{"id":1330,"date":"2009-05-12T00:00:25","date_gmt":"2009-05-12T04:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2018-08-09T17:35:07","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T21:35:07","slug":"monday-may-12-2009-two-places-on-king-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=1330","title":{"rendered":"Monday, May 12, 2009 \u2014 Two Places On King Street"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost every day, I walk past two spots of his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal inter\u00adest on King Street, here in Toron\u00adto. They are only a block apart, but they rep\u00adre\u00adsent the moral nadir and zenith of the city\u2019s history.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first is only a dusty bronze plaque mount\u00aded on the side of an old office build\u00ading. It marks the place where, in 1798, Toron\u00adto\u2019s first jail was built. Since it was known as the \u201cold log jail\u201d, we can guess the kind of pub\u00adlic struc\u00adtures that graced the streets of what was then known as \u201cMud\u00addy York,\u201d and reclaimed its Iro\u00adquoian name of Toron\u00adto only in 1834. The plaque makes note of the fact that the first exe\u00adcu\u00adtion took place on Octo\u00adber 11th, 1798, when one John Sul\u00adli\u00advan was hung by the neck until dead, for the crime of steal\u00ading a note worth approx\u00adi\u00admate\u00adly one dollar.<\/span><\/p>\n

This lit\u00adtle adden\u00addum tells us more about the nature of the era than a library of his\u00adto\u00adry books and ency\u00adclo\u00adpe\u00addias. We tend to assume that we must delve into remote antiq\u00adui\u00adty to find a bar\u00adbar\u00adic human nature, devoid of moral\u00adi\u00adty. How\u00adev\u00ader, I need only walk a half mile from my home to find evi\u00addence of a sadis\u00adtic and sav\u00adage human race dwelling in my own city, only two short cen\u00adturies in the past. That a man could be hung for a dol\u00adlar tells all that one needs to know. One can eas\u00adi\u00adly pic\u00adture the scene. York, a squalid lit\u00adtle vil\u00adlage new\u00adly built and gar\u00adrisoned as a bul\u00adwark against inva\u00adsion from the Unit\u00aded States, its streets calf-deep in sticky mud, made aro\u00admat\u00adic by the shit of the hun\u00addreds of semi-fer\u00adal pigs that roam untend\u00aded. Exe\u00adcu\u00adtion for pet\u00adty prop\u00ader\u00adty crimes is the norm, and the \u201cdrop\u201d will not be adopt\u00aded until the 1870\u2019s. Slow, ago\u00adniz\u00ading tor\u00adture is part of the whole enter\u00adtain\u00adment, con\u00adsid\u00adered suit\u00adable and even edu\u00adca\u00adtion\u00adal for chil\u00addren. In the jail-yard, a jeer\u00ading and laugh\u00ading mob waits for the thrill of see\u00ading John Sul\u00adli\u00advan slow\u00adly stran\u00adgle, antic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00ading the hilar\u00adi\u00adty of see\u00ading his eyes bulge and tongue turn blue, his neck stretch like taffy, and, hope\u00adful\u00adly, for him to soil him\u00adself. More dig\u00adni\u00adfied, but equal\u00adly amused, are the city\u2019s elite: mil\u00adi\u00adtary offi\u00adcers, wealthy mer\u00adchants, pious cler\u00adgy\u00admen. All are sub\u00adlime\u00adly con\u00adfi\u00addent of their right\u00adeous\u00adness. And they are proud of being pro\u00adgres\u00adsive. It is, after all, not like Old Eng\u00adland, where an eleven year old girl might be hung for the theft of a spoon, and mag\u00adis\u00adtrates would pro\u00adclaim the just neces\u00adsi\u00adty of it with all the same argu\u00adments that Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives use to defend the death penal\u00adty in 2009. No, they don\u2019t hang chil\u00addren in Mud\u00addy York, but a theft of a dol\u00adlar is anoth\u00ader mat\u00adter. Jus\u00adtice must be done.<\/span><\/p>\n

