240 CANADIAN LOCAL HISTORY : 



Worship in the Parliament Building ; and prior to the appointment of the Rev. Mr. Stuart, a 

 layman, Mr. Cooper, afterwards the well-known wharfinger, used to read the service. In 1805, 

 steps were taken to erect the building above described ; and we are informed that the Com- 

 mandant of the Garrison, Col. Sheaffe, ordered his men to assist in raising the frame. In 1810, 

 a portion of the church-plot was enclosed, at an expense of £1 5s. for rails, of which five 

 hundred were required for the purpose At the same time the ground in front of the west end, 

 where was the entrance, was cleared of stumps, at an expense of £3 15s. In that year the cost 

 for heating the building, and charges connected with the Holy Communion, amounted to 

 £1 7s. 6d, Halifax currency. 



In 1813, Dr. Strachan succeeded Dr. Stuart as incumbent of the church; and in 1818 he 

 induced the congregation to effect some alterations in the structure. On its north and south 

 sides additional space was enclosed, which brought the axis of the building and its roof into a 

 north and south direction. An entrance was opened at the southern end, towards King Street, 

 and over the gable in this direction was built a square tower bearing a circular bell-turret, sur- . 

 mounted by a small tin-covered spire. Tlie whole edifice, as thus enlarged and improved, was 

 painted of a light blue colour, with the exception of the frames round the windows and doors, 

 and the casings at the angles, imitating blocks of stone, alternately long and short, which were 

 all painted white. In the bell-turret was a bell of sufficient weight sensibly to jar the whole 

 building at every one of its semi-revolutions. The original western door was not closed up. 

 Its use, almost exclusively, was now, on Sundays and other occasions of Divine Worship, to 

 admit the Troops, whose benches extended along by the wall on that side the whole length of 

 the church. — The upper windows on all the four sides were now made circular-headed. On the 

 east side there was a diflTerence. The altar-window of the original building remained, only 

 transformed into a kind of triplet, the central compartment rising above the other two, and 

 made circular-headed. On the north and south of this east window were two tiers of lights, as 

 on the western side. 



In the interior, a central aisle, or open passage, led from the door to the northern end of the 

 church, where, on the floor, was situated a pew of state for the Lieutenant-Governor : small 

 square pillars at its four corners sustained a flat canopy over it, immediately under the ceiling 

 of the gallery ; and below this distinctive tester or covering, suspended against the wall, were 

 the royal arms, emblazoned on a black tablet of board or canvas. Half-way up the central 

 aisle, on the right side, was an open space, in which were planted the pulpit, reading-desk and 

 clerk^s pew, in the old orthodox fashion, rising by gradations one above the other, the whole 

 overshadowed by a rather handsome sounding-board, sustained partially by a rod from the roof. 

 Behind this structure was the altar, lighted copiously by the original east window. Two nar- 

 row side-aisles, running parallel with the central one, gave access to corresponding rows of 

 pews, each ha^nrng a numeral painted on its door. Two passages, for the same purpose, ran 

 westward from tlie space In front of the pulpit. To the right and left of the Lieut. -Governor's 

 seat, and filling up (with the exception of two square corner pews) the rest of the northern end 

 of the church, were two oblong pews ; the one on the west appropriated to the officers of the 

 garrison ; the other, on the east, to the members of the Legislature. 



Round the north, west, and south sides of the interior, ran a gallery, divided, like the area 

 below, into pews. This structure was sustained by a row of pillars of turned wood, and from 

 it to the roof above rose another row of similar supports. The ceiling over the parts exterior 

 to the gallery was divided into four shallow semi-eircuJar vaults, which met at a central point. 

 The pews everywhere were painted of a buff or yellowish hue, with the exception of the rims at 

 the top, which were black. The pulpit and it-s appurtenances were white. The rims, just 

 referred to, at the tops of the pews, throughout the whole church, exhibited, at regular inter- 

 vals, small gimlet-holes : in these were inserted aimually, at Christmas-tide, small sprigs of 

 hemlock-spruce. The interior, wlien thus dressed, wore a cheerful, refreshing look, in keeping 

 vnth the festival commemorated. 



"Within this interior used to assemble, periodically, the little world of Tork : occasionally, a 

 goodly proportion of the little world of all Upper Canada. 



To limit ourselves to our own recollections : here, with great regularity, every Sunday, was 

 to be seen, passing to and from the place of honour assigned him, Sir Peregrine Maitland,— a 

 tall, grave officer, always in military undi'ess ; his countenance ever wearing a mingled expres- 



