COPIES OF LETTERS, &c. 
 
 READ IN THE 
 
 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 
 
 THE DEBATE 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 CLERGY RESERVE BILL, 
 
 JANUARY 17, 1840: 
 
 ©■S' ^IHIS IPo So ©S S IL ^ (g) Tff 2 S SU2 
 
 TORONTO: 
 
 PRINTED BY R. STANTON, 164, KING*STREET. 
 
 M D c c c X L . 
 
LETTERS, &c. 
 
 From Governor Simcoe, to the Right Honourabi,^ 
 H. Dundas. 
 
 Dated, June 2 , 1791 . 
 
 Addressed to 
 
 The Right Honourable. 
 
 H. DundavS. 
 
 I HOLD it to be indispensably necessary that a Bishop 
 should be immediately established in Upper Canada. 
 The State propriety of some prescribed form of public 
 ^ worship, politically considered, arises from the necessity 
 
 there is of preventing enthusiastic and fanatic preach- 
 » ers from acquiring that superstitious hold of the minds 
 
 of the multitude, which persons of such a description 
 may pervert, and are generally inclined to pervert, to 
 the establishment of their own undue consequence in 
 the State, and often to meditate, and not unfrequently 
 i to turn such an. ascendancy to its injury and destruction: 
 
 and this prescribed form of w^orship becomes more or 
 * less necessary as the minds of the people are more or 
 
 less susceptible of superstitions, and as attempts to 
 turn them from the national form of church govern- 
 % ment are more or less prevalent; those who shall be 
 
 bred in solitude and seclusion, which the first settlers 
 must necessarily in a great measure be, and to whom, 
 perhaps, the stated periods of public worship are the 
 
37 
 
 4 
 
 only ones which, in their meetings and associations, they 
 shall become acquainted and sympathise with each 
 other ; such a description of men will be the fittest 
 instruments for the mischief-making enthusiasm of the 
 sectaries to work upon, and this at a period when we 
 know that all men read, and only one description of 
 people write, and when the aim of the sectaries is 
 avowedly to destroy the national establishment. At 
 this very moment, we see Episcopacy happily intro- 
 duced, and introducing into all the United States ; nor 
 in parliament, in the Canada bill, have we seen any 
 exception taken to the Episcopal function, but to the 
 admission of the Bishop to a seat in the Legislative 
 Council, which, it is to be hoped, while there is an esta- 
 blishment, the wisdom of this country will always insist 
 upon. There are duties of office in respect to the 
 laity of the Church of England which a Bishop only 
 can perform. It is of the most serious importance 
 that his power and supervision over the Clergy should 
 prevent or censure clerical offences, and inculcate in 
 all ranks and descriptions of people a sober and an 
 industrious religious and conscientious spirit, which 
 will be the best security that government can have for 
 its own internal preservation. Schools and seminaries 
 of education should be created ; these should be un- 
 der the superintendence of the Bishop; without this 
 head, the levelling spirit would naturally infect the 
 very teachers of the Episcopal church, and which, at 
 an after period, the introduction of the Bishop may 
 not have sufficient weight to counterac t. In short, an 
 
i 
 
 5 
 
 Episcopal church without a risident Bishop seems to 
 be an absurdity, as well as a contradiction in terms; 
 and therefore, we know, that in the earliest periods, the 
 Bishop preceded and established the settlement of the 
 church in his foreign missions; and it is to be supposed 
 that, while the distinction between the clergy and laity 
 shall exist, while a body shall be set apart for religious 
 duties, while an Episcopal church shall be established 
 by law, it is to be supposed, that such a national church 
 will not for a moment be suffered to remain in our 
 distant colonies, deprived of all its useful qualities, 
 civil and ecclesiastical, and exhibiting a spectacle of 
 degradation and inferiority in that very colony where 
 the British Constitution has been more eminently and 
 effectually introduced. 
 
 (Signed) J. G. SIMCOE, 
 
 Extract from a Memoir, 
 
 In regard to the Episcopal establishment, it is impos- 
 sible for me to be more anxious that such an arrange- 
 ment should take place, than I have uniformly shewn 
 myself to be, and that I firmly believe the present to 
 be the critical moment in which that system, so inter- 
 woven and connected with the monarchical foundation 
 of our government, may be productive of the most 
 permanent and extensive benefits, in preserving the 
 connexion between Great Britain and her colonies. 
 The particular mode in which I conceive an Episcopal 
 establishment may not only add to the general interest 
 
37 
 
 6 
 
 which Great Britain is necessitated to maintain 
 throughout the United States, but strikingly connect 
 into one system, the most powerful colonies. 
 
 Extract from a letter to His Grace the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, (Dr. Moore.) 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Wolford Lodge, 
 December 30th, 1790. 
 
