96 



SCHOOL-HOUSE. 



executor of the late Earl of Selkirk, came to 

 the Settlement, via Montreal. I accompanied 

 him to Pembina ; and he acted upon the 

 opinion, that the inhabitants of this distant 

 and extreme point of the colony, who were 

 principally hunters, were living too near the 

 supposed line of demarcation, between the 

 British territories and the United States ; and 

 that it would be far better for them to remove 

 down to the Forks ; where, if the industry of 

 the colonists was more concentrated, it would 

 tend more to their protection and prosperity. 

 Many promised to comply with this suggestion. 

 On our return, I took the opportunity of open- 

 ing, with divine service, the building (though 

 it was not finished) which was intended as a 

 school-house, and a temporary place for divine 

 worship ; and, at the same time, baptized two 

 of the boys who had been under my charge, 

 one as James Hope, and the other as Henry 

 Budd ; they being able to read the New 

 Testament, repeat the Church Catechism, and 

 to understand the chief truths of the Christian 

 Religion. 



July 18. — We have the satisfaction of seeing 

 the new sown grain promise well for a crop ; 

 and great hopes are entertained that it will 

 this year escape the ravages of the locusts. 



