Suggested short title

UNDER MILITARY CHAPLAINS

ASBIL UNDER MILITARY CHAPLAINS

A Study of the Anglican Church in the Province of Quebec, 1759 - 1768

by

Walter Gordon Asbil

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of HcGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Sacred Theo1ogy

Department of Divinity, McGi1l University, Montreal, Quebec. August, 1967

(ê) Halter Gordon Asbil PREFACE

Many people have helped in the preparation of this thesis

and to each l express a sense of deep appreciation. In particular,

l mention The Rt. Rev. R. Brown, Bishop of Quebec, for his kindness,

not only in making the Diocesan Archives available, but aJ.so certain

paper.s and documents housed in his residence. The Archives of the

Diocese of Montreal proved to be of great assistance and the archi-

vist, Archdeacon R. K. Naylor, ,vas always ready with encouragement

and helpful suggestions. Dr. T. Millman of Toronto helped me locate

certain sources and suggested others during a visit to the General

Synod Archives. The courteous assistance of staff members during

several visits to the Public Archives of Canada, Ottmva., was greatly appreciated and enabled me to use the time available to the fullest value. A special acknmvledgment needs to be made to Dr. H. H. Walsh for his interest and help over the past two years: even ln the time of his convalescence from a serious sickness, his practical advice and suggestions have Jroven to be of particular value. A final \vord is reserved for my \vife, without whose patience and continuing encouragement, this paper might never have been cornpleted at all.

Walter G. Asbil, Ste~ Anne de Bellevue, P.Qo July l, 1967.

li ABSTRACT

UNDER MILITARY CHAPLAINS A Study of the Anglican Church in the Province of Quebec, 1759 - 1768

S.T.Mo ""lalter G. Asbil Divinity

This study is an attempt to discover the contribution made by various military chaplail1s in transplanting the Church of England to the Province of Quebecu The first parish clergy tVere officially appointed only in 1768. During the preceding nine years, beginning tVith the British victory of 1759, the only Anglican leadership given tVas that provided by various chaplains stationed in the colony.

These men tVere appointed to minister to the troops placed in their charge. HotVever, as small groups of English- spealeing civilians began to settle in the larger centres, these chaplains felt sorne responsi'- bility to give pastoral oversight to these people. To discover hotV effee tive this ae tually ,vas is the tasle of this paper. Ttvo men tVere stationed at Quebec during this period, Michael Houdin and John

Broolee, tVhile John Ogilvie, Samuel Bennet and David C. de Lisle lvorked at Montreal. The main body of this thesis is therefore concerned 'vith an examination of these men and their tVorle. TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

PREFACE • • . • • • • • • • • • 0 • • • • • • • 0 • • • • • • ii

INTRODUCTION ...... " . . . 1 The Growth of the Anglican Communion • . . . 3

The State of the Church in the Mid-Eighteenth Century 10

The Role of Military Chaplains • • • • • • • • CI 0 0 • 13

Chapter

1. THE CHURCH AT QUEBEC, 1759 - 1760 ft ]8

The Rev. Michael Houdin •••• 0 ••••• 00. 18

II. THE CHURCH AT QUEBEC, 1760 - 1768 • 33

The Rev. John Brooke ••••• • • 0 • e e IJ 0 33

III. THE CHURCH AT MONTREAL, 1760 - 1768 • 65

The Rev. John Ogilvie 001)0. 010 67

The Rev. Samuel Bennet • 0000000 •••• 00 76 f:

The Rev. D. C. de Lisle 00000. 78 r

IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS • • • • • • 0 • 0 0 0 • • • • 80

BIBLIOGRAPHY 000 •••••••••• 0.0 •• 0." ••• 87

Hi 1

INTRODUCTIO~

Canada.' s Centennia1 Year has made Canadians more conscious of

their history. With fresh impetus we have de1ved into the records of

past generations and brought to 1ight again long forgotten incidents.

New analyses have been made of many aspects of our history and these

have given a new appreciation of how the events of the past have shaped,

and still shape the deve10ping life of our people.

This study focuses on events in the Province of Quebec two hun­

dred years ago, just after the fall of New Frapce in 1759" The first

fe\v years of British ru le were ones of considerable uncertainty, con··

fusj.on and difficu1ty for aIl concerned" The new situation demanded ne\v po1icies for \vhich no precedents ,vere known: consequently, these po1icies \vere made as often by de1ay and default as by design o Yet, these same approaches and decisions about policy were to have critical and 10ng- lasting effects upon the character and make-up of the Canadiun nation.. Two hundred years later the influence of these decisions is

~til1 obvious and is the source of continuing debate o

No discussion of Canadian history can proceed far \vithout the consideration of the relationships between French and Eng1ish, and of the unique qua1ity this interaction has given to our national 1ife"

Nor cau any serious study of Canada' s history delve far be10w the sur­ face, without an alvureness of the inunense influence religion has played in the developing character of this country"

The subject matter of this paper is such that both these areas, the relationships bet\veen French and English and the influence of the 2

chur ch on Canadian life, form its very contexte In the following chap-

ters we will be involved in examining the beginning and early growth of

the Anglican Church in the Province of Quebec. The period to be sur-

veyed is the first nine years of British rule, from 1759-1768. In the

latter year the first par.ish clergy were appointed by the English Gov-

ernment, bringing to a close a nine-year period, during which the only

leadership given to the tiny Anglican minority, came from various mili-

tary chaplains. Only at Quebec and Montreal was there a sufficient

number of non-Roman Catholics to make even a tiny congregation. l Con-

sequently, our tasle lvill be to trace the contribution to the growth

ot the Anglican Church made by the several military chaplains stationed

at Quebec and Montreal bet\'leen 1759 and 1768.. The context of the study

is the uncertainty and confusion of the Quebec situation of the time,

the relations between the long-established French population and the

newly-arrived English, and the emerging policies of church and state

relationships.

Ta give even greater breadth and'understanding ta this study

certain additional information at this stage will prove of value. lt

will prove of use in later discussions to have an appreciation of how

the Church of England regarded its responsibilities, and tried to 1 organize, for worle in the nelv British colonies. A brief survey of the

growth of the Anglican Communion will thus be our point of departureo

Also, to comprehend the attitudes and understanding of the church

leaders in Canada during the middle years of the eighteenth century, it

lMost authorities agree that very little work, under Anglican auspices, l'laS done at Three Rivers before 1768. Vide A. E. Legg~> The Anglican Church in Three Rivers, Chapter 1. 3

is essential to look at the state of the Church in England during that

periode Sorne general information about the role of military chaplains

in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuri.es will complete

this introductory chapter.

THE GROWTH OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

Strategie planning for the future has never been part of the

genius of Anglicanism. In fact, the Anglican Communion itself came

into being not because of any grand design, but almost as an accident.

The story of its beginning and growth tells of decisions being endlessly

pos tponed, of disinteres t on the part of leaders, and an inordinate

concern lest ne~" precedents be established. The combination of a church

~"ithout any missionary spirit, the inner-workings of British politics

in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the "church establish­

ment: mentality", aIl had their telling effect upon the growth of the

Church of England beyond the British Isles.

No church leader in England during the seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries had any conception of laying the foundation for what \"ould be­

come an association of independent national churches in various parts of

the world. Such an idea could only develop later. Rather, the growth

of what is no\" called the Anglican Communion was gradual and hesitant.

No one bothered to set down guidelines or to establish procedures because

fe,,, had any realization of what Has happening until the late eighteenth century.

The first instance of the Church of England extending her mini­ strations beyond the British Isles occurred in 1534-1535 when Archbishop

Cranmer appointed two chaplains to Calais, then Britain's only foreign 4

possession. 2 During the reign of Elizabeth l a number of adventurers

and explorers made journeys to North America seeking wealth or, hope-

fully, the North West passage to the East. Frequently, a chaplain was

assigned to these expeditions ~~d charged not only with the responsibi-

lity of the crew, but the extension of Christ's kingdom among any newly

discovered peoples. For example, the first recorded Anglican service

to take place in what is now Canada was led by "Mais ter Wolfall, mini­

ster and preacher"3 who accompanied Martin Frobisher in his expedition

of 1578. In the later years of the sixteenth century first attempts

were made to found colonies in America. One of these was organized by

Sir Walter Raleigh and the first resident Anglican missionary, Thomas

Heriot, came to 1 Virginia' in 1585.. Even though the experiment failed

after one year, Heriot, "many times and in every tmvue 0 .. () made

declaration of the contents of the Bible 0 Q .. and the chiefe points

of Religionu4 to the natives ..

The Chur ch of England was not equipped ~vith any instrument that

would give leadership in its establishment in other lands.. The Roman

Catholic Church was able to leave such initiati.ve very largely in the

hands of the Jesuits or another religious order\> In England ho~vever,

during the seventeenth century, any initiati.ve taken ta ex tend the

Anglican Church beyond the British Isles)depended upon the interest and

financial support that private individuals or smaU groups could provide ..

2Jo So Mo Anderson, History of the Church of England in the Colonies, (3 vols o; London: Rivinetons, 1856), Vola 1, po 140

3philip Carrington, The Anglican Church in Canada, (Toronto~

Collins, 1963), po 20 0 4Classified Digest of the Records of the Society for the Propoga­ '-"tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts 1701-1892, (London: Published at Society' s Office, ~vestminster, 1893), po 10 5

As a consequence the provisions made to meet the religious needs of the

colonists tended to vary a good deal. Sorne sponsors gave priority to

these needs and made certain that clergy were appointed: in others

such provision ~vas haphazard, if it existed at all.

Several steps were taken by the authorities in England that indi-

cates an awareness of the situation and viere attempts to relieve sorne

of the more pressing problems. One solution granted was the provision

of general oversight and regulation of the clergy and church members in

the colonies.

An order of the privy cotmcil of lst October, 1633, and a subsequent order of the king, transmitted to the English communities abroad by several letters of archbishop Laud, effected a primary conjunction of the scattered co~nuni­ ties. It 1:vas laid down that English subjects outside of England might only appoint as their preachers clergymen who conformed to the doctrine and discipline of the church of England; to the bishop of London certain po\vers of supervision were entrusted. Rence there arose by degrees the view that the bishop of London possessed in respect of Englishmen resident abroad all the rights of a diocesan bishop. In 1634 the king set up a commission which was to have the supreme control of colonial affairs o On this commission ~vas conferred, among other things, the right of providing for the endo~nent of the church in the col­ onies by means of tithes and other sources of income. 5

In ..Tuly, 163/+ Archbishop Laud sent a letter which formally gave the re- sponsibility and jurisdiction, in colonial church affairs, to the

Bishop of London. 6 Forty years were to pass however, before any real benefit came from this arrangement, and even then this scheme was rather umvorkable. In 1751 Bishop Sherlock gave his estimate of the arrange- ment Il. " .. the care was improperly lodged: for a Bishop to live at one

5F• Mako"ler, The Constitutional Ristory and Constitution of the Church of England, (London: Swan Sonnenschein and Company, Ltd., 1895), pp. 141-43.

6Anderson, QEo cit., p. 410. 6

end of thè world and his church at another, must make the office very

uncomfortable to the bishop, and, in a great measure, useless to the

people.,,7 Yet this arrangement persisted until the appointment of the

first Colonial Bishop Inglis in 1787. When the United States became an

independent natlon steps were taken to have Samuel Seabury consecrated

in 1784 as the first bishop in the new country. Only at this time did

the direct jurisdiction of the Bishop of London cease in North America.

Another movement began in the mid-seventeenth century that also

assisted greatly in the work of the church in other lands. In 1649 a

society commonly called "The New' England Company" was formed; its

task being the selection and appointment of missionaries to ,,,ork alllong

the population of the New England States. This was an attempt to re- llledy the isolated and haphazard missionary ,york, 'vhich Has the inevi- table result ,,,hen aU initiative rested in the hands of individuals, or with small, independent sponsoring groups.. During the latter part of the century great numbers of religious societies came into being, there being no less than fort y- two in London and liestminster alone. 8 ! 1 Nost of these were groups of people who were upset by the "pernicious principlestr of Atheists, Deists and Socinians and banded together 1 to oppose the mischief of such dangerous principles, and fortifie both 1 ourselves and others against the attelllpts of those sons of darlcness ,,9

One of the leaders in this movement was the Rev. Thomas Bray

7Classified Digest of the Records of S.P .G., ..2Eo cit., p. 743.

8Ibid., p. 3. 9Ibid., p. 3. 7

who went to Maryland as Commissary for the Bishop of London in 1699.

He was largely responsible for founding the Society for Promoting

Christian Knowledge which was mainly given to the providing of books

for the clergy and parishes in the new English colonies. From this

body, and mainly by the leadership of Dr. Bray, another society was set

up in 1701 known as "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel- in

Foreign Parts" (S.P.G.). The charter indicates a three- fold emphasis

in its work, to provide clergy for British possessions beyond the sea,

to make such other provision as might be helpful for the propagation of

the gospel in these places, and the "receiving, managing and disposing ltlO of the charity of His Majesty's subjects for these purposes o

Wïth the establishment of the S .. PoG" in particular, the lvork of

planning and organizing for the church in North America entered a ne.. " phase.. The number of parishes increased quite rapidly until in the

United States in 1775 there lvere seventy-seven ful1- time missionaries

at lvork under the sponsorship of the SoP .G .. Il

Thi.s increase in the number of clergy and congregations in the

British Colonies however, only accentuated the need for pastoral over- sight.. What in effect had occurred in North America was the founding of an episcopal church that did not have an episcopate" As has already been noted the oversight of any new English settlement lvas given to the

Bishop of London. This ,vas intended to be an interim arrangement until something more adequate cou Id be worked out: in fact this jurisdiction in the United States lasted for 150 years o This lack of a bishop to

lOIb;d-=-Q, po 7 Cl

llIbido , p .. 80 0 8

give leader.ship, to officiate at confirmation and at ordinations, to

give pastoral cure to the clergy and people proved to be a major hind-

rance in the work of the Church of England beyond the British Isles.

A great many representations were made to the English authorities

petitioning for a change, and in these one can sense the frustration

and impatience on the part of the Christians in the colonies with the

inertia of the chur ch at home. Sorne of the leaders in the British

Isles were sensitive to the need, and from time to time initial steps

were taken to provide for bishops in North America. As early as 1673

Charles l proposed sending a Dr. Murray to Virginia as bishop but

reasons of s tate are s aiel to have thwarted his plans (j 12 lVith the

founding of the SoPoG o a \vhole series of petitions \vere sponsored em- phasizing the urgent need for a resident bishop in the Ne\'l World. l1h.en Archbishop Tenison died in 1715 he left .t1,000 towards the settle- ment of t\vO bishops, one for New England and the other for the Islands of the West Indies.