 Agreeably to the offer which I made to your Grace, 
 when I had the honour of some conversation with 
 you, lelative to the establishment of Episcopacy in 
 Upper Canada, I take this opportunity of laying 
 before you, as concisely as possible, my opinions on 
 this very important subject. 
 
 I must beg leave to premise, that I am decisively 
 of opinion, thata regular Episcopal establishment, sub- 
 ordinate to the primacy of Great Britain, is absolutely 
 necessary in any extensive colony which this country 
 means to pveserve, and in particular, if the ad van- 
 tages which she aims at, are expected to be derived 
 and increased proportionably to its degree of popula- 
 tion. But in regard to a colony in Upper Canada, 
 which is to be blessed with the laws, and the upright 
 administration of them, which distinguishes and enno-- 
 bles the country, and which colony is peculiarly 
 situated amongst a variety of republics, every establish- 
 ment of Church and State that upholds the distinction 
 

 7 
 
 of ranks, and lessens the undue weight of the democratic 
 influence, must be indis[)ensably introduced, and will 
 no doubt, in the hands of Great Britain, hold out a 
 purer model of government, in a practical form, than 
 has been expatiated upon in all the theoretic reveries 
 of self-named philosophers. 
 
 The neglect of this principle of overturning repub- 
 licanism in former periods, by giving support and 
 assistance to those causes which are perpetually 
 offering themselves, to effect so necessary an object, 
 is much to be lamented ; but it is my duty to be as 
 solicitous as possible, that they may now have their 
 due influence, if I wish the proposed government to 
 be a permanent one ; and I am happy to feel the 
 utmost conviction, that the best mode of population, 
 ^ and the best line of connexion, with the United States, 
 
 is combined in giving due support to that church 
 ^ establishment, which I consider as necessary to pro- 
 
 mote the national religion, of w’hich I am a sincere and 
 humble believer, and to maintain the true and venera- 
 ble constitution of my country. 
 
 (Signed) J. G. SIMCOE. 
 
 Extract of a Letter from Mr. Secretary Dundas, 
 to Lord Dorchester, dated Whitehall^ 16th Sep- 
 temher, 1791. 
 
 As there does not, at present, appear to be sufficient 
 provision for the support of the Protestant Clergy, 
 either in Upper Canada or Lower Canada, the col- 
 
T7 
 
 8 
 
 lection of tythes has, under the Act of the present 
 year, been suffered to continue. 
 
 But your Lordship will understand, that it is not 
 wished to continue this burden longer than is neces- 
 sary for the competent provision of the clergy. If, 
 therefore, the proprietors of lands, liable to the pay- 
 ment of tythes, shall be induced to concur with your 
 Lordship s recommendation, in providing a sufficient 
 fund for clearing the reserved lands, and for building 
 parsonage houses on the several parsonages which 
 may be endowed under the Act of the last session of 
 Parliament, and at the same time provide an inter- 
 mediate fund for the maintenance of the Clergy, during 
 the period thtat will be required for the purpose of 
 so clearing these reserved lands, the obligation of 
 tythes may then cease. 
 
 I have thought it necessary to explain this subject 
 minutely to your Lordship, that by making it under- 
 stood among the proprietors of these lands, they may 
 perceive the means which are in their own power to 
 relieve themselves from a burthen which is naturally 
 irksome to them. 
 
 Extract of a Letter from Lieutenant-Governor SmcoE 
 to Mr. Bond, (our Charge d' Affaires at Wash- 
 ington.) 
 
 Quebec, May 7th, 1792. 
 
 I TAKE the opportunity of transmitting the late Act of 
 Parliament by which Upper Canada has been severed 
 

 9 
 
 from the I-.ower Province, and which may be consi- 
 dered as the Magna Charta under which that colony 
 w'ill immediately be admitted to all the privileges that 
 Englishmen enjoy, and be confederated and united, 
 I earnestly pray and believe, for ever with Great 
 Britain. 
 
 The British Parliament, it may be observed, has 
 only retained to itself the power and authority for the 
 regulation of commerce between foreign countries, 
 and the respective Provinces, the net produce of 
 revenues so raised to be a{)plied by the colonial legis- 
 latures to the uses of the respective colony — the King 
 and Parliament, by these means, have provided as 
 much as human foresight can do, that industry may 
 not be defeated of its honest acquisition. 
 
