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6
I — -III ii nmiT irTi'i'i'.inTCTriiL'y^'ff n fi n nnmur '-*-— — rTrtm ww «M* n« *« io >nwir
ON INCREASE OE THE EPISCOPATE,
OK
ivmlv €aut\inM ^imtxv,
UPOX TIIK
APOSTOLIC AND PRIMITIVE BASIS.
AN ESSAY
READ BEFORE THE RURI-DEOANAL MEETING,
HELD AT WATERLOO, JAX.HARY Snr, ]SOS.
HY TIIK
REV. J. RUllKOWS DAVIDSON, M.A.,
RKCTOR OF ST. AUMA^'D KAST.
Published by Unanimous Request.
PRINTED BY JOJIN LOVELL/ ST. NICHOLAS STREET.
18G8.
'''DtfiHftvirMrt
''1«V«»«.t.i'»nrn-?i;.tiftUi:(»;iJ!ti.Jii»i<<(»tH'irfW»Mi'.'
ffiglMlliEg^^
ON INCREASE OF THE EPISCOPATE,
OR
mmljfl ^anst'mtA f^inistrg
UPOX THE
APOSTOLIC AND PRIMITIVE BASIS.
ERRATA.
On page 6, fourteenth line, for " father." read " future.
On page 8, third line, for "many," read "man."
On page 8, sixth line, for "ever," read •' even."
On page 10, sixth line from bottom, for " in," read " is. '
On Appendix, for "breath," read " breadth."
REV. J. BUEROWS DAVIDSON, M.A.,
RECTOR OF ST. ARMAND EA.ST.
Published by Unanimous Request.
PRLNTED BY JOHN LOVELL, ST. NICEIOLAS STEEET.
18G8.
.•i,i:.:Ki«.!;:iB
■ii.:,:lf,,ifvM
■:w.:M«.f.(«4>i-«f.^r.M,li:,fci<i:rtU'<«^WHfl^*t'ti»Ht.iHiu;
ON INCREASE OF THE EPISCOPATE,
OR
ivin^In (f^mmnM §Jinisfvg
UPON THE
APOSTOLIC AND PRIMITIVE BASIS.
AN ESSAY
READ BEFORE THE RURI-DEOANAL MEETING,
HELD AT WATEIILOO, JANUARY 8th, J8G8.
BY TIIK
REV. J. BUllROWS DAVIDSON, M.A.,
HEt'TOR OF ST. ARMAND EAST.
Published by Unanimous Request.
PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, ST. NICHOLAS STREET.
1868.
D3
Tins Essay is submitted — not without some reluctance — to the
eye and attention of the tuitliful members of tlie Church in these
Eastern Townships. It was written, as stated tlierein, in great
haste, " eurrente calamo,'" and without the most remote object
further than a presentation of a subject which was deemed of the
most serious moment to the welfare of our beloved Church, and the
writer's contribution towards the interest of the meeting for mutual
discussion and counsel held under our active Ilural Dean.
In compliance with the unanimous request of the Ruri-decanal
Chapter there assembled, personal choice is sacrificed, and he can
only implore the Divine blessing upon such an imperfect effort for
God's glory and the extension of His Church. On consenting to
publication, permission was asked to make it what it ought to be,
but reflection has led to the conclusion that any material alteration
in the body of the essay would destroy its identity and render the
whole work nugatory, since any little weight or influ-^nce it may
have, will entirely be derived, as far as human agency is concerned,
from the official sanction of the views expressed. It has, therefore,
been though^ expedient merely to add as an appendix some few
words and statistics as to the size of Apostolic and Primitive
Dioceses, an argument and example of great force to those who
ardently long for primitive success, and so would return with the
truly primitive " Apostolic spirit, zeal, love, self-sacrifice and faith,
to the truly Ajiostolic model first given by Christ Himself and kept
in the mind of the Apostles by the Holy Ghost" who brought all
things to " their remembrance" — since their methods and organi-
zation for doing Christ's work afford more than a mere example
to Christ's faithful followers to the end of time. The subject
evidently involves some division of our present Diocese, the
ultimate decision respecting which, of course rests with his Lord-
MBSSSiSaaosisiaiSi^
pii nnntjji [|<^j^|jj
fillip and the Synod. The idea of clianj- from tlio inimodiate juris-
diction of oiT own beloved IJishop anci aietroi»olitan will be one,
in itself, ai^ccptable to none. The veiirvation and resi)ect we hold
him in, woiild lead all to retain to the last our present position, but
in so doin^, we would only be bearin;; him down with a burden
more than any human will or Htren^'th could be e.pial to, and be
at the same time rctardin;^ Christ's work, '' \Vli(.soever loveth
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." While,
then, affection indeed would (juench, duty and a desire for the
pro'^ress of the work, inflames our aspirations after so necessary
a m°eans. Doubtless a similar trial was once bel'ore endured l)y
all the older members of the Diocese when the former hoary-
headed chief pastor, now silent in the grave, divided his charge
with him— whose reputation then demanded respect, but whose
virtues and paternal counsels we now love. We seo the blessed
results of the previous division in the very great increase of the
work under his administration, and we are sure that aiiy self-sacri-
ficing effort, upon proper principles and upon a firm foundation, will
meer with a like expression from our own Bishop towards any
additional suffragans, as that accorded to him by the bite Bishop
of Quebec, on his consecration to the present Diocese of Montreal.
