OJ a-) THE CLERGY THEIR HISTORY AND PRESENT POSITION, SHOWING THE SYSTEMATIC ATTEMPTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE TO ESTABLISH IN CONNECTION WITH THE STATE, A DOMINANT CHURCH IN CANADA. A FILL ACCOUNT OF THE BECTORIES. ruxTiifivi; rii! pm pirs SPEEcn ox tub clergy reskevis, diuvirid ih um. BY CHARLES.lLINDSEY. PRl!«TtD. AT THE *« NORTH AMJIRICAN " PRI.IS, TONGB STRUT, TORONTO. II UCCC LI. -^>^?3^r<5 THE CLERGY RESERVES: THEIR HISTOEY AND PRESENT POSITION, >HOWING THE SYSTEMATIC ATTEMPTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE TO ESTABLISH IN CONNECTION WITH THE STATE, A DOMINANT CHURCH IN CANADA. WITH A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE RECTORIES. CONTAINING DR. ROLPHS SPEECH ON THE CLERGY RESERVES, DELIVERED IN 1836. BY CHARLES LINDSAY PRINTED AT THE "NORTH A.MERICAN " PRESS, YO.NGK STREET, TORONTO. M DCCC LI. ERRATA. Pci^e. Column. Line. 25 2 30 Omit " the " before " apostate.' 29 2 26 YoT "bills" read "bill." 33 2 11 Omit "and endow" before " rectorie$,* 35 2 30 For "Provincial" read "Imperial." 36 1 51 For "1844" read "1849." 36 2 10 For "Aa*" read "had." 36 2 25 For "the" read "their" before "anxiojw 37 1 16 Read "was" before "wasted." 4« I 56 Read " »r /o be sold ' befor* " undtr. w<2m- K^ 'E THE CLERGY RESERVES THEIK HISTORY AND TRESENT POSITION [From the North Americati.] INTRODUCTION. A quarter of a century of patriotic efiort to raze ihe foundations of a hierarchy of which the Cler- gy Reserves furnished the materials has failed of full and complete success. The last decisive battle has yet to be fought. Before these lands yielded a product available for the support of any religious denomination^ the voice of public opin- ion, expressed through its constitutional organ the representative branch of the Upper Canada Le- gislature, had already devoted them to secular ob- jects of general utility. But the influence of the reigning Oligarchy was sutTicient to set at defi- ance that public opinion which no intimidation, no political proscription, no bribery and no avail- able species of corruption could bring to its sup- poit. The constitutional right of Parliament to de- vole the Clergy Reserves to secular purposes never admitted of a doubt. This right was expressly given by the constitutional charter which gave the Provincial Parliaments of Upper and Lower Canada an existence. It was this self-same legal instrument which at once auihorized the making of the Reserves and vested in the two branches of the Legislatures wliich it created the power to annul them. This powor the Repre- sentative branch of the Upper Canada Parliament frequently essayed to exercise ; but its elTorts were rendered nugatory by the constant opposition of thenorainees of the crown in the Legislative Coun- cil. The unfair construction of this branch of the Legislature, from which every popular element was rigidly excluded, was in some sort a necessity of the irresponsible system under which the aiiairs of the Province were then administered; for it would never have been tolerated that the execu- tive government should be in constant collision with both houses of Parliament. In that case, there would have existed no other means of sus- taining the Provincial Oligarchy than a constant and hazardous exercise of the Imperial veto ; a practice that would have induced a dangerous conflict between the Crown and the people. It was found more convenient to combat and thwart the constitutional expressions of the popular will through that branch of the Legislature of which the fancied resemblance to the Imperial House of Lords invested it with a marked characteristic of the British Constitution. The Legislative Coun- cil did not represent the Crown by whom its mem- bers were nominally appointed ; nor had it any pretensions to represent a people with whose se- lected representatives it was at perpetual hostility. It was at once the creature and the prop of the Oligarchy by whom its members were nominated for the confirmation of the Crown. To the cir- cumstance of the machinery of state so construct- ed being an elaborate fraud, was owing the non- secularization of the Clergy Reserves by the Par- liament of Upper Canada a full quarter of a cen- tury ago. Parliament with the right, was cheated of the power, which, with tantalizing mockery, it was invited to exercise. These peculiar obstructions to a successful course of Legislative action on the Clergy Re- serves, in accordance with the demands of the. people, have ceased to exist. The Legislative Council, whatever be its general merits, is now required to harmonize in sentiment and action with the elective Chamber, which possesses a sovereign control over the actions and indeed the very existence of the Provincial Ministry. The last ten years' hi.story of the question pos- sesses a subordinate interest compared with that of the twenty years preceeding. Not that the question itself has diminished in importance ; but of late rears the action of the Provincial Parlia- 2 THE HISTORY AND PRESEXT POSITION ment upon it — formerly eo iiiharmouious and in- efleclive — has been less fiequciit. Tlie last act of legislation respecting the reserves was perfor- med, under what circumstances will afterwards appear, by the Imperial Legislature, to which an appeal has been made by the present Canadian Parliament to restore the question unfettered ex- cept by certain conditions indicated, to Provincial control. Whether another course might not have been taken by the representatives of the Canadian people, this is not the place to discus?. We have the explicit pledge of the Imperial Government that the action of the British Parliament which ■we have invoked shall be taken early in the next Session. It is of first importance therefoie that the whole question, historically and in its present aspect, should be clearly understood by those who will soon be called upon to choose that Par- liament with whom its ultimate decision will rest. The issue between the Reform party and its op- •:onents will, in its results, affect not merely the lourse of administration for the next four years : ihe deepest interests of a future empire are involv- ed in its decision. Such being the surpassing im- portance of the Clergy Reserve question, we have det'^rmined to place it fully and fairly before the country. This is the more necessary as there is no work in existence to which the student of Provin- cial history can have recourse for a connected account of this deeply important question. To that numerous accession to our population which immigration and the ordinary means of increase have given us within the last dozen years, the information is absolutely indispensible to enable them intelligently to exercise those franchises with which, as Canadian freemen, they are inves- ted. CHAPTER I. How the Clergy Reserves came to be made. — The Pro- vincial Parliament empowered to abolish tlieiu under certain Restrictions. — Quautiiy of Reserves ; how ond when made. — Simcoe desires an ICstabli^hcd Church for political purposes. — Uenominational As- pect of Upper Canada in 179:2. At the conquest of Canada by the Crown of England, the country was inhabited by a French population, numbeiing over 6.5,000 persons, who professed the Roman Catholic religion. Under the constitution and laws of the French colony, the Roman Catholic Clergy were possessed of property in mortmain to a large extent. A sys- tem of tythes was also in existence. After the conquest, the right to receive their accustomed dues, from persons of their own persuasion, ws'* confirmed to the Romish Clergy. Tjlhes conti- nue to be collected in Luwer Canada by the Ro- man Catholic Priests, but from their own people only. Tythes are alsn collected in the Counties of Glengarry and Dundas, iind parts of the Western District, inhabited by Roman Catliolics, in Upper Canada. The lir^t Constitutional Act, passed in the year 1776, providing lor tiie Government of the Province ot Quebec, as tlie country was then called, after recognizing the rights of the Romish Clergy, provides that His Majesty and his successors may make " provision out of tl;e <' rest of the accustomed dues and rights for the " encouragement of the Protestant religion, and " for the maintenance and support of a Protes- "tant Clergy." In the Session of 1791, George III., by Message to both Houses of Parliament, expressed a desire to make a permanent appropriation of lands for the support and mainten- ance of a Protestant Cleriry. During the same Session, Mr. Pitt introduced into Parliament a measure to provide for the Government of Canada. This measuie, known as the Constitutional Actol 1791, authorized His jMajesty to reserve, out of futuie giants of land within tlie Provinces, as well asin respect of all past grants, a quantity Fqiial ill value to the seventh part of the lands so granted, " for the support and maintenance of a Portestant " Clergy." The Act alao empowered tlie Impe- rial Government to authorize ttie Executive Gov- ernment of each Province *• to constitute and erect " within every township or parish one or more pa;- " sonage or rectory, or parsonages or rectories, " according to the establishment of t!io Church of " England," and to endow them with so much of the land thus reserved, in respect of lands granted in the township or parish where the rectoiies wero created, as the Provincial Government might judge expedient under the existing circumstances of the township or parish. In like manner, the Provin- cial Governments might present incumbents to the rectories. The Rectors were to hold their livings with " all rights, prolits, and emoluments "thereto belonging or granted, as fully and am- <* ply, and in tiie same manner, and on the same *' terms and conditions, and liable to the perfor- '' mance of the same duties, as the incumbents of " parsonages or lectiriesin England." .Authorit} was vested in the Provincial Parliaments to *' v.iry or repeal" the provisions of the Constitutional Act relating to tiie means of support for a Prole&tant Clergy, " and also respecting the constituting, " erecting, ami endowing parsonages and recro- " ries, and also respecting the presentation oi " incumbents or ministers to the same, and also " respecting the manner in which such incum- " bents or miiuslers shali hold and enjoy the "same." Any .Vet affecting the allotment and appropriation of the Clergy Reserves or rectories, the presentation of incumbents thereto, the mode in which they shall enjoy their emoluments, or aflecting the stipends or emoluments of any min- ister, priest or ecclesiastic, was required to be laid before both Houses of the Imperial Pailiament thirty days, before the Crown could signify its THE Cl.ERiiY RESERVES. 3 assent thereto; and if, wiibin that time, either House addressed the Crown to withhold the Royal Ast>enl tlie Act could not become hiw. Thus originated the most fruitful source of dis- suntion and animosity that ha^ ever distuibed tlie repose of this Province. In Lower Canada, ow- • iu^ to the peculiar ciicumatauces of tliat Province, tiie Clergy Reserves have not been a prolific source of conte;:tion. The ambij^'uity of the term *• Protestant Clergy" aiimitted of a variety of in- terpretation. Circnm^tances conspired to invest wiih undue importahce tlie lejial construction of this term, and we witness the extraordinary f-pectacle of contending parties in the Province herceiy battling, for a period of over twenty years, over the con^itruction of two vvords in an Act of Pariiamenl, the entire provinons of whicij, con- nected with the suT>fect of dispute, the Provincial Parliament might any day have swept away for rver ! But the local Legislature had been so con- stituted that no accord, on this subject, between the two Houses was ever possible. The repre- sentative branch had to succumb to the oligarchi- cal ; and the people elected representatives only that their voices might be stifled by the nominees of the Crown, who sat in the Legislative Council. As a practical question, the construction of the term •' Piotestant Clergy" has lost its interest. Whether Pitt* or Grg nville, for the latter was pro- bably the framer oniie Act, intended that one or all denominations of Piotestanls should possess the Reserves ; the Imperial Government in I&IO, went beyond the possible intention of the Consti- tutional Act, in abolishing the restriction of their pioceeds to '• Piotestant Clergy" at all. This cut the gordian knot that had enfwined itself around the ambiguous and variously interpreted teim " Protestant Clergy ;" but not until the question had been decided oy the twelve judges. VVlien the Imperial Government, under autho- rity of the Constitutional Act, directed the local authorities of Upper and Lower Canada to com- mence reserving one-seventh of the lands for the support of a Protestant Clergy, they gave instrnc- tiuns that tiie lanis so to be reserved, were to be intermixed with those to be granted to individuals ; • The Earl of Harrowby felt hinns<»'.f called upr n to state that he had repeated •oiiversations with the noble lord (^Giei)vjllo) ujioii the subject, and he (Lord Gren- vill") had not only expressed his opinion so, but he had requested him (the Earl of Harrowby) if any opfiortu- ni!^ sho'.ild off.T. to state that both his own ;iiid Mr. Pin's decision was, that the provTsTon* of 31 Geo. IIL were not intended for the exclusive support of the Church cf Enerves so far exceeds that in Lower Canada. In the Magdalen Islands, Cleriry Reserves were made to the extent of 8,143 acres. We shall now take a view of the ecclesiastical condition of the population of Upper Canada at the period when Simcoe urged with somuchpcr- tiiiariiy the necessity of establishing the Episco- pal Church as the only means of "overturning a republicanism" which had no other existence than in vice Re^al dreaming? and desires. But first let us show from the following plain spo- ken letter from Gc>v. Simcoe that his object in THE HISTORY AND PRESENT POSITION wishing to piant an eslablis^hed Church in Upper Canada was solely poUdccl : Extract from a letter to His Grace the Jrchbishop of Cantebdht, (Dr. Moork.) Wolf or d Lodge, December 30ih, 171)0. My Lonn, Agreeable to the offer which I made to year Grace, when I had the honour of seme conver- sation wjih you, relative to the es'tablishment of Episcopacy in Upper Canada, I take ihisoppurtunity of laying: before you, as concisely as possible, my fpinions on this very imporiani subject. I must beg leave to premise, that lam decisively of opinion, that a regular Episcopal establishment, sub- ordinate to the primacy of Great Britain, is also- iuteiy necessary in any extensive cukmy which this country means to preserve, and in particular, il the advaniages which she aims at, are expected to be derived and increased proportionably to its degree of population. But in regard to a colony in Upper Canada, which is to be blessed with the laws, and the unright adininistration of them, which distin- guishes and ennobles the country, and which colony is peculiarly situated amongst a variety of republics, every establishment of Church and State that upholds a distinction of ranks, and lessens the undue weight of the democratic influence, must be indispensably 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 theo- retic 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 olTering themselves, to effect so necessary an object, is much 10 be lamented; but it is iny duty to be as solicitous as posaible, that they may now have due influ- ence, if I wish the proposed government to be a per- manent 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 lo that church estab- lishment, which I consider as necessary to promote ihe national religion, of which I am a sincere and humble believer, and to maintain the true and vene- rable constitution of my country. (Signed) ^I. G. SIMCOE. The divjjiion of Canada into two Provinces i'jlook place in 1791. Col. John (Jraves Simcoe, I 'the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, directed all his efforts to the irreat objoct of secu- ring the ascendency of the Church of England. To effect this object means were einployeil to lepress the enerjjies and prevent the growth of all other denominations. Appealing to the fears and the prejudices of the Home Governnit^nt, he represented the establishing of the Church of England in Upper Canada as the only means of fostering that spirit of loyalty, on which alone the security of Eritish dominion depended. This de- ception, at that timn iiracticeu with such signal success, has been but loo faithfully aiiopted and maintained by the partisans of a dominant hie- rarchy in Canada ever since. Before setting foot in Canada, Col. Simcoe had resolved on the policy (if exaltin? the Church of England in the Upper Province over all other denominations. To this predetermined policy he pertinaciously adhered in spile of the overwhelming evidence, afforded by the social and ecclesiatical condition of the Province, of the folly, the injustice and the dan- ger with which his favorite scheme was fraught. E.xcept the settlement at Detroit, up H'ld of Upjier Canada was settled or cultivated till the year 1784.; At that lime, a reduction of several corps of Pro- vincial dragoons took place; and the necessity was imposed upon those who were discharged, of ex- changing the sword for implements of Agricul- tural industry. Most of ihem chose for iheir new homes the Banks of the St. Lawrence and the rich soil of the Bay of Quinte. In 1777, the year afler the declaration of American Indepen- dence, the Province received considerable acces- sions to its population by the iidlux of families who adhered to the British standard, consisting of Bullei's Rangers and Royal Yorkers. The in- habitants compiised a great number of sects; a very small proportion of the whole belonging to the Church of England.* In the Eastern District, (at that time the districts were much larger than at present) then the most populous part of the pro- vince, there was not a single minister belonging to that Church; although the Lutherans and the Pres- byterians had each a minister. The Roman Catho- lics, principally Scotch Highlanders, who had settled in considerable numbers in the Eastern part of the District, had their Priest. The Dutcli Calvinists, in that part of the Province, were far more numerous than the Episcopalians. In the Midland District, where the strength of the Church of England principally lay, there resided but two ministers belonging to that denomination. Even there, the Episcopalians were outnumbered by the single denomination of Methodists. ]\Iany of the inhabitants, who held the largest properties in that District were Dutch Calvinists. In the Home District there was but one Church of Eng- land Clergyman. Here the Presbyterians were numerous. They had built a Church and raised subscriptions for thesupport of their own minister. In the Western Distiict, there was not a single Episcopalian minister. In that District, the Dutch Calvinists and the IMelhodists were numerous. The Roman Catholics here al.«o had their Piiesls. Such was the ecclesiastical condition of Upper Canada, in 17W, when Lieutenant Governor Sim- coe represented to the Home Government the ne- cessity of establishing iht Church of England in the Province. Ills views wcio readily seconded by the Right Hon. Henry Dundas, Secretary of State ; who, in one of his despatches, expre*ed the opinion that '* Government would not be com- plete without a Protestant Bishop." Lieutenant t A very small proportion of the inhabitants of Upper Canada have been educated in this persua- sion ; [the Church of England] and the emigrants to be expected from the United Stairs will lor the most pan he sectaries or dissenters. — Report on Marriages, and the stale of the Church of Knixland in Upper Canada to Gov. Simcoe. by Richard Cartwright Jan., 1702. IMr. Cartwrighi was a member of the Church of England. OF THE CL&RGY RESEaVE6. Governor Simcoe made no secret of his cherished desire to direct the mind and mould the character of the infant colony, throiiirh the predominant in- fluence of the hierarchy, fur the erection of which he manifested the utmost impatience. CHAPTZS II. The objtri Di ihc pri'jecleil Religious Kslabliihmcnt avowedly political. — Design of placing the Eihication of Vouth under Epi^^copnl control. — Exclusion of Episcopalian Ministers ordained in the United States. — Siiacoe as a Sectarian .\dvocate. — Attempt to in- troduce the Tythe System ; Its Failure. — Hierar chial Project still pursued. — The Church of Eng- land's .Monopoly of the right of Solemnizing Matri- mony results in making the Majority of .Marriages in I'. C. invalid, and their Oflspring Illegitimate. — Evidence of a design to Erect a Political Church. Anterior to the passing of the law which auth- orized the making of Clersry Reserves, Governor Simcoe had e.vpressed himself in favour of erect- ing in Upper Canada, an Episcopal establish- ment, subordinate to the primacy of Great Britain. His advocacy of this measure was based on poli- tical motives, which were expressed with an un- guarded frankness scarcely compatible with the prudetit advocacy of an ulterior purpose of such extensive grasp and portentous magnitude. " The state propriety,"' saj-s this functionary, in a letter to ^Ir. Secretary Dundas, June 2, 1791, '^of some prescribed form of public worship, politically considered, arises from the neces- sity there is of preventing enthusiastic and fana- tic preachers from acquiring that superstitious liolu on the minds of the multitude, which per- sons of such a description may pervert, to the establishment of their own undue consequence in the «tate, and often to meditate, and not un- frequently to turn such an ascendancy to its own injury and destruction." It was under the over- powering influence of these confessed political motives that the appointment of an Episcopalian Bishop was urged on fFie attention of the Imj)erial Government, who gave a wil.'ing ear to the sug- cestions of a policy, which under the pretext of religion sought the establishment of an omni- p.'esent political propagandism. Under the su- perintendence of the hierarchy it was proposed to place the education of the youth of the infant colony, alike in the common school, the semi- nary, and the university, of which the establish- ment was about this lime first suggested. The cha- racteristic remark of Mr. Secretary Dundas that he '* did not think the government would be com- plete without a Protestant Bishop," is proof of a complete harmony of sentiment on the subject between the advisers of the Soveieign in England and the Canadian Viceroy. Already had a stale appointed bishop been established in the Province of Nova Scotia; and he would be un- reasonably sceptic who should entertain any doubt that there existed a design in high ouarters to transplant in the Brhish Colonies on this side of the Atlantic, a Slate Church on precisely the same foolin^i as it exists in England. Whatever design may have been cherished by the Imperial authorities in authorizing the allotment of lands fur ti:e supixirl of a Prclestant Clergy, certain it is thai Simcoe uniformly proceeded upon the as- sumption that the Church of Englancl was to be legularlj: cilabIish*Kl in Upper Canada. His ur- c;ei*.t request in reunrd to the appointment of a Bishop met a ready lesponse from th.e Imperial Government of the day; and Mr. Secretary Dun- das in a despatch of the 2nd May, 1703, announ- ced tiiat the Establishment of a Bishop's See in Canada was under consideration. The appoint- ment of Dr. Mo^ntain as Bishop of Quebec soon followed. The language of Simcoe fully justifies the conclusion that this step was taken as a poli- tical measure ; with a view <' of forming the char- "acter, temper, and manners of the people of the "infant colony." So closely guarded were the measures taken to effect this political end that Episcopalian ministers who had been ordained by Bisliops in the United States weje by law in- capacitated from performing any duty in Upper Canada. The Imperial Government was neces- sarily dependent for information respecting the state of the Province chiefly upon the Lieutenant Governors, the first of whom that came to Upper Canada, Col. Simcoe, spoke with unbounded con- tempt of " every kind of sectaries," of whom he represented that many were hostile and none con- genial to the British Constitution. With great adroitness he appropriated the term Protestant Clergy, and snught to confine its application, in connection with the Reserves, exclusively to Episcopalian minister?, for whose sole use and benefit he claimed these lands. This style of 1 treating the question runs through las official cor- I respondence from the year following that in which, ihe Constitutional Act was passed. Yet it is evi- tlent to a close obseiver tnat Simcoe betrayed some misgivings on this point ; for on one occa- sion we find him speaking of the Clergy Reserves as likely to become, at no distant day, "a temp- tation to those who shall be hostile to the union of Upper Canada with sreat Britain ;" and on an- other, predicting ''Tliat the next claim of ihe dissenters would be a portion of the sevenths set apart for the national clergy." To maintain for the Church of England an exclusive claim to these lands, Simcoe was compelled to descend to the trick of substituting for the term of " Pro- testant Clergy" that of " Natiotjal Clergy." It is worthy ot remark that the "dissenters" to whom allusion is here made, were .Scotch Pres- byterians, whose clergy daimed to be quite as national as those of the church of England. But it must be remembered that Simcoe spoke as the advocate of a denomination ; not as the aulhor- ized expounder of the Law ; and that his orin- iona were directly opposed to the decision subse- quently pronounced, first by the Law OlFicers of the Crown, and afterwards by the twelve judges of the realm. As part of a general system which an tilort A 3 THE HISTORT AKD PRESEKT POSITION was now being made to introduce into Upper Ca- nada, resort wa? liad to the collection of tythes from the protebtant population for the mainten- ance of tne Episcopalian Clergy ; but it was soon discovered that this impost would not be patient- ly borne, and the practice was prudently aban- doned. A desire wa-s expressed to make the re- linquishment of tythes the occasion for extorting from the colonists an equivalent of which it was imagined the exaction would be less obnoxious. LorJ Dorchester, (at one time Guy Carleton) I.ieutenant Governor of Lower Canada, was the first to suggest that the abandonment of tythes should be made conditional on the settlers pro- viding the means of clearing part of the Clergy Reserves and complying with other onerous con- ditions which are thus stated by Mr. Secretary Dundas, by whom the scheme was corJce equivalent to that already noticed. This recommendation to the Imperial Government he did not hesitate to make, at a moment when he was compelled to admit that it was not "possible to render the per- "ception of tythes useful to the clergy or palatable " to the people." " The experiment," he continu- ed, *• I am persuaded, would be most dance- " rous ; • • as a measure unknown to the " American settler, and originating in this coun- " try I do not think it practicable to be ca ried " into effect." This deliberate condemnation of the tythe system, pronounced officially by the warmest partisan of the Church of England decided its fate. Forthwith and uncondition- ally it was abandoned. Scarcely had six months elapsed, after the writing of Simcoe's despatch, when the Duke of Portland communicated in re- ply the pleasing intelligence that it had " been " determined to abandon every idea in the nature " of tythes." The relinquishment of tythes was dictated by that political prudence which con- cedes -what it is no longer safe to withhold ; but which narrows the concession to the smallest limits that will satisfy the popular demand for the time. It was conceded rather as a measure of expediency than of absolute justice to the Colo- nists. The Parliament of Upper Canada after- \ wards passed a law enacting " that no tytheS shall j be claimed, demanded or received, by any Ec- clesiastic, Parson, Rector, or Vicar, of the Protes- tant Church within this Province, any law cus- tom or usage to the contrary notwithstanding." To this act the Royal assent was promulgated by J proclamation on the 20th February, 1823. It! placed any Rectors that might afterwards be ap- pointed (for no Rectories had yet been createJ), on a fooling entirely different from that of Eng- lish Rectors. A Rectory without tythes would in England be an ecclesiastical misnomer. There, the Rector receives whr.t are called the great tythes ; tythes of the produce of the land ; (by commutation) and his Deputy or Vicar receives the small tythes, of poultry, eggs, &c., also by commutation. With the relinquishment of tjlhes the hie- rarcliial project of the Imperial Government was by no means abandoned. The Clergy Reserves yielded no disposable revenue, but the time was looked forward to when they would pro- duce an ample provision for the Episcopalian Clergy. Until they could be made to yield a sufficient revenue, the Imperial Government had resort to temporary expedients. In the exigency of the case, the ^ecr^tary of State recommended the addition to the estimates of Upper Canada of £500 towards the building of Churches in the Province. The Episcopalian Ministers whom it was intended to send out to Upper Canada were promised temporary salaries from the Imperial Government, which it was understood would be augmented by contributions from the Society for the promotion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. In 1795, it was distinctly intimated by the Duke of OF THR CLERGY RESERVES. Portland to Lieut. -Gov. Simcoe that these allow- ances from the Imperial Treasury must be con- sidered as terxjporary : and tliat they would cease as soon as the^liilrch lands should become suffi- ciently productive to yield a maintenance lor the officiating Clergy. It was felt, however, by the High Church party that the temporary expedi- ents already devised for the maintenance of a clergy whose services were but little appreciated by the colonists, were inadequate to their design- ed purpose; but all the recommendations of the Home Government to the Lieutenant Governor to fix upon some mode of temporarily securing them a more ample maintenance, failed to produce any practical result. The appointment of an Episcopalian Bishop was not tlie only suggestion of Governor Simcoe, to ensure for the Church of England a factitious ascendency over all other denominations, that was carried into effect. In the early settlement of the Province, the absence of Clergy rendered necessarj the performance of the marriage cere- mony by laymen. It was the custom in the army for tlie commanding officer or the Adjutant Gene- ral to read the matrimonial service, from the Church of England prayer book ; and in the set- tlements this office devolved on the Justices of the Peace. These marriages — and they formed the majority in L^pper Canada — were not valid in law ; their offspring were illegitimate and not entitled to inherit property. Governor Simcoe, in the second session of the Legislature of Upper Canada, procured the passing of an Act ostensi- bly to legitimate the offspring of these marriages, but the effect of the measure was to r ender inva,- lid all future marriages not solemnized hy raiiiis- lers of tliff Chnrrh of England. Agamst this partialfty and injustice other denominations Btrongly remonstrated. This Bill, before being introduced into the Legislature of Upper Canada, was submitted to the Home Government and of course sanctioned by them, — another fact which goes to establish a concert between the Imperial Cabinet of the day and Governor Simcoe to in- vest the Church of England in this Province with the e.vclusive privileges of a Statn Church. By these means it was noped that other denomina- tions could be prevented from acquiring further influence and importance. Of the American Puri- tans who emigrated to Canada, Governor Simcoe, in one of his despatches, says, in the spirit of secta- rian exultation, "The state of poverty in which they must for some time remain after their emi- gration, will naturally prevent them from the possibility of supporting their ministers by public subscription ; in the meanwhile, the Government has it in its power to provide for any Protestant cler- gyman in the separate townships by giving landed property, in perpetuity for himfelf'^and family, entrustine him with the care of the one jevcnth which is to be reserved for the Protestant Cler- gy." The Presbyterians of the county of Gren- ville in a petition to the Legislature complained, [ with much spirit and boldness, of the marriage Act which rendered all mariiages solemnized by I their ministers void in law, and as a consequence the issue of such marriages illegitimate. This disqualifying di.-tinction they were unconscious of having done anything to merit. Regarding mar- riage as a religious ordinance, they boldly assert- e acres or 3d 7 years, . . 30s. ) lot ofa less quantity. As settlement increased the v.-tluc of the lands also increased. In April, 18n,~the following augmented rates per annum were adopted: — Ut 7 years, . . £1 15. ^ per lot of 200 2d 7 years, . . 3 10. > acres or lot 3d 7 years, 5 5. S ofa less quantity. In 1819 still higher rates were adopted. The •' great number of nee grants to loyalists of the ■ American revolution had thrown, into market, at very low rates, an amount of land nearly equal " to the demands of the settlers. The natural re- * su't was that leases for Clergy Reserves were but slowly etfected. So late as 1824, the whole amount due for rent was only £1,200; and of this it was estimated that not more than one-third could be collected without having recourse to \e-j gal process. / These reservations were always unpalatable to the mass of the people. So lon^ as they yielded no revenue they were regarded as objec- tionable chiefly on account of the obstacles they imposed to the progress of settlement. If the . claim of the Church of England to a monopoly of 1 the lands was not contested in the Provincial' Legislature it was because there was no availableJ revenue about which to dispute. Public opinion* never acquiesced in that exclusive claim. Long before any movement was made in Parliament on the subject a great majority of the population of Upper Canada viewed the question in a tem- per thai only wanted an opportunity to contest the pretensions of the Church of England. It was in 1817 that the first move was made in the Upper (Jan ad a Parliament on the subject. .Mr. Robert Nichol proposed a seiies of resolutions for alienating, in the first instance, one half of the lands and devoting the proceeds to secular purposes. The arguments, subsequently ol so much force, were not applicable to the then state of the question. ,J{p minister of any denomina- tion received a farthing from the lands. Mr. Nichol regarded so large a quantity of unappro- priated lands as offering a premium on invasion. His resolutions were defeated by Governor Gore's prematurely proroguing Parliament. Next came the question of the legal construc- tion of the Constitutional Act. The Church of England construed that instrument, in a way that might have been expected from interested sectaries. They claimed an exclusive right to the whole of tlie lands. In 1819, certain Presbyterian inhabitants of the town of Niagara petitioned the Lieutenant Gov- ernor for an annual allowance of £100 a year to- wards the support of a minister. During the American war their Church had been destroyed by fire ; and the minister who had formerly spent part of his time among them, had deserted the barren pasture, Icavinir tlie flock to lake care of itself. Thcf-e Presbyterians, accustomed in Scotland to have their ministers supported at the public cost, had no iiiea of paying for the spiritual instruction they desired. Hence their appeal to the head of the Executive Government. They did not claim as a ri^rht to participate in the funds arising from the Clergy Reserves; and were quite indifferent as to the source whence the solicited gratuity should come. Their sole anxi- ety was to devolve on the public the maintenance of their minister. Nor were they wanting in that extreme obedience to the direction o or THE CL£RGY RESERVES. the State, which was the natural result of iheir positiun. They frouly olTered to bailer the right of choosing their own minister, and to place it in the hamis of the Governments for the paltry stipend in the hope of receiving which they hail become supplicants at the feet of the Executive. Sir Peregrine Maitiand transmitted the petition to the Imperial (Government, accompanied with a Despatch, in which he observed that the petition r aised a ques t ion, on which a dilFerence of opinion existeil, viz. : " \Vhetlier the [Constitutional] Act "intends to extend the benefits of the Cler-^y Re- " serves to all denominations, or only to those of " the Church of England ;" intimating that the Provincial Law Ollicers of the Crown seemed to inclinslo the latter opinion. " He also suggested the necessity of bringing to a decisioa the ques- ion, on which there e.xisTecl a lively feeling throughout the Province. The Colonial Secre- tary acted upon the suggestion, and procured the opinion on the question of the Law Olficers of the Crown. That opinion, of which the following is a copy, was communicated by Lord Bathurst to Lieutenant Governor Maitland in a Despatch dated May 6, 1820 : Copy of (he opinion of His Majcstifs Law officers rdalive to the Clergy Reserves; dated lolli November, 1819. Doctors' Commons, loth Nov., 1819. My LosD, We are honoured with your Lordship's commands of the 14th Sept. last, stating that doubts nave arisen how far, under the construction of the Act passed in the 31st year of His present Majesty, (c. 31) the dissent- ing Protestant ministers resident in Canada have a legal claim to participate in the lands by that Act directed to be reserved as a provision for the support and maintenance of a Protestant Clergy. And your Lordship was pleased to request that we would take the same into consideration and report to your Lordship, for the information of the Prince Regent, our opinion, whether the Governor of the Pro- vince is either required by the Act, or would be justi- fied in applying the proceeds of said lands to the main- tenance of any other than the Clergy of the Church of England resident in the Province; and in the event of our being of opinion that the ministers of dissenting Protestant congregations have a concurrent claim with those of the Church of England, further desiring our opinion, whether in applying the reserved lands to the endowment of rectories and parsonages, as required by the 38th clause, it is incumbent on his Majesty to re- tain a proportion of those lands for the maintenance of • The word " former," and not " latter," was em- ployed in the original Despatch. Something more than six years afler, Sir P. Maitland wrote another Despatch, to correct the mistake! In this Despatch, he says the word inrlinc was used because the Chief Justice had some doubts on the subject; but that on fuller consitieration those doubts had been entirely removecl. The other Law Officers of the Crown, he states, had always been of opinion that the Reserves appertained exclusively to the Church of England. This correction, substituting the word "latter" for " former " has all the appearance of being an after- thought, put forth to suit the occasion. the dissenting Clergy, and as to the proportion in which under such a construction, the provision to be assigned to the ditii'rent classis of dissenters established wiihin the Province. We arc of opinion that though the provisions made by 31 Geo. 3, c. 31 ss. 36 and 42, for tne support and maintenance of a rrottstaiit Clergy, are not confined solely to the Clei<;y of the Church of England, but may be extended also to the Clergy of the Church of Scotland, if there be any such settled in Canada (as appears to have been admitted in the debate upon the passing of the act,) yet they do not extend to the dis- senting ministers, since we think the teims " Protestant Clergy " can aj^jily only to Protestant Clergy recog- nized and established by law. The 37th section which directs :— " that the rents and profits of the lands, &c., shall be applicable solely to the mainteiiai.co and support of a ProteMant Clergy," does not specify by what authority the rents and pro- fits aie to le so applied. Supposing the Governor to be duly authorized by the Act to njake such applica- tion, we think that he will be justified in applying such rents and profits to the maintenance and support of the \ Clergy of the Church of Scotland, as well as those of I the Church of England, but not to the support of mi- / nisters of dis-enliiig Protestant congregations. / With respect to the second question, the 38th clause, " which empowers His Majesty to authorize the Governor to constitute and erect parsonages or rectories according to tlie establishihehi of the Church of England;" provides also, "that he may endow even^such parsonage or rectory with so much of tBe lan3s allotted and appropriated, in respect to any land within such townships or parish which shall have been granted, as the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, shall judge to be expe- dient." Under these terms he may endow any particular parsonage or rectory with the whole lands allotted and appropriated in that township~Of'parvsh. It would be inconsistent with this discretionary power, that any proportion of such lands should be absolutely retained for any other clergy than those mentioned in that clause, and we think it i? not in- cumbent on his Majesty so to retain any proportion of such lands. We have the honor to be, my lord, Your lordship's most obedient servants. (Signed.) Christ. Robinson, R. GiFFOHD, J. S. Copley. Earl Bathurst, &c., &c., &c. The legal opinion thus pronounced lel't open to the Executive two courses of proceeding. It was competent for the Home Government either to liave directed the Governor to admit the Church of Scotland to a share in the produce of the reserves, or to e.