Life of James Croil, Montreal [microform] : an autobiography, 1821-1916

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3ames Crotl.

LIFE OF

JAMES CROIL

MONTREAL

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

1821-1916

MONTREAL :
MiTCHKU, & WILSON, Printers, 87 Noire Dame Street West,

1918.

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APR 3 135U

INTRO DUCTION.

fully appreciate the wealth of his character, the magnanimity
of his mind, his attractive personality, gracious manner, and
well-balanced judgment one must needs have known MR. CROIL in
his public and private life. Born of a worthy Scotch ancestry,
educated in the best of Scotland's Grammar schools and colleges,
and with a mind richly endowed by nature, he was a keen student
of men and things, and readily secured for himself an acknow
ledged place among the best men and women of his time. He also
travelled widely, observed keenly and brought under tribute an
experience that was varied and in many ways exceptional.

MR. CROIL possessed a strong and striking personality. His
manly stature, dignified demeanour and withal his courtly and
kindly bearing distinguished him among his fellows. From early
manhood he developed a taste for literary pursuits and although
choosing for his occupation farming in Ontario, he was restless
in so limited a range of public activity and finally broke from
it. Or to put it in his own words " From boyhood I was afflicted
with the ' cacoethis scribendi ' a malady which in riper years did
not ameliorate, for like the woman of old who spent all that she
had on physicians I was " nothing bettered bnt rather grew worse."
About the year 1800 a prize of one hundred dollars was offered
for the best " County Report " in Upper Canada and he readily
accepted the challenge winning first honours and the goodly prize.
He was at once accorded a place in the ranks of descriptive
writers. Encouraged by this achievement he became keenly am
bitious to climb still higher, and in the following year (1801) he
elaborated his essay and published an edition of 2,000 volumes
under the title " Dundas" or "A Sketch of Canadian History."

iv. INTRODUCTION.

This publication was looked upon as a real contribution to Can
adian History and the Board of Education of Upper Canada pur
chased more than one-half of the whole edition as prizes in the
Common Schools. His " Missionary Problem" was similarly hon
oured by the Hon. John Macdonald a leading member of the
Methodist Church who purchased nearly the whole edition for dis
tribution among the ministers of that Church, thus stimulating by
his missionary zeal the life of the then largest Protestant religious
community in Canada. Another valuable contribution to Canadian
literature was his " Historical and Statistical Report of the Pres
byterian Church in Canada in connection with the Church of Scot
land " in 1867. This work was the result of a year and a half
spent in visiting every church and congregation of that denomin
ation. Devoting himself unreservedly to this unique task, he lent
his talents and energies without stint or monetary return, inter
viewing pastors and office-bearers, often times conducting services,
addressing gatherings, encouraging Sunday Schools and heartening
lonely and unbefriended ministers. His visits were an inspiration
to the Church of his fathers. In this enterprise he gathered much
experience that proved of great service to him when he became
editor of the Presbyterian, and later editor of the Record of the
Presbyterian Church in Canada. As editor of these publications
MR. CROIL perhaps gave his richest and most enduring contribution
to the opening life of Canada. Here he set himself the task of
awakening and developing the missionary life of the Church. His
facile pen gave life-sized pictures of many heathen lands in all the
enormity and desolation of their moral and spiritual conditions.
In this department it is not too much to say that he excelled all
his contemporaries in the vividness of his portrayals and in the
fervour and earnestness of his pleadings.

Principal John Marshall Lang of Aberdeen, writing in 1884,
says of the Record : " It is really about the best church journal I
ever see." The Church in Canada owes to him an immeasurable
debt for his long and faithful service in this vocation. On his
retiring from the editorship of the Record in 1891 the Committee
in charge presented him with a cheque for one thousand dollars.

INTRODUCTION. v.

Other publications which found ready readers are the following :
" Life of Alex. Mathieson, D.D., St. Andrew's Church, Montreal.
" Steam Navigation."
" The Noble Army of Martyrs."
"The Genesis of Churches in America."
" A Souvenir."

" Gleanings from the Nineteenth Century."
" Speeches at General Assemblies of Scotland and the United
States" where he always commanded a respectful hearing.
Addresses on " David Livingstone." " Lovedale, Livingstonia and
Blantyre." " Up the Mediterranean." " Our great Indian Em
pire." " On Agriculture at Iroquois." " Our Country." " Pro
testant Missions."

" History of St. Paul's Church," in MS., and Essays on a variety of
subjects, etc., etc.

In his sanctum where after his retirement from public duties
he continued to follow the bent of his genius, might be observed
the order and arrangement of a master-workman. On the walls
were to be seen charts, photographs of distinguished friends and
illustrated addresses. One of these was presented by the Tempor
alities' Board bearing ample proof of its high appreciation of his
services. Another was presented by the Sabbath School Associ
ation of Montreal of which he was for sometime president. At a
farewell meeting of that Association held in St. Paul's Church in
1 88G on the eve of his departure for a long visit to Britain and
the Continent, Dr. Barclay, the chairman, said : " Our friend has
done more than any living man to make the Presbyterian Church
in Canada known in Scotland and vice versa that of the Church of
Scotland known in Canada." Dr. Roberts, moderator of the Gen
eral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States
North, writing on March 28, 1910, says: " I congratulate you on
the fact that you are entering your 90th birthday. Few men have
had so great an opportunity as you for long and useful service to
the Church of Christ."

MR. CROIL had a wonderful faculty of becoming persona grata
with men of high degree, having personal letters from the Prince

vi. INTRODUCTION.

of Wales, afterward our good King Edward, Lord Aberdeen, Lord
Strathcona and Mount Royal, Lord Mount-Stephen, Sir Sanford
Fleming, Principal Tulloch of St. Andrew's University, Principal
Story, of Glasgow University, Dr. Salrnond of Aberdeen, Principal
John Cairns, Professors Crombie, Charteris, Dean Vahl and Olaf
Hanson of Copenhagen, A. K. H. Boyd of St. Andrew's, Norman
McLeod, etc., etc.

The readers of the autobiographical sketch which fills these
pages, will follow each line with quickening interest and appreci
ation. They will everywhere discover the eye of a keen observer,
a mind alert in measuring with remarkable precision the things
that matter most, and which arrest attention. His personality
was an exceedingly attractive one. His suavity of manner, the
sunshine of his life, the vividness of his imagination and not least
of all the kindliness of his heart, calling out alike the affection of
the adult and of the little child of tender years, all speak of the
greatness and wealth of his nature.

Few men enjoyed through much travel and extensive corres
pondence so wide, and at the same time so warm, a friendship with
men of note. He never lost sight of an old friend nor failed to
enrol upon his list of admirers a new one. To the evening of his
life he kept in sympathetic touch with the great movements of
the world and longed for its betterment. We part with him reluc
tantly, nay rather we hold him ever dear, for his life was a bene
diction and an inspiration — a blessed influence yielding a golden
harvest of activity and devotion in many lands. To have known
him was to be captivated by his generous heart and to be bound
to him by a living bond of fellowship.

Early in the month of November before his departure he had
prepared his usual Christmas greeting to his many friends and it
bore the following suggestive message.

" Holy strivings nerve and strengthen,

Long endurance wins the crown,

When the evening shadows lengthen

Thou shalt lay thy burden down."

W. R. CRUIKSHANK.

CONTENTS.

PAOI

CHAPTER I.
Early Days, Govan, then and now : Glasgow and Edinburgh 1

CHAPTER II.

High School and New Academy, Edinburgh; The Grange Academy, Stinder-
land; The University, Glasgow; East Lothian Apprenticeship: the
Eglinton Tournament 29

CHAPTER III.
First Atlantic Voyage, New York, Montreal, Stacey Island, Halifax, London.. 57

CHAPTER IV.

Second Voyage to New York, Crysler's Farm, Trip to the West and Washing
ton, Down the Mississippi, Nauvoo, President Polk. Marriage in 1847,
Dundas in 1861 81

CHAPTER V.

The Mediterranean, Gibralter, Genoa, Leghorn, Rome, Pisa, Milan, Strassburg,

St Gothard, Paris 99

CHAPTER VI.
The Church Agent and Union of the Presbyterian Churches in 1875 109

CHAPTER VII.
Deputation Work, Brooklyn, Philadelphia. Edinburgh, Belfast, Washington,

Liverpool 146

CHAPTER VIII.
The Scottish General Assemblies, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, The Rhine,

Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, etc .... 168

CHAPTER IX
The Three Pilgrims spend a year abroad in 1886-1887 184

CHAPTER X.
A week in Russia 210

CHAPTER XI.
To "The Land of Illimitable Possibilities "—Manitoba, The North-West, and

British Columbia 229

CHAPTER XII.
Off to Japan .... 236

LIFE OF JAMES CROIL

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

CHAPTER I.

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, THEN AND NOW : GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH.

T WAS born at No. 5 Bath Street, Glasgow, on September 4thj
1821, and was baptised by Rev. Dr. Meek of Hamilton on the
28th of that month — so runs the record in the family Bible. My
father was a native of Cargill, Perthshire. He became a West
India merchant and amassed what was accounted in those days a
considerable fortune. A likely man he was in every respect — of a
good presence, sound judgment and common sense. He was an
elder in the Inner High Church and stood well in the commercial
community of the western Metropolis. He died in 1826, being
then only fifty years of age. leaving a family of four sons and six
daughters. The younger children, myself included, had thus only
an indistinct recollection of their father, and knew not what man
ner of man he was. He was buried in the dismal Crypt of the
Ramshorn Church, where his tomb is hidden from mortal eyes, for
all time. \Vhy he was buried there I could never understand,
unless it was that the burying ground of St. Mungo's was by that
time quite full. Another strange thing it seemed to rne was that
while our father presumably worshipped in the High Church, the
family had pews both in St. George's and St. Enoch's Churches,
which were occupied alternately at the morning and afternoon
services. It may have been that a sufficient number of sittings for
so large a family could not be obtained in either of these Churches
which was then the most fashionable and best frequented in the
City.

2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

My mother was the eldest of the four daughters of William
Richardson, a "manufacturing merchant" in Glasgow, just what
that high sounding title implied I am not careful to enquire, I can
only surmise that he was an employer of labour in the line of his
progenitor's occupation, which was that of a " weaver," and that like
his father James, he was a member of the Anti-burgher Church.
What matter ! He died in 1815, aged 30, leaving one son and four
daughters who all married, and had in the aggregate 19 children.
One of his brothers, settled in Philadelphia, where he prospered
in business, and left a family that is represented in the City of
Brotherly Love to this day. Another, Ebenezer, became a calico
merchant and died of fever in America, leaving nine children.
His brother, John, who was said to be an uncommonly handsome
man, and very clever, was an agent of the British Government in
Liverpool for many years and died in Leghorn, Italy, in his 80th
year, leaving eight children, the youngest of whom survives in
San Francisco, and is the father of six children. Matthew, the
youngest brother, settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and died there
in 1860 in the 89th year of his age, having had nine children, so
that my maternal grandfather and his five sons contributed no
less than sixty-four to the population of the world 1

My mother was only 18 years of age when she was married,
and on the death of our father the education and up-bringing of a
large family devolved chiefly on her. She left nothing undone to
bring her children up in the right way. She was in many respects
a remarkable woman— clever, highly accomplished, and in her
youth accounted beautiful. She lived to the great age of ninety-
two. She used to tell us, playfully, that she could trace her des
cent, through her mother, from the royal Stuarts. That, however,
lacks confirmation, and at any rate did not count for much, since
they were, at best, but a poor lot, while she herself was as good as
gold. I can say of her, as Lord Cockburn in his autobiography
says of his mother,—" She was the best woman I have ever
known." Her whole life was a conspicuous example of prudence
and piety. ' Her children arise up and call her blessed.' When
as yet our father's family consisted of only two boys ; he had set

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 3

aside for each of them a case of the choicest Port wine in his well-
stocked cellar, not to be opened until they had respectively
attained the age of twenty-five years : but no such mark of appro
val heralded the first appearance of number seven — that was
me — on this planet. Ah no ! I have been told that when brother
William reached his majority, a company of invited guests came
to his Island, all the way from Montreal, to do honour to the occa
sion and broach the case, but, alas ! to find that in the long lapse
of time the old wine had lost alike its colour and flavour, and was
as weak as water ! Whereat I was comforted.

While I \vrite, visions rise up in my mind's eye of the beautifully
coloured capacious china bowl that for many years was the chief
ornament on the drawing-room chiffoniere. Had it but speech,
many a strange tale it might tell. It had often graced the dining,
room table, steaming with savoury punch — a decoction prepared
witli a variety of ingredients the making of which is now one of
the lost arts. But, then ! Glasgow had the undisputed pre-emin
ence for brewing it — Jamaica rum, Port wine, lime juice, sugar,
lemons, and nutmeg with toasted biscuits entered into its combin-

o

ation. In the early years of the last century, and within my own
recollection, the punch-bowl was an indispensible article of house
plenishings. In my father's time the punch-bowl was in evidence,
at the dinner party of every ' well regulated family ' ! Ten times
at least it had served in his family as the baptismal font ! But in
these degenerate days it has gone — disappeared forever — Requiem-
cat in Pace !

I have a distinct recollection of being taken by mother when
I was six years old to Mr. Hardy's school in George Square, on
the site now occupied by the magnificent municipal building of
Glasgow. On her taking leave of me I naturally fell to weeping,
but my tears subsided when the kind-hearted dominie patted me
on the head and assured me that " I would be a man before my
mother." My mother married again in 1831. The wedding took
place at Largs, where we had been in the habit of going for our
summer-quarters, and by a singular freak of fortune it fell to me,
a boy of ten years, to figure as best man on that occasion. My

4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

new step-father was a native of Perthshire and a former partner
in my father's business, to which he succeeded. He would be at
this time about 43 years of age, and my mother about two years
younger. In order to provide suitable accommodation for the
numerous family to which he had suddenly fallen heir he had
taken a lease of the beautiful suburban villa of Middleton, on the
Paisley Road, and in the Parish of Govan, to which were attached
a fine garden and pleasure grounds, and twenty-five acres of land.
It was then quite in the country, nearly two miles from the City
limits, and was the head-quarters of the family for 12 years. My
mother excelled in horsemanship. She had a favourite pony
named " Bet," which had a habit of running away, and more than
once her life was imperilled, but she never lost her presence of
mind on these occasions and always kept her seat in the saddle,
come what may. After her marriage to James Donaldson in 1831,
she was to ride in a phaeton, so the pony was presented to an old
friend of the family — the Rev. Gavin Lang of Glassford, whose
wife, Annie Marshall — -a very clever woman, had often carried me
on her back, before her marriage. Glassford was a quiet rural
parish some sixteen miles from Glasgow. The old Kirk, situated
on high ground, could be seen nine miles off, and hence was often
styled " The Church Veesable" ! What a proud boy I was, (just
ten years old), when I was told that I was to ride the runaway
mare up to Glassford, which I reached safely.

I do not remember who at that time constituted the Manse
family, but I think the eldest son, David, who was born at Shel-
bourne, Nova Scotia, must have been the only child of what after
wards became a large family.

David was many years manager of the Commercial Insurance
Co., first in Glasgow, then in London, where he was long the accom
plished Secretary of the Church Missionary Society. It is of
record that three sons of the old manse became ministers of the
Church of Scotland. John Marshall, born in 1834, commenced his
ministry in the east parish of Aberdeen in 1856 ; translated to
Fyvie in 1859, to Anderston New Church, Glasgow, in 1865, to
Morningside, Edinburgh, in 1868, and to the Barony Parish, Glas-

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 5

gow, 1873, in succession to the late Dr. Norman Macleod, and was
appointed by Queen Victoria, Principal of Aberdeen University in
March, 1900. His whole career has been a brilliant one. He was
President of the Alliance of the Reformed Churches that met in
Washington in 1899, and Moderator of the General Assembly of
the Church of Scotland in 1893. One of his sons became minister
of Meldrum Parish, Aberdeenshire : another, Cosrnft Gordon, joined
the Church of England, and was successively Vicar of Portsea, Bis
hop of Stepney, and in 1908 was consecrated Archbishop of York.
Alexander, the youngest son became manager of the Bank of Mon
treal in London.

James Paisley Lang, a brother of John M., some time a mis
sionary in India, has been many years Minister of the East
(Abbey) Church, in Sterling : another brother, Gavin, has been
Minister of Fyvie, Glassford, St. Andrew's, Montreal, and is now
Minister of the Second Church, Inverness.

If any other manse in Scotland can exhibit a more distin
guished, not to say a more romantic record, I have never heard of
it. The last public function that John Marshall Lang attended
was the installation of his son Cosmo as Archbishop of York in
the grand old Cathedral there on January 25th, 1909. Shortly
after this he was prostrated by serious illness which terminated
his earthly career on May 15th, 1909, in the 75th year of his age.
These reminiscences had been sent to Dr. Lang for correction, and
were returned to me by his wife along with the " kind remem
brances" of her husband from his death-bed ! It seemed to me
very pathetic.

The parish of Govan was an extensive one, and the " living,"
one of the largest in Scotland. It included Partick and a portion
at that time of Gorbals and had a population of about 4000 souls.
The village of that name consisted of a single straggling street
lined on either side by rows of thatched cottages occupied by hand-
loom weavers and nearly every window was a miniature flower-
garden in which the scarlet geranium predominated. These
weavers were born controversialists, and theologians in their way,
many a long and spicy argument they had among themselves on

6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

the deep questions of the day, such as fore-ordination ; the perse
verance of the Saints, the power of the Civil Magistrates, the
' Headship of Christ/ patronage and ' endooments.' The church
and manse were by the river-side surrounded by many old elm
trees in which colonies of rooks had enjoyed undisturbed possession
from time immemorial. The church with its sy metrical and
lofty steeple was a marked and picturesque feature of the land
scape in this reach of the Clyde. It was erected about the year
1825 to replace the ungainly barn-like edih'ce built some 50 years
earlier during the ministry of the Rev. William Thorn, who was
chiefly answerable for the demolition of the fine Norman building
that had occupied this site for centuries. Govan was originally a
prebend of the Cathedral of Glasgow and had in pre-Reformation
times a church in accordance with its ecclesiastical dio-nitv. After
the Reformation it always went with the Principalship of the
University, so that it was served by a succession of eminent men
for some generations, the best known of them being Andrew Mel
ville. The patronage of Govan parish remaining with the Univer
sity until 1874 when patronage was abolished. In later times it had
at least one man of great fame as a preacher — Hugh Binning, whose
tomb-stone was built into the wall of the porch in the new church,
as for Mr. Thorn, he is still remembered as a sort of provincial
Sydney Smith. After he left, a number of sculptured stones were
dug up from the grave-yard which were supposed to have belonged
to the old church and to have been buried by the iconoclast.
They were considered to be among the finest remains of their
period and of their kind in Scotland, and for them a sort of sanc
tuary was built in the church-yard. The story lias been often
told of Mr. Thorn, that in being present at an ordination service,
and unable from the number of ministers taking part in the cere
mony to place his hand on the candidate's head, he reached forth
his staff instead, with the remark, — " Tiinmfe to tiinmer, this will
do for the present."

In our time the Rev. Matthew Leishman, D.D., was the parish
minister. He had been inducted in 1821, and continued in office
for 53 years. Dr. Leishman was one of the moderate ministers of

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 7

his time. He was one of those who hoped to the very last that
by some compromise the impending secession of 1843 might be
avoided — an able and faithful parish minister, beloved and respected
by all who knew him.

Shortly after I went to school in Edinburgh, the worthy Dr.
called at my lodgings and after talking kindly to me he kneeled
down and offered up a beautiful prayer for me, then, as he was
leaving, he took me warmly by the hand and looking into my
eyes with affectionate concern he said, — " James, never forget
God and He will never forsake you." Thank God for the memory
of those words ! It was a simple and trite saying, but it has stuck
to me all these years. " A word spoken in season, how good is it."
As an illustration of the power of personal touch, as distinguished
from eloquent preaching, it may be added that of the many ser
mons I heard him preach, not one word do I remember !

Dr. Leishman did not shine in Church courts, indeed he cared
little for them, though in early life he took his share in the out
side work of the Church. That he was held in high esteem by
his brethren appears from the fact that he was elected Moderator
of the General Assembly in 1858. He retired from active service
about 1871, having acquired a small property near Lanark. There
he died in the 81st year of his age and was buried in Govan
churchyard where a handsome monument bears the brief inscrip
tion, — " Sacred to the memory of Matthew Leishman, D.D., for 53
years minister of the parish; died 8th August, 1874, aged 80.
His wife Elizabeth Boag died September 1st, 1874. In death
they were not divided." Dr. and Mrs. Leishman had celebrated
their golden wedding only a few weeks before their re-union in
the " better country."

Mrs. Leishman was a charming woman. One of their sons
attained to eminence as a professor in the Medical Faculty of Glas
gow University. The youngest son became a merchant in Ran
goon. Thomas, born in 1825, followed in the wake of his father
and earned for himself a high degree. After being five years
assistant to Dr. McCulloch of the West Church, Greenock, he
was presented by the Crown to the parish of Collace, Perthshire,

8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

and afterwards he became minister of Linton, Roxboroughshire,
from which he virtually retired when his son, J. F. became his
assistant and successor — a common arrangement in Scotland by
which a minister divests himself of parish work, continues to
receive a portion of the emoluments and leaves his assistant to
do all the work. In recognition of his important contributions to
ecclesiastical literature, as joint-editor with Dr. Sprott, of North
Berwick of The Book of Common Order, and a variety of his own
works, he received the degree of Doctor in Divinity from his Alma
Mater, the University of Glasgow, in 1871 and in 1898, he was
appointed Moderator of the General Assembly, just 40 years having
elapsed since his father had occupied the Moderator's chair.

Besides the parish school, there was a private, select school
taught by Mr. Gibson, the Session-clerk, a person of no small
importance living at ' Harmony Place.' " Peerlie," as we used to
call him, was a learned pedagogue, pompous and fussy, but an
excellent teacher and a strict disciplinarian — a short stout man,
even to obesity, who was always dressed in a black swallow-tail
coat and never entered the school -room without a well -seasoned
pair of tawse concealed about his person. Those, however, he
used with due discrimination and moderation, tempering the
punishment to the gravity of the misdemeanor. When he took
his walk abroad his rotund figure described a graceful curve
at every step. His bow was beautiful. When not otherwise
employed in the class-room, his favourite pastime was " nibbing
pens" — of the old fashioned goose-quill sort, for the metallic sub
stitute had not as yet come into use. I doubt if there was, or is
anywhere, a better grammar-school than Mr. Gibson's. Here my
brother John and I, and Tom Leishman, received our first drilling
in the rudiments' of Latin and mathematics. As clerk of Session
Mr. Gibson, inter alia, exacted the fees for baptism. Of one
sponsor who presented his child for the rite it was told that,
when the minister in course of his charge to " bring up this child
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," addressed him in
solemn tones — " You know, John, what baptism means," the ready
reply came, — Oh aye, sir, I ken brawly, its just a shullan. "

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 9

The front seats in the gallery of the church were usually
reserved for " the quality," i.e., for the landed gentry, and other
important persons in the parish. At the time I speak of there
were a considerable number residing in Govan parish, among
whom were the Rowands of Linthouse, the Dunlops of Craigton,
the Robertsons of Whitetield, the Macleans of Plantation, the Dalg-
leishs, Galbraiths and Locheads ; not to speak of " the Queen of
Govan," a wealthy spinster whose appearance in Church never
failed to create a sensation and draw the wondering eyes of the
humble folk by the gorgeousness of her apparel ; reminding us of
a certain minister's wife who was in the habit of coming to
church late and sailed up the middle aisle, decked in all the colours
of the rainbow, concerning whom the parson remarked one day
from the pulpit, by way of gentle admonition. " Here comes my
wife Betsy with a kist o'drawers on her heid " — which was
intended to inform the congregation that his spouse had sold a
chest of drawers to pay for her fine clothes ! Dr. Thomas Leish-
man to whom I am largely indebted for some of these reminiscences,
reminds me that among the celebrated parishioners of that time
there were also two batchelor brothers Blaikie, the exact duplicate
of each other, who used to walk, side by side, with white hats,
white spats, (gaiters) and white terriers at their heels.

The ordinary routine of parish work differed in many respects
from that of the twentieth century. The style of preaching was
different, partook of the quiet, unimpassioned, evangelical type.
There was no John Cains or Norman Macleod, in the Presbytery
of Glasgow in 1831 to thrill the masses with their eloquence ; and
great Chalmers, who had attained the zenith of his fame for pulpit
oratory in Glasgow, was then the Professor of Divinity in Edin
burgh University. The custom then largely prevalent was to
preach in the forenoon from an isolated text a doctrinal discourse,
and, in the afternoon, to 'lecture' from portions of a chapter in the
expository style. To this day I regret that there is so little
expository preaching. It seems to accord better with the time-
honoured method we read of in the book of Nehemiah, when Ezra
"read in the book of the law of God distinctly and gave the

10 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

sense, and caused them to understand the reading." Parochial
visitation was of a more impressive character than it often is now-
a-days. It was something more than a perfunctory call and shaking
of hands with the women of the household. Men would leave
their business to be at home and meet the visitor, and the short
service of praise, prayer, and reading from the word would fre
quently be concluded with questions from the shorter catechism.

On the other hand, there were fewer Sunday-Schools and
Bible-classes, and other means of religious instruction for the
rising generation. The only Sunday-School in Govan parish that
I remember hearing of was a class of small boys and girls taught

O !/ O o

by two of my sisters in a small room of a private dwelling on
Sunday mornings. Some eight or nine lads of my own age used
to meet for an hour before the morning church service in the
vestry — a very small apartment high up in the steeple of the
church. Nobody took any notice of us ; there was an entire
absence of superintendency and the proceedings in that upper
chamber were often— well, of a mixed description. But, all the
same we did our best and, to a limited extent, acquired the habit
of studying the Bible.

It goes without saying that tea-meetings, socials, church fes
tivals and concerts, et id genus omne, had then no existence.
Indeed, they would have been deemed indecorous to a degree.
The Sabbath was rigidly observed. To be seen walking abroad
save going to, or coming from church, would have met with a
solemn rebuke and warning not to do it again.

The garden gate was sacredly locked on Sunday, as were all
the public parks and gardens in the Kingdom. It is only a few
years since the Princes Street gardens in Edinburgh were thrown
open to the public on the Sabbath day. The startling "innova
tion" met with strenuous opposition for years, but when it did
come, in the spring of 1879, it was hailed as a public boon,
and it was chronicled in the newspapers that some 28,000 persons
availed themselves of the privilege on the first day of opening I
To be seen reading a secular book or newspaper on Sunday would
be regarded as a flagrant breach of the fourth commandment.

EARLY DAYS, GOVAX, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 11

In those days stained-glass windows with representations of
Christ and His apostles or other scripture emblems, in churches
would have been regarded as idolatrous ! Instrumental music as
an aid to devotion was then unknown. The ' Kist o'whisles/ as
the organ was opprobriously called, was denounced as an invention
of the devil. It seems to have been introduced for the first time
in a presbyterian Church in Scotland, about the year 1807, in St.
Andrew's Church, Glasgow, but the outburst of feeling was so
strong that it was quickly discontinued and the obnoxious instru
ment sold to a neighbouring Episcopal Chapel. After that, no
more was heard of it till the Rev. Dr. Robert Lee, minister of
Grey Friars, and Professor of Biblical Criticism in Edinburgh
University, introduced a harmonium in his congregation, about
1857, at the same time that he began to read his prayers from an
Order of Public Worship which he had published and which was
in the hands of the people, that they might join audibly in the
responses. For both of these 'divisive courses' Dr. Lee was
taken to account severely by his Presbytery, and by the General
Assembly.

It was in vain that he argued, that a liturgy had been used in
the Kirk of Scotland for nearly a hundred years, and that no act
of any Assembly had ever forbidden its use — " Where there was
no law, there could be no transgression." He was solemnly
enjoined to discontinue the use of his liturgy and harmonium.
Years of hot contention followed in the Church courts, during
which Dr. Lee clung to his colours, and ' tholed,' until the year
1859, when he was stricken with paralysis and all further pro
ceedings in his case were suspended. When he died, in 18(>8, the
Kirk laws in this behalf were modified and the organ came to stay.
If there were fewer parochial ' organizations' than super-
abound now-a-days, a great deal more attention was bestowed on
religious instruction in the home. It was a marked feature of
the time. Family worship was an ' Institution' invariably hon
oured. On Sunday evening in our home, it took the form of a
full service, when a sermon was read ; it might have been one of
' Blairs,' or one of Chalmers' Astronomical discourses, then in high

12 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

favour, accompanied by the singing of a Psalm or ' Paraphrase/
always led by my mother, with tremulous emotion. It was a
sight to see the regiment of servants march in to worship, bibles
in hand, headed by the cook who was usually fat and forty — the
coachman and his understrapper, who helped him to wait on table,
the former in black velvet knee breeches, white stockings and
wine-coloured cut-away coat with brass buttons. Pater familias
acted the parson to perfection — reading the whole service, prayers
and all, in a remarkably solemn tone, with orthodox inflexion, his
voice rising and falling with the regularity of ocean waves, and
with a conventional rythm that not unfrequently charmed the
younger portion of the audience — to sleep, a vivid recollection
haunts me still of the effort to keep us awake, and the expedients
that were resorted to to recall us to a sense of propriety. The
shorter catechism was applied to all, young and old, mistress and
maid. In it we ware well drilled, during the week, in school and
at home, and we all had it fairly at our tongues' end, though now
and then, when it came to ' Effectual calling ' or the like, we might
require a little prompting. We were supposed to carry in mind a
good few of the Psalms and all of the Paraphrases. I remember
counting myself passing rich on receiving ' a silver sixpence ' for
repeating the whole of the 119th Psalm without a mistake.

Rous' version of the Psalter, completed in 1564, was formally
adopted by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in
1650, and appointed to be sung in congregations and families. By
some accounted ' uncouth, tasteless, and unprofitable to the last
degree/ it was nevertheless enshrined in many a Scottish heart
and held in great estimation for its rugged pith and vigour, pre
serving as it does in a remarkable degree the ipsissima verba of
the prose in the authorized version of the Bible. For nearly 200
years after the suppression of the ' Service Book/ this version of
the Psalms was used in public and private worship— to the exclu
sion of hymns, other than the collection of 67 paraphrases and the
six hymns usually appended to the psalms in Scottish Bibles.
Primarily designed and adapted for use in public worship the
Psalms of David were evidently set to music and were sung

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 13

responsively with instrumental accompaniment. "Sing praises
unto Him with timbrel and harp ; with the sound of the trumpet
with stringed instruments and organs, with loud cymbals ; praise
Him upon the high-sounding cymbals." No mention being made

of them, David seems to have drawn the line at drums the

favourite and distinguishing music of the ' Salvation Army.'

The scripture Paraphrases, first introduced in 1545, and revised
as we now have them in 1782, have ever since held a place in the
estimation of the Scottish people little if at all inferior to the Psalms
of David. Their authorship is ascribed to Isaac Watts, Logan,
Addison, Cameron, Morrison, Blair, and Philip Doddridge who com
posed the inimitable lyric, commencing with ' O God of Bethel by
whose hands Thy people still are fed ' — without which no collection
of modern hymns seems complete. And Logan gave us the beauti
ful 53rd hymn ' Take comfort Christians when your friends in Jesus
fall asleep.' The first three of the collection of the five hymns
appended to the Scottish Paraphrases are attributed to Addison,
the fourth to Watts, and the fifth to Logan. The opposition in
Scotland to the use of 'uninspired hymns' in public worship con
tinued until recent times, and so great was the revulsion, they have
already in many quarters superseded the Psalms almost entirely.
As an instance of wedded attachment to the Psalms it may be
mentioned that the United Presbyterian Church of the United
States of America use them exclusively, and keeps itself aloof from
all other Presbyterian churches on that very ground.

The "Sacramental Season" in Govan, as all over Scotland, was
then a time of special solemnity, and the protracted services were
calculated to strike with awe the minds of the rising generations.
The Communion of that day was celebrated twice a year, which
indicated that Govan was even then in rather an 'advanced' stage,
for an annual celebration of the Sacrament had not long before
been the custom here and elsewhere. Like the solemn feasts held
in Jerusalem during the Jewish dispensation, it partook of a national
character, and attracted unusual crowds of participants and spec
tators. The services connected with it occupied the best part
of a week, commencing with Thursday, the statutory 'Ffast day'

14 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

or ' Wee Sunday ' as we used to call it. This day was supposed to
be devoted, if not to literal fasting, at least to humiliation and prayer,
and the pulpit was usually occupied by one of the City ministers.
Saturday was the so-called day of preparation, when, after sermon,
'tokens' were distributed to intending communicants. Monday
forenoon was observed as 'Thanksgiving Day' invariably concluded
by the Monday dinner at the manse given to the elders and such
of the assisting ministers as could attend. Sabbath, of course, the
oreat day of the feast. Simultaneous communion had not yet come
into vogue. Dr. Chalmers was among the first to introduce it in his
church, St. Johns, Glasgow, about 1822, and for so doing was
dragged before the tribunals of the Church for judgment. The
idea that communicants should ba seated face to face, ony-half of
them with their backs to the officiating minister had been the imme
morial custom, and all his eloquence failed to convince the brother
hood that the usage was utterly childish; and the controversy which
had awakened a hornet's nest about him was one of which he was
"ashamed to appear as a combatant even on the right side of it."
In many of the churches of that time the centre aisle was trans
formed into one long table reaching from the front of the pulpit to
the church door, at which the communicants sat facing each other
while the minister occupied a chair at the head of the table. It
can easily be imagined that this had a significant effect, and scenic.
But in Go van the arrangement was different, by an ingenious de
vise, the transverse pews were converted into veritable tables at
which as in the other , case the communicants were seated face to
face, the tables being covered with white linen. In this way about
100 persons were accommodated at a time. As there were about
500 communicants, it followed that the people took their places in
relays, implying the delivery of five or six 'table addresses' by as
many different ministers in turn, who severally dismissed the con
tingent with the words "Go in peace." In the act of their retiring
a portion of the 103rd Psalm was sung, the Precentor reading each
line before singing it. As soon as the table was refilled the singing
ceased and the address for the new company began. I should have
said that the services of the day began with what what was called

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 15

the "Action Sermon," to be followed by the 'fencing of the tables'
— asolernn deterring warning to 'unworthy communicants,' and that
the table services consisted of pre-communion and post-communion
addresses in each case. The 'elements' were not exposed to view
until the 'fencing of the tables' was concluded, when the Minister
retired to the vestry, from which he came while the 35th Paraphrase
was being sung, heading the procession of the Elders bearing the
vessels and the elements. It was not without some bustle and con
fusion that the people passed to and from the tables while the singing
of the Psalm continued until order was restored. 1 Among those who
at different times lent their aid to Dr. Leishman on these occasions,
were Principal Mocfarlan, Dr. Lorimer, of the Ramshorn ; Dr.
Smythe, of St. George's ; Dr. Macleod, of the Gaelic Church ; Dr.
Buchanan of the Iron; Mr. Henderson of St. Enoch's; Mr. Turner
of the Gorbate, Dr. Gillar, and Mr. Lockhart of Inchinnan. None of
them made a more solemn impression on the people than Mr. Turner
who besides being endowed with a deep sonorous voice, was other
wise peculiarly gifted in this department of ministerial work.

While we were living at Middleton, an event occurred that
created a painful sensation. It was the bursting of the boiler of
a steam coach on the Paisley road. A line of such conveyances
had bee^n in operation for a year or more in opposition to the
stage coaches. They were very nicely got up, differing little in
appearance from the others — only minus the horses, and that in
stead of the driver a red -coated man was seated in front who steered
the machine with a wheel similar to that of a ship at sea. The
fire-box and engine were at the rear end, and the boiler underneath
the body of the carriage. They attained a high speed and promised
to be a success, though now and then, when the steering gear got
out of order, they played some queer pranks. On one such occasion,
the thing ran incontinently into a crockey shop in Jamaica Street.
But the Road Trust were aggrieved. Their tariff of tolls made no
provision for horseless carriages, and it was alleged that this cum
brous affair cut up the roads. They must be stopped. To gain
their ends they caused road metal to be laid, a foot deep, in the
vicinity of the toll gates and steep parts of the road, with the result

IQ AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

that six horses were required to drag the steamer over the obstruc
tion and tolls were collected accordingly. Owing to the strain on
the machines thus induced the boiler of one of the coaches became
displaced or injured, and exploded with great violence at the Three-
mile house, causing instant death to several passengers and serious
injury to others. A large crowd soon gathered at the scene of the
disaster. Hearing of it I ran to the place and surveyed the ghastly
spectacle of the dead and wounded which left an indellible impres
sion on memory. I afterwards learned that a Paisley boy six years
my junior did the same. Strange to say, that boy, of whom I
knew nothing at the time of the accident, was to become my inti
mate friend years later, and far away, This was William Snodgrass,
who came to Canada twenty years after this occurrence and even
tually became the Principal of Queen's College at Kingston. Often
since then have we spoken of the singular circumstances in which
we first met.

In 1901, just 70 years after our first acquaintance with Govan,
I visited the place to see if perchance there still remained aught to
recall my boyhood days. After diligent search I discovered the old
family mansion in the last stage of decay. An acre or two of waste
land about it was all that remained of a 25 acre farm, and on a
large board it was announced that the lands of Middleton were for
sale. Beyond that there was not another recognisable feature of the
old time Govan. The march of improvements and city enlargement
had made a clean sweep of all that was dear to me in memory.
The quiet rural village had become a constituent district of the
great City of Glasgow and electric tram-cars coursed along spacious
streets lined with fine shops. The green fields had given place to
terraces and crescents and long rows of lofty houses and munici
pal public buildings. The population of the old time parish
including Partick had increased from 4000 to 350,000. The
church and manse of Dr. Leishman's time had gone. The grave
yard survived with one or two of the old trees standing like
sentinels to guard the tombs of the dead. A splendid new church
of large diminsions, a cathedral it might almost be called, had
taken the place of the modest village kirk, and a handsome new

DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 17

manse had been erected at some distance from the site of the old
one. Marine docks and vast engineering establishments had
usurped the places of pleasant fields. The new parish minister
the Rev. Roger S. Kirkpatrick, had recently been inducted in
succession to the Rev. John Macleod, D.D., who had ministered
there since 1875. Dr. Macleod died in 1898 and was buried with
his fathers at Kill Colum-Kiil, in the far away parish of Morven
If anything tended to reconcile me to these sweeping changes, it
was to learn that the dear old church had not been ruthlessly de
stroyed, but carefully taken down, and rebuilt, stone for stone,
in a different part of the now overcrowded parish. With the new
Church, then came new ways and different modes of worship, some
of them unfamiliar and unpalatable to many of the parishoners, and
which were even severely criticised by not a few of Dr. Macleod's
clerical friends and associates ; but the sterling worth of the man
himself, and the splendid work which he accomplished outlived the
the fama of heterodoxy, and made him a power in Govan. It may
not be generally known, but I have it on unquestionable authority,
that during Dr. Macleod's ministry in Govan, he was, if not an
avowed 'Irvingite,' closely allied in sympathy with the 'Holy Ca
tholic Apostolic Church' which has its head quarters in London,
and of which the famous Rev. Edward Irving was the fore-runner
rather than the founder. The adherents of this sect being for the
most part, the highest of high churchmen and ritualists, at the same
time combining a high order of piety and humility, it was not to be
wondered at that a man of Dr. Macleod's mystical enthusiasm and
devotion should have come to be in a measure identified with them.
Whatever may be thought or said of Dr. Macleod's ritualistic tastes
and practices, and much has been said, it was generally conceded
that his death was a great loss to the Church of Scotland, and
created a blank in the roll of her clergy which led Dr. Thomas
Leishman, the Moderator of the General Assembly, to say in his
funeral sermon : — " We know not where to look for such another
as he whom we have lost."

I read with peculiar interest the announcements made on a
large board affixed to the entrance gate of the church grounds —

18 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

in part as follows : — " Holy Communion on the last Sunday of
every month, and on other Sundays as may be specially intimated."
(Among these 'other Sundays' I was given to understand, were
the statutory days appointed for the observance of the communion
in all the churches of the Presbytery of Glasgow, in April and
October. I also learned that on certain Sundays the communion
was celebrated twice the same Sunday, for the benefit of those
who were unable to attend at the morning service.)

"Administration of Holy Baptism — first Sunday of every
month and the last Saturday of every month." " Week day services
daily, 10 a.m. and 5 p.m." " All seats free ; and, the Church is
open for private devotions, daily, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m."

Other announcements made in the " Govan Parish Magazine"
show that the ordinary congregational work is elaborate. Besides
four distinct Sunday-School classes it enumerates no less than nine
week-day meetings, such as the Women's Association Work Party,
the Children's Work Party, the Mother's Meeting, the Boy's Bri
gade, the Dorcas Society, the Girl's Club, the Choir Practice, etc.
Some congregations in Canada we are sometimes inclined to think
are worked at high-pressure — ' for all they are worth,' as the say
ing goes — but of Govan it may be said, ' Thou excellest them all."
Speaking of " Fast Days," I have not been able to ascertain
the origin of the " Sacramental Fast Day." In the Confession of
Faith, the term " fasting" occurs, but only incidentally, as a suit
able accompaniment of worship. Calvin, in his "Institutes" dis
courses on fasting in a general way. Knox, in the " Book of
Common Order," has a treatise on fasting and the necessity of
resorting to it at set times— the abstinence from food was to be
from eight o'clock on Saturday night until five o'clock on Sabbath
afternoon ; but in none of these ancient authorities is there any
mention of a sacramental fast day. Sprott and Leishman in their
"Book of Common Order and Directory of the Church of Scot
land," admit that the celebration of the Lord's supper is not men
tioned among the occasions which call for fasting days. Hence,
the fast day as commonly known and observed in these later days
must be relegated to a later period than the Reformation. But,

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 19

whatever its origin, it had long a special significance in connection
with the administration D£ the Lord's supper, and was observed as
a Holy day. But, owing in part to the more frequent observance
of the communion, and also, to easy and cheap means of communi
cation, it may be said that with the exception of the Highland dis
tricts, speaking generally, the observance of the day has fallen
into disusage. It has come to be looked upon rather as a legiti
mate season of recreation. The temptation to spend the Fast day
in Scotland at least, in excursions and pastimes lias become irre
sistible. Although the Fast day is still chronicled in ecclesiastical
registers, it has lost its meaning as an aid to devotion ; it is going :
and the verdict of the vox poptdi, is " Let it go." A service on a
Friday evening preceding the communion, or the weekly prayer
meeting, stands for the preparatory service ; and the evening ser
vice of° the communion Sunday takes the place of the Monday
thanksgiving day of former times.

My earliest recollections of Glasgow go back to the time when
water was sold in Bath street at 'a bawbee the stoup' — not because
there were then no water-works in the City, but because the water
they supplied being drawn from the Clyde, was bad and distasteful
to the 'west end' people who willingly paid the bawbee for that
which came from natural springs in the neighbourhood, wherewithal
to quench their thirst. We had neither lucifer matches, let alone
wax vestas, nor steel pens, nor letter envelopes. The primitive
tinder box, with steel and flint gave fire : the goose-quill was the
universal implement for writing : letters suspected of being written
on more than a single sheet of paper were subjected to additional
postage, and the postage was rated by the miles the letter had to
travel The postage on letters from Edinburgh to Glasgow was at
the rate of 7d per half ounce ; to Inverness I/ ; and to London 2/5d ;
and so continued until Rowland Hill's uniform penny postage sys
tem through Britain was established in 1840 ; in recognition of
this public* boon the enterprising statesman received a grant of
£20,000 and a pension as long as he lived of £2,000 per annum.
Two cent postage rate went into operation between Canada, Great
Britain and most of her Colonies, December 25,1898,andon January

20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

1st, 1899, the uniform rate in all Canada was reduced to two cents.
(Even since my coming to Canada in 1841, the postage on a letter
from Montreal to Halifax was two shillings and three pence). I
remember the death of George IV. in 1830, and the opening of the
first passenger railway of any account in the Kingdom in the same
year (The Liverpool and Manchester Line). The passing of Lord
John Russell's Reform Bill in 1832 was hailed with great rejoicing
in Glasgow, especially by the working classes ; multitudes coming
in from the country, women riding on horse-back seated on pillions
behind the saddle on the same beast with their husbands with an
arm encircling the guidmon's waist. Illuminations on a grand scale,
bonfires, reviews, etc., etc. Ducrow's circus and Wombell's mena
gerie afforded infinite amusement to young and old. In 1901 when
visiting Kensal Green Cemetery, London, my attention was attracted
to a handsome mausoleum, over the door of which was this inscrip
tion : — "Andrew Ducrow died in 1842 ; many years lessee of the
Royal Amphitheatre : He lived to brighten the lives of others."
In Highgate Cemetery, beautiful for situation, far surpassing Ken-
sal Green, I discovered Wombell's Tomb — a great block of marble,
surmounted by a huge lion's head, and inscribed — George Wombell,
menagerist, born 1777, died 16th November, 1850.

The imposing ceremonies connected with the opening of the
Jamaica Street Bridge in 1834, was another great function in
Glasgow, which I witnessed from a window in the home of Bailie
Martin on the south side of the river. It was designed by Tel ford
the architect of the Menai Suspension Bridge and considered one of
his best works. The Aberdeen granite stones that entered into its
construction had been hewn into shape in their native quarry, and
when brought to the Broomielaw they fitted into each other with
mathematical precision, so that it might be said of the bridge, as of
Solomon's Temple: "There was neither hammer nor axe, nor any
tool of iron heard while it was in building." That beautiful bridge
lived scarcely 60 years, and I was in at the death of it. But the
spectacle which above all else inspired the small boys with awe and
wonder was the annual procession of "the Lords" — the judges of
the circuit — who in white wigs periodically made their grand

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 21

entry into the City, accompanied by brilliant military escort to hold
the Assizes, and make the 'General Jail Delivery.'

I am not to expatiate on the marvellous changes that have taken
place in Glasgow during these 70 years. They would easily Hll a
volume. The population has increased from 202,426 in 1831, to
upwards of a million in 1891. Among the many splendid edifices
that have been erected in the interval, the Municipal Buildings in
George Square, and the new University on Gilmour Hill are the
most important, while the deepening of the Clyde from five or six
feet at high water to twenty-five feet, has been of incalcul
able value to commarce, and given rise to vast ship-building yards
and marine engine shops where many of the largest and fleetest of
the 'Ocean Greyhounds' have been built and engined, as well as
many of the mighty iron-clads in the Royal Navy. The adminis
tration of the corporation, the City of Glasgow, is admitted to be the
very best in the Kingdom. Its affairs, I am told, are managed with
great prudence and economy. "Boodling is unknown.' Whatever
it has taken in hand has prospered, financially and otherwise. The
old motto of the City — "Let Glasgow flourish" — has been amply
justified, and there can be no doubt that its prosperity is in large
measure due to the ' preaching of the Word' and its educational
institutions.

The Cathedral has been internally restored and beautified, and
is considered one of the best specimens of Old English Gothic. It
occupies the site of St. Mungo's cell and the tree on which was
hung the bell that summoned his savage neighbours to worship.
The emblems on the City Coat of Arms are a tree, a bell, a bird
and a fish with a ring in its mouth connected with which is an old
legend too lengthy for my present purpose. Hence the rhyme
familiar to every Glasgow school-boy.—

«' The tree that never grew,
And the bell that never rang ;
The bird that never flew.
And the fi«h that never swam "

The Presbyterian Churches of all denominations in Glasgow
in 1831 numbered 46. In 1901 there were, by actual count, 265

22 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CKOIL.

Presbyterian Churches, not to speak of Episcopalian, Congrega
tional, Methodist, Baptist, Roman Catholic, and churches of other
denominations.

And now; Farewell! Thou great second City of the Empire
—City of my nativity, fare thee well ! Should I say that "absence
makes the heart grow fonder," I might lay myself open to the
charge of being somewhat economical of truth, for there is not now
one of my name to be found in thee : nob one door would open to
admit me to its hospitality save that of my estemeed friend Dr.
Story, the principal of the University : no one else would take rue
in, or offer me a night's lodging : my annual visits are of less con
sequence than the preverbial drop in a bucket to thee, by whom, if
recognized at all, it must only be as a peripatetic tramp : Fare-thee-

Well.

I was sent to the Edinburgh New Academy in 1834. But
before Diving any account of that famous School, a few references
to the means of locomotion at that time may not be out of place.
Railways were not yet. But we had a choice of conveyances
between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The rich rode in their post-
chaise. The man of business travelled by stage-coach : the tourist
and man-of-leisure, by the swift-passage-canal-boat. These were
the palmy days of coaching. The roads were splendid. The
coaches were of the best, gaudily painted and seated for six inside
and twelve or fourteen outside. The drivers and guards wore long-
scarlet coats and white high-crowned hats. The latter had his seat
in the rear of the coach and was provided with a long tin horn
which he used frequently to announce the arrival or departure of
the conveyance at the different stages or to warn the drivers of
the machines to clear the track. The coaches were all four-in-
hand, and as there was lively competition, each tried to outrun
the other. The average rate of speed would be about ten miles
an hour, exclusive of stoppages ; these were frequent, but very
short. As you drove up to the inn door, a fresh relay of horses
would be standing on the highway, all ready harnessed with a groom
at the head of each. It was but the work of a few moments to
detach the panting steeds that had come in at a gallop and replace

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 23

them with the high-mettled, if sometimes broken-kneed brutes
whose turn it now was to show their paces, manifesting their
impatience to be off and at it by champing their bits and pawing
the ground — scarcely to be held in by the hostlers till Jehu
mounted the box. Sometimes he never left his seat at all, but
oftener he would make a bee line for the bar and swallow a half-
mutchkin of whiskey to keep his courage up. No sooner had he a
hold of ribbons, than the leaders began their capers, prancing from
side to side in a way that made the outsiders imagine that every
thing was going to smash. But a few well aimed cuts of the whip
soon brought them to their senses and away they went with a
will, urged to utmost speed by the lash as well as by the shouts
and rattle proceeding from the opposition coach in its frantic
efforts to give the other the go-by. Whiles they might be running
neck-and-neck, the vehicles swaying dangerously from side to
fiide — the passengers meanwhile clinging to the rails and to each
other for dear life. "Spills" were not unfrequent, caused by an
axletree breaking or other derangement, but the number of fatal
accidents was uncommonly rare. The coaches were all named by
high-sounding titles — such as the " High flyer," " Defiance,"
"Red Rover," " Blucher," or the "Telegraph" to indicate light
ning speed, and attract attention to this line or that.

The canal-boat of that time should be held in everlasting
remembrance since it contained the germ of the iron and steel
ships that were to follow. I do not know when the first iron
boats came into use on this canal, but they were in full swing in
1834. They were constructed of very thin sheets of iron. They
were long and narrow with sharp bows and clear runs, housed
over like gondolas neatly furnished and upholstered and fitted
comfortably for 40 or 50 paasengers, and were drawn by three
horses with mounted postillions in jockey costume, who urged on
the horses for all they were worth. The boats cut the water like
a knife and left a swish of wavelets behind them. On a straight
stretch of the canal they made good time, say about eight miles an
hour ; but much time was lost in locking. Beginning with lock
No. 22 at the 'summit.' There were eight or ten locks in succes-

24 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

sion which occupied a full hour, during which time the passengers
got out and walked. There was a service of night boats, fitted
with berths, but as these also carried freight the voyage would
occupy ten or twelve hours.

Travelling by one of these night boats I had a fearful dream
of a man struggling in the water, I saw him, as it were with my
eyes opened, raise his hands imploringly above his head, but there
was no one to help him, and he sank like a stone to the bottom of
the canal. The whole thing was clearly impressed on my minds'
eye and caused me no small perturbation. Imagine my surprise
on reading next day in the morning newspaper, " A deplorable
accident occurred last night, resulting in the death of a man by
drowning in the Firth and Clyde Canal " ! The recollection of this
inexplicable psycological phenomena remains with me to this day
as no other incident before nor since — explain it who can.

Sedan chairs stood at the street corners in Edinburgh in 1834.
A few lumbering hackney coaches of singular appearance com
peted with the chairs, but the former wrere still the more popular,
and were patronized largely by the gentry, especially by ladies
doing their shopping or going to the theatres and parties in full
dress. The Sedan chair was in the shape of a box say about 36
to 40 inches in width, and high enough to clear the head of the
occupant. It had glass fronts and partially glass sides with
curtains that could be drawn to secure privacy ; they were
carpeted and cushioned, comfortably and even elegantly in some
instances. The carrying poles passed through the iron eyes on
the sides of the chair arid were withdrawn at pleasure. The
bearers were usually stout Highland porters having leather slings
over their shoulders terminating in a loop to receive the ends of
the poles, the bearer's hands having thus little to do save to steady
the machine. Before setting out on a trip these fellows would
fortify themselves with o dram and a liberal dose of snuff', when
they would trot off at a lively gait. Smoking was much less pre
valent than now. Many ladies even carried their snuff box.

These chairs were regulated as to fares and equipment by the
Town Council. They had official numbers. They must carry

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 25

lights at night. Any infraction of the rules was punishable by
tines and imprisonment. The price of a " lift " varied according
to distance from a shilling, upwards. The tariff for a chair by
the day was 7/6 for a single person ; a double lift was double
fare, and for night work 6d per hour additional. The Sedan
chair gradually fell into disuse soon after the advent of the light
two wheeled " fly," an improved Sedan on wheels, which in turn
gave way to the one-horse four-wheeled cab, known in Glasgow
as the " Noddy."

The post-chaise was also a notable institution. Up to the rail
way era it was the recognized mode of travelling by the 'upper
ten' Most people of consequence kept a private carriage. When a
long journey was contemplated, the family chaise was fitted up for
the occasion with a variety of leathern portmanteaus made to fit
the construction of the carriage. The capacious " dickey " was
beneath the driver's box : the " rumble" was fastened on behind :
another receptacle was slung beneath the body of the machine,
while large baskets lashed on the roof received the overflow of
the travelling outfit. At home, the rumble was unshipped and in
its place the 'flunky' stood on a small platform in powdered wig
and livery, holding on to straps fastened to the back of the chaise.
A journey to London by this conveyance would occupy from two
to four weeks, relays of horses having been previously arranged
for at successive stages of perhaps ten miles apart, the horses
being invariably guided by postillions in the saddle — a lu inill-
taire. For those who had not a chaise of their own there was an
abundant supply in every village and town in the Kingdom. It
goes without saying that the posting business was a very exten
sive and lucrative one, giving employment to a vast number of
men and horses. And it brought grist to every hotel on the road.
It need scarcely be added that the hotel 'tap-room,' with its buxom
bar-maid was at this time at the zenith of its prosperity. The
convivial code had universal sway and the quantities of malt, port
wine and claret that were consumed by individual topers would
scarcely be credited now-a-days. But there was far less drinking
of whiskey and brandy than at a later period.

26 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

The Carrier's cart was then much in evidence, and its periodical
visits were looked forward to with even greater interest than the
postman's gig. It took varied forms. Sometimes an ordinary one-
horse cart provided with ample tarpaulin ; but more frequently a
hucre two-wheeled affair roofed over with canvas in which the car-

O

rier could sleep comfortably. These were used for the transport of
goods and parcels all over the Kingdom. One wonders how the
products of the great manufacturing centres could be conveyed to
distant destinations in this primitive manner, but they were. The
carrier's trade was a large industry and had wide ramifications, and
the carrier himself was an important character all along the line of
his route : a change of horses awaited him, too, at his successive
stages.

It was one of the most interesting sights in Edinburgh, especi
ally for us youngsters, to see the mail coaches leaving the post office
at 4 p,m. There might be a dozen of them assembled at that hour
ready to set out for all parts of the Kingdom. They were even
more elaborately painted than the stage coach, and each one had the
Royal Arms emblazoned on the panels. The horses were of a higher
type too, being mostly blooded animals. What with the tooting of
horns and general hurry-scurry, such a street scene has no counter
part in these days and can never be forgotten by any who have
witnessed it. The Royal Mail Coach System was established by
the Post Office Department in 1784. Hitherto letters were sent by
ordinary public conveyance, the frequency, however, of robberies
by highwaymen, and the rifling of mail bags for money, suggested
the remedy introduced into Parliament by Lord Palmerston, the
success of which was so great that his lordship was rewarded with
a gift of £50,000 and a life pension of £3000 a year. The mail
coaches were then put in charge of armed guards and other impor
tant improvements introduced into the postal service.

The distance from Edinburgh to London was from 420 to 450
miles, according to route, and was covered by mail coach in 46 to
48 hours. It had similar accommodation for passengers as in the
ordinary stage coach with this difference that the rear seat was
occupied exclusively by the guard who had a brace of loaded pistols

EARLY DAYS, GOVAN, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH. 27

within easy reach. Fares were somewhat higher — seven guineas
for inside seats and four guineas for outside ones. Higher speed
being demanded for the conveyance of special mail matter between
Edinburgh and London, about this time (1835) a new service was
devised to carry mail bags and nothing more. The new conveyance
was unique in appearance. It was called the "Curricle" — a two-
wheeled chariot of light construction fitted with a pole and was
drawn by three blood horses abreast, somewhat after the manner
of the Russian 'Troika' This 'flyer' made the journey in about 30
hours which was esteemed a marvel of speed. This mail and pas
senger service continued until the railway era effected a revolution.
The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway opened in 1840, has reduced
the time of transit between these cities from 4 J hours to G5 minutes.
Communication by rail between Edinburgh and London was first
established by the Caledonian Railway and its connections, Feb
ruary 15, 1848.

The Perth and Dundee Railway had made connection with
England about a year later than the Caledonian and the Glasgow
and South Western still later, reducing the time to 13 or 14 hours.
The " Flying Scotchman," as the fast train of the North British
line is called, as well as some other lines, now perform the journey
in 8 1 hours. In 1895 there emerged a railway race between the
North Western and Great Northern Companies which was kept up
for some time at ruinous cost to the companies and to the alarm
of the community at large. It was from Euston, London, to
Aberdeen. The distance, being 540 miles, was covered by the
Western line in 538 minutes exceeding by two minutes the speed-
rate of a mile a minute, including stoppages. Several of the spurts
were made at the rate of C5 miles an hour, breaking all records on
that side of the Atlantic, and indeed on this side, for while the
highest recorded rate of speed in America up to that time was 70
miles an hour, the London and North Western had made the
official record of 74 miles an hour, between Penrith and Carlisle, a
distance of 18 miles.