" My prayers are with him, and I shall gladly give him the hand of
a brother and pass to him a portion of my charge, in the firm hope
that his supervision of it, will be to the glory of God and the benefit
of His Church."
The Rectory, Frelighsburgh, January 1868.
[QaamiiUisiiiiiM
y.^i»..ri.nnrtnnnrnT7iTimTimin;nni,»i,aT,ruT.ia«iiy|;fffpfjB B ^ jj ^fl[i^ ^
ON INCREASE OF THE EPISCOPATE;
OR
A DIVINELY CONSTITUTED MINISTRY
UPON THE APOSTOLIC AND PRIMITIVE BASIS.
" RoliKion fii'sfniru IhtcsIiiIo
Witlioul III . o ';|iisciiiiat(':
Whoro ItianiH tlii' Alitri-, tlioio the tide
Ol'licuvciily iiilluciiui' is siipplicil
I'ucilc 1111(1 lull; mill till' aljoimdiiijr river,
In tliiit cxclu.-ivi,' liui.' will How t'uruvLT,
(jathcr'il ill rcrcptiicli's pure,
OrnliPil in shiiiin;,' liiiku, wliicli none may Bever
While lloavun stteinal lawsomluro."
\'iiir,sj'r(tm Early Church.
TiiK importance of this subject, I am disposed to think, will be
admitted by all, and I am only fearful that it may suffer at ray
hands, throu<;h the pressure which Christmas and New Year's ser-
vices and festivities always add to the otherwise over-occupied
attention of a rural clergyman, so that, literally, I can only give you
the desultory thoughts of a day. Any efibrt, however feeble, may,
yet, in a good cause be blessed from on High, and bring forth fruits
notwithstanding the unskilful sower, or it may incite others, more
fully competent to perform rightly what has only been indifferently
attempted.
The subject, then, presented for our brief consideration is none
other than the fulfilment of our Lord's great commission to the
eleven Apostles : " Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you, and Lo ! I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world." This is the Charter of the Christian Church,
and is most significant, bot\ as to the Agents who were to be
appointed for the work and the great end to be accomplished.
