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(meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprim6e sont film^s en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commengant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — *^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". aire Maps, plates, charts, etc.. may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre raproduit en un seul cliche. 11 est film6 d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. by errata ned to lent une pelure, fagon d 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 W^l^ E^KLl ^Y THE NOTICES OV TOROOTO. , „v. m. scii)i>»'«- . ,.. -,,'_^_''-- W. C. CUKWETT & CO lecT). t roRONTO: ., KING STREET EAST. k \ • I '" jt_ » - .» vX ii >• • • • • • ■■' • • • • • • • ••• ••• • • , . • • • • • I t ( I It* I ' « ' t I I I t • •• • *.« * • ••• •••"• •• • »•• • •«• •/« «€« • •••• •«!• S c'c S ^q-2'. -L i. uitt,. V ^m,') EARLY NOTICES OF TORONTO. BY THE EEV. DR. SC ADDING f.^ -^1 TORONTO: W. C. CHEWETT & CO., KING STREET EAST. 1865. ^ \> t'it'l"«WMIilJ^r"^'~"^' wfrnum^"^ T.^z«^r^ ••^ • • PRINTED AT THE STEAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT OF W. C. CHEWETT & CO., KING STREET EAST, TORONTO. %tx^^ PREFACE. DO., Having in my possession a sketch of Toronto Harbour, taken by the lat;. Sir Peregrine Maitland, shortly after he assumed the government of Upper Canada, which several of those whose recollection goes so far back have expressed a desire to see lithographed, I have now placed it in the hands of the talented artist, Mr. Charles Fuller, who has kindly undertaken to execute it. As an appropriate accompaniment of this picture, I have obtained the permission of the Rev. Dr. Scadding, to reprint his interesting " Early Notices op Toronto," which appeared in a local periodical some time since. In his reply to my application, Dr. S. informs me that it had been his intention, if the pubHcation referred to had maintained its existence, to have followed up these "Notices" with some further antique Memorials of this place and neighbourhood. It is to be hoped that this intention will not be relin- quished; and as it is certain that several of the descendants of the original settlers are in possession of materials which, if collected and arranged, would be invaluable to the future historian of our country, I tl"ust that should these "Notices" meet the eyes of any of them, they will permit me to suggest that they entrust them, or such portions of them as may be deemed suitable, without delay, to the care of Dr. Scadding, than whom I know of no one more likely or better qualified to make the desired use of them. SALTERN GIVINS, Incumbent of St, PauVs, Toronto, Toronto, Dec. 17th, 1864. Wa f- •^ • • EARLY NOTICES OF TORONTO. BY THE REV. DR. SCADDING. The antiquarian in Canada has to sustain his mania on meagre fare, so far as the land in which he lives is concerned. Quebec and Montreal, in their early structures of solid masonry, present some objects of interest; but elsewhere, for the most part, the traces of the past are slight. A few grass-grown earthworks, a few depressions on the surface of the green sward, are all the vestiges that will reward diligent research; and even these are fast disappearing before the builder and engineer. The remains of the old French Fort, to the westward of Toronto, which used to be explored on holidays by the rising youth of the place some thirty years ago, are now oblite- rated by the new stone bar cks ; and certain pits and irregular mounds, shewing the site of ^^^ first public buildings on the left bank of the Garrison Creek utterly cut away in the construc- tion of the Esplanade. Where the long government store-houses and enclosures for ship building, with a quaint guard-house above, stood within recent memory, distinctive objects and well known reminders of the primitive day, the ruthless steam-excavator has devoured down to the very rock. For the re-construction of its infant history Toronto must have recourse to the records of the original French settlements in the country, and to the journals of early explorers. Impressed as we live with the fact that our westerij capital is but of yesterday, and 6 s *. that it received its present euphonious Italian-sounding name so recently as 1834, we are somewhat startled at stumbling so frequently as we do on the familiar and home-like Toronto in documents nearly two centuries old. The French settlers in Canada soon had reason to feel alarm at the audacity of the English of the Atlantic seaboard, who were un- ceasing in their efforts to draw away the trade from the channel of the St. Lawrence. Their emissaries were everywhere, tampering with the native tribes even in the territories confessedly French. In connexion with proceedings of this kind the name of Toronto comes tip in the year 1686. M. de Denonville, the Governor General of the day, thoroughly alive to the machinations of Col. Dongan, Governor of New York, "who, in spite of general prohibitions from headquarters, will persist in unduly patronizing the Iroquois, thus writes to the home minister, M. de Seignelay, that *' M. de la Durantaye is collecting people to fortify himself at Michilimaquina, and to occupy the other passage at Toronto, which the English might take to enter Lake Huron. In this way, our Englishmen will find somebody to speak