Yet despite these and other urgings to establish a colonial bishop, nothing happened until the War of Arneri.can Independence came to a close in 1783.. Generally aU the blame for this is heaped upon the church leaders in Englando That they must bear sorne of the responsibi- litY in this matter is certain, especially during the eighteenth century

~vhen the Church of England was in the 'spiritual doldrums'.. Norman

Sykes, though, shows the other side of the picture too -

The paralysis of the ecclesiastical constitution was re­ 1 flected in an especial manner in the frustration of aIl 1

12T.. Be> Akins, Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Chur ch of

England in the British NOl'th American Province~, (Halifax: 1849), po 36 0 9

attempts to secure the consecration of blshops for the. North American colonies. Much undesel-ved obloquy has been visited upon the church for its supposed indifference to this vital matter of the provision of episcopal offices for the Angli­ can congregations in the Plantations. In point of fact the responsibility attached solely to the ministers of state.13

The picture glven is of various schemes being drawn up for the

appointment of colonial bishops only to be lost in the internaI worldngs

of the Secretary of State departments.. Sometimes this appears to have

been deliberate, sometimes ït was a casualty when a change in the poli-

tical climate resulted in a change of personnel. Thus Sykes concludes

The truth of the situation had been stlccinctly stated in 1736 by Bishop Benson of Gloucester, that 'the united interest of the bishops here i8 not powerful enough to effect so reasonable and riîht a thing as the sending of some bishops into America' .. 4

One other factor in this matter needs ta be included" The

usual picture given is that the opposition to appointing bishops for

North America rested entirely in England.. While Anglican leaders in

the colonies were generally unanimous in their appeals, the other

Christian groupings were not at aIl in favour of "importing prelacy"

to the New· ~vorld" It is worth noting that when the Romal.'l Catholic 1 Chur ch tried to establish episcopal provision for their people in New 1 England, the opposition was so great that in the end an Anglican bishop 1 was consecrated before a Roman Catholic bishop,,15 Consequently, from within the settlements themselves there ~vas a strong voice of opposi-

Lion raised whenever the suggestion of resident bishops was made"

13Norman Sykes, From Sheldon to Secker: Aspects of English Church Historyo 1660-1768, (London: Cambridge University Press, 1959), p" 205&

14Ibid", po 210 15Ibid", PD 210 l' 10

Only after· the experience of the War of 1ndependence was a change made. For the surviving Anglican cOllmlUnity in the new nation it was n.ow absolutely essential to obtain their own independent leadership and episcopate. The bishops in England hesitated, caught in le gal entangle- ments, and in the end Samuel Seabury was consecrated in Scotlande Three years later Charles 1nglis was consecrated Bishop of Nova Scotia. Once the precedent had been set there ~vas little difficulty in continu- ing it and as a consequence the Church of England ceased being a regional, English church and began to develop into a Communion of independent national churches in various parts of the worldo Until bishops were made available to the Golonies and developing nations, such an evolution was not possibleo

THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE MlD- EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Earlier in this chapter reference ,vas made to a movement within the Church of England which gave rise to a multitude of 'religious societies' set up to counter the effects of 'Atheists, Deists and

Socinians' 0 The last decades of the seventeenth century and the first years of the eighteenth are often regarded as the 'glorious age of

Anglicanism' 0 lt vias a time of vigourous church life, of missionary concern and zeal, and of outstanding leaders. One historian describes it this way -

Towards the close of the seventeenth century the trials through \vhich the Church of England had passed since the Reformation were beginning to bear fruit. She had ceasecl to fight for her existence with Puritanismo She was free to teach her own children in her own \Vay. In return for that teaching they were beginning to realise the great­ ness of the gift which God had given them in the reformed Church o The theology of Hooker and Andre~vs and Laud and 11

the Caroline divines had placed her in a sound and impreg­ nable position, both ,.,ith regard to Puritanism and to Roman Catholicism. The writings of George Herbert and Donne and Crashaw and Jeremy Taylor had proved that the fairest flmvers of devout literature could spring from the garden of her faith. The lives of Nicholas Ferrar, Juxon, Gunning, and Ken showed that a special type of restrained devotion, second to none in reality and sacrifice, was attainable by her chil­ dren. The trials which she had suffered ut the hands of the Puritans and of James II. witnessed to her stedfastness and tested her rea1il~.16 But this glorious age was not to last for 10ngo Bitter theologi-

cal debate taxed t.he church beyond her resources and 1eft her exhausted,

unable to meet the challenges that the rise of Methodism would bring in

the mid-eighteenth centuryo In particular, the fierce controversy with

the Deists " .. 1) .. introduced one of the gravest periods of peril through

,.,hich the chllrch, in aIl its long history, has been ca11ed to pass .. "1.7

Coupled with this internaI debate and discussion went the effects

of deep political :i.nvo1vement by the bishops and leaders of the chur ch ..

Prefermellt Iay in personai participation in the politi.cal parties of

the day" Courting the whims of politicians could be an expensive affair ,f and consequently, many of the senior clergy held a number of appoint- ments, reaping the benefits but taking none of the responsibi1ityo Of this period Moorman says -

The interests of the dioceses and the needs of the people do not seem ever to have been considered, nor l"ould any bishop have been criticized for staying only a fe,., months in a diocese if the chance of preferment to a more lucra­ tive see came hi.s way. But, of course, aIl preferment depended upon the good-will of the party in powero So long as a bishop devoted himse1f heart and sou1 to the promotion of the Whig interest he had sorne chance of

I6Henry Off1ey Wakeman, The History of the Church of Eng1and,

(5th ed.; London: Rivingtons, 1898), po 418 0

I7So Neill, Ang1icanism, (London: Penguin, 1958), po 12

bettering himse1f. If he fai1ed to do so he wou1d undoubt­ ed1y be passed ovel" when the next shuff1e took p1ace. 18

With the accession of George l in 1714 the dec1ine of the Church

of Eng1and began in earnest. The Convocation l'laS suppressed in 1717

and any open forum for debate and criticism by the clergy and laity was

thus prohibited. The on1y recourse possible for church affairs was to

tUl"n to par1iament for decisions, but this meant by way of the bishops.

These men were for the most part out of sympathy with their clergy and under deep obligations to the government for their position and wealth.

At a time when true leadership was sore1y needed, with the Industrial

Revolution getting under \vay, with colonial expansion making nm" de- mands; at a time \

Church life in the parishes inevitably languished. The Holy

Eucharist was celebrated only on major festivals and lvith very few in attendance. 19 Confirmation \vas administered only occasionally and then at large centres of 'each diocese: the bishop l'laS too occupied in London to do more than visit his people for a few months each year. Baptism \vas

l8John R. H. Moorman, A History of the Church in England, (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1953), po 279.

19Even as late as 1800 only eight persons were con~unicants at St. Paul's "Cathedral, London, on Easter Day, O.Jalceman, .QE. cit., p .. l~31). 13

a1most never administered pub1ic1y in the churches and frequent instances

are recorded when the large stone fonts were removed from the churches

to become f10wer pots in the rectory garden. 20

Few of the parish c1ergy were superior to their time a Most were

as diligent in their labour as an age, which was deep1y suspicious of

any passionate concern or enthusiasm, wou1d a110w. If a man ~vas ambi-

tious he had to play his cards we11; if he was

o •• to preach the right kind of sermons, pub1ish the right kind of pamphlets and do good \vork for your ~arty and country, and the rest fo110wed in due course. 2

The attitudes and values of the c1ergy in Eng1and during the

eighteenth centcry ,vere carried to the New Wor1d" There, in a frontier

situation, which demanded f1exibilit:y and deprivation, many of the füst

Anglican priests \Vere totally ullsuited" Here there \Vas little chance

for the refinements known in Eng1and and no hope at a11 of the pre fer-

ment that might have been forthcoming at home.. These attitudes were

to have a deep and long lasting influence upon the church \\1hen it '\IlUS

transp1anted to the New Wor1d o

THE ROLE OF MILITARY CHAPLAINS

Bishop Neill summarizes ear1y Anglican expansion as "Gain and the Gospe1~22 The motivation for British exploration and founding of

20Wakeman, .QEo cit .. , p .. 431 .. 21Moorman, .QEa cita, po 279 ..

22Nei11, .QE .. cit .. , po 203 9 14

colonies was chiefly mercantile. Expedition after expedition ~.,ent out

to every part of the globe seeking riches and new trade, taking with

them Eng1ish eus toms , the English language and the English church. Fre-

quently, the leader of these voyages made certain that a chaplain ~.,as

in their company, Ilot always because of missionary concern, but because it had been observed that ". . . religious government doth best bind

men to peI' f'orm t h eir duties • • • • .. 23 When The East India Company

was formed in 1600, the char ter made i t mandatory that a chap Iain be

placed on each ship of over 500 tons, and that the Company was to pro-

vide clergy in a1l outposts, to instruct the natives of that region. 24

The company of merchants however, did not bother to fu1fil with great

exac tness this par ticu1ar aspec t of their instruc tions ..

As the number of British outposts multip1ied, it soon became

obvious that these \.,ere of increasing value to the economy of the mother country. Recognition of this fact was given by the graduaI de- p10yment of military expeditions to protect these colon.ies from the designs of other imperialistic nations. A further indication of

their worth to the parent nation was the increased negotiation in- vo1ved in their disposition, \.,hen warring nations signed a treaty of peace.

One of the first instances of Great Britain sending convoys to protect her interests in North America was connected with fishing r ights off the shores of Newfound1and. In the 1ast years of the six- teenth century, and during the reign of James l, sorne protection was provided for English fishermen off the Grand Banks.. Later in the

23 Ibid., p. 207.

24And erson, .2.Eo Clt.,. Vol. II, p. 480. 15

seveuteenth century attempts were made to regulate matters in the scat-

terea communi.ties along the coast, where life was hard and conditions

desolate. Consideration was given to law enforcement, local government

and the provision of religious services.

Lastly - upon the Sundays the Company assemble in meet places and have divine Service to be said by sorne of the Masters of the Shippes or sorne others, which ~rayers sha11 be such as are in the Book of Common Prayer.2~

In 1669 the Lords of Trade pr.oposed that the British Ships in

the region of Newfoundland be provided with a chaplain; his responsibi-

litY would be not only to the naval personnel but also "For the helping

of the people living there in christianity ., 0 0".,26

As the nations of Europe began to compete for footholds in North

America, increasing numbers of mi1itary expeditions began to traverse

the seas and a number of garrisons were erected in the New {"orldo In particu1ar, Britain and France, involved in a continuing feud during

the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, saw wisdom in strengthening their military forces in their colonies o Assigned to most of the

British expeditions and garrisons was a military chaplain, whose task was to take the services of the Church of England and look after the needs of the men in his charge o As fortresses were built small groups of civilians soon settled in their shadmvs: they supplied sorne of the essential services needed by the garrison and enjoyed its protectiono

In many cases the military chaplain; being the only Anglican clergyman in the region, assumed pastoral oversight for these small groups of civilians, and tried to minis ter to their needs as best he cou1d o

25tva1do Eo L.. Smith, The Navy and Its Chaplains in the Days of Sail, (Toronto: 1961), po 1610

26Ibido, po 163 0 16

Quite a number of such instances could be cited - indeed this lV'as one of

the chief ways in which the Anglican Chur ch began in many parts of the

world. The main body of this paper gives an account of such an occur-

rence at Quebec and Montreal and will calI for our attention in due

course. By lvay of illustrating this Anglican cus tom a brief account

will be given of events in Nova Scotia.

In 1710 the old French settlement of Port Royal was captured by

the British. The victory celebration included a service of solemn

thanksgiving led by the regimental chaplain, The Rev. John Harrison, and

a felv days later he was appointed "Clerk Chaplain to the Garrison of

Annapolis RoyaL. ,,27 For the next fort y years this was to be almost the

only evidence of the British presence in Nova Scotia. For most of this

period a military chaplain was assigned to the settlement in and about

the old fortress.. Succeeding John Harrison were a number of other men,

among them Robert Cuthbert, Richard Watts and James Peden.. The latter

t\vO saw their responsibility in trying to arrange for the education of some of the poorer children of Annapolis Royal and also at Canso.. A

school was established and a small annual grant from the S"PoG o was sent bet\veen 1727 and 1743 to support this projecto In addition to this work, these cha.plains officiated at the regular services of the

Chur ch of England, extending their ministry beyond the confines of the fort, to the scattered English residents of the area ..

In an age when missionary zeal burned low, and when military chaplains received irregular and inadequate stipends, it is encouraging to note how frequently these men \vere prepared to go beyond their stated dlJties and accept responsibility for the civilian population as

27Report of Nova Scotia Historical Society, (Halifax: 1879),

Vol o l, po 101 .. 17 weIl. At the same time, the church authorities in England were quite content with such provision, deeming it adequate for small scattered communities so far from home.

With this sho'rt survey of the growth of the Anglican Communion, the state of religion in seventeenth century England and a considera­ tion of the role of military chaplains, we are now ready to commence our study of the men and events in Quebec and Montreal bet,,,een 1759 and 1768. 18

CHAPTER l

THE CHURCH AT QUEBEC 1759-1760

THE REV. MICHAEL HOUDIN

The first English sermon in the Pt"ovince of Quebec was preached

in the Ursuline.Convent Chapel in the old fortress of Quebec, on Sept-

ember 27th, 1759. Eli Dawson, a chaplain with the British forces,

officiated at a special service, "occassioned by the Success of our

Armes in the Reduction of that Capital""l Standing only a fe~v fe.et

from the fresh grave of Montca.lm he took as his text, "Therefore,

will l give thanks to thee 0 Lord, among the heathen,,"2

Captain Knox gives his impression of the event in his Journal ..

Moderate weather these two days: in consequence of orders for this purpose, today has been dedicated to.Divine Ser­ vice and a solemn thanksgiving for the success of his Majes ty 1 S armes, in the reduc tion of this for tress; the troops were excused aIl duties of labour and fatigue, and about eleven o'clock the several regiments marched to the church of the Ursulines, preceeded by our General officers, \vhere the y heard an excellent sermon suitable to the oc~a­ sion, several French Merchants, said to be of the Reformed religion, and commonly ca.lled Hugenots, attended, though unacquainted with our language.3

Nine years later, on July 2lst, 1768, the first Anglican priest

lEli Dawson, A Discourse delivered at Quebec in the chappel of

the Convent of the Ursulines, September 27, 1759 0

2Psalm 18: 51., 3John Knox, An Historical Journal of the Campaigns in North funerica for the years 1757, 1758, 1759, 1760, Ao Go Doughty, (3 vols o ; Toronto: Champlain Society, 1914), Vol .. 2, po 2290 19

was officially appointed to serve in the town of Quebec e Governor Carleton, enacting a Royal Mandamus, admitted the Revo Do Fo De Mont­ mollin, a French-speaking Swiss, as "curate and minister of the Parish of Quebec. 1I

This chapter will be given to study of events in Quebec during th:l.s nine-year periode In particular the focus will be on the initial work of the Church of England in these first years of British Ruleo lt would be a vast exaggeration to say that the Anglican Church, during this time, worked out a definite policy regarding its work in the new colony. The genius of Anglicanism has seldom been that of planning for the future! Hmvever, one decision was made in this re­ gard: in 1766 it was decided that aIl clergy working in Quebec would be bilingual. The hope was that the Roman Catholic inhabitants, once

having heard the 1 incomparab le liturgy 1 in their o~vn tongue, ~vould come flocking to the Church of England o This policy did not achieve the expected results: in fact it back~fired rather badly. The three French speaking clergy appointed did not make much of an impression on the inhabitants of the Province, nor could they minis ter to the English minority: they could scarcely speak English" Yet they laboured in the Province for nearly tw'enty years as the sole represent­ atives of the Church of England.

The decision to effect this policy was made in llilgland, where the inner workings and rivalries of British poli tics of the day played their parto The lack of any adequate body in the Church of England to give leadership or oversight in religious matters for the colonies had its influence too o The initial suggestion, however, came from Quebec and the leaders thereo 20

Until the appointment of De Hontmollin in 1768, the Church of

England was represented in the Quebec capital only by military chap-

1ains~ These were present not by design, but only because their respec-

tive regiments happened to be stationed in the fortress e One of the re-

sponsibili.ties of the governor ,,,as the ,,,e1fare of the Church of Eng1and.

It was from these leaders that the original suggestion, and subsequent pressure, was made to the British authorities asking for French-speaking c1ergy. To trace this theme and to discover the sequence of events in

the Town of Quebec between 1759 and 1768 will now be our concern Q

With General Wolfe as he sailed up the St. Lavrrence River in the early summer of 1759, ,,,ere 8,535 men .. 4 Appointed to serve the various regiments were severa1 mi1itary chap1ains. A1though, for sorne unknO\\Tl1 reason a few S2em to have been absent from the campaign, the following were definite1y with the troops: Michael Houdin, Richard Kendall,

George Lloyd, Robert McPherson and Henry lV'alker. The name of E1i Da,,,son does not appear in any official 1ist, but sinee he officiated in Quebec immediately after i1:s conquest, his name must be added. 5

On1y t,,,o of the above names figure in any ,,,ay in Canadian Church

His tory, the others having returned to Eng1and 'vith the f1eet during the Fall of 1759. 6 Michael Houdin and Robert McPherson ,vere 1eft at

Quebe~ to minis ter to the needs of the garrison force. McPherson, a

4William Kingsford, The History of Canada, (10 vols.; Toronto: Rowsell & Hutchinson, 1890), VoL 4, po 235.

5A• Ro Kelley, The Church of England in Quebec, 1759-1791. A Compendium of Church and State Papers, (Quebec: no date), po 20

6Marcel Trude1, L'Eglise Canadienne sous le Regime Militaire 1759-1764, (Deux Volumes; Quebec: Les Etudes de L'Institut D'Histoire de L'Amerique Française, 1956), Vol. l, po 184. 21

Presbyterian, was chap1ain to the 78th Highlanders. He is credited with holding the first Presbyterian services in Quebec o 7 Since Michael Houdin was the first Anglican clergyman to work in what is now the Province of Quebec, our attention for the time being is centred upou this unusual priest. It would be hard to conceive of a more involved series of circumstances than those which brought Houdin to Quebec in 1759. It would be difficult also to picIe a more unliIeely candidate to begin the worIe of the Chur ch of Eng1and in the old capital city.

For Houdin the trip up the St" Lawrence with Wolfe ,vas a return to a city he knmv 'vell.. Born and raised in France he ,vas ordained priest in 1730.. In 1734 he had corne to Quebec as a member of the Re- collect Or der and stayed for ten years, a1though litt1e record of his activity can be discovered o In 1744 he was sent to Three Rivers to be Superior of the Reco11ect House there, as weIl as parish priest, chap­ Iain to the troops and missionary to the Indians in the district .. 8 His ,,,ork at Three Rivers' had scarcely begun 'vhen h~ was sunnnoned to Montreal by his Superior.. The detai1s of the interview are unrecorded" The next time we have any record of Houdin is at the end of May, 17440 He seems to have m,.de a has ty departure for New York, and in his company is a widow, Madame Catherine Demers-Montfort.. IITwo canoes of Indians ,vere dispatched in pursuit reported1y \Vith orders to leill, scalp and mutilate Houdin but to bring Madam Montfort back a1ive .. " 9

7McPherson stayed in Quebec untH his death to the in 1765, ministering regiment and holding regular services" Vide Robert Stewart, Andrew· 1 s Church, Ste Quebec.. An Historical Sketch ~he Church and its­ Minister~, (Quebec: 1928).