The latter was not solely the announcement of the glad tidings
of the Gospel, but the making disciples of, the Christian culture, the
;MiH M f S fr°'r"'^i''' n ffla 'iia fifi H'i iii''<'''"''^^'"'°^ '■■'"»'"'■"' ''^
6
building up each individual believer unto the fulness of the measure
of the stature of Christ, that whole training which should prepare
its subjects for Eternal life. Reason, alone, would lead us to the
conclusion that a work comprising such important duties, and sur-
rounded with such hicalculable responsibilities, would not be left by
an Omniscient Saviour, to the hap-hazard agencies which the weak-
ness and ignorance of men might devise ; in other words, that the
Divine and Glorious Being, who so loved us as to give Himself for
us, would not have left the Glorv which he liad with th.c Father
before the world was, and suffer* and died merely to point out
the magnitude of the w^ork to be accomjtlishcd, the great and ines-
timable good for our race, which might be attained, and then ended
his mission with a virtual declaration : I have pointed out to you
the richness of the treasure, the Glory of the Father — construct
your own organization, ex])criment and contrive, how you can best,
according to your own differing judgments, lead men now to a ])ar-
ticipation and enjoyment of the one that they may infallibly secure
the other. Such were a conclusion as utterly hostile to the limited
views of man, as, hi reality, we find it opposed to the whole tenor
of the teaching of llevelation and the recorded and universal
practice of the Apostles and the l*rimitive Church. The first act
of the disciples as they accepted the organization and commission
left them by Christ, and buckled themselves for their woik, was the
reparation of that break and the renewal of that link, caused by the
traitorship and death of Judas, thereby giving us, as it Avere, under
the seal of inspiration itself, an authoritative decision as to the per-
petuity of the Apostolate, or Episcopate as we now call it, to be
extended and increased indefinitely, according to the re(iuirements
of the Avork, as exemplified by that of Barnabas and the specially
miraculous and Divinely attested Apostleship of Saint Paul, or
regularly transmitted ones of Saint Timothy as Bishop of Ephesus,
and Titus, Bishop of Crete.
Your own knowledge renders unnecessary, nor would time or
the limits of a single paper permit, any more than this passing ap-
peal to the word of God, as to the Divine authority, perpetuity and
succession of the Ministry of Christ's Church.
The very flict of our churchinanship binds us to the declaration
of Ignatius, the disciple of Saint John and Bishop of Antioch in the
first century, that " ^'■'l>"' 'o'tuv {'EmaKurrm', UpeafiEVTipuv h(u SiaKovur)
BKKh'/rti oh Ko/rirni " witliout these (Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons)
b<Hi<ia«au»l«)(»i MlUM i i.l to<lti w « n l ill «i > «wl«wiv<m»J<M»ii«>u»>^
the Church is not so named. And tlic express declaration of tlie
Preface to our Ordinal, " It is evident inito all men diligently read-
ing the Holy Scriptures atid ancient authors, that from t\\Q A])i>stles''
time there have been tliesc orders of ministers in Christ's C'hurch,
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons." "With this very brief allusion, let
us not forget, however, that our entire arL,annent has as its one
basis the- Divine authority of the Ej)iscoj)ate, and in it, of the minor
orders, for were it otherwise, if we could only find a S[)ur;j;eon, a
Punshon, or a Ward lieecher anywhere, Avith more Scriptural views,
and other useful ((ualities, we should have gotten the most desirable
agent for our particular work. Rather knowing that "no man"
however gifted, " taketli this honour unto himself but he that
is called of (Jod, as vvas Aaron," we therefore seek the increase
of the number of those who being " diligently tried and having
qualities requisite for their high position," are set apart for their
Avork by the concurrent witness of the Sjiirit, and the Church.
Principle, therefore, points out to us the Agency, and the only
expediency admissible, is the |»lacing them in those positions
where the greatest opportunities [)re3ent themselves for the
exercise of their high vocation. We have it as an aibnitted pos-
tulate " Ubl EcclesUi lift Eplscopiis,^'' "No church without a Bishop.''