to." In the following year, however, this same Governor writes : " I have altered the orders I had originally given last year, to M. de la. Durantaye to pass by Toronto and to enter Lake Ontario at Gandat- sitiagon, (about Port Hope) to form a junction with M. du Lhu afe Niagara. I have sent him word by Sieur Juchereau who took back the two Huron and Outaouas chiefs this winter, to join Sieur du Lha at the Detroit of Lake Erie, so that they may be stronger, and ia a condition to resist the enemy, should he go to meet them at Niagara." In 1687 it is decided that the Iroquois must be humbled, if the French power in Canada is to be maintained. But to efi"ect this, it is reported to Paris 3,000 men would be required. Of suck a num - ^ le so ently uents rm at e un- nel of )ering la comes )ughly York, persist nister, )ple to >assage )n. In s : " I [. de la }andat« Lhu at )k back iu Lha and ia hem at , if the this, it a num- ber, M. de Denonville has at the time only one half, though, as the memoir goes on to say *' ho boasts of more for reputation's sake, for the rest of the militia," it is stated," " are necessary to protect and cultivate the farms of the colony; and a part of the force n ust be employed in guarding the posts of Fort Frontenac, Niagara, Toronto, Missilimakinak, so as to secure the aid he (M. de D.) expects from the Illinois and from the oth^r Indians, on whom, however, he can- 5iot rely, unless he will be able alone to defeat the five Iroquois nations." Toronto in these despatches lapses occasionally into Tarento, Taronto, Toranto and Torronto. After a brief prosecution, this war with the Iroquois is brought ingloriousl^ to a close, the government of Louis XIV. being unwil- ling to incur further expense. The Colonial minister writes out— '* This is not the time to think of that war ; the king's troops are too much occupied elsewhere, and there is nothing more important for his service, nor more necessary in the present state of affairs than to conclude peace directly with the Iroquois, His Majesty not being disposed to incur any expense for the continuation of that war." The truth being, that William III. having just taken possession of the throne of Great Britain in the place of James IL, a war between England and France was imminent. In 1749, we find in the usual Journal of Canadian events periodi- cally transmitted to France, directions given by Grovernor General M. de la Galissonidre for the erection of a stockade and store-houses at Toronto. By this time, it appears the English of the sea-board had obtained permission from the Iroquois to establish for themselves at the mouth of the Oswego river — a '^ Beaver-trap," which speedily took the form of a stone-fort and trading post. Here such prices were offered that the trade of the North Shore was diverted thitherward. This Choue- I. 8 guen — so tlie post was named — became to the authorities at Quebec a veritable Carthago ddenda. It not only damaged the Canadian trade, but was an assumption of right and title to the Iroquois terri- tory, which lay, as it was believed, within the limits of New France. It was in connexion with the establishment of this hateful Choue- guen, that Toronto was first fortified and made a French trading-post. " On being informed/' says +he Journal above referred to, " that the Northern Indians ordinarily went to Chouegnen with their pel- tries, by way of Toronto, on the north-west side of Lake Ontario, twenty-five leagues from Niagara, and seventy-five from Fort Fron- tenac, it was thought advisable to establish a post at that place, and to send thither an ofiicer, fifteen soldiers, and some workmen to con- struct a small stockade-fovt there. Its expense will not be great, the timber is transported there, and the remainder will be conveyed by the barques belonging to Fort Frontenac. Too much care cannot be taken 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 ]>igot will permit some canoes to go there on license, and will apply the funds as a grat- ity Lo 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 storekeepers of these posts furnish goods for two or three years to come, at the same rate 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.'' From a despatch of M. de Longueil, in 1752, we learn that this fort was named Fort Rouille, from Antoine Louis Rouille, Count de Jouy, Colonial Minister, 1749-54. M. de Longueil says that *' M. de Ccloron had addressed certain despatches to M. de la Lcvalterie, the Commandant at Niajjrara, who detached a soldier to 01 cbec diaii ;ern- mcc. lOUG- ■post. ' that r pel- tario, Fron- e, and con- at, the 'ed by cannot th the 5saries, [ r>ig;ot ply the will be d Fort these ne rate custom will be lat this Count ys that . de la loldier to 9 convey them to Fort E-ouille, with orders to the storekeeper at that post to transmit them promptly to Montreal. It is not known what became of that soldier. About the same time, a jMississague from Toronto arrived at Ninpjara, who informed M. de la Lavalterie that he had not seen that ..oldier at the Fort, nor met him on the way. It is to be feared that he has been killed by Indians, and the de- spatches carried to the English." One more extract from the same document will enable us farther to realize the uncomfortable anglophobia prevalent at this itme at Toronto. ^' The storekeeper of Toronto/' the despatch reports, ^' writes to M. de Vercheres, Commandant at Fort Frontenac, that some trust- worthy Indians have assured him, that the Sulteux, 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 but ^tis the Eusflish who are inducino; 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.'