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The Church Review, Volume 28
edited by Nathaniel Smith Richardson, Edward Brenton Boggs, Henry Mason Baum
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MAN AND BEAST.
The last two acts of creative power were the brute-creation and the human race. Man and beast!—So near and yet so far apart. Science, just at present, busies itself with the problem of our relation to the animal world more than with any other, and it is at just this point that the skepticism of the day makes its fiercest assault on religion and the church. The morbid thought of Soloman is wrested from its connection, and we are assured that, literally, “a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast.”
It is the purpose of this article,
I. To point out some of the manifold differences between the human race and the other animals.
II. Then we will ask ourselves the question, “can these two by any processes of progression or development become merged at last in one and the same race of creatures?” In other words, “can an animal ever become a man?”
III. And, finally, it will not be difficult to show, even if it be proved that man does not essentially differ from the brute-creation, —that this fact can not inconvenience our individuality in the least, and does not make, in the slightest degree, against the immortality of the soul.
First, then, as to some of the manifest differences between us and the beast of the field. We are accustomed, for example, to designate the principle by which animals act by the name of “Instinct,” while to man, alone, we assign the faculty of “Reason.” Now these two guiding powers lead to the same end but they differ wholly in their character. Animals have “memory,” it is true, and maybe said to “recollect.” They have “knowledge,” too, but not “comprehension.” They never “understand” anything, —the “whys” and the “wherefores” of it. If they could, they would rise successively, as man does, higher and higher in their knowledge, and would at last obtain a moral state. A dog knows about as much at one period of his life as at another. His knowledge does not accumulate; which shows that it is not knowledge at all in our sense of the word; it is only instinct.
It is well, in such a discussion, to observe the exact meaning of words, and to beware lest in asserting one truth we deny another. Animals have “consciousness,” but not “self-consciousness.” A cat, for instance, never says to itself “Now that is a man; that is a horse; that is a bird; I am a cat,—distinguishing between its own self and other objects (the Ego and non Ego). If the hog, wallowing in his mire, could for one moment say, “Now I am a hog,” then in an instant he would become a man. But without plunging into the fine discriminations of German theologians with regard to the “Geist” and “Seele,” (which best mark, perhaps, the difference between mankind and the brute) let us return a little and point out a few illustrations of the practical working of these principles, “instinct” and “reason.”
The former is blind, and is in no way the result of thought or design. Its action is not premeditated. There, is, for example, a species of butterfly which itself subsists upon the leaves of flowers but which always, just before it dies, deposits its eggs on the underside of a cabbage leaf. Observe, in passing, that if placed upon the upper side the wind and rain would soon sweep them off. But why should this insect deposit its eggs upon a plant which it never consumes—upon the cabbage and not upon the rose? This appears a little later. These eggs are hatched, not as butterflies but as worms which subsist entirely upon cabbage leaves and abhor a rose. But how should the butterfly know this since it always dies before its eggs are hatched and never sees one of these worms, any more than it was seen by those from whence it sprang. For, what is equally remarkable, late in the summer these worms, their offspring, crawl up into barns and houses, fasten themselves to beams and rafters, and in the spring-time they shed the chrysalis and become butterflies, who in their turn will deposit their eggs upon the cabbage plant again. Once more the question returns upon us, and with redoubled force, “Why should these worms leave the cabbage where they were born? Why not attach themselves to the under side of the leaf, and in due time, shed the chrysalis there?” For the simple reason that late in the fall the cabbages are gathered in and the chrysalis would be destroyed. But the worms could not have known this since they all die in the early autumn, before the cabbage plant matures.
A thousand such instances as this prove conclusively that animals are furnished with a faculty which differs widely from human reason, and that they act from another principle than that which impels man. Why jump at a conclusion in so important a matter? If we see an animal and a man doing the same thing, we infer that they act from the same prompting. But we have no right to make such inference; that is our mistake. We see a cat pursuing a bird in the field; she approaches stealthily; goes back a little, and then comes up behind a bush. If we judge the cat by ourselves, we say she had a design in this; we fancy that she reasoned thus to herself. “I think it will be better to get behind that bush. It will be safer than to go straight down, for I am afraid the bird will see me, and then I shall lose the prey.” We think that because we act thus the cat must . Such, however, is not the fact, if we may believe the best judges. The cat approaches the bush instinctively and without a plan; without thought, just as one winks at a flash of lightning or a blow.
