Toronto of Old Part 24

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, 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, 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 4 advertis.e.m.e.nts 1 16 0

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

April 22. 100 copies of an Act to afford relief to persons ent.i.tled 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, St.i.tching and Covering in Blue Paper, at 1d. 6 5 0 -------- Halifax currency 63 5 9

Amounting to sixty-three pounds five s.h.i.+llings 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 s.h.i.+llings 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 ent.i.tled "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 "Advertis.e.m.e.nt 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 a.s.sumed the t.i.tle 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 t.i.tle 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 ent.i.tled 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 fas.h.i.+onable 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; b.u.t.ter per lb. 1 ditto; Indifferent bread 1 s.h.i.+lling 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 a.s.sociated 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 t.i.tle 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 t.i.tle, 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 Weatherc.o.c.k 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 princ.i.p.al 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 50, and remain in prison till paid; and on his liberation to find security for seven years, himself in 500, and two sureties in 250 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_. Willc.o.c.ks, 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. Willc.o.c.ks, 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, ent.i.tled 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 a.s.sure 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 s.p.a.ce 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 unblus.h.i.+ng, 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 pa.s.sage 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 a.s.sembly, 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 a.s.sisting 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 a.s.sembly, 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, ent.i.tled _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, acc.u.mulated a ma.s.s 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 pa.s.sage 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 Ayrs.h.i.+re: 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.