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THE  CHURCH 

ON 

THE  PRAIRIE 


BISHOP  MONTGOMERY 


Secretary  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts 


S.P.G.   OFFICE 
15  TUFTON  ST.,  WESTMINSTER,  S.W 


£       J* 


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THE   PRIM; 


THE  Most   Reverend   Samuel    P 
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Land,  and  Primate  of  All  Can 
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THE     CHURCH 


ON 


THE      PRAIRIE 


H.  H.  MONTGOMERY,  D.D. 

SOMETIME   BISHOP   OF   TASMANIA 

SECRETARY  OF  THE   SOCIETY   FOR  THE   PROPAGATION   OF  THE   GOSPEL 
IN   FOREIGN   PARTS 


THIRD   EDITION 

(With  a  Supplementary  Note  by 
CHAXLES  H.  ROBINSON,  D.D.) 


thz  $rxrpagation  of  the  (feosyd  in  Jfomgn 

15  TUFTON  STREET,  S.W. 
1911 


PREFACE  TO  SECOND  EDITION 

As  the  years  pass  the  Canadian  problem  looms 
larger  and  ever  larger  for  us  as  Churchmen  as 
well  as  members  of  the  British  Empire.  I 
dedicate  these  pages  to  the  new  Canada  of 
this  century,  the  giant  among  the  new  nations. 
We  shall  show  our  respect  for  him  best  by 
providing  him  with  the  ablest  and  wisest  and 
most  human  leaders  in  Church  as  well  as  in 
State.  I  have  brought  the  earlier  chapters  of 
this  book  up  to  date  without  demolishing  the 
account  of  the  developments  of  a  few  years 
ago.  The  last  chapters  speak  of  the  new 
Forward  Movement  by  the  Church  on  behalf 
of  Western  Canada. 

H.  H.  M. 

March  10,  1910 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    THE    PROBLEM    STATED I 

II.    THE    PROBLEM    IN   THE    DIOCESE    OF    SASKATCHEWAN              .  Q 

III.  THE    RESPONSE    TO    THE    APPEAL    FOR    MEN             ...  15 

IV.  LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  ON  THE  PRAIRIE       ...  25 

V.    THE    DIVINITY    SCHOOL   AT    PRINCE   ALBERT         ...  49 

VI.  THE  DIOCESE  OF  QU'APPELLE 58 

VII.  THE  DIOCESE  OF  CALGARY 73 

VIII.  THE  DIOCESE  OF  RUPERT'S  LAND 78 

IX.  ADJACENT  REGIONS 84 

X.    OUR    CLERGY    AND    WORKERS    AND    THEIR    TRAINING     .            .  93 

XI.    THE    NEW    FORWARD    MOVEMENT 103 

XII.  NAVVIES  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 115 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE  126 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PALACE  OCCUPIED  BY  BISHOP  MCLEAN      .        .        .        Frontispiece 

FACING   PAGE 

A  WHEAT  FIELD  SEVEN  MILES  IN  EXTENT          ....  4 

GROUP  AT  LLOYDMINSTER 10 

ARCHDEACON  LLOYD'S  PARTY  AT  SASKATOON  16 

THE  CAMP  AT  CHRIST  CHURCH  HILL 20 

A  SHACK 26 

FIXING  A  WHEEL 28 

PACKING 30 

CAMPING 32 

STARTING 34 

ARRIVAL 36 

MOVING   THE   FIRST    CHURCH   AT    HuMBOLDT         ....  38 

ST.  ANDREW'S  CHURCH  AND  VICARAGE,  HUMBOLDT  ...  40 

MISSION  HOUSE,  ISLAY  DISTRICT 44 

CATECHIST  AND  FAMILY  GROUP,  ISLAY  MISSION  DISTRICT         .  46 

ENGLISH  CHURCH  AND  BISHOP'S  HOUSE,  PRINCE  ALBERT         .  50 

WARDEN  AND  STUDENTS,  ST.  CHAD'S  HOSTEL,  REGINA  .        .  62 


viii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING   PAGE 

NEW    CHURCH   AT    BRESAYLOR yo 

HARVESTING,  CUTTING  OATS  IN  KILLARNEY       ....  80 

HORSE  RANCHING 85 

ROUNDING  UP  CATTLE go 

THRESHING  BY  ELECTRICITY 94 

MAKING  A  RAILWAY  ACROSS  THE  PRAIRIE 104 

MR.  J.  MILLER  MCCORMICK      .                                  ...  122 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  PROBLEM  STATED 

IT  is  possible  in  the  year  1908  to  form  a  fair  general 
impression  of  the  problem  which  faced  our  Church  in 
the  prairie  regions  of  Western  Canada  three  or  four 
years  ago ;  and  we  surely  should  have  much  to  say  of 
the  manner  in  which  we  have  met  it. 

No  book,  of  course,  can  effect  for  the  reader  what  a 
personal  visit  does.  We  are  coming  to  realise  this  more 
and  more.  Indeed,  I  believe  one  of  the  chief  factors  in 
the  success  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  has  been 
the  possession  of  Mr.  Mott  as  a  persistent  inspector  of 
the  world's  mission  fields,  ever  on  the  move,  and  gifted 
with  the  double  power  of  grasping  details  as  well  as  of 
taking  broad  views.  So  few  can  see  both  the  wood  and 
the  trees. 

Let  us  take  an  example  from  the  other  side,  that 
is  from  a  policy  dictated  without  sufficient  local  know 
ledge  in  the  Committee  though  I  am  not  prepared  to 
blame  the  Committee  on  this  ground.  In  1896  the 
S.P.G.  had  determined  to  cut  down  all  Canadian 
grants  by  10  per  cent,  annually  till  our  grants  ceased  ; 1 
they  held  that  a  great  independent  daughter  Church 

1  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  such  reductions  were  mitigated  by  special 
grants  at  the  same  time,  including  "  Marriott  grants  "  towards  church 
building. 

(IOOO/O.I20II)  I 


2         THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

such  as  that  in  Canada  ought  to  become  responsible 
for  all  its  own  work  without  external  aid.  Ideally  I 
find  no  fault  with  this  position.  But  I  venture  to  say 
that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  adhered  to 
that  resolution  if  the  Secretary  of  the  Society  had  paid  a 
visit  to  Canada  in  1898.  The  Secretary  of  the  Society 
did  go  to  Canada,  but  not  before  1906.  There  he  found 
the  Secretary  of  the  Colonial  and  Continental  Church 
Society  also  busy  inspecting.  The  opinions  of  the  two 
Secretaries  given  independently  coincided  on  the  general 
question.  In  effect  it  was  as  the  following  pages  will 
show. 

No  one  who  has  not  visited  Western  Canada  can 
realise  the  extraordinary  nature  of  the  problem  with 
which  Statesmen  and  Churchmen  are  suddenly  con 
fronted  there.  After  years  of  slow  progress  in  Eastern 
Canada,  which  looked  upon  the  Western  regions  as 
mere  hunting-grounds  for  fur-bearing  creatures,  these 
plains  are  to  become  the  great  food- producing  regions 
of  the  world.  The  whole  extent  of  a  country  1,000 
miles  by  at  least  400  is  to  be  dotted  with  farms.  It  is 
not  as  in  the  case  of  mining  rushes  where  population 
gathers  thickly  in  certain  spots  and  as  quickly  disappears 
when  minerals  are  exhausted  or  cannot  be  procured 
economically. 

A  mining  population  is  no  safe  national  asset.  But 
this  prairie  region  is  to  be  covered  with  small  farms ; 
the  farmers  are  to  be  peasant  proprietors ;  the  Govern 
ment  do  not  desire  speculators  to  come  in  and  buy 
up  square  miles  of  land  and  hold  it  till  it  becomes 
valuable.  They  like  to  sell  land  in  small  amounts 


THE  PROBLEM  STATED  3 

of  1 60  acres,  for  which  you  only  pay  ten  dollars, 
and  on  certain  conditions.  You  must  come  person 
ally  and  live  on  your  land,  and  you  must  do  a 
certain  amount  of  work  on  it  for  three  successive 
years,  then  the  Government  will  give  it  you ;  and 
after  that  you  can  do  what  you  like  with  what  is 
your  own  land.  As  a  rule,  the  only  people  from 
whom  you  can  buy  virgin  land  on  the  prairie  are 
the  railways  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Both 
of  these  corporations  have  had  land  given  them  in 
return  for  great  benefits  received.  The  tens  of  thou 
sands  of  farmers  could  not  have  lived  at  all  or  have 
sold  their  produce  had  not  the  railways  been  pressed  in 
every  way  by  inducements  from  the  Government  to  push 
on  their  lines. 

Here,  then,  was  a  vast  region  almost  clear  of  trees, 
ready  to  be  given  away  to  men  who  would  settle  on 
the  land.  News  of  this  wonderful  region  was  circulated 
in  all  the  countries  of  Europe,  and  inducements  were 
offered  to  all  to  give  Canada,  what  it  needed  more 
than  anything  else,  population.  Canada  hoped  to  ob 
tain  English-speaking  immigrants  more  than  any 
others  and  after  our  own  kith  and  kin  it  desired 
Scandinavians  and  Germans ;  but  all  who  were  able 
to  work  on  the  land  were  welcome.  So  the  rush  to 
Western  Canada  began ;  what  it  has  amounted  to 
maybe  realised  by  a  few  figures.  On  I2th  May,  1907 
the  Empress  of  Ireland  landed  at  Quebec  1,500  third- 
class  passengers;  the  Lake  Manitoba,  1,800;  the  Lake 
Michigan,  2,100;  the  Pretorian,  500;  the  Tunisian, 
1,500;  the  Kensington,  1,200;  the  Parisian,  763.  In 


4         THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

one  day  9,336  immigrants  landed,  most  of  whom  were 
going  West.  In  the  first  four  months  of  1907,  80,000 
persons  came  into  Canada,  and  300,000  in  all  for  the 
year  were  expected.  Of  these  a  large  percentage  are 
from  the  British  Isles  ;  a  good  many  come  from  the 
States ;  a  certain  number  are  Canadians  returning  from 
the  States  to  their  own  land  which  now  offers  them 
all  the  advantages  they  need.  What  would  not  South 
Africa  give  for  only  one  month  of  this  rush  of  white 
men! 

The  Government  has  strained  every  effort  to  provide 
the  newcomers  with  roads,  railways,  schools,  post 
offices,  and  all  the  necessities  of  civilisation.  What  has 
the  Church  done?  Our  own  Church,  a  small  body 
in  Canada  and  not  wealthy,  has  felt  itself  almost  para 
lysed  by  this  sudden  responsibility.  It  did  what  it 
could ;  it  had  created  one  Board  of  Missions  for  all 
Canada  with  a  very  capable  and  active  secretary,  Dr. 
Tucker ;  it  assessed  all  parishes  in  Eastern  Canada 
for  the  sake  of  providing  ministrations  in  the  West, 
but  it  was  hopelessly  outclassed  in  its  efforts  by  other 
religious  bodies.  Roman  Catholics,  Wesleyans,  Pres 
byterians  poured  money  and  men  on  to  these  new 
regions.  Often  where  one  of  our  men  was  at  work  I 
found  seven  or  eight  ministers  of  other  denominations. 
There  may  not  have  been  any  members  of  their  own 
denomination  in  the  district,  but  that  made  no  differ 
ence  to  the  ministers ;  they  were  there  as  ministers 
to  all  who  would  receive  them,  and  I  honour  them  for 
their  missionary  zeal  towards  our  own  people,  towards 
whom  we  have  not  done  our  duty. 


THE  PROBLEM  STATED  5 

Any  one  who  knows  the  course  of  events  in  new  lands 
under  such  conditions  will  be  able  to  realise  what  began 
to  happen  all  over  these  new  regions.  Little  churches 
began  to  spring  up  but  not  built  by  us ;  regular  minis 
trations  were  carried  on,  children  were  baptised,  but 
not  by  our  clergy.  When  at  length  our  own  clergyman 
or  catechist  appeared  he  was  told  that  it  was  too  late ; 
there  was  no  room  for  a  second  church,  the  people  were 
now  content  with  the  ministrations  of  those  who  had 
first  come  to  them.  So  it  came  to  pass  that  among  these 
prairie  farms  there  began  to  appear  the  same  condition 
of  things  as  obtained  years  ago  in  Eastern  Canada.  I 
speak  of  the  old  days  when  clergy  came  to  Eastern 
Canada  without,  it  must  be  confessed,  much,  if  any,  mis 
sionary  spirit.  They  came  as  rectors  of  town  parishes ; 
they  settled  in  townships  and  were  not  prepared  to 
trouble  themselves  about  the  outlying  parts.  The  result 
in  many  a  place  has  been  that  Church  people  have  com 
pletely  died  out  of  many  districts  of  Eastern  Canada, 
to  our  great  and  abiding  reproach.  Those  who  pos 
sessed  missionary  spirit  inherited  our  land.  When  new 
townships  sprang  up  in  what  were  once  outlying  farms 
there  were  no  Church  people  there  because  we  had  lost 
them  and  Wesleyans,  Presbyterians  and  Baptists  had 
gained  them.  In  the  years  that  have  elapsed  Church 
men  have  been  attempting  to  win  back  to  some  extent 
those  they  had  lost ;  a  sad,  difficult  and  heart-breaking 
duty.  How  much  better  it  would  have  been  if  we  had 
possessed  the  missionary  spirit  and  had  kept  our  people. 

The  question  in  the  early  years  of  this  century  re 
curred :  Was  the  Anglican  Church  to  repeat  that 


6        THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

doleful  history  and  lose  tens  of  thousands  of  its  people 
because  it  could  not,  or  would  not,  minister  to  its  own 
people  ?  Was  the  new  English-speaking  nation  rising 
into  life  before  our  eyes,  a  nation  of  strong  and  healthy 
farmers,  to  be  allowed  to  grow  up  without  the  help 
and  influence  of  the  ancient  English  Church  ?  If  the 
Church  in  Canada  were  still  unable  to  meet  this  tre 
mendous  demand  upon  its  resources,  was  the  mother 
land,  from  which  so  many  of  these  immigrants  came, 
unwilling  to  lend  a  helping  hand  ?  Was  there  no 
general  policy  in  the  Church  at  large  by  means  of 
which  immediate  help  both  in  the  way  of  men  and 
money  might  be  poured  into  this  region  just  when  the 
help  was  most  needed  ?  Was  not  this  just  one  of 
those  cases  where  ;£i,ooo  at  once  and  five  clergy  would 
be  equal  in  effect  to  £10,000  and  twenty  clergy  three 
years  afterwards  ?  Was  it  not  the  truest  economy  to 
waste  no  more  time,  but  to  do  on  a  large  scale  what 
other  religious  bodies  were  already  doing  on  a  very 
large  scale  ? 

Yes,  but  why  could  not  Canada  supply  the  men  if 
we  supplied  the  funds  ?  The  answer  is  that  you  can 
not  manufacture  qualified  clergymen  at  a  few  months' 
notice.  There  are  several  colleges  for  the  training  of 
clergy  in  Eastern  Canada.  I  bethink  me  of  four  at 
this  moment.  But  you  must  remember  that  nearly 
every  diocese  in  Eastern  Canada  is  still  in  a  real  sense 
a  missionary  diocese.  It  would  be  easy  for  them  to 
absorb  all  the  students  who  are  being  trained  in  these 
Eastern  colleges ;  whereas  hundreds  of  men  are  at  once 
needed  if  the  Western  fields  are  to  be  properly  covered 


THE  PROBLEM  STATED  7 

with  agents  of  the  Church.  The  Eastern  dioceses  do 
not,  however,  absorb  all  these  students.  They  are 
sending  as  many  as  they  can  Westward,  and  often  are 
at  a  loss  in  consequence  how  to  staff  their  own  districts. 
Lennoxville,  in  the  Diocese  of  Quebec,  has  made  its 
thank-offering  of  1908  to  consist  of  money  spent  on 
students  who  are  all  to  go  to  the  Western  dioceses. 
But  when  Canada  had  done  her  best  for  these  immigrants, 
and  of  course  the  West  has  its  Divinity  Schools  and 
Colleges,  she  turned  to  her  motherland  to  ask  for  all 
the  help  she  could  get  and  without  delay. 

Now  let  us  stand  at  the  portal  of  the  West  at  Winni 
peg.  Look  West  from  the  railway  station  of  this  city 
of  140,000  people,  soon  to  be  200,000  or  any  greater 
number. 

Remember  that  in  1870  it  is  probable  that  there 
were  not  two  houses  to  be  found  side  by  side  anywhere 
west  of  Winnipeg.  There  was  no  Vancouver,  no  town 
ships  on  the  prairie  or  in  the  Rockies.  Now  on  every 
side  there  are  railways,  towns,  farms,  a  steadily  growing 
population.  Stand  in  Winnipeg  Station  for  a  whole 
day  in  early  summer  and  you  will  realise  that  there  has 
been  a  new  Niagara  created,  far  more  wonderful  than 
the  old  one  because  it  is  a  rush  of  human  life.  It  does 
not  move  Eastward  but  Westward.  A  student  of 
world  movements,  who  wishes  to  gain  a  real  impression 
of  what  is  happening  in  North  America,  would  do  well, 
if  he  had  only  a  week  to  spare,  to  spend  the  whole  of 
it  in  Winnipeg  Station.  He  would  get  an  idea  of 
a  migration  of  peaceful  hordes  of  vigorous  young  men 
and  women  infinitely  more  wonderful  than  the  move- 


8         THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

ments  of  the  Eastern  nomads  of  old.  These  people 
have  come  to  settle  on  the  land  and  make  it  bring 
forth  and  replenish  the  earth.  There  will  be  no  check 
to  this  flow  for  many  years.  Even  in  this  year  1908, 
we  hear  that  on  1st  September  there  was  the  greatest 
rush  for  land  ever  known  in  Western  Canada.  Under 
the  new  Dominion  Lands  Act  the  "odd  number"  sections 
in  six  large  districts  on  the  prairie  were  thrown  open 
for  selection.  The  area  affected  is  almost  30,000,000 
acres.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  such  movements,  but 
when  once  the  attention  of  the  Anglican  communion 
has  been  arrested  its  duty  is  obvious.  Where  buffalos 
and  Indians  once  roamed,  there  spreads  a  flood  of  white 
humanity.  One  murmurs,  "  A  sower  went  forth  to  sow  ; 
some  fell "...  What  is  to  be  the  outcome  of  the  sowing  ? 
Materialistic  energy,  without  God,  a  slow  experience  of 
painful  discipline  afterwards  ?  Are  the  grain  elevators 
to  be  the  only  elevators  ?  Are  there  not  to  be  seen  little 
spires  everywhere,  and  godly,  humble  men  connected 
with  them,  men  of  character  and  of  Christian  faith,  to 
set  the  tone  of  private  and  public  life  ?  These  questions 
we  are  called  upon  to  answer  in  a  practical  manner. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  PROBLEM  IN  THE  DIOCESE  OF  SASKATCHEWAN 

LET  us  betake  ourselves  at  once  to  the  central,  stra 
tegical  position  for  the  Church  in  Western  Canada, 
the  Diocese  of  Saskatchewan.  This  ecclesiastical 
division  does  not  include  the  whole  civil  province  of 
that  name  but  about  two-thirds  of  it.  Qu'Appelle  in  the 
south,  Saskatchewan  in  the  north,  cover  ecclesiastically 
the  one  civil  province. 

The  diocese  of  which  I  shall  now  speak  is  about 
seven  times  the  size  of  Ireland.  Twenty-five  years  ago 
it  was  a  region  almost  uninhabited — a  prairie  from  which 
the  buffalo  had  been  exterminated.  There  was  no  rail 
way  through  it ;  in  the  northern  parts  there  were  settle 
ments  of  Indians  under  the  care  of  the  Church  Mission 
ary  Society.  To  a  large  extent,  though  not  of  course 
entirely,  for  these,  the  Diocese  of  Saskatchewan  was 
formed  and  Bishop  McLean  was  consecrated  the  first 
Bishop.  He  lived  in  a  "shack"  at  Prince  Albert — 
we  give  the  picture  of  it — close  to  a  little  wooden 
church  and  to  a  large  Indian  school ;  he  journeyed  far 
and  wide  among  his  Indian  people.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Bishop  Pinkham,  whose  jurisdiction,  as  in  the  case 
of  his  predecessor,  extended  over  the  whole  of  the 
areas  now  covered  by  the  Dioceses  of  Saskatchewan 

(9) 


io      THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

and  Calgary.  Bishop  Newnham  succeeded  him,  com 
ing  from  the  Diocese  of  Moosonee.  Then  just  after 
his  advent  came  the  great  change.  In  a  very  short 
space  of  time  he  was  confronted  by  a  rush  of  white 
settlers  which  was  sufficient  to  overpower  and  be 
wilder  the  strongest.  The  prairie  was  about  to 
become  a  vast  farm.  The  Indians  would  soon  be 
practically  a  negligible  quantity.  Thousands  on  thou 
sands  of  our  own  people  were  flooding  the  country, 
settling  everywhere.  At  the  Land  Office  in  Battleford, 
for  example,  3,587  claims  for  160  acre  blocks  were  filed 
in  one  year.  Railways  were  pushing  their  way  through 
feverishly.  At  every  station  were  piled  up  on  the 
prairie  agricultural  implements  and  machines  for  sale  to 
farmers.  Masses  of  timber  were  ready  for  their  shacks. 
Wherever  a  station  was  placed  there  hotels,  stores 
and  banks  appeared  as  the  nucleus  of  a  township. 
Trains  rolled  up  as  fast  as  possible,  discharging  their 
living  freights,  all  young  people,  the  vigorous  men  and 
women  who  are  the  pioneers  of  our  race,  quantities  of 
boys  and  girls  with  them  :  every  European  race  was 
represented  there,  but  English-speaking  people  pre 
dominated.  I  speak  of  that  which  I  have  seen  with  my 
own  eyes.  A  railway  official  at  Winnipeg  told  me  he 
had  not  had  one  minute  to  himself  for  eight  months. 

In  1906  I  saw  Saskatoon  as  it  was  laid  out,  the 
skeleton  of  a  big  town,  on  the  banks  of  the  Saskatche 
wan.  We  had  one  church,  but  four  more  blocks  had 
been  taken  up  on  the  prairie ;  the  plans  for  a  church 
to  hold  1,000  people  were  ready  at  one  of  these  centres. 
Saskatoon  was  quite  determined  to  be  a  big  place.  Two 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  SASKATCHEWAN     n 

more  railways  were  preparing  to  run  through  it.  The 
rails  in  some  places  were  being  put  down  at  the  rate  of 
about  two  miles  an  hour.  I  know  this  seems  incred 
ible  ;  but  an  eye-witness,  one  of  our  own  clergy,  gave 
me  a  graphic  description  of  the  speed  with  which  the 
rails  were  being  fastened  on  the  sleepers  as  the  line 
approached  Edmonton.  He  described  how  a  machine 
advanced  shooting  out  two  thirty-foot  rails ;  gangs  of 
men  with  hammers  and  spikes  walked  on  each  side ; 
no  sooner  had  the  rails  touched  the  sleepers  than  the 
men  drove  in  the  spikes  and  the  engine  advanced  at 
once  sending  out  another  rail ;  so  the  work  went  on. 
Of  course  the  line  was  not  completed,  but  it  was  made 
strong  enough  to  carry  the  construction  trains.  To 
myself  it  seemed  to  be  an  apt  illustration  of  the 
pace  of  modern  colonisation  upon  the  prairie.  So, 
again,  we  heard  the  well-known  stories  about  the  trains 
themselves.  An  enormous  traffic  on  a  single  line  of 
rails  must  be  carried  on  with  risks  of  stoppage,  and  at 
one  time  only  one  train  a  day  was  possible.  At  one 
of  these  new  stations  a  commercial  traveller  went  down 
to  the  station-master  to  ask  him  whether  there  would 
be  time  to  lay  out  his  goods  and  transact  business  be 
fore  the  day's  train  came  in.  Certainly  there  would, 
replied  the  official.  But  while  the  man  of  business  was 
engaged  in  his  sale  the  bell  was  heard  and  the  train 
stopped  at  the  station.  The  man  rushed  down  to  the 
station-master  and  began  upbraiding  him  for  his  false 
information.  But  he  was  checked  by  the  answer, 
"Why,  you  asked  me  whether  you'd  have  time  for 
your  business  before  to-day's  train  came  in ;  so  you 


12       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

have,  plenty  of  time.  This  is  the  day  before  yester 
day's  train." 

The  Bishop  of  Saskatchewan  has  had  the  great 
good  fortune  of  having  as  his  lieutenant,  in  the  crisis 
he  has  had  to  face,  Archdeacon  Lloyd.  The  Arch 
deacon  is  London  bred,  but  went  to  Canada  at  the 
age  of  eighteen.  He  was  a  trooper  in  1885  during 
the  second  Riel  rebellion,  and  was  wounded  near  Prince 
Albert,  where  the  Bishop  lives.  He  has  known  these 
regions  under  many  aspects  and  is  now  employing  all 
his  energies  to  plant  the  Church  among  the  hearts  of 
the  thousands  of  immigrants.  When  the  noted  Barr 
Colony  of  immigrants  was  deserted  and  deceived  by 
their  leader,  Mr.  Lloyd,  who  was  one  cf  the  party, 
took  charge  of  it,  gave  them  heart  to  persevere,  con 
ducted  them  from  Saskatoon,  where  he  found  them, 
to  what  is  now  rightly  called  Lloydminster,  and  was 
the  means  of  making  the  settlement  a  success.  He 
showed  me  their  route  along  the  200  miles  and 
told  me  of  the  way  in  which  the  families  shed 
their  heavy  luggage  on  the  way.  Tables,  pianos, 
chests  of  drawers  were  thrown  upon  one  side  during 
the  march.  It  was  springtime  and  the  tracks  were 
muddy,  and  he  tells  how  pluckily  the  little  children 
in  their  shoes  and  white  stockings  marched  along 
side  the  carts  with  their  parents. 

Then  I  learnt  upon  the  spot  how  the  Archdeacon  and 
his  plucky  wife  worked  all  the  winter  for  the  whole 
community.  They  put  up  a  big  tent,  they  cooked  in 
the  evenings  for  the  young  bachelors,  they  started  con 
certs  and  services,  they  played  games,  they  encouraged 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  SASKATCHEWAN     13 

those  who  began  to  lose  heart,  arguing  with  them  that  the 
first  winter  was  the  worst  time  for  them  and  that  matters 
would  improve  with  experience  and  after  they  had  begun 
to  understand  the  climate.  Many  a  time  the  Arch 
deacon  stood  on  the  track  trying  to  put  heart  into  the 
downcast  settler,  and  I  believe  he  often  succeeded. 

Then  at  last  he  showed  me  Lloydminster  itself,  now 
settling  into  a  town,  the  church  built  of  logs,  the  first  of 
these  brought  by  Indians  from  the  Onion  Lake  Reserve, 
which  was  in  charge  of  the  Rev.  John  Matheson,  as  a 
present.  I  was  permitted  to  preach  in  the  church  and 
to  help  to  administer  the  Holy  Communion  to  eleven 
catechists  who  had  ridden  in  that  Monday  morning 
from  surrounding  districts.  One  dear  fellow  had  never 
been  on  a  horse  before  the  previous  Wednesday;  yet 
there  he  was  six  days  afterwards  having  ridden  in  fifteen 
miles  and  was  intending  to  ride  back  that  evening.  He 
had  also  done  his  official  work  the  day  before ;  yet  he 
was  cheery,  although  he  must  have  been  uncommonly 
uncomfortable.  I  spoke  to  the  settlers  who  had  endured 
through  the  three  years  since  they  came  and  heard  how 
hard  is  the  lot  of  an  English  labourer  who  has  to  work 
himself  into  his  farm  and  do  everything  for  himself. 
He  has  to  create  a  home  out  of  a  piece  of  prairie ;  this 
means  building  his  house,  digging  his  well,  putting  up 
his  stable,  fencing  his  land — and  doing  all  before  the 
long  winter  sets  in  with  60  and  70  degrees  of  frost. 
Such  work  is  for  a  young  man,  and  he  who  battles 
through  his  first  three  years  deserves  all  his  after  success. 
It  will  have  been  the  hardest  work  of  his  life ;  but  then 
he  is  preparing  to  be  a  freeholder  and  the  builder  of  an 


i4       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

empire.  Remembering  the  terms  on  which  a  man  gets 
his  land — namely  ten  dollars  paid  down  for  160  acres, 
on  which  he  must  do  a  certain  amount  of  work  for  three 
years — the  following  account  of  what  it  means  will 
amuse  and  instruct :  "  Well,  what  do  you  think  of  your 
bargain  with  Government  ?  "  "  What  do  I  think?  Well, 
I'll  tell  you.  The  Government  bets  you  160  acres  to 
ten  dollars  that  you  won't  stick  it  out  for  three  years  ; 
that's  what  I  think." 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  three  lines  of  railway  are 
now  racing  through  this  region.  Dozens  of  stations 
are  being  built,  each  of  which  will  be  a  town  ;  thou 
sands  of  square  miles  are  being  covered  with  farms ; 
some  hold  single  men,  in  others  there  are  families. 
Thousands  are  members  of  the  Anglican  Church.  Arc 
we  to  lose  them  to  other  bodies  because  they  possess 
more  missionary  spirit  than  we  do,  or  are  we  to  recog 
nise  the  position  and  pour  in  help  from  other  parts  of 
Canada  and  from  the  Old  Country  till  our  duty  is 
fairly  well  done  ?  I  went  to  make  a  personal  inspec 
tion  and  I  came  home  prepared  to  uplift  my  voice  to 
the  utmost,  to  say  to  the  Church  at  home  :  "  It  is  a  case 
of  '  now  or  never '  with  our  Church  in  Canada.  The 
time  past  has  been  sufficient  to  have  neglected  Canada. 
Here  in  this  new  Empire  of  white  men  springing  up 
upon  the  prairie  we  must  haste  to  their  aid/' 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  RESPONSE  TO  THE  APPEAL  FOR  MEN 

THE  response  in  the  Diocese  of  Saskatchewan  had  to 
be  made  in  a  different  way  from  that  in  other  dioceses. 
The  reason  was  a  simple  one;  the  need  for  instant 
action  was  more  imperative.  Rupert's  Land,  Qu'Appelle, 
Calgary,  all  with  great  claims,  all  having  suffered  from 
our  inattention  at  home,  were  not  now  in  so  extra 
ordinary  a  position  as  the  Diocese  of  Saskatchewan. 
Probably  thousands  of  Churchmen  had  been  already 
lost  to  us  in  these  regions.  The  railway  had  been 
running  through  these  regions  since  1885-6  ;  the 
Church  had  been  slowly  covering  the  ground.  But  in 
the  Diocese  of  Saskatchewan  the  immigration  was 
coming  like  a  bolt  from  the  blue,  like  a  flight  of  locusts 
upon  the  prairie.  Such  abnormal  circumstances  had  to 
be  met  by  abnormal  methods.  Archdeacon  Lloyd 
proposed  to  the  Bishop  that  fifty  of  the  best  laymen 
that  could  be  found  in  England  for  the  work  of 
shepherding  the  people  on  the  simplest  lines  should 
be  obtained  from  England,  and  that  England  should 
be  asked  to  pay  for  them  for  three  years  at  least. 
These  men  were  to  be  promised  nothing  but  sufficient 
to  support  them,  no  promise  of  ordination  unless  they 
proved  themselves  fitted  in  due  time.  There  was  to 


16      THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

be  no  lowering  of  standards  for  ordination ;  no  one  was 
to  be  ordained  priest  without  a  year  or  two  at  a 
recognised  theological  college.  Meanwhile  an  integ 
ral  part  of  the  scheme  was  the  provision  of  at  least 
five  travelling  clergy  for  these  fifty  catechists.  The 
clergy  were  to  spend  their  time  inspecting,  helping, 
giving  the  Sacraments  to  the  catechists  and  to  the 
people.  During  the  worst  winter  months,  when  little 
could  be  done,  these  men  were  to  be  withdrawn  into 
Prince  Albert  and  be  instructed  in  Bible  and  theology. 
Such  was  the  scheme,  a  bold  one,  very  unconventional, 
but  adapted  to  the  remarkable  state  of  things  on  the 
prairie.  It  needed  necessity  to  make  the  diocese 
depart  so  far  from  the  usual,  orderly  methods  of  train 
ing  for  years  before  they  were  sent  out.  In  my  own 
opinion,  after  personally  visiting  the  diocese,  I  consider 
that  the  diocesan  authorities  were  justified  in  their 
action.  Something  strong  and  without  loss  of  time 
had  to  be  done  if  we  were  not  to  see  the  history  of 
many  a  district  in  the  East  reproduced  in  the  West  and 
in  spite  of  warning.  The  Anglican  Church  must  not 
be  wiped  out  of  existence  in  this  newly  rising  Empire 
of  white  men.  We  must  employ  the  material  we  have 
and  give  our  people  the  ministrations  of  their  Church. 
A  meeting  was  held  at  Lambeth  Palace  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  at  which  representatives 
of  the  S.P.G.,  of  the  C.C.C.S.  and  leading  Churchmen 
were  present.  It  was  determined  that  the  Archbishop 
should  be  requested  to  issue  a  letter  to  the  public 
asking  for  help.  The  Bishop  of  Qu'Appelle  was 
present  at  this  meeting  and  spoke;  Archdeacon  Lloyd 


RESPONSE  TO  THE  APPEAL  FOR  MEN    17 

was  there  with  all  his  hopefulness.  We  appealed  for  at 
least  .£20,000,  and  this  sum  was  raised  afterwards  to 
£30,000.  The  C.C.C.S.  appealed  for  money  for  churches, 
for  supporting  catechists  and  for  the  training  of  students, 
in  all  for  some  £40,000.  Our  own  committee  allocated 
sums  for  what  are  called  the  Prairie  Dioceses  as  fol 
lows  :  for  Rupert's  Land  £3,ooo,for  Qu' Appelle  and  Cal 
gary  £6,000  apiece,  for  Saskatchewan  £8,000.  These 
sums  were  to  be  spread  over  three  years :  the  general 
idea  being  that  twice  as  much  would  be  needed  in  the 
first  year  than  in  the  second  and  third,  since  the  men 
would  need  passage  money,  outfit  .and  the  expenses 
of  a  house  at  first,  none  of  these  items  needing 
repetition  afterwards.  Thus  Saskatchewan  might 
spend  £4,000  the  first  year,  and  £2,000  in  each  of  the 
two  successive  years. 