8Nicho1as Varga, The Reverend Michael Houdin (1706-1766) herd - A Shep­ in the Mist, (Article in Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church, December, 1961~), Vol. XXXIII, No" 4, po 353"

9Ibid", Po 341h 22

Their escape, however, was successful and their common-lm., relationship

was made regular in New York later in the following summer. Houdin was

subject to intense questioning on the part of New York authorities to

ascertain if he was a spy and also to gather information about the de-

fenses of French Canada. He and his wife were kept under house guard

for nearly two years.

On Easter Day, 1747, he appeared in Trinity Church, New York to renounce his former faith and subscribe to the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England. The rector of .Trinity Church, at the time, was

Dr. Ho Barclay, ~vho had become his staunch friend and remained so for

the rest of Houdin 's life o ~Vith the help of Dr .. Barclay, a petition was sent to the Society for the Propa'gation of the Gospel as king that sorne employment might be found for Houdin.. Aftel' due examination of his pas t and of his cer tificates of ordination, he ~vas appointed the

Society's Itinerant Missionary in New Jerseyo He seems to have filled this post to the satisfaction of the venerable Society, having

acquitted himself lvell in that station and is esteemed a ~vorthy missionary of considerable learning, and

irreproachable morals o lO

In April of 1757 the Earl of Loudon was planning the British attac1\. on French Canada. He gathered about him as many people having specialized s1\.i11s as he could obtaino A French-speaking missionary who had spent ten years in Quebec ~vas deemed a particularly helpful person to share in the campaign: consequently, Houdin ~vas engaged as a chaplain to the 48th Regiment ..

In the following year he accompanied the Louisburg expedi­ tion and on 28 July (two days after the surrender of the fortress) he wrote to the Society 'that he was obliged to 23

sail with the Fleet before Cape Breton at the instance of Genl. Abercrombie who had no Chaplain to send from that par t of the Army' .11

The next summer Houdin was with his regiment at the battle of

Quebec.. Several authors try to establish that i.t was this chaplain who

actually showed General Wolfe the pathway to the Heights of Abraham.

Lydekker makes out the best case by attesting that Houdin was one of

Wolfe's intelligence officers. He bases his the ory on a statement in a letter Houdin sent to the S.P.G. six months after the battle.

• • • l am entirely deprived of my expectations by the Death of our brave General Wolfe, who promised me to re­ member my labours and services, and as they are unknown to General Murray, he keeps me here this ''linter 'vithout any advantage o 1112 lt would be most fitting that the first Anglican priest to serve in

Quebec, also played such a signal role in the contest of 1759, but the evidence 80 far uncovered will not permit such a categorical statement: while it remains in the area of possibility it is nonetheless little more than a guess o

Follmving the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the British forces made hurried plans for the security of the ne'vly- gained fortress ..

Winter ,vas near and it was expedient that the fleet sail to England be- fore the river froze over. The Town of Quebec was a shambles; the sur- rounding region had been ravaged, food was desperately short, the

British army had no money.,13 Nevertheless, it was decided that a gar- rison force, under the command of General Murray, must remain at Quebec

llJohn lv o Lydekker, The Faithful Mohawks, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1938), po 940

l2lbido, po 95 ..

l3Kingsford, ~o cito , Volo 4, po 3610 24

during the winter of 1759-1760 and be prepared in the spring to join the

British fleet, on its return, to continue the contest for Canada by mov-

ing against Montreal. The si.ze of this garrison force was chosen, not

by the demands of security, but by the amount of food and other supplies

available. 14

Two chaplains were assigned to Quebec for the first winter,

Robert McPherson and Michael Houdin. The latter in his letter to the

SeP.G. of October, 1759 says that General Murray ordered him to stay,

" o • • telling him, there ,.,as no other person to be depended upon for intelligence of the French Proceedings.,,15 He also :Ls at pains to ex-

plain to the Society that this absence from his parish is not of his

l am in hope that my absence from my Mission will not bring me under the displeasure of the Venble .. Society, what l have done from the beginning was to obey the orders of my Lord Loudon and other commanders in chief after him ,.,ho depended much upon my being wel! acquainted with aIl the country l could be of service to thern. l6

For the garrison at Quebec, that first winter was a difficult,

bitter experienceo Parkman quotes an eye-witness report of the situa-'

tion o

Quebec is nothing but a shapeless mass of ruins. Confusion,

disorder, pillage reign even among the inhabitants " & ft English and Fre~ch, aIl is chaos alikeo The inhabitants, famished and des titute, escape to the country" Never ,.,as there seen such a sighto l7

l4Ibido~ po 356"

l5Kelley, ~o cit., po 10

l6Lydekker, ~o cit", p. 95 .. 17Francis Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, (2 vols .. ; Boston: Little,

Brown & Company), VoID II, po 328 0 25

General Murray had a particularly difficult task. Inadequate food and

clothing for the soldiers resulted in a Great deal of sickness. At

Christmas of 1759 there ,,,ere over 1,400 men off duty because of scurvy

and other diseases. 18 Skirmishes from French and Indian bands continu-

ally harrassed the tolVll. Fuel was in such short supply that most of

the men were occupied cutting and drawing firewood aIl through the

winter months. Added to these problems was the fact that Murray was

left ,,,ith no money at aU to pay the soldiers, or to buy any commodi-

ties from the inhabitants.

In such a situation Michael Houdin minis tered. Only a few ref-

erences are found telling of his worle.. Marcel Trudel, who has made an

exhaustive study of the church in Quebec during the military regime,

alludes to Houdin and his work among the Hugenots ..

Cependant, comme le ministre Michel Houdin devant passer a Quebec l'hiver de 1759-60, les hugenots eurent a leur disposition un ministre de langue francais. 19

Several other sources mention the work of the chaplains o Captain Knox,

for one observed that "the chaplains of the regiments in this camp are

very diligent in discharging their duty, at every convenient opportun­

ity .. ,,20 Later in the faU he observes again, "The chaplains are ordered

not only to officiate twice a week at the Ursaline Church, but likewise

-"'to give punctual attendance to the hospitals .. ,,21

Varga says, concerning the work of Houdin, that he,

.... 0 discreetly continued his ministrations now as a Protestant clergyman ,,,here he had earlier served as a Recollect Friar o He did not disturb his former brothers o

18Kingsford, loc .. ~o

19Trudel, ~o cita, Vol .. l, p~ 190 ..

21 Ibid., November, 1759. 26

He comforted the sick and dying at the Hotel'Dieu with the sacrament of Extreme Unction but now according to the ru­ bries of the Church of England. His ministry did not ex­ tend beyond the confines of his new faith .... " ,,22

During the siege of Quebec the cathedral was destroyed, as was

the seminary chapel. Oae of Murray's first acts was to repair the

Ur~aline Convent chapel, which had not suffered so greatly,,23 Within

ten days of the decisive battle on the Plains, this chapel was suffi­

ciently restored to become the parish church of the town. 24 It also

became the place where the Anglicans met Sundays and Wednesdays for'

their services. 25 Nine months later, in June, 1760, the Anglican com- munity moved to the Recollect Church (this remained the only building

that the Church of England had for the next thir ty'- six years.. Only

after this ~vas des troyed by fire in 1796 \Vere any plans made to con- 26 struct a building solely for the use of Allglicans o ). Michael Houdin,

'vho had lived nearby and served in this chapel for ten years while a

Recollect, no\V found himself using the familiar premises as leader of

the Anglican conununity ..

It appears that Houdin stayed in Quebec until the sununer of

1760, travelling to Montreal with General Murray and his army. Follow-

ing the capitulation of Montreal in September of that year, he arranged

for his wife to meet him there. They apparently remained in Montreal

22 Varga, ~. ~., p. 350. 23M.. Trudel, Les Conununautés de Fenunes sous le Regime Militaire 1759-1764, Report of 'Societé Canadienne D'Histoire de L'Eglise' 1955- 56, p.. 35 ..

24Trudel, ~e" cit", Vol .. II, pu2ll ..

25I bido , Vol" l, pu2l5u 26 T.. R" Millman~ Jacob Mountain, Firs t Lord Bishop of Quebec, A Study in Church and State 1793-1825, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1947), po 850 27

until the late summer of 1761 when he was posted to New Rochelle in New

York. The evidence of Houdin's presence in Montreal is attested by a

note in the recordu of the Hotel Dieu Hospital, by his wife' s appear-

ance in court pleading for a reversaI of ml earlier court decision re-

garding her property, and an intriguing involvement with Montgolfier,

the Vicar General. 27

In the annals of Hotel Dieu, this note is found:

Un malheureux moine apostat, peu d'annees auparavant, avait celebre la messe dans leur eglise et annonce la parole de Dieu; or, il etait devenu le ministre de ces sectaires. Sous couleur de zele, il restait constanment dans les salles pour y blasphemer contre la religion et tourner en ridicule nos plus augustes mysteres et sacrements; muni d'une potee de graisse degoutante, il visitait l'un apres l'autre les malades pour leur donner, disait-il, l'Extreme-Onction .. 28 Et a tous ces discours, il n'etait pas permis de repondre o

Trudel says that the annalist exaggerated the case because of his zeal,

or badly misllnderstood Houdin's intentions.,

The episode with Montgolfier requires a little explanatione As

Vicar General, after the death of Bishop pontbriand in June of 1760, he

became the leading con tender for the vacant post and was, therefore, a

person of considerable influence. A letter from him was sent to Houdin

inviting the ex-Recollect to return to the fold.. Adequate provision

for Mrs .. Houdin and the children was promised.. Houdin gave the letter

to the Governor of Montreal, General Gage, who forwarded it to Gov-

ernor Murray. This letter became one more piece of evidence confirm-

ing the reservations Murray had about Montgolfier's appointment as

27 Varga, _QEo E1J:o, po 351"

28Marcel Trudel, L'Eglise Canadienne sous le Reg'Îme Militaire 1759-1764, (Deux Volumes; Quebec: Les Etudes de L'Institut D'Histoire de L'Amerique Française, 1956), Vol .. II, p .. 321o 28

bishop. The s tir caused by this 1etter was suffic:i.ent to reach New York,

for on June l.th, 1761 the New York Post Boy carried this item:

We hear from Montreal that the (French) Vicar-General of aIl Canada, residing at Montreal, has wrote a pressing invitation to the Rev. Mr. Udang (sic), ~he chaplain of a Reglment at Quebec, to return to the Romish religion, with a promise, of great pre ferment in the Church, which Mr. Udang put in the hands of General Murray, who sent it en­ closed to Gener.al Gage, w·ho upon the receipt of lt, sent a Guard to take the Vicar-General into custody; what will be the issue is not known. 29

]~ate in the summer of 1761 the Houdin 1 s left Montreal for the

parish of New Rochelle in New York. They entertained the hope of return-

ing to Canada, but this did not come to pass for in September of 1765

Houdin died, leaving behind wife and children in a destitute condition ..

The next year they were granted the relief of a small annuity by the

80 ends the story of the first Anglican pr.iest to minis ter in

,"hat is now the Province of Quebec o l'J'hat assessment can be made of his lvorle in Quebec? Not much, for he remained in the town for no more than one year, and it 'vou1d be almost impossible to lay any firm

foundations in such a short periodo Add to the limitations of time

the difficulties that the people of Quebec faced in those first Dve1ve months of British ru1e - the hardship, deprivation and confusion. It would be extreme1y unlikely that one man could, in such circumstances, establish any traditions that would last.

From the fragmentary evidence, however, it would appear that

Michael Houdin did gi.ve one particu1ar emphasis to his work which pre-

vailed for a time: this was an emphasis of bilingualismo Not only dld

29New York Post Boy, Issue of June 4, 17610 29

General Murray rely on this priest's knowledge of French and French pro-

cedures, but sorne of the inhabitants of Quebec also appreciated the

ability of this first Protestant Missional'Y to minister in two languages.

One such group was the small band of Hugenots, who under the French re-

gime had been deprived of spiritual ministrations e With the coming of

the British army a new poU.cy was fntroduced. It appears also, that

their ranks were increased at this time by the coming to Quebec of

several French Protestant merchants. Trudel mentions Houdin's work

among these people. 30 In Governor Murray's report of June, 1762 refer-

ence is also made to these French Protestants and their need for a clergymauo

There are sorne few French Protestants in this Country who ,,,ill no doubt be ,,,illing to remain, it would be a great comfort to these, if a Church was granted for their use and sorne French Clergyman .... " ,,,as invited to settle 31 among t 1lem 0 0 0 "

But Houdin' s ability ta minis ter in French as weIl as in English seems to have been appreciated by more than the small group of Hugenots, for when he was replaced at Quebec by the Rev o John Brooke, who could not officiate in French, an immediate representation was made to Eng- land asking that a bilingual missionary be appointed, in addition to Brooke,,32

Stuart in his book "The Church of England in Canada, 1759-1793," 33

30Trudel, ~o cit", Vol" l, po 190 .. 31Adam Shortt and Arthur Go Doughty, Documents Relating to The Constitutional History of Canada, (Ottawa: Canadian Archives Report, 1906), po 5L~o

32Vide Chapter 20 33Ho Co Stuart, The Church of England in Can~da 1759-1793, (Mont­ real: John Lovell & Son, 1893), po 200 30

makes John Ogilvie the source of this request. He gives an attractive

account of Ogilvie going about the vicinity of Quebec.

He went among the French Canadians, mixing freely 'vith them, and, we are expressly told, met with surprizing success in this work, even establishi.ng "numerous congregations" among them and making many converts from the Church of Rome. 34

But, l can discover no other evidence that Ogilvie ever served in the

vicinity of Quebec. Rather, it wou1d appear that he stayed in or near

Montreal throughout his four year s tay i.n Canada. 35 The attrac tive

picture painted by Stuart must therefore refer ta Montreal and vicinity

instead of Quebec.

This being sa, the petition of the Quebec residents for a bi-

lingual priest must have been prompted, in part at least, by the success of Houdin' s initial ,york. Once having knmVl1 the value of a bi1ingua1 clergyman, it seems that the people favoured the continuance of such a po1icyu To a degt"ee at leas t, it can therefore be said, that Houdin 1 s

,york, with its bilingua1 emphasis, p1ayed its part in the later policy adopted for the Province.

One other aspect of Houdin 1 s work, or perhaps his attitude 'vou1d bè a more accurate description, is ,vor thy of recording. Feelings be- tween Roman Catho1ics and Protestants at the time were running high.

This "las one of the reasons why it took six years before Britain wou1d

consent to have a Roman Catholic bishop appointed in Quebec o The strong suspicions of the inhabitants of the Province towards the Protestants

of the New Eng1and colonies is 'vell documented o 36

34Ibido, po 12 ..

35Vide Chapter 30

36For example, vide Ho Ho Walsh, The Christian Church in_Canada, (Toronto: Ryerson Pre~l956), Chapter II and VI. 31

Consequently, the appearance of a former Roman Catholic priest, now as

the leader of the Anglican community, could have added more bitterness

to an already suspicious situation ..

Apart from the one reference by the annalist of Hotel Dieu Hospi-

tal in Montreal, no mention is ever made of Houdin stirring up animosity

between Protestants and Roman Catholics. Even in this instance sorne of

the discrediting emphasis must be attributed to the outlook of the

annaliste Trudel absolves Houdin of creating any trouble between the

religious groups. He states that the personal conduct of the ex-

Recollect did not pose any problems for members of his former order.

At no time did Houdin try to create any embarrassment for those who

were previously confreres, nor did he become involved in intrigues,

hoping to bring harm to the Canadian Church" 37 For these two reasons at least, the ministry of the first Angli-

can priest to serve in the Province of Quebec deserves to be remembered.

He gave the initial Anglican vlOrk a bilingual emphasis, an emphasis that

ultimately resulted in a bilingual policy coming into effect for the

Church of England in Quebec.. Michael Houdin is remembered too for ,Ilhat might be described aG an uncritical spirit in an age when such was

almost to be expected between Protestants and Romffil Catholics, especially

37Trudel, Q20 cit .. , Vol. II, po 1890

La conduite personnelle de ce Michel Houdin, récollet apostat qui réparait à Montreal sous l'habit de ministre protestant, ne semble pas avoir posé de problemes pour ses anciens con­ frères, les Recollets. Nulle part, sous le regime militaire, nous n'avons pu constater que l'e~-recollet Potention cherch­ ait à creer des embarras a son ancienne Communaute. A part le geste dangereux qu'il a pos~ en transmettant à Murray la lettre de Montgolfier, nous ne voyons pas qu'il ait tente par des intrigues de faire tort a l'Eglise canadienne. 32 in the situation when onewas the conquerer and the other the conquered.

