The Public Edifices Are Well
Situated And Very Handsome.
King Street, the principal thoroughfare, is
two miles in length, and the side-walks are lined with handsome shops.
The
outskirts of Toronto abound in villa residences, standing in gardens or
shrubberies. The people do not run "hurry skurry" along the streets, but
there are no idlers to be observed. Hirsute eccentricities have also
disappeared; the beard is rarely seen, and the moustache is not considered
a necessary ornament. The faded careworn look of the American ladies has
given place to the bright complexion, the dimpled smile, and the active
elastic tread, so peculiarly English. Indeed, in walking along the
streets, there is nothing to tell that one is not in England; and if
anything were needed to complete the illusion, those sure tokens of
British civilisation, a jail and a lunatic asylum, are not wanting.
Toronto possesses in a remarkable degree the appearances of stability and
progress. No town on the Western Continent has progressed more rapidly;
certainly none more surely. I conversed with an old gentleman who
remembered its site when it was covered with a forest, when the smoke of
Indian wigwams ascended through the trees, and when wild fowl crowded the
waters of the harbour. The place then bore the name of Toronto - the Place
of Council. The name was changed by the first settlers to Little York, but
in 1814 its euphonious name of Toronto was again bestowed upon it. Its
population in 1801 was 336; it is now nearly 50,000.
Toronto is not the fungus growth, staring and wooden, of a temporary
necessity; it is the result of persevering industry, well-applied capital,
and healthy and progressive commercial prosperity. Various railroads are
in course of construction, which will make it the exporting market for the
increasing produce of the interior; and as the migratory Canadian
Legislature is now stationary at Toronto for four years, its future
progress will probably be more rapid than its past. Its wharfs are always
crowded with freight and passenger steamers, by which it communicates two
or three times a day with the great cities of the United States, and
Quebec and Montreal. It is the seat of Canadian learning, and, besides
excellent schools, possesses a university, and several theological and
general seminaries. The society is said to be highly superior. I give
willing testimony in favour of this assertion, from the little which I saw
of it, but an attack of ague prevented me from presenting my letters of
introduction. It is a very musical place, and at Toronto Jenny Lind gave
the only concerts with which she honoured Canada. A large number of the
inhabitants are Scotch, which may account for the admirable way in which
the Sabbath is observed.
If I was pleased to find that the streets, the stores, the accent, the
manners were English, I was rejoiced to see that from the highest to the
lowest the hearts of the people were English also. I was at Toronto when
the false despatch was received announcing the capture of Sebastopol and
of the Russian army. I was spending the evening at the house of a friend,
when a gentleman ran in to say that the church bells were ringing for a
great victory! It was but the work of a few minutes for us to jump into a
hack, and drive at full speed to the office of the Globe newspaper,
where the report was apparently confirmed. A great crowd in a state of
eager excitement besieged the doors, and presently a man mounted on a
lamp-post read the words, "Sebastopol is taken! The Russian fleet burnt!
Eighteen thousand killed and wounded. Loss of the Allies, two thousand
five hundred." This news had been telegraphed from Boston, and surely the
trembling tongue of steel had never before told such a bloody tale. One
shout of "Hurrah for Old England" burst from the crowd, and hearty English
cheers were given, which were caught up and repeated down the crowded
streets of Toronto. The shout thrilled through my heart; it told that the
flag of England waved over the loyal, true-hearted, and brave; it told of
attachment to the constitution and the throne; it told that in our times
of difficulty and danger "St. George and merry England" would prove a
gathering cry even on the prosperous shores of Lake Ontario. Greater
enthusiasm could not have been exhibited on the receipt of this false but
glorious news in any city at home. The bells, which a few days before had
tolled for the catastrophe of the Arctic, now pealed forth in triumph
for the victory of the Alma. Toronto knew no rest on that night. Those who
rejoiced over a victory gained over the northern despot were those who had
successfully resisted the despotism of a band of rebels. The streets were
almost impassable from the crowds who thronged them. Hand-rockets exploded
almost into people's eyes - serpents and squibs were hissing and cracking
over the pavements - and people were rushing in all directions for fuel for
the different bonfires. The largest of these was opposite the St. Lawrence
Hall. It was a monster one of tar-barrels, and lighted up the whole
street, paling the sickly flame of the gas-lamps. There was a large and
accumulating crowd round it, shouting, "Hurrah for Old England! Down with
the Rooshians! Three cheers for the Queen!" and the like. Sky-rockets were
blazing high in air, men were rushing about firing muskets, the small
swivels of the steamers at the wharfs were firing incessantly, and carts
with combustibles were going at full speed along the streets, each fresh
arrival being hailed with enthusiastic cheering. There were firemen, too,
in their picturesque dresses, who had turned out at the first sound of the
bells, and their services were soon put in requisition, for enthusiasm
produced recklessness, and two or three shingle-roofs were set on fire by
the descent of rockets upon them.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 51 of 128
Words from 51156 to 52160
of 129941