"What, therefore, is divine, must in the highest and most ])ressing
sense be expedient, and since no humanly devised agency can be
compared with that Avhich Christ ap])ointed, and since the world still
lietli in wickedness, and since the sinfulness of men, and prevaihng
irreligion and schism repeat to the church the Macedonian cry,
" Come over and hclj) us," she will l)e only fulfilling her mission
>vith an infallible guarantee of success when she places her chief
Avatchmen at every available point, to rally her members and
lead them on to the victories of the cross. No.v this is the object
■which should be the nearest every Christian's heart, but then the
first step towards the evangelization and conversion of others, is
the evangelization and conversion of ourselves, and this, I say
with some diffidence, is a requirement which the primitiv pattern
of the Episcopate most urgently demands. Our theory, as above
stated, meets with oiir assent ; the authorities of the Church lay
down the three-fold ministry of the Church, yet practically it is
ignored, and avc have just such a re[)rosentation left as to assure
us that the Episcopate is not (piite extinct. We must, therefore,
in this sense, convert ourselves to the primitive and apostolic
8
pattern, if wc would attempt rightly to carry out our blessed
master's commission, fraught with issues beyond the apprehension
of many, we must cease to deal out the measure of the Epis-
copate in homeopathic proportions ; we must cease to give the
slightest ground for considering the Episcopate as a mere confirm-
ing or ever ordaining machine, to bo subject to the admiring gaze
of the mass of the faithful, like a passing comet, crossing the dull
and unenlivened routine of parish work once in three years. On
the contrary, we must jdaceitin the position our Saviour evidently
designed it should occupy, viz : as the centre whence shall emanate
all those energies and enterprises which prove the Church aggressive
against all ungodliness, against every sinful and schismatical sys-
tem — a presence to be seen in every jjart of the fold, frequently,
and at every emergency, an influence ever permeating the most
remote and feeble points of a diocese, in other words, an influence
to be seen and felt as much as the ever recurring light and heat
of the day. To be a Bishop in any Apostolic sense, is to be in the
fore-front in trial, in suffering and activity, not sending, but leading
and leaving elders in every city and in every village and congrega-
tion in our land, retaining an accurate acquaintance with the needs,
necessities, progress and prosperity of every particular field of la-
bour, and sympathizing in the trials and difficulties, or rejoicing in
the success and faithfulness, of each particular "/ Tvprw" or messen-
ger, the acknowledged representative of the unity of the Church,
the patriarch or high priest of his diocese, with his attendant priests
and deacons, emphatically a father in God, cognizant of the wants
and positions of his spiritual children, ever ready to guide, to reprove,
rebuke, with all long suffering and doctrine. A record like this?
I believe to bo the record of the first three centuries of the Church
as sustained by history, when against all odds, under the fire of
persecution and reproach, the word of God mightily prevailed. The
Church did God's work in God's appointed way. She had not yet
learnt to distrust His chosen agencies, by adding, modifying, or
substituting mi.n's devices for God's order. No " factitious lights "
then eclipsed the native radiance of the sun, God did bless them
and all the ends of the then known earth did fear Ilim — as says
the same Ignatius in his epistle to the Ephesians, " For even Jesus
Christ, our inseparable life, is sent by the will of the Father, as the
bishops appointed unto the utmost bounds of the earth, are by the
■will of Jesus Christ." Then came the countenance of kings. No
mammmmmmmmmmmm
9
longer persecuted sl\e was honoured and exalted in the high i)laccs
of the earth, and then came, too, influences tending to the elevation
of the human in place of the divine, personal pride and aml)ition
beset the followers of a lowly Jesus, forgetting that,
'• Or>ler is lio]y — Sacrilege en.-ues
" Wiien men iiniiiiii-
" Hit ilelicate creation?, imd confuse
" Her pictures fair."
Emperors sought to rule wliere God liad fiKcd His throne in'tho
councils of the Church. Bishops sought for aggrandizement, and
began to iriquire who should he the greatest, and so in the lower
orders, and then we first i-ead of Areh-Preshjters or Deans, Arch-
Deacons, and the various otlier functionaries to be ibund in their
names in our own mother Church of England, or her corrupt sister,
the Church of Rome. Nearly contemporaneous with these en-
croachments on the primitive order of Christ's Church, ])resented
