A Parade to Cote St. Antoine Baptist Church
Newspaper Articles > July 9th, 1894, Montreal Daily Star, Montreal, Quebec
The Orangemen of Montreal held their first parade since the days of Hackett yesterday afternoon. The County Council of Montreal, composed of representatives from the thirteen lodges of the city, had had a meeting on the subject and finally decided to have no church parade under its authority. Derry Lodge L.O.L. No. 224, determined to carry the procession through themselves. The parade was formed at the rooms of Derry Lodge, in the Ottawa Buildings, 246 St James Street, and started on their march about 2:45 pm.
The parade was headed by the Loyal True Blue band under Bandmaster Lavers. Mount Royal Lodge, No. 22, of the True Blues, followed under their marshal, Isaac Stewart. Close behind the True Blues marched the Boyne Lodge, No. 401; Prince of Wales No. 364; Duke of York, No. 413; Dominion, No. 1203; and Derry, No. 224. The Royal Britannia Band, under Bandmaster Smith, led the second division, under Chief Marshal Alexander Harris, assisted by Marshal J.D. Blakely. With them marched Lorne Lodge, No. 1373; Diamond No. 1474; Hackette No. 304, and the Prentice Boys, one division which ~~~~ from Point St Charles. The line of marchers going west was as follows: St James Street to Victoria Square, to Beaver Hall Hill, to Dorchester, to Peel, to St Catherine, to Western Avenue, to the Grace Baptist Church. As the orange-decked procession swung past Victoria square, filled with the memories of Hackett and the riotous days of the seventies, the crowd began to increase. As the parade turned along Dorchester and marched past St Peter’s Cathedral.
Five Police wagons dashed up in the rear
This new feature produced more excitement than the procession itself. The Orangemen had not asked for their presence nor did they wish their company. It seems that a policeman with an overwrought imagination had seen visions of blood when the Orange ribbons came into view, and had called on the Police Department for a patrol. The order had been mistaken at headquarters for a call for the whole force, and accordingly five patrol wagons dangled at the Orangemen’s rear. It was at this point that the excitement reached its height, but the crowds massed themselves about the wagons while the Lodges tramped merrily on. As the procession passed St Peter’s without trouble, four of the patrol wagons turned back, and the fifth followed their example after it had accompanied them some distance along St Catherine Street. Dominion Square presented a picturesque appearance with the crowds of people massed along its borders, the gaily-ribboned lodges tramping past and the hurrying and scurrying of sightseers to reach once more the head of the parade. At the church, the True Blues passed in first, while the Leading Orange Lodges parted ranks and the Lodges in the rear guard passed through the bared heads.
The Rev. Mr. W.T. Graham, the pastor of the church, delivered a most impressive and out-spoken address. Taking as his text, Nehemiah, Chapter 2, verse 18, “And they said, let us rise up and build; so they strengthened their hands for this good work.” Mr. Graham spoke in substance as follows: “I wish you to feel thoroughly at home here, and I wish to say that any church that would not open its doors to such a fine-looking body of men needs strengthening at the knees. There is no ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~ There an be no strong character of any lasting influence on men for good without a worthy determination.
Nehemiah was a man with a purpose. While at the splendid court of the Persian monarchs he formed the ambition to build up the walls of Jerusalem, and he did it. And before you men leave this church, I wish to show you what sort of building there is to do and what sort of men there must be to do it. First—the building must be down- the building of character. Men strive to build for themselves a temple of fame or to gain commercial affluence. All this is right in its way, but there is a danger of forgetting character.
Character is immortal. Men must build their characters on Jesus Christ. The second thing we must build up is our homes. The home life is the foundation of every people. It is often charged against lodges that they take away from the life of the home. I do not know whether this is so or not. I am not here to discuss it, but I do know that the nations that prosper have good homes. The tendency in this age is to neglect the homes.
And thirdly, build up your nation, the land in which you live “Is there a man with soul so dead, that never to himself has said, this is my own, my native land.” Build up liberty of conscience- religious liberty or soul-liberty, as it is sometimes called. The Romish Church is the foe of religious liberty. Point to any page of Romish history. Remember Philip of Spain and his father, Charles V. Remember the Spanish armada and its terrible defeat. Wherever the Roman Church is, there is no religious liberty.
Over ten thousand Protestants were destroyed in England and hundreds of thousands in the Netherlands, where William of Orange fell. We have the principles for which our forefathers bled and died and for which they sacrificed their liberties and their lives. Let us show those who are in ignorance the light with which we are blessed and which we enjoy, and let us give it to them.”
The procession marched back to the Ottawa Buildings along Dorchester to Peel, to St James to the lodge. The committee of Derry Lodge was as follows: R. Bell, A. Thurlow, A. Harris, J. Allen, T. Ingraham and Wm. Nefsey.
