An apostle of the North; memoirs of the Right Reverend William Carpenter Bompas, D. D., first bishop of Athabaska, 1874-1884, first bishop of Mackenzie river, 1884-1891, first bishop of Selkirk (Yukon) 1891-1906

Front matter

AN APOSTLE OF THE NORTH

BlsIIOP BOMIA^ From a photograph taken in 1905

AN APOSTLE OF THE NORTH

Introduction

It has been a great joy to me to learn that a life of my dear friend, Bishop Bompas, is being prepared for publication. Quite apart from the pleasure which the perusal of the record of his life will afford to a large circle of friends, it is, I consider, in the interests of missions that the Christian public should know something more of the heroic work of that great " Apostle of the North." That work was carried on in the seclusion of a prolonged isolation in the wilds of a land which was entirely shut out, except at rare intervals, from communication with the rest of the world. The Bishoj) loved to have it so. He had no care to speak to galleries or to come to the front. On the contrary, he retired before an approaching civilization, and when he saw it coming he retreated into " regions beyond."

His first episcopate covered what is now comprised in the districts of Athabasca, Mackenzie

River, and Yukon. When the first subdivision took

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INTRODUCTION

place, and the diocese o£ Athabasca was formed out of his jurisdiction in 1883, he selected, not the part most accessible to civilization, but the northern portion, and became Bishop of Mackenzie River. When, subsequently, another subdivision took place, he gave up Mackenzie River, retreated again farther North, and assumed charge of the distant Yukon.

This " hiding of self " was typical of the man. His life was " hid with Christ in God," and he hid the activities of it in an unselfish shrinking from the world's gaze. Some of us thought that in this latter he made a mistake, and he was frequently urged to give us the help and inspiration of his presence at our Synods once in three years at least. We longed to see and show " our hero." But it was of no avail. His unvarying answer was, " You can do without me at your meetings. My work is with my Indians."

As a consequence of this self-imposed isolation,

the work of Bishop Bompas was little known to the

general public outside of those who were near

enough to see it. I rejoice, therefore, that we are

to be privileged to have placed before us in this

biography a short record of his work, and I pray

that its story of simple devotion may appeal to some

hearts, and draw from them, while the harvest still

viii

INTRODUCTION

is great and the labourers few, the self-surrendering cry, " Here am I ; send me."

No matter how vivid the story is made, it will be hard to portray the real greatness of the man. In order even measurably to appreciate William Carpenter Bompas and realize his personality, so simple and yet so great, it was necessary to see him and hear his self- effacing words. After we write our best about him, we have to recognize the inadequacy of verbal description, and are constrained to exclaim, " Quantum mutatus ab illo !"

S. P. RUPERT'S LAND.

Bishop's Court, Winnipeg, January^ 1908,

IX

Preface

It has been the custom in all ages for people to ascribe to their heroes wonderful accomplishments and deeds of daring. The further removed in time and place, the greater the glamour.

There is something similar to this in reference to the life of Bishop Bompas. So long did he live apart from the bustle of civilization, and so little did he speak of his own achievements, that people have loved to weave around his life the garment of romance. Time, instead of lessening, has only increased this disposition, and some of the stories related have no foundation whatever.

In the following pages every endeavour has been made to adhere strictly to facts, and to record nothing that is not well authenticated.

The Bishop kept no journal of his many wanderings, and of his numerous hardships and dangers he seldom spoke. When he did refer to them it was

with the utmost brevity, as in a letter to England,

xi

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

II. FORWARD TO THE FRONT (1865) - - - 32

III. THE EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH-WEST - - 42

Chapter I The Volunteer (1834-1865)

" Here am I ; send me."

IsA. vi, 8.

A MASTER was touching the living keys with subtle power in a crowded building on May 1, 1865, at St. Bride's, London, England. He had travelled a long way to attend the anniversary of the Church Missionary Society, and was preaching the sermon which was destined to bear so much fruit.