 It is to be observed, that the British Parliament, 
 (in the 42d clause), while it secures, beyond the pos- 
 sibility of any provincial interference, the protection 
 and endow'ment which the civil compact of the British 
 constitution affords to the established church, and that 
 in a manner the least burthensome to the subject, by 
 the King’s benevolelice in the allotment of lands for 
 that purpose, at the same time it as effectually pro- 
 vides for the security of the natural rights of Chris- 
 tians to worship God in their own way, by reserving 
 to itself the sole power of giving legal authority to 
 any Acts which may respect or interfere with such 
 mode of worship, and it offers, as a pledge of its jus- 
 tice in this essential point, the reasonable toleration 
 which has, for such a long space, existed under the 
 
10 
 
 government of Great Britain, and which is too well 
 known by all who have been so happy as to have 
 been born under its authority, to require the necessity 
 of illustration. 
 
 Extract from a Letter from Lieutenant- G overnor 
 SiMCOE, to the Right Honourable II. Dundas. 
 
 Navy Hall, Niagara, 
 
 November, 1792. 
 
 I HAVE no reasons to alter those opinions on this sub- 
 ject which I humbly submitted to the consideration 
 of His Majesty s Ministers previous to my leaving 
 Europe. I need not, I am sure. Sir, observe, that the 
 best security that all just government has for its exist- 
 ence, is founded on the morality o the people, and 
 that such moi-ality ha< no true basis but when placed 
 upon religious principles; it is, therefore, that I I ave 
 always been extremely anxious, both from political 
 as well as more worthy motives, that the Church of 
 England should be essentially established in Upper 
 Canada ; and I must be permitted to say. Sir, that I 
 have received the greatest satisfaction from your 
 expression “that you did not think that government 
 complete without a Protestant Bishop.” As I con- 
 ceived such an institution necessary to the support of 
 the exj>eriment that is now making, whether the 
 British government cannot support itself by its own 
 superiority in this distant part of the world, I beg, 
 

 11 
 
 Sir, to observe to you, that the sources from whence 
 a protestant clergy shall arise, seem totally to be pre- 
 vented by the want of the Episcopal function in this 
 Province. On the one hand, the distance and situa- 
 tion of Nova Scotia, render it less practicable that 
 any candidates for ordination should have recourse 
 to the Bishop of that Diocese, than to those of England 
 or Ireland ; and, on the other, those who have been 
 ordained by the Bishops in the United States are, by 
 an Act of Parliament, incapacitated from performing 
 any duty in Upper Canada; but did the situation of 
 the Province, in this respect, degrading as it would 
 be to the Church of England, stand merelv in the 
 privation of its offices and benefits, it might not be of 
 such infinite political importance, as the room that is 
 hereby made for the introduction of every kind of 
 sectaries, many of whom are hostile, and none conge- 
 nial to the British constitution, 
 
 I am perfectly aware of the great necessity that 
 there is of guarding against any unnecessary expense 
 in the further establishment of this country, yet I can- 
 not but consider that, it would be the worst and most 
 disabling of all economy, to lose the great opportunity 
 that is now open of forming the character, temper, 
 and manners, of the people of this infant colony to 
 British habits, and to British principles, and this I 
 think may be done comparatively at little expense.— » 
 The great body of Puritans in America, however mis- 
 represented, draw their origin from the church of 
 England, and are nearer to it in their religious belief 
 

 
 ]2 
 
 and customs, than they are to any other sects or reli- 
 gious descriptions. 
 
 \ 
 
 The state of poverty in which they must, for some 
 time, remain, after their emigration, will naturally 
 prevent them from the possibility of supporting their 
 ministers by public subscriptions; in the mean while 
 the government has in its power immediately to pro- 
 vide for any protestant clergyman, in the separate 
 townships, by giving them a reasonable landed pro- 
 perty in perpetuity for himself and family, and entrust- 
 ing him with the care of that seventh which is to be 
 reserved for the protestant clergy. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, it is probable that the sons of respectable 
 settlers would offer themselves for ordination, and 
 though they might not, in the first instance, have the 
 learning of the European clergy, their habits and 
 morals might as essentially promote the interest of 
 the community. 
 
 It is by these means. Sir, that the influence of the 
 protestant clergy may extend and increase with the 
 rapid growth and value of those lands which are 
 reserved for their maintenance, and which, without a 
 due attention being paid in this respect, will naturally 
 be considered, by the people at large, as detrimental 
 to the colony, and may, at no very distant period of 
 time, become a temptation to those who shall be hos- 
 tile to the union of Upper Canada with Great Britain. 
 

 13 
 
 Extract of a Despatch from the Ilonourahle H. Dundas, 
 to Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe. 
 
 May 23rd, 1793. 
 