-tablish rectories in every town- ship ana endow them with the whole of the lands. It was solely in the discretion ol the Imperial Government, by a choice of either alternative, practically to reject or admit the monopoly claim of the Church of England. Hut unless the 'Provin- cial Legi.'^Iature exerci-^ed the power vestctl in it to vary or repeal the provi.«iions of the Constitu- tional Act, all other denominations were exclud- ed from the right of participation. Lord Bathurst (May 6, ISvJO) did apparently intend to authoriz* 10 THE HISTORY AND PRESENT POSITION the immediate estabUshment of rectories, as the means of securing to the Church of England a larje share and in many localities the whole of the" Reserves. " I am therefore," says his Lord- ship, after having given a resume oi the opinion of the Law ofiicers of the Crown, to acquaint you, [Sir P. Maitl.\ndJ that although it would L>e generally speaking, most expedient to make, in tiie first instance, a competent pro- vision for the Church of England in the colo- ny, yet in every parish in which the mem- bers of the Church of Scotland very greatly pre- dominate, it appears l>ot!i advisable and proper that a proportionate allotment should })e reseived for a minister of that Chuich." Perhaps this language was not considered sulficicntly explicit to be received as instructions to commence a general creation of Rectories ; tiiough if such were not the intention of its author it would be ditiicult to discover in it any definite meaning at all. It was at least a suggestion, based on the opinion of the Law officers orthe Crown, that it would be expedient to commence the creation of rectories and to endow them with all the reserves made in respect of each 'J ownship, (91'29 acres) except those localities where the members of the Church of Scotland greatly predominated ; and even there to reserve only what would support one minister of that Church. If by the temi '^proportionate allotment" it was intended to sig- nify an allotment in proportion to the number of those who adhered to the Church of Scotland as compared with the rest of the population or with the Church of Enirland, then it is evident that in cer- tain localities * the Church of Scotland's share would have been far from insignificant. But in no case was she to receive any portion till the Church of England had obtained a '-competent provisiom" in the shape of rectory endowments. But supposing the Despatch of Lord Bathurst of May lS-20 to have been sulficient authority for the creation of rectories; the question arises, why was it not acted upon bj Sir P. Maitlandto whom it uas addressed ? Neiliier he nor the irrespon- sible counsellors — Chief Justice Powell, Dr. Strachan, ]\lcGiil, Baby, and Wells — by whom he W.1S surrounded wouul intentionally throw any obstacle in the way ot' the Church of Enaland securing that dominant position in Upper Canada which she sought to attain. On the contrary, they spared no pains to assi>t in giving her a fac- tious elevation. It is however not impossible to conceive motives which might operate on the mind of Mailland to cau«e him to pause in carry- ing out the instructions of tlie Colonuil Secretary. Ceitain it is that he desired to defeat the claim of the Church of Scotland. Of this his despatch of the 27th Dec. \SZ3 to the Eail of Bathurst con- tains iiiconteslible proof. He there asserts that the 31st Geo. 3. chap. 31 " does not in any man- ner recoani/e or allude to the Church of Scol- ' These could not have been very numerous, for if we accept the statement of Governor Maitland there were iu 18-23 only f"ur ministers of the Church o/ Scotland in .Le whole Province. land ; and if they can be brought within its pro- visions, it is only on the ground that the general term protcstant clergy necessarily embraces them: but vpon the sawe coustruction the Clet^:/ of all o'.lur denominations must be clmUled, and there are several other denominations in Upper Canada far more considerable in numbers of teachers, and extent of congregations than the Church of Scotland." Tliis was not the most judicious of arguments that could be employed by which to enforce the monopoly claim of the Chnich of England. But it was directed to the pride of the Church of Scotland, which had shown no disposition to stoop, as she would have consid- ered it, to accept a claim on equal terms with all other denominations. Tlie bold assumption by which .Maitland sought to carry his point was in direct opposition toihe opinion of the law (>fTiceis of the Crown ; by whom the claim of the Church of Scotland had been placed on a footing entirely different from that which a.iy other denomination might have preferred. In the despatch just quot- ed Sir P. Maitland, with remarkable inconsisten- cy, alleged his willingness "to acknowledge a claim of preference in the Church of SeotFand over the ditferent dissenting denominations to such assistance as His Majesty can conveniently provide them without material detriment to the Church of Enaland." But this preference d.d not extend to tiieir claim to participate in the re- serves : it was confined to giving them "ground for the site of a Church and Church yard, and an allotment of land for the residence of their mimis- ters." It is a legitim.ate conclusion that the de- sire to defeat the claim of the Church of Scotland to any porUon of the Reserves may have influ- enced Maitland not lo act on the instructions of Lord Bathurst contained in his despatch of May 1820. JNIaitland and his council saw in the tem- per of the times the danger to be apprehended from such a course as the wholesale creation and endowment of Rectories : and with the power in their hands they shrank from the responsibility of executing the design wi.ich of all others, of a public nature, lay nearest to their hearts. The discontents of the Province had but a few years previously, at the lime of the Gourlay Convention, almost reacted a crisis. To have added to the existing elements of popular discontent a numer- ous creation of Rectories might have invested the question of, a .State Church with an importance which was scarcely dreamed of so long as the only practical grievance of the Clergy R'eserves consisted of the obstacles they imposed to the procress of settlement. In 1819, the House of Assembly of Upper Ca- nada rnanifestcd some uneasiness respecting the revenue derived from the Clergy Reserves. Thev addressed the Lieutenant Governor for a return of the Clergy Reserves leased, and of the amount of Revenue derived therefrom, with an account of its appropriation. 'Jo this address the Lieutenant Governor replied that the revenue of these lands was placed by the British Parliament under the control of the King; and he must ask instruc- lioiis from the Prince Regent on the subject. The OF THE CLERGV RESERVES. II annual product of the Reserves was, at thai time, about £700. In the same year 1R19, Dr. Mountain, Bishop of Quebec, made application lo the imperial Gov- ernment to secure lor the Episcopalian Clergy the direction of the Cleriry Reserves. This reijuest wasTeadily a'?sented lo by the Imperial Govern- luent ; who, with the view to cairyiu:; the arrangement into eilect, created a Clergy Corpo- ration h\ each section of the Province. The powers vested in these coiporations were limited. They were only allowed to perform the du'ies of trustees ; to lease the lands and receive the rents ; of which they were required to pay over every farthing to the Receiver genera! ; to be applied, by the direction of the Imperial Government, towards the support anJ maintenance of a " Pro- testant Cieri^y." They were permitted to com- pound wiihlessees, in case* where the arrearages were large. It was in 1820, that this limited direction was confided to iliese newly erected clergy corporations. Whether it resulted from defective management, or some other cause, the Eioduct of the Reserves, small as it had previously een, now underwent a diminution. In the year previous to the creation of these corporations, the amouat had been about £700. In each of the thiee following years, it was not one-third of that sum : Year Receipts for Leases. 1820 £259 15s. 6d. 1821 210 15s. 4d. 1822 150 5s. 8,d. Tiie average receipts from the whole of the Clergv Reserves for the three years were only £206 193. 2id. The transfer of tTie Trusteeship of the land to the clergy corporations, could in no way adect the claims or the pretensions of the Church of England ; though it inspired them with that feelingof confideijce wiiich the stewardship was calculated to produce. The Episcopalians as- sumed atone of arrogance not wholly unnatural to their position. Especially did they plume ihem- selvess upon the circumstance that their Clergy had been erected into a corporation, in each Pro- vince " for superintending, managing, and con- ducting the Cler^'y Reserves." They boasted themselves guardians of the property. At the same time jhey claimeil to be its sole and exclu- sive owners. Tho adverse claim made by the Church of Scotlaml to paiticipato in the benefits of the Reserves they treated not merely as invalid in law, but as arrogant and presumptious. The Episcopalians alTjcted to consider themselves the lords of one-s«venth of all the surveyed lands of Canada; and elated with the prospect of future power and riches, their leailers adopted a depre- catory tone towards all other denominations. ThejuJicialopinion of the !aw ollicerof the crown was never respected by the high church party. The long and violent strui'sle that ensued between the Episcopalian and the Scotch Churche.< had its source in the fortunate vascillation of the Exe- cutive Governments — Imperial and Provincial — which never ventured to carry into efi>j:lJl'.e legal con>truction of the Constitutional Act. For a period of moie than twenty years no authority insisted on the carrying into etfect the law as expounded by the legal advisers of the Sovereign. To ihe authoritative construction of the term "Protestant Clergy." the hii2h Church paity clamorously opposed their own selfish interpreta- tion. The Church of Scotland contjnued to press its now recognized but unsatisfied cTaitn, by pe- titions to the Imperial Government. In 1823, it enlisted in its favor the sulfrages of the House of Assembly of Upper Canatla. The Aildress of that body to the King, which had been rejected by the Legislative Council, on behalf of the Church of Scotland treated as unsettled \he meaning of the Constitutional Act, and based the claim of tlie Church of Scotland to an ec^jalilvol rights with the Church of England, on the Act of Union between the Kingdoms of England and Scotlanil. It prayed that some other provisior; might be made for the Church of Sc^iiTand, if that Church was to be considered as legally excluded from participation in the Reserves. This address was passed at the instance of IMr. William Mor- ris, who appealed as the champion of the Cliuich of Scotland. The General Assembly oi that Church, in Scotland, also addressed the Provin- cial Government to extend pecuniary aid to their ministers in Canada; expressing indifference js tq_t_he- sauice whence it should be derived, and promising to give the Government "all the secu- rity for the good comliict" of the stipeuilaiies that subjection to regular ecclesiastical cor.tiol could afford. While the Church of Scotland was thus hum- bling itself in the du5t at the feet of the State, its mendicant appeals were perseveringly opposed by the high Church party; who were equally unscrupulous in the choice and the use of wea- pons. All the sympathies of the High Tory Sec- retary of State, Lord Bathurst, and the active exertions of Lieutenant Governor Maitlanil were in favor of the High Church party. The Lien- tenant Governor, a weak man with strong pre- judices, was completely under the control of Dr. Strachan, then Rector of York, and now BLshop of Toronto. Tiieir jnint labours were directed to the great object of making good the exclusive claim of the Episcopalians to the Reserves. What Dr. Sirachan asserted in petitions, sent forth by the Clergy Coriioralion, Sir P. Maitlaiid unhesiiatingly en.iorseu in offiein! despatche.'. Some of Dr. Strochan's productions were gross libels on the majority of the Canadian population. In the art of manufacturing ecclesiastical chaits he acquired a celebrity, that will last as long as his personal history. .Accompnnyingthe first peti- tion bearing his signature was one ofthese docu- ments. The petition abounded in calumnies net a whit less gross than those contained in the docu- ments accompanying a subsequent chart prepared by tile same hand, and of which all the mat-eria! statements were disproved before a committee of the House of Commons in 1828. Tliis petition sought to invalidate the claim of the Church of Scolland. on the allegation that neatly the whole 12 THE HISTORY AND PRESENT POSITION population were eagerly flocking beneath the Episcopalian Stanclaui ; where, it asserted, the greater proportion of all protestant lienominations would soon be found. It represented tliat all denominations were desirous of having their childien taught the Episcopalian catechism ; th:\t whole neighborhoods carried their children to Eniscopalian n^inisters to bo baptized, that old and young submitted themselves in gieat num- bers' to the rite of confirmation, and " that the Church of England, from the favorible disposi- tion towards it, would soon be able to collect within its bosom the bujk of the inhabitants, if no prospect of supporting their (own) Clergy were held out to the various Protestant denominaiions." Dastardly insinuations were thrown upon the loyally of ministers of other denominations; and they were represented as almost wlioUy without con'^regations. The claim of the Church of Scot- land was pronounced invalid in point of law. The gross exaggerations thus put fortii are suffi- ciently notorious to all who have paid any atten- tion to that period of our history. In the mean- time, the Ui'ihop and Clergy of Quebec were not inactive. They too solicited the powerful sup- port of Sir P. ]\TaitIand, in their endeavors to secure to their Church the exclusive enjoyment of the Reserves. Nor did they lind in him an unwilling ally. All the strength of his official influence was promptly put forth in their favor. In his long despatches, which were full of spe- cial pleailing, he boldly endorsed all the exagge- ruioiis of the Clergy Corporations. In his eager- ness to support the exclusive pretensions of the Episcopalians, Sir P. Maitland unwittingly pro- pounded a doctrine,* the acceptance of which would prove fatal to the very claims he wished to enforce. He opposed his own interpretation of the Constitutional Act to the construction placed upon it by the law officers of the Crown. In the very midst of this contention, two ministers of the Church of Scotland made an exchange of their religious faith for a stipend from the stible to conceive anythhig more atrocious than this scheme, it would be the arguments by which it was supported. The loss of Canada was darkly suggested as the inevitable consequence of rejecting the exclusive claims and audacious proposals of the High Church party. The American Revolution was held up as a warn- ing to the Imperial Government; while the cause of that great event was mendaciously ascribed to the circumstance that the Church of England had not been established in the old Colonies. By such arguments was the scheme of Dr. Strachan and the Higl; Church party sought to be sustained. Tnis scheme presented to the minds of that party many advantages. It would have given them the /ientire control of the Reserves, and secured to them the exclusive benefit ot the results of the sales ; while it would have planted three or four Recto- ries in every township. To the tenants of the 'corporation it would have been an act of cruel i oppression. It proposed to break faith with them, ('and to strip some of them of the fruits of twenty- *one years of incessant toil. The extravagant pro- jecltt of the High Church party were now fully developed. The scheme also proposed an in- crease of Episcopalian Clergy, supported out of the Reserve lunds, at a rate which, by the year 1845, would have swallowed up X60,()0() a year, each minister receiving an annual stipend of JL"iO(). The authors of this atrocious proposal oflered to secure the allegiance of the Province to the Parent Slate, in exchange for the annual salaries of .'iOO clergymen. The Clergy Reserves, not an acre of winch had yet been alienated, and which * It does not appear that more w.is known of this scheme in Caii.ida, than could be gatheied from the statement of Dr. Strachan that he took with him to Eiigland, " a proposal to His Majesty's' Government to eiilurge the powers of the Corporations so that they niigiit be able to sell as wcl! as lease." Oy THE CLERGY RESERVES. 13 were looked to ris tho source of this princely reve- nue, wero now more mnnerous tluui tlie wlioie ol t!iu rettnrrfnnj'Crowa 'Rfsorve:*. This scheme was laid biifore tho Imperial (lo- vernrneiit in 18'2l. The su^'ijestiou toommence seiliii^ the lieserves was adopted ; bill pioljubly not ill V )tjse(]iicnce of tlie recjinuifiKl.Ui jus of the lli;^!i Church party. The joint scheme of Di. Strachan and Sir P. Maitland was r ejcctt^^t l by tho Imperial CJoveriiment ;* and in December fol- linviiit,', Lord Balhurst, iu a despatch to Sir P. Maitland, announced lli.il arran Hon. U. W. Horton, were disposed to adopt it, if on ci)nsideration they should find it practi- abie, and not detrimeotal to the Church." the ascendency faction. Put there now appeared on the stage a thirdpaity ; the people through their lepresi-ntatives, nvTTo ought to have been the sole arbiters of the question. For nearly twenty years all tlteir ellorls were rendered nugatory by t!ie pertinacious opposition of an odious oligarchy. At the general election of IH'2-I^ when the rj^ues- tioii had bevran to attract ireneraTafteiitlon, fho high^Cliuivtr piifty~MifIer''J an overwhelming defeat. Petitions were presented to tho New House against the exclusive claims of botli Churches, to whom the contest had hitherto been confined. Tho (luestioii was comparatively new to the pe.iple. 'J tiey had not yet fully realized the peiiiieious inllneii'-e exercised by the endow- monl of Churches by the State. A seh'ct com- mittee of the House of As'^embly appt, that the Imperial Government, by d con- <' duct.^' The Bishop, it seems, had stipulated to assume this responsibility for the political conduct of the stipendiary priests. Nor did he fail in his engagements, albeit ho was guilty of peculations on the grant ; and he attempted to cover his pe- cuniary frauds by resorting to others of even greater atrocity. He compelled priests to give him receipts for money they never received. To schoolmasteis he piomised money which he never paid. Tiit? best understanding existed between him and Sir J. Colborne.* He desecra- ♦ Previous to Sir J. Colbome's arrival, the envious eiclusivencss of the High Church faction in the Pro- ted the altar in the service of the High Tory Go- vernment, and induced his concrregation to sign petitions against prominent members of the liL>e- lal party, under the mendacious assurance that the sole object of the petitions wastiie advance- ment of the -Cat'.oiic Church. " His sermons " invariably presented a strange and incoherent " meilley of politics and Christianity.'"* For sermons, he sometimes substituted violent tirades against individual members of the Opposi- tion. He gave orders to eject the Kev. Mr. Chever from his living at Sandwich for havinir given his inHu«'iice to the liberal party, uistead of supporting Mr. Baby, a prominent member of the Family Compact. He gave instructiuns to his agent that should any of Mr. Chever's congregation prove refractory, they were to be " (^pall with as rebel- lious and schismatic." He threatened to call It) his aid the civil force to back his spiritual autho- rity, if necessary. By the same means he determined tosecure the political suliordhiation of all the clergy under his charge. Thanking Dr. O'Grady for executing his command in reference to Mr. Chever, the Bishop says: — <' The ta.sk " we have undertaken is an arduous one, but we " must go throu;:li with it." In this way it was that Bisliop McDonnell exercised a political sur- veillance over the priests in his cliarge, when his allegiance was paid for by the Government of the day. This case strikingly illustrates the great \political evils that may result from a systematic corruption of the Clergy by funds drawn from the ayable by th^L Canada Company. The Tmpenal Government consented (August, 1830,) on this condition, that the whole Presbyterian Clergy in Upper Canada should form a Presbyteiy or Synod, by whom the ministers to receive stipends from the Government should be recommended in the same manner that the Catholic prFefts were recommended by Bishop McDormell. It was by the employment of political vince prevented ihcm from eiiteiiiig into the views of the Imperial Govcnniieiit in relcrcnce to the grant lo the Roman Catholics. Bi>h<)p McDjiinell, in a letter to Dr. O'Uraiiy, says : — •' 1 produced the positive or- ders that they [the priests and sch olmasters] should receive their salaries ; yet Dr. Sdachan and Justice Powell who, under the nominal adiiiiiiistration of Col. Smith, Mr. Gore, and Sir Peregrine Maitland, actually governed the Province, till tliey quarrelled amoiij; th( mst-lves, resisted the payment ol those salaries in defiance of His Lord>hip's ordeis for seven years, and obliged nie to take two jouinies lo Europe, at no small trouble and expcn^^e." • Evidence of Dr. OGrady, Roman Catholic Priest, before a Committee of the House cf Assembly, in 1835. dt THE CLEIIGV RESERVES 15 arij^iiments by tliis branch of the Presbytorians that they succeeded in extorting this money grant lioni the coders ot the state. It was their boast ot" preaching not the tJospel, but '• loyalty to our King," that soltenetl the heart ol Mr. Secretary Murray to tlie prompt aJmi.-sron of their chiini. Ikit the misfortune was, tliat wliat passed current fur lojaltj in thi.;se_(Jii^8 was a blind adherence to th»i.iaIiTjg_fiic'iiiHi, whose vicious administration of public atiairs was alienating tlie people's allec- tions from the mother country, and sowing the seeds of future independence. A few years pre- viously, the United I'resbyterian ministers had been made the victims of a tluplicity which, were it recorded on authority* at all open to doubt, would be received with universal discredit. In comiexion with the Chureiiof Scotland, they had petitioned the Imperial Government for pecuniary aid: by the Kirk Ministers the original petition was suppressed, and another subslitutecl in its place, representing oji_Ij^ the Church of Scotland, In a seconel petition, .sent ofi before the answer to the first was received, the United Presbyterians assureil the Imperial (lovernment thatlheirclanns were higher thaiitho.se of the Church ot Scotland on the score of political services, their exertions " in promoting the lo yalty of the people " having l)een greater, and the fielctof their operations more extensive. They al.so tried the effects of insinu- ating menace, declaring that a refusal to make them pensioners of state '-would be to throw a " reproach on their labours, and to create unne- " cessary and invidious distinctions among Ilis " Majesty's Presbjlerian .subjects , and such dis- " tinctions have, in any case, a most pernicious " tendency, especially in this Province." The answer to this petition liavin;^ been in a great measure anticipated in the reply to the one that preceded it, its receipt was barely acknowledged Iiy Lord (ioderich, in 1831. Occasionally the Kirk ministers spoke in a strain .still more menacing. The Rev, Mr. Leith, before the Canada Committee of the Hou.se of Commons, in 1828, di.stinctly point- ed at in surrectio n as the consequence of excluding that churcli from a participatiun in the Reserves. He assured the House that the Canadian (lovern- ment placed its chief reliance on the Scotch set- tlements ; and addeil, •' but, as the Scotch are •• strongly attached to their National Church, no " course r)f policy could teiul more eflectually to '• alienate their loyalty and lead to a revolt, than '*' a perseverance in the policy hitheitoT^^rsued <' with resjiect to the Chuich I>labli.shment," Argmnents of a like political cast wore em- ployed by the Rev, Mr. .'MderT^Jefore a Commit- tee of the Hon.se of Commons, in 18'i8. when ho wished to make grwd ihe claim of the Weslcyan ATetliQihsts to a share of the Reservi's. To the question, upon what principle wonM he exclude other Protestant Dissenters, Mr. Alder replied: — " We do not wish to excin Ic them, but we con- " ceive that we are placed in totally different cir- • The fact is related in a jietition from the Presby- tery to Sir George Miiirnv, St-cretory of Slate for tbc Colonies, date.! J^cpt. !. 1^:10. " cmnstances from dissenters in Lower Canada, " because the lintish Confi'rence of the IVesley- '' (in Connvj'ion is nccoiintiilAe to (j'onrnmcjit, '< and ttie public of iJieat Britain yi);* the good <' bchiicioitr of all their vn'ssionaries, whereas " the minisleis of the ilis.senling chuicltcs can " onlj give tlieir own personal .secuiity for their " good behaviour: we conceive that on that << ground our claim is much better than theirs.''^ This argument finally had its eflect. The Wes- leyan iMellioiii>ts afterwards received a small biibe from the State ; in consideration of which some of the leaders in that ilenomination put foith all their political intluence to a.ssist Sir F'ancii* Hond Head in destroying the freedom of election in 1 83G._ The succes> of that dete.-table stratagem was one of the main cau-^es that produced the abortive insurrection in the following year. For the purpose of tracing directly the perni- cious effects of a connexion lielween niini.->ter9 of religion and the Executive Government, we have intentionally advanced beyond our general sub- ject, AVe shall now return to the point whence we set out. The proposed sale of a part of tlie Reserves to the Canada Company, and the allotment of other lands in lieu thereof was not a direct in- crease of the quantity of Reserves. IJut it was intended to have the same effect. If it had succeeded in silencing the clamours ot the Church of Scotland, which it did not, and of secur- i n,'x the cheap allegiance of the Rom;in Catho- lic priests in Upper Canada ; the High Cliurch party might .still liave hoped to moncp.ilixe the whole of the Reserves, while the English Bishops would have increa.sed their facilities of making their will obeyed in the Province. In December, 1826, the third sc.'s.'jion of the Parliament elected in 1824, was holdinir: the hou.-*e took up the reply of Lord Balhnrst to their address of the previous session. They declared it unsatisfactory. The interpretation put upon the Constitutional Act by the High Church paity, they pronounced contrary to the spirit aiul mean- ing of the statute. Thi>y repelled, almo.st unani- mously,* the exclusive claims of the Kjiii-co- palians on the ground of their injistice; and .•scouted the ier Canada," as the members of the Church of Kn^'land were, having the .sole enjoyment of the Reserves. It was resolved that the lands '* ouL'ht to be dispo- " .sed of, and the proceeds of their .sale applied to " increase the Provincial allowance for the sup- " port and maintenance ofcli.strirt and common " school.s and the endowment of a Provincial " scminarv of leamin?, and in aid of erecting *' places of worship for all denominations of " Christians." In January, 18-27. a bill provi- dinir for the disposal orthe Reserves for these purposes, pas.^eil tin* House by a majority of 19 to 7 ; but it wa.s buried in that catacomb of all popular mea.«;urcs, the Legislative Council. C • The resolution" were carried by a vole of 29 to 2. 16 THE HISTORY AND PKESENT POSITION III 1828, the House of Assembly, iu an ad- dress to the Crown on the subject of King's College, which was cairii-d by a majority of twenty-one to nine, staled it as " the ;j;eueral " desire of Her M.lje^ty"s subjects iu tliis Pro- " viiice that the moneys aiising Iroin the sale of **' of any of tlie lands in tiiis Provirice should be '• entirely appropriated to purposes of education " and of internal improvemeiit." To irive tliem to one or two denomiuutipns the House held would bo unjust; and thy expressed ji^ doubt ot^lh^v. practicability of diviJniu; them among alT. Tiie progrpPBof opmion on the subject ainonq: the p3ople is observable in tlie action ol the House of Assembly. In its rirst session, the Parliament of 1824 so far asserted the principjp of^jjili^^iouj equality as to prono.uu-e in favour' of un equal di- vision of the proceeds among a!i den-irain ifions. IS'ext session it resolved that h' such ilistnbution should be deemed inexpedient, they should be_ applied to education and public improvements. — In the third session, the House touk another step in advance ; and in 1828, it adopted uncondition- ally, the principle that the whole p roceeds of the lands should be applied to specified secular par- poses. The action of the house was fully sustained by the people, who, at the general election of 1828, returned a large majority of liberal members. / Meanwhile the projected sale of one half of the /Clergy Reserves to the Canada Company had I fallen through. The Company received a free gift of about two hundred and seventy thousand acres of Crown lands * in consideration of their giving up the Cleriry Reserves ! The determina- tion to sell that portion of the Reserves, of which the Imperial Parliament had authorised the alien- jition had not been abandoned. In Nov. 1827, Mr. Huskisson, who had succeeded Loid I3ath- r.rst in the colonial othce, communicated to Lieu- tenant Governor Maitlaud instructions to procecil with the sales. Those lands which formed the most serious obstacle to the settlement of the country were lirst t) be disposed of: the selection being left to the Execulive Council. That these Reserves tiad opposed formidable obstacles to the settlement of the country was now fully admitted ; and the great object of the alienation, as dec'ared by the Colonial Secretary, was " to relitve the <* inhabitants from the diliicuhies which t! ey ''have experienced iu cnnsequence of the wild " lands reserved for the Clergy remaining in an " unimproved state in the imineiliaie ^iciuitvo^ <' improved tracts." To that object all consider- ation as to price were if necessary to he saciificed. Since the bariraiu with the Canada Company for a portion ol the Reserves had been bryb-njuj>, the alienation now authorized was nj.maire with a view of sobstitntinir other lands. The recom- mendation of Sir P. Maifland's fJovernment dniwn up by Dr. Straehan in ISOl, to reserve from sah? in each township a quantity of land sullicieut to endow three or four Parjoiiagcs was not to be • Letters on the Canada Company. wholly oveilooked by a High Tory Govern»ient. Accortlingly tlie Provincial Executive was in- structed to reserve from sale in each town- ^hip three or four hundred acres as a (utes of a Hl^ Church. CHAPTI3 V. A crooked Advocato — Muitlaad invukcs Iin;ceeds which were wholly imaginary, Wi>uld have ar- gued a want of common ilisceiument. Notwith- stai.dLig t!.e length of time that elapsed before the exclusive claim of the Episcopalians was contested, the Church of Scotland was prematuje in l.er deaiands. For years after she iir.^t urged ber claims on the (Government the Reserves did lut yield more, and often less, than the clerical c. rporalions found it conv -nient to absorb in tie mauaixenient. Hut no such claim could ever be put forward by a majority of the people ; simp y because they des'.red the Reserves to be wholly diverted from sectarian purpasos. i^hlitland urged the new Colonial Secretary to pennit no departure 07 THE CLERGY UKSEUVES. i: from the decision of tlie law oflicersof the Crown. This reconinienihition luanifL'stfil a strani^n fun- tracliction. The Ciovornor appearo d at oiice a.-* the advocati' of the right of the Kpisoopulians to nil the Reserves and the supporter of a le^'ul d.jcis- sion which admitt.vJ th'j claim of the Ciiinch of Scothmd to a share. Of the Ciiureh of Knghxnd he spoke as t(ie "evi.sling establisliinent," and the '• natjomd Chnreii.'' He expresseil a hope that the (piestion of a Church establislunent in these colonies niijfht be set at rest by the Impe- rial Parliament; assuming that tne Knghsh bishops would be able to sust lin the elaiiu bt the Episcopal Ctuirchto the whole of the lands. For a time the Imperial (Jovernment listened to this suggestion, and spoke of an alteration by the Imperial Parliami.-nt of these provisions of the Constitutional Act which related to the Reserves as a possible contingency. In 1827 Dr. Straehan made a second journey to Englanil, c.irryin:; with hiii a second Ecclesi- astical chart of the Province, which, with an ac- companying letter he laid before the hon. R- .1. VVilmot llorton, umlvr Secretary of State. TITe letter^xTTTsTemarkable for the same feat\ires — gross misrepresentations and unfountled insin- uations — that marked the two documents drawn by the same hand, and intended to serve the same purjwse of deception, in the years 1823 and 1821. It represented that the great- est anxiet}" existed on the part of the popula- tion to avail of the settled ministration of the Episcopal Clergy; that every minister, if of mild and conciliatory disposition, was sure to find the respectable part of the inhabitants among his congregatif>n ; that thTe were already one hun- dred and fifty townships where as many clergy- men could be usefully employeil, and that in less than a do/en years double that number would be requisite. He contrasted unfavorably other de- nominations with the Church of Enirland ; and, with a view to political cflfect put forth state- ments, as grouiidless as they were ungenerous. '' The teachers," ho says, " of the diffLrcnt denom- inations, with the exieption of the two ministers of ih* Church of S;'o:lanns, and t!ie substitution of one unobnoxious to tlie oi-jection fd being capable of benefitting only a small po.-lion of tire ^xtpulation. The address containeil the following refutation of the false and slanderous statements and insinuations above quoted from Dr. Strachan's letter: "We beg leave t5 inform Your Majesty that of Your Majesty's subjects in this Piovince, oidy a small pro- portion are members of the Church of E:igla:id ; and there is not any peculiar tendency to that church, among the people, ;:nd that notiiing cou! I caut mingling of religious , questions with jwlitical discussions in Canada f. On the discovery of the fraud the p\iblic excite- ment was intense ; it had never ran so high but •The Eniscopalian method of computation for their own cWurcli is this : — Discover tho iiuinl)er o( cuinniu- ricaiits ; niultijily that numhcr by six and you have the congregation; and that multiplied attain by two will give you the number of adveils of tlie church. Evi- dence, Rev. Ciosbie Morgell before Canada Committee. t Rev. G eorg e Ryersou's evidence before the Canada Committee. f in the single in.stance of tlie atrocious alien bill. When the Episcopalians discovered a tSispositron toentorce their monopolizinir claims by .stratagem and fraud, all other denominations unhed in de- fence of tho.se common r-ghts which had been . a-s.-^iled. CHAPTES VI, A new Governor ; hw views on the que.«tion— Store collision between ibe iwo Mouses — The Assembly disinidses its L'lm|>hiiii — Tlie Imperial Govcrnnieni deterniineit to nhniidoii the Reserves and rcrom-' mends ll»e vesting of ihem in Itie Crown abso- l.ilcly di.scb:irgod ot all trusts — Uow th.T avow- ed wisli of the Intporial Goveriiinenl was de- feated — The cliarge of bad faith invesligoted — Why the 8erul:\rix.Ttion scheme failed in lA>wcr (.'unada— The vested llighls illu.siun dispelled — I'osilijn of il»e question in 1831 ainl in 1851 compared. Sir John Colborne succeeded Sir P. Muitlanil as Lieut. Governor of Upper Canada in 182S. The fust action he took on the eleriry reserves was to recommend a wiiolesalc creation of glebes for the suppoit of Episcopalian Ministers, lie assured the Imperial tiovernment that of the whole pop- ulation of Upper Canada there were few iiidiviilu- als who o)>jecled to visit tlse nearest churcli whal- evei' might be their creed ; anTTThat, in the wooils, it was a frequent occurrence to meet with families who belonged to no church, and had scarcely ever heard ol religion. He did not conceal the apathy and indifferent character of the P'piscopa- lian Ministers; but frankly admitted that "if a ''more ardent zeal be not shown by the estab- 'Mished Church, and a very ditfeient kind of " Ministers than that which is geiievally to be "found in this Province sent out tiom England, it " is obvious that the members of tlie established "church will soon b; inconsideiabic,. and that "it will continue to lose ground." How truly has this prediction been fulHlled ! He repealed those poljiical arguments which had been so fre- quently addtessed to the Iniperial Government by the advocates of sects .■seeking pecuniary sup- port from the Stale. He exaygeraled the influ- ence in the elections of the Methoilist preachers of American oiTgin, and proposeil a scheme for supplanting them by the appointment of itinerant Episcopalian ministers; citing as proof that the pioposeil competiiion would be successful the, perhaps imaginary, case of three or four townships " where the clergymen are lit foi this Province, the Melhodists decrease."' The demands of the Piesbyleriane he opposed, on the groumi that their satisfa<'lion would lead to a like claim from all oilier " dissenters." He suggested the adoption of a measuic lor plaringthe reserves at the abso- lute tlisposal of the Ciown, the proceeds to be distiibutcd for the suppoit ol a Protestant Clergy by the Imperial (Jovernmenl ; the object being to place them beyond the control of tlie Provincial or TH£ CLERGY HCsEAVES. 19 Leirisliituie ; by the popular biancli of which a desire had been .-^o olten expressed to devote them to secular objects of Provincial utility. In the two sessions of 1R;29 and 1830 bills were passed uuanirnously by the iVh&embTy to provitle Ibi the sale of paij of the Henerves nnd to apply the proceeds to ednoatuin. The bill of \Sl\i was sent up to the [^i-ijislative Council ; where it was read a tirst time on the 9th March, anu ordered lo be read a second time iii three luonths. The bill of 1830 was reail a tiist time in the Council, and never a^jjiiji reh-rred to. In 1830, Mr. Mac- kenzie"int~r(Hluced into the Assembly resolntions, disapproving; of the appointment hy the Execu- tive CJovernmeiit of a Church of En;,'land Chap- lain, wiUiyut consultin:^ the wishes of the House on the subject. In amendment to one of tliese resolutions iVIr. Daltun moved "That the " House consider it an imp>?rative duty to mark ''their strong disapprobation of the advice which "dictated to His Excellency the Lieutenant ''Governor to appoint tiiem a chaplain without *' previous reference to them for an expression of " their feelinijs on the subject, and that the said "appointment appears to be in furthfnmce of ^' an eaxlusirc pi)liaj so universally iind justly *' decried ;^^ which was adopted unanimously. Another resolution was passed by a vote of 28 ai^ainst 3, " that the House deem it ine\j)ed[ient '•to receive a.s their chaplain any one rtppbmted '• by the Eveculive (iovernment." It was also lesolved that the ministers of the ditlerent Chris- tion congregations in the town should be requ'^st- ed to say prayers in the House for the term of the existing Parliament, under such arrangements as might be made hy the Speaker. The rule re- quirinir the business of the House to commence with prayer was rescinded, and an address to the Lieutenant (Jovernor adopted praying that the Chaplain mii,'ht be dismisseil and no other, in fu- ture, he appointed. The atldress was transmitted to I^rd (Joderich, who, on the part of the Imperial Goveriunent, ac<}niesced so far as lo promise that in the event «jf the chaplaincy becoming vacant, no new api>oinlment should be made to the of- fice ; but expressing a hope that the existing chaplain might he allowed to receive his income lor life. The prayers he deemed unimportant, if the cash they brought should conlinue to be paid. Since then tiie House has had no Chaplain. In 133^1, the Assembly, despairing of obtaining the assent of the Legislative Council to any mea- pures it miirhl pass for the secularization of the Reserves, first referreil the question to the Im£ej; rial Government for settlement. An address was adopted praying that His Majesty would recom- mend to the Imperial Parliament to pass an Act frr authorizing the sale of the Reserves and ena- bling the Provincial Legislalnie to appropriate the proceeds to the ailvancement of Ediicalion. , About a month previous to the adoption of this ; address, the Imperial (Juvernment had resolved , upon the aba ndonrn ent of the Reserves ; in a ; manner ami for reasons with which the reader will soon be acquainted. The proceeds accruing from the sales of Clercy Reserves were (Apiil 1831) directed lo be paid over lo the Commissary (iener.d for investment in Hritish funds. Tlie tirst sum so jniid was in 18.31j amounting lo X81KX), Cy. Tlie Lienlenant Governors ol each Provineo drew bills on the Treasury Department, on account of tliviilenda from the .Stock so invested in liiree per cent, con- .solidaled ainiuities. The committee of the House of Commons ap-' pointed, in \SIS, to enquire into the civil govern- \ ineiil of Canada reporteil aya.i'j>J coni inning the re- 1 servation in Morlmain of the lands for the support \ of a Proleslant Clergy ; chielly on the gnjund that I they imposeil serious ob>erial Government pioceedeil en- tirely upon the action oi the Committee of the House of Commons; for in that Province there! had been no agitation against iho Reserve? ex- cept upon the ground that they interposed ob- , slack's to the selllement of the country. The \ agitation on the subject which, in Upper Canada, h .d long stiaken_ciYil_spcLuiy to its base was not wholly left out of account by the Imperial (Jov- ernment when it resolved upon recommending the sweeping away of ever)' vestige of those hith- erto unprodnclive~'reser vat ions. Arcordinuly we find Lord (Joderich, (Nov. 1831,) tlieii Secrclaiy of Slate for the Colonies, declann:; his unhe*ilaling concurrei.ee with the Assemhly thai llie Reserveri "form a great obst^ule lo the improvement and '•selllement ol l!ie Province without being pro- " duclive of any correspoudingadvanlage." Eor- tvyear.s had now elapseil since the making oT Iteserves had commenceil ; and they had uuX yielded an income equal lo the expense of iheir rfiaiiagerrient. TTuitlTiTs was owing in part to ihe mtproVidence of the Clergy Corporations the evidence befoie the Canada Commillee leaves no room to doubt. From 1822 to 1833, the receipt") 1 had not exceeded X200 a year ; and of this not a 1 faithing remained afler defraying the expenses of / the Clergy Corporation, 'ihe rents fell inarrear; lenanls ab.