But the state of the Church of England in Canada is not without its bright side of happy promise; there are people still alive and now not very old, who were confirmed at Quebec by the Bishop of Nova Scotia, the first, and at that time the only Colonial Bishop of the established Church throughout the empire; at the end of the eighteenth century there were only six clergymen in all Canada. Within the last few years, especially under the auspices of the present able and excellent Bishop, the prospects of the Church have much improved; the labors of the missionaries have been ceaseless, and they are rewarded with success in their sacred calling, though not by their own worldly advancement. Their lives are hard, toilsome, and full of privation; often they live with their families in bare and humble dwellings, unable from their poverty to keep up the outward appear ances that conduce to worldly consideration, and deprived of the comforts and enjoyments to which their place and education entitle them. Wherever one of these worthy men is established, he is a centre, and acts as a stimulus for improvement as far as his narrow means go. The Church, in the influence of its fixed and steadfast principles, is a happy barrier against the wild and turbulent enthusiasm of dissent; in many instances, the various sects have joined its fold, to save themselves from their own extravagances.

The fantastic and mischievous absurdities of Millerism have been widely spread in some portions of Canada; its apostles are chiefly men of little education or character, but many of their

"In the

followers appear sincere and ardent believers. I shall again quote from the Bishop of Montreal's Visitation Journal. meetings of the Millerites, persons acted upon by the vehement proclamation of close approaching judgment, enforced by the expedients usual in such cases for goading the human mind, fall into what are technically called the struggles, and roll on the floor of the meeting-house, striking out their limbs with an excess of violence; all which is understood to be an act of devotion with regard to some unconverted individual, who is immediately sent for, if not present, that he may witness the process designed for his benefit. Females are thus prompted to exhibit themselves, and I was credibly informed that, at Hatley, two young girls

were thus in the struggles; the objects of their intercessions being two troopers quartered in the village. Revolting as such scenes may appear, yet, when mixed up with the awful realities of future judgment, they take a prodigious effect in the wilder and more sequestered part of a country, upon a large portion of the popular mind."

Fully one half of the population of Canada belong to the Church of Rome. The greater part of these are French-Canadians, the remainder Irish, or their descendants. For Lower Canada there are an Archbishop, two Bishops, two Bishop Coadjutors, one hundred and seventy-five Churches, twenty Convents, and ten Colleges, or Seminaries. In Upper Canada there are a Bishop, and Bishop Coadjutor, and about seventy Churches. The Roman Catholic Church is very richly endowed in this country; the Island of Montreal and many Seigniories of great value belong to it; one, St. Paul's Bay, contains a rich deposit of iron ore, also very pure rock iron: this district is not less than eighteen miles in extent, and, doubtless, will be a source of great wealth in future years; it contains, besides, valuable springs, strongly impregnated with sulphur and arsenic.

Very large funds are also derived from those who enter the convents the rich are esteemed worthy brides of the Church, but the poorer sisters perform the menial offices. The twenty-sixth part of the grain grown by the Roman Catholics is always given by law to their Church: lately this portion of other produce has also been demanded with success, though the claim could not be enforced in a Court of Justice. When a parishioner changes his faith, this tithe need be no longer paid. The sums levied for Church services, masses for the living and the dead, baptisms and burials, are also very considerable. Not long since, a case occurred of the death of a Roman Catholic whose sons had been brought up in the faith of their Protestant mother: anxious to pay every mark of respect to their father's memory, they applied to the Priesthood for the usual prayers and ceremonies for a person of his condition, and the charge for the various services amounted to one hundred and twenty pounds.

With but few exceptions, the Roman Catholic Clergy are very respectable in their education and conduct; loyal to the British

Crown in the rebellion, they generally opposed the movement as much as lay in their power: and, although even their great influence was unable altogether to control the misguided people, they kept other disaffected portions of the country in peace. They look with extreme dislike and apprehension on anything tending to bring them under the laws and institutions of the United States; the position of their Irish brethren at Philadelphia and elsewhere, is a lesson not thrown away upon them. Besides, they are well aware that their immense possessions would speedily undergo some new American process, for which an appropriate and peculiar name would, no doubt, soon be furnished; as have been the words Repudiation, Annexation, to other characteristic operations of this original people.