 I WISH much to receive the plan which has been 
 approved for the location of townships, and I trust 
 that in making the reserves for the Church and the 
 Crown, sufficient attention has been paid to the late 
 Act, particularly that part which provides that they 
 shall be, as nearly as the circumstances and the nature 
 of the case wull admit, of the like quantity as the 
 lands in respect of which the same are so allotted and 
 appropriated, and shall be, as nearly as the same can 
 be estimated at the time of making such grant, equal 
 in value to the seventh part of the lands so granted ; 
 and I am the more anxious on this score, because you 
 add, that the plan has been directed to be carried into 
 execution. 
 
 Fro7n the Duke of Portland, to the Bishop of QuEBECr 
 
 Whitehall, 14th Novr, 1794. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 I have received your Lordship’s letter to Mr. 
 Secretary Dundas, of 15th September last, giving an 
 account of the completion of your Lordship’s first 
 visitation of your Diocese; and I beg leave to express 
 my approbation, both of the early and earnest attention 
 paid by your Lordship to the duties of your important 
 station. 
 
14 
 
 The state of the Churches in Upper Canada, should 
 certainly receive every degree of attention, which 
 Juay enable them to proceed hand in hand with the 
 regular and progressive improvement of a Province, 
 which at this moment can only be looked upon as in 
 its infancy* 
 
 In consequence of your Lordship s representations, 
 1 shall certainly solicit His Majesty’s commands, that 
 a sum not exceeding £ 500 , (which may be extended 
 as occasion shall require) may be proposed to be added 
 to the estimate of Upper Canada for the ensuing year, 
 towards enabling His Majesty’s subjects in that Pro- 
 vince to erect such Churches as may be necessary for 
 divine worship. In doing this, I shall trust with the 
 most perfect confidence to your Lordshijfs exertions, 
 and to the good disposition of those in favour of whom 
 the grant is proposed, that they will render the same 
 as effectual as possible, by adding their personal aid 
 and assistance, to the utmost of their pow’er and ability. 
 It will be for Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe, and your 
 Lordship, upon communication with each other, to 
 determine where the want of a Church is the most 
 urgent, and consequently where the first is to be 
 erected. In doing this, your Lordship will of course 
 take care not to incur any expense in parts w-ithout 
 the treaty line, our possession of which may depend 
 on circumstances. 
 
 This consideration, your Lordship observes, will 
 render some of the expenses you propose unnecessary. 
 
p 
 
 
 15 
 
 I should likewise be induced to recommend, that lu 
 
 the erection of the Churches, the immediate exigen- 
 cies of the case should, for the present, only be con- 
 sulted ; every thing beyond that, should be left to the 
 
 s cute. I am very sorry to observe, that the dearness 
 
 of the necessaries of life in Upper Canada, seem to 
 , require a greater income than would certainly other- 
 
 wise be necessary for an incumbent. At the same 
 time, there cannot be a shadow of a doubt, relative 
 to the construction of the Canada Act, which annexes 
 to Rectories and Parsonages erected under the same, 
 , the enjoyment of all the rights, profits and emoluments, 
 
 belonging to a Parsonage or Rectory in England, 
 which must necessarily include tythes. Under these 
 circumstances, it is unnecessary for me to add any 
 thing further, than that, with the existing provision; 
 
 * made by the above-mentioned Act, for the Church of 
 England in both the Canadas, I trust that a small 
 temporary salary from government, with such allow- 
 ances as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
 may be induced to grant, would be sufficient for the 
 
 * comfortable maintenance of such incumbents as it 
 may be requisite to send from hence, for the due 
 
 “ performance of the ecclesiastical duties of the Pro- 
 
 vince of Upper Canada. 
 
 future prosperity and wealth of the Province to exe 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 (Signed) PORTLAND. 
 

 IG 
 
 Extract of a Letter froiti the Duke of Portl and, to 
 Lord Dorchester, dated Whitehall, 6th April, 
 1795. 
 
 The very ample provision which, in process of time, 
 the church lands will afford to the Protestant Clergy, 
 will doubtless, at a future period, render the percep- 
 tion of tythes unnecessary, and it therefore becomes 
 a very material object to adopt such measures as may 
 tend most directly, and immediately, to render them, 
 as well as the crown lands, in some degree produc- 
 tiv'e. With this view, I submit to your Lordship’s 
 consideration, whether it may not be proper to form 
 a Committee of the Executive Council, for the care 
 and management of the Church and Crown lands, 
 who should be authorised and instructed to let the 
 same to the possessors of adjoining lots, or other 
 persons, for terms of years, or for lives, on certain 
 reserved rents, to be respectively received and managed 
 for the benefit of the Crown, and the future Incum- 
 bents of the Rectories which shall be established in 
 respect of such lands, pursuant to the Canada Act. 
 
