Chapter V. The Diocese of Toronto THE Diocese of Toronto, embracing the whole of Upper Canada--the present Province of Ontario, and whatever might be to the west of it--was constituted, in 1839, out of the Diocese of Quebec. The operations of the Church in this Diocese up to the time of the appointment of the first Bishop have therefore been detailed in the history of Quebec. Its history for the next thirty years is so completely identified with the life of its first great Bishop, that it can only be thought of in connection with him.
He was in the strictest sense its Head-Centre, the fons et origo of all its activities. He moulded its doctrines, and he directed its energies. Nil sine Episcopo was not an abstract theory, but a concrete necessity, from one end of his vast Diocese to the other. The man who presumed to act without his Bishop, much more to act against him, soon found himself in the grasp of the hand of one who said, "This is the way; walk ye in it." In illustration of this characteristic, the writer has heard the Rev. Edmund Baldwin, curate of St. James Cathedral, complaining that he and the Rector, who were both pronounced Evangelicals, were very hardly treated. He said, "Whenever we preach any distinctively Evangelical doctrine, the Bishop always says when [117/118] we reach the vestry, I will prach (broad Scotch) 'next Sunday.' Then he was sure to say with reference to what we had preached, 'This is what some people think, but this is the way the matter is to be understood.' And then he would proceed to give the orthodox Anglican doctrine in a way that could not be mistaken."
Bishop Strachan was a man born to rule. Clear headed, resolute, unhesitating, energetic, high-tempered, he took the lead without any arrogant assumption in every company where he came. No man has yet arisen amongst us of such commanding personality, or who has so impressed himself upon the history of the Church or indeed of the country. It is therefore necessary to have before us a brief outline of his history if we would study intelligently the times in which he lived.
He was born at Aberdeen, Scotland, on the 12th April, 1778, of humble but respectable parents. His father, who was superintendent of a stone-quarry, was killed at the age of fifty-two, by a premature explosion. He was a man of resolute will, who, living in the midst of Presbyterians, was a persistent Non-juror. His mother was a Presbyterian, a woman of great character and controlling religious principles. It is stated as a strange instance of the survival of ancient traditions, that she used to make the children sign themselves with the sign of the Cross before going to bed.
The future Bishop was only fourteen years old when his father was killed. He was thrown upon the world at that age without a single friend or relative capable of affording him any assistance. His mother and two sisters were reduced almost to actual want, and had no one to look to but him. He obtained a position as tutor, and carried his earnings as he received them with a delighted heart to his [118/119] mother. He was so successful and so saving that we find him entered as a student at Aberdeen when he was only sixteen years old. The annual session of this University only lasted five months; during the rest of the year he earned enough by teaching to maintain himself at College, and to afford such assistance to his mother and sisters as enabled them to live. He graduated in the regular course, and then obtained the mastership of a school, which maintained him and those dependent on him till he emigrated to Canada. He became the intimate friend of Dr. Chalmers, and through his influence was invited to come to Canada to establish a school under the patronage of the Government, which should afterwards grow into a College, and ultimately into a University. He reached Kingston, then the chief town of Upper Canada, in August 1799, only to meet with bitter disappointment. The projected academy was found to be only a vague theory, which never really took shape. Mr. Strachan was so "beat down," as he expressed it, that if he could have procured the money he would at once have returned to Scotland. This was out of the question, and so he accepted the position of tutor in the family of Mr. Richard Cartwright. He became the friend of Dr. Stuart, Rector of Kingston and official of the Bishop of Quebec in Upper Canada; through his influence he was led to seek for admission to the ministry, and was ordained Deacon by the Bishop of Quebec on the 22nd May, 1803. He was at once appointed to Cornwall. This was regarded as an important and rising place, and yet Mr. Strachan's clerical income was only £130 per annum, not enough, as he stated, to enable him to keep house and extend the needed help to his loved mother, and so he began taking pupils into his house, and thus originated the famous Cornwall School, at which almost every man of distinction [119/120] in Upper Canada during the last generation was educated. Dr. Strachan, as he had now become, remained in charge of his successful school and parish at Cornwall until 1812, when York (Toronto) be coming vacant, he reluctantly accepted the position, at the solicitation of all the leading men of the Western Capital. Amongst the most urgent of these was the ever-to-be-honoured Major-General Sir Isaac Brock.
During that year, and before Dr. Strachan's removal from Cornwall, the American Government, contrary to the universal expectation of thoughtful men, declared war against England.
The journey from Cornwall to Toronto, a distance of 300 miles, was naturally very difficult and tedious, but now it became dangerous as well. The Americans soon gained the ascendancy on Lake Ontario, and as the schooner which carried the future Bishop and his family to Toronto was crossing the lake, a sail was seen one morning bearing down upon her. All on board were quite sure that she was an armed American cruiser. The captain became very terrified, and went to consult Dr. Strachan about surrendering the ship at once. The doctor asked if he had any weapons or means of defence. He said, "Yes; we have a four-pounder, and several muskets and swords; but we will be overpowered at once, we must surrender." The Bishop said, "No, we must fight; give me a sword." The captain said he could not fight. "Then," the Bishop said, "you go down below and take care of the ladies, and I will command the ship." The timid captain gladly acceded to the proposal, and Dr. Strachan set to work to get all the men he could collect, armed and ready for the fight, when lo! it was discovered that she was not an American cruiser, but a British schooner that was bearing down upon them.
[121] "And well it was for us," the Bishop adds in detailing the story, "for the four-pounder was fastened to the deck, and it pointed to the starboard, whereas the schooner came to us on the larboard bow."
York (Toronto) was at this time a little town of only a few hundred inhabitants. The houses were all of wood, and of very unpretending dimensions. Seven years later the population did not exceed 1000, and there were only three small brick houses in the place then.
The land was shaken and dismayed by the actual outbreak of war; everybody was downcast, until General Brock arrived on the scene. His presence acted like magic. His collected courage in the presence of the overwhelming forces that the enemy were gathering on the frontier for the conquest of the country, his alertness, his energy, his promptly formed and definite plans of defence, inspired the land with a new hope and a determined courage. He evidently believed "that the best defence was offence," and in less than three weeks he had carried his little army 300 miles through the woods, surprised and captured Fort Detroit, scattered the American army gathering there, and was back again to face the foe gathering on the Niagara River for the conquest of Central Canada. At the battle of Queenstown Heights he fell mortally wounded early in the day, but he had inspired the troops with such fearless courage and energy that nothing could withstand them. They swept the greatly superior forces of the Americans like chaff before the wind over the Queenstown Heights, and what was left of them out of the country. Dr. Strachan was not idle. Burning with love of his country, and full of indignation at the unrighteous aggression on the part of the Americans, he was active and judicious in his counsels. He was also [121/122] the chief agent in starting and conducting what was called "The Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada," which had branches all through the Province, and was most generously supported. Its object was to afford relief to the wounded of the militia and volunteers, to aid in the support of the widows and orphans of the slain, and to assist the families of those who were called out on military duty. In the winter of 1814 the funds of the Society exceeded 10,000, and an appeal to the British nation was warmly and liberally met. This Society is said to have contributed more towards the defence of the country than many regiments, by the confidence and good-will it inspired amongst the population at large.
