubbery. + +A little way off the road, on the left, just before the turn leading to +Newmarket, was the great Quaker meeting-house of this region--the +"Friends' Meeting-house"--a building of the usual plain cast, generally +seen with its solid shutters closed up. This was the successor of the +first Quaker meeting-house in Upper Canada. Here Mr. Joseph John Gurney, +the eminent English Quaker, who travelled on this continent in 1837-40, +delivered several addresses, with a view especially to the re-uniting, +if possible, of the Orthodox and the Hicksites. + +Gourlay, in his "Statistical Account of Upper Canada," took note that +this Quaker meeting-house and a wooden chapel at Hogg's Hollow, +belonging to the Church of England, were the only two places of public +worship to be seen on Yonge Street between York and the Holland +Landing--a distance, he says, of nearly forty miles. This was in 1817. + +Following now the wheel-marks of clearly the majority of vehicles +travelling on the street, we turn aside to Newmarket. + +Newmarket had for its germ or nucleus the mills and stores of Mr. Elisha +Beaman, who emigrated hither from the State of New York in 1806. Here +also, on the branch of the Holland river, mills at an early date were +established by Mr. Mordecai Millard, and tanneries by Mr. Joseph Hill. +Mr. Beaman's mills became subsequently the property of Mr. Peter +Robinson, who was Commissioner of Crown Lands in 1827, and one of the +representatives of the united counties of York and Simcoe; and +afterwards, the property of his brother, Mr. W. B. Robinson, who for a +time resided here, and for a number of years represented the County of +Simcoe in the provincial parliament. Most gentlemen travelling north or +to the north-west brought with them, from friends in York, a note of +commendation to Mr. Robinson, whose friendly and hospitable disposition +were well known: + + "Fast by the road his ever-open door + Oblig'd the wealthy and reliev'd the poor." + +Governors, Commodores, and Commanders-in-chief, on their tours of +pleasure or duty, were glad to find a momentary resting-place at a +refined domestic fireside. Here Sir John Franklin was entertained for +some days in 1835: and at other periods, Sir John Ross and Capt. Back, +when on their way to the Arctic regions. + +In 1847, Mr. W. B. Robinson was Commissioner of Public Works; and, at a +later period, one of the Chief Commissioners of the Canada Company. Mr. +Peter Robinson was instrumental in settling the region in which our +Canadian Peterborough is situated, and from him that town has its name. + +At Newmarket was long engaged in prosperous business Mr. John Cawthra, a +member of the millionaire family of that name. Mr. John Cawthra was the +first representative in the Provincial Parliament of the County of +Simcoe, after the separation from the County of York. In 1812, Mr. John +Cawthra and his brother Jonathan were among the volunteers who offered +themselves for the defence of the country. Though by nature inclined to +peace, they were impelled to this by a sincere sense of duty. At +Detroit, John assisted in conveying across the river in scows the heavy +guns which were expected to be wanted in the attack on the Fort. On the +slopes at Queenston, Jonathan had a hair-breadth escape. At the +direction of his officer, he moved from the rear to the front of his +company, giving place to a comrade, who the following instant had a +portion of his leg carried away by a shot from Fort Gray, on the +opposite side of the river. Also at Queenston, John, after personally +cautioning Col. Macdonell against rashly exposing himself, as he seemed +to be doing, was called on a few minutes afterwards, to aid in carrying +that officer to the rear, mortally wounded. + +With Newmarket too is associated the name of Mr. William Roe, a merchant +there since 1814, engaged at one time largely in the fur-trade. It was +Mr. Roe who saved from capture a considerable portion of the public +funds, when York fell into the hands of General Dearborn and Commodore +Chauncey in 1813. Mr. Roe was at the time an employe in the office of +the Receiver General, Prideaux Selby; and by the order of General +Sheaffe and the Executive Council he conveyed three bags of gold and a +large sum in army-bills to the farm of Chief Justice Robinson, on the +Kingston road east of the Don bridge, and there buried them. + +The army-bills were afterwards delivered up to the enemy; but the gold +remained secreted until the departure of the invaders, and was handed +over to the authorities in Dr. Strachan's parlour by Mr. Roe. The +Receiver General's iron chest was also removed by Mr. Roe and deposited +in the premises of Mr. Donald McLean, Clerk of the House of Assembly. +Mr. McLean was killed while bravely opposing the landing of the +Americans, and his house was plundered; the strong chest was broken open +and about one thousand silver dollars were taken therefrom. + +The name of Mr. Roe's partner at Newmarket, Mr. Andrew Borland, is +likewise associated with the taking of York in 1813. He was made +prisoner in the fight, and in the actual struggle against capture he +received six severe rifle wounds, from the effects of which he never +wholly recovered. He had also been engaged at Queenston and Detroit. + +In the Report of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada, we +have an entry made of a donation of sixty dollars to Mr. Andrew Borland +on the 11th June, 1813, with the note appended: "The committee of the +Loyal and Patriotic Society voted this sum to Mr. Borland for his +patriotic and eminent services at Detroit, Queenston and York, at which +latter place he was severely wounded." + +We also learn from the Report that Mr. D'Arcy Boulton had presented a +petition to the Society in favour of Mr. Borland. The members of +committee present at the meeting held June 11th, 1813, were Rev. Dr. +Strachan, chairman, Wm. Chewett, Esq., Wm. Allan, Esq., John Small, +Esq., and Alex. Wood, Esq., secretary: and the minutes state that "The +petition of D'Arcy Boulton, Esq., a member of the Society, in favour of +Andrew Borland, was taken into consideration, and the sum of Sixty +Dollars was voted to him, on account of his patriotic and eminent +services at Detroit, Queenston and York, at which latter place he was +most severely wounded." Mr. Borland had been a clerk in Mr. Boulton's +store. In the order to pay the money, signed by Alexander Wood, Mr. +Borland is styled "a volunteer in the York Militia." He afterwards had a +pension of Twenty Pounds a year. + +In 1838 his patriotic ardour was not quenched. During the troubles of +that period he undertook the command of 200 Indians who had volunteered +to fight in defence of the rights of the Crown of England, if there +should be need. They were stationed for a time at the Holland Landing, +but their services were happily not required. + +From being endowed with great energy of character, and having also a +familiar knowledge of the native dialects, Mr. Borland had great +influence with the Indian tribes frequenting the coasts of Lakes Huron +and Simcoe. Mr. Roe likewise, in his dealings with the aborigines, had +acquired a considerable facility in speaking the Otchibway dialect, and +had much influence among the natives. + +Let us not omit to record, too, that at Newmarket, not very many years +since, was successfully practising a grandson of Sir William Blackstone, +the commentator on the Laws of England--Mr. Henry Blackstone, whose +conspicuous talents gave promise of an eminence in his profession not +unworthy of the name he bore. But his career was cut short by death. + +The varied character of colonial society, especially in its early crude +state, the living elements mixed up in it, and the curious changes and +interchanges that take place in the course of its development and +consolidation, receive illustrations from ecclesiastical as well as +civil annals. + +We ourselves remember the church-edifice of the Anglican communion at +Newmarket when it was an unplastered, unlathed clap-board shell, having +repeatedly officiated in it while in that stage of its existence. Since +then the congregation represented by this clap-board shell have had as +pastors men like the following: a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, +not undistinguished in his University, a protege of the famous +Archbishop Magee, a co-worker for a time of the distinguished Dr. Walter +Farquhar Hook, of Leeds, and minister of one of the modern churches +there--the Rev. Robert Taylor, afterwards of Peterborough here in +Canada. And since his incumbency, they have been ministered to by a +former vicar of a prominent church in London, St. Michael's, Burleigh +Street, a dependency of St. Martin's in Trafalgar Square--the Rev. +Septimus Ramsay, who was also long the chief secretary and manager of a +well-known Colonial Missionary Society which had its headquarters in +London. + +While, on the other hand, an intervening pastor of the same +congregation, educated for the ministry here in Canada and admitted to +Holy Orders here, was transferred from Newmarket first to the vicarage +of Somerton in Somersetshire, England, and, secondly, to the rectory of +Clenchwarden in the county of Norfolk in England--the Rev. R. Athill. +And another intervening incumbent was, after having been also trained +for the ministry and admitted to orders here in Canada, called +subsequently to clerical work in the United States, being finally +appointed one of the canons of the cathedral church at Chicago, by +Bishop Whitehouse of Illinois: this was the Rev. G. C. Street, a near +relative of the distinguished English architect of that name, designer +and builder of the New Law Courts in London. + +As to the name "Newmarket"--in its adoption there was no desire to set +up in Canada a memorial of the famous English Cambridgeshire racing +town. The title chosen for the place was an announcement to this effect: +"Here is an additional mart for the convenience of an increased +population: a place where farmers and others may purchase and exchange +commodities without being at the trouble of a journey to York or +elsewhere." The name of the Canadian Newmarket, in fact, arose as +probably that of the English Newmarket itself arose, when first +established as a newly-opened place of trade for the primitive farmers +and others of East Anglia and Mercia in the Anglo-Saxon period. + +It deserves to be added that the English church at Newmarket was, a few +years back, to some extent endowed by a generous gift of valuable land +made by Dr. Beswick, a bachelor medical man, whose large white house on +a knoll by the wayside was always noted by the traveller from York as he +turned aside from Yonge Street for Newmarket. + +Proceeding onwards now from Newmarket, we speedily come to the village +of Sharon (or Hope as it was once named), situated also off the direct +northern route of Yonge Street. + +David Willson, the great notability and founder of the place, had been +in his younger days a sailor, and, as such, had visited the Chinese +ports. After joining the Quakers, he taught for a time amongst them as a +schoolmaster. For some proceeding of his, or for some peculiarity of +religious opinion, difficult to define, he was cut off from the Hicksite +sub-division of the Quaker body. He then began the formation of a +denomination of his own. In the bold policy of giving to his personal +ideas an outward embodiment in the form of a conspicuous Temple, he +anticipated the shrewd prophets of the Mormons, Joseph and Hiram Smith. +Willson's building was erected about 1825. Nauvoo was not commenced +until the spring of 1840. + +In a little pamphlet published at Philadelphia in 1815, Willson gives +the following account of himself: "I, the writer," he says, "was born of +Presbyterian parents in the county of Dutchess, state of New York, in +North America. In 1801 I removed with my family into this province +(Upper Canada), and after a few years became a member of the Society of +the Quakers at my own request, as I chose a spiritual people for my +brethren and sisters in religion. But after I had been a member thereof +about seven years, I began to speak something of my knowledge of God or +a Divine Being in the heart, soul or mind of man, all which signifies +the same to my understanding,--but my language was offensive, my spirit +was abhorred, my person was disdained, my company was forsaken by my +brethren and sisters. After which I retired from the society and was +disowned by them for so doing; but several retired with me and were +disowned also, because they would not unite in the disowning and +condemning the fruits of my spirit; for, as I had been accounted a +faithful member of the society for many years, they did not like to be +hasty in condemnation. Therefore we became a separate people, and +assembled ourselves together under a separate order which I immediately +formed. After I retired from my former meetings--as our discipline led +to peace with all people more than any one in my knowledge--we called +ourselves Children of Peace, because we were but young therein." + +The following account of the Temple erected by Willson at Sharon is by a +visitor to the village in 1835. "The building," says Mr. Patrick +Shirreff in his "Tour through North America," published in Edinburgh in +1835, "is of wood painted white externally, seventy feet high; and +consists of three storeys. The first is sixty feet square, with a door +in the centre of each side and three large windows on each side of the +door. On two sides there is a representation of the setting sun and the +word 'Armageddon' inscribed below. The second storey is twenty-seven +feet square with three windows on each side; and the third storey nine +feet square with one window on each side. + +"The corners of each of the storeys are terminated by square lanterns, +with gilded mountings; and the termination of the building is a gilded +ball of considerable size. The interior was filled with wooden chairs +placed round sixteen pillars, in the centre of which is a square cabinet +of black walnut with a door and windows on each side. There was a table +in the centre of the cabinet covered with black velvet, hung with +crimson merino and fringe, in which was deposited a Bible. On the four +central pillars were painted the words Faith, Hope, Charity, and Love; +and on the twelve others, the names of the Apostles. The central pillars +seemed to support the second storey; and at the foot of each was a table +covered with green cloth. The house was without ornament, being painted +fawn, green and white; and had not a pulpit or place for addressing an +audience. It is occupied once a month for collecting charity; and +contains 2,952 panes of glass, and is lighted once a year with 116 +candles." + +The materials of the frame-work of the Temple were, as we have been +told, prepared at a distance from the site, and run rapidly up as far as +possible without noise, in imitation of the building of Solomon's +Temple. By the side of the principal edifice stood a structure 100 feet +by 50 feet, used for ordinary meetings on Sundays. On the first Friday +in September used to be an annual feast, when the Temple was +illuminated. In this was an organ built by Mr. Coates of York. + +David was an illiterate mystic, as his writings shew, in which, when the +drift of his maundering is made out, there is nothing new or remarkable +to be discerned. + +At the close of the war of 1812-13-14, he appears to have been under the +impression that the Government designed to banish him as a seditious +person, under c. 1. 44 Geo. III. He accordingly published a document +deprecating such action. It was thus headed: "Address to thy Crown, O +England, and thy great name. I write as follows to all the inhabitants +thereof." In the course of it he says: "After I have written, I will +leave God to judge between you and me; and also to make judges of you, +whether you will receive my ministry in your land in peace, yea or nay. +. . . Ye are great indeed. I cannot help that, neither do I want to; but +am willing ye should remain great in the sight of God, although I am but +small therein, in the things thereof. Now choose whether I should or +might be your servant in these things, yea or nay. As I think, it would +be a shame for a minister to be banished from your nation for preaching +the gospel of peace therein. I am a man," he continues, "under the +visitation of God's power in your land; and many scandalous reports are +in circulation against me. The intent of the spirit of the thing is to +put me to flight from your dominions, or that I should be imprisoned +therein. For which cause I, as a dutiful subject, make myself known +hereby unto you of great estate in the world, lest your minds should be +affected and stirred up against me without a cause by your inferiors, +who seek to do evil to the works of God, whenever the Almighty is trying +to do you good." + +In some verses of the same date as this address to the home authorities, +viz., 1815, he refers to the peril he supposed himself to be in. A +stanza or two will suffice as a specimen of his poetical productions, +which are all of the same Sternhold and Hopkins type, with the +disadvantage of great grammatical irregularity. Thus he sings: (The tone +of the _ci-devant_ Jack-tar is perhaps to be slightly detected.) + + The powers of hell are now combin'd-- + With war against me rage: + But in my God my soul's resigned-- + The rock of every age, &c. + + Some thou doth set in king's estate, + And some on earth must serve; + And some hath gold and silver plate, + When others almost starve, &c. + + The earth doth hunger for my blood, + And Satan for my soul; + And men my flesh for daily food, + That they may me control, &c. + + If God doth give what I receive + The same is due to thee; + And thou in spirit must believe + In gospel liberty, &c. + + It's also mine, by George our king, + The ruler of my day; + And yet if I dishonour bring, + Cut short my feeble stay, &c. + + For this is in your hearts to do, + Ye inferiors of the earth; + And it's in mine to do so too, + And stop that cursed birth, &c. + +The style of a volume entitled "Impressions"--a kind of Alcoran, which +used formerly to be sold to visitors in the Temple--does not rise much +above the foregoing, either in its verse or prose. + +What Mosheim says of Menno's books, may be said with at least equal +truth of Willson's: "An extensively diffuse and rambling style, frequent +and unnecessary repetitions, an irregular and confused method, with +other defects of equal moment, render the perusal of the productions +highly disagreeable." Nevertheless, the reduction of his solitary +meditations to writing had, we may conceive, a pious operation and +effect on Willson's own spirit; and the perusal of them may, in the +simple-minded few who still profess to be his followers, have a like +operation and effect, even when in the reading constrained, with poor +monk Felix, to confess that, though believing, they do not understand. + +The worthy man neither won martyrdom nor suffered exile; but lived on in +great worldly prosperity here in Sharon, reverenced by his adherents as +a sort of oracle, and flattered by attentions from successive political +leaders on account of the influence which he might be supposed locally +to possess--down to the year 1866, when he died in peace, aged +eighty-nine years and seven months. + +Of Willson's periodical missionary expeditions into town, we have spoken +in another connection. + +We return now to the great northern route, from which we have been +deviating, and hasten on with all speed to the Landing. We place +ourselves at the point on Yonge Street where we turned off to Newmarket. + +Proceeding onward, we saw almost immediately, on the left, the +conspicuous dwelling of Mr. Irving--the Hon. Jacob AEmilius Irving, a +name historical in Canada, a Paulus AEmilius Irving having been +Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in British America in 1765, and also +President for a time of the Province of Quebec. (This Paulus AEmilius +Irving had previously taken part under General Wolfe in the capture of +Quebec.) + +The house of his descendant, Jacob AEmilius Irving, here on Yonge Street, +was known as Bonshaw, from some ancient family property in +Dumfriesshire. He had been an officer in the 13th Light Dragoons, and +was wounded at Waterloo. In addition to many strongly-marked English +traits of character and physique, he possessed fine literary tastes, and +histrionic skill of a high order, favoured by the possession of a grand +barytone voice. He retained a professional liking for horses. A +four-in-hand, guided by himself, issuing from the gates at Bonshaw and +whirling along Yonge Street into town, was a common phenomenon.--He died +at the Falls of Niagara in 1856. Since 1843 Mr. Irving had been a member +of the Upper House of United Canada. + +A little way back, ere we descended the northern slope of the Ridges we +caught sight, as we have narrated, of the Holland River, or at least of +some portion of the branch of it with which we are immediately +concerned--issuing, "a new-born rill," from one of its fountains. + +As we traversed the Quaker settlement it was again seen, a brook +meandering through meadows. This was the eastern branch of the river. +The main stream lies off to the west, flowing past the modern Bradford +and Lloydtown. It is at the head of the main stream that the most +striking approximation of the waters of the Humber and Holland rivers is +to be seen. + +We arrive now at the Upper Landing, the ancient canoe-landing, and we +pause for a moment. Here it was that the war-parties and hunting-parties +embarked and disembarked, while yet these waters were unploughed by the +heavy boats of the white man. + +The Iroquois from the south-side of Lake Ontario penetrated the +well-peopled region of the Hurons by several routes, as we have already +intimated: by the great Bay of Quinte highway; by the trails whose +termini on Lake Ontario were near respectively the modern Bowmanville +and Port Hope: and thirdly by a track which we have virtually been +following in this our long ramble from York; virtually, we say, for it +was to the west of Yonge Street that the trail ran, following first the +valley of the Humber and then that of the main stream of the Holland +river. The route which Mr. Holland took when he penetrated from Toronto +Bay to the head waters of the river which now bears his name, is marked +in the great MS. map which he constructed in 1791. He passed up +evidently along the great water-course of the Humber. + +"You can pass from Lake Frontenac, _i. e._, Ontario," Lahontan says (ii. +23), "into Lake Huron by the River Tan-a-hou-ate (the Humber), by a +portage of about twenty-four miles to Lake Toronto, which by a river of +the same name empties into Lake Huron," _i.e._ by the River Severn, as +we should now speak. + +Hunting-parties or war-parties taking to the water here at the Upper +Landing, in the pre-historic period, would probably be just about to +penetrate the almost insular district, of which we have spoken, westward +of Lake Simcoe,--the Toronto region, the place of concourse, the +well-peopled region. But some of them might perhaps be making for the +Lake Huron country and North-west generally, by the established trail +having its terminus at or near Orillia (to use the modern name). + +In the days of the white man, the old Indian place of embarkation and +debarkation on the Holland river, acquired the name of the Upper +Canoe-landing; and hither the smaller craft continued to proceed. + +Vessels of deeper draught lay at the Lower Landing, to which we now move +on, about a mile and a half further down the stream. Here the river was +about twenty-five yards wide, the banks low and bordered by a woody +marsh, in which the tamarac or larch was a conspicuous tree. + +In a cleared space on the right, at the point where Yonge Street struck +the stream, there were some long low buildings of log with strong +shutters on the windows, usually closed. These were the Government +depositories of naval and military stores, and Indian presents, on their +way to Penetanguishene. The cluster of buildings here was once known as +Fort Gwillimbury. Thus we have it written in the old _Gazetteer_ of +1799: "It is thirty miles from York to Holland river, at the Pine Fort +called Gwillimbury, where the road ends." + +Galt, in his Autobiography, speaks of this spot. He travelled from York +to Newmarket in one day. This was in 1827. "Then next morning," he says, +"we went forward to a place on the Holland river, called Holland's +Landing, an open space which the Indians and fur-traders were in the +habit of frequenting. It presented to me," he adds, "something of a +Scottish aspect in the style of the cottages; but instead of mountains +the environs were covered with trees. We embarked at this place." He was +on his way to Goderich at the time, via Penetanguishene. + +The river Holland, at which we have so long been labouring to arrive, +had its name from a former surveyor-general of the Province of Quebec, +prior to the setting-off of the Province of Upper Canada--Major S. +Holland. + +In the _Upper Canada Gazette_ of Feb. 13, 1802, we have an obituary +notice of this official personage. His history also, it will be +observed, was mixed up with that of General Wolfe. "Died," the obituary +says, "on the 28th instant (that is, on the 28th of December, 1801, the +article being copied from the _Quebec Gazette_ of the 31st of the +preceding December), of a lingering illness, which he bore for many +years with Christian patience and resignation, Major S. Holland. + +"He had been in his time," the brief memoir proceeds to say, "an +intrepid, active, and intelligent officer, never making difficulties, +however arduous the duty he was employed in. He was an excellent +field-engineer, in which capacity he was employed in the year 1758 at +the siege of Louisbourg in the detachment of the army under General +Wolfe, who after silencing the batteries that opposed our entrance into +the harbour, and from his own setting fire to three ships of the line, +and obliging the remainder in a disabled state to haul out of cannon +shot, that great officer by a rapid and unexpected movement took post +within four hundred yards of the town, from whence Major Holland, under +his directions, carried on the approaches, destroyed the defences of the +town, and making a practicable breach, obliged the enemy to capitulate. +He distinguished himself also at the conquest of Quebec in 1759, and was +made honourable mention of in Gen. Wolfe's will as a legatee. He also +distinguished himself in the defence of Quebec in 1760, after General +Murray's unsuccessful attack on the enemy.--After the peace he was +appointed Surveyor-General of this Province, and was usefully employed +in surveying the American coasts, from which survey those draughts +published some years since by Major Debarres have been principally +taken." + +Major Holland was succeeded in the Surveyor-generalship of Lower Canada +by a nephew--the distinguished Colonel Joseph Bouchette. In 1791 Major +Holland constructed a map of the British Province of Quebec, on the +scale of six inches to the square mile. It exists in MS. in the Crown +Land Office of Ontario. It is a magnificent map. On it, Lake Simcoe is +left undefined on one side, not having been explored in 1791. + +It was in 1832 that the project of a steamer for the Holland river and +Lake Simcoe was mooted. We give a document relating to this undertaking +which we find in the _Courier_ of Feb. 29, in that year, published at +York. The names of those who were willing to embark, however moderately, +in the enterprise are of interest. It will be observed that the +expenditure contemplated was not enormous. To modern speculators in any +direction, what a bagatelle seems the sum of L2,000! + +"Steamboat on Lake Simcoe:" thus runs an advertisement in the _Courier_ +of Feb. 29, 1832. "Persons who feel interested in the success of this +undertaking, are respectfully informed that Capt. McKenzie, late of the +_Alciope_, who has himself offered to subscribe one-fourth of the sum +required to build the proposed steamboat, is now at Buffalo for the +purpose of purchasing an Engine, to be delivered at Holland Landing +during the present winter. Capt. McKenzie, who visited Lake Simcoe last +summer, is of opinion that a boat of sufficient size and power for the +business of the Lake can be built for L1,250. In order, however, to +ensure success, it is proposed that stock to the amount of L2,000 should +be subscribed; and it is hoped that this sum will be raised without +delay, in order that the necessary steps may be taken, on the return of +Capt. McKenzie, to commence building the boat with the view to its +completion by the opening of the navigation.--The shares are Twelve +Pounds ten shillings each, payable to persons chosen by the +Stockholders. The following shares have been already taken up, viz.: The +Hon. Peter Robinson, 8 shares; F. Hewson, 1; Edw. O'Brien, 2; W. B. +Robinson, 4; W. R. Raines, 4; J. O. Bouchier, 2; Wm. Johnson, 2; John +Cummer, 1; T. Mossington, 2; A. M. Raines, 1; Robert Clark, 1; Robert +Johnston, 1; M. Mossington, 1; B. Jefferson, 1; J. M. Jackson, 1; R. +Oliver, 1; Wm. Turner, 2; L. Cameron, 1; F. Osborne, 2; J. Graham, 1; J. +White, 1; S. H. Farnsworth, 1; Andrew Mitchell, 5; Murray, Newbigging +and Co., 2; Capt. Creighton, 2; Captain McKenzie, 40; Canada Company, 8; +J. F. Smith, 2; John Powell, 1; Grant Powell, 2; A. Smalley, 1; Samuel +P. Jarvis, 1; James E. Small, 1; R. W. Parker, 1; D. Cameron, 1; Capt. +Castle, 79th Regt., 8; James Doyle, 2; Francis Phelps, East Gwillimbury, +1; G. Lount, West Gwillimbury, 1; Samuel Lount, West Gwillimbury, 1; +George Playter, Whitchurch, 1; Joseph Hewett, 1; Thomas A. Jebb, 2; +Charles S. Monck, Haytesbury, 1; G. Ridout, 2; T. G. Ridout, 1; Thomas +Radenhurst, 1; Major Barwick, 2; Capt. W. Campbell, 2; C. C. Small, 1; +J. Ketchum, 1; Capt. Davies, 2; Lieut. Carthew, 2; Capt. Ross, 1; C. +McVittie, 1; Lieut. Adams, 1; S. Washburn, 2; J. C. Godwin, 1; F. T. +Billings, 2; Thorne and Parsons, 2; James Pearson, 1; R. Mason, 2; Wm. +Laughton, 2; Wm. Ware, 1; A. H. Tonge, 1; Sheldon, Dutcher & Co., 1; +Jabez Barber, 1; R. W. Prentice, 1; T. Bell, 1; Lucius O'Brien, +1;--Total, 162 shares. Persons who are desirous of taking shares in this +boat are respectfully informed that the subscription paper is lying at +the Store of Messrs. Murray, Newbigging and Co., where they can have an +opportunity of entering their names. York, 21st Dec., 1831." + +The movement here initiated resulted in the steamer _Simcoe_, which +plied for some years between the Landing and the ports of Lake Simcoe. +The _Simcoe_ was built at the Upper Landing, and after being launched, +it was necessary to drag the boat by main force down to deep water, +through the thick sediment at the bottom of the stream. During the +process, while the capstan and tackle or other arrangement was being +vigorously worked,--instead of the boat advancing--the land in +considerable mass moved bodily towards the boat, like a cake of ice set +free from the main floe. Much of the ground and marsh in the great +estuary of the Holland river is said to be simply an accumulation of +earthy and vegetable matter, resting on water. + +The _Simcoe_ was succeeded by the _Peter Robinson_, Capt. Bell; the +_Beaver_, Capt. Laughton, and other steamers. + +Standing on the deck of the _Beaver_, we have ourselves more than once +threaded the windings of the Holland river; and we well remember how, +like sentient things in a kind of agony, the broad floating leaves of +the lilies along its eastern margin writhed and flapped as the waters +were drawn away from under them by the powerful action of the wheels in +the middle of the stream. + +"The navigation of the Holland river," Capt. Bonnycastle observes in his +"Canada in 1841," "is very well worth seeing, as it is a natural canal +flowing through a vast marsh, and very narrow, with most serpentine +convolutions, often doubling on itself. Conceive the difficulty of +steering a large steamboat in such a course; yet it is done every day, +in summer and autumn, by means of long poles, slackening the steam, +backing, &c.; though very rarely without running a little way into the +soft ground of the swamp. The motion of the paddles has, however, in the +course of years, widened the channel, and prevented the growth of flags +and weeds." We have been told that in the bed of the Holland river, near +its mouth, solid bottom was not reached with a sounding-line of ninety +feet. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXVIII. + + YONGE STREET: ONWARD, FROM HOLLAND LANDING TO PENETANGUISHENE. + + +To render our narrative complete, we give in a few parting words some of +the early accounts of the route from the Landing, northward as far as +Penetanguishene, which, after the breaking up of the establishment on +Drummond's island, was for some years the most remote station in Upper +Canada where the naval and military power of England was visibly +represented. + +"After leaving Gwillimbury [_i. e._, the Landing]," says the _Gazetteer_ +of 1799, "you enter the Holland river and pass into Lake Simcoe, by the +head of Cook's bay, to the westward of which are oak-plains, where the +Indians cultivate corn; and on the east is a tract of good land. A few +small islands shew themselves as the lake opens, of which Darling's +island in the eastern part, is the most considerable. To the westward is +a large deep bay, called Kempenfelt's bay, from the head of which is a +short carrying-place to the river Nottawasaga, which empties itself into +the Iroquois bay, in Lake Huron. In the north end of the lake, near the +Narrows leading to a small lake is Francis island, between which and the +north shore vessels may lie in safety." + +It will be proper to make one or two remarks in relation to the proper +names here used, which have not in every case been retained. + +Cook's bay, it will be of interest to remember, had its name from the +great circumnavigator. Kempenfelt's bay recalls the name of the admiral +who went down in the Royal George "with twice four hundred men." +Darling's island was intended to preserve the name of Gen. Darling, a +friend and associate of the first governor; and Francis island bore the +name of the same governor's eldest son. Canise island retains its name. +The name of another island in this lake, "parallel to Darling's island," +is elsewhere given in the _Gazetteer_ as Pilkington's island--a +compliment to Gen. Pilkington, a distinguished engineer officer. +Darling's island, at the present day, is, we believe, known as Snake +island; and Francis island and Pilkington's island, by other names. +Iroquois bay is the same as Nottawasaga bay: the interpretation, in +fact, of the term "Nottawasaga," which is the "estuary of the +Nodoway"--the great indentation whence often issued on marauding +expeditions the canoes of the Nodoway--so the Ochibways called the +Iroquois. + +Lake Simcoe itself, the _Gazetteer_ of 1799 informs us, was so named by +its first explorer, not with reference to himself, but to his father. +"Lake Simcoe," we read in a note at p. 138 of the work just named, was +"so named by Lieut.