There was at this time (1834), a railway from Edinburgh to
Musselburgh, operated by horse-power. For aught I know it may

28 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

have been the first passenger railway in Scotland. The first in
England was that from Darlington to Stockton opened for passen
ger traffic September 27th, 1825. But the railway era may be
said to have been fairly ushered in by the construction of the
Liverpool and Manchester road which was opened with imposing
ceremonies on September 15th, 1830, in the presence of the Duke
of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, William Huskisson, secretary of
State for the Colonies, and a vast concourse of people. While this
line was in course of construction a prize of £500 had been
offered for the best locomotive. In October, 1829, the contest took
place with three competitors, — Robert Stephenson with the Rocket,
Hackworth with his Sanspareil, and Braithwaite and Ericsson
with the Novelty. All three were accounted marvels of mechanical
ingenuity, but the prize was awarded to the Rocket. The opening
ceremony was rendered memorable by a fatal accident to Mr. Hus
kisson who was removed from the scene of the disaster by the
Rocket at the astonishing speed of thirty-six miles an hour. I
remember travelling, in 1857, from Glasgow to Greenock in a
third-class passenger carriage of the time. It was an open truck,
without covering or seat of any kind. The passengers of course
had no choice but to stand up, whence the facetious name given to
the conveyance — "The Stanhope." It was a parsimonious con
cession to the popnlar demand for cheaper transportation and was
resented with indignation as an insult to the community. To
show their disapprobation of this shabby treatment, many of the
better class, and even some of the nobility, abandoned the use of
first-class coaches and patronized the Stanhope with the result
that decent third-class carriages were instituted and now you travel
from Land's end to John O'Groat's by third-class almost if not
quite as comfortably as by the first-class.

The oldest locomotive in use in Canada is probably that which
operates the short line of railway between Carillon and Grenville
on the Ottawa which has done duty continuously and satisfactorily
for nearly fifty years and is still in good repair, and the road it
traverses is the only one in Canada retaining the original Grand
Trunk gauge of five feet six inches.

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 29

CHAPTER II.

HIGH SCHOOL AND NEW ACADEMY, EDINBURGH ; THE GRANGE
ACADEMY, SUNDERLAND : THE UNIVERSITY, GLASGOW :
EAST LOTHIAN APPRENTICESHIP : THE
EGLINTON TOURNAMENT.

SPHERE were in 1834 two famous rival classical schools in Edin
burgh — the old High -School and the New Academy. The
origin of the former is said to be traceable to the 12th century.
Having undergone many changes of environment in the meantime,
the existing fine Grecian Doric edifice situated on the south slope
of the Calton Hill, overlooking Holyrood and Arthur's Seat was
completed in 1829 at a cost of £30,000. It has a large staff of
teachers, has always been considered a first-class school and has
sent forth a galaxy of illustrious men in every department of
Literature, Science and Art, among whom were Sir Walter Scott,
Lords Erskine, Loughborough, and Brougham, Dugal Stewart,
James Boswell, Johnson's biographer, Viscount Melville, the Earl of
Wemyss, Sir David Kyte Sandford, Lord Dalhousie — at one time
Governor of Canada, and Sir David Wilson of Toronto University.
The Academy was first opened with great eclat in October, 1824.
Its principal promoters were Sir Walter Scott, Lord Cockburn,
Hugh Miller, and others. Although it win point to no such list of
graduates as the High School, among its honoured alumini were
Archbald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Frederick
W. Robertson of Brighton, Dr. Anderson, Bishop of Rupert's Land,
and the Earl of Fife. The Rector of the Academy when I joined
it was Dr. John Williams, Archdeacon of Cardigan, under whom
was a large start' of excellent teachers in classics, modern languages,
mathematics, engineering, drawing, etc. Discipline was enforced
with a plentiful use of the tawse, which my teacher wielded with

30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

remarkable ability. Mr. Gloag of the mathematic class was a
terror to evil-doors. He thought little of shying his heavy ebony
ruler at a delinquent's head. Flogging was then one of the fine
arts. If a boy entered the class-room after the door had been
closed, he walked right up to the master's desk, held out his hand
received the regulation number of looffies, and burying his stinging
fingers in the depths of his pant's pocket, took his place in the
class. For more henious offences Mr. G. would strip off his coat
in order that he might the more freely indulge in the pleasure of
soundly thrashing some unfortunate culprit.

Among the eminent laymen at this time in Edinburgh were
Sir David Brewster, the experimental philosopher ; Dr. John Aber-.
crorubie who stood high in the medical profession ; Dr. John
Lizars, equally famous in surgery, and Sir James Young Simpson,
the first to employ anasthetics in obstlcefic practice ; Francis Jeffrey
the Lord advocate, the founder of the ' Edinburgh Review' and
the most trenchant writer of the period.

This story is told of Lord Jeffrey : Corning home from a con
vivial bout in the sma' hours of the morning no sae fou, but just a
wee drappie in his ee' he experienced some difficulty in locating his
own home. Finally meeting a policeman he asked him if he could
direct him to Lord Jeffrey's home. " Y're Lord Jeffrey himsel,"
replied the policeman. " I know that" said his Lordship but I
want to know where he lives" !

Lord Henry Cockburn, the solicitor general, and Hugh Miller
the geologist — best known to us now by his autobiography — " My
Schools and Schoolmasters." Adam Black, the original publisher
of the Encyclopedia Brittanica ; William and Robert Chambers
who revolutionized the publishing business by their issues of
cheap and useful " Information for the People" ; and William
Black wood the founder of the popular magazine that still bears
his name ; they were also among the men of the time concerning
whom it may be said— "Their works do follow them." The great
" Wizard of the North" had passed away only two years before ;
but his town house, 39 Castle street, where he had so often enter
tained his intimates with lavish hospitality, continued many years

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 31

to be the resort of tourists and literary pilgrims. And Guthrie
had not yet appeared on the scene to clothe the naked, and feed
the hungry, and draw crowds of peers and peasants to listen to
his enchantment, and make some of them to greet. But Dr.
Chalmers was there in full-orbed fame, as Professor of Divinity in
the University, and as a preacher unapproached in his day, of whom
Jeffrey says that " he buried his adversaries under the fragments
of burning mountains." The irrepressible ' Christopher North'
occupied the chair of Moral Philosophy ; Pillans of Humanity 5
Dunbar of Greek, and the silver-tongued Sir William Hamilton, of
History. Dr. Candlish of the massive head, powerful in speech
and of boundless enthusiasm, had lately succeeded the illustrious
Dr. Andrew Thomson in St. George's Church ; Dr. John Lee was
minister of the " Old High"; Dr. William Cunningham, of over
powering logic, was in the College Church ; Dr. David Dickson
and John Paul in old St. Cuthbert's ; Dr. Robert Gordon, one of
the most eloquent man of his day was one of the ministers of the
High Church ; Dr. James Begg who came to be known as the
greatest debater in the General Assembly was the minister of the
adjoining parish of Liberton.

We worshipped in St. Bernard's Church, a modest edifice near
our boarding-house, recently erected in what was called the second
new Town a magnificent extension of the new Town in a northerly
direction. The minister of St. Bernard's at that time was the
Rev. James Macfarlane of venerable aspect who read his discourses
very clearly. Once I remember he lost the place in his manuscript
and failing to find it, he turned back the leaves and commenced de
novo. His assistant was Rev. William Dunn afterwards of Card-
ross and my brother-in-law. St. Bernard's has since been served
by some noted ministers, among whom were " A. K. H. B." who
became famous as a voluminous writer and incumbent of St.
Andrew's Parish Church; Dr. J. McMurtrie, convener of the Foreign
Mission Committee ; and Dr. George Mathiewon, the blind minister
and one of the most brilliant preachers and penmen of his day.
The only modern churches of the period in Edinburgh of any note
were St. George's in Charlotte Square, St. Stephen's in Stock-

32 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

bridge, and the handsome St. John's Episcopal Church on Princes
street, adjoining old St. Cuthbert's. Of the older churches it may
be said that for the most part they partook of the barn order of
architecture which prevailed all over Scotland in 1834.

The main features of Edinburgh are unchangeable. The •
Castle Rock, Calton Hill, and Arthur's Seat — its distinguishing
ornaments — will abide till the crack of doom. The new town
looks up to the old and venerates its antiquity. It has undergone
many changes even since 1834. Heaps of disreputable tenements
have been replaced by fine specimens of baronial architecture.
Near to where the Free Church College stands, there was in my
time a pile of dingy buildings 14 storys high. When the work of
demolition was going on it is said that a sow and litter of pigs was
discovered far up in one of the old buildings. When asked, ' how
came the sow here?" it was answered — "she was born here."
Without vouching for the truth of the story, it may be asserted
without contradiction that many of those old rookeries were little
better than pig-sties. Outwardly, the High street preserved many
of its original outlines, but it had long lost its prestige. One could
look down into narrow closes and vennels swarming with a squalid
population, but would fear to enter them. Yet in bygone times
these closes led to genteel mansions and pretty gardens. Many
of them still bear historic names and have their archways adorned
with armorial bearings, telling how some of them had belonged to
the Knights Templars and Knights of St. John. On others there
are Latin inscriptions, as over the gateway of the Cannongate Tol-
booth, which retained its ancient motto — " Sic itur ad astra !
That many found the dungeons of the Tolbooth a short cut to the
stars is beyond a doubt. The chief adornment of the High street
was, as it still is, the crown-capped Cathedral of St. Giles. At the
time I speak of it was in a woeful condition. It was partitioned
off so as to form three parish churches, and outside it was hideously
disfigured with mean shambles attached to its walls. So disgrace
ful was its appearance Dr. William Chambers describes it in 1872
as being little better than a pest-house, polluted by an enormous
accummulation of human remains beneath the floor of the building,

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 33

and altogether a standing reproach to the enlightenment of the age.
Through his influence, and largely at his own expense, the long
neglected St. Giles has been transformed into the magnificent
temple of worship we see to-day. The story of Janet Geddes is
never to be forgotten in referring to the history of St. Giles. It
is briefly this : During the reign of Charles I. the attempt was
made to abolish the Presbyterian form of worship in Scotland and
to substitute for it that of the Episcopalian Church. On Sunday
the 23rd of July, 1037, Dean Hannay began to read from Laud's
obnoxious Liturgy — Popish in everything but name — when he
came to announce the ' collect for the day/ an old huckster, Janet
Geddes by name, rising to the occasion, hurled her cutty stool at
the pulpit with the wild exclamation, — " Colic said ye ? Deil
Colic the J&me o' ye ! woud ye say mass at ma lug ! " Such is the
legend, which is substantially confirmed by the inscriptions on
two brass plates now to be seen in the Cathedral. One reads as
follows :— " To James Hannay, Dean of this Cathedral 1634-103!).
" He was the first and the last who read the Service- Book in this
" Church. This memorial was erected in happier times by his
" descendant." The other has this inscription :- -" Constant oral
" tradition affirms that near this spot, a brave Scottish woman,
"Janet Geddes, on the 23rd July, 1037, struck the first blow in
" the great struggle for freedom of conscience, which, after a con-
" flict of half a century, ended in the establishment of civil and
" religious liberty."

The King would not tolerate the old Service-Book : the people
would not have the new one, and, as a natural result, liturgical
services were for the time being abolished in the Church of Scot
land. A striking feature of the case was that the Archbishop
who framed the Liturgy, and the King who tried to force it on
Scotland, both perished on the scaffold— Laud, on January 4th,
1045, and Charles I. on January 1st, 1049. The popular outcry
was less against Episcopacy than against Laud's obnoxious Liturgy
which was held to be Popery in disguise. The collect in question
was not in itself at all objectionable. It was the same tlmt is used
in the Church of England to-day on the seventh Sunday after

5

34 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

Trinity, " Lord of all power and might, who art the Author and

Giver of all good things, graft in our hearts the love of Thy name,
increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of
Thy great mercy keep us in the same ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, Amen."

In 1834 there were only 24 established churches in Edinburgh :
six Episcopalian churches, and 32 chapels and meeting places of
other denominations— 62 in all. Dr. R. S. Candlish was minister
of St. George's Church, Dr. William Cunningham of the College
Church, and Dr. John Lee of the old High Church. Dean Ram
say, whose " Reminiscences" (1857) proclaimed him a Scotchman
to the blackbone, was incumbent of St. John the Evangelist : Dr.
Alexander Lindsay, of lasting fame, was in the North College
Congregational Church ; James Haldane in the Leith Walk Baptist
Tabernacle, where he preached fifty years without any salary to
congregations of three thousand. There were four Roman Cath
olic churches. In 1901 there were upwards of 150 places of wor
ship, of which 46 pertained to the Church of Scotland and 75 to
the United Free Church.

Apart from St. Giles, the most important public buildings in
Edinburgh in 1834 were the University, the Royal Institution, the
Register Office, Holyrood Palace, Heriots' and Donaldson's Hos
pitals, the High School and the Calton Jail. The unfinished
National Monument, consisting of twelve massive columns that
cost £1000 each, stood, as it still does, on the summit of Calton
Hill. Since then the City has been embellished with many splen
did buildings and monuments— the National Gallery, the Scott
Monument, the Albert Memorial, etc. The Episcopalian Cathedral
of St. Mary's, erected at the cost of the Misses Walker, is con
sidered to be the finest ecclesiastical edifice built in Britain since
the Reformation.

. A familiar sight at that time was the so-called ' blind man'
who sat on the Mound, seeking alms from the passers-by. He
had sat there for years and had been liberally patronized. He
had the knack of turning up the white of his eyes and rolling his
eye-balls in a way that attracted notice and elicited compassion.

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 35

I have a distinct recollection of the man and his ways. He was
said to have been born blind, but in the end it transpired that he
was a fraud — a tool in the hands of priestcraft to accomplish a
nefarious purpose. The man was not blind, and his stratagem was
to blind the eyes of the public. When he had been on exhibition
long enough to disarm the suspicion, it was announced that a
miracle was about to be wrought. Some sort of formality was
gone through, and, lo ! the blind received his sight ! The plot had
been hatching for 12 or 14 years, but it was not long after the
reputed miracle that the perpetrators of the fraud were arrested
and punished.

There were a baker's dozen of so-called " Hospitals" in Edin
burgh at this time, in reality schools, some of which have
since attained celebrity. Of these, Heriots, founded in 1023,
is the oldest and fabulously wealthy. Fettes, the youngest,
founded in 1836, for young people whose parents had seen better
davs, has developed into a college in which all the branches of
higher education are taught, qualifying the pupils for matriculation
in the Scottish and English Universities. Among other places
of abiding historic interest, the old Greyfriars' Church and church
yard have long been famous. The pulpit of Greyfriars has been
filled by some of the ablest of the ministers of the national church,
Robert Rollock, the first Principal of Edinburgh University; Prin
cipal Carstairs, the eminent theologian and private secretary of
William Prince of Orange; Principal Robertson, the historian, and
his distinguished colleague, Dr. John Erskine ; Dr. John Inglis,
Dr. Guthrie and Dr. Robert Lee. The story, though often told,
bears repetition, that Principal Robertson who belonged to the
school of preachers known as the "Highflyers," expatiated in glow
ing terms one forenoon on " Man's love of Virtue." So great was the
love, he said, "if Virtue were to descend full-robed from heaven to
earth, men would fall down and worship her." Dr. Erskine, a
prominent Evangelical, preaching on the afternoon of the same day.
made caustic reference to the sermon of the morning, asserting that
men do not naturally love virtue, but hate it. Virtue did come
down incarnate from heaven in the person of God's only Son, and

36 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

men, so far from falling down and worshipping Him, cried out :
"Away with Him ; crucify Him!" A Mr. Tait of Montreal who was
present on the occasion, vouched for the truth of the story, adding
that the face of Dr. Robertson shewed that he felt the rebuke.

From the finest street in the most beautiful capital of Europe,
the constant resort of wealth, culture, and fashion, it is but a few
steps to what was in 1837, purlieus as degraded as could be found
in the darkest abodes of heathendom : The Grassmarket, the Cow-
gate, the West Port and the Cannongate. The " Maiden" that gave
it celebrity in the olden time had of course disappeared from the
Grassmarket, but by the curious it may still be seen in the Museum
of the Society of Antiquarians — that " Maiden" of which the noble
Marquis of Argyle, before placing his head on the block, had said
that " it was the sweetest maiden he had ever kissed."

A hundred years had not effaced the memory of the barbarous
doings of the Porteous mob in the West Port ; and in my time
people were telling the still magic story of Burke and Hare — the
foulest blot on the escutchions of the City. For it was here, too,
that the diabolical traffic in human remains was carried on for
years without detection. How many innocent and unsuspecting
men and women were lured to their death by these ruffians to
supply anatomists with bodies, will never be known. Lord Cock-
burn, who was himself counsel for one of the incriminated, states
that within a year or two, certainly not less than sixteen people
had thus been murdered by these men — suffocated skilfully, to pre
vent any mutilation of the subjects ; the murderers suffered the
penalty of the law ; the anatomists, who were the accomplices and
abettors of the crime — men who stood at the top of their profession
—were left unwhipped of justice for their part in the transaction.
Thanks to Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Guthrie, Dwight L. Moodie, Dr.
Moxey and other philanthropists, a brighter day dawned on the
old town of Edinburgh.

I was two years at the Edinburgh Academy, and if I made
slow progress with my studies, I formed a romantic attachment to
Edinburgh which intervening years and dividing seas have not
lessened and Edinburgh is to me "a joy forever" — in itself so

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 37

beautiful, and so full of historic associations. I cannot bid it fare
well just yet; for I hope, to see it again and again, before I go
to the Celestial City, not made with hands.

In 1836 my brother John and I were sent to the Grange
Academy — a somewhat famous school at Sunderland, Co. Durham,
where we remained two years — going home for the summer holi
days, which was a great event in our lives. Sometimes by the
coach route via Dunbar Alnwick and Newcastle, and at other
times by the ' Waverly route' via Langhohn and Carlisle. Once
at least we returned by sea from Shields to Leith. Dr. James
Cowan was the proprietor and headmaster of the Grange, and had
under him a good staff of teachers. With the exception of the
teachers of French and German they were all Scotchmen. Speak
ing generally, Latin and Greek occupied a prominent place in the
curiculum, Mr. John Cowan, the Doctor's brother taught the
higher branches required by those who had a University course in
view. He was a grand scholar, and was a candidate for the
Greek chair in Glasgow when Sir Daniel Sanford died, but he
was not nearly so popular with the boys as his brother, who,
while a strict disciplinarian, was a genial kindly man. Dr. Cowan's
forte was administration, and he certainly managed the establish
ment with consummate ability, resulting in marked success finan
cially and otherwise. The Grange might not have been compar
able with Eton and Rugby, but in the estimation of Scottish gentry
it had greater attractions, ami drew to it many scholars from the
best families in the North. Dr. Cowan was a square-built, mus
cular man, of heavy weight and prodigious strength. Well was it
for us that his strength was tempered with some degree of cle
mency, for he was red-haired, and naturally of a violent temper.
It took little to arouse his anger, but the sun never went down on
his wrath : he might be a terror to evil-doers, but he had a tender
heart. He not only took a lively interest in our games but was
easily first at foot-ball, cricket, and tennis. If there was any
thrashing to be done he claimed sole right to do it himself. He
absolutely forbade the use of the lash by any of his subordinaU-s ;
but did it himself con amore, and thoroughly. It never had to

38 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

be repeated. It was a perfect cure in every instance of insubor
dination. The culprit would be prepared beforehand by a season
of solitary confinement, and the flogging was always done in
private, but the knowledge that it was being done sent a thrill
of awe through the whole school. Minor punishments consisted
of standing up at the dinner table during meals, walking around
the grass plot in front of the house, deprivation of the play-
hour, and committing to memory a given number of Latin or
Greek verses. The Doctor's two sisters and his aged mother man
aged the house-keeping with perfect wisdom and saw to it that our
morning ablutions were not too superficial. Herr Lowenberg
taught German; he was a person of diminitive stature, and slightly
irascible ; when his dignity was offended, a favourite expression of

his was, " Do you vish that I should toss you out of the vin-

dow " which of course provoked a smile, and he was pacified.
Bamberger taught French ; Wilson, English ; Parsons, writing.
A drill-sergeant came once a week to put us through the manual
and platoon exercise. George Rowland, son of the famous Edin
burgh fencing-master instructed us in gymnastics, fencing, and
" the noble art of self-defence." I can still point with some degree
of pride to my silver medal for proficiency in gymnastics, and to
this kind of training I owe the soubriquet given me at school in
reference to my erect carriage — then and ever since — " Upright
Croil." Many of my school-mates reflected honour on the Grange
in their after lives. The three sons of Sir Daniel Sandford all
attained distinction. Francis was long at the head of the Educa
tion Office in London and was rewarded with a peerage ; Herbert
distinguished himself in the Indian Army and was knighted ;
Daniel became Bishop of Sydney N.S.W. and Suffragan Bishop of
Durham in 1889. Alexander Maxwell commanded the 46th
regiment at the siege of Sebastopol and afterwards became Gen
eral Maxwell. Alexander Whitelaw became one of Glasgow's
most useful citizens and member of Parliament for that City.
Henry Beckwith became curate of Monkwearmouth. Hugh Ham
ilton, my special chum, went to Australia and after varied adven
tures retired with a fortune. Charles B. Ker went to India, made

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 39

his fortune as a civil engineer, came back to Blackheath, London,
when he became an Evangelist, as a result of Moody 's visit, and
built a chapel in which he conducted services himself. By a sin
gular coincidence we met at Copenhagen in 1884 after an interval
of 46 years, and fought our respective battles over again with an
interest that can be imagined.

We used to have saw-dust chases and periodical tramps, to
Castle Eden Dene, where we gathered nuts, and to Durham where
we were lost in admiration of the grand old Cathedral and carved
our names on the leaden roof of the tower. On one such occasion
I remember, on our return, the Doctor came into the dining-room
and in stentorian tones said — " Those of you who smoked to-day
.will stand up," whereupon there were many blanched faces, but
none stood up, and it will never be known till the day of judgment
who the transgressors were.

We had a regular bathing drill, when the whole school marched
down to the seashore and we had lessons in swimming. On one
of these occasions — a year or two after my time — two of Sir
David Baird's sons and a son of Captain Lennie of Dalswinton
were carried out by a receding wave and drowned. This sad
affair so deeply affected the Doctor that he soon after gave up the
school and purchased a fine property, Dildawn, in Kirkcudbright
shire, where he employed his active brain in improving his estate,
taking a keen interest in county affairs, and in fishing, of which he
was very fond. He died there in 1868, aged 70 years. His brother
John succeeding him to the property, which in accordance with
the Doctor's will was sold, and the proceeds, amounting to £.'18,000,
were handed over to the Free Church of Scotland.

After leaving the Grange School, on the recommendation of Dr.
Cowan, I was registered a student of the Logic class in Glasgow
University, October 31, 1838 to May 1, 1839; donned the scarlet
gown, and was admitted a member of the "Peel Club." The accom
plished occupant of the Chair of Logic was Professor Rol)ert
Buchanan, "Bob Logic," as he was familiarly called — one of the
most polished and amiable men I ever met. If his prelections did
not inspire much enthusiasm ; they were perfect models- of composi-

40 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

tion and were delivered with a grace that made them charming.
He retired from college work in 1864 being then in his 79th year,
and died in his 88th year, leaving £10,000 to found Buchanan
Bursaries in the Arts department of Glasgow University. Was
author of "Wallace" and other dramatic poems. He was educated
for the ministry but resigned his charge at Peebles when appointed
to this chair in 1827. He occupied this chair for 40 years, spend
ing the summer vacation at Ardfillayne a charming villa near
Dunoon, the creation of his own refined taste. It was a bit of
wilderness when he acquired it, and is as now lovely to look upon.
He died here, and was buried in the pretty cemetery of Dunoon
where a massive granite slab bears the chaste inscription, dictated
by himself: "M S. Roberti Buchanan, A.M., LL.D., annos per
" quadraginta Logices et Rhetoricae in Universitate Glasguensi
" Professoris natus Feb. 16 mo., 1786: Obiit, mar. 2 do., 1873."

The initiatory rite at Glasgow College was called the ' Black
stone Examination' — a harmless ordeal. The intrant takes his seat
in an old oak chair fitted with a seat of black marble. In front of
him sits the examining professor who asks him in Latin what he
professes to know, say in Greek, to which the stereotyped reply
was — "Doctissime Professor, Evangelium secundum Joannem pro-
fiteor." Very few questions are asked and they of the simplest kind,
but to the first year's student the ordeal is nevertheless a formidable
one and never to be forgotten. Having construed a verse or two
from the Greek Testament he passes and makes room for the next.

The college buildings, dating from 1593, were of course the dingy
old pile in the High street, the site of which is now occupied as a
railway station. They were venerable for their antiquity and
quaint style of architecture, somewhat after the style of Holyrood
Palace, and had become black as coal from effects of smoke and fog.
The main group of buildings consisted of two hollow squares around
one of which were arranged the professors' dwellings, and round
the other the class-rooms. In rear was the college green, a consi
derable area in which stood the Hunteriari Museum, amid some fine
old trees, and by it flowed the "Molendinar burn," a pellucid stream
which has since entirely disappeared having been converted into

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 41

a huge underground sewer. A good deal of the quaint old masonry
was removed in later years to form an entrance gateway to the
magnificent new university on Gilmore Hill and the old college was
entirely obliterated ; but it served its day well, and from its halls
went forth many distinguished men.

At the time I speak of, Dr. Surlington was the new professor
of Greek in succession to Sir Daniel Keyte Sandford and was my
lenient examiner ; he had a very brilliant career. His predecessor
was even more distinguished. He was a son of Bishop Sandford
of Edinburgh and was a very eminent scholar and litterateur. H<-
died at the early age of 40 years, February 4th, 1838, and was
buried in the old kirk -yard of Rothjay where his wife and four
daughters were laid beside him. Three of his sons, as I have al
ready said, were my school-mates at the Grange Academy and came
to occupy prominent positions.

The students were distinguished from the other citizens by the
bright scarlet gowns with open sleeves which they wore on all
occasions and not infrequently brought them in to collision with the
"keelies," or street arabs, between whom and "colly dongs" as the
students were called, there existed a perpetual state of warfare.
Their usual salutation to us was this — "colly dong, lift up your
lug and let the gentle by ye." Sometimes pitched battles took
place, when stones and clubs were freely used, and the ringleaders
marched off to the police office.

Politics ran high in Glasgow College. Sir Robert Peel, leader
of the Conservative party in the House of Commons had been
elected Lord Rector of the University in 1836, and the grand victory
of the Tories was signalized by the institution of " The Peel Club."
But in my year (1838) he was defeated at the polls by Sir James
Graham, the equally noted leader of the Whigs in Parliament.
The election was carried on with tremendous vim. For this pur
pose the students were by statute divided into four classes called
" nations." (1) The Natio Glottiana, all those born in Lanarkshire.
(2) Natio Transforthana, all born north of the Frith of Forth. (3)
Natio Rothseana, including Bute, Renfrew and Ayr. (4) Natio
Londoniana, the students not included in any of the other nations.

6

42 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

The elections turned on the majority of the nations, which spurred
the leaders up to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. Were it not
that my ticket for "The Public Logic Class" duly attested by
Rob. Buchanan, L. R. Prof., is still in my possession it might have
been difficult to adduce satisfactory proof of my University train
ing, which failed of its purpose. My sainted mother, like many
other pious mothers in Scotland at that time, would have liked
to see at least one of her sons ' wag his head in a poopit,' once or
twice the hint was mildly addressed to me; but I gave no sign.
William was the one of us four brothers who should have become
a minister. I have often thought that he would not suffer in
comparison with M'Cheyne, and his religion was of a far more
cheerful type than M'Cheyne's. No : William, with even higher
educational advantages than I had, had become a farmer, and
Jacobus would follow his example.

From May to December, 1839, I was employed as junior
clerk in a merchant's office in Glasgow, but sweeping floors and
copying letters and invoices were not attractive occupations. I
showed no aptitude for business and was dismissed. Farming at
that time was not to be despised. High farming was in vogue.
Agricolus was a gentleman and made money. Why not I ? So
for two years, from December, 1839, 1 served my apprenticeship to
this high calling with my Uncle John in East Lothian. I could
not have gone to a better school, for he was a model farmer, in
proof of which he acquired a handsome competence as the result
of good management during his nineteen years' lease. But I must
confess that the apprentice spent too much of his time in the car
penter's shop and the smiddy, which may help to account for his
mechanical proclivities in after years.

These were the palmy days of farming in East Lothian, which
by tile-draining, subsoil ploughing, the use of artificial manures,
and a judicious rotation of crops, had become the garden and gran
ary of Scotland. It goes without saying that the East Lothian
farmer stood far above the ordinary tiller of the soil. He was a
man fitted by education and culture to comport himself creditably
in the highest rank of society ; yes, to stand before kings. To this

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 43

day I can recall many of their names and remember with gratitude
their abundant hospitality which extended even to the young ap
prentice — Mr. Hope of Fenton, Alexander Henderson of Longniddry,
Archibald Scott of Southh'eld and Craigielaw, William Mylne of
Lochill, and old Andrew Pringleof Ballancrieff Mains both the last
holders of leases originally granted for " three nineteen years and
a life-time," George Reid of D rein, Francis Shirritf of Muirton, and
his son David of Aberlady Mains, and their kinsmen Patrick and
Francis Sherritf, Cuthbertson of Seton Mains, James Skirving of
Lutfhess Mains, Tweedie of the Coats, Black of the Setonhill,
Somerville of Athelstane Ford, Deans of Penston, and John Finlay-
son of Redhouse, Grand men they were ; all of them gone long
ago ! Mr. Hope lived in princely style, entertained lavishly, kept
his stud of hunters and followed the hounds. Henderson was one
of the largest and best farmers of the time. I knew him to have
100 acres of wheat to yield an average of 60 bushels to the acre,
weighing 63 Ibs. to the bushel. Scott was more dashing and less
successful, financially. His was the experimental style, indulging
in such fancies as cultivating acres of turnips, beetroot seed and
that of other vegetables, and millions of larch tree seedlings. He
removed shortly after this time to Lancashire where he astonished
the natives by introducing the Scottish system of farming, and
converted an almost barren wilderness into fruitful fields. Sherritf
was a careful and successful farmer. One of his sons attained em
inence as a medical practitioner in Huntingdon, Lower Canada ; and
David became factor to a large landholder in Galloway. Patrick
travelled in America, and wrote books that induced many to come
to Canada. George Reid was a tall muscular man, not to be trifled
with. On one occasion while driving in his gig an obstinate carter
refused to give him room to pass him on the road ; high words
followed ; the carter declared with an oath that if he could find
anybody to hold his horse he would give Mr. Reid a thrashing ;
to which the master of Drem cooly replied— " Ye can tie him to
the yette," whereupon the carter subsided.

Let the weather be what it may, and it was often bad enough,
there was no such thing as a failure of crops in East Lothian, ex-

44 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

cept indeed when they suffered from the ravages of hares, rabbits,
pheasants, and other 'vermin/ which under the obnoxious "Game-
laws," the tenant was not allowed to molest in any way. The only
redress the suffering farmer got from the factor — for old Lord
Wemyss was himself as invisible and unapproachable as the Mikado
of Japan, was this — "You took the farm with this condition :
read your lease."

The Earl of March and Wemyss, the seventh of an ancient
baronial family and a peer of the realm, was then about 42 years
of age, living in genteel seclusion in his tine old mansion called
Gosford House, the main entrance to which was on the shore road
skirting the Frith of Forth, near Aberlady. There were two
houses, the old and the new. The former the residence of the
family was a fine pile of irregular buildings reminding one of Ab-
botsford. The. grounds and gardens were beautiful, well sheltered
from the chilly sea breezes by plantations swarming with game.
The new house was an imposing classical structure immediately
opposite the other at a distance of some five or six hundred yards.
It had stood there for at least twenty-five years, but had never been
inhabited, owing to what was supposed to be incurable dampness,
The difficulty must however been eventually overcome, for only
the other day (60 years later) I noticed that the family had taken
possession of it. The Earl was seldom seen. When he drove out
it was always in a stylish coach and four splendid black horses
with postilions, and the drive was usually to Aimesfield House
near Haddington — another of his seats, the hereditary home of his
eldest son, Lord Elcho, whose oldest son again bore the title of the
Hon. Mr. Charteris. The succession went on in regular rotation,
so that the Lord Elcho of my time is now the " old Earl, and very
likely driving his sable four as of old. Since above was written I
learn that the Earl of to-day, now in his 86th year, spins about ,the
country in his motor-car without any of the old show that used to
make the nobility so conspicuous. He is still (1904) hale and
hearty taking an active interest in every thing that goes on."

Besides his large and very valuable property in East Lothian,
Lord Wemyss had large estates in Peebles and Fifeshire and must

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 45

have been very wealthy. He was an impersonal landlord. Nego
tiation of every kind with his tenants were carried on through his
factor, a pleasant and genial man, but who lived in the fear of
his lord and executed his decrees with relentless impartiality.
< >ri-;iMMMally my und,- remonstrated in writing bo hia lordship
about the ravages of the hares and wood -cock that devoured his
turnips; but it was of no avail. He had just to grin and bear it,
and often, as he surveyed the damage he had sustained, he did
grin. The leases all ran for nineteen years. The advantage to
the farmer of course was that he would have a fair chance of being
recouped for his early outlay in improvements, but on the other
hand he had to take the risk of ruinous fluctuations of prices for
grain, which came with a vengeance when free trade brought the
price of wheat down from 70 the quarter to 50 and less.

But the decline and fall of wheat came not in my time. The
farmers were then a prosperous community. They made money.
It was calculated that the produce of a good farm, well tilled
should produce annually three rentals, one for the landlord, one for
the expenses of management, and one for the tenant. I cannot
speak for all, but I believe my uncle realized that expectation.
His farm consisted of 340 acres of good arable land, and his rental
was about £1000 a year. He kept an accurate account of receipts
and expenditure and at the end of nineteen years, after making
liberal allowance for his household expenses and all other charges
he found, that he had cleared on the average £750 a year. And his
was comparatively a small farm. Many of his brother-farmers
may have taken more out of their holdings than he did, but few
of them lived so economically, Some of them entertained lavishly,
even for these convival times. Their after-dinner and supper
libations appear to us now to have been almost incredible. Three
tumblers of toddy and an "eke" was the invariable order of the
day at a dinner party after the ladies had retired from the table,
many healths and toasts and sentiments having pr3ceded, and
this by no means exhausted the doquet. After supper there was
more toddy, and after the toddy came " plotty " mulled port wine
— made by plunging a very hot poker into a jug of wine. It was

46 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

a sight to see some of these overloaded topers mounting their horses
in the small hours of the morning. I have seen such an one roll
over in the saddle and fall to the ground on the other side like a
sack of corn. But let it not be inferred that those men were in
ebriates. Such scenes as I have described, were quite exceptional,
and some allowance must be made for the prevalent laxity of public
opinion in regard to the social customs of the time. I never saw
one of these gentlemen under the table !

Our farm, as I have said, was of moderate size. The dwelling-
house was an old-fashioned building in close proximity to the
barns and the abodes of the horses, cows, and pigs. In front of
the house was the mill-pond which gave motion to a large over
shot wheel, and by it to the thrashing machine. Near by were the
work-people's dwellings — a long row of hewn stone cottages with
thatched roofs, each divided into a but and a ben with box beds
fitted with panelled doors or concealed with showy curtains ; the
sanded stone floors were kept scrupulously clean and the fire place
jams white with pipe-clay. Over the little grate was the inevit
able " swee" — i.e. swing, from which could be suspended the gridle
for firing the oatmeal cakes : a deal table, a few chairs, an open
press in which was displayed the crockery, and a 'wag at the wa'
clock completed the plenishings, and at the back of each cottage
was a small kail-yard. The toute ensemble of the establishment
went by the name of the " toon." The working staff consisted of
six plough-men, or " hinds" as they were called, an 'ory man' to
do the chores and about a dozen of women ' outworkers ' who did
all the weeding and hoeing at a wage of 9d or lOd a day. Those
women were a quiet, inoffensive and industrious lot, who paid
great deference to their leaders two old sisters named May and
Peggy Houlison — the embodiment of staid propriety who kept a
matronly eye on their juniors. They were born on the farm arid
lived on it threescore years and ten, neither of them had ever seen
Edinburgh, they had never been ten miles from their home, nor
scarcely had a day's sickness — living as all the other inhabitants
of the toon did on the homeliest fare — porridge, pease brose and
so wens — a very old favourite dish among the peasantry, but now

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 47

rarely used — oatmeal cakes or barley scones completing the menu ;
only on Sunday's enjoying the luxury of a salt herring and
potatoes, or a scrap of butchers' meat and a cup of tea.

The ' hinds' were all men of irreproachable character, observant
of family worship and faithful attenders of the Kirk, whose whole
deportment evidenced that Burns' unsurpassed poem " The Cotter's
Saturday night' was not the overdrawn outcome of a fervid imag
ination but a portraiture true to nature ; as a certain old lady
once said when asked what she thought of it, was it not grand ?
" Well," she replied, " I dinna see ho he could have describit it
ony ither way." If there was any exception to the strict sobriety
of the hinds it might be occasionnally laid at the door of Davie
the foreman. He stood head and shoulders above the rest in phy
sique and force of character. His word was law, backed up with
the implicit confidence in his integrity by his master. Inter alia
Davie was the salesman. Every Wednesday in Edinburgh, and
Friday in Haddington, he might be seen on those market days
standing at his sack's mouth haggling for the ' top price.' No
one knew better than Davie how many beans it takes to make
nine. Davie was fdcile princepa in this branch of his vocation,
for five and twenty years he had sold every bushel of grain grown
on Spital farm. If he seldom came home from the market perfectly
sober, it was not that he was habitually addicted to strong drink,
but rather from the well understood practice then in vogue that
every transaction in the market must be sealed with a dram. The
non-conformist in this respect was accounted a mean churl. Our
prominent farmer, I remember, who was his own salesman, and
never treated his buyer, became known by the sobriquet of " pen-
ink," as he never called for anything else in the bar-room where
In- «-,.t t l«-il his accounts I'm- tin- <l;iy Mini wli«-n- he was drtrsti-d
accordingly by the hotel keeper. But our Davie was never sac fou
that he could not give a straightforward and accurate account of
his market transactions. He had always a plausible reason ready
for the rise or decline of the prices, and in counting his cash he
would frequently pause to indulge in a prodigious pinch of snuff,
always finishing off his yarn with the explanation that so much

48 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

was expended for "coup and yull " — the sealing treat above men
tioned.

The steam plough and reaping machine had not yet been in
troduced. Indeed it was not until after the great International
Exhibition in 1851 in London that the reaping machine attracted
attention. One of the main features of that exhibition was the
display of such implements by Mr. McCormick, an American, who
was credited as the inventor of this labour saving machine, and to
whom was awarded a gold medal for his invention. This good
stroke of business on McCormick's part, however served another
purpose. It revealed the fact that a reaping machine similar in
its main features to the American article, had been exhibited and
awarded a prize of £50 from the Highland Agricultural Society
and had actually been in successful use for 26 years previous to
1851 ; then and there champions compeared to claim the invention
for Scotland, and to assert that the old rickety machine that the
Rev. Patrick Bell of Carmylic, Forfarshire, had used on his glebe
all these years would do more work and do it better in a given
time than the gaudy nickel-plated American imitation. Several
trials took place in the presence of a large number of interested
spectators. Mr. McCormick wisely rested on his laurels and avoided
competition. The old Scotch reaper was pronounced to be a trium
phant success, and our bashful countryman was acknowledged to
be "the inventor of the reaping machine."

Our grain was all reaped with the primitive sickle, a slow
process to be sure, but 'many hands make light work.' It was the
custom then for large bands of men and women shearers to come
over from Ireland during harvest. We usually employed about
one hundred of those for a month or so every season. They were
a merry crowd, content with small wages and such food and accom
modation as was provided for them. Their breakfast consisted of
a good sized bicker of oatmeal porridge, with milk that had been
stored up for the occasion for a month in advance and which, of
course, by the time it was called into requisition had a pronounced
flavour of decay. The wooden bickers were of various sizes, known
as 'aesome' 'twasome' or 'saxsome', according to the number they

EDUCATION', APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 49

were to serve, and it was a pleasant sight to see half a dozen of
those reapers, seated on the stubble, armed with horn spoons en
joying their morning meal from the same dish chaffing and laugh
ing as Irish men and women only can. Happy mortals ; their din
ner consisted of a pound of bread and a bottle of small beer to each.
The men slept on a bundle of hay or straw in one barn, the women
in another. But to see them in the cornfield, three upon each ridge,
all vicing with neighbouring ridges who should be foremost, was
something to be remembered, and which the apprentice, certainly,
will never forget : for he was ex officio, the 'grieve' or overseer of
the whole business. It also fell to him to 'grieve' the women out
workers in whatever work they might be engaged. Reaping sug
gests sowing, one of the fine arts which he acquired under the
dictatorship of Davie, the foreman, whose oft repeated injunction
is still remembered — "Fill your nieve my mon for, mind ye, 'him
that saws sparingly sal reap sparingly.' "Fill your nieve mon"-
an excellent moral wherewith to adorn a tale !

At the risk of seeming tedious, a few words must be added
concerning others than those already mentioned whose names
were familiar as household words in the parish of Aberlady 60
years ago — the Factor, the Doctor, the Minister and the Precentor.
The Factor was a highly accomplished gentleman, and given to
hospitality. Many a delightful evening party we spent in his
house, listening to music, recitation and song. If he was appar
ently austere and unsympathic in his office, it was because necessity
made him so. He had a warm heart and ever befriended the
tenant to the extent of his ability, and was respected by all, while
he looked well after his lordship's interests.

Dr. Howden was celebrated throughout all that region of
country as a skilled practitioner and a man of exceptionally fine
social qualities. He was then in the prime of life, of splendid
physique, and went his rounds on horseback dressed in white knee-
breaches, top boots and cutaway coat. A noted horseman, who
kept well up with my Lord Elcho's hounds, and was often in at the
death. A privileged visitor, too, at Gosford House where his beam
ing countenance and jovial manner were better than medicine to

7

50 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

the dyspeptic old Earl. He was distinguished from his son — who
followed his father's profession, as he also imitated his dress and
his penchante for horses — by the sobriquet of the " Old Doctor"
There had been for generations an old doctor and a 'young doctor'
and I believe the succession continues to the present day. A few
years ago I met the young doctor of my time. He had long since
graduated into the rank of seniority, and though I had not seen
him for fifty years he distinctly recalled the personality of the
apprentice of long ago and with tears furrowing his aged cheeks
talked of the days bygone, and of the people we knew, now nearly
all in their graves. A more affecting interview cannot easily be
imagined. Dear old man ; one year later, I read the announcement
that he too had gone over to the great majority. This interview
took place at Redhouse, adjoining the castle of that name, a pictur
esque ruin whose massive walls of old red sand stone, unroofed and
mantled with ivy, have withstood the rude blasts of many winters,
and are now tenanted by foumards and countless pigeons. Over

the entrance is carved the date and on a decorated slab the

baronial coat of arms, consisting of a shield with rampant lions
surmounted with a crown and supported by two swans with out
stretched wings, with the motto beneath Je Pense. This ancient
family of Wemyss traces its lineage back to the year 1290, succes
sive generations bearing the titles of Knighthood, Baronetcy, and
Earldom. Francis the 7th Earl, the hero of my tale, was born in
1796, and married Margaret, daughter of Walter Campbell, Esq., of
Shawfield. He inherited the Earldom of March, as well as the
lands and lordship of Redpath, Peebleshire, in 1810, and was en
rolled among the Peers of the United Kingdom in 1821, as Baron
Wemyss of Wemyss, Co. Fife.

The friend above referred to was the son of one of the farmers
of 1839 whose memory is still held in affectionate remembrance, as
one of the excellent of the earth. By his son's death, on July 18,
1902, was severed the last link of my East Lothian associations.
What manner of man he was may be best described in the words
of the parish minister, Mr. Hart, who officiated at his funeral—
" There are saints in this world, who leave to their families a goodly

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 51

" heritage. Such an one was William Finlayson. I know that
" when I am called hence I shall see him again in the better country."
Rev. John Smith, the minister of Aberlady in 1839 was then
about fifty years of age. He had been ordained and inducted to
this parish in 1820, so that for nearly 20 years he had in this
remote and quiet rural parish ran his godly race, " nor ere had
changed, nor wished to change his place." Of him, too, it might
be said as of Goldsmith's village preacher, — ' even his failings
leaned to virtue's side.' He was a highly accomplished man,
though by no means a brilliant preacher. In social converse he
was unaffected and sincere with conversational powers spiced with
1 Attic salt ' and an inexhaustible store of anecdote. A man he
was, indeed, ' to all the country dear,' who visited with the utmost
regularity alike the homes of the working people and of their
employers — the only man in the parish, excepting the factor and
the doctor, who had the unrestricted right of entree to Gosford
House where he could acquit himself as became the occasion in the
society of his patron. Mr. Smith never married. Except when
' on duty' he may almost be said to have lived the life of a recluse,
with an old housekeeper and a well tilled theological library for
his companions. His parochial visits were always made on foot,
and the coming of the minister for the periodical ' Catnehcesing'
could be discerned a long way off by the youngsters, who would
quickly make the announcement in their respective homes. The
green umbrella wrhich he invariably carried and hoisted on rainy
days or in the heat of summer, proclaimed his advent. Excellent
man ! diligent and punctilious to a degree in the discharge of his
sacred functions. Like Edward Irving, he had a slight 'obliquity
of vision' which, however, scarcely detracted from his benevolent
and venerable appearance in the pulpit. His pronunciation was,
well, it was just a little peculiar : the words did not flow very
readily, which made it difficult for the young people especially to
follow him. The manse was an old dreary habitation, innocent of
ivy or any other outer adornment. Within it was scarcely more
attractive. The furniture was old and the carpets threadbare ;
everything in fact betokened that Mr. Smith stood greatly in need

52 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

of a wife, a fact, however, which he was never known to adir.it.
Many a good dinner we had in that manse — the invitation fre
quently concluding with the formula " to share in a leg of glebe
mutton." The mutton, we would be told while discussing it, ' had
hung in his cellar for three weeks ; consequently the flavour was
orthodox.

Among our clerical visitors at Spital were Mr. Ramsay of
Gladsmuir rather a notable man at that time in the county of
Haddington, and Mr. Henderson of Tranent. The latter was a
man of huge dimensions, weighing probably 22 stone. He used
to come in what was called his noddy. It was not at all like
the Glasgow four-wheeled noddy. It was an elongated box
evenly balanced over two wheels, with a door at the rear end of it,
and was drawn by one horse. Mr. Henderson had always difficulty
in entering or leaving his noddy and his usual exclamation in
doing so was " Laddie, haud doon the trams." So fearful was he
that his immense avoirdupois might tilt the noddy even to the
risk of lifting the horse from his feet !

The church was even less attractive outwardly than the
manse. Without any very serious misapplication of language a
notice might have been affixed to it, as Dr. Cooke once said should
have been done in the case of a very homely church in Ireland, —
"This is not a barn." The walls were gray with age and moss-grown.
The pews of old red pine had never known paint or varnish, and
were of the ancient pattern with perpendicular backs coming up
to the ears of the occupants. To call them uncomfortable would
be misleading. The pulpit was of the lofty pepper-box style, and
on the opposite side of the church was the Gosford Gallery,
sacredly set apart for the sole use of the Earl's family and friends,
and to which access was had by an outside stair. The precentor
occupied his pulpit, beneath that of the parson's, consciously
impressed with the dignity and importance of his office. It
devolved upon him to proclaim " the purpose of marriage"
between so and so, for the first second or third time, as the case
might be. It fell to him also to read each line of the Psalm or
Paraphrase to be sung — for the use of hymns of ' human com-

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 53

posure ' were as yet relegated into the category of ' dangerous
innovations' — this ' lining of the Psalm,' as it was called, was a
very old custom and long universally practised, and though it was
now on the wane in some parts of Scotland, more especially in
cities and towns, it was still oberved in Aberlady Church in 1859,
and to it the precentor devoted his chief energies. ' Singing
Sandy Patterson' — peace to his ashes! was an oddity — a small
spare man with sharp features, particularly neat in his dress, and
precise in his movements. His delivery was marked by a peculiar
nasal twang and as he read, line by line, the last syllable was drawled
out so as to give the key-note to the line that was to follow. The
effect was such as would astonish a modern audience, but so long
had the simple folk been used to it, it passed for unction. Before
and after divine service, the people gathered in little groups in the
grave-yard and discussed the topics of the day with frequent
exchanges of snuff-mulls.

Does this seem an over-drawn picture of the times ? I can
only say that it truthfully reflects the impressions left on my own
memory, beyond which I have no access to authorities, ab extra.
A recent visit to the Kirk of Aberlady was calculated, if anything
could, to weaken my testimony and dispel the illusion, but it did
not have that effect. It only served to astonish me. A marvellous
change, almost incredible, had supervened ! Yes, Aberlady church
is now one of the most beautiful country churches in Scotland — a
gem of mediiuval architecture, resembling in miniature a stately
cathedral. The body of the church has been completely remodelled.
The interior is fashioned in graceful gothic style. In the chancel
there is an exquisite recumbent white marble effigy of the Countess
of Wemyss who died in 1882 — the present Earl's mother. Beau
tiful painted windows are there too, one of them in memory of the
lute Countess M huh of surpassing loveliness of character. Mural
tablets on the wall perpetuate the memories of the lute Rev. John
Smith, forty-one years minister of this parish, who died in 18(51,
and of Captain Charteris, brother of the present Earl-—" who fell
gloriously at Balaclava." This marvellous transformation was
effected by Lord Wemyss in 1887, at a cost, I believe, of some

54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

£4000. A charming manse, with tasteful grounds and gardens,
has taken the place of the old weather-beaten house that faced the
public highway, and the erstwhile wilderness grave-yard has
become a seemly cemetery. The Church-services, as conducted by
Mr. Hart since 1878, are of the most approved up-to-date order.
A fine organ, with the minister's accomplished daughter as organist,
lends its aid to the service of praise. The " Hymnary," has largely
taken the place of Rous's old psalter. The old-time leaden " to
kens," as well as communion " tables," are things of the past.

THE EGLINTON TOURNAMENT, 1839.

Having obtained leave of absence for a few days, I made haste
to join the throng of 200,000 people who came from all parts of
the Kingdom to witness this most extraordinary and unique spec
tacular event, devised by the Earl of Eglinton one of the most
popular of Scottish nobility, and carried into effect mainly by his
own exertions arid at his own expense, and which landed him in
all but financial ruin. His design was to reproduce a tableau
vivante of the medieval tournament as portrayed by Sir Walter-
Scott in 'Ivanhoe.' Being an out-of-doors affair, it was dependent
for success on the weather which unfortunately for all concerned
proved to be of the very worst description. Nearly two years had
been spent in making arrangements for it which were of the most
costly and elaborate kind. The decorations were gorgeous. The
whole Kingdom had been ransacked for suits of ancient armour.
Grand stands or galleries had been erected for privileged spectators,
tents and marquees for the combatants ; ball rooms and banquet
rooms for the guests. Among the chief actors Eglinton had secured
as co-adjutors were some of the flower of nobility. Earls Craven,
Glenlyori, Alford and Cassils, the Marquis of Waterford and Marquis
of Londonderry, and Prince Louis Napoleon, afterwards Emperor
III. of France, together with a number of officers in the army, and
sporting civilians. The Marquis of Londonderry — ' King of the
Tournament' was arrayed with a magnificent train of green velvet,
a crimson cloak trimmed with gold and ermine, and wore a crown.
Eglinton — 'Lord of the Tournament,' appeared in a suit of gilt

EDUCATION, APPRENTICESHIP, EGLINTON TOURNAMENT. 55

armour with a skirt of chain mail. The knights were decked in
panoply of steel, cap-a-pie, and each bearing a chivalric title — of
the 'Dragon,' the 'Black Lion,' the 'Golden Lion,' the 'White Rose,'
&c. Lady Seymour, accounted the most beautiful woman in Eng
land, was appointed the ' Queen of Beauty,' occupied a seat in front
in the centre of the grand stand, and bestowed the laurels to the
successful combatants. A portion of Lord Eglinton's Park was
enclosed as the arena, in the centre of which was a wooden wall
about four feet in height on either side of which at opposite ends,
the joisters were to take their places. The scene of conflict was in
sight of Eglinton Castle, near Saltcoats, in the County of Ayr.
The vast crowd came in all sorts of conveyances, and many of them
slept in their carriages, for all the neighbouring hotels were full
to repletion.

At length, the long expected day of opening the proceedings
came — the 29th of August, 1839. The fete commenced with a
long procession of grandees and their attendants attired in splendid
costumes, headed by marshals, trumpeters, musicians, banner-
bearers, heralds, jesters, archers, and swordsmen. Eglinton and the
Marquis of Waterford were the first to enter the lists. At the
sound of the trumpet, with lances poised, they spurred their horses
and flew at each other with lightning speed. It was the work of
only a few seconds when Greek met Greek with a crash that broke
their lances into splinters. The lances were purposely made of
cross-grained wood to prevent fatalities, but the impact was never
theless severe enough to test the riders' horsemanship. Loaded as
they were with heavy armour, they kept their seats and rode up
leisurely, amid shouts of applause from the multitude, to the front
of the grand stand. Eglinton was adjudged the victor and received
the palm at the hands of the Queen of Beauty. Ex uno ditce
<niiii'-«. In spit.- ..f tli.- <l.-lu^«-s of rain similiar encounters were
re-enacted, and the day would end with balls, masquerades, and
other hilarities. Needless to say the Tournament created an im
mense sensation, and none who witnessed it can ever forget it.
such a weary, be-draggled concourse of people has seldom been seen !
I don't know how I got there, but I remember passing a night tit

56 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

the manse of Beith (Rev. George Colville's) on my way home. Of
all the chief actors, the young Marquis of Waterford was the most
irrepressible. His daring knew no bounds. Steeplechases were
included in the programme. With the utmost coolness he took a
six bar gate or a twelve foot ditch hit or miss ; but, poor fellow!
he did it once too often for, not long after his exploits at the Tour
nament, he came to grief with a broken neck. Next to Lady
Seymour, Lord Eglinton was the cynosure of all eyes. His hand
some figure, his noble bearing and his inimitable, gracious smile
won all hearts. He was ever one of the best of landlords, and it
was felt that Scotland was the poorer when Archibald William
Montgomerie, the 13th Earl of Eglinton, and 6th of Winton, died
in 1861, at the age of 49 years.

My apprenticeship over, I begun to look out for a farm. But
such was the unsettled condition of the Corn-laws and the then
high rates of rental, it was not deemed advisable to enter upon a
long lease. In the meantime my trustees thought it might be ad
vantageous for me, as I would not be of age (25) until 1846, to pay
a visit to my brother William in America.

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE, NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 57

CHAPTER III.

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE, NEW YORK, MONTREAL, STACEY
ISLAND, HALIFAX, LONDON.

PHK proposal to go to America suited my easy-going disposi
tion, and I lost no time in preparing to set out on my travels
I took passage in the ship " Clyde" 400 tons, Capt. Theobald
which sailed from the Bromielaw on the 8th of June, 1841, and
arrived in New York July 18th (40 days). The voyage was a
pleasant and ordinary one, but one's first voyage in a sailing ship
is an event never to be forgotten. Captain Theobald was a fine spe
cimen of the New England skipper, of grand physique, most kind
and agreeable. We had not more than half a dozen cabin pas
sengers and we fared well. No cold storage in those days, but
instead, quarters of beef were suspended from the stern rails,
where it kept cool, and sweet many days, of live stock for food
we had a few sheep, and pigs and lots of poultry, also a cow to sup
ply us with fresh milk. We encountered several " white squalls "
which usually came up against the wind and made things very
lively while they lasted. It was astonishing to see how quickly
the cloud of canvass was reduced to close-reefed topsails, and how
quickly re-set when the blow was over. On reaching " the
Banks " we caught enough cod to keep us going till we reached
port, a few old banksmen on board, taught us the trick.

We were charmed with the approach to New York, and lay for
some time at Quarantine off Staten Island where sharks were play
ing round the ship. Ongoing nshmv \\v wnv tivnt«-d to " mint
julap" the favourite beverage in hot weather, and it was hot, 100
in the shade, and 106° in the City.

58 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

A few days were spent in the sweltering heat of New York. We
began our three days' journey to Montreal. To Albany by steamer
which in itself was a revelation. No such craft had we ever seen be
fore, carrying 1000 passengers and replete with all the luxuries of
the season. Railways were just beginning to supercede the stage
coach. By one of these we reached Saratoga where we stopped
over-night. It was and still is, a city of hotels and a place of
fashionable resort. I should say that this primitive railway was
operated part of the way by horses and the remanider by a very
slow and asthmatic locomotive. The 28 miles occupied just 4 hours.
In the evening we witnessed a " nigger hunt." The nigger was
much in evidence and cordially hated, and if he ventured out
after dark was sure to " catch it."

Next morning we set out by stage to Fort George on Lake
George. The journey of 28 miles over arid sandy hills and bad
roads, with six horses, took the whole day. That too was a reve
lation. No such stage-coach nor Jehu had we ever seen before.
The coach was hung on leather springs and being heavily loaded
with a full complement of passengers and their impedimenta, it
rocked and rolled like a ship at sea. And the way that the driver
managed his six horses was a caution, and being a born Yankee,
his conversation was as comical to us as were the vanity and ve
hemence of his expletives. The horses understood him much better
than we did and were frequently reminded of their duty by a clip
on the ear from the dexterously handled whip which with amaz
ing precision reached even to the leaders — longo intervallo. We
spent that night in a grand hotel at Fort George and next morn
ing traversed the pretty little lake of 40 miles in length in a
small steamer — a charming sail — the water being as clear as crys
tal we could discern the pebbly bottom at several fathoms of pro
fundity. From the head of the Lake to Ticonderago is but a short
drive.

Here we were shown over the ruined fortress by an old soldier
with a wooden leg, as befitted the occasion, and inspected the
decayed earthworks that had done duty during the Revolutionary
War and again in 1812. We had now reached the southern end

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE, NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 59

of beautiful Lake Charnplain which is about 110 miles from St.
Johns at its northern extremity. We traversed the lake in one
of the best appointed steamboats in America — the "Burlington,"
described by Dickens as " a perfectly exquisite achievement of
neatness, elegance and order — a model of graceful comfort and
beautiful contrivance," and from her decks we had a fine view of
the entrancing scenery by which it is bordered.

Now we are in Canada, past the custom's inspection, and take
the railway train from St. Johns to Laprairie (17 miles). This
was then the only railway in Canada and a poor one at that. The
sleepers were laid longitudinally, the rails being bars of malleable
iron were addicted to lose their connection at times, and by curling
upwards formed what used to be called a " snake-head " which
might either make its appearance through the floor of the carriage
or be the means of landing it in the ditch, This railway — the
first in Canada — was opened July 21st, 1836. From Laprairie to
Montreal by steamer — with seven men at the helm.