Early the next spring the Americans attacked the town of York with a flotilla of fourteen vessels, and a force which was quite overwhelming in numbers. After a brief and badly conducted defence, the small regular army retreated towards Kingston, and left the town and the militia to their fate. Further resistance was useless, and Dr. Strachan was sent as chief of a deputation of citizens to arrange with the American officers the terms of capitulation. These articles were accepted, but were disregarded by many officers of the conquering army. Dr. Strachan therefore demanded to be taken on board the ship where General Dearborn was. The Doctor says--"I met him coming on shore, and presented him with the articles of capitulation. He read them without deigning an answer. I requested him to let me know whether he would parole the officers and men, and demanded leave to take away our sick and wounded. He treated me with great harshness, and told me we had given a false estimate of officers. He told me to keep off, and not to follow him, as he had business of much greater importance to attend to. I complained of this treatment to Commodore Chauncey, who had [122/123] command of the flotilla, and declared that if the capitulation were not immediately signed, we would not receive it, and affirmed that the delay was a deception, calculated to give the riflemen time to plunder, and that after the town had been robbed they would then perhaps sign the capitulation, and tell us that they respected private property; but that we were determined that they should not have it in their power to say they respected private property after it had been stolen. Upon saying this I broke away." Those who knew the Bishop can picture the commanding and righteous indignation with which it was done.
"Soon after this," he says, "General Dearborn came into the room, and being told what I had said, settled the matter amicably." He continues, "We spent the whole of Thursday the 29th in removing the sick and wounded, and getting comforts for them."
On the following day the Government buildings were set on fire, contrary to the articles of capitulation, and the church was robbed. "I called a meeting of the judges and magistrates, drew up a short note seating our grievances, and waited upon General Dearborn with it. He was greatly embarrassed, and promised everything."
This extract sufficiently exhibits Dr. Strachan's activity and fearless courage, and explains the chivalrous regard in which he was ever afterwards held.
The next year the war closed, and other scenes opened.
MCGILL COLLEGE. The Hon. James McGill of Montreal, a kinsman of Dr. Strachan, bequeathed £10,000, together with several acres of land and a spacious and substantial [123/124] dwelling-house, for the purpose of establishing a University for the education of the English-speaking youth of that city and province. It was at first a Church of England Institution, and so Dr. Strachan was named a trustee of this munificent bequest, with an intimation of Mr. McGill's desire that he should be the first Principal of the College when established.
Owing to family litigation it was so long before the College could be started, that Dr. Strachan was in such a position that he could not entertain the dying request of his friend.
In 1820, Sir Peregrine Maitland appointed Dr. Strachan, without previous consultation, he says, to a seat in the Legislative Council, assigning as a reason that it was necessary for him to have some confidential person through whom to make communications. This appointment involved some pecuniary loss, as Dr. Strachan had to resign the chaplaincy of the Council. It no doubt increased his influence in all secular matters, but it also brought with it many of the worst troubles and fiercest assaults which harassed him in the coming years.
There was at that time only one square wooden church, 66 x 60 feet, in Toronto. The communicants numbered only sixty, the Sunday-school eighty; the whole population, however, only numbered about 1200. The vicious system of raising money for the building or enlargement of churches by selling the fee-simple of pews was then in vogue, and the church of St. James had lately been enlarged at the cost of £2700 on this principle. The deadening effects of this evil heritage are felt to this day in that congregation; the proprietary rights then created are still maintained. There was at this time but a mere sprinkling of clergymen throughout Upper Canada, though the members of the Church bore a large [124/125] proportion to the general population, and everywhere its ministrations were very cordially accepted. Neither the Presbyterians nor the Roman Catholics had any place of worship in the town. The Methodists, however, had a large chapel and were very active.
On going west from Toronto, the first clergyman you came to was the Rev. Mr. Miller at Ancaster, forty miles away. In the Niagara Peninsula there were three, viz. at Niagara, Chippewa, and Grimsby; then going westward you found none until you reached Amherstburg and Sandwich, a distance of over 200 miles. All the rest of that vast district, now composing the Dioceses of Huron, Niagara, and Algoma, was utterly without the ministration of the Church.
Then going eastward from Toronto there was no clergyman till you reached Cobourg. To the north of this, another was settled at Cavan, then a blank until Bellville was reached. Then Bath and Kingston, then a blank to Brockville on one side and Perth on the other. The next was at Williamsburg, and the last at Cornwall. There were besides, a chaplain to the forces stationed at Niagara, a chaplain to the navy at Kingston, and a clergyman in charge of the Grammar School there; sixteen in all to supply the needs of a population scattered over a territory larger than England, Wales, and Scotland.
THE CLERGY RESERVE. The origin and object of the Clergy Reserve lands have been described in the history of the Diocese of Quebec. In the Act constituting the Province of Upper Canada, it was expressly provided that one-seventh of all the land of the Province should be reserved for the support and maintenance of a Protestant clergy.
Fierce disputes before long arose about the meaning [125/126] of the term "Protestant clergy," and then about the legality of the title, or the right of the Crown to make such grants. Twice Dr. Strachan was sent to England to defend the rights of the Church. That defence called forth the most furious attacks upon him in the newspapers of the day, at the hustings, and in the legislative halls of the country. The most slanderous accusations with regard both to his public and private life were whispered in secret, and proclaimed upon the housetops. He made no reply, and in answer to his friends, who called upon him to vindicate his character and show the falsity of the accusations, which he could easily have done, he still replied, "If my life, lived so many years before the public, is not enough to silence such slanders, then words will only be wasted. Besides," he used to say, "such unrestrained abuse is sure to create sympathy and a reaction of feeling in favour of one so unjustly assailed. In all my affairs I have one simple principle to guide me, which is an honest desire to do as well as I can, and leave the result to God. These calumnies, therefore, pass me like the idle wind, and I turn for them neither to the right nor to the left." The battle raged about this question with increasing fury, till it was finally settled as already described in 1854.
