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This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film* au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X J 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X 9 Itails 1 du lodifier r une Image The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: La Bibliothiqus de la Villa da Montreal The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. L'exempiaire f llmA f ut reproduit grAce i la gAnArositA de: La Bibliothiqua da la Villa da Montr4al Les Images suivantes ont AtA reproduites avcc le plus grand soin. compte tenu de la condition at de la nettetA de l'exempiaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. 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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre fllmfo A des taux de reduction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est fiimA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. irrata to pelure, n A □ 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^ M^y^S 35386 A PASTORAL LETTER TO tm ^3&9isii«v 4^»i& sti^ntrir or THE DIOCBSE OF QUEBEC, tr ojt turn q V £ s t r o ir o jr a r r o u d i n a the u ■ » or - CHURCHES AND CHAPELS OF THE CJIVHCH OF ENGLANPt * » # H B PURPOSES OrpiS SEN TING WORSHI BX GEORG& J. MOUNTAIN, J). D., I^ortf Blsbop of m ontrealt (ADMINIBTiBBINO THAT DIOCESE.) '^*»i*H^*i*«Wi>*^«'«*t*W^^Wi>.^ Jfof Mi« «Ot»t<»« 0/ Reuben thers mre great sear^inge of heart. Judges r, 1|K QUEBEC: PRlNTliC By T. CAn* & CO. .;-^T' :^?n A PASTORAL LETTER TO THE A^ILIimsSI? JL^^ ^^V^^^ OF THE DIOCESE OF QUEBEC, UPON THE QUESTION OF AFFORDING THE USE OF CHURCHES AND CHAPELS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, FOR THE PURPOSES OF DISSENTING WORSHIP. BY GEORGE J. MOUNTAIN, D D., lurd Bishop of Montreal, (administering THAT DIOCESE.) j^/^/^fX^^^^^W^^^V^*^^^**^*^^ For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Judges r* lo. i$ QUEBEC: PRINTED BY T. CABY & CO. 1845. mmmm \ \ De j&lOl an wh rea! insi in just con nee I afte crei thai ceri be I the the pei Qve anc the end woi pie oug sho in 1 our thai a c san dis( itm Iti sue you Deabiy bbloved Brethren, You must, very generally, be aware that some discus- i&ions have been recently before the public, having reference to an official exercise of the episcopal authority. The occasion which called for this intervention was one which there was no reason to anticipate, because the question ought, in the first instance, to have been settled upon the spot, in the manner in which it was subsequently settled by the authority just mentioned ; and this has been acknowledged, upon fuller consideration, by the party whose proceeding it was found necessary to reverse. It appears, however, to be by no means superfluous that, after the subsidence of the passing excitement which has been created, the subject shou)d be dispassionately examined, and that minds which are capable of withdrawing t\ iselves Trom certain influences which sway the opinions of the world, should be enabled to arrive at something like satisfaction respecting the real merits of the question at issue. For it is not onlythat the cause o{ Religion must, so far, suffer, when the act of a person who,with whatever small pretensions of his own, is set over you all in the Lord, is painted under an invidious aspect and the impression is left uncorrected which is thus made upon the public mind : it is not only that his usefulness may thence be endamaged within the limits of his charge : — these effects would be something, but they are not all.— There are princi' pies involved in which the members of the Church of England ought to know how they stand and what is the part which they should take. If there is a good deal of misapprehension abroad in relation to these principles, and the views of many among our own people are more vague and confused upon the subject than they ought to be, it may be well, perhaps, after all, that a circumstance should have occurred which, however unplea- sant in its immediate consequences, may serve, by means of the discussions which it produces, to lead to a juster and more dis- t inct appreciation of the system and constitution of the Church. It is by considerations of this nature that I am prompted, in such form as my ofHce may seem to prescribe to me, to address you upon tlve {)rescnt occasion. It is not necessary, nor would . 4 it be proper, that I should Involve myself in any dispulaliou* agitation of the subject : in fact, with one exception, it is only by reports made to me that I have become aware of tlie tenor of those remarks which have been put forth by different parties, in relation to it ; and in order to disembarrass myself as far as may be, in treating the question, from any mere local or personal considerations, I have even abstained from making myself acquainted with the defence of the Episcopal proceeding which I know to have been prepared, and published in a Mont- real paper, by a friendly and an able hand. The exception to which I refer is that of one paper of which the number was sent to me containing an article upon the subject — a paper professing to have in some measure a religious character, and volunteering its subserviency to the interests of the Church. 