Church in the Colonies.
No. XVIII.

London: The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, March, 1847.

Quebec, 10th December, 1846.

REV. SIR,

I now forward the concluding portion of my Journal of last summer; and should any idea of publishing it be entertained, I am desirous that what I am here writing to you should be prefixed to such publication.

In the first place I am anxious to guard against an effect which may accidentally follow, in some instances, from the more pointed or more detailed mention of what is doing in this or that mission, where the new establishment of the Church may create a new interest, or where favourable circumstances may have conspired with the zeal of the clergyman, or possibly where a familiar personal intimacy may have prompted some expression of feeling,—suggesting the idea of a comparison which would be unfair between these cases and those of other clergymen, not less laborious and faithful, whose labours may not have been so marked by incident, or, perhaps, may have been particularly stated to the Society informer journals of my own. I do not well know how this effect can be avoided, except by such a general remark as I have here made; but if my journal should fall into the hands of any of my brethren of the diocese, I would beg them to observe that it might have been prevented if my clergy would more punctually comply with the desire of the Society, that they should furnish information themselves, of the state of their missions, the nature and extent of their duties, and the progress of religion in their neighbourhoods. The Bishop might then be saved from the sole responsibility of a task, which, so performed, may not be wholly free from an invidious character. With this feeling, I have been under considerable constraint in the present journal, in speaking of the labours and exertions of the clergy at all.

In this journal, I have not repeated the information given before to the Society, respecting the number of stations at which the missionaries officiate, the distance of these from each other, or other particulars of a similar nature.

The whole triennial visitation of the diocese will be made up of the winter journeys of 500 miles, performed in the beginning of the year; the journey here described, of something more than 1,600 miles; the circuit yet to be made among the missions of the district of Quebec, and, lastly, the visit to be paid, by the Divine permission, early next summer, to those of the district of Gaspé, in the Gulph of St. Lawrence, of which the most distant is nearly 500 miles below Quebec.

The number of confirmations thus far held was, in the winter journeys, nine, and in that to which the present Journal relates, forty-five. The whole number of persons confirmed at these fifty-four places was 1,570: the largest number at any one confirmation, 325 (in Montreal)—the smallest was in the instance of the confirmation of one individual at Danville. About twenty confirmations remain to be held.

The number of churches consecrated was nine: of burying-grounds, four—all upon the summer journey.

There are in the diocese 102 churches, including some two or three chapels in obscure places, which might be considered hardly to deserve the name. Of these twenty-seven are of stone, eleven of brick, and sixty-four of wood. Twelve of the number are buildings now in progress—some of them proceeding very slowly; thirteen are buildings used for public worship in an unfinished state, in which some of them have been standing for several years; and a good many others are imperfectly finished, and deficient in appendages which ought to be found in the churches of the English Establishment. This statement comprehends the two chapels burnt down in the desolating fires at Quebec of 1845, only one of which has, as yet, been rebuilt.

The number of churches which have received assistance from the S. P. G. since I assumed the charge of the diocese, just ten years ago, is forty-three; the number assisted in the same way by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, twenty-nine; several of those have been assisted more than once. I do not include the churches in Upper Canada which received assistance, through my hands, from these Societies, before the erection of the diocese of Toronto.

The number of stations at which service is regularly performed, whether in churches or chapels, or in school-houses and other secular buildings, 220. This does not include the places visited by the travelling missionaries of the Church Society, when this Society has such labourers at its command.

There are twenty-three places in the diocese which have parsonage-houses—all of which, except three, are missions of the S. P. G.; and there are seven, to which more or less of glebe is attached, being an endowment made by that body. Six of these houses are of stone, two of brick, and fifteen of wood. There is also a little wooden mission-house at the quarantine station at Grosse Isle.

There are twelve instances in which assistance has been rendered by the S. P. G. in one shape or other, to parsonages: there is one log parsonage-house which has been abandoned; the title to the site, however, remains in the Church.

The schools in the country missions are provided for by the provincial statute which carries the title of the Elementary Act, and which, wherever a minority are dissatisfied, on account of the mixture of creeds, with the principal school of the locality, gives them the privilege of withdrawing, upon condition of their having a specified number of scholars of a proper age to send, and claiming support for a school of their own. The act, however, is found to be complicated and difficult in its practical working, and many of the settlements are in a badly provided condition as regards the means of education. The Reports of the British and North American School Society, published at home, will show what has been done by that body in Lower Canada towards the alleviation of the wants of the people in this behalf. I have seen schools conducted under their auspices which are very efficient.

The whole number of clergy in the diocese is seventy-eight; the number holding charge in the diocese is seventy-three; the number of missionaries engaged in the service of the S. P. G. fifty-two; the number of retired missionaries of that Society, three.

The number of miles to be travelled by the Bishop, in four separate main journeys, with some minor movements for detached missions, in order to visit all the stations of the Church, approaches to 4,000; and some addition is made from time to time, as the circuits periodically return, on account of the formation of new missions.

The outline of the summer route, of which the particulars are given in the Journal, is as follows:—

From Quebec up the St. Lawrence to Port St. Francis—thence into the eastern townships to Lennoxville on the River St. Francis—thence across the country to Montreal; from Montreal to La Prairie on the opposite side, and by a circuitous route to the Chateauguay River—thence across to La Chine in the Island of Montreal, and so up the Ottawa to Clarendon, taking in the Gore up the North River by St. Andrew's; after descending the Ottawa, again across from Montreal to La Prairie, and so to St. John's and the missions in the circumjacent country, and so by the Isle aux Noix to Missisqui Bay—thence into another part of the eastern townships, through which a circuitous course, with one deviation into the seigneurial tracts again, to visit Abbotsford and St. Hyacinth, brought me once more to Lennoxville for the confirmation, the former visit having been on college business; thence to other parts of the same townships, and down the St. Francis River to Nicolet—from the neighbourhood of which I ascended the St. Lawrence to Sorel, and there crossed over to the mission of Rawdon and its dependencies, in the rear of the French parishes on the north shore, and finally swooping round through different parts of the mission of Mascouche, I came to Montreal, and so returned to Quebec on the 1st of September, having left it on the 23d of June.

I am, dear Sir, Your very faithful servant,
G. MONTREAL.

June 23.—I left Quebec in the afternoon, by steamer, for Port St. Francis, distant about eighty-six miles, having business before me first at Bishop's College, in Lennoxville, and then at Montreal; after which I was to proceed on an extended tour among the scattered missions of the Society, having so arranged my plans for the visitation of the diocese, both upon the present and future occasions (if I am spared to execute my purposes), as to break it into four separate journeys, of which this now before me was the most comprehensive. The establishments of the Church in this diocese are upon a very humble scale; but I feel more and more, what I have often expressed to the Society, the vast importance of the foundation now to be laid, and the need of faith, in order to look, with such powers as my own and such resources as lie at my command, for any effects at all commensurate with the demand. I am also led to reflect more and more every day upon the incalculable blessings which, by the Providence of God, have been procured to the Protestant inhabitants of all these colonies, by means of the Society's operations; and if there be persons in England who hold back their hands from the support of the Society, under the idea that it is not an effectual instrument in promoting the cause of the gospel, I fervently pray God that their minds may be disabused. Those have much to answer for who, from defect of information, (since that is the most charitable construction to put upon their proceeding,) propagate or adopt such a notion: it is very easy for "gentlemen of England, who live at home at ease," to pass a sweeping judgment upon poor soldiers of Jesus Christ, who are enduring hardships in the obscurity of Canadian woods; these, however, stand or fall to their own Master; but if the means of the Society (which God avert!) should be really impaired by such representations, many sheep will be left without a shepherd, many souls will have to charge upon unkind brethren in the land of their fathers, their spiritual destitution and advancing debasement. We reached the port about midnight.

VISIT TO LENNOXVILLE COLLEGE.

June 24.—After lying down for a few hours, I set out at four o'clock, A.M. by the public stage, an American waggon with a top supported by posts, for Sherbrooke, distant eighty-eight miles, which I reached between nine and ten at night. Here I was met by the Principal of the College, and the missionary of Lennoxville, and after taking some refreshment at the house of Mr. Wait, the clergyman of the place, I proceeded on the same night, in company with the two former gentlemen, to Lennoxville, which is only three or four miles further.

June 25, and 26.—The whole of these two days was occupied by the business of the annual meeting of the College Corporation. The Collegiate body was still in occupation of the building, temporarily adapted for the purpose. The meetings were held in another building, constituting, together with the ground attached to it, a most excellent property, which has been required for the school connected with the College.

June 27.—This day was allotted to the College examination. Considering the manifold disadvantages under which the majority of the students have had to struggle, before they entered the institution, I was surprised and gratified by their performance. They were examined in Hebrew by the Professor in that department, the Rev. Mr. Hellmuth, a converted Polish Jew, whom I have mentioned more than once to the Society; and he rendered his testimony, supported by that of the principal, to their great assiduity and good progress within the time which has elapsed since they engaged in this study. I made an address to them all with reference to the work which is before them, touching upon the difficulties of the times, and urging the necessity, heightened by local considerations, of unflinching devoted-ness and singleness of eye to the glory of their Master.

Sunday, June 28.—I preached in the churches of Lennoxville and of Sherbrooke, to good congregations.

JOURNEY TO MONTREAL.

June 29.—Early this morning I set out with the Rev. Principal Nicolls, one of my chaplains, who drove me in his own waggon, my servant following in another with the baggage, to proceed across the country to Montreal. We had a stage of twenty-two miles to make before breakfast, almost the whole of which, after leaving Sherbrooke to the right, and entering upon uninhabited woods, was, even at this season, desperately bad. Matters afterwards improved in this point; but the weather was intensely and oppressively hot. I refreshed myself by a swim in Oxford lake, near to which we stopped to dine. We put up for the night with the Rev. Mr. Slack, at Granby, whose mission I shall have to speak of farther on, in describing my visit to it for the confirmation, after my return to these to worship.

June 30.—Mr. and Mrs. Slack came on with us, he having it in view, as well as ourselves, to attend the anniversary meeting of the Church Society at Montreal. We breakfasted ten miles off, with the Rev. Mr. Johnson, at Abbotsford, and all went on together to Rougemont, eleven miles beyond, where Mr. Johnson had made an appointment for me to preach. This place lay in our road, and by my affording a service there now, and visiting the church which is in progress towards its completion, the necessity was dispensed with of my coming out of my way to do so, in the subsequent circuit for the confirmations. The young people from this place came to Abbotsford to be confirmed. The service was performed in a little crowded school-house, and the heat was overpowering. The good feeling, however, of this congregation, their thankfulness for the attentions of Mr. Johnson in visiting them on Sunday afternoons from Abbots-ford, the exertions which they have made to get up their church, and the hope afforded, altogether, that things spiritual have not been sown unto them in vain, made our little delay in the place to be very pleasant and full of comfort. The church is exceedingly well situated upon the end of a hill. It is built of wood, according to a new method, which is said to have the advantage of much compactness, and to promise durability—pieces of wood being laid together like bricks, within a frame.

The sun beat upon us with an excessive power, as we proceeded to Chambly, where, after a most inconvenient delay at the ferry, we made another halt. From hence to Longueil, opposite to Montreal, there is a plank road of twelve miles in length. We were too late for the ferry-steamers to the city; but Mr. Nicolls and myself hired an open boat, and were pulled across. We reached before midnight the great hotel, kept by an Italian of the name of Donegana, where, if I recollect rightly, 300 beds are made tip. I was once the guest of that excellent man, Lord Seaton, in the same house, when it was hired for the residence of the Governor, but great additions have since been made to it.

I have not noted the distance from Lennoxville to Montreal; but I think our journey something exceeded forty miles each day.

STAY AT MONTREAL.

July 1.—Anniversary of the Church Society. The meetings are held alternately at Quebec and Montreal; and it was this year the turn of the latter city. Service was held in the parish church, and a sermon for the occasion, which gave mucli satisfaction, was preached in pursuance of a request from myself, by the Rev. Mr. Townsend, one of the seniors among the Canadian Missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The meeting was held in the National school-house, and went off well. Neither the service, however, nor the meeting were attended, by any means, so numerously as might have been expected and desired. This is in part to be accounted for by the fact that, as far as the merchants are concerned (and the cities of Canada are seats of commerce), the portion of the year during which the navigation of the St. Lawrence is open is one continued scene of hurried occupation. Still it must be confessed, that we have not yet stirred up among our people here the full spirit on behalf of their Church, which, by the blessing of God, we must hope to see prevalent among them; but it is growing, and it may be seen, by the reports of the Church Society, that we are working our way on with some encouragement.

July 2.—This day was filled up by interviews on business with different clergymen and others, who took advantage for their several purposes, of my little sojourn in Montreal.

July 3, and 4.—A periodical meeting of the Central Board of the Church Society was held, by rule, on the former of these two days, and the business not having been all got through, an adjournment took place to the latter.

Sunday, July 5—At nine o'clock in the morning of this day, I admitted to Deacon's Orders, in the parish church of Montreal, my eldest son, A. W. Mountain, B. A., of University College, Oxford.

My family had come up from Quebec to witness the ceremony. I shall not obtrude upon the Society any reflections peculiar to this case as connected with paternal and domestic feeling; but I bless God that I believe myself to have added on this occasion, to the number of labourers in the diocese, one who will not prove himself faithless. He was sent down immediately to take charge of the Quarantine Station below Quebec, under the auspices of the Church Society of the diocese.

