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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression on J'ill-ctrafior! et ?n ♦»'TT'«»'9nt par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaltra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, 11 est f ilm6 d partir de Tangle 8up6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. rrata to pelure, n i D 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 i VBC ^B^^^I^^ TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE, TUOMAB FRAMKIAOT MWIS. W.P. FROM JOHN STRACHAN, D.D, L.L.D. ARCHDEACON OF YORK. PRINTED BY R. STANTON. 1830. m { f N 1 Sir, addr of til of C opini spec lion appt poli< as t I] tect incc proi mei pov the Bii eve my 1 TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE, THOMAS FRANRLAND LEWIS, M.P. Sir, // ^ It is with great reluctance that I thus publicly address you on the Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Civil Government of Ca-ada, of which you were Chairman. But the opinions expressed in that important document re- specting the provision made for the religious instruc- tion of the Protestant Inhabitants in these Colonies, appear to me so much at variance with justice, sound policy, and the principles of the British Constitution, as to' call for the most serious observation. Ilavin'T already been actively engaged in the pro- tection of this property, it will not 1 hope be deemed inconsistent with my duty, thus openly to record my protest against the adoption of the measures recom- mended, and to exert myself to the utmost of my power in defending the unity of Church and State m the Canadas, which is the brightest ornament of the British Constitution, and ought to be the glory ot every Christian Government. I am not insensible to the disadvantage attending my undertaking in the present temper of the times, t ■ ii » r « ii'i»i 8 H« i .i'»» i « »i i"iri» iii 'nyi 4 , ««niilnr it ia to attack, than to „„d Low much "">•■<= P°f""^\;i.But as they are support religmus «f "l'''''""'"'''^ ^e hoped, that intended for the pubhc good, '""^yj^ f^^ ,„„. if it can be proved ''-'''' V-^^f^jltdvvill soon ,endu.g, now fulfils, and .f left »"^ 7;^^f,„,i„„, „;, of which he was a sincere member. A the nuestion is <.f the greatest imporU^nce W 0,el:l.e ^eli-being of the ^-das H w. 1 e^^ ^p„arv to explain it somewhat minutuy, not y nlle in power may be possessed of .ts t.ue that those n p ^^ ^^^^^ ^,^y ^^^^ \ t*;;. CI ur 1 n th Cohlly is reduced to the ne- ^sit of S.ng her legal rights from threatened ^ I.- T e^nr tliit I sliall be found . iious, Province. .,,. . To the absence of such evidence I am wdl.ng to attabr^e extraordinary measures recommended ;! L the Clergy Reserves, and I hope to supply rSrmln af U bring His Majesty's Govern- ^ I \ I ment to « very different conelasion from that at which the Committee has arrived. During the Araeriean Revolution, the I-'-ol^'to"" of the Colonies were divided into two part.es-those :, o ad\,ered to the King, and those who ,o,ned he standard ot revolt. The latter prevaded, and on the :l:bli»h,„e„t of peace, the former L-.-g P-- ved their allegiance, sought refuge m the Colonic . Ivhich still remained fnilhlul to the Crown The J atr mmher removed into the Canadas, then the fw^ of auebec, and of these the majority settled „ U per Canada, which has bee., '^'^-^^^ tho isvlum of the Loyalists, who nsked then- hves In maintaining the unity of the Br.t.sh hmpne. The Provincial Corps, and one or two Reg.ments of I: lie, were the first to ascend the »'•---. and were stationed on its Banks, and m ''<> » "'^^ r Nia-ara. Soon after, the Colon.sts who had fled d IXstihties with their families f^"'/'-^ ^ ^ " liou Provinces, were settled, by order of the Govern- :en. round Kingston, and in the Lower D.str.cts. Besides these, many, who bad been "»« "^m durin. the contest, but who were at first .»<=hned from """" "ivhar as" d by jealousies and suspicions, that I^lte 3 to rllve to the British Provinces. - r T^ra™''--— "^^^^^^^ ;;rrd\:rLr:to the Britisn Government m ..j^ 6 and inslitations, and could not endure to beeome snb- iects of tl.o United States. Tl>e»e Imv.ng made m- nuiry whether they would be kindly received .n the loyal Colonies, settled their aflairs, and came in at their convenience. These different classes, with their friends and con- nexions, continued for many years, as circumstances permitted, to withdraw from the United States mto the Canadas, and the Britsh Government appreciating their loyal motives gave them an atlectionatc recep- tion. In proportion as the Government was anxious to receive with attention tiiose who had given manifest proofs of their loyalty and attachment to the British Constitution, so was it careful not to encourage a pro- miscuous Emigration from the United States, and every precaution was taken to admit such only as were from principle friendly to the unity of the Empire. When therefore the Colony of Quebec was divided into two Provinces, the Inhabitants of Upper Canada were, to a man, of tried and approved loyalty. The same care was taken after it became a distinct Province. The merit of declared loyalty and adhe- rence to the unity of the Empire was required of ^very Settler, and none were encouraged but those whose morals, industry, and attachment to tiic British Government entitled them to protection. To testify more clearly His Majesty's approbation of such as had proved themselves faithful m the day .1 fi -Jl } of trouble, Ho was graciously pleased to direct that a special mark of honour should be put upon those families, who had adhered to the unity of the Empire, and had joined the Royal Standard in America, be- fore the treaty of separation in 1783, and for that purpose it was ordc.ed that a Registry of their names should be made, and preserved in the Archives of the Province, to the end that their posterity might be distinguished from future settlers in the Parish Registers, and Rolls of the Militia of the respective Districts, and other public remembrancers of the Colony, as incitements to their perseverance in the fidelity and conduct so honourable to their Ancestors for special benefits and privileges.— In accordance with this, a Farm of 200 Acres of Land was granted to each of their children, male and female, so soon as they reached the age of twenty-one years. Tims a distinction was made between that class of persons, who were attached to and fought in support of British Sovereignty, and those, who from want of energy, and other causes, tiiough friendly, did not actually rise in its defence. The former might come into the Province, and on proving to the local Government that they were loyal, Lands were assigned them on easy terms, but on those who joined the British Army, in order to put down rebellion, peculiar marks of grace and favour were conferred. As no encouragement was ever given on the paH of Government to Americans, other than Loyalists, to come into the Province, it is fair to conclude, that '».« .— i'l > ■ ■' < f^ 8 they are. with Emigrants from tho Ihiited Kingdom, the only cUiss who deserve the purticular attention of Government. Moreover, n portion of our Inhabitants, hy no means incuiisi'lorablo, are i:migrants from (Ireat Britain and Ireland, who came into the Trovince at a very early period, and they came in the confidence, that in removing to Upper Canada they were merely changing their place of abode, but neither their laws, liberties, nor religion. Such was the population, when the Constitutional Act of 1791 was pufsod,— a population of the most decided loyalty, and sincerely attached to Great Britain, and such it continued 1 may say even with- out exception up to 1798. It is true that thousands have found it their interest to come into the Province, since that time, who have no attachment to our Civil and Religious Institutions ; but they were nev ;r invited, nor was there ever any feeling in their favour manifested by the Government. It is not indeed contended that a rigorous investi- gation was always had. Many sought the Colony through family connexion — cheapness of Land— easi- ness of settlement, and a spirit of enterprize ; and many fled from the Laws of the United States, which they had offended. Persons of this description con- tinued to come into the Province from 1798 to 1812, in a stream more or less rapid, but they never ob- tained Lands from the Government, or any direct countenance. They might, and did, obtain property ^.; 9 by purchase, and a few porliaps imposed upon the local authorities, but no persons except Loyalists were ever invited or rccogni:£od as worthy of be- coming permanent f^ettlers. Of American Citizens coming individually, and purchasing Lands and settling upon them at their own peril, the local Government could take no notice, unless upon regular complaint, which was not likely to be made, while they remained quiet and peace- able, and while the intercourse between the two na- tions continued friendly. But since all those, who are not American Loyal- ists, or strongly attached to the Parent State, have come into the Province with a full knowledge, that WH were living undtjr the British Constitution, and that our Establishments, Civil and Religions, are modelled upon that admirable fabric, it is reasonable to assume that they were prepared to acquiesce in these institu- tions, and entertained no design of overturning them. If the first, which we are disposed to admit as the most probable, then they have no claim to h«ve any of our Institutions changed, because they may prefer others, which ure not congenial to our form of Go- vernment. Still less are they entitled to attention, if they came into this Province with the secret deter- mination to overturii our Constitution, both in Church and Slate. It is not however to bo concealed that many of those persons, whatever their intention may have boen, when they first removed into this Province, are now desirous of destroying it as a British Colony, B 10 and of annexing it to the United States ; and unfor- tunately they have acquired no little strength, both in taleiits and numbers, from Emigrants from the British Dominions in Europe, since the general peace in 1815. StilK the number of the discontented is compara- tively insignificant, though like all minorities they are exceedingly ckmoroua and bustling, and to stran- gers may at first appear to be very formidable. But there are hundreds to one of them, who are honestly attuched to Great Britain, and who feel themselves entitled to all the privileges of British Birth-right, and who came here in the full confidence of enjoying them. They did not, nv^r could th^y, suppose, that when they fled from rebellion, or left the shores of Great Britain, they left their birth-right behind them, or that in passing to a British Colony, they were de- priving themselves of the privileges of the British ConstitJtion.— Now these arc the settlers who de- serve the kind consideration o^ the Imperial Govern- ment ; and indeed it must be confessed that till lately it was the policy of Greut Britain to strengthen the pVatical attachment of her Colonists, on Constitution- al principles, and on no othei. For it was justly ccijsidered that the Colonist who does not think iiim- self identified, as it were, with tiie Inhabitants of the Parent State, and to possess the same rights and privileges, ought to Emigrate to some other country. By the 31st Geo. 3d, Cap. 31, a regular form of Government was established for this loyal and at- tached population. It confers upon them all the ad- I 11 vantages of the British Constitution— all the elements of civil liberty to as great an extent as was compati- ble with their enjoyment, or as had ever been pos- sessed by any appendage of the Crown. In one re- spect, and in one only was there a distinction between the Constitution conferred on the Canadas, and those which had been given tc former Colonies. Provision was*made for the religious instruction of the people, for while Great Britain had been lavish in bestowmg civil rights upon her Colonists, she had done nothing of a moral nature to attach them to her dominion. — Lands were granted — free constitutions conferred, and the power of making Laws, but little was done for Ed'jcalion, and nothing at all for Religion, and tlius the principal bond of union \v^ forgotten, or disregarded. 3n this respect the policy of England differed from that of other European nations. They were particu- larly careful in providing for the religious instruction of their Colonists, and from their first Emigration provision for this, the most important of all objects, kept pace with their growth. The American Colo- nies of France, Spain, and Portugal, possessed the same religious establishments with the Parent States, the same gradation of ranks among the Clergy, and still more abundant means of support. The consequence was, as might have been anticipa- ted, a greater tranquillity among themselves and a more devoted attachment to their Paternal Governments — and had it not been for the revolt of the British Colo- nies, and the consequent convulsions in Europe, there 12 is reason to believe that they would still have conti- nued fiiithful. • In the British American Settlements, on the other hand, no attention was paid by Government to the religious instruction of the people. They were left entirely to themselves, and but for the kindness of the Society for the Propogation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, hardly one Episcopal Clergyman would have been found in British North America. It must indeed, Sir, bo ccmfessed, that the want of religious instruction is in some measure an evil inci- dental to new Settlements— but no efforts ought to be spared to supply a remedy for an evil, which is pregnant with the most serious mischief. The Pa- rent State should not hesitate to provide an adequate number of Clergymen and Churches for all her Colo- nies. This ought to be onn of the first objects of every Christian Government, for if men have not the means of being good Christians, how can it be ex- pected thit they will be good Subjects.— There is something both incongruous and revolting in expec- ting men to perform their duty to their King, when a perfect indifference is shewn to the performance of their duty to God. Of all denominations, the Church of England was the most destitute in the Colonies, and laboured under the most serious difficulties, for Parents were unable to bring up their children to the sacred pro- fession, as they could not be Ordained without going to Europe, a voyage at that time both dangerous and expensive. ; ^"*'*»*ia* wi"ii"»iwiM.iBni'rt'i" I ; 13 The effect of this was, that Emigrants belonging to the Established Church, who settled in America, not having access to their own religious ministrations, became frequently Dissenters, and when the Colonies (now the United States) rebelled, there was not, among a population of nearly three millions, a single Prelate, and but a very few Episcopal Clergymen. The folly of this policy was shewn in the strongest light during the rebellion. Almost all the Episcopal Clergy, and their Congregations remained loyal and faithful to the King — thus demonstrating by their conduct, that had proper care been taken to promote a religious establishment in connexion with that of England, the revolution would not have taken place. So very sensible were the General and Provincial Congresses of mis, that they availed themselves of the Congregational, and other Dissenting Ministers in fomenting discontent and rebellion, as appears from the following Letter, addressed on the 6th De- cember, 1775, by the Committee of the Congress of Massachussetts to the several Ministers of the Gospel within their bounds : — " Reverend Sir, " We cannot hhi acknowledge the goodness of " Heaven in constantly supplying us with Preachers " of the Gospel, whose concern has been the tempo- " ral and spiritual happiness of this people. In a day " like this, when all the Friends of Civil and Religious " liberty arc exerting themselves to deliver this coun- " try from its present calamities, we cannot but place m 14 •ygreathopes in an order of men, who have ever dis- " tinguished themselves in their country's cause, and ** do therefore recommend to the Ministers of the " Gospel in the several Towns and other places in " this Colony, that they assist us in avoiding that " dreadful slavery with which we are now threaten- " ed." — Gordon's American Revolution, Vol. 1st, p. 272. The Historian who inserts this Letter, after dwel- ling upon the exertions of the Dissenting Clergy in cherishing and promoting the American Rehellion, concludes : " Thus by their labours in the Pulpit, "and by furnishing tlie priiit-i w th occasional essays, " the Ministers have forwarded, and strengthened, " and that not a little, the opposition to the exercise of " that Parliamentary claim of right to bind the Colo- " nies in all cases whatever." Thp- same writer stigmatizes the Clergymen of the Church" of England as Tories and enemies of the people,"' because they spoke peace and abstained from politics* in the Pulpit. ' Convinced by History as well as experience of the pernicious effects of the unchristian policy, which Great Britain had exercised towards her Colonies in regard to religion, and sensible that they ought to be attached to the Parent State by spiritual as. well' as political feelings, Mr. Pitt determined on -forming a Constitution for the Canadas, to proyjde foP the re- ligious instruction of the peo|)le, and to lay the foun- dation of an Ecclesiastical Establishment, which should increase with the «»"♦♦'- IT 15 • This enlightened Statesman, keeping in mind that by the Law of England the Church is an mtegral part of the State, and being well aware of the ad- vantage, which the people at large derive from this union was solicitous to extend to the Canadas the blessings of a Constitution, assimilated as much as possible to that of the Mother Country. Agreeable to this view, the Canada Act of 1791 m as far as religion is concerned rests upon the broad principle that the Inhabitants consisted of two classes, Roman Catholics and Protestants^the ibrmer attached to the See of Rome-lhe latter to the Church of Eng- land This distinction is maintained through the whole Act, and is the only principle which explains and renders consistent its various provisions. lo the Roman Catholics it confirms t^^^^^^'f ^"« PLV'^" leges as they had been recognized in the Act of 1774, and for the Protestants it creates a religious establish- ment similar to that of England. By the 14th of Geo. 3rd, the Roman Catholics had been secured in the free exercise of their religion, and their Clergy were permitted to hold and to re- ceive their accustomed dues and rights with respect to such persons only as should profess the said Re- ligion. And that the Protectant part of the Popula- tion might not appear to be ntirely forgotten, it was provided in the same Statute, that it should be lawful L His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, to make such provision out of the rest of the said accustomed dues and rights for the encouragement of the I rotes- tant Religion, and for the maintenance and support ot I 16 expedient. lUese ei , nwer Canada, but im as „r„ Catholic I^fS- '^tTotesmnU. tUoy were f„ as t'-^y^PP'f^TUneverthel-s proceed, apon wholly inefficient, iney denomina- the principle "^ '«-g7"^^J7„ This principle is tions of ChrUimns, «id «^o --^ , i cm- followed up in Mf . Pi" » Bill, by _^^^ ,.^^j,„. fi,™„g what had been gran^/- •'^ ,„,, ,.i„gs to lies in the Aet of 1"*' .""" p.oteslanta, as should render their -.nstruction The little attention pa d^ t . re , _^.^^_^ ^.^ of the Protestants in the IW. ^^ ^.^^,, ,„ f- the s^ailness of he. n«™b ^^^^^^^ ^^. the Province. But in in ^^ tween that period, '"f. '^"."^tcome resident ; and a considerable P°P»'»""" ^^btlercomprohundcd va- althoughthis P^P""""" f ^^' I e it -Relieved can rious sects of Protestants, "o ^^(.