1 shall no farther notice this article, which I but slightly examined, than to pass a remark, which is to my general purpose, upon some credit which the writer assumes to himself for being above the fear of man in the dis- charge of duty — the fear of man being, I apprehend, precisely the motive which would suggest it to the writer for a public journal, to espouse the easy, worldly, and so called liberal view of such a questiou as this, and to join in the cry against an unpopular, although a necessary act of authority. In fact, the same moral courage may often be required in these days in men who range themselves on the side of authority and ancient order, as has in other times been called into action for the maintenance of popular privilege. What the writer of the article, whoever he may be, could have to fear at the hands of the Bishop, it would, perhaps, be a little difficult to point out. But let me proceed to consider, in order, the points of the case, which require, as I conceive, to be better understood. As soon as I received the first information that upon the des- truction of the Wesley an place of worship in Griffin-town at Montreal, the Congregation who had frequented it, had been accommodated with the use of St. Anne's Chapel in the same neighbourhood, I took measures to obtain an official statement of the fact. Circumstances occasioned a delay of some days before the answer was rendered to my enquiries — and hence it was (as it may not be improper to explain,) that a certain interval was interposed between the occurrence itself and my action upon it. Having become possessed of information in a shape vvliich enabled me to proceed upon it, I wrote at once to u(a(iou9 is only tenor of rtieSf in as may personal mysehf (ceeding a Mont- xeption number a paper ter, and irch. 1 slightly general mes to the dis- irecisely a public '•ai view »inst an 'act, the i in men nt order, itenance ivhoever shop, it ts of the stood, the des- town at lad been be same tatement me days hence it certain and my tion in a once to direct that the permission which had been given should be withdrawn. It was easy to foresee that in the exercise of such an act of authority, whatever endeavour might be used to preserve a due attention to the suaviter in modo in conjunction with this manifestation of the fortiter in re, the Church and her servant would be exposed to no small share of odium and probably of abuse. The attack of the Press, respectable or not respectable, considerate in the observance of certain official and personal regards, (and I am bound to acknowledge that such considera- tion is not wanting,) or ready for any opportunity of a new fling at the Governors of the Church of England, was precisely what was to be anticipated, and 1 was fully prepared for it. The ordinary newspaper press, although one portion of it be upon many points in direct and avowed opposition to another, may be taken to represent the feeling and to speak the voice of THE WORLD. But whatcvcr eagerness may be shewn by many religious parties, in this age of religious tactics, to avail them- selves of worldly demonstrations in their favor, and to turn them, without any over-scrupulous examination of their correct- ness, to their own account, the World and the Church of God are two vastly different things. The force of public opinion may, and does, no doubt, in various instances, operate for the promotion of good on the one hand and the remedy of evil on the other : but woe be to the christian and special woe to the christian minister who commits himself to the force of public opinion as his guide ! — Many cases will arise, in many ways, in the uncompromising discharge of duty, which even call for the practical remembrance of an Apostolic charge, — Marvel not, my brethren^ if the world hate you.* I apprehend, however, that although the first impulse of feel- ing, in the fresh aspect of the calamity at Montreal, might natu- rally prompt such a compliance as that which did actually take place, yet there are few examples, if any, in which my Reverend brethren of this Diocese will require to be convinced or corrected in their judgments upon the general question here at issue. But this may be the proper place to observe that the reference of any such question to the Vestry is not a correct course of proceeding. The powers and privileges respectively of our Congregations and of Ecclesiastical authority, in such matters, are, happily for both parties, sufficiently defined both by the general princi- * I John, iii, 13. pies of our Ecclosiastical Itiw and by Provincial statute ; and in virtue of tlic latter, the laity have a control in some matters not conceded to their management in England. But the dispo- sal of the Church for this purpose or for that, is not among the attributes of the Vestry ; not among the things confided to popu- lar judgment. And it is little for the advantage of any party that the nature or the Wmits of spiritual jurisdiction and tem- poral administration^ in the affairs of the Church, should be confounded together. Upon these points I shall be happy if I can be permitted to afford any help to my brethren of the Clergy in their endeavours to rectify whatever erroneous impressions may be found to exist. With reference to my brethren of the laity, 1 can hardly venture to look, dprioriy for the same general acquiescence of judg- ment in the late episcopal order, as that which 1 have stated my- self to expect from the Clergy. 'J'hey have not, officially, the same call to acquaint themselves with any peculiar regulations of the Church ; and the spirit of the age is opposed to their just estimation of her distinctive principles. And shall I commit injustice if I attribute to some among them, a disposition or habit which prompts them rather to take for their oracle, even in mat- ters of Religion, the daily press and the tone of sentiment which happens to be in fashion, than the precedents or the authorities of their Church ?