After the ordination, I had three engagements to preach on this day; a charity sermon at the morning service of Trinity chapel, where I also administered the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper; the afternoon sermon in the parish church,—and the evening sermon in St. Ann's chapel, situated in the suburb called Griffin-town.

A MILITARY CONGREGATION.

A fourth sermon was afterwards interposed between the morning and afternoon services here mentioned. The chaplain to the Garrison, backed by Major Davis, who commands the 53d Light Infantry Regiment, made a special request to me that I would preach to the troops, for whom a service is held in the parish church at two o'clock. A certain number of men of the regiment whom I had confirmed in the winter, had since become communicants, and had conducted themselves in an exemplary manner. This was a particular reason for the request, with which I, of course, complied. Much pains have been taken with these men, not only by the chaplain, (the Rev. D. Robertson) but also by Major Davis, and they have been carefully trained to chant the portions of the service proper to be so performed. I have seen the same thing in other corps, but signally in the second battalion of the 1st, or Royal Regiment, under the zealous and assiduous direction of Lieut. Whitmore of that regiment. I thus attended four services, and preached four times, after performing the ordination service in the morning, leaving off very nearly at the distance of twelve hours, from the time at which I began, and with hardly more interruption through the whole day than was necessary for passing from church to church; and it certainly was one of the hottest days that I remember ever to have felt in my life; but I had great cause to be thankful at the close of it, for an additional proof of the physical fitness for the labours devolving upon me, with which it has pleased God to bless one of his servants, very sincerely and keenly conscious of much less aptitude for them in other and higher points of view. I felt no fatigue in the least degree hurtful or distressing.

M'GILL COLLEGE.

July 6.—I attended a meeting of the governors of M'Gill College at Montreal, held in the old French Government-house, now used for the offices of certain departments of the local administration. His Excellency Earl Cathcart presided, and we sat for five hours. There has been what is often called a fatality attending this institution—the bequest of the founder having been for about twenty years in litigation, and difficulties without end having since arisen to impede its prosperity. It is not yet settled how far the claim of the Church of England to give it the character of an episcopal institution can be asserted, or I should rather say, perhaps, how far it can be maintained. Its affairs, however, apart from this question, appear to be, at last, in better train; but it is still weighed down by great embarrassments. It has, thus far, been chiefly efficient as a school of medicine. The buildings are partially completed, and are upon a handsome scale, and in a noble situation, overlooking the city, and screened in the rear by the abrupt and wooded rise of the mountain which gives name to it,—the royal mountain. The delays, discouragements and doubts which have obstructed the advancement and clouded the prospects of this college, have been especially of a nature to forbid the idea of making it available as a nursery for the Church in the diocese; and it is to the College at Lennoxville, which by the charter is under the complete control of the Bishop, that we must look for this object. Perhaps, also, the situation of Lennoxville is better suited to a course of preparation of the ministry, than the city of Montreal—a gay, wealthy, bustling, busy place, with a large garrison within its limits. Lennoxville, at present, is almost too obscure and backward a retreat; but the scene, and probably at no distant day, will be much changed. The rail-road which is to connect Montreal with Portland in the State of Maine, and so with the Atlantic, and which is now [October] proceeding, will pass directly through it, and is expected to give a great impulse to the whole of the eastern townships.

If M'Gill College should hereafter be so far under the direction of the Church of England, as to make it a proper seminary for a race of clergy in the country, it will then serve for, what it must be hoped will before any great length of time be, the diocese of Montreal: and Bishop's College will still be the reliance for that of Quebec.

July 7.—The governors met again; his Excellency Earl Cathcart again presiding, and we sat this day seven hours. The few remaining governors,—some of the offices of those who were originially ex-officio governors, having, from the political changes of the country, ceased to exist, are widely dispersed; the Chief Justice of Upper Canada, resident at Toronto, being one, and 1 myself resident at Quebec another; and with all the occupations which fill the hands of both, it is but rarely that we can both be together in Montreal. When, therefore, a full meeting can be got, it is necessary to push business through. Neither of us could prolong our stay in Montreal. His Excellency set us the example of great patience and close attention to all the details which came before us. I have, myself, had but little share in the duties of the governors,—having been disqualified from taking my seat at the Board, by holding the title of Bishop of Montreal, till, for another object, a provincial statute was passed, giving me generally, under this title, to all effects and purposes, the powers of the Bishop of Quebec. I declined also for some time afterwards, to act, for reasons with which I will not here trouble the Society.

LA PRAIRIE—HEMMINGFORD.

July 8.—I crossed over in the ferry-steamer to La Prairie, nine miles from Montreal, and at half-past ten, A. M. held service for the confirmation, in the singularly neat little church. Not more than fifty or sixty persons in all, were present, but I have omitted to note how many were confirmed. The place is one of the old Roman Catholic parishes, and there is an establishment of Jesuits in the village. The Seigneurie formerly belonged to that order, forming part of their extensive estates in the country. The Church of England schoolmaster here has been greatly persecuted and very ill used, on account of his having, simply, by the merits of his school, drawn to it some of the children of Roman Catholic parents,—but he has, by God's help, maintained his ground. There is another church in this mission, situated some miles off at Longueil, and built principally at the charge of the proprietor of the Barony, but owing to the misconduct of the contractor, and the necessity of going to law with him, it has not yet been opened for divine service. Mr. Broome, however, the missionary, officiates regularly to a congregation who assemble in the school-house at La Fortue, besides serving the Church at La Prairie, and he appears to look forward with pain to the discontinuance of his attendance there, which must follow when he shall have the two churches upon his hands.

I had now commenced the series of confirmations to be performed upon this circuit, for which the clergy whom I was to visit had everywhere been making preparation among their flocks. In the evening of this day, Mr. Broome went on with me to Hemmingford, distant twenty-three miles, where the Rev. Mr. Hazard resides. It was eleven o'clock at night when we reached the house. Nothing can be more confined or more humble than the accommodation enjoyed by himself and his lady, an English couple, occupying a diminutive sitting-room, and still more diminutive bed-room in the house of a settler, through whose kitchen they must pass to have access to their own apartments. They seem, however, content, and regard their privations as things attaching characteristically to missionary life. I have had many quarrels with the missionaries and their ladies in my opposition to the system of surrendering their own bed-room to their Bishop, but all the arrangements having been made beforehand, they generally got the better of me.

SHERRINGTON——ST. REMI.

July 9.—We came back about five miles, over the same road, to Sherrington church, a good stone building, in which the people from all the mission, who could attend, were to meet me, and which was this day consecrated under the name of St. James's church, Mr. Broome being still with me at the Key. Mr. Dawes,—(well remembered in all this tract of country as the first clergyman of the Church who had charges in it, and who itinerated incessantly where three clergymen are now labouring with full hands,)—having come over from St. John to assist us. Eighteen persons were confirmed,—a consecration of living temples to the Lord,—a little band, but a band I would trust, of believers, built up as a spiritual house to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. In country places, and especially where the services are so protracted as they were upon the present occasion, I frequently combine in one the address to the persons confirmed with a plain and familiar sermon, for the congregation; and this may very appropriately be done when the two particular ceremonies here mentioned are performed in immediate succession. After I had preached in this way, we all went out to consecrate the burying-ground.

This is a remarkably flat and uninteresting part of the country, and our drive in the afternoon to St. Rémi, was not very comfortable,—a broiling sun over our heads, and a smothering dust raised by our vehicle, which was a rude and huge lumber waggon without any kind of springs. Mr. Mezart came with me. The distance is eighteen miles, but we made it twenty-four, by-missing our road, and having to retrace our way.

July 10.—Here, in another Roman Catholic parish, I ministered again to the little flock of our own church people, of whom I confirmed seven in their beautifully neat little church, and I consecrated the building, which is of stone and well finished, but it is only 32 feet long, by 26 in width, in the exterior walls. I preached everywhere, and it is not necessary to go on making special mention of my performances in this way. Between eighty and ninety persons were present. After service I left St. Rémi with Mr. Plees, the missionary, and proceeded to Russell-town Flats, fourteen miles, passing through Norton Creek, when we dined at the miller's, a respectable Englishman, with whom Mr. Plees at present makes his home. The continued and oppressive heat of the atmosphere now vented itself in a very violent thunder storm, with driving rain and hail. Some of the hail-stones were so large that they were measured out of curiosity, but I cannot state the measurement. After the hailstorm, during which we were under shelter, we went on, encountering some more thunder showers upon our way to Russell-town Flats, where we slept.

July 11.—At Russell-town Flats, there is a wooden building, well situated upon a small eminence overlooking the village, fitted up for public worship; but, as is not uncommon in the neighbouring states of America, unappropriated to the use of any particular body of Christians. At present we have the benefit of it, and there are not wanting examples in the diocese of buildings put up in this kind of way, which have passed ultimately into our hands. In this meeting-house, for such it must be called, I had a congregation of one hundred and fifty persons and upwards, and twenty-three were confirmed. I then went on seven miles, to Russell-town village, and inspected the brick church there in progress, under the direction of Mr. Plees,—after which I went immediately on with Mr. Morris, the missionary of Huntingdon, who had come over tome, taking leave of Mr. Plees and his extensive mission, the labours of which are detailed in a former journal, and therefore, as well as other labours for the same reason, not specified here. Thirty persons were confirmed in his mission.

HUNTINGDON—DISPUTES ABOUT CHURCH SITES.

I was met at a spot known by the name of Hindman's Corner, and lying within the charge of Mr. Morris, by a deputation of settlers with a long representation in favour of a site of that place, for a projected church, in preference to a site chosen by another party at the burying-ground within the settlement which is called the Gore. This opposition of sentiment respecting the sites of churches, as men are swayed, in the very work of religion, and in providing the very place where they are to approach their God, by their own interest or their own convenience, is a feature of frequent occurrence in newly settled portions of the country, and one with which it is very difficult, as well as painful, to deal. In some cases, indeed, it may be cut short by deciding the matter peremptorily by authority, and leaving the dissatisfied party, (it having been apparent that they are wrong,) to come to a better mind, or to manifest their discontent in their own way. But it is often a matter of much perplexity to balance the conflicting claims: and there must always be an anxiety, which is very apt to be disappointed, to reconcile the minds of men together, and to persuade the defeated party, since one must be defeated, to acquiesce with Christian disinterestedness and renunciation of self, or voluntarily to withdraw their own proposal. I have too often urged in vain the example of Abraham in his transaction with Lot, and the charge of our Lord, if any man will compel us to go a mile to go with him twain, which bears a very direct application to the question of having to go a mile or two more or a mile or two less to church. Yet not always in vain, or not wholly so and sometimes with good effect, which has not been, at the moment, apparent. In the present instance, however, the dispute has now operated for some years, to the absolute suspension of the undertaking. Yet there is a well-affected congregation at the Gore, comprehending almost the whole population of the settlement. I was obliged to say that since they could not agree otherwise, each party must endeavour to build a church; but this with divided resources, they must be long in accomplishing. Perhaps a change may yet come over their minds.

I slept at the very small but very neat parsonage of Huntingdon, distant twenty-four miles from our point of starting in the morning.

Sunday, July 12.—At the morning service in Huntingdon church, there were nineteen persons confirmed. The church was crowded to excess: many persons were standing in the aisle: others on the outside at the open windows. In the afternoon I proceeded eleven miles, to the Gore, where I confirmed thirteen persons, and preached again to a densely jammed auditory in the log school-house, with quite a crowd on the outside who could not gain admission. The difference is apt to be extremely marked in Canada, between Sunday and week-day services, especially during the season when the successive labours of the field are going on. That season is precious, and there is a full and constant demand for all the hands that can be had.

On my way to the Gore, I was joined at Hind-man's Corner by a long train of waggons full of people. This, however, was regarded by the other party as a concerted arrangement for the object of making a demonstration to support the claim of that place to the church site.

Instead of returning to Huntingdon, I went by a very new and rough road opened through the woods, to the mission of Ormstown, nine miles from the Gore. The sun-set viewed through the long straight vista of these tall woods had a striking effect. The number of persons confirmed in the Huntingdon mission was thirty-two.

July 13.—Morning service was held in Ormstown church for the confirmation, and thirty-seven persons brought from different parts of the mission, were recipients of the rite. There had been some troubles in this mission, and I had accordingly allotted the whole remainder of the day to receive whatever representations, and investigate whatever points might be found to demand notice, or to call for animadversion, but no grounds for either were made to appear.

July 14.—I proceeded by the stage to Chateau-quay Basin, and then took the steamer across Lake St. Louis to La Chine, the whole distance being something more than thirty miles. I found my way to my well-known quarters at La Chine Grove, where I was received by my kind and Christian hosts, Col. Wilgress and his family, and passed the night under their roof.

July 15.—This morning early, I took the steamer at La Chine for Carillon upon the Ottawa, and went at once to the village of St. Andrew's, about fifty miles from La Chine, where again I fell into the arms of a familiar hospitality in the house of Col. M'Donnel. Service was held for the confirmation at four o'clock, and thirty persons were confirmed. An organ has been procured for the church in this place, and chanting has been introduced, a practice 'which I hope will ultimately find its way, although it will not do so in my day, into every church of the diocese. Between two and. three hundred persons were in church.

In the evening I dined with my hosts, and some clerical brethren at the house of the Rev. W. Abbott, the missionary of St. Andrew's, beautifully situated among fine groves, upon a commanding eminence, and of gradual ascent, looking down upon the windings of the pretty North River, upon which the village is situated, with a view of the Ottawa itself beyond.

THE GORE.