Meanwhile  we  were  all  busy  in  trying  to  obtain  the 
men.  All  applications  were  submitted  upon  our  part 
to  Archdeacon  Lloyd  in  the  first  instance,  in  order  that 
he  might  judge  whether  they  were  such  as  would  be 
acceptable  to  the  Bishop.  In  due  time  twenty-one 
were  passed  by  the  Board  of  Examiners,  and  the  day 
came  for  the  formal  and  solemn  dismissal  of  these  men 
to  their  work.  We  use  a  form  of  service  which  is 
published  by  the  S.P.C.K.  and  dismissal  is  by  solemn 
laying  on  of  hands. 

Here  are  the  names  of  the  first  set  of  catechists  : 
Messrs.  Harold  Coulthurst,  C.  S.  Garbett,  C.  W.  Morris, 
A.  J.  Richards,  E.  G.  White,  S.  L.  White,  C.  R. 
Parkerson,  A.  E.  Butcher,  H.  P.  G.  Crosse,  S.  C. 
Deacon,  F.  H.  Smith,  J.  Willoughby,  H.  A.  Edwards 


i8       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

A.  Greenhalgh,  E.  M.  Hadley,  H.  F.  Rew,  G.  Thorn, 
H.  B.  Walston,  F.  A.  T.  Eller.  In  addition  to  these 
the  Rev.  A.  J.  Oakley  was  sent  out. 

Thursday,  i8th  April,  1907,  was  a  day  full  of  interest 
at  the  Society's  office.  At  5  P.M.  the  catechists,  for 
whom  we  have  been  permitted  to  pay  stipends,  began 
to  arrive,  and  tea  was  served  to  them.  At  6.15  P.M. 
evensong  commenced  in  Lambeth  Parish  Church.  At 
7  P.M.  the  Service  of  Dismissal  began,  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  having  arrived  in  robes.  His  Grace 
would  not  conduct  the  service,  but  said  he  would  speak 
to  the  men  at  the  conclusion  of  the  dismissal  and  give 
the  final  benediction.  The  well-known  form  of  service 
we  use  was  then  proceeded  with,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Society  officiating.  The  following  points  were  made  in 
the  course  of  the  address,  the  text  taken  being,  "  Be 
strong  in  the  Lord",  (i)  You  go  to  a  young  nation. 
Expect  to  find  the  faults  of  youth  ;  have  a  strong  sense 
of  humour,  not  because  you  do  not  care,  but  because 
behind  all  else  you  have  hope  in  God  and  can  wait  for 
results.  (2)  Refuse  to  be  ticketed  as  belonging  to  any 
party  or  society.  You  are  Churchmen,  working  under 
the  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Saskatchewan  and  his 
Council.  We  do  not  pay  your  stipends.  The  money 
is  given  to  the  Bishop.  He  pays  those  whom  he  thinks 
fit.  (3)  Beware  of  the  time  on  board  the  ship.  Don't 
talk  of  what  you  are  going  to  do.  Be  reticent.  Listen 
much,  but  keep  your  own  counsel.  Be  unselfish. 
There  is  no  place  like  a  ship  for  the  detection  of 
character.  (4)  Don't  pretend  to  be  theologians,  for  you 
are  not.  We  have  given  you  the  names  of  many 


RESPONSE  TO  THE  APPEAL  FOR  MEN  19 

6d.  books,  editions  of  first-rate  books;  lend  them, 
read  them.  It  is  easy  for  men  to  ask  you  questions  to 
which  there  is  no  full  answer.  Many  questions  contain 
untrue  assumptions  though  unknown  to  you.  Refer 
such  persons  to  those  who  know.  You  are  a  humble 
catechist  and  scholar  of  Christ.  (5)  Don't  talk  of  Eng 
land  or  compare  Canada  with  it.  Then  Canada  will 
take  you  to  her  heart.  (6)  We  shall  think  of  yon  en 
tering  for  the  first  time  the  bar  of  a  hotel  to  get  a  con 
gregation.  You  will  feel  a  coward ;  remember  who 
enters  with  you  and  overhears  all.  (7)  Be  real  and 
not  sanctimonious.  (8)  Let  us  often  hear  from  you. 
Letters  are  kept  for  ever.  Your  letters  will  be  of  in 
tense  interest  a  century  hence. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  service  the  Archbishop 
uttered  grave  words  of  advice  and  hope,  reminded  them 
of  the  church  in  which  they  were,  that  Hannington  and 
others  had  been  consecrated  there  for  mission  work. 
Those  who  were  before  him  were  going  away  carrying 
the  good  name  of  the  English  Church  to  build  founda 
tions  which  should  abide. 

After  the  service  the  men  had  tea  in  Westminster, 
and  spent  a  happy  hour  at  the  office.  Then  the  Secre 
tary  and  the  Rev.  H.  Livesey  accompanied  them  to 
Euston,  the  train  leaving  at  12.10  midnight.  The 
Bishop  of  Liverpool  celebrated  the  Holy  Communion 
for  the  whole  of  Archdeacon  Lloyd's  party  (S.P.G. 
and  C.C.C.S.  men)  on  ipth  April  at  St.  Nicholas' 
Church,  and  the  steamer  started  in  the  afternoon. 

So  a  party  of  about  fifty  workers  were  on  their  way 
to  fill  the  terrible  gaps  in  the  organisation  of  this  diocese. 


20      THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

At  Montreal  they  were  placed  on  a  train  with  their 
baggage  and  Archdeacon  Lloyd  accompanied  them 
to  Saskatoon,  where  they  were  to  receive  their  tents, 
ponies,  carts,  cooking  utensils,  etc.,  and  start  on  their 
great  venture  in  faith.  Unfortunately  the  tents  were 
left  behind  at  Liverpool  by  mistake,  and  on  arrival  at 
Saskatoon  the  men  were  quartered  in  the  small  parish 
hall  of  St.  John's.  It  was  a  dreadful  crush,  but  as 
quickly  as  possible  thirty  men  were  sent  off  to  their 
stations  along  the  lines  of  the  Canadian  Northern 
Railway  till  tents  and  ponies  arrived.  But  twenty 
men  were  compelled  to  wait  till  their  ponies  had  come 
from  British  Columbia ;  so  a  camp  was  made,  and 
while  they  were  waiting  a  rough-and-ready  divinity 
school  was  established.  Cooking,  camping,  practising 
reading  the  services,  etc.,  filled  up  the  time.  Some  of 
these  men  had  to  be  sent  250  miles  to  begin  their  work, 
literally  to  push  their  way  into  it  single-handed.  No 
time  for  shyness  here ;  every  man  must  feel  that  upon 
him  rests  the  honour  of  the  diocese,  and  that  not  only 
Canada  but  the  mother  country  was  watching  him  and 
praying  for  him. 

No  diocese,  I  think,  could  ever  before  have  had  its 
numbers  increased  so  suddenly  as  in  this  case.  A  few 
months  later  the  Bishop  could  thank  God  for  so  much 
aid  in  money  and  men.  Listen  to  his  own  words : — 

"  We  are  now  able  to  gather  our  people  together  for 
worship,  to  visit  them  in  their  scattered  homes,  and  to 
give  them  the  ministrations  of  their  own  Church,  which 
hitherto  some  yearned  for  in  vain,  and  some,  alas! 
forgot,  or  in  resentment  at  our  delay  forsook.  We  are 


RESPONSE  TO  THE  APPEAL  FOR  MEN    21 

able,  I  say,  to  do   this  in  almost   every  part  of  the 
diocese,  where  two  or  three  people  are  to  be  found. 
This  time  last  year  we  numbered  twenty-six  clergy, 
and    nine    licensed    catechists.      Now   our  list   shows 
thirty-two  clergy  and  sixty-three  catechists,  an  increase 
in  clergy  of  6,  or  24  per  cent,  and  in  catechists  54,  or 
600  per  cent.     What  this  means  in  the  way  of  new 
missions  and  fresh  centres  for  worship  I  must  leave  you 
to  picture  yourselves.     But  it  does  not  mean  less  work 
or  a  smaller  number  of  services  for  each  worker,  but 
that  the  work  can  be  more  thoroughly  done,  that  a  far 
larger  number  of  congregations  will  have  their  services 
regularly  and  that  a  number  of  places  which  we  could 
not  hitherto  reach  are  reached.     For  example,  I  could 
only  give  Humboldt  last  year  a  service  about  once  in 
three  months,  although  the  people  there  had  shown  their 
desire  by  building  a  church.      Now  they  have  their 
services  every  Sunday,  and  the  resident  catechist  holds 
service  in  two  or  three  places  near.     East  of  Humboldt 
we  could  do  nothing,  though  Watson,  Clair  and  Pas- 
wegin  wrote  to  me  repeatedly,  that  they  were  gathering 
for  service  among  themselves,  and  besought  me  to  send 
them  a  clergyman,  if  it  was  only  for  the  administration 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  occasionally.     Now   they  have 
their  regular  weekly  service,  and  will  have  an  adminis 
tration  at  least  once  a  quarter.     It  is  the  same  for  that 
vast   country   west   of    Saskatoon   and   south-west  of 
Battleford,  filling  with  settlers,  and  with  two  railways 
under  construction.     The  people  there  will  have  their 
services  read  by  licensed  catechists  and  also  the  oc 
casional  visit  of  a  clergyman. 


22       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

"It  is  a  magnificent  start  for  a  heart-stirring  enter 
prise,  and  should  call  forth  our  unanimous  thanksgiving 
to  God  and  to  His  servants  who  have  thus  come  to  our 
aid.  But  it  is  somewhat  of  a  critical  experiment,  and  we 
should  enter  upon  it  with  humble  reverence,  and  earnest 
prayer  for  God's  guidance  and  blessing." 

No  one  will  suppose  that  there  were  no  faults  in  the 
machinery  or  that  the  catechists  received  their  stipends 
always  with  punctuality,  or  that  they  have  all  proved  to 
be  archangels,  or  could  all  stand  the  tremendous  strain. 
One  or  two  have  retired  as  unfit.  This  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  for  nothing  is  more  difficult  than  to  decide 
whether  a  man  who  has  done  good  work  in  England 
will  do  equally  well  in  a  completely  new  environment. 
We  have  made  mistakes  both  ways.  But  on  the  whole 
the  Bishop  and  Archdeacon  are  more  than  satisfied. 
The  men  have  really  risen  to  the  occasion  and  have 
put  all  their  force  into  their  bewildering  work.  I  call 
it  bewildering,  because  one  must  have  the  eye  of  a 
general  for  this  increasing  multitude  of  people  to  be 
shepherded.  When  Archdeacon  Lloyd  was  placing 
the  men  along  the  line  of  the  track,  leaving  one  here 
and  another  there,  they  would  sometimes  say  to  him, 
"What  is  the  name  of  that  place?"  His  answer  at 
times  was,  "  I  don't  know ;  it  didn't  exist  when  I  was 
here  last ".  On  another  occasion  the  Archdeacon  wrote 
to  me  that  he  must  take  a  waggon,  fill  it  with  stores 
and  drive  for  days,  dropping  provisions  for  the  men  to 
keep  them  alive,  for  he  knew  that  in  certain  places  they 
would  find  it  hard  to  get  anything.  One  of  the  bright 
features  of  this  venture  has  been  the  splendid  self- 


RESPONSE  TO  THE  APPEAL  FOR  MEN   23 

devotion  of  the  Bishop  and  the  Archdeacon  and,  I  may 
add,  of  their  wives.  They  have  denied  themselves  the 
ordinary  luxuries  of  life  for  the  sake  of  the  work  ; 
have  worked  night  and  day  and  worn  down  their 
strength  and  have  never  complained.  This  it  has 
been  which  has  nerved  our  young  workers  to  put 
up  with  almost  any  hardship ;  they  knew  that,  how 
ever  much  the  machinery  suddenly  improvised  might 
creak  at  times,  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  chief 
engineers  were  doing  their  utmost ;  no  men  in  the 
diocese  were  working  harder  than  the  Bishop  and 
the  Archdeacon  and  the  superintending  clergy. 

It  is  time  now  to  note  the  kind  of  districts  which 
have  been  carved  out. 

The  areas  of  the  superintending  clergy  are  called 
"  driving  centres  " — a  new  name  for  a  novel  situation. 
Some  of  these  "driving  clergy"  have  four  catechists 
under  them,  some  seven  and  some  nine. 

There  are  three  classes  of  parishes  or  districts  in  the 
diocese:  (i)  "A  Mission"  is  where  only  the  minor 
part  of  the  stipend  is  found  by  the  people.  (2)  "A 
Parish  "  is  where  the  major  part  of  the  stipend  is  found 
by  the  people.  (3)  "  A  Rectory  "  is  where  the  whole 
is  supplied  locally. 

Under  present  circumstances,  and  as  a  general  rule, 
a  catechist  is  supplied  to  a  mission,  a  deacon  to  a 
parish,  and  a  priest  to  a  rectory.  There  is  a  further 
piece  of  organisation  which  will  give  pleasure  to  those 
who  watch  this  great  venture.  There  are  deaconesses 
to  be  placed  in  humble  dwellings,  called  felicitously 
11  Lambeth  Palaces,"  whose  duty  it  will  be  to  canvass 


24       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

systematically  all  parishes  and  missions,  inviting  every 
man,  woman  and  child  belonging  to  the  Church  to 
support  the  Church.  Nothing  is  neglected  to  foster  the 
fullest  amount  of  self-help. 

Wonderful  indeed  is  the  influx  of  human  life  which 
needs  the  attention  of  all  Churchmen.  I  turn  to 
the  record  of  the  Land  Office  at  Moosejaw  in  the 
Qu'Appelle  Diocese,  and  note  that  in  twelve  months 
ending  August,  1908,  there  were  5,520  applications 
for  i6o-acre  farms  representing  an  acreage  of  883,200. 
Or  if  you  turn  northwards  to  Edmonton,  4,137  ap 
plications  were  made  in  the  same  time,  representing 
an  area  of  661,920  acres.  Of  these  prospective 
farmers  how  many  may  have  been  Churchmen 
from  the  Motherland  totally  unaccustomed  to  sup 
port  their  clergymen  ?  Most  of  them  will  sorely  need 
the  companionship  of  a  godly  man  to  lead  them  in 
worship ;  best  of  all,  if  the  minister  be  a  priest.  It  is 
pathetic  to  hear  that  a  pioneer  will  religiously  try  at 
times  to  keep  Sunday,  when  there  is  no  service,  by  the 
little  outward  signs  of  difference.  The  baby  is  dressed 
up  in  his  best ;  Sunday  clothes  are  worn ;  best  of  all  the 
service  is  read  and  hymns  are  sung.  Would  that  the 
old  custom  of  family  prayers  could  thus  be  revived  upon 
the  prairie. 


CHAPTER  IV 

LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

THOSE  who  wish  to  read  letters  frorrrthe  men  actually 
at  work  will  like  to  peruse  the  following  pages.  I  have 
given  no  names  purposely  : — 

"We  are  waiting  for  our  bronchos,  and  have  been 
living  in  the  Town-hall  of  Saskatoon  up  to  a  week  ago. 
Now,  as  our  tents  have  turned  up,  we  are  in  camp  on 
the  prairie  about  a  mile  from  the  city.  The  horses  will 
arrive  unbroken  straight  from  the  ranches  in  Alberta,  so 
you  can  imagine  that  there  will  be  some  fun.  They 
are  to  be  in  the  hands  of  proper  breakers  for  two  days 
only,  then  we  get  them,  and  those  of  us  who  know  the 
driving  end  of  a  horse  are  to  finish  their  education  be 
fore  the  others  have  them.  .  .  .  Directly  the  ponies  are 
here  and  are  fit  I  am  to  be  one  of  the  first  to  go  and 
drive  twenty  miles  and  find  my  way  across  the  prairie 
as  best  I  can.  I  am  turning  out  some  wonderful  and 
awful  dishes  in  my  first  attempts  at  cooking.  .  .  .  We 
have  lectures  every  day  and  also  matins  and  evensong, 
and  I  have  had  one  examination  already.  Included  in 
my  work  will  be  the  taking  of  burial  services  and  pre 
paration  of  candidates  for  confirmation,  and  I  shall 
have  to  hold,  if  possible,  three  services  each  Sunday 
with  perhaps  eight  or  nine  miles  between  each.  I  am 

(25) 


26      THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

to  give  a  short  address  in  church  to-morrow  before  the 
Archdeacon,  two  or  three  clergy,  and  all  our  fellows. 
Don't  you  sympathise  with  me  ?  " 

Archdeacon  Lloyd's  account  of  the  adventure  includes 
a  personal  contribution : — 

How  AN  S.P.G.  MAN  WAS  "FIRED  OUT" 

In  the  West  of  Canada  to  be  "fired  out"  is  the  cor 
responding  slang  term  to  the  English  "  bounced  " — in 
other  words,  a  man  "  fired  out "  is  not  needed  any 
longer,  at  least  in  that  particular  sphere  of  activity. 
This,  however,  is  not  what  happened  to  B.,  an  S.P.G. 
catechist  in  Saskatchewan.  He  left  England  with  that 
large  party  of  fifty  catechists  who  sailed  In  April  with 
Archdeacon  Lloyd,  and  he,  like  all  the  others,  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  face  any  hard  field  of  work  and 
do  his  full  duty  by  it.  Yet  he  was  hardly  on  his  field 
before  he  was  fired  out. 

It  came  about  in  this  way. 

To  the  north  of  Prince  Albert,  in  the  Diocese  of 
Saskatchewan,  there  has  been  for  many  years  a  large 
forest  reservation,  in  which  the  lumber  companies 
occasionally  cut  timber,  but  the  whole  district  for  many, 
many  miles  round  remained  forest.  During  the  spring 
and  summer  of  1906  a  good  many  settlers  came  into 
Prince  Albert,  and,  finding  homesteads  somewhat  scarce, 
they  went  into  this  uninhabited  forest  territory  and 
"  squatted  ".  This  year  the  Canadian  Government  sent 
in  several  groups  of  surveyors  to  survey  and  open  a 
large  number  of  these  townships,  so  that  settlers  might 
legally  go  in  and  homestead.  So,  when  Archdeacon 


A    SHACK 


LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  27 

Lloyd's  party  of  catechists  arrived  in  Saskatoon,  the 
Bishop  had  already  decided  that  one  man  ought  to  be 
sent  into  this  new  country  north  of  Prince  Albert. 
B.  was  the  man  selected  for  what  was  not  likely 
to  be  an  easy  field  of  work.  The  tents  had  not  yet 
arrived,  but  that  made  no  difference — he  would  pull 
through  somehow;  and  so  off  B.  started  to  found  a 
new  mission.  To  quote  his  own  words  as  nearly  as 
possible  this  is  what  happened  :— 

"When  I  arrived  at  halfway  house  to  stay  over 
Monday  night,  I  heard  of  a  shack  which  was  likely  to 
be  empty.  Out  I  went  to  search  for  it,  and  found  that 
the  owner  was  leaving  the  next  day.  The  man  in 
tended  to  take  away  all  the  flooring,  door,  windows, 
joists  and  shelves,  leaving  only  the  bare  logs,  because 
they  were  not  worth  much  and  were  too  heavy  to  take 
away.  The  shack  was  about  twenty-two  feet  by  sixteen 
feet,  and  as  it  seemed  to  be  in  a  central  position  I  de 
cided  to  try  and  get  it. 

"  After  some  talk  with  the  man,  he  said  that  as  it 
was  for  the  Church  he  would  sell  it  to  me  and  would 
sell  it  cheap.  So  I  got  the  floor,  four  windows  of 
twenty-four  panes,  door,  lock,  shelves,  and  a  large 
wooden  box,  all  for  five  dollars,  and  you  will  agree  with 
me  that  I  got  a  bargain.  I  thought  that  if  a  shack  had 
to  be  built  for  me  in  the  fall  that  these  things  would 
all  work  in,  and  so  I  took  possession.  Then  I  went 
over  to  some  people  a  mile  away  and  moved  over  my 
books  and  some  of  my  luggage.  That  night  one  of 

the  H boys  came  over  to  sleep  with  me,  and 

helped  bring  over  some  blankets,  four  hay  bags  to  sleep 
on,  and  two  hay  pillows. 


28       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

"  The  next  day  (Sunday)  I  went  off  early  in  the 
morning  to  take  my  first  service,  some  seven  miles 
away,  near  the  mill.  During  the  time  I  was  there  a 
great  bush  fire,  which  had  been  burning  for  some  time 
up  north,  was  driven  down  by  the  wind,  and  although 
a  fireguard  had  been  made  round  the  shack  it  was  not 
enough;  the  fire  was  so  fierce  it  caught  some  of  the 
hay  in  the  kitchen  part  of  the  shack  (which  I  had  in 
tended  for  a  stable),  and  from  that  the  hay  on  the  roof 
caught,  and  the  result  was  that  I  lost  all  that  I  had, 
including  the  shack.  My  five  dollars'  worth  of  flooring, 
door,  windows,  rugs,  blankets,  eyeglasses,  and  several 
other  things  all  went  together.  At  least  £$  ios.  worth 
of  my  own  stuff,  and  also  about  £i  worth  of  the  H—  — 's 
blankets,  pillows,  etc.,  for  although  he  was  very  nice 
about  it,  yet  I  felt  it  my  bounden  duty  to  replace  them. 
I  was  seven  miles  away  at  the  time  that  it  happened, 
and  when  I  came  back  and  found  the  shack  in  ashes 
the  loneliness  seemed  unbearable  and  I  was  very  much 
down  in  the  dumps,  but  no  doubt  I  shall  pull  through 
somehow." 

The  rest  of  the  story  comes  through  the  Bishop.  B. 
tramped  into  Prince  Albert,  and  going  to  the  Bishop's 
house  he  rang  the  bell,  and  when  the  Bishop  answered 
the  door  himself  B.  with  a  very  woebegone  face, 
held  up  a  small  key  and  announced  to  the  Bishop  "  that 
was  all  that  remained  to  him  of  all  his  worldly  pos 
sessions  ".  However,  the  Diocesan  Women's  Auxiliary 
happened  to  be  in  session  at  the  time,  and  after  Mrs. 
Newnham  heard  of  the  burning  out  she  laid  the  whole 
matter  before  the  W.A.  The  response  was  instantane- 


FIXING   A    WHEEL 


LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  29 

ous.  The  Prince  Albert  members  went  out  to  find 
blankets,  pillows  and  sundry  other  things;  the  out-of- 
town  members  made  a  collection  of  some  thirty  dollars ; 
the  Archdeacon  took  a  set  of  S.P.C.K.  books  from 
their  original  purpose ;  and  somebody  in  Prince  Albert 
paid  for  the  glasses. 

The  tents,  ponies  and  rigs  having  come  in  by  this 
time,  the  Missionary  catechist  who  began  by  being 
"  fired  out "  was  promptly  "  fired  in  "  again,  and  the 
next  day  started  off  for  his  mission  in  thoroughly  good 
heart  and  not  a  whit  the  worse  off  for  his  burning.  In 
fact,  it  is  whispered  that  he  went  back  in  real  luxury, 
inasmuch  as  he  had  two  sheets,  which  is  more  than  any 
of  the  other  men  had. 

A  GREAT  TREK  (being  the  Original  Start  from 
Saskatoon} 

{By  Archdeacon  Lloyd} 

It  is  all  over  now,  and  the  men  have  long  since  been 
in  their  districts  at  work.  But  it  was  interesting  while 
it  lasted,  that  trek  from  Saskatoon,  all  along  the  line 
of  route  where  the  Grand  Trunk  Pacific  is  being  built 
and  where  next  year  the  steel  will  be  laid  and  trains  will 
be  running. 

When  the  fifty-five  catechists  who  came  out  to 
Saskatchewan  this  year  reached  Saskatoon  they  had 
to  wait  for  some  time  the  arrival  of  their  carts  and 
ponies.  Both  of  course  ought  to  have  been  there,  but 
until  the  railways  can  bring  up  the  stuff  you  simply 
have  to  wait.  When  once  the  car  arrived  containing 


30       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

the  fifty  two- wheeled  red  things  (now  known  all  over 
the  province  as  the  "  English  preachers'  rigs ")  there 
was  a  general  bustle  in  camp  to  get  them  fitted  together. 

Putting  the  wheels  on  and  screwing  up  the  shafts 
looked  an  easy  matter,  and  every  catechist  was  abso 
lutely  sure  he  knew  all  about  such  a  simple  thing  as 
that.  But  when  some  of  the  wheels  absolutely  refused 
to  turn,  and  other  badly  behaved  bolts  definitely  de 
cided  that  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  ready-made 
holes  apparently  two  inches  out  of  plumb,  it  was  felt 
that  when  the  S.P.G.  start  that  Colonial  College  of 
Divinity,  carriage-building  must  be  put  before  dentistry, 
because  the  want  of  such  knowledge  is  liable  to  bring 
on  heart  disease  or  apoplexy. 

Two  or  three  days  more  had  to  be  spent  breaking 
the  ponies  into  the  rigs,  and  then  one  hot  day  every 
body  began  to  load  ready  for  the  journey.  As  this 
would  take  any  time  from  two  weeks  to  a  month,  and 
the  light  two-wheeled  carts  could  not  carry  any 
baggages,  a  waggon  and  team  belonging  to  a  German 
had  to  be  hired  to  follow  the  carts  and  carry  tents, 
stoves,  food  supplies,  and  as  much  baggage  as  could 
be  allowed  each  man.  The  rest  had  to  go  round  by 
train,  and  was  afterwards  freighted  down  South  from 
Lloydminster. 

One  very  necessary  thing  each  morning  before  the 
start  can  be  made  is  the  "  rounding  up,"  and  generally 
one  special  horse  is  kept  for  that  purpose.  Ponies 
break  away  from  the  picket  line  and  race  all  over  the 
prairie,  leaving  their  unfortunate  owners  gazing  helplessly 
after  them. 


TACKING 


LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  31 

At  last  everything  is  ready,  and  the  catechist  is  in 
his  rig  waiting  for  the  others.  To-day  the  harness  looks 
clean  and  new,  the  rig  as  red  and  nice  as  possible,  and 
the  man  perfectly  confident,  worlds  to  conquer,  and  he 
quite  ready  to  do  it.  I  took  a  photo  of  one  man  on 
the  day  of  the  start.  When  I  saw  that  man  again  the 
rig  was  not  so  clean  and  span.  It  had  run  a  good  many 
miles  since  that  first  day,  and  the  man  did  not  look  at 
all  the  same.  The  green  Englishman  had  largely 
gone,  and  now  a  firm  determination  to  tackle  the  work 
had  settled  on  him  instead.  He  had  found  out  what 
<(  a  country  of  magnificent  distances  "  really  means. 

On  the  trail.  Between  Saskatoon  and  the  western 
part  of  the  diocese  the  men  will  traverse  all  kinds  of 
country.  Some  beautiful  wide  open  prairie,  ready  for 
the  plough ;  other  parts  covered  all  over  with  sloughs 
and  broken  land.  In  other  places  the  trail  will  lead,  as 
it  frequently  does,  through  miles  of  hill  and  valley, 
bluff  and  scrub,  known  as  the  park  lands.  The  English 
settler  nearly  always  seizes  upon  this  kind  of  land 
because  of  its  park-like  beauty.  It  is  so  like  home. 
The  American,  on  the  other  hand,  passes  it  by  and 
goes  on  ;to  the  bare  prairie.  He  thinks  there  is  too 
much  scrub  to  clear  away. 

But  the  journey  is  not  by  any  means  all  plain  sailing. 
There  are  creeks  in  the  way,  and  these  often  have  very 
soft  muddy  bottoms.  Then  the  trouble  begins.  The 
baggage  waggon  is  usually  taken  over  first,  and  in 
several  cases  it  stuck  solidly,  and  began  to  settle  down 
in  the  soft  bottom.  Then  the  team  is  taken  out  and 
a  chain  is  put  on  to  the  tongue  of  the  waggon,  and 


32      THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

getting  a  firm  footing  on  the  dry  bank,  the  team  can 
often  pull  out  the  load  where  they  cannot  move  it  in 
the  water.  At  other  times  the  whole  thing  had  to  be 
unloaded,  and  the  stuff  carried  piece  by  piece  to  the 
bank,  and  the  waggon  released  in  that  way.  No. 
Trekking  on  the  prairie  is  not  all  Henley  Regatta. 
The  missionary  who  travels  the  plains  often  finds  out 
the  meaning  of  the  Psalmist's  words  "  deep  waters," 
stuck  fast  "  in  the  mire,"  (£  where  no  ground  is  ". 

The  only  way  is  to  take  it  quietly  as  it  comes,  and 
the  longest  day  will  have  an  end.  The  camp  fire  at 
night  will  dry  the  wet  things,  and  the  cup  of  tea,  made 
in  the  tea  billy  by  throwing  a  handful  of  tea  into  a 
boiling  half-gallon  of  water,  is  compensation  for  many 
troubles  and  trials. 

A  good  night's  sleep,  an  early  call,  feed  ponies,  get 
breakfast,  and  then  wash  up  and  pack  ready  for  the 
day's  journey. 

Typical  prairie  shacks  of  the  first  two  or  three  years. 
On  the  prairie  lumber  for  building  is  scarce  and  dear. 
The  great  majority  of  the  people  who  come  in  to  settle 
are  not  rich ;  they  are  poor.  That  is  why  they  came. 
Therefore  anything  that  will  save  dollars  has  to  be 
resorted  to  at  once.  Logs  a  foot  thick  and  less  can  be 
had  within  ten  or  twenty  miles  on  the  banks  of  the 
rivers  and  streams.  These  are  hauled  and  built  by  the 
settlers  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Kitscoty  Mission, 

where  E is  the  catechist.  The  roof  is  made  of 

thin  poles,  and  these  are  covered  over  with  two  layers 
of  sod  cut  from  the  prairie,  one  layer  turf  down  and  the 
other  turf  up.  It  is  no  unusual  sight  to  see  large 


CAMPING 


LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  33 

plants,  weeds,  wheat,  and  all  manner  of  things  growing 
most  luxuriantly  on  top  of  the  roof. 