Montreal had at that time a population of about 40,000. Its
streets were narrow and, but for its tine situation, its attractions
were few. Craig street was a " slum ' — a large open conduit ran
through the centre of it all the way to Hochelaga — this was
dignified with the name of the " Little St. Pierre River." Wooden
bridges spanned this mal oderous stream at the intersection of the
principal streets. I put up at Goodenough's Hotel situated in a
small courtyard off St. Paul street. It was then the best com
mercial hotel in the city and frequented by merchant princes of
that time. Among its guests I found Messrs. Allan and James
Gilmour, at that time representing the famous shipping firm of
Pollock, Gilmour & Co. of Port Glasgow who were said to have 100
ships afloat. I had letters of introduction to these gentlemen who
shewed me much kindness in a variety of ways and for whom I
contracted a lasting friendship. Allan, the elder of the two, sub
sequently became the owner of large saw-mills in the Ottawa
Valley and lived to a good old age surrounded with all the com
forts and luxuries that wealth bestows. His fine mansion in
Ottawa came to be known and frequented by connoisseurs as con-

(jO AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

taining perhaps the finest private collection of oil paintings in
Canada. Both Gilmours have crossed the mysterious bourne and
indeed there are very few of the men whose acquaintance I then
made, now in the body.

There were at this time I think only nine Protestant churches
in Montreal. Of those five were Presbyterian, viz ; St. Gabriel's,
founded in 1786; St. Andrew's developed out of seceders from
St. Gabriel Street Church in 1803 ; \fre American Presbyterian in
1822; St. Paul's in 1832, and Erskine U. P. Church in 1833.
Christ's Church dating from 1776 was the only one of the Church
of England, St. George's being founded in 1842. There was only
one Methodist church, founded in 1802, one Baptist, and one Con
gregational church of which Dr. Wilkes was the gifted and per
haps the most popular minister in the city. In assigning dates to
these churches it is not to be supposed that they were all possessed
of church edifices. Christ's Church congregation for example,
had worshipped for about 15 years in the R. C. Recollet Church
on St. Helen, street and some 11 years in St. Gabriel's, before
they built for themselves the fine church on Notre Dame street
which was opened for worship 9th October, 1814, and burned in
1856. In like manner the early Presbyterians held their services
in the same R. C. church for about 6 years before their St.
Gabriel Street Church of 1792 was opened for worship; and
though the story has been so often told, it bears repetition, as
showing the fine truly catholic spirit of the Recollet Fathers, that
while they refused any pecuniary remuneration for the use of their
sacred edifice to these Protestants, they were induced to accept
from the ' Society of Presbyterians' as they were then called, a
present of two hogsheads of Spanish wine and a box of candles !
and, history adds, — " They were quite thankful for the same,"
The Cathedral of Notre Dame, in which 10,000 people might
assemble, towered above all else in the city. I am not sure that
the two great towers were then completed but I remember that the
tower of the original cathedral still stood in the Place <T Armes with
its chime of bells.

At this time there was but one Presbytery of Presbyterians —

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE, NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 01

in connection with the Church of Scotland — in the whole Province
of Quebec. And there were not more than a score of Presbyterian
ministers in the province all told. With most of these I became,
before long, more or less intimately acquainted. The first private
house I entered in Montreal was that of Dr. Black, the minister of
St. Paul's, whose kind reception and subsequent friendship I can
never forget. I also made the acquaintance, very soon, of Dr.
Mathieson of St. Andrew's Church, for whom I contracted a liking
little less than romantic. I was privileged to wait upon him dur
ing the whole of his last illness and until his eyes were closed in
death on February 14th, 1870, in his 75th year. Strange that he
should have honoured and trusted me by placing in my hands the
materials for his biography which I published that same year !
Other members of the Presbytery of 1841 I also knew well— Dr.
John Cook of Quebec, Montgomery Walker of Huntingdon, Thomas
Macpherson of Beechridge, Dr. James C. Muir of Georgetown, John
McMorine of Melbourne Walter Roach of Beauharnois, William
Simpson of Lachine, William Mair of Chatham, and David Shanks
of St. Eustache.

At this time the Right Rev. John Strachan. D.D., was Bishop
of Upper Canada, and Dr. George Jehoshaphat Mountain Bishop of
Montreal and Quebec (since 1836). He was a son of the celebrated
Dr. Jacob Mountain of Quebec the first Protestant Bishop in Canada,
(1793-1825), a Huguenot by descent and a man of distinguished
ability. His son Dr. George was the founder of Bishop's College,
Lennoxville, a man of very high attainments, whose visits to the
Red River Settlements in 1844, and to the Magdalen Islands in
1850-1859 proclaimed him a missionary bishop of the first order.
It may be remarked in passing, that Dr. Charles Inglis was the first
Colonud Bishop of the Church of England, consecrated Bishop of
Nova Scotia, October 16th, 1787, and that the last Canadian Bishop
app ilnt.Ml by th- (Ynwii was the Righl Rev. A,8hton Oxenden I. >rd
Bishop of Montreal and Metropolitan of Canada, consecrated at
Westminster Abbey, August 8th, 1869, by the Archbishop of Can
terbury. Since that time the Church of England in Canada has
selected and consecrated its own bishops.

62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

Dr. John Bethune, the father of Strachan Bethune, K.C., and
afterwards Dean of Montreal, was the Rector of Christ's Church in
1841. The Rev. William Bennet Bond — so long facile princips in

this City was then only entering on his brilliant carreer. Born

in Truro, England, September 10th, 1815, he was admitted to the
diaconate in 1841. He ministered at Lachine six years, and came
to Montreal in 1848 as assistant to Rev. W. T. Leach, the first
Rector of St. George's Church.

Three of these Anglican clergymen were Scotchmen, cradled
in the Presbyterian Church. Bishop Strachan was born in Aber
deen and retained his very pronounced Aberdonian 'awkcent' to
the end of his days. He studied divinity in the University of St.
Andrews, and though never licensed, became in 1802 candidate for
the vacant charge in St. Gabriel Church, Montreal. Dean Bethune
was the son of Rev. John Bethune, a Scottish Highlander from the
Isle of Skye, who, from being a military chaplain took up his resi
dence in Montreal, and was the first to unfurl the blue banner in
that City, March 12th, 1786. In the following year he removed
to Williamstown, Glengarry, where he ministered with great zeal
and much success to congregations as Highland as could be found
in Scotland, and there he was buried in September. 1815, in the
66th year of his age and 44th of his ministry, leaving six sons, two
of whom became eminent clergymen of the Church of England —
John, the third son, as Dean of Montreal, and Alexander Neil the
fifth son, as Bishop of Toronto in succession to Bishop Strachan
who died November 1st, 1867 in the 90th year of his age.

Archdeacon Leach was born at Berwick on Tweed in 1805, and
was ordained to the ministry of the Church of Scotland by the
Presbytery of Haddington in 1833. He was seven years minister
of the Presbyterian Church in Canada in connection with the
Church of Scotland before he joined the Church of England. He
had a long and brilliant career in Montreal as Rector of St. George's
Church, and Professor of Classical Literature in McGill University,
where he became Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and for several
years (previous to the administration of Sir William Dawson) dis
charged the duties of the principalship with great efficiency. He

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE, NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 63

was thrice married, his first wife, Jessie Skirving, was a daughter
of my East Lothian friend James Skirving of Lutfhess Mains, near
Aberlady. A tablet on the wall of St. George's Church " perpetu
ates the remembrance of a life which by many virtues and rare in
telligence, adorned the doctrine of Christ." She died February 2 1st,
1847. Dr. Leach retired from the Rectorship of St. George's in
1862. He died October 13, 1886, in his 82nd year. Dr.^Bond,
was assistant to Dr. Leach and after his retirement, ministered to
this important congregation for thirty years previous to his ap-
ppintment as Lord Bishop of Montreal.

In 1841, Lord Sydenham was the Governor-General of Canada
with head-quarters at Kingston. He died in September that year
and was succeeded by Sir Charles Bagot. During Lord Sydenham 's
administration the Union of the two Provinces of Upper and Lower
Canada under the name of the Province of Canada was effected and
a responsible government was established. During his brief tenure
of office Sir Charles Bagot did much to conciliate the French ele
ment and was a party towards the settlement of the Boundary line
between Canada and the United States by the Ashburton Treaty.
The population of the Province of Quebec at this time was 6li 1,380,
and of Ontario 455,688, in all 1,117,068 ; the corresponding figures
for 1901 were, Quebec 1,648,898, Ontario 2,182,947, total 3,831,845.

As for the Eastern Provinces, we knew very little al>out them,
and had little intercourse with them. Of Manitoba, the North-West
and British Columbia we knew still less. All to the west of Lake
Superior was known only as " The Great Lone Land," inhabited by
Indians and Fur traders who lived by the chase of buffalo, bears,
beavers, mountain sheep, prairie chickens, wild turkeys, foxes,
marten's, minks, otters, etc., etc. In the year 1862, two plucky
English sportsmen made the perilous passage overland from
Winnipeg to the Pacific Coast, enduring incredible privations, and
Iwi'inv t li.-ir join-in -y ••iul«-«] were reduced to tin- extremity "t eating
one of their pack-horses, almost as attenuated as themselves. "After
"feasting to repletion on the unsavoury food, all that was left was
"dried over a large fire — not more than thirty or forty pounds, for
" the horse was small and miserably lean." So runs the story as

64 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

told by Lord Milton and Dr. Cheadle in their " North-West Passage
by Land," published in 1865, now in its ninth edition. Where
countless herds of buffalo roamed over vast prairies, in a wild
wilderness, are now populous cities and towns and homesteads in
the finest wheat growing country in the world, and the tourist in
quest of majestic scenery, or the man intent on business, may now
traverse this Eldorado in his luxurious Pullman car at the rate of
40 miles an hour.

I spent a few days with John Dods at Petite Cote before join
ing my brother William on Stacey Island. Dods had been an East
Lothian farmer — sitting at a high rent. He came to Canada in
1832, purchased a farm near Montreal and at once took place
at the head of ""his profession. For many years he was president
of the County of Montreal Agricultural Society, and in other re
spects was a prominent member of the community — a director of
the old City Bank, and an influential member of St. Paul's Church,
Montreal. An intimate friend of Dr. Black and of my brother
William. While superintending the operations of his farm he was
attacked by a vicious bull, the pride of his herd, and received such
fatal injuries that he died on the 18th of November, 1861 in the
54th year of his age. I scarcely know why, but we became inti
mate friends all through these 20 years. I was with Kim
during the ten days that his life hung in the balance and as a mark
of his interest in me he left me in his will a legacy of one thousand
dollars — the first and the last tribute of that kind I ever received
outside our own immediate family, It was he who introduced me
to Dr. Black. I remember well being invited with him to an
evening party. How could I go in my travelling clothes ? Dods
came to the rescue by offering me the use of one of his dress-coats,
but alas ! upon trial of the swallow-tail garment I found that the
tails of the coat reached down to my ankles (for Dods was 6 feet
3 in his stockings). So I went in travelling costume. The gentle
men at that party were all dressed in up-to-date style with white
chokers and kids, and elaborate shirt fronts. " Oh why left I my
hame" ? But no one seemed to regard my clothes.

I set out for " the Island." This was how it was done. On

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE, NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 65

the previous evening left my name at the coach office directing
them where to call for me. At 7 a.m. a coach drawn by six grey
horses called at Goodenough's and we drove over a plank road to
Lachine, where we embarked on the steamer "Chieftain" the most
antiquated specimen of naval architecture I had ever seen. In
due time we landed at the Cascades, at the foot of the rapids, and
were transferred to another coach and by another plank road
reached Coteau du Lac. Here the tine new steamer " Highlander,"
Captain Stearns, awaited us with steam up, and we had a delight
ful sail of 40 miles over Lake St. Francis to Cornwall.

The fine St. Lawrence Canals with nine feet of water and capa.
cious locks, were at this time under construction but were not
completed until 1848. So we had recourse to the eoaeh again for
the 12 miles from Cornwall to Dickenson's Landing, which was
reached near midnight. From Dickenson's Landing a daily line of
steamers ran all they way to Toronto. William had come down
with his boat manned by a couple of stout rowers and in about an
hour we reached his dwelling place.

THE ISLAND.

Then called Stacey Island, has since William left it been known
as Croil's Island. It lay, by a few feet only, in American territory,
in the State of New York. It is about three miles long containing
2000 acres more or less of excellent land, every acre of it capable
of cultivation. About one-third of it was as yet covered by the
primeval forest consisting chiefly of maple, beech and birch trees
of the best quality. Of the cleared portion one-half was in pasture.
William's home farm was alxjut 400 acres in extent, the remaining
arable land being occupied by half a dozen tenants at $2 an acre
rental, payable in kind. Cash was not expected, for the good
reason that there was none in circulation. At this time he kept a
large flock of sheep of the merino breed, but as the climate was
unsuitable for them, he turned his attention to dairy farming.
Most of his tenants were Scotch who from some previous know
ledge of him followed him to America. As fine a lot of men as
could be found anywhere, capital fanners, every one of whom even
tually bought his farm and paid for it in greenbacks.

66 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

The homestead, dignified with the name of ' Kelvin Grove,'
consisted of a modern one and a-half rough-cast cottage with a
well kept garden and fine orchard, in which was a huge cider press
and large barns and other out-buildings. The home was pleasantly
situated on rising ground in full view of the river which is here
very rapid and very deep. On the opposite bank stood the house
belonging to old Charlie Farren, one of the original U. E. Loyalists,
and the great mogul of the county at this time. After his death
the house was said to be haunted. It stood tenantless for some
time, and was taken down at the time the canal was being con
structed and converted into a chapel, to the discomfiture of the
ghosts, and for the edification of the inhabitants of the thriving
post town of "Farren's Point" which grew up around it.

I readily adapted myself to the new kind of life that opened
up for me. I soon became expert in felling trees, cradling grain,
paddling the canoe, making maple syrup, and many other domestic
accom plishm ents,

William was a splendid horseman, and shewed me how to clear
a five bar gate, bare-back. He was an excellent sailor, and found
in me an apt and willing man before the mast. He could even
build a boat, and in this, too, I followed his example, and we were
our own sail makers. The winters were, of course, chiefly spent
in the woods, providing fuel and fence-rails, and drawing saw-logs
to the mill when the ice took.

The great event of the winter was the sugar making — tapping
the trees, which required dexterity, preparing the sap troughs
which were hewn out of ash logs of suitable size, split in halves, and
finished with the axe alone, gathering the sap on snowshoes, boiling
it down in a great potash kettle over a rousing fire, and finally the
delicate process of "sugaring-off." In the long winter evenings we
played the flute and fiddle in concert, crocheted and patched our
mittens and mocassins, had prayers, banked the fires and went
early to bed.

William mistook his calling. He should have been a minister,
or an engineer. In either of these professions he would have made
his mark. He was equally master of the situation on land or

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE. NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 67

water. Any mechanical skill I attained was learned from him,
and if I was not a dull scholar, I never possessed the inventive
brain which he had : that was incommunicable.

William was born at Petershill near Glasgow on the 10th of
October, 1812 : educated at the Grammar school there and at Gaw-
cott, Bucks, England, under Rev. Thomas Scott, son of the celeb
rated commentator, and father of the renowned architect Sir
Gilbert Scott whose school-fellow and friend he became. The
literary advantages which he enjoyed in that establishment pro
duced in him the culture and refinement of character which he
exhibited in after life. He came to Canada in 1835 and purchased
Stacey Island, where he lived for twenty years, leading a patriar
chal life, surrounded by a devoted tenantry whose interests, tem
poral and spiritual, he guarded with paternal care. Here, too, he
received with hospitality, no less patriarchal, his city friends and
others from distant parts. In 1837 he married Caroline M. A.,
daughter of Matthew Richardson of Halifax. They had four
children, none of whom now survive. He was ordained an elder
in the Presbyterian Church at Osnabruck in 1841. In 1859,
having sold the Island, he removed to Hochelaga, near Montreal,
where he made a pleasant home for his family on the brink of the
St. Lawrence and indulged in his favourite pastimes of boating
and horsemanship. He was inducted to the eldership in St. Paul's
Church in 1867 and took an active and influential part in the
affairs of that congregation. He was also appointed secretary-
treasurer of the Temporalities' Board. These duties, however, he
was not permitted to discharge very long. His health gave way,
and he was led to remove with his family to England. Bourne
mouth, Isle of Wight, Torquay, Cheltenham, were visited by turns,
with varying results. In November, 1872, he was induced to go
to Nassau, N.P., where after a lingering illness he died April 3rd,
1873. His remains were brought to Montreal and buried in Mount
Royal Cemetery. Dr. Jenkins his pastor, spoke of him in terms of
deep feeling and affection, and hosts of friends lamented the loss
they had sustained. " Mark the perfect man, and behold the
upright, for the end of that man is peace." His widow departed

(58 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

this life in Montreal in February, 1891, in the 74th year of her
age.

My eldest brother Thomas, went while yet young to represent
his father's business in Barbadoes, W.I. where he remained for a
number of years ; but having fallen into ill health he came to
Croil's Island arid acquired a small farm on which he spent the
remainder of his days. He died in 1851 in his 41st year and was
buried in the Osnabruck grave-yard. He left an only daughter
who was sent home to Scotland for her education and afterwards
married a writer to the signet, son of the late Rev. Alexander Hill,
Professor of Divinity in Glasgow University, and grandson of the
late Principal Hill of St, Andrew's.

John, the youngest son, was three years my junior. He com
pleted his education at the Grange Academy, Sunderland, and after
spending two years in a mercantile office in Glasgow, went out to
Barbadoes intending to devote himself to business there, but on the
first appearance of " Yellow Jack " he fled and took refuge for a
year in Croil's Island, after which he entered as clerk in the then
famous mercantile establishment of Messrs. Cuvillier & Sons,
Montreal, where he remained four years. He, too, mistook his
calling for he had an unmistakable aptitude for business but, like
the rest of us, became enamoured of " farming.' He purchased a
farm near Aultsville, Ont., and there spent the remainder of his
life, " biggin castles in the air," but loved and respected by all
who knew him. Latterly his attention was chiefly directed to
horticulture and he became an active member and director of the
Fruit-growers Association, and was a popular lecturer on agricul
tural and horticultural subjects when he wras called hence. He
was twice married and had a family of eleven children. He died
in 1890, aged GO years.

The old wooden church of Osnabruck wras of the " barn order"
of architecture. Its blackened walls, outside and in, were alike
innocent of paint. It had been erected in 1795 by the joints efforts
of the Presbyterians and Lutherans of that time and had come to
be regarded as " historic." Several generations had worshipped
in it and passed away. By the law of " the survival of the fittest "

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE, NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 69

it fell to the Presbyterians who, in 1857, removed the old building
to the backwoods and erected a handsome and commodious brick
edifice in its place when the congregation entered on a new regime
arid old things passed away.

The first two ministers of this old church were Lutherans and
their services were conducted in the German language. One of
the earliest of the Presbyterians was an Englishman who eked out
his scanty stipend by peddling ribbons, trinkets, and fancy goods.
When I joined the Church in 1841, the old order of things was
still in vogue. The men and the women sat apart on either side of
the church. Many of the men appeared in the faded regimentals
they had worn during the Rebellion of 1837. Of course there was
neither organ, choir nor hymn-book. The minister led the psalm
ody himself, and sang well ; his favourite tune being old " Rock-
ingham," seldom heard now-a-days, but as good as most we hear
now. The congregation was never very large, and but for the Is
landers could scarcely have held together. They were most exem
plary church-goers ; following their chief, they came, ice or no ice
in the river, rain or shine, they turned out en mcuwe, men, women
and children, ilka Sabbath. It was a refreshing sight to see the
flotilla of boats and canoes arriving or departing, so like similar
scenes we read of in the Highlands of Scotland when men like
Macleod — "the High-Priest of Morven," Macdonald — "the Apostle
of the North," and " Kennedy — " the Leader of the Highland Host"
were at the height of their fame and swayed the hearts of the
Children of the Mist,

Richard Loucks of Aultsville and I were ordained to the
eldership in the old church in 1850 by the Rev. Isaac Purkis—
with the imposition of hands.

So much for my schoolmaster during the first two years of my
residence on the Island. At the end of that time, being now ulxmt
22 years of age I began to think of how I was to make my living.
I had still farming on the brain, and I had been playing at it long
enough. It had not yet dawned uj>«.n in.- that I was to become a
Canadian farmer and reduce to practice the lessons I had learned
on the Island. I w..u!.l go home ami see huw the land lay in
Scotland.

70 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

On the 10th of August, 1843, accompanied by William's wife,
we set out for Halifax. At Quebec we joined the Clyde built
steamer "Unicorn," Captain Walter Douglas, formerly of the Glas
gow and Liverpool line — a beautiful ship, the saloon being I re
member, tastefully finished in rosewood with green silk hangings.
Now she was the connecting link with the Cunard Line, recently
established, and plied once a fortnight between Quebec and Pictou,
N.S. We had a stormy voyage down the Gulf and had to stay two
days at Pictou waiting for the stage coach that was to take us on
to Halifax. Most of the time we spent in trapping lobsters, which
abound there, and of which we ate a great deal more than was good
for us and for which we suffered accordingly.

We had not proceeded far on our landward journey when we
discovered that our driver was notoriously drunk and incapable.
Fortunately, a passenger, named Mott, of grand physique, seized
the reins and proved himself a first-rate four-in-hand, greatly to
the relief of the ladies who had become quite alarmed at the reck
less behaviour of our jehu ; and without further incident to speak
of we reached our destination safely, arriving at Studley the fine old
family mansion of Matthew Richardson about the witching hour
of sunset.

Needless to say we met with a warm reception, for "Carrie,"
always delicate, had been the pet of the family and this was her
first visit home since her marriage in 1837. As for this party of the
second part, curiosity was on the tip-toe of expectation to see what
the young Canadian looked like. Mrs. Croil's elder sister, Georgina,
a splendid woman by the way, was married to Judge Campbell of
Guysborough, and having resolved to pay her a visit we took pas
sage on a small coasting schooner, expecting to make the run in
12 hours or so. But before proceeding far on our voyage we en
countered a fierce gale which drove us out to sea and carried away
nearly all the sails. Had it not -been for the skilful seamanship
of Captain Cann we might never have been heard of ; but he
managed to rig up some storm sails that were stowed away in the
hold by which he was enabled to bring the vessel into the little
half-way harbour of Canso where we joyfully anchored and re-

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE, NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 71

tnained a whole day repairing damage. On the evening of the third
day we arrived at Guysborough, where we spent a week and then
returned to Halifax by a circuitous land route, stopping overnight
at New Glasgow. The weeks flew by all too fast ; and I must go.
I sailed from Halifax on the R. M. Steamship " Hibernia," Captain
Judkins, on the 5th of November. We carried a spanking breeze
with us all the way, and with studding sails set — low and aloft-
made the fastest voyage on record, arriving in Liverpool on the
14th, just 9i days; the average run from Boston to Liverpool be
ing about 14 days by the Cunard steamers. The service began
with the "Brittania/ in 1840: the other ships of the original fleet
being the Acadia, California and Hibernia, all built on the Clyde,
207 feet long, wooden vessels, with side-wheel paddles, burning
about 44 tons of coal per day, and having a steam pressure of 9 Ibs.
to the square inch.

From Liverpool by steamer to Glasgow and thence to Middleton
in the parish of Govan where our family had been for 12 years.
To my surprise I learned that they had gone away some months ago,
and present occupant knew not where they now were. A call at
Mr. Donaldson's office in Buchanan Street solved the mystery : he
had recently purchased Keppoch a fine property in Dumbartonshire,
long owned by the Ewings, and more recently by the Dunlops,
two of whom had gone to Canada where they became famous.
William the younger of the brothers was a doctor of medicine and
many years a member of the Canadian Parliament— both witty
and wise, in a way. I frequently met him in Montreal when he
was attending the parliament. He was member for Huron County
in the 1st and 2nd parliament after the Union of 1840. The elder
brother, Robert, had also been a member of the same county prior
to the Union. He had entered the Royal Navy at the age of 13,
and having seen much active service attained the rank of commo
dore, and retired on half pay. The two brothers had long been
bachelors, living on their property of Gairbraid near Goderich and
had been associated with the celebrated John Gait the novelist and
many years a«r«-nt «.f th.-Canmlji L-u.d Company, residing inGuelph.
They had an old and trusty Scotch woman for their housekeeper

72 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

who one day, unexpectedly, notified her masters that she must leave
their service. What was to be done ? They could not get along
without her. After long deliberation it was agreed that one of the
brothers must marry her ! neither of them being matrimonially in
clined it was resolved to decide by the tossing up of a penny. It
was alleged that the doctor had procured a penny piece with a head
stamped on both sides which was to seal their fate. "Heads or
tails ?" Said the doctor ; It fell of course to the captain to respond
first; "Heads," says the captain, heads it was of course, and he
was proclaimed the victim and married the housekeeper. He died
soon after in 1841 — the doctor died in 1848. A sister married the
late Rev. Robert Storey of Rosneath and attained a good old age.

After a short stay at Keppoch, I set out in search of a farm,
but such was the unsettled state of the country, owing to the con
tinued agitation of the Corn Laws question, the prospect was not
inviting. Farms were scarce, rents high, and produce low, and I
was told by experienced men that the chance of finding an eligible
investment in farming was small. No one could forecast the ulti
mate issue of events. But in the meantime I resolved to visit my
sister Jane who had married Dr. John Allan of London in 1840.

Please remember that Scotland was not linked to London by
railways until 1848. The Leith and London steamers were largely
patronized by people not addicted to the mal-de-m?r, but shunned
by others of weaker capacity, for the voyage was frequently a
boisterous one, exposed as it is to the full sweep of the North Sea
and German Ocean. Before the era of steam the famous Leith
" Smack" was much in evidence. It was a single masted cutter
of large dimension, luxuriously fitted, and " formed." Large num
bers of the " upper ten" travelled to London by these swift sailing
clippers. George IV. came to Edinburgh by one of those in 1822.

On the 17th of January, 1844, I sailed in the fine steamship
"Royal Adelaide" from Granton pier and had a pleasant voyage
of 45 hours, the distance being 473 miles and the fare £3/1 5/
including meals. The Granton pier, then nearly completed, was
accounted in those days a triumph of engineering skill, constructed
at the expense of the Duke of Buccleuch who owned the neigh-

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAOE, NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 73

bouring property ; it is 1700 feet long and 110 broad and cost
£150,000. On their first visit to Scotland Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert landed here, 1st September, 1842, from "the Royal
George" yacht which was escorted by nine ships of war. In her
" Leaves from my life in the Highlands," 18G8, Her Majesty's brief
comment on the voyage was, — " The sea was very rough ; and I
was very ill."

Not every greenhorn had the privilege of visiting London in
those days, and I counted myself in luck. Like another Scotchman
I found of course that at every turn in this Babylon " bang went
a sax pence ;" but I never was chargeable with extravagance, and
I see from my note book of the time that my weekly bill in Lon
don averaged the modest sum of £1/15/ including my room in a
private lodging which cost only I/ per day ! I gave myself up to
sight-seeing con amore, walking long distances every day of the
four weeks I was there. Many changes in the great City since
then, but the main features remain. Then, as now, Westminster
Abbey and St. Paul's were the first and the last objects of interest,
holding undisputed sway over all who ore susceptible of awe and
admiration in the presence of the product of immortal genius con
secrated to the noblest uses. The Whispering Gallery, and the
view from the top of the entrancing dome were more to my youth
ful imagination than the historic monuments to men and women
of renown. Westminster was, I might almost say, to me, a sealed
book until many years later. Of other churches The Temple and
St. Bartholomew's were the most interesting. The former, with
its clustered marble columns, its groined roof, and richly coloured
emblems and, above all, the bronze figures of Crusaders lying on
the floor, with legs crossed, was a unique and remarkable sight.
Bartholemew's is said to be the oldest church in London and of
great historic interest.

Next to these, the Thames Tunnel, designed and built by the
Brunels was one of the greatest sights in London. It is 1200 feet
long consisting of two arched ways, or " tubes" as they would now
be called, each 14 feet wide, 16J feet high and 16 feet below the
bed of the river. It cost £468,000 and was then only available

10

74 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

for foot passengers, but is now used by some of the district rail
ways. It was lit by gas and lined all the way through with stalls
for the sale of fancy articles in great variety. It never paid, but
was always considered a marvellous example of engineering skill.
Planned by Sir Joseph Bazelgetti ; commenced in 1825, and com
pleted in 1840. There were no "lifts" in those days, and it was
entered by long descending stairs.

The Victoria Embankment, London's greatest modern achieve
ment was still in nubibvus, and was not completed until 1870, at a
cost of some £2,000,000. This solid granite wall, highly embellished
is 7,000 feet long, enclosing a drive of 100 feet in width, the main
object of which was to relieve The Strand of a portion of its con
gested traffic. The land reclaimed by the Embankment amounts
to about thirty acres, a large portion of which is laid out in beau
tiful gardens, behind which rise some of the largest and grandest
hotels in London, such as the " Savoy," the Grand " Cecil," the
" National Liberal Club," and the adjoining vast pile of residential
flats and offices. The old Temple Bar still stood at the junction of
the Strand and Fleet street, one of the City gates, such as we have
seen in Quebec years ago, separating the City of London from that
of Westminster. It consisted of a massive arch adorned with pil
asters and statues and surmounted with a large clock of which the
hours were struck by a sledge hammer in the hands of a heroic
figure, also by sundry iron spikes on which used to be hung the
heads and limbs of persons executed for high treason. It was here
that Daniel Defoe was held up to ridicule in the pillory in 1704,
for publishing his satire " The Shortest way to deal with Dissent
ers," while the populace drank his health and hung the pillory with
flowers. Its massive iron doors swung open with great ceremony
upon civic occasions, or upon the visit of a Sovereign to "the City,"
which is now a very small fractional part of London. The historic
" Bar" was in course of time pronounced to be a public nuisance,
and it must go. In its place and on the same site adjoining, the
magnificent New Law Courts on which the old clock now marks
time, stands " Temple Bar Memorial," in the centre of the street,
which was unveiled in 1880, surmounted by a hideous looking

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE, NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 75

Griffin, and with life-sized statues of the Queen and the then
Prince of Wales in niches. Sic transit ! The oldest remaining
relic in London, carries us back to the Roman period to the year
15 B.C. so it is said, is "The London Stone" built into the wall of
St. Swithin's Church in Cannon street. It was the central mile
stone from which all other milestones marked distances, as did the
golden milestone in ancient Rome. Few tourists are aware of its
existence, and it is now a neglected thing, but to the historian and
antiquarian it is one of the most interesting of Old World relics. I
had some difficulty in locating it, on a subsequent visit to London.
The new British Museum had not been opened, it was completed in
1845. The new Houses of Parliament were then a-building but
were not completed until 1857. The Crystal Palace of course had
no existence until 1851. The Polytechnic was then a flourishing
Institution where illustrated lectures of varied kinds drew large
and in many cases astonished audiences. It was here, I remember,
that the marvels of electricity were first demonstrated, pro bono
ptiblico. Among other "sights" besides those already mentioned
were the National Gallery, the Tower of London, Woolwich, and
Greenwich, the General Post Office, and Bank of England, the
Houses of Lords and Commons, Madame Tussaud's wax-works,
Covent Garden and Drury Lane theatres, Windsor Castle and the
Zoo — one of the most fascinating of London's sights for yonng
people, or old people for that matter.

But the most impressive sight of all, and the one that left its
deepest mark on memory was that of the witnessing Her Majesty
Queen Victoria proceeding in State to open Parliament on the 1st
of February. Taking time by the forelock, I managed to thread
my way through dense masses of all sorts of people and stationed
myself at the Horse Guards, Whitehall street, in close proximity to
a mounted soldier whose shining helmet and breastplate, and other
gorgeous trappings excited my admiration, as did also the shining
black steed which he bestrode. Hours of dire suspense passed
this cold frosty morning. I could not, ••v«-n if I would, move from
the spot — wedged in as I was by the crowd. But like nearly all
London crowds it was a very good-natured one. Everything comes

76 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

to him who waits. About two o'clock, the booming of cannon in
St. James Park, and the sound of distant music let us know that
the Royal party had left Buckingham Palace. The crowd became
demonstrative, men and women struggling for positions nearer to
the line of demarcation, and only restrained from blocking the line
of march by mounted soldiers who spurred their horses into lively
action. First came the carriage of Her Majesty's Household, each
drawn by six horses, and preceded by a guard of honour. Then
more soldiers on prancing steeds, and — and, can I believe my eyes ?
Yes, here comes the old old-fashioned gilded State carriage, drawn
by eight cream-coloured ponies, each led by a stalwart man clad in
scarlet. Its two occupants, the cynosure of all eyes, Victoria, Dei
Gratia BritfcanniarHim, Regina, F/dei, Deferisor ; and Her Royal
Consort Prince Albert of C6b<fcurg and Gotha, who were married
February 10th, 1840. The brief glance I had of them, en passante,
left the impression on my mind that they were the handsomest
young couple I had ever seen. Responding to their gracious bows,
intended of course for me and me only, I raised my hat and joined
in the lusty cheer that greeted them, and then, befors I could say
'Jack Robinson,' I was literally carried off my feet and became
oblivious to my surroundings until I found myself soliloquizing in
St. James Park — "I have seen the Queen!!" "I have seen the
Queen !!!"

I was delighted with Greenwich and Woolwich and the polite
ness of the officials who took us in charge and explained to us the
mysteries. Greenwich Hospital, as it then was, a magnificent pile
of buildings, originally erected as the habitation of Kings by Inigo
Johns and Sir Christopher Wren, contained 4000 inhabitants of
whom 2200 were aged and infirm seamen, some hobbling on
crutches, others with wooden legs or minus an arm. No longer a
hospital, it has been converted into a naval school of instruction,
the pensioners being otherwise provided for with homes. Green-^
wich Observatory which gives the time of day to all the world,
tells the number of the stars, and enables the mariner to ascertain
his latitude and longitude, stands in the highest part of the adjoin
ing Park — a noble expanse of 188 acres adorned with ancient trees,

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE, NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 77

under one of which we took shelter — the very one, so we were told,
beneath which Henry VIII. of notorious memory, played his lute
to ease his guilty conscience, meanwhile listening for the boom of
the Tower gun, preconcerted signal that was to announce the tragic
death of his rightful queen, Anne of Boleyn and set him free to
marry Lady Jane Seymour next morning. At Woolwich was
shewn over the great arsenal where the guns, muskets, swords and
other implements of war are fashioned and stored. In one room
were ten thousand sets of harness, and in another a like number of
cavalry saddles and bridles, and in one of the yards no less than
24,000 pieces of cannon.

And what did I see in the Tower ? Things strange and terrible.
First were the " Beefeaters" in picturesque Elizabethan costume,
one of whom became our guide and cicerone. In the Horse Ar
moury, long rows of mounted knights, clad in armour of burnished
steel ; very real looking were they with vizors down and lances in
rest. In another room, thousands of muskets, pistols and swords,
artistically arranged. In a small guarded chamber the Rcgalui,
resplendent with precious stones. Here is the Bloody Tower in
which young King Edward V. and his brother were smothered ;
the dungeon in which Sir Walter Raleigh was confined and the
very block marked by the axe that struck off his head ; and the
sword that beheaded unfortunate Anne of Boleyn. Who can look
on these grim memorials unmoved need not fear to enter the
" Chamber of Horrors" in Madame Tussaud's Exhibition.

Whom did I see in the House of Lords ? The Iron Duke of
Wellington, in his 75th year, sitting with his hat on — fast asleep :
Lord Lyndhurst the Chancellor, Lord Melbourne, Lord Brougham,
the Earl of Shaftsbury, Lord Alii-rili-.-ii. Karl <!n-y and other cele
brities of that time. And in the House of Commons, Sir Rol>ert
Peel, Lord Palmerston, Sir James Graham, Lord John Russell, W.
E. Gladstone, and Daniel O'Connell.

So much for London in 1844. Many subsequent visits rendered
me in some degree familiar with the great metropolis, but to know
London would take a long life-time. Wonderful city ! of wealth,
culture and splendor : of poverty, depravity, vice and squalor, in

78 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

strange combination. The "Thieves Quarter" lies in the heart
of the city : "The Devil's mile," in the north : Whitechapel, the
home of murderers, and foul-mouthed Billingsgate, in the east. To
the rescue, in these latter days, Bishop of Stepney, Dr. Bernardo,
and General Booth.

But who were the outstanding preachers in London in 1844 ?
Alas for my treacherous memory ! I do remember, however, hear
ing Dr. John Gumming — the most brilliant pulpit orator of the
day, who had been pastor of the Scotch Church in Crown Court
since 1833, and was at this time in the zenith of his popularity.
A tall, handsome man, master of elocution, an incisive speaker and
withal of quiet and graceful delivery. His church was frequented
by the " upper ten" and it was with difficulty that I found a seat.
The psalmody was led by his wife without the aid of instrumental
music, and most effectively led, too. The Doctor's staple subjects
of discourse were Prophecy and Roman Catholicism. He predicted
the end of the world to be very near at hand, indeed I think he
named the year in which the present dispensation would be accom
plished, basing his calculation on the prophecies of Daniel on which
he published a number of volumes with such titles as " The Great
Tribulation"; "Redemption draweth Nigh"; "The Destiny of
Nations" ; " Sounding of the Last Trumpet " etc., etc. It has been
said of him that his reputation as a preacher was due rather to his
topics than to his genius. Be that as it may, he was a most pleas
ing speaker and held his audiences spell -bound. The only preacher
I can liken him to was the late Biship Lewis of Ontario in his
palmy days. Dr. Gumming died in 1881.

Another eminent preacher was Dr. James Hamilton of the
National Scotch Church in Regents Square, which was founded
by the distinguished but eccentric and erratic divine, Edward
Irving. Dr. Hamilton was a master of pulpit oratory and a volum
inous writer, and ministered to a large and influential congregation
for 26 years. He died in 1867. He was a native of Paisley.
Several times I worshipped in old St. Mary's, Islington, of which
Rev. Daniel Wilson was vicar, from 1832, the year in which he
succeeded his father of the same name who was appointed Bishop

FIRST ATLANTIC VOYAGE, NEW YORK, CANADA, ETC. 79

of Calcutta and Metropolitan of India. But as to the good Vicar's
pulpit abilities, deponent sayeth not. He was for fifty years the
faithful and hard-working Vicar of the largest parish in London.
Dr. William Howley was at that time Archbishop of Canterbury.
So far as memory serves me, there were no stars of outstanding
magnitude in the Church of England at that time in London,
except the celebrated Bishop Bloomh'eld, 1828-1856. Forty years

later there was a galaxy of great preachers in London Dean

Stanley and Dean Vaughan, Canon Lidden, Canon Farrar, H. R.
Haweis, M.A., of St. James' Mary-le-bone of the Established Church.
Newman Hall, Dr. Allon, Dr. Raleigh and Dr. Parker of the
Congregational Church, and immortal C. H. Spurgeon, whose
" Tabernacle," with double row of galleries, had room for an
audience of 7,000, and was usually filled to the door.

Mr. Haweis was a lineal descendant of the eminent Dr. Haweis
who a century ago directed the attention of the London Missionary
Society to the South Seas as an eligible field in which to commence
their missionary operations, and who drew such a glowing account
of it as induced them to embark in what proved to be the most
successful enterprise of modern Christianity. Mr. Haweis was one
of the best known of English clergymen ; an extensive and obser
vant traveller, and a prolific writer. In his day and in his way,
he was at the same time one of the most popular preachers in Lon
don ; a trifle odd in his manner, but that rather intensified his
popularity. I heard him preach on "The Sabbath," years ago,
when he gave us to understand that In- was not hiius.-lt' a Sal. ha
tarian" in the accepted sense of the term. He had evidently little
sympathy with the class so-called. In closing his discourse he re
marked that many of his people would be, at this season of the
year going to Scotland for their holidays. "But," he added, "when
there, do not repeat what I have said to you to-day about the
Sabbath, for you know the Scottish people hold peculiar ideas on
that subject, and they have not been so fully instructed in regard
to it as you have been." This was interjected, doubtless, for the
purpose of eliciting a smil»«, and in that the preacher was not dis
appointed.

80 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

Mr. Haweis was a skilled musician, and his surpliced choir,
wearing college caps, was admitted to be one of the' best in the
metropolis. Moreover, he could, and did lecture for hours on
'Cremona,' and 'Stradisrarius' — the best maker of fiddles in Italy,
illustrating his talk with a wonderful collection of these instru
ments some of them hundreds of years old, and valued at £1000
each !

In 1901, when I asked "who are the great preachers in
London, to-day " ? The answer was, " Dr. Joseph Parker, and
none else ! " But that was only the opinion of my landlord, a
man of limited intelligence. My own impression is that Dr. Ingram
the Bishop of London, Cosmo Lang, Bishop of Stepney, Canon Gore
(now Bishop of Worcester), Archdeacon Sinclair, Dr. J. Munro
Gibson, of St. John's Wood, Prebendary Webb-Peploe, Vicar of St.
Paul's, Onslow Square, Hugh Price Hughes, and Mark Guy Pearce
of the Methodist Church, and General Booth of the Salvation
Army should all be ranked as first rate preachers.

SECOND VOYAGE TO NEW YORK, TRIPS, MARRIAGE, ETC. 81

CHAPTER IV.

SECOND VOYAGE TO NEW YORK, CRYSLER's FARM, TRIP TO THE
WEST AND WASHINGTON, DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI,
NAUVOO, PRESIDENT POLK, MARRIA< I
IN 1847, DUNDAS IN 18G1.

/^VN returning to Scotland, I again set out in quest of a farm :
first to Perthshire — walking one day 40 miles in 13 hours—
to consult a leading fanner there. He had the same old story to
tell of high rents, and uncertainty as to the outcome of the corn
laws ; but he mentioned the farm of Auchmithie, in Forfarshire
of 281 acres, as a likely venture and went with me to inspect it.
Although not greatly enamoured with the locality I made a bid
for it — £425 in cash, or (54 bolls of wheat, 130 of barley and
130 of oats, and £212 in cash. My offer was promptly declined
and my mind as promptly made up to return to Canada. Little
time was lost in preparation. On the 18th of June, 1844, I sailed
from the Tail of the Bank, Greenock, in the barque " Perthshire,'
530 tons, commanded by Captain Simpson — bound for New York.
We had seven cabin, and some 300 steerage passengers. Among
the former were John Somerville and his delicate wife, and Robert
Graham afterwards of the " Montreal Daily Star." This was an
eventful voyage. As I watched with curiosity, the Captain taking
the sun, the first day out, he said — " Young man, you are going
to be some weeks on board this ship, with nothing to do but to eat
and drink and sleep ; suppose you take a few lessons in Navig
ation ? " I jumped at the offer, and very soon mastered the out
lines of the business. He furnished me with a Had ley's quadrant
and a copy of the " Nautical Almanack." These were all the tools
needed. Much was learned in these six weeks. Indeed I had th<-
vanity to imagine that, had the Captain been swept overboard in

11

82 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

mid-ocean, I could easily have navigated the ship into port. To
find Greenwich time and your longitude by a lunar observation,
or your latitude by a stellar observation, implied intricate and
delicate calculation, but quite easy when you know how !

There were no patent 'logs' nor 'leads' in those days; and
' dead-reckoning' was not the simple thing it is supposed to be.
' Dip,' ' Refraction,' and ' Par^allax' became familiar terms; logar
ithms had a new charm. To be able to correct your chronometer
was essential, for without a knowledge of lunars the chronometer
was comparatively useless : that implied deep study. The captain
of a twenty-knot steamship has seldom need to ' resolve' a trans
verse' ; he steers a straight course for his destination and can
usually estimate within a few hours, or even minutes, when he
will reach it. It is quite a different thing with the master of a
sailing vessel, who must often rack his brains to locate his exact
position on the chart. To be enveloped in dense fog for days at a
time in the neighbourhood of Sable Island, as happened to us on
this voyage, is a very perplexing position to be in.

The emigrants were nearly all Scotch, of a respectable class.
They enjoyed themselves by frequent improvised concerts and
dances on deck. But with the crew it went not so well. Scotch
ships of this class were proverbially " ill found," and the Captain
was alleged by Jack to be austere and even tyrannical. For a
slight offence he would send a man aloft to scrape masts in a gale
of wind, for a graver misdemeanor he would clap him in irons ; so
things did not go well in the fo'castle. At length, a climax was
reached, when the star-board watch came aft one day and lodged
a complaint that their grub was not up to legal specifications.
Getting no satisfaction, they returned sullenly, went below, and
refused to work for a whole week. The steerage passengers, siding
with the sailors, would not touch a rope. The working of the ship
then devolved on the officers, the carpenter and the cook. Graham
and I, being young and keen for a frolic, volunteered to go before
the mast, or up the rigging as might be demanded of us, and when
orders were given to shorten sail or shake out a reef, up the rig
ging we went and ' lay out' on the yard arm in sailor fashion ; but

SECOND VOYAGE TO NEW YORK, TRIPS, MARRIAGE, ETC. 83

how much good we did alpft will never be known. The instinct
of self-preservation on these occasions was strongly developed and
we too often clung to the spar with the grip of a drowning man.
I was deputed to interview the ' strikers,' and armed with a copy
of the "shipping articles" which all the men had signed, did my
best to pacify them : but all in vain. As I was about leaving, the
spokesman of the crew shut me up by pointing to a tub in the
centre of the dingy cabin floor containing a junk of ill-looking
boiled salt beef and saying, with a look that constrained pity,—
" Mister, how would you like that for your own dinner ?" No, they
would'nt, and they did'nt, resume work until the pilot came aboard
off Sandy Hook. Meanwhile, it added interest to the fiasco that
we slept with loaded pistols under our pillows till the mutiny
ended. The voyage lasted 42 days and we congratulated ourselves
on having made as good a passage as any ship from Britain at
that time,. beating the Columbiu* Clipper Packet by two days.

Once more on Croil's Island, I easily fell into the old groove.
Harvest was in full swing, and work abundant. But the after
math was grand — boating and fishing. The east wind never blew
without our hoisting sail to catch a share of it. We lent ourselves
to Isaac Walton's gentle craft in various forms. With the rod, from
the eddies in the swift current, we drew out famous black baas.
" Oft in the stilly night" we stood midship in a canoe, a flaming
torch of pitch pine lighting up the gloom, and revealing the tinny
tribe in their watery beds, to be caught napping by the quick dart
of the spear. In this way we made war on pike and pickerel.
Whiles, with the trolling line and brass spoon, or live minnow, for
bait, we lured the kingly maskinonge to his death. Once at least
we, in winter, would drive in our own sleigh to Montreal, taking
two days to do it. The night would be spent at Browning's famous
hotel at Coteau du L:ic. From there all the way to Montreal the
road would be encumbered with the Frenchmen's ' traineaux,' each
carrying its half cord of fuel to the market. Coal had not yet
come into general use in Montreal, and the tinned roofs of the
houses and churches sparkled in the sunshine. For long stretches
we drove on the river-ice, not always with the feeling of absolute

84 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

security. On one occasion I remember, on a bitterly cold night,
the snow drifting wildly, the stage coach or sleigh, more properly
speaking, left the track and plunged into the open water. The
driver managed to leap on to the ice but the only passenger inside
hampered by the robes in which he was wrapped for the night
failed to make good his exit in time and was carried with the con-

O

veyance to the opposite bank of the river — quarter of a mile distant.
When the wreck was discovered next morning it was found that
the four horses that had swam the current for dear life were dead,
and on top of the stranded sleigh, the passenger was seated all but
frozen to death. He owed his life to the fact of his being com
pletely encased with ice formed by the waves, for it had been blowing
fiercely all night from the east. His life was saved as by a miracle,
but he lost both hands and both feet, rendering him hors de combat
for the remainder of his days. About this time driving down the
steep incline that formed the approach to Mr. John Redpath's house
with a lady by my side, my »horse suddenly took to his heels and
became unmanageable, and a serious accident was averted by head
ing it for a big snow drift into which we plunged gracefully. The
incident was recorded in the book of remembrance as a 'pleasant
encounter' with my lady of the snows, for there was a real lady in
the case.

1845 was rather a notable year, for in April I bought the
" Crysler farm " from Hon. Peter McGill and Joseph Shuter of
Montreal, who held a mortgage on it. The price, $6000 cash. But
it was under lease for two years, and I must thole. This property
was known all over Canada as the field of the battle in 1813 which,
as Allison says, "Terminated the campaign, in the most triumphant
manner." It is situated about half way between Cornwall and
Prescott, fronting on the St. Lawrence. One-half of the domain
was in ' bush' from which nearly all the marketable timber had
been removed. The mansion house had evidently seen better
days ; the farm buildings and fences were in an advanced stage of
decay. But, what of that ? To be the owner of 500 acres of any
kind of land, with all the historic associations thrown into the
bargain ! And the illimitable possibilities of restoration and

SECOND VOYAGE TO NEW YORK. TRIPS, MARRIAGE, ETC. 85

embellishment in the near future — regardlesss of expense ! What
could be more desirable ? Whether or not it was to prove a pro
fitable investment ; time will tell.

At the midsummer communion, Rev. John Maclaurin of Mar-
tintown conducted the Fast Day services, preaching an admirable
sermon from the text — " My son, give me thine heart." His words
went straight to the heart. Dr. Urquhart of Cornwall officiated
on the Saturday, taking for his theme — "Choose ye this day whom
ye will serve." Both preachers were valued personal friends, and
their discourses made a lasting impression on memory. On Sept
ember 3, 1H45, the Rev. John Macleod, D.D., " the High Priest of
Morven," appeared among us as a deputy from the Church of
Scotland, and after preaching a beautiful sermon from the words
" Holiness, without which no man can see the Lord," he made
some reference to the recent secession that had taken plac<! in the
Motherland, all in a kindly and conciliatory spirit, assured us of
the continued interest of the Auld Kirk in her expatriated children,
and exhorted us to be steadfast and unmoveable in our adherence
to " The Church of our Fathers." " The words of the wise are as
goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of Assemblies," Amen.

Hen* should follow a long account of a trip to the West — the
Far West, as it was then called, but which for obvious reasons
must be curtailed. In company with a young Englishman we set
out on a grand tour, on Oct. 19th, to the Falls of Niagara : from
Buffalo to Milwaukee : thence to the Mississippi and Ohio rivers :
across the Alleghany mountains to Washington, &c., &c. We tra
versed Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan by steamboat and were
impressed with the magnitude of those inland seas, and the thriving
cities and towns bordering upon them. This occupied a whole
week, for the weather was boisterous and we had to tie up over
nights at various ports, when we danced till morning and were
glad to get shake-downs in the cabin floor. Milwaukee was then
in its infancy, but destined to become a great city. Thence we
drove partly in a buggy and partly by stage to Galena, 175 miles,
halting over Sunday and ten days besides at Geneva to visit some
old Scotch friends and to shoot den -and juairi. f«»\vl. The first

86 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

part of the programme was successful, as to the latter, least said
is soonest mended ; our tramping over the prairie was utterly
futile, so much so that we wished our rifles and ammunition were
at Jericho, or Halifax, or had been left at home. Galena lies on
the Fever river a few miles above its junction with the Mississippi.
Here we lodged in a comfortable hotel and were serenaded in the
evening by a band of itinerant musicians rejoicing in the name of
' The Green Mountain Minstrels,' who played well. They had
just come from the funeral of a murderer who had requested them
to play him out of this world. We secured passages in the small
light draft steamboat " Uncle Toby" that was to convey us down
the Father of Waters to Cairo at the confluence of the Ohio river,
a distance of some 700 miles. We passed many large cities — St.
Louis having then a population of 350,000. The mighty river
increased in width as we advanced until we came to Nauvoo where
it is 2 miles wide, but is at this season of the year obstructed by
many shallows and rapids. As good luck would have it, " Uncle
Toby " grounded hard and fast opposite the Mormon city on a Sun
day morning and as it became necessary to unload her cargo of
lead into lighters, we had the opportunity of spending the whole
day in Nauvoo. In the boat that ferried us across the river there
was a Mormon lady from whom we obtained a history in brief of
the sect and their then peculiar circumstances. She told us that
Joe Smith, the founder, prophet, priest, and president of Mormon-
ism, had paid the last debt of nature just a year before. He
had been arrested on charges of sedition, swindling, and immo
rality. Fearing that he might escape the gallows, a mob broke
into the prison and murdered him ; in the estimation, however, of
this lady Joe had been enrolled in the Noble Army of Martyrs.
We had ample time to explore the city of twelve miles square, on
paper, the only buildings worth mentioning were the Temple and
the prophet's palatial mansion. The Temple was an imposing
stone structure with a lofty tower, built of stone and entirely by
voluntary labour of the faithful. When finished, if ever, it would
cost over half a million of dollars. The interior was very hand
some, its chief ornament being a huge stone baptismal basin, after

SECOND VOYAGE TO NEW YORK, TRIPS, MARRIAGE, ETC. 87

the pattern of the " molten sea" in Solomon's temple — supported
on the backs of twelve white kine — looking to all the points of
the compass. This was really a very fine piece of workmanship.
We were in time for the morning service and listened to a Dumber
of addresses from the elders. Much of what was said would have
passed for sound doctrine in a Presbyterian Church, so guarded
and plausible wrere their words, it was difficult to realize that they
were the dupes of a system of unparralelled turpitude. Shortly
after this time they were driven out of Illinois and finally settled
in Utah and founded, a city on the Great Salt Lake where they
have again reared a more magnificent temple than the one they
left in Nauvoo ; and the baneful business goes on and thrives, for
Mormonism is above all else a missionary organization, draw
ing into its net thousands annually from the mining population
of England, Scotland and Wales, and from other countries as well.
They have recently formed a settlement in the North-West Terri
tories of Canada 7,000 strong. They are said to be sober and
industrious and profess to have left their 'peculiar institution'
behind them in Utah, promising not to do it again. Peccavi !
My pen has run away with me.

We ascended the Ohio River 1000 miles to Pittsburg, and the
boiler did not burst. We halted at Louisville and Cincinnati and
other large towns, but not long enough for us to visit the Mammoth
Cave of Kentucky. At many points the black diamonds from the
vast coal-fields of Ohio were being shipped into barges and steamers.
We sampled the famous Monongahela whisky, and slept in the Iron
city — our terminus ad <j*em by water. From Pittsburg a prim
itive railway took us up to the summit of the Alleghanys (2000 feet)
and landed us in a snow-drift from which, answering to pangs of
hunger, we took refuge in a farm house nearby, and had " sup on "
for breakfast. Resuming our journey we came to Harper's Ferry,
l>eautifully nestled at the foot of the western slope of hills— re
sembling a Swiss village, and then, 'On to Washington'! Not the
Washington of to-day, yet a grand city of magnificent distances.
We were shown over the Patent Office, the Treasury Buildings
and the palatial Capitol. James K. Polk reigned in the ' Whitv

88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

House' : to him we paid our respects, and met with a courteous re
ception, though only dressed in travelling garb. He must have
been a man of considerable ability, for he was elected llth President
in opposition to Henry Clay. Polk was the pro-slavery candidate,
and that Clay could never be. The election was said to turn on
the admission of Texas — a slave holding territory — into the Union.
Polk died in 1849. During his administration the parallel of 49r
was made the boundary between Oregon and the British territory.
Did slavery exist in Washington at this time ? O yes. Nice curly -
headed boys and girls might be purchased by private sale for $100
apiece. It was abolished in the District of Columbia in 1862, and
in the whole of the United States in 1865.

Via Baltimore and Philadelphia to New York. Navigation on
the Hudson was near closing. On reaching West Point the river
was frozen over with ice two inches thick, and boys were skating
in close proximity to the steamers' bow. So the passengers landed
and were driven in sleighs to Albany. As to the rest, memory fails
to tell : but we reported ourselves at Croil's Island during the
Christmas holidays in time to share the turkey and plum-pudding.

Of the following year I lind no mention in my note book. 1
was too busy making agricultural implements to attend to a diary.
Four Scotch tilt-carts, a pair of diamond harrows, a wheel-barrow,
and several sleighs were turned out from the carpentry work-shop :
half a dozen complete sets of harness from saddlery department,
the material for those were home products — the biggest and heaviest
cowhides were always sent to the tanner to be converted into har
ness-leather on the shares, i.e. he received one-half of the hides and
we the other, which accounts for the term — a side of leather. I be
came the proud owner of rny first horse. He was a daisy ; long-
limbed and fleet, his favourite pastime was that of running away
on every favouring occasion, utterly regardless of consequences.
I built a scow, 20 feet long and 6 wide, in which I ferried my
gallant steed and buggy across the rapid river in summer, and
boarded him out in winter on the mainland. We had many
strange adventures and hair-breadth escapes " Rob Roy " and I,
until, as the only remedy for incompatibility of temper, he was

SECOND VOYAGE TO NEW YORK, TRIPS, MARRIAGE, ETC. 89

sold for SI 00. He was put into training, trotted his mile in
less than three minutes, and changed hands again for $1000.

The time at length came when the dream of boyhood was to be
realized. In April, 1847, 1 entered into possession of 'landed estate*
and immediately set to work to make the old wooden house at least
habitable. The frame-work of the building being of prime white
oak was all right, but the roof had to be re-shingled, the walls re-
clap-boarded, and the interior painted and papered. The King's
business required haste. I was to be married on the 8th of June.
There are events in a young man's life so sacred that a stranger
doth not intermeddle with his joy ; suffice it say that the marriage
ceremony was performed by Archdeacon Willis, and I bream.- t la-
happy husband of the best of wives — daughter of Matthew Richard
son of Studley, Halifax, and younger sister of my brother William's
wife. We came home via Boston and New York. The change
from the gay city, the beautiful home of her youth, and the refined
society of many admiring friends to this (Jd ram-shackle of a house
must have been to my young bride a rude shock, but the first word
or hint of disappointment never parsed her lips. She unhesitatingly
accepted the situation, and all that it implied, and surprisingly
soon adapted herself to the new environment. Years of incessant
toil passed and we had become the parents of five children. We
must have a new house. George Brown, of Montreal, furnished an
elegant design which was carried into effect to the letter. Were I
to rehearse the difficulty of obtaining suitable building materials
and skilled workmen, not to speak of the labour of those hands,
the record would be deemed almost incredible. The result of it all
wa.s that in 1855 there was completed a mansion fit for a duke to live
in! It was soon surrounded with plantations, orchards, gardens and
shrubbery to match. The house must be furnished. I retired from
farming, renting the land ' on shares' to one of my employees, who
proved a much better practical farmer than myself ; and now I gave
free rein to my mechanical proclivities. I had already built a com
modious workshop, furnished with a very fine turning lathe and a
complete kit of tools. I had also acquired the cunning art of fram
ing buildings. Now I assumed the n »!«• . .1 cabinet maker, and stuck

12

90 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

to it until every room in the house was furnished, propria manu,
except the dining-room. As for the drawing-room (36 x 16) it
was converted into a museum, adorned with relics of the battle
field, pictures, and curiosities of various kinds. The most import
ant piece of handicraft and the best I made, was the book-case
which was my chef-d'oeuvre and occupied me for months. When
the time came for dismantling the castle, this was cut in two and
boxed up, and followed our fortunes— 2 years in Stanley Villa,
Dorchester street, Montreal, twenty years in Mansfield street, and
ten years here in Crescent street — looking as good as new. In
1857, incessant toil had told upon my naturally robust frame. Dr.
George Campbell of Montreal, recommend a sea voyage ; and in
June I sailed from Quebec in the "Anglo-Saxon" S.S., bound for
Liverpool, and spent a couple of months visiting Glasgow, Edin
burgh, London and Paris.