July 16.—I set out early for the mission of the Rev. J. Mc'Master, bearing the same name of the, Gore, which belongs to a portion of the Huntingdon mission already noticed; in fact, it is a name applied to places which, when townships are surveyed and laid out, form a remnant or strip of land resembling what is called a gore in making up dresses.

I found some little improvement since my last visit in that rude and secluded spot (which forms the termination of settlement in this direction) as well as in the approaches to it, but it took us, with our best efforts, four good hours and a half to reach it from St. Andrew's, from which it is considered to be distant sixteen miles. I was indebted to Colonel M'Donnel for the arrangements made for my conveyance. It is a blessing to see a church at all in such a place, and to be greeted by a resident pastor in carrying the episcopal ministrations so completely into the woods; but the church is an unsightly edifice in its exterior, and very roughly fitted up within. About 150 persons were present, of whom thirteen were confirmed. I considered the number of candidates for the rite very small in proportion to the population, and felt myself called upon to speak strongly to persons presumed to be present, who so little appreciated the ordinances of their church, and made so ill a return to the Society which maintains a Mission among them, as to remain unconfirmed when they might avail themselves of the stated opportunities put in their way. I pointed out to them that it was only out of a concern for their own good that I spoke; and, as an evidence of an unawakened state, that I noticed their neglect; and I am not without a hope that by the Divine grace and blessing, the question may have been suggested to some minds in such a way as to afford the hope of a fuller compliance with the next periodical call of the Church. The Rev. Mr. Pyke, of Vaudreuil, was with me, and we got back to Colonel M'Donnel's at half-past nine, when, in spite of my entreaties in the morning that the family would not wait for us, we sat down regularly to their dinner.

GRENVILLE.

July 17.—I was driven over to Grenville, fifteen miles, accompanied by Mr. Abbott, the missionary of that place, his brother Mr. W. Abbott, missionary of St. Andrew's, and Mr. Pyke, missionary at Vaudreuil Land. Mr. Abbott having, as the Society has been made aware, a curate, Mr. Sutton, whose situation he makes equal to that of an ordinary missionary, under an arrangement made, with my sanction, for one year. There were four clergymen present, and some part in the service was assigned to each; the sermon as well as the administration of confirmation being reserved to myself. There were, perhaps, eighty persons present, of whom thirteen were confirmed. The hay-making was found everywhere to thin the attendance on week-days. There is no particular change in the state and prospects of the Church in the neighbourhood since my last report. In the afternoon, after partaking of some refreshment at the house of Captain Kains, a half-pay officer of the Royal Navy, I embarked in the steamer for By-town, which is distant from Grenville seventy miles, in which whole distance we have no church or clergymen.

July 18.—I passed this day, which was an open one, the next being Sunday and allotted to the mission which succeeds on this route to that of Grenville, at By-town in the diocese of Toronto, with my friend the Rev. Mr. Strong and his fumily.

AYLMER—CONFIRMATION.

Sunday, July 19.—I crossed over by the superb and elegant suspension bridge which spans the Ottawa, in a long succession of arches, immediately below the magnificent Chaudière Falls, to Hull, where I was to preach in the morning. The state of this place, which exhibits the failure of great and not originally ill-conceived speculations, I have described before in a former journal. About fifty persons, which is to be considered a large congregation here, were present in the ample church. I then proceeded with Mr. Johnston, the missionary, to Aylmer, when the afternoon service and the confirmation for the whole mission were to be held. We met with some misadventures on the way, for Mr. Johnston's carriage having broken down, we procured a huge lumber waggon, and had not gone far in this, when, in descending a hill with a sharp edge, being built up, on one side, like a wall with the lime-stones which abound in the place, the reins broke, and the man who was driving, pulling with all his might to stop the horses in their accelerating downward course, and having only one rein to act with, pulled them necessarily side-ways till the wheels were upon the very verge of the wall. Mr. Johnston, with extraordinary activity, made a violent forward spring out of the waggon, and seized the horses by the head just in time, by a moment, to prevent our going over the precipitous side of the hill.

It is slow work to build churches with the resources which are at the command of our people in Canada. Three years and something more had elapsed since I laid the corner stone of the church at Aylmer, with the customary formalities. It had not since made sufficient progress to have been opened for Divine service, although our churches here are very commonly used long before they are finished. By great, and indeed by forced, exertions it was upon this occasion roughly fitted up for the purpose. The arrangements, however, were very judiciously made, both for accommodating the congregation and for preserving the decency and solemnity of the ceremonial; and there is no other place, which could have been had, sufficient to contain anything approaching to the number of persons who were now brought together. There were fully three hundred present, of whom twenty-seven were confirmed. I generally find a very reverential deportment upon the occasions of confirmation, and often the evidences of deep and unaffected feeling in the recipients of the rite, but I do not know that I ever saw either one or the other more strongly marked than on this day. I do conceive great hopes from confirmations. What the inspired Apostles brought into the Church, and delivered down to be observed in perpetuity, may, like all religious ordinances, be liable to abuse, or degenerate into empty form, but it cannot be unblessed if used in faith and preparation of heart; and this ordinance, upon the face of it, is calculated to impress feelings of a holy seriousness upon the mind, and to promote holy purposes in the life. It also affords admirable opportunity for the exercise of pastoral care over the young at a critical period of their lives, and I have the comfort of thinking that my clergy very generally improve it to the best purpose. The Rev. Mr. Strong read prayers, having hurried up, through heat and dust, from By-town, between his morning and evening services there, and having contrived to make some provision for his intermediate service performed to the troops, because he happened to receive the information that in consequence of Mr. Johnston having totally lost his voice by a cold, I had performed the whole morning services at Hull, and he wished to prevent my doing the same thing in the case of the afternoon services at Aylmer. He had just time, to a nicety, to get back for his evening duties. I felt most sincerely obliged to him, but much regretted that he should have been subjected, for no necessity, to so much trouble and fatigue. Aylmer is distant about eight miles from By-town. I returned from church to pass the evening and to sleep at the Rev. Mr. Johnston's.

JOURNEY TO CLARENDON.

July 20.—I rose at half-past-four and called up my servant, and he then roused the household of Mr. Johnston, who, as this was one of the portions of my route in which I was unattended by any chaplain, kindly undertook to accompany me to Clarendon. We drove down to the landing, and took the steamer up the lake, to Fitzroy Harbour, at its other extremity, about thirty miles from Aylmer. Here I learnt that the new iron steamer upon the upper lake, separated from this by the transverse row of falls called the Chats and the rapids above them, was for the present immoveably aground. It now seemed very doubtful whether it would be possible for me to keep my appointment the next day at Clarendon, and if I should be after my time there, the whole chain of my following appointments, up to the last day of August, would necessarily be broken. It had happened in this very same instance, upon my visit three years ago, that by a series of untoward occurrences upon the route, (described in my Journal published by the Society,) I had been thrown behind my time, and the people who had assembled to meet me, could not be all collected again when I arrived. I was therefore doubly anxious to push my way on; but from the paucity of hands, the busy and pressing labours of the hay harvest, and the absorption of all the people immediately upon the spot, in occupations connected with the lumber business, it began to appear hopeless to make arrangements which would carry me to Clarendon within my time. A hark canoe was at last found disposable, and a couple of hands belonging to the idle steamer, who happened to be about the place, were obligingly given to me by her Captain. We walked across the two portages which lie between the lakes, and proceeded in the canoe to Sands Point, where we were most hospitably received by a Highland Roman Catholic family, the heads of which were absent on a visit to Scotland, and after drinking tea with them exchanged our canoe for their sail-boat, in which we were accompanied across to Bristol landing by two respectable persons connected with the family. Bristol is within the mission of Mr. Neve, and here he was to have met us from Clarendon. But it was dusk as we neared the shore, and we landed at night-fall. Mr. Neve, who had arrived at two o'clock, had at last given me up in despair and returned home. We procured quarters for the night, at some distance from the landing, in the log-house of a Mr. Cameron; the accommodation was rough but it was freely and kindly afforded. The whole length of this day's journey was forty-five miles.

July 21.—I sent my servant off on horseback soon after four in the morning, to the house of a Mr. Heath, three miles up the lake, (who had assisted me in the means of proceeding, upon my last visit,) to procure, as he might, similar facilities now, and to announce my purpose of coming over to breakfast. He returned, as he had gone, upon Mr. Cameron's horse, leading two others obtained from two different houses—a saddle, in which article they were both deficient, having been borrowed at a third, with the promise exacted that it should be returned at night. We got a cart from one of Mr. Cameron's neighbours, for the portmanteau and bags, and in this my servant rode. Mr. Johnson and I mounted the other horses. Mr. Heath was absent from home, and his wife, having been just confined, was in bed: a good breakfast was, nevertheless, ready for us. A ride of six miles more through the woods, directly back from the lake, brought us to the church. We stopped at a house in the neighbourhood where Mr. Fallum, the first missionary, had boarded; and here Mr. Neve, who was some few miles off shortly afterwards met us. The confirmation was held about two o'clock, and fifty-seven persons, forming about one fourth of the whole congregation present, were admitted to the rite. The mission, which comprises three townships, can exhibit one hundred and fifty communicants at one time; and thus the word and the ordinances of the living God, with all the countless blessings which flow from the established provisions of religion in a community, are ministered by means of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, to the scattered members of the Church who break their way into the wilderness, and plant there the fruit of many generations, to the whole succeeding series of which, having been thus helped themselves in the outset, they will hand down the heritage of faith.

The church at Clarendon is not yet properly completed; in fact, nothing has been done to it since I saw it before. I had an interview with the churchwardens, Mr. Neve being also present, in which this matter was discussed, and I have since promised 15 l. out of a sum of 100 l., placed at my disposal for general purposes by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, upon condition that, with this aid, the congregation will finish the building in a decent manner. It is the only church in the mission. Mr. Neve officiates over a wide range of country, and has several week-day appointments in school-houses, which it is his practice to fix for the minor festivals of the Church. We were accompanied back by him and the churchwardens, as far as Mr. Heath's, where we drank tea, and we then separated, bidding each other God speed,—I and my attendants proceeding to sleep again at Mr. Cameron's, which we reached at 9 o'clock.

RETURN TO BY-TOWN.

July 22.—I was still as dependent as in coming up, upon whatever means I could lay hold of, to go down the upper lake in time for the ulterior prosecution of my journey, as I had laid it down; and there was very little promise of any conveyance by which I could possibly effect the object. I am happy, however, to record another instance of the kind alacrity manifested by the inhabitants in facilitating the progress of the ministers of religion. "While we were at Mr. Heath's, the evening before, a Mr. Cooper, who is connected with him, and is engaged in different concerns in the neighbourhood, undertook to bring his skiff for me to the landing below Mr. Cameron's, in the morning, and to take me down the lake to the head of the upper portage. In the height of pressing business, he sacrificed his own time, and that of a man in his employ, to whom he would not allow me to make any compensation; and we embarked with him as soon as it was fairly day. The little skiff had a pair of sculls and a couple of paddles; he managed the former principally himself, and it was owing to the vigour with which he pulled, that we made the distance of fifteen miles, against a head wind, in two hours and forty minutes. We were thus enabled, after crossing the portages, to reach Fitzroy Harbour in very good time, and to dress and breakfast before the departure of the steamer, which came up from Aylmer; after reaching which place, I went on in the stage to By-town; and, after dining with Mr. Strong, walked down at night, to go on board the steamer for Grenville, which was to start at day-break. We encountered, at the place of embarkation, the close of a row among some Irish rafts-people and others, in which a man had been treated with great brutality. Scenes of this nature are sadly familiar in By-town; and sadly inefficient, apparently, are the means at the command of the local authorities to repress the wanton and unprovoked outrages to which the most peaceable and respectable inhabitants have, upon occasions, been subjected from the attacks of banded ruffians, accustomed, perhaps, to ferocious excitement in the quarrels of their own unhappy country, and confirmed in lawless habits by leading the loose and adventurous life of the lumberer. Such exhibitions of fallen human nature, among men carrying the name of Christians, serve to heighten our appreciation of all the means which we are permitted to employ for extending the influence of the gospel of peace, and advancing the happy consummation when the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the young lion and the failing together, and a. little child shall lead them.

July 23.—Leaving the steamer at Grenville. I went on in the stage to Carillon, there embarking in another steamer, which dropped me at Vaudreuil. [The canal here constructed a good many years ago to avoid the rapids is too narrow to admit any of the steam vessels, except the little tenders, which go familiarly by the name of puffers.] I was met at the landing by the Rev. Mr. Pyke, who drove me a few short miles to the residence of his father, a retired Judge of the Supreme Court at Montreal. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the scenery in this part of the country, where the Ottawa expands into the lake of the two mountains. Our road lay above the bank which overhangs the water, and among handsome trees, which give it a character of rural seclusion: we then ascend the eminence, on the crest of which the Judge's house is situated, commanding a magnificent view. In the evening, the young ladies of the family gratified us by a simple performance of sacred music.

July 24.—I had travelled much in hot weather and often in dusty roads, and I felt thankful to stroll down, in the early prime, and surrounded by the loveliness of nature, to a clean, retired, sandy beach, the immediate descent to which was down a steep and richly-wooded bank; and there to indulge myself with a swim in the beautiful expanse of water to which it formed the border.

Service was performed in the forenoon at the church, which stands just above the bank here described. About seventy persons were present, and twenty-six were confirmed. Mr. Pyke had exerted himself to get the church ready for consecration; and it was a subject of some discussion, and some doubt, whether I should not proceed to consecrate it at once, but it still wants some appendages to make it in all points complete; and Mr. P. entertaining the hope that he shall be enabled to procure them by nest summer, I promised, if so permitted, to come up at that time for the special purpose of performing the ceremony.