^ Montcalm's destruction of Choueguen, in 1750, was speedily avenged in 1758. Hannibal ante portas ! was no longer a false alarm along the northern shore of Lake Ontario. The capture of Fort Frontenac in that year, by the irrepressible English, counter- balanced their loss of the stroni2;hold which commanded the en- trance of the Osweii;o river; and iM. de Vandreuil is necessitated to inform the minister, M. do Massiac, that '' if the English should make their appearance at Toronto, I have given orders to burn it at once, and to fall back on Niagara.'^ The last French order issued in regard to Toronto, was in the following year. After stating that he had summoned troops from 10 ••: ••• Illinois and Detroit, to rendezvous at Presquisle, on Lake Erie^ M. de Vandreuil 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." All in vain. The enemy, it appears, did wish to besiege that place ; and on the 25th of July it surrendered — an event followed on the Ib^th of September, in the same year (1759), by the fall of Quebec. The physical conformation of the site of Toronto, must have always rendered it a noticeable spot. Here was a sheet of quiet water, lying between the mouths of two rivers, sheltered by a natural mole of sand, which, extending itself gradually from the highlands to the east, had striven to grasp the shore by a succession of hooks. On this low barrier, groves of trees — often strangely lifted into the air by the effect of refraction — were landmarks from afar, guiding the canoe from every quarter of the lake, to a tranquil haven within. Two favourite interj;retations of the designation of the spot have been " Trees rising oui of the water," and " The place of meeting," — the Rendezvous, or Chepstow, perhaps, as our Saxon forefathers would have said — the Trading-place. But we are sadly in want of an infallible authority to decide the signification as well as the or- thography of native Indian names. Some persons have very gratuitously suggested that '* Toronto " is a perpetuation of the name of the engineer who constructed the fort; but the fort, we see, was originally called "Kouille." Others have thought that it was some such expression as "cut tour de la ranch d' eaic,'* caught up and repeated by the Indians from the French, as '^ Yankee," has arisen from an Indian effort to say *' Anglais." I once thouG^ht it had some connection with the Gens de Fetun — the Tobacco-tribe — the Tionnontates — who stretched in * 11 relief Q like . other snemy, f July in the t have >f quiet d by a oin the ccession trangely fks from tranquil pot have leeting," >refathers 1 want of s the or- Toronto '^ ucted the Others tour dt la from the brt to say the Gens tretched in this direction from the west, and may have had here a Lonrrjadc ox pogua. Kania-toronto-quat also, on the opposite side or' the lake (now clipped down into Irondequoit, Monroe Co., N. Y.), said to signify '^an opening into or from a lake," tempted to further speculations on this subject. On mature consideration, however, I think it not improbable that one of the native appellations of Lake Simcoe has something to do with the question. This lake, called by the French Lac le Clie, and Lac aux Claies, besides Siniong or Sheniong — had also the name of Toronto. The chain of lakes, extending from the neighbourhood of this lake south- easterly, and discharging by the Trent, are called the Toronto lakes; and the river Humber, once styled St. John's, was also described as the Toronto river. Though small in area-, and of slight elevation above the sea, yet, as occupying the summit level of a vast water-shed, Lake Simcoe is a very distinguished sheet of water ; and it is possible that several water-courses and localities may have derived their designations from their relation to it. Ouentaronh is given as one of its native names ; and it may not be unreasonable to imagine that this is the term, which has been gradually rubbed down, while passing from trader to trader, into Toronto. Although the Ottawa and the Trent were the high-roads from the north-west to the east, the southward trail across the neck of the peninsula, between the lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario, along the courses of the Holland river and the Humber, was, as we have seen, far from being unimportant, and the terminus of this track was a notable locality.