THE UNIVERSITY. Scarcely less fierce was the conflict over the University. Dr. Strachan had come, as we have seen, to this country with the prospect and promise of the establishment of a University. His first disappointment has already been detailed. It was followed by long years of hope deferred. In 1826, he was sent as a special envoy to England to urge the immediate establishment of a Canadian University. [126/127] He came back with a royal charter and certain grants in money. It was said to be the most liberal charter that had ever been granted, as no religious tests were required for matriculation or graduation except in divinity, in which department the rule of Oxford was observed; a religious basis of education was retained, and the control of the institution was entrusted to the Established Church of the Empire. It was there fore enacted that the seven Professors should be members of the Church of England, and the President a clergyman of that Church. Dr. Strachan had in the meantime been made Archdeacon of York, and the charter constituted him permanent President of the projected College. This naturally awakened the determined opposition of all who were not members of the Church of England. The strife daily grew hotter, and resulted in no action being taken for a long time to carry out the provisions of the charter. Then Sir John Colborne, on his arrival as Governor, questioned the advisability of establishing this highest seat of learning while the preliminary education of the country was so defective. He urged that qualified pupils for the curriculum of a University would not be obtained. This led to the establishment of Upper Canada College, which in one year after Sir John's arrival in the country, was in actual operation with an efficient staff of masters. It became an immediate success, and has retained the foremost place amongst Canadian institutions of the Grammar School type ever since. Like the projected University, it was practically a Church of England institution/ Its earlier masters were, for the most part, members of the Church of England, and though it has long since been wholly secularized, it has retained up to the present time some shadow of the Church's tradition in its daily worship.
[128] THE PLAGUE OF 1832. The Asiatic cholera, of whose terrors in Quebec and Montreal an account has been given, reached Toronto early in the same summer, 1832. The large emigration of that year, amounting to over 50,000 people, passed for the most part into Western Canada. The distance from Quebec to Toronto was so great (600 miles), that the pittance with which some of the emigrants came was soon exhausted, and they reached Toronto, for the most part, in a penniless condition. "The terrible disease," the Bishop writes, "attacked them as they journeyed thither; many died on the way, others were landed in various stages of the disease, and many were seized after they came amongst us. In short, York became one general hospital. We had a large building fitted up for the reception of patients, but the cases were so numerous that many could not be conveyed to it, and remained at their own homes or lodgings. It is computed that one-fourth of the adults of this town were attacked, and that one-twelfth of the whole population died. Our duty brought us into the midst of this calamity. Unfortunately my assistant was attacked a day or two after the disease appeared among us, and became so nervous that I could not send him to the cholera hospital. The whole therefore fell upon me, and often have I been in the malignant ward with six or eight expiring around me. The foulness of the air too was overpowering at times, but I have always, by the blessing of God, found my nerves equal to the occasion, and it seemed as if this summer I was stronger than usual, and fully equal to the increase of labour thrown upon me. The disease has now almost entirely ceased, but it has left many blanks in our society, and, what is still more painful, [128/129] about 100 widows and 400 children, all strangers in a strange land, and dependent upon the charity of those amongst whom the Providence of God has thrown them."
The land was full of the praises of Archdeacon Strachan for his wonderful courage, energy, and kindness during the continuance of this terrible scourge. The inhabitants presented him with a grateful address, and a piece of plate costing 100, "as a memorial of their respect and gratitude for his fearless and humane devotion to his pastoral duties, during seasons of great danger and distress from the visitation of an appalling pestilence."
THE RECTORIES. The strife about the Rectories occupies almost as prominent a place in the annals of the country and of the Church as the dispute about the Clergy Reserves. It was, in fact, a part of the same discussion. What were called the Clergy Reserves were created, as we have seen, by the reservation of one-seventh of the unappropriated land of Upper and Lower Canada, for the support of a "Protestant Clergy." But as these lands, which were managed by the Government, were yielding but very little revenue to the Church, it was therefore suggested by Sir John Colborne, the Governor of Upper Canada, and concurred in by the Imperial Government, that two Rectories should be established in each township (the townships averaged about twelve miles square), and that 400 acres out of the Clergy Reserves should be conveyed to the incumbents of these Rectories, to hold in trust for the purpose of ensuring the future comfort if not the complete maintenance of the Rectors. It was determined to establish in the settled townships at once [129/130] fifty-seven such Rectories. The actual endowment however of forty-four only was completed.
This appropriation became another grievance, and was made an election cry. Fierce and long was the fight about the validity of these titles. This was finally set at rest by an appeal to the Courts, which pronounced in favour of the validity, and secured thus much of the Reserves to the Church of England. These lands are now administered by the Synods, and the incomes derived from them are distributed on a fixed scale among the Incumbents of the several parishes now existing, or that may hereafter be established, in the municipalities thus endowed.
Both the reservation of land and the endowment of Rectories was stopped at the withdrawal of Sir John Colborne from the Government of the Province.
FOUNDATION OF THE SEE OF TORONTO. Dr. Stewart, Bishop of Quebec, it will be remembered, died in 1837, and Dr. Mountain, who had been consecrated as his coadjutor under the title of Bishop of Montreal, succeeded to the charge of the whole Diocese, including Upper and Lower Canada, This revived the project, long before entertained, of dividing that vast jurisdiction, and constituting each Province into a separate Diocese. Sir Francis Head, the Governor, warmly seconded the proposal; the Archbishop of Canterbury willingly gave his consent. It was distinctly announced, however, that the Home Government would not, as had been the custom up to this time, provide any endowment or give any pecuniary assistance whatever. Archdeacon Strachan, however, who, it was well known among those who controlled such appointments at that time, would be selected for the new See, informed the Colonial Secretary that the matter of salary need form no [130/131] impediment to an immediate appointment of a Bishop for Upper Canada, as he would be content to remain in that respect exactly as he now was, till the perplexing question of the Clergy Reserves should be settled, when it would be in the power of Her Majesty's Government to make another and more satisfactory arrangement.
In addressing the Governor, Sir George Arthur, Feb. 20th, 1839, the Archdeacon says--
"In making this proposal I can with truth assure you that I am by no means insensible to the propriety as well as the necessity of granting adequate provision for the decent support of the Episcopal office in this rising colony, but persuaded that the interests of the Church are suffering from the want of this Episcopal superintendence, which has for some time been earnestly desired by many of her members, and unanimously by the clergy, I thought my proposition might accelerate the removal of that want by a few years, and thus promote in no small degree the salutary influence of Christian doctrine throughout the Province."