Many visitors from Ontario lodges were in the procession. J. Hamalton, of Toronto, was one of the foremost organizers of the parade. Mr. Hamilton has been most prominent in Orange work in Ontario, and has now taken up his residence in Montreal. The Mount Royal True Blues leave here Wednesday evening to spend the 12th in Ontario.
The parade was headed by the Loyal True Blue band under Bandmaster Lavers. Mount Royal Lodge, No. 22, of the True Blues, followed under their marshal, Isaac Stewart. Close behind the True Blues marched the Boyne Lodge, No. 401; Prince of Wales No. 364; Duke of York, No. 413; Dominion, No. 1203; and Derry, No. 224. The Royal Britannia Band, under Bandmaster Smith, led the second division, under Chief Marshal Alexander Harris, assisted by Marshal J.D. Blakely. With them marched Lorne Lodge, No. 1373; Diamond No. 1474; Hackette No. 304, and the Prentice Boys, one division which ~~~~ from Point St Charles. The line of marchers going west was as follows: St James Street to Victoria Square, to Beaver Hall Hill, to Dorchester, to Peel, to St Catherine, to Western Avenue, to the Grace Baptist Church. As the orange-decked procession swung past Victoria square, filled with the memories of Hackett and the riotous days of the seventies, the crowd began to increase. As the parade turned along Dorchester and marched past St Peter’s Cathedral.
Five Police wagons dashed up in the rear
This new feature produced more excitement than the procession itself. The Orangemen had not asked for their presence nor did they wish their company. It seems that a policeman with an overwrought imagination had seen visions of blood when the Orange ribbons came into view, and had called on the Police Department for a patrol. The order had been mistaken at headquarters for a call for the whole force, and accordingly five patrol wagons dangled at the Orangemen’s rear. It was at this point that the excitement reached its height, but the crowds massed themselves about the wagons while the Lodges tramped merrily on. As the procession passed St Peter’s without trouble, four of the patrol wagons turned back, and the fifth followed their example after it had accompanied them some distance along St Catherine Street. Dominion Square presented a picturesque appearance with the crowds of people massed along its borders, the gaily-ribboned lodges tramping past and the hurrying and scurrying of sightseers to reach once more the head of the parade. At the church, the True Blues passed in first, while the Leading Orange Lodges parted ranks and the Lodges in the rear guard passed through the bared heads.
The Rev. Mr. W.T. Graham, the pastor of the church, delivered a most impressive and out-spoken address. Taking as his text, Nehemiah, Chapter 2, verse 18, “And they said, let us rise up and build; so they strengthened their hands for this good work.” Mr. Graham spoke in substance as follows: “I wish you to feel thoroughly at home here, and I wish to say that any church that would not open its doors to such a fine-looking body of men needs strengthening at the knees. There is no ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~ There an be no strong character of any lasting influence on men for good without a worthy determination.
Nehemiah was a man with a purpose. While at the splendid court of the Persian monarchs he formed the ambition to build up the walls of Jerusalem, and he did it. And before you men leave this church, I wish to show you what sort of building there is to do and what sort of men there must be to do it. First—the building must be down- the building of character. Men strive to build for themselves a temple of fame or to gain commercial affluence. All this is right in its way, but there is a danger of forgetting character.
Character is immortal. Men must build their characters on Jesus Christ. The second thing we must build up is our homes. The home life is the foundation of every people. It is often charged against lodges that they take away from the life of the home. I do not know whether this is so or not. I am not here to discuss it, but I do know that the nations that prosper have good homes. The tendency in this age is to neglect the homes.
And thirdly, build up your nation, the land in which you live “Is there a man with soul so dead, that never to himself has said, this is my own, my native land.” Build up liberty of conscience- religious liberty or soul-liberty, as it is sometimes called. The Romish Church is the foe of religious liberty. Point to any page of Romish history. Remember Philip of Spain and his father, Charles V. Remember the Spanish armada and its terrible defeat. Wherever the Roman Church is, there is no religious liberty.
Over ten thousand Protestants were destroyed in England and hundreds of thousands in the Netherlands, where William of Orange fell. We have the principles for which our forefathers bled and died and for which they sacrificed their liberties and their lives. Let us show those who are in ignorance the light with which we are blessed and which we enjoy, and let us give it to them.”
The procession marched back to the Ottawa Buildings along Dorchester to Peel, to St James to the lodge. The committee of Derry Lodge was as follows: R. Bell, A. Thurlow, A. Harris, J. Allen, T. Ingraham and Wm. Nefsey.
Many visitors from Ontario lodges were in the procession. J. Hamalton, of Toronto, was one of the foremost organizers of the parade. Mr. Hamilton has been most prominent in Orange work in Ontario, and has now taken up his residence in Montreal. The Mount Royal True Blues leave here Wednesday evening to spend the 12th in Ontario.