taken--he would go to
Toronto and seek out a minister, he did not care of what denomination,
to spend a week or more in this new but fast-growing cluster of
settlements. Though they did not say so to him, the settlers thought his
errand a crazy one. As chance would have it, he did happen on a man as
zealous for the cause as himself and with no pressing engagement for the
time being. On his arriving he started with the shepherd on a round of
visits, exhorting and baptizing, and announcing he would celebrate the
Lord's supper, the last Sunday before his return to Toronto. So many
promised to come that it was seen the school-house could not hold them.
The minister fell in with the suggestion that the meeting be held
out-of-doors and there were men found who agreed to make ready. It was
now October, and the trees, as if conscious of their departure for their
long sleep, arrayed themselves in glorious apparel to welcome the rest
that awaited them. The spot selected for the meeting was the wide ravine
hollowed out by the creek that flowed sluggishly at the bottom. On the
flat that edged the east side of the creek planks were laid on trestles
to form the table, while the people were expected to sit under the trees
on the sloping bank that rose from it. From an early hour the people
began coming. Word had spread far beyond the houses visited, and there
were a few who had walked ten miles and over. The solemnity of the
occasion was heightened by the weather. Not a breath stirred the air and
the yellow or scarlet leaves that flecked the glassy surface of the
creek had fluttered downward because their time for parting with the
branches had come. A bluish haze tempered the rays of the sun, which was
mounting a cloudless sky. When the minister rose to begin, he faced a
motley crowd, for while all had done their best to be clean and neat,
with rare exceptions, all were in their every day dress, worn and
patched, for to get clothes is one of the difficulties of the new-come
settlers. There were few aged, for the young and active lead the way
into the bush. There were women with babes in their arms, and there were
many children, gazing with open-eyed curiosity. The hundredth psalm was
given out and the silence of the woods was broken by a volume of melody.
The reading from St John where is told the institution of the last
supper, was followed by a prayer of thanksgiving, that even in the
forest-wilderness heaven's manna was to be found