XIX.

QUEEN STREET--DIGRESSION AT CAROLINE STREET--HISTORY OF THE EARLY PRESS.

A little to the south of Britain Street, between it and Duchess Street, near the spot where Caroline Street, slightly diverging from the right line, passes northward to Queen Street, there stood in the early day a long, low wooden structure, memorable to ourselves, as being, in our school-boy days, the Government Printing Office. Here the _Upper Canada Gazette_ was issued, by "R. C. Horne, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty."

We shall have occasion hereafter to notice among our early inhabitants some curious instances of change of profession. In the present case, His Majesty's Printer was in reality an Army Surgeon, once attached to the Glengary Light Infantry. And again, afterwards, the same gentleman was for many years the Chief Teller in the Bank of Upper Canada. An incident in the troubles of 1837 was "the burning of Dr. Horne's house," by a party of the malcontents who were making a show of assault upon the town. The site of this building, a conspicuous square two-storey frame family residence, was close to the toll-bar on Yonge Street, in what is now Yorkville. On that occasion, we are informed, Dr. Horne "berated the Lieutenant-Governor for treating with avowed rebels, and insisted that they were not in sufficient force to give any ground of alarm."

The _Upper Canada Gazette_ was the first newspaper published in Upper Canada. Its first number appeared at Newark or Niagara, on Thursday, the 18th of April, 1793. As it was apparently expected to combine with a record of the acts of the new government some account of events happening on the continent at large, it was made to bear the double title of _Upper Canada Gazette, or American Oracle_. Louis Roy was its first printer, a skilled artizan engaged probably from Lower Canada, where printing had been introduced about thirty years previously, soon after the English occupation of the country.

Louis Roy's name appears on the face of No. 1, Vol. I. The type is of the shape used in contemporaneous printing, and the execution is very good. The size of the sheet, which retained the folio form, was 15 by 91/2 inches. The quality of the paper was rather coarse, but stout and durable.

The address to the public in the first number is as follows:--"The Editor of this paper respectfully informs the public that the flattering prospect which he has of an extensive sale for his new undertaking has enabled him to augment the size originally proposed from a Demy Quarto to a Folio.

"The encouragement he has met will call forth every exertion he is master of, so as to render the paper useful, entertaining and instructive. He will be very happy in being favoured with such communications as may contribute to the information of the public, from those who shall be disposed to assist him, and in particular shall be highly flattered in becoming the vehicle of intelligence in this growing Province of whatever may tend to its internal benefit and common advantage. In order to preserve the veracity of his paper, which will be the first object of his attention, it will be requisite that all transactions of a domestic nature, such as deaths, marriages, &c., be communicated under real signatures.

"The price of this _Gazette_ will be three dollars per annum. All advertisements inserted in it, and not exceeding twelve lines, will pay 4s. Quebec currency; and for every additional line a proportionable price. Orders for letter-press printing will be executed with neatness, despatch and attention, and on the most reasonable terms."

An advertisement in the first number informs the public that a Brewery is about to be established under the sanction of the Lieutenant-Governor. "Notice is hereby given, that there will be a Brewery erected here this summer under the sanction of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, and encouraged by some of the principal gentlemen of this place; and whosoever will sow barley and cultivate their land so that it will produce grain of a good quality, they may be certain of a market in the fall at one dollar a bushel on delivery. W. Huet, Niagara, 18th April, 1793."

The number dated Niagara, May 2, 1793, "hath" the following advertisement:--"Sampson Jutes begs leave to inform all persons who propose to build houses, &c., in the course of this summer, that he hath laths, planks and scantlings of all kinds to sell on reasonable terms. Any person may be supplied with any of the above articles on the shortest notice. Applications to be made to him at his mill near Mr. Peter Secord's."

In the Number for May 30, 1793, we have ten guineas reward offered for the recovery of a Government grindstone:--"Ten Guineas Reward is offered to any person that will make discovery and prosecute to conviction, the Thief or Thieves that have stolen a Grindstone from the King's Wharf at Navy Hall, between the 30th of April and the 6th instant. John McGill, Com. of Stores, &c., &c., for the Province of Upper Canada. Queenstown, 16th May, 1793."

The Anniversary of the King's Birth-day was celebrated at Niagara in 1793, in the following manner:--"Niagara, June 6. On Tuesday last, being the Anniversary of His Majesty's birthday, His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor had a Levee at Navy Hall. At one o'clock the troops in garrison and at Queenston fired three volleys; the field-pieces above Navy Hall, under the direction of the Royal Artillery, and the guns of the Garrison, fired a Royal Salute. His Majesty's schooner, the Onondago, at anchor in the river, likewise fired a Royal Salute. In the evening His Excellency gave a Ball and elegant Supper at the Council Chamber, which was most numerously attended."

In the second volume (1794) of the _Gazette and Oracle_, Louis Roy's name disappears. G. Tiffany becomes the printer. In 1798 it has assumed the Quarto form, and is dated "West Niagara," a name Newark was beginning to acquire.

No _Gazette_ is issued April 29th, 1798. An apology for the omission constitutes the whole of the editorial of the Number for May 5. It says: "The Printer having been called to York last week upon business, is humbly tendered to his readers as an apology for the _Gazette's_ not appearing."

In 1799, the _Gazette_ being about to be removed across permanently to York, the new capital, whither also all the government offices were departing, Messrs. S. and G. Tiffany decide on starting a newspaper on their own account for Niagara. It is called the "_Canada Constellation_," and its terms are four dollars per annum. It is announced to appear weekly "opposite the Lion tavern." The date of the first number is July 20. In the introductory address to the public, the Messrs. Tiffany make use of the following rather involved language:--"It is a truth long acknowledged that no men hold situations more influential of the minds and conduct of men than do printers: political printers are sucked from, nursed and directed by the press: and when they are just, the community is in unity and prosperity; but when vicious, every evil ensues; and it is lamentable that many printers, either vile remiss in, or ignorant of, their duty, produce the latter or no effect; and to which of these classes we belong, time will unfold."

The public means of maintaining a regular correspondence with the outer world being insufficient, the enterprising spirit of the Messrs. Tiffany led them to think of establishing a postal system of their own. In the _Constellation_ for August 23, we have the announcement: "The printers of the _Constellation_ are desirous of establishing a post on the road from their office to Ancaster and the Grand River, as well as another to Fort Erie; and for this purpose they propose to hire men to perform the routes as soon as the subscriptions will allow of the expense. In order to establish the business, the printers on their part will subscribe generously, and to put the design into execution, but little remains for the people to do."

