GEORGE JEHOSHAPHAT MOUNTAIN
by L. Norman Tucker, M.A., D.C.L.
Dean, St. Paul's Cathedral, London, Ont.

THE Mountain family are said to have been descended from French Huguenots who sought refuge in England at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. George Jehoshaphat was born July 17th, 1789, three days after the capture of the Bastille in Paris. His father was chaplain to the Bishop of Lincoln, a friend of William Pitt, on whose recommendation he was appointed to the See of Quebec in 1783.' The family took up their abode at Woodfield, near Spencer Wood, the official residence of the Governor.

He was confirmed in 1803, and from his religious disposition seemed to be marked out for the sacred ministry from his tenderest years. In 1805 he was sent to England, where he attended a private school at Little Easton, Essex, till 1808, when he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, from which he graduated in 1810. Returning to Canada in 1811, he became secretary to his father, under whom he studied for Holy Orders. Ordained deacon in 1812, he became assistant to his cousin, Salter Mountain, in the Parish Church at Quebec. In 1813 he accompanied his father on one of his triennial visitations of his diocese, thus early becoming initiated into the work of the episcopate. He was raised to the priesthood in January, 1814, was married the following August, and shortly after assumed the charge of the parish of Fredericton. To reach his distant charge he had to go by boat to Pictou via Prince Edward Island, thence by land to Halifax and Annapolis, and thence by water to St. John and Fredericton. This was the beginning of a course of apostolic travels that ended only with his life.

When Salter Mountain removed to Cornwall in 1817, he left Fredericton, where he had won in an eminent degree the confidence and affection of his people, to take charge of the work in Quebec. Here he soon established a Diocesan Committee of the S.P.C.K., and inaugurated national schools for boys and girls, acting under the conviction that religious knowledge was the surest foundation for his work. In addition to his parochial duties he was appointed Official for Lower Canada, which led him to undertake a visitation of the settlements on the St. Francis River in 1818. And in 1820 he accompanied his father on his last visitation of the western part of his diocese, which carried him through Fort Erie, Amherstburg and Sandwich, and on the return journey through Queenston, Grimsby, York (now Toronto), Port Hope, Belleville, Kingston, Brockville, Perth and Prescott, and he finally reached Quebec after an absence of nearly two months.

In 1821 the parish of Quebec was erected by letters patent, and Dr. Mountain was appointed rector. In this year also he was promoted to the dignity of Archdeacon of the Lower Province. In 1822 he again visited the Eastern Townships, passing through Sherbrooke, where "he could hear of nothing like a horse in the village," Lennoxville, known by the name of the Upper Forks, which could only be reached by a horse path through the woods, Eaton, Hatley, Shefford, Dunham, Fre-lighsburg, Philipsburg, Clarenceville, Isle Aux Noix, Sorel, St. Andrew's on the Ottawa, and Rawdon, visiting the churches and schools, preaching in most places, and performing a great part of the journey on horseback. In 1823 he was appointed Honorary Professor of Divinity and Principal of the newly formed University of McGill, offices which he held till 1835. In 1824 he visited the district of Gaspe. On the return journey he ascended the Ristigouche and Meta-pedia Rivers in a bark canoe for about 75 miles, and walked 25 more to the shores of the St. Lawrence through the woods. The romance of such travel may be judged from the following description which he gives of himself: "Lame and tattered, a long staff made out of an old canoe paddle in my hand, the scratches of my skin seen through the holes of my trousers and stockings, without a neck cloth, my clothes soiled by the march, my shoes tied with twine, and my trousers confined at the ankle, to prevent their catching in the branches, with pins and strips of cedar bark; a coloured handkerchief around one knee, to prevent the enlargement of a very serious solution of continuity, to which pins had been repeatedly applied with very little effect." Churchmen may well ponder, in these days of luxurious travelling, the sacrifices with which the Church in those early days was planted in the land.

