chaplain, but leave to each denomination
the right of doing so, if it should think proper. Each chaplain thus
nominated and paid, to be recognized by the military authorities, and be
subject, of course, to the military regulations. In such circumstances,
it is probable there would have been three Protestant chaplains--Church
of England, Presbyterian, and Methodist. I infer or assume this on the
ground of experience. In our Normal School of one hundred and fifty
students, each is asked his religious persuasion, and the chief minister
of that persuasion is furnished with a list of the names of students
adhering to or professing his Church, and the day, and hour, and place
where he can give them religious instruction. The result is, that by
mutual consultation and agreement of ministers, all the Presbyterians,
including even the Congregationalists and Baptists, meet in one class,
and receive religious instruction from one minister, the ministers
agreeing to take the labour in successive sessions--one minister
performing all the duty one session. The arrangement voluntarily exists
among the different classes of Methodists--though Wesleyan ministers do
all the work. A Church of England minister attends to the instruction
and religious oversight of the Church of England students, and the chief
Roman Catholic priest does the same in regard to the Roman Catholic
students. Nothing can be more fair, practical, and satisfactory than a
similar arrangement in regard to the Red River expedition. What may be
the peculiar views, habits, etc. of the Church of England chaplain
appointed and salaried by the Government, I know not; but you know as
well as I do that a man being a clergyman of the Church of England is no
longer a guarantee that he does not entertain and teach views and
practices more subversive of unsophisticated Protestant principles and
feelings than could be as successfully done by a Roman Catholic priest.
Besides, as a general rule, men, especially young men, do not regard,
and are not controlled, as to their own worship and pastorate, except by
the services and pastoral oversight to which they are accustomed and
attached; and without such influence and aid to the preservation and
strengthening of moral principles, habits, and feelings, more young men
are liable to be demoralized and ruined in military expeditions, such as
that of the Red River, than are likely to be killed in battle or die of
disease.

This is the view