Chapter XX. Closing Years (1902-1904)

IT was not till 1902 that the Consolidation of the Church in Canada became, in the eyes of Archbishop Machray, a living reality. Always an intensely practical man, he looked to the General Synod for results, not so much for legislation for the whole Church, though that was good and desirable, and indeed necessary, but for prompt and decisive action as regards missions, especially missions in the ever-expanding life of the North-West. To the Provincial Synod of Rupert's Land, held in 1899, he spoke in grave terms of the failure, so far, of Consolidation:

Here, then, was the patent fact--the Consolidation of the Church had failed to bring about that great concerted effort to assist the missions to the thousands upon thousands crowding into the North-West, for which the Archbishop had looked and longed. The fight was desperate; was the General Synod to afford no help in this long-drawn struggle for the Church in these new lands of the West? It seemed like it. If that were the case--for the time being it was the case--of what use or service, then, was the General Synod? So far Consolidation had proved injurious, rather than favourable, to the missions. Was Consolidation a mistake? The Archbishop, hard-driven man that he was, had to face the question, not from any sentimental point of view, but in the cold, raw light of results, and the results were unsatisfactory. Yet Consolidation was, in itself, a good thing; wherein lay its weakness? Why was it that this good thing produced unsatisfactory results? Why was it an inefficient instrument? These questions led him to consider very closely the whole subject of the General Synod, and particularly what authority, if any, it possessed. Authority, to the full extent of its claim, had been given to it by the Province of Rupert's Land; of this there was no doubt. But had the Provincial Synod of Canada done the same? He said that it had not, and that in this lay the weakness of the General Synod. This was the open secret of its inefficiency. He said to his Provincial Synod in 1899

The nullifying of so much of the work of the last General Synod (1896) has led me to look into the position of the General Synod in the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada. It seems far from satisfactory. There has been no legislation of either the Provincial or Diocesan Synods conveying to the General Synod, as we have done, the jurisdiction and authority it has claimed.

The General Synod was formed with the approval of the Provincial Synod of Canada by delegates from the Diocesan Synods, and a report recognising its formation was adopted by the Provincial Synod. Questions have been submitted to it by the Synods. Delegates were sent by the Diocesan Synods to the Second General Synod, according to the Constitution of the General Synod. The Provincial Synod proposes, on certain conditions, to merge in its Missionary Society its own Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society. But does all this make the General Synod more than a kind of conference? Does it clothe it with any legal authority? I fail to understand how the General Synod can be the Supreme Governing Body of the Church over the legally established Synods of "Canada," unless authority is formally conveyed to it by proper legal methods.

The Archbishop then stated that prior to the meeting of his Provincial Synod, he had consulted several prominent legal authorities in Eastern Canada, and that they thought he was mistaken in his views. These gentlemen were Mr. Justice Hanington and Dr. Leo H. Davidson, the Assessors of the Prolocutor of the Lower House of the General Synod, and Chancellor Bethune of the Diocese of Montreal; they agreed "in the opinion that, though some more formal recognition might advantageously have been given, the various actions of the Provincial and Diocesan Synods (of 'Canada') make the authority of the General Synod legally binding in the fullest sense" within the limits it had set itself. The Archbishop was not satisfied, however, and in 1901 he addressed a Memorandum to the Provincial Synod of Canada, in which he asked that if there was the least ground for uncertainty- measures should be taken to give the General Synod a secure legal position. The General Synod was to meet in the following year, and if it passed again the Canon for a Supreme Court of Appeal the Canon would then be operative. "It should, therefore, be clear," the Archbishop wrote, "that appeals can be carried to this Court from the Courts of the Province, and that its decision will be binding. In my view, the position of the General Synod as the Supreme Governing Body in the Province of Canada, and as such possessing authority on the part of the Provincial Synod, is so questionable that I should be unwilling to be a party to the passing of such a Canon, if the matter rests where it is."

In the years 1899, 1900, and 1901 the correspondence of the Archbishop on the subject of the General Synod was immense, with respect to both, its legal authority and its missionary action. He was determined that the General Synod was to be no mere Debating Society passing academic resolutions; if he could not make it real, actual, vital, then he would not have it at all. He hoped for better things, however. "Perhaps, in a year or two," he wrote in 1900 to Mr. Matthew Wilson, K.C., of Chatham, Ontario, an influential layman in Eastern Canada, who was in sympathy generally with his views, "there may be a desire in Eastern Canada to have a really united Church worth some sacrifice, and to give up playing at a sham." The Provincial Synod of Canada met in September 1901, and passed legislation giving the General Synod further authority, which, while it was in accordance more or less with the Archbishop's mind, did not wholly satisfy him, but it went a long way towards it. He hoped it was enough, and that thenceforward the General Synod would take its proper place of supreme authority. The danger point, however, had not been quite passed. The Church in Eastern Canada asked for increased representation for itself in the General Synod; to this the Archbishop. replied that if Eastern Canada was unanimous on this matter it should have what it sought, but the interests of Western Canada must not be lost sight of. Writing on October 16, 1901, to Mr. Wilson, the gentleman mentioned above, who had been largely influential in securing the desired legislation in the Provincial Synod of Canada, he said:

