LIFE OF 
 
 REV. JAMES RICHARDSON, 
 
 A BISHOP OF THE 
 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
 IN CANADA, 
 
 BY THOMAS flVEBSTER, D.D. ; 
 
 Author of " HISTORY OF M. E. CHURCH IN CANADA," " WOMAN MAN'S EQUAL," etc. f 
 
 WITH 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY REV. BISHOP CARMAN, D.D. 
 
 1 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life : and he that winneth souls is vise. 
 
 TORONTO : 
 J. B. MAGURN, PUBLISHER, 
 
 36 KING STREET EAST. 
 1876. 
 
Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight 
 
 hundred and seventy-six, by J. B. MAGURX, in the office of the Minister of 
 
 Agriculture. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAQK 
 Introduction i to xxviii 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Birth Parentage Incidents 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Enters the Service of the Provincial Marine ...... 38 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 His Marriage Retirement from the Service Called to preach. . 67 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Enters the Itinerancy 97 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The Conference of 1828 119 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Removal to State of New York, and return to Canada 156 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Elected to the Episcopal office in 1858 179 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Albert College Journey to Europe 192 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 General Conference of 1874 Election and ordination of Bishop 
 
 Carman Last illness 208 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 The Funeral Memorial Services 225 
 
 423 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO DR. WEBSTER'S LIFE OF 
 
 BISHOP RICHARDSON; 
 
 BY 
 
 BISHOP CARMAN. 
 
 When one, that leaves any impress on society at all, has 
 died, we know him better than while he was living. We 
 view his actions and judge his motives with less bias : we 
 set a fairer estimate upon his character ; and with a calmer 
 eye, in a clearer light, we perceive the ruling principles of 
 his conduct and the results of his labors. If the will and 
 the way have been evil, the general tendency of our nature 
 bad as it is sometimes said to be is not to set down 
 aught in malice, but to search out an excuse. And if they 
 have been right, it is a pleasure to the mind to recall them, 
 and a strength to virtue and a joy to the heart to hold them 
 in remembrance. 
 
 Because these things are so, the review of the life of a 
 good man can never cease to be both a benefit and a 
 pleasure. Imperfections he may have ; errors he may have 
 committed ; but the very grandeur of a man is to struggle 
 
11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 above imperfections, and, in moral worth, to shine out 
 beyond errors, so that his excellence is acknowledged, and 
 his life on the earth beams with a perpetual lustre. The 
 steady course of the upright man compels admiration. 
 Kindness in the heart and purity in the life levy a tribute 
 of respect and love on all the generations of men. Our 
 moral instincts are the grandest safeguard of the race, and 
 the hope of religion and truth ; to them we must ever 
 appeal. Since the human heart is what it is, and the 
 incentives to virtue and to vice are what they are, human 
 life is that one profound problem, that one solemn and 
 tremendous conflict, from which not one of us stands aside 
 a curious student or an uninterested spectator, but in whose 
 issues our best possessions and our highest happiness are 
 most deeply involved. Wherefore every man that casts the 
 force of his convictions, the energy of his soul and the 
 weight of his character on the side of the good and the true, 
 while he serves his God in his generation, confers an inesti- 
 mable blessing on his species. He demonstrates that, with 
 all our weaknesses and disadvantages, a purer life is possible 
 to all men ; and to all that choose it, it is the safest pathway 
 to honor and felicity. 
 
 In presenting the life and character of JAMES RICHARDSON 
 to the public view, Dr. Webster is certainly furnishing such 
 an encouragement and support to religion and virtue. And 
 not only to virtue as taught in the schools, as exemplified 
 and praised in heathen philosophy, but to religion as given 
 in the Holy Scriptures, the power of God that cometh down 
 from Heaven and worketh wondrously in the hearts of men. 
 To JAMES RICHARDSON religion was not merely a negative 
 
INTRODUCTION. HI 
 
 condition, a neutral ground ; it was a positive, vigorous life. 
 It was its province to assimilate all the elements of our 
 manhood to its nature, and to mould the entire being. To 
 him religion meant Christianity. It was not Naturalism, but 
 Supernaturalism. It was not a decent Deism or an orderly 
 Rationalism laying -a sickly hand on the arm of man, the 
 pilgrim and warrior, and speaking to him in a faint whisper 
 of duty and destiny. It was an energy in the heart, co- 
 operating with the Reason, and refining and directing the 
 Affections ; it was a force in society, forming the institutions, 
 elevating the conceptions, inspiring the aims, and controlling 
 the conduct of men. It laid a firm grasp upon evil, to check- 
 it and cast it out ; it sustained and protected the right with 
 an omnipotent arm ; and it spake in plain words, with strong 
 voice and unfaltering accents, of the relations and engage- 
 ments of this life, and the prospects and claims of the life to 
 come. 
 
 When a man with penetrating mind, extensive information 
 and sound judgment gives in the adhesion, the devotion of 
 a life to a system like Christianity, he manifests his maturest 
 opinions as to its pretensions, and declares his soberest 
 convictions as to its adaptations and merits. But when 
 going farther, he accepts it as the one Divine provision for 
 the wants of man, the remedy given by the Author of our 
 being for all our woes, he binds it to his spirit and his 
 immortality with his reason, and seals it with his faith and 
 hope. But when going even farther yet, he is so impressed 
 with its importance, and so persuaded of its power in all 
 generations of men and in all climes of earth, that he feels 
 impelled to proclaim it to the universal brotherhood as the 
 
JV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 will of God and the glad tidings of salvation, he rises into 
 the sublimer sphere of philanthropic thought and action, 
 and pours forth his soul under the throbbings of noblest 
 impulse and in the currents of purest love. With such a 
 man our author has to do, in this interesting narrative. The 
 subject of it did not live with the expectation of having a 
 book written to preserve his name and commemorate his 
 deeds. He lived to serve his God, his country, the Church, 
 the truth. He had no pfan to make or spread a fame. He 
 .simply did his duty as he understood it. And from his 
 powers of mind and his acquaintance with men and things, 
 it was his privilege and honor to understand it well. He 
 had carefully explored the fields of religious inquiry, and 
 found in the Word of God the rest of his soul ; and with all 
 his heart he believed it to be the Word of Life unto all 
 nations. Under the guidance of his Lord, it was as natural, 
 therefore, to proclaim it unto others, as it was to embrace it 
 for himself. 
 
 Such votes, it may be said, have always been had, and 
 are yet given, tor any and all religions in the world. The 
 statement fails much of truth. Unquestionably there are 
 men of good minds and sound judgment under the sway 
 of all religions. But they could only determine according 
 to the light given them. W T hat is seen through a green 
 glass alone, is always green. But what, viewed through 
 various colored glasses, takes the color of the medium ; and 
 then viewed in the open light stands manifest in a hue of its 
 own, but reveals to us that the medium is colored, and that 
 the entire beam displays the object as it is. Men in other 
 religions have had little opportunity of comparing one Pagan- 
 
INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 ism with another, and less of comparing their image-worship 
 or hero-worship with a genuine Christianity. They have ever 
 been dissatisfied with their systems, but have had no guide 
 to any that are better. The moral impulse set them in 
 motion ; but flesh and sense only dragged them down- 
 wards to darkness and crime. But the case is different in 
 Christian countries. Here intercourse is had with all nations, 
 and all religions are open to view. When candid minds have 
 seen the nature and the results of Christianity, they have 
 yielded their assent ; they have plighted their faith. Tribes 
 have been educated to Christ ; nations have been born in a 
 day. Enough has been accomplished to show the superiority 
 of the faith of the Cross. And the work is but begun. 
 
 It is not so written because we think it is a noteworthy 
 condescension for any man, however exalted, to bow to the 
 authority of Holy Writ ; or that any man however gifted 
 places Christianity under any complim ent by accepting it. 
 The condescension, the compliment is all on the other side. 
 The great God in condescension and love gave his Son ; 
 in condescension and love He revealed his will to man. 
 All true. Yet on the human side there is an acceptance of 
 the scheme, however magnificent ; an admission of the pro- 
 visions, however effective and glorious. And it is on this 
 side we have the mediatorship of opinion, the high priest- 
 hood of reason. Most men do not think and determine 
 for themselves. They accept the views the leaders of 
 thought have elaborated, and are satisfied with the conclu- 
 sions other men have reached. Personal examination of all 
 our opinions would be a tedious matter, and would give a sub- 
 stitute for the basis on which the masses at present move. 
 
VI INTRODUCTION . 
 
 Notwithstanding our boasted intelligence, prejudice and au- 
 thority are yet a power among men, and ever will be. It is 
 considerations of this kind that make it a pleasure for the 
 Christian believer to find his own faith strengthened by the 
 faith of a good heart, a sound judgment, and a calm and 
 robust mind. And it is also for considerations of this kind 
 that we emphasize the hearty acceptance and faithful exem- 
 plification of Christian doctrine and spirit by the veteran 
 and the sage, the theme of our meditation. 
 
 James Richardson was a Christian in the broadest sense 
 of the term. He sought no modifications ; he made no 
 reservations. He accepted the whole scheme. And he 
 believed it to be good for all men, and all men to be en- 
 titled to its benefits. One of the prominent characteristics 
 of the man was the catholicity of his faith and charity of 
 his spirit. This, no doubt, arose largely, as in all cases of 
 genuine charity, from the directness and clearness of his 
 views. His noble mind laid hold at once of the great 
 essentials of the Christian system, faith in Christ and obe- 
 dience to the law of God. Cleaving his way with the 
 strokes of reason and the thrusts of common sense through 
 externals of systems and the barriers of dogma, he went at 
 once to the heart of religion. And he took the religion of 
 the Bible, the doctrine and the faith of the cross of Christ 
 most earnestly to his own heart. He believed in experi- 
 mental religion. He believed in no other. If there was 
 one thing more than another that taxed his patience, it was 
 the substitution of some device of man for the soul-con- 
 verting power of God, and then calling it religion, or 
 religious duty, or a source of religious comfort. Religion to 
 
INTRODUCTION. . Vll 
 
 him meant conviction of sin, a sense of guilt and helpless- 
 ness, an embracing of Christ for pardon, a consequent forgive- 
 ness, peace and joy, an assurance of acceptance with God. 
 holiness, happiness, heaven. It was a matter of the heart 
 and life, at once the deepest and highest interest of our 
 humanity. The idea of some millinery of the tabernacle, 
 some ritualistic observance, some ecclesiastical imposition 
 or form supplying the unutterable needs of the soul, cleans- 
 ing and satisfying the conscience, was to him shocking and 
 absurd. In the narration of his experience in the fellow- 
 ship of the saints concerning his own conversion he often 
 quoted fhe words of John Wesley : " I felt my heart strangely 
 warmed." And upon the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the 
 abiding witness of the spirit, in his own oft uttered words, 
 '' the life and power of religion in the soul," he lingered 
 with delight in his meditations, revelled in his conversation, 
 and expatiated with triumph in his public discourse. In 
 his quick and accurate perceptions of scripture truth, he 
 had a perfect contempt for such notions as apostolical suc- 
 cession, priestly absolution, sacramental pardon or regener- 
 ation, hierarchical rule or Papal sovereignty. Through most 
 of the many years God gave him on the earth, he stoutly 
 resisted them, and faithfully denounced them both in public 
 and private. Yet this was never done with the irritation or 
 unseasonableness of the demagogue, or for the taunt and 
 pomp of harangue, but manifestly as the result of the pro- 
 foundest convictions, the solid utterances of the broadest 
 and best intelligence. He spake so, because thus he knew 
 and believed, and because the most precious concerns of 
 his fellow immortals were so inextricably involved. He 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ever magnified the Lord Jesus Christ, His work and sacri- 
 fice. There could be no blemish in His character ; no 
 partial or total alternative for His vicarious suffering and 
 death. No man could add aught to His atonement ; none 
 could take aught away. His was a finished work of atone- 
 ment. All that accepted Him were saved. None that 
 rejected Him could be saved. And every man might come 
 directly to God through Him. Thus were all exalted to be 
 kings and priests. What need then of a special line of 
 priests ? Aye, what a blasphemy, what a spoiling of Christ 
 of His dignity and honor, that any man or any succession 
 of men should say that to him or to them belonged the 
 power to continue Christ's sacrifice, and perpetuate and 
 communicate its efficacy ; the power to add or diminish 
 aught of it so as to open and shut heaven at pleasure. These 
 and all such venerable fancies, such ecclesiastical excres- 
 cences and chronic spiritual disorders, his vigorous mind 
 cast off with promptitude, and on the other hand asserted 
 with boldness and clearness the vital doctrines of the 
 Divine Word, the sovereignty of God, the priesthood of 
 Jesus, salvation by faith alone, the immortality of the soul, 
 and the individual accountability of man. 
 
 Furthermore. Richardson was a Methodist. From what 
 has already been written it is apparent that it would be easy 
 for him to be a Methodist, to connect himself with that 
 great family that sprang out of the preaching and labors of 
 John Wesley. Born and reared in the Church of England, 
 up to manhood and till his removal from Kingston to 
 Presque Isle, he had striven to be satisfied with the idea 
 that a man duly baptized and receiving the sacraments is 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 safe. Inner, heart-religion, as he himself afterward con- 
 fesses, he knew not of. Resting in the outward observances, 
 often disturbed and distressed with fears, he never knew 
 peace, assurance, triumph, joy. Yet he was as well off as 
 his neighbours and instructors. But there came to that 
 early settlement on the lake, one of those restless itinerants 
 that for over a hundred years have been pushing their way 
 through forests, over mountains, along and across rivers, 
 proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ. When 
 James Richardson heard Wyatt Chamberlain tell what genu- 
 ine religion is, he said within himself, " If this be religion I 
 have it not." Then he sought it ; he desired a heartfelt 
 experience. His powerful and practical mind comprehended 
 the issues of the case, and strove for the application of the 
 remedy. He felt himself a sinner condemned under the law : 
 then he apprehended the nature and office of Christ as he 
 had never before done. Christ, that knew no sin, had be- 
 come a sin-offering for him. Christ his substitute He 
 knew it, he felt it. It was then he felt his heart strangely 
 warmed. Then he felt the principle of love and obedience 
 take the place of pride and rebellion. He could submit to 
 God. He did submit. He could trust the Lord and leave 
 his ways in his Father's hand. He did trust and went 
 forth to labor for God. Conversion, change of heart, was 
 to him a fact, a personal experience, not dependent on a 
 sacrament, but the resultant of confession to God and faith 
 in Christ. Nor was it dependant on a line of priesthood, 
 a stately ritual, or a pompous ceremonial. He was con- 
 verted in a barn in a country place and among a plain 
 people. Here he had the power of God demonstrated. 
 
X IN PRODUCTION. 
 
 This rather upset his high church notions and well intro- 
 duced him into the simplicity, majesty and efficiency of the 
 Gospel. He was willing even to be a Methodist local 
 preacher, in which relationship to the Church he served his 
 Lord some five years, the time intervening from the year 
 after his conversion, in 1818 to his entrance upon the 
 regular itinerant work in 1824. These years of tutelage led 
 him into a thorough acquaintance with the doctrines of 
 grace,, and prepared him in a familiarity with the economy 
 of Methodism, with the people called Methodists, and with 
 their religious earnestness for the important spheres of the 
 activities of his subsequent life. 
 
 Born in 1791, the very year of the death of Wesley, thus 
 joining in Providence his generation on Wesley's times ; 
 early reached by the Methodist itinerants, and captivated 
 by their spirit ; having a mind seeking out the principles of 
 things and a nature so apt to generous influences, there is 
 little wonder that he came to a lively appreciation of the 
 Methodistic economy, and to a sincere love of the doctrine 
 and discipline. Though the people called by that name 
 were despised, he was perfectly willing to be despised with 
 them so long as they incurred the scorn and reproach for 
 Jesus' sake ; and the reproach was not cast upon them for 
 irreligion or immorality ; for formalism or ritualism ; but 
 for awakened earnestness and renewed activity, designated 
 as these were as overwrought zeal and fanaticism. This is 
 as though the dying flower or drooping fruit should cast re- 
 proach upon the generous life that had produced it. It 
 were better to be alive with the lowly and the poor, than 
 grandly coffined and magnificently sepultured with the rich 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 and the great. The gist of the English Wesleyan move- 
 ment and its extension in America was the infusion of a 
 new spiritual power. It was not the chastening of a ritual 
 or the expurgation of a liturgy, but the sloughing of dead 
 integuments and the impartation of a new life. It was pre- 
 eminently and emphatically a revival of religion. Life, life 
 in the soul. Life in the church was its central idea. This 
 was the excellency that arrested Richardson's attention. 
 Again the lofty aim of the movement, to spread scriptural 
 holiness over the land, stamped it with the patent of a 
 heavenly nobility. " God thrust us out to raise up a holy 
 people," said Wesley. Here was faith, courage, directness 
 and power. Such an enterprise must have charms for a 
 spirit given to a Christian daring and delighting in Godlike 
 achievements. To be converted to God, to be sanctified of 
 the Holy Ghost, and to live and labor for Jesus, this was 
 religion to the good Bishop. Often he spake of the simple 
 conditions of membership in Methodism as contrasted with 
 the requirements in other churches, and of the rules of the 
 United Societies. These more than the doctrines and 
 methods he held to be the distinctive marks of his people. 
 " There is only one condition previously required of those 
 who desire admission into these societies, a desire to flee 
 from the wrath to come and to be saved from their sins. 
 But wherever this is really fixed in the soul it will be shown 
 by its fruits. It is therefore expected of all who continue 
 herein, that they should continue to evidence their desire of 
 salvation (i) by doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every 
 kind, (2) by doing good, (3) by attending upon the ordi- 
 nances of God." Such is the catholicity of Methodism : no 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 fettering with creeds, no persecution for opinions, no exter- 
 nal clampings of ritual or succession. All these are adverse 
 to its spirit. And we believe they are opposed to the spirit 
 of the Church of Christ. We would that even all Protestant 
 pastors apprehended these truths as clearly as James Richard- 
 son, and pronounced them as distinctly. To him the unity 
 of the church grew up from the life within. The unity of 
 the Church of Christ was like the unity of the vine or of the 
 human body. It was the result of growth, compacted by 
 that which every joint supplieth, making increase of the 
 body unto the edifying of itself in love. How eloquently 
 and energetically have we heard the venerable Bishop main- 
 tain these truths ! How positively would he repudiate the 
 claims of a Hierarchy or a Papacy constructing and enforc- 
 ing an external unity ! What contempt he had for all sacer- 
 dotalism and sacramentarianism attempting to weave to- 
 gether by human hands what God knits together with joints 
 and bands of his own divine fabric and supply. On the 
 other hand, what admiration he had for the spiritual and 
 glorious unity of Christ's mystical body, the Church of God ! 
 How diligently he labored and how constantly he pleaded 
 for the union of all men to Christ, and in Christ. Thus he 
 understood Christianity. Thus he understood Methodism. 
 Wherefore it was the one employment of his best abilities, 
 the one aim of his best efforts to make Methodism a power 
 in the land. 
 
 Furthermore, he was an Episcopal Methodist. And this 
 he was right heartily and loyally, and of an immovable con- 
 viction. He never was a sectary or bigot, of such a 
 character in his noble charity he was utterly incapable. But 
 
INTRODUCTION. XllI 
 
 among all Christian denominations he preferred Episcopal 
 Methodism. And to it was he affectionately devoted from' 
 the day of his conversion to God till the day of his death. 
 His attachments grew with his years, and strengthened with 
 his enlarging experience. When he was converted the 
 Methodists of the country were, with scarcely an exception, 
 all episcopal. In 1790, the year before his birth, Wm. 
 Losee, of the New York Conference of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church, under the direction of Asbury, introduced 
 Methodism into Canada. On the appointment of the same 
 apostolic bishop and his coadjutor, itinerant followed 
 itinerant into those northern wilds, looking up the settler as 
 he penetrated the forests and planted his home along our 
 lakes and bays. Bangs, Jewell, Dunham, Pickett, Sawyer, 
 Ryan, Case, and many contemporaries and successors were 
 sent in from the New York Conferences, the Bay Quinte 
 district and Niagara district, being considered as regularly 
 part of their work as the districts about Albany and New 
 York. And why should it not be so ? Why should the 
 catholic kingdom of Jesus Christ be hemmed in or divided 
 by political boundaries ? Why should the petty strifes of 
 men mark out the limits of the Church of God ? In 181 1 
 Asbury himself made an episcopal tour of Canada. At 
 this time there were two districts, eleven circuits, and nearly 
 three thousand members. In 1817, about the time of 
 Richardson's removal from Kingston to Presque Isle, the 
 Genesee annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church was held at Elizabethtown, near Brockville, under 
 presidency of Bishop George, and in 1820 the same con- 
 ference under the same presidency was held in the chapel 
 B 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 at the west end of Lundy's Lane. By this time the circuits 
 had grown to seventeen in number and the membership to 
 nearly 6,000. In August 1824, Bishops George and Hed- 
 ding were both present at the organization of the Canada 
 Conference, as an annual Conference of the M E. Church ; 
 and the latter presided in October 1828, in the Ernesto wn 
 conference when the Canada conference organized itself 
 into an independent " Methodist Episcopal Church in 
 Canada." At the request of the conference he also pre- 
 sided at Kingston in 1830, and ordained, as presented to 
 him, six elders and twenty-one deacons. The American 
 Bishops of course presided over the conferences intervening 
 between 1824 and 1828. 
 
 Richardson passed through all these scenes ; with many 
 of them he was closely connected, and in them a chief 
 actor. He had, therefore, every opportunity of observing 
 the operations of this polity. Likewise he was early pre- 
 disposed in its favor from his nurture in the Church of 
 England. At the Saltfleet Conference in 1825, Bishop 
 Redding in the chair, Jas. Richardson and Egerton Ryer- 
 son were admitted on trial. Under this economy he 
 travelled with William Case, William, John and Egerton 
 Ryerson, Thos. Madden, Anson Green, Philander Smith, 
 and others whose names are familiar in the early Methodism 
 of the country. In 1827 Ryerson and Richardson were 
 ordained deacons by bishop Hedding in the old church yet 
 standing on King street, Hamilton ; and in 1830, they and 
 others made up the list of six elders. Several times secre- 
 tary of the conference up 101832, he had cherished this 
 economy, and as editor of the Christian Guardian, esta- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 blished in the interests of the M. E. Church in Canada, he 
 had defended it. No wonder then that his mind recoiled 
 from the measures of the conference in 1833, that swept 
 away at one stroke, bishops, elders, and deacons, annual 
 and general conferences, and adopted an annual conference 
 of ministers in lieu thereof. No wonder that he and others 
 resisted to the last the casting away of the organization and 
 polity deliberately recommended by John Wesley to the 
 churches in America and the taking instead thereof, the 
 distorted institutions and undesirable expediencies into 
 which that good man had been forced in Britain, cramped 
 and crowded as was the growth of his societies by state re- 
 quirements and the oppressive domination of the Established 
 Church. No wonder good men saddened, and doubted, 
 and waited and wavered and wept and prayed. If there is 
 anything that intelligent and true men come to love, it is 
 not first, hill, or river, or mountain, but it is. first, and deep- 
 est, and longest, and strongest, the precious ordinances, 
 appointments, and agencies of the Church, and the 
 cherished institutions of the State, these institutions that 
 save our life, guard our liberties, instruct our minds, and 
 purify our hearts, increase our comforts, bless our kindred, 
 and exalt our race ; these are our dearest inheritance and 
 our best legacy to our children. In such an honored rank 
 was the Canadian Methodist Episcopacy previous to 1833. 
 So did many of the fathers cherish it, and so do many of 
 their children love it to-day. So is it venerated and held 
 by millions of the Methodists of the United States of 
 America this hour. .They would rather you would take 
 their homes than the ecclesiastical economy recommended 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to them under the sanctions of history by the wise and 
 venerable Wesley, and adopted with Coke's and Asbury's 
 ordinations by the general conference of 1784. It is to 
 them a bond of union and a fortress of power. It is a 
 pledge of security, of progress and of peace. Such an 
 estimate did Richardson and several of his contemporaries 
 place upon it. Who shall wonder that he was in conster- 
 nation, in difficulty and doubt, when it was swept away ? 
 The wonder is that he did not promptly, openly, boldly 
 and continually resist the destruction of such a polity. This 
 is the one mistake of his life. He and others of the time 
 that loved these institutions ought to have rallied to their 
 defence. The face of affairs would have been different to- 
 day. But as the noble bishop often said : " They acted in 
 the interests of harmony and peace ; and they thought they 
 did for the best." And so may it be in the Providence of 
 God. Who can tell ? For peace' sake he went for a little 
 with the tide, and then for his own peace and conscience' 
 sake he sought another course and turned the shattered 
 keel into the old channels and the well-known waters. 
 Sweeping over the well charted track his vessel at length 
 made happy port in full sail. There was administered unto 
 him an abundant entrance. 
 
 He and those with him found Canada to be peculiarly 
 the suffering ground of Episcopal Methodism. Inasmuch 
 as at civil suggestion and outside ecclesiastical interference, 
 the many would abdicate and even abrogate the polity the 
 few desired, its maintenance became a matter of vital im- 
 portance. Episcopacy became a centre of contention ; its 
 defence and promotion a principal of action. It would not 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 therefore be a matter of surprise if some of its aspects had 
 been unduly magnified, if there had been over-estimates 
 and exaggerations touching it. Too much may have been 
 said about the orders and too little store set by the procla- 
 mation of God's Word by men not very regular or defensi- 
 ble in their orders. Yet a solid mind like Richardson's 
 having had the advantage of all the experience and history 
 of the contest must take in all the issues of the case and 
 must pronounce a verdict worthy of respect. And when 
 that verdict has the sanction of a life of privation and suf- 
 fering, like the testimony of the Apostles, it is the more to 
 be regarded. Just as the acceptance of the Gospel by 
 intellects of a certain grade and habit is an argument for 
 the Gospel, so the adoption and retention of a polity by 
 minds of power and of opportunities for experience is an 
 argument in favor of the polity. And Richardson did, 
 unreservedly and unqualifiedly, accept the Methodist 
 Episcopacy. While on the one hand he rejected, as an in- 
 vention of man, the divine right of the Episcopacy, and the 
 conveyance of authority or sacramental force and virtue in 
 a line of succession from the Apostles, on the other he held 
 fast and firm the doctrine of a divine call to the Ministry ? 
 and the necessity of a proper recognition of the call by 
 the Church of God, in formal and public acceptance of the 
 candidate and in his solemn designation to his office. And 
 inasmuch as the Apostles had instituted their Churches with 
 the grades or orders of Bishop or Elder, and Deacon, and 
 these arrangements of men had been sanctioned in New 
 Testament times by the Spirit of God, and inasmuch as high 
 evangelical authorities through successive ages, had called 
 
XV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 back the Church from arrogant assumptions to Apostolical 
 simplicity ; and especially as John Wesley, convinced of the 
 validity of Episcopal ordinances, as opposed to Papal or 
 Hierarchical, had so organized the Church in America, it 
 did seem important to Richardson and many of his asso- 
 ciates in the Conference, that the Episcopacy, as given them 
 by Mr. Wesley, should be retained. They therefore 
 resisted to the last in the Conference the proposed changes, 
 and when these had been consummated, they acquiesced 
 for a little to avoid rending the Church. In this spirit 
 and yet ill at ease, Richardson acted with the Conference 
 for a time, and at length withdrew, and even took work in 
 the United States, thinking that in the Christian Ministry 
 under the cherished Episcopacy, he would find some com- 
 pensation for a temporary absence from his native land. 
 But here operated another strong principle of his nature. 
 His love of country and devotion to the Crown made him 
 restless in his associations with a people, however intelligent, 
 pious and worthy, that did not sympathize with the strong 
 emotions of his soul, or hold their ordinary conversation 
 in harmony with his views on governmental order and 
 public policy. Seeking again the rest he had crossed the 
 national lines to obtain, he speedily returned to Canada. 
 Here he found a band of Episcopal Methodists that had 
 never left their Church or submitted to an unconstitutional 
 abandonment of the Episcopacy, doing what had been 
 better done by himself and those that hesitated with him in 
 the day of crisis and calamity. They were rallying about 
 the old standard and had determined to maintain Episcopal 
 Methodism in the country, though fiercely assailed from 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 both political and ecclesiastical quarters. With them, 
 though the prospect was in all conscience forbidding 
 enough, Richardson decided to cast in his lot, and take 
 what might come, trusting in the Lord. Obloquy did 
 come, and much gainsaying and persecution, but his con- 
 victions were deep and firm, and here his settled mind had 
 rest. He had associated himself with a church, compara- 
 tively weak it is true ; but then he had a people ready to 
 suffer in the interests of their country, to deny themselves 
 of Government patronage in vindication of the voluntary 
 principle of Church support ; a people to whom the 
 simple Word of God was a delight, and the Episcopal polity 
 given of Wesley and sanctioned of the fathers was a rallying 
 point and a fortress. And with this people he laboured 
 and suffered till death brought him to his reward. 
 
 For some years, with the consent of his Conference, he 
 served the Upper Canada Bible Society. His efficiency in 
 that sphere is well attested by the eulogies and records on 
 the occasion of his death. In 1858 at St. Davids he was 
 elected and consecrated Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church in Canada. This office gave fitting scope to his 
 magnificent powers of administration. His were endowments 
 that would have shone in a councillor of state or a judge 
 upon the bench. Yet they were ever employed in all meek- 
 ness and gentleness with the evident desire to promote the 
 interests of his church and bring glory to God. In know- 
 ledge of ecclesiastical law and usage he had no superior in 
 the land. In Methodist polity and discipline he was as 
 thoroughly versed as any man of his times. Having acted 
 as exhorter, local preacher, assistant, preacher in charge, and 
 
5CX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 presiding elder he had regularly graduated in this great 
 university of evangelism and grace. To regulate the affairs 
 of circuits and districts, to direct the movements of the 
 itinerancy, to guide and control the deliberations and en- 
 terprises of conferences, and with dignity and effect to pre- 
 side in boards and senates seemed to him like a second nature, 
 and never apparently either burdened or perplexed him. Un- 
 der a weight of responsibility he was steady; amid conflicting 
 opinions he was calm, and in the agitations of assemblies he 
 was easy and firm. He brought the coolness and prompt- 
 ness of the naval chieftan, qualities he had disciplined in 
 actual service, into the storms of councils and the commo- 
 tions of conferences. His advanced years even at the time 
 he entered upon the duties of the episcopate, left not much 
 to be expected at his hands in the line of personal super- 
 vision of the vast field by actual visitation of the charges : 
 Nevertheless he was much abroad in the work, and wher- 
 ever he moved, his sincere piety, his weight of character, 
 the breadth of his experience, the extent of his wisdom, the 
 gentility of his bearing and the unaffected simplicity of his 
 manner rendered him powerful for good in any circle he 
 touched, and gave him the high honor of being at once a 
 godly man and a universal favourite among the people. 
 
 Among all his countrymen of all religious denominations 
 he was held in veneration, and they vied one with the other 
 in proffering the kindliest of offices and paying the pro- 
 foundest respect He was entertained at many homes of 
 those not of his own people, and had among his sincerest 
 friends and admirers those that belonged to other ecclesias- 
 tical communions. Even the rulers of the land waited upon 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 his conversation with profit, for, for him to tell his experi- 
 ence was to recite the history and unfold the policy of former 
 times. He knew by sight and feeling and personal inter- 
 course what they were learning from books. In the families 
 of his charge all were impressed that the venerable bishop 
 had a solemn mission, and saw that he was about the 
 Master's business. Yet all felt they had free access to 
 him, and were lifted by his example and conversation to the 
 purer intercourse of heaven. To the children of the house- 
 holds he visited he was always joyously welcome ; to the 
 youth it was a delight to serve him, and to the mature 
 and aged his recitals of incident and interchanges of opinion 
 were always an opportunity and an honor. He was thought 
 in all respects a model Bishop, and any one going by the 
 name must be like him in person and act. His successor 
 was at a certain place voted out of the office by the juven- 
 iles because he had two arms. " He could not be a Bishop 
 for Bishop Richardson had only one arm." And he was 
 indeed a model Bishop. They are rare that have as well 
 filled up the outlines of the Apostolical pattern : " A 
 Bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, 
 sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach, 
 not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but 
 patient, not a brawler, not covetous ; not a novice, lest being 
 lifted up with pride, he fall into condemnation of the devil. 
 Moreover he must have a good report from them that are 
 without, lest he fall into reproach and the snares of the 
 devil." 
 
 Viewed simply as a preacher of the gospel the subject of 
 our narrative presented points of interest. His forte was 
 
XX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 argument ; calm, consecutive reasoning. His propositions 
 were definite and their logical connection clear. His expo- 
 sition of Scripture at once edified and satisfied the mind. 
 There was no effort at ornamentation of style, and yet 
 his discourse was far from being without ornament. There 
 was never an attempt at moving the feelings without first 
 convincing the judgment, and yet often his auditors, in sym- 
 pathy with himself, were melted to tears. In preaching he 
 ordinarily opened with a lucid statement of the Scriptural 
 connections of his theme. His divisions were distinct and 
 his proofs of what he attempted decisive, and when argu- 
 ment had culminated into persuasion, and persuasion into 
 entreaty, he bore along with him the convictions and emo- 
 tions of the hearers. The love of God to man, as manifested 
 in Christ's humiliation, passion and crucifixion was to him 
 the melting theme, and when his heart glowed under the 
 beams of this love, the train of argument had been so well 
 laid that the flame ran swiftly to all hearts and melted all 
 into contrition and sacred joy. What shouts have leaped 
 from other lips while his have quivered with trembling and 
 overflowing utterance ! It is not enough to affirm, " God 
 so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son/' 
 majestic as is the enunciation. It is not enough to sweep 
 into rhapsody or swell into declamation on the infinite be- 
 nevolence of Jehovah, or His eternal purposes of goodness. 
 The attention must be detained at length on the magnificent 
 theme. The hearer must behold the wonders of His law, 
 the glories of His government and the riches of His grace, 
 He must contemplate the mysteries of redemption, the 
 worth of the soul, and the inestimable price paid for it in 
 
INTRODUCTION. XX111 
 
 blood. Thus to detain the mind and unfold the marvels of 
 .grace was our preacher's delight and strength. It was by 
 these presentations in plain yet forcible and majestic speech, 
 that he kindled the emotions and bare upward the flame 
 till his audience was swept in thought and feeling to the 
 light-crowned eminences of truth and duty. 
 