„^„„„,„, exten- "" """'' "T.CrZ tt: Church of England, ding to. ny of them B^ ,^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ,^, a maintenance ^'J^^^^ ,^'',„„fe, „p„„ them any public charge, or P'ff "f,„„tion of iheir worship, [hing more than a ^^^ '",;„ ^ght and privi- a„d an equal «'»l°y«"=»» ^ TJ^' Jmber of the lege. Nor does it fPP"" '\'". 7,,e Provinces in- Church of Scotlan , '- f^';",,' ■=R„,ers of that dulged an «P«f "™' ".J;' Zi she should be Church ever preferred a claim ^1 17 recognized as an Established Church in this Colony more than in the otlier Foreign dominions of His Majesty, within which it is conceived, the Church of England alone enjoys the advantages of an Establish- ment, according to the express provisions of the arti- cles of union. That this was Mr. Pitl^ view of the subject in 1791 is quite manifest from the Provisions of the Act — He is legislating for two Churches, and two only— the Church of Rome, and the Church of England. The former he confirms in her rights and privileges, and then he adopts such measures as shall enable His Ma- jesty to make a permanent provision for the other. — In pursuance of this intention it is directed that, in respect to the land in these Provinces (the Canadas) which had been granted by His Majesty, or might hereafter be granted, a reservation of other lands should be made, equal in value to the seventh part of the lands so granted, to form an allotment and appro- priation for the support and maintenance of a Protes- tant Clergy within the said Province. From the very nature of this Provision, and making it intimately connected with the title to all other lands in the two Colonies, it is evident that a general pur- pose was contemplated— that only two Churches, as comprehending the two great classes of the people could be intended, and that had not an Established Protestant Church, as a counterpoise to that of the Roman Catholic, been the object, no such provision would have been thought necessary. C t ' '.I SKTHiUJ.' .'! SB «!, • :' 18 Indeed such a provision, had it been^intended to be divided among all sects, would bave been offering a J :1m for religious division '"-"d^ of promo-g Lity and concord, and would '■«- 1^ ^ fT '',;"„ its application altogether impracticable. That the Chut^h of England, and no other P-— ^^^^ ^ , was intended is like«rise raanifest from the Royal In Actions to the Governors of the Canadas winch are recognised, and in part recited in the 31^.. Geo. 3'^. Chap. 31. in which it is expressly declared that the powers and privileges of an Established Church be- Jong only to the Church of England. Besides in tho clauses which follow those making the reservation provisions are made for the regulation, support and endowment of the Church of England, and they gwe power to the King's Representative to that effect, but furnish no powers whatever for any other Eccles. s- tical purposes, or appropriations, nor intimate in he most remote manner any benefit to be extended to the Church of Scotland, nor even mention or notice the existence of that Church. That no other Church Protestant, but that of En- gland, was contemplated further appears from the erection of the two Provinces into a Bishops See, and constituting it part of the Metropohtian Province of Canterbury, with which its Bishop is connected in the same manner as any Bishop within that Province in England. His Majesty's Government haa a so confirmed the character of an Establishment to the Church of England, by a series of public Acts of per- manent effect, such as the foundaUon m nil perpetuity ^ e n e 10 le r- 19 of a Cathedral Church-the e/ection of Parishes-the division of the Diocese into Archdeaconrres-and the formation of Corporations of the Clergy of that Church for the management of the said Reserves by an In- strument under the Great Seal of the respective Pro- vinces, the draught of which had been previously re- ferred for the sanction of His Majesty's Government, which it accordingly received. Instructions were sent to the Colonial Governments respectincr the Reserves immediately after the passing of the Sis" cf Geo. 3rd, Chap 31. with directions to devise some permanent scheme for leasing and making them productive, and when such scheme was matured, it was ordered to be communicated to the Bishop of Quebec for his Lordships concurrence and appro- bation. The Executive Council of the Province of Upper Canada, in tlieir Report on the subject express no doubt as to the meaning of the words, a Protestant Clergy, as appears from the following extract:— "It « is °of great importance that the Constitution in « Church and State should be so interwoven with the " whole social system in Upper Canada, as to engage « men's interests as well as their feelings in its sup- " port, and make it in popular and daily estimation, « no less essential to the security of property than " to the preservation of religion, and maintenance of « good order." The same Report, alluding to the custom of leasing Church Lands in Englan' argues against the ex- pediency of fines as being pernicious both to Land- I 20 lord and Tenant, and recommends a different mode of proceeding. In all the minutes of the Executive Council, which refer to the Reserves, no doubt is ever expressed as to what Church they were intended to support, and this acquires additional force from the fact that General Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor, was a Member of Parliament, at the pass- ing of the 31st of Geo. 3, Cap. 31, and took an active part in the discussions, and must have therefore been fully aware of the intentions of the Government in adopting a measure, which it became his duty to put in force.— But so far is he from shewing any hesita- tion, that all his measures proceeded on the convic- tion, that the Church of England, and no other Pro- testant Chnrch, was meant to be supported and maintained by the Reserves. Long before the passing of the 31st Geo. 3rd, Cap. 31, making provision for a Protestant Clergy, reser- vations were from time to time made, by order of the different Governors, for the support of Religion, which were invariably assigned to the Church of England. Jiven the people themselves never con- templated the support of any other Church, as is manifest from the Quebec Papers, collected and Edited by the late Baron Maseres, in which much is said about Civil and Religious Liberty, and against the establishment of the Roman Catholic Religion in Lower Canada, but no Protestant Church, except that of England, is ever mentioned as deserving of support, and that Church is recommended to be established, and a Bishop appointed to reside at Quebec. ) I I ^ I I M n Tlmt the Church of England is the Estabhshed Church of Upper Canada, and the only Protestant Church contemplated in the 31st Geo. 3rd, Cap. 31, is fully admitted by the Provincial Laws, which have from time to time been enacted. The last clause of the very first Law in the Statute Book provides, that nothing in this Act contained, shall vary or interfere with any of the subsisting provisions, respecting Ec- clesiastical rights or dues within the Province. In the second Session of the first Provincial Par- liament, it is enacted, that as soon as there shall be any Church built for the performance of Divine Service, according to the use of the Church of Eng- land, with a Parson or Minister duly appointed there- to—then the Inhabitant Householders shall choose and nominate one person, and the said Parson or Minister shall nominate one other person, which per- sons shall jointly serve the Office of Church-warden or Church-wardens, and their Successors, duly ap- pointed, shall be as a Corporation to represent the whole inhabitants of the Township or Parish, and as such, may have a Property in Goods or Chattels, of, or belonging to, the said Parish, and may sue, prose- cute and defend in all presentments, indictments or actions for and on the behalf of the inhabitants of the said Parish.— Here the same power is conferred upon the Clergyman of any Township or Parish, as in England, and like powers are conferred upon the Church-wardens. There is the assent of the Legis- lature to the Church, as by Law established, and a voluntary extension of its rights and privileges beyond 1 1 .^nnivo bv tho operation of tlic Laws nreroaative of the Crown. . Jd .aUing valid irrcgu.a. ;-.«.»». and ' a»o„ of this irregularity assigned m ll»^ r^ea""- ^ there was no Protestant Parson or Minister du y r.e on certain conditions, provided the parties do :t°:;s,.", wit..-.n eighteen rniles of any Pa.o„ - Minister of the Church of England. The Act pro feed to «»"<=' »''-'• '*"= *"'S"'""" '''"".iTvTe the marriage according to tlie form prescribed by tl^ C luTch of England, and that when five Parsons or Ministers of the Church of Englan.l shall be d«mg Sutytn their respective Parishes in the same District, fhe Act provides that the power given to the Magis- trates o sc!emnixe marriage shall cease. In he XTe of thi. AC, the Legislature evidently kept the Church of v.v«,.i.J continually in view, and confined t?e powerVn«e. amy given for a time to the Magis- ^te's to Ihe period when the EstaUUl.d Ch«^^^^^^ would be sufficiently spread over the Province to render it unnecessary. In the third Session of the second Parliament, a iaw was passed, giving power under certam con- 23 rlitions find restrictions, to the Ministcrn of the iJhurch of Scotlaml, Lutherans and Calvin.sts to pcrtorm the ceremony of marriage between persons belonging' to their respective Congregations. From this it appears tliat the Lcgishiture so far from con- sidering the Church of Scotland as entitled to the privileges of an establishment, place her on the same level with other denominations, and class her with the Lutheran and Calvinist Churches. It is scarcely necessary to follow up this inquiry by a reference to the many attempt- made to extend the power of celebrating marriage to all denomma- tions, and the total silence in ail these proceedings respecting the Church of England. Being establish- ed* by the fundamental Laws of the Empire-thc Constitutional Act, and the King's Prerogative, it requires no Legislative assistance from the Colony. Without noticing any other Act therefore, I pro- coed to the Lav relative to Tythes in this Province, which passed a very few years ago. The Preamble states, that whereas His Majesty has been graciously pleased to reserve for the suppoil of a Protestant Clergy in this Province, one-seventh of all Lands granted therein, doubts have been sug- gested, that the tythe of the produce of Land might still be legally demanded by the Incumbent duly in- stituted, or Rector of any Parish, which doubt it is important to the well-doing of the Colony to remove. It is evident this Preamble implies the regu ar Es- tablishment of the Church of England withm the ^ 24 Province, otherwise it would be worse than nonsevisc. No Protestant Church could claim tythes but the Church of England. To no other Protestant Church is the language here used applicable. The^ords, « duly instituted," and " Rector," are used by no other Church. Who ever dreamed of Presbyterians, or any other Protestant denomination claiming tythes \ No member of the Legislature will assert, that he had any other purpose in giving his vote, than that of ex- cluding the Clergy of the Church of England, in this Province, from tythes forever. But the enacting clause is, if possible, still stronger. " Be it enacted, &c. That no tythes shall be claimed, " demanded or received, by any Ecclesiastical Parson, '* Rector or Vicar of the Protestant Church within " this Province, any law, custom or usage to the con- " trary notwithstanding." Here again the language used is that belonging to the Church of England, for there is no other de- nomination of Protestants in the Province, to whose Religious Teachers, the words " Parson, Rector and Vicar" are applicable. But, beyond all this, the Tythes arc given to the Ministers, not of a Protestant Church, but oitlm Protestant Church within this Pro- vince — by which expression, and the change of the indefinite a into the definite ihs^ the Establishment of the Church of England is completely recognized and defined, with an accuracy not even found in the 1st of Elizabeth, which establishes the Church in England. ' I 25 Now although the Church of England is established in all the Colonies independent of local authorities, it if yet pleasent lO find the Legislature in its deliberate acts recognizing our Church as the only Ecclesiastical Establishment in the Province. To have imposed tithes for the support of the Pro- testant Clergy in the Canadas, would have been al- together inexpedient, and was never looked for nor desired. Yet in Upper Canada, which is by far the most considerable portion of the Diocese of Quebec, the possibility of claiming them was alarming, and therefore it was wise to set the matter at rest by a specal enactment. This places in a stricking point of view both the conviction which existed of the ex- clusive property of the Church of England in the Cler- gy Reserves, and the injustice of depriving her of that Provision. The doubt as to the right of tithes thus settled was entertained only by a very few persons, for tlie grea- ter number considered the Clergy Reserves to havo been given in lieu of tithes. Nevertheless as the terms of the Statute of 31. Geo. 3rd, Chap. 31, arc exceedingly comprehensive, and the power conferred upon every Rector of a parish, when duly inducted, so complete in bestowing upon him all rights, profits and emoluments, belonging to the said Rectory as fully and amply as the Rector or Incumbent of a Par- songe and Rectory in England, it was prudent to re- move even the shadow of doubt, and the Clergy were no less willing to do so than the Members of the Le- D gtalature. In truth the question of fdw v^ not f^tMed by the adherent^of th- ^'^■J'J^ dicteimed all right to such an e^t.o^ W^^ h« ewmi.., hecau« they believed her to be th» Est.br lished Church of the Country. ..•,.1 As this Act referred to matters of an ecdesi^al nature, it w«. rendered necessary by the 42»d ctose of the 3Ut of Geo. 3rd, Cap. 31, that .t shouU be reserved for His Majesty's pleasure, «»**«''*•"« the Royal Assent eouW be given, it should be laid before both Houses of Parliament in order that e.ther House might within thirty days address H.s Majesty Tn the su^ect. Having passed tl-ro-gh «h.s proce^ U became a Law of the Provmce m i ebruary 1833. After all possibility of mamtaining a claun to tyth.es bad been thus precluded by an Act pas^e^ m the Colony, and solemnly assented to by H.s Mi^esty, under the impUed sanction of both Houses of the Im- perial Parliament, to whose deliberate consideration it was formally and necessarily subjected-I cannot conceive, Sir, with what shew of reason the ooncur- rence of ParUament can be expected in any measure for destroying or even diminishing that provision which by the same Act is expressly declared to have been made for tlie Protestant Church-which was the free gift of the King-a provision conferred by the autho- rity of His Parliament-which imposes no burden upon any one-and detracts nothing from the means of those who desire to contribute to the support of any other form of worship-and the existence of which is in terms recited as the reason for extinguishmg all right to tithes. 1 \ Kfi.1 \ ' 27 Nevertheless, ia the very same y«""»'*^'' ^" 31, maktogtheapprdpriatSon to any other th... the Church of England. ^^, ,w In referring to the Act of Unioo it .8 evident hat U ZL not il the *n..lle* degree on the su^..- This Law «ives no power whatever to the Charoh ot l^Ua^Tfnd proi^oB heme r^o^^;^J^^^ «»ce directly or indirectly beyo«d *« '^'"^^^^ Scotland, and no where else. ^ -^ Very different are the provisions of the same Ac as itll^ets the Church of England, which ,td.sUnctly Sshes « South Britain, and in all the dom.n.ons and territories thereunto belonging. ^^ Till within a very few years not a whisper wM ! L ,i,p Clersv Reserves. Soniething was heard against the Cl«rgy K ^^^^^ indeed 'said ^g""^' .^'Tj, ^'i^.o„ exclusive, and 2B divide the Clergy Reserves among all Sects, or to di- vert them from their original destination, was not yet imagined. On the contrary, most persons at that period (that is ten years ago) considered the provision wise, and since no Quit Rent is exacted in the Cana- das, as in other Colonies, they thought that the trifling obstruction produced by the Clergy Reserves ought to be cheerfully borne. It was not till the tithe bill had become a law that the House of Assembly seriously took up the question of the Clergy Reserves. The friends of the Church of Scotland did indeed speak of the claim of their Ministers in 1822, at that time only four in number, to a share of the Reserves but with no eflfect — the claim was considered idle, and to proceed from a disappoint- ment which they were said to have met with in an appli- cation to Government for Salaries to their Ministers. Failing in the Province it was understood that Re- presentations had been made to His Majesty's Govern- ment and the General Assembly of the Church of Scot- land by the Scotch Ministers of both Provinces, only at that time seven in number, claiming a share of the Re- serves as a Branch of one of the national Cl^urches, and supporting their claim under a supposed ambiguity in the expression "a Protestant Clergy." A counter re- presentation was drawn up by the Bishop of Quebec and his Clergy, but it was I believe never presented. There appeared to them no reason to believe that the claim of the Scotch Clergy would be for a moment entertained by the Imperial Gevernment when they considered the Acts and instructions of His Majesty 29 which preceded the Act of 1791~the plain intent and express provisions of the Act itself— the reasoning with which it was introduced and by which it was supported — the enactments of the Legislature of Up- per Canada — the uniform acquiescence of the Clergy of all denominations for a period of more than thirty years, and the apparent unconsciousness of any claim on the part of the Church of Scotland, seemed all to lead irresistibly to the conclusion that the Church of England which had thus, beyond all question, been in- troduced into the Province, was understood to form, and did form, the only religion of the State. This is indeed the only conclusion that can be reconciled with the express terms of the Act of Union between En- gland and Scotland — with the national policy that prevails in the three kingdoms, and in no one of them more decidedly than in Scotland — with the system maintained in every Colony of His Majesty, whether acquired before or since the Act of Union, and in some Colonies which have been acquired long since the Provinces of Canada. Now it has been seen that in Upper Canada, which contains, and it is conceived ever must contain, by far the greater portion of the Protestant population of the two Provinces, the Church of England has been recognised as the Established Church by several Acts of the Legislature : while on the other hand it is equally manifest from the same Acts that the Church of Scotland is not considered to form a second Es- tablishment, or to stand in any other footing than in the other dominions of His Majesty, out of Scotland. I- .y - li w 30 Iti the SeasiwiS of the VftrAnctal Legiriaturc «f 1823, and 4, aft application in favor of the Scotch Clergy tabt with some countenance from the Htfme of Assembly^for now the question of tithes was «t re^— and an Address to His Majesty was adoipted, Stating that, if in the legal construction of the 31st of Geo. 3rd, Cap. 31, it is considered that nO provision for the Clergy of the Church of Scotland was coii^ templated thereby, they would most earnestly and respectfully expi^ss to His Majesty theii- hope that He wOiild be graciously pleased to extend to them His Royal protection and consideration, by directmg sach provision to be made for their maintenance and sapport as to His Majesty may appear proper. This address having arrived in London about the time that a similar one was presented by the General Assembly, had doubtless, with other representations, great weight in inducing His Majesty's Government to favor the Clergy of the Church of Scotland serving in Upper Canada, and accordingly, an appropriation of a cer- tain sum of money was made in aid of their supiport. Sir, the disposition to countenance the claims of the Stotch Clergy by tlie Consmons House of Assembly was of short continuance, for in 1826 that body addres* sed the King to divide the money derived from the sale tk' the Clergy Reserves, among all denominations, or if such application Or distribution should be deemed ^expedient, that the proceeds or profits arising from such appropriation should be applied to the pi^poses of Education, and the general improvemfcnt of thfe i>rovince. A similar address had bcfen adored by Uie House of Assenobly in Lawer Canada, w\fkh m composed almoist exclusively of Roman CatliplicflA— ^ la ih» «ne Province tbe Assembly wished to die»VKOy oM Ecclesiastical Establishments whatever^ ajul in t,h» Qtihst, to destroy what they are taught to.CQnsicler a rival Establishment. In regard to the purposie« of Education for wHicH a share of tbe produce of the Reserves i^ desired, it so happens that in Uppe» Canada the property of th« Church is not required fojr the instruction of Youth.. — An appropriation of rather more than Iwtlf a million of Acres of Land has abready been viade by His Majesty's Government, for the purposes of Educa^tion* which, with the assistance given by the Legislature of the Province, is deemed sufi^ieut to endow the University and to aid Grammar Schools in such a way as in time tq make the system of instruction throughout the Province as general 9fid elHci^nt ^s in any other part of the world. In the mean time these Lands, about wbicb 90 much clamor liad been raised, yielded Uttle nfor- : io frL. the Clergy, gives thirtynine Clergyme . L hundred and two Stations, m.d '-'y""-^'','^ ;;' es_shewiug an increase of tune Clergymen, (orty LS sni-v" o ,,, ri„,„i,es This "crcase had four Stations, and eight Churches, i Imnncned during my absence in England, but was un uXTto me when'l was called upon for iuformat.on. This Chart I delivered as part of my evidence to a Select Committee appointed by the House of Assem- bly to inquire into the RCigious state of the Provmce, who had the means in their hands of immed.ately do- tecting inaccuracies, had there been any. Such is the history of the Clergy Reserves up to the appointment of the Select Committee of the ouse of Commons on the Civil Government " Ca«^«, over which you were chosen to pres.de, which exten ded i s inquiries to the state of these aU.;tme,.ts and the dispute which they had recently occasioned. The tncluLs to which this body has -.ved conce.