When Bishop
Mountain visited Upper Canada in 1794, he found only one
Lutheran chapel and two Presbyterian churches between
Montreal and Kingston. At Kingston he found 'a small but
decent church,' and about the Bay of Quinte there were
three or four log huts which were used by the Church of
England missionary in the neighbourhood. At Niagara there
was a clergyman, but no church; the services were held
in the Freemasons' Hall. This lack of a regularly-ordained
clergy was partly remedied by a number of itinerant
Methodist preachers or 'exhorters.' These men were
described by Bishop Mountain as 'a set of ignorant
enthusiasts, whose preaching is calculated only to perplex
the understanding, to corrupt the morals, to relax the
nerves of industry, and dissolve the bands of society.'
But they gained a very strong hold on the Loyalist
population; and for a long time they were familiar figures
upon the country roads.
For many years communications both in New Brunswick and
in Upper Canada were mainly by water. The roads between
the settlements were little more than forest paths. When
Colonel Simcoe went to Upper Canada he planned to build
a road running across the province from Montreal to the
river Thames, to be called Dundas Street. He was recalled,
however, before the road was completed; and the project
was allowed to fall through.
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