It would be tedious to go on describing the continuous round of visitations, performed year after year, of the vast region extending from Gaspe and the Magdalene Islands, through the Eastern Townships and the Ottawa Valley and along the shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie to Sandwich and Windsor. Even in these days of abounding activity we cannot but be amazed at the tireless energy that animated this devoted servant of the Church. But with the rapid increase of the population and the extension of settlement it became impossible for any one man, however strong and energetic he might be, to compass the work. Accordingly plans were set on foot to divide the diocese. In 1836 he was called to assist Bishop Stewart, under the title of Bishop of Montreal. Owing, however, to the retirement and death of Bishop Stewart shortly after, the care of all the churches continued to rest on his shoulders until in 1839 Dr. Strachan was elevated to the See of Toronto, which included the whole Province of Upper Canada. Lower Canada was further divided in 1850 by the creation of the See of Montreal, while he retained the title of Bishop of Quebec.

At the outset, the Clergy, from the nature of the case, could only be obtained from England. It was hopeless to expect that many recruits for the Ministry could be secured in a country where the population was sparse, widely scattered and struggling for existence. As, however, the country began to develop it became more and more evident that if the Church was expected to prosper it must produce a native clergy. When candidates began to offer themselves provision was made for their training in theology at Three Rivers, under Rev. Mr. Wood, and at Chambly, under Rev. Mr. Braithwaite. This elementary mode of training proved highly satisfactory, when judged by results; for the teachers were thoroughly qualified for their task and the students were men of deep conviction and great earnestness of spirit.

But private tuition, at the hands of men who, however competent, were absorbed in the duties of their ministerial office, could only at best be a makeshift. The Bishop, in the most untoward circumstances, cherished the idea of establishing a Church University of which a Theological Faculty and a suitable chapel would be essential parts. In seeking to realize this object, his thoughts turned to Three Rivers, where the Rectory, which was originally a Monastery, seemed to offer peculiar facilities for this purpose. But before anything definite could be arranged in this direction, the Rev. L. Doo-little came forward on behalf of himself and several residents of Sherbrooke and Lennox-ville, with the offer of large contributions in land and in money, if the site of the college was fixed in the neighbourhood of those places. As the Eastern Townships were the headquarters of the English-speaking population of the lower province it was finally decided to establish the institution at Lennoxville, in 1842. No more beautiful site could have been chosen. On rising ground that overlooks the junction of the St. Francis and Massawippi Rivers, with the cosy homes of Lennoxville, embowered in trees, in the foreground, and the spires and mansions of Sherbrooke, as if perched on a rock in the distance, there arose a stately pile of buildings consisting of a Principal's Residence, the University and Theological buildings, a chapel and a boys' school. The value of such an institution to the Church and to the country has been incalculable. It has not only raised the standard of education throughout the Province and especially the Eastern Townships, but it has given many aspiring young men an opportunity of acquiring the knowledge for which they yearned, and of forming and cherishing ideals of culture and of service which, though on a small scale, have been one of the most wholesome influences in our national life. Residence and association with kindred minds for from three to five years in one of the most beautiful centres of one of the most picturesque parts of Canada, under cultured and devoted teachers, with daily chapel and the hallowed influences of religion pervading the whole, constitute a memory that only grows brighter and more cherished as it recedes into the past. As I look back over nearly half a century of active life, in which I have been blessed with many helpful friendships and many happy experiences, the time I spent at Bishop's College, Lennox-ville, stands out in my recollection as one of the happiest and most fruitful periods of my life. In saying this I am sure I am only expressing the feeling of many scores of men who have enjoyed the benefits of the institution. These men, wherever they have gone, have been a wholesome and uplifting influence in the life of Canada. Some of them have won distinction in secular life. Some, like Dr. Carry and Archdeacon Roc, were among the ripest theologians which our busy life has produced. Some, like Archdeacon Lindsay, of Waterloo, Que., were among the Church's most devoted and successful missionaries. And of all it may be said they adorned the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things. And this splendid chapter in our national life we owe to the statesmanlike vision and self-denying efforts of Bishop Mountain.