^onded ; and there was no immediate pro>pect of the esiale becoming productive. From the example of Auslmlia as well as of Ca- nada, I^jnl Godeiich concluded "that land in "countries where so much remains unappropria- " ted can only be proliiably 0(!cupicd I'y those " who have ihe stimulus of personal and perma- " nenl interest." For these rea.sons his Lordship 20 TilE IIISTORV AXD PRESENT POSITIOK (Nov. 21, 1831,) recorn.TioiHled the ab^nilunment ol the Ueservea. VVe quote his olKciafilespa'lch : 'Under tlicss circumstances I cannot eiiteitaiii a doubt t!iat an end should imiiu'da cly be put to the system oi reserving a si'veulli of ihe wasle lauds in Canada for the sup|-.ort of a Piote.-lant cl r:;y : that which would be an objectionable mode of laising a revenue fir aiiy public purpose is still m )re stionijly to be cun- d.rjiu d as a piovisiou for tiif miuia'.ers of religion, since it must have a direct lendiucy to render odious to the inhabitants those lo whom their good-wili and aifoctioii are so peculiarly needful." " Such are the considc-rations by which His Maj ?sly's Govfinment Lave been inlluenced in coitiin;; to tlie conclusion that the re entiou of the Clergy Reserves in their present s'ate is inexpedient, it is scarcely necessary to i}rolest ag.iinsl th:s conclusion l^eing c >n- s rued into an acqinescence in the Oj-inion expressed in a pe'itioi) upon Inis subject, signed by a considerable Dunibr < f the inhabitants of the province, " that any Lind of Ciiuich establishment, circumstanced as Upper (.'anada is, is essentially antichrisljan and baneful to every in'ere^t of humanity.'''^*^rain convisict'd that this is a Sfnliucnt wh :ci» ihe great inajijiity of those by whom the petition was signeJ would iiot seriously mean to adopt, and ihal in their eageru' ss to get rid of a jiraclical grievance, lliey have iucauiiously sanc- tioned speculative opinions, which I have no doubt that upon Hiature icllection they would disavow. Believ- ing tliis to bo case, I decline to enter into any argu- icicnt for tho j ii'iiose of refuting an asscition, the jus- tice of which I so entirely deny. It is su^icient to u-pcat that IJis Mijes'y's G'vcrnmeiit have aU-ised the iibandonment of the Reserves, for the timj.lc reason, that uftvran cTferknce of /orly y-ii's they have been found Mut to answer the expectations entertained at the time Hie sy^tein w.ts edablishel, but hive entailed a hravy burden upon the province without producing any cor- I iffponJiug advantage." In another despatch of the same date, Lord God- fiich uutblding, in dttail, lib scheme for the abrogation of tlie Reserve?, gives instructions for thej"epeal by the Upper Canada Legislature ol those clauses of iho Con:>tiiutronal Act wln"ch relate to the allotineiil and appropriation r>f lands 1 If the f'Trpport of a prute^taiil Cleigy. To pre- clude 1tie~dTs'cusslon of embarra>ing (juestioas to which a siiiTlTlt* repeal of the provisions might give rise, Lord Goderich gave a summary of the ]>rovisiQMs wliich the proposed Act should con- tain. They were: " First, thin, it should be enacted, that so much of the Brit isli statute of 1791 as relates to the ap|iropiiation ofClergy lleserves should be rep nilcl. Butus it is un- f necessary, and would be highly inconvenient, to repeal (' so much of that Act as relates to the erectiois and en- / do.vment of parsonages, it will be fit, in older to ob- l viate lh-! p^s.>ibilily of mistake, that the precise words, upon which alone the repeal is t) operate, should be quotei in the lepealing Act. " Secondly, to remove all doubts as to Ihe effect of the repeal, it should be expreisly provided that the reserved lands ihoult immc Lialely vest in his Majesty, and be held by him, Am h''irf, and successors, in the same mun- HT ill every renjiert a» if the provisions lo be repviUed had ncv>:r bc:n enacted, 'Thirdly, the lea«cs granted by the ClergyCorp.ua- tion should be declaicd to be valid as though the re- pea ing Act had not been passed; but the tenants should be n quired to altorn to His Majei^ty, and to pay their rents to him, or to the receiveis oi his land revenue in the province. '• F.juithly, all sales effected, and all Acts done under the staUite 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. C2, should be declared as valid as though tlie repealing Act had not b^en passed. " Fifthly, the only additional provision, the necessity of which I can antii'ipate, wouhl be an enactment, dc* clai ing that hencefo; war.l no grant of lands, wherever made, sh.iM be deemed invalid or iiielfectii.il, hy nason of ihe absence of a specification of the Clergy Re- serves appropriated in respect of such grant. Wiih ref.-renre to future giants, tliis, of course, would be supeitluous; but il might obviate some inconvenient doubts as to the efioct in future of past neglecis of this pail of the Act of J7ai." Ajlraft of a bill embodying these provisions was dlso transmitted by Lord Goderich to Sir Joiin Colboriie, with instructions that il should be iiitru<.luced into the Assembly by the Attorney General, These instructions were complied with, but in such a way as lo defeat the very object of which Lord Ciodericli professed to desire the ac- complishment. On tiie "iSth of January 183'2, Sir John Colborne, conveyed to both Houses of P;irliameiit by Messaire, of which he l.ad receiv- ed a draft from the Colonial ofiice. His Majesty's invitation " to consider how the powers given to "the Provincial Legislature by the Constitutional " Act, lo vary or repeal its piovisions, can be " called into exercise most advantageously for " the spiritual and temporal interests of His " Majesty's faithful subj^'Cts in this Province." On tiie same day Attoriiey General Boulton, se- conded by Mr. Wilson of Wentwortii, introduced into the Legislative Assembly a bill '' copied " as nearly as possible" from the draft pre- pared under tlij directions of Lord Goderich. The Altoruey General movetl that the bill be read a second lime to-morrow ; to which the j House, having first ordered five hundred copies I lo be piiuled, agreed on a vote of twenty-nine against seven. In this proceeding Sir John Col- I bv)rne professed to discover a desire on ihe part of the Assembly not to proceed with the bill till the ne\l Session ; but he took effectual measures lo I render its passage impossible by a premature I prorogiilion, tlireo days after its iiitr(xlTrctlon. 1 Such a proceeding on the part of the Lieutenant I (Jovt'rnor can only be ciiaracterized as a wanton j trifling with the highe.st interests of the Pro- I vince; and the self-attempted palliation of his con- duct proceeds on grounds wholly iiuulmissible. If to read the bill a first time without notice ; to order it lo be printed ; ami, by a majority of twenty two, to fix the second reading for the very next day, show an indisposition on the part of the House to proceed with the measure, then has Sir John Colborne made out a case for the abrupt dis- missal of Parliament ; bnl if they show the very opiKisite of this, then must he be held guilty of atteinptiiii: ti> cover an ulterior object by a repre- seutalioii iinfouiided in fact; either deceiving the Colonial Serulary or else colluding with that functionary to delude the Canadian public. Tiie delay thus obtained afforded the High uK TU£ CLERGY RCSERTfS. 21 Church party an opportunity to get up petitions to the Inipcrial Govern rnent i'^i-iin^l tho proposed modti ol settlement. They were clanJestniely eircnUited throup}>o>iliiy lUf L''^i-siii< n i>l the pri'cecils ot ihe lanJ}.. — Sir J. Colburne^s ■ fl:- cial dt-s-paich, May 1K:j. t In 1833, ih<» Crown otTicers of Upper Canada were iii>!ni>sed li-r (>pj>.»ji»^ ihc Canadian p"iicy ol die Impi^riai Govcrnm.nl. modelling of the Legislative Council the first step in the carrying out of the policy which it recommended to the Canadian Legi^latu^es. Tho qne&tion ot re-constructing the Council was doubtless surrounded wall dilliculties. The Crown did nut po.-ise>s the absolute right of appointment; it could exercise that light only on the advice of the Governor; and as that fuiulioii- ary was surrounded by connsellors who were op- post^d to the procedure proposeil with respect to the Reserves, they were not likely to advise the appointment to tlie Legislative C'oimcil of men hostile to their own views, and calculated in such a position to endanger their oligarchical ascenden- cy. But there were no diliiculties tliat the Crown could not have overcome. Tlie Governor could have leeii iii.-tructcd to ili.-.miss his connsel- lors, who could never comiuanTTaTnajoiity in tha pojiular branch of the Legislature; aiivl a re-con- stiuctiun of the Legislative Council might have followed. By these means harmony liet ween the two branches of the Legi.^lature would have been insured ; and the Executive Government obtained the conlidence of the Commons House of Assem- bly. Itiseasyto conceive the dilemma in whici the high Chuich placeman in the Council would have found tiiemselves had the bill reached that House. When the question of going into Com- mittee on Sir John Colboine's Message came up in the Council it was ordered to be ilischargeu, and to stand on the ordei of the day for the next day ; but it was never taken up. On receiving intelligence of Sir John Colbome's premature prorogation of Parliament and the^le- lay of tlR^biir, Lord (Joderich withdrew his Ih- sUuctions respecting the stoppage'of tlie sale of the Reserves ; and authorizeir the Governor to sell such quantity as he should deem pioper. In the next Session, held in November 183*2, the Attorney General again inuved to introduce tho bill. Air. Perry moved in amentlment that 80 much of the order of the day as related to tlio bill be discharged ; which was negatived on a Vote of il airain?t 17: the qlle^tion for introducing tlie biil vvas carried in I lie alHrmative on the same division. Mr. Perry had already introiluced a hill for tlie disposal of tlie Reserves ; a circum- stance which explains his opposition to tiie min- isterial measure. Neither bill proceedeil beyond its tirst stage. The ~Gi>veiiimi'nt measure wa:} uevtM_brim;;lll_up a;^in. Had it been a vadd ex- cusirToT delayinu the meiisuie in the previous Session that its introduction uiiavoidaldy came too late ; no such reason cjuKI be urged now ; and yit the bill was never pusheil beyond a tir?t reading. Whether lUe Imperial (Jovern- ment acted in gooil lailli, or merely with a view i.f inducing a belief in His MaJe^ty's '* great anx- " lely to attend to all ipuvtioiis whicJi appear lo '' adect the prosperity and well-being of tne Pro- '• vince," as Lord (iiHlerich expressed il : all the evidence g«M.'s to prove tlial tiie C:i' ' Mf- chy wished to deUal ajiu-aMiri' wl. i,n2- rial aViThnritit'sh ' ;:iendeJanv. . . >- •"■ -j 'i n-' gie.it majoiiiy ' e aiiMuus'y desiicd the success. 22 THE HISTORY AKD PRfiSEjTT POSITION In the Lej^islatuie of Lower Canada, I'ue same bill was introtUiceil by tlie Attorney Geneial of tiiat Province ; and its failure is asi-ribed to some expressions used by !?dlicitor General Ogden, to tbe etiect that tlie Imperial GovernmiMit would reject it, if altered in a sin;^!e word from the draft piepared in the Colonial olFice. TliLs menace, which the Imperial (Government aftenvards dis- claimed, was roc;;artled by the House as an un- warrantable dictation and interference with its privilews. The measure was never afterwards revived. In 1835, the Eail of Absrd^,iyi, then Colonial Secretary, alluding to the previous action of the Imperial Govenunent on the question claimed that they were '* completely absolved '• from the responsibility thrown on tiiem by the *' Caiiad t Committee." Again, nt this period, the Inqierial Govenunent invited the Legislature of Lower Canada, t ) re-consider the question ; having disavowed the hiterpretation of their in- tentions by ]Mr. Solicitor General Ogden. But, tor some reason or other, the question was never again brought before the Legislature of that Pro- vince. If any decree of State Church temerity could excite sui-piise it would be that wretched pre- tence of a vested rii^ht in the Reserves which for twenty years has survived this abandonment by the Imperial Government of the lauds. And that surprise would be heiglilened by the recollection that this abandonment was proposed not by ladi- cal but by High Cliurch otFicials. Lord Goderich while recommending an irreversable diversion of these lands from their original purpose, was os- tentatiously proclaiming his belief in the assumed advantages of a Church Establishment, and dwell- ing pathetically o:i the presumed inconvenience of rendering illegal the creation of Rectories. This friend of Church establishments ; this stick- ler for Rectones without the means of present endowment, so far fromconntenaiicing l!ie unten- able assumption tluit vested riichts exist in the pro- testanl Church land^ tieatSjtheu abandohment as a simple question of expediency. That they had not answered the original purpose of their reservation was with liim a sutlicient rezuson lor reinvesting tiiem in the Crown, discharged of all trusts for a Protestant Clergy. That any right wouM be vio- lated ; that any iiuliviJual or sect would sutler a wrong, orhavH ,i riirht to complain that this couise was pursued, he never for a moineiil ailmilted ; advocate a-* he was of Churoli estabiishments, and ready defender of the principle when assailed. li ill the Cleigy Reserves there had been a vested rigiit woukl lue Imperial (iov rnmeiit, holding the principles of Lorvl Gidericli, have invited the Legislatures of Upper and Lower Canada to eon- li4.cate, in a time ol prjfnund peace, and without any condition, 2,:}9,'i,(IO() acies of land ? The bare supposition is mon.-trous. The truth is, those who contend for the existence of a vested right in these lands, do so in opposition to the Constitutional Act and the views of the Imperial Government promulgated twenty years ago; while by impli- cation tliey treat Lord Goderich and his colleagues as premeditated plunderers of the Prote.-tanl Chun hes in Canad.i, and William IV. as their guilty accomplice. It is not a very encouraging reflection that the question is now in a worse position than it was twenty years ago. In 1831, the Leni,'h it would be ditiicultto ima^'ine on what principle a portion of this private othcial correspondence is witldiekl whi.e another })or- tion is publisheil. In a private letter of the '2-llli of Feb., 1832, Sir John Colborne communicated to Loid Goilerich the condition of the Clergy Reserve Fuml ; and recommended the application of a jHjrlion thereof lo the buildingof parsonages or ree- tojjes and churches. He also cTeveToped a scheme for the establishment and endowment of rectories in every Township or Paiish. Ttie amount aris- ing from the Clergy Reserves in that year was X'48O0 ; consisting of interest on instalments payable, the rents of the lands and the divnienda from the funds invested in British Stocks. Lord Goderieh, in reply to Sir J. Colborne's private despatch of Feb., expressed a qualiticl concur- rence (in a communication* dated April 5, 1832) in the daring project, which had been secretly communicated to him. We quote tiie material poitiou of his reply : " A question therefore naturally arises as to the most advantageous mode of disposing of ihe i;40i)!) to be ta- ken out of the Casual and Territorial Revenue, which had been destined to this particular service, and which will no longer be required for that purpose. I have considered with s;reat attention the obs-^rvations contain- ed in your fi) irate Idler f of February KUh, and the propositions which result from them; and I am happy to find that your practi;al views, founded upon personal knowledge and exi)erience, are so coincident with those which upon a more speculative view I had been led to Mitertain. I ifiiite ronrur with you in thin/ciug that the s^reatcH bcnrjlt to the Cliurrh of Eifxland would be de- rived from appli/iti!^ a lortion at /■.•(»/ of the Funds un- der the control oj the Executive Government in the buillinij of Recti ries and diurches.and I would add. in preparins;, as far as may be, for profitable occupation, that inotterate portion of land which you propose to ami^n in tirh Tiwnship or Parish for inrreasini; the ftiTUc comfort, if not the complete mainlenance. of the Rectors. With this view, it appears to me that it woidd be most desirable to make a beginning in this salutary work, by assigning to it a portion at 1- ast of the XMtMlO to which 1 have before tliuded, as being no longer rc- quireil, (during the present year at all events) for the • This despatch was first published in Canada by Dr. Ryerson, by whom it was copit-d in the Colonial of- | fice, as /iriifi/c ; but it is luither marked private nor confidential in the Clergy Reserve papers [luolished by the House uf Commons in 1840. Dr. Ryerson also ecroneou.-ly dates this despatch April 6, 1833 ; the ac- tual date being April 5, 1832. t This letter has never been published. payment of Clerical salariis. I vay a portion of ihis sum, because 1 am led lo think that it uouUl be expi- diriit, with a fiew to prevent jra'.ousy and ultempts at interference with this Terriloriul Fund, to peiniit some 1)81 1 of it to be dis| oscil of f r religious o6/e,7» v^eneratly, without refeieiice to the pailicu'ar mode ol bL-liel which certain classes of the coiimiiuiity may entertain, yome of it nii;,hi lor instance, be ap])lietl to Churches for the Presbyterian, some inr Roman Catholic Chapels, ami sunie lor the Meihodists — paitioularly that |.ortion ot ihetn who may le in comniiniion vk'ilh the Wesleyan Methodists ol this country. It is obviously impossible to think of aiding every subiiivision of religionists, whose varieties are to indi.fiiiite to eiiumeiaie ; and I ft kI tha' even with lesjiect to those classes to which 1 hive alluded, I cannot well undertake lo prescribe to you fiorn hence the exati proportion ol assistance uliich it might be fit to Kr.int lo each. X'400U in th« wh(jlewill be dsjiosabie ; and I willingly leave it to yoiM discretion to decide as to the propoitionate dislii- bulion of that sum. 1 am well aware that in the exe- cutiui of this duty you will have lo steer a difficult ciyuiiii. and that it will requiie no small tact tcTJeter- mine by what practical nieai.s these imj)orlant objects can be best attained ; thedithision of religious fielin" and motives of conduct is the ^i eat foint lo b'.' aimed at. and His iMujtsty's Government must naturally feel ■< anxious that these should be as extensively as possible | in union with the Established C/iurch of this country ; \] but it cannot be forgotten that ll e condition of society J in such a country as Upper Canada presents difficulties in the pursuit of this object which are very serious, and that a state of religious peace is above all things essen- tial in e-tabiishing in the mimlsof the people the effica- cy of religious principles. Whilst therefore 1 admit, without reserve, my own extreme anxiety for the widest extension of the Church of England in Upper Canada,! feel it to be scarcely less important earnestly to urge the inexpediency of scekin;? to piomote that grsat object by aiming at Uie exclusion or repressiou of other Ciiurches. " I communicate to you these sentiments on the part of the King's Government wilii an entire reliance upon your judgment and coincidence of v iews ; ard the present temper of the majority of the House of Assem- bly, together with the increasing prcsperitv and gene- ral traiKiuility of the Province, encourage me to e'nler- lain a sanguine hope that the prcsMit opmrtunity, it wisely and judiciouslv used, may lead to the most im- portant and beneficial results." A postscript is added wliich shows that the coii- \ curreiice expressed, in the boily of the despatch, ' is only in the general views of Sir J. Colborne; and is not to be taken as sp-jcitie authority lo dis- tribute the X1,(HK»: before that step was taken/ Lord (lodericli claimed the right of considering any sugirestioiis on the subject that Sir J. Col- borne niiuiit have to oiler. Accordingly, on the 5th September Ibllowing the recpiired suirgestiouH were IranMnitted lo I>ord Goderieh. 'Ihe sum that would be available for tlistribution at the end of the year, on the estimate of Sir J. Colborne, was £4,600. lie recommended that a sum of X'.hniK) which had been authorized to be paid lo the clergy in lieu of liie irrant formerly voted by the Imi)erial Parliament, might be paid from this source; and, as the revenue from le.-u«es and sales would annually increase, that all the ex- penditure in preparing glebe lots for occupation, and in building parsonages or rectoiics might be 24 THE nisToay and present »positiok defrayed therefrom. The discontinuance of the aliowaiicos previously granted by the Imperial Government lo Ei)i.>cupalian mini^tei^s in Cuncida, and making them chatgeable on liie proceeds of ih'j clmreli hmds was stiictly in aeeordance witn the plan laid down by tnu Duke of I'uilland in 17% ; and it provesi anything rattier than an in- tention to abandon llio scheme contrived some forty yeais previously, for giving t.ie Church of England a position ol dominancyiii this Province. SirJ. Colborne also recommended the payment of £100 a year to each of tlie thirty " mission- Hries " of the Church of ICnglaiid. He had al- ready received from the Imperial Government in- structions to take measures for securing 6 00 acr es m each of certam townships lor the support of Episcopalian Ministers. In the.se townships it was intended that Ihe rectories and churches should be built. Tiie lands were apparently in- tended as endowments to tlie proposed rectories. Nor was it deemed prudent to overlook the al- leged ii olhjtgd services of the Presbyterians, of whom the two boilies — those in ccmneetion with the Church of ScotlantI, and those who owned no Huch connection — had vied willi one another in proclaiming the extent and value of tliis kind of service which each had rendered.- While, there- fore, Sir John Colbonie recommended a subsidy of £900 to the Synod established by tlie Presby- teiians in connection with the church of Scotland, Lord Coderich, in accordance with his avowed policy of resorting to cxpiiditijits to prevent all attempts at interference with the Reserves tnnd, directed the payment of .li^fUU to the Presbyterian Ministers not in connection with the Church of Scotland, to be applied in such a way as should meet the approval of Sir John Colborne. The Wesleyan Methodists, too, had s o tiimn md-their course as to ensure the recognition of the claim they were auxiuus to enforce ; and they therefore could no longer be overlooked. The Conference had resolved so to alter their disciplinary system as to make it agree in all ita parts with Mritish Methoilism ; to abolish Episcopacy ; to place the whole~(jnh() Indian Missions under ihe exclusive direction of the Lower Canada Missionary Com- mittee (which was under tiie conlroul of the British Cunfeienco); to refuse, in future, to ordain to the minislrva.iy one who c mtinued to pursue asccular calling; that the British Conference should .-end to Canada such ministeis as it should see fit to appoint : t'lat Kingston, beiiiir the central station between the two Provinces, should l)e exclusively occupied by a Missionary from the British Con- ference ; that the propiiety of continuing camp meetings should be seriously considered; and that the Christiin Guardian should in future be an exclusively reli^KHis journal. The Canada Conference appomVed T!ie Reverend Eger ton Ry - erson to proceed to EiiLrland and arrange the de- talTi of the whole matt.T. * Eor this extensive Hurremh'r of the right of indepcituleiit acfiou F^ir John CoTLorniTCDnStdeTC'J' tlie Wesleyan Metho- • Rev. Mr. Alder's confidontial communication to Sir John Colborne, August 27, 1 "32. dists entitled to the pitifi.l sum of X^UQjiyear; and Lord Goderieh was but too glad to purchase, at such a price, their acqniiiides, the recipient denomintUions were, by their own act, estopped from aasailiug the Episcopalians by the potent arguments of voluntaryism. Whatever blame may be attributable to Lord (Jodericli for the disreputable finessing to which he resorted ; it is obvious that no tact or stratagem that he could employ could have availed unless the denomina- tions to whose weaknesses ho addressed himself had been willing to accept the proUered grants at the hand of the State. The boastetl voluntaryism of the Wesleyan Conference surrendered on the lir;.t assault on its purity. It was not nwces^ary that the Government should employ the seductive arts, on which Lord Goderich placed so high a f value. Not only was this unnecessary, but Con- ference voluntaxily made the most degrading sur- render of its independence ; iu terms the most explicit, and for a sum utterly coiiteinptil)le. Nor did the Conference of the Canadian Metho- dists exhibit more inllevible principles. They awaited not the invitation of the Government; but of their own free motion beeaine 8uj)plicant3 for the bounty of the State. Of the other three de- nominations, two not being professed voluuvaries, siicriiiced no principle in accepting the grants. Sir John Colborne and Lord Goduich now llatlered themselves tbuit the su<:cef>s o^" tlieii stratn^'cm J .t ' T to the Cliurch of England tlie e.vclu- ineut of the Reserves revenno. Sir .loiin idiiMirne corrertfy read iii tTie directions of Lord Goderich to pay tile little bribe-trmnts out of the ter ritoria l revenue an intention to sustain the monopolj^yclaim of the Church of England. Early in l&W, ne estimated the disposable n»vo- lue from the Rcseives at Xl,3(K), t"<>r that year. This sum he considered himself authorized by Lord Goderich's directions, of the previous year, to apply to the payment of the salaries of Episco- palian 'Mnissionaiies,-' in building Rectories antl Churches, and preparing Glebe lots for occupa- tion. Nor was he loii^ in receivin^r Lord Gode- rlcTi's assurance that in this respect he liad rightly construed that Nobleman's iutcution. In a private communication (April 21, 1834) Sir John Colborne suggested to 5lr. Secretary Stanley, who had succeetled Lord Goderich in the Colonial department, a doubt as to the right ot appiopriating the inteieat from the instalments paid by the purcluiseis of Clergy Reserves instead of remitting it with the proceeds of sales to be invested in British funds. To this doubt Mr. Spring Rice, who by this time (July 2*2, 1831) had bcc^iine Colonial Secretary, replied by direc- tion that the money shouhi be devoted to the improvement of the unsold Reserves. These inslrucliuns were atterwards February 22, 1835) set aside by the Earl of AberJetm^ who had taken the place of Mr. Spring Rice. He authorized the fund to be appropiiated, as formerly, to the pay- ment of the salaries of Church of England Mis- sionaries ; on the ground that the charges for grants to other denominations were likely to ren- der too heavy the burthens on the crown reve- nue. Lord Goderich's scheme of bribing the anti- voluntary or the apostate-voluntary sects from the territorial revenue did not long succeed in ward- ing otf attempts to interfere with the Church of England's temporary monopoly of the Reserves fund. Not long did the Presb\lerian Synod in connedion with fhe Church of Scotland remain satisfieil witli the sura iloled out to them. On the 15th Jany., 1834, the commission of the Synod * assembled atYoik(now Toronto) adopted a memo- rial to Sir J. Colborne for an increase of the jntint to that denomination. The grouiid^s on which aji augmentation of the grant was claimed were tlie incrca-se since 1827, when it was first made, of Mini.sters from live to twenty-five, and tjieir legaJ ri^dit to share in the Reserves rcveniie. At first, they received jC750 a year; and the sum had subsequently been raised to £1000; which, di- vided among nineteen Ministers, (for six of 0\o twenty-five got no portion of it), was insufficient to purchase their continued acQuicsence in the monopoly scheme of the UKie favored Epis<'0|^a- liairs. IJuliiot only did the Synod apply for im- mediate relief: it laid claim to "a j)ermanent <' and adcquiite provi>ion for the Ministers of that " Church, as well as a fund for the support of " such Mini.>ters a.s may in future be settled, ac- " cording to the wants of the Presbyterian popu- ** lation." On the recorameiuiation of Sir John Colborne, the Earl of Aberdeen directed an in- crease of the annual "rant to the amount of X4.50, to be divided among tne six hitherto non-recipient • Present: Messrs. William Rintoul, Robert .McGiil, Alexander Ross, Peter MiXaughton, M. Y. Stark, Alexander Gale, Peter FfrKuson, Minister*, and the Hon. Archibald McLean, Elder. C 26 THE HISTORY AND PRESENT POSITION Ministers, in equal sums of £75 a year. The amount, in pursuance ot Loid GoJerich's sclieme, was directeil to be paid out of the casual and terri- torial revenue. The increase was accompanied with the announcement that the Government re- served its rifriit of revising the grant at any future time, sliould the circumstances of the Colony render such a pioceedin^ advisable. This hint respecting the future good behaviour of the recip- ients was probably deemed necessary, in conse- quence ol the usual assurances of political obedi- ance not having accompanied their applicatiou on this occasion. It is but too obvious that if the settlement of the Reserves question had rested- with the priesthood, of llie various denominations, the chanc e of secu- larization would have been exceedingly small. It would be useless to deny that the priests and ministers who were recipients of State pay belonged to, if they did not represent in senti- ment, six denominations, who comprised the Treat bulk of the population of Upper Canada. But between the priesthood and the people there existed an irreconcilable antagonism. The Par- liamentary representatives of Upper Canada always consistently advocated the devotion of the Reserves to education. In the Session of 1833-34 the Assembly passed (Feb. 1834) whh- out a division, a bill for the sale of the Reserves for the purposes of education. It was sent np to the Legislative Council, where it was formally read a" lirst time and then dropped. A similar bill passed on a vote of 39 against 7, the next Session, (March, 1835,) was also rejected by the Legislative Comicil. The action of this branch of the Legislature on the question will be noticed at greater length in the next chapter. That the laity and the priesthood should have acted ditfer- ently on the question is, after all, not much a matter of surprise. The worse possible way of convincing a ministry of the truths of voluntary- isrTi is to reduce them, in the application of those truths, to starvation point. That the services of many of those ministers, who so eagerly grasped at the State grants were ill remunerated by the contributions of their flocks it would be idle and dishonest to deny.' In point of fact the people were, after all, practically worse voluntaries than the State-templed and ill paid ministers. A man's voluntaryism is but a noisy pretence if it be confined to the lips: the true voluntary feels it a duty to contribute freely towards the respecta- ble maintenance of his minister ; while he who merely talks voluntaryism, no matter how loudly, and starves him who is the chosen mirrister to his spiritual wants is guilty of an attempt to compel that minister to desert his principles and accept • The Synod of the Church of Scotland stated that the vohurtar)' contributions received By each minister did not exceed XlOO a year. But it must be remem- bered thai, in this case, rhe people were not thorouijhiy imbued with the spirit of the voluntary principle. They had always been accustomed to look and still looked to the stale for pecuniary support for their min- isters. " from the State extraneous assistance to make up for that of which lie is robbed by his natural employer. If a ministry be adequately paid, they can have few incentives to become peasion- ers of State. But if a starving man is justified by the law of nature in .stealing to supply his wants, 80 far as may be necessary to sustairr life, a half starve own upon the subject of the Clergy Keserves." Bishop Macdonell, a^uming that the address of the Le:;islative Council would be acted upon by the Imperial Government, memorialized His Excellency Sir J. Colborne to recommend to His Majesty the Human Catholics for a share of the Clergy Reserves. * In reply to the memorial, • In this memorial Bishop Macdonell di ! not forget the political arguments which on similar occasions had ' which vSir John Colbonie transmitted to the Colo- nial oliice, Lord Glenelg reiterated his unwilling- ness to interfere with the deliberations of the Provincial Legislature, to which body tiie bisliop was recommended to addre.«>s his application in behalf of those for vvhom he assumed to speak ; with the a.ssurance t!;at any claims he might advance would there bo rcceiveil with due con- \ sideration. It is due to the Roman Catholics i to state that the views of Bishop Macdonell on the subject were not shared to any cousi- deiable extent by that communion ; of which the Clergy and princijial members afterwauls pub- , lished their disavowal of all claims on the Re- j serves : an example of honest devotion to prin- I ciple by which oliier denominations would have I done well to proHt. I Neither of tiiese replies of Lonl Glenelg directly touched the question of Imperial Legislative, jurisdiction. ThaL question, however was after- wards (Dec. 18;51)riairly met by that functionary in the following despatch to Sir Francis Boiid Head: " Your predecessor and the Council agree in the opinion, that it is vain to expect the concurrence of the two branches of the local legislature in any adjustment of this question, and they therefore invoke the inter- position of Parliament j which inlcrjiodlion the Assevi' bly, on the other hand, deprecate with equal earnestness. " The chief practical question, then, which at pre- sent demands consideration, is whether His IMujesty should be advised to recommend to Parliaaient the assumption to itsell of the olfice ot deciding on the the future appropriation of these lands. There are two distincts reasons, both of which appear to me con- clusively to forbid tliat course of proceeding. " First : Parliamenfanj lce:ii!ulion on any subject of cxclitsirehj internal concern, in any British colony posfessin^ a rciircscntutivc as<:rmtdy. is as a icencriil rule, unconstitutional. It is a tight of which the ex- ercise is reserved I'or extreme ca-cs, in which necessi- ty at once creates and justifies Ihe exception. " But important as is the question of the Clergy Reserves in Upper Canada, ytt I cannot find in tie actual slate of the question any such exigency as would vinilicate the Imperial Legislature in transfciing to iheiiisi'lves the settlement of this controversy. J"he conflict of opinion between tlie two Hiuses upon ibis subji'ct, much as it is to be lamented, yet involves no uigent dangei to the peace of society, and presents no insuperable inipeliment to the ordinary adniinisliation of public atfaiis. Although a great evil, it is not such as to exclude every hope of mitigation by the natural progress of discuskion, and by the influence of that spirit which, in public alfairs, not seldom suggests to parties alike solicitous for the general good, some mu- b»»en resorted to hy several denominations with such signal 8UCCI ss. He represented " that by obtaining a '• share of the Reserves they [the Catholics] would be ' able to educate and instruct their children in those " principles of loynltv to the sovereign, anil snhniis'-ion "to the laws, w-Tncfi 'hey themselves have practiced " through li:e ;" but " that without this advantage they '• shall bo doomed to see. with irrief, iheir children im- " bib»* those demqcratical and irreligious principles. " which are universally taught in thv schools of tbi^ "Province." c 2 28 THE HISTORV ASD PBXSEST POSITIQS tual surrender of extreme views, and some compro- mise on either side of ditferences which at first sight might have tipi>eared iircconciltnbie. UnHl ivery proftpect of adjusting Hiis dispute within the Produce itself sh ail ha cc be--n lUs'inctly cxhaustcl, the time for t'le interposition of ParliuMcnt will tml hive arrive I, wn.Vs;, ituJccd both Hju^rs shall concur in soliri'in^ that interposition ; in which ei'cnl there woull of course be an end to the consHluHonal objections already noticed. " The second ground ov. whifh I think myself bound to abs'ain fiom advising His Majesty fioin refenmg this question immediately to Parliament, is that the authors of the Constitution il ./Id have dedarel 'his to he one of those subjects, in rro-.ir'i to wlinh the iniliu' tire is expressly nscrred and recognized as falling wiUi- in the peculiar province and tke n^cciai co^nizaHce of the local lesriflotv.re, although its ultimate completion is no less distinctly mide to dep'-nd, in addition to the ordinary submission to His Majesty, on the acquies- cence of the Imperial Parliament. " It is not difi'.cutt to perceive the nasnns which in- duced Parliament in 1791 to connect with a reserva- tion of land for ecclesiastical purposes, the special d^^- lei'a'ioii to tlie Comicil and Assembly of the right to vary thai provision by any Bill, which being reserved for the signification uf His ZMnj 'sty's pleasure, should be communicated to both Houses of Parliament for six wceWs befjie that decision was pronounced. Re- membering, it should seem, how fjrtile a source of controversy ecclesiastical endowments had supplied throughout a large part of the Christian world, and how impossible it was to foretell with precision what might be the prevailing opinions and feelings ot the Canadians on this subject at a future period, Parlia- ment at once sec area the means of makrng a sys- tematic provision for a Protestant clergy, and took full precauli'jn againit the eventual imiptilude of that sys- tem to the more advojiced singes of a society then in its infant state, and of which Jio human foresight could divine the more mature and stttkd judgment. " In the controversy, therefore, respecting ecclesias- tical endowments, which at presert divides the Cana- dian L''gislatiu"e, 1 fnd no untxpeclcd clement (f agita- tion, the discovery of which dimands a departure from the fixed principles of the constiiuHon, but merely ihe fulfilment of the auticijatiors of Parliament in IT'Jl, in the exhibition of that eonlliot of opinirm lor which the statnte of that year may be said to have m''de a , delibernte preiaratun. In leleiring ih'.' subject to the j future Canadian Legislature, /Ac fliz/Aor.": o/" //if ronsli- tutional .id must be .'rupposcd to have canlempla'ed the crius at which we have noic arrived, — tlie era of uarm and protracted debate, which in a fioe governBKiit may be said to be a necessary precuisor to the settleaoent of any great pi imiple of national policy. We must not have lecouise to an exticme remedy, merely to avoid the emburra-ssment which is the [Jicsent though tcmjiorary result of oar own deliberate lejjislaiioii. " f Ihnlc, therefore, that to wUhdraw from the Caua- d'an to the Imj trial Legislature the i/uesfi a rcujisrting the Clergy R':i.-ivcj, wuuld be an ni/Viwiffmra/ t>/" that lardinal principle of coluni'en to constitute the Assembly nut merely the arbiters respecting the disposal of tiie (hikIs to be laisid by the sale of these lands, but the active and indt-pendeut agents in affecting those sales, and thus to inve- 1 tbein with the appropriate functiiBs of the executive gov- ernment. To the con?titulioiial dtx:trina here laid down all objection would he the merest cavellinu:. The Imperial Gii*ernment wltc not solicited by the United I^ei^islature of Upper Cajia»Ia to recom- mend Imperial Lei^'islation on the qnesition. They were only asked by the non-representative branch of the local LLgi^latuie to (tssume, as Lord Gle- neljj; correctly expre»=ies it, the oflice of d'.'cidinir on the futuie appropriation of the lands. Hadlhi^ two branches of the Upper Canada Legislature aiireed ui referring the question to the Imperial Parliament for selliement, whatever \re might think, of tlit wisdtnu oi the policy which dietateiJ ?neh a course, we should have been compelled to admit that the Pi evince would be bound to submit, without complaiiU, to the consequences of the step. Whetlicr such a course wuuld have been uncon- stitutional is another question, and one on which tlie law ofheers of the Crown, in England, subse- (luenlly decided in the negative. We accept the iloctrine of Lord Glenelg that the unsolicited in- terposition of the Impel ial authorities in the exclusively internal aflairs of the Province would be justifiable only to aveit the calamity of civil commotion arising out of a long and irreconcil- able contlict, now no longer possible, between the two blanches of tlie local Legislature ; but in any case the appropriate remedy would have been not Imperial interposition, but to bring into harmony the two antagonistic bodies by a recon- struction of the Legislative Conncil. We must nor forget, however, that the non-inteiference doc- tiine of the Colonial otlice was propounded under peculiar circumstances ; but which would not, perhaps, justify a suspicion of insincerity. The late Governor, Sir J. Colborne, and the Legisla- tive council had concuned in the opinion that ail agieeiaent between the two Houses on the ques- tion was impossible. The Assembly had, it ad- mitted, little expectation tliat the Legislative Council^ as tlien constituted, woidd comply with the w ishes of the people. The whole histo- ry of the abortive attempts to I^'gislate on the que^tio:i, since 18i4, provcsJ at once the power and the fixed resolution of the Legislative Coun- Icil to prevent the success of auy measure on thi* subject initiated by the Assembly. Under these circumstances, iheie were small giouiuls for in- dulging theh()i>e, expressed by Lord Glenelg, that the Legislative Council would, without the infu- sion ol a siiigle drop of nevr bliKki into the old obstructive body, all at ouce <»ive nn its opposition and concur in the measures ol" the A>semblv. Lord Glenelg mu.