This proposal opened the way for an immediate appointment, and accordingly, in the summer of 1839, Archdeacon Strachan was appointed by the Crown, and in August of that year was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury as first Bishop of Toronto. At the same time the Hon. and Reverend Dr. Spencer was consecrated the first Bishop of the Diocese of Newfoundland. The Bishop of Toronto reached his home on the 9th of Sept., 1839, and was welcomed with great joy and affection.
Early the next spring, 1840, the Bishop began his first visitation of his Diocese, which stretched for more than 400 miles along the lake and river frontage, and ran back for about the same distance into the as yet unexplored forest. The most remote mission [131/132] was distant about 300 miles from Toronto; but from the necessity of diverging in many cases from the main road to reach the several congregations, the amount of travelling was very much increased. From the 24th of May till the end of Oct. the Bishop was engaged, with three intermissions not exceeding ten days in all, in constant travel. Before he ceased he had visited almost every parish and mission in his Diocese. Dr. Strachan was sixty-one years of age when he was consecrated, and yet but very few men in the vigour of youth could have endured the toils and the mental strain of that five months of continuous labour, with health unimpaired and spirits unbroken. The amount of travelling was enormous, not less than 10,000 miles. It was all performed in an open vehicle. The roads in many cases were extremely rough, stony or swampy, with miles of "corduroy," or log bridges over swamps, without any covering of earth. Over these the carriages jolted violently and moved at a snail's pace, while the fare every day and the accommodation every night were of the coarsest and rudest character. These trials were of a bodily nature, but the mental strain must have been very great. The Bishop held one, and generally two, confirmations every day. On these occasions he always preached, and then after the confirmation addressed the confirmees at great length, giving doctrinal instruction and practical direction of a very detailed character both to parents and to children.
The Bishop held his primary visitation in Toronto, Sept. 1841; there were then eighty-six clergymen in the Diocese, nine of whom had been ordained by himself. Among other topics discussed in his charge, he gave a brief sketch of the history of the Church in the Diocese. He said--
"For many years after its first settlement as the [132/133] favourite asylum of suffering loyalty, there was but one clergyman of the Church of England, the Rev. Dr. Stuart, within its extensive limits. Even at the commencement of 1803, the Diocese contained only four clergymen, for it was in the spring of that year that I made the fifth. In 1819, the clergy of this Province had increased to ten; in 1825, they had risen to twenty-two; in 1827, to thirty; in 1833, to forty-six; and now our number is about ninety. Still our spiritual wants are many. More than forty missionaries could at this moment be most usefully employed, and earnest applications are daily being made to me from various villages and townships for resident clergymen. In passing through the Diocese I beheld the clergy everywhere active and laborious, living in good feeling and harmony among themselves and with their flocks, seeking out our people in the wilderness, forming them into congregations and parishes, and extending on every side the foundations of the Church."
THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE, COBOURG. There was such persistent opposition and consequent delay in carrying out the life-long aim of Bishop Strachan for the establishment of a University for the higher education of the clergy and people, that it was determined to found the Theological College at Cobourg, under Dr. A. N. Bethune. At this institution about fifty of the clergy of that period were educated.
KING'S COLLEGE UNIVERSITY. The long-deferred hopes were, however, realized at last, and Sir Charles Bagot, the newly-appointed Governor, laid the corner-stone of King's College on [133/134] the 3rd April, 1842. This was a great joy to the Bishop. The University for which he had toiled so long and endured so much was at last begun. The joy, however, was short-lived. The past mutterings of discontent revived at once. There was undisguised jealousy of the Church of England, and this feeling never slumbered till it affected the complete secularization of the University in 1848, only six years after its foundation.
THE CHURCH SOCIETY. In less than a week after the foundation of the University was laid, another important step was taken in the organization of the Church Society, which occupied such a prominent place in the ex tension of the Church throughout Ontario. For many years previous to this there were district branches of the S. P. C. K., and as far back as 1829 there was a Society established at Toronto, "for the civilization and conversion of the Indians, and for extending the ministrations of the Church among the destitute settlers of the Province." A good work was being accomplished by both these Societies, but it was thought best to concentrate all our Church work of this character in one organization. At the summons of the Bishop, a large number of the clergy and many of the most influential laymen of the Province assembled on the 28th April, 1842, and formally organized the Church Society. Similar organizations either had been or were soon formed in all the Canadian Dioceses, until Ontario led the way in making the Synod the central missionary organization of the Diocese. In this way the Church really became the great missionary organization which is surely the true view of her character.
[135] THE BISHOP'S JOURNEY. The Bishop continued his yearly confirmation tours through a considerable part of his Diocese till relieved of these onerous duties by the appointment of a coadjutor. These tours were so arranged that every parish and mission was visited at least once in three years.
In 1842, the Bishop set out to visit the most northernly part of his Diocese. After a journey of 120 miles, largely through the woods, the party reached Penetaoguishene. After consecrating the church that had been erected here, they set out in canoes for Manitoulin Island, distant about 200 miles by the course they took. On the 29th July, they encamped on Fox Island amid pouring rain. They had great difficulty in pitching their tents. The wind and rain increased during the night. Three of the tents were blown down, and the inmates had to make the best of their way, in their night clothes, through the darkness to some of the other tents which withstood the storm.
"The encampment on the following evening," writes the Bishop, "was not a little picturesque. Nine tents were pitched, and as many fires lighted; groups gathered around each fire, and as the darkness increased shadows went flitting from place to place; while some of the men were seen rolled up in their blankets and sleeping on the bare rock. The party never dined until they stopped for the night. Some times as late as nine o'clock, table-cloths were spread on the smoothest part of the rock, and the guests squatted around in Eastern fashion, with candles or lanterns to illuminate the feast. On the first night of the encampment it was found that one of the canoes was manned by converted Indians. Before [135/136] going to rest they assembled and sang a hymn in their own language, and recited prayers which they had been taught. There was something indescribably touching in this service of praise to God upon these lonely rocks. The stillness, wildness, and darkness, combined with the sweet and plaintive voices, all contributed to the beauty and solemnity of the scene."
After holding confirmation at Manitowaning, the Bishop and his party left for the Sault Ste. Marie, distant about 150 miles. They did not reach their destination till the 14th August. Mr. McMurray, now Archdeacon of Niagara, was at the time in charge of this remote mission. Fifty candidates were confirmed, and then the party started for Makinac in the United States. Here they took steamer for the village of Sutherland, more than 300 miles away on the St. Clair River. The Bishop held confirmation at Sandwich, Amherstburg, Colchester, and other places on the western frontier, and then visited the Indian mission of Muncy Town, under the charge of the Rev. J. Flood.