— rather to go there for the resolution of ques- tions which present themselves, although ecclesiastical and theo- logical in their character, than to seek the law at the mouth of the priest* ?-— If such persons will give me their patience and will exercise the courage to decline being carried, as a matter of course, with the prevailing tide, I will not despair, under the divine blessing, of inducing them to view the affair here in ques- tion in a new light ; and I must entreat their candid and serious attention to the considerations which here follow : — I. In the first place, then, I conceive that the matter was on€ in which no choice nor discretion was left open. I con- ceive that no Bishop of the Church of England is at liberty to sanction or permit the appropriation of any Church or Chapel subject to his jurisdiction, for the worship of separatists from his own communion. And here, therefore, as far as regards the Bishop personally, the whole question might end. It is mani- fest unfairness and injustice to attack the man for that which his • Mul. 2, 7. utc ; and i matters be clispo- aong the to pupu- ny party ind tem- hould be mitted to deavours I to exist, r venture of judg- ated my- illy, the ^ulations heir just commit 1 or habit ti in mat- nt which ithorities of ques- ind theo- nouth of ence and natter of inder the in ques- d serious tter was I con- Iberty to r Chapel from his ards the is mani- vhich his office obliges him to du ; and to impute motives and dispositiun.s for an act which is made imperative upon him by rule.* II. But, secondly, in (lie maintenance of this rule, the Church docs nothing more than is conceded, upon the common princi- ples of religious liberty, to all other denominations. If the principles conscientiously held by all parties are to be respect- ed, upon what plea or under what colour of justice or common sense, is it to be refused to the Church of England that she shall preserve intact her conscientious attachment to those pecu- liar views which happen to shut her pulpits against teachers who dissent from her ?— I would that even her own children, in some instances, would shew her the same indulgence o( which they are sufficiently lavish in other quarters. — It is no matter, as far as the questions are concerned of common claim to the allowance and acquiescence of the public mind and unmolested enjoyment of particular opinions, whether the principle be correct or erroneous in itself : — it it the principle^ the known, established, prominent, avowed principle of the Church of England that, with reference to the exercise of any other than an episcopal ministry, in any shape or manner, within her own pale, she is exclusive : the Church of England, with other branches of the Reformation similarly constituted, rejects for herself all ministrations for which the authority is not traceable, in an unbroken line of succession, through the order of Bishops, and she observes this rule with an undeviating strictness. If she considers it as a direct infringement of this principle to establish within her own proper walls, a community of worship with a religious botly of which the ministry stands upon no such foundation as her own, and which repudiates all regard for such a foundation, has she not a right to act consistently with the views which she entertains in this behalf, and is it too much to expect that she shall be left to do so in peace ? III. But, thirdly, we may go a step or two farther in this view of the subject. For not only have we a right, upon the very principles of liberalism itself, to the undisturbed enjoyment of our own views and the inviolate preservation of our own * As far aa the decision of this question may be conceived to depend upon the Canons, it is proper to observe that the Canons of the Church of England have been partially repealed by subsequent acts of public authority : but in all points where they have not been thus repealed, they are held, according to repeated formal decisions, to be, with reference to all persona and things eccktiaslical, legally in force. 8 rules, but, more than this, we compromise ourselves, by any such surrender of those rules as is here in question, to an inde- finite extent and in fact become parties to our own condemna- tion. We are called upon to open our own Churches lor teach- ing for which we cannot be answerable. I will not dis- pute that a vast deal of it may be not only earnestly and zealously promulgated, but good in itself and profitable to sinful man. 1 will not deny that a great portion of it may agree with the principles and doctrines of our own Church. But all of it will not agree with those principles and doctrines. 