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 -« 
 
 
 
 DIOCESAN SYNOD. 
 
 PETITION TO THE QUEEN 
 
 AND LETTER TO 
 
 HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 
 
 - . - TORONTO, 1851. 
 
 <h^: 
 
 rint 
 
 / 
 
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 ,/ 
 
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PETITION. 
 
 f, 
 
 TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. 
 
 May it please your Majesty : 
 
 We, your Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the 
 Bishop and Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of Toronto in 
 the Province of Canada, in Conference assembled, at a 
 Visitation holden by the Lord Bishop of Toronto, in the 
 City of Toronto, on the first and second days of May, 1851 
 — the Laity being composed of two delegates chosen by the 
 members of the Church of England, who are communicants, 
 from each Parish or Mission within the said Diocese — beg 
 leave most humbly to represent to your Majesty — 
 
 That your Petitioners are deeply affected with the 
 importance of promoting more effectually than can be done 
 under any existing powers connected with the constitution 
 of tlie Church in this Colony, the exercise of the discipline 
 of the Church, and the more advantageous management of 
 its temporal affairs ; 
 
 That the lay members of the Church in this Diocese 
 now number more than two hundred thousand souls, and 
 the Clergy one hundred and fifty, scattered over a vast 
 extent of country, and much separated from one another; 
 and that on this account the difficulties of Episcopal super- 
 vision are much increased, as well as of the carrying out 
 those regulations of discipline with which the best welfare 
 of the Church is so intimately associated ; 
 
 That the Bishop of the Diocese, besides the difficulty 
 thus arising from the remoteness and distance apart of 
 Parishes and Clergy, has no adequate power by which to 
 
 ^ 
 
 
try cases of insubordination, offences against morality, or 
 aggravated neglect of duty, where such may unhappily 
 occur amongst his Clergy ; 
 
 That in ar ting in accordance with his Episcopal com- 
 mission and prerogative, and in reliance upon his individual 
 judgment, with the aid of such counsel as he may be able 
 to command, his decisions are liable to misconstruction, 
 being subject, if gentle and indulgent, to the charge of irre- 
 solution and feebleness, and if manifesting decision and 
 vigour, liable to be denounced as despotic and tyrannical ; 
 
 That on such occasions it would much conduce to the 
 removal of existing evils, if the Bishop of the Diocese pos- 
 sessed the support and aid, of a constitutional tribunal, 
 composed of certain of the more experienced and judicious 
 of his brethren of the Clergy ; 
 
 That in order to effect so desirable an end, and at the 
 same time more efficiently promote the secular interests of 
 the Church, by more fully providing and more advan- 
 tageously managing the means of its support, your 
 Petitioners would humbly pray that your Majesty would 
 be pleased to authorize the establishment of a Synod or 
 Convocation in this Diocese, to be composed of the Laity as 
 well as the Clergy of the Church therein, in such manner 
 as in the wisdom of your Majesty would best conduce to 
 the advancement of these important objects. 
 
 And your Majesty's Petitioners, as in humble duty 
 bound, will ever pray. 
 
 On behalf of the Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of 
 Toronto, in Conference assembled. 
 
 (Signed) ,, ; JOHN TORONTO, 
 
LETTER 
 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE LORD BISHOP OP TORONTO, 
 
 to 
 
 HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 
 
 Toronto, Canada, 7th June, 1851. 
 My Lord Archbishop, — 
 
 I have the honor to enclose a dutiful and loyal Address 
 
 to our Most Gracious and beloved Queen Victoria, from the 
 
 Clergy and Laity of this Diocese in Conference assembled, 
 
 with an humble request that your Grace will be pleased to 
 
 present the same, and recommend the prayer to Her Majesty's 
 favorable consideration. 
 
 There are many questions of great importance to thd 
 well-being and discipline of the Church in this Diocese which 
 cannot be satisfactorily settled, without some such constituted 
 authority as we desire, and it is doubtless fitting, because, in 
 accordance with the custom of the Church in her purest ages, 
 that the Bishop should meet and consult with his Clergy upon 
 rules of practice and Ecclesiastical order within the limits of 
 his own Diocese ; but not to change or alter, or in any way 
 to interfere, directly, or indirectly, with the Thirty-nine 
 Articles, or the Book of Common Prayer, or with the autho- 
 rized version of the Holy Scriptures. - - 
 
 In England, the Church has her Ecclesiastical Law, and 
 has been proceeding for centuries in regular and prescribed 
 order — but such law is said not to extend to this Colony, nor 
 
 
6 
 
 18 there any power to motUfy a single rubrie however inap- 
 plicable it may be to a new conntry, or to enforce stricter 
 discipline and greater nnity of action. 
 