-.t have p>.SKsessed a remarkably ardent mind, if he were sincere in regarding as possible such an unljetird-of political mi rack'. We iloubt if there i-oiiUi have beon found in the wide extent of the British dominions another man so hopefully credul<>u« ; and if there could.it would ; not liu\-e been imcharilablo to question his entire I sanity. However,, the non-interference doctrine j is iioiie the worse for the soiriewhat suspicious circumstances utulei which it was propoumled. We accept it iu its entirety ; fully agreeing with OF TU£ CLRRCY RSsCIlveS. 29 Lord CJlenelgthat the authors of the Constitutional Act in vestini? tlie Provincial Legislatures with complete jurisdiction over the Reserves wero takinij a far-sighteil precaution a;;ainst the even- tual iuaptituvle of the whole system of providing for religious instruction at the expense of the State. So delicate a cjncstioii did Lord Glenelg feel that of Imperial intervention to be, that he after- wards (Sept. 1837) cleclareil that he could not «'• venture to prescribe to the Legislatures of the "Canadian I'rovinces the principles on which "■ they shonlil enileavonr to make provision for *Mhe religious wants of their fellow colonists," Antl when he did afterwards (Dec. 1S37) venture the statement that *' the contributions of the State *' towards the support of the dilteient christian " communities should be legulattal by the extent "of the voluntary' etiorts which the members of " each should make for the promotion of the same *' general end ;" and suggested that the Reserves should be converted into a fund subject to this mode of distribution, he directed the Under Sec- retary, only three days after, to state that '• Lord '' Glenelg would distinctly disclaim, on the part '< of His Majesty's Government the wish or the '' intention to insist on any such condition as an ** indispensible preliminary to an adjustment of "the question;" adding that ''such an inter- "ference on the part of Government with the "functions of the Provincial Legislature, would, " a^ his Lordship apprehends, tend to create a '* not unreaoonable suspicion of the sincerity " with which the Legislatures have been invited " to the exercise of the power reserved to them ** on this subject by the Constitutional Act of " 179L" On the question of Imperial Legislative juris- diction over the Reserves, Lord John Russell (otli- cial despatch to C. P. Thompson, Sept. 1839) was even more decided ; the Crown olTicers hav- ing gone so far as to pronounce unconstitutional the referinir back for settlement of the question by the local to the Imperial Parliament. Lord John says : ''The last of ;he reserved Bills of the late Session has reference to the long controveitcd subject of the clergy reserves. To this Bdl the Royal assent could not have lawfully been given, until it had been laid for 'it) days before either House ot Parliament. It was not until the loth August thai I received from the Lieu'.ennnt-Governor the document necessary to enable me to fultil the requisition of the Constitutional Act of 1791. Ii was, therefore, impossible that the Bill should be finally enacted by the Queen in Council un- til after the commencement of the Parliamentarj' Sis- sion of 1840. But had this ditficulty not aiisen, there were other motives which would have etfectuallv |ire- vented the acceptance of this measure by Her Majesty. Parlittmrnt dtknattd to the lorul leeixlatiirc the riahl of aftprofrriuting the clergy raterres, und the ejTert of the Dili is to ret runs fcr this duty from the local I'-giitiiture to Purliamrr.!, icilh a purliculur restriction. I am ali'i,icd by thr law offfers of the Crown that this ii an unconstitutional prucei-dinc;. It is certainly un- usual and inconvenient. Her Majesty cannot assume that Parliameut will accept this delegated office, and if it should not be so accepted the confiimation of the Bill would be productive of serious prejudice, and of no substantial advantage. It would postpone indetinitely the seltlemcnt of a question which it much concerns the welfare ot the piovinces to bring to a close; be- sides I cannot admit that there exist in this country greater factlitiis than in Upper Canada for the adjust- ment of this controversy ; on the contrary, the provin- cial legislature will biing to the decision of it an ex- tent of accurate informatinn as to the wants and gen- eral opinions of society in that country, in which ParliamiMil is unavoidably deiicient. For all these reasons Her Majesty will decline giving her assent to this Bill." This is one side of the question of Imperial Legislative jurisdiction. The unitiated reader will be astonished to find, in a future chapter, the Imperial Government acting in direct opposi- tion to its own declared principles on this question ; and the very same minister who now tells us of the unconstitutionality of a certain procedure car- lying oot that very procedure in Parliament ! In the first Session of 1836, the House passeJ i a bill (Feb. 21) to dispose of the reserves for pur- ' poses of General Education by a vote of 35 against 5. The Legislative Council amended the bill«, re-investing the lands in the Crown for religions purposes. The Assembly re-ameuided il, mak- ing the etTect of the bill precisely what it had | been in the original shape. i CHAPTEE IX. The I?eclories — Instructiuns given 33 years ago to crcato Rectories in every Tounsliip — In.siruciions repealed — Did ihey lose their force on ihc ndoplion of a new policy with respecl to lire reserves, and under another king and a new Imperial Cnhinel — Coiiflicling oj in- ions of the l.nw Ull:ccrs of ihe Crown on iho Icgali* ty of ihc Rectories — A review of ihe whole case. On the 1.5t]i January 1836, Sir John Colborne, gave a remarkable proof of His Majesty's de- sire not to endow any *' literary or other coipora- '' lions until he should obtain the advice of the re- <' pivsenlatives of the Canadian people for his "guidance." For nearly ten X'^iirs these repre- sentatives had unceasingly opposeil the conlinuBtl existence of the Reserves, ami deprecated their devotion to sectarian pnqioscs. Their proceed- ings on the subject, session after session, were regularly placed before his Majesty for his guid- ance. Vet in direct opposition to the repeatedly expressed wishes of those representatives, which his m ijesty was specially pledged to respect sixjct, Sir John Colborne in Council created .iml endowed 57 rectories' in Upper Canada. This • The number of rectories for which endowments were recommended by the order in Council of January 1S36 was 57 ; but twelve of the patents were not com- plete : there were two rectory patents for Toronto ; of which one — that for the township of Toronto — wa* incomplete ; the other was complete ; and c 3 30 THE HfSTORr AK© piwsEirr tostrtOK exercise of executive autliurity, 30 extraordinary under tljeciicnunstancesi, was lor?oinu time kept a secret fium the public, as tiiere existed no lesial had assigned to it 800 acres of land, and Arclidea- coii Strachati, was aj-i^ointeil ihe li;9t Ueclor. To the following Uec!nii»'s of w Lich t!ie iialcnts were coiri- p'ele, the (juaiilities of laiuls slated were a^isigued, an^i tae perso:is named appointed as Rcclo)*. (jiiiusby, 400 acres, Rev. 11. V, Grout; Auca»ter, 400 acres, Uev. John Miller ; ThcM-nhill, 1'J5 acres, Rev. Geo. I^Ioriimcr; Woodhouse, 402 acres, Kt-v. Francis Evai.s; Wellington Sqtiare, 4U0 acres, Kev. F. Mack ; Augusta, 4;M> aci es, Kcv. K. Blake} ; Cavan, 400 acres, Rev. Samuel Armour; H.dlowell, about 400 acres, Rev. William Macaulay; Peith. 400 acres, Rev. iVli- ciiael Harris; Elizatethtown, -100 acre?, Kev. W. H. Gunning; 0.xtord, J. J) , 450 acres, Uev. tl. Pat- ton ; Bertie, 400 acres. Kev. John Anderson ; Peterbo- rough, about 420acie3, Kev. R. H. DOliver; Wood- stock, 400acics, Kev. W. Bet t ridge; St. John's Chuich, Yon;;e Street, 200 acres, Kev. Clias. iMatthcws; Co- bour^. about 400 acres. Rev. A. N. Betbune; l.'ornwall, 410 acres, Kev. (Jeors^e Archbold ; Adelaide, 401 acres, Kev. Domini' k K. Blake: Etobicoke, 205 acres, Kev. T. Phillips, D.D. ; Warwick, 40L» acres. Uev. John KatclifFe ; Marrvhain, 400 acres, Kev. V. P. Mtyher- hoiiL-r; Belleville, 41S acres, Kev. John Cochrane; Bitli, 400 acres; no incumbcut at first; Richmond, Eathurst District, 400 acres; no incumbent ; London, 401J acres, Kev. Benj. Cronyn, second Church in Township of London ; Amhertsburg, 100 aen.s, Kev. Romain Rolph; St. Catharines, 400 acres, Kev. J.'.mes Clarke; Louth, 300 acres, Rev. James Clarke; Thor- old, 400. Rev. James Claike; Chippewa, 400 acres, Rev. William Letiiiing ; Adolphustown, 104 acres. Rev. Job Diaion; Fredricksburg, 250 acres, Rev. Job Deacon; Claike, 415 acres, given by S. S. Wilmot, Esq ; no incumbent : Darlington, 400 acres, no incum- bent ; Beck wich, 4U0 acres, Kev. Jonathan Short; Ni- agara, 400 ac:es, Kev. Tho.s. Green; 326 acies, in va- lious lots wei e a.ssigned to the Rev. Arthur Palmer, cf G;ielph, but to the rectory no locality is assigned ; Kingston, 700 acres, the Archdeacon ; Barrie, 420, no incumbent; Port Hope, 43G acres, Kev. J. Coglan. This land is stated in a return made in 1838, m an- swer to a requisition 0/ the H>..U3e of Lords, and signed R. B. Sullivan, to have been surrendered by iMr. toglan. It had probably ben a glebe previously. London, 375 acies, Rev. Benjamin Cronyn. Wood- stock. 29 acres in the Town of Woodstock, Kev. "William Bettiiilge. This lanl was assigned by order in Council r^'ovember 1834, more than a year frevious to the cieat-ou if ilie other rectories. — [I th? cases where tiie patents were not com- pleted it wa* not from want of incumbents, for in all these cas-. s, with one single exception, incumbents were ap|>ointed. The following are th* rectories for which the patents were not completed, with the quan- tities of lands a.ssigned to each ami the incumbents ap- pointed :— Hamilton, Gore District, 400 acros, Rer. John Gamble Geddi's : Ameliasbiirg, 400 acre'*. Rev. John Grier; Williamsburg. 400| acres, Rev. J. G. Beck Lindsay; Carleton Place, 400 acres, Kev. Ed- ward J. Boswell; St. Thomas. 400 acres, Kev. Mark Burnham; Bytown, about 400 acres, Rev. A. H Burwell ; Toronto, about 400 acres. Rev. James Mag- rnh ; March, 400 acres, Rev. James Padfield; Brant- foid, 40v) acres. Rev. K. Lueger ; Delaware 4"}5 acres, Rev. Richard Floml ; Sandwich, about 40!l acres. Rev. William Johnson ; Chatham, about 400 acres, no in- cumbent. The term rector had for many years been neceSbity for its promuiamtvpn. Sir John Colborne as it conscious that he wa? about to perpetrate an act vvliicU was suie to inllarnethe popular dis- contents, delJt>erated lung before l\e ventured to accWe to tile advice of hie council in the matter.* It wa.s almost the last act ol hi<^ (iovcrinuent ; performed under peculiar circumstances of em- barrassment, when liis miiid was perp!e.\ed by the intelligence of his recall. The lJr^t discov- ery of the existence of Rectory patents was ac- cidental ; and the il/telltgeuce, rapidly circulated' oVer the Province, was every where receireJ with feelings of extreme dissatisfaction. Pub- lic mceting;s were held to denounce the ag- gression on popular rights. Newspaper po- lemics, heretofore characterized Vy au un- natural fervor, accjuired additional acrimony. Even that obsequious body the Wesleyan Metlio- di^t ConfereiK-e lose in arms against the act. The Imperial Government was besieged with petitions, praying for the anuuluient of the Rec- tories. The temper of the public mind became imbued with that sullenness which a sen.se of injury begets, and which forbodes the approach in use in Upper Canada. In 1S23, Dr. Strachan as- sum-d the title of " Rector of York," in 1822, JC 150 was paid to the Rev. Ralph L aid ill erecting a parsonage house; aid in 1824 a sum of jCSOO was paid, on the same authority, and for a like purpose to the Rev. William Macaulay, as rector of the Township of Uamiltoa, Xeuraslle l>i frict. But it does no; appear that, at these dates, Rectories had been createil and endowed, ill the way presciibed by the Constitutional Act. On ibe contrary, liie lit.e seems to have been merely assumed as it is now ii. Lower Canada, where no r^'ctoFieTTiave been created, bnt where it is quite common to sprak of tlie " rector of Quebec,'' for example. It is certain, however, that to tht' rector of York a j ortion ot iai.d was early assign- ed, consi.>-tiiig of certain town lots wiiich, in IM3I, had begun to produce a leveiiuf. In consequence of these lots becciiiing productive the salary authorized by Lord Eathuist's Despatch of July 1st 1824. to be paid to Dr. S'.rachan was discontinued ill 1831. BuldoMbtUss these noniJiial rectors w eie only the holders of gk bes. — Irom which they derived no ecclesiastical aulhoiity — r,.r which, on the liist commencement of the sales of the Re- serves, Lord Bathuist histructed land^io be reserved in every Township. To the recloi ies of which the ra- tents were completed an ag2rei;ate endow ment ol 22,- 931 acres was assigned; a;id 'o the thirteen o( which the patents were iocomplete there was assi'^n-'d anag- giegate endowment of 4,1 lo acies. The endowments actually coniple ed Uiclwled 8 332 acres which had previously beefi set apart asglcbts, but for which, or a portion of them, it appears no patents had issued. The entire amount set apart for glebes up to Dei'cmber, 1837 was 21, 1>J7 acres. The portion of the Pctei bo- rough Recloiy for the sale ol which authority was asked from Parliament last Svssion. had been set apart as a slebc pi ior to die creati.s, she now complained of the establishment aiul endowment of rectories, not on tlie principle that a wrong was done to all other denominations by the granting of exclusive privileges and favors to the Church of England, but that she herself by the treaty of union between Plngland and Scot- land was entitled to an eqyimix of privileges Mrilh the favored church. Instead ot joining other denominations in their demand for the ab- ro;.^ation of the lieserves, the church of Scotland had persistently claimed to share in the proceeds; and she now demandeil the abrogation ot the rec- tories onlj_becau6e a rival church was more fav- I ored than she. Quito willing was she that all other denominations should be placed in a state cf disability with lespect to hei ; but that she should be pliU'ed in a position of disability with respect to Ihe cliurch of Kngland was intolerable. She held two sets of principles : one for appli- ' cation to herself; the other to otlier denomina- tions. Sir John Colborne kept the creation of the Rec- tories a secret from tlie Imperial Government ; by whom a report on the subject was obtained by 3 >licitation from his successor, Sir Francis I?ond Head. In replying to the complaint of the church of Scotland, Lord Gleiielg urged this want^ o_f otiicial ijifotmation as a reason (Deo. 1836.) for not tTien being able to bring the (juestion before I lis Majesty ; and for refusing at tiiat time, to at- tempt to form any opinion upon it. Ten days afti^r the order in Council establishing the Rec- tories, Sir John Colborne had performed his com- pul.-jry alxlication of the government, and was on hi«< way to England. Slioit as the ti.no was it atfurdeil ample opp<}itunity for Sir John to have reported the proceedings of the Provincial Gov- ernment had they been predicateti upon the un- doubted and unequivocal aulhori/alion of the hu perial_^authority. to whom the initiative in the cr -atioii of rt'clorie^Was expressly reserveii by the constitutional Act. The oinisiion to make any such rejHirt gives the stamp of cowardice and con- cealment to the wliolc proceeding. " In the first Session of 18.36, held just after the ariival in the Province of Sir Francis Bond Head, the House of Assembly passed certain resolutions • Memorial of the Synod, Sept. 20, 1836. on the subject of the rectories and the dis,)osal of the reserves revenues, in which they de- clared that " this is a state of things no less " alarming than disguMing, when it is con>idercd " what tiio prevailing "opinion and feelings "throughout the country are known to be, on ihi* " all-iinporlani and inteieMing subject, and calls " aloud lor innoediate lemedy." 'I iie resolutions were adopted by a vote ol 3S against 5. After the prorogation, Sir Francis Bond Head dissolved Parliament; and in tlie election of a new ono resorted to means by which he openly trampled on the constitutional rights of the Canadian people. It has been stated, on the high authority of Lord Durham, that the elections, which were held in the sujiiiner of 1836, were " in a number of instances carried " by " tiie unscrupulous influence of the Government " and by a display of violence on the part of the " tones who were emboldened by the countenance " alforded them by the authorities." It is not surprising that a House of Assembly elected by such means, should have declared, (February •>, lS37i, " That this house regards as inviolable the '< rights acquireil under the patents by which tlie " Rectories have been endowed, and cannot there- <' fore either invite or sanction any interference " with tlie rights thus established." A dilferent opinion, however, was held by the law otficejs of the Crown, in England, who, on tlie 8th June, 1837, pronounced the establishmci J of the rec- tories iHegal. Dr. Strachan, in his published letters, went to great lengths in condemning Lord Glenelir, for allowing " an i:;accurate case " to be submitted to the law officers of the Crown;" but the truth is that case was made out from the papers furnished by Sir Francis Bond Head, in- cluding the following minute of Council, which bears in'ernal evidence of the authoiity on which the rectories were created : Executive Coikcil Chambeb, Toron;o, Fiiilay, January 15, 1S36. PRESENT, Tlie Hon. P. Robinson, Prcuding Chun-cllr: The Hon. George H. Markland: and the Hon. Josei h Wells. To His Excellency Sir J..hu Colborne. K.C.B., Lir u- teiiaiit Governor of the Piovinee of Ujiper Cunada, and Major General commanding Hs Majesty's forces theiein May it please Your ExetlUnaj: Pursmnt to the views of Lord (Joderirh, s^howti by hid despatch of the 5th April, IH3'J, in whicL he «oi;- cnrs with your Excel 'eiicy. and e.vpies.»es iri.s de>ire " that a moderat-.' |H>rtioii of laiul sbcuUi be assiirntd " in each Township or Paiish, for ensuring the hitiire " coTifDrt. if net tne complete maint< nance of the " Rec OI9 " the Council cau edjhe necessary steps lo be tak'ii for the purpose of set ing aj-.art lo's in tach Township lhrouj;lioiit the Piovinee. Much letii:g what His Lordthip most 32 THE HISTORY AND PRESENT POSITION appropriately calls 'he " salutary work," was also caused by liie Cruwii Oirueis not concurring in the Ibrni to be used in the instiunnnis by which the en- dowment is 1(1 be conlirmed, which left the Council to decide as to the rnoJe to be ad(i[)ted for that puipose. These obstacles have now been surmounted, and it is fispectfully recoinniendtd that no time be lost in auiliji-.sing the Attorney (jinerallo piepaieihe neces- sary instiurnents to s, luie to ihe incumbents, named in the annexed scheiiules, ami their successois, tiie lots ol" land thore enumeiuted, as having been respecti irely Set apart lor Glebes. All of which i^ itspccirnlly submitted, (Signed) PETEU ROBINSON, P.C. Lord Glenelg, having consulted the various documents relerred to by tlie local government as containing the authority lor the erection of the Rectories, came to the concUit;ion that " no such << sanction had ever.b;ieii given," It is obvious enough, however, that Lord Glenelg was desirous that riie Church of England should retain the en- do wiuents, whether the Kectories had been legally created or not. Even the policy of their creation he was indiaposed to make a question. He indulged the hope lliat the distribution of the Reserves revenues, among the various religious denominations, by a special act to be passed for that purpose, would check the force of the oppo- sition directed against the Church of England in consequence of the creation ami endowment of the rectories. Of a scheme for eirecting this ob- ject introduced into Parliament, at the instance of f^ir Francis Bond Head, Lord Glenelg was con- fessedly the originator. He yielded to the desiie of the Piovincial oligarchy to procure a review of the opinion pronounced by the law olficers of the Crown. Dr. Strachan had ilrawn up a report of the proceedings of Council, attempting to show that an incomplete case had been submit- ted to the Law OJlicersof the Crown ; and recall- ing Lord (Jlenelg's attention to two despatches Irom Lord Bathurst, one of 1818, and the other of 1825, conveying to the Provincial Government of those times authority to proceed with the creation and endowment of rectories. When the case had been submitted a second time to the law officers of the Crown, and before their decision had been pronounced, Lord Glenelg (tiespatch to Sir George Arthur, Dec. 20, 1837.) showed very plainly the kuitl of decision he was desirous they should arrive at. Referring to the resolution of the Assembly of 183G, which declares inviolable the rights acquired under the patents, his lordship says : " On the part of Her Majesty's executive Govern- ment I cannot hesitate to avow our entire adoption of the princi[)le by which this resolution was dictated. AlthoUijh the endowments of the rectories in the year 1830 f/i'/ not ta!>e jdurc wilh the ptrvious concurrence of the pre^enl ministers of the Crown, yet as they ap- l>e:tr to have been made at leist uniler a presumed au- \ thority from the Secret iry of State, and as consider- abU' 'i'"*- 1'''* now elapsed since the jjartits were in possession of the lands, I should much regret to be conipehcd to disturb that seillenionl, or to disposcss the clergy of the C'hurch of England of the lands ivvhich have b"cn assigned for their maintenance. " Should the legal right now appear to the law offi- cers of the Crown to be indel-asible,. no practical question will remain for the decision of the govern- ment ; but, ei'in on the contrary sujipvsilion, I feci that, with the concurrence of the local legislature, the endow inents which hare been actually iiiadt mif^hl be ratified in connexion with some gtneial scheme for the future appropriation of the Clergy Reserves which would sati^fy the reasonable claims of o her denominations ot Cliristians. As a basis of such a setdement, I would propose that under the peculiar circumstances of the case, the right of the Church of En;; land to the endowmenis of .January 1836 should be acknowledged and ratified. • » • ] conceive that, if the ar- rangement I suggest should meet uith geneial accept- ance, there will be no dilficully in obtaining an Act of geneial Assembly for the purpose, and that the inter- ference of Parliament in the internal affaiis of the Pro- vince may thus be avoided." It would not have been a \ery hazardous thing to predict what would be the opinion of the crown ofHcers of a government whose leanings were expressed in language so explicit and their objects so openly avowed. The following des- patches were now submitted as part of the case, on which the Crown Officers were required to pronounce : Copy of a despatch from. Lord Bathurst to Mr. Presi- dent Smith, dated Downing Street, 2nd April, 1818. Sir, — The Bishop of Quebec has frequently brought under my consideration, the advantages that would re- sult to the Cliurch of England in the Province under your government from the legal establishment of Parishes and Rectories in cnformity with the provi- sion contained in 31st Geo. Ill, Cap. 31. As I entirely concur with his Lordship, in the pro- priety of adopting a measure calculated to give to the Protestant Church in the Canadas tliestippoit which it was in the contemj>Iation of the Parliament of this country to afloid to it, I have not failed lo submit his Lordship's representations to the Prince Regent, and I received His Royal llii;hness's commands to in-^truct \ yon to take the necessary legal measures for constitu- ting and erectinsj Rectories and Parishes in every Township within the Province under your government; and you will also take care that it be distinctly un.ler- stoi/d that the constituiion of Parishes and Rectories can give no claim whatever to any incumbent to re- ceive lithes of the lands within the limits of his Parish; all claims of that nature having been effectually an- nulled by the provision lor Ihe support of a Protestant clergy, made in the 31st year of liu' king, and by the declaratory law passed by the L<'gislature of the Pro- vhice in 1816. The endowments of the several Rectoiies with due portions ofthc Clergy Reserves, will be necessarily a matter of future consideration, and until the more geneial settlement and cultivati"n of the Province shall have taken place, I consider it advisable that the management of the several Reserves should, as is the case in Lower Canada be vested in a corporate bidy, or continue as at prtsent under the contiol of the Lieutenant Governor and Executive Council. I have &c., [Signed.] BATHURST. It will be seen that these instructions followed immediately on the fust attempt made by the or THE Cl.ERGY RESERVES. 33 A.-;senibly, in the previous year, to prevent the Church ol liiiiulaiid obtaining a monopoly ot the Re.serves. Lord But ruirst saw the eoniinLj stoiin in the diMance ; and tiioiii,'lit it best to proceed without dehiy to secure the harvest to tlie Church ot En^zland. Were the temper of the pul>lie mind at that perioti unknown to us it would be totally inexplicable that the instructions contained in this despatch were not acted upon ; and that fur- ther insfruclions to the paine etiect were again dc?eniied necessary nearly seven years alter : Copy of a Despatch from Lord Buthunl tu M>Jur Ge- neral i>ir Peregrine Maillund. Downing Stheet, July 20;. il, 1825. Sir, — I have recoivcil bis Majesty's commamis to ilaect that you do from time to tiiije, with the advice of the Executive CauilcTt for the atlairs of the Province of Upjier Camida, constitute and ei'ect wilhin every Township Ol parish whicl now is, or helealler may be formed, coiistitut-.dor erec;ed within the said Province, one or more Parsonage or Rectoiy, or Piosounges or llectories, according to thecstablishment of theCliurch of England ; and that you do from lime to time, by an instrument under the Great Seal of the Province, endow every such Uectory or Parsonage with so much, orsiich pnrts of the land so allotted and appropriated as alore- said, in respect of any lands within such Township or Parish, which shall have been granted subsequently to the commencement of a certain Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, passed in the thiity-first year of the reign of His late .Majesty, King George III, intituled &e., &:c., or of such lands as may have been allotted and appropriated fjr the same purpose by, or in virtue of any instruction which may have been given by His said lale majesty belore the commencement of the said Act, as you shall with the advice of the said Executive Council. judj;e 10 be expedient under the existing cir- tutnstances ol such Town>hip or Parish. Vou shall also present to every such Par-onage or Rectory, an incumUnt or minister ol the Church of Eiigla.iil, who shall have been duly ordained accoiding to the rites of the said Chuich, and supply from time to time such vacand^s as may happen therein. I have, Sic, [Signed] BATHURST. On this now cast?, or rather the old case sup- plemented by an injrenious after-tliouglit of Dr. Sliachan, the law ollicers of the Crown — .]. Dod- soii. J. Campbell, and R. I\I. Rolfe— decided, Jan. 2S, 18."^8, reversing their previous decision : Isr. That the Governor and Council could lawfully e tablish Rectories. 2,.d. That Lo'd Godcrich's Despath of 5lh April. IS32,tlid not ronler the requisite authority toercct and endow Red ries. 3rd. That notwithstanding this, the Rectories estab- lished by Sir John CoUxirne were lawful. 4th. We are of opinion that the Reclursof the Par- ishes so erected and endowed, have the same ecclesias- tical authtiiity within their respective limits as are vested in the Rector of a Parish in England. ' Much as has been said, and justly too, of the ; selfishness of the High ('huroh party we confess i our greatest surprise is not that Rectories were » created in 1836, but that they were uot created eighteen years sooner. The long delay is proof that the Oligarchy were not wholly insensible to the ilnineiice of public oiinion. All the Execu- tive Councillors were nii:li Churchmen, with the single exception of Mr.~naby,\Vtlt) belonged »o the Roman Catholic communion, but who favored the scheme of establishing Church of England Rectories. Yet for eighteen yeiirs did the euc- cessive Governors and their Council disobey the positive instructions of the Imperial Goveniraent to create and endow Rectories in couiiectioii with the Churcliot England, in every towuslip through- out Upper Canaila. In Nov. 18'-2.'), shoitly alter the receij.t of tiio last iustructions from Loid Hathurtt on the subject of Rectaiies, the active Triumvi- rate of Sir P. JMaitlai.d's Counsel, Chief Justice Campbell, the Hon. Jas Baby ami Dr. Straclian, drew up a Report on the .'-ubject to Govemui Maithmd : referring t.) Lord Blllhur^l^s instruc- tions, they recommended the division of the Pro- vince into parishes, with all pos^sible despatch, " not only because it appears nece.-.-ary before the " new system of land gratiling goes into opera- " tion, which implies such division to have pre- " viously taken place, but as giving a religious " character to the country." In the details of the scheme some dilliculty aroi-e, all the townships not being of equal dimensions ; though in the esti- mation of Dr. Straclian and his collcagties the smallest of tliem were too large for one Parish; and the question was into how many ought tticy be divided. A large class of the townships po- sessed Reserves to the extent of 9,800 acres. These it was proposed to divide into two pa- ishes, and the Reterves belonging them into three equal proportions, of which two were to be assigned as endowments of a Parsonage to each of the two parishes ; the remaimiig third to be held by the Clergy Corporation for general puqioses. .'V similar distribution was proposed for Pari.-lies of other dimensions. Notwithstanding the de- cision of the law othcers of the Crown that the Church of Scotland mi^ht be allowed to share in the Reserves, this scheme proposed to secure the monojwiy of the whole estate to the Church of England. The third of the estate not to be assign- ed as endowmuits, was to be disposed of for the purpose of creating a fund applicable to the maintenance of Epi.«copaliaii Clergymen, till the eiulowments became pnnluctivo. The endow- ments were to he managed by the Clergy Corpo- rations till a.ssumed by the incumbi'nts. A wholesale system of pluralities was to Ih3 esta- blisheii, the two Parishes of each township to be conferied on one incumbent, at first ; by which armni,'emeiit he would have In-come the pos.s«'s9or of t),H(K) acres: capable of being ilivided into sixty- six farms of ItX) acres each. In each parish he was to be retjuireil to perform duty on Sundays, except in cases where he should think i)roper to relievo himself of the duty. It was to be m the choice of the minister to take hLs .salary from the fund accruing from .-.ales, or to take posession of tlie endowment, .it .iny time when he might think proper. The abrogation of tiie plurality system was to take place wheu tlie enuownu'nt 34 The HisTouy and presekt position assigned to each Rectory would yield a suflicient separate maiiiteiiauce, which, in the estiinatiun of the Tiiumvirate, seemed to be about £330 a year. The plurality system would not have ended with the existin;^ generation, for the in- cumbent of the two [»arishes was to be at liberty to grant leases for three lives or twenty-one years : in some places the leasing miglit not even yet have commenced. On thei?e recommendations Sir P. IMaitlaiid did not venture to act ; iinscrnpulous a?^ was his seo- \ taridnism,antl undisguised ;is was his partisanship. iHe doul)tless dieadei! tiie etlecls of the proposed imeasuie; and iIk lefore shrank from the respon- bibility of carrying it into execution. The instructions of Lord Bathurst proposed a scheme more darin;r and comprehensive tlian that which liad been submiiled to the Imperial Gov- ernment in 182-1 ; (see chapter 3,) at the sugges- tion ot INIailland the latter scheme had been pro- posed : but when it came to the test, he wlio planned extensive schemes of Ejiiscopalian aggrandizement had not the courage to carry them into ciTect. To come to the second opinion pronounced by the law ofHcersof the Crown. Into the strictly legal qncstion we do not propose to enter. In- deed the question is not so much one of law as of public morality ; and in its discussion the ques- tion of Imperial miod faith is involved. 01 the legal opinion of the law officers of the Crown we may remark that it is wojth a little less than that of any other three sound lawyers, unconnected with the Goverumenl, and feeling no undue inte- rest in llie possible result of their decision. A question, which we do not discuss, has been raised as lo whether the instructions of Lord Bath- urst vyonid not become void with the death of the reigning Sovereign * of the time when they were issued. There mu^^t of course be eome limit to Hie time when such instructions cease to be ope- rative ; and there may be much iorce in the argument lo which we allude. The death of the Sovereign cancels all commissions; and by analogy, might be supposed to render void ail instructidiis similar to those under consideration. It miylit also be made a qu-istion whether the instnictious of one Imperial Cabinet, in a case of this kind, be binding on its successor, which may desire to adopt' a diam -trically opposite policy; niid consequently whether the instruc- lions of Lord Batl.nist did not become void on a change of the Imperial Ministry. But these questions are no: lelarent to the present case ; and for this reason : Since \Si5, the drJe of the las! '"s^i" of 7nslriiclio7is, the Imperial fi'ovemmcnl had avowedly changed i's entire policy vi.'h respect to the Jirservcs. By its instructions bills had been mlrnduced into the Legislatures of Upper and Lower Canatia for le-inveslinii the lands in the Crown, absolutely, discharged of all trusts. In December, 1835, Lord Glenelg declared his * Laiors oft'ac Hon. "Wm. Morris, to Dr. Strachan. adherence to the new policy of the Imperial Covernment, which was (ii>t propounded in 1S31. This was only about thirty days \n\oT to the cre- ation of the Rectories. 'J'he change of policy, on the part of'the Imperial (iovernmeiit, must in the nature of thii.'gs have been tantamount to a sj^eci- fic cancelling of Lord Bathurst's previous instruc- tions ; for two courses of policy, each directly opposed to the other, could not exist simultane- ouely. This w.as evidently the opinion of Sir John Colborne's Council, when the Rectories were created ; or the minute of council would not have leferred to Lord Godericli's despatch of April, 1S32, as sole authority for the act. That despatch the law othcers of the Crown, in their second dtcisiim^ pronounced not sulJicient authority for the creation of Rectories. Where, then, is the aulliority? Dr. Strachan fell back on the old instructions of Lord Bathurst, which could have had force only anterior to the atloplion of a policy which had been officially piomulirated for five years, and re-asserted only one montli previous to the creation of the Rectories. We do not overlook that on the announcement of a change in the Imperial policy with respect to the reserves, in 1831, the right of the Impeiial Government to authorize the creation of rectories was intended to be specially reserved. But it was intended to secularize the reserves, without which the existing rectoiy endowments could not have been made. The reserving of that right might have contemplated the case of rectories to be endowed with private propertj'. The 57 rec- tories furnish one example of this kind. In the endowment of the existing rectories lands have been used, which the success of the measure of 1831 would have placed beyond llie reach of gov- ernment for that purpose. Althougli that measuFe had not been carried, the policy wliich dictated it had not been abaiuloneii ; and it wouKl begrosslj' inconsistent, if not an act of bad faith, for the Imperial Government to profess an anxiety to di- vert these laiuls from a particular purpose ; to in- vite the Colonial Legislatures to pass bills for elTecting that object, and then, |)endinir the su«- cessful action of those legislatures, to turn round and authorize an irresponsible executive to apply them, or a portion of them, lo the very purpose from which that identical government had ex- pressed a desire that they should be forever alien- ated. So that the endowment of the rectoiies with the reserves was clearly inconsistent with the measure of 1831. The Rectories had been created without the knowledge or concurrence of the Imperial Gov- ernment of the day ; and its predecessor had, throuah Lord Goderich, volunteered a solemn pledge in the mo-t pnhlie and oflicial manner, that no corporations, " literary or otherwist>," should be endowed " until His IMajesty should '* obtain the advice of his Canadinn subjects for his "auiilance in this respect." It is not pretended that any advice was given by the representatives of the Canadian people to endow rectories. It was notorious that all their feelings, legislation, or THE CLCRGV RESERVES. 55 addresfes, and advice were in the opposite direc- tion. Yet, in defiance of that promise, and \Tilh a full knowledge of the feelin^^s of the people and their representatives, on the subject, rectories were crealeil and endowoil. How, then, could charity itself avoid the imputation of bad faith? Of sullied Imperial honor ? On this supposition only : that the rectories wero created without au- iho.ily from Loid Goderich. And this sui)posi- tious is the actual case. Tho revocation of the unauthori/eil act was re(jnired not only by tho temper of the people and tho dictates of sound policy, but also for the vindication of Imperial honor and good faith. Although the act was ex- clusively that of the local government ; yet, un- less it were disavowed, the Imperial Govermnont must be held responsible for it ; lor the moment the Imperial Government sanctioned by its silent acijuiesence the usurpation of its powers by the local executive, it made itself a parly to all tho consequences of that usurpation. That the Im- perial Government did incur this responsibility admits of noilenial. When Lord Glenelg suggested that the rectory endowments should be ralitied, irrespective of the legality of their origin, and in connection with a general echeme of sectarian corruption, he was not unaware of the character of the Par- liament which the unscrupulous and unconslilu- tional efforts of Sir Francis Bond Heat! had called into existence.* It ajipeared a. fitting insti ument for the work he wished accomplished. Under his directions^ attempts wete made (with what suc- cess will appear in the next chapter,) to carry a measure fordistributin^ the Reserves among such of the religious denommalionsas were deemed of sullicieut importance to render their admission to a share an act of State policy. But if the legality of the rectorieswas not to bo legaided; the submilling of tlie question to the Law ofhcers of the Crown was an act of official trilling, without aim, object, justification or excuse. Lord Gleuelg substituted his own personal inclinations for justice and right, in allowing the lapse of lime, since the parties came into possession of the lands to disincline him to disturb that possession. If this princi- ple were to be applied to the administration of criminal justice ; if it were generally admitted that time can conseciate wrong antl give a char- acter of legality to fraudulent possession ; every principle of justice would be banished from ihe courts. Let us recapitulate. We have shown that the rectories were created without the concurrence or the knowledge of the ImperialCiovernment of tho lime; that the authority given by the inir.utc of Council eslablishing them was not suliicient • Sir Francis in a despatch to Lord Glenelg unwit- tingly admits the charges of partisanship, and at the same time acknowledges the effV-cl of the creation of the rectories: he says, " the feeling which the endow- " ment of these rectories created throughi>ut the Pro- '• vince was one of the many difiiculties I hail to con- " tend against during the late elections." to warrant the act predicntcd upon it ; that the proceiling Imperial (Jovernment hm' not only not authorizeil the creation of rectories, but pledged its faith not to create any unless advised to do so by the representatives of the Canadian people; and that no such advice had ever been "iven • that six years subsequent to the ilate of tlie in- structions last given by Loid B.iihurst to create rectories, the entire policy of tiie Imperial Gov- ernment with respect to the Reserves had been reversed ; that the new policy was siill a«Jtled by the Committee ** That it is expiidient to provide lor the fale ol tiie | " Clergy Reserves, and llie application of the pro- ; '< ceeds to the purp(»ses of general education, as " one of the most lejritimate ways of giving free i " acope to the progress of religious truth in the "community." Hut the eflort was fruitless : elo- ! quence wasted on a house composed of such materials as the recent elections had brought to- gether. The amendment was lost by a vote of 34 against 1'2; and the original resolution was carried, on a division, by 35 against 21. The resolution was communicated to the Legislative Council tor their concurrence. They requested a conference with the House on the subject, and appointed Messrs. Crooks and Macaulay for that puq>ose. To this request the House acceded and appointed Messrs Draper, Chisholm and Gowan to confer with the Committee ot" the Council. The object of the Council in desiring this conference was to explain their objection to the term "moral instruction'' in the resolution of the Assembly: they dreaded that the House intended some- thing more tlian a s?ctarian application of t le revetmes ; but tiiL'y were satisfied on leaininir that a specific measure of appropri- ation to exclusively sjclarian purposes was intended. The scheme of division was intro- duced into the Assembly : it pmposed to embrace the Church of Eng.and, the Presbyterians in con- nection with the Church of Scotland, the United Synod of Upper Canada, the Roman Catholics, the British and Canadian Methodists, and the Baptists. It was also proposed, in accor- dance witli Lord Glene' c's sui^gestion to com- plete the rectory }^«te it.s ; to sell the re- serves and divide the interest arisiui,' from the proceeds when the census should have been completed. The Solicitor General move*! for leave to bring in a bill for cairyiug this scheme into effect ; to wtiich Dr. lioiph, seconded by Mr. Gibson, niov<-d in ameiniment to add tlie fol- lowing worcU : " and that the consideration of the "same he post|)on.jd till ae.xt session;" which which was carriiMl on a .