Stuart having applied to the Commissioners for permission to open school. A careful examination of their minutes does not shew any such application. Indeed under the circumstances of the times, it is doubtful whether a Latin school could have been supported at Schenectady. But his application is represented as having been subsequent to the confiscation of the glebe, and this is stated to have taken place in May, 1781. "As a last resource he then proposed to open a Latin School." Now, he applied for, and obtained leave to emigrate in March, 1781-and we have seen that he had determined to emigrate in Nov. 1780. How then can it be stated that he intended to open a school after he had not only resolved to leave the country, but actually had in his possession Gov. Clinton's permission to depart?

The Society finally represents that this permission was obtained with much difficulty only on giving a bond to send "a rebel colonel" in exchange. Now, the exchange was not confined to an officer of this grade. Mr Stuart, himself, admits that he had the choice of four officers, from a Colonel to a Lieutenant inclusive. Truly, we cannot well see how Gov. Clinton could have gone. lower in the scale of exchanges consistently with the respect due to the rank of a Minister of Religion.

Mr Stuart set out with his family, then consisting of his wife and three small children, on his long and tedious voyage, on the 19th September 1781 and arrived at St Johns on the 9th of the following month-thus accomplishing in three weeks a journey which is now performed in twelve or fifteen hours. As there was no opening for him to exercise the duties of his profession at Montreal, he took charge of a public school which, with his commission as chaplain to the Royal Yorkers, gave him both employment and support. In a letter to Dr White dated Montreal October 14th 1783, he gives his prospects in, and impressions of, his new home :

“I have no reason hitherto to dislike my change of climate, but as a reduction must take place soon, my emoluments will be much diminished, neither have I any flattering prospect of an eligible situation in the way of my profession as there are (as yet) only three protestant parishes in this Province, the pastors of which are Frenchmen, and as likely to live as I am. We promise ourselves a change of the present form of government but that is a contingency and may be further distant than our expectation **. This season has been uncommonly rainy and we have had frost in July and could.sit very comfortably at a good fire early in August or even some times in June. This you will think pretty cold;-But as people of our description are supposed to have some warm particles in our composition we must let the heat and the cold combat and balance each other. However the climate and the soil are extremely fertile affording the necessaries of life in great abundance."

Mr Stuart now set about establishing himself permanently in Canada. He selected the antient Settlement of Cataraqui distant 60 leagues from Montreal, whither many of the refugees had already preceded him, and which possessed a garrison the chaplaincy of which he expected with a salary of one thousand dollars a year. "I can preserve the Indian Mission in its neighbourhood (he continues) which with other advantages will afford a comfortable subsistance-altho' I wish it laid in Maryland."i

The position of the Protestant Episcopal church in these States, unconnected with the parent country and any resident Bishop by whom Holy orders could be conferred, and the succession of the clergy kept up, had now for some time engaged the attention of the leading members of that denomination. To obviate the difficulty under which they labored, the Revd Mr White came out with a pamphlet entitled, "The Case of the Episcopal Churches considered," in which he proposed among other things, a temporary organization conferring on a Convention composed of representatives, to be elected from the Vestry or congregation of the several churches within a given district, the power to choose a permanent president, with other clergymen to be appointed by the body who

1 Letter to Bishop White, 1 Feb. 1784.

might confer Holy orders and enforce discipline in the church.1 A copy of this pamphlet was sent by the author to Mr Stuart, who admitted that it opened a new field of thought, and added-“ Notwithstanding I am still clogged with all my old prejudices in regard to the Divine right and uninterrupted succession of Episcopacy; yet I must confess that you have said more and with greater plausibility than the subject, at first view seemed to promise. I admire and reverence that spirit of moderation and candour that breathes through the whole performance, and at the same time lament the period [is] so unfortunate as to require the exertion of such talents in such a cause. I hope the present complexion of the times will free you from having recourse to such an expedient which I am confident nothing but necessity can have forced you to adopt."2

The subsequent acknowledgment, by England, of the Independence of this country having obviated all existing difficulties in the case, Mr. Stuart's friends entertained the hope of winning him back to labor among them, and Dr. Griffith, bishop elect of Virginia, invited him to settle in his diocese. But notwithstanding the dulcedo natalis solis, Mr. S. declined the proposal. Writing in 1785, he says:

"I must allow that if you adhere to your Bill of Rights, and establish churchgovernment on the plan, and according to the spirit of the outlines you have drawn, it will certainly deserve the name of a Reformation. I must here

acknowledge the sense I have of Mr. Griffith's friendly remembrance of me, altho' I despair of being able to accept of his kind proposal. The time has been when the chance of obtaining a settlement in that part of Virginia wou'd have gratified my utmost ambition. But, at my time of life, and with such riveted prejudices in favor of a government totally different from that of the United States, I am resolved not to look back, having once put my hand to the plow."3

Though Mr. Stuart did visit Philadelphia again in 1786 or 7, he never seems to have repented his removal to Canada. Yet the isolation in which he found himself would sometimes naturally call up memories that could not fail to be painful.