We can detect in the _Constellation_ a natural local feeling against the upstart town of York, which had now drawn away almost every thing from the old Newark. Thus in the number for November the 14th, 1799, a communication from York, signed _Amicus_, is admitted, written plainly by one who was no great lover of the place. It affords a glimpse of the state of its thoroughfares, and of the habits of some of its inhabitants. _Amicus_ proposes a "_Stump Act_" for York; _i. e._, a compulsory eradication of the stumps in the streets: so that "the people of York in the space of a few months may" as he speaks. "relapse into intoxication with impunity; and stagger home at any hour of the night without encountering the dreadful apprehension of broken necks."

The same animus gives colour to remarks on some legal verbiage recently employed at York. Under the heading "Interesting Discovery" we read: "It has been lately found at York that in England laws are made; and that a law made in England is the law of England, and is enforced by another law; that many laws are made in Lower Canada and follow up, that is, follow after, or in other words are made since, other laws; and that these laws may be repealed. It is seldom," continues the writer in the _Constellation_, "that so few as one discovery slips into existence at one birth. Genius is sterile, and justly said to be like a breeding cat, as is verified in York, where by some unaccountable fortuity of events all genius centres; at the same time with the above, its twin kitten came forth, that an atheist does not believe as a Christian."

In another number we have some chaffing about the use of the word _capital_. In an address on the arrival of Governor Hunter, the expression, "We, the inhabitants of the Capital," had occurred. "This fretted my pate," the critic pretends to complain. "What can this be? Surely it is some great place in a great country was my conclusion; but where the capital is, was a little beyond my geographical acquaintance. I had recourse to the books" he continues: "all the gazettes and magazines from the year One I carefully turned over, and not one case among all the addresses they contained afforded me any instruction: 'We, the inhabitants of the cities of London and Westminster, of Edinburgh, Dublin, Paris, &c.,' only proved to me that neither of these is the Capital. But as these are only _little_ towns in young countries, and cannot be so forward as to take upon themselves the pompous title of _capital_, it must be in America." He then professes to have consulted the _Encyclopaedia Eboretica_, or, "A Vindication in support of the great Utility of New Words," lately printed in Upper Canada, and to have discovered therein that the Capital in question "was, in plain English, York." He concludes, therefore, that whenever in future the expression "We, the inhabitants of the Capital" is met with, it is to be translated into the vernacular tongue, "We, the inhabitants of York, assembled at McDougall's, &c."

There is mention made above of a Stump Act. We have been assured that such a regulation was, at an early day, in force at York, as a deterrent from drunkenness. Capt. Peeke, who burnt lime at Duffin's Creek, and shipped it to York in his own vessel, before the close of the last century, was occasionally inconvenienced by the working of the Stump Act. His men whom he had brought up with him to assist in navigating his boat would be found, just when especially wanted by himself, laboriously engaged in the extraction of a great pine-root in one or other of the public thoroughfares of the town, under sentence of the magistrate, for having been found, on the preceding day, intoxicated in the streets.

The _Constellation_ newspaper does not appear to have succeeded. Early in 1801 a new paper comes out, entitled the _Herald_. In it, it is announced that the _Constellation_, "after existing one year, expired some months since of starvation, its publishers departing too much from its constitution (advance pay)." The printer is now Silvester Tiffany, the senior proprietor of the _Constellation_. It is very well printed with good type; but on blue wrapping paper. In little more than two years, viz., on the 4th June, 1802, it announced that the publication of the _Herald_ is suspended; that it will appear only "on particular occasions;" but Mr. Tiffany hopes it "will by and by receive a revival." Other early papers published at the town of Niagara were the _Gleaner_, by Mr. Heron; the _Reporter_; the _Spectator_. The _Mail_ was established so late as 1845. Its publication ceased in 1870, when its editor, Mr. Kirby, was appointed to the collectorship of the Port of Niagara. Down to 1870 Mr. Tiffany's "imposing stone," used in the printing of the _Constellation_, did duty in the office of the _Mail_.

In 1800, the _Upper Canada Gazette or American Oracle_ is issued at York, weekly, from the office of William Waters and T. G. Simons. In the number for Saturday, May the 17th, in that year, we read that on the Thursday evening previous, "His Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Province, arrived in our harbour on board the Toronto; and on Friday morning, about nine o'clock, landed at the Garrison, where he is at present to reside."

We are thus enabled to add two items to the table of dates usually given, shewing the introduction of Printing at different points on this Continent: viz., the dates 1793 and 1800 for Niagara and York respectively. The table will now stand as follows:--

1639, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Stephen Day and Samuel Green; 1674, Boston, John Foster; 1684, Philadelphia, Wm. Bradford; 1693, New York, Wm. Bradford (removed from Philadelphia); 1730, Charleston, Eleazer Phillips; 1730, Bridgetown, Barbadoes, David Harry and Samuel Keimer; 1751, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Bartholomew Green, jun., and John Bushell; 1764, Quebec, Wm. Brown and Thos. H. Gilmore; 1771, Albany, Alex. and Jas. Robertson; 1775, Montreal, Chas. Berger and Fleury Mesplet; 1784, St. George's, Bermuda, J. Stockdale; 1793, Newark (Niagara), Louis Roy; 1795, Cincinnati, S. Freeman; 1800, York (Toronto), Wm. Waters and T. G. Simons.

As at York and Niagara, the first printers in most of the places named were publishers of newspapers.

It may be added that a press was in operation in the City of Mexico in 1569; and in the City of Lima in 1621. The original of all the many Colonial Government _Gazettes_ was the famous royal or exclusively court news sheet, published first at Oxford, in November, 1665, entitled the _Oxford Gazette_, and in the following year, at London, and entitled then and ever afterwards to this day, the _London Gazette_.

In 1801, J. Bennett succeeds Messrs. Waters and Simons, and becomes the printer and publisher of the _Gazette or Oracle_. In that year the printing-office is removed to "the house of Mr. A. Cameron, King Street," and it is added, "subscriptions will be received there and at the Toronto Coffee House, York." From March 21st in this year, and onward for six weeks, the paper appears printed on blue sheets of the kind of material that used formerly to be seen on the outsides of pamphlets and magazines and Government "Blue-books." The stock of white paper has plainly run out, and no fresh supply can be had before the opening of the navigation. The _Herald_, at Niagara, of the same period, appeared, as we have already noticed, in the like guise.