 The Church and Crown lands will of course 
 become of some consideration, in proportion as the 
 lots adjoining to them become cultivated, especially 
 to the holders of the adjoining lots; and it seems 
 highly piopei that some competent, respectable, and 
 responsible mode of managing them, should be adopted 
 without delay. I am therefore desirous that your 
 Lordship should consult with His Majesty’s Law 
 Officers on this subject, as well as with the Bishop of 
 
17 
 
 (Quebec, as far as the Church lands are concerned, 
 and report to me, for His Majesty’s information, the 
 result of your deliberations. 
 
 Extracts of a Letter to the Lord Bishop of Q.ucbkc, 
 from Governor Simcoe, dated Kingston, Upper 
 Canada, April 30, 1795. 
 
 Perhaps the constitution given to Upper Canada, 
 however late, forms the singular exception to that 
 want of preventive wisdom which has characterized 
 the present times. The people of this Province enjoy 
 the forms, as well as the privileges, of the British 
 constitution. They have the means of governing 
 themselves, and having nothing to ask, must ever 
 remain a part of the British empire : provided they shall 
 become sufficiently capable and enlightened to under- 
 stand their relative situation, and to manage their own 
 power to the public interest. Liberal education seems 
 to me, therefore, to be indispensably necessary : and 
 the completion of it, by the establishment of an Univer- 
 sity in the capital of the country — the residence of the 
 Governor and the Council, the Bishop, the heads of the 
 law, and of the general quality of the inhabitants, conse- 
 quent to the seat of government — in my apprehension, 
 would be most useful to inculcate just principles, habits 
 and manners, into the rising generation ; to coalesce the 
 different customs of the various descriptions of set^ 
 
18 
 
 tiers, emigrants f rom the old provinces or Europe, into 
 one form. In short, from distinct parts and ancient 
 prejudices, to new form, as it were, and establish one 
 nation — and thereby to strengthen the union with 
 Great Britain, and to preserve a lasting obedience to 
 His Majesty’s authority. The income contemplated 
 for such an establishment is certainly, of itself, too 
 contemptible to be withheld from the prosecuting of 
 so great an object on any views of expense. I natu- 
 rally should wish that the Clergy requisite for offices 
 in the University, in the first instance, should be 
 Englishmen, if possible — (conforming therein to Mr. 
 Secretary Dundas’ opinion, and indeed, in this respect, 
 to my own) but as in an object of such magnitude 
 no explanation can be too minute, which fairly and 
 distinctly < lucidates these points, which ought not to 
 be misunderstood, I only refer to your Lordship’s 
 slight experience of the habits and manners of the 
 Amej lean settlers, to say how very different they are 
 from those of Great Britain ; and how unlikely it is 
 for Clergymen, educated in England, with English 
 families and propensities — habituated in every situa- 
 tion to a greater degree of refinement and comfort 
 than can be found in a new country, or possibly any 
 where without the precincts of Great Britain— how 
 unlikely it is that such persons should obtain that 
 influence with their parishioners which may essentially 
 promote the objects of their mission. lu the infancy 
 of such a government as that of Upper Canada, and 
 in the general indisposition of these times to all 
 

 19 
 
 restraint, it seems to be of peculiar importance to 
 k prevent the public interest, both in Church and State, 
 
 from suffering through any ill-will or disregard which 
 the King’s subjects may bear to those persons who 
 t are in any manner concerned in its administration. 
 
 On the other hand, I am persuaded if, at the outset, a 
 4 few pious, learned men, of just zeal and {)rimitive 
 
 manners, shall be sent to this country, with sufficient 
 inducement to make them supjiort this honourable 
 banishment with cheerfulness — and that in the first 
 instance, your Lordship shall not too strenuouslv 
 
 * insist upon learning as a qualification for ordination, 
 where there are evident marks of religious disposition 
 and proofs of morality — I am confident the rising 
 generation will be brought up competently learned, 
 and properly endued with religion and loyalty ; and 
 
 ^ it is probable that they may at least be equal to those * 
 
 of Connecticut, in this continent, whose Clergy are 
 in general, inferior to none in those points of leareing 
 and of acquisition in the dead languages, which may 
 be generally considered as the necessary materials and 
 
 * instruments of their sacred profession. In short, my 
 Lord, if the maintenance of religion and morality be 
 merely considered, in a commercial light, as so much 
 merchandize, the bounty which I have proposed, and ' 
 most earnestly implore may be for a while extended 
 
 " to it, will augment that produce in w'hich the union 
 
 of this country with Great Britain, and the preserva* 
 tion of His Majesty’s sovereignty, may ultimately 
 depend. I am almost ashamed of using this meta- 
 
20 
 
 phorical language, but it is that of the age. There 
 has nothing, in my late progress, given me equal 
 uneasiness with the general application of all ranks 
 of the most loyal inhabitants of the Province, that I 
 would obtain for them Churches and Ministers. They 
 say that the rising generation is rapidly returning to 
 barbarism. They state that the Sabbath, so wisely set 
 apart for devotion, is literally unknown to their chil- 
 dren, who are busily employed in searching for amuse- 
 ments in which they may consume that day. And it 
 is of serious consideration, that on the approach of the 
 settlements of the United States to our frontiers, par- 
 ticularly on the St. Lawrence, these people, who by 
 experience have found that Schools and Churches are 
 essential to their ra{)id establishment, may probably 
 allure many of our most respectable settlers to emigrate 
 to them, w'bile in this respect we suffer a disgraceful 
 deficiency. 
 