A  small  team  of  Indian  ponies  is  used  by  the 
"driving"  or  "travelling  clergyman"  as  he  goes  the 
rounds  of  an  immense  area.  I  drove  behind  this  team 

yesterday  to  visit  part  of  E 's  Mission  of  Kitscoty, 

and  I  would  not  like  to  say  how  many  miles  the 
clergyman  told  me  they  had  travelled  that  week. 
Something  like  this.  Monday,  40 ;  Tuesday,  30 ; 
Wednesday,  3  5  ;  Thursday,  20  ;  Friday,  14;  Saturday, 
6  ;  and  now  Sunday,  I  am  sure  another  40.  Of  course 
no  ponies  could  stand  that  very  long,  and  they  came 
into  Vermilion  late  for  service  by  five  minutes.  The 
settlers'  team  behind  belongs  to  one  of  the  regular 

Church   centres  in  this  district.     By  the  way  E 

badly  wants  three  little  churches,  costing  ,£50  each, 
put  up  in  his  mission  about  seven  to  nine  miles  apart. 
The  people  are  ready  and  willing  to  haul  and  work, 
but  cash  to  buy  lumber  is  very  scarce  just  now.  £50 
will  pay  for  the  lumber  to  build  a  place  seating  sixty 
people  when  the  people  do  their  own  hauling  and 
building  without  cost. 

How  A  CHURCH  WAS  BUILT  AT  HUMBOLDT 
(By  Archdeacon  Lloyd} 

I  have  just  received  a  printed  notice  of  the  opening 
of  Humboldt  Church  next  Sunday.  The  S.P.G.  ought 

to  be  interested,  because  Mr.  P C (who  is  one 

of  the  S.P.G.  men  who  came  out  last  April  with  me)  is 
the  catechist  in  charge  there. 

3 


34       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

Eighteen  months  ago,  in  response  to  several  requests 
from  a  young  lawyer  in  Humboldt,  I  went  down  there, 
a  distance  of  300  miles,  to  hold  a  service  for  them, 
baptise  two  children,  and  administer  the  Holy  Com 
munion.  They  had  never  had  a  service  before,  and  the 
little  handful  of  Churchmen  there  were  almost  lost  in 
the  midst  of  a  great  German  Romanist  population. 

After  the  morning  service  had  been  held  the  Holy 
Communion  was  administered  to  only  three  communi 
cants.  On  Monday  we  had  a  meeting  and  organised 
a  church  by  electing  two  churchwardens  and  four 
vestrymen  ;  but,  as  I  remember  it,  when  they  had  been 
elected  there  were  no  more  men.  Then  we  organised  a 
branch  of  the  Women's  Auxiliary,  without  which  any 
parish  or  mission  out  here  can  hardly  hope  to  succeed. 
We  elected  a  President,  Vice- President,  Secretary  and 
Treasurer,  and  then  there  ^^vere  no  more  women. 

Over  the  water  you  would  hardly  think  it  worth 
while  to  organise  a  congregation  for  so  few.  (But  I 
forgot  the  babies  :  they  were  not  counted  in  the  above 
congregation.)  However,  that  was  our  start.  Then  I 
urged  them  to  get  up  a  little  building  of  some  kind  for 
a  church,  and  I  sent  round  a  circular  letter  to  help  to 
raise  $100  for  them,  and  finally  a  little  fourteen  by  six 
teen  church  was  built  (feet,  of  course,  not  yards).  There 
could  be  no  resident  clergyman  or  catechist.  We 
could  not  afford  to  put  a  man  into  such  a  district. 
So  the  Bishop  used  to  go  down  whenever  he  could  and 
give  them  a  service,  and  I  went  down  a  few  times 

before  coming  to  England.  This  spring  Mr.  C 

was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  all  he  could  find  in  the 


STARTING 


LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  35 

whole  countryside,  making  Humboldt  his  centre. 
His  territory  is  about  thirty-three  townships  of  thirty- 
six  square  miles  each,  so  there  is  nothing  small  in  the 
area  at  least. 

A  little  while  ago  Mr.  C surprised  me  by  send 
ing  in  plans  for  a  church  twenty  by  forty,  making  the 
first  little  church  the  chancel.  This  one  was  to  have 
a  six-foot  tower  as  well.  I  sent  the  plans  back  for 
revision,  because  I  did  not  see  how  they  could  pay  for 
such  a  large  building,  and  the  diocese  could  not  give 
them  anything.  But  the  answer  came  back,  that 
although  they  could  not  pay  for  it  all  just  now,  they 
had  arranged  a  way  by  which  it  would  be  paid  off  in 
a  short  time,  and  so  the  plans  passed,  and  the  printed 
notice  which  I  enclose  is  the  result. 

I  won't  say  anything  more  about  it  now  because  no 
doubt  next  month  your  readers  will  want  to  read  the 
Bishop's  account  of  the  opening  of  that  church.  But 
I  think  this  proves  what  I  said  so  many  times  in 
England — if  we  look  after  the  fives  we  shall  soon  get 
the  fifties. 

ST.  ANDREWS,  HUMBOLDT  AND  DISTRICT 
(From  the  Catechist  in  charge] 

The  town  of  Humboldt  and  its  surrounding  district 
lies  at  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Diocese  of  Saskatche 
wan.  Three  years  ago  there  was  no  town  of  Humboldt ; 
the  nearest  railway  point  was  more  than  a  hundred  miles 
away,  and  the  only  inhabitants  of  the  district  were  a  small 
Roman  Catholic  German-American  colony,  supervised 
by  the  priests  of  the  Mission  Monastery  of  St.  Peter 


36       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

at  Muenster,  and  three  or  four  English  settlers.  Now 
the  Canadian  Northern  Railway  runs  through  the 
district  the  town  of  Humboldt  has  quickly  grown  to  a 
population  of  some  500  or  600,  and  every  free  home 
stead  (except  seventeen)  within  a  radius  of  twenty-four 
miles  has  been  taken  up.  The  population  is  com 
posed  of  various  nationalities — English,  Scottish,  Irish, 
Canadian,  American,  French,  German,  Swedish  and 
Russian. 

The  first  service  of  the  Church  of  England  for  this 
district  was  taken  by  Archdeacon  Lloyd  at  Humboldt 
a  year  and  nine  months  ago  on  Sunday,  22nd  October, 
1905,  in  the  then  unfinished  church  of  the  Presbyterians. 
There  were  twenty  people  present,  and  three  of  them 
received  the  Holy  Communion.  Two  months  later  the 
little  band  of  Church  people  in  the  town,  together  with 
the  help  of  some  of  the  English  settlers  in  the  district, 
built  for  themselves  a  little  chancel  (sixteen  feet  by 
fourteen  feet),  dedicated  to  St.  Andrew,  in  which  to  hold 
their  worship,  hoping  it  might  be  possible  for  the  Bishop 
to  give  them  a  resident  clergyman  or  catechist  to  minis 
ter  to  them,  for  there  were  some  very  zealous  Church 
men  among  their  number.  But  owing  to  lack  of  men  the 
Bishop  was  not  able  to  gratify  their  wish  in  this  respect. 
Services,  however,  were  held  at  intervals  from  3ist 
December,  1905  (when  the  little  church  was  first  used), 
till  May,  1907.  The  Bishop  himself  journeyed  down 
to  this  south-east  corner  of  his  diocese  a  few  times,  and 
spent  a  Sunday  or  holyday  with  the  faithful  little  con 
gregation  of  English  Churchmen.  Archdeacon  Lloyd 
also  visited  them  as  often  as  his  many  calls  and  duties 


LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  37 

allowed,  and  the  Rev.  C.  H.  Coles,  of  St.  John's,  Saska 
toon,  spent  one  Sunday  in  the  district.  Mr.  H.  D. 
Pickett,  churchwarden,  read  the  service  sometimes,  and 
for  a  few  weeks  in  the  summer  of  1906  Mr.  Pelletier, 
a  student  from  Montreal  College,  stayed  in  the  district 
and  conducted  services.  In  the  meantime  many  changes 
had  taken  place  in  the  residents,  as  is  so  often  the  case 
in  this  Western  land.  Some  of  the  original  Church 
people  moved  away,  and  others  had  come  to  the 
neighbourhood.  And  it  so  happened  that  from  4th 
November,  1906,  till  May,  1907,  there  was  no  one  avail 
able  to  take  a  service.  But  the  little  church  stood  there 
as  a  silent  witness,  both  of  the  fact  that  the  Church  had 
planted  her  standard  in  Humboldt  and  also  (as  it 
turned  out)  that  she  had  several  sons  and  daughters  in 
her  midst  ready  to  take  their  part  in  furthering  her 
work  when  the  time  should  come  to  revive  it. 

When  Archdeacon  Lloyd  arrived  from  England  in 
May  with  his  fifty  clergy  and  catechists  for  the  work 
of  the  Church  in  Western  Canada  the  tied  hands  of  the 
Bishop  were  somewhat  released,  and  he  was  able  to 
gratify  some  of  the  many  urgent  appeals  made  to  him 
from  every  part  of  his  great  diocese.  And  Humboldt 
was  not  forgotten.  The  Bishop  detailed  Mr.  H.  P.  G. 

C to  go  there  as  catechist  in  charge.     The  first 

Sunday,  5th  May,  services  were  held  in  Humboldt 
only,  and  the  congregation  consisted  of  sixteen  persons. 
But  our  people  at  Humboldt  did  not  take  long 
to  show  their  appreciation  of  what  the  Bishop 
and  the  Archdeacon  had  done  for  them,  for  they 


38       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

rallied  round  their  catechist  and  soon  began  "to  put 
their  house  in  order".  For  the  ammunition  was  there, 
and  it  only  required  the  little  spark  which  the  people 
of  England  had  sent  to  fire  the  train.  A  congrega 
tional  meeting  was  held,  and  churchwardens  and  vestry 
were  elected.  Congregations  in  the  little  church  at 
Humboldt  began  to  increase.  Outside  centres  were 
fixed  on  for  services — one  six  miles,  one  eleven  miles, 
and  one  seventeen  miles — out  in  the  prairie.  The  local 
branch  of  the  Women's  Auxiliary  was  revived  and  a 
chapter  of  the  St.  Andrew's  Brotherhood  started,  and 
soon  the  machinery  of  a  parish  was  got  into  working 
order.  And  in  Western  Canada  parochial  machinery 
means  work  by  the  parishioners.  The  little  church  had 
hitherto  stood  on  borrowed  ground,  and  it  was  now  de 
cided  by  the  congregation  to  authorise  the  church 
wardens  and  vestry  to  purchase  a  site  and  to  move  the 
church  on  to  it.  As  soon  as  the  former  was  purchased 
the  latter  was  accomplished  with  the  help  of  a  steam 
engine.  The  next  thing  taken  in  hand  was  the  pro 
vision  of  a  "  Lambeth  Palace  "  as  a  place  of  residence 
for  the  catechist.  The  Bishop  had  promised  a  grant 
of  1 50  dollars  (^"30)  for  the  purpose.  To  this  sum  the 
congregation  added  seventy  dollars  G£i4),  and  by  the 

middle  of  June  Mr.  C was  able  to  move   into  a 

charming  little  home  erected  on  part  of  the  church  site  at 
the  east  end  of  the  church.  By  this  time  the  church  was 
found  to  be  too  small  for  the  number  of  worshippers,  as, 
at  its  utmost  capacity,  it  could  only  be  made  to  accommo 
date  about  thirty  people ;  and  the  discomfort  experienced 


MOVING    THE    FIRST    CHURCH    AT    HUMBOLDT 


LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  39 

when  new  people  came  to  church  caused  some  to  stay 
away.  Then  it  began  to  be  whispered  about :  "  Why 
should  we  not  add  a  nave  to  our  chancel  ?  "  and  when 
this  whisper  had  crescendoed  into  articulate  sound  it 
found  an  echo  in  one  or  two  places.  For  it  became 
evident  that  through  those  dark  days  of  the  preceding 
winter,  when  there  was  no  apparent  Church  life  in  the 
place,  some  seed  sown  by  Archdeacon  Lloyd  in  one 
of  his  visits  had  been  secretly  living,  and  that  one  or 
two  Churchmen  had  treasured  up  the  dimensions  he 
had  mentioned  as  appropriate  for  a  nave  and  tower  to 
the  existing  chancel  if  ever  such  an  event  should  come 
within  the  range  of  practical  politics.  The  warmth  of 
public  favour  caused  these  seeds  to  germinate  and  spring 
up,  the  result  being  that  in  a  very  short  time  plans  had 
been  prepared  and  submitted  to  the  Bishop  for  ap 
proval,  guarantors  for  the  cost  found,  concrete  founda 
tions  laid,  and  behold  there  is  now  in  Humboldt  a  fine 
nave,  40  ft.  by  20  ft.,  capable  of  seating  200  people,  and 
a  tower,  6  ft.  square  and  24  ft.  high,  added  to  the  little 
chancel  dedicated  to  St.  Andrew.  The  completed 
church  was  dedicated  with  simple  and  reverent  cere 
mony  by  the  Bishop  of  Saskatchewan,  on  nth  August, 
in  the  presence  of  a  thankful  congregation  composed  of 
Church  men  and  women  from  all  parts  of  the  eighteen- 
mile  area  worked  from  Humboldt.  It  was  truly  a 
festival  day  to  many  of  them. 

So  far  we  have  written  chiefly  about  what  has  hap 
pened  in  the  town  itself,  but  the  work  in  the  country 
district  around  must  not  be  omitted.  The  total  area 


40      THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

worked  from  Humboldt  is,  as  has  already  been  stated, 
eighteen  miles  square — that  is,  nine  rural  townships  (as 
they  are  called),  each  six  miles  square.  In  this  rural 
district  there  are  1,275  families.  They  belong  to  all 
sorts  of  nationalities  and  hold  all  sorts  of  religious — 
and  irreligious — opinions,  but  as  far  as  is  known  at 
present  about  250  of  these  families  belong  to  the 
Church  of  England.  And  they  all  have  to  be  visited. 
Our  people  are  scattered  about,  and  most  of  them  live 
at  too  great  a  distance  from  town  to  attend  worship 
at  the  church  in  Humboldt  except  on  rare  occasions. 
Consequently  services  have  to  be  held  for  them  at 
centres  as  conveniently  arranged  as  can  be  managed, 
and  even  then  many  have  to  walk  or  drive  considerable 
distances.  The  country  having  become  so  recently 
populated,  there  are  at  present  hardly  any  schools  built, 
so  services  have  to  be  held  at  some  house  or  shack  be 
longing  to  one  of  the  settlers.  And  here  again  is  felt 
the  newness  of  the  country,  for  very  few  of  the  people 
have  yet  had  time  or  means  to  build  themselves  proper 
places  of  abode,  and  most  of  them  live  in  small  shacks  or 
sod  houses.  It  is,  however,  encouraging — and  one  might 
almost  say  wonderful — to  see  the  good-natured  way  in 
which  a  sturdy  settler  and  his  wife  will  cheerfully  clear 
their  little  one-roomed  house  (14  ft.  or  16  ft.  square)  of 
half  their  household  goods  and  set  up  boards  on  home 
made  trestles  to  accommodate  their  neighbours  when  it 
is  the  time  for  their  neighbourhood  to  be  visited  by  the 
catechist  for  a  Sunday  afternoon  service.  At  two 
centres  regular  fortnightly  services  are  held,  and  the 


LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  41 

congregations  at  these  vary  from  seventeen  to  forty-five, 
according  to  the  state  of  the  weather.  At  both  these 
centres  the  people  are  talking  of  building  themselves  a 
little  mission  church  next  spring ;  but  they  are  not  so 
well  endowed  with  worldly  goods  as  the  Humboldt 
people,  and  so  they  do  not  know  yet  whether  they  will 
be  able  to  afford  to  put  their  hopes  into  concrete  form 
— or,  in  other  words,  into  lumber  and  nails.  Services 
are  held  at  other  centres  once  a  month  or  periodically. 
The  eagerness  with  which  the  people  attend  and  the 
hearty  manner  they  join  in  the  services  are  very  striking. 
A  year  or  two  in  the  silent  lonely  prairie  revives  many  a 
dormant  affection  for  the  old  liturgy  of  the  Church ; 
and  many  a  man  and  woman  have  told  the  writer  how 
they  now  miss  the  privileges  of  their  parish  church  far 
away  in  the  old  country,  which  they  prized  so  lightly 
when  they  had  them  at  their  door. 

And  so  this  interesting  little  bit  of  modern  Church 
history  is  told,  or  rather  briefly  outlined. 

It  cannot  be  but  a  matter  of  great  satisfaction  to  the 
Societies  at  home,  who  sent  men  out  to  the  Bishop,  and 
to  those  who  by  their  support  enabled  the  Societies  to 
do  so,  to  see  how  useful  each  agent  they  send  to  this 
new  country  can  be,  and  the  secret  of  the  thing  is  they 
are  helping  those  who  are  willing  to  help  themselves. 
This  is  only  one  case  out  of  many.  The  people  are 
here ;  they  want  the  Church  and  her  services ;  and  if 
they  can  get  them — even  in  the  humble  agency  of  a 
catechist — they  will  combine  under  his  leadership  and 
build  themselves  into  solid  little  missions  or  parishes. 


42       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

For  the  simple  outlay  of  the  stipend  of  one  catechist 
the  return  to  the  Church  in  this  single  instance  in  three 
and  a  half  months  has  been  the  drawing  together  of 
many  isolated  Churchmen  and  Churchwomen  scattered 
over  a  large  area  in  a  new  country,  the  building  of  a 
church  and  house,  and  the  accumulated  force  for  further 
operations.  Money  invested  in  Church  organisation  in 
Western  Canada  at  the  present  time  will  produce  inter 
est  per  annum  which  can  compare  favourably  with  any 
other  investment  in  the  world. 

FROM   ANOTHER   OF   OUR   CATECHISTS 

June,  1907. — I  am  staying  with  my  greatest  chum, 
who  has  not  long  taken  a  homestead  here.  He  was  in 
pretty  low  water  when  he  arrived,  as  he  had  to  go  into 
residence  to  qualify  for  the  homestead.  Well,  it  so 
happened  that  last  year  the  winter  lasted  into  May — 
almost  an  unknown  thing — and  he  was  just  wondering 
how  long  it  would  take  a  man  to  starve  when  I  arrived 
on  the  scene  and  told  him  that  I  had  come  to  live  with 
him  for  the  next  month,  and  that  I  had  not  a  single 
dollar  and  wouldn't  have  till  the  end  of  July.  This  was 
a  cheering  piece  of  news,  but,  as  he  said,  it  would  be 
more  interesting  starving  together  than  alone ;  we 
would  compare  notes.  We  knocked  along  somehow, 
living  very  much  on  potatoes  and  lard,  and  occasionally 
on  potatoes  without  the  lard.  I  earned  a  little  money 
by  tuning  pianos  at  five  dollars  each ;  and  once  I  got 
two  dollars  for  playing  "  agitated  "  and  "  plaintive  " 
music  during  a  performance  of  "  East  Lynne "  by  a 


LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  43 

travelling  company.  My  district  is  nearly  288  square 
miles.  The  people  are  extremely  nice  hearty  folk,  and 
amazingly  keen  to  get  to  their  services  and  church.  I 
want  a  church  built  at  Islay  before  the  winter,  and  £50 
will  do  all  we  want.  [Then  the  writer,  who  is  a  St. 
Paul's  choir  boy,  asks  St.  Paul's  to  help  him,  and  St. 
Paul's  has  responded  with  £70.]  I  had  two  children 
at  my  service  on  a  recent  Sunday,  about  seven  and  nine 
years  old,  and  they  could  neither  of  them  say  the  Lord's 
Prayer — they  "had  forgotten  it".  The  family  came 
out  from  England  five  or  six  years  ago,  and  had  never 
till  last  Sunday  attended  a  Church  service.  You  will 
wonder  why  so  small  a  building  should  cost  so  much. 
I  will  tell  you.  It  has  to  be  built  to  keep  out  the 
intense  cold,  as  the  thermometer  goes  down  60  de 
grees  below  zero.  The  floor  is  double,  with  felt 
between,  all  boards  are  tongued  and  grooved  to 
keep  out  the  wind.  The  windows  are  double.  I 
do  everything  here  a  clergyman  would  do  in  Eng 
land,  excepting  of  course  celebrate,  marry  and  ab 
solve.  Last  Sunday  I  got  up  at  6.30,  cooked  lard 
and  ate  breakfast,  caught  and  saddled  my  pony,  and 
rode  eighteen  miles  acioss  prairie.  I  held  morning 
prayer,  and  had  to  lead  the  singing.  Then  I  rode 
another  four  miles  to  visit  a  family  where  a  woman  was 
very  ill.  Then  another  twelve  and  an  afternoon  service. 
Then  after  a  meal  another  six  miles,  where  I  took 
evensong,  after  that  one  mile  and  a  half  out  here.  I 
was  a  good  deal  tired.  I  love  the  life — it  is  simply 
glorious ! 


44       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

October  14,  1907. — I  have  been  visited  by  both  the 
Bishop  and  the  Archdeacon,  and  they  were  anxious  that 
I  should  build  two  churches,  and  promised  grants  of  240 
dollars  to  each  church.  I  accepted,  and  started  begging. 
Thanks  to  you  I  can  now  build.  In  one  place  the  site 
is  given  by  a  homesteader,  in  the  other  it  is  bought  from 
the  Canadian  Northern  Railway  for  140  dollars,  half- 
price  because  it  is  for  a  church.  The  vestry  have 
chosen  the  name  St.  Paul's  Church,  I  slay,  and  the 
Bishop  has  officially  sanctioned  it.  The  congregation 
is  hauling  stones  for  the  foundation.  .  .  .  We  are  hav 
ing  a  "  Box  Social  "  to  help  us  out.  People  come  from 
all  directions  in  waggons  and  buggies,  "  democrats  "  and 
buckboards,  and  on  horseback.  Every  woman  brings 
a  box  which  she  has  made  herself,  inside  which  is  an 
excellent  meal  for  two,  prepared  by  her  own  hands. 
There  is  nothing  on  the  box  to  say  whose  they  are,  but 
the  name  of  the  owner  is  put  inside.  The  boxes  are 
all  sold  by  auction  and  the  men  buy  them.  The  fun  is 
immense,  and  quite  a  few  dollars  are  the  result.  The 
churches  will  be  absolutely  devoid  of  furniture  at  first, 
and  the  seats  will  be  bits  of  board  on  kegs.  My  dis 
trict  has  been  enlarged  to  360  square  miles  and  two 
more  townships. 

We  wrote  to  the  Archdeacon  to  ask  him  how  the  men 
fared.  Here  is  the  answer  : — 

"  You  ask  me  what  kept  me  so  long  getting  to  the 
mission  field.  The  reason  was  this.  When  I  arrived 
at  B.  I  found  that  Mr.  R.  had  my  pony  down  at  W. 
Our  travelling  clergyman  was  going  to  drive  me  down 


! 


MISSION   HOUSE,   ISLAY   DISTRICT 


LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  45 

there,  but  his  extra  pony  was  very  sick,  and  so  I  de 
cided  to  start  on  foot.  I  had  to  walk  all  the  way  to 
S.  and  back,  as  I  had  left  my  cart  there.  This  was 
seventy-six  miles.  Then  I  had  to  drive  to  my  new 
mission,  120  miles. 

"  On  the  way  the  pony  shied  at  something  on  the 
trail,  which  turned  pony,  cart,  baggage  and  myself  into 
a  deep  lake.  I  very  nearly  lost  the  pony  as  well  as 
myself.  It  was  very  near  death's  door  for  both  of  us. 
Nearly  all  my  books  were  spoiled,  and  I  had  to  cut  the 
harness  under  the  water  in  order  to  get  the  pony  free. 
We  were  in  the  water  for  an  hour  and  a  half.  It  was 
a  fortunate  thing  that  I  had  been  taught  to  swim,  or 
else  I  must  have  been  lost.  I  managed  to  get  on  to  the 
next  mission,  and  stayed  a  few  days  there  to  rest  the 
pony  before  going  on." 

I  do  not  think  my  readers  will  consider  these  ex 
tracts  dull.  They  are  chronicles  of  the  early  stages  of 
a  great  work.  In  our  S.P.G.  House  we  find  that  the 
simplest  details  of  pioneer  work  in  the  i8th  century  are 
greedily  sought  after  by  Americans  and  others  who  seek 
to  recreate  the  past.  I  have  given  the  actual  words  of 
the  first  pioneers  but  without  their  names.  The  writers 
would  themselves  consider  this  to  be  invidious.  The 
facts  recorded  give  a  picture  of  the  life  of  the  whole 
band  who  live  in  "Lambeth  Palaces"  and  are  busy 
constructing  "  Canterbury  Cathedrals  ".  These  are  the 
names  used  and  it  may  be  as  well  to  give  an  extract l 
which  explains  the  "  Cathedrals "  of  the  prairie. 

1From  Western  Canada  by  Dr.  Norman  Tucker  (Mowbray,  2&  net). 


46       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

"  The  Canterbury  Cathedrals'  are  to  be  thoroughly 
ecclesiastical  in  design,  with  tower,  Gothic  windows 
and  high  pitched  roof,  and  to  cost  the  enormous  sum 
of  250  dollars.  They  seat  sixty  people.  Their  di 
mensions  are  16  ft.  by  20  ft. ;  side  walls,  10  ft.  high; 
rafters  14  ft,  raising  the  roof  to  a  height  of  20  ft. ; 
tower  26  ft.  by  2  ft.  6  in. ;  i  ft.  raised,  the  Holy  Table 
is  to  be  3  ft.  by  4  ft.  The  tower  which  costs  about 
fifteen  dollars,  serves  as  a  storm-porch  in  bad  weather, 
conceals  the  chimney,  and  serves  as  a  hall-mark  of 
the  Church  of  England  in  the  Diocese  of  Saskatche 
wan."  A  sum  of  £50  suffices  to  purchase  the  timber, 
the  hauling  and  erection  being  left  to  voluntary  local 
effort.  "  All  the  specifications  have  been  so  carefully 
worked  out  that  any  local  carpenter  or  handy  man 
could  become  architect  of  these  buildings.  There  are 
5,000  shingles  and  30  Ib.  of  shingle  nails ;  400  ft.  of 
flooring  (i  by  4);  22  rafters  (2  by  4  by  14),  40 
studding  (2  by  4  by  10),  etc.  When  the  community 
increases  so  as  to  crowd  the  building,  the  west  end  is 
taken  down,  the  tower  removed  and  a  nave  20  ft.  by 
30  ft.  or  40  ft.  added,  to  accommodate  150  or  200 
people,  the  original  church  becoming  the  chancel  of 
the  new  building." 

Here  are  the  details  of  the  "  Lambeth  Palaces " 
taken  from  Dr.  Tucker's  excellent  book.  "This  struc 
ture  is  12  ft.  by  1 8  ft.,  with  sloping  roof,  the  wall  at 
the  back  being  10  ft.  high,  that  in  front  12  ft.  It  con 
tains  two  four-light  windows  of  12  by  20  in.  glass  ; 
one  door  2  ft.  8  in.  by  6  ft  8  in. ;  13  joists,  2  by  6  by 


CATECHIST   AND    FAMILY   GROUP,    JSLAY    MISSION    DISTRICT 


LETTERS  FROM  OUR  MEN  47 

12.  The  floor  is  tar-papered,  side  and  roof  double 
papered.  The  materials  cost  £30  and  the  building 
is  put  up  by  local  effort.  When  a  better  house  is 
needed  then  the  '  Palace '  becomes  the  kitchen  at  the 
back  of  the  Parsonage.  I  believe  this  plan  was 
evolved  by  the  Rev.  D.  T.  Davies  of  Saskatoon,  who  is 
a  skilful  carpenter.  Here  then  you  have  the  minimum 
cost  of  an  ecclesiastical  establishment  on  the  prairie. 
One  Catechist,  £80;  one  Cathedral,  £50;  one  Lam 
beth  Palace,  ^"30;  total  £160.  But  no  one  should 
suppose  that  this  means  luxury ;  we  believe  it  is  close 
to  the  starvation  line  in  the  sense  that  the  Cathedral 
cannot  be  lined  with  wood  for  the  sum  indicated,  and 
cannot  be  properly  warmed  in  consequence  in  the 
winter.  The  Catechist  cannot  buy  his  furs  for  winter 
use  unless  he  obtains  further  assistance.  All  these  de 
tails  have  been  considered  and  provision  is  made  for 
them.  So  small  is  the  stipend — some  forty  dollars 
a  month — that  every  stick  of  furniture  has  to  be 
won  by  effort.  The  authorities  suggest  that  by  de 
grees,  in  a  new  district,  parish  furniture  should  be 
bought :  a  dining-room  table  one  day,  an  arm-chair 
two  months  afterwards,  a  chest  of  drawers  or  a  side 
board  after  six  months,  or  a  better  cooking  stove.  At 
all  events  settlers  in  a  new  land  can  appreciate  the  de 
light  of  a  catechist  or  a  bush  parson  when  he  notes  such 
acts  of  thoughtfulness.  It  gives  a  sense  of  comfort, 
and  the  happy  possessor  gloats  over  his  new  luxury 
half  the  evening."  I  do  not  think  the  aesthetic  sense  of 
my  readers  will  be  shocked  by  this  narration  of  the 


48      THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

cut  and  dried  system  of  building.  These  are  days  of 
existence  on  the  prairie ;  art  has  not  yet  come  to  stay. 
The  first  requisite  is  the  knowledge  on  how  little  the 
church  can  be  founded.  Many  places  build  larger 
churches ;  but  we  rejoice  to  note  how  the  authorities 
on  the  prairie  think  out  the  smallest  details  and  try  to 
make  the  money  go  as  far  as  possible. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  DIVINITY  SCHOOL  AT  PRINCE  ALBERT 

IT  will  be  remembered  that  an  essential  part  of  the 
Saskatchewan  scheme  has  been  the  determination  to 
bring  the  men  into  Prince  Albert  in  these  winter 
months  in  which  outdoor  travelling  is  exceedingly  diffi 
cult.  It  does  not  mean  merely  that  it  is  hard  for  the 
catechist  to  ride  or  drive,  but  that  it  is  very  difficult  to 
get  together  any  congregation.  The  churches  are  either 
impossibly  cold  or  they  are  warmed  at  considerable 
cost ;  the  people  are  excusably  unwilling  to  leave  their 
dwellings.  It  is  good  strategy  to  utilise  this  season 
of  the  year  in  instruction.  The  difficulties  have  been 
enough  to  appal  any  but  the  stoutest-hearted,  for  the 
buildings  for  such  a  party  were  hard  to  find  ;  whatever 
may  have  been  the  case  with  the  high  thinking  there 
can  be  no  doubt  about  the  plain  living.  Now  much 
good  humour  and  rightdown  earnest  purpose  is  needed 
to  keep  men  bright  and  cheery,  and  in  a  mood  to  learn, 
when  the  rooms  are  so  crowded  and  the  atmosphere  so 
chilly.  A  sympathetic  word  must  also  be  said  for  the 
lecturers.  They  must  have  been  made  of  cast  iron,  or 
of  some  very  strong  Canadian  pattern,  to  be  able  to 
endure  six  or  seven  hours  of  lecturing  a  day,  whilst  ink 
froze  in  the  bottles ! 

