the mother country to aid us in our efforts to relieve this spiritual destitution. Our Bishop has issued a brief but stirring appeal on behalf of the Missionary wants of his new diocese, and some kind friends have already responded to it in a liberal spirit. May God bless them for their generous sympathy, and may He who has the hearts of all men in His holy keeping be graciously pleased to cause many 'to go and do likewise.""

CHAPTER VI.

WORK IN AMERICA (continued).

NEWFOUNDLAND-FREDERICTON-RUPERT'S LAND-COLUMBIA.

NEWFOUNDLAND.

THIS island, the nearest to the mother country of all the colonies of Great Britain, was discovered in 1497 by the celebrated Venetian navigator, Sebastian Cabot. For a long period the possession of it was disputed by the French, but at the Peace of Utrecht, in 1713, it was finally ceded to the English. It is occupied only along the coast, and almost exclusively by persons engaged in the cod and seal fisheries. The last of the aboriginal inhabitants, Shanawdithit, died at St. John's in 1829.

The first English clergyman here, the Rev. Mr. Jackson, who had been maintained with difficulty for a short time at St. John's by private subscriptions, was adopted as a missionary by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in May, 1703. The Rev. Jacob Rice was sent out to St. John's, in 1705; and in 1729 the Rev. R. Killpatrick was stationed at Trinity Bay. In 1766 the Rev. Lawrence Coughlan, having for some time resided at Harbour Grace, was, at the request of the inhabitants, appointed missionary there by the Society. In 1787 a missionary was appointed at Placentia, and a church built, to which King William IV. then in command of the Pegasus on that station,

subscribed fifty guineas, and also presented a handsome set of communion-plate, still in use.

On the appointment of our first colonial Bishop, Dr. Inglis, of Nova Scotia, in 1787, Newfoundland was nominally placed under his episcopal superintendence; but so extensive was his diocese, and so numerous and pressing the claims upon his time and strength, that he was never able to visit this island.

When Dr. Stanser succeeded to the Episcopate of Nova Scotia in 1816, there were five missionaries and seven schoolmasters in Newfoundland, maintained in part by the Society.

On the appointment of the third Bishop of Nova Scotia, Dr. J. Inglis, in 1824, his diocese was sub-divided into four Archdeaconries, of which Newfoundland was one and Bermuda another; and there were at that time five other missionaries and twenty-five schoolmasters and catechists.

In 1826 Bishop Inglis visited the Bermuda Islands, which contained then a population of above 10,000, about one-half of whom were slaves. There were nine parishes, each provided with a church. The zeal of the clergy, and the excellent disposition of the people, who had never seen a bishop before on these islands, excited his Lordship's admiration. He confirmed more than 1,200 persons in the whole, of whom above 100 were blacks.

In 1828 the Bishop made his first visitation of Newfoundland, in the course of which he traversed nearly 5,000 miles; consecrated eighteen churches and twenty burial-grounds; confirmed, in all, 2,365 persons, and preached thirty-two times. In his report to the Society the Bishop says:-" There are peculiar circumstances at Newfoundland which increase the difficulties of providing for the instruction of the people. Their settlements are greatly scattered, always difficult of access, and often inaccessible. During the short fishing season every one is wholly engaged in the fishery, on which they depend for sup

F

port; and in the winter it is a frequent practice to remove to the forest for shelter, fuel, and employment in preparing lumber. These difficulties, however, may be successfully met by becoming earnestness and zeal. Sometimes it will be desirable for the schoolmasters to move with the people and tilt (as it is called1) in the woods. The clergyman also must be ready, in a pure missionary spirit, to visit occasionally these temporary lodgments in the forests; and, during the busiest seasons, he will always find the general inclination of the people leaning towards the Church. Pressed, as they often are, by the hurry of the fishing season, they will always be ready for instruction, even then, on the Sabbath, which is seldom violated by Protestants here. A missionary without missionary zeal can do nothing here. He will often have formidable difficulties to contend with; but if he be earnest in the great cause in which he is embarked he will not be left without much comfort and encouragement in his arduous course."

In 1839, Newfoundland was erected into a separate diocese, and the Rev. A. G. Spencer, who had for many years been Archdeacon of the Bermuda Islands (which were now included in the diocese) was consecrated the Bishop. At this time the Society supported ten clergymen and three lay teachers in Newfoundland, all of whom were stationed on the coast between Twillingate and Ferryland; and three clergymen in Bermuda.

:

The immediate and beneficial results of this measure are manifest from the Bishop's Charge in 1841, in which he says: "The first results of my visitation and endeavours to promote the great objects contemplated by my appointment, during the last two years, are, I trust, obvious and satisfactory. The full information which I possess respecting the condition and wants of my diocese; the subdivision of its more extensive missionary 1 See Gospel Missionary, vol. v. p. 135.