Apostolic journeys are always important. Some, however, from their picturesqueness and the far-reaching consequences that followed them, stand out conspicuously above the rest. Such was St. Paul's first missionary expedition to Europe, in A.D. 52, when he preached the Gospel and planted the Church in Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens and Corinth. Such, too, was Bishop Mountain's visitation of the Indian missions in the Red River Settlement in 1844. It was the first direct contact of the Church in Canada proper with the Church in the North-West, which has been fruitful of so many happy relations and so much mutual benefit; which had its logical culmination in the formation of the General Synod in 1893, when the Archbishop of Rupert's Land was made Primate of all Canada and in complete assumption of responsibility by the Canadian Church for the missions to the Indians and the Eskimos, in 1918 made possible by the success of the Anglican Forward Movement, just brought to such a triumphant issue. It reveals the mysterious way in which God weaves the meshes of His Providence for the furtherance of the Gospel.

In the fulness of time, when God sent forth His Son, He had gradually prepared the world for that blessed Advent. The laws and military power of Rome served as a shield and buckler for the Missionary of the cross; the incomparable language of Greece served as a medium for the exposition and diffusion of the mysteries of the Gospel; and Palestine, by 2,000 years of preparation, had provided the content of the Gospel in the person of Jesus Christ, the missionaries who carried His Name to the Gentiles, and the church that sent them forth. In like manner, the Hudson's Bay Company had been the forerunner of the Gospel and the church in the west. Its occupation of that vast and desert region had staked out the claims of Britain to the eventual possession of the land. Its ships carried the messengers across the Atlantic; its boats conveyed them up and down the wonderful river systems of that country; its forts and factories formed the centres of their evangelizing efforts; traders were their natural allies and fellow-workers; its humane and honourable treatment of the Indians predisposed all the native tribes to give a favourable reception to their message, and it was under the auspices and direction of their great magnate, Sir George Simp-son, that Bishop Mountain was enabled to accomplish his memorable journey.

Moreover, the journey itself is a striking object-lesson of the progress of the country during the last 75 years. The journey which consumed no less than 38 days may now be compassed in little more than 38 hours. The bark canoe has made way for the majestic steamer and transcontinental express train. The shelter of a tent or of the canopy of heaven has been replaced by palatial dining and sleeping cars. The centre of the lumber industry, then known as Bytown, has grown into the queenly capital of a great Dominion. Lumber camps and small settlements in the dense forests have expanded into the towns of Renfrew, Arnprior and Pembroke. The fur-trading post of Fort William has grown into two rising and opulent cities. The Red River settlement, with a few hundred inhabitants, has expanded into the great City of Winnipeg. Small farms on the edge of the prairies have developed into the Prairie Provinces, yielding hundreds of millions of bushels of grain. Half a dozen Indian missions have become two Ecclesiastical Provinces with fourteen bishops and many hundreds of clergy. And a vast region that was the habitation of wild beasts, buffaloes and roving tribes of Indians, has been overrun by railways and has become the seat of thriving towns and cities. What Canadian can now be a pessimist and despise the day of small things? What churchman can fail to bring forth the head stone with shoutings, grace, grace be unto it? What Christian can refuse to say, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts"?

This journey to the Red River had been one of the Bishop's long cherished projects even from the time of his consecration in 1836. Deferred in 1842 on account of illness, it was finally carried out in 1844. He left Quebec by steamer, May 13th, and embarked at Lachine, May 16th. The conveyance was a new birch bark canoe, 36 feet long, with 14 paddles. The crew were picked men; one had accompanied Franklin to the Arctic regions in 1825; eight were French-Canadians; six were Iroquois Indians from Caughnawaga; and all were Roman Catholics. The guide was an Iroquois of wide experience. The Bishop was accompanied by his chaplain and servant. The baggage, provisions and tents weighed 1/2 ton.

