CHAPTER VI. Bishop Stewart-Labours in the parish of Quebec, for the diocese and for different institutions. DR. MOUNTAIN had been nearly six months absent from Quebec, though scarcely more than two had been spent in England. His labours were not lightened by his being relieved of those which properly belonged to the office of chaplain, for during the vacancy of the see additional responsibility was, of course, laid on the Archdeacon, and this, with his parochial duties, left him little leisure. The new Bishop was not consecrated till January, 1826, and was unable to 'enter on the administration of the diocese for about a year after the death of his predecessor. He had gone to England in 1825 for consecration, and the Government declining to carry into effect the plan for the division of the diocese on the ground that it had been rendered necessary only by the failing health of the late Bishop, the charge of the whole of Canada devolved upon him. But it was more than any one man could bear, and soon wore out the strength of Dr. Stewart, which had, perhaps, been already impaired by twenty years of apostolic labour. It would have been a great comfort to him if he could have persuaded His Majesty's Ministers to agree to the erection of a new diocese, and could have seen his friend the Archdeacon of Quebec placed over it; and in this feeling, the clergy of Lower Canada may be presumed to have shared, for in the conclusion of an address of condolence in his bereavement which they presented to him upon his return from Eng land, they say, "That return is cause of rejoicing to your family, your friends, your flock, and the Church of God Whose ministers we are; and, gratified as we are at the prospect of the elevation to the vacant see of that distinguished missionary of noble birth, whose exertions in the cause of religion, and whose sacrifices to promote it, none can know how to appreciate better than ourselves, we must yet be permitted to express the satisfaction we shall feel at any arrangement, whether near or remote, which may have for its object your own advancement to a situation of higher honour and more extensive usefulness in that Church of which you have shewn yourself, on all occasions, the able and vigilant champion, and which already owes so much to your services and your zeal." Bishop Stewart, indeed, seems never to have lost sight of this object, for he made repeated efforts for its accomplishment before it was at length attained. He was well able to judge of the qualifications of his Archdeacon, for never was Archdeacon more truly the "right hand" of his Bishop. The Bishop leaned upon him for advice and assistance in all that he undertook, and the most perfect affection and confidence subsisted between them. He became his lordship's examining chaplain, (an office which he had filled under his own father,) and his pen was more than once employed in writing pastoral addresses which were sent forth "from the Bishop of Quebec." The first ordination by the new Bishop was held in July, 1826,* when the Archdeacon preached the sermon, which was published. It was nearly the same as that which he had preached at the visitation at Montreal in 1820, and which he had not then published, as it formed one of a series intended for his own flock, the whole of which he had designed to give them in print, but the necessary leisure for doing so having been denied him, this one was now published separately. He constantly laid down exact Two hundred and five persons were, in this year, confirmed at Quebec. rules for the distribution of his time, but he was so completely the servant of others, that it was scarcely ever possible to observe them. Besides discharging the duties of Archdeacon and chaplain, he undertook, in January 1827, and continued for several years, to superintend the studies of some candidates for Orders resident in Quebec, for which no other provision could be made, and they used to come to him for a certain number of hours every week.* All this while he was working a large and scattered parish, with charitable associations which depended on his activity for their welfare, and without the regular machinery which would have afforded him relief. The National Schools, SundaySchools, Hospitals, Jail, Jail Association, S. P. C. K. Committee, Clergy Reserve Corporation, Royal Institution, Emigrant Society, and several other public institutions,-all claimed a large share of constant labour and anxiety. There is a likeness of him, taken in 1826, on which he has written with reference to the premature grey hairs and other marks of age which it exhibits, Confiteor facere hæc annos; sed et altera causa est, And besides all these, there was a ceaseless recourse to him, by all sorts and conditions of men, for every conceivable kind of assistance, spiritual and temporal. He sometimes longed for relief from some of the drudgery of parish routine," which might have been equally well performed by inferior hands, leaving his own more free for higher things. generally, indeed, had an assistant in the week-day work, but this clergyman used to devote the Sundays to destitute settlements in the neighbourhood of Quebec. There was not at this time more than one resident clergyman in the district He * He also drew up, by desire of the Bishop, a sketch of the heads of lectures, &c., for the guidance of others, which has been preserved. |