Mr. Mc'Tavish, agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, who lives opposite to Vaudreuil, at the Indian village on the lake shore, is a member of this congregation, and he has presented the church with a handsome altar-cloth, and some other articles of church furniture.

In the afternoon I went down in the steamer to La Chine, where, upon landing, I was met by the carnage of Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Territory, and went to take up my quarters at the Hudson's Bay House. My hosts here were Mr. and Mrs. Finlayson, whose hospitality I had enjoyed in the same way at one of the Red River Forts, in my expedition of 1844; and Lady Simpson, sister of the latter, who lives with them during her present sojourn in Canada. Sir George, who also makes his home here for the present, when not engaged upon his official tours, was away in the territory. My old La Chine host, Colonel Wilgress, the Rev. Mr. Bond, and a small circle of friends were assembled to pass the evening; and I was among persons with whom, from their manners, their sentiments, their principles, and their kindly dispositions towards myself, it was refreshing to be in contact, While I was sitting in this cheerful circle, my letters by the English mail, which had been forwarded from Quebec, were brought in. After opening three or four, and glancing at their contents, I came upon one which carried the tokens of death. I soon learnt the reason; it told me of my having lost a brother, younger than myself, but far before me in the Christian race; the rector of Havant, in Hampshire, a place which will long bear the traces of the blessing of Heaven upon his faithful and incessant labours, and one, in which, among other efforts, he was assiduous in promoting a feeling of interest among his parishioners for the Colonial Church, and her fostering protectress, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. This circumstance may excuse the passing tribute which I here pay to his memory. He has mentioned to me at different times in his letters the operations conducted in his parish and neighbourhood, in behalf of the Society; and he was personally one of the benefactors of Bishop's College, Lennoxville, having desired me to send home for execution, at his cost, whatever deed might be necessary for the conveyance of a portion out of his share of certain lands belonging to the family townships, asking whether he is "not to have the privilege of thus contributing to the Church in Canada;" and ending with these words, "And I beg you to take what you please, only stipulating that you do not make me niggardly." This was only intended to be between himself and me, and I should not have felt it permissible to make it known in other quarters while he was spared to

LA CHINE.

July 25.—The confirmation at La Chine was held in the forenoon. Considerable improvements have been made in the interior fitting up of the little church since my last visit. From fifty to sixty persons were present, of whom twenty-one were confirmed. After their confirmation, Mr. Finlayson took me on in the carriage to Montreal, and I crossed the same afternoon to La Prairie, where I took the train for St. John, distant, by this route, thirty-three miles from La Chine, and became the guest of the Rector.

Sunday, July 26.—The church of St. John has been recently struck by lightning, and the renovation of the shattered steeple was proceeding. Mr. Dawes was in the building at the time, together with the body of his communicants, who meet him statedly before the administration of the Lord's Supper; and they had an escape next to miraculous. I preached twice in this church in the morning, to about three hundred, and in the evening to .about two hundred persons. Fifty-seven were confirmed at the former service, of whom eighteen came from the adjacent village of Christieville, under charge of the Rev. W. Thompson. There would have been a considerable addition of military persons, whom Mr. Dawes had prepared, but for the sudden removal of the 60th Rifles from the station.

Between these two services, I went over in the afternoon to preach at Christieville, and found Mr. Thompson in occupation of the newly-built parsonage house, erected by the late Major Christie, who also built and endowed the church. And here an incident took place which was wholly new in Canada. We have, from time to time, in a number of detached instances, received Roman Catholics in this country, some of whom have been French Canadians, into the communion of our own Church, and among these there have been highly satisfactory cases. But the practice was never introduced of their making an open recantation. In the present instance, however, Mr. Thompson brought to me a respectable French Canadian, the head of a family in the neighbourhood, who having been led, after much faithful prayer and careful deliberation, and most diligent search, to embrace the tenets of the Church of England, conceived spontaneously a decided and strong desire to make a public profession of the truths which had become dear to his heart. I had half an hour's conversation with him before service, and I received a most favourable impression of his thorough sincerity, and of his whole character as a servant of God, following the convictions of his conscience in opposition to worldly influences. Nothing could be further removed from all nourish or frothy excitement than his deportment and conversation: there was a sedateness and quiet solidity stamped upon his countenance and pervading his manner, which, if I do not wholly mistake, gave the earnest of a firm adherence to the undisguised truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the apostolic communion of the Church which, he was about formally to join. His mind had been originally opened under the teaching of the Divine Spirit, by the perusal of the Bible, and thus conversing with his God through the medium of His own book, he soon found that the system in which he had been educated could not be reconciled with the sayings of that book; but no other digested system had presented itself to him, and he was a good deal in the situation of the Eunuch,—wanting the appointed help of the Church, having unformed views, and not knowing what to call himself or what course he ought to take,—when, providentially, the English Liturgy, in French, was put into his hands by a Jerseyman, who settled in the neighbourhood, and he set to work to compare it diligently with the Bible—studying every part of it, and the Thirty-nine Articles in particular, and referring all through to texts of scripture. While engaged in these researches, he had interviews upon occasion with some of our clergy, and having arrived at complete satisfaction of mind, he was finally brought up to the point which I have stated above,—his recantation, however, as I have there said, being neither suggested to him nor in any way pressed upon him. He told me that he felt it to be an act of duty to make this good profession before many witnesses, and that he looked to it also as a help to hold him to his adopted faith, in his maintenance of which he knew that he should be severely assailed. His recantation was made in French, (for he could not speak a syllable of English,) between the prayers and the sermon: but those parts of the form, which most directly concerned the congregation, were read in English. About two hundred persons were present to witness my solemn reception of this new brother into fellowship of faith with themselves.

An example of conversion, closely similar to this in its circumstances, (with the exception of the recantation,) took place some years ago in the mission of Abbotsford. The subject of it gave his French copy of the prayer-book, upon his death-bed, as a memorial, to the Rev. Mr. Johnson, who keeps it as a treasure and a trophy of the victory of divine truth. In the neighbourhood of that mission there has recently been a considerable movement among some French Canadians in favour of the Church of England, and I have sent up, by desire, a supply of French publications of the S. P. C. K. and some few others, for their use. [They were provided with Bibles before. One of the tracts was a translation made here of a little work on the Society's list, "The Poor Man's Preservative against Popery."] Wherever there is a door thus opened, I conceive that it is our duty to enter in, and I regard it as a call to us which, according to our ability, we are bound to answer; but the successive governors of the Church of England in Canada have been unadvisedly censured by some impatient spirits, not perhaps fully masters of their subject, for not having carried the war right and left, with colours flying and trumpets sounding, into the camp of the Roman Catholic population—a proceeding which, even if God had placed resources at command by which it could have been attempted, would, in the judgment of many persons, not wanting in zeal for the truth of God, have served rather to retard than advance the cause. But it is well known that with the utmost toil ad watchfulness, and with the most strained efforts to eke out the means at their disposal, in order to cover our own proper ground, those who have been charged with the interests of the Church of England in this country have not been able to accomplish this point; and often have had anxiety and work enough to keep the ill-provided and dispersed members of that Church, indifferent places, from being ensnared by the enticements of Rome, and absorbed in the mass of her followers. And I think that it has not been sufficiently considered by some parties, that the effectual planting of the Church of England, and the exhibition of that Church under a favourable aspect in the sober decencies of her ritual and her well-ordered services, and, above all, in the fruits of scriptural religion, shown in the temper, the dealings, the principles, the habits, the whole character and conduct of her faithful and consistent members, constitute a recommendation of their belief which cannot and does not fail of its effect upon the Roman Catholic mind, and not only form a barrier against the encroachments of Rome, but silently and indirectly do more towards operating a change of religious sentiment in her disciples, than some of the zealous efforts which have been used for making inroads among them. Certain it is, that in proportion as it pleases God that we prosper among ourselves, and gather in one the stray sheep, who in many parts of the country carry, as it were, no owner's mark, we weaken the cause of Rome,—since there is no one thing which holds the Romanist so fast to his religion as the contemplation of those most unhappy distractions and those most humiliating errors and excesses which it would be too easy for me to indicate among the Protestants in some portions of the land.

The late devoted Bishop Stewart, whose praise is in all the churches, used to say, with reference to the Roman Catholic population, "I am not prepared to attack them." A day may be coming, and I hope that, by God's grace, we shall be found ready for it, when our tactics must be changed: possibly a day may be not very far off, in which we shall be thrown upon the defensive in a way to try our courage and endurance. But this is a long digression.

A voluntary and unsolicited movement was made by some settlers in the outskirts of Mr. Thompson's charge, in support of the Church Society of the diocese, with whose operations they had no sooner been made acquainted, than they came forward with their contributions—an instance of that forwardness of mind commended by St. Paul, which deserves to be recorded.

July 27.—Mr. C. Forest, before the present vacation one of the Society's students at Bishop's College, drove me over to Chambly, about a dozen miles from St. John. The time of his ordination was coming on. The Rev. Messrs. Dawes and Thompson accompanied me on the road. Thirty-six persons, of whom five were military, were confirmed in Chambly church. The congregation consisted of about eighty. We went to inspect the newly-finished parsonage-house, a neat cottage close to the church, which Mr. White was making his preparations to occupy with his bride. After dining with the Rev. Mr. Braithwaite, I returned with the same party to St, John. At eleven o'clock at night the Rev. C. Morice arrived at the rectory, having come over from La Colle for the purpose of driving me the next morning to that place. He had met with sundry mishaps upon the road, but happily not with any injury.

LA COLLE——CHURCH CONSECRATED.

July 28.—We went to breakfast at Mr. Morice's, at La Colle, sixteen miles from St. John, Mr. Davis and Mr. Thompson being again of the party, and three additional miles brought us to the church, a good-sized stone building, which I proceeded solemnly to dedicate to God, by the form of consecration. The church was well filled, but only seven persons were confirmed. I baptized a lovely infant, the first child of the Rev. Mr. Morice. I trust that long before it will know to refuse the evil and to choose the good, in such sort as to assume the obligations of the baptismal covenant upon itself, the church now served by its father will exhibit, upon such occasions, a more encouraging array of persons uniting in that ratification, for I am encouraged to believe that a good leaven is working among the people. This part of the country was long left without the ministrations of the Church, and prejudices and misapprehensions are abroad in the neighbourhood, which are fostered by those unfriendly to her interests. God grant that by the judicious zeal of her ministers, and the holy example of her people, she may everywhere be enabled to allay the spirit of unkindly opposition, and to lessen the amount of those lamentable divisions which so conspicuously obstruct the progress of the gospel! God grant that the righteousness of our Zion may go forth as brightness, und the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth!

Some of the neighbours having kindly provided conveyance for me, I proceeded about six miles, first to the Island aux Noix, crossing the ferry, and then on to Clarenceville, in the mission of the Rev. Mr. Townsend, when I became once more his guest.

July 29.—Forty-eight persons were confirmed this morning in Clarenceville church. From two hundred and fifty to three hundred were present. The practice of chanting, which I am anxious of extending gradually throughout the diocese, has been introduced—a leading part being taken by a son of Mr. Townsend's, a medical student, who is musically gifted. In the afternoon, Mr. T. took me to Philipsburgh, the distance being made sixteen miles by a little detour, for the purpose of visiting a brick church now in progress in the little village of Newryville, which will make the third in his mission. It has gone on slowly, but is well-built, and occupies an excellent site. Mr. Ford, the catechist, resident at Christieville, whose services are known to the Society, attends here at stated intervals as a lay reader; it being impossible that Mr. Townsend can, with all the other duties lying upon his hands, afford constant Sunday service at this church.

I was welcomed to my old quarters in the parsonage at Philipsburgh.

July 30.—This morning the new brick church in the village of Philipsburgh was consecrated—four clergymen assisting me, one of whom was from the neighbouring diocese of Vermont, in the U. States—a little incident of an agreeable character, since nothing is more soothing, (and I have often felt it strongly in travelling and officiating in that country,) than to find the bond of common-faith and church-membership, and still more with the added cord of brotherhood in the ministry, in persons belonging to a foreign land, living under different, and perhaps, in some points, contracted political institutions, and exhibiting a different state of manners and social habits from that which prevails among ourselves. How much are we wronged by those who think that our maintenance of a consistent and uncompromising churchmanship proceeds from our actual love of party distinctions, and a spirit of gratuitous exclusiveness!—not aware that a fervent love of Christian unity, if, at the same time, it be a discerning love, can never, as I humbly conceive, be reconciled with a lax and accommodating recognition of proceedings, coupled with irregularity and division of the body. About one hundred and fifty persons were present at the consecration, of whom nineteen were confirmed. In both cases, and especially in the former, the numbers were thinned by a hard and determined rain, which continued all day, and deterred several persons from coming who lived at a distance, The church is a neat and well-finished structure, and has near it some beautiful elms with sweeping and dependent branches, which greatly ornament the village.

BEDFORD—UPPER STANBRIDGE.