>>te of 21 against 20. Sir Francis Bond Head tiankly admited that, tinding he would have t ) encounter a feeling which he could not liopo to contiol, ho thought it prudent to abai;doa the attempt. He now re- solved ujwn a nteasuie (■ r re-investing the lamls in the Crown. The prej riali>ts to a previous- reply to a like application in which the legality of their claim had l>een disiinctly admitted. Sir Fnincis Bond Head led Canada on the 23rd of March 18:i8; bequeathing the settlement of the question to his successors ; though the House to which his unconstitutional exertions had given birth wa.s dasiincd to carry a measure embdying a scheme of division. Lonl Glenelg did not al>andon the i«lea of dis- tributing the revenues among tlie dilferi'iit sects.. It was now (Dec. 26, 1837j that ne laid it down, as a principle " that the contribution* of the state- " towards the support of the dillerent christiarv "communions should be regulated by the extent " of the voluntary efforts wliich the members of " each made for the same general end." Thi» 38 THE HISTORV AND PRESENT POJITIOK y'.tai had been in operation in ^e\v Suutli Wales. Loivl (jleiielg had become prejudiced in its lavor; but when the principle \v;uj brought to a division i:j the A;>flenib!y in 18;J!>, only 6 voted tor and 37 against it. The United Synod of tlie Piesbytorian Church * not utinaturally regrxrded lire pro])j>al to divide the Reserves revenues witii njore lavor than llie other body of Presbyterians. They liad no le«ial chiinito prefer: on the contrary, tlu-ir only cliance lay in the scramble of division. 'J'hey addressed a memorial to the King. (June "23, Ib'-H) in which for the tirst time, so lar as appears, they express- ed a willingness to rest satisLied wilii the appro- priation of tlie lauils to education and public wn- provtimeiits ; but if there was to be a denornina- lional division they claimed an ecpial share with I'le lest of their fellow subjects. Keasonable as such a proposition may look, its olFect was to invest Willi greater favor, in the eyes of the mana- gers in Downing Street, the plan of division. Loid Glenelg had no reply to make, but to refer to his previous instructions on the subject. The " mildness" of this memorial drew I'oitli the approbation of the Church of England iJishop of Toronto ; and of praise from such a ipiarter the United Synod of the Presbyterian Church some- what osteiilatiously showed its piide. in another memorial (May 1, 1838) they showed how valua- ble wore their political sei vices, by assuring Her Maje.sly that not a siugle member of their congre- gations, scattered thouyh they were over the whole Province, had been fouiul in arms against t!ie goverument during the rebellion, oi biought under a chari^e of sedition or high treason. Alter describing the devoteil loyalty which caused their people to rush to the posts of danger, in the depths of a Canadian winter, to quel! an " uncalled-for, <' wicked and unnatural rebellion," and of the services they had rendered in upholding liiitish supremacy agah.st republicanism, they modestly ask for an augmentation of the grant they receiv- ed from goverument, in anticipation of the distri- bution of the Reserves revenues among tlie sects. It might be some time before that question was decided ; and in the meantime seven of their rainisters, who had recently joined the Synod, were receiving no government allowance. Lord Glenelg (Sept. 5, IS'iS) lauded the loyalty of tlie petitio.iers; but with many regrets .'.ssureil lliem that thjy must remain content with the amount of t!;e grant they already received pending the adjustment of the Reserves question ; and tried • This denomination must not be confounded with the United Presbyterian Clairch. The latter body r.ev r 8>u;;ht assistance fiom tiie governinenf ; but vere under all circumstances true to the voluntary principle. Whenever, in these pa^es, reference is made to the Presbyterians not in connection with the Church o( Scotland, it must be undi-rstood to mean the old United Presbyterians, which, with the excejition of two Ministers, merged in the Church of Scotland some years a^o, and not the United Pre.-byterians of the present day. The two parties wore totally distinct ; though from the similarity of their nanus iheie is great d wiger of confouiiding them. to console them with the hope that so desirable a consummation was neaier than they supposed. Sir licorge Arthur who acceded to the post of r/ieutenant Governor of Up^KT Canada on the •23rd of Marcli, 1838, had already resolved, on the meeting of Parliament, to cause a bill to be intro- duced lor re-invcsting the Reserves in the Crown for denominational purposes. In the last Session, that of 1837-38, an attempt had been made to re-iuve;l the Reserves in the Crown for sectarian puqwses, and although there was a majority in favour of that course, tlie bill introduced for llie purpose was not pushed to a tinal reailing. A bill was first introduced by Mr. Caitwright to re-invest the lands in the Crown, foi denominational purposes; it was read a second time, and passed through the Committee of the whole. The question lor receiving the Reix>rt of the Committee was carried by a vote of 21t against 12. The bill was dropped, how ever ; and the house having gone into Committee on that part of the journals ol the previous Session which related to the select Committee on the RestMves, report- ed a resolution in favour of selling the lands and devoting the proceed?, with those of tlie portion already sold, lo " the support and maintenance of " the christian religion." Mr. liykert moved in amendment that tiie proceetls l>e paid into the hands of the Rec'r-Gen'l, to be appropriated, from time to time, to such purjwses as the I..egislature should direct ; wliich was lost, on a division, by a vote of 25 against 13. Another amendment pro- poseil by Mr. Merritt, to appropriate the proceeds of 25,000 acres of llie Reserves lo the support of District Grauimer Schools, was lost by oue vote, there being 18 for and 19 against it. Tlie original resloution was carried by a majority of lour, the vote being 21 against 17. A bill, founded on the resolution, was introduced ; but it never came to a second reading. The burthening of the casual and territorial revenue with llie sum of £7,295 forreliirious pur- poses was too much for even this high Tory Par- liament. They addressed the Qneen to transfer the charge to the Reserves revemie. This blow at Lord Goderich's scheme foi bribing into ac- quiescence with his plans for aggrandising the Church of England, was only a kick at a dead lion. I^ord Glenelg replied (May 25, 1838) that the charge should be transferreil as the income from the Reseives increased ; but that an imme- diate tiansfei of the whole would occasion a very great deticiency in the amount applicable to the support of those ministers who were paid out of the casual and territorial revenue. The division on Dr. Rolph's motion, on the occasion of his memorable speech, was the first defeat the voluntaries met in the popular branch of the Upper C.niada Legislature, on the question of seculai ising the protestant clergy lanus; and it shows the importance of electing members whose principles are explicitly avowed on that point, and in whase avowals conlidenco may safely be placed. The sli.itagi;ms of Sir Prancis BonJ Head had procured the return of a Parlia- or THJC CLKRCV KEcJUlVBS. 39 ment, which, notwithstanding the professions of rcfuim by n>:inv of its niLMulvrs in tlitir doubtful tncipiency at ttie j>olls, pri)Vfd rccnurit to the ;rrf:il and equitubk' piii;ci|ile of voluiitaiyisin. Nay. there were not waiitinix instances of palpa- b eaiui uublu>hiut» treachery; of direct viohttioiis of liustin^' promises to vote for tlic secularization ot the Keserves. Ihit These proini>;es came from rnen,who (Vom prejuilice or interest, had hitherto cherished atiti-voUinlary pentiments, and who, now niadt* them for the sole piirixise of securini; their return, and witli the preineditut'-d intention of breaking tliem. in his private letters to his brother, I^ord Sydenhrtm de-cril-ed as the ean^e of the rebellitiii, the ili.>^*ontent that irrew out of the non-settleme!it ofthi-^ (|westion ; and althouj!;h we think he fell into the c«niinon error of atlribnt- iiiir important events to a sin-rle cause, when tliere are many causes, the go<"ial evils which Jiave resulti'd from the systematic attempt to es- tablish, in cotmectiou with t!ie st.ate, a (lominant llhnrch, iu this Province, have been of srreat and luiqtiestioiiable rnairnitude. Many political ques- tions have received an ecclesiastical taint ; anil of all others ecclesiastical questions are discussed with greatest rancour and bitterness. Of all the injurious etleets.of the system of sectional ecclesiastical ascendency which attempts have been made to establish in this Province, perhaps the greatest is the morose and anti-social temper of the public mind which has been induced. In- teresteil persons had always sought to impress on the Imperial government the idea that the reserves con«tituted the only etficient breakwater against the tide of republicanism that washes our southern frontier; but history will tell that through the popular discontents to which they gave rise, Uiese reservations, if they we«! not the sole cause of the rebellion, have constituted the greatest source of animosity and distrust against the im- perial (iovernment, and immensely weakened Its moral inlluence in the Province. CHAPTEEXI- TIk? Rpi*copa}innii rail for a jiulicial ttion — Sir (.ico. Artliur remnrmrndu to fiirliii- incDl a srriari.in (ji\i~i)n of the flf vfrrifs. and in iJie e^eut <»r he faj!iir« uf lliui pr )|ni.siii(in :!io rc- invcatiiig of tLo luaJs iji ibe crowu — Otijioiiiiion to the w.licinc of divi^tion in ll'.e liuiisc — \'nryii]g Muccetaof iho I)ivi!>iurii>>ts and N'oliinturio.'j — Tlir nm- jority fluetiiaiing fi\>m one *iJi) to the oilier and hack jigaiu— l)i-'int;rnt!. Ariliur — Tlip Imprnnl (juvrnimrnt di«c<»v ro-imniferof tlic ri^ht of dii|i(wing of l!ie Rr«crve« to the (nipprii! Parlinmotjt and di^:illu\v» llic Pill — G<>\ern>ir General Tliuiupvoii revives tin- sr.Screc of I>ivisi)n, and carrici a bill fur tliai pnr- \»>se — I'rflniifnl Agii.-)(:iiii — liaporUiat adini>iii<>ii< of tlio Governor General. The fears of the Epis«opalians berame alai ined m the prospect of the d.-feit of their mon(>poly claim, through a threatened distribution ot" the revenues among seveial ol the larirer ilenomina- rions. That claim wus Huaiti ur;jed by the Epis- (•opdian clergy in a niemoiial (Oct. 8, 1838) to L»rd (ilenelg, Colonial Secrelaiy. Tliey also prayed for a jud.iciul decision of the quention enher by the Judges of Kngland or the Judicial committee of the Privy Council ; or, if this should be refused that an act mi,;ht be passed by ibe Provincial Leijislatnie re-investing the lands in the crown lor Iho support of a Piuteslant Clergy, accoiding to the spiiit and intention of the Con- slitnlional Act. Tins latter alternative went upon the iL-^sumption that the Piovincial Legislature was tlie mere creature of the Colonial otlice, and nut the r<'pre.«enlative of the Canadian peo- ple to wliom it owed its e.xibteiice. Lord (ih;iielg rcpli- d with resolute ami impatient conciseness, thai Ihn Al.ije>ty'8 Government had no r ason to doubt the coi redness of the opinion on the sub- ject delivered, in 1819, by the Law Ollicers ot the Clown, aiul dit of national bles- " sings, and have augmenied the hopes of the "enemies of the country in proportion as they *' have created division among its defenders." The speech admitted the importance of suffering no delay in the settlement of the question. Br.t this appearance of ingonuon«nce? was in fatal op- positie proposed : or by the alternative whirh proposeer Canada. 'I'lie number was stated ill the title of tlie petition at eighiy-siv thousaiui live hundretl; though llie leii.-usot that year placeil the entire luimber of Catholics, iu tiie Upper Province, at only fi.rty-llir< e thousand and iwenly-nine ; a di.-scre{)aiR"y lor whirh the admitted inaerur.icy of tire census cannot ful- ly account. One ground on wliich the petition- ers based their claim was their foibearance to exercise (heir riijht to collect tylhes fiom their own people in the Upper Pfovince. The tytlies which they claimed to have a riiiht to collect aie not a tenth but a twenty-sixth part of the grain. The memorialists claimed that theirs was the esta- blished religion of the province: this, together with their loyalty and military services, were the other grounds on which they lested their claims to pecuniary assistance. The Synod of the Church ol Scotland was silent except on the .sub- ject of the clauses of the Constitutional Act which authorized the creation of rectories ; and for the repeal of which they petitioned the legislature; but certain members of that denomination claimed that their Church sliould be admitted to a '* full " participation with the Church of England in all •' the bentits arising from the Reserves ;" a style cf treating the cjuestion which implied an objec- :ion to the proposal to include other Churches among the recipients of the Revenues. Two members of the Legishitive Council, Dr. Strachan and the Hon. J. S. Macaulay, entered on the journals their protest against the bill, alleging that the measure was subversive of the lorm of government existiii" in the Province, '* iiiiismuch as an otablished church is part and ♦' parcel of the Constitution of Cieat Ihitain." Sir (Jeorge .Vrthur attempted to deceive (he Imperial Government nito the belief that thi5 measure would satisfy the Province; provided the contemplated action of the Imperial Parlia- ment did Hot ciuitine the di.>tributie paid to the Receiver General to form a Kyiui, out of which were to be paid, on warrants from the Ciuverncjr, all stipends and allowances that had previously been a.ssigned te the Clergy of the Churches of Kngland and Scotland,'or to any other religiousdenoininations,in the Frovince,aml to which the faith of the Govern- ment was said to be pledged, during the lives of the recipients. Until the aiuiual fund became suflicient to meet these charges, the dt^ficiency was to be paid out of the casual and territorial le- venue ; but when it should have so increaj^ed as to exceed the amount of these several stipends and allowances, and after they should have been discharged, one half of the fund was to go to the Churches of Englantl and Scotland — the latter to include the United Synod of Upper Canaila — to be divided between these Churches according to their re8j>ective numbers. The residue of the annual fund Mas to be divided among the other denominations of Cliristians, accoiding to their respective numbers, to be ascertained by a cen- sus to be taken every four years. Such was the scheme of division c::rned under the management of Poulett Thompson. In pro- posing to sadiile the ca>ual and territorial revenue, for a time, with charges for sectarian purposes, the Assembly stultified itself: only two years previously it had addressed the Queen praying to be relieved from like charges on that reve- nue. This bill failed to satisfy even those to whom it assigned the largest share of the funds — the Episcopalians. The Bishop of Toronto start- ed an agitation against the bill, while it was be- fore Parliament In a circular to the clergy of his diocese, the bishop said of the bill, ''It be- *' gins with depriving the national Church of near- *' ly three-fourths of her acknowledged property, ** and then, as it would seem in mockery and de- *' lision, offers her back a portion of her own, so *' trifling that it would be totally insufficient to " maintain her jwesent establishment." In addi- tion to this, the bill was described in the circular as " endangering the cause of Protestantism," ;uid tiainpling on the faith of the Imperial Gov- ernment. A severe rebuke to this prelatical agi- tation was administered by the (Governor (Jeneral, who declaied that ** whatever may be the success ** of the Bishop of Toronto in procuring signatures •' to petitions, the opinions which his Lordship " holds upon the Clergy Reserve Hill are not ** shared by the great majority of the cominnni- •' cants of the Church of England." Lord John Russell also expressed hLs surprise *< that the *< Bishop of Toronto sliould see fit to engage in « this species of agitation. The recorded opui- *< ions of his Lordship, as to the injury to society *e of re-establishing nanquility within this Province, even should it remain under a separate Government; but to establish the I'nion without a set- tlement of it, and to transfer t/te derision to the United Legislature, would be to add to the r.ources of discord which iilnady unhappily prevnil iv the Louer Province an entinly new clement (f strife ; for amongst the va- rious evils by which Lower Conu'la ha- been visited one, undone only. — perhaps the greatest if all, — has ban wanting, — religious dissension.' or TirE CKERCY RESEnvES. 43 CHAPTEE XII. Tlie Ojiinions of t!ie F.ngluli Jiultfs— l^onl John Rus- sell desires the coiit'irmtitiun of ihe .Sydi'iiham Hill — The Hi.shops demaud for the C'luircli of Kiiglund more fuvorable tcrmfi, whii-li lliey diciiite lo the Im- perial Uovcrniueiit — The Imperial Bill ; ill injustice. The nrrival in England of tlie Upper Canada Clergy Kescrves Bill of 18 U), became the occa- sion of the mast extiaofiiinary teigivorsation on the part of the Imperial Cabinet. Tlie previous denials of Lord (Ileneig and Lmd Jnhn I^ul action taken by the Imperial Cabinet on the Sytleiiham bill was to obtain tlie opinions npon it, and also upon the general question of the reserves incluiling the extent of the power ov»r ihem constitutionally vested in the Provincial Le- gislature, of the judges of England. Tiie result of this appeal to the Bench of judges was to give lo the question in some respects an entirely new as- pect ; ami certainly on one point — the extent of the jurisdiction over the Reserves possessed by the Canadian Legidatures — the opinions pro- nounced weie such as had never previously been conceived either by the Imperial Governnient or those Legislatures themselves: they had not en- tered tl'.e imagination of Bathurst or suggested themselves to the mind of any Canadian Gover- nor, anxious as most of them had been to serve the cause of the sectaries, and especially of the Episcopalians. The following is a copy of the Opinions of the Judges on the Questions pro- pounded to them on the 13th of April, IMO. (Delivered by the Lord Chief Justice of the Couit of Common Pleas.) >Iv Lords, — On the Part of Tier Majesty's Judges I have the Honour to rcjircscnt to Your Lordships that all the Judges ofEnglantl, with the Exception of Lord Den- inan and Lord Abingcr, have met together in Ser- jeant's Inn, fur the pur|>ose of taking into Considera- lion the sever.il Questions which yiuir Lonlships have heen pleased to propose to iis ; and that after Discus- g.ion upon the Sul>ject, and Deliberation, we have agreed, unanimously, upon the Answers to be return- ed to tho.'»e several (.Questions, as follows: — In answer to the First Question, we are all of o|iin- i on that the words "a Protestant Clergy ' in the Statute 31 Geo. III. c. 31. are large enough to include, and that tht-y do include, other Clergj' than those of the Church of Kngland, and Protestant Itishops, Priests, ami Deacons", who have received Episcopal Ordination. For those Word.ear to u.=^ both iu their natural force and meaning, and still more from tlx; Context of the Clauses in which they arc found, to be there used to designate and intend a Clergy o\>- posed in doctrine and discipline of the Clerg}* of the Church of Rome, and rather to aim at the en- courapeniciU of the Protestant religion in opposition lo the Romish Church, than to i>oint exclusively to the Clerg^v of the Church of England. And nlthongli the Legislature, in passing the Statute '{Ist Geo. III., appears to have had in its view the establishment of the Ciiurch of Kn[rlanil, primarily, nnd in a more especial and imnu-diate manner, as is evi(lcnt from thi«, that the only detailed provisions for carrying the object of the Act into elleet are confined to the erection and endowment of parsonages and rectories according to the Establishment of the Church of England, t!ie presenting thereto incninl)ent or .Minis- ters of the Church of Kngland duly onlained accord- ing to the Rites of tlie said (.'luireli, and the subject- ing of them to all Spiritual and Kn-h.-siastical Juris diction and authoritv, according to the Laws and Canon? of the Church of Eii'^land which are lawfully made and received in England (.Sections 3S, 39, 40, of the said Act ;) yet does it appear to u?;, that tl>e Legislature, by employing the more general and com- prehensive term "Protestant Clergy" in the same Statute in which they also use the Exiiression " in- cumbents or Ministers of the Church of England,' must be intended to have included within the form<^r and larger expression otiicr Clergy l)eside those who are comprised within the limit of the latter. And when your Lord-ships desire the Judges to state, if any other Clergy are included, what other? we answer, that it appears to us that the Clergy of the Established Church of Scotland do constitute one instance of such other Protestant Clergy. For by the Act of Union of the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland it is made a fundamental arti- cle of such I'nion, '•th.it the true Protestant Religioa ''as then professed within the Kingdom of Scotland, '■ with the Worship, Discipline, and Goverimiont of " the Church, should be cirectually and unalterably "secured within the Kiiigdom of Scotland." And when a subsequent Act of the " British " Legislature, relating to the Governni'Mit, Laws, and Religion of .-i '' British " Colony, acquired by conquest since the Union, and forming Pnrt of the Dominions of the "British" Crown, employ-', with reference to that Colony, the Terms "a Protestant Clergy," there be- ing no words in the Statute which necessarily restrain and limit the meaning of t!ie expres.^ion, we think it must be held to include t!io Clergy of the Protestant Church established in Sc )tland ; and we feel our- selves omfimied in this opinion by observing that on several occasions the precise expression is to be found in the Statute Book, " the Clergy of the Estab- lished Church of Scotland." The AH (Jeo. IH. c. 138. ir. its very Title mentions " the Clergy of Scotland. ' In the 50 Geo. III. c. «4. '• tlx" rights and interests of Ibe Clergy of Scotland '" are nqa-atedly spoken of; and in the 5 (!eo. IV'. c. 72. s. 7. a Reference will be found lo several Acts of Parlianirnl which make mention of the " Poor Clergy of the Established Church of bcot- land." And although in an.«wer;-ig your Lordships' qties- tion we specify no other Church than the Protestant Church of Scotland, we do not thereby intend that be- sides that Church the Ministers of other ChurclM-8 may not be included under tie term " Protestant Cler- gv-." At the same time, in we do not find on the .Sta- tute Book tlK* Acknowledgnvnt by the Legislature of any otlicr Clergy answering th.at description, and a.s we are not furnished by vour Lonlsliips with any infoniiation as to the doctrine or discipline of any other denominations of Protestants to whicli ilie Statute of Uic 31st Geo. HI. can by possibility apply, we are unable to sjieeify any other to your Lordssbips as falling within the Statute 44 TIIR HISTORY AND PRESENT POSITION My Lonls,— In answer to the Question sccondlj' put U> u», we arc all of ojiiuion tluit the effect of the forly- tirst Section of tlie Statii(e is prospective only, and ll.at llie power therein' given to the Legislative C'oiin- cil and Assembly of either of the Provinces cannot b.' extended to affect Lands which have been already allotted and approiiriated under former tJrants; for tlie luaiiifest import of the IV.rty-lirst Section apjKiars to us to be limited to this, mimely, ''the varying or ■^repealing the Provisions respecting the allotment ' "and ai>pro|)rlation of Lands," and not to compre- hend •' the varying or repealing allotments or appro- '•prialions which have been already made under pro- •• visions of the Act, whilst such Provisions continued •' unrepealed and in full force." The provisions of the Statute of Wills might be varied or repealed without aOecting the devises of Land already made under it My Lord?,— In answer to the question lastly pro- posed, we all agree in the opinion that the Legisla- tive Co.incil and Assembly (if the Province of Upper Canada have exceeded their authority in passing the Act "to jirovide for the sjile of the (Hergy Reserves, " and for the distribution of the proceeds thereof." in respect of " both " the enactment-s specified in your Lordships question. As to to the enactment " that " it should be lawful for the CJovernor, by and with " the advice of the Executive Council, to .sell, alienate, "and convey in Fee Simple all or any of the Clergy *• Reserves," we have, in answer to the second ques- tion, already stated our opinion to be such, as that it is inconsistent with any such jiower in the Colonial Legislature; and as to the cnactuieut "that the pro- "cceds of all past Sjiles of such Reserves, which have "been or may be invested under the authority of the " Act of the Imperial Parliament passed in the 7 & **8 Geo. IV. for a\ithorizing the Sale of part of the " Clergy Reser\-es in the Provinces of Ui)per and "Lower Canada, shall be subject to such orders and "directions as the Governor in Council shall make "and establish for investing in Juiy securities within " the Province of Upper Canada the amount now '^funded in England, together with tlie proceeds '• hereafter to be received from the Sales of all or any "of the said Reserves," we think such an enactment is in its terms inconsistent with and contradictory to the provisions of the Statute of the Imperial Parlia- ment 7 ife 8 Geo. IV., and therefore void, there being no express authority reserved by that Act to the Colonial Legislature to repeal the Provisions of such latter Statute. In these opinion.? of the jiulges two points are comprehended. Fir.-it, that the Reserves were not intended exclusively for the Church of En-j;land ; but that the Church of Scotland had a riylit to .share them ; and tliat althoniih other Churches mi^'ht be in- cludeil, the judges were unable to specify any. Secondly, tliat the Provincial Legislature has no power to dispose either of the lands or the funds arising from the .sale thereof. As to the lirst point, it is very loo.sely put ; the probleniatic-al style of expression ailop'ed leaving liie question just wheie it was before. It cannot be denied that to the Imperial Government, when it proposed legislation on the doubtful point, this was a very convenient latitude. The case was precisely in that equivocal state that left nainisters the discretion of acting as they should see fit, so far as the legal aspect of it was con- cerned ; and had no question of expediency or state policy suggcbted it. of its provision^, binding on another nation, when both had been parties to it; adoption, and both ecjually bound to obey all its provisions. The bad faith of one of the parties to such an enaagemen; would release the other from all obligations in re.spect to it. So it is with the opinions of the judijes on this ques- tion. They are either binding on both the Pio- vincial and the Imperial Legislatures, or they are binding on neither. If in any one point they are contravened by the one, they can no longer be held to impose any obligation on the otiier. The Imperial Government — as we shall after- wards see — by contravening the opinions of the judges so far as to admit the Roman Catiiolics to share — and on moral grounds such admission would be justifiable if any divisioit could be, which we deny— in the reserves revenues. How then can tliese opinion.*, in other respects, after this, be held binding on llie Canadian Legislature ? A judicial ilecision of which the Imperial Gov- ernment should claim all the advantages of tlie violation, and subject us to all the disadvantages of its observance, would become an instrument of gross injustice. The conclusion is inevitable that, in consequence of the confravt^ntion, in one poift, of this judicial decision, we are morally releolicy, in treating it as non-existent. We .should then stand on the same ground, in respect of legisla five juiisdiition, that we kad always previously occuniixl. That ground was the conceded right of Provincial legislation over the question. Wheth- er the subsequent ai'tion of our Legislature has placed the (piestion in any ditrerenl position is another matter. The first intention of Loul John Russell seera^ to have been to sanction tlie Upper Canada bill of or THB CLItRGT n^SEftVjfd. 40 ISIO. When the Union bill was iiiulor coiisidf- ration in the House of Cummons, the debate branched out so as to embrace tlie general aJfairs of the Province : tlie following views were elicit- ed ou the subject of tlie S) Jenhaju bill : " Lord John Russell sniil in roforcncc to the U. Cana- da bill that it was likely to give general satisfaction. There could be no doubt that a strong feeling existed on tills subject iu Canada, su much so that the par- tial insurrecliou which took place in 1337, had Wen ascribed by many persons far more to the excitement prevailing on this <|ue.>;l.ion than to any wish to throw ott" allegience U) the Crowu. There were various feelings on the subject, but they were all united against the application of the Clergy Reserves exclu- sively to the support of the Church of England. '■.Mr. Ilume said the noble lord was mistaken in supposing that the Clergy Reserves liill, obuiined from a packed I'arliament, would settle discontent in Canada. The question ought to have been left for the United Legislature. All the bloodshed and dilli- culty in Canada would have liecn spai-ed if Lord Gleuelg had listeneed to those who could have laid the real state of the colony before him. lUit there was a principle at work at the Colonial Cttice which Mr. Hume declared it impossible for him in any way to explaiiL "riir Robert Inglis [the champion of the High Church party] protested against Mr. Hume's propo- sition to allow the Assembly to settle the Clergy Reserves question, which they had nothing whatever to do with. The land was not their property, but belonged to the Church. He objected to the measure therefore as being founded ou the greatest injustice. •'Sir Robert Peel begged to ask Lord John Russell what was proposed with respect to the Clergy Reserves in Lower Canada, and the noble lord replied they would be dealt with by the United Legislature, sub- ject to the Act of 1791, but he believed an Act of the British Parliament would be requisite to transfer to Canada that part of the fund invested in England." But Lord Jolin Ru.ssell foniul liim.self at the mercy of the Archbishop of Canterbury ar.d the bishop of London ; and wa.-? compelled to accept such terms as ihey cho.se to dirlale. The result was the di.-^allowance of the Hill passed by the Upper Canada Legislature, and the substitution for it of another which became law, and is now in force. The AnnuiU Rvgisttr for IH 10 contains the following inroiuialion reialive lo the passing of the Bill anil the terms dictated by the Bisliops lo the Im[)enal (juvernmeut : ♦lributioii of the proceetis of the sales, the Archbishop of Cantebury and the Bishop of London, who were empowered by law to act for the Colonial Church in iheise matters, showed their willingness lo facilitate liie settlement of the question by the ces.sion of a part of the rights to which under the act of 17yi they considered themselves entitled. And the proposition of the primate to LordJohn Rus- sel on the subject was tlms .stated : * That as re- ' ^ards the one-foutth already .sold, and the pro- ♦ceeds of which were vesteil in this country, ' the whole anioiuit should be considered as bc- ' longing to the Churches of England atid Scot- ' land III the proportion of two to one, and o( ' the remaining lhr«;e-f«jurllis, one half should be 'considered as belonging to the Churches of * England and Scotland in the pro|M)rtion of 'two to one, and with regard to the other half of 'the three-fourths, the pr<;lalesat the head of the ' English Church would be willing lo listen to 'such a proposition as the government on con- ' sideration miglit suggest.' Lord John Russell .slated ou a subseijueiit occa.sion that ho proposed to leave this half of the thiee-fourths lo the disposal ot the Governor General of Ca- nada and ihe Executive Council for the purpose of religious worship and education." Here was a humiliating position for a govern- ment to be placeil in ! Loril John Russell wai? desirous lo coiilirm the Upper Caiiaila bill of 184ft; and .state'd his belief " that it would u;ive general satisfaction." In the previous year he had pro- nounced unconstuitional the re-lransh'r of the riglit of disposing of the reserves lo the Imperial Parliament. Ou this point he might indeed plead in excuse the ailverse opinions of ihe judges ; but even on that supposition Her Majesty's govern- ment mu.sl plead guilty of lamentabh' ignorance as to the law of the c;ise. The real diliicully was however that the SyileJham bill did not {)lease the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, who resolved to obtain more favour- able terms for the Church of England. Tliey presented their proposal to Lord John Ru.s.sell and the minister found himself compelled to .succumb. The following is a copy of the Imperial Act thus passed at the dictation of the English Bishops : A.V.NO TEUTIO i QUAUTO. V I C T R I yE R E G I N .1^ . CAP. I.XXVUI. ^n ^Jct I') proviilc for the Salr of the Cleri^y Rescrccs in the Prueiiire of Canada, ami for the distribution of the proceeds thereof [1th ^]ugii.<:l, 18-10.] Whereas it is exjM dient to provide for the final disposition of the Liuids called Clergy Reserves in Canada, and for tlie appro|irialion of tiie yearly in- come arising or to arise tln'refroni, for the muinto- nance of religion and the advancement of cliristinn knowledge within the said pKjvince ; be it enacted by the (jueen's most Excellent Majesty, by and v. ith the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual ami Temporal, and Commons, in the present Parliament ad.sei\ibled, and by the authority of the same, That after the passing of this act it shall be lawful for the Governor of the Province of Canaila, by and with the advice of his Executive Council, and under such regidatir>ns as may be by him friMn time to time in Council establi.shed in that Iw-hnif, and approved by the yueen in (.'ouncil, to sell, grant, alienate, and convey in Fee Simjile all or any ot' the ."^aid Clcrgj' Rercrvrs : Provided nevertbeles.*, that the quantity of the said Clergy Reserves so to l)c sold as aforesaid in one year shall not in the whole exceed one hundred thousand acres, \\ ithout tlie previous approbalioa in 46 TlIK HISTOnV AND PRESENT POSITION vrritin» of one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State. IT. Arnl be itcnacterl, That the proceeds of all past sales of siuh Reserves \v hich have been or shall be invested under the authority of an act jwissed in the Kif^hth year of tlie reign of King CJeor^ the Fourth, intituled .-in ^ct to aut'iorise the snl: of part of the derqy licscrvcit in the Provinces of Upper and Ixtwer Cantultu shall be subject to such orders as the Gover- nor in I'ouncil shall make for investing, either in Some Public Funds in tiic Province of ranad;i, secured on the Consolidated Fund of the said Prov- ince, or in the Public Funds of (Sreat Britain and Ireland, the amount now funded inKufr'.and, together with tiie ]>r(iceeds heieafter to be received from the Sales of all or any of the said Reserve?, or any ]iart thereof: Pi'ovided alwjiy.-;, that the necessary ex|ieusc8 of such sales sluiU be borne and defrayed out of the first monies received therefrom. III. And be it enacted, That the interest and divi- dends accruinii upon such investments of thejiroceeds of all Clcrpy Reserves sold or to be sold, and also the interest to accrue tipon Sales on credit of Clerjry Re- serves, and all rents arising from Clergy Reserves that have been or may be demised for any term of years, shall be paid to the Receiver General of the Province of Canada, or such other Person as shall be appointed to receive the Public Revenues of the said Province, and shall tofrether form an annual Fund fur the ])urposes hereinaftei- mentioned, and shall be paid by him from time to time in discharge of any warrant or warrants which shall from time to time be issued by the Governor, in pursuance of the provisions of this act; that is to say,) in the first place, to satisfy all such annua] stijicnds and alio war. ccs as have been heretofore assigned and given to the clergj- of the churches of England and Scotland, or to any other religious bodies or denominations of christians in Canada, and to which the Faith of the CrowTi is l)ledged, during the natural lives or incumbencies of the parties now receiving the same : Provided always that until the annual Fund so to be created and de- posited with the Receiver General shall sufiice to meet the above-mentioned stipends and alh)wances, the same, or so much thereof as the said Fund may Ijc insutliclent to meet, siiall be defrayed out of the casual and territorial revenue of the Crown in the Province of Canada. IV. And be it euactel. That a.^ soon a:^ the said Fund shall exceed the amount of the seve.'-.il stipends ami allowance's aforesaid, and subject always to the prior satisfaction and payment of sanif, the said annual Fund shall be appropriated as follows : (that is to say,) the net interest and dividends accruing upon the inveslnuuts of the proceeds of all sales of such Re<;erves s 'Id under the authority of the befVu'c-recited art of the Kiglith Year of the Reign nf King George the Fotirth iaid to and received by any clergyman of either the said Ciiurches of Knglaiul or Scotland shall be taken, as fiW Ao the same will go, a« a part of the Sliare accru- ing to each Church respectively by virtueof thi3iiCt ; (that is to say,) the stipends and allowances to any clergyman of tiie Church of England, as part of tiie share accruing to the Church of ?>nglanends and allowances. V. And be it enacted, That the Share allotted and apiTOpriated to each ol the said Churches shall be expended for the support and niaiiiKnarKe of public worship and the propagatimi of religious knowledge, the Share of tlie said Church of Kuglaiid being so expended under the authority of the "Society for tl»e Propagation of the (Jospel in Foreign Part-J, " and the share of the said Church of Scotland under the authority cf a Board of nine Commissioners, to IjC elected by the Synod or Synods of the Presbyterian Church of Canada in connexion with the Church of Scotland, under such regulations as sliall be from time to time established by the Governor of Canada, with the Advice of Ids Executive Council. IV. And Ijc it enacted. That the Sh.ire of each of the said Churches shall be paid by the Receiver Gen- eral or other Person appointed as af )resaid in dis- charge of any warrant or warrants which shall from time to time be issued by the Gjvernor of the said Province in favour of the Treasurer or other Utficer who shall be respectively appointed to receive the same by the said Society on behalf of the said church of England, and by the said Commissioners on behalf of the said Church of Scotland. Vn. And be it enacted, That, subject to tbe fore- going provisions, the residue of the said annual Fund shall be applied by the Governor of Canadiu w ith tlie advice of the Executive Council for purposes of pub- lic worship and religious instruction in Canada. YIII. And be it enacted. That the Receiver General or other person appointed as aforesaid to receive the interest and dividends accruing from the investment of the proceeds of all Clergy Reserves sold or to be sold shall, on or before the Fifteenth Day of -January in every year, deliver to the Governot* a ccrlilicate in writing under his hand of the net amount which in that jear will be applicable to the several churclKJS of England and Scotland out of the said Fund under the lirovisious of this Act; and whenever the sum mentioned iu any such certificate to be ai>idicable to the Church of England in Upper Canada shall l.