"I can scarcely refrain from dropping a tear to the memory of my old friends who are almost universally gone into banishment and may be considered as dead to their country and their friends! I am the only refugee clergyman in this Province. Beardsley, the Sayres, and, I believe, Dr. Seabury are in Nova Scotia but I have as yet no correspondence with them, the distance not being less than 400 miles."

As a relief from such thoughts as these he turned to the active duties of his calling. "I shall not, (said he) regret the disappointment and chagrin I have hitherto met with, if it pleases God to make me the instrument of spreading the knowledge of his Gospel amongst the heathen and reclaiming only one lost sheep of the House of Israel."

In this spirit he set out on the 24 June 1784 to visit the new settlements on the St Lawrence, Lake Ontario and Niagara falls where he arrived on the 18th of the same month. Already 3,500 loyalists had left Montreal that season for Upper Canada. He found the lands in general, good; a range of settlements had been formed from the Canadian boundaries to Oswegatchy. His reception by the Mohawks, who were settled about ninety miles from the falls, was very affectionate. Even the windows of the church in which he officiated were crowded with those who were anxious to behold again their old pastor from whom they had been so long separated. He officiated also at Cadaraqui where he found a garrison of three companies, about thirty good houses and some 1500 souls who intended to settle higher up the lake. He next proceeded to the bay of Kente, where some more Mohawks had settled, who were busy building houses and laying the foundations of their new village "named Tyonderoga."4

1 Wilson's Life of Bp. White; also White's Memoirs of the P. E. Church furnish full information relative to this pamphlet. 2 Letter of 17 March, 1784. 3 Letter of 17th June, 1785.

4 Abstract of 1785; Letters of Aug. 8, 1784 and June 27, 1785.

Though Mr Stuart had now received from the Society, whose missionary he continued to be, discretionary power to settle in any part of Canada, he remained another year in Montreal, as assistant to the Rev. Mr Delisle, episcopal clergyman of that town. He finally removed in August 1785. His share of the public land was situate partly at Cataraqui and partly at a place which, in memory of the dear old village on the Mohawk river, was called New Johnstown. In a letter written soon after he thus describes his new home :

"I have 200 acres within half a mile of the garrison, a beautiful situation and tolerable good land. The town increases fast; There are already above 50 houses built in it & some of them very elegant; it is now the Port of transport, from Canada to Niagara, having a good harbor to contain vessels of large burden-we have now just at the door a ship a scow and a sloop besides a number of small craft. And, if the communication lately discovered from this place, by water, to Lake Huron & Michilmackinac, proves as safe and short, as we are taught to believe, this will shortly be a place of considerable trade & consequently an eligible situation. I have been fortunate in my locations of land, having 1400 acres at different places, in good situations, & of an excellent quality, three farms of which I am improving and have sowed this fall thirty bushels in them. The Shore is occupied by loyalists forty miles above this town and the lands appropriated forty miles higher up. The number of souls to the westward of us is more than 5000 and we gain daily new recruits from the States.-we are poor, happy people, industrious beyond example. Our gracious King gives us land gratis and furnishes provision and clothing, farming utensils &c. until next September; after which, the generality of people will be able to live without his bounty. So much for our new settlements. The greatest inconvenience I feel here is there being no school for my boys, but we are now applying to the Legislature for assistance to erect an Academy & have great reason to expect success; if I succeed in this I shall die here contented." In the concluding part of this letter he adds, "notwithstanding all my philosophy and Christian resignation to my fate I must express that even writing to a friend in that quarter of the world recalls ideas to my mind not the most pleasing. But I must banish them and make a virtue of necessity. Perhaps I could not live so happily, even in Philadelphia as at Cataraqui. I'll endeavor to persuade myself to it."1

In May, 1786, he opened an academy at Kingston, and in the summer of 1788, he went round his "parish" which was, then, above 200 miles long. He thus describes his voyage on this occasion, and some other incidents:

"I embarked in a Battoe with six indians commanded by Capt. Brant and coasted along the north side of Lake Ontario about 200 miles; and from the Head of the Lake we went 25 miles, by land, to [New Oswego] the Mohawk village in the Grand river which empties into Lake Erie. These people were my former charge, & the Society still stiles me their Missionary. I found them conveniently situated on a beautiful river, where the soil is equal in fertility to any I ever saw Their village contains about 700 souls and consists of a great number of good houses with an elegant church in the centre it has a handsome steeple & Bell, and is well finished within. You will be surprized when I tell you, they have a complete service of church plate, crimson furniture for the pulpit &c with the creed, commandments, Society's & King's coat of arms, all very large & elegant, and that the Psalmody was accompanied by an organ. This place is 90 miles from Niagara and was uninhabited four years ago. I returned by the route of Niagara and visited that settlement (they have as yet no clergyman) and preached to a very large audience. The increase of population there is immense. And indeed, I was so pleased with that country, where I found many of my old parishioners, that I was strongly tempted to remove my family to it. You may suppose it cost me a struggle to refuse the unanimous & pressing invitations of a large settlement, with the additional argument of a subscription & other emoluments amounting to near £300 York currency per annum more than I have he But, on mature reflection, I have determined to remain here. You will suppose me to be very rich or very disinter sted: But I assure you neither is the case. I have a comfortable house & good farm here, and an excellent school for my children in a very healthy climate, and all these I could not have expected had I removed to Niagara. But that you may be convinced that I am determined not to die rich, I have also declined an honorable & lucrative appointment. Our new settlements have been lately divided into four districts (of which, this place is the capital of one, called New Mecklenburg) and courts of Justice are immediately to be opened. I had a commission sent me as first Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. But, for reasons which will readily occur to you, I returned it to Lord Dorchester who left this place a few days ago. The mention of these circumstances you, perhaps, will call vanity, But as any anecdotes concerning you wou'd give me much pleasure to hear; so I flatter myself that my friends will be glad to find that even this wilderness has its Politics, its competitions, which, altho' on a small scale, serve to awaken emulation & prevent life from stagnating.”