The tribute cif Nicholas Varga is a fitting way to end this exami- nation of the life and work of Houdin.

Michael Houdin's monument is not cast in bronze but rather in the fruits of his mi.nistry. His life was spent for the recorded and unrecorded baptisms as weil as the firmer im­ planting of the Church of England • • •• For this and his other services, he endured much and was repaid very little - so far as is known. 38

38 . 31:3 Varga, .2.E.o ~o, po J 0 33

CHAPTER II

TIΠCHURCH AT QUEBEC l760-l76~

THE REV. JOHN BRüüKE

In continuing the story of the Anglican Chur ch in the Town of

Quebec during the first years of British rule, we now turn to examine

the contribution of John Brooke" He came to Canada in the early sunnner

of 1760, sailing up the Sto Lm"rence ~"ith the British fleet: Quebec at

the tirne under siege" The French arrny, which had retreated upstream

after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, had returned in April of

1760 in an atternpt to recapture the fortress" As the early days of

May passed Murray and his wretched garrison were hard pressed, being near the end of their supplies and arnmunition" Both the French and

British leaders kept a watchful eye on the St .. Lawrence River, wait- ing to see the first vessel arrive ~"ith the spring 'break-up'" ~{ould it be flying the flag of Britain or of France? Each leader Ime~" his hopes depended on this arrivaI.. To the utrnost relief of Murray and his men, they spotted the flag of Britain" With the fleet came Dr"

Brooke, who was to stay in Quebec for the next eight years o These were years of uncertainty and confusion for the inhabitants of the colony and for their new leaders.. They were also years in ~"hich found­ ations ~"ere laid for governrnent policy, structures that ~"ould last a long tirne and would leave their irnprint still t~"o hundred years later ..

No ('ornprehensive policy in church affairs was ~"orked out in the sarne period, but certain guidelines were established that ,,,ould also have 34

their effect for many succeeding generations. During these formative years John Brooke was the sole Anglican clergyman in the town and vici- nity of Quebec. Before examining his contributions in detail it will be necessary to outline in a broad general way the conditions under which he lived and worked.

With the capture of Montreal in September, 1760, aIl of the

French Empire in what are now the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, came under British rule. Three years would pass before the parent countries would sign the Treaty of Paris and terminate the war. One more year

\vould go by before any of the provisions of tb? ".t.reaty would take

effect o Consequently, for four years the new colony was under a mili- tary government" The three districts of the French Regime \Vere main- tained, \vith James Murray being designated governor of the Quebec district, Colonel Burton at Three Rivers and General Gage at Montreal.

Each district was quite autonomous. Only with the advent of civil government in 1764, when Murray was made governor of the whole colony, were any administrative changes made o Under the military regime each governor \Vas left very much on his own, having little in the way of guidelines and nothing as precedento The Articles of Capitulation signed at Quebec in 1759 and at Montreal in 1760 were the only docu- ments in their hands e

True to their genius, the English had no considered policy for their new possessions. There was no clearly charted course in respect to government, to tr'ade or to religion"l

The task of the three military governors was not an easy one:

IArthur Ro Mo Lower, Colony to Nation - A History of Canada,

(Toronto: Longmans, Green & Co o , 1946), po 690 .,.' 35

the people of the colony were impoverished; the gross corruption of the

last days of the French Regime had taken its toll; the ravages of the war with Britain had only increased the hurt and burden. Paper money

issued during the French Regime was only partially redeemed after the conflict was settled, with a resulting 108s to most inhabitants of

Quebec. Since the signing of a treaty was postponed for three years, and as no one could know until then, \vhether Canada would actually come under British rule or revert to French, the people of the colony were not willing to commit themselves too readily to the new regime.

They accepted the new ru1ers though, " ••• with a phlegm born of the conviction that the ne\v ru1e could not possible be \Vorse than the

01d.,,2

This interim St2t(; of affairs a1so dictated to a large degree the policy of the governors. Not knowing what the outcome might be they decided to proceed with as litt1e dislocation of familiar ways as possible. There was 1ittle obvious disruption of normal 1ife: the practice of religion \Vas the same, the laws were for the most part the ones of the old regime with aIl court proceedings being conducted in

French. Since the inhabitants had had little say in the former govera- ment, they did not waut or expect much of a voice in the new:

No invasion of their property or insult to their persons has gone unpunished. All reproaches to their subjection to the fate of arms, reviling on their customs or country, and aIl ref1ections on their religion have been discounte­ nanced and forbid. No distinction has been made bet\vixt the Briton anà the Canadian, but equally regarded are a11 as the subjects of the same Prince o The soldiers live

2MacKenzie Porter, Overture to Victoria, (Toronto: Longmans, Green & Co., 1961), p. 35. 36

peaceably with the inhabitants and they reciprocally acquire an affection for each other.3

Each soldier gave one day' spay per month to help relieve the

destitute inhabitants of the colony. Little seemed to have changed.

• • • probably no conquered country ever enjoyed such pro­ pitious beginnings under its new rulers as did Canada during the five years after the fall of Quebec. 4

While each of the military governors had problems in governing

the new subjects, the chief source of irritation crone not from them, but

from a small group of newly-arrived merchants. These had come from the

British Isles and the New England colonies, follmving hard on the heels of the invading armies o Even though many of them came in response to

the invitation of General Arnherst5 they came vlith a completely differ- eut philosophy and outlooko Taking advantage of the dislocation of

\Var these men were prepared to run considerable risles in the hope of quick profits" "Into a feudal Catholic community they brought the modern spirit of Economie individualism and eapitalist enterprizeo,,6

Implicit in the resulting situation \Vas the divergence between two incompatible views of society - the ordered and largely static eommunity such as the Chur ch and Crown had tried to create in Ne\v France, and the com­ petitive and progressive type, \vhich had already emerged in the English colonies,,7

The military governors, Murray in particular, felt a strong sense of kinship between their military style of life and the ordered,

3Ibid., po 35 ..

4Edgar Mclnnis, Canada, A Political and Social History, (New York: Rine:hart & Company, Inc" , 1947),

5Shortt and Doughty, ~o cit~, p .. 330

6Mclnnis, ~G citc, po 1310

7Ibid", po 132 37

feudal life of seigneur and habitant of Quebec. So the battle lines be-

came clearly drawn. The small group of merchants with their different

philosophy were not only in opposition to the continued use of French

laws and customs, they were impatient and critical of the military

government as well. When after the Peace of Paris it became obvious

that the reins of government still rested 1arge1y ~·lith the military,

the merchants no longer tried to hide their hostility. Murray saw him-

self as standing between the greedy vultures, cast in the form of the

Eng1ish-speaking merchants, and their intended prey, the unsuspecting

inhabitants of Quebec. The merchants, he wrote,

o are a se t of free Br i tish Merchan ts, as they are p1eased to style themse1ves, \vho \vith prospect of great gain have come to a country ~vhere there is no money, who think themse1ves superior in rank and fortune to the soldier and the Canadian, deeming the first voluntary and the second born, slaves. 8 As Hurray contrasted the obedient nature of the French with the con-

stant challenging of authority by the merchants, he grew in his

appreciation and attachment to the people of Quebeco He wrote of

them as fo110ws; they are

perhaps the bravest and best race upon the globe, a race, who could they be indu1ged with a fe'tv privileges which the 1aws of Eng1and deny to Roman Catholics at home, wou1d soon get the better of every national anti­ pathy to their conquerors and become the IIlost faithful and usefu1 set of men in this American empireo 9

So 10ud did the protest of the merchants become that echoes reached

Eng1and. In 1766 Murray was recalled to give an account of his

8Letter of April 24, 1764. Quoted in R. H. Mahon, The Life of General the Honourable James Murray, A Builder of Canada, (London: John Murray, 1921).

9Mclnnis, ~. cit., p. 138. 38

leadership. He did not return to Canada, but was replaced by Guy Carle-

ton •

.."', It was in such a context that we view the ministry of .John Brooke,

chaplain to the garrison at Quebec between 1760 and 1768. 10 He came with

a specific responsibility to the men of his regiment and other military

men stationed at Quebec. Soon Dr. Brooke was also caring for the small

group of Protestant civilians of the region. [t was simply another in-

stance of what became the familiar pattern as the Church of England

spread to new lands. Frequently the first clergyman on the scene was a

military chaplain. Later, as the colony grew, representation was made

to English authorities for the appointment of a full- time missionary"

One year after John Brooke' s arrivaI in Quebec such representa-

tion was made; a series of letters were sent to the S.P.G. late in the

summer of 1761 0 These came from the civilian population and indicates

that Brooke had already extended his pastoral oversight to include the

Protestant settlers at Quebec o The first of these representations ,,,as

in the form of a petition from the civil officers, merchants and

traders of the town. Signed by 102 persons the S .. P .G. minutes descr ibes

the petition as follows:

A Letter from the civil officers, Merchants and Traders in Quebec, dated Quebec August 29th 1761, begging leave to re­ present to the Society, in behalf of themselves, and aIl British protestant Inhabitants, that the Revd. Mr. John Brooke has been personally known to many of them from the arrivaI of the Fleet and Army from Britain in 1757, and to aIl of them by their attendance on his ministry, for more than a year past, and that they shall esteem themselves obliged to the Society for establishing him a Mifsionary

10Brooke remained chaplain until 1788, and ul1til that time drew the customary stipendo He did not, however, return to Canada after his departure in 1768. 39

with an appointment suitable to the expense of living there, and the labours of a continually increasing cure, assuring, that they will contribute to make the support of their Mini­ ster suitable to the importance of his Function, and to that respectable appearance which it is peculiarly necefsary he should be enabled to sus tain, amongst a conquered people, strangers to our nation and prejediced against out Faith and Religion. 11

Forwarded to England with this petition was a letter from General

Murray and another from Brooke himself. The Governor indicated his

agr.~ement in the nomination of John Brooke as S.P .G o missionary at Que-

Il bec and based his recommendation upon, 00. a twenty year knowledge of

him, and a particular attention to his conduc t in the exercise of his

Function for upw'ards of a year past."12 General Murray further notes that ". .. . the british protestant Minister should be enabled to support himself not only with Decency but DignitYo,,13

In his letter Dr., Brooke show's his concern for the people of

Quebec; uppermost in his mind w'as some adequate provision for the

education of the children of the tOWll o There were If. 0 • at leas t

80,,14 of school age: a provisiona1 arrangement had been made with a

Serjeant ~vatts to act as schoo1 master; books were badly needed, but even more ne~essary was sorne permanent provision for a qualified

teacher.. In addition to the foregoing, the chap1ain also asked for sorne French Bibles and Frayer Books to be distributed among the Roman

Catholic clcrgy, for as he explained, ". " 0 very few of them knowing

llCollection in Quebec Diocesan Archives entitled "Church and

State Papers." Year 1762 0 No pagination.,

l2Ibid., year 1762.

13Ibid•

l4Ibid .. 40

anything of the Constitution and Worship of the Church of Eng1ruld, or

the motives of our leaving the Church of Rome.,,15 He concludes with

the statement that whatever the S.P.G. may decide about the appointment

of a missionary at Qllebec, he "••• hopes nothing will be wanting on

his part."16

In England the Society discussed the who1e matter careful1y.

It was agreed that the Board of Trade ought to be consulted: when the

Society discovered that the Board of Trade had no jurisdiction in Can-

adian affairs, it was further resolved that consultation take place

with the Secretary of {.J'ar, but no fllrther record of this consultation

can be discovered .. It is.Ji.kely that the matter perished, like many

petitions before and sinee, in the inner-workings of church or state

departments" Even though John Brooke was to remain another seven years

in Quebec, he ï"as never appointed SoP "G .. missionary there"

Little more documentary evidence can be found concerning Broolce's

,,,orle unti1 the year 1764.. In that year the "Qllebec Gazette" was estab-

1ished as a ,,,eek1y newspaper, and a long 1etter from Broolee in the

September 13th issue of that year indicates his continuing inter.est in the field of education,,17 From it we 1earn that Serjeant Watts, appointed interim schoo1 mas ter in 1761, continued in this office for about one year .. He was then dismissed, Il " .. .. for his growing remiss in his Attention" ,,18 The schoo1 ,,,as then discontinued, and Dr .. Broolee firm1y insists in his 1etter, that a11 the b1ame for this did not rest 'with

l5 bid --"I 17Quebec Gazette, Issue of September 13, 1764, quoted in Ho Co Stuart, The Church of England in C&~ada, 1759-1793, po 17Q

l8Ibid .. 41

Serjeant Watts. The parents, he pointed out, were not too carefu1 in

seeing that their chi1dren attended the classes. Apparent1y no rep1ace- ment for Serjeant Watts was found for severa1 years. Trude1 notes that

the Protestants never had a schoo1 for their daughters, and on1y inter- mittent classes for their sons: after 1764 even this no longer func-

tioned. 19

The chap1ain of Quebec was persona11y anxious about the poor pro- vision made for education in the co1ony. His wife and their daughters came from England in the summer of 1761.20 The anna1s of the Ursulines indicate that t~yO of Dr" Brooke' s daughters attended the convent from 21 October of that year until May of 1762 0 The chaplain ~"as uneasy about this arrangement, feeling that the girls went

., .... not ~"ithout danger of being perverted, not withstand­ ing aU the cure he can take, and the solemn promises of the Nuns not to malce any attempts upon them as to Re1igiono22

Even though Mrs o Brooke and their daughters returned to England in November, 1764, Dr .. Brooke had a continuing interest in the cause of education" Through the pages of "The Gazette" in 1766, he again addressed the people, this time bringing hopefu1 news"

The ~"an t in this City of a protes tant School-Mas ter, under­ standing English, and qua1ified to instruct Youth in the French and learned languages, has often been mentioned to me with the Desire and Expectation of my representing it

19Trudel, ~" cito, Vol .. l, po 192 0

"De plus, les protestants n'ont point d'ecole pour leur fil­

lettes: ., Q ., les garcons ont, quelques temps, un maitre d'eco1e improvise: a la fin de 1764, il n'est plus en func­ tion .. "

20Certain other authorities give 1763.

21Trude1, ~o cito, Vo1o II, pc 2240 22Church and State Papers , ~o cit .. , year 1762., 42

to proper Persons in England. It is with great pleasure that l can now inform my Protestant Fellow-Subjects, that this want is no more. 23

This was ~vritten in vie~v of the fact that a certain Mr. De Croix

was comirig to Quebec and would open a school as soon as he had 'a felv

scholars. Brooke' s advised the people to grasp the opportunity and to

give the new' school mas ter every encouragement.

But education was only one problem for the tiny English minority

in Quebec during the first years of British rule.. Another vexing ques-

tion proved to be the provisions made, or the lack of the same, for the

welfare of the Established Church of Englimdo In fact, the whole matter

of religious practice, for the French as ~vell as the English took sorne

years to settle.. Notwithstanding their great majority, the future of

the Roman CathoUc. Church in Quebec was by no means certain in the first years after 1759.. In June, 1760 the Bishop died, when three British

armies were preparing to move towards Montreal to secure its surrender ..

When the City lvas captured, De Vaudreuil proposed in the Act of Capitu­

lation that the King of France be a110wed to name the Bishop of Quebec;24 a proposaI imrnediately refused.

These questions now arose: how could the church continue without a bishop? How cou1d a Roman Catholic Bishop be appointed under Bri.tish ru le since Roman Catho1icism was a proscribed religion in Eng1and?

When the English rulers prohibited the entry of clergy from France it only heightened the problem.. Add to these the 10ss of financia1 support from France, the great destruction of many church buildings during the war and the fact that the tithe was made optional for the inhabitants o

23~uebec Gazette, Issue of Septernber 22, 17660

24Shortt and Doughty, EEo cita, po 15. 43

There was great despair as the Roman Catholics in Quebec considered the

future.

For six anxious years the matter of appointing a Roman Catholic

bishop in QG2bec \Vas left in abeyance; finally) by the repeated inter-

cession of Governor Murray and many others, the English government con-

sented to the appointment of Briand as "Superintendent of the Roman

Church."

It is a characteristic proceeding of the period: the English Government is ready to do justice, provided that not too much fuss i8 made: everything can be compromised with everybody.25

To the immense relief M.id rejoicing of the people of Quebec, Briand

returned as Bishop in June of 1766 0 It ,,,as ironica1 that Governor

James Nurray had 1eft only a few hours ear1ier, returning to England

to give an account of his worko

The kind of readjustments made necessary by the conquest of

Canada added to the prestige of the church.. The genera1 ruin, and the

exodus of the seigneurial c1ass deprived the country of its former

leaders ..

