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Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouttes lors d'une restauration apparaissent d«-ARY 25tH, 1861. 1*0 TH,E Clergy and Laity op the Churcs, Having n'3eiveda copy of a Memorial which has been addressed to tlie Lord Bisho]i of Toronto, by certain members of St. Stephen's Church, and others, and his reply thereto, I think tliat injustice io myself, I ought no longer to be silent, as his Lordship, by his 8ent<'iice, np]H,Mrs to endorse the erroneous statements which have been published and widely circulated. In His Lordship's letter I find the following passage : " On reference to the Rev. Mr. JfcCoUuni, I found that Mr. Denison, the patron of St. Stephen's, had summarily dismissed him/rota the ministri/ o/that church, aUowing him only t/iree mont/n' notice. This I consider ai. outmgeous proceeding, and altogether indefensible." Such a sentence of condemnation from his Lordship on a mere statement, entirely devoid of truth, from Mr. McColluni, has causetl me thegi-eatest sui'prise and pain. Sluch has been said ond done during the last fortnight by members of the congi-egation and others, calculated to excite my indignation, and to call for a I'eply. I have thought it right, however, not to publish a word in my defence, feeling in my own conscience that 1 had acted rightly. I could submit to misapprehensions, and even to wilful and absolute misrepi-csentiitions on the part of such poi-sons, instigiited I may hoj>e by a false and i>artial view of matters only having been set before them. Btit, since my conduct has been represented to my Bishop, by one from whom something different niiglit have been expected, in such a light as to bring down upon me the grave censure to which I have referred, I now feel mv- .self bound, in justice to the cause of truth, in justice to my own reputation, to set forth the facts of the case as they really stand. His Lordship says, that on reference to tlia Rev. Mr. McCoUuni he has learned, , , 1st. That the Patron of St. Stephen's had «?{»i»inr«7»/ dismisned him froin tlie ministry of that chui-ch. 2nd. That the Patron hatl allowed him only three months^ notice. To botli these cliarges I give a most direct and emphatic denial. In proof of the truthfulness of my statement, I need but refer to the correspondence (printed and circulated by Mr. McCoUum or his friends) which passed between Mr. McCoUum and myself on the subject, a copy of which was forwarded by me to his Lordship at the time ; another copy I believe was for\varded by Mr. McCollum. Ist It may be seen by reference to this, that my first letter was one simply of remonstmnce, such as might have been written by any member of tlie congregation. In it the following alternatives were proposed : (1st) Either a clianje w.\s to ba mide in St. Stephen's, (2nd,) or I and my family would be obliged to leave, (3rd.) or that the subject must be brought before the Bishop. This last course, Mr. McCollum will well remember, teas the one agreed on between us, in case any diflference or dispute should arise ; but r.ither than leave the matter to bo settled by the Bishop, he at onco sent me his resignation, to the surprise of no one more than myself. How a distinct and definite aelf-cltosen resignation can by any per\'er8ion of language or reason be represented to )iis Lordship as a " summary dismissal " I am quite at a loss to imagine. 2nd. The next charge, that I had given him only three months' notice is so gross, so i>alpably in contradiction, of his own printed statement, that I can only consider its assertion as an act of jitdicial bluidncss. The simplest child must see, on reference to the correspondence, that the proposal respecting the three months was Mr. McCollum' a own; it did not originate witli me at all. Such an idea I had ncrver entertained. ' H For mysvjlf, I can only sivy that if three yeai-s had been named, instead of three months, I do not ■ee how I could liave declined aooading to the request I subjoin the following oxtrMcts from correspondence to verify my statements. '\ ■ '« I'.u , .VA. change must take pltce within a short time, ■j\fr. ■«>!" or .•...-.I. ;,') ■■<■ i: .,,f. Hi , .it I ' ,5'" Jl- 'J.^l4J^■" 1 1 •,..-/l in St Stephen's, or my family and I must i,"^ remaip, JE^v. and d^r S^r, ;,; ' \ I'.^P/^l^tt?, ^. pEJfIS,pN, •*<">■! ' - ■ " Deckmbeb 18th, I860. ■■■:■ "The inclosed note I intended to have sent to you yesterday, but I thought it better to think over it for a few hours, and have altered the last line and substituted instead, and bring the subject before the Bishop. " Do not for a moment imagine that I send this for the purpose of hurting your feelings in any way. You preach as you do, no doubt, because you think it your duty to do so. I adopt this course because I foel that my duty dictates it to me. j^ii. 