themselves errors in doctrine and corruptions in practice, which
continued their advance together, until tlie truth of God was well
nigh hithlen by these additions, and were alone purified and remov-
ed by the fires of the Reformation. We believe, therefore, that the
darkness and superstition whicli gradually spread over the spouse
of Christ, and obscured the ptirity and life-giving power of His
Gospel, is to be traced to these tamperings with the Divine Organ-
ization, arrogating titles and ofl^ccs, unknown to Apostolic times ;
under the pernicious infiuences of earthly favour, seeking to grasj)
the honours of t!ie world, seekitig to monopolize and centralize the
Icadin;' order bv the multii)lication of subsidiarv officers, in defiance
of the simplicity of the Gospel ministry. Wo contend, therefore,
that all officers called Arch-Deacons, Rural-Deans, and such like,
are, in their very existence, rcfiections on the perfection of the
agency appointed by Christ ; they assume to supjtlemeut a Divine
organization, and to be a substitute for a Divine authority, in utter
contrariety to the genius of the Chtu'ch (however trammeled our
mother in England may be by appendages of State and connection
with the past) and in direct conflict with the express statement,
Cpractically, that is ) of the preface to the ordinal, that it is evident
unto all men that there have ever been the three orders of Bishop,
Priest, and Deacon. But then, says one, perhaps they arc merely
agents of the Bishop. Accept them as such, but let me add tlie
inquiry, What should any or all Presbyters and Deacons be, but
MHWI
10
< •
the agents of tlieir spiritual head, ever ready to obey liis godly
admonitions, and unflinchingly to advance at his command, in every
path of duty ? The only conclusion we can arrive at is, that where-
over any field is too large for one overseer of the Church, the re-
medy lies not in any deputing of his powers to inferior officers, but
in the multiplication of his efpials, the committing of a like office
to other faithful men, that so the agency of (.'lirist may be every-
where extended, and the Church may not be dcjn-ived of that or-
ganization wliereby God intended the Holy Catholic Church to be
propagated, and so we may not adopt the perilous ex])edient of sub-
stituting;; our wisdom for the wisdom Avhich came from above. No
]>ishop holds his high office for his own personal or selfish grandeur;
he holds *t for a specific ol)joct, and he receives it with the obliga-
tion to continue and multiply the same according to the necessities
of the Fold. There is some reason to fear that we have suffered
from the association with the state which has led (.o impressions cpiite
foreign to the essentials of this holy office. The Lordship of the
crown has hidden from our pco|ile, too much, tli;; more loving and
attractive and oidy real character as the shephe "d of the flock, the
earnest looker after our spiritual Avelfare, as he that must give an
account, more properly honouring the state, than being honoured
])y it ; for no lordly title can add to the dignity of a Bishop in the
Church of (Jod. The same State chimsera has beset the actual
workings, and brought other influence to bear beside a singL eye to
the fulfilment of the commission to preach the Gospel to every
creature ; and at every turn have law officers, Letters Patent,
and mandates impeded our feeble gropings after every baptized
Christian's birthright, the supervision and paternal interest of a
" Father in God." So encumbered have the true position and
claims of a Bishop been by all these accidents, that, in view of
the history of the past, and the actual position of the present,
with but a shadow of the Apostolic ministry of the Church,
we may well inquire, " Where is our reverence for the Epis-
copate?" "VVc are now, at last, in the good providence of God,
relieved from all embarrassments, and the field before us, in
our country and the world, with such a leaven of the Apos-
tolic succession, as will enable us by the blessing of the great
Head of the Church, to retrieve what has been lost to it for many
centuries, viz. the restoration of a God-appointed and sanctioned
ministry to its primitive pattern and proportions, the multiplication
•.H?>f:rr»<:iTn""»i»rr!«fi»i'W*ti»*»'
.«~.«..t».^u.^-.^.,.^... ■^^.--^ i^ i .■ ^f^(^^^j^ ^ '^ m
i •
11
of chief shepherds of the flock, not according to the standards of
respectability or the surroundings of city or towns, but in the coun-
try, in the wilderness, in every exposed point where a Divinely
authorized leader can gather around him even a small body of Priests
and Deacons, to make battle with him against the great enemy
of souls, and secure new triumphs to a Saviour's cause. We want
men for these positions worthy of the '-igh office, men of deep