* By this route came down many a pack of beaver ; * That the trade of this post was not inconsWerablo. appears from a statement of Sir William .lohuson, about eijiht years after the con)OU — so certain were they of a quiet market — from the cheapness at which they could, alford their goods there." The customs' returns gives the valne of exports from Toronto, in 1860, as $1,7S6.77'5. and of imports in 1801, as $4,(Jl'.»,U'.). The receipts of the Corporation, in 18t)2, amounted to $|)U2,2U7 74. f Latinized by du Creux (see his map in Tlressanl's Rrhtfwn AhrcfjcK) into Lacus Ounri' f(tr'iiiius. In a paper on the Ktyuiology of Ontario, in (he ('anailian Juartud, >;o. 4"J, 1 was led. by an inaccinacy in the engraving of this map, to suppose that Lacus Ouenlaronius Ueuoted LaKo Ontario. , 1 o tliat nstra- ; and curly I re- warns, rted/' tage to lere as neiiih- of Lake r3 were been in lie time ,his day, c. Scar- g : botwoen )us. aiid be- y: tliey are jur journey iittemltHl at heavily, on uppnsH that 11 with such I sliall give tandintz; the atteiititni to rcuuistanceH •illiugly pay could allord 7S6.77.'5, and mounted to Lacus Oum- ;o. 4J, 1 was JucnUiraiuus borougli. And hence it was that " York,'' up to 18^U, dislodged *' Toronto '' from the map of Upper Canada. Boucbette's well-known description of the harbour of Toronto; as he found it in its natural state, in 1703, is as follows : ^' I still distinctly recollect," he sa}-?, in 1832, " the untamed aspect which the country exhibited when I first entered the beau- tiful 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 as in some measure to annoy us during the night. In the spiing following, the lieutenant-governor removed to the site of the new capital, attended by the regiment of Queen's Kanger's, 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 jf its venerated and gracious host, as for the peculiarity of its structure." Two years later (in 1795), the Duke de la Rochefoucault T 'an- court, in his travels through North America, reports : '* There have not been more than twelve houses hitherto built in York. They stand on the Bay, near the river Don. The inhabitants," he takes the trouble to add, '^ do not possess the fairest character. In a circumference of one hundred and fifty miles, the Indians are the only neighbours of York." Again he remarks, — " From a supposition that the fort of Niagara would certainly remain in the 4^,--. • 'i ill' 14 possession of the English, Governor Simcoe at first intended to make Newark the chief town of his government. But since it h::.s been decided that this fort is to be given up, he has been obliged to alter his plan. A chief town or capital must not be seated on the frontier, and much less under the guns of the enemy's fort. He has since thought of York, situated on the northern bank of Lake Ontario, nearly opposite to Niagara. It is in this place he has quartered his regiment, and he intends to remove thither himself when he shall withdraw from the frontiers*." "This place,'' he adds elsewhere, "has a fine extensive road (roadstead for ships), detached from the lake by a neck of land of unequal breadth, being in some places a mile, in others only six score yards broad; the entrance of this road is about a mile in width ; in the middle of it is a shoal or sandbank, the narrows on each side of which may be easily defended by works erected on the two points of land at the entrance, where two block-houses have already b^en constructed." Here we have a reference to the early forlificat'ons, standing not many years back, which caused the north-western extremity of the Toronto peninsula to be humorously designated Gibraltar Point, and which have left a souvenir in the little inlet still named Block- house Bay. The question of a seat of government, only of late decided, has, as we have seen above, been agitated since 1792. Our forefathers in that year were much harassed with it. The people of Newark, being in possession, thought it ought to remain where it was. Gov- ernor Simcoe had decided that it should be at York ; but still only temporarily, until the west should be settled, and London built. Lord Dorchester, the Governor General, was of opinion that King- ston was the proper place. In 1796 the Newarkers vainly flattered themselves that the retirement of General Simcoe from the Govern- ment would put an end to the project of removal. T I t ded to 5 it hr s iged to on the He f Lake he has himself pe," he ships), , being id; the le of it may be I at the ited/' ing not of the Point, Block- id, has, (fathers fewark, Gov- ill only 1 built. I King- attered jrovcrn- 15 *' The town of Niagara," writes Isaac Weld in 1796, in his Traveli in North America, 1795-7, " hitherto has been and still is the capi- tal and (as he elsewhere speaks) " the centre of the Beau monde of the Province of Upper Canada ; orders, however, 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 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." It will be observed that Weld uses the name Toronto in preference to York. He makes the follow- ing remarks on the changes which had recently been made in the names of places :— *^ On the eastern side of the river," he says, " is situated the fort, now in the possession of the people of the States, and on the opposite or British side the town most generally known by the name of Niagara, notwithstanding that it has been named Newark by the Legislature. The original name of the town was Niagara ; it was afterwards called Lennox, then Nassau, and after- wards Newark. 