1 shall not enter into particulars : but thi^} might be very easily shewn. And then the question comet whether we are directly to forward that teaching of Christian doctrine with which we do not agree Upon this continent, indeed, there has been a system of accom- modation carried to the length of opening the same meeting'- houses in rotation to every variety of doctrinal teaching, or of holding places of worship in co-partnership* between difierent religious bodies maintaining the very opposite extremes of opi- nion, as for example between UniversalistP and Close-commu- nion Baptists, But the fruits of such experiments have not tended, I believe, to encourage the repetition of them. And certainly they are experiments which cannot tend to the ad- vcncement either oi truth or of distinctness ir. oelief. The precedent^ therefore, would have been a dangerous one, if no other objection had existed. The door being opened to one religious body in their emergency, it would not be very easy to bar it against any other who may be considered to approach our own doctrinal system, when their emergency, in some shape, might occur in its turn. Suppose the case of an application received from a zealous and respectable Congregation of Bap- tists who, from some cause or other, might be in great straits for a place in which to conduct their worship. — Is it not manifest thatjWilh the views held by the Chinch of England upon the sub- ject of baptism,— (let it be still borne inmind that who is right or who wrong, is not the question here,) — the baptists must be regarded by us, as, in this point, teachers of error 9 And if • There is one instance wilhin this Diocese, in which on arrangement of this sort was made, in on earlier and more imperfect stage of the deTclopment of Church principles in the portion of the coHnlry where it subsists, between our own Church and the Methodists. It is painfully embarrassing ; and it can only be hopf d that it may, by some amicable adjustment, be dissolved. s, by any an intle- :ondemna- lor teach- not dis- estly and e to sinful igree with It all of it [ shall not \y shewn, to forward not agree of accom- meeting'- ling, or of 1 different les of opi- se-commu- have not em. And to the ad- lief. The one, if no ed to one ery easy to iproach our Dme shape, application )n of Bap- reat straits ot manifest on the sub- rho is right its must be •? And if cement of this kTclopment or Iween our own , can only be any man would tell us that it is a point of little importance in the eyes of persons having .spiritual views of Religion, should we not regard this itself as another form of error, and a dange- rous one too, which we should feel ourselves conscientiously bound to oppose ? — And if so, would it be a consistent proceed- ing on our part to become instrumental in causing these opinions viewed by us in the light of errors, to be proclaimed and promul- gated from our own altars? — And would it be a very well- calculated method to settle the minds of our own people in our ovyn principles and to keep them, in the midst of surrounding and still thickening distractions in Religion, in order and stedfast- ness* within our own fold, that we should establish meetings of different sects within our own Churches, — the echo of whose toaching should be still ringing within the walls, when our own worship would commence, and the interchange of accommoda- tion with whom, being once established as a principle, the habit of wandering backwards and forwards in quest of variety and novelty in Religion, would most infallibly be encouraged ? Upon these grounds it is evident that to avail ourselves, in any such occurrence as that which has led to these observations, of the accidental circumstance that the Church or Chapel, although used with the episcopal sanction for divine service, had not yet been actually consecrated, would be a very unsound and unsafe kind of expedient. In the first instance, shrinking, as I will not conceal from you that I did, from the encounter of alienated and perhaps exasperated feeling to be occasioned by my proceeding, and from the popular odium which it would be obviously easy to excite against it, and which I had little hope that men would be so candid or so generous as to forbear from turning to their own account, — I indulged an inclination to take advantage of this distinction, the occupation of the Chapel by the VVesleyans having actually taken place and the time when things would be ready for consecration being, as I was willing to believe, riot very remote. The plea, however, was falla° cious : for if we are glad to profit by circumstances which we can construe as furnishing a dispensation from the rule, it would follow that the rule itself is one from which we should desire to be altogether released ; and the principle would, once for all, bo admitted that, but for the custom of consecration, standing as a bar in our war, we should be ready to open our Churches • Col. 2, 5. 10 for ll.e use of different dissenting sects. And in » Di""/^ '*« his where it is a matter of constant occurrence, from the pover y If tny of oSr Congregations, that Ch^-h- are for a leng h of lime in use, before they are complete in all the requ;»''es Tor hTfr consecration, the 'frequency o such a S™""''. »f f'^" nensat on from rule would, in effect, obliterate the rule itself. "^ The CI. rch of England could never indulge m any such latUuL Sis, ISt becoming plainly committed to the con- lemnat-ion of heTself. The Methodist body, lias, in this cmm- .Iv »t Tast assumed-tand it is better that it should be so than tL men CldTe induced to embrace so flagrant an anomaly LTof professed auxiliaries to the Church, ^.ho act w.tho^ commission from her and that within her own K;''' »""'^ the Methodist body has assumed the -'«l"1, a new system for this object.' Are we of the Church of Eng- hnd oSves to recogLe to sanction these P-«-<''X Tf Are we to set the seal, with our own hands, to the verdict ot our unfitness fir the task which God and our country have com- milled to us, and to homologate the lawfulness of every new nroviiion which any unauthorized originator may mould to-day Tto morrlw forthe'purpose ?