We are vastly too prone to fill with a guess, the gap between human nature and the antics of the brute. It has sometimes been maintained that animals lacked nothing but the power of speech. Endowed with reason, their want of language, it is said, is the only thing which prevents them from developing into intelligent and rational beings. This position is most unfortunately taken, for there happens to be a pertinent case just at hand. It seems as though truth had set a trap for every shallow argument of unbelief.
How is it with the parrot? It speaks, but only the few words it has learned by heart. This shows that the bird has no thoughts of its own. There is no man so stupid however, but he can express himself after a fashion; which proves, says Descartes the French philosopher—who has been unjustly accused of atheism, and who was during his life time sadly persecuted on that account —which proves, says he, that the animals not only have less reason than man, but that they have none at all.
And, now, if all the wonderful dogs and cats we read about in the weekly story-papers, and whose antics are seized upon to show that animals have souls, if all these could speak, we repeat, we might expect the same result as that observed in the case of the parrot .
So much for the manifest difference between the animals and man. But perhaps the partition is a fluctuating line, and we come to our second point and ask ourselves the question: “Can animals develop into men?” We hear a great deal said in these days about what is called the “Development Theory” and the “Descent of Man.” A class of thinkers maintain, in effect, that man was once a monkey and roamed the woods. We are told that he accidentally learned the use of the muscles, by which the thumb is brought in contact with the forefinger, and that this led to all the subsequent improvements in the race. According to this hypothesis all animals have sprung-from one common species, and circumstances have been the sole agents in bringing about the diversity which we-now observe. The hog and the giraffe, for instance, were originally the same animal. The swine living in a country where its food lay strewn about upon the earth stooping to reach it, gradually assumed its present form with its nose reaching nearly to the ground. The giraffe, however, its lot cast in tropical places, and forced to subsist upon the foliage of trees, by its constant reaching up, slowly lengthened out its neck to suit the need of its surroundings.
It is by logic such as this that men hav« come to trace their own descent from monkeys. It would be an argument worthy of those who use it were we to say that the only plausibility of such a theory, lies in the fact that many of these men have succeeded so nearly in getting back where they came from. For what an amount of credulity it must require to believe a doctrine such as this. It exceeds that of the greatest religious enthusiast who ever lived; nay, of the wildest fanatic. No class of men are so credulous as those who are always prating about reason, and the atheist is the greatest bigot of them all.
Young men. in particular, oftentimes feel called upon to be the champions of what are vainly called “new ideas.” But this “Development Theory” cannot claim to be either novel or progressive; the doctrine is at least two thousand years old. One of the Jewish sects maintained it a long time before the Christian era, but it was ancient even then. It is in fact nothing but the old stew of Sadduceeism warmed over and served up again.
People should not be alarmed at what is sometimes called the “tendency of the times.” There is positively nothing new under the sun. All the new forms of unbelief are as old as Satan,—the father of all lies, both in science and theology. In one of the books of the Chaldeans, (The Nabatean Agriculture) supposed to have been written 600 B. C, the same old battle between skepticism and faith is waged as fiercely as in our own times. It is easily. understood why young people should be fascinated by that which shocks and startles ancient prejudices, but as men grow old and know the world, they are more inclined to seek the old ways and walk therein. The Kadical, says some one, is only a young Conservative. The Conservative is but an old Radical.
In closing this head of our argument, we must briefly indicate what may be regarded as the keystone in all this controversy concerning the descent of man. This is the power of human development. No man is sunk so low that he may not be reclaimed and elevated. But not so the brute. It remains forever on the same level. It is not denied that we have many things in common with the brute, such as appetites and passions, but we claim the power to rise higher than they ever can in the scale of being. The difference between a Hottentot and a gorilla, we are told, is slight. But the resemblance is only an apparent one. Is there a single instance where a gorilla has passed over into a man? The Hottentot is always susceptible of elevation and civilization, the gorilla is not.