To be quite candid, the East Lothian apprentice had proved a
failure. Farming was not his forte. I imagine that my observant
Dutch neighbours had long foreseen this. They frequently came
to see how the Scotch intruder was getting along, and I believe
they came to the conclusion that he had a bee in his bonnet. They
said he had too many horses in the stall, and not enough cows,
and he was far too often seen on the water scooting about like
the flying Dutchman. Well, there was no denying the relevancy
of some of these allegations. It was quite true that the horses
had eaten their heads off many times, and that the workmen had
consumed all that the dairy produced, as for the ' cutty sark,' as
my sail-boat was named, nothing could be said in extenuation of
its jinks. At this time we might have a dozen men at work on
the farm. They had all to be fed, and most of them slept in the
house, which became to all intents and purposes a boarding-house.
Trouble enough we had at times with men, women, and horses.
The men demanded beef -steak breakfasts. The maids would some
times 'give notice' if pies, pickles and sweets were not forth
coming. But on the whole we got on very amicably, and have a
kindly recollection of willing and faithful service from both sexes.
Of my Dutch neighbours and critics I cannot speak too highly.

SECOND VOYAGE TO NEW YORK, TRIPS, MARRIAGE, ETC. 91

I respected them as the lineal descendants of the U. R Loyalists
who remained steadfast in their allegiance to Britain during the
Revolutionary War and had those farms given them in recognition
Of their fidelity. I hold them in affectionate remembrance on
account of their personal good qualities. They were honest as the
Bun. Every man's word was as good as his bond. They led quiet
and simple lives, their own well-tilled farms furnishing them, all
the food and clothing they required, except now and then a pound
of tea from the store-keeper. " Archerfield " so named after the
beautiful residence of Mrs. Ferguson, near Dirleton, in Haddington
Co. Scotland, of pleasant memories.

During these ten years we had many adventures by land and
water, and not a few hair-breadth escapes, such as falling from
lofty scaffolds and encounters with run-away horses. The most
narrow escape from a watery grave occurred at the time the new
house was a- building. We had run short of bricks which were
only to be had at Waddington on the American side of the river.
A large decked scow was borrowed from the canal contractors, and
manned by three men we managed to navigate the clumsy craft to
the brick-yard and had it loaded with 8000 bricks. The wind
blowing a stiff breeze, we lay there till bunset, when we imprudently
ventured to put out into the rapid and deep stream. We had not
proceeded far when the top-heavy craft began to roll ominously,
and in a few minutes it became evident that she was doomed :*a
sudden lurch to leeward gave her the coup de grace, the deck-load
slid bodily into the water, the scow made a graceful summersault
and lay a helpless wreck on the waves, upside down. Had it not
been that we had the " cutty sark" in tow, into which the crew
managed somehow to scramble just in the nick of time, nothing
could have saved us from being ignominously buried beneath those;
8000 bricks in six fathoms of water.

Under the new name of " Archerfield," Crysler's Farm sustained
fairly well the traditions of the past and was honoured by having
many visitors, than whom none were more cordially welcome than
members of the cloth — no matt. -r what church they belonged to.
During all the tim«- we were there we most frequently attended

92 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

the old Williamsburg Episcopal Church — the nearest Presbyterian
church being that of Osnabruck, nine miles distant. So kind were
the succesive rectors of this church, we were sometimes led to say—
" Almost thou persuadest me." But they understood our position
and respected our reasons for adherence to the old blue banner.
How things in themselves of trifling moment will cling in
memory ! One Sunday the rector announced at the close of his
sermon that there would now be a baptism by immersion in the
river, which the congregation was invited to witness, we went en
masse to the novel performance. At the place selected the current
ran very swiftly and to the unlookers it seemed as if the minister
and the neophyte were in danger of being swept into eternity.
But they came out all right, and the service in church was
resumed as through nothing had happened. On another occasion,
I remember an infant being presented for baptism, the sponser was
asked to name this child. The audible reply caused a ripple of
amusement : it was Selah. In vain the parson explained that
Selah was not a proper name. The child was christened Selah.
Was it a boy or girl ? Nobody could tell.

Among our distinguished visitors about this time were Mr.
James Hodge, chief engineer of the Grand Trunk Railway, and Mr.
John Bell, its solicitor. They had found difficulty in securing the
right of way through the Township of Williamsburg and came to
ask my assistance. What could I do ? They suggested that a
meeting of the land holders might be called and an endeavour made
to bring them to terms. This was done and after a lengthened
pow-wow an amicable arrangement was reached. These farmers
could not see beyond their noses and conjured up all sorts of ob
jections to the passage of the road across their farms, their cattle
would all be killed at the level crossings and their own lives en
dangered, and so forth. They could not be made to see the great
benefits that would accrue to them by the opening up of markets
for their produce, and the doing away with the "barter system'*
which had hitherto subsisted between them and the local "store
keeper," who all along had the lion's share of all that their farms
produced. As to cattle-killing, I was the first and the only one

SECOND VOYAGE TO NEW YORK, TRIPS, MARRIAGE, ETC. 93

in that neighbourhood to suffer loas. A valuable Ayrshire bull
jumped over the cattle-guard and stood in the centre of the track
just as the down express hove in sight. Taking in the situation,
he lowered his head, so I was told, prepared to dispute the right of
way, when lo ! He was tossed fifty feet into the ditch, and as Geo.
Stephen would say, "It was verra ackward for the coo."

In 1851 a prospectus of the G. T. R. was issued and widely
circulated. It was said to be written by Sir A. T. Gait, whose re
putation as a financier lent weight to the document which wa.s
highly optimistic, holding out to capitalists and speculators the
tempting bait of 1 H per cent for their money ! It fell flat in Canada
for the good reason that there was little money in the country at
that time, and those who had money to spare did not look upon
this mammoth project as a desirable investment. But it was <juit<-
otherwise in Britain. Undeterred by the disastrous outcome of thr
"railway mania" of a few years earlier, brought to a head by George
Hudson, the "railway king" as he was called, a large amount of
capital was invested in Grand Trunk shares, the enterprise wa«
<|iiickly floated, and the building of the road commenced early in
1852. It was to run from Trois Pistoles, 180 miles below Quebec
to Sarnia on Lake Huron — a distance of 11 12 miles, including
several short branches, at an estimated cost of £10,000 per mile !
The section between Montreal and Brockville was opened for traffic-
in November, 1855, and the whole line on December 17th, 1859.
Since that time the Grand Trunk System has absorbed some 25
branch lines, including the Great Western, and the northern line to
Collingwood, so that in 1902 it had a total mileage of 4182. In
1901 it carried 6,548,098 passengers, and 9,753,557 tons of freight
The total mileage of all the railways in Canada in 1901 was
18, 294 in operation, carrying 18,385,722 passengers and 36,999,371
tons of freight. The paid-up capital «>t th««G. T. R. in that year
was $344,760,896, and of all the railways in Canada SI ,042,785,539.
Large as these figures are they do not transcend the benefits to the
country derived therefrom. But the sad fact remains that th«»
original shareholders in the Grand Trunk Railway have not yet
received the first cent in the shape of interest and probably never
will.

94 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

The Victoria Bridge was completed in 1859 at a cost of about
$6,300,000 and on the 17th of December the completion of this
great enterprise and of the entire line were celebrated by a banquet
at Montreal attended by upwards of 1000 persons who imbibed
champagne to their heart's content.

On the 25th of August, 1860, the ceremony of laying the last
stone and clinching the last rivet of the great Victoria Bridge was
performed by H. R. H. The Prince of Wales, and the City of Montreal
indulged in balls and banquets, addresses and illuminations and
other manifestations of loyalty and rejoicing suitable to the august
occasion. And here I may be pardoned for stating that I had the
honour of presenting an address from the people of the County of
Dundas to H. R. H. at Ottawa a few days later, and also of present
ing him with a copy of my "Dundas," which he was pleased to
accept in gracious terms.

During the decade 1850-60 I find nothing in my notes of a
personal nature worth mentioning beyond the few common-place
incidents already mentioned. But this was a memorable time in
the history of Canada and the Empire.

The year 1854, in which the Crimean War began was a red-
letter year in the commercial history of Canada, for in that year
the little steamship " Geneva" of only 350 tons was the pioneer of
Ocean Steam Navigation to the St. Lawrence, to be followed by
the first of the Allan Line, the "Canadian," of 1700 tons, and by
the inauguration of the regular service of that line in 1856, with
what advantages to Canada need not be stated — the weary pas
sages of six, eight and ten weeks being thereby reduced to nine or
ten days ! All honour to Sir Hugh Allan — the master-mind and
leading spirit of the grand enterprise that has done so much for
the commerce of Canada and the Empire.

Was not 1857 memorable too, as the year in which the Indian
Mutiny broke out, to be followed with its tales of massacres and
woes, and prodigies of valour by such men as Sir Henry Lawrence,
General Havelock, Sir James Outram, Sir Colin Campbell, and
many others, which resulted in the pacification of the vast terri
tory, bringing to an end the obnoxious rule of " The Honourable

SECOND VOYAGE TO NEW YORK, TRIPS, MARRIAGE, ETC. 95

East India Company," investing Her Majesty Queen Victoria with
the title of " The Empress of India" and securing the lasting
loyalty of two hundred and sixty millions of British subjects ?
But one way and another it cost Great Britain the loss of many
lives and 145 million dollars to quell the rebellion.

These commotions and others of a like kind though of lesser
magnitude followed closely on the inauguration of the first Inter
national Exhibition of 1851 projected by good Prince Albert, when
the entrancing Crystal Palace stood in Hyde Park — the emblem
of Peace on Earth, and Goodwill to Men — the harbinger as it was
vainly thought of the good time coming when the nations " shall
beat their swords into plough -shares, and their spears into pruning
hooka"!

Taking a little wider outlook, say from 1840 to IStiO, this
period of the Victorian era stands out prominently as one of the
most remarkable in the history of the Empire for scientific investi
gation and the triumphs of engineering skill, as displayed in pro
duction of labor-saving machines and the construction of public
works. Take for example the invention of the reaping machine,
the sewing machine, and the grain elevator, the multiplication of
railways all over the world, the substitution of iron for wood in
ship-building, and in the erection of bridges, and for many other
purposes, culminating at no distant time in the construction of
tunnels through many miles of flinty rock, tunnels under rivers
and lakes, tunnels sixty and eighty feet beneath the cong<>t.d
streets of London and other great cities ; stupenduous bridges such
as the Brittania, over the Mcnai Straits, the Niagara and the Vic
toria across the St. Lawrence, the Brooklyn and the Forth bridges,
with their spans of 1700 feet, and costing respectively fifteen and
sixteen million dollars each.

Then, the wonders of Electricity, with its cables under the sea,
conveying our messages with lightning rapidity from place to place,
irrespective of distance, enabling us to hold converse even in speech
at distances of 1000 miles and more, and dispensing light, heat and
motive power to the world at large. Old Mother Shipton's proph-

96 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

ecy, published 400 years ago, has certainly been fulfilled to a re
markable degree when she is credited with saying :

Carriages without horses shall go;
Around the world thoughts shall fly
In the twinking of an eye.
Through hills men shall ride,
Under water men shall walk
In the air men shall be seen
Iron in the water shall float,
As easy as a wooden boat, etc , etc.

In the fall of 1860 an incident occurred that was destined to
effect a change in my occupations. A crisis had arisen in the
administration of the finances of the Presbyterian Church in Can
ada. A considerable sum of money ($509,311.) had accrued to the
Church as its share of the Clergy Reserves based upon the life
interests of the 73 ministers on the Synod's Roll at the time the com
mutation in 1855, with the condition that the commuting minis
ters should be secured in the annual payments they had hitherto
received from the Clergy Reserve Fund. It soon became apparent
that the revenues of the Commutation Fund would be inadequate to
keep pace with the increase of ministers that was being yearly
added to the roll and that steps should be taken for supplementing
the Temporalities' Fund as it was then called ? The Synod accord
ingly resolved that " a special appeal be made to the laity of the
Church in order to call forth their liberality and place the Fund
in a position adapted to the wants of the Church and the exigen
cies of our position in the Province." To secure that end, with
the advice of the Synod, the Temporalities' Board in 1859 issued
an appeal to the congregations which was followed up by the
appointment of deputations to visit the several congregations with
a view to more fully explaining to the people the situation of
affairs and appealing to their liberality. Among the ministers
and elders originally appointed to conduct those visitations, were Dr.
Cook of Quebec, Messrs. Win. Snodgrass of Montreal, Arch'd Walker
of Belleville, Bobert Brunet of Hamilton, John H. Mackerris of
Bowmanville, James Bain of Scarboro — ministers, and Chief Justice
Maclean of Toronto, Judge Logic of Hamilton, John Greenshields
of Montreal, Hon. Alex. Morris, Montreal, John Paton, Kingston,

SECOND VOYAGE TO NEW YORK, TRIPS, MARRIAGE, ETC. 97

George Neilson, Belleville, Arch'd Barker, Markam, Colonel Thom
son, Toronto — laymen. The campaign had already commenced in

Quebec, and the Presbytery of Montreal with encouraging results

the ancient capital leading off' with a subscription list of over $8,000,
subscribers in Montreal contributing $100 a year for life and soon.
In April, 1860, Mr. Snodgniss and Chief Justice Maclean were
announced to hold a meeting in the little congregation of Osnabruck
in the eastern district of Upper Canada. They had just visited
Cornwall, and were now on the war-path for other congregations
in the Presbytery of Glengarry. One would have thought it was
scarcely worth their while to expend their efforts in sur.h a small
and poor congregation as this; but they had a mission to fulfil and
they carried the little redoubt by storm, the addresses of both l>eing
characterized by much force and eloquence, and in no stinted
measure. When they had delivered their message, some one had
to respond and convey to them the thanks of the congregation, and
.somehow the duty devolved on me. I did my little best, little
dreaming that I was commiting myself to become their ' aide-de
camp.' For nothing would satisfy them but that I should join them
in their visitation of the remaining congregations of this Presbytery.
Being on intimate terms of friendship with the respective ministers
and anticipating a good time in their company and of meeting many
of my brother farmers, I lent a ready ear to their request, and from
that time on came to be considered as one of the deputation. We
had most enjoyable meetings in \\ illiamsburg, Matilda and Finch.
The more I saw of the Chief Justice on these occasions, and between
times, the more I became impressed with his fine character, his
conspicuous ability, and masterful eloquence. He was a man of
refined culture, of commanding presence.and of agenial temperament
that gained for him the respect and esteem of all who came in
contact with him. Mr. Snodgrass I had known before this time
and between us to this day there lias subsisted unbroken and close
personal friendship. He always took the lion's share of speaking,
and left very little for those who were to follow him. None of us
could easily forget the delightful intercourse which thctse meetings
afforded, spiced as they were with humourous anecdote and lofty

13

98 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

flights of imagination! Both of my friends had a smattering of
Gaelic which stood them in good stead in the Highland congrega
tion of Finch. There we parted company, each returning to his
home, and I with the belief that public speaking was not my forte.

In February, 1861, fresh deputations were appointed to visit
the Presbyteries of Brock ville, Kingston and Bathurst. Dr. Cook,
Mr. Bain and Mr. Greenshields were assigned to Bathurst : the
other two to Dr. Snodgrass, Dr. Barclay and Alex. Morris. Some
changes being made in the programme, I was invited to join the
Snodgrass contingent for which a pretty large amount of work had
been cut out; but the weather proving unfavourable it was found
impossible to adhere to any ready-made programme, and the de
putation became intermixed and unreliable in their movements so
much so that a few of the congregations may have been left out
in the cold. And it was cold. The thermometer ranged from 34°
to 40° below zero, with a gale of wind and drifting snow. After
being snowed up for three days at Iroquois we reached Kingston,
where we had a rousing meeting, the late Principal Leitch being
one of the chief speakers, and a most effective one. After visiting
most of the congregations in the Presbytery we returned to Brock -
ville. Here we were entertained by Judge Mallock and had an
address from Elihu Burritt, -'the learned blacksmith"; and so on
to Smith's Falls and Perth, meeting large assemblies at every point.
Missionary meetings in those days, especially in the rural districts,
were the event of the season and the people would listen for hours
at a time to the story of the Secularization of the Clergy Reserves,
and the appeals for more ministers and more money.

About this time I made my first literary venture of any conse
quence by the publication of " Dundas" in 1861, which cost me any
amount of labour and research, in which I was greatly aided by
my friend Rev. Alexander F. Kemp of Montreal, a man of distin
guished ability and a voluminous writer. He entered into the
spirit of the project with as much enthusiasm as myself. He care
fully read and corrected the proof sheets, and contributed a whole
chapter on the Geology and Natural History of the County. Not
only so, he drilled me thoroughly in the art of composition, which
proved of immense subsequent value to me.

THE MEDITERRANEAN, ITALY, STRASSBURG, PARIS, 1TC.

CHAPTER V.

THE MEDITERRANEAN, GIBRALTER, GENOA, LEGHORN, ROME, PISA,
MILAN, STRASSBURG, ST. GOTHARD, PARIS.

1 Q£K was to me the annas mirabilis. I had listened to a
course of lectures by Lachlan Taylor on his travels in
the East. Of all men who ever stood on a platform he was, in my
estimation, the most fascinating and instructive. I was captivated
by his eloquence, and nothing could satisfy me but to go and see
for myself some of the places of which he had given such a glow
ing and graphic description ; nor did I lose much time over it.
Without ' letting on' to my family what I was bent on doing, I set
out on my travels, sailing from Quebec on the S.S. " St. David,"
Captain Aird, and from Liverpool on the Cunard S.S. " Kedar,"
Captain McArthur, bound for Naples, on the 8th of July. Friends
at home denounced the rash proposal " to go to Italy in the heat
of summer was suicidal ; if I valued my life and my family I should
abandon the mad proposal ; had I made my will, etc., etc." But
the die was cast. Nothing could stay me now, and I recall the day
of sailing from Liverpool and the small group of friends who ac
companied me to the ship and waived their adieus until they were
lost to sight, as one of the proudest days of my life.

The "Kedar" proved to be a most comfortable ship and in every
respect well-found. We had but a small number of passengers and
luxuriated in a roomy stateroom apiece. The captain was more
than kind, and the voyage of seven days was in every way delight
ful. En route, we spent a day each at Gibraltar, Genoa, and Log-
horn. We explored the marvellous galleries and ascended to the
highest peaks of "Gib" from which the opposite coast of Morocco
was distinctly visible, but we did not see the monkeys. I had asked
the captain if I might indulge in a swim in the " blue Mediterran-

100 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

ean." "Certainly," he replied. "What about sharks"? I asked.
' Well, all I can say is that I have sailed in these waters nineteen
years without ever seeing a shark," he answered. While making
my preparations for a dip, I noticed a small dark speck in motion
close to the ship. Calling to the captain I asked him what that
was. He instantly recognized the dorsal fin of a large shark which
was leisurely taking a constitutional and looking out for its even
ing meal. That cooled my ardour for bathing just then, but later
on with fool-hardiness I actually swam round the ship in Leghorn
harbour, which I afterwards learned swarmed with sharks, but
probably they were n3t of the "man-eating" species, for we found
lots of a smaller size than our friend at "Gib" exposed for sale in
the fish-market, and recommended as wholesome food for man.

Genoa, La Superba : I may not attempt to describe this beauti
ful city of palaces : its white houses rising tier above tier on the
mountain's side that encircles the bay — shining like brilliants in
the necklace of a bride : its harbour, a forest of masts : its splendid
cathedral of San Lorenzo : its many fine churches and its wonder
ful cemetery and catacombs ; its grand monument to Cristoforo
Colombo ; the Pallavacini Gardens ; and Paganinis' fiddle ! Here
was more than all my fancy painted bright. Sailing south we
passed Spezzia the great arsenal town of Itaty ; Elba, where Bona
parte spent some months in banishment, and Caprera where Gari
baldi had his home, and Civita Vecchia, the Port of Rome ; and
Ischia guarding the entrance to the famed Bay of Naples. At
Naples I bade adieu to Captain McArthur — a singularly clever man ;
but an avowed skeptic and agnostic. We had become fast friends.
Many hours we spent together in his chart-room. Many a long
talk about Christianity, for which he would say, ' there was no
higher authority than the incoherent writings of a few ignorant
fishermen.' He had threshed out the whole question with Norman
Macleod, Dean Stanley, and other divines who had sailed with him,
and he was of the same opinion still : " when a man dies, he dies
as a pig dies," etc., etc. What could this child do or say to bring
him to a better mind ? What I did say was only this — "Captain, I
believe you have children at home ?" "Yes." Do you intend to

THE MEDITERRANEAN, ITALY, STRASSBURG, PARIS, ETC. 101

have them brought up as agnostics ? To this he made no reply ;
but I thought I detected a tear in his eye. I never saw him after
leaving Naples, but strange to say, we kept up a frequent cbrres-
l>ondence for years. I call it strange, for of all the sea-captains I
had sailed with, he was the only one that ever wrote me the scrap
of a pen. In the meantime Captain McArthur married his second
wife, a pious Scotchwoman, to whom he owed his conversion. From
her I received a letter dated September 9th, 1872, announcing the
death of her husband, in which she says during his long illness he
was patient and resigned— " trusting only in Chrixt." Ah ! " The
wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof
but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth : so is
every one that is born of the Spirit."

"See Naples and die" ! I had not been long in Naples before I
was forcibly reminded of that trite saying, and of the admonition
I had received before embarking on this mid-summer tour — to
"make my will." The climate at this season of the year is at its
very worst. The scorching heat converts the Bay of Naples into
a mammoth cess-pool : the tontine marshes then give forth their
most offensive effluvia: germs of disease everywhere impregnate
th«- atiiin- I m.-idr haste to depart. On arriving at Rome I

was flabergasted, demoralized, and in the doldrums. I put up at
the Hotel Angleterre, a most comfortable house on Rue Bocca di
Leone near the Propaganda, the Piazza di Spagna and the Fountain
of Trevi. I had the big hotel nearly all to myself, and the charges
were at the lowest. Wandering aimlessly through the deserted
streets, my eye lighted on a sign-board on which in large letters
were the words " Mucpherson, Photographer." I ventured to ring
the door-bell and was ushered into a splendid salon and was soon
tete-a-tete with mine host, a fine looking man arrayed in a stylish
morning dressing gown. Very few words enabled Mr. Macpherson
to diagnose the cas- My good sir," he said, " you have contracted
a mild attack of what we call the Neapolitan fever : be thankful it
is not worse." He rang th.- 1>. 11 ; .-nter a pretty brunette with an
infant in her arms. "Marguerite, will you bring in some brandy
and soda-water ?" Take this, to begin with," he said, as he poured

102 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

out a good jorum of Cognac and filled the tumbler to the brim —
"Its no ill tae tak." I agreed with him and emptied the tumbler
at a draught. "Now," he said, "at the foot of the street you will
find a man under a canvas sunshade selling tamarind water : drink
of it freely and often, and you will soon be well, and meet me daily
at the Cafe Greccho to report progress." Was he not a good Sam
aritan that took this hapless stranger in, and befriended him as long
as he remained in the city ? Was he a Presbyterian ? No. His
father had been an elder of that Church, near Laggan, in the heart
of the Scottish Highlands, but he himself had come under the in
fluence of the Romish Church in early life, and he had married a
Roman Catholic wife," and . . . and, to tell the truth," he said, "my
wife attends mass, and I attend to my own business ; and . . . there
is not so much difference between you and me, after all, is there ?"
Whatever his creed, his advice had been good. I followed his pre
scription, lunched with him daily and left Rome as well as ever I was.
Macpherson told me that he was a first cousin of Cluny, the chief
of the clan, that he was an intimate friend of Napoleon III. re
gretted that his wife was from home, and gave me a copy of a
finely illustrated book he had published on the Antiquities of Rome.
I remained only five days in Rome at that time, seeing as much as
in my "reduced circumstances," was possible. My last visit was to
the Fountain of Trevi, into the basin of which, as directed by my
pawky guide, I threw a coin, thus ensuring, he said, while slyly
marking the spot where the coin lay, my return to Rome at some
other time. That other time came twenty-two years later, of which
more anon. But one's first impressions of Rome can return no more,
for ever.

The scene changes : Now we are at Leghorn, a favourite bath
ing place, a free port, infested by smugglers, and the summer resort
of many English families. Population about 100,000. The town
possesses few attractions to the tourist, but here I remained for a
week, the guest of kind relatives, and made the acquaintance of
man}* new friends, most of whom have since crossed the bourne
whence no traveller returns. Among others, I must mention Dr.
Walter R. Stewart, who had held the Presbyterian fort here since

THE MEDITERRANEAN, ITALY, STRASSBURG, PARIS, ETC. 103

1 845 and was the staunch friend and supporter of the long suffering
Waldensian Church. As writer and preacher he attained wide
celebrity, and was a tower of strength among the Protestants of
Italy. If my memory serves me aright, he was a cousin of Lord
Blantyre, and his wife, a daughter of Lord Cockburn, was as active
in Christian work as her husband. Dr. Stewart became moderator
of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1874.
He was ordained by the Presbytery of Erskine in 1837, and I had
the gratification of dropping my mite into the purse of $3000 pre
sented to him on the occasion of his ministerial jubilee in March,
1887. He died in Leghorn on November 23rd of that year in the
76th year of his age.

A delightful day was spent at Pisa, about 12 miles by rail
north of Leghorn. Pisa, is in some respects the most unique town
in Italy ! It has a decided flavour of decayed grandeur, and is
now " in a stage of venerable decay," Beggars patrol its grass-
grown streets and salute you at every corner. Yet, these ancient
walls contained treasures of art such as no other city of like size
can boast of. Pisa ! — the cradle of ecclesiastical architecture and
sculpture, with its 12th century Cathedral, by competent judges
considered the most chaste and classic sacred edifice in existence —
adorned with inlaid marbles and precious stones ; gilding, frescoes,
paintings, and statuary. The arches that support the roof resting
on monolithic columns of Carrara, porphyry, and granite : the
floor of polished marble — 300 feet long and 100 feet wide ; and,
depending from the ceiling of this superb temple, the bronze lamp
which suggested to Galileo the then incredible idea that " the
world moves ! " Talk of ' High Art': here you have it before
your eyes to perfection. And here is the highly ornamented
Leaning Tower on the top of which we. ate our chicken-sandwich,
and drank to the health of Victor Emmanuel in mild Marsala, at
an altitude of 187 feet. It is nearly 14 feet out of plumb but
is considered perfectly safe. Here, too, the resounding Baptistry—
a circular building 150 feet in diameter. Shall we ever forget the
echo of the soprano voice that chanted for us beneath the lofty
dome, a few bars of the familiar hymn — " Lead, kindly Light,

104 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

amid the encircling gloom," with magical effect ? We lingered
long in the campo santo — the Holy field, filled with earth from
the Holy Land, in which have been buried the remains of Kings,
Bishops, Senators, Poets, Painters and Sculptors of world-wide

renown and gazed with awful interest on the curious frescoes of

the Last Judgment — Heaven, Hell, and other fanciful pictures on
the walls. Pisa, farewell ! As a fitting souvenir of Pisa, I pur
chased from the maker of it an equisite crucifix in Parian marble
which I asked Captain McArthur to take home to Liverpool for
me. On arriving there I found my precious package and a note
from the captain saying that I would find " my wee Jesus" at
the shipping office — Poor McArthur ! The crucifix has been under
a glass case on my parlour chimney-piece ever since, and much
admired. A priest of the R. C. Church called one day on business,
and noticing the ornament, he examined it closely, and reverently,
and after crossing himself in orthodox fashion, turned to me with
a pleasant smile, " Ah ! monsieur, it is beautiful," and, added with
an arch smile, pretty good for a Presbyterian ! "

Florence : Ye admirers of Petrarch, Dante, and Browning, lend
me your ears ! For this is ' Firenze la Bella' — ' the fairest city
on earth,' it has been called — bisected by the "Golden Arms" and
encompassed by hills of surpassing loveliness. See the vast Duorno,
and Brunelleschi's Dome, 140 feet in diameter. The largest
church edifice in America comes far short of being one-half the
size of the Duomo of Florence ! Lift up your eyes 300 feet to the
summit of the Campanile, and pause before you enter the Baptistry
in which every Roman Catholic born in Florence has been christ
ened : v oila its bronze doors — of which Michael Angelo said —
" They are fit to be " The Gates of Paradise." Drink of " The
Fountain of Neptune," erected to perpetuate, as long as water
runs, the memory of Savonarola — the fearless monk who thund
ered against the papacy, and perished at the stake.

From Florence we crossed the Appen nines — by a railway that
seemed to us to be a triumph of engineering skill — to Bologna a
historic old town rejoicing in a variety of leaning towers — and
thence by older towns still, surrounded by castellated massive walls

THE MEDITERRANEAN, ITALY, STRASSBURG, PARIS, ETC. 105

that seemed destined to stand till the crack of doom — Modena and
Parma, and Cremona, the fiddlers' paradise and through the
Plains of Lombardy to beautiful Milan. Let others attempt to
describe the glorious white marble cathedral its flying buttresses,
its gothic arches and pinnacles, its thousands of statues ensconced
in niches all over its walls ; its three great painted windows filled
with 300 Bible subjects from Genesis to Revelation ; its subter
ranean Chapel in which lies the shrivelled mummy of San Carlo
Borromeo bedizened with jewelry and precious stones. Far better
was the view from the feet of "Our Lady" that surmounts the
steeple. Here is the Church of St. Ambrose, the reputed author
of the grand " Te Deum"; and the dilapidated convent of Santa
Maria del Grazia, on the walls of which are the mutilated remains
of Leonardo da Vinci's celebrated picture of " The Last Supper,"
which, in various forms, has been copied and has gone through
more editions than any other painting in the world. Among the
many fine buildings in Milan one can't help noticing the Triumphal
Arco dalla Pace — Arch of Peace — Oh! irony of Fate ! designed to
record the triumphs of Napoleon Bonaparte ; it now testifies to his
reverses and his overthrow. Also the Amphitheatre fashioned like
to that in Rome and seated for 30,000 spectators.

Soon after leaving Milan we found ourselves sailing over the
waters of Como, Lago Lugano, and Maggiore — for the railway
had not yet invaded this romantic region. And now we are at
Bellinzona, where half a dozen diligences were drawn up at the
door of the Inn. What is it all about ? Don't you know this is
the gateway of the St. Gothard Pass. If you would rather be
shot through the tunnel, you must wait just 17 years. There is
no overcrowding of the coaches. Every passenger with his ticket
gets the number of his seat in the diligence, and when the limit
has been reached you are booked for another conveyance ; and so
it happened that I had but one fellow-traveller in rny ascent of
St. Gothard — an Italian priest, by the way, and a most agreeable
companion. He began by accosting me in his mother tongue ;
finding that would not do, he proved me next in French, then in
German ; at length, finding out that I was a Scot and a hard nut

u

106 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

to crack, he said " Oh! then you know Latin, of course." I had to
confess I was an ignoramus ; when he fell back on his broken
English and we got on famously. Eleven hours were we on the
up-grade, tacking like a ship at sea on the zig-zag that led to the
summit of the Alps, at this point 7000 feet above the sea, and the
heighth of our ambition just then. At the "Alberghodu St.
Gothard " we came in for a substantial breakfast and with a
change of horses commenced the descent at an easy pace, drags on,
over just such another zig-zag as before — meeting lots of pedes
trians with knapsacks on their shoulders and alpenstocks in hand.
Facile descensm ! Change horses again at Audermatt, rattle over
the " Devil's Bridge," and alight at Fluelen on the lovely Lake
of Lucerne in 3J hours. Next day we made the ascent of the
Rigi on horseback, slept in the summit hotel, hoping to see the
sun-rise, and chewed the cud of disappointment.

There was nothing disappointing about Strassburg. On the
contrary, our sanguine expectations were more than fully realized.
We had struck oil — so to speak. We came a bit out of our way
to see the Minster and " the Clock," and got into the bargain a
sight of Napoleon III. and fair Eugenie as they passed up the
nave to early ' matins.' I only got into the cathedral by a fluke
for there was a rush of people to get sight of the Emperor and
Empress. Strassburg was still French. This 18th of August was
the Emperor's Fete Day. Why was he not in Paris ? His popu
larity had begun to wane, and it was safer for him to be here than
in the Tuilleries ; for in those days the report of a royal progress
through Paris would sometimes be concluded in this fashion —
" Nous remarquons avec plaisir que sa Majeste na pas did assas-
sind" In my note-book of the time Napoleon III. is described
as an elderly gentleman, waxing stout, has a fine bearing, good
features, and a pleasing expression of countenance, nothing sinister
in his looks. " He has not invaded England yet !" Eugenie looks
pale and care-worn, but still beautiful. Both were plainly dressed.
I might almost say that I rubbed shoulders with them. When
they were seated in the sanctuary a voluntary was played on the
great organ, filling the church with its solemn peals that died

THE MEDITERRANEAN, ITALY, STRASSBURG, PARIS, ETC. 107

away in echoes among the lofty arches. A crowd stood before
the celebrated Clock at noon to witness the procession of the
twelve apostles, and other wonderful mechanical performances.
After which I ascended by a flight of 660 steps to the topmost
pinnacle of the spire — at that time the highest in the world — and
surveyed a panorama 250 miles in diameter ! A cuckoo clock in
a handsomely carved walnut case has ever since 1865 reminded
us of the rapid flight of time, and even when in the night I sleep
less lie, the cuckoo sings in my ear " you brought me from Strass-
bui g " — you did !

Thence to Paris — the most beautiful and in some respects the
most fascinating capital in Europe, on which I need not dwell here.
Paris is France: the land of "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite," so-
called, which however must be taken with a grain of salt. It
would be difficult to describe one's feelings of admiration when for
the h'rst time he threaded the mazes of the Tuilleries, the Louvre,
the galleries of the Luxembourg and Versailles, the enchanting
scenery of the Champs Elysees and the Bois de Boulogne; and I
hrcamc acquainted with <>M N«»tn- h.-inn- an<l tin- DCW church of
the Madeleine and many other places of worship of great beauty.
But to rne at this time nothing had greater attractions than the
gorgeous Tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte in the Hotel des Invalides.
With pathetic interest one reads the inscription over the entrance
gate : "I desire that my ashes repose on the banks of the Seine, in
the midst of the French people whom I loved so well." No wonder
that Queen Victoria is said to have shed tears when she first visited
this grand mausoleum, and found herself confronted with the
memorials of England's arch-enemy — the greatest military genius,
perhaps, the world has ever produced, sleeping his last sleep here
in one of the most magnificent tombs on earth. In a side chapel
there was a statue of the Emperor in his robes of State, and in the
centre of the apartment a pedestal on which lay his sword and
cocked hat. On its walls were engraven the names of the battles
which he commanded in person, draped with the flags of the van
quished. Here was no verbal tribute to the memory of this ex
traordinary mau. Nothing, not even his name, on the ponderous

108 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

sarcophagus of red porphyry : and better so ; for impartial history
says : " The world never witnessed a grander attempt to succeed
without a conscience." The display of power was his ruling passion.
Self-exaltation dragged him down to ruin. Bonaparte was born in
Corsica, August 15th, 1769. He died in exile in St. Helena, May
5th, 1821, aged 52, after an imprisonment of nearly six years. Not
until 1840 did the British Government grant permission for the
removal of the remains from St. Helena, but on the 15th of De
cember in that year the request made in his last will was complied
with, and all that was left of the great conqueror, himself con
quered at last, was deposited with unparalleled pomp in the tomb
prepared for it, under the dome of the Church of the Hotel des
Invalides, and which is said to have cost £360,000 sterling.

o

From Paris it seemed but a step across the Channel to London,
and another step to Liverpool, where I embarked on the S.S. "St.
David," Captain Aird, and reached home just three months after
setting out on my travels. The whole cost of the journey not much
exceeding $800. Never was a like sum better invested, supplying
as it did a store of interesting and valuable information for a life
time.

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 109

CHAPTER VI.

THE CHURCH AGENT AND UNION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES

IN 1875.

TX the meantime, the Synod in connection with the Church of
Scotland had appointed a Committee of influential laymen in
Montreal " to devise and carry into execution such measures as to
" them seem expedient for aiding and advancing the schemes of
" the Church. . . .with authority to appoint an agent and to direct
" him in the discharge of his duties; and the Synod recommends Mr.
" James Croil, an elder of the Church to be appointed such agent
" if he is willing to undertake the office." Mr. John Greenshields,
who had been the originator of the plan, was appointed convener
of the Committee ; associated with him were Messrs. Thomas Paton,
William Darling, James Johnston, Alex. Buntin, John Rank in,
James S. Hunter, John L. Morris, George Stephen, and the Revds.
Dr. Mathieson, Dr. Jenkins, and Andrew Paton.

Such were the circumstances that led to a change in my occu
pation. The Committee appointed the agent with a roving com
mission to go where he pleased and to do what he pleased, with a
salary of SI 500 per annum. It seemed to me that my fortune
was now going to be made ! I planned to visit every congregation
in the Church with the two-fold object of endeavouring to awaken
interest in all departments of the Church's work, and also of
obtaining the history of each congregation, getting their actual
statistics on the spot Up to this time the Church had not entered
on any kind of foreign mission work beyond the " Juvenile
Orphanage Scheme" which provided for the support of certain
orphan children in India. The number of congregations visited
was 126. The entire distance travelled being about 12,000 miles.

110 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

The time occupied was about 16 months, during all of which the
manager of the Grand Trunk Railway furnished me with a free
pass from station to station, over all its roads, as for the rest, I
was sent from one congregation to another mostly by private con
veyance, sometimes on horseback, or by " democrat waggon,"
buggy, buckboard, sleigh or cutter, by every kind of " t^ap"
except the bicycle, which had not yet come into common use. In
spring and fall we had some long and tedious drives through the
mud ; and in winter some bitterly cold ones over the snow, but in
every place we were received with the greatest kindness and cor
diality : and we had many very amusing adventures. A full
account of those perigrinations appeared in the columns of the old
"Presbyterian" from time to time. The editor says inter alia—
" the most important report presented to this Synod or any other
Synod was that of the agent of our Church. We do not know
how to characterize it in sufficiently strong terms. Such a budget
of historical information, of statistics and practical suggestion
would do credit in its construction to even a Gladstone." The
Home and Foreign Record for 1868 of the Canada Presbyterian
Church also pays an elaborate tribute to the Church agent's work
and the value of his historical report, in an article from the facile
pen of my late friend Dr. Alex. Kemp, sometime minister of St.
Gabriel's Church, Montreal, who died in Hamilton, Ontario, May
4th, 1884, aged 62 :

A written report covering 300 pages of foolscap was presented
to the Synod which met in 1867, and which, at the Synod's sug
gestion, subsequently went through two editions in book-form
under the title of " A Historical and Statistical Report of the Pres
byterian Church of Canada in connection with the Church of Scot
land for the year 1866." The writer received the thanks of the
Synod for his work but refused to accept any remuneration for
his services. At the meeting of Synod at Kingston the following
year on June the 4th, Rev. Robert Dobie of Osnabruck, being
moderator, " In the name of the Synod, presented a silver vase, a
gold watch, and family bible to the agent for the Schemes," bearing
the inscription " In testimony of the laborious, disinterested, and

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. Ill

" highly efficient services which he had rendered to this Church
"in the years 1866 and 1867." So then, if I did not make my
fortune in serving the Church, I was more than amply recompensed
for my poor services by the kind expressions of the fathers and
brethren on this occasion, as well as on many subsequent occasions ;
and in making this reference I am not to be accused of " blowing
my own trumpet," for I can honestly declare that I never courted
popularity in any form that I am aware of, but justice to my
employers demands at least acknowledgement of their handsome
treatment.

The Church agent thence forward became, as it were, an inte
gral part of the concern, and ex-officio, a representative in the
supreme court of the Church until it was merged in the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, in 1875. In
November 1867, he was appointed secretary-treasurer of the Tem
poralities' Board, ad interim, in room of his brother W. R. Croil,
and was installed into that important office in May following.
This implied the virtual management of a fund amounting to
$450,000 and kept him in continued touch with all the ministers
of the Church. Up to this time, he had only a very limited
knowledge of business, but his intuitive proclivities came to his
help, and greatly aided by the advice and instruction of his
chief, Mr. Thomas Paton, chairman of the Board, and general
nianagrr of tli.' Bank <>f British North America. In- ma<I»- ^<»»\
progress, and though he never attained to proficiency as a tech
nical book-keeper, he managed things so that his annual statements
passed unchallenged the scrutiny of the lynx-eyed auditors. He
never had occasion to make any explanations to them. In 1869,
my family had removed to Montreal for the better education of
our children, and it soon became apparent that I must follow suit.
I sold my farm for a mere bagatelle, and on the first of November,
1870,1 bade farewell to Archerfield with all its embellishments
and fascinations, and pleasant memories. Strange thoughts passed
through my mind as I took a last look at the fine mansion and
beautiful grounds and drove off in my carriage and pair for Mon
treal. Navigation had already closed and the roads were very

112 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

bad. Seated with me on the box was my faithful lad " Felix"
many years in my service, who has since become the happy owner
of two hundred acres of land, and a much more successful farmer
than his old boss. There was an element of sadness in my exodus.
There was no one to say good-bye to me : had not my 23 years of
occupancy — delightful though it may have been, in a way ; had it
not been practically useless ? Had I not been a failure ? Well,
the next best thing was an honourable retreat. But I remember
to have felt humbled when I first surveyed my city back yard of
24 x 30 feet and contrasted it with my former 500 broad acres.

For a short time I kept my carriage and pair in the city. On
one occasion I had the honour of giving the celebrated Dean How-
son of Chester a drive. He had been introduced to me by Dr.
Jenkins, though I had known him by reputation as the author of
the "Life of St. Paul" and the restorer of the grand old Minster of
Chester which I have visited many times since then, and never
without paying homage at his grave — the only one in the green
sward enclosed by the old cloister. The carriage and pair soon
dwindled down to a 'one-horse-shay'; but even then with the aid
of a borrowed horse, we would often rig up a tandem and drive out
to the Back River. Tandems and four-in-hands were very much
in evidence in Montreal at that time.

The idea of a 'suburban villa' took possession of me, and for
two years was indulged in ; but the unsuitableness of the aspira
tion for one of my limited means soon wrought the necessary cure
and we repaired again to the pent up city, and for 20 years we
lived in Mansfield street. In the meantime, I had an office in St.
James street which came to be known as "Circular Hall," a self-
explanatory term. Business accumulated from time to time. I
had not been long in Montreal when I was appointed superinten
dent of St. Paul's Church Sunday-School to which I devoted a good
deal of attention, with much benefit to myself at least.

Then for a few years I was agent for the Scottish Provident
Life Insurance Company of Edinburgh until they withdrew from
business in Canada. In 1872, I was appointed editor of the
''Presbyterian" a monthly magazine of the Church of Scotland in

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 113

Canada, which afforded congenial employment in the meantime,
leading up to the editorship in 1875 of "The Presbyterian Record,"
the official organ of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, in which
I continued until December, 1891, when I retired, being then in my
70th year, receiving an honorarium of one thousand dollars and
many very kind letters from leading ministers of the Church in
Canada and elsewhere.

In 1873, 1 was appointed secretary of the B^ard of Management
of the Ministers' Widows' and Orphans' Fund of the Presbyterian
Church of Canada in connection with the Church of Scotland, and
treasurer of the same in 1870. On retiring from these offices in
1901, the Board honoured me with the following resolution:

O

At a meeting of the Board held on May 14th, 1901, it was
moved by Dr. McNish and carried unanimously as follows :

" In accepting the resignation of Mr. James Croil of the offices
of secretary and treasurer of the Board of Management, the Board
records its appreciation of the valuable and efficient service which
"he has rendered to the Trust for the long period of twenty-eight
years during which he has held the offices in question. The Board
is confident that the knowledge that Mr. Croil is giving up this
position which brought him into such close contact with the widows
and orphans of our deceased ministers, will be heard of by the
beneficiaries with much regret, as the deep personal interest in their
circumstances and situation which he ever manifested had greatly
endeared him to them. The Board however rejoice that Mr. Croil
is to continue on the Trust and give it the benefit of his counsel
and experience, and hopes that he will live yet to see many good
days and enjoy the benedictions of the widows and orphans, and
the confidence and respect of his fellow-rnen."

My connection with the Temporalities' Board ceased on June
30th, 1901, when the Trust was closed. For many years the Board
had been drawing on capital in order to fulfil its stipulated obliga
tions to the beneficiaries and in course of time the inevitable result
followed — not sooner however than had been anticipated — a cala
mity, nevertheless to the ministers, which it must be added they
accepted with a good grace. Of the original Commuters there

15

114 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

remained at that time only 12, with ten of those an arrangement
was made to buy off their life-interest in the Fund, annuities of $450
being purchased for the other two, at a cost in all of $34,733.55.
The balance then remaining in the hands of the Board being paid
in equal instalments to the 53 non-privileged ministers — $60 each.
And from that time the Temporalities' Board and Fund, so long
connected with the honoured name of the Church of Scotland ceased
to exist.

As for the history of the Board a full account of it is given,
from first to last, in my pamphlet of 43 pages, published in 1900,
under the caption of a " Historical Report of the Administration of
The Temporalities' Fund of the Presbyterian Church of Canada in
connection with the Church of Scotland; 1856-1900."

In the previous year I had published a similar history of the
Ministers' Widows' and Orphans' Fund entitled "A Jubilee Report,"
etc., p. 15.

THE UNION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES.

The Union of the Presbyterian Churches in Canada, in 1875,
was by far the most important event in the history of Presbyter-
ianism in this country. From the earliest period of settlement,
there had been imported into British North America representa
tives of Presbyterianism of every description known in the Old
Country — ministers and other members of the Churches of Scotland
and Ireland as well as of the United States — those all brought with
them their distinctive shiboleths, forms of procedure and prejudices,
which instead of being modified by their altered circumstances and
environment in this new country seemed to be intensified. There
were among them Burghers and Anti-Burghers, adherents of Seces
sion and Relief Churches, Covenanters and Reformed Churches ;
each and all of them animated with a purpose to perpetuate the
brood, doubtless entertaining the idea that in promoting the insti
tution of rival sects they were discharging their duty to God and
man. The result of this was just what might have been expected,
emulation, strife, enmity and variance among the people of a com
mon faith, during many years. But as time went on, the futility

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION*. 115

of such contentions became gradually apparent and led to the sur
vival of the fittest. The Burghers and A nti- Burghers, in Nova
Scotia, united in 1827 ; the United Synod of Upper Canada, com-
posed chiefly of ministers in connection with the Associate Synod of
original Seceders in Scotland were incorporated with the Presby
terian Church of Canada in connection with the Church of Scotland
in 1840; the Free Church Synod and that of the Presbyterian
Synod of Nova Scotia became united in I860, and that was followed
by the union of the United Presbyterian Church and the Presby
terian Church of Canada, commonly called the Free Church, in
Ontario and Quebec, in 1861 and in 1866 and 1868, the Presbyterian
Churches in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Bruns
wick in connection with Church of Scotland were amalgamated.
The Confederation of the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia
and New Brunswick, under the name of the Dominion of Canada,
on July 1st, 1867, followed soon after by the incorporation of all
the British North American Colonies except Newfoundland, natur
ally increased the desire for the union of the Presbyterian Churches,
which had long been contemplated, but which for a variety of
causes had failed of accomplishment.

Nor was this desire for union confined to the Presbyterians.
The union of the various branches of the Methodist Church in
Canada was formally announced on September 5th, 1883, when
tli.- M.-tlnnlist Church became the most numerous of the Protestant
churches in the Dominion. In September, 1893. the Provincial
Synods of the Church of England in Canada met in General Synod
for the first time, in Toronto, embracing within its jurisdiction all
the Dioceses in the Dominion.

A full account of the various steps which led up to the union
of 1875 is to be found in the columns of "The Presbyterian" for
the years 1870-1875, and also in Dr. Gregg's comprehensive
"Short History" of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, published
in 1892. What I have now to say about it refers more particularly
to the action of our little branch in connection with the Church of
Scotland, whose operations were confined to the Provinces of On
tario and Quebec.

116 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CIIOIL.

At a meeting of the Synod held at Williamstown in July, 1852,
Rev. Robt. McGill of St. Paul's Church, Montreal, and Judge
Maclean of Toronto were appointed to draw up a minute "expres
sive of the views of the Synod in regard to the importance and
desirableness of greater union among the several branches of the
Presbyterian Church in Canada." That was perhaps the first overt
act of our Synod pointing to a federal union of the Churches, though
so long ago as 1830 a dispatch had been received from Sir George
Murray, the Colonial Secretary at Downing Street, London, to Sir
John Colbourne, Lieut-Governor of Upper Canada, setting forth
the importance and desirability of "uniting the whole of the Pres
byterian clergy of the Province in one Presbytery or Synod." In
subsequent years the subject of co-operating union was repeatedly
introduced in the Synod of the Kirk, but owing to a variety of
circumstances among which was the disturbed state of the country
caused by repeated ' Fenian Raids,' no definite action was taken
until 1870. In that year the subject was prominently brought
under the notice of the supreme courts of the four Presbyterian
churches then existing in the Dominion ; to wit : the Canada
Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church, of Canada in
connection with the Church of Scotland, and the two branches of
the Church in the Maritime Provinces. This was by a letter
addressed to the moderators of the respective churches by Rev.
Dr. Ormiston of Hamilton at that time himself the moderator
of the Canada Presbyterian Church. It was not known then, and
it is not generally known now, that Dr. Ormiston's encyclical was
inspired by a letter addressed to him by Rev. Dr. Snodgrass, then
principal of Queen's College at Kingston. It was only in the year
1902 that I became aware of this fact and was shewn the original
documents that passed between Dr. Snodgrass and Dr. Ormiston,
and which, if I am not mistaken, will be found in the archives of
the Presbyterian College at Halifax ; Honour to whom honour is
due !

Dr. Ormiston's letter was received by all the parties to whom
it was addressed with the utmost courtesy and cordiality, and
steps were immediately taken in all the Churches to act on the sug-

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 117

gestions which it contained. The letter in question ran in part as
follows :

" Recent and current events in connection with the Presby-
" terian Churches in Great Britain, Australia, Canada and the
" United States of America, as also the Confederation of the British
" North America Provinces into our Dominion, naturally suggest
" the consideration of the question whether the time has not
" arrived when it would conduce to the advancement of the king-
" doin of Christ and strengthen the interests of Presbyterianism in
" our country, to gather into one household the different members
" of the Presbyterian family. Holding as we all do the same ven-
" erable standards, proclaiming the same evangelical doctrine, and
" administering the same scriptural form of church government
' and discipline, it seems natural and right that we should unite
" our efforts in the great common work of evangelizing the entire
" Dominion. Rejoicing in a common origin, referring to a common
" history, labouring for a common object, and animated by a com-
'• mon feeling of brotherhood, may we not draw nearer to each
" other in the fellowship alike of sympathy and union ? " The
letter closed with suggesting the appointment of a committee in
e.vch of the four Churches, comprising three ministers and three
elders, authorizing them to meet in council and consider the desir
ability and pnicticability of such union. The Synod of our Church
accordingly appointed Dr. Cook of Quebec, Dr. Barclay of Toronto,
Dr. Snodgrass, Hon. Alexander Morris, Sheriff Macdougall and the
Church Agent a committee in terms of said letter. This committee
was reconstituted by the Synod in 1871, as follows:

Dr. Snodgrass, convener, Dr. Cook, Dr. Jenkins, Mr. George
Bell, Mr. Kenneth MacLennan, Mr. David Watson, ministers; and
Hon. Alexander Morris, Mr. James Croil, Mr. Neil Macdougall,
Mr. James Craig, Mr. Robert Bell, Mr. Robert Romanic, elders ;
with the following alternates, most of whom at one time or another
had a place in the union conferences: Mr. Robert Campbell, Mr.
D. M. Gordon, Mr. 1 >. J. Macdonnell, Mr. J C. Smith, Mr. James
Sieveright, Mr. Gavin Lang, ministers ; and Messrs. George David
son, William Mattice, A. MacMurchy, Alexander Mitchell, Joseph
Hickson, and James S. Hunter,

118 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

Arrangements were next made for a joint-meeting of the com
mittees appointed by the Churches respectively. The first of these
was held in St. Paul's Church, Montreal, on September 28th, 1870,
when Dr. Cook was appointed chairman, and Dr. Alexander Topp,
of Toronto, secretary. Subsequent joint-meetings were held as
f0l]ows_on September 26th, 187] ; and in December 26, 1872, in
Montreal, and on April llth, 1873, at St. John; N. B. On each
occaison these joint-meetings continued in session for several con
secutive days, during which the whole subject of union, with all the
details involved, were discussed with entire harmony. The chief
difficulties that cropped up had reference to the relations of the
several theological colleges to the proposal united Church, and the
ultimate disposition of the Temporalities' Fund. Throughout the
entire proceedings of those meetings it was constantly affirmed
that the name of the United Church should be " The Presbyterian
Church of British North America." At the suggestion of the West
ern Churches in conference at Ottawa in 1874, with the concur
rence of the Eastern branches, the name was changed to the Pres
byterian Church in Canada. There is no doubt that the success
ful manner in which difficult and delicate subjects were discussed
and amicably arranged in joint-committee was largely due to the
wisdom and tact and the fine conciliatory spirit manifested from
first to last by Dr. Cook and Dr. Topp, who belonging to what might
almost be termed hostile camps but who proved on these occasions
true yoke-fellows equally desirous of promoting the common cause
of union. Having at length succeeded in securing the unanimous
assent of the joint-committee to a basis of union and other pre
liminaries, in terminating their proceedings the committee recorded
its satisfaction at the agreement which had been attained on the
various subjects that had been considered, and strongly recom
mended that the supreme courts of the respective churches be
asked to adopt the resolution of the joint-committee without
change, so that precisely the same document might be transmitted to
all the courts. Dr. Topp and the Church Agent were the only two
members who attended all the meetings of this joint-committee.
The recommendations of the joint-committee were received by the

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 119

supreme courts of the four churches with practical unanimity—
any opposition to the projected union being held in reserve pro
tern. The next step was that of sending down a copy of the basis
of union and relative documents to the presbyteries, kirk -sessions,
and congregations, in order that the fullest possible expression of
opinion on the subject might be had from all the members of the
Church — 1 presbytery, 16 sessions, and 11 congregations re
ported adversely, and 20 congregations sent no answers. In order
to meet, if possible, objections that had been raised the Synod of
1874 consented to two alterations of minor importance, and thus
amended the basis and accompanying resolutions were sent down
a second time to the same judiciaries as before, and answers to the
same were received and considered at an adjourned meeting of
Synod held in Toronto from 3rd to 6th November, 1874, when it
was found that the returns to the second remit were as follows :
Ten presbyteries voted yea, none voted nay ; the single presbytery
that had voted nay to the first remit now returned a majority of
ten to five in favor of union ! 89 kirk-sessions voted yea, 12 voted
nay, 37 sent no returns, 104 congregations voted yea, 10 voted nay,
and 36 made no returns.

It had now become apparent that absolute unanimity on the
question of union was unattainable, but in deference to the over
whelming majority in favour of it the Synod resolved by a vote of
68 to 17, to take immediate measures for the consummation of
union in June following, provided that the necessary legislation in
regard to the church and college property with a view towards
the consummation of union shall by that time have been secured.
At this stage of the proceedings a protest against proceeding with
the union was made by Rev. Robt. Burnet and signed by 9 other
ministers and 5 elders. The Synod, however, kept on the even
tenor of its way and appointed a committee to watch over the in
troduction of draft acts that had been submitted to and approved
by the Synod, and the passage of them by the several legislatures
from which it was necessary to obtain legislation. A committee
was also appointed of which Dr. Robert Campbell of Montreal,
was convener, to confer with committees of the Canada Presby-

120 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

terian Church to make arrangements for the consummation of the
union, and a deputation appointed to proceed to the next General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland, " for the purpose of assuring
" that venerable court of the undiminished attachment of this
" Church to the Church of Scotland and of the deep gratitude
" which the Synod feels for the unvarying generous support which
" the Church of Scotland has rendered to the Church in Canada
" during its whole existence, and of conveying to the General
" Assembly full information respecting the present position of the
" negotiations which have been going on for the past five years
" with reference to the union of the Presbyterian Churches in the
" Dominion of Canada," — (See Synod minutes for November, 1874,
pp. 11-2:5.)

From what has been said it may be inferred that the meetings
of the Synod in 1874 were by far the most important in the course
of the negotiations for union, and, indeed, in the history of the
Church of Scotland in Canada. The Rev. John Rannie was
moderator of these meetings, and Professor Mackerras, clerk. The
simultaneous meeting of the Assembly of the Canada Presbyterian
Church, at Ottawa, in June, was a notable coincidence, and gave
rise to a succession of re-unions and conferences in themselves
most pleasant, and not to be forgotten. The duration of the
Ottawa Synod was the longest on record — from June 2nd to llth,
and of the adjourned meeting in Toronto, from November 3rd to
6th — in all fourteen days, during which time the subject of union
was discussed in all its bearings and the decision arrived at to
carry it into effect.

The two conferences, held in Ottawa, had an important bearing
on the transactions of the respective supreme courts, then in ses
sion, eliciting a feeling of brotherhood and conciliation in the
highest degree encouraging as to the permanency of future relation
ships. At both of these conferences, which took the form of joint-
meetings of the supreme courts of the Western Churches, it was not
without significance that laymen in each case were placed in the
Moderator's chair — -a graceful recognition on the part of the clergy
t!iat, from first to last the movement towards union had not only

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 121

met the approval of the lay members of the Churches, but that
they had been among its earliest advocates, and not the least
influential of its supporters. At both these conferences, the vener
able Dr. John Cook expressed with profound emotion his thank
fulness to God that he had been spared to see the divisions of 1844
healed. Another aged divine, Rev. John McTavish of Eldon — a
highlanderof the Highlanders, and a free churchman, 'dyed in the
Wool,' brought the house down when he made the confession that
" though he had up to this point opposed the union he could no
longer refrain from expressing his satisfaction with the manner in
which the questions under consideration had been dealt with, and
that he would offer no further opposition to what he saw was an
inevitable result of the negotiations for union." This o-ood minister

O O

was on August 16th, 1878, transferred to the East Free Church in
Inverness, Scotland, where he died in May llth, 1897, aged 81.
Dr. Cook died in March 31st, 1892, in the 87th year of his age.
The'n there was the memorable deputation to Rideau Hall to present
an address to His Excellency, Lord Dufferin, the Governor General,
from the Old Kirk Synod. The deputies were the Moderator and
Clerk of the Synod, Dr. Snodgrass, Dr. Jenkins, Dr. James William
son, Rev. D. M. Gordon, Rev. Gavin Lang, Messrs. J. L. Morris, A.
T. Drummond, and the Church Agent.