-Governor Simcoe in respect to his father, the late +Capt. Simcoe of the Royal Navy, who died in the River St. Lawrence on +the expedition to Quebec in 1759. In the year 1755, this able officer," +the _Gazetteer_ adds, "had furnished Government with the plan of +operations against Quebec, which then took place. At the time of his +death, Capt. Cook, the celebrated circumnavigator, was master of his +ship the _Pembroke_." + +We here see the link of association which led to the application of the +great circumnavigator's name to the bay into which the Holland river +discharges itself. The Holland itself also, as we have already heard, +had its name from a companion of Gen. Wolfe. + +We have on this continent no "old poetic mountains," no old poetic +objects of any description, natural or artificial, "to breathe +enchantment all around." It is all the more fitting, therefore, that we +should make the most of the historic memories which, even at second +hand, cling to our Canadian local names, here and there. + +The old _Gazetteer_ next goes on to inform us that "from the bay west of +Francis island there is a good path and a short portage into a small +lake. This is the nearest way to Lake Huron, the river which falls from +Lake Simcoe into Matchedash bay, called the Matchedash river, making a +more circuitous passage to the northward and westward;"--and Matchedash +bay "opens out," it afterwards states--"into a larger basin called +Gloucester or Sturgeon bay, in the chops of which lies Prince William +Henry's island, open to Lake Huron." It is noted also that on a +peninsula in this basin some French ruins are still extant: and then it +says, "between two larger promontories is the harbour of +Penetanguishene, around which is good land for settlement." +"Penetanguishene," it is finally added, "has been discovered to be a +very excellent harbour." + +Again some annotations on names will not be out of place. + +Matchedash bay is now Sturgeon bay, and Matchedash river, the river +Severn. Both bay and river have a peculiar interest for the people of +Toronto, as being respectively the Toronto bay and Toronto river of the +old French period. "To the north-east of the French river," Lahontan +says (ii. 19), "you see Toronto bay, in which a small lake of the same +name empties itself by a river not navigable on account of its rapids." +(He elsewhere says this river also bore the name of the lake--Toronto.) +The Duke of Gloucester was intended to be complimented in the name +Gloucester bay. Prince William Henry's island has not retained its name. +When it was imposed, the visit of that prince, afterwards the Duke of +Kent and father of the reigning Queen, to Upper Canada, was a recent +event.--The French ruins spoken of are the ruins of Fort Ste Marie near +the mouth of the river Wye--the chief mission-house of the Jesuits, +abandoned in 1649, still visible. + +The "good path" and "nearest way to Lake Huron," from the bay west of +Francis island, indicates the well-known trail by Coldwater, which was +long the chief route to Penetanguishene; and the bay itself, west of +Francis island, is the bay known in later times as Shingle bay. + +In 1834 an attempt was made to found a town at Shingle bay in connection +with the road to Penetanguishene. In a _Courier_ of 1834, we have the +announcement: "New Town of Innisfallen. Shortly will be offered for sale +several building lots in the above new Town, beautifully situated on +Shingle Bay, Lake Simcoe. This being the landing-place for the trade to +Penetanguishene and the northern townships," the advertisement goes on +to say, "persons inclined to speculate in trade or business of any +description will find this a peculiarly valuable situation, as the +townships are settled with persons of respectability and capital. It +will command the trade to and from the lake. Further particulars can be +obtained by application to Wm. Proudfoot, Esq., or from P. Handy, +auctioneer, or Francis Hewson, Esq., Lake Simcoe. April 1st, 1834." + +Innisfallen, however, did not mature into a town. Orillia, just within +the narrows, appears to have been a site more suited to the needs or +tastes of the public. + +At p. 154, in the article on Yonge Street, the old _Gazetteer_ of 1799 +speaks again of the portage from Lake Simcoe to Lake Huron, via +Coldwater, and calls it "a continuation of Yonge Street." It then adds +the prediction, which we have once before quoted, that "the advantage +would certainly be felt in the future of transporting merchandize from +Oswego to York, and from thence across Yonge Street and down the waters +of Lake Simcoe into Lake Huron, in preference to sending it by Lake +Erie." And in the article on "Lac aux Claies," _i.e._, as we have +already said, Lake Simcoe, it is curiously stated--this is before the +year 1799--that "a vessel is now building for the purpose of +facilitating the communication by that route,"--but it is not said +where. + +A "continuation of Yonge Street" in a more perfect sense, was at a later +period surveyed and partially opened by the military authorities, from a +point on Kempenfelt bay, a little east of the modern Barrie, in a direct +line to Penetanguishene; but the natural growth of the forest had in a +great degree filled up the track. + +In 1847, however, through the instrumentality of the Commissioner of +Public Works of the day, the Hon. W. B. Robinson, the highway in +question, sixty-six feet in width and thirty miles in length, was +thoroughly cleared out and made conveniently practicable for general +travel. + +This grand avenue is almost in a direct line with Yonge Street, after +the traverse of Lake Simcoe from the Landing has been accomplished. + +Penetanguishene, indeed, as a port, no longer requires such an approach +as this. The naval and military depot which existed there has been +abolished; and Collingwood, since it has been made the primary terminus +on Lake Huron of the Northern Railway of Canada, is the place of resort +for the steamers and shipping of the upper lakes. Nevertheless, the fine +highway referred to yields permanently to the inhabitants of Vespra and +Oro, Flos and Medonte, Tiny and Tay, the incalculable advantage of easy +communication with each other and markets to the south,--the same +advantage that Yonge Street yielded to the settlers of Vaughan and +Markham, King and Whitchurch, and the three townships of Gwillimbury, in +the primitive era of their local history. + +It is, however, not improbable that Penetanguishene itself will again +acquire importance when hereafter properly connected with our railway +system, now so surely advancing to the north shore of Lake Huron: thence +to push on to the North-West. + +Dr. Thomas Rolfe, in his Statistical Account of Upper Canada, appended +to his book on the West Indies and United States, spoke in 1836 of the +region which we have now reached, thus: "The country about +Penetanguishene on Lake Huron is remarkably healthy; the winter roads to +it, crossing Lake Simcoe, excellent. In the summer months," he says, "it +is delightful to persons who are pleased and entertained by the wild +grandeur and simplicity of nature. The pure and transparent waters of +the beautiful bay, and the verdant foliage of the vast woods on the east +side of the harbour, form a very picturesque scene." + +Capt. Bonnycastle visited Penetanguishene in 1841. He was present at one +of the periodical distributions of government presents to the Indians. A +great concourse of the native people, from far and near, was assembled +on the occasion. Under such circumstances, Penetanguishene and its +surroundings must have presented a peculiarly interesting appearance. + +"I happened to be at Penetanguishene," Capt. Bonnycastle says, "when the +unfortunate Pou-tah-wah-tamies and nearly two thousand other Indians +arrived there, the latter to receive their annual gifts, the former to +implore protection. [They had been recently removed from their lands in +the United States by the U. S. authorities.] I had never seen the wild +and heathen Indians before," the Captain observes, "and shall never +forget the impression their appearance, on an August evening, with +everything beautiful in the scene around, made upon me. To do honour to +the commandant of the British port and his guests, these warlike savages +selected for the conference a sloping green field in front of his house, +whose base was washed by the waters of the Huron, which exhibited the +lovely expanse of the basin, with its high and woody background, and the +single sparkling islet in the middle. No spot could have been imagined +more suitable. Behind it rose the high hill which, cleared of timber, is +dotted here and there with the neat dwellings of the military +residents." He then describes the dresses of the Indians, their painted +faces, their war-dances, &c. + +"The garrison," he says, "is three miles from the village, and is always +called the Establishment; and in the forest between the two places is a +new church built of wood, very small, but sufficient for the Established +Church, as it is sometimes called, of that portion of Canada. A +clergyman is constantly stationed here for the army, navy, and +civilians." + +In regard to the provisions supplied to the soldiers and others, Capt +Bonnycastle has the following remarks: "A farmer [Mr. Mairs, as we +presume] on the Penetanguishene road has introduced English breeds of +cattle and sheep of the best kind. He was, and perhaps still is," he +says, "the contractor for the troops, and his stock is well worth +seeing. Thus the garrison is constantly supplied with finer meat than +any other station in Canada, although more out of the world and in the +wilderness, than any other; and, as fish is plentiful, the soldiers and +sailors of Queen Victoria in the Bay of the White Rolling Sand live +well." Penetanguishene means "the place of the falling sands;" the +reference being to a remarkable sandy cliff which has been crumbling +away from time immemorial, on the western side of the entrance to the +harbour. + +We have a notice of Penetanguishene in 1846, in a volume of Travels in +Canada, by the Rev. A. W. H. Rose, published in 1849. "Penetanguishene," +the writer says, "is situated at the bottom of a bay extremely shallow +on one side, and is a small military and naval station, the latter force +consisting of two iron war-steamers, of about sixty-horse power each. +There is said to be a nice little society in this (until lately) out of +the way station of Upper Canada. The probability is, however," remarks +the same writer, "that it will, as a naval and military depot, have to +be eventually shifted to Owen Sound, where there is a military reserve +specially retained in the survey, as, from the number of shoals about +Penetanguishene, the island, &c., the harbour is said generally to close +up with the ice three weeks earlier, and to continue shut three weeks +later than at the Sound." + +A diagram in the _Canadian Journal_ (i. 225), illustrating a paper by +Mr. Sandford Fleming, shews the remarkable terraced character of the +high banks of the harbour at Penetanguishene. "There are appearances in +various parts of this region," Mr. Fleming says, "that lead us to infer +that the waters of Lake Huron, like those of Ontario, formerly stood at +higher levels than they at present occupy. Parallel terraces and ridges +of sand and gravel can be traced at different places winding round the +heads of bays and points of high land with perfect horizontality, and +resembling in every respect the present lake beaches. One of them +particularly strikes the attention in the bay of Penetanguishene, at a +height of about seventy feet above the level of the lake. It can be seen +distinctly on either side from the water, or by a spectator standing on +one bank while the sun shines obliquely on the other, so as to throw the +deeper parts of the terrace in shadow." + +Mr. Fleming then gives a section "sketched from a cutting a little below +Jeffery's tavern in the village of Penetanguishene, serving to shew the +manner in which the soil has been removed from the side hill and +deposited in a position formerly under water by the continued mechanical +action of the waves. Not only does the peculiar stratification of the +lower part of the terrace confirm the supposition that it was deposited +on the shore of the ancient lake, but the fact that such excavations +have been made in this land-locked position, where the waves could never +have had much force, goes far to prove that the lake stood for a long +period at this high level." (From the successive subsidences here spoken +of by Mr. Fleming, the island known as the Giant's Tomb, in the entrance +to Georgian Bay, has its peculiar appearance, viz., that of a colossal +grave elevated on a high platform or pedestal.) + +In 1827, John Galt, the well-known writer, had been at Penetanguishene. +He was on his way from York to make an exploration of the Lake Huron +west of the Canada Company's Huron tract, from Cabot's head in the north +to the Riviere aux Sables in the south. For this purpose, a Government +vessel, the _Bee_, lying in Penetanguishene harbour, had been placed at +his disposal. + +In his Autobiography he gives the following incidents of his journey +from the shore of Kempenfelt bay. "About half-way to Penetanguishene," +he says, "we were compelled by the weather to take shelter in a farm +house, and a thunderstorm coming on obliged us to remain all night. The +house itself was not inferior to a common Scottish cottage, but it was +rendered odious by the landlady, who was, all the time we stayed, 'drunk +as a sow, Huncamunca' (a snatch, probably, of some Christmas pantomime). +Next day we proceeded," he continues, "to the military station and +dockyard of Penetanguishene by a path through the woods, which, to the +honour of the late Mr. Wilberforce, bears his name. Along it are settled +several negro families. As I walked part of the way," Galt says, "I went +into a cottage pleasantly situated on a rising ground, and found it +inhabited by a crow-like flock of negro children. The mother was busy +with them, and the father, a good-natured looking fellow, told me that +they were very comfortable, but had not yet made any great progress in +clearing the land, as his children were still too young to assist." + +"We reached Penetanguishene," Galt then says, "the remotest and most +inland dockyard that owns obedience to the 'meteor-flag of England,' +where, by orders of the Admiralty, his Majesty's gun-boat the _Bee_ was +placed at my disposal. By the by," he adds, "the letter from the +Admiralty was a curious specimen of the geographical knowledge which +then prevailed there, inasmuch as it mentioned that the vessel was to go +with me on Lake Huron in Lower Canada. In the village of +Penetanguishene," he then informs us, "there is no tavern. We were +therefore obliged to billet ourselves on the officer stationed there, of +whose hospitality and endeavour to make the time pass pleasantly till he +had the _Bee_ ready for the lake, I shall ever retain a pleasant +remembrance."--He then describes his voyage in the little gun-boat as +far as Detroit, and his examination of the river subsequently called the +Maitland, and the site where Goderich was afterwards built. + +Since 1840, the Rev. George Hallen has been a resident clergyman at +Penetanguishene. From him have been obtained the following particulars +of detachments of military stationed from time to time at that post. In +1838 a detachment of the 34th regiment, Lieut. Hutton commanding. In +1838 also, there were some incorporated Militia there under Colonel +Davis. In 1840, a detachment of the 93rd Highlanders, under Lieut. Hay. +In 1844, a detachment of the 84th regiment, under Lieut West. In 1846, a +detachment of the Royal Canadian Rifles, under Lieut. Black. In 1850, a +detachment of the Royal Canadian Rifles, under Lieut. Fitzgerald. In +1851, a detachment of the Royal Canadian Rifles, under Lieut. Moffatt. +In 1851, some of the Enrolled Pensioners, under Captain Hodgetts. + +In regard to the Navy. In 1843, June 8th, the _Minos_, a large gun-boat, +in charge of Mr. Hatch and three men, arrived to be laid up. In the same +year, the steamer _Experiment_, Lieut. Boxer, was stationed there. In +1847, the same steamer, but commanded by Lieut. Harper. In 1847 also, +the steamer _Mohawk_, commanded by Lieut. Tyssen. In 1850, the same +steamer, but commanded by Lieut. Herbert. The place was also visited by +Captain Ross, R.N., when on his way to the North Seas; and by Lord +Morpeth, Lord Prudhoe, and Sir Henry Harte, (the two latter Captains in +the Navy), on their way to or from the Manitoulin Islands. + +From Poulett Scrope's Life of Lord Sydenham, we learn that +Penetanguishene was visited by that Governor of Canada in 1840. "From +Toronto across Lake Simcoe to Penetanguishene on Lake Huron again, and +back to Toronto, which I left again last night for the Bay of +Quinte."--_Private Letter_, p. 190. + +The following account of the removal of the British post from Drummond's +island to Penetanguishene in 1828, has been also derived from the Rev. +Mr. Hallen, who gathered the particulars from the lips of Mr. John +Smith, aged 80, still living (1872) near Penetanguishene, formerly +employed in the Ordnance Department at Quebec, and then as Commissariat +Issuer at Drummond's island. + +"Mr. John Smith and his wife remained on the island till the 14th of +November, 1828, when it was given up to the Americans. Lieut. Carson +commanding a detachment of the 68th regiment was there at the time; and +Mr. Smith well remembers Lieut. Carson giving up the keys to the +American officers, and that 'they shook hands quite friendly.' The +Government sent the brig _Wellington_ to take away the British from the +island, but it was too small, and they were obliged in addition to hire +an American vessel. Mr. Keating was at that time Fort adjutant at the +island, and Mr. Rawson, barrack master. Smith arrived at Penetanguishene +as a Commissariat Issuer on the 20th or 21st November, 1828. He does not +remember any vessels at Drummond's island. He says that Commodore Barrie +came up in the _Bullfrog_, and that the gossip of the island was, that +he was the cause of its being given up to the Americans. Mr. Keating, +the Fort adjutant, was afterwards Fort adjutant at Penetanguishene, +where he arrived in the spring of 1829, having been detained at +Amherstburgh. He died in the year 1849." + +"Mr. Smith said that, as far as he could recollect, the detachments +stationed on the island were, of the 71st Regiment, under Lieut. Impett; +of the 79th, under Lieut. Matthews; of the 24th, under Lieut. James; of +the 15th, under Lieut. Ingall. (The last-named officer lived afterwards +at Penetanguishene). In 1828, there were at Penetanguishene 20 or 30 +Marines, under the command of Lieut. Woodin, R.N. In regard to the four +gun-boats which are sunk in the harbour, Mr. Smith said they were sunk +there before 1828. He remembers the name of only one of them, the +_Tecumseh_." + +Mr. Hallen remarks: "The account I heard of these gun-boats when I came +to Penetanguishene was that they were brought here, I think, from +Nottawasaga bay after the American war and were sunk to prevent their +rotting. Vessels must have been built at Penetanguishene," Mr. H. adds, +"as I remember a place on the Lake Shore, about five miles N.W. of +Penetanguishene, being pointed out to me as the 'Navy Yard.' Many of the +logs were still there." + +The _Bee_, which conveyed Mr. Galt when on his voyage of exploration +along the western coast of Lake Huron, was sold by public auction in +1832. In that year the first great reduction of the naval and military +establishment at Penetanguishene took place. Step by step the process +went on until the ancient depot was finally extinguished; and in 1859 +the stone barracks were converted into a Public Reformatory. + +The enumeration of the stores disposed of by public vendue, on Thursday, +the 15th of March, 1830, and six following days, at Penetanguishene, +will not be without pathos. At all events, those who have, at any time, +made boats and the appurtenances of boats one of their hobbies, will not +dislike to read the homely names of the articles then brought to the +hammer. + +(It will be observed that no mention is made of a certain memorable +anchor laboriously dragged from York as far as the Landing _en route_ to +Penetanguishene, but taken no further, becoming, when half embedded in +the earth there, an object of perpetual wonderment to beholders: a thing +too ponderous to be conveniently handled and removed by an ordinary +purchaser, let the amount paid for it be ever so trifling.) + +The following, then, were the miscellaneous articles belonging to the +Crown advertised to be sold to the highest bidder on the 15th and +following days of March, 1832, at Penetanguishene, and so, we may +conclude, disposed of accordingly:--The _Tecumseh_, schooner, 175 tons. +The _Newash_, brigantine, 175 tons. The _Bee_, gunboat, 41 tons. The +_Mosquito_, gunboat, 31 tons. The _Wasp_, gunboat, 41 tons. Batteaux, +three in number. Thirty-two feet cutter. Two thirty-two feet gigs and +their furniture. One whale boat One jolly boat. One nineteen feet gig. +Twenty-two pounds old bunting. Canvas, mildewed slightly, 366 yards. +Canvas, of all sorts, cut from frigate sails, 2170 yards. Old canvas, +491 yards. Packing cases, 23. Iron casks, 12. Iron bound casks, 8. Wood +bound casks, 24. Chests, common, 2. Chests, top, 2. Cordage, worn, 988 +fathoms. Cordage, in rounding, 318 fathoms. Cordage, in junk, 28 cwt. 20 +lbs. Cordage, in paper stuff, 1 cwt. 3 qrs. 1 lb. Covers, hammock, 5. +Iron, old wrought, 12 cwt. 3 qrs. 161/2 lbs. Rigging, brigantine, +standing, complete, 1 set. Running, in part, 1 set. Rigging, schooner, +standing and running, complete, 1 set. Rigging, Durham boats, standing +and running, in part, 2 sets.--Rigging, boats, standing, worn, 1 set. +Sails for a 32 gun ship, 1 set brigantine sails, 1 set schooner sails, 1 +set Durham boat sails, 18 in number; boat sails 18 in number; +unserviceable stores. Axes, felling, 8. Bellows, camp forge, 2 pairs. +Blocks, single, 11 inch, 1. Blocks, double, 10 inch, 1. Brushes, tar, +15. Buckets, leather, 14. Chisels, of sorts, 12. Compass glasses, 1. +Cordage, 552 fathoms. Glass, broken, 16 panes. Hammocks, 16. Locks, +stock, 1. Mallet, caulking, 1. Oars, fir, 7. Paint, white, 1 qr. 2 lbs. +Paint, yellow, 2 qrs. 18 lbs. Planes, 10 in number. Punts, boats, 1. +Saws, crosscut, 5; Saws, hand, 6; Saws, dove-tail, 1; Saws, rip, 3. +Spout for pump, 1. Sweeps, 4. Shovels, 9. Twine, fine, 31/2 lbs. Twine, +ordinary, 171/4 lbs. Seines, 1. + +The document which supplies us with the foregoing list announces that, +"the stores will be put up in convenient lots, and that a deposit of 25 +per cent. will be required at the time of sale, and the remainder of the +purchase money previous to the removal of the articles, for which a +reasonable time will be allowed." The whole is signed--Wm. Henry Woodin, +Lieutenant commanding, June 18th, 1832. + +We here bring to a close our Collections and Recollections in regard to +Yonge Street. That our narrative might be the more complete, we have +given a notice of the ancient terminus of that great thoroughfare, on +Lake Huron. It will be seen that in Penetanguishene and its environs, +Toronto has a place and a neighbourhood at the north abounding with +interesting memories almost as richly as Niagara itself and that +vicinity, at its south: memories intimately associated with its own +history, not alone before the present century began, but also before +even the preceding century began, that is, taking into view the local +history of this part of Canada prior to the acquisition of the country +by the English. + +From remote Penetanguishene, dismantled and abolished in a naval and +military sense, our thoughts naturally turn to more conspicuous places +that have in our day successively undergone the same process: to +Kingston, to Niagara, to Montreal, to our own fort, here at Toronto, and +finally, in 1871, to Quebec. The 8th of November, 1871, will be a date +noted in future histories. On that day the Ehrenbreitstein of the St. +Lawrence, symbol for a hundred years and more, of British power on the +northern half of the North American continent, was voluntarily +evacuated, in accordance with a deliberate public policy. + +The 60th Regiment, it is singular to add, which on the 8th of November, +1871, marched forth from the gates of the citadel of Quebec, was a +regiment that was present on the heights of Abraham in 1759, and helped +to capture the fortress which it now peacefully surrendered. + +Is the day approaching when artistic tourists will be seen sketching, at +Point Levi, the bold Rock in front of them for the sake of the ruins at +its summit, not picturesque probably, but for ever famed in story? + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXIX. + + THE HARBOUR: ITS MARINE, 1793-99. + + +The first formal survey of the harbour of Toronto was made by Joseph +Bouchette in 1793. His description of the bay and its surroundings at +that date is, with the historians of Upper Canada, a classic passage. +For the completeness of our narrative it must be produced once more. "It +fell to my lot," says Bouchette, "to make the first survey of York +Harbour in 1793." And he explains how this happened. +"Lieutenant-Governor, the late Gen. Simcoe, who then resided at Navy +Hall, Niagara, having," he says, "formed extensive plans for the +improvement of the colony, had resolved upon laying the foundations of a +provincial capital. I was at that period in the naval service of the +Lakes, and the survey of Toronto (York) Harbour was entrusted by his +Excellency to my performance." + +He then thus proceeds, writing, we may observe, in 1831: "I still +distinctly recollect the untamed aspect which the country exhibited when +first I entered the beautiful basin, which thus became the scene of my +early hydrographical operations. Dense and trackless forests lined the +margin of the lake and reflected their inverted images in its glassy +surface. The wandering savage had constructed his ephemeral habitation +beneath their luxuriant foliage--the group then consisting of two +families of Mississagas,--and the bay and neighbouring marshes were the +hitherto uninvaded haunts of immense coveys of wild fowl. Indeed, they +were so abundant," he adds, "as in some measure to annoy us during the +night." The passage is to be found in a note at p. 89 of volume one of +the quarto edition of "The British Dominions in North America," +published in London in 1831. + +The winter of 1792-3 was in Upper Canada a favourable one for explorers. +"We have had a remarkably mild winter," says the _Gazette_ in its first +number, dated April 18, 1793; "the thermometer in the severest time has +not been lower than nine degrees above zero, by Fahrenheit's scale. Lake +Erie has not been frozen over, and there has been very little ice on +Lake Ontario." The same paper informs us that "his Majesty's sloop, the +_Caldwell_, sailed the 5th instant (April), from Niagara, for fort +Ontario (Oswego) and Kingston." Also that "on Monday evening (13th) +there arrived in the river (at Niagara) his Majesty's armed schooner, +the _Onondago_, in company with the _Lady Dorchester_, merchantman, +after an agreeable passage (from Kingston) of thirty-six hours." (The +following gentlemen, it is noted, came passengers:--J. Small, Esq., +Clerk of the Executive Council; Lieut.-McCan, of the 60th regiment; +Capt. Thos. Fraser, Mr. J. Denison, Mr. Joseph Forsyth, merchant, Mr. L. +Crawford, Capt. Archibald Macdonald,--Hathaway.) + +Again, on May 2nd, the information is given that "on Sunday morning +early, his Majesty's sloop _Caldwell_ arrived here (Niagara) from +Kingston, which place she left on Thursday; but was obliged to anchor +off the bar of this river part of Saturday night. And on Monday also +arrived from Kingston the _Onondago_, in twenty-three hours." + +Joseph Bouchette in 1793 must have been under twenty years of age. He +was born in 1774. He was the son of Commodore Bouchette, who in 1793 had +command of the Naval Force on Lake Ontario. When Joseph Bouchette first +entered the harbour of Toronto, as described above, he was not without +associates. He was probably one of an exploring party which set out from +Niagara in May, 1793. It would appear that the Governor himself paid his +first visit to the intended site of the capital of his young province on +the same occasion. + +In the _Gazette_ of Thursday, May 9th 1793, published at Newark or +Niagara, we have the following record:--"On Thursday last (this would be +May the 3rd) his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, accompanied by +several military gentlemen, set out in boats for Toronto, round the Head +of the Lake Ontario, by Burlington Bay; and in the evening his Majesty's +vessels the _Caldwell_ and _Buffalo_, sailed for the same place." +Supposing the boats which proceeded round the Head of the Lake to have +arrived at the cleared spot where the French stockaded trading-post of +Toronto had stood, on Saturday, the 4th, the inspection of the harbour +and its surroundings by the Governor and "military gentlemen" occupied a +little less than a week; for we find that on Monday, the 13th, they are +back again in safety at Niagara. The _Gazette_ of Thursday, the 16th of +May, thus announces their return: "On Monday (the 13th) about 2 o'clock, +his Excellency the Lieut.-Governor and suite arrived at Navy Hall from +Toronto; they returned in boats round the Lake." + +It is probable that Bouchette was left behind, perhaps with the +_Caldwell_ and _Buffalo_, to complete the survey of the harbour. (In the +work above named is a reduction of Bouchette's chart of the harbour with +the soundings and bottom; also with lines shewing "the breaking of the +ice in the spring." His minute delineation of the pinion-shaped +peninsula of sand which forms the outer boundary of Toronto bay, enables +the observer to see very clearly how, by long-continued drift from the +east, that barrier was gradually thrown up; as, also, how inevitable +were the marshes at the outlet of the Don.) + +The excursion from Niagara, just described, was the Governor's first +visit to the harbour of Toronto, and we may suppose the _Caldwell_ and +the _Buffalo_ to have been the first sailing-craft of any considerable +magnitude that ever stirred its waters. In April, 1793, the Governor had +not yet visited Toronto. We learn this from a letter dated the 5th of +that month, addressed by him to Major-General Clarke, at Quebec. Gen. +Clarke was the Lieut.-Governor in Lower Canada. Lord Dorchester, the +Governor-General himself, was absent in England. "Many American +officers," Gen. Simcoe says to Gen. Clarke on the 5th of April, "give it +as their opinion that Niagara should be attacked, and that Detroit must +fall of course. I hope by this autumn," he continues, "to show the +fallacy of this reasoning, by opening a safe and expeditious +communication to La Tranche. But on this subject I reserve myself till I +have visited Toronto." + +The safe and expeditious communication referred to was the great +military road, Dundas Street, projected by the Governor to connect the +port and arsenal at Toronto with the Thames and Detroit. It was in the +February and March of this very same year, 1793, that the Governor had +made, partly on foot, and partly in sleighs, his famous exploratory tour +through the woods from Niagara to Detroit and back, with a view to the +establishment of this communication. + +On the 31st of May he is writing again to Gen. Clarke, at Quebec. He has +now, as we have seen, been at Toronto; and he speaks warmly of the +advantages which the site appeared to him to possess. "It is with great +pleasure that I offer to you," he says, "some observations upon the +Military strength and Naval convenience of Toronto (now York) [he adds], +which I propose immediately to occupy. I lately examined the harbour," +he continues, "accompanied by such officers, naval and military, as I +thought most competent to give me assistance therein, and upon minute +investigation I found it to be, without comparison, the most proper +situation for an arsenal, in every extent of that word, that can be met +with in this Province." + +The words, "now York," appended here and in later documents to +"Toronto," show that an official change of name had taken place. The +alteration was made between the 15th and 31st of May. No proclamation, +however, announcing its change, is to be found either in the local +_Gazette_ or in the archives at Ottawa. + +Nor is there any allusion to the contemplated works at York either in +the opening or closing speech delivered by the Governor to the houses of +parliament, which met at Niagara for their second session on the 28th of +May, and were dismissed to their homes again on the 9th of the following +July. We may suppose the minds of the members and other persons of +influence otherwise prepared for the coming changes, chiefly perhaps by +means of friendly conferences. + +The Governor's scheme may, for example, have been one of the topics of +conversation at the levee, ball and supper on the King's birthday, +which, happening during the parliamentary session, was observed with +considerable ceremony.--"On Tuesday last, the fourth of June," says the +_Gazette_ of the period, "being the anniversary of his Majesty's +birthday, his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor held a levee at Navy +Hall. At one the troops in garrison and at Queenston fired three +volleys. The field pieces above Navy Hall under the direction of the +Royal Artillery, and the guns at the garrison, fired a royal salute. In +the evening," the _Gazette_ further reports, "his Excellency gave a Ball +and elegant supper in the Council Chamber, which was most numerously +attended." + +Of this ball and supper another brief notice is extant. It chanced that +three distinguished Americans were among the guests--Gen. Lincoln, Col. +Pickering, and Mr. Randolph, United States commissioners on their way, +_via_ Niagara, to a great Council of the Western Indians, about to be +held at the Miami river. In his private journal, since printed in the +Massachusetts Historical Collections, Gen. Lincoln made the following +note of the Governor's entertainment at Niagara:--"The ball," he says, +"was attended by about twenty well-dressed and handsome ladies, and +about three times that number of gentlemen. They danced," he records, +"from seven o'clock till eleven, when supper was announced, and served +in very pretty taste. The music and dancing," it is added, "was good, +and everything was conducted with propriety." This probably was the +first time the royal birthday was observed at Niagara in an official +way. + +Soon after the prorogation, July the 9th, steps preparatory to a removal +to York began to be taken. Troops, for example, were transported across +to the north side of the Lake. "A few days ago," says the _Gazette_ of +Thursday, August the 1st, 1793, "the first Division of his Majesty's +Corps of Queen's Rangers left Queenston for Toronto--now York [it is +carefully added], and proceeded in batteaux round the head of the Lake +Ontario, by Burlington Bay. And shortly afterwards another division of +the same regiment sailed in the King's vessels, the _Onondago_ and +_Caldwell_, for the same place." + +It is evident the Governor, as he expressed himself to Gen. Clarke, in +the letter of May 31, is about "immediately to occupy" the site which +seemed to him so eligible for an arsenal and strong military post. +Accordingly, having thus sent forward two divisions of the regiment +whose name is so intimately associated with his own, to be a guard to +receive him on his own arrival, and to be otherwise usefully employed, +we find the Governor himself embarking for the same spot. "On Monday +evening [this would be Monday, the 29th of July]," the _Gazette_ just +quoted informs us, "his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor left Navy +Hall and embarked on board his Majesty's schooner, the _Mississaga_, +which sailed immediately with a favourable gale for York, with the +remainder of the Queen's Rangers."