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 these respective places, Niagara, Cadaragui, Toronto." To those who have seen the actual developeraent of Toronto, some of the expectations of its original projectors seem not a little astonish- ing. The first Parliament house, at the time of its destruction by fire in 1824, a substantial building of brick with an east and west aspect, occupied the site of the present Stone Jail. Henc3 to this day " Parliament Street " in that direction. Here was the primitive Bclgravia of the capital. Here on the low accumulations of alluvium 1 16 I I •-• and sand at the embouchure of a slow-paced stream— amidst minia- ture buyous, lagoous and marshes — it was supposed a new Venice in the course of years, would appear — a lucustriue Cybele, " Rising with itc tiara of proud towers." " The tiara of proud towers ^' has, to some extent, become a reality, but their foundations have, for the most part, been laid further to the west, in localities preferred for elevation of position and wholo- someness of air. In the Canadian annals for the year 1813, our Western Capital comes prominently and rather painfully into view. Since June in the preceding year the United States had been carrying on a war against Great Britain, nominally on the question of the right of search on the high seas, but in reality with the hope of ** diiving the leopards " off the American continent. The policy of Napoleon at the moment was engaging all the attention of England ; and at no time had more than 3,000 regular forces been spared for the protec- tion of the Canadas; and these in the course of a twelvemonth had been seriously reduced in number by casualties. It need not sur- prise us then that York, though a depot of shipping and stores was poorly defended. '*0n the evening of the 26th, (of April, 1813,) information was received that many vessels had been seen to the eastward. Very early the next morning, they were discovered lying to, not far from the harbour ; after some time had elapsed, they made sail, and to the number of sixteen, of various descriptions, anchored off the shore, some distance to the westward. Boats full of troops were immediately seen assembling near the Commodore's ship, under cover of whose lire, and that of other vessels, and aided by the wind, they soon effected : landing.^' So writes the unfortu- nate General Sheaffe, who, after eight hours' resistance, had to evacuate the town, and leave it in possession of the United States' General; Dearborn; " preferring the preservation of his troops to that 17 mmia- nice in reality, 'ther to whole- Capital Fune in n a war 'ight of ing the )leon at d at no Drotec- 1th had lot sur- >res was 1813,) to the d lying id, they [•iptions, oats full lodore's id aided iinfortu- had to States' s to that of his post, and thus carrying off the kernel, leaving to the enemy only the shell/' The great prcponderaticc of the attacking force forms an apology for the retreat. The little band of regulars and militia retired step by step within their defences, pursued by over- whelming numbers ; and as General Pike, who led the forces which had landed from the vessels, approached the second or main battery, the magazine exploded, crushing him and two hundred of his men. Fragments of the building struck, in their descent, the ships in the harbour, and ** the water shook as with an earthquake." Two of the articles of capitulation were *^That the troops, regular and militia, at this po&:, and the naval officers and seamen, shall be sur- rendered prisoners of war. The troops, regular and militia to ground their arms immediately on parade, and the naval officers and seamen be immediately surrendered. That all public stores, naval and mili- tary, shall be immediately given up to the commanding officers of the army and navy of the United States — that all private property shall be guaranteed to the citizens of the town of York.'' Before, however, the actual capitulation. General Sheaffe with the remains of the regular soldiers, escaped in safety by the Kingston road. The flag of the Fort, and the Speaker's mace were transmitted to Washington as trophies of this success. The American Secretary, Armstrong, offered to General Dearborn, the following criticism on his proceedings on this occasion : — '* In your late affair, it appears to me that had the descent been made between the town and the barracks, things would have turned out better. On that plan, the two batteries vou had to encounter, would have been left out of the combat, and Sheaffe, instead of retreating to Kingston, must have retreated to Fort George." Three months aft'^r this event a second visit of the United States flotilla is thus described in the report of Sir George Prevost : — " The enemy's fleet of twelve sail, made its appearance off York on f^ I- 18 the 31st (July, 1813). The three square-rigged vessels, the Pike, Madison, and Oneida, came to anchor in the ofl&ng ; but the schooners passed up the harbour, and landed several boats full of troops at the former garrison, and proceeded from thence to the town, of which they took possession. They opened the gr-^ ^'berated the prisoners, and took away three soldiers confined for leix^ijy j they then went to the hospital and paroled the few men that could not be removed. They next entered the storehouses of some of the inhabitants, seized their contents, chiefly flour, and the same being private pro perty. Between 11 and 12 that night they returned on board their vessels. The next morning, Sunday, the 1st instant, the enemy again landed, and sent three armed boats up the river Don in search of public stores, of which being disappointed, by sunset both soldiers and sailors hud evacuated the town, the small barrack wood-yard and store-house, on Gibraltar Point, having been first set on fire by them ; and at daylight the following morning the enemy's fleet sailed.'' It is furthermore