learning and scholarship, moved to the heart's core with love to
Christ. We want men Avhose honour will be the bright intellects
which they have consecrated to their Master's work, the holy devo-
tion and earnest piety which will surround them with the aroma
which is only to be derived from the close contact and companion-
ship of Jesus, not the title of lordship, and any little regard which
might be given to such imaginary rank. " Distinctions which de-
rive their birth, solely from fiats of this earth, should not by such
as they, be sought." A due regard being also given to the revival
of a true Diaconate, the Church would be in a position to work to
some purpose and effect ; in the raising up of the walls of Zion on
every side, in makhig provision for the training of the Lambs of the
Flock, now too fre((uently lost to the Church from the absence of
all means but that of a godless education. A liishop would have
time to consider and deal to some practical effect, with all the
issues of the work, and instead of the present general view at the
most, necessarily followed by chaos and torpidity, new life, and
power Avould be everywhere developed. The Episcopate being
restored to its primitive place in the agency of the Gospel, the
presence among us of one recognized l)y all the clergy as up-
lifted above them by his Apostolic dignity and Apostolic position,
and therefore raised far above the envy and jealousy which too
frequently are the results of Parity, a spiritual Father among
his spiritual children, would be the strongest bond of peace, love
and respect. Harmony and life would be given to every Mis-
sionary and Parochial work, the Bishop would be the driving-
wheel whose personal influence and presence would inspire energy
in every portion of his small Diocese ; weak and staggering mis-
sions would find new strength ; tottering Parishes would rise from
their ruins, and all because thei-e would be a recognized authority
not only to whom all might look at a respectful distance, but
whose kind sohcitude all would receive, and because then avc should
be laying and establishing a Hteral claim to the promise, " Lo ! I am
mmi i immt i m kf m m mnmmsmwm sssii
,iiMitittii'it,^:niui<ui<i)imm-:ii-nnmii<m
12
with you ahvays, even unto tlio end of tlie world." And none of
His words will fail. Wc want the tliin«,' itself and we want it ob-
tained after Apostolic example. p]xperience has already taught
that there is serious ground of olyection to our ]irevious practice,
and I humbly believe that it never will be remodied until we give
back to God, his right in such an important selection. Choose out
any number of persons whom men may think to have qualities
requisite for the office, but presume not farther, but pray and say,
<• Thou Lord which knoweth the hearts of all men, show whether
of these ?Z!02Uiast chosen," and then, as in the case of the first
successor of the Apostles, let their lots be given forth, remember-
ing that " the lot is cast into the lap, and the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord." If inspired Apostles themselves trusted
not to their own judgments, but ap{>ealcd to the seer and searcher
of hearts, how much more have we reason to distrust our errinii:
judgments and to leave to the decision of Heaven the final choice
out of what are to us fit persons, and whose ministry pre-eminently
is to become either the savour of life or death to so many im-
mortal souls. We advocate, tiiereforo, on principle, upon expe-
diency, and for all the love of souls which occupied a Saviour's
breast and is hence })articipated in by every Christian heart, the
immediate and rapid multiplication «,)f Chief Shepherds of the Fold
of Christ, a restoration of the primitive ministry in all its p.-'ty
and vigour. To have E])iseopal supervision which shall be any-
thing more than a name, at least two new Dioceses should be
formed out of the present one of Montreal — one in these Eastern
Townships and one in the Ottawa District, and each of these, even
in their present weakness, would occupy the laborious attention of
one Bishop who would spend a Sumlay and greater part of a week
annually in every mission and parish, and be the explorer himself
of remote parts. But then 'the one great hindrance — the money,
the means. If we have only fiiith and do our duty, God will
provide the means. It is not a primitive or Apostolic re(|uirement
for a Bishop that he should have a luxurious salary : chiefest in
honour, his duty is also fre(|uently to be chiefest in suffering. A
Bishop, therefore, I conceive, should be willing to go forth in his
work as the inferior orders go forth in theirs, exercising suitable
foresight and wisdom, but yet trusting God and looking not at the
things which arc seen but at the the things which are unseen.