'Ft: '' i " I remain, Rev. and dear Sir, ^ . "ROBERT B.DENISON. ^' i^ ! ^- ; '. '■ "St. Stephen's Church, Dec. 18th, 1860. '•' r Dear Mr. Denison, — Your letter has not surprised me, and do not let the writing of it pain you in the least I have felt this long time, that my preaching the naked and simple Gospel of Jesus Christ — ^though acceptable to the ninety-nine hundredths of the congregation, was not acceptable to all, and finding that the minority ruled in the Church, I have been contemplating a change, and intended leaving a place where my hands were so tied and my usefulness so impeded, as soon as I oould ; not, however, without giving my Bishop the necessary notice, that all things might be done in a manner becoming a Christian. " I cannot move my family, nor break my engagements with my pupils :"n a moment ; I, therefore, hojM) throe montlis will not bo too long to stop. I could not move my wife and children sooner. b; ;«ii ■v?";"i " Dexison Avenue, Dec. 22, 1860. " Rev. and Dear Sir, — I agree with you cordially as to your concluding to leave St. Stephen's— r which I find from yours of th3 18tli you had been contamplating some time, and had determined MlK)n previous to any communication from me on the subject. " I cjiu have, of course, no objection to your staying three moutlis, as you desire ; but you will youraclf see the noce.ssity of it being so fixed, as I must make some definite arrangement about ^i, successor. Shall we say the last Sunday in March next, or sooner, if you think proper ? ; , ■ " I must reserve to myself the right of answering your two last notes, if occasion require it. " I beg leavo to inform you that I have forwarded a copy of our correspondence to his Lordship ■:ii^.x.'^s:ii'' ii'M'-f^'ft^ "I remain, Rev. and dear Sir, 'i^fli r»i^ys«^^«:4c. 3rtvV*i;tr. "Robert b. denison." di ft' i.' ■■' . ■--4\ h'„ : ■r:.on*t iLi/'/jr? i!'.i'.ii'io:nr,ei:>iH]lU From the above plain and truthful statement of facts, it will bo seen what wilful and violent mis- representations have been made, and I leave the im^mrtial members of our church to judge how far I have deserved the censure contained in the Bishop's letter, above referred to. ; If it had been true that I had acted in the summary and arbitrary manner falsely imputed to me by the incumbent of St, Stephen's, I should have frankly acknowledged that there were the fullest grounds for the gravest censure my Bishop oould have psissed u|)on mo ; and I now admit, that act- ing upon tho representations of the case made to him, his Lordship could not have done otherwise. Since such statements have been proved grossly false, in accordance with reason and right, I must earnestly protest ag.iinst the justice of it The fact that in tho postscript to my ^first letter, I proposed to refer the matter to his Lordship, is an absolute proof that no dismissal could then have taken place. Hero I hoped to have ptopped, but certain statements have been recently made by Mr. McCollum and his ft-iends, which I ought not to pass unnoticed; had Mr. MoCollum's reply to the addrem proBontod to him, been framed in the same spirit as that address, this would have been unneoessaiy. Ist Mr. MoOoUum states that no hymn was permitted to be sung. His own arrangement waa that nothing should be sung but what was in the Prayer Book, so that the Sunday Sohool ohildren, 1 ^. : i ' . > ; -C'li,:- , I«fr»i4".jh.ii V ■■ ■( . m'; ;='♦ ^/T^f.j* .ite .,- who we both took care should each have a Prayer Book, could always join in the singing. The 'Communion Hymn and several others have been regixlarly sung. We sung, on Christmas last, an •old hymn, "Ye faithful approach ye," which I had printed for the use of the congregation, with Mr. McCoUum's full approval. Mr. McCoUum had sole charge of the choir, and was alwap present at the practices. './■'. i''\ !; •' 2nd. " No Misswnary Meetings of any kind were held." A meeting for the Irish Society was held in the church, the Rev Mr. Hiinlon being the deputation, on which occasion I did all I could to promote the comfort of the meeting, and, with my family, was present at it. I ixwitively assert that I never by act or word interfered to prevent any meetings being held. "A Toronto Presbyter" accuses me of the "gross indecency of calling in a baili^ against an un- resisting clergyman!" 'ihe so-called haUiffhByfdW known to Mr. McCoUum as my servant ; has been with me for several years, and is a member of his own congregation. On errands of kindness it was, "thank you William;" but when it suited Mr. McCoUum's purpose, he suddenly became a sheriff's bailiff. It is stated in the Echo of 10th January last, that Mr. McCollum was "appointed by the Bishop at the opening of the church." The ai-rangement with Mr. McCoUum was a strictly private one between him and myself, the Bishop refusing to have any thing to do with it In consequence of this refusal it was with the greatest difficulty that I induced Mr. McCollum to meet his Lordship at ; hia inspection of the church, on the day before it was opened. In a letter sent by me to Mr. McCollum, September 23, 1859, a cojiy of which is in the Bishop's hands, are the following words: " As the Bishop would not allow me to broach the subject concerning our arrangement at St. Stephen's, &c." Had any arrangement but a private one existed, no doubt Mr. McCollum would have taken the subject up at that time. • ; \ , My attention having been called to the above statement in the Echo, I wrote to the Bishop as follows, on the 22nd of January inst; "Having seen it stated in print that Mr, McCollum was licensed to St Stei)lK'n's Church, by your Lordship, I shall feel much obliged, should such be the case, if your Lordship win fiivour me with the date of the license." The following is from the Bishop's answer : "The Roverend Jamea Henry McCallum, AM., was licensed to St Stephen's Church, on the 21pt day of December' last; but has since signified liis intention to resign," &c. By this it wUl be seen that three days after tlie date of his resignation, Mr. McColhun obtained > from the Bishop, without my knowledge or concurrence, a license to St. Stephen's Cluircli. I have no intention whatever of replying to any articles which may bo written on this subject. 'The facts being now before you, will enable you to come to a correct conclusion. ROBERT B. DENISON -•s ' ■ 1 " - ' , S '»- ! ■* -*• -r