Chapter XXXVII: St. George's Society

My new partner, Mr. William Rowsell, and Mr. Geo. A. Barber, are entitled to be called the founders of the St. George's Society of Toronto. Mr. Barber was appointed secretary at its first meeting in 1835, and was very efficient in that capacity. But it was the enthusiastic spirit and the galvanic energy of William Rowsell that raised the society to the high position it has ever since maintained in Toronto. Other members, especially George P. Ridout, William Wakefield, W. B. Phipps, Jos. D. Ridout, W. B. Jarvis, Rev. H. Scadding, and many more, gave their hearty co-operation then and afterwards. In those early days, the ministrations of the three national societies of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick, were as angels' visits to thousands of poor emigrants, who landed here in the midst of the horrors of fever and want. Those poor fellows, who, like my companions on board the _Asia_, were sent out by some parochial authority, and found themselves, with their wives and half a dozen young children, left without a shilling to buy their first meal, must have been driven to desperation and crime but for the help extended to them by the three societies.

The earliest authorized report of the Society's proceedings which I can find, is that for the year 1843-4, and I think I cannot do better than give the list of the officers and members entire:

ST. GEORGE'S SOCIETY OF TORONTO.

_Officers for 1844._

Patron--His Excellency the Right Hon. Sir Charles T. Metcalfe,
Bart., K. G. B., Governor-General of British North America, &c.

President--William Wakefield. Vice-Presidents--W. B. Jarvis, G.
P. Ridout, W. Atkinson. Chaplain--The Rev. Henry Scadding, M. A.
Physician--Robt. Hornby, M. D. Treasurer--Henry Rowsell.
Managing Committee--G. Walton, T. Clarke, J. D. Ridout, F.
Lewis, J. Moore, J. G. Beard, W. H. Boulton. Secretary--W.
Rowsell. Standard Bearers--G. D. Wells, A. Wasnidge, F. W.
Coate, T. Moore.

_List of Members, March, 1844._

E. H. Ades, E. S. Alport, Thos. Armstrong, W. Atkinson.

Thos. Baines, G. W. Baker, Jr.; G. A. Barber, F. W. Barron,
Robert Barwick, J. G. Beard, Robt. Beard, Edwin Bell, Matthew
Betley, J. C. Bettridge, G. Bilton, T. W. Birchall, W. H.
Boulton, Josh. Bound, W. Bright, Jas. Brown, Jno. Brown, Thos.
Brunskill, E. C. Bull, Jas. Burgess, Mark Burgess, Thos.
Burgess.

F. C. Capreol, W. Cayley, Thos. Champion, E. C. Chapman, Jas.
Christie, Edw. Clarke, Jno. Clarke, Thos. Clarke, Thos.
Clarkson, D. Cleal, F. W. Coate, Edw. Cooper, C. N. B. Cozens.

Jno. Davis, Nath. Davis, G. T. Denison, Sen., Robt. B. Denison,
Hon. W. H. Draper.

Jno. Eastwood, Jno. Elgie, Thos. Elgie, Jno. Ellis, Christopher
Elliott, J. P. Esten, Jas. Eykelbosch.

C. T. Gardner, Jno. Garfield, W. Gooderham, G. Gurnett.

Chas. Hannath, W. Harnett, Josh. Hill, Rich. Hockridge, Joseph
Hodgson, Dr. R. Hornby, G. C. Horwood, J. G. Howard.

AE. Irving, Jr.

Hon. R. S. Jameson, W. B. Jarvis, H. B. Jessopp.

Alfred Laing, Jno. Lee, F. Lewis, Henry Lutwych, C. Lynes, S. G.
Lynn.

Hon. J. S. Macaulay, Rich. Machell, J. F. Maddock, Jno. Mead,
And. Mercer, Jas. Mirfield, Sam. Mitchell, Jno. Moore, Thos.
Moore, Jas. Moore, Jas. Morris, W. Morrison, J. G. Mountain, W.
Mudford.

J. R. Nash.

Thos. Pearson, Jno. E. Pell, W. B. Phipps, Sam. Phillips, Hiram
Piper, Jno. Popplewell, Jno. Powell.

M. Raines, J. D. Ridout, G. P. Ridout, Sam. G. Ridout, Ewd.
Robson, H. Rowsell, W. Rowsell, F. Rudyerd.

Chas. Sabine, J. H. Savigny, Hugh Savigny, Geo. Sawdon, Rev. H.
Scadding, Jas. Severs, Rich. Sewell, Hon. Henry Sherwood, Jno.
Sleigh, I. A. Smith, L. W. Smith, Thos. Smith (Newgate Street),
Thos. Smith, (Market Square), J. G. Spragge, Jos. Spragge, W.
Steers, J. Stone.