Bishop Anderson, late of Rupert's Land, was the bearer of a great message to the Church in England. He had much to tell of the vastness of Canada, and the great regions where the children of the wild lived and died without the knowledge of Christ. He told of a lonely mission -station on the mighty Yukon River, where a soldier of the cross, the Rev. Robert McDonald, with health fast failing, was standing bravely at his post of duty till some one should relieve him. What thoughts must have surged through his mind as he looked on the many upturned faces before him ! Who was there among those listeners willing to consecrate his life to the Master's work ? Lifting up his voice, the Bishop uttered these words, which have become so memorable :

" Shall no one come forward to take up the standard of the Lord as it falls from his hands, and to occupy the ground ?"

The service ended, the clergy retired, and the congregation began to disperse. But there was one whose heart had been deeply touched by the speaker's words, and, walking at once into the vestry, a Lincolnshire curate, in the prime of life, offered to go to Canada to relieve the missionary at Fort Yukon.

William Carpenter Bompas, this young volunteer, was, born at 11, Park Road, Regent's Park, London, on January 20, 1834. He was the fourth son of Charles Carpenter Bompas, Serjeant-at-Law, one of the most eminent advocates of his day, and leader of the Western Circuit, and of Mary Steele, daughter of Mr. Joseph Tomkins, of Broughton, Hants. Serjeant Bompas, it is said, was the original of Charles Dickens's celebrated character " Serjeant Buzfuz " in the " Pickwick Papers."

The Bompas family is of French extraction, and the name still exists in the West of France, but it is believed that in the seventeenth century members of the family owned land in Gloucestershire and

Worcestershire. We find the name spelled in different ways : Bonpar, Bonpart, and de Bonpas in Languedoc, Provence, and near Caen in Normandy, of which last one writer says, " They bear the coat of three lions rampant." There is a tradition that the motto " C'est iin Bonpas " was given on the field of Crecy to an ancestor, who was knighted by Edward the Black Prince for his valour in the fight. A bystander remarked, " C'est un Bonpas," and the knight replied that he would take that for his motto. The great-grandfather of Bishop Bompas was lord of the manor of Longden Heath, in Worcestershire, and was descended from the Gwinnetts of Gloucestershire. There are records of an Edward Bompas who sailed, in 1623, in the ship Fortune^ which followed the Mayflower^ for America, and received a grant of land in the new country, where many of his descendants still reside. The family on the mother's side was partly Royalist and partly Puritan. One member is known to have been private secretary to Henrietta Maria, and was hanged by the Parliamentarians for aiding Charles I. ; another, at one time, was secretary to Hampden.

On February 29, 1844, Serjeant Bompas died very suddenly, leaving a widow and eight children, five sons and three daughters, in poor circumstances. The eldest son, Charles, a lovable character, but of delicate constitution, died in 1847. The second son, George, who had been intended for the Bar, was articled to a firm of City solicitors, with whom he worked for fifty-nine years, retiring as senior partner in 1903, and died in May, 1905. To his continued liberality the Dioceses of Mackenzie River and Selkirk (Yukon) have been much indebted. Joseph, the third son, emigrated to Canada, where he died. William and Henry, the two youngest sons, were educated by Mr. Elliott, a distinguished graduate of Cambridge University. Henry, after obtaining a gold medal at the London University, proceeded to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he became Fifth Wrangler. After a short period employed in tuition, he was called to the Bar, and became, like his father, leader of the Western Circuit. He continued to practise until 1896, when he accepted the County Court Judgeship of Bradford Circuit.

William, in early youth, showed most plainly those characteristics which marked his whole life. He was a shy boy, owing partly, no doubt, to private tuition at home, which deprived him to a large extent of the society of other boys. Cricket, football, or such games, he did not play, his chief pleasure being walking, and sketching churches and other buildings that he encountered in his rambles. Gardening he was fond of, and the knowledge thus gained stood him in good stead years later when planning for the mission-farms in his northern diocese.