If the Dioceses of the East with any unanimity wish for an increase in the representation, of course they will get it. It is curious how often Eastern men speak of the General Synod as if it was an external body, over which they had no control, and sometimes as if it lorded it over them. Why, the Eastern vote entirely preponderates. If, as many in the East, and most of the High Churchmen wished, the Dioceses had, as in the American Church, equal representation, then they might speak so. It was largely by the vote of the West, encouraged by myself strongly, that the present representation by proportionate numbers of clergy was adopted. But if the vote of the East is largely increased, and perhaps also the payment of travelling withdrawn, then there must be some way of allowing our Dioceses to nominate Eastern representatives, otherwise the West will practically disappear. I don't think the West will stand that. The fact is, that owing to the checkmating Ways of the East the feeling for the General Synod is pretty well killed in the West, and it would take very little to put an end to the whole Consolidation.

The last sentence in the above quotation sufficiently indicates what had become the mind of the West with respect to the General Synod a short time before the meeting in 1902. The vital matter for the West was its missions, to which the "checkmating ways of the East" were doing harm. But the Provincial Synod of Canada of 1901 carried the proposal to merge its Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society in the Missionary Society of the General Synod, and the Archbishop trusted that the approaching General Synod would take such measures as would vitalise and energise this general Missionary Society, which had practically been moribund ever since the Diocese of Montreal had taken exception to it. To bring it back to vigorous life the Archbishop set about the preparation of a Canon dealing with the whole subject. At the Diocesan Synod of 1902 (May 21, 22) he spoke of the formulation by the General Synod, soon to be held, of a great scheme for missions as its chief work.

At this Synod the Archbishop mentioned that he was to go to England for a short visit. There .was important Church business to do, and as Prelate of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, he had been commanded by King Edward to appear at the Coronation in Westminster Abbey. Reminding the Synod that the Coronation of the King had a great spiritual meaning, he said that he would be present at it, but hoped to return for the Provincial Synod of Rupert's Land which was to meet in August. It was at this Diocesan Synod that he announced the "happy change" in the policy of the S.P.G. For a long time previous to his departure from Winnipeg the health of the Archbishop had been very indifferent, while his work had increased in many directions. The Diocese had grown very much, the College had grown, the University had grown, the business of the Advisory Board of the Department of Education had grown; all made increasing demands on the strength of a man, now aging apace, who had never spared himself. Further, as the Metropolitan and as Primate of All Canada, there was also a great call upon his time. The growth of the Diocese was seen from the Synod Report of 1902; on its list were eighty-five clergy and lay dele gates from ninety-one parishes and missions. Visiting these parishes and missions involved much travelling, and he was no longer able to stand fatigue as in his earlier years, but he went on these journeys each week for episcopal duty on Sunday after Sunday in all sorts of weather. His principle was that if he made an engagement he must keep it, if it was at all possible. The following is taken from the Easter, 1904, number of St. John's College Magazine; the article in which it appears is entitled "Our Old Commander," and was written by the Rev. J. F. Cross, Machray Fellow of the College:

In Church matters, as in all things, the Archbishop was animated by an abnormally strong sense of duty. It would be impossible for any one to obtain a more perfect knowledge of men and matters pertaining to the Diocese than he possessed. Once, when I chanced to be bound for Sunday duty at Westbourn; he was on the train, and learning that I was un acquainted with the place and people, at once drew out paper and pencil, made a plan of the village, and gave me minute directions as to whom I should call on and other particulars Who can forget the awful blizzard of two years ago when he fought his way on foot through the cold and blinding snow to the station, carrying his valise the while, in order that, if possible, he might catch the early train to Minnedosa, where he had arranged to be on the Sunday? And yet we were not surprised that young and robust students feared to face the same awful storm.

That journey to Minnedosa in this "awful blizzard" was the beginning of a serious illness; he was attacked by what was supposed to be lumbago; he could neither stand nor walk without a stick, and often was in much pain. He was no better when he left Winnipeg for England, and the long journey did not improve matters; he was a very sick man when he arrived in London. For a month he was the guest of an old friend, with whom he had stopped on former visits, Mr. Chancellor Smith of Westbourne Terrace, but his condition grew gradually worse, and only once did he leave Mr. Smith's house--to attend a rehearsal of the Coronation procession at the Abbey. Eminent doctors had been called in, and on their advice he was removed to a nursing home, as grave symptoms had appeared. By the advice of Sir Thomas Barlow, resort was had to applications of the X-rays, which, in the skilful hands of Dr. Lewis Jones and Dr. Hugh Walsham, the X-ray experts of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, were at once successful in freeing him from the terrible and agonising pain caused by his disease, and after they had been continued for a considerable period, checked the course of the malady and finally vanquished it. But he remained in the nursing home for nearly eleven months, and never properly recovered his strength or the full use of his legs, while the muscles of the heart and lower part of the body were left in a very weak state.

