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Father MacEachem's first step on arriv- ing on the Island was to procure the neces- sary faculties for entering upon his mis- sionary duties, and this arranged, he set about reorganizing the scattered flock of the faithful. The only two churches he at first made use of were the ones at Scotch Fort and Malpeque. which had been used in the time of Father James Macdonald. He as- sembled the people of these localities in their respective churches and infused into them a new spirit, preaching to them the word of God and administering the holy sacraments. He built a small home for himself at Savage Harbour, near the borders of Kings and Queens counties, and from there his activity radiated throughout the whole Island and not unfrequently to the mainland of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and also to the Is- land of Cape Breton. \Vhile the spiritual wants of the colony were thus provided for as far as the indefatigable efforts of this in- trepid missionary could make provision for them, Father MacEachern could not help looking into the future of religion in the colony. Dire experience had shown him what havoc can be wrought among a people when deprived of their religious teachers. The history of the colony up to that time pointed out only too plainly how disastrous it was for the people to lose their spir- itual guides when others were 'not at hand to take their place. Hence one of his first cares among the many burdensome du- ties of his life was to make some provision for obtaining a supply of priests for the now increasing missions on the Island. While he himself had come out to the colony to save it from spiritual disaster, he was well aware that in his native land there was much to be done in that portion of the Lord’s vineyard. It was therefore unreasonable to expect that

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others from the same source could be ob- tained to continue the good work in St. John’s Island. But, it was evident thatvif religion was to be made to flourish in the colony, priests must be had at all costs, and thus Father MacEachern, in the midst of his otherwise busy life, was determined to solve this difficulty, at least to some extent. He therefore opened communications with the seminary of \Quebec and arrangements were made whereby two or three young men were to be selected for special education and to be sent to Quebec with a view of studying for the priest hood. But here the great difficulty was the question of ways and means towards defraying the cost of education. Money was a scarce asset in the colony and it was no easy undertaking to collect the amount necessary for the education of these young men, when many of the people found it no easy matter to obtain the necessaries of life. At best, however, they should have to wait several years before those young men could received the necessary education to be raised to the priesthood. and in the mean- time our noble missionary continued his ar- duous work in the service of God. His du- ties now called him to all parts of the Island and without means of conveyance, except walking by foot, he was almost continuously traveling from one settlement to another. During this time he also made frequent trips across the straits to visit the settlements along the Gulf shore, which recently had been increased by the arrival of a number of Scottish emigrants. Such were the first years of missionary life for Father Mac- Eachern on the Island. For nine years he laboured alone amongst the dreary wilds of the colony and with no immediate prospect of receiving assistance. It was therefore a great joy to him to learn that some of the