 A principal foundation of the wise and necessary 
 friendship of Great Britain with these their legitimate 
 descendants, I have heretofore pointed out as to be 
 deduced from the most intimate union and reconcile- 
 ment between the English Episcopal church, and that 
 of the independent form of worship, used in the New 
 England provinces, an emanation from the English 
 Episcopal church, as all their authors avow, and prin- 
 cipally originating from the harsh measures of the 
 secular power which the English church once exer- 
 cised, but which is now no more. Though my ideas, 
 on this subject, my Lord, were probably misunder- 
 

 21 
 
 stood, and tiie lukewarm spirit of the times, liad I 
 been even called on for their explanation, would, 
 doubtless, have slighted my reasons as merely struck 
 out in the heat of imagination, and not, as they are, 
 the sober deductions of much thought and of personal 
 observation, yet nothing has happened since I left 
 England, in the least to invalidate, to my own con- 
 ception, the policy of the measures I then proposed : 
 and as far as may be now in the power of his Majes- 
 ty’s Ministers, I most earnestly ho[)e that what remains 
 may be effected — that is, by giving the means of pro- 
 per education in this province, both in its rudiments 
 and in its completion, that from ourselves we may 
 raise up a loyal, and in due progress, a learned Clergy, 
 and which will speedih’^ tend to unite not only the 
 Puritans within the province, but the Clergy of the 
 Episcopal church, however dispersed, to consider with 
 affection the parent state, to form, corroborate and 
 unite, within the United States, that powerful bodj of 
 people, who naturally must prefer the alliance of 
 Great Britain to that of France, who are mostly mem- 
 bers of the Episcopal church, and on all sides, to bring 
 within its pale in Upper Canada, a very great body of 
 sectaries who, in my judgment, as it were, offer them- 
 selves to its protection and re-union. 
 
 These objects would be materially promoted by an 
 University in Upper Canada, which might, in due 
 j^rogress, acquire such a character as to become the 
 place of education to many persons beyond the extent 
 of the King’s dominions. 
 
22 
 
 If I recollect, my Lord, Parliament voted X20,000 
 for the erection of the University proposed by Bishop 
 Berkeley, in Bermudas. The object, not to speak 
 disrespectfully of so truly respectable a prelate, was 
 certainly of trivial importance to what 1 now propose. 
 The labours of the society for the propagation of the 
 gospel, are visionary, as applicable to tlie conversion 
 of the American Indians in their present state, but 
 would be of most essential beneht by promoting an 
 University, which, if placed in the part I meditate, 
 would, in its turn, have great influence in civilizing 
 the Indians, and, what is of more importance, those 
 who corrupt them. The Episcopal Clergy in Great 
 Britain, from pious motives, as well as policy, are 
 materially interested that the church should increase 
 in this province. I will venture to prophecy its pre- 
 servation depends upon an University being erected 
 therein. 
 
 T-he great supports of true learning against the 
 minute, the plebeian, the mechanical philosophy, which, 
 in the present day, from the successful or problem- 
 atical e.xperiments of ill professors in national inqui- 
 ries, has as.sumed to itself the claim of dictating in 
 
 O 
 
 relig on and morality, and in consequence now threat- 
 ens mankind with ruin and desolation. The Univer- 
 sities of England, I make no doubt, would contribute 
 to the planting of a scion from their respectable stock 
 in this distant colony. In short, my Lord, I have not 
 the smallest hesitation in saying, that I believe if a 
 Protestant Episcopal University should be proposed 
 
1 
 
 
 23 
 
 to be erected, even in the United Slates, the British 
 nation would most liberally subscribe to the under- 
 taking. 
 
 I am, therefore, the more authorised to make this 
 statement to your Lordship, and most earnestly to 
 hope, under God, that you may be able to complete 
 this desirable work in this province, which my various 
 avocations do not permit me to undertake, with due 
 vigour and perseverance, and which, as it seems most 
 peculiarly allotted to the station of the first Protestant 
 Bishop of Quebec, so I hope, that it may be reserved 
 to be carried into execution by the abilities and piety 
 of your Lordship. 
 