Lord Dufferin received the Synod's deputation with marked
courtesy and cordiality, and listened attentively to the Synod's
address, in which, of course, there was no allusion to the contem
plated union. But His Excellency had not been an inattentive
observer of what had been going on in Church courts in the capital,
and with his innate disingenuousness and pleasantry, drew from
some of the deputies, quite informally, the particulars of the case,
and of the decision reached, in a way that led us to the conviction
that he was as conversant with the subject as any of us. Of all the
Governor Generals of Canada, the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava
was one of the most genial, affable, polished and scholarly. He
had the remarkable faculty of remembering the faces, and even
the names of people who had hern introduced to him, of which I
had personal proof, some months after our visit to Rideau Hall,

16

122 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

when I happened to meet him on the platform of the railway sta
tion at Rimouski. It is remembered of him, too, that on receiving
an address from one of the Faculties of McGill University, Mon
treal, he replied to it in classical Greek, to the admiration and
amazement of his auditory. During the whole of his diplomatic
career subsequently, in India and in Paris, and up to the day of
his death in 1902, Lord Dufferin's name was held in affectionate
remembrance by all classes of people in the Dominion of Canada.
The members appointed in November, 1874, to appear before
the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh in
May, 1875, were Dr. Cook, Dr. Jenkins, Professor Mackerras, Prof.
Ferguson, Rev. D. M. Gordon and the Church Agent. Dr. Jenkins
did not go. Those who addressed the General Assembly were Dr.
Cook, Professor Mackerras and the Church Agent. The Rev.
Gavin Lang, who at his own urgent request had been appointed a
delegate at the previous meeting of Synod in June, was also present
and addressed the House. Mackerras who had just returned from
the Riviera was to join us in Edinburgh. Dr. Cook, Gordon and
I sailed from Portland on the " Hibernian" Capt. Archer, on the
17th of April. We had a roughish voyage, Dr. Cook, I remember
was usually to be found curled up in a corner of the saloon in a
contemplative mood, evidently employed in memorizing the mag
nificent speech which he was to deliver in the Assembly ; poor
Gordon was for the most part confined to his berth — hopelessly
demoralized with mal-de-mer. On reaching Edinburgh, we had a
warm reception from many friends, followed by offers of hospitality,
but we judged it better to keep together and took up our residence
at a comfortable lodging on Princes street where we received our
visitors and concerted our plans. Tulloch, Phin, Story, Charteris,
Smith of North Leith and other magnets called for us. The Gen
eral Assembly opened on Thursday the 20th of May. The Rev.
Dr. James Sellar of Aberlour, moderator. The Earl of Rosslyn
was the Lord High Commissioner, and representative of Her
Majesty Queen Victoria ; Principal Tulloch of St. Andrews was the
first clerk, and Dr. Milligan of Aberdeen, second clerk, John W.
Menzies W.S. the agent of the Church, Rev. R. H. Muir of Dalmoay ;

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 123

Dr. Phin the Home Mission Secretary, Dr. Charteris, Dr. Smith of
North Leith and other officials had seats adjoining the clerk's table.
The time for hearing the delegates from Canada was fixed for the
following afternoon. After some remarks from Mr. Muir, the
convenor of the Colonial Committee, the deputation was introduced
to the Moderator by him.

Rev. Gavin Lang was the first to be asked to address the As
sembly, and was greeted with hearty applause. He had pledged
himself at the time of his appointment by the Synod to abstain
from any deprecatory remarks about the union, and in his formal
address kept his word. He dwelt chiefly on the dry subject of a
" Comprehensive Temperance Union" for Canada, but which had
evidently little attraction for his present audience. But towards
the close of the sederunt, he was about to challenge some of the
statements made by the other deputies, when several members
objected on the ground that " nothing in the nature of a discussion
on the subject then before the House should be allowed to mar the
effect of what had been said on the subject." The Moderator
ruled accordingly, that it was not competent for Mr. Lang to pro
ceed. Mr. Muir then proceeded to submit a deliverance on the
report of the Colonial Committee, which being couched in very
cold and non-committal terms was evidently not relished by a
majority of the House, and led to an animated and spicy debate in
which Dr. Phin, Dr. Smith, Dr. Charteris, Dr. Story and Dr. Tul-
loch took leading parts ; the result being that in the interests of
peace, the deliverance in a modified form was allowed to pass.

Dr. Cook was then called on to address the Assembly and
delivered one of the grandest speeches ever listened to in that
august house. It was the speech worthy of a great statesman
and patriot full of pathos and impassioned appeal to the heart and
conscience of his auditory, heightened by the venerable personality
of the speaker and his well-known reputation as one of the most
learned and eminent ministers of the Presbyterian order. It is given,
nearly in full, in " The Presbyterian" for July, 1875, p. 155, and even
at this distant day will well-repay personal perusal, as a splendid
specimen of ecclesiastical oratory. Needless to say, it met with

124 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

the reception it deserved, and the good doctor resumed his seat
"amid enthusiastic and prolonged applause." Mackerras must
have trembled in his shoes when called upon to follow such a mas
ter of eloquence as Dr. Cook, but with his accustomed sang froid
and bonhomie he delivered an excellent address, dwelling chiefly
on Queen's College, what it owed to the Church of Scotland and
the new environment that awaited it in its relations to the united
Church that was to be. The Church Agent, who never felt
smaller in his life, than at the moment when his name was
announced, stammered out a few disjointed sentences— from the
laymen's point of view — the substance of which may still be found
by diligent search among his reliques. After hearing the Canadian
delegates, the Moderator addressed them in felicitous terms. He
began by saying — " Beloved Brethren from Canada, it affords me
sincere and special pleasure to be called on to greet you with the
cordial welcome of the General Assembly, and to give the right
hand of fellowship in their name. Your appearance among us is
hailed with no ordinary feelings of congratulation. One of you
has been long and favourably known to not a few in our Church
as a highly honoured, able, and successful minister and professor
in the ancient City of Quebec ; and sure I am that the glowing
words and stirring appeals that have fallen from the lips of the
other respected members of your delegation will be held in fond
remembrance by all who have heard them. We hope and pray
that the contemplated union may, when achieved, have the approval
and blessing of the Great King and Head of the Church, etc.. etc.
We all felt that we were under great obligation to the Moder
ator and the Lord High Commissioners for marked kindness and
courtesy, and to Tulloch, Story, and Dr. Smith of North Leith, for
championing our cause in the Assembly. The minute of the
sederunt attested by " John Tulloch, Cl. Eccl. Scot." was in every
way as satisfactory as in the circumstances could be expected, and
with a copy of that as our voucher we turned our faces homeward
and sailed from Liverpool on the S.S. " Nova Scotian," Capt
Richardson, on the 29th of May — arriving in Montreal just in time
for the last meeting of the Synod on the 9th of June.

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 125

But I find I have been slightly anticipating the historical
sequence of events in accordance with instructions from the Synod
of 1874, committees had been appointed to take charge of the
necessary Legislative enactments in the Parliaments of Ontario
and Quebec. Principal Snodgrass had charge of the Bills for the
Ontario Legislature and met with little opposition in having them
adopted. But it was far otherwise in the Province of Quebec.
The minority of the Synod, headed by Rev. Gavin Lang, were
determined to dispute the passage of the Quebec Bills and if pos
sible to frustrate the efforts of the majority who favoured the
union. Mr. John L. Morris, Q. C., Mr. J. S. Archibald, barrister,
and the Church Agent appeared before the Private Bills Committee
at Quebec in support of the Bills authorizing the union : Rev.
Gavin Lang, and Mr. F. W. Terrill, B A. appeared in behalf of the
objectors. Dr. Cook lent his valuable aid to the promoters, and
Mr. Douglas Brymner re-inforced the opposition. It soon became
apparent that we were in for a pitched battle. On the 29th of
January, 1875, began one of the stoutest struggles in the history
of a Colonial Private Bills' Committee — for it was in committee
that the battle hid to bj fought. Daring four consecutive days tha
strife went on, no stone was left unturned by either party. They
had nailed their colours to the mast and their watch-word was —
" No surrender." The table was loaded with ponderous volumes
of law-books, civil and ecclesiastical, petitions, pamphlets and peri
odicals were brought into requisition : arguments pro and con,
were iterated and re-iterated u*qne ad nauseam, till at length the
committee despairing of any amicable compromise, and but dimly
comprehending the real merits of the case, recommended the pas
sing of the Bills with only two slight amendments. The House at
its leisure acquiesced in the finding of the committee and unani
mously passed the Bills.

We had seemingly gained a victory. But it was a short-lived
one. There is a Legislative Council in the Province of Quebec
whose function is to put a check upon hasty or unwholesome leg
islation. The objectors resolved to press their suit before the three -
and-twenty iin-mbi-ivs «.!' this august body. On the 12th of Febru-

126 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

ary the tocsin was again sounded and the battle raged anew. For
three days the Council, largely composed of Frenchmen and Roman
Catholics listened with apparent disinterestedness to the arguments
that had exhausted the patience of the Private Bills Committee and
Lower House. An uneasy feeling began to disturb our equanimity
as the argument dragged its slow length along until the conviction
dawned upon us that we were going to be badly beaten. And it so
happened, for at ten o'clock on the night of the third day it was an
nounced in the lobbies of the House that " The Presbyterian Bills
were lost — on a division of five to three !" Most of the French
men evidently abstained from voting on a question the merits of
of which they could not comprehend. The English speaking mem
bers, being largely influenced by Senator Ferrier, one of the oldest
and most influential members of the Council, who at heart favoured
the union, but, at the instance of the objectors, had come to the
conclusion that the time was not yet ripe for it.

The news of our defeat spread like wild-fire in the West. In
dignation meetings were held and wrathful resolutions passed in
Montreal, Kingston, Toronto and other cities, and a formidable

c5 ' •

deputation dispatched to the scene of action to remonstrate with
the naughty Quebec Legislature. The deputation was armed with
a petition signed by 2000 of the leading citizens of Montreal (and
Montreal is in the Province of Quebec remember). Our drooping
courage revived as the stalwart deputation drew up in formidable
array at the Bar of the House, while through their spokesmen Dr.
Rjbert Campbell, and Professor Murray, represented the unprece
dented agitation that the refusal of the Bills had created in Mon
treal. To make a long story short, on the 17th of February it was
announced that the Legislative Council had agreed to recommend
the passing of the Bills without a division, only one member, the
Hon. Mr. Fraser de Berry, protesting " that the Bills contemplated
the handing over of valuable trust funds to an institution which
had not now, and which never might have an existence." That
was the last shot in that memorable campaign. On the following
day, the Presbyterian Bills were read three times in the Lower
House and finally passed and in due course became law.

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 127

About this time a spate of pamphlets and newspaper corres
pondence was in circulation, among which were diatribes of an
inflammatory discription from the opponents of the union and
counter-statements from its promoters, among these was Mr.
Brymner's "Presbyterian Union ; a Help to the Intelligent Discus
sion of the Question," and Rev. Robert Burnet's "Presbyterian
Trade-Union : or, the Plot to rob the Kirk of Scotland in Canada "
in both of which the promoters of union were severely scored.
On the other hand a brochure by Dr. Robert Campbell entitled :
11 The Pretensions exposed of Messrs, Lang, Burnet and Co. to
be the Presbyterian Church of Canada in connection with the
Church of Scotland," went far to disabuse the public mind of
the charges brought against the union party by their opponents.
Another pamphlet, published in May, 1875, was entitled "Union
" of Presbyterian Churches, a statement prepared by the Members
" of the Deputation to Scotland, for the information of Members
" of the General Assembly," purported to give a comprehensive
and concise account of the origin of the Temporalities' Fund,
and of the successive steps that led up to the union now on
the eve of accomplishment. It was signed by all the members
of the deputation. By advice of Mr. John W. Menzies, the
Agent of the Assembly, it was not distributed in the House, but
copies of it were sent to leading members. Rev. D. M. Gordon,
then of Ottawa, and now (1903) Principal of Queen's University,
Kingston, had a hand in compiling the document which at the
time went by the name of "Dan's Baby."

We have now come to the last meeting of the Synod of the
Presbyterian Church of Canada in connection with the Church of
Scotland which had been in existence since 1881 and had an hon
ourable career of forty-four years. This historic meeting was held
in St. Paul's Church, Montreal, June 8th to 15th, 1875. Rev.
Principal Snodgrass was elected moderator; Professor John H.
Mackerras being clerk. The deputation to the Church of Scotland
received the thanks of the Synod for the manner in which they had
fulfilled their commission, special mention being made of the zealous
and efficient services rendered by Dr. Cook. The announcement

128 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

of arrangements that had been made for the consummation of the
union elicited, as was to be expected, a vigorous expression of dis
sent from the members of the minority numbering eight ministers
and two elders, who declared their intention to " continue to be the
Presbyterian Church in Canada in connection with the Church of

Scotland."

At the risk of appearing egotistic ; in justice to the Synod, my
self, and as a matter of history, I see no reason for withholding the
following extracts :

On receiving a hearty vote of thanks for his services as
moderator of the Synod of 1875, and convenor of the Committee
on Union, Dr. Snodgrass said on the floor of the house, two days
before the completion of the Union — " It would be unworthy
" of me to accept the thanks of the Synod for my services in con-
" nection with the Committee on Union without making mention
" of the valuable assistance I have received throughout the whole
" of the negotiations from my friend the Church Agent, to whom
" the Synod is indebted perhaps more than to any single individual
" for the successful termination that has been reached."

(See The Presbyterian, 1875, page 170.)

The very last resolution of the expiring Synod, saving the vote
of thanks to the clerk, Rev. J. H. MacKerras, was in these terms,
and carried by acclamation :

" That the hearty thanks of the Synod be, and are hereby
" tendered to the Church Agent for the great zeal, self-denying
" energy, and persevering faithfulness with which he has filled the
" office of Church Agent upwards of nine years, to the great ad-
" vantage of the missionary and benevolent efforts of the Church,
" and the business management of its schemes."

(See Synod Minutes at Montreal, 1875, page 40.)

June 13th, 1875. The long-looked for eventful day had come
at last. On the morning of that day the respective Supreme Courts
of the four negotiating Churches had held their final meetings,
each having adjourned to meet in the Victoria Hall (the Skating
Rink) at 11 a.m. The Synod of the Presbyterian Church of
Canada in connection with the Church of Scotland was the first to

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 12!)

arrive at the trysting place ; the others followed in quick succession,
each headed 03- its moderator, Principal Snodgrass was the modera
tor of the Church of Scotland phalanx ; the others were Principal
Caven of the Canada Presbyterian Church, Rev. P. G. MacGregor
of the Presbyterian Church of the Lower Provinces of British North
America, and Rev. George Munro Grant of the Synod of the Mari
time Provinces in connection with the Church of Scotland.

The spacious hall seated for 6000 persons, and gayly decorated,
was filled to overflowing. The moderators and other officials
occupied seats on a raised platform in the centre of the building.
The spectacle thus presented was a unique and magnificent one,
such as had never been witnessed in Canada before, and has not
since been surpassed. The proceedings were commenced by the
singing of the 100th Psalm. The minutes of the last meetings of
the respective Supreme Courts were read with striking solemnity
by the clerks. The Basis of Union with accompanying Resolutions
was read by Dr. Reid, the eldest of the four clerks, after which each
of the four Moderators signed the Deed of Union which was beauti
fully engrossed on parchment.

The signing Moderators were as follows : — Dr. P. G. MacGregor,
of " The Presbyterian Church of The Lower Provinces of B. N. A."
George Munro Grant of " The Church of the Maritime Provinces
in connection with the Church of Scotland," Principal William
Caven of " The Canada Presbyterian Church," and Principal
William Snodgrass of "The Presbyterian Church of Canada in
connection with the Church of Scotland."

The enactments of the Legislatures had been implemented and
the four Churches had become ONE. Dr. P. S. MacGre^or, now the

O

senior ex-moderator, formally declared the Union consummated in
the terms following : —

" The Moderators having signed the terms of Union in the
name of their respective Churches, I declare these Churches do form
one Church ; to be designated and known as " THE PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH IN CANADA." (Immense and enthusiastic cheering.)

Then, while the Moderators were giving each other the right
hand of fellowship the vast audience joined hands in singing the

17

130 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

123rd Psalm with an enthusiasm and feeling probably never equalled
in any other preceding religious assemblage in Canada. Aged
ministers clasped each other's hands as they fervently sang the
words of the Psalm, while others seemed too deeply affected by their
emotions to take a vocal part in the service, but realized the truth
of the words, " Behold how good and how pleasant it is for Brethren
to dwell together in Unity," as a thousand ministers and elders of
four Churches, now made one, stood at last in one common brother
hood. Dr. MacGregor again led in a prayer of thanksgiving and
invocation of the Divine blessing upon the united Church. The
Assembly being thus constituted, the rolls of the incorporated courts
were called by their respective clerks, and the first General As
sembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada proceeded to elect
its moderator.

It was a foregone conclusion that this honour would be bestowed
on Dr. John Cook of Quebec — The Nestor of the Old Kirk Synod
—the man to whom more than any other, the happy consummation
of the Union was to be attributed. And it was fitting that the
nomination should be made by one of the most estimable of the
fathers of the Canada Presbyterian Church — the Rev. William
Taylor, D.D. originally a minister of the Secession Church of Scot
land, and who had for 43 years occupied a very prominent position
as minister of Erskine Church in Montreal. In graceful terms Dr.
Taylor referred to Dr. Cook's brilliant and faithful ministry in
Quebec for 40 years, during the whole of which time he had occu
pied a distinguished place among the preachers of the gospel and
who had, from patriotic and truly catholic motives, lent the weight
of his name and his energies to the furtherance of this great move
ment. The motion was seconded by Dr. James Bayne of Pictou,
Nova Scotia, and carried by acclamation, amid deafening applause.
Dr. Cook's reply was just what might have been expected of him,
expressing devout thankfulness that he had lived to see the day
when the breaches in Zion had been healed, and the confident as
surance that what had been done would redound to the glory of
God, and the advancement of the cause of Christianity in this great
country, and that it would in the providence of God prove to be, in
days to come, the harbinger of larger unions.

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 131

An invitation was then given to the members of the Assembly
and their friends to attend a social entertainment in the evening
which, it is needless to say, passed off with great eclat, addresses
being delivered by Principal Dawson, Dr. Burns of Halifax, Dr.
Taylor of Montreal, Principal Snodgrass, Mr. John L. Morris, Dr.
MacGregor, and George M. Grant of Halifax, Judge Stevens «.t
New Brunswick, Judge Blanchard of Nova Scotia, and Rev. Dr.
Ormiston of New York. The speechifying was of a high order,
spiced with humour and pleasantry, as befitted the occasion. Dr.
Ormiston received a special ovation, as the reputed instigator of the
Union negotiations, and was cheered to the echo when he said that

o

" The influence of the Union would be felt in the United States
and in the Old Country." He advised the sending of Dr. Cook to
Scotland again as a missionary to preach the grand and glorious
gospel of unity ! Dr. Ormiston was a grand man. He used to
say that he was born at the foot of Tintock in Lancashire, and was
brought up on oatmeal and the Shorter Catechism. Originally a
scion of the auld Kirk in Scotland, he brought his old historic memo
ries with him to Canada and after ministering some time in Central
Church, Hamilton, Ont. as a minister of the Can. Pres. Church, he
became minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in New York. He
sympathized, as he said, with his countrymen who brought with
them a lasting love for old tradition, he did not blame Seceders and
other dissenters for endeavouring to transplant their peculiarisms
in this new land, "They were not to be blamed for that any more
than he was for the fact of his having more hair on his head than
other people" — certainly the shock of bristly hair that adorned his
head made him a unique specimen of humanity — resembling in a
marked degree the contour of a Fiji Islander.

Dr. Robert Campbell's prize essay on Union, published in 1871,
in which the subject was discussed in all its bearings, and the ad
vantages to be derived from it clearly stated, had also much to do
with directing public opinion to the movement and in contributing
to its ultimate consummation.

132 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

The oldest minister who took part in the union meeting was
the Rev. Alexander Henderson of Lachute, then in his 91st year.
No one took a keener interest in the proceedings than he. And
one can imagine that he went home saying to himself, "Now Lord
lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen
Thy salvation," for he was a godly man, a minister in his youth of
the Associate Synod in Scotland who was sent to this country by
the British Government to look after the religious interests of a
band of early settlers, with a salary of £100 a year which he re
tained till his death in 1867. The only other minister of our
church who attained that age was the Rev. Thomas Fraser, some
time of Lanark, Ont., who died in Montreal, 15th July, 1884,aged 93 ;
Professor James Williamson died in Kingston, September 26, 1895,
in his 90th year. Rev. Andrew Kennedy of the Can. Pres. Church
died in London, Ontario, in 1882, age 93. Rev. Thomas Alexander
of Mt, Pleasant, Ont., died 16th December, 1895, aged 90.

Quoting from the "The Presbyterian" for May, 1875, p. 112
The statistics of the newly formed Church were as follows :

Number of Ministers ... 634

Average stipend $840

Number of Congregations (A number of these

being double charges) 1008

Number of vacant Charges 121

Elders 3656

Communicants 90,653

S. S. Teachers 7471

S. S. Scholars 73,394

For a year or so after the Union a few ministers remained un
decided as to adhering to the Union and their names appear on the
roll of the first General Assembly. Some of these, especially in
the Presbytery of Pictou in which the largest element of disappro
val existed, presumably were influenced to withdraw their names
out of respect to the wishes of their congregations rather than from

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 133

personal choice. The following is a list of those who eventually
declined to enter the Union — 21 in all :

In Ontario and Quebec.

1. Gavin Lang, Montreal.

2. Robert Dobie, Milton.

3. Robert Burnet, Hamilton.

4. Thos. Macpherson,

Lancaster.

5. David Watson, Thorah.

6. William Simpson, Lachine.

7. John Macdonald,

Beechridge.

8. John Davidson,

Williamsburg.

9. Neil Brodie, Lochiel.

10. Peter Watson,

Williamstown.

11. John Ross, Brucefield.

12. Lachlan Macpherson,

Williams.

In the Maritime Provinces.

1. A. W. Herdman, Pictou, N.S.

2. George Coull, New Glasgow,

N.S.

(Mr. Coull eventually entered the Union
and became minister at Valleyfield )

3. Win. Stewart, Maclennan's

Mountain.

4. H. J. McKichan, Barney's

River.

5. Charles Dunn, Stellarton

and West vi lie.

6. William MacMillan, Salt

Springs.

7. J. W. Eraser, Roger's Hill

and Cape John.

8. Robert McCunn, River John.

9. James McColl, Earltown.

Of the 12 recusants in Ontario and Quebec the last two named
belonged to the Canada Presbyterian Church and the other 10 to
the Church of Scotland branch. All in the Lower Provinces
belonged to Pictou County.

One by one at different times, the survivors of these ministers
and congregations joined the Presbyterian Church in Canada ; so
that in 1908 St. Andrew's Church, Montreal, and the congregation
of Lochiel in Glengarry were the only two remaining out of the
Union, if we except the "Macdonaldites" on Prince Edward Island
who are still represented by two ministers and four small congre
gations — the last survivors of the independant congregations, still
claiming connection with the Church of Scotland (in 1910).

The founder of this cult, the Int.- K \ . Donald Macdonald was
a native of the parish of Logicftiit, Perthshire, who was ordained
by the Presbytery of St. Andrew's at Abertartf in 1810, and who

134 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

came to Cape Breton in 1824. Without a commission of any kind
from any church, he devoted himself to the preaching of the gos
pel ' at large.' " With the zeal and heroism of a Xavier he braved
the wild beasts of the forest, the almost arctic severity of the cli
mate, and above all the indifference and degradation of the people.
He walked on snow-shoes and 'blazed' his way through pathless
forests with his hatchet. He had no home to shelter him, but was
content with the chance shelter of the rudest hut or shanty, and
with the coarsest fare. He carried no scrip and he had no money.
In 1826 he transferred his herculean labours to Prince Edward
Island. In 1829-30 a great revival began among his people, he par
celled them out into congregations, and before he died he had
erected 13 churches. He ordained elders in every district to con
duct services in the churches, while he itinerated in Diocesan fash
ion among them. One of the most remarkable men of his time, he
died in February, 1867, aged 85, and was buried at Orwell, P. E. I.
His people long went by the name of the "Macdonellites." A stern
calvinist, he was yet of a kindly disposition, with a keen apprecia
tion of the humorous. Many strange and even ludicrous stories
have been told of him and his followers.

BASIS OF UNION.

The following embraces the principles and stipulation unani
mously adopted by the four negotiating Churches as the Articles
of their Union, and so announced at the first meeting of the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, held in the
Victoria Hall, Montreal, on June 15th, 1875. Dr. Cook being
moderator, the clerks of the several Supreme Courts merged into
and constituting this Court, acting as interim clerks.

PREAMBLE.

The Presbyterian Church of Canada in connection with the
Church of Scotland, the Canada Presbyterian Church, the Church
of the Maritime Provinces in connection with the Church of Scot
land, and the Presbyterian Church of the Lower Provinces, holding
the same doctrine, government, and discipline, believing that it

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 135

would be for the glory of God and the advancement of the cause
of Christ that they should unite and thus form one Presbyterian
Church in the Dominion, independent of all other churches in its
jurisdiction, and under authority to Christ alone, the Head of His
Church and Head over all things to the Church, agree to unite on
the following basis, to be subscribed by the Moderators of the re
spective Churches, in their name and on their behalf.

BASIS.

1. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being the
Word of God, are the only infalliable rule of faith and manners.

'2. The Westminister Confession of Faith shall form the sub
ordinate standard of the Church ; the Larger and Shorter Catechisms
shall be adopted by the Church, and appointed to be used for the
instruction of the people : — it being distinctly understood that no
thing contained in the aforesaid Confession or Catechisms, regard
ing the power and duty of the Civil Magistrate, shall be held to
sanction any principles or views inconsistent with full liberty of
conscience in matters of religion.

O

3. The government and worship of this Church shall be in
accordance with the recognized principles and practice of Presby
terian Churches.as laid down generally in the " Form of Presbyterian
Church Government," and in " The Directory for the Public Wor
ship of God."

The aforesaid Churches further agree to the following resolu
tions : —

I. — RELATIONS TO OTHER CHURCHES.

1 . This Church cherishes Christian affection towards the whole
Church of God, and desires to hold fraternal intercourse with it
in its several Branches, as opportunity otters.

2. This Church shall, under such terms and regulations as
may from time to time be agreed on, receive ministers and proba
tioners from other Churches, and especially from Churches holding
the same doctrine, government, and discipline with itself.

136 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

II. — MODES OF WORSHIP.

With regard to modes of worship, the practice presently followed
by congregations shall be allowed, and further action in connection
therewith shall be left to the legislation of the United Church.

III. _ FUND FOR WIDOWS AND ORPHANS OF MINISTERS.

Steps shall be taken, at the first meeting of the General Assembly
of the United Church, for the equitable establishment and admin
istration of an efficient Fund for the benefit of the widows and
orphans of Ministers.

IV. — COLLEGIATE INSTITUTIONS.

The aforesaid Churches shall enter into union with the Theo
logical and Literary Institutions which they now have ; and applic
ation shall be made to Parliament for such legislation as shall bring
Queen's University and College, Knox College, The Presbyterian
College, Montreal, Morrin College, and the Theological Hall at Hali
fax, into relations to the United Church similar to those which they
now hold to their respective Churches, and to preserve their corpor
ate existence, government and functions, on terms and conditions
like to those under which they now exist ; but the United Church
shall not be required to elect Trustees for an Arts' Department in
any of the Colleges above named.

V. — LEGISLATION WITH REGARD TO RIGHTS OF PROPERTY.

Such legislation shall be sought as shall preserve undisturbed
all rights of property now belonging to congregations and corporate
bodies, and, at the same time, not interfere with freedom of action
on the part of congregations in the same locality desirous of
uniting, or on the part of corporate bodies which may find it to be
expedient to discontinue, wholly or partially, their separate ex
istence.

AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY OPERATIONS.
The United Church shall heartily take up and prosecute the
Home and Foreign Missionary and Benevolent operations of the

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 137

several Churches, according to their respective claims ; and with
regard to the practical work of the Church and the promotion of
its Schemes, whilst the General Assembly shall have the supervision
and control of all the work of the Church, yet the United Church
shall have due regard to such arrangements, through Synods and
Local Committees, as sliall tend most effectually to unite in Christian
love and sympathy the different sections of the Church, and at the
same time to draw forth the resources and energies of the people
in behalf of the work of Christ in the Dominion, and throughout
the world.

VII. — GOVERNMENT GRANTS TO DENOMINATIONAL COLLEGES.

In the United Church the fullest forbearance shall be allowed
as to any difference of opinion which may exist respecting the
question of State grants to Educational Establishments of a Deno
minational character.

It may be noticed that no reference was made in the Basis or
Resolutions as to the ultimate disposition of the Temporalities'
Fund. The fact is that Canada Presbyterian Church had already
intimated that they had no desire to meddle with it, tantamount
to saying that they were content to leave it in the hands of the
existing Board of Management, to make "a kirk or a mill of
it" as might transpire. The Assembly never asked nor received
any report of the administration of that fund. Indeed the only
reference made to it in the Minutes of the General Assembly occurs
in 1882, when reference having been made to certain expenses in
curred in connection with prolonged litigation, it was unanimously
resolved to commend to the members of the Church the duty of
coming liberally to the assistance of the brethren made personally
liable for costs in the appeal case to the Privy Council. Provision
had been made by the Quebec Act of 1875, and by the Dominion
Act of 1882, by which the residue of the Fund, if any remained,
after satisfying all the claims of the Beneficiaries "was to be appro
priated to a Home Mission Fund for aiding weak congregations in
the United Church." But as has been already stated, 53 Benefi
ciaries outlived the Temporalities' Fund.

18

138 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

During its early sittings the new General Assembly received
messages of cordial congratulations from the Presbyterian Church
of the United States of America, the Methodist Church of Canada,
the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and the Synod of the Church
of England in the Diocese of Montreal, "on the happy consummation
of the Union. A draft act, in terms of the Barrier Act, was sent
down to Presbyteries recommending that the General Assembly
shall consist of one-fourth of the whole number of ministers on the
rolls of the several Presbyteries, with an equal number of repre
sentative elders. This was homologated by the Presbyteries and
became law, and so continued until 1902, when a large majority of
the Presbyteries reported in favour of reducing the commission to
one-sixth the number of ministers and elders.

At the next meeting of the Assembly in Knox Church, Toronto,
in June, 1876. Rev. William Reid, M.A. and Rev. John H. Mac-
Kerras, M.A., were appointed joint clerks of the Assembly, at a
salary of $250 each, together with Rev. William Fraser, with his
former salary of $150 per annum. Mr. MacKerras died 9th Jan
uary, 1880, and Mr. Fraser in 1893, when Rev. Robert Campbell,
D D. was appointed in his stead. On Dr. Reid's death, January
19th, 1896, Rev. R. H. Warden, D.D. was appointed Agent for the
Western Section of the Church and joint clerk with Dr. Campbell.
In 1876, June 16th, the Church Agent of our Old Kirk Synod was
appointed editor of the Presbyterian Record at an annual salary
of six hundred dollars. The Rev. P. G. MacGregor of Halifax at
the same time was appointed General Agent for the Eastern Section,
and Dr. Reid for the Western, each with a salary of $2000 per
annum.

Thus equipped, the Presbyterian Church in Canada commenced
a career of usefulness and continuous progress and prosperity far
transcending the most sanguine expections of its founders. Words
fail to convey an adequate conception of the growth of the Church
and its missionary activities from 1876 to 1901. Some idea of it
however may be gathered from the following comparative table of
statistics for these years, compiled from official sources, of the in
crease in quarter of a century.

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION.

139

£

' - '

£

—

misters
Rolln

* u

II
"SO

4) O.J5

all
111

oc

C

V

a

II

ill

A J * C | £"

s 5

s.S

= •5.5

H

6 g

* A »

as y ,u C i S

•/: x C" o '^ c.

1876 ...

634

627

130

10

3656

90,653

73,394

7,«J71 $ 982,071

1901 ...

1600

1198

1330

52

7559

219,470

182.335

21,717 2,857,489

Increase

866

571

1200

42

3703

128,817

108,941

14,246 $1,875,418

In recognition of his personal worth, his lengthened and suc-
cesful ministry, his matured wisdom, his wise and conciliatory coun
sels, and his eminent services during the negotiations for the union,
Dr. Topp was elected by acclamation moderator of the Second
General Assembly held in Knox Church, Toronto, 8th June, 1876.

At a meeting of the General Assembly held in Hamilton, Ont.,
1899, it was unanimously agreed to commemorate the passing of
the centuries, and as an expression of gratitude to God for His
signal favours to this Church, especially since the memorable union
of 1875, by asking the congregations to contribute towards a
Memorial Century Fund of one million of dollars. In response to
this resolution and appeal the sum of $1,591,221 was reported to
have been contributed from all sources, whereof the ministers of
the Church were credited with the noble amount of SI 00,000.

In all ages and in all Churches there has never been wanting
' cheap prophecy.' In the present case it abounded. Minor pro
phets arose who predicted the speedy dissolution of the union of
1875. " It was held together," they said " by a rope of sand :
complications and contentions are unavoidable in the near future,
and must inevitably bring about anarchy and disruption." To
this it may be answered that complications and contentions did
ensue, but " the rope of sand " was equal to the strain. Whatever
there may have been of bigotry, intolerance, or uncharitableness
gave place to mutual respect, and at the end of the first quarter of
a century of its existence The Presbyterian Church in Canada
was a happy family, with a numerous offspring — a harmonious
and a progressive Church.

140 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CBOIL.

AFTER THE UNION.

Even if it were desirable to prolong the story of the Union and
its consequences in the ensuing years, I have not the necessary
data for making the attempt. I shall therefore only draw on my
defective memory for a very few further details.

When the majority of the Synod had adjourned to the Victoria
Hall, on the morning of the June 15th, the dissentients remained
in St. Paul's Church and proceeded to organize themselves into a
separate Synod ; the Rev. Robert Dobie being elected moderator
and Rev. Robert Burnet, clerk. The sederunt consisted of eight
ministers and two elders, as follows : — Messrs. Dobie of Milton,
Simpson of Lachine, Watson of Thorah, Burnet of Hamilton, J. S.
Mullan of Osnabruck, Macpherson of Lancaster, Davidson of
Williamsburgh, and Macdonald of Beechridge — ministers ; and
Wm. McMillan of London, and Roderick McCrimmon of Lancaster —
elders. One of the ministers J. S. Mullan retired from the meet
ing and repaired to the Victoria Hall prior to the roll being called,
and announced his adherence to the Union. WThen the caretaker
of the church was asked as to what took place on that occasion he
discharged his conscience — lest he be called a tale-bearer, with the
cautious reply " They exhausted the docquet " ! As to what was
done I never heard. That a Synod and Presbyteries " in connec
tion with the Church of Scotland " continued in existence for sev
eral years cannot be questioned, but it is equally true that as
ministers of these courts died, retired, or left the country, the said
courts gradually assumed smaller dimensions and eventually
became defunct, except in the Maritime Provinces where a Synod
and two Presbyteries are still to be found.

It is noticeable that, in the Western Section, the opposition to
the Union was mainly a clerical movement. This was shown by
the fact that of the 12 ministers who declined to enter the Union,
the congregations of 10 of them voted themselves into the Union
at the earliest available opportunity. In the Eastern Section it
was otherwise. In the County of Pictou where objections to the
union most largely prevailed, the people were mostly descendants
of Scottish Highlanders embued with a spirit of conservatism

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 141

like to that of their progenitors. Their attachment to " the Church
of their Father's bordered on romance, and found expression in
sentiments akin to that of the Psalmist — " If I forget thee O Jeru
salem, let my right hand forget her cunning." It was said also
that politics had something to do with the movement, and politics
ran high in Pictou County. Be that as it may ; the ministers did not
take a prominent part in the negotiations for or against union, if
we except Dr. Pollock of New Glasgow, Rev. George M. £r»aiit of
Halifax, and Dr. Bayne of Pictou, and Dr. Macrae of St. John,
N.B., all of whom favoured union — beyond declining to enter the
union, ministers there took no steps to hinder it. On the contrary,
their attitude ever since has been friendly. Dr. Murray of Halifax
says of them in 1(JOO — "All the non-union congregations in Pictou
County, and all the ministers, are on terms of closest amity with
the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and contribute cheerfully to
to the missionary schemes of the United Church." Rev. E. Scott,
editor of the Presbyterian Record, himself a Hants County man,
and many years minister in New Glasgow, endorses the statement
of Dr. Murray by saying — "there are only two pro-union ministers
remaining in Pictou County now (1900); the others are young
men who would gladly, if they could, bring their congregations
into the union." So then it was the vox popidi that was raised
against union in the east.

Referring only to the Western Section of the Churches, the
minority shewed no inclination tamely to accept the situation.
On the contrary they used every means in their power to undo
what had been done in Victoria Hall and in the Provincial and
Dominion Legislatures. As before the union, so after it, the press
was brought into requisition, letters, circulars, pamphlets and car
toons, combining wisdom, wit, ridicule, and rhodomontade were
scattered broadcast. Sermonic utterances and platform harangues
were reproduced : sarcastic poetry lent its aid to the crusade.
Injunctions and law-suits occupied the attention of the courts of
justice, and were carried even " to the foot of the throne." Tin-
University of Queen's College : The Temporalities' Board and
Fund : The Ministers' Widows and Orphans Fund, were all held

142 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

to belong to the non-unionists who went through the form of As
sembly appointing trustees and managers for them respectively.
Mr. Lang retained his seats as trustee of the College, and manager
of the Temporalities' Board as long as he remained in the country
(till 1882), and availed himself of the privilege of protesting against
everything that was done in the meeting of the Boards to the
bitter end. The suits taken at his instance in the Canadian courts
were all decided in favour of the respondents, with costs. The
most important of these entitled, "Dobie versus Temporalities'
Board" which was argued in the Superior Court, Montreal. The
judgment rendered by the Hon. Mr. Justice Jette, on Decem
ber 29th, 1879, concluding with the announcement that "The writ
of injunction issued in this cause must, therefore, be set aside, and
the petitioner's demand rejected with costs.

From this judgment an appeal was taken to Her Majesty's
Privy Council towards the close of 1880, and on the 21st of Janu
ary, 1882, their Lordships delivered their judgment in the case.
Inter alia : (1 ) That the Act of the Legislature of the Province of
Quebec, 38 Viet. ch. 64, amending the Act of the Province of Can
ada, 22 Viet. ch. 66, under which the Temporalities' Board was in
corporated, was ultra vires, and that consequently the Board by
which the Fund was administered subsequent to the Union was
not duly constituted. (2) Their Lordships declined to declare
that the Temporalities' Fund should be vested in the minority who
did not enter into the Union. (3) Their Lordships further declined
to declare that the ministers who went into the Union ceased to be
members of the Presbyterian Church of Canada in connection with
the Church of Scotland, or that they had no longer any right to
the benefits of the Temporalities' Fund. (4) Their Lordships stated
that " the Parliament of Canada is the only Legislature having
power to modify or repeal the provisions of the Act of 1858. (5)
" Their Lordships are of opinion that neither the respondents' (i. e.
the Board) own costs, nor those in which they are found liable to
the appellant, ought to come out of the trust Fund. The appellant's
costs must therefore be paid by the members of the respondent
corporation as individuals."

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 143

The members of the Privy Council before whom the case was
argued were Lord Blackburn, Lord Watson, Sir Barnes Peacock,
Sir Montague Smith, Sir Robert P. Collier, Sir Richard Couch, and
Sir Arthur Hobhouse. Messrs. Bompas, Bischoff and Dodgson of
London had charge of the case for the Temporalities' Board, Sir
Judah P. Benjamin, Q.C., and Mr. F. H. Jeune, of the English Bar,
and Mr. John L. Morris Q. C., of the Canadian Bar, argued for the
respondent. Mr. Jeune, in 1892, became a member of H. M. Privy
Council under the title of Sir Francis H. Jeune. Mr. Horace
Davey, Q.C.. and Mr. Macleod Fullerton, of the English Bar, and
Mr. Donald Mac master of the Canadian Bar, were counsel for the
the appellants.

In terms of their Lordships' suggestion, application having been
made to the Dominion Legislature for an Act to amend the Act of the
late Province of Canada Incorporating the Temporalities' Board,
(1858) 22 Victoria, chapter 66) in 1882, an Act was passed by said
Legislature, and assented to by His Excellency the Governor-
General on the 18th of May, in that year. The provisions of the
said Act are identical with those of the Act of the Quebec Legis
lature 38 Viet. ch. 64, save and except that the clause in section 2,
providing "that the successors of ministers of congregations in the
Province of Quebec, existing at the time of the union, which do
not enter into such union, shall retain the same rights to the bene
fits of the Temporalities' Fund which they would have had if such
union had not taken place," is omitted ; and the following clause
was inserted respecting the final disposition of the Fund : "After
the first and third classes of payments named in section one shall
have been extinguished and provision shall have been made for the
annual receipt in perpetuity of the sum provided for in the second
class of payments (viz. Queen's College), each congregation which
declined to become a party to the union and which shall not have
entered the union before the time of the extinction of such pay
ments, shall be entitled to a share of the residue, such share to be
in the proportion of one to the whole number of congregations on
Synod roll on the fourteenth day of June, 1875, the date of the
union."

144 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

The passage of the Act was stoutly opposed by Mr. Donald
Macmaster, Q.C., Rev. Gavin Lang, and Mr. Douglas Brymner. In
favour of it were heard before the Private Bills Committee, Mr.
John L. Morris, Q.C., the solicitor of the Temporalities' Board,
Principal Grant of Queen's College, and the Church Agent. The
speeches of Messrs. Macmaster, Morris and Grant were remarkably
tine specimens of forensic eloquence. The arguments in favour of the
Bill were overwhelming, even to the removal of some technical
scruples on the part of Sir John A. Macdonald, the premier, who
used to speak of himself facetiously, as "an outside pillar of the
Kirk." Sir John A. " one of the Fathers of Confederation," as he
was styled — its " grandfather " in large measure — was the greatest
statesman Canada ever produced. Sir John was born in Glasgow,
Scotland in 1814. He died in Ottawa, June 6th, 1891.

No reasonable objection can be taken to the steps taken by the
anti-union party to conserve their rights and to continue their
allegiance to the Church of Scotland apart from their brethren who
entered into the union. On the whole, their procedure throughout
the struggle was above board and so far honourable. In one point
however, it was thought at the time that their zeal out-ran their
discretion in pronouncing, 'ex cathedra,' a sentence of deposition
on all their brethren who entered into the union. Deposition,
ever considered the last resort in cases of aggravated immorality
or heterodoxy, had come to be resorted to sparingly in regard to
other offences. Nothing in the nature of heinous immorality or
heterodoxy was alleged as the cause of resorting to this extreme
measure in the present instance. Indeed it is scarcely conceivable
that it should ever have been thought of, but the record of the
time is ineffaceable. "At a meeting of the Synod of the Presby
terian Church of Canada in connection with the Church of Scotland,
held in St. Andrew's Church, Montreal, on the 14th of June, 1876,
it was declared that the ministers formerly of this Church, who
entered the union, are no longer ministers of this Church, and that
they are hereby deposed from the ministry of this Church." That
was bad enough, but the 'most unkindest cut of all,' was when an
official intimation of the deposition of Principal Snodgrass was

THE CHURCH AGENT, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH UNION. 145

transmitted to the Moderator of the Presbytery of Langholm,
Scotland, in October, 1877, with the view to prevent his being in
ducted to the Parish of Canonbie ; but of which it is needless to
.say the said Presbytery took no notice.

The entire costs of litigation arising out of the union of the
Presbyterian Churches in Canada cannot now be easily attained,
but it is a safe estimate to say that, including both parties, it could
not have been less than $50,000.

With the passing of the Dominion Act in 1882, and the removal
of Rev. Gavin Lang to Inverness, Scotland, the last flickering em
bers of opposition died out.

146 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

CHAPTER VII.

DEPUTATION WORK, BROOKLYN, PHILADELPHIA, EDINBURGH,
BELFAST, WASHINGTON, LIVERPOOL.

fTlHIS is fascinating : not from the real or imaginary honour of
posing on a platform, which I never did without much fear
and trembling, but because it is attended with certain privileges. It
implies travel more or less, it brings one into good company, some
times leading up to new friendships ; and it always tends to in
crease our knowledge of men and things in general. I have already
referred to the deputation to the General Assembly of the Church
of Scotland in 1875, In the following year I was associated with
Rev. Dr. John Laing of Dundas, and commissioned to appear before
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States (north) and also that of the United Presbyterian Church.
The former met in Dr. T. de Witt Talmage's Tabernacle in Brooklyn.
This was the first deputation of the newly formed Church in
Canada to our friends across the line. And, strange to say, up to
the time of writing (1902), it was the last ! Dr. Talmage appeared
to be the master of ceremonies : He was no doubt sincere when he
made this announcement "Brooklyn sets her front door of welcome
open to the General Assembly. Come in and sit in our best arm
chairs, sleep in our best apartments, and stay till you are weary of
us ! come in Oregon and Pennsylvania, Vermont and Alabama,
Maine and California!" Had Dr. Talmage only thought of it, he
might have added : Come in, too, ye north men from Canada : be
ye warmed and fed ! The Canadians would have counted themselves
happy to have gone in and admired the interior of some of those
beautiful brown-stone-front Brooklyn houses, and made the
acquaintance of brother and sister Jonathan. But that was not on

DEPUTATION WORK. 147

the programme ; they were assigned rooms in a mean lodging-house,
and during their sojourn of a week, never once darkened the doors
of any of the residences of the great City of Brooklyn, numbering
at that time half a million of people.

Tne Tabernacle was seated for 4300 and well adapted for the
present purpose. The wide platform, devoid of pulpit, only wanted
the foot-lights to give it the appearance of a theatrical stage, but it
suited Dr. Talmage's style of preaching, which was histrionic and
sensational. The auditorium with its semi circular pews was all
right. The members of Assembly, to the number of 600, occupied
the chief portion of the floor, the rest of the building being packed
with spectators. It was a grand sight to look upon ; and deeply
affecting was it when the communion service was attended by 8000
communicants. Dr. Morris of Cincinnati, in relinquishing the
moderatorship, invested his successor, the Rev. Dr. Henry Jackson
Van Dyke of Brooklyn with the insignia of office — a "gavel," which
was brought into frequent requisition to remind long-winded
speakers that the time limit of "five minutes" had been reached-
There were many Van Dykes in this church, but this one I think
was the most distinguished of them all. He certainly discharged the
duties of the chair with great promptness, impartiality and courtesy.
He died, I remember, very suddenly, in 1891. The proceedings of
the Court were chiefly of a routine character ; no doctrinal difficul
ties to be settled, nor any cases of discipline to be dealt with. The
reports of the Home and Foreign Missions Committees were dwelt
upon at great length — irrespective of 'time limit' ; and a tremendous
outburst of enthusiasm took place when the venerable Dr. Prime
read a telegram to the effect that "The Church of the South cordially
enters with us upon fraternal relations." But a closer union with
the South seems still to be as far off as ever ! Dr. Laing and his
colleague had their innings in due course and did their best to ex
plain that Canada was not a region of perpetual ice and snow, and
that its Home Mission area was as extensive as that that had been
so eloquently described by previous speakers. We had a respectful
hearing and came away very favourably impressed with what we
had seen and heard.

148 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

Dr. Talmage was a man sui generis. He possessed the faculty,
ad captandam, you may call it, of catching the public ear beyond
all the men of his day. He was certainly a very great preacher,
but not to be ranked in the same category with his townsmen,
Henry Ward Beecher, and Richard Storrs. It says much for Tal
mage that during the whole of his 25 year's ministry in Brooklyn,
his church, the largest Protestant place of worship in the United
States, was always well attended. His sermons were reproduced
in thousands of newspapers and magazines and sent broadcast over
the whole civilized world, to the number of many millions weekly !
In his frequent lecturing tours he earned $300 a night ; as a jour
nalist he was readily accorded his own price ; and so he amassed
wealth. In his migrations he visited nearly all the crowned heads
of Europe and was everywhere lionized. Thrice his Brooklyn
Tabernacle was burned. The last fire was the most disastrous of
all, for the third Tabernacle was the largest and finest of the three,
seated for over 5000, and adorned with relics from the Holy Land.
That happened in 1894, soon after which Dr. Talmage resigned
the charge, and for a short time became colleague with Dr. Byron
Sunderland in Washington, D.C.

With all his popular gifts, Dr. Talmage lacked the faculty of
organization : He himself was ever the one-man-power, and the
result was that his great congregation contributed little, either in
money or influence, to the interests of Presbyterianism. In that
respect Dr. Talmage was a distinct failure. Many hard things
have been said about his methods, but no one ever called in question
his sincerity, or his orthodoxy. He was a thoroughly evangelical
preacher. For the last few years of his life he lived in Washing
ton, in otium cum dignt.tate, and then he died in 1902, at the age
of 70 years. We had the privilege of listening to one of Henry
Ward Beechers' afternoon Lectures. His " Plymouth Church "
(congregational), was greatly inferior outwardly and within to
Tal mage's Tabernacle, but it easily accommodated a congregation
of 3000, and seldom failed of a full attendance. Beecher was
accounted one of the brightest intellectual lights in the United
States, but was not credited with overmuch orthodoxy. He pro-

DEPUTATION WOKK. 149

fessed to be evangelical, progressive, and " anti-calivinistic." With
the liberty denied to Presbyterians, he disputed the doctrine of
eternal punishment, inclining to a modification of the annihilation
theory. He had a commanding personality, and exercised a
potent influence on the minds of his auditory. He was one of the
most outspoken denunciators of slavery and did much to secure its
abolishment in America On his visit to Europe in 1863, he cour
ageously defended the attitude of the Northern States in the civil
war then raging, and, in the end, he honourably exonerated him
self from attacks against his character by the envenomed shafts of
criticisms that were showered upon him. Mr. Beecher belonged to
an illustrious family. His father, Dr. Lyman Beecher, was one of
New England Congregational divines who attained much celebrity
and who eventually became president of Lane Theological Semi
nary at Cincinnati, and minister of a Presbyterian church in that
city. His sister, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, was one of America's
most distinguished authors and gained world-wide renown as the
writer of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." Henry Ward Beecher died in
Brooklyn, where he had ministered for forty years, in 1887, in the
74th year of his age. Dr. Storrs, the minister of the Congrega
tional Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn for 53 years, occupied a
higher plane in pulpit oratory than either Talmage or Beecher.
He was undoubtedly one of the most accomplished and eloquent of
preachers. No charge of heterodoxy nor taint of the sensational was
ever attributed to him. He held his large congregation all these
years by sheer force of commanding intellect and lofty ideals. He
was one of the editors of " The Independent " — the mouth-piece
of the Congregational Church, and many years chairman of the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. What
struck us most in his church, next to his own captivating person
ality and delivery, was the manner of conducting the Psalmody, or
rather the ' Hymnary,' in this church. The Service of Praise
MMMIUM! to !>•• ivl« -gated almost exclusively to tin- choir which con
sisted of a quartette of surpassing excellence. The closing hymn
was the only one in which the congregation was expected to take
a part. We had also an opportunity of hearing Dr. John Hall and

150 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

Dr. William M. Taylor, the shining lights of Presbyterianism and
Congregationalism, respectively, in New York city.

Our commission extended to the General Assembly of the
United Presbyterian Church, meeting in the city of Brotherly Love.
Here again there was a large assemblage of ministers and laymen,
but the proceedings were by this time drawing to a close, so we
heard none of the debates. There was only time for a very brief
statement by my colleague, Dr. Laing, when we adjourned to take
in the great Centennial Exhibition then in full swing in Philadel
phia. All that I remember about the Assembly is that the Moder
ator appeared in a white waistcoat, and wore no gown. Dr.
Mutchmore, the editor of the Philadelphia " Presbyterian" was a
deputy to our Assembly that year. In giving an account of his
visit in his journal he concluded by saying that " he had never
heard so many able speeches delivered within the compass of four
days as on that occasion." But that was the year of the great
discussion on the Macdonnell case, of which more hereafter.

AT MEETINGS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN ALLIANCE.

The first meeting of the Council of the " Pan-Presbyterian"
Alliance as it was commonly called, took place in Edinburgh in
July, 1877. Its original constitution provided that it should con
sist, as nearly as possible, of an equal number of ministers and
ruling elders, but the Canadian General Assembly, in its wisdom,
had appointed fifteen ministers and only three elders as represen
tatives. Along with my daughter, now Mrs. Robert Laing, of
Halifax, I sailed from Quebec in the S.S. " Moravian," Captain
Archer, on the 6th of June. The voyage was uneventful. In the
absence of a minister, none could make use of the Book of Com
mon Prayer at the Sunday morning service more effectually than
Captain Archer, and he made it a rule that as many of his crew as
could be exempt from ship's duty should attend the service in their
best rigs.

We were quartered in Chalmers street, Edinburgh, with a
family residing near the Grange Cemetery, where all that was
mortal of the illustrious Chalmers, Guthrie, Cunningham, and many

DEPUTATION WORK, 151

other Scotch celebrities was laid to rest We had the honour
of meeting Dr. Raleigh of London, Dr. Walter C. Smith, the poet
preacher of Edinburgh, and other distinguished individuals, and
had also the privilege of visiting as many of our personal friends
as we chose, to share the abundant hospitality extended to us.

Before entering on an account of the proceedings of the Council
it may be well to state in brief the origin of the Alliance. I think
it will be safe to attribute it to Dr. James McCosh, then president
of the college at Princeton, New Jersey, in many respects a remark
able man. Dr. McCosh was a native of Ayrshire ; he began his
ministry at Arbroath, and was minister of the Church of Scotland
in Brechin 1839 to 1843 when he joined the Free Church. In 1851
he was appointed professor of logic and metaphyics in Queen's
College, Belfast, and in 18G8 elected president of Princeton College.
He was a voluminous writer on subjects related to his department
of philosophical investigation. At his instance the idea of embrac
ing the whole Presbyterian family in a bond of union, with a view
to extending sympathy and support to its weaker branches, and for
the common good, began to take shape in 1870. Dr. W. G. Blaikie
of Edinburgh, entered heartily into the proposal. In 1873, the
subject was brought before the General Assemblies of the Presby
terian Church in Ireland and in the United States. This led to a
meeting in New York during the sessions of the Evangelical Al
liance, when it was agreed to hold a conference in regard to it in
London. That took place in July, in 1875, when about one hun
dred delegates met in the College of the Presbyterian Church in
England, and adopted a constitution. Dr. Snodgrass and Dr. Topp
represented the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Dean Stanley,
put a graceful finishing touch to the conference by inviting the
delegates to a conversazione in the historic Jerusalem Chamber,
Westminster Abbey. Dr. McCosh and Dr. Philip Schaff on behalf
of the delegates, tendered thanks to the liberal minded Dean, who
replied pleasantly, expressing a hope "that the Episcopalian Church
would be able to hold its own against th.- mighty agencies which
the Presbyterians had now at work." So it came to pass that the
Presbyterian Alliance received its baptism in the same place wln-iv

152 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

the Westminster divines concluded their deliberations in 1652,
and where the British New Testament Company of Revisers held
their regular monthly meetings for ten years and a-half in the
work of revising the common version of the Bible for the general
benefit of English-speaking Christendom.

The first meeting of the Council was an event never to be for
gotten by any who witnessed it. To those who came here for the
first time, Edinburgh was at once a revelation and an inspiration.
The inaugural reception held on the evening of July 3rd in the splen
did halls of the Museum of Science and Art, at which the Lord Provost
presided, was an imposing function at which there was much speak
ing and hand-shaking, interspersed with exquisite Scotch music by
the band of the 78th Highlanders. On the following forenoon,
old St. Giles Cathedral contained an audience the like of which
had never before been seen within its walls. Leaders of the Pres
byterian Churches from many lands were there and as they united
their voices in singing the opening psalm — the Old Hundredth—
the volume of sound that rose to the vaulted roof was almost
overpowering. The preacher of the day, Professor Flint, a young
man of hard features, amply justified the honour conferred upon
him, for as he warmed to his work, the pervervidum engenium
Scotorum radiated from his face and gave such force to his utter
ances on the mystical unity of Christ and His believing people as
made one feel that the spirit of John Knox himself was in the
pulpit.

On the afternoon of the same day the business of the Council
got into full swing ; the place of meeting, the Free Assembly Hall.
Dr. Howard Crosby of New York, was our first chairman. The
promptness with which he rushed the business through took our
Scotch friends not a little by surprise. At the call of the roll a
full hundred stalwart Americans answered to their names. Of the
Canadians there were present seven ministers and three elders : Dr.
Snodgrass, Principals McVicar and Caven, Professor Maclaren, Dr.
Robt. Campbell, Rev. John Burton, Dr. Willis — ministers. The
elders were Messrs. Henry Webster, George Hay and myself.
Drs. W. G. Blaikie and G. W. Matthews were appointed joint clerks.