The influence of a religious home made a deep and lasting impression upon him. His parents were earnest Christians, belonging to the Baptist denomination. Sunday was strictly observed, the father making it a firm rule never to read briefs or hold consultations on the Day of Rest. Bible reading, too, was carefully observed. Serjeant Bompas was a man of liberal views, allowed his children to indulge in harmless amusements, and occasionally permitted them to attend the theatre and to play cards, if not for money.

William from childhood was of a deeply religious nature, and at the age of sixteen was baptized by immersion, on a profession of his faith, by the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel. This step caused his mother great joy, and after her death the following was found among her many papers :

" July 7, 1850. — ^This day I would record the mercy which has rendered it one of peculiar blessing and happiness. The favour and presence of God has been manifested to us again during the past week, and I have enjoyed the best earthly happiness in seeing my dear and dutiful son W. devote himself unreservedly to the service of his Saviour. Having conscientiously decided on baptism by immersion, he was publicly baptized on the 5th by Mr. Baptist Noel, at his chapel in John Street, and was at the same time admitted as member of Mr. Stratten's church, and to-day I have had the privilege of partaking with him of that ordinance which I trust will be most profitable to us both."

At this time William was attending the small day-school kept by Mr. Elliott, and of him the latter wrote :

" I never had a pupil who made such acquisitions of knowledge in so short a time ; his attainments in mathematics and classics are far beyond the majority of youths at his age, and would warrant anyone conversant with the state of education in the Universities in predicting a brilliant career for him, should he ever have that path open to him. I think, however, that the development of his mind is still more remarkable than the amount of his knowledge."

But a University career was not practicable, and William was therefore articled in 1852 to the same firm of solicitors with whom his brother George was working. At the expiration of his five years of service he transferred himself to anotlier City firm, Messrs. Ashurst, Morris, and Company, with whom he remained about two years. While here a catastrophe occurred in the failure of a great company, involving ruin to unnumbered families. The harrowing spectacle of the poorer shareholders who brought their claims into court, having lost their all without remedy, was a terrible strain upon the young man's nervous system, which had been weakened by a severe ilhiess but a short time before. This, together with strenuous labour, brought on a second breakdown, and early in 1858 he was forced to give up work altogether. He declared that it took him three months to learn to do nothing. During his year of inaction the Greek Testament was his constant companion. Change of scene became necessary, and he spent some time at his mother's home, Broughton, Hants, and Liter, with his sister, visited the Normandy coast.

" The summer after his illness," writes his brother. Judge Bompas, " we went on a walkingtour to Scotland, and one evening it got dark before we had reached our destination, and we had to sleep out in the mountains with no shelter, and amidst frequent showers of rain. William, though in weak health, was perfectly fearless, and in great spirits, repeating part of Macaulay's ' Lays ' and other poems for much of the night."

As his strength returned, his mind reverted more and more to his early desire of entering the ministry. Leaving the communion of his early associations, he decided to seek ordination in the Church of England, and in 1858 was confirmed by the Bishop of London at St. Mary's, Bryanston Square. His remarkable linguistic ability enabled him soon to add by private study a good knowledge of Hebrew to that of Latin and Greek, which he already possessed.

In 1859 he was accepted by Dr. Jackson, the Bishop of Lincoln, as a literate candidate for Holy Orders, and was ordained deacon by him at the Advent ordination the same year, and appointed curate to the Rev. H. Owen, rector of Trusthorpe and Sutton-in-the-Marsh.

This first charge was a trying experience. The parish of Sutton was a wild district, with a rough and primitive population, and most of the men had been smugglers in former times. No school was established, and there had been no resident clergyman since the time of the Reformation. Mr. Bompas at once began a great work among the children, gathering them into his own house, and teaching them, at first by himself, and later with the help of his sister and a girl from a neighbouring village. By his care for the children, and by the unfailing sympathy shown in his visits to his parishioners, he succeeded in winning their gratitude and confidence. His plan for the erection of a school was at first strongly opposed by some of the farmers, who were unwilling to give land for the purpose. But Mr. Bompas, with that tact and gentleness which marked all his dealings, at length overcame the opposition, and when he left at the end of two years the building was completed and opened.