Leonard Thompson, S. Thompson, Rich. Tinning, Enoch Turner.

Wm. Wakefield, Jas. Wallis, Geo. Walton, W. Walton, Alf.
Wasnidge, Hon. Col. Wells, G. D. Wells, Thos. Wheeler, F.
Widder, H. B. Williams, J. Williams, W. Wynn.

Thos. Young.

The list of Englishmen thus reproduced, may well raise emotions of love and regret in us their survivors. Most of them have died full of years, and rich in the respect of their compatriots of all nations. There are still living some twenty out of the above one hundred and thirty-seven members.

The following song, written and set to music by me for the occasion, was sung by the late Mr. J. D. Humphreys, the well-known Toronto tenor, at the annual dinner held on the 24th April, 1845:--

THE ROSE OF ENGLAND.

The Rose, the Rose of England,
The gallant and the free!
Of all our flow'rs the fairest,
The Rose, the Rose for me!
Our good old English fashion
What other flow'r can show?
Its smiles of beauty greet its friends,
Its thorns defy the foe!
_Chorus_--The Rose, the Rose of England,
The gallant and the free!
Of all our flow'rs the fairest,
The Rose, the Rose for me!

Though proudly for the Thistle
Each Scottish bosom swell,
The Thistle hath no charms for me
Like the Rose I love so well.
And Erin's native Shamrock,
In lonely wilds that grows,
Its modest leaflet would not strive
To vie with England's Rose.
_Chorus_--The Rose, the Rose, etc.

Yet Scotia's Thistle bravely
Withstands the rudest blast,
And Erin's cherished Shamrock
Keeps verdant to the last;
And long as British feeling
In British bosoms glows,
Right joyfully we'll honour them,
As they will England's Rose.
_Chorus_--The Rose, the Rose, etc.

Before closing my reminiscences of the St. George's Society, it may not be out of place to give some account of its legitimate congener, the North America St. George's Union. Englishmen in the United States, like those of Canada, have formed themselves into societies for the relief of their suffering brethren from the Fatherland, in all their principal cities. The necessity of frequent correspondence respecting cases of destitution, naturally led the officers of those societies to feel an interest in each other's welfare and system of relief, which at length gave rise to a desire for formal meeting and consultation, and that finally to the establishment of an organized association.

In 1876, the fourth annual convention of the St. George's Union was for the first time held in Canada, at the City of Hamilton; in 1878 at Guelph; in 1880 at Ottawa; and in August, 1883, at Toronto--the intervening meetings taking place at Philadelphia, Bridgeport and Washington, U. S., respectively.

To give an idea of what has been done, and of the spirit which actuates this great representative body of Englishmen, I avail myself of the opening speech of the President, our fellow-citizen and much esteemed friend, J. Herbert Mason, Esq., which was delivered at the City Hall here, on the 29th of August last. After welcoming the delegates from other cities, he went on to say:--

"Met together to promote objects purely beneficent, for which,
in the interests of humanity, we claim the support of all good
citizens, of whatever flag or origin, we may here give
expression to our sentiments and opinions without reserve, and
with confidence that they will be received with respect, even by
those who may not be able to share in the glorious memories, and
vastly more glorious anticipations, with which we, as Englishmen
and the descendants of Englishmen, are animated.

"And in the term Englishmen, I wish to be understood as
including all loyal Irishmen, Scotchmen, and Welshmen. There
need be no division among men of British origin in regard to the
objects we are banded together to promote.

"The city of Toronto is in some respects peculiarly suitable as
a place for holding a convention of representative men of
English blood. Its Indian name, Toronto, signifies a place of
meeting. Ninety years ago its site was selected as that of the
future capital of Upper Canada, by General Simcoe, a Devonshire
man, distinguished both as a soldier and a statesman, who, in
the following year, founded the city.

"At that time the shore of our beautiful bay, and nearly the
entire country from the Detroit river to Montreal, was a dense
forest, the home of the wolf, the beaver and the bear. In
earlier years the surrounding country had been inhabited by
powerful Indian tribes; but after a prolonged contest, carried
on with the persistence and ferocity which distinguished them,
the dreaded Iroquois from the southern shores of Lake Ontario
had exterminated or driven away the Hurons, their less warlike
kinsmen, and at the time I speak of, the only human beings that
were found here was a single family of the Mississaga Indians.
The story of the contest which ended in the supremacy of the
Iroquois Confederacy, taken from the records of the Jesuit
fathers, who shared in the destruction of their Huron converts,
so graphically described by Parkman, the New England historian,
furnishes one of the most interesting and romantic chapters of
American history. In the names and general appearance of its
streets, the style of its habitations, in its social life, and
the characteristics of its people (if the opinions of tourists
and visitors may be accepted), Toronto recals to Englishmen
vivid impressions of home in a greater degree than any other
American city.