--On the following morning, July 30, +1793, they would, with the aid of the "favourable gale," be at anchor in +the harbour of York. + +Major Littlehales, the Governor's faithful secretary, remains behind +until the following Thursday, August the 1st, engaged probably in +arranging household matters for the Governor, an absence from Navy Hall +of some duration being contemplated. He then crosses the Lake in the +_Caldwell_, and joins his Chief. At the same time start Chief Justice +Osgoode and Mr. Attorney-General White for the East, to hold the +circuit. "On Thursday evening, the 1st instant," says the _Gazette_ of +the 8th of August, "his Majesty's armed vessels the _Onondago_ and the +_Caldwell_ sailed from this place (Niagara). The former, for Kingston, +had on board the Hon. William Osgoode, Chief Justice of this Province, +and John White, Esq., Attorney General, who are going to hold the +circuits at Kingston and Johnstown. Major Littlehales sailed in the +latter, for York, to join his Excellency's suite." + +We should have been glad of a minute account of each day's proceedings +on the landing of the troops at York, and the arrival there of the +Governor and his suite. But we can readily imagine the Rangers +establishing themselves under canvas on the grassy glade where formerly +stood the old French trading-post. We can imagine them landing stores--a +few cannon and some other munitions of war--from the ships; landing the +parts and appurtenances of the famous canvas-house which the Governor +had provided for the shelter of himself and his family, and which, as we +have before noted, was originally constructed for the use of Captain +Cook in one of the scientific expeditions commanded by that celebrated +circumnavigator. + +The canvas-house must have been a pavilion of considerable capacity, and +was doubtless pitched and fixed with particular care by the soldiers and +others, wherever its precise situation was determined. It was, as it +were, the praetorium of the camp, but moveable. We can conceive of it as +being set down, in the first instance, on the site of the French fort, +and then at a later period, or on the occasion of a later visit to York, +shifted to one of the knolls overlooking the little stream known +subsequently as the Garrison creek; and shifted again, at another visit, +to a position still farther east, where a second small stream meandered +between steep banks into the Bay, at the point where a Government +ship-building yard was in after years established. (Tradition places +the canvas-house on several sites.) + +We can conceive, too, all hands, sailors as well as soldiers, busy in +opening eastward through the woods along the shore, a path that should +be more respectable and more useful for military and civil purposes than +the Indian trail which they would already find there, leading directly +to the quarter where, at the farther end of the Bay, the town-plot was +designed to be laid out, and the Government buildings were intended to +be erected. + +On the 8th of August we know the Governor was engaged at York in writing +to the Indian Chief Brant, from whom a runner has just arrived all the +way from the entrance to the Detroit river. Brant, finding the +conference between his compatriots and the United States authorities +likely to end unsatisfactorily, sent to solicit Governor Simcoe's +interposition, especially in regard to the boundary line which the +Indians of the West insisted on--the Ohio river. Thus runs the +Governor's reply, written at York on the 8th:--"Since the Government of +the United States," he says, "have shown a disinclination to concur with +the Indian nations in requesting of his Majesty permission for me to +attend at Sandusky as mediator, it would be highly improper and +unreasonable in me to give an opinion relative to the proposed +boundaries, with which I am not sufficiently acquainted, and which +question I have studiously avoided entering into, as I am well aware of +the jealousies entertained by some of the subjects of the United States +of the interference of the British Government, which has a natural and +decided interest in the welfare of the Indian nations, and in the +establishment of peace and permanent tranquillity. In this situation, I +am sure you will excuse me from giving to you any advice, which, from my +absence from the spot, cannot possibly arise from that perfect view and +knowledge which so important a subject necessarily demands." + +The controversy in the West, in relation to which the Governor is thus +cautiously expressing himself to the Indian Chief on the 8th of August, +was a subject for cabinet consideration; a matter only for the few. But +towards the close of the month, news from a different quarter--from the +outer world of the far European East--reached the infant York, suitable +to be divulged to the many and turned to public account. It was known +that hostilities were going on between the allied forces of Europe and +the armies of Revolutionary France. And now came intelligence that the +English contingent on the continent had contributed materially to a +success over the French in Flanders on the 23rd of May last. Now this +contingent, 10,000 men, was under the command of the Duke of York, the +King's son, A happy thought strikes the Governor. What could be more +appropriate than to celebrate the good news in a demonstrative manner on +a spot which in honour of that Prince had been named York. + +Accordingly, on the 26th of August, we find the following General Order +issued:--"York, Upper Canada, 26th of August, 1793. His Excellency the +Lieutenant-Governor having received information of the success of his +Majesty's arms, under His Royal Highness the Duke of York, by which +Holland has been saved from the invasion of the French armies,--and it +appearing that the combined forces have been successful in dislodging +their enemies from an entrenched camp supposed to be impregnable, from +which the most important consequences may be expected; and in which +arduous attempts His Royal Highness the Duke of York and His Majesty's +troops supported the national glory:--It is His Excellency's orders that +on the rising of the Union Flag at twelve o'clock to-morrow a Royal +Salute of twenty-one guns is to be fired, to be answered by the shipping +in the Harbour, in respect to His Royal Highness and in commemoration of +the naming this Harbour from his English title, York. E. B. Littlehales, +Major of Brigade." + +These orders, we are to presume, were punctually obeyed; and we are +inclined to think that the running up of the Union Flag at noon on +Tuesday, the 27th day of August, and the salutes which immediately after +reverberated through the woods and rolled far down and across the +silvery surface of the Lake, were intended to be regarded as the true +inauguration of the Upper Canadian York. + +The rejoicing, indeed, as it proved, was somewhat premature. The success +which distinguished the first operations of the royal duke did not +continue to attend his efforts. Nevertheless, the report of the honours +rendered in this remote portion of the globe, would be grateful to the +fatherly heart of the King. + +On the Saturday after the Royal Salutes, the first meeting of the +Executive Council ever held in York, took place in the garrison; in the +canvas-house, as we may suppose. "The first Council," writes Mr. W. H. +Lee from Ottawa, "held at the garrison, York, late Toronto, at which +Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe was present, was on Saturday, 31st August, +1793." It transacted business there, Mr. Lee says, until the following +fifth of September, when the Government returned to Navy Hall. Still, +the Governor and his family passed the ensuing winter at York. Bouchette +speaks of his inhabiting the canvas-house "through the winter;" and +under date of York, on the 23rd of the following February (1794), we +have him writing to Mr. Secretary Dundas. + +In the despatch of the day just named, after a now prolonged experience +of the newly-established post, the Governor thus glowingly speaks of it: +"York," he says, "is the most important and defensible situation in +Upper Canada, or that I have seen," he even adds, "in North America. I +have, sir," he continues, "formerly entered into a detail of the +advantages of this arsenal of Lake Ontario. An interval of Indian land +of six and thirty miles divides this settlement from Burlington Bay, +where that of Niagara commences. Its communication with Lake Huron is +very easy in five or six days, and will in all respects be of the most +essential importance." + +Before the channel at the entrance of the Harbour of York was visibly +marked or buoyed, the wide-spread shoal to the west and south must have +been very treacherous to craft seeking to approach the new settlement. +In 1794 we hear of the Commodore's vessel, "the _Anondaga_, of 14 guns," +being stranded here and given up for lost. We hear likewise that the +Commodore's son, Joseph Bouchette, the first surveyor of the harbour, +distinguished himself by managing to get the same _Anondaga_ off, after +she had been abandoned; and we are told of his assuming the command and +sailing with her to Niagara, where he is received amidst the cheers of +the garrison and others assembled on the shores to greet the rescued +vessel. + +This exploit, of which he was naturally proud, and for which he was +promoted on the 12th of May, 1794, to the rank of Second Lieutenant, +Bouchette duly commemorates on his chart of York Harbour by +conspicuously marking the spot where the stranded ship lay, and +appending the note--"H. M. Schooner _Anondaga_, 14 guns, wrecked, but +raised by Lieutenant Joseph Bouchette and brought to." (A small +two-masted vessel is seen lying on the north-west bend of the great +shoal at the entrance of the Harbour.)--A second point is likewise +marked on the map "where she again grounded but was afterwards brought +to." (Here again a small vessel is seen lying at the edge of the shoal, +but now towards its northern point.) The Chart, which was originally +engraved for Bouchette's octavo book, "A Topographical Description of +Canada, &c.," published in 1815, is repeated with the marks and +accompanying notes, from the same plate, in the quarto work of +1831--"The British Dominions in North America." The _Anondaga_ of the +Bouchette narrative is, as we suppose, the _Onondago_ of the _Gazette_, +which, as we have seen, helped to take over the Rangers in August, 1793. +The same uncertainty, which we have had occasion repeatedly to notice, +in regard to the orthography of aboriginal words in general, rendered it +doubtful with the public at large as to how the names of some of the +Royal vessels should be spelt. + +It is to be observed in passing, that when in his account of the first +survey of the Harbour in 1793, Bouchette speaks of the +Lieutenant-Governor removing from Niagara with his regiment of Queen's +Rangers "in the following spring," he probably means in the later +portion of the spring of the same year 1793, because, as we have already +seen, the _Gazettes_ of the day prove that the Lieutenant-Governor did +proceed to the site of the new capital with the Rangers in 1793. +Bouchette's words as they stand in his quarto book, imply, in some +degree, that 1794 was the year in which the Governor and his Rangers +first came over from Niagara. In the earlier octavo book his words were: +"In the year 1793 the spot on which York stands presented only one +solitary wigwam; in the ensuing spring the ground for the future +metropolis of Upper Canada was fixed upon, and the buildings commenced +under the immediate superintendence of the late General Simcoe, the +Lieut.-Governor: in the space of five or six years it became a +respectable place." + +Bouchette was possibly recalling the commencement of the Public +Buildings in 1794, when in his second work, published in 1831, he +inserted the note which has given rise, in the minds of some, to a +slight doubt as to whether 1793 or 1794 was the year of the founding of +York. The _Gazettes_, as we have seen, shew that 1793 was the year. The +_Gazettes_ also shew that the so-called Public Buildings, _i. e._, the +Parliamentary Buildings, were not begun until 1794. Thus, in the +_Gazette_ of July 10, 1794, we read the advertisement: "Wanted: +Carpenters for the Public Buildings to be erected at York. Application +to be made to John McGill, Esq., at York, or to Mr. Allan Macnab at Navy +Hall." + +On the 23rd of February, 1794, Governor Simcoe was, as we noted above, +writing a despatch at York to Mr. Secretary Dundas. So early in the +season as the 17th of March, however, he is on the move for the rapids +of the Miami river, at the upper end of Lake Erie, to establish an +additional military post in that quarter, the threatened encroachments +on the Indian lands north of the Ohio by the United States rendering +such a demonstration expedient. He is, of course, acting under +instructions from superior authority. In the MS. map to which reference +has before been made, the Governor's route on this occasion is marked; +and the following note is appended:--"Lieut.-Governor Simcoe's route +from York to the Thames, down that river in canoes to Detroit; from +thence to the Miami to build the fort Lord Dorchester ordered to be +built; left York March 17th, 1794; returned by Erie and Niagara to York, +May 5th, 1794." + +In the following August, Gov. Simcoe is at Newark or Niagara. On the +18th of that month he has just heard of an engagement between the United +States forces under General Wayne and the Indians, close to the new fort +on the Miami, and he writes to Brant that he is about to proceed in +person to the scene of action "by the first vessel." On the 30th of +September he is there; and on the 10th of October following, he is +attending a Council of Chiefs in company with Brant, at the southern +entrance of the Detroit river. A cessation of hostilities on the part of +the Indians is urged, until the spring; and, for himself, he says to the +assembly: "I will go down to Quebec and lay your grievances before the +Great Man [the Onnontio probably was the word]. From thence they will be +forwarded to the King your Father. Next spring you will know the result +of everything--what you and I will do." + +On the 14th of November the Governor is at Newark embarking again for +York and the East. In the _Gazette_ of Dec. 10, we have the +announcement: "His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor left this town +(Newark) on the 14th ultimo, on his way, _via_ York, to the eastern part +of the Province, where it is expected he will spend the winter." He +appears to have left York on the 5th of December in in an open boat. The +MS. map gives the route, with the note: "Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe's track from +York to Kingston in an open boat, Dec. 5, 1794." On the 20th of the same +month he is writing a despatch at Kingston to the "Lords of the +Committee of His Majesty's Council for Trade and Plantations;" and we +learn from the document that the neighbourhood of York, if not York +itself, was becoming populous. The Governor says to their Lordships: +"Having stated to Mr. Secretary Dundas the great importance which I +attached to York (late Toronto), and received directions to give due +encouragement to the settlement, it is with great pleasure that I am to +observe that seventy families at least are settling in its vicinity, and +principally on the communication between York and Holland's River, which +falls into Lake Simcoe." (The German families these, principally, who +were brought over by Mr. Berczy from the Pulteney settlement in the +Genesee country, on the opposite side of the Lake.) + +The proposed journey to and from Quebec may have been accomplished after +the 20th of December. + +In June of the following year, 1795, the Governor is at Navy Hall, +Newark. He receives and entertains there for eighteen days the French +Royalist Duke de Liancourt, who is on his travels on the American +continent. The Duke does not visit York; but two of his travelling +companions, MM. du Pettithouars and Guillemard take a run over and +report to him that there "had been no more than twelve houses hitherto +built at York." The barracks, they say, stand on the roadstead two miles +from the town, and near the Lake. The duke adds: "Desertion, I am told, +is very frequent among the soldiers." + +While staying at Navy Hall, the Duke de Liancourt was taken over the +Fort on the opposite side of the river; he also afterwards dined there +with the officers. "With very obliging politeness," the duke says, "the +Governor conducted us over the Fort, which he is very loth to visit, +since he is sure that he will be obliged to deliver it up to the +Americans."--In fact it was made over to them under Jay's Treaty in this +very year 1794, along with Oswego, Detroit, Miami, and Michilimackinac, +though not actually surrendered until 1796. And this was the somewhat +inglorious termination of the difficulties between the Indian allies of +England and the United States Government, which had compelled the +Governor again and again to undertake toilsome journeys to the +West.--"Thirty artillerymen," the duke notes, "and eight companies of +the Fifth Regiment form the garrison of the Fort. Two days after the +visit," he continues, "we dined in the Fort at Major Seward's, an +officer of elegant, polite and amiable manners, who seems to be much +respected by the gentlemen of his profession. He and Mr. Pilkington, an +officer of the corps of Engineers, are the military gentlemen we have +most frequently seen during our residence in this place, and whom the +Governor most distinguishes from the rest." + +In 1796 Governor Simcoe was ordered to the West Indies. He met his +Parliament at Newark on the 16th of May, and prorogued it on the 3rd of +June, after assenting to seven Acts. + +In the _Gazette_ of Sept. 11, 1796, a proclamation from Peter Russell +announces that "His most gracious Majesty has been pleased to grant his +royal leave of absence to his Excellency Major General Simcoe," and that +consequently the government _pro tem_. had devolved upon himself. + +In the November following, Mr. Russell, now entitled President, comes +over from Niagara in the _Mohawk_. The _Gazette_ of Nov. 4, 1796 (still +published at Niagara), announces: "Yesterday (Nov. 3), his Honour the +President of the Province and family sailed in the _Mohawk_ for York. On +his departure he was saluted with a discharge of cannon at Fort George, +which was answered by three cheers from on board." (Fort George, +afterwards famous in Canadian annals, and whose extensive remains are +still conspicuous, had now been constructed, on the west side of the +river, close by Newark or Niagara, as a kind of counterpoise to the +French Fort on the east side of the river, immediately opposite, which +had just been surrendered to the United States.) + +It is briefly noted in the _Gazette_ of the 26th of January in the +following year (1797), that the President's new house at York had been +destroyed by fire. This may account for his being at Niagara in May +(1797), and sailing over again in the _Mohawk_ to York, apparently to +open Parliament. The _Gazette_ of the 31st of May, 1797, says: "On +Saturday last, sailed in the _Mohawk_ for York, his Honour the +Administrator, and several members of the Parliament of the Province." + +(The _Mohawk_ had come up from Kingston on the 27th of April. On the +28th of that month a vessel had arrived at Niagara, bearing the name of +the late Governor. The _Gazette_ of May 3, 1797, thus speaks: "On Sunday +last, arrived from Kingston his Majesty's armed vessel the _Mohawk_; and +on Monday last, the _Governor Simcoe_, being their first voyage.") + +The _Gazette_ of the 31st, in addition to the departure of the _Mohawk_ +for York, as above, gives us also the following piece of information +whence we learn that in the trade of the Lake, a competition from the +United States side was about to begin:--"On the same day (the day when +the _Mohawk_ sailed for York), arrived here (Niagara) a Deck-boat, built +and owned by Col. John Van Rensselaer, of Lansingburg, on the North +River. This enterprising gentleman," the _Gazette_ says, "built and +completed this and one other of the same bigness (fifty barrels burden), +and conveyed them by high waters to Oswego, and arrived there without +injury this spring. They are to ply continually between Oswego and this +place and Kingston." + +On July the 3rd, 1797, the return of President Russell to Niagara in the +_Mohawk_ is announced. (The exact situation of Mr. Russell's house at +Niagara may be deduced from a memorandum in the papers of Augustus +Jones, the surveyor, dated Aug., 1796. It runs as follows:--"S. 61 W., +34 chains, 34 links from the north-west corner of the Block-house above +Navy Hall to the S. E. angle of the Hon. P. Russell's house: at 24 +chains, a fence.") + +During the stormy season at the close of the year 1797, a momentary +apprehension was felt at Niagara for the safety of the _Mohawk_. In a +_Gazette_ of December in this year we read: "West Niagara, Dec. 2. Fears +for the fate of the _Mohawk_ are entertained. It is said minute guns +were distinctly heard through most of Thursday before last; but we hope +she has suffered no further than being driven back to Kingston. The +_Onondaga_," it is added, "which was aground in Hungry Bay at our last +intelligence, was in a fair way of being gotten off." In the next +_Gazette_, the number for Dec. 9, it is announced that "since our last, +arrived here the _Simcoe_, from Kingston, by which we learn that the +_Mohawk_ had returned there, after having her bowsprit and a +considerable part of her sails carried away in the storm." It is also +stated of the _Onondaga_, that "she had gained that Port without +material injury sustained in Hungry Bay." + +In the _Gazette_ of May 19, in the following year, 1798, the _Simcoe_ +again appears. At the same time the name of the commander of the vessel +is given. "West Niagara: By the arrival of the schooner _Simcoe_, Capt. +Murney, from Kingston, we are informed that upwards of a hundred houses +in the Lower Province have been carried away by the ice this spring." +The Capt. Murney here mentioned, as being in command of the _Simcoe_, +was the father of the Hon. Edward Murney, of Belleville. He built and +owned in 1801 another vessel named the _Prince Edward_, capable of +carrying 700 barrels of flour in her hold. We are told of this vessel, +that she was built wholly of red cedar. + +In the _Gazette_ of May 26, 1798, we hear of a "good sloop" constructed +of black walnut. She is about to be sold. "To be sold," the _Gazette_ +says, "on the stocks at the Bay of Long Point (near Kingston), at any +time before the 28th of June next, a good sloop ready for launching, in +good order, and warranted sound and masterly built. She is formed of the +best black walnut timber, 38 tons burden, and calculated for carrying +timber." We are told further in respect to this sloop, that "she will be +sold by consent of Mr. Troyer, and a good title with a warranty given on +the sale. The conditions are for cash only; one-half down, and the other +in three months, with approved security for payment. Wm. Dealy." J. +Troyer adds: "I approve of the above." Again, it is subjoined: "All +persons having demands on said Dealy are requested to exhibit them +before the 28th of June, that the same may be paid one month thereafter. +May 24, 1798." + +On Monday, the 14th of October, in the year just named, a Mr. Cornwall +was drowned by falling out of a boat into the Lake, near the Garrison at +York. In the _Gazette_ of the 27th it is noted that "on Monday last the +body of Mr. Cornwall, who was unfortunately drowned the 14th instant, by +falling out of a boat into the Lake, near the Garrison, was taken up at +the Etobicoke. The coroner's inquest sat on the body," it is added, "and +brought in a verdict 'accidental death.'" (In this _Gazette_ Etobicoke +is curiously printed Toby Cove.) + +Boisterous weather gave rise to the usual disasters and inconveniences +in the autumn of 1798. "During the heavy gales of wind," says the +_Gazette_ of Nov. 24, "which we have had, a vessel loaded with sundry +goods was drove on shore at the Mississaga point at Newark (Niagara), +and another vessel belonging to this town (York) was drove on a place +called the Ducks, where she received considerable damage." + +In August, 1799, Governor Hunter, lately appointed, arrived in York +Harbour in the _Speedy_. The Niagara _Constellation_ of Aug. 23, 1799, +gives us the information. It says: "His Excellency, Governor Hunter, +arrived at York on Friday morning last in the _Speedy_. On landing," we +are told, "he was received by a party of the Queen's Rangers; and at one +o'clock p.m. was waited on at his Honour's the President's, by the +military officers, and congratulated on his safe arrival and +appointment to the government of the Province." + +On the 5th of September he has gone over to Niagara. The _Constellation_ +of the 6th thus notices his arrival there: "Yesterday morning, arrived +here from York his Excellency Governor Hunter. He was saluted by a +discharge of twenty-one guns from Fort George. His early arrival in the +morning prevented so great an attendance of inhabitants to demonstrate +their joy, as was wished by them." He probably crossed the Lake in the +_Speedy_. + +The departure of Governor Hunter from Niagara is noted in the +_Constellation_ of the following week. "On Saturday last," the +_Constellation_ of Sept. 13 says, "His Excellency sailed for Kingston +and the Lower Province (probably again in the _Speedy_). On embarking," +we are informed as usual, "he was saluted from the Garrison;" and it is +also added that on passing Fort Niagara "he was saluted by the American +flag, which had been hoisted for the purpose." On which act of courtesy +the _Constellation_ remarks that "merit is respected by all countries." +It is then added: "We learn that his Excellency has committed the +administration of the Government, during his absence, to a committee +composed of the Honourable Peter Russell, J. Elmsley and AEneas Shaw, +Esquires; and the Hon. J. McGill, Esq., in the absence of either of +them." + +Under date of York, Saturday, Sept. 14th, 1799, we have mention made in +the _Gazette_ of a new vessel. "The _Toronto Yacht_, Capt. Baker," the +_Gazette_ announces, "will in the course of a few days be ready to make +her first trip. She is," the _Gazette_ says, "one of the handsomest +vessels of her size that ever swam upon the Ontario; and if we are +permitted to judge from her appearance, and to do her justice, we must +say she bids fair to be one of the swiftest sailing vessels. She is +admirably calculated for the reception of passengers, and can with +propriety boast of the most experienced officers and men. Her +master-builder," it is subjoined, "was a Mr. Dennis, an American, on +whom she reflects great honour." This was Mr. Joseph Dennis; and the +place where the vessel was built was a little way up the Humber. (The +name Dennis is carelessly given in the _Gazette_ as Dennison.) + +The effects of rough weather on the Lake at the close of 1799, as +detailed by the Niagara _Constellation_ of the 7th of December, will not +be out of place. "On Thursday last," the _Constellation_ says, "a boat +arrived here from Schenectady, which place she left on the 22nd ult. +She passed the _York_ sticking on a rock off the Devil's Nose: no +prospect of getting her off. A small deck-boat also, she reports, lately +sprung a leak twelve miles distant from Oswego. The people on board, +many of whom were passengers, were taken off by a vessel passing, when +she instantly sank: cargo is all lost." The narrative then proceeds to +say: "A vessel supposed to be the _Genesee_ schooner, has been two days +endeavouring to come in. It is a singular misfortune," the +_Constellation_ says, "that this vessel, which sailed more than a month +ago from Oswego, laden for this place, has been several times in sight, +and driven back by heavy gales." + +In the same number of the _Constellation_ (Dec. 7th, 1799), we have "the +well-known schooner _Peggy_" spoken of. A moiety of her is offered for +sale. Richard Beasley of Barton, executor, and Margaret Berry of York, +executrix, to the estate of Thomas Berry, merchant, late of York, +deceased, advertise for sale: "One moiety of the well-known schooner +_Peggy_: any recommendation of her sailing or accommodation," they say, +"will be unnecessary: with these particulars the public are well +acquainted, and the purchaser will, no doubt, satisfy himself with +personal inspection. For terms of sale apply to the executor and +executrix." + +In the _Constellation_ of the following week is the mysterious +paragraph: "If Jonathan A. Pell will return and pay Captain Selleck for +the freight of the salt which he took from on board the _Duchess of +York_ without leave, it will be thankfully received and no questions +asked." + +The disastrous effects of the gales are referred to again in the +_Gazette_ of Dec. 21st, 1799. "We hear from very good authority," the +_Gazette_ says, "that the schooner _York_, Captain Murray, has +foundered, and is cast upon the American shore about fifty miles from +Niagara, where the captain and men are encamped. Mr. Forsyth, one of the +passengers, hired a boat to carry them to Kingston. Fears are +entertained for the fate of the _Terrahoga_." (A government vessel so +named.) + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXX. + + THE HARBOUR--ITS MARINE, 1800-1814. + + +On the 15th of May, 1800, Governor Hunter arrives again in York Harbour. +The _Gazette_ of Saturday, the 17th, 1800, announces that "on Thursday +evening last (May 15th), his Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq., +Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief of this Province, arrived in +our harbour on board the _Toronto_; and on Friday morning about 9 +o'clock landed at the Garrison, where he is at present to reside." On +May 16th in the following year Governor Hunter arrives again in the +_Toronto_, from Quebec. "Arrived this morning, Saturday, May 16th, +1801," says the _Gazette_, "on board the _Toronto_, Captain Earl, his +Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, his Aide-de-Camp and Secretary, from +Quebec. We hear," continues the _Gazette_, "that his Excellency has +ordered the Parliament to meet on the 28th instant for the actual +despatch of business." + +In the _Gazette_ of Aug. 29th, in this year (1801), we have the +appointment of Mr. Allan to the collectorship for the harbour of York. +Thus runs the announcement: "To the Public.--His Excellency the +Lieutenant-Governor has been pleased to appoint the subscriber Collector +of Duties at this Port, for the Home District: as likewise Inspector of +Pot and Pearl Ashes and Flour. Notice is hereby given that the Custom +House for entry will be held at my store-house at the water's edge, and +that I will attend accordingly, agreeably to the Act. W. Allan, York, +25th Aug., 1801." + +In this year, it is noted in the Niagara _Herald_ (Nov. 18th, 1801), the +people of Niagara saw for the first time flying from Fort George the +British Flag, as blazoned after the recent union of Great Britain and +Ireland. "On Tuesday, the 17th instant, at 12 o'clock," the _Herald_ +says, "we were most agreeably entertained with a display from Fort +George, for the first time, of the flag of the United Kingdom. The wind +being in a favourable point, it unfurled to the greatest advantage to a +view from the town. Its size, we apprehend, will subject it to injury in +the high winds that prevail here." It was possibly the Royal Standard. + +In the following year, 1802, Governor Hunter arrives at York on the 14th +of May, and again in the _Toronto_. "It is with infinite pleasure," +(such is the warm language of the _Gazette_ of May 15th, 1802), "we +announce the arrival of his Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq., +Lieutenant-Governor of this Province, and suite, in a very short passage +from Quebec. His Excellency arrived in the harbour late yesterday +evening (May 14), on board the _Toronto_, and landed at the Garrison at +9 o'clock. We understand he left Quebec the 27th ult." The officer in +command at York on the occasion of Governor Hunter's visit in 1802 was +Captain AEneas Macdonell. We have before us a note from him, dated York +Garrison, May 15th, to Lieut. Chiniquy at Fort George, in which he +speaks of this visit. "General Hunter appeared off this harbour," he +says, "at 4 o'clock yesterday, with a Jack at his main-top-mast head. A +guard of two sergeants, two corporals, and thirty men," Capt. Macdonell +continues, "was soon ready to receive him, which I had the honour to +command; but I had not the pleasure to salute him, as he could not land +before 9 o'clock last night." (At the close of his note, Capt. Macdonell +begs Mr. Chiniquy to send him over from Niagara some butter,--such a +luxury being, as we must suppose, difficult to be procured at York). "If +you will be good enough to take the trouble," Capt. Macdonell says, "to +procure me a few pounds of butter and send it over, I will willingly +take the same trouble for you when in my power." + +In the _Gazette_ of the preceding April a boat is advertised as about to +make trips between York and the Head of the Lake. This is the +advertisement: "The subscriber will run a boat from York to the Head of +the Lake once a week. The first departure will be from York the 31st +instant (on Wednesday), and from the Head of the Lake on Saturday, every +week. Any commands left with Messrs. Miles and Playter, and Mr. Beaman +at York, and at the Government House, Mr. Bates; and Richard Beasly, +Esq., at the Head of the Lake, will be attended to with confidence and +despatch. Levi Willard, York, 30th March, 1802." + +So early as Jan. 18, in this year (1802), the following notice appeared +in the Niagara _Herald_;--"The sloop _Mary Ann_ will sail from this town +(Niagara) on first favourable day."--In August of this year a young +Scotchman falls from the sloop and is drowned. The Niagara _Herald_ of +Aug. 21, 1802, notes the incident:--"On Monday last, James McQueen, a +native of Scotland, aged about 20, fell from the _Mary Ann_ and was +drowned. The vessel being under sail, with wind and current in her +favour, could not put about in the very short time he remained above +water."