added that this foraging expedition was under the command of Commodore Ohauncey and Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, *' an unexchanged prisoner of war on his parole." This is the still existing Lieutenant General Scott.. By the treaty of Ghent, in 1814, peace was restored ; and Canada? left to itself for a series of years, became the victim, in both its subdivisions, of innate, organic social disease. It was the misfor- tune of York to partake of the general mediaeval condition of the country. Visitors, impelled across the Atlantic by the awakening spirit of emigration, gave dreary reports of the place and its society. To Rochefoucault's remark in 1794, that " the inhabitants of Toronto do not possess the fairest character," Gourlay m 1821, rather spite- fully adds, " nor have chey yet mended it." But the explorers of this period seem very un philosophically to have expected to find in remote colonial communities; a higher social condition than that I I wi bei me its V'li^ m 19 3 Plkc, looners ! at the ' which isoners, went to (moved, bitants, pate pro rd their enemy [1 search soldiers ^ard and fire by y's fleet tion was •Colonel This is Canada* both its misfor- n of the rakeninj]; i society. Toronto ler spite- lorers of ;o find in han that which the mother country itself, at the corresponding^ time, exhib- ited. The state of things in England up to the passing of the Reform Bill is confessed not to have been politically satisfactory. What a miracle would it have been to have discovered prior to that event, a Colony boasting that its institutions were exact transcripts of those of the mother-state, and yet ruled in an exceedingly enlight- ened manner. Mrs. Jameson in 1836, discerned more clearly how matters stood; and while commenting with severity on persons and things as she found them, expressed hopes which have turned out to have been well grounded. " Toronto is, as a residence," she says, " worse and better than other small communities — icorse^ insomuch as it is remote from all the best advantages of a high state of civilization , while it is infected by all its evils, all its follies ; and better y because besides being a small place, it is a young place, and in spite of this affectation of looking back, instead of looking up, it must advance ; it may become the thinking head and beating heart of a nation, great, wise and happy ; who knows ? And there are moments when, considered under this point of view, it assumes an interest even to me ; but at present it is in a false position, like that of a youth aping maturity ; or rather like that of a little boy in Hogarth's picture, dressed in a long-flapped laced waistcoat, and ruffles and cocked hat, crying for bread and butter. With the interminable forest within half a mile of us — the haunt of the red man, the wolf, the bear — with an absolute want of the means of the most ordinary mental and moral developement, we have here conventionalism in its most oppressive and ridiculous forms. If I should say, that at present the people here want cultivation, want polish, and the means of acquiring either, that is natural — is intelligible, — and it were unreasonable to expect it could be otherwise ; but if I say they want honesty, you would understand me, they would not ; they would 20 imagine that I accusa tliera of false weights and cheating at cards ; so far they are certainly '' indifferent honest'' after a fashion, but never did I hear so little truth, nor find so little mutual benevolence. And why is it so? because in this place, as in other small provincial towns, they live under the principle of fear — they are all afraid of each other, afraid to be themselves; and where there is much fear, there is little love, and less truth. I was reading this morning of Maria d'Escobar, a Spanish lady, who first brought a few grains of wheat into the city of Lima. For three years she distributed the produce, giving twenty grains to one man, thirty grains to another, and so on, — hence all the corn in Peru. Is there no one who will bring a few grains of truth to Toronto?" The authoress doubtless deemed herself a second Maria d'Escobar in this regard ; and per- haps, to some extent, she was. It is amusing to read her remarks in another place. " The strange, crude, ignorant, vague opinions I heard in conversation, and read in the debates and the provincial papers, excited my astonishment. It struck me that if I could get the English preface to Victor Cousin's Report printed in a cheap form, and circulated with the newspapers, adding some of the statis- tical calculations, and some passages from Duppa's report on the education of the children of the poorer classes, it might do some good — it might assist the people to some general principles on which to form opinions ; whereas they all appeared to mo astray, nothing that had been promulgated in Europe on this momentous subject had yet reached them; and the brevity and clearness of this little preface, which exhibits the importance of a system of national edu- cation, and some general truths without admixture of any political or sectarian bias, would, I thought — I hoped — obtain for it a favor- able reception. But, no; cold water was thrown upon me from every side — my interference in any way was so visibly distasteful, that I gave my project up with many a sigh, and I am afraid I shall