His mental capacity was as great as ever, and even before the application of the X--rays gave him relief from the pain he endured, he was employing his time on his work in one way or another. He had fully intended being present at his Provincial Synod which was summoned for August 20 and 21, 1902, but finding it was impossible he dictated and despatched an Address to be read at the opening of the Synod by Dr. Young, Bishop of Athabasca, who presided as Senior Bishop over it. In this Address he referred to the completion of the endowment for the new Diocese of Keewatin, and mentioned that the endowment for the Diocese of Calgary had been completed. The Synod duly met, and amongst other things passed a resolution of sympathy with him in his illness. He had also looked forward with the keenest interest and the highest hopes to be at the meeting of the General Synod in Montreal, the sessions of which were to begin on September 3. He had already prepared the Canon on the general Missionary Society, and had discussed it by letter with some prominent Churchmen in both Eastern and Western Canada; he had given formal notice of the Canon, which appeared on the agenda paper of the General Synod and was thus brought to the notice of the whole Church. From all sides he had met with encouragement, and he believed that with its adoption and earnest working the General Synod, and the Consolidation of the Church generally, would amply justify the expectations, and fulfil the hopes which had been entertained at the beginning. It was the most grievous disappointment to him not to be present at this Synod. However, he did what was possible in the circumstances he composed and forwarded an Address to be read to the Synod by the Archbishop of Montreal (Dr. Bond), who had succeeded Archbishop Lewis as Metropolitan of the Province of Canada; in the absence of the Primate, Archbishop Bond became President of the General Synod. After alluding in this Address to his illness ("The will of God be done; He does all well," he wrote), the necessity for having more frequent meetings of the Synod, and the changes that had taken place in the Canadian Episcopate since its last meeting, he referred to the recent action of the Provincial Synod of Canada, recognised "the utmost desire to do everything necessary" on its part, and trusted the arrangements made were thoroughly satisfactory; he suggested at the same time that it might be wise to appoint a strong legal committee to consider the whole question of the relations of the General Synod with the Provincial systems of "Canada" and Rupert's Land. With respect to the continuance of the Archbishop of Canterbury as Metropolitan of the Dioceses of British Columbia, an anomaly made more pronounced by the action of the new Diocese of Kootenay, which had decided that its Bishop should be consecrated by the Primate of All Canada, he asked that a Committee should be appointed to look into the matter. He then came to the subject that lay closest to his heart.

By far the most important question before the General Synod is the establishment of a Missionary Society for the whole Dominion. In the view of the West this has from the first transcended every other in importance, and was a main cause for the desire for the Consolidation of the Church. That was but natural. Great communities are rising up there, and the members of our Church that are entering and being scattered so sparsely over the vast regions of settlement are altogether unequal to the supplying themselves with the means of grace through the ministrations of the Church they love. They see great missionary societies supported by the whole strength of other bodies occupying the fields, and enthusiastic for the maintenance and extension of their special interests; but the action of the Church has been weak beyond expression, and any appreciable help from the East only brought out by spasmodic appeals from the needy Dioceses.

After discussing the Mission scheme of the General Synod of 1896, which had been rendered inoperative, he said:

The collapse of the scheme was a great disappointment to the West. At the suggestion of the Bishop of Ottawa (now Archbishop) I have, to expedite business, prepared the Canon which you have received. It simply introduces into the scheme of the last General Synod the amendments required by the Provincial Synod of Canada while somewhat simplifying it. But the mere passing of such a Canon will do little. It is hopeless to expect any adequate result unless adequate means are used. Economy is well, but may be carried too far. I believe there will be no worthy result unless an able and genial Secretary, a good man of business and effective in bringing out support, is secured. Arrangements are made in the scheme for deputations. Much will depend on the energy and business ability with which this is done. There will be at length an open door for appeals over the Church. This may put an end to the old local appeals, but, if so, there should be a generous effort to avoid in any case diminution of help--a strong and united effort to bring out a loyal observance of the Canon. . . . I hope that Canada will recognise that a special duty lies on it to help these young communities in the Dominion, and will make a great advance in its contributions.