- i„g the Reserves are now to be examined and that 1 Zl not be accused of mis-quotation, the whole of whit they say on the subject is annexed in the appen- J* '"Your Committee entertain no doubt that the re- "servation of these lands in mortmain is a serums " obstacle to the improvement of the Colony. 1 hey (( <( 35 "think every proper exertion should be made to place « tl.cm in the hands of persons who will pcrforni on " them the duties of Settlement-and bring them gra- .dually intoculiivation"-.Page 10. ;« Judgmg mdeed « from all the information the Committee could obtam "on this subject they entertain no doubt that these « Reserved Lands, as they are at present distributed « over the country, retard more than any other circum- stance the improvement of the Colony, lying, as they ..do in detached portions in each Township, and in- « tervcning between the occupations of actual settlers "who have no means of cutting roads through the " woods and morasses which thus separate them from " their neighbours"-Page 9. Again, '« The allotment "of those portions of reserved wilderness has in fact "done much more to diminish the value of the six " parts granted to settlers than the improvement of " their allotments has done to increase the value of " the Reserves. This we think must be apparent from " the results of the attempts which have been made " to dispose of these lands." It is in these pragraphs, too hastily assumed, that the Reserves are a serious obstacle to the improve- ment of the Colony-that they are so to a certain ex- tent must be admitted, but far less, as will be proved by the following remarks, than has been commonly imagined., 1st. The proportion of Clergy Reserves under lease and settlement is to the whole number of Re- serves nearly in the ratio of the settled lots to all the lots granted in the Poovince. .r' 11 36 It appears from the Surveyor Geuerars books that in 1020 about fourteen millions of acres liad boon sur- veyed and, with the exception of tlic Reserves, acta- ally granted. Now fourteen millions of acres contam seventy thousand allotments of two hundred acres each, of which ten thousand are reserved tor a I ro- tcst ant Clergy. It farther appears from the Surveyor General's returns, that of these Reserves one thousand five hundred and thirty two are actually settled and under lease, or nearly one sixth of the whole number. Now on referring to the returns made under the as- sessment law for 1827 the number of acres of cultivated and uncultivated lar.ds belonging to persons actually iesidini L i -w w yniija B WW-' 40 4th. Their convenience to many actual Settlers who wish to extend their labours beyond then- first allotment, to which their small means at first confined them. For such the Reserves are admirably placed to enable them to enlarge the field of their exer- tions. 5th. The benefit of religious instruction to the rising generation— a benefit not confined to the Es- tablished Church, for it will provoke other denomi- nations to greater exertions, and diffuse decency and order through the whole community. These advantages will be found, on examination, to be of great value. When a Township, for exam- ple, is Surveyed, of twelve miles by nine, the whole is granted to settlers, except the Reserves, in parcels of from 100 to 1,200 Acres, according to the means, character and rank of the applicants. Suppose the' Township to be taken up in a few weeks, or even days, which is frequently the case, and that the fol- lowing year, or within a tew months, the relations and friends of many of the settlers come to join them —there is not a foot of Land in the Tow^nship that has not been granted, and perhaps none vacant for many miles.— They are unwilling to be separated— for to join their friends and relatives was perhaps their chief inducement for leaving home. In this di- lemma the Reserves oflTer a remedy,— many of them are still unoccupied, and upon them they settle, at a rate nearly as easy as if they had procured a Grant from the Crown. Again, suppose many of the settlers to have rising families, it is natural for them to wish to settle their 41 ► ' 1 V children on Lands so near that they may be able to assist them. Much of this assistance consists in la- bor, provisions, and little services which cannot be performed at a distance, but which are not the Jess valuable and necessary. The eldest son takes a, Reserve — his father and brothers assist him with their labor at all spare times — they return home per- haps every night — nor docs the occupier of the Re- serve leave his father's family till he has a good desir- ing, some stock and a good house, and moans of providing for a family of his own. The same process takes place with the next son, or Bons-in-law, till all the children arc provided for. How much more wise and judicious this easy method of providing a fund for the general benefit, than charging the inhabitants with quit rents, which was the case in the old Colo- nies, and were a burthen on the lands forever. These Reserves are condemned as if they we^i'e peculiar to tlie Canadas, but they are very conimpn in the United States. In some of the Provinces 1-36 of all lands are reserved for Education alone. And various tracts .'ar other public purposes, amounting in some to nearly as much as the Reserves in Upper Canada, but oot so judiciously selected, — yet instead of being a subject of complaint in that country, they are a lusting thjcme of commendation. It must be acknowledged that no part of them are set apart for religious purposes, because there is no Established Religion, and if that be an advantage we roust yield them its fruits in full. F f -itf'^gjp^rrdMr ■■--ig--—7-a 11 42 It has been proposed to place the Reserves in a body in the rear of the Townships as being more con- venient — but the reverse would be found on trial — they would become a complete barrier against the line of Townships behind, through which it would indeed be a serious difficulty to make roads, for all the benefit of dense neighbourhoods would be lost. In their present checquered state the burthen is light and equally distributed through the whole Province. The Committee proceeds to state that " the Act of « 1791 directs that the profits arising from this source " (namely, the profits of the Clergy Reserves) shall "be applied to a Protestant Clergy — doubts have « arisen whether the Act requires the Government to " confine them to the use of the Church of England " only, or to allow the Church of Scotland to partici- « pate in them. The Law Oflicers of the Crown " have given an opinion in favor of the rights of the « Church of Scotland— to such participation in which, « your Committee entirely concur ; but the question " has been raised, whether the Clergy of every de- " nomination of Christians except Roman Catholics " may not be included : it is not for your Committee " to express an opinion on the exact meaning which « the words of the Act legally convey. They enter- « tain no doubt, however, that the intention of those " persons who brought forward the measure in Par- " iiament was to endow with Parsonage Houses and " Glebe Lands the Clergy of the Church of England, « at the discretion of the Local Government ; but " with respect to the distribution of the proceeds of 43 the reseved lands generally, they are of opinion that they ought to reserve to the Government the ' right to apply the money, if they so thought fit, to ' any Protestant Clergy." " The Committee see ' little reason to hope that the annual income to be * derived from this source is likely within any time * to which they can look forward, to amount to a * sufficient sum to provide for the Protestant Clergy * of these Provinces ; but they venture to press the early consideration of this subject on His Majesty's Government, with a view tc an adjustment that may be satisfactory to the Province, of the principle on * which the proceeds from these lands are hereafter to be applied ; and in deciding on the just and pru- dent application of these funds, the Government will necessarily be influenced by the state of the population, as to religious opinions at the period when the decision is to be taken — At present it is certain that the adherents of the Church of England constitute but a small minority in the Province of Upper Canada. On the part of the Scoth Church, claims have been strongly urged, on account of its Establishment in the Empire, and from the number of its adherents in the Province. With regard to the other religious sects, the Committee have found much difficulty in ascertaining the exact numerical proportions which they bear one to the other ; but the evidence has led them to believe, that neither the adherents of the Church of England, nor those of the Church of Scotland form the most numerous iC 44 eligious body within the Province o( Upper Cana- " da." In this passage several particulars require i uina- tion. — First — The opinion expressed of the fewness of the Church of England in Upper Canada. This opinion must be grounded on the evidence presented to the Committee, and which appears to consist of Petitions from the Province of Upper Cana- da, and the testimony cf Dr. Lee, the Reverend Mr. Leith, and Mr. Grant. How far this evidence war- rants the sweeping conclusion, " that the adherents " of the Church of England constitute but a small mi- " nority in the Province of Upper Canada," is to be examined. In regard to the Address from the House of As- sembly it will not be necessary to say much : It is the production of a Select Committee, appointed, as was notorious, to make out a case against the Church of England, and to which as an Establishment, not one of the five Members of which it was composed, will at this moment hesitate to avow his hostility. The Committee began its inquiry with composing fourteen questions, and on these they examined be- tween forty and fifty persons, taken I believe promis- cuously from the Members of the Legislature, and inhabitants of York and its vicinity. These questions were so framed, as clearly to evince the leaning of the Committee. But I shall confine myself to the ninth question, which bears more particularly upon number : — " What proportion in your opinion do the 45 " Members of the Church of England in this Province " bear to the whole population 1" On this question forty-four persons were examined — First. — Ten Methodists — eight Members and two Preachers. Six of the Members said the proportion was very small, but gave no definite answer. Of the other two, one said the proportion was one in twelve, — the other one in ten. The two Preachers without licsitation asserted that it was only one in a hundred. Assuming the population of the Province at 200,000, there are according to these two Preachers no more than 2,000 Episcopalians in Upper Canada : a num- ber not exceeding what was proved before the same Committee to be residing in the very Parish in which they were sitting. Second. — Two Baptist Preachers were examined, — the first declared the proportion to be one in a hun- dred, — the second, one in nineteen. Third. — Six Presbyterians were examined, — two gave no decided opinion — one declared the proportion to be one-twelfth — another one-tenth — and a third one-ninth. The Sixth, a respectable Presbyterian Clergyman, though not of the Church of Scotland, considered the proportion one-sixth. Fourth. — Five Roman Catholics were examined, — two gave no opinion — one said one-twenty-fifth — another one-twentieth, and a third one-thirteenth. Fifth. — Sixteen Episcopalians were examined, of whom only two gave a definite answer, that the pro- portion was one-sixth. 46 Sixth. — In regard to one Quaker, and four whose religious denomination I could not make out — three gave no definite answer, and two, about one-fifteenth. All that could be gathered from these various and conflicting opinions, was well expressed by one of the witnesses, who answered the question by saying — " I do not know, nor do I believe any one else, the exact proportion, that the Members of the Church of England bear to the whole population." Such is the amount of the evidence upon which the House of Assembly resolved that the number belong- ing to the Protestant Episcopal Church, bears a very small proportion to the number of other Christians. — That this opinion is incorrect must have appeared to the Committee had they been in search of truth, from the Religion of the witnesses called before them, for of forty-four persons promiscuously summoned, sixteen were of the Church of England, or more than one-third : and this I have very little doubt is very nearly the proportion which the Members of the Church of England, and those friendly to her worship, will be found to bear to the Inhabitants of the whole Province, with the exception of the County of Glen- garry. A very ludicrous circumstance attended this ques- tion of relative numbers. The Committee in a mo- ment of exultation added a fifteenth query — " To what Church or denomination of Christians do you belong 1 but they suddenly stopped, when they found, that six out of nine declared themselves of the Church of England. 47 In as far, therefore, as the opinion of your Commit- tee is supported by the address of the House of As- sembly, it is erroneous, since the information before that body, and within their reach, ought to have led them to a very different conclusion. The only correct information before them was a Cnart of the Episcopal Church, compiled from returns from the Clergy, which I delivered as part of my evi- dence, but of which no notice was taken in iheir Re- port. There was indeed a general Chart, given in by a Member of the Methodist Church, which he stated to be correct, and which was formed as follows : " At a public meeting in York a Committee was " appointed, called the Central Committee of Upper " Canada, and directed to correspond with other parts " of the Province to suggest the appointment of Com- " mittees, and to request, that they would carefully " collect and transmit to the Central Committee at York accurate information respecting the number of persons belonging to the religious denominations in " their neighbourhood. In consequence of this, com- " munications were received from various parts of the Province, containing correct and full information on " the subject, obtained from personal knowledge or inquiry, and authenticated by the signatures of re- " spectable inhabitants. This information was pretty " general with respect to the Methodists, and Baptists, " and with regard to the others, the Committee in " addition to the information obtained in this way, " collected from all other sources, the most accurate "information that could be got. The Chart was n (( <( « 48 " formed from the materials thus obtained, and prc- •* sents in my opinion a very complete and fair view "of the number of Ministers, and number of the dif- " fcrent rcHgious denominations in this Province." As no objcctlomi have been made to this Chart, except by the EpiscopaUans, to whom its compilers made no application for information, and of whom it gives a most incorrect account, it is to be presumed that other denominations are satisfied with the state- ments which it makes. From tlie abstract of the whole Chart, correcting the column for the Church of England, from the evi- dence given to the same Committee, we have the following, \ TABLE. 49 G 50 I^rom this Table it appears that in point of numbers the Metiiodists have the advantage : but it must be borne in mind, tiiat they arc spread over the whole faco of the Province, and the Episcopalians have as yet been obliged to confine their places of worship and stations, to the more populous settlements, from their want of means to support a greater number of Missionaries. It is farther to be observed that many attend the Methodists, who will return to the Church the moment they can have access to her Ministrations, as their religious principles are nearly the same : nor ought it to pass unnoticed, that the rapid increase of the Methodists siiews the tendency of the population towards the doctrines of the Church of England, to which that body still professes to belong. It is therefore contended that from tiiis Table the friends of the Church of England are far more nu- merous, than those of any other denomination, and are so fat* from being a minority in this Province, that no other denomination except the Methodists come neat them in point of numbers. In regard to Dr. Lee, and his associates, Mr. Grant, and the Rev. Mr. Leith, it is evident from their testimony, that their object is to exaggerate the number of the adherents of the Church of Scotland. let. By holding up the County of (irlengary in the Easrtern District as a fair specimen of the whole Pro- vince, although in no other County have they any comparative strength. aid. By placing tlie Presbyterians not belonging to the Church of Scotland in the foreground, and as- suming them as part of their body. * I 51 5id. By mixing up perional abuse with tlio question, and olForing vague and rash assertion, in contradic- tion to matters of fact. I might rest the relative numbers of the two de- nominations upon the Tablo given above, in which it will be seen, that the Presbyterians of all kinds, are by no means so numerous as tlio Episcopalians, and tliat those belonging to the Church of Scotland are not littlf as numerous as tiio Presbyterians beyond her pale : but it may be more satisfactory in the fust place to ascertain the precise value of the evidence of these three Gentlemen. They put much stress u[)on the Letter and Chart which 1 dtUivored to Mr. llorton in 1827, which they assert to be full of errors, and to exaggerate the num- ber belonging to the Church of England : and that it does contain some trifling mistakes, I am ready to admit, but neither singly, nor taken togetiier, do they bear with any weight upon the subject. In June 1826 I had occasion to communicate with Lord Bathurst, respecting the few Scotch Clergy then in the Province, and mentioned their names and sta- tions. Soon after, one of them died, and another returned to Scotland, where he obtained a Parish. During this period I had continued in London, and when called upon for information I stated these facta with which I had been made acquainted. Jt appears that about the time that I was giving this inftjirmatipB; one of the vacancies had been filled up, and an ap- plication liad been made to Scotland to fill up tlie other. On my return to the Colony in September, 52 1827, I learned that two additional Clergymen had come' out. Now it is charged upon me as a crime that I was not endowed with the second sight to find out in London by whom the vacancies had been filled in Canada, and that two new appointments had been made.