DEPUTATION WORK. 153

At each succeeding diet a new chairman presided. Dr. Caven was
one of those. The official programme, which under the censorship
of the business committee, made room for little discussion. It
consisted chiefly of a formidable array of essays on prescribed sub
jects, the delivery of which occupied nearly all the six working
days of the Council. The Canadians modestly took a back seat,
though Dr. Maclarun managed to make a brief statement regarding
the Missions of our Church, and Mr. Burton read an excellent paper
on "The Christian Training of the Young." The Americans were
by far the most talkative. To ordinary minds some of the papers
were just a "wee dreich," but all wrere not dry-as-dust. Notably
that by Howard Crosby on "Preachers and Preaching" was racy,
combining wit, wisdom and pathos, and was applauded to the echo.
The personnel of the Council was most attractive, including recog
nized leaders of thought from many lands. Had I been asked to
name a score of the most distinguished speakers I must have hesi
tated. After the lapse of twenty-five years these are uppermost in
memory : of the Americans, Dr. McCosh, Dr. Schaff, Dr. Crosby
and Dr. John Hall of New York, D. C. Stuart Robinson of Louis
ville, Kentucky ; Dr. Nichollsof St. Louis, Dr. Ho^geof Richmond,
Dr. Van Dyke of Brooklyn, and the venerable Dr. Plumer of South
Carolina. Of the Continentals — Dr. Pressense and Theodore Monod
of Paris, Professor Godet of Xeufchatel, Dr. Wangemann of Berlin,
Mr. Fliedner from Spain, and Mr. KalopoHiakes of Athens. Among
the Scottish representatives were — Principal Tulloch of St. Andrews,
Professor Flint, Dr. John Marshall Lang, Dr. James Begg, Dr. Phin,
Dr. Andrew Thomson, Dr. Moody Stuart, Dr. Herdman of Melrose,
etc., etc. Dr. Murray Mitchell, Dr. Thomson, author of "The Law
and the Book," Dr. Swanson from China, and Dr. John IngHs from
the New Hebrides, fitly represented the foreign mission element.
Dr. Donald Fraser and Dr. Oswald Dykes of London were there in
good form, and many eminent laymen, among whom I remember
Lord Polwarth, James A. Campbell of Stracathro, James Stevenson
of Glasgow, and George Junkin of Philadelphia. It was announced
that the next meeting of the Alliance would be held in 1880, and
after an eloquent farewell address by Dr. Dykes, this Council was
dissolved. 20

154 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

Lord Polwarth had invited the members of the Council and
their friends to a garden party at his fine residence, Mertoun
House, near Melrose and Dryburgh, and the following morning
formed a party of three hundred en route to that classic district —
redolent with memories of Scott and Abbottsford. It proved to
be a most enjoyable occasion. The old Abbey of Melrose had
never before had within its walls such a cosmopolitan congregation
and we all felt that there were sermons in these old stones if we
could but hear them speak. Dr. Campbell of Geelong broke the
silence by reminding us that beneath the spot of ground on which
lie stood there was interred the heart of King Robert Bruce. After
a few remarks bearing on the history of the roofless minster, he
asked the assemblage to join in singing the Old Hundredth, which
was done with a will. We then passed on to Dryburgh Abbey,
the ruins of which, clothed in ivy, are exceedingly picturesque.
There was less perhaps of the rich stone carving seen at Melrose,
but the tout ensemble is even more impressive. In a quiet corner
of the romantic mausoleum is the tomb of Sir Walter Scott and
his family, and the burial place of the Erskines — the founders of
the Secession Church. At Mertoun House, a large number of
people from the surrounding country had gathered, after wander
ing through the beautiful grounds and gardens, all met on the
lawn in front of the house, to the number of a thousand or more,
where addresses were delivered by our host, Theodore Monod and
others, after which refreshments were served to the multitude
seated on the green grass. Introduction followed, to the Master
of Polwarth's Countess, the Dowager Duchess of Aberdeen, and
other notabilities and we set out on our return journey to Edin
burgh, having spent a very pleasant and profitable day.

The second meeting of the Presbyterian Alliance was held in
Philadelphia in September, 1880. In its main features it was a
repetition of the Edinburgh Council. But, in making preparations
for it, Brother Jonathan exceeded his Scotch cousins in that pro
vision was made to defray the expense of the ocean passage
incurred by foreign delegates ! When Dr. Laing came to move a
vote of thanks to the committee of arrangements and the people

DEPUTATION WORK. 1 .V>

of Philadelphia for their hospitality, he hit upon the right word
when he said it was prodigious !

As in Edinburgh, to begin with, a public reception took place
in the salons of the Academy of Fine Arts — a beautiful building,
rich in treasures of sculpture and painting. But the heat was
oppressive, and the assemblage so dense and talkative as to render
the eloquent addresses of the Governor of the State and the
Mayor of the city inaudible save to those in the immediate vicinity
of the platform. The opening ceremony was in the Academy
of Music — the largest theatre in the city, the dazzling trappings
of which presented a strange contrast to the solemnity of the occa
sion. A magnificent sermon was delivered by Dr. Paxton of New
York — a tall slender man on the shady side of sixty, of pleasing
address and fluent speech. His text was well chosen — " Many
shall come from the East and from the West, and from the North
and from the South, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." Pausing for a moment to
survey the auditory, he began by saying, " this day is the scrip
ture fulfilled in your ears ? Never, I venture to say, had a sermon
a more appropriate introduction, and the effect on the audience
was simply indescribable. At several points in his discourse the
speaker was interrupted by hearty applause, an innovation which
brought from elder George Junkin a stern rebuke, but ineffectual.
As to the proceedings of the Council, there is no need to go into
details. There was the same routine of reading papers on all sort
of subjects. No less than sixty of them being announced in the
programme. Many of them were interesting ; some of them tire
some ; even as to the best of them, it might be said, it is possible
to have just a little too much of a good thing. The first paper,
read by Dr. Hitchcock of New York was one of the most remark
able. His theme was " the Ceremonial, the Moral, and the Emo
tional in Christian Life and Worship." Affording wide scope for
divergency of opinion ; it went off like a sky-rocket and electrified
the audience, many of whom evidently thought that the learned
divine was treading the edge of a volcano. The length and the
breadth of his essay were about r.jual.and led toa lively discussion

156 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

in which our Principal Grant and Rev. D. J. Macdonnell took pro
minent parts, and somewhat startled the audience by their out
spokenness, which along with Dr. Hitchcock laid them open to
subsequent criticism. But the breeze soon subsided and the
Jmeute was forgotten in the torrents of orthodoxy which followed.

The Canadian Assembly had for this occasion appointed an
equal number of ministers and elders as delegates — eight of each,
and all were there, and had full share assigned them in the reading
of papers, presiding at the meeting, and as members of the business
committee.

When due allowance is made for errors of omission and com
mission, and for differences of opinion in regard to such matters,
it may be said that, on the whole, the result of the conference was
eminently salutary tending to show that, in regard to the essen
tials of our faith, the great heart of the Presbyterian Church, as
here represented in its various branches, is true to its distinctive
principles, and that the points of disagreement are few and small
in comparison with that on which all are agreed.

To many of us it was the fulfilment of a long cherished desire,
brought about by an invitation of the President and Faculties of
Princeton College, to visit that celebrated seat of learning. A
special train had been provided, and between three and four hundred
of the delegates availed themselves of the invitation. Dr. McCosh's
warm address of welcome, made all feel at home, and drew from
Dr. Lang, Naryan Sheshadri and others eloquent responses and
touching tributes to the memories of illustrious men who had been
connected with the college. We visited the old kirk-yard in which
are the graves of Dr. John Witherspoon, one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence and a President of Princeton ; the
illustrious Jonathan Edwards, the Alexanders, and rare old Dr.
Charles Hodge. We sat down to a splendid banquet in the Uni
versity Hotel and came away from Princeton saying, like the
Queen of Sheba, " it was a true report that I heard in mine own
land, and behold the half was not told me ; thy wisdom and pros
perity exceedeth the fame which I heard."

The Belfast Council, the third of the series, commenced its pro-

DEPUTATION WORK, 157

ceedings in June 24th, 1884, and remained in session till the 4th
of July. Some of us went oversea in the " Polynesian," Captain
Brown ; and we had a pleasant voyage, landing at Moville and
spending a (Jay inspecting the lines of Londonderry — its old cathe
dral and older walls, on which the famous cannon " Roaring Meg "
is mounted as a memento of the seige of Derry. En route to Bel
fast the railway traverses a pretty undulating country. As we
passed Limavady one of ths parsons pointing to a brown heath
suddenly felt a lump rising in his throat. " I was born there" he
said, " and many a time have I cast peats on that moor." We sym
pathized with him, Irishmen have no need to be ashamed of their
country. A much larger detachment of delegates came over in the
" Sardinian" the following week — eighteen in all. Some of them
were taken aback, it is said, when Captain Dutton on the Saturday
evening cooly announced that he would conduct the Sunday morn
ing service himself which he did in a manner that astonished them
all ! The motto conspicuously displayed in the Ulster Hall, Bel
fast, where we were banqueted, prepared us for the hearty wel
come that ensued.

Coed Mille Failte f A grand reception was held in the
Botanic Gardens: where a military band filled the air with Irish
and Scottish melodies. The lines fell to me in a particularly
pleasant place — one of the finest of the many fine mansions on the
Lough, where I was made the recipient of unbounded hospitality
during our sojourn of ten days.

George Junkin, the Philadelphia lawyer, was our first chair
man and rushed the business through with true American precipi
tancy. The promptness of his ruling astonished the " old country
men." Dr. Blaikie, in the course of an address, characterized the
Belfast Council as in some respects the most successful yet held,
and I think he was right. It is true there was the same formid
able array of "papers" on the docquet, but there was less slavish
reading of them — the speaking, generally, was exceptionally good.
Dr. George P. Hays of Denver, Col., was by far the most brilliant
of the American company — a tall, handsome, typical American, a
genius in short of amazing versatility. Now he had the house

158 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

convulsed with laughter, and again wiping tears from their eyes.
A keen discussion followed the reading of a report favouring the
admission of the Cumberland Presbyterians into the Alliance. The
said Church, numbering some 1422 ministers, had not declared
their adhesion to the Westminster Confession of Faith, therefore
they were ineligible, said some. Principal McVicar, I remember,
moved the adoption of the report. Dr. Story (now Principal
Story) sided with the applicants for admission and said he looked
forward to the time when all the Churches would have the grace and
wisdom to assert their liberty in regard to that antiquated symbol.
A tiery southerner stoutly opposed the motion, and a storm seemed
to be gathering, when good old Dr. John Cairns, Principal of the
United Presbyterian College, Edinburgh, poured oil on the troubled
waters, and the Cumberlands were admitted. Dr. Philip Schaff
discoursed long and learnedly on " The Consensus of the Creeds of
the Reformed Church," and thought the time had come when the
Council should endeavour to define, in one statement, the articles
of belief of the various Churches embraced in the Alliance. But
he failed to carry his brothers with him, and Revision of the Creed
is still in the air.

" Lessons from other Churches," was the subject to which Rev.
James Stalker of Glasgow addressed himself and which he handled
in a manner so masterful that when his allotted time had expired
he was vigourously encored. His references to Church govern
ment and ritual, albeit like so many bomb-shells thrown into the
camp, were treated so skilfully they were followed by no explo
sion. Blind Dr. Math\eson of Inellan spoke vigorously and
eloquently on " The Religious Bearing of the Doctrine of Evolu
tion." But the papers and addresses on Missions were the crowning
glory of the Belfast Council. Our Dr. Cochrane of Brantford, cap
tivated his audience with his glowing and graphic description of
Home Mission Work in the Dominion of Canada. His peroration
had the sweep of an avalanche carrying everything before it. Dr.
Burns of Halifax portrayed with poetic fire the History of Roman
Catholicism in Canada, and what the Presbyterian Church was
doing for the evangelization of the French Canadians. A Canadian

DEPUTATION WOKK. 159

elder read an elaborate report on the eldership. Dr. J. Munro
Gibson of London was in his happiest mood when discoursing on
" Lay Help in Church Work," as was also Dr. Charteris of Edin
burgh on "The Revival of the Order of the Diaconate." The
interest in missionary work reached its climax at an evening meet
ing when ten missionaries, whose faces were bronzed with service
in the field, made their appearance on the platform, and one after
another told of the triumphs of the Gospel in the dark places of the
earth. The venerable John Pa ton, the apostle of the New Hebrides
received a "wonderful ovation. His flowing white beard and tre
mulous voice adding to the charm of his personality. Dr. William
Fleming Stevenson of Dublin delivered a magnificent address on
missions. I had the privilege of meeting him in his own house
later on and was greatly impressed with his enthusiasm and bon
homie. While yet in the prime of life and at the height of his
usefulness he died in 1886. Dr. McCosh bade an affectionate fare
well to his brethren, saying that he did not expeet to be able to
attend another meeting of the Alliance, but he had ten years of
life yet in store for him, for it was not until September, 1894, that
he was laid to rest beside Witherspoon in Princeton Cemetery.

Dr. John Cairns gave the valedictory address. He spoke for
an hour without referring to note or paper, with the vigour of a
strong man running a race, words that went home to all hearts.
None could help admiring the simplicity and catholicity of his
character, or being struck with his learning and intimate know
ledge of men and things. It was my great privilege to be on
terms of intimate friendship with him. He died in Edinburgh on
March 12th, 1892, in his 74th year. The last letter I had from
him, dated February 4th, 1890, is reproduced in his Biography.
It was at the close of the great missionary meeting when a little
incident occurred that might have led to serious consequences. And
it was a Canadian elder who occupied the chair and committed the
' unpardonable sin.' At his instigation 5000 voices joined in singing
some verses of the missionary hymn.

u Can we whose souls are lighted
With wisdom from on high ;
Can we to meu benighted
The lamp of life deny ? "

160 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

It was sung with great heartiness as seldom it has been. A
well-known minister of the Church of Scotland who was present
on that occasion, writing afterwards in the Missionary Record of
that Church said that " never in all his experience had he seen such
an effect produced on any audience as on that memorable occasion."
Will it be credited that the singing of that hymn gave such offence
to the members of the United Presbyterian Church of the United
States, that an indignation meeting was held, and the threat
made that they would withdraw in a body from the Alliance should
such an insult to their sense of propriety be ever repeated!! Nor
has a missionary hymn or any other hymn " of human composition,"
been sung in the meetings of the Alliance from that day to this.

" The Excursion" on this occasion was a memorable one by rail
70 miles to Port Rush, where we were met by Rev. Jonathan Simp
son who acted as our personal conductor to the far-famed Giant's
Causeway — seven miles off — to which we went by the first electric
railway ever built, I believe, which had been in existence here for
quite a number of years. Being favoured by fine weather, needless
to say, we spent a delightful day. Leaving others to speculate about
the mysterious formation of these 40,000 basaltic pillars and the
legends connected therewith, we came away filled with wondering
admiration of the scene and with the thought in mind — " Great
and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty ! In widsom
hast Thou made them all : The earth is full of Thy riches."

THE WASHINGTON COUNCIL. Meetings of the Alliance had been
held in London, 1888; in Toronto, 1892 : in Glasgow, 1896; on
these occasions I was elected to stay at home. But in September,
1899, 1 had the opportunity of renewing my acquaintance with the
splendid capital of the United States, after an interval of 54 years,
during which time fourteen different Presidents had lived in the
White House. Washington still retained some of its distinctive
features, but it was a new edition, 'carefully revised, enlarged, and
embellished with numerous illustrations.' Now at first sight one
was tempted to exclaim, as Dickens said to the waiter who kept
him waiting half-an-hour for his breakfast, — " Bless me ! How
you have grown since I last saw you. " The chasms had been

DEPUTATION WORK. 1G1

•

filled up : beautiful boulevards, and avenues adorned with trees had
supervened, and in parks and squares are to be seen, the largest
number of magnificent monuments to departed statesmen, warriors,
historians, and philanthropists, to be found in any city of modern
times.

On arriving at the Fredonia Hotel we found there a large num
ber of delegates, with their wives and sweethearts, including most
of the Canadian contingent, numbering 22, We were well taken
care of. There was no invidious respect of persons at the Fredonia.
Every mothers' son on his arrival was promptly dubbed a D.D. by
obsequious coloured waiters, and its close proximity to the church
in which the meetings were held made it very convenient. This was
the •' New York Avenue Church," of which the courteous and witty
Dr. Radcliffe is pastor.

The pew in which I was seated during the meeting was marked
by a silver plate bearing the intimation that it had been the family
pew of Abraham Lincoln during his presidency.

I am not going to say much, if anything, about the proceedings
of the Washington Council, which differed little from those already
referred to. Papers were read — usque ad nauseam — so said some
of the malcontents. In fact the programme became "the grumbler's
target," and of grumblers there were not a few. One of our men
smote the committee of arrangements hip and thigh and was cheered
to the echo. I felt from the first to the close that, for me, it lacked
the interest of previous meetings. But I sat it out fairly well,
though the temptation was strong to plunk the schule. Let us
hold the papers as read. We had three receptions to vary
the monotony. The first at the White House from 8.30 to 10.30
p.m. was a brilliant function. Mr. McKinley shook hands cordially
and had a pleasant word for each one who passed before him. Mrs.
McKinley, being an invalid, received sitting in an arm-chair and
.smiling graciously. There was a huge crowd. Refreshments were
served in an adjoining room — no intoxicants. A military band
discoursed good music in the hall. I was about to leave at 9.30
when they began playing Scotch airs: 'Auld Robin Gray,' 'Ye
Banks and Braes o'bonny Doon,' 'Logic a Buchan,' 'Annie Laurie,'

21

162 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

and so forth, which riveted me to the spot. Scotch reels followed,
when it became difficult to restrain the iniquity of our heels.

The Executive mansion is a plain but substantial edifice of
Grecian design, built of stone and painted white, and is surrounded
with fine parks and gardens. It fronts on Pennsylvania Avenue
and is about a mile and a-half from the Capitol. It is a place dear
to every patriotic American. Washington selected the site, laid
the foundation stone and lived to see it completed, but not to occupy
it. John Adams was its first tenant in 1796, and it has been the
home of 25 subsequent presidents. The rooms on the main floor
are large and handsomely furnished, and on the walls are many
fine historical portraits, those of George and Martha Washington
being specially venerated. Many stories illustrative of the kind-
heartedness of Mr. McKinley were in circulation. The following
may serve for the present : Dr. James Rennie, a delegate from
Glasgow, had hoped to meet in Washington his son, who had been
23 years in the American Army, but on coming here found that his
son had but a few weeks before been sent to Cuba. It was a
grievous disappointment ; somehow it reached the ear of the Pres
ident who forthwith gave instructions to have the young man
recalled, in order that father and son might meet once more. But
alas ! the son being then in the centre of the Island, communication
was delayed and the tardy reply came that it was too late to make
the transfer — which was a pity. Good President McKinley fell a
victim to the bullet of an anarchist fiend at Buffalo on September
14th, 1901. His last words were : "It is God's way ; His will be
done : Good bye !"

The Second reception was held in the Corcoran Gallery of Art
a splendid building containing a fine collection of art treasures, and
being the gift to the public from one of America's millionaires, it
offered a good illustration of the growing devotion to art and liter
ature that characterizes capitalists in the new world. Reception
number three was at the fine residence of Rev. T. De Witt Talrnage.
He had extended an invitation to the members of the Council and
their friends, who responded in large numbers. The ex-minister,
whose name and fame were wide-spread, acted the host to perfection.

DEPUTATION WORK. 163

He talked well, and laughed well, saying he had never before seen
such a tine looking lot of parsons. Here we had an opportunity
of shaking hands with Dr. Stewart of L)vedile, one of the most
fascinating ministers in the crowd who pleasantly remarked that
these casual meetings remindel him of "ships that pass in the ni^ht,"
" which signal each other for a few moments, and are gone — never
to meet again." That is so.

The Capitol has been greatly enlarged and improved since my
former visit. It is really a magnificent structure, and its surround
ings are beautiful. The glory of the Capitol is its entrancing
dome, having the appearance of Parian marble, though it is only
painted iron. It is surmounted by a colossal bronze figure of
Liberty, one hand resting on a shield, with the legendary motto —
E Pluribu? Uniun. Opposite the east front of the Cipitol there
is a fine statue of Washington in a sitting posture, by Greenough ,
with the famous inscription — " First in War. First in Peace.
First in the Hearts of his Countrymen." Congress not being then
in Session, the Legislative Chambers were in dishabile, but of more
interest than these is the Rotunda, an immense circular hall 97
feet in diameter, and rising with the dome a clear height of 180
feet, its walls adorned with paintings, frescoes and sculpture. Eight
large oil paintings in the panels depict memorable historic scenes—
The Landing of Columbus on San Salvador, in 1492 : the baptism
of Pocahontas, in 1613; the embarkation of the Pilgrims from
Delft Haven 1620: the Declaration of Independence 1766; the
Resignation of General Washington 1783, etc., etc.

Adjoining the Capitol, but in a park of its own, is the Con
gressional Library, in some respects the finest thing in Washington.
It is not easily described ; photography gives a good idea of the
exterior but fails to do justice to the interior, which is chiefly fitted
up in pure white marble, highly polished. The building which is
470 feet long and 340 feet in depth, is in the Italian Renaissance
style, and stands to-day as " America's highest architectural
achievement." It was completed in 1897 at a cost of $6,500,000.
The Reading room underneath the d >me is a striking feature of the
building and is b3st seen from the overhead gallery, which is richly

164 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

adorned with paintings and sculpture. Here we saw, side-by-side,
bronze statues of Moses, St. Paul, and Robert Fulton (of steamboat
fame), representatives of law, religion and commerce. The book-
stacks radiate from the central rotunda like spokes of a wheel,
affording 44 miles of shelving, with accommodation for 2,000,000
volumes ; but the ultimate capacity of the building for bDoks is
4,500,000. At the present time there are somewhat less than one
million books and pamphlets in the catalogue. Everything about
this Library is of the most approved up-to-date fashion, if indeed
it does not set the fashion to the world at large. By an ingenious
mechanical device books are not only conveyed to readers in the
Rotunda but are even carried to the Senate and Congress chambers
1250 feet away by means of pneumatic tubes ! At any time the
Library is a grand sight, but when lighted up by electricity at
night, as we saw it, it is " a joy for ever." The Librarian is a
Scotchman, and he is not the only Scotchman high in office in
Washington. Of the other public buildings in Washington the
most noticeable are the Treasury Offices, the State, War and Navy
Departmental Chambers, the new Post Office, the Patent Office,
the Smithsonian and National Museum, all splendid and costly
buildings, to each of which we had free access and met with
marked civility from the officials and attendants. " Tipping," let
it be known, is tabood in Washington, so far as the State buildings
are concerned. Gratuities to public servants are neither expected
nor accepted. You are even hoisted to the top of the Washington
Monument in an elevator without costing you a cent. This, not
the most beautiful, but the most conspicuous of the many monu
ments in Washington, consists of a huge obelisk 555 J feet in height,
55 feet square at the base and 34 feet square at the top shoulder. A
winding staircase leads to the summit with the elevator in the
centre. In American parlance it is (or it was) "the highest stone
structure on earth !" — higher than the twin spires of Cologne, than
the dome of St, Peter's, and even Cheops" ! The view from summit
is very extensive. It takes just 8 minutes to ascend or descend
in the elevator. My companion, Walter Paul, went up a-foot, and
came down a sadder and wiser man, declaring that the proverbial

DEPUTATION WORK. 165

saying, facile descensua, was all wrong, for he found it much easier
to ascend than to descend.

On Sunday we worshipped in the Church of the Covenant —
the newest, largest, and finest Presbyterian Church in the city.
The preacher was Rev. W. \V. Watson of Birkenhead : the sermon
eloquent and ornate, but a yard too long. Paul addressed the
Sunday School, and did it well. Of course I had known him long,
but was brought into closer contact with him in Washington than
ever before and came to think more highly of him than ever. It
was curious to notice his modest self-assertion, and the deference
paid to him by all with whom he conversed. The Revised Version
was used in the pulpit. There was a tine organ but no choir. The
precentor sang a solo while the collection was being taken by the
deacons who before putting their plates on the table, stood in front
of the pastor's desk, plates in hand, while the minister offered up
a short prayer of thanks for what he was about to receive — a novel
and suggestive episode.

Two important events remain to be noticed: our visits to Mount
Vernon and Arlington. Mount Vernon occupies a fine site, over
looking the Potomac — about 15 miles below Washington. The
excursion party, numbering about 500, were conveyed to this de
lightsome place by steamboat, which afforded further opportunity
of interviewing our Pan -Presbyterian friends. The old home of
Washington had fallen into disrepair and some forty years ago was
purchased from the heirs by an association of women at a cost of
some $200,000 and restored and furnished as nearly as possible to
its former condition, and now contains many interesting relics in
pictures, books, silver-plate, etc. Washington had inherited the
estate and lived here from the time of his marriage in 1759, until
his death in 1799. "No gilded dome," says Edward Everett,
"swells from the lowly roof to catch the morning or evening beam ;
but the love and gratitude of united America settle upon it in one
eternal sunshine. While it stands, latest generations will make
their pilgrimage to it, as to a shrine." Not far from the house is
Washington's tomb — a plain structure of brick with an arched gate
way in front, over which is inscribed, "I am the Resurrection and

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

and the Life, He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live." Within the enclosure are two marble sarcophagi,
one bearing the name "Washington" — nothing more; the other is
inscribed, "Martha, consort of Washington, died May 21st, 1801,
aged 71 years." It is said that the date of Martha's death was
1802, but the mistake, if such it is, has not been corrected. Before
leaving this charming place the irrepressible kodac fiend photo
graphed the crowd of visitors assembled in front of the house which
formed a fine back-ground for the picture.

Our sojourn in Washington was now drawing near its close.
Brother Paul and I had by this time become as thick as two thieves,
and together we went out by ' trolley' to Arlington Heights, for
merly the beautiful residence of General Lee. This old Virginian
homestead is now one of the National cemeteries. The house with
its colonnade of massive Doric pillars, commands an extensive view
of the surrounding country ; the grounds extending to 410 acres,
are beautifully laid out, and well kept. Here, ranged in long
parallel rows, are the graves of 16,000 soldiers who fell in the
Civil War, each with a little headstone, engraved with the name of
the soldier and the date of his death. Elaborate monuments mark
the burial places of the officers of the Army and Navy, and one
massive granite memorial bears the inscription, " Beneath this stone
repose the bones of two thousand one hundred and eleven unknown
soldiers, gathered after the war, from the fields of Bull Run and
the route to the Rappahannock .may they rest in peace." Of all
the cemeteries I have seen this was the most impressive.

One word more! The City of Washington is one of the best
governed cities in the world. It has neither a town council, mayor,
nor provost, but is " run," to use an American phrase, by the National
Government through the agency of three Commissioners, to one of
whom we were introduced and he was " a live man." The streets
are scrupulously clean, and the electric-tram-car-service, with its
under-ground wires, is admirably conducted.

Principal Caven of Toronto was appointed President of the
Alliance in succession to Dr. John Marshall Lang. Touching refer
ences were made to the death of Dr. Blalkie ; which occurred in

DEPUTATION WORK. 167

June, 1899. He had been one of the originators of the Alliance,
along with Dr. McCosh : was principal Secretary of the Council at
its meetings in Edinburgh, Philadelphia, Belfast and London, and
President of the Alliance when it met in Toronto. As a man he was
greatly beloved : as a preacher and professor he was in many
respects unique : as a chaste and a popular writer he had few equals.
The next meeting of the Council was announced to be held in
Liverpool in 1904.

I was also a delegate to the meeting of the Alliance in Liver
pool in 1904, when Principal Caven of Toronto was President of
the Council. (He died on December 1, the same year, aged 74
years). The Liverpool Council lacked somewhat the interest
attached to the earlier meetings — many of the " brighter lights "
having passed away.

168 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SCOTTISH GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, DENMARK, NORWAY, SWEDEN,
THE RHINE, BERLIN, COPENHAGEN, STOCKHOLM, ETC.

O AILED from Halifax in the " Sardinian," April 5th, and arrived
in Liverpool on the 14th. En route to Edinburgh, passed
through the beautiful lake country, traversing Windermere in a
steam gondola, visiting Ambleside, Kendal, and Keswick, and pay
ing homage at the grave of Wordsworth and the tomb of Southey ;
and so on to Carlisle where we spent a day in "doing" the fine
old Cathedral and the Castle. A whole week was given to Dum
friesshire and Galloway, full of Covenanting memories. Canonbie,
Anwoth, Langholm, Lincluden and other places of interest were
visited. Every church-yard in this region has its " martyr's
grave." Every glen and hillside had been the scene of a conven
ticle in days when men might not worship God save under Episco
palian license. No Sabbath-bell summoned the Covenanters to
worship. Stealthily they met at their rendezvous — old men wear
ing their plaids and blue bonnets ; old women with their tartan
shawls ; middle-aged men and women with infants in their arms,
to be baptized ; young men and maidens, all met in this one place,
in one mind, resolved to worship as their fathers had done and
according to the dictates of their conscience. What a touching sight
it must have been when the old outlawed minister, with his gray
hair streaming in the wind, ascended the highest available stand
point, and the hum of voices hushed at the words — " Let us wor
ship God." With what feelings they listened to the burning words
of the preacher, may be imagined. Call them misguided fanatics,
or what you will, enthusiasm like theirs has become one of the lost
arts. To the Covenanters in large measure Presbyterianism, the

THE SCOTTISH GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, TOURS, ETC. ] 69

world over, owes its existence to-day. Passing by Airttnoss the
lines of the " Muirkirk Shepherd" came to mind : —

" In a dream of the night I was wafted away
To the moorland of mist where the martyrs lay ;
Where Cameron's sword and his Bible were seen
Engraved on the stone where the heather grows green."

I was commissioned to appear before the General Assembly of
the Church of Scotland, and the Colonial Committee, with the two
fold object of giving information as to the working of the Union
in Canada and requesting that a deputy from the parent Church
should be sent out to visit the Churches and report. The Earl of
Roslyn was the Lord High Commissioner that year, Dr. Sellars of
Aberlour, who befriended us in 1875, again occupied the modera
tor's chair — in room of Dr. James Chrystal who was incapacitated
by age and infirmity from discharging the duties to which he had
been appointed — Drs. Tulloch and Milligan were the clerks, as
before.

At the meeting of the Colonial Committee I recognized among
other ex -Canadians, Dr. Snodgrass, Dr. Cameron of Dunoon, W. M.
Black of Anwoth, Andrew Paton of Penpont, and Dr. Sprott of
North Berwick. Rev. Robert Muir of Dalmeny was convener, and
practically ruled the roost, I asked them to send out a deputy to
Canada. The convener promptly replied that the committee had
no authority to make such an appointment, nor would they recom
mend the Assembly to do so at present. Whereupon I made my
best bow and retired gracefully as circumstances permitted, men
tally resolving to go to "the foot of the throne" with my quest.
Had a conference with the Moderator, who entered heartily into
the proposal. " Who would you like to be sent ? " Dr. Jarnes
McGregor, I replied. " Ah ! his wife died recently, and he is sadly
cast down, and is away in the Highlands, but I will telegraph to
him." This he did, but ineffectually, of course. " How would Dr.
Sprott do ? He is a Canadian by birth, and his sympathies are
all in that direction." Admirably, I said, Dr. Sprott was appointed,
and agreed to accompany me on my return voyage. On leaving
Edinburgh I felt like saying to myself — " veni, vidi, vinci"

22

170 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

Apart from the deputy episode, I have good reason to remem
ber this visit. Indeed I arn utterly at a loss to account for it.
The prophet's Chamber at Chalmers street was again at the dis
posal of the old " Pan." He was invited to a seat in the Royal
pew in St. Giles and heard the opening sermon of the retiring
Moderator — Principal Tulloch ; grand man ; grand sermon ; and
grand congregation in the grand old Cathedral, now in course of
Restoration through the princely liberality and patriotism of Dr.
William Chambers, of publishing fame. I dined with the High
Commissioner, who drove me in his own carriage to a concert in
the evening. I set it all down to my being a Canadian, though
Canada did not bulk so largely in public estimation as it does now.
And was not I proud to walk up, arm in arm, from the Palace to St.
Giles with Dr. A. K. H. B. the genial writer of " The Recreations
of a Country Parson." " Twenty-five years of St. Andrew's," etc.,
etc. ! As to the proceedings of the Assembly I have no distinct
recollection, but these were stirring times in both Assemblies,
for " Disestablishment " was much in the air in these days.

I crossed over to the Free Assembly Hall, separated from the
other only by the breadth of High street. The Free Church Assem
bly is always a more popular meeting than that of the Kirk : And
the speakers trim their sails, so to speak, to catch the ears of the
galleries. On this occasion the Hall, which is a very large one, and
famed for its good acoustics, was crowded to excess. There did
not seem to be standing room, but I managed to get in edgewise.
The vote had just been taken in the celebrated Professor Robertson
Smiths' case — of Aberdeen. 321 had voted in favour of serving
a libel on the professor for alleged heretical utterances : 320 voted
in favour of appointing a committee to confer with him. The ar
guments, pro and con had excited the fathers and brethren to the
pitch of fever heat, and just now there was a temporary lull in the
storm. Eventually, as is well known, Mr. Smith was removed
from his professorship and became librarian of Cambridge Univer
sity, where he continued to write as he had done before, disputing
the authorship of Deuteronomy and dabbling at large in the "Higher
Criticism." In Cambridge he died, in 1894, in the 48th year of his

THE SCOTTISH GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, TOURS, ETC. 171

I had no commission to this Assembly. Dr. George Smith, the
missionary secretary and eminent biographer of Carey, Wilson,
Heber,and many another celebrated missionary, introduced me to the
moderator, the Rev. Dr. J. C. Burns of Kirkliston. Dr. Burns had
\vars ago min istnvd for SOUK- months intheCot^ Street l'Y< •• < 'hurch
Montreal, and no doubt would have welcomed a dog from Canada
— so pleasing were his Canadian reminiscences. At any rate, he
extended to me a most cordial welcome. Being asked to address
the Assembly, I was taken all of a heap. Apologizing for my in-
strusion, I contrasted my situation with that of a minister who was
candidate for a certain vacant parish, but was refused a hearing on
the ground that he could produce no credentials. The Kirk-Session
would not have him preach ; no, they would not let the Apostle
Paul himself enter that pulpit, unless he produced his " Presbyterial
Certificate !" And here am I without a certificate. That was the
best part of my little speech in the Free Assembly — judging from
the merriment which it created. On my way out, the venerable
Earl of Kintore (father of Ian Keith Falconer of Aden, of saintly
memory) stretched a long arm to shake hands with me ; also
Horatius Bonar, the author of so many sweet hymns, and Dr.
McTavish formerly of Canada and now of Inverness.

It was now near the end of May, and there was not much time
to be lost, for the Canadian Assembly was to meet on the llth of
June, and it behoved us to be off. After a flying visit to Stirling,
Dundee, and Dumfermline, accompanied by Dr. Sprott, we Hailed
from Liverpool in the "Sardinian" on the 5th of June and made the
fastest voyage then on record to the St. Lawrence — six days and
19 hours from Movillo to Rimouski. Dr. Sprott preached on the
Sunday at sea in the forenoon. Captain Dutton conducted the
evening service himself. We knew that he was a good sailor, and
now had proof that he was no novice at preaching a good sermon.
We reached Ottawa "on time." Dr. Sprott met with a hearty re
ception and delivered an excellent address, for which he received
the thanks of the General Assembly, through Dr. William Reid,
the moderator, who expressed the belief that Dr. Sprott's visit
would result in much good, and he hoped that cordial relationship

172 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

would long continue between the venerable Church of Scotland
and her daughter, the Presbyterian Church in Canada. It may be
added, that on his return to Scotland, Dr. Sprott published a full
and glowing account of his survey of Presbyterianisrn from Halifax
and Pictou in the east, to Toronto and Winnipeg in what was then
known as the "far west." What changes since 1879 ! Our sun
now sets on the Pacific Ocean.

To COPENHAGEN AND STOCKHOLM IN 1884.

Shortly after the meeting of the Belfast Council, I pulled my
self together, packed a small kit, and accompanied by a young
Scotchman, as ready for an adventure as myself, set out for the
capital of Denmark. We did not go just as the crow flies by any
means, but chose a circuitous route, bent on having a good time.
Leaving London at 8 p.m. on the 20th of August, we reached
Harwich at 9.30 and embarked on the steamship that ferried us
across the English Channel — here 100 miles wide. At 10 o'clock

o

next morning we were in Antwerp, with time enough to inspect
the fine old Cathedral with its lofty aisles, massive pillars, rich
stained windows, and rare paintings— notably, Ruben's "Descent
from the Cross," one of the finest achievements of the Flemish
School of Art. My companion ascended the long flight of steps to
the gallery in tower containing the bells — those charming bells that
have chimed sweetly for 350 years or more ! There are nearly a
hundred of them, the largest weighing 16,000 Ibs.

We spent a day in Brussels. The railway station is a long
distance from the Hotel Brittanique, but the way to it is through
the finest part of the city — by parks and gardens most beautiful,
until we reach the Royal Palaces in the Upper Town. In one of
these took place the grand ball on the eve of the battle of Waterloo
of which Byron sings in his "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" :
" There was a sound of revelry by night
And Belgium's Capital had gathered there
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright
The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men.
But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell 1
Arm! Arm! it is — it is — the cannon's opening roar!"

THE SCOTTISH GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, TOURS, ETC. 173

Grander than the Palace is the Temple de Justice where rich
and poor go to have their grievances redressed.

The finest municipal building I li;i\ v *-\ vr seen. Next morning
we were off for Cologne, 144 miles by rail. The view that burst
upon us when we emerged from a long tunnel was entrancing. We
had entered the valley of the Rhine! The open country seemed
to be all a garden — no fences, very few houses, scarcely a tree to
be seen, but plenty of peasants in picturesque costumes at work,
some ploughing, some reaping, some carrying home golden sheaves.
And such a glorious day of sunshine it was ! In the distance, the
twin towers of the Cathedral, rose from the centre of the compact
little walled city of 150,000 inhabitants. These graceful spires
attain a height of 511 feet. That Cathedral was GOO years abuild-
ing, and was only completed two or three years before the time of
our visit. Taken as a whole, without and within, it is a splendid
specimen of Gothic architecture.

We stopped over Sunday at Bonn, a University town — the birth
place of Beethoven. The population about 27,000. Its greatest
attraction to me just then was that it was the home of Dr. Theo
dore Christlieb, the most noted Evangelical Professor in Germany.
We called for him, and found the great man in his sanctum, deeply
immersed in study — putting the finishing touches, no doubt, on
the magnificent paper he was soon to read at Copenhagen on
" Religious Indifference and How to meet it." He received us cor
dially, and after a cup of coffee he walked out with us for an hour
" to rest his weary brain," he said, talking rapidly the while on the
theme then uppermost in his mind.

Early on Monday morning we were on board a dainty steamer
traversing that wonderful stretch of the Rhine between Bonn and
Mayence, a distance of 100 miles, the like of which, I suppose, is
not to be seen anywhere else, for it has a charm all its own. The
"scenery" commences at the Drachenfels, a few miles above Bonn,
and from that point onwards it is a succession of vine-clad hills,
red-roofed villages nestling- at their foot, and ruined castles on
every peak. The steamers are very pretty and well managed ;
some of them large and swift, having handsome saloon cabins the

174 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

whole length of the boat, over which is a promenade deck covered
with awning. The captain sits in state in his easy chair on the
bridge, smoking his cigar ; the chief steward, in full evening dress
and with head uncovered, walks to and fro majestically, the pink
of politeness. " Vat vine vill mein Herr 'av for dinner ?" Shall it
be Rauenthaler, or Rudescheimer, or Moselle ? Wine is as plentiful
almost as water here, and abstinence therefrom an unknown quan
tity. Old and young imbibe the fruit of the vine without excep
tion, and ad libitum. You can have a bottle of sparkling Moselle
for $1 .50, or you can indulge in some other at a cost of $8, or $9

a bottle chacmn a son gout. About mid-day we reach Coblentz, at

the confluence of the Moselle, a pretty place, and immediately op
posite is the famed fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, the Gibraltar of the
Rhine, bristling with cannon. Further on we come to the Imperial
Summer Palace on one side of the river, and that of the Crown
Prince on the other, splendid structures both — resembling, more
than anything else we can think of, some fanciful representations
of the Celestial City ! Now we have passed St. Goar and the pre
cipitous promontory of the Lorelei ; we have ascended the rapids ;
the Rhine widens out like the St. Lawrence among the Thousand
Islands, it flows softly. The shades of evening begin to close
around us, and wearied eyelids are relieved of a strain such as they
never experienced before. "Adieu to thee, fair Rhine ! " Of May-
ence all we could see was the glare of its lights reflected in the
river. We set out at once by rail for Heidelberg, and at midnight
were politely bowed into the h'nest hotel we had yet seen on the
Continent.

If there was one place more than another where we would fain
have prolonged our stay, it was Heidelberg, so beautiful for situa
tion, and so full of historic traditions — a quaint old town of 20,000
inhabitants, on the Neckar. Hills rise round about it to a consi
derable height, clothed with terraced vineyards. The Kaisersthale,
or 'King's Seat,' rising to 2000 feet, and finely wooded, and from
its summit splendid views are had of the surrounding country.
Besides the hotel and a few other modern buildings, the town itself
has few attractions for strangers ; it must have seen better days !

THE SCOTTISH GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, TOURS, ETC. 175

Nearly all the monuments of ancient architecture which it once
contained are gone. There are a couple of old churches left, but
they don't invite inspection. In one of them Catholic and Protes
tant services have long been conducted under the same roof — a thin
partition parting the creeds — which, however, is racy of the soil,
where rationalism is admitted to be rampant and irrepressible.
The University buildings are greatly inferior to those at Bonn.
The number of students about 900, of whom only a small number
are theological. The largest universities in Germany are Berlin,
Leipsig. The former has 229 professors and 6414 students of
whom 240 are theologues. Leipsig had in 1884, 14 professors and
600 theological students — in all 161 professors and 3276 students.
With a few brilliant exceptions, the teaching of systematic theology
in Germany is said to be sadly travestied. In the art of explain
ing away what appears to the ordinary comprehension the obvious
meaning of Bible passages, it is asserted by competent critics that
German theologians have never been excelled. Tubigen, one of
the smaller universities, but one of the oldest, is said to surpass
them all in free-thinking. Leipsig is accounted, on the whole, the
best theological school ; though many are attracted to Berlin be
cause it is so large a city, so full of German life, and also, on
account of the number of 'Specialists' in the different faculties of
its University.

The chief attraction and crowning glory of Heidelberg, is the
old Castle, a magnificent ruin of vast extent. In the main courtyard
are ranged stately piles of buildings ornamented in the highest
style of mediaeval art, with statues of knights in armour occupying
niches in the walls. On every side were seen medallions and
armorial bearings, heads of bullocks and lions holding rings in
their mouths, garlands and wreaths of flowers — all done in stone —
the accumulated labour of six centuries is here. Only one wing
of the palace has escaped destruction ; that is now used as a museum.
All the other buildings are roofless, ivy-covered, and crumbling to
decay. The exquisite stone carvings are everywhere mutilated by
the ruthless hand of war, while fire and tempest have completed the
general wreck. The great round tower, 60 feet in diameter, with

176 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

walls 15 feet thick, had been blown up by gunpowder and over
turned bodily into the ravine below. Another large portion of the
Castle was shattered by lightning many years ago, and ever since
it has been growing into the picturesque ruin it now is.

Leaving Heidelberg at 3.50 p.m. we passed through Darmstadt,
the German home of the late Princess Alice, and had a few hours
in Frankfurt-on-Main, a fine city — the birth-place of Goethe. We
noticed collossal bronze statutes of Goethe and Schiller, also a
a striking triple monument to Guttenberg, Faust and Schseffer
who were the first to introduce rnoveable types in printing, about
A.D. 1450. The first printed book issued from their press was a
copy of the Latin Vulgate, printed at Mentz. We journeyed
through Lutherland, but alas ! under the cover of night. It was
tantalizing to stop but for a few minutes at Eisenach and Erfurth,
and to be so near Eisleben and Wittenberg and yet not to see these
places so full of Reformation memories. Passing through a fine
country we reached Dresden, the Capital of Saxony, at 9 a.m.

Dresden is a beautiful city of 250,000 inhabitants. But of
course it is not all gold that glitters. Most of the imposing rows
of lofty terraces which shine in their beauty like palaces, are
cheapty constructed buildings of brick, coated with cement and
painted stone colour. The effect however is not the less admirable.
It was our good fortune to meet the Rev. R. K. D. Home, a Scot
tish clergyman staying here for his health, who placed himself at
our disposal for a whole day, enabling us to see a great deal of the
city and its environs in a short space of time. The Picture galle
ries of Dresden are thought to contain the most valuable collection
of paintings next to Florence. Raphael's Madonna, purchased a
hundred years ago for $45,000 could not be bought for twice that
amount now ; it is the admiration of connoisseurs. The freshness
and brilliancy of its colours are certainly remarkable. Another
great attraction for strangers is the Royal Green Vaults, containing
the Crown Jewels and an immense collection of gold and silver-
plate, precious stones and articles of virtu, exquisite specimens of
antique workmanship in mosaic and enamel, astronomical clocks,
curiously wrought cups, and vases — in endless variety filling eight
decorated rooms each excelling the other in splendour.

THE SCOTTISH GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, TOURS, ETC. 177

The King of Saxony is a Catholic, but the government is Pro
testant, as is also a large majority of the populace. The largest
and finest churches are the Lutheran. The Kreuz Church is
seated for 4,500 with three tiers of galleries. The Frauen-Kirche is
still larger. In the Kreuz the beadle played a voluntary for us on
the great organ, and swept the keys with the proficiency of a pro
fessional. The Elbe is here 1200 feet wide and is navigable for
small vessels 100 miles above Dresden and 400 miles below to where
it enters the sea at Hamburg. Many washerwomen were plying
their vocation along its banks or moving to and fro with large
baskets on their heads. Here was a peasant ploughing with a
horse and an ox yoked together, yonder a lumbering cart drawn
by a pair of cows ; but Blazervitz was most famous for its " trink
gartens." The Opera House seated for 8,000 was more largely
patronized than the churches. Paternal Government was evi
denced in a variety of ways. It permits no improprieties on t lie-
stage. You may not bathe in the Elbe if Father William through
his weather clerk deems the water too cold. No one may sleep in
a bed-room that is not commanded by the apparatus for extinguish
ing fires. A man may not sell a bunch of grapes out of his own
vineyard until the burgomaster has proclaimed the vintage open ;
but then the poorest in the land may eat his fill, and there is »
time of general rejoicing.

From Dresden to Berlin the distance is 109 miles through a
level, well cultivated country. The " Central Hotel " is one of the
largest on the Continent, and its appointments are in every respect
first-class. It has its Summer Garden and Winter Garden. The
former is a hollow square in the centre of the group of buildings,
surrounded by broad verandahs. A fountain in the centre of it
sends up cooling jets of water that fall on the shoulders of a
crouching Venus. The myrtle, rhododendron, laurestina, calla
and oleander fill the air with delicious perfume. The Winter Gar
den is larger and roofed over with glass and adorned with tropical
plants, and when not used for balls, concerts or festivals, it fur
nishes a charming promenade. Tin- famous esplanade, the " Unter
der Linden" is ICO feet broad and over a mile in length. Here

23

178 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

are the Royal Palaces, the University, the National Museums and
Art Galleries, and the Library. In front of these buildings are
some splendid monuments. That of Frederick the Great in front
of the Palace is accounted the finest equestrian statue in Europe.
The statues of Alexander and William Humboldt are also very fine.
This grand street leads to the Brandenburg Gate which forms the
entrance to the Thiergarteri Park of Berlin, which covers a large
area and is elaborately laid out, and in it are other monuments,
that to the memory of good Queen Louise, the old Emperor's
mother, being held in special veneration. Berlin derives its chief
importance from its being the capital of United Germany. Feder
ation is usually the result of long deliberation. It was so in Can
ada. In 1848 Germany awoke out of a long sleep and began to
entertain the idea. A scheme was concocted and seemed to be on
the eve of accomplishment when, suddenly, the bubble burst and
the German States remained in statu quo until 1871, when the
Empire became confederate under the leadership of William, King
of Prussia, and Berlin became the centre of legislation, culture, and
fashion.

The distance from Berlin to Hamburg is 178 miles and the
time by rail five hours. The intervening country is a vast sandy
plain and the journey rather a dreary one ; but we were fortunate
in our travelling companions and the hours passed pleasantly. An
agreeable surprise awaited us at Hamburg. There was a conjunc
tion of stars that night. We found a large company of delegates
at the depot en route for Copenhagen — Principal Cairns, Dr. Lang,
Dr. Schaff et alias. We arrived at Kiel about midnight and were
hustled on board a steamer that conveyed us to Korsor on the
island of Zealand, whence by rail 66 miles to our terminus ad
quern, where we were soon made to feel quite at home — a feeling
that grew upon us the more we saw of the country and people.
The simple and unostentatious example of the Royal family seemed
to be reflected in the whole community. Copenhagen is a fine city
of 225,000 inhabitants. Many of the public buildings are large
and handsome. Owing to its insular situation, water is every
where — clear sparkling sea-water. The harbour is alive with

THE SCOTTISH GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, TOURS, ETC. 179

shipping, and the navy yard with men-of-war in all stages of pre
servation. Elaborate fortifications guard the entrances to the city,
but as the enginery of war has changed since Nelson gained his
famous battle of Copenhagen in 1801, it is not easy to say what
power of resistance these stone forts possess at the present time.

Denmark is a Protestant country, the Lutheran being the estab
lished Church, embracing a large majority of the people. The
31st of August will long occupy a green spot in memory. The
sun shone brilliantly and all Copenhagen was in Sunday attire.
Business was suspended, but the two-story street cars were run
ning in all directions, filled with passengers. The shipping was
gaily decorated with flags. Crowds of people were wending their
way to the churches. We went to the Frauen Kirche, or ' Church
of Our Lady,' the largest and finest in the city. It is adorned with
painting and sculpture, near the altar is a splendid figure of Christ
in white marble — the ckef-d'veuure of Thorwaldsen. On the side
walls of the nave are ranged statues of the Apostles, by the same
artist, each marked by some distinguishing emblem. Thomas, for
example, holds a square in his hand, and looks as though consider
ing how to make things right that are " out of truth." In vain
we looked for the sculptor's ideal of Judas the traitor ; instead of
him he introduces St. Paul — a fine conception. The pulpit is near
the centre of the church. It was occupied this morning by a
Danish minister dressed in a close-fitting white cassock witli Eliz
abethan ruffles round his neck, and a silver star upon his breast —
a living picture of what we have so often seen on canvas, the
minister of the Reformation period : a splendid looking man, elo
quent, and graceful in every movement, who without note or M.S.
delivered his address in down-right earnest to a spell-bound con
gregation. But, alas ! not a single word was intelligible to me
but the rapidly spoken. "Amen."

Copenhagen is rich in libraries, museums and theatres Of the
museums Thorwaldsen is the most interesting, containing a large
collection of that celebrated sculptor's best works, and also the
mausoleum in which he was buried. In the " Presbyterian
Record" for November, 18&1-, I have given a pretty full account of

180 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

the proceedings of the Evangelical Alliance. A few sentences here
must suffice. The personnel was largely foreign. About 2,000
delegates in all, of whom 1200 were Danes, 250 from France, and

£5

Germany, 200 from Norway and Sweden, and about 20 from the
United States. Theopening meetingof the Evangelical Alliance took
place in the large hall of the University which was densely packed.
The venerable Dr. Kalkar, the Danish vice-president, led off with
an address of welcome that touched all hearts ; for the benefit of
the monoglote English-speaking delegates the address had been
printed in the vernacular and put into their hands. Even thus,
some of us had difficulty in following the speaker — a grand man
of 84 years ! Most of the delegates spoke in Danish, Swedish, or
German. Dean Vahl acting cleverly as interpreter. Among the
continentals were Pressanse and Monod of Paris, Godet of Neuf-
chatel, Christlieb of Bonn, Munch of Christiania, and Dalton of St-
Petersburg. Of the British, Mayor Fowler of London, Lord Rad-
stock, the Marquis of Ailsa, Cairns, Lang, J. M. Mitchell, Gen. Keith,
and Arnold the General Secretary of the Alliance. Schaff, Hoge
and Hall were conspicuous among the American contingent. Dr.
Burns and Principal McVicar of Canada failed to put in an appear
ance, leaving me the sole representative of that booming colony.
And so it fell to me to read Dr. McVicar 's paper on " Modern
Unbelief, and the best methods of counteracting it ; " and my own
little brochure on " the Model Teacher in the Sunday-School,"
concerning which Mr. Arnold, writing to me from London in Dec
ember following said — •" The Crown Princess of Denmark told me

o

how much she appreciated your paper." This, of course, I rolled
as a sweet morsel under my tongue for many a day. As at all
such meetings the reading of elaborate papers seemed to be over
done and became a weariness to the flesh.

As an interlude, most agreeable, the local Committee planned
and carried out successfully an excursion to Roskilde,the Mecca and
Westminster Abbey of Denmark — about 20 miles from Copenhagen.
A special train conveyed not less than 2000 invited guests to this
place. On arriving we formed into a line of procession, six deep,
and marched through the quaint old town to the Cathedral. The

THE SCOTTISH GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, TOURS, ETC. 181

streets were lined with citizens who gazed with wonder at the
invaders who had come to disturb the repose of the sleepy old
town. Women peered inquisitively out of windows, wondering
what it all meant. From earliest times Roskilde had been the
principal sea-port and residence of the Kings of Denmark. But
the harbour filled up with sand and Copenhagan became the seat
of Government in 1443. As we filed into the Cathedral, the organ
pealed forth a martial air, the local Dean delivered an address of
welcome in Danish, when all joined in singing " Ein feste Burg ist
unser Gott." This fine building was erected in the 13th century.
It is built entirely of brick, and is in a perfect state of preserva
tion. Here are the sepulchres of Danish Kings from time immem
orial. The Royal tombs are not in subterranean vaults but in lofty
chapels, beautiful and bright. In one room are sixteen splendid
sarcophagi. The finest however, are in the chancel : two of them
containing the mortal remains of good Frederick IV. and his
consort, who are held in everlasting remembrance for the kindness
they showed to Carey and other missionaries at the Danish
settlement of Serampore in India at the beginning of the last
century.

Having inspected the Cathedral at our leisure, we were con
ducted through shady paths to a garden and treated to refresh
ments. We drank of " the well of Roskilde " and returned to the
city at a late hour. The Conference was resumed next morning.
The old King and Queen, the Crown Prince and Princess, the King
and Queen of Greece, Prince Waldemar and other members of the
Royal household not only remained through a whole sederunt but
expressed the pleasure it gave them to do so. A Swedish pastor
had advised us on no account to miss the opportunity of seeing
Stockholm, " The most beautiful capital in Europe," he said, and
only 400 miles distant ! So to Stockholm we went ; first to Maluio
by steamer and thence by railway. Stockholm is built on several
islands, and is 36 miles from the sea, at the head of one of those
picturesque fiords through which the tide rushes with the force of
a mighty river. We boarded a small screw steamer with steam up
without knowing whither it might take us. In one hour we

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

were conveyed 24 miles down the fiord to where a huge stone
fortress rose out of mid-channel, a warning that thus far and no
farther we must go. We inspected the Royal Palace, and the Parks,
in which are many monuments, including the one to Gustavus
Adolphus displaying its famous motto—" Peace with Honour."
And we dined in a splendid hotel, at a moderate charge, with a
fine orchestral band of music thrown into the bargain.

The combined population of Norway and Sweden is little more
than that of Canada. Although entirely separate and independent
kingdoms, strange to say, they have only one king between them.
Oscar II. the present sovereign, is said to be very popular and
highly accomplished, but in a delicate state of health. The Luth
eran is the State Church in all the three Scandinavian Kingdoms.
Up to 1845 no other religious denomination was tolerated in Nor
way; now, however, within certain limits, the people are free to
worship according to the dictates of their conscience, but no one
who has been confirmed may leave the State Church before having
attained the age of nineteen. This visit to Copenhagen gave rise
to some unexpected discoveries. On returning from Stockholm, I
found myself -seated at the dining room table of the hotel alongside
a gentleman whom I supposed to be an entire stranger. We got
into conversation and had not proceeded far before we found that we
had been intimate school-fellows forty-five years ago. Mr. Kerr had
gone to the East Indies in the Civil Service, had made his fortune,
and was now living at Blackheath, London, where he had erected
a mission church of his own and employs his leisure in evangelistic
work. He owed his conversion to Dwight L. Moody, he told me,
and was one of the great American evangelists' right hand men
during his visit to London, in 1873. I had gone to the West and
had not made a fortune, and here we met to talk over old times in
Copenhagan, of all places the most unlikely for such a renewal of
acquaintanceship.

We sailed from Copenhagon on the morning of the 6th of
September, bound for Leith, via Christiansand, Norway, in the
staunch new steamer " Thorso" and made our port of call at day
break next morning. We were surprised to find a town of 30,000

THE SCOTTISH GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, TOURS, ETC. 183

inhabitants. At that early hour it was presumably fast asleep, for
we met no one on the streets. With the exception of the old
Cathedral and a new Court-house, the buildings were all of wood,
clap-boarded in Canadian fashion; but one of the cleanest and most
regularly built towns imaginable. Telegraph wires, water hydrants,
and other modern improvements were noticed in the streets, and
nearly every window was a miniature flower garden. The harbour
of Christiansand is one of the finest in Norway, strongly fortified,
and the surrounding scenery so bold and beautiful as not to be easily
forgotten. Before noon we were off the " Maze" of Norway, where
we encountered one of the fiercest gales that had swept the North
Sea for years. But the good ship behaved splendidly : with a
following wind we made an unusually rapid voyage of 500 miles,
and dropped anchor in Leith Roads on Sunday evening. " So He
bringeth them to their desired haven." A few days more, and we
were speeding across the Atlantic in the Allan steamship "Circassian,"
and so ended a pleasant journey occupying 98 days during which
time we travelled 9,710 miles without once missing a train or losing
the value of a shoe-latchet.

184 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

CHAPTER IX.

THE THREE PILGRIMS SPEND A YEAR ABROAD IN 1886-1887.

W

'ITH wife and daughter, left Montreal on the 1st of May,
1886, on pleasure bent; and returned on May 14th, 1887.
84 days were spent in Britain, 210 days on the Continent, the
balance of the time, en voyage. Dunoon, that noted watering place
on the Clyde, was our headquarters for two months in Scotland,
with a week in Edinburgh at the time of the Queen's visit ; and a
week in London. To Switzerland we went by the route already
described, via the Rhine. At the witching hour of sunset, on the
6th of September, we reached Lucerne, to see the Righi-Kulm
wearing a diadem of gold, the purple peaks of grim Pilatus tower
ing aloft like battlements of heaven, and the shadows of a terres
trial paradise reflected on the bosom of the lovely Lake of the
Four Cantons.

Switzerland is a small country, about half the size of Scotland,
with a population of 3 millions, about equally divided, Catholics
and Protestants. It comprises 22 Cantons, each independent of
the other, but all embraced in the Federal Government meeting
annually in Berne. The president is elected annually. The Upper
House is composed of two members from each Canton ; the Lower,
of one representative for every 20,000 souls. Every man of 20
years has a right to vote ; every male citizen is a soldier. The
Government supports four Universities — Zurich, Berne, Basel and
Geneva ; education is free and compulsory. Liberty of conscience
in religious matters is accorded to all, but the order of Jesuits has
been suppressed as being dangerous to the commonwealth. There
are no beggars — each Canton providing for those who are unable

THE THREE PILGRIMS — A YEAR ABROAD, 188C-1887. 185

to earn a living ; the people are polite, frugal and industrious — the
women are as diligent as the men, often more so; but for the
women Switzerland would have become bankrupt long ago !

Lucerne is but a small town of 20,000 inhabitants, but it prides
itself on its romantic history. Its hotels are among the finest in
Europe, and it attracts annually crowds of tourists. It takes its
name from an old tower standing in the river Reuss, built by the
Romans, and by them used as a lighthouse (lucerna). There is a
fine cathedral whose twin tapering steeples date from 1506. Two
old-fashioned wooden bridges croas the river obliquely; both are
covered with tile roofs and are oramented with a series of curious
paintings. One of them has forty-six ghastly pictures representing
the " Dance of Death" which Longfellow seizes to adorn his tales
of " The Golden Legend" :

" What are those paintings on the walls around us?

The Dance of Death !
All that go to and fro mu-t look upon it,

Mindful of what they shall be

The grave itself is hut a covered hridge,

Leading from light to light, through a brief darkness !"

