Pictures of Canadian Life: A Record of Actual ExperiencesRitchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
History
Pictures of Canadian Life: A Record of Actual Experiences
Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
Canada -- Description and travel; Canada -- Emigration and immigration
TORONTO—THE TOWN—THE PEOPLE—CANADIAN AUTHORS—THE LEADER OF THE
OPPOSITION.
Toronto, or the Queen City of the West, as she loves to call herself,
stands upon the north shore of Lake Ontario, and has not only achieved a
great success, but may be said, in spite of all the moving to the
North-West of which we hear so much, to have a great future before it, on
account of its position with regard to railways, which alone in this
great country decide the fate of towns and cities. Immediately in front
is a broad bay, from which you get an imposing view of the city, while
its forest of spires and factory chimneys gives evidence of prosperous
and busy life. I have never been in a city where the Sabbath was more
strictly observed. The omnibus ceases to run on a Sunday, the cab is
locked up, and even the cigar-store is closed. At seven on Saturday
evening all the liquor-shops are shut, and in Toronto, as in all the
Province, no one can buy a drop of whisky, or wine, or beer, till a
decent hour on Monday morning. It is true, I was invited one Sunday to
go and have a glass of whisky and water—an offer which, it is needless to
say, I refused; but then, had I accepted the offer, I should have had to
go into a club of which my friend was a member. In Canada, as in
England, the club-member may indulge his taste, however strictly the
abstinence of his less fortunate brother may be enforced by law. But the
Sunday quiet of Toronto is remarkable. There are few people but
church-goers in the streets, and the churches of all religious
denominations are quite as numerous and quite as handsome as any we have
in England. They are all built on a larger scale, and are all
well-filled. On Sunday evening I had to light my way into the
Congregational church, of which Dr. Wild is the minister. He hails from
America, and is quite the sensation of the hour. There was no
standing-room anywhere, and as I made to the door I met many coming away.
However, I had made up my mind to hear the Doctor, and hear him I did.
It seems that the subscribers have a door to themselves; I made for it,
and luckily found a chair, which I wedged in under the platform. As I
entered, the Doctor was making the people laugh by answering questions
that had been sent to him in writing. Then we had quite a service of
song. The choir behind him performed, a lady sang a solo, the
congregation joined in a well-known English hymn. The Doctor prayed, and
then we had a sermon about Revelation, containing much that was very
effective, if not about his text, at any rate about that mysterious part
of Scripture from which the text was taken. The Doctor is now in the
prime of life, and his preaching powerful and effective. The audience
consisted chiefly of men; perhaps that may be considered in the Doctor’s
favour. One thing did surprise me, and that was to see seated at a table
right under the pulpit platform a reporter coolly taking notes. Our
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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