By 1870, the author\u00adi\u00adties came to see the pub\u00adlic delight at exe\u00adcu\u00adtions as some\u00adthing embar\u00adrass\u00ading, and the sac\u00adri\u00adfi\u00adcial cer\u00ade\u00admonies were with\u00addrawn into the court\u00adyard of a new\u00ader jail. Cana\u00adda main\u00adtained a pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal exe\u00adcu\u00adtion\u00ader on the Fed\u00ader\u00adal pay\u00adroll. John Rad\u00adclive, the first such offi\u00adcial, exe\u00adcut\u00aded 150 peo\u00adple between 1892 and his death from alco\u00adholism in 1911. The last three peo\u00adple exe\u00adcut\u00aded in Toron\u00adto (and in Cana\u00adda) were Ronald Turpin, Arthur Lucas, and Jay Nick\u00ader\u00adson, in 1962. The death penal\u00adty was abol\u00adished de fac\u00adto in 1963 and de jure in 1976. The cur\u00adrent Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive fed\u00ader\u00adal gov\u00adern\u00adment, of course, keeps the bar\u00adbar\u00adians\u2019 porno\u00adgraph\u00adic dream alive, always hop\u00ading that it can re-instate the practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the same block, in the 1870\u2019s, an anti-Catholic mob, led by the unspeak\u00adably evil Orange Order that long con\u00adtrolled the pol\u00adi\u00adtics of the city, attempt\u00aded to burn down St. Patrick Hall, in a blood lust to kill a guest speak\u00ader of the Irish Catholic Benev\u00ado\u00adlent Union.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adja\u00adcent to the site of that ter\u00adpi\u00adtude, there is some\u00adthing alto\u00adgeth\u00ader more inspir\u00ading, which holds a spe\u00adcial sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcance for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I first began to read seri\u00adous\u00adly in his\u00adto\u00adry, as a boy, my instincts led me to avoid look\u00ading for heroes. Try\u00ading to find peo\u00adple in the past to admire and respect can be a trap. One is bound to be dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00aded. The sad truth is that scoundrels and mon\u00adsters rou\u00adtine\u00adly find their way into his\u00adto\u00adry books, but good peo\u00adple do not. The very fact that one is a decent human being vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly guar\u00adan\u00adtees that one will be for\u00adgot\u00adten. His\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal fig\u00adures propped up as mod\u00adels or cham\u00adpi\u00adons of this and that usu\u00adal\u00adly turn out to be out\u00adright frauds, or at the very least to have gen\u00aduine accom\u00adplish\u00adments marred by major flaws. But there was one his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal fig\u00adure that I could not help admir\u00ading, and that was Fred\u00ader\u00adick Dou\u00adglass, whose Auto\u00adbi\u00adog\u00adra\u00adphy inspired me from child\u00adhood. And I did not know until recent\u00adly that I could walk on the very floor where Dou\u00adglass walked and spoke, right near my own home.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the cor\u00adner of King and Jarvis stands St. Lawrence Hall. This fine struc\u00adture was built in 1850 to pro\u00advide a venue for pub\u00adlic meet\u00adings, con\u00adcerts, balls, and oth\u00ader cul\u00adtur\u00adal events of the lit\u00adtle city that was then matur\u00ading out of its crude fron\u00adtier begin\u00adnings. Over the next cen\u00adtu\u00adry, the hall would be used to echo the voice of Jen\u00adny Lind, dis\u00adplay the curios of P.T. Bar\u00adnum, and be used as a prac\u00adtice dance hall by Rudolf Nureyev and Mar\u00adgot Fonteyn. The struc\u00adture is well pre\u00adserved, and an excel\u00adlent exam\u00adple of the Renais\u00adsance Revival style of the mid-nine\u00adteenth cen\u00adtu\u00adry. Unlike most such struc\u00adtures, it has main\u00adtained its intend\u00aded func\u00adtion through\u00adout its existence.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span>The tim\u00ading of its con\u00adstruc\u00adtion was pro\u00adpi\u00adtious, for there was an impor\u00adtant issue for pub\u00adlic dis\u00adcus\u00adsion: the recent\u00adly enact\u00aded Fugi\u00adtive Slave Law in the Unit\u00aded States. This law allowed agents from the south\u00adern slave states to con\u00adduct a reign of ter\u00adror in north\u00adern states, kid\u00adnap\u00adping run\u00adaway slaves, and many free blacks, and drag\u00adging them back to the slave pens of the south. It effec\u00adtive\u00adly unleashed the ten\u00adta\u00adcles of the mon\u00adstrous\u00adly evil insti\u00adtu\u00adtion of slav\u00adery through\u00adout the Unit\u00aded States, can\u00adcel\u00ading out exist\u00ading abo\u00adli\u00adtion\u00adist reforms. This hideous injus\u00adtice would soon lead the Unit\u00aded States into a bloody civ\u00adil war. The activ\u00adi\u00adties of the Under\u00adground Rail\u00adroad, the orga\u00adnized resis\u00adtance move\u00adment which smug\u00adgled escaped slaves to free\u00addom in Cana\u00adda, were now much more dan\u00adger\u00adous. Upper Cana\u00adda had enact\u00aded leg\u00adis\u00adla\u00adtion for the abo\u00adli\u00adtion of slav\u00adery in 1793. On the issue of slav\u00adery, Cana\u00addi\u00adans were con\u00adsis\u00adtent\u00adly and adamant\u00adly on the side of the angels. The Under\u00adground Rail\u00adroad ter\u00admi\u00adnat\u00aded in Toron\u00adto. Escaped Amer\u00adi\u00adcan slaves formed free agri\u00adcul\u00adtur\u00adal com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties scat\u00adtered around rur\u00adal Ontario, and much of the resis\u00adtance was orga\u00adnized here.<\/span><\/p>\n