>c less than seven thousand seven hundred i>ound?, or the sum mentioned in the certificate to be applica- ble to tlie Church of Scotlaiul in Upper Canada shall be less than one thousand five hundred and eighty pounds, the deficiency in each case shall be made good out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Irelantl, and shall be charged thereupon at the Quarter Day next ensuing the n>ceipt of such certificate at the Treasury; and the Lord High Treasurer, or three or more Commis- sionei-s of Iler .Majesty's Tnsvsury of the United Kinj:- dom (if (Jreat Britain and Ireland, shall be authorized by their warrant to direct tlie issue of the sums needed to supply such deficiency in the following manner: (that is to say.) such sum as shall be need- ed to supply the de'iciency of the saiil sum of seven thousand seven hundred pounds to such person <>r persons as shall be appointed to receive the same ly or Trie cLKRuv REssnyKf. the Society fur the Propajjation of tlie Oosi'cl in I Koreijfn Hiirls, aiul such sum as siuill l>e nocilL-d to .■iupply the (iel.L-iency of tlie (■n'ld sum of one thi)us;vml , live Uun;hty poimils to such peijoii or IH-Tdon.-! as sluill be appointed to reeeive the sjanie by auy writing under the huuds of any tltree or ! more of the Couiuiisdioncrs under \vho.-=e aulluirity ' the Share of tlie Chureh of Scothiud in to h-j expand- ed a'' aforesaid ; and all sums so paid out of the Con- solidated Fund shall be severally applied, under the authority of the said Society and of the last nuiition- ed Coninii-sioner rejpeclividy, for the -support and uisintennneo ot public worsliip and the I'rojiagation of iltligious Knowledge in each of the said e'..urche3 iu Canada. i IX. And bo it enacted, That accounts of the Ex- ; ponditurc of every sum of money so to be received I out of tlie said annual Fund, or out of the ('onsolida- i ted Fund of the United Kingdom of Great Brilaiu and : liel.^nd. by the said Churches of Kngland and Scot- i laud, or by any other religious bod\ or duuomiualioa i of Christians respectively, \inder the authority of Ihid i act, shall bo, on or before the twenlielh day July iu | each year, rendered to the Governor of the said I'ro- | rince in Council ; and that until such accounts shall have been rendered, and the due and projMjr Expcn- ' diture of the sum granted during any i)reccding year 1 shall have l>ecn established to the satisfaction of the j Governor of the said Province in Council, no other j or further sum or proportion of the said annual Fund ; .^iiall bo paid or allowed to any or either of the Church- i OS, Keligiou.'! hodie?, or denominations of (Christians failing, no'jclecting, or refusing to render such account, or to verify the sumo as aforesaid ; and tl.at copies of such accounts shall annually be laid before the Legis- lainro of the said Province. X. And bo it enacted. That whenever there shall apjioar to the Governor of the said Province in Council sufficient reason to apprehend that there has been any misajipropriation or non-appropriation of any sum or sums of money paiil to auy of the said Churcliop, Roligious bodies, or denominations of christians, out of the said annual Fund, or any ncg- U'Ct or abuse in the expenditure or management of any such sum or sums, upon direction for that pur- pose given by the Governor, it shall be lawful for the Attorney General to apply summarily, either by Pe- tition, or Information to or in the Court of Chancery in Upper Canada, or to any one of the Sui»erior Courts of Record in Lower Canada, selling fjrth the nature of the abuse apprehended, and praying Disco- very and relief in the Premise.^, as the nature of the case may require. XI. And he it enacted. That from and after the pAS!4in$c of this act, so much of an net passed in the Twenty-tirsl year of the Reign of King George the Tljird, intitid"d, '' .\n net to rei)eal cerlain parts of an art passed in the 14th year of His Majislys Reign, intituled, " .\n act for making more effectual provis- ion for the (tovernnieut of Province of Quel)ec in Norllj Auierica, and to make further provision for the Governnuat of the Province," as relates to any Re- servations of Land hereafter to l)e made in Upper or Lower Canada for the suppurtand maintenance of a Protestant Clergj-, shall Ix: repealed. XII. And be it enacted. That in this Act the words " Provinci' of Canada," shall bo takon to mean the Province of Cana-la as constituted under an act pasied in this Sossion of Parliament, intitule*!, An Bet to rc-unite the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada and for the Oovemmont of (hinada ; and the word " Govirnor " shall be taken to meai\ and include tl>e Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or otiier pcraou administering the Government of the Province of Canada. XIH. And Iw it enacted. That this Act may I)C amended or re[>ealed by any .\ct to be pass>-d in thid Session of Parliament, In the passing of this Ad llie Rishops seriircd urealer advantages for llie Church ot En;;lanil than tlie Upper Canuila bill iiail civeii. They jrnirieti nn ailvaiitay;e nol only over the ('luircli of Scolland, but also over the other reeipionl deno- minations. Under ihe Sydenham bill ihe Church- es of England and Si-olland weie nol secured the revenue fiom the funded proceeds ol all past .<er Canada Census of 1839, which staled the num- bers of the Chuich of England at 79,751, and those of the Presbyterians at 78,383, without dis- tinguishing from the Church of Scotland and tlie United Synod of Upper Canada the United Pres- byteiians, the aggregate number.sof the tliree de- nominations being about equal lo those of the Church of England. Had tlie Free Church seces- sion been forseen, the Sydenham bill would not have been quite so obnoxious to ihe English bisliops ; for in proportion as the numbers of the Church of Scotland were reduced so much the greater would have been the share of l!ie Episco- palians on a plan of division which proceeded upon the respective numbers of the two bodies. But notwithstanding the realized continijency of a disiuption in the Church of Scotland, the .•scheme of the bishops uriilonbtedly sccnrrs to the Church of England a larger share than they would have obtained under the Sydt^diam bill. Rut ereii that Bill, as well as the one that was substituteil for it, was grossly unjust in the basis of distribu- tion it pro[X).«ed. The numbers of the two church- es of England and Scotland united were only about one third of the entire populaiion.* The census for 1839 gave the following a.s ihe num- • This is in Tpper Canada. In Lower Canada the Churches of England and Scotland comprise a lit- tle over one-tenth of the entire population, the num- l)ers being, in 1»44, ('hurchcs uf England and Scot- hind, 7o,',J20 ; entire population, G78,4tK). 48 THE HISTO&Y AND PRESENT POSITION bersoflhe diflerent lienomiiiations in Upper Ca- nada : — Cliurch of Enpliind 79,751 Methodists of nil tlcnominati )ii3 61,088 PiTsln-lcriiin.-; do 78,38:i Iloinim Catholics 43,020 Baptists of all denominations 12,908 Miscellaneous 22,80<> No Profession 34,7t;G Total 333,783 Deficieacy as compared with the entire population 67,558 400,340 If we ilo'luct from the aggregate numbers of i I'resbyleiians the (leiiominatioii which has no { coniieclioii witli the Church of Scollaml. and wliich has always refused pecuniary assistance from the Slate, tlie lunnbeis of the Churches of Knghind and Scnthiiid combined will be reduced to a little over 130,000 or one third of the entire popu- lation; and yet to lhc>e two churches tlie Imperial Act of 1840 assigns the interest on the pio<;eed3 ol all the reserves sold previous to that date — about one-lourth of tiie whole — and one half of the inte.est on the proceetls of those sold since IS40 : in other words, these two churches coin- pnfiing about one third of the population, at the time of tlie papsin>r of the Imperial Bill, were afinigned nearly three-fourths of the Clergy Reserves revenue. If we exten 1 our analy- sis to the year 1850, the result will be about the same. Tlie census of that year thus gives the denrminalioiial statistics for Upper Canada: Methodists 147,758 r.aptists 31,195 Church of Scotland 63,792 Free Church and Secession 07,224 Church of Home 130,150 (Mnirch of Enprland 182,023 Iititliera.n3 10,292 Quakers .... 6,279 IndejHjudenls 5,824 l.'nitariuus and Universalists 3,538 ■Jews 262 Other Creeds 19,607 No Fixed Religion 43,251 I'naccountcd for 58,043 Total 799,847 The Churches of England and Scotland, taken together, number only 246,115, wliich is less than one-third of the whole population, while they receive nearly three-fourths of all tlie reserves revenue. We are at a loss to understand on wiiat grounds any p.irty i;an justify tlie present atrangemeiit. Cjrlaiiily not on those "generally assumed by the High Church party ; for if the Church of England iiad been entitled to the whole of the property, on what principle have others been admitted to a share ? If we assume as cor- rect, the opinion of the law olficers of llie Crown that the term " Protestant Clergy " includes no other than the Clorgy of the Churches of England and Scotland, the same question recurs. And if the principle of division be justifiable on any grounds, the basis of it ought to be equality among the difTerent denominations ; each receiv- ing in projwrtion to its immbers. But we go far- thrr : we deny the possible justice of any deno- minational division of these revenues ; and were this not the case we should deny the ivvpediency of such a distribution. The various religious denominations are not agreed as the propriety of receiving pecuniary assistance Irom the state: some leluse from conscientious inoiives to accept such assistance : these number a lai;^e proportion of the entire population. State favors to the others, who hold liilferent views, aie at the ex- pense of these ; and hence the injustice of the policy which grants such favors. Hut were there no injustice as between the difTerwut denomina- tions, the inexpediency of such tiraiits would be sulTicienl to condemn them. For the State to take the priesthood into its paj' is to destroy the independence of the church ;ind corrupt its min- isters. The Church ceases to be an independent power: for while it leans for support upon the Slate it must bo»v to lire dictation of the same power. The only good feature of the Imperial Act is that it prevents anymore leserves being made. Perhaps the worst feature connected with the passing of the Imperial Bill of I8i0 is the demon- stration of a predomineiit sacerdotal influence that overruled the deliberate decisions of the British ministry ; foreshadowing, as it does, the more than possible re-oxerlion of that iiiHuence when the ([uestion asjain comes before tlie Imperial Parliament. That there is nothing to fear fiom this source we dare not persuade ourselves; and we cannot contemplate without the profoundest emotions of apprehension and alarm the possible results to the Empire of a reckless prelatical in- terference in this question, which for a quarter of a century has been the source of an acrimonious and unceasing agitation in the Province. CHAPTER XIIT. Aggressive movement of the Kpiscopalinns repulsed by a Tory House — £1,800 for all comers — Movement* in the House — Uupute a.s to tlie mode to lie ixloptrd in opening up the (]uef)tion — The present iK>siUon of the queaiion. Some tune olai^SiHl before the cancelling of the Sydenham bill, and the substitution of an Impe- rial Act, pasfwnl at the dictation of tlie Bishops, became geiicially known in Canada. By that largo proixrttiiMt n{ the Canadian pofMilation who belong to neither of the favoured church- es the snbterfuge was coiulemnod ; and io 18-11 the agitation directed against the Impe- rial Act with a view to the sectihirization of the lands liad become popular with the Reform parly. The Epist'opalians tiKik tlie alarm, ancl^ m IS-lti, they petitioned the Legislature to inve>l or THE CLEBGT RESKRTCS. 49 in the Church Society the management of a por- tion of the Reserves equal to that to the proceeds of which they were entitleil by the Imperial Act. A proposition in harmony with the prayer of the episcopuliaii petitions was iiitrocluceu iiitolhe As- sembly by Mr. H. SherwiKxi, who stated that the Church Society wi-re willin;^ to abandon their desire to lease the lundu, und bind themselves to effect a sale of the portion of which they claimed the management, under certain restrictions to be imposed by the government, and within a given terra of years; but no such conditions or restric- tions were contained in the address which ho proposed for the adoption of the House. But even m this Tory Assembly, Mr. Sherwmxl's proposi- tion was rejected by a vote of 37 against 11. * This is the upshot of a movement that com- menced in 1841. In that year a committee of the House of Assembly reportetl in favour of franlina; the Episcopalian demand. Sir Charles lelcalle backed that recommendatioa in des- patches to the Imperial Government. Lord Stanley, who was then Colonial Secretary, list- ened wiiliout reluctance to the proposition. In February, 1846, he directed Earl Catlicart to inquire into several matleis connected witli the management of the reserves ; and, if his opinion should be adverse to that of Sir Charles Metcalfe, he was required to report to the colo- nial otfice the reasons on which it was founded. An alteration was required to be inatle in the Act of Union; and, if it were decided to grant the demand of the Episcopalians, it vvas the intention of Lord Stanley to bring both questions under the consideration of the Imperial Parliament at the same time. The despatch of Lord Stanley was brought under the consideration of the Provincial Executive Council ; this being one of the cases which Sir Charles Metcalfe considered of " ade- quate importance " to be submitted to their judgment. In April, 1846, a minute of council was adopted, recommending the stoppage of the sales of Clergy Reserves, on the ground of their alleged undervaluation, by the commissioners appointed for that purpose in 1843. A circular was sent to the Crown Land ai^ents in the several districts of the Province, ordering them to " sus- pend " all sales of Clergy Reserves. The cir- cular gave as the rea.sons that had influenced the Provincial Executive to take this course, the • The following; is the division on the amendment for getting rid of Mr. Sherwood's motion : — Ykkb, — Messrs. Baldwin, Boutillicr, Canchon, Cha- bot, Chanvoftu, Christie, Cumminp?, Daly, Dp-iaunirr, PeWitt, Dnimmond, Oowan, (Tuiilet, Hall, Jejsnn, Lafontaine, Laterriere, Le!>lie, M. Monro, Kobinson, Sherwood, (Kruckvillc,) Sherwood (Toronto,) Watts.— 14. alleged undervaluatioa of the lands, and the re- ceipt of a desp;itcli frtmi the Imperial Govern- ment. Strange to say, the head ot the Provincial Cabinet, when inteirogated on the subject in the House of Assembly, denied that any such des- patch had been received ; thus discrediting one of the statements given in the circular of the Crown Lands Departmerit of the reasons that had induced the Executive to '* suspend" the sales. The truth is, both statements were incorrect. There had been received a despatch from Lord Stanley, dated February 28, 1846; although Mr. Draper ventured to deny its existence. But that despatch did not, as t^e circular had intimated, aultiori/e a stoppage of the sales. On the con- trary, it inbtrucled Earl Catlicart to suggest in what way it would be possible to increase the annual amount of the sales beyond the legal maximum of 100,000 acres a-year ; and the Pro- vincial Executive were required, in adjusting the quantity to be sold, to exercise a discretionary power. It is but too evident that the stoppage of the sales was made with the view of furtherinjj the scheme of tlie Episcopalians for getting the lands into their possession ; and, failing that, by a:i increase of the price of the lands they would be able to augment the annual amount payable to that denomination. The price of the lands waa raiseil ; and, in many instances, it was alleged, in violation of the conditions on which settlers had entered on them. The increase amounted to from 25 to 125 per cent, on the valuation placed on them by commissioners specially appointed in 1843 to appraise the lands. The government, how- ever, had not the courage to attempt to carry into effect what they most desired— the vesting of the lands in religious corporations. The}- would not assume the resj^nsibility of advising Eail Cath- cart to recommend to the Imperial Government an alteration of the Act of 18-10 for that purpose. Earl Cathcait had the manliness not to be misled by the report of the committee of Assembly of 1844, as It had not been ailopted by the house; and to assure Lord Stanley that a very strong feeling existed against the proposed disposition of the lands. Thus euded the first attempt of the Episcopa- lians to disturb the present '' settlement ;" and its failure shows how hopeless are the chances of the High Church party tocarryout an aggressive policy in respect to the Reserves. On this occasion Alessrs. Baldwin and Price allowed themselves to be betrayed into an .idmission that the Impe- rial Act should be reganled ao a final settlement of the question ; an admission which has subse- quently been used by the High Church party aa •jvidence that the L pper Canada Liberals were originally satistied with the condition.s of the Imi)erial Act of 1810. But it is obvious that no such incidental admisbiou could be regarded as an exposition of the views of the political party of which the.se gentlemen were meml>ers ; much less can they be supposed, at this day, to impose any obligations on those who are now or may heri>after be, entrusted with the exercise of polit ical power, in the Cabinet or the Legislature. 50 THE HISTORY AND PRESENT POSITION The one-half of the proceeds of the Reserves 8okl uiulur the Act of 1840, to bs distributed by iJie "ovemor in council for the "purposes oi pub- lic worship and religious instiucliori," had accu- mulated till, in January 1S48, it reached £1,800 currency. On the 19th of that month a notice ap- peared HI the Otficial Gazette that any leligious body in Upper Canada desirous of receiving a share of this fund were to make application to that eflect to the Clerk of the Exective Council, before the first of July then next ensuing. The applicants were required to state whether they uitended to apply the share that might be alloca- ted to them to the purposes of religious vvorship or religious instruction, aiui also to state, as near as possible, the number of persons belonging to their communion. The only two Churches that responded to tliis invitation were the Wesleyan Methodist and the Roman Catholic. The Wes- leyan Methodist Conference referred to their ex- clusion from participation in the Reserves reve- nues in the language of complaint, contrasting the extent and usefulness of the labours of their Church with those of the denominations who were in the enjoyment of those revenues. The three objects to which they intended to apply the share that mi-'ht be alloted to them were thus stated by the conference. " The relief of distressed Church- " es, and Parsonages, and the theological instruc- '^ tion of young men who have been recommended, " examined and received as candidates for the *' christian ministry." Angus McDonell in his application on behalf of the Roman Catholics, slated that it w^as their intention to apply their share towards the free education of young men in the College of Regiopolis. Individual applications were made by persons belonging to other Churches. These comprised a Moravian Minister of New Fairfield or Moraviantown, Lu- therans of the villages of Preston and Waterloo, Lutherans of the townships of Woolwich and Wellesley, Lutherans of the Eastern District, Ministers, Elders, and Trustees of the Free Church of Ramsay, Free Church congregation ol Berwick, Elders and visiting Committee of the joint congregation [what Church is not stated] of South Gower, Oxford and Mountain, congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, Belly ma- ville. Minister of Presbyterian Church of Cana- ada, Blainviile. Three Churches sent to the Sovernraent protests against the application of the loserves revenues to sectarian purposes, and stat- ed their refusal to become participants. Thtse were, the Baptist union of Canada, who asked to have their snare applied to the support of the Normal School; the United Presbyterian Synod, who sut^'TCSted that the revenues ought to be ap- plied to the support of the Common School edu- cation; and the Methodist Episcopal Church, who pointed to Common Schotil education or gome general purposes as the proper mode of ap- plying the funds. At the general election of 1847-8, the seculari- zation of the Reserves was, in the majority of cases, rather implied than openly demandecf by the constituents, and specifically promised to be advocated by the candidates. A greater promi- nence was given to a very subordinate, though an imix>rtant question — University Reform ; but spe- cihc pledges by candidates on any question were almoftt unknown. In the i>ession of 1849, a motion was made in the Assembly, to refer to a Select Committee a certain petition praying that all constitutional means might be taken to obtain the repeal of the Imperial Act. The views of ministers as to the mode of dealing with the question were then for the first time elicited. Mr. Price said he held it to be 'Mhe duly of the government to settle the " question, but it could not be settled by the " House : all that could be done was to negotiate " with the Home Government." He opposed the appointment of a Committee, To an inciden- tal suggestion that the Committee might further the question by reporting an address to the Im- perial Government, an objection was made on the part ol the ministry, that they were not prepared at that moment, to make any definite movement on the question. Mr. Baldwin said, " This '* question could only be disturbed by the action " of the Imperial Parliament : therefore, those '* who complained that the ministry had not oc- " cupied themselves with this question instead " of other important questions which they had " brought before Parliament, forgot that they " were complaining of the ministry not doing " that which in point of fact they had no power " to do." The motion for a Committee was got rid of by a member moving the previous ques- tion. The Session of 1850 approached. A profound mystery, altogether unaccountable, hung over the conduct and intentions of the government in respect to this subject. The cause and the nature of the difficulty that had hitheito prevented their taking action on the subject were alike subjects of conjecture. In the first Session the question had been ignored. But that was a Session of but a month's duration. Besides, the Parliament had been called together soon after the formation of the ministry. There had not been sufficient time for the Government to prepare measures on the great questions. Such were the excuses that allayed the impatience of those whose anxiety was chiefly directed to this question. The refusal to touch it in the second Session, on the plea of not being prepared for any decisive action, shook the faith of many in the intention of the government to grapple with it at all. When the third Session arrived, it could no longer be concealed that the promised negotiaiion with the Imperial Govern- ment had not been opened. The distrusts of the advocates of secularization increased. A few days before the opening of the Session, a public meeting was held in Knox's Church, Toronto, to discuss the question. The meeting was called by a Society which had been organized in Tor- onto, under name of" ITxe Anti-Clergy Reserve Association.'' The preliminary' meetings of the Committee of the Association had discovered the existence of a violent antagonism in the very heart of the association itself, as to the course to or THE CLERGY RESERVES. 51 be taken at the public mee'.iiif;. One sectiun of the Association contcmJeil ihut the government ought to be called upon to make the question a government measure. This the partisans ot the government in the Association strenuously oppo- sed. They also objected to the appearance on tile platform, at the public meetin<;, of a gentle- man who had recently resigned his seat in the Cabinet. On this jxjint also the anlaiiunism waxed warm. The night lor the meeling arri- ved. A consultation was held in tlie basement ot Knox's Church ; but the dilFerenco could not be reconciled Dr. Hums and several other gen- tlemen who hail been named as speakers, refused to go on the platform it the hon. Malcolm Came- rou was to be excluded. One gentleman, how- ever, who held tlie same view, went on the pi .t- form, made a speech and proposed a resolution in the very teeth of the ministerialists, in whose taces blank dismay was depicted. They hail de- fended their objection to admit the retired minis- ter to the platform on the ground that liis appear- ance would give to the movement an anti- ministerial character. During the meeting, something occurred to call Mr. Cameron to the plallorm, which he mounted amid the cheers ol one poition, and marks of disapprobation from another jwrtion of the audience. He denounced with withering efiect the opposition he had en- countered. Retorts were hurled back with impa- tient temper ; till the excitement rose to its height. All this only served to increase the mystery and the distrusts that surrounded the intentions of the government. The third Session of Parliament opened ; and the Royal Speech was silent on the question which of all others most deeply agitatetl men's mimls. Still the situation of the government was not fully known, and the motives of their con- duct were variously interpreted. The Clergy Reserves were not to be made a ministerial tneasure ; but why ? There was the mystery. When tlie Session was about live weeks old, Mr. Price introiiuced a string of 3i resolutions, ill- written and illigically arranired ; and which, having recited the atrtion of the Upper Canatia Legislature on the question from IWi? to 18-tO, thus concluded: 28. "Thftt it is the opinion of this House, that the lepal or constitutional impeflimciits which stood in the wiiy of I'rovinciivl Legislation on this suliject, shouM have l)een removed by an Act of the Iniiierial Parliament, but tlmt the ap|>ro(irialion of Revenues derived from the investment of tlie proceeds of the public lands of (.'anada, by the Imperial Parliament will never cease to cause discontent to Iler Majesty's loyal subjects in this Province. '29. "That this House is of opinion that when all the circurastanrea connected with this question are taken into consideration, no relipious denomination can be held to have such vested intere.'st in the reve- nue derived from the proceeds of the said ClerifV Reserves, a.s shonld prevent furthi'r Legislation with reference to the di.^posal of them, hut this iioiisc is nevertheless of opinion that the claims of existing incumbents, whether of individuals or of religious bodies should b« treated in tho must liberal manner. 30. "That in the opinion of this House the most liberal and e4uital)le mode of settliiig this long agi- tated question, would bo tor the Imperial Parliiinient to pass an Act providing that the annuities miw pay- able to the several deiioininalions of t'hristians re- ceiving the same, shr>uld terminate at some specified time, either ou the demise of parties receiving the same, or at the expiration of a term of years, anil that sutiject to this provision the Proviiuial ParliuniLUt should l»o authorized to a])[)ropriute as in its wisdom it may liiink jjroper, all revenuus derived fmui the present investments, or from those to lie made here- after, whether from the proceeds of future sales or from instalments on those already made. 31. "That it is the o|iini(ui of this House, tlmt an humble Address should be presented to Iler Most gracious Majesty the tjuecn, praying that Uer Majesty will recommend to Parliament a measure for the reiieal of the Imperial Act 3 & 4 Vic. ('hap. 1^\ and for the Canadian Legislature to dispose of the jiro- ceeds of the (Jlorgy Reserve.*, subject to the author- \/Aag the conditions above described." The contradictory views on the question elicited from ministers during the discus.siou ofthe.se res- olutions revealed the cause of ministerial inaction and the reason's for not making it a miiii.slerial question. But anotlier question was raiseil res- pecting the proper mode of proceeding with tho open question ; one party contending that the power constitutionally vested in the Provincial Legislature left open to it no other course of pro- coeditig than by address to the Imperial Parlia- ment, as proposed in the resolutions; another taking the ground that it would be better to pro- ceed to the settlement of the question at once by bill. On the disputed point the introilucer of the resolutions said : " It had been said by some '' peisor.s that the measure linally to settle this '* great question should have been brougiit in by »' the government, and likewise that it should " have been by bill, which would be sent liome '' to receive the Royal Assent, in.stead of an '* address a.sking the Imperial authorities to pa.s.s " such a bill. Hut he had taken his present '< course because he believed it would most efTec- " tually settle the question. It was, indeed, the " only course open to him ; it was the only course " whu h could retrain to Canada the complete " control over the Cleryy Lands which they had " resigned to the Imperial authorities. He " wished to ask whether, when the government '' could not iigree on this question, if he and " tho.se members who agreed with him had re- " sigiied there was a party in the house .strong " enough to force the remaining members of the " government to make this a Cabinet question, " and carry it through. He believed that he '* could answer in the negative." In the course of his speech Mr. Price frequently repeated the insertion, directly oppcseil to the fact, that the Provincial Legislature had surrendered tlie con- trol of the que.stion to the Imperial authorities; relying apparently upon the obscurity in which this [xiint was invwivi.d by the ^x)puiar ignorance on the que.stion. The admission of the impo.ssi- bility of agreement by the government on the question elicited an inquiry of Mr. Price whether E 2 53 THE HISTORY AND FRZSENT POSITIOK he had not, in a published letter, stated that no difference existed between him ami tii> eulleagues on the question; and to \rhicii an afRimative reply served as a full confession of the iiicoriect- ness of theallejjatioaof unanimity. It was by such statements as this that the public had been misled and tlie mystery iiicruasid, as to the in- tentions of the government to the latent moment that concealment was possible. Solicitor General Macdonald put the enquiry: "Did gentlemen " suppose that the British (lovernment would " permit a bill to become law wliich would <' sweep away an Act of the Imperial I'ar- " liament." Mr. Baldwin combatted certain doctrines which had been broached in regard to the disposal of the Reserves. " There seemed " to be an opinion," he said, " out of doors that « this question was to be disposed of by the opin- <' ion of a mere majority. Tnis was a false prin- "ciple in morals and politics. He questioned ■whether the absolute will of a single individual " would not be less desp.)tic than that of a majo- <' rity, if it were held that a majoiity might do « any thing. There must be right and justice as " well as the will of a majority. Nor did he ad- « mit that these lands were the property of the '• people in the serse they were sometimes said " to be, since they had been set apart for a '< particular purpose. There must, he repeated, « be something more than the mere will of the '< majority to justify the interference of Parliament « or the property of no individual would be safe. <' He had no sympathy with these modes of rea- « soning, and he disclaimed being influenced by *' them. The premises were false and all the con- " elusions drawn from them must also be false. « The agitation on this question had been got up ''partly by persons who have conscientious scru- " pies against all religious endowments. For his " part he had no such scruples ; he did not think *' endowments for religious purposes at all objec- '< tionable ; bat he did object to the union of the << Church with the State. Up to the passing of <' the Act of 1840, he had been of opinion that "the revtmues should be devoted to education. « But he felt that ihe Act of 1840 had considera- *< bly altered the position of the question ; and he " did not now feel to decided as to the mode in "wliich the property should be disposed of; and *'■ he was not prepaied to go into the qne.-tion. He " did not howevt'r n-gard the Imperial Act as a *' final settlement, because it did not express the <' opinion of the people of Canada." The Hon. qentleman aI.«o .-tated that tlie government, as a government, hail no ojiinion on the q^,le^tion ; and quoted British precedents to ju.-.tify the n-soit to open questions. On this latter point Mr. Bald- win w.is met by the Hon. H. J. Boulton wlio ein- botlied in an ainendmenl an extract frum the addres.* of Mr. Baldwin, of 1847, that " when an " adviser of the Crown on a great public question '' avowes a scheme which his collesgnes die " not lequi ment, which went on to condemn t!ie violation of this principle of morality by the govenment, was lost on a vote of 11 agaiubt 54. Mr. Lafontaine said t appiove, public liberty and public morality ire that they shf)u!(l separate." The ameiid- '< he was not one of those who considered an Act *' of Parliament as a final settlement ; but there " was a great difference between considering a '* thing not final and lepealing every Act which " embodied the rights of piivate individuals, of " which there was too rnucli now a-days. In his " opinion the granting of the Reserves was a " very injudicious exercise of power; but it had "been done' by those who had the power to do "so; if any iiulividual right.* had been obtained ** by that act, those rights should not be di^tutb- '' ed. He maintained that these endowments " should be held inviolate, and as far as possible *< carried into effect. It the Canadian Legi.sla- " ture were to receive the power of repealing the " Imperial Act, he considered it would then be "their duty to see that the Constitutional Act "should be preserved sacred, and all denomina- " tions admitted to participate equally. He deni- " ed the statement of the Hon. member for Corn- " wall (Hon. J. H. Cameron) that the religious " endowments iu Lower Canada rested on no "surer foundation than the Reserves. Nine- " tenths of those lands were donations from pri- " vate persons, and not from the Crown." The Hon. gentleman objected to the Imperial Act, on the ground that it was passed without the consent of Lower Canada. Hon. M. Cameron concluded a long speech by moving for a select Committee to report a bill for appropriating the Reserves revenues to the purposes of general education. The speeches of Ministers had anticipated this course, and raised objections to it in advance. Mr. Hincks who followed took the same ground as had been occupied by his colleagues on this debatable point. " He admitted that there was a " wide ditlerence in the Cabinet on tlie subject of "the Clergy Reserves ; but it was an utter mis- " repiesentation to charge members with en.iea- " vouring to evade their pledges to the country. "The Ministry weie charged with being rene- " gades and traitors, because they did not choose " to adopt ihe absurd anil unconstitutional measure " sugiresled by those Hon. Members who were "content to treat the question only by the intro- " duction of a bill. These parties were striving " to delude the Reform party by declaring that '* theirs was the only proper mode by which to " bring about a satisfactory settlement.'' Solici- tor General Drummond expressed opinions iu direct opposition to those of Rlr. Lafontaine. He said : "In the case of thesi; lands there was no " donee ; and he looked upon the endowment as " incomplete. He denied that any vested right " had aiisen under these endowments. But even " if there were vested rights, was it not the lirst " duty of the Parliament to preserve the peace of "society? Did there not aiise in all communi- "ties occasions in which the interests of society " required that vested rights should be dis- " turbed ? Who would say that it was wrong la " France when she manumitted all the serfs in the " country in one night? Yet that was an ioter- " ferance with a vested richt. Was it wron? in " Knirland to free the blacks in the We.st Indies? " Was it wronu in the Riitish Parliament to take " from the Bishops of Ireland a small portion of or THE CLERGY RESERVES. 53 " their large income ? Was it wrong in Lord *' Morpeth lo propose to lake an annual sum from "the Irish Cliurch and give it to education ; when ** in many ol the benetiees there were but lew " persons professin^i the religion ot the Church of "England ami in others tioiie ? In the debates '' in llie Eni;Hsh Parliament on that proposal lie *' did not find any one object to it on the ground "that it interfered with a vested ri;'ht." The proposal of Mr. Cameron to proceed uy bill wan negatived by a vote of 13 against 56. Yeas — Messieurs Bell, BouUon of Norfolk, Cameron, of Kent, DeWitt, Fergusson, Holmes, Hall, Hopkins, McConnell, Papinenu, ocott of Bjtown, aud Thomp- son, — 13. Nays — Messieurs Armstrong, Badgley, Attorney General Baldwin, Boulton of Toronto, BoutiUier, ('ameron of Cornwall, Cauchon, Cayley, Chabot, (-hauvean, Christie, Chrysler, Davignou, Uuchesnej, Dumas, Flint, Fortier, Forquin, Cugy, Guillet, Inspec- tor General llincki^, Jobin, Lacoste, Attorney Gene- ral LaFontaine, LaTerriere, Laurin, Lemieai, Solici- tor General Macdonald, Macdonald of Kingston, Sir Allan N. .McNab, Marquis, .McFiirlaud, McLean, Mer- Silt, Methot, -Mongcnais, Morrison, Tulette, Prince, Price, Richards, liobinson, Ross, Sanborn, Sauvageau Scott of Two .Mountains, Seymour, Sherwood of Brock- ville, Sherwood of Toronto, Smith of Durham, Smith of Frontenar, Smith ofWentworth, SterenBon, Tache, Viger, and Wilson, — 5G. Mr. Moirison moved an amendment to the 29th lesolution to the effect that the address should pray for the placin;^ of the Reserves at the uncon- ditional disposal of the Provincial Legislature ; which was lost by a majority of 23 against 42. The 29th resolution was carried by a vote of 36 against 34. Ykas — Messiiurs Attorney General Baldwin, Bell, Burritt, Cartier, Davignon, DcW'ilt, Solicitor Gene- ral Drummund, Duma?, Flint, Fortier, Hall, Inspector Cieneral Hincks, Holmes, Johnson, Lacoste, Lemieui, Lyon, Solicitor General Macdonald, .McConnell, Mac- Farland, Merritt, Mongenais, Morrison, Notnian, Papi- neau. Price, Riciiards, Ross, Sanborn, Savagcau, Scott of Two Mountains, Smith of Durham, Smith ofWent- worth, T.iche, and Thompson, — 3G. Nays — Messieurs Armstrong, Badgley, Boulton of Toronto, Cameron of Cornwall, Cameron of Kent, Cauchon. Cayley, (Miabot, Gugy, (Juillet, Hopkins, Jobin, Attorney General LaFontaine, LaTerrierc, Laurin, Macdonald of Kingston, Sir Allan N. .McNab, McLean, Methot, Polclte, Prince, Robinson, Scott of Bytown, Seymour, Sherwood of Brockville, Sherwood of Toronto, Smith of Frontenac, Stevenson, Viger, aud Wilson,— .14. Tlie 30th resolutioa waa carried by a vote of 40 a:;ai nst 28. Vbas — Messieurs Armstrong, Attorney General Baldwin, Bell, BoutiUier, Biirrilt, Curlier, Cauchon, Chauvcait, Davignon, DeWitt, Solicitor General Drummond, Dumas, Flint, Fortier, Hall, Inspector General Hincks, Holmen, Jobin, Lacoste, ,\ttorney (ieneral LaFontaine, Lemicui. Lyons, Solicitor Gene- ral Macdonald, .McConnell, McP^arland, .Methot, Mon- genai.s, Morrison, Notman, PapiAeiiu, Price, Richards, Ross, Sanborn, Sauvageau, Scott of Two Mountnins, Smith of Durham, Smith of Wcitworth, Tachc, and Thompson, — 40. Nays — Messieurs Badgley, Boulton of Toronto, Cameron of Cornwall, Cameron of Kent, Cayley, Chabot, Christie, Crysler, Duchesnay, Giigy, Guillet, Hopkins, Johnson, LaTerriere, Laurin, .Macdonald of Kingston, Sir Allan -S. ilac.Nab, .McLean, Polette, Robinson, Scotl, of Hytowii, Seymour, Sherwood of Brockville, Sherwood of Toronto, Smith of Fxontenac, Stevenson, and Wilson, — 29. The 31st resolution was carried by a vote of 45 against 23. The address founded on the lesolutions was carried by a vote of 46 against 23. Yeas — Messieurs Baldwin, Bell, BoutiUier, Burritt, Cartier, Chauveau, Davignon, DeWitt, Draramond, Dumas, Fergusson, Flint, Fortier, Fouruier, Forquin, Guillet, Hall, Hincks, Holmes, Jobin, Lacoste, LaFon- taine, Lemieux, Lyon, Macdonald of Glengarry, .Mon- genais, Morrison, Nelson, Notman, Papineau, Polette, Price, Richards, Ross, Sanborn, Sauvageau, Scott of Two .Mountains, Smith of Durham, Smith of Went- worth, Tache, Thompson, and Watts, — 40. Nays— Messieurs Badgley, Boulton of Norfolk, Ca- meron of Kent, Cayley, Chabot, Christie, Chrysler, Dickson, Gugy, Hopkins, McLean, .Meyers, Robinson, Sherwood of Brockville, Sherwood of Toronto, Ste- venson, and Wilson, — -3. The small majority by which the 29th resolu- tion was carried is explained by the fact that the opposition to it comprised two or three parties actuated by the most opposite motives. Among these were all who were opposed to disturbing the Imperial .Act ; and those wno objected to the fetter- ing with present conditions a future Parliament in its disposal of the Reserves, and who, in the vote on Mr. Morrison's amendment, numbered 23. Of those who finally voted against the address seve- ral did bo not because they were opposed to the re-opening of the question ; but on the ground that a bill and not an address would have been the proper mode of proceeding. The great discordance of opinion on the subject, expressed by the ditiereiit Cabinet Ministers explained the mystery that had, for Iwr years and a half, hung over the action of the govern- ment ; but the delay of Mr. Price, for so long a period, to move in the question individually is not explicable on the supposition that he coulcl jxissi- bly have hoped that unanimity in the Cabinet would ever become possible ; and we are driven to seek an explanation of that delay in the desire to throw on a future Parliament the responsibility of grappling with the difhcullies of the question. The constitutionality of passing a bill here to dispose of the question was the subject of much discussion by the piess as well as in the Legisla- ture. It was a singular omission in the argn- meiits of the ministerialists, that they never thnuirht of resting their case on the opinion of the Englisli judges that, at no time, has the Can- adian Legislature been vested with the power to dispose of the reserves. The one ar^'umenl of the opjwnents of a bill was that we cannot repeal an Act of the Imperial Parliament. Without inquiry into the correctness of the general propo- sition, we think there can be no doubt that, applied F. 3 54 THE IflSTORV AND PRESENT POSITIOB to the present case, it was indisputable. But the ohjectiun wan nut ingenuuus. ItdeiiieLl what liad not been aliirined on tlie olher side. As we un- derstand tlie matter, the ailvocales of a bill never asserted anylhuig so absurd as the power of the Canadiajj Parliament to repeal the imperial i»tal- ule. We believe it was never denied by them, that an Act ol the Piovincial Parliament repug- nant to the lmi)erial statute could not become law tdl such Imperial statute sliould have been re- pealed. There were on the records of our Pro- vincial Parliament at least two instances in which bills had been passed thai were repugnant to tlio Act of Union, which is not only an Imperial stat- Tite, but is also the constitution of United Canada. In each of these cases, the Imperial Ciovernment c;-'.used to be introduced into the British Parlia- ment a bill for enabling Her Majesty to assent to the Canadian bill, by repealing so much of the Imperial statute as was repugnant to the bill. But right or wrong, the proposal to pass a bill for the disposal of the Reserves was rejected by the Can- adian Assembly , and it is obvious that, on the supposition that the proposal to introduce a bill suicgested the proper mode of procedure, the set- tlement of the question tliat way, has been greatly embarrassed by the adoption of another course. If. under any circumstances, it would be right to proceed by bill, the time to have done so would have been before the Legislature had committed itself to another and opposite mode of procedure. By the adoption of Mr. Price's resolutions, the Assembly volunteered the admission that the question is beyond our control ; and we are now actually awaiting the fulfilment of a promise on tlie part of Her Majesty's Government that a bill shall be introduced into the Imperial Legislature, at its next Session, for acceding to the prayer of tlie address founded on those resolutions. The intervention of some such casualty as a change of Cabinet in England, which should prevent the fulfilment of Earl (irey's promiw?, would place us in a dififerent position, and, in our opinion, justify the anticipation by our Legislature of the delayed action of the Imperial Parliament. In the despatch of Lord Elgin, (July 19, 1850,) accompanying the Addie.