160 CANADIAN LOCAL HISTORY. 



and to this, more than to any other cause, are we to attribute the conduct of the Province of 

 Quebec during the American "War. Being a great favourite with his father, James was permitted 

 to make an excursion to Europe, before engaging steadily in business ; and after spending some 

 time, especially in England, rejoined Ms family. * * * There was a primitive simplicity in 

 Mr. Baby's character, which, added to his polished manners and benignity of disposition, threw 

 a moral beauty around him which is very seldom beheld." In the history of the Indian chief 

 Pontiac, who, in 1763, aimed at extirpating the English, the name of Mr. Baby's father repeatedly 

 occurs. The Canadian licCbitans of the neighboiu'hood of Detroit, being of French origin, were 

 unmolested by the Indians ; but a rumour had reached tbe great Ottawa chief, while the memo- 

 rable siege of Detroit was in progress, that the Canadians had accepted a bribe from the English 

 to induce them to attack the Indians. "Pontiac," we read iu Parkman's History, p. 227, "had 

 been an old friend of Baby ; and one evening, at an early period of the siege, he entered liis 

 house, and, seating hunself by the Are, looked for some time steadily at the embers. At length, 

 raising his head, he said he had heard that the English had offered the Canadian a bushel of 

 silver for the scalp of his friend. Baby declared that the story was false, and protested that he 

 would never betray him. Pontiac for a moment keenly studied his features. ' My brother has 

 spoken the truth,' he said, 'and I vrill shew that I believe hun.' He remained in the house 

 through the evening, and, at its close, wrapped himself in his blanket and lay down upon a 

 bench, where he slept in fuU confidence till morning." 



Mr. Macdougall was a gentleman of Scottish descent, but, lOie his compatriots in the neigh- 

 borhood of Murray Bay, so thoroughly Lower-Canadianised as to be imperfectly acquainted 

 with the English language to the last. He was a successful merchant of the town of York, and 

 filled a place in the old local conversational talk, ia which he was sometimes spoken of as 

 "Wliolesale, EetaU, Pete MacDoug," — an expression employed by himself on some occasion. 

 He is said once to have been much perplexed by the item "ditto" occurring in a bill of lading 

 furnished of goods under way ; he could not remember having given orders for any such article. 

 He was a shrewd business man. An impression prevailed in certain ciuarters that his profits 

 were sometimes superabundant. 'WliLle he was living at Niagara, some bm-glars from Toungs- 

 town broke into his warehouse ; and after helping themselves to whatever they pleased, they 

 left a written memorandum accounting for their not having taken with them certain other arti- 

 cles : it was "because they were marked too high." That he was accustomed to affix a some- 

 what arbitrary value to his merchandise, seems to be shewn by another story that was told of 

 him. He was said, one day, when trade ui general was very duU, to have boasted that he had 

 that very morning made £400 by a single operation. On being questioned, it appeared that it 

 had been simply a sudden enlargement of the figure marked on all his stock to the extent of 

 £400. One other story of him is this : — On hearing a brother dealer lament that by a certain 

 speculation he should, after all, make only 5 per cent., he expressed his surprise, adding that 

 he hunself would be satisfied with 3, or even 2 (taldng the figures 2, 3, &c., to mean 2 hundred, 

 3 hundred, &c.). 



Of Yonge Street itself, at which we now arrive, we propose to speak at large hereafter. Just 

 westward from Yonge Street was the abode, surrounded by pleasant grounds and trees, of Mr. 

 Macaulay, at a late period Sir James Macaulay, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, a man 

 beloved and honoured for his sterling excellence in every relation. A fuU-length portrait of 

 him is preserved in Osgoode HaU. His peculiar profile, not discernible in that painting, is 

 recalled by the engraving of Capt. Starky, which some readers will remember in Hone's E very- 

 Day Book. Advancing a little further, we came in front of one of the earliest examples, in these 

 parts, of an English-looking mstic cottage, with verandah and sloping lawn. This was occupied 

 for a time by Major Hillier, aide-de-camp and military secretary to Sir Peregrine Maitland. The 

 well-developed native thorn-tree on the property of Mr. Andrew Mercer is a relic of the orna- 

 mental grove that partially surrounded tliis cottage. 



Next came the residence of Mr. Justice Boulton, a spacious family domicile of wood, painted 

 white, situated in an extensive area, and placed far back from the road. The Judge was an 

 English gentleman of spare Wellington physique ; like many of his descendants, a lover of horses 

 and a spirited rider ; a man of wit, too, and humour, fond of listening to and narrating anecdotes 

 of the hen trovato class. The successor to this family home was Holland House, a castellated 