-We may confess otir nume^^ous imperfections-we may, we must •lepl^e before GoJ our rnam fold sins— we may, we must acknowledge that others, in some instances hive laboured with effect where we had failed to do so and perhaps to labour at a!l,-we may, we inust redouble the hJyCwHch it has pleased >im to awaken among uo recover eround which we have inexcusably lost,— but it. it is Xed Sme to this, that we are to -P»-°- «™Sm lending count£,.ance and help to the multiplication art MUum Minfinilwn of now sects and new systems to be formed maintained and extended, be it well e^semd and (A«« by a zealous and ceaseless recourse to every imaginable engine ol relislous bo&e. here spok™ of ani our relauon. ""'^.J ■"""'"' 'JJ ^^e Chnrch stances, deplored by those who have sustained it. tl icese like the pover- r a length requisites id of dis- e itself, any such the con- this coun- be so than a anomaly ;t without fduly,)— len tharac- [1 their ex- leficiencies ecessary to [ organize :hof Eng- Bedings ? — J verdict of have com- Bvery new 3uld to-day • numerous d our mani- s, in some iled to do so edouhlG the mong us to -but if it is ficienciesby ad libitum a be formed, 1 that by a le engine of ilations wilh the and members of Y of the Chnrch (ss, in many in- proselytism, in a great measure out of ^»^« l'^^^"^,^^^, ""; 2" venerated establishment,-then it is time for us cO have done with this veneration and to bid adieu to the walls and towers of our once-loved Z'lon—eamus omnis execrata civitas,--\ei us look round for some other shelter and refuge, and see mo lie arms of what new mother we shall throw ourselves with the children whom we have to train for eternity. In truth there .s choice enough before us ; I believe I am correct m saying tha the Methodists themselves are divided, within the 1 '«»««» Upper Canada, into six different seels, and that four of these subset or did lately subsist in By.town alone. But tdl we are satisfied that this i. all as it should be,and prepared accordmgly, f not bewddered by the variety which meets us m our search, o r^lke our elcctiJn of domicile, let us at least cballenge for that to which we adhere, the same measure which it is agreed to deal to all others. If they part oti'from us and reinain so iLrted, without molestation, let us be permitted without moles- at on keep our own fences whole. Let us not be charged w h intolerance for doing so : the intolerance, I maintain it is Tn the other side. It is intolerance-yes, grievous intolerance -tha' while the most ample and unlimited indulgence is ex- tended to every possible form of innovation in Religion, we cannot be allowed, without being subjected to comments m one quarter and attacks of a more angry and bitter character in ano- ?her simply to abide with strictness by the system and the principles of Church order and government, which we have eceived from our forefathers, stamped by a thousand sacred associations, and to which we are conscientiously attached 1 repea it, I am not asking here what party is right or what is wmngi-but I claim shelter at least under the common l.beral.ty -and if it be said that our exclusiveness is offensive and hat in this point we differ from others, ivhicK I would desire to know, is in reality the most offensive position to occupy,— to refuse, as WE do (when we know our proper ground,) intermixing our- reives with the religious proceedings of those who ^^^ve separa ed themselves from us" and to decline accommodating and abetting thpir operations, or to create and to carry on, as they do, am s ek to enlarge: day by day, the original f-^^^^-^-f^^^ as I have pSinled out that that separation is and must be ^Tam well persuaded tliat the justice of what 1 am here ad- vancing will he admitted by reasonable men among themselves, lii 12 and I speak in ii > spirit of unkindness towards any parly or any individuals. 1 deplore and could weep over these multiplied and still multiplying separations, the existence of which is a reproach to the Protestant cause, a mark for the shafts of scep- ticism and scorn, a stumbling-block in the way of Jew and Gen- tile, a needless drain upon the resources of Missionary enter- prise, a huge hindrance, in all directions, to the evangelization of the world ; and viewing them thus, I see it to be our duty, my brethren, I feel it to be a part of our special vocation, in the times in which our lot is cast, to maintain the distinctness and integrity of our ecclesiastical constitution and to remember, in all humility and trembling, the responsibilities which we have to fulfil before God and the world, as a reformed and puri- FiED Church, holding a commission which cannot be CHALLENGED AND RETAINING THE PRINCIPLES TRANSMITTED down from the BEGINNING, OP CaTHOLIC UnITY AND OR- DER. Let us make no insolent boast of our privileges ; let us deny no credit to those who deserve it, though opposed to us ; let us refuse no just tribute to honest and successful zeal wherever found ; let us manifest no departure, in all the intercourse of life, with parties of all kinds, from the spirit of christian cour- tesy and the law of heavenly love ; let us if it be possible^ as much as lieth in us^ live peaceably with all men] ; but let us not seek to purchase a hollow peace by the surrender of princi- ple, nor lend ourselves to any such specious and popular, but delusive and injurious imaginations as that a Catholic spirit consists in the abandonment of all primitive order and the equal recognition of all varieties in the development of christian faith. It is not by paving the way for the