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Tous les autres exempleires originaux sont filmte en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une teiio empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols -^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols y signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre film^s A des tsux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seui ciichA, 11 est film« A partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iliustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 6 'y* ;•: ' ',T ' > ■P^MMip SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. [■■^; ^ A VIEW OF r THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE CANADAS, IN A LETTER TO THE SOCIETY . FROM THE BISHOP OF MONTREAL. ^ No. 4, TRAFALGAR SQUARE, CHARING CROSS, LONDON. " /"^ ^ 1836. -V I i It y ' V. i H. CLAT, PniNTER, BREAD STREET HILL. CORRESPONDENCE. From the Lord Bishop of Montreal. Reverend Sir, Southampton, March I, 1836. The Bishop of Quebec, whose severe labours, and entire devoted- ness to the discharge of them, have seriously impaired his health, having, as you have been made aware, honoured me so far as to confide to my hands the execution of any arrangements in which I could be instrumental, for the relief of the Church in his dio- cese, in communication either with his Majesty's Government, or with Religious Societies at home, (in pursuance of which authority received from him the measure has been effected by which I am enabled to share with him the labours of his episcopal charge) ; I proceed accordingly to lay before the Board of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts some representa- tions which I am persuaded will be thought not undeserving of their attention. When, indeed, I take a retrospect of all that this Society has already done for the support and extension of the Church, and for the cause of pure religion in North America, and contemplate at the same time the immense and diversified field which engages its attention, in other quarters of the world, I feel as if the Canadas could scarcely venture to urge any further claims. Yet the Society will never abandon, while in need of its support and succour, the Church which, under God, it has in a great measure been the means of planting and preserving in these Colonies ; and the wants of that Church will always be recognised as claims while the Society is master of the means to answer them. I am well aware that it has not been left for me to bring under the notice of the Socif.ty the wants of the Canadian Church. It has been done again and again by those who have had a higher title to attention than myself; and the most perfect disposition has been manifested to respond to the appeal ; yet boing now upon the spot to renew it, and feeling that in time past I may have had to accuse myself of deficiency in contributing my individual share to the materials of the Reports, I am prompted to offer some few general observations upon the state of the diocese of Quebec, more particu- b 4 CORRESPONDENCE. larly as to tliat portion of it which for tlie last fifteen years has con- Btitutcd my own Archdeaconry, and will now form my episcopal charnje, being the province of Lower Canada. Having made mention of a deficiency, which although I do not presume to think that it can have been felt by the Society, may Bcem, in my ofiicial situation, to require some excuse, I may be permitted to say, that it has been in part attributable to the ceaseless pressure of my occupations in the Archdeaconry and Rectory of Quebec, added to some other labours, in which local circumstances have given me a leading share. Materials, however, have accumulated upon my hands, in the shape of loose notes made upon different occasions, and of private journals, which I have kept upon my cir- cuits of duty ; and in recurring to these, I shall perhaps find it difficult so to compress the matter which presents itself for selection and arrangement, as to avoid trespassing too far upon the pages of a Keport, which embraces so many subjects of interest in all the distant parts of the empire. The case of the Church in Canada, with respect to the formation nnd maintenance of its establishment, is very briefly this : the terri- tory liaving been acquired by the crown of Great Britain in 1759, a Protestant population by degrees flowed in, with the prospect of course of continued accessions. Measures were therefore taken by the Government to provide for the spiritual wants of this popula- tion. In 1791» when the two distinnt provinces of Upper and Xiower Canada were established, by what is commonly called the Quebec Act — the royal instructions to the governors having pre- viously declared the Church of England to be the established religion of the Colony,* to which instructions a reference is introduced in the Act — a reservation of one-seventh of all the lands in Upper Canada, ;md of all such lands in the Lower Province as were not already occupied by the French inhabitants, was made for the support of a Protestant Clergy. This measure was introductory to the appoint- ment of a Bishop, Avho went out in 1793, and whose diocese was expressly comprehended in the provinc;.' of