— The remaining inaccuracies in this Chart will not detain us long. I mentioned Churches at Barton, Ancaster, Navy Point, New-market, Woolwich, and Purdy's Mills- all of which are called in question. A good Congregation assembles in Barton Church every Sunday, where the Rev. R. Leeming, of the Church of England, is the only Minister who offici- ates, and I know of no other denomination that claims the Church. At Ancaster a Church was built— not as Dr. Lee asserts, for Mr. Sheed, the Presbyterian Clergyman, but for all denominations— and like all such, it be- came a subject of contention,— at length the Episco- palians bought in the small portion they had not sub- scribed, and it now belongs exclusively to the Church of England. At Navy Point it appears that one of the Govern- ment Houses is used as a Church. At Purdy's Mills a difference arose about the site of the Church, which delayed the building, but it has since been erected. At New- Market the Inhabitants are ready, and have long been, to build a Church the moment a Clergyman is assigned them— but this is a condition ) I ' * } I t '\ 53 ' t . s i a n ( '\ with which it has not yet been found convenient to comply. In regard to Woolwich, General Pilkington, the Proprietor of the Township, gave orders to his Agent many years ago, to build a Church. — He went so far as to send out Plans, and some Emigrants, with the assurance that a place of worship would be provided immediately for them. Knowing these things, and the place not being in the common line of communi- cation, I thought the Church had been built, and why it has not, I have not been able to learn. In the column of stations, two or three places are mentioned which have been changed for others more promising. These are all the errors, if they can be called such, and they were corrected in the Chart which I pub- lished in 1828. Now it is manifest that they have no bearing upon the question of numbers, nor are they in any proportion to the omissions in the same Chart respecting the Church of England, which had greatly increased during my absence, but of the particulars I could not avail myself in my communication with the Government, as they had not been sent to me from Canada. It is worthy of remark that while these three Gen- tlemen were declaiming before the Committee with so much violence against my Chart of 1827, as being full of gross misrepresentations, they had in their possession the corrected one for 1828. The former states that there were in Upper Canada 30 Clergy- men, and 35 Churches belonging to the Church of 54 England, and that the»e Clergymen did duty at 58 nla!s.-By the latter, against which a vo.ce U» tZ\J raised, it appears that there were 39 cTergyn.en-43 Churches, and 102 places at which these Clergymen did duty : so that in the shor space If one ye4 our Church numbered 9 additional Cler- .ymen-8 new Churches, and 44 new stations. Now fad these Gentlemen been desirous of commumca- w the truth to the Committee, they would have „ade use of the second Chart, instead "f cU.— - ly dwelling upon the trifling inaccuracies of the hrst, particularly as it was compiled in the Province from retunis made by the Clergy, and for the accuracy of which I am justly responsible. So much for the Ecclesiastical Charts -.-let us now descend t. the facts disclosed in Dr. Lee's evidence. In the Memorial presented to His Majesty's Go- vernment by Dr. Lee, of which he P''«J»'=«7 ^"f for the Committee, it is given as a quotation from ho Report of the Society for the Propagation of the ^„5 in Foreign parts, for 1821-" That the num- « ber of Communicants at 17 stations m Upper Cana- «da, served by 17 Missionaries, "-hof , /*7"'' ..amounted to £3,345, did not exceed U8.-As a .. contrast with this admitted fact,, it may be stated ..that in the year 1823 the Presbyterian Congf"!*- .. tion at Perth, which began to be formed Mily five '■ years ago, (and which, although not served at pre- « sent by a Slinister of the Chm-ch of ScotUnd, must .. by express stipulation bo so served in time to come) .< contained not fewer than 270 Communicante. ' ' I |! 9 55 On turning to the Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts, for 1821 , IVotn which Dr. Lee says he has taken this admitted fact, I find the Communicants instead of 118, are 36?! or more than three times the number. I hke- wise find that only 10 out of the 17 Missionaries gave returns of their Communicants. Had returns been made by the other 7, in the same ratio, 256 must be addeu, making 623, instead of 118-that is nearly 6 times a. many as Dr. Lee states to be the true number. Such is tlie correctness of a grave document pre- sented to His Majesty's Government, by the Convener of a Committee, appointed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Dr. Lee places in contrast, with this manufactured quotation, the number of Communicants belonging to the Presbyterian Congregation at Perth. This can- not be admitted-lst.-Because that Congregation is not in communion with the Church of Scotland.- 2nd.-Because the Rev. Mr. Bell, by whose labors this large Congregation has been collected, honestly admits, that perhaps one-third of this number belongs to the two Churches, which have been formed in the neighbourhood, so that instead of 270, the number for comparison should have been 180 ; but I repeat that Dr. Lee has no right to count as belonging to the Church of Scotland, the various Presbyterian, or rather p«rhaps Independent Congregations in the Province, much less to hold up their Ministers as the Pioneers of the Scotch Clergy. 56 On the subject of Communicants it is proper to remark, that they form no correct criterion tor ascer- taining the numbers of different denominations^-- Among Episcopalians, seldom more than 1 m 12 are calculated upon as regular Communicants. In the Church of Scotland the proportion is said to be greater. In the Township of Drummond. in which the Town of Perth is situated, there are 836 Episcopalians and only 489 Presbyterians, and yet it is probable that Mr. Bell, the Presbyterian Clergyman, has as many Coni- municants, as Mr. Harris, the Missionary of the Estab- lished Church. It is farther to be observed, that in the Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts, the average number of Com- municants only is given, who attend at any one time, and this is seldom half the number belonging to the Congregation. Moreover, in Scotch Churches, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is not in general celebrated oftener than once a-year, and consequently all who are able attend, and many come from other Conc^regations, which is not the case with our people, who°have frequent opportunities, and never on such days leave their own Churches, as the celebration takes place at them all on the same days. Dr. Lee states-(Report, page 288)-" We have « also now this information with regard to two of the "Districts, which Dr. Strachan takes notice of, as « containing no Presbyterian Congregations, Niagara « and Gore-there are 8 Presbyterian Congregations « in each, or 16 in all, although Dr. Strachan does « not admit one." 57 It IB in evidence before a Committee of tl.e House of Assembly, composed of persons, who will not be accused of being friendly to the Church of England, that there were in these two Districts in 1828, when this evidence was given, four Clergymen not m com- munion, and one Clergyman in commumon with the Church of Scotland, who have one, and some two Congregations each-the remaining Congregations arc only to be found in Dr. Lee's statement. It i» farther to be observed that, in 1827 there was no Scotch Clergyman in these two Districts— at present there is one such in each of them. Both in his memorial and evidence. Dr. Lee states, that it cannot be denied, that there are in Upper Canada 30 Presbyterian Congregations professing to adhere to the doctrines and worship of the Church of Scotland, and though the Presbyterian Ministers in the Province do not exceed twenty in number, and though only five of this number have been Ordained by Presbyterians of the Church of Scotland, it is ascertained that a great majority of the people are zealously attached by principle and education to the Established Church of Scotland. On this passage I remark that, in February 1828, the state of the two Churches was as follows :— Clergymen of the Church of England, - - 39 Clergymen of the Kirk of Scotland, - - - 6 Difference, 33 H ml 58 For the sixteen Presbyterian Ministers, who neither claimed, nor were acknowledged to have any com- munion with the Kirk of Scotland, until it was thought necessary to invite them, when the Scotch Clergy advanced a claim to the legal endowment of the Church of England, in order to magnify their num- bers, I can give no credit. In truth, the General As- sembly cannot acknowledge any Clergymen, who have not been Ordained according to her own Rules, w hout changing the fundamental Laws of the Kirk. Were it allowable thus to groupe together all who gene- rally adhere to the same religious principles, we should ^n this case also, have much the advantage, by claim- ing all the Methodists, who are as Mr. Alder says, a branch of the Church of England, both at home and abroad, and the Lutherans, with whom we are in coummunion; but the Church of England disdams such proceedings, and leaves it to Dr. Lee, and his associates to support his cause by such artifices.— It is admitted that, as a stroke of policy, it has been exceedingly successful. It has bolstered up the cause of the Kirk, and enabled her to deceive Government as to the number of her adherents, and to produce more favourable attention to her demands. If indeed the claim of the Kirk of Scotland should be recognized, the success may be justly attributed to the active co- operation of the Presbyterian Clergy in the Canadas, not in her communion, and if the promises made to them are redeemed, I must allow, that they will have no cause to repent of their seasonable assistance. 59 A few days before Dr. Lee gave this testimony, he reported to the General Assembly, in the name of a Committee of which " he was convener, that " with regard to Upper Canada, it was estabhshed " beyond all question by the returns (which he had « received) that of the whole body of the Inhabitants " of this Province, supposed to average three hundred « thousand at least, and augmenting with great ra- " pidity every year, by new importations, one half, " at the lowest estimate^ are decidedly attached to « the doctrines and discipline of the Church of Scot- « land." Alas ! for Dr. Lee's statement, and the veracity of his correspondents in respect to the population of Upper Canada, which instead of 300,000, is, accor- ding to the last census, only 188,558. If from this we take the Doctor's 150,000 Presbyterians, we have only 38,580 to divide among all other denominations, and yet, he is obliged to confess, that there are only six— now, I believe, eight. Clergymen belonging to the Kirk, to supply the religious wants of this im- mense population. 1 feel how disagreeable it is to pursue" this exami- nation farther, but as Dr. Lee has become the chan- nel of the most absurd and unjust statements against the Church of England, and has proceeded syste- matically to depreciate her exertions, it is necessary to notice the Gentlemen, who were associated with him in this honourable work. I Of the Rev. Mr. Leith's testimony, it may be suf- ficient to remark, that he holds up the Eastern Di«- I K tfict, which contains four Presbyterian Congregations, and, as he says, two, but, in fact, four Congregations of Episcopalians, as a fair specimen for the whole Province— although he knew that in the other ten Districts, severfti of them more populous than the^ Eastern, there were only two Clergymen belonging to the Kirk of Scotland, while there were thirty-nine Missionaries belonging to the Church of England, having several Congregations each. The same Reverend Gentleman asserts, that the Presbyterians are to the Episcopalians as ten to one —and speaking of the Episcopalian Congregation at Cornwall, where he resided four years, he avers that, the hearers were only between thirty and forty in number, while he admits that the Communicants average forty— thus giving a greater average of Com- municants than hearers.— So much for the value and correctness of his testimony. The remainder is a violent repetition of Dr. Lee's, and Mr. Grant's evi- dence, and equally intitled to credit. Mr. Grant, a Barrister at Law, belonging to the City of Montreal, Lower Canada, was employed by the Petitioners of the Church of Scotland, to advo- cate their claims to a share of the Clergy Reserves. In that character he was examined by the Committe« of the House of Commons. He says, (Report, page 191) the " number of the Clergymen of ihe Church of England have multiplied in a greater ratio than their flocks.'* Every Clergyman of the Church of England em- ployed in the Canadas has from three to eight stations. t ' \ />^ / > ) • \ />^ f \ 61 at whicti he regularly and occasionally performg Di- vine service. It is evident therefore, that to every one now employed, two or three more might be profitably added to labour within the limits of thQ same Mission. Moreover, the applications from pla- ces, to which we are unable to send, even occasional assistance, are twice as numerous as the statioua already occupied. Yet. in the face of these facts, Mr. Grant states that our Clergy multiply in a greater ratio than our flocks. Such a departure from truth is almost incredible. He states, (page 192) that the Protestants in the W^ ern District of Upper Canada amount to 4,500, of wnich one Imlf, or 2,250, are supposed to prefer the Presbyterian form of worship. — At the time of Mr. Grant's statement, there was neither Presbyterian Minister nor Congregation in the Western District, — lately a small Congregation has been organized at Amherstburgh, in connexion with the Church of Scot- land. Mr. Grant assumes that, out of 20,000, the popula- tion of the District of Niagara, three-fourths, or 15,000, are supposed to be Presbyterians, and at- tached to that form of worship. The number of Episcopalians, he says, is very small. On reference *to the Report of the House of Assembly for 1828, I do not find a single Congregation in that District in communion with the Kirk of Scotland, and of other Presbyterians, only three Clergymen and three Chur- ches, while there are five Clergymen belonging to the Church of England, and seven Churches, besides 62 J. t-^«« With resnect to this District, it various stations, wim reBpci-i :;;.« from a document now before '^^"'^"^^ two of the Principal inhabitant,, that .n "89 J^ f "' one half of the whole population "e longed to the Church of England, and '^e D«tr.ct of N-aga « being early settled, has had the character of .ts m hablnts less altered by recent Emigration than any other in the Province. • „. . . r He states, that the population of the District of Bathurst, amounting to 12,000, are^hiefty from Sco - iarid, and that the majority are Presbyterians. Never- keless he is forced to allow, that there is not one Cierg man belonging to the Church of Scotland se- ufd tn ail that part of the Colony " "fy 'h' > with their Congregations, Seceders from that Carch. Th t a reat majority are not Presbyterians appears from an Official Return of the population of three of t "ebest settled Townships-bathurst Drummond and Brockville. in which the religious denominations »'■<'— ,. 2,158 Episcopalians, - - - - c . i Presbyterians of all descriptions-Scotch, ^ ^^ ^ Irish, American, &c. Roman Catholics, ' ^^^ Methodists ■"■■■''"' 'go Baptists, _ jj Of no communion, .