This theory of the development of animals does not stand the test of observation. History preserves no record of a time when dogs were less sagacious than they are to day. And if it is urged that immense periods of time are required for the change, we call attention to the fact that geology,—the testimony of the rocks through countless ages.—utterly fails to substantiate this hypothesis. If we examine the fossils, the petrified animals of the geological world, we do not find the slightest evidence that would sustain this theory. Through millions of years we fail to discover the least disposition on the part of one species, to pass over into
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The Church Review, Volume 28
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another. Down to the granite core of the earth, we trace the fish that swim to day. The late Prof. Agassiz was a life long opponent of the theory of Mr. Darwin, which, already, has begun to lose its hold on the best minds among the scientists of the old world; the writer of this has frequently heard him arraign it in the most pronounced and unequivocal way.
There remains a single point and we are done.
If all that Darwin says is true, what then?
Suppose we grant that one and the same principle of life pervades all nature, that the lowest form is a cell and the highest man himself; that between these, in ebb and flow, stands animated nature; will it follow irresistibly that man has no assured existence, no pre-eminence above the brute? Must we then conclude that, at death, the plants, the animals, the human race are all merged at last, or slip off, as it were, into one stupendous sea of being? Is the universe alone immortal?
It is enough to say, in answer to these questions, that the Supreme Being preserves our conscious identity in this world, and will do it in the world to come. We, for our part, can not see that it would practically change our relations with the animals to know precisely what the theory of those relations is. Let it be what it may, the Providence which led us into this life and sustains us here, cau be trusted to lead us safely out of it, and to take care of us when we get out.
If it were plainly shown that man had been developed from the lower forms of life, we should only see in it a pledge of infinite progress and unending expansion in the myriad ages yet to come— a fore-gleam of our immortality.
It may be the plan of the Divine Being to hold for a time in this world, as in a crucible, all the elements of animalism, which shall combine and at last foment a creature strong enough to wing its way to higher spheres of life, born upwards in its steady, onward, flight, by the breath of Him whose will is law,—in ceaseless progress towards perfection.
Let the result of this controversy, then, be what it will, “the faith” remains unchanged, for we are assured that in life and death,—in the one as well as in the other—”we are the Lord’s.”
JOHN EDGAR JOHNSON.
THE CHURCH IN THE MARITIME PROVINCES OF CANADA.
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
There is, for many reasons, a peculiar interest connected with this subject. The Church has ever had regard for the “day of small things.” Places or people of small note among the nations, are often of the greatest importance to that Church, whose glory arises from Nazareth of Galilee.
The circumstances under which this Church was founded in Asia Minor, Greece, and Europe, under the mission of St. Paul, afford room for the most careful investigation and often help to elucidate marked expressions in the Epistles. What would not the theologian be willing to give for a fuller or more authentic account of the first gospel missions, in the days of St. Paul, to that once little known Island, in that “far West,” the then abode of barbarism whence more than from any other place on earth, has gone forth the sound of the Church into all lands 1
In a worldly point of view the countries named in this paper, are of comparatively little importance, yet the day may come when the Church in the dominion of Canada, the descendants of the honest, hardy inhabitants of her seaboard, will be ready to do a good part in extending a knowledge of the truth to distant countries.
To what are, at present, three Dioceses, of large extent, attention is now invited. That comprising Newfoundland, the coast of Labrador, and Bermuda; Nova Scotia including Prince Edward’s Island, and New Brunswick known as the Diocese of Fredericton.
In the early history of the Church in the British colonial possessions, there is one point worthy of attention. On the part of those in authority in the mother country, there was a prominent recognition of the claims of the Church, in striking contrast to the policy of statesmen of the present day. A company was established in 1612, to form a colony at Bermuda. The following forms one of the clauses drawn up, and subscribed to by the members of the corporation. “Ever to continue in that faith, into the which we were baptized in the Church of England, and to stand in defence of the same against all * * * deviating from the said word and faith.” About the same period Great Britain obtained possession of Newfoundland, and we find, among other instructions set forth by Lord Bacon, then chief in the government, the following passage. “The Church in those parts should agree with that which is settled in England, and be subordinate to some Bishop of this Realm.” It seems so strange that the necessity of sending out Bishops in charge of these infant churches was not at once provided for.