Having touched on other branches of missionary work, Indian missions and Foreign missions, he said that next in importance to the establishment of a vigorous Missionary Society for the Dominion came the maintenance in efficiency of the Colleges of the Church. The amount of support given by the Church to its Colleges compared unfavourably with that given by other bodies to their Colleges. He illustrated this by taking the case of St. John's College, the Church College, which he had endeavoured to build up in Winnipeg:

The Colleges of the Presbyterian and Wesleyan Churches in Winnipeg are yearly largely assisted by their respective bodies, and there is from this not only the immediate help from a share of the general collection of the denomination, but the Colleges being brought prominently before the Church receive many special gifts. St. John's College has no such assistance. I trust the Synod will not fail to deal practically with this matter. I may say that a measure of outside help is for my own College a vital necessity, not only for its efficiency, but almost for its existence. Any disaster to it would inflict the gravest injury on the Church.

Archbishop Machray closed this, his last pronouncement to the Church of Canada, as follows:

I have touched on these questions that seem to me of primary importance in the organisation of our Church if it is to meet the needs of our people. On their satisfactory settlement must depend the ability of our Church to do its duty in affording and extending its ministrations. Until this is secured the Church will never be at liberty to enter as it should on the grave questions of the day that affect the religious character and godliness of the nation. There is much to call out thought and anxiety. Many things combine to draw men from former habits of family prayer and public worship, and to lessen the sense of the sanctity of the Lord's Day, but on these depend vital religion. Intemperance, no doubt, continues to be an extensive evil, and demands the most earnest effort to remove as far as possible temptations to excess, and encourage habits of moderation. But the immoderate abandonment of so many to all kinds of amusement, and luxurious and extravagant living for their means, are doing even more to sap the foundations of honest social life.

The Church should in these matters give no uncertain sound. Its own members are largely culpable. And we may be sure if these tendencies are not checked, there will be neither the will nor the ability for the observance of what is due to God and to men. There is, in addition, the grave question of the upbringing of the young in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In the circumstances of our modern life it is hope less to look for this unless there is religious instruction in the day school. The teaching of the Bible and of the main truths of our Faith is of such vital importance for the country that I trust the Church will not only press for it, but endeavour as far as possible by a conciliatory attitude to secure the support of the other great Protestant bodies. We must not insist on all we should like. Enough if we can secure what will give a full and satisfactory knowledge of the main facts and teaching of the Word of God.

Archbishop Bond, before reading Archbishop Machray's Address to the General Synod, said, "It has pleased God to lay upon our honoured and trusted Primate a very heavy trial. . . . The absence from this session of the Synod of our Primate inflicts upon us a great loss, as well as a deep sorrow; we sympathise with his disappointment, and we sorrow for his suffering, and we pray that God in His infinite mercy will so bless the efforts of the head and hand of science that he may be speedily and fully restored. But we shall greatly miss in our deliberations his long experience, his close study of various questions, and his wise advice." The Upper House immediately adopted and sent down the Canon the Archbishop had prepared; it was at once considered by the Lower House, and, with a helpful addition proposed by a Rupert's Land dele gate, carried unanimously by a standing vote, where upon all present joined in singing the Doxology. Before the Synod closed a Board was formed, and the Rev. L. N. Tucker, of Vancouver, was appointed Organising Secretary of the Missionary Society. Archbishop Machray thus had his wishes fulfilled. In proroguing the Synod Archbishop Bond observed, "We thank God that the Synod has been enabled by its loyalty and legislation to cheer him (Archbishop Machray) in his sick-room." In the course of the Synod a cablegram of sympathy was sent to the Primate from both Houses, which touched him deeply and for which he was very grateful. But what pleased him above all was that the Synod, by its unanimous adoption of the Canon forming the Missionary Society for All Canada, had made Consolidation a living reality from which great results must flow. There was to be no longer a "checkmating East" and a dissatisfied West; both--all--were united in one sustained and splendid effort for the missions of the Church.

Of the Third General Synod the Archbishop wrote to Mr. Matthew Wilson, on November 12, 1902, incidentally giving his views on marriage with a deceased wife's sister, against which the Synod had pronounced:

With great pleasure I take the opportunity of expressing my deep sense of the unbounded kindness shown me by the General Synod, and especially of thanking yourself for so kindly piloting the (Missionary Society) Canon through the House of Delegates. In most matters I go thoroughly with the action of the Synod. The only question in which my judgment would have led me otherwise was that in which I see you take a strong position adverse to what I think judicious. I am no advocate for action on the Deceased Wife's Sister Question, and I do not consider myself qualified by any full study to form an independent opinion, but from my general observation I think it would have been wiser to leave the subject quite alone. It is not the case (as stated in the Synod) that there is no prospect of the marriage being legalised in England; at present the prospect is quite the other way.