"The Indians," said the Bishop, "assembled in great numbers; it was to be a great day, as the great Chippewa Chief was to be baptized and confirmed. There were still many pagan Indians in this settlement; these, however, were all in the habit of attending the services of the Church. The conversion of the great Chief was expected to have a favourable effect upon those who were still pagans. The school-house, though large, could scarcely contain half the number assembled, and they stood in groups around the doors and windows. After his baptism the Chief and four others were confirmed."
The Bishop proceeded from thence to Goderich, and thence through the northern part of his Diocese back to Toronto, on the 3rd October, after a continued absence of nearly five months.
[137] Year after year, with unflagging energy, these confirmation tours were continued. The Bishop's journal, which is very full, is crowded with thrilling incidents; but it is not possible within our limited space to give even an outline of these. A few illustrations taken from that journal will be sufficient to give a fair idea of what these long journeys in many cases implied.
In speaking of a journey from Chatham through the Talbot district, he says--"We had not proceeded far before we found the sloughs frightful. Every moment we expected to stick fast or break down. A thunderstorm came on, and the rain fell in such torrents as greatly to increase the difficulty. After labouring nine hours we stuck fast, about five o'clock, when within half a mile of Talbot Road. At length, taking out the horses, we left the wagon, with the baggage, in order to go to the nearest house for the night, distant nine miles. By this time it was six o'clock. The horses, almost killed with straining and pulling, could hardly walk. Another storm of thunder and lightning came on, and the narrow path overhung with branches became suddenly dark, and we could see no path, but were striking against the trees and one another. We continued to wander till nine o'clock, when we were forced to halt. Unfortunately we had no means of lighting a fire, notwithstanding the cold and wet; and expecting to get to a house, we had nothing to eat or drink. There was no remedy but to sit quietly under the trees till morning. Till I fell into a serious train of thought the time seemed very long; but after I became absorbed in meditation, time flew rapidly and the cold was forgotten."
Walpole Island, one of the most important Indian stations, seems to be a continuation of the shallows or flats of Lake St. Clair, and to have been formed [137/138] from deposits from the upper lakes; the soil is altogether alluvial, and the surface is so little raised above the river that the greater portion is covered with water when the lakes and rivers rise. This rising seems to take place periodically, although the exact cycle has not yet been ascertained. Speaking of his visit to this island in 1845, the Bishop says--
"We made, after service, a hasty dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Keating, and as it was by this time getting dark and threatening rain, we hurried to get across to the main shore. In our haste we did not perceive, till we had cast off from the main land and were in the stream, that our canoe was too small for our number, and the water within an inch of the edge. Had there been any wind we should have been in the greatest danger; but blessed be God, by using every precaution, and maintaining a careful balance, we got over safely. As there was no sort of accommodation whatever where we had left our horses, we were obliged to push on, in the hope of reaching an inn a few miles further up the river St. Glair. By this time it was growing dark, and before we had proceeded half a mile the rain came on in torrents, and the thunder and lightning were so terrific that the horses trembled and could scarcely keep their legs. The darkness also became so great that except from the flashes of lightning we were unable to see the road. Having crept forward about a mile and a half, the storm continuing without intermission, we descried, from a friendly flash of lightning, a farm house, and happy were the party when I consented to stay there for the night. It was now late, for we had consumed much time in making this short journey, and the inmates of the house were all sound asleep. After knocking for some time they at length opened the door and let us in. We stated our distress, and the causes which had led to our [138/139] disturbing them, which indeed were sufficiently visible from our miserable and drowned appearance, and on hearing our story they received us kindly, and did all in their power to make us comfortable."
This, however, was nothing compared with the difficulties encountered on another occasion in a journey from Owen Sound to Guelph. The Bishop had reached the Sound by steamer from Manitoulin Island. He says--"We found the road very rough, and getting worse as we proceeded. It ran along a stony ridge to avoid the low and marshy places on either side, and what with large stones, deep crevices between them, roots of trees, and deep holes, the shaking of the wagon became intolerable. After confirming at two places, the latter thirteen miles from Owen Sound, we left for Edge's at half-past four, and though scarcely nine miles off, with little hope of getting there, as the road was becoming more and more impracticable. After bounding from stone to stone, the rain meanwhile falling in torrents, and occasionally getting into a deep hole by way of variety, we found darkness rapidly approaching, and were glad to crave shelter for the night from Mr. Smith, who with his wife, ten sons, and one daughter, had taken up Government land, and was gradually clearing a good farm. We no doubt put the family to much inconvenience; yet they made us heartily welcome, and insisted that we should occupy their beds, such as they were, doing all in their power to make us comfortable.
"We rose next morning as soon as we could see, and got ready for our journey. A mile onwards there was a very heavy, deep slough, full of roots and loose stones, through which the Smiths told us it would be impossible for the horses to drag the wagon, and they very kindly offered to accompany us, and assist us in getting over it. We found their [139/140] account of it by no means exaggerated, for we were obliged to take the horses from the wagon, and even then they plunged so much that they were in the greatest danger of sinking over their heads. The poor animals, when they at length reached the firm soil, trembled and looked much frightened. The wagon was dragged through by the three Smiths, the driver, and two men whom 1 had hired to attend us on this perilous journey. The Smiths returned home, and we sent forward to Edge's to request that they would meet us with a yoke of oxen at a bridge over the river Saugeen, which was said to be very insecure, and at the further end of which was a slough much worse than the one we had just passed. We soon came to the bridge, where we alighted, and after examining it, and carefully mending some of the holes, and then using great caution, we got the wagon and horses safely across; but they no sooner left it than they sank so deeply into the mire that we thought they would be lost. After some labour we got their harness off, and separated them from the wagon; and then on our cheering them, they were roused to fresh exertion, and at length we got them upon hard ground. Had it not been for the two men who attended us, and the driver, the poor animals would certainly have been smothered. The oxen at last came, under the charge of an inexperienced Irishman. They succeeded in dragging the wagon out, but almost immediately the Irishman drove the oxen between two trees standing near together, and jammed the wagon in so tightly that one of the trees had to be cut down. This was a work of time, as they had no axe, only a hatchet. At last the oxen dragged the wagon out of the swamp to the foot of a high hill, which was so slippery and steep and wet that the poor oxen were put to their utmost exertion to reach the top. [140/141 This," the Bishop says, "was a severe trial to us all, but it was useless to murmur; we had been seven hours getting over nine miles, and it was past ten when we reached Edge's house. At eleven we had service, the congregation numbering seventeen, but only one person was presented for confirmation.