 Again, it was a matter of emphasis with him, likely more 
 than with any ol his brethren, to denounce in fearless tone, 
 yet in dispassionate and effective terms, all formalism, and 
 ritualism and sacerdotalism in the Church of the Living 
 God. Detesting sham everywhere, he could not for a 
 moment bear it in religion. In his view, man was born 
 with a corrupt nature ; had incurred the guilt of actual sin ; 
 if in sin, was lying every hour under the flashing condemna- 
 tion of God's law; could not deliver himself; was weak, 
 helpless, utterly unworthy ; must have an atonement, a 
 Saviour, or forever perish ; could not redeem his brother ; 
 could find no help in man or angel. God, God alone could 
 bring salvation ; God's Son, very God, our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, alone could effect atonement. He is our High 
 Priest, and He alone. There is no pardon but through his 
 blood. There is no cleansing but His blood applied by 
 the Eternal Spirit. There is no mediator, no altar, no sac- 
 rifice, no priest, but the lowly Nazarene on the Cross of 
 Calvary, the exalted Redeemer at the right hand of God. 
 Through Him and Him alone men have access to God. 
 By him alone they have pardon, life, and power to keep the 
 divine commands. The era of typical priest, and altar and 
 ceremony is gone and the true light now shineth. We 
 must be born again, born of the Spirit, and live in the 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 obedience of love through faith. The sacrament has no 
 saving, converting, cleansing power in itself ; and is but the 
 sign of reconciliation already effected, and allegiance already 
 sworn. A new heart given of God on repentance and faith, 
 must be the spring of a new life wrought out in the man by 
 the Holy Ghost, and by the man in his bringing forth the 
 fruits of the Spirit. To a mind imbued with such views of 
 the essence and character of the Christian religion as a 
 transaction betwixt God and the soul through Jesus Christ 
 alone, how must the claims of the Papacy appear ; the ar- 
 rogance of the so-called priesthood, the imputed efficacy of 
 the sacraments, or the asserted spiritual energy of certain 
 forms. Contemptible ! all contemptible, and always con- 
 temptible ! Aye, more and worse than that ! A mon- 
 strosity of crime and wickedness, since they are employed 
 by the proud, the corrupt, the selfish and the sinful to 
 delude the masses of men, and keep them in blindness and 
 ignorance that they and their substance may be used for 
 the gratification of lust, and at the behest of hierarchical 
 avarice and ambition. In view of these misled and perish- 
 ing multitudes, our preacher's generous soul was filled with 
 indignation and sadness. He could not but be indignant 
 that these assumptions that had wrought such ruin in the past, 
 were still flaring and exulting in the ranks of the wordly and 
 the haughty that are readiest to call themselves the Church 
 of God. He could not but be sad that under the guise and 
 name of religion, so many were benighted and led on 
 through sin to death. Indignant and sad, it was the bur- 
 den of his ministry eloquently to proclaim against such a 
 priesthood, the fallacy and wickedness of such assumptions, 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 and eloquently to advocate in the face of the people, the 
 perfection of Christ's atonement and the sufficiency and 
 infallibility of the Word of God. 
 
 It may be fitting to conclude this paper, by a glance at 
 the world-ward side of the subject of our sketch. If James 
 Richardson was a man of God, he was also a man for the 
 world. If he was a preacher of divine truth he was also an 
 advocate and defender of the rights of man. If he was a 
 Bishop in the church of Christ, he was also a prince in the 
 Commonwealth of freemen ; one of the kingliest in a nation 
 of kings. He was a living illustration that religion is not 
 one thing, and the social bond, or civil obligation, or political 
 duty quite another. Man is held to man by various ties ; 
 but the divine bond, religion, that holds all men one to the 
 other, and all men to the great God, runs a silken cord 
 throughout the whole warp and woof and is that alone that 
 gives integrity and endurance to the entire fabric. The se- 
 paration of religion from domestic or civil or social duties is 
 a perfect absurdity. It is that divorcement of what God has 
 joined together that curses the human race. There is no 
 such thing as duty at all, unless there is the eternal throne 
 and the Almighty God enthroned thereon. It is because God 
 made us, and made us free and morally intelligent that we 
 are accountable. This is the source of law and sanction of 
 government and judgment and penalty : and this for all life's 
 relations is religion, the bond and the obligation of all in- 
 telligent and free creatures to the eternal throne. The true 
 citizen then is loyal at once to his God and his King. 
 There is no sounder philosophy, no purer religion than this : 
 " Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the 
 
XXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 King." Of this philosophy and this religion the venerable 
 Bishop through all his days was a noble exemplification. 
 He learned loyalty of his father, a veteran mariner in the 
 British service. Himself a sailor in very childhood, at the 
 early age of 18 he entered the royal marines on the lakes. 
 A lieutenant in the navy he served his king and country in 
 the war of 1812, and distinguished himself by his valor 
 and discretion on several occasions of importance. He bore 
 to his death an evidence of the determination and courage 
 with which he prosecuted the attack upon Oswego, in that 
 with one hand alone he was compelled to indicate the way 
 of duty to men, and with one arm alone to fight the remain- 
 der of life's battles. He was ever devoutly attached to the 
 British throne, and cherished the profoundest reverence for 
 the British constitution, usages and laws. He intelligently 
 and conscientiously preferred them above all the polities of 
 other nations, and all the institutes and orders of other gov- 
 ernments of the earth. He held to the crown and the throne 
 firmly enough for the staunchest Tory : he contended for the 
 rights of the people strenuously enough, and swept 
 away the tyrannies of orders and aristocracies ruthlessly 
 enough for the most radical Reformer. Born in 1791, 
 the very year that Upper Canada was made a char- 
 tered colony and given an organization in government 
 by George III., he grew up through our history and partici- 
 pated in the political movements of his times. Drawn by 
 some of his kinsmen into politics before he entered the 
 gospel ministry, he never ceased to take a lively interest in 
 the public affairs of the country. With all the early 
 Methodists he was fervently opposed to every form and 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV11 
 
 degree of Church and State connection that in any way 
 hampered the Church with the bonds of the State ; and it 
 was this settled conviction of his mind, and this unalterable 
 determination of his public policy, that decided his course 
 in the years and events of the disruption of Canadian 
 Methodism. He could give no countenance to a move- 
 ment that was to divert his people from their long settled 
 principles and betray their political influence into the hands 
 of a party striving to the very death to make the Church of 
 England the established Church of Canada, and. renew in 
 the Province the oppression and wrongs, the spiritual 
 inactivity and unfruitfulness of the establishment in the 
 mother land. These statements will also readily indicate 
 what course he would pursue in the settlement of those 
 angry questions that pivoted on the rectories, the clergy 
 reserves, King's College and Toronto University, and all 
 kindred issues before the country. In every conflict he was 
 with the people and opposed to any and every ecclesiastical 
 or political aristocracy and monopoly. He firmly and fully 
 believed that every man should be free to worship God 
 according to the dictates of his conscience, should be pro- 
 tected by the laws of the land therein, and should not be 
 compelled directly or indirectly by taxation to support 
 another's peculiar dogma or creed. Liberty of conscience 
 and liberty of worship were cardinal doctrines of his reli- 
 gious and political faith. The voluntary principle, the 
 support of every Church's institutions by the contributions 
 of its members and adherents or friends in harmony with 
 its spirit was a favorite rallying cry of his co-religionists 
 and a cherished aim of his heart and life for his beloved 
 
XXV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 native land. Though never meddling in party strifes, or 
 interfering in sectional or partisan conflicts, he was always 
 well informed on the great issues before the people and 
 prepared with hand and voice to act his part. At home in 
 the political movements of all countries, he was profoundly 
 interested in everything that pertained to his own land and 
 people. He loved his country ardently and served it 
 honorably and faithfully, and for that love and service he 
 was dearly beloved by his countrymen. Few men have 
 filled out so well the orb of a perfect character ; and few 
 have been permitted of God to shine out so long and so 
 bright amid the constellations of this lower firmament. 
 Lifted high in the empyrean he still sheds through the 
 spheres a mild radiance on the world. In the mystic pho- 
 tography of the soul, the gentle ray in silent energy is trac- 
 ing out the lineaments of his character and the record of his 
 life on the walls and pillars of the living temple, reared of 
 living stones ; and as they come forth to our view and shine 
 out among men, we read that he that hath gone up from the 
 earth was one of nature's noblemen, a true man, a brother 
 indeed, a Christian, patriot, sage. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Birth Parentage Father's services under Lord Rodney in Royal 
 Navy Imminent danger Loss of the Ramillies in a storm 
 Taken prisoner and carried to France After the close of the 
 war, sent to Canada Connection with the Canadian Marine 
 Shipwreck on Lake Ontario Chased by American vessels 
 during the war of 1812 Mother's early Life in America Inci- 
 dents. 
 
 Kev. James Richardson, D.D., late Bishop 
 of the Methddist Episcopal Church in Canada, 
 was born in Kingston, Upper Canada, Jan- 
 uary 29th, 1791, and died at his residence, 
 Clover Hill, Toronto, March 9th, 1875, being 
 in the 85th year of his age, and 51st of his 
 ministry. Bishop Richardson was of English 
 parentage. His father was one of those 
 " who went down to the sea in ships, to do 
 business in great waters." Respecting him 
 the late Bishop remarks : 
 
 *' My father was a native of Lincolnshire, 
 England, and followed the sea. He was in 
 the Royal Navy attached to the Ramillies, 74, 
 one of the fleet under Lord Rodney, in the 
 
18 
 
 West Indies in 1782, and which after the 
 defeat of the French fleet under De Grasse, 
 formed part of the convoy to a large fleet of 
 merchantmen with the prizes taken in the 
 action." 
 
 Bishop Carman in the funeral discourse de- 
 livered in the Metropolitan Church, Toronto, 
 on the occasion of the late Bishop's death, re- 
 marked on the same subject : 
 
 " His father served under Admiral Rodney 
 in his splendid victories over the French and 
 Spanish fleets, during the continuance of the 
 Revolutionary war, and shared in that great 
 conflict in the West Indies, on the 12th of 
 April, 1782, in which the French naval 
 armament under Count De Grasse, was well 
 nigh annihilated." 
 
 As we have already seen, after Lord Rod- 
 ney's victory over De Grasse, the Ramillies, 
 with several other men of war, set sail for 
 England as a convoy to the prizes which had 
 been taken. The royal fleet had successfully 
 bid defiance to the shot and shell of the 
 French and Spanish armies, and had obtain- 
 ed a decisive victory. They were now des- 
 
19 
 
 tined to encounter a more terrible enemy, in 
 opposition to whom courage and military 
 skill were unavailing. In relation to this 
 Bishop Richardson says : 
 
 " Homeward bound, the British fleet en- 
 countered the celebrated hurricane which 
 sent to the bottom of the Atlantic most of the 
 men of war. The Ramillies after losing 
 her masts, and throwing her guns overboard, 
 then in a sinking condition, buffeted by the 
 storm for five days, went down, her officers 
 and crew happily escaping in some of the 
 merchant vessels. So violent was this storm 
 that the fleet was separated, while the crews 
 of many of the vessels, less fortunate than 
 those of the Ramillies, went down with 
 their ships/' 
 
 " I have frequently heard my father relate 
 the particulars of the awfully perilous situa- 
 tion of the men on the Ramillies, during 
 the five days of their fearful suspense. Many 
 were the expedients resorted to in order to 
 keep the ship afloat till the gale should sub- 
 side. Incessant pumping and other labours 
 were continued, at which old Admiral Greaves 
 
20 
 
 himself worked, to encourage others to take 
 their turn." 
 
 The crew of the Ramillies had however 
 but escaped one calamity to be overtaken by 
 another, the merchantman and crew being 
 immediately afterwards captured by an 
 American frigate. Mr. Richardson, the father 
 of the late Bishop, was with his companions 
 in arms, taken to France, and kept there till 
 the return of peace. 
 
 After his release in 1785, he came to 
 Quebec in the service of King George the 
 Third. Subsequently he was appointed to 
 office in the Canadian Marine on the lakes 
 and rivers in these provinces. His official 
 position in this service brought him to King- 
 ston, where he afterwards located his family. 
 In company with other noble pioneer settlers 
 in Upper Canada, the Richardson family ex- 
 perienced numerous hardships, incident to a 
 life in the wilderness. They were however 
 comparatively free from the bitter privations 
 which some of the earlier and less fortunate 
 settlers had to endure. Mrs. Richardson 
 especially had to suffer many discomforts. 
 
21 
 
 besides being subject to much anxiety of 
 mind, during the lengthened absence of her 
 husband on the lakes. For several weeks at 
 a time it would be impossible for her to gain 
 reliable information concerning him, some- 
 times months would intervene before he 
 would be heard from. Those were the days 
 when men sought wild adventure for their 
 country's good, and women suffered in silence 
 and were strong. 
 
 Captain Richardson was fond of the water 
 and preferred to plow the boisterous billows 
 with the keel of his ship, rather than encoun- 
 ter the primeval forests, and use the " shovel 
 plow" among the stumps and roots of the 
 newly cleared lauds. 
 
 A few years after the termination of the 
 American Revolution, the people in the vicin- 
 ity of Kingston, and along the shores of the 
 Bay of Quinte, opened up a trade in grain with 
 the American, soldiers at Fort Oswego, and the 
 people of that part of the state of New York. 
 Captain Richardson became engaged in this 
 trade as well as in other branches of business 
 which could be carried on upon the lak^s. 
 
The following brief allusion to one of Captain 
 Richardson's trips to Oswego, is from the pen 
 of the late Bishop, as sent to the writer some 
 years since. 
 
 " The following incident in the life of my 
 father serves to show the dangers and difficul- 
 ties attendant on the communication by water 
 between places near each other, though 
 upon opposite sides of the lake. As late as 
 1795 or 1796 the American troops at Fort 
 Oswego had to look to Canada for flour, and 
 my father contracted to furnish a supply in 
 the fall of the year, just previous to the 
 setting in of winter. He took in his cargo, 
 purchased of the families along the Bay of 
 Quinte, and sailed for Oswego ; but just at the 
 mouth of the river encountered a severe wind 
 which baffled all attempt at making harbour. 
 (No steam power for navigation purposes in 
 those days.) Being driven into the lake, and 
 a furious snow-storm ensuing, he was driven, 
 after combating all night with the wind, 
 waves, and snow, into the mouth of Sandy 
 Creek and wrecked, being now between 
 twenty and thirty miles east of Oswego. 
 
23 
 
 My father, and a seaman who was with him, 
 swam to shore, but here was only snow and 
 woods. No friendly roof to shelter them, no 
 food to satisfy the cravings of hunger, nor fire 
 to warm the poor benumbed limbs, and no 
 settlement short of Oswego to the north, and 
 a reported commencement of one called Rot- 
 terdam, about fifteen miles through dense 
 woods and swamps, to the southward. They 
 first tried the woods, but sinking above the 
 knees in snow and slush they had to abandon 
 that route, and take the course of the lake 
 shore to Oswego, intersected as it was by 
 several streams. They commenced their 
 journey, as already intimated, without food 
 or fire. 
 
 Providence however was kind to them in 
 the time of their greatest necessity, for on 
 arriving at the mouth of the Salmon River, 
 twelve or fifteen miles east of Oswego, they 
 discovered a boat with her crew on the 
 opposite side, storm bound in the creek. They 
 called and were immediately brought over 
 and relieved. My father proceeded with the 
 boat to Oswego, as soon as possible, and re- 
 
24 
 
 ported the total loss of his vessel and cargo. 
 Winter having now set in, and navigation 
 closed for the season, he had no way left of 
 returning home but by Schenectady, or 
 Albany, and thence by lake Champlairi and 
 Lower Canada to Kingston. His home was 
 not reached before the month of February, 
 My mother in the mean time at Kingston, had 
 heard nothing of him further than that his 
 vessel was wrecked, the cargo lost, and that 
 he had reached Salmon River, and had gone 
 from thence to Oswego. Judge of her anxiety, 
 alone with her little family during those 
 dreary months, till my father's return." 
 
 This incident may be taken as a sample of 
 the disasters and dangers incident upon 
 travelling in those days. However, Captain 
 Richardson was not the man to be disheart- 
 ened. Having decided to push his business 
 as vigorously as ever, before the lake was free 
 from ice in the spring he was again making- 
 ready for the lake trade. 
 
 Another incident which will illustrate the 
 character of the man for courage and perse- 
 verance, was related to the writer, by the late 
 
25 
 
 Bishop, while sailing amid the scenes of the 
 adventure. 
 
 During the war of 1812, Captain Richard- 
 son having been up Lake Ontario with his 
 schooner, the " Simcoe," on some transport 
 service, was passing down, and when nearing 
 Kingston, was intercepted by American war 
 vessels and signalled to " lie to," an order 
 which was disregarded by the intrepid old 
 man. Being determined that his vessel 
 should not fall into the hands of the enemy, 
 his first thought was to run her ashore and 
 burn her, but while preparing to carry out 
 his intention a breeze sprang up, and it being 
 favorable for a run into port, he proposed to 
 his men that they should attempt it. The 
 men readily acquiesced, the canvas was 
 crowded on, and everything arranged with 
 alacrity, the men being as prompt to obey as 
 the captain was to give the order. 
 
 The Americans were quick to discover 
 Richardson's intention of running past them 
 and immediately fired a shot at the vessel, 
 which fortunately did no harm. The captain 
 had given his men orders in case they should 
 
26 
 
 be struck in the hull, to be ready to take 
 prompt measures to prevent the water, as far 
 as possible, from flowing into the schooner. 
 The vessel was kept to her course in the 
 most gallant style, hugging the shore as close- 
 ly as possible, her lighter draught enabling 
 her to run much nearer the shore than the 
 pursuing Americans dared to come. The 
 chase was a hot one ; the enemy with all 
 his canvas spread bearing down upon the 
 schooner and pouring shot after shot into her 
 with fearful effect. The water was now 
 rushing in through the battered sides of the 
 vessel, but the men at the pumps were vigor- 
 ous and worked with a will. The chase was 
 viewed from the shore, the most intense ex- 
 citement prevailing on every side, not only 
 on account of the " Simcoe," but as to what 
 might be the subsequent course of the Amer- 
 icans. Soon, to the great joy of the spectators 
 it was perceived that Richardson had run his 
 vessel past his assailants, and had gained a 
 point which rendered further pursuit imprac- 
 ticable, the enemy not daring to venture 
 within range of the guns of the fort. And 
 
27 
 
 now amidst the most enthusiastic cheers of 
 his anxious friends on the shore, the gallant 
 officer ran his shattered vessel into port ; and 
 as he did so he gave the discomfited enemy 
 a parting salute by firing off an old musket. 
 
 Captain Richardson had, however, just 
 reached the port in time. The vessel was in 
 a sinking condition, and the men had scarcely 
 left her ere she went down.* We now turn 
 our attention for a time from the adventurous 
 father to the not less heroic mother of the 
 subject of this memoir. 
 
 Mrs. Eichardson, whose maiden name was 
 Sarah Asmore, was born in Kingsnorton, a 
 small but ancient town not far from Birming- 
 ham, England. Prior to the American Revo- 
 lution, while yet a young woman, she came 
 to America with the family of Mr. John 
 Stedman, who settled in the province of New 
 York, on the banks of the Niagara River, at 
 or near Fort Schlosser. 
 
 * Wishing to have his memory refreshed, the author wrote to 
 Dr. Richardson for information concerning this adventure of Cap- 
 tain Richardson, but his reply did not arrive till after the above was 
 written. Dr. Richardson's account is however substantially the 
 same. 
 
28 
 
 We have not been able to ascertain the 
 precise time when Mr. Stedman settled above 
 the Falls, but he resided at Fort Schlosser 
 when Sir William Johnson took Fort Niagara 
 from the French on the 24th of July, 1759, 
 as will be seen hereafter. 
 
 The fragments of Miss Asmore's history 
 with which we have become acquainted, in- 
 dicate that she possessed a vigorous intellect, 
 with great energy of character and courage, 
 and she appears also to have largely imbibed 
 the spirit of adventure so rife in those days 
 of frontier life. It is now considerably more 
 than a hundred years since this English 
 maiden first heard the roaring cataract, and 
 saw its mighty masses of waters tumbling 
 and plunging into the deep abyss beneath, 
 with all the grandeur and sublimity of its 
 pristine surroundings. We can imagine the 
 fair stranger, fresh from her quiet trans- 
 atlantic home, standing beside the rapids, as 
 the immense sheet of water, reflecting the 
 sun's rays like a mirror, swept with inconceiv- 
 able rapidity before her vision, without a 
 ripple on its smooth surface until the mighty 
 
29 
 
 flowing flood dashed suddenly over the Horse- 
 shoe falls down the deep gorge into the boil- 
 ing, yawning gulf below, and went thunder- 
 ing among those awe-inspiring, everlasting 
 rocks, sending back to the clouds in its 
 fearful leap a volume of spray, which, in its 
 turn was to be transformed by the rays of 
 the sun into the glorious bow that set its 
 signet of beauty to the whole scene. The 
 voice of many waters thus sounding in her 
 ears may have reminded her of the Great 
 Creator of the universe who so impressively 
 manifested Himself in His works. Did she 
 behold with rapturous delight the majestic 
 forests that fringed the beautiful Niagara, 
 from Lake Erie to where the pure waters of 
 the river are lost in Lake Ontario ? Or did 
 the solemn depths of the wilderness impress 
 her with a sense of mysterious awe ? 
 
 The scenery about Niagara Falls one hun- 
 dred and twenty-five years ago was more 
 stupendously magnificent than it is now- 
 grand as it is even yet for nature was then 
 in her primeval glory ; and yet the banks of that 
 river with all their awe-inspiring native gran- 
 
30 
 
 deur witnessed scenes of carnage and bloody 
 strife, soul sickening in their details. Here 
 the pale face and the red man met in deadly 
 conflict, the French and English leading on 
 the European and Provincial battalions, each 
 aided by their savage allies. 
 
 The members of Mr. Stedman's household 
 were often the unwilling spectators of these 
 encounters, Mr. Stedman himself sometimes 
 taking an active part in them. In conse- 
 quence of Mrs. Richardson's residence in the 
 contested border-land during the French war, 
 her mind was stored with legends of the many 
 appalling deeds of horror perpetrated in those 
 times along the New York frontier. 
 
 Immediately after Sir William Johnson 
 defeated the French and had obtained posses- 
 sion of Fort Niagara, the British above the 
 Falls, on the New York side of the river, 
 were anxious to communicate with him, but 
 the woods about the " Old Landing," now 
 called Levviston,were infested with the French 
 soldiers and their Indian allies, who having 
 escaped from Johnson were thirsting for 
 revenge. 
 
31 
 
 The following item extracted from the 
 manuscript of the late Bishop may not be un- 
 interesting to the reader : " Some of these 
 parental traditions may not be out of place as 
 they evince some of the features of those early 
 days, and the life and death struggles of those 
 who lived on the then western frontier 
 of the New York colony. After the capture 
 of Fort Niagara by Sir William Johnson, the 
 east bank of the river was beset with hordes 
 of hostile Indians and French, who infested 
 the woods between Forts Niagara and Schlos- 
 ser, so that all communication was inter- 
 cepted for a time. The authorities offered 
 a grant of the carrying place or portage, con- 
 sisting of the monopoly of the transport ser- 
 vice and trade, between the head of naviga- 
 tion on the Niagara at the " Old Landing,"- 
 Lewiston and Schlosser to any man who 
 would carry a despatch from Schlosser to 
 Niagara. Mr. Stedman undertook the task 
 accompanied by an officer of the army. Both 
 being mounted on fleet horses, they rode the 
 fierce gauntlet, the Indians arid French firing 
 on them from the woods on either side. The 
 
32 
 
 officer was shot dead, but Stedman escaped 
 and carried the despatch safely through." 
 The Indians after this adventure gave to Mr. 
 Stedman the name of the "Alligator," holding 
 him in u superstitious reverence." believing 
 him to be invulnerable to a bullet. 
 
 The Bishop continues : fi Another incident 
 of that war, received by tradition from my 
 mother, was the entire massacre and destruc- 
 tion of a detachment of the British by the 
 French and Indians at a certain spot on the 
 old river road, between the " Old Landing " 
 and the Falls, known to this day as the 
 Devil's Hole, which is a deep gorge in the 
 bank of the river over the head of which a 
 log bridge extended. Here the enemy lay in 
 ambush, and suddenly springing on their prey 
 consisting of men, women, and children, with 
 teams and wagons, either killed or precipitated 
 them off the bridge, and left them to perish 
 in the gorge. The bridge from this disaster 
 got the name of the " Bloody Bridge." 
 
 In process of time Miss Asmore was married 
 to Lieutenant Bryant of the " King's Navy 
 on the lakes and rivers, designated the Pro- 
 
33 
 
 vincial Marine." He was appointed to the 
 command of a vessel named the Charity. On 
 one occasion the vessel ran upon a shoal of 
 rocks off the entrance to Carleton Island 
 channel, at the foot of Lake Ontario, and it 
 was with much difficulty that it was saved 
 from becoming a total wreck. The rocks 
 have ever since been known among lake 
 navigators as the u Charity Shoal." " This 
 shoal is surrounded by very deep water, 
 distant several miles from any land, and is 
 nearly mid channel as vessels pass from the 
 lake to the river St, Lawrence. Consequent- 
 ly in former years when the level of the 
 water in the lakes and rivers was six or seven 
 feet lower than it has been at any time since 
 1818, it was considered a dangerous spot and 
 an object of much anxiety to sailors passing 
 that way in a dark night or in foggy weather, 
 there being no beacon or light by which to 
 make the passage." 
 
 " While my mother was Mrs. Bryant," the 
 bishop proceeds, " she resided at Navy Hall, a 
 marine barrack on the margin of the Niagara, 
 on the Canadian side, near the old Fort 
 
 3 
 
34 
 
 George. Here she was for a long time 
 the only white woman on that side of the 
 river, and while her husband was away on 
 duty, she would be at times surrounded by 
 thousands of savages, often revelling in 
 drunkenness and war dances, it being the 
 period of the American Revolutionary war. 
 Yet they seldom troubled her, and only in 
 one instance was she threatened with per- 
 sonal violence. She was, on this occasion, 
 preparing some food for her dinner. Two 
 Indians entered the house, and one of them 
 being in a drunken state, demanded the food 
 Mrs. Byrant was cooking. She refused to give 
 it up, whereupon the fellow drew his knife, 
 but his arm was arrested by his more sober 
 companion, who dragged the offender from 
 the house and led him away. My mother 
 following them to the door, and observing a 
 captain of one of the king's vessels coming 
 along, informed against the Indian ; upon 
 which the Captain, using his sword-belt gave 
 the fellow a sound beating on his bare back, 
 his companion the meantime pleading for 
 mercy on his behalf." 
 
35 
 
 At the termination of the revolutionary 
 war and upon the return of peace, the forces 
 were reduced. Mr. Bryant and Mr. Lyons 
 who had served in the 8th regiment located 
 on adjacent lands situated on a small stream 
 which empties its waters into the Chippawa, a 
 few miles from the place where the latter river 
 empties into the Niagara. This creek is 
 called Lyons' creek to this day. 
 
 Prior to the location of their lands in the 
 same vicinity, the families of Mr. Bryant and 
 Mr. Lyons had formed an intimate acquaint- 
 ance, and a friendship sprang up between 
 them which continued without abatement 
 through life. Mrs. Bryant and Mrs. Lyons 
 during the military career of their husbands, 
 had been for a length of time the only white 
 women in that vicinity, so that they very 
 naturally became much attached to each other. 
 
 The attempt to make homes for themselves 
 at Lyons' creek was not successful, for neither 
 the gallant soldier nor the fearless sailor 
 knew much about clearing land, or farming 
 it after it had been cleared, and therefore, 
 the respective families, during the time that 
 
36 
 
 they resided there, endured all the hardships 
 incident to early pioneer life, without reap- 
 ing any corresponding benefit. 
 
 Mr. Bryant died soon after settling on his 
 land, and thus his wife was left to struggle 
 alone as best she could with the difficulties of 
 the situation, her children two sons being 
 too young at the time of their father's 
 death, to be anything more than an additional 
 charge to her. 
 
 Subsequently, (we are not furnished with 
 the date) Lieutenant Richardson was mar- 
 ried to Mrs. Bryant, and removed to Kings- 
 ton, where Mr. Richardson took up his re- 
 sidence. 
 
 From the families of the Lyons', Bryants', 
 and Richardsons', have sprung numerous and 
 respectable descendants, many of whom have 
 continued to make their homes in the highly 
 favored land of their birth ; while others of 
 them having removed to the United States, 
 have been equally esteemed as worthy and 
 honored citizens of that republic. 
 
 But, in a brief memoir like this, we have 
 not space to enter into further details concern- 
 
37 
 
 ing the courage, heroism, and persistent en- 
 durance of the elder Mr. Richardson and his 
 wife, and their more intimate connections. 
 Interesting as further particulars might be, 
 we are compelled to turn from the exploits of 
 the parent to those of the son. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Promising Childhood Moral and Religious Training Fondness 
 for the water Attention to navigation and topography of our 
 lake and river shores and channels Enters the service 
 His character Receives a commission in 1812 Changes in 
 1813 Continues in the service Unsuccessful attempt on Sack- 
 ett's Harbour An expedition Treachery Burning of " Big 
 Sodus " Battle of Oswego Loss of his arm Subsequent dis- 
 aster Commendatory notice Sir James L. Yeo's certificate. 
 
 The young James Richardson from his child- 
 hood gave pleasing promise of both a comely 
 and a brave manhood. He possessed an erect 
 frame, and an open, handsome countenance. 
 And it was early evident that he was also 
 endowed with a clear and strong intellect, 
 which his parents were desirous he should 
 cultivate and store with useful knowledge ; 
 therefore they gave him the benefit of such 
 opportunities for acquiring an education as 
 the country then afforded. 
 
 His father and mother were members of the 
 Church of England, and his early religious 
 impressions were received from that body, 
 
 38 
 
strengthened by home training and instruc- 
 tion ; love of truth and honesty, and a sense 
 of honor and of duty were engraved upon his 
 heart long before he made a public profession 
 of experimental religion. His reverence for 
 the Bible, and for the gospel truths contained 
 therein never wavered, even when exposed to 
 the temptations incident to a military life. 
 Moral integrity and manly dignity were 
 marked features in his long and eventful 
 career. 
 
 His regular school-life, which he used to 
 advantage, making creditable progress, for his 
 age, closed when he was about thirteen years 
 old ; but having a fixed purpose to increase his 
 stock of knowledge, he devoted himself as cir- 
 cumstances permitted to useful study, and thus 
 became familiar with the best works on the- 
 ology and general literature to be found 
 in the language. 
 
 Inheriting his father's fondness for the water, 
 and perhaps also his love of adventure, he com- 
 menced his career as a sailor in 1804, going out 
 in his father's vessel. Captain Richardson 
 being an experienced seaman, and the youthful 
 
40 
 
 James being anxious to excel in the art of navi- 
 gation, made such good use of his time and op- 
 portunities that he was early qualified to take 
 a prominent position under his father. In this 
 way he became thoroughly acquainted with all 
 the points of interest on Lake Ontario, especi- 
 ally with those places where navigation was 
 dangerous. The knowledge thus acquired, en- 
 abled him in after years not only to be of ser- 
 vice to his father in their own business trans- 
 actions, but to render efficient aid to his coun- 
 try in her hour of perilous need. 
 
 Five years apprenticeship with his father 
 had made young Richardson thoroughly con- 
 versant with the topography of the lakes and 
 rivers. The dangerous harbor entrances, the 
 rocks, channels, and shoals belonging to these 
 waters, were as familiar to him as the .streets 
 of his native town are to a landsman. There- 
 fore desirous of rising in his profession, he, 
 with his father's concurrence, in 1809, enter- 
 ed the Provincial Marine, being then but 
 eighteen years of age. 
 
 About this time he suffered, in the death of 
 his mother, the first great sorrow of his life. 
 
This was a great bereavement to the whole 
 family. To James it was especially so, at 
 this critical period in his career, when, being 
 no longer under his father's watchful care, 
 he so much needed the Counsels and admo- 
 nitions of a mother. His parents had early 
 implanted in his heart the principles of integ- 
 rity and honor, and these with the natural good 
 sense of the young man proved a safeguard 
 against the temptations to which his position 
 exposed him. The firmness of his principles 
 was manifested by his subsequent conduct. 
 
 After his entrance into the Provincial Ma- 
 rine service, his strict obedience to orders, 
 coupled with his excellent moral character 
 and gentlemanly bearing, gained for him the 
 confidence and respect of the officers and men. 
 The estimation in which his trustworthiness 
 and skill in lake navigation were held, was 
 evinced upon the breaking out of the war of 
 1812, between the American and British gov- 
 ernments ; when he being but twenty -one, re- 
 ceived a Lieutenant's commission in" the Pro- 
 vincial Marine, in which capacity he served 
 his King and country with great fidelity and 
 efficiency. 
 
4-2 
 
 A change was however at hand in the 
 management of this department of the service. 
 
 With respect to this change the Bishop 
 says : 
 
 " From some mistrust that our Provincial 
 Marine would not be adequate to the increas- 
 ing emergencies of the war, application was 
 made to the Admiralty of England for aid 
 from the Royal Navy. Accordingly, in the 
 winter of 1813, Captain Barclay, accompanied 
 by Commodores Downie and Pring, Lieuten- 
 ant Scott and a few warrant officers and sail- 
 ors, was despatched from Halifax across the 
 wilderness, through storms, frosts and snow- 
 drifts to Quebec, thence to Kingston, where 
 they arrived in April, weather beaten, ex- 
 hausted and almost ' done up.' Captain 
 Barclay took command, till the arrival in 
 May of Sir James L. Yeo with 500 officers 
 and men direct from England. 
 
 " I had the honor to be despatched by Capt. 
 Barclay, with the gunboat " Black Snake," to 
 meet Sir James with his flotilla of unarmed 
 Canadian batteaux and escorted him up the 
 river, along the frontier of the enemy, to 
 
43 
 
 Kingston, where with the rear division under 
 Captain Mulcaster, we arrived unmolested in 
 the latter part of May, 1813. 
 
 " The naval armament on the lakes now 
 assumed a new character and position no 
 longer " Provincial " nor subject to the Quar- 
 ter Master General, but a part and dependency 
 of the Royal Navy. Our Provincial com- 
 missions were of no force or effect in the new 
 relation ; yet, because of our local knowledge 
 and experience, our services were desirable, 
 and particularly required by our new Com- 
 mander ; none however, of the commissioned 
 officers on Lake Ontario consented to remain, 
 except Lieutenant George Smith and myself. 
 I told the Commodore, that if my services 
 were of any avail they were at his command, 
 only I would not take any rank inferior to 
 that I held in the Provincial Marine. He 
 remarked that the rules of the service pre- 
 cluded my relation as a Lieutenant among 
 them, but he would be hippy to have my 
 services as a Master, and would rate me 
 accordingly ; this, while it gave me rank in 
 the " gun-room." with the commissioned 
 
44 
 
 officers, would be appropriate to the discharge 
 of the twofold duty of master and pilot. In 
 this highly responsible relation I continued to 
 serve to the best of my ability, during the re- 
 mainder ot the war, and for some time after ; 
 sharing in the fatigues, dangers and exploits of 
 the campaigns of 1813 and 1814." 
 