'rhe c1ergy were the natura1 - indeed, the on1y - leaders ,,,ho cou1d consolidate the social as weIl as the religious lire of the country. The position they had already won as leaders of the community assumed an added significance. They were the only surviving group able to main tain French- Canadian unity , and this largely explains the soli­ ditY and permanence of Roman Catholicism in Quebeco 26

Gradually, due greatly to the visi.on and carefulness of Bishop

Briand, the Roman Catho1ic Church came from its state of deprivation

26Go Cragg, The Church and the Age of Reason (1648-1789), (Eng­ land: Penguin, 1960), po 1870 44

and despair to one of vigour and stature. Indeed, the influence of the

church, under British ruIe, became stronger than it had ever been under

the French Regime.

The story of the Church of hngland in Quebec during the same

period is very different. It tells of opportunities lost, of failure

to understand the needs of a new situation, of cold and uninspired

leadership. John Brooke, chaplain of Quebec, shares part of that story.

Until the signing of the Peace of Paris in 1763 there was little

agitation on the part of the Protestant minority regarding their re­

ligious needs. It \Vas impossible to kno\V before that date whether Que­

bec \Vould continue under British rule or revert to a French colony"

In the ToW'U of Quebec the small group of Protestants had at their dis­

posaI at least the essentials for the practice of their faith: they

had the use of the Ursuline Chapel, and later the Recollect Chapel, each Sunday and Wednesday. The military chaplains were thus able to devote time to the civilian residents of the ToW'U as well as to the garrison. Considering then, their number and the unsettled future of the colony, the Protestants in Quebec seemed reasonably weIl provided for in the practice of their religion ..

After the signing of the Treaty of 1763, however, the whole sit­ uation changed.. Not that the numbers of Protestants suddenly increased - the rate of gro\vth was ac tually very slow - but their attitudes and aspiration~ suddenly changed. In place of murmurings and polite peti­ tions about the lack of facilities and clergy, there came a loud clamour"

How much the outc.ry resulted from a keen des ire to see true religion flourish is open to question.. Most of the clamour centred about the insistent demand that the French laws and customs be immediately 45

replaced by those of England. lt was irksome ta the militant English

merchants ta see the old ways and religion ~f New France still in force

in a British Colony, and they insistently demanded a change. Integral

in thi3 change was envisioned a place of prominence for the Church of

England in the new country. The outcry ~vas motivated then, not sa much

from religious convictions, as the des ire ta see one more outward sign

that English laws and customs were replacing those of the French.

There was a change tao on the pat't of the home government.. In

place of no policy in religious matters it was decided ta set down

certain definite goals: the church ~vas ta be a useful tool in the hand

of the state, useful in·holding the loyalty of the English minority ta

the King o It ,vas obvious by this time that trouble ,vas bre\ving in the

colonies ta the south, and so ta have a loyal settlement in North Amer­

ica ,-JQuld be a valuable asset in the coming struggle.. But a wider policy

was also enunciated., It was a source of discomfort and awkwa.rdness ta

know that the majority of the new citizens ,vere Roman Catholics. What

an advantage it would be if they cou Id be persuaded to embrace 'Eccles­

sia Anglicana'o The government therefore determined that such should

come about in the ne\" province of Quebec o

This change of direction becomes obvious in the instructions sent to General Murray in December, 1763, which called for a firmer

stand in the administration of the Roman Catholic Church o Article twenty-eight of the instructions assured the Roman Catholics of their right to practice their faith, but more stress is put on the qualify­

ing phrase lias far as the Lml7s of Great Britain permito Il The Governor

was explicitly asked to "0 0 .. conform with great Exactness to the

Stipulations of the said Treaty in this respect., 1127

27Shortt and Doughty, EQo cito , po 139 0 46

Sever al articles in this document to Murray proclaim the new

policy relating to the Chur ch of England. The Established Church at

home was to become the Established Church of the new colony. Articles

Thil' ty- three and Thirty- four make this c lear:

And to the End that the Chur ch of England may be established both in Princip les and Practice, and that the said Inhabitants may by Degrees be induced to em­ brace the Protestant Religion, and their Children be brought up in the Principles of it; We do hereby declare it to be Our Intention, when the said Province shall have been accurately surveyed, and divided into Townships, Districts, Precincts or Parishes, in such manner as shall be hereinafter directed~ aIl possible Encouragement shall be given to the erecting Protestant Schools in the said Districts, Townships and Precincts, by settling, appoint­ ing and allotting proper Quantities of Land for that Pur­ pose, and also for a Glebe and Maintenance for a Protest­ ant Minister and Protestant School-Masters; and you are to consider and report to Us, by Our Commissioners for '.l'rade and Plantations, by what other Means the Protes t­ ant Religion may be promoted, established and encouraged in Our Province under your Government ..

And You are to take especial Care, that God Almighty be devoutly and duly served throughout your Government, the Book of Common Prayer, as by Law established, read each Sunday and Holyday, and the blessed Sacrament ad­ ministered according to the Rites of the Chur ch of Eng­ 28 land o

One other article declares:

And it is Our further Will and Pleasure, that a parti­ cular Spot, in, or as near each Town as possible, be set apart for the building a Chur ch, and four Hundred Acres adjacent thereto allotted for the Maintenance of a Mini­ ster, and two Hundred for a Scho01mastero 29

Considering the very few non-Roman Cath01ics in the c010ny at the time, such a provision was indubitab1y generous"

Governor Murray had to decide how he was to act in the light of

28Ibide, ppo 139-1400

29 Ibid., Article L~7, po 141. 47

these instructions. In a 1etter sent to Eng1and in April, 1764, he

indicates his genera1 agreement with the new po1icy of trying to con-

vert the Roman Catho1ics. The 1etter was sent to exp1ain sorne of the

circumstances surrounding the conversion of the Jesuit, Rouboud, to

Protestantisme In this context Murray revea1s his own private view.

He proposed Publick1y renouncing the Roman Catho1ick Re­ ligion here, but such a measure wou1d rather frustrate, than promote my schemes for the reform of the inhabi­ tants of this co10ny. For that reason l send him to London where he may be usefu1 and cooperate with me under the immediate direction of His Majesty's Servants in the great tasle l undertake of converting a great part of the Canadians.

l think l am not too sanguine in my hopes, l am at heart sure my attempt cannot be attended wi th any bad conse­ quence, because nothing but mild and persuasive measures, the very reverse of persecution, sha1l be used, and there­ fore l rejoice to find Monsr o Charest has met with so favourable a reception at London, as l flatter myself that every indulgence that can be given \l1ill be granted these peopleo 30

HO\l1ever, General Murray' s attitude tml1ard the Roman Catholic

inhabitants was generally notew'orthy for its sympathy and understand-

ing. During the first winter in Canada he had indicated his tolerance:

"Until l have the Honour to r.eceive your orders, l sha1l fo1low the

natural disposition of my heart, which dictates C1emency;,,31 Conse-

quent1y, the ne\11 instructions regarding religion in the co10ny posed

a problem for the Governor. His decision was to disregard them as much

as possible. In a 1etter (October, 1764) he wrote,

If the popular Clamours in Eng1and will not Allow the Hurnane heart of the King to follml1 its own Dictates and

30Vide M. Wade, The French Canadians 1760-1945, (Toronto: Mac­

Millan, 1956), pe 52 0

31pub1ic Archives of Canada, "Collection of Murray 1 s Letters," date of November, 1759. 48

the laws against Papists must be rigorously executed in Canada, for Godsake procure my Retreat • • • as l cannot be a lVitness for the Misery of a People l love and admire .. 32

A~ already noted, Murray worked diligently to persuade the English author-

ities to allm., the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec to have a bishop.

Decisions could be made in England stating that the Chur ch of

England was to be established in the new territory. The Governor on

the spot, hm.,ever, was not only more aware of the local scene, but

found himself becoming more and more the friend and protector of the

French inhabitmlts. He chose, therefore, to 'water down' his instruc-

tions. Apart from his feeling of kinship towards the people of the

Province, several other reasons can be ac1vanced for this decision"

Firstly, there were only a handful of Protestants in the who1e

Province at that tirne; a census of October, 1764 shows a total of 144

Protestant househo1ders living at Quebec and an additiona1 fifty-six

householders residing in Montreal,,33 Two years later Murray's report

indicates that of 76,675 people in the Province only a very tiny group were non-Roman Catholic, .. of \vhich in the parishes are nineteen " " " protestant frouilies, the rest of that persuasion" ... reside in the

t\VO tO\VllS of Quebec and Montreal" ,,34 The total Protes tant community of the Province in 1766 't'las in the vicinity of 450 persons" 35 In the light of these facts Article 47 of Murray's instructions seems totally unnecessary.. Not only would the setting apart of land in each community for a Protestant Church have alarmed the inhabitants

3îbid., Letter of October 27, 1764 ..

33Stuart, .Q.E.o cito , pp .. 20- 220

3~(ingsford, ~" cite, Vola 5, p .. 188 0 35Ibido, po 158" 49

unduly, but such provision was totally llnrelated to the needs of the

actual situation.. The w'iser way was to wait until a new situation

warranted such action.

lt is also important to recall that the majority of the smaU

group of English people in Quebec at the time were either Presbyterian

or Congregational. While they seemed to be generally well-disposed to­

wards the Church of England they still maintained their own denomina­

tional loyalties. Dr. Brooke, in a letter of November, 1764, reveals

his alarm upon hearing that sorne of the Protestants at Quebec were

trucing up a subscription in order to get a dissenting minis ter.. Con­

sequently, the establishment of the Church of England would not have

been very \velcome either by the French, or indeed, by the majority of

the English eithere

Anoeher reason can be put forward for Governor Murray' s decis ion

not to carry out in detail his instructions for the welfare of the

Church of England.. The fact is weIl documented that Hurray had a 'run- ning Feud' with the newly-arrived merchants at Quebec and Hontreal .. He ,,36 calls them "0 0 " the most immoral collection of men lever knew .. 0 .. ..

However, much of the clamour to have the Church of England established in Quebec came precisely from this group of people.. The Governot' was

~lways umvilling to yield to their demands and even when their grievance concerned the welfare of the English Church, he was still reluctant to

give in to themo

Even if his decision in this matter was dictated largely by common sense, Hurray' s enemies \vere quick to notice the difference between his instructions and his action.. In a petition to the King in 1764 the

36lbido, p .. l88 0 50

merchants noted among other grievances this one in particular:

The Enacting Ordinances Vexatious, Oppressive, unconstitu­ tional, injurious to civil Liberty and the Protestant Cause.

This dJi.scountenancing the Protestant Religion by almost a Total Neglect of Attendance upon the Service of the Church, leaving the Protestants to this Day destitute of a place of Worship appropriated to themselves. 37

This criticism i8 not altogether fair: while the Protestants

did not possess a church building of their own at either Quebec or

Montreal, they did have access to a place of worship in each of these

places. That the one in Quebec was !cept in good repair is attes ted by

a note in the Government Accounts of March, 1763. This shm"s a sum of

6,392 French pounds being paid "0 " " Mro John Marteilh the repairs of

the Chapple Intended for Protestants wors'p,,"38 l'rudel believes this

refers to the Recollect Chapel which ,,,as used by both Protestants and

Roman Catholics. At any rate, this note indicates Murray' s des ire to

ma!ce certain provisions for the ,,,elfare of the Protes tant minorityo

That he was also concerned about the very few Protestant clergy in the

colony ,,,ill be shown later.

John Brooke, the only Church of England priest at Quebec during

this period, was also most concerned about the state of the church. He found it humiliating to have to share a building with the Roman Catho- lics and felt that after a seven year possession of the colony, the

British rulers could have made more adequate provision for members of the Es tablished Church.. He expressed his discomfort as follm"s:

With respect to this last Article your Petitioner cannot excuse himself from reminding your Excellency and Honours

37Shortt and Doughty, ~o cito , ppo 168-1690 38 . l'rudel, .,2.2 .. .s!.!:e, Vol .. 2, po 19l~o 51

that tho' this city has been seven years in the Possession of the crown of Great Britain, his Majesty's protestant subjects are to this Day without the possession of a Church for public Worship: that we are subject on this account to great inconvenience ~vith respect to the time for divine ser­ vice, to interruptions in the performance of it, and oblig'd to lay aside aU publick service on the Sunday Evenings, from its being impossible to have it at any fi.x' d time, with­ out interferring with the Service of those who are Proprie­ tors of the Churches·we have been permitted the use of: that this must dispose his Majesty's new subjects to enter­ tain Prejudices very unfavourable to the Church of England, and weaken their reverence and regard to a protestant Gov­ ernment and People;39

The Chaplain thought he had discovered a way to rec tifY sorne of

these inadequate provisions.. During the si.ege of Quebec in the summer

of 1759 many of the buildings in the tO~'J1l were badly darnaged.. One such was the Roman Catholic Bishop 1 s Palace and associated buildings.. lVhen

the English took possession of the fortress any part of these buildings

still in a reasollable state of repair ,,,as used as a place of storage ..

The grounds and gardens were put to similar use.. In 1766 a decision was made to remove most of the storage o Learning of this plan, Dr ..

Brooke immediately sent a long petition to Governor Murray and the Coun- cil which read as follmvs:

May it please your Excellency and Honours", Your Petitioner, understanding that the stores of Ordi­ nance are removed out of the Bishop' s Palace in this City, and chat it is expected the remaining stores of Fascines, Pickets and Timber Ec" now lying in the yards and grounds belonging to the said Palace will also be removed in a short time, doth therefore make it his humble Request that a grant be order'd by Your Excellency and Honours of aIl the Ground, Yards, Gardens and Land in this city, with the ruina of the Episcopal Palace mld aIl outhouses of the sarne that were belonging to and in the Possession of the

39History of Emily Montague by the author of Lady Julia Mandeville .. Hïth Introduction and notes by Lawrence Burpee and appendix by F .. Fa Gore, (Otta\va: Graphie Publishers Ltd,., 1931), po 331 .. 52

Episcopal See of Quebec at the time of the surrender of the City to his Majes ty' s Arms, to your Petitioner for a.nd during the time that he sha11 continue Chaplain to his Majesty's Garrison in the said City, or Minister of the Church of England thereiu, under any other Title established by Authority, and to his Successors after him, on the follow- ing conditions only, but subject notwithstmlding to such Alterations and Am.endments as to your Excellency and Honours shal1 seem good.

1) To be he1d by your Petitioner and his Successors only til1 such time as a Bishop of the Church of Eng1and sha11 be appointed to the See of Quebec, and upon such appoint­ ment instant1y to be surrendered into the Possession of such Bishopo

2) TIlat if the said Lands and Ruins of Buildings there­ upon sha11 be claimed, during the interim of the appoint­ ment of a Bishop to this See, and be of Right belonging the See of J...ondon, they be in the same manner surrendered to that See"

But both the above Cases with provision o

3) That in ca.se your Petiti.oner or any of his Successors as aforesaid sha11 be at the expense of repairing and fit­ ting up any remaining part.: of the Palace for a Dwe1ling house, the whole of such charge and expense sha11 be re­ imburs'd before vacating Possessiono

4) The above condition to take place 'vith respect to your. Petitioner and his Heirs, Ec", and any Successor of your Petiti.oner and his Heirs, Eco, in the 1ilte case, with re­ spec t to the successor of him or any of them.

5) To guard agains t a11 impos i tion thro' '-7an t of proper ski11 in the Business of Building and Repairs or otherwise, everything done and charg'd to be survey'd and examin'd by Persons authorized by the Governour and Counci1 for the

time being, ffild the charge a110wed of enter'd upon record o

6) The Bishop's Chapel now us'd as a Courthouse to be in­ cluded in the Grant petition' d for, so as to take place when a proper Courthouse is provided, on condition that it be supported and us'd only as a protestant chapel for pub­ 1 lic Worship in the English or French Language or both, 1 according to the liturgy of the Church of England,,40 1 Dr" Brooke also included a plea that the needs of the French- speaking Protestants be taken into account: 53

••• tho' hereafter the Cathedral, the Jesuits, or sorne other Church should be given and repair'd for the service of the Church of England, the Bishop's Chapel would still be extremely useful for prayers on weele days and Holidays, for occasional Services, and to be used on Sundays by the French Protestants, at such times as the Chaplain, a Native of France, now appointed to be settled in the Prov­ ince, shall be resident at the Capital.4l This petition was presented to Governor Murray on June llth,

1766. At that time he ~.;as making plans to leave Quebec and return to

England to give an account of his ,.;orle. His ship left port on June 28th, consequently, the Governor and Council ordered the petition lita be fyled. 1I

No evidence can be discovered that \.;auld indicate it was ever seriously considered. lUth the departure of Governor Murray the matter was appar- ently dropped completely.