In the year 1610, a company was formed for the trade of Newfoundland and principally in the words of the royal patent,
“For increase of the knowledge of the Omnipotent God. and the Propagation of the Christian Faith,” and it was stated in an address of one of the earliest missionaries,—” it is by a Plan tation in Newfoundland, that the poor inhabitants of this country, may be reduced from barbarism to the knowledge of God and the light of His truth.”
Under somewhat similar circumstances, about the same time the Church was first established in Bermuda. There was, however, this great difference. The tropical climate and scenery of this lovely Island formed a striking contrast to the forbidding features, the cold and fogs of Newfoundland. Emigrants of a higher class, apart from the purpose of trade, were ready to make Bermuda their future home. Its position too, as the Gibraltar of the West Indies, made it from an early period, what it is to day, a post of the first importance for the army and navy of Great Britain.
The first settlers in Bermuda, solemnly bound themselves to the following declaration.
“We do faithfully promise, aud by these presents, solemnly bind ourselves evermore to worship the one true and living God * * * and ever to continue in that faith into which we were baptized in the Church of England, and to stand in defence of the same, against all sectaries * * * dissenting from the said word and faith.”
What might have been gained for the cause of Christ, had this spirit been fostered, and the Church been enabled to put forth all her strength from the first!
The distracted state of the empire, frequent wars, and more than all, the pursuit of gain on the part of the early traders left the Church in these colonies for many years sadly in the background. Very little seems to have been done for the natives, and the Church barely kept an existence among the Europeans. In the year 1704, it is authentically stated, that,
“Newfoundland has several settlers of English, to the amount of several thousands, but no public exercise of religion except at St. John, where there is a congregation, but unublo to subsist a minister.”
The Province of Nova Scotia, then including that of New Brunswick, was in 1621, recognized by royal charter as belonging to the crown of Great Britain. As in former documents of a like character, the holy purpose regarding the establishment of the Church, is most, promineut. Very little seems however to have been done in furtherance of these enactments. Yet they still bear witness to the claims of the colonies to the spiritual birthright of the mother country.
In the year 1749, a body of settlers was sent out to Nova Scotia under a company which provided for the support of missionaries and schoolmasters. A hard lot awaited these early pioneers. “Food,” writes one of these missionaries, in a very pinching time, “food, I have but barely; as to raiment, I am in great distress, for I receive no additional benefits from the people here.” Those pious declarations in the royal charters were not it seems of much benefit in this poor man’s case.
The earliest settlements in New Brunswick were by the French. The first missionary tour made in the Province by a clergyman of the Church of England, was in 1769. It is said that the Indians on the St. John river, “assembled, and at prayer they all knelt and behaved very devoutly.” It is terrible to think of the great wrong by which the Church of England has faded to gain the aborigines of these Maritime Provinces. A rapid glance at the history before us shows how this was so.
Up to the middle of the 18th century, say 130 years ago, the Church in these Dioceses does not present a hopeful picture. Various events were, however, ready now to work a favorable change. The original charters to companies were now assumed by the government, and in a few years, the different colonies were provided with representative forms of government.
True to the old traditional feeling, the crown reserved to the Church, various tracts of land, which in many instances have since become valuable. But most of all, the existence and extension of the Church on this continent, is due to the establishment and blessed work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. No better history of the American Colonial Church, can be obtained than in the early reports of this Society. Never was there formed a nobler league of nobler men, than that of which it is said in their first report, [a portion of which is now before the writer,] the object is, “to recover the ground lost * * * in reducing all denominations into one fold, whether Jews or Gentiles * * * England hath been too much wanting to herself in this great concern.” In this first report it is stated that grants have been made to missionaries to the Indians, to bring into the Church’s fold, such as those who form an important portion of the American Church in her Western Dioceses, and in that of Ontario. Grants at this time were made by the Society in aid of the Church in New York, and what are now leading cities and States. In many instances the work thus begun, often in a small way, laid the foundation of the present strongholds of the Church, and this work is gladly traced, and gratefully remembered by our brethren in the United States.