i It 21 it cards ; lion, but 3Volence. irovincial afraid of uch fear, )rning of grains of uted the another, who will doubtless and per- ' remarks pinions I provincial could get 1 a cheap the statis- irt on the i do some on which , nothing us subject this little ional edu- y political it a favor- me from listasteful, lid I shall I always regret this. True, I am yet a stranger — helpless as to means, and feeling iny way in a social system of which I know little or nothing ; perhaps I might have done more mischief than good — who knows? and truth is sure to prevail at last; but truth seems to find so much difficulty in crossing the Atlantic, that one would think she was ^ like the poor cat i' the adage,' afraid of wetting her feet/' At length came Lord Sydenham, in 1839. An instinctive appre- hension in regard to the revolution which he was about to attempt, caused his first reception in Toronto to be cold. Claiming in their address to be ^' the highest municipal body of the Province," the corporation of the day ventured to demand " ascendancy " for the very principles which the newly-arrived Governor had expressly come to correct and modify ; and spoke of their Lower Canadian fellow-subjects as *' aliens to our nation and our institutions." On his return, however, in the following year, from an extensive tour, after the assent of the Parliament to the re-union of the Canadas had been procured, the city offered a more cordial welcome. On this occasion it was that he deemed it useful to offer the following piece of advice : — " 1 trust thait the inhabitants of Toronto will emulate the general feeling of the Province, by discarding violent, party, and personal feeling, and lend their willing assistance in the great work which is before us." In a private letter of this period, published afterwards in his Life, he thus refers to this occasion : — "Even the people of Toronto," he says, ^'who have been spending the last six weeks in squabbling, were led, I suppose, by the feeling shewn in the rest of the Province, into giving me a splSnd' 1 recep- tion, and took in good part a lecture I read them, telling them they had better follow the good example of peace and renewed harmony, which had been set them elsewhere, instead of making a piece of work about what they did not understand." The compliment was paid Toronto, of deriving from it one of the * 22 titles conferred on the first Governor General of re-united Canada. Mr. Pouleti Thompson was created Baron Sydenham of Sydenham in Kent, and Toronto in Canada, as Lord Amherst had been in 1788 of Holmesdale and Montreal. This proved, however, for Toronto an unprofitable and short-lived distinction. Its liege-lord issued his arri^reban for the assembling of the first parliament of united Canada, on the 13th of June, 1841 — not there — but at Kingston, where, on the 19th of the following September, he died, leaving no heir to his name. Thus, amidst varying fortunes, and through more evil report than good, the chief City of Western Canada grew, advancing from obscurity and insignificancy, to what it now is. The rebukes, friendly or otherwise, of critics interested or disinterested, proved, on the whole, *' precious balms," which healed while they scathed. •* Grown wiser from the lesson given, I fear no longer, for I know That where the share is deepest driven, The best fruits grow. The outworn rite, the old abuse, The pious fraud transparent grown, The good held captive in the use Of wrong alone. These wait their doom, from that great law Which makes the past time serve to-day, And fresher life the world shall draw, ^ From their decay." After the Union, the Genius loci seems to have become benign and winsome. Since that epoch the notices of Toronto have been only friendly. The Observatory and University speedily caused its name to be enrolled with honour amongst those of seats of Science and Learuing; and in quick succession the Grand Trunk; Great I h na ■,5 th "% fo ''if hi 1 i! — K iTl ■wi :\i iQ( t 23 Western, and Northern Kailways, brought its inhabitants at large into favorable relations with the general life of the North American continent, and of the world. The Toronto of 1860, the year of the Prince's visit, had risen I above the fear of criticism. An American writer, in regard to the memorable event of that year, could thus express himself : — " The prosperous young city that is capital to Canada West, de- sired its Sovereign's son to witness what Englishmen, undisturbed by any admixture of races, could effect, and the very progress and condition of their city is evidence. A rich land of sure harvest is the back-ground, — a wide blue sea is the highway over which all the markets of the world can be reached. These wharves see the rigging through which the breeze of the Atlantic whistles ; and if the ocean is too distant, the merchants of Oswego willingly indicate to the Canadians the convenience of the inland navigation to New York. * * * Toronto's beautiful bay," he continues, <' has its proudest page to inscribe in its annals on the 7th of September, 1860. It has seen the sails of a hostile fleet, and has witnessed the coming of successive Governors General ; but of the Royal House, none until this hour. The reception was worthy of the guest. * * Such a scene of wild, enthusiastic, joyous, uncontrolled excitement in that grand multitude, that enormous concourse of human beings — few shall ever again see — few have ever seen. Something that was either hospitality, or affection, or loyalty — whatever its precise name — something in great and glorious fact was there, and no one that witnessed that enthusiasm, — that kindled amphitheatre, will forget it while his senses live to paint the picture of the past for him."