(49)  4 


50       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

ARCHDEACON  LLOYD'S  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 
DIVINITY  SCHOOL 

"Some  of  your  readers  will  be  glad  to  know  what  is 
being  done  about  the  training  of  the  catechists  who 
came  out  in  April  last.  The  Divinity  College  opened 
and  lectures  began  on  Tuesday,  I2th  November,  and 
will  continue  for  three  months.  One-half  the  men  (i.e., 
thirty  odd)  will  come  up  from  November  to  February, 
and  the  other  half  from  February  to  May.  In  this 
way  many  of  the  missions  can  be  kept  open  all  the 
winter  while  their  own  missionaries  are  away  at  college. 
As  far  as  possible  every  alternate  man  is  being  brought 
up,  and  while  they  are  here  the  next  neighbour  will 
take  alternate  Sundays  in  their  missions.  It  must  be 
alternate  Sundays,  because  many  of  these  missions  are 
forty  miles  apart 

"  Regarding  the  building.  We  did  not  get  possession 
of  the  Emmanuel  College  buildings,  which  Bishop 
McLean  built  for  this  purpose.  So  many  of  the  Indian 
missionaries  and  others  thought  the  Indian  school  now 
held  in  it  should  be  retained  if  possible,  and  the  Minister 
of  the  Interior  has  recently  consented  to  continue  it  for 
one  year  more,  until  the  Indian  Department  at  Ottawa 
had  fully  developed  their  Indian  policy.  So  for  this 
winter  we  use  the  old  Government  Lands  Office  for 
sleeping  the  men  and  also  for  night  study.  The  balance 
of  six  or  eight  men  who  cannot  find  room  there  will 
come  up  to  my  house  to  sleep. 

"  The  lectures  will  be  given  in  the  old  mission  hall 
'or  church  of  1882),  and  meals  will  be  served  in  a  small 


DIVINITY  SCHOOL  AT  PRINCE  ALBERT    51 

wooden  building  not  far  from  the  church.  Some 
people  may  think  these  are  strange  accommodations 
for  a  '  Divinity  College,'  and  I  am  bound  to  admit  they 
don't  look  quite  like  Oxford ;  but  if  you  shut  your 
eyes  you  can  imagine  Oxford  quite  well.  On  the  east 
the  dormitory,  on  the  south  the  schools,  and  on  the 
north  the  refectory.  What  is  that  but  a  quadrangle 
opening  on  to  the  river  ?  Every  man  brings  his  own 
cot,  blankets,  washing-bowls,  etc.,  etc.,  and  we  are  buy 
ing  chairs  and  lamps,  and  having  seven-foot  trestle- 
tables  made. 

"  Anyhow,  although  the  surroundings  will  not  be 
fine  the  men  will  be  warm,  well  fed,  and  will  have 
abundance  of  lectures.  These  begin  at  nine  and  go 
on  to  one ;  then  dinner  and  outdoor  exercise  for  two 
hours ;  then  two  hours'  more  lectures  and  tea,  evening 
service  and  private  study.  In  the  morning  we  are 
going  to  take  family  '  prayers '  in  the  dining-room,  and 
in  the  evening  the  service  in  the  church.  The  lecturers 
will  be  the  Bishop,  Archdeacon,  Secretary  and  Treasurer 
together  with  the  Rector  of  St.  Albaris,  Rev.  C.  L. 
Malaher  from  Liverpool,  and  Rev.  H.  S.  Broadbent  from 
St.  Helens.  So  the  men  will  get  as  much  as  they  can 
possibly  digest  in  the  time.  The  subjects  will  largely 
follow  those  set  by  the  General  Board  of  all  Canada  for 
the  Preliminary  Examination  for  Holy  Orders.  Some 
of  the  men,  we  hope,  will  take  this  examination  before 
long. 

"  We  are  looking  forward  to  large  things,  and  ex 
pect  to  do  work  second  only  to  one,  or  perhaps  two, 
colleges  in  Canada.  We  are  short  on  the  buildings 


52       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

and  surroundings,  but  we  are  not  short  of  instruc 
tion." 

A  few  weeks  later  the  following  message  reached  us 
from  the  Archdeacon  :— 

"The  first  term  of  the  Divinity  College  at  Prince 
Albert  closed  at  the  beginning  of  February,  and  all  the 
men — about  thirty — departed  for  their  fields.  Im 
mediately  the  next  thirty  men  arrived,  including  four 
or  five  deacons  ;  these  all  come  for  three  months'  study, 
as  did  the  others.  We  are  to  have  sent  us  the  list  of 
marks  gained  by  the  men  in  every  subject.  And  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  in  giving  marks,  everything 
has  been  taken  into  account,  work  done  in  the  field  as 
well  as  the  study  in  the  college.  It  has  been  constantly 
set  before  the  men  that  they  must  have  not  only  good 
heads,  but  good  feet  to  cover  the  ground.  For  instance, 
one  of  them  'came  very  low  down  in  his  lectures,  but 
stood  top  of  the  tree  in  the  number  of  services  and 
people  attending,  1,600  odd'.  It  is  the  all-round  man 
that  counts.  Speaking  as  a  whole  of  the  men  and  of  the 
term  here,  I  can  only  say  that  I  am  satisfied  up  to  the 
last  point.  We  have  a  fine  body  of  men,  and  they  are 
doing  good  work.  Of  course  the  work  has  been  done 
under  every  possible  inconvenience.  An  old  Government 
Land  Office  at  one  end  of  the  town,  some  men  in  my  own 
house  at  the  other,  a  little  old  mission  hall  for  lecture 
rooms,  and  a  makeshift  dining-room,  are  not  altogether 
equal  to  the  Oxford  schools.  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  sometimes  men  wrote  their  lectures  with 
the  pencil  because  the  ink  had  frozen,  the  work  was 
thoroughly  well  done.  ...  It  would  be  very  difficult 


DIVINITY  SCHOOL  AT  PRINCE  ALBERT    53 

to  get  a  larger  percentage  of  really  good  men  than  we 
have." 

I  think  it  will  readily  be  granted  that  exceptional 
circumstances  have  been  met  by  exceptional  measures 
to  meet  the  crisis.  It  is  very  easy  to  criticise  the 
movement.  But  no  one  can  fail  to  thank  God  for  the 
enthusiasm  which  can  carry  through  such  a  movement 
in  the  attempt  to  make  up  for  lost  time  and  to  give 
the  simplest  ministrations  of  the  Church  to  settlers  on 
the  prairie.  Bishop  McLean  obtained  a  charter  twenty- 
five  years  ago  for  the  Saskatchewan  Theological  College. 
Now  all  at  once  in  this  rough  and  ready  fashion  this 
college  has  sprung  into  most  real  existence.  Emmanuel 
College  in  which  Indian  work  has  been  done  at  Prince 
Albert  has  been  bought  for  ^"3000  from  the  Church  in 
order  that  Government  may  carry  on  the  reformation 
work  here.  The  money  so  obtained,  in  addition  to 
part  of  the  Saskatchewan  Thank  Offering  Fund,  with 
other  sums,  is  to  go  towards  permanent  buildings 
for  the  Theological  College.  There  is  another  object 
in  Prince  Albert  which  will  appeal  strongly  to  all 
who  take  interest  in  the  Church  abroad.  Mrs.  Newn- 
ham,  wife  of  the  Bishop,  has  nobly  raised  money 
for  a  secondary  school  in  Prince  Albert.  Her  own 
children  taught  her  the  need  for  this  institution.  The 
Pan  Anglican  Congress  and  the  Lambeth  Conference 
both  assure  the  Church  that  education  for  our  clergy, 
for  our  sons  and  daughters  everywhere,  on  Christian 
lines  is  the  greatest  question  of  the  day. 

Then  on  Sundays  the  men  are  not  idle :  here  is  the 
account  from  one  of  the  catechists : — 


54       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

"  On  Sundays  the  following  missions  are  served  by 
the  men.  A.  visits  two  missions  among  the  lumber 
men,  one  thirty-two  and  the  other  seventeen  miles  away. 
B.  goes  to  a  mission  distant  eighteen  miles.  C.  to  one 
sixteen  miles.  There  is  also  the  Emmanuel  College 
Mission,  two  and  a  half  miles,  and,  lastly,  the  Hospital 
and  Prison  Missions  in  Prince  Albert. 

"  To  work  these  missions  involves  driving  distances 
from  three  to  thirty-two  miles  each  way,  and  there  are 
ponies  available  for  this  purpose,  none  of  which  will 
ever  see  their  youth  again!  They  at  least  do  their 
share  in  testifying  to  the  antiquity  of  the  institution : 
no  Don  treading  the  sacred  turf  of  the  quad  could  dis 
play  greater  deliberation.  However,  they  can,  on 
occasion,  do  wonderful  things,  and  some  adventurous 
experiences  have  already  occurred.  For  instance,  last 
Sunday  the  two  men  on  the  Colleston  Mission  started 
out  on  their  sixteen-mile  drive  with  the  thermometer  at 
63  below  freezing-point.  After  going  ten  miles  they 
found  the  snow  was  so  deep  that  the  pony  could  hardly 
pull  the  sleigh,  and  after  being  eleven  and  a  half  hours 
on  the  road,  the  men  arrived  home  at  10  P.M.,  having 
had  no  proper  meal  since  breakfast.  The  Sunday 
previous  the  two  men  who  took  that  mission  lost  their 
way  owing  to  the  trail  becoming  entirely  obliterated  by 
a  snowstorm,  and  being  off  the  road,  and  in  the  dark, 
the  sleigh  came  to  grief  over  a  tree-stump,  with  the 
result  that  they  had  to  complete  the  journey  on  foot 
knee-deep  in  snow,  and  arrived  home  very  tired,  having 
taken  five  hours  to  cover  the  last  five  miles. 

"  This  mission  holds  the  record  so  far  for  adventure, 


DIVINITY  SCHOOL  AT  PRINCE  ALBERT    55 

Another  man  returning  thence  was  run  away  with  just 
as  he  had  reached  Prince  Albert  (this  was  a  borrowed 
team,  not  one  of  the  veterans  mentioned  above),  and 
had  to  jump  out  of  the  sleigh  in  order  to  avoid  being 
dashed  against  a  tree.  He  escaped  with  a  severe 
shaking,  but  the  sleigh  (also  borrowed)  was  smashed  in 
pieces. 

"  We  are  by  no  means  idle.  In  fact  every  minute  of 
time  is  completely  occupied.  The  work  is  heavy,  but 
as  everything  is  done  by  each  man  in  turn,  the  burden 
is  laid  equally  upon  all. 

"  We  have  to  thaw  out  our  ink  bottles  every  morn 
ing  on  the  top  of  the  stove  before  we  can  write. 

"  This  year  we  have  had  two  sessions  attended  by 
sixty  men.  Next  year  we  hope  to  have  three  sessions 
attended  by  ninety  men,  and  to  be  in  our  own  build- 
ings." 

It  is  a  matter  of  real  thankfulness  that  statistics  do 
speak  of  very  distinct  advance.  In  the  Saskatchewan 
Diocese  in  1906  we  read  that  there  were  twenty-five 
clergy  and  twenty  catechists.  In  1909  the  number 
had  become  forty-two  clergy  and  seventy-nine  cate 
chists.  Of  course  the  majority  of  this  enormously 
increased  staff  has  been  set  to  cover  new  ground. 
Every  missionary  bishop  knows  the  anguish  caused 
by  church  buildings  closed  and  parsonages  unin 
habited  because  there  were  no  clergy  to  be  obtained. 
The  bishops  on  the  prairie  have  all  felt  such  sor 
rows.  But  here  in  Saskatchewan  not  only  have 
all  already  occupied  districts  been  filled,  but  the  ad 
vance  as  stated  has  been  made  into  what  for  the 


56       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

Church  were  the  waste  places.  Seven  catechists  have 
been  ordained  deacons.  These  doubtless  are  men  who 
have  long  been  at  work ;  they  are  not  any  of  the  new 
contingent.  It  is  interesting  to  know  also  that  each 
catechist  has  under  him  from  three  to  seven  centres  of 
population.  This  means  that  in  twelve  months  or  so  in 
some  200  new  centres  of  population,  where  our  Church 
people  live,  regular  ministrations  of  the  Church  have 
been  commenced  and  weekly  or  fortnightly  services 
held.  Of  course  at  times  it  may  be  necessary  to  drop 
back  to  a  service  once  in  three  weeks  or  a  month ;  but 
long  experience  has  taught  me  that  nothing  less  than 
a  fortnightly  service  is  of  much  avail ;  you  cannot  keep 
your  people  together  with  less.  These  200  new  centres 
are  chiefly  on  the  new  lines  of  railway.  The  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  and  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  are 
making  these  centres,  in  addition  to  the  effect  of  the 
Canadian  Northern  Railway,  which  has  been  the  cause 
of  the  growth  of  such  well-known  places  as  Saskatoon, 
Battleford,  Lloydminster  and  Vermilion.  But  the 
Bishop  and  his  council  have  not  forgotten  another  kind 
of  settler — the  lumberers  in  their  camps.  North  of 
Prince  Albert  there  are  four  catechists  at  work  among 
these  communities,  doing  much  the  same  work  as  our 
men  are  doing  in  Columbia  among  the  logging  camps 
by  the  water-side. 

Most  carefully,  too,  have  the  authorities  to  watch 
the  prices  of  necessities.  When  a  diocese  has  to  supply 
sixty  ponies  it  is  a  serious  thing  to  find  that  ponies 
have  gone  up  75  per  cent.,  or  that  timber  is  twice  as 
much  as  it  was  when  shacks  must  be  bought  if  men 


DIVINITY  SCHOOL  AT  PRINCE  ALBERT    57 

are  to  live.  In  1907  there  was  a  bad  harvest:  how 
then  could  our  men  get  money  to  buy  the  necessary 
furs  for  winter  use?  We  at  S.P.G.  discovered  this 
particular  just  in  time  to  wire  out  an  additional  ,£200 
beyond  our  grant,  and  were  only  too  glad  to  furnish 
them  with  their  first  suit  of  furs.  At  the  same  time 
we  are  most  anxious  that  the  settlers  should  not  be 
led  to  look  too  long  to  English  Societies.  Archdeacon 
Lloyd  said  that  in  three  years  these  missions  would  be 
self-supporting.  We  hope  it  may  be  so.  And  we  also 
have  to  remember  that  no  one  knows  so  little  about 
self-support  in  the  Church  than  the  English  Church 
man  in  his  own  land.  He  has  lived  upon  endowments 
of  the  past,  and  the  support  of  his  clergyman  in  many 
an  English  parish  is  almost  an  unthinkable  proposition. 
In  September,  1909,  the  Divinity  School  was  moved 
from  Prince  Albert  to  Saskatoon  because  the  Uni 
versity  for  the  Civil  Province  of  Saskatchewan  is  to  be 
erected  in  that  town.  A  square  mile  of  land  has  been 
given  ;  the  Principal  of  the  University  has  been  ap 
pointed  ;  blocks  of  about  five  or  six  acres  have  been 
allotted  to  those  who  desire  to  build  Colleges, — and  the 
first  in  the  field  have  been  the  Anglicans.  Archdeacon 
Lloyd  has  been  appointed  to  be  the  first  Principal  ;  the 
Pan  Anglican  Committee  has  granted  ^"5000  to  this 
Divinity  College,  and  in  the  Spring  of  1910  the  College 
will  be  erected  at  a  cost  of  ;£8ooo. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  DIOCESE  OF  QU'APPELLE 

IT  must  be  understood  that  the  work  in  the  other 
prairie  dioceses  is  of  the  same  character  as  that  in  the 
Diocese  of  Saskatchewan.  The  dioceses  I  refer  to, 
such  as  Rupert's  Land,  Qu'Appelle  and  Calgary,  are 
more  advanced  in  organisation  because  the  railways 
have  traversed  them  for  a  longer  period ;  consequently 
they  have  resolved  not  to  resort  to  any  abnormal 
methods  for  their  further  development.  If,  therefore, 
I  do  not  take  up  so  much  space  in  the  description  of 
these  Dioceses,  all  on  the  first  direct  route  to  the  west 
coast,  it  is  in  no  sense  because  the  work  is  not  extremely 
important  but  because  it  is  unnecessary  to  give  many 
more  instances  of  actual  work  on  the  prairie  and  also 
because  the  abnormal  element  is  not  in  evidence. 

Qu'Appelle  lies  west  of  Rupert's  Land  and  the  Cana 
dian  Pacific  Railway  passed  through  it  from  the  first  on 
its  way  to  the  Pacific.  It  covers  an  area  of  some  90,000 
square  miles,  about  the  size  of  England,  Scotland  and 
Wales.  Bishop  Anson  was  consecrated  the  first  bishop 
in  1884  and  had  then  only  two  clergy  under  him,  but  he 
left  twenty  in  1893  when  he  resigned.  In  about  1890 
the  great  influx  of  population  began  to  come  in  and  it 
amounts  now  to  about  200,000  annually.  Population 

(58) 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  QU'APPELLE         59 

grows  just  as  elsewhere  in  these  regions.  "A  town 
sprang  up  and  flourished  exceedingly  within  ninety 
days  of  the  first  house  having  begun."  Services  are 
held  in  hundreds  of  places  by  the  staff  of  the  diocese, 
which  now  includes  sixty-two  clergy,  three  stipendiary 
readers  and  thirty-five  honorary  lay  readers.  Twelve 
parishes  are  now  entirely  self-supporting.  But  statistics 
such  as  these  need  to  be  illuminated  by  further  details. 
For  example,  to  show  how  scattered  the  farms  may  be 
at  present,  but  an  earnest  of  a  mighty  influx  of  workers, 
I  insert  the  following  account  of  a  journey  through 
snow  and  slush.  Compare  the  number  of  miles 
travelled  with  the  number  of  visits  paid.  Yet  it  is  just 
this  individual,  painstaking  work  which  is  the  first 
duty  of  a  prairie  parson.  The  Rev.  C.  R.  Littler 
writes : — 

"On  the  morning  of  roth  February  I  started  on 
my  northward  trip,  taking  the  train  to  Hanley,  122 
miles  from  here ;  from  there  I  drove  westward  30 
miles  to  Rudy,  where  I  was  met  by  one  of  our  parish 
ioners  from  the  Goose  Lake  district,  who  drove  me  to 
Warminster,  the  strongest  of  our  Goose  Lake  centres. 
I  stayed  with  some  good  English  people,  and,  although 
we  slept  eight  in  a  room,  my  welcome  was  most  warm 
and  hearty;  next  day  I  visited  every  church  family 
within  a  radius  of  five  miles  and  secured  promises  of 
considerable  support  towards  the  stipend  of  a  resident 
missionary.  On  Wednesday  I  drove  northward  thirty 
miles  to  Helena ;  the  roads  were  abominable  and  in 
places  almost  impassable  owing  to  the  severe  storms  of 
the  previous  week ;  we  were  nearly  eight  hours  covering 


60       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

the  thirty  miles.  A  good  congregation  was  awaiting 
us  at  Helena  for  evensong  and  parish  meeting  ;  liberal 
support  was  forthcoming  from  this  point.  Next  morn 
ing  we  had  a  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion  in 
the  school-house  and  three  baptisms  ;  I  visited  four 
families  in  the  district  and  then  returned  to  Warmin- 
ster,  reaching  there  late  at  night  Friday — St.  Valen 
tine's  Day — rested  in  the  morning  and  in  the 
afternoon  helped  to  prepare  the  school-house  for  a 
"  Pie  Social,"  the  proceeds  of  which  were  destined  to 
meet  the  needs  of  our  organ  fund ;  about  seventy 
persons  gathered  in  the  evening  for  the  social,  and  an 
auction  of  a  marvellous  assortment  of  pies  of  all  shapes, 
substances  and  quality,  was  conducted  by  the  Warden 
of  St.  Chad's,  the  net  proceeds  being  $59.50,  rather 
more  than  was  needed  to  complete  the  purchase  of  the 
organ.  On  Saturday  I  visited  Glenhurst  and  again 
obtained  subscriptions  towards  the  missionary's  stip 
end.  On  Sunday  we  had  Matins  and  Holy  Com 
munion  at  Warminster,  a  capital  congregation,  liberal 
offerings  ;  Evensong  at  Swanson,  congregation  small 
owing  to  terrible  condition  of  the  roads.  On  Monday 
morning  in  a  driving  snow-storm  I  drove  back  to 
Hanley,  forty  miles,  and  took  train  to  Saskatoon  where 
I  arranged  to  meet  a  settler  from  the  Eagle  Hills 
district,  a  portion  of  our  diocese  which  is  becoming 
settled  and  where  hitherto  no  church  services  have 
been  provided.  I  arranged  to  open  a  mission  in  the 
Eagle  Hills  during  the  early  part  of  the  coming  May  ; 
it  will  be  an  expensive  mission  owing  to  the  distance 
from  a  railway,  viz.,  120  miles  from  Hanley.  I  am 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  QU'APPELLE        61 

thinking  of  sending  Mr.  Evans,  one  of  our  new 
students,  there;  will  you  remember  this  mission  in 
your  intercessions  ?  On  Tuesday  I  returned  to  the 
Hostel,  having  during  the  nine  days  of  my  absence 
driven  186  miles  over  heavy  trails,  360  miles  by  train, 
and  having  held  four  services,  visited  twenty  families 
and  procured  subscriptions  of  about  260  dollars  per 
annum  towards  the  stipend  of  the  first  resident  clergy 
man  in  the  Goose  Lake  district.  When  you  remember 
that  we  only  commenced  work  in  this  district  on  the 
1 8th  August  last,  you  will  acknowledge  that  we  have 
met  with  much  encouragement  and  success." 

But  let  us  turn  to  two  most  interesting  ventures  in 
this  diocese. 

ST.  CHAD'S    HOSTEL  AT  REGINA  IN  QU'APPELLE 
DIOCESE 

The  Archbishop  of  Rupert's  Land  had  been  stirring 
up  the  hearts  of  Church  people  in  Shropshire  by  telling 
them  of  the  needs  of  the  prairie  settlers.  In  the  same 
diocese  the  S.P.G.  had  as  their  organising  secretary  the 
Rev.  C.  R.  Littler  who  had  been  working  previously 
for  twenty  years  in  the  Diocese  of  Rupert's  Land.  Shrop 
shire  Churchmen  determined  to  start  a  Special  Fund  to 
assist  Western  Canada.  Leading  Churchmen  lent  their 
aid  earnestly,  and  in  a  very  short  time  they  had  promised 
.£500  annually  for  five  years  for  a  Hostel  from  which  as 
a  centre  men  might  work  while  they  were  being  trained 
for  the  ministry.  Obviously  the  Rev.  C.  R.  Littler 
was  the  man  to  be  at  the  head  of  such  a  venture.  Mr. 
Littler  and  his  wife  were  prepared  to  go.  The  Bishop  of 


62       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

Qu'Appelle  offered  a  region  round  Regina  of  6,000  sq. 
miles  in  which  no  Church  work  had  ever  been  done, 
though  plenty  of  Churchmen  resided  there  and  ministers 
of  many  denominations  were  in  evidence  through  it. 
On  3rd  January,  1907,  the  arrangement  was  completed, 
but  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Littler  left  a  son  behind  them  to  go 
to  Cambridge  as  one  of  the  S.P.G.  students.  They  took 
with  them  four  men  as  catechists,  some  of  them  from 
Shropshire.  Now  let  Mr.  Littler  tell  his  own  tale  as 
to  his  commencement. 

"  I  arrived  here  with  three  of  my  men  on  2pth  May, 
after  a  most  prosperous  ocean  passage,  though  we 
narrowly  escaped  a  serious  accident  on  the  railroad 
journey  west,  a  part  of  the  road  bed  being  washed 
away  just  as  we  reached  Lake  Vermilion.  Fortunately 
the  engineer  saw  the  washout  in  time  to  pull  up  the 
train  about  1 50  yards  from  the  point  of  danger.  It  was 
Sunday  and  we  were  delayed  twelve  hours,  so  we  had 
two  services  on  the  tourist  car,  and  they  were  much 
appreciated  by  the  passengers. 

"  On  arriving  at  Regina  I  found  the  Hostel  was  in  a 
very  unfinished  condition.  I  left  my  wife  and  family 
at  Winnipeg,  and  so  the  three  men  and  myself  camped 
in  two  of  the  unfinished  rooms  for  two  weeks  while 
work  was  going  on.  We  reached  our  bedroom  by  a 
ladder  and  found  ingress  through  the  window.  Irwin 
was  cook,  and  Hitcheon,  Rowland  and  I  being  amateur 
carpenters,  spent  the  time  making  tables,  bookshelves, 
etc.  On  9th  June  we  commenced  mission  work ;  the 
dining-room  of  the  Hostel  is  our  church,  and  there  we 
have  daily  Matins  and  Evensong,  Holy  Communion 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  QU'APPELLE        63 

Sundays,  Wednesdays  and  holy  days.  The  congrega 
tion  is  growing,  and  we  hope  to  build  a  church  ere 
long. 

"  On  /th  July  we  opened  a  mission  at  Davidson  and 
Bladworth  and  Helmsing's,  and  I  have  placed  Mr. 
Hitcheon  in  charge.  Both  Davidson  and  Bladworth 
are  promising  centres. 

"On  1 4th  July  Mr.  Rowland  commenced  work  at 
Hanley  and  Dundum  on  the  C.N.R.,  and  though  the 
congregations  are  small  the  work  is  growing ;  we  hope 
two  other  centres,  Sunny  Plains  and  Box  Elder,  may 
be  opened  in  this  district,  Hanley  and  Dundum  having 
weekly  services  and  Sunny  Plains  and  Box  Elder  fort 
nightly. 

"On  7th  July  Mr.  Irwin  opened  St.  Alkmund's 
Mission  in  the  district  immediately  to  the  north-east  of 
Regina.  He  has  a  most  hearty  congregation,  and  is 
doing  an  excellent  work  there. 

"  I  have  just  returned  from  my  second  organising 
trip.  I  visited  Davidson,  Bladworth,  Stringfield, 
Garden  Valley,  Warminster,  Delisle,  Fertile  Valley 
and  Hanley  during  last  week,  and  then  spent  the  Sun 
day  at  Davidson  and  Bladworth,  where  I  had  most 
encouraging  services. 

"  I  drove  during  the  week  281  miles  over  an  entirely 
new  country,  where  no  Church  parson  had  been  before, 
though  Methodists,  Presbyterians  and  Baptists  were  in 
evidence  at  every  centre.  I  found  many  Church  people 
almost  despairing  of  ever  having  the  Church's  services, 
and  most  enthusiastic  in  their  desire  to  help.  I  arranged 
for  the  opening  at  once  of  six  centres,  and  have  now 


64       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

sent  Mr.  Smith  to  reside  till  October  at  Fertile  Valley  ; 
he  will  hold  services  at  Hassocks,  Warminster,  Stafifords 
and  Rushbrook's,  all  in  the  Gorse  Lake  district  to  the 
north-west  of  Regina,  on  the  borders  of  the  Diocese  of 
Saskatchewan.  I  want  another  man  at  once  for  the 
Garden  Valley  district.  If  I  only  had  the  money  I 
could  keep  ten  men  at  work  in  districts  hitherto  un 
touched.  We  must  be  aggressive  if  the  Church  is  to 
hold  her  own  in  this  marvellous  land.  Everywhere  I 
am  told,  *  Oh,  the  old  Church  is  too  slow,  it  lets  every 
denomination  get  on  ahead '.  We  are  going  to  stop 
this  if  possible,  but  the  old  Church  at  home  must  help 
us  liberally.  I  am  handicapped  for  want  of  money  for 
more  men  ;  the  men  are  available. 

"  We  have  bought  this  house  and  it  makes  an  admir 
able  Hostel,  but  the  heating  and  furnishing  are  costly 
items,  though  you  may  be  sure  we  do  not  indulge  in 
any  luxuries.  We  have  made  a  good  deal  of  furniture 
for  ourselves,  but  boom  prices  prevail  in  Regina. 

"  I  am  delighted  with  my  four  men.  They  are  all 
good,  though  of  very  different  types. 

"  The  Bishop  has  made  me  responsible  for  organising 
a  district  of  6,000  square  miles  in  which  no  church 
services  had  been  held  prior  to  our  arrival.  It  lies  west 
of  the  railroad  from  Regina  to  Saskatoon  and  north 
of  township  twenty-four — that  is  north  of  a  line  lying 
forty-two  miles  northward  from  Regina;  the  distance 
of  the  district  from  the  Hostel  adds  to  our  expense, 
but  the  work  must  be  done.  We  have  already  arranged 
our  scheme  of  reading  and  lectures,  and  during  the 
weeks  the  men  were  here  in  residence  I  gave  twelve 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  QU'APPELLE        65 

hours'  lectures  a  week,  and  we  got  through  a  good  deal 
of  work.  I  shall  be  reading  regularly  with  Irwin  and 
Rowland  until  October,  when  Smith  and  Hitcheon 
come  into  residence  again,  and  then  full  lecture  courses 
will  begin.  I  hope  to  have  seven  men  for  the  winter." 

Let  six  months  pass  :  now  read  again  : — 

"Six  months  ago  to-day  we  recommended  active 
work  in  connection  with  St.  Chad's  Hostel.  Of  our 
first  efforts  you  have  already  had  a  report.  During  the 
autumn  we  have  provided  services  at  eighteen  centres ; 
a  few  of  these  in  the  Goose  Lake  District  have  now 
been  closed  until  Easter  on  account  of  the  distance 
from  railway  communication,  but  we  hope  within  the 
next  two  weeks  to  commence  services  at  three  or  four 
mission  places  within  easy  reach  from  the  Hostel. 
The  various  missions  have  contributed  towards  the 
maintenance  of  the  work,  but  owing  to  the  distance  of 
several  groups  of  missions  from  the  Hostel  the  un 
avoidable  expenses  have  been  greater  than  anticipated. 

"  You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  we  have  now  nine 
students  in  residence  and  are  expecting  a  tenth.  There 
is  no  lack  of  applicants  for  training  for  Holy  Orders. 
The  great  need  is  for  means  to  provide  for  their  support. 
One  of  the  students  supported  by  the  Shropshire 
Mission  has  passed  his  examinations  in  four  of  the 
subjects  necessary  for  Deacon's  Orders,  with  great 
satisfaction  to  the  Bishop's  examining  chaplain.  Other 
students  will  shortly  be  examined  in  some  of  the  re 
quired  subjects. 

"  We  are  just  about  to  build  a  mission  church  for  St. 
Chad's,  or  to  purchase  a  suitable  building  if  the  terms  of 

5 


66       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

purchase  can  be  arranged.  This  will  involve  us  in  an 
expenditure  of  about  £400.  The  congregation  of  St. 
Chad's,  if  provided  with  suitable  accommodation,  will 
rapidly  increase  and  become  in  a  large  measure  self- 
supporting. 

"  We  have  had  difficulties  to  contend  with  in  some 
missions  owing  to  the  scattered  conditions  of  the  popu 
lation  and  the  great  distances  between  the  various 
settlements.  Still,  there  is  much  to  encourage  us,  and 
we  hope  next  summer  to  open  missions  in  several  dis 
tricts  in  which  no  services  of  the  Church  hitherto  have 
been  held. 

"  FYom  within  the  Diocese  of  Qu'Appelle  we  have 
received  much  sympathy  and  support.  The  thanks 
giving  offerings  at  many  harvest  festivals  in  the 
parishes  and  missions  of  the  diocese  have  been  devoted 
to  the  capital  fund  for  the  purchase  of  the  Hostel 
building,  on  account  of  which  we  still  owe  about  £700. 

"  Friends  in  England  sent  a  bale  containing  a  full 
supply  of  bedding  for  one  bed,  and  other  useful  articles. 
Still,  there  are  many  things  required  completely  to 
equip  the  Hostel  for  the  carrying  on  of  the  work, 
which  is  urgently  needed  and  much  appreciated  by  the 
settlers  in  our  many  missions." 

Pass  over  three  months  more  and  Mr.  Littler  writes  : — 

"  At  this  time  of  the  year  I  have  nothing  to  report 
in  the  way  of  expansion  of  our  mission  work,  but  I 
am  now  grappling  with  the  problem  of  assigning  our 
students  to  their  various  fields  of  activity  for  the  summer 
campaign.  In  addition  to  the  districts  which  we  were 
working  last  year,  we  shall  open  up  the  Elbow  country, 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  QU'APPELLE        67 

the  Eagle  Hills  district,  and  extend  the  bounds  of  our 
Fertile  Valley  Missions.  There  are  other  places  that 
should  be  attended  to  at  once,  but  we  have  not  sufficient 
means  to  maintain  more  than  ten  students.  The  Garden 
Valley,  Zealandia,  Oliver,  Sunny  Plains  and  Chamber 
lain  districts  should  each  be  occupied  this  summer,  but 
to  enable  us  to  meet  this  need  we  should  require  an  ad 
ditional  ,£250.  We  are  still  anxiously  hoping  that  the 
means  will  be  forthcoming  for  the  purchase  of  five  ponies 
and  buggies,  which  are  essential  for  the  carrying  on  of 
our  work  this  summer.  At  present  the  hostel  exchequer 
is  empty.  We  are  all  in  good  health.  Some  of  the 
students  are  busy  with  preparations  for  examination, 
which  will  probably  take  place  next  week.  The  others 
are  carrying  on  their  ordinary  studies.  At  the  beginning 
of  May  I  expect  to  start  on  a  long  tour  for  the  organi 
sation  of  the  Elbow,  Fertile  Valley  and  Eagle  Hills 
districts." 