"We proceeded on our journey at half-past one, and had not proceeded far when we found the road or path obstructed by a large tree, which a settler had just cut down, and was cutting into lengths. We had much difficulty in getting around this, and were vexed at the woodman's evident enjoyment of our perplexity. We thought him rude and insolent, but he had no such meaning, for going a little farther we stuck fast in a mud-hole, and in a moment we saw the chopper running to our assistance. Luckily we met two other men going to fish in the river Saugeen, who, seeing our distress, very willingly offered to help us. With these additional hands we managed to relieve the horses and to drag the wagon on to hard ground. The two fishermen offered to accompany us two miles further, where there was the worst slough, they said, upon the whole road between Owen Sound and Fergus. There were several bad spots before we reached this, the king of mud-holes, which it cost us no little trouble to get over. We now began to dread these sloughs, and the poor horses trembled when they saw one. At length we reached the famous mud-hole, pronounced by the settlers so formidable. We made a halt to beat up additional recruits; oxen were not to be had, nor was it quite clear that they could have got through with the wagon, the swamp was so long, so deep, so intersected with fallen trees, roots, and stones. I held the horses, and all the party, including the Rev. Mr. Mockridge, the verger, four settlers whom we had collected, besides those who had come [141/142] with us, went to work, and with strong arms pulled the wagon through. We had taken fourteen hours, including the service, to travel seventeen miles. We did not reach Mr. Beatty's, our next appointment, till seven o'clock; although, in ignorance of the road, I had appointed three o'clock for service. The people, however, judging more wisely of the obstructions, did not begin to assemble till after six o'clock, and we overtook many of them as we passed along. The service commenced immediately on our arrival. There was a large congregation; and I felt myself more than rewarded for all the difficulties and toil we had endured, by their earnest attention and evident emotion."
This is of course a description of one of the worst of the Bishop's unceasing journeyings; but it gives a fair idea of the not unfrequent toils of the early heralds of the Gospel in the backwoods of Canada.
Bishop Strachan, as may be easily inferred from what has been said, was an eminently practical man. It was his custom after every ordination to gather the newly-ordained deacons and priests into his study, and to give them a long lecture on the practical duties of their office. The writer has a vivid recollection of that lecture. Two practical suggestions specially impressed him. The Bishop said, speaking in broad Scotch, "Always shave yourself before you come down in the morning; a clergyman ought always to look like a gentleman." I think most of us have rigidly adhered to that direction all our lives. Then again he said, "When you go into a house, call up the children, pat them on the head, and ask them what they are going to make of this one, and what of that; the mothers like it." And the Bishop knew how to act on his own advice, as the following anecdote will show.
One day, late in the fall, he was making his way [142/143] through the woods between Newmarket and Barrie. It was raining, night was coming on, no settler's habitation was in sight, when, to add to their misery, the wagon broke down, and could not be got on any further. Dr. Bethune, who was acting as Bishop's chaplain, was not a little alarmed at their situation. The Bishop said nothing, but walked on along the bush-road whistling. Before long he descried a^ light through the woods and made for it, Dr. Bethune following. It was a settler's log-house. They rapped and went in; the woman was ironing near the door. They said good-evening, but she did not speak, and continued to work away without noticing them. The Bishop told her of their calamity and distress, but she was unmoved and said nothing. Dr. Bethune whispered, "It is impossible for us to stay here, we must push on." The Bishop said nothing, began to whistle, as was his wont, went over to the open fire, and began to dry his cap and clothes, taking no more notice of the woman, who went on with her work. After a little while a little child came in, with a dirty face and dirty clothes. The Bishop sat down and called the little one over to him, took it on his knee, wiped its face, and began to play with it with unaffected interest, for he was very fond of children. The mother turned round and said, "Gentlemen, I suppose you have not had your tea," and they said "No," and then proceeded to enlarge upon their perplexity. She said, "Well, we have very poor accommodation, and I did not want you to stay here, but we will do the best we can for you," and so the horses were brought and fed, and they turned in for the night.
[144] THE FOUNDING OF TRINITY COLLEGE. The blow long apprehended fell at last. An Act was passed in 1848, changing the name of King's College into that of the University of Toronto, and so altering the features of the original charter that they could no longer be recognized. The institution was wholly secularized. It was enacted that there should henceforth be no professorship, lectureship, or teachership of divinity in this University; that no person should be qualified to be appointed by the Crown to any seat in the Senate, who shall be a minister, ecclesiastic, or teacher, under or according to any form or profession of religious faith or worship whatsoever. It was further enacted that no religious observance, according to the forms of any religious denomination, should be imposed upon the members or officers of the said University or any of them; and finally, that no religious test or qualification whatsoever should be required from student, professor, or fellow."
Churchmen generally regarded the Act as an insult to the Christian religion, and a trampling upon those principles which it had been their desire and endeavour to have engrained into the educational institutions of the land. And so, under the leadership of the Bishop, they resolved to found a University of their own, in which the sanctifying, moulding doctrines of the Christian Faith should be interwoven with all secular learning.
The proposal made by the Government that colleges established by the different religious bodies of the land should affiliate with the Toronto University, leaving all teaching except theology to this central body, was altogether scouted by the Bishop and his associates. He regarded this as a thrusting forth [144/145] of Christianity. She might take up her abode in porches and corners and alleys, where she would be shrouded from view and buried from sight as some thing to be ashamed of, and he would give no countenance to this insult and indignity to the Faith by which he lived.
Accordingly, in the month of January 1850, the Bishop addressed a strong appeal to the clergy and laity of his Diocese, calling upon them to aid by their contributions the establishment of what had now become a necessity--a Church University--and heading the subscription list with a gift of £1000. "Let not then," he writes in this address, "the friends and members of the Church look for rest till the proper means are found for the religious education of her children. We have fallen indeed on evil times, and the storm has overtaken us, aggravated by the painful reflection that we have contributed largely, by our want of unity and consistency, to bring it on ourselves. Yet we must not be discouraged, for though the waters threaten to overwhelm us, we are still the children of hope."
The Bishop pointed out ways in which the necessary endowment could be obtained, by small grants of land and money on the part of the 200,000 Church members then residing in his Diocese. In less than nine months £25,000 were subscribed within the Diocese of Toronto. The Bishop then resolved to appeal to the Churchmen of England to help him.
Accordingly, on the 10th April, 1850, at the age of seventy-two, he left for England, followed to the steamer by a large body of the inhabitants of all classes and conditions, from the Chief Justice of the Province to the bronzed labourer, and he set sail amidst the cheers and plaudits of all.