Canterbury, in the same manner as any diocese in tlie same province in England. The Bishop procured the erection of a cathedral at Quebec, which was consecrated in 1801, and "invested with all honours, dignities, pre-eminences, and distinctions of right belonging to an episcopal seat and Cathedral church." The little value attached, in the earlier stages of British possession, to tracts of wild land, and the hopelessness of obtaining a tenantry upon the clergy-lots, so long as the fee-simple of the same quantity could be obtained in the iva// of f/rants, or for a trifling consideration caused that property to be lor a long time of necessity unproductive ; and it was, in a manner, disregarded by the Government, in whose hands the management of it resided. In 1800, however, measures were taken to erect a Corporation in cac!i province, lor the manage- ment of the reserves; but it was not till 1810 that these Corpora- I • See Note A. 11. THE BISHOP OF MONTREAL. 5 tions went into operation. About this time, and at intervals since, several parishes of the Chur«h of England were legally constituted by the Government in the Lower Province. In 1821 each province was erected into an Archdeaconry: and in 1825, the Upper Province was divided into two — the Archdeaconry of York, and that of Kingston. It was in this year tliat the decease of the first Bishop of Quebec took place, and in January following his successor was consecrated. The Government has since engaged a house for his Lordship at Toronto, (the present name of the seat of Government in Upper Canada,) to give facilities for dividing his residence between the two provinces. 1 have been desirous of thus exhibiting at one view the successive steps which have been taken towards the regular establishment of the Church of England in Canada, in order distinctly to show, that a proper branch of the Established Church of England has been there constituted and recognised by formal, solemn, and repeated Acts of the Government and Legislature of Great Britain. If, then, after all that has been here stated, the protection of Eng- land is to be withdrawn, according to the tenor of late proceedings and declarations of authority, from this branch of the Establishment, it would appi>ar that sucli a dereliction must be founded either upon the fact that the experiment has failed, and that the means which have been provided are without an object in the country which calls for their application ; or else that the country itself can now aiford those means in some form which had not been anticipated, and that not only the season is come for weaning the infant Establishment from the bosom of the parent State, but that new supplies have offered themselves upon the spot, which dispense with all necessity for retaining the provision originally assigned to the Cliurch. Now, with respect to the first point, the fact is as opposite to the supposition just taken as can be well conceived. The demand for the ministrations of the Church of England in the Canadas has been constantly progressive from the date of the conquest ; the supply has never at any one period been sufficient; and its inadequacy is at this moment felt more severely than ever. Upon the ."rrival of Bishop Mountain, he found six C'ergymcn established in the whole diocese, with, 1 believe, fewer churches. During his episcopate, the number of Clergy was augmented by means of the bounty of Government and the SociKTY to upwards of fifty, and a corresponding number of churches was erected. The number of both (1 am not speaking with minute precision) has been since doubled. I am in possession of abundant documents to show that the applications to the Bishops for Ministers, during all this period, have far exceeded the means at their command to answer them ; and that even on the part of religious bodies, not originally episcopal, there lias exis'.ed, in many instances, a decided disposition to coalesce with the Church,*— a disj)osition which might have been improved to the happiest advantage for the permanent in- terests of religion in the Colony, but for the frequent inability of the See Note 11. p. b 2 H. 6 CORKl-SPONDENCE. Bishops to provide for the demand, and the unsettled condition of questions relating to the reserves. Of the fruitful and prosperous labours of the present Bishop, when a Missionary, for the space of twenty years, either stationary or itinerant through tlie whole diocese, it must be unnecessary to speak ; the churches of which he procured the erection, the congre- gations whicli he formed, the happy change which he was often the instrument of effecting in the habits of the people, are the witnesses of his acceptance among them, and the monuments of his success. It iS indeed difficult to suppose that the Clergy would have perse- vered in the fatigues and exertions which, in numerous instances, they have undergone, unless they had been stimulated at once by experiencing a desire on the part of the people for their ministra- tions, and a hope in their own breasts, from what they had been permitted to effect, that the Divine blessing was with them in their work. I could furnish multiplied details of this nature, which have been little known to the world, and which, on that very