--In 1802, "Skinner's Sloop" was plying occasionally between York +and Niagara. We have a letter before us from Capt. AEneas Macdonell to +Ensign Chiniquy, dated York Garrison, 28th March, 1802, acknowledging a +budget of news received by "Skinner's Sloop." + +In 1803, on the 13th of May, the arrival at York of a Government vessel +named the _Duke of Kent_, with troops, is announced in the _Gazette_. +"This morning arrived at the Garrison the _Duke of Kent_ from Kingston, +having on board a detachment of His Majesty's 49th regiment, which is to +do duty here in place of the 41st regiment, ordered to Lower Canada." +This same vessel arrives again in the harbour on the 27th of the +following July. She now has on board "The Right Reverend Jacob, Lord +Bishop of Quebec."--"On Thursday, the 27th," says the _Gazette_ of the +29th of July, 1803, "arrived here (York), the _Duke of Kent_, having on +board the Right Reverend Jacob, Lord Bishop of Quebec. We understand," +the _Gazette_ adds, "his Lordship intended first to visit Detroit, but, +owing to contrary winds, was necessitated to postpone his journey. His +Lordship will leave town for Niagara shortly after the Confirmation, +which will immediately take place." + +We hear of casualties on the Lake towards the close of the year. We read +in the _Gazette_ of Nov. 16, that "it is currently reported, and we are +sorry to add with every appearance of foundation, that the sloop _Lady +Washington_, commanded by Capt. Murray, was lately lost in a gale of +wind near Oswego, on her passage to Niagara. Pieces of the wreck, and +her boat, by which she was recognized, together with several other +articles, are said to have been picked up. It is yet uncertain," the +_Gazette_ says, "whether the crew and passengers are saved; among the +latter were Messrs. Dunn and Boyd, of Niagara."--Again: the _Gazette_ of +Dec. 10, 1803, reports that "a gentleman from Oswego, by the name of +Mr. Dunlop, was on Wednesday last accidentally knocked from on board a +vessel near the Highlands by the gibbing of the boom, and unfortunately +drowned." + +The disappointment occasioned to merchants sometimes by the uncertainty +of communication between York and the outer world in the stormy season, +may be conceived of from a postscript to an advertisement of Mr. Quetton +St. George's in the _Gazette_ of Dec. 10, 1803. It says: "Mr. St. George +is very sorry, on account of his customers, that he has not received his +East India Goods and Groceries: he is sure they are at Oswego; and +should they not arrive this season, they may be looked for early in the +spring." It was tantalizing to suppose they were so near York as Oswego, +and yet could not be had until the spring. + +The principal incident connected with the marine of the harbour of York +in 1804 was the loss of the _Speedy_. We give the contemporary account +of the disaster from the _Gazette_ of Saturday, Nov. 3, 1804. + +"The following," the _Gazette_ says, "is as accurate an account of the +loss of the schooner _Speedy_, in His Majesty's service on Lake Ontario, +as we have been able to collect. The _Speedy_, Capt. Paxton, left this +port (York) on Sunday evening, the 7th of October last, with a moderate +breeze from the north-west, for Presqu'isle, and was descried off that +island on the Monday following before dark, where preparations were made +for the reception of the passengers, but the wind coming round from the +north-east, blew with such violence as to render it impossible for her +to enter the harbour; and very shortly after she disappeared. A large +fire was then kindled on shore as a guide to the vessel during the +night; but she has not since been seen or heard of; and it is with the +most painful sensations we have to say, we fear is totally lost. +Inquiry, we understand, has been made at almost every port of the Lake, +but without effect; and no intelligence respecting the fate of this +unfortunate vessel could be obtained. It is, therefore, generally +concluded that she has either upset or foundered. It is also reported by +respectable authority that several articles, such as the compass-box, +hencoop and mast, known to have belonged to this vessel, have been +picked up on the opposite side of the Lake.--The passengers on board the +ill-fated _Speedy_, as near as we can recollect," the narrative goes on +to say, "were Mr. Justice Cochrane; Robert J. D. Gray, Esq., +Solicitor-General, and Member of the House of Assembly; Angus Macdonell, +Esq., Advocate, Member of the House of Assembly; Mr. Jacob Herchmer, +Merchant; Mr. John Stegman, Surveyor; Mr. George Cowan, Indian +Interpreter; James Ruggles, Esq.; Mr. Anderson, Student in the Law; Mr. +John Fisk, High Constable, all of this place. The above named gentlemen +were proceeding to the District of Newcastle, in order to hold the +Circuit, and for the trial of an Indian (also on board the _Speedy_) +indicted for the murder of John Sharp, late of the Queen's Rangers. It +is also reported, but we cannot vouch for its authenticity, that +exclusive of the above passengers, there were on board two other +persons, one in the service of Mr. Justice Cochrane, and the other in +that of the Solicitor-General; as also two children of parents whose +indigent circumstances necessitated them to travel by land. The crew of +the _Speedy_, it is said, consisted of five seamen (three of whom have +left large families) exclusive of Captain Paxton, who also had a very +large family. The total number of souls on board the _Speedy_ is +computed to be about twenty. A more distressing and melancholy event has +not occurred to this place for many years; nor does it often happen that +such a number of persons of respectability are collected in the same +vessel. Not less than nine widows, and we know not how many children, +have to lament the loss of their husbands and fathers, who, alas, have, +perhaps in the course of a few minutes, met with a watery grave. It is +somewhat remarkable," the _Gazette_ then observes, "that this is the +third or fourth accident of a similar nature within these few years, the +cause of which appears worthy the attention and investigation of persons +conversant in the art of ship-building." + +Two of the disasters to vessels probably alluded to by the _Gazette_ +were noted above. In 1802 the _Lady Washington_, Captain Murray, +foundered in the Lake, leaving scarcely a trace. And three years +previously, the _York_, in command of the same Captain Murray, was lost +at the point known as the Devil's Nose, not far from the entrance to the +River Genesee. And again, some years earlier, in 1780, before the +organization of the Province of Upper Canada, the _Ontario_, Capt. +Andrews, carrying twenty-two guns, went down with all on board, while +conveying troops, a detachment of the King's Own, under Col. Burton, +from Niagara to Oswego. One hundred and seventy-two persons perished on +this occasion, Capt. Andrews was, at the time, First Commissioner of the +Dock Yard at Kingston, and Commodore of the small flotilla maintained +on the Lake, chiefly for transport service. (For several of these +particulars we are indebted to Capt. Andrews' grandson, the Rev. Saltern +Givins.) + +As to the apparent fragility of the government vessels, on which the +_Gazette_ remarks, the use of timber insufficiently seasoned may have +had something to do with it. The French Duke de Liancourt, in 1795, +observed that all the vessels which he saw at Niagara were built of +timber fresh cut down and not seasoned; and that, for that reason, "they +never lasted longer than six or eight years. To preserve them for even +this length of time," he says, "requires a thorough repair: they must be +heaved down and caulked, which costs, at least, from one thousand to one +thousand two hundred guineas. The timbers of the _Mississaga_," he says, +"which was built three years ago, are almost all rotten." + +A particular account of the homicide for which the Indian prisoner, lost +in the _Speedy_, was about to be tried, and of his arrest, is given in a +subdivision of one of our chapters, entitled "Some Memories of the Old +Court House." + +Of the perils encountered by early navigators of Lake Ontario we have an +additional specimen furnished us by the _Gazette_ of Sept. 8th, 1804. +That paper reports as follows: "Capt Moore's sloop, which sailed from +Sackett's Harbour on the 14th July for Kingston with a load of pot and +pearl ashes, struck on Long Point near Kingston in a gale of wind; and +having on board a number of passengers, men, women, and children, he was +under the necessity of throwing over forty-eight barrels of ashes in +order to lighten the vessel." It is then briefly added: "She arrived at +Kingston." + +We hear of the _Toronto Yacht_ in 1805, casually. A boat puts off from +her to the rescue of some persons in danger of drowning, near the +Garrison at York, in November of that year. "On Sunday last, the 10th," +says the _Gazette_ of Nov. 16th, 1805, "a boat from the River Credit for +this place (York), containing four persons, and laden with salmon and +country produce, overset near the Garrison, at the entrance of this +harbour; and notwithstanding the most prompt assistance rendered by a +boat from the _Toronto Yacht_, we are sorry to add that one person was +unfortunately drowned, and a considerable part of the cargo lost." At +this date, the _Toronto Yacht_ was under the command of Capt. Earl. + +In December, 1805, a member of the Kendrick family of York was lost in +a vessel wrecked on the New York side of the Lake. "We understand," says +the _Gazette_ of Feb. 15th, 1806, "that a boat, sometime in December +last, going from Oswego to Sandy Creek, was lost near the mouth of +Salmon river, and four persons drowned. One of the bodies, and the +articles contained in the boat, were driven ashore; the remainder, it is +supposed, were buried in the sand. The persons who perished were--John +McBride (found), John Kendrick of this place (York), Alexander Miller +and Jessamin Montgomery."--In November of this year (1805), Miss Sarah +Kendrick was married. It will be observed that her taste, like that of +her brothers, of whom more hereafter, lay in a nautical direction. +"Married, on Tuesday, the 12th inst., by licence," records the +_Gazette_, "Jesse Goodwin, mariner, to Miss Sarah Kendrick." (This is +the Goodwin from whom the small stream which ran into York Bay at its +eastern extremity used to be called--Goodwin's Creek.) + +In the _Gazette_ of Oct 11th, 1806, it is noted that Governor Gore +crossed from York to Niagara in little more than four hours. The vessel +is not named. Probably it was the _Toronto Yacht_. + +In 1807, Governor Gore crossed from York to Niagara to hold a levee, on +the King's birthday. The vessel that conveyed him again is not named. +The following notice appears in the _Gazette_ of May 16th, 1807: +"Government House, York, 16th May, 1807. The Lieut.-Governor will hold a +levee at the Commanding Officer's Quarters at Niagara, at 2 o'clock on +Tuesday, the 4th of June. Wm. Halton, Secretary." Then follows a second +notice: "Government House, York, 16th May, 1807. There will be a Ball +and Supper at the Council House, Niagara, on his Majesty's Birthday, for +such ladies and gentlemen as have been presented to the Lieut.-Governor +and Mrs. Gore. Wm. Halton, Secretary." + +An accident to the _Toronto Yacht_ is reported in the _Gazette_ of Oct. +17th, 1807. That paper says: "The _Toronto Yacht_, in attempting her +passage across on Wednesday or Thursday last, met with an accident that +obliged her to put back to Niagara, which port, we understand, she +reached with difficulty." + +The _Gazette_ of October 31st, 1807, speaks of the inconveniences to +itself, arising from the irregularity in the communication between York +and Niagara. "The communication with Niagara by water," it says, "from +being irregular lately, has prevented us receiving our papers this week. +The Indian Express," the _Gazette_ then adds, "having commenced its +regular weekly route, our publishing day will be changed to Wednesday. +We have nothing of moment or interest. Should anything occur we will +give an extra sheet." On the 18th of November the _Gazette_ appears +printed on blue paper, such as used to be seen on the outside of +pamphlets and magazines. An apology is offered. "We have to apologize to +our readers for the necessity of publishing this week on an inferior +quality of paper, owing to the non-arrival of our expected supply." The +same kind of paper is used in a succession of numbers. It is curious to +observe that the effect of time has been to produce less disfigurement +in the bright appearance of the pages and print of the blue numbers of +the _Gazette_, than in the ordinary white paper numbers, which have now +assumed a very coarse, dingy, inferior aspect. + +In 1808 the important announcement is made in the _Gazette_ of March +16th, that a lighthouse is about to be immediately established on +Gibraltar Point, at the entrance of York Harbour. "It is with pleasure +we inform the public," the _Gazette_ says, "that the dangers to vessels +navigating Lake Ontario will in a great measure be avoided by the +erection of a Lighthouse on Gibraltar Point, which is to be immediately +completed, in compliance with an Address of the House of Assembly to the +Lieutenant-Governor." + +We have understood that a lighthouse was begun at the point of York +peninsula before the close of the last century; that the _Mohawk_ was +employed in bringing over stone for the purpose, from Queenston; and +that Mr. John Thompson, still living in 1873, was engaged in the actual +erection of the building. It was perhaps then begun. In 1803 an Act was +passed by the Provincial Legislature for the establishment of +lighthouses "on the south-westernmost point of a certain island called +Isle Forest, situated about three leagues from the town of Kingston, in +the Midland District; another upon Mississaga point, at the entrance of +the Niagara river, near to the town of Niagara; and the other upon +Gibraltar point." It was probably not practicable to carry the Act fully +into effect before 1806. According to the Act a fund for the erection +and maintenance of such lighthouses was to be formed by levying +three-pence per ton on every vessel, boat, raft, or other craft of ten +tons burthen and upwards, doubling the point named, inward bound. That +lighthouse duty should be levied at ports where there was no lighthouse, +became a grievance; and in 1818 it was enacted that "no vessel, boat, +raft or other craft of the burthen of ten tons and upwards shall be +liable to pay any Lighthouse Duty at any port where there shall be no +lighthouse erected, any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding." + +Mr. Cartwright (Judge Cartwright) built in 1808 two vessels on +Mississaga Point at the mouth of the Cataraqui, one for himself, the +_Elizabeth_; the other for the North-West Company, the _Governor +Simcoe_. The North-West Company had previously a vessel on the lake +called the _Simcoe_, which was now worn out. + +In June, 1808, Governor Gore departs from York for a tour in the western +part of the Province. The _Gazette_ seems mildly to rebuke him for +having swerved from his first design in regard to this tour. He had +intended to proceed _via_ Lake Huron; that is, by the Yonge Street +route, but he had finally preferred to go _via_ Lake Ontario. "His +Excellency the Lieut.-Governor left this place, York," the _Gazette_ +announces, "on the 15th instant, on a visit to Sandwich, etc. We are +sorry," the editor then ventures to observe, "that he did not, as he +originally destined, proceed by Lake Huron, according to his amiable +intention and view of promoting the first interests of this province." + +In the _Gazette_ of October 22nd, in this year, we hear once more of the +_Toronto Yacht_.--Governor Gore has returned to York in safety, and has +left again for Niagara in the _Toronto_. "On the 17th instant," the +above-named _Gazette_ reports, "his Excellency the Lieut.-Governor and +Major Halton sailed for Niagara in the _Toronto Yacht_. It was his +Excellency's intention to have gone there on Monday last." The _Gazette_ +says: "He embarked for the purpose, and received an honorary salute from +the Garrison. Excessive gales and a succession of violent head winds +delayed his proceeding until Thursday morning." (He returned in the +_Toronto_ on Tuesday, the 6th of November.) + +On the 14th of December in this year, the editor of the _Gazette_ again +announces a change in the day of publication, in consequence of the +suspension of water communication between York and Niagara. "The +suspension of our water communication with Niagara at the present season +obliges us to alter the day of publication, which will now be on +Wednesday. John Cameron." + +A postal notice issued in the _Gazette_ of Jan. 4th, in the following +year, 1809, is interesting now. It reads thus: "For General Information. +The winter mail will be despatched from Quebec for Upper Canada on the +following days: Monday, 2nd Jan., 1809: do. 6th Feb.: do. 6th March: do. +3rd April. Each mail may be looked for here (York) from 16 to 18 days +after the above periods. The Carrier from Kingston (the Indian Express +probably of which we have heard already) is to go on to Niagara without +making any stay (unless found necessary) at this place; so that all +persons will have time to prepare their letters by the time he returns +from Kingston again. W. Allan, Deputy P. M., York, 2nd Jan. 1809." The +mail between Montreal and Kingston was carried on the back of one +Anderson. Between these two places the postage was nine-pence. + +Between 1809 and 1812 we do not light upon many notices of vessels +frequenting York Harbour. In 1810, a schooner called the _Lady Gore_ or +the _Bella Gore_, commanded by Captain Sanders, and plying to Kingston, +was a well known vessel. (It may be noted that in 1811 Governor Gore +left York for England, on leave of absence, and was away during the four +eventful years that followed.) In 1812, and previously, a sloop +commanded by Captain Conn was running between York and Niagara. From +some peculiarity in her contour, she was popularly spoken of as "Captain +Conn's Coffin." Another sloop, commanded by Captain Grace, was plying +between York, Niagara and Kingston about the same time. + +The Government vessels with whose names we have become familiar were now +either unseaworthy or wrecked. The _Mohawk_, the _Onondaga_, the +_Caldwell_, the _Sophia_, the _Buffalo_, are no longer heard of as +passing in and out of the harbour of York. It had been the fate of the +_Toronto Yacht_, while under the command of Capt. Fish, to run on the +sands at Gibraltar Point through a mistake as to the position of the +light. Her skeleton was long a conspicuous object, visited by ramblers +on the Island. This incident occurred just before the outbreak of the +war. + +Most of the vessels which had been engaged in the ordinary traffic of +the Lake were, during the war, employed by the government in the +transport service. Captain Murney's vessel, the _Prince Edward_, built, +as we have already heard, wholly of red cedar, and still in good order +in 1812, was thus employed. + +In the fleet on Lake Ontario in 1812-14 new names prevail. Not one of +the old titles is repeated. Some changes made in the nomenclature of +vessels during the contest have created confusion in regard to +particular ships. In several instances which we shall specify +immediately, in the following list, two names indicate the same vessel +at different periods of the war. The _Prince Regent_, the commodore's +ship, (Capt. Earl), the _Princess Charlotte_, the _Montreal_, the +_Wolfe_, the _Sir Sidney Smith_, the _Niagara_, the _Royal George_, the +_Melville_, the _Star_, the _Moira_, the _Cherwell_, the _Gloucester_ +(Capt. Gouvereau), the _Magnet_, the _Netley_, the _St. Lawrence_; and +the gunboats _Cleopatra_, _Lais_, _Ninon_, _Nelly_, _Regent_, +_Thunderer_, _Wellington_, _Retaliation_, _Black Snake_, _Prescott_, +_Dreadnought_. In this list the _Wolfe_ and the _Montreal_ are the same +vessels; as also are the _Royal George_ and the _Niagara_; the +_Melville_ and the _Star_; the _Prince Regent_ and the _Netley_; the +_Moira_ and the _Cherwell_; the _Montreal_ and the _Wolfe_; the _Magnet_ +and the _Sir Sidney Smith_. + +The _Moira_ was lying off the Garrison at York when the _Simcoe_ +transport came in sight filled with prisoners taken on Queenston +Heights, and bringing the first intelligence of the death of General +Brock. We have heard the Rev. Dr. Richardson of Toronto, who at the time +was Sailing Master of the _Moira_, under Captain Sampson, describe the +scene.--The approaching schooner was recognized at a distance as the +_Simcoe_: it was a vessel owned and commanded, at the moment, by Dr. +Richardson's father, Captain James Richardson. Mr. Richardson +accordingly speedily put off in a boat from the _Moira_, to learn the +news. He was first startled at the crowded appearance of the _Simcoe's_ +deck, and at the unwonted guise of his father, who came to the gangway +conspicuously girt with a sword. 'A great battle had been fought,' he +was told, 'on Queenston Heights. The enemy had been beaten. The _Simcoe_ +was full of prisoners of war, to be transferred instanter to the _Moira_ +for conveyance to Kingston. General Brock was killed!'--Elated with the +first portion of the news, Dr. Richardson spoke of the thrill of dismay +which followed the closing announcement as something indescribable and +never to be forgotten. + +Among the prisoners on board the _Simcoe_ was Winfield Scott, an +artillery officer, afterwards the distinguished General Scott. He was +not taken to Kingston, but, with others, released on parole. + +The year following (1813), York Harbour was visited by the United States +fleet, consisting of sixteen vessels. The result other pages will tell. +It has been again and again implied in these papers. The government +vessel named the _Prince Regent_ narrowly escaped capture. She had left +the port only a few days before the arrival of the enemy. The frames of +two ships on the stocks were destroyed, but not by the Americans. At the +command of General Sheaffe, they were fired by the royal troops when +beginning the retreat in the direction of Kingston. A schooner, the +_Governor Hunter_, belonging to Joseph Kendrick, was caught in the +harbour and destroyed; but as we have understood, the American commander +paid a sum of money to the owner by way of compensation.--At the taking +of York, Captain Sanders, whom we have seen in command of the _Bella +Gore_, was killed. He was put in charge of the dockyardmen who were +organized as a part of the small force to be opposed to the invaders. + +We can imagine a confused state of things at York in 1813. Nevertheless +the law asserts its supremacy. The magistrates in sessions fine a pilot +L2 15s. for refusing to fulfil his engagement with Mr. McIntosh. "On the +19th October, 1813, a complaint was made by Angus McIntosh, Esq., late +of Sandwich, now of York, merchant, against Jonathan Jordan, formerly of +the city of Montreal, a steersman in one of Angus McIntosh's boats, for +refusing to proceed with the said boat, and thereby endangering the +safety of the said boat. He is fined L2 15s. currency, to be deducted +from wages due by Angus McIntosh." + +It was in May the following year (1814), that Mr. Richardson, while +Acting Master on board the _Montreal_ (previously the _Wolfe_), lost his +left arm in Sir James Yeo's expedition against Oswego.--The place was +carried by storm. After describing the mode of attack and the gallantry +of the men, Sir James Yeo in his official despatch thus speaks in +particular of the _Montreal_: "Captain Popham, of the _Montreal_," he +says, "anchored his ship in a most gallant style; sustaining the whole +fire until we gained the shore. She was set on fire three times by +red-hot shot, and much cut up in her hull, masts and rigging. Captain +Popham," he then proceeds to say, "received a severe wound in his right +hand; and speaks in high terms of Mr. Richardson, the Master, who from a +severe wound in the left arm, was obliged to undergo amputation at the +shoulder joint." + +The grievous mutilation thus suffered did not cause Mr. Richardson to +retire from active service. Immediately on his recovery he was, at his +own desire, appointed to a post of professional duty in the fleet. In +October, when the great hundred-gun ship, the _St. Lawrence_, was +launched at Kingston, he was taken by Sir James Yeo on board that +vessel, his familiarity with the coasts of the Lake rendering his +services in the capacity of Acting Pilot of great value. + +In the record of disbursements made by the Loyal and Patriotic Society +of Upper Canada in 1815, we have the sum of One Hundred Pounds allotted +on the 22nd of April to "Mr. James Richardson, of the Midland District," +with the following note appended: "This gentleman was first in the +Provincial Navy, and behaved well: he then became Principal Pilot of the +Royal Fleet, and by his modesty and uncommon good conduct gained the +esteem of all of the officers of the Navy. He lost his arm at the taking +of Oswego, and as he was not a commissioned officer, there was no +allowance for his wounds. The Society, informed of this and in +consideration of his services, requested his acceptance of L100." + +By a curious transition, instances of which are now and then afforded in +the history of individuals in every profession, Mr. Richardson became in +after years an eminent minister in the Methodist Society; and at the age +of 82 was known and honoured far and wide throughout Upper Canada as the +indefatigable bishop or chief superintendent of that section of the +Methodist body which is distinguished by the prefix Episcopal. + +In 1814 it would appear that Commodore Chauncey and his fleet were no +longer dominating the north shore. The _Netley_, formerly the _Prince +Regent_, is mentioned as being again in the harbour of York. On the 24th +of July she took over Lieut.-General and President Drummond, when on his +way to support General Rial at Lundy's Lane. "I embarked," General +Drummond says in his despatch to Sir George Prevost describing the +engagement at Lundy's Lane; "I embarked on board His Majesty's schooner +_Netley_, at York, on Sunday evening, the 24th instant (July), and +reached Niagara at daybreak the following morning." He then pushed on +from Niagara to Lundy's Lane with 800 rank and file, and was the +undoubted means of preventing a hard-contested fight from ending in a +defeat. + +On the 24th of December in this year the Treaty of Ghent was signed, by +which, to adopt its own language, "a firm and universal peace was +re-established between His Britannic Majesty and the United States, and +between their respective countries, territories, cities, towns and +people of every degree, without exception of persons or places." + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXXI. + + THE HARBOUR: ITS MARINE, 1815-1827. + + +Soon after the close of the war with the United States in 1814, the era +of steam navigation on Lake Ontario opens. The first steamer, the +_Frontenac_, was launched at Ernesttown, on the Bay of Quinte, in 1816. +Her trips began in 1817. The length of her deck was 170 feet; the +breadth, 32 feet; her burden, 700 tons; her cost, L15,000; her +commander, Capt. James McKenzie, a retired officer of the Royal Navy. + +In 1818 we observe an enactment of the Provincial Legislature, having +reference to steam navigation. It is decreed that the usual space +occupied by the engine and machinery in a steam vessel, with the +requisite stowage of wood, should be taken to occupy one-third of such +vessel, and that such vessel should only pay Lighthouse or Tonnage Duty +on two-thirds of her admeasurement. + +In successive numbers of the Kingston _Chronicle_, the advertisement of +the _Frontenac_, occupying the width of two columns, conspicuously +appears, with a large rude woodcut of a steamer with two smoke-pipes at +the top. For the sake of the fares and other particulars, we copy this +document (from the _Chronicle_ of April 30, 1819). "The Steamboat +_Frontenac_, James McKenzie, Master, will in future leave the different +ports on the following days: viz., Kingston for York, on the 1st, 11th +and 21st days of each month. York for Queenston, 3rd, 13th and 23rd days +of each month. Niagara for Kingston, 5th, 15th and 25th days of each +month. Rates of Passages: From Kingston to York and Niagara, L3. From +York to Niagara, L1. Children under three years of age, half-price; +above three, and under ten, two-thirds. A Book will be kept for entering +the names of passengers, and the berths which they may choose at which +time the passage money must be paid. Passengers are allowed sixty pounds +weight of baggage; surplus baggage to be paid for at the usual rate. +Gentlemen's servants cannot sleep or eat in the Cabin. Deck passengers +will pay fifteen shillings, and may either bring their own provisions, +or be furnished by the Steward. For each dog brought on board, five +shillings. All applications for passage to be made to Capt. McKenzie, on +board. Freight will be transported to and from the above places at the +rate of four shillings per barrel bulk, and Flour at the customary rate +delivered to the different consignees. A list of their names will be put +in a conspicuous place on board, which must be deemed a sufficient +notice; and the Goods, when taken from the Steamboat will be considered +at the risk of the owners. For each small parcel, 2s. 6d., which must be +paid on delivery. Kingston, April 28th, 1819." Capt. McKenzie has +acquired confidence in himself and his vessel in 1819. An earlier notice +in the _Chronicle_, relating to the _Frontenac_, was the following. Its +terms show the great caution and very salutary fear which governed the +action of sea captains, hitherto without experience in such matters, +when about to encounter by the aid of steam the perils of a boisterous +Lake. "Steamboat _Frontenac_ will sail from Kingston for Niagara, +calling at York, on the 1st and 15th days of each month, with as much +punctuality as the nature of the Lake navigation will admit of." + +The ordinary sailing craft of the Lake of course still continued to ply. +We hear of a passenger-boat between York and Niagara in 1815, called the +_Dove_; also of the _Reindeer_, commanded for a time by Captain Myers. +In 1819-20 Stillwell Wilson, with whom we are already acquainted, is in +command of a slip-keel schooner, carrying passengers and freight between +York and Niagara. The _Wood Duck_ was another vessel on this route. (In +1828 the _Wood Duck_ is offered for sale, with her rigging and sails +complete, for Four Hundred Dollars cash. "Apply to William Gibbons, +owner, York." She is afterwards the property of Mr. William Arthurs.) +The _Red Rover_, Captain Thew, and the _Comet_, Captain Ives, were +others. The _Britannia_, Captain Miller, was a visitant of York harbour +about the same period; a top-sail schooner of about 120 tons, remarkable +for her specially fine model. She was built by Roberts, near the site +of what is now Wellington Square, and was the property of Mr. Matthew +Crooks, of Niagara. + +Captain Thew, above named, afterwards commanded the _John Watkins_, a +schooner plying to York. Captain Thew encountered a little difficulty +once at Kingston, through a violation, unconsciously on his part, of +naval etiquette. A set of colours had been presented to the _John +Watkins_, by Mr. Harris of York, in honour of his old friend and a +co-partner whose name she perpetuated. It happened, however, through +inadvertency, that these colours were made of the particular pattern +which vessels in the Royal Service are alone entitled to carry; and +while the _John Watkins_ was lying moored in the harbour at Kingston, +gaily decorated with her new colours, Captain Thew was amazed to find +his vessel suddenly boarded by a strong body of men-of-war's men, from a +neighbouring royal ship, who insisted on hauling down and taking +possession of the flags flying from her masts, as being the exclusive +insignia of the Royal Navy. It was necessary to comply with the demand, +but the bunting was afterwards restored to Captain Thew on making the +proper representations. + +In 1820, Capt. Sinclair was in command of the _Lady Sarah Maitland_. We +gather from an _Observer_ of December in that year, that Lake Ontario, +according to its wont, had been occasioning alarms to travellers. An +address of the passengers on board of Capt. Sinclair's vessel, after a +perilous passage from Prescott to York, is recorded in the columns of +the paper just named. It reads as follows: "The subscribers, passengers +in the _Lady Maitland_ schooner, beg to tender their best thanks to +Capt. Sinclair for the kind attention paid to them during the passage +from Prescott to this port; and at the same time with much pleasure to +bear testimony to his propriety of conduct in using every exertion to +promote the interest of those concerned in the vessel and cargo, in the +severe gale of the morning of the 4th instant (Dec. 1820). The manly +fortitude and unceasing exertions of Capt. Sinclair, when the situation +of the vessel, in consequence of loss of sails, had become extremely +dangerous, were so highly conspicuous as to induce the subscribers to +make it known to the public, that he may meet with that support which he +so richly deserves. The exertions of the crew were likewise observed, +and are deserving of praise.