"The opening up of the Canadian North-West, and the increased
tendency of English emigration towards this Continent, instead
of, as formerly, towards those great English communities in the
Southern hemisphere, proportionately increases the
responsibility thrown upon their kindred living here, to see
that all reasonable and necessary counsel and assistance are
afforded to them on their arrival. One of the most suitable
agencies for effecting this object is the formation of St.
George's Societies in every city and town where Englishmen
exist. To the friendless immigrant, suddenly placed in a new and
unknown world, not understanding the conditions of success, and,
in many cases, suffering in health from change of climate, the
familiar tones, the kindly hand, and the brotherly sympathy of a
fellow-countryman, are most welcome. It supplies to the stranger
help of the right kind when most needed, and is one of those
acts of divine charity which covers a multitude of sins. One of
the chief objects of the St. George's Union is to increase the
number and usefulness, and enlarge the membership of such
societies, and if, under its fostering influence and encouraging
example, Englishmen generally, and their descendants, are
aroused to a more faithful discharge of their duty in this
respect, the Union is surely well worth maintaining. In this
connection, and for the information and example of younger
societies, permit me to point out some features of the work of
the St. George's Society of this city. It was organized in 1835,
when the population of the city was only 8,000. In the nearly
fifty years of its existence, it has had enrolled among its
chief officers, men of distinguished position and high moral
excellence. It is a notable circumstance, that at the time of
the meeting of this Union in Toronto, the Lieutenant-Governor of
Ontario, whose official residence is here, as well as the Mayor,
the Police Magistrate, the Treasurer, the Commissioners, the
Acting Engineer, and the Chairman of the Free Library Board of
Toronto, are all members of the St. George's Society, and two of
them past-presidents of it. It has a membership of about six
hundred, an annual income of about $2,400, and invested funds to
the amount of nearly $9,000. The office of the Society is open
daily, where cases requiring immediate advice or assistance are
promptly attended to by its indefatigable Secretary, Mr. J. E.
Pell. The Committee for General Relief meets weekly. Every case
is investigated and treated on its merits. Efforts are made to
secure employment for those who are able to work, and all
tendencies towards pauperism, or the formation of a pauper
class, are severely discouraged. One feature in the work of this
society I invite special attention to, which is its annual
distribution of 'Christmas Cheer' to the English poor. Last
Christmas Eve there were given away 7,500 pounds of excellent
beef; 4,400 pounds of bread; 175 pounds of tea, and 650 pounds
of sugar. Each member of the society had, therefore, the
satisfaction of knowing when he sat down to his Yule-tide table,
loaded with the good things of this life, and surrounded by the
happy faces of those he loved best, that every one of his needy
fellow-countrymen was, on that day, bountifully supplied with
the necessaries of life."

From the Annual Report of the Committee I gather a few items:

"Reports from nineteen societies (affiliated to the Union) show
the following results:--

Membership (excluding honorary members) 3,247
Receipts during the year $19,618
Expended for charity during the year (excluding
private donations) 12,003
Value of investments, furniture and fixtures 96,568

"The Society of St. George, of London, England, has intimate
relations with the Union. The General Committee embraces such
eminent names as those of the Duke of Manchester, Lord Alfred
Churchill, Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen; Messrs. Beresford-Hope and
Puleston, of the House of Commons; Blanchard Jerrold and Hyde
Clarke, while death has removed from the Committee Messrs. W.
Hepworth Dixon and Walter Besant. St. George's Day has been
publicly celebrated ever since the institution of the Society in
1879. A new history of the titular saint, by the Rev. Dr.
Barons, has been promoted by the Society, and by its efforts
appropriate mortuary honours were paid to Colonel Chester, the
Anglo-American antiquarian, who died while prosecuting in
England his researches concerning the genealogy of the Pilgrim
Fathers. Through the industry and zeal of the chairman of the
Executive Committee there has been much revival of interest, at
home and abroad, respecting England's patron saint and the
ancient celebrations of his legendary natal day."

After the official business of the convention had been disposed of, the American and Canadian visitors were hospitably entertained, on Wednesday the 30th, at "Ermeleigh," the private residence of the President, on Jarvis street; on Thursday afternoon at Government House, as guests of the Lieutenant-Governor and Mrs. Robinson; and in the evening at the Queen's Hotel, where a handsome entertainment was provided.