They rose at 3.00 a.m. and rowed till 8.00 a.m., when one hour was allowed for breakfast. Then they rowed till 2.00 p.m., when a cold dinner was hurriedly taken; after which they rowed till sunset. The Bishop and his escort spent the night in a tent, with tarpaulin for a mattress, cloth for a pillow and blankets for a covering. The men slept under the inverted canoe. They followed the usual route up the Ottawa, the Mattawa, Lake Nipissing, the French River, Lakes Huron and Superior, the Kaministiquia, the Rainy River, Rainy Lake, the Lake of the Woods and the Winnipeg River, a distance of 1800 miles. For five and a half days they did not see a human being, and the pitiable condition of the few Indians they met on the way only served to bring out in bolder relief the transforming and uplifting character of the Red River missions.

The Bishop spent three Sundays at the Red River. He held two ordinations, confirmed 846 persons, preached 13 sermons, delivered 5 lectures to all the candidates for confirmation, addressed the Sunday School children and visited all the principal inhabitants in the settlement. These were the first episcopal acts west of the Great Lakes. The Indians were greatly delighted with the Bishop's ministrations, which also gladdened the hearts and strengthened the hands of the missionaries. They were unanimous in the expression that "he captivated the hearts and called forth the best feelings of the people. The good he has done is altogether incalculable. His parting address drew tears from many eyes. It may indeed be said of the Red River settlement, as it was of Samaria when Philip went and preached Christ unto them, tHat there was great joy in that place."

The Bishop himself was deeply impressed with these experiences, which he continued to cherish among the most precious of his Episcopate. "To come upon such a settlement," he says, "and to see the Indian children all decently clothed, with their books in their hands, after having come freshly from the naked, and often dirty heathens, does indeed fill the mind with the most thankful emotions of delight and the most earnest longing for the extension of so blessed a work. If the scenes thus presented could have been witnessed by those who are called upon to support the Society at home, and, still more, if they could have had the opportunity of contrasting them with the exhibitions of poor, dirty and degraded heathens, half or wholly naked, who were to be seen on their way, a powerful accession of force would have been gained for the appeal to their charity." It was largely due to his strong and earnest appeals that the See of Rupert's Land was eventually established in 1849.

The year 1847 witnessed the ship-fever visitation that has left a deep mark on the history of the nation and of the Church. The ravages were few in the country, were much severer in Montreal and Quebec, but rose to the proportions of a national calamity at the quarantine station at Grosse Isle. Where there was accommodation for only from 120 to 150 patients, ten times that number were landed on the shores. The churches and outbuildings, together with 89 tents, were brought into use, and still 800 remained on the ships without care or attendants of any kind. The bishop took his turn with the clergy in providing spiritual ministrations for the sick and dying, and in burying the dead. He had officiated in mills, in barns, in schoolhouses, in prisons, in private houses, on board ships, packets, steamers and schooners, but now for the first time he ministered in the open air. The condition of the afflicted was pitiable in the extreme. Some were lying on the wet ground in the rain; some on rank wet weeds; orphans lay in tents dying, covered with vermin from head to foot, unowned and no connection to be traced. To the credit of the Church it must be said that neither Bishop nor Clergy shrank from the ordeal. Seventeen served; nine took the fever, of whom two died; while one also died at Quebec, one at Montreal, and one at St. Johns.

The Bishop's manifold labours and travels, the ever increasing duties of his vast Diocese and the difficulty of supplying all its needs had forced on him the conviction that the Church should possess greater powers of self-government. When every matter of importance had to be decided by the will of the Bishop and the scattered congregations had not organized means of consultation or self-expression, too great a burden was allowed to rest on the Bishop's shoulders and great potential powers for good in the Church were allowed to go to waste. The same conviction had forced itself on the other Bishops of the Canadian Church, as well as on Bishops similarly situated in Australia and New Zealand. This led to the memorable meeting of the North American Bishops, held in Quebec, in September, 1851, and attended by the Bishops of Newfoundland, Toronto, Fredericton and Montreal. This meeting of churchmen corresponds to the celebrated meeting of public men of Quebec, in 1864, which led to the Confederation of the Canadian Provinces. It resulted in the adoption of principles that have led to the formation of Diocesan and Provincial Synods and to the eventual unification of the whole Canadian Church under a General Synod.