--D. McDougal, James Alason, G. N. Ridley, +Peter McDougal." + +This was probably the occasion of a doleful rejoinder of Mr. Peter +McDougal's, which became locally a kind of proverbial expression: "No +more breakfast in this world for Pete McDoug." The story was that Mr. +McDougal, when suffering severely from the effects of a storm on the +Lake, replied in these terms to the cook, who came to announce +breakfast. The phrase seemed to take the popular fancy, and was employed +now and then to express a mild despair of surrounding circumstances. + +In 1820 a Traveller, whose journal is quoted by Willis, in Bartlett's +_Canadian Scenery_ (ii. 48), was six days in accomplishing the journey +from Prescott to York by water. "On the 3rd of September," he says, "we +embarked for York at Prescott, on board a small schooner called the +_Caledonia_. We performed this voyage, which is a distance of 250 miles, +in six days." In 1818, Mr. M. F. Whitehead, of Port Hope, was two days +and a-half in crossing from Niagara to York. "My first visit to York," +Mr. Whitehead says in a communication to the writer, "was in September, +1818, crossing the Lake from Niagara with Dr. Baldwin--a two and a-half +days' passage. The Doctor had thoughtfully provided a leg of lamb, a +loaf of bread, and a bottle of porter: all our fare," adds Mr. +Whitehead, "for two days and a-half." We have ourselves more than once, +in former days, experienced the horrors of the middle passage between +Niagara and York, having crossed and re-crossed, in very rough weather, +in the Kingston Packet, or _Brothers_, and having been detained on the +Lake for a whole night and a good portion of a day in the process. The +schooners for Niagara and elsewhere used to announce the time of their +departure from the wharf at York in primitive style, by repeated blasts +from a long tin horn, so called, sounded at intervals previous to their +casting loose, and at the moment of the start. Fast and large steamers +have, of course, now reduced to a minimum the miseries of a voyage +between the North and South shores; but these miseries are still not +slight at the stormy seasons, when Lake Ontario often displays a mood by +no means amiable-- + + "Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild, + Up from the bottom turned by furious winds + And surging waves." + +It is some consolation to reflect, that with all the skill and +appliances at the command of English engineers and shipbuilders, it has +been found hitherto impossible to render the passage from Dover to +Calais a luxury; nor possibly will that result be secured even by the +enormous ferry-steamers which are projected. In 1791, twenty-four hours +were occasionally occupied in the passage from Dover to Calais. "I am +half-dead," writes the learned traveller Dr. E. D. Clarke, at Calais, to +his mother; "I am half-dead with sea-sickness: twenty-four hours' +passage from Dover." + +Again, the mode in which the first Lake steamers were made to near the +landing-place in the olden time, was something which would fill a modern +steamboat captain with amazement. Accustomed as we are every day to see +huge steamers guided without any ado straight up to the margin of a quay +or pier, the process of putting in seems a simple affair. Not so was it, +however, in practice to the first managers of steamboats. When the +_Frontenac_ or _William IV._ was about to approach the wharf at York, +the vessel was brought to a standstill some way out in the harbour. From +near the fore and after gangways boats were then lowered, bearing +hawsers; and by means of these, when duly landed, the vessel was +solemnly drawn to shore. An agitated multitude usually witnessed the +operation. + +In the _Gazette_ of July 20, 1820, we have the information that "on +Saturday evening, a schooner of about sixty tons, built for Mr. Oates +and others, was launched in this port (York). She went off," the +_Gazette_ says, "in very fine style, until she reached the water, where, +from some defect in her ways, her progress was checked; and from the +lateness of the hour, she could not be freed from the impediment before +the next morning, when she glided into the Bay in safety. Those who are +judges say that it is a very fine vessel of, the class. It is now +several years," continues the _Gazette_, "since any launch has been +here; it therefore, though so small a vessel, attracted a good deal of +curiosity." This was the _Duke of Richmond_ packet, afterwards a +favourite on the route between York and Niagara. The _Gazette_ describes +the _Richmond_ somewhat incorrectly as a schooner, and likewise +understates the tonnage. She was a sloop of the Revenue cutter build, +and her burthen was about one hundred tons. Of Mr. Oates we have had +occasion to speak in our perambulation of King Street. + +In an _Observer_ of 1820, we have the first advertisement of the +_Richmond_. It reads thus: "The _Richmond_ Packet, Edward Oates, +commander, will commence running between the Ports of York and Niagara +on Monday, the 24th instant (July), as a regular Packet. She will leave +York on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 9 o'clock a.m., precisely; +and Niagara on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, at 10 a.m., to the +24th of September, when the hour of departure will be made known to the +Public. The _Richmond_ has excellent accommodations for Ladies, +Gentlemen and other Passengers, and nothing will be omitted to make her +one of the completest and safest passage vessels of the class in +America, being manned with experienced mariners. Rates of passage: After +Cabin, 10s.; Fore Cabin, 6s. 3d. Children under twelve years, +half-price. Sixty pounds baggage allowed to each passenger; above that +weight, 9d. per cwt., or 2s. per barrel bulk. For freight or passage +apply to John Crooks, Esq., Niagara; the Captain on board; or at the +Subscriber's store. Ed. Oates, York, July 17, 1820." + +Captain Vavassour, commandant at Fort George, presented Capt. Oates with +a gun and a set of colours. The former used to announce to the people of +York the arrival and departure of the _Richmond_; and a striped +signal-flag found among the latter, was hoisted at the Lighthouse on +Gibraltar Point whenever the _Richmond_ Packet hove in sight. (For a +considerable period, all vessels were signalized by a flag flying from +the Lighthouse.) + +Two years later, the _Richmond_ is prospering on the route between York +and Niagara. In the _Gazette_ of June 7th, 1822, we have an +advertisement of tenor similar to the one given above. "_Richmond_ +Packet, Edward Oates, master, will regularly leave York for Niagara on +Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and Niagara for York on Tuesdays, +Thursdays and Saturdays, from the 1st of June until the 1st of +September." The advertisement then goes on to say: "Edward Oates +respectfully informs his friends and the Public, that his Packet shall +leave York and Niagara on the above days, either in the morning or +evening, as the wind and passengers may suit; and that passengers may +depend on a passage on the above days. The superiority of sailing and +accommodation for ladies and gentlemen are too well known to the public +to make any comment upon. York, June 1st, 1822." By the following year, +however, the _Richmond's_ occupation was coming to an end. Steam on the +route between York and Niagara had its effect. From the _Gazette_ of +Jan. 16, 1823, we learn that Mr. Oates is about to dispose of his +interest in the _Richmond_; is virtually about to sell the vessel. In +the paper just named we read the following advertisement: "Auction. +Fifty Shares, or three-quarters and two sixty-fourths of that superior +vessel the _Richmond_ Packet, will positively be sold by auction, at the +Town of York, on Saturday, the 25th instant, together with all her +tackle, apparel, stores and furniture; an inventory of which may be seen +on application to R. Coleman, Esq., York; Mr. Edward Oates, Niagara. +N.B.--Terms of sale: one-third down; the remainder in two equal payments +at three and six months, with approved endorsers. York, Jan. 6, 1823." + +In a _Gazette_ of this year we have a pleasure boat offered for sale at +York, apparently a bargain. In the number for May 15, 1823, is the +following advertisement: "Pleasure-boat to be sold: built of oak, an +extremely fast sailer, and in every respect a complete vessel of the +kind. It is rigged with jib, foresail, mainsail, and driver. Original +cost, upwards of forty guineas (and not more than four years old). It +will now be sold, with everything belonging to it, at the low price of +fifteen pounds currency. Enquire at the _Gazette_ Office, York. 7th May, +1823." + +As the _Richmond_ Packet filled an important place in the early marine +of the harbour, it will be of interest to mention her ultimate fate. +While engaged, in 1826, in conveying a cargo of salt from Oswego, she +was wrecked near Brighton, on the bay of Presqu'isle, towards the +eastern part of Lake Ontario. The Captain, no longer Mr. Oates, losing +his presence of mind in a gale of wind, cut the cable of his vessel and +ran her ashore. The remains of the wreck, after being purchased by +Messrs. Willman, Bailey and Co., were taken to Wellington, on the south +side of the peninsula of Prince Edward county, where the cannon which +had ornamented the deck of the defunct packet, and had for so many years +daily made the harbour of York resound with its detonations, did duty in +firing salutes on royal birthdays and other public occasions up to 1866, +when, being overcharged, it burst, the fragments scattering themselves +far and wide in the waters round the wharf at Wellington. + +Just as the _Richmond_ disappears, another favourite vessel, for some +years distinguished in the annals of York harbour, and commanded by a +man of note, comes into the field of view. "The new steamer _Canada_," +says the _Loyalist_ of June 3, 1826, "was towed into port this week by +the _Toronto_, from the mouth of the river Rouge, where she was built +during the last winter. She will be shortly fitted up for her intended +route, which, we understand, will be from York and Niagara round the +head of the Lake, and will add another to the increasing facilities of +conveyance in Upper Canada." The _Loyalist_ then adds: "Six steamboats +now navigate the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, in this Province, +besides the _Canada_, and a boat nearly ready for launching at +Brockville." We shall presently hear much of the career of the _Canada_ +and her commander. + +The _Toronto_ (Capt. Shaw), named above as towing the _Canada_ into the +harbour, was a steam-packet of peculiar make, built at York. She was +constructed without any difference of shape at the bow and stern, and +without ribs. She was a shell of successive layers of rather thin boards +placed alternately lengthwise and athwart, with coatings, between, of +stout brown paper pitched. She proved a failure as a vessel for the Lake +traffic, and was speedily taken down the river, where she was also +unfortunate. We hear of her in the _Loyalist_ of June 17, 1826. "By a +letter," the Editor says, "received from Kingston we are sorry to hear +that the steamboat _Toronto_, on her first trip from that place to +Prescott, had unfortunately got aground several times, and that in +consequence it had been found necessary to haul her out of the water at +Brockville, to be repaired. The damage is stated not to be very great, +but the delay, besides occasioning inconvenience, must be attended with +some loss to the proprietors." The Editor then adds: "The navigation of +the St Lawrence, for steamboats, between Kingston and Prescott, is in +many places extremely difficult, and requires that the most skilful and +experienced pilots should be employed." In the same number of the +_Loyalist_ is an advertisement of the _Martha Ogden_, a United States +boat. "Notice. The steamboat _Martha Ogden_, Andrew Estes, master, will +ply between York and Youngstown during the remainder of the season, +making a daily trip from each place, Saturdays excepted, when she will +cross but once. Hours of sailing, 6 o'clock in the morning and 3 o'clock +in the afternoon. To accommodate the public, her hours of departure from +each place will be changed alternately every week, of which notice will +be regularly given. This arrangement will continue in effect, weather +permitting, until further notice is given. Passengers wishing to cross +the river Niagara will be sent over in the ferry-boat free of charge. +Cabin passage, two dollars. Deck passage, one dollar. Agents at York, +Messrs. M. and R. Meighan. June 13, 1826." + +The _Frontenac_ is still plying to York. In 1826 she brings up the +Lieut.-Governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland, from Kingston. The _Loyalist_ +of Saturday, June 3, 1826, duly makes the announcement. "His Excellency +the Lieutenant-Governor arrived here (York) on Wednesday afternoon, on +board the _Frontenac_, Capt. McKenzie, from Kingston. His Excellency +landed at the King's Wharf under a salute from the Garrison. Major +Hillier and Captain Maitland accompanied his Excellency. On Thursday +morning, his Excellency embarked on board the _Frontenac_ for Niagara." + +The following week she brings over from Niagara Col. McGregor and the +70th Regiment. The _Loyalist_ of June 10, 1826, thus speaks. "We have +much pleasure in announcing the arrival in this place of the Head +Quarter Division of the 70th Regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Col. +McGregor. They landed from the steamboat _Frontenac_ yesterday morning, +and marched into the York Garrison." The _Loyalist_ then proceeds to +eulogize the 70th, and to express satisfaction at the removal of that +regiment to York. "The distinguished character of this fine regiment, +and the honourable testimony which has been given of their uniformly +correct and praiseworthy conduct, wherever they have been stationed, +affords the most perfect assurance that from the esteem in which they +have so deservedly been held, during a period of more than thirteen +years' service in Canada, their stay at this Garrison will be rendered +highly satisfactory to the inhabitants, and, we should hope, pleasant to +themselves." It was on this occasion that many of the inhabitants of +York beheld for the first time the impressive sight of a Highland +regiment, wearing the kilt and the lofty plumed cap. A full military +band, too, which accompanies only Head Quarter Divisions, was a novelty +at York; as previous to this year Niagara, and not York, was regarded as +Military head quarters. The Pipers increased the excitement. The band of +the 70th displayed, moreover, at this period further accessories of pomp +and circumstance in the shape of negro cymbal players, and a magnificent +oriental-looking standard of swaying tails surmounted by a huge +glittering crescent bearing small bells. + +In the down-trip from York, the same week, the _Frontenac_ took away a +detachment of the 76th Regiment. "The detachment of the 76th Regiment," +the _Loyalist_ of June 10 reports, "under command of Lieut. Grubbe, +embarked on board the _Frontenac_ yesterday, on its destination to join +the regiment at Montreal. Lieut. Grubbe takes with him," the Editor of +the _Loyalist_ says, "the cordial regard of the inhabitants of York; and +the exemplary conduct of the detachment under his command has been such +as to merit from them their best wishes for their future +prosperity."--During the same week the steamer _Queenston_ had arrived +at York, as we learn from the following item in the same _Loyalist_ of +June 10: "The Rev. Mr. Hudson, Military Chaplain, who accompanied the +Lord Bishop from England, arrived here in the _Queenston_ on Tuesday +last. Mr. Hudson is appointed Chaplain to the Garrison at York." (In +August, 1828, Mr. Hudson must have been in England. We read the +following in the _Loyalist_ of Oct. 11, in that year:--"Married, on the +12th of August last, at Crosby-on-Elden, Cumberland, by the Rev. S. +Hudson, B.A., the Rev. J. Hudson, M.A., Fellow of St. Peter's College, +Cambridge, and Chaplain to the Forces at York, in Upper Canada, to +Barbara Wells, second daughter of the Rev. Thomas Lowry, D.D.") In the +_Loyalist_ of July 29, in this year (1826), we hear of "the new steamer +_Niagara_, built at Prescott, John Mosier, captain." This new steamer +_Niagara_ was in reality Capt. Mosier's schooner _The Union of +Wellington Grove_, turned into a steamer. Some error had been committed +in the build of the _Union_, and she suddenly capsized in the river near +Prescott. Capt. Mosier then cut her in two, added to her length thirty +feet by an insertion, and converted her into the _Niagara_ steam-packet. +Her arrival at York is announced in the _Loyalist_ of July 29, and her +return thither from Niagara with American tourists on board. The +_Loyalist_ says: "The new steamboat _Niagara_, built at Prescott, John +Mosier, captain, arrived here (York) on Monday last, the 24th instant. +She proceeded the same day to Niagara, and returned on Tuesday +afternoon, with a number of American ladies and gentlemen making the +Northern tour. This arrangement," continues the _Loyalist_, "of visiting +York twice on the route round the Lake will be continued, we hope, as +the number of persons travelling at this season of the year, having an +opportunity of seeing York, will tend to enliven the town. The +_Niagara_" it is added, "is a handsome and well-built boat, with a +powerful engine, and most excellent accommodation for travellers." A +_Loyalist_ of the following month (the number for Aug, 12, 1826) reports +the _Niagara_ as bearing another kind of freight. She has on board, for +one thing, 60 hogsheads of tobacco. "The steamboat _Niagara_, Capt. +Mosier, arrived in port on Monday last from Prescott _via_ Niagara. On +going on board," says the Editor of the _Loyalist_, "it afforded us much +pleasure to find that her cargo consisted in part of sixty hogsheads of +Leaf Tobacco for the Montreal market, the produce of the western part of +the Province. The cultivation of this article of consumption," continues +the _Loyalist_, "is attracting the attention of the farmers in the +Western District, and a large quantity of it will be offered in the +market this year. The next season it will be very much increased. The +soil and climate of that part of the Province is represented as being +well adapted to the growth of the tobacco plant, and the enterprise +which is exhibited to secure the advantages thus held out, gives fair +promise that the article will before long be added to the list of the +staple productions of our country, and afford not only a sufficient +supply for home consumption, but also form an important item in the +schedule of Canadian exports." + +In the same number of the _Loyalist_ we hear again of Capt. Richardson's +new steamboat, the _Canada_. We read of her first passage across from +York to Niagara, thus: "The new steamboat _Canada_, Capt. Richardson, +made her first trip to Niagara on Monday last, and went out of the +harbour in fine style. Her appearance reflects much credit on her +builder, Mr. Joseph Dennis; and the machinery, manufactured by Messrs. +Wards of Montreal, is a specimen of superior workmanship. The combined +excellence of the model and machinery of this boat is such," says the +_Loyalist_, "as will render her what is usually termed 'a fast boat.' +The trip to Niagara was performed in four hours and some minutes. Her +present route, we observe, is advertised from York to Niagara and the +Head of the Lake. In noticing this first trip of another steamboat," +continues the _Loyalist_, "we cannot help contrasting the present means +of conveyance with those ten years ago. At that time only a few +schooners navigated the Lake, and the passage was attended with many +delays and much inconvenience. Now there are five steamboats, all +affording excellent accommodation, and the means of expeditious +travelling. The routes of each are so arranged that almost every day of +the week the traveller may find opportunities of being conveyed from one +extremity of the Lake to the other in a few hours. The _Niagara_ and +_Queenston_ from Prescott, and the _Frontenac_ from Kingston once a +week, and the _Canada_ and _Martha Ogden_ between York and Niagara and +the Head of the Lake every day, afford facilities of communication which +the most sanguine could scarcely have anticipated at the period we speak +of. Independent of these boats, it must be mentioned that the _Cornwall_ +on Lake St. Louis makes a trip every day from Coteau du Lac to Cornwall; +the _Dalhousie_ runs between Prescott and Kingston twice a week and +conveys the mail; the _Charlotte_ and _Toronto_ once a week from +Prescott to the Head of the Bay of Quinte; thus affording to every part +of the country the same advantages of convenient intercourse. These are +some of the evidences of improvement among us during the last few years +which require no comment. They speak for themselves, and it must be +pretty evident from such facts as these, that those who cannot, or will +not, see the progress we are making, must be wilfully blind." (The +closing remark was of course for the benefit of contemporary editors at +York and elsewhere, who, from their political view of things, gave their +readers the impression that Canada was a doomed country, going rapidly +to perdition.) + +From the _Loyalist_ of Aug. 19, 1826, we learn that "the steamboat +_Niagara_, on her trip from York to Kingston, had her machinery injured, +and has put back into Bath to repair." In the same number of the +_Loyalist_, we are told that the proprietor of the _Frontenac_ had +fractured his leg. "We regret to hear," the _Loyalist_ says, "that an +accident happened last week to John Hamilton, Esq., the proprietor of +the steamboat _Frontenac_. In stepping out of a carriage at the Falls, +he unfortunately broke his leg." In a _Loyalist_ of the following month +(Sept. 2, 1826), we hear again of Sir Peregrine Maitland's movements in +the _Frontenac_. The _Loyalist_ says: "His Excellency the +Lieutenant-Governor and suite arrived in town (York) from Kingston +yesterday morning, on board the _Frontenac_, and after remaining a few +hours, proceeded to Stamford." The next _Loyalist_ (Sep. 9, 1826) speaks +of an expeditious trip made by Capt. Mosier's _Niagara_. "The Steamboat +_Niagara_, Capt. Mosier, made," it says, "her trip last week, from York +to Prescott, and back again, in something less than four days, touching +at the ports of Kingston, Gananoque and Brockville, going and returning, +independent of the usual delay at Prescott. The distance is nearly five +hundred miles." + +From the _Loyalist_ of Sept. 30, 1826, we hear of the steamboat +_Queenston_, Capt. Whitney. A notice appears that "The steamboat +_Queenston_, Capt. W. Whitney, will, during the remainder of the season, +leave Niagara for Kingston and Prescott every Thursday at eight o'clock +a.m., instead of 10 o'clock as heretofore. Queenston, Sept. 8, 1826." +From a number of the _Loyalist_ in the following month (Oct. 7, 1826), +we gather that an accident, which might have been very disastrous, had +happened to the _Queenston_. "With pleasure," the Editor says, "we state +that the steamboat _Queenston_ arrived here (York) on Thursday last, +without having sustained any serious injury in consequence of the late +accident which happened by her getting aground near Kingston. The +apprehensions which were entertained for the safety of this fine boat +are therefore happily removed. After getting off she returned to +Prescott, where the necessary repairs were immediately made, and brought +up several passengers and a full cargo." + +A communication from Hugh Richardson, Captain of the _Canada_, appears +in the _Loyalist_ of Oct. 14, 1826. A passenger has leaped overboard +from his vessel and been drowned. "To the Editor of the _U. E. +Loyalist_. Sir,--On Friday evening a passenger on board the _Canada_, on +her way from Burlington Beach to Niagara, was seen by the man at the +helm to jump overboard. On the alarm being given, in an instant the +sails were in, engine stopped, and boat lowered, into which I jumped +with two hands, and rowed a quarter of a mile in our wake, but, I am +sorry to say, without success. On returning aboard, his hat was found, +as if deliberately placed near the gangway whence he jumped. The hat is +a new white one, and beside the maker's name is written 'Joseph Jewell +Claridge, Jersey City.' The hat contained a new red and yellow silk +handkerchief, a pair of white cotton gloves, and three-quarters of a +dollar in silver. He was a good-looking young man, well dressed, in blue +coat, yellow waistcoat, black or blue pantaloons and boots. He had +neither bundle nor luggage, and came on board at Burlington Beach. I am +inclined to think from all appearances, and the trifle of money left in +the hat, that distressed circumstances had pourtrayed, in a too +sensitive mind, insurmountable evils, producing temporary derangement, +during which the barriers of nature were broken down; and he rushed in +frenzy before his Maker. Perhaps by your kindly inserting this it may +meet the eye of some relation or friend, to whom, on application, the +little articles he left will be restored. I am, Sir, your most obedient +servant, Hugh Richardson. York, Oct. 3, 1826." (We shall have other +communications of Capt. Richardson's brought under our notice shortly. +They are always marked by vigour; and are now and then pleasantly racy +of the profession to which the writer belonged.) + +The _Loyalist_ of Nov. 11, 1826, notices a second accident which has +befallen Captain Mosier's vessel. It says: "The steamer _Niagara_, on +her way from Prescott last week, unfortunately struck on a reef of rocks +off Poplar Point, about fifty miles from Kingston, where, at the latest +dates, she was lying on her beam ends, in about five feet of water. The +_Queenston_ brought her passengers up," it is added, "on Saturday last; +and we are informed that, owing to the exertions of Capt. Mosier, the +greater part of her cargo has been forwarded to York. Yesterday a person +who came from the _Niagara_, stated that she had received no damage from +the late gales of wind, and as she has weathered these, we sincerely +hope that she may be got off without much difficulty or injury." In the +next number it is noted that "at the latest dates the steamboat +_Niagara_ was still aground. The greatest exertions are making by Capt. +Mosier to get her off. The weather has been tempestuous; but we are +happy to hear that the _Niagara_ has not received any material injury." + +In this number is a notice that "a meeting of the stockholders of the +Steampacket _Canada_ will be held at York, on board of the Boat, on +Monday, the 4th of December, at 12 o'clock. By order of the Committee of +Management. J. W. Gamble, Treasurer, York, 15th Nov., 1826."--One result +of the meeting thus advertised is an address to the stockholders from +Capt. Richardson, which appears in the _Loyalist_ of Dec. 9. The Captain +is plainly uneasy in view of the possibility of the majority deciding +that he shall not be in the sole charge and management of the _Canada_ +in the ensuing year. He announces his intention to visit England during +the winter, for the purpose of raising funds among his friends which may +enable him to buy out the few persons who are associated with him in the +ownership of the boat. "Gentlemen," he says, "it having been decided at +a Meeting of the Stockholders, held on board the _Canada_, that I should +be invested with the sole charge and management of the boat the ensuing +year, unless at a Meeting to be held the first Monday in March, other +arrangements take place, I seize this opportunity, on the eve of my +departure for England, to assure the Stockholders that I have made +every arrangement for the safety of the boat and the necessary repairs. +And at the same time I respectfully submit to them the ostensible motive +of my voyage. Gentlemen, I am so deeply embarked in the speculation I +have entered into, that the prospect of the stock depreciating, and of +the boat's services and my own labours being rendered abortive in so +lucrative a ferry as that betwixt York and Niagara, mainly by a +plurality of the management, fills me with dismay. And, as I trust I am +entitled to the confidence the Stockholders generally placed in my +abilities, and am convinced that unless the power of management be +invested in one person to act with all his energies in the scene of +profits, to seize the advantages of market in the economy of the outlay +with the discretion of a sole owner, loss and ruin to myself must ensue. +With this view of the subject I embark for England to endeavour to raise +funds and relieve those gentlemen who are averse to my management, and +to take up the remainder of the stock, that they who so kindly confided +in my assurances of individual profit, and placed implicit reliance in +my integrity and abilities, may not be disappointed in their fair +expectations. Confident that I possess the hearty wishes of success from +many valuable patrons, in taking leave, I am happy to subscribe myself, +Gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant, Hugh Richardson. York, +Dec. 6, 1826." + +By the 24th of March in the following year (1827) he is back again in +York. In the _Loyalist_ of the date just given is a second address to +the stockholders, preparatory to the meeting which is to take place on +the 2nd of April. He recounts his proceedings in England, and urges +again his own appointment as sole manager of the _Canada_. As +illustrative of the anxieties attendant at an early period, and at all +periods, on individual personal enterprise, insufficiently supported, +the document possesses an interest. + +"To the Stockholders in the _Canada_ Steamboat. Gentlemen, it must be +fresh in the memory of you all that I am the original projector of the +_Canada_; that my abilities, in whatever light they may be viewed, were +wholly employed in planning, constructing and fitting her out. Facts +have already proved that I led no one astray by false theories in her +construction; and her engine is upon the model of the very best now +generally in use in England. I have been all along by far the largest +shareholder, and nearly the whole of the shares were taken up by +gentlemen upon my personal solicitations, in doing which I did not fear, +in the strongest language I was master of, to pledge the success of the +undertaking, not only on the prospect of the lucrative ferry, but also +upon the faith of my own personal exertions. Then do I infer too much by +saying that a friendly disposition towards me, a confidence in my +abilities and my integrity (with very few exceptions), was the basis +upon which I met with such general patronage? However, after a certain +period it was no longer possible to raise sufficient stock to complete +the vessel; the expedient of borrowing was resorted to, and a debt of +L1,200 contracted with the Bank. Upon this the boat commenced her +operations, and ran from the 7th of August, a period of 98 days; during +which time, Gentlemen, I look upon it as a matter of congratulation that +at her very first starting, having an American boat to oppose her, the +proceeds of the _Canada_ not only paid her current expenses, but also a +sum of upwards of L200 in extraordinary outfit, including L40 insurance +on money borrowed, also the interest thereon; L50 nearly for replacing +her wheels repeatedly destroyed, and considerable repairs. I see nothing +but what is most flattering in this her first outset. Thus it would have +appeared had I made my report: and had I done it in the most favourable +light, I should have thought, as one of the guardians of the property +entrusted to my charge, that I was only fulfilling a duty I owed the +Stockholders when I enhanced, rather than depreciated, its value. At the +end of the season, from disappointments and expenses in collecting the +amount of the shares taken up, there was found still wanting a sum of +L400; and at the last general meeting this further sum was borrowed, +hampering the boat with a debt of L1,000. At this crisis, at a very +great personal expense, and at a greater sacrifice of domestic comfort, +I set out for England to trespass upon my own immediate friends; and now +return prepared to relieve the embarrassments of the boat, and am +willing, in the face of representations that went to disparage the +stock, to invest a much larger capital in the _Canada_; in doing which I +confer a benefit upon the whole, and trust I give further proof of the +sincerity of my professions, when I undertook the arduous task of +getting up a Steamboat. But, Gentlemen, things have not gone as I +wished, or as I intended; and, perhaps, I am the only person who will +have property invested in this vessel to such an amount as to make it of +vital importance that success should attend the adventure. Therefore, +upon this ground, upon the ground of my being the projector of this +vessel, upon the responsibility of my situation as Master, ostensible +agent, and possessing owner, I most earnestly solicit your particular +support to my appointment as managing owner of this vessel; and to that +effect may I again solicit the most general attendance of the +Stockholders at the meeting to be held on board the _Canada_ the second +of April. I am, Gentlemen, your very obedient and very humble servant, +Hugh Richardson. York, 24th March, 1827." + +It is to be supposed that Capt. Richardson's views were adopted at the +meeting. + +In the _Loyalist_ for May 5, 1827, we have him subscribing himself +"Managing Owner," to the following notice: "The _Canada_ British +Steam-Packet, Capt. Hugh Richardson, leaves Niagara daily for York at 7 +o'clock in the morning, and starts from York for Niagara every day at 2 +o'clock in the afternoon. The _Canada_ crosses the Lake in the short +space of four hours and a half, and affords travellers arriving at the +Falls an expeditious and convenient opportunity of visiting the Capital +of Upper Canada. Fare: Cabin passage, two dollars; Deck and Fore Cabin, +one dollar. Passengers returning immediately with the boat will only pay +half the above prices for the return. Hugh Richardson, Managing Owner. +York, April 21, 1827." + +In 1827 Capt. Richardson was the recipient of an honorary present of a +Key Bugle. In the _Loyalist_ of June 30, '27, we read the following +card:--"Mr. Richardson takes this opportunity of acknowledging the +receipt of a Key Bugle from the young gentlemen of York, accompanied by +a letter expressive of their esteem and approbation of his conduct in +the management of the _Canada_. In returning his sincere thanks for the +above mark of their valued esteem and the high compliment paid him in +the accompanying letter, he must look upon the warm and friendly +colouring which they have been pleased to give to his conduct, as a +picture drawn by the free and generous hand of youth, rather to emulate, +than having semblance to the original. Nevertheless, his aim has ever +been, and ever will be, to do credit to those who placed him where he +is, and to support the character of a British seaman. York, 30th June, +1827." + +From a preceding number of the _Loyalist_ in this year we learn that on +the 20th of April the mate of the _Canada_ was accidentally drowned. The +paper just mentioned says:--"George Reid, mate of the Steamboat +_Canada_, was last night drowned by falling from the plank leading from +the wharf to the vessel. It is painful to hear that the unfortunate man +leaves a wife and five children to deplore his sudden loss." + +The _Loyalist_ of the 7th of that month says: "His Excellency the +Lieutenant-Governor and family left York for Stamford on Wednesday +morning last, on board the Steamboat _Queenston_. His Excellency's +departure was announced by a salute from the Garrison." + +On May the 12th the _Queenston_ has returned from Niagara, and meets +with a casualty at York. The _Loyalist_ of the 19th says: "The Steamboat +_Queenston_ met with an accident while lying at the wharf here on +Saturday last. In raising the steam before proceeding to Niagara, the +boiler was partially burst. The accident was not attended with any +serious consequences. The _Queenston_ was delayed until the following +Thursday in making the necessary repairs, before she proceeded on her +voyage." + +In June this year (1827) the _Niagara_ has been removed from the spot +where she was run ashore last year, and is undergoing repairs at +Kingston. In the _Loyalist_ of June 16, 1827, we read: "We are happy to +hear that the Steamboat _Niagara_ has been got off the rocks near Long +Point, and that she is now lying in the harbour at Kingston, undergoing +repairs. She is stated to have received but little damage; and it was +expected that in the course of a month she would commence her regular +trips across the Lake." + +In the _Loyalist_ of May 26, 1827, we hear once more of the _Frontenac_. +She is laid up, we are told, and a steamer to succeed her is to be +built: "We are happy to hear," the _Loyalist_ says, "that Captain +McKenzie, late in command of the _Frontenac_ (now laid up), has made +arrangements for building a new boat, to be propelled by an engine of +greater power than that of any other now navigating the Lake. The +acknowledged ability of Capt. McKenzie while in command of the +_Frontenac_, the regularity with which her trips were performed, and the +attention he at all times bestowed to the comfort and convenience of his +passengers, induce us to hope that the undertaking he has commenced will +be speedily carried into effect." + +In the _Loyalist_ of June 9th, 1827, the _Frontenac_ is offered for sale +by auction at Kingston. In the advertisement, the historical machinists +Boulton & Watt are named as the makers of her engine: "By Public +Auction. Will be sold on Monday, the second of July next, at Kingston, +as she now lays (_sic_) at the wharf, the Steamboat _Frontenac_, with +her anchors, chain-cables, rigging, &c. Also the engine, of 50 horse +power, manufactured by Messrs. Watt & Boulton. Sale to commence at 10 +o'clock a.m., on board. For any further information application to made +to Mr. Strange, Kingston, or to John Hamilton, Queenston. June 1, 1827." + +Possibly no sale was effected, for we learn from the _Loyalist_ of Sept. +1 that the _Frontenac_ was to be removed to Niagara by Mr. Hamilton. The +_Loyalist_ copies from the Upper Canada _Herald_, published at Kingston, +the following paragraph: "Yesterday the old _Frontenac_, under the care +of R. Hamilton, Esq., left Kingston for Niagara, where, we understand, +she is to be broken up. Mr. Hamilton is preparing materials for a new +boat of about 350 tons." + +We then gather from a _Loyalist_ of Sept. 29, 1827, that while lying at +the wharf at Niagara, the _Frontenac_ was mischievously set fire to. The +paper just named says: "The Messrs. Hamilton, proprietors of the +Steamboat _Frontenac_, have offered a reward of L100 for the discovery +of the persons who set fire to that vessel some time ago. The +_Frontenac_, after being fired, was loosed from her moorings, and had +drifted some distance into the Lake, when she was met by the _Niagara_, +Capt. Mosier, who took her in tow, and succeeded in bringing her to the +wharf at Niagara, where after some exertions the flames were +extinguished." + +This, as we suppose, terminates the history of the _Frontenac_, the +first steamboat on Lake Ontario. + +As associated with Boulton & Watt's engine, spoken of above, we must +mention the name of Mr. John Leys, for some years Capt. McKenzie's chief +engineer on board the _Frontenac_. At the outset of steam navigation, +men competent to superintend the working of the machinery of a steamboat +were, of course, not numerous, and Captains were obliged in some degree +to humour their chief engineer when they had secured the services of +one. Capt. McKenzie, it would be said, was somewhat tyrannized over by +Mr. Leys, who was a Scot, not very tractable; and the _Frontenac's_ +movements, times of sailing, and so on, were very much governed by a +will in the hold, independent of that of the ostensible Commander. Mr. +Leys, familiarly spoken of as Jock Leys, was long well known in York. + +In July, 1827, the _Queenston_ was engaged in the transfer of troops. +In the _Loyalist_ of July 21, 1827, we read: "Detachments of the 68th +Regiment for Amherstburg, under the command of Captain North; Fort +George, Captain Melville; and Penetanguishene, Ensign Medley, were on +board the _Queenston_, and proceeded on Tuesday last to their several +destinations. On Thursday the _Queenston_ returned to York from Niagara, +when the first division of the 70th Regiment embarked to proceed to +Lower Canada." In her next trip the _Queenston_ brought more troops, and +took more away. In the _Loyalist_ of the 28th of July we read: "The +first division of the 68th Regiment for this Garrison arrived by the +_Queenston_ on Tuesday, and on her return a second detachment of the +70th proceeded to Lower Canada. The exchanges are now we believe nearly +completed," the _Loyalist_ adds. In the number for August 4, the +_Queenston_ is once more spoken of as engaged in the conveyance of +troops to and from York. "The head-quarter division of the 68th +Regiment, under the command of Major Winniett, arrived on Tuesday +morning, and on Thursday that of the 70th Regiment, under Lieut.