The Principal who guided McGill College in its infancy and for six years after its opening, was the Rev. George Jehosophat Mountain. He was appointed to the Principalship in 1824, while the University was a name only. The family from which he was descended had won distinction in education and in the church, and it was fortunate that the young College should be cradled under the care of a guardian of his learning, his traditions and his breadth of vision. His father, the Rev. Jacob Mountain, was given livings by the younger Pitt in Lincolnshire and Huntingdonshire in England, and later a prebend's stall in Lincoln Cathedral. When a diocese was created in Canada his name was at once suggested, because of his success at home, and in 1793 he came to Canada to become the first Anglican Bishop of Quebec. He subsequently acted as Principal of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and as such he had an active part in the educational affairs of the Province. His son, George, was born in England in 1789 and when he arrived in Canada with his parents he was but four years old. He therefore justly regarded himself as a Canadian. He received his early education in Quebec and continued his studies in England, where he took his B.A. degree at Trinity College, Cambridge. He then returned to Canada and assisted his father as Secretary until he was ordained in 1816, at a time when the establishment of McGill College and the methods of fulfilling James McGill's desire were under discussion. In 1817 he became Rector of Quebec, and in 1821 Archdeacon of Lower Canada. When in 1824 the Board of the Royal Institution found that it was necessary, in order to secure the McGill bequest, to appoint Professors to the proposed College they selected Archdeacon Mountain as Honorary Professor of Divinity and Principal of McGill College. But he gave no lectures and received little or no remuneration for his work. His duty seems to have been mainly to preserve the forms which the terms of the will required. He laid the foundation for the creation of the Faculty of Arts, and while he believed that instruction should be given in a manner consistent with the English National Establishment, he desired that the University should be open to students of all creeds with equal privileges and that Professorships should be tenable by graduates of the Scotch Universities. He retained the Principalship until 1835, when he retired, to return for a time to England. It is unnecessary here to follow in detail his subsequent career. In 1836 he was made coadjutor of Dr. James Stewart, Bishop of Quebec and became thereby Bishop of Montreal, the consecration ceremony being performed at Lambeth. After his retirement from the Principalship he continued, as we shall see, to devote much time and attention to the affairs of the growing University as a Governor, and he lived to see the College of which he was the first guardian advance to growth and usefulness even far beyond his dreams.