On Saturday, December 20th, 1801, is this statement, the whole of the editorial matter: "It is much to be lamented that communication between Niagara and this town is so irregular and unfrequent: opportunities now do not often occur of receiving the American papers from our correspondents; and thereby prevents us for the present from laying before our readers the state of politics in Europe." In the number for June 13th, the editorial "leader" reads as follows:--"The _Oracle_, York, Saturday, June 13th. Last Monday was a day of universal rejoicing in this town, occasioned by the arrival of the news of the splendid victory gained by Lord Nelson over the Danes in Copenhagen Roads on the 2nd of April last: in the morning the great guns at the Garrison were fired: at night there was a general illumination, and bonfires blazed in almost every direction." The writer indulges in no further comments.

It would have been gratifying to posterity had the printers of the _Gazette and Oracle_ endeavoured to furnish a connected record of "the short and simple annals" of their own immediate neighbourhood. But these unfortunately were deemed undeserving of much notice. We have announcements of meetings, and projects, and subscriptions for

## particular purposes, unfollowed by any account of what was subsequently

said, done and effected; and when a local incident is mentioned, the detail is generally very meagre.

An advertisement in the number for the 27th August, 1801, reminds us that in the early history of Canada it was imagined that a great source of wealth to the inhabitants of the country in all future time would be the ginseng that was found growing naturally in the swamps. The market for ginseng was principally China, where it was worth its weight in silver. The word is said to be Chinese for "all-heal." In 1801 we find that Mr. Jacob Herchmer, of York, was speculating in ginseng. In his advertisement in the _Gazette and Oracle_ he "begs leave to inform the inhabitants of York and its vicinity that he will purchase any quantity of ginseng between this and the first of November next, and that he will give two shillings, New York currency, per pound well dried, and one shilling for green."

At one period, it will be remembered, the cultivation of hemp was expected to be the mainstay of the country's prosperity. In the Upper Canada Almanac for 1804, among the public officers we have set down as "Commissioners appointed for the distribution of Hemp Seed (gratis) to the Farmers of the Provinces, the Hon. John McGill, the Hon. David W. Smith, and Thomas Scott, Esquires."

The whole of the editorial matter of the _Gazette and Oracle_ on the 2nd of January, 1802, is the following: "The _Oracle_, York, Saturday, January 2, 1802. The Printer presents his congratulary compliments to his customers on the New Year." Note that the dignified title of Editor was yet but sparingly assumed. That term is used once by Tiffany at Newark, in the second volume. After the death of Governor Hunter, in September, 1805, J. Bennett writes himself down "Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty." Previously the colophon of the publication had been: "York, printed by John Bennett, by the authority of His Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq., Lieut.-Governor."

Happening to have at hand a bill of Bennett's against the Government we give it here. The modern reader will be able to form from this specimen an idea of the extent of the Government requirements in 1805 in regard to printing and the cost thereof. We give also the various attestations appended to the account:--

York, Upper Canada, 24th June, 1805.

The Government of Upper Canada,

To John Bennett, Government Printer.

Jan. 11. 300 copies Still Licenses, 1/2 sheet foolscap, pica type 0 16 6

March 30. Printing 20 copies of an Act for altering the time of issuing Licenses for keeping of a House of Public Entertainment, 1/4 sheet demy, pica type 0 3 4

April 5. Inserting a Notice to persons taking out Shop, Still or Tavern Licenses, 6 weeks in the _Gazette_, equal to 41/2 advertisements 1 16 0

April 16. 1,000 copies of Proclamation, warning persons that possess and occupy Lands in this Province, without due titles having been obtained for such Lands, forthwith to quit and remove from the same, 1/2 sheet demy, double pica type 4 18 4

April 22. 100 copies of an Act to afford relief to persons entitled to claim Land in this Province as heirs or devisees of the nominees of the Crown, one sheet demy, pica type 3 6 3

Printing Marginal notes to do 0 5 0

May 14. Printing 1,500 copies of the Acts of the First Session of the Fourth Parliament, three sheets demy, pica type 45 0 0

Marginal Notes to do., at 5s. per sheet 0 15 0

Folding, Stitching and Covering in Blue Paper, at 1d. 6 5 0 -------- Halifax currency L63 5 9

Amounting to sixty-three pounds five shillings and nine-pence Halifax currency. Errors excepted. (Signed) John Bennett.

John Bennett, of the Town of York, in the Home District, maketh oath and saith, that the foregoing account amounting to sixty-three pounds five shillings and ninepence Halifax currency, is just and true in all its particulars to the best of his knowledge and belief. (Signed) John Bennett.

Sworn before me at York, this 20th day of July, 1805. (Signed) Wm. Dummer Powell, J.

Audited and approved in Council 6th August 1805. (Signed) Peter Russell, _Presiding Councillor_.

(_Examined_) (Signed) John McGill, _Inspector Genl. P. P. Accts._ [A true copy.] John McGill, Inspector Gen. P. P. Accts.

Bennett published "The Upper Canada Almanac," containing with the matter usually found in such productions the Civil and Military Lists and the Duties, Imperial and Provincial. This work was admirably printed in fine Elzevir type, and in aspect, as well as arrangement, was an exact copy of the almanacs of the day published in London.

A rival Calendar continued to be issued at Niagara entitled "Tiffany's Upper Canada Almanac." This was a roughly-printed little tract, and contained popular matter in addition to the official lists. It gave in a separate and very conspicuous column in each month "the moon's place" on each day in respect to a distinct portion of the human body with prognostications accordingly. And in the "Advertisement to the reader" it was set forth, that "in the calculation of the weather the most unwearied pains have been taken; and the calculator prays, for his honour's sake, that he may have not failed in the least point; but as all calculation may sometimes fail in small matters," the writer continues, "no wonder is it that in this, the most important, should be at times erroneous. And when this shall unfortunately have been the case with the Upper Canada Almanac, let careful observers throw over the error the excess of that charity of which their generous souls are composed, and the all-importance of the subject requires; let them remember that the task, in all the variety and changes of climates and seasons, is arduous beyond that of reforming a vicious world, and not less than that of making a middle-sized new one."