-Colonel +Evans, embarked on board the steamboat _Queenston_. During the short +stay made by the 70th Regiment in this garrison," the _Loyalist_ says, +"their conduct has been such as to secure to them the same kind feelings +which have been expressed towards them by the inhabitants of the towns +in both Provinces where they have at different times been stationed. +They are now on their return to their native country, after a long and +honourable period of service in the Canadas, and they carry with them +the best wishes of the inhabitants for their future welfare and +prosperity." When thus announcing the departure of the 70th Regiment, +the _Loyalist_ adds: "We cannot but notice with pleasure the arrival of +so distinguished a corps as the 68th amongst us." The standing +advertisement of the _Queenston_ for this year may be added: "Lake +Ontario Steam-Boat Notice: The Public are informed that the Steam-Boat +_Queenston_, Captain James Whitney, has commenced making her regular +trips, and will during the summer leave the different Ports as follows: +Leave Niagara for Kingston, Brockville, and Prescott, every Thursday +morning at 8 o'clock precisely; and leave Prescott on her return for +Brockville, Kingston and York, every Sunday, at 12 o'clock, noon. +Arrangements have been made with Messrs. Norton and Co., Stage +Proprietors, Prescott, by which passengers going down will arrive at +Montreal on Saturday evening; and passengers proceeding upwards will, +by leaving Montreal on Saturday morning, arrive at Prescott in time to +take the Boat. Every endeavour has been made to render the accommodation +and fare on board of the best description. Queenston, May 25, 1827." + +In a _Loyalist_ of this period we have a communication from Captain +Richardson, of the _Canada_, giving an authentic account of the swamping +of a small boat in the attempt to put a passenger on board his steamer +in the Niagara river. This characteristic letter contains some excellent +directions as to the proper method of boarding a steamer when under way. + +"To the Editor of the _U. E. Loyalist_.--Sir, according to your request, +and to prevent misrepresentation, I herewith furnish you with the +particulars of the little accident that occurred to a Ferry Boat in +Niagara River, in attempting to board the _Canada_. On Saturday last as +the _Canada_ passed the lower ferry, coming out of Niagara river, a boat +put off with a passenger, and contrary to the rule laid down to admit of +no delays after the hour of departure, I ordered the engine to be +stopped, to take the passenger on board. The Ferryman, instead of rowing +to the gangway of the _Canada_, pulled the boat stem on to her bow +before the water wheel. The vessel going through the water, all +possibility of retreat from that position was precluded, and the +inevitable swamping of the boat ensued. Fortunately the engine was +entirely stopped: the Ferryman had the good luck to get hold of the +wheel and ascend by it. The passenger, after passing under it, clung to +the floating skiff. No time was lost in going to his relief with the +boats of the _Canada_, and both escaped uninjured. Any comment upon the +impropriety of boarding a steam vessel before the water wheel would be +absurd; but I may be allowed to advise this general rule to all persons +going alongside of a steam vessel, viz.: always to board to leeward, +never to attempt to cross her hawse, but to bring the boat's head round +in the same direction with the vessel under way; row up on her lee +quarter double oar's length distance, until abreast of the gangway; then +gradually sheer alongside, keeping as much as possible in parallel line +with the direction of the vessel you are boarding. I am, sir, your very +obedient servant, Hugh Richardson, Master of the _Canada_." + +A passage from Captain Richardson's "Report on the Preservation and +Improvement of the Harbour," to which in 1854 a supplementary or extra +premium of L75 was awarded by the Harbour Commissioners, may be quoted +as a further example of the neat employment of a sailor's technical +language. (He is arguing against cutting a canal into the Harbour at the +Carrying Place, where the great irruption of the waters of the lake +subsequently took place.) "With wind at S. W., and stormy," he says, +"(such a canal) would be valuable for exit, but for entrance from the +east, every nautical man would prefer making a stretch out into the open +Lake, weathering the Light at one long board, and rounding into the +Harbour with a fair wind, to hauling through the Canal, coming in dead +upon a lee shore, and having to beat up the Bay in short tacks." Some +twenty years previously similar views had been expressed in a printed +essay on York Harbour--a production in which, in his zeal for the +well-being of the Bay, Captain Richardson said some hard things of the +river Don, which we may here notice. The person who had uttered an +imprecation on the North Pole, Sidney Smith pronounced capable of +speaking evil next even of the Equator. Of what enormity of language +must not the dwellers by the stream which pours its tribute into the +Harbour of York, have thought Captain Richardson capable, when they +heard him in his haste call that respectable stream "a monster of +ingratitude," "an insidious monster," "the destroying cancer of the +Port?" "From the moment that the peninsula raised its protecting head +above the waters, and screened the Don from the surges of the Lake, the +Don," Captain Richardson says, "like a monster of ingratitude, has +displayed such destructive industry as to displace by its alluvial +disgorgings by far the greater part of the body of water originally +enclosed by the peninsula. The whole of the marsh to the East, once deep +and clear water, is," he asserts, "the work of the Don, and in the Bay +of York, where now its destructive mouths are turned, vegetation shews +itself in almost every direction, prognosticating" as he speaks, "the +approaching conversion of this beautiful sheet of water into another +marshy delta of the Don." Fothergill, too, in an address to the Electors +of the County of Durham, in 1826, indulges in a fling at the river which +pays its tribute to the Harbour of York. After quoting some strong words +of the elder Pitt in the British House of Commons on the subject of +public robbery and national plunder, he adds: "Perhaps the very quoting +of such language will be deemed treasonable within the pestilential +range of the vapours of the marsh of the great Don, and of the city of +many waters," meaning York, the head-quarters of the Government. "But +the Don, the poor unconscious object of all this invective, is in +reality no more to blame than is the savage because he is a savage, not +having had a chance to be anything else. In proceeding to lay the +foundation of a delta of solid land at its mouth, the Don followed the +precedent of other streams, in conformity with the physical conditions +of its situation. When at length the proper hour arrived, and the right +men appeared, possessed of the intelligence, the vigour and the wealth +equal to the task of bettering nature by art on a considerable scale, +then at once the true value and capabilities of the Don were brought out +into view. Speedily then were its channel and outlet put to their proper +and foreordained use, being transformed by means of cribwork and +embankments into a convenient interior harbour for Toronto, an +arrangement of high importance to the interests of a now populous +quarter, where some of the most striking developments of business +activity and manufacturing enterprise that the capital of Ontario can +boast of, have been witnessed." + +But to return. We were tracing the fortunes of Captain Richardson's +boat, the _Canada_, in 1827. + +In July, 1827, the _Canada_ met with an accident. She broke her main +shaft on the Lake. The _Loyalist_ of the 4th of August says: "We regret +to state that the steam-boat _Canada_, while crossing the Lake from +Niagara on Tuesday last, unfortunately broke her main shaft. The +accident we hope is not of such a nature as to deprive us any great +length of time of the convenience which that excellent Boat has afforded +us of daily communication with Niagara." In the paper of August 18th it +is announced that the _Canada_ is all right again. "The _Canada_, we are +happy to state, has again commenced making her usual trips to Niagara: +she left the Harbour yesterday afternoon." Towards the close of the +season we have a record of the brave buffetings of this vessel with an +easterly gale on the Lake. "On Monday last," says the _Loyalist_ of the +27th October, "we were visited by one of those violent gales of easterly +wind, accompanied with torrents of rain, not unusual at this season of +the year. The Steam-Boat _Canada_, at 10 o'clock in the morning, when +there was an appearance of the storm moderating, left the Niagara river +for York. She had not proceeded far on her voyage however, when the gale +increased with greater violence than before, and in a short time both +her masts were carried away, and some damage done to her chimney. +Fortunately her engine remained uninjured, and enabled her at about +five in the afternoon to reach the wharf in safety. The _Canada_ has +made some of her trips in the most boisterous weather, and deservedly +bears the name of an excellent sea boat. She suffered no delay from the +damage she had sustained, and left the Harbour the following morning for +Niagara. The weather since Monday continues boisterous and cold." + +On December 1st, the _Loyalist_ announces that "the _Canada_ Steam Boat +made her last trip from Niagara on Tuesday, and is now laid up for the +winter." In the following spring, on the 27th of March, she takes over +Sir Peregrine Maitland. "His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor and +family left York," says the _Loyalist_ of March 29, 1828, "on Thursday +morning for Stamford. His Excellency embarked on board the _Canada_ +Steam Packet under a salute from the Garrison." A communication from the +Captain appears in the _Loyalist_ of the 12th of April, having reference +to this trip. He replies to some strictures in the _Colonial Advocate_ +on some alleged exclusiveness exhibited by Sir Peregrine while crossing +the Lake in the _Canada_. "Having observed in the _Colonial Advocate_ of +the 3rd of April, under the head of Civilities, that His Excellency the +Lieutenant-Governor engaged the whole of the two cabins of the _Canada_ +for himself and family, and would not allow even the Members of Assembly +who were returning home to go over that day, except as deck passengers, +I have to declare the same an impudent falsehood. His Excellency having +condescended to intimate to me his desire to remove his family and +household as early as possible, I hastened the equipment of the _Canada_ +expressly on His Excellency's account, contrary to my intentions, and +the requisite delay for outfit until 1st April. To all applications for +passage on the day fixed for His Excellency's embarkation I replied, I +considered the vessel at His Excellency's orders. The moment His +Excellency came on board, and understood that I was excluding +passengers, I received His Excellency's orders to take on board every +passenger that wished to embark. The only further intimation I received +of His Excellency's pleasure was, on my application to know if I should +stop at Niagara, I received for answer that His Excellency had no desire +to stop there, but if I wished it, it could make no difference to His +Excellency. Born and bred under a Monarchical Government, educated in +the discipline of a British seaman, I have not yet learned the +insolence of elbowing a desire (in right, an order) of the +Representative of my Sovereign, by an impertinent wish of my own. I have +only to say that as long as I command the _Canada_, and have a rag of +colour to hoist, my proudest day will be when it floats at her mast-head +indicative of the presence and commands of the Representative of my +King. Hugh Richardson, Master and Managing Owner of the _Canada_ +Steam-Packet. April 11th, 1828. P.S. Perhaps Dr. Lefferty being a Member +on the right side, who embarked on board the _Canada_, and who did me +the honour of a call a night or two before, for information, may confirm +this." + +Captain Richardson, as we can see, was a man of chivalrous temperament. +His outward physique, moreover, corresponded with his character. His +form was lithe, graceful and officer-like. It was not alone when the +Governor of the Province happened to be present that established +distinctions in society were required to be observed on board the +_Canada_ steam-packet. At all times he was particular on this point. +This brought him into collision occasionally with democratically +disposed spirits, especially from the opposite side of the Lake; but he +did not scruple to maintain his rules by main force when extreme +measures were necessary, calling to his aid the stout arms of a trusty +crew. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + XXXII. + + THE HARBOUR: ITS MARINE 1828-1863. + + +The _Canada's_ advertisement for the season of 1828 appears in the +_Loyalist_ of April 2. It differs a little from the one previously +given. "The British steam-packet _Canada_, Captain Hugh Richardson, +plying between York and Niagara, weather permitting, leaves Niagara, +&c., &c., as before. N.B.--A gun will be fired and colours hoisted +twenty-five minutes before starting." + +It is interesting to observe that the traffic of the harbour carried on +by schooners is still such as to require additional vessels of that +class. In the _Loyalist_ of April 19, 1828, the following item +appears:--"A new schooner called the _Canadian_ was launched here (York) +yesterday morning. She is owned by Mr. Gamble and Capt. Bowkett, the +latter of whom, we understand, takes command of her." From the same +number of the _Loyalist_ we learn that "the launch of Mr. Hamilton's new +Steam Boat at Niagara was expected to take place on the 21st instant. In +the paper of the 17th, the launch of another schooner at York is +recorded. "A fine schooner called _George the Fourth_ was launched here +on Wednesday last. Burthen about 70 or 80 tons." In June this schooner +is bringing emigrants to York. "During the last week," the _Loyalist_ of +June 7th says, "several families of emigrants, arrived from Great +Britain by the spring shipping at Quebec, have reached York. The new +schooner _George the Fourth_ landed nearly one hundred persons, besides +those which have been brought up by the steam-boats and other vessels." +The case is then mentioned of the very reprehensible conduct of the +master of one of the Lake schooners (the name is withheld), "who, +regardless of the consequences to several families who had taken passage +from Prescott to York on board his vessel, landed a body of emigrant +settlers on Gibraltar Point, during the last week, instead of putting +them, with their baggage, on one of the wharves in the Harbour--in +consequence of which, women and helpless children were exposed during a +whole night to the violence of a tremendous storm of rain, without any +shelter, and, from ignorance of their situation, unable to get to the +town. On Thursday morning the schooner _Catherine_, Captain Campbell, +relieved them from their uncomfortable situation, and landed them safely +in York. + +In the _Loyalist_ of June 28, 1828, the arrival in York Harbour of the +steamer lately launched at Niagara as successor to the _Frontenac_ is +noticed. She is named the _Alciope_. "The new steam-boat _Alciope_, +lately built at Niagara, owned by Robert Hamilton, Esq., and under the +command of Capt. McKenzie, late of the _Frontenac_, with a number of +ladies and gentlemen on a party of pleasure, made her first entry into +our Harbour on Thursday last. She is a fine model, and fitted up in a +most elegant and convenient manner for passengers. She commences her +regular trips, we understand, next week: and under the command of Capt. +McKenzie, so well known for his skill and experience as a seaman, and +for attention to his passengers, we have no doubt the _Alciope_ will be +found a valuable acquisition to the regular communication which is now +afforded by means of the several steamboats plying on the Lake; and that +she will receive a share of that public patronage which is so deservedly +bestowed upon the owners and commanders of other boats, whose public +spirited exertions are deserving of the highest praise." + +_Alciope_ is a singular name, taken as we suppose from the Greek +mythology, betokening, it may have been thought, one of the Nereids, +although we are not aware that the name occurs on the roll of that very +large family. One of the several wives of the mighty Hercules was a +daughter of Alciopus; she consequently may be conceived to have been an +Alciope. But how Mr. Hamilton, of Queenston, or Captain McKenzie, came +to think of such a recherche name for the new steamer is a mystery which +we wish we could clear up. It is certain that the selection led to +mispronunciations and misconceptions on the part of the general public. +By the unlearned she was usually spoken of as the _Alci-ope_, of course. +By a kind of antagonism among the unwashed she was the _All-soap_. In a +similar way, Captain McIntosh's vessel, the _Eunice_, which frequented +the harbour at an early period, was almost always popularly and +excusably termed the _Euneece_. + +In the year 1828, Commodore Barrie was in York Harbour. "His Majesty's +schooner _Cockburn_," says the _Loyalist_ of June 7, "bearing the broad +pennon of Commodore Barrie, entered this port on Monday last, and on +landing at the Garrison, the Commodore was received by a salute, which +was returned from the schooner. The yacht _Bullfrog_ was in company with +the _Cockburn_. Commodore Barrie," it is added, "proceeds by land to +Lake Simcoe, and thence on a tour of inspection at the several Naval +Depots of the Lakes." + +In the _Loyalist_ of June 21, Capt. Richardson is taking time by the +forelock and advertising for dry pine to be supplied as fuel for the +_Canada_ in the following season of 1829. "Steam-boat Notice. Persons +willing to supply the _Canada_ Steam-packet with dry pine for the +ensuing season of 1829, will please make application immediately to the +subscriber for the contract. Hugh Richardson, Master and Managing Owner +of the _Canada_ Steam-packet. York, June, 20, 1828." On the 30th of +August we have:--"Until further notice the _Canada_ Steam-packet will +leave York as soon after her arrival as she has received her supply of +wood, firing a gun, and hoisting colours half an hour before starting." +We have also a notice in regard to the _Alciope_ in the _Loyalist_ of +Sept. 6:--"The steam-boat _Alciope_ will take freight and passengers +from this port (York) during the remainder of the season, every Saturday +morning at 6 o'clock, on her way down from Niagara to Prescott, to +commence to-morrow. York, 20th August." + +From the _Loyalist_ of Sept 27, 1828, we learn that Mr. George Savage +has been appointed to the Collectorship of the port of York. He himself +announces the fact to the public in the following advertisement:--"His +Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor having been pleased to appoint me to +the Collectorship of Customs for this port, I beg leave to acquaint the +merchants, shipowners, and others having business to transact with this +branch of the revenue after the first day of October next, that I have +temporarily established an office in part of the premises fronting on +Duke Street, occupied by Mr. Columbus. George Savage, Collector. York, +26th September, 1828." Bulky in form and somewhat consequential in +manner, Mr. Savage was a conspicuous figure in York down to the time of +his death in 1835, when he was succeeded by Mr. Thos. Carfrae. Mr. +Savage was, as his office required him to be, vigilant in respect of the +dues leviable at the Port of York. But the contrabandists were +occasionally too adroit for him. We have heard of a number of kegs or +barrels, supposed to contain spirits, confidentially reported to him as +sunk in the depths of the bay, near one of the wharves, which kegs or +barrels, when carefully fished up and conveyed to Mr. Mosley's rooms to +be disposed of by auction, were found, on being tapped, to contain +harmless water; but while Mr. Savage and his men were busily engaged in +making this profitless seizure, the real wares--teas, spirits, and so +on--which were sought to be illicitly introduced, were landed without +molestation in Humber Bay. The practice of smuggling was, we believe, +rather rife in and about the harbour of York in the olden time. In a +_Gazette_ of 1820 (Nov. 30), we observe the schooner _Industry_ +advertised for sale by the Custom House authorities as having been taken +in the act; and on the 17th of October, 1821, Mr. Allan reports to the +magistrates, at Quarter Sessions, that he had seized ten barrels of +salt, in which were found concealed kegs of tobacco to the value of five +pounds and upwards, brought to York from the United States in an +American schooner, called the _New Haven_, A. Johnson, master. The +Magistrates declared the whole forfeited to the "King." At the same time +a system of illicit reciprocity was in vogue, and the products of Canada +were introduced, or sought to be introduced, into the domain of the +United States, sometimes in singular ways. On one occasion Daniel +Lambert, a gigantic wax-figure, returned from Canada to the United +States replete with articles designed for import without entry. The +Albany _Argus_ of the day thus describes the adventure:--"Daniel Lambert +turned smuggler.--This mammoth gentleman of wax, who is exhibited for +the admiration of the curious in every part of the country, was lately +met on his way from Canada by a Custom House officer, who, remarking the +rotundity of Daniel's corporation, had the curiosity to subject it to a +critical inspection; when, lo! instead of flesh and blood, or even +straw, the entire fabric of this unwieldy gentleman was found to be +composed of fine English cloths and kerseymeres." + +Towards the close of the year 1828 we have Capt. Mosier's marriage +mentioned in a number of the _Loyalist_ (for Dec. 13), thus: "Married +at Prescott, on the 20th ult., Capt John Mosier, Master of the _Niagara_ +Steam-packet, to Miss Caroline F. Munro, second daughter of Major Munro, +of Edwardsburgh." + +In January, 1829, the schooner _George Canning_ was plying between York +and Niagara, the weather being open. In the Niagara _Herald_ of Jan. 29, +1829, we have the notice, "Conveyance to York, Upper Canada, by the +fast-sailing schooner _George Canning_, commanded by Capt J. Whitney. +The public are respectfully informed that during the continuance of the +present open season the above schooner will ply as a Packet between York +and Niagara. From being perfectly new and thoroughly found, she is with +confidence recommended as a safe and easy mode of conveyance to the +capital of Upper Canada. For information in regard to time of departure, +application to be made to Capt. Whitney on board, or at Chrysler's Inn, +Niagara. January 22, 1829." The _Loyalist_ of April 4 in this year, +1829, reports that "the steamboat _Canada_ is ready to commence her +trips to and from Niagara as soon as the ice is out of the bay. It has +broken up a good deal," the _Loyalist_ says, "within the last few days, +and from its appearance after the late rain we may hope that the +navigation will soon be open. Schooners have been crossing the Lake for +some time past. Last year the first steamboat from Kingston arrived here +on the fifth of April." The usual advertisement of the _Canada's_ +movements for the season appears in this number of the _Loyalist_. + +In May the steamer _Niagara_ brought up Bishop Macdonell. The _Loyalist_ +of May 9, 1829, notes his arrival at York:--"The R. C. Bishop, the Rev. +Mr. Macdonell, arrived here in the steamboat _Niagara_ on Tuesday last, +accompanied by the Rev. W. Macdonell." It is added:--"The Rev. Messrs. +Fraser and Chisholm arrived on the Thursday following in the _Alciope_." +In this month the _Queenston_ takes away troops from York. In the +_Loyalist_ of May 16, 1829, the following item appears:--"The first +division of the 68th Regiment, under the command of Capt. Macdonell, _en +route_ to Montreal, left York on Tuesday last, on board the _Queenston_. +The _Alciope_, from Kingston, brings intelligence of their having +arrived at that place on the following day." The same paper reports that +"the steam-boats have some difficulty in getting into the Niagara River +from the large quantities of ice passing down from the Upper Lake." And +again in the same paper, under date of Niagara, May 11:--"The ice from +Lake Erie has been running most of the last week, and continues to run +to-day--so much so that the river, we believe, has not been passable +since nine o'clock this morning." + +A notice of the opening of navigation at Buffalo this year appears in +the _Loyalist_ of May 23, copied from the Buffalo _Republican_ of the +16th of May. The scene is graphically depicted. "The schooner _Eagle_," +the _Republican_ says, "was the first vessel that entered our harbour +this season. She ploughed her way through three or four miles of +floating ice to the gratification of about a thousand spectators." The +_Republican_ also gives the following, which presents us with even +grander spectacles:--"On Thursday morning the steamboat _Pioneer_ +started through the ice on her first trip to Dunkirk, with a full load +of passengers. In the afternoon the steamer _William Penn_, Capt. +Wright, commenced her first trip to Detroit, having on board upwards of +400 passengers destined to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan." "On Friday, +about noon," the Buffalo paper then adds, "the steamboat _Henry Clay_, +Norton, having previously arrived from Black Rock, left our harbour in +fine style, having a heavy and full load of passengers. The steamboat +_Niagara_, Pease, will leave on Monday for Detroit, as we understand." + +A casualty in York Bay is noticed in the _Loyalist_ of Oct. 4, 1828. +"Mr. William Crone, contractor for gravelling the streets of the town, +was unfortunately drowned on Saturday last. It appears that Mr. Crone +was knocked overboard from the Durham boat, in which he was bringing a +load of gravel from the Island, by the sudden shifting of the boom, and, +being stunned by the blow, sunk before assistance could be rendered to +him." + +In Oct., 1828, Sir Peregrine Maitland arrives in York Harbour on board +of the yacht _Bullfrog_, compelled to put in by stress of weather. He +was on his way from the Lower Province to Niagara. "His Excellency Sir +P. Maitland, after having visited Quebec, returning by the route of the +Rideau Canal, arrived at York," says the _Loyalist_ of Oct. 18, "on +Monday morning from Kingston, on board His Majesty's yacht _Bullfrog_, +Commodore Barrie, and on landing was received by a salute from the +garrison. It was His Excellency's intention, we understand, to have +landed at Niagara, but the _Bullfrog_ having encountered a heavy gale on +the previous night, was obliged to make for York. His Excellency +proceeded to Niagara on Wednesday by the _Canada_, and Commodore Barrie +with the _Bullfrog_ left the harbour on the same day on return to +Kingston." Sir Peregrine, we may observe, was on the point of leaving +Upper Canada, having been appointed to the Government of Nova Scotia. +The arrival of his successor at New York is announced in the same paper. +"The packet ship _Corinthian_ arrived at New York on the evening of the +7th instant. Sir John Colborne and family were passengers in the +_Corinthian_, and may therefore be daily expected at this place (York)." +It is announced in the same paper that "a public dinner will be given to +His Excellency Sir Peregrine Maitland, previous to his departure from +this Province. Tickets of admission to be had at Messrs. Meighan's." In +the number for November 4, we have an account of the addresses which are +being presented to Sir Peregrine on the occasion of his departure, with +the remark:--"The expressions of respect for his administration of the +Government, and of personal esteem towards His Excellency and family, +which these addresses contain, afford the most satisfactory testimonials +that the sincere and anxious desire of His Excellency for the +improvement of the country and the happiness of its inhabitants are duly +appreciated when the period of a long and arduous administration is +about to terminate. These, together with the approbation of his +Sovereign, fully evinced by the more important Civil and Military +honours conferred upon him, cannot but be gratifying, as well to His +Excellency as to the inhabitants of the Province generally." And again +in the _Loyalist_ of the 15th Nov., it is stated that "the last +_Gazette_ contains addresses to His Excellency Sir Peregrine Maitland, +on his departure from the Province--from the Magistrates, Grand Jury, +and Bar of the London District, in Quarter Sessions assembled; from the +towns of Kingston and Brockville, and from Grimsby, all expressing the +same sentiments of personal regard and respect for his administration of +this Government, as those which were previously presented from other +places to His Excellency." + +On Monday, the 10th of November, the new Governor, Sir John Colborne, is +at the Falls, making explorations there, while the steamer _Canada_ is +taking the luggage on board at Lewiston, preparatory to the passage over +to York. The Niagara _Gleaner_, quoted in the _Loyalist_, says:--"On +Monday last His Excellency Sir John Colborne paid a visit to the Falls. +His own elegant carriage, drawn by four spirited horses, furnished by +Mr. Chrysler, carried his Excellency's lady, her sister Miss Yonge, and +five children. His Excellency went on horseback, accompanied by Capt. +Phillpotts, of the Royal Engineers. In the meantime the steamer _Canada_ +went to Lewiston, took in His Excellency's luggage, and was ready to +receive His Excellency and family at an early hour on Tuesday morning. +On the departure of the vessel a salute was fired from Fort George. We +have been informed," the _Gleaner_ adds, "that His Excellency was highly +gratified with the first view of the Province and the friendly reception +he met with; also of the good things he partook of at the hotel, much of +which was the produce of the Province." + +Capt. McKenzie died August 27, 1832, aged 50. At the time of his death +he was engaged in the construction of a steamer at the head of the Lake, +and of another on Lake Simcoe. In 1832 Capt. Elmsley is offering for +sale his yacht the _Dart_. In the York _Sapper_ and _Miner_ of Oct. 25, +1832, we read the notice:--"For sale, the fast-sailing cutter _Dart_, +221/2 tons burden, with or without rigging, sails, and other furniture. +For particulars enquire of the Hon. John Elmsley. York, 24th May, 1832." +There is an accidental prolepsis in the "Hon." He was not appointed to a +seat in the Upper House until after 