Notre Dame-de-Bonsecours dates from 1673, when it was founded by Marguerite Bourgeois. The present edifice dates from 1771, and several times has been in danger of being swept away by the tide of commerce at its base. It has been sorely mishandled by the renovator.
The church of the Gesu on Bleury street, with Saint Mary's College adjoining, is the abode of the Jesuits. They returned to Canada in 1847, and erected the present church in 1864. Members of this Order were the first to estab lish missions in Canada, and an account of their trials affords the most romantic reading of its history. Individual priests penetrated the wil derness and lived and died often in hideous torment amongst the savages of the Iroquois confederacy. At the time of the conquest they were expelled from Canada, and their estates confiscated. Up to 1892 their revenues were devoted to educational purposes when, under arrangements, their estates were restored to the Order. The church is 194 feet long, 96 feet wide, the transept 144 feet and the nave 95 feet high. The frescoes arc in grisaille, grayish tints imitative of bas-reliefs — a very effective decoration for the interior. The evening music is very fine, and an admirable sermon in Eng lish is often preached which attracts many non adherents of the Roman communion.
Amongst the churches of Montreal the An glican Christ Church Cathedral holds first place in correctness of style. The style chosen is early English. The architect has insisted very clearly upon its proportion and symmetry, and has succeeded in erecting one of the most im portant architectural units in America. Its con ception is due to Bishop Fulford, the first resi dent bishop of Montreal, and his memorial on the east side is much admired. It resembles the Martyrs' Memorial at Oxford. The church is in the form of a Latin cross. The total length is 212 feet, transept 100 feet, height of spire 224 feet, nave 67 feet. The material of which it is built is Montreal limestone faced with Caen sandstone, which, though soft for the climate, has weathered to a very delicate tone of color. There is no attempt at interior decoration, except in the staining of the glass, which is well done, especially the northern windows and those of the transept. Other
features are the seats of the choir, and the capitals of the columns carved to imitate Canadian flowering plants. The chapter-house, an octagonal building with broken outlines, adds to the general effect. In spite of, or perhaps by reason of, the correctness of the design and the adherence to it, the edifice somehow lacks the true cathedral feeling.
Saint George's Church, Anglican, on Do minion Square, is a very dainty piece of build ing, after the manner of the 13th century Gothic. One notes the following features: the stone porch, the spire 230 feet high, with a fine chime of bells, the wide span of the roof, and the freedom of the nave from pillars. The church was erected in 1870, of limestone and olive sandstone.
The church of Saint James the Apostle, on Saint Catherine Street West,. is a pleasing little edifice. It contains a chime of six bells which ring with good effect. One admires the pulpit church was erected in 1870, of limestone and the stalls of carved buttonwood.
The principal Presbyterian churches are Saint Andrews (Church of Scotland) on Beaver Hall Hill; Saint Paul's, Knox, American, and Crescent on Dorchester street; and, most im portant, Erskine Church, on Sherbrooke street.
Saint James is the chief of the Methodist churches. It is situated on Saint Catherine street ; it is elaborate in design and within the arrangement is of a very modern kind.
Educational Institutions.— McGill Univer sity, non-denominational, was founded in 1821, when James McGill, a native of Glasgow, born 1744, died 1813, under a will dated 1811 be queathed f30,000 to the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning. This corporate body dates from 1801 and it secured a new charter in 1821, hut it was not till 1829 that educational work was undertaken. McGill Uni versity contains four faculties, Arts, Law, Medicine and Applied Science, the Royal Vic toria College for Women and a Conservatorium of Music In 1917-18 the enrolment was 1,040; about 2,300 students and graduates were serv ing in the Great War.