So it\u2019s not sur\u00adpris\u00ading that Fred\u00ader\u00adick Dou\u00adglass came to Toron\u00adto, and spoke at the new\u00adly-built St. Lawrence Hall to a cheer\u00ading crowd of 1,200 on April 3, 1851[1]. Yes\u00adter\u00adday, I entered the build\u00ading, and walked through the emp\u00adty hall, which has not much changed in gen\u00ader\u00adal appearance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since I acknowl\u00adedge so few heroes from the annals of his\u00adto\u00adry, I rarely get that spe\u00adcial thrill that his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans can enjoy\u2026 the plea\u00adsure of plant\u00adi\u00adng one\u2019s feet on a spot trod by a pal\u00adadin. I once stood rapt with plea\u00adsure in front of Mozart\u2019s house, lis\u00adten\u00ading to one of his arias being sung. But Mozart\u2019s is an exam\u00adple of a trag\u00adic life, tran\u00adscend\u00aded by genius, and can hard\u00adly serve as an exam\u00adple to fol\u00adlow. I have no tran\u00adscen\u00addent genius of my own, so his exam\u00adple is use\u00adless to me, personally.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the work of Fred\u00ader\u00adick Dou\u00adglass has long been, for me, a kind of guide\u00adbook in the quest for free\u00addom and human dig\u00adni\u00adty. The man was a genius, no doubt about it, but it was a real-world genius. He start\u00aded as a slave, a chat\u00adtel, and freed him\u00adself. In the process, he became the spokesman of all slaves, and the cham\u00adpi\u00adon of all who suf\u00adfer injus\u00adtice. His Auto\u00adbi\u00adog\u00adra\u00adphy reveals a pro\u00adfound spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal depth, a sophis\u00adti\u00adca\u00adtion far beyond the vapid and over\u00adpraised intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal \u201cgiants\u201d of his time. There are many fig\u00adures from the nine\u00adteenth cen\u00adtu\u00adry who are parad\u00aded through the his\u00adto\u00adry books as genius\u00ades and heroes. At the very bot\u00adtom, moral\u00adly and intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly, would be Karl Marx, whose moron\u00adic racist and geno\u00adci\u00addal rant\u00adi\u00adngs sick\u00adened me when I first read them, rough\u00adly at the same time I was being inspired by the nobil\u00adi\u00adty of Dou\u00adglass\u2019 work. Marx is immense\u00adly more famous than Dou\u00adglass, but Dou\u00adglass is a hun\u00addred mil\u00adlion times more wor\u00adthy of respect. But it is the nature of the human race to wor\u00adship turds\u2026 that is why there is slav\u00adery in the world, in the first place. That\u2019s why Dou\u00adglass\u2019s work meant so much to me. Yet he was a real, earth\u00adly man, with van\u00adi\u00adties and foibles. If I were to meet him, I would no doubt argue with him over some issues, per\u00adhaps grow impa\u00adtient with his short\u00adcom\u00adings, but I would always respect him. I was, in a way, one of the peo\u00adple he gave free\u00addom to, and I will always be grateful.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The restored main room of St. Lawrence Hall.<\/p><\/div>\n

