OCR
ee 1. names of these early Christian pioneers, who entered into the agreement with Mr. Smart, they are therefore 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 entered 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 appointment 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 residence, 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 instrumental 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 consecrated 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 MisSIONARY 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