One great draw-back as was urged so often upon thejgovernment in England by the Colonial Church, and reiterated by the Society, was the want of Bishops. This was one of the evils resulting from the union of Church and State, and the narrow views regarding the Church entertained by the statesmen of that time. It was not till the year 1787, that this great want was supplied. In that year the See of Nova Scotia was established, and Dr. C. Inglis was appointed the first Colonial Bishop. His Diocese included all that territory
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to which the present article refers. The Diocese of Newfoundland was established in 1839, and that of Fredericton, comprising the Province of New Brunswick, in the year 1845.
Some idea may be formed of the growth of the Church, when we are told that while 88 years ago there was one Colonial Bishop, there are now at least 40 Colonial, besides 12 missionary Bishops.
That great revolution, which ended in the formation of the United States, was the means of a vast change in the Church in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Large numbers of loyalists left their homes and came with their families, to these thinly inhabited coasts. They were, for the most part, members of the Church of England, and men of stern principle and much culture. Several clergymen were companions of these exiles, and were at once employed by the Society. In most instances they were men highly fitted for their trying duties. The son of the first Bishop, who succeeded to the office, informed the Society, that in less than 60 years, he had seen the clergy in the Diocese of Nova Scotia increase from 5 to 50. In what is at present the Diocese of Fredericton, the Church obtained little foothold, till after the arrival of the loyalists. The French, members of the Church of Rome, had their own missionaries, who must have been zealous and laborious in bringing the native Indians into their communion. A work which the Church of England failed to do.
With our present facilities for travelling, our railroads and steamers, we can form little idea of the hardships of the first missionaries in these countries. They had to make their way as best they might, along the coasts, by the shores of the rivers, or through the forest, from.one settlement to another. Year by year, however, the prospect brightened. The report of the S. P. G., for 1803, is now before the writer. It speaks of the appointment of the Rev. Mr. Pidgeon, as missionary at Fredericton, now the cathedral city. The report tells us that Dr. Byles, missionary at St. John, now one of the most flourishing cities of the dominion, had baptized 62 that year. He speaks of the decreasmg influence of the dissenters in his mission. Mention is also made of duties performed, with much nppnrent success, at posts which are now prominent in the Diocese. One missionary writes of the mtemperate zeal of the “New Lights,” which “at first had unsettled many of his parishioners, but who were now returning to a sober sense of religion, and of their duty.” It is most worthy of notice that the number of baptisms in the infant state of the Church, is far greater in proportion than those reported at the present day.
The hardships, incident to the state of the country, were increased to these first missionaries, by those who sought to draw off the members of the Church, to various systems of dissent. Families of churchmen, living in distant settlements, could but very seldom be reached by the over-worked clergyman, and at the present day, the effects of this are seen in the numbers of those hostile to that communion with which their parents were connected.
The connection of the Church with the State, was in some respects, a hindrance to its advancement. It gave rise to much conflict in the Colonial legislatures, which was continued until the union was finally severed.
While New Brunswick remained a portion of the Diocese of Nova Scotia, it received only four visits from the Bishop. These were of short duration, and only extended to the most important parishes. Churchmen of the present day, may look back to the times to which we now refer; to the bare ill-arranged Churches, only a few of which now remain; they hear or read of undue attention to order and ritual, but they would do well to remember the character of the work in which the clergy were thus engaged. Would they, who think themselves wiser and better than those who have gone before them, have submitted so patienily to such hardships, and have laid so well the foundations, on which we now are building?
In the year 1845, the first Bishop of Fredericton was consecrated. Soon after, the beloved Bishop Inglis was called to his rest, and was succeeded by the present Bishop of Nova Scotia. Bishop Feild was now in charge of the Diocese of Newfoundland. God, in His mercy, had thus called three learned zealous and devoted men to preside over this extensive portion of His Church.