In the number of the _Oracle_ for September 28th, 1805, which is in mourning, we have the following notice of the character of Governor Hunter, who had deceased on the 23rd of the preceding August at Quebec:--"As an officer his character was high and unsullied; and at this present moment his death may be considered a great public loss. As Lieut.-Governor of Upper Canada, his loss will be severely felt; for by his unremitting attention and exertions he has, in the course of a very few years, brought that infant colony to an unparalleled state of prosperity." An account is then given of the procession at the funeral. The 49th and 6th Regiments were present; also Lieut.-Col. Brock, Commanding. At the grave one round was fired slowly and distinctly by eleven field pieces, followed by one round of small arms, by regiments; then a second round of artillery, followed in like manner by the small arms; and, lastly, a third round of artillery, and a third round of small arms. The mourners were, the Hon. Thomas Dunn, President of the Province (Lower Canada). Col. Bowes, Major Curry, Hon. Mr. Craigie, Col. Green, Major Robe, Capt. Gomm and Mr. William Green.

In 1813, during the war with the United States, Cameron is the printer of the official paper, which now for a time assumed the title of _The York Gazette_. Mr. John Cameron also published "The Upper Canada Almanac," from which we have already had occasion to quote, but it put in no claim to an official character. It did not contain the Civil Lists, but, as stated in the title page, "some Chinese sayings and Elegant Aphorisms." It bore as a motto the following lines:--

"Ye who would mend these wicked times And morals of the age, Come buy a book half full of rhymes, At three-pence York per page. It would be money well outlaid, So plenty money is; Paper for paper is fair trade: So said "Poor Richard Quiz."

Among the aphorisms given is this one: "Issuers of paper-change, are entitled to thanks from the public for the great accommodation such change affords. They might render the accommodation more extensive were they to emit a proportionate number of half-penny bills." At one place the query is put, "When will the beard be worn, and man allowed to appear with it in native dignity? And if so, how long before it will become fashionable to have it greased and powdered?" In the almanac for 1815, towards the end, the following paragraph appears:--"York supernatural prices current: Turnips 1 dollar per bushel; Potatoes, long, at 2 ditto; Salt 20 ditto; Butter per lb. 1 ditto; Indifferent bread 1 shilling N. Y. cy. per lb.; Conscience, a contraband article."

In Bennett's time the Government press was, as we have seen, set up in Mr. Cameron's house on King Street. But at the period of the war in 1812 Mr. Cameron's printing office was in a building which still exists, viz., the house on Bay Street associated with the name of Mr. Andrew Mercer. During the occupation of York by the United States force, the press was broken up and the type dispersed. Mr. Mercer once exhibited to ourselves a portion of the press which on that occasion was made useless. For a short period Mr. Mercer himself had charge of the publication of the _York Gazette_.

In 1817 Dr. Horne became the editor and publisher. On coming into his hands the paper resumed the name of _Upper Canada Gazette_, but the old secondary title of _American Oracle_ was dropped. To the official portion of the paper there was, nevertheless, still appended abstracts of news from the United States and Europe, summaries of the proceedings in the Parliaments of Upper and Lower Canada, and much well-selected miscellaneous matter. The shape continued to be that of a small folio, and the terms were four dollars per annum in advance; and if sent by mail, four dollars and a half.

In 1821 Mr. Charles Fothergill (of whom we have already spoken) became the Editor and Publisher of the _Gazette_. Mr. Fothergill revived the practice of having a secondary title, which was now _The Weekly Register_; a singular choice, by the way, that being very nearly the name of Cobbett's celebrated democratic publication in London. After Mr. Fothergill came Mr. Robert Stanton, who changed the name of the private portion of the _Gazette_ sheet, styling it "_The U. E. Loyalist_."

In 1820 Mr. John Carey had established the _Observer_ at York. The _Gazette_ of May 11, 1820, contains the announcement of his design; and he therein speaks of himself as "the person who gave the Debates" recently in another paper. To have the debates in Parliament reported with any fulness was then a novelty. The _Observer_ was a folio of rustic, unkempt aspect, the paper and typography and matter being all somewhat inferior. It gave in its adherence to the government of the day, generally: at a later period it wavered. Mr. Carey was a tall, portly personage who, from his bearing and costume might readily have been mistaken for a non-conformist minister of local importance. The _Observer_ existed down to about the year 1830. Between the _Weekly Register_ and the _Observer_ the usual journalistic feud sprung up, which so often renders rival village newspapers ridiculous. With the _Register_ a favourite sobriquet for the _Observer_ is "Mother C----y." Once a correspondent is permitted to style it "The Political Weathercock and Slang Gazetteer." Mr. Carey ended his days in Springfield on the River Credit, where he possessed property.

The _Canadian Freeman_, established in 1825 by Mr. Francis Collins was a sheet remarkable for the neatness of its arrangement and execution, and also for the talent exhibited in its editorials. The type was evidently new and carefully handled. Mr. Collins was his own principal compositor. He is said to have transferred to type many of his editorials without the intervention of pen and paper, composing directly from copy mentally furnished. Mr. Collins was a man of pronounced Celtic features, roughish in outline, and plentifully garnished with hair of a sandy or reddish hue.

Notwithstanding the colourless character of the motto at the head of its columns "Est natura hominum novitatis avida"--"Human nature is fond of news," the _Freeman_ was a strong party paper. The hard measure dealt out to him in 1828 at the hands of the legal authorities, according to the prevailing spirit of the day, with the revenge that he was moved to take--and to take successfully--we shall not here detail. Mr. Collins died of cholera in the year 1834. We have understood that he was once employed in the office of the _Gazette_; and that when Dr. Horne resigned, he was an applicant for the position of Government Printer.

The _Canadian Freeman_ joined for a time in the general opposition clamour against Dr. Strachan,--against the influence, real or supposed, exercised by him over successive lieutenant-governors. But on discovering the good-humoured way in which its fulminations were received by their object, the _Freeman_ dropped its strictures. It happened that Mr. Collins had a brother in business in the town with whom Dr. Strachan had dealings. This brother on some occasion thought it becoming to make some faint apology for the _Freeman's_ diatribes. "O don't let them trouble you," the Doctor replied, "they do not trouble me; but by the way, tell your brother," he laughingly continued, "I shall claim a share in the proceeds." This, when reported to the Editor, was considered a good joke, and the diatribes ceased; a proceeding that was tantamount to Peter Pindar's confession, when some one charged him with being too hard on the King: "I confess there exists a difference between the King and me," said Peter; "the King has been a good subject to me; and I have been a bad subject to his Majesty."--During Mr. Collins' imprisonment in 1828 for the application of the afterwards famous expression "native malignity" to the Attorney-General of the day, the _Freeman_ still continued to appear weekly, the editorials, set up in type in the manner spoken of above, being supplied to the office from his room in the jail.

