take a seat side by side. Indeed I am inclined to think that the good
brothers and sisters would have put them out of doors. So deeply rooted
are the prejudices in matters of religious belief. That they are the
most difficult to remove, the history of the past confirms through all
ages. This custom prevailed for many years after. When meeting was over
it was customary to go to some friend's to dinner, and make, as used to
be said, a visit, or, what was equally as pleasant, father or mother
would ask some old acquaintances to come home with us. Sunday in all
seasons, and more particularly in the summer, was the grand visiting day
with old and young. I do not state this out of any disrespect for the
Sabbath. I think I venerate it as much as anyone, but I am simply
recording facts as they then existed. The people at that time, as a
rule, were not religious, but they were moral, and anxious for greater
religious advantages. There were not many preachers, and these had such
extended fields of labour that their appointments were irregular, and
often, like angels' visits, few and far between. They could not ignore
their social instincts altogether, and this was the only day when the
toil and moil of work was put aside. They first went to meeting, when
there was any, and devoted the rest of the day to friendly intercourse
and enjoyment. People used to come to Methodist meeting for miles, and
particularly on quarterly meeting day. On one of these occasions,
fourteen young people who were crossing the bay in a skiff, on their way
to the meeting, were upset near the shore and drowned. Some years later
the missionary meeting possessed great attraction, when a deputation
composed of Egerton Ryerson and Peter Jones, the latter with his Indian
curiosities, drew the people in such numbers that half of them could not
get into the house.

There were a good many Quakers, and as my father's people belonged to
that body we frequently went to their meeting. The broad brims on one