These  extracts  from  letters  cover  just  twelve  months 
and  in  days  to  come  they  will  make  an  exceedingly 
interesting  bit  of  history.  Quietly  and  sensibly  the 
venture  has  grown  ;  no  mistake  seems  to  have  been 
made ;  the  capital  of  the  Civil  Province  of  Saskatchewan 
— Regina — was  selected ;  ten  men  are  now  working 
hard  in  the  field,  yet  all  the  while  they  are  in  close 
touch  with  an  experienced  clergyman  and  are  taught 
at  every  step ;  they  are  not  condemned  to  loneliness, 
but  have  experience  of  a  corporate  life,  and  thus  they 
not  only  gain  spiritually  but  they  make  lifelong  friend 
ships  and  possess  traditions  connected  with  their  train 
ing  home.  Unto  what  may  not  all  this  grow  in  the 


68       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

next  twenty  years  !  The  S.P.G.  has,  of  course,  helped 
this  venture.  In  1907  we  gave  the  diocese  for  its  mission 
work  about  £3, 400  and  were  rejoiced  to  be  able  to  do  it. 
The  picture  of  the  Warden  and  his  staff  of  students 
will  become  historic  some  day.1 

THE  QU'APPELLE  BROTHERHOOD  OF  CLERGY 

In  1908  another  venture  of  exceeding  interest  has 
come  into  existence  in  this  diocese.  One  of  the  clergy 
of  the  diocese,  realising  the  loneliness  of  the  life  of  the 
prairie  parson  and  its  dangers,  offered  to  obtain  the 
assistance  of  brother  priests  in  England  in  order  to 
start  a  "  Prairie  Brotherhood  "  on  simple  lines  based  on 
the  plans  adopted  by  the  well-known  Bush  Brotherhoods 
in  Australia.  The  Bishop  gave  his  consent,  but  said 
that  all  the  means  at  his  disposal  were  already  appropri 
ated.  If  the  S.P.G.  would  make  itself  responsible  for 
the  expenses  for  a  term  of  years  he  would  set  apart  a 
region  in  his  diocese  for  this  venture.  Brotherhoods 
are  a  very  acceptable  method  of  missionary  work  with 
the  S.P.G.  We  believe  that  more  and  more  mission 
work  will  be  done  on  these  lines.  The  perils  of  isola 
tion,  the  loss  by  reason  of  the  strain  on  the  spirits  and 
the  greater  chances  of  a  breakdown  make  us  look 
more  than  sympathetically  on  all  such  schemes.  Ac 
cordingly  we  put  ourselves  into  communication  with  the 
Rev.  W.  J.  McLean,  the  originator  of  this  movement,  as 
well  as  with  the  Bishop.  A  sum  of  ^"1,000  was  con- 

1  The  Rev.  C.  R.  Littler  has  been  compelled  to  resign  his  work  at 
the  Hostel  through  ill-health.  His  place  has  been  taken  by  the  Rev. 
G.  N.  Dobie  and  the  Rev.  R.  J.  Morrice. 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  QU'APPELLE        69 

sidered  to  be  sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses  of  pas 
sage,  outfit  and  board  and  lodging  for  the  first  year, 
and  £500  for  each  of  the  next  two  years.  We  made 
a  special  appeal  for  ,£2,000  for  this  purpose;  and 
obviously  we  could  make  a  good  case.  The  Bishop 
was  willing ;  the  men  were  ready ;  all  of  them  are  uni 
versity  men  of  excellent  standing  and  reputation ;  they 
are  of  course  unmarried  ;  nothing  was  needed  except 
the  money.  That  sum  of  ,£2,000  was  obtained  in 
about  six  weeks.  The  clergy  have  sailed  for  their  des 
tination  and  their  names  are  :  the  Revs.  W.  H.  McLean, 
J.  A.  Horrocks,  C.  R.  Leadley  Brown, and  M.  Buchannan. 

The  Bishop  of  Qu'Appelle  has  apportioned  to  the 
brotherhood  an  area  of  12,000  square  miles  in  the 
south-west  of  the  diocese.  Settlers  are  now  pouring 
into  it,  and  when  the  appeal  was  made  the  only  minis 
trations  of  religion  were  supplied  by  Roman  Catholics 
and  Christian  Scientists.  At  present  there  are  no 
towns,  but  the  railway  is  planned  to  pass  right  through 
this  region,  and  next  year  it  is  expected  that  a  dozen 
towns  will  come  into  existence.  A  settler  has  promised 
to  put  his  "  shack  "  and  stables  at  the  disposal  of  the 
clergy,  if  only  they  will  come  at  once  to  minister  to 
the  20,000  or  30,000  people  who  may  soon  be  expected 
to  settle  there. 

We  hope  and  believe  that  twelve  months'  work  will 
be  able  to  give  a  report  as  happy  on  its  own  lines  as 
that  which  we  have  received  from  St.  Chad's  Hostel  at 
Regina.  The  Diocese  of  Qu'Appelle  has  given  the  first 
examples  in  Canada  of  a  Hostel  and  of  a  Brotherhood 
of  Clergy  at  work.  At  the  same  time  we  look  with  special 


70       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

interest  for  good  accounts  of  this  Brotherhood  because 
a  great  deal  depends  upon  it.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
speaking  generally  Brotherhoods  are  not  at  present  in 
favour  in  Canada.  The  prophecy  there  is  that  they  will 
fail ;  the  bright  experience  of  Australia  does  not  much 
appeal  to  them  ;  and  yet,  in  my  opinion,  the  conditions 
are  harder  in  Australia,  the  population  is  smaller  and  the 
distances  quite  as  great.  Some  think  also  that  a 
Brotherhood  of  clergy  from  England  will  continue  to 
foster  the  English  stand-offish  spirit  and  will  less  quickly 
adapt  itself  to  Canadian  ways.  I  am  glad  to  have  the 
opportunity  of  mentioning  these  facts  by  way  of  warn 
ing.  We  hope  that  the  Qu'Appelle  Brotherhood  will 
justify  our  hopes  and  commend  the  movement  to  the 
Canadian  Church.  It  will  need  tact,  humility  and 
great  adaptability.  There  is  no  doubt  also  that  a  very 
fine  contingent  of  clergy  have  gone  from  England  to 
help  this  diocese  at  this  time  of  stress  in  response  to  the 
appeal  from  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  for  Western 
Canada.  To  speak  only  of  those  who  have  been 
passed  by  the  Board  of  Examiners  at  S.P.G.  House — 
this  Board  is  appointed  by  the  Archbishops  of  Canter 
bury  and  York  and  the  Bishop  of  London — we  can  tell 
of  7  clergy  and  7  laymen  who  have  gone  either 
permanently  or  for  a  term  of  years  to  fill  vacant  places 
in  Qu'Appelle.  In  this  diocese  also,  not  only  have  the 
old  posts  been  all  filled,  but  in  1907  at  least  thirty  new 
places  were  occupied  and  permanent  possession  taken 
of  them,  and,  of  course,  these  thirty  centres  include 
many  smaller  centres.  But  there  are  whole  regions  still 
left  to  other  denominations,  in  which  Churchmen  are  liv- 


THE    NEW   CHURCH    AT    BRESAYLOR,    SASKATCHEWAN 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  QU'APPELLE        71 

ing  untended  by  their  own  Church.  We  cannot  rest  con 
tent  till  every  member  of  our  Church  has  been  brought 
within  reach  of  the  ministrations  of  his  own  Church. 

The  following  story  was  inserted  in  the  first  edition 
of  this  book  as  if  it  had  been  an  incident  on  the  prairie. 
It  really  hails  from  the  hills  of  Scotland,  told  by  Mark 
Guy  Pearse,  and  put  into  verse  by  Miss  E.  A.  Walker. 
I  have  left  it  in  its  place  here  by  way  of  illustration. 

A  minister  met  upon  the  hills  one  day  a  boy  of 
fourteen  herding  a  few  sheep ;  a  farm  house  was  visible 
not  far  away.  The  traveller  stopped  and  entered  into 
conversation:  after  awhile  he,  longing  to  drop  some 
seed  secretly,  asked,  "  Do  you  ever  pray  ? "  The 
question  seemed  to  have  no  meaning,  and  he  gathered 
the  same  effect  from  a  question  about  Bible  reading. 
Prayer  and  Bible  seemed  unknown  at  the  farm  upon 
the  ridge.  So  he  said — "  I  wonder  whether  you 
would  do  something  for  me,  a  little  favour  ? " 
"  Yes,  governor,  I  think  I  could."  "  Well,  learn  five 
words  for  me.  I  shall  be  coming  this  way  again, 
perhaps  not  before  next  summer,  but  I  will  certainly 
come,  and  then  I  will  see  whether  you  remember 
five  words.  Say — '  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd  '." 
The  boy  repeated  the  words.  "Now  take  your  right 
hand,  stretch  out  the  five  fingers,  so;  now  put  each 
word  on  a  finger  beginning  with  the  thumb."  The 
boy  did  it.  "  Now  you  see  you  come  to  the  last  finger 
but  one  and  find  c  my  '  on  it.  Is  that  not  so  ?  "  "  Yes." 
"  When  you  come  to  '  my '  and  to  that  finger  put  the 
finger  down ;  crook  it ;  then  say  the  whole  five  words, 
*  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd  '.  You  will  get  to  like 


72       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

those  words  :  good-bye,  my  man  ;  I  shall  return  soon, 
don't  forget  your  promise  ;  "  and  he  went  his  way. 
Next  year  again  in  the  summer  he  was  passing  that  way 
and  the  sight  of  the  farm  brought  back  to  his  memory 
the  incident  of  the  boy  and  the  five  words.  So  he  went 
up  to  the  shack,  saw  a  woman  at  work  and  accosted  her. 
"  I  met  a  boy,  ma'am,  on  the  track  last  year  and  talked 
with  him  and  promised  I  would  come  and  call  on  him 
when  I  passed  again.  Is  he  your  son  ?  May  I  speak 
with  him  ? "  The  woman  looked  at  him  in  silence ;  at 
length  she  said,  "  Are  you  the  man  that  taught  him 
some  words  ?  "  «  Yes,  I  did.  How  is  he  ?  "  «  Dead." 
There  was  a  hush,  then  he  spoke  quietly.  "  How  was 
it  ?  tell  me  more."  The  mother  said,  "  He  was 
wonderfully  set  on  those  words :  I  used  to  see  him 
holding  up  his  hand  and  crooking  his  finger  and  sing 
ing  his  words".  "Yes,  go  on,  tell  me  all."  "One 
day  he  was  out  getting  in  the  sheep  and  was  caught  in 
a  blizzard.  We  ran  for  him  but  could  not  find  him 
anywhere :  we  shouted  and  looked,  and  I  was  terribly 
afraid  and  hoped  he  had  got  to  some  neighbours.  We 
found  him  dead  in  the  morning."  Once  more  silence 
fell :  the  minister  could  not  speak.  After  awhile  the 
mother  went  on :  "I  think  those  words  were  the  last 
he  ever  spoke,  for  we  found  him  dead  with  his  hand 
stretched  out  and  the  finger  was  down  ".  A  sower 
went  forth  to  sow :  some  seed  fell  by  the  wayside  but 
the  fowls  of  the  air  did  not  get  it.  The  reapers  are  the 
angels. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  DIOCESE  OF  CALGARY 

BISHOP  PlNKHAM  is  the  first  Bishop  of  Calgary. 
Formerly  his  jurisdiction  extended  over  the  whole  area 
now  divided  into  the  Dioceses  of  Saskatchewan  and 
Calgary,  and  the  Bishop  bore  the  title  of  "  Saskatche 
wan  ".  Upon  the  division  of  the  Diocese  the  Bishop 
chose  the  Calgary  portion  as  his  See. 

The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  passes  westward  from 
Qu'Appelle  into  Calgary  :  and  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  the  Diocese  of  Calgary  extends  for  many  hundreds 
of  miles  along  the  Rocky  Mountains,  from  the  United 
States  frontier  up  to  a  long  distance  north  of  the 
latitude  of  Edmonton.  It  is,  therefore,  a  fascinating 
diocese.  There  is  always  the  feeling  that  you  may  in  a 
short  space  of  time  escape  from  the  sea-like  plains  of 
the  prairie  into  some  of  the  most  beautiful  mountain 
ranges  in  the  world.  Banff  indeed,  a  world-famous 
name  among  tourists,  is  in  the  Diocese  of  Calgary,  and 
it  is  a  self-supporting  parish.  The  Bow  River,  famous 
for  its  swift  and  clear  waters,  rises  in  the  heart  of  the 
Rockies.  Calgary  also  has  many  ranches  situated  on 
the  foot  hills  of  the  higher  ranges,  and  strange  to  say 
the  winters  are  less  cold  just  because  of  the  proximity 
of  the  hills.  A  warm  wind  named  "the  Chinook/' 

(73) 


74       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

coming  from  the  south,  raises  the  temperature  appreci 
ably  on  the  plains  adjacent  to  the  mountains. 

But  for  the  most  part  the  work  of  the  Church  is 
precisely  the  same  as  that  which  has  been  spoken  of  in 
Saskatchewan  and  in  Qu'Appelle.  The  diocese  has 
still  great  regions  where  Churchmen  dwell  but  where 
Church  ministrations  are  not  in  evidence.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  the  S.P.G.  checked  all  reductions  in  their 
grants  and  started,  instead,  a  special  Western  Canada 
fund.  From  this  fund  both  Qu'Appelle  and  Calgary 
have  been  granted  ^"6000,  in  each  case  to  be  spread 
over  three  years.  As  in  the  case  of  Qu'Appelle  so  in 
Calgary,  we  can  tell  of  a  first-rate  band  of  young 
English  clergy  who  have  gone  to  the  rescue  of  the 
diocese  after  the  appeal  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter 
bury.  We  ourselves  know  of  9  very  capable  priests, 
one  of  them  being  the  Rev.  R.  D.  Starrier,  the  Rector 
of  Leek,  who  have  been  passed  through  the  Board  of 
Examiners. 

As  in  Qu'Appelle  so  in  Calgary,  no  abnormal 
methods  have  been  attempted.  It  is  delightful  to  read 
how  in  January,  1907,  an  urgent  appeal  was  made  for 
twenty-three  additional  clergy  and  by  3ist  December  of 
the  same  year  nineteen  had  been  obtained.  Vacant 
missions  were  filled  up :  many  new  centres  were  oc 
cupied.  But  in  the  spring  of  1907  further  good  news 
was  received.  Mr.  E.  H.  Riley,  M.P.,  made  an  offer 
to  the  Bishop  of  a  site  for  a  Diocesan  Theological 
Training  College.  Not  only  did  he  give  a  splendid 
site,  with  a  view  of  the  Rockies,  but  he  also  sacrificed 
four  other  lots  in  order  to  open  a  road  in  front  of  the 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  CALGARY  75 

proposed  College,  and  gave  a  sum  of  money  towards 
the  building  fund,  his  donation  being  worth  in  all 
£2,000.  The  college  is  to  be  called  the  "  Bishop  Pink- 
ham  College,"  and  the  erection  of  the  buildings  is  to 
be  pressed  on  without  loss  of  time. 

Some  200  miles  north  of  the  city  of  Calgary  and 
approached  by  a  line  of  railway  we  come  to  a  city 
which  has  a  very  great  future  before  it' — Edmonton. 
The  city  is  situated  on  both  sides  of  the  North  Saskat 
chewan  River,  a  splendid  position,  for  the  banks  are 
high  and  magnificently  wooded.  I  have  said  deliber 
ately  that  Edmonton  occupies  both  banks.  The  two 
sides  bear  different  names,  Edmonton  and  Strathcona, 
but  if  an  outsider  may  suggest  what  is  no  doubt  an 
impertinence,  it  would  be  good  for  the  future  of  a  place 
which  must  possess  enormous  importance  if  one  name 
covered  the  whole  area  of  population.  The  inhabitants 
have  at  least  the  example  of  London  before  them. 
Railways  haste  to  reach  Edmonton  from  the  West 
passing  through  the  corn  lands  of  Manitoba  and  Sas 
katchewan,  but  converging  at  last  on  Edmonton.  Then 
they  are  racing  for  the  same  pass  in  the  Rockies,  the 
Yellowhead  Pass ;  after  that  they  race  for  a  new  port 
on  the  Pacific  many  hundreds  of  miles  north  of  Van 
couver,  Prince  Rupert. 

I  spent  a  long  day  in  Edmonton  and  saw  much  of  the 
country  with  the  aid  of  a  motor  car.  I  looked  with 
special  interest  on  the  old  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 
Fort,  planted  on  a  flat  by  the  river  and  under  one  of  the 
high  banks.  It  still  stands,  I  suppose,  a  memorial  of 
the  days  when  Captain  Butler  called  these  regions  "  the 


76       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

Great  Lone  Land  "  and  found  no  one  here  but  the  fur 
traders  and  the  Indians.  No  one  can  understand  the 
history  of  these  lands  who  does  not  first  read  the  story 
of  fifty  years  ago.  There  are  no  better  books  than  the 
journeys  of  Lord  Milton  and  Dr.  Cheadle ;  The  Great 
Lone  Land  by  Captain  Butler,  and  The  Wild  North 
Land  by  the  same  author.  Captain  Butler's  books  have 
also  this  further  advantage  that  they  tell  graphically  the 
story  of  the  first  Riel  rebellion  in  1869,  and  take  you 
to  the  Red  River,  and  introduce  you  to  Fort  Garry,  and 
tell  of  the  advance  of  Wolseley  with  his  force  through 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  and  the  rivers,  only  to  find  Riel 
fled. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  realise  the  growing  importance  of 
these  regions  in  the  future.  Indeed  it  must  be  simply  a 
question  of  time  before  Edmonton  becomes  the  centre 
of  a  new  diocese,  and  perhaps  of  a  new  State,  leaving 
Calgary  the  southern  regions.  The  Bishop  and  his 
Council  are  well  aware  of  these  great  possibilities,  and 
when  the  right  time  comes  there  will  be  a  subdivision. 
The  present  number  of  clergy  in  the  Diocese  of  Calgary 
is  fifty-four.  In  the  city  of  Calgary  a  large  and 
spacious  cathedral  has  been  built,  and  it  is  well  filled, 
and  is  certainly  none  too  large  for  the  work  it  is  doing 
under  Dean  Paget. 

Those  who  watch  the  future  of  Canada  with  intense 
interest  as  Churchmen  and  Christians  are  of  course 
deeply  interested  in  all  political  and  agricultural  pro 
blems  in  this  new  dominion,  for  these  vitally  affect 
morals  and  population.  The  question  of  religious  in 
struction  in  schools  is  being  watched  by  us.  The  manner 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  CALGARY  77 

again  in  which,  agriculturally,  all  the  eggs  begin  by  being 
in  one  basket — to  put  it  generally — makes  us  apprehen 
sive  of  sudden  reverses  to  the  immigrant.  What  would 
be  the  effect  of  storms,  fire,  pests  on  a  gigantic  scale,  over 
an  area  of  1,000  miles  by  300  almost  all  in  wheat  ?  I 
see  that  one  experienced  English  farmer  calls  the  pre 
valent  occupation  not  wheat-farming  but  "  wheat-min 
ing".  It  is  also  said  that  in  the  older  districts  the 
fertility  of  the  soil  is  beginning  to  show  signs  of  exhaus 
tion.  Rotation  of  crops  must  be  practised  :  more  cattle 
must  be  kept.  Further,  the  large  ranches  are  being 
broken  up  because  these  are  not  bought,  but  leased 
lands ;  and  the  settler  applies  for  his  i6o-acre  lots  every 
where.  Some  consider  that  this  sized  allotment  is  too 
small  except  for  a  start,  and  that  if  a  farmer  cannot 
eventually  buy  the  adjoining  block  he  may  feel  himself 
seriously  hampered.  All  agree,  and  I  am  glad  to  insert 
this  advice,  since  it  appeals  so  completely  to  my  own 
uninstructed  observation,  that  a  settler  should  spend 
some  time  in  the  country  before  he  purchases  land. 
If  he  is  a  young,  unmarried  man  let  him  work  for 
others  for  a  year  or  two,  and  patience  will  be  abundantly 
rewarded . 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  DIOCESE  OF  RUPERT'S  LAND 

WE  are  all  inclined  to  smile  when  we  read  of  the 
enormous  tracts  that  once  were  included  in  certain 
dioceses.  It  is  well  known  that  the  whole  of  Australia 
was  once  an  archdeaconry  in  the  Diocese  of  Calcutta 
and  that  until  a  Bishop  was  consecrated  for  Australia 
in  1836  no  Bishop  had  ever  set  foot  in  the  Antipodes. 
Archdeacon  Broughton,  afterwards  the  first  Bishop,  was 
not  empowered  to  confirm,  and  he  was  asked  whether 
he  would  not  allow  the  Service  of  Confirmation  to  be 
held  excluding  the  Act  of  Confirmation  and  the  prayers 
alluding  to  it.  So  great  was  the  desire  to  have  some 
thing  which  gave  a  taste  as  it  were  of  Confirmation  that 
they  asked  for  the  "  question  "  to  be  put  and  the  "  answer  " 
to  be  given.  The  Archdeacon  did  not  accede  to  this 
request.  The  Diocese  of  Rupert's  Land  once  comprised 
the  whole  West  of  Canada,  everything  west  of  Lake 
Superior  as  far  as  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  everything 
north  as  far  as  the  Pole.  The  distance  would  be  1,500 
miles  by  2,000.  The  first  Bishop  was  appointed  in 
1 849 :  and  these  vast  regions,  traversed  at  that  time 
by  herds  of  buffaloes,  were  incorporated  into  the 
Dominion  of  Canada  in  1869.  But  it  is  interesting  to 
go  still  further  back.  The  first  Church  services  on  the 

(78) 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  RUPERT'S  LAND     79 

Red  River  were  held  in  1820.  The  first  school  on  the 
prairies  was  planted  soon  after  1820.  What  was  called 
the  Red  River  Academy,  was  opened  in  1849,  which 
became  in  time  St.  John's  College.  This  College  was 
reorganised  by  Bishop  Machray  in  1866.  When  I 
visited  in  1906  what  used  to  be  Fort  Garry,  I  found  a 
reminiscence  of  the  old  fort,  a  gateway  preserved  as  a 
relic  in  a  garden,  and  around  it  a  bustling  city  of 
100,000  people  with  the  widest  streets  I  have  seen,  I 
think,  and  one  of  the  most  magnificent  hotels.  One 
might  naturally  suppose  that  this  great  city — Winnipeg 
— could  support  the  whole  diocese.  So  it  could  if  its 
population  were  united  and  were  wholly  and  fervently 
Christian.  Our  Church,  however,  does  not  form  by 
any  means  the  richest  portion  of  the  population.  It 
also  has  to  supply  its  own  spiritual  needs  and  build 
additional  churches  year  by  year.  At  the  same  time 
it  does  not  beg  for  help  from  outside  sources  as  others 
are  compelled  to  do.  I  am  free  to  confess  that  in 
my  opinion  Rupert's  Land  has  been  most  generous 
in  this  respect.  It  has  always  stood  modestly  aside 
when  a  great  appeal  for  the  prairie  has  been  made ;  it 
says  that  in  a  sense,  however  inadequate,  it  has  covered 
the  ground.  I  mean  that  it  is  not  easy  for  the  Arch 
bishop  of  Rupert's  Land  to  speak  now  of  entirely  new 
ground  opened  up.  He  has  come  to  the  period  of 
much-needed  subdivision  of  spheres,  and  it  is  because 
this  cannot  be  carried  out  speedily  enough  that  the 
Church  is  losing  ground  at  this  time. 

Put  yourself  in  the  place  of  a  clergyman  with  some 
six  centres  of  worship.     To  the  chief  centre  he  must  pay 


8o       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

much  attention,  for  his  stipend  comes  chiefly  from  it ;  he 
lives  there ;  if  he  were  away  for  a  whole  Sunday  without 
a  service  there  would  be  a  fine  commotion  among  the 
churchwardens  and  sidesmen.  Yet  he  cannot  ade 
quately  take  charge  of  five  other  centres  if  he  has 
always  to  be  at  the  centre  once  or  twice  on  Sunday. 
What  is  he  to  do  in  regard  to  celebrations  of  Holy 
Communion  at  the  other  places  ?  So  he  has  to  let  a 
growing  township  have  a  service  once  in  three  weeks, 
or  a  fortnight.  Meanwhile  the  Methodist  or  the  Pres 
byterian  opens  a  weekly  Sunday  evening  service,  bright 
and  hearty ;  he  can  only  give  the  afternoon.  It  breaks 
his  heart :  is  he  to  lose  his  footing  altogether  there  ? 
Lay-readers  cannot  do  for  Churchmen  what  local 
preachers  can  do  for  Wesleyans.  Why  not  ?  No  one 
knows,  but  it  is  a  fact.  Churchmen  wax  restive  under 
ministrations  which  keep  Wesleyans  happy.  Church 
men  will  comfortably  attend  the  ministrations  of  the 
local  preacher  but  not  their  own  Church  service,  unless 
there  is  an  ordained  man  there  or  at  least  a  paid  lay- 
reader.  These  are  some  of  the  puzzles  of  "work 
abroad"  for  the  Englishman. 

Winnipeg  wants  to  build  a  Cathedral  in  place  of  the 
church  so  full  of  memories  by  the  bank  of  the  Red 
River.  There  is  a  beautiful  churchyard  full  of  famous 
graves.  Archbishop  Machray's  little  wooden  house 
stood  near  the  river,  but  it  has  fallen  from  age.  I 
naturally  asked  when  the  present  most  interesting 
Cathedral,  a  small  church,  would  give  place  to  a  fine 
Cathedral  which  would  illustrate  the  dreams  and  hopes 
of  Churchmen  on  the  prairie  for  the  future.  But  I  was 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  RUPERT'S  LAND     81 

told  that  there  are  curious  difficulties  in  connection  with 
Cathedral  building  in  a  climate  where  in  winter  forty 
degrees  below  zero  is  common.  If  you  build  a  very 
large  and  lofty  Cathedral  in  line  with  such  Cathedrals 
as  we  are  accustomed  to  in  England,  you  must  consider 
the  cost  of  fuel  in  keeping  it  warm.  The  cost  becomes 
enormous.  If  you  build  a  small  Cathedral  you  are  told 
that  you  do  not  dream  dreams.  Winnipeg  Churchmen 
have  to  settle  this  knotty  point. 

What  of  the  farm  districts? 

Population  in  Manitoba  fluctuates  terribly.  The 
land  is  no  longer  new.  Farmers  and  storekeepers  are 
attracted  Westward.  Sometimes  a  congregation  dis 
appears  altogether,  and  so  you  have  even  in  an  agri 
cultural  country  the  conditions  so  familiar  in  mining 
centres ;  of  course  such  farms  cannot  for  ever  be  given 
up,  but  for  the  next  ten  years  the  population  of  the 
old  West  will  fluctuate  because  of  the  new  West.  So 
again  an  old-established  parish  which  has  given  up  all 
diocesan  grants  has  to  come  at  times  cap  in  hand  to 
Synod  for  help.  Perhaps  a  hailstorm  has  destroyed 
the  crop  and  no  one  has  money,  or  all  the  Church 
people  have  moved  away.  Therefore  the  annual  review 
of  grants  by  the  Synod  is  absolutely  necessary.  No 
parish  can  claim  grants  as  of  right.  No  parish  can  be 
barred  from  them  even  if  it  has  once  voluntarily  resigned 
them. 

In  1907  eighty-one  missions  received  diocesan  grants ; 
these  missions  include  from  two  to  six  centres.  They 
are  staffed  by  forty-one  clergy,  but  the  forty-one  should 
be  seventy  if  we  are  to  do  what  other  denominations 

6 


82        THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

are  doing.  Stipendiary  readers  are  in  charge  of  four 
teen  missions ;  twelve  other  missions  are  in  the  hands 
of  students  from  St.  John's  College  and  of  summer 
students  from  the  East,  and  of  course  a  priest  visits 
these  missions  periodically.  The  number  of  clergy  in 
the  diocese  is  now  104,  with  sixteen  paid  lay- readers, 
five  Indian  catechists,  and  there  are  also  twenty-two 
summer  students.  It  is  delightful  to  note  that  this  dio 
cese  possesses  a  Field  Secretary  for  Sunday  schools. 
The  better  organisation  of  Sunday  schools  throughout 
the  world  is  one  of  the  problems  which  has  exercised  the 
Lambeth  Conference.  The  bishops  have  requested 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  to  appoint  a  committee 
to  inquire  into  the  problem.  Here  in  Rupert's  Land  is  a 
diocesan  official  appointed  for  this  very  purpose. 

I  suppose  the  glory  of  this  diocese  may  be  said  to 
gather  most  thickly  round  St.  John's  College  in  Winni 
peg.  It  is  a  college  in  connection  with  the  university. 
It  has  fine  buildings  and  good  grounds,  and  it  was  the 
darling  of  Archbishop  Machray.  Certainly  the  future 
of  the  diocese,  and  I  should  like  to  say  of  the  Province  of 
Rupert's  Land,  also  depends  upon  the  work  and  growth 
of  this  college  with  its  62  students.  They  graduate  in 
arts  and  pass  on  to  theological  study. 

The  S.P.G.  has  given  ^"3,000  to  this  diocese  for  its 
mission  work  from  its  special  fund  to  be  spread  over 
three  years. 

Once  when  the  Bishop  came  and  took  the  first  service 
in  a  place  where  other  denominations  had  been  more 
faithful  and  better  supplied  with  men  and  means,  there 
flocked  to  that  service  some  who  had  hungered  after  the 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  RUPERT'S  LAND     83 

old  prayers  and  Church  Order.  After  the  prayers  and 
sermon  and  Communion  were  ended  a  woman  came 
into  the  vestry  and  asked  to  see  the  Bishop,  and  thanked 
him  as  the  tears  stood  in  her  eyes.  "  Thank  you, 
Bishop,  for  this.  You  don't  know  what  it  means  to  me 
and  my  man.  It  is  twenty  years  since  we  have  attended 
our  own  Church  service,  and  it  is  just  too  much  for  us. 
Oh  !  don't  desert  us  now,  send  us  a  minister  soon." 
"And  where  is  your  good  man?"  said  the  Bishop,  "I 
should  like  to  shake  hands  with  him."  "  He  can't  come, 
Bishop,  he  daren't  trust  himself;  he  is  that  overcome 
with  joy  that  he  sent  me,  but  he  can't  come  in  himself." 
Meanwhile  Winnipeg  grows.  It  now  holds  140,000 
people :  and  in  that  wonderful  railway  station  there 
are  145  miles  of  siding.  Let  the  Church  rise  to  its 
opportunity. 


CHAPTER  IX 

ADJACENT  REGIONS 

I  HAVE  tried  to  fix  attention  on  the  problems  before 
the  Church  in  the  regions  where  immediate  action 
most  presses,  but  there  are  great  districts  adjoining 
what  may  be  called  the  main  strategic  centre  of  the 
present.  These  must  not  be  neglected  nor  ignored. 
Confining  myself  at  present  to  regions  east  of  the 
Rockies,  I  want  to  call  attention  to  three  dioceses, 
Algoma,  Keewatin  and  Athabasca. 