1837. Capt. Elmsley, with his +friend, Mr. Jeffrey Hale, afterwards of Quebec, left the service of the +Royal Navy about 1832. In 1837 Captain Elmsley was appointed to the +command of a Government vessel carrying two swivel-guns on the Lower St. +Lawrence. He subsequently settled for a time on his estate known as +Clover Hill, where he expended considerable sums of money in farming +operations. Later he again undertook the command of a vessel, the _James +Coleman_, trading on his own account between Halifax and Quebec. He +afterwards, for a time, commanded one of the mail steamers on Lake +Ontario, the _Sovereign_. (In several other connections we have had +occasion to give particulars of Captain Elmsley's career.) The _Dart_, +above named, was built at York by Mr. Purkis, a well-known shipwright +there. In 1834, we notice, in MacKenzie's _Advocate_ of March 13, a +marine item following an observation on the mildness of the +season:--"The weather is very mild for the season," the _Advocate_ says: +"occasional showers; plenty of sunshine and slight frosts. A schooner +sailed last Tuesday for Niagara, and is expected back to-morrow." + +It was in 1834 the grand old name Toronto was recovered by the harbour +and town, whose early marine we have sought in some degree to recall. + +We have evidence in the Toronto _Recorder_ of July 30, 1834, that, at +that period, at least seven steamers were frequenting the harbour of +Toronto. In the paper named we read in succession seven rather long +steamboat advertisements. "The splendid low-pressure steamboat the +_Constitution_, Edward Zealand, master." She runs from Hamilton to +Toronto, touching at Oakville; thence to Cobourg, touching at Port Hope; +thence to Rochester, and _vice versa_. It is stated that "the +_Constitution_ will afford a safe and expeditious opportunity for +merchants from New York and other places to forward their goods by way +of Rochester to the head of the Lake Ontario." Agents at Hamilton, +Messrs. E. and J. Ritchie; Oakville, Mr. Thomas; Toronto, James F. +Smith, Esq.; Rochester, Mr. Greene, forwarder; Cobourg, E. Perry, Esq.; +Port Hope, J. Brown, Esq. Captain Zealand had formerly been in the +command of an ocean-going merchant ship. "The steamboat _William IV._, +Charles Paynter, Commander, propelled by a Low-Pressure Engine of a +Hundred Horse-power." She runs between Prescott, Niagara, and Lewiston, +touching at Brockville, Gananoque, Kingston, Cobourg, Port Hope, +Toronto, Hamilton, and _vice versa_. "For freight or passage, apply at +the Post-office, Toronto, or to the Captain on board." Four smoke +funnels rendered the _William IV._ recognizable at a distance. "The +fast-sailing steamboat, _St. George_, Lieut. Harper, R.N., Commander." +She runs between Prescott, Brockville, Kingston, Toronto, and Niagara, +and _vice versa_. "This beautiful vessel," the advertisement says, "is +propelled by a Low-Pressure Engine of Ninety Horse-power, is schooner +rigged, and has accommodation for sixty cabin passengers. The _St. +George_ will wait the arrival of the passengers who leave Montreal by +Thursday morning's stage." "The splendid fast-sailing steamboat +_Cobourg_, Capt. Charles Mcintosh, Master, propelled by two low-pressure +engines of fifty-horse power each." She runs between Prescott, +Brockville, Kingston and Toronto, and _vice versa_. "This boat will be +found by the travelling community not surpassed by any on Lake Ontario +for elegance, comfort and speed. The _Cobourg_ will wait the arrival of +the Montreal stage before leaving for her upward trip. For freight or +passage apply to the Master or Purser on board." "The _Queenston_, Capt. +James Sutherland." This is the _Queenston_ of which we have heard +already. She runs, according to the advertisement in the _Recorder_, +between Toronto and Hamilton. "Cabin passage each way, two dollars +(meals extra). Deck passage each way, one dollar. All baggage and small +parcels at the risk of the owners, unless delivered to the Captain and +entered as freight. Freight payable on delivery. As the boat will be +punctual to the hour of sailing, passengers are requested to be on board +in due time." Captain Sutherland has been chief officer of the first +steamer which crossed the Atlantic to Quebec, the _Unicorn_. He had +before been engaged in the Hudson's Bay trade. "The splendid +low-pressure steamboat _Great Britain_, Capt. Whitney." She runs between +Prescott, Brockville, Kingston, Oswego, Cobourg, Port Hope, Toronto, and +_vice versa_. "The accommodations on board the _Great Britain_ have been +much enlarged and improved during last winter, and every exertion will +be used to ensure regularity and comfort to the passengers. The above +boat will await the arrival of the passengers that leave Montreal on +Monday by the Upper Canada stage. Emigrants and others desirous of +taking this conveyance are requested to call at the Ontario Steamboat +Office in this town (Prescott), and procure tickets." + +Finally, the _Recorder_ displays the usual advertisement of the +Steam-packet _Canada_, Hugh Richardson, Master. She leaves Toronto daily +for Niagara, at seven in the morning, and Niagara daily for Toronto, at +one in the afternoon. The fares continue unchanged. "Passengers +returning to either of the Ports within the week will only be charged +half-price for the return. Accommodation for Horses, Carriages, and +Cattle." About the same period the _Oneida_, of Oswego, the _Hamilton_, +the _Sir Robert Peel_, and the _Commodore Barrie_, are other steamers +entering the harbour of Toronto. + +Near the landing place at Niagara, a row of capacious warehouses is +still to be seen, disused and closed up, over the large double portals +of which, respectively, are to be dimly discerned the following +inscriptions in succession:--Great Britain; William IV.; St. George; +United Kingdom; Cobourg; Commodore Barrie; Canada; Schooners. This is a +relic of the period to which we are now referring. These warehouses were +the places of deposit for freight, tackling, and other property +appertaining to the vessels named, with a compartment for the +accommodation of Schooners collectively. Niagara was then the +headquarters of the shipping interests of the Lake, and the place where +the principal wholesale mercantile houses were situated. + +Sailing craft visiting the Harbour in 1835, and later, were:--the _Three +Brothers_, the _Superior_, the _Emily_, the _Robert Burns_, the +_Prosperity_, the _Fanny_, the _Perseverance_, the _Matilda_, of Oswego, +the _Elizabeth_, of Lewiston, the _Guernsey_, the _Peacock_, the +_Caroline_, the _Fair American_, the _Sovereign_, the _Jessie Woods_, +the _Erin_, the _Charlotte_, the _Winnebago_, the _Lord Nelson_, the +_Enterprise_, the _Boxer_. + +The _Three Brothers_ was so named from the three brothers +McIntosh--John, Robert, and Henry. John commanded the _Three Brothers_; +Charles commanded the _Superior_, named second above; Robert commanded +the _Eunice_, of which we have heard already. Two other brothers of this +marine family were early owners of contiguous building lots on the east +side of Yonge street, south of Shuter street. Prosperous descendants of +the same name are still to be found in business on a portion of this +property. Modern improvements have caused the removal of many of the +original buildings of this locality; but one of the McIntosh family +residences yet remains, at the present time converted into the show +rooms of a carriage manufactory. (Capt. Wm. McIntosh, of the _Minerva +Ann_, a schooner of this period, was of another family). + +The _Fanny_ is noticeable as having been the first craft commanded by +Captain Dick of Toronto, who speedily afterwards became distinguished in +connection with the steam marine of Lake Ontario, not only as a builder, +large proprietor, and sailing master, but also as commander of a +Despatch vessel in the Public Service, especially during the troubles of +1837. The _Fanny_ was the property of Mr. James Lockhart of Niagara, as +also were the _Sovereign_ and the _Jessie Woods_. The _Boxer_ was +commanded by a veteran Lake captain, Wm. Peeke. Capt. Peeke, it is +stated, supplied lime burnt at Duffin's Creek before the close of the +last century, for the foundation of the Lighthouse on Gibraltar Point, +and other structures in York. + +In 1835, the harbour was visited by Capt. George and his barge from +Quebec. Capt. George--for so he was styled in these parts, although, as +we shall see, not a professional navigator--was a combined nautical and +mechanical genius, who vigorously urged on Government and the forwarding +community the adoption of a scheme of his for enabling loaded vessels to +overcome the rapids of the St. Lawrence, and reach the upper ports +without breaking bulk. Pulleys and chains were to be anchored at points +in the river, or along the banks of the stream. He contrived to get his +own barge in this way up to Toronto, well filled with merchandize, and +made the return trip with cargo of the upper country products, possibly +more than once, but the undertaking, being found too expensive for a +private individual, was abandoned; and soon after, the construction of +canals round the rapids rendered needless all such ingenious projects. +Mr. George had been long a merchant in Quebec; and it was simply his +inability to secure a satisfactory person for the superintendence of his +experiment, that induced him to take the command of his own vessel in +her perilous venture up and down the St. Lawrence. Mr. George continued +to reside at Quebec; and for an annual stipend of L200, he offered the +corporation of the city to create for them every winter a "pont," or +ice-bridge, opposite the city. From the action of the tides, the "pont" +fails occasionally to form, to the great inconvenience of the +inhabitants. Here again Mr. George gave ocular proof of the +practicability of his plan. Proceeding up the river above the influence +of the tide, he cut loose a vast field of ice and floated it down whole +to Quebec, where it fixed itself fast between Cape Diamond and the +opposite shore, and formed a "pont." It did not, however, prove +sufficiently durable. Some eccentricity in language is remembered as +characterizing Mr. George. A person conversing with him occasionally +found himself addressed in rhyming couplets, as if, of their own accord, +his words would run into doggerel. "Some chance of wreck between this +and Quebec! Mishap befall ere I reach Montreal! You're a fool! go to +school!" &c. His barge likewise is described as possessing a peculiar +rig. Its masts, or rather the two spars which served to support his +sails, formed above the deck, as we are told, a sort of large St. +Andrew's cross, such being, according to him, the most convenient +arrangement for working the leg of mutton or triangular sails which he +used. (We note here the two heroic captains who were the first to +encounter appalling risks on the waters of the St. Lawrence in vessels +propelled by steam. Captain Maxwell, in the employment at the time of +Messrs. McPherson and Crane, first discovered and navigated in a +steamboat the deep channel of the Long Sault; and Captain Hilliard, on +board the steamer _Ontario_, first descended the rapids at Lachine.) + +In 1835 and years immediately following, additional names appear in the +Toronto harbour steam-marine lists--the _Experiment_, the _Queen_, the +_Gore_, the _Princess Royal_, the _Traveller_, the _City of Toronto_ +(the first steamer so named), all of them boats built at Niagara under +the superintendence of Capt. Dick, and all of them, with the exception +of the _Traveller_, in the Royal Mail Service. The _City of Toronto_, +built in 1841, and commanded by Captain Dick, was the first steamer that +conveyed the mails westward. The mail-service previously had been +performed by Mr. Weller and his stage-coaches. The principal owners of +the vessels named were Mr. James Lockhart, of Niagara, Capt. Dick +himself, Mr. Andrew Heron, also of Niagara, and Mr. Donald Bethune. The +_Experiment_, above mentioned, was the Government Despatch boat which, +under the command of Capt. Dick, did such good service on the Lake +during the troubles of 1837. + +When the steam-packet _Canada_ was finally sold, Capt. Richardson +commanded and principally owned the _Transit_, on the route between York +and Niagara. This _Transit_ was in reality the steamer _Constitution_, +of which we have already heard as being commanded by Capt. Zealand, +conjointly with the _Transit_. A steamer named the _Queen_ was for a +time maintained by Capt. Richardson on the route between Niagara, the +head of the Lake, and York. The _Queen_ was under the charge of Capt. +Richardson's son, Mr. Hugh Richardson, assisted by two brothers, Charles +and Henry Richardson. Simultaneously with the _Transit_ and _Queen_, the +_City of Toronto_ (the first steamer so named) also plied to Niagara, +under the command of Capt. Dick. After some years the _Transit_ was sold +and became a tug-boat on the river below. The steamer _Chief Justice +Robinson_ was then built by Capt. Richardson for the Niagara route, in +some respects after a model of his own, being provided, like the ancient +war-galleys, with a rostrum or projecting beak low down on a level with +the water, for the purpose, as was generally supposed, of breaking a way +through ice when such an impediment existed; but by Capt. Richardson +himself, the peculiar confirmation of the prow was expected to +facilitate the vessel's progress through the heavy surges of the Lake. +About 1850 the _Chief Justice Robinson_ became the property of Capt. +Dick and Mr. Heron. This transfer closed the career of Capt. Richardson +as a commander on the Lake. From 1852 to 1870 he filled the post of +Harbour-master at Toronto, and on the 2nd of July, 1870, he died, in +the 87th year of his age. The _Chief Justice_ continued to ply between +Toronto and Niagara, in company with the _City of Toronto_, until the +removal of the latter vessel to the waters of Lake Huron, where she +became famous as the _Algoma_. + +In 1855 the _Peerless_ was placed on the Niagara route. The _Peerless_ +was an iron vessel, first constructed in the Clyde in parts, then taken +asunder and shipped to Canada, where she was put together again under +the eye of her owner, Capt. Dick, at Niagara. The number of pieces +entering into the composition of the _Peerless_ was six thousand. Such a +method of transporting an iron ship from the Clyde to Niagara, if +complicated and troublesome, was shown to be, at all events, a dictate +of prudence by the fate which befell a vessel intended to be a companion +to the _Peerless_ on Lake Ontario. A steamship of iron named _Her +Majesty_, built in the Clyde expressly for Capt. Dick, was lost in the +Atlantic, with all the men in charge on board, sixteen in number; so +that no clue was ever attained as to the cause of the disaster. We now +find ourselves treating of times which, strictly speaking, do not come +within the scope of these 'collections and recollections.' + +For the sake of imparting roundness and completeness to our narrative, +we have ventured on the few details just given. We finish by simply +naming the successor of the _Peerless_ on the route to Niagara, Capt. +Milloy's splendid steamer, the _Zimmerman_. It fell to our lot to +witness the last agonies of this vessel in the devouring flames as she +lay at the Niagara quay, near the mouth of the Niagara River. On that +never-to-be-forgotten occasion (Aug. 21, 1863), the long-continued +shrieking of the steam whistle, the resounding moans and convulsive +sighs issuing fitfully, in a variety of keys, from the tubes of the +boiler and other parts of the steam apparatus, gave to all hearers and +on-lookers the painful and most affecting impression of some gigantic +sentient creature helplessly undergoing a fiery death, suffering in the +process grievous pangs, protracted and inexpressible. + +[Illustration] + + HOC OPUS EXEGI; FESSAE DATE SERTA CARINAE; + CONTIGIMUS PORTUM, QUO MIHI CURSUS ERAT. + + + + +[Illustration] + + APPENDIX. + + +In 1869, the survivors of the early occupants of York, Upper Canada, +formed themselves into a Society entitled The Pioneers, for the joint +purpose of mutual conference, and of gathering together and preserving +whatever memorials of the local Past might be found to be yet extant. +The names of the members of this Association are subjoined, all of whom +were resident at York customably or occasionally, at some period prior +to March 6th, 1834, when the name of the town was changed to Toronto. +The date which precedes each group shows the year in which the members +included in the group became identified with York, whether by birth or +otherwise. In numerous instances, the father of the individual named in +the following list, having been the establisher of a family in these +parts and its first breadwinner here, was the true pioneer. (By a change +in the original constitution of the Society, the sons and descendants of +the first members of the Association, and of all the first grantees or +occupants of land in the county of York, as defined in 1798, are, on +their attaining the age of 40 years, eligible to be members.) + +1794.--Edward Simcoe Wright, Toronto.--Isaac White, do. + +1795.--Lieut. Francis Button, Buttonville. + +1797.--John Thompson, Toronto. + +1798.--Hon. W. B. Robinson, Toronto.--John Bright, do. + +1799.--John W. Gamble, Pine Grove, Vaughan. + +1800.--Andrew Heron, Toronto.--Cornelius Van Nostrand, Yonge Street. + +1801.--Robert Bright, Toronto. + +1805.--John Murchison, Toronto. + +1806.--Hon. H. J. Boulton, Toronto.--William Cawthra, do.--John Ridout, +do. + +1808.--Rev. Saltern Givins, Toronto.--Allan Macdonell, do.--Joseph +Gould, ex-M.P.P., Uxbridge.--James Marshall, Youngstown, N.Y. + +1809.--Judge G. S. Jarvis, Cornwall--William Roe, Newmarket. + +1810.--Rev. William MacMurray, D.D., Niagara.--Richard P. Willson, +Holland Landing. + +1811.--George Bostwick, Yorkville.--Joseph Lawrence, Collingwood.--Rev. +D. McMullen, Picton. + +1812.--Francis H. Heward, Toronto.--William Dougall, Picton. + +1813.--R. E. Playter, Toronto.--George Snider, M.P.P., Owen +Sound.--Capt. Thomas G. Anderson, Cobourg. + +1814.--Lieut.-Col. Richard L. Denison, Toronto.--Henry B. Heward, do. + +1815.--R. G. Anderson, Toronto.--George Monro, do.--Dr. George Crawford, +do. + +1816.--Col. George T. Denison, Toronto.--Ven. Archdeacon Fuller, +do.--Lieut.-Col. W. M. Button, Buttonville.--Capt. Robert Brock Playter, +Queenston.--Thomas Montgomery, Etobicoke. + +1817.--R. H. Oates, Toronto.--Charles Stotesbury, do.--Sheriff B. W. +Smith, Barrie.--Robert Petch, Toronto.--J. W. Drummond, do.--Alex. +Stewart, do.--James Stafford, do. + +1818.--James Beaty, M.P., Toronto.--J. O. Bouchier, Georgina.--John +Doel, senior, Toronto.--John Doel, junior, do.--James Gedd, do.--Thomas +Humphrey, do.--John Harper, do.--John Moore, do.--William Reynolds, +do.--James Sparks, do. + +1819.--W. B. Phipps, Toronto.--Grant Powell, Ottawa.--F. H. Medcalf, +Toronto, ex-Mayor.--Robert H. Smith, Newmarket.--John Raper, +Toronto.--John B. Bagwell, Hamilton. + +1820.--W. J. Coates, Toronto.--Alexander Hamilton, do.--Clarke Gamble, +do.--Hon. J. G. Spragge, do.--W. H. Lee, Ottawa.--Dr. John Turquand, +Woodstock.--Charles L. Helliwell, Stayner.--William Helliwell, Highland +Creek.--Edward Musson, Toronto.--Thomas J. Wallis, do. + +1821.--Lieut.-Col. Robert B. Denison, Toronto.--William Barber, M.P.P., +Springfield.--Henry Sproatt, Toronto.--John Eastwood, Port +Elgin.--Edward C. Fisher, Humber.--William Duncan, York +Township.--Jonathan Scott, Toronto.--Charles Scadding, do.--Rev. Dr. +Scadding, do. + +1822.--Lieut.-Col. Frederick Wells, Davenport.--Stephen M. Jarvis, +Toronto.--John Helliwell, do. + +1823.--Hon. David Reesor, Markham.--Major John Paul, Weston.--John +Small, M.D., Toronto.--James McMullen, do.--Alderman Adamson, do.--James +Duncan, York Township. + +1824.--Rev. Dr. Richardson, Toronto.--Matthew Teefy, Richmond +Hill.--John Bell, Toronto.--Charles Lount, do.--Robert Young, +Georgetown.--Rufus Skinner, Toronto. + +1825.--Allan McLean Howard, Toronto.--D. O. Brooke, do.--Thomas +Helliwell, do.--Thomas Armstrong, do.--James Taylor, Eglinton. + +1826.--James Stitt, Toronto.--Ishmael Iredale, do.--David Burns, +do.--Alex. Caird, Weston. + +1827.--Col. Kingsmill, Toronto.--Stephen Heward, do.--William Hewitt, +do.--H. B. Holland, do.--Geo. Leslie, Leslieville.--W. L'Estarge, +Toronto.--Thomas J. Preston, do.--William H. Doel, do.--Andrew Sieber, +do. + +1828.--James Barber, Georgetown.--H. R. Corson, Markham.--Matthew Drew, +Toronto.--G. B. Holland, do.--Thomas A. Milne, Markham.--Dr. Ogden, +Toronto.--James R. Armstrong, do.--C. P. Reid, do. + +1829.--Thomas D. Harris, Toronto.--Hon. Joseph C. Morrison, do.--Thomas +Meredith, do.--Archibald Barker, Markham.--W. R. Harris, +Toronto.--Robert Defries, do.--Capt. Robert Kerr, do.--R. B. Miller, +do.--Capt. John McGann, do.--J. Merritt, St. Catharines.--Samuel Platt, +Toronto.--J. C. Small, do.--William Quigley, do.--Alex. Rennie, +Hamilton.--John Kitson, Toronto.--Robert Hill, do. + +1830.--Hon. W. P. Howland, Lieut.-Governor, Toronto.--John Wallis, +do.--Peter Hutty, Yorkville, do.--Philip Armstrong, Yorkville.--G. M. +Hawke, Toronto.--Alderman Spence, do.--Alex. Munro, do.--Thomas Metcalf, +do.--James Farrell, do.--Thomas Storm, do.--W. G. Storm, do.--Duncan +Macdonell, Montreal.--Edward Copping, Toronto. + +1831.--James G. Worts, Toronto.--Thomas Swinarton, ex-M.P.P., +Coventry.--James Acheson, Toronto.--George Henderson, do.--Samuel +Rogers, do.--John Small, do.--John Nixon, do.--Alfio de Grassi, +do.--Frederick Milligan, do.--George Balfour, do.--Jeremiah Iredale, +do.--James Ashfield, do.--Robert Fowler, do.--John Jacques, do.--Andrew +T. McCord, do.--John Argue, do.--Noah L. Piper, do. + +1832.--Sir Francis Hincks, Ottawa.--William Gooderham, senior, +Toronto.--Isaac Gilmour, do.--John Paterson, do.--Samuel Bowman, +do.--John Brown, do.--John Carr, do.--Capt. C. G. Fortier, do.--George +Graham, do.--John G. Howard, Humber Bay.--A. K. Boomer, Toronto.--Thomas +Lailey, do.--Thomas Mara, Do.--William Osborne, do.--Wm. Rowland, +do.--Wm. Steers, Stratford.--John Bugg, Toronto.--C. W. Cooper, +do.--James Severs, do.--Arthur Crawford, do.--Thomas Clarkson, +do.--Robert Dodds, do.--John Evans, Montreal.--William Freeland, +Toronto.--George Price, do.--David Kennedy, do. + +1833.--William Arthurs, Toronto.--Robert Beekman, do.--Thomas Burgess, +do.--John Dill, do.--Edward Dack, do.--Wm. Henderson, do.--Robert +Hornby, M.D., do.--W. M. Jamieson, do.--Wm. Lea, Don, York +Township.--John Lawder, Eglinton.--John P. Smith, Toronto.--John +Shanklin, do.--Samuel Thompson, do.--Alfred Willson, do.--Alex. Muir, +Newmarket.--John Gartshore, Toronto.--Samuel Westman, do.--Thomas +Dewson, Bradford.--W. Barchard, Toronto.--John Watson, York +Township.--William Grubbe, Weston.--J. A. Donaldson, Toronto.--John +Levs, do. + +Under recent By-law.--Henry Quetton St. George, Toronto.--Hon. Member, +Dr. Canniff, Toronto. + + + + + ERRATA. + + +The reader is requested to correct neatly with a pen the following +errors which, in spite of much vigilance, escaped detection during the +final revise:--At page 151, line 8, for "Fraser" write "Forsyth"; at p. +282, line 16, for "Philadelphia" write "New York"; at p. 334, line 14, +for "Jarvis" write "Jairus"; at p. 373, line 12, for "James" write +"Samuel"; at p. 455, lines 35 and 37, for "Meyerh." write "Mayerh."; at +p. 355, line 16, for "Chewitt" write "Chewett." + +[Illustration] + + + + + INDEX. + + A. + + Abrahams, Mr., 403 + + Adams, Mr., 401 + + Addison, Rev. Mr., 140 + + Adelaide Street, 152 + + Advertisements, 336, 337 + + Albany, 14 + + Albert Street, 392 + + Albion, New York, 282 + + Albion Packet, Wreck of, 56 + + Alexander, Sir James, 142 + + Alexander Street, 395 + + Alien Question, 207, 208 + + Allan, Hon. William, 38, 39, 79, 80, 118, 120, 134, 138, 249, 257, 303, + 371, 385, 407, 440, 449, 525, 533 + + Allan, W., junior, 159 + + Allcock, Chief Justice, 42, 147, 336 + + Almanacs, Early, 267 + + Amelia, Princess, 33 + + Amherst, General, 10 + + Anderson, Mr., 138 + + Anderson, R. and B., 185 + + Andrews, Capt., 529 + + Andrus, Samuel, 378 + + Angell, Mr. E., 84, 207, 219 + + Ansley, Christopher, 314 + + Appleton, Mr., 110, 165 + + Archbold, Mr., Actor, 110, 216 + + Arthur, Sir George, 275 + + Arthurs, Mr. W., 539 + + Armitage, Amos, 477 + + Armour, Rev. Samuel, 166 + + Armstrong, J., 311 + + Arnold, Benedict, 459 + + Ashbridge, Mr., 221, 337 + + Ashley, Jairus, 431 + + Ashenshan, 14 + + Athill, Rev. R., 486 + + Atkinson, Mr. Thomas, 410 + + Avenue, College, 325 + + + B. + + Baby, Hon. James, 38, 53, 82, 84, 157, 350 + + Baby, Raymond, 112, 157 + + Baby, Mr. W. L., 370 + + Bagot, Capt. Henry, 323 + + Bagot, Sir Charles, 323 + + Baker, Simon and John, 296 + + Baldwin, Admiral, 34 + + Baldwin, Mr. J. S., 84, 134, 196, 210 + + Baldwin, Hon. Robert, 38, 157, 158, 280, 434 + + Baldwin, Robert, senior, 82, 434 + + Baldwin, St. George, 112, 157 + + Baldwin, Dr. William Warren, 34, 66, 134, 138, 280, 298, 309, 340, 348, 426 + + Baldwin, Mr. William Willcocks, 472 + + Baldwin, Mr. William, 112, 157, 426 + + Barber, Mr. G. A., 94, 112, 170 + + Barclay, Commodore J., 156 + + Barnstable, 402 + + Barre, de la, 4 + + Barrett's Inn, 439 + + Barrie, Commodore, 568 + + Bartlett, Dr., 282 + + Bastedo, Mr. John, 173 + + Bathurst Street, 70, 354 + + Battersby, Capt., 65 + + Bay Street, 94, 308, 380 + + Bazaar, first, 62 + + Beaman, Mr. Elisha, 385, 482 + + Beard, Mr. Joshua, 209 + + Beasley, Richard, 524 + + Beaty, Mr. James, 205, 439 + + Beaver, steamer, 495 + + Beckett, Mr., 94 + + Beikie, Mr. J., 62, 99, 100, 134, 138, 290 + + Belcour, F., 198 + + Belleville, 361 + + Bellevue, 354 + + Belin, King, 389 + + Bennett, J. Printer, 82, 264, 266, 272, 386 + + Berczy, Mr., 108, 119, 415, 421, 423, 448 + + Berkeley Street, 27, 201 + + Berry, Thomas, 524 + + Berthon, Mr., 313 + + Beswick, Dr., 486 + + Bevan, Mr. J., 404 + + Beverley House, 326 + + Bidwell, Barnabas, 208, 209, 309 + + Bidwell, Marshall S., 208, 309 + + Big Bend, 234 + + Bigelow, James, 84, 157 + + Bigelow, Levi, 363 + + Billings, Mr. Commissariat, 134, 350 + + Blackstone, Mr. Henry, 485 + + Blake, Mr. Chancellor, 424 + + Blake, Rev. Dominic, 453 + + Block Houses, 357, 411 + + Blois, Capt., 136 + + Bloor, Mr., 178, 405 + + Bloor Street, 405 + + Blue Bell, 371 + + Blue Hill, 413 + + Boerstler, Col., 345 + + Bond, George, 303 + + Bond, Mr. W., 79, 401, 462 + + Bond's Lake, 462 + + Bonnycastle, Capt., 62, 75, 86, 106, 459, 495, 500 + + Bonshaw, 490 + + Borland, Mr. Andrew, 484 + + Boiton, Col. Aug., 469 + + Bostwick, Mr. Lardner,, 363, 381, 404 + + Bottom, Nicholas, 412 + + Boulton, Charles, 185 + + Boulton, Mr. D'Arcy, 138, 328, 484 + + Boulton, Hon. George, 84, 157, 185 + + Boulton, Hon. H. J., 55, 84, 297, 396, 448 + + Boulton, John, 157 + + Boulton, Mr. Justice, 55, 84, 133, 138, 148, 221, 303, 308, 328 + + Boulton, Rev. W., 94 + + Boulton, Mr. W. H., 157 + + Bouchette, Joseph, 17, 60, 61, 213, 332, 355, 358, 492, 508, 516 + + Bowbeer, Mr., 357 + + Bowkett, William, 185, 381, 385, 563 + + Boyd, Mr. Francis, 461 + + Boyle, Hon. Robert, 136 + + Bradstreet, Col., 10 + + Brant, Capt. Joseph, 418, 515, 518 + + Breakenridge, Mr. James, 82 + + Breakenridge, Mrs., 433 + + Brewery, First, at Newark, 259 + + Bridgeford, Mr., 79 + + Bridges, Don, 84 + + Brides from a distance, 136 + + Bright, Mr., 84, 138 + + Britain Street, 63, 257 + + Brock, Gen., 29, 61, 79, 268, 362 + + Brock Street, 64, 345 + + Brooke, Capt. sen., 134, 138 + + Brooke, Mr. D., 84, 185 + + Brooke, Mr. R., 185 + + Browne, Major, 136 + + Buchanan, Isaac, 105 + + Buchanan, Mr., son of the Consul, 112 + + Buffalo, 21, 568 + + Burlington Bay, 368, 370 + + Burnham, Rev. Mark, 159 + + Burns, Alexander, 401 + + Burns, Mr. David, 355, 365, 371, 385 + + Burnside, Dr., 192, 310 + + Burr, Rowland, 423, 424 + + Burton, Col., 529 + + Burwell, Mahlon, 137, 423 + + Burying Ground, Military, 64, 367 + + Button, Capt., 37, 89 + + By, Col., 310 + + Byng, Admiral, 6 + + + C. + + Caer Howell, 326 + + Caldicott, Mr., 110 + + Caldwell, Mrs., 332 + + Caldwell, W. R., 381 + + Cameron, Archibald, 222 + + Cameron, Hon. Duncan, 80, 118, 138, 356, 371, 385 + + Cameron, Miss Janet, 357 + + Cameron, Hon. J. H., 424 + + Cameron, J., Printer, 59, 268, 385, 533 + + Campbell, Capt., 12 + + Campbell, Sir W., Chief Justice, 131, 181, 303 + + Campbell, Mr., 426 + + Campbell, Stedman, 426 + + Canada, Etymology of, 74 + + Canadian Review of 1824, 27 + + Canvas House, Gov. Simcoe's, 60, 513 + + Capreol, Mr. F. C., 462 + + Carey, Mr. John, 269, 310 + + Carfax, Toronto, 377 + + Carfrae, Hugh, 41 + + Carfrae, Mr. Thomas, 408, 566 + + Carleton, Gov., 15 + + Carleton Street, 395 + + Carmyllie, 155 + + Caroline Street, 31, 35 + + Carthew, Col., 285, 426 + + Cartwright, Hon. R., 82, 533 + + Carver's Travels, 73 + + Case, Mr. James, 229 + + Cassell, Orville, 157 + + Castle Frank, 202, 236, 288 + + Cataraqui, 9, 23 + + Cavendish, Hon. and Rev. A., 444 + + Cawdell, Mr. J. M., 399 + + Cawthra, Mr. John, 483 + + Cawthra, Mr. J., senr., 38, 138, 192, 363 + + Cawthra, Mr. W., 150, 185, 431 + + Cayley, Hon. W., 323 + + Cayley, Mr. F., 242 + + Celeron, 7 + + Cemetery, St. James, 240 + + Chalus, Comte de, 469 + + Chalus, Vicomte de, 188, 469 + + Champion, T., 311 + + Chestnut Park, 424 + + Chestnut Street, 316 + + Chewett, Alexander, 185 + + Chewett, Mr. J. G., 363, 366 + + Chewett, Mr. W., 18, 118, 132, 138, 355, 363, 366, 433, 449, 484 + + Chisholm, Mr. Alexander, 82 + + Chisholm, Mr., of Oakville, 137 + + Chiniquy, Lieut., 526 + + Choueguen, 5, 6, 7 + + Christian Guardian, 89, 279 + + Chronicle, Kingston, 271 + + Chrysler, Mr. John, 253 + + Church, St. James, 117-145, 147, 172 + + Claies, Lac aux, 474 + + Clark, Mr., 222, 440 + + Clark, Mr. John, 338 + + Clark, Hon. Thomas, 364 + + Clarke, Gen., 510 + + Claridge, J. J., 550 + + Claus, John, 159, 160 + + Claus, Warren, 158, 363 + + Claus, William, 82 + + Clement, Mrs., 294 + + Clench, Ralph, 254, 255 + + Clinkenbroomer, Mr. C., 107, 220 + + Clinton, Sir Henry, 348 + + Clover Hill, 401 + + Coates, Mr. Richard, 202, 482 + + Coates, Mr. W. J., 28 + + Cochrane, Mr. Justice, 138, 291, 528 + + Coffen, Stephen, 9 + + Coffin, Col., 62, 84, 124, 259 + + Coffin, Col. W. F., 400 + + Colborne, Sir John, (Lord Seaton), 86, 91, 93, 125, 359, 569 + + Coleman, Mr. Robert, 173 + + Coleraine House, 179 + + Coleridge, Hartley, 67 + + Collins, Francis, 270, 277, 310, 396 + + Collins, J., 16, 17, 419 + + Colonial Advocate, 272, 279 + + Columbus, Mr. Isaac, 182 + + Commissariat Stores, 59 + + Conn, Capt., 534 + + Cook, Capt., 61, 487 + + Cook's Bay, 496 + + Cooper, Mr. W., 50, 118, 138, 386 + + Coote's Paradise, 369 + + Court House of 1824, 101 + + Cowan, David, 254 + + Cozens, Benjamin, 363 + + Cozens, Capt. D., 386, 457 + + Cozens, J. B., 386 + + Craig, Mr. John, 147, 202 + + Crawford, Mr. L., 509 + + Creux, Pere du, 475 + + Crevecoeur, 20 + + Crewe's, 447 + + Crone, W., 568 + + Crooks, Mr. Matthew, 540 + + Crooks, W. & J., 294 + + Crookshank, Hon. George, 62, 80, 84, 134, 138, 148, 287 + + Crookshank's Lane, 355 + + Cumberland, Mr. F. W., 149, 324 + + Cummer, Mr. Jacob, 446 + + Cummins, Mr., 207 + + Curiae Canadenses, 314 + + Cutter, George, 385 + + + D. + + Dade, Rev. C., 94 + + Dalton, Mr. Thomas, 279 + + Daly, Mr. Charles, 202 + + Darling, Gen., 497 + + Danforth Road, 307 + + Davenport, 66, 410 + + Davenport Road, 410 + + Davis, Benjamin, 222 + + Davis, Mr. Calvin, 376 + + Dawson, George, 157 + + Dawson, James, 157 + + Dawson Road, 307 + + Deary, Thomas, 363 + + De Blaquiere, Hon. P., 404 + + Deer Park, 426 + + De Forest, Mr., 196 + + De Grassi, Mr. Alfio, 284 + + De Haren, Major, 346 + + Dehart, Daniel, 222, 431 + + De Hoen, Baron, 433 + + De Koven, K., 160 + + De la Haye, Mr. J. P., 94 + + Des Jardins, Peter, 399 + + Denino, 155 + + Denison Avenue, 353 + + Denison, Capt. John, 84, 134, 240, 338, 340, 341, 353, 354, 509 + + Denison, Col. G. T. (primus), 84, 353, 354, 371, 372, 459 + + Denison, Col. G. T. (secundus) (Rusholme), 354 + + Denison, Lt.-Col. G. T. (tertius), 354 + + Denison, Lt.-Col. R. L., 459 + + Denison, Lt.-Col. R. B., 454 + + Denison, Mrs. Sophia, 296, 342, 372 + + Denison (Speaker), 124 + + Dennis, Mr. John, 98, 363, 378 + + Dennis, Mr. Joseph, 98, 523, 548 + + Denonville, 1, 2, 4 + + Derby, Earl of, 124 + + Detlor, G. H., 185 + + Detroit, 10, 11, 29 + + Devans, Abr., 222 + + Dewar, Rev. E. H., 453 + + Dickson, Hon. W., 254, 364 + + Dickson, Mr. Thomas, 335 + + Diehl, Dr., 33 + + Dixon, Mr. Alexander, 206 + + Dobson, Mr. James, 410 + + Doel, Mr. John, 308 + + Don Bridge, 28, 218 + + Don, Indian name of, 233 + + Don, Lesser, 83 + + Don Mills, 242 + + Don River, 27, 30, 233 + + Dongan, 2, 4 + + Dorchester, Lord, 16, 17, 285, 389 + + Dorland, Thomas, 254 + + Dovercourt, 354 + + Doyle, James, 157 + + Doyle, John, 157 + + Draper, Chief Justice, 173, 296, 322, 413 + + Draper, Mr. W. G., 322 + + Drean, Henry, 84, 334 + + Drummond, Sir Gordon, 29, 356, 362 + + Drummond, Peter, 82 + + Drummond's Island, 504 + + Drury, Mr., 94 + + Drumsnab, 241 + + Drynoch, 466 + + Duchess Street, 257 + + Duels, 246, 254, 396 + + Dufferin, Earl of, 55 + + Duggan, Col. George, 84, 139, 184, 297, 363 + + Duggan, Mr. Thomas, 363 + + Duke Street, 180 + + Du Lhu (Duluth), 2, 4 + + Dummer Street, 317 + + Duncan, Hon. Richard, 82 + + Dundas, Mr. Secretary, 305, 516, 518 + + Dundas Street, 245, 510 + + Do. do. Sandford's Corner, 371 + + Dunlop, Dr., 210, 358 + + Dunn, Mrs., 135, 342 + + Dunn, Col., 342 + + Dunn, Hon. J. H., 84, 105, 134, 146, 342 + + Dunstable, 305 + + Durand, Mr. Charles, 397 + + Durand, Mr. James, 398 + + Durand, Mr., senior, 398 + + Durantaye, 1, 2, 4 + + Durham, Lord, 126 + + Durweston Gate Inn, 447 + + Dundurn, 448 + + Dutcher, F. R., 378 + + + E. + + Earl, Capt., 525, 530, 535 + + Eastwood, Mr., senior, 224, 242 + + Edgell, John, 385 + + Eglinton, 438 + + Elgin, Lord, 392, 394 + + Elizabeth College, 91 + + Elliott, John, 84 + + Elliott, Matthew, 254 + + Elm Street, 316 + + Elmsley, Capt. John, 392, 402, 570 + + Elmsley, Chief Justice, 64, 78, 90, 118, 138, 311, 383, 385, 387, 523 + + Elmsley House, 78, 90 + + Elmsley Villa, 392, 395 + + Emigres, French, 468 + + Englefield, 350 + + Ernest, Peter, 206, 255, 296 + + Ernest, Henry, 185 + + Esplanade, 81 + + Estes, Capt., 545 + + Et, Township of, 362 + + Evans, Col., 557 + + Everson, James, 222 + + Ewart, Mr. John, 203, 408 + + Express from Quebec, 49 + + + F. + + Fair Green, 31 + + Fairbairn, L., 84 + + Fancy Balls, 111, 114, 412 + + Farcy, General Amboise de., 189, 469 + + Farmers' Arms, 178 + + Farmers' Store, 39, 437 + + Farr, Mr., 357 + + Farr's Brewery, 357 + + Fawcett, Lieut.