<»8 of the Provincial Legislature to Earl Grey, His Excellency made some observations which have since been the subject of severe animadversions by a portion of the Canadian Press. The following \s the part of the despatch which has been regarded a* sliowing Lord Elgin's leanings on the t*ubject: " I deeply regret the revival of agitation on this subject, of which Lord 8ydenhum tndy observed, thai it had been in Upi>er Giinadii the one all-ab6orl>- iug iind enprosding topic of interest, and for years the principal cause of the discontent and disturbunee which liad arisen, and under uliich the Province had laboured. Tlie intervention of the Imperial Pariia- nient in 1840 vrm doubtless prompted by a desire to settle on terms which shoidd ho eiinitnbie and gener- ally satisfactory, a question which had for so many years distuHK>d the peace of the colony. While the principle, however of an establishment was abandon- ed by the Inijwrial Act 3 & 4 Vic. cha|). IH, which admitted all deaomiaations to share iu the proceeds of the Clergy Reserves, advantages were given by it to the established churches of England and Scotland in the distribution of the funds, which renders theni still object* of envy. This feeling has lpected." The reason for coming to this conclusion is that the question '• i» one .so exclusively aHecting ♦* the people of Canaila, that its decision ought " not to be withtlrawn from the Provincial Lejis- '* lature to which it propeily belongs to regulate •< all matters concerning the domestic interest* of or THE CLCROY RCsKRrrs. 55 " the Province ;" and that Her Majesty's Gor- emmeut <' had the less dit!icully in coming to "this conclu->ioii, because they have observed " with satisfaction that the Assembly in their ad- "(iress, have reco'jjnized the chiims ot lliow now " in the enjoyinenl ot incomes derived, ivom the '* funds reaU/.ed by the sale ot the lands in ijues- " tion, and have not asked, tliat in any alteration "otthe Act of Parliament now in torce, authority " should be given to the Provincial LeijiKlnture " to interfere with the continuance of tnese in- " comes, for the lives of the parties by whom they " are received." In this position stands the question at present. The address of the Canadian I'ailiamenl reached England during the Session of the Imperial Par- liament ot 18.50. No reply was vouclisafed for several months ; and no practical step taken in the Session of 1851. Last Session the Canadian Parliament, at the instance of Mr. Price, took the unusual course of passing an adiliess of thanks to Her Majesty for the gracious reception which their address of the previous Session had met ; and in a despatch of the lllh of July, 18.51, E;irl Grey promised, on tiie part of the Impe- rial Government, that a bill shall be introduc- ed into the British Parliament next Session, to authorize the Canadian Legislature to dispose of the reserves, subject of course to the conditions voluntered in the Price address of 185() : that the existing <' incumbents," as they have been inac- curately styled, shall continue to receive their piesenl emoluments for life. This despatch was not in ruply to the address of last Session, but was written in reference to that of 1850. Should no po- litical accident intervene to prevent the fultihuent of Earl Grey's promise, it is eviilent enough that the Iinpi-rial Bill will secure to the present reci- pients of these revenues a continuance of their present salaries for life ; and it is equally obvious that this restriction, invited though it was by the CanaJian Parliament, will be a source of conten- tion hereafter. A great diversity of opinion ex- ists as to the satisfaction of the claims of the pre."?ent recipients. Some vrould pension them for life ; others for a term of seven years ; while a third class, who totally ileny thee«juilyof their claims, would cut them otf at once. Tlie chances are that one orolherof the latter class will at- tempt, in opposition to the restrictive provisions which the Imperial Bill is sure to contain, to carry out their views respecting the claims of the pre- sent recipients. The views which prevail in otHcial circles in England on the subject of olii- cial teiuire. in the civil aJminixtration, are op- poseii to the removal of a single oliicer, unless for mis«"onduct, without affording him some com- pensation. A few years ago, the fact was staled by Loid John Kusmdl that, durinu the reign of two Sovereiuns, not a single olhcial in any of the colonies, had been removed, unless for misconduct in the discharae of his public duties ; and the rule prescribed by the colonial administi.ilion in Eng- land for the guide of the colonial Government, has uniformly been that no man shall be removed from othce, except for misconduct, without re- ceiving compensation for the loss of ollicial emol- ument. That this rule will l>e applied by the Imperial Legislature, lo ail ecclesiajitics now in receipt of salaries from the Clergy Uescrves re- venue. Earl (irey has already givi-n us to under- stand ; and it may easily be lore seen, Irum the existing diversity of opinion on the question, that this liberality to the lecipients will not give en- tire satisfaction in the Province. Whatever di- tiiculty may result troni the propobilion, wo must not forget that it originated wilii our Legislature in sanclioniiig the conditions voluntered i'l the Price resolutions. But the existence, through another Session, of the present Imperial Cabinet, on whose promise we are relying, iu not guaranteed by any general public confidence, or such an unlaiJiii;r I'aiiia- mentary majority as constitutes tlie u»ual evi- dence of ministerial stability. On the contrary, during the last Session, the government was fre- quently placed in the most peiilous situation, and was once reduced to the necessity of actual resignation. In the very jxjssible contingency of its being superseded by a government formed from the leaders of the opposition, there will be small hope of the promised bill being j)assed by the Imperial Parliament. And, in any case, the opposition of the Bishops in the House of Lords, will have to be met in some way or other. Per- haps it might not be considered a case of sufHci- ent importance to justify tlie creation of new Peers, foi the purpose of neutralizing the ecclesi- astical element in the^ Upper house ; but that statesman who does not see in the decision of the question the future fate of Canada involved, is blind to its real magnitude and importance. Last Session the Hon. J. H. Boulton, revived the proposal, made in the previous Session by the Hon. M. Cameron, to dispose of the question by bill. He proposed to follow the example set in the case of an alteiation of the civil li.st, and to insert in the bill a clause suependiuir its opera- tion till the Imperial Parliament should have taken the necessary action to enable Her Majesty to assent to it. This course was sanctioned by two precedents; and in both cases it had secureil the object desired; but it was now so ill-timed that its rejection by a nearly unanimous vote is not much matter of suri)rise. As we have already remarked, on this point, the proper time to have proposeil this cours<; would have been in the pre- vious Session, before the LegislatMre had »ielibe- rately resolved not to anticipate the action of the Imperial Parliament, ami when the {|ue»tion was unembarrassed by the admission, volunteered in the Pi ice address, that it had been placed beyond Provincial control. Only five voteii for Mr. Boulton's projxisition ; while fifty-two recordeil their votes again-t it. The minority consisted of Mr. F'ergus-»on, Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Mackenzie, and Mr. Notman, besidi's the mover. In the previous Session thirteen had voted for Mr. Cameron's proposal lor a bill ; and the reduc- tion ot the nymber of tliost» who advocated that course of proceeding to five is to be accounted for by the ahereit position of the question. 55 THK HISTORY AND PRESENT POSITION CHAPTER XIV. Tho Rcctoriet. Munits paid to Churches from 1814 to 18j() — Kevenue oflhe 1 imis — Concluiion. Fifteen years had pat>^ed sinct^tlie creation and endowment of the ReL-tori'jn, yet no deci.*ive legis- lative action had been taken with respect to them prt«vious to the last Session of Parliament. Mr. Morrison was the first to biiny; the question under the consideration of tlie Assembly, by the intro- duction of a bill wliich proposed to repeal so much of the Constitutional Act of 17'J1 as related to the creation and eudowmcnt of Iv'itories, and to lake Irom the Crown the riirht ot presenting incum- bents to Kectories. The object of the pro- posed lepeal of the clauses of the Constitutional Act was to place a legal prohibition on the crea- tion of any more Rectoiies; tho moral restraints imposed by public opinion being the only barrier in tile way of creating additional Keclories, and though it might have sulficed for ever to prevent an increase of their number, there could be abso- lute safety only in the abrogation of a power which was at any time liable to be called into exercise. The proposal however was not altogether new : the High Cliurch party in the Legislative Coun- cil had proposed, in 1S37, to repeal so much of the thirty-eight clause of the Constitutional Act "as relates to the endowment of any paisonage " oi rectory with lands." Mr. Morrison's propo- sal was a modification of tiiat which had previ- ously obtained the sanction of the Legislative Council ; and it would h ive prevented not merely the endowment, but also the creation of any new Rectories. Its full etleot winilj have been but 1 1 le_'alize that inaction which the moral strength of public opinion is now sulhcient to enforce. To this proposition the High ("hurch parly opposed no objection : on the contrary, they gave it their hearty approval ; which they were enabled to do with the grace of concession, without tlie reality. The clauses proposed to be repealed wore admit- ted to be a dead letter. The proposal to take from the Crown the right of presenting incumbents was intended as an indirect mode of annulling the existing Rectories ; and it was more lia- able to result in the diliicultie.«. of litigation than would have been a direct attempt to aUain the same object. It was one of those tricks, so con- genial to certain mental constitutions, by which liOthing can be gained, and much may be lost. If it was intended to propose the abolition of the Rectories, atlhe death of the present incumbents, this should have been done avowedly and with candour. In that case, all the argumentfe that could be brou;iht to bear in tavour of the proposal, would necessarily have been called into requisi- tion. But here was an attempt to deprive the Rectories of vitality by a bill which proceeded on the prosumptinn that its eilecls would not be un- derstood by the d>;fendersof the menaced endow- ments. The object coulil not even be avowed, much le."*." could ariiunieuli be advanced in its favour. The failure oi tins piece of peurility was apparent when the HiLih Ctuirch advocates, in the House, denouni-e.l ine nbject of the measure. Nor would this bill, if successful, have annihila- ted the Rectories: it would only have suspended their vitality ; leaving their resuscitation possible the first moment the Tories might be able to se- cure a Parliamentary majoiily. During the dis- cussion on the second reading of tliis bill, Mr. Wilson presented a draft of a bill, which was finally adopted. It repeals the clauses of the Constitutional Act which authorize the creation and endowment of Rectories; and transfeisthe right of presenting incumbents to the Rectories from the Crown to tlie Church Society or to such pei&on as that Society may appoint tor that pur- pose. Both bills were referred to a select com- mittee, consisting of Messrs. Baldwin, J. H. Ca- meron, Mcjrrison, Wilson and Not man. Before the Committee reported, Mi. Hincks moved to refer the question of the legality of the Rectories to the courts for adjudication. The motion having referred to the two legal opinions, on this ques- tion, pronounced by the law othcers of the crown, in England, thus concluded: That this [last] opinion has not had the eflfect of qui- eting the public mind in L'pper Cauadii, and that in order to set the question linrdly at rest, tiiis House humbly prays that His Excellency will lake imme- diate steps to bring the question of Law fully to adjudication, in such a manner as will enable either party to bring the cause by appeal under the view of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and this House pledges itself to make good all necessary expenses attendant on such proceedings. The House adopted this resolution by a vote of fifty-eight against three : Yeas — Messieurs Armstrong, Badglcy, %BaidwiD, Bell, Uoiilton of Nnrfcjlk, Boulton of Toronto, Came- ron of Cornwall, Cartier, Cauchon, Cayley, Chabot, Chauveuu, Christie, Crysler, Dumas, Duchcsnay, Flint, Fortier, Fournier, Fourquin, ttugy, Guillet, Hall, Hincks, Holmes, Jobiu, Johnsim, Attorney Ge- neral LaFontaine, LaTcrricre, Laurin, Leniieux, Le- tellier, Sol. Gen. Macdonald, Macdoiiald of Kingston, Malloch, McConnell, McFarland, McLean, Merritt, .Methot, Meyer?, .Mongenais, Morrison, Nelson, Papi- neaii, Polette, Price, Roliinson. Ko.ss, Sauvageau, Scott of Bytown, Scott of Two .Mountains, Sherwood of Brockville, Sherwood of Toronto, Stevenson, Tache, Viger, and Watts, — 58. Xavs — .Messieurs Hopkins, Mackenzie, and Nolman, — 3. After the Hou.se havl comniitted it.n. As to the presumed finality of any judicial decision that slmultl declare legal the rectory patents, it must 1h* obvious toeviryone of common disirern- ment that there is a feelini' abroad that would prevent any thing like a sreneral acquiescencein it ; if Hny doubt hat) erixted on thi.s point, it would have been dispelled by the action of the reform party in their preparations for tlie electoral contest, now being decided. Sliould the rveiit we are contemplalin;^ occur, it is ta«y to foresee that the pouulur feeling will coiuleinn the past left-rence of the (jueBliun lo the Courts, as deter- mined upon last 6e.-»sion. It is a disputed ques- tion whether the coiistiTiitional .\ct gives to the Provincial Legislaluie power to annul the rectory patenta. By some, the forty-first clause of thnl Act is reiiaided an giving this power. We quote the words of the Act : " That the several provisions hereinbefore con- tained respecting ihe allotment and appropriation of laiuls for the support of a prole.stant clercry wilhin the said provinces, and also respediiig the conslilutiiig, erecting, and endowing parsonage* or rectories within the said Provinces; and also respecting the presentation of incumbents or ministers to the s.ime ; and also rospocting the manner in which such incumbents or miiiisJers shall hold and enjoy the same, shall be Hulject lo be varied or lepealed by any express provisions (or that purpose contained in any Act or Acts which may be passed by the Legislative Council and Assembly of ihe saiil Provinces respectively, and assented to by His Majesty, his heirs or successors." It is by no means clear that authority is here- by given to the Provincial Legislature to annul any Rectory patents legally issued. The author- ity given is confined to varyiii" or repealing theso provisions of the Constitutional Act itself — to abro- gating a portion of the Constitutional Charter ; and does not appear to extend to atlect any thing done under authority of that charter. This view of the case is borne out by the opinion of tlie English Judges ; who state that the ellect of this section of the Constitutional Act " is prospective *' only, and cannot be exten«led to alh-ct lands " which have been already allotted and appropri- *'ated." We think there is no doubt but tlie Constitutional Act gives llie Provincial Legisla- ture no power over Rectories established : and if it should ever exercise any such power it will do so not by virtue of that Art, but on the general principle that this Church property, having a Par- liamentary title, is at the ab-'oliite disjxjsul of Parliament. This, in our opinion, is the giound and the only ground on which the Rectories could be annulled by tlie Canadian Letrislalure. Should tlie result of the contemplated appeal to the legal tribunals be to pronounce illegal the creation of the existing Rectories all coiitioversy respecting other modes of abolishing' tlu-in will be at an enil. We concur in the opinion that the present incum- bents can not in justice or fairness b«' deprived of their emoluments, without receiving an equi- valent. Whether the creation of the Rectories was etiected legally oi illeirally.the present incurabet.ts w»'re no parties to the liansaclion ; and must be held as havinii accepted the incumbencies under supposition that the Govt rnrnent in pre.senliu^ them thereto was exerci-ing a legal riiiht. There is a danger of confoundinolitical purposes. Till 18-lU, the territorial revenue of Upper Canada was at the disposal of the Imperial Government Now no stipends are paid to the ministers of any church Irom any other source than the Clergy Reserves revenue. We subjoin a statement of the receipts from the Clergy Rrserves for the years 18-19 and 1850. The receipts for 1849 were : Principal on Old Sales £r)452 4 5 Interest on Old Sales 4048 10 11 Principal on New Sales 18781 1 6 Interest on New Sales 2056 13 4 Ilents on leased lots 1336 8 7 lients an lots not leased 1820 12 7 Inspections 543 19 Total £34039 10 4 In 1850 the leceipts were much larger: Principal on Old Sales £8314 7 8 Interest on Old Sales 7070 Oil Principal on Old Sales 28304 5 6 Interest on New Sales 3938 5 2 Kent on leased lots 3311 12 1 Hent on lots not leased 2024 12 9 Timber Dues 56 14 8 Inspections 717 15 Total. .£53737 13 9 The funded capital, and the revenue ari-^inw tlierefrom, are every year rapidly increasing. When all (be lands are sold, the capital fund • Of tho amount received bj ilie chnrches in ifi4f> ".•re were arreaiaiics— Ohurch of Knjjlaiid. V. C ..; 1,427 2s.; Chiircli of Scollaui. U. C, X381 5s.; NVcilcyau Methodists, U. C, i;i,i4S 63. 8d. liv tables No. 1 and 2 it will he seen that the whol» »ini>ant paid to the various churcho*, from public » 11 trees, from 1814 to 1850 is $2,181,319, which in silver would weigh 81 1-7 tons ! Of thi? ainounl the Church of Kngland, in Upper Canada, received £200,716 10s. ()',, stprlinpr; the same Church in Lower < ana.la received £108,766 2s. I Id ; the PreshyU-rian CliUrch of Scotland in Upper Canada, £5H,2 13 38. Id, ill Lower Can.id!i jC 1 0, 1 ."^O os. 3d. ; the Presbyterian Synod of Upi'cr Canada £22,539 10s. lOd. ; ihellomac ('(vtholics, in Upper Cauada £29,750 15.s. Id., in Li>wer <;uiada £9,385; tlic Wosleyan iletliodisl CharcL [-t I 1 ;';r Canada £21,855 28. Od., sterlius- would not be less than eight millions of dollars ; yielding an annual revenue at si.v per cent, of $480,000. This fund would make three hundred and thirty til ree wa'.ri:ou loads of silver, one ton to each waggon, and wouKl suthce to secure ihe blessings ol a free education to every child in the country. The Episcopalians and the Church of Scotland have been allowed to take advantage of the ia- delinileness ollhe Imperial .Act of 18^10; whereby they have come into pos3e>sioii of all the revenue derived from the capital accruina from sales from the latter part of IS-kO to the commencement of 1815. The sale of tlie reserves had been pro- vided for by an Imperial statute passed in 1828. Tliat statute was Jiul lepealed by llie Act of 1840 ; so that iheie are now two Acts under whicii the reserves might be »old. By the Act of 1840, the chuiches of England and Scotland are entitled to the interest on tlie proceeds ol all the lands sold under the Act of 1828. When there aie two .Acts under which the Idiidsmay be sold, it must be a purely arbitral y decision to say that they are sold under the one or the othei. For reasons of its own, the Ciovernment of the time thought proper to say that all the sales from the latter part of 18-10 to the commencement of 1845 were made under authority of the statute of 1828 ; and by this means the churclies of England and Scotland became entitled to all the interest on the sales during that time. It could not have been the intention of the Imperial Parliament that sales should continue to take place under llie Ptalule of 1828 after the statute of 1840 came into force ; and if it were legally permissible to continue the sales under the former statute till 1815, why not sell all the lauds under the same authority ? It is clear that the intention of the Imperial Parlia- ment has been disregarded, for the purjwse of giving an unjust advantage to the churches of England and Scotland. II, havmi: gone over the entire history of the question, we compare the results with the object sought to be attained in the making of the Re- serves, we are irresistably led to the conclu.sioii that they have not answered the purpo.-*e of their creation. These Reserves were intended to supply the means of endowing a State Cliurch, of whicn the e.vistence was desired for political purposes. It was vainly siippo.ied that, through the medium of such a Church, all political dircontent^ could be banished or allayed. Experience has taught a dilferent lesson. The existence of these Church lands, so lar from being the means of preventing or allaying public dissalection, have ihem- i^elves been the greatest of all souices of discon- tent. They have given rise to doubts and suspi- cions of the justice and the ijood faith of the Im- perial (Government. They have created in the public mind a chronic discontent. The repeated failure of the attempts at secularization has im- parted a degree ol suUenness to the public mind. To tho ditferences of religious creeds has been added the acrimony of pcjJitical injustice. The collisions of favored religious denominations whom a factitious elevation has invested with the TABLE No. 1. AN AB: CTirRrilES. FROM WHAT FIND PAIH. ciirRCH OF en(;land? UPPER CANADA. ^ DO. LOWER CANADA. ROM. C. CHPRCH, U. C. i ROMAN C. CHCRCII. } LOWER CANADA. ^ ESTABLLSITED CHURCH) OF SCOTLAND, U. C. S RrntR of Clorjjy Rpservps (Irant in aid of Civil Expenditure Fmid-i of thfi (Jan.ida Cninpfiny.. . ( 'rnwii Rpveinjf H Total Annn.ll Grant of Imperial Parliainont ( Grant in aid of Civil E.'^pendi I Funds of Uie Canada Compan lure any . . . Total Annual Grant of Imperial Parliament. ; J]y annual vote of Lepislature Total ' Grant in aid of Civil Expenditure. . . Funds of tho ('anada Company ' Crown Revenuei Total EST.^BLTHHED CHURCH^ I OF SCOTLAND. } I By annual vote of Legifllature LOWER CANADA. S ' PRE.SBYTRRTAN kSYNOD ? OF CANADA, U. C. 5 ( Grant in aid of Civil Expcnditnrc . . . ^ Funds of tho Canada Company. .. , 181-4 £. s. (i 250 ( 2.'>0 ( 150 18 ( 1050 ( 150 < 1200 « 100 Total W. JFETH. cnURCH, U.C. | Grant in aid of Civil Expenditure. »TRACT FROM PARLIAIVIEIMTARY R-TJ And fhr fund \U i 1815 181*3 i^r I 1X20 nil I £. «. d. ; f . p. d. £. P. d. , £. 3. d. £. s. d. i £. s. d. : £. s. d. 427 9 41 I i:.0 ' 270 270 lOG 14 2i! 100 ft n 100 , 10(1 0, 100 594 3 71' 100 ! 100 100 199 19 3 4550 18 6 ' 4521 6 Id 4540 U G i 5031 14 C i 5140 18 C 250 5133 13 3 ;• 1050 1100 1100 ri III") u n 1100 120O (1 110.^ 7 1 150 150 150 150 2.'.0 500 500 1200 1250 1250 1250 1350 1700 1G08 7 1 .... .... Yg'a «3 .... 100 100 100 .... 79 3 61 100 100 100 100 100 1 100 100 89 15 100 100 mRKS SHEWfNC THE SUMS PAID ' ^^ilr ichirh fhvi/ wirr jmid, from the year 1S14 ^; 1810, both ii S22 IS13 1824 182.-1 .1826 1827 . ...... ., 1828 1 i. ! .1. r. ,. d. 7T:. ',', C. s. .''..•.O il £. 8. 1072 4 d. 5i X. 307 s. 1 d. £. B. d. 92rt H ' 1 \> ft .... 100 « 100 100 100 (1 300 ' 100 600 ' 100 (» ;) l'>0 87J 4:i0 1172 4 .').■ 797 1 \C,28 C 8 ' i3 !.'< c .MiO IS 6 6140 18 c 6140 18 6 r,?,oo IS 6 6300 2 C286 13 r, 200 400 ft 4r)0 960 ft 1160 200 400 1400 1160 OO ft 00 1 100 ft 'iDO 1100 MO lltK) iiOO 1100 500 1100 600 ft 128.^ G »': 5hi3 H ,i)u li'.OO 1) I -500 IGOO IGOO ICOO ls.;c, i:{ 4 100 :.:. 100 100 100 467* 100 12 I 573 9} 100 ■ 100 100 ° 100 100 557 12 9 073 . , 10 100 100 .... 100 .... 100 ft 100 11« i:'. 4 .... TO THE DIFFERENT DEIMOMINAIO jiclusivc. 1839 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 £. p. .1. 2.')0 100 f.50 i. s. (1. 3G1 2 2 J 90 600 £. s. d. 100 1180 600 100 £. P. d. £. 5. d. , £, ?. d. £. , 2444 8 lOJi C57r. 15 ul 4708 13 3i 611CI 180 1 1«() 1 2481 5 340a|l I 2024 8 10^ t;T"..". If) li; 718!) 18 3i 9r.!3 44C.') 18 C i 8 j 9t')0 lOr.l 2 2J 1980 r> ' M24 5 2 I 5590 18 C 4103 3 11 1 t I IIJO ! 1150 lloO ' iiuo 8 I 1100 nr.o o o 8 I 500 I 500 HiOO 100 G82 4 C 1600 100 773 18 9i 1150 1150 825 291 13 4 lOlG 13 4 100 784 1 3 1150 1150 1100 357 ):,(io ' 145 1671 18 i:>0() 1^'57 I 1671 18 ; 1G45 1100 100 990 5 5 1037 1 2 100 100 1401 19 4il 1456 i; 7«2 4 G a73 1^ 'Jl 4 100 100 884 1 3 75 1090 5 5 I(>;!7 1 2 1501 19 4i^ 1556 100 1 1 1 .... .... I 1741 8 4 . • • • 731 IG 349 1 .... 1741 8 4 731 16 349 1 .... i 1 .... 900 ... OIMS, 1836 4 1837 183S 1839 1840 5 Tij C4r,0 r. Hi C132 11 8i 5993 9 Oi 6132 17 2 G020 14 Oi 8 I 2745 12 5 | 2f.09 C 8 2540 IS 257G 3 2503 ^^ 2503 1 « 3i 9204 IS 4i 8831 18 411 8534 7 0}l 8709 2 2 I 8523 IS 5J j 100 I 100 ir,uo ! 1500 o 100 1500 ICOO j ICOO ICOO « ! 729 . 100 100 910 100 1 500 1600 194 4 9J 1479 10 1 1479 10 1 537 12 Hi ' 829 100 3«l 699 19 11 712 10 '. 1412 9 11 1104 4 91 537 12 HI 700 1425 2125 4890 699 19 11 1425 2121 19 11 1845 699 19 10 I 519 6 K 1540 I 1540 2239 19 10 2059 6 8 1400 I 350 AN ABSTRACT FROM PARLIAMENTARY RETURNS SHEWENC THE SUMS PAID TO THE DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONS, And the fund oiU of which i/mj werr. paid, from the year 1814 to 1840, both inclusive. CHrRCHES. FROM WHAT FUND PAID. " ,„„ i ,«,:. .e. ■ ,., : .. 1 ..0 ] .« 1 - j .- ! .- 1., .S30 1827 1333 1 .329 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1 18.15 1B36' 'sa; 1838 1839 1840 f Rcnl» of ClOTgy BiMerres OlinRCH OF KMJLAND ^ Or.nt in aid of Cifil Kxponditore . . . rPPER l'AXA!>A. i Fonda of the nanodft Coinpanj Crnwn Rsienues £. . d. «o"o I. I d. «7 9 4) lOs'li 3i '-...': ' m"i> loo'ii loo"o loo"(i ioo"o £. .. d. ;-,!, £. .. d loti 1 Si loo"o £. 1. d, 30o"o f . t. i. 1 f. 1. d. , £. .. d. 361 3 2, £. s. d. 1180 £. i. d. 1 £. n d. 2444 B lOi 6575 15 1 180 1 ISO £. !. d. 1 £. ,. d_. £. S. d. £. ,. d. £ ,. d. 64.59 5 llj 6133 U 81 59B3 9 o 2745 12 5 2699 6 8 2540 IS S f. .. d 6132 17 3 2576 5 £. i d. 25M " °' DO LOWER CANADA ROM- r CHPKCH, V. C. \ AnnnnI Gntnt r>f Imperial PBrluuiK^nt 5 Grnnt in nid of Civil Eipendilure . . . i Funda of ihe Canada Company 199 19 3 lOSO «M 13 6 „«i, e 1100 n JIM 18 SCO 250 300 100 613S 13 3 no 13 C ! JUO la e 8T; 200 p .'..^90 in 6 5.390 2 1C28 6 8 1 900 .... 1051 2 2i ,1,3 3 11 2024 8 10 4405 13 6 6755 15 li 7189 18 31 loji'ie 9513 IS 31 14! 9204 18 4 8831 18 4 1600 8534 7 1600 8709 ! 2 100 1500 «S23 16 5! 1479 'io 1 urn « ' 1,0, n 1100 500 1400 1283 6 S 1100 683 OK 500 1100 500 291 13 4 1000 I 194 4 91 637 13 11! rOMAN C, Cm^RCU. ) ( Annufti Gmtit of Imperial Parliament I Ry annual vote of LepBlatore lion 1 1 1 lino j i uio o o "m 1401 19 4i .... 1200 100 1100 100 : WO la'i ci 13M 1008 1 I moo j 1600 D '°° " ° 1600 457' ij 9 67.3"o 9lj 082 4 1600 100 1T3 13 n lOlC 13 4 lOO 784 1 3 1100 .... ESTABLISHED CHURCH) OF SCOTLAIO), U. C. ( i Grant in aid of Civil Expenditure ^Fiind^ of tbo Canada Company (Crown RcTenitca Total By annual Tole of Leglslainre J Grant in aid of Ciril Eipenditnri! . . . ( Funds of Ibe Canada Company ' ioo'"o 100 .... 990 5 5 1037"i 2 ESTABLISHED CirURCUi OF .SCOTLAND. I LOWER TASADA. ) FRBSBVTBRUN STNOD) OF CANADA, tj. C. J 79 3 61 100 557 13 3 100 073 9i .... 100 75 1090 5 5 100 1501 19 41 731 16 349 19 11 699 19 11 100 700 1101 « 91 699 19 11 609 19 10 : , : i : 1741 8 4 731 18 343 13 U 2125 4890 3124 19 11 2239 19 10 140O IV, METH. CITDECH, V.C. Vziuit in aid of CivU Expendiluic. . . . or TlIK CLERGY KESERVKS. 59 arronrance of authority, with those who smart un- der a sense of uiimeriteil de!,Mailati<>u. have crea- ted wouiuls that, when the cause ol the diliicuhy shall have been ienioved,lime alone will be able to heal. There e.\is-t8 a chronic distemper ot the pub- lic mind, which will never be cureil so lonj^ as one religions sect enjoys previleijes denied to others, or which others could not conscientiously accept ; so long as a single Kectoi jwssessestlie semblance o{ ecclesiastical authority over persons not of his own communion, and the Clersry Reserves remain as a means ol sectarian bribery ami an ever adive source of popular irritation and discontent. This church question connects itself iiilimately with the kl'ture; and un ils seltleinenl tlie des- tiny ot Canada mainly depentls. The govern- ment that shall eiiect that settlement on the bioail basis of justice, will confuran iucalculable bunelit on the Province, and establish a claim to tho la.Hting gratitude of posterity. TABLE NO. 11. STATEMENT Of Monies paid to the undermentioned Churdies out of the Clergy Reserves Fund. 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 Church of England, Canada West . Do. do. Canada East. . Church of Scotland, Canada West. . Presbyterian Minister at Perth, C. W. United Synod Presbytery, C. W Roman Catholic Church, C. W Wesleyan Methodist, Canada West. . Synod Presbyterian Church, C. W.. Church of Scotland, Canada East. . £. s. 8941 1 17li'*2 111 2 777 15 1006 13 777 15 555 11 d. 2 2 2 2 £. 8189 1599 111 707 1660 719 555 s. 5 14 2 1 13 8 11 d. 1 5 2 4 2 10 £. s. 7912 9 1345*16 111 2 777 15 16G6 13 602 2 555 11 d. 11 8 2 2 2 2 £. 8. 7724 14 1003 8 111 2 050 14 660 13 602 2 452 d. 3 1 2 10 2 2 £. s. d. 8728 17 8 6008 3 2 111 2 2 636 7 iGoo is 2 607 15 330 13 7 Total Currency... £ 14541 2 13548 16 13031 10 3 12336 14 8 118089 12 3 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 Church of England Canada West.. . Do. do. Canada East. . Church of Scotland, Canada West. . Presbyterian Minister at Perth, C. W. United Synod Presbytery, C. W Synod Presbyterian Church, C. W.. Roman Catholic Church, C. W Wesleyan .Methodist, Canada West. . Church of Scotland, Canada East.. £. 8. 12066 11 7197 10 1208 6 111 2 636 7 16G6 13 607 15 317 9 d. 10 8 2 2 G •1 £. 17940 2079 9270 111 565 50 1666 007 522 8. 14 13 1 2 13 13 15 4 d. 6 7 6 2 2 6 £. 8. 9765 10 2016 10 8050 18 111 2 565 13 1666 13 607 15 1008 5 d. 6 8 11 2 2 6 4 £. s. 23712 4 2018 17 6633 18 565* is 1666 is 1 739 8 1009 8 d. 8 9 7 4 in 11 £. 8. d. 14729 10 4 249.S 18 5 7561 8 9 565 13 4 1666 is 4 574 10 1249 9 3 Total Currency... £ 23872 1 6 32819 17 11 1 23792 9 ' 37340 5 1 28846 3 [APPENDIX.] CELEBRATED SPEECH OF DR. J. ROLPII, (THEN MEMBER FOR NORFOLK), DELIVERED IN THE UPPER CANADA HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, DURING THE FIRST SESSION OF THE THLlTEENTll PARLIAMENT IN THE YEAR EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND THIRTV-SIX, ON THE BILL FOR APPROPRIATING THE PROCEEDS OF THE CLERGY RESERVES TO THE PURPOSES OF SECULAR EDUCATION. The following speech is without a parallel in tlie annals of Canadian parliamentary debate. The clear, pointed, classical diction of the speaker ; the learning, and historical research he displayed ; the beauty and appositeness of his illustrations ; the breadth, and depth, and immovable basis of his arguments; the clearness, the syllogistic accuracy and force of his logic, and the impressive eloquence of his delivery, produre^l an effect ujion those who heard the speech, never to he forgotten. Its publication in the newspapers of the day aroused the people. It convinced them (for strange as it may seem now, there .were many who needed to be con- vinced, of the unscriptural, immoral, and unjust char- acter of a State Religion; while it confirmed them in their determination to rest not until they had extermi- nated the curse from Canadian soil. The ' good lime" has not yet arrived but there are sure signs that it " is coming,'' and coming hastily. This noble effort of an able, learned, bold and patri- otic defender of the cause of the people, again'st their corrupt, wi?crnpulous and then powerful enemies, ought to be printed in letters of gold, and preserved for tlie instiuction. and warning ol all future genera- tions of Canadian freemen. Dr. John Roi.rn. — Mr. Cliairmnii, — [consider the question umler deb.ite, one of great interest and impoitance, and which I do nat approatii without dididence and concern. I fey the claims of the English Church, first under your notice are vindicated by so able and eloquent an advocate as the learned Solicitor (Jeneral. Contemplate the learned centleman (to whom I cheerfully give every meet! of praise) in iiis tdevated place as its champion ; see him surrounded with all tlie Clerjjy Reserves and their rents and profits ; confess the worth of the Bish- ops, ArcluU-acons, Priests and Deacons in their extended diocese ; multiply, if you please the 57 Rectoiies, with their eiulowmeiits and exclusive ecclesiastical and spiriloal rights and privileges; view alx)ut the learned g-enlleman. in concentra- ted pe spective,all the wealth and glory of our pro- vincial hierarchy, lately gilded, too, with X70,(X)0, a fractional proiiuct of a fraction of their vast es- tates, besides the mo«4 wealthy congregationB SR. rolph's speech. yielding revenues unknown. Amidst all this ec- clesiastical 6plendor and agijraiuli/.ement, the learned gentleman is approached with an humble request. He is prayed to recover his si;^ht from tl'.e glare about him, and condescendingly cast a glance into the surrounding distance. There he is sliown numerous other churches formed of christian groups about pious pastors, with no wealth but the Bible, and no dic-tinclion save the Cross. BehoKl these fellow laborers in the same vineyard! Will you be pleased, sir, out of your abundance, to share a poition of it among them ? Will you? What is the answer ?— Not a jot ! Our best feelings seem intuitively to eidist them- eelvos against this answer. It seems equally to shock natural reason and christian charily. From a happy constitution of our nature, some truths and errors, like the extremes of light and dark- ness to the eye, force a moral perception, which neither needs nor allows argimientative delibera- tion. To prove that two and two make four, would puzzle, perhaps, a logician ; and I envy not the casuist or the divine, who, neither from the emotions of the heart, nor the principles of reason, can perceive or understand the palpable selfishness and injustice of admitting one church to monopolize wealth and power, to the exclusion of every other. Conscience, tiie monitor which fiometimes whispers and sometimes roars, seems in this case, as in a thousand others, to anticipate mere fallible reason, by instantly revealing the sanctions of unerring truth. Put the case as sta- ted (or if over-stated bring down the contrast to the least possible existing disproportion) to a child or an adult, to an Inttian or a Philosopher, and the first excl,iniatio:i will be, — "it is unequal indeed ! Splendid hierarchy, share your aggran- dizement with your sister churches !'' This is the voice of reason, the language of the heart and the philosophy of the Bible. The very conclusion that the other dissenting chuiches ought not to enjoy the wealth, patron- age and union of the State, affords an obvious co- rollary against the exclusive claims of the church in question. Whatever reason may be assigned against the Kirk, the Presbyterians, the Bap- tists, the Methodists, or any other known denomination, may with equal force be ap- plieil to the English Church in this country. It is not for me, sir, to combat imaginary grounds of exception against bodies of chris- tians who I cannot conceive to be otherwise than entitled to equal religious rights. State the reason of the exclusion an»l I will show the appli- cabili'y of it to the excluders. You may, after analytical fashion, call these unknown causes of disability, X X y a{//i7>t/M/n ; and whenever their real value is ascertained, you will find that they may, without disturbing the balance of truth, be assigned to either side of the equation. Are the churches, in any respect, less d«seiving? Are they less industrious in their respective avoca- tions? Do they less display the ilomestic and eocial virtues? Are they less loyal to the King or patriotic to their country .