-----" Mr. Grant supposes that, out of 30,000 the p.p»- lation of the Midland District, ten thousand are I res w erians The Report of the House of Assembly glesree Presbyterian Clergymen, with their Con- 1'^ ' f 63 gregationa-one of which only belongs to the Church of Scotland. . r ,.. From the Eastern District, Mr. Grant select, fou out of ten Townships, and give, then, -"P^ » the whole. And allhough warned by the ^'"""•";« 1, this selection n,ay have been P^u^y '"«'';:. J^^^ fearless of detection, for the Cl'"<='' 'f "" ^ce present acquainted with the locaUt.es «/ ■ J/^ ho Dcrsevered. Now it is notorious, that the greater Ifof the Eastern District is inhabited by E"..grants fror. Scotland, and that the County of Glengary .s Irc usively Scotch-one half I'resbyter.an, and the othr Roman Catholic, and that it would be as near tre troth to say, that the Inhabitants of Ireland are Ihefly Presbyterians, as to say that this >s the pre- vtnn. denomination in Upper Canada, because . dtiides the County of Glengary with the Church o, Rome. . , He says nothing of the County of S*"'"'"";'" '^; same District, which contains a great number of tpis- opalian ani Lutherans. Such are the vague and Inaccurate statements of Mr. Grant, when speak.ng ""^mrhe descends to particular Congregations, his assertions are equally at variance with t;""'- He states the attendance of the Church "f Cl.a.ham i„ the Western District, to be from 20 to ;30. The resident Missionary and Church-Wardens certify to 300. The hearers at Niagara. Mr. Grant says, are 90_the Missionary says 200, and the public Assessor for 1828 returns 434 Episcopahaus out of 1,^4A tne 64 population of the Town, or more than < o-third of the whole. The hearers in Bastard, according to Mr. Grant, are from six to eight. Tlie Clergyman, with hii Church-Wardens, certify to 200. The Communicants at Pertii, Mr. Grant states at 20, — the Clergyman, Mr. Harris, declares the average number to be 163, and 250, within the limits of his Mission. Mr. Grants evidence of the relative adherents of the two Churches in Lower Catiadu is equally re- markable for rash assertion ; but I shall confine my- self only to the Towns. — He believes, that the Pres- byterians in the Town of Three Rivers are at least equal to the Episcopalians. Now the fact is, that of the former, there are only 54, while the latter amount to 224. Mr. Grant states that, in Montreal and Quebec, the Presbyterians are more numerous than the Epis- copalians. One of the Commissioners appointed by the Go- vernment to take a census of the population of the County of Montreal, who is a French Canadian, and a Roman Catholic, while making the census, took down the numbers of each denomination, from which it appears, that the members of the Church of England in the Parish of Montreal, are 4,156. The Presby- terians, including the Church of Scotland, Seceders, and American Presbyterians, 3,429. Now this is a public document, to which Mr. Grant had access, for, be it remembered, that he is an Inhabitant of Montreal. I 65 Next with respect to Quebec :— The aittings in the CatlH)dral, and two Chapels, arc 1 G38. In St. Andrew's Ciiurch, the only place ot worship in connection with the Kirk of Scotland, tho sittings are 1,200, of which only 000 arc in occupa- tion. Moreover, in a peiiod of four years, the Cler- gymen of the Church of Eiigland have baptized and buried twice as many as the Presbyterian Clergyman. It is disagreeable, and I trust unnecessary, to pur- sue this subject further, or to dwell upon the injustice done to the Church of England in the Canadas in the evidence taken before your Committee-and yet, from this evidence, unworthy as it is of the smallest credi, the Report asserts that, the Members of the Church of England arc a small minority in the Province of Upper Canada. Wore it not for the probable consequences of this opinion, it might be considered rather ludicrous than serious, for any collection of Gentlemen, possessed ot common understanding, to arrive at the grave con- clusion that a Colony, whose first Inhabitants were Re- fucrees, and chiefly Episcopalians and Lutherans, and which had been since that time filled up by Emigra- tion from the United States, by persons, many of whom were of no decided religious profession, and from the United Kingdom, containing twenty-two millions of Inhabitants, of which not one-sixteenth are Scotch Presbyterians, yet contains a greater num- ber of Members of the Church of Scotland, than of the Church of England. There are in Upper Canada, II 1 '■% 66 two native Irishmen for one native Scotchman and Zelt have been born on the American continent than of both.. It i, much to be regretted, that more attention wa' not oaid to the honest and maniy evidence of Mr. M rgeU. One has only to compare his eonscen .ous Lt Lny with the flippant and rash assertions of Dr. Lee Mr LeithandMr.Grant,tobeconv.ncedwh.c. Xuee, iur. 1^ Morgell never as- ir Iny S'on d nb'^l-^rity. Wen his in- f maS onlny F-*- is imperfect, he declares so and even when it seems aga.nst the canse wh.ch 1 s Teart desires to support, as may be seen >n wha^^he lavs of the Methodists, he states .t franlily, and with- ourreel. Similar remarks maybe made on tlm ^vdTnce given by the Venerable Archdeacon Hamd- In but if is quite evident, that the Comm.ttee paid ; "ie r rd to whatthey said, -d though they ament their want of information from Upper Canada, they fe ctldwhat Mr. Morgell afforded them, namely, hittth was to be gathered from my SP-l-. wh-^h was the most recent communication from the Colony, Z contained a variety of facts respectmg the state ^? Rehgion and the two Churches, drawn up from anthet^ sources, and published in Upper Canad , There to this hour they stand -^-'f <="''-^ f " Tough the Committee would hear nothmg from th s Sation in favour of the Church, they were qmte luiing to hear Lord Sandon agamst .t, with what St to himself is not for me to say. Not on y .d 'be Committee decline to avail themselves of the « 67 formation within their reach, but even to delay their decision till that, which Archdeacon Hamilton told them the Bishop of Quebec was preparing, should rearh them. It is indeed said, that a different Report had been drawn up, and that many of the Members, not anticipating any change, went to the Country. — That advantage was taken of their absence to alter the Report, which was carried by one voice only. Be this as it may, the friends of the Clijrch in Canada have in general regretted, that the evidence collected by the Biehop of Quebec had not been before them, as, in their opinion, it would have brought them to a different conclusion. I must confess that I am scep- tical on this point. The very spirit of many of the questions breathe indifference, even hostility, to the Church of England, and the treatment of Mr. Hamil- ton was not such as to encourage any hope from their proceedings in her favour. But although the evi- dence prepared by the Bishop might have had little or no weight with the Committee, it may be different with His Majesty's Ministers and the Legislature. I shall, therefore, state its substance with all briefness. The Lord Bishop of Quebec addressed a circular to his Clergy containing seventeen questions, the an- swers to which, signed by the officiating Clergyman, a Justice of the Peace and the Church Wardens, fur- nish a great mass of useful information. The first question was : — What is the whole num- ber of Protestant Inhabitants within the range of your Labours 1 The aggregate of the answers from Upper Canada is, 64,829— from Lower Canada, 35,595, The object il 1^ I 68 turns to the Protestants ««!»*« 1^»^ j„ ferent Missions; and —S^^^^^^^^^^^ not comprehend the P""*^ '";P^„„„t .„ double the U„its of such M-o„«^J^ucW am ^_^^^ .^ ^^^. number returned. My ""^"^ ' ^,^ ^j ;„. fined to the Town »»* ^"wnsl ? ^_^^j_^^ dudes no other part of the » ^«"'=' ^^^ i ^ oc- „y services werecl«eflyd.r«=d^^^^^^^ J^^ ^^^ casional visits to f"/°Xn,457 souls, chiefly census for my g«>de, I ^'^^^°'^'^„ the qaestion Protestant. The f-^^lrXansvvers would «thi«»»»"^^;rcChaa the means of ascertain- be correct, as the Ckrgy ha ^^^^ ^.^,^ ^^^^^ ing the -»''-J^'> ::tLless, one disadvantage exactness. Ihereis, " ^^.„„„tion. The popu- attending "• "^-h 'eqmres exph^nat^^^^^^^ ^F'^^^ lation of Upper Canada « nearly . ^^^ ^^^^ aggregate number -;"™f ^^J";; Si tiU it i« 64,829, a "»>"''« "'I'tjErotestant population, recollected, that this. sody^e^^^^^^^ at, and in the v.cm.ty, fJ'^J^ ^ ,^^ p,„,i„ce, to leaving out more t'.an two-th,rds oi ^^^^^ ,^ _^^_ 100,000. ._What is the total num- The second question wa» . «» poaching in all ber of persons which a'te-'j^""^'^:^^^^^^^ , tue different places where you at any ^^^ The aggregate unswe^ for ^VV ^ ^_ 12,574— add Kingston, whicn wan h I . ^ h >) I 'I 13 574. or rather more tha» one in five of tte pop- lat on included in the .eturns. For Low^r Canada the aggragate was 12.916, 'C::itTpprc:Lai..n.a«erthanror ™-^rt«Tirt.:t'rz:c:,tUreh»^^ 23,000 l.'haWtant.. .ere a only wo^ ^.^ ^^^^^^^^ i„ to P0P«>f' »";^^^^ ";;„ declare their adherence souls, or nearly onc-tl..rd, wn besides those totheChurchofEngland. L ght plac ^^ ^^^ ,hich "-°f '^^-^.^iT^rlial., furnish 167 fami- C::::YoI:.niVneveCoho„rg-inn.a»yone- *f T' the returns furnished to the Bishop fully In fine, the returns Canada, and establish the ftct^at one fift^^^^^^^^^^^ ,,^„„y one-third .n I-owor Canada ^^ ^^^ .^„ to the Church of England; » ^^^^^,,_ Wd soon becon.e ^o'^^^'^^^, „„„orous ^ere we able to send CI^'SJ™;" ^^ Thesanm Settlements, as soon as they arc required. i i 70 fact U confirmed by adverting to the Parochial divi- 11 of the Province. The returns of the M.ss.ona- esdo not include above forty Townships or Parishes, lut of more than two hundred, many of which contam Hreatrpopulation than those which have been re- '" Such Sir, is the substance of the evidence for which vour Committee refused to wait. With respect to the concurrence of the Committee, Wiethe oLon of the Crown Officers in the legal :e: retatiL of the Act, 1 shall offer only J-y " remarks Had the Committee gone no farther tnaa ro^inion warrants, although I conoid- it enoneou^^^ i, would have availed — <»— ;^\''"' '"^ ;,*:; "f it oroceeds upon the assumption, that the Church En^ld must be first satisfied, before the Scotch can enti, it resolves itself into the answer given by His Holy's Ministers in 1824 to the «!"-' --"'"i"^: " That in regard to the proceeds of the Clergy Ke ,. se^es,it vfuld be time enough to consider the chtims .of he Church of Scotland, when they were^fi,und .11 than sufllcient to support the Established .. Church." Now, as will afterwards be shewn, the Reserves will not. for a long series of y-^^ ^upport uch a number of Clergymen of the Church of England Is are suflicient to supply the wants of the people^- The contention, therefore, which has been excited is very foolish, and no real advantage can accrue to the Church of Scotland from the opinion of the Crown Officers, even supposing it correct; for aUhough it r. , hat unde the 37th Section, the Rents and 71 I'Ui- and '^-^''-^':^^r:z:Tz. tine Congregations, it admits that, under ii.^ clause all the Lands allotted and appropriated m any Town^iap or Parish, may be wholly taken up, m fo mi g he endowment of any particular Parsonage any aid to the Church of Scotland. Bat although the opinion of the Crown Lawyers if Carried nto effect, would not be very detrimental totheChurch of England, I hold it to be erroneous Tnd quote in contradiction to it that of an eminent Fndish Barrister, which has been concurred in by Si eminent l^gal characters, and w.i.h appe- ,0 me far more agreeable to the spirit and tiue meaning of the Act. j, ,. „ Mr Patterson, after shewing that the words a Pr!^ LtaTcierg;." mean one single and entire body T!vT, ,l,e Clergy of the Church of England, and I?:; the^:^^r Scotland can never Jorm one hodv says, " I am therefor', of opinion, that he Acts S'l Jand 31st of Geo. 3rd,) contemplate one Ibgle body of Protestant Clergy, and have no doubt Tafthe Clergy of the Church of England are that that 'he Clergy ^^^^^ ^^^ Governors of t%;;vinZtti»g Jde. Hi. Majesty's direction, •■■&»' MM •«•; 72 cannot legally make any appropriation to the Minis- ters of otlier Churches." Indeed the enactments in the 31st Geo. 3rd, Chap. 31, making provision for a Protestant Clergy are all descriptive of the Church of England, and no other Church, and from the evident care of continuing the phrase " a Protestant Clergy," from £li3 reformation to the present time, it is manifest, that it is used in contradistinction to the Roman Catholic Cf erf^y. The article " a," was pre- served in the Royal Instructions, and in the 14th and 31st Geo. 3rd, because it is distinctive, and places the Protestant and Roman Catholic Clergy in con- trast — because it confines the meaning to one body, and one only — and because there was at tliat time no Protestant Clergy in either Province. — For these reasons the article " the" could not with propriety be made use of. A provision for a Protestant Clergy was to be made, and then a Protestant Clergy was to be mtroduced ; and of what Church the Phraseology of Sections 38, 39 and 40 of the 31st Geo. 3rd, Chap. 31, clearly points out. They were to be of the Church of England, and no other Church. It ap- pears almost impossible to read the clauses for the regulation, support and endowment of the Church, according to the Establishment of the Church of Eng- land, and the powers which they confer upon the King's Representative without being convinced that that Church only couiJ be meant. If therefore the Clergy of the Kirk of Scotland be let in ther-. ;s no reason why any other denomination of Disseutirs should not also be admitted, and then the words '' a 73 Protestant Clergy" must be taken, to mean Protes- tant Ministers or Teachers, which appears altogether absurd. After passing the Church of England, where shall the meaning terminate,— Congregationalists, Seceders, Irish Presbyterians, Quakers, Baptists, Methodists, Moravians, Universa'ists, Menonists, Tun- kers, &c. will undoubtedly prefer their claims— and as many of them are more numerous than the Pres- byterians in communion with the Church of Scotland, they will consider themselves aggrieved should their claims be rejected— claims of which they never would have dreamed, had not so small a portion of the population of this flourishing Province as belongs to the Kirk succeeded in obtaining the same object. In confirmation of the opinion given by tb-i Crown Officers in favour of the Clergy of the Church of Scotland coming in, to a limited extent, under the 37th Section of the 31st Geo. 3rd, Chap. 31, the Com- mittee heard James Stephen, Jun. Esquire, Counsel to the Colonial Department. This Gentleman's sen- timents are stated with great clearness and ability, and afford one of the best specimens of nice distinc- tions, and legal ingenuity, that I have ever seen, but they carry no conviction to my mind— and one single remark, incidentally introduced, appears to meto over- turn all his previous reasoning, acute and subtile as it certainly is. Mr. Stephen admits that, "the Acts "of Union prevent the legal establishment of the " Church of Scotland in any part of the United King- " dom except Scotland."— Now by the best legal au- K fci 74 thorities it is held thai, where the Government of a Countrj provides a fund, by their own authority, for the maintenance of the Ministers and Teachers of any religion, such a religion is said to be Established. If, therefore, the Clergy of the Church of Scotland are entitled to claim a provision for their maintenance under the 31st George 3rd, Chap. 31, that form of worship is Established in the Canadas contrary to the Ai :s of Union, and to the 1st of Elizabeth, Chap. 1, which Establishes the Church of England in Her Majesty's Dominions and Countries, that now be, or hereafter shall be annexed to the Crown. Now it is not contended that Parliament may not Establish the Presbyterian worship in any part of the British Do- minions, but I do contend, that in so doing it would be clearly stated and set forth, and not be matter of questionable inference or of doubtful construction. — And had the words " a Protestant Clergy" included two distinct bodies, contrary to the plain sense and meaning of the expression, some explanation would have been given, and the Church of i cotland would have been particularly named, as well as the Church of England. Mr. Stephen in another part of his evidence says, — " Now as it seems to me in all these passages the " Church of England is expressly mentioned when " the Church of England is meant ; and where the " more comprehensive sense is to be conveyed, the " more comprehensive term, a Protestant Clergy, is " employed, and this expression he confines to any " Protestant Clergy established by the Law of this 75 " land." Not being a Lawyer, I may be totally ig- norant of the proper mode of interpreting Statutes, but on the principles of common sense, it does appear to mc, that the Legislature never meant to include two bodies under the words " a Protestant Clergy," which the article confines to one body — that had the Clergy of the Church of Scotland been intended they would have been expressly mentioned as well as those of the Church of England— that to include more than one Church is an interpretation contrary to the fun- damental Laws of the Empire, which, without special provision, only permit the English Protestant Church to be established in any Colony or portion of the Empire. It is quite evident by the 1st Elizabeth, Chap. 1, which has never been repealed, that the Establishment of the Church of England was con- sidered by the Legislature an indispensable part of the general policy, and waa intended to take effect in all Countries that either then made, or should hereafter make, a part of the Dominions of the British Crown. All this is confirmed by the steps recently taken by His Majesty's Government for the support and ef- ficiency of the Church of England, as the Established Church, in the West Indies and in New South Wales. In this latter Country a reservation is made of lands for the maintenance of the Clergy, and for the pur- poses of education, as follows :— A block of land ia set apart in every County, which is conveyed to a Cor- poration called the Trustees of the School and Clergy Reserves. The Corporation have the power of sell- 76 ing one-third of what is so set apart for them, and applying half of the produce of these sales to the im- provement of the rest. The Corporatior r^r- 1"* grant Leases of what remains in its improved state, and the rents which they are to receive from these Leases, With the interest arising from half of the proceeds of the sales, arc to be divided into two equal shares,— of these one is to be applied in supporting Schools for the education of children in the principles of the Established Church of England : the remaining half is to be applied to the support of the Bishop and Archdeacon in the first place, and then for the sup- port of the other Clergy of the Church of England. When these objects are effectually provided for, the surplus is to be applied in whatever manner the King shall be pleased to direct. Before leaving this subject it is not undeserving of remark, that every writer on the Canadas understands the Reserves as belonging exclusively to the Clergy of the Church of England. This was evidently Mr. Burke's view of the subject^ who, in his famous letter to Sir Hercules Langreshe, says, " I voted last Ses- " sion for an establishment of the Church of England « with the Establishment that was made some years " before by an Act of Parliament of the Roman Ca- « tholicin the French conquered Country of Canada," A like opinion is expressed by the late Bishop of Winchester, Dr. Prettyman, in his life of Mr. Pitt. — And we have already seen that His Majesty's Go- vernment has to this time acted upon this opinion — that it wai the opinion of the Executive Autlioritiei n n )■ in the Province, and of the Legislature, till after the settlement of the tithe question. It is indeed the only opinion which renders the Act of the 31st Geo. 3rd, Chap. 31, consistent with itself, or in accordance with the fundamental Laws of the Empire. The intention of the Logiblature in conferring a Constitution similar to that of Great Britain, necessarily included a provi- sion for Religion as well as for the Civil Government ; for as Cliurch and State are intimately joined in the Constitution of the Mother Country, it would have been a fallacy to have offered the Canadas that Con- stitution and only conferred half; but the Canadr Act clearly includes both, and gives, as it promises, a v^on- stitution as nearly resembling that of the Parent State, as from the difference of the Countries, and their re- lative situation, it was possible to grant. The rightB of the Church of England, therefore, in these Pro- vinces rest not for their support on appeals to national feelings or prejudices, they are clearly and explicitely recognized by the Law. She depends not upon im- plication or forced construction of its provisions for that recognition, but on the specific and direct appli- cation whi h it contains to her Establishment, Ser Ministers, her Rites and Ceremonies ; for the correct- ness of this opinion I appeal again to the clauses of the Statute, and as long as words have meaning, and these words remain on the Statute book unrepealed, I shall be unwilling to concede the right claimed by any other. This opinion I shall be at all times ready to support in a temperate and moderate manner ; and as a contrast to this opinion, 1 will frankly add, that if ■ .adumasummm 91 ! ! 