In the early stages of society in Upper Canada the Government authorities appear not only to have possessed but to have exercised the power of handling political writers pretty sharply. In the Kingston _Chronicle_ of December 10th, 1820, we have recorded the sentence pronounced on Barnabas Ferguson, Editor of the Niagara _Spectator_, for "a libel on the Government." Mr. Ferguson was condemned to be imprisoned eighteen months; to stand in the pillory once during his confinement; to pay a fine of L50, and remain in prison till paid; and on his liberation to find security for seven years, himself in L500, and two sureties in L250 each. No comment is made by the _Chronicle_ on the sentence, and the libel is not described.

The local government took its cue in this matter from its superiors of the day in the old country. What Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer says in his sketch of the life of Cobbett helps to explain the action of the early Upper Canada authorities in respect to the press. "Let us not forget," says the writer just named, "the blind and uncalculating intolerance with which the law struggled against opinion from 1809 to 1822. Writers during this period were transported, imprisoned, and fined, without limit or conscience; and just when government became more gentle to legitimate newspapers, it engaged in a new conflict with unstamped ones. No less than 500 venders of these were imprisoned within six years. The contest was one of life and death."

So early as 1807 there was an "opposition" paper--the _Upper Canada Guardian_. Willcocks, the editor, had been Sheriff of the Home District, and had lost his office for giving a vote contrary to the policy of the lieutenant-governor for the time being. He was returned as a member of parliament; and after having been imprisoned for breach of privilege, he was returned again, and continued to lead the reforming party. The name of Mr. Cameron, the publisher of the _Gazette_ at York was, by some means, mixed up with that of Mr. Willcocks, in connection with the _Upper Canada Guardian_ in 1807, and he found it expedient to publish in the _Gazette_ of June 20, the following notice: "To the Public--Having seen the Prospectus of a paper generally circulated at Niagara, intended to be printed in Upper Canada, entitled the _Upper Canada Guardian or Freeman's Journal_, executed in the United States of America, without my knowledge or consent, wherein my name appears as being a party concerned; I therefore think it necessary to undeceive my friends and the inhabitants of Upper Canada, and to assure them that I have no connection with, nor is it my most distant wish or intention in any wise to be connected with the printing or publication of said paper. John Bennett."--When the war of 1812 broke out the _Guardian_ came to an end; its editor at first loyally bore arms on the Canadian side, but at length deserted to the enemy, taking with him some of the Canadian Militia. He was afterwards killed at the siege of Fort Erie.

The newspaper which occupies the largest space in the early annals of the press at York is the _Colonial Advocate_. Issuing first at Queenston in May, 1824, it was removed in the following November to York. Its shape varied from time to time: now it was a folio: now a quarto. On all its pages the matter was densely packed; but printed in a very mixed manner: it abounded with sentences in italics, in small capitals, in large capitals; with names distinguished in like decided manner: with paragraphs made conspicuous by rows of index hands, and other typographical symbols at top, bottom and sides. It was editorial, not in any one particular column, but throughout; and the opinions delivered were expressed for the most part in the first person.

The _Weekly Register_ fell foul of the _Advocate_ at once. It appears that the new audacious nondescript periodical, though at the time it bore on its face the name of Queenston, was nevertheless for convenience sake printed at Lewiston on the New York side of the river. Hence it was denounced by the _Weekly Register_ in language that now astonishes us, as a United States production; and as in the United States interest. "This paper of motley, unconnected, shake-bag periods" cried the Editor of the _Weekly Register_, "this unblushing, brazen-faced _Advocate_, affects to be a Queenston and Upper Canadian paper; whereas it is to all intents and purposes, and radically, a Lewiston and genu-wine Yankee paper. How can this man of truth, this pure and holy reformer and regenerator of the unhappy and prostrate Canada reconcile such barefaced and impudent deception?"

Nothing could more promote the success of the _Colonial Advocate_ than a welcome like this. To account for the _Register's_ extraordinary warmth, it is to be said that the _Advocate_ in its first number had happened to quote a passage from an address of its Editor to the electors of the County of Durham, which seemed in some degree to compromise him as a servant of the Government. Mr. Fothergill had ventured to say "I know some of the deep and latent causes why this fine country has so long languished in a state of comparative stupor and inactivity, while our more enterprising neighbours are laughing us to scorn. All I desire is an opportunity of attempting the cure of some of the evils we labour under." This was interpreted in the _Advocate_ to mean a censure upon the Executive. But the _Register_ replied that these words simply expressed the belief that the evils complained of were remediable only by the action of the House of Assembly, on the well-known axiom "that all law is for the people, and from the people; and when efficient, must be remedied or rectified by the people; and that therefore Mr. Fothergill was desirous of assisting in the great work."

The end in fact was that the Editor of the _Register_, after his return to parliament for the County of Durham, did not long retain the post of King's Printer. After several independent votes in the House he was dismissed by Sir Peregrine Maitland in 1826, after which date the awkwardness of uniting with a Government Gazette a general newspaper whose editor, as a member of the House of Assembly, might claim the privilege of acting with His Majesty's opposition, came to an end. In 1826 we have Mr. Fothergill in his place in the House supporting a motion for remuneration to the publisher of the _Advocate_, on the ground that the wide and even gratuitous circulation of that paper throughout Canada and among members of the British House of Commons, "would help to draw attention in the proper quarter to the country."

Here is an account of McKenzie's method in the collection of matter for his various publications, the curious multifariousness of which matter used to astonish while it amused. The description is by Mr. Kent, editor of a religious journal, entitled _The Church_, published at Cobourg in 1838. Lord Clarendon's style has been exactly caught, it will be observed: "Possessed of a taste for general and discursive reading," says Mr. Kent, "he (McK.) made even his very pleasures contribute to the serious business of his life, and, year after year, accumulated a mass of materials, which he pressed into his service at some fitting opportunity. Whenever anything transpired that at all reflected on a political opponent, or whenever, in his reading, he met with a passage that favoured his views, he not only turned it to a present purpose, but laid it by, to bring it forward at some future period, long after it might have been supposed to be buried in oblivion."