Now we arrive at a new era; we may be prepared for a favorable change, and also for encounter with new difficulties. The State had determined to leave the Church in the like position with other bodies of Christians. The Society in England intimated its determination not only to give no further aid to new missions, but gradually to withdraw that already afforded. For its existence and extension the Church in these Dioceses was now, to a great degree, to depend on its own resources. This gave rise to the institution of Diocesan Church Societies, which called for the offerings and co-operation of every member of the Church. For many years, the work undertaken by these Societies, was slow and discouraging, and the most sanguine could hardly have anticipated the influence they exercise at the present time. That in the Diocese of Fredericton is now in its fortieth year. It originated in the wise foresight and good judgment of the late Archdeacon Coster, and takes precedence in point of time, of like institutions in the other Dioceses.
But the time to which we now refer, was fraught with many difficulties. It was just the beginning of that movement, by which the Church in England was led to assume her distinctive position; resulting in a greater regard for her ordinances, the restoration of her Churches, the erection of others more fitting for their sacred purpose, and new life in the great work of missions at home and abroad. Slowly but steadily this movement extended to the Colonial Church. It was met there with determined opposition. Conservative Church and a State churchmanship disliked all change, or what was called, innovation The movement was misunderstood by shallow theologians. It disturbed the comfort and repose of the easy-going churchmen. But, the greatest difficulty of all, it raised the old popular, “no popery” cry. Want of wisdom and prudence in too many instances alarmed the timid. Those ignorant of or hostile to the Church’s claims and position, left no stone unturned in their bitter oppostion. Then the sad tidings came of defections to Rome, on the part of many of the first leaders in this movement. It was industriously contended, with great force on the popular mind, that any change from slovenliness and neglect tornore reverence in public worship, any attempt to conform to the teaching and rules of the Prayer-book, more reverent and frequent celebration of the Sacraments, any distinctive dogmatic church teaching, was most dangerous, to be watched and guarded against, especially by the Laity. Those who during the past thirty years have been asked to take an active part in the work of the Church in these Dioceses, know well of the trials arising from
the sources alluded to. Nor can the fact be disguised that, for a time, the onward progress of the Church was severely affected. Its new position did not suit the popular taste. Temporary strength and numbers were added to the various christian denominations. But the thoughtful observer, may see now clear indications of a different state of feeling. A reaction is evident. Those faithful to the Church’s teaching, most prominent in seeking her good, foremost among whom have been the Bishops of these Dioceses, have pretty well lived down suspicion. Intelligent laymen have studied out the subject for themselves. The like conclusion is every where being arrived at. The maintenance of the distinctive position of the Church is found to be the only safeguard against error on either side. Her creeds they have found firmly based on the facts of history. Her doctrines they find, bear the test, better than those of any other branch of the Church, of universal tradition, from the earliest primitive ages. To bring this about, as far as it has gone, has required much labor, much teaching and great patience, and the blessed work is only just in its infancy.
But with all the hindrances alluded to, the Church in these Maritime Provinces has, during the past thirty years, made steady progress. Churches have been built with some regard to architecture. The barn-like style of previous years is nowhere reproduced. This is specially the case in the Diocese of Fredericton, and is due to the excellent taste of the Bishop, whose Cathedral will remind many ages to come of his zeal, for the house of God and “the offices thereof.” Nor was this improvement only an improvement in externals. The Church with a style marking it as a house of prayer, with its open seats, soon to be every where free and unappropriated, the font at the door, the well arranged Holy Table the most prominent object in the Church, all this has its teaching, and aids in leading to reverence and worship.
Frequent, hearty well arranged services, confined no longer to the Lord’s day, the celebration of Holy Communion from once a quarter or once a month, to every alternate Sunday, and in many cases to every Sunday, the increasing reverent attendance at the services, all are marks of a deep feeling of devotion, which is evidently gaining ground, especially among the youuger members of the Church. It is now found that the distinctive principles of the Church, may be held and taught with an exhibition in the daily life and character of the fruits of the Holy Spirit . In years gone by, spiritual life was supposed to be confined to what was called the evangelical school, or to those who had separated from the Church’s communion. It is no longer so.
In the way of sound religious education, much is sadly wanting. This arises from our unhappy divisions. It will take hard continued labor, through many years to come, to lead the people in these Provinces, to feel that the most important portion of education, is that which cannot now be taught or gained in the public schools. At the same time it must be thankfully noticed that in catechising, in the teaching in Sunday Schools, in an awakening sense of the duties of parents and sponsors, in the preparation of candidates for confirmation, there is a marked improvement compared with past years. Many of the young people are being in this way trained for the position they are to fill by and by, when “others will have entered into our labors.” Apart from the four Bishops who now so ably preside over the Dioceses in these Provinces, the clergy have more than doubled since the year 1845. They number now a little over two hundred, all with few exceptions, actively and judiciously engaged in their master’s work.
