In the 1870's when Rev. Dr. Charles Chiniquy, ex-Roman Catholic priest turned Presbyterian, was placed in charge of all French-Canadian Presbyterian missions, he sent a young compatriot to minister to the small settlement at Grand Bend. When we first went to the Bend, Rev. Carrière was a sturdy, white-haired man of florid complexion and benevolent aspect, greatly beloved by all his flock, French and English alike.

Church services were conducted in English and also in French, although by that time the descendants of the original settlers from Quebec were even more fluent in English than in French. But not so Rev. Carrière who was eloquent in his mother tongue but spoke English more slowly and with a French accent which occasionally tripped him up. I well remember how disconcerted he was when, after announcing that the subject of his sermon was "Moses in the Dessert", he was assailed by fits of laughter.