I had crowded a little too much work into a few hours in the appointments for this day, and had to push on with the conveyances provided by my good brethren of the clergy, in order to be in time for the confirmation in the afternoon, eight miles distant, at Bedford, in the mission of the Rev. James Jones, absent in England upon a tour, in which, by the divine blessing, he was signally successful, to collect money for ecclesiastical purposes in his neighbourhood. I was received by his family at the newly-built parsonage, a modest brick edifice, with a little garden more useful than ornamental, interposed between its front and the wooded bank of a rapid little river. Beyond the garden there is a narrow and closely sheltered road leading along the river side through a beautiful grove of pines and other trees. The service in the church was held at four o'clock. The rain continuing, the congregation here also was diminished, and some of the more distant candidates for confirmation were prevented from attending. A hundred persons, however, or upwards, were present, and twenty-one were confirmed. The Rev. W. Jones was in charge, in his father's absence.

July 31.—After an early breakfast, I left the parsonage at Bedford, and set out, with a train of twelve waggons which drew up at my time of starting, some of them occupied by members of a voluntary choir, for Mr. Jones's other church, four miles off, at Upper Stanbridge Mills. The church exhibits an air of neglect, and the moral, political, and religious condition of this place is not by any means hopeful; but we must hope against hope, and trust that the Lord has some people here now, the seven who came forward for confirmation being, we may comfortably believe, of the number. Twenty-eight were confirmed in the mission. About one hundred and twenty persons were present in this church. The Rev. Mr. Reid had sent over a waggon, with one of his sons, from Frelighsburg, (otherwise called St. Armand East, as Philipsburgh is St. Armand West,) and a drive of six miles brought us to his parsonage, standing in the church-yard, upon an eminence overlooking the village which lies among the winding and finely wooded hills, and is traversed by a small river. Service was immediately held, and there were perhaps two hundred persons present, of whom twenty-one were confirmed. Mr. Reid took me in the evening to see a most interesting young female, belonging to one of the most respectable families of the village, lying in a far advanced stage of languishing and hopeless consumption, but a humble, resigned, and believing soul, who had been nursed carefully in the bosom of the Church, and whose heart had been directed into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

Mr. Whitwell had come on with me from his mission, and I spent the evening with him at Mr. Reid's, where we both slept. The two veteran missionaries, who have borne the brunt of many a hard day in their obscure but holy warfare, were talking much of old times, and reverted often to the recollections of Bishop Stewart, the original missionary of both the places, then comprised in one charge, which form their respective cures. Mr. Reid was ordained to be Dr. Stewart's substitute, in 1815, when the latter paid a visit to England. Dr. Stewart took a new field of labour after his return, and Mr. Reid remained, as principal, in the charge. Mr. Whitwell was brought out from home, by Dr. Stewart, and crossed the Atlantic in his company.

Mr. Reid's church, and all its appendages and adjuncts, are always in excellent order. lie and his people have lately built a commodious shed near the church, forming a long range in the shape of the letter L, for the reception of the horses and sleighs, during the performance of divine service in winter. This is a provision against the rudeness of the climate, often to be found in N. America, and, although sometimes rather unsightly, it is useful and humane.

VISIT TO SUTTON.

August 1.—This day was allotted to Sutton, a place which I had never before had occasion to visit, but which Mr. Reid had long watched over, so far as his more immediate and proper duties would permit; and in which Mr. Kemp, one of his parishioners, who has also property and carries on business in Sutton, has been most zealously engaged in forwarding and assisting the erection of a church. Since the establishment of the mission of Brome, the charge of Sutton has been in the hands of the Rev. Mr. Scott, and it forms one of his regular stations. It is twelve miles from Frelighsbnrgh. I was driven over there in Mr. Kemp's waggon and pair, in company with some of his family, all of whom are attached and consistent members of the Church. Our road lay up the side of the Pinnacle Mountain, leaving its extreme summit on our right. The drive is among the most beautiful in Canada; and that is, indeed, saying much: the backward view, from its most elevated point, extends over a prodigious tract of country, reaching behind Montreal to the Lake of the Two Mountains; and as you begin to wind down the hill on the other side, the eye encounters, across the intervening valley and within the territory of the United States, a varied exhibition of mountain scenery, range behind range, in continuous irregular lines, and summit after summit, here gradually rounded off, and there rising into peaks.

The late Bishop Stewart, when he was a missionary at St. Armand, some forty years ago, had a path made through the woods to the top of the Pinnacle Mountain, and half an acre cleared at its termination, at his own charge;—a pleasing example to show that, with all his ceaseless and energetic devotedness to the cause of the Gospel, he was not inattentive to the objects of providing beneficial recreation for his neighbours, and cultivating among them a relish for the more striking scenes of nature.

CONFIRMATION IN THE UNFINISHED CHURCH AT SUTTON.

We descended to Sutton Flats, through which a clear little river winds its way, and upon which the church and the nascent village are situated. The church is a plain, solid stone building, of moderate dimensions, with a tower in front, and pierced with Gothic arches for windows. These apertures were now filled up with fresh branches of fir, and the church was prepared within, in a rough and temporary way, for the service, a point which had been only gained by extraordinary exertions, animated and headed by Mr. Kemp, always acting hand in hand with the clergy. The Rev. Mr. Reid came over with us, and the Rev. Mr. Scott met us on the spot. As every thing is quite new here, and the utmost attention which the Church could heretofore afford was very scanty, and the minds of the people had been bewildered by conflicting influences, I was not at all surprised to find that there were only six subjects for confirmation. About 200 persons were present. I trust that, by God's blessing, a good foundation has been laid, and a good feeling is growing towards the Church and her ministers. There is one evidence of this, of a very painful character, with which we have been made but too familiar in our endeavours for the spiritual benefit of the colony;—I speak of the opposition immediately set on foot when the Church plants her banner with good auguries of success, and displaying itself in forced measures for the erection of a rival place of worship, and, in the present instance, by a coalition, for this object, of two sects, holding utterly irreconcileable opinions. We may well deplore whatever faults in the Church at large may originally have tended to the production or multiplication of dissent; but here, and in other instances among us, too marked to be mistaken, it is precisely the zeal of the Church, and the promise of her efficiency, which have provoked competition, and prompted the obstruction of her work—and this without any possible plea of arrogant or aggressive proceeding on her part. Happy, indeed, will be the day, and it may yet come, when all the spirit and alacrity manifested in religious undertakings shall be purged of such leaven as this, and we can cooperate, upon lawful terms, with those who are now jealous of our movements! We dined, with a good number of persons who had come over from neighbouring townships to the confirmation, at Mr. Kemp's, and his son afterwards drove me on twelve miles to the parsonage at Coldbrook, in Brome, where I slept.

CONFIRMATION AND CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH AT BROME.

Sunday, August 2.—This day was the anniversary of my admission to deacon's orders; and it was marked by acts peculiar in one case, and in another commonly reserved to the office which, in the providence of God, putting treasure in poor earthen vessels, I have been permitted to reach. I held two confirmations, and consecrated a church. The church at Coldbrook is a neat wooden building, completed since my last visit. The Rev. Messrs. Balfour and Slack came over from their respective missions, accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Salmon, who was on a visit in the neighbourhood, from Upper Canada, to assist Mr. Scott and myself in the consecration. The church was as full as it could well be, probably more than 300 persons being present, and the heat was excessive. Eight persons were confirmed. At the close of the services, I administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, with assistance from the clergy; and there some communicants, who, for the first time in their lives, I trust not without discernment of the Lord's body, partook of the holy rite. As it was necessary, for the sake of different parties present, to advert to all the ceremonies which had been witnessed by the congregation, my sermon was rather long, and we were very nearly four hours in church.

CONFIRMATION AT DURHAM.

Mr. Scott and I had no time to lose; for he had now to drive me twenty miles, over a road of which the former part was intolerably bad, to the church at Durham Flats, where I had an appointment to confirm and preach at four o'clock. "We did not get there till five; and there were some persons, but they were extremely few, who had gone away. A congregation of about 500 persons remained, of whom thirty-seven were confirmed. The Rev. Mr. Cotton, the oldest of the Society's missionaries in Canada, who has a good deal recovered his health, read the prayers. Mr. Scott statedly assists in this mission, receiving a small compensation from Mr. Cotton. The church, which is very roomy, but ill arranged and unsightly, is in bad repair, and measures are in full train for replacing it by a more substantial and seemly edifice. There are, as everywhere, different sects at the village of the Flats, which is a rising place in the township; and the Roman Catholics have lately established a church here, to add one more to the exhibitions of divided Christianity. I have had occasion in former journals to mention the different branches of the Baker family, in this place,—pre-eminent in loyalty and support of the Church, and always forward in hospitable attentions to the clergy. I slept, as before, at Mr. W. Baker's. Mr. Cotton's residence is in another part of the township.

PROSPECT OF A CHURCH AT NELSONVILLE.

August 3.—After an early breakfast, I set out with Mr. Scott for Nelsonville; a place of which the water privileges, in the American phrase, have led to the erection of mills, and other establishments, in which some considerable capital is embarked. There is also a court-house here; and, altogether, the prospect of advancing prosperity. Mr. Ruyter, who keeps a respectable inn, has promised a site for a church; and it is hoped that means may, in due time, be found for making some special and sufficient provision for divine worship in the village. At present, Mr. Scott and Mr. Cotton officiate upon occasion in the court-house. Here I parted with Mr. Scott; and Mr. Baker, a son of my host, who had followed me in a double waggon from Durham Flats, drove me on to West Shefford church, eighteen miles from that place. This young man has since entered the college at Lennoxville. At West Shefford, my first mark in the laborious mission of the Rev. Mr. Balfour, I was met by that gentleman, from Waterloo, and also by Mr. Robinson, from the same place, whose son has been for some time engaged in preparation for the ministry, at the college just mentioned. There are three young men now there belonging to families in the eastern townships; and thus the institution, which is daily growing in the confidence of the surrounding population, is already working that effect of which the anticipation formed one reason for deciding upon its locality. The youth of the townships who will be moulded within its walls, would, in all probability, have otherwise been sent to colleges in the United States.

CONFIRMATION AT WEST SHEFFORD.

I found the church at West Shefford undergoing some improvements. The congregation, which amounted to about 150 persons, consisted chiefly of women, the crisis of the hay-making having just come on. Thirteen females were confirmed—none of the other sex. Mr. Balfour drove me on to the parsonage at Waterloo, a distance of eight miles.

CONFIRMATION AT FROSTE VILLAGE.

August 4.—A distance of between two and three miles brought me to the church of Froste Village, where a confirmation was this morning to be held. Only six persons presented themselves as recipients of the rite; making nineteen in the mission of Mr. Balfour. The Rev. Mr. Hellmuth, whom I have had occasion to mention more than once to the Society, as Professor of Hebrew and Rabbinical Literature in the college, himself a converted Jew, passing through this part of the country in his tour during the vacation, preached upon this occasion. There were, perhaps, 100 persons present.

There is a highly beautiful view, comprehending lake, forest, mountain, and valley, from the top of a hill on the road from Waterloo to Froste Village.

NEW CHURCH AT WATERLOO.

The new church at Waterloo is proceeding very slowly; but it is a neat building, and of excellent workmanship, built of wood. It stands well, upon a rising ground, at the head of one of the little streets of the village.

In the evening, the Rev. Mr. Slack, who bad home over from Granby Village, distant twelve miles, for the purpose, drove me to his house, where I slept, and, at this point, fell back into the road which I had travelled in the end of June, on my way from Bishops' College to Montreal.

CONFIRMATION AND CONSECRATION OP THE CHURCH AT GRANBY.

August 5.—Mr. Slack's house, which is his own property, standing exactly opposite to his church, although it is built of wood, has, with its whole premises, an English style and air about it, not at all usual in the Canadian townships. The church, of which the frame had been put up before he came, as the first resident missionary, to the spot, has been completed, in a great measure, through his exertions, and not, I believe, without a large outlay from his own means. He has also been helped by friends from England. A gentleman there, who was his godfather, and who had previously given 20 l. sterling, through his hands, to Bishops' College, gave 50 l. sterling to this church, and presented it with the communion-plate besides. The church was consecrated, in which ceremony I had seven clergymen to assist me. Twenty-nine persons were confirmed. The burying-ground, which lies at some distance, very nicely laid out, was consecrated after the conclusion of the services in church. The churchyard and the burying-ground are both remarkably well enclosed, and the former is planted next the road by an avenue of trees, in the form of a semicircle. The church itself is finished and fitted up in a manner which would afford a model for our country churches in Canada, if only we had, in all cases, the same advantages at command, but, in most of our poor settlements, we are a sad long way from that.

About 250 persons were present in the church, and portions of the service were chanted. In this place, a little more than three years ago, although the nearest missionaries on both sides did their best to supply occasional ministrations, the hopes of the Church were almost prostrate, and the hearts of her people were faint. I have seen, in many remarkable instances, in this diocese, and often not without a rebuke brought home to myself, the duty exemplified of waiting on the Lord, and tarrying his leisure.

The church stands in a portion of a lot of ten acres, which (as I have mentioned in a former journal,) was a gift from the Rev. T. Johnson of Abbotsford. The burying-ground was the gift of Mr. Guerout, brother of the Society's missionary at the Riviere du Loup en Haut.

CONFIRMATION AT ABBOTSFORD.