account, are the more valuable, as being exempted from all suspicion of parade. I leave them under the veil as it regards the names ; but since the Society has been sometimes reproached with a presumed character of inertness attaching to the Clergy in Canada, and since that bounty, which is so greatly needed from the British public, is pro- portioned to the estimate formed of its profitable application, 1 cannot forbear from adverting to a very few simple facts, as examples of the statements which might be put forth in recommendation of the Canadian Church. I do not, of course, mean that the labours of all the Clergy are in accordance with the pictur which I proceed to sketch— some are, from situation, not exposed to any necessity for hardships or severe exertions ; and it must be expected to happen that some should be less devoted than others to the cause of Christ ; but not to speak of the episcopal labours which, from the prominent situation of those who have successively discharged them, are of necessity better known, I could mention such occur- rences, as that a Clergyman, upon a circuit of duty, has passed twelve nights in the open air, six in boats upon the water, and six in the depths of the "trackless forest with Indian guides ; and a Deacon, making his msolitos nisus when scarcely fledged, as it were, for the more arduous flights of duty, has performed journeys of 120 miles in the midst of winter upon snow-shoes. I could tell how some of these poor ill-paid servants of the Gospel have been worn down in strength before their time at remote and laborious stations. 1 could give many a history of persevering travels in the ordinary exercise of ministerial duty, in defiance of difficulties and accidents, through woods and roads almost impracticable, and in all the seve- rities of weather ; or of rivers traversed amid masses of floating ice, when the experienced canoe-men would not have proceeded without being urged. I have known one minister sleep all night abroad, when there was snow upon the ground. 1 have known others answer calls to a sick-bed at the distance of fifteen or twenty miles J THE BISHOP OF MONTREAL. of « in tlie wintry woods ; and others who have travelled all m'ght to keep n Sunday appointment, Jifter a call of this nature on the Saturday. These are things which have been done by the Clergy of JiOwer Canada, and in almost every single instance which has been her(! given by Missionaries of the Society fou tiik Pkoi'aoation or •iiiE GospjiL IN FouKioN Parts.* I couUl mention the immber of preaching stations which are served by some of the Clergy, or of week-day services wliich they constantly perform ; and if I were to advert to the style of preaching which characterises our Clergy in Canada, I could affirm my belief that no unprejudiced person could deny to them, as a body, the credit of faithfully setting forth Christ crucified among their people. But although no man shall stop me of this same confident boasting, when once compelled to become a fool in fftori/incf on behalf of my brethren, yet the chief object of my anxiety is to draw some favourable attention to the unprovided condition of many settlements, — which may not always comprehend any considerable number of settlers, but which, if their own spiritual destitution were not a sufficient plea, are ihe beginnings of a great and even now a rapidly growing population, — dependent, in all human calculation, upon the religious advantages enjoyed by the present settlers, for the moral character which they will exhibit, the habits which they will cultivate, and the faith which they will follow. The stream, in all its progressive magnitude, may be expected to preserve the tincture which it receives at its source. I may be allowed, therefore, to select some leading examples illus- trative of the religious wants of Canada ; and if these are taken from the Lower Province, as being that with which lam officially connected, it will readily be judged that the wants of Upper Canada, which for some ycvirs past has been much faster filling up with an emigrant population from the British Isles, and in which the mass of the whole population is Protestant, are, in proportion, more exten- sively and more severely felt. How far the Bishop of Quebec may find that he can allow the Lower Province to benefit by the late liberal vote of the Society, placing 5001. a -year at his disposal, I have not, at this moment, any means of knowing ; but I am sure that the wants of Upper Canada would quickly absorb the whole of a I'ar larger sum. In the county of Beauharnois, lying south of the waters of the St. Lawrence, above Montreal, there is a large tract of country inhabited chiefly by Protestants, of vyhom the members of the Church of England do not form so lar^-e a proportion as in most other parts of the province, but are still sufficiently numerous to furnish growing congregations at half a dozen different places, who attend upon the ministrations of two Catechists appointed by the Bishop of Quebec, and paid from the fund placed at his disposal by the Society. ' The people lie wholly out of the reach of any of our Clergy ; and although the Catechists are both excellent men, and one of them See Note D. p. 15. 8 CORRESPONDENCE. I li (Mr. Forest) having been for some years among the people, has been eminently instrumental to their spiritual good, and gained a high degree of affection and respect, yet they I'eel the insuHiciency of such a provision; they live in a great measure without the sacraments of their religion: the printed sermon read to them is not like the word coming from a teacher, who bears the regular commis- sion to preach it ; the relation in which tliey stand to the teacher is not the same ; he has not the weight of one who is clothed with a distinct character of sacredness, and carries the established badge of pastoral authority. The Bishop of Quebec has sent round among them four or five times, at his own expense, some one of the Clergy whom he found disposable for a short time ; but in the intervals between these brief visits, which have been necessarily "few and far between," the people are obliged to leave their children unbaptized, or to carry them to ministers of other denominations. In the sum- mer of 1834, I visited these sttlements, in the course of an official circuit made in my capacity of Archdeacon ; I found every where a pressing desire for the establishment of a Clergyman. At Ormestowu J preached at the opening of a very neat church, built by the per- severing exertions of Mr. Forest, aided by those of the people themselves, and two small grants of money, one from the Bishop, and one of 25/. from L. Browne, Esq., Agent of the Seigneur,* (who is the Right Hon. E. EUice). The church was crowded to excess. Upon another Sunday I preached, and administered both sacraments, three miles above the village of Huntingdon, in the threshing-floor of a large empty barn. The whole interior of the barn was filled, and a large number of persons stood abroad in front of the open doors, in the afternoon of the same day I preached and administered baptism in a small school-house at Huntingdon, ■where the people were jammed together in an oppressive degree, and there were also auditors on the outside of the windows. I could swell this communication with a mass of details of the same nature, referring to different portions of the province, and falling in many instances within my own personal experience; but I will simply mention three or four detached cases in the way of further example. There are several straggling and ill-tended flocks, from the paucity of shepherds, in the settlements which lie up the Ottawa River ; among these the inhabitants of a settlement called the Gore, are situated eighteen miles from the parish of St. Andrews, the station of the Rev. W. Abbott, on the River Ottawa, and am •visited by that gentleman on a week-day once in a month. At the time when I was there, there was scarcely an exception to the pro- fession of the Church of England among these people — none, I believe, to a willingness of disposition to conform to that Church ; not a few were warmly affectionate and devout members, and the Mumber of communicants was stated to be eighty. They are strangers, howver, to the ordinances of the Sabbath ; and if the mercy of God does not raise up help for them, it is more easy than • The Agent also, by authority Irom his princiiial, gave the site. ■;0 THE BISnOl' OF MONTREAL. 9 are encouraging to forebode what will be their condition in another generation. In the township of Kilkenny, lying near to Montreal, I have been assiirel by one of the ju'incipal inhabitants that there are 120 families, and that they all belong to our own Church. I do 11. ,t think that any of our Clergy have ever penetrated to th's settle- ment ; and I have no reason to doubt the melancholy truth of an account given nie, that the people hearing of a Protestant; minister, whom some circumstance had bnnight into tlie adj^)ininrJ seigneurie, came trooping through the woods with their infants in their arms, to present them for baptism in tlie name of the Father, the Son, and the IIoli/ Ghost, to one who was a preacher of the Uni- tarian persuasion ! The station of the Church of England nearest to Kilkenny is that at Ilawdon, hut there is no communication except by r^aking a prodigious circuit ; and the proper charge of the Missionary at Ilawdon is itself far more extensive and more scat- tered than can be well ])rovided for by the labour of one man. In the county of Megantic, on the south of the St. Lawrence, nearly opposite to Quebec, where new settlements are now opening in different townships every year, and where, according to the last census, the members of the Church of England constitute a majority of the whole population, the Rev. J. L. Alexander, Missionary of the Society, is tlie only Clergyman of the Church of England. Hi^ residence is at Leeds, where a church has been erected. I v.m per- suaded that he is faithful and pious, and he divides his labours as ha best can ; but he experiences the same difficulty which is experi- enced by many other servants of the Society : if he concentrates his exertiofts upon the head-quarters of his mission, he leaves many outposts neglected, and exposes the Church, in his person, to many complaints ; if he attempts to spread his ministrations over the faoo of the surrounding country, his principal and immediate congrega- tion suffer by necessary consequence, and no decided fruit and effect of the Gospel ministry among his people are seen any where within the limits of his charge. A neat church has been built at a placa called St. Giles, in this neighbourhood, which remains as yet unassigned to any single denomination, but which would have now belonged to the Church of England, (according to the intention of the original projectors, and, in particular, of a lady at home, who hajj an interest in the spot, and following up the intentions of her de- ceased husband, gave communion-plate for this church), had meanji been at the command of tlie Bishop of Quebec to clear otF a small incumbrance ii])on the building, and to promise some stated minis- trations to the people. 1 conceive that there is an ample field for the labours of two more Missionaries in tliis county. Between the city of Quebec and the inhabited ])art of the district of Gaspe, in the Gulph, a distance of more than 400 miles, there is no Protestant minister to be found. The settlements, indeed, extend down the river but little more than half of this distance on the south shore, and they are less continuous, as well as less prolonged, oii the north. They also consist almost entirely of the establishmenis formed by the French population ; but there are British Protestants <^Vi*«fc>«5l«.>,.' 10 CORRESPONDENCE. 'i intermixed with them, who, in particular spots, are collected in some number. At Matis, which is 210 miles below Quebec, I once passed a Sunday, vn my return from Gaspe, and was most affec- tionately received by the Protestant settlers, whom I collected, as far as the time would admit of circulating notice. The people told me, when assembled in a body, that they were about equally divided between the Churches of England and Scotland, but should be but too happy to unite under a minister supplied to them by the former, xen children were presented to me for baptism; and a remarkable illustration was alforded of the destitution and the diffi- culties to which the settl«jrs are often subjected in the Colonies, in the case of a couple who applied to me to re-marry them. They had bound themselves together by a written document, but had not, it seems, been able even to have recourse to a magistrate to solemnize their marriage, the usual expedient in default of clerical ministrations. Two or three years afterwards, when I was again returning from Gaspe, I made an attempt to pay a second visit to this settlement ; but I was then coming up by water, in a vessel placed at my disposal by the government, and the wind rendered it impossible to effect a landing. I believe that, except one visit from a gentleman of the Church of Scotland, the settlement has never seen any other Protestant minister than myself. Upon this latter occasion 1 officiated, and baptized a few children at the Riviere du Loup, 120 miles below Quebec, where some Protestant families have been drawn together, in consequence of the formation of a large establishment coimectcd with . •' I set oft' myself last Friday afternoon to visit the schools at Mount Johnson, and South-West River on the following day, and to perform service with the people on Sunday ; and, after plunging through thick and thin for twelve miles, in a road in which I had frequently to pull up my horse to consider the practicability of getting through, I arrived about eight o'clock, p.m. at the mountain, where I intended to pass the night. Instead of that, however, I met with a messenger, requesting me to lose no time in going to visit a woman dangerously ill, about six miles beyond the mountain, on a new road, still worse than what I had passed. That myself and my horse got back with- out any broken bones was, I assure you, to me a matter of surprise and of thankfulness. Fortunatelv I reached the mountain asjaiu about three o'clock, a little before the moon set, when it became very dark and tempestiious. At ten o'clock on Saturday morning 1 examined the school at the mountain, and then proceedec' on to South- West River, six or seven miles further, the roads rendered still worse by the rain, which had continued pouring down all the morning. I examined the school there in the afternoon. On Sunday morning, the rain still continuing, I walked some distance to the school-liouse, and was there occupied four hours without intermission ; read the full service, preached, administered the Sacrament to eighteen com- municants, baptized and registered four children, and married a couple. 1 then returned to the mountain to perlbrm afternoon ser- vice there ; but arrived so late that the congregation had dispersed, THE BISHOP OF MONTREAL. 