The French Canadian Roman Catholic Priesthood are naturally very hostile to the increase and progress of the English Protestant population, as, added to their national and religious prejudices against them, many farms falling into their hands are freed from the tithe to the Church. In the neighborhood of the towns, and, indeed, in all the good situations, this process is going on with, for them, a most alarming rapidity. The rebellion in Lower Canada was, in a measure, against these settlers, and not against British rule; the jealousy of the French Canadian inhabitants had then arrived at its height, and broke out in that feeble and petulant sedition. The Priesthood are by no means free from blame for encouraging this enmity of race, but they may be fairly acquitted of disloyalty to the government.

Among the Roman Catholics in this country, all the lower classes, and the females of the upper, are very devout and attentive to their religious duties; but among the well-educated men there is diffused not a little of the scoffing spirit of Young France. It must, however, be allowed, that the people of all ranks stand very high in the scale of morality: indeed, it has now become almost a matter of history, when the gentlemen of the law last reaped aught from domestic misfortunes brought on by the neglect of its principles.

The remnant of the Indians who dwell within the bounds of Canada, profess the faith of Rome; and few are more attentive to the external observance of its duties than they are. The squaws

are gifted with very sweet voices, and the singing in their rude village churches is sometimes charming.

Among the various sects of Protestant Dissenters, by far the most numerous and important are the Presbyterians; in Lower Canada they possess one hundred and forty Presbyteries, in the Upper Province nearly double that number. They are determined in their distinction from the Established Church, but generally by no means bitter in their hostility to it. I find in the Visitation Journal of the excellent Bishop of Montreal, already quoted, that he was offered hospitality on his tour by some of their ministers. This body of Clergy is supported by their share of the Clergy Reserves, and the voluntary contributions of their congregations.

I shall not enter into any further notice of the varied, and, unfortunately, numerous shades of opinions and sects, which pride, ignorance, fanaticism, and discontent, have spread among this portion of the Anglo-Saxon race. With regard to the sectarians of Canada, I regret to say that nearly all have united to treat the Church of England as a common enemy; though here it is so innocent of the rich temporalities, which at home give virulence to their attacks.

1

Before I leave the subject of religion in Canada, I would wish to observe, with sincere pleasure, on the visitation of the Bishop of Montreal, during the summer of 1844, to the Red River settlement. A most interesting account of this was published in London last year, from which I take the following statements.

The Bishop of Montreal left Quebec in the middle of May, and performed his journey of two thousand miles in about six weeks. From a little beyond Montreal the whole of the distance was travelled in open canoes, up through the rapid waters of the Ottawa, and by wild lakes and winding rivers into Lake Huron, thence along the northern shore, and by the Manitoulin Islands, once sacred to the Great Spirit of the ancient people, through the little settlement of Saut Sainte Marie, into the deep and dreary Lake Superior; thence up the Rainy River, over falls of wonderful height and beauty, through labyrinths of woody islands, and almost unknown lakes, till at length the journey's end was reached.

They encamped usually at night, but sometimes, when it was fair, the precious breeze was taken advantage of, even through the darkness; large fires were lighted by the tent where they rested, but it was very cold at times, and during the day, the bright mosquitoes, and other venomous insects, were hard to bear.

Numbers of wild but friendly Indians were met, of fine frame and stature, but very low in the scale of human progress; they were willing to assist at the "Portages," and would labor all day long for a very trifle, particularly the squaws. Early on a Sabbath morning the Bishop reached the settlement, when he saw the same people in their Christian state. "Thus, on the morning of our blessed Lord's day, we saw them gathering already round their pastor, who was before his door; their children collecting in the same manner, with their books in their hands, all decently clothed from head to foot; a repose and steadiness in their deportment; at least the seeming indications of a high and controlling influence on their character and hearts; their humble dwelling, with the commencement of farms, and cattle grazing in the meadow; the neat modest parsonage or mission-house, with its garden attached to it; and the simple but decent church, with the school-house as its appendage, forming the leading objects in the picture, and carrying on the face of them the promise of a blessing."

The congregation that day consisted of two hundred and fifty Indians, dressed partly in the European manner. The morning service is performed in English, but the lessons were translated into the Indian tongue by the interpreter, as was also the Bishop's sermon. About two-thirds of the congregation are said to understand a simple address in English, and probably soon no other language will be required.

The Bishop considers these Indians to be a thinking and intelligent people. The man acting as sexton had been a noted

sorcerer, or Médecin," of the tribe. The stay of the Visitation at the Red River settlement was limited to about three weeks, by the necessity of starting in time to finish the arduous journey before the setting-in of the winter. The number of persons confirmed was eight hundred and forty-six, and would have been