" I can well remember," writes one, in reference to the young curate's work at Sutton, " as quite a little child, how he won my heart by carrying my poor pet cat, that had been hurt by a heavy piece of wood falling on it, into a place of safety, and doing all he could to ease its pain. Also, about the same time, in a heavy gale of wind, he was going out to dinner at Mablethorpe, and, passing through Trusthorpe, found a little girl blown into the thick black mud at the side of a big drain, and unable to free herself. He not only went to the rescue, but carried her to her home at the far end of Sutton, regardless of dinner! The once^'' continues the same writer, " that he revisited

£6

William Carpentkr Bompas

From a photograph taken in Gottingen

Sutton and preached there the people lined the path from church to gate, and stood waiting for him to leave the church, that they might get a word as he passed — a very unusual demonstration from our true but undemonstrative Lincolnshire folk of those days."

While at Sutton, in the second year of his clerical life, a great sorrow came to Mr. Bompas in the death of his mother, to whose bedside he was summoned in January, 1861. He was devotedly attached to her, and was able to take part, with the rest of the family, in ministering comfort to her during her last days.

In the midst of early discouragements, Mr. Bompas found a valuable friend and helper in Mrs. Loft, of Trusthorpe Hall. He was always sure of a hearty welcome at her house, and in after-years she followed his course with the warmest interest, and corresponded with him to the end of her life.

In 1862 he accepted the curacy of New Radford, Nottingham, a poor and crowded parish, populated largely by lace-workers. The number of souls, about 10,000, within the small triangle of New Radford was about the same as the population of the vast diocese of 900,000 square miles of which he was later to have episcopal supervision. To this circumstance he referred when preaching in the parish on his return to England for consecration in 1874.

From Nottingham Mr. Bompas went for a short time as curate to Holy Trinity, South Lincolnshire, returning in 1864 to his former neighbourhood as curate to the Rev. H. Oldrid at Alford, Lincolnshire. As the earnest curate passed from house to house in his daily work, his parishioners little thought what a bright fire of enthusiasm was burning in his heart. He had been much stirred by the stories told by missionaries of heathen dying without the knowledge of Christ in far-away lands, and he longed to go abroad and bear the message of salvation. His mind turned to China and India, with their seething millions ; but as he was a little over thirty years of age at that time, the Church Missionary Society thought him rather old to grapple with the difficulties of the Eastern languages. But when one door closes another opens, and at the right moment Bishop Anderson arrived from Rupert's Land, and made the great appeal for a volunteer to relieve the Rev. Robert McDonald at Fort Yukon. So stirred was Mr. Bompas by the address that he offered himself for the work. He was at once accepted by the Church Missionary Society, and ordained to the priesthood by Bishop, afterwards Archbishop, Machray, who had just been consecrated successor to Bishop Anderson.

How little did those who attended that ordination service realize the important part those two men would take in Christ's great work, or that among the heroes of the Church in Canada in years to come no names would be held in greater reverence than those of Machray and Bompas !

Only three weeks did Mr. Bompas have in which to prepare for his long journey. But they were sufficient, as he was anxious to be on his way. So complete was his consecration to the work before him that " he decided," so his brother tells us, " to take nothing with him that might lead back his thoughts to home, and he gave away all his books and other tokens of remembrance, even the paragraph Bible which he had always used."

Chapter II Forward To The Front

" One who never turned his back, but marched breast forward.'" — Robert Browning,

Shortly after Mr. Bompas was accepted by the Church Missionary Society, he went to Salisbury Square and inquired liow far it was to his missionfield, and the length of time required for the journey. When told it was about 8,000 miles, and that he was hardly likely to reach it that year, a smile passed over his face as he replied, " I see I must start with a small bag."