The conclusions arrived at by this Conference of Bishops have had such far-reaching consequences and seemed so new and so bold at the time that they deserve more than the passing notice which alone can be given them here. The assembled fathers of the Church considered it desirable that the Bishop, Clergy, and Laity of the Church of England in each Diocese should meet together in Synod at such times and in such manner as may be agreed on. The Laity in such Synod should meet by representation and their representatives should be communicants. The Bishops, Clergy and Laity should also meet in Council under a Provincial Metropolitan to determine the larger questions that concern the whole Church. The Council should be divided into two houses, the one consisting of the Bishops under their Metropolitan and the other of the Presbyters and Lay Members of the Church. They were of the opinion that Church membership requires admission into the Christian Covenant by Holy Baptism, that church members should conform to the rules and ordinances of the Church and that, according to their ability, they should contribute to the support of the Church and especially of those who minister to them in Holy things. The subsequent developments of the Church's order and discipline have only been an application of the principles here laid down.

These principles which are now universally accepted and taken as axioms of Church life, strange to say, met with great difficulties in their practical application. Imperial statutes seemed to stand in the way of synodical action in the Colonies. At short notice the Bishop undertook a voyage to England to help in the removal of these disabilities. Conferences were held by the Bishops of Newfoundland, Antigua, Capetown, and Nova Scotia, at which the Bishop of Quebec presided. Eighteen English Bishops took part in the deliberations at Lambeth with the Archbishop of Canterbury as chairman. A bill was introduced into the House of Commons by the Right Honourable W. E. Gladstone, which did not pass. It was reserved for the Canadian Legislature in the end to give freedom of action to the Canadian Church.

But the troubles did not end here. Violent attacks were made against the Bishop in the columns of a local paper, by parties hostile to the inauguration of synodical action. This opposition was fostered by religious periodicals at home to the great distress and perplexity of the Bishop, till the cause finally triumphed, in 1859.

In the sequel the Diocese of Quebec took a prominent place among the Canadian Dioceses, notwithstanding the paucity of its numbers and the weakness of its financial resources. The unity and devotion of the Clergy, together with the abounding liberality of the Laity, overcame all obstacles. The Quebec scheme for the support of the Missionary Clergy acquired a wide celebrity. Mainly through the munificence of the late Mr. Robert Hamilton, the nucleus of an endowment was formed in nearly all the country parishes. The beneficiary funds are in a prosperous condition. And the Diocese of Quebec has led the way in all the recent movements for Church expansion, as may be seen in the steady progress of the Missionary Society and the phenomenal success of the Forward Movement. Much of this was made possible by the sound judgment and self-sacrificing labours of Bishop Mountain.

And the Bishop was not free from troubles of a more general character. The disturbing influence of the Oxford Movement was felt even in his Diocese. It is almost ludicrous, in this more tolerant age, to recall the fact that one of the causes of controversy was the use of the surplice in the pulpit. It is true that more important issues were at stake, which stirred the feelings of men to their depths. His sensitive nature allowed trials of this kind to sink deeply into his heart.

His biographer feelingly says that there is but one human being now on earth who has witnessed his struggles and sufferings, when persistent opposition carried wounds to his very soul. But his devout and loving nature, strengthened by Divine Grace, enabled him to pass through these trials unscathed, and his bearing won for him the enviable eulogy: "It will set the disputants an example of the tone and temper in which controversy ought to be carried on."

As may be inferred from what has gone before, he was an ardent admirer of nature in all its moods. He revelled in a snow storm, which could have been no uncommon experience to him. He regarded it as a privilege to have been permitted to see an Aurora Borealis. Nothing to be compared, he says, to this display of glory has been witnessed before in the Canadas, in the memory of man. Of one place he says, "It is a romantic little spot. Such solitudes fit the frame of mind to devotion. For the time you do not belong to the world." Interspersed with discussions of serious subjects he gives most glowing descriptions of the scenery through which he travelled, on the banks of the St. Lawrence, in Gaspe and more especially in the Eastern Townships. Everywhere in nature he saw the wisdom and goodness of God.