* • The following wan the Prince'B reply to a request fhat he should plant a uiemorial-maple In thu Botanical GardenB of Toronto: '' I shall have threat pleaRure In dnlnj? anythint; which will tend to encourage aaidngst you a taste Ibr the cultivation of gardens, such aa may iuciease the comfort and enjoyment of the citizens of Toronto. I shall be content if the tree 24 |v Simply an assemblage of streets, gardens and pleasure grounds, spread far and wide over a level expanse, between a long wooded ridge and a line of blue water — between, that is to say, an ancient margin and the present limit of a sea-like lake, — possessing nothing to set it off in the way of fine scenery, excepting a sky almost always cheerful, and often times magnificent ; the Toronto of to-day has succeeded in attracting to itself a multitude of kindly regards. While its substantial home-comforts secure for it, of course, the warmest affections of its own people, its social amenities produce pleasant impressions on the stranger; and on the memory of most whose lot it has been to make there from time to time a lengthened sojourn, it retains an agreeable hold. Nor in passing, let us forget one other point of view from which, we may be sure, the name of Toronto stirs a chord in many a heart. Think of the number of its fair daughters who have been translated from their native firesides, by contingencies, military, commercial, ecclesiastical, which need not be detailed; think with what yearning bosoms these — comely matrons now, presiding over happy house- holds in widely diverse regions — turn occasionally hitherward, when in quiet intervals, among the memories of the past, come up again, the " Thrice happy days ! The flower of eacli, the moments wlien we met ! The crown of all — we met to part no more." In like manner also, how many of its sons there are, exiled by ■which I am about to plant. floiiriRh<^s as yonr youthful city has already done." Amongst the innumerable ephemera inspired by the Triuce's visit was an epigrammatic rendering in Latin of this brief response. ARBVSCVLA.M SVI MEMORKM, TORONTO IVXTA SATAM, PRINCKPS AFFATVR. CIVinVS . VMRRA . CAI'AX . FIAS . CITO . SVRCVLE . SIC . TV IlKSPKRIAli . CAPITIS . MOX . ACER . INSTAR . KRia (Translated.) Ood Rpeod thoH, little majtle, till thnu tower a stately tree— So of our Weat'H fair Capital meet symbol shalt thou ba. 25 duty or circumstance, by the avocations of a soldier's or sailor's life^ by the spirit of enterprise, adventure or travel, to a hundred nooks and corners of the habitable earth, who would at this moment^ before all other sights, behold once more if they could, the Sphacte- ria, so to speak, of the old Pylos ; who would hail as " The eye Of all peninsulas and isles." the long low spit of poplar-shaded sand, which in the days of their youth guarded so faithfully the play-place of their boyhood, and which, perhaps they are grieved to hear, is disappearing inch by inch in a gallant unaided effort to fulfil to the last its primeval mission. As one of the latest notices of Toronto, we may in conclusion add, that the Messrs. Nelson & Sons, of London, Edinburgh, and New York, have devoted to it one of their sets of topographical views ; and from these many strangers at a distance will derive their first ideas of the place. The people of Toronto can afford to fore- warn visitors that, whilst these pleasing pictures are in the main very admirable representations, in a few respects they depict matters in colours somewhat rosy-hued. In the general view, for example, a spaciousness and softness are given to the Kailway Esplanade towards the east, which will lead to disappointment; and in two instances^, handsome spires appear where as yet the spires are not. On the whole, however, the city has reason to be thankful to the enterprising publishers named above, for the fair portraiture of itself with which they have furnished the public, as well as with the Hand-Book in which the same views may be found incorporated. Great as is the progress which has been made in the course of the last twenty years, as these cheerfully tinted engravings will help tho outside world to sec, — should " industry, intelligence, integrity,'' .fr***** th. 26 continue to be actual characteristics, as they are the citic watch- words of its people, with energy, self-sacrifice, good-taste, taking no rest until disfiguring, imperilling damages by fire and flood, when- ever and wherever occurring, be more than made good- — should such qualities as these continue active, and the country at large be blessed with peace and propitious seasons, — it is not to be doubted but that the western capital of Canada has still before it in respect of both its physical and moral well-being, a career in the future, which shall be worthy of its annals up to the present time. So may it be, prays many a pious son and daughter. So may it be, responds avery where the large-hearted Canadian. Flobeat Toeonto ; sit perpetua. • i PRINTED BY W. 0. CHKWETT