After he learned more about the country, a longing entered into his heart to start as soon as possible, and reach Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie River, by Christmas Day. Was such a thing possible ? No one before had ever done it in winter, and was it likely that the young, ardent missionary would be the first to accomplish the task ? With this determination in view, Mr. Bompas was not long in making preparations for his journey, and on June 30, 1865, he left London for Liverpool, where lie boarded the steamer Persia^ bound for New York,

He travelled in company with the Rev. J. P. and Mrs. Gardiner and family and Miss M. M. Smith, who were o-oino; to the Red River. There were many passengers, mostly Americans, and for these an effort was made to hold service the first Sunday, but the captain refused to give his permission. On the following Sunday, however, they were more successful, and service was held in the saloon, attended by crew and passengers. Tracts were also distributed among the sailors, " accompanied by religious conversation."

Reaching New York on July 12, two days were spent at the Astor House Hotel, where they had the exciting experience of viewing a disastrous fire right across the street, when a large block of buildings, including Barnum's Museum, was destroyed. From New York they proceeded to Niagara by the Hudson River and New York Central Railway. On the way Mr. Bompas spent one night at Rochester, to see Captain Palmer, of the American Telegraph Company.

" He informed me," wrote Mr. Bompas, " that a party of explorers were already on their way to Fort Yukon from Sidkar,* on the Pacific coast, with the view of carrying out the company's contract entered into with the Russian Government for laying a telegraph line through Siberia and across Behring's Strait, to join existing lines in America. Should

* Sitka, until recently the capital of Alaska. 33 the Atlantic cable prove successful, the Yukon line would, I suppose, complete the circuit of the globe."

Mr. Bompas considered the American railways rather noisy and jostling, and the large saloon carriages, holding about sixty people, less pleasant than the English style. At the same time, he thought the general arrangements were " good and expeditious," and admired the system of communication throughout the train and the " booking through luggage by duplicate ' cheques ' or metal badges."

Leaving Niagara, Chicago was reached by way of Detroit. Here were seen " many soldiers returning from the war, some of them wounded, and most looking pale and sickly, reminding one too plainly of the many who never returned." From Chicago they went by rail to La Crosse, and thence by steamer to St. Paul. Here Dr. Schultz, a Red River merchant, and afterwards Sir John Schultz, Lieutenant- Governor of Manitoba, was met, who conveyed their heavy luggage across the plains in his oxtrain, and proved in many ways of great assistance.

At St. Cloud the first difficulty presented itself. Since the fearful Sioux massacre of 1862 people were in great dread all over the country, and they found it impossible to get anyone to convey them on towards Red River. After much trouble and delay, they were forced to procure a conveyance for themselves. Before leaving St. Cloud they were told time and time again to beware of the Indians, who were always prowling around. " But," said one informant, " they will respect the English

.Tq> flag, and I advise you to take one along." Such a thing the party did not possess. But Mr. Bompas was equal to the occasion, so, procuring some red and white cotton, he soon formed quite a respectable banner, which was fastened to a small flagstaff erected on the cart. Some distance out on the prairie* mounted Indians appeared in sight, and, like the wind, one warrior swept down to view the small cavalcade. Beholding the flag of the clustered crosses, he gazed for a time upon the little band, and, moving away, left them unmolested.

" On the whole, however," said Mr. Bompas, " we travelled without special discomfort. Dr. Schultz acting as guide. The charge of the horses, making fires, cooking, encamping, driving, etc., of course, threw much work upon us, being without a servant."

Reaching the Red River in safety, Mr. Bompas was much pleased with the whole general appearance.

" The houses," he wrote, " are cleanly and cheerful, and new ones are being built. The settlement extends altogether about twenty- five miles down the banks of the river. In this distance there are five churches. The three which I saw are well built and spacious. The schoolrooms, also, and parsonages are of good size. Mr. Cowley was just removing into a new house of a very substantial character."

Here Mr. Bompas did not have long to wait, for the boats of the great Hudson Bay Company were * Dr. Schultz was overtaken some distance out on the prairie.

ready to start on their long Northern journey, and he was to go with them. There were four boats, called a " brigade," each rowed by seven or eight men, " mostly Salteaux Indians, heathen, and unable to speak English — a tribe much averse to Christianity."

Then northward fled that fleet of boats, across great inland lakes, over hard portages where the freight had to be carried, past the Company's posts, mission-stations, and Indian encampments, where services were held when possible.

