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Excerpt from Toronto, Old and New: A Memorial Volume, Historical, Descriptive and Pictorial, Designed to Mark the Hundredth Anniversary of the Passing of the Constitutional Act of 1791, Which Set Apart the Province of Upper Canada and Gave Birth to York, Now Toronto The fault has been the non - establishment at an early period, Of a pioneer and historical society for every county of the Province, associations of intelligent persons taking a real interest in the first foundations of settlements, zealous to collect and put on record minute particulars relative thereto. In the absence of such societies important documents, plans and diagrams of much local interest are continually lost, and characteristic narratives and anecdotes of enterprising men pass wholly into Oblivion. Something has been done in the direction of forming such societies in the Counties of York, Peel, Wentworth, Welland, and Lincoln, but it is important that the practice should become general throughout the Province. Every city, town, and' village would then have it in its power, from time to time, to report progress in regard to itself in as pleasing and satisfactory a manner as the Capital of the Province is enabled to do in the present volume. It is singular to observe in the works which some years ago were much in vogue, descriptive of ideal commonwealths and cities, that amidst all their arrangements, a provision for the maintenance of a standing record of the kind suggested is lacking. In a land like this, where in the future new communities are likely continually to be coming into existence, on more or less ideal principles, care should be taken to supply theomission. The New World has been a field for making many experiments, having in View the material and moral advancement of mankind, from the days of the Jesuits in Paraguay down to those of Joseph Smith, at Nauvoo. And Brigham Young, at Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, extravagances characterize many of these efforts; fanaticism, superstition and a subtle though unconscious selfishness have led to failures which it might be supposed every reasonable man would have foreseen. On the other hand, where the more moderate principles that usually guide ordinary mortals have been followed, as amongst ourselves and other off-shoots of the British stock on this continent, many examples of a very fair degree of success are to be met with. In this category, Toronto may be classed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.