 Extract of a Letter from Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe, 
 
 My views in respect to an University, are totally 
 unchanged, they are on a solid basis, and may or may 
 not be complied with, as my superiors shall think 
 proper, but shall certainly appear as my system to the 
 judgment of posterity. 
 
 J. G. SIMCOE. 
 
 to the Lord Bishop of Quebec. 
 
 Navy Hall, 
 October 16, 1795. 
 
From 1). W. Smith, Enquire, to Governor Simcoe. 
 
 Niagara, 26th October, 1795. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I enclose a draft report on the reserves, agreeably 
 to your Excellency’s directions, in order to receive 
 your further directions thereon, that it may he finished 
 in the manner your Excellency may approve of. 
 
 I return the Duke of Portland’s extract, and am 
 clearly of opinion, that it would be worth government’s 
 while to increase the Executive Council of Upper 
 Canada, so that a sufficient committee might be formed, 
 and assembled continually, for the care and manage- 
 tnent of the Church and Crown lands, which I am 
 persuaded will be, in a few years, of sufficient magni- 
 tude to require a district office, and the constant occu- 
 pation of a principal Clerk ; and I think if they are 
 let for terms of years, or lives, and not for too short 
 periods at first, they will become of great benefit to 
 the Crown, and the future Incumbents, by the time 
 that rectories may be generally established. A com- 
 mittee of the Council, would certainly be the most 
 competent, respectable, and responsible mode of 
 managing them, and under their ministry, (the profits 
 being received, as at present, by the Receiver General) 
 will certainly sooner become an ample provision for 
 the Protestant Clergy. The expense on the increase 
 of three Councillors would not exceed the expense 
 of an office for the business ; and it will be highly 
 satisfactory to the people in general, should the period 
 

 26 
 
 of llieir becoming valuable render the perception of 
 tylhes unnecessary, — the popular argument being, if 
 the Clergy will not attend our flocks while our tenths 
 are small, and withhold themselves from us till our 
 exertions have made them valuable, we shall pay our 
 tythes with a much worse grace, than if our Rectors 
 had shared our labours progressively, so that the 
 improvements of our children and our land might go 
 hand in hand, and that they might be taught to thank 
 God for enjoying the fruits of the earth in due season. 
 
 I am, with very great respect 
 
 And esteem, your Excellency’s 
 Faithful, Humble Servant, 
 
 (Signed) D. W. SMITH. 
 
 His Excellency. 
 
 Lieutenant-General Simcok. 
 
 Governor Simcoe to the Duke of Portland. 
 
 Upper Canada, Navy Hall, 
 November 8th, 1795. 
 
 I CERTTANLY did not, in the most distant manner, wisli 
 to limit the grace of the Crown, either at present or 
 in future ; but I conceive it of the greatest conse- 
 quence, that by some declaration or other the Crown 
 lands should be generally understood as never to be 
 alienated from public purposes, as otherwise they may, 
 at no very distant period, be a great incentive to revolt. 
 

 26 
 
 The Church lands also may fall under the same pre- 
 dicament, unless an efficient Clergy shall be provided 
 to exercise the proper functions, and to obtain an in- 
 fluence among the people. 
 
 I beg to be permitted to state to your Grace, that 
 I do not consider it possible to render the perce[)tion 
 of tythes in this province useful to the Clergy, or pal- 
 atable to the people. The ex[)eriment, I am persuaded, 
 would be most dangerous — what effect the example of 
 such measures as Lord Dorchester may think proper 
 to take in Lower Canada may have on this proivince 
 I do not foresee ; but as a measure unknown to the 
 American settler, and originating in this country, I do 
 not think it practicable to be carried into effect. I 
 have revolved this business much in my mind, and I 
 beg to state to your Grace, that jf his Majesty ^s Minis- 
 ters are determined to enforce the perception of tythes, 
 the sooner it be undertaken the better ; and I think the 
 mode by which the province might best be induced to 
 emancipate itself from this most grievious of all bur- 
 thens, would be by an Act of the legislature, declaring 
 each township or parish, respectively, free from tythes, 
 on the inhabitants thereof affording a certain assistance 
 in clearing part of the lands on which the Clergyman 
 should reside, and contributing a certain portion of 
 labour to the erection of a Parsonage and Church. 
 
 (Signed) J. G. SIMCOE. 
 
 To Hit Grace the Duke of PoRTI,*^D. 
 
 hiric 
 
 ’I SAVE 
 
 lieiiig 
 4 lliink 
 sorate 
 ^ Iliavt 
 tboug 
 these 
 count 
 mine 
 the i 
 are! 
 