17 concluding that the rain and state of the roads had detained me at South-West River for the night. Next morning I baptized a child, and was just setting off for home, when I received a request to inter the woman whom I had visited before, at two o clock the following day. Had I complied with this request, I must either have remained where I was another r'^rht, (havmg then been three nights from liome,) and possibly, had the weather continued unfavourable, a second ; or I must have returned the following day. This, my horse and myself were so jaded and worn down, I was obliged to decline, hut stilted that Mr. Anderson* would probably go out and read the service ; but if he did not arrive in time, that one of their respectable neighbours must read the service on the occasion, as they had formerly done. I mentioned the case to Mr. Anderson, together witli the frightful state of the roads, and left it entirely optional with him to go or not. He knew, however, that it would gratify the people, and he cheeriiilly undertook it, but returned with aching bones, the horse having actually laid down with him in the mud, ■where, had he not fortunately been within reach of persons to extri- cate him, lie would have been in a perilous situation, his leg being under the horse. I mention this merely as auguring well for his tuture zeal and dilic/ence in the ministry. For this service he knew he had nothing to receive, hut his own expenses of ferries, &c. to pai/. Thus you see, though some of us have small parishes, we are jiot altogether the indolent, useleo.T beings some persons would re- present us. " If the services of our Church were in little estimation, should I have had a congregation of seventy or eighty persons, and eighteen eon'niunicants, such a day as last Sunday, in a miserable cold school- house, the rain pouring down the whole morning, and many of them coming two, three, some even four or five miles, literally through the woods ? "Would the greater proportion of these come regularly once a fortnight to join in the service, and to hear a printed sermon read by a person not yet in orders ? It was quite gratifying to me to hear them sp(;ak as they did of Mr. Anderson ; but at the same time painful to hear them lament their destitution (some even with tears) when deprived of his services." No. 3. He occupied a hut made of round logs, filled in between with mud : his nearest white neighbour was six miles off, and he was sometimes a week without seeing a white face. His intercourse with the Indians alike for common purposes, or for the promotion of their spiritual good, was carried on through the medium of .an interpreter. No bread was to be had within ten miles. He baked cakes upon the hearth himself, except on Sunday mornings, when he roasted po- tatoes. The Indians, however, occasionally brought him a supply of bread made from Indian corn. They lived themselves in a miserable * .Stiulciit ill divinity, and voluntary lay-reader — since ordained, and engaged in tlic SLiviee oi' tlu- Socir.TV ion the I'noPAOATioN of the Gospel in Foki;k!n I'aktr. 18 CORRESPONDKNCr:. manner. He described himself as their priest, doctor, lawyer, judge, and jury. Their singing in public worship was beautiful. He expressed, in a most simple and unafiected manner, his hope and prayer that he might be instrumental to their salvation ; and his cheerful acquiescence in the hardships of his situation. ^1\ Note E.— (P. 11.) No. 1. Resolutions and Subscription List. I ! h At a Public Meeting of the Protestant inhabitants of the Scignory of St. Charles, La Belle Alliance, Aubert Galleon, and parts adja- cent, held in the School-house at the former place, on Wedncsdj;y, the 12th day of Dec. 18.'}2, William Poyer, Esq., being called to the chair, the following Resolutions were unanimously adopted ; viz. — 1st. That as professing Christians it is our duty to provide to the utmost of our abilities, for the regular public worship of God in our neighbourhood. 2dli/. In order to establish the public worship of God amongst us on a permanent basis, it is necessary that Ave should, according to our means, contribute certain sums of money annually for the support and maintenanci of a regularly ordained minister of the Gospel. Sdly. As we acknowledge that they who minister at the altar should by the altar live, and that the labourer is worthy of his hire, we think it right and proper that he who is to minister to us in holy things should be placed in easy and comfortable circumstances, and above the fear of want, in order that he may be to us a faithful minister, withholding nothing that might be profitable to us, but declaring the whole counsel of God, and speaking boldly, as he ought to speak, and that he may have leisure to give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine, giving himself wholly to rightly dividing God's word. 4t.lily. That as new settlers, our limited means do not enable us at present to aftbrd adequate means to support any respectable minister of the Gospel, without assistance from our fellow-Christians. athli/. That as the Venerable Society in England I'oii Puopa- GATING THE GosPEL IN FoREiGN Parts Contribute largely to sup- port, in the North American Colonics, Clergymen of the Church of England, and as we believe that Church to be a pure branch of the Catholic and Apostolic Church, we are of opinion that a Clergyman of that Church, deriving part of his support from the liberality of the said Society, or from some other source, would be most suitable to our circumstances, and also that his ministry would be acceptably exercised among us. Gthly. That a paper in the form of a subscription be signed by us, exhibiting the sum which each of us is willing to contribute annually TIIK nrSHOP OF MONTRRAL. 