August 6.—Mr. Slack having provided conveyances, we drove over, he himself and Mrs. Slack and Mr. Hellmuth being of the party, to the Rev. Mr. Johnson's at Abbotsford. The interior of the church at this place has been much improved and made very neat. Twenty persons were confirmed, whom I addressed something in the form of a familiar sermon, but I had also appointed Mr. Hellmuth to preach to the congregation. From 120 to 150 were present. There is one advantage arising out of the prevalence of schism and the constant discussion about the emptiness of mere forms, proceeding from a desire to fix. the charge of formality upon the Church, that there is an increased scrupulousness engendered among our people in considering their qualifications, and preparing their hearts to take their part in the special solemnities of their religion. I remained as the guest of Mr. Johnson, whose house directly faces, at a short distance, the precipitous mountain of Yamaska. A remarkable plant (monotropa uniflora,) is found upon this mountain, as in some other parts of Canada, of which the stem and the leaves, as well as the flower in all its parts, are perfectly white. It is called familiarly the Indian Pipe, and in fact has no small resemblance to a clean common tobacco pipe, supposing the addition of some little foliaceous decorations to that article of useless indulgence.

VISIT TO ST. HYACINTH.

August 7.—I had reserved a spare day or two for this neighbourhood, and had placed my services at the disposal of Mr. Johnson and Mr. Slack, to visit any settlements which they might fix upon. Rougemont had already been attended to in this manner, in passing through here on my way from Lennoxville to Montreal, as mentioned in noting the 30th of June. An engagement had now been made for me to go to St. Hyacinth, fourteen miles from Mr. Johnson's. The road winds through a flat country, partly along the margin of the river Yamaska, the mountain of the same name, with those of Rougemont and Belseil, rising abruptly in view, in their several detached masses, from the extended plain. The boldest of these heights is that of Belseil; and upon the most elevated point of its rocky summit, the Bishop of Nancy in France, who made a circuit through Canada some few years ago, erected, with a great train and a vast deal of pomp and ceremony, a huge cross, I think sixty feet high, covered with tin, flashing far and wide in the sun, and visible at a vast distance, from different parts of the surrounding country. This prelate, who was a nobleman, (Comte de Forbin Janson,) and all whose energies and influence were entirely devoted to the object of advancing the power of the Church of Rome, was in the habit of preaching to immense crowds of people for several consecutive days at the same spot, as he travelled about the country, and had the reputation, among the superstitious or the ignorant, of working miracles. He was in a manner an idol to them himself, and memorials of his visits are standing in a number of different parishes. The cross on the Belseil mountain is now a resort for a species of pilgrimage, and helps to nourish an erroneous devotion among the people. I do not repudiate the emblematical cross with which we are signed, when the mercy of God in Christ first reaches us in our baptism, or with which our churches are crowned as the material symbol of our faith: the dislike of these usages partakes, itself, in my judgment, of superstition; but it is impossible not to mourn over the misapplication of such zeal, such perseverance, and such resources as those to which I have just adverted, and ardently to wish that they could have been made available for teaching men rightly and intelligently to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for truly making known among them the unsearchable riches of that only hope of sinners. It was for the sake of a very little flock, a sprinkling of Protestants in the mass of the Romish population, that the clergy had planned my visit to St. Hyacinth; and in order to encourage their hearts, as well as to make what they called a demonstration in the eyes of the Romanists, though little resembling or desiring to resemble the proceedings of the Bishop of Nancy, it was their wish to bring together a few brethren in the ministry, and to conduct the services with all the seemly and chastened reverential effect and all the judicious aids to devotion, for which the Church of England has provided. I proceeded accordingly to the courthouse of the village, with the use of which we had been accommodated, attended by four clergymen, and having robed in an adjoining room, we held service in that which was fitted up for the sittings of the Court. Portions of the service were chanted, and I preached to about seventy persons, a deputation from whom waited upon me, before I left the building, with an address. They were exceedingly anxious, while they appreciate the great efforts which have been made at intervals by the clergy to visit them, to have some arrangement more approaching to an established provision for public worship. The seigneur of the place, although a Romanist, has promised them a beautiful site upon the crest of a hill on which part of the village is built, in the immediate neighbourhood of a dense grove of pines, and a scattered group of deciduous trees. Here they purpose to erect a building, in the first instance, which shall serve both for a school-house and for the purposes of divine worship, hoping ultimately to put up a church. It has since been arranged that they should have service once a month, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Slack taking a leading part in this labour, and Mr. Scott of Brome (who was one of the clergy in my company) undertaking to come over at appointed times from his own more distant mission to one of theirs, when they should visit here. The two clergymen resident at Sorel, twenty-four miles off, have also promised to help, the congregation at St. Hyacinth most cheerfully undertaking to provide conveyance.

St. Hyacinth is rather a flourishing Roman Catholic village, with a population of 2,000 souls, a market, a largo church, a convent and a college, this name being given to the different establishments for school education in Lower Canada which are founded under the auspices of the Romish Church. We dispersed about the village to dine with different Protestant families, my own billet falling upon the house of an enterprising American, who conducts a foundry and a manufacture of agricultural implements in the place. Towards evening we set out on our return to Mr. Johnson's, leaving Mr. Hellmuth, who was to proceed hence to Montreal, to perform a second service to the people. Mr. Johnson, in fording the river, was upset and thrown out of his waggon; he was, of course, thoroughly drenched, as was a neighbour who accompanied him on the trip, and he lost his umbrella and his wig, but no other damage, happily, ensued, although, as he is in delicate health, I was apprehensive of the effect of his evening drive in wet clothes.

August 8.—This day, the greater part of which I spent in writing letters, I returned with Mr. Slack to Granby, having further duties yet in his mission. The day being intensely hot, I took an opportunity to go and bathe in the narrow little river, sunk in a rocky bed between steep wooded banks, which flows at the back of his church, and found, at the water's edge, specimens of the lobelia cardinalis in full blossom.

CONFIRMATION AND CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH AT MILTON.

August 9.—Mr. Slack's church at Milton, nine miles off, was to be consecrated this day. Mr. Scott had remained to assist in the ceremony, and we all proceeded together to the spot, where Mr. Johnson met us from Abbotsford. This little church, of which I have sent home a drawing to the Society, if it were only of stone, which circumstances did not permit, would be an excellent pattern for our churches in the woods; its square embattled tower, projected from the building, and ornamented with the dial plate (although it is but in seeming) of a clock; its gothic windows, with the panes in the lozenge form; its neat and ecclesiastical, although simple and unpretending, fitting-up in the interior; its open seats instead of pews,—a condition being inserted in the deed of gift from Mr. Slack, who owned the site, that no leased sittings of any kind shall ever he put up,—give it altogether a style and character which is properly associated with the edifices erected for the worship of the Church of England. The undertaking was commenced since the formation of the mission and the appointment of Mr. Slack; and to him it is in many ways indebted for having been brought to its completion. Upon the present occasion it was much crowded; the congregation consisting of about 180 persons, and there being regular accommodation for only 150. Thirteen were confirmed, after the ceremony of consecration had been gone through. It was the first episcopal visit to the place.

SERVICE IN THE UNFINISHED CHURCH AT WATERLOO.

I had an appointment in the evening, to revisit Mr. Balfour's mission, in order to preach at Waterloo in the unfinished church, mentioned in the notes of the 4th of August; and, after stopping at Mr. Slack's for some refreshment, I was driven on the remaining twelve miles by a son of Mr. Robinson of Waterloo, who came over for me. The building was roughly prepared for the occasion, and perhaps 200 persons were assembled. I was violently ill for a short time, at the house where I stopped to robe, from an attack of what is called in Canada the cholera of the country, to distinguish it from the Asiatic disease of the same name. This was possibly brought on by interposing a hurried meal at Mr. Slack's, between two drives in excessive heat. I could not go into the church during the prayers; but, in proof of that fitness for my labours in point of physical constitution with which it has pleased my Maker to bless me, I preached without any inconvenience to myself or difference of effect perceptible by my hearers.

Mr. Slack has three full services every Sunday: at Granby,, where he lives; at Milton; and at the South Ridge in Granby, where there is as yet no church, but a very good congregation. Forty-two persons, in all, were confirmed in his mission.

VILLAGE AT THE OUTLET OF LAKE MEMPHRAMAGOG.

August 10.—This day was spent in traveling from Waterloo to the Rev. Mr. Jackson's house in Hatley, a distance of thirty-five miles. A Mr. Barton, of West Stafford, at whose house Mr. Balfour puts up when he goes there to officiate, obligingly sent me a waggon and pair, driven by his son. The road, after leaving Stokeley, winds among woods, where it forms almost the only interruption of the wildness of nature, under the base of the dark and rugged Orford mountain, the highest land in those townships; and passing one or two small lakes in this portion of its course, conducts you to the outlet of the magnificent Lake Memphramagog, where you stop to refresh yourself and your horses, there being a little incipient village with two inns at the spot. There is also a small place of worship, with a steeple, which might be taken for the church of the village; but it is assigned over to no religious body whatever, and is at present served only by a coloured man, a Baptist by profession, who comes from a distance to preach in it once in four weeks, exciting, from all that I could learn, very little interest, in any shape, upon the subject of religion. The building is much out of repair. Had the government of Christian Britain done its duty before God for its transatlantic subjects, or even kept its pledges to the Church, there might, by the divine blessing, have been formed here, and in many other unprovided spots where religion is running to waste, a company of united faithful worshippers, walking in the commandments and ordinances blameless. Even now, there was a desire expressed to me to receive the ministrations of the Church; but I learnt afterwards that some overtures made by our clergy had been but coldly received.

I went to Cattra in the river at the outlet, and found there again the lobelia cardinalis with its brilliant scarlet flowers, in this instance in extraordinary vigour and profusion.

A straight road leads up hence towards Hatley, and after the ascent of a considerable eminence, the backward view through this wooded vista upon the mountain heads is very striking and beautiful. We then came among scattered settlements; and skirting, for some distance, the edge of Lake Massiwippi, struck off to the village of Charleston, in Hatley, a few miles distant, where the church of the mission is situated, and proceeded on a mile further to the house of Mr. Jackson, which I reached about six o'clock.

CONFIRMATION AT CHARLESTON IN HATLEY.

August 11.—Twenty-six persons were confirmed this day in Charleston village church. Rather more than a hundred were present. The Rev. Mr. Balfour followed me from Waterloo, and the Rev. C. Reid came over from Compton; these gentlemen took some part in our services. The village is named after the late Bishop Stewart, who planted the Church in this place, after leaving St. Armand, and whose first Christian name was Charles. The Church is gaining in this mission in a sure kind of way, although not with any very conspicuous effects, as matters for description.

I saw here a variety which was new to me in natural history. I was waked up in the morning of this day, at Mr. Jackson's house, by a cat who bounded into the room, with a bird in her mouth, over the blind of the open window. As she passed out the other way, I observed that she had no tail. This, I concluded, was owing to some accident or injury by which she had been deprived of it; but I found that she was one of the tail-less cats which are not very uncommon in this part of the country, and that kittens are found in the same litter, some with tails and some without.

Mr. Jackson and other clergymen, including those at Bishops' College, have made an arrangement for giving a monthly service to a small congregation of Church-people at Stanstead, just upon the American frontier, precisely similar to that which I have described as having been put in train for the benefit of the Protestants at St. Hyacinth.

I went on with the Rev. C. Reid to dine and sleep at his house in Compton. We were accompanied by Mr. Jackson. The distance is only eight miles.

CONFIRMATION AT COMPTON.

August 12.—About seventy or eighty persons were present at the confirmation, of whom ten were recipients of the rite. I also baptized an adult female during the service, whom Mr. Reid had duly prepared for the act. Some part was taken in the duty by Messrs. Jackson and Balfour, who had come on to Compton,

SECOND CHURCH IN COMPTON.

I regretted that my arrangements had not been so made as to admit of my going to see the second church in the township, which Mr. Reid has been making great efforts to push on towards its completion, at Waterville, where he has been in the habit of officiating in a school-house. Mr. Reid afterwards drove me twenty-four miles, through Lennox-villa to Eaton, where I reached the house of the Rev. Mr. Taylor at eight o'clock.

CONFIRMATION AT EATON.

August 13.—Ten persons were confirmed in Eaton church. Sixty or seventy were present. The practice of chanting has been introduced here by Mr. Taylor's family. The Rev. Mr. King had come over from Bury, and, as well as Mr. Reid, assisted in the services. This mission has unavoidably suffered from the long continued ill-health of Mr. Taylor, although, during part of the time, he had a curate. He is now very considerably better, and attributes his restoration to the use of the Caledonia Springs on the Ottawa river.

NEW CHURCH IN THE MISSION OF BURY.

I went on with Mr. King to Bury, and drove first to his new church on the Dudswell road, a small, neat, wooden edifice, very well built, but not completed, and very coarsely painted within. We then returned to sleep at his residence in Robinson village, having driven sixteen miles. This is a building put up by the Land Company for a school-house, with apartments for the master, but occupying a site which forms part of the lands surrendered back to the government The Church of England having, from the first, kept a school in the building, under the auspices of the Newfoundland and British North American School Society, which was a central establishment, having many dependencies of the same nature in the neighbourhood, and having also occupied the spacious school-room on Sundays for public worship, for which purpose some necessary alterations were made within it, we have acquired a kind of prescriptive right in the premises, in the exercise of which I do not think we ought to be disturbed; but the title is in the local government, and what immediate party, or whether any can claim, as of legal right, the administration of the property as it stands, are questions perfectly unsettled.

CONFIRMATION AT ROBINSON VILLAGE IN BURY.