 It mnst also be recollected, that the Constitution of the 
 mother Church makes no special provision for her Missionary 
 extension in Foreign parts; hence many things are unprovided 
 for, which, in remote Colonies are daily calling the atten- 
 tion of the Bishop or his Clergy, and perplexing them to 
 remedy. 
 
 It would, indeed seem, that at the Reformation, the 
 Church and Government were too much occupied with the 
 necessary changes, and the great difficulties and perils with 
 which they were surrounded, to think of contemplating the 
 Church in her Missionary character, and of providing for her 
 gradual establisUment and progress in the Colonies and in 
 Pagan lands. • .i>.i , . 
 
 It may indeed be true, that no great inconvenience has 
 yet been felt, but when the lay members of a Diocese in a 
 distant Colony are more than two hundred thousand, and the 
 number of the Clergy one hundred and fifty, it must needs 
 be that difficulties and ofi^ences will arise, and how arc they 
 to be dealt with ? "''"' 
 
 At such times the Bishop requires the support and re- 
 freshing counsel of his brethren, and their constitutional co- 
 operation in devising and applying such remedies as may be 
 deemed necessary or expedient to meet such cases as may 
 have occurred. , ...,.: ; i. , „>..,.,. -i 
 
 Moreover, your Grace will perceive that, situated as the 
 Church now is in this Diocese, the assistance of our lay bre- 
 thren becomes indispensablp, to take order for the tempora- 
 lities of the Church, and to adopt such measures for her sta- 
 bility and support as may be found most suitable to this new 
 country, and the limited means of our people. 
 
 Hitherto, as your Grace well knows, the Missionaries in 
 Canada have been in a great measure supported by the two 
 
t 
 
 great Church Socictios — the Society for tlic Propn^ratioit of 
 tlie Gospel in Foreign Parts, and tlie Society for Promoting 
 Christian knowledge ; but we arc going far beyond their 
 power, however much inclined to afford us adequate help, and 
 the time has arrived when we must look to our local resources 
 and exertions for the maintenance of the Clergy and the ex- 
 tension of the Church. r • . . 
 
 There has, indeed, been for the last five or six years a 
 local fund arising from the lands set apart in lieu of tithes for 
 the maintenance of a Protestant Clergy, by the special direc- 
 tion of His late Majesty, King George III. of blessed me- 
 mory, and embodied in the 31st Geo. 3, cap. 31, conferring a 
 constitutional government on the Canadas — but owing to the 
 spread of what are erroneously called, ** Liberal Principles" 
 in the Colony, and the indiilerence of the Imperial Govern- 
 ment, this resource has been grievously wasted, and the 
 trifling portion which remains has been placed in jeopardy. 
 
 Hence both these sources may be considered precarious 
 and of a temporary character. It is true, the two Societies 
 are as generous as they have ever been, or can be, and will 
 doubtless continue to be so to the extent of their ability ; to 
 them we feel under the greatest possible obligations, but they 
 are unable to meet all our increasing wants. J 
 
 Looking round on all sides wfl^ can perceive no adeqate 
 help from without, so that we have not ventured to make this 
 humble and dutiful appeal to our Most Gracious Sovereign 
 till compelled by pressing necessity. A Royal License to 
 meet in Synod or Convocation to manage our own affairs, and 
 to take legal measures for the ministrations, extension, and 
 support of our Holy Church in the Diocese of Toronto, seems 
 our only promising resource, and devoutly relying on the 
 Divine blessing, we have a strong faith in its progressive 
 efficiency. 
 
 We feel indeed a deep conviction that there is no other 
 way of giving stability and permanence to our branch of the 
 
 ^.*--'f-"r-^!->^^_ 
 
$ 
 
 true Gkmeli in Upper Canada, than that which has been 
 MUMttoMd by the wiidom and practice of the Church Catholic 
 in all fomer agea. 
 
 Permit me to add, that although we deem your Qrace 
 the natural and proper channel of communication between the 
 Church of thii Diooeie and our beloved Queen, nevertheless, 
 to avoid all occasion of offence, we have thought it our duty 
 to request Hb Excellency the Oovernor-Qeneral, Earl Elgin 
 and Kincardine, to transmit a Copy of our Address to the 
 Right Hon. Earl Grey, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies. 
 
 I have the honor to be, my Lord Archbishop, 
 Your Grace's most obedient humble Servant, 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 JOHN TORONTO.