The Chur ch of England, however, not only lacleed church buildings but also the shortage of clergy ,vas every bit as acute. Marcel Trudel, from his study of this period, gives this sununary of the situation:

Protestant clergy \vere very fe", in number: after Michel

Houdin's departure in 1761 (the only French-spealeing minister), only

Bennett, Ogilvie and Broolee ,vere lefto By the end of 1764 the Protest- ants of the country had only one missionary, Broolee. 42

The continuing shortage of clergy '(vas aIl too obvious to the

English people living in Quebec and they made representations asleing

4lIbid., p. 331.

42 Trudel, ..<2.E. cit., Vol. l, p .. 192.

"Les ministres de cult sont tres rare: apres le depart en 1761 de ~lichel Houdin, le seul ministre de langue francaise, il ne reste plus que Bennet, Ogilvie et Broolee; or, a la fin de 1764, les protestants du pays n'ont plus qu'un seul missionaire, Broolee." 54

that the situation be rectified. The first of these was made in 1761

and has already been discussed: others were to follow, and in each the

name of John Brooke appears in the list of petitioners. During the year

1764 a particular emphasis came into this correspondence concerning

additional clergy to serve in Quebec. The need was not only for more missionaries: they must also be bilingual. Earlier in this study an examination has been made of the ,york of Michel Houdin and the biling-' ual emphasis he was able to give to it. In succeeding years requests for clergy were ta include this stipulation. It is difficult to dis- cern the first such request, but in October, 1764 in a list of criti- cisms, concerned chiefly with the administration of justice drmvn up by the Grand Jury of Quebec, there is an article which recOIllillends that,

Il a Learned Clergyman of a moral and exemplary Life, qualified to preach the Gospel in its primitive purity in both Languages would be absolutely necessary,,1143

The same emphasis comes into James Murray's correspondence.

Earlier in the year the Governor had written to the SoP"G o asking The

Society to appoint a missionary at Quebec; it replied that the members had

• 0 0 the most grateful sense of his good dispositions

towards them by the particular attention o He is pleased to pay to the state of Religion in his Province, and that they will not fail to consider his request of having a miisionary appointed at Quebec as soon as the Government have taken that matter under their consideration .... 44

Late in October Murray wrote again to the SeP.G o and this time his

43Shortt and Doughty, ~" cit., po 154" 4l~Church and State Papers, ~o cit., Year 1765 .. 55

request is specific.

If it is thought expedient, which, l hope, will be the Case, to send Missionaries here, l hope Men, who can speak French, of great moderation, and of very Examplary Lives will be made Choice of ••• 45

At just about the same time another petition from the Chief Jus-

tice, Civil Officers and others at Quebec was sent to the S.P.G. Their

request was that Dr. Brooke be appointed official missionary at Quebec,

in addition to his role as chaplain. Also included in their request was the need of a bilingua1 missionary, which the minutes of the S.P.G.

summarize in this way.

They beg leave at the same time to petition for the speedy Appointment of anotller Mtisionary to officiate in French, who will be the more usefu1, if with being capable of per­ forming the Duties of his Function in the French Language, he can also by a competent Kno,.,ledge of I!.'ng1ish take part of the DutY ,.,i th Dr 0 Broolee of a large and burdensome Cure" 46

Fina11y we note that Dr 0 Broolee sends the same message to Eng- land and asles for the

o • 0 instant Appointment of a Mi§sry.(missionary) who can perform the Dutues of his Function in the French Language with such purity of Diction and gracefu1 Delivery as may engage the Attention of those of the Popish Persua~ion, as we11 as secure the Approbation of the French Protestants

that are here o He obs~rves that the Natives, both Priests and People, are 1ess bigotted than those from old France, and as no further Recruits ,.,il1 be admitted from thence, has great hopes, that a French Preacher of Abilities might 47 do great good among the C1ergy & ye Peop1e o

AIl these requésts for French-speaking missionaries probably created a wrong impression in Eng1and, since the authorities there fe1t

45 SaPaG o Journal, Vol. 17, Letter of Octo 30, 17640 Copy in Public Archives, Ottawa.

46Church and State Papers, ~o cito , Year 1765 8 47 I bid" 56

that there was a considerable number of French Protestants in the colony.

They, ther.efore, felt sorne responsibility to look after these citizens

and make provision for their religious practice. In actual fact, how­

ever, the number of French Protestants in Quebec was negligibleo Under

the French Regime the Huguenots were proscribed although a few families, generally merchants and traders, did manage to remain in the country des­ pite the official policy. As has already been noted,48 when the first

Anglican service was held in 1759 a small group of Huguenots were in attendance; furthermore, General Murray i.n his report to England for

1762 specifically drew attention to these people and felt they deserved sorne provision for their religious welfare; he does not, however, furnish

any s tatis tics 0

Two years later General Murray prepared a complete lis t of aIl

Protestant house-keepers in Quebec and Montreal.. This was done to coun­ terac t the assertion on the part of his enemies that ther.e were already thousands of Protestants living in the colonyo In Quebec there were one hundred and fort y-four names on the list, in Montreal fifty-six ..

Even a cursory glance at these lists indicate that very few of them were names indicating a French origin ..

Despite this official listing, however, the authorities still continued to believe that there was a huge body of Huguenots in Quebec o

Audet says that representations w'ere made to the English government stating that there ,vere considerable numbers of French Protestants; in

48Vide po 18. 57

fact, however, they were very few. 49 This belief helped the English

authorities decidè upon a policy of bilingualism for the Chur ch of Eng-

land in Quebec. Two other factors assisting in this decision have al-

ready been noted, namely, the hope of converting the French inhabitants

to Protestantism, and secondly, the explicit requests coming from var-

ious quarters in Quebec that French missionaries be sent to help in the

Province.

Consequently, David Chadbrand Delisle was sent to the Parish of

Montreal in the fal1 of 1766; and two years later (July, 1768)" Louis

Jean Baptiste Noel Veyssi'êre \17as appointed to Three Rivers and Francis

De Montmollin to the Parish of Quebec o AlI three were French-speaking

priests li.cenced by the Bishop of London to work in Canada.. Delisle

came from France; De Montmollin was S\17iss by birth; Veyssi~re, born in

France, had served as a Roman Catholic priest in Quebec for about ten

years prior to his conversion to Ang1icanism in 1766.

The appointment of these men signalled the beginning of the

Church of England 1 s poli.cy of bilingual work in Quebec. o It proved to be a most unfortunate policy,. 'l'he French inhabitants were not duly

impressed upon hearing the "incomparable liturgylt in their own tongue) nor did the char acter and behaviour of these men commend the Church of

England either to the French or English-speaking inhabitants. And so the new policy failed miserably, as none of these priests were able to

49Fo Jo Aude t, Article entitled, Le Clergé Protestant du Bas Canada de 1760 ~ 1800, Rapport du Societé Royal du Canada, (Ottmva:

James Hope & Son, 1900), Volo VI, po 1340

"0 0 0 des representations avaient ete faites au government imperial a l'effet que le nombre de protestants francais etait tres considerable au Canada, alors que, en realite, il etait au contraire bien restreint,,1t 58

speak English even tolerably weIl. So the Church of England languished;

the victim of a mosl: unfortunate policy. Twenty years later, when Bishop

Inglis made his firsl: visit to Quebec in 1789, he found the same three

men at work. Even though the Quebec Act. of 1774 had officially marked

a change of policy vlith regards to religion, no change was made i.n the

terms of reference or in the personnel ser'.ring the Chur ch of England in

Quebec. Increasingly the church came in for ridicule and lts future

made more difficult.

With the official appointment of De Montmollin to Quebec in July,

1768, John Brooke left for England. A notice in the "Quebec Gazettell

of July 7th announces the sale of Brooke's household furlliture at "Pub­

lick Auction .. " Bad ~'lCather caused the sale to be postponed, and the notice in the next issue of the "Gazette" adds that "" <> " the Revd ..

Doctor Brookes ... " " proposes embarking for England in about a month .. ,,50 " " ..

Before ending this s tudy of John Brooke and his worle, a fe~" more details of his 1ife in Quebec will give a more complete picture of his tenure of office" Some of the additional references give valuable indications of the man himse1f and his behaviour.. The picture given is not always attractive"

In June, 1764, Dr" Brooke \"as appointed Deputy Auditor of Provin­ cial Revenues; 51 it is difficult to knmv just what such an appointment involved, or what it indicates about the chap1ain's rela.tionship with the governillg group.. This may HeU be simply additiona1 evidence to

50Quebec Gazette, issue of Ju1y 14, 1768.

51Report of Canadian Historical Society, 1926, po 61 0 59

support Stuart's statement that

Dr. Brooke was looked upon by many of the dissatisfied British residents as deep in the counse1s of the Governor, and he was distrusted according1y.52

Sorne evidence exists to show that the chap1aln of Quebec did try

to bring sorne peace into the tense re1ationships between the merchants of the town of the mi1itary officers of the garrison. 53 His success, however, was not noteworthy.

A. L. Burt provides another glimpse of Brooke. He is ". • • the possessor of a loose ton gue ••• ,,5l~ and as a resu1t bare1y escaped the condemnation of James Murray. Correspondence from the Governor ls avai1ab1e to corroborate such an accusation: in his 1etter to the

SoP.G. in October, 1764, Murray speaks of Brooke's inabi1ity to speak

French, but then adds the rather oblique phrase, ". 0 0 neither does he in other respects answer the Description l have given of a man proper for a Missionary here" ,,55

This statement is i11uminated by other correspondence sent by

Murray. A letter of January, 1764, to Brooke himself supplies certa.in detailso Apparently the chaplain had become invo1ved in some sort of dispute between a Miss Moore and a Captain Brown.. Reference is also made to sorne trouble be~leen the Mi1itary Officers and Dr. Brooke~

Murray does not mince words;

l have formerly, Sir, to1d you, how ardent1y l wished for peace, to promote it, you may be sure l expected you wou1d

52Stuart, ~o ~o, po 16.

53 Ao Lo Burt, The 01d Province of Quebec, ( Toronto: Ryerson

Press, 1933), po 188 0

54Ibido, po 131.,

55.s."P n Ge .Journal, Vo1o 17, Oct. 30, 1764.. Public Archives, Ottawa. 60

show the example, but in place of that, l find you engaging in the idle, very idle disputes of a tea table conversation.

The dignity of a Clergyman should be sacred, and nothing shaii be wanting in me to preserve it, but l reaIIy cannot defend Mr. Brookes, if he espotlse t:h(~ quarrels of Miss Moore, for my own part, l think the Chaplain of Quebec had done weIl, had he followed my advice, in that case, he would have had no dishonour, at least, in this trifling female dispute, which makes you so earnestly desi.re to employ a Deputy. l have perhaps always wished you weIl, and you can­ not offend me by any of the imprudences which you have, or may be guilty of, further than as they hurt and expose a man l sincerely wish to support.56

An even more revealing letter is one that Murray sent to Robert

Cholmondeley in October of the same year.

l \\1ish you would advise our Friend Brookes to keep better company than he does, l have done everything in my power to support him.. Had it not been for me the officers of the Garrison wourd have ruined him, he cannot govern his tongue, and will perpetualy Interfere \\1ith things that do not con­ cern him; l \\1as in hopes the Ladys vlOuld have wrought a change, but on the contrary they meddle more than he does; Brookes cer tainly is an hones t man and a man of parts, he is very weIl informed too and wh en passion does not inter­ fere is a most agreeable companion, had he been Coll: of a Regt (Colonel of a Regiment) hm\1ever, in place of Chap­ Iain to it, he \\10U rd have given more general satisfaction .. His sprightly imagination makes him so frequently forget that he wears Black, and unfortunately for him, the Company he keeps have not tas te to relish the sallys of his fancy nor charity enough to conceal the foibles of their compml­ ions, l write to you very freely about Brookes as l think nobody can have a greater personal regard for him than l have and l have the additional concern in him of being answerable for his conduct having recommended him in the strongest manner to the King's servants., 57 . The picture given by these documents is not flatteringo There seems no reason why they should not be accepted as an accurate de- scription of the character and behaviour of Dro Brookea They also pro- vide part of an answer to the question; 'Why did Brooke' s eight year

56Quoted in History of Emily Montague, .QE, .. cit .. , PlO 328 ..

57Ibido, po 329 .. 61

mlnistry, during a very formative period ln Quebec, leave so li.ttle that

lasted?' Even when the difficulties are taken into account, even when

the small numbers of Protestants are recognized and the lack of direction

is considered, the facts indicate very little of permanent worth during

Dr. Brooke's ministry.

In 1770, De Montmollin wrote a letter to the S.P.G. descrlbi~g

the poor state he found the church in at Quebec; he also gives an indi­

cation that this has not been entirely his fault.. While he admits that

there are nm" only three communicants, he says that there were never at

any time more than fifteen; he goes on to say, "Zeal for Religion in

this Place is very cool partly owing hltherto to the Want of Public Wor­

ship, \"hich ls gro-vlU to a Habit'~58 This obviously refers to the situ­

ation before his own arrivaI in Quebec in 1768, the time when Dr" Brooke

was in charge o

This evidence indicates that the Chaplain to the garrison had problems not only in his relationships with his fellow military officers and men, but also ,,,ith the civilian population of Quebec as ,,,eIL.. It would be good to have more evidence to explain more fully De Montmollin's phrase "owing hitherto to the Want of Public Worshipo" It seems, how­ ever, to point directly to a lack in the ministry of Dr., Brooke ..

While most of the English settlers ,,,ere Presbyterian or Congre-· gational in church allegiance, it is clear that in Montreal, and in other centers, these were generally content at first to receive the ministrations of Church of England clergymen" Yet in Quebec Dr" Brooke himself indicated that subscriptions were being col1ected to support

58SoPoGo Journal, August 5, 1770, Public Archives, Ottawao 62

a 'dissenting minis ter '.. This rumour became a fac t when George Henry,

an ex-chapla:in, was appointed Presbyterian minis ter in Quebec during

1765. One reason why the non-Anglicans in Quebec were so ready to

estab1ish a congregation of their own may have been the unsatisfactory

oversight given by Brooke. At this date such a statement i8 in the rea1m of conjecture - but weighing the availab1e evidence, it is by no means unlike1y.

On1y a few other pieces of information cau be discovered about

Dr. Brooke. Most of these are gleaned from pages of the 'Quebec Gaz­ ette' .. They tell of special services taken from time to time by the chaplain .. 59 One notice is in the form of a letter in which Brooke tries to allay fears about inoculation for Smal1pox, apparently particularly prevalent in 1765; 60 allother tells of a deserter from the army coming to the chaplain to surrender, " .... " in hopes of being pardoned, at least as ta his life, thro the Doctor v s intercession. ,,61

One further 1etter needs to be examined.. When Dr .. Brooke left

Quebec in the SUIIUller of 1768, he did not relinquish his title of chap- lain ta the Garrison at Quebec, nor did he relinquish his pay.. Even though he never returned to Canada he maintained the tit1e and re- ceived the annua1 stipend until one year before his death in 1789.

After he 1eft Quebec De Hontmollin grumb1ed about having to take over

Brooke's work of chaplain without receiving any compensation. A copy of John Brooke' s letter to the Bishop of London, most like1y sent in

1769 or perhaps 1770, provides sorne details of his wade while in Quebec ..

59Vide Quebec Gazette, April 28, 1768 .. 60Ibido, July 3, 1766. 61Ibido, January 26, 17670 63

First he states that De Montmollin is actually the one who gains from

looking after the Garrison since any dutY performed for one of the

officers "Would be with itls reward." Secondly, he states that looking

after the garrisoll only adds six persons to the responsibility of Mr.

De Montmollin. A word of explanation is included to assure the Bishop

that he had received official leave of absence from Governor Carleton,

and had been excused from aIl duty.

He continues to remind the bishop of

o • • his twelve years service as a military chaplain, great part of it in a time of war and subject to the hazards and expenses of it; and that for many duties in which he servi d by appointment of authority, and particu-· larly that of chaplain to the Garrison of Ql1ebec 306 days prior to the dates of his commission, and that of pro­ testant parish priest upwards of eight years, he has had no consideration from Government whatsoever, tho' the sum due for them as at present allow'd is 902 sterling and upwardso 62

Another statement in the letter disagrees with Governor Nurray's correspondence and also that of other residents in Quebec, in that

o 0 0 he perform'd aIl occasional offices of his function in french, when persons of that language Here concern'd in them, so as to be perfect1y understood, and could have done more had it been ~.,anted; and his conduct, and atten­ tion te the duties of his vocation, had been repeated1y recornmended to public favour in Letters to the Society 63 o " ..

What conclusion can be drmm from the statement about performing services in French is difficu1t to say. Perhaps Dr. Brooke thought his abi1ity to speak French Has greater than the other residents of Quebec be1ieved it to be!

