^>. .a^ , -^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V / {/ O ,<' C<'. 6 % % L^/ 7. 1.0 I.I 1.25 ■^f^ IIIIIM =^ iliu 1.4 IIIM 12.2 20 1.6 V^ <^ /M' A r^ f^^'^^,? ^ ->; o / ///, Photographic Sciences Corporation ■^^ V iV \\ ^R) V 6^ ^^^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. M580 (7)6) 872-4503 "rONTUEAt., CANADA, AND LATK SKCllETARY OF THE !»VM)U OK TUB DlOCKtJE. TOGETHElt WITH COPIES OK BY THE DEAM, CANONS, CLERGY AND LAITY CATHEDRAL, AND DIOCESE OF MONTREAL. PRINTED BY JUIIN LUVELL, ST. .VICHOLAS STREET. 1871. i CONTENTS. L Beport to Bishop Smith, of Kentucky. M.. Address from one hundred and seventy-three Laymen of theT)ity of Montreal, to Rev. Dr. Balch. Presented February 14, 1871, oa the occasion of his leaving the Diocese. m.. leply of the Rev. Dr. Balch. IT- Jtddresg to the Rev. Dr. Balch, on the occasion of the liquidation of the Cathedral debt. Signed by the Rector and Dean of Mon- tareal, the Wardens of the Cathedral, and one hundred members of the Cathedral congregation. Presented June, 1867. T. Jtd(&:e39, signed by 125 Churchmen, and approved by the Dean and €a,non3 Anderson, Bancroft and Bond. Presented January 25, 1869. Tl. Aid&WB, signed by the Rural Dean of Iberville, and eighteen Cler- gymen, Pastors, Incumbents and Missionaries of the Deaneries of Iberville and Bedford. January, 1871. TiDL Eeply of the Rev. Dr. Balch. VEIL ILfttter from His Worship the Mayor of the City of Montreal. EL Ifttter from the Very Reverend John Bethune, D.D , Deaa and Rector of Montreal. REPORT TO THE RIGHT REVEREND B. B. SMITH, D.D., XISBOP OF KENIUfKV, AM> PKESIDINO WISHOP OF TUB PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHt'nCH IN THK UNITKt) STATK8, RiiiiiT Reverend and Dear Sir, After the consecration of the late Bishop Wainwright, the House of Bishops elected me, in 1853, to succeed Bishop Wainwright in the office of Secretary of the House of Bishops. By successive re-elections I held the office until 186G. In that year, after repeated written request, as well as by personal solicitation, the late Bishop Fulford, Lord Bishop of Montreal and Metropolitan of Canada, prevailed on me to accejit the appointment of Assistant Minister of the Cathedral, tendered by the Very Rev. John Bethune, D.D., Dean of Montreal, and. at the same time, the Bishop tendered me the appointments of Canon of the Cathedral and Domestic Chaplain. I was contented with the post of Rector of St. Michael's Church, Bristol. R.I., and did not wish to leave my country. But the late Bishop Hopkins, of Vermont, and other American Bishops, considering that this was the first time a Clergyman ordained by the Amei-ican Episcopate had been invited by the Ecclesiastical authorities of the Church of England in the Colonies, to enter her jurisdiction, and knowing from Bishop Fulford's speech at the General Convention in the United States, in October, 1865, how much he had at heart the removal of all disabilities to a practical union of the two branches of the Church on this continent, and that the late Duke of New- castle had procured the passage of Imperial and Provincial Acts of Parliament to facilitate the same, advised me to 6 resign the Rectorship at Bristol, ami accept the post of Assistant Minister and Canon of tiie Cathedral, Montreal, which I did, June 1, 1860. I. found the Cathedral encuml»ercd with debt. The part which I took in its liquidation can best be learned from the Address, signed by the Rector, Wardens and Members of the Cathedral congregation, printed herewith, page 12. I will not trouble you with a detail of duties discharged in the Cathedral, and in the Diocese, but will barely refer to one of them. The Incorporated Ciiurch Society of the Diocese, charged with the care and maintenance of its Missions, unanimously elected me Secretary in 1867. Subsequently, when the Church Society was merged into the Incorporated Synod of the Diocese, I was again unani- mously elected Secretary of the same, and held the office, discharging the duties pertaining to both, until June, 1870. And at that time the Treasurer reported the Diocese out of debt and a small balance in the treasury. At the meeting of the Executive Committee, held August 12, 1868. letters were read from the Dean and Wardens of the Cathedral, stating that, in their opinion, the duties of Secretary were incompatible with those of the Cathedral, I therefore resigned the office of Secretary. But Bishop Fulford himself wrote, and the Committee adopted a resolution, requesting me to hold the office until November following. Before November that wise and faithful Bishop died. By Iftw, I could not be released from the duties of the office until June, 1870. In November, 1869. I sent my resignation to the Dean, which was declined. In December following, I convened the Wardens of the Cathedral, ex-Wardens, Chancellor of