And amid all his experiences of pleasure or pain his home was his greatest delight. The members of the Mountain family were singularly devoted to one another, and he shared that domestic trait to the full. "My home," he says, "will always be a resting-point to which my soul will turn itself as to nothing else which there is, or can be, on earth." To his father he writes: "How shall I ever sufficiently acknowledge or requite all the kindnesses I have experienced from parents such as no other children are blessed with?"

Bishop Mountain was a man of highly cultivated tastes. Naturally fond of poetry, of literature, of art and of nature, these gifts had been improved in a cultured home and in contact with men of refinement and culture in England and especially at Cambridge. He began to study Latin at the age of seven, and at the age of fourteen he showed an unusual familiarity with Greek, Latin, French and English authors. Like most boys, he was addicted to writing poetry but, unlike most men, he preserved the habit throughout his busy life. He wrote poetry as he lay in his berth on board ship and, as he travelled through the wilds, on his way to the Red River, and he frequently beguiled the tedium of a lonely journey through the forest by repeating passages from his favourite authors. He habitually carried a Bible or Prayer Book in one pocket and a copy of Cicero or of some other classical author in another. This was all the more remarkable as his whole life was one continuous round of travels filled to the brim with services, sermons, baptisms, confirmations and even personal visits. But this accounts for the voluminous correspondence with his Clergy, with his family and with the S. P. G. that reveals his character so fully, that gives such varied interest to his life and that sheds such a clear light on the condition of the country and of the Church in his day.

His literary gifts and acquirements must have given a peculiar charm to his conversation and invested his preaching and public ministrations with unusual grace and attractiveness. His knowledge of French, however, he was able to put to practical account. Surrounded by a French population, and thrown into intimate contact, in his travels, with the men who rowed his boat and drove his team, it was of the utmost practical value, while, in the discharge of his public duties, it enabled him to minister to communities that were utterly destitute of the means of Grace. Thus he was enabled to say grace in the French language and to conduct services and to preach in French when visiting settlements in Gaspe, whose people come from Guernsey and Jersey. In 1834, he held a monthly service on Sunday in French, in Quebec, for the benefit of Jersey and Guernsey people. He was highly nattered by being taken for a Frenchman from France-- Un Franfais de France.

It has always seemed to me very strange that our clergy in Quebec, who are surrounded by a French population and who meet the French at every step, should have paid so little attention to the study and the use of the French tongue.

The inevitable bereavements of human life came to him, therefore, with peculiar poignancy. On the last letter from his mother he wrote, "the last from thy hand, dear, honoured, sainted mother! God be praised who gave me thee for a mother and still bless the remembrance of thee to all my children." His feelings can better be imagined than described when he lost his partner, for forty-seven years of his life, the sharer of all his joys, his helpmeet in all his labours. These trials he bore with simple trust in God, as one disciplined by trial only could have borne them.

His incessant journeyings, coupled with the care of all the churches which pressed on him continually, occupied every moment of his time. There seemed to be no room for holidays and relaxation in his busy life. One wonders that the human machine did not wear out sooner, through the unceasing grind. The preservative no doubt, consisted in much wholesome exertion in the open air. At the close of a laborious day's work he would often sit up far into the night, attending to urgent correspondence.

Regardless of toil he seemed to be equally regardless of personal comfort. In all his correspondence there is not one word of complaint. Travelling long distances, in primitive conveyances, over rough and almost impassable roads, with frequent delays and disappointments that must have been very trying to the temper, there is no trace of irritation or weariness. He had sometimes to spend the whole day without food. Sometimes a biscuit and a glass of water held him out till late in the evening. Sometimes he dined upon crackers and milk and water. And once, he dined for twopence, which seems like a second miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, in these high cost of living days.