-' Are they, in any respect whatever, inferior subjects either in peace or war? I will not pause for an answer lest it should seem to imply on my part even a distant belief that any hnn. member would imlulce in the alfiirnative. But, surely, when there is such a christian correspondence between their politi- cal relations and deserts, there ought to be ex- tended to them the same favor and protection. They draw their creed, too, from a common source ; they worship the same Supreme, and they anchor in the same faith. They hasten to the common tomb, and being expectants of the same resurrection — they mingle as fellow-candi- dates for the same immortality. It is wrong, then, to make artificial distinction?, when there is no real christian difference. All indeed, may not think alike, and the systematic theologian may draw lines of demarcation. But they are branches of the same vine ; and although those branches may present autumnal varieties of color, shape, and size, yet they are nourished by a common root, and all springing from the parent trunk, are seen in friendlycompany growing with it towards the sky. Light loses not its physical law or beauty by spreading out its rich variety in the splendid rainbow. So the rays of truth pass- ing through different minds of ditferent refracting powers, exhibit shades of difference which run imperceptibly into one another, and again unite to yield synthetically the primitive truth. The claim by any one church to a continuation of the existing monopoly, affords proof of that Church being already corrupted by it. " It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a nee- dle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven." A church is a body of christians, and must therefore exhibit the collective character of the several parts. Rich pastors and congregations need special circumspection, and will experienoe all the christian vis inertia which belongs to the individual Dives. Hence it may be feared a Church of even primitive excellence, may be so lulled with worldly ease, so dilated with Re- serves, and so encumbered with aggrandizements, as to be obliged to leave the narrow way for that broader one which leads to ecclesiastical destruc- tion. But here, let us take the benefit of their vision. They see clearly and most justly the inexpedien- cy cf allowing the other Churches to enjoy the favor, wealth and patrimonyof the Stale. I look at their exclusive pretensions through the san>e medium, and as clearly discover them to be alike dangerous and unchristian. '' As they judge let them be judged ;" and as they would •' mete out to others, let it be measured to them again." In surveying from their mountainous station the vil- lage Churches in the valley beneath, they inspect them, ;is it were with telescopic aid, and rightly judge it unwise to transplant them from that spir- itual kingdom which " is not of this woild." But unibrtunately when'reverting to their own condi- tion they look through the further end of the tele- scope and are led into the strangest optical delu- sion. Let them fairly turn round the magnifier of truth upon their own pretensions and the charm DH. ROLPh's SPIECH. ni will be ilispelleil, the illusion will be done away, and the Church will leturn to lu-r ethereal eliine, and aspire rather to light the woild than to be lighted by it. Toleration is often tliought a very irraeious thing; and both political and ecclesiastical in(Hleration is boastingly conceded to dissenters under the li- cense " to think as they please." No thanks are due for it. We can think in spite of bulls and acts of Parliament to the contrary. Mind is an empire of its own ; and it is a slorious thing we are so constiliitcd by nature llial we must think and do think beyond the reaih of tyrants. Were it possible, perhaps an over carethl majority of this very Assembly would legislate away our thinking on the very subject under ilel>-ite. There is, therefore, no merit in leavintr, from necessity, our fellow christians in uuilispiited possession of those intellectnal operations which are given by God before whose tiibunal alone, their purity can be tried. But tliisboaste*! moderation is exercis- ed in a way as objectionable in principle ami mischievous in practice as the fire and faggot. — Learned gentlemen would be shocked at the pro- position to burn at the stake or pierce with the bayonet in order to make christians conform to the Established Cluiich. This tenderness, how- ever, for the body, ill accords with the daily bar- barity towards the mind. There is no virtue in merely substituting moral for physical force. — The method may have more refinement, yet not be less ignoble. The Indian who scalps the head is really not more savage than he who breaks the heart. An affectation of tenderness and liberality by making physical violence give place to a series of brutal and painful inlluences upon the mind, is an imitation of the conduct of Julian, the apostate, wholly unworthy the age and country in which we live. It is only a difTer- ent set of base means to gain the same base end. Let us compare the ancient with modern Julians. The learned and impartial Dr. Mosheim in his ecclesiastical history, makes the following obser- vations respecting the ancient Julian : — " It is true, tliis prince seemed averse to the u&e of violence in propagaliny superstition, and suppressing the truth ; nay, he carried the ap- pearances of moderation and impartiality .so ftir as to allow his subjects a full power of judging for themselves in religious matters, and of wor.shiping the Deity in the manner they thought the mo.sl rational. But under this mask of modeialion, he attacked Chri^tianity with the utmost bilterness, and, at the same time with most consummate dex- terity. By art and stratagem he undermineil the church, removing the privileges that were grant- ed to Christians, and their spiritual rulers ; shut- ting up tlu; schools in which they taught philoso- phy and the liberal arts; encouraging the sectar- ies and schismatics, who brought dishonor upon the gospel by their divisions ; comjHJsing books against the Chii&tians and usiog a variety of oth- er means to bring the religion of Jesus to ruin and contempt." Modern philosophers of the same school are equally decided in renouncing force, and are equally dexterous in the use of those means which act uj>on the frailties of our common nature. For exami)le: the clunclus now exclud<-d from the wealth and piivileges of our provincial hierarchy are invited to contemplate its tempting aspect, and to paiiakf of its izoiKl things upon a dutiful conformity. This templalmn ads upon men of all characters and degiees of moral strenyth ; it acts not for a day but for years and generations while the system lasts. It insures not a comform- ity of the heart, (a seen t known only to the heart and the Searcher of he.trts) but a conformity to external regulations and subscription to 39 ar- ticles. Bui the profession of the tongue is not al- ways the confession of the mind ; and if, there- foie all gootl men are not in this Kden tempted to taste the inviting fruil, it will certainly be feasted upon by the less scuipulous ami more compro- mising men of the world, the very men who most need to bo taught the puiity of the gospel and self denial of the cross. All the wealth and privileges of the favored Church are carefully barrii-aded, leaving a narrow entrance guarded with a si^n, upon which is a fupcrscripiion of the condition of entrance, viz : " Clergy Reserve^ and append- ages ! Terms: — Subscription to 39 Articles and support the Establishment !" This allurement to the mind is really more effectual than the rack to the body — for the former wears the mark of in- dependant dioice, while the latter rouses all of human nature to resist that coercion which would necessarily stamp success with a cowardly ac- quiescence. Learned men are now-a-days not for punching the body, but so to speak, for punch- ing the mind ; not for putting our corporations on the rack, but fur torturing the mind into conformity by wounding it lhl•ou^h the sting of pride under exclusion, of mortilication under unmerited dis- abilities, and of pungent humilatioa under a bla- zoned inferiority. It is true the excluded (diurches arc allowed an optiorr ; but it is not an option which is honorable in its moral or pure in its spiritual character. It is not a simple option, as it ou^ht to be, between truth and etrnr. The irrvitation is general and seems generous — " Come, sister churches, with- in the precincts of our prosperity !'' But when they arrive at the coiilinea. the uale is shut ! — What is the watch-word for opening it? What is the price of admission ? Conformity ! W^ell ; this is refused — what is the answer? Then slay without arrivenoss iu the charter of King's College. The price of learning there, is subscription to the 39 articles — [thehon. member for Lennox and Addington (Mr. Cartwright) here interrupted slating that il was an error, an such subscription was only re- quired from tlie Pn lessors and meml>ers of the College Council] — Very well, sir, I will take the proposition as stated by the honorable member, ami thank him for the correction. — \ mosl learn- ed man presents liimself for a Professorship, emi- nently qualified to teach, and fortified with every testimonial of merit and capacity ; liis credentials aio recognized, and the same breath by which his rare services are a mosl proiniM-d welcome in the>« tlieaties ol science, announces a c«>ndilioii, — sl'd- scHii'TioNTo TiiK 39 AHrici.KS — I'erluips he says, " I um no theologian ; 1 look to the liible, not Ihe book of liturgy, lor my creed ; besides i am a young man and a young christian, unwilling to subsciibe to 39 aiticles of <.iitii compreheiKfimt many religions and metaphysical subiilitiuK; and my premature subscription mno mi^'lil interfere with llie freedom of my ciniscientious dis.senl from any of them in future life — pray therefore accept my services in the science J profess." 'I'he chuich promptly rejilies, — "away with the schismatic !" If the highly gifted Dr. Chalmers, the literary and theological boast of Scotland, ye.*;, of Britain, was to present himself for .\cademic honors in Upper Canada, he would be treated and repelled at tlie great seal of Canailian learning an a heretic. And could you wave a magic wand over tlie illustrious tomb of Robeit Hall, and ten- der his unrivalled elocpience, piety and learning to serve, in our University, the inteiests of reli- gion, or loach the philosophy of morals, he would meet with the sajnc disdainful rejection. The exclusive church has acquired the same exclu- sive charter, anil still retains it notwithstanding years of remonstrance. The English Universi- ties are in like manner the property of the Church of England : and the exclusive rights they have held for centuries, they still hoKI in faitht'ul mono- poly. Hence we learn the danger of grantinjj any other than equal civil ami reliirinus rights lo the whole community; since we find that an in- vidious a3cent learned and pious christians. The history of the sacramental test in Englaiul inculcates Ihe same instruction against religious monojx)lies. Until lately no dissenter could till any public or corpo- rate office without first taking t!ie sacrament at the altar of the established church. Various olh- ces of honor and profit were held up to the com- petition of christians; but to quality themselves for the worldly situations they were lo eat of the body and bkxjd of their Redeemer, no matter what their inward faith oi ilefective preparation. Such ollices were virtually held by llie hierarchy, as bribes, to induce men to become, not believing christians, but nominal piofessors of a church arjd state. In like manner our provincial hieiurchy claim exclusively to enjoy the Cleigy Reserves. They invito you within the pale of tJieir church, by simple subscription with the pen! Im I How easy it is to be registered a chiislian on earth : but it is the wronir way to secuie their regi.>Uy in heaven. Come wiihiuthe legal precincts of the church, and you shaie her vast cstate8; but if you conscientiously dissent, you are doomed K> stay without, admiring the grapes of her favored vineyard, and calling them sour, till t.intalizeil by pmlracted tasteless conlemplalion, some may chance to relieve the scniples of non-conformity, and qualify to share their luxurious fruit. Hume, VIII DR. hOLPH S SPEECH. not so great a friend to religion a.^ he was to mon- arcliy, gives the followinir uccounUof the ellects oi political iiitorfeieiice wilh religion and of tlie attempts to enforce coiiforiiiity : — " These controversies had already excited such ferment among the people, that in some places they refused to fretiueat the churches where the habits and ceremonies were used ; would not salute tlie conforming clergy; and proceeded so far as to revile them in the streets, to spit in their faces, and to use them with all manner of con- tumely. And while the sovereign authority cliecked these excesses, the (lame was con lined, not extinguished : and burning fiercer from con- linement, it burst out, in the succeeding reigns, to the destruction of the church and monarchy." And again, — " The fatal St. Bartholomew approached the day when the clergy were obliged, by the late law, either to relinquish their livings, or to sign the articles, reijuired of them. A combination had been entered into by tlie more zealous of the Presbyterian ecclesiastics to refuse the subscrip- tion ; in hopes that the bishops would not venture at once to expel so great a number of the most ^xjpular preachers. The catholic party at couit, who desired a great rent among the Protestants, encouraged them in this obstinacy, and gave them hopes that the king would protect them in their refusal. The king liiinself, by his irreso- lute conduct, contributed, either from design or accident, to increase this opinion. Above all, the terms of subscription had been made strict and rigid, on purpose to disgust all the zealous and scrupulous among the presbyterians, and de- prive them of their livings. About 2000 of the clergy, in one day, relinquished their cures ; and to the astonishment of the court, sacrificed their interests totlicir religious tenets. Bishoprics were olTered to Calamy, Baxter, and Reynolds, leaders among the Presbyterians ; the last only could bo prevailed on to accept. Deaneries and other pre- fennents were refused by many." Let us take from the same author, another spe- cimen of the spirit engendered by political ascen- dancy in a church. " By the act of uniformity, every clergyman, who should olHciate without being properly qua- lilied, was punishable by fine and imprisonment ; but this security was not thought sufiicient for the ctinrch. It was now enacted, that wherever five jwrsons above those of the same household should assemble in a religious con^jregation, every one of them was liable, for the lirst offence to be im- prisoneil three months, or pay five pounds ; for the second to be imprisoned six months, or pay ten pounds ; and for the tliird to be transported seven years, or pay a hundred pounds." This act was not a deail letter ; and when church and state were thus linked together, with sufficient power to procure sucli an act of Parlia- ment, it is not singular that the contagion also infected the courts of law, poiscned the minds of the Judges, and contaminated the fountains of na- tional justice. Thus WagstafI and others of a jury, in the age of Sir Malhew Hale, were fined 100 marks a piece, by Keeling, Loid Chief Jus- tice of the Court of King's Bench, " because though evidence was given belbre them that had many persons above the number of fivre been assembled in sucli a place, and had Bibles with them, and were suspicious persons and sec~ tarit's; yet the jury would not find them guilty, of keeping a conventicle, upon the late act, be- cause there was no full evidence that they were assembled to exercise any religious worship, as the act runs. Aiul the Jury were committed till they paid their fines." « And now the court of exchequer was moved in their behalf to remove l)y certiorari the record of their fines and estreats : to which the Attorney General said, that that concerned the King only, and therefore they were to be removed at the suit and desire of the King only, and not otherwise, and he seemed very angry that such motion was made ;" and the recouler of London said, " that those fines belonged to the city by their chatter, so that their court had notiiing to do with them." They were afterwards brought into the King's Bench upon a habeas corpus ; but were not bailed till they had paid their fines." Such is or at least recently was the law in Eng- land, and within lliese few years a minister of the Established Church was subjected to a com- plaint for violating this act of parliament by at- tending a domestic prayer-meeting for the wor- ship of God. This regulation, as unjust to chris- tians as it is insolent to Heaven, is the offspring of the connection between Church and State. — But we gather from the hi'rtory of Scotland still more striking and fearful evidence of the tyraimy of the Church and State over a dissenting coun- try : " But the chief circumstance, whence were de- prived all the subsequent tyranny and disorders in Scotland, was the execution of the laws for the establishment of episcopacy : a mode of govern- ment, to which a great part of the nation had entertained an insurmountable aversion. The rights of patrons had been for some years abolish- ed ; and the power of electing ministers had been vested in the kirk-session, and lay elders. It was now enacted that all incumbents, who had been ailmitted on this title, should receive a presenta- tion from the patron, and should be instituted anew by the bishop, under the penalty of depri- vation. The more rigid Presbyterians concerted measures among themselves, and refused obedi- ence : they imagineJ that their number would protect them. Three hundied and fifty parishe?, above a third of the kingdom, were at once de- clared vacant. The western counties chiefly were obstinate in this particular. New ministers were sought for all over the kingdom; and no one was so ignorant or so vicious as to be rejected. The people, who loved extremely and respected their former teachers ; men remarkable for the severity of their manners, anJ their fervour in preaching; were inflamed against these intru- ders, who had obtained their livings under such inviduous circumstances, and who took no care, \ DR. rolph's speech. IX by the regularity of their manners, to soften the prejudices entertained against iheni." The fate of Scotland has been tlie recent fate of Upper Canada. The people liave ever been aveiso to the establishment ot a dominant church with any peculiar privileges or endowments horn the Government. They have earnestly and re- i)ealedly prayed against it by peliuous to the ving, numerously signed, for many years past ; and this direct expression of ihrir almost unani- mous desiie, has been seconded by their lepre- sentatives in this House, in successive I'ariia- ments. Yet recently the united wishes of tlie f»eople have been [laintully and ahuniingly vio- ated by forcibly establistiing amongst them, in Scotch fashion, the very Episcopal ascendancy they have ileprecatOil. Fifty-seven rccloiies have in open defiance of univeisal sentiment, been wecled within our bonlers, richly eniioweil, and armed with exclusive ecclesiastical and s|)iritual right? and privileges; while with similar defi- ance, clergy reserves are sold uiuler an English act of Parliament passed without our knowledge and consent, to the amount of £70,000, rfnd that amount abstracted from our impoverished land, aiid paid into the military chest. This is despot- ism as undeserved by Canada as it is unworthy the parent state. We have not the physical Btiength, if we had the moral courage of the Scotch, to resist the evil ; and therefore necessity may doom us to bow to wrongs, which, because of our weakness, it was ungenerous to inflict. How keenly are we at this hour feeling the scourge which has thus been visited upon us by the ascendancy of the church which in England maintains her adulterous union with the State. Perhaps Providence may have in reserve for us some unseen way of escape from impending cor- cuption of religion, and wound of the dearest pii- Tilejes of an outrageil dependency. Tlie.pioposition of the learned member for To- roiito to divide these Clergy Reserves among a select numberof churches is equally, if not more, objectionable than tlie devotion of them to one. [J[>on what principle is this curious selection to Ikj made ? Is it to be upon the jri.icipie of nu- viericdl strength? You miuht as well measure a man's conscience by his corporal dimensions ! I' it to be upon the principle of orthodoxy ? Then the learned gentleman must be the Prometheus ot the House to draw fire from Heaven to subject the various creeds to its more than human test in the crucible of tnith. Or will he ;^ssume to be our Iiii]uisitor-Geneial, and with the aid of a Select Co.ninittee summon the Christian com- munity to answer his searching investigation ? It would be a singular scene : only imagine it : — Ini^uisitiif. — Do you believe in the Trinity ? U'it- ni>.<. — Tluit wortl is not in the Hible, p:ay what do yon mean by it ? Iniitii.fitDr. — I am not ex- j"xjiinding my faith ; I am enquiring after yt)urs. ii'itncs.t. — ^ly faith is between I and my Mak» r. Iru^uisitor. — Report this contumacious fellow to the Hon. House that he may be committed to the teriible custcxJy of the Sergeant-at-Arnis. So that we might at last arrive at that very physical force, thought too gross for the modern refinement of those wh» tlirect their keener operations against the spiritual part of man. Why should any be atlfcltd f Why sliould any be excluded It is |)roi)osed, I umlerstand, to limit the disliibu- tion to the four prim iide churches, vi/..: — the Es- tablished Church of England, the Roman Ca- tholics, the Scotch Kirk, and the We.sleyan Me- thodists. If it is just no longer to exclude the three last, it must be unjust to continue the ex- clusion of others. Eiiismerate as many reasons as you please for the future admission of any threw churches, and each of those reasons will atiord an appeal etpially forcible in behalf of the neglect- ed ones. The four churches above meiitioneil are called the principal or leading ones ; and it seems, they are on lluii account, intilled to con- sideration. But if they have arrived at their pr«- sent importance without your aid, it is evidence, the best evitlence too, ot their ability to main- tain it. The great ditiiculties have been already overcome. Under Piovidence these Churches liave become organized, eticctive and evangeli- cally intluential. They have been buiit, certain- ly not upon acts of Parliament, or Clergy Reser- ves. The admission of them is not pretendel>ect, you obtruile upon them your Clergy Re- serves' and Parliamentary alli.ince. As the church under Constantine was corrupted and im- paireil, so will our relii;ion droop under the pat- ronage with which you may ovei-shadow it. You ill bestow your parliamentary charity. It is u^iial to give to the neeect not any concession that such superiority can be claimed by others, or that others could, without sacrilege and crime, invade their vested rights. There is an obvious charm in the operation «f these ample donations. Chemists often iliscover an ingredient which will procure the union of substances, mutually repellent; and the grand desideration is now found out for holding the most transcendaut ecclesiastical contrarieties in harmonious solution. Protestants and Roman Catholics, Kiik and Methodists, are reduced to- gether by the common solvent ol clergy reserves; and I verily helieve there would be no precipi- tate from tlie addition of a little pairanism. The woH and the lamb, the leopard and the kid seem to mifigle together in prophetic harmony. But in this case, it is not so much from the milk of human kindness as from the satiety of hierarclial participation. Tln^y take their seats at the festi- val of our public lands; and in language not bor- rowed from the book of Proverbs or the works of Solomon, they " pick the same bone," they " feather themselves together in the same nests," and they " feed at the same bread and butter." Much, sir, as I respect many of my Catholic friends, I sincerely believe their church, as they sincerely believe mine, to be in latal error. Each apprehends with regret, wholly free from unkind- ness, that the other will be damned. What course does it become us, under this belief, res- pectively to take ? Can I agree to endow the Roman Catholic Church to enable them the more easily and effectually to propagate the very doc- trines against which 1 protest? Can Roman Ca- man Catholics properly aid the cause of heresie?, called damnable, with special aiipropriationsf If religion is important, it is everything. To ef- fect then, this worldly accommodation, ought we, by public giants, to accelerate the progress of error and hazard the salvation of immortal souls? Let every man answer these enquiries to himself, upon the principle of patiiotism and the hopes of the christian. Instead of giving these clergy reseives, I am ready and anxious, without fear of present or fu- ture consequences, to give them collectively and indiviilujilly the Bibi.k, "that they may read, learn, mark, and inwardly digest it." But I will notentlow error. N(.r will I legislate against it, because I heartily believe that the divine truth contains within itself all the necessary elements for its own achievements. I would as soon give Clergy Reserves to chemists to extract siiii beams from cucumbers for the Sun. Remove all artifi- cial obstructions, and light dispels the darkness wherever it shines. But if, invading tlie empire and prerogative of Heaven, you endow this dark- ness, anil give it leijislative locality and habi- tudes, you, more or less, obstruct the genial ray and eclipse the firmament of truth. DR. ROLPH S SPECCt). XI Irislt-acl of making a State provision for nny one or more churches; insleuil of apixulioninj^ the cliTiry reserves amor-L^j them with a view ol piomoliUij chribtiaiiily ; instead of giving peii- sionsor salaries to niiiiislers, to make ihem imle- pencleiit of voluntary contributions from the peo- f)le ; I wouM stuiliously avoid that policy, and eave truth unfettered and unimpeded to make her own conquests. Lawyers and Physicians have no clergy reserves. They dt-pend upon iho support of the community which benellts by their labors. The professions of law ami physic are well represented in this Assembly, and bear am- ple testimony to the generosity of the people to- wards them. Will good, pious, and evangelical ministers of our holy religion, be likely to fare worre than the physicians of the body ? or the ngei.ts for our temporal affairs ? Let gospel min- isters, as the scriptures say, live by gospel ; and the very apostolic maxim that the workman is worthy of his hire, implies tlie performance of duty rewarded temporally b)- those who impose it. There is no feurthe profession will become extinct from want of professors. AVas there (any thing Locke may say to the contrary notwith- standing) ever a nation on tlie earth, however bar- barous, without something of a priesthood ? The aborigines of this continent answer in the nega- tive 5 and the least civilized tribes have their pio- fessional functionaries to offer up their occasional flacrifires to the ** great spirit." We have had too, from the earliest history of the Province standing evidence to the contrary in the history of the Methodist Episcopal church up lo a recent period. That church was planted in the colony without the knowledge or consent of the govern- ment. The scattered setthments. otherwise des- titute, were every where visited by her itinerant ministry, which increaseil with the population, and wants of the country, and acquired, under Providence, acknowledged distinction for the su- periority of their numbers, for the devoted char- acter of their piety, for the fervor of their preach- ing, for the sanctity of their lives, antl for ihecon- veiting iidluence so abundantly shed upon iheir highly-favored ministrations. They weie, hovr- ever, regarded by the government with jealousy and contempt ; and subjected to indignity under vice-re^al repulsion and parliamentary investi- gation. "Methodist" was a teim of reproach ; and an hon. member of this House was once ex- pelled for methwiistically recommerrding a col- lection of his friends to live according to the gos- pel they professed. Amidst rontumely and oppo- sition, however, they ffourisheil almost beyond example. Devoted to the gospel, "all other tilings were added to them ;" and perhaps there has not been, since primitive times, more striking evidence ofthe existence of "a Kingdom not of this world " swayed by a spiritual sceptre. }Ias the christian community, orr the other hand, be- nefited by the late appropriations ofthe govern- ment to reli;iiou3 uses ? or has the prospect brightened before the expected distribution ofthe clergy reserves? When, therefore, we find the christian cliurch in the first three centuries flour- ishing against the Staie, and declining under its subsecjunet patronage under Conslarrtine ; and wheir wc see the same tiirng verified U])on a smaller scale within the bonlersof ourown coun- try, surely we need net hesitate practically to believe the propusiiion that if truth is let aloire it will prevail. Jiuch was the a.lvice of (Jamalial ; and let not learriitl members forget he was "a doctor of law." He oppr seil those whose object it was to supjwrt the established errors by pun- isiiing those who offered the truth. He fortified his position with striking illustrations, and closed his eloquent and drgnified address with the fol- lowing advice ; " Aird now 1 say unto you, refrain from those men and let them alone; for if their rourrsel, or their work be of (K)d,you cannot over- throw it." Lord Bacon (lo the best of my recol- lection) has somewhere saiil, " when truth is left alone to grapple with error, who ever knew her worsted irr the contest ?" Hut orrr modern phi- losophers, irrslead of corrdescending to be chil- dren of truth, aspire to make truth a child to us, to put her into leading strings, wrap her in swail- dling clothes, confirre her in the nursery, and smother her with kindness under Acts of Parlia- ment ! Truth, however, is not an exotic or a Ik t house plant, it is indigenous in every country congeirial to every climate arrd the native of every soil. Howcarr it be otherwise, since it proceedetl from him who can be found and worshipped equally in every mouirtain top, in every valley and in every shade. The course of nature is the course of Provi- dence. It is the practice of every day to confide in it as suHiciorit to insure the cnntinrrairce of those bounties which we receive as dcpendarrt crea- tures. Reposirrg without timid appreheirsion iir a divine superintendirii^ care overmaterral thinir.i why should we be dr>tru»tful of equal superin- tending^ care over spiritual things ? Conscious of ounnabiliy to direct terrestrial powers, it isPa:.'au presumption, like Pha-ton, to asceird the chariot ofthe Sun, arrd ilrive with fearful temerity round the zodiac of religious truth. Will learned gen- tlemen assume to lei^islate for the clouds ? Do, then, your work of supererogation. Pass a law for a safety-fuird of rarir. Tax every man w»tii the piecautiorrary duty of periodically watering an allotted [wrlion of the earth, as pabulum for the sun lo distil the balmy dew, to supply the winged vapours of the air, to spread out the cloudy cur- tain of the sky and seasonably dilluse more geni- al showers. Doe.s this seem absurd ? Oju-ntiien the eyes of the urrderstandiri;.' and see that it i« not less absurd to usurp the spiritual than the physical throne ; not less absurd to a.ssume to govern " a kingdom not of tliis world," than to govern the clorals for liim " who rides upon tlie whirlwirrd and directs the storm." In the things about us we witness the particu- larity of Providence, actin:; nevertheless, under the simplicity of a law which is equally the ob- ject of orrr tjralitude and admiration. Let us judge ofthe certaiirty, simplicity, and eflicieiicy with which he can govern his church, by the display of corresponding attribiites in tl;c works of nature. 3tn t)R. ROLPIl S SPEtCII. llo wields his almighty power not less for all that is little, than for all that is great, liy the same apparent natural cause we see controlled the waves of the ocean swelling into tides, and the lluctuation of the least ripple upon the surface of a basin of water. From the satiie caune we trace the spherical shape of a planet, atid of those morn- ing dew drops glittering over the verdant lields like "oriental peail ;" and hence in the house of mourning you see drop after drop, distilled by sorrow, rolling globule jdter globule down the cheek. Therefore a poel, without indulging in mere poetical license, has justly and beautifully said — " That very law which mo;ilils a tear And bid:j it trickle from its sourrc, That law preserves the earth a spljcre, Ai.d guides the planets in their course." When it is considered that it is the same pow- er that controls the stupendous movements of the universe, and the simple effervescence of a mix- ture, we should learn that the relative terms great and little applied to Hiin "are terms without meaning;" that his providence is equally univer- sal and equally particular ; that it is equally con- versatit with the events of nations and of an indi- vidual supplicant ; that while it counts the stars o( the firmament and the nebule of the milky way, it regards the falling of a sparrow, and nunibeis the hairs of his (Sol. General's) learned head. — This particularity of providence in material things affords no apology for a christian's distrust either of his will or ability to dispense the alfairs of that spiritual Kingdom which he has himself estab- lished and covenanted to maintain for ever. Will learned gentlemen pass a law in behajfof gravitation ? Gravitation presents to the mind the vastest and sublimesl conception within the compass of the universe. Wherever we go, yea, wherevei our thoughts can reach, this all preva- ding power extends its illimitable influence. — We acknowledge its presence when we truckle a 1>ebble along the ground, or trace the mariner's ead descending to abyss ; we feel it in the heav- ing of the ocean, and recognise from it all the various and modilied motions which the material world affords. Even if we leave the earth and wander wherever the imagination may choose to rove through boundless space, we find at ever}' step as we travel Irom planet to planet, and from world to world, this mysterious ix)wer, so universally diffused as tiot to leave a I>oiiit of space, or a solitary atom of matter un- conscious of its presence or domain. — It is every where piesent and unceasingly active. — With this ureal truth provwi to us to demonstration, can we lail to recognize the greater truth (which this glimpse of the glory of creation was partly in- tended to illustrate) that he who called all these things into being and upholds them by the word of his power, is also himself every where present juul unceasingly active? Can it be diliicult to believe of the Creator, however wonderlnl it may be, what we are obliged upon investigation to be- lieve of what lie has Created ? The ancient Psalmist must have had something to supply the place of the illuminations of modern science, when without any knowledge of this all pravading law of gravitation, he thus so sumbliemly deline- ated tlie corres])ontling attributes of the God of na-^ tore; *'Thou art about my path, and about my bed, andspiest out all my ways — such knowledge i.-> too wonderful and excellent for me: I cannot attain unto it — whether shall I go, then, fiom thy piesence? If I climb up into the Heavens, thou art there ; if I go down into the bottomless pit, thou art there also. — If I take the wings of the morning aud remain in the uttermost part of the sea, even there also shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." — How ^trictly the law in tliis case cyrresponds to the lawgiver ! In the contemplation of this stupendous subject, New- ton expressed the thought (it has sublimity if net truth) tiiat space, the very scene of such mighty works, w as the sensorium of the supreme. And how nearly is that thought allied to one of divine authority, " in him we live and move and have our being." When therefore, we see the certain- ty ai»d elficiency with which by one simple law of gravitation he upholds the great and the little everywhere in the material universe, and there- witii "spreads his tender mercies overall his works," surely we have an ample guarantee for the certainty and efficiency of His Holy and all- prevading spirit in dispensing the affairs and con- summating the glory of the Kingdom of Christ. We not only thus learn from the light of nature, that his providence is certain and elhcicnt for the advancement of His Church, but we gather from revelation itself, the purely spiritual means by which he has ordained and promised alone to govern and superintend it. When a lawyer is asked by a client how the alfairs of a deceased per- son shall be administered, he inquires for his will, from a careful perusal of which he collects the wishes and intentions of the testator. — He does not consider how he would dispose of his own af- fairs as a guide for administering those of another ; he does not act the part of a mere critic or reviser of the document before him ; nor does he presume to make interpolations in it, or arbitrarily to pur- sue or modify trie teims prescribed by it. — He is satisfied honestly to expound the views of the tes- tator as solemnly expressed in his will, and then honestly direct the atlrninistration accordingly. I now hold in my hand a last will and testament — Christians call it the New Testament ; and it i? our dnty from it to gatlier and to follow the plea- sure of the divine testator. — In our general reason- ing and speculations on this subject we might err ; but what we collect from this source, conies with that authority which it is a matter of prudence and duty to obey. — From the time our Saviour reject- ed all the Kingdoms of this world, and the glory of tliein, to the period of his ascensi >n, we derivg one consistent lesson respecting his Kingdom, the spirituality of its government, and its separation from the world. In the sermon from the moun- tain to great multitudes of people, a sermon em- bracing a variety of duties, he does not hint at Clergy Reserves, or endowments or national pat- ronage. The very expression " Thy kingdom come" implies more what the nations should re- Dll. UOI.Ml S SPKRCIt. XUl ceive than what they ever couid confer — and tlie coiirludirii,' words, I'lx), — " (in thine i« tho fcin^- doin, and itie jhnver aiul tht* i^lorij. Kir fvcr," are *«<• ilt'ciileiliy f.\i-lusive of tin- worM, and !*nfh «.• )nij)l"tf a»ntii|)iu)u of the whole iloininion, that il plainly rf(|uiies Kiii'_'-s, nations and parliaments lo hi' rather prostrate I'liristians, than with anti- christian aristocracy lo volunteer lliemseives y.K ritoNS or (.ioD. ilati it heeu intended to proinoto and sustain Christian Ciiinches thronijh the ifovernnicnts o( tiie wiirl" rn«^i»Tfd by the .'■ - to .HOW • of Christ taiulUcjia wr.ii envy and iuIcjI LU.-u witti tXf DR. ROLPU'S SPSECft. Hn arlificial anli-christian aristocracy, are in prac- tice, in principle and in consequtsncos, so closely •ilied to the ileprecaleil interference of the world with tue supremacy of tlie Me»wali, that any fttiectalion of a distinction would vanish in a re- iinoroent. WlieriBver persons volunteered in the cause of ohristianiiy upon its first announcement, nothinij of the nature of Clergy Reserves was irilimated to them; but the church was exhibited poor of the world ami rich of heaven. When the scribe said " I will follow wheresoever thon coest ;" he he was cheered with no present or future pros- pect of princely or national suppoit, '-'the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have ne^ls, but the Son of man hath not wliefe to lay his head ;" nor does it appear that ho afterwards en-* listed himself in the service of a kin;T!lo;ii which was enzaued in a war with the whole world ; a kingdom, therefore, which could expect from its governments as little aid then, as it can need from them now. The same sentiment is pursu- ed when the youn;^ nian of great possessions made his enquiries after salvation in an early period of the christian ministration. If the church was to be at any liiriO indebted to the world for nourishment and growth, it appeared at this primitive stage more pirlicubrly to require it. And had such been the destined policy of the spiritual hierarch, the presumption is that the younir "T'^n would have been instructed as a mat- ter of'uuty to convert his " great posse.'^sions" in- to clergy reserves for the support of the present and the encouragement of the future disciples ; for ** the harvest was plenteous, and tlie labourers few." A very different conclusion, however, must he drawn 'from the injunction "sell all thou hast, and give to ike poor and follow me," The ciiurch among clergy reserves, is represented, " as seed among thorns," " the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word and it becometh unfruitful." Wherever in the form of a parable a prophetic account is given of the course and history of the church, no part iis assigned to parliaments or national endow- ments. Hence the Saviour represents himself as, "the true vine" and his Father as the •' husbandman" and instead of referring, in any degree whatever, the growth and fruitfulncss of llie branches to \ national and parliamentary endowments, (without which some apprehend the vine will wither away,) it is emphatically said, in explanation of the sole source of productiveness, " without me ye can do nothing," — " I have chosen you and ordttincd you, that your fruit should remain^' — tuid at the same lime, instead of conciliating the favor of the powers of tlie world, or prophesying their future co-operation, he announceil their ha- tred and persecvtion. Il is obvious from the con- text that the disciples were somewhat dismayed, when "these things were spoken of unto them tliat they might not bo olfemled." They saw a world of powers linked with paganism. These powers were to be overcome against the utmost exercise Qf their hatred and persecution. — and when subdued, lit is not said or hinted, «h.at they should bo received as an ally, or be allowed tii sway the sceptre of the kingdom wiiich had ao- complished their subjugation. The disciples are dismayed — How are they comforted { With the prospect of Clorsy Re- serves? or national endowmet>ls? or of parlia- meniary legislation ? Not one word of consola- tion is dt^rived from the world. — There is no pro- phetic description of any kindred relation pre- sent or future between Church and Stale, either to bring lorth the fruit or make it remain. They wern " to teach all nations" and to "feed thi sheep," in the midst o!" martyrdom and death — and their encouracemenl is "be of n-ond cheer, //wifeoverrome the world" a:i«j)luMiomfHon may furnish mat- ter of dispute; and leanieil men liave, in effect, been divi.leU upon tlial point. All, however, who consider the matter with attention and iin- puriiuliiy, will perceive the stroni^est reasons for enjbi;;ciii^ the opinion of those who attubuto this event to tlio Alnii;;;lity interposition of the Sup- reme Being; nor do the arguments otiered by some to prove it the effect of natural causes, or I hose allejjed by others to persuade us tliat it was iho result of artifice and imposture, contain any- ilii'i;; tliut may not be refuted with the utmost iav-,ility." Acct)rdin!» to the lanKuae;© of St. Paul — " Christ M Ihe head of the body, ttie church." Lnwyers will obseive that it is not "a head,'^ which would imply the possible existence of others ; nor is "diief head," which would atlrnit of subordinate ones: but it is emph.Uically expressed "tne head," supreme, admittinf; the pretensions of no other, the assumption of no deputy, and the com- jKftition of no Kinj;, national, executive, or lejji-.- ialive aerity, faithfully extending equal religious and civil ri^jhts lo all. 'I'rutli and error will then, politically speaking, be pul upon ihcir respective resources ; and there can be as little fear that th« former will not prevail over the latter, as that God will not prevail over Mammon. The This book is DUE on the last date stampea Below. ur "-» 1", „>r • m^^ 195& l^ WAY2 31954 StP 5 1956 noy 17 1958 L REC'D LD (|B5 1959 27Feb'59CS ;v;::c^D LD JUM 1 6 1559 22Feb'65AA u 'N STACKS PEB8 1955 tAY REC'D LD 26*65-5PM LD 21-100m-7.'52(A2528.sl6)476 :i:LL JAn2'65-SJsS-|'EB 1 3 1396 476 L«- U. C. BERKELEY w THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY a