A brief history of the Church in Upper Canada : containing the Acts of Parliament, imperial and provincial; royal instructions; proceedings of the deputation; correspondence with the government; clergy reserves' question, &c. &c.

Front matter

A BRIEF HISTORY

OF THE

CHURCH UPPER CANADA:

Preface

The compiler of the following pages, begs utterly to disclaim any party or political motives, in bringing before the public the history, state, and wants of the Church in Upper Canada. He is satisfied, that such an attempt could not fail to injure the cause he is most anxious to advance, and would also be in direct opposition to the wishes and instructions of the Clergy, by whom he has been deputed to make that cause known. It is not the writer's intention, or wish, to impugn the measures of the present or past Governments, as originating in any design to oppress, or to deprive the Church of rights, secured to her, as well by the principles of the monarchy, as by the letter and spirit of the Constitutional act of the Province ; although it cannot be denied, that the policy, of late years pursued, will not fail to have that effect. The writer indulges the hope, that the interest of the public, generally, will be awakened to the subject of our claims ; and that the publication of the official documents connected with the history of our Church, in Upper Canada, may tend, in some measure, to assist those Members of a 2 iv

Parliament whose attention has not been drawn to the question, in forming their judgment, upon which the welfare, temporal and eternal, of present and future generations, must greatly depend,

The plan which the writer has adopted in the prosecution of his design, appears, after mature deliberation, to be the best calculated to engage attention, and to impart information. The Acts of Parliament, Instructions, &c, will be interwoven with the History of the Church, in the First Part ; the proceedings of the Deputation, and the Correspondence with Her Majesty's Government, will constitute the Second ; and the State and Wants of the Church, will be briefly exhibited in the Third.

FIRST PART.

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

The history of the Church, in Upper Canada, presents very little difficulty in its relation : there are many, yet living, who may remember the period when the Church in the Upper Province received a distinct existence from, although it was allowed to remain under the same Episcopate as, the Church in the Lower Province. Prior to the year 1791, the two Provinces were united, and formed one government. It will be necessary, therefore, to advert briefly to the state of the Church before the erection of the Provinces into separate governments.

The conquest of the Province of Quebec was completed in the year 1759. In the treaty which preceded the surrender, the French commander, a member of the Church of Rome, manifested a very earnest zeal for the maintenance, to that Church, of all the privileges granted to it by the French King. He succeeded in his efforts, perhaps beyond his own expectations, certainly beyond the wishes of the Protestant population of the Northern States of America, who solemnly expressed, (in " States " assembled,) their regret that such concessions should have been made to a conquered people. The rights, privileges, lands, or seigneuries held by the Romish Church previous to the conquest, were primarily secured by the articles of capitulation, and eventually confirmed by a solemn act of the British Parliament, in 1774, (14 Geo. III., c. 83.) By this act it must be admitted, that, in Lower Canada at least, the Church of Rome is recognised as the Established Church ; or, if not the, certainly an Established Church. And thus at a period when we might have hoped better things, we behold the first inroad made upon that distinctive Protestantism which pervades our entire constitution, and which, indeed, is the very foundation-stone of our monarchy. It does not appear that this departure from the principles of our constitution attracted any particular attention in the Mother Country, although, as already hinted, the measure was resented and deeply reprobated by the Colonies of North America, who had, themselves, greatly contributed towards the success of our enterprises against the French. The effects of this first concession to the Church of Home, which, as in her error, so in her enmity to the Protestant faith, boasts of being u semper eadem," have been too plainly manifested to escape the attention of the reflecting portion of our people. The Established Church of England was not, however, entirely neglected in this legislative measure of concession to Romanism , for it is expressly provided thereiri, that

ie It should be lawful for his Majesty, llis heirs or successors, to make such provision out of the rest of the said accustomed dues and rights, for the encouragement of the Protestant religion, and for the maintenance and support of a Protestant Clergy, within the said Province, as should, from tiriie to time, be thought necessary and expedient/'

The Clergy of our Church were thus placed in the prospective hope of participating in s6 the rest of dues and rights which remained, after a most bountiful provision for the Romish Church had been conceded. It is not, perhaps, generally known, that these " dues, and rights, and lands,'* thus secured to the Church of Rome, are productive of a vast revenue. Not a cure, or parochial priest in Lower Canada, (and every parish has its Priest, ) has a smaller income than £200 ; the generality average £300 per annum. It would be difficult to determine the amount of revenue enjoyed by the Monastic Establishments of the province : and yet, such is the liberal policy of Protestant Britain, that, as though these possessions were not sufficient, a Bishop* of the Church of Rome is actually in the receipt of £1,000 per annum from the Imperial treasury. The Clergy of the Church of England, in Lower Canada, are supported, almost exclusively,

* Vide Parliamentary Proceedings, in The Times, of March 10$ 1838. The Bishop of Exeter inquired of the noble baron, the Secretary for the Colonies, whether it was true that a Roman Catholic Bishop, in (Lower) Canada, received £1,000 a-year from the Government, in 1832, and that he having died in 1833, his successor had continued to receive the same allowance ? Lord Glenelg said the only answer he had to give to the Right Rev. Prelate's question was? an answer in the affirmative, from the funds of the " Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts :" and in answer to an application for the appropriation of £600 a-year, (the proceeds of sales of some of the "rest of the dues," — called " Clergy reserves,") for the increase of our Establishment in the Lower Province, a distinct negative was returned.

About the period of passing this act of 1774, the revolt of the present United States of America was commenced; and in 1776 their independence of the parent State was boldly declared. A painful struggle ensued \ during which the Mother Country was too seriously occupied in her endeavours to quell the insurrection, to give any attention to the ecclesiastical condition of the newlyacquired Province of Quebec. So disastrous to British power and influence was the contest, that in 1783 New York was evacuated. The devoted adherents to the monarchy, preferring its institutions, although this preference must be attended with the loss of earthly possessions, to the republican form of government, sought a refuge in the regions now forming the Province of Upper Canada. It is not invidiously remarked, that the great majority of those who thus sacrificed all to their loyalty, were Churchmen. The only boon they asked, (and this is a matter of history, ) was, that in the wilderness, in which they were about to seek a refuge, they might have the institutions in Church and State, for which they had so long and so nobly contended, secured to them and to their children. A promise was given to this effect: — how that promise has been fulfilled, remains to be shewn. In the year 1791, His Majesty George the Third, sent a message to the Parliament, intimating his intention to divide the Province of Quebec, and expressing his wish that a good and sufficient provision might be made by a legislative enactment for the support of a Protestant Clergy. The Parliament immediately entered on the consideration of the message, and the act (31 Geo. III., c. 31,) called the Constitutional Act of the Canadas, was the result. We shall give below all the sections of this act which relate in anywise to the Church, and we bespeak the most serious attention of the reader to them. The Church regards its provisions as the security for her Establishment, protection, enlargement, and support ; and yet, simple as it is thought the provisions are, there are not wanting those who would so interpret them, as to deprive the Church, if expedient^ of any right at all; and certainly, of any exclusive right to the lands which are thus reserved for the support of a Protestant Clergy.

Clauses of the British Statute 31 Geo. III., c. 31, which relate to the maintenance and support of a Protestant Clergy.

35. And whereas by the above mentioned Act, passed in the fourteenth year of the reign of his present Majesty, it was declared, That the Clergy of the Church of Rome, in the Province of Quebec, might hold, receive, and enjoy their accustomed dues and rights, with respect to such persons only as should profess the said religion : Provided nevertheless, that it should be lawful for his Majesty, his heirs or successors, to make such provision out of the rest of the said accustomed dues and rights, for the encouragement of the Protestant religion, and for the maintenance and support of a Protestant Clergy within the said Province as he or they should from time to time think necessary and expedient ; And whereas by his Majesty's royal instructions, given under his Majesty's royal sign manual on the third day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, to Guy Carle ton, Esquire, "now Lord Dorchester, at that time his Majesty's Captain-General and Governor-in- Chief in and over his Majesty's Province of Quebec, his Majesty was pleased, amongst other things, to direct, " That no incumbent professing the said religion of the Church of Rome, appointed to any parish in the said Province, should be entitled to receive any tithes for lands or possessions occupied by a Protestant, but that such tithes should be received by such persons as the said Guy Carleton, Esquire, his Majesty's Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over his Majesty's said Province of Quebec, should appoint, and should be reserved in the hands of his Majesty's Receiver General of the said Province, for the support of a Protestant Clergy in his Majesty's said Province, to be actually resident within the same, and not otherwise, according to such directions as the said Guy Carleton, Esquire, his Majesty's Captain- General and |Governor-in-Chief in and over his Majesty's said Province, should receive from his Majesty in that behalf ; and that in like manner all growing rents and profits of a vacant benefice should, during such vacancy, be reserved for and applied to the like uses."

And whereas his Majesty'sj pleasure has likewise been signified to the same effect in his Majesty's royal instructions, given in like manner to Sir Frederick Haldimand, Knight of the most Honourable order of the Bath, late his Majesty's Captain- General and Governor-in-Chief in and over his Majesty's said Province of Quebec ; and also in his Majesty's royal instructions given in like manner to the said Right Hon. Guy Lord Dorchester, now His Majesty's Captain-General, and Governor-in-Chief in and over His Majesty's said Province of Quebec. — Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the said- declaration and provision contained in the said above mentioned aet? and also the said provision so made by his Majesty in consequence thereof, by his instructions before recited, shall remain and continue to be of full force and effect in each of the said two Provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada respectively, except in so far as the said declaration or provisions respectively, or any part thereof, shall be expressly varied or repealed by any act or acts which may be passed by the legislative council and assembly of the said Provinces respectively and assented to by his Majesty, his heirs or successors, under the restriction hereinafter provided.

36. And whereas his Majesty has been graciously pleased, by message to both Houses of Parliament, to express his royal desire to be enabled to make a permanent appropriation of lands in the said Provinces, for the support and maintenance of a Protestant Clergy within the same, in proportion to such lands as have been already granted within the same by his Majesty : And whereas his Majesty has been graciously pleased, by his said message, further! to signify his royal desire that such provision may be made, with respect to all future grants of land within the said provinces respectively, as may best conduce to the due and sufficient support and maintenance of a Protestant Clergy within the said Provinces, in proportion to such increase as may happen in the population and cultivation thereof : therefore, for the purpose of more effectually fulfilling his Majesty's gracious intentions, as aforesaid, and of providing for the due execution of the same in all time to come — Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for his Majesty, his heirs or successors, to authorise the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor of each of the said Provinces respectively, or the person administering the Government therein, to make, from and out of the lands of the Crown within such Provinces, such allotment and appropriation of lands, for the support and maintenance of a Protestant Clergy within the same, as may bear a due proportion to the amount of such lands within the same as have at any time been granted by or under the authority of his Majesty : and that whenever any grant of lands within either of the said Provinces shall hereafter be made, by or under the authority of his Majesty, his heirs or successors, there shall at the same time be made, in respect of the same, a proportionable allotment and appropriation of lands for the above mentioned purpose, within the township or parish to which such lands so to be granted shall appertain or be annexed, or as nearly adjacent thereto as circumstances will admit; and that no such grants shall be valid or effectual unless the same shall contain a specification of the lands so allotted and appropriated, in respect of the lands to be thereby granted ; and that such lands, so allotted and appropriated, shall be, as nearly as the circumstances and nature of [the case will admit, of the like quality as the lands in respect of which the same are so allotted and appropriated, and shall be, as nearly as the same can be estimated at the time of making such grant, equal in value to the seventh part of the lands so granted.

37. And he it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every the rents, profits or emoluments, which may at any time arise from such lands, so allotted and appropriated as aforesaid, shall be applicable solely to the maintenance and support of a Protestant | Clergy, within the Province in which the same shall be situated, and

[to no other use or purpose whatever.

^* 38. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for his Majesty, his heirs or successors, to authorise the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor of each of the said Provinces respectively, or the person administering the Government therein from time to time, with the advice of such Executive Council as shall have been appointed by his Majesty, his heirs or successors, within such Province, for the affairs thereof, to constitute and erect, within every township or parish which now is or hereafter may be formed, constituted or erected, within such Province, one or more parsonage or rectory, or parsonages or rectories, according to the establishment of the Church of England ; and from time to time, by an instrument under the great seal of such Province, to endow every such parsonage or rectory with So much or such a part of the lands so allotted and appropriated as aforesaid, in respect of any lands within such township or parish which shall have been granted subsequent to the commencement of this act, or of such lands as may have been allotted and appropriated for the same purpose, by or in virtue of any instruction which may be given by his Majesty in respect of any lands granted by his Majesty before the commencement of this act, as such Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or person administering the Government, shall, with the advice of the said Executive Council, judge to be expedient under the then existing circumstances of such township or parish.

39. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for his Majesty, his heirs or successors* to authorise the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or person administering the Government of each of the said Provinces respectively, to present to every such parsonage or rectory, an Incumbent or Minister of the Church of England, who shall have been duly ordained according to the rites of the said Church, and to supply from time to time such vacancies as may happen therein; and that every person so presented to any such parsonage or rectory, shall hold or enjoy the same, and all rights, profits and emoluments thereunto belonging or granted, as fully and amply, and in the same manner, and on the same terms and conditions, and liable to the performance of the same duties, as the Incumbent of a parsonage or rectory in England.

40. Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every such presentation of an incumbent or Minister to any such parsonage or rectory, and also the enjoyment of any such parsonage or rectory, and of the rights, profits and emoluments thereof, by any such Incumbent or Minister, shall be subject and liable to all rights of institution, and all other spiritual and ecclesiastical jurisdiction and authority, which have been lawfully granted by his Majesty's royal letters patent to the Bishop of Nova Scotia, or which may hereafter, by his Majesty's royal authority, be lawfully granted or appointed to be administered and executed within the said Provinces, or either of them respectively, by the said Bishop of Nova Scotia, or by any other person or persons, according to the laws and canons of the Church of Enyhind, which are lawfully made and received in England.

41. Provided always, and be it f arther enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the several provisions hereinbefore contained, respecting the allotment and appropriation of lands for the support of a Protestant Clergy within the said Provinces, and also respecting the constituting, erecting, and endowing parsonages or rectories within the said Provinces; and also respecting the presentation of Incumbents or Ministers to the same; and also respecting the manner in which such Incumbents or Ministers shall hold and enjoy the same, shall be subject to be varied or repealed by any express provisions for that purpose, contained in any act or acts which may be passed by the Legislative Council and Assembly of the said Provinces respectively, and assented to by his Majesty, his heirs or successors, under the restriction hereinafter provided.

42. Provided nevertheless, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That whenever any act or acts shall be passed by the Legislative Council and Assembly of either of the said Provinces, containing any provisions to vary or repeal the above recited declaration and provisions contained in the said act passed in the fourteenth year of the reign of his present Majesty ; or to vary or repeal the above recited provision contained in his Majesty's royal instructions, given on the third day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, to the said Guy Carleton, Esquire, now Lord Dorchester ; or to vary or repeal the provisions hereinbefore contained for continuing the force and effect of the said declaration and provisions ; or to vary or repeal any of the several provisions hereinbefore contained respecting the allotment and appropriation of lands for the support of a Protestant Clergy within the said Provinces ; or respecting the constituting, erecting, or endowing, parsonages or rectories within the said Provinces ; or respecting the presentation of Incumbents or Ministers to the same ; or respecting the manner in which such Incumbents or Ministers shall hold and enjoy the same; and also that whenever any act or acts shall be so passed, containing any provisions which shall in any manner relate to or affect the enjoyment or exercise of any religious form or mode of worship; or shall impose or create any penalties, burdens, disabilities, or disqualifications, in respect of the same ; or shall in any manner relate to or affect the payment, recovery, or enjoyment, of any of the accustomed dues or rights hereinbefore mentioned; or shall in any manner relate to the granting, imposing, or recovering any other dues, or stipends, or emoluments whatever, to be paid to or for the use of any Minister, Priest, Ecclesiastic, or Teacher, according to any religious form or mode of worship, in respect of his said office or function ; or shall in any manner relate to or affect the Establishment or Discipline of the Church of England, amongst the Ministers and members thereof within the said Provinces ; or shall in any manner relate to or affect the King's Prerogative touching the granting of waste lands of the

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Crown within the said Provinces, every such act or acts shall, previous to any declaration or signification of the King's assent thereto, he laid before both Houses of Parliament in Great Britain ; and that it shall not be lawful for his Majesty, his heirs or successors, to signify his or their assent to any such act or acts, until thirty days after the same shall have been laid before the said Houses, or to assent to any such act or acts, in case either House of Parliament shall, within the said thirty days, address his Majesty, his heirs or successors, to withhold his or their assent from such act or acts, and [that no such act shall be valid or effectual to any of the said purposes, within either of the said Provinces, unless the Legislative Council and Assembly of such Province shall, in the session in which the same shall have been passed by them, have presented to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or person administering the government of such Province, an address or addresses, specifying that such act contains provisions for some of the said purposes herein before specially described, and desiring that, in order to give effect to the same, such act should be transmitted to England without delay, for the purpose of being laid before Parliament previous to the signification of his Majesty's assent thereto.

In these few sections the reader is presented with the charter of the Church's Right. We think, nay, we are persuaded, that it would be impossible for a person whose judgment was unbiassed to rise from the careful perusal of this act without declaring his conscientious belief that to the Church of England, and to the Church of England alone, belongs the right of possessing the lands so reserved. It is when party feelings and sectarian policy interpose, that a different interpretation is entertained, an opposite conclusion formed. The permanency of the provision, as well as the Church's right to it, has been made the subject of discussion and doubt. If language can define permanency, then it must surely be allowed that the meaning of the act on this important bearing cannot be misunderstood. To this we have more especially referred in our answer to Lord Glenelg's despatch of the 7th of August. One remark, however, may be made here, which deserves especial attention, and which it is believed furnishes an answer to the objections to the permanency of the provision which may be drawn from the 41st section. It is this : — If the principle of a legislative measure be permanent and unalterable, then however the details of the measure may be modified or repealed, as circumstances may require, or even an entirely new act become necessary, still no 'stretch of legislative power can annihilate the principle : this must survive every effort at alteration and subversion. What is the principle of

IS the act of 1791 ? the duty of the state is to provide for the religious instruction of the people. In the performance of this bounden duty the act was passed. Opposition from the enemies of the Church or of the State cannot release the " powers that be " from their responsibility to God and to the people committed to their charge. The manner of providing for the ministers of the Established Church may require modification or alteration , but without a plain dereliction of duty they may not be left to the precarious support of the people. We stop not to notice at any length the delusions of the voluntary system, or of the duty of Government to sanction and support all sects and denominations alike. The former has been exposed by the experience of our own country ; for its ineflicacy to supply the people with religious instruction is too obvious to need any proof. The latter argues so little foresight, so little discernment of the effects of simultaneously cultivating and fostering systems which are morally as well as politically opposed, that our wonder cannot fail to be excited that even in this age of novel extravagancies any one should be found bold enough to advance it. Let toleration be co-extensive with Christianity, unless, indeed, the form of religion plainly interfere with the maintenance of peace and order, as established in our community. Such a " cloak of maliciousness " should not be permitted. But widely, indeed, does the toleration and the pecuniary support of a system of religion differ. It is moreover a vain excuse for refusing the exclusive support of the " powers that be " to the national faith, to urge the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of deciding which system is right. Such a plea involves the admission that truth itself cannot successfully be sought or assuredly attained — a doctrine few Protestants would be disposed to receive. When the Church of England shall be found wanting in her adherence to the truth of God's word, and the due ministrations of Christ's sacrament,— when she shall pertinaciously maintain the " corruptions 99 of the Church of Rome or any other errors incompatible with the truth as it is in Jesus, then let her place, as the National Establishment, be occupied by some more pure, more apostolical church : till then her maintenance and enlargement, to the extent of our gracious Sovereign's dominions, by the legislative and executive bodies, is a plain and positive duty.

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For nearly thirty years no attempt was made to call in question the exclusive right of the Church of England to those lands called the " Clergy Reserves." The notion was then broached that there is so peculiar a vagueness in the letter, and such an elasticity in the spirit of the act, as admits of the interpretation that the Church of Scotland at least may claim a share in the provision thus made for a Protestant clergy. It is not from any inimical disposition to the Church of Scotland that we reject this notion, but simply because we believe that it is at variance with the letter and spirit of the act itself. The claim of the Church of Scotland rests on the fact, which we are not disposed to deny, that she is an established Church,— established, indeed, in Scotland, but in no other part of the British dominions. We submit, in proof of this assertion, a few sections of the " Kincfs Instructions" sent to the governor of the Canadas in the year 1818. This document cannot fail to show that the Government at that time did so interpret the Constitutional Act of 1791, as recognising the Church of England as the only Established Church in Upper Canada.

§ 41. — Whereas the establishment of proper regulations on matters of ecclesiastical concern is an object of very great importance, it will be your indispensable duty to take care that no arrangements in regard thereto be made, but such as may give full satisfaction to our new subjects, in every point in which they have a right to any indulgence on that head, always remembering that it is a toleration of the free exercise of the religion of the Church of Rome only to which they are entitled, but not to the jjowers and privileges of it as an Established Church, that being a preference which belongs only to the protestant church of England.

§ 44. — It is our will and pleasure to reserve to you the granting of licenses for marriage, letters of administration, and probate of wills, as heretofore exercised by you and your predecessors, and also to reserve to you and all others to whom it may lawfully belong, the patronage and , right of presentation to benefices ; but it is our will and pleasure that the person so presented shall be instituted by the Bishop, or his Commissary duly authorised by him.

§ 4p.— You are to take especial care that Gocl Almighty be devoutly and duly served throughout your government — that the Lord's Day be duly kept, and the services and prayers appointed by and according to the Book of Common Prayer be publicly and solemnly performed throughout the year.