Stranica 42 [42]
ee 1.
names of these early Christian pioneers, who entered
into the agreement with Mr. Smart, they are there¬
fore appended :—
J. Breakenridge,
Joseph McNish,
Bartholomew Carley,
Adiel Sherwood,
Robert McLean,
William Wells,
Peter Purvis,
Elnathan Hubble,
Josiah Jones,
James Dunham,
Rufus C. Henderson.
The agreement was completed on the third day of
October, 1812. All of the above named gentlemen
have gone to their reward, although many of their
descendants are still residents of the Counties.
At an early date, Mr. Smart turned his attention
to the erection of a suitable place of worship, the
congregation having only the o!d Court House to
meetin. It is well also to mention that Mr. Smart
established a Sabbath School in 1811, immediately
after his arrival here, Adiel Sherwood, Esq., being
the first Superintendent. He also opened a second
Sabbath School in Yonge in 1818: and in 1819 en¬
tered upon his duties in the new church, to the
erection of which he gave, as his subscription to the
building fund, one year’s salary, an act of great
generosity.
In 1821, through the exertion of their pastor, the
congregation was united to the first Presbytery
formed in Canada. In 1825, Mr. Smart visited
England, returning in the following year. With
untiring zeal he continued his labours among the
people, so long as his health permitted. In
1848, however, he was released from the more
arduous duties of his calling, by the appoint¬
ment of the Rev. John McMurray as assistant
minister. He still, however, continued to preach
being very much attached to him. He had been
with them in their sorrows and their joys—at birthg,
marriages and deaths; and the chords of many a
heart vibrated with emotion at the sound of his well
known voice.
It may be well to remark that when the union of
the Presbyterian Churches with the Church of
Scotland took place, Mr. Smart was the principal
mover. The Yonge congregation, however, felt it
their duty to insert a clause in the agreement, to
the effect that their union in no way bound them to
Support the principle of patronage. This clause was
agreed to, and the union consummated in January,
1841. This important proviso left Mr. Smart and
his people at liberty to leave the union at the time
of the disruption between the Church of Scotland
and the Free Church, which they did in 1843.
In 1848, Mr. Smart's duties as a settled minister
came to an end. He had then been in the field,
a.
TT ————m——r—m—öööö—eeeeaeeeeeeeee mai
years—years of arduous and exhausting labours.
From that date he gave his services principally to
Yonge, removing to Gananoque, his place of resi¬
dence, where he was called to everlasting rest. He
left one son by his first wife, the late Judge Smart,
of Belleville. |
Upon one occasion, an attempt was made by a
portion of the congregation to introduce instru¬
mental music, in connection with the choir. It
being utterly impossible to secure an organ, the
best substitute was a bass viol. On Sunday. the
hymn was given out, when to, the horror of one of
the elders, there arose, loud and clear, the notes of
what he considered an enormous fiddle.
from his pew, he
Rising
proceeded. in great haste,
to the gallery, grasped the bow from the hands
of the astonished musician, breaking it across
his knee, and, at the same time, muttering : “ We/
have nane of the devil s playthings in the House 0" God!
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH.
It is an historical fact worthy of remembrance by
every Protestant in Canada, that the first Protestant
church erected in the Dominion, from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, was built in the County of Dundas,
Township of Williamsburg, by the Lutherans. In
1789 they commenced the erection of a frame
church, which, however, was not raised until the
Spring of 1790. The Rev. Samuel Schwerdfeger, a
United Empire Loyalist, was the first pastor, and
arrived in Dundas in June, 1790, and by him the
first Protestant church in the Canadas was conse¬
crated to God. A second church was built by the
Lutherans in Matilda, in 1792. In both churches
the German language was used exclusively.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
According to Wakely, the first Protestant Church
built in America, was the Reformed Dutch Church,
of New York, erected in 1633. The first Rector of
the Church of England, in New York, was the Rev.
William Vesey. The first Protestant clergyman
that officiated in Upper Canada was Dr. Ogelvie,
who acted in the capacity of a chaplain to a British
Kegiment, in the expedition to Fort George, in 1759.
The first Episcopal clergyman to settle in Canada
was the Rev. John Stuart. The following is a
memoir of Dr. Stuart:
“MEMOIR OF THE Rey. JOHN Stuart, D. D., FATHER ©
OF THE UPPER CANADA CHuRCH.—HE OPENED
THE First ACADEMY AT CATARAQUI—
KINGSTON, 1786.—THE Last Mis¬
SIONARY TO THE MOHAWkKs,
“The necessity of having missionaries of the
Church of England resident among the Mohawks
was brought before the Society for Promoting of