19 ior the support of a Clergyman of the said Church. That a copy of the present Resolutions be enclosed to the Lord Bishop of Quebec, in a letter, and a copy of the said Subscription Paper, which will contain our humble and earnest petition that his Lordship will take into consideration our spiritual wants, and provide for a resident Clergyman, to act under his episcopal jurisdiction, and to be sup- ported in part as aforesaid by the said Venerable Society poa Pro- pagating _THE Gospel in Foreign Parts, or by some other means. No. 3. Rev. Sir, BrouofJiton. Oct. 23, 1833. A Clergyman is so much desired in this place tliat I have been induced to inform you of the offers which have been made. My father says he would willingly give him 100 acres of land, and the heads of families that they would cheerfully contribute their mite towards his support. It is true, there are not more than thiity families, and amongst that number three or four Catholics ; but it is supposed that it would be a very great inducement for many more to settle ; beside, his duty would not so entirely confine him as to prevent him attending Aubert Galleon and Belle Alliance ; and Mr. Alexander seemed to say that he might take one or two pupils from town, which would enable him to live comfortably. If it be not trespassing too much upon your time, would you favour me with an answer ? '^■: No. 5. A Petition to the Venerable the Archdeacon of Quebec. Venerable Sir, We the undersigned heads of families in this settlement, feeling considerably a want in a spiritual way, do humbly pray that you would let us have, as often as possible, a minister to administer the sacrament, baptism, &c. &c., as the Protestant population here is considerable, as will appear in the return forwarded by the hand of Mrs. Panet ; and we do also pray that you would appoint a school- master, under the Royal Institution, such as would instruct our children in the fear of God, and who might read the Church of England Service in the absence of the minister; — and, as in duty bound, we will ever pray. George Wood, James Proctor, Robert Orrock, David Hill, Robert Gilkison, Andrew Gervan, Lancet Moldoon, Widow Chitty, Archibald Woods, John Tisins, George Price, John Hill, James Wallace, John Moore, Samuel WiLLiAMS(iMr. 20 CORRESPONDENCE. •••'I No. 6. My dear Sir, Quebec, 7th December, 1836. 1 feel it incumbent on me to write you briefly on several sub- jects : — The inhabitants of the townships of Frampton, Standon, and Cranbourne, have petitioned mc " to obtain the continual residence of a Clergyman amongst them, for the regular supply of their spiritual wants ; and in order to obtain the before-mentioned most desirable object, have subscribed" about 40/. currency, annually, as an aid, should it be in my power " to make such an addition as would make it amount to what might be considered an adequate support for the Rev. R. Knight, as minister to the above-mentioned townships." I have communicated to them that I cannot, at present, release Mr. Knight from his engagement as travelling Missionary to this district ; that this must rest with the New Society at Quebec, and that I would apply to the Society for the Propagation ov the Gospel in Foreign Parts to grant an allowance — a salary — to a Missionary for Frampton and that neighbourhood. You are acquainted with the circumstances of the case, and with Mr. Knight. He wishes to be stationed there ; and I believe that there is no station in the Lower Province more proper for the appointment of a new Missionary. I request you to recommend this appointment to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Pabts, and I am of opinion that a salary of less than 100/. per annum will not suffice for the maintenance of a Missionary in that quarter, and this in addition to the subscriptions promised by the inhabitants. I solicit your intercession, and the favour of an answer from you to this application. I propose having, soon, a meeting of our new Society, and that it shall be constituted and established a Branch Society of the one at Toronto. Mr. Harvey, our catechist at Huntingdon, in the township of Hinchingbrook, has applied to me, in behalf of the inhabitants there, for aid towards the building of a church. He represented to me that I had promised a donation of 75/. towards the prosecution of this object. On inquiry, I And that when I was at Huntingdon, upon the 12th of March, 1825, 1 wrote a letter to the above purport. I have lately written to him, to inform him that to do this is now out of my power, and that I would beg a donation from the Society FOR the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. He has replied to me, *• there is no doubt of getting, by subscription, what will be sufficient, if his Lordship will please to grant the before- mentioned sum of 75/., which will not be required until the building is in a forward state, and which is intended to be exactly as described by his Lordship ; viz. forty feet by thirty, a tower and cupola at the west end," &c. &c. I have advised them to build a church of logs, and to make it as little expensive as possible. I request you to intercede in their favour ; and I shall be much obliged to you for this and your other services. (Signed) C. Quebec. R. Clay, Printer, Bread street hill. , 1835. ral sub- fri.*-. on, and