 Though the changes made by Sir James 
 Yeo, in removing those officers who had pre- 
 viously commanded the Provincial Marine, 
 and supplying their places with officers fresh 
 from England, had given so great, and to 
 some extent, just offence, that these officers, 
 with the exceptions named in the foregoing 
 extract, refused to co-operate with the Admi- 
 ral, yet their annoyance at this step did not 
 diminish their loyalty, or their attachment 
 to the Crown, nor their desire for the ulti- 
 mate triumph of the British arms. They 
 however conceived it to be exceedingly inju- 
 dicious to set aside officers who understood 
 their men and were respected by them, and 
 who were familiar with the waters on which 
 they were to operate, with all the dangers to 
 be guarded against, and all the safe harbours 
 
45 
 
 to be found on their shores, and who were 
 also well acquainted with the characteristics 
 and peculiar tactics of those with whom they 
 were contending ; while those who were to 
 supersede them were necessarily ignorant of 
 these things. To them the whole proceeding 
 indicated a want of appreciation, on the part 
 of the authorities, of the valuable services 
 they had been rendering to the country, nor 
 is it at all surprising that they were somewhat 
 sensitive. 
 
 Lieutenant Richardson, though sharing the 
 sentiments of his brother officers, was actu- 
 ated by higher considerations than merely 
 his own individual importance; he therefore, 
 as we have seen, acceded to the request of the 
 commodore, and continued in the service. 
 
 The campaign of 1813 opened with the un- 
 successful attempt on Sackett's Harbour. As 
 Mr. Richardson was with the fleet on this ill- 
 starred expedition, we will give the account 
 of it in his own words : 
 
 " The failure of the expedition against 
 Sackett's Harbour, under the immediate com- 
 mand of the General-in-Chief, Sir George 
 
46 
 
 Provost, which opened the campaign of 1813 
 is wholly inexplicable. Why were the troops 
 not landed in the forenoon of the day of our 
 appearance off the place, when the wind and 
 weather and every other circumstance were 
 favorable, with no enemy at the landing place, 
 to oppose ? Respecting this I had the honor 
 of being consulted. The men were in the 
 boats, the anchors ready to be dropped, the 
 spot pointed out and reached ; when instead 
 of proceeding to land and taking the place, 
 (which probably could have been effected 
 without losing five lives) they were ordered 
 to re-embark, the ships hauled to the wind, 
 and made to stand off till midnight. Then, 
 in the dark, at the distance of several miles, 
 the men were put into the boats, and ordered 
 to find their way to the same anchoring 
 place, abreast of which they had been in the 
 morning, the best way they could. In the 
 meantime the enemy had posted themselves, 
 prepared to give our brave men a warm 
 reception , besides they had been fortifying 
 their position in their works, and had been 
 receiving large reinforcements, by land and 
 
47 
 
 water during the day. Why then, after sev- 
 eral hours of hard fighting and great sacrifice 
 of life and limb, the enemy driven from their 
 works and in the act of abandoning the place, 
 in despair had actually set fire to their own 
 navy -yard and store- houses, a retreat was 
 sounded, the troops ordered to re-embark, and 
 the dead, with some of the wounded, left to 
 the enemy, is a question which remains to 
 this day a mystery. 
 
 I heard one of our brave colonels, as he 
 came up the ship's side, indignantly ex- 
 claim : " Oh, if he would but give me my 
 own regiment, I would yet land again and 
 take the place." * * * * * * * 
 "In the month of July, 1813, the Americans 
 having launched and fitted out two ships the 
 ' Pike ' and the ' Madison,' had them at 
 anchor outside the point forming the en- 
 trance of Sackett's Harbour. Commodore 
 Yeo therefore conceived the idea of a ' cut- 
 out/ by stealing a march on them in the 
 night with a number of armed boats manned 
 by expert seamen, and aided by a detachment 
 of the 100th regiment under command of 
 
48 
 
 Major Hamilton, and a few marines. Ac- 
 cordingly, we left Kingston harbour about 
 five o'clock p.m., expecting to reach the ships 
 before daylight next morning, the distance 
 being about forty miles across the inlets, 
 and along the shore at the eastern extrem- 
 ity of Lake Ontario. Such, however, was 
 the sluggishness of some of the gunboats, 
 propelled by oars, that notwithstanding the 
 calmness of the night, the day began to dawn 
 as we rounded the point which opened out 
 the ships at anchor about eight miles distant. 
 It would not answer to approach them in open 
 daylight, and to attempt a retreat would have 
 been equally fatal, for they might have over- 
 hauled and blown us to atoms. No expedient 
 therefore was left us but to hide in some 
 nook or corner of the shore, which was then 
 covered with a dense wood, and lie concealed 
 if possible till the following night. Our Com- 
 modore therefore proceeded ahead to search, 
 and found such a place about two miles up 
 Hungry Bay to which we retired, and having 
 laid the boats broadside to the beach of a 
 shallow bend in the shore, we cut saplings and 
 
bushes and placed them in the water out- 
 side the boats, which were thus tolerably well 
 screened. Our force numbered about 700 
 officers and men, and strict orders were given 
 not to kindle any fire, or raise a smoke, or dis- 
 charge any firearms whatever, but to keep 
 quietly concealed in the woods till the re- 
 turning darkness should favor our design. 
 During the day boats passed, and the enemy's 
 armed schooners continued tacking to and fro 
 between us and the open lake but failed to 
 discover us, which had they done, we would 
 doubtless have had our boats destroyed and 
 ourselves left fugitives in an enemy's land, 
 which was covered with forest trees for 
 several miles on either hand. We were 
 destitute of fire-arms, for these, except a few 
 the troops had, we were not permitted to 
 bring, having to depend on our swords, cut- 
 lasses, boarding axes and boarding pikes for the 
 execution of the work. In such a dilemma 
 as that our ingenuity would have been fully 
 tested, but happily it was not put to the trial. 
 We escaped the notice of the enemy, but alas ! 
 not the treachery of some of our own party. 
 
50 
 
 It was some time after we had made good our 
 landing in the woods before muster roll was 
 called, when a sergeant and a private of the 
 hundredth were missing, search was made in 
 the woods without avail, and it became evident 
 that they had taken themselves off, but as 
 there was no house within ten or twelve miles 
 and they were strangers in the country hopes 
 were entertained that they would not be able 
 to betray us before night-fall. Our Commo- 
 dore was evidently much exercised in mind 
 through the day lest his enterprise should be 
 baffled, and conversed with me, as having 
 more local knowledge of those parts, relative 
 to the practicability of their finding their way 
 to some inhabitant and thus giving the alarm. 
 Just before sundown one of the armed schoon- 
 ers which had been standing off and on 
 between us and the lake, was observed to stand 
 to the shore along which we were concealed, 
 about a mile to the westward between us and 
 the point round which we had come. Here. 
 having anchored close to the shore, she sent 
 her boat ashore and when it returned she 
 fired an alarm gun and made sail for Sackett's 
 
51 
 
 Harbour. We had no doubt the villianous 
 deserters had shown themselves on the beach, 
 and that she had taken them on board, which 
 proved to be the case. The chagrin and dis- 
 appointment caused by this betray aland con- 
 sequent failure of the scheme, within a few 
 hours of what otherwise would probably have 
 been its successful termination, may be con- 
 ceived. We all felt sorely, but Commodore 
 Yeo could scarcely contain himself. 
 
 Nothing could now be done but to seek our 
 safe retreat. So soon as night set in, we 
 were ordered to embark, and pulling into the 
 offing got sight of the ships which were fully 
 lighted up and prepared to give us a warm re- 
 ception. Should we have had the audacity to 
 make the attack, they could no doubt have 
 sunk us as we carne alongside. Orders were 
 then given to pull for the Canadian side and 
 make good our retreat. At day break next 
 morning, we saw the American squadron off 
 the point under full sail after us, but the wind 
 was so light during the night that they did 
 not come up." 
 
 " The following incident which occurred 
 
52 
 
 during the summer of 1813, may be worthy 
 of notice. Our Commodore in absence of 
 something to fight, proceeded to inspect the 
 enemy's coasts and harbours, in search of 
 provisions and stores, which when taken 
 would replenish us. while it despoiled them. 
 Being informed that the United States had a 
 large stock of flour deposited at the village of 
 Big Sodus, about thirty miles westward of 
 Oswego, he brought his squadron to anchor 
 and towards evening sent in the boats with a 
 few sailors and marines, and a detachment of 
 about 60 of the ' Royals.' It became dark 
 before we made the landing, and an advance 
 of 15, of which I was one, commanded by Capt. 
 Mulcaster, proceeded at once to the village, 
 under the guidance of one acquainted with 
 the place. We found the houses deserted, 
 and not a person to be seen, but one in a 
 tavern so drunk that we could get no infor- 
 mation from him. After searching in vain 
 for the inhabitants, during which strict 
 orders were given not to molest any furniture 
 or articles of private property, and while our 
 Captain was consulting as to future proceed- 
 
53 
 
 ings, it being very dark, some one hailed. us 
 from some bushes close by. Captain Mulcas- 
 ter answered ' friend/ but before the word 
 was fully out they fired a volley which felled 
 5 of our 15. They then took themselves off. 
 The detachment of the ( Royals ' coming up 
 in our rear and hearing the firing, took us 
 for the enemy, and also discharged a few 
 shots at us before the mistake was discovered. 
 Capt. Wilson of the ' Royals/ who was among 
 the 15 in advance, wore a peculiarly shaped 
 cocked hat, which a flash of lightning just at 
 that moment, happily for our party, revealed, 
 and showed the officer of the detachment in 
 the rear who we were. Thus in all probabi- 
 lity the shape of a cocked hat saved some 
 valuable lives. The enemy was no more 
 seen during the night, except some stragglers 
 who towards morning came within our lines 
 and were arrested. On being questioned as 
 to the firing, and where the inhabitants of 
 the village were, they said it was the inhabi- 
 tants themselves that had fired ; that on the 
 approach of the ships in the evening a consul- 
 tation was held in the village, and while some 
 
54 
 
 would have remained quietly at home under 
 the conviction that they would not be molest- 
 ed, the majority decided to arm themselves, 
 disappear, and fire on us, some remarking 
 that they would thus have the satisfaction of 
 killing some of the British anyway. 
 
 This word being sent to the Commodore, 
 he ordered the place to be burnt as a warning 
 to all others along the coast. The prisoners 
 being liberated they were instructed to say 
 that wherever we came, if the inhabitants 
 remained quiet, private property and rights 
 would be respected ; but in all cases where 
 the people made an armed resistance and 
 wantonly fired on us, they might expect to 
 be punished in like manner. This was a 
 painful occurrence. Both the occasion and 
 its result caused me distressing feelings. 
 How far the Commodore was justified by the 
 rules of war, the public must judge, but that 
 it was not a wanton and unprovoked act, as 
 some have represented it, I am witness, inas- 
 much as till this word came from their own 
 people the said prisoners, strict orders 
 were given to respect private property, and 
 
55 
 
 even when an order was given to burn 
 the place, pillage was forbidden. All we got 
 for our visit was about 500 barrels of flour, 
 found in a storehouse. I have since conversed 
 with an American gentleman who was at 
 the place at the time, and who stated that 
 about 3,000 barrels of flour belonging to the 
 United States were there concealed in the 
 woods, which the darkness of the night 
 covered from our view." 
 
 " In the spring of 1814 word having 
 reached our Commodore, Sir James L. Yeo. 
 that a large number of boats were at the 
 mouth of Oswego River, laden with cannon 
 and naval stores for the fitting out of the two 
 frigates then being built at Sackett's Harbour ; 
 an expedition was ordered for the capture of 
 the Fort at that place, now named ' Fort 
 Ontario,' then known as ' Fort Oswego.' 
 Our squadron consisting of the Prince Regent, 
 60 guns, Princess Charlotte, 32 guns, Wolf, 20 
 guns, Royal George, 20 guns, Moira, 16 guns, 
 Melleville, 16 guns, and Netley, 12 guns, with 
 detachments of troops from the ' Royals/ 
 1 Glengarry Fencibles,' and other corps left 
 
56 
 
 Kingston on the 4th May, and arrived off 
 Oswego, the 5th ; but owing to a heavy 
 squall of wind they were obliged to haul off 
 and delay the attack till next day. In the 
 morning of the 6th orders were given the 
 Wolf (subsequently named the Montreal,) to 
 stand in and take a position under the fort, to 
 cover and assist the landing of the troops. 
 The charge of conducting her to her anchorage 
 among the rocks and shoals that environ the 
 entrance to that river, devolved on me. Not 
 without some degree of diffidence did I per- 
 form the task, for not since I was a lad had I 
 been there, and then only in small vessels 
 with very light draft of water. I resolved 
 however on doing my best though sensible of 
 the weighty responsibility resting on me. I 
 succeeded in attaining the desired position to 
 the satisfaction of both my Captain, Stephen 
 Popham, and Commodore Yeo ; who were 
 pleased to commend my conduct in their 
 official despatches. 
 
 Our ship had rather a warm berth after the 
 gunners of the Fort obtained the range, every 
 
57 
 
 shot telling on some part of her, a fixed object 
 at anchor. The shots with which they com- 
 plimented us were evidently hot, for they set 
 our ship on fire three times. One of them 
 made so free with me, as to carry off my left 
 arm just below the shoulder, which rendered 
 amputation at the socket joint necessary. 
 
 Our position was attained before the troops 
 were ready to land, the other vessels keeping 
 in the offing, so that we alone for some time 
 had to sustain the fire from the fort. The 
 "Melleville/ brig, and the schooner "Netley," 
 at length came within range of the batteries, 
 to our assistance. In the mean while, the 
 troops with some sailors and marines having 
 effected a landing, marched directly up the 
 hill and scaled the fort under a galling fire 
 from the enemy which cut down a goodly 
 number of our brave fellows, officers and men. 
 
 Among the wounded was the gallant Cap- 
 tain William Mulcaster, of the 4% Princess 
 Charlotte," who received a musket shot in the 
 abdomen, from the effects of which he never 
 recovered though he survived for several years. 
 He was honoured with the notice and confi- 
 
58 
 
 dence of his late majesty, William IV., who 
 placed him on his staff, as aid-de-camp at his 
 court. 
 
 As our forces entered the fort in front, the 
 enemy abandoned it in the rear. But although 
 the victory was thus gallantly achieved, and 
 the fort reduced ; the object sought by the ex- 
 pedition was not attained. The flotilla of 
 boats laden with the arms and stores men- 
 tioned, with the exception of one, was ten 
 miles up the river beyond our reach, and our 
 force was not sufficient to penetrate the 
 country ; therefore, with this one exception, 
 and some military and other public stores 
 which fell into our hands, nothing was gained 
 worth the sacrifice. 
 
 The fort after being reduced and dismantled 
 was abandoned in the evening, our troops 
 retiring at their leisure not " driven away 
 with loss." as some of the American chronicles 
 have it recorded. 
 
 There is rather a painful sequel to the 
 history of the pursuit of this said flotilla. 
 Our Commodore failing to find them as ex- 
 pected at the mouth of the Oswego river, kept 
 
59 
 
 on the watch and blockaded the place for 
 several weeks, to nab them on their emerging 
 from the river ; well knowing, that unless 
 they could gain the lake the cannon and naval 
 stores they contained could not reach the ships 
 at Sackett's Harbour ior which they were des- 
 tined ; the road through that part of the state 
 being insufficient for the transport of such 
 heavy stores. But after the lapse of some 
 months the vigilance of the blockade probably 
 having relaxed, and the Americans being on 
 the alert, they stole a march, one foggy mght 
 and morning, and got several miles down the 
 coast before being discovered. Captains Pop- 
 ham and Spilsbury, with some armed boats 
 being on the lookout, intercepted and took one 
 of the American boats in the fog, and were in- 
 formed by the prisoners taken in it, that the 
 other American boats had entered "Big Sandy 
 Creek" but they omitted to inform their cap- 
 tors that the boats were strongly guarded by 
 a body of riflemen and Oneida Indians. 
 
 Captain Popham being in command, im- 
 mediately, with more bravery than prudence, 
 pushed in after them ; and after ascending the 
 
60 
 
 creek between high banks %f sand on either 
 hand, and proceeding about ten miles, he dis- 
 covered the boats, snugly moored with their 
 precious cargoes, in a kind of basin formed by 
 a bend in the creek. Not a soul was visible 
 near them, and they seemed a bon prize. But 
 alas ! just as they were grasping them, up 
 started from their concealment among the 
 woods and rushes the riflemen and Indians, 
 who opened a murderous fire on our poor 
 fellows, cooped up like ducks in a pond. 
 The result was the destruction or capture of 
 the whole body, so that not one escaped to 
 make the report. Those who survived were 
 kept prisoners of war till the return of peace 
 the ensuing spring. 
 
 Lieutenant Rowe, now residing near 
 Cobourg, must be conversant with this inci- 
 dent in the history of our warfare on the 
 Lakes ; as he was one of the unfortunates 
 captured. And yet, not so very unfortunate 
 either, as regards himself, for I understand 
 that while detained a prisoner in New Eng- 
 land, he formed the acquaintance of the 
 estimable lady who, as the wife of his bosom, 
 
61 
 
 has since shared his fortunes and sympathies, 
 in this the country of their adoption. 
 
 I think it fortunate for me that my wound 
 at Oswego had previously laid me up in sick 
 quarters ; for had I been fit for duty, the 
 probability is that I would have been ordered 
 with my captain, (Popham) on the ill-fated 
 expedition." 
 
 The read er will have observed how briefly 
 Mr. Richardson has noticed his own wound, 
 notwithstanding its serious character ; put- 
 ting aside what he regarded as merely per- 
 sonal, he proceeds to give the issue of the 
 battle. When the gallant young officer was 
 struck, he dropped on the deck and was 
 shortly after carried down into the sides of 
 the ship. The remnant of his mangled arm 
 was secured so as to prevent the sufferer from 
 bleeding to death, and there he lay suffering 
 while the battle raged, his ears filled with its 
 horrid din, and his mind oppressed with 
 anxiety as to its result, till the cheers of the 
 victors informed him that his gallant com- 
 rades had triumphed. He had been wounded 
 in the morning, and it was nearly evening 
 
62 
 
 before the surgeon could attend to him, when 
 it was found necessary to remove the shatter- 
 ed stump from the socket at the shoulder 
 joint. During the severe operation the young 
 lieutenant evinced the utmost fortitude. 
 
 In the evening he was exceedingly weak 
 from loss of blood, the pain of his wound, 
 and the severity of the operation. Next day 
 the fever was high, and for some days his 
 life apparently hung in the balance ; but at 
 length he commenced to rally and by the 
 blessing of God upon the skilful attention 
 and great care that he received, he was finally 
 fully restored. 
 
 Concerning this event the late Bishop in a 
 letter to the writer, a few years since, remark- 
 ed : "I did not fully recover from the wound 
 till the following September, when I reported 
 myself to Sir James Yeo as fit for service, 
 and proposed to go out again. 
 
 He pleasantly remarked. u What ! try them 
 again ?" 
 
 I replied, " If my services are required." 
 
 He exclaimed, " That is noble." 
 
 " He then proposed that instead of joining 
 
63 
 
 my own ship the ' Wolf,' he would prefer 
 taking me with him in the St. Lawrence a 
 ship of 110 guns to aid in piloting her, in- 
 asmuch as her draft of water, 23 feet, so far ex- 
 ceeded that of any former vessel in the lake ; 
 it would therefore require the more caution 
 and matured knowledge of the channels to 
 conduct her safely. He remarked that my 
 severe wound and consequent debility for 
 some time yet, precluded the lull discharge 
 of my active duties in my own ship, but if I 
 gave my services in the St. Lawrence, as he 
 proposed, he would continue my substitute 
 in the Wolf during the remainder of the 
 season ; and then at the close of navigation 
 I would be at liberty through the winter to 
 recruit my strength." Mr. Richardson was 
 accordingly attached to the St. Lawrence 
 He remarks ; 
 
 " She. the St. Lawrence, took the lake in 
 October, 1814, and made two trips up and 
 down previous to the setting in of winter 
 without the chance of trying her prowess, 
 with the enemy. He very prudently kept 
 himself close in harbour, so that for the re- 
 
64 
 
 mainder of the season, which terminated the 
 war, our proud ship and squadron had the 
 lake wholly to themselves. Peace was pro- 
 claimed in the winter of 1815, at which event 
 the really patriotic people of both countries 
 rejoiced." 
 
 Some time after the close of the war, 
 Lieutenant Richardson retired from the Navy, 
 having decided to give up the water, and 
 procure a home for himself in some retired 
 place, where he hoped to spend his days in 
 comfort. But that he should devote himself 
 to the pursuits of a retired life, was not the 
 purpose of the Master concerning him. He 
 has repeatedly stated to the writer of this 
 memoir, his own conviction that God had a 
 work for him to do, and that therefore He had 
 ordered his paths otherwise than he had 
 designed, and changed the whole course of 
 his life. 
 
 In the disbursements made by the Loyal 
 and Patriotic Society for 1815, we have the 
 sum of 100 allotted to Mr. James Richard- 
 son of the Midland District with the follow- 
 ing note appended. " This gentleman was 
 
65 
 
 first in the Provincial Navy, and behaved 
 well. He then became principal pilot of the 
 Royal Fleet, and by his uncommonly good 
 conduct gained the esteem of all the officers 
 of the Navy. He lost his left arm at the 
 taking of Oswego. The Society in consider- 
 ation of his services requested his acceptance 
 of 100." 
 
 He was also awarded a yearly pension of 
 100 sterling from the government, which 
 he continued to receive up to the time of his 
 decease, a period of over fifty years. 
 
 The following is a copy of the certificate 
 given to Mr. Richardson on his retiring from 
 the service, by Commodore Yeo : 
 
 u These are to certify, the Principal Officers 
 and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy, 
 that Mr. James Richardson, late Lieutenant 
 in His Majesty's Provincial Navy in Canada, 
 now acting master on board His Majesty's 
 Ship, Montreal, has served on board His 
 Majesty's squadron on Lake Ontario under 
 my command as a general pilot from the 
 twenty-fourth of May to the thirty-first of 
 December, 1813, then acting master and pilot 
 5 
 
66 
 
 to the date hereof, during which time he be- 
 haved with diligence, sobriety, and attention, 
 and was always obedient to command. At the 
 capture of Oswego on the sixth of May, 1814, 
 whilst in the execution of his duties he re- 
 ceived a severe wound in his left arm, which 
 occasioned its being taken out of the socket. 
 In addition to the loss of an arm, his general 
 good conduct was such as merits my warmest 
 commendation. 
 
 Given under my hand, on board His Majes- 
 ty's ship St. Lawrence, at Kingston ? 
 Upper Canada, this second day of March 
 1815. 
 
 JAMES L. YEO, 
 Commodore and Commander in Chief. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 His Marriage Mrs. Richardson's ancestry Henry Dennis John 
 Dennis Their adherence to the crown Consequent losses 
 Various removals Settlement of the family in Canada Mr. 
 Dennis appointed to the King's dockyard, Kingston Removal 
 to York, etc., Mr. Richardson leaves the service Removes to 
 Presque Isle Appointed to the customs and on the commission 
 of the Peace First Methodist preacher in the neighbourhood 
 Persuaded by Mrs. Lyons to go to hear Conviction Mental 
 struggles Conversion of himself and wife Incidents Their 
 house the home of the preachers Conversion of other relatives 
 Appointed steward Called to preach Received a Local 
 Preacher's license Agitation for separation from parent body. 
 
 During the war Lieutenant Richardson 
 was married to Miss Rebecca Dennis, the 
 daughter of Mr. John Dennis, who was for 
 many years Master builder in the King's 
 Dockyard at Kingston. Mrs. Richardson 
 belonged to an old U. E. Loyalist family. 
 Her grand-father. Mr. Henry Dennis, resided 
 at the time of the American Revolution, on 
 the banks of the Delaware in Buck's county 
 Pennsylvania, where he possessed a handsome 
 property, and owned also some valuable iron 
 works about thirty miles from Philadelphia. 
 
 67 
 
68 
 
 He was strongly attached to the British 
 Government, but belonging to the Society of 
 Friends, he declined to take up arms. His 
 loyalty, however, led him to render such 
 services to the King's cause as he deemed not 
 inconsistent with the creed he held. Accord- 
 ingly, he carried some dispatches for the 
 British ; and being detected, was obliged with 
 his son John, who accompanied him, to take 
 refuge within their lines at New York. 
 There they resided till the death of Mr. Henry 
 Dennis which occurred during the war, caused 
 by apoplexy. His valuable estate was con- 
 fiscated, and forever lost to his family. His 
 son John, (the father of Mrs. Richardson,) 
 shortly afterward joined the army. 
 
 After the termination of the war, Mr. John 
 Dennis, who had previously married in New 
 York, went with other U. E. Loyalists to 
 Beaver Harbour, Nova Scotia. There the un- 
 fortunate refugees found themselves sorely 
 straightened for lack of the absolute neces- 
 saries of life. Mr. Dennis seeing no prospect 
 of procuring a comfortable livelihood for his 
 family in that place, returned to New York. 
 
69 
 
 Thence he went to Alexandria, in the District 
 of Columbia, where his daughter Rebecca was 
 born. Though he was successful in business 
 in Alexandria, yet that did not reconcile him 
 to the state of things he found existing there. 
 The slavery in which the negroes were held 
 particularly excited his disgust, and resolving 
 not to allow himself even seemingly to be 
 brought into complicity with that " sum of 
 all villanies/' he determined to leave. This 
 was about the time that Governor Simcoe was 
 inviting loyalists, then in the States, to come 
 into Upper Canada, and having townships 
 surveyed in which to settle them. The land 
 which fell to the lot of Mr. Dennis was 
 situated on the banks of the Humber, not 
 over a mile from the site of the present 
 village of Wes ton . Where the city of Toronto 
 now stands was almost an unbroken wilder- 
 ness. The family resided there for some years 
 enduring the toils and privations incident to 
 settlements in the wilderness. 
 
 Mr. Dennis, being a ship-builder, sometimes 
 varied his employment by building small ves- 
 sels for those who could afford such convenien- 
 
70 
 
 ces. One of these called the "Toronto," a 
 schooner rigged Government yacht for the 
 transport of officers and employees of the Gov- 
 ernment and others across the lake, pleas- 
 ed Governor Hunter so well that in 1802 he 
 appointed Mr. Dennis master builder in the 
 King's Dockyard at Kingston. There he 
 continued till the summer of 1812, when he 
 was ordered to York (now Toronto) to build 
 a ship. When the Americans in April, 1813, 
 took York, this vessel, then nearly completed, 
 was by them burned upon the stocks. Mr. 
 Dennis, as captain of a company formed of 
 the officers and others connected with the 
 Dockyard, assisted in defending the place 
 though overpowered by their assailants. Mr. 
 Dennis continued to reside in York, till his 
 death by Asiatic cholera in 1832. 
 
 No better summary of Mrs. Richardson's 
 character can be given than that contained 
 in the following obituary notice of her, written 
 by her bereaved husband. 
 
 " Died at her residence at Clover Hill, 
 Toronto, 29th of March last, aged sixty five, 
 REBECCA, wife of the Rev. James Richardson." 
 
71 
 
 ''The dear departed was the daughter of 
 the late John and Martha Dennis, who were 
 of the old U. E. Loyalist stock, and among 
 the first of the settlers in the vicinity of this 
 city, then an almost unbroken wilderness. 
 Her father, about the year 1802, receiving the 
 appointment of master-builder in the King's 
 dock-yard at Kingston, removed thither. It 
 was there, in 1809, that I first formed ac- 
 quaintance with her, which in 1813 resulted 
 in our marriage, disregarding in the ardour 
 of our youth the privations and troubles 
 incidental to the state of war then raging in 
 our country, and to which, from my position 
 in the Navy, I was peculiarly exposed." 
 
 Peace being happily restored and the 
 country quiet, we retired from public life, 
 and removed in the spring of 1817 to the 
 Presque Isle Harbour, near what is now the 
 village of Brighton, thinking there to spend 
 in a quiet rural way the remnant of our days ; 
 but Providence ordered otherwise. 
 
 The preaching and ordinances of religion 
 in our neighbourhood as administered by the 
 Methodists those earliest and most success- 
 
72 
 
 ful pioneers of religion in Canada were, 
 though somewhat novel and strange to us at 
 the first, rendered effectual through grace to 
 the conversion of our souls, and eventually to 
 a thorough change in the course of our lives. 
 In August 1818 we united ourselves to the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, and came 
 under the pastoral care of the late Rev. 
 Thomas Madden. 
 
 Our house now became the favoured resort 
 of the itinerating ministers of Christ, and 
 other wayfaring travellers in Zion, whose 
 welcome and pious visits tended much to 
 make the few years of our residence there 
 some of the most agreeable of our lives. The 
 pleasure and profit which Mrs. Richardson 
 derived from this intercourse was evinced by 
 the cheerfulness with which she always dis- 
 pensed the hospitalities of her home. 5> 
 
 " The impressions and calls of duty leading 
 me forth from the quiet and comfort of this 
 retired spot, to the privations, hardships, and 
 labours incident to the itinerant life, especially 
 in those earlier days of Methodism in Canada, 
 put her faith and love to a severe test. To 
 
forego the comforts and increasing felicity of 
 a home which seven years of joint labour and 
 care had with the blessing of Providence 
 provided, endeared as it was by the most 
 hallowed associations and bonds of neighbourly 
 regard and affection, with bright prospects 
 in regard to the future, was a trial of no 
 ordinary kind. To exchange these sources 
 of enjoyment for the inconveniences and pri- 
 vations incident to the homeless wanderings 
 of a Methodist preacher's life in those days 
 when there were no parsonages existing nor 
 funds to pay the rental thereof, was especially 
 trying to one so proverbially fond of her 
 children and domestic comforts, as was my 
 late partner. Yet her piety and devotion to 
 the cause triumphed, for when I, with much 
 hesitation, first broached the subject to her, 
 she meekly replied, " I will not stand in the 
 way of your duty." 
 
 After describing their removal from their 
 pleasant home at Presque Isle to his first 
 circuit, and noticing some of their toils and 
 discomforts there, Mr. Richardson adds 
 
 " Yet all this, with what followed as we 
 
74 
 
 were removed from place to place for several 
 succeeding years, she bore with becoming 
 resignation and Christian cheerfulness. All 
 went well till the unhappy, and as she 
 believed uncalled for action of the conference 
 relative to the Union so-called, which, with 
 what followed in succession for a few years, 
 shook her confidence and disturbed her mind. 
 The remnant of the Episcopal Methodists, 
 in these times struggling to sustain the old 
 economy of the church, received her sympathy, 
 but not having any society of these in the 
 city, she was led to seek religious fellowship 
 with the Congregational Church, then under 
 the pastoral care of the Rev. John Roaf. 
 With them she united, and continued a de- 
 voted and steadfast adherent to the cause of 
 Christ in that Church till it pleased the Lord 
 to take her to himself. In the meantime 
 taking pleasure in entertaining the friends of 
 Christ, of whatsoever denomination they 
 were, and in contributing to the means for 
 the promotion of His Kingdom among men." 
 " The last few years of her life were 
 marked by severe bodily affliction, she being 
 
75 
 
 confined to her couch or chair, yet was cheer- 
 ful and resigned. Always, when asked in 
 regard to her spiritual state, expressing her 
 confidence in God, and her firm reliance on 
 the merits and faithfulness of Christ ; and 
 speaking also of the love she felt, in the 
 midst of her severest sufferings, for God, His 
 cause and His people/' 
 
 " Her piety was not of the fitful, impulsive, 
 or visionary kind, it was characterized by 
 steadiness of purpose, practical endurance and 
 persevering usefulness. The claims of the 
 Bible, the Tract, the Missionary, and the 
 Temperance cause, never appealed to her in 
 vain, but each was sure to meet in her a 
 prompt and liberal friend. Her surviving 
 associates, remembering by-gone days, will 
 feel that we have lost a mother in Israel." 
 
 But to return to the subject of our narra- 
 tive : Hitherto, though strictly moral, up- 
 right and conscientious, in every respect a 
 worthy member of the community, and a 
 model British officer, Mr. Richardson had as 
 yet had no experimental knowledge of reli- 
 gion. But now removed from the exciting 
 
76 
 
 influences which necessarily surrounded him 
 on board a man of war, he had more time for 
 quiet reflection ; and, just at this time he 
 providentially became acquainted with those 
 untiring evangelists, the Methodist preachers. 
 The account of his conversion together with 
 some incidents relative to his first acquain- 
 tance with several of those pioneer preachers 
 will be best given in his own words. 
 
 " In the course of the summer of 1817," he 
 writes, " I was led to hear the Methodists, 
 and the first sermon I heard with attention 
 took hold of me and was the germ of my con- 
 version and entire change of life." 
 
 " One fine sunshiny week day in the month 
 of July, a person on horseback passed by our 
 house within view of the window, with 
 saddle bags under him, when some one ex- 
 claimed, ' There goes a Methodist preacher.' 
 4 Aye ! so it is, Where is he going to preach ?' 
 6 At 'Kiah Betty's, about two miles from this 
 on the Lake shore/ ' Indeed ! Who will go 
 and hear him ?' ' 
 
 <f ' You had better go/ exclaimed grand- 
 mother Lyons, a pious old Baptist lady, who 
 
77 
 
 in her anxiety to turn our attention to the 
 things that accompany salvation, was ready 
 to commend the ministry of the blessed gospel, 
 though in some respects not according with 
 her own views. Her heart yearned for our 
 conversion to God, by which she was prompted 
 to urge our attendance on the only means of 
 grace within our reach." 
 
 I. with my wife and sister, Mrs. Lyons, 
 went, and for the first time in my life I heard 
 with effect. The sermon was founded on 
 Rev. iii. c. 20th v. The matter of this dis- 
 course, the manner of its delivery, the solem- 
 nity and general appearance of the preacher 
 the late Wyatt Chamberlain, sent from the 
 Genesee Conference of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal Church all had their effect upon my 
 mind. The subject was communion with 
 Christ in the heart, attended by faith, 
 yielding obedience to his calls. I said to 
 myself while it carried conviction to my con- 
 science, 6 If this be Christianity, alas ! 1 am 
 not a Christian, ior I know not this/ ' 
 
 " Henceforth I searched the Scriptures to 
 know if these things were so; but slow indeed 
 
78 
 
 was my progress. I was sincere in my inquiries 
 but hesitating in my decisions. The gospel 
 requires of us sacrifices and duties ; the taking 
 up of crosses and the endurance of self-denials ; 
 and the conflicts between the flesh and the 
 spirit. More than a year elapsed from the 
 time of these incipient drawings of the Spirit 
 till I was wholly given up to God. I first 
 saw men as trees walking, my understanding- 
 being gradually informed, and my judgment 
 convinced, but my faith stood more in the 
 wisdom of men than in the power of God. I 
 knew that there was a gracious operation on 
 my mind leading me to a new course of life, 
 but I could not define it, nor could I say 
 
 * My Father, God, with an unwavering tongue.' 
 