In this part of the Diocese there is good ground for believing that
■•fW«*^t>^■w•^•»!»tl^B»^U4«l»w^^*W'•»^•^•«■^*^r^<•^i•l.•l
13
X400 or £500, could be readily assessed; an endowment to be
formed as soon as possible. To the laity of course must the
Church look for the realization of these hopes. If the clergy only
prove the necessity and give examples of the Primitive Episcopate
ill all its pristine simplicity and power, there will be no defioien'y
of support from the coffers of the faithfal, in support of the chief
ambassadors of Christ. The following account in the life of Bishop
f>loomfield both illustrates the method and points to that measure
of success already enjoyed as the fruits of our present limited
Episcopal oversight, an example, we pray to many other noble men,
Avhosc liberality will incite others to good works, an earn^oi/ of
such a multiplication of chief pastors as will, ere long, grant a true
])resentation of the Gospel ministry in all its fair proportions
throughout this Dominion, and c'arry with it intlucnces beyond the
limited anticipation of man. Of him, it is written " liberality, too,
in gifts, had increased largely from the blessed contagion of his
good example. Speaking to Archbishop Tlowley of the intended
move for the Colonial Episcopate, he (vqiessed his conviction
that the time was come for some gifts of unusual magnitude, and
he proposed to the Archbishop, what should be their respective offer-
ings. This point settled, Archbishop Ilowley, speakin'T of a
third person, said, ' no doubt he will like to join us in this/
and received the characteristic answer. ' He will join us, but I
do not think that he will like to do so.' To this wise liberality"
(continues the writer) " the Church owed the extension of her
Colonial Episcopate and that true movement for catholic expansion
which has acted back with such a growing power on her hfe at
home." To prove the force and obligation of this subject upon all
we have but to allude to the glorious effects resulting from all
efforts hi this direction hitherto. Our own Diocese presents a
record of rapid increase, and it only requires its triple section to
make, under a similar blessing from the great Head, each portion
equal in its own strength to our present unwieldly Diocese. What
■was once the Bishopric of Calcutta now numbers seventeen distinct
Dioceses, each subdivision, as it occurred, multiplyin"- the forces of
the Church in more than geometrical ratio, and so with each of
the Dioceses created out of the old Diocese of Toronto. The
Church in the United States presents many an example of the
effectiveness of a Primitive Episcopate. Our conclusion, therefore
s that reason, Revelation, the history of the past, the successes of
14
late years, aiul the wants of the |)ve!^eiit, all point to the immediate
ncce.ssity of a restoration of the Christian ministry to its primitive
pro])ortions, as the r:;reat A;^eney to which Christ has specially pro-
niisetl to give His Blessing.
r
APPEXDIX.
In the preceding pages our argument is chiefly based upon the
nature and primitive and apostolic proportions of the Gospel minis-
try itself, and that innnediatc and personal sujiervision which is
incunihent upon every chief ruler of the Church who would at all
couimensurably fulfil the Divinely im];)Ose(l duties of the Episcopate.
We may derive some idea as to the contrariety existing between
modern, unwieMIy and vast dioceses ; the oversight of which, in any
ertectual degree, would require a species of omnipresence ; as well as
inspiration ; and the patterns afforded us by the purest and earliest
practice of the Church in this respect. The universal interpreta-
tion of the Church, received, too, by most non-conforming writers,
givf^ us even a scriptural pattern in Saint John's Apocalyptic Epis-
tles to the " Angels," or Apostles or Bishops of the seven churches
m Asia, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadel-
phia, and Laodicea, places all situated on the narrow strip of pro-
consular Asia, coasting the Egean sea, and all in close proximity
to each other, and we know, also, that this was the case when as yet
the word of the Lord had not " free course," and consequently,
it was not a requirement forced upon these Apostolic Churches
either from their distance or the large numbers of the disciples.
Saint Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, whose martyrdom occurred A.D.
107, mentions, in addition to the forcnamed, Magnesia and Tralles,
so that the inference is legitimate, that no less than nine dioceses
existed at this earliest period of the Church, within an extent of
territory of perhaps two hundred and fifty miles long, by ninety
broad, giving an average length and breath of fifty miles. In other
words, there were at least nine Bishoprics with an extent equal to
that of our present province of Quebec. This was, too, when the
disciples were from the despised and obscure of earth, and not
from the rich among men, so that the rewards and emoluments of
the Episcopate were only those of self-denial and self-sacrifice,
which led by almost necessary and invariable steps to the martyr's
crown ; an unanswerable reply to that lack of faith which would
!! ? ii ! i ! ii S8> ! i533MB<i ii ii i i i i <i^^ « muMm iiitd
.■^Mi'it^iuuiinum-.-^y.-i-.
15
restrict the numbers of the Episcoj-atc, according to tlie measure of
man's liberality or the adventitious circumstances of man's favour.
Turning, then, from these Apostolic exam{)los, we may find the
fullest corroboration in the accounts of th" further establishment
of the Church by the primitive Christians.