Several of the Bishops at the last Convocation of Canter bury admitted with apparently no opposition that it could not be held that there was clear, direct Scriptural authority against the marriage, but they drew indirect Scriptural authority apparently from the passage of the man and woman being one flesh. That has always seemed to me a questionable extension of that statement; I question if it was intended to go beyond the relations of the immediate parties, for St. Paul grounds the statement on the personal relations apart from marriage in i Cor. vi. i6. The Roman Catholic Church ordinarily forbids the marriage, but not from Divine prohibition, for it allows of dispensation. I doubt if any Protestant body but our own would now discipline for such a marriage. In the opinion of a majority of our laity here (in England) the marriage is not forbidden in Scripture. It seems to me that this view is extending so rapidly that I think it would have been wiser to wait. Already our own Synods are changing. The largest Colonial Diocesan Synod, that of Sydney, Australia, affirmed by a large majority the following resolutions last month:

1. The table of kindred and affinity is not part of the Prayer Book.

2. The marriage is valid according to the law of the State.

3. Such a marriage is not prohibited in Scripture.

4. Such a law is not in contravention of any law of the Church.

So I would have said, in view of the trend of critical and general opinion, it would be better to observe the Scotch proverb--"Ca' canny."

The General Synod seems to have been a great pleasure to all attending it. Now, I hope the new (Missionary) Society will be taken up warmly.

The Archbishop's illness brought to his side a host of kind and sympathetic friends, amongst them being the Williams-Ellises and others whom he had known for many years, while those still remaining of "old acquaintance and friendship," who were unable from age or infirmity to see him, sent affectionate and cheering messages. The most eminent in Church and State called on him. Lord and Lady Strathcona were particularly kind and attentive, calling frequently and sending fruit and flowers constantly; Lord Strathcona, it will be remembered, was the Mr. Donald Smith who acted as Commissioner for the Dominion during the Red River Rebellion. Lord Strathcona had been a generous contributor to the various Funds raised by the Archbishop, having given $3000 (£600) to the College Endowment Fund, and $1000 to the Machray Fellowship, besides $1000 towards the debt on Christ Church, Winnipeg, a contribution which, the Archbishop said, "really saved the parish." He had also given smaller sums for other objects. To the Archbishop personally he showed great kindness. "To the generous friendship and regard of Lord Strathcona I owe the skill which has done so much for me," the Archbishop said in his Address to the Diocesan Synod of 1903; and when, during his illness, the Archbishop spoke to him of the needs of the College, presently to be related, Lord Strathcona came forward with a donation of $5000 which he afterwards raised to $10,000 (£2000).

As the Archbishop was unable to go to see the Secretaries of the Church Societies, they went to see him--Bishop Montgomery of the S.P.G., the Rev. J. D. Mullins of the C.C.C.S., Prebendary Fox (who as an undergraduate at Cambridge had known the Archbishop when Dean of Sidney) of the C.M.S., and the Rev. W. Osborn B. Allen of the S.P.C.K. Rupert's Land was greatly indebted, as has been seen, to all these Societies. The S.P.G., having changed their policy of reducing their grants, had voted £8000 ($40,000) from their Bicentenary Fund for establishing new missions in North-West Canada, and the allocation of this sum was left by Bishop Montgomery to the Archbishop, who was greatly cheered and heartened by this substantial addition to the missionary resources of the Church in Rupert's Land. The C.C.C.S. were also enlarging their grants, and the S.P.C.K., ever most helpful within their own lines, were anxious to do what was in their power. With the missions in the new settlements of the West in better case than ever before, the Archbishop towards the end of 1902, when he was feeling better, and able to drive out for an hour or two on fine days, turned his attention to procuring means for assisting St. John's College. Had it not been for the College, he wrote to Bishop Montgomery, the money given by the S.P.G. and the other Societies to the missions would have done comparatively little good.

St. John's College had done a great work in Western Canada. In 1902 more than half of the clergy of the Diocese of Rupert's Land had been trained in the College, and many of its graduates were clergymen in various Dioceses, both in other parts of Canada arid in the United States. As has been repeatedly mentioned, the College-Cathedral staff had opened and nursed many, if not most of the missions in the Diocese, and even farther afield, until they were able to have resident clergymen. But St. John's College, in addition to its work for the Church in educating clergy, had also its work for the University of Manitoba, its secular work in educating men for the professions and other walks of life. In the early days of the University when students were few, the courses of study were pretty well confined to Classics and Mathematics, but as the country grew, students and the courses of study alike multiplied, and St. John's and the other Colleges forming the University found great difficulty in providing the necessary facilities, especially with respect to the teaching of Natural Science. The Archbishop's sympathies went entirely with a wide extension of University instruction, and as the Colleges were thus not sufficiently equipped, he headed several deputations from the University to the Government of Manitoba, with a view to the appointment by the Government of Professors in Natural Science. As the work of the University extended, the demands on the Professors of St. John's College increased, so that it was often very difficult for them to act also as missioners--the work was too heavy; thus the College needed strengthening on its secular side by the appointment of lecturers and teachers, not only to set free the Professors, who were primarily Divinity Professors, for their purely religious work, and such other work as they could undertake, but also to have the advantage of the services of men who were specialists in their own particular line of study. But the College had not sufficient means to undertake all this; it therefore looked to the Government to subsidise or provide some Professorships in the University, the occupants of which would give lectures to its students; the other Colleges were in the same position.