But winter was rapidly closing in upon them, and threatening the daring voyagers. Sixty-three days had they been out from the Red River Settlement when Portage la Loche was reached on October 12, and there they found they were too late to meet any boat going farther north. Here was a difiicult situation, but Mr. Bompas was not to be defeated. Engaging a canoe and two French half-breeds, he pushed bravely forward. The journey was a hard one. In some places they had to battle with drifting ice, and the water froze to their canoe and paddles. Still they pressed on, all day long contending with running ice, and the bleak cold wind whistling around them, and freezing the water upon their clothes. At night there was the lonely shore, the camp-fire, the scanty meal, and the cold ground covered with brush for a bed. The next day up and on again — the same weary work, the same hard fight. Such was the struggle for eight long days, till Fort Chipewyan, on Lake Athabasca, was reached.

Here Mr. Christie, the officer in charge of tlie post, gave him a hearty welcome ; here the warm stove sent out its cheerful glow ; and here, too, were to be found many comforts for months, if he would only stay and rest. But no, it was ever up and on. Never before had such a man stood within the fort. Who could conquer that northern stream at such a season ? But the missionary only smiled, and asked for canoe and men. They were given a large craft and three Indian lads.

And once more that dauntless herald of the Cross sped northward. For several days the trim canoe cut the water, driven by determined arms. Then winter swept down in all its fury. The river became full of floating ice, jamming, tearing, and impeding their canoe. Axes were brought to bear. They would cleave a passage : the missionary must not be stopped. How they did work ! The icechips flew. The spray dashed and drenched them, and then encased their bodies with an icy armour. Colder and colder it grew, and the river became a solid mass from bank to bank. The canoe was dragged ashore, and placed e7i cache on the bank with their baggage. All around was the pitiless wild. It was a dreary sight to this intrepid traveller, with winter upon him, the bleak wilderness surrounding him, and very little food. The enthusiasm of a less ardent spirit would have been complete^ dampened. But Mr. Bompas was made of sterner stuff, and without delay he and his companions pushed forward through the forest.

On and on they travelled by a circuitous route, through brushwood and thickets, with clothes torn, hands and faces scratched and bleeding, and uncertain where they were. Night shut down and wrapped them in its gloomy mantle. All the next day they struggled forward, without food, and again night overtook them. Still they staggered on, and just when wearied to the point of exhaustion the lights of Fort Resolution, on Great Slave Lake, gleamed their welcome through the darkness.

It was necessary for the traveller to remain here until the ice in the lake became firm enough to cross with dogs and snow-shoes. Mr. Lockhart, the Company's officer, offered his hospitality, and during the delay Mr. Bompas continued busy "in the preparation," as he tells us, " of letters for the winter express, which is dispatched hence to the south in December, and also in practising walking with snow-shoes, in preparation for my journey forward."

After remaining at Fort Resolution about a month, " Mr. Lockhart kindly dispatched him across the lake on snow-shoes, with two men and a sledge of dogs." Ice was found drifting in the open lake, and they were obliged to lengthen their course by following the shore very closely. " However, by God's help," wrote Mr. Bompas, " we arrived safely at the next post (Big Island) in five days, when I was again hospitably entertained by the officer in charge, Mr. Bird."

Here, again, lie waited anxiously for the men from Fort Simpson with the winter packet of mails. They arrived on December 13, and four days later started for Fort Simpson, and the missionary with them. Could they make the fort by Christmas Day ? That was the question. Only a short time remained in which to do it. Day after day they sped forward. Saturday came, and still they were on the trail, and the next would be Christmas Day. One hundred and seventy-seven days had passed since leaving London ; and was he to lose, after all, and so very near his destination ? But still the dogs raced forward, nearer and nearer, till — oh, joy ! on Christmas morning the fort hove into sight. There was the flag floating from its tall staff ; there were the men crowding around to give their welcome, and among them stood that dauntless pioneer, the Rev. W. W. Kirkby, with great surprise upon his face, as Mr. Bompas rushed forward and seized him by the hand.