Well-preserved city walls with solemn watch-towers, seen from
afar, lend picturesqueness to the place ; but more than all, Lucerne
owes its attraction to the lavish hand of nature, which has sur
rounded it with green hills and grand mountains, has set in front
of it an emerald sea, and bounded the horizon with the everlastino-
snows of the Uri and Engelberg Alps.

The Lake of Lucerne is a joy for ever. It is twenty-five miles
long, in the shape of a cross, the extremities of the arms being some
fourteen miles apart. The water is blue as a peacock's breast and
very deep. Twelve pretty steamers, built of steel, sit on the water,
like swans, and meet the requirements of the travelling season.
Tli.- tin> M Swiss watrli dors not work moiv smoothly than do their
beautiful engines. The finest sail in Switzerland is that from
Lucerne to Fluellen at the further end of the lake. There you
are at the foot of those great Alpine ranges that lift their white
heads above the clouds. There are points on the lake where dark
headlands so envelop each other as to seemingly bar the way ; but,

24

18(3 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

as you approach, it looks as though some Titan hand behind them,
slowly rolled the barriers back, and, lo ! you enter another enchanted
chamber, still grander than the one you have passed through. We
have seen the Tellsplatte, the Oxenberg, Burglen, and the Rutli,
where Schiller, -'the Bard of Tell," has made every rood of land
classic ground. The ascent to the RigM is now made easy by two
railways one from either side leading to the summit. The grad
ient is of necessity very steep and the speed very slow, but by this
means some forty to fifty thousand people are hoisted up annually
to the Kulm. A similar road takes you to the top of Pilatus 7000
feet above the sea. "The Lion of Lucerne" is a colossal figure of
a dying lion carved out of the face of a rock, after a design by
Thorwaldsen, in memory of a band of Swiss braves who fell fight
ing for the French in 1792. Visitors have no cause to complain
of the lack of Protestant Sunday services. The Continental Society
of the Church of England maintains services in English twice
every Lord's day during the tourist season, as also do the Presby
terians. It was our good fortune here to listen to the learned and
eloquent Dean of Gloucester, Dr. Spence, on several occasions, we
also had the privilege of being present at a communion service in
the Schweitz Kirche, a handsome edifice seated for 750, the service
being conducted in the German language and after the manner of
the Reformed Churches.

The chiming of those evening bells of Lucerne ! no one who
has heard them can ever forget. We sat on the hill side one
still Sunday evening, and listened to them till we fell into a dream.
One deep sounding stroke like the boom of a distant cannon, was
the signal for all the church bells in the town to chime the hour.
One at a time ; each different in tone ; but all soft and musical, in
tune took up the refrain — eight o'clock ! Last of all the great bell
of the Hof Kirche — louder and deeper than all — thundered, eight
o'clock ! The echoes rolled out into the night air and reverberated
from the frowning cliffs of Pilatus. With gradually decreasing
force the bellman kept on pulling the ropes for a long time, each
impact giving forth a softer sound, until at length it died away into
a scarcely audible murmur. Listen! I think I hear it still. It is

THE THREE PILGRIMS — A YEAR ABROAD. 1886-1887. 187

-•• >n<- : Aii<l the stars havo taken u;> their nightly \ igils over M scene
of matchless repose. Lucerne! Good-night; an revoir !

ZURICH AND ElNSIEDELN.

Zurich is the Capital of the canton of the same name, having
a population of some 25,000, about 40 miles north-east from Lucerne.
Though not to be compared to Lucerne for situation, it is far ahead
of it in enterprise and business. The Canton of Zurich leads all
the other cantons in commerce, education and literature. Zurich
was an old town 1000 years ago. When the Caesars ruled this
was a military station called Turiculum. The old and new town
blend together pleasantly. The Railway Station is the finest in
Switzerland. Bahnnofs Strasse — the principal street, a mile long
is lined with shops and public buildings that might vie with Regent
Street, London. The Hope promenade commands a fine view. The
University and Polytechnic occupy a large and handsome pile of
buildings. In the former are 88 professors and upwards of 400
students : the latter has 800 students. There is a large collection
of Greek and Roman works of art, and the halls and corridors are
lined with zoological, mineral and other specimens. Every depart
ment of applied science seems to receive special attention. Of the
churches the Grotw-Mitnuter is the most imposing. In it Zwingli
preached from 1519 to 1531. Not far off is the Frau-Munnter.
In earlier and more prudish times, the women may have had this
church all to themselves. Then, the ladies dresses must not be too
long at the bottom, nor to) short at the top. The minister must
not preach too long ; and if his speech was not to edification he would
be advised by the magistrates to cut it short. Church-going ha
bits were enforced by tine and corporal punishment. " The sand
glass" is still to be seen on the pulpit of the Cathedral at Berne.
No doubt it was used here also. Zwingli used to appear in the
G r owe- M Hunter pulpit wearing a coat of black fur, white breeches,
and a dagger in his belt. Lavater preached here in the Peter 8-
Kirche for 24 years. The Afiustinidn Church is now used by the
" old Catholics." It is the finest, internally, of all the churches,
and contains two splendid paintings by Denchivanden — "Christ on

188 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

the mount of Olives," and " The Risen Saviour." The Wasser-
Kirche is so named because it once stood in water. It is now fitted
up as a library, in which are 100,000 volumes and many valuable
manuscripts, and a museum containing a rare collection of relics
evidencing the existence of the lacustrine abodes of man in pre
historic ages. The Armoury has a fine collection of ancient coats
of mail for men and women. Kept sacredly under lock and key is
Zwingli's helmet, his battle axe and sword. That steel helmet has
an ugly hole in it ! Alas for Zwingli ! Had he forgotten that " they
who take the sword, shall perish with the sword ?

EINSIEDELN is the Mecca of Switzerland, resorted to by 150,000
pilgrims every year. It is about 30 miles from Zurich, by railway,
up among the hills in a sheltered nook within sight of the everlast
ing snows. The village is composed chiefly of cheap inns for the
accommodation of the pilgrims, and shops for the sale of " devo
tional objects," crucifixes, beads, candles of assorted sizes and
colours, and images of the Virgin Mary — mostly in stucco. But
what do the pilgrims come for to see ? An Abbey more than a
thousand years old : a Monastery with a hundred monks : a Church
consecrated by Angels : a miracle-working image of the Virgin
Mary; and a fountain of which the Saviour drank ! ! The pilgrim
kneels at the shrine of the little black idol ; mutters a few short
prayers to the Mother of God ; counts his beads ; gets absolution
from the priest : pays his fee : drinks of the sacred fountain : joins
in a long procession to a neighbouring holy chapel, and goes away
with a light heart, believing that his sins are forgiven, or that he
will be cured of his infirmity ! It is a paying business. Einsie-
deln is rich. By the Catholic Cantons the Abbot is still styled,
" The Prince of Einsiedeln."

GENEVA : " Whose piety would not grow warmer" when visit
ing the haunts of John Calvin, Theodore Beza, William Farel,
John Knox, Robert Haldane, and Dr. Merle D'Aubigny, the his
torian of the Reformation, in this classic town ? We had spent
two delightful months at Lucerne, and now Geneva is to be our
headquarters for nearly as long a time. What a privilege ! What
a mine of memories in retrospect ! I can only skim the surface of
a field so suggestive.

THE THREE PILGRIMS— A YEAR ABROAD, 1886-1887. 189

Geneva is the oldest, the largest, and the richest town in Swit
zerland. Its population about 75,000. It lies at the foot of Lake
Leman in a valley 1240 feet above the sea. The town itself is not
l>eautiful. The main features of the city retain in some measure
the indellible marks of a Calvinism which could recognize no
beauty but " the beauty of holiness." The houses are very high
and mostly of the same pattern — all of dull gray colour. In the
old town you find streets as narrow, closes as dark, and flats as
numerous and airy as in the old town of Edinburgh. St. Peter's
Cathedral, the most imposing edifice in the city occupies the site of
a temple of Appollo in Pagan times. Hence the name of the street
alongside of it — Rue de Soldi Levant — street of the rising sun.
The tradition is preserved in the city arms which, is the centre of
a sun emitting rays of light, has the mystic letters I.H.S., stand
ing for Jesus, saviour of men, and the motto, " Post tr.nebras Lux'
Light after Darkness. The other churches are old and gloomy.
The finest auditorium in the city is the Reformation Hall seated
for 2,500. The style of preaching in Geneva is extempore, ornate
and oratorical. The home in which Calvin lived is still to be seen.
On the front of it is this inscription "Dominus est pro pugnaculum
meum" — The Lord is my defence. A small square stone, with the
initials J. C. cut upon it, is all that marks the place where the
great reformer is supposed to have been buried, in the old ceme
tery near the confluence of the Arve with the Rhone. The new
town has some fine streets and good buildings. The university
and the theatre are the most prominent. The University is well
manned with 60 professors and 27 tutors. It has also a fine library
and museum, especially rich in its collection of birds, shells and
fossils, admirably arranged. Portraits of eminent divines and states
men adorn the walls — Wycliffe, Luther, Knox, Beza, Zwingli,
Melancthon, Erasmus, Farel, Turrettini, Diodate, and D'Aubigny,
whose portrait is the finest in the collection. The principal indus
tries of Geneva are still the manufacture of watches, jewelry and
musical boxes. Some of the fStes peculiar to Geneva occurred
during our stay there and in which we were participants. " The
Escalade" was observed on the 12th of December. Christmas and

190 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

New Years day with great 6dat On Sundays the churches are
all well-filled in the morning, but the afternoon during the holiday
season, especially, is devoted to pastimes. I heard a good sermon
from a catholic priest one of these Sunday mornings, who had for

his text " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity " ; but it was the old

story over again- — " They rose up early and offered burnt offering :
and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."
By two o'clock, the fair was in full blast, drums beating, horns
blowing, bells ringing, bands playing, and scores of hand organs
striving for the mastery !

CHAMONIX AND THE TETE NOIRE.

From Geneva to Charnonix — the most celebrated in the region
of the Alps for grand scenery — the distance is 53J miles. We
travel by " diligence" drawn by five horses. It is uphill work all
the way, for Chamonix is 2215 feet above the Lake of Geneva,
but the road is one of the finest in the world. We change horses
six times and think we do very well if we average five miles an
hour. We reach the entrance to the valley just in time to see the
hues of sunset fading on the white peaks far above us. We are
at the foot of Mont Blanc, that reaches an altitude of 15,780 feet
above sea level. The first thing after supper in a comfortable
hotel was to arrange with the " Society of Guides" for to-morrow's
work. This Society regulates every detail in which the services
of guides are required. Two mules and two guides are at the door
of our pension next morning. The lads help us into the saddles,
the pilot mule receives a probe from an alpinstock and we are off
sky-ward. It takes a little time to acquire absolute confidence in
your horsemanship, but the saddle is so constructed you cannot
easily fall off, nor get out of it, unless you and your mule should
together come to grief. We are bound for Mer-de-Glace. The
ascent is very steep by a rough, winding, narrow path to the hotel
at Montatovert, 3,000 feet above Chamonix, where we are to leave
the mules and cross the ice afoot. We are soon upon the frozen
mass of ice, half a mile in width, that crawls down the gorge at
the rate of a few inches in twelve months. At any rate " it moves."

THE THREE PILGRIMS — A YEAR ABROAD, 1886-1887. 191

It is said to be in many places 100 feet thick ; we can believe it,
for, here and there we look down into crevasses whose pale green
walls reach the vanishing point before the bottom is reached.
Climbing over waves of ice, twenty to twenty-five feet high, several
times " my feet were almost gone," when my trusty guide seized
my hand with a grip I shall never forget and drew me on. The
warm-hearted fellow could not speak a word that I understood,
but his face was eloquent, his eye as sharp as an eagle's, and his
foot as sure as a chamois. In half an hour we reached the further
shore of that strange sea. We had crossed the Mer-de-Gl<ice. It
is quite easy when you have learned how to do it. A little lower
down, it assumes a much more turbulent shape, and is called the
Glacier -des-Eo is — a gigantic rapid in ice, tumbling over an incline
of 45°, or rather, having the appearance that such a cascade would
have if photographed instantaneously. We now commence the
descent. The track has many ups and downs over and among the
debris of avalanches. Sometimes we are in a spray bath from
waterfalls a thousand feet high ; at other points we see great boul
ders on the balance, ready on slightest provocation — a loud cough
might set one of them in motion — to fall and crush us to atoms !
At length the culminating point is reached — the mauvais pas —
little more than narrow steps cut in the face of perpendicular rock,
with rods of iron let into it to hold on by. Old men and women
had need to look warily to their feet. Beyond this is a small
aubtrge where we rest and are thankful. We have descended
1000 feet and the mules are awaiting us, but a look at the steep
zig-zag path that leads to the valley is enough — better to be foot
sore, than run the risk of a broken neck. In due time we regain
level ground, and we are convinced that Mont Blanc is every inch
as high as it is said to be, nor have we any desire to approach
nearer the top of the awful monarch. The village of Chamonix
is chiefly composed of hotels. In front of the R. C. church there
is a rock monument to the memory of Jacques Balmat — the first
to ascend Mont Blanc, in 1786. Another monument records the
death of Rev. George McCorkindale of Gourock, who with a party
of eight guides and two fellow tourists perished near the summit

192 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

in a terrific snow storm, September 13th, 1870. Engraven on the
stone is the suggestive motto " Ubi crux, ibi patria."

Now for the TETE NOIR. At 7 a.m. The mountains were all
veiled in mist. It was raining heavily. Our departure from
Chamonix was like a miniature funeral procession — two sedate-
looking pedestrians and two mules followed by a guide, in single
file. At the first hill we mounted our drookit steeds and travel on
slowly for some miles. Presently there is a rift in the clouds. Great
banks of mist roll away in front of us : a patch of blue is seen over
head, then the sun shines upon us in all his glory. We make a long
ascent over a splendid new road, and obtain magnificent views of
mountain peaks and shining glaciers. We descend into a valley
and on the level ground make good time. The length of a Chamonix
mule's step is six feet by careful measurement, his hind foot over
laps his fore foot every time by twelve inches, when he comes to a
difficult place, he twines his spindle-shanks around each other and
turns quite around in half his own length. What a strange old
valley this is ! with its rich carpet of green. Hundreds of cows
are grazing in companies of from six to a dozen, each herded by
cowboy or girl. The women wear great cow-skin coats : the men
are dressed in faded green fustian or corduroy. Each cow has sus
pended from its neck a ponderous bell. You who are fond of music,
I wish you could have heard the clanging of those bells in the val
ley of Valorcines. The wooden houses are picturesque, very old,
very brown and weather-beaten, and loaded with big stones to pre
vent the roof from being blown off. They have " accommodation for
man and beast," and it was difficult, in passing, to distinguish which
part of the dwelling for the one and which for the other : they
were both alike dirty.

We reach Chatelard at noon, halt and dine. After dinner we
walked a mile. The down-grade is proverbially easy. Down we
go : the valley contracts : dark pine-clad hills wall it in : a roaring
torrent dashes through the defile, which may be fitly called the
valley of desolation ! It has become weird, lonely, and savage. A
black round-headed mountain comes into view. That is the Tete
Noir. It is 6591 feet high. A series of zig-zags takes us far up

THE THREE PILGRIMS— A YEAR ABROAD, 1886-1887. 193

its seamed side, whence we obtain wonderful views of the valley
below and the hills behind and before us. We go down again through
a beautiful forest and pause now and then to take stock of the flora
and fauna. My companion is something of a botanist and discovers
saxafrages, sempervivums, heaths, red and white, blue-bells, autum
nal crocuses, rock thistles, the wild geranium and rhododendron,
ferns, of course, in endless variety, the mountain cranberry, straw
berries and raspberries — a veritable botanical garden on a large
scale.

The steepest and longest hill yet encountered still lies between
us and Martigny where we expect to exchange mules for the iron-
horse. The scene that met our gaze when we reached the Col-de-
la-Forclaz — 5000 feet about the sea — was an extraordinary one.
We were far above the clouds, and in front of us a sea of vapour,
with here an J there grey mountain peaks looming out of the expanse
like sails on the ocean. Passing through the clouds, we commenced
the descent and soon there is spread out before us the beautiful
valley of the Rhone and Martigny seemingly at our feet. How
soon shall we be there ? " In two hours " replied the guide.
" What ?" "So near and yet so far !" " Tis even so." He was
right to a minute.

There is no royal road to Martigny other than this. It is very
steep: it has many turnings: it is even very difficult to the foot
sore weary pilgrim : but it comes to ,an end. There is a moiv
l)eautiful city than Martigny whither we expect soon to go — so
far, yet so near ! Yes, to it, too, there is but one road — a royal
road truly, though encompassed with many difficulties, many
trials : but, oh ! the joy that remaineth for the people of God in
the city not made with hands !

"There's a land lint is fairer than day,
And by faith we can see it afar,
For the Father waits over the way,
To prepare UM a dwelling-place there.
Wetfball meet on that beautiful shore."

We must see Venice — "The Queen of the Adriatic." It is distant
from Lucerne 342 J miles, and 180 miles north of Florence : from

25

194 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

Milan 164| miles by rail, through a fine undulating country,
touching at Verona and Padua. At Verona we naturally look for
Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen" on the platform of the railway
station ! This is one of the oldest towns in Northern Italy, said
to have been founded in the 4th century, B.C. — the reputed birth
place of Cornelius Nepos, Catullus, the elder Pliny, and many
other historic celebrities. Padua claims to be the birth-place
of Livy — a melancholy looking city shut in by huge walls.
But we have come through the St. Gothard Tunnel without
remark — the longest tunnel in the world and, for aught I know,
the most stupendous undertaking of the kind in existence. It is
9J miles in length, 28 feet broad, and 21 feet in height. It was
completed in 1882 at a cost of $11,375,000. The difficulties to be
overcome from the outset were almost insurmountable, but fertile
brains aided by compressed air triumphed in the end. Louis
Favre, the chief engineer of the work did not live to see his gigantic
work completed. He was stricken with apoplexy and died in the
tunnel when the workmen on either side of the excavation were
almost within hearing of each other's picks and hammers. The
tunnel is 3786 feet above sea-level and 6,500 feet below the peaks
of St. Gothard. Between Chiasso and Lucerne there are no fewer
than 56 lesser tunnels in 140 miles.

The peasantry in this part of Italy are as antiquated as these
old towns. They live in thatched huts resembling the pictures we
have seen of the dwellings of some of the Boers in South Africa,
and in the cultivation of the soil remind us of the time when
" Adam delved and Eve span." I only saw one plough at work
between Verona and Venice, and that was drawn by four yoke of
steel -grey oxen — a woman leading the foremost yoke with a string.

And now we come to Mestre on the sea, and to the bridge —
four miles long — that forms the only approach to Venice. We are
in good luck, for the tide is in, and that has much to do with the
realizing of your own and other people's dreams of " That glorious
City in the Sea." To see for the first time its towers, and domes,
and palaces rising out of the water is indeed a rare sight. The
whole city, covering a cluster of small islands, only a few feet

THE THREE PILGRIMS — A YEAR ABROAD, 1886-1887. 195

above high -water level, rebts on piles driven into the mud. I was
told that the Church of Maria Salute stands upon 1200 thousand
piles ! At the railway station you walk down a broad flight of
steps to the waters' edge and hail a gondola. In all the unique
city there is not a wheeled carriage, not a horse, not a cow, not
even a donkey to be seen. The gondola is the only conveyance.
It is ordinarily somewhat shaped like a bark -canoe about 35 feet
long and five feet wide amidships. The cabin in the centre is
nicely cushioned and carpeted and enclosed with glass doors and
windows. All are painted black (why I could not learn), and to
complete their funereal appearance, a pall of black cloth is thrown
over the roof. The gondolier stands up to his work in the stern,
using but one oar, and handles his strange craft with amazing
skill. To reach the Hotel Monaco we had to go about three miles
by gondola, twice crossing the Grand Canal which runs the whole
length of the city in the form of the letter S, reminding one of
Regent street done in water. Near the centre it is crossed by the
Ponte Rialto, a magnificent arch of 100 feet span, surmounted by
a double row of shops, and lavishly ornamented with stone carvings.
It was on the 5th of March, about eight o'clock in the evening
when our gondola drew up at the hotel door, the moon was near
the full. In front of us was the harbour, a broad expanse of
shimmering water. Great ships and ocean steamers were lying at
anchor. Gondolas decked out with coloured lights flitted about
like phantom skiffs in all directions. Music, vocal and instrumental,
mingling with the chiming of church bells, floated over the tide.
The temperature was delicious. This was indeed the Venice of
poetic fancy :

•• A gem set in a silver sea."

We walked out, for there are handsome streets and tempting
shops in Venice as well as canals. We encountered vast crowds of
people promenading in St. Mark's square which was ablaze with
electric light.

Early next morning we visited the Cathedral — the most singu
larly impressive building we had yet seen ; one which, while it sets
all ideas of architectural propriety at defiance, is yet a thing of

196 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

beauty, incomparable with any other sacred edifice on earth. The
whole building, and it is not a small one, is covered inside and out
with costly materials. It is crowned with a dozen glittering domes
and cupolas. Over the main entrance are the four famous gilt
horses, as large as life, that had adorned a temple in Athens, then
in Rome, and that were carried off by Napoleon to Paris. Of the
interior I need only say that from end to end it is a succession of
"sermons in stones." Here high art has been consecrated to adorn
a Christian temple which no one can look upon without being
solemnized. There is less mariolatry, less popery, if you please, in
St. Mark's than in any Roman Catholic church I have seen. The
mosaics are remarkable for their faithful representations of Bible
incidents. St. Mark, of course, receives a full share of attention,
for the tradition is firmly believed that his bones, or his dust, lie
within these precincts. A curious feature of St. Mark's is its tes-
selated floor of many coloured marbles. It shines like glass and is
difficult to walk on, on account of its unevenness, for it undulates
like the waves of the sea.

The Doge's Palace is a magnificent souvenir of Venice, in its
palmy days, containing splendid paintings and other valuable ob
jects of art. The great hall or Council Chamber is 175 feet long
and 80 feet wide. Here is Tintoretto's picture of "The Glories of
Paradise," probably the largest canvas in the world — 82 feet by 33
feet ! If I cannot say that " I stood in Venice on the Bridge of
Sighs.'' I passed under it several times in my gondola, and as often
as I did so, allowed imagination to have its full swing. I climbed
to the top of the Campanile (Alas for the Campanile ! It suddenly
collapsed in the summer of 1902, and became a heap of rubbish)
320 feet, by a series of inclined planes, instead of steps, so easy
that Napoleon is said to have ridden to the summit on horseback !
From it there is a splendid view of the w^hole city and surround
ing country.

We spent a Sunday in Venice. A glorious day it was. I hired
a gondola and went in search of an English Church service, but
found none. After circumnavigating almost the whole city, my
gondolier, wondering, I suppose, what I was driving at, finally

THE THREE PILGRIMS — A YEAR ABROAD. 188G-1887. 197

landed me in the cemetery, situated upon an island, where he left
me for some time to meditate among the tombs. Venice excels
most cities in the prevailing beauty and richness of its architecture ;
even in the most out-of-the-way places this is noticeable, but it is
especially so as you pass through the Grand Canal, on which most
of the palaces and public buildings are situated.

We would fain have prolonged our stay at Geneva, but the
advent of the "Bise" warned us to seek a more genial clime for the
rest of the winter. This "Bise" comes periodically in the form of
a northern gale that sweeps down the lake with terrific force and
hits Geneva right in the eye, to the discomforture of pedestrians.
But it is not altogether an unwelcome visitor, for it penetrates the
murkiest slums of the town and effectually cleans them of every
taint of malaria. We made the circuit of the lake in quest of pas
tures new, calling at Cologny, where we saw D'Aubigny's tomb
and Byron's Villa, Evian-les-Bains, a favourite French summer
resort, and Lausanne the capital of Canton Vaud, an interesting
town with a fine old cathedral. Lausanne is frequented by many
English families on account of its educational advantages. It was
here that Gibbon wrote most of his celebrated "Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire," and it was here that he was reclaimed from
Catholicism to re-embrace the Protestant faith. Presbyterianism
is well represented in Lausanne by the Rev. A. F. Buscarlet, whose
church is a gem of architecture, and who is himself a highly accom
plished and genial personality. The Federal Tribunal building for
the accommodation of the Supreme Courts of Law is one of the
finest edifices in Switzerland. Byron apostrophises the Lake of
Geneva in glowing terms :

" Clear placid Leman ! Thy contrasted lake,
With the wild world I dwelt in, is a thing
Which warns me. with its stillness, to forsake
Earth's trouhled waters for a purer spring."

But Lake Leman is not always so placid. It is sometimes agitated
ty big g^8 and rough seas. Its fleet of sailing vessels is unique.
The graceful lateen schooner, with its two triangular sails and its
crew of three men is much in evidence. One wonders how such

198 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

curious craft can live in rough weather. But they do. Their
turtle-back decks are hermetically sealed so that the waves wash
over them and they have a good grip of the water, often drawing
as much as seven or eight feet. They sail well, and when running
before the wind, wing and wing, they have >a particularly pictur
esque appearance, looking at a little distance like a huge albatross
dipping into the sea.

Montreux at the head of the lake was selected as the resting
place of the three pilgrims for the remainder of the winter ; and so
farewell to Geneva, and to President Barde, and Professor Ruffet,
who had shewn us so much kindness. Montreux is completely
sheltered from the north winds by the lofty mountains back of it
and is in other respects a pleasant place. In its immediate neigh
bourhood are Vevy, "Sweet Clarens," and Chillon, and in the
distance are seen the Dent-du-Midi, then Meillerie, and the snow
capped Alps. Chillon is but a few minutes walk from our hotel
and is worth going a long way to see.

" Chillon ! Thy prison is a holy place,

And thy sad floor an altar— for 'twas trod

Until his very steps have left a trace

Worn, as if thy cold pavement were a sod,

By Bonnivard! — May none these marks efface I
For they appeal from tyranny to God."

Yes, we saw the pill&r and its iron ring to which the Geneovise
patriot was chained, and the gloomy dungeons and chambers of
horrors, and the great dining hall, and the pious Governor's chapel,
for the tyrant had a chapel with pulpit, pews, and altar and a con
fessional toa— the rascal !

The tempting offer of a cheap excursion ticket for the " Grand
Italian Tour" was irresistible. To see Rome, Naples, Florence,
Genoa, Milan and intermediate cities of renown, who would grudge
the modest sum of $36.50 ? It is " the opportunity of a life time,"
as advertised. And it is not disappointing.

The route was via Geneva, the Mont Cenis Tunnel, and Turin.
We shoot through the tunnel in half an hour, to find that we
have crossed the watershed and emerge into the bright sunshine of
an unclouded Italian sky. It was over this mountain that Napoleon

THE THREE PILGRIMS— A YEAR ABROAD, 1886-1887. 199

constructed his wonderful road in 1808-1811. With accellerated
speed we followed the mountain torrent that developes by and by
into the river Dora. A thousand feet above it, we chase it down
the gorge, passing through intermittent tunnels between which we
have wonderful peeps into the valley with picturesque old towns
and villages on the rough mountain side, vineyards in what seemed
to be impossible places, and of Napoleon's zig-zag road climbing the
heights. We descend intotheplainsof Piedmont and with theVaudois
valley on our right, we are soon at Turin, a beautiful town of 260,000
inhabitants. The streets are broad and clean. The distinguishing
feature of its architecture is long reaches of arched corridors, sur
mounted by lofty buildings, with handsome shops on the ground
floor. The Boulevards, or " corsos " are remarkable for their width
and elegance. The Royal Palace is a noble structure, but, like many
other King's houses in Italy, is tenantless. The Cathedral has some
good pictures and monuments, the apse in rear of the altar forms
a separate chapel for the use of the Royal family, and is richly
decorated. There are a hundred other tine churches in Turin.
One of them has over its entrance in large gilt letters Janna Cadi
— the gate of Heaven — and the usual advertisement " Indulgent-la
Plenaria." How long will an intelligent people allow themselves
to be hood-winked in this fashion ? The Morning Cometh ! I saw
many poor women standing in water up to their knees this frosty
morning — washing clothes. The men all wear long cloaks with
capes thrown jauntily over the left shoulder — the meanest beggar
must have his cloak ! The Waldensian church is large and handsome,
as is also the Jewish synagogue. We run down to Genoa, 104
miles, in 3 J hours. It is a dead level all the way, until we approach
the sea where a spur of the Appenines skirts the shore. We notice
long rows of mulberry trees. The cottages of the peasantry are
almost hidden by vines festooned from tree to tree, and by orchards
of fig and peach trees soon to burst into bloom and scent the air
with their fragrance. Large tracts are devoted to the culture of
rice, flax and meadow hay, but the staple product is silk. The
mulberry supplies food for the silk-worm. Ruthless hands toss his
castle into a basin of boiling water, and delicate fingers begin, where

200

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

he left off, to unwind the gossamer thread, so fine as to be almost
invisible to the naked eye, yet as strong as steel of equal thickness.
Thousands of women are employed in this industry.

At Genoa we are still 463 miles from Naples; but in due time,
passing through scenes of absorbing interest, we reach our terminus
ad quern. At the railway station all was bustle and confusion.
Between the hotel runners and cabmen it seemed as if we would
be almost torn to pieces. But all's well that ends well. A long
drive it was to the Hotel delta Riviera, but we found it to be a
quiet and comfortable house in the finest quarter of the city. In
front of it are the public gardens adorned with stately palms and
other beautiful trees and shrubs, and the Drive accounted the finest

in Europe where the aristocracy of this great city of 600,000

come to take their evening airing in stylish equipages, along the
margin of the sea and in full view of the Bay with its magnificent
sweep of shore line.

The principal sights of Naples are its 300 churches — some of

them very fine the Royal Palace, the Catacombs, the Castle and

Monastery of St. Elmo on a rocky eminence 840 feet high, and the
Museum. The road leading to the Castle is very steep and can
only be used by pedestrians and donkeys, of which a large number
are in constant attendance. All the stores and ammunition for the
Castle and all building materials are transported on the backs of
donkeys ; men and women do not disdain to make the ascent on
donkey-back, but even if you prefer to go up a-foot you are amply
repaid for the toil by the glorious view obtained from the summit
and by the civility of the officials and the politeness of the monks
and nuns in charge of the Monastery.

The Museum, stored with art treasures from Herculaneum,
Pompeii, and Stabiae, is especially interesting. The collection of
bronzes and terra cotta work is unique. The ground floor is tilled
with ancient statuary and its walls are covered with frescoes,
mosaics, and inscriptions from these buried cities. While others are
scrutinizing the brooches and bracelets, the rings and armlets and
other personal adornments of the elite of fashion two thousand
years ago, let us look at the splendid equestrian statues in white

THE THREE PILGRIMS — A YEAR ABROAD, 188C-1887. 201

marble of Balbus — father and son — which were removed from
Herculaneum, only slightly discoloured, but with scarcely so much
as a scratch upon them. These horses are thought to be among
the finest of antiquity. An equestrian statue of Nero, found on
top of a triumphal arch in Pompeii is also very fine. There is not
to be found anywhere finer specimens of ancient sculpture than you
find here, many of them, most of them indeed, as sharp in outline
and as perfect in every respect as when they came from the artist's
studio thousands of years ago. The sight of the marvellous collec
tion is enough to turn the head of a fancier of bric-a-bac, and you
go away saying to yourself : surely, "There is nothing new under
the sun," for the finest articles of jewelry and porcelain that are
sold in London, Paris, and New York to-day are but imitations
of what were worn by the aristocracy of Herculaneum and Pompeii.
VESUVIUS is the lion of Naples and draws its crowds of visitors
every year. From every point of view it is the most prominent
and the grandest feature in the landscape. The drive from Naples
is a most enjoyable one. We put ourselves under charge of
" Thomas Cook and Son" for the day, paid the regulation fare of
some five dollars, and set out early in the morning, a jovial party
of twenty-four in six carriages each drawn by three horses. Such
streams of people we met coming in from the country ! pretty little
donkeys laden with green grocery : waggons drawn by mules
wonderfully got up with scarlet trappings, brass mountings and
jingling bells, and that most curious of all conveyances the carriole,
a two wheeled machine on which a dozen or more passengers are
clustered like bees, and which dashes along at a furious rate, the
light hearted crews singing at the top of their voices. We stopped
for a few minutes at Resina, a dilapidated town, and we are told
by our guide that seventy feet beneath the surface lies the city of
Herculaneum, once as bright and beautiful as Naples is to-day !
Now we leave the shore and commence the ascent of Vesuvius, by
an excellent winding road over fields, lakes, rivers and cascades of
lava, black as ebony. We passed close to the Observatory, which
narrowly escaped destruction in 1872, when enormous streams of
red-hot lava flowed down on either side of it : so sudden was the

26

202 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

eruption, the operator had not time to escape, but he survived the
tiery ordeal and got credit for continuing his observations while
being roasted between two fires ! Half an hour more brought us
to the " Inferior station of the Funicular Railway," as it is called,
where there is a refreshment room, and a post and telegraph office.
The view from this point is truly magnificent, including the whole
City and Bay of Naples, the towns and villages that line the shore,
the distant mountains, the islands and the sea. Above us, there
is the frowning cone 1000 feet high, and the great transparent
•-loud of white vapour floating over it. This funny little railway—
the steepest in the world — consists of a single rail ! It is 2740
feet in length, and lifts us 850 feet in ten or twelve minutes, landing
us as near the crater as is deemed safe to go in that way. You
must now follow your guide, wading ancle-deep in loose ashes
sometimes finding yourself taking two steps backward for one for
ward. Once on the summit, you must follow your guide. It is
not safe to venture alone. At any moment you might " put your
foot in it," or be enveloped in sulphurous steam. To reach the
edge of the crater you must go well to windward. From a hundred
cracks and crevices jets of steam and hot water are hissing at you ;
but you must keep as cool as you can : now that you are on the
brink of the abyss, a false step would be fatal : " sit down" !

My guide and I sat down, and gazed into the mysterious
depths, but the continuous discharge of vapour made it impossible
to see very far down. I took the man's word for it that the crater
is a mile and a half in circumference and about 1000 feet deep to
the surface of the molten lava. Listen ! There is no doubt about
its " activity." Every now and then we could hear discharges,
away down in the depths, as of rocks and debris shot up with
mighty force and falling back with a splash into the boiling caul
dron. At other times there were muffled reports, as of distant
artillery, or like that which follows a submarine explosion.

It was on Ash- Wednesday, February 23rd, 1887, the day of
the earthquakes that desolated the Riviera, that I sat and listened
to these dreadful sounds. If any one is sceptical as to the possi
bility of the world being burned up with fire, he need only sit

THE THREE PILGRIMS — A YEAR ABROAD, 1886-1887. 20:>

here for a very short time in order to be convinced that the agency
by which such a consummation might easily be brought about is
not far to seek. Nineteen times during the present century has
this burning mountain broken out and poured down streams of
lava to the loss of life and property ; and yet people build houses
and plant vineyards, and sleep as soundly on the slopes of Vesuvius
as though nothing of the sort is likely ever to occur again ! The
next eruption is overdue, now we had better be going.

POMPEII. A whole day was given to this entombed city — a
memorable day. It lies in its coffin about 14 miles from Naples
and two miles from the sea. The railway lands us at the entrance
gate. Having paid two francs, we pass through the turnstyle and
in a few minutes we are standing in the Forum, once the heart
and business centre of a beautiful little town of 25,000 inhabitants
among whom were the elite of Roman rank and fashion, where
now death-like silence reigns. On the afternoon of the 24th of
August, A.D. 79, the stream of pleasure and business in this place
suddenly stopped short — never to go again. Yet here it is to-day,
basking in the sunshine, exposed to the gaze of curious travellers,
in its main features as perfect almost as on the day of its burial
1800 years ago. Ascending the steps of the Temple of Jupiter,
and sitting down at the foot of the marble altar, we tried to recall
the past. The weird appearance of Pompeii can never be effaced
from memory. The houses are nearly all one storey in height and
built of brick. The streets are narrow, paved with blocks of lava,
and in many places worn into deep ruts by Roman car-wheels.
The sidewalks are only some two to three feet wide. Where tin-
streets intersect there are stepping stones, that even ladies might
cross without soiling their sandals. Wells and fountains are in
many of the streets and handsome brick arches that had been
originally faced with marble. From the carvings over the doors,
one could tell what had been the occupation of the tenant. Here
is a wine-shop, you may walk in, though you cannot have a drink.
You will see the mark of the tumbler plainly on the marble
counter. There is no mistaking the bakery, with its mills for
grinding the corn, and the brick oven in which were found loaves

OQ4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

of bread that had been a-baking for nearly 1800 years, and in
front of which was found the skeleton of the baker, who had more
thought for her bread than for her safety. This other was a den
tist's office : his forceps was found on the floor. That was a doctor's
studio, whose surgical instruments came out of the debris almost
as good as new. Here is Sallust's house, and Cicero's Villa, each
covering a large area, having in the centre an open court-yard,
which had been ornamented with flower-gardens, fountains and
statuary. The rooms opening from this yard had mosaic floors
and frescoed walls, many of them still retaining their brightness
as fresh as the day they were painted. You can go into the Opera
house to-day, free of charge ! it is in good preservation, seated for
5,000 ; or to the theatre, or to the amphitheatre that was seated
for 16,000. Through the " Street of the Tombs" you come to the
house of Diomede, one of the wealthiest of the Pompeiians, judg
ing from the size of his wine-cellar, in which were discovered the

O

skeletons of 18 full-grown persons mostly women — a boy, and a
young child. These had sought refuge in this place from the
impending calamity and died clinging to each other.

It is supposed that about 700 persons were thus smothered,
and that the rest of the inhabitants made good their escape. Her-
culaneum was overwhelmed at the same time and in the same way—
not by lava, as has often been said, for it is not known that lava
flowed in any apppreciable quantity from Vesuvius prior to A.D.
1036, but from that time until now it has been discharged inces
santly — more or less.

PUZZEOLI the ancient Puteoli is five or six miles west of Naples.
On the way to it we passed through the famous Grotto of Posilipo,
a tunnel cut through the rock, half a mile in length, and in places
80 feet high. Near the entrance, high up on the face of the cliff
is Virgil's tomb — a little vaulted chamber supposed to contain the
dust of the Mantuan Bard — Prince of Latin poets, with the apoc
ryphal inscription : —

" Mantua me genuit, Calabri rapuera, tenet nunc
Parthenope. Cecini pascua, rura, duces."

THE THREE PILGRIMS— A YEAR ABROAD, 1886-1887. 205

Emerging from the tunnel, we are confronted with a scene of
desolation that baffles description — memorials of paganism, poly
theism and profligacy in masses of blackened ruins as far as the
eye can reach. Here is the colossal amphitheatre in which Nero
played the fool, and near it the ruins of the once magnificent
temple of Jupiter Serapis : temples innumerable dedicated to all
the gods and goddesses in the calendar. On the road to Baiae.
we were conducted to the " Shades of Avernus," an extinct crater
tilled with water, and were reminded of Virgil's famous couplet,
/>. .v •/•//'/. /•/ 'in A •-, ,-,,,,. f,i,'il, , >•/ .- awriulrre horcst (tjttLx" Thence
we were conducted through a long subterraneous avenue, dark as
Egypt, to the "Sibyl's cave" and were ferried across the river
Styx on a torch -bearer's back, and afterwards nearly baked by
steam in " Nero's Baths." From our dining-room we looked out
on the harbour where Roman fleets used to ride at anchor sheltered
by the great mole, of which seventeen piers still remain in wonder
ful preservation. It was not enough for us to be told that "some
where in this neighborhood," St. Paul landed from the Castor and
Pollux about A.D. 63 ; we must stand on the very spot, and put
our feet into his foot-prints ' Our guide was of course equal to
the occasion and conducted us to the traditional place opposite a
shelving strand where fishermen were drying their nets and women
were spinning with the distaff much in the same way, doubtless,
as the men and women of Puteoli were employed in St. Paul's
time. After reading in the 28th chapter of the Acts what is there
said about Puteoli we walked up the steep road that leads to
"Solfatara" where we entered the bed of an extinct crater from
which jets of steam and streams of hot water strongly charged
with sulphur are unceasingly discharged.

SORRENTO AND CAPRI. You must go with me to Sorrento,
seventeen miles across the Bay from Naples, and spend a night in
one of the fine hotels that like marble palaces overhang the sea,
where you shall walk through orange and lemon groves that will
make your teeth water : where the eye is never weary of the lovely
scenery, and where exhilarating breezes from the Mediterranean
infuse fresh blood into your veins with every breath you draw.

206 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

Sorrento ! I can never forget it. Built on a rock 200 feet above
the sea, backed by mountains clothed with vineyards, orange groves
and orchards of olives, figs, dates and lemons. The town is very
old and the people very primitive. It is one of the few Italian
towns that has not yet been invaded by the railway. It remains
just as it was 350 years ago when Tasso was born in it. The
Vittoria Hotel, perched on the edge of the cliff is more like Alad
din's fairy palace than an ordinary hotel. It is very large and
whoever built it designed that it should stand there till the crack
of doom : five or six storeys high, every room in it is arched with
a stone ceiling. The walls seem to be six feet thick. From the
balcony the view across the Bay is magnificent. Naples is seen in
more than all its glory, for distance lends enchantment to the scene :
at night there was distinctly seen a red light high up on Vesuvius :
it is a small stream of molten lava !

CAPRI : the most beautiful island in the Bay is about nine miles
from Sorrento. A daily steamer conveys tourists across the strait.
Before landing we are introduced to the " Blue Grotto," which can
only be approached from the sea, and in calm weather. The en
trance is so small it scarcely looks bigger than a rat-hole at a little
distance. We disembark in small boats carrying not more than
two or three persons each, and as there may be a hundred passen
gers, the flotilla of boats, each striving to be the first to enter the
cave, presents a novel and exciting scene. You must lie down in
the bottom of your tiny craft, so low is the entrance ; but once
you are inside you have head-room enough, for you find yourself
in a spacious cavern 200 feet long, 100 feet wide, and from 40 to
50 feet in height. The water is clear as crystal and very deep.
You can see fish of different kinds swimming about, and the coral in
sects building their crimson fabrics on the rocks far beneath tin-
surface. But, stranger than all, the water and the rocks art-
lighted up a dazzling blue colour, whence the name it bears "Grotto
Azzurra," As your boat glides over the surface, every stroke of the
oar, like a magic wand, seems to change the blue water into spark -
ling silver. A young man, stripped to the buff, stands on a pro
jecting ledge, and on getting the promise of a few bajocchi, plunges

THE THREE PILGRIMS- A YEAR ABROAD, 1880-1887. 207

into the water head -foremost, and dives to the bottom. You never
lose sight of him, for lie has been transfigured into the appearance
of silver, but when his head and shoulders re-appear on the surface
they resemble those of a negro, Returning to the day-light you
feel like one awakening out of a dream. It all seems an unaccount
able illusion !

Capri, seen a little ways off is like a huge dromedary resting
in the sea : the twin humps rising to a height of 1800 feet, and the
curious old town lying between. If you want to dine on the most
delicious stewed quail and macaroni, you should go to Capri : if
you want to buy a bouquet of prettiest wild flowers, or of virgin
coral from the prettiest girl in Italy, go to Capri : if you want to
get away from the rush, the dust and dirt of the city, from the
strife of tongues, from the land -sharks, the extortioners, and the
importunate legion of beggars that lie in wait for you at every
street-corner in Naples : if you desire at least one solid day's rest
and recuperation ! go to Capri. There you shall find nature in her
liveliest attire, and your thoughts will be lifted to nature's God :
for I do not believe there is under heaven a more beautiful spot
on earth. Climb to the top of Til)erias; go through the ruined
chambers of the great palace where the most infamous of Roman
Emperors spent the last years of his life "in wickedness viler than
the most depraved imagination could suggest": turn from the sight
and look around. It is Naples you see in front of you, basking in
the sun ; its yellow houses rising tier above tier from the water's
edge : It is Vesuvius- — that purple mountain with the white cloud of
fleecy vapour floating in the azure sky — that rises majestically from
the centre of that beautiful bay. On these excursions in and around
Naples, I was accompanied by an accomplished Presbyterian minis
ter from Philadelphia, as enthusiastic as myself, in whom I thought
to have formed a lasting friendship, but I was grieved to learn
that he died soon after ana nianu. Dr. Rolph, an English physi
cian, long resident in Naples, shewed us much attention, as did also
Rev. T. Johnston Irving the Presbyterian minister residing at No.
2 Capella Vecchia.

Now for three whole weeks in the "Eternal City," under much

208 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

more favourable conditions of weather and health than on my pre
vious visit. The weather was grand and the carnival in full swing.
Rev. John Gordon Gray, D.D., the resident Presbyterian minister,
became my guide, counsellor and friend, and introduced me to the
lions animate and inanimate — gaining me admission to the Pro
paganda, the Libraries and other places not easy of access to tourists.
Through him I made the acquaintance of Gavazzi, Signer Prochet,
Ben-Oliel and a number of other Protestant ministers. Twice I
heard Gavazzi speak, once in English, and once in his native tongue-
—a marvellous man, of splendid physique and ready speech. His
mission was to pull down the barriers and set the captives free.
He was less adapted for the organizing of church work than as a
controversialist. He succeeded however in uniting a considerable
number of scattered congregations under the name of the Chiem
Libera, or Free Church in Italy, and his closing years were spent
as minister of one of its congregations in Rome and president of its
theological college. He died in 1889, in his 81st year. His body
was cremated, and over his tomb was inscribed, at his own dictation,
the simple epitaph — Alessandro Gavazzi; Patriotta Christiana.
Dr. Macdougall of Florence, his able colabora tor, called him "A Re
former before the Reformation." Prochet said of him, "A great
champion of the cause of the gospel in Italy has fallen." On a
semi-political subject, Gavazzi was always and everywhere im
mensely popular, though it was said that comparatively few cared
to listen to the gospel at his lips.

Signer Prochet, the Nestor of the Waldensian Synod, is a pro
nounced evangelical, and altogether a charming personality. He
has a beautiful church, over the door of which in conspicuous letters
the passer-by may read — " There is one mediator between God
and man — the man Christ Jesus." That in the citadel of Roman
Catholicism, in one of the leading throughfares of a city that has
a hundred churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was not with
out its significance. We met under interesting circumstances, at a
social meeting of Dr. Prochet's large congregation to congratulate
him on having that day received intimation that the University of
St. Andrew's had conferred on him the degree of Doctor in Divinity.

THE THREE PILGRIMS— A YEAR ABROAD. 1886-1887. 209

It was also at a social meeting at his own house, that I met
Rev. A. Ben-Oliel the well-known Jewish missionary who very
kindly accompanied me to the Ghetto and pointed out the tradi
tional building where " Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired
house, and received all that came in unto him." Ben-Oliel soon after
this removed to Jaffa and Jerusalem, from Jaffa he wrote to me
requesting that he might be employed by the Canadian Church as
its accredited missionary in Jerusalem. But his time for work
was far spent. He came to the United States with his family and
died in June, 1900, after fifty years service, and at an advanced
age. He wielded the pen of a ready writer, and it might be said
of him, as of St. Paul, — " His letters are weighty and powerful."
Therein perhaps lay his greatest strength and success as a Jewish
missionary.

What I saw in Rome during these weeks is somewhat simply
told in seventeen brief letters published in the " Presbyterian Re
cord" — January 1889 — July 1890, and which may bear reproduc
tion. I have often been asked to publish these jottings of a twelve
months in book form; but "burnt bairns dread the fire!" The
three pilgrims turned their faces homeward early in April. After
spending a few weeks in Paris and London, they sailed from Glas
gow in the S. S. "State of Nebraska" for New York and reached
"Home Sweet Home" on the 14th of May, 1887.

II

210 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

CHAPTER X.

A WEEK IN RUSSIA.

leaving home on July 5th, 1893, I had no more idea of
going to Russia than to the moon ; but, having a few weeks
at my disposal on the other side without any preconcerted plans,
I was open for anything that might turn up. En route to Lon
don a newspaper advertisement arrested my attention — setting
forth the facilities offered by the Wilson Line of Steamers from
Hull to St. Petersburg on very reasonable terms, say £8/7/6 for the
round trip, plus 6/6d per day for food, making the whole cost
including fees, etc., about $65. If my young Scottish friend who
had proved himself so valuable and congenial a companion de
voyage on former occasions would join me in a sail up the Baltic
my mind was made up to go. " I will be delighted," was his ready
answer, and that settled the question. No time was lost in making
the necessary preparations. Berths were secured in S.S. "Thomas
Wilson," to sail from Hull on July 30th, and a passport was
obtained from the Russian Consul in London. Had we been Jews
we might not have got the passport so readily, but being Presby
terians — " against such there is no law."

The " Thomas Wilson" was an old vessel of 1500 tons, having
very limited accommodation for passengers, but a good-enough
sea-boat. WTe were in all only about 20 cabin passengers, and
none other were carried : the men were packed four in a small
stateroom ; when all appeared in the dining saloon it was filled to
its utmost capacity, but Captain Edwards and his staff were exceed
ingly attentive ; the menu was excellent ; and we were fortunate
in having as fellow -passengers a most agreeable company of ladies

A WEEK IN RUSSIA. 211

and gentlemen, mostly Scotch and English, many of whom had
long resided in Russia and were now homeward bound, some
belonging to St. Petersburg, others to the remote south. From
them we obtained much information about the country and the
people of whom we knew so little. So, on the whole we had a very
pleasant voyage.

Crossing the Dogger Bank we fell in with a fleet of •' trawlers,"
fishing for halibut, and turbot, haik, soles and other flat fish,
found here in abundance. The second night out we made the Hol-
man Electric Light, on the Danish Coast, said to be the finest light
house in the world — emitting three bright flashes in ten seconds at
intervals of one minute, the reflection being visible at a distance of
70 miles ! Next morning we entered the Cattegat and Skager
Rack — the gate of the Baltic — alive with shipping. Late at night
we passed Elsinore and Copenhagen, both aglow with electric light.
We were seldom out of sight of land. On approaching the entrance
to the Gulf of Finland we were met by the Government " Guard-
ship" which patrols this section of the sea, day and night to warn
mariners of the reefs and shoals that imperil the navigation, and
to render assistance when needed.

On Saturday afternoon August 5th, we anchored for the night
in the much fortified harbour of Cronstadt, where the Government
officials came on board, inspected our passports, and questioned us
as to our programme. The harbour was full of shipping, includ
ing many ships of war, and, conpicuously, the Czar's private
yacht " Polar Star," a magnificent specimen of marine architecture,
built at a cost of £1,000,000 sterling, and used, so we were told,
only once a year, when the Emperor paid a visit to his father-in-
law the King of Denmark. Cronstadt is about 20 miles from
St. Petersburgh. Leaving Peterhoff on the right we paas through
a submerged canal — the Neva being dredged and deepened to a
depth of 22 feet — and arrived in due time at Newport — a couple
of miles from the capital, where our kits are examined by the
customs officials and our passports again vised. The first thing
to attract our notice was the number of droshkies on the wharf,
and even more than the droshky, its driver or as he is called —

212 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

the Izvoshchik. He is dressed in a loose blue garment of heavy
texture that reaches to his heels, a red sash about his waist and a
low flat-crowned hat on his head. He may be taken as a good re
presentative of the Russian peasant or mujik, and is by no means
a despicable specimen of humanity. He is of average size with a
shaggy beard, and an intelligent cast of countenance. Of his char
acter of course we can say nothing, but of the class to which he
belongs, those who ought to know tell us that the Russian peasant
is good natured, superstitious, devotional rather than emotional,
very fond of Vodka, and singularly indifferent as to his worldly
surroundings. " He will lose his money, his land, his dignity
and self-respect, and even his sweetheart, from pure, insurmount
able indifference." At the same time he is credited with being in
dustrious, loyal to his sovereign and his church, and who loves his
country, his home and his family.

But in the meantime, the steamer's arrival having been an
nounced, the omnibus of the Hotel d'Angleterre was in waiting
with its liveried coachman and conductor who took us in charge
and drove us to a most comfortable old-fashioned hotel immediately
in front of St. Isaac's Cathedral. Here we met with a cordial and
polite reception from Herr Carl Kluge, the Swiss proprietor, who
was kindness itself to us as long as we were his guests. The ini
tiatory rite was the surrendering of our passports to the keeping
of an official. By which we divest ourselves of the liberty to leave
the country under any pretext whatever. Rooms were available
to suit our varied requirements, from 5 roubles on the first floor to
2 roubles on the third flat, the rouble being about equivalent to
two shillings sterling. Having exalted ideas, we chose upper rooms
and found them large, airy, well furnished and comfortable. The
dining room had accommodation at small tables for a hundred
guests; the charges per diem, including meals a-la-carte with
attendance would in our case be about $4. The favourite dishes
for dinner were soup, salmon, roast beef, calf's head, beef and mut
ton a-la-mode, and the never-to-be-despised " hot pot," a savoury
compound resembling Irish stew highly seasoned, and served on the
table in the veritable black pot in which it had been cooked. The

A WEEK IN RUSSIA. 213

wine card would satisfy the most exacting palate — Spanish and
Rhine wines, Eau-de-vie, Scotch, Irish and Canadian whiskey, a
variety of Russian wines and vodka. The last named is the na
tional beverage and owing to its cheapness is admittedly the curse
of the country. It is sold at from lOd. to 3/- the quart, the lower
grades being a vile decoction. The mujik addicted to intemper
ance knows nothing of the "convivial glass." His aim is to become
drunk as speedily as possible, so he wastes no time in sipping his
vodka, but literally pours it down his throat, swallowing a small
tumblerfull at a gulph. He may have fallen under the table in his
debauch, or have been kicked out of the restaurant by the inhuman
bar-tender to lie on the street all night, but when he picks himself
up in the morning, he may be seen complacently stroking his
stomach, saying to his comrade, or to himself — " wasn't I drunk
last night" ! To be candid, nothing of that kind came under our
observation. On the contrary we saw decent-looking mujiks en
joying their cup of tea or coffee, usually tea, while eating their
sandwich of home-made black bread. Russians pride themselves
on the h'ne quality of their tea, imported overland from China; it
had need to be good, for the tea-pot is unco sma' and the hot- water
kettle disproportionately large : a slice of lemon is substituted for
milk or cream, and instead of putting the sugar into the tea the
mujik takes a sip of tea and a bite of loaf sugar by turns. The
mujik's restaurant is on the street level or below it : the higher class
restaurant is usually in an upper storey, decorated with flowering
plants and is conducted in an orderly manner, the waiters being
handsomely dressed and very civil.

Even at this time of the year, the streets are thronged with
equipages and pedestrians The nobility drive in handsome covered
broughams. As there are 50,000 troops quartered in the city and
vicinity, the military element is much in evidence. The officers
wear long gray overcoats suspended from their shoulders, without
putting their arms in the sleeves, and have a very smart appearance ;
among them you meet tall handsome Cossacks, in blue and scarlet.
The government official is seen darting through the streets at a
furious pace in his troika — drawn by three high-mettled horses

214 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

abreast — "the King's business requireth haste." The ubiquitous
priest is easily distinguished by his flowing robe and broad-brimmed
hat. A sharp line of distinction is drawn betwixt the white priest
and the black. The white priest does the work of the church ; he
is frequently illiterate and always poorly paid ; he must be the
husband of one wife, but if his wife dies he must not remarry.
The black priest is doomed to celibacy ; he lives in a monastery,
leads an ascetic life, is an intolerant "high-churchman," and is alone
eligible for the offices of bishop and patriarch. The ordinary rank
and file are in outward aspect just like the crowds one meets in
London and Paris. The labourer wears a scarlet flannel blouse and
works in summer from five o'clock in the morning till eight o'clock
at night, at a wage of from 80 kopecks to a rouble per day.

ST. PETERSBURG is a splendid city : founded by Peter the Great,
as "a window from which Russia might survey western civilization,"
in 1703, it has already a population of a million inhabitants. Be
ing built in a swamp and surrounded by a desert, it is said to be
unhealthy ; but the Neva, with its rapid flow of clear water, neutra
lizes to some extent the malarial influences. This noble river
bisects the city as the Thames does London, and has a much larger
volume of water than the Thames. It is walled in by many miles
of handsome granite embankment, and is spanned by numerous
bridges, but only one of these — the Nicolai — is of a permanent des
cription : the others being mostly floating wooden structures which
in winter are swung around and moored to the quays. The Nicolai
bars the passage for sea-going vessels, but there is a large amount
of inland traffic on the upper reaches of the Neva, leading to Lake
Ladoga, some 70 miles upstream — the largest lake in Europe, being
130 miles long and 80 miles wide with an area nearly as large as
Lake Ontario. Owing to the absence of coal in this part of Russia,
immense quantities of fire-wood come to the city from the upper
Neva and its tributaries, in large sailing craft, to all appearance,
but which on inspection are seen to be constructed entirely of fire
wood, so that when the cargo is discharged there is nothing left but
the keel of the ship ! The city is intersected by numerous canals
navigated by small screw steamers that convey multitudes of people

A WEEK IN RUSSIA. 215

from place to place at a charge of three kopecks a mile ; in like
manner the ferry boats on the Neva are largely patronized.

Our sight-seeing was necessarily restricted to only a few of the
many public buildings and parks that adorn the city. St. Isaac's
Cathedral, the Admiralty buildings, and the Winter Palace are on
the left bank of the Neva ; the Museums, the Fortress and Cathe
dral of St. Peter and St. Paul, and the Botanical Gardens are sit
uated on the opposite side of the river. The Kazan Cathedral, the
Imperial Library and Grand Bazaar are approached from the Nevski
Prospeckt — a grand street three miles long and 150 feet wide that
runs through the centre of the city, lined with palatial residences
and fine shops. St. Isaac 8 is the largest and most costly church in
Russia. Founded in 1793 by Catherine II. and completed in
1858. Like all other Russian churches, it is in the form of a Greek
cross, about 330 by 290 feet and 317 feet to the summit of the
dome. It is built on piles, the whole resting on a foundation of
three courses of red granite in blocks 15 to 23 feet long, 2J feet
thick and five feet in width. Each of the four sides is approached
by a broad flight of steps leading to the porticos supported by
monolithic granite colums each 60 feet high, seven feet in diameter
and highly polished, in all about 60 of these columns, the weight of
each being estimated at 128 tons. The transportation of these
massive pillars and blocks of granite from Finland involved vast
labour and expense. The central dome which is 66 feet in diamater
is plated with solid gold, costing some £50,000 sterling, while the
entire cost of the edifice from first to last is variously stated to have
been from twelve to seventeen millions sterling ! Owing to the
yielding nature of the foundation it is continually undergoing
restoration and repair. At the time of our visit nearly half of the
exterior was hidden by scaffolding that bore marked traces of
longevity. Apart from its imposing size and classical proportions,
except for the glittering dome, the outward effect is somewhat
severe and heavy : but nothing can surpass the elegance of the
interior. Thrice every day in the week the cathedral bell sum
mons the faithful to worship. As often as we entered it, and that
was not seldom, we found a large assemblage of people. There are

216 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

no pews. All stand or kneel on the marble floor facing the high
altar while the deep-voiced priest intones the service. Nor is there
any organ, but that of the vox humanum, to lead the psalmody.
This is done effectively by a male quartette whose exquisite melody
seemed to me infinitely more solemnizing than the more ambitious
style of operatic music that is finding its way into so many Protes
tant, and even Presbyterian churches.