Allusion has already been made to the Diocesan Church Societies, which answer in some respects to the Board of Missions in the American Church. Every member of the Church is called upon to make annual offerings to these Societies, and every subscriber is a member. Each parish or mission elects annually two lay delegates who, with the resident clergyman, have the disposition of the funds. These Societies, and especially that in New Brunswick, are frequently benefited by legacies, and in Nova Scotia a large amount has been raised for an endowment fund. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, entrusts the disposition of its funds to the Diocesan committee, and proposes within a limited period, to withdraw the aid at present afforded, for the benefit of those more in need. There is every reason to believe that the Church in these Provinces will be ready to supply this deficiency, and become stronger by more self-reliance. Every year there is an advance in the home missionary work, and of late offerings to
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a considerable amount, have been sent from these Dioceses for missions in Foreign countries.
The Bishop of Newfoundland has established a theological school at St. John, for the benefit of candidates for the ministry, by which means many most useful clergymen have been provided for that Diocese. The work there is of a peculiar character, and exposed to much danger and hardship. The writer has lately received a most interesting letter from a retired missionary of Newfoundland, who came from England with Bishop Spencer in 1839, and has, till within a few years, labored constantly in charge of an extensive mission. “There are now,” he writes,” at least forty-five clergy not confined to a few localities, as they were a few years ago, but scattered over the Island, encircling the whole coast. The Straits of Belle Isle, and part of Labrador, the Western, Southern and Eastern shores have the benefit of the Church’s ministrations. But still there are very many settlements which call for help, distant from each other and difficult of access. They are lonely and require much self-sacrifice in every way on the part of those able to be satisfied with a little.” The Church is being firmly established, especially in the city of St. John, and good Bishop Feild, after a life of unusual labor will, when called to his rest, leave a work well grounded and prepared for his successor.
There is one institution with which the present and future wellbeing the Church in these Provinces, is most closely connected, that of King’s College, Windsor, Nova Scotia. This College was founded by Royal Charter, soon after the appointment of the first Colonial Bishop. It is in the language of a kind friend, “a recognized university of high standing, with a bright roll of honorable names of graduates, who have distinguished themselves in law, divinity, and literature.” The College is said to be well supplied with able professors, and has an extensive and valuable library. Many facilities are provided, especially for students in theology. The institution is well endowed, and wholly under the management of the Church. There is a movement now going on, which can hardly fail to be successful, by which the Dioceses in these Provinces, will unite in making Windsor the future nursery of their divinity students.
It is only within a very few years that the Church in the Maritime Provinces, undertook to legislate for itself by synodical action. This is done now in each Diocese, and in most respects very satistorily. The yearly meetings are marked by increasing unity and avoidance of party feeling. A beneficial effect—apart from any resulting from legislation, is being produced by bringing together the clergy and lay representatives, for the attainment of one common object.
Two years ago, a further advance was made by the union of the Dioceses of Nova Scotia and Fredericton, with the Provincial Synod. Newfoundland will, it is hoped, before the next meeting, be ready to overcome the geographical difficulty, and follow the example of her sister Dioceses. By this union, the Church here is placed in accordance with that in the United States. Our Diocesan and Provincial Synods, answering to their Diocesan and General Conventions.
The result of the first meeting of the Provincial Synod at Montreal last September, comprising representatives from each Diocese in the Dominion, was very encouraging, much strength and increasing confidence were imparted both to the House of Bishops, and the Lower House.
In comparison with the whole Church in the United States, that portion of which this paper treats, has made small progress. So it may be said with regard to individual Dioceses in the American Church, which were destitute of many of the aids named here. But, through the means before spoken of, the Church in these Provinces, has maintained a deeper hold in the poor and country districts, than in the New England Dioceses. The time may come, when in many instances what are now considered insignificant posts, will be great centres for surrounding missionary labor.