Toron\u00adto\u2019s his\u00adto\u00adry is so unevent\u00adful, by most stan\u00addards, that it is hard to remem\u00adber that the the past is real. My friend Fil\u00adip Marek, in Prague, can every day walk across the Charles Bridge, and expe\u00adri\u00adence a sort of fast-rewind of spec\u00adtac\u00adu\u00adlar inci\u00addents from the his\u00adto\u00adry books, each leav\u00ading a mark in stone for him to touch and see. The high\u00adlights in Toron\u00adto\u2019s his\u00adto\u00adry are some\u00adwhat less excit\u00ading \u2015 a com\u00adi\u00adcal lit\u00adtle upris\u00ading against British rule in 1837, a few embar\u00adrass\u00ading inci\u00addents like the above-men\u00adtioned mob, and decade after decade in which the prin\u00adci\u00adple \u201chis\u00adtoric events\u201d were hock\u00adey games. These have left few phys\u00adi\u00adcal reminders. For more than a cen\u00adtu\u00adry, noth\u00ading has hap\u00adpened here oth\u00ader than peo\u00adple get\u00adting up in the morn\u00ading, going to work, rais\u00ading kids, play\u00ading hock\u00adey, and hav\u00ading a cold bot\u00adtle of beer and a bar\u00adbe\u00adcued hot dog in the back yard on a hot sum\u00admer day. Mil\u00adlions came here, from every war-torn cor\u00adner of the globe. Now Toron\u00adto is the most diverse metrop\u00ado\u00adlis on Earth, with more than half of it\u2019s pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion born out\u00adside the coun\u00adtry (twice the pro\u00adpor\u00adtion of New York). Every lan\u00adguage is spo\u00adken, every reli\u00adgion pro\u00adfessed, every appear\u00adance shown. And they all choose to work and raise their kids in much the same way as their pre\u00adde\u00adces\u00adsors, with\u00adout ran\u00adcour. Only the food on the bar\u00adbe\u00adcues has changed.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Fred\u00ader\u00adick Dou\u00adglass spoke in St. Lawrence Hall, in 1851, he could not have guessed that this would be the future of the lit\u00adtle town, which may have been a haven for run\u00adaway slaves, but was wracked with infan\u00adtile reli\u00adgious quar\u00adrels and ruled by pompous hyp\u00adocrites. Nor could he have guessed that more than a cen\u00adtu\u00adry and a half lat\u00ader, some\u00adone would press his hands on the pan\u00adeled wall of St. Lawrence Hall, and be grate\u00adful that it still stood, mere\u00adly because his noble words had echoed upon them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>

An 1859 albu\u00admen stere\u00ado\u00adgraph by Arm\u00adstrong, Beere &<\/span> Hime<\/p><\/div>\n

\""View<\/a>

\u201c<\/span>View of Kings Street\u201d \u2014 an 1885 etch\u00ading by William James Thomson<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>

An 1888 ink draw\u00ading lat\u00ader (c.1912) trans\u00adformed into a water\u00adcolour by Fred\u00ader\u00adic Vic\u00adtor Poole<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Facade<\/a>

Facade pho\u00adtographed by Jon Bilous, an Amer\u00adi\u00adcan archi\u00adtec\u00adtur\u00adal photographer<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Toronto\u2019s great meet\u00ading hall and one of its most impor\u00adtant his\u00adtoric build\u00adings opened on April 1, 1851, with a lec\u00adture enti\u00adtled \u201cSlav\u00adery\u201d deliv\u00adered by a British Mem\u00adber of Par\u00adlia\u00adment. Lat\u00ader that year, St. Lawrence Hall host\u00aded the his\u00adtoric North Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Con\u00adven\u00adtion of Col\u00adored Freemen, where abo\u00adli\u00adtion\u00adist lead\u00aders such as Fred\u00ader\u00adick Dou\u00adglass and Hen\u00adry Bibb dis\u00adcussed the reset\u00adtle\u00adment of refugees from Amer\u00adi\u00adcan slav\u00adery. The Toron\u00adto con\u00adven\u00adtion offered African Amer\u00adi\u00adcan lead\u00aders a safe haven to meet pub\u00adlicly with abo\u00adli\u00adtion\u00adists from Cana\u00adda, the Unit\u00aded States and Britain with\u00adout fear of vio\u00adlent reprisal.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 James Marsh Toron\u00adto In Time<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Invitation<\/a>

The Fire\u00admen\u2019s Ball at the Hall, 1859<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

[1] Toron\u00adto\u2019s pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion was then 30,000.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Almost every day, I walk past two spots of his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal inter\u00adest on King Street, here in Toron\u00adto. They are only a block apart, but they rep\u00adre\u00adsent the moral nadir and zenith of the city\u2019s his\u00adto\u00adry. The first is only a \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-ar-blog-2009"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1330"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8035,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions\/8035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}