In a short time he succeeded in adding £15,000 to the funds of the intended University, and he came [145/146] back to Canada early in November, determined to start it, and satisfied that he would, on its inception, receive a royal charter. In this he was not disappointed, for on Thursday, January 15th, 1852, half the original design of Trinity College was completed, the royal charter obtained, and the institution opened with a large number of students and a staff of very able Professors.
The endowment of Trinity College is now (1891), including the land on which the College is built and the buildings, worth not less than 800,000 dollars. The building has been enlarged so that it will now accommodate seventy-five students. It has twelve Professors in the Arts and Divinity departments. It has also the most successful medical school in the Dominion, conducted by twenty-two Professors. The establishment and success of this department is due very largely to the ceaseless energy and ability of Dr. Walter Gekie, the Dean of the Faculty.
FOUNDATION OF THE SYNOD. The year 1851 was remarkable in the annals of the Canadian Church. In that year the first actual step in the establishment of Diocesan Synods was taken. It was, however, no sudden or new conception. Early in 1832, Dr. Strachan, then Archdeacon of York, drafted a constitution for the consideration of the Bishop of Quebec, his Diocesan.
In his letter enclosing this draft, he says--"I am quite convinced we shall never gain much ground in the Province, or obtain that influence on public opinion, or with the Government, or with the Bishop himself, that we ought to possess, till we have frequent Convocations, to consist of the laity as well as the clergy."
The scheme was frequently discussed in meetings [146/147] of the clergy, and the feeling was decidedly in favour of Synodal action. Nothing, however, was done till 1851, when the Bishop summoned the clergy to a meeting, and requested them to invite their people to select one or two members from each parish to accompany them.
In response to this summons, 124 clergymen and 127 laymen assembled at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Toronto, on Thursday, May 1st, 1851. The Bishop delivered a charge of considerable length. On that and the following days, several grave questions were discussed, and resolutions were passed, expressing a strong protest against the secularization of the Clergy Reserves, then pending. Another resolution was adopted in favour of applying to the Crown for the establishment of Diocesan Synods, to consist of laity as well as clergy. It was also resolved to petition the Colonial Legislature in favour of separ ate Church schools. Such was the practical commencement of the Synod of the Diocese of Toronto. "This," as the Bishop states in his original draft, "was suggested by, and in the main copied from, the constitutions of the Diocesan Conventions in the United States. It was the first Diocesan Synod regularly constituted in the Colonial Church. It has been imitated and reproduced in-every Diocese of that Church not strictly a missionary Diocese. They all, or nearly all, have the same equality of the clerical and lay votes. And whatever theoretical or traditional objections may be urged against this equality, it has worked at least fairly well. The laity have, from their very lack of knowledge of the questions that have been agitated in this age, proved the conservative element, opposing whatever was called innovations, even though they may be manifest improvements, and thus holding the onward movement, to which the clergy with their fuller knowledge are [147/148] more inclined to give themselves, in restraint, until by the general diffusion of information the whole body is prepared to move forward together. This is often very trying to the patience of the clergy, but it probably prevents many a defection."
We have our Synods everywhere in the Canadian Church, and we should not know how to get on without them. And yet Synods have not accomplished for the Church what Bishop Strachan and many another, contemplating them from a theoretical standpoint, had expected from them. They are very apt to degenerate into mere technical legislation, or to become mere talking institutions, resulting in endless resolutions which become a dead letter unless some one individual consecrates his time and talents to impart to them living form and reality. The fact comes out, more and more clearly, that the wisest plans and the most elaborate legislation will do but little to strengthen or extend the Church apart from individual influence and energy. It is only the individual influence and direction of the Bishop, of the priest, of the lay-helper, of the Sunday-school worker and district visitor that will ever accomplish much for God and his Church.
SUBDIVISION OF THE DIOCESE. The Bishop of Toronto had long sought the subdivision of his Diocese. He had planned its present subdivision into five sees. He desired and expected that the Eastern part, with Kingston as its See city, would be first established. The Western part, how ever, outstripped their brethren in the East in securing an endowment, and consequently the Diocese of Huron, which has now outgrown the capabilities of one Bishop, was set apart, and the Rev. Dr. Cronyn, [148/149] then Rector of London, was elected as its first Bishop.
In 1861, the Eastern portion of the old Diocese of Toronto completed the required endowment, and was set off as a separate Diocese under the designation of the Bishopric of Ontario. The Rev. John Travers Lewis, the present Bishop of that Diocese, was elected at the age of thirty-five, and began his Episcopal career backed by the enthusiastic loyalty and high expectations of his Diocese. This Diocese too is now ripe for subdivision, with Ottawa as the centre of a new See.
THE ELECTION OF A COADJUTOR FOR TORONTO. Bishop Strachan was sixty-one when consecrated; he had now been twenty-seven years a bishop, and was consequently an old man. His confirmation tours were continued with unremitting punctuality; they began, however, to be greatly dreaded. The Bishop had always expressed his determination to die in harness, and no one had ventured to suggest the appointment of an assistant. When, however, he made the proposal himself, the Synod at once took the necessary action, raised an endowment for the See of Toronto (for Bishop Strachan's stipend being wholly derived from the Clergy Reserves would die with him), and in 1866 proceeded to the election of a coadjutor. The Rev. George Whittaker, Provost of Trinity College, a man of great natural talents and great acquirements, was the choice of a vast majority of the clergy. The Rev. Dr. Fuller, afterwards the first Bishop of Niagara, had a majority of the lay votes, but after a prolonged contest the Venerable Archdeacon Bethune was chosen. He was consecrated under the title of the Bishop of Niagara, with the right of succession to Toronto. The new Bishop [149/150] was sixty-six years old when elected, and he ruled the Diocese for ten years. He went to the first Pan-Anglican Synod, held in September 1867, and during his absence Bishop Strachan died at the age of ninety-four.