Africa, perhaps, furnishes tlie best authenticated and most noted
example of what, no doubt, was then the universal practice. Cy-
prian, Bishop of Carthage, A.D, 250, bears witness, incidentally, to
the existence of thirty-one dioceses, and these during the fires of
persecution instituted by Decius, Gallus, and Valerius, and shortly
after, as called by him, we find two successive Synods, composed
respectively of seventy-two and eighty-five Bishops. It has been
computed that the average extent of these dioceses was about twen-
ty-two miles in length and breath. A further step brings us to
the time of Augustine, Bishop of Ilippo, about the year 400,
when, in the Northern or Christian portion of the continent of Af-
rica, extending from Libya to the Straits of Gibralter, there were
not less than 4GG Dioceses, more than three times as many as those
of the whole Anglican communion now scattered tliroughout the
various portions of the globe. This, we might say, is the history
of other parts of the primitive Church. Constantinople had about
600 dioceses of different extent. It has been shown also that
throughout the various Syrian Provinces, the average dimensions
of a diocese were from 20 to 35 miles square. We may take two
more examples furnished us by the earliest practices of our own
double source. In England, throe Archbishops or Metropolitans
were in existence, probably as early as 171), viz. : York, London,
and Caerleon, the bishops of which Sees were present at the Council
of Aries, A. D. 314, and though definite information cannot be had
respecting the whole Island, we have seven Bishops present at the
conference with Augustine, five of whom belonged to "Wales, and
tliere is reason for believing that there were three more, eight in
all, leaving an average diocese to each, at the lower estimate, of
about 35 miles square. There is every presumption to conclude
that a similar practice held throughout the entire British Church.
" Indeed," says Bingham in his Antiquities, " it would appear that
there were 7nore bishops in England " ad Wales at the time of the
Saxon Invasion," (A. D. 450) '' than there are at the present dayy
Passing over to Ireland, we find the record that the number of
Bishops in that Island amounted sometimes to 300. We learn,
Hi i l i lBt i ii i BliBllil "" ^""'""'" ■■ ""^i*"'"'" "" ■'">"' "»»^.mi..u»«i«
10
tlicn, from tlicse, the primitivo and Apostolic rule; whereas, what
wo now l)ehoM but assures us of the e(»rruptinj,' and uncath(tlie
restrictions which came upon the Church in her midtiplication of
the E[)iscopate, when the towerin;! shadow of Rome enveloped the
early Church, and rendered everythin^j; subsidiary to the measures
which tended to the a<:«j;randizf'nient of the Pajial See. Feudal
times, when liishops became tem))ural lords, and had large retinues
to defend their own ri<^hts, and the property of the Church, added
strength to this deflection.
These two influences came into direct conliict with primitive
practice, Rome supplanting what was Ajiostolic by what was Papal ;
and so firmly rooted were her traditio'is, that through the inter-
vention of the State, the Reformation even failed to restore to the
Church her Divine agency in its entirety, although it was attempt-
ed then largely to multiply the Bishops in England; and thus was
the Church shorn of her pristine strength and vigour. Large dio-
ceses, then, are literally Papal and mediicval in their origin, though
Rome has long since corrected the mistake. Small dioceses are
essentially npostolic and primitive. The late Bishop of Quebec, on tlie
formation of the last diocese in Ontario; gives us his mature judg-
ment in these words : — " We now expect, very soon, to have a fifth
Bishopric in Canada. In our Episcopal communion, the multipli-
cation of Bishoprics is the extenalon of the Church, and of her ser-
vice in the cause of the Gospel, a very natural and obvious conse-
quence, and one which has been remarkably exemplified in our
own day." No exhortation could be more earnest than that of the
same venerated Father-in-God, with respect to a like effort : — " A
move should be made at once — an earnest, determined move, with
the eye of Fnitb tu^n'^d up to <'-':*^^, the heivt lifted in ^lio fcvcncy
of prayer, and the hand put to the work without looking back."
" He being doad, yet speakcth."
May its feeble repetition give rise to a harvest far more abun-
dant than his mortal eyes were permitted to behold, and in which
he rejoiced ; in the further increase of our Colonial Episcopate, — a
good omen for which was certainly furnished, in the immediate
offer of five hundred dollars towards the endowment of a new See,
by one of Waterloo's noblest Churchmen.
" Ta apxnia, Wri KparetTU."
" Let the primitive customs prevail."
TSEmsammaaaM