The Editor of the _Advocate_, after his flight from Canada in 1837, published for a short time at New York a paper named _McKenzie's Gazette_, which afterwards was removed to Rochester: its term of existence there was also brief. In the number for June, 1839, we have the following intelligence contributed by a correspondent at Toronto: a certain animus in relation to the military in Canada, and in relation to the existing Banks of the country, is apparent. "Toronto, May 24th: The 93rd Regiment is still in quarters here. The men 660 strong, all Scotchmen, enlisted in the range of country from Aberdeen to Ayrshire: a highland regiment without highlanders: few or none of Englishmen or Irishmen among them. They are a fine-looking body of men: I never saw a finer. I wished to go into the garrison, but was not permitted to do so. Few of the townspeople have that privilege. ---- has made the fullest enquiries, and tells me that a majority of the men would be glad to get away if they could: they would willingly leave the service and the country. He says they are well-informed, civil and well-behaved, and that for such time as England may be compelled to retain possession of the Canadas by military force, against the wishes of the settled population he would like to have this regiment remain in Toronto. ---- tells me that a few _soups_ have been kept at Queenston during the winter, because if they desert it is no matter: the regulars are all at Drummondville, near the Falls, and a couple of hundred blacks at Chippewa watching them. The Ferry below the Falls is guarded by old men whose term of service is nearly out, and who look for a pension. It is the same at Malden, and in Lower Canada. The regiments Lord Durham brought were fine fellows, the flower of the English army.

"The Banks here tax the people heavily, but they are so stupid they don't see it. All the specie goes into the Banks. I am told that the Upper Canada Bank had at one time L300,000 in England in Commissariat bills of Exchange: their notes in circulation are a million and a quarter of paper dollars, for all of which they draw interest from the people, although not obliged to keep six cents in their money-till to redeem them. All the troops were paid in the depreciated paper of these fraudulent bankrupt concerns, the directors of which deserve the Penitentiary: the contracts of the Commissariat are paid in the same paper as a 10 per cent. shave: and the troops up at Brantford were also paid in Bank notes which the Bank did not pretend to redeem; and it would have offended Sir George [Arthur], who has a share in such speculations (as he had when in VanDieman's Land), had any one asked the dollars. Sir Allan McNab, who has risen from poverty to be president _de facto_, solicitor, directors and company of the Gore Bank, ever since its creation, is said to be terribly embarrassed for want of money. He is not the alpha and omega of the Bank now. He has quarrelled with his brother villains. The money paid to Canada from England to uphold troops to coerce the people helps the Banks."

In the same number of the _Gazette_ published at Rochester we have an extract from a production by Robert Gourlay himself, who in his old age paid a final visit of inspection to Canada. In allusion to a portion of Gourlay's famous work published in 1822, the extract is headed in _McKenzie's Gazette_ "Robert Gourlay's 'Last Sketch' of Upper Canada." It is dated at Toronto, May 25th. Having just presented one gloomy view, we will venture to lower the reader's spirits a particle more, by giving another. Let allowance be made for the morbid mental condition of the writer: the contrast offered by the Canada of to-day will afterwards proportionably exhilarate.

"What did Upper Canada gain," Gourlay asks, "by my banishment; and what good is now to be seen in it? Cast an eye over the length and breadth of the land" he cries, "from Malden to Point Fortune, and from the Falls to Lake Simcoe: then say if a single public work is creditable, or a single institution as it should be. The Rideau Canal!--what is it but a monument of England's folly and waste; which can never return a farthing of interest; or for a single day stay the conquest of the province. The Welland Canal!--Has it not been from beginning till now a mere struggle of misery and mismanagement; and from now onward, promising to become a putrid ditch. The only railway, of ten miles; with half completed; and half which cannot be completed for want of funds! The macadamised roads, all in mud; only causing an increase of wear and tear. The province deeply in debt; confidence uprooted; and banks beleaguered!

"Schools and Colleges, what are they?--Few yet _painted_, though lectures on natural philosophy are now abundant. The Cobourg seminary outstaring all that is sanctimonious: so airy and lank that learning cannot take root in it. A college at Sandwich built before the war, but now a pig stye; and one at Toronto indicated only by an approach. The edifices of the Church!--how few worthy of the Divine presence--how many unfinished--how many fallen to decay. The Church itself, wholly militant: Episcopalians maintaining what can never be established; Presbyterians more sour than ever, contending for rights where they have none whatever: Methodists so disunited that they cannot even join in a respectable groan; and Catholic priests wandering about in poverty because their scattered and starving flocks yield not sufficient wool for the shears. One institution only have I seen praiseworthy and progressing--The Penitentiary; but that is a concentrated essence, seeing the whole province is one: and which of you, resident land-holders, having sense or regard for your family would remain in it a day, could you sell your property and be off?"

Some popular Almanacs of a remarkable character also emanated from McKenzie's press. Whilst in the United States he put forth the _Caroline Almanac_, a designation intended to keep alive the memory of the cutting out of the _Caroline_ steamer from Fort Schlosser in 1837, and her precipitation over the Falls of Niagara, an act sought to be held up as a great outrage on the part of the Canadian authorities. In the Canadian Almanacs, published by him, intended for circulation especially among the country population, the object kept in view was the same as that so industriously aimed at by the _Advocate_ itself, viz., the exposure of the shortcomings and vices of the government of the day. At the same time a large amount of practically useful matter and information was supplied.

The earlier almanac was entitled "Poor Richard, or the Yorkshire Almanac," and the compiler professed to be one "Patrick Swift, late of Belfast, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Esq., F.R.I., Grand-nephew of the celebrated Doctor Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, etc., etc., etc." This same personage was a contributor also of many pungent and humorous things in prose and verse in the columns of the _Advocate_ itself. In 1834 the Almanac assumed the following title: "A new Almanac for the Canadian True Blues; with which is incorporated The Constitutional Reformer's Text Book, for the Millenial and Prophetic Year of the Grand General Election for Upper Canada, and total and everlasting Downfall of Toryism in the British Empire, 1834." It was still supposed to be edited by Patrick Swift, Esq., who is now dubbed M.P.P., and Professor of Astrology, York.

In the extract given above from what was styled Gourlay's "Last Sketch" of Upper Canada, the query and rejoinder, "Schools and Colleges, where are they? Few yet _painted_, though lectures on Natural Philosophy are now abundant"--will not be understood, without remark. The allusion is to an advertisement in the _Upper Canada Gazette_ of Feb. 5, 1818, which Gourlay at the time of its appearance thought proper to animadvert upon and satirize in the Niagara _Spectator_. It ran as follows: "Natural Philosophy.--The subscriber intends to deliver a course of Popular Lectures on Natural Philosophy, to commence on Tuesday, the 17th inst., at 7 o'clock p.m., should a number of auditors come forward to form a class. Tickets of admission for the Course (price Two Guineas) may be had of William Allan, Esq., Dr. Horne, or at the School House. The surplus, if any, after defraying the current expenses, to be laid out in painting the District School. John Strachan, York, 3rd Feb., 1818."