August 14.—Service was held in the above-described school-house at Robinson. From 150 to 200 persons were present, chiefly settlers from England. According to my best recollection, either fourteen or eighteen were the number confirmed. I also baptized a child of the Rev. Mr. King. Some troubles had been going on in this mission very difficult to deal with, and some spirits were active in the place whose proceedings were not likely to allay them. I held a meeting after service—I might call it a kind of court of general inquiry into these troubles, which I shall no otherwise describe here than by saying, that, in spite of all my endeavours, it assumed a kind of tumultuary character by no means proper in itself, nor conducive to the ends of truth and justice, but which was occasioned in great part by the noisy demonstrations on the part of the majority, of good will towards their minister. I became quite satisfied, however, that it would be for Mr. King's happiness and usefulness, all things considered, to remove to another field of labour; and the arrangement has accordingly been since made, an advantageous one to him, which has been submitted for confirmation to the Society. I believe that he is doing exceedingly well in his enlarged sphere of action.

SECOND NEW CHURCH IN THE MISSION OF BURY.

Mr. King has put up another new church in the mission, on the Victoria road; but my ulterior appointments obliged me to return in the evening to Eaton, and the business of the meeting, with matters arising out of it, had barely left me time to do so. I failed, therefore, to see this church.

August 15.—After an early breakfast, Mr. Taylor drove me to Lennoxville, fourteen miles, where I had an appointment to meet the college corporation on special business at ten, A. M. This business occupied the day. I put up at my old quarters in the parsonage.

NEW CHURCH AT LENNOXVILLE. CONFIRMATION IN THE OLD ONE.

Sunday, August 16.—Hopes had been entertained when I was here in the end of June, that the new church might be ready for consecration against my return; but it was found impossible to effect the object. It is a brick building, with lancet windows, and a square tower projected from the front, upon which it is intended to raise a spire. The old wooden church, although large, is a miserable affair. I held a confirmation in it for the last time, and preached to 100 persons or upwards. The number confirmed was fourteen. Immediately after morning services there came on one of the most violent thunder-storms which I remember to have witnessed, and the wind which blew might well be called a hurricane. This was the first rain for a great length of time.

The storm cleared off before I had occasion to proceed to Sherbrooke, three miles and a half, where a confirmation was to be held in the afternoon. Here I preached to about 200 persons, and confirmed eight. The church is of the same material und in the same style as that of Lennoxville. There is an organ, and there are some excellent singers in the choir, some of whom are gentlemen and ladies belonging to the first society in the place; but they have lately had an American teacher, and their style of chanting has been affected by this circumstance in a manner which is new and not pleasing to an English ear.

I was the guest of the Rev. Mr. Wait, a most particular friend of my own, whose services I was so fortunate as to secure for the trifling compensation provided by the congregation, at a time when the failing health of Mr. Doolittle created an additional reason for separating the important village of Sherbrooke from the cure at Lennoxville, and the good of the Church being concerned, I was sure of the concurrence of Air. D. himself. Extraordinary efforts have been made by other parties to plant their own standard in the village, since the appointment of Mr. Wait, and a good deal of religious excitement prevails in a certain circle of the population, of a nature, however, which is likely to subside. Mr. Wait has certainly not provoked all this, by any deficiency of meekness, or by any offensive peculiarities in any shape whatever, in the discharge of his duties. He and Mrs. Wait (for I grieve to say that his health will compel him to return to Europe) will leave behind them the most lively and affectionate regrets of those to whom he has ministered.

VISIT TO MELBOURNE.

August 17.—The former part of this day was occupied by writing letters, and transacting business at Mr. Wait's, and visiting some prominent individuals in the place. Mr. Nicolls, the principal of the college, assumed his place once more as my chaplain for the downward route, and drove me to Melbourne, twenty-four miles from Sherbrooke, which we reached between 8 and 9 p.m., and put up at the inn—a word, however, which is hardly known in Canada. The houses of entertainment arc all taverns or hotels, and this latter name is given to very inferior establishments, upon the most confined scale, in mere country places. The French population, which is more singular, apply the term, all over the country, in the same manner: and from the state of education which has thus far prevailed, often mis-spell it. I have seen it spelt on the sign-boards autel, and this in a curious accidental conjunction with the name of some Saint, which is very generally the name of a parish, e g. Autel de Saint Andre.

August 18.—I had postponed the confirmation at Melbourne, for the state of Mr. Fleming's health had, at one time, caused an interruption of his duties, and there were circumstances, within the mission, into which I had occasion to institute some inquiries. I remained all day for this purpose at the inn, taking advantage also of this breathing space in my journey, to work off some portion of the accumulated claims of official correspondents, in which I was much aided by Mr. Nicolls.

Mr. Fleming, whose own church, with part of his principal congregation, is in Shipton, on the opposite side of the river St. Francis, is truly, in an application of the words, which I do not make with any harshness of meaning, to the unhappy divisions which exist among the followers of Christianity, constrained to dwell with Mesech, and to have his habitation among the tents of Kedar. His house stands upon a line and in close proximity with a row of meeting houses, belonging to different denominations, of whom, within the limits of his whole mission, there are eleven varieties—fostered, unfortunately, in some quarters, by an influence and by resources which might be turned to account in a manner more consonant with the real advancement and hopeful stability of gospel truth. And there are persons among ourselves who actually persuade their own minds that this is the Christian Church in its legitimate aspect, and that the multiplication of these separately organised bodies, one after another, upon new grounds taken for holding an independent existence, involves neither breach of spiritual unity nor mutual imputation of serious error! Christ may be divided ad libitum: one may be of Paul, another of Cephas, another of Apollos, and so on ad infinitum—but this is not schism; the spirit of schism is rather seen in the disapproval of it, which is presumed to carry a feeling of unchristian ill-will toward those who differ from us!

There are, however, characteristics attaching, in some particular instances, to the divisions here immediately in view, which no sober and well-principled mind could complacently regard.

NEW CHURCH COMMENCED IN MELBOURNE.

In the course of the day, Mr. Nicolls drove me to the Gallup district, three miles back from the river, to inspect the frame of a small church, of which Mr. Fleming has procured the erection, in the neighbourhood of a spot where he has long attended a second congregation. It is proceeding slowly, and with interruptions—but will, I trust, in God's good time, be completed.

I have since [Nov. 1846] made an arrangement for the removal of Mr. Fleming to New Glasgow, which it remains for the Society to confirm; and have provided, temporarily, for the performance of the duty in the Melbourne mission, by giving the charge of it to Mr, Lonsdell, resident ten miles off, with the maintenance of whose own mission I have not thought it just to the Society that its funds should continue to be burthened, however unwilling to abandon any ground which the Church has once taken up. It does not follow that it is abandoned for ever: nor, possibly, for any very great length of time.

VISIT TO DANVILLE, AND CONFIRMATION OF ONE AGED PERSON.

August 19.—We crossed the river, and the Rev. Mr. Lonsdell met me on the other side, to proceed to Danville, upon the borders of Shipton and Tingwick, where he resides. At one point of the road, there is a magnificent view over a deep and extensive valley, bounded by irregular and varied heights. The Society are aware that Mr. Lonsdell has made efforts, in several directions, to gather a flock together, nor is it to be believed that his labours have been wholly unblessed, or have carried no benefit to any souls. But the causes to which I have just above adverted have been in particular activity, and with recent aggravation of their power, in his neighbourhood; and his hopes of building a church, or building up spiritually the system of the Church of England among the people, for the present, are prostrate. I do not think it at all desirable that we should appear ambitious of forcing ourselves any where upon the people, glad as we must be to afford them our ministrations when they are appreciated, and to be permitted to become instrumental to the furtherance of their salvation.

Upon the present occasion, the evening service of the church was performed in Mr. Lonsdell's own house, at two o'clock, and I preached to little more than a dozen persons, his family being included. One aged and feeble man was confirmed. He came, I am convinced, in a thoroughly humble, believing, and Christian spirit. He was originally a dissenter, and possessed with exceedingly strong prejudices against the Church. His wife, an American Episcopalian, had all along stood immovably firm against the variety of attacks made upon her Communion, by her neighbours and persons who came about the house. Her husband, in these discussions, at length bent himself to the task of candid examination, and, in the result, embraced the system of the Church. All preparatory steps having been properly gone through, under the direction of Mr. Lonsdell, he came forward alone in the little assembly, to seal with willing lips the covenant of his baptism, and, professing his faith in his Saviour Christ, he bowed his knees, and bent his hoary head, to receive the benediction and prayers of the Church. It was his own strong desire to be confirmed. He and his wife are constant and devout readers of the bible.

VISIT TO UPPER DURHAM.

August 20.—Mr. Lonsdell drove me through Kingsey to the ferry opposite to Upper Durham church, (within the charge of Mr. Butler, being attached to the mission of Kingsey,) to which the party crossed over, and I preached there to about forty or fifty persons. Several young persons had buen prepared, or had been in course of preparation, for confirmation: but a misunderstanding had arisen, and a difficulty had been created among the parents, upon the subject of some particular requirements which had been pressed upon the candidates, and matters had not been adjusted when I came. A far better feeling has since prevailed. I returned to a late dinner at the parsonage, in Kingsey, where my train, if I may so call it, was rather burthensome to the hospitality, most cheerfully tendered, of a country missionary, the clergy themselves who were present amounting to seven besides myself, drawn together in preparation for consecrating the church at Kingsey on the morrow. The whole journey of this day was one of twenty-six miles.

CONFIRMATION AT KINGSEY, AND CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH.

August 21.—The church at Kingsey, which, as well as the burying-ground, was consecrated this day, is a white wooden building, in imitation of the early English style, with a tower and spire. It stands upon a level opening in the woods, where a village has been commenced by Mr. Longmore, who gave the site of the church and parsonage-house. The church is enclosed by a neat and substantial fence. Captain Cox, a half-pay officer of the British army, who has established his family for some years in Kingsey, has used great exertions to forward the erection of these buildings, and has received liberal contributions towards the object from friends in England. Special acknowledgments are due in this behalf, to the lady of Sir John Croft, Bart, of Mill-gate, in Kent, who, besides an original contribution of 15 l. sterling, finding that a debt upon the church created an impediment to its consecration, and being informed of the approaching episcopal visit, took that bar out of the way by at once assuming the responsibility of the whole debt upon herself; and I have since learnt that she has redeemed her pledge by the remittance of 50 l. sterling, of which it is believed that 10 l. is a second contribution from herself.

About eighty persons were present at the ceremony of consecration, and eight were confirmed.

A large and most respectable party afterwards assembled at Woodlands, the residence of Mr. Long-more, and partook of a handsome collation. The house and its accessories, although not completed, and far less advantageously situated, in point of natural scenery, than most others in the township, are very English, and this effect was heightened by the tone and appearance of the company present. The Rev. Mr. Ross, of Drummondville, drove me afterwards to his house, about fourteen miles from Kingsey, and Mr. Nicolls and Mr. Butler cameon to be his guests as well as myself. We took an unfrequented road, as being shorter, and passed through very beautiful scenery, of different kinds, in the latter part of a delicious afternoon. At first it was a fine forest scene, unharmed by the hand of man; the narrow road which just gave us passage through the tall and close woods of deciduous growth, being the only sign of his interference with the wildness of nature: it then changed its character, and became more bushy, with a mixture of fir and larch: and again the road wound irregularly among some partial openings and passed through one small settlement; and then re-entering the woods which overhang the St. Francis, brought us to some rich and lovely meadows among the hills, upon the margin of that river, fringed by luxuriant trees and bushes, and garnished by flowers, weeds in blossom they might be called, but they stood high aud made a show; and the whole landscape being lit up by the declining sun, which threw beautiful lights upon the river, its wooded promontories, and its picturesque islets, the charms left to this blighted creation were brought strikingly before the mind. The contemplation is soothing, but images and objects of a far different character make up the scene of Christian labour, and contrast themselves, in thought, with pictures like this. Let me be pardoned for having stopped to paint it in such detail. We crossed the ferry, and continued for about five miles through the high woods on the other side, in which the hemlock tree is very prevalent, till we reached the house of Mr. Ross, where his mother, who resides with him, was waiting to tender to us the duties of hospitality.

CONFIRMATION AT DRUMMONDVILLE, AND CONSECRATION OF THE BURYING-GROUND.

August 22.—About one hundred and twenty persons were assembled at the service this morning, and fifteen were confirmed. Mr. Nicolls preached to the congregation, and the burying-ground was afterwards consecrated. The site had never, till lately, been fully secured in legal form; and I did not now consecrate the church because there is a project in agitation for replacing it by a better edifice. It is quite sufficiently large, but it is an unsightly edifice, and ill put together. At Lower Durham, where Mr. Ross officiates in a, school-house in the afternoon, the frame of a church has been put up for some years, and the work was proceeding this summer, after a considerable suspension, when the tower was struck by lightning, and much damage was done. This church is thirteen miles above Drummondville. Mr. Ross is again urging on the work, and I have made a conditional promise of further aid from a sum placed at my disposal by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

I found Mr. Ross, like many of the clergy, a little anxious and divided in mind respecting the admissibility of some of his candidates for confirmation, unwilling to reject those who appeared well disposed, although less advanced than he could desire in a knowledge of spiritual things, and afraid at the same time of establishing too low a standard of attainments, The confirmations, in several instances, might have been much larger, if the clergy had been lax and easy. I went on with Mr. Nicolls, thirty-three miles, to Nicolet, where we became the guests of my friends, Colonel and Mrs. Chandler, in my well-known quarters at the Manor House.

CONFIRMATION AT NICOLET.

Sunday, August 23.—I confirmed fifteen persons in Nicolet church, and preached to a congregation of about eighty. Mr. Burgess's flock bang scattered over a considerable surface of the country, inhabited by the Roman Catholic French population, the afternoon congregation is naturally diminished. Mr. Nicolls preached this time to between forty and fifty persons.

CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH AT NICOLET.

August 24.—Mr. Ross and Mr. Butler, after the duties of the Sunday at Drummondvilie, pushed on to assist this day in the consecration of the church at Nicolet. I preached and administered the communion. About fifty or sixty persons were present. Mr. Guerout also assisted in the services, having come over for the purpose from the Riviere du Loup. It is a neat and substantial little church of stone, and the burying-ground in which it stands (also consecrated this day) is nicely planted and enclosed.

In the evening I took leave of my hosts and the clergy, all of whom were entertained at the Manor House, and went down to Port St. Francis, four miles off, where I embarked at eleven o'clock, P.M., in the steamer, and proceeded up Lake St. Peter to Sorel, which I reached at half-past one, and was met upon the wharf by the Rev. Mr. Anderson, who made me lie down for a couple of hours upon his sofa at the rectory.

August 25.—I had no duties at Sorel, the Confirmation having been held there in my journey of last winter, and I rose at four o'clock to prepare for crossing in the ferry-steamer to Berthier, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, where Mr. Anderson breakfasted with me; and, having taken leave of him, proceeded, directly back from the water, to the township of Kildare, about twenty-nine miles from Sorel, which is an appendage to the mission of Hawdown. There is a beautiful spot on this road, at a ferry, where you cross a considerable river, deeply sunk between very high and wooded hills; but the scene, like many others, has suffered, within my recollection, by the fire and the axe.

CONFIRMATION AT KILDARE.

I was received at Kildare, where the Rev. Mr. Rollit came over to meet me, by an Irish family of the name of Dickson, of which there are several ramifications in the neighbourhood—persons interested in the cause of religion, and ready to make exertions and sacrifices in support of the Church; in fact, but for them there would have been no church in Kildare. The building is sufficiently finished to be used; and I held afternoon service, and preached to from seventy to eighty persons: eight were confirmed. I also, by particular desire, baptized a child belonging to the family just mentioned.

CONFIRMATION AT RAWDON.

August 26.—Mr. Rollit drove me, after breakfast, about nine miles, to his parsonage, in the township of Rawdon; and we were followed by two of the Messrs. Dickson, in other vehicles, bringing my servant and baggage. In the afternoon, divine service was held in the church, where the number of persons present approached two hundred, and thirty-eight were confirmed, making forty-six in this mission, of which Mr. Rollit took charge in May, having previously held the appointment of travelling missionary, under the auspices of the Diocesan Church Society for the District of Quebec. He has a larger mission now, and many appointments of duty for week days, besides serving the two churches on Sunday; but for this labour, being equal to it, he is all the happier, and it is a relief to him, as a man with a family, to have a settled home.

CONFIRMATION AT NEW GLASGOW.

August 27.—We rose at five, and after an early breakfast, set out, in the first instance, for New Glasgow, in the extensive mission of Mascouche, in the different parts of which I had left it to the Rev. Mr. Flanagan to distribute my services, according to his discretion, my circuit for the summer closing there. Mr. Rollit and the elder Mr. Dickson still came on with me; and Mr. Constable, a leading member of Mr. R.'s congregation, accompanied us in another vehicle. At St. Lin we stopped to bait our horses, and found some refreshment provided for ourselves at the house of the miller who has charge of the seigneurial mill at this place, belonging to the Hon. Mr. Pangruan, of Mascouche (for we were travelling, if I may so express it, with one foot in the seigneuries, and one in the townships). The English-speaking population of this neighbourhood, who probably do not know much about St. Linus, are a good deal at fault about the name of this place, of which, in their imperfect endeavours to follow the French pronunciation, they make something like Sallah. Mr. Flanagan was waiting for us here; and, after our luncheon, the whole party came on to New Glasgow, where service was held in the church, and I confirmed six persons: perhaps eighty, or more, were present. Mr. Rollit preached to the congregation. The church has a mean appearance, and does not seem to be well built; but, by degrees, it may assume more and more of some ecclesiastical character, and be otherwise improved.

We had come twenty-five miles before service, and I had about ten more to go, with Mr. Flanagan, to the township of Kilkenny—a township truly in the woods. Tins distance it was necessary to perform on horseback, on account of the nature of a great, portion of the road. A cart, however, fitted for such service, was provided for the baggage. This vehicle, and the horses, were brought over from Kilkenny; and Mr. Irwin, the good settler who was my host in my winter journey of 1843, came with them himself. After the first few miles the road is a mere path through the dense and lofty forest; in some places it is deep and boggy, and here, in a wet season, must be difficult to get through; in others, it is a good deal encumbered with rocks and stones, yet presenting no difficulty by daylight. A considerable portion, however, of the whole length, affords very good riding. It had been calculated that we should arrive late, and men were prepared to meet us in the wood with torches of cedar slips, or birch bark; but as we reached Mr. Invin's house about half-past seven, this help, which had been put in requisition, was not needed. We partook of the refreshment provided for us, in which everything was very good of its kind; made our arrangements for the duties of the morrow; and, having gathered the Christian family together for evening devotions, we lay down afterwards, with feelings of thankfulness, and happy sense of our communion with them in the faith of Christ, beneath their humble roof.

CONFIRMATION AT KILKENNY.

August 28.—I went at six o'clock to swim in a lake which is about a quarter of a mile from the house, and upon the opposite shore of which I saw the marks of habitations, in an opening made among the woods. All beyond this is continuous and unbroken forest, up to the inhospitable regions of the north, yet destined, in time, to be farther and farther encroached upon by man.

The service was appointed for half-past ten, and the church is a couple of miles from the house, to which we were not to return. We set out on horseback an hour before the time, all the baggage being put into a curt. Within something more than a mile of the church we were obliged to leave the cart; and the bags and portmanteau, containing articles required for the service, were carried by hand. We here entered a narrow horse-path, through a close wood of towering trees. The footing of the horses was difficult, from the quantity of great rough stones in the path. It is rarely travelled, except on foot, and in wet weather a horseman is liable to be drenched by his contact with the branches on either side; but all was now dry, and all was fair. The little wooden church, still unpainted, occupies an isolated situation, upon a little eminence in an opening among the woods, but it is central with reference to the abodes of the worshippers. Here, having tied our horses to the fence, we went in, and met a congregation of ninety persons, or upwards. Twenty-three were confirmed.

CLAIMS OF THE KILKENNY CONGREGATION.

This congregation of Irish Church people in the heart of the woods have a strong and special claim upon the care of the Church—a claim of which, in the person of her ministers, she has assuredly not been unmindful; for all the missionaries in succession, who have held charges within any reach of them, have, with much labour and toil, paid them visits at such intervals as it was practicable to fix. Latterly they have had service once a fortnight; but, except upon the rare occasion of administering the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, always upon a week-day. And thus they are called away from their labours in the field, at a season, perhaps, when every hour is precious, and in a climate where the whole season for agricultural labour is but brief, and in a country where labour is so scarce that, in settlements like these, the settler and his family are the sole labourers themselves. And then, when Sunday comes, they will not profane by labour their day of rest, nor suffer those belonging to them to do so; but their church is shut up, and no pastor is seen among them. There are many among them, I doubt not, who devoutly improve the day in their families; but the young people are growing up without its being associated with the ordinances of the house of God, and in the danger of making it a day of mere idleness. All this the people have keenly felt, yet they have not murmured, hut have thankfully appreciated what has been done for them, and have very generally resisted any endeavours to make advantage of their open Sunday, to draw them off, in affection and duty, from their Church. Feeling the imperative necessity of dividing this unwieldy mission, and particularly of supplying the want which is here indicated, and having, as has been seen above, made up my mind that the mission of Danville ought not to be kept up, and that, therefore, whatever might be decided by the Society respecting the appropriations from the clergy reserves, the case might be provided for by the transfer of that mission to this locality, I intimated to the people, before we parted, a hope of being able, before any great lapse of time, to effect such arrangement. As I was riding away, some of the leading men cried after me, "Well! you have gladdened the hearts of the people of Kilkenny this day." They have undertaken to add 10 l. a year to the salary of the missionary, payable through the Church Society, and with a guarantee from their churchwardens, if they can have Sunday service.

Mr. Fleming, who, in pursuance of the proposal just mentioned, and under the arrangement intimated in my notes of the I8th August, has since been settled at New Glasgow, with the charge of that place, of Paisley, and of Kilkenny, all taken off from the mission of Mascouche, will afford regular Sunday service at Kilkenny, and will, I trust, by God's blessing, be acceptable and useful to the people. Mascouche and Terrebonne, with some occasional visits to more distant points, are reserved to Mr. Flanagan. The Society, I persuade myself, will readily approve of what I have done.

We struck, by a cross path, into the road leading to New Glasgow, and at this place exchanged our riding-horses for a light waggon, in which we proceeded at once to Mascouche. A broken bridge obliged us to take an unusual road, which prolonged our drive. In one part of it we came through a broad straight vista of wood, continued for a great length, with one interruption of open fields, upon a perfectly level road. The effect was beautiful, especially in the former part of the wood, where noble pines, as straight as an arrow, reminded one of the description, which I quote from the memory of many years, of the elms about the house of Sir Roger de Coverley, which had "shot up so exceeding high, that the rooks and crows, which were above them, seemed to be cawing in {mother region;' although, indeed, there were no crows, that I know of, about these pines, and there are no rooks in Canada. These pines were intermixed with a profusion of very flourishing larches, and with other trees of deciduous kinds.

Mr. Flanagan had kindly wished that I should be his guest; but Mrs. F. had just been confined, and I found, according to former experience, a hearty welcome at Grace Hall, the manor house of Mascouche. Mr. Pangman invited Mr. Flanagan to dine there daily during nay stay.

August 29.—There were no public duties marked out for me this day, in the arrangements which Mr. Flanagan had made. My old task of letter-writing comes back upon me in every little break of the journey, and I was engaged with Mr. F. upon the affairs of his mission; but I found time to stroll about the heights which surround the quiet little valley in which the manor house is situated—an exceedingly long building, of one story in height, with an enclosed kind of court before it, planted with firs and other trees. The little river which winds along the valley, and turns the seigneurial mill, passes through the immediate precincts of the house. The valley is embosomed in broken banks and hills, here closely wooded, and there ornamented by open groves or chimps of pines; the level below, by the river side, with park-like forest-trees; the swells, slopes, and sheltered hollows of the ground, are disposed by the hand of Nature with the happiest variety. I had never seen this spot before in summer, and was tempted to describe it in my notes, while the impression was fresh, and have transferred the description to these pages, although I have dealt too much already in this kind of thing. Mr. Pangman, and his amiable family, seemed as if they might be called the tenants of the Happy Valley.

The parsonage is pleasantly situated on the hill above, close to the little church; and the burying-ground opposite is shaded by handsome pines.

CONFIRMATION AT MASCOUCHE.

August. 30, Sunday.—I preached in the morning to about one hundred persons, rather more than the church will well accommodate; but chairs had been set in the aisle for the occasion. Twenty-seven were confirmed. In the afternoon I preached again to about half the number—the Protestants here, as at Nicolet, being a scattered body, intermixed with the Roman Catholic population, and some of them having far to go home. I admitted two candidates to confirmation, who had been prepared, but, from particular circumstances, were too late in the morning; and I baptized the child of the reverend missionary with another. Fifty-eight persons, in all, were confirmed in this mission.

An old gentleman of the medical profession, of the name of Munro, living at the next parish, was introduced to me at the parsonage house, who seemed to have been much interested by the services of the day, and whose recollections were carried back to his own confirmation, performed about 1787, by Bishop Inglis of Nova Scotia, the first of our Colonial Bishops, and the father of the present Bishop of the same see, when he paid an official visit to Canada. This old gentleman makes the fourth living individual of my own acquaintance who received confirmation at the same hands—the hands of the only Colonial Bishop of the Church of England then in the world.

RETURN TO QUEBEC.

August 31.—Mr. Pangman took me over in his carriage to Montreal. At the Lackenage ferry some rocks were shown to us, appearing above the water, which, as we were told, had never been seen before. The drought and heat of the summer had been almost without precedent; and we found the harvest closed at a season when, in ordinary years, there arc portions of it not begun. After crossing this ferry, we soon fell into a plank road for the remainder of our way. The whole distance from Mascouche to Montreal is twenty-five miles. I embarked at six o'clock in the steamer, and at the same hour on the next morning arrived in Quebec.

The review of this journey, in which I had been enabled to keep the whole chain of my appointments made in the spring, and in which I had found many faithful brethren reaping fruit, as I trust, unto life eternal, and receiving wages better than those of this world, in which they experience deficiency enough, is replete with grounds of thankfulness (and thankful, indeed, must I be, if, such as I am, God has deigned to use my own ministrations for good); but it is shaded, also, with many saddening thoughts. There must always be a mixture of vexations, discouragements, and difficulties, in carrying on the work of the Gospel in the world; and there are here local causes of depressions, peculiar in their kind. The Church, associated in the minds of men with the crown and empire of Britain, originally encouraged to believe that she should occupy her appropriate footing in the land, and command resources adequate to her task, and invested with a character which often creates expectations to which she would be but too happy to be able to respond, is, taken as a whole, a poor and struggling Church, straining herself to meet, in an imperfect manner, the wants of her widely-dispersed members, and standing in humiliating juxtaposition with the powerful and prosperous establishment of the Church of Rome. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, with much help, also, from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, has been, humanly speaking, our hope and stay. We bless God, who raised up such friends; and we learn, that it is better to trust in HIM, than to put any confidence in princes.

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