78 ,hc same .pecif.c and direct .pplication had b«en tlZ. JLaw .o .he Church of Scotlan . w. o«t any mention whatever having been made »f "'« /""""^ of England, if .he words, Church of Scotland, had been ;.erted in the Law, a. that whoae Mtmster, alono were to be presented to every Parish from the.r Synod . Tr rresbyteries, to be supported out of the apprj^- a in, I should then have most d-rft^y jomed m acknowledging, that to her, and "O-;'^-,^''*, '„' appropriation belong. The reverse of all his beinfc Zcase, with no unfriendly feeling to that highly re- spectable Church, I must express it as my deeded opinion, that the Law gives her no right whatever to a participation in the Clergy Reserves. Althe Committee freely admit, and with expressi- ons of regret, that there is no prospect, as far as a Iscnt and succeeding generation is concerned of [he r produce being sufficient for the maintenance of I'proLant Clergy, and recommend, '« J-eJ-g^^ manner, the propriety of securing for the future, any provision which may be deemed necessary for the re Lious wants of the community in these Provinces by Tmeans than by a reservation of o"--^'^''^ °j the land according to the enactment of the Act oi 1 9 H may elucidate the subject to state the precise taa ion of the Reserves at this moment, the causes Tich have hitherto rendered them so unproductive, Ind what prospects they hold out of future efficiency, in regard'to the disapprobation of the po -y ad°P«;d Z Mr Pitt, in reserving one-seventh of the lands for the Jupport if a ProteLnt Clergy, I must confess 79 f that I am one of those who would not hastily con- demn any measure maturely considered and acted upon by that able Statesman. When he proposed in Parliament to make this reservation, it was objec- ted, that such a provision was beyond precedent lavish and disproportionate to the object which it was in- tended to answer : but Mr. Pitt vindicated the propo- sition by stating, that it was much less than one-tenth of the produce, and that it had almost become an established custom in England when land was given in commutation of tithes to fix it at one-seventh ; now while this argument shewed that the proportion was not too large, tho reference to tithes confined it to the Church of England, for neither the Church of Scot- land, nor Protestant Dissenters, were in any manner supported by tithes, so that this great Minister could not, in defending the appropriation, allude to the sup port of any other Clergy than those of the Established Church. That any attempt to give decent support to a body of regular Clergy should have appeared objec- tionable to many, in the revolutionary period of 1791, cannot excite much surprise, but that the same objec- tion should be made after the experience of the last half century, argues the spread of principles which threaten to destroy the pillars of civilized society, and to produce in the British Dominions ihe dreadful scenes of revolutionary France. The Clergy have ever proved the steady friends of peace and order, and of rational liberty ; and the resolute opposery of anar- chy and confusion. All, therefore, who are desirous of change, begin with vilifying them, and every mea- sure tending to their benefit. 80 The whole surface of Upper Canada is supposed to contcin thirty-one millions of Acres of Land—but the Lakes are so numerous, and the interior of a large portion of the country so rocky and barren, that it is not believed that more than two-thirds can ever be brought into cultivation,— the property, therefore, reserved for the support of a Protestant Clergy can nevei exceed three millions of Acres, or 15,000 al- lotments of 200 Acres each, many of wb?jh will be found incapable of cultivation. The vJue of this property, as found by Commissioners two years ago, at 3s. 6d. CurV. per Acre, was £ 525,000, or £ 472,500 Sterling, which, if placed in the funds at 4 per cent, would yield an annual revenue of £17,000 for the support and maintenance of a Protestant Clergy, in a country nearly as large as England. It is true this taluation was considered too low, and it is expected that one-fourth the proportion now proposed for sale will realize nearly as much as the whole if sold at the above price. But although it may be wi ^ to dispose of a portion of these lands for the purpose of increa- sing the number of the Clergy, and making them in 8ome measure commensurate with the wants of the people, ?t would be improvident to sell the whole;, because in time the leases will be more productive. At the same time, if we judge from what takes place in the United States, each lot will not produce for a century to come, an average rent of more than £20, which, with the interest of the capital arising from the one-fourth exposed for sale, will not afford a re- venue cf more than £240,000, to support an Ecclesi- astical Establishment for a population of three and a 81 half millions of people, which will in all probability be in the Province at that time. This provision will, therefore, be at no time ample for the support of a Protestant Clergy sufficient for . the wants of the population of the Canadas when fully settled. — And here it may be remarked, that whether the provision be adequate or not, it is evi- dent, that on it the Church of England in these Co- lonies must ever depend. The voluntary contributions of the people, as the experience of the various Dis- senting denominations sufficiently proves, being a source too precarious, and a dependence upon it at variance with the nature of an Establishment — inconsistent with the respectability and independence of the Clergy, and likely to disturb the harmony which ought to exist between them and their flocks. Hitherto, the provision has been inefficient, from causes now very obvious, though not perhaps antici- pated in their full extent by the distinguished States- man who advised the appropriation — 1st. The Province of Upper Canada has, from the first day of settlement to the present time, been filled up by paupers, or persons without capital, so that it may with great propriety be called the asylum of the poor. It was first settled by the Refugee Loyalists from the British North American Provinces, now the United States— all of whom were without capital — many entirely destitute. Every accession of inhabi- tants has been of the same description — whatever L 82 wealth (and it is yet very little) there is in this Pro- vince has been drawn from the soil. During the short period that intervened betwixt the American War and the French Revolution, the Country was scarcely known to any but the unfo tunate Loyalists. From 1793 till 1812, it proceeded, without notice, to ad- vance very slowly in .vealth and population : but no capitalist appeared, there was indeed no inducement, large contiguous tracts could not be purchase ( ' .'rom Government, which seemed, from its mode of dividing the land into small all-'ments, to provide for as wild a Democracy as that cr' Athens, and hinder forever, the creation of an Aristocracy. This effectually pre- vented Capital being laid out on land, for the pur- pose of preparing it for settlement, — when, therefore, the Merchants, or disbanded Officers acquired landed property, it was scattered through different parts of the Province, and they, instead of improving, allowed it to remain in a state of nature, waiting till the gra- dual increase of settlers in the neighbourhood should give it a value. The short War in which Great Britain was in- volved with the United States, being chiefly carried on in Upper Canada, brought it into notice, and not- withstanding the calamities of sickness, death, and conflagration, with which it was attended, it left some wealth among the inhabitants. This, on the return of peace, gave a new spur to improvements, so that, although no Capitalists yet came in, lands began to sell much higher than they had ever done before, and a very considerable spirit of enterprize prevailed from 8S the termination of the European War in 181^^ till 1818, when the sad depression wliich was felt in England reached the Province. The money acqui- red by the inhabitants during the War was gone, and the low price of produce was insufficient to replace it— the consequence was, a great fall in the price of land, and much distress. Many had acquired habits of expense, which they were reluctant to lay aside,— this involved them in debt to their Merchants, who, in turn, were pushed.— Their Farms and Lands were seized, and there being no Capitalists to purchase, they were sold much below their value. Those who consider these causes, will not be surprised tliat so few of the Reserves were leased, and the rents so imperfectly collected— the wonder is, that any leaset were taken out, when to these the following reasons are added : — 1st. That from the first settlement of the Province, up to 1828, Government has encouraged settlers of good character and loyal principles, to come into the Province, and granted them lands at n trifling ex- pense. 2nd. That the sons and daughters of the first set- tlers, or American Loyalists, arc entitled to a grant of 200 Acres each, on coming of age, which prevents them from being under the necessity of purcliasing. 3rd. That gratuitous grants have been ordered to all half-pay, or disbanded Oflicers, Soldiers or Sea- men of the Army and Navy, who come into the Pro- vince, according to their rank. 4th. That like grants have been given to the Mi- litia of the Province, who served durijig the War. 84 5th. The groat quantities of land thrown into the market by the confiscation of the Estates of traitors. 6th. The quantities sold at a mere trifle by many of those who got gratuitous grants. 7th. The quantities sold by Land Surveyors, who Survey for a percentage on the land, and being without Capital, are obliged to sell part at any price, in or- der to pay their labourers. 8th. The lands of Absentees, which are now to bo sold in immense quantities for arrears of the Land Tax. 9th. So long as industrious persons get land from Government for a trifle, or from individuals in convQ- nicnt situations, at a low price and long credit, they are little disposed to take lands upon lease — to all these must be added : 10th. That among tlie Colonists a preference is uniformly given to lands in foe simple to leases, even where the latter are more advantageous. Wlien tiie situation of the Country is duly consider- ed, and tlie operation of these various causes taken into account, and when it is remembered, that it was not till 1801 that the first lease was issued, it is rather surprising that nearly two thousand have been taken out, and that scattered as these leased !ots are over a suiface of nearly 40,000 square miles, often without roads or lines of communication, the trifling amount of rent has been so imperfectly collected. It by no means follows that the Reserves will continue equally unproductive in future. We have only to look at the state of any charitable institution, and compare the trifling amount of rent yielded by their estates a cen- I «a V I*, 85 '1 V ^ tury ago and what it ia at present. And to encourage us, it is quite evident, that the causes of this unpro- ductiveness are passing away, they are all of a tempo- rary na:'ire, and will vanish altogether in a few years, as will appear mai.ifest from the following conside- rations : 1st. When the Reserves were first offered for lease in 1801 the Capital in the Province was not equal to £100,000, now it appears to amount to almost two and a half millions by the common assessments and it is not less in real value than three millions. 2d. At that time the population did not exceed 30,000, now it amounts to more than six times that number. 3d. The Settlements were hardly visible on the sur • face of the Province ; no roads or regular communi- cations, and only one mail during the whole winter — all seemed a dead wilderness, without enterprise or life. Now the roads are opening in all directions- communications by water excellent. — The mail passes twice a week. — The settlements are large, and almost entirely connected along the front for six hundred miles, and stretching back, in many places, from twenty to forty miles— produce increasing rapidly in quantity — commercial enterprise extending, and public works carrying on, !\iiith would astonish an old European kingdom. Fi u.n the whole, I am warranted in as.'im- ing; that in twenty years from this time the greater member of the Reserves, unsold, will be under lease. That this is not matter of conjecture, experience already proves ; a gitf^uter number of leases have boon "fill 86 annlied for during the tast ten years than from 1801 to that time. Bemdo. the mcreased population af- fords a certainty of the.r coming into d-an- , ■"- psnecially aa Government has Heternuned o sell the lainder of the waste lands belonging to the Crown, of wb.ch the c,uan..ty is not great, and g«"'"S ch are all that arc included in the scheuules, except that two Town- ships are sometimes joined together ;— There are 30 Townships wtiich average 30 Fami- lies each.-49 which average 90 Families, contammg five to a f«mily.-« --"^^ '«« P-"""--''* average 300 Families.-15 average 420 t amd.es.- 5 average 540 Families.-4 average 720 Famd.es. Now it is clear that all the*>. Townships wll fill up very rapidly, for it is found, that after forty or fifty fa- X get settled in a Township tl« lands advance i„ value' and the Reserves begin to be -Sh« ^ -- But from this table it is evident that, lo., Townsh.ps have ninety families, a..d upwards, settled .n each, so that all the Reserves which they contain must, even exclusive of emigration, be taken up. from the natur^ increase of population, in a few years. Now the Clergy Reserves in each Township average about forty-five, but rejecting the units for bad lots and reckoning forty lots in a Township, the number m 155 Townships will amount to 0,200, all of wh.ch may be fairly expected to be leased, or sold, in s.xteen or twenty years. Of those lots, in virtue of the law for ' / 87 ^ / h disposing of one-fourth of the Clergy Reserves, 1,550 will be for sale. Assuming the price at only ten shil- lings per acre, though many will fotcii a greater price, and none need be sold lower, they will produce £155,000, which placed in the Funds, as the law di- rects, will produce, at four per cent. £6,200 The remaining 4,G50 lots will produce on an average during the first lease of 21 year, £3 10a. per annum each, 16,275 Annual income, £22,475 It is, however, to be remarked, that after the expi- ration of the first 21 years, and during the continuance of the second lease of 21 years, the average rent would be at least £8 0, or for the 4,200, £33,600 To which add the dividend for £155,000 as above, 6,*.00 Gives the annual income during the se- cond lease, 39,800 Here the advantage of leasing above selling appears in a stricking light. The period, therefore, at which the Reserves will become available is not so distant, or indefinite, as the Committee of the House of Com- mons seem to believe, nor is it to be called distant when the object is considered ; much longer periods have elapsed before grants and bequests have come into active operation, without murmur or complaint. The great difficulty seems to be to provide for the Church in the mean time, without having recourse to the Imperial Parliament. w 88 Now it appears to me. that if the question respect- ing the Clergy Reserves was set at rest, and £10,000 were to be voted annually for the support of the Church in Upper Canada, for the next ten years, in addition to the allowance at present given by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the Cor- poration might safely take charge of it after that period, and gradually return the sum thus advanced by the Imperial Governmcnt.—Or were a loan of £100,000 made to the Corporation, at 3 per cent, it mirrht very safely assume the support of the Church, witli the continu ce of the present aid given by the Society, from thi^ ite, and in time repay the loan. Should neither of these plans prove agreeable, and should His Majesty's Government chose rather to ex- tend the sale in order to meet the wants of the Pro- vince, in which it appears that there are nearly iOU Townships in which a Clergyman might be usefully employed, although 1 should deem such policy erro- neous, it does not seem too much to assume the sale of 4,000 allotments during the next twenty-one years, at ten shillings, and the leasing of as many, which, according to the calculations adopted above, would, at the expiration of that period, produce an income of £30,000 per annum. Still the inconvenience recurs, of the Church being unable to meet the wants of the Province during the greater part of this period— an inconvenience which ought to be removed, even at a i^%^ y. ^^ 1.0 I.I 2.8 %& ^ 1 ilO 1.25 lill 1.4 |M 1.6 6" ' ^My ^&/ /A -^W^^r c Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN SVREET WEBSTER, N... 145*0 (716) 872-4S03 '^^ % >../.' >" 4^x 92 If the Committee adopted this opinion, from the Iiope that tranquillity would be restored by patronizing every Sect, they will find themselves totally mistaken ; the iudifTerence to all religion, which such an opinion proves, can be acceptable to no serious mind ; and the hope that it will produce tranquillity, is fallacious. — Are the Members of the Church of England totally without feeling — and are they to be despoiled with impunity, of what they justly consider their vested rights — shall they quietly submit to the hand of the oppressor. — All denominations cannot be assisted from this source, which at present helps no one — a few only can be selected, even when it becomes pro- ductive — quarrels will arise on account of the propor- tic )s — resentment on being altogether left out, and the agitation which has been excited upon the subject will be augmented ten fold. Such a policy, blind and infatuated as it would be, will not, if adopted, please the present Assembly of the Province, whose object, it is quite clear, is to pre- vent any aid whatever to be given to any religious denomination. They wish all to be reduced to a level, and then to shift for themselves. From the moment that a hope was suffered to be entertained, that the support of the Church of England anticipated from the Clergy Reserves might be shaken, and that the teachers of other doctrines might be ad- mitted to share the provision intended for her Clergy, from that moment, the Church of England has been represented as intolerant and bigoted, and no effort has been spared to excite a feeling againgt her, and no opportunity has been lost of inculcating the belief. 93 ^ that the I'ecognition and support of the Church of England, as an Established Church, is inconsistent with the public tranquillity. To what extent, by what means, and for what object the public tranquillity has been disturbed is evident enough to reflecting persons in this Colony. They know, and have seen, that from the earliest settlement of this Province, until the first agitation of the question alluded to, the people \/ere happy and contented. The greatest cordiality, and indeed cour- tesy, prevailed among all denominations of Christians and their spiritual teachers ; a cordiality and harmony that were exceeded in no country, and that existed in their fullest measure, so long as it was believed and ad- mitted by all, that the Constitution recognized one, and but one, i-eligious Establishment, and that while there was no distinction as to civil privileges among them, the Clergy of the National Church, and of that Church only, were to be supported from the proceeds of the Clergy Reserves. During this period there were no distrusts or jealou- sies, and the services of the Clergymen of the Church of England, as public instructors, were highly appre- ciated, and gratefully enjoyed by the whole populatiom If the scene has in somo degree changed, the change has been one not calculated to contribute to the hap- piness of the people, the improvement of society, or stability of the Govcnment. Nor can I believe, that His Majesty's Government will embrace the delusivo idea, that public tranquillity will be permanently pro- moted, or &n^ good object gained in a British Colony, .