the Diocese and a distinguished member of the Synod, and submitted to them my reasons for wishing to be released from connection with this diocese. Those reasons were over- / t rviled. But after tlie Synod of Juno, 1870, ihose same gentlemen acknowledged the force of the reasons previously assigned in December, and reluctantly withdrew their oppo- sition to my resignation. The venerahlo Dean finally gave his consent and accepted my resignation, and expressed senti- ments of regret, which bound me to him more closely than ever , Bishop Oxendon promptly gave a letter dimissory to the Bishop of Maryland, in whose Diocese I have since accepted the Rectorship of the Church of the Ascension, Baltimore. * In conserjuence of previous official relations to the House of Bishops of the United States, and from the peculiar cir- cumstances under which I became Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, in the Mctropolitical Diocese of Montreal, I was placed in a position where, without assuming any represen- tative character, unworthy or unfaitliful conduct on my part would have reflected discredit on that Venerable and Right Reverend House, which, for so man}' years, honoured me with its confidence ; therefore, it is due to you. Right Reverend and dear Sir, and it is only respectful to the House of which you are now the President, to make this brief report, " as to my manner of life," since I left the jurisdiction of the Church in the United States, up to the time of my return to the same. And for this purpose 1 beg to submit for your inspection, and that of the Bishops, Clergy and Laity of the Church, who feel any interest in the matter, the documents herewith printed. I am. Right Reverend and dear Sir, With great respect, Your friend and servant, LEWIS P. W. BALCH. Montreal, February, 1871. * A now Church heavily encnimliered with debt, iuid its (iroperty threatened with alienation. The brave little band of Cliiirchnien who have thing to it in its dark days, made such an appeal, that I felt bound, depending on God's blessing, to tri/ and save the Parish from extinction, and to enlarge and render permanent its usefulness. 8 II. TO THE KEVEIIEND LEWIS P. W. ]]ALCII,D.I). Reverend and Dear Sir, — Your resignation of tlio office of Senior Canon and Assistant Minister in Christ CImrcli Cathedral of tiiis city, and your intended departure from Canada, causes deep regret, and lead us to approach you respectfully and to express jHiblicly our feelings of regard for yourself and family, as well as our own appreciation of your action in coming among us, of your life and labour here, and of our sorrow thtit any thing should have occurred to induce you to leave us. That the unity of the great Christian Brotherhood knows r.o political boundaries has been excnii)lified by your minis- terial labours in Canada ; your presence has been a bright and pleasing evidence of that link of union between the Christian Church of your native land and of our own, and, »/ 7 7 while making your presence doubly welcome, will add to our sorrow at your departure. During the four years and a half of your ministry in Canada you have striven, and we believe successfully, to advance the cause of Ilim whom you serve so zealously, and so well ; your labours as a pastor, as well as in the cause of ^lissions and of education, have been so constant, so arduous and so able, that wo cannot fail to bear testimony to them, nor can wc ignore the spirit of self-sacrifice and duty which you have exhibited in your care for, and conduct towards others ; the sick, the taint, the needy, will feel the loss of your sympathy and aid ; the strong and the zealous, the want of your counsel and encouragement. These charac- teristics have distinguished you as a brave soldier of Christ and chivalrous gentleman. Our sorrow at your approaching departure is softened by the hope that the Church in your native land will profit by our irreparable loss, and will know how to mark her appreciation of a servant who has so nobly fulfilled his K 9 mission, and that Cliristian utiity will be strcn^lhenod and ccjTientcd by your alternate labours between two friendly poojiles, holding the same great princ'ii»lcs of ft\ith ami free- dom, and learning from one Divine Master, lessons of peace and goodwill. To ^Irs. Balch and to your family, who have endeared themselves to us all, by their blameless lives, and their abvni- dant social and Christian virtues, we desire to express our deep sentiments of affectionate regard. In parting from you all we can only say : Farewell, may Ciod bless you. Montreal, February 14tli, ]87]. ^i^ned bv the Chancellor of the Diocese, the Wardens of the Cathedral, and one hundred and seventy- three Laymen, besides those who signed the Testimonial. 