 But at length the auspicious time arrived, 
 when I could indeed say 
 
 ' Faith lends its realizing light, 
 The clouds disperse, the shadows fly. ' " 
 
 " God shone into my heart and I saw light 
 in his light, 'My chains fell off, my heart 
 was free.' This happy experience came while 
 on my knees assembled with the people of 
 God, at a love-feast on the eve of approaching 
 
79 
 
 the Lord's table. Then the blessed truth of 
 which my mind had for a length of time been 
 convinced, that Jesus loved me and gave 
 himself for me, came with power to my heart, 
 I felt the spirit of adoption and could say 
 Abba Father.' This was at a quarterly- 
 meeting and love-feast, held in a barn, at the 
 6 four corners,' in the township of Haldimand, 
 in the Autumn of 1818." 
 
 " As to chapel or meeting-house, in those 
 days there was none for many miles around 
 that section of country. Indeed I cannot call 
 to mind the existence of such, of any denom- 
 ination, in all the district of Newcastle. 
 School-houses, barns, and private residences, 
 offered the best accommodations that Chris- 
 tian assemblies could^command. Nevertheless 
 the power of God was there, and in the work 
 of preaching and praying the ministers of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, as pioneers, led 
 the van. With this denomination of Chris- 
 tians I cast in my lot. They were instru- 
 mentally the means of my conversion, and I 
 said, ' This people shall be my people, and 
 their God my God.' From this meeting I 
 returned home, burning 
 
80 
 
 ' To tell to sinners round, 
 
 What a dear Saviour I had found.' " 
 
 Having given a consecutive account of the 
 exercises of mind under which he laboured 
 during the year succeeding the time when he 
 first heard the Methodists and his consequent 
 coversion, Mr. Richardson returns again to 
 that memorable day's sermon with its results 
 to other members of his family, and to the 
 neighborhood at large. He says : 
 
 " On returning from the meeting that day 
 with my wife and sister, Old Mother Lyons 
 said, 4 Well, how r did you like the meeting ?' 
 I replied, < Very much, indeed, I liked the 
 discourse, and the appearance of the preacher, 
 too.' Then said the pious old lady ' Did you 
 ask him to come home with you.' ' Why no,' 
 was the reply ' we did *not think of that.' 
 ' But,' she continued, ' would you not like to 
 do so ?' We all said yes, so her son James 
 and I went forth to seek the man of God. 
 We found him. He accepted our invitation 
 and abode with us that night. Mr. Lyons 
 then proposed to him that, as the preaching 
 place at Mr. Betty's was remote and incon- 
 venient, he would accommodate him with the 
 
81 
 
 use of his new barn during the summer, and 
 some place more suitable when the cold 
 weather should set in. And he stated fur- 
 ther to the preacher that if he would es- 
 tablish his meetings among us, if it were but 
 on a week-day, all his working hands, about 
 30 in number, should be at liberty to attend 
 the meetings. This proposition was acceeded 
 to and regular preaching established among 
 us. From this small beginning mighty 
 results have followed, for though the work 
 was very gradual and for some time but little 
 fruit appeared, it nevertheless progressed and 
 matured till it took deep root in the neigh- 
 borhood, and brought forth abundantly in a 
 glorious harvest of souls." 
 
 " Thus forming an acquaintance with the 
 Methodist ministers, and having their ser- 
 vices regularly among us, my wife as well 
 as myself, was eventually brought to the 
 saving knowledge of God. We joined the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, in 1818, under 
 the pastoral care of the late Thomas Madden." 
 
 It will have been seen that the place of 
 meeting had been removed from the humble 
 6 
 
82 
 
 and somewhat inconvenient abode of Kiah 
 Betty, which was situated on the lake shore 
 road leading from Brighton to Belleville, to 
 the more commodious barn of Mr. Lyons. 
 
 But in those days it mattered little to a 
 people hungering and thirsting after spiritual 
 knowledge, whether the place of meeting was 
 remote or the building conveniently arranged 
 for worship, or not, they flocked eagerly to 
 the place appointed for meeting, and when 
 there listened attentively to the ministration 
 of the earnest itinerant, and as a consequence 
 " the word of God had free course and was 
 glorified." Though the Methodist ministers 
 had been sent into Canada from the New 
 York and Genesee Conferences, yet there 
 nevertheless existed a cordial feeling between 
 them and the Canadian people, who gladly 
 received them into their houses, and enter- 
 tained them with the hearty hospitality 
 peculiar to those early days in the history 
 of the country. 
 
 Nor was this spirit of kindness confined to 
 the vicinity of Brighton, it prevailed through- 
 out the entire Province, until evil-minded 
 
83 
 
 men, who wished to destroy Methodism, 
 assisted by others who desired to build on the 
 foundation laid by the self-sacrifice and 
 devotion of the American Methodists, com- 
 menced to sow the seeds of dissension in the 
 societies. Then came sad days for both 
 preachers and people. But of this anon. 
 
 After his conversion Mr, Richardson was 
 no less ardent in the service of his Heavenly 
 Father than he had formerly been in the 
 service of his king, and he at once became a 
 man of mark in the infant society, being in a 
 short time appointed to the responsible 
 offices of steward, and local preacher. With 
 regard to the arrangement of circuits, and 
 incidents connected with the ministrations of 
 those times Mr. Richardson thus writes : 
 
 " 'Smith's Creek Circuit,' was the cognomen 
 of the field of labour within the bounds of 
 which was my residence at Presque Isle 
 harbor. This was a two weeks circuit with 
 one preacher Elijah Boardman who had 
 an amiable wife and no children. He was a 
 stranger from the Genesee Conference, an 
 eccentric character but devoted to his work 
 
84 
 
 and acceptable in his ministrations. This 
 circuit was a ' set off' from the western part 
 of Hallowell circuit, and destitute of either 
 chapel or parsonage." 
 
 " My wife and I deemed it a duty to open 
 our house to supply the lack of both, making 
 it both a preaching place and preacher's 
 residence, during the conference year, with- 
 out any remuneration other than that de- 
 rived from the consciousness of utility to the 
 church, the society of the preacher in the cycle 
 of his travels, and that of his amiable wife 
 continually. The year passed agreeably and 
 profitably, and at the close thereof our some- 
 what eccentric preacher was removed to other 
 fields beyond, so as to be never again seen in 
 the flesh by me. Not so, however, his suc- 
 cessor, of whom more anon." 
 
 " I had scarcely abided my six months of 
 trial in the society, ere they thrust upon me 
 the responsible office of Steward^ the duties 
 of which I had to ascertain the best way I 
 could, for neither preacher nor presiding 
 elder said a word in relation to them. The 
 preachers in those days were very reticent in 
 
8b 
 
 regard to finances, or means of support, some- 
 what culpably so, for the deficiencies of 
 financial matters in the M.. E. Church at the 
 present day may in a great measure be traced 
 to the indifference of our fathers in the min- 
 isterial field. Such a ' culpability,' however, 
 smacks somewhat virtuously as springing 
 from an absorbing love of souls." 
 
 " Three quarters of the year's labor had 
 passed, when sitting with brother Boardman 
 ia my parlour, I enquired the amount he had 
 received from the circuit for his labours 
 rather a strange question to be put by the 
 6 Steward] who ought to have known the 
 accounts but such, I have just stated, was 
 my ignorance of duty. He replied " About 
 $30." " What!" I remarked, " only $30 for 
 yourself and wife, and three quarters of the 
 year gone, what will you do ?" He replied 
 with the utmost sangfroid, " I'll travel as 
 long as I can, and my old horse will carry 
 me, and then will stop." "Well," I said, 
 ' This will not do," and bethinking me of 
 my duty as steward I turned to the book of 
 discipline for instruction, and soon learned 
 
8(5 
 
 my duty. Then I asked the preacher to in- 
 form me as to the respective numbers and 
 standing of the classes. Furnished with this 
 I took upon myself to make a dividend of the 
 deficiency to each class ; and drawing up a 
 circular, sent it by the hands of the preacher 
 to each. The result was a return at the last 
 quarterly meeting of the full disciplinary al- 
 lowance for himself and wife, and a trifle over." 
 
 " I specify these particulars as signs of the 
 times and for the encouragement of others in 
 like circumstances. But as to times ; how 
 dissimilar then from now. Then there was 
 little if any cash in the country circuits, even 
 wheat would bring but half a dollar per 
 bushel, and that in barter or store pay." 
 
 " The year following, that is 1820, the 
 Conference furnished us Smith's Creek cir- 
 cuit with a smooth round faced young preach- 
 er with a sharp black eye and firm, intelligent 
 and self-reliant countenance, who was destined 
 to make his mark, and leave his name in tKe 
 annals of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
 Canada the late lamented Bishop, Philander 
 Smith, who thenceforth became my bosom 
 
87 
 
 friend and steadfast fellow laborer for nearly 
 50 years. He also preached in my house, 
 and occupied in his turn, the ' little chamber 
 on the wall/ The circuit prospered and this 
 year the first chapel was erected a few miles 
 north of where the town of Cobourg now 
 stands. This was considered quite an 
 achievement in those days, a frame build- 
 ing about 45 by 30 or 35. But we were 
 a happy and united people, zealous and 
 plain, intent only on serving God and en- 
 joying the light of His countenance. Secure in 
 this, the wheels Zion's chariot revolved 
 smoothly. The blessings of God rested also 
 on my tabernacle. In answer to prayer I 
 had the hallowed delight of witnessing, with- 
 in a short time after my late dear wife and I 
 had given ourselves to the Lord, the conver- 
 sion of my aged father and step-mother with 
 several of his household, my sister Sarah Ann 
 Lyons and her husband James Lyons, with 
 such of their household as were of adult age. 
 While yet in an unconverted state we had 
 all come to reside there, contiguous to each 
 other, and now, behold the change wrought 
 
88 
 
 by grace, one family in the Lord, walking 
 together in the hope and comfort derived from 
 the belief of the truth and witnessed by the 
 Spirit. The conversion of my aged father 
 and his wife was the more remarkable, as it 
 was the triumph of grace over a life long 
 prejudice against knowing our sins forgiven, 
 more especially so in regard to the Methodists. 
 It may not be out of place here, as an illus- 
 tration of this, to record a brief conversation 
 between him and me a week or two after I 
 had joined the Society. 
 
 Some remarks having fallen from him bear- 
 ing, as I thought, rather unfairly on a worthy 
 Scotch Presbyterian lady, the wife of a 
 Baptist minister then residing among us, who 
 was about to submit to immersion and join 
 her husband's church, no doubt from a con- 
 viction of duty, I was led to reply in a way 
 that touched my good father, who was re- 
 markable for his open bluntness and somewhat 
 hasty candor, and he sharply reproached me 
 thus : 
 
 ' Ah ! so you, too, must leave the Church, 
 and join the Methodists.' I replied ' No 
 
89 
 
 father, I have not left the Church, I mean 
 the Church of Christ, and as for the Church 
 of England itself, I never thought so highly 
 of her doctrines, nor understood them so 
 clearly as since I have become a Methodist.' 
 
 This statement seemed to surprise him and 
 he replied : 
 
 " Why then could you not have remained ? 
 You might have been as religious as you 
 please ; no one would have hindered you.' 
 
 6 Ah father,' I replied, that is saying but 
 little indeed, "No one would have hindered 
 me" .We need help to lead a religious life, 
 all the help we can get." 
 
 " This seemed a new idea to him, and he 
 promptly and with apparent concern, asked 
 how is that ? Is it any better where you are 
 gone ?" 
 
 I said " Yes ; they help me on all sides, 
 converse, instruct, and pray with and for me." 
 
 Here, after another remark or two, our 
 dialogue ended, and I recorded it only to 
 show the difference between the mere negative 
 and the positive in church relations. Who- 
 soever would "work out his salvation with 
 
90 
 
 fear and trembling " " Deny himself of all 
 ungodliness, and worldly lusts and live soberly 
 righteously and godly/' "Take up his cross 
 daily and follow Christ." needs help indeed, 
 whether he be Churchman or Methodist, and 
 if the community of the former does not 
 furnishit he will naturally, if not of necessity, 
 look to the latter, or some other community 
 for it. Here is the clue to the rise, progress 
 and success of Methodism ; and should it ever 
 fail to meet its original design, or serve the 
 purpose of effectual help to a religious life, 
 then God will transfer the glory to some other 
 community. The design of a church must 
 be answered or it ceases to be a church of 
 His." 
 
 In this connection it seems appropriate to 
 notice the affectionate regard which the Bishop 
 retained through life for the character and 
 memory of the clergyman who was the reli- 
 gious instructor of his boyhood, which will be 
 seen in the following extract from his manu- 
 script, written at a late period of his own life : 
 
 Speaking of the Rev. Dr. John Stuart he 
 says : 
 
91 
 
 " No man of his day and place was more 
 respected by all who had the pleasure of his 
 acquaintance. Stately and graceful in his 
 person, dignified, and yet affable in his man- 
 ners, circumspect in his deportment, impres- 
 sive and diligent in his ministerial duties, he 
 maintained to the last the position of a 
 patriarch and counsellor. A few years since 
 I paid a passing visit to my ever dear native 
 town, Kingston, and strolled lonely and pen- 
 sive, ruminating on bygone days my early 
 playfellows (now tenants of the churchyard) 
 the scenes of my childhood and youth 
 filled my imagination, and strongly contrast- 
 ed with the altered and advanced state of 
 things then around me. I came to a Stuart's 
 Point," and observing the remnant of the 
 foundation of the once venerated parsonage, 
 a lowly frame dwelling which had once 
 graced with its yellow front the lovely spot 
 where it stood so many years among the lofty 
 pines which surrounded it. I instinctively 
 placed myself upon it, and forlorn and de- 
 serted as it was did homage there on this 
 vestige of their home to the memory of its 
 
92 
 
 former pious and venerated inmates. ' The 
 memory of the just is blessed.' ' 
 
 " But to return to my narrative. After 
 the year's labor of brother Philander Smith, 
 the circuit was favored by the return of Elder 
 Madden, who, by his mature experience, j udi- 
 cious administration and pulpit instruction, 
 consolidated the work among us. He was 
 succeeded by Rev. Samuel Belton, who re- 
 mained two years, assisted occasionally by 
 brothers Charles Wood, Joseph Atwood and 
 Joseph Castle, now Dr. Castle of Philadelphia 
 Conference, all of whom had more or less of 
 our esteem and brotherly affection more 
 especially Samuel Belton, whose two year's 
 labour was marked by signal success, in and 
 around our immediate neighbourhood." 
 
 In 1824 the agitation begun by "Rev. Henry 
 Ryan, and those who acted with him, con- 
 cerning a separation of the Methodist societies 
 in Canada from the Church in the United 
 States, had become so great that the entire 
 Canadian Church was convulsed with it. and, 
 for a time, Mr. Richardson, over whom Mr. 
 Ryan possessed great influence, was induced 
 
93 
 
 to lend his sympathies and aid to the scheme. 
 He, with other worthy local preachers, had 
 been led to believe that Mr. Ryan had been 
 unkindly treated by the Genesee Conference, 
 in not having been elected a delegate to the 
 General Conference held in May of this year 
 (1824), and that, in addition, the American 
 preachers, while having little or no respect 
 for the wishes of the Canadian societies, had 
 yet political designs upon these provinces. 
 This latter supposition, which afterwards 
 proved to be without foundation, in fact, 
 touched the patriotism of men who. like Mr. 
 Richardson, had risked their lives in defence 
 of their country, and together with other 
 misrepresentations made by designing men, 
 roused many of the people, especially the 
 local preachers, to a pitch of excitement not 
 easily to be allayed. 
 
 Mr. Richardson was secretary of the Local 
 Preachers' Conference of the Bay of Quinte 
 District, which was held previous to the con- 
 ference of 1824. He was prevailed on to 
 assist in getting up a series of resolutions, 
 advocating very strongly the separation of 
 
94- 
 
 the Canadian societies from the parent body, 
 arid there is little doubt but these resolutions 
 tended materially to accelerate the movement 
 for an Independent Methodist Episcopal 
 Church in Canada. 
 
 In order to allay the agitation, the Can ad a 
 Conference had been set off by itself, and the 
 tirst Conference was appointed to be held at 
 Hallo well, in August of this year (1824) ; 
 but those who had determined that they 
 would not be satisfied with any concession 
 short of complete separation, used all their 
 energies to raise the excitement still higher, 
 if that were possible. Mr. Ryan fortified 
 himself with the resolutions referred to above ? 
 in order to make an impression upon the 
 minds of such of the American brethren as 
 might be present. Still further to influence 
 the Conference, Mr. Ryan had advised a large 
 number of the local preachers to be in atten- 
 dance there ; an advice which many followed 
 among whom was Mr. Richardson. 
 
 Bishops George and Hedding had come in 
 to organize the Canadian Conference, and 
 shortly after their arrival at the seat of con- 
 
95 
 
 ference, Bishop George sent for Mr. Richard- 
 son and gave him a satisfactory explanation 
 respecting the proceedings of both the Genesee 
 and General Conferences, with regard to 
 Canadian affairs. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Richardson perceived that 
 he had been misinformed., he manifested the 
 deep regret he felt for the part he had been 
 induced to take, by commencing to pour oil on 
 the troubled waters. But matters had by 
 this time gone too far to prevent the separa- 
 tion, with all its subsequent train of evils. 
 
 The majority of both the preachers and 
 people seemed anxious that the Canadian 
 work should be set off as an independent 
 body, in friendly relation to the parent Church, 
 and both the Bishops deemed it wisdom to 
 grant them their desire, as then expressed. 
 
 Mr. Richardson repeatedly stated that this 
 action of the Conference was not forced upon 
 them by the then Government ; though it 
 was urged on by some of the ambitious men 
 in the church, and by the clique who sought 
 to rule Canada, viz., the Family Compact, 
 with other advocates of church and state con- 
 
96 
 
 nection in these colonies, who strove to com- 
 pel the American preachers to labour under 
 various disabilities. 
 
 The general deportment, pious conversa- 
 tion and evident disinterestedness of both the 
 Bishops on this occasion, impressed Mr. 
 Richardson so favourably that he ever after- 
 words held not only them, but the Church of 
 which they were the honoured superinten- 
 dents, in the highest respect. 
 
 Satisfied with the explanation of the 
 Bishops, he returned home from the Hallowel 
 Conference more warmly attached to his 
 beloved Methodism, and more fully deter- 
 mined than ever to devote himself to the 
 extension of the Master's Kingdom. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Former Impressions of duty intensified Enters the itinerancy 
 First years under the P. E. Incidents of arrival on first 
 circuit Procuring a home for family Extent of Yonge Street 
 circuit in 1824 How travelled Winter of 1824-1825 Con- 
 ditionof thecircuit Amount received Agood colleague Con- 
 dition of the circuit at the end of the year Admitted on trial 
 1825 Returned to Yonge Street with Egerton Ryerson as 
 assistant Pleasant colleague and prosperous year Member- 
 ship doubled Another son Conference of 1826 Sent to Fort 
 George and Queenston Admitted into full connexion at con- 
 ference of 1827 Sent to the Credit mission Labours, trials, 
 and success of the year. 
 
 Mr. Richardson had now been for some 
 years acting with acceptability and useful- 
 ness, as a local preacher. He had been privi- 
 leged to rejoice in the conversion of beloved 
 relatives, dear friends, and neighbours, and 
 in the prosperity of the cause on the circuit. 
 And while he praised God for what HE had 
 there wrought through the preaching of the 
 Gospel, he felt pressed in spirit to go himself 
 and carry the same glorious message of salva- 
 tion into other communities. The impres- 
 sions leading in this direction which he had 
 7 97 
 
98 
 
 felt from a very early period of his Christian 
 life, now acted upon his mind with redoubled 
 force. In relation to this he says : 
 
 " I now approach the event in the history 
 of my religious life, which in its results, to 
 me and mine, surpassed all others, except, in- 
 deed, my conversion to God. For some 
 months, during the autumn and winter of 
 1823-24, my mind was impressed with the 
 thought that it wa$ incumbent on me to take 
 the itinerant field, and do what I could to 
 cultivate ' Immanuel's land.' But the thought 
 was intrusive and painful. How could I 
 broach it to my wife ? who had co-laboured 
 with me through seven years of privation and 
 hard work, till we had succeeded in securing 
 a comfortable home. Our domestic felicity 
 increasing every year, and our future pros- 
 spects becoming more promising, my income 
 from the office of Collector of Customs in- 
 creasing ; my influence as a Justice of the 
 Peace and local preacher extending ; in a 
 word every earthly tie binding me to home 
 and its endearments." 
 
 " All this to be left behind. And for 
 
99 
 
 what ? Why was I called to the sacrifice ? 
 I could scarcely tell wliy. But so it was, the 
 thought followed and troubled me." I well 
 knew that Methodist itinerants in those days 
 got only a very precarious support. Scarcely 
 a parsonage, comfortable or otherwise, or any 
 circuit awaited them. As to financial arrange- 
 ments there were none worthy of the name. 
 Anything or nothing, as it might be, was the 
 order of the day. I knew, what was before 
 me, yet something said ' You must go.' " 
 
 " At length with considerable hesitancy, I 
 mentioned what was on my mind to my wife. 
 She looked serious and much impressed, but 
 after an evident struggle of feeling, replied, 
 " I will not stand in the way of your duty." 
 
 " That decided the matter. The die was 
 cast. Instead of being comfortably moored 
 with my family in this retired but plea- 
 sant spot, I must now weigh anchor, and 
 put out on the roving voyage of life, to 
 wander up and down, and smile at toil and 
 pain. Well, so it has been, and so let it be r 
 if God's cause demands it. Casting my all 
 upon my Heavenly Father's care I committed 
 
100 
 
 myself and family to the toils and privations 
 attendant on a Methodist preacher's life in 
 those days. My confidence was not mis- 
 placed. God has taken care of me and mine 
 all along, and I trust Him for what is to come. 
 And now let me sing 
 
 ' Here I'll raise mine Ebenezer, 
 Hither by thy help I've come, 
 And I hope by thy good pleasure, 
 Safely to arrive at home. ' " 
 
 The spiritual destitution in many parts of 
 the country was at that time very great, the 
 labourers being so few compared with the 
 wide extent of the field needing cultivation. 
 The godly men whose souls were flaming with 
 zeal for the conversion of sinners, and who 
 were performing Herculean labours in order 
 to present the Great Salvation to as many as 
 possible, were yet distressed in spirit, thinking 
 of those to whom there was none to carry the 
 joyful sound. The Rev. Thomas Madden, 
 then Presiding Elder on that district, who 
 having been aware of the struggle going on 
 for so many months in Mr. Richardson's mind, 
 and having been anxious for the result, now 
 hailed the decision with much satisfaction? 
 
101 
 
 and hastened to secure to the church the 
 services of go promising a man. 
 
 Mr. Madden being then in want of a second 
 preacher for the Yonge Street circuit, at that 
 time in charge of the Rev. William H.Williams, 
 he (Mr. Madden) proposed to Mr. Richard- 
 son not to wait till the next Annual Confer- 
 ence before entering the work, but to go out 
 that year [1824] under the Presiding Elder, 
 as Mr. Williams' assistant. The circuit was 
 very large including the Town of York [now 
 Toronto] and extending through eight town- 
 ships, also embracing some parts of others, 
 consequently the exegencies of the work there 
 very much required the aid of another preach- 
 er. Mr. Richardson believing that he had 
 been called by the Holy Ghost to the work, 
 and having determined in the fear of God to 
 yield to the holy calling, felt himself subject 
 to orders and consented to the arrangement. 
 His departure, journey, &c.,we give in his 
 own words. 
 
 "In the month of September 1824, after 
 arranging my affairs, disposing of stock and 
 household goods, other than what I took with 
 
102 
 
 me, putting a tenant into my house and a 
 deputy into the Collector's office, preparatory 
 to resigning it ; I took leave of the endear- 
 ments of home, of my dear father and other 
 relations and friends, and embarked on board 
 a small schooner of about 30 tons, with my 
 dear wife and the three lovely children with 
 which the Lord had blessed us during our 
 sojourn at Presque Isle, besides a few things 
 for housekeeping, and in about two days we 
 anchored in York harbour. "We landed in 
 the night. It was dark and raining, plenty 
 of mud, but no carriage in waiting. I went 
 ahead to the residence of my wife's father, 
 on the corner of King and Yonge streets. 
 Mr. Dennis taking a lantern, immediately 
 went forth with me. We met my wife and 
 children trudging through the mud and rain. 
 James Henry in his mother's arms and the 
 little girls following as best they could, Sarah 
 Jane minus a shoe, which had come ofFin the 
 mud while crossing Wellington street. No 
 sidewalks nor McAdamizing in those days." 
 
 Through the mercy of God, here we were, 
 snugly quartered at last, but no parsonage, 
 
103 
 
 nor other house available for our residence. 
 I had entered indeed upon the field of ray 
 future labor, but we were homeless except as 
 sheltered for the time being by my wife's 
 parents. Mr. Dennis having a small dilapi- 
 dated house that had been once a dwelling, 
 but was now used as a joiner's shop, generous- 
 ly offered the use of it rent free, while I served 
 on the circuit, if I could so fit it up as to live 
 in it. Seeing no alternative I went to work*" 
 assisted by my wife, and after two or three 
 weeks hard labor, and an expenditure of 
 about twenty dollars, succeeded in rendering 
 the old house a tolerably comfortable dwell- 
 ing for us during the two years of our stay 
 on the Yonge street circuit." 
 
 We found the brethren and sisters in the 
 Town very kind and ready to show all 
 Christian courtesies, but too few in number 
 and sufficiently burthened with their own 
 necessities, to render much aid in sustaining 
 the cause. We found however their hearts 
 open, and the more so the longer we sojourn- 
 ed amongst them, and this went far to console 
 my dear wife, and to reconcile her to the 
 
104 
 
 change of circumstances which a sense of duty 
 had imposed upon us." 
 
 The facts here presented afford a glimpse 
 of the trials encountered by the first itinerant 
 preachers and their families, in this country : 
 and which are indeed to some considerable 
 extent, still experienced by those who are 
 earliest in following the settlers into the 
 remote settlements. And not a few of them 
 have had to endure much greater hardships 
 than any of those related by Mr. Kichardson. 
 But when we consider the temporal sacrifices 
 made by Mr. and Mrs. Richardson in leaving 
 a pleasant and commodious home, and a large 
 circle of esteemed and appreciating friends ; 
 and also the resignation by Mr. R., of lucra- 
 tive and honorable offices, in order to enter 
 the Methodist ministry, we are impressed with 
 the genuine spirit of self-devotion and love, 
 thereby manifested by them for the cause of 
 God, and the salvation of the people. Nor 
 was theirs by any means an isolated instance 
 of the spirit of self-sacrifice among those 
 pioneer Methodists. 
 
 The reader may gain some idea of the 
 
105 
 
 Bishop's first circuit, and the difficulty of travel- 
 ling at that period, from the following 
 extract : 
 
 "My field of labour, besides embracing the 
 capital of the Province, extended up Yonge 
 street to Lake Simcoe, about forty-five miles. 
 Thence easterly through the townships of 
 Markham, Scarboro, Pickering, Whitby and 
 Darlington, to the edge of Clark, with lateral 
 excursions to the right and left, for eight or 
 ten miles more or less in various places. The 
 stato of 'the roads precluding the use of car- 
 riages, except to a very limited extent, this 
 large circuit had to be travelled on horseback, 
 the preacher carrying his books, writing 
 materials, changes of linen, &c., in the his- 
 toric saddle-bags." 
 
 "The first winter, that of 1824-25, was 
 such as I have never seen either before or 
 since. Not a day of real good sleighing on 
 my circuit during the whole winter, but 
 mud holes in plenty, so that the roads were 
 almost impassable. During the months of 
 December and January it was exceedingly 
 hard work to reach our appointments. And 
 
106 
 
 it being almost impossible to reach the town 
 with any kind of vehicle, the citizens got 
 scarcely any supplies from the country. 
 The ordinary price of good firewood was but 
 $1.50 per cord, yet a cart-load of refuse wood 
 picked up on the commons would sell for a 
 dollar ; such was the difficulty in getting the 
 better article to market." 
 
 6 ' The most disheartening feature of my 
 labours in 1824, was the demoralized con- 
 dition of the circuit. It had been run over 
 and trampled down. The class papers had 
 been neglected, and in several places were not 
 forthcoming at all. Complaints of immoral 
 character abounded. Indifference to the 
 stated means of grace was prevalent in many 
 places ; and especially so in the eastern sec- 
 tion in the townships of Pickering, Whitby 
 and Darlington." 
 
 " The entire amount raised for the support of 
 the preachers in the whole range of these three 
 townships during the year, did not exceed two 
 dollars and twenty cents ; while here our rides 
 were longer and our labors more try ing, than in 
 the western part of the work. The whole 
 
107 
 
 amount of my dividend for my year's services 
 was about $100.00 including everything. A 
 small amount out of which to feed and clothe 
 my family, feed my horse, and pay for house 
 and travelling expenses. Nevertheless the 
 Lord favoured us with health and strength 
 and a resigned will." 
 
 What would some of our preachers and 
 preachers wives, in these days, say to such a 
 state of things ? There is reason to believe 
 that too many of them would be found flying 
 off at right angles. This remark, however, 
 is not designed either to commend, or excuse 
 the conduct of the people to whom the bishop 
 refers. Far from it. Such penuriousness is 
 nearly akin to dishonesty, if it is not that 
 very thing. It is a sin against God and His 
 church, and should be reprobated as such by 
 every Christian in the land. 
 
 But unfortunately for the cause of Christ 
 there are careless ministers to be found, as 
 well as stingy church members. It is lament- 
 able that there are in all the denominations, 
 those who apparently do not care for the sal- 
 vation of souls, although they occupy a place 
 
108 
 
 in the ministry of the church. In the Meth- 
 odist church there are some who pay but little 
 attention to the class papers, or to the spirit- 
 uality of the membership. The parsonage 
 property is allowed to become dilapidated ; and 
 the general connexional interests are neglect- 
 ed. In fact, to judge from their conduct, it 
 would appear that the thought they bestow 
 upon the church seldom gets much beyond 
 preaching pleasantly to tickle the ears of their 
 hearers, being careful not to disturb their con- 
 scien^es. And yet these are the men who are 
 constantly boring the Bishops and Presiding 
 Elders for good circuits and easy work. Such 
 pastors are always expecting the conference to 
 give them the choice circuits, while they not 
 only never build up circuits, but they often 
 destroy during their stay upon a circuit what 
 has been accomplished by other careful, labori- 
 ous brethren in preceding years. Men who 
 cannot, or will not labour to extend and 
 strengthen the cause, should be politely re- 
 quested by the people and conference to locate. 
 The writer recalls perplexing reminiscences 
 of his experience when on "the Stationing 
 
109 
 
 Committee with Bishops Smith and Richard- 
 son, when the conference had left men on 
 their hands with whom they could not tell 
 what to do, consistently with their conscien- 
 cious regard for the interests of the work. 
 They would ask " Where can we station 
 them, that the church may receive the least 
 damage by their stay for the year? The 
 conference too often, in sympathy with the 
 man, forgets the requirements of the Lord's 
 
 cause." 
 
 The Bishop concludes his remarks respect- 
 ing his first circuit as follows. 
 
 u My colleague Rev. William H. Williams 
 was a thorough working man, bland and 
 generous ; unburthened with a family, he 
 was at home wherever night overtook him. 
 He was an excellent colleague, and applied 
 himself vigorously to trimming up the circuit. 
 By a judicious administration of discipline, 
 we presented the circuit much improved, and 
 the societies much advanced in piety and 
 Christian life, though not in numbers." 
 
 Thus ended the first year of Mr. Richard- 
 son's ministry. It was one of toil, mental 
 
110 
 
 trial and small financial remuneration. But 
 having entered the Lord's vineyard, and 
 covenanted to devote himself to the work of 
 the Master, he did not regard his faithfulness, 
 or diligence as subject to the condition of his 
 receiving an abundance of earthly things. 
 He was contented to accept the Lord's pro- 
 mise, and to wait for the stipulated reward, 
 viz : il The promise of the life that now is, 
 and that which is to come/' And most faith- 
 fully has the promise been fulfilled to our 
 dear departed brother. Mr. Richardson con- 
 tinues : " At the ensuing annual Conference 
 (1825) I was admitted on trial, and put in 
 charge of the same Yonge Street circuit with 
 Rev. Egerton Ryerson for an assistant, who, 
 like myself, had this year been admitted on 
 trial. 
 
 The circuit had this year been reduced by 
 the separation from it of the eastern section, 
 which enabled us to devote more -time and 
 labour to the town of York. A more agree- 
 able and useful colleague I could not have de- 
 sired. We laboured together with one heart 
 and mind, and God was graciously pleased to 
 
Ill 
 
 crown our united efforts with success we 
 doubled the members in society, both in town 
 and country, and all was harmony and love. 
 Political questions were not rife indeed were 
 scarcely known among us. The church was 
 an asylum for any who feared God and 
 wrought righteousness, irrespective of any 
 party whatever. We so planned our work as 
 to be able to devote one week out of four ex- 
 clusively to pastoral labour in the town, and 
 to preach there twice every Sabbath, besides 
 meeting all the former appointments in the 
 townships east and west bordering on Yonge 
 Street for 45 or 50 miles northward to Roach's 
 Point, Lake Simcoe. 
 
 " This prosperous and agreeable state of 
 things served to reconcile both my dear wife 
 and myself to the itinerant life, with all the 
 attendant privations and hardships incident 
 to those times. 
 
 " It pleased God on the 29th of December, 
 this year, 1825, to add another son Robert, 
 to my other sweet children ; and a fine boy 
 he was. And although, at the age of four 
 and a half years, the same Divine Being who 
 
112 
 
 gave, saw it wise and good to remove him 
 from us by death, nevertheless, we are fain 
 to believe it will enhance our felicity in the 
 eternal world of joy, to which we have every 
 reason to believe he was thus early trans- 
 lated." 
 
 The Conference of 1826, was held in the 
 township of Hamilton, about three miles 
 north of the present site of Cobourg ; and 
 again the venerable Bishop George presided. 
 
 Kev. Nathan Bangs was also present at this 
 Conference. He came officially, in order to 
 interest the preachers in the circulation of 
 the New York Christian Advocate, which he 
 succeeded in doing. Of the preachers there 
 assembled, there was none probably who took 
 a deeper interest in the circulation of that 
 paper than did Mr. Richardson. It may be 
 remarked, en passant, that the paper was well 
 received throughout the province. 
 
 Mr. Richardson was, this year, sent to labor 
 at Fort George and Queen ston. Here the 
 societies were small, and not very well able 
 to support their preacher. There was no 
 parsonage, and again he had to make such 
 
113 
 
 provision as he could for his family. The 
 Minutes show that he had but 36 members 
 on which to depend for support ; nevertheless 
 both he and Mrs. Richardson went cheerfully 
 to the work assigned them by the Conference. 
 His labors on this circuit were circumscribed 
 within much more narrow limits than on his 
 preceding one; being confined to Niagara, 
 Queenston, " seven miles up the river and 
 the cross roads four miles westerly. 
 