As was to be expected, Dr. Strachan was a standing subject of invective in all the publications of Gourlay, as well as subsequently in all those of McKenzie. Collins, Editor of the _Freeman_, became, as we have seen, reticent in relation to him; but, more or less, a fusilade was maintained upon him in McKenzie's periodicals, as long as they issued.

In McKenzie's opposition to Dr. Strachan there was possibly a certain degree of national animus springing from the contemplation of a Scottish compatriot who, after rising to position in the young colony, was disposed, from temperament, to bear himself cavalierly towards all who did not agree with him in opinion. In addition, we have been told that at an early period in an interview between the two parties, Dr. Strachan once chanced to express himself with considerable heat to McKenzie, and proceeded to the length of showing him the door. The latter had called, as our information runs, to deprecate prejudice in regard to a brother-in-law of his, Mr. Baxter, who was a candidate for some post under the Educational Board, of which Dr. S. was chairman; when great offence was taken at the idea being for a moment entertained that a personal motive would in the slightest degree bias him when in the execution of public duty.

At a late period in the history of both the now memorable Scoto-Canadians, we happened ourselves to be present at a scene in the course of which the two were brought curiously face to face with each other, once more, for a few moments. It will be remembered that after the subsidence of the political troubles and the union of Upper and Lower Canada, McKenzie came back and was returned member of Parliament for Haldimand. While he was in the occupancy of this post, it came to pass that Dr. Strachan, now Bishop of Toronto, had occasion to present a petition to the united House on the subject of the Clergy Reserves. To give greater weight and solemnity to the act he decided to attend in person at the bar of the House, at the head of his clergy, all in canonicals. McKenzie seeing the procession approaching, hurried into the House and took his seat; and contrived at the moment the Bishop and his retinue reached the bar to have possession of the floor. Affecting to put a question to the Speaker, before the Order of the Day was proceeded with, he launched out with great volubility and in excited strain on the interruptions to which the House was exposed in its deliberations; he then quickly came round to an attack in particular on prelates and clergy for their meddling and turbulence, infesting, as he averred, the lobbies of the Legislature when they should be employed on higher matters, filling with tumultuous mobs the halls and passages of the House, thronging (with an indignant glance in that direction) the very space below the bar set apart for the accommodation of peaceably disposed spectators.

The House had only just assembled, and had not had time to settle down into perfect quiet: members were still dropping in, and it was a mystery to many, for a time, what could, at such an early stage of the day's proceedings, have excited the ire of the member for Haldimand. The courteous speaker, Mr. Sicotte, was plainly taken aback at the sudden outburst of patriotic fervour; and, not being as familiar with the Upper Canadian past as many old Upper Canadians present were, he could not enter into the pleasantry of the thing; for, after all, it was humourously and not maliciously intended; the orator in possession of the floor had his old antagonist at a momentary disadvantage, and he chose to compel him while standing there conspicuously at the bar to listen for a while to a stream of _Colonial Advocate_ in the purest vein.

After speaking against time, with an immense show of heat for a considerable while--a thing at which he was an adept--the scene was brought to a close by a general hubbub of impatience at the outrageous irrelevancy of the harangue, arising throughout the House, and obliging the orator to take his seat. The petition of the Bishop was then in due form received, and he, with his numerous retinue of robed clergy, withdrew.

We now proceed with our memoranda of the early press. When Fothergill was deprived of his office of King's Printer in 1825, he published for a time a quarto paper of his own, entitled the _Palladium_, composed of scientific, literary and general matter. Mr. Robert Stanton, King's Printer after Fothergill, issued on his own account for a few years, a newspaper called _The U. E. Loyalist_, the name, as we have seen, borne by the portion of the _Gazette_ devoted to general intelligence while Mr. Stanton was King's Printer. The _U. E. Loyalist_ was a quarto sheet, well printed, with an engraved ornamental heading resembling that which surmounted the New York _Albion_. The _Loyalist_ was conservative, as also was a local contemporary after 1831, the _Courier_, edited and printed by Mr. George Gurnett, subsequently Clerk of the Peace, and Police Magistrate for the City of Toronto. The _Christian Guardian_, a local religious paper which still survives, began in 1828. The _Patriot_ appeared at York in 1833: it had previously been issued at Kingston; its whole title was "_The Patriot and Farmer's Monitor_," with the motto, "Common Sense," below. It was of the folio form, and its Editor, Mr. Thos. Dalton, was a writer of much force, liveliness and originality. The _Loyalist_, _Courier_ and _Patriot_ were antagonists politically of the _Advocate_ while the latter flourished; but all three laboured under the disadvantage of fighting on the side whose star was everywhere on the decline.

Notwithstanding its conservatism, however, it was in the _Courier_ that the memorable revolutionary sentiments appeared, so frequently quoted afterwards in the _Advocate_ publications: "the minds of the well-affected begin to be unhinged; they already begin to cast about in their mind's eye for some new state of political existence, which shall effectually put the colony without the pale of British connection;" words written under the irritation occasioned by the dismissal of the Attorney and Solicitor-General for Upper Canada in 1833.

For a short time prior to 1837, McKenzie's paper assumed the name of _The Constitution_. A faithful portrait of McKenzie will be seen at the beginning of the first volume of his "Life and Times," by Mr. Charles Lindsey, a work which will be carefully and profitably studied by future investigators in the field of Upper Canadian history. Excellent portraits of Mr. Gurnett and of Mr. Dalton are likewise extant in Toronto.

Soon after 1838, the _Examiner_ newspaper acquired great influence at York. It was established and edited by Mr. Hincks. Mr. Hincks had emigrated to Canada with the intention of engaging in commerce; and in Walton's _York Directory_, 1833-34, we read for No. 21, west side of Yonge Street, "Hincks, Francis, Wholesale Warehouse." But Mr. Hincks' attention was drawn to the political condition of Canada, especially to its Finance. The accident of living in immediate proximity to a family that had already for a number of years been taking a warm and active interest in public affairs, may have contributed to this. In the Directory, just named, the Number after 21 on the west side of Yonge Street, is 23, and the occupants are "Baldwin, Doctor W. Warren; Baldwin, Robert, Esq., Attorney, &c., Baldwin and Sullivan's Attorney's Office, and Dr. Baldwin's Surrogate Office round the corner, in King Street, 1951/2." It was not unnatural that the next door neighbour of Dr. Baldwin's family, their tenant, moreover, and attached friend, should catch a degree of inspiration from them. The subsequent remarkable career of Mr. Hincks, afterwards so widely known as Sir Francis Hincks, has become a part of the general history of the country.