Hhen John Brooke 1eft in 1768 his successor Has an official

62Fu1harn Palace Paperso Quoted in Church and State Papers, Quebec Diocesan Archives, Year 1770. 64

appointment of the Cro~m and thus the Protestant inhabitants at Quebec passed from the occasiona1 pastoral oversight of the resident chaplain, and came under the more settled parish structure of the Church of Eng1and"

It seems strange now for a man to receive payment for twenty additional years after he has given up his actua1 work.. Many other in­ stances, however, indicate that such was not an iso1ated case during this era. Not much can be said of John Brooke's 1ife after he 1eft

Quebec. The on1y detai1 that can be gleaned is that in 1789, one year after he relinquished his tit1e and the stipend that lvent with it,

John Brooke died at Co1ney, Eng1and.

l, 65

CHAPTER III

THE CHURCH AT MONTREAL 1760-1768

In the summer of 1760 three power fuI armies converged on Mon-

treal. With perfect timing they reached their target and without a

shot bei.ng fired, brought an end to the French Empire in North America.

General Murray and his army of three thousand men moved slowly

upstream from Quebec, encamping at Pointe-Aux-Trembles on September

7th. From the south another army, under the leadership of William

Haviland, overcame the various French entrenchments along the Lake

Champlain-Richelieu River route and.on September 6th set up their

tents at Longueuil. The third army came dO"tvnstream from Lake Ontario,

led by the Commander- in-Chief of the entire operation, General Jeff-

rey Amherst. Capturing thenetwork of French forts they moved towards

Montreal and on the 7th of September the Commander and his army set up camp at the foot of Mount Royal.

The situation of the colony was desperate: 3,000 men in a poorly fortified town, faced 18,000 soldiers cncircling the settlement. l

To fight in the face .of such odds was pointlesso The aim of the French was to work for the best possible terms of surrender o The Articles of

Capitulation,fifty-five in number, were duly signed on September 8th,

17600 l-lith this signing, not only the City of Montreal, but aU of

New France passed into the hands of Britaino Three more years would

lGus tave Lanctot, His toire du Canada - Du Traité d'Utrecht au Traité de Paris l713-l76~, (Hontreal: Librairie Beauchemin Limitée, 1964), po 2520 66

pass before the Peace of Paris could be drawn up and signed by France

and Britain. This spelled out in detail and in official language what

had become a fact at Montreal on September 8th, 1760 0

Jeffrey Amherst stayed in Montreal only long enough to set up

the necessary arrangements for an interim government in the new ter- ritory. On September 2lst, Thomas Gage was appointed Governor of Mon-

treal ffild given the authority to set up such procedures and structures as he deemp.d necessary. Before returnlng to New York, Amherst issued a general statement setting certaln guidelines for the well-being of the colonyo Conscious of the age-old distrust and suspicion built up between the French and Engllsh,Amherst made the fo110\ving suggestion:

As it is specla1ly enjoined on the troops to live wlth the habitants in harmouy and good fe 110\vship, we 1ikewlse re­ commend the habitant to receive and treat the troops as brothers and fellow-citizens...... and so long as the said habitants shall obey and conform to the said orders, they shall enjoy the same privileges as the ancient sub­ jects of the King, and they may rely on our protection. 2

On Sunday, September 14th, the victorious English troops gathered for a service of Thanksgiving.. The words of the Anglican

Prayer Book \Vere read for the first time in Montreal.. Leading in the service was a military chaplain, John Ogilvie.. He had come with Gen- erai Amherst' s army and was ordered to remain in Montreal after the capitulation: he stayed for four years, ministering to the needs of the military and civilian population of Montreal and vicinityo These were extremely difficult years calli.ng for major adjustments on the part of French and English alike" Yet John Ogilvie by his example, ability and tireless'labours commended himself to the people of Mon- treal.. Twenty years later his work was described as "" .... an ornament

2Shortt and Doughty, Q20 ~o, po 330 67

and a blessing to the Church he belonged to",,3 We nmv turn to an exam-

inationof the 1ife and work of this man who initiated the work of the

Anglican Church· in Montreal. Sorne information of his life and the events

that led up to his arrivaI at Montreal will prove of value"

THE REV. JOHN OGILVIE

John Ogilvie was born in Ne\v York and attended Yale University,

gaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1748 and his Masters degree in

·1751. Recommended to the S.P.G. as a candidate for Missionary among

the Indians by Dr. Barclay of Ne,v York and others, Ogilvie went to Eng-

land to be ordained by the Bishop of London.. Returning in 1749 he be-

gan his work at Alban.y in the sprillg of the following year.. There his

congregation consisted not only of the residents, but also of the

Indians in neighbouring settlements" Ogilvie was immediately concerned

about the education of the children of the area, both English and Ind-

ian. In a letter (July, 1750), he informed the S"P"G .. that he was acting as schoolmaster to a group including t,venty Indians ..

Letters sent at least once each year to the SoP .. Go tell the story of Ogilvie's work among the Indians in the vicinity of Albany and Fort Hunter bet,veen 1750 and 1759. He mentions again and again the problem of alcohol and its severe effects upon the Indian popula- tion .. Increasingly he mentions too,the disrupting effect the war was having on the area and how zealously the Roman Catholic priests were working to persuade the Indians to join the French cause.,

3 SeP.G. Journal, Vol .. XXIII, Letter from Col .. Daniel Claus, Montreal, October 9, 1782" 68

A 1etter "of 1756 indicates that he "has become chaplain to the

Royal army regiment then stationed at Albany~ When this regiment,

accompanied by the Mohawk Indians of the region ~vent into battle, Ogil-

vie was wi.th theme Writing to the S.P.G. in February of 1760, he told

of his presence with the troops when Fort Niagara was captured from the

French.. During the campaign he met quite a number of Indians who had

come under the sway of the French Roman Catholic priests of Ne,v France.

He noted that they were ". • .. zealous roman Catholieks, extremely ten- ,,4 acious of ye Ceremonies and Peculiarities of that Chureh • • 0 0 It

was also obvious to Ogilvie, who used the Roman Catholie ehapel in

Fort Niagara, that the Roman Catholies were l-lell equipped ",ith places

of worship and I G .... every splendid utensil of their Religion .. ' He

compares this with the situation of the Anglican Chureh in the Ne,.,

W"orld and says,

How ought we to blush at our coldness and shameful indiff­ erence in ye propogation of our most excellent Religion .... CI.. The Indians themselves are not 'vanting in making very pertinent Reflections upon our attention to these points!5

l t was an observation Ogil vie ,.,as to make frequently after his arrivaI

in Montreal o

In May, 1760, he writes from Albany to say that they vIere now

preparing to move out of camp on their way to 'the compleat Conquest of

Canada.' At every place and in every conceivable way Ogilvie tried to be of help to people, whether the y ,vere Indian or English, military men or eivilianso He seemed tireless in his efforts, as evidenced by the

4 S.PoG. Journal, Vol .. XIV, po 296-2970 Quoted in Ontario Hist- orieal Society lipaper & Records", Vol" XXII, 1925 ..

5Tb'd..:!:.-!...,o , ppo 296- 970 69 many meetings, services, instructions, etc. that he held.

From Albany he wrote (October 14, 1760) to the S.P.G. to congratu- late the Society upon " ••• the intire reduction of Canada .. n6 Shortly aftenrards he returned to Albany, but only for a brief stay.. He ex- plained:

It is with real concern l am obliged to inform the Venr40 Society that by express Order from Genl Amherst, l am preparing to return to Montreal for the Win ter Season. The Geni seemed extremely sensible of the Inconveniency of re­ moving me from my Mission for so long time. But was pleased to say that 'he could by no means dispense with my absence, as the Honor of the Protestant Religion must be kept up, in a Town where aIl the inhabitants were of a contrary per­ suasion, by the regular & decent performance of the public offices of ou!;' Church, & that he had fix'd upon me for the Purposeo'7

From his preliminary visit and the observations made at the time,

Ogilvie supplies the SoP .. G .. with a picture of the situation at Montreal, a generous quotation from this letter is warranted ..

By the terms of Capitulation, the Society will observe, that the Priests are aU left in their respective Parishes amongst the Indians as weIl as the French Inhabitants o l ~hall do all in my power to recommend our excellent reli­ gion by the public & constant performance of the duties of divine ~vorship, & by keeping up a friendly correspondence both with clergy & Laity, to answer \vhich good purpose l could wish for a number of French Bibles & common prayers and sorne plain Accts o of the protestant religion, wherein the points in dispute between us is treated of, ~vith a spirit of Moderation & Christian charity.. Surely these might be distributed to very good purpose.. The french Mohawks & other Tribes of Indians in this Neighbourhood are all zealous roman Catholicks,however l shall endeavour to contract an Acquaintance with them, & gain an Interest among them, & do all l can to promote the generous designs of the Society ..

l observe aIl the Lands upon the Island of 'Montreal & Isle

6Ibido, Volo XV, ppo 74-75,.

7Ibid .. 70

Jesu' are vested in the Church, the soil is good the country weIl cleared & cultivated & should our Stock of consequence be so great, that at the settlement of a general. peace we may be able to retain this most valuable acquisition, l make no doubt but a proper attention 'tvill be paid to the establish­ ment of Religion, & a sufficient provision made for the support of a regular & orthodox Clergy; and if l might be indulged the thought l could wish to see part of these val­ uable lands vested in the venr. Society in order to enable them to propagate true Christianity among those numerous tribes of Indians who inhabit this extensive country.8

Unfortunately, no further correspondence or other documentation of John Ogilvie's work in Montreal can be discovered until 1763. Vari- ous letters of Dr. Barclay in New York allude to the fact that Ogilvie is still detained in Canada. The Parish of Albany was left without pas toral care from the time Ogilvie was ordered to go 'vith the army.

Temporary arrangements were made ta obtain a missionary who would act as 'Iocum tenens': both the Society and Ogilvie were loath to make any permanent appointment ta Albany until the si tuation at Montreal became more settled.

We glean most of our information about John Ogilvie' s ministry in Montreal and vicinity from two letters he sent ta the S"P .. G.. , one in

July, 1763, and the other in September, 1764.. Adding the few other pieces of available evidence, we are able to gain sorne clear impression of the man himself and the scope of his worle",

He 'tvrites in 1763, to say that there is " ••• a considerable

Congregation" made up of the military men and of the newly arrived mer-

~hantso This group met each Sunday or Festival with thirty to fort y of them being communicantso This may seem Iilce a small number, but two facts need ta be kept in mind: most of the merchants and their families 71

were Presbyterians; while they ~vere content to ahare in the Anglican

services, the y nevertheless maintained their allegience to their Mother

Churcho De Lisle, Ogilvie's successor, writing in 1767 indicates that

they still participated in his services9, and this continued for almost

another twenty years o The second fact concerning the number of cOllnnuni-

cants in Montreal simply reflects a general picture of the Anglican

Communion of that time. Records show that even in England, while many

people attended church, few were regular communicants. Nor was pro-

vision often made for instruction or for people to share in the Holy

Communion more frequently than a few times each year •.

Ogilvie also records that bet\veen November lst, 1760 and July,

1763, he had baptized 100 children" His registers indicate that these

children did not only live in the Hontreal area but in neighbouring

villages; the first baptism registered was that of a child whose parents

1ived in Verch~res.10 The names a1so indicate that sorne French Canad-

ians allowed Ogilvie to baptize their childrenœ

Testimony as to the good \vork of Dro Ogilvie cornes from Col.

Daniel Claus, ~vho despite his criticism of the Chur ch of England in the

Province of Quebec under the three French-speaking clergy, singles out

this chap1ain for high praise. He notes in particular that in Ogi1vie 1 s

time

" " " Congregations \Vere numerous, and flourishing; but nmv many Converts, \vho under him had renounced the errors of Popery; again return to the bosom of their former church,

9Ibid", Vol", XVII, pp .. 465-67.. Quoted in "Church and State Papers"

Quebec Diocesan Archives, Year 1768 0

10Jo 10 Cooper, The Blessed Communion - The Origins and Historv of the Diocese of Montreal, l760-l2§Q, (Montreal: Archives Committee of the Diocese of Montreal, 1960), po 5" 72

and carry with them also sorne members of our's. ll

From Dr. Ogilvie's own letters we do not get any precise descrip-

tion of his 'tvork, but he does draw a comparison between the Anglican

and Roman Catholic work among the Indians of the area.. He refers speci-

fically to the work. being done by the Roman Catholic clergy amollg the

Indians at Caughnawaga and at St. Regis. He has observed that these

Indians are very attached to Roman Catholicism and have been led to be1ieve that the English " ••• have no Knowledge of the Mystery of

Man's Redemption by Jesus Christ.,,12 Ogi1vie then adds that since

these people speak Mohawk he has tried to break down this attitude and demons trate that Anglicans were also fellow Chris tians., This he has done by ". " " shmving them the Liturgy of our Church in their Mother Tongue • " " " One can only interpret this as an indication that Dr .. Ogilvie made a habit of visiting thcse t'tvO lndian settlements during his s tay in Montreal.. The records of his extremely faithful and patient work among the Indians while at Albany, makes one anticipate that he would also search out Indians 'tvhile stationed in Montreal"

It is disappointing not to have more conclusive evidence to bolster Colonel Claus' statement that Ogilvie established numerous flourishing congregations in Montreai and vicinityo If such had actu- ally been the case, it i8 difficult to conceive of Dra Ogilvie not _ making mention of it in his reports to the S"P"Ge An examination of his earlier, and subsequent reports, shows them to be note'tvorthy for their fulness and detail. AlI we can conclude from the evidence is

IlSoP oG. Journal, Vol b XXIII, Letter of October 9, 1782 0

12Ibido, Vol. XVI, pp" 45-48 u 73

that the chaplain at Montreal visited communities outside of Montreal,

ministering chiefly to the English minority in such places, or in the

Indian villages.

Dr. Ogilvie was discouraged by the very Inadequate provision

made in Montreal for the Church of England" They did not have a church

building of their own.

As by the Capitulation there is no Provision made for a place of Worship " " " they are under a Necessity of making use of oue of the Chapels, lvhich is the cause of much discontent " ~ " ,,13

Unlike Quebec City, Montreal did not suffer bombardment and the de-

struction of a siege. Consequently, a number of churches or chapels

were at the disposaI of the Chur ch of England.. According to Trudel,

the English selected the chapel of Rotel Dieu for their services, using

these premises for the first time on November 15, 1760, and regularly 14 until 17680

But such an arrangement \vas not deemed very adequate by the

English minorityo Ogilvie, 1ike Dr .. Brooke in Quebec, thought that the

Jesuit estates in the vicinity, should be put at the disposaI of the

Chur ch of England. He sugges ts to the S oP.,G.. that they make representa-

tion to the English government on this matter" This the Society re-

solved to do but no record is found of further action ..

14Trudel, ~o ~Q, Vol. l, ppo 179-800

"Apres la capitulation., " " les protestants occupent la

ville et ils ont besoin d'une maison de prieres .. 0 .. " Ils choisirent la chapelle de Rotel Dieu, sans doute parce qu'elle faisait partie de ce equipe qui, en principe, deven­ ait un hopital militaire anglaiso C'est le 15 Novembre 1760 que les Anglicans paraissait commencer a se service regu­ () lierement de cette chapelle, et cela va durer tout le regime militaire, et jusque vers 1768,," 73

that the chaplain at Montreal visited communities outside. of Montreal, ministering chiefly to the English minority in such places, or in the

Indian villages.

Dr. Ogilvie was discouraged by the very inadequate provision made in Montreal for the Church of England. They did not have a church building of their own.

As by the Capitulation there is no Provision made for a place of Worship .. .. • they are under a Necessity of making use of one of the Chapels, ,.,hich is the cause of

much discontent .. fi ... 13

Unlike Quebec City, Montreal did not suffer bombardment and the de- struction of a siegea Consequently, a number of churches or chapels

\.,ere at the disposaI of the Church of England o According to Trudel, the English selected the chapel of Rotel Dieu for their services, using these premises for the first time on November 15, 1760, and regularly until 17680 14

But such an arrangement was not deemed very adequate by the

English minorityo Ogilvie, like Dr .. Brooke in Quebec, thought that the

Jesuit estates in the vicinity, should be put at the disposaI of the

Church of Englando He suggests to the S.P .. Go that they make reprësenta- tion to the English government on this matter o This the Society re- solved to do but no record is found of further action.

13Ibid•

l4Trudel, ~o cit." Volo l, pp .. 179-800

"Apres la capitulation " <> " les protestants occupent la ville et ils ont besoin d'une maison de prieres...... Ils choisirent la chapelle de Rotel Dieu, sans doute parce qu'elle faisait partie de ce equipe qui, en principe, deven­ ait un hopital militaire anglaisa Crest le 15 Novembre 1760 que les Anglicans paraissait conUllencer a se service regu­ lierement de ce tte chapelle, et cela va durer tout le regime militaire, et jusque vers 1768 .. " 75

appointed. The military chaplain ,vas not able to do all that was re-

quired as the civilian population was growing each year. In addition

to a parish priest there was also the need of a school. He asks the

S.P.G. to do aIl it can to look after the spiritual welfare of Montreal,

if it should be given this responsibility. Ogilvie then volunteers to

serve in that city if this would be of value to the Society.

