The Henson Journals

[143]

Monday, July 26th, 1909.

Montreal:–

A brilliant day. After breakfast Ella was taken out to look at shops by Mrs Adams, I went to the Mount Royal Club and wrote letters to Maynard, Mother, and the Dean of Wells. Here Mr Fleet entertained a company of clergy to meet me. The party including our host & Mr Greensheaf, numbered precisely a dozen. After the meal, I was begged to speak on the position of the Church of England, & I made a discursive & conversational address for about 3/4 of an hour. In the course of my remarks I said a good many things that evidently surprised & interested my hearers. Dr Symonds seemed well pleased, & told me afterwards that he thought much good would result.

After lunch we were taken by Mr Redpath in his motor to see the city. On the quays I was assured that before the present walls had been built the ice had been piled to the height of the houses, on the roofs of which the young people of Montreal wrote their names! The roads are very bad: the fact suggested some discussion of the local government, which appears to be mainly in the hands of the French. These are corrupt, inefficient, & unfair to the English. It is interesting to see a monument to Nelson rising from the midst of the French quarter. After the motor drive Mr Greensheaf drove us round the mountain, which is laid out as a public park from which motors are very properly excluded. From one point in the drive a magnificent view of the [144] city & the St Lawrence river is obtained. We had tea in the Hunt Club, a pleasantly placed & well–appointed institution. I observed on the number of Scotch names among the masters, & members. There are a few Frenchmen, but very few. The French speaking generally have no dealings with the English. The number & size of the Roman Catholic schools, convents, hospitals, & seminaries are forced on the eye at every turn. These Papists are wealthy & subtle; they buy up every property that comes into the market, save when they are forestalled by the energy of the Protestants. Both the Mount Royal & the Hunt Clubs had their origin in a combined effort to save land from the priests. Certainly it is a very grave matter that so much property should pass into the 'dead hand' of the Church.

We dined with Mr Redpath & his sons. After dinner our host showed us many photographs, which he had taken. He is clearly an expert in photography, & possesses a considerable number of cameras, of various sizes.

The evening papers contain considerable extracts of my sermons yesterday, together with the report of an interview with me, & a leader suggested by my observations on national defence. There was also a curious description of me, which was the work of the young reporter, who carried off my MS. on Sunday evening. He called at the house, and is to come to breakfast tomorrow.

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