Chapter XXIV: Yonge Street--From the Bay to Yorkville (1)

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.