The coadjutor became Bishop of Toronto, by right of succession. He had been the pupil, and became the life-long friend and counsellor, of Bishop Strachan, and yet no two men could be more unlike than they. Bishop Strachan was a man of war from his youth, always in battle, sturdy, resolute, ready for the fray. The ideal of his life was that of a Christian soldier, standing up for the truth, and ready to die for it. The ideal of Bishop Bethune's life, whether consciously or not, was that of one who was trying above all things to live peaceably with all men. He was a man of high intellectual gifts, and of extensive reading, of gentle and refined disposition, but of a reserved and unemotional character, unlike his predecessor, who was naturally a man of stormy and masterful temper. Bishop Bethune seldom or never got angry. He was distressed by the waywardness and rough tempers of others; but as the result of it all, he lived an unruffled life. He might have been a great bishop at an earlier time and under other circumstances, but he came to the throne too late. He was not the man for the times in which he lived. Party strife, which had been repressed by the strong hand of Bishop Strachan, but which had been growing in intensity during the latter years of his life, now broke out in its wildest fury. A strong phalanx of able laymen of the extreme Evangelical school set themselves in array against him, and the gentle aged Bishop was no match for their machinations. The result was the establishment, first, of the Church Asso ciation, and then of Wyckliff College, in direct and avowed antagonism to Trinity College, the pride of [150/151] Bishop Strachan's life. This institution is based upon and bound by other doctrinal tests than those of the Thirty-nine Articles and the Prayer-book. It grew out of a bitter party spirit, and is directly interested in keeping up the strife, not only with Trinity College, but in every parish in the land. Its success depends upon the ability of its supporters to persuade Church people that all who differ from its narrow system are conspirators and Romanists, and so they set themselves to exaggerate differences that do exist, and to invent others which are merely imaginary. One of its chief supporters and promotors says--"Wyckliff College is not answerable to the Synod--Diocesan or Provincial--to the House of Bishops, or to the Church in its corporate capacity"--a position this which no institution which claims to be of the Church of England and to train its ministers ought in honesty to attempt to occupy. It has become affiliated with the Toronto University, and is meeting with no little success. If it could only lay aside its bitter partizan spirit, and consent to be subject to the rule of the Church, and to be bound by those wide limits allowed within the Church of England, it might, as the result of its relationship to the Toronto University, become a useful institution of the Church.
Bishop Bethune was punctual and unceasing in his visitations of his Diocese to the very close of his Episcopate. The difficulty and toil had, however, become almost inconceivably lightened since the early days of Bishop Strachan. The forests had long ago been cleared away. The impassable roads had given place, on the principal thoroughfares at least, to well-constructed stone and gravel highways. The settlers shanties had been replaced by stately brick and stone houses, the scanty furniture by luxurious appointments, the spinning-wheel by the piano, and [151/152] everywhere, to the remotest parts of the Diocese, the land was now intersected by railways.
Bishop Bethune, out of the midst of a stormy Episcopate, passed to the peace which he loved on the 3rd February, 1879.
BISHOP SWEATMAN. It is a rule of all the regularly constituted Dioceses of Ontario, that when a bishop dies or resigns, the Synod shall be called together for the election of his successor within twenty-one days, the object evidently being to give as little time as possible for party organization, intrigue, and canvassing. The event had, however, in this case been foreseen and prepared for, on one side at least, by a perfect organization, and so one of the most fiercely contested Episcopal elections of modern times ensued. For nine days the ballots were again and again cast, without the variation of three votes, the vast majority of the clergy voting for the Venerable George Whittaker, Provost of Trinity College, and a small majority of the laity for Dr. Sullivan, the present Bishop of Algoma. The issue of this deadlock was a conference, which resulted in the almost unanimous election of Archdeacon Sweatman, of the Diocese of Huron. Dr. Sweatman was a distinguished graduate of Cambridge, who was chiefly known by being chosen as the first Head-Master of Hellmuth College, Diocese of Huron. He had a difficult rôle to play. Party spirit ran high. The Low Churchmen, who claimed the honour of his election, treated him as altogether their own, and insisted upon his acting as the head and spokesman of their party. This was a very mistaken policy on their part. The Bishop, who was a loyal Churchman, of the moderate Evangelical school, resented such treatment, and in spite [152/153] of ominous words uttered in his first charge, set himself honestly to work impartially. In this respect he has succeeded as well perhaps as any man in his difficult position could succeed. Steady progress is at all events being made under his Episcopate, extending now over a period of ten years. The clergy have increased during this time from 116 to 166. Seventy-five churches have been built and 32 consecrated. A new cathedral of stately dimensions has been undertaken by the Bishop, the choir of which is now nearly completed. A Church school of the collegiate type, for boys, has been established in Toronto, in addition to that previously existing at Port Hope, and promises to become a prosperous institution. Trinity College has nearly doubled its strength. Wyckliffe has built a large and substantial College, and is reported as very prosperous. The Bishop Strachan Memorial School, for girls, was never so successful as at the present time, and is sending forth every year a large company of educated and instructed Church women. A nursing sisterhood has been established under the Bishop's sanction.
There is a vast mission work yet to be accomplished in the Diocese, and as the Bishop is still a young man, his Episcopate may yet be crowned with a glory surpassing that of either of his predecessors, if he sets himself to work to call forth and organize the reserved forces of the Church in such a way as to bring her ministrations within reasonable reach of every inhabitant of his still very extensive Diocese.
THE CLERGY. There is not space within the prescribed limits of this record to give any detailed account of the life and work of the clergy who laboured in the Diocese of Toronto during this prolonged period. Indeed it [153/154] would hardly be possible to do so, even if we had twice the space, for most of them passed away without leaving any other record of their life than the work they had done. Many of those who were stationed in the rising towns have only had the ever-recurring routine work of a settled parish, and nothing has occurred in their lives calling for special notice. Of the missionary clergy one of the most noted was the Rev. Adam Elliot, who laboured among the Indians and as an itinerant missionary in the home district. His journal is a marvel of unremitting toil. Month after month, year after year, week-day and Sunday, he went from settlement to settlement, and from house to house, ministering and preaching every day, far and wide, over the vast territory for which he alone was responsible.
The Rev. H. H. O Neil carried on for some time the same widely extended itinerant work in the West. The Rev. F. L. Osier and his younger brother Henry were among the diligent missionaries of these pioneer times. Far away, 60 and 100 miles, they rode through the forest, preaching in kitchens and shanties and barns and school-houses as they found opportunity, keeping this up for years and years, until in more prosperous times the people were able to provide for a resident clergy.
The Revs. S. B. Ardagh, John Fletcher, James Nugent, Ed. Morgan, and earlier, George Hallen, the saint of the Canadian Church, and many others, were largely employed in this pioneer work for many years of their ministry. The most learned and influential clergy of this time were the Rev. James Bevan, D.D.; the Rev. George Whittaker, one of the most accurate scholars of his day; and the Rev. Dr. Carry, who by husbanding the scraps of time became perhaps the most widely read and accurate theologian in the Canadian Church. Each of these deserves a volume, [154/155] and these are only samples of the sort of men who planted the Church in this land. There are many who are not inferior to these of whom it is not possible to speak particularly. Of my many able and devoted contemporaries who are still living in this Diocese, I have thought it best to say nothing now; their record will be worthy to be written when their work is done.