 During the year there were riot more than 
 fifty souls under his pastoral care. The 
 amount raised on the circuit amounted to 
 about $50.00, and a little more was added at 
 the Conference ; but with the self-sacrificing 
 spirit of the times, Mr. Richardson made up 
 the deficiency out of his private means, and 
 left the unpromising field at the end of the 
 year, having reason to hope that his year's 
 labour had not been altogether in vain. 
 
 In 1827 the Conference was held in Hamil- 
 ton, Gore District, now the city of Hamilton, 
 Bishop Hedding presiding Here Mr. Richard- 
 son was admitted into full connection, and or- 
 dained Deacon. 
 8 
 
114 
 
 The following is a copy of Mr. Richardson's 
 " Parchment of Ordination." the large wax 
 seal having stamped upon it the initials E. H. 
 
 " KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS 
 
 THAT I, Elijah Hedding, one of the Bishops of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church in America, under the 
 protection of ALMIGHTY GOD, and with a single eye 
 to His Glory, by the imposition of my hands and 
 prayer, have this day set apart James Richardson 
 for the office of a DEACON in the said Methodist 
 Episcopal Church ; a man whom I judge to be well 
 qualified for that work ; and I do hereby recommend 
 him to all whom it may concern, as a proper 
 person to administer the ordinances of Baptism 
 Marriage, and the Burial of the Dead, in the absence 
 of an Elder ; and to feed the flock of CHRIST, so long 
 as his spirit and practice are such as become the 
 Gospel. 
 
 IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my 
 hand and seal, this second day of September, 
 One- thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven. 
 
 (L.S.) ELIJAH HEDDING. 
 
 Hamilton, U. C. 
 
115 
 
 By the Conference of 1827, Mr. Richardson 
 was removed from Fort George and Niagara 
 to the " River Credit ;" his own account of 
 the year's work on this interesting field of 
 labor is brief, and as follows : 
 
 " My destination for the ensuing year was 
 the River Credit, as missionary to the Chip- 
 pewa Indians, there settled in log dwellings 
 which the Government, two years previously, 
 had erected for their accommodation ; the 
 cost being charged on the annuity paid for 
 their lands." 
 
 " These poor Indians, numbering between 
 one and two hundred, had been brought, 
 by the power of Gospel truth, from the 
 lowest degradation of fallen humanity 
 abandoned indeed to drunkenness and de- 
 bauchery to be virtuous, sober, and happy 
 Christians. They were now God's poor; and 
 though my fare among them was coarse and 
 scanty, I spent the year with cheerfulness, 
 and hope that my labors contributed to bring- 
 ing them into the way of salvation." 
 
 " There being no house in which I could 
 place my family, I was forced to billet them 
 
116 
 
 on my good father and mother-in-law in the 
 town of York-, about sixteen miles from my 
 mission, till I could erect a parsonage. But 
 here was a puzzle a house to be built, but 
 without the money to build it, except $100, 
 furnished by the presiding elder Rev. W. 
 Case. My first thought was to employ the 
 Indians to cut and hew the pine timber of 
 which there was abundance growing in the 
 vicinity ; and by means of a yoke of oxen 
 which they possessed, it was brought to the 
 desired spot, where under the direction of a 
 carpenter the house was raised. But, oh ! 
 the task I had to get these children of nature 
 out every morning, and keep them at work 
 through several hours each day. They ap- 
 peared willing and began cheerfully, but then 
 they would fly off at a tangent, or loiter at 
 intervals, so that winter was at hand ere my 
 house showed itself erect, nor was it ready 
 for the reception of my family before the 
 middle of January. Then I moved in with- 
 out a chimney or plastered walls, the parti- 
 tions being of boards, and the openings 
 between the logs chinked. Yet it was our 
 
117 
 
 home where peace and comfort predominated. 
 To meet the expenses incurred for lumber, 
 nails, joiner wcrk,etc. which amounted to about 
 $250, I had to solicit aid from the gentlemen 
 of York, many of them outside of the Metho- 
 dist fraternity, chiefly of the Church of Eng- 
 land, who, I am happy to say for the most 
 part responded cheerfully, if not largely 
 small subscriptions being in those times the 
 order of the day. 
 
 " The Indians especially the women- 
 suffered severely from complaints of body, in- 
 duced mostly from change in the modes and 
 habits of living. The winter was open, and 
 therefore very sloppy, and their moccasins of 
 deer-skin being very porous would let in the 
 water. The pernicious effect of this was 
 counteracted while sleeping in their wigwams, 
 by the fire in the centre acting on the soles of 
 their feet, but now having resorted to bedsteads 
 away from the fire, in imitation of civilized 
 life, the effect of wet feet daily evinced itself 
 in sudden attacks of inflammation of the chest, 
 of which several died. I therefore advised 
 them, either to return to the camp fire, or to 
 
118 
 
 provide themselves with strong leather boots 
 or shoes like the white people. 
 
 The summer of 1828 was remarkable for the 
 prevalence of bilious fever, not only amongst 
 the Indians, but throughout the Province. 
 Several of my flock fell under it in the month 
 of August the type in some cases resembling 
 yellow fever. It was a fearful and gloomy 
 season ; yet the consolations of our holy 
 religion in the dying hour evinced its genuine- 
 
 ness." 
 
 All that Mr. Richardson received for his 
 year's services and we have seen how arduous 
 they were was $200, besides a salmon now 
 and then, presented by one or other of the 
 grateful Indians. In the autumn of this year 
 (1828) he removed again to York with his 
 family, where he could make them more 
 comfortable than was possible on the mission, 
 and awaited the action of the ensuing confer- 
 ence which was at hand 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Conference of 1828 Mr. Richardson Secretary Separation from 
 M. E. Church in America Sent to Niagara Extent of the 
 circuit Continued second year Colleagues State of circuit at 
 the end of two years Family afflictions and bereavements 
 Conference of 1830 Ordination to elder's orders Why not 
 sooner Bishop Hedding and the Conference Stationed at 
 Kingston Colleague Conference of 1831 Appointed P. E. 
 of Niagara District Quarterly meetings Conversion of his 
 eldest daughter Her marriage and death Remarkable in- 
 crease in members 1816 Treaty of 1820 Conference of 
 1832 Causes leading to the measure then initiated Unwill- 
 ingness to consult the people Mr. Richardson appointed 
 Editor of Christian Guardian State Grants for church purposes 
 His opposition His evidence before the Committee of the 
 House Dissolves his connection with the Conference. 
 
 The Conference of 1828 was held in Swit- 
 zers chapel, Ernesto wn, which was at that 
 time embraced in the Bay of Quinte circuit 
 It commenced its session on the 2nd of 
 October. Bishop Hedding presided over this 
 memorable conference of which Mr. Richard- 
 son was chosen secretary. What his views 
 were concerning the action of that con- 
 ference, regarding the separation from the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church in the Uni- 
 
 119 
 
120 
 
 ted States, will be most correctly ascertained 
 from his own words : 
 
 u At this conference the decisive step of 
 separation from the General Conference of 
 the M. E. Church in the United States was 
 taken. We resolved ourselves into an inde- 
 pendent Methodist Episcopal Church in 
 Canada, in friendly relations towards the 
 former body, whose General Conference had 
 the preceding May, conceded to us the right 
 so to do." 
 
 " This step was fraught with results, for 
 good or ill, according as it is viewed by dif- 
 ferent parties, from their several stand points. 
 It was deemed necessary then, by the ma- 
 jority, because of the political relations of the 
 two countries, and the difficulty attendant on 
 obtaining our legal right to hold church 
 property, and solemnize matrimony. Others, 
 viewing the church as Catholic, or Universal 
 in her design and character, judged it wrong 
 to limit her jurisdiction by national or muni- 
 cipal boundaries. Be this as it may, the re- 
 sult to Methodism, in Canada, has been the re- 
 duction, and for a time, the almost annihila- 
 
121 
 
 tion of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 A state of things not contemplated at the 
 time." 
 
 It will be seen from the above that subse- 
 quent experience led Mr. Richardson to regret 
 that the scheme of separation had ever been 
 agreed to. Though designed as a peace 
 measure, he saw that instead of accomplishing 
 the desired object, it had acted as an opening 
 wedge which rendered possible several serious 
 consequences to both bodies, which were 
 not at the time contemplated as within the 
 range of probabilities. Political issues iii 
 each country were subsequently made to 
 hinge on this action. 
 
 In Canada, the withdrawal of the jurisdic- 
 tion of the General Conference of the M. E. 
 Church in America, was made by certain 
 parties the pretext for disregarding the agree- 
 ment of 1820 ; the results of which are too 
 well known to require recapitulation here. 
 
 Political and party feeling in the United 
 States on the subject of slavery running very 
 high, made itself felt in the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church in that country. In 1844, the 
 
122 
 
 Southern conferences of that church demanded 
 a separation from the body, claiming their 
 right to do so upon the precedent estab- 
 lished in the arrangement made by the 
 parent body with regard to the Canada 
 Conference. Methodist history informs us 
 how that separation was effected, and the con- 
 sequences which followed. And even after 
 this lapse of time there is still a spirit of un- 
 rest and fickleness affecting the minds and con- 
 duct of many Methodists, both in this country 
 and in the United States,the legitimate fruit of 
 the well meant, but mistaken legislation of this 
 conference of 1828. 
 
 Mr. Richardson resumes : " Not having, as 
 we judged, a man fully competent to govern 
 us, we sought abroad for a Bishop, and our 
 choice fell on Dr. Wilbur Fisk, of the New 
 England Conference, The Rev. Egerton. 
 Ryerson was deputed to wait on him to ob- 
 tain his acceptance of the office, but much to 
 our regret he declined. Elder Case was made 
 General Superintendent^^ tern, without epis- 
 copal orders." 
 
 It may be well in this connection to state, 
 
123 
 
 that about this time Dr. Bangs was also in- 
 vited to become a Bishop of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church in Canada, but he also de- 
 clined. And afterwards the Rev. J. B, Strai- 
 ten, of the New York Conference, was invited 
 to fill the office, with a similar result. 
 
 At the Conference of 1828 Mr. Richardson 
 was appointed to the " Niagara circuit." This 
 was not the Fort George and Niagara circuit 
 before mentioned, but a field of labor entirely 
 new to him, which received its name from the 
 Niagara country. Some idea of the extent of 
 this circuit may be formed by the following 
 extract from Mr. Richardson's manuscript. 
 
 " It" (the circuitj " extended from the old 
 6 Warner's chapel ' on the east to the ' Fifty 
 mile creek ' in Saltfield on the west, and em- 
 braced the townships of Niagara, in part, 
 Grantham, Clinton, Grimsby, Saltfleet, in 
 part, Thorold, South Gainsboro, Caistor in 
 part, and Canboro, with Dunnville on the 
 Grand River. I made my home at St. 
 Catharines it being head quarters. I rented 
 a small house in the village which was then 
 a town in embryo, On this extensive circuit 
 
I remained and labored two years, having for 
 colleague the first year, Joseph Gatchel, and 
 the second, Edmund Stoney. The brethren 
 were kind, and I formed a pretty general ac- 
 quaintance and some intimate friendships. 
 The friendship then formed with Dr. Beadle 
 and his family, was terminated only by his 
 death a few years since. My labors were, I 
 trust, profitable, and the effect lasting. I left 
 the circuit in a wholesome and prosperous state. 
 The following years witnessed an extensive 
 and glorious revival of the work of God, 
 Methodism took a deep hold among the people 
 throughout that region, and the result is 
 strikingly visible at the present day." 
 
 Hitherto the family of Mr. Richardson had 
 been exempt from very serious affliction or 
 bereavement, but a change was at hand. 
 Toward the close of his second year on this 
 circuit his two youngest children were seized 
 with dysentery of such a malignant type that 
 in a short time it terminated in their death. 
 Mr. Richardson touchingly refers to this 
 bereavement and to the subsequent illness of 
 other members of his family in the following 
 extract : 
 
125 
 
 "About 3 o'clock p.m. the grim " monster," 
 entered our dwelling and seized Robert as his 
 victim, and at 8 o'clock next morning Joseph 
 breathed his last. They were enclosed in the 
 same coffin, the younger one in the arms of the 
 elder. The blow was severe, and the bereav- 
 ment such, that at times I felt a difficulty in 
 breathing, so heavy was the burden on my 
 heart, yet believing that our Heavenly Father 
 had some wise and gracious design I submitted 
 to the blow and could kiss the hand that in- 
 flicted it." 
 
 u Our trials however did not terminate 
 with the death of these children. About a 
 week after their interment, my eldest, and 
 now only son, James Henry, was brought low 
 with an attack of inflammatory rheumatism, 
 principally in his knees ; for some days he lay 
 between life and death. He however rallied 
 and by the time we had to remove from the 
 circuit he was able to get about by the aid of 
 crutches. The disease also extended to my 
 daughter Sarah Jane, and crippled her ankles 
 and feet so that when in September I took my 
 family to Kingston, whither the Conference 
 
126 
 
 of 1830 had sent me, she had to be conveyed 
 by the boatmen from the steamer to my 
 brother's house. Happily both survived to 
 add to my comfort in my declining years. 
 
 The Conference of 1830 commenced its 
 session on the 17th of August, at Kingston. 
 Bishop Hedding had been invited to attend, 
 that he might ordain the several candidates 
 who had been elected to deacon's and elder's 
 orders. 
 
 Mr. Richardson having been ordained 
 deacon in 1827, was eligible to elder's orders 
 at the Conference of 1829, but no " Bishop 
 yet been elected and consecrated by the 
 Canadian body, and there being none present 
 from the parent body, the conference was 
 compelled to defer the ordinations until either 
 a Bishop from the M. E. Church in the United 
 States could be in attendance, or one could be 
 elected and consecrated to the episcopal office 
 for the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada. 
 
 So tenacious was the Conference of ordina- 
 tion by a Bishop duly consecrated to that 
 office by the imposition of hands, that the 
 ordination of several of the preachers was de- 
 
127 
 
 ferred from year to year after they had been 
 duly elected to order, till a bishop regularly 
 consecrated could be had to officiate it. This 
 being while they had a General Superinten- 
 dent in the person of " Elder Case." But 
 owing to their regard for this truly Wesleyan 
 principle, Bishop Hedding was invited to at- 
 tend the Conference of 1830 and perform those 
 ordinations. The Conference in order to ex- 
 press their appreciation of the fraternal feel- 
 ing existing between the two bodies, as mani- 
 fested by the attendance of Bishop Redding*, 
 at this time the following resolutions were 
 adopted. " Resolved, 1st. That this Con- 
 ference feel highly gratified with and grateful 
 for the visit of Bishop Hedding amongst us." 
 
 " 2nd. That he is respectfully invited to 
 take a seat in this Conference and to assist us 
 by his counsel and advice." 
 
 " 3rd. That Bishop Hedding is most re- 
 spectfully requested to preside during the re- 
 ligious services of the next Sabbath, and to 
 ordain those preachers who may be presented 
 as suitable candidates for ordination." 
 
 In accordance with the foregoing, Bishop 
 
128 
 
 Hedding proceeded with the ordination, Mr. 
 Richardson being one of those ordained to 
 elder's orders. 
 
 The following is a copy of the parchment 
 received by him : 
 
 " KNOW ALL BY THESE PRESENTS THAT I ELIJAH 
 
 HEDDING, one of the Bishops of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church in America, under the protection of 
 ALMIGHTY GOD, and with a single eye to His glory, 
 by the imposition of my hands and prayer, being 
 assisted by the Elders present, have this day set 
 apart James Richardson for the office of an Elder 
 in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada, a 
 man who, in the judgment of the Conference is well 
 qualified for the work : and he is hereby recom- 
 mended to all whom it may concern as a proper 
 person to administer the sacraments and ordinances 
 and to feed the flock of Christ, so long as his spirit 
 and practice are such as become the gospel of Christ. 
 IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto set my 
 hand and seal this twenty-second day of August, in 
 the year of our Lord one-thousand eight-hundred 
 and thirty. 
 
 ELIJAH HEDDING. 
 Kingston, TJ. C." 
 
 Mr. Richardson was this year stationed 
 at Kingston. His colleague was Rev. Richard 
 
129 
 
 Jones. The circuit was a large one, including 
 besides the town, a range of adjacent country 
 on the west as far as a place called SutclifFs 
 School House and Mill Creek, in Ernes- 
 town, Loughboro, and Portland, on the 
 north, and Gananoque on the east. On this 
 circuit their rides were long and fatiguing, 
 owing to the distance between the appoint- 
 ments ; during this year nothing of note oc- 
 curred. 
 
 The Conference of 1831 was held in 
 York, commencing 31st of August. Mr. 
 Kichardson was appointed Presiding Elder of 
 the Niagara district, which necessitated his 
 removal from Kingston. He accordingly 
 returned to York where he rented a house, 
 and settled his family. Having in former 
 years been very popular as a pastor on several 
 of the circuits embraced within his district, 
 he was received in his new official relation 
 with marked satisfaction. 
 
 The quarterly meetings in those times 
 were seasons of peculiar interest and religious 
 power. 
 
 The Saturday afternoon business meetings 
 9 
 
130 
 
 on Mr. Richardson's district were well attend- 
 ed, as were also the Saturday evening prayer- 
 meetings. The love-feast and administration 
 of the Lord's Supper were generally attended 
 by powerful awakenings and conversions. 
 
 Another very efficient means of grace in 
 those early days was the annual " Watch 
 Night/' held on New Year's eve. When 
 properly conducted it is still an efficient 
 means of grace. 
 
 Mr. Richardson was well qualified for 
 conducting such meetings, being a man, who, 
 while thoroughly in earnest in his work, was 
 possessed of a well balanced judgment, and 
 prepared to check anything bordering on 
 fanaticism. At one of these meetings in the 
 old red church at the west end of Lundy's 
 Lane held on the night of 31st December 
 1831, the people had assembled from about 
 the " Beech Woods," " Beaver Dams," and 
 around the Falls, besides some from other 
 places more remote, when there was a gracious 
 outpouring of the Spirit. " The power of 
 God was present to heal." Mr. Richardson 
 attended and took charge of the meeting. 
 
131 
 
 He had taken his eldest daughter, Martha 
 Ann, with him on this tour that she might 
 revisit some of her former acquaintances in 
 St. Catharines, and she was with him at this 
 meeting, where, though but a child of 13, she 
 was soundly converted, as was evinced by 
 her subsequent walk and conversation. Her 
 father in reference to this event remarks : 
 
 " She returned rejoicing in God her Saviour. 
 The scene on my arrival home, has impressed 
 itself on my memory. It was about 10 o'clock 
 p.m., and while I was busied putting my horse 
 in the stable, Martha had proceeded up stairs 
 to her mother's bedrooom, who had retired. 
 As I ascended the stairway I heard sobbing ; 
 my heart throbbed as I feared it was caused 
 by some calamity, but happily my fears were 
 turned into joy, on learning that the mutual 
 sobbing resulted from happiness. The dear 
 child, in her anxiety to let her mother know 
 what the Lord had done for her soul, had com 
 municated it to her ; hence the tears of joy, and 
 sympathetic burstings of heavenly feeling 
 which none but those of heavenly birth can 
 appreciate." 
 
132 
 
 In 1834 Miss Richardson became a student 
 in the Cazenovia Seminary in the State of 
 New York. While there she acquitted herself 
 to the satisfaction of both her parents and her 
 teachers. It was here she met with Prof. W. 
 H. Allen, a gentleman who has distinguished 
 himself, especially at Dickenson and Girard 
 Colleges; of the latter of which he has been for 
 many years the honored President. The ac- 
 quaintance thus formed eventuated in their 
 marriage in the autumn of 1836, and the 
 happy pair bade their Toronto friends fare- 
 well, Mr. Richardson accompanying his 
 daughter to the wharf, little thinking he 
 should see her face on earth no more. In 
 three short years at the early age of 20, she 
 was suddenly removed from the embrace of 
 her tender husband and loving friends, leav- 
 ing behind her an infant eighteen months old. 
 As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Richardson were 
 apprised of the dangerous illness of their 
 daughter they hastened to her. But an ob- 
 struction on the track delayed the train, and 
 the remains of Mrs. Allen had been consigned 
 to the tomb ere they reached Carlisle, the 
 
133 
 
 place of her husband's residence. The in- 
 telligence of her death reached the afflicted 
 parents while they were yet on their journey, 
 and the depth of their sorrow we leave to the 
 imagination of the reader. Even in extreme 
 old age Mr. Richardson could scarcely speak of 
 this beloved daughter without being deeply 
 moved. 
 
 But to return to the work of the district. 
 The year passed pleasantly and the cause 
 of God prospered. Indeed the church in all 
 parts of the country had shared largely in the 
 revival spirit, as the Conference returns abun- 
 dantly prove. The increase in the connection 
 during the year w r as 3,651. " The ratio here 
 mentioned, when all the circumstances are 
 taken into account, is probably unsurpassed in 
 the annals of Methodism." 
 
 After speaking of the very prosperous condi- 
 tion of the church during the Conference year 
 1831, and up to 1832, Mr. Richardson remarks : 
 
 " But alas ! we were approaching an event 
 in the history of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church in Canada, which by the relinquish- 
 ment of Episcopacy on the part of the " Con- 
 
134 
 
 ference " (not of the Church) u proved nearly 
 fatal to her existence, and was replete with 
 results painful to contemplate. Her anni- 
 hilation as the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 would have been complete but for the perti- 
 nacity, courage and devotion of the remnant 
 who nobly stood forth to preserve her order 
 and her name in the land.'* 
 
 " The origin of a desire to effect a trans- 
 formation of Methodism in Canada may be 
 traced to a movement in the year 1816, when 
 the English Conference saw fit. for reasons 
 best known to themselves, to furnish men and 
 money for missionary operations in a country 
 where the standard of Methodism had been 
 unfurled for more than 25 consecutive years, 
 and under that order of church government 
 which Mr. Wesley had himself prepared and 
 furnished to the societies in America. In 
 fact, the only order of church polity he ever 
 formed or provided for the people called Metho- 
 dists in either Europe or America. These 
 Missionaries planted themselves in the midst 
 of the original societies, and fields of labor al- 
 ready formed and spiritually cultivated by 
 
135 
 
 the self-denying and laborious ministers of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church. In this 
 manner were the seeds of discord first sown 
 among the Methodists of Canada, and the as- 
 pect of two kinds of Methodists was first be- 
 held by the wondering world, and the afflict- 
 ed and divided societies in these Provinces ; 
 and although the mischief attendant on this 
 state of things was much mitigated by the re- 
 moval of the English missionaries to Lower 
 Canada, with the exception of one at Kingston 
 retained there contrary to the Methodist 
 treaty of 1820 the previous unity of Metho- 
 dism in Canada was never fully restored." 
 
 The Conference of 1832 assembled at Hallo- 
 well, commencing its session on the 8th of 
 August. It was at this Conference that the 
 question of a union between the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church and the English Conference, 
 was discussed, the subject having been intro- 
 duced at a meeting of the Missionary Board 
 held at York some time previously. 
 
 To the general principle of union Mr. 
 Richardson gave his assent, although he was 
 not altogether satisfied with some of the pro- 
 posed details of the plan laid before them. 
 
13(5 
 
 Resolutions were, however, finally adopted 
 as a basis of union between the two bodies, 
 and an agent appointed to proceed to England 
 to negotiate with the English Conference on 
 the subject. The measure was hurried 
 through without consulting the societies or 
 ascertaining their wishes in the matter. 
 
 Mr. Richardson, Philander Smith, Franklin 
 Medcalf and some others would have been 
 better satisfied had the societies been con- 
 sulted, but the majority decided that it was 
 not necessary to do this until it was ascer- 
 tained whether the English Conference would 
 consent to the proposed measure. Such 
 reasoning appeared plausible, but from what 
 followed in 1833 it is evident that the un- 
 willingness to consult the people at this 
 juncture sprang from a different motive. 
 
 Mr. Alder was present at the Conference of 
 1832, and was also before the Mission Board 
 at York, though not as an accredited delegate 
 from the English Conference. His real 
 business in Canada was to negotiate, as agent 
 of the latter bod}^ with the Lieutenant 
 Governor in order to secure public funds from 
 the revenue of the country to assist the 
 
137 
 
 English Conference to extend their missions 
 into Upper Canada, contrary to the express 
 stipulations of the Methodist treaty of 1820. 
 
 Mr. Alder was an accomplished diplomatist, 
 and that no objection might be made to his 
 monetary arrangement with Sir John Col- 
 borne, it was not made public, till a more 
 convenient season. 
 
 Mr. Richardson, Mr. Smith, and others 
 being in ignorance of the negotiations going 
 on between Mr. Alder and the Governor, ac- 
 cepted their appointments as usual, hoping 
 that the union it* consummated, would in no 
 wise compromise the civil and religious rights 
 of either the preachers, or the people, 
 
 At this conference (1832) Mr. Richardson 
 was appointed editor of the Christian Guar- 
 dian, a religious paper commenced under the 
 direction of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 in Canada. The first number of this paper 
 was issued November 21st., 1829, Rev. 
 Egerton Ryerson being the first editor. 
 
 Mr. Richardson entered on his editorial 
 work in the first week in September, 1832, 
 and at once gave no uncertain sound, so far 
 
138 
 
 as his views were concerned, relative to the 
 propriety of receiving state grants for church 
 purposes, as the following extract from one of 
 his editorials shows : 
 
 " We have long been convinced that support- 
 ing the ministry of the gospel from the pub- 
 lic treasury is not only a misapplication of 
 the public funds, but also a serious evil to 
 the church. It may indeed help to keep 
 up an appearance of prosperity in the exten- 
 sion, and splendour of her institutions ; in the 
 power, opulence, and even learning of her 
 clergy ; but at the same time it tends to cor- 
 rupt her ministry by producing impurity in 
 their motives, lukewarmness in their affec- 
 tions, indifference to their work, disregard to 
 the opinions and feelings of their people, and 
 consequently a neglect of duty, and relaxa- 
 tion of discipline : and the head being sick 
 the heart becomes faint." 
 
 Again, in the Guardian of September 26th, 
 1832, while commenting upon the efforts 
 which were then being made by the clergy 
 of the Church of England to secure the 
 Clergy Reserves for themselves, and to have 
 
139 
 
 their denomination made the Established 
 Church in Canada, he remarks : 
 
 "A regard for the interests of religion it- 
 self, as well as the permanent tranquility 
 and prosperity of the country, should prompt 
 all concerned to make a vigorous, timely, and 
 we trust, final effort for such a disposition of 
 said reserves, as may forever prevent their 
 becoming a source of contention and corrup- 
 tion, as well as danger to the best interests 
 of the Province, by being either thrown open 
 for location by actual settlers, or appropriated 
 to the promotion of education in general, and 
 internal improvement of the country." 
 
 <; We would not be understood, from these 
 remarks, as entertaining any hostility to- 
 wards the Church of England, as such; no 
 such thing ; we would express our opinion 
 and disapprobation of any attempt at like 
 means of support and monopoly, if made to 
 the 'church to which we belong, in more 
 severe terms. We consider such a provision 
 not only unnecessary, but detrimental to the 
 best interests of the church itself." 
 
 Thus it will be seen that from the outset 
 
140 
 
 of his editorial career, he was the fearless op- 
 ponent of a state paid ministry, whether the 
 funds were derived from the Clergy Reserves 
 or from the Casual and Territorial Revenue, 
 and that he thus through his paper became a 
 " guardian " of the people's rights. How 
 faithfully and consistently he subsequently 
 carried out the views then so openly express- 
 ed, his actions, a few years later, abundantly 
 proved. He was no trickster. Straightforward 
 in everything he said, or did, he had no sym- 
 pathy with the morality of any party, who 
 while professing to be opposed to state grants 
 for religious purposes, would nevertheless 
 justify the reception of such grants by breth- 
 ren associated with them, and consent to reap 
 the benefit of funds so derived." 
 
 As the accredited organ of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church in Canada, the Guardian 
 exercised considerable influence in the country. 
 Mr. Richardson's fearless opposition to the 
 reception of Government support to the 
 churches, afforded very great satisfaction to 
 a people struggling for their rights, at the 
 same time it elicited violent opposition from 
 
the friends of church and state connection, 
 among whom was Rev. John Barry, a mis- 
 sionary in the employment of the English 
 Conference. Mr. Barry came out in defence 
 of the reception of state grants, and a spirited 
 controversy on the subject ensued between 
 him and Mr. Richardson, Mr. Barry's articles 
 being published in the Courier. This was the 
 first intimation that the Canadian public had 
 of the fact that grants were made by the 
 Government to the Wesleyans, or accepted by 
 them to be expended on their missions in the 
 Province ; still it was not supposed, even after 
 the appearance of Mr. Barry's articles, that 
 in the event of the contemplated union tak- 
 ing place between the two bodies, the Canada 
 Conference would become implicated in the 
 reception of such grants, or justified in any 
 way in their reception on the part of the 
 Missionaries. 
 
 In the Guardian of July 3rd, 1833, Mr. 
 Richardson again gave expression to his 
 views on this subject, while commenting on 
 the action of the Presbyterian Synod of that 
 year in accepting Government grants. 
 
142 
 
 ' ; So then the bait has taken the majority 
 of the Presbyterian Synod of Upper Canada 
 have accepted the proffered boon from the 
 Executive of this Province, mentioned by us 
 a few weeks since. We had indulged some 
 hope that this respectable body of ministers 
 most of them seceders from the Kirk of 
 Scotland were possessed of sufficient discern- 
 ment of mind, and regard for themselves, 
 their people, and the interests of this Pro- 
 vince at large, to induce them to refuse the 
 tender made ; and we sincerely regret that 
 they have not done so." 
 
 After arguing the case at some length Mr. 
 Richardson continues : 
 
 "It is clear that nothing can be more 
 dangerous to the liberties of the country, or 
 more at variance with the principles of 
 British freedom, than the irresponsible, and 
 uncontrolled disposing of the public funds. 
 Could such a thing exist in Britain ? What 
 would the Parliament there say to the grant- 
 ing of the public moneys without legislative 
 authority ? And shall that be practised in 
 Canada which would not be tolerated in 
 
143 
 
 Britain for a moment, because a direct in- 
 fringement upon the Great Charter of English 
 liberty ? and tell it not in Gath, Christian 
 Ministers too, receive and divide the spoil ! 1 
 It is high time the people were awake to 
 this evil this source of fearful, incalculable 
 evil to our country. The church and the 
 state will alike suffer, unless this granting 
 and appropriating of all public moneys be 
 strictly regulated by legislative enactments." 
 
 * # * # * H 
 
 " Greatly as we deprecate the evil of an es- 
 tablished church we would much prefer one, 
 especially the Church of England, under pro- 
 per and 'definite enactments, than the arbitrary 
 and partial patronage of several. The former 
 can never become so detrimental to the peace 
 and happiness of the country as the latter." 
 
 The Conference of 1 833 met at York on 
 the 2nd of October. 
 
 Eev. Egerton Ryerson was elected Secre- 
 tary instead of Mr. Richardson, who had dis- 
 charged the duties of that responsible office 
 since 1828, a change which was indicative of 
 other and more serious ones which were to 
 
144 
 
 follow, the character of some of which Mr. 
 Richardson had no conception. 
 
 As soon as the Conference was fairly open- 
 ed the subject of union was introduced. 
 Rev. E, Ryerson, the delegate of the M. E. 
 Church in Canada who had been sent to ne- 
 gotiate with the English Conference concern- 
 ing Union, had only just returned from his 
 mission. He brought in his report, followed 
 by a captivating speech in favor of the articles 
 of Union, and the measure was driven through 
 with a rush, there being no time taken for 
 careful consideration of it, nor were the laity 
 consulted till the work was done. 
 
 The name taken by the new body was the 
 Wesleyan Methodist Church in British North 
 America. 
 
 Mr. Marsden, a gentleman sent out as 
 President by the English Conference, took 
 his seat and presided over the new organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 With others, Mr. Richardson consented to 
 the proposed union, though he would have 
 preferred that the societies had been consult- 
 ed first. Knowing nothing of the schemes 
 
145 
 
 which had been, or were being conserted, be- 
 tween the Executive and his brethren in the 
 ministry, whom he had hitherto trusted so 
 implicitly, he thus expresses himself in the 
 Guardian of Oct. 9th, 1833. 
 
 " It becomes us to observe that when the pre- 
 liminary arrangements for effecting the union 
 were under consideration, we were not with- 
 out our fears for the results. Not in fear of 
 a union with our British brethren, for this 
 we have considered most desirable, from the 
 first, but it appeared to us that the measures 
 proposed and adopted to obtain it were not 
 advisable or expedient and would ultimately 
 fail of the desired end. " Further on how- 
 ever, he expresses himself as being now 
 pleased with the result, evidently desiring 
 the success of the movement. Honest and 
 conscientious himself, it never occurred to 
 his mind that men with whom he had acted 
 so long, and in whom he reposed such con- 
 fidence, were about to change their principles 
 in relation to the propriety of receiving state 
 grants for ministerial support, with as much 
 readiness as they had changed their ecclesias- 
 tical polity and name. But so it was. 10 
 
146 
 
 In process of time he had the mortification 
 to find that he had been deceived, that the 
 union scheme was not the unexceptionable 
 measure he had been led to believe it was, 
 that in fact, the civil and religious rights of 
 the people had been as completely betrayed 
 by some of his associates, as the expedition of 
 Commodore Yeo bad been by the traitor 
 sergeant and his companion. 
 
 As at the beginning of the Conference, Mr. 
 Richardson, as Secretary, had been super- 
 seded by Mr. Ryerson, so, later in the session, 
 was he removed from the editorial manage- 
 ment of the Guardian. By Mr. Richardson's 
 fearless and determined opposition to the ap- 
 propriation of the public funds of the country 
 by the Executive and their being diverted 
 from their legitimate use, and portions of 
 them being distributed to favored cliques for 
 ministerial support, he had given great offence 
 to Mr. Barry and the party whom he served ; 
 and as it was the intention of the English 
 Conference to accept the Government grant, 
 and expend it in extending their Missionary 
 work in Canada, it became necessary to re- 
 
147 
 
 move Mr. Richardson from the control of the 
 Guardian* 
 
 Mr. Richardson was appointed to York 
 District, and entered on his work with his 
 usual energy. He had no sooner entered 
 upon his labors than he found the people 
 strongly opposed to the union, but really be- 
 lieving that it would result in good to the 
 country, he strove to reconcile the societies 
 to the action of the Conference. 
 
 But his confidence was to be rudely shaken 
 and finally destroyed. When he learned be- 
 yond the possibility of a doubt that Mr. Mars- 
 den, President of the Conference, had received 
 the, since famous, 900 Government grant, 
 on behalf of the Missionary Society, and saw 
 that the Guardian had changed its tactics, 
 and was now justifying state appropriations 
 to religious bodies, he was filled with sorrow 
 and indignation. His first fears concerning 
 the advisability of the formation of the union 
 returned with ten fold force ; but he was 
 charitable and still hoped for the best. 
 
