The Documentary history of the state of New-York; arranged under direction of the Hon. Christopher Morgan, secretary of State. By E. B. O'Callaghan ...

REV. JOHN STUART. D.. 519
the meeting of the first Session of the Colonial Legislature in 1792,
he was named "C Chaplain to the Upper House of Assembly."1
an appointment which required for the time his presence at
Niagara where the legislature was sitting. le occasionally
visited, and officiated for the Mohawk villages at the bay of
Kente where still were preserved the Communion plate and
furniture given by Queen Anne to the Mohawk Chapel at Fort
Hunlter. But " notwithstanding the laudable exertions of the
Society, and the partial indulgence of the. British Government to
this tribe, no flattering accounts can be given either of their
religious improvements or approach to perfect Civilization."
They were found to be "6 decreasing ftst, owing to their indolence
and great attachment to spirituous liquors.2a
In the year 1799, the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred
on Mr Stuart by the University of Pennsylvania. This favour
proceeding from his Alma Mater and Native Country was doubly
valuable and honorable in his estimation, and he entertained a
high sense of the compliment. 3 About the same time he received
the appointment of Chaplain to the garrison of Kingston. He
had secured about 4000 acres of valuable land to which he
occasionally made additions, his circumstances more than equalled
his most sanguine expectations., and he felt that, in the enjoyment of healtlh with such prosperity, his situation was as happy
as it possibly could be. "How mysterious," he exclaimed, "are
the ways of Providence! How short sighted are we! Some
years ago I thought it a great hardship to be banished into this
wilderness and would have imagined myself compleatly happy
could I have exchanged it for a place in the delightful city of
Philadelphia. Now the best wish we can form for our dearest
fiiends is to have them removed to us.5 4
The remainder of Dr Stuart's life seems to have passed in the
routine of his duties, interrupted, however, by attacks of illness
to which his increase of years and tlhe fatigue attendant on a
mission in so new a country could not fail to subject him. He. Abstract of 1793, p. 57.
2 Abstract for 1796, 53, 54; 1798, 43; 1799, 53.
8 Letter of 21 Oct., 1799.
4 Letter of 26 Nov., 1798.