It was during the Ottawa Valley revival of 1834–1835, which was narrated in last month’s column, that the Scottish-Canadian, Daniel McPhail, became certain of a call to vocational ministry.
He lacked the funds, however, to pursue formal theological education. Providentially, as he was shopping one day in nearby St Andrews East (now Saint-André-d’Argenteuil), the Presbyterian postmaster of the settlement, Guy Richards, offered to provide the money he needed for schooling as well as for the support of his mother and siblings while he was away from home.
McPhail, ever the plain speaker, asked him if this came with any sort of obligation to become a Presbyterian; he was adamant that if it did, he would never renounce his Baptist principles. Richards replied curtly, and possibly with a little irritation: “Who has asked you to renounce your principles?” Satisfied that the offer of financial support came with no strings attached, McPhail went to study at the Hamilton Theological and Literary Institution (now Colgate University) in Hamilton, New York, in the summer of 1835.