The Manitoban Government decided to erect buildings suitable for the teaching of Natural Science in the University, and they erected them on a site which, while it was only half a mile from Manitoba and Wesley Colleges, was three miles from St. John's College and nearly two miles from St. Boniface College. The distance was felt to be a great handicap to St. John's, and a movement was set on foot for the purpose of building a new St. John's College close to the Government University buildings, and this movement was endorsed by the Diocesan Synod of 1902. A further reason for building a new College was that the existing building was too small; for many years it had housed both the students of the College and the boys of the College. School, which was not in itself a desirable arrangement. The idea was that the existing building was to be given over to the College School, and the new building devoted entirely to the College. The Archbishop concurred, but said that after his experience with respect to the existing College, the debt on which had not yet been paid off though it had been reduced, he had learned to proceed warily, and must insist on the extinction of the debt before going further. He agreed, however, that as the values of land in Winnipeg were constantly rising, a site for the proposed new College should be purchased, and it was towards this that Lord Strathcona gave the donation mentioned in a preceding paragraph.

Before returning to Canada in the spring of 1903, the Archbishop placed the needs of the College fully before the Societies. He was also occupied at this time with the filling of a Professorship in the College. The Chair of Systematic Theology, to which a Canonry of St. John's Cathedral was attached, was vacant. Finally he selected the Rev. J. O. Murray, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and at the time Curate of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London. Canon Murray entered on his duties at St. John's in 1903. In one of his last communications to Bishop Montgomery before leaving for Winnipeg, the Archbishop again pleaded for St. John's College, which, in that year, was to add five young clergymen to the Church. More men, however, were wanted than St. John's could turn out; this was owing to the renewal of assistance on a large scale by the S.P.G.

The Archbishop was very anxious to get back to his Diocese as soon as his health permitted, and he was glad when his doctors said he might undertake the journey. In May he went back to Canada, being accompanied by his nephew, Mr. John A. Machray, who had lived with him at Bishop's Court, Winnipeg, for several years, and had come expressly to England for the purpose of conducting the Archbishop home again. He bore the long and trying journey well, and on June 14 was able to take all the necessary parts in the Ordination of three Deacons and six Priests in his Cathedral. He gained a little in strength, but he very soon came to the conclusion that he required the assistance of a Suffragan. He was fairly well in the house, and carried on his very extensive correspondence as in former days, but he was unable to stand for any length of time owing to the weakness of his muscles, and the journeys he had been wont to make to the parishes and missions outside Winnipeg were no longer possible.

His Diocesan Synod met on July 8 and 9, and he presided over it and delivered an Address, in which he gratefully acknowledged the many kindnesses shown to him during his illness. Referring to his failing strength, he said he must have episcopal assistance. There were now nearly a hundred clergy and 300 congregations scattered over a Diocese only a little less in size than England; he had therefore summoned a special meeting of the Provincial Synod to grant him a Suffragan, but at the same time the Synod would elect a Bishop for the Diocese of Saskatchewan, the See having been made vacant by the choice of the Bishopric of Calgary by Bishop Pinkham. The year 1902 had been one of great prosperity in Manitoba, which had received an addition of something like 100,000 settlers. The Archbishop uttered a warning note, as his thoughts went back to the terrible depression that followed the "Winnipeg Boom" of twenty years before: "The unbounded prosperity and hopefulness of the present is not without its risk. Many of us cannot yet have forgotten the cruel reverses and ruinous reaction of the 1882 period. . . . Let us pray that as our people in this fair land grow in material means, they may still more richly abound in those heavenly treasures which moth and rust cannot consume, laid up where thieves cannot break through and steal."