Before and after the stated services, crowds are seen moving to
and fro, some carrying lighted tapers, the sale of which at the door
produces a large revenue while others reverently approach the icons
—pictures of the Saviour, the Virgin Mary and Saints — with gen
uflexions, crossings, and even prostrations on the hard floor. There
are no graven images. How much real religion underlies all these
outward manifestations, God only knows. But the spectacle is
most impressive, and the most casual observer may carry away
from St. Isaac's lessons of veneration for sacred emblems worth
remembering. It may be argued, says Piazzi Smyth, that the
Russians' veneration for his icon is but in another form that which
the Englishman exhibits in presence of the so-called sacred archi
tecture of cathedrals in his own country. Referring to ths golden
dome, the same writer says : " Neither here nor in the little golden
dome of the Alexander Nevski chapel, a mere sentry-box in size,
is there the smallest fear of plunder, from any member of the
Russian populace, for sacrilege is a thing they most emphatically
abhor." Nor is the veneration of the icon confined to the churches,
it obtains a place in every household aud every soldier's knapsack
contains his sacred picture. In the railway stations, in the shops,
and at almost every street corner, pictures of the Madonna or other
saint are to be seen, and even your droshky-driver will not pass
such without crossing himself or raising his hat.

THE CATHEDRAL OF OUR LADY OF KAZAN, next in importance
to St. Isaac's, is also a beautiful edifice with an eliptic collonade
in front, somewhat after the pattern of St. Peter's, Rome, on a
smaller scale. It was erected to commemorate the downfall of
Napoleon in 1812. The interior is of great splendour, adorned
with trophies and relics of the war. The screen in front of the

A WEEK ix RUSSIA. 217

Iconostas, or holy place, is of silver, 4000 Ibs in weight, recovered
from the French troops who had plundered it from the churches
in Moscow. The chief icon is the picture of the Madonna — the
so-called miracle-working Virgin of Kazan — set in a frame of
diamonds valued at £15,000, and which is kissed as reverently as
the toe of St. Peter in the Roman Basilica. In the window behind
the altar there is a colossal and wonderfully fine picture of Christ ;
in another part of the Cathedral is the tomb of Kuluzof, the com
mander in chief of the Russian army during the French invasion,
who is styled " The Saviour of his Country," and to whose memory
and that of his comrade in arms, General Barclay de Tolly of
Scottish extraction, there are statues in front of the Cathedral.
Adjoining the Cathedral is the Bazaar consisting of an immense
number of shops huddled together giving employment to thousands
of dealers in small wares of many descriptions.

The Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul stands in the Castle
yard of the Fortress bearing the same name, and is chiefly inter
esting as the burial place of the Czars from the time of Peter the
Great. Being under repair at the time of our visit we were not
admitted, but from the door we could see the banners suspended
from the walls and the marble sarcophagi on the floor over the
place where the Emperors are buried. The Fortress is now used as
a State Prison. Close by is Peter the Great's " hut," the first house
built by that mighty and versatile monarch on the Neva, and the
one in which he lived while superintending the building of the
western capital that was to be. It is very small and is carefully
housed over. It consists of but two rooms and a kitchen which
has recently been transformed into a miniature chapel. Alongside
of it, also under cover, is the boat which he built with his own
hands and the kit of tools with which he exercised his handicraft.
"The Church of the Resurrection" was in course of erection and
was designed to be a splendid memorial of good Alexander II. and
covers the spot where he was assassinated, March l.'Jth, 1881.

\Ve had also an opportunity of seeing the Anglican Chapel on
the English Quay, near the Nicolai bridge — a beautiful little edifice
seated for about 500 persons, whose minister enjoys a comfortable

28

218 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

income of £1,000 sterling a year, together with a palatial furnished
residence, and what is of still greater importance, with the good
will and to some extent the support of the government.

THE IMPERIAL LIBRARY is one of the richest in Europe, contain
ing over a million of printed books and a vast collection of manu
scripts, engravings, maps, &c., &c. The collection of ancient and
modern versions of the Bible, the Koran, and sacred missals is
especially interesting. Some ponderous tomes were chained to their
desks, as in the days of Wycliffe. Many were kept under glass
cases, carefully guarded. Among the rarest treasures is the famous
Codex Sinaiticus, discovered by Tischendorf in the Convent of
Mount Sinai in 1859, and which is said to be the most complete of
all known versions of the Bible. Having seen the finely executed
copy of this Codex in the Library of the Presbyterian College,
Montreal — a present from the Czar — expectation rose to a high
pitch in the hope of seeing the original. But that could not be.
The nearest approach to it that we had was a sight of the outer
one of three ponderous iron doors of the safe in which the precious
Codex is kept, and which can only be opened by the Czar in person
and two trusted custodians.

THE WINTER PALACE — headquarters of the Russian Court and
one of the Royal residences is a magnificent edifice in the Italian
style of architecture, three storeys in height, and though outwardly
finished in stucco presents an imposing appearance. It is said to
be 700 feet long and 380 feet in depth, and to have accommodation
for 7000 residents. The principal apartments are on a scale of
great magnificence, but we had only time to visit the Hermitage, a
mere wing of the palace, where one might spend a week without
exhausting the interest attached to the marvellous collection of
paintings, sculptures, and antiquities which it contains. Here you
are insistently reminded of Peter in all the stages of his remarkable
career. You have pictures and models of him as an infant of a
few spans long, and onwards and upwards until he reaches his co
lossal size of seven feet 3J inches in height, and his meridian
splendour. Here you see his iron walking staff and his turning
lathe, and a hundred other things to convince you that Peter had at

A WEEK INT RUSSIA. 219

sometime in the history of the country a material existence. A
wing, did I say ? And a mighty big one, for the Hermitage forms a
parallelogram, so Murray says, of 572 feet by 375 feet, and you must
travel through forty spacious rooms before you have exhausted the
docquet. It is a museum, an art gallery, and a library all in one.

Speaking of Peter, I am reminded of the matchless equestrian
statue in front of St. Isaac's. It has the great man mounted on
a fiery charger trampling under foot a serpent, the emblem of past
ignorance and barbarism, and symbolizing the difficulties Peter the
Great encountered in his determination to introduce the elements
of western civilization. The pose is graceful and dignified, and if
it does not seem like coming frDin the sublime to the ridiculous, it
may be added that the tail of the horse touches the body of the
writhing reptile and in this ingenious way supports the group.
The block of granite on which it stands is 43 feet long, 14 feet
high, and 20 feet in breadth, and weighs 1500 tons. It was brought
from Finland at great labour and expense by means of cannon balls
rolling on an iron tramway. The simple inscription on this unique
monument writes its history in the fewest possible words : — " Pctro
Primo, Catherina Sccunda, MDCCXXXII." As we would say
in English, erected to the memory of Peter the Great, by Catherine
the Second, in 1732. Among other handsome monuments, there is
an equestrian statue of Nicholas I., near our hotel, with bas-reliefs
on the pedestal recording important events during his reign and
figures of his wife and three daughters at the four corners of the
base. In a court of the University we noticed a monument to Sir
James Wylie, erected in 1859, in testimony of his eminent services
to the medical faculty and to surgery in particular ; a Scotchman,
as his name implies, of whom it was jocularly said : that he made
his fortune by cutting Count Kutaisof's throat.

We spent a delightful day at Peterhoff, driving through exten
sive and finely wooded parks and beautiful gaidens, and meeting
friends that made our visit to St. Petersburg doubly memorable.
We went to and fro in a swift clyde-built steamer encountering a
tremendous thunder-storm on the return voyage — all for 90
kopecks. One evening was devoted to the Islands of the Neva

220 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

where the rank and fashion of the Metropolis are seen driving in
stylish equipages, as in Rotten Row, amid charming woodland
scenes, and where cooling breezes from the Gulf of Finland revive
the faint and weary denizens of the sweltering city. Another
evening found us in the Zoological Gardens, so-called, but in reality
in a huge place of recreation resorted to by multitudes of well-
dressed and well-behaved men and women of the middle classes,
who are entertained with out-of-door theatrical performances, such
as used to be seen in the Champs Elysee, Paris, with highly spiced
pantomines ballet dances, and other accessories, which done, an
adjournment is made en masse to one of the largest restaurants on
the grounds ever seen, where upwards of a thousand were comfort
ably seated at small tables under one roof, the place being bril
liantly lighted by electricity and enlivened with a good band of
music, while the jolly party drank their coffee, tea, or beer, and
smoked cigarettes till all was blue — all conducted in an orderly
manner.

The feeling of hostility against Jews in Russia culminated
during the reign of the late Czar, Alexander III. when an imperial
edict was issued, by which the Jews residing in St. Petersburg
were allowed three years to pack up and had their choice given of
nine provinces to live in. The story is told of a rich banker who
had given the head of the police half a million of roubles to be ex
pended in endeavours to mitigate the penalties. The money was
given to the Czar and the question was asked what would be done
with it ? "Give it to the charities of the city in equal proportions"
was the prompt reply; "and give my compliments to Mr. Jew and
tell him that he must leave Russia in twenty-four hours or go to Sibe
ria, for attempting to bribe my servants." Mackenzie Wallace, in his
book on Russia, speaking of the bureaucratic system in St. Peters
burg says that before anything reaches a bureau "it must wade
through seas of subordinate judicatories, all open to bribery." e.g.
A certain governor reported that his stove wanted repairs : the
report went from one office to another to be examined, checked, and
certified ; finally it was submitted to an architect whose report was
duly scrutinized and authorized, and after thirty days, and thirty

A WEEK IN RUSSIA. 221

.sheets of paper having been used, an order was issued for the re
pairs which cost some two roubles and 40 kopecks ! Referring to
bribery, it is said that, when Peter the Great remonstrated with
his procurator, the chief replied that if he dismissed all who cheated
there would be no officials left, for, said he, "we all steal, only some
more than others." He has a good story of Nicholas I. The usual
Easter morning salutation by members of the Greek Church is—
''Christ is Risen." One Easter morning Nicholas cominor out of
his cabinet addressed the sentry at the door — "Christ is Risen."
"Not at all, your royal highness," said the soldier! The Emperor
was astounded at such plainness of speech and demanded an ex
planation. The trembling sentry confessed himself a Jew. So
pleased was Nicholas with the honesty of the man that he sent him
a handsome Easter present.

Moscow.

The distance from St. Petersburg to Moscow is 466 miles as the
crow flies, and that is the course the railway takes. As everybody
knows, when the road was first projected at the time of the Crimean
War, discussion ran high as to the route it should follow, the Czai
Nicholas I. was consulted. A map having been spread out before
him on the table, he took a ruler and drawing a straight line be
twixt the twin capitals said emphatically, that is your route : and
so it was decreed. We go by the night mail train in fifteen hours,
fare 21 roubles, say 42/. The cars are very comfortable, the con
ductor is very civil, and the road-bed very smooth, so we glide
along easily at the rate of thirty miles an hour, including stoppages
of ten or fifteen minutes each at the six principal stations, about
75 miles apart, where large and excellent refreshment rooms are
to be found. The intervening country seemed to be entirely
agricultural. So far as we could discern in the night and early
morning we did not pass a town of any importance, not one.

On arriving at the Moscow station we drove, as advised, to
the Dousseau Hotel, not the largest or finest in the city, but a
(juairit old fashioned house conveniently situated, and very com
fortable, kept by Mr. Mirsch a German who was stone blind, but

222 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

who nevertheless was one of the most attentive of landlords. After
breakfast, we secured the services of a commissionaire who spoke
English fairly well, and made a bee line for the Kremlin. We
enter by the Spaski gate — the porta sacra — under " the Arch of
the Redeemer," beneath which all who pass must uncover— even
the Czar himself devoutly conforms to the time-honoured custom.
It did not take us long to realize that we were in the heart of the
central city of the Empire — MOSKVA MATOUSHKA — the mother
city, dear to every Russian ; and this Kremlin is his Holy of
Holies. The Kremlin is almost triangular in shape, surrounded
by lofty cranelated walls, broken at frequent intervals with towers
of varied patterns surmounted by pinnacles, and about a mile and
a half in circumference. Within its precincts are the Royal
Palaces, old and new, the Treasury, the Arsenal, some seventeen
churches — including three venerable Cathedrals, and many other
historic edifices. While my young friend was nimbly climbing
the steps that lead to the top of the Ivan Viliki Tower, 270 feet
high, I leisurely took stock of the great bell that rests on a raised
platform at its base. It is named the Czar Kolokol and is the
largest in the world, its weight being computed to be 443,772
pounds ; its greatest circumference is nearly 68 feet; it is 21 feet
high, and 23 inches thick at the rim. It is embellished with
emblematic figures and a full sized likeness of Empress Anne, by
whom it was presented to the Cathedral in A.D. 1735. It is said
that when subscriptions were asked from the faithful towards its
construction, the poor gave copper coin in abundance, the merchants
their silver, and the nobles of their gold, and that these fused
together contributed to the material composition of this wonderful
bell — which never rang ; for in the attempt to hang it, it fell and
a piece was broken out of its lower edge weighing eleven tons,
leaving a gap through which a horse and droshky might enter and
turn round.

The Cathedrals are comparatively small but exceedingly rich
in their decorations. (1) That of the Assumption is the one in
which the Czars have all been crowned and which is greatly vene
rated. Here you find pictures of the Saviour and the " Blessed

A WEEK IN RUSSIA. 223

Virgin" in costly frames sparkling with diamonds, and a great
Bible weighing 100 pounds studded with emeralds and other pre
cious stones. The weight of gold in the Iconostas and sacred
vessels is estimated by the hundred-weight. (2) The Cathedral
of the Archangel Michael is the one in which the Rurik and Rom-
anoflf dynasties up to the time of Peter the Great were buried.
Here are the tombs of the Ivans, notably that of " Ivan the Ter
rible," the first monarch who assumed the title of Czar, the most
enterprising of the long race, but the closing years of whose reign
was stained by acts of atrocious barbarism, culminating in the
murder of his son by a blow of his staff; "and there in peace the
ashes mix of those who once were foes," for father and son occupy
the same tomb. The walls are resplendent with guilding, frescoes
and painting and the Iconostas is stored with jewels and relics.
(3) The Cathedral of the Annunciation is that in which the Czars
have all been baptized and married, and like the other two is
richly embellished, its floor being laid with jasper, agate, and car-
nelian.

We are now to inspect the Imperial Palace which from its im
mense size dwarfs all the other buildings in the Kremlin. Out
wardly it is a plain structure, devoid of architectural adornment,
but indescribably grand in the interior. At the top of the wide
marble staircase leading to the State apartments you are confronted
with a very large and realistic painting representing the reception
given by Alexander III. to the rulers of the Provinces at the time
of his Coronation. I have seen no modern picture to compare with
it. As for the public apartments, they are of surpassing magni
ficence, while, despite our efforts at taking notes, baffles description.
I can only name them in the order of our passage through them,
and to the best of my recollection — (1) the St. George's or Reception
Hall is 200 feet long, 68 feet wide and 58 feet height of ceiling :
beautifully adorned in white and gold with furniture to match :
the floor, as in all the other rooms en suite, is artistically inlaid
with wood of diverse kinds and colors. (2) The Alexander or
Banqueting Hall is 103 feet in length and of the same width and
height as the preceding : its prevailing colour is pink and gold.

224 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

(3) The St. Andrew Hall is 160 feet in length, a beautiful room
with blue silk hangings, its walls being adorned with emblems of
the patron saint and arms of the Provinces of Russia. (4) The
Throne-room with its dais resting on griffins, its golden chairs, its
carpet of cloth of gold and the golden doors which give entrance
to number (5) The State Drawing-room, decked with green bro
cade. If I have misstated the number or size of these apartments
I am willing to stand corrected, but if charged with overstating
their splendour I decline to abate one jot or tittle. " Privileged
visitors," who can attain to that status on payment of an extra
rouble, are admitted to the private apartments and chapel of royalty;
it goes without saying that they are elegantly furnished and fitted
with all " modern improvements." Before leaving, we are con
ducted to the Old Palace, or so much of it as survives, namely the
Hall used by the old Czars as an Audience Chamber — a large
vaulted room of great antiquity, its walls covered with arabesque
pictures, and its furnishings antique and curious ! it dates from
1491, in the reign of Ivan III. Adjoining it is the little parlour
where the Emperors used to select their wives from a leet of half
a dozen or more ladies convened in the next room, into which the
monarchs could just peep through a small opening, and the happy
maiden would be presented with the traditional yellow handker
chief, and emerge bethrothed !

We cannot leave the Kremlin without at least a passing glance
of the Treasury. This building combines in one the main features
of the Petersburg Hermitage, the Dresden Green Vaults, the Tower
of London, and — well, that is enough for present comparison. Here
you see the Regalia of Russia, consisting of many crowns of gold,
wardrobes tilled with coronation robes, orbs and thrones studded
with diamonds, rubies and sapphires. One crown, we are told, is
valued at 169,000 roubles, another, at 80,000 and a third at 62,000
roubles ; the cheapest at that rate would be worth £6,200 sterling.
Then there are tables groaning with the wreight of gold and silver
plate in the form of dinner, dessert and supper services, huge bowls
of solid gold, elaborately chased, somovafs, cups, goblets and tank
ards of the same precious material and exquisite workmanship.

A WEEK IN RUSSIA. 225

Rooms are filled with ancient armour, swords, and musketry; others
with historical paintings and antiquities. In one of the halls we
unexpectedly encountered a strange spectator, as it seemed, of all
this grandeur — a fine marble statue of Napoleon Bonaparte : If he
could only speak ! The basement of the Treasury, which we had not
time to visit is filled with statuary.

It was a relief to be again out in the open, for the heat was
stifling — 30° Reaumur in the shade — equivalent to 100° of Fahren
heit. Leaving the Kremlin by the same gate through which wre en
tered it, our attention was directed to the grotesque Cathedral of St.
BaziltheBca'H.tified,\n the Red squareimmediately opposite thegate.
This singular and incongruous blending of every imaginable style
of architecture was built by Ivan the Terrible and dedicated to
" Basilius the Blissful " after the conquest of Kazan. It has 20 domes
and towers of various shapes, all topped with gilt crosses, the build
ing itself being painted with every hue of the rainbow. Ivan
is said to have deprived the Italian architect of his sight so that he
might never be able to build another like it ; but the story, like
that of the Strassburg clockmaker, happily lacks confirmation.

Now we are standing on the parapet of a broad avenue com
manding a splendid view of the city and its surroundings, hundreds
of domes, minarets, and cupolas are sparkling in the bright sun
shine. In the distance, some ten or twelve miles, we see plainly
the Sparrow Hills from which Napoleon had his first rapturous but
illusive sight of Moscow. As we stood there, ri vetted to the spot
and full of the vision, lo ! a mighty host advancing with banners,
ensigns and music. The greater part have already crossed the
bridge that spans the pretty Maskia river, and soon the whole
army marches past us in gorgeous array, I dare not say how many
thousands strong, but the banners I counted by hundreds. All the
bells of the Kremlin are ringing, for this vast procession, headed
by priests of different orders and other representatives of many
religious societies, is on its way to the Kremlin to pay homage at
the shrines of the Virgin Mary in the Cathedral we have just been
visiting.

Before leaving Moscow we must visit at least one other church

29

226 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROI!.

edifice, more imposing than any we have yet seen. It has none
of the "barbaric splendour" that attaches to the cathedrals of
the Kremlin, but it is more impressive and restful to the eye.
It is on the outskirts of the city and about a mile from the
Kremlin. It is called the Krauspacetele (or Khram-Spassitelia)
in English parlance^ "The Temple of the Saviour." Unlike
most Russian and many continental cathedrals, usually built of
brick and overlaid with cement, this is built of stone as white
and durable as marble. It is a lofty edifice and from its elevated
site may be likened to a city set on a hill which cannot be hid. It
is the Russian National Monument to commemorate the discomfiture
of the French invasion, and the downfall of Napoleon. Commenced
in 1815, it was completed in 1883, at a cost of about two millions
sterling. It is in the usual form of a Greek cross, surmounted by
a lofty central dome, with belfries at the four angles of the roof
covered by gilded cupolas. The principal entrance is adorned by
a portico supported by thirty-six marble columns, and over the
door, in letters of gold, are inscribed the last WTords of John Wesley
—"God is with us."

On entering this chaste and remarkable building you are immej
diately struck by the loftiness of the ceiling, which to some extent
detracts from the apparent area of the floor, though it will easily
hold 7,000 persons- The walls are decorated with Finnish and
Siberian marbles and colossal paintings. Looking up into the
central dome, some 300 feet, you cannot help being struck with
what might be called the inconceivable portraiture there displayed
of what has seldom been attempted by the hand of man — a group
representing the Three persons in the Trinity, encompassed with a1
throng of angels. In a Greek church, bearing the name that this
one does, you naturally expect to find representations of the
Saviour, and you are not disappointed. Here you find a series of
pictures of the historic Christ, and very beautiful they are ; Christ
baptized in Jordan ; Christ stilling the storm ; Christ raising
Lazarus ; Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration ; Christ on the
Cross ; Christ ascending up into heaven ; and Christ standing on
the right hand of God ; grand paintings too, in similar fashion, of

A WEEK IN RUSSIA. 227

angels and archangels, apostles, evangelists, saints and martyrs.
It is a gallery, a galaxy, of sacred art. Added to these are finely
executed frescoes commemorating the principal events of the war
of 1812, which, however realistic, can scarcely be said to harmo
nize with the high-class paintings of " The Prince of Peace."

The paintings, and there is an immense number of them, are so
large that they can all be distinctly seen. They are by the best
Russian artists, neither on canvass nor directly on the walls, but,
to prevent them from being injured by dampness, on a foundation
of net work coated with cement and set about three inches from
the wall, thus affording free circulation of air all around them.
The decorations of the Iconostas are in keeping with the magnifi
cence of the church : the gold communion service plate is of
exquisite workmanship : the Tabernacle of the altar is especially
beautiful in design, and the copy of the New Testament resting
upon it is a master-piece of the book -binder's art. The chief icon—
a picture of the Madonna, set in diamonds — is said to be valued at
1,500,000 roubles (£150,000 sterling). Altogether, it is admitted
by competent judges that, in all its details of architecture, painting
and decoration, the Temple of the Saviour in Moscow, though small
compared with St. Peter's in Rome, and much less costly than St.
Isaac's, is not surpassed in chaste beauty by any other sacred edi-
£ce in the worUJ. Our interest in it is increased by reading the
proclamation of Czar Alexander I. at the time of its inception, in
these well weighed and finely expressed words.

"J# order fa preserve eternally the memory of the extra
ordinary zeal, truthfulness, and love of faith and of country by
which the Russian people have distinguished themselves in these
most trying limes, and in order to seal forever our thankfulness
to God's Providence for having saved Russia from imminent peril,
we have decided to build in Moscow a church in the name of Our
Saviour Christ. L«t that -church stand for conturiea to come, and
And let the incense of thanksgiving burn there before God's altar
and inspire the remotest generations with love and imitation of
the deeds of their true and brave ancestors."

Notwithstanding much that has been said and written to the

228 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

contrary, we came away from Russia very favourably impressed
with what we had seen and heard.

During our brief sojourn in St, Petersburg we made the
acquaintance of several British residents, among whom were the
Correspondent of the London Times and others connected with
manufacturing and mining interests, all of whom spoke well of
Russia as a country to live in. One who had lived thirty-two
years in St. Petersburg declared that Russia was as free as any
country in the world. " That foreigners are looked after, goes
without saying," he said " but you may go anywhere, and say
anything, so long as you do not discuss Russian politics and policy,
but a word spoken derogatory to the powers that be would incur
serious consequences." Another, a Cornish gentleman who had
lived ten years near the sea of Azof, said he liked the country
well, and his two daughters were enthusiastic over it. A Glasgow
man, who is manager of a large cotton mill in St. Petersburg,
assured us that he felt quite at home here.

We noticed that the rich live in fine houses handsomely fur
nished and adorned with works of art; many of them having con
servatories. They are very musical — sing and play well ; very gay ;
fond of theatres and horse-races, and given to much sleigh-driving
in winter. The poor often live under the same roof as the rich—
a colony of domestic servants and their families occupying the
ground-floor of their employer's residence — living on the best of
terms with their masters, who take a lively interest in their
dependents and are conspicuously given to hospitality.

MANITOBA, THE NORTH-WEST, AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 229

CHAPTER XI.

TO "THE LAND OF ILLIMITABLE POSSIBILITIES — MANITOBA, THE
NORTH-WEST, AND BRITISH COLUMBIA.

E announcement that a certain old man, presumably in his
dotage, had been appointed a commissioner to the General
Assembly to meet at Vancouver, B.C., in June, 1903, gave rise to
hesitation on his own part and a good deal of head-shaking by his
friends on both sides of the Atlantic. It was represented to him
that to undertake so long a railway journey would be to incur a
serious risk. He had had his day of this kind of work, and so
forth. In deference to such forebodings his medical adviser was
consulted : he too, shook his head dubiously ; though he did not
expressly forbid the proje2t, he declined to become responsible for
the consequences. While listening attentively to these notes of
warning, a gentle voice seemed to whisper in his ear — "Go West,
young man ! " A brother elder threw his influence into the scale,
offered to take charge of him in tranxita, and comforted him with
the assurance that he would be all right, " so long as he kept
sober." The old man went West, and was heard to say, that so far
from any injurious effects resulting from the journey, it renewed
his youth. It revived old memories: he met many friends of
earlier days, and was introduced to many new ones : he saw
enough of the great North-west to convince him that the glowing
accounts of its " illimitable possibilities" were not exaggerated in
so far as its material resources were concerned, and he was led to
realize, as never before, the extent and importance of the Home
Mission field of the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the rapid
growth of Presbyterianism in the North-west. To this was added
a glimpse at the Orient, furnishing a store of memories that will
last him all his days.

230 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

At 9.40 a.m., on the 3rd of July, there pulled out of the Wind
sor station of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the longest passenger-
train that ever crossed the continent by this route. It was a
"special" chiefly occupied by ministers and elders with their wives
and daughters, bound for Vancouver, 2906 miles off', with a view
to attending the twenty-ninth General Assembly of the Presby
terian Church in Canada. As we proceeded on our journey we
were re-inforced by contingents from Ottawa and Toronto by
which the number of coaches was increased to sixteen — forming a
continuous line of nearly a quarter of a mile in length, with an
aggregate number of between 600 and 700 passengers. We were a
happy crowd, bent on having a good time. Every group was provided
with lunch-baskets, and all things seemed to be had in common.
It was a picnic on wheels, kept up for six days and nights. The
dining car was available for all, though all did not avail themselves of
its attractions : the menu was elaborate, the tariff corresponding
to that of a first-class hotel. The return fare from Montreal to
Victoria was reduced to one-half the usual cost, namely $68 for
the round trip, with $18 each way additional for the use of the
Pullman sleeping-car accommodation.

The cloth of course largely predominated. We had with us
the most Rev, Dr. R. Machray, the Archbishop of Rupert's Land
and Primate of all Canada who, befitting his rank, had an entire
carriage to himself and his secretary, but who received as many as
chose to call for him with marked courtesy and kindness. Among
the elders there were judges and lawyers, doctors of medicine,
civil engineers, newspaper editors and reporters, merchants and
farmers — the most conspicuous personality being Sheriff Archibald
of Halifax, who looked down upon us from an altitude of six feet
four. Music and song contributed to the enliyenment of the party,
and to cap the climax a marriage was celebrated in transit as the
train rushed through the yawning canyon of the Kicking Horse
Pass. The traditional bride's-cake was liberally dispensed and the
unique transaction completed by the presentation of a well-filled
purse to the bride.

At every station, where a halt of a few minutes was made, the

MANITOBA, THE NORTH-WEST, Atfb BRITISH COLUMBIA. 231

botanist, the geologist, the natural-history-man or woman darted
out of the train in search of specimens to enrich their store. Not
the least enthusiastic of these nomads was the irrepressible kodak
manipulator who added largely to his or her collection of snap-shots.
Everything in the West is on a large scale. A well-known cleric
addicted to botanical research declared that in one of these sallies
he had discovered raspberry bushes so tall that it would require a
ladder to reach to the top of them ! We looked in vain for herds
of buffalo : the entire race is extinct : a few small deer, and now
and then a prairie dog of wolfish appearance, or a pretty little
prairie chicken were the only specimens of game to be seen in this
whilom hunter's paradise. But on the other hand vast fields of
grain stretching away to the horizon which ever way one looked :
in other places great herds of cattle, horses and sheep met the eye.
We read of " Cattle on a thousand hills," but here it may more
appropriately be said — Behold a thousand cattle on a single hillside !

On the afternoon of the second day out we awoke to the sub
limity of the scenery through which we were to pass, for then we
had our first entrancing view of Lake Superior — that great inland
sea, 420 miles long aud 160 miles wide, having an area of 32,000
square miles. Along its wild shores we sped around rocky promon
tories, through deep cuttings and tunnels, filled with amazement at
the triumphs of engineering skill that had made a highway for us
through the wilderness. From Fort William, about half-way up
the Lake and 426 hiiles from Winnipeg, the general aspect of the
country is that of ah uninhabitable wilderness, that might fitly be
called " the riddlirtgs of creation."

At Keewatin we obtain a fine view of the Lake of the Woods,
the largest mill-pond west of Lake Superior on the line of railway.
It has an area of 3000 square miles affording unlimited water-power
which is taken advantage of by the Lake of the Woods Milling Co.
and other manufacturing establishments on a large scale. Soon
after leaving this point We emerge on the prairie.

Winnipeg — the half-way house — though scarcely thirty years
old, has already a population of over 50,000, and bids fair to
become one of the finest cities in Canada. Its wide streets, its

932 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CEOIL.

splendid public buildings, its up-to-date educational institutions,
its numerous fine churches and beautif nl private residences, its sub
stantial stone and brick warehouses, and the enterprise of its citi
zens all tend to foreshadow its great future as the distributing
centre of the North-west. On to the region of the setting sun !
we touch at Portage la Prairie the market town of a rich agricul
tural country ; Brandon the most progressive town between Win
nipeg and Vancouver and the largest grain market ; Regina the
capital of the North-west Territories and headquarters of the
Mounted Police ; Moose Jaw — " the Creek, where the white-man
mended the cart with a moose jaw bone." Here we inspected a
beautiful new church, and saw specimens of the great Cree Nation
Indians, proudly walking the streets, decorated with their distin
guishing paint and feathers, or squatting on the side-walks,
blanketed and calmly smoking their pipes. They are somewhat
shy of intercourse with the white man and indignantly resent all
attempts to have their likeness taken. Any one suspected by
them of concealing a kodak about his person is their pet aver
sion. At Calgary we have reached an altitude of 3388 feet
above sea level and obtain our first entrancing view of the snow
capped Rockies 60 miles ahead. This is the centre of the ranch
ing country. At Cluny there is said to be one of the largest herd
of Galloway cattle in the world, while in the neighbourhood of
McLeod, some miles south of Calgary are to be found cattle
ranches stocked with from 15 to 20 thousand head of cattle !

From Calgary we follow the windings of the swift flowing Bow
River, to the foot hills and to the Gap, or rift in the rocks that
forms the entrance to the magnificent scenery of the Rocky Moun
tains, lined on either side with precipitous walls of rock. Early
on Sunday morning we are at Banff, where it was wisely arranged
that we are to spend the day. So much for Presbyterian respect
for the fourth commandment. Much as we had heard about Banff,
our expectations were fully realized. The big hotel is a mile and
a bittock from the railway station, and occupies a magnificent site
overlooking the broad and swiftly flowing Bow River, from an alti
tude of 5000 feet above the sea. Its romantic situation and luxu-

MANITOBA, THE NORTH-WEST, AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 233

rious appointments attract crowds of tourists from all parts of the
world. It is also favourably known as a health resort. Sulphur
springs at varied altitudes and of differing temperatures to which
are attached picturesque bathing houses with civil attendants, are at
the disposal of visitors without money and without price, and are
largely made use of. As for the hotel, during the summer months it
is ever full to repletion. In the straggling village of Banff there are
a few cheap inns, a few shops, and half-a-dozen churches or chapels.
The Presbyterian Church was served in the morning by Rev.
Clarence McKinnon, B.D., a bright and shining light from Sydney
Nova Scotia, and in the afternoon by Dr. Mackay of Woodstock,
one of the fathers, whose Highland accent is still in fine state of
preservation. The pulpits of the Methodist, Baptist and Congre
gation chapels were all occupied by the migratory Presbyterians,
and the 121st Psalm was sung with a new zest — "I to the hills
will lift mine eyes, from whence doth come mine aid." The most
scrupulous Sabbatarian must have been satisfied that the day was
spent by us in the heart of the Rockies with due decorum, as indeed
a day of "Rest and gladness." Their was neither inclination nor
temptation to spend it otherwise. Here, if anywhere, one might
assuredly find "Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
sermons in stones, and good in every thing."

As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so Banff is en
compassed by mountains rising to the height of eight and ten
thousand feet, and crowned with everlasting snows. From the
valley in one direction can be seen Mount Stephen (11,000 feet)
bearing on its bosom a vast, shining glacier ; in the opposite direc
tion the sharp pointed peak of Cathedral Mountain piercing the
clouds ; and between them Mount Rundle rises to a height of
9965 feet.

The course thence to Glacier 137 miles, presents a succession
of surprises — passing through snow-sheds, miles long, constructed
of massive timber-work, chasing mountain torrents, climbing steep
grades, or crossing lofty trestle viaducts of uncanny appearance,
where one's head is apt to swim. Glacier is to my mind even more
entrancing than Banff. Here is another fine hotel where we dine

30

234 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

sumptuously, and near it the gigantic mer de glace, from which it
derives its name. From this point we obtain a fine view of 'Mount
Sir Donald' (10,600 feet) with its sharp-pointed, snow-capped sum
mit, a grand, everlasting monument of natures' rearing to remind
succeeding generations of trans-continental travellers of the in
domitable enterprise, pluck and perserverance of our "Grand Old

Man Strathcona and Mount Royal." Yes, for romantic scenery,

Glacier merits the palm in comparison with anything else in the
Rockies. Following the windings of the turbulent little Illecille-
wait River, we descend the gorge of the Albert Canyon, and chase
the swift-flowing Columbia to Craigellachie where Sir Donald
Smith drove the last spike in this great Canadian Pacific Railway,
on November 7th, 1885, and here we take leave of the mountain
passes, without however, losing sight of glistening mountain peaks.
The arrival of the special at Vancouver station exactly six
days after leaving Montreal was an event that will not soon be
forgotten by the citizens nor by the commissioners and their friends.
We had approached our terminus ad quern, singing the doxology :
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow"; and now the East and
West were to join hands and see each other face to face. The plat
form was densely packed by an expectant crowd of people, and
many touching scenes transpired, as friends of other days, whose
memories were but as a dream to some of us, clasped each other
warmly by the hand and bid the invaders welcome to their hearts
and homes in this beautiful seventeen-year-old city of the setting

sun.

The General Assembly was duly constituted on the evening of
our arrival, and the meetings on the whole, were a grand success.
During my stay of several weeks in Vancouver, I had opportun
ities of meeting a number of old friends, and was the recipient of
much kindness. Within easy reach of Vancouver there are places
of great interest, and scenery of surpassing beauty. Among these
I have a pleasant recollection of Howe Sound, Steveston, and New
Westminster. The scenery reminds one of the fiords of Norway
and the Kyles of Bute. At the further extremity of the Sound
rocks like Gibralter rise sheer from the water's edge and in the

MANITOBA, THE NORTH-WEST, AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 235

background is a fine view of Squamish Glacier which gives its
pale grey colour to the Sound. Some of us were given a drive

through the mazes of Stanley Park — the pride of Vancouver a

wooded peninsula 1000 acres in extent, one of its enormous trees I
measured roughly and judged it to be 67 feet in circumference.
The area of Vancouver Island is 14,000 square miles, and of the
entire Province 403,300. The Island and mainland were united as
one Province in 1866 and entered the Dominion Confederation in
1871. New Westminster once the capital of British Columbia
still clings to the empty name of the " Royal City." The good
people of Victoria had a treat in store for the members of Assem
bly who responded to their invitation to cross the Straits of Geor
gia, and visit the far famed capital of British Columbia. The sail
of 80 miles through an archipelago of islands was a treat. Next
day we had a trip to the famous harbour and stronghold of Es(]ui-
malt, Squimalt as it is here called, is the naval depot of the Pacific
squadron. The tout ensemble of Victoria is beautiful, it is a resi
dential rather than a commercial city, though it is an important
sea-port. The social aspect of Victoria is in keeping with its
environment. In and around it are many homes of cultured
people. No finer mansion can be desired than the new Govern
ment House commanding a magnificent view of the islands in the
Straits of Georgia, and nothing could exceed the kindness of the
Lieutenant Governor. Before leaving he did me the honour of
asking me to sign his private register, and extracted from me a
promise to call again, on my return from the Orient.

236 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

CHAPTER XII.

OFF TO JAPAN !

TPHE announcement that I intended to go to Japan came as a sur
prise to the fathers and brethren : but no one volunteered to
accompany me. I plied Dr. Warden for all I was worth, and at
one time I thought I had him. He promised to give the matter, in
parliamentary phraseology, his favourable consideration : but there
it ended ; and I went alone ! I had made my peace with Mr. Coyle
a week ago. To my surprise he accepted my cheque for $300 —
the return fare — and booked me for stateroom No. 224. I never
realized till now that my credit was so good. I had never seen
this man before. How could he know anything about me ? There
was no mystery about it. Long before the ship was to sail, he
could take my measure by telegraph. The eventful day came at
last. Cabs are dear in Vancouver, but a ramshackle express wag
gon, drawn by a rickety horse, and with a driver to match, conveyed
me and my slender kit down a back street, unnoticed, for 25 cents !
A few friends were at the wharf to see us off and at 3.30 p.m. the
big ship backed out and in a few minutes we had passed through
the Narrows and entered the Gulf of Georgia. At 9 p.m. we were
alongside the outer pier at Victoria.

Next morning we began to take stock of our surroundings.
This Empress Line originally consisted of three superb steamers —
The Empress of India, of China, and Japan which commenced to
ply between Vancouver and Hong Kong in 1891, and have been
running ever since with the regularity of clock-work. The three
ships are all just alike. They are painted white and are beautiful
models with three raking masts, yellow funnels, and overhanging

OFF TO JAPAN. 237

bows. They are each 485 feet in length, 51 feet moulded width
and 36 feet in depth : their gross tonnage is 6000 tons each. They
have two pairs of triple expansion engines with 10,000 indicated
horse-power which with 89 revolutions per minute and a consump
tion of 170 tons of coal a day, drive the ships at a speed of 17
knots an hour. But in point of fact they are never driven at full
speed. The aim of their owners is rather to secure absolute re
gularity, and in this they have been very successful. With an
average speed of about 14 knots the strain upon the ship and the
machinery is reduced to a minimum and the consumption of coal
reduced to one hundred tons a day. They have ample accommo
dation for 180 saloon, 32 second class, and 600 third-class pas
sengers, with capacity for about 4000 tons of cargo. They cost
about a million dollars each, and are in as good condition now after
12 years service as the day they were launched. The distance
from Vancouver to Hong Kong is 6271 nautical miles and to Yoko
hama, 4226 knots. The first steamer, the " Empress of India "
reached Hong Kong on the 23rd of March, 1891 — in 43 days from
Liverpool, and made the voyage from Yokohama to Vancouver 10
days, 14 h. 34m. — an average speed of 406 knots a day, or just
17 knots an hour. The •' Empress of Japan" made the voyage in 9
days, 9 h. 39 minutes — the shortest time on record, being at the rate
of 18 \ knots an hour ! Her mails were delivered in London in 20 days
9 hours — a feat which astonished London and gave rise to specu
lations of rapid ocean transit on the Pacific hitherto undreamed of.
The first thing to attract one's notice on shipboard is the spick and
span cleanliness of the ship and the quiet orderly manner of the in
ternal management. The Chinese servants of whom there seemed
to be a superabundance were dressed in long white robes which gave
them at first sight the appearance of so many robed choiristers.
Their black skull-caps and long queues gave them a picturesque ap
pearance while the quiet way in which they went about their work
was at once novel and pleasing. They were most polite and gentle
in their movement, anticipating every want and without the slight
est confusion. And as it was in the saloon and the stateroom, so
was it with the crew who were as amenable to discipline as on

238 AUTOBIOGRAPPIY OF JAMES CROIL.

board a man-o-war. Captain Archibald is a native of Newfound
land — a handsome intelligent gentleman, and a fine frank sailor
who had me into his cabin and gave me the history of his career
at sea. Jamie Neish, the chief engineer, is a burly Scotchman,
born in the lang toon o 'Kircaldy, and also a well-spoken cheery
man. The officers are all Navy Reserve men and very tony. They
always appear at dinner, as do all the passengers, in full evening
dress, displaying a wonderful amount of white linen in the region
of the bandbox. The dresses of the ladies were in the height of
fashion, some of them fearfully and wonderfully made. One young
lady sweeps the floor, dragging a train of ruffles behind her : how
absurdly out of place !

As Victoria is in latiude about 40° and Yokohama is 35° it
might be supposed that our course would be in the direction of
west by south, but no, we pointed northerly until we reached
latitude 52.02, N. — seventeen degrees north of our destination !
Yet, strange as it may seem, this the sailors say, is the shortest
route to Japan : explain it who can. On reaching longitude 180°
we were at the "Antipodes," exactly half-way round the Globe, our
feet being diametrically opposite those of the man in charge of
Greenwich Observatory. And here a queer thing happened ; we
lost a whole day of 24 hours, for we went to bed on Sunday night
and woke up next morning to find that it was Tuesday by the
ship's reckoning. We had no Monday. But we were assured that
we should pick up our lost day at the same place on our return
voyage. The explanation is simple enough to the nautical man
but to most landsmen it is puzzling. In vain the purser did his
best to explain the mystery for it is well known that it requires
a surgical operation to get a joke into a Scotchman's head. But
for the resources at command, in the form of deck games, to which
were added the comforts of smoke, and the attractions of a beauti
ful reading-room and an excellent library, the voyage either way
must have been described as a very dreary and prosaic one. To say
b. Paul that "Neither sun nor stars in many days appeared,"
rould be strictly true, for sunshine was conspicuous by its absence,
out and home. The sea was smooth as a mill-pond, so that none

OFF TO JAPAX. 239

were afflicted with the mat de mer, but rain or mist were our
companions by day, and the dismal sound of the fog-horn serenaded
us by night. Alone in this vast expanse of waters, day after day we
recorded the run of some 360 miles, without meeting a single vessel
to relieve the monotony — not even a whale, nor an ice-berg were
to be seen.

Nothing worthy of remark transpired until on the evening of
the twelfth day out when we entered the warm waters of Japan
and came abreast of the green island of Kintwasan about 100
miles from Yokohama, where a large school of porpoises danced
merrily around the "Empress" as though they would welcome her
arrival in the Orient. On Sunday mo/ning the sea has become
like molten silver. The coast line is dimly seen through the haze ;
it is close and sultry ; chief officer Cooper reads the morning ser
vice ; at noon we are close to land reminding us in its general
appearance of the coast of North Wales about Llandudno.

At three o'clock we drop anchor outside the mole where a
company of health officers arrayed in white and resplendent with
brass buttons come aboard and rigidly inspect the crew and steer
age passengers, only counting the heads of the magnates in the
saloon. This done the "Empress" enters the harbour, picks up her
mooring and joins the fleet of French, German, Japanese, and
American ships of war and a goodly number of ocean steamers
and sailing vessels. Here we are soon surrounded by swarms of
sampans and steam launches. The Company's steam tender lands
us at the custom house dock : the inspection of luggage is merely
nominal ; a porter calls for a jinrickisha and before you know
where you are you and your hand impedimenta are on the way
to your hotel in the funniest little conveyance imaginable. The
ricksha, as it is called, rrtay be likened, to an armchair on wheels,
or a two-wheeled perambulator propelled by man-power — a tidy
little man in tights and a mushroom hat, his brown legs bared to
the middle of his thighs and his feet protected by sandals of rice
straw. He trots oft' like a high stepping pony at a pace of six
miles an hour and never attempts to exact more than his K-gal fare
which is only ten sen, equal to five cents a mile ! Each man dis-

240 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

plays his number and all are under strict police surveillance. The
jinrickisha, is an ideal conveyance, perfect in its construction
neat in its appearance, and by no means uncomfortable.

KAMAKURA. Without a guide or a word of the language except
Ohayo and Sayonara, one could not expect to see much of the country
in four days. Yet, Mr. Payne, the polite agent of the C. P. R. Co.
assured me that I had actually seen the cream of Japan. But I
know that no visit to Japan is complete without having seen Kioto,

Osaka, and the Inland Sea. Kioto is the Moscow of Japan The

mother city — the soul and centre of the old Empire, a city still of
magnificent temples and the industrial capital of a re-juvenated
Japan. I had been well drilled on board ship by my friend from
Kioto in the use of the terms Ohayo and Sayonara. " Ohayo," is the
universal salutation with which the natives of all classes and all ages
greet each other at the peep of day. It means "the top of the
morning to you, as we would say. "Sayonara" signifies "good-bye"
in a fuller sense than any English equivalent could give it. It is
as much as to say — "If we must part, so be it : Amida be with you
till we meet again ! "

I had my doubts about setting out for Kamakura alone, but
although I heard not a word but Japanese all day, I accomplished
my purpose without much difficulty. We had to change cars at
Ofund, but the names of all stations are posted in both Japanese
and English, and the conductors and other officials are very civil.
The distance is 20 miles and the intervening country very beautiful
and highly cultivated. The fare is 40 sen for second class, or one
cent per mile. The carriages are clean and comfortable, seated length
wise, to suit the narrow gauge of 3 'feet 8 J inches. A broad band of
white, blue, or red the whole length of the carriage outside indicates
first, second and third class. Huge advertisements were displayed
in the fields and on hill sides, many of them in both Japanese and
English— notably that of "Buchanan's Scotch Whiskey," in letters
so large that he who runs may read. A contingent of jinrickisha
or men in full sans culotte uniform awaited our arrival at Kama
kura. A nice looking lad trotted up briskly to the platform and
took possession of me for the day. In vain I kept repeating to him

OFF TO JAPAN. 241

Buddha, Buddha ! he whisked me off a couple miles in the opposite
direction to a temple which I afterwards learned was dedicated to
the 'goddess of mercy/ at whose shrine millions are said to have
received comfort and consolation. Refreshed with a cup of tea
—remarkable for its want of colour — my dapper pony resumed his
place between the shafts, retraced his steps, and headed for the
main object of the expedition — the famous Dai Butsu, the bronze
statue of Buddha, fifty feet in height, in the construction of which
450 tons of copper bronze was used, and which is said to be the
finest representation extant of the great teacher, whose worship in
Japan dates from the sixth century. For miles we passed through
a succession of densely populated straggling villages swarming
with children, consisting of rude thatched houses, sake shops, res
taurants, tea-houses, etc., etc. This was in olden times an important
city, the capital of the Shoguns; but the glory has departed. A
long ascent and the stifling heat would seem to call for the in
tervention of the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals,
but the spirited little animal in the shafts betrayed no symptoms
of distress save that he slackened speed once in a while to wipe
the perspiration from his brow. I pitied him, and walked betimes.
At length we reached the gate at the entrance of the sacred
enclosure where the great Buddha has remained seated on the tra
ditional lotus leaf for many centuries. On either side of the gate
way in niches are hideous looking effigies in stone and on the wall
one reads the following notice in English : " Stranger, whosoever
" thou art, and whatsoever be thy creed, when thou enterest this
"sanctuary remember thou treadest upon ground hallowed by
" the worship of ages. This is the Temple of Buddha and the gate
" of the Eternal, and should therefore be entered with reverence."
Originally, in 1238, a huge temple had been erected to protect the
statue from the ravages of time as well as to inspire the worshippers
with holy awe ; but the edifice was twice destroyed — once by earth
quake and again by a tidal wave. A few great foundation stones
still remain to tell where lofty pillars had supported a vaulted
canopy, but though the temple is gone, the image of Buddha, or a*
some think of Amida — a later incarnation of the Indian Sage, is

31

242 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

there in all its majesty and colossal size. Photography has made
its outward form familiar, the world over, but there is in the
thoughtful features of that face a depth of meaning that cannot be
reproduced on paper. The dreamy expression of those half -closed
eyes typify "the ideal of all that is tender and calm in the soul of
the East." The first view one gets of it is astonishing, and the
longer you look at it the more you are impressed with the thought
that the people who could erect such a monument must have been
unconsciously groping after the true God, " if haply they might
find Him." The surroundings are very pretty : the quiet hour spent
at Kamakura will not soon be forgotton. The number of bows I
received from my ricksha boy left no doubt in my mind that I
must have paid him at least double his due but I did not grudge
him what he got. Soon after leaving Kamakura I found that I
had lost my pocket-book, containing my railway and steamship
return tickets, and fortunately, only a small sum of money. It
might have been worse had not Mr. Payne in the kindest manner
possible furnished me with a duplicate steamship ticket, so here
endeth the first lesson.

A most curious performance at the Kamakura railway station
was the man watering machine. From a long pole on his shoulders
were suspended two barrels of water pierced with small holes at
the bottom like a sieve, by a simple movement the water was
made to squirt out as the coolie walked to and fro laying the dust
effectively.

Some of the natives at a little distance looked like Highlanders
in kilts, only a little more so, for the kilt was scant in longitude.

Made a study of a pretty maid handsomely dressed who sat
next me in the station waiting room at Kamakura, and who seemed
to be taking stock of the old gent in the velvet coat. She had
the dark piercing almond eyes. She wore no head-dress. Her
hair daintily done up in a big top knot was jet black and glossy
as the raven's wing. She never lifted her eyes from him. She
seemed to be saying to herself " what a strange looking being you
are ! You don't dress like other people, you can't speak a word of
our beautiful language." How came you here ? What are you

OFF TO JAPAN. 243

anyhow ? Was this a case of mutual admiration ? No nothing
of the sort. I was afterwards told that it was the old man's white
hair that riveted her attention : for such is regarded with great
respect in Japan.

NIKKO. The saying is current in Japan, " Do not say Kikko
until you have seen Nikko" — Kikko meaning very grand. I had
been told that Nikko was one of the places best worth seeing.
It lies up in the heart of the mountains about 100 miles
from Tokio — a beautiful and fashionable summer resort, and the
sight of the most splendid temples in Japan. Arriving at Nikko
we set out to inspect its remarkable group of sacred edifices all
most interesting. In many instances the outside of the temples were
elaborately embellished with bas-reliefs, one particularly attracted
attention having a variety of monkeys finely engraven on an en
tablature over the main entrance. I need not waste time in trying
to describe in fitting terms the charms of Nikko ; I can only say
my visit to it, brief as it was, left an indelible impression. I
mounted my ricksha and bade Nikko farewell. We went down
to the station at John Gilpin speed, and waited half an hour.

In all that hundred miles en route to Tokio we saw no stone
or brick houses, no seats of country magnates, nothing but the
dingy abodes of the peasantry. After joining the main line we
made fairly good time, and without further incident arrived at
Tokio.

The crowds of people and the clatter of wooden shoes left no
doubt in our minds that this was the teeming capital of the
Empire. Outside an army of ricksha men lay in wait ; an official
in uniform lifted his hand by way of signal that one of these
white-coated, brown-legged coolies was wanted. I knew from the
tariff 40 sen that it would be a drive of four miles to the Metro-
pole, an excellent hotel facing the Bay of Yeddo. Early next
morning I set out for the Central Park about two miles distant.
This is a large open space with broad gravel walks and drives but
scantily supplied with trees. A high stone wall on the further
side is the boundary of the palace grounds in that direction.
Within these precincts "no admission except on business," so we

244 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CROIL.

must be content with a view of the entrance gates which are mas
sive, and flanked by loop-holed towers. The occupant of the
palace is no longer the recluse of former years ; the title of Mikado
has become obsolete. Matsu Hito, the Emperor, lives here quietly
with no desire for ostentatious display, he succeeded to the throne
in 1868, and married Empress Haruko, in 1869.

The Emperor possesses great dignity and is very popular with
his subjects. He is credited with the marvellous revolution that
ushered in his reign, and turned Japan upside down. From the
park we passed to a spacious boulevard lined with handsome public
buildings each named by my charioteer, but alas ! in an unknown
tongue. Thence to the Shinbashi railway station, and in three-
quarters of an hour, had returned to Yokohama, boarded the
" Empress of Japan," slipped quietly out of the harbour and ere
sundown we were out of sight of land. As to the return voyage
it was in the main a repetition of the outward bound one — the
same leaden features of sea and sky, cold damp atmosphere and
frequent fogs. In taking leave of Japan I can say that the little
I saw of the country interested me greatly, and but for the oppres
sive heat and vexations mosquitoes I should gladly have remained
another week.

On August 4th we tied up at Vancouver where I remained till
the end of the month, the old man in the black velvet coat return
ing to Montreal on September 4th, my 82nd birthday, just three
months after leaving home.

(NOTE. — Japan consists of four large islands and a multitude of smaller ones,
in all 3850 it is said, having a total area of 156,604 square miles, to which must be
added the island of Formosa, ceded by China in 1895 which has an area of 15,000
square miles and a population of three millions. Niphon, Nippon, or more pro
perly Hondo, the island on which Yokohama and Tokio are built, is much the
largest of the group being some 900 miles in length. The entire population is
about 45,000,000. Taking into account that much of the country is mountainous
and unfit for cultivation it is evident that the remainder is densely overpopulated,
and consequently the peasantry are very poor, but to their credit be it said, they
are very industrious. It is a beautiful country of hills and fertile valleys, with a
perpetual display of luxuriant foliage from which it takes the name of "The Ever
green Land.")

APPENDIX. 245

A P P E N D I X .

"PVURINU the closing years of his life Mr. Croil enjoyed the
quiet and restfulness of a Christian home. The frequent
visitor was always sure of a Highland welcome and a pleasant
" crack." While deeply interested in the activities and enterprises
of the Church he was no longer able to do more than attend an
occasional service, but as long as he could safely venture forth
from his home, he took his place at the communion service as senior
elder and performed his usual part of uncovering the elements and
serving the minister and other members of session. His hearing
became so defective, latterly, that he could not follow the sermon,
but during the season of praise and prayer, he joined with heart
and mind in the act of devotion. On one occasion being asked if
he heard Dr. Barclay to-day he replied — " I never heard one word
but I can trust him." At the age of ninety-four he made his last
appearance at the Lord's Supper, and though weak in body was
strong in spirit, and as he looked across to the further shore he
cherished ever more fondly the truths which he learned in childhood,
and which were indeed the verities that sustained and strengthened
him for his final passage across the bar. In all these declining
years he was attended by his faithful daughter Jean — who became
his eyes to read, his ears to hear and his staff' to walk. A more
constant and unselfish devotion no daughter could have rendered
a worthy father. But her reward was with her all the while, for
it was the service of filial devotion and that sweetened and sancti
fied her every act. After his departure men began to make esti
mate of his worth as a citizen and his influence as a Christian man.

246 APPENDIX.

Many resolutions of appreciation were passed and to be found in
the records of his own Church, in the minutes of Committees and
of the College Board and Senate. Of these suffice it to append
here the following :

At a meeting of the Session of St. Paul's Church
held on the third day of December one thous
and nine hundred and sixteen the following
minute was passed :

"The Session desires to put on record its sorrow at the death of its
revered senior elder, MR. JAMES CROIL, who passed away on the 28th of
November, in the 96th year of his age. MR. CROIL was ordained an elder in
1850, and was inducted in St. Paul's Church in 1871. Within the congre
gation he rendered invaluahle service as representative elder, as Sunday
School .superintendent and as a most trusted counsellor in the deliberations
of the Session. His wide experience of Church affairs made his judgment
carry with it singular weight "

" In the Church at large he was known everywhere not only by the
work he had done throughout the Dominion as agent for the Church of
Scotland in Canada in the days prior to Union, but also as Editor of the
Presbyterian Record from 1876 to 1891. His pen was never idle, and as his
torian, as biographer, and as journalist, he has left behind him work which
will perpetuate his name."

" He was a man of strong affections and simple life. Early in his career
he detached himself from business interests and gave himself almost
entirely to the service of the Church. He was trusted by men of every
type, and his transparent goodness, added to his native ability, gave him a
unique place in the councils of the " Presbyterian Church in Canada."

11 The Session gives thanks to God for his long and honourable life, his
geniality and power of friendship, his unfailing diligence in the Master's
service, and commends to the Father's keeping his beloved family."

On the 4th December, 1916, the following minute was also
passed by the Board of Trustees of St. Paul's Church :

« Whereas, in the Providence of God, our venerable brother, JAMKS
CROIL, has been called away, honoured and full of years far past the allotted
earthly span,

"Be it Resolved, that this Board place on permanent record its deep
appreciation of his loyal and valuable effort for this Congregation and for
the Presbyterian Church in Canada during his long life of Christian service ;
and further,

APPENDIX. 247

"Be it Resolved, that a copy of this Resolution be delivered to Miss
Croil, his daughter, as a memorial to one who as journalist, administrator
and church member earned the title, "The Grand Old Man of the Canadian
Presbyterian Church" and won the respect and esteem of his fellow-men
through two generations."

At a meeting of the Presbytery of Montreal held
on the thirteenth day of November, one thous
and nine hundred and seventeen, inter alia,
the following resolution was passed :

" The Presbytery of Montreal desires to place on record its sense of
deep loss through the death of MR. JAMES CKOIL who passed away on the
28th day of November, 1916, at the great age of 95. MR. CROIL was ordained
an elder in 1850 and for nearly seventy years has served the Church with
rare faithfulness and ability He was early in life able to free himself from
the cares of business, and as agent for the Church of Scotland in Canada
before the Union, travelled throughout the land and acquired an unequalled
knowledge of ecclesiastical and religious conditions. His sympathy and
kindness made him an ideal editor fur the Presbyttiian Record when he held
that appointment from 1876-91. His literary activities were not confined
however, to his editorial work. Volume after volume dealing with local
and provincial history came from his pen In 1871 MR. CROIL was inducted
to the eldership in St. Paul's C'liuirh and as Sunday School superintendent,
as representative of the congregation in the Presbytery, as wisest of coun
sellors and most genial of friends he made for himself a position that was
most powerful and persuasive. The Presbytery regrets the loss of a brother
most deeply bi-lovcd and a truly good man

"It prays that the Divine blessing may rest upon the mourners and
directs that the Clerk send an extract of this minute to his devoted family."

v