His devotion to his sacred calling and to the spiritual interests of the people knew no bounds. He rose early, and late took rest, spending and being spent in the service of his Master. And his faithfulness extended to the smallest details. He would travel miles to visit a lonely family. On his way to Gaspe, on board a small fishing craft, he made his servant lad read a chapter of the New Testament to him every morning and of the Old every evening, and then question him and give necessary explanations, and he saw that he read his Bible at other times besides. And such occasions sometimes disclosed his genuine humility. He once stopped to bait at a farm house. The mistress of the house was afflicted with incurable lameness. He got into conversation with her and acknowledged that he found there an opportunity of learning rather than teaching.

And amid all these noble qualities there shone out an earnest missionary spirit which was the constraining power of his life. He had a sincere love for the people committed to his care. He had seen their isolation, their poverty, their privations and, on countless occasions, had witnessed their sacrifices for the Church and for their own spiritual welfare. Like his Master, he had compassion on the sheep that were scattered abroad as having no shepherd. No distance was too great, no effort too severe to deter him from seeking them out and ministering to them. On one occasion he exclaimed: "My poor Diocese, what is to become of the flocks? My poor Clergy--what are they to do?" Notwithstanding the long distances, the bad roads and the primitive modes of conveyance, he regularly visited the more accessible parts of his Diocese, in tours that extended through the Eastern Townships to Stanstead and Philipsburg, up the Ottawa to Aylmer and Clarendon and the Laurentians to Rawdon and Killarney. Nor did he neglect the remoter regions. Gaspe could only be reached in small and uncomfortable boats or, in a week's journey by land. And yet he paid frequent visits to Gaspe, apparently deriving as much joy himself from the effort as he imparted to the people. His tours through Gaspe created in him a longing to visit the Magdalene Islands, which were entirely deprived of the ministrations of the Church. This, after many delays and disappointments, he accomplished, in 1850. This visit to Gaspe carried him still farther afield. He felt that his task was unfinished till he had visited Anticosti and Labrador. After endless efforts and untold hardships, he was enabled to carry out his long cherished desire, in 1860. In all his varied experience of roughing it in log huts, in the woods, in open boats, and on sand banks, he had never met with anything to compare with the wretchedness and discomfort which he was now called upon to share. But he felt himself amply repaid for all his privations, by being permitted to preach to these poor destitute settlers the unsearchable riches of Christ.

He was now 71 years of age. A laborious ministry of nearly 50 years had begun to tell upon a constitution at no time too robust. The fatigues and privations of the journey to Newfoundland resulted in an attack resembling inflammatory rheumatism, which further enfeebled his health. The death of his wife, which occurred at this time, came to him as a crowning sorrow. "Faint yet pursuing," he struggled to carry on as usual, the work of his Diocese. He attended the first Synod of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada, which met in 1860, under the presidency of the newly appointed Metropolitan, the Bishop of Montreal. As was befitting, he was called to preach the sermon on that occasion, and though still so weak that he could not take his place in the procession, he preached with unusual power and energy. Though really unfit for duty he once more paid a flying visit to the Magdalene Islands and to Gaspe. In March, 1862, he went to Kingston, to take part in the consecration of the first Bishop of Ontario, who was also the first Bishop consecrated in Canada. At the end of June, he attended the annual convocation of Bishop's College, Lennoxville. On July 1st, he held a visitation of his clergy in the Cathedral at Quebec. His charge was of a peculiarly solemn character, the keynote of which was: "Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of Life." From his Diocesan Synod, which met at the same time, he received a highly appreciative address which spoke of his gentle wisdom and holy example, his courteous and Christian suavity, his scholarly attainments and theological learning, the depth and delicacy of his kindness and the single-mindedness with which he had discharged the grave duties of his office. This was a fitting tribute to his character and his work and was especially grateful to him and precious in his estimation by reason of the affectionate tone by which it was marked.