In September of that year the Archbishop caught a bad chill, with fever, which confined him to his room for some days, but he recovered, and was able to preside over the meeting of the Provincial Synod which was held on October 1 and 2, and deliver an Address in which he asked for a Suffragan, spoke of the election of a Bishop for Saskatchewan, and regretted the approaching resignation of Dr. Young, the Bishop of Athabasca, because of ill-health. While the Synod was in session, the Bishop of Qu'Appelle came from the Upper House to the Lower with the message that the Bishops had unanimously elected Dr. Matheson, Dean of Rupert's Land, as Assistant Bishop of Rupert's Land. Dr. Newnham, Bishop of Moosonee, was translated to Saskatchewan. Dr. Matheson's appointment as Suffragan was a great joy to the Archbishop. Writing to his old friend and Commissary, Mr. Jones, at Dedham, he said: "My Suffragan, Dr. Matheson, Dean of Rupert's Land, Prolocutor of the Provincial Synod of Rupert's Land and of the General Synod of Canada, has been brought up under my eyes in St. John's College School and St. John's College. His appointment is a great pleasure and comfort to me." Bishop Pinkham, presiding as Senior Bishop at the Provincial Synod of Rupert's Land in November 1904, spoke of the closing scene of the Provincial Synod of 1903 as follows:

We had unanimously given our beloved Archbishop the man of his choice to be his assistant in the work of his episcopate, and the Synod had chosen as my successor in Saskatchewan the Bishop whose translation to the vacant See he earnestly desired. The Bishops, with their Archbishop at their head, had come to the Lower House that his Grace might declare the Acts of the Synod and close the proceedings with his benediction. All eyes were turned to that splendid figure, so noble in countenance, so dignified in bearing, wearing over his robes the insignia of the dignity conferred upon him by his Sovereign ten years before. How disease, pain, and weakness had told upon him! How clearly, it seemed to some of us, the hand of death was upon him; and, indeed, at one moment it seemed almost as if he might pass away in our presence, yet in an instant, and to correct a slight clerical error, there was the flash of his intellect, showing, as indeed was clearly manifest throughout all the proceedings and also afterwards, that his mental power was in no sense diminished.

Dean Matheson was consecrated in Winnipeg on November 15, the officiating prelates being the Archbishop, who was able to preside, and the Bishops of Calgary, Qu'Appelle, and Keewatin. In a letter, dated November 23, 1903, to Mr. Jones, the Archbishop wrote: "I continue very well in the house, can pre side at important functions, can lecture the theological students, of whom we have this year twenty-three, in Ecclesiastical History and Liturgiology, can carry on all episcopal correspondence, but I have not the power of locomotion but with difficulty and discomfort--cannot stand for above two or three minutes without discomfort and pain in the muscles of the loins. I should try to move about more than I do, but it is not easy to do it. My dear friend and pupil, Dean Matheson, was consecrated on the 15th. This is a great relief--he can take all outside work."

On December 29 the Archbishop despatched a very lengthy letter to Bishop Montgomery of the S.P.G., pleading once more for help for St. John's College, especially in view of the new building required in the neighbourhood of the University buildings. In this letter he reviewed the endowments held by the College for its General Endowment, and for its Professorate, and the Machray Fellowship, and the income derived from these endowments As these endowments re presented one great aspect of his work, they are of special interest. When he became Bishop of Rupert's Land in 186 there was no endowment in the Diocese save for the Bishopric only. The College endowments in 1903 were:

1. General Endowment Fund of about $60,000
2. Professoriate Endowment of about $85,000
3. Machray Fellowship of about $25,000

$170,000 (£34,000)

In addition, the Dean and Canons of the Cathedral, all of whom were Professors in the College, with an income from both, had a capital or endowment of about $100,000 (£20,000). But valuable as these endowments were to the College, they were in themselves small, and barely sufficient to get men of adequate academic standing and attainments. The College needed a larger staff but had not the means to obtain it. Besides, there still existed a College debt of some $37,000 (£7400). And now there was the new effort to erect a College building which would call for at least a sum of $70,000 (£14,000). In these circumstances he asked the S.P.G. to come to the assistance of the College, which apart from the interest on its General Endowment Fund, fees, and Diocesan contributions, had no other sources of revenue, while on the other hand the College had to help most of its theological students, though some of them were assisted by studentships voted by the English Societies. In February 1904 he again wrote to Bishop Montgomery about the College, stating that it had received a legacy of £2000 from Miss Fowler, who in her lifetime had contributed various sums to the work of the Diocese. In this letter he said that a Warden was now required for the College, who should also be Professor of Biblical Criticism. This was one of the last letters he wrote, and showed him, as ever, planning for the welfare of the College.

But it was not only of the College he was thinking in these last days of his life. A letter in February to the C.M.S. discussed the appropriateness of that Society giving a grant to the endowment of the Bishopric of Selkirk--the far northern See still held by Bishop Bompas. Another letter written towards the end of January is filled with a description of the progress of Manitoba, which, in the previous year, had received another great influx of settlers. A fresh "Boom" was in full tide in Winnipeg, which was growing very fast into a large city, and all over the land. Thanks to the increased grants of the S.P.G. and the C.C.C.S., and of the new Missionary Society of Canada instituted by the General Synod, many missions were being occupied, but still there were forty villages in the Province of Manitoba which had resident Presbyterian and Methodist ministers, but which had not clergymen of the Church. More men were required, more labourers in those fields white to the harvest. In another letter written at this time he applied for ten grants for as many churches from the Marriott Bequest, a fund administered by the S.P.G. for helping to build churches. One of his last letters asked for a grant for the missions of Glenboro and Wakefield from this Bequest.