-Col., 308 + + Fenton, Mr. John, 109, 145, 165 + + Ferguson, Barnabas, 271 + + Ferguson, Mr. John, 82 + + Fidler, Rev. Isaac, 452 + + Field, C., 295 + + Finch's, 447 + + Firth, Attorney-General, 138, 336 + + Fish, Moses, 109, 310 + + Fisher, Dr., 291 + + Fiske, Mr., 162 + + Fisken, Mr., 428 + + Fitzgerald, Capt., 351 + + Fitzgerald, John, 157 + + Fitzgibbon, Col., 89, 134, 345, 445 + + Flagging King Street, 198 + + Fleming, Mr. Sandford, 501 + + Flos, Tay and Tiny, 362 + + Forfar, Thomas, 386 + + Forsyth, Mr. Joseph, 509 + + Fortune, Joseph, 423 + + Fortune, William, 82, 423 + + Foster, Col., 124, 333 + + Foster, Mr. Colley, 333 + + Fothergill, Charles, 85, 209, 269, 273, 279, 358, 559 + + Foxley Grove, 373 + + Frank, Mr., 115, 401 + + Frank, Castle, 236, 245 + + Frank's Hotel, 110 + + Fraser, Hon. Thomas, 364, 509 + + Freder, Francis, 108 + + Frederick, Duke of York, 21 + + Frederick Street, 35 + + Freeman, Newspaper, 270 + + French Fort, Old, 73 + + French, John, 84 + + Frontenac, Count, 5 + + Frontenac, Fort, 45 + + Frontenac, Steamer, 538 + + Fuller, Archdeacon, 340 + + Fuller, Major, 340, 434 + + Furon, Jean, 469 + + + G. + + Gage, Gen., 15 + + Gale, Mr. Benjamin, 363 + + Galissoniere, 5, 6 + + Gallows Hill, 425 + + Galt, Mr. John, 111, 112, 114, 115, 502 + + Gamble, Mrs., 192 + + Gamble, Mr. Clarke, 248 + + Gamble, Dr., 138 + + Gamble, Mr. John W., 84, 134, 551 + + Gamble, Mr. William, 134 + + Gardeners' Arms, 403 + + Garneau, M., 314 + + Garrison, 28, 71 + + Garsides, Mr., 430 + + Gandatsi-tiagon, 4 + + Gazette, First, at Newark, 159, 573 + + George, Capt., 573 + + George III., 21, 436 + + George Street, 180, 184 + + George Street, Upper, 382 + + Georgina, 352 + + German Mills, 448, 450 + + Gibson, Mr. David, 446 + + Gillespie, Mr. J., 150 + + Givins, Rev. Saltern, 158, 530 + + Givins, Adolphus, 112 + + Givins, James, 160, 185 + + Givins, Col., 112, 134, 138, 201, 239, 351, 352, 358, 359 + + Glassco, Thomas, 157 + + Globe Inn, Yonge Street, 432 + + Glengary, 29 + + Glen Grove, 439 + + Glenlonely, 472 + + Glennon, B. H. and M., 185 + + Glennon, Edward, 157 + + Goats, 87 + + Goessmann, John, 437 + + Good, Mr., 391 + + Good's Foundry, 391 + + Gooderham, Mr., senior, 150, 204 + + Gooderham and Wort's Mills, 204 + + Goodman, Mrs., 181 + + Goodwin's Creek, 201 + + Gordon, Hon. J., 150, 181 + + Gordon, Miss, 150 + + Gore, Mrs. Arabella, 360 + + Gore, Gov., 29, 148, 160, 244, 360, 362, 387, 428, 443, 477, 531, 533 + + Gore Vale, 356 + + Gould Street, 433 + + Gouvereau, Capt., 535 + + Gourlay, Robert, 103, 104, 275, 324, 331 + + Grace, Capt., 534 + + Graham, Mr. William, 371 + + Grange, The, 328 + + Grant, Hon. Alexander, 82, 351 + + Grasett, Very Rev. H. J., 150 + + Graves Street, 328 + + Gray, John and Robert, 185 + + Gray, Mr. Solicitor-General, 138, 253, 295, 328, 337, 385, 528 + + Gray, W., Montreal, 52 + + Green Bush Tavern, 403, 447 + + Greenland Fishery, 58 + + Gregg, Mr., 112 + + Grenadier's Pond, 72 + + Grindstone Stolen, 260 + + Grosvenor Street, 395 + + Grubbe, Capt., 136, 547 + + Guardian, U. C., Newspaper, 271 + + Gurnett, Mr. George, 279, 442 + + Gurney, Joseph John, 482 + + Gurwood, Col., 128 + + Gwillimbury, Fort, 492 + + Gzowski, Mr. C. S., 150, 460 + + + H. + + Hagerman, Mr. Justice, 70, 114 + + Hale, Eliphalet, 383, 387 + + Hale, Jonathan, 303, 385, 439 + + Hale, Henry, 180, 439 + + Hallen, Rev. George, 503 + + Hallowell, Sir Benjamin, 366 + + Hallowell, Mr. Benjamin, 355, 366 + + Halton, Major, 531 + + Hamilton, Mr. Alexander, 202, 393 + + Hamilton, George, 84 + + Hamilton, Gilbert, 185 + + Hamilton, Mr. James, 202 + + Hamilton, Hon. Robert, 82, 335, 564 + + Hamilton, Mr. Thomas, 363, 430 + + Hamilton, T. G., 185 + + Hamilton, W. A., 185 + + Hamilton, Wilson, 185 + + Handy, Patrick, 41, 498 + + Harbour, the first Survey, 508 + + Harper, Capt., 571 + + Harraway, John, 160 + + Harris, Rev. Mr., 308 + + Harris, Rev. Dr., 93 + + Harris, Mr. T. D., 184, 186, 540 + + Harrison, Hon. S. B., 373 + + Harrison, Joseph and William, 303 + + Hartney, Edward, 185 + + Hartney, Mr. P. K., 363 + + Hastings, Warren, 221 + + Hathaway, Mr., 509 + + Hatt, Mr. Richard, 335 + + Hawke's Bridge, 440 + + Hayden, John, 101 + + Hayes' Boarding-House, 33 + + Hayes, John, 84, 185, 199, 363 + + Hayne, de, _see_ Hoen + + Hazeldean, 413 + + Heath, Mrs. Col., 426 + + Helliwell, Mr. Thomas, 408 + + Helliwell, Mr., senior, 224, 242 + + Henderson, R. C., 84 + + Henderson, Mr. R., 282, 386 + + Hennepin, 79 + + Henry, Dr., 126, 128, 131 + + Herchmer, Mr. J., 265, 291, 385, 529 + + Heron, Mr. A., 263, 575 + + Heron, Mr. S., 222 + + Heron's Bridge, 441 + + Herring, R., 303 + + Hetherington, George, 41, 146 + + Heward, Charles, 157, 194 + + Heward, Mr. F. H., 157 + + Heward, Henry, 157 + + Heward, Mr. Hugh, 332 + + Heward, Mr. John, 494 + + Heward, Major Stephen, 41, 79, 84, 134, 193, 298 + + Hewson, Mr. Francis, 498 + + Higgins, Mr. Chief Constable, 142 + + Higgins, Mr., senr., 138, 372 + + Hill, Mr. Joseph, 406 + + Hill, Solomon, 254 + + Hill, Mr., Caxton Press, 207 + + Hilliard, Capt., 574 + + Hillier, Major, 55, 84, 136, 341, 359 + + Hincks, Sir Francis, 280 + + Hodges, Dr., (Organist), 147 + + Hoen, Baron de, 248, 433, 435 + + Hogan, Mr. J. S., 219 + + Hogg, Mr., 442 + + Hogg's Hollow, 442, 444 + + Holland House, 55 + + Holland Landing, 492 + + Holland, Major, 492 + + Holland's Map, 491, 493 + + Hop Garden, 229 + + Horne, Dr. R. C., 258, 269, 410 + + Horner, Mr., 137 + + Horton, John, 385 + + Hospital, General, 32 + + Hospital, Old, 88 + + Hospital Street, 384 + + Hough, John, 303 + + Howard, Mr. J. G., 405, 407 + + Howard, Mr. J. S., 426 + + Howard, Mr. Peter, 253 + + Hudson, Rev. Joseph, 70, 140 + + Hudson, Mr. Surveyor, 427 + + Hughes, Samuel, 107 + + Hugill's Brewery, 203 + + Humber River, 3 + + Humber Bay, 72, 367, 370 + + Humber Plains, 373 + + Humberstone, Mr., 79, 445 + + Humphrey, Mr. Caleb, 138 + + Hunt, Mr. Joseph, 138, 386 + + Hunter, Governor, 40, 249, 267, 478, 522, 525 + + Hunter, Mr. William, 203, 386 + + Huskisson, Mr., 360 + + Huson, Mr., 440 + + Hutchinson, John, 41, 203 + + Hutty, Mr. Peter, 410 + + + I. + + Iknield Street, 395 + + Indian's Grave, 309 + + Innisfallen, 498 + + Iredell, Abraham, 423 + + Ives, Capt., 539 + + Irving, Hon. J. AE., 490 + + + J. + + Jack of Clubs, 176 + + Jackes, Mr., 198, 438 + + Jackson, Mr. Clifton, 429 + + Jackson, Mr. J. Mills, 427 + + Jackson, Samuel, 298, 430 + + Jail, 26, 99, 100 + + Jail Limits, 100 + + James, Mr. John, 196 + + James Street, 307 + + Jameson, Mrs., 49, 68, 69, 94, 128, 136, 147, 347 + + Jameson, Vice Chancellor, 67, 444 + + Jarvis, Mr. G. S., 79, 185, 328 + + Jarvis, Secretary, 41, 138, 181, 247, 282, 292, 385, 478 + + Jarvis, Mr. S. P., 182, 257, 284 + + Jarvis, Mr. Stephen, Registrar, 134, 138, 181, 411 + + Jarvis, Mr. W. B., 84, 185, 405 + + Jay's Treaty, 30 + + Jeune, Bishop of Lincoln, 127 + + John Street, 58, 328 + + Johnson, Dr., 448 + + Johnson, Sir John, 370 + + Johnson, Sir William, 13, 15 + + Johnson, Mr. William, 82 + + Jones, Augustus, 17, 18, 415, 417, 419, 521 + + Jones, Aug., Report on Yonge Street, 416 + + Jones, Rev. Peter, 417, 447 + + Jordan's Hotel, 197 + + Jordan Mr., 138, 363 + + Jordan Street, 96 + + Jutes, Sampson, 260 + + + K. + + Kane, Michael, 379 + + Kane, Paul, 203, 379 + + Kahawabash, 18 + + Kearsny House, 401 + + Kempenfelt Bay, 496 + + Kendrick, John, 531 + + Kendrick, Joseph, 536 + + Kendrick, Duke, 441 + + Kendrick, Mr., 138 + + Kent, Duke of, 285, 358, 498 + + Kent, Mr. John, 273 + + Kerr, Chief, 112, 345 + + Kerr, John, 385 + + Ketchum, Mr. Jesse, 84, 102, 138, 308, 310, 379, 380, 388, 410, 439 + + Ketchum, Mr. Seneca, 381, 443 + + Kettle, 155 + + Kildonan, 300 + + King's Head, Burlington Bay, 368 + + Kingsland, 440 + + King Street, 28 + + Kinnear, Mr., 462 + + Kirby, Mr. W., 263 + + Klinger, Mr. Philip, 363, 376, 381 + + Knott, John, 79, 158, 160 + + Knox College, 395 + + + L. + + Lachine, 5 + + Lajoree, 17 + + Lakeshore Road, 368, 370 + + Lancaster, W., 160 + + Landor, Walter Savage, 367 + + Larchmere, 472 + + La Salle, 76 + + Lavalterie, 7 + + Lawe, Geo., 423 + + Lawrence, Mr., 440 + + Lawrence, Peter, 303 + + Lawrence, W., 363 + + Lawrence's Tannery, 440 + + Lea, Mr., senior, 224 + + Leach, John, 386 + + Leach, Joshua, 303 + + Leach, Rev. Mr., 442, 444 + + Lee, Dr., 32, 134, 138, 181, 355 + + Lee, Mr. W. H., 515 + + Leeke, Rev. W., 128 + + Legge, Mr. Alexander, 138, 363 + + Lefferty, Dr., 137, 562 + + Lennox, Col., 397 + + Lennox, Lord Arthur, 124 + + Lesslie, Mr. James, 437 + + Lesslie, Mr. E., 186 + + Lewis, Mr., 219 + + Lewiston, 9 + + Leys, Mr. J., 556 + + Liancourt, Duke of, 30, 108, 353, 519, 530 + + Library, Parliamentary, 364 + + Lieutenants of Counties, 82 + + Lighthouse, 532 + + Lincoln, General, 512 + + Lindsey, Mr. Charles, 280 + + Lions, Golden, in Chancery, 174 + + Lippincott, Capt. Richard, 458 + + Littlehales, Major, 239, 351, 353, 513 + + Lockhart, Mr. James, 573 + + Locomotive, Toronto, 391 + + Longeuil, 6 + + Loring, Col., 350 + + Lot Street, 28, 245, 381, 384 + + Louisa Street, 308 + + Lowry, Rev. Dr., 547 + + Loyal and Patriotic Society, 52 + + Lumsden, Mrs., 193 + + Lumsden, S. A., 363 + + Lundy, Jacob, 477, 480 + + Lundy, Shadrach, Oliver, Reuben, 480 + + Lynn, Mr., 444 + + Lyons, Mr., 134 + + + M. + + McBeth, John, 386 + + McBride, E. W., 363 + + McBride, John, 531 + + McCaul, Rev. Dr., 322 + + McCormack, Mr., 12 + + McCormack, James, 439 + + McCutcheon, Mr., 286 + + McGann, Patrick, 42 + + McGregor, John, 254 + + McGregor, Col., 546 + + McGill, Col., 118, 134, 138, 257, 260, 267, 286, 385, 517 + + McGrath, Major T. W., 194 + + McIntosh, Angus, 536 + + McIntosh, Charles, 391, 571 + + McIntosh, James, 185 + + McIntosh, John, 391, 392, 573 + + McIntosh, Robert, 391 + + McKay, John, 255 + + McKenzie, Capt., 493, 538, 553 + + McKenzie, Daniel, 303 + + McLean, Allan, 253, 364 + + McLean, Chief Justice, 217, 344 + + McLean, Donald, 138, 484 + + McLean, Hon. Neil, 14, 364 + + McLean, Mr. Speaker, 142, 364 + + McLeod, Norman, 14 + + McLeod, Capt. Martin, 466 + + McLeod, Major, 467 + + McLeod, Murdoch, 107 + + McMahon, Mr. E., 248, 367 + + McMurtrie, Joseph, 385 + + McPherson, Hon. D. L., 424 + + McTaggart on Canada, 414 + + Macaulay, Allan, 158 + + Macaulay, Capt. J. S., 39, 307, 392 + + Macaulay, Dr., 118, 134, 138, 307, 311, 385, 392 + + Macaulay, Sir James, 54, 84, 147, 376 + + Macaulay Town, 307 + + Macdonald, Mr. John, 425 + + Macdonell, Hon. Alexander, 29, 138, 253, 330, 385, 386 + + Macdonell, Mr. Allan, 157, 331 + + Macdonell, Angus, 185, 249, 250, 291, 355, 366 + + Macdonell, Archibald, 82, 509 + + Macdonell, Attorney-General, 50, 119, 355, 356 + + Macdonell, Bishop, 34, 300, 567 + + Macdonell, Capt. AEneas, 526 + + Macdonell, Capt., 68th, 567 + + Macdonell, Donald, 185 + + Macdonell, Mr. James, 51, 157 + + Macdonell, John, 82 + + Macdonell, Miles, 300, 331, 439 + + Macdonell, Peter, 185 + + Macdonell, Sheriff, 248 + + MacDougall, Mr. John, 222, 303, 386, 439 + + MacDougall, Peter, 52, 84, 541 + + MacKenzie, William Lyon, 38, 102, 104, 137, 242, 310, 392 + + MacMaster, Hon. W., 424 + + MacMurray, Rev. Dr., 140, 157 + + Macnab, Sir Allan, 85, 134, 185, 216, 448 + + Macnab, Capt. Alexander, 355, 366, 479 + + Macnab, Rev. Dr., 366, 479 + + Macnab, The Chief, 212, 213, 214, 216 + + Macnab, Mr. David, 160, 212 + + Macnab, Mr. D., senr., 134, 215 + + McNabb, Simon, 385 + + MacNiel, Capt., 72, 434 + + Mairs, Mr., 501 + + Maitland, Lady Sarah, 135, 213 + + Maitland, Sir Peregrine, 29, 90, 122, 123, 142, 359, 549 + + Mall (Esplanade), 80 + + Mallory, Benaiah, 254 + + Manitoba, 300 + + Mansion House Hotel, 196 + + Manning, Ald., 55 + + Market Lane, 109 + + Market Place, falling of gallery, 42 + + Market, Weekly, for York, 40 + + Marriages, Record of, 334, 335 + + Marseuil, Chevalier de, 469 + + Marsh, William, 380 + + March Street, 170, 317 + + Marian, Paul, 185, 198, 386 + + Mashquoteh, 426 + + Masonic Hall, 109 + + Massiac, 10 + + Mathers, Mr. J., 424 + + Mathews, Rev. Charles, 94, 407 + + Maxwell, Capt., 574 + + Maxwell, Mr., 110 + + Mayerhoffer, Rev. V. P., 454 + + Mealy, Sergeant, 335, 385 + + Mechanics' Institute, First, 109 + + Medals, 52 + + Medley, Ensign, 557 + + Meighan, Messrs, 546, 569 + + Melinda Street, 96 + + Melville, Capt., 557 + + Mennonists, 480 + + Mercer, Andrew, 55, 84, 269, 363, 366 + + Merchants' Wharf, 39 + + Methodist, First, Chapel, 95 + + Michilimackinac, 1, 2, 3 + + Midford, Capt., 94 + + Miles, Abner, his Day-book, 45, 193 + + Miller, Capt., 539 + + Millard, Mordecai, 482 + + Milloy, Capt., 576 + + Mills, Mr., 222 + + Mississaga Point, 31 + + Mississaga Tract, 369 + + Mississagas, 8 + + Mitchell, Mr., 438 + + Moffatt, Lieut., 503 + + Mohawk, Etymology of, 76 + + Monro, Mr. George, 31, 84, 134, 187 + + Monro, Mr. John, 84, 134 + + Montcalm, 9 + + Montgomery, Alexander, 289, 303 + + Montgomery, Mr. John, 437 + + Montmagny, 4 + + Montreal Gazette, 281 + + Montreal Herald, 281 + + Moodie, Col., 460 + + Moore, Capt., 530 + + Moore, John, 185 + + Moore, Sir John, 125 + + Moore, William, 303 + + Moore, Mr., 181 + + Moore, the Poet, 21 + + Morley, Benjamin, 221 + + Morrison, Dr. T. D., 310, 408 + + Morrison, Mr. Justice, 424 + + Mortimer, Rev. George, 444, 451 + + Morton, Simeon, 298 + + Mosier, Capt., 547, 551, 567 + + Mosley, Henry, 159 + + Mosley, John, 159 + + Mosley, Mr., senior, 186, 566 + + Moss Park, 28, 249 + + Mottoes, Newspaper, 281 + + Mountain, Bishop, 527 + + Mount, Roswell, 131 + + Mudge, Capt. Zachary, 136 + + Muirhead, Dr., 255 + + Munro, Major, 567 + + Munshaw, Balser, 223 + + Murchison, Mr. J., 138, 181, 355, 363 + + Murney, Capt., 521, 524, 527, 534 + + Murney, Mrs., 433 + + Murray, Mr., 439 + + Murray, Mr. Alexander, 401 + + Murray, Capt., 529 + + Murray, Charles Stewart, 450 + + Murray, Daniel, 160 + + Murray, Jock, 175 + + Myers, Capt., 539 + + Myers, James, 157 + + Myers, William, 157 + + + N. + + Nanton, Mr., 439 + + Napier, Lord, of Magdala, 342 + + Nash, James, 222 + + Nash, Samuel, 386 + + Nation, Mr. James, 84 + + Navy Hall, 29 + + Nelles, Abraham, 157 + + Nelles, Henry, 160 + + Nelles, Robert, 254, 255 + + Nelson Street, 178 + + Newgate Street, 152 + + Newmarket, 482, 486 + + New Town, 63 + + Niagara, 20 + + Niagara, Early Press at, 258 + + Nicholl, Col., 137 + + Nightingale, Mr., 424 + + Nolan, Capt., 449 + + Norris, Mr. James, 386 + + North, Capt., 557 + + North-West Company, 425 + + + O. + + Oakhill, 358 + + Oaklands, 424 + + Oak Ridges, 471 + + Oates, Capt., 195, 542 + + Oates, Mr. R. H., 157 + + Observer, 269 + + Ogetonicut, 291 + + O'Grady, Rev. Mr., 203 + + O'Hara, James, 175 + + O'Hara, Col. Walter, 367, 368, 459 + + O'Keefe, Andrew, 363 + + O'Neill, Mr. J., 225 + + Olive Grove, 426 + + Ontario House, 49 + + Ontario Street, 200 + + Osgoode, Chief Justice, 138, 313, 513 + + Osgoode Hall, 312 + + Oswegatchie, 7 + + Oswego, 5, 13, 390 + + Owens, John, 157 + + + P. + + Padfield, Mr. J., 94 + + Paget, Dr., 451 + + Paper Mills, 242 + + Park Lane, 316 + + Park, The, 255 + + Parker, Mr., 99, 430 + + Parkman, referred to, 479 + + Parliament, Houses of, Upper Canada, 26 + + Parsons, Mr. W., 451 + + Paterson, Mr. P., 185, 408 + + Paxton, Capt., 290, 528 + + Paynter, Capt., 571 + + Peacock Tavern, 374 + + Pearson, Nathaniel, 477 + + Peeke, Capt., 262 + + Penetanguishene, 390, 500 + + Perry, Charles, 379 + + Perry, Mr. Peter, 142, 310 + + Peter Street, 63, 342 + + Peters, W. B., 386 + + Petersfield, 63, 336 + + Peterson, Paul, 310 + + Pettit, William, 175 + + Petto, J., 338 + + Phair, Mr., 84 + + Phipps, Mr. W. B., 403 + + Phipps, Mr. Thomas, 142 + + Phillips, Rev. Dr., 94, 141, 167 + + Phillpotts, Capt., 136, 570 + + Pickering, Col., 512 + + Picquet, 5, 7 + + Pilgrims' Farm, 439 + + Pilkington, General, 497, 519 + + Pilkington, Isaac, 201 + + Pilkington, W., 185 + + Pimlico, 405 + + Pinhey, Hamnet, 137 + + Pine Grove, 360 + + Pines, The, 404 + + Piper, Mr. Hiram, 378 + + Playter, Mr. Eli, 288, 386 + + Playter, Mr. Emanuel, 224 + + Playter, Mr. George, 84, 222, 288 + + Playter, Capt. George, 134, 138, 241, 287 + + Playter, Capt. John, 224 + + Playter, Mr. James, 222, 383, 385 + + Playter, Mr. Thomas, 185 + + Polwhele, 60 + + Pontiac, 53 + + Poplar Plains, 426 + + Portland Street, 70, 354 + + Post, Jordan, 96, 311, 363, 381 + + Post Office, First, 38 + + Potteries, Walmsley's, 432 + + Potter's Field, 408 + + Poulett Thomson, 326 + + Powell, Chief Justice, 56, 129, 138, 142, 297, 303, 328, 365 + + Powell, Dr. Grant, 80, 84, 88, 102, 112, 134, 363 + + Powell, Major, 136 + + Powell's Pump, 209 + + Power, Bishop, 89 + + Power Street, 204 + + Prentice, R. E., 84 + + Press, Early, at Niagara, 259 + + Press, Early, at York, 258 + + Prevost, Sir George, 27, 61, 537 + + Prices Early, at York, 43, 44, 45 + + Price's Tavern, 408 + + Primrose, Dr., 139 + + Princes Street, 31 + + Proudfoot, Mr. W., 84, 401 + + Provincial Gazetteer, The first, 27 + + Puisaye, Comte de, 189, 469 + + Pump, Public, 41, 196 + + Purcell, Miss, 135, 181 + + + Q. + + Quaker Settlement, 476 + + Quebec, 10, 507 + + Quebec Mercury, 281 + + Queenston, 9 + + Queen Street, 28 + + Quinte, Bay of, 8, 206 + + + R. + + Race Course, 83 + + Raddish, Rev. T., 312 + + Railway, Huron and Ontario, 42 + + Ramsay, Dean, 214 + + Ramsay, Rev. S., 485 + + Randal, Mr. Robert, 309 + + Randolph, Mr., 512 + + Rathnally, 424 + + Reade, C., 185 + + Red Lion Inn, 408 + + Rees, Dr., 210, 358 + + Reid, George, 554 + + Reynolds, Mr., 198 + + Richards, Mr. (ice), 410 + + Richardson, Lieut., 79 + + Richardson, Rev. Dr., 447, 535 + + Richardson, Capt. Hugh, 548, 561, 565, 572 + + Richardson, C. and H., 575 + + Richardson, Capt. James, 535, 536 + + Richey, Mr. John, 406 + + Richmond, Duke of, 123 + + Richmond Packet, 195, 542, 544 + + Ridout, Charles, 157 + + Ridout, Francis, 157 + + Ridout, Horace, 160 + + Ridout, Mr. John, 157 + + Ridout, Mr. Joseph, 378 + + Ridout, Mr. Percival, 378 + + Ridout, Mr. S., Sheriff, 34, 84, 248 + + Ridout, Surveyor-General, 84, 120, 133, 138, 152, 182, 244, 371, 385, 423, 463 + + Ripley, Rev. W. H., 206 + + Ritchie, Rev. W., 444 + + Robinson, Mr. Christopher, senior, 138 + + Robinson, Sir J. B., 51, 57, 79, 80, 120, 138, 303, 312, 326, 442 + + Robinson, Hon. Peter, 482, 494 + + Robinson, Hon. W. B., 84, 185, 482, 483, 494, 499 + + Rocheblave, 17, 18 + + Roe, Mr. W.,84, 483 + + Rogers, Mr. David McGregor, 254 + + Rogers, Mr. Joseph, 84, 173 + + Rogers, Major, 10 + + Rogers, Rufus, Asa, Isaac, Wing, James, Obadiah, 480 + + Rogers, Timothy, 477, 480 + + Rolph, Hon. J., 309, 348 + + Rolph, Dr. Thomas, 210 + + Rosedale, 405, 411 + + Rose, Rev. A. W. H., 501 + + Rose, Miss., 135, 181 + + Ross, Mr. J., Undertaker, 138, 333 + + Rossi, Franco, 94 + + Rottenburg, Baron de, 342 + + Rouge River, 448, 472 + + Rouille, 3, 6, 73 + + Royalists, French, 469 + + Roy, Louis, 259 + + Ruggles, C., 185 + + Ruggles, Mr. James, 371, 529 + + Rumsey, Mr. John, 314 + + Rusholme, 354 + + Russell Alley, 33, 34 + + Russell Hill, 340, 410 + + Russell, Miss Elizabeth, 33, 434 + + Russell, President, 29, 118, 138, 294, 336, 338, 339, 385, 401, 520 + + Russell Square, 90 + + Russell's Creek, 58 + + Rutherford, Mr. E. H., 150 + + Ryerse, Mr. Samuel, 82 + + + S. + + Sagard, Gabriel, 74 + + Saigeon, Michel, 469 + + Salmon Fishing, 228 + + Sanders, Capt., 536 + + Sandford's Inn, 372 + + Sandhill, 399 + + Sanson, Rev. Alex, 444 + + Savage, Mr. George, 565 + + Sayer Street, 316 + + Scarlett, Mr. J., 134, 363, 374 + + School, District Grammar, 98, 152, 166 + + School, Dr. Strachan's, at Cornwall, 156, 163 + + Scollard, Mr. Maurice, 402 + + Scoresby, Capt., 394 + + Scott, Chief Justice, 51, 130, 138, 376, 386 + + Scott, General Winfield, 535 + + Scott Street, 51 + + Secord, Peter, 260 + + Seignelay, 1 + + Selby, Mr. Receiver-General, 138, 336, 484 + + Selkirk, Lord, 299, 303, 330 + + Selleck, Capt., 524 + + Selwyn, Bishop, 394 + + Semple, Gov., 301 + + Seneca, Etymology of, 76 + + Severn, Mr. John, 410, 411 + + Shade, Absolom, 137 + + Shank, Col. David, 355 + + Sharon, 486 + + Shaver, Mr. Peter, 142 + + Shaw, Capt. Alexander, 358 + + Shaw, Capt., 345 + + Shaw, General AEneas, 80, 138, 334, 355, 356, 358, 523 + + Shaw, David, 160 + + Shaw, Warren, 160 + + Sheaffe, General, 29, 120, 347, 362 + + Sheehan, James, 159 + + Sheldon, W. B., 378 + + Shepard, Harvey, 242, 311 + + Shephard, Mr., 446 + + Shephard's Inn, 445 + + Sheppard, Joseph, 310, 443 + + Sherborne Street, 248 + + Sherwood, Mr. Justice, 303, 376 + + Sherwood, Reuben, 423 + + Sherwood, Mr. Samuel, 253, 303 + + Sherwood, Mr. Speaker, 137, 142 + + Siasconcet, 18 + + Sicotte, Mr. Speaker, 278 + + Simcoe, Governor, 18, 20, 29, 248, 356, 388, 389, 480, 510 + + Simcoe, Lake, 3, 474 + + Simcoe Place, 59 + + Simcoe, Steamer, 494 + + Simcoe Street, 317, 329 + + Simons, T. G., Printer, 263, 385 + + Sinclair, Capt., 540 + + Sinclair, Mr., senior, 224 + + Skeldon, George, 159 + + Skeldon, John, 159 + + Skinner, Mr. Colin, 224 + + Skinner's Sloop, 527 + + Slavery, 29, 292, 293 + + Small, Mr. Charles, 84, 185, 199 + + Small, Hon. J. E., 84, 185, 396 + + Small, Mr. John, 84, 133, 138, 199, 246, 249, 385, 435, 478, 484, 509 + + Smith, Col., President, 133, 138, 331, 353, 355, 364 + + Smith, Hon. D. W., 82, 248, 382, 385, 414, 419, 478 + + Smith, Mr. James F., 571 + + Smith, Dr. Larratt W., 425 + + Smith, Mr. Larratt, senior, 461 + + Smith, Thomas, 386 + + Smith, Under-Sheriff, 304 + + Smith, Walker, 157 + + Smith, William, 84, 185, 197, 363, 386 + + Smythe, Sir John, 177 + + Snider, Elias, 438 + + Snider, Jacob, 438 + + Snider, Martin, 438 + + Spadina Avenue, 66, 345 + + Spadina House, 66, 410 + + Spectator, New York, 282, 283 + + Spencer, Hazelton, 82 + + Spoon-bill, Governor Gore's, 364 + + Spragge, Chancellor, 165, 314 + + Spragge, Mr. Joseph, 84, 165 + + Spragge, Mr. William, 165 + + Springfield Park, 427 + + Sproxton Lake, 473 + + Squires, Philemon, 185 + + St. George, Quetton, senior, 138, 188-192, 469, 528 + + St. George, Quetton, Mr. Henry, 472 + + St. Giles, 410 + + St. James' Church, 117 + + St. Paul's Church, 407 + + Stafford, Mr., 176 + + Stage to Niagara, 49 + + Stanley Street, 170, 317 + + Stanton, Mr. R., 185, 269, 279, 333 + + Stanton, Mr., senior, 336 + + Stanton, Mr. W., 138 + + Steamboat Hotel, 48 + + Stedman, 87 + + Stegman, Mr. J., 64, 382, 419, 422, 529 + + Stegman, David, 84 + + Stegman, Report on Yonge Street, 419 + + Stewart, Mr., 110 + + Stewart, Bishop of Quebec, 139 + + Stimpson, Harbour, 303 + + Stocking, Mr. Jared, 173 + + Stoyell, Dr., 199, 222, 310 + + Strachan, Dr., 57, 84, 120, 141, 155, 161, 209, 277, 278, 364, 444 + + Strachan, James McGill, 158, 160, 286 + + Strachan, Mr. James, 57, 443 + + Strange, Mr., 556 + + Street, Rev. G. C., 486 + + Stuart, Okill, Archdeacon, 118, 139, 184, 340, 435 + + Stump Act, 262 + + Sugar-loaf Hill, 241 + + Sullivan, Augustus, 112 + + Sullivan, Mr. Justice, 87 + + Sullivan, Thomas, 84 + + Summer Hill, 424 + + Sun Tavern, 391 + + Sutherland, Capt., 571 + + Swayzey, Isaac, 254, 255 + + Swift, Patrick, 103, 276 + + Sydenham, Lord, 326, 504 + + + T. + + Taiaiagons, several, 76 + + Talbot, Col., 124, 239, 351 + + Talbot, Mr., Actor, 110 + + Taylor, Mr. John Fennings, 372 + + Taylor, Rev. Robert, 485 + + Taylor, Thomas, 84 + + Taylor, Mr., senior, 224 + + Taylor's Paper Mills, 242 + + Temperance Street, 380 + + Teraulay Cottage, 393 + + Teraulay Street, 307 + + Terry, Parshall, 222, 223 + + Thames, Canadian, 351 + + Thames, English, 29 + + Theatre, 96, 110 + + Thew, Capt., 539 + + Thomas, Dr., 255 + + Thompson, Arch., 222 + + Thompson, David, 222 + + Thompson, Mr. Charles, 424 + + Thomson, Mr., Canada Co., 112 + + Thome, Mr. B., 451 + + Thornhill, 451 + + Thorpe, Mr. Justice, 256, 428 + + Tiers, Mr. Daniel, 285, 409 + + Tiffany, G., 260, 306 + + Titus, John, 386 + + Toby, Horse, Case of, 299 + + Todmorden, 224 + + Toronto, Etymology of, 74 + + Toronto, Fort, 8 + + Toronto Harbour, 16, 510 + + Toronto Purchase, 369 + + Toronto Street, 63, 381, 382 + + Townley, Rev. A., 444 + + Townsley, James and William, 424 + + Training Day, 36 + + Trinity College, University of, 356, 357 + + Trinity Square, 392, 393 + + Turner, Mr. Enoch, 206 + + Turner, Mr. R. T., 314 + + Turquand, Mr. Bernard, 84, 125, 350 + + Tyler, Joseph, 228 + + + U. + + University, 324 + + University Street, 316 + + Upper Canada College, 93 + + + V. + + Vance, Mr. Alderman, 440 + + Vaudreuil, 9, 10 + + Vankoughnet, Mr., senior, 361 + + Vannorman, J. & B., 379 + + Vansittart, Admiral, 336 + + Vanzante, J., 108, 387 + + Vaughan, Mr., Actor, 110 + + Vercheres, 7 + + Veritas, 61 + + Victoria Street, 63, 382 + + Vineyard, 404 + + + W. + + Wabbecomegat, 14 + + Wabbekisheco, Chief, 291 + + Wales, Prince of, 313, 329 + + Wallis, Mr. James, 410 + + Walmsley, John, 432 + + Walton, George, 392, 408 + + Ward, Mr. Thomas, 288, 386 + + Warffe, Mr. Andrew, 84, 182 + + Warffe, Mr. John, 182 + + Washburn, Mrs., 347 + + Washburn, Ebenezer, 254 + + Washburn, Simon, 84, 134, 180, 217, 225 + + Washington (City), 27 + + Waters, W., 263, 385 + + Watson, Mr., printer, 207 + + Wax-work figures hung, 48 + + Weekes, Mr., 249, 254, 291, 385 + + Well in Market Square, 41 + + Weld, Cardinal, 34 + + Weld, Isaac, 21, 33 + + Weller, Mr. W., 49 + + Wellington, Duke of, 127 + + Wells, Mrs., 135 + + Wells, Col., 66, 134 + + Wells, Col. Frederick, 66 + + West, Dr., 255 + + Westminster, 27 + + Wetherill, Mr., 406 + + Wharncliffe, Lord, 124 + + Wheler, Sir George, 95 + + White, Attorney-General, 246, 435, 513 + + Whitehead, Col. M. F., 288, 542 + + White Swan Inn, 48 + + Whitmore, Michael, 303, 427 + + Whitney, Peter, 303 + + Whitney, Capt., 550, 567 + + Whippings, Public, 42 + + Widmer, Dr. Christopher, 32, 33, 85, 199. + + Wilcot, Paul, 431 + + Wilberforce Settlement, 502 + + Wilkie, D., artist, 156 + + Wilkinson, Mr. W. B., 253 + + Willard, Levi, 527 + + Willcocks, Mr. Charles, 349 + + Willcocks, Mr. Joseph, 271 + + Willcocks, Lake, 472 + + Willcocks, Mr. William, 138, 349, 385 + + Williamson, Capt., 108 + + William Street, 317 + + Willis, Judge, 22, 111, 113 + + Willis, Lady Mary, 111 + + Willis, Miss, 33, 112, 114 + + Wilson, David, 105, 296, 486 + + Wilmot, Samuel S., 244, 423 + + Wilson, Mr. D., 177 + + Wilson, Stillwell, 430, 439, 539 + + Windsor Street, 62 + + Winniett, Major, 350, 557 + + Wolfe, Gen., 492 + + Wood, Mr. Alexander, 138, 187, 383, 385, 484 + + Woodin, Lieut., 504, 506 + + Woodlawn, 424 + + Woodruffe, H., 185 + + Wood Street, 395 + + Worthington, Mr. John, 150, 424 + + Worts, Mr. James, 150, 204 + + Worts, Mr., senior, 205 + + Wragg & Co., 185 + + Wright, E. S., 58, 363 + + Wright, Miss M., 335 + + Wyatt, C. B., Surveyor-General, 423 + + Wykham Lodge, 392, 395 + + + Y. + + Yeo, Sir James, 536 + + Yonge, Sir George, 307, 355, 356, 388 + + Yonge Street, 375, 390 + + Yonge Street, Stegman's Report, 420 + + York, Capital of Upper Canada, 27 + + York, Duke of, 513 + + York Mills, 442 + + York Street, 94, 315 + + Yorkville, 380, 383, 405 + + Yorkville, Town-hall, 409 + + Young, J., Architect, 59, 101, 321 + + Young, Mr. R., 385 + + + Z. + + Zealand, Capt., 571 + +[Illustration] + + + =Transcriber's Notes:= + original hyphenation, spelling and grammar have been preserved as in + the original + Preface Page viii, "Fuller, of" changed to "Fuller of" + Preface Page viii, "Barber, of" changed to "Barber of" + Preface Page viii, "Kerby, of" changed to "Kerby of" + Contents Page xi, "to Church Street" changed to "to Church Street," + Contents Page xii, "Old Court House" changed to "Old Court House," + Page 4, "Missilimackinac" changed to "Michilimackinac" + Page 5, "sucessor" changed to "successor" + Page 5, "developed in a strong" changed to "developed into a strong" + Page 12, "Michilimackina" changed to "Michilimackinac" + Page 12, "Brheme" changed to "Bhreme" + Page 17, "there would- perhaps" changed to "there would, perhaps" + Page 18, "1792, Mr. Augustus" changed to "1792," Mr. Augustus" + Page 19, "If faut cependant" changed to "Il faut cependant" + Page 22, "heartles waste" changed to "heartless waste" + Page 26, "dooument" changed to "document" + Page 44, "quarts and and one" changed to "quarts and one" + Page 46, "just Eight shillings" changed to "just eight shillings" + Page 47, "July 6, 1799. These" changed to "July 6, 1799." These" + Page 50, "had failed, Delay" changed to "had failed. Delay" + Page 52, "GRATEFUL COUNTRY. On" changed to "GRATEFUL COUNTRY." On" + Page 54, "Of Yonge Steeet itself" changed to "Of Yonge Street itself" + Page 55, "front of of one" changed to "front of one" + Page 58, "relic indispensible" changed to "relic indispensable" + Page 61, "I have bern" changed to "I have been" + Page 68, 'Bright Stream."' changed to 'Bright Stream.")' + Page 71, "very great inconveniece" changed to "very great inconvenience" + Page 75, "Toronto, or Tarento" changed to "Toronto, or Tarento," + Page 76, "Mohawk is Mo-aga" changed to "Mohawk is Mo-aga," + Page 78, "western battery.'" changed to 'western battery."' + Page 84, "guaranteeeing" changed to "guaranteeing" + Page 94, "Phillips, D,D." changed to "Phillips, D.D." + Page 94, "Mathews. M.A." changed to "Mathews, M.A." + Page 95, "of the men.)" changed to "of the men." + Page 96, "this day: he" changed to "this day:" he" + Page 98, "superintendant" changed to "superintendent" + Page 108, "the settlements. To" changed to "the settlements." To" + Page 117, "asa contemporary" changed to "as a contemporary" + Page 121, "tranformed" changed to "transformed" + Page 122, "conspicuouly" changed to "conspicuously" + Page 124, "Maitland Scholar ships" changed to "Maitland Scholarships" + Page 140, "deeply-thoughtful matter" changed to "deeply-thoughtful manner" + Page 148, "communion-table. "This" changed to "communion-table." "This" + Page 151, changed v's to u's in inscription + Page 151, 'EASTER, 1870.' changed to 'EASTER, 1870."' + Page 152, 'and Jail."' changed to 'and Jail.")' + Page 153, "beformed" changed to "be formed" + Page 156, "to there school-days" changed to "to their school-days" + Page 158, "Metcalf,, Walker" changed to "Metcalf, Walker" + Page 158, 'Horace Ridout.' changed to 'Horace Ridout."' + Page 158, "adminstration" changed to "administration" + Page 160, "cirumstances" changed to "circumstances" + Page 175, "one: and" changed to "one; and" + Page 181, "in an an advertisement" changed to "in an advertisement" + Page 181, "before. Sir William" changed to "before Sir William" + Page 185, "procured "Bending" changed to "procured: "Bending" + Page 190, "Tickenburg" changed to "Ticklenburg" + Page 192, "Mens' hats" changed to "Men's hats" + Page 193, "Stoyell's tavern. York" changed to "Stoyell's tavern." York" + Page 196, "were a second" changed to "where a second" + Page 196, 'converted to a pump.' changed to 'converted to a pump."' + Page 199, "re-reserve" changed to "reserve" + Page 207, "populalation" changed to "population" + Page 207, "York Price Current Office" changed to "York Land Price + Current Office" + Page 214, "romatic" changed to "romantic" + Page 214, "Edinburgh]. A" changed to "Edinburgh]." A" + Page 219, "aid of outsiders," changed to "aid of outsiders." + Page 224, "the Mills;" In 1802" changed to "the Mills." In 1802" + Page 228, "river-bank, The flue" changed to "river-bank. The flue" + Page 237, 'recently revolted.' changed to 'recently revolted."' + Page 261, "acknowleged" changed to "acknowledged" + Page 263, "it it announced" changed to "it announced" + Page 265, "that the the dignified" changed to "that the dignified" + Page 268, "page, some Chinese" changed to "page, "some Chinese" + Page 278, "troubles and and the" changed to "troubles and the" + Page 280, "public affairs., may have" changed to "public affairs, may have" + Page 280, "avida; and of" changed to "avida;" and of" + Page 295, "to be be sold" changed to "to be sold" + Page 298, "Peace, "which," as" changed to "Peace, which," as" + Page 302, "Watterville" changed to "Watteville" + Page 313, "in its e ery nook" changed to "in its every nook" + Page 320, "expounded, As we" changed to "expounded. As we" + Page 323/324, "while de viating" changed to "while deviating" + Page 327, "that Kingston" changed to "that "Kingston" + Page 327, "whole of Canand" changed to "whole of Canada" + Page 328, "D'Arcy Boulton." changed to "D'Arcy Boulton.)" + Page 328, "took between" changed to "took place between" + Page 334, "bp the Rev." changed to "by the Rev." + Page 335, "Katey Macdonell. (This" changed to "Katey Macdonell." (This" + Page 335, "of Upper Canada." changed to "of Upper Canada.)" + Page 339, "Nos. 22, 13, 25" changed to "Nos. 22, 23, 25" + Page 341, "was the ornamental" changed to "was the "ornamental" + Page 343, "Senafe" changed to "Senafe" + Page 348, "width fo 90 feet" changed to "width of 90 feet" + Page 355, "destinanation" changed to "destination" + Page 362, "and and the township" changed to "and the township" + Page 371, "embodied mititia" changed to "embodied militia" + Page 381, "proportionate ieces" changed to "proportionate pieces" + Page 414, "just as thof" changed to "just as tho'" + Page 416, "Thurday" changed to "Thursday" + Page 417, "1876" changed to "1796" + Page 417, "January. 1802" changed to "January, 1802" + Page 418, "does not not suit" changed to "does not suit" + Page 429, "Mr Jackson" changed to "Mr. Jackson" + Page 448, "a canal. It" changed to "a canal." It" + Page 449, "York 18th April" changed to "York, 18th April" + Page 450, "out-burldings" changed to "out-buildings" + Page 456, "Ganada" changed to "Canada" + Page 457, "Canadian York Of" changed to "Canadian York. Of" + Page 462, "used be eyed" changed to "used to be eyed" + Page 473, "attacted" changed to "attached" + Page 477, "therewith. Signed" changed to "therewith." Signed" + Page 477, "Lieut-Governor" changed to "Lieut.-Governor" + Page 483, "intrumental" changed to "instrumental" + Page 489, "disagreable" changed to "disagreeable" + Page 491, "name of of the" changed to "name of the" + Page 494, "Capt McKenzie" changed to "Capt. McKenzie" + Page 504, "Mr Keating" changed to "Mr. Keating" + Page 504, "Lieut Woodin" changed to "Lieut. Woodin" + Page 506, "Packing cases. 23" changed to "Packing cases, 23" + Page 518, "writin a despatch" changed to "writing a despatch" + Page 521, 'a fence."' changed to 'a fence.")' + Page 525, "Aid-de-Camp" changed to "Aide-de-Camp" [Ed. for consistency] + Page 537, "offcer" changed to "officer" + Page 538, "April 30 1819" changed to "April 30, 1819" + Page 548, "enterprize" changed to "enterprise" + Page 549, "five hundred miles.'" changed to 'five hundred miles."' + Page 555, 'from the Garrison.' changed to 'from the Garrison."' + Page 556, 'about 350 tons.' changed to 'about 350 tons."' + Page 560, "the Government. But" changed to "the Government. "But" + Page 568, "and Michigan. "On" changed to "and Michigan." "On" + Page 570, "occaasion" changed to "occasion" + Page 572, "the afternoon The" changed to "the afternoon. The" + Page 580, "write "Forsyth; at" changed to "write "Forsyth"; at" + Page 580, 'write "Mayerh"' changed to 'write "Mayerh."' + Page 585, "Gal ows" changed to "Gallows" + Page 586, "Hamilton, Mr. Jame" changed to "Hamilton, Mr. James" + Page 586, "Heath, Mrs Col." changed to "Heath, Mrs. Col." + Page 586, "Heron, Mr. A., 263, 675" changed to "Heron, Mr. A., 263, 575" + Page 587, "Hunter, Mr William" changed to "Hunter, Mr. William" + Page 588, "Macdonell, Hon. Alexander, 29, 138, 253, 330, 385, 586" + changed to "Macdonell, Hon. Alexander, 29, 138, 253, 330, 385, 386" + Page 589, "Mosier, Capt., 547, 451, 567" changed to "Mosier, Capt., + 547, 551, 567" + Page 591, "Richardson, Capt Hugh" changed to "Richardson, Capt. Hugh" + Page 591, "Ryerse, Mr Samuel" changed to "Ryerse, Mr. Samuel" + Page 594, "Winniett, Major, 350, 587" changed to "Winniett, Major, 350, 557" + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Toronto of Old, by Henry Scadding + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TORONTO OF OLD *** + +***** This file should be named 35225.txt or 35225.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/2/2/35225/ + +Produced by Marcia Brooks, Ross Cooling and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Canada Team at +http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet +Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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