 * For historical account of the proceedings of the Conference ot 
 1833, see History of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada, 
 page 278 and following pages. 
 
148 
 
 The newly appointed editor having come 
 out with a series of articles, the celebrated 
 " Impressions, " Mr. Richardson could no 
 longer close his eyes to the humiliating fact 
 that the cause of civil and religious liberty 
 had been betrayed into the hands of the 
 Church and State partjr. It was now very 
 evident to the friends of civil and religious 
 liberty why Mr. Richardson had been re- 
 moved from the editorial chair. The brave 
 soldier, the devoted minister of Christ, who 
 had fought and bled so nobly for his native 
 country in early manhood, and who was now 
 equally jealous for the honor of his Divine 
 Master, was exceedingly grieved. For three 
 years he worked hard to bring his brethren 
 back to their former honorable position in 
 relation to the " Grants, " but to no purpose. 
 
 The agents of the English Conference 
 sympathized with the " Family Compact," 
 and these with several of the Canadian 
 preachers were playing into the hands of the 
 dominant party, the " Compact" through an 
 irresponsible Executive, who was furnishing 
 the agents of the Missionary Society in turn, 
 
149 
 
 with the public money in direct opposition 
 to the House of Assembly. How this state 
 of things created the dissatisfaction and ex- 
 citement which culminated in the revolt of 
 1837 we leave to history ; it is only necessary 
 to refer to it here so far as it concerned 
 Mr. Richardson, who was called before a 
 committee of the House to give his testimony 
 in regard to this vexed question. 
 
 So distasteful to the people were the Gov- 
 ernment grants for religious purposes that 
 the Provincial House of Assembly, in 1 836, 
 appointed a committee to investigate the 
 matter and report to the House. 
 
 The report, from which we have only space 
 for a few extracts, commences as follows : 
 
 To THE HONORABLE THE COMMONS HOUSE OF 
 ASSEMBLY. 
 
 The Committee appointed by your Honorable 
 House to inquire whether any money has been 
 paid by the Government to any religious denomina- 
 tion in this Province, and if so, what the purposes 
 are to which such grants if any have been ap- 
 plied ; and that the said committee have authority 
 to summon witnesses, and call for the production 
 
150 
 
 of papers and records, and to report from time to 
 time by address or otherwise BEG LEAVE TO RE- 
 PORT AS FOLLOWS: That in pursuance to the 
 order of your Honorable House your committee 
 proceeded to the consideration of the first subject of 
 enquiry, namely, whether any money has been paid 
 by the Government to any religious denominations 
 in this Province." 
 
 " Upon referring to the official returns laid before 
 your Honorable House during the last Session of 
 Parliament, it appears that certain sums of money 
 have been paid from the revenue of the Province to 
 the following denominations, viz : the Church of 
 England, the Roman Catholic Church, the Estab- 
 lished Church of Scotland, the United Presbyterian 
 Synod, the British Wesleyan Conference, or the 
 Wesleyan Methodist Society, the Canadian Wes- 
 leyan Conference." 
 
 "The fact that grants have been made and re- 
 ceived by the above denominations is sufficiently 
 established by the correspondence between the 
 Secretary of his Excellency the Lieutenant Gover- 
 nor and the parties concerned, together with the 
 Receiver General's account of the expenditure of 
 the casual and territorial revenue, all of which 
 documents are among the records of your Honor- 
 able House." 
 
151 
 
 On the 4th page of the Report it is stated 
 that- 
 
 " Whatever coloring may be given to the whole 
 transaction, one thing is clear, that the grants of 
 money have been made whether they were made 
 directly to the Canada Conference, or not, and that 
 the Conference or the Connexion have become parti- 
 cipators therein." 
 
 This item of the Report had reference to 
 the attempt made by prominent members of 
 the Canada Conference to shift the odium of 
 having received the Government grant upon 
 the British Conference, while, at the same 
 time the money was being expended in 
 Canada. The committee were determined to 
 gain all the information they could upon the 
 subject, and hence their close questioning of 
 the witnesses whom they summoned to ap- 
 pear before them. The following is Mr. 
 Richardson's testimony on that occasion, and 
 abundantly proves his unbending integrity. 
 The Committee asks, Question " 216." 
 
 " Will you explain to the committee the difference 
 between receiving Government grants direct, or re- 
 ceiving them from that Society, or body, who re- 
 ceived them from the Government ? " 
 
152 
 
 Mr. Richardson " The difference is obvious 
 the one case receiving them directly, the other in- 
 directly.' 
 
 Quest. 217. " Is there any difference in the ef- 
 fects, consequences, or propriety of such proceedings?" 
 
 Mr. Richardson, " There is little or no difference, 
 in my opinion." 
 
 Quest. 218, " In such a case, if there is any- 
 thing so morally wrong, or injurious in a part of 
 your conference being paid in such a manner, do 
 you consider the whole conference implicated by 
 not exercising the powers with which they are 
 vested to prevent it." 
 
 Mr. Richardson " This question calls for an ex- 
 pression of opinion obvious to all that if anything 
 be morally wrong on the part of any of the mem- 
 bers of the conference, the whole body must be in 
 some measure implicated, unless they exercise what 
 powers they possess to prevent or correct it." 
 
 After the examination of other witnesses 
 in reference to this point, Mr. Richardson, as 
 a member of the Canada Wesley an Confer- 
 ence, was again called before the committee, 
 and examined with regard to the views of 
 the Wesleyan laity on the question of receiv- 
 ing the Government Grants. The following 
 is an extract of their questions and his re- 
 plies. 
 
153 
 
 Quest. 334, " Have the Societies of the church 
 to which you belong been troubled or agitated 
 about the grants of money made by the Govern- 
 ment to the Methodists ? " 
 
 Mr. Richardson " They have I think to a con- 
 siderable extent." 
 
 Quest. 335. " Did those agitations arise from 
 the grants themselves, or from misrepresentations 
 respecting them ? " 
 
 Mr. Richardson " No doubt misrepresentations 
 respecting them have increased the agitation- 
 Nevertheless, several of the societies within my 
 knowledge have manifested considerable anxiety 
 relative to those money grants after they were cor- 
 rectly informed of every particular respecting them. 
 When the reports of these grants having been 
 given, appeared, I had occasion to explain at the 
 quarterly meeting. Those explanations relieved 
 their minds under an expectation that as the Can- 
 ada Conference had not been made acquainted 
 with the reception of them, they would at their 
 ensuing meeting disavow any participation in 
 them, and declare their adherence to their former 
 principles relative to grants from the public funds 
 for the support of the Christian ministry. This 
 not being done in a satisfactory manner, this agita- 
 tion, to a great extent, though not as violent as at 
 first, still continues." 
 
154- 
 
 Mr. Richardson's honest answers to the 
 questions put to him by this Committee, 
 brought down on him the serious displeasure 
 of a very large majority of the more promi- 
 nent members of the Canada Conference, who, 
 forgetful of their former denunciations of the 
 policy of the Executive, in making grants of 
 public moneys to religious bodies, were now 
 not only anxious to participate in them, but 
 were also clamouring for a division of the 
 Clergy Reserves among certain sects, in order 
 that their body " might enjoy a moiety of a 
 baneful monopoly against which they them- 
 selves had, at one time, so nobly protested." 
 
 In vain Mr. Richardson used his influence 
 to bring the Conference back to their former 
 position on this point ; and being convinced 
 that further effort on his part was useless, as 
 the friends of state patronage were increasing 
 in the Conference year by year instead of 
 decreasing, he, in 1836, dissolved his connec- 
 tion with the Wesley an body, with which he 
 had been associated since 1833. Nor could 
 he have remained longer, consistently with 
 his oft repeated expressions of opposition to 
 
155 
 
 the reception of the Government money by 
 religious bodies. 
 
 Although Mr. Richardson could not induce 
 the Canada Conference to reject the Govern- 
 ment grant, which their connection with tl e 
 English Conference had caused to be offered 
 to them, he nevertheless lived to see the 
 day when his much loved native land was 
 freed from the curse of a state paid ministry, 
 and to strengthen by his influence the move- 
 ment which resulted in the secularization of 
 the Clergy Reserves.* Even in old age he 
 would express himself very warmly on this 
 subject, being very much interested in the 
 progress of the bill for the disestablishment of 
 the Irish church, and indulging the hope, in 
 which, however, he was disappointed, that he 
 might yet see a similar bill passed in regard 
 to England. The patriotic Christian Canadian 
 can scarcely fail to admire the course pursued 
 by Mr. Richardson in this matter, or indeed 
 in the course of all the actions of his public 
 career. 
 
 * Though Mr. Richardson was favourable to the secularization of 
 the Clergy Reserves, he was yet very much opposed to the Commu- 
 tation clause in the Act by which they were secularized. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Removes to State of New York Pastor of M. E. Church in Auburn 
 N. Y. one year. Returns to his native land in 1837 Re-unites 
 with the M. E. Church in Canada, and stationed in Toronto 
 Appointed General Missionary by the conference of 1838 
 Incident Secretary of Conference of 1839 Stationed in 
 Toronto 1840 Agent of the Bible Society by permission of the 
 Conference Notice of his labors in connection therewith 
 Tribute to his memory Notice of his connection with the 
 Temperance Reformation Society In 1852 and 1853 P. E. 
 In 1854 Superannuated Again on a District 1858. 
 
 Shortly after Mr. Richardson's withdrawal 
 from the Wesleyan Conference he removed to 
 Auburn in the State of New York, where he 
 accepted the charge of a Methodist church. 
 Here, however, he only remained one year, 
 being too warmly attached to his native land 
 to be willing to make a permanent home for 
 himself in any other. In 1837 he returned 
 to Toronto, earnestly desiring that <*God 
 would direct his steps and open up his Pro- 
 vidential way." On his arrival at Toronto, 
 after leaving the steamboat he was passing 
 up Yonge St., when providentially he fell 
 in with Rev. Philander Smith. The meet- 
 
 156 
 
157 
 
 ing though unexpected was none the less 
 agreeable to both parties. They had been 
 old and fast friends for years and had long 
 been co-laborers in the Conference and church ; 
 they had both been oppressed with similar 
 fears in 1832, in regard to the proposed 
 changes in the polity of the Church, and had 
 been grievously disappointed in the results 
 which followed the action of 1833, and deep- 
 ly did they regret that they had ever con- 
 sented to the proposed changes, or allowed 
 themselves to be identified with the new 
 movement. 
 
 Then and there, they arranged for an in- 
 terview. In the long and serious conversation 
 which followed they carefully reviewed the 
 past history of Methodism, and earnestly con- 
 sidered the probable future welfare of the 
 church, and of the country. After seeking 
 Divine guidance as to their own duty to God, 
 and to the people of Canada, at this juncture, 
 they decided to visit the Conference of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada which 
 was then in session, about ten miles from 
 Toronto, and to ask admission into its ranks. 
 
158 
 
 This resolution they put into execution next 
 morning. 
 
 The Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church assembled on the 21st of June, 1837, 
 in :6 Cummer's Meeting House, " Yonge Street. 
 
 While the Conference was going through 
 the routine of business, all unconscious of the 
 pleasant surprise awaiting them, these honor- 
 ed men of God were on their way to make 
 the contemplated visit. Arriving at their 
 destination, they met a cordial recep- 
 tion, even before the direct object of their 
 visit had been made known, and when their 
 object was understood they were received 
 again with hearty welcome. Brothers belov- 
 ed they had been of old, honored and beloved 
 they continued thenceforth to be, till they 
 were, each in his turn, removed from the 
 Church militant to the Church triumphant. 
 
 In 1837 Mr. Richardson was stationed at 
 Toronto. In 1838, he was appointed to travel 
 through a portion of the work as a general 
 Missionary.* 
 
 * Rev. W. F. Lowe relates the following incident which occurred 
 during the conference of 1838, held in Palermo. 
 
159 
 
 " During the war of 1812 Bishop Richard- 
 son (then Lieut, in the R. N.) was sent 
 on some office business to Toronto then 
 called York to Dundas by the way of Dun- 
 das Street. He was accompanied by his wife. 
 At the close of the first day they arrived at 
 the home of my father-in-law, Mr. Absalom 
 Smith, who lived in the Township of Trafal- 
 gar and requested permission to stay all night. 
 After some hesitation their consent was given. 
 The next morning the Lieut, had some writ- 
 ing to do, and as that was before the days of 
 gold or steel pens he was under the necessity 
 of using his pen knife to make or mend his 
 pen, and laying the knife down on the table 
 he went away and left it. His host laid the 
 knife carefully away till he should return, or 
 until he should have a suitable opportunity 
 to give, or send it to him. Such opportunity, 
 however, did not occur for several years, and 
 in the meantime the incident was well nigh 
 forgotten by both. The next time the parties 
 met was at the Conference of 1838, held in 
 the Trafalgar Church, which Brother Richard- 
 son attended. It so happened that Mr. 
 
160 
 
 Richardson was sent to my father-in-law's to 
 board during the session of the Conference. 
 A.t first the host did not recognize in the 
 Methodist preacher, the officer of former years, 
 but after mature reflection he recalled the 
 incident connected with his former visit. He 
 got the little pen-knife (which had been 
 carefully preserved) and presented it to his 
 guest, who also soon recalled the circumstance 
 of his former visit to the family of his host. 
 They were ever after firm and warm friends." 
 
 In 1839 he was elected Secretary of the 
 Conference, an office which was repeatedly 
 and creditably filled by him, both before and 
 after this period, and he was once more 
 stationed in Toronto. 
 
 Mr. Richardson evinced a warm interest in 
 the various associations which have for their 
 object the spread of Scriptural and other re- 
 ligious knowledge, more especially the Bible 
 and Tract Societies. The British and Foreign 
 Bible Society having established a branch in 
 Canada, Mr. Richardson was. in 1840, ap- 
 pointed its agent, he having received permis- 
 sion of the Conference to act in that capacity. 
 
161 
 
 This office he filled, with advantage to the 
 Society and credit to himself, for 11 years. 
 The estimation in which he was held by his 
 associates in both of those departments of 
 Christian labour will probably be best learned 
 by the following tribute to his memory, from 
 the pen of his friend and co-laborer Rev. W. 
 Reid. 
 
 " The late Rev. Dr. Richardson, in connec- 
 tion with the Upper Canada Bible Society, 
 and the Upper Canada Religious Tract and 
 Book Society. 
 
 Dr. Richardson, I doubt not, had taken an 
 interest in the Bible Society from the time 
 of its organization in 1828, for he sympathized 
 with all movements of a religious and mission- 
 ary nature. In 1839 he was appointed one 
 of the Yice-Presidents of the Society, a position 
 which he filled till the time of his death 
 36 years. 
 
 In 1839-40 the Rev. Dr. Thomson, an agent 
 of the Parent Society, went through the 
 country, forming branches of the Bible So- 
 ciety where none previously existed, and 
 stirring up the few which had been in exis- 
 11 
 
162 
 
 tence ; and with the view of carrying on the 
 work, it was resolved by the directors of the 
 TJ. C., at the recommendation of the Parent 
 Society, to appoint a permanent travelling 
 agent. Dr. Richardson's many peculiar quali- 
 fications pointed him out as excellently fitted 
 for such a work ; and accordingly he was ap- 
 pointed agent in 1840, beginning his work in 
 June of that year. I first became acquainted 
 with him in the autumn of 1840, when he 
 visited Grafton^ where I then was settled, for 
 the purpose of forming a Bible Society, and 
 from that time I saw him at least once a year, 
 till I was removed to Toronto in 1853. In 
 the discharge of his duties he was most dili- 
 gent and persevering. The roads were often 
 very bad, and the storms severe, but no diffi- 
 culties deterred him or prevented him from 
 keeping his appointments. His addresses 
 were impressive and full of information; 
 while his genial disposition, the intelligent 
 interest which he took in every thing con- 
 nected with the progress of the country, and 
 the deep but unobtrusive piety which charac- 
 terized him, gained him favour with all. In 
 
163 
 
 the days to which I refer, there was not as 
 much Christian intercourse among the mem- 
 bers of different churches as there is now ; 
 political, religious, and national differences 
 were more marked than they are now. But 
 even then, men of all churches, and of all 
 classes had confidence in Dr. Richardson as a 
 truly good man. He was at the time the sole 
 agent of the Upper Canada Bible Society, and 
 his duties required hard work and self-denying 
 toil. But all, with whom he had intercourse, 
 appreciated his fidelity, and were sorry when 
 he resigned his position. 
 
 In connection with the Upper Canada Reli- 
 gious Tract and Book Society. I find that he 
 was appointed a Vice-President in 1842, and 
 in 1851, he consented to accept the appoint- 
 ment of President. For nearly a quarter of 
 a century, he filled that honourable position, 
 and on many an occasion was his well-known 
 form seen occupying the chair at the annual 
 meetings, when his cheerful, and hopeful 
 words stimulated and encouraged the friends 
 of the cause. Until recently he was very 
 faithful in attending the committee meetings 
 
164 
 
 of both societies, when he was in the city, and 
 in him they have both lost a most faithful and 
 sincere friend." 
 
 The following is extracted from the Bible 
 Society Recorder. 
 
 " Since the matter for this number of the 
 Recorder was placed in the printer's hands 
 another of our Vice-Presidents, a Christian 
 Canadian veteran hero has passed away from 
 among us, regretted by all who knew him, 
 and by none outside his own family and 
 private circle more than by the Directors of 
 the Upper Canada Bible Society. The Kev. 
 Bishop Richardson, D.D., breathed his last 
 almost at the time when the Board in their 
 opening prayer, led by the Rev. J^ M. Cameron, 
 were commending him to God, the Father of 
 mercies in Christ. 
 
 We cannot help mourning his loss, yet 
 ought we not rather to " bless God's holy name 
 for another of His servants departed this life 
 in His faith and fear, beseeching Him to give 
 us grace to follow his good example," es- 
 pecially when He has spared His beloved saint 
 to the Church on earth so long, vouchsafed 
 
165 
 
 to him such an unusual share of health in 
 "spirit, soul, and body," and honoured him so 
 largely as an instrument in the spread of his 
 truth. 
 
 Dr. Richardson has been a Yice-President 
 of the U. C. Bible Society ever since 1839, 
 and was the first Agent of this Auxiliary to 
 the great Parent Society in England. In 
 this capacity he laboured alone for eleven 
 years, from 1840-1851, with that self-unspar- 
 ing devotedness which was so characteristic 
 of him to the end of his days. The great 
 service he rendered to the Bible cause at that 
 time cannot be estimated, for a man's influence 
 continues in many ways long after his work 
 ceases; but that the interest shown throughout 
 the country in the operations of the Society is 
 largely due to his zeal and energy cannot be 
 doubted. As part of the result, but only as a 
 part, we may mention that in the year ending 
 April 30th, 1840, there were 55 Branches, the 
 receipts were 513 16s. 8d., and the issues 
 2,819, whereas in the year ending March 
 30th, 1852 there were 104 Branches, the 
 receipts were 1,179 9s. 5d. and the issues 
 
166 
 
 13,063. To the end of his life he continued 
 to take a warm interest in everything con- 
 cerning the Society, as was shown by wishes 
 he expressed even during his last illness. He 
 often attended the Board meetings, and help- 
 ed by his experience and wisdom to guide its 
 actions. 
 
 It is not necessary for us to say much of the 
 close and interesting connection of his life 
 with the history of the country, as it has been 
 set forth in several of the secular papers, and 
 is well known, or ought to be well known, to 
 every Canadian more fully than we can give 
 it here. He was born in Kingston in January, 
 1791. He early took to a sailor's life as his 
 father had before him, and during the war of 
 1812-14 saw much active service. He was 
 sailing master of the Moira, under Captain 
 Sampson, and afterwards of the Montreal, 
 under Captain Popham. In this latter ship 
 he was the hero of one of those plucky deeds 
 that make men proud of such a countryman. 
 It is quite true, he was not in command of the 
 ship, but those who understand what the sail- 
 ing master's duties are, know that though he 
 
167 
 
 has probably to expose himself more than any, 
 yet of all others he must keep most cool. At 
 the taking of Oswego, on the morning of the 
 6th of May, 1814, he took the Montreal so 
 close in to the fort that, as the Bishop himself 
 told the writer, Sir. James Yeo was for a time 
 very much afraid he would get her aground. 
 The admiration felt for him by his own 
 captain and the commodore is clearly seen in 
 their official despatches. Yery soon after he 
 had brought the ship to an anchor he lost his 
 left arm by a red hot shot. But he was one 
 of those who never say " die " while there is 
 a shot in the locker ; so we read of him in 
 those days as we have always found him in 
 after years, ready to do and dare more with 
 one arm than most of us with two. In 
 October of the same year we find him with 
 Sir James himself in the St. Lawrence, the 
 largest sailing vessel that ever floated on 
 Lake Ontario. In this berth he remained until 
 the end of the war. 
 
 A few years after, he was converted, and 
 was soon called to the ministry and ordained 
 in the Methodist Church in 1824. Dr. Scad- 
 
168 
 
 ding, in his pleasing memoranda of our sailor 
 Bishop, speaks of this as "a curious transition, 
 instances of which are now and then afforded 
 in the history of individuals in every profes- 
 sion.'' We will not question the epithet 
 " curious," for it is more than curious, it is 
 wonderful that the ministry of the Gospel 
 should be committed to men at all, and not to 
 angels. But we heg to add that this seems to 
 us a truly apostolic transition, for although all 
 sailors are not fishermen, yet all fishermen are 
 sailors, and though the Bishops of the present 
 day are not Apostles, yet certainly the Apos- 
 tles were Bishops. But though he became a 
 minister and a Bishop, he never ceased to be 
 " every inch a sailor," and was always ready 
 and pleased when asked by the Young Men's 
 Christian Association, to come to their help 
 among the sailors and preach at the Bethel 
 service, and more than once he did this under 
 circumstances in which most of us would have 
 claimed rest. He also took the warmest 
 interest in the Welland Canal Mission, and 
 was determined to let no trifle, or red tape 
 stand in the way of the sailor's best interests 
 
169 
 
 being attended to by the Tract Society of 
 which he was President. When the separation 
 took place among the Methodists in 1836, "* 
 Dr. Richardson stuck to the Episcopal form of 
 church government, and he was always ready 
 to state his preference in this matter distinctly, 
 and not always without some warmth. But 
 he was a man of a truly Catholic spirit, and 
 showed his love for all brethren in Christ, so 
 that his kind genial face and his fatherly 
 smile will be missed by members of all Evan- 
 gelical Churches in Toronto and throughout 
 the Province. Especially will this be the case 
 at the coming anniversary of the Tract Society 
 where he presided for so many years, and 
 where he used to delight in claiming for the 
 Parent Tract Society the honour of having 
 given birth to the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society, which he always insisted should be 
 considered the greatest and noblest of all such 
 associations. He was at Mr. Tyner's funeral 
 only a short month ago, and led the prayers 
 of the assembled friends before leaving the 
 house. He was still looking wonderfully well 
 
 * The separation took place in 1833, and Mr. Richardson did not 
 re-unite with the M. E. Church till 1837. 
 
170 
 
 for a man of his age, although he had had a 
 severe sickness last summer. But persevering 
 in the discharge of his Episcopal duties during 
 the late severe weather, he caught cold while 
 in the County of Halton. He returned home 
 about the end of February, but congestion of 
 the lungs set in, and he died on the evening 
 of Tuesday, the 9th inst., in great peace, and 
 surrounded by his family, who have, we rest 
 assured, not only the deep sympathy and 
 prayers of many of God's people in their 
 bereavement; but the tender sympathy of 
 Him, our Great High Priest, who is not only 
 touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but 
 who carries our sorrows. We trust that the 
 God of all consolation may give them abun- 
 dantly of the comfort of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 At the thirty -fifth anniversary of the Up- 
 per Canada Bible Society, held in Toronto, 
 5th of May, 1875, Mr. Kobert Baldwin, the 
 Secretary, read the annual report, from which 
 we take the following extract : 
 
 " The Rev. Bishop Richardson, D.D., was the 
 first person appointed by the Society as its travel- 
 ling agent, the duties of which office he discharged 
 
171 
 
 for eleven years with the zeal and energy so 
 characteristic of him, and which showed his heart 
 was truly in the work. The Rev. Dr. Gill, the 
 representative of the Parent Society, who visited 
 most of our branches in 1864, says in his report : 
 " In looking at the present position of the Bible 
 Society in Upper Canada, I do feel that in former 
 years some one must have worked hard in planting 
 our Bible standard." The Directors are glad to 
 know that this can be said of all our agents, and 
 some might be mentioned as pre-eminent in the 
 good work ; yet they feel sure that all will gladly 
 award the first niche of honour, as well as of time, 
 to our venerable standard-bearer who has so lately 
 left us, esteemed by all as a Christian and a patriot, 
 and of whom even the world will join us in say- 
 ing :- 
 
 We do not think a braver gentleman ; 
 More active- valiant or more valiant-young ; 
 More daring or more bold, is now alive 
 To grace this latter age with noble deeds. 
 
 It has been stated that Mr. Richardson 
 served the Bible Society as agent for 11 years, 
 but it may be remarked, en passant, that in 
 the year 1847, having been appointed Presid- 
 ing Elder of the Toronto District, he resigned 
 the agency for that year and carried out the 
 appointment of the conference. But being 
 
172 
 
 requested by the officers of the Society to 
 resume the agency, he was again permitted 
 hy the conference to do so, and continued to 
 work as earnestly as ever in that capacity 
 till the Spring of 1852. 
 
 Bishop Richardson's zealous and untiring 
 efforts in the advancement of the Temperance 
 cause have been elsewhere alluded to, in evi- 
 dence thereof the following is presented from 
 the pen of Mr. Alexander Christie, of 
 Toronto. 
 
 The temperance movement received the 
 active support- of earnest Christian men in 
 Toronto at an early period. 
 
 In the days when " total abstinence from 
 distilled spirits, and moderation in the use of 
 fermented liquors," was the instrument with 
 which good men battled the desolating plague 
 of intemperance ; the cause was advocated by 
 ministers and others in this city, amongst 
 whom and foremost, were the Revds. J. 
 Richardson, J. Harris, and E. Ryerson, assist- 
 ed by Marshall, Spring, Bid well, James Les- 
 lie, Jesse Ketchum, and others, faithful men. 
 whose very names have passed into oblivion. 
 
173 
 
 But the Spoiler was not to be conquered by 
 such a weapon. Of these early efforts no 
 record remains, they were promotive of good, 
 but the Society ceased to exist ; " and the 
 friends of virtue and order had the mortifica- 
 tion of witnessing the rapid strides of the 
 demon of Intemperance through the length 
 and breadth of our city, marking his track 
 with a fearfully increasing amount of pauper- 
 ism, crime, and wretchedness, without any 
 promising means of arresting his progress, or 
 staying his hand." From 1836 to 1839 little 
 or nothing was done in Toronto. About that 
 time, philanthropists in other countries, 
 especially in the United States, were becom- 
 ing convinced that nothing short of entire 
 total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks 
 would effectually arrest and remove the de- 
 stroying evil : but many prominent temper- 
 ance men were slow to arrive at this convic- 
 tion ; in some societies both pledges were 
 presented, each finding its advocates; and 
 the people were free to choose the one or the 
 other, as seemed to them most expedient. 
 While the wisdom of such a course may 
 
174 
 
 now be doubted, let it be remembered that 
 much obscurity prevailed then as to the true 
 nature and effects of alcohol. Several con- 
 ferences were held in which the late Bishop 
 Richardson took part, together with Mr. Har- 
 ris, and Mr. (now Dr.) Ryerson, and the late 
 Rev. John Roaf, then recently arrived from 
 England. The political persecutions of 1837 
 had removed Mr. Bid well from Canada, but 
 Jesse Ketchum and others heartily joined in 
 the new movement. At these preliminary 
 meetings the battle of the pledges was carried 
 on with some spirit; ultimately, however, 
 the friends in council agreed to adopt the 
 total abstinence pledge, alone ; fe and at length 
 a meeting was called, between the fluctua- 
 tions of hope and despondency, and on the 
 13th of March, 1839, The TORONTO TEMPER- 
 ANCE REFORMATION SOCIETY was organized ; 
 and commenced operations with the small 
 number of sixty-six members; which gradu- 
 ally and steadily increased." From that 
 time forth, for many years, the Bishop, with 
 his characteristic devotion to serve the Lord 
 in this sphere of usefulness, continued his 
 
175 
 
 advocacy of total abstinence, diligently at- 
 tending the Committee meetings and the 
 public meetings of the society in which 
 we held the offices of President or Yice- 
 President. The Society's success was 
 most encouraging ; at its first annual 
 meeting, in 1840, the Committee were 
 able to report a, membership, resident in the 
 city, of 357. On the 13th of March, 1840, 
 a Temperance Soiree was held in the M. E. 
 Church, on Richmond-street, west of Yonge^ 
 of which Mr. Richardson was then pastor. 
 As this was, probably, the first temperance 
 tea-meeting held in Canada, something may 
 be said of it here, in this connection. Mr. 
 Richardson's good lady and family with 
 friends of other churches, entered heartily in- 
 to all the arrangements ; his eldest daughter 
 presided at the piano, assisting a choir that 
 had been formed. Several new temperance 
 songs, written for the occasion, were sung to 
 favourite airs, and some of the best known 
 church tunes ; the association of the latter 
 with most empathic, outspoken temperance 
 sentiments, rather shocked the sensibilities of 
 
176 
 
 some of the good people who declared they 
 could never sing them in church without 
 thinking of the songs with which they were, 
 for the evening, allied ; but this was a mis- 
 take, because in the experience of many of 
 them, in the house of God, in public worship, 
 surrounded by hallowing influences, the 
 Portuguese Hymn and others of the selec- 
 tion were as solemn and elevating as ever 
 they had been before. During the five and 
 thirty years which have intervened, temper- 
 ance tea-meetings and entertainments have 
 become familiar enough, but few attending 
 one now-a-days can realize the pleasurable 
 excitement and thrilling enjoyment that pre- 
 vailed on that first occasion. The Society was 
 incorporated August 31st, in the year 1851, 
 and continues its useful labours until the 
 present day. 
 
 To the close of his long, useful, and hon- 
 oured life, Bishop Richardson continued stead- 
 fast in his allegiance to the temperance re- 
 formation ; and so much did he desire to pro- 
 mote it by all means if he might but save 
 some, in conversation with a friend a few 
 
177 
 
 years ago, he asked if he remembered the 
 old society, whose members were pledged to 
 abstain from the use of spirituous liquors, 
 and use wine and beer in moderation, and 
 being answered in the affirmative, the bishop 
 said it looked foolish to us now for a Tem- 
 perance Society to adopt such a pledge, but if 
 a similar society were formed to-morrow, he 
 would bid it God-speed, and every effort, 
 great or small, to put down intemperance. 
 
 Notwithstanding, the doctor always prac- 
 ticed and advocated total abstinence from all 
 that can intoxicate, as the true basis that 
 should underlie ail temperance effort ; and 
 while now more highly organized Orders and 
 Leagues have largely taken the place of the 
 Temperance Reformation Societies which 
 formerly did battle with the drinking cus- 
 toms of the community, in the opinion of 
 many, these open Societies, with their open 
 meetings, and simple pledge, have done very 
 much to form and spread a public temperance 
 sentiment, up even to the point of a total 
 prohibition of the liquor traffic ; in the hap- 
 py results of which labours the workers of 
 
 12 
 
178 
 
 the present day have entered, without it may 
 be their having any knowledge of, or ever 
 bestowing a thought on, the men who laid 
 the foundations broad and deep, on which 
 they are now building. 
 
 At the Conference of 1852, Mr. Richardson 
 was again appointed Presiding Elder, a posi- 
 tion whch he occupied for two years. 
 
 In 1854, his health being considerably im- 
 paired, he was granted a superannuated rela- 
 tion which he held till the Conference of 
 1858, when he reported himself able to re- 
 sume regular work, and accordingly he was 
 again appointed to the charge of a district. 
 
 He was serving the church in this relation 
 when elected to the episcopal chair. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Elected to the episcopal office in 1858 Illness at Ingersoll and 
 Buffalo Cordiality of General Conference in the U. S. -De- 
 gree of D.D. Restoration to health His sympathy with the 
 Government of the United States in its struggle with the slave 
 power Incident Fenian raid. 
 
 The General Conference of 1858 was held 
 in St. Davids a pleasant little village with- 
 in a few miles of Niagara Falls. 
 
 For some time previous to this, the opin- 
 ion had been gaining ground that it would be 
 expedient to have another General Superin- 
 tendent associated with the venerable Bishop 
 Smith in the performance of the arduous 
 duties of the Episcopal office, especially so as 
 Bishop Reynolds had died in the interim be- 
 tween 1854 and 1858. 
 
 As soon as it was decided to elect another 
 bishop, Mr. Richardson was solicited by several 
 of the more influential members of the con- 
 ference to allow his name to be used as a 
 candidate for the office, and after consider- 
 179 
 
180 
 
 able persuasion, on the part of his brethren, 
 he consented. 
 
 Having been duly elected, he was on Sun- 
 day, August 22nd, 1858, consecrated to the 
 office of Bishop in the M. E. Church, in Can- 
 ada, by ordination, at the hands of Bishop 
 Smith, assisted by several of the elders, 
 
 That the choice of the General Conference 
 was a judicious one. subsequent years abun- 
 dantly proved. The friendly feeling which 
 had previously existed between Bishop Smith 
 and Mr. Richardson, was not only not dimin- 
 ished by Mr. Richardson's election to Episco- 
 pal orders, but if such a thing were possible 
 seemed to be increased thereby. The Ad- 
 ministrative ability of Mr. Richardson was 
 very highly estimated by his senior in office.be- 
 tween whom and himself the fullest concord 
 existed till death terminated their associa- 
 tion here. 
 
 Bishop Richardson, though having a pro- 
 found respect for all evangelical churches, 
 was, nevertheless, warmly attached to 
 Methodist Episcopacy as established by Mr. 
 Wesley, and, like the Great Founder of 
 
181 
 
 Methodism, preferred that to any other form 
 of church government.* 
 
 During the two years succeeding Bishop 
 Richardson's appointment to the episcopal 
 chair he was in a feeble state of health, and 
 his friends began to fear that his useful life 
 might be prematurely terminated. This was 
 especially the case in the spring of 1860. While 
 attending the Niagara Annual Conference,held 
 that year in Ingersoll, during one of the ses- 
 sions he was seized with one of those sudden 
 attacks of illness which so much alarmed his 
 friends. He became dizzy, and fancied the 
 church was turning over, and that the people 
 in the body of the house were being precipi- 
 tated into that part of the building where 
 Bishop Smith and he were seated, and utter- 
 ing the exclaimation oh ! he would have 
 fallen to the floor had not one of the minis- 
 ters, near him at the time, supported him. 
 