interchange of our pulpits with those of dissent ; it is not— (I must speak my own settled convictions,)— by taking part in Union Sunday- schools* or union operations or associations of any kind what- ever^for the promotion of Religion, that we can most safely • There are not a few parents in the Congrpgations of the Church of Enelard who go one step beyond the extension of their patronage to Union Sunday Schools and actually send their children to the Sunday Schools connected with dissentine Meeting-houses, at the same time that they profess an intention of bringin? them hL'!I ^'^%^°™™""''"> of the Church. The danger of such proceedings is far from being confined to the probable severance of these children altogethei from the bo- •om of their spiritual mother. All principle of ascertained and distinct bond of Church.fellowship and all regular maintenance of their proper relations with their own legitimate pastor, being, to say the least of it, loosened and impaired, one natura consequence 18 that^of a vague licence in matters of religious observance and belief, of which it is difficult to pronounce where it may end. It is in vain to •ay that they sli I have the Bible : fcr God has provided something besides the ■f Kom. All. 18. ■. hti !y or any nultipligd hich is a J of scep- and Gen- ry enter- ization of :luty, my n, in the tness and (Hiber, in we have ^D PURI- ffNOT BE SMITTKD AND Or- s ; let us us ; let vherever course of ian cour- mble, as 3ut let us L)f princi- ilar, but ic spirit he equal christian ^e of our my own Sunday- nd what- ist safely )r England, ay Schools, dissenting "gin? them is far from om the bo- ct bond or 1 with their aired, one obserrance I in vain to lesides tiie 13 and surely advance the cause of Christ upon earth. It is not thus that, in the end, we can most effectually recommend our- selves and our system in the eyes of those who differ from us. They, on the contrary, when they witness the strength of our convictions and study the working of our principles, and follow them out to many of their collateral no less than their direct results, are led often to institute an honest enquiry into the foundation of the christian Ministry, which terminates in their cordial adoption of episcopacy. 'Jhis has been the case of thousands in our own day. In England there are many meet- ing-houses which have been converted into Churches and Cha- pels of the Establishment, and in the United States of America 1 believe that more than one half of the Cler^vof the Episcopal Church, with a very large proportion of the laity of that Church belonged originally to other denominations. Examples of ih.* same nature have by no means been wanting in this Province Such an eflfect will certainly not follow from a haughtv asser- tion of our distinguishing characteristics and a contemptuous depreciation of other christian bodies : but neither will it follow from the exhibition of a loose and undisciplined Churchmanship and a mistaken spirit of compromise and complaisance. It will not follow from our openingour Churches for the accommodation of Dissent. It will not follow from our suffering ourselves to Le swept along with the crowd who march with Liberality inscribed upon their banners and are saluted with the applaud- ing shouts of the world, in which they have their reward* If we can be brought to look deeper than the surface of thinos we shall find, I believe, first, ih-Ai Liberality not only does not consist in the confused equalization, in our judgments, of all religious parties who hold certain undefined and undefinable essentials in Religion, but that there is little or no place left for Its application, little or no field for its exercise, where there are no distinctive principles considered worth contending for - It is in knowing how to combine with a firm and unyielding maintenance of what we prize ourselves, a kind feelinS ^"^ ^ charitable deportment towards those whose separation Bible to hold men together in Religion, and this we learn in the Bible itseir It has occurred, as I have been well amm], in a Sunday School in ihiJ" Diocese, conducted with great ability and / upon the Union plan, that one of the prmcipal teachers has taken a leadirg part in eslablishii* succes- sively, in Ihe same place, first an Independent and then a Baptist Meetin»-house^ tetany reflecting and unprejudiced man ask himself what is the probable - ffect upon the minds of the children, of sudi a circumstance as this. • Matth. Ti. 2. u from us we deplore and feel ourselves compelled to disapprove, that Liberality comes truly into play : And, secondly, we shall find that all schemes and projects for christian union based upon a proposed comprehension of separate religious bodies whose external separation under their respective denominations, is to be continued^ are utterly tutile and fallacious and can only tend to retard the grand and glorious object which is professedly in view. The day, I am well persuaded, is coming on, although I shall not live to see it, when men will look back upon many prevailing notions and practices which quietly usurp the name of liberality, precisely as we now look back upon the do- minant errors of past ages from which the world has escap- cmI. I am not insensible of high and peculiar blessings which distinguish the present day : I am not unthankful fur many signs of farther amelioration in reserve and for the impulse given to efforts for the larger and still larger ex- tension of temporal and spiritual advantages to all the family of man. Fervently