^ 94 by abandoning the best principles of our Constitution in deference to groundless coraplainis. Neither the Clergy of the Church of England, not of the Church of Scotland, nor of any Church, could have claimed support as an absolute right from the Parent State, but that right was conferred by the 31st, Geo. 3d, Chap. 31, on the Church of England, audit wdB toiifened in accordance with the Constitution, in which the principles of that Chnrch are interwoven ; and although she raay not have had an absolute right to make provision for the instruction of her cliildren in a Colony, yet her claim was stronger, both from her being the religion of the great majority, and form- ing part of the supreme Government, than any other Church. In 1791, whatever has been advanced to the con- trary, the object of the Legislature in providing for the support and maintenance of a Protestant Clergy, had evidently in view the planting of the National Church in the Canadas, and this for the purpose of promoting order and good government, to civilize and ameliorate society, and to give all an opportunity of enjoying the benefit of the word and sacraments gra- tuitously. That for this end a provision had been made, of which the Executive Government of the Pro- vince were the Trustees, destined for the support of religion, and which could not be diverted to any other purpose, and this provision was intended to secure the religious instruction of the rich as well as the poor. No man was called upon to pay any thing in aid of this fund, but every land holder* received his J .; land on the express condition of respecting the pro- 1 perty of the Established Religion ; and what was called a grievance, namely, the partial non-occupation of the Reserves, is in fact no grievance ; for every man in this Province when he receives lands from the Crown, or purchases them from individuals, is aware that the very tenure, or title by which he holds them, secures at the same time the patrimony of the Church. Had Government conferred any civil privileges on the members of the National Church in the Colony, some ground of complaint might have ^) -en raised ; but the Church of England has no peculiar benefit in Upper Canada, except the prospect of future support from the Reserves. All denominations are equally free, and none have any political power or advantage over the other. The policy of depriving her of this future advantage may well be questioned. On this subject the Committee had the evidence of Mr. Alder, who distinctly states the sentiments of all the different de- nominations of Dissenters in the Provnce, Presbyte- rians excepted, "that if the revenues (arising from the " Reserves) be appropriated to the sole use of the " Church of England we shall offer no objection to it ; " but that if the Presbyterians are to have any part of " these Reserves, then we conceive that we have at "least en equally good claim with them ; and we should " be very much dissatisfied if our claims were disal- « lowed." Two things are evident from these remarks : — 1st. That there was peace and tranquillity in the Province, and the greatest harmony among all deno- ^ ■ i ' agLr : :!; MM^iSSi^'-'' \ I 06 minations of Christians, while the Reserves were supposed to belong exclusively to the Church of En- gland, a period of nearly thirty years. 2nd. That since a hope was entertained that they might be di- vided, much agitation has prevailed. And from these two facts, I am entitled to infer, that if the language of Government had been decisively in favour of the Church of England, as from law and policy it ought to have been, tranquillity and harmony would have been re- stored. Let it not, however, be inferred from this, that I am opposed to Government, assisting other denomi- nations.— I should be sorry to stand between any of them and the bounty which His Majesty may be graciously ^ leased to grant them. I pleaded the cause of the Presbyterian Church in 1826, as well as the propriety of providing for the religious instruction of the Roman Catholics.— All I contend for is, that such aid shall not be taken out of the provision al- lotted to the Church of England, till the Reserves produce more than that Church requires for a decent maintenance— then it will be proper for the Govern- ment to consider what ought to be done w.th the overplus. A«i an extraordinary contrast to the policy of taking the Patrimony of the Church of England, and divi- ding it among all Protestant denominations, I would desire to call attention to what is said respecting the Patrimony of the Church of Rome— "The Com- « mittee cannot too strongly express their opinion, that •« the Canadians, of French extraction, should in no « degree be disturbed in the peaceful enjoyment of 97 B were of En- 1. That t be di- m these inguage r of the ought to been re- this, that denomi- n any of may be .ded the 3 well as Btruction r is, that rision al- Reserves a docent G^vern- ^.ih the of taking and divi- , I would especting 'he Com- mon, that ctld in no )yment of "their religion, laws and privileges, as secured to "them by the British Acts of Parliamen*." With the same -breath, Sir, your Committee blows justice and robbery ; the rights of the Members of the Church of England are secured by the very same Acts which secure those of the French Roman Catholics of Low- er Canada, and ought to be held equally sacred. It is deplorable to see recommendations, so incon- sistent, and so destructive of true principles, emana- ting from a Committee of the British Senate. They appear to assume a merit, in giving up all principle, and instead of shewing an uncompromising adherence to what we have been in the habit of believing to be the pillars of that form of Government which has raised Great Britain to the highest pinnacle of ter- restrial power, they kick them away with scorn. To the majority of the best informed inhabitants of the Canadas, the whole Report, with much of the evidence, suggest the most melancholy reflections. When they fled from the rebellious Colonies during the American Revolution, or since that period, left the shores of Great Britain, to settle in the Canadas, they did not believe that they were flying from the British Constitution : yet they find that, in as far as religion is concerned, they are in danger of losing their I*irth-right, and that the British Constitution, in Church and State, which used to be the glory of our Ancestors, and which was conferred upon the Canadas in 1791, is now to be broken down, and all affection and reverence for its benefits and excellence to be classed among antiquated prejudices. N 1 98 How any Government can expect to rule distant possessions, without adopting just and steady prin- ciples ; certain lanJ marks wiiich are never to be passed, I am at a loss to conjecture. But this I know, that by yielding to unreasonable demands, and trusting to enemies, rather than to the friends of good order, nothing but evil can ensue. If His M a- jesty*s Government shall, in an unhappy moment, adopt your levelling recommendations, and break down our Constitution in the Colonies, it will not re- main long safe at home, and that form of Government, which used, in former times, to be the envy of the world ; the model of Politicians ; the theme of the eloquent, and the meditation of the wise, will soon disappear, and give place to a ruthless democracy, before which, neither talents nor virtue will avail. The policy vi^hich has been adopted towards the Canadas for some years past, is producing a similar state of things to that which existed in America be- fore the Revolution, and this is the more appaling as the great majority of the people have peculiar claims to protection and indulgence. Driven from their homes by rebellion, or emigrating from the Pa- rent State in quest of comfort and tranquillity, they find all their hopes blasted by a turbulent and clamo- rous minority, consisting of discontented persons, who failed in exciting disturbances at home, or per- sons from the United States, who hate every thing that is English. This small, but ferocious, minority, is encouraged by the attention paid to their representations, and the more they shew themselves the enemies of British rule distant iteady prin- lever to be But this I 3 demands, e friends of If His Ma- ly moment, and break will not re- rovernment, nvy of the erne of the I, will soon democracy, ill avail, owards the \g a similar imerica he- re appaling VG peculiar ►riven from om the Pa- lillity, they and clamo- d persons, ne, or per- svery thing jncouraged ns, and the of British 99 principles, and the Church of England, the more are they caressed by the opposition in Pailiament, and sometimes even by the Ministry themselves, while the true friends of the Constitution are treated with scorn and neglect. Thus encouraged, and restrained by no principle, they are busily employed in poisoning the minds of the people by a regular system of de- ception, calumny and slander. Never, indeed, was the atrocious practice of libelling and defaming emi- nent individuals of known ability, integrity and loyal- ty, carried to such lengths as in these Colonies. — That practice which Burke so eloquently and justly terms the system of slander, more cruel than the sword. — Nor has this system of slander, which has been pursued with such base malignity against every respectable character, been confined to worthless Journals, but has been adopted and improved upon by a temporary faction in the House of Assembly, who, not satisfied with making the most intemperate at- tacks in their Speeches upon every one who dared to oppose their destructive proceedings, have lately fallen upon the novel method of embodying their calumnies and falsehoods in the shape of Reports of Select Committees, founded upon no evidence or exparto statements. — And after all, how can we condemn them, when we see a Peport by a Select Committee of the House of Commons, as deserving of all these remarks as any which they have promulgated. In fine. Sir, the policy in regard to the Clergy Re- serves is plain and simple. Till they yield a pro- vision more than sufficient for a reasonable support 100 to the Clergy of the Church of England, actually serving in this Province, they should be declared aa belonging exclusively to that Church. And in the mean time, the assistance which has already been given to the Clergy of the Church of Scotland, and the Church of Rome, residing in Upper Canada, should be gradually increased, as their necessiticB may re- quire. RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. It ought. Sir, to bo the first principle of every Christian Government to teach the Gospel to the peo- ple, and to provide that all shall havr an opportunity of being carefully instructed in its purifying and im- portant truths. But how can this be cflectually done except by an Establishment which shall have the power to appoint a Preacher of righteousness in every small society within the bounds of its jurisdiction. — So eminently wise and beneficial is such an arrange- ment, that it has been frequently adduced as a colla- teral evidence of the Divine origin of that religion by which it was suggested. Accordingly, the most emi- nent men in every age of the Church have been strenuous advocates for religious Establishments. " I " am," said the late Mr. Fox, " the friend of a religious « Establishment, because I am the friend of toleration without restriction. It is highly proper that a system of instruction for the improvement of morals should « be provided for in every country, and equally proper *' that those who dissent from that system should incur no penalties, and suffer no disabilites on account of (( a .( I ictually ired as in the y been k1, and , Bhould lay re- << r every he peo- orlunity and im- ily done ave the in every ction. — irrange- a colla- igion by ost emi- VG been ints. "I religious )leration % system B should y proper iild incur count of 101 « this dissent. To admit religious instruction on this principle is to cherish and extend the sphere of true " morality and religion." Now it is exactly on this principle that the religious Establishment in this Province rests ; it possesses tho hope of future support from the bounty of the Parent State, bp't no rights or privileges, civil or religious, which Other denominations do not enjoy. Its discip- line its rites and ceremonies, its canons and liturgy, apply not to the members of any other Church, nor to any Clergy but her own ; and as other denommations have their own rules and regulations, the Established Church, in these particulars, is nearly on a footing of equality. All parties retain the right of worshipping God as their consciences direct, and of educating their children as they please. There is no difference but this— the Established Church expects, because it has been conferred by law, a future provision for the sup- port of her Ministers, and thus to be enabled to confer upon those who desire it, all the beneats which attend the institution of Parochial Instructors, without money and without price. Dr. Chalmers, in pleading the cause of religious Establishments, wishes them not to be raised as an exclusionary barrier against the propagation of reli- gious truth on the part of Dissenters, but that by the superiority of their machinery, and by means of the lofty vantage ground upon which they stand, they may be able to do that for the Nation which, with all their zeal and devotedness, other denominations can only do for scattered portions of it, and in the way of salu- tary reaction. ^a. t 102 Tlioro are hundreds of Parislies, both in England and Scotland, in which the principles of Christianity would never have been known but for the Established Clergy. Parishes to which the Dissenters never have penetrated, and never would have penetrated, because the population having no desire for such knowledge would not have contributed to the support of religious teachers. In a publication printe I at Edinburgh some years ago, it is stated, that there are in Scotland 05G Parish Churches, besides Chapels of ease, for each of which a Clergyman is provided by the Establish- ment. It is farther stated, that there are of Dissen- ling places of Worship of every description, 588, leaving 238 Parishes, which would be totally desti- tute but for an Establishment, or one-third of the whole country, but the proportion is much more — for these Dissenting places of Worship are almost exclusively confined to Towns and Villages, and hardly one is found in Country Parishes, properly so called,- so that instead of one-third, more than five hundred Parishes, or two-thirds of the Kingdom of Scotland, had there been no religious Establishment, would be totally without the exterior Worship of God. Assuming the same proportions, the like reasoning applied to England, will present the advantages of a regular Establishment in a yet stronger light. There are in the Kingdom about eleven thousand Parishes, and the Dissenters are no where found in numbers except in Towns and Villages : for no where else are they able to maintain their Teachers; and it is there- ^ > "■**»» ( 103 r„.c within bounds .o .oy .hat n,o. ^^2Z:^i Hnrui Parislics, without a Religious x^»iu" wild be totally deprived of the Mm.s.rafous of Helicion. ... With such facts before us there ^l- but one opinion on the utility of Kehg.ou. ^"^^^^"^^^ nmouK those who have sincerely, and without proju among ...i.icct In his ate publication dice, examined the suDject. ,,- 'ir,matical „„ the use and abuse of Literary and Lcclesiastica endowments, Dr. Chalmers demonstrates in the mos :,isfactory manner, that mighty as is the influence of truth, when fairly presented to the mind, it is nei- ther right nor safe to leave it to its own resources, or ather without any resources whatever. Experience «hews that the demand for the commo .ties whic Religion has to impart, however valuable her Mer chandize, is not such «. to .upcr^odc the necessity of hose subsidiary measures which are provided m an Ecclesiastical Constitution, and supported by ado- nuate endowments. And he justly remarks, that though the Machinery of such a Constitution may be better wrought at one time and worse at another, yet, en with aU their faults, the Church Establishments of Great Britain are a stay and safe-guard, and that a helpless and headlong degeneracy would ensue from their demolition. " I have heard, says this eloquent Divine, speaking before the General Assem- blv "Of the obloquy which a Clergyman incurs by .. his eager pursuit after the objects of temporal am- .. bition, and I know just as much of that obloquy as " thoroughly to despisa it. I have sickened a thou- ■MM 4f * Si 104 " sand times over at the flippancy of those tame »„d hackneyed declamations i„ which the Clergy are represented as made up of selfishness anJ hy! "S7.L "f P-'/^'-d^d country as groaning Priesthood i and this is said of a body of men la- bourmg for the highest ^.terests of the species, and whose labours, to be successful, must be supp;rted " ?f i tf f"''r '""r ""-- oe their circumslces U ,s not for the.r interests, but the interests of Re- ' r:' ^' ' "" P'-"-?; for the character ofl future age, and for the interests of children that progress m the circumstances of the Clergy to- "wards obscurity and degradation,-let this bf s f- t( J- «"n5"iiaied, and their respectabilifv i« gone forever; they will labour in all the h mZof nstead of the intrepid assertors of truth and puritv he mos disgraceful compliances, truckling i„ ,!,« 'low watks of sycophantish accommoda.i:„ aS « toUe V"""' 'T '^"' "'""""'^^ "f » -P«i "flatted t . r.'- ""'' """^ ""^ P"""'«'' '"'«"«o of flattery, and Kehg.on will lose its estimation the ' moment tha. Ministers lose their influence a d.h 'I suffi f ^'^'■^J"»'"''« '«<"•""•? and virtues are suflicient to maintain his usefulness and re- .. ^.^ '^'' I lose tame And le CJergy are tiess and hy- y as groaning nd ambitious ly of men la- > species, and be supported rcumstances. erests of Re- iracter of the children that past, been a <^^ergy, to- this be suf- ne, and their )ectability is 5 bumiliiy of 7 will stiflle them ; and and purity, I by want to tling in the ia^ion, and a superior, incense of mution the B and their I powerful nd virtues s and re- 105 « spcctability, is unsupported by human experience. « Worth must be combined with importance. — « Give both worth and importance to the same indi- " vidual, and you make him a distinguished Member " of Society ; the ornament of a most respectable " Profession ; the virtut us companion of the great ; " and a generous consolation to all the sickness and " poverty around him." In the publication giving a sort of Religious Anato- my of Scotland, already referred to, it is affirmed, that those who attend no Church, and who profess to be of no Religion, are double the number of those who receive the benfits of the Ecclesiastical Establish- ment, and this proportion is stated to be within the truth. Accordingly, this writer, out of 2,096,510, the population of Scotland at that time, assigns 1,0'26,132 for those who are of no Church; Whether this estimate be absolutely correct, is of little con- sequence to the argument, it being sufficient for my purpose that it be nearly so. — Now, if a country like Scotland contains so many persons indifferent to Re- ligion, and upon the greater number of whom a salu- tary chenge might, with discreet zeal, be effected, the proportion cannot be less in this Province, where few opportunities for religious instruction yet exist. Taking Upper Canada to contain 200,000, it may be presumed 'that one half profess no decided pre- ference to one denomination more than to another ; that they are open to all zealous teachers, and tiiat the greater number may be won over. But who can undertake this mission with more effect than the iii 106 Clergy of the Established Cliurch 1 It has been al- ready shewn that one-fifth of the population is friendly or attached to her ministrations. The Lutherans and Methodists hold the sanne religious principles, and as their services are irregular, even while they adhere to their respective forms, they will attend ofttn upon those of the Church. But the Church of England has peculiar claims on the sympathy and gratitude of the inhabitants of Up- per Canada. Her Missionaries have laboured since the first settlement of the Province, in the religious instruction of the people ; and many of the grown up inhabitants have been Baptized, and Married, and a great proportion of the old Buried by them : it is not, therefore, too much to assert, that the services of the Established Church would at this moment be acceptable to half the population, had we the means of sending Clergymen into all the Settlements. Nor is there any doubt but that a fair proportion of the other half would, in time, join the Church. And thus all the benefits of an Ecclesiastical Estublislimcnt would) in time, be enjoyed to as great an extent in Upper Canada as they arc at present in England and Scot- land. Surely, no man who has the extension of Christ's Kingdom at heart, can, for a moment, refrain from wishing that those who are not Christians should be- come attached to the Church of England, rather than to no Church. — Now a large portion of the inhabitants of this Province may be said to be without Religion, not from any fault of their own, but because its minis- trations are unknown to them ; and those who are not I k. as been al- I is friendly herans and les, and as J adhere to [)ften upon * claims on ints of Up- lured since e religious 3 grown up ried, and a I : it is not, services of noment be le means of ts. ■ Nor is )f tiie other nd thus all nent would) t in Upper I and Scot- of Christ's efrain from should bc- rather than inhabitants It Religion, se its minis- A^ho are not I 107 altogether ignorant of its ministrations, are so little in the habit, of attending Public Worship, or being instructed in the principles of Religion, that they may be said to be altogether ignorant of Spiritual Chris- tianity. This ignorance cannotbeeffectually removed with- out a regular and standing Ministry, responsible for the proper discharge of their duty; but will go on in- creasing ; for thousands are growing up in total dark- ness in the back settlements, to which the Teachers of Religion seldom penetrate. Assuming, as before, the population of the Pro- vince at 200,000, it will, according to the most ap- proved analysis, give the following results : — - Under 14 years of age, 84,000 Of 14, and under 20, 56,000 Of 20, and under 45, - 40,000 Of 45, and above, 20,000 From this Table, it is evident, that ths greater portion of the inhabitants have had little or no oppor- tunity of acquiring Religious knowledge. Is it then to be doubted that much good would be effected, by placing in every Township one or more zealous Cler- gymen, to inctruct the people and their children in the truths and duties of Religion— to become the centre of civilization ; the friend and adviser of the people; their consoler in affliction; their guide to Heaven \ In regard to Christianity, it may be remarked, that the spontaneous demand of human beings for a knowledge of ; ts^ truths, is far short of the actual interest which tiiey have in them. This is not so ">S«i «. - ■^ i f h 108 with food and raiment, or any article which ministers to the necessities of our physical nature. The more destitute we are of such articles, the greater our de- sire to possess them. But the case is widely differ- ent in regard to religious instruction.