1 Letter of Nov. 2, 1785.

1

In 1789 he was appointed Bishop's Commissary for the settlements from Point au Baudette to the Western limits of the province-being the district now constituting Canada West. Though this appointment added nothing to his emoluments, it increased considerably his duties, for the settlements were scattered and his flock dispersed hundreds of miles apart. At the meeting of the first Session of the Colonial Legislature in 1792, he was named "Chaplain to the Upper House of Assembly:" an appointment which required for the time his presence at Niagara where the legislature was sitting. He occasionally visited, and officiated for the Mohawk villages at the bay of Kente where still were preserved the Communion plate and furniture given by Queen Anne to the Mohawk Chapel at Fort Hunter. But "notwithstanding the laudable exertions of the Society, and the partial indulgence of the British Government to this tribe, no flattering accounts can be given either of their religious improvements or approach to perfect Civilization." They were found to be "decreasing fast, owing to their indolence and great attachment to spirituous liquors.”2

In the year 1799, the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on Mr Stuart by the University of Pennsylvania. This favour proceeding from his Alma Mater and Native Country was doubly valuable and honorable in his estimation, and he entertained a high sense of the compliment. About the same time he received the appointment of Chaplain to the garrison of Kingston. He had secured about 4000 acres of valuable land to which he occasionally made additions, his circumstances more than equalled his most sanguine expectations, and he felt that, in the enjoyment of health with such prosperity, his situation was as happy as it possibly could be. "How mysterious," he exclaimed, "are the ways of Providence! How short sighted are we! Some years ago I thought it a great hardship to be banished into this wilderness and would have imagined myself compleatly happy could I have exchanged it for a place in the delightful city of Philadelphia. Now the best wish we can form for our dearest friends is to have them removed to us."4

The remainder of Dr Stuart's life seems to have passed in the routine of his duties, interrupted, however, by attacks of illness to which his increase of years and the fatigue attendant on a mission in so new a country could not fail to subject him. He departed this life on the 15th Aug. 1811 in the seventy-first year of his age and was buried in Kingston, where he lives (says one of his cotemporaries) in the hearts of his friends.

In personal appearance Dr Stuart resembled the other members of his family; he was about six feet four inches in height, and from this circumstance was known among his New-York friends as "the little gentleman." His manners were gentle and conciliatory, and his character such as led him rather to win men by kindness and persuasion, than to awe and alarm them by the terrors of authority. His sermons, composed in plain and nervous language, were recommended by the affectionate manner of his delivery, and not unfrequently found a way to the consciences of those who had long been insensible to any real religious convictions. The honorable title of "Father of the Upper Canada Church" has been fitly bestowed on him; and he deserved the name not more by his age and the length of his services than by the kind and paternal advice and encouragement which he was ever ready to give those younger than he on their first entrance on the mission.

5

By his wife, Jane Okill of Philadelphia, who was born in 1752, he had five sons and three daughters. George Okill Stuart, the oldest, graduated at Cambridge, Mass. entered holy orders, and was appointed Missionary at York, now Toronto, in 1802, whence he removed, on his father's death, to Kingston, of which place he is at present Archdeacon. His second son, John, embarked in trade

1. Abstract of 1793, p. 57.

3 Letter of 21 Oct., 1799.

5 London Colonial Church Chronicle No. 2, p. 64.

VOL. IV.

2 Abstract for 1796, 53, 54; 1798, 43; 1799, 53.
4 Letter of 26 Nov., 1798.

41

but afterwards was appointed Sheriff of the Johnstown District, Upper Canada. James, his third son, studied law under Jonathan Sewell Attorney-General of Lower Canada, whom he succeeded as Chief Justice of that Province; was afterwards created a Baronet, and died at Quebec 14th July, 1853. Charles, the fourth son, was Sheriff of the Midland District, and Andrew Stuart, he youngest of these boys, was an eminent lawyer in Quebec, which city he represented many years in the Colonial Legislature. He died Solicitor General of Lower Canada. Dr Stuart's eldest daughter was Jane; Mary, the second daughter, married the late Honble Charles Jones of Brockville, and Ann, his third daughter, was the wife of the late Patrick Smith, Esq., of Kingston.