0n Prince Edward Island
years of age; and judging of the whole staff by such men as John Farquharson, Alex. McEachern, Don— ald and Roderick McLeod, John and George Jen- kins, the Murchisons, the Irvings, the Bells and many others who might be mentioned, and with whom the writer was personally acquainted, they may safely be pronounced a band of men who, for their piety, their Bible knowledge and their devoted lives, would do credit to any church in the land.
The elders generally sat upon an elevated plat— form at the foot of the pulpit and conducted the singing. They followed the old system of chanting and then singing one line at a time, the whole con- gregation uniting with the elders, who stood before the pulpit leading the songs of praise. Though they made no pretensions to artistic music, there was a simplicity, a solemnity and a grandeur in this part of their worship which we could wish to see restored in all our churches, feeling assured that it would tend far more to the glory of God and the spiritual elevation of the worshipers than the artistic exhibi- tions made in many of our churches at the present day.
In the early days of Mr. McDonald’s settlement on this island newspapers were scarce, mail com— munication with the outside world was rare and irregular, and the people had almost no opportunity of knowing what was going on around them. T 0 supply this deficiency the preacher not infrequently spent the first half hour in giving his hearers a resume of the leading events that were transpiring
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