 * Bishop Richardson repeatedly stated to the author of this 
 memoir, both before and after his election to the episcopocal office, 
 that he had ahvays deeply regretted having consented to the 
 changes in relation to church government, proposed by the Canada 
 Conference in 1832, and adopted by them in 1833; as the more 
 fully he examined the history of the Primitive church, and compar- 
 ed it with the New Testament Scriptures, the more fully he was 
 impressed with the correctness of the system of church government 
 prepared by Mr. Wesley for the " people called Methodists." 
 
182 
 
 He was urged to retire from the Conference 
 room but refused, saying, " I will be better 
 
 soon." 
 
 The unfavourable symptoms, however, 
 continued, and the writer accompanied him 
 to Toronto to consult his son Dr. Richardson 
 as to his condition, and also to ascertain whe- 
 ther the Doctor considered it safe for him to 
 attend the American General Conference, 
 which was to commence its session in Buffalo 
 on the 1st of May, 1 860. at which he wished 
 very much to be present. 
 
 The Doctor, embracing an opportunity 
 when his father was not present, ex- 
 plained to the writer his condition, stat- 
 ing that the Bishop was predisposed to 
 apoplexy, and that though he might live 
 many years, yet he was liable to drop dead 
 any moment. " But " continued the Doctor 
 "he is as safe in your hands as in mine." 
 He has decided to go to Buffalo with you, and 
 if I should direct otherwise, it would be a 
 great disappointment to him. I will prepare 
 some medicine, please see that he takes it 
 according to directions, and do not leave him 
 alone." 
 
183 
 
 It having thus been decided that the 
 Bishop's health would be no more likely to 
 be endangered by his attendance at the 
 General Conference, than it would be by his 
 remaining at home, he set out for Buffalo ac- 
 companied by the author, who had the hon- 
 or to be one of the delegates of the General 
 Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 in Canada, sent to bear fraternal greetings to 
 the General Conference of the parent body. 
 The Bishop and his companion having been 
 introduced to the Conference, were kindly 
 welcomed by their American brethren, and 
 soon found themselves at home. The 
 Bishop's speech on his introduction to the 
 Conference was excellent, though short. He 
 enjoyed himself during the day, spending a 
 great part of the time in conversation with 
 his brother Bishops and other leading mem- 
 bers of the General Conference, upon all of 
 whom his genial spirit and dignified manner 
 made a most favourable impression. A few 
 days were spent in pleasant and profitable 
 intercourse with his brethren, when he was 
 again, while engaged in conversation with 
 
184. 
 
 Bishop Simpson, suddenly attacked with a 
 spasm similar to the one from which he had 
 suffered at Ingersoll. So sudden and severe 
 was the attack, that but for the timely assist- 
 ance of Bishop Simpson and one of the re- 
 porters, he would have fallen on the plat- 
 form. In consequence of this attack the 
 Bishop deemed it best to return home ;it 
 once, which he did, greatly to his own disap- 
 pointment, and the regret of the deputation 
 from his own church, as well as that of those 
 whom he had visited. 
 
 Brief as had been the Bishop's stay at the 
 American General Conference, he had made 
 so favorable an impression upon the minds of 
 the leading men of the church, that it was 
 decided among them to have the degree of 
 Doctor of Divinity conferred upon him a 
 project of which the Bishop had not the 
 slightest knowledge until the thing was ac- 
 complished. 
 
 After the Bishop's return from Buffalo, he 
 took a few months rest from active labor, 
 and by this means, taken in connection with 
 the careful attention he received from his 
 
* 185 
 
 family he was providentially restored to his 
 accustomed health, and permitted to serve 
 the church as formerly, apparently with re- 
 newed vigor. 
 
 As a philanthropist. Bishop Richardson 
 had always taken a lively interest in the 
 controversy going on in the United States 
 between the North and South, relative to the 
 question of " Slavery." 
 
 At the General Conference of 1860, short 
 as was his stay, he was pained to observe 
 that the clouds of the approaching terrible 
 struggle between the contending parties, 
 which were darkening the political horizon, 
 were also casting their black shadows upon 
 the Conference. 
 
 On the one side were those who took the 
 noble stand that it was a sin against God, 
 and an outrage upon humanity, to hold hu- 
 man beings in bondage ; while, on the other 
 side, a majority of the delegates from the 
 " border" Conferences were very much averse 
 to having the "peculiar institution" inter- 
 fered with. It was evident to his mind that 
 the bitter spirit manifested in the controversy 
 
186 
 
 on the " Slavery question," in the church, 
 was but an indication of the much more bit- 
 ter spirit pervading the entire nation ; and, 
 with other good men. he looked forward to 
 the approaching Presidential election with 
 forebodings as to the future of the Republic. 
 Though thoroughly British in all his inter- 
 ests and attachments, he was yet too liberal 
 and cosmopolitan in his views to desire the 
 dismemberment of the great American nation. 
 Frequently, while the war-cloud hung so 
 heavily over the United States, he would 
 ask, " Will Lincoln be equal to the task be- 
 fore him ?" So far did he carry his sympathy 
 with the neighboring country at this time, 
 that it was a common practice for him in his 
 public ministrations, after the usual prayers 
 for the Queen. Royal Family and Imperial 
 and Colonial Authorities, to offer up further 
 petitions for President Lincoln and his Cabi- 
 net, that they might be directed aright in 
 these perilous times. 
 
 Before the disastrous American Rebellion 
 was over, the General Conference of the Me- 
 thodist Episcopal Church in the United States 
 
187 
 
 met again, in the city of Philadelphia, in May, 
 1864. Bishop Richardson was again an hon- 
 ored visitor. Some of the most sanguinary 
 battles of that dreadful war were fought while 
 this Conference was in session, and the na- 
 tional feeling was raised to the highest pitch 
 of painful anxiety. An incident which oc- 
 curred at this Conference may not be out of 
 place, illustrating, as it does, the frenzy of 
 excitement into which the public mind had 
 been wrought. 
 
 During the progress of the " Battles of the 
 Wilderness," the excitement was painfully 
 intense in the Conference room, as well as 
 elsewhere; and here Bishop Richardson had 
 the opportunity of forming an impartial 
 opinion of the administrative ability of the 
 American Bishops in that trying time ; espe- 
 cially of the cool deliberation of Bishop Ames. 
 On one of the days of the battles, the church 
 was, as usual, filled with the delegates and 
 spectators, Bishop Ames presiding. Bishops 
 Scott, Morris, Simpson, Baker and Richard- 
 son, together with the representatives from 
 the various Methodist bodies in England, Ire- 
 
188 
 
 land and Canada, were on the platform with 
 him, and all the officials in their proper places ; 
 the hour for adjournment had nearly arrived, 
 and everything was progressing as usual, 
 when a messenger was seen to approach Rev. 
 G. Moody, an ex-officer in the Northern army, 
 and hand him a telegram. Immediately, act- 
 ing under the impulse of the excitement under 
 which all were laboring, he sprang to his feet, 
 and with the voice of a Boanerges thrilling 
 the whole audience, exclaimed : " Mr. Presi- 
 dent, I have this moment received a telegra- 
 phic despatch. General Lee has surrendered. 
 Grant has taken the whole Southern army ! 
 Let us sing, ' Praise God from whom all bles- 
 sings flow.' ' 
 
 The announcement came upon the audience 
 like an electric shock ; hundreds leaped from 
 their seats in wild excitement, but Bishop 
 Ames was on his feet as quickly as they. 
 With a tone and volume of voice that both 
 demanded and secured instant attention, he 
 exclaimed : " Brethren, I should like to see 
 men who, in the time of such an excitement, 
 are able to stand steady in their boots. It is 
 
189 
 
 not likely that such a telegram is true. We 
 will make no such demonstration at present. 
 What reason have you, Brother Moody, to 
 believe such a telegram to be correct ?" 
 
 Mr. Moody, who had cooled down percep- 
 tibly during the Bishop's speech, replied : 
 " Well, Bishop, if it is not true, thank God it 
 will be soon." " It will be time enough then," 
 said the Bishop, " to sing a triumphant song." 
 And as coolly as if no interruption had oc- 
 curred, he proceeded with the business of the 
 Conference till the regular time for adjourn- 
 ment. As the Bishop had thought, the tele- 
 gram proved to be a canard, and our impulsive 
 Brother Moody had to wait almost a year for 
 the surrender of Lee's army. 
 
 After having made a very pleasant and 
 profitable visit, Bishop Richardson left the 
 seat of the General Conference and proceeded 
 to Washington, then a great centre of attrac- 
 tion from a military point of view ; and after 
 an agreeable stay in that city, and after visit- 
 ing other points of interest, returned home. 
 
 Though by no means an advocate of war, 
 Bishop Richardson was yet far from being an 
 
190 
 
 advocate of " peace at any price." If hostili- 
 ties were pressed upon him, he would meet 
 force by force. If the individual subject or 
 citizen would persist in wrong-doing, he firmly 
 believed in empowering the civil magistrate 
 with authority to enforce justice. Though 
 no advocate of tyrannical or oppressive gov- 
 ernment, and no believer in the "Divine 
 right of kings," he was, nevertheless, a de- 
 cided advocate of submission to constitutional 
 authority. 
 
 The irruption of the Fenians into Canada 
 roused all the old soldier in the Bishop. The 
 Bay of Quinte Annual Conference was in ses- 
 sion at Napanee, when a telegram arrived 
 announcing the startling fact that the Fenians 
 had crossed the Niagara river, and were march- 
 ing on Ridgeway. As soon as the contents of 
 the telegram were made known to the Con- 
 ference, an adjournment took place, in order 
 to consider what was best to do in such a 
 crisis. The patriotic Bishop, flushed with a 
 righteous indignation, at once expressed his 
 willingness "to risk his right arm, or his life, 
 in order to repulse the foe and drive him from 
 
191 
 
 the Province." And had the necessity arisen, 
 he would have entered the field against the 
 invaders as conscientiously as he would have 
 entered a pulpit, or presided over a Confer- 
 ence. Loyalty to God and his country, up- 
 rightness and integrity in his dealings with 
 his fellow-men, and civil and religious liberty 
 for all, were leading articles in his creed. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Albert College Cause of financial embarrassments The Bishop's 
 Journey to Europe in its behalf Incidents of the voyage Re- 
 newal of old Friendships Pleasant Associations Addresses a 
 meeting at Darlington in behalf of the freed Negroes Aid for 
 the object of Mission from some Friends Speaks in Exeter 
 Hall Excursion to the Isle of Wight Visits places of interest 
 in England and Scotland Illness Restoration Visits Ireland 
 Return home Always the friend of liberal education The 
 Canadian Historical Society The York Pioneers. 
 
 Albert College ( known at first as Belleville 
 Seminary) had been commenced at the time 
 when the whole money market was in an un- 
 natural state of inflation, and the contracts for 
 building, furnishing, &c., were let, when prices 
 in every department of labour ruled high. 
 Before it was finished, and fairly in working 
 order, the great financial panic came, bring- 
 ing ruin to thousands, and it was found im- 
 possible to collect a very large amount of the 
 subscriptions on the College Books. The ruin 
 throughout the country was too universal to 
 render practicable an attempt to raise any 
 considerable amount by new subscriptions, 
 
 and the College Board found itself hampered 
 
 192 
 
193 
 
 by a very heavy debt. In the embarrass- 
 ments arising out of this emergency, and 
 hoping in this way to obtain relief, Bishop 
 Richardson, who had taken a warm interest 
 in the College from its very beginning, was, 
 in 1865, requested by the College authori- 
 ties to visit England, and solicit aid for that 
 institution. After some hesitation he con- 
 sented, and in this, as in every other interest 
 entrusted to him, he used every effort which 
 he consistently could to accomplish the object 
 of his mission. He was well received by the 
 ministers of the Reformed Methodist Church, 
 but found that both he and the church at 
 home had been misled, by the representation 
 that large amounts would, in all probability, 
 be contributed by the people of this denomi- 
 nation for the work of education in Canada. 
 They had as much as they could well do to 
 support the institutions of their own church, 
 without rendering aid to strangers. Several 
 benevolent individuals, however, contributed 
 small amounts, so that the Bishop's visit was 
 not altogether fruitless, financially. 
 
 The following brief account of his voyage 
 13 
 
194 
 
 to, and stay in England, we have been enabled 
 to compile from accounts of the journey, kind- 
 ly furnished by the Bishop's daughter, Mrs. 
 Brett, of Toronto, who accompanied her 
 father, and also from the Rev. E. Woodcock, 
 of the Bay of Quinte Conference. 
 
 The venerable Bishop left Toronto on the 
 2nd of February, 1865, by the Inman Steam- 
 ship, Glasgow. It being a winter passage and 
 consequently somewhat rough, there was con- 
 siderable sea-sickness experienced by the pass- 
 engers, but the Bishop being an old sailor. 
 was happily exempt from the inconvenience 
 arising from this dread of all voyagers. 
 
 So soon as a suitable opportunity occurred 
 after the voyage had begun, he spoke to the 
 Captain, who appears to have been an excel- 
 lent person, and requested the privilege of 
 daily reading the Scriptures to, and praying 
 with, such of the passengers and crew as 
 might see fit to be present at such devotional 
 exercises. The Captain readily consented, 
 and the Bishop entered on his work with 
 good effect. It will be remembered by those 
 who were acquainted with this eminent 
 
195 
 
 servant of God, that he had an interesting 
 method of commenting on the Scripture 
 lesson for the day, as he read it, whether he 
 was engaged in family worship, or pulpit ex- 
 ercises; and it is not, therefore, surprising 
 that these services on shipboard were seasons 
 of profit, to those who attended them. He 
 also preached by invitation of the Captain, on 
 the Sabbath. Thus on the sea, as well as on 
 the land, he gladly proclaimed the tidings of 
 salvation to those by whom he was surround- 
 ed. Nor was the favorable impression made 
 upon the mind of the Captain evanescent, for 
 about a year after this voyage he (the Cap- 
 tain ) in conversation with two laymen of the 
 M. E. Church, Messrs. Wm. Bow, and Chas. 
 Lane, who were going out to England in his 
 ship, informed them that he considered 
 " Bishop Richardson one of the finest gentle- 
 men who had ever sailed in his vessel. >? The 
 other incidents on board the ship were such 
 as commonly occur during a tedious winter 
 voyage. 
 
 The vessel reached Liverpool on Sabbath 
 morning, the 19th February, and in the even- 
 
196 
 
 ing of that day the Bishop had the pleasure 
 of again engaging in worship with a public 
 congregation on land, attending the service 
 in the New Connexion Methodist Chapel on 
 Hotham St. The day following he left Liver- 
 pool, and having made a short stay at Wigan he 
 proceeded to Hanley (Staffordshire Potteries). 
 Here he visited his old friend Kev. Dr. Crofts 
 with whom he had formed an acquaintance 
 some years previously, in Canada. The 
 Bishop took counsel with Dr. Crofts, concern- 
 ing the formation of plans for the furtherance 
 of the object of his mission, and prolonged 
 his stay in Hanley two or three days, being 
 entertained by a kind Christian family named 
 Marti a. Mrs. Brett, meanwhile, was enter- 
 tained by her friend Mrs. Crofts, with whom 
 she remained for some weeks, This pleasant 
 visit over, he proceeded to Manchester, Leeds, 
 Sheffield and other cities, to deliver the in- 
 troductory letters of which he was the bearer. 
 The letters were intended to advance the 
 interests of the College, but in none of these 
 cities did the Bishop meet with the measure 
 of success which he had been led to expect. 
 
197 
 
 While in Leeds, a friend informed him of a 
 meeting to be held in Darlington, to aid the 
 freed Negroes. He had taken a deep interest 
 in the unfortunate slaves during the years of 
 their cruel bondage, and felt no diminution of 
 that interest in their condition now that they 
 had been declared free; therefore he took the 
 opportunity of attending the meeting. He was 
 invited to address the audience, and says : " I 
 had much pleasure in informing the friends 
 of the poor fugitives of the great aid and 
 sympathy which was shown to them on their 
 arrival in Canada, and in narrating many 
 incidents of much interest, relative to their 
 peculiar characteristics. As the meeting was 
 principally under the auspices of the Society 
 of Friends, I received much kindness from 
 them personally, as well as aid for the mission 
 with which I was more intimately con- 
 nected. " 
 
 At Nottingham an incident occurred which 
 quite encouraged him. He had been invited 
 to attend a tea-meeting at this place, held by 
 the New Connexion Methodists, and while 
 enjoying himself there, a worthy gentleman, 
 
198 
 
 to whom he had been previously introduced, 
 came to him and said that he had been so 
 much pleased with his prayer at Hanover 
 chapel, that he would give him 5 sterling 
 towards the Canadian work. After some time 
 spent in the cities before mentioned, he re- 
 turned to Hanley, where, upon Easter Mon- 
 day, he had the pleasure of speaking at a 
 temperance meeting, which was held in a 
 school-house connected with the Established 
 Church. The incumbent of this church was 
 an excellent evangelical clergyman, and treat- 
 ed the Bishop with marked attention and 
 kindness. 
 
 On the 19th of April the Bishop left Han- 
 ley for London, visiting Birmingham on the 
 way, accompanied by Mrs. Brett. He arrived 
 in the capital on the 21st, and took lodgings 
 for himself in the heart of the city, that he 
 might the more advantageously prosecute his 
 work ; his daughter was kindly entertained 
 by Rev. Dr. Cooke and his amiable wife. 
 
 Eeferring to his stay in London, Bishop 
 Richardson writes : " I would here express 
 the gratitude I feel for the kindness and aid 
 
199 
 
 I received from Dr. Cooke, and many other 
 of the Methodist New Connexion ministers 
 and laymen ; also for the marked friendship 
 and help given by many ministers and laymen 
 of the United Free Methodist Church. When- 
 ever it was practicable. I felt much pleasure 
 in taking part in any of their public meetings, 
 and in preaching for them when invited to 
 do so." 
 
 The Bishop remained about three weeks in 
 London, during part of which time the cele- 
 brated May Meetings were in progress. Sev- 
 eral of these interesting gatherings he attend- 
 ed, and spoke in Exeter Hall again on behalf 
 of the much abused African. He visited most 
 of the places of interest in London, and then, 
 wearied in mind and body, was glad to leave 
 for Cambridge to visit a friend, Mr. Johnson, 
 who received him with kind hospitality, and 
 gladly showed himself and companion every- 
 thing of interest in that quaint old town. 
 From Cambridge he returned to London for 
 a few days, and thence Mrs. Brett and he 
 continued their journey to Sussex, to enjoy 
 the hospitality of some friends who were 
 
200 
 
 expecting them. After several days of rest 
 spent in this beautiful part of merry England, 
 they took the South Eastern Railway for 
 Southampton, to visit some old Toronto 
 friends, who were delighted once mere to meet 
 their former acquaintances and recall the plea- 
 sant reminiscences of other years, or enquire 
 concerning the present state of affairs in that 
 city. 
 
 Both the Bishop and his daughter were par- 
 ticularly delighted with an excursion to the 
 Isle of Wight, taken in company with these 
 valued friends. The day was most pleasant ; 
 the scenery such as would tempt an artist or 
 a poet into lingering longer than prudence 
 would dictate; and the various objects visited 
 were of the most interesting character. 
 
 They returned to London by the South 
 Western Railway, which afforded them the 
 opportunity of seeing more of the country. 
 
 From London the Bishop proceeded to New- 
 cas tie-on -Ty ne, in order to be present at the 
 Methodist New Connexion Conference, which 
 he had been invited to attend. Here, by in- 
 vitation, he occupied a seat in the Conference, 
 and enjoyed very pleasant intercourse with 
 
201 
 
 some of the preachers, who had been old 
 friends. Three days were spent very hap- 
 pily and profitably at the seat of Conference, 
 and then our travellers proceeded to Scotland. 
 They made a short stay in Edinburgh, visit- 
 ing the various places of historic or romantic 
 interest there. 
 
 At Farres they were hospitably entertained 
 by some relatives of Mrs. Dr. Richardson, 
 with whom they visited many of those beau- 
 tiful glens which abound in that part of the 
 country. Mountain, glen and glade contri- 
 buted to render the scenery delightful, espe- 
 cially as it was now sunny summer weather ; 
 but even there unmixed pleasure was not to 
 be enjoyed. While on one of these pleasant 
 excursions, the Bishop became so ill that he 
 was obliged to return to the house of his 
 friend, whose son, Dr. Silander, prescribed 
 for him with such beneficial effect, that, cou- 
 pled with Mrs. Silander's good nursing, he 
 was soon convalescent. As soon as he was 
 sufficiently recovered, he set out on his return 
 to England, taking Glasgow on the route. 
 Here he made a short stay, and, like all tour- 
 
202 
 
 ists, was enchanted with the scenery along 
 the Clyde. His stay in Britain was now 
 drawing near its termination. From Glasgow 
 he proceeded to Liverpool, and from Liver- 
 pool once more to Hanley, to spend a few last 
 days with his friends there. He preached 
 for Dr. Crofts in Bethesda chapel, and again 
 spent some time with his kind friends the 
 Martins. At Hanley he met with Rev. T. 
 Allin, the author of several religious works. 
 Mr. Allin, until the infirmities of old age 
 came upon him, had been a very useful min- 
 ister of the Methodist New Connexion Church. 
 At the time of the Bishop's visit he was 81, 
 and very feeble ; but he was quite cheerful, 
 confident and happy, " waiting his dismissal 
 from the body." As this aged servant of 
 God made his home at Mr. Martin's, the Bishop 
 had the pleasure of enjoying profitable con- 
 versation with him. 
 
 The Bishop's health continued poor, and 
 before embarking for home he consulted Dr. 
 Ireland, of Kirkham, by whose skill and care 
 he was again enabled to resume his journey. 
 From Kirkham he proceeded once more to 
 
203 
 
 Wigan, to visit Rev. Mr. Roaf, who had been 
 pastor of a Congregational church there for 
 34 years, and who was much beloved by his 
 people. The Bishop preached in Mr. Roaf's 
 church, and spent several days with him in 
 visiting places of interest in the vicinity. 
 Thence he took train for Liverpool, and pro- 
 ceeded to Dublin, where he visited the Exhi- 
 bition. He made but a short stay in the Irish 
 capital, and in the latter part of July took pas- 
 sage, with his daughter, on board the Cam- 
 bria for home, where he arrived on the 1st 
 of August, after an absence of about six 
 months. He was sadly disappointed that he 
 had not been more successful in the object 
 for which he had undertaken his wearisome 
 voyage, but he did not allow his interest in 
 the institution to flag. 
 
 From the commencement of his public career 
 he was a decided advocate of a liberal educa- 
 tion, and threw himself heartily into the work 
 of advancing the interests of the Upper Canada 
 Academy (now Victoria College), when that 
 institution was first started. In him Albert 
 College found a warm friend and influential 
 
204 
 
 supporter. For several of the later years of 
 his life, he was one of the most highly hon- 
 ored of the Senators of our University, and 
 no one was more eminently fitted for the 
 position. He delighted in the mental, moral 
 and religious advancement of the young peo- 
 ple of Canada, manifesting a deep interest in 
 everything tending to that object, from the 
 infant class in the Sunday school to the grad- 
 uating class in the University. 
 
 But much as the Bishop loved his own 
 church and her institutions, and warm an 
 interest as he took in other purely religious 
 and temperance societies, he did not confine 
 himself to exclusive association with them. 
 Other societies and associations, designed for 
 the advancement of objects he deemed worthy, 
 had his countenance and sympathy. 
 
 Patriotic through his whole career, he took 
 especial interest in the Canadian " Historical 
 Society," furnishing it with an interesting 
 sketch of the incidents of the war of 1812- 
 1815 which came under his immediate notice, 
 and giving such other information, as, from 
 his position in the navy, he was possessed of. 
 
205 
 
 Nor were the old veterans who had fought 
 for the same cause as he had, nor the aged 
 settlers with whom he had associated in his 
 early years, overlooked or forgotten. no\v that 
 he was in the decline of life. 
 
 On the formation of the association of the 
 York Pioneers, he considered it not at all out 
 of place for him to associate himself with 
 them, though it was a purely secular society, 
 and he took a very warm interest in their 
 proceedings. The following extracts from 
 papers furnished to the author, show the re- 
 lation the Bishop held to the York Pioneers, 
 and the estimation in which he was held by 
 them : 
 
 Memo, of Dr. Richardson's connection with the York 
 Pioneers. 
 
 Shortly after the organization of the York Pion- 
 eers (an association designed to perpetuate historical 
 reminiscences of the early settlement of the town and 
 county of York, and to bring together in social inter- 
 course the surviving inhabitants of the locality), Dr. 
 Richardson, who had for nearly fifty years been a 
 resident in it, became a member. His advanced age, 
 high position in the community, and, above all, his 
 
206 
 
 many estimable qualities, soon placed him in the 
 President's chair, which he continued to fill at the 
 unanimous desire of his associates, up to the time of 
 his lamented death. 
 
 They will ever bear in affectionate remembrance 
 the lively interest he at all times evinced for the 
 success of the association, and the genial manner in 
 which he presided at its meetings, whether for busi- 
 ness or social enjoyment. With a memory well 
 stored with facts and anecdotes of early times, he 
 delighted in the opportunities these gatherings 
 afforded him of relating them ; while those who 
 were privileged to listen to his interesting addresses 
 at the annual festivals, will recall with pleasure 
 the historic incidents and the wise and patriotic 
 sentiments with which they abounded. 
 
 At a numerously attended meeting of the Pioneers, 
 held shortly after his decease, the following minute 
 was adopted, and ordered to be communicated to 
 the family of their lamented friend, with the sincere 
 expressions of sympathy under mutual loss : 
 
 " The Association of York Pioneers find it diffi- 
 cult to express adequately their deep sense of the 
 loss which they have experienced in the death of 
 their late venerated President, Rev. James Rich- 
 ardson, D.D. In common with the whole commu- 
 nity, they mourn the removal from their midst of 
 one who was truly eminent for his public and pri- 
 
207 
 
 vate virtues ; distinguished by the manifestation 
 throughout a long life, and in a singular variety of 
 spheres of action, of sterling qualities, which will 
 render his memory, as a Christian and as a man^ 
 ever dear to themselves, and of inestimable value to 
 the country at large." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Increased activity after the death of Bishop Smith Remarkable 
 mental and physical vigor Pains-taking as presiding officer 
 General Conference of 1874 Election and ordination of Bishop 
 Carman Last scene in Bishop Richardson's conferential life 
 111, and obliged to leave the Conference room as soon as he had 
 placed his associate in the chair Relief and satisfaction afforded 
 him by the appointment of his colleague Recovery and return 
 to former activity Last pulpit services- Last text Incidents 
 of homeward journey Last illness State of his mind Death. 
 
 The years between 1865 and 1870 passed 
 without being marked by any special event, 
 the time being filled up by the ordinary rou- 
 tine duties of his office, with this exception, 
 that as Bishop Smith grew more and more 
 feeble with age, and, in consequence, became 
 more incapacitated for carrying out that part 
 of the work allotted to him, Bishop Richard- 
 son became correspondingly more active, being 
 determined that no department of church work 
 should suffer from the failing health of his 
 honored colleague. 
 
 In March, 1870, the saintly Smith passed 
 over the flood, and for nearly the whole of 
 208 
 
209 
 
 the remaining five years of Bishop Richard- 
 son's life, the entire weight of this responsible 
 office rested upon him, then in his eightieth 
 year. The amount of work accomplished by 
 Bishop Richardson, during the four years, 
 from 1870 to 1874, would have worn out the 
 constitution of many younger men ; but with 
 additional labor and responsibility, came addi- 
 tional bodily strength. Indeed, for a time, 
 he seemed almost to have renewed, if not his 
 youth, at least the vigor of mature manhood. 
 For two or three years previous to his death, 
 it might have been said of him, as was said 
 of the ancient leader and law-giver of the 
 hosts of Israel, that " his eye was not dim ;" 
 and though it could not be averred that " his 
 natural force was not abated," yet it might 
 very truthfully have been said that few men 
 of his years possessed his vigor. 
 
 During this period he frequently conducted 
 his pulpit services without the aid of specta- 
 cles, and also the business of Conference. Nor 
 did he make his dispensing with glasses an 
 excuse for accomplishing less personal labor 
 than before, in the Conference room. He kept 
 14 
 
210 
 
 a record of the business transacted in the Con- 
 ferences, so that he might see that all the 
 items were taken up in their proper order, 
 and thus prevent irregularities. The Con- 
 ferences latterly considered the task quite too 
 laborious for him, and repeatedly offered him 
 the assistance of a private secretary ; but he 
 persistently refused the proffered aid. 
 
 For a year or two past it became evident 
 that his system was beginning to give way, 
 although the Bishop himself did not seem to 
 realize that this was the case. In labors he 
 still continued abundant. It was simply 
 astonishing the number of churches which he 
 dedicated, and the other public meetings of 
 importance over which he presided, in various 
 parts of the Province, during the two years 
 preceding his death. 
 
 He still presided over the Conferences, and 
 other associations of which he was president, 
 with remarkable ability, and his decisions 
 upon points of ecclesiastical law were as clear, 
 concise, and in as full accord with the consti- 
 tution of the Church as they had ever been. 
 In his pulpit exercises he was nearly as vig- 
 orous as in his earlier ministerial career. 
 
211 
 
 We come now to his last discharge of the 
 duties pertaining to his office, at the General 
 Conference held at Napanee, August, 1874. 
 Here the energies of his body and mind were 
 taxed to the uttermost ; yet he conducted the 
 business of the Conference with patience and 
 ability ; and, until nearly the close of the 
 lengthy session, without apparent fatigue. 
 
 Four years previously he had been desirous 
 for the appointment and consecration of a 
 suitable person as his associate in office, that 
 he might be relieved of part of his labor ; and 
 now the desire for such an associate amounted 
 to extreme solicitude. When, therefore, Rev. 
 Dr. Carman was elected, the venerable patri- 
 arch appeared anxious for the moment to 
 arrive when he might ordain his longed-for 
 colleague, alas ! so soon to become his succes- 
 sor. An evening session was appointed for 
 the solemn service, and by the time the hour 
 had arrived, the church was crowded to wit- 
 ness the impressive ceremony. 
 
 The proper arrangements having been 
 made, Bishop Richardson entered the altar 
 to proceed with the ordination. None then 
 
212 
 
 knew that he was about to exercise, for the 
 last time, his duties as a Bishop. Venerable 
 and noble in person, benign and dignified in 
 appearance, his usually pale countenance 
 crowned by his snowy locks, it is no wonder 
 that he was the principal object of attraction 
 on that eventful evening. 
 
 He stated to one of the brethren near him 
 that he was very ill ; scarcely able to pro- 
 ceed with the service ; but that he felt the 
 ordination of the Bishop elect must be pro- 
 ceeded with at once, as he was unable to 
 conduct the remaining business of the Con- 
 ference, and close it as he wished it to be 
 done. 
 
 Having rested a little, and all being in 
 readiness, Dr. Carman, as Bishop elect, and 
 the brethren selected to take part in the 
 exercises being assembled around the altar 
 railing, the Bishop proceeeded with the 
 Consecration Service, and ordained Albert 
 Carman, D.D., to the office of Bishop in the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada. After 
 the conclusion of the ordination services, 
 which all the circumstances contributed to 
 
213 
 
 render remarkably impressive, the aged 
 Bishop appeared somewhat refreshed, and 
 concluded his part of the exercises with an 
 address to the Conference and congregation, 
 on the scriptural polity of the Church, and 
 the success the Lord of the harvest had 
 vouchsafed to this branch of His Zion. 
 
 This was his last address to a Conference 
 his last conferential act. 
 
 Bishop Richardson, having placed Bishop 
 Carman in the chair to finish up the business 
 of the session, retired to obtain rest. 
 
 It is rather a strange coincidence that 
 Bishop Richardson, having been so unusually 
 hale for a man of his years, and having borne 
 the work and worry of the Conference with 
 so little apparent fatigue till the appointment 
 of the new Bishop, should have been com- 
 pelled by physical suffering to leave the 
 Conference room as soon as he had placed his 
 associate in the chair. 
 
 He evidently experienced the same feel- 
 ings as Moses did when he exclaimed, " Let 
 the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh 
 set a man over the congregation which may 
 
214 
 
 go out before them, and which may go in be- 
 fore them, and which may lead them out and 
 which may bring them in ; that the congre- 
 gation of the Lord be not as sheep which 
 have no shepherd. And as Joshua was 
 the man appointed to lead the people on to 
 conquest in Canaan after Moses should be 
 gathered to his fathers, so was Dr. Carman 
 selected to lead the host of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church in Canada on to glorious 
 spiritual conquests. " Moses laid his hands on 
 Joshua, and the children of Israel hearkened 
 unto him and did as the Lord commanded 
 Moses;" and from the excellent spirit mani- 
 fested by the ministers and people of our 
 Church towards Bishop Carman since his 
 appointment to the General Superintendency 
 of the Church, it is fair to infer that the en- 
 tire connexion is ready to exclaim, "All that 
 thou commandest us, we will do, and whither- 
 soever thou sendest us, w^e will go." 
 
 " According as we have hearkened unto 
 Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto 
 thee; only the Lord thy God be with thee as 
 he was with Moses." 
 
215 
 
 Reference has been made to Bishop Rich- 
 ardson's earnest" wish for an associate in 
 office. He was now very far advanced in 
 years, and needed assistance in his arduous 
 labors, and in addition, he fully realized the 
 fact that it was not probable he would live 
 to preside over another General Conference, 
 and he was exceedingly anxious that the 
 coming Bishop should be a man of marked 
 and judicial ability, of undoubted piety ^ and 
 whose attachment to the distinctive features 
 of our Church polity was not only unques- 
 tioned, but unquestionable. 
 
 All these requisites he believed Dr. Carman 
 possessed in an eminent degree, and he was 
 therefore well pleased with the selection 
 made by the Conference. 
 
 After the close of the General Conference, 
 Bishop Richardson returned to his home at 
 Cloverhill. Toronto, where he rested for some 
 time, and, to appearance, regained his accus- 
 tomed health. In October, he met with the 
 Book Committee in Hamilton, presiding with 
 his usual ability. 
 
 During the autumn and winter he was 
 
216 
 
 actively at work, as earnestly as ever watching 
 over every department of tHe Church, giving 
 especial attention to the questions submitted 
 by the General Conference for the action of 
 the Quarterly Meeting Conferences. His ar- 
 ticles on all Church matters published in 
 The Canada OJiristian Advocate, were still 
 very clear, and his views of constitutional 
 questions forcibly presented and firmly "main- 
 tained. And in these last judicial utterances 
 he was careful to show his esteemed junior 
 colleague all due respect. If we have been 
 correctly informed, he never sent an official 
 line to the press, after the General Confer- 
 ence at Napanee, without consulting Bishop 
 Carman, and having his full concurrence 
 thereto. Besides the official labor referred to 
 above, he attended numerous dedications, 
 anniversaries, and other public demonstra- 
 tions, preaching and presiding with great 
 acceptability. His appearance, and the man- 
 ner in which he conducted his part of the 
 dedicatory service at Strathroy, in the winter, 
 will not soon be forgotten by those whose 
 privilege it W;is to be present. 
 