The long, severe Manitoban winter told on the Archbishop in his enfeebled condition, and his weak ness increased. Many old friends made opportunities to see him, and to dwell with him on the early days which now seemed uppermost in his mind. Till Christmas he had been able to attend the Cathedral for morning prayer, being driven the short distance of a few hundred yards from Bishop's Court. After Christmas he gradually failed, but it was hoped that in the spring he would regain hi strength. However, towards the end of February he had an attack of pleurisy which confined him wholly to bed, but up to that time he had gone on with his work so far as was possible, giving lectures to students, seeing people on business, and attending to correspondence. On the morning of March pneumonia suddenly developed, and in a few hours it was seen that he could not resist the attack. At his request his nephew John sent for Bishop Matheson, who contributes the following account of the end:

The Archbishop was characteristically himself to the very last. The day before he died I was down for a Confirmation at Wawanesa, and seeing that he was very ill I suggested that I should not go. His reply was, "You must never allow private obligations to interfere with public duties, for where would that end? Go out to your Confirmation and never mind me." I went, but a severe snowstorm blocked the train at Morris, and while waiting there I was telegraphed for, and returned to find the Archbishop sinking. When I came into his room he said, "I am glad you have come, for I desire to partake of the Holy Communion. Get ready quickly, for the time is short." Seeing that he was very weak, though he followed the responses with a strong, clear voice, I left out one prayer. Putting his hand on mine, he whispered, "You have left out one prayer; say it even yet." After the Service he never spoke, but simply seemed to sleep away.

There he lay in a great stillness, in perfect peace, until the evening--and so died. He passed away on March 9, 1904, in the thirty-ninth year of his epis copate and the seventy-third of his life. The slow 4 tolling of the bell of his Cathedral announced to his sorrowing people and the city which he had seen grow from nothingness to greatness that the strong and noble heart was for ever stilled.

Mourning was universal. The Archbishop had felt a great pride in the North-West, and the North-West was not less proud of him. He had been identified with it from the beginning--in a true sense he was the North its leader in the things that were best, the greatest of its pioneers. It had come to know him, to trust him, to honour him, to love him. It was not only the members of his own Church who mourned him--they, indeed, sorrowed as for a father lost--but of all the Churches of the land. Amidst the many eloquent tributes evoked by his death, none was more striking than that of the Principal of Wesley College, Dr. Sparling, a leader of the Wesleyans, who said, "In my judgment 'there is a Prince and a Great Man fallen this day in Israel.'" The Government of Manitoba, rightly interpreting the sentiment of Winnipeg and the whole country, decreed a State Funeral. The greatest regret was felt throughout the Dominion, and numerous were the public expressions of sorrow in all parts of the Church for the passing of the Primate--the first Primate of All Canada.

The arrangements for the funeral having been completed, the dead Archbishop lay in state on March 11 in the Legislative Chamber of the Province, multitudes of all classes passing before the bier and paying their tributes of homage and regard. The funeral took place on the following day with all possible ceremony. In the long and impressive procession to St. John's Cathedral, in whose historic and beautiful graveyard the body was to be interred, the chief men of the country and of all denominations, members of the Government, representatives of the University, leaders in every department of the life of Manitoba--all took part. The pall--bearers were the four senior clergy of the Diocese and four representative laymen, amongst the latter being Sheriff Inkster, who had escorted the Archbishop to the old Red River Settlement nearly forty years before. The Service in the Cathedral and at the grave was conducted by Bishops Grisdale and Matheson and the Rev. A. E. Cowley--the last name recalling that of Archdeacon Cowley (Mr. Cowley's father), the missionary who had stood by the Archbishop's side at the beginning of his episcopate.

The burial scene, as the body was committed to the earth, was sad, melancholy, yet austerely beautiful. It was a Manitoban winter day of the sombre type, with a lowering sky--a day, it seemed, in keeping with the occasion; snow lay thick and white on the graves and the roof of the humble Cathedral the dead man had loved. The people for whom he had worked and thought and struggled stood all about him, hushed, heavy with sorrow, knowing that they would see his face no more and never listen to his voice again, but sorrowing not as those without hope. "In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life," read Bishop Grisdale from the Office for the Dead. "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."

Surely no more happy inscription was ever placed on a memorial to the dead than that which is chiseled on the beautiful Iona cross of Aberdeen granite standing over the Archbishop's grave in the shadow of the Cathedral at St. John's, Winnipeg:

"He fed them with a faithful and true heart, and ruled them prudently with all his power."

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