the pews in the church would be finished, they would be sold at auction to the highest bidder, and each subscriber's money would go on account of his seat."

One general observation may be made at this point: the congregation began to build upon a broad national and religious basis. Among the foregoing subscribers we find John Gregory, Joseph Frobisher, Benaiah Gibb, Thomas Oakes, John Molson, James Woolrich, J. A. Gray, Thomas Busby, R. Brooks and John Gray, Englishmen; Sir John Johnson, Andrew Todd, Thomas Sullivan, Isaac Todd and John Neagles, Irishmen; John J. Deihl and Andrew Winclefoss, Germans; J. St. Germain and Francois Deslard, Frenchmen; Hannah, Empey and Peter Pangman, New-England loyalists; the others being Scots either by birth or descent, some of them Highlanders, and some Lowlanders. To have people co-operating for Church purposes and worshipping together, who were trained in separate schools, with their diversities of usage and different shades of opinion, although they were all Protestant, involved the principle of toleration. So that from the start the congregation had in it elements that secured catholicity of sentiment. In its infancy it drew to itself material strength and sustenance, as well as inspiration, from a considerable number of sources, and each of these helped to shape the subsequent history of the St. Gabriel Street Church.

CHAPTER VII.

NOTICES OF THE LEADING SUBSCRIBERS TO THE CHURCH BUILDING FUND-THE FUR MERCHANTS, ALEXANDER HENRY, FORSYTH-RICHARDSON & Co., SIR JOHN JOHNSON, JAMES MCGILL, ANDREW TODD, JOSEPH FROBISHER, GEORGE MCBEATH, FRANCIS WINTER, JAMES DUNLOP, JOHN GREGORY, WM. MURRAY, JOHN LILLY, AULDJO & MAITLAND, JAMES WOOLRICH, AND THE EMPLOYEES OF THE COMPANY, SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, NICHOLAS MONTOUR, ROBERT GRANT, PETER PANGMAN, WILLIAM MCGILLIVRAY, SIMON FRASER, CUTHBERT GRANT, ANGUS SHAW, RODK. MCKENZIE, ROBERT THOMPSON, WILLIAM THORBURN, JAMES FINLAY, DAVID GRANT, ALEX. FRASER AND PETER GRANT.

Alexander Henry, whose name appears at the head of the list of subscribers, was then, and afterwards, a prominent citizen, and a justice of the peace. He was one of the first English traders who, in the prosecution of the trade in peltries, ventured as far as Michillimakinac, the headquarters of the French fur traders. This was before the signing of the Treaty of Paris, and, consequently, he had to encounter the risks involved in penetrating to a region in which French influence was still strong. The Sauteux Indians, occupying the surrounding country, were sworn enemies of the English, and did the bidding of Pontiac, the French General. Mr. Henry passed the winter 1762-3 at Sault Ste. Marie, in order to master the language of the Sauteux. He had afterwards many adventures and hairbreadth escapes. He would have perished in the massacre of Michillimakinac, had it not been for the good offices of Mme. De Langlade, who gave him shelter and concealment in a granary. On another occasion he owed his life to the kind interposition of an

interpreter, Jean Baptiste Cadot. In 1765, he entered into partnership with Cadot, whose wife was of the Sauteux tribe. They carried on a profitable trade, penetrating even to the months of the Saskatchewan. He returned to Montreal in 1776, and published his "TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES IN CANADA AND THE INDIAN TERRITORIES BETWEEN THE YEARS 1760 And 1766." Being asked to head the subscription list to the church in 1792, we may suppose that he was esteemed the greatest of the fur magnates at that time. But he must have spent his fortune before his death, as there is evidence that he was comparatively poor in his later years." He occupied the position of King's auctioneer, in which office he was joined by Norman and James Bethune, in 1817. For a time he seems to have attended the services of Christ Church, during the later years of Mr. Young's incumbency of the St. Gabriel Street Church, as his name appears on the record of that congregation in 1799. And in this connection, it is significant that he voted for the retirement of Mr. Young, in 1800; while his name is absent from the subscription taken for liquidating the debt in that year. He contributed a guinea, however, to the fund for enabling Mr. Young to remove his family. He was a liberal supporter of Mr. Somerville, subscribing three pounds annually towards his stipend. He afterwards reduced the amount to one guinea, which seems to imply that his means had got smaller.

There were two Forsyth's, in the firm, “Forsyth, Richardson & Co.," who appear second as subscribing twenty pounds towards erecting the church, Thomas and John. They were young Scotchmen, from Aberdeen, who early crossed the sea in search of fortune. In this they were eminently successful. They stood foremost

among the commercial houses of the city, at the end of last century, and during the first thirty years of the present century. Their business was a general one; but like all the other merchants of the period, they dealt largely in furs, which was the most lucrative branch of their trade.

Thomas Forsyth removed to Kingston, in Upper Canada, where he carried on business until his death. Although the firm always subscribed handsomely, whenever an effort had to be put forth on behalf of the Presbyterian church, the Forsyths, individually, do not seem to have taken any part in the work of the church. Thomas appears to have had decided Episcopalian leanings, as his name is found prominent in the records of Christ Church, of which he was a warden, in 1822.

Hon. John Forsyth, although showing less capacity for public enterprises than his more distinguished partner, Mr. Richardson, yet took a small share in some of the undertakings of the period. He was a director of the Bank of Montreal, as well as of the Montreal Fire Insurance company, in 1820. He was appointed a Legislative Councillor in 1826. Having acquired a competency, he returned to Scotland, where he spent the evening of his days in well-earned repose.

But the junior member of the firm, John Richardson, who was a native of Banffshire, Scotland, was a man of energy and action par excellence. The Montreal of the period owed more to him a great deal, than to any other of its citizens; for whenever anything was to be done, requiring skill and energy for its accomplishment, John Richardson was the man whom his fellow-citizens called to the front. The late Mr. John Dougall, speaking to the writer, a few months before his death, of Montreal sixty years ago, when he knew it first, singled out three of the

citizens as men greatly beloved and trusted, Hon. John Richardson, Hon. Geo. Moffat, and Hon. Peter McGill; and added that the public have not perhaps been as well served since, as it was by these three men in succession. With Joseph Frobisher, he represented the East Ward of the city, in the first Parliament of Lower Canada. He was one of the commissioners for removing the old walls of the city, from 1802 onwards. He got a bill passed for the construction of a canal to Lachine, as early as 1795-6, although he did not see the work commenced till 1821, on the 17th of July, in which year, he turned the first sod, at the commencement of the work. He was chairman of the company that secured the completion of the undertaking, in 1825, at a cost of $440,000. And in this connection, it is believed that his singleness of mind, and fear of being reproached with self-seeking, actually proved detrimental to the best interests of the community. The canal ought to have been carried down to Hochelaga, through what is now Craig street; but he opposed the project lest it should be said that he promoted it for the purpose of enhancing the value of his own property, which lay in the Quebec suburbs.

He was named second on the list of gentlemen appointed by His Excellency Sir Gordon Drummond, in 1815, a committee to obtain subscriptions in aid of the families of the slain at Waterloo.

He was one of the six commissioners for building the Nelson monument. He was chairman of the committee that prepared the articles of the association of the Bank of Montreal, published in the Montreal Herald, in May, 1817. He was a director of the first Montreal Savings Bank, as also a trustee for improving the highway to Lachine, and a justice of the peace to administer oaths to half-pay officers of the district of Montreal. He took the oath as a Legislative Councillor at Quebec, the 31st January, 1821.