But the end was drawing nigh. The weary labourer was quickly sinking to his eternal rest. In his last days he displayed the same warmth of affection towards the members of his family, the same solicitude for his dependents and the same spirit of humility and simple trust in God which he displayed through life. And as became the devoted missionary that he was, the last word that fell from his lips was "Labrador," before he turned to bless his children. At half past one a.m., on the Feast of the Epiphany, he peacefully passed away and, in the words of the Collect for the Day, he who had known God by faith in this life entered into his appointed share of the fruition of His Glorious Godhead.

The expressions of regret over his demise were heartfelt and universal. They delineate his character in the vivid light of the impression he had made on those who knew him best. The City Council of Quebec, composed mainly of Roman Catholics, unanimously resolved to attend his funeral in a body, as a well-deserved mark of the deep respect of all denominations and classes of citizens. The Diocesan Synod at its next meeting spoke of his patience and urbanity, his devotion to the advancement of the interests of the church, and the personal sacrifices he was always ready to make in its cause. A Methodist journal which had not always been too friendly to him, believed that throughout the roll of existing Anglican Bishops there are none who have surpassed him for untiring zeal and true Christian urbanity, and spoke of the extraordinary amount of respect entertained for him by citizens of all classes and creeds. The organ of the Roman Catholic Clergy said that he was universally esteemed for his deeds of charity and for the high tone and nobleness of his character. Another Roman Catholic journal stated that by his kindliness and charity and his numerous social and religious virtues he had earned the respect and esteem of all. A Church of England paper said: "Every one feels that a father, a friend, a comforter and an adviser has passed away from among us." The New York Church Journal spoke of his tall and slender form, reverend with meek dignity; of his singular modesty and courtesy of demeanour, the gentleness of his voice, the kind considerateness of his thoughts for others, his ready and unaffected hospitality and the ripe scholarly tone that was apparent in all that he said and all that he wrote; and of him as of the rarest examples of the Christian, the scholar and the gentleman. And the S. P. G. summed up the impression he had made in England in the words: "Never was there a Bishop of a more saintly life, of a gentler spirit, or of more self-denying habits. Like the first missionary Bishop of the Church, he was in labour more abundant; and those who know how simply and how cheerfully he exposed himself to privations and perils of every sort will not consider it an exaggeration to say that he counted not his life dear unto himself, so that he might finish his course with joy, and the ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus." This list of quotations may fitly be closed by one from the pen of one of the Clergy of the Diocese, who knew him intimately, "He was universally known as a learned theologian, an elegant classical scholar, an able writer, an eloquent and in the best sense, powerful preacher, and a most polished gentleman. Among his friends he loved to unbend, and he made all around him delighted with his playful sallies, and his unbounded store of curious anecdotes. His sweetness and gentle tenderness, so unusual in a man, were wonderful; his smile was enough to show it; hundreds of mourners can testify to it from his sympathy in the hour of need. Children were the objects of his regard and notice everywhere. His thoughtfulness and consideration for the feelings of others, the very poorest and meanest, were only equalled by his forgetfulness of himself. In travelling he was continually subjected to the most vexatious detentions and difficulties, but was always patient and cheerful. Though methodical and exact as a man of business, a financier or a manager of other men--he dwelt too much in the higher regions of Christian life for that. But his Episcopate has been far more successful than if the ratio of these qualities had been reversed in his character and he had been more of an administrator and less of a saint."

His remains were interred by the side of those of his devoted wife, in the cemetery of St. Michael's Church. At the head of each of the two graves stands a plain stone, surmounted by a simple cross. Most of the men who knew him in life must have passed away. His prayers, his anxieties and his labours have entered into the foundation of hundreds of Church communities, both in Ontario and Quebec. A stained glass window in the Cathedral at Quebec and a scholarship at Bishop's College, Lennoxville, barely recall his name. But filial devotion has erected a truly worthy monument to his memory in the volume compiled by his son, Armine W. Mountain, from which much of the material and even the language of this imperfect sketch has been taken.

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