 
 1 
 
 Exlra 
 
 Doctc 
 the e> 
 
 IQOSt . 
 
 cannot 
 ^ Ishof 
 

 
 27 
 
 Extract from a Letter from Governor Simcoe, to 
 the Lord Bishojy of Quebec. 
 
 York, 25th February, 1796. 
 
 I HAVE scarcely the smallest hope of this government 
 being supported in the manner which I cannot but 
 think proper for the national interests, and commen- 
 surate with its established constitution. In j)articular, 
 I have no idea that an University will be established, 
 though I am daily confirmed in its necessity. I lament 
 these events, from the duty I owe to my King and 
 country, and have only to guard, that no opinions of 
 mine be interpreted to promise beneficial effects, when 
 the adequate causes from which they must originate, 
 are suffered to perish, or are withheld. 
 
 (Signed) J. G. SIMCOE. 
 
 Extract from a Letter to the Honourable Mr. Windham, 
 8fc. Sfc. Sfc. 
 
 Exeter, April 30, 1806. 
 
 Doctor Mountain can give you the best accounts of 
 the existing state of the country, but I am still of 
 opinion to anglicise the Canadas, our religion is the 
 most serious object, and demands support; and I 
 cannot but promise myself, that you will afford the 
 Bishop the opportunity of stating his ideas on this 
 important subject. 
 
 (Signed) J. G. SIMCOE. 
 
23 
 
 Yrovi Governor Simcoe, to the Duke of Portland. 
 
 By the Attorney General’s opinion, it seems probable 
 that the Bishop, or his Commissary, can license 
 Ministers who dissent from the Church of England, to 
 perform marriages. If this opinion can he acted upon, 
 I shall endeavour to counteract the union of the Dis- 
 senters, by separately enjoining their several Pastors 
 to take out licenses. In the mean time, I hope your 
 Grace will take the subject into your serious consid- 
 eration, and give such directions as may seem expe- 
 dient, before the meeting of the next Provincial 
 Parliament. 
 
 I have foreseen this event : and on the probability 
 of an improper association against the national Church, 
 did I state my ideas of the propriety of establishing, 
 so fast as possible. Clergymen of the Church of Eng- 
 land throughout the Province. It is obvious that the 
 next claim of the Dissenters would be, a partition of 
 the sevenths set apart for the national Clergy. To 
 enable your Grace more readily to compare the fal- 
 lacy of the petition with the Marriage Act, I beg to 
 transmit to your Grace, the Acts of the four Sessions 
 of this Legislature. 
 
 Upper Canada, York, 
 June 20, 1796. 
 
 hlraci 
 
 M 
 
 i: 
 
 (Signed) J. G. SIMCOE. 
 
 His Grace the Duke of Portland, 
 
 fyc. 
 

 29 
 
 Extract from a Letter from the Ddke of Portland to 
 M. General Simcoe, dated Whitehall, 22nd June, 
 1796. 
 
 After what I have urged to you in my despatch of 
 
 , upon the sul'ject of a suitable provision being 
 
 made by the colony for the maintenance of its own 
 Clergy, it is scarcely necessary for me to remind you 
 that the allowances given by the government of this 
 country must only be considered to be temporary, 
 and as aids and inducements to the several parishes 
 to devise some means of providing for their own 
 Clergy, until such times as the Church lauds shall be- 
 come sufficiently productive for that purpose : but as 
 it has been determined to abandon every idea of any 
 payment in the nature of tythes, I cannot too often 
 repeat to you, that it appears to me of the most ex- 
 treme importance, that no time should be lost in fixing 
 upon some mode of securing a suitable maintenance 
 for the officiating Clergy of the province, in the case 
 above specified. 
 
30 
 
 West Niagara, J797, 
 
 Extract from “An Act to obviate the objections that 
 might arise from a clerical error in some of His 
 Majesty’s letters patent of grant, lately issued - 
 entitled ‘An Act for making more effectual 
 provision for the government of the Province 
 of Q-uebec, in North America, and to make 
 further provision for the government of the said 
 Province.” 
 
 “And that every such deed shall be, to all intents 
 “and purposes, as valid and effectui', in securing to 
 “ the subject the lands thereby granted, and to His ^ 
 “ Majesty, all the rights, conditions, reservations, limi- 
 “ tations and restrictions, and to the said Clergy, the 
 “ rights aforesaid, as if no such clerical error had 
 “ crept into it, but as if such deed had been perfected 
 * in the word ‘Clergy,’ where the rights of the Church 
 ‘ are intended to be secured, instead of the word 
 “ Clergyman,” wherever it occurs, any act, ordinance 
 “ or law, to the contrary in anywise, notwithstanding.” ^ 
 
J 
 
 
 ■'V 
 
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