But now in judging from this hasty glance at the past and present, what hope and work has the Church before her in the future? First and foremost the future will be affected by religious education. This must come through the Church. The minds of churchmen will be aroused to this great subject. The leaven of the Church’s teaching will go on to “leaven the whole lump.” As in the mother country, so it will be wherever the Church is aroused to her duty, By and by, the minds of those well instructed in early youth, will be called to fill positions of influence. So it has been in England, and the effect is noticed in the consideration of the great questions regarding the Church and education, by the House of Commons.
The Colonial Home Mission work is only begun; and missions are waiting to be formed in every portion of the Dominiou. The Provincial Synod must soon have its special Foreign Mission. The most earnest and devout among the young men of the laity, are settling themselves to this view of things, and it must go on.
Then comes the great, the all-important question regarding men fitted for missionary life, the least attractive, in a temporal point of view, of any to those capable of advancement in other callings. Such men are to be had in this country. “The Lord hath need of them.” They must be looked after. Some are now in their cradles or at school. They are not confined to any particular class in society. That Church institution before alluded to at Windsor, must draw these young men from every quarter. Then they must be trained, as far as possible for these peculiar duties. They must have an abundance of those highest gifts of intellect, so valuable for this high service. They must moreover, have that gift, the most necessary of all, the gift of wisdom, common sense, that qualification shown to be so indispensable by the Bishop of Maine, in the last number of this periodical. Great have been the benefits imparted to the Colonial Church, by those sent forth from England for the missionary field, and well may she hope, from time to time, for a continuance of these favors. But the prosperity of the Church for the future, must rest upon the labors and the ability of her own children. Well enough they do for other professions. There is no need to send to other countries for our lawyers, our judges, or our statesmen. Do the clergy compare so unfavorably with those in other callings?
Welcome to those who come from elsewhere, to join under like circumstances, with a native clergy. In this matter there must be no feeling, but that of rivalry in gaining to the Church. But there can be no policy so suicidal, none so perfectly hopeless with regard to the future, as that by which the young men of the country, are led to consider that the most useful and influential positions in the Church, are beyond their reach.
Only give the Church fair play, and years to come will witness her beneficent work in this Dominion. Years must come and go before the very many in these Provinces, closely bound up in their several communions, will be moved from their position. Within and without, the Church has much to do before she can look for such a result, excepting in solitary instances. But outside of these concentrated bodies, there are thousands and thousands from many of whom the sad cry goes up to heaven, “no man careth for my soul.” They are living and they are dying as heathen. Now among such there lies no end of work for the Church. The writer now speaks from experience. These lost and straying sheep are ready to receive the teaching of the Church. Her teaching too with no uncertain sound. They are often very intelligent. They can be asked to “search the scriptures.” They are ready to receive what the Prayer book and Catechism set forth. They want something definite, something reliable. The Church only waits for men, the right sort of men, and other means will come to do this work, which is waiting all over our country.
To those who give consideration to these great questions, there is one thing very plain. Apart from questions in theology of right or wrong, the people in these Provinces will have no imitations of the customs and doctrines of mediceval Rome. As noticed above, the battle has years ago been fought and partly gained in favor of the primitive teaching of the Church, in her formularies. That ought to be enough. It is sufficient to form the noblest characters, and to fit for life or death. But whether or no, those who feel they must copy after Rome, will find more easy work, and perhaps do less injury, by going on a mission to convert the inhabitants of Turkey or Japan. What might do in large cities—with peculiar minds and habits, will not suit for the spiritual culture of the earnest practical hard working people of these Provinces.
The Church here must be the Church of England, as it was reformed after the model of the best and purest times. Presented as such, its teaching will be received, and its influence will extend from generation to generation. Statesmen tell us of the great future of the Dominion of Canada. Those who know it most, know of its vast resources. In that predicted physical prosperity, it must be that the Maritime Provinces will largely share. They must be the outlet to the Upper Provinces. And may not this glad time be looked for, when by the earnest hardy dwellers on the seaboard, the glad tidings of salvation shall be carried to other distant lands, even as in years gone by, the same glad tidings were brought to
them.
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