and from the bottom of my soul, do I bless the gracious author of all good, for the fruit which is thus in our hands and the promise which is permitted to hang in our view. Nevertheless there may be some weighty conside- rations serving to qualify our exultation over the generations which have gone before us and to abate the tone of our triumph in the enjoyment of privileges which were denied to former times. Men may be found to talk fluently enou«;h and with the most soothing as well as the most undoubting self-appropriation of what they commend, about the advance of liberal and enlightened principles in the nineteenth century, and the emancipation of the human intellect from antiquated prejudices, who, all the while and in the very act, are but exhibiting the dictates of a shallow, common-place, and even servile order of mind, which receives and gives out its impressions from those maxims of the world which happen to be in the ascendant and embraces with- out discrimination the genuine improvements, or the charac- teristic errors of the age and scene, in which it occupies its place. If in the exercise of those offices which I have been <:alled to hold in the Church of God, I have been kept, in any humble measure, from these mistakes, I may venture to recom- mend to the acceptance of my brethren of the Clergy and Laity, the results of my own experience and observation. Time has only confirmed ive upon these points, in what I have long ago felt and Ijnvft repeitedly taught; nor have I seen the 15 slightest reason to swerve from the senliments, with the ex- pression of which as made (among other and some older ex- amples) in 1828, 1836, and 1838, when I had occasion to appear in print upon some questions in agitation, affecting the Church, I shall here conclude this address, — more moved, perhaps, in bringing forward these old and forgotten declara- tions of my own, hy this than by any other consideration, that, if I do not deceive myself, they exhibit their author as having been enabled to preserve all along, in alliance with the same uniform and continued maintenance of the strictest Church principles, some considerateness and charity of feeling towards those from whom he differs. The first extract is from a publication of 1828 : " In the same manner they," [i e. my opponents in the mat- ter under discussion,] " say there may be unity without unifor- mity." That the true spirit of Christian Love may exist in the hearts of individuals where there is no unity of external church-government^ (for uniformity in the mode of worship is something perfectly distinct,) — we feel most thoroughly as- sured ; and that this unity of order and government may exist where great evils and gross corruptions are to be seen, is what it is plainly impossible to deny.— Still it is unity, and although it does not constitute all the blessings of unity, there can be no other genuine unity ^ ( wbatever mutual good understand- ing may prevail.) — where it does not exist. « " No— never can they," [the Clergy of the Church of England] " think that when Christ prayed that his disciples might be one*; that when the Apostle charges it upon them that there should be no schism in the body ; that they should all speak the same thing ; — that they should be perfectly joined to- gether in the same mind and in the same judgment ; that they should remember the one hope of their calling, one faith, one baptism — that they should beware of calling them- selves after particular founders of the opinions which they had embraced, / am of Paul— and I of Apollos--and I of Cephas*— never y with all this before their eyes, can they think that a true picture of Christian unity is there pre- sented where the body consists of separate and independent • John XVII. ll.—l Cor. XII. 25 — I Cor. I. 10.— Ephc*. IV. i, H.—l Cor. s if i' 'SI 16 parls ; where an unlimited right is as55umed of cheating new ministries and new societies ; where some reject altogether the sacraments ordained by Christ, others, as if by an authority above His, dispense with them as non-essentials, others again vary the application of them;— where the very bond of com- mon adherence to essentials is uncertain, because, one party may pronounce that to be essential which another regards as positive error ;— and finally where everyone of them sailh I am of Calvin— I am of Wesley— I am of Whitfield— I am of some other Father or Master upon earth*. This state of things the Episcopal Clergy can never be brought to regard as a true picture of the family and the fold of Christ in its right state, or as reconcileable with the views of unity furnished in Scripture ; and so far from conceiving (hat they yield advantage to the cause of the ( hurch of Rome bv thus treating the divi- s:ons of Protestants, they plainlv see that these divisions with the licence now given to them by public opinion and the plausible inference afforded, that as truth is one, it cannot be possessed by those who are divided among themselves,— consti- tute the sole available strength, and tend to aid the proselyiism of that Church ; who could make no impression against the o^ erwhelming power of divine truth with the auxiliary force of genuine ecclesiastical antiquity, if these could be brought iriore fully to bear upon her by means of one regularly cohe- rent system of Protestant faith. It is a mere truism to say that mankind are prone always to extremer., yet how manv men seem to think that, in order to be right, they have only to be as opposite as possible, and in all possible points, to that which IS wrong ! and how is this remark exemplified in manv pro- ceedings connected with religion, in the present dav, where undercolor of preserving the rights of conscience, and of re- nouncing the yoke of human usurpation, the most direct appeals are addressed to the old rebellious principle of human nature thus chosen as the instrument to work the righteousness of God /f**»»»«#«i As far as we can judge from ourselves and those whom we best know, an ardent love of union,— a yearning of the heart to bring those who ought to be brothers in fiiith, to act in concert and to frequent the courts of the house of God logether,(operat- mg^pon a conviction that the extension of iheir own establish- ♦ I. Co . », 12. MatUi. XXIll. 