About the period of the Union of Upper and Lower Canada, a local tri-weekly named _The Morning Star and Transcript_ was printed and published by Mr. W. J. Coates, who also issued occasionally, at a later date, the _Canadian Punch_, containing clever political cartoons in the style of the London _Punch_.

We have spoken once, we believe, of the _Canadian Freeman's_ motto, "_Est natura hominum novitatis avida_;" and of the _Patriot's_, just above, "_Common Sense_." Fothergill's "_Weekly Register_" was headed by a brief cento from Shakespeare: "Our endeavour will be to stamp the very body of the time--its form and pressure--: we shall extenuate nothing, nor shall we set down aught in malice."

Other early Canadian newspaper mottoes which pleased the boyish fancy years ago, and which may still be pleasantly read on the face of the same long-lived and yet flourishing publications, were the "_Mores et studia et populos et praelia dicam_," of the Quebec _Mercury_, and the "_Animos novitate tenebo_" of the Montreal _Herald_. The _Mercury_ and _Herald_ likewise retain to this day their respective early devices: the former, Hermes, all proper, as the Heralds would say, descending from the sky, with the motto from Virgil, _Mores et studia et populos et praelia dicam_: the latter the Genius of Fame, bearing in one hand the British crown, and sounding as she speeds through the air her trump, from which issues the above-cited motto. Over the editorial column the device is repeated, with the difference that the floating Genius here adds the authority for her quotation--Ovid, _a la_ Dr. Pangloss. Underneath the floating figure are many minute roses and shamrocks; but towering up to the right and left with a significant predominance, for the special gratification of Montrealers of the olden time, the thistle of Scotland.

Besides these primitive mottoes and emblematic headings, the _Mercury_ and _Herald_ likewise retain, each of them, to this day a certain pleasant individuality of aspect in regard to type, form and arrangement, by which they are each instantly to be recognized. This adherence of periodicals to their original physiognomy is very interesting, and in fact advantageous, inspiring in readers a certain tenderness of regard. Does not the cover of _Blackwood_, for example, even the poor United States copy of it, sometimes awaken in the chaos of a public reading-room table, a sense of affection, like a friend seen in the midst of a promiscuous crowd? The English Reviews too, as circulated among us from the United States, are conveniently recognized by their respective colours, although the English form of each has been, for cheapness' sake, departed from. The _Montreal Gazette_ likewise survives, preserving its ancient look in many respects, and its high character for dignity of style and ability.

In glancing back at the supply of intelligence and literature provided at an early day for the Canadian community, it repeatedly occurs to us to name, as we have done, the _Albion_ newspaper of New York. From this journal it was that almost every one in our Upper Canadian York who had the least taste for reading, derived the principal portion of his or her acquaintance with the outside world of letters, as well as the minuter details of prominent political events. As its name implies, the _Albion_ was intended to meet the requirements of a large number of persons of English birth and of English descent, whose lot is cast on this continent, but who nevertheless cannot discharge from their hearts their natural love for England, their natural pride in her unequalled civilization. "_Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt_," was its gracefully-chosen and appropriate motto.

Half a century ago, the boon of a judicious literary journal like the _Albion_ was to dwellers in Canada a very precious one. The Quarterlies were not then reprinted as now; nor were periodicals like the Philadelphia _Eclectic_ or the Boston _Living Age_ readily procurable. Without the weekly visit of the _Albion_, months upon months would have passed without any adequate knowledge being enjoyed of the current products of the literary world. For the sake of its extracted reviews, tales and poetry the New York _Albion_ was in some cases, as we well remember, loaned about to friends and read like a much sought after book in a modern circulating library. And happily its contents were always sterling, and worth the perusal. It was a part of our own boyish experience to become acquainted for the first time with a portion of Keble's _Christian Year_, in the columns of that paper.

The _Albion_ was founded in 1822 by Dr. John Charlton Fisher, who afterwards became a distinguished Editor at Quebec. To him Dr. Bartlett succeeded. The New York _Albion_ still flourishes under Mr. Cornwallis, retaining its high character for the superior excellence of its matter, retaining also many traits of its ancient outward aspect, in the style of its type, in the distribution of its matter. It has also retained its old motto. Its familiar vignette heading of oak branches round the English rose, the thistle of Scotland, and the shamrock, has been thinned out, and otherwise slightly modified; but it remains a fine artistic composition, well executed.

There was another journal from New York much esteemed at York for the real respectability of its character, the _New York Spectator_. It was read for the sake of its commercial and general information, rather than for its literary news. To the minds of the young the Greek revolution had a singular fascination. We remember once entertaining the audacious idea of constructing a history of the struggle in Greece, of which the authorities would, in great measure, have been copious cuttings from the _New York Spectator_ columns. One advantage of the embryo design certainly was a familiarity acquired with the map of Hellas within and without the Peloponnesus. Navarino, Modon, Coron, Tripolitza, Mistra, Missolonghi, with the incidents that had made each temporarily famous, were rendered as familiar to the mind's eye as Sparta, Athens, Thebes, Thermopylae, and the events connected with each respectively, of an era two thousand years previously, afterwards from other circumstances became. Colocotroni, Mavrocordato, Miaulis, Bozzaris, were heroes to the imagination as fully as Miltiades, Alcibiades, Pericles, and Nicias, afterwards became.

## Partly in consequence of the eagerness with which the columns of the

_New York Spectator_ used to be ransacked with a view to the composition of the proposed historical work, we remember the peculiar interest with which we regarded the editor of that periodical at a later period, on falling in with him, casually, at the Falls of Niagara. Mr. Hall was then well advanced in years; and from a very brief interview, the impression received was, that he was the beau ideal of a veteran editor of the highest type; for a man, almost omniscient; unslumberingly observant; sympathetic, in some way, with every passing occurrence and every remark; tenacious of the past; grasping the present on all sides, with readiness, genial interest and completeness. In aspect, and even to some extent in costume, Mr. Hall might have been taken for an English bishop of the early part of the Victorian era.

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