217 
 
 Bishop Richardson's last public services 
 were held on the Ancaster Circuit. He had 
 arranged with Rev. W. H. Shaw to preach 
 the anniversary sermon at Salem Church, on" 
 this circuit, on Sabbath, 21st of February. 
 
 Whenever he could do so, he preferred 
 travelling by his own conveyance rather than 
 by rail, as he very much disliked inhaling 
 the foul air with which the cars are generally 
 charged, in consequence of a lack of proper 
 ventilation ; and as he had ascertained that 
 a son of Mr. Shaw, who was then residing in 
 Toronto, purposed going to Ancaster at the 
 same time, he arranged for the young man to 
 go with him and drive, the distance being 
 about sixty miles ; thus he thought he would 
 avoid unnecessary exposure on the one hand, 
 and the annoyance of the cars on the other ; 
 and, in addition, it would afford him an op- 
 portunity of visiting several old, tried friends, 
 with whom he delighted to review the past, 
 and anticipate a prosperous future for the 
 Church. 
 
 The Bishop and his young companion left 
 Cloverhill on the morning of the 19th of 
 
218 
 
 February, and although the weather was cold, 
 they journeyed on with tolerable comfort, and 
 reached the residence of Mr. Peter Fisher, 
 of Port Nelson, sometime in the afternoon of 
 that day. Mr. Fisher and the Bishop had 
 been old acquaintances of over forty years 
 standing, and during all that time had main- 
 tained a warm personal friendship with each 
 other. The evening was spent in the most 
 social, agreeable, and profitable manner, 
 talking over the past history of the Church, 
 and of the country, with which both men 
 had grown old. The Bishop's memory was 
 very retentive, and he was particularly cor- 
 rect in giving dates, so that his conversation, 
 interspersed as it was with incidents in rela- 
 tion to the early settlement of the country, 
 was extremely interesting. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Fisher had always highly appreciated the 
 Bishop's visits to their house, and never 
 were they more pleased and profited with 
 one, than on this occasion. 
 
 On Saturday the travellers reached the 
 Ancaster Parsonage, where every attention 
 was paid to the Bishop's comfort by Brother 
 
219 
 
 and Sister Shaw, and their family. Salem 
 church was distant from the parsonage a few 
 miles, and the Bishop was driven over in the 
 morning. He preached to a crowded house, 
 with great freedom and power, from 1st Peter 
 i : 3rd and 4th verses ; and again in the even- 
 ing, in the village of Ancaster, from Phil, i : 
 21, " For me to live is Christ, and to die is 
 gain." How suitable a text for his last pro- 
 clamation of the glorious Gospel of Christ. 
 Speaking of the Bishop's preaching that day, 
 Mr. Shaw says : " The friends remarked to 
 me on the unction and power which accom- 
 panied his words." On Monday evening he 
 attended the anniversary tea-meeting in the 
 Salem church, where he met several of the 
 preachers, with whom he conversed freely in 
 relation to various matters concerning the 
 general interests of the Church; and also 
 delivered his excellent lecture on " The early 
 settlement of Canada." This was his last 
 public appearance ; his work was almost done. 
 On Tuesday, he and young Mr. Shaw set 
 out on their return to Toronto, the Bishop to 
 all appearances in his usual health. They 
 
220 
 
 dined and rested for the time at Mr. Peter 
 Fisher's, and that afternoon proceeded to 
 Palermo, where they remained over night, 
 stopping with Dr. Buck. The evening at Dr. 
 Buck's was spent in a manner similar to the 
 one spent at Mr. Fisher's the week previous. 
 After family worship the Bishop retired, still 
 apparently well, and as was his custom, rose 
 early next morning. He conducted the 
 family worship that morning, commenting 
 freely on the lesson read, and engaged in 
 prayer with great freedom. That morning, 
 while seated at the breakfast table, he remark- 
 ed to the Dr. and his wife, that he had had a 
 singular dream the night before. He dream- 
 ed, he said, that his mother, who had been 
 dead over sixty years, came to him, and ap- 
 peared very pleasant, and as natural as when 
 he had seen her last in his youth. He was 
 but eighteen when she died, and he had not 
 dreamt of her before for many years. The 
 conversation turned on the singularity of 
 dreams, sometimes, and the matter dropped 
 without further explanation. Shortly after 
 breakfast, the journey towards home was re- 
 
221 
 
 sumed, but they had travelled only a short 
 distance when he remarked to Shaw, " Hector, 
 I feel so strangely. I never felt so before. 
 *My sight is so dim." The young man sug- 
 gested that it might be the reflection of the 
 sun upon the snow, but the Bishop insisted 
 that that could not be the cause of the dizzi- 
 ness he experienced, and of the strange sen- 
 sations affecting his whole system. They 
 drove as rapidly as possible to the house of a 
 brother Stafford, on Dundas St. He was 
 urged to lie down, but refused to do so, rest- 
 ing, however, in an easy chair. At dinner 
 he ate very sparingly, and afterwards still 
 continued to complain of dizziness in his head, 
 and feeling so strangely. Being anxious to 
 reach home they left Mr. Stafford's shortly 
 after dinner, he being still troubled with the 
 dizziness and occasional dimness of sight. Dur- 
 ing the drive home he conversed with his 
 young friend, at intervals, in his usual kind 
 and instructive manner, giving him a short 
 synopsis of the history of the Mormons, and 
 also conversing at some length on the subject 
 of future punishment, and on some of the 
 
222 
 
 striking features of Romanism. They reach- 
 ed home about four o'clock P.M., and the 
 Bishop at once sought rest. He rested pretty 
 well through the night, and met his young* 
 friend at breakfast next morning ; and on 
 bidding him good bye, promised to revisit 
 Ancaster Circuit on the 9th of March the 
 very day on which he died. Becoming worse, 
 he sent for his son, Dr. J. H. Richardson, who 
 entertained but slight hopes of his recovery 
 from the moment he saw him. Everything 
 was done to relieve him, that medical skill 
 could devise, or that affection could suggest, 
 but he continued to sink away. 
 
 During his illness, which lasted from the 
 24th of February, till the 9th of March, the 
 Bishop w r as visited from time to time, as pru- 
 dence permitted, by a large number of the 
 ministers of his own church, and also by those 
 of other denominations in Toronto and vicinity. 
 Rev. Mr. Shaw visited him on the day he was to 
 have been with him in Ancaster, and remarks 
 that the Bishopcon versed with him concerning 
 his future home, calmly, collectedly, and clear- 
 ly. The conversation turned on his sermon 
 
223 
 
 delivered a short time since when he remark- 
 ed, " all is well," then raising his arm 
 and looking upwards, he uttered the follow- 
 ing lines : 
 
 "Rock of Ages cleft for me, 
 Let me hide myself in Thee. " 
 
 Even in those dying moments his thoughts 
 were engaged on matters pertaining to the 
 interests of the church. In the conversation 
 with Mr. Shaw, from which the foregoing has 
 been extracted, he inquired as to who was likely 
 to succeed Bishop Carman in the College, &c. 
 After Mr. Shaw had engaged in prayer with 
 him, he bade him an affectionate farewell, 
 sending also a kind farewell to Mrs. Shaw 
 and the children. He died not long after Mr. 
 Shaw left. 
 
 To another of the preachers who visited 
 him, he said, " I have no ecstasj^, but I 
 know in whom I have believed." To yet 
 another he remarked, " My work is done. I 
 have nothing to do now but to die." 
 
 The character of his disease did not admit 
 of his conversing long at a time, and there- 
 fore his sentences were short, but always 
 
224 
 
 forcible. His reason was clear, and with strong 
 confidence in God, he calmly entered into his 
 rest. The telegraph announced his death, 
 not only to his immediate acquaintances, but 
 throughout the Dominion, and next morning 
 the daily papers communicated the fact to the 
 thousands of his friends in the Provinces. 
 
 So soon as it was known in the city that 
 the venerable Richardson was no more, the 
 National flag on the Custom House was low- 
 ered to half mast, as were those on other 
 public buildings, and on some of the vessels 
 in the harbor. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 The funeral By whom attended The funeral sermon Memorial 
 services held throughout our work A painful void felt at 
 the Annual Conferences Conference memorial services Lines 
 suggested by the sad bereavement. 
 
 On the 12th of March, 1875, the sorrowing 
 friends met to pay their last tribute of respect 
 to him who had been so highly honored, and 
 so much beloved during his life. The funeral 
 was largely attended by the Ministers of his 
 own Church and by some of other churches 
 from various parts of Canada, and by those of 
 the various Protestant denominations in To- 
 ronto, as well as by very many leading citizens. 
 
 Some idea of the high esteem which was 
 entertained for this venerable man of God 
 may be gathered from the notice of the fu- 
 neral which appeared in the Globe of March 
 13th, 1875, arid which we insert after mak- 
 ing a few verbal corrections. The account 
 given was as nearly correct as such accounts 
 generally are ; the reporter could not be ex- 
 15 225 
 
226 
 
 pected to do more than set down the names 
 of a few of the more prominent representa- 
 tive men who were present, but hundreds of 
 worthy men were in attendance who were 
 unknown to these caterers for the reading 
 public. It has been stated that a larger 
 number of ministers were present than ever 
 before attended any funeral in Toronto. 
 
 The report is as follows : 
 
 " Yesterday afternoon the funeral of the late Rev. 
 James Richardson, D.D., Bishop of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, took place from his late residence 
 at Clover HilL the remains of deceased being in- 
 terred in the vault at the Necropolis." 
 
 The friends and mourners met at the resi- 
 dence of the deceased shortly before three 
 o'clock, at which hour an impressive service 
 was held by Bishop Carman, of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church in Canada, assisted by 
 Revs. M. Benson and G. Abbs. 
 
 " The coffin which was of polished walnut with 
 heavy silver mountings, bore the following inscrip- 
 tion: "James Richardson, born January 29th, 
 1791, died March 9th, 1875. 
 
 " The funeral procession, which was a very 
 lengthened one, started from the house of mourning 
 
227 
 
 about half-past three o'clock. First came the 
 members of the York Pioneers' Society, of which 
 deceased was President, followed by Col. R. L. 
 Denison, Col. R. B. Denison, Rev. Dr. Scadding, 
 Archdeacon Fuller, Messrs. Philip Armstrong, A. 
 Hamilton, Dr. Geo. Crawford, E. Edmunds, John 
 Bell, Q.C., Rev. J. Carroll, J. McMullen, R. James, 
 R. Leore, J. T. Smith, James Gedd, J. Stitt, R. H. 
 Gates, W. B. Phipps, J. Bostwick, D. Sampson. A. 
 Heron, J. Bugg, J. White, D. O. Brooke, Dr. H. 
 Wright, Dr. R. Hornby, A. T. McCord, S. Rogers, 
 R. L. Smith, G. H. Holland, W. J. Coate, T. Burgess, 
 W. Barnhard, J. Farrell, T. Meredith, R. Dodds, F. 
 Milligan, Rev. S. Givins, S. Bowman, J. Jacques, J. 
 W. Drurnmond, J. Paul, Dr. Jas. Small, J. Playter, 
 W. Gooderham, J. G. Worts, B. Bull, W. J. Storm, 
 W. Edwards." 
 
 " Immediately preceding the hearse were Bishop 
 Carman, Thomas Webster, D.D., Revs. M. Benson, 
 G. Abbs, M. A. Wright, J. McLean, S. S. Stone, Rev. 
 Dr. Ryerson, Dean Grassett, Revs. Wm. Reid, W. H. 
 Shaw, Saltern Givins, T. Baker, Rev. Mr. Baldwin, and 
 Mr. A. T. McCord. Next came the hearse, followed by 
 the ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 Revs. F. M. Finn, Percy ; T. Agnew, Brampton ; 
 J. Lynch, Rock wood ; R. E. Lund, Cobourg ; E. J. 
 Pelley, Dundas ; J. Sampson, Brighton ; J. Miller. 
 Colborne; J. Curts, Weston ; J. S. Williamson, 
 
228 
 
 Hamilton ; E. Londesberry, Strathroy ; Revs. Dr. 
 Wild, Brooklyn, New York ; R. Denick, Palermo ; J. 
 Gilray, Toronto ; W. S. Brown, Lyndon ; R. Large, 
 Whitterdale ; A. Beamer, Ingersoll. The chief 
 mourners were Dr. Jas. H. Richardson, deceased's 
 son ; Dr. Robert D. Richardson, deceased's grand- 
 son ; Master W. Roaf, and Master J. Roaf, deceased's 
 grandchildren ; Mr. Henry Denis, of Weston. Next 
 came the representatives of the Upper Canada 
 Bible and Tract Societies, Messrs. J. K. McDonald, 
 J. A. R. Dickson, Robt. Baldwin, Dr. J. G. Hodgins, 
 and the representatives of Toronto Temperance Re- 
 formation Society, which deceased was originator 
 of, and for several years its President. Many 
 friends also followed in the procession, among 
 others Canon Baldwin, Revs. J. Potts, W. H. Poole, 
 S. Rose, S. N. Jackson, F. H. Marling, etc. The 
 procession proceeded by way of Yonge Street, 
 Carlton Street, and Winchester Street, to the 
 N ecropolis, where the burial service was performed 
 by Bishop Carman, after which the coffin was 
 placed in the receiving vault." 
 
 The funeral sermon was preached by Bishop 
 Carman, in the Metropolitan Methodist church, 
 Toronto, on Sunday morning, March 21st, the 
 use of the church having been kindly offered 
 to the Bishop by the Rev. Mr. Potts, the pas- 
 
229 
 
 tor of the congregation worshiping in that 
 beautiful Temple of the Lord* 
 
 The congregation was large, " among whom 
 were most of the members of the York Pion- 
 eers' Society." Bishop Carman took for his 
 text 1st Corinthians, xv. 55: "0 death, where 
 is thy sting ? grave, where is thy victory ?" 
 We can only give a few short extracts from 
 this eloquent discourse : 
 
 " The text," said the speaker, "is one of the Apos- 
 tle Paul's magnificent exultations. It is the leap 
 of a robust spirit ; the bound of a noble soul. It is 
 the outburst of a suppressed emotion ; the explo- 
 sion of a pent up fire. It is the mounting of the 
 eagle into the tracts of the air ; the spring of the 
 steed for the freedom of the plains. It is not 
 merely the quick delight of sense, or the sudden 
 flame of passion. It is not the mere gloating of 
 the appetite, or the fondness of the desire. It is 
 not the mere pleasure of sentiment ; or the flash of 
 thought. It is not merely the happy radiance of 
 reason, or the joyous triumph of argument. It is 
 all that is good, and pure, and sound, and solid in 
 all these ; but it is also far more than all these. It 
 has all that sense, and emotion, and sentiment, and 
 reason, and argument can give ; but it has some- 
 thing rapturous and sublime that they cannot all, to- 
 
230 
 
 gether, give. It is the majestic flight of faith in 
 God ; the outreaching of the immortal mind to grasp 
 its glorious destiny. From the firm foundation, the 
 immovable rock of fact, and testimony, and reason, 
 and argument ; from the character and govern- 
 ment, and promises of Jehovah, the soul mounts 
 vigorously upward, and soars amid the splendours 
 of the imperial sun. This is the leap of faith; its 
 grand excursion in the light ineffable. Surely the 
 bird of the mountain, plunging into the aerial 
 ocean from his rocky height, and with swift wing- 
 cleaving the sky, has wider and nobler range than 
 the reptile crawling about the mountain's base, or 
 the sure-footed beast climbing its rugged sides. 
 The former has all the possessions of the latter, but 
 also has much more. To the one no less than to the 
 other, the bald granite, the gorge, the precipice and 
 the slopes are realities, indispensable realities. To 
 the one no less than to the other is the mountain 
 the life. But the grander flight finds even grander 
 realities in the broader, purer fields of light and air. 
 So faith, despising not, neglecting not, forsaking 
 not fact and reason, mounts up\v ard from fact and 
 reason to the eternal verities of the moral Govern- 
 ment of God, and the moral and immortal nature of 
 
 man. * * * 
 
 There are elevations of trust in God ; lofty joys of 
 communion with Him, and sublime realizations of 
 
231 
 
 His power that unaided reason knows nothing of. 
 And this was the rapture of Paul; not without 
 reason, but leaping forth from it with an alacrity 
 and an energy mightily above it. These exulta- 
 tions, these bursting joys of the combined glories of 
 reason, and sentiment, and faith were characteris- 
 istic of the great preacher to the Gentile world. He 
 clearly states the fact ; he urges the argument ; he 
 gazes upon the transcendant glory ; he believes 
 with all his heart in the immeasureable goodness 
 and the irresistible power of the God of his love, 
 till the rising tide of his emotion breaks over every 
 barrier of his attempted restraint, fills every capa- 
 city of his soul, and brightens and freshens every 
 faculty of his being. The argument is complete ; 
 the demonstration is secure ; the grandeur is mani- 
 fest ; and then the joy abounds. The irrepressible 
 rapture, in the full-flood tide of glory, rolls over the 
 soul. This is the habit of his mind, the ecstacy of 
 the abundant revelation. So it is in that inimit- 
 able argument for justification by faith without the 
 deeds of the law. He has proved that all men are 
 alike under sin ; that in man's moral nature there 
 is no help ; that the law frowns only to condemn. 
 ' O, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me 
 from the body of this death ?' ' I thank God, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. There is therefore now no 
 condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who 
 
232 
 
 walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.' 
 
 * Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.' Hav- 
 ing shown the nature of the spiritual life, the re- 
 generation and sanctification of the human soul 
 through the operation of the Holy Ghost ; having 
 declared the witness of the Spirit of God to our 
 adoption, and the loving attachment of the sons of 
 God to their Father in heaven he breaks forth : 
 
 * Who shall separate us from the love of God ? 
 Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or 
 famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? Nay, in 
 all these things we are more than conquerors 
 through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded 
 that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princi- 
 palities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things 
 to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other crea- 
 ture shall be able to separate us from the love of 
 God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' As also 
 Wesley : ' Now I have found the ground wherein,' 
 &:c. Having demonstrated that the gifts and call- 
 ings of God are without repentance ; that the elec- 
 tion of his people, whether Jew or Gentile, proceed- 
 ed upon their character of repentance, faith, and 
 obedience ; having descended with his people 
 through the awful calamity and sorrow of their re- 
 jection of God on account of their sins, and having 
 risen again to the grand conception of the compre- 
 hensive plan of the Eternal Father to embrace all 
 
233 
 
 nations of men in the great salvation by faith in 
 Jesus Christ, he rapturously exclaims : ' O, the 
 depth of the riches both of the wisdom and know- 
 ledge of God ! How unsearchable are His judg- 
 ments, and His ways past finding out. For who 
 hath known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath 
 been His counsellor ? or who hath first given to 
 Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again. 
 For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all 
 things ; to whom be glory for ever ! Amen ! ' " 
 * * * * ***** 
 
 After pointing out at considerable length 
 the blessedness of the Gospel, which enables 
 the believer to triumph over death and the 
 grave, through the blessed atonement ; and 
 after giving a historical account of the life 
 and labors, patriotic and ministerial, of his 
 late colleague, Bishop Carman concluded a 
 long and able sermon with the words follow- 
 ing : 
 
 '* And now what shall we say in summing up the 
 character of this great and good man ? In every 
 sphere of life into which he came, he filled its full 
 orb with his energy and his power. In the domes- 
 tic circle, in society, in the nation and in the church, 
 he was the complete man. In private and in public 
 virtues he was a model for the people. He was 
 
234 
 
 firm without being dogmatic ; he was mild without 
 being easy and indifferent. He loved his home with- 
 out neglecting his country. He served his country 
 without slighting his home. In counsel, the sage ; 
 in action, the hero ; in manner, the gentleman ; in 
 conversation, the historian and the philosopher; how 
 shall we supply his place, or when shall we look 
 upon his like again ? He leaves to his family, his 
 church, his country, the heritage of a spotless cha- 
 racter. They need not mourn : but may better 
 arise and emulate his virtues. Do you seek an 
 ardent patriotism ? You find it in James Richard- 
 son. Do you seek an untarnished honour, and 
 unblemished reputation ? You find them in James 
 Richardson. Do you seek a sincere philanthropy ? 
 You find it in James Richardson. Would you have 
 a keen sense of duty, an exalted appreciation of 
 justice, a firm adherence to truth, and a sober and 
 unaffected, a deep and all-pervading, piety ? You 
 will find them in James Richardson. As a soldier, 
 he was faithful and brave. As a man of business, 
 he was honourable and obliging. As a preacher, 
 he was zealous and effective. As a bishop, and an 
 administrator of discipline, he was candid, careful 
 and correct. In plain exposition of the blessed 
 doctrines of the Bible he had no superior ; in know- 
 ledge of church discipline and ecclesiastical polic} T 
 and usage, perhaps not an equal in the country. 
 
235 
 
 His shining abilities, his splendid equilibrium of 
 faculties, would have made him a power in Parlia- 
 ment, or an ornament to the Bench. But he counted 
 all these but loss, that he might win Christ. He 
 dedicated all to God. He laid all at the foot of the 
 cross. Thereby he was enabled to be abundantly 
 useful in his generation, and has gone to a rich 
 reward." 
 
 It was deemed but fitting to have memo- 
 rial services held throughout the connexion, 
 as there were thousands, who, while desirous 
 of honoring his memory, were yet unable to 
 attend the funeral services. Therefore Bishop 
 Carman, with the concurrence of several of 
 his brethren present on that occasion, decided 
 to recommend that such services be held 
 throughout the connexion, as far as practica- 
 ble, on Sunday, March 28th. 
 
 The proposition was well received, and on 
 that day our ministers, generally, called the 
 attention of their people to the consideration 
 of the high character, patriotic career, public 
 usefulness, blameless life, and abundant Chris- 
 tian efforts of this good man, and able min- 
 ister of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 It will not be possible, in the compass of 
 
236 
 
 this work, to give even an outline of these 
 religious services. They were all, necessa- 
 rily, very similar in character, the congrega- 
 tions varying in numbers according to differ- 
 ent localities. It is hoped that these memorial 
 services of this "prince in our Israel" have 
 been the means of leading many souls to 
 Christ. 
 
 The meetings of the Annual Conferences 
 were, at their commencement, seasons of deep 
 sorrow and of some anxiety. The chair so 
 long occupied by the venerable Bishop was 
 vncant; and, while the preachers were glad 
 to know that, in his learned and affable suc- 
 cessor, they possessed a presiding officer in 
 every way fitted to fill that chair, they could 
 not but grieve that they would see no more 
 on earth the face of that friend who had been 
 as a spiritual father to so many of them, but 
 who would now never more guide them by 
 his mature counsels. 
 
 The Conference memorial services were 
 attended with excellent effects, both upon the 
 preachers themselves and upon the congrega- 
 tions in attendance. 
 
237 
 
 The " workmen die, but the work goes on." 
 " The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." 
 
 The author has pleasure in presenting to 
 the many admiring friends of our late beloved 
 Bishop, the following appreciative lines, com- 
 posed by Mrs. ISABELLA BAILEY WEBSTER 
 WALLACE. 
 
238 
 
 LINES SUGGESTED BY THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF THE LATE 
 J3ISHOP j^ICHARDSON. 
 
 No martial pomp, no muffled drum, no tattered colours trailing low, 
 No solemn dirge, no booming gun, hints of the ancient well-fought 
 
 foe 
 Whom he had met with dauntless front, while with a sailor's honest 
 
 pride 
 He steered his barque, 'mid smoke and flame, o'er blue Ontario's 
 
 heaving tide. 
 
 No fear had he of shot or shell, or of the yawning, hungry wave ; 
 His only thought, from foreign arms, his much loved native land to 
 
 save. 
 Nor repined he at the soldier's fate, although so early maimed for 
 
 life, 
 
 But with returning vigor, came again to join the fearful strife. 
 No veteran* of that sturdy band, who then obeyed his hearty call, 
 Is mingling with the saddened throng, who follow now his funeral 
 
 pall. 
 The brave, the true, who may survive, have vanished from our sight 
 
 and ken, 
 
 And all the victories which they won, were nullified by weaker men. 
 But comrades in a holier war, true soldiers of a mightier King, 
 Are here from well contested fields, and faithful, loving hearts they 
 
 bring. 
 They've come, to gaze with lingering look, on that dear face they 
 
 loved so well ; 
 But ah ! they miss the kindling eye, the smile where welcome used 
 
 to dwell. 
 They miss that voice, so mild, so deep, which charmed them in their 
 
 boyhood's days, 
 
 * One of Mr. Richardson's comrades on the St. La icrence was present at his 
 funeral, as one of the pall-bearers, but he was not with him at Oswego. 
 
239 
 
 Which oft had sounded in their ears, in admonition or in praise. 
 Their sorrow, not like transient cloud, whose shadow for an instant 
 
 lies, 
 
 Blackening the verdant vales of June, then in a moment onward flies. 
 'Tis such as weighs the loftiest down, when they behold their noble 
 
 dead, 
 
 And realize that life is o'er, that all that was their friend has fled. 
 In that cold form, serenely calm, they still his lineaments may trace, 
 But now loved tones unheeded fall, no answering smile illumes the 
 
 face. 
 
 The soul, that glorious spark divine, which was, and is the real man, 
 Has cast aside this garb of clay, which lies so mute, so pale, so wan. 
 Now from their very sorrow, springs a joy which is the Christian's 
 
 own; 
 The soldier who had fought so well, is placed before his Sovereign's 
 
 throne. 
 No more the weary, toilsome march ; no more the conflict with the 
 
 waves ; 
 No more to feel the serpent's fangs, no more to weep o'er new-made 
 
 graves. 
 
 But in the presence of his Lord, for evermore he sits him down, 
 And he who bore the cross so long, now wears the victor's glorious 
 
 crown. 
 
 Radiant with stars, which far surpass the brightness of the rising day, 
 They speak of souls, who, by his words, were led to own Jehovah's 
 
 sway. 
 This thought, of his supreme delight, has soothing power amid their 
 
 grief; 
 
 Oh ! may his spotless mantle, falling, rest upon their youthful chief. 
 Oh ! may the Church, through all the land, thrill with a purer, warmer 
 
 flame ; 
 
 Still, in her earnest war with ill, keep ever bright her honored name. 
 And those few silvery-headed men, who watched with him our coun- 
 try's rise, 
 May they, too, find a lasting home, with him, beyond the arching 
 
 skies. 
 
24:0 
 
 Then those dear sorrowing ones, whose love is not the growth of years, 
 But was implanted in their hearts, ere they had known life's cares or 
 
 fears ; 
 May they, by following close his steps, who guided their's through 
 
 youth's wild maze, 
 Be brought to share his glorious rest, and join with him in heavenly 
 
 lays. 
 Oh ! may his children's children seek, whate'ver in life may them 
 
 betide, 
 The love of God, their father's King. May He with them for aye 
 
 abide. 
 
ZELL'S POPULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA 
 
 AND 
 
 UNIVERSAL DICTIONARY 
 
 New and Revised Edition, with 18 Coloured Maps. 
 
 THIS work furnishes a complete description of every subject connected 
 with History, Biography, Geography, Science, Art, Language, Natural 
 History, Botany, Mineralogy, Medicine, Law, Mechanics, Architecture, 
 Manufacturing, Agriculture, Bihle History, Church History, Religions, &c. 
 
 It is, in fact, equal to a complete library of works on all subjects. 
 
 Printed in ordinary type and page, it would make Twenty Volumes, 
 worth not less than $5 each, or f 100 for the entire work. 
 
 It contains nearly 150,000 articles, all prepared with great care, by the 
 most able authors, each specially qualified for his particular part. 
 
 An article in the National Quarterly, edited by Ed. I. Sears, LL.D., gives 
 the views of that able and scholarly reviewer and critic upon this work. 
 
 He begins with remarking that he had received not less than fifty letters 
 within the year, asking his opinion of Zell's Popular Encyclopedia. 
 
 From a prejudice against the word "popular," as too often used in this 
 country, the Doctor confesses that, before examining it, his faith in 
 the new Encylopedia was very slight. After a careful examination, he 
 speaks of it, with unqualified commendation, as follows : 
 
 "'Blessed,' he says, quoting Swift, 'are they that expect nothing, for 
 they shall not be disappointed.' If we are not blessed, we are at least agree- 
 ably surprised. The prefix popular, as generally used in this country, is 
 not appropriate in this present instance, but in the sense of instructive 
 and useful to all classes of the people who have any taste for the 
 acquisition of knowlgdge, or any desire for extending the sphere of their 
 intelligence ; and, in this sense, we know no similar work to which it may 
 be more justly applied. In other words, the new Encyclopedia is not the 
 crude, shallow, slip-shod, self-contradictory sort of performance which so 
 many of our authors and compilers seem to regard as only suitable for the 
 people, and the only kind that ought to be called popular. It is a work 
 which, while it must prove attractive, as well as useful, to thoss who have 
 received only the most elementary education, cannot fail to recommend 
 
ZELL'S POPULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 itself, also, to the most highly educated, even to possessors of good 
 libraries, for the large- amount of information, in general, well digested 
 and accurate, which it embraces on multiform subjects, including the 
 whole circle of the Arts and Sciences. Many articles are quite long and 
 elaborate. The majority owe their value to the circumstance that in 
 their condensed form they rarely omit any important particular, and 
 scarcely ever any newly-discovered fact. Thus the literary and scientific 
 labourer is often enabled to obtain at a glance information requiring 
 extensive research elsewhere, and which is not to be found, at all in 
 other Encyclopedias. It affords us pleasure to bear testimony to the 
 peculiar merits of this work. The departments which please us most 
 are the Historical, Geographical, Archselogical, and Scientific. In the 
 department of Science, we have sufficient of what is not found in any 
 similar work, being the result of recent research and discoveries, to 
 recommend the work. The Lexicographical department alone is of 
 great value ; it is indeed such that none having it will have any need 
 to pay the high price demanded at the present day for a copy of Web- 
 ster's Dictionary. The numerous and generally accurate illustrations of 
 Zell's Popular Encyclopedia considerably enchance the interest and 
 attractiveness." t _ 
 
 The following notices are from the Globe and Mail : 
 
 "This work, which will be exceedingly useful as a book of reference, 
 is published in numbers, sixty-four of which are to complete the \\hole. 
 It is edited by L. Colange, L.L.D., is handsomely printed, and contains 
 18 beautiful maps, besides numerous illustrative Engravings. Whilst 
 aiming at scientific accuracy, it is at the same time intended to be 
 popular, the articles being written in plain language. j n 
 order to show the value of the work to every one, we will mention that 
 it is a complete dictionary of language ; it contains every word, with 
 its etymology and definition, that is to be found in other large dic- 
 tionaries. It is also a complete gazeteer." 
 
 " The plan of this work is wonderfully comprehensive, embracing as 
 it does a dictionary of language, a biographical and a medical dictionary, 
 a history of the world, a complete natural history, a complete work on 
 botany, also on Mechanics, and a Clmrch history. In short, there is 
 no subject to which reference is not made. All who want a book to 
 which they can turn in a moment for anything in the world they want 
 to know about, will find ZELL'S ENCYCLOPEDIA just what they require." 
 
 This fmrk is published in 2, 3, 4 and 5 volume editions, varying in 
 price from $37 50 to $75 per set ; and in 64 parts at fifty cents each. 
 
 Full particulars, (specimen part with a map, post-paid for twenty -five 
 cents) will be sent on application. Sold only by subscription. 
 
 J. B. MAGUBN, 
 
 PUBLISHERS' GENERAL AGENT, 
 
 36 Zing Street East, Toronto. 
 
 . . O. Box 743. 
 
PRAYER 
 
 AXD ITS 
 
 REMARKABLE ANSWERS 
 
 A Statement of Facts in the Light of Reason and Revelation. 
 
 BY REV- WM. W, RATION, D.D. 
 
 This work covers ground occupied by no other book. Its theme is one of 
 absorbing interest to the Christian, and it is believed that a perusal 
 of its pages will not fail to deeply interest all classes of people. It 
 will confound, if not convince, the sceptic, strengthen the faith of Believers, 
 and awaken to earnest thought the Impenitent. 
 
 The author has given, in popular form, both the facts and the philo- 
 sophy of the subject. It is written for the people, yet it assumes that 
 they are neither children nor fools, but desire an intelligent discussion of a 
 fundamental question. The heads of the chapters, herewith, will serve to 
 show how thoroughly the subject has been handled by the author. 
 
 It will be observed that about one-third of the book is devoted to 
 the nature, characteristics, methods and conditions of 
 Prayer, and the remaining two-thirds to Striking Cases of 
 Answers to Prayer, for all variety of objects. The cases quoted are 
 largely original, and have been furnished the author from trustworthy 
 sources, and in most instances the sources are given. These have been 
 culled from a much larger number that were supplied to the author ex- 
 pressly for this work, but which had to be omitted for want of space. They 
 are arranged carefully in distinct Chapters, to illustrate the success of 
 orayer for different objects, and are accompanied by explanatory and critical 
 remarks. It is a book which every Pastor will welcome, as helpful to the 
 progress of piety in his church, and which will encourage the Christian to 
 ask and expect greater blessings for himself and for others, 
 
PRAYER ANr ITS REMARKABLE ANSWERS. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter I. Prayer characteristic of Piety. II. What true Prayer is. 
 III. Why Prayer prevails. IV. The method of the answer. V. Conditions 
 of success in Prayer. VI. The Prayer of Faith. VII. Sceptical assaults 
 on Prayer. VIII. Bible-answers to Prayer Old Testament. IX. Bible- 
 answers to Prayer New Testament. X. Prayer for the supply of temporal 
 wants (commenced). XI. Prayer for the supply of temporal wants (con- 
 cluded). XII. Prayer for physical healing (commenced). XIII. Prayer 
 for physical healing (concluded). XIV. Prayer for sanctifying grace. 
 XV. Prayer to overcome physical habit. XVI. Prayer for individual 
 conversions. XVII. Parental 'Prayei'S. XVIII. Prayer for ministers, 
 churches and revivals. XIX. Prayer for charitable institutions. XX. 
 Review of facts in conclusion. 403 pages. 
 
 The Eev. JOHN POTTS gives the following opinion of 
 this book. 
 
 "I have somewhat carefully examined Dr. Patton's book entitled 'Prayer 
 and its Remarkable Answers.' The subject is one of undying interest to 
 finite beings, and its treatment by the author is intelligent, interesting and 
 practical The perusal of these pages must give greatly enlarged views of 
 the nature, obligation and privilege of Prayer. 
 
 " Those who habitually 'bow before the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ' will feel especially encouraged to expect large blessings, as they 
 learn of the remarkable answers recorded on the pages of this book. 
 
 "JOHN POTTb. 
 "METROPOLITAN CHURCH PARSONAGE, 
 
 "TORONTO, FebnuM-y, 1876." 
 
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