THE  DIOCESE  OF  ALGOMA 

Most  Churchmen  should  know  the  general  facts 
about  this  most  interesting  and  important  region.  It 
lies  first  in  Eastern  Canada,  on  the  western  boundary 
of  Ontario.  A  few  years  ago  it  was  a  silent  land  of 
lakes  through  which  Indians  portaged  northward 
towards  Hudson's  Bay.  To-day  it  is  being  filled  up 
with  settlers.  Famous  mines  are  to  be  found  there, 
notably  Cobalt  and  its  outlying  workings  ;  railways  are 
pushing  through  it.  The  Bishop  is  doing  heroic  work, 
living  the  simple  life,  beloved  by  all :  his  archdeacon 
is  known  everywhere  as  the  tramping  parson.  But  the 
diocese  suffers  from  being  within  Eastern  Canada.  We 
open  special  funds  for  Western  Canada,  but  this  money 

(84) 


ADJACENT  REGIONS  85 

cannot  be  used  for  Algoma,  although  the  nature  of  the 
problems  in  Algoma  are  those  of  the  prairie  dioceses. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  whenever  I  think  of  Western 
Canada  I  have  Algoma  in  my  view  also.  Four  years 
ago  it  was  a  joy  to  me  to  do  my  first  bit  of  mission 
work  in  this  diocese,  and  I  have  ventured  to  repeat  here 
the  description  given  of  my  adventures  two  years  ago. 

On  Saturday,  i8th  August,  I  left  North  Bay,  a  town 
on  Lake  Nipissing,  and  the  junction  where  the  Toronto 
line  joins  the  main  rail  east  and  west.  We,  however, 
were  to  travel  northwards  along  a  new  line  lately 
made  for  100  miles  to  reach  the  mines  at  Cobalt, 
now  a  famous  silver  mine,  and  to  open  up  agricultural 
country  farther  on.  That  Saturday's  journey  convinced 
me  once  for  all  that  Canada  is  a  land  of  lakes.  Every 
quarter  of  an  hour,  so  it  seemed  to  me,  we  came  to  a 
wooded  lake  which  would  make  the  fortune  of  an  English 
neighbourhood.  Nor  was  this  the  only  spot  where  this 
fact  was  forced  upon  one.  Except  on  the  actual  prairie 
it  seemed  impossible  to  be  long  out  of  touch  with  these 
lovely  stretches  of  water,  and  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  there  may  be  truth  in  the  dictum  that  the  lake 
surfaces  of  Canada  when  put  together  would  cover  the 
whole  of  Europe.  It  was  a  very  hot  day  indeed  when  we 
reached  Cobalt,  anything  from  ninety  degrees  to  ninety- 
four  degrees,  but  hospitality  was  unfailing,  and  of  course 
we  examined  the  great  mine.  I  have  seen  many  silver 
mines,  but  it  was  almost  provoking  to  see  money  made 
so  easily  as  was  apparently  the  case  at  Cobalt.  Silver, 
nearly  pure,  was  being  taken  out  of  lodes  on  the  surface. 
That  evening  we  watched  a  remarkable  scene.  We 


86        THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

overlooked  the  centre  of  the  town  ;  and  here  in  the 
hot,  still  evening,  a  cheap-jack  with  a  voice  of  thunder 
and  the  resources  of  a  magician  enthralled  the  whole 
population  of  the  place,  some  500,  leading  the  way  up 
to  his  patent  medicines,  and  then  selling  scores  of  bottles. 
Such  energy,  such  knowledge  of  human  nature !  I  en 
vied  him  for  the  work  of  the  Church  of  God.  What 
could  not  a  man  with  such  gifts  do  for  the  Lord  ! 

On  Sunday,  ipth  August,  I  had  the  privilege  of 
preaching  in  the  new  church  opened  for  the  first  time 
on  that  occasion.  I  preached  and  mopped.  At  I  P.M., 
when  the  sun  was  at  its  hottest,  we,  my  dear  friend  the 
Bishop  of  Algoma  and  I,  left  our  good  hosts  in  order  to 
tramp  along  the  railway  line  five  miles  to  Haileybury, 
that  I  might  preach  there  at  3.15.  Needless  to  say, 
we  stripped  for  the  fray.  We  took  off  every  garment 
that  decency  would  permit,  opened  our  umbrellas, 
carried  our  garments  and  canonicals,  and  walked 
through  sandy  cuttings  on  a  breathless  day,  ther 
mometer  94  degrees  in  the  shade.  Bush  fires  were 
smouldering  on  all  sides.  It  was  glorious,  and  I 
bethought  me  of  the  old  days  and  the  happy  tramps 
in  Tasmania.  Then,  too,  I  had  so  delightful  a 
companion.  I  preached  at  3.15,  still  mopping;  a 
humorous  friend  said  afterwards,  "  There  was,  of  course, 
but  one  text  for  you — Gideon's  fleece".  Just  before 
we  reached  Haileybury  and  were  looking  down  upon 
the  wooden  town  shimmering  in  the  heat,  with  bush 
all  round  and  fires  smouldering,  I  made  the  re 
mark  to  a  friend  :  "  I  don't  know  how  it  may  be  in 
Canada,  but  my  Australian  experience  prompts  me  to 


ADJACENT  REGIONS  87 

say  that  if  a  wind  springs  up  I  would  not  give  that  for 
Haileybury  ".  Next  day  it  was  burnt  out.  But  our 
day  had  not  ended  ;  the  Bishop  went  back  to  Cobalt. 
I  went  by  train  to  Liskard  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Temiskaming ;  and  as  we  looked  down  upon  the 
enormous  stretch  of  waters  through  the  heat,  it  was 
difficult  to  believe  that  it  would  be  frozen  to  the  depth 
of  two  or  three  feet  and  become  a  highway  in  six 
months'  time.  I  preached  again,  mopping.  On  Mon 
day  we  returned  to  North  Bay  after  an  experience 
which  reminded  me  in  almost  every  particular  so 
much  of  Tasmania — in  the  townships,  the  bush,  the 
free  life  and  great  hospitality,  the  wooden  churches, 
the  people — that  it  was  difficult  to  believe  it  was  not 
the  Antipodes.  There  was  one  exception — the  lakes. 
Pioneer  work  is  very  much  the  same  all  the  world  over, 
and  there  is  no  work  one  loves  quite  so  much  so  long 
as  youth  and  vigour  remain.  It  is  worth  mentioning 
that  by  an  act  of  the  Provincial  Legislature  of  Ontario 
intoxicants  are  excluded  altogether  from  the  town  of 
Cobalt. 

North  Bay  has  a  beautiful  church  under  a  rector 
given  to  hospitality  towards  the  brethren.  The  Bishop 
of  Algoma  and  I  passed  from  his  house  to  "  the  Soo,'' 
as  Sault  Ste.  Marie  is  familiarly  called.  It  is  the  neck 
of  Canada  ;  here  East  and  West  may  be  said  to  meet  on 
the  waters.  Lake  Superior  empties  itself  through  the 
rapids,  and  on  each  side  of  them,  on  American  and 
Canadian  soil,  there  are  canals  with  locks  for  the 
enormous  traffic  that  passes  this  way.  It  is  difficult  to 
believe  that  more  than  twice  the  tonnage  using  the 


88       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

Suez  Canal  passes  annually  by  "  the  Soo,"  so  great  is 
the  water-borne  wheat  industry,  together  with  other 
businesses,  including  an  enormous  passenger  traffic. 
Here  water  power  makes  vast  factories  possible  for 
rails,  pulp,  etc.,  all  protected  or  subsidised. 

There  seem  to  be  at  least  twelve  important  centres 
of  population  where  the  ministrations  of  the  Church 
are  altogether  absent,  and  from  six  to  ten  such  places 
have  been  vacant  for  a  whole  year ;  what  chance  has 
the  Church  later  on  ?  Still  let  us  thank  God  for  the 
steady  growth  of  the  Church ;  it  is  ill  work  always 
gazing  at  the  defects  and  forgetting  our  achievements 
under  the  good  hand  of  God.  There  are  fifty  clergy 
in  the  diocese  though  there  should  be  sixty.  There 
are  ten  self-supporting  parishes,  fifty-three  missions, 
which  need  aid  ;  100  churches,  twenty-nine  parsonages. 
This  would  make  a  poor  show  alongside  the  statistics 
of  other  denominations. 

THE  DIOCESE  OF  KEEWATIN 

Leaving  Algoma  as  it  stretches  along  the  northern 
shores  of  Lake  Superior  we  enter  the  Diocese  of  Kee- 
watin.  It  is  a  long  strip  which  includes  the  western 
shores  of  Hudson's  Bay  and  ascends  to  the  North  Pole. 
Its  southern  limit  is  near  the  United  States.  This  is  not 
a  farming  region  ;  there  is  much  timber  and  thick  under 
growth,  and  lumber  and  wood  industries  are  the  prin 
cipal  occupations.  As  the  train  travels  westward  you 
leave  these  wooded  regions  and  reach  what  we  know  as 
the  prairie.  There  is  at  present  only  one  self-support 
ing  church  in  the  diocese,  at  Kenora,  where  the  Bishop 


ADJACENT  REGIONS  89 

lives,  on  the  railway.  There  are  16  clergy  in  the  dio 
cese.  The  Bishop  has  done  yeoman's  work  in  the  far 
North  among  the  Indians  and  has  lived  for  months  among 
the  Esquimaux  on  raw  flesh  and  seal  oil.  His  record 
of  sledge  and  canoe  travelling  is  wonderful,  but  such 
physical  exertion  becomes  increasingly  hard  as  the 
years  roll  on.  This  diocese  is  one  of  those  that  cannot 
tell  so  romantic  a  story  as  others,  but  the  work  is  hard 
and  the  region  is  a  vast  one. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  best  in  this  place  to  state  the  two 
aspects  of  a  problem  which  is  discussed  in  Canada 
as  a  strategic  question.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
Bishops  of  Dioceses  such  as  Keewatin  and  Moosonee, 
which  include  all  the  lands  on  both  sides  of  Hudson 
Bay,  and  as  far  north  as  human  beings  are  to  be  found, 
live  at  the  extreme  southern  edge  of  their  dioceses,  on 
the  railway  and  among  white  settlers,  and  far  removed 
from  their  Indian  and  Esquimaux  congregations.  Some 
assert  that  it  is  not  right,  and  that  the  bishops  should 
live  far  in  the  north,  just  as  Bishop  Horden  lived 
when  he  was  Bishop  of  Moosonee.  The  other  side  of 
the  question  is  that  to  live  in  the  south  is  to  be  able 
to  work  all  through  the  year.  If  the  Church 
needs  merely  examples  of  endurance  without  reference 
to  work  done,  then  the  bishops  should  live  at  Fort 
Churchill  and  Moose  Factory  on  Hudson  Bay.  They 
did  so  and  were  well  content  to  do  it  when  there  was 
practically  no  white  population  in  their  dioceses.  But 
the  situation  has  changed.  In  the  south,  and  in  con 
sequence  of  the  railway,  there  are  increasing  white 
populations;  their  numbers  will  soon  far  exceed  the 


9o       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

number  of  the  Indians  and  Esquimaux,  if  they  do  not 
do  so  already.  If  the  Bishop  lives  in  the  north  he  may 
be  able  to  minister  through  long  winter  months  to  the 
station  where  he  is  living  and  to  a  few  others.  Were 
he  living  in  these  months  in  the  south  he  would  be 
actively  engaged  all  the  time  among  white  settlers  and 
the  clergy  in  charge  of  them.  Which  is  the  best  policy  ? 
The  question  has  to  be  answered  whether  these  bishops 
are  any  longer  pre-eminently  bishops  for  the  Indian 
population.  The  Indians  and  other  aboriginal  races  are 
not  increasing,  are  probably  decreasing  even  in  these 
northern  regions  ;  the  whites  are  becoming  a  mighty 
army.  The  whole  strategic  position  is  altering.  It  is 
not  a  question  of  comfort  but  of  strategy.  I  suppose 
this  problem  has  been  altogether  solved  upon  the 
prairie,  in  the  Diocese  of  Saskatchewan.  Time  was  when 
the  Bishop  of  Saskatchewan  must  have  thought  daily, 
and  first,  of  his  Indian  congregations.  By  no  stretch 
of  imagination  could  he  do  so  to-day.  The  Bishops  of 
Moosonee  and  of  Keewatin  have  decided  that  it  is  their 
duty  to  live  in  the  South. 

THE  DIOCESE  OF  ATHABASCA 

I  believe  that  ere  long  there  will  be  a  shifting  of  the 
boundaries  of  dioceses  in  Northern  Canada.  The  day 
for  this  may  not  be  yet  in  the  regions  round  Hudson 
Bay,  in  Eastern  Canada.  But  a  survey  of  the  situation 
in  Western  Canada  seems  to  suggest,  to  me  at  least, 
that  the  Canadian  Church  will  seriously  have  to  con 
sider  what  should  be  done  in  regions  north  of  Sas 
katchewan.  Is  population  going  farther  North  ?  Can 


ADJACENT  REGIONS  91 

corn  be  grown  with  certainty  in  Athabasca  ?  In  the 
Peace  River  country  they  already  claim  to  grow  the 
best  wheat  in  Canada.  Should  there  be,  therefore,  a 
diocese  of  white  settlers  far  north  of  Prince  Albert  and 
Edmonton  ?  Should  this  diocese  be  a  newly  formed 
Athabasca  ?  If  so  what  should  be  the  fate  of  Mackenzie 
River  with  its  exceedingly  small  population  scattered 
over  an  enormous  area  ?  Or  again,  ought  the  northern 
part  of  Saskatchewan  be  cut  off,  the  portion  that  con 
tains  the  greater  number  of  the  Indians,  in  order  that  the 
Bishop  of  Saskatchewan  may  devote  himself  wholly  to 
his  immense  task  on  the  prairie?  If  so,  who  shall  take 
charge  of  the  Indians  ?  Or,  once  more,  if  Edmonton  is 
to  be  the  centre  of  a  new  diocese,  how  far  north  should 
it  extend  ?  These  are  most  interesting  questions  to 
which  the  Canadian  Church  must  soon  give  us  answers. 
Strangely  enough  the  answers  seem  to  depend  upon  a 
knot  of  able  students  at  the  Government  Agricultural 
Farm  at  Ottawa.  Here  they  are  ever  at  work  to 
evolve  a  sort  of  wheat  that  will  ripen  in  the  shortest 
possible  time.  They  are  practising  on  wheat  from 
Northern  Russia,  and  if  they  can  get  a  kind  that  can 
be  cut  within  ten  weeks  of  the  day  the  blade  makes  its 
appearance  it  means  pushing  the  vast  Canadian  corn 
field  perhaps  200  miles  farther  North.  If  they  can  get 
a  nine  weeks'  wheat  how  far  North  shall  we  be  taken  ? 
Upon  the  answers  to  these  questions  depends  the 
strategy  of  the  Canadian  Church.  To  me  it  has 
seemed  that  some  day  we  shall  hear  of  a  sort  of 
Canadian  wheat  which  has  a  stalk  of  six  inches  and  an 
ear  of  ten  inches,  the  latest  triumph  of  evolution. 


92       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

What  a  wonderful  land  it  is — how  beautiful  is 
Canada — how  romantic  its  history — how  much  nature 
has  done  for  it  !  Surely  it  is  laid  upon  man,  upon  the 
Christian  Church,  upon  the  Anglican  Church,  so  to 
work  that  men  may  also  be  constrained  to  say — how 
much  has  the  grace  of  God  done  for  the  Canadian 
people  at  the  hands  of  His  servants. 


CHAPTER  X 

OUR  CLERGY  AND  WORKERS  AND  THEIR  TRAINING 

THIS  chapter  must  be  devoted  to  one  of  the  most  im 
portant  subjects  that  the  Church  has  to  face  to-day ; 
the  proper  training,  intellectually  and  spiritually,  of  the 
clergy.  More  than  this,  when  we  deal  with  new  lands 
we  have  to  consider  what  are  the  dangers  of  the  younger 
clergy  after  ordination  :  the  future  of  a  promising  man 
may  be  wrecked  if  during  his  Diaconate  he  is  left  to 
shift  for  himself  and  has  not  the  counsel  of  a  wise 
priest.  Months  of  loneliness  may  shatter  his  ideals  of 
prayer  and  check  his  growth  in  the  deep  things. 

These  thoughts  are  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  this 
book  has  been  taken  up  with  the  Canadian  problem 
which  can  only  be  solved  by  pouring  in  workers  in 
large  numbers  who  have  not  had  the  long  training  which 
is  universally  recognised  as  essential  for  an  instructed 
and  well-educated  ministry.  But  if  abnormal  methods 
are  needed  to  meet  a  special  crisis,  it  is  incumbent  upon 
the  rulers  of  the  Church  that  they  do  not  injure  the 
future  of  the  men  who  so  willingly  offer  themselves  to 
do  their  utmost  in  the  day  of  the  Church's  need.  We 
must  take  care  to  give  them  all  the  fostering  care  that 
\s  possible,  and  to  give  time  and  pains  to  the  subject. 
,  first,  remember  that  everywhere,  and  among  all 
(93) 


94       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

bodies  of  Christians,  the  ideals  of  education  are  rising. 
More  especially  is  this  true  in  the  case  of  teachers. 
The  following  facts  will  be  of  interest  in  regard  to  the 
length  of  time  given  by  various  religious  denominations 
to  the  instruction  of  their  ministers. 

In  the  Church  of  Rome  the  seminary  course  lasts  from 
four  to  six  years.  Where  students  do  no  theological 
studies  at  a  university  the  course  lasts  from  seven  to 
nine  years.  In  the  Jesuit  Order  the  course  is  from  ten 
to  twelve  years.  Among  the  Benedictines  it  is  five  years. 
In  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland  all  students 
pass  through  the  Divinity  Hall  of  one  of  the  four  uni 
versities  and  are  advised  if  possible  to  take  a  uni 
versity  degree.  In  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
all  theological  students  must  first  have  taken  a  degree. 
In  the  Congregationalist  Church  the  course  of  study 
is  generally  for  six  years.  Among  the  Wesleyan 
Methodists  the  course  is  four  years.  Turning  to  the 
branches  of  our  own  Church,  note  that  in  the  United 
States  the  postulant  for  Holy  Orders  must  be  under 
the  eye  of  the  bishop  and  under  his  direction  for  three 
years  before  ordination,  and  a  graduate  in  arts  of  some 
university  or  college,  or  have  passed  the  same  standard 
of  examination.  If  we  turn  to  our  own  newer  theologi 
cal  colleges  we  find  that  Father  Kelly  at  Kelham  puts 
his  course  at  seven  years  ;  at  Mirfield,  no  student  is  ad 
mitted  till  he  has  acquired  a  sound  elementary  know 
ledge  of  Latin  and  Greek  ;  after  this  he  spends  three 
years  in  arts  for  his  degree  at  Leeds,  and  two  years  in 
theology  at  Mirfield,  five  in  all.  The  other  Missionary 
Colleges  make  three  years  the  minimum  course  for  those 


OUR  CLERGY  AND  WORKERS          95 

who  are  to  go  abroad ;  but  all  are  dissatisfied  with  this 
term.  I  believe  all  desire  to  lengthen  it  to  five  years, 
whether  all  the  time  be  spent  at  the  Missionary  College 
or  part  of  it  at  a  university.  We  have  without  doubt 
had  in  the  pasta  lower  standard  of  attainment  than  any 
other  religious  body ;  a  thoroughly  Anglo-Saxon  fault. 
A  clean  and  athletic  gentleman  has  been  supposed  to 
be  capable  of  doing  anything  whether  in  the  earthly  or 
the  spiritual  army,  without  much  if  any  special  training. 
It  is  wonderful  what  the  old  system  has  effected ;  but 
why  not  specially  educate  the  good  material  ?  Clearly 
the  need  for  an  all-round  raising  of  the  standard  at 
home  has  been  impressed  upon  us  of  late,  especially  the 
need  of  a  liberal  education  and  a  broad  based  training. 
The  recommendation  of  the  committee  of  the  Lambeth 
Conference  on  this  subject  is  couched  in  the  following 
terms :  "  The  time  has  come  when,  in  view  of  the  de 
velopment  of  education  and  of  the  increased  oppor 
tunities  afforded  for  university  training,  all  candidates 
for  Holy  Orders  should  be  graduates  of  some  recognised 
university,  as  the  increased  facilities  for  obtaining  de 
grees  from  the  newer  universities,  with  or  without  re 
sidence,  bring  a  degree  within  the  reach  of  those  who 
are  being  mainly  trained  at  theological  colleges  ".  They 
also  add  that  premature  specialisation  in  theology  is  not 
to  be  desired,  and  a  course  of  arts  preceding  theology 
is  the  better  basis.  It  is  notable  also  that  the  com 
mittee  of  the  Conference  presses  for  instruction  in  social 
and  economic  questions,  general  business  principles, 
and  applied  moral  theology  and  Church  law.  I  be 
lieve,  further,  that  we  shall  see  ere  long  the  custom  in 


96       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

our  own  Church  which  has  been  adopted  for  all  can 
didates  for  Holy  Orders  in  the  German  Protestant 
Church.  Their  candidates  are  compelled  to  spend  six 
weeks  in  a  training  college  for  teachers,  and  if  he  fails 
to  obtain  a  good  report  he  has  to  take  another  six 
weeks  in  the  following  year.  And  it  is  not  only  to 
learn  how  to  teach  but  to  study  the  principles  of  educa 
tion,  the  interaction  of  different  kinds  of  knowledge, 
as  well  as  the  interaction  of  physical,  mental  and  moral 
health.  At  least  such  a  course  will  enlarge  the  vision 
and  teach  the  student  how  little  he  knows  and  how 
humble  he  ought  to  be. 

But  further,  the  ideals  of  training  are  rising  after  the 
student  is  ordained  deacon.  The  recommendation  of 
the  committee  of  the  Lambeth  Conference  is  that  one 
year  in  the  diaconate  is  an  inadequate  preparation  for 
the  priesthood  and  that  two  years  are  needed ;  after 
which  they  use  the  following  significant  words  :  "  We 
desire  to  call  attention  to  the  very  grave  responsibility 
incurred  by  a  parish  priest,  who  gives  a  title  to  a 
deacon,  for  properly  training  that  deacon  in  the  duties 
of  his  office,  as  well  as  for  securing  for  him  opportunity 
for  study  and  preparation  for  the  priesthood.  We 
therefore  suggest  that  bishops  should  permit  only 
specially  justified  incumbents  to  grant  titles." 

At  present  the  intellectual  side  of  the  training  has 
been  chiefly  in  evidence,  but  I  am  persuaded  that  the 
spiritual  side  is  of  still  greater  importance.  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  has  to  learn  how  to  pray  and  finds  it  a  very 
difficult  duty.  He  usually  starts  with  the  ideal  of  a 
couple  of  minutes  morning  and  evening :  that  exhausts 


OUR  CLERGY  AND  WORKERS          97 

for  him  all  the  subjects  of  prayer  and  he  reads  with 
wonder  of  hours  of  prayer,  of  continuing  all  night  in 
prayer,  of  books  of  intercession.  He  feels  that  except 
in  a  church  or  at  his  bedside  there  is  something  almost 
indecent  in  prayer.  But  the  spiritual  guide  has  to  rise 
far  above  this ;  and  you  cannot  "  cram  "  this  knowledge 
because  it  means  a  transformation  and  elevation  of  the 
whole  man,  a  closer  and  more  perpetually  conscious 
walk  with  God.  It  needs  time  and  silence,  and  much 
humiliation  in  the  case  of  many.  It  is  a  definite  and  a 
very  difficult  branch  of  knowledge,  but  when  it  is  attained 
there  is  a  tone  imparted  to  the  life  of  the  man  which 
tells  in  every  direction.  It  is  not  often  that  you  find 
men  deeply  trained  thus  in  their  early  days  absent  from 
a  yearly  retreat  of  some  kind.  They  crave  for  periods 
of  silence ;  whereas  those  who  have  had  no  such  training 
are  often  those  that  no  persuasion  can  bring  to  "  Quiet 
Days".  They  are  too  busy  for  such  "luxuries"  for 
they  have  not  learnt  that  they  are  necessities. 

It  is  because  of  the  deepening  sense  of  what  the 
training  of  a  priest  should  be  that  we  of  the  S.P.G. 
have  taken  a  noteworthy  step  of  late.  It  has  been  our 
custom  hitherto,  as  soon  as  our  students  have  been 
trained,  to  send  them  out  to  their  dioceses  abroad  to  be 
ordained  there,  and  trained  there  as  deacons  and  so  to 
pass  on  to  the  priesthood.  But  both  the  bishops  and  we 
ourselves  have  now  begun  to  ask  whether  in  all  mission 
ary  dioceses  there  are  places  where  deacons  can  be 
properly  trained.  If  there  are  no  such  places  in  any 
particular  diocese,  then  another  plan  is  suggested.  The 
student  is  placed  in  the  bishop's  hands  as  before,  but 

7 


98       THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

the  bishop  at  his  own  request  arranges  for  him  to  be 
trained  as  a  deacon  in  some  missionary-hearted  parish 
at  home  chosen  by  himself ;  and  a  deacon  is  known  as 
one  who  really  belongs  to  a  diocese  abroad,  but  is  in 
England  for  his  better  training. 

Now  let  me  recount  some  of  the  failures  of  the  past, 
drawing  from  my  experience  in  many  a  land.  Years 
ago  the  late  Canon  Potter  of  Melbourne  told  me  that 
he  was  sent  as  a  deacon  to  take  sole  charge  of  a  great 
bush  district  in  Victoria,  far  away  from  any  priest  or 
spiritual  adviser,  picking  up  experience  as  best  he 
could.  Once  in  three  months  the  archdeacon  came 
into  his  district  to  give  the  people  the  Sacraments. 
But  on  this  occasion  he  himself  had  to  go  to  the  arch 
deacon's  parish  and  take  his  duty.  The  result  was 
that  though  Potter's  people  received  their  Sacraments 
once  in  three  months,  their  spiritual  guide  received  no 
such  aid.  I  am  afraid  of  exaggeration,  but  he  certainly 
did  not  receive  Holy  Communion  for  more  than  a  year, 
probably  not  at  all  during  his  diaconate.  I  often  think 
with  wonder  of  that  archdeacon  who  probably  had  half 
a  dozen  such  men,  either  as  laymen  or  deacons  in 
charge  of  parishes,  who  were  sent  in  turn  to  take  his 
duty  without  the  great  Means  of  Grace. 

I  have  known  a  deacon  sent  without  any  spiritual 
training  to  take  charge  of  a  very  difficult  mining  parish 
cut  off  from  civilisation  by  fifty  miles  of  bush.  And  I 
noted  in  his  career  afterwards  just  the  lack  which  such 
neglect  of  training  would  lead  one  to  expect :  he  had 
been  sinned  against  by  the  Church.  I  read  some  years 
ago  one  of  the  most  touching  letters  of  my  life  from  a 


OUR  CLERGY  AND  WORKERS          99 

deacon  who  had  been  sent  as  a  pioneer  to  cover  a  district 
about  sixty  miles  square,  with  his  people  scattered  all 
over  it,  and  with  some  eight  ministers  of  other  denomin 
ations  working  in  it.  He  told  how  his  heart  was  broken  ; 
do  what  he  would  he  could  not  cope  with  the  work  nor 
keep  his  people  together.  He  had  spent  all  his  private 
means  in  supplementing  his  stipend ;  though  married, 
he  had  not  seen  his  wife  for  over  four  days  in  six 
weeks  ;  and  now  in  despair  he  was  proposing  to  throw 
up  his  orders  and  take  to  business.  These  are  stories 
of  the  past ;  this  man  did  not  succumb  ;  he  did  not 
give  up  his  orders  and  he  is  still  at  work,  but  our 
national  want  of  foresight  and  forethought  is  the  cause 
of  fearful  distress  in  all  departments  of  public  life.  We 
trade  upon  fine  material  and  our  dogged  character,  but, 
to  use  a  well  known  phrase,  "  Is  it  cricket  ? " 

Then  there  is  the  paralysing  effect  of  loneliness.  I 
have  been  told  by  earnest  priests  of  the  languor  that 
seizes  upon  them  before  an  early  celebration  of  Holy 
Communion  in  the  tropics.  Something  whispers,  "  You 
want  a  pick-me-up;  try  a  brandy  and  soda".  And 
these  are  the  temptations  of  the  devil.  Or  else  it  is  a 
man  who  is  al \vays  giving  out  to  others.  His  week 
days  are  spent  in  bush  hotels  and  farm  houses.  When 
he  comes  home  he  has  no  one  to  help  him  spiritually : 
the  temptation  to  become  worldly  is  strong.  If  he  is 
in  a  mining  district,  "scrip  "  is  flying  about  all  the  time 
and  he  is  sore  tempted  to  speculate.  If  he  does  he  loses 
his  influence.  It  is  sad  to  note  the  many  cases  of  ex- 
ministers  of  denominations  who  are  mining  agents  and 
sub-editors  of  small  papers.  Some  are  tempted  to  be 
come  hotel  keepers  and  farmers. 


ioo     THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

The  burden  of  my  story  is  that  in  every  pioneer  land, 
not  least  in  Canada,  we  have  to  see  to  it  that  our 
spiritual  guides  get  the  deepest  and  best  education 
available. 

The  temptation  to  lower  the  standard  is  terrible  owing 
to  present  difficulties.  But  we  have  to  remember  that 
the  permanent  deepening  of  the  character  of  our  priests 
can  only  be  affected  by  time  as  well  as  guidance.  It 
needs  to  soak  in.  No  short  courses  can  effect  this ;  and 
it  is  the  depth  of  character  which  tells ;  the  felt  need 
for  silence,  for  much  study,  for  periodical  times  of  re 
tirement,  for  much  prayer,  has  generally  to  be  cultivated 
in  the  days  of  preparation ;  it  is  better  so  than  to  have 
to  learn  it  by  failure,  by  the  terrible  feeling  that  the 
days  of  spiritual  and  intellectual  drought  are  upon  us, 
and  the  cisterns  are  nearly  empty.  It  is  strange  how 
much  more  easy  it  is  to  fill  up  a  cistern  three  quarters 
full  than  to  put  the  same  amount  into  an  empty  cistern. 
Moreover  the  water  tastes  so  much  nicer  in  the  first  case 
than  in  the  second. 

All  I  have  said  is  perfectly  familiar  to  the  bishops 
on  the  prairie.  And  their  position  is  made  extra 
ordinarily  difficult  by  this  fact.  They  know  the  diffi 
culties  ;  how  are  they  to  avoid  them  ?  They  long  to 
give  their  clergy  and  catechists  the  deepest  training 
possible.  Education  is  being  supplied  to  every  type  of 
mankind:  it  is  to  be  had  in  abundance;  but  how  to 
raise  the  teachers  spiritually  and  intellectually  so  that 
they  may  have  a  right  to  teach,  and  how  to  do  it  in  the 
field  when  they  have  not  had  great  advantages  before 
hand,  how  to  make  them  fitted  to  become  in  time 


OUR  CLERGY  AND  WORKERS        101 

priests  of  the  Anglican  Church  throughout  the  world— 
this  is  the  problem. 

In  the  same  way  in  the  Diocese  of  Saskatchewan  the 
special  perplexity  which  is  felt  is  how  far  it  is  right  to 
continue  an  abnormal  state  of  things  so  that  it  may 
become  almost  normal  locally.  If  to  meet  a  sudden 
crisis  you  pour  seventy  catechists  into  a  diocese  who 
have  not  had  years  of  preparation,  giving  them  large 
districts  and  much  responsibility,  how  far  is  it  right  to 
double  those  numbers  so  that  they  far  exceed  the 
clergy  in  the  diocese  ?  We  are  asking  these  questions 
of  bishops  who  feel  the  weight  of  the  problem  and  our 
sincerest  sympathy  goes  out  to  them. 

It  is  not  surprising  then  that  for  the  sake  of  informa 
tion  for  which  we  shall  eagerly  look  we  have  asked  the 
prairie  bishops,  four  in  number,  namely,  the  Archbishop 
of  Rupert's  Land,  the  Bishops  of  Qu'Appelle,  Calgary 
and  Saskatchewan  the  following  questions. 