9, 10. f James I, 20. n ment affords tlio truest means of effecting this object,) is the predominant feeling which dictates what is termed the policy of our Clergy *, and, if the direct interests of a particular Church which has claims upon their love and duty, have mixed them- selves with their motives, we believe that we could name some other instances, in which precisely the same principle has been a sufficiently obvious ingredient of religious zeal. * * Whatever credit we may gain for the declaration, it is with truth that we declare contention to be hateful to our souls — we, at least, who, in tho midst of multiplied occupations, have by forced toil, prepared this hurried review, can say from our hearts that we have done it as a severe and painful duty ; that in all contentions connected with Religion, we are dragged against our nature, and full often have borrowed the language of the Psalmist, to vent in secret our longing for repose and peace, O that I had wings like a done^ for then would I flee away and he at rest.*''^ »**»«» The Extract which follows is from a publication of 1836 :-^ ** In the maintenance of what I conceive to be our rightful cause, I feel able to say that 1 have always been actuated by something very different from party spirit or uncharitable feel- ing. I feel how gladly I could give the hand to any body of sincere Christians in a way which conscience would permit ; and how willingly I would engage, if there were hope of suc- cess from such a measure, in any plan of comprehemion which would not compromise the essential principles of the Episcopal Church." The last Extract is from a publication of 1838 : — " What an incalculable advantage would it be to the cause of Protestants, and what sacrifices ought all Protestant par- ties, to be ready to make for the sake of gaining it, if a compre- hension could be effected in which they would stand as one body,occupying a ground respecting their Orders which could not be challenged by the Romanist himself, if well-informed. With respect to the Episcopal Church, this is the fact. Witness theDefense de la validity des Ordinations Anglicanes^ by Iq • P8. IV. 6. 18 Pfere Courayer, whose grave-stone may bo seen in the solemn cloisters of Westminster Abbey. Although the man was, in the end. persecuted, his proofs can never be shaken." I have now, my brethren, put my sentiments, past and pre- sent, before you — the one not varying from the other, nor will there, I am persuaded, beany variation (except that my visions of a comprehension rather fade from before my eyes,) in those which I shall carry with me, upon these points, to my grave. In the full assurance that you will kindly receive this significa- tion of them and with prayer to God that it may not be un- profitable to you, I now dismiss the subject — only once more repeating that, whether we are right or wrong in our con- scientious convictions, no man living has a right, according to tlie received principles of religious liberty, to attack us for those convictions in the manner which has been recently experienced, unless, in simply holding and quietly acting up to them, we can be charged with wanton aggression, or injury to public order and morals. For any controversy which is raised upon such a question, or any painful feeling which may be engendered in the agitation of it, we are none of us responsible who only resist tlie violation of our own fixed principles and standing rules. They, of the two, might rather be regarded as responsible, (although 1 have no desire to hold them so,) who make ap- plications which might be foreseen to be inadmissible. I am always, Your aflfectionata servant in the Gospel, G. J. MONTREAL. Quebec, 1st Dec, 1845. p. s It is proper, perhaps, to guard wi:at is said towards the bottom of page 10, against some misconstruction to whicU it may be liable. With all the sins which we. in common, in some shape or olher, with all religious bodies have to acknow- ledge before God, we have abundant and especial cause to be thankful, as well for the'lighls which have never been wanting in the reformed Church of England,— miirtyrs, scholars, divines and pastors of the people, not surpassed among unin- spired men,— as for many happy fruits of the system, which have been seen, even in the worst times, among the laity. And, in this country, I am bold to say and no mm shall slop me in this same confident boasting, that the Church of England population will be ungrateful indeed, when they forget what they owe, either to the Church at home for her fostering care and long continued supplies of spiritual succour, or to the prelates, my predecessors, who have presided over the affairs of this Diocese, and the Clergy, as a body, who have laboured and are labourmg within its limits.