Nor was this simply a pious gesture. His letter of September,

1764, shows that the regiment with 'vhich he served was discharged in

August, 1163. He 'vanted 'to return i.mmediately to Albany to look after

his affairs there, which had suffered badly during his stay in Canada"

However,

.. " .. the deplorable state in 'vhich l must have left the protestant congregation at Nontreal, affected my Nind so much, l'hat l came to a Resolution ta devotc, ~vithout Fee or Relvard, imother year to the service of that infant congregation; And indeed for four years service in that City, l have never received the least gratification from the Government,,17

He goes on to say that he has given out a number of French books

to people in the City and that these have helped remove sorne of the prejudices between the French and English.. These 'items he also pur- chased at his mm expense ..

However: after four years in Montreal Ogilvie says he had suf- fered 'considerable damage' to his private estate. An offer was made by the people of Trinity Chur ch in New York asking him to become one of the assistants there o Because of the needs of his family and the unsettled state of affairs in Quebec, he felt he must accept the offer ..

In the late summer of 1764, he made his way to New York and his nelv

17 S"PuGo Journal, Vol .. XVI, pp" 244-45. 76

posto Even as he left Montreal, John Ogilvie ,vas " ••• unable to ex-

press the great Concern l feel For the Protestant interest in Canada, 1118 and shall do every thing in my power to promote it CI CI G CI

For ten years Dr. Ogilvie worked in Ne,,, York, initiating work

among the negroes of the parish as weIl as ministering to the congre-

gation of Trinity Church. His fellow-assistant for sorne years ,,,as

Charles Inglis, later to become rector of Trinity Church, and in 1787,

the first Bishop of Nova Scotia.. He was not to continue long in his new post for he died in 1774 at the early age of fifty-tloTo.

THE REVe SAMUEL BENNET

About the time John Ogilvie le ft ~!ontreal, another military chap-

Iain arrivedo Samuel Bennet, attached to the 55th regiment, was 'acci- dently stationed l in the city by General Gagers orders.. His stay lasted for about eighteen months, from early Fall, 1764, to May, 1766,19 al- though very little i8 recorded about his work at Montreal.

The only source of direct information cornes from a letter Bennet sent to the S .. P"G .. (Nov", 1764).. He was discouraged by the state of the

Church in Montreal; only two clergymen ,,,ere to be found in the whole

province and this included himselfQ The Treaty of Paris had settled the future of the colony, but the British Government had been slow to provide for the Established Church.. Bennet laments that this failure on the part of the Home Govermnent has been a great hindrance to the advancement of this Church" Also, this obvious neglect maltes the

18Ibido

19Jo II> Cooper, ~o c1t. o ) po 6 " 77

French inhabitants cast ref1ections on the sincerity and zea1 of- the

British conquerors. II~ - •• the l!"riars and Jesuits ••• induce the

French inhabitants to look upon their conquerors in an odious 1ight

and to become more impatient of the English yoke. "ZO

Shortly after his arrival, Samuel Bennet gives a fe\., details

about the congregation at Montreal. After four years of British Rule

the number of English families came to about 100; in addition, there

were many French Protestants and a garrison of two regiments. It was

to this group that John Ogilvie had ministered. Bennet adds that

often some of the Eng1ish-speaking sett1ers married " • • 0 French women

and for want of Protestant Clergymen" were "obliged to have recourse

to Parish Priests to baptize their childrene"Zl

After an initial survey of the situation, and realizing the desperate need for a clergyman at Montreal, Bennet offered his services to the SoP QG. If they were able to make arrangements fo!:" a s tipend he wou1d glad1y remain in the city after the return of his regiment to

England.

We have no other details of Bennet' s work whi1e in Montreal.

He arrived at the height of the dispute bet\.,een the Montreal Merchants and Governor Murray. In addition to this dispute, the Governor-in­

Chief was also on very poor tel?ms with the Governor of Montreal, Ralph

Burton, who had taken Gage's place in 1763. A further complication in the situation was the decision of the English government to embark on a policy of converting the Roman Catholics of Quebec to Protestantisme

ZO SeP.G. Journal, Vol. XVI, pp. 284-85.

2lIbid• ______-_-_---_--,-.,-.i-...... ~""""'~

78

Part of the strategy in this design was the use of French-speaking clergy.

As a consequence of these complicating factors, Samuel Bennet's offer to become S.P.G. Missionary at Montreal \.,as ne ver accepted. How·' ever, even though his regiment returned to Europe, he remained in the city until May, 1766, to care for the English congregation there. It is annoying that we do not possess fuller information on h1s life and work during h1s eighteen month stay in Montreal. The post sought by Bennet, however, was offered to Thomas Barton, S.P .G. missionary in Pennsylvania. The latter ,.,as able to ,.,rite to I"on- don in 1766, that he had received a letter fram General Gage, then commander-in-chief for North America, asking him to become chaplain at Nontreal. 22 Although the Society gave Barton the freedom ta do as he wished in the matter, he decided not to go to Canada and the post was then given to David Chadbrand de Lisle.

THE REVe Da C. DE LISLE

In the late summer of 1766, de Lisle arrived in Montreal, his first appointment being that of chap1ain to the garrison there. It was thought that his abi1ity ta speak French would commend the Church of England to the French inhabi tants of the tmm. Before he 1eft Eng- land, however, de Lisle must have applied to the S.P.G. for a dual appointment; as the Society's missionary and as military chap1ain appainted by the government. He learn of this from an extract taken from the S.P.G. papers, dated April 14th, 1766.

Hh 12 reas the Government hath thought fit to constitute and appoint the Rev. Mr. David Chabran De Lisle to be

22Ibid., Letter dated January 23, 1766. 79

a Chaplain to the Garrison at Montreal, with the usual salary. The said Gentleman, who hath been a minis ter of one of the French churches in London, is disposed to offer his services to the venerable Board, in order to erect under their protection, a French church in the said place, there to perform his Pastoral functions, in favour of the Protestants who inhabit that place, and occasionally others in Canada, without prejudice of his duties as Chap­ Iain; and so to be one of the Societyls Missionaries with what salary the venerable Board shall think fit to appoint. 23

Although de Lisle reported periodically to the S.P.G., he never

was appointed one of their official missionaries. In a report (1767)

he s tated that the Roman Catholic clergy ,vere tald.ng advantage of the

" ••• neglected state of the Church of England • 0 ." "persuading the

Canadians that the Government • Il had ". 0 • not religion at heart."2L~

He also notes the inconvenience of having to use the Hospital Chapel

instead of one aUocated for the sole use of the Church of England.

In the year that had passed since his arrivaI de Lisle had baptized

sixtY persons, received the Irecantations' of three people, and married

twenty-two coup1es. 25 In 1768 Gavernor Carleton authorized de Lisle to " ••• have and

enjoy all rights and dues belonging thereto 0 0 D Il in the Parish of

Montreal. The Governor "in scarce1y disguised distaste" directed de

Lisle "ta do all the good (he) can, or chooses ta cIo, without " do

(ing) mischief.,,26 On1y in 1775, hmvever, was Mr. cIe Lislels position fully 1egalized. With this official appointment of 1768 the Church of

England at Montreal passed from the leadership of military chap1ains ta that of a resident parish priest. Although de Lislels leadership cannat be described as vigorous or dynamic, he remained in charge of

Anglican work at Montreal until his death in 1794.

23Kelley, .sŒ.. cit., p. 11.

24SoPoGo Journal, Vol o XVI, p. 465. 80

CHAPTER IV

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

This paper has focused its attention upon the initial work of

the Anglican Church in the Province of Quebec. Here, as in many other

places in the \vorld, the Church of England was content to leave initi-

ative for missionary and pastoral work in the hands of military chap-

lains, men attached to various regiments and subject to the orders of

their commanding officero An attempt has been made to discover hO\v

this method \Vorked in Quebec inunediately fo11O\.,1ing the British victory of 1759. From various records an examination has been made of the life and \Vork of Michael Houdin and John Braoke at Quebec, and of John

Ogilvie, Samuel Bennet and David C. de Lisle at Montreal. IoJhat eval- uation can be made of their work and \vhat general conclusions can be dra\VU from this study? A number of observations can be notedo

Given even the best men with the best intentions, the Anglican practice of delegating missionary responsibility in :lew settlements to military chaplains had obvious limitations. In aday \Vhen few of the clergy were fired 'vith missionary zeal, and even fe\ver able to operate easily outside their upper-class environment, such a method was subject to still greater restrictions. Chaplains were first of aIl responsible to their military superiors and given charge of the men in the regi- ment to which they were assigned. Care of any civilian population living in the area of the garrison could only be undertaken when these official obligations ,vere fulfilled. Continuity in such \Vork \Vas al\Vays 81

subject to the movements of the mi1itary forces, a consideration that

often made chap1ains hesitate beginning work that might have 1itt1e

chance of on-going leadership. Another restricting factor was the in­

adequate and irregular stipend given to military chaplains. Whi1e

sma11 a110wances were sometimes made for worle done among civilians,

these ,.,ere by no means regu1ar and were ah.,ays slow in coming. Fe,.,

of these men were therefore prepared to assume additiona1 work, which

might impose a further burden on an a1ready insufficient income.

One additiona1 observation needs to be added to this genera1

review of the mi1itary chap1ains' circumstances during the eighteenth century. In theory the chap1ain, IUce aIl clergy beyond the shores of Britain, looked to the Bishop of London as their ecclesiastica1 superior: in reality thls counted for very little. Only in extreme cases was the Bishop able, or likely, to take ac tion and this ,.,as in­ evitably slow' in coming. As a consequence, the chaplains had little concept of episcopal oversight and few, if any, directions even for their chaplaincy ,.,ork. Any concern or obligation they might feel for those outside military ranks was entirely a matter of their personal convictions and initiative.

To these general limitations, hindering effective work of chaplains among small ci.vilian settlements, severa1 specific factors peculiar to the Quebec situation of the l760's must be added. The first was the general state of confusion and uncertainty that per­ vaded a11 affairs until the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763.

No one could tell until then whether the colony would remain British or revert to French oversighto This general uncertainty dictated a policy effecting as little change as possible for the inhabitants of 82

the colony. The work of chaplains, like that of other leaders, was,

inevitably, affected by this state of affairs.

Secondly, the 'running feud' between themilitary leaders and

the merchants of the colony created problems not only for Governor

Murray, but for the peace and well-being of all the people. The

hostility between these two groups must have resulted in many vexing problems for a clergyman who found numbers of both factions in his congregation. Brooke, at Quebec~ appears to have been more in the counsel of the authorities than was Ogilvie at Montreal, and conse­ quently was not so readily trusted by the common people.

Thirdly, Brooke at Quebec and Bennet at Montreal were both affected by the l!.ùglish government decision to use the Anglican Church ilS a tool for political purposes. To convert Roman Catholics to the

Established Church it ~"as deemed necessary to appoint only priests

~"ho ,,,ere bilingual. The policy failed miserably, but this did not lessen the difficulty it raised for the chaplains, nor the suspicion and distrust it aroused in the minds of the inhabitants of the prov- ince.

Fourthly, the Protestant civilian population of Quebec and

Montreal was actually a small group, ~"ielding power far in excess of its size. Even at the end of 1764 the total number of Protestants in the colony was listed only in hundreds. A majority of these ,,,ere either Presbyterian or Congregationalist and, while these were gener­ ally contC'nt to receive the ministrations of the Anglican chaplain, they did maintain their denominational loyalty. Consequently, the chaplains at Montreal and Quebec were working with a small group made up of various traditions and backgrounds. For example, sorne of the 83

merchants had come from American colonies having a different relation­

ship between church and state; others had come from Scotland or Eng­

land and were familiar with the traditions of their homeland •. A chap­

lain's role in such a company must have often been frustrating!

Taking aIl these general and specific limitations into consider­

ation, one would almost be surprized if chaplains at Quebec and Montreal were able to do any work at aIl among the civilians of the two commun­

ities. That they were able to do so, gives some indication of these men and their sense of duty. An examination of the available records shows, however, that the work done at Quebec was not of the same spirit or calibre as that done at Montreal during the same periode Since

Houdin's stay at Quebec and Bennet's at JvIontreal were very brief, the comparison is actually between the \Vork of John Brooke and that of

John OgU vie.

Brooke \Vas the typical clergyman of his day: missionary zeal

\vas not one of his attributes. He moved more easily in social circles than among the traders and merchants of Quebec, able ahvays to hold his 0\vu in tmvn gossip and petty arguments. His close association

\Vith the authorities, normal for a clergyman of the time, created a barrier between himself and the small number of English settlers. Even among the officers and men of his regiment, his relationships were not those conducive to effective pastoral worle. His concern for educati.on in the to\vn has been documented, but this did not go as far as personal involvement: other chaplains in similar circumstances assumed the post of schoolmaster themselves until a qualified teacher could be ob­ tained. Brooke's representations that the Church of England be given adequate property and a prominance due an Established Church, seems to be curiously mixed with personal hopes of position: this appears

1TI0st obviously in his petition to Governor Murray in 1766. 1

John Brooke stayed at Quebec for eight years: that they were

difficult years cannot be denied, and allowances must be made on this

account in any analysis of the manls work. Evidence is lacking to

show the size of his regiment during his term in Quebec, but it is un­

likely that his duties ,vere any more demanding than many another chap­

Iain of the same periode Since the English population was small, they

would not have added much to Brooke's pastoral work. That so little

evidence remains to indicate any effective and lasting work with this

group, even after an eight-year ministry, must be a direct reflection

upon the man himself and his sense of pastoral concerno Being a man

typical of a time, Little in the 'vay of censure is justified. One cannot help comparing Brooke and his work, however, to that of his colleague, John Ogilvie at Montreal, 'vho laboured under the same

limitations, but with a different approach and 'vith different result:s.

Ogilvie came to Montreal in 1760, attached to one of the regi­ ments dispatched to secure the surrender of the town. A native of

New England, he had already spent a number of years as SoP.G. mission­ ary at Albany, ministering to the 'vhite settlers and the various lnd­ ian tribes of the region. His work was characterized by a zeal, a thoroughness and a spirit of humble devotion uncommon in his day.

Even though only a few glimpses are given of Ogilvie at work in Montreal, these show the same spirit of willing service. Ready ahmys to help people, his records indicate that he travelled to settlements sorne dis­ tance from Montreal to meet and encourage the scattered English falililies 85

living there. In the town itse1f he drew together a congregation and

nurtured its growth, no simple task when one remembers the uncertainty

and the hosti1ity that arose between the mi1itary and merchant groupso

The chap1ain at Montreal was conscious of the position and

power of the Roman Catholic Church and compared this with the unrea1-

ized plans for the Church of Eng1and. Even though Ogi1vie fe1t that

changes must be made in this imba1ance, no trace of bi.tterness or

narrmmess can be found in his correspondence. One of his most char­

acteristic acts was his decision to remain at Montreal after his regi­

ment was withdrawn. The needs of his new congregation ,vere aIl too

obvious, yet no provision lvas being made for their lvelfare or leader­

ship: he resolved to stay with his people and drmv on his meagre

resources to pay his mm expenses. Only when these resources ,vere

spent and the we1fare of his family imperilled, did Ogilvie re1uct­

antly leave Canada to accept a position in New York. {{hen he did

leave, hmvever, a s izeable congregation had been formed and me t reg­ ularly for ,vorship.

Perhaps it was his Ne,v England upbringing that was largely re­ sponsib1e for Ogilvie 1 s different approach to his work. He was already familiar with frontier 1ife and knew some of its deprivations: he had a1ready 1earned that adaptation to the situation was essentia1 if the church was to take root and grow. When he arrived at Montreal, con­ sequent1y, he was more ready and able to adapt to the conditions he discovered.. Rather than rely on a close identification 'vith those in authority, he seemed able to move freely among people of every class and occupation.. It was entirely characteristic of such a man that he would interpret his dutY at Montreal as not being restricted only to 86

the troops placed in his charge. He found a small group of civilians;

to them he must aiso minis ter. In so doing he founded a congregation that has gradually evolved into the present cathedral parish of the

Diocese of Montreal.

It would be an error to magnify too highly the role played by military chaplaius in founding the Church of England in Quebec. Their pr.esence in the colony in the first years of British rule ~V'as subject to many limitations, imposed by the nature of their role and by the complex circumstances of the time. It ,V'ould therefore be 'Yrong to exaggerate their influence and contribution. Yet, these men were the first Anglican clergy on the scene and they were prepared to take some responsibility for the people in their region. In small ~V'ays and great, often with deprivation and sacrifice, men like Michael

Houdin, John Brooke, John Ogilvie, Samuel Bennet and David C. de Lisle, assisted in transplanting the Church of England in the new and diff­ erent soil of the Province of Quebec. 87

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