How  far,  after  the  experience  attained,  is  the  cate- 
chist  scheme  a  success  or  otherwise  ?  How  far  should 
it  be  extended  further  ?  What  are  the  dangers  to  be 
avoided,  and  the  safeguards  needed?  What  do  you 
think  of  the  suggestion  that  some  external  body  should 
test  the  qualifications  of  the  catechists,  just  as  the 
Universities'  preliminary  examination  tests  and  aids  the 
missionary  colleges  in  England  to  their  great  comfort  ? 
Is  it  not  likely  that  experience  will  now  enable  you  to 
tell  us  whether  there  ought  not  to  be  a  definite  pro 
portion  between  the  number  of  catechists  and  the  clergy 
who  superintend  them  ?  Probably  it  is  impossible  for 
one  superintending  priest  to  supervise  adequately  more 


102      THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

than  five  or  six  catechists,  or  whatever  the  number  may 
be.  How  often  can  they  receive  their  Communions? 
How  often  can  a  few  catechists  be  brought  together  for 
a  day  of  prayer  and  mutual  consultation  ?  The  deeper 
the  view  we  take  of  the  priestly  life  the  more  over 
whelmingly  important  are  the  answers  to  such  questions. 
And  we  believe  that  the  answers  will  be  of  deepest 
interest. 

No  one  can  have  read  the  story  of  the  Catechists 
and  Deacons  at  work  on  the  prairie  without  a  feeling 
of  profound  thankfulness  for  their  pluck  and  enterprise. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  are  more  than  ever  anxious 
for  their  welfare,  spiritual  as  well  as  temporal,  and  are 
prepared  to  show  our  zeal  for  the  Canadian  Church  in 
a  practical  manner.  Do  what  we  can,  the  Lord's 
battle  in  many  a  land  is  too  often  a  soldier's  battle— 
an  Inkerman — single  soldiers  doing  their  best  without 
a  leader's  supervision.  We  would  help  to  plant  the 
Church  on  the  Prairie  so  firmly  that  the  superstructure 
may  stand  for  all  time,  by  making  it  as  little  as  possible 
a  soldier's  battle,  with  as  much  leadership  as  is  possible. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  NEW  FORWARD  MOVEMENT 

DURING  the  summer  of  1909  two  important  visits  of 
inspection  were  made  to  the  prairie  dioceses.  The 
Rev.  Douglas  Ellison,  well  known  for  his  leadership 
of  the  South  African  Railway  Mission,  and  the  Rev. 
W.  G.  Boyd,  chaplain  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
both  spent  some  time  in  the  West,  but  worked  inde 
pendently.  Both  returned  with  the  same  strong  con 
viction,  namely,  that  though  the  Anglican  Church  had 
certainly  made  great  efforts  of  late,  these  were  as  no 
thing  to  the  opportunities  which  were  being  neglected. 
Both  spoke  warmly  of  the  labours  cf  Archdeacon,  now 
Principal,  Lloyd.  In  the  Diocese  of  Saskatchewan  a 
definite  attempt  had  been  made  to  cover  all  the  ground 
with  infinite  labour  and  with  the  best  available  ma 
terial  ;  and  yet  they  felt  that  these  efforts  needed 
supplementing,  especially  in  the  Dioceses  of  Qu'Appelle 
and  Calgary,  and  more  particularly  in  that  of  Calgary, 
since  the  railway  lines  were  now  approaching  the 
Rockies. 

The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  much  impressed 

by  all  the  facts  laid   before  him.     His  Grace  sought 

advice  right  and  left  in  order  to  decide  what  shape  a 

further  effort  should  take  to  aid   the  Church  on  the 

(103) 


104     THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

Prairie.  Finally,  early  in  1910  the  Archbishops  of 
Canterbury  and  York  put  forth  a  solemn  appeal  to 
the  Church  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  the  following 
language : — 

WESTERN  CANADA 

FROM   THE  ARCHBISHOPS   OF   CANTERBURY 
AND  YORK 

An  Appeal  to  the  Church  and  People  of  England 

In  Western  Canada  a  great  nation  is  advancing  to  a  fore 
most  p]ace  in  the  world.  The  resources  of  the  land  are 
immense,  and  rapidly  on  the  way  to  be  developed.  The 
two  Provinces  of  Saskatchewan  and  Alberta  alone  are  larger 
than  France,  Germany,  Holland,  Belgium,  and  the  British 
Isles  all  put  together.  England  one  way,  Japan  the  other, 
are  distant  little  more  than  a  week's  journey.  An  ever- 
increasing  tide  of  immigrants  is  pouring  in,  thousands  after 
thousands.  Last  year  180,000  entered  Canada,  most  of 
them  bound  for  the  West.  Plainly  the  history  of  the  world 
will  largely  depend  upon  what  this  multitude  comes  to  be  in 
character,  in  faith,  and  in  life. 

Is  the  Church  of  England  doing  its  duty  by  this  vast  and 
swiftly-growing  nation  ?  It  is  a  nation  linked  with  England 
by  the  bonds  of  history  and  institutions,  of  language  and 
affection.  Other  religious  bodies  are  working  nobly.  Our 
own  Church,  bound  by  its  position  to  care  most  of  all, 
seems  to  lag  behind.  A  clear  call  comes  to  us.  The 
Archbishop  of  Rupert's  Land  writes  :  "  It  is  to  supplement 
the  efforts  of  the  Canadian  Church,  and  to  fill  up  what  is 
lacking  in  its  power  to  help  at  this  crisis  in  the  history  of 
the  Canadian  West,  that  I  desire  to  see  the  Church  in  the 
Motherland  make  a  supreme  endeavour  just  now  ".  We, 
the  Archbishops  of  the  Church  of  the  Motherland,  plead  for 
a  real  answer  to  this  great  call. 

The  way  is  prepared,  and  a  beginning  has  been  made. 


THE  NEW  FORWARD  MOVEMENT  105 

Some  account  of  what  has  been,  is  being,  and  may  be  done 
is  given  in  the  note  below.  We  appeal  for  four  things — for 
interest  and  prayer,  for  men  and  money.  We  want  the 
clergy  to  see  that  the  Church  of  England  ought  to  be  send 
ing  out  fifty  men  for  each  of  the  next  ten  years.  We  want 
all  to  see  that  this  boundless  opportunity,  which  if  not  used 
must  soon  be  lost,  calls  for  earnest  thought  and  action,  and 
may  make  claim  on  many  who  have  hitherto  cared  little  for 
Mission  work.  Those  who  can  ought  to  give  large  sums, 
and  all  ought  to  do  what  they  can. 

We  are  well  aware  that  our  appeal  is  made  in  an  unusual 
way  and  with  unusual  emphasis.  It  is  because  we  deliber 
ately  believe  the  occasion  to  be  unprecedented  that  we  write 
thus.  We  pray  that  God's  own  voice  may  speak  to  the 
consciences  of  those  who  read  our  words. 

RANDALL  CANTUAR 
COSMO  EBOR 
26th  Feb.,   igio 


NOTE 
Work  already  being  done 

Various  agencies  in  England  (e.g.,  The  Society  for  Promoting 
Christian  Knowledge,  The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
The  Qu'Appelle  Association,  The  Algoma  Association,  and  the  Navvy 
Mission)  are  already  assisting  the  Church  in  Western  Canada  in  its 
great  task.  We  trust  that  these  agencies  will  receive  continued  and 
increased  support. 

The  large  and  important  work  which  is  being  accomplished  in  the 
Diocese  of  Saskatchewan,  under  the  powerful  leadership  of  Principal 
Lloyd,  supported  by  the  Colonial  and  Continental  Church  Society, 
demands  especial  mention.  It  is  vital  that  this  work  should  be 
strengthened  both  with  men  and  money.  It  lies  in  the  very  centre 
of  the  foremost  need. 

Work  proposed 

To  supplement  and  support  the  work  already  being  done,  and  to 
inaugurate  and  sustain  fresh  endeavours,  the  "Archbishops'  Western 
Canada  Fund  "  has  been  formed.  The  Archbishop  of  Rupert's  Land  has 
consented  to  share  with  us  the  office  of  President.  The  administration 


106     THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

of  the  Fund  will  be  under  the  direction  of  a  Council  appointed  by 
ourselves.  For  one  enterprise  plans  are  already  matured.  The  Rev. 
W.  G.  Boyd,  Chaplain  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  visited  Canada 
last  autumn  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  work 
which  is  waiting  to  be  done.  Since  then  he  has  been  in  consultation 
with  those  in  England  who  are  best  fitted  to  advise,  and  he  shortly 
leaves  England  with  a  band  of  clergymen  and  laymen  for  work  in  and 
near  Edmonton,  the  capital  of  Alberta.  From  a  central  clergy  house 
in  that  city  work  will  be  undertaken  in  the  neighbourhood,  along  the 
railways,  and  in  distant  out-stations  in  the  bush.  Every  worker  is  to 
have  intervals  when  he  can  escape  from  the  isolation,  the  hardship,  and 
the  perpetual  travel  which  the  work  involves,  and  gain  refreshment  of 
the  best  sort  from  the  companionship  of  his  fellows  in  the  central  home. 

But  one  effort  in  one  locality  is  no  adequate  response  to  the  call  we 
have  received.  We  trust  that  further  endeavours  on  the  same,  or  on 
other  lines,  may  shortly  be  set  on  foot,  if  sufficient  money  for  them  is 
entrusted  to  us.  A  scheme,  similar  to  that  of  the  South  African  Rail 
way  Mission,  has  been  put  before  us  by  the  Rev.  Douglas  Ellison,  who 
received  a  warm  welcome  to  Canada  last  year.  His  South  African 
experience  has  taught  him  how  to  utilise  the  railway  lines  as  the  basis 
of  effective  work,  both  in  religious  ministry  and  in  bringing  to  physical 
illness  the  aid  which  trained  nurses  can  supply.  The  plan  is  under 
careful  consideration,  and  we  have  good  hope  that  Mr.  Ellison  will 
himself  be  the  leader  in  this  branch  of  work. 

Contributions,  great  or  small,  to  the  Archbishops'  Western  Canada 
Fund,  should  be  sent  to  the  SECRETARY  OF  THE  FUND,  at  15  TUFTON 
STREET,  WESTMINSTER,  S.W. 

We  believe  that  there  are  not  a  few  who,  recognising  the  excep 
tional  character  of  this  crisis  and  its  claim,  will  desire  to  inquire  further 
as  to  the  details  of  what,  in  an  enterprise  of  national  importance,  we 
propose  to  do,  and  either  to  offer  themselves  for  such  service,  or  to 
give  us  financial  aid  on  a  substantial  scale.  We  would  ask  such  men 
or  women  to  communicate  as  soon  as  possible  with  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  at  Lambeth  Palace,  or  with  the  Archbishop  of  York  at 
Bishopthorpe,  York,  in  order  that  we  may  take  counsel  with  them  as 
to  the  direction  of  their  personal  service,  or  the  wise  employment  of 
their  gifts. 

R.  T.  C. 
C.  E. 


THE  NEW  FORWARD  MOVEMENT    107 


THE  SCHEME 

THE  ARCHBISHOPS'  WESTERN  CANADA 
FUND 

England  is  beginning  to  awake  to  the  magnitude  of  what 
is  taking  place  in  Canada.  The  Dominion  of  Canada  is 
as  big  as  Europe.  By  the  end  of  this  century  it  is  probable 
that  its  population  will  outnumber  all  the  English  people 
in  all  the  rest  of  the  British  Empire.  It  is  destined 
to  be  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  the  future  history 
of  mankind.  Here,  if  anywhere  in  the  whole  world,  the 
ancient  Church  of  the  English  has  work  to  do  for  God. 
That  Church  played  a  great  part  in  the  making  of  England, 
and  surely  has  it  in  her  to  give  a  special  contribution  to 
wards  the  building  on  strong  Christian  foundations  the 
Canada  that  is  to  be.  She  has,  moreover,  special  respon 
sibilities  in  regard  to  the  British  Empire.  Wherever  she 
teaches  her  ancient  faith  she  forges  living  links  between 
new  nations  and  the  past  history  of  the  race,  and  strengthens 
the  ties  between  the  Mother  Country  and  the  Daughter  lands. 


THE   NEED 

The  Church  in  Eastern  Canada,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Diocese  of  Algoma,  no  longer  needs  or  asks  for  assistance 
from  England.  Indeed,  it  helps  largely  the  Church  in  the 
West.  In  the  West  and  in  British  Columbia  the  case  is 
different. 

British  Columbia,  separated  as  it  is  from  Western  Canada 
by  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  a  country  distinct  in  character 
as  in  climate  from  the  rest  of  the  Dominion.  The  Church 
there  has  her  own  special  problems,  and  the  various  agencies 


io8     THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

in  England  which  assist  her  deserve  increased  support.  But 
the  inrush  of  settlers  there  is  not  yet  so  overwhelming  as  it 
is  in  the  Prairie  Provinces. 

Western  Canada  consists  of  the  three  provinces  of  iMani- 
toba,  Saskatchewan,  and  Alberta.  Manitoba  received  pro 
vincial  government  in  1870,  and  the  first  stage  in  the  process 
of  its  settlement  is  already  past.  It  was  not  until  1905  that, 
in  consequence  of  the  incoming  flood  of  immigration,  the 
vast  area  between  Manitoba  and  the  Rockies  was  formed 
into  the  two  provinces  of  Saskatchewan  and  Alberta.  Into 
this  enormous  tract  of  country  there  is  pouring  an  end 
less  stream  of  immigrants  from  the  British  Isles,  from  the 
continent  of  Europe,  and  from  the  United  States.  Of 
those  who  come  from  the  British  Isles  a  large  proportion 
are  members  of  the  Church  of  England.  Every  bishop  in 
Western  Canada  is  receiving  appeals,  from  one  distant 
part  of  his  diocese  after  another,  that  he  will  provide 
some  Church  ministrations  for  little  groups  of  settlers,  lo 
cated,  it  may  be,  far  beyond  the  reach  of  railways,  and  in 
many  cases  a  hundred  miles  from  the  nearest  church.  It  is 
clear  that  in  a  new  country,  in  conditions  such  as  these, 
help  must  be  sought  from  outside.  Do  what  it  will  the 
Church  on  the  spot  cannot  at  once  cope  with  such  an  influx 
of  inhabitants  over  an  area  so  vast.  Generous  though  the 
people  often  are,  in  the  early  days  of  settlement  they  cannot 
provide  much  towards  the  maintenance  of  the  clergy  or  the 
building  of  churches.  They  live  a  hard  life,  every  dollar  that 
they  can  lay  out  in  making  their  agricultural  work  more  effec 
tive  hastens  the  time  when  they  will  get  a  return  for  the  toil 
which  they  expend  upon  the  land.  They  help  the  clergyman 
by  most  cheering  hospitality  and  by  gifts  in  kind  ;  they  have 
little  ready  cash  to  spare.  For  pioneer  work  men  and  the 
money  to  maintain  them  must  be  provided  largely  from  out 
side.  The  Church  in  Western  Canada  rightly  looks  to  the 
Church  in  England  to  help  her  in  the  gigantic1  task  with 
which  she  is  faced. 


THE  NEW  FORWARD  MOVEMENT  109 

TO  MEET  THIS  NEED 

the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York  have  made  their 
appeal,  and  have  founded  the  Archbishops'  Western  Canada 
Fund.  This  Fund  will  be  administered  by  a  Council  ap 
pointed  by  the  Archbishops,  and  under  the  guidance  of  this 
Council  it  is  hoped  that  more  than  one  method  of  work  will 
be  inaugurated  and  find  support.  One  method  has  already 
commended  itself  to  men  well  qualified  to  judge.  It  is 
proposed  that  groups  of  clergy,  with  some  laymen  associated 
with  them,  be  formed,  with  central  clergy-houses  at  im 
portant  towns  where  several  railways  converge.  Work  of 
various  kinds  will  be  undertaken  by  them  in  the  near  neigh 
bourhood,  along  the  railways,  and  in  distant  out-stations 
on  the  prairie  or  in  the  bush.  In  some  cases  the  men  will 
be  able  to  return  at  frequent  intervals  to  head- quarters,  in 
other  cases  not  more  often  than  once  every  three  months.  In 
such  cases  it  is  proposed  that  they  be  placed  in  couples — a 
priest  and  a  deacon  or  a  priest  and  a  layman.  The  priests 
and  laymen  would  at  different  times  leave  their  districts  to 
visit  head-quarters.  The  help  of  laymen  will  enable  more 
frequent  services  to  be  supplied ;  and  whilst  the  layman  will 
relieve  the  priest  of  most  of  his  household  and  stable  duties 
when  they  meet  at  their  common  shack,  the  priest  in  return 
will  assist  the  layman  in  his  preparation,  intellectual  and 
devotional,  for  the  sacred  ministry. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  scheme  proposed  adapts  to  Cana 
dian  conditions  the  Bush  Brotherhood  plan,  which  has 
proved  so  effective  in  the  back  blocks  of  Australian  dioceses. 
The  principle  on  which  it  is  based  is  that  of  association. 
Every  worker  is  to  have  some  intervals  when  he  can  escape 
from  the  isolation,  the  hardship,  and  the  perpetual  travel 
which  his  work  involves,  and  gain  refreshment  of  the  best 
sort  from  the  companionship  of  his  fellow-clergy  in  the 
central  home.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  railway  systems  in 
Western  Canada  will  allow  of  greater  distances  being  reached, 
and  of  a  larger  body  of  men  working  from  a  common  base 
than  is  possible  in  Australia.  It  is  hoped  that  the  central 
clergy-houses  will  provide  a  pivot  for  many  kinds  of  religious 


i  io     THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

and  social  activity,  and  will  often  be  the  means  of  enabling 
the  clergy  to  offer  hospitality  in  town  in  return  to  that  so 
generously  given  to  them  in  the  homesteads  far  away. 

A  START  TO  BE  MADE  AT  ONCE 

The  Rev.  W.  G.  Boyd,  Chaplain  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  has  already  secured  the  co-operation  of  six  or 
seven  clergymen  as  well  as  some  laymen  to  form  with  him 
the  nucleus  for  the  fir.-t  centre,  to  be  placed  at  Edmonton, 
the  capital  of  the  Province  of  Alberta.  Most  of  the  mem 
bers  of  this  party  leave  England  in  April.  The  Bishop  of 
Calgary  holds  out  to  them  a  cordial  welcome. 

But  one  effort  in  one  locality  is  not  enough.  Many  places 
could  be  mentioned  in  which  efforts  on  the  lines  described 
above  could  most  usefully  be  at  once  initiated.  Each  year 
new  districts  fill  up  with  settlers,  and  new  strategic  points  are 
developed.  If  men  and  money  are  forthcoming  fresh  enter 
prises  will  be  put  in  hand.  They  will  not  necessarily  be  all 
of  one  character.  Work  on  the  lines  of  the  South  African 
Railway  Mission  is  under  consideration. 

FINANCE 

Where  a  population  sparsely  scattered  over  immense  areas 
is  to  be  ministered  to  the  method  of  associated  work  described 
above  has  great  advantages,  but  it  is  likely  to  be  in  some 
ways  more  expensive  per  man  than  when  the  work  is  in  the 
hands  of  individuals  working  separately.  The  building  and 
maintenance  of  the  central  clergy-houses  in  towns,  where 
the  cost  of  living  is  much  higher  than  in  the  country,  will 
make  a  heavy  charge  on  the  Mission  funds ;  and  the 
journeys  to  and  from  the  centre  for  the  quarterly  gatherings 
will  also  involve  expense.  The  clergy,  however,  are  not 
asking  for  more  than  ^£24  a  year  in  actual  money,  beside 
the  cost  of  their  board,  lodging,  and  travelling.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  cost  per  man  will  not  work  out  at  more 
than  .£150  per  annum,  which  is  generally  recognised  in 
Canada  as  the  lowest  stipend  that  a  clergyman  should 


THE  NEW  FORWARD  MOVEMENT  in 

receive.  The  layman  will  be  always  living  with  a  clergy 
man,  and  two  can  live  together  at  a  lower  rate  than  two 
separately.  It  is,  therefore,  possible  to  estimate  the  cost  of 
maintenance  for  a  layman  at  a  somewhat  lower  figure  than 
that  for  a  clergyman.  Moreover,  the  layman  will  not  as  a 
rule  have  his  own  horses  or  so  much  money. 
Donations  large  and  small  are  asked  for. 

^£150  a  year  would  maintain  a  priest. 
£20  will  pay  a  passage  to  Edmonton. 
;£75  would  provide  a  priest  with  a  pair  of  ponies,  a 
buggy,  and  harness. 

All  letters  and  contributions  should  be  addressed  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Archbishops'  Western  Canada  Fund,  15 
Tufton  Street,  Westminster,  S.W.  Cheques  to  be  made  pay 
able  to  "  The  Treasurers  of  A.W.C.F."  and  crossed  "  &  Co." 


TO  THE  CLERGY 

The  Church  in  Western  Canada  is  face  to  face  with  a 
problem  which  it  is  beyond  the  possibility  of  her  own  re 
sources  to  meet.  She  asks  and  receives  help  from  the 
Church  in  Eastern  Canada  ;  she  asks  it  also  from  the  Church 
in  the  old  land.  The  future  position  of  the  Anglican  Com 
munion  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada  depends  upon  the  force 
of  prayer,  and  of  statesmanship,  of  men,  and  of  money  which 
can  be  brought  to  bear  in  the  West  during  the  next  ten 
years.  Can  the  Church  of  England  arise  to  a  sense  of  her 
high  calling,  and  to  the  sacrifice  which  it  involves  ?  Is  she 
able  and  willing  to  send  out  into  the  West  fifty  young  priests 
for  each  of  the  next  ten  years  ?  There  is  work  waiting  for 
more  than  that  number.  They  would  draw  after  them  lay- 
workers  and  emigrants  of  the  best  kind.  It  is  impossible  to 
exaggerate  what  might  be  the  effect  produced,  not  only  in 
the  strengthening  of  the  Church,  but  also  in  the  preservation 
of  the  British  element  in  the  character  of  the  Canadian 
people,  and  in  the  consolidation  of  the  ties  which  bind  to 
the  old  Motherland  the  great  nation  that  is  to  be. 


U2     THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 


THE  REQUIREMENTS  OF  THE  WORK 

(1)  Priests  or  deacons  unmarried  and  ready  to  give  at 
least  four  years  to  Canada.     It  is  no  "  soft  job  "  that  is  to 
be  performed.     Indeed,  for  men  trained  in  England  the  life 
involves  considerable  hardships,  physical  as  well  as  spiritual. 
A  clergyman  in  the  West  must  be  ready  to  do  for  himself 
things  which  he  has  been  accustomed  to  have  done  for  him. 
He  must  be  ready  to  forego  many  things  which  he  has  been 
accustomed  to  regard  as  necessary.     He  will  have  to  travel 
long  distances  to    minister    to  minute   congregations.     He 
must  be   strong,    manly,    gritty,  and  ready  to  adapt   him 
self  to   new  conditions.     That  he  is  a  clergyman  will   not 
count  for  much,  it  is  what   he  is  as  a   man  that  matters. 
He  must    not  criticise,   but  sympathetically  enter  into  the 
fresh    ways    of    life    and    the    instincts    characteristic    of 
the  new  people  into  whose  country  he  is  being  welcomed. 
He  had  better  not  go  unless  he  is  sure  that  the  Lord  is 
calling  him,  and  then  he  will  go  in  the  spirit  of  humility 
and  self-sacrifice. 

(2)  It  is  not  easy  anywhere  to  keep  the  soul  in  touch  with 
the  highest  and  deepest  things.     Least  of  all  is  it  easy  for  the 
Bush  or  Prairie  parson.     The  multiplicity  of  household  and 
stable  duties  to  be  performed,  the  continual  travel  and  fre 
quent  absence  for  days  together  from  his  house  or  shack, 
make  it  specially  difficult  for  him  to  secure  his  times  of  quiet 
thought  and  prayer.     Moreover,  the  pioneer  clergyman  in 
the  West  lacks  the  help  that  comes  from  the  joy  of  worship 
in    a  beautiful    church,   from  daily  services  and    parochial 
organisation,  and  from   the  support   of  a  devout  band   of 
Church  workers.     He  is  working  amongst  a  people  who  are 
living  a  hard,  strenuous  life,  who    have  very   little  leisure, 
whom  he  sees,  perhaps,  no  more  than  once  a  month.     He 
needs  to  have  the  "  root  of  the  matter "  strongly  growing 
within  him.     Let  him  whom  God  calls  to  the  venture  build 
strong  the  "  foundation  of  repentance  from  dead  works  and 
faith  towards  God  ". 


THE  NEW  FORWARD  MOVEMENT  113 

ITS  REWARDS 

This  life  will  have  its  rich  rewards.  The  climate,  in  spite 
of  the  cold  and  the  mosquitoes,  is  magnificent ;  the  keen 
dry  air  is  exhilarating  and  health-giving.  But  beyond  all 
this  there  is  the  privilege  of  ministering  to  a  people,  strong, 
virile,  independent  and  progressive,  and  of  being  received 
by  them  into  generous-hearted  friendship.  There  is  the 
privilege  of  knowing  that  some  of  those  ministered  to  will 
very  likely  in  a  few  short  years  be  wielding  great  powers,  for 
good  or  for  evil,  over  the  lives  of  thousands.  There  is  the 
privilege  of  being  allowed  to  take  a  part  in  the  building  of 
what  is  destined  to  be  one  of  the  great  nations  of  the  world, 
and  in  the  planting  strong  in  her  midst  the  Church  of 
Christ. 


CHAPTER  XII 

NAVVIES  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

EIGHTEEN  months  ago  it  was  impressed  upon  us 
by  our  own  English  Navvy  Mission  Association  that 
Canada  was  embarking  on  an  enormous  programme  of 
railway  construction,  that  all  these  lines  would  cross 
the  prairie,  and  that  little  was  being  done  for  the  moral 
and  spiritual  shepherding  of  these  men.  It  is  indeed 
well  to  realise  the  extent  of  railway  construction  in  this 
land.  The  Grand  Trunk  Pacific  Railway  intends  to 
build  4,000  miles  of  track  in  seven  years.  This  of  course 
includes  Eastern  as  well  as  Western  Canada.  The 
Canadian  Northern  Railway,  which  begins  at  Winnipeg 
and  runs  west,  has  built  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  a  day  for 
eleven  years.  The  Canadian  Northern  Railway  is  extend 
ing  its  borders.  It  is  now  advancing  north  from  Prince 
Albert  and  then  not  only  west  but  eastward  too.  From 
Le  Pas  which  lies  east  of  Prince  Albert  it  appears 
certain  that  the  line  will  be  continued  to  Fort  Churchill 
on  the  western  shore  of  Hudson's  Bay ;  and  wheat  will 
then  annually  be  sent  for  shipment  during  three  months, 
from  that  landlocked  sea,  3,000  miles  from  Churchill  to 
Liverpool. 

We  gladly  granted  £500  out  of  the  Western  Canada 
Fund  to  be  spent  on  ministrations  to  the  navvies  in 


NAVVIES  ON  THE  PRAIRIE          115 

Western  Canada ;  that  is,  beginning  with  the  Diocese 
of  Keewatin  and  going  West.  It  is  obvious  that  such 
work  is  just  as  important  in  Eastern  Canada,  but  it 
was  impossible  to  extend  the  benefits  of  the  Western 
Canada  Fund  to  the  Eastern  regions.  If  on  the  other 
hand  any  one  is  specially  interested  in  railway  construc 
tion  and  in  the  operatives,  in  Eastern  Canada  or  else 
where,  we  shall  be  delighted  to  become  responsible 
for  the  spending  of  their  money  in  any  part  of  the 
Dominion. 

A  word  generally  on  navvy  mission  work.  In  one 
sense  such  work  is  temporary  in  character.  The  men 
disperse,  their  shanties  come  down ;  yes,  but  what 
moral  effect  have  they  left  behind  ?  What  is  the  very 
permanent  effect  of  the  incursion  into  a  quiet,  agricultural 
township  of  hundreds  of  men,  many  of  whom  are  of  a 
rough  type?  It  may  be,  it  often  is,  awful.  There  is 
hardly  anything  more  magnificent  from  a  physical 
point  of  view  than  a  real  navvy  at  work ;  he  is  indeed 
a  splendid  animal.  Look  at  his  splendid  flat  back,  his 
powerful  loins,  free  moving  limbs  all  shown  to  advan 
tage  by  his  loose  clothing.  Watch  him  loading  a  truck 
or  chucking  spadesful  of  earth  out  of  a  barge  into  a 
cart  invisible  to  him ;  sending  twenty  pounds  of  soil 
flying  through  the  air  as  if  it  were  two  ounces.  Splendid ! 
I  have  often  watched  such  a  man  with  real  delight. 
But  what  a  weight  of  animal  life  his  is ;  what  an  almost 
certain  clog  till  the  Lord  takes  him  ;  remember  his  up 
bringing,  his  rough  lodging ;  sometimes  in  England  a 
drain  pipe  or  floor  of  a  public  house,  or  behind  a  hedge 
when  the  job  is  a  short  one.  Remember  the  tone  of 


n6     THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

many  of  his  comrades,  and  their  traditions  of  drinking 
and  other  vices.  What  is  the  result  on  a  district  of 
500  men  of  this  type  ?  No  doubt  also  a  fair  percent 
age  of  these  men,  not  of  the  real  navvy  class  but  of 
those  who  turn  to  such  work  as  a  resort,  of  all  classes, 
from  university  men  downwards,  settle  in  new  districts 
and  become  permanently  fixed.  Navvy  mission  work 
then  is  not  merely  temporary  in  its  effects  in  any 
place. 

What  is  the  type  of  worker  and  the  general  method  ? 
The  converted  navvy  is  probably  the  best  agent,  and  if 
he  stands  six  feet  four  and  is  broad  in  proportion  and 
knows  how  to  use  his  fists,  so  much  the  better.  The 
man  who  has  fought  and  drank  and  lived  rough  and 
sworn,  when  he  is  turned  inside  out  by  Divine  Grace, 
has  a  directness  of  appeal  not  easy  to  emulate.  More 
over,  he  knows  the  method  of  the  appeal.  Do  you 
suppose  that  great  splendid  animal  can  take  in  ques 
tions  of  Church  Order  or  beauty  of  collects  or  ordered 
ceremonial  ?  No ;  it  is  the  simple  question — God,  or 
the  devil ;  a  Saviour,  or  hell ;  absolute  teetotalism  and  a 
life  of  prayer,  or  animalism  ;  no  reticence ;  a  man  must 
come  out  and  testify ;  he  must  not  mind  talking  of  his 
own  past ;  what  shocks  our  sensibilities  is  the  right  thing 
where  sensibilities  don't  exist.  "  Down  on  your  knees 
and  accept  Christ ;  do  it  openly  ;  take  the  consequences. 
Put  up  with  being  mauled  ;  fly  from  the  devil.  There 
are  no  half-tints ;  it  is  black  or  white."  The  root  of  the 
matter  is  all  that  is  generally  possible  with  the  real 
navvy  and  his  coarse  temptations  and  tremendous  animal 
force ;  others  of  course  have  fallen  from  educated  posi- 


NAVVIES  ON  THE  PRAIRIE  117 

tions ;  some  even  take  up  such  work  by  way  of  change 
and  for  exercise.  I  remember  entering  the  tent  of  a 
so-called  navvy  on  the  West  Coast  of  Tasmania  to  get 
a  cup  of  tea  and  to  say  my  " midday  prayers".  I  found 
he  was  a  Melbourne  dentist. 

Turning  to  Western  Canada,  our  navvy  grant  is  being 
spent  chiefly  in  the  Diocese  of  Keewatin ;  ,£78  was 
spent  in  1907.  Part  of  a  grant  of  £300  is  being  spent 
in  1908.  The  Archbishop  of  Rupert's  Land  has  been 
asked  to  licence  all  workers  along  the  line.  We  pay 
our  money  through  the  Navvy  Mission  and  on  the 
requisition  of  the  Archbishop  of  Rupert's  Land. 

The  Canadian  Government  had  intended  to  get  these 
railways  constructed  with  "  Empire  labour  ".  But  it  has 
not  been  found  possible  to  obtain  it.  The  supply  of 
skilled  navvies  is  small,  and  probably  the  English  navvy, 
the  best  of  all,  is  fully  occupied  in  England.  The 
result  has  been  that  every  nationality  is  represented  ; 
language  becomes  a  difficulty  and  in  some  camps  it 
makes  work  virtually  impossible. 

