Genera Of Shells, With A Catalogue Of Species (Paperback)

ONE of my earliest recollections of my introduction to the good city of Peterborough, Ontario, in 1878, is that of a brief conversation with the wife of the then superannuated Methodist minister, Rev. John Sanderson, the subject of this book. I shall never forget the graphic account which Mrs. Sanderson gave of her early experiences of the itinerancy-the little log parsonage, set in the midst of a tiny clearing in the woods, walled in on every side with the dark, stately, primeval forest her loneliness during the long absences of her husband on his extensive itineraries her horror of the wolfs long howl through the dreary night. I count it a great pleasure to have known Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson and their family and now to be allowed to write a few words of introduction to this delightful volume. Rev. John Sanderson was a typical Methodist minister of the old school, a man of excellent ability, a genial Irish temperament which made him at home everywhere, an unsullied record, a thoroughly useful career. He and his good English wife are to be reckoned among the men and women who have made Methodism, who have made Canada. Their daughter has most lovingly and charmingly depicted their life and character. The style is fresh, naive, vivacious the book abounds in graphic descriptions of places, persons and events there are many touches both of humor and of pathos there are frequent glimpses into the details of the daily life not only of the parsonage, but also of the general community of fifty years ago which make that period and that phase of our history live over again to the reader. As we read, we see the people gathering from far and near to the old-time preaching service, the high- wroughtinterest of the quarterly meeting, the itinerants long rides through the lonely forest, the trials and triumphs of a long and faithful ministry. But we also see such details of the home life as make the story intensely human. We are perhaps surprised to find in those earlier clays, with what we had thought their simple life, the insistence of that same problem of domestic help which we had supposed peculiar to our own time. We behold the flutter of household excitement when some great man, notably that prince of preachers, William Ryerson, visits the parsonage and the church. We have delightful reminiscences of such men as Kennedy Creighton, Edward Hartley Dewart, Father Oase, Lachlin Taylor, S. S. Nelles and the Burwashes. We are amused at the story of Dr. Nelles early experiences as Principal of the Newburgh Academy, how he got into serious trouble with some strait-laced people of the church for being so frivolous, as to play ball with the boys of his school, and how the nimble-witted pastor, Mr. Sanderson, extricated him from his trouble. We read many names of men and women of somewhat later days, especially in Peterborough, who have reached high places in the Canadian world of our own time. As we pass rapidly on through these most readable pages we are constrained now to glow with a wholesome, old-time religious feeling, now to weep over the tender pathos of some touching incident, now to laugh at the Irish wit of the good-hearted preacher or at the comedy of some ludicrous situation. There are no dull pages in the book. And withal it is not only a very interesting, but also a very valuable contribution to the history of our Church and of our Province. It is a good book to brightena dull hour, to warm a cold heart......