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for years, forming one of the many interesting episodes in the history of the venerable edifice.

On the 29th December, 1804, a meeting was held of those interested in the erection of a Protestant Episcopal Church. Rev. Dr. Mountain presided, and among others present were Joseph Frobisher, E. W. Gray, David Ross, and John Platt, whose connection with the St. Gabriel Street Church has been noted. A committee was appointed to prepare plans and prosecute the undertaking. The committee called for tenders in January, 1805, but the congregation was so comfortably housed in the Scotch Church, and the two clergymen and their flocks got along so amicably, while meeting at separate hours in the same edifice, that the new Christ Church was a long time in building. Money was not very plentiful among the adherents of that church, and so long as the arrangement with the Presbyterians continued satisfactory, there was no great urgency to push on the erection to completion.

It would seem that from 1803 to 1809, the members of Christ Church paid nothing for the accommodation afforded them in the Scotch Church, further than bearing the expense of heating the building during the hours they occupied it; but, when it was resolved, in 1809, to put a tin roof upon the St. Gabriel Street Church, and make extensive repairs and additions to the interior, assistance was sought by the temporal committee from their Episcopal friends, and it was proposed that, for the future, Christ Church should pay £50 a year as their contribution to the repair fund. Accordingly, certain of the proprietors of the Scotch Church expressed their willingness to give up their pews to the churchwardens of the Episcopal congregation, during their usual hours of service.

When the repairs were completed, the following letter was sent from the temporal committee to the authorities of Christ Church :—

"Montreal, 11th Nov., 1809.

"Gentlemen,—I am desired by the Committtee of Proprietors of the Scotch Presbyterian Church of this city, to intimate to you that the said Church, having undergone the neceessary repairs, will be opened for divine service on Sunday, the 12th inst.

WILLIAM IRELAND,

Secretary.

Messrs., the Wardens of

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the English Church, Montreal."

It was some months, however, before the arrangements were perfected, and, meantime, the following letter was received from the English Church wardens:

66

'MONTREAL, 27th Aug., 1810. "Gentlemen,—The Episcopal congregation, being desirous of returning to your Church until their Church can be finished, request, by the subscribing Churchwardens, to be informed on what terms you will allow the church service to be performed there. Also, that we should be allowed to fix and raise such rates on the pews in the said church, as shall be requisite to raise a fund to enable us to pay the rent and discharge the contingent expenses attending the said church.

A speedy answer will greatly oblige,

Gentlemen,

Your most obedient and humble servants,

J. G. BEEK,

JAMES WOOLRICH,
GEO. CLARK "

The following was the answer :—

Montreal, 4th September, 1810.

"Gentlemen,—We received your letter of the 27th ult., but before we could give an answer, it was necessary to consult the proprietors of pews in the Scotch Church, in order to get their consent, that you should have the free use of the pews so as to enable you to fix and raise such rents on them, as may be necessary for the purposes you mention. Having now got the consent of nearly the whole, you may have the free use of the Scotch Church during Sunday for the performance of divine worship, at any time between half-past twelve and three, p.m., for which you will pay to us, or either of us, in the course of this month, the sum of £50 currency, and, also, one-half the fire-wood that may be required to keep the church warm during the winter.

Some proprietors of seats wish to reserve them for their own use, during your service; others have given them up to particular people, but in either case, it is understood that the occupier shall pay you the annual rent that you shall fix for such class of pews; but which, it is understood, shall not exceed what may be a reasonable estimate for the purposes expressed in your letter; and we herewith hand you a list of the pews, specifying those that are retained or given to particular people on these conditions.

Notwithstanding what is said above, with respect to the time of divine service, it is understood, that when either of the clergymen are to administer the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, they shall, on such occasions, accommodate each other as to times.

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These proposals being mutually satisfactory, an arrangement was entered into that lasted until the new Christ Church was ready for divine service, in 1814. The following account of the opening of that fine edifice, which used to stand on Notre Dame street, about where Henderson and Company's Fur Warehouse now is, and which was destroyed by fire on the 10th of December, 1856, appeared in the Gazette of Thursday, the 13th October, 1814 :—

"The new Episcopal Church was opened for divine service on Sunday last. An appropriate and excellent sermon was preached on the occasion to a large and respectable congregation, by Rev. Dr. Mountain. This truly elegant structure reflects the highest credit on the taste of the Directors who had the superintendence of its construction, and, when finished, will be a handsome ornament to this growing and Important city."

The Imperial Parliament voted £4000 "towards furnishing the Protestant Parish Church in Montreal," and sub

scriptions were also obtained from individual friends in England. The church served its day well; but when it was burnt, the authorities resolved to anticipate the movement of the population towards the suburbs, and so selected the site of the present Christ Church, the foundation stone of which was laid on 21st May, 1857. The old Christ Church had doors opening on both Notre Dame and St. James Streets; and apropos of this fact, a good story is told of a Highland Regiment, at one time quartered in the city. The great body of the men were Scotch Presbyterians, as their Colonel also was; but the orders of the Commandant of the District were that the Church parade should be to Christ Church. These orders were obeyed; the regiment marched along and entered the church at the Notre Dame street door, but went on, tramp, tramp, right through the building and out of the door at the farther end, into St. James Street, turned to the right, and walked straight to St. Gabriel Street Church, where they joined in a service that was more to their mind.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE BUSINESS OF THE CHURCH TRANSACTED BY THE ELDERS-THE RULES AND REGULATIONS, FRAMED IN 1804, GAVE PROPRIETORS OF PEWS SUPREME CONTROL-A COMMITTEE CONSTITUTED THE EXECUTIVE OF THE CONGREGATION, WITH LARGE POWERS-THOSE RULES AND REGULATIONS DENOUNCED, AFTER 1844, AS ERASTIAN BY MR. ESSON REVISED AND ALTERED ESSENTIALLY IN 1845—The last By-Laws, drawn up in 1867.

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It was in 1804, within a few months of the beginning of Mr. Somerville's ministry, that the first attempt at drawing up a constitution for the St. Gabriel Street Church was made. Up till that time, the elders of the congregation appear to have been charged with the chief responsibilities of the church. There was, indeed, a temporal committee in existence during the period of Mr. Young's incumbency, and they had to undertake very serious work, we have seen. But their sphere of operations was not well defined; the elders were the recognized authorities of the congregation, and from them the pew rights of the proprietors were held, in the first instance, as the following form of deed used in 1792, shows:

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CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, Montreal: Pew No. 34.

NOW All Men by these presents, that we the Undersigned, Elders of the Presbyterian Protestant Church in the city of Montreal, named The Church Of Scotland, for and in consideration of the sum of (Nine Pounds) lawful money of the Province of Lower Canada, in hand paid to the Treasurer of the said Church, before the execution of these presents, Have and hereby Do, Grant, Bargain, Sell and Assign unto A. B., (of the city of Montreal, a pew, number thirty-four) in the said Church; To Have and To Hold the said Pew unto the said A. B., his Heirs, Executors, Admin

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