The  Bishop  of  Keewatin  started  with  one  worker  ; 
this  man  worked  hard  but  his  health  failed,  and  he  re 
signed  his  post.  Then  the  Bishop  obtained  the  services 
of  two  theological  students,  one  from  St.  John's,  Win 
nipeg,  the  other  from  WyclifTe  College,  Toronto,  for  the 
summer  months.  They  did  good  work  ;  I  note  that 
as  a  rule  they  could  gather  of  an  evening  from  thirty 
to  fifty  men  who  were  glad  to  be  led  to  pray  and  to 
sing  hymns.  They  often  record  the  fact  that  these 
congregations  responded  as  well  as  any  in  a  church, 
showing  that  the  men  had  been  well  taught  in  the 


uS   THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

past.  The  question  often  recurs  to  these  agents,  "  Shall 
we  collect  money  from  them  ? "  It  is  not  easy  to  answer. 
It  is  well  that  the  men  should  be  asked  to  contribute  to 
expenses,  but  it  may  be  very  easy  to  create  the  im 
pression  that  the  missioner  is  there  to  make  money. 
English,  Swedes,  Galicians,  seem  to  form  the  bulk  of 
the  gatherings. 

Railway  construction  is  often  very  dangerous  work. 
The  falling  of  earth  is  a  very  common  cause  of  death  and 
maiming,  and  the  hospital  is  a  centre  for  the  missioner's 
labour.  I  believe  a  navvy  faces  death  almost  as  regu 
larly  as  a  soldier.  One  of  the  workers  alluded  to 
above  became  ill  in  consequence  of  the  difficulty  of  ob 
taining  good  water  on  these  construction  works,  and 
typhoid  is  a  source  of  peril. 

It  would  appear  certain  that  ere  long  we  shall  have 
to  minister  for  a  long  time  to  the  railway  constructors 
in  the  Rockies  ;  the  work  is  difficult,  and  it  may  take 
several  years  before  they  can  pierce  that  chain  of 
mountains.  Money  will  be  needed  for  this  deeply  in 
teresting  work,  and  how  great  is  the  prize.  In  contrast 
with  the  temptations  of  a  navvy,  perhaps  because  of 
them,  there  is  probably  no  more  splendid  specimen  of 
Christian  character  than  one  of  these  men  who  in  his 
simple  way  takes  his  stand  for  God  and  is  not  ashamed 
of  confessing  his  Master  before  all  men. 

In  the  autumn  of  1909  Mr.  J.  Miller  M'Cormick 
was  brought  up  into  the  Alberta  region  by  the  Navvy 
Mission  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  Navvy  Mission, 
and  the  S.P.G.  has  felt  it  a  privilege  to  pay  his  salary. 
What  manner  of  work  he  is  doing,  and  in  what  spirit 


NAVVIES  ON  THE  PRAIRIE  119 

he  is  doing  it,  may  be  judged  by  the  following  extracts 
from  his  letters.  Those  who  would  like  to  know  more 
of  the  work  are  requested  to  write  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Church  of  England  Navvy  Mission,  Church  House, 
Westminster. 

The  extracts  refer  to  various  parts  of  the  line,  but 
always  in  the  Prairie  region.  Contributions  towards 
this  work  are  gladly  welcomed. 

It  is  hard  for  me  to  give  you  an  exact  idea  of  what  camp 
life  out  here  is  like,  things  are  all  so  different  from  the  "  old 
country  ".  The  bit  (!)  of  railroad  that  I  have  been  working 
on  measures  249  miles  (from  Winnipeg  to  Superior  Junc 
tion),  and  since  January  I  have  been  the  only  navvy  mis- 
sioner  travelling  up  and  down  it.  This  contract  was  let  out 
to  one  man  and  he  in  turn  divided  it  up  and  let  it  out  to  a 
host  of  sub-contractors.  This  new  railroad  will  cross  the 
Dominion  north  of  the  C.P.R.  At  some  places  the  two 
lines  are  only  a  few  miles  apart,  at  other  places  about  200 
miles  apart.  There  being  no  railroads  north  of  the  Grand 
Trunk,  the  construction  camps  have  to  depend  on  the 
C.P.R.  for  their  supplies.  These  are  freighted  in  by  teams 
of  horses  over  what  is  called  the  tote  road,  which  is  a  road 
cut  through  the  bush  by  felling  trees,  and  where  there  are 
marshy  places,  stripped  trees  are  laid  over  cross-wise.  On 
some  of  these  roads  you  can  find  miles  at  a  stretch  of  such 
"  corduroy  ".  Heavy  rains  and  constant  traffic  make  the 
road  like  the  bed  of  a  river — black  mud  interspersed  with 
rocks  and  huge  boulders  *  the  horses  plough  through  every 
thing,  sometimes  up  to  the  knees,  pulling  the  jolting,  screech 
ing  waggon  behind  them.  I  have  had  a  few  experiences 
sitting  on  one  of  these  waggons  for  about  twenty  miles  at  a 
stretch.  Personally,  I  would  rather  walk  twice  the  distance 
as  have  the  favour  (?)  of  a  ride  over  most  of  these  tote  roads. 

The  difficulties  (to  say  nothing  of  the  expense)  of  freight 
ing  over  these  temporary  roads  are  indescribable.  It's  a 
whole  day's  work  for  a  team  of  four  horses  pulling  a  waggon 


120      THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

to  do  about  twenty  miles,  You  can  judge  from  this  the 
amount  of  time  required  to  do  the  greater  distances  up  to 
200  miles.  Sometimes  a  friendly  lake  considerably  shortens 
the  distance  with  the  aid  of  a  barge;  Nippigon  Lake,  for 
instance,  is  fifty  miles  across  at  the  point  where  it  touches 
the  new  line.  At  the  freeze-up,  toting  is  comparatively 
easy  as  the  snow  and  ice  make  good  trails  for  sleigh  freight 
ing.  As  far  as  possible  the  major  amount  of  the  freighting 
is  done  in  winter  when  there  are  less  obstacles. 

When  you  see  one  camp  you  see  the  lot.  They  comprise 
a  number  of  log  shacks,  varying  in  size  and  number  to 
accommodate  as  many  men  as  will  be  required  on  that 
particular  bit  of  work ;  the  camps  are  built  about  from  one 
to  two  or  three  miles  apart  all  along  the  "  site  "  of  the  new 
railroad,  each  placed  "  out  of  range  "  of  the  dynamite  blast 
ing  operations.  Each  contractor  has  what  he  calls  a  head 
quarters  camp ;  it  is  here  that  he  sometimes  builds  a 
bungalow  for  self  and  family.  Say  the  contractor  has  a  ten- 
mile  limit ;  if  he  had  a  camp  to  mark  each  mile  the  head 
quarters  camp  would  be  built  in  the  centre,  five  miles  from 
the  furthest  camps.  This  method  makes  the  distribution  of 
supplies  to  each  camp  more  simple,  as  everything  passes 
through  headquarters  camp. 

The  office  shack  and  stores  are  usually  under  the  same 
roof.  The  dining  shack,  large  enough  to  seat  from  50  to 
250  men,  has  an  ample  kitchen  adjoining.  The  bunk- 
houses  are  all  sizes,  large  and  small.  The  usual  method  is 
to  have  the  beds  built  around  the  shack  one  above  the 
other,  in  two  tiers  in  Scotch  fashion — as  a  rule  there  is  an 
ample  amount  of  new-mown  "  Michigan  feathers  "  (hay)  to 
doss  on.  The  foremen  (or  bosses  as  they  are  called)  and 
teamsters  have  shacks  to  themselves.  Then  there  are  the 
Stables,  Blacksmith  Shop,  Pumphouse,  Powder  House 
(located  for  safety  about  300  yards  away).  There  are  well- 
equipped  Hospitals  built  of  planed  timber,  and  separated 
from  each  other  by  about  thirty  miles.  There  is  a  resident 
doctor  and  staff  in  charge.  The  camp  stores  carry  most 
things  the  men  require,  such  as  boots,  clothing,  tobacco, 


NAVVIES  ON  THE  PRAIRIE  121 

etc.  ;  when  any  purchases  are  made,  these  are  debited  in 
the  store  books  against  the  purchaser  and  the  amount  de 
ducted  from  the  month's  cheque.  Everybody  is  paid  by 
cheque,  monthly,  and  these  can  be  readily  cashed  by  any 
bank  in  the  nearest  town.  No  intoxicating  liquors  of  any 
kind  are  allowed  in  any  of  the  construction  camps.  Do 
minion  police  patrol  the  "right  of  way"  to  see  the  law 
observed — smuggling  is  tried  sometimes  but  at  ;the  risk  of 
confiscation  and  imprisonment.  If  men  are  thrifty  they  can 
save  lots  of  money.  In  the  winter  ordinary  "  muckers  "  get 
about  75.  a  day  at  least,  and  in  the  summer  from  8s.  to  QS. 
per  day,  and  often  plenty  of  overtime.  Of  course,  work  in 
the  winter  is  not  so  plentiful  on  account  of  the  snow  and 
frost — rock  excavation  proceeds  as  usual.  There  is  a  say 
ing  here,  that  in  the  winter  there  are  half  a  dozen  men  for 
every  job  and  in  the  summer  half  a  dozen  jobs  for  every 
man.  For  my  own  part,  I  believe  that  to  the  man  willing 
to  work  hard  this  country  affords  100  opportunities  to  every 
one  at  home.  The  food  in  camp  is  the  best  in  the  land — 
two  or  three  kinds  of  meat  (at  every  meal),  potatoes,  bread 
and  butter,  coffee  and  tea  cakes  of  several  kinds,  cookies, 
pies,  sauces,  puddings  and  plenty  of  fruit.  There  are  three 
meals  a  day — breakfast,  dinner  and  supper.  Every  camp 
has  a  bakery  with  cooks,  cookees  and  chore  boys  (bull  cooks 
as  they  are  called — their  work  is  to  cut  cordwood  for  the 
fires  and  carry  water,  etc.).  Outside  the  camp  there  are 
usually  in  a  pen  a  few  cows  kept  for  the  slaughter  and  others 
for  the  supply  of  milk ;  the  butcher  in  some  of  the  larger 
camps  is  a  very  busy  individual. 

A  preacher  is  always  welcome  in  camp,  perhaps  because 
they  are  a  scarce  commodity. 

Camp  is  reached  at  last,  a  bit  tired,  perhaps,  and  stung 
by  mosquitoes,  but  with  a  keen  appetite.  "  Hello,  Cook  ! 
how  is  business  to-day?"  "Oh,  not  too  bad."  "How 
many  men  have  you  ?  "  "  Oh,  one  hundred  and  four  or  a 
little  better."  "  Let  me  see,  what  is  the  name  of  the  walk 
ing  boss  ?  "  "  Jimmy  Thompson."  "  Why,  sure  !  I  know 
him,  he  was  dinkey  skinner  at  camp  three  and  I  had  been 


122      THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

wondering  where  he  had  been  *  side  tracked '."  "  Well, 
sir,  it's  the  same  old  tale.  He  drew  his  stake,  about  800 

dollars,  '  hit  the  trail  '  to  D and  '  blew  it  in '  every 

cent  in  a  week  !  Of  course  they  '  doped  '  him  at  the  saloon 
and  pinched  his  'dough'."  "Sorry  to  hear  that,  he  told 
me  that  he  would  '  go  easy  '  in  future,  no  more  '  kicking  the 
high  spots  '  when  he  got  to  town."  "  He's  strictly  on  the 
'  water  waggon  '  ever  since  ;  I  guess  he  has  learned  his 
lesson." 

We  have  had  a  big  day's  work,  so  should  sleep — by  the 
kind  permission  of  the  mosquitoes. 

"  Up,  boys,  there's  daylight  in  the  swamp!  "  is  the  music 
of  the  cook's  first  bell,  about  5  A.M.  Breakfast  at  six,  and 
by  that  time  the  barn  boss  has  a  horse  ready  saddled  for  me 
and  I  am  soon  off  with  bag  strapped  on  for  a  twenty-six 
mile  canter  to  the  next  camp,  a  few  finishing-off  camps  lie 
between,  where  we  refresh  and  literature  is  distributed. 
I  seldom  get  a  horse,  indeed  a  horse  would  be  no  use  to 
traverse  some  of  the  impassable  muskegs  lying  between 
some  camps  that  one  has  to  somehow  get  over — some  days 
the  preacher  has  a  tramp  of  thirty  miles  before  him.  The 
life  out  here  is  a  very  strenuous  one  ;  day  after  day  one's 
energies  are  taxed  sometimes  to  their  utmost ;  but  I  count 
all  loss  gain  if  I  am  only  given  the  strength  to  do  the  will  of 
God  in  preaching  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ's  Gospel. 

In  giving  the  men  tracts  I  get  in  touch  with  them,  and 
often  I  am  told  the  story  of  their  lives.  One  cook  said  that 
he  was  sure  that  I  had  nothing  that  would  suit  him.  I 
pulled  out  from  the  bundle  a  tract  entitled  "Pie  Crust 
Promises,"  which  he  smilingly  accepted. 

You  will  remember  the  great  Lancashire  murder  case 

about  two  years  ago,  when  B was  tried  twice  in  his  own 

town  and  the  jury  on  both  occasions  disagreed,  then  he  was 

tried  in  Liverpool  and  acquitted ;  well,  B is  working  in 

one  of  these  camps  and  he  gladly  comes  to  the  services. 
One  day,  as  he  was  telling  me  of  the  agonies  of  his  trial  and 
imprisonment,  and  how  he  appreciated  his  freedom,  before 
leaving  I  wanted  to  give  him  something  helpful  to  read,  and 


MR.  J.  MILLER  MCCORMICK 
(NAVVY  MISSIONER) 


NAVVIES  ON  THE  PRAIRIE  123 

the  first  tract  that  came  to  my  hand  bore  the  most  suitable 
title  "  I'm  a  Free  Man  Now  " — I  trust  that  he  may  soon 
experience  the  freedom  in  a  double  sense. 

One  other  incident  where  the  title  of  a  tract  seemed  to 
aptly  apply  was  in  a  bunkhouse  while  a  gang  were  playing 
poker  round  a  table.  One  of  the  players  read  aloud  for  the 
benefit  of  the  others ;  the  title  of  his  tract  was  (everybody 
screamed  and  laughed  at  him  for  his  experience  had  been 
printed  large  upon  the  tract)  "  Bad  Luck  ''. 

Travelling  through  these  forests  day  by  day  is  unique  from 
many  points  of  view ;  for  instance,  the  bush  simply  throbs 
with  wild  life  of  all  kinds.  Moose,  caribou  and  deer,  fox  and 
mink,  an  odd  she-bear  turns  up  in  search  of  her  cub  which 
has  been  trapped  to  serve  as  a  camp  pet.  The  insects 
would  seem  to  number  so  many  to  the  square  inch,  they 
swarm  and  hum  all  the  time,  night  and  day,  especially  the 
mosquito. 

The  other  day  as  I  was  walking  along  the  "right  of  way  " 
from  camp  to  camp,  I  found  two  dogs  belonging  to  one  of 
the  Government  engineers,  that  had  strayed  about  ten  miles 
out  of  their  way ;  they  knew  me  at  once,  so  I  encouraged 
them  to  follow  on  in  the  direction  of  home.  They  were  big 
husky  dogs,  strong  and  powerful  through  the  exercise  and 
work  they  have  to  do  in  the  winter  by  pulling  sleigh  loads. 
We  had  gone  about  two  miles  together,  when  a  huge  timber 
wolf  crossed  the  "  grade  "  from  the  north  side  and  stood 
confronting  me  at  the  edge  of  the  bush,  a  few  yards  off.  I 
had  always  dreaded  meeting  a  wolf,  yet  here  was  one,  the 
dread  of  the  bush,  real  and  live,  glowering  at  me ;  strangely 
enough  at  that  moment  all  fear  and  dread  had  gone.  Walk 
ing  on,  getting  nearer  and  nearer  (of  course  had  I  had  a 
rifle  I  would  have  shot  him),  I  was  hoping  every  second  that 
the  dogs  would  soon  draw  level  with  me ;  when  they  did, 
I  was  surprised  that  they  did  not  show  any  signs  of  putting 
the  wolf  to  flight.  I  had  not  long  to  wait,  for  in  an  instant 
they  had  caught  the  scent  of  the  wolf-trail  and  were  both 
of  them  leaping  and  bounding  in  hot  pursuit  of  Mr.  Wolf 
away  into  the  bush.  They  plunged  and  delved  at  lightning 


124      THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

speed  until  they  got  out  of  sight.  After  being  away  for  a 
while  they  came  back  barking  and  panting  and  looking  up 
into  my  face  with  an  expression  as  if  to  convey  that  all 
the  danger  was  past.  It's  unlikely  that  one  wolf  would  tackle 
a  person  unless  very  hungry,  but  they  are  not  pleasant  to 
meet  because  you  can  never  tell  how  hungry  they  are  or  how 
many  are  lurking  behind  in  the  pack.  Every  day  brings 
new  evidences  of  God's  gracious  and  tender  care  in  the  work, 
it  is  only  proof  after  proof  that  the  work  lies  near  His  own 
heart. 

I  have  found  a  knowledge  of  ambulance  work  useful ;  as 
already  said,  the  hospitals  are  about  thirty  miles  apart,  and 
just  where  an  accident  might  occur  may  be  as  far  as  possible 
from  the  doctor.  It  so  happened  last  week.  It  was  at  a 
camp  of  about  125  men.  They  were  stopping  work  for  the 
day,  and  while  a  dinkey  train  was  proceeding  in  the  direction 
of  camp,  an  unfortunate  fellow,  thinking  to  accelerate  his 
speed  camp-ward,  tried  to  jump  the  last  but  one  pedlar  dirt 
car ;  he  missed  it  somehow,  and  was  thrown  among  the 
wheels  of  the  last  car,  his  feet  and  legs  were  badly  torn  and 
lacerated.  The  doctor  arrived  about  an  hour  and  a  half 
after  the  accident.  He  said  that  the  first-aid  treatment  had 
saved  the  poor  fellow's  life,  as  the  applied  turnkey  had 
stopped  the  haemorrhage .  That  was  Friday  evening,  and  on 
the  following  Sunday,  farther  east,  the  same  doctor  and  I 
helped  to  bury  a  navvy  who  had  been  drowned  in  one  of  the 
great  lakes.  I  read  eloquent  sermons  from  the  little  grave 
yards,  planted  every  so  many  miles  apart  and  hidden  away 
beneath  the  big,  sobtang  pines  of  the  lonely  forest — ten  in 
one,  twenty  in  another,  all  brave  men  who  have  given  their 
lives  as  the  price  of  a  railroad.  Soldiers  they  have  been 
without  the  red  coat  and  show,  but  with  all  the  grim  and 
deadly  realities  of  war — war  with  a  stubborn  enemy — rock, 
muskeg,  forest. 

God's  spirit  is  working  in  the  hearts  of  the  men,  giving 
them  a  keen  interest  in  spiritual  things  ;  there  has  been  abund 
ant  evidence  of  this.  One  striking  instance  came  before  me 
a  little  time  ago,  while  driving  to  one  of  the  camps  from  the 
nearest  C.P.R.  station.  Along  with  the  driver  on  the  front 


NAVVIES  ON  THE  PRAIRIE  125 

seat  of  the  "  democrat "  (a  light,  four-wheel  spring  rig  to 
carry  four  persons)  sat  one  of  the  "  black  gang  "  from  one  of 
the  camps  ;  he  was  making  the  journey  to  seek  fresh  work. 
I  did  not  remember  seeing  him  before,  but  he  evidently 
knew  me,  for  he  said  that  he  had  been  to  one  of  the  camp 
services  eighty  miles  farther  west.  He  did  nearly  all  the  talk 
ing  during  the  fifteen  mile  drive ;  I  confess  at  first  I  hardly 
took  him  seriously,  but  soon  found  that  he  was  in  real  earnest. 
The  chief  point  of  his  story  was  that  since  the  camp  service 
he  attended  he  had  grown  most  miserable  and  "  sick  of  the 
whole  thing  ".  He  besought  that  I  spend  some  quiet  time 
with  him  and  explain  "  more  fully  "  God's  plan  of  salvation. 
"  My  life  is  without  a  purpose,  I  don't  seem  to  accomplish 
anything  or  arrive  anywhere ;  I  just  drift  on  and  on,  hoping 
some  day  that  things  will  suddenly  change  ;  but  they  get 
worse  and  worse  and  I  am  helpless  to  put  them  right.  The 
certainty  of  that  vast  eternity  beyond,  and  wrapt  up  in  it, 
man's  destiny,  worries  me  night  and  day.  I  have  sought 
help  from  others,  won't  you  try  to  help  me  ?  if  I  can  only  get 
put  right  I  would  be  willing  to  give  my  life  to  preaching  it." 
Here  was  a  man  "  thirsting  "  in  the  Bible  sense.  The 
trouble  with  the  people  nowadays  is  that  they  are  satisfied 
to  drink,  drink,  drink  at  the  broken  cisterns  of  the  world, 
and  never  be  satisfied.  Satan's  object  is  to  keep  the  spiritual 
palate  moist  lest  people  should  thirst  for  the  living  water  of 
Life.  Christ  says,  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto 
Me  and  drink  ".  Arm-in-arm,  out  from  the  camp,  away  into 
the  woods  together  we  walked  and  talked.  I  realised  that 
the  eternal  destiny  of  that  soul  may  swing  on  the  time  we 
were  together,  so  it  must  be  spent  by  God's  help  profitably. 
God's  plan  (as  best  I  knew)  I  delivered  unto  him  until  the 
horses  were  "  hitched  up  "  ready  to  convey  him  away  on  the 
return  journey.  Before  we  separated  he  accepted  some 
helpful  books  to  read,  then  I  prayed  fervently  for  him  and 
placed  him  trustfully  in  the  tender  mercies  of  our  God  who 
delights  to  save.  The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  sal 
vation  He  gives  fits  the  hearts  of  men  of  every  creed  and  de 
nomination,  and  all  attend  the  camp  services — this  thirsty 
soul  belonged  to  the  R.C.  Church. 


ADDITIONAL   NOTE. 

BISHOP  MONTGOMERY,  the  writer  of  this  book,  has 
asked  me  to  add  a  few  paragraphs  in  order  to  bring  up 
to  date  the  statements  relating  to  Church  work  in 
Western  Canada.  During  this  summer  (1910)  I  had 
the  opportunity  of  visiting  the  dioceses  included  in  the 
Canadian  Prairie  and  of  seeing  some  of  the  work  which 
is  being  done  by  the  clergy  and  catechists  who  are 
in  part  supported  by  the  S.P.G.  and  by  those  who  are 
being  supported  by  the  Archbishops'  Fund,  and  it  is  a 
privilege  to  be  allowed  to  add  my  testimony  to  the 
good  work  which  is  being  done.  No  one  who  has  read 
this  book  can  have  failed  to  be  impressed  with  the 
magnitude  of  the  task  which  awaits  the  Anglican 
Church  in  Western  Canada  or  with  the  unique  oppor 
tunities  which  are  presented  to  its  members  at  the  pre 
sent  moment  for  grappling  with  this  task.  But  the 
reader  who  can  go  and  see  for  himself  what  is  here 
described  will  be  constrained  to  exclaim  "  the  half  was 
not  told  me  ".  Never  before  in  the  course  of  its  long 
history  has  the  Anglican  Church  had  an  opportunity 
of  influencing  so  directly  those  who  are  building  up  a 
great  new  nation,  never  before  has  its  obligation  to 
help  been  so  pressing.  Despite  what  has  been  done 

(126) 


ADDITIONAL  NOTE  127 

by  the  Canadian  Church,  the  S.P.G.,  and  all  other 
societies,  to  minister  to  the  wants  of  its  inhabitants, 
there  are  at  the  present  moment  hundreds  of  small 
centres  of  population  on  the  prairies  at  which  no  re 
ligious  service  and  no  Sunday  school  is  held  by  any 
one.  It  is  possible  to  find  men,  women  and  children 
who  know  hardly  more  about  the  Christian  faith  than 
do  the  cannibal  races  of  Central  Africa. 

The  average  Canadian  is,  and  has  good  reason  to 
be,  an  optimist.  He  has  reasons  for  believing  that  his 
is  the  country  of  the  future  and  that  its  potential  re 
sources  are  inexhaustible.  We,  too,  believe  that  there 
is  a  more  glorious  future  in  store  for  Canada  than  can 
be  expressed  in  terms  of  acres  and  dollars,  but  we 
cannot  blind  ourselves  to  the  fact  that  this  future  is 
being  imperilled  by  the  failure  to  supply  any  adequate 
ministration  in  view  of  the  spiritual  needs  of  its  children 
and  of  the  unnumbered  immigrants  who  are  streaming 
into  its  borders  alike  from  Europe  and  the  United 
States. 

In  response  to  the  appeal  of  the  Archbishop  for 
Western  Canada  about  .£35,000  has  so  far  been  received, 
and  work  supported  by  this  fund  has  been  started  in 
three  different  centres,  two  of  which  are  in  the  diocese 
of  Calgary  and  one  in  the  diocese  of  Qu'Appelle.  The 
first  centre  is  at  Edmonton,  a  large  and  rapidly  growing 
town  in  the  northern  part  of  the  diocese  which,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  will  become  the  cathedral  town 
of  a  new  diocese.  Nine  clergy  and  six  laymen  are 
working  from  this  centre.  A  clergy  house  with  chapel 
attached  has  been  built  at  which  two  or  three  members 


128     THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

will  reside  permanently.  It  will  also  form  a  centre 
to  which  the  other  members  of  this  Brotherhood  will 
return  about  every  six  weeks  for  rest  and  devotion. 
The  head  of  this  Brotherhood  is  the  Rev.  W.  G.  Boyd, 
who  was  formerly  chaplain  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canter 
bury.  It  is  hoped  that  the  members  will  be  able  to 
carry  on  work  to  the  north  and  west  at  many  different 
centres  within  fifty  or  sixty  miles  of  Edmonton.  Little 
wooden  churches  are  being  erected  costing  from  £100 
to  £250  and  shack  houses  in  which  it  is  proposed  that 
one  priest  and  one  layman  should  reside.  In  a  few  in 
stances  it  has  seemed  best  to  erect  a  larger  clergy  house. 
Thus  in  the  Mission  served  by  the  Rev.  A.  H.  Huxtable 
at  Wabanum  a  mission  house  is  being  built,  the  dimen 
sions  of  which  are  24  feet  by  28  feet.  Half  the  ground 
floor  will  be  available  for  a  church  and  for  club  purposes 
and  the  other  half  will  be  the  kitchen  and  sleeping-room, 
above  which  will  be  an  attic  for  sleeping  purposes.  "  We 
hope,"  Mr.  Boyd  says,  "that  by  providing  the  clergy 
with  something  more  than  a  two-roomed  shack  it  may 
be  more  possible  than  it  would  otherwise  be  for  them  to 
make  their  home  the  natural  resort  of  young  bachelor 
settlers,  who  want  to  escape  for  an  hour  or  two  from 
their  loneliness  and  have  nowhere  to  go  save  to  the 
store  or  pool-room  if  there  is  one." 

The  members  of  the  Brotherhood  have  also  taken 
charge  of  a  parish  in  the  town  of  Edmonton.  One  of 
the  laymen  who  is  working  with  Mr.  Boyd  hopes  to 
take  his  degree  at  the  new  Strathcona  University  which 
lies  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  on  which  Edmonton 
stands. 


ADDITIONAL  NOTE  129 

It  would  be  difficult  to  name  any  place  in  the  world 
where  Mission  work  is  being  carried  on  more  effectively 
and  more  economically  than  it  is  here.  The  enthusi 
asm,  devotion,  and  capacity  of  the  members  of  the 
Brotherhood  will  not  only  benefit  the  wide  area  in 
which  the  Mission  works,  but  will  influence  the  work 
of  the  Church  throughout  the  whole  of  North-West 
Canada. 

Another  centre  where  work  is  carried  on  on  similar 
lines  has  been  established  at  Lethbridge  in  the  south 
of  Calgary  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  W.  B.  Mowat, 
who  served  for  nine  years  in  the  diocese  of  Manchester, 
and  for  three  years  at  another  town  in  the  diocese 
of  Calgary.  He  has  with  him  one  layman  and  is 
hoping  to  be  joined  by  additional  fellow-workers  ere 
long. 

The  third  centre  of  work  established  by  the  aid  of 
the  Archbishops'  Fund  is  in  the  diocese  of  Qu'Appelle. 
The  Rev.  Douglas  Ellison,  who  organised  the  Railway 
Mission  in  South  Africa  which  has  done  much  to 
minister  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  English-speaking 
people  living  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  railway  lines 
there,  offered  to  attempt  work  of  a  similar  kind  on  the 
Canadian  prairies  in  districts  where  the  construction  of 
new  lines  was  creating  centres  of  population  and  where 
no  provision  had  been  made  for  providing  services  for 
Church  people.  His  offer  was  gladly  accepted  by  the 
council  and  he  has  now  been  joined  by  four  other 
clergy.  In  the  diocese  of  Qu'Appelle  alone  there  are 
2500  miles  of  railway  lines  open,  and  it  is  expected 
that  1 500  miles  more  will  be  opened  during  the  next 

9 


130     THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

three  years.  Mr.  Ellison  has  made  Regina  his  centre 
of  work.  When  I  met  him  there  he  had  just  returned 
from  a  prospecting  tour  along  400  miles  of  new  railway. 
Every  town  situated  on  the  line  had  been  visited  and  a 
service  and  meeting  held  to  which  the  Church  people 
in  the  neighbourhood  had  been  invited.  Along  one 
stretch  of  ninety  miles  the  names  of  400  Church  people 
were  obtained  who  are  at  present  beyond  the  reach  of 
any  Anglican  priest  or  catechist. 

This  work  is  of  a  pioneer  character,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  the  places  served  by  Mr.  Ellison's  staff  may  in 
two  or  three  years'  time  become  capable  of  supporting 
their  own  clergy,  when  the  members  of  the  staff  will 
move  on  into  another  new  district. 

A  few  words  should  be  said  in  conclusion  concerning 
the  relative  claims  upon  our  supporters  of  the  Arch 
bishops'  Fund  and  our  own  funds  for  the  support  of 
work  in  Western  Canada.  One  result  of  the  starting 
of  the  Archbishops'  Fund  has  been  that  the  special 
S.P.G.  Western  Canada  Fund  came  to  an  abrupt  end. 
If  the  work  which  came  into  existence  as  the  result  of 
this  Fund  is  not  to  be  abandoned,  at  least  ,£10,000 
must  be  provided.  The  object  of  the  Archbishops' 
Fund  was  to  start  new  work,  but  the  intention  of  its 
promoters  would  not  by  any  means  be  fulfilled  if  the 
maintenance  of  this  new  work  were  to  involve  the 
abandonment  of  that  which  already  exists.  Moreover, 
the  Archbishops'  Fund  is  only  intended  as  a  tem 
porary  expedient  and  is  not  intended  to  supersede 
the  work  of  the  S.P.G.  which  has  supported  work  in 
Canada  for  two  centuries.  Contributions  towards  the 


ADDITIONAL  NOTE  131 

support  of  the  S.P.G.  work  in  Western  Canada  de 
scribed  in  this  book  should  be  sent  to  the  S.P.G. 
Treasurers,  1 5  Tufton  Street,  Westminster,  and  marked 
for  this  purpose. 

C.  H.  ROBINSON, 


ABERDEEN  \    THE    UNIVERSITY    PRESS 


RONT   ROW  (left  to  right)-Rev.  R.  B.  McElheran,    Dr.  Speechley. 

ECOND    ROW— Archdeacon  Dobie,  Rev.  C.  Hepher,  Rev.  Guy  Pearse,  Canon  Stuart,  Bishc 

HIRD    ROW— Rev.  Canon  Murray,  Canon  Matheson,   Rev.  A.  E- Cousins,  Chancellor  Mac 

Rev.  W.  E.  R.  Morrow,  Rev.  G.  I.  Armstrong.  Rev.  P.  T.  R.  Kirk,  Rev.  C.  L.  E 


SSION   OF  HELP. 


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