111. RKl'LY. (Jkntlemkn", — I gratefully accept the Address which you have this day presented, and I thank you for the generous gift which accompanies it. The Address and Testimonial arc numerously signed by well-known names representing the Cathedral congregation, and I observe, also, that I have been honoured by the signatures cf some of my fellow-citizens belonging to other churches beside the Church of England, as well as by those of esteemed friends residing in distant parts of the Diocese. It adds to the ]ileasure with which I receive such an Ad- dress, to believe that it will be appreciated by the Venerable and Right Reverend House of Bishops of the United States, of which Iluusc I was Secretary for manv years ; and that your sentiments in that Address will gratify many of the Clergy and Laity of the Republic. At the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, held at Philadelphia, October, 186/), the late Bishop Fulford was an honoured guest. He 10 preached the sermon at the opening of the Convention, and was treated with all the hosf itality due his personal excellence and his official dignity. In his speech to the House of Bishops, as may be seen by reference to the published journal, he recited with evident pleasure the successful efforts of the late Duke of Newcastle in the Imperial Parliament and his own in Canada, to remove all disabilities to the transfer of Clergymen from the States to Canada. , It was at that time that he first pressed me to remove with my family to Montreal, and it was a gratifying mark of con- fidence, that one so wise, after much personal intimacy, should choose me to inaugurate his cherished plan for the closer union of the sister churches. The noble Society for the Propagation of the Gospel foster- ed the Church in the thirteen colonies. After they achieved independence, liberal gifts of Englishmen, and diligent labour in the States by English Clergymen, proved to the world that Mother and Daughter were still one. Most humbly shall I tliank God if the little that He has per- mitted mr^ to do in Canada during the last four and a half vcars, shall, by His blessing, strengthen the union and sympathy between the sister churches on this continent, and prepare the way for its ultimate completion by some better instrument than myself. I will not trouble j^ou Aviih further details on this suliject now — at a future time I may publish some observations on the Missions, Canon Law, and Synodical Action of the Diocese of Montreal ; but your address soars far above and far beyond the concerns of any individual person, and lays hold on the best interests of all men. The work of Missions is one of those subjects. Missions are the life of the Church, the salvation of the world, and the practical bringing in of the Kingdom of Peace and Love. Christian education or the symmetrical and healthy development of God's spiritual and intellectual gifts to man is another. . 11 The unity of the Church is another, and as a logical result from these, one which fronts as now, and always presses with intense reality and power, viz., amicable relations between " two friendly peoples holding the same great principles of faith and freedom, and learning from one Divine Master lessons of peace and good will." Xo thoughtful man can look at the vast extent and future dcstmy of British North America, and that of the Republic alongside of her, without deep solicitude. A man who can speak flippantly or think lightly of either commits a crime against humanity. Twice during the last five years angry feelings have been excited, and warlike preparations threat- ened the peaceful relations of the two countries. But good tidings have just been borne to us from across the waters. The ruler of the British Empire has stepped forward with the dignity of a Queen and the grace of a woman, and won for herself the love and admiration of both nations, by inaugurating measures intended to avert war, by removing all cause for irritation and conflict. That her Majest}^ Avill be met in a correspondingly wise and fonciliatory spirit by the gallant soldier at the head of the American Government, no man can doubt. But every upright and loyal citizen in British North Amer- ica and the United States has a direct personal interest and duty in these international questions. Your individual and united efforts, gentlemen, in your res- pective spheres, must greatly promote peace, because you have affirmed as your own that grand sentiment, " The unity of the great Christian Brotherhood knows no political bound- aries," a sentiment worthy of being engraved on steel, better still, it is worthy of being engraved on the living heart of man's belief. Again permit me to thank you for tlie Address and Testimonial. Your kind allusion to my wife and family moves deeply a husband and a father's heart. Be assured, my friends, that •we shall return to our native land your debtors for life. The