~The less we have of it the less we desire to have of it. For it ia not with the aliment of the body as it is with the ali- ment of the soul. The former will be sought after, the latter must be offered to a people whose spiritual appetite is in a state of dormancy, and with whom it is just as necessary to create a hunger as it is to minister a positive supply. Now if there do exist a great moral incapacity on the part of our species, in virtue of which, if the lessons of Christianity be not constantly obtruded upon them, they are sure to de- cline in taste and in desire for the lessons of Chris- tianity ; and if an Establishment be a good device for overcoming this evil tendency of our nature, it ought, unquestionably, to be put in action. Nature does not go forth in search of Christianity, but Christianity goes forth to knock at the door of nature, and, if possible, to awaken her out of her sluggishness. — This was the way of it at its first promulgation. It is the way of it in every Missionary enteprize, and seeing that the disinclination of the human heart to entertain the overtures of the Gospel, is the mightiest obstacle to its reception amorg men, a series of mea- sures in its behalf ought to be carried on from age to age, in every clime and possession belonging to a Christian Nation. To wait till the people shall stir so effectually as that places of worship shall be built by them, and the maintenance of Teachers shall be linisters he more our de- y differ- less we Por it is the ali- It after, spiritual h whom s it is to 3 exist a 2cies, in Y be not e to de- »fChris- jvice for it ought, Joes not istianity and, if mess. — [1. It is ze, and heart to lightiest ofmea- u age to ng to a hall stir be built shall be 100 provided by them, and that abundantly enough for all the moral and spiritual necessities of a Nation, is very like a reversal of the principle ort which Chris- tianity was first introduced among us, and on which Christianity must stiil be upheld; It is therefore wise in every Christian Government, to meet the people with the full means of Religious Education. With an Establishment, a Church is built, and a Teacher is provided in every little Dis- trict of the Land. Without it we should have noother security for the rearing of such means, than the native desire and demand of ♦' e people for Christianity from one generation to another. In tliis state of things. Christian cultivation would be found just as it is in this Province, in rare and occasional spots : and m- stead of that uniform distribution of the word and ordinances which it is the tendency of an Establish- meht to secure, there would be, as we find, over all North America, dreary, unprovided blanks, where no regular supply of instruction was to be had, and where there was no desire after it on the part of an untaught and neglected population. But let us see what obstacles would stand m the xvay of a zealous and discreet Clergyman, placed in any of our Settlements. It is quite obvious that a large portion of the popu- lation wherever he goes are disposed to profit by his ministrations, i v not pretend to say that Clergymen of some other denominations might not be as well re- ceived, had they the means of settlincr \n these desti- tute spots Avithout calling upon the inhabitants for support. But in speaking of an Establishment some no one denomination must be .elected, and a provision ?or its Clergy assigned. This provision having been Jslgned to „,. 1 am pemaded that, if u were made Available to place a Clergyman m each of the two hundred Townships, whose m-^^"'^ p^"'; ;^ gioas instruction, there would be no doubt of the.r ^"Let'such a religious teacher, with a consience alive toKty^ndanlnderstandingstronglyconvmce^^^^^^ the truths of the Gospel, be placed m any settlement in Upper Canada, and with these as h^ only recom- mendations. let him go forth •""""g/^epeopk, dif- fering among themselves as to pomts of doc nne, andv'ery much alive to take offence ; let many o. the e be prepared to disturb him with all the senseless folly which dark and narrow bigotry can produce, yet if he, with a spirit of forbearance, exalted above these petty annoyances, proceeds with zeal and determination to acquit himself of cardinal obligation, and labours among them in the spirit of devotedness, it wil soon be seen that the general good will of the neighbour- hood will follow him. Such a Clergyman will soon win those, who were at first the most opposed to him, over to his views ; he will be able to remove their prejudices, to inform their ignorance, and to infuse into their minds the spirit of the Gospel. With the pure doctrine of the Bible for his pulpit, and an overflowing charity in his heart for household ministrations, his progress will be irresistible ; such worth and such aflection on the week days, from one who preaches the truths of Scripture on the Sundays, will obtain from all the true reward of moral worth Ill and moral wisdom ; a deference, an affection and re- spect, which shall enable him in a short time to become the centre of infinite good. Such a person, placed in the middle of one of our Townships, if he performs his various duties conscientiously, must become exceed- ingly useful and popular, since it is in the very nature of those duties to touch their hearts ; to promote mu- tual love and good-will towards one another. Nor is it only in ministering to those who are more particu- larly his flock that his usefulness is confined ; he be- comes the adviser and umpire of the Settlement. It matters not to what denomination the parties belong ; he is the steady friend of all ; anxious to allay their violent and selfish passions, and to preserve among kindred and neighbours the social affections. In all their difficulties and distresses, which in a new country like this are numerous and frequent ; in their murmurings , in their sad recollections of the friends they havG left behind, and the scenes of their child- hood which they are never again to behold, he comes like a good Angel to console and encourage them, by BUfTO'estinff nobler motives than this world can offer. Of) o Knowing that ignorance is the parent of vice, and knowledge the parent of civilization and virtue, ho seeks to promote education by the establishment of Schools, and encourages the pupils and teachers by frequent visits and judicious com.mendation. A Cler- gyman of this description, making no distinction in acts of kindness between his own and other deno- minations, cannot fail of becoming a blessing to his neighbourhood. And when we consider the many opportunities which he possesses of gaining a salutary 112 influence among tlio people, at baptism^^ at marriages, in sickness, in misfortunes and at funerals; in protec- ting the orphan, the fatherless and the widow, we may safely conclude that such Clergymen as do not. acquire this influence are themselves to blame. A Parish Priest is an integral part of God's visible - Church on eartn, and essential to the spreading of moral and religious truth and feeling, and to the sup- port and permanent effect of Christianity ; and all the blessings which the faint picture which we have given of a pious Clergyman, residing in one of our Town- ships, are reaped in thousands of the Parishes of the- United Kingdom. And can we doubt. Sir, but that from the peculiar nature and circumstances of the po- pulation, a resident Clergy would be at least of equal- importance here 1 And yet. Sir, this is the bles- sing of which you desire to deprive us. You seek to destroy that religious Establishment which Mr. Pitt designed for the Canadas, and which is calculated to confer so many precious advantages. An Establish- ment which interferes with no other denomination, and possesses no other right than the support of its Clergy, and can, therefore, give them no reasonable cause of offence. An Establishment which is a branch of the United Church of England and Ireland, and the exis- tence of which, in this Province, is essential to tlio completion of the Constitution, conferred upon us by the Imperial Government. J. S. APPENDIX. An extract from the Report of the Schct Committee of the House of Commons, on the Civil Government of Canada. It now remains for us to lay before the House the result of our inquiries into the Clergy Reserves, which appear, by the statements of the Petitioners from Upper Canada, to be the cause of .ruch anxiety and dissatisfaction in that Pfovmce.— ^By the Act of 1791 the Governor is directed to make, from and out of the Lands of the Crown within such Provinces, such al- lotment and appropriation of Lands for the support and main- tenance 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 any authority of His Majesty. And it is further provided, that such Lands so allotted and appropriated shall b^ as nearly as the circum- stances and the 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 may be esti- mated at the time of making sucii grant, equal in value to the seventh part of the Lands so granted. The directions thus given have been strictly carried into ef- fect, and the result is, that the separate portions of Land which have been thus reserved are scattered over the whole of the Districts already granted. It was no doubt expected by the framers of this Act that, as the other six parts of the Land granted were improved an d cultivated, the reserved part would produce a rent, and that out of the profits thus realiz, an ample fund might be estab- 11 APPENDIX. lished for the maintenance of a Protestant Clergy. These an- ticipations, however, have not as yet been, and do not appear likely to be soon, realized. Judging indeed, by all the infor- mation the Committee could obtain on this subject, they enter- tain no doubt that these reserved Lands, as they are at present distributed over the country, retard more than any other circum- stance the improvement of the Colony, lying as they do iq detached portions in each Township, and intervening between the occupations of actual settlers, who have no means of cutting roads tlirough the woods and morasses which thus separate them from their neighbours. The allotment of those portions of reserved wilderness has, in fact, done much more to diminish the value of the six parts granted to these settlers, than th** im- provement of their allotments has done to encrease the value of the reserve. This we think must be apparent from the re- sults of the attempts which have been made to dispose of these Lands, A corporation has been formed within the Province, consisting of the Clergy of the Church of England, who have been empowered lo gram Ifpst-s of those Lands for a term not exceeding 21 years. It appears that in the Lower Piovince alone the total quantity of Clergy Reserves is 488,594 acres, of which 75,639 acres are granted on leases, the terms of which are, that for every lot of 200 acres, eight bushels of wheat, or twenty-five shillings per annum, shall be paid for the first seven years; sixteen bushels, or fifty shillings per annum, sh .11 be paid for the next seven years, and twenty-four bushels, or seventy-five shillings per annum, for the last seven years Under these circumstances, the nominal rent of the Clergy Reserves is £930 per annum. The actual receipt for the ave- rage of the last three years has been only £50 per annura.-=^ The great difierence between the nominal and the net receipt is to be accounted for by the great difficulty of collecting rents, and by tenants, absconding. We are informed also, that the resident Clergy act as local agents in collecting the rents, that APPsriDix; 111 a sum of jei76 had been deducted for the expenses of manage- ment, and that at the date of the last communication On this subject, JEiifiO remained in the hand, of the Receiver General, being the gross produce of the whole revenue of an estate of 954,488 acres. An attempt has been made to dispose of this estate by sale. The Canada Company, established by the Act, 6th Geo. IV. cap. 76, agreed to purchase a large portion of these reserves at a price to be fixed by Commissioners ; 3s. 6d. per acre, was the price estimated, and at this sum an unwillingness was ex- pressed on the part of the Church to dispose of the Lands. The Government, therefore, have made arrangements with the Company, aiid an Act has since been passed authorising the sale of these Lands to any person desiring to purchase them, provided the quantity sold does not exceed 100,000 acres each year. As your Committee enteftam no doubt that the reservation of these Lands in Mortmain is a serious obstacle to the im- provement of the Colony, they think every propifer exertion should be made to place them in the hands of persons who will perform upon them the duties of settlement, and bring them gradually into cultivation. That their value, whatever it maybe, must be applied to the maintenance of a Protestant Clergy, there can be no doubt— And your Committee regret that there is no prospect, as far as a present and a succeeding generation is concerned, of their pro- duce being sufficient for that object, in a country where wholly unimproved land is granted in fee for almost nothing to per- sons willing to settle on it. It Is hardly to be expected Uiat, with the exception of some foVoured allotments, responsible tenants will be found who will hold on lease, or that purshasets of such Land will be found at mdfe than » nominal price. IV APPENDIX. Your Committee, however, are happy to find that the prin- ciple of the progressive sale of these lands has already been sanctioned b} an Act of the British Parliament. They cannot avoid recommending, in the strongest manner, the propriety of securing for the future any provision which may be deemed necessary for the religions wants of the community in those Provinces, by other means than by a reservation of one-seventh of the land, according to the o-^actment of the Act of 1791. — They would also observe, that equal objections exist to the reservation of that seventh, which in practice appears to be reserved for the benefit of the Crown ; and doubtless the time must arrive when these reserved Lands will have acquired a considerable value from the circumstance of their being sur- rounded by settled districts, but that value will have been acqui- red at the expense of the real interest of the Province, and will operate to retard that course of general improvement, which is the true source of national wealth. Your Committee are of opinion therefore, that it may be well- for the Government to consider whether these L«ands cannoi be permanently alienated, subject to some fixed moderate reserved payment, (either in money or in grain, as may be demanded,) to arisf after the first ten or fifteen years of occupation. They are not pr < ared to do more than offer this suggestion, which appears to the .,> ••' worthy of more careful investigation than it is in '• ^ uw-r to give to it ; but in this, or in some such mode, they are fully persuaded the Lands thus reserved ought, without delay, to be permanently disposed of. To a firoperty at once so large and so unproductive, it ap- pears fhri her J are numerous claimants. The Act of 1791 directs that the profits arising from thi? source shall be applied to a Protestant Clergy ; doubts have arisen whether the Act requires the Government to confine them to the use of the Church of England only, or to allow the Church of Scotland tp participate in them. The Law Of- APPENDIX. 7 tircrs of the Crown Imvc given an opinion in favour of the Ri.^htHof th« Church of Scotbuul to sucli partiiipaliou, in which your Committee entirely concur ; hut the question has aho heen raised, whetiier the Ch^rgy of every denomination ol Christians, except Roman Catliolics, may not he inrh.ded ; it is not for vour Committee to express an opinion as to -he exact meaning; which the words of the Act U-gally convey. They entertain no douht, however, that the intention of those persons who hrought forward the measure in Parliament was to endow with I arso- nage Houses and Glebe Lands, the Clergy of the Church of England, at the discretion of the local Government ; but with respect to the distribution of the proceeds of the reserved Lands generally, they are of opinion that they sought to reserve to the Government the right to apply the money, if they so thought fit, to any Protestant Clergy. The Committee sees little reason to hope that the annual income to he derived from this source is likely, within any time to which they can look forward, to amount to a sumcicnt sum to provide for the Protestant Clergy of these Provinces ; but they venture to press the early consideration of this subject on His Majesty's Government, with a view to an adjustment that they may be satisfactory to the Province ; of the principle on which the proceeds from these Lauds are hereafter to be ap- plied, and in deciding on the just and prudent application ol these funds, the Government will necessarily be influenced by the state of the population, as to religious opinions, at the pe- riod when the decision is to be taken. At present it is certain that the adherents of the Church of England constitute but a small minority in the Province of Upper Canada. On the part of the Scotch Church, claims have been strongly urged on ac- count of its establishment in the Empire, and from the numbers of its adherents in the Province. With regard to the other re- ligious sects, the Committee have found much difficulty m as- scertaining the exact numerical proportions which they bear one VI AP'»ENDIX. to the other ; but the evidence has led them to btf^ieVe, that neither the adherents of the Church of England ut^r those of the Church of Scotland form the most numerous religious body within the Province ol Upper Canada. 1 S^ieVe, that f>r those of gious body