DOCSLIB.ORG

Religion Worthy Ofa Free People

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Religion Worthy Ofa Free People RELIGIOUS PRACTICES AND DISCOURSES IN LONDON ON 1870-90 RELIGION WORTHY OF A FREE PEOPLE RELIGIOUS PRACTICES AND DISCOURSES IN LONDON, ONTARIO, 1870-1890 BY KENNETH L. DRAPER, M.A. A Dissertation Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © ,Copyright by Kenneth L. Draper, January 2000 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2000) MCMASTER UNIVERSITY (History) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: Religion Worthy ofa Free People AUTHOR: Kenneth L. Draper, B.A. (Queen's University), M.A. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Professor Michael Gauvreau NUMBER OF PAGES: x,357 ii McMASTER UNIVERSITY LlBRARV ABSTRACT Employing the concept of "governmentality" developed by French poststructuralist Michel Foucault. this study investigates religious practices in congregatiohallife and in _ interdenominational associations as well as the religious discourse of the local clergy and newspaper editors. It works at the local level to place religion in the public and private spaces of late nineteenth-century London Ontario. Methodologically it departs from many important local studies of religIon in society by adopting a cultural rather than demographic approach. This approach allows attention to the diversities and ambiguities of religious practices and discourses as the churches negotiated their place in liberal society. The argument suggests that religion was called upon to produce self-governing citizens to ensure the efficiency of the liberal society corning into being in London. The arts of government this liberal society required centred on disciplines of freedom which religion could provide to the degree it conformed to the liberal imperatives of rationality, universality, and harmony across traditional sectional divides. Thus religion had public place in ensuring social stability just as it had in its traditional establishment role. However the governmentality of freedom had changed the spaces in which religion could work. Individual freedom of conscience in matters religious was essential to liberal society and thus religion had to fulfil its public role without public authority. Moreover, the power of religion to provide an alternative construction of reality to that of liberal society required that religion itself be carefully controlled and disciplined by liberal values. In this situation local congregations and local clergy were inspired to contribute to the spiritual and material project of constructing a religion worthy of a free people, but, in doing so, found the practices that grounded their identity in a particular way of being Christian challenged and eroded. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS McMaster University and the· Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council generously funded the research for this study. The opportunity to finally write what I had been working on for almost a decade was provided by a sabbatical leave from Canadian Bible College. I am most grateful for the financial support these institutions have provided. The original idea and the early encouragement to pursue a local study of religion in Victorian Ontario came from a graduate seminar and subsequent interactions with Dr. David Gagan who 'guided this project through the proposal and early research stage. Professor Gagan's insights were essential to defining the problem and the scope of the study. With Professor Gagan's move to the University of Winnipeg, Dr. Michael Gauvreau graciously agreed to supervise the completion of the project. Professor Gauvreau has been most patient through long delays in promised production and has throughout provided the encouragement so needed to bring this project to its present stage. In this last year particularly, I have benefited from Professor Gauvreau's wide erudition, appreciated his thorough reading of chapter fragments, and enjoyed some extended conversations which helped to place this work within current debates. A number of colleagues have, at different points in the struggle, helped me to think more deeply and eX1>ress myself more clearly than is my wont. In particular I am grateful to Andy Holman, Doug Wiebe, Ken Nickel, Andy Reimer, and Nancy Christie who listened to me experiment with these ideas of their own free will; and to the students in my seminars at Canadian Bible College and Canadian Theological Seminary who listened because I set the exam. My sabbatical required a redistribution of duties among very cooperative colleagues, and I thank them all for their support. The load fell particularly heavily upon Edna Nordin and Paul Spilsbury, to whom I am most grateful. Gordon Smith. Mark Boda, and Ken Nickel formed themselves into a dissertation completion triumvirate, effectively marshalling gentle encouragement, friendly support. and veiled threats to promote the desired result. iv Writing this dissertation took a great deal of solitary effort. much of it locked in a room away from children and students with only Blue Rodeo, the Cowboy Junkies and the Holly Cole Trio to keep me at it. But finishing the project and making sure that most of it was in English and conformed to all relevant standards took help. My sincere thanks to Irene Draper who has been the first reader of much ormy work all my life and continues to take an active interest. and to Sandy Ayer who miraculously turned tortured bits of prose into something which actually advanced the argument. Lesley Perry has read this thing with great care too many times, has served as my unfailing guide to proper formatting, and has revealed her true calling as master of the comma. All remaining infelicities are my own doing. My family deserves mention as a cause of constant distraction. Our oldest son was born as I was writing the first draft of the proposal for this study; we now have four children. Without them this work would have been completed much earlier, but life would lack the strange joy and persistent worry that comes with learning to parent. My commitment to them has informed the way I think about religion and identity and freedom, all themes central to narrative that follows. This study is for my children and for Carla, without whom I'd be someone else doing something else entirely. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... iv Abbreviations........................•••...•..•...................................••••••.......•••••.•••..•.••..•........................ ix List of Figures and Tables ......................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 Introduction ...............................................................•.........•..................•.................................. 1 Religion in Nineteenth-Century Ontario ................................................................................ 4 Transformation to Liberal Society ....................................................................................... 12 Religion and liberal society .......................................................................................... 16 Public and private space ............................................................................................... 20 Identity and agency ...................................................................................................... 25 Transformations of Religion in early Nineteenth-Century Ontario ........................................ 31 Outline of the Argument ..................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 2 Public Worship •..•.•.••••••.•......................................................•......•..•..•••.••••.•••.......................... 38 Building for the Millennium ................................................................................................ 39 Building St. Peter's ............................................................................................................. 54 Worship. Music. and Liturgy ............................................................................................... 60 Fears of ritualism ......................................................................................................... 63 Catholic worship .......................................................................................................... 66 Music .......................................................................................................................... 67 Approaches to worship ................................................................................................. 73 Church Finances and Giving ............................................................................................... 74 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 82 Chapter 3 Church Life ............................................................................................................................. 84 The Nature of the Church .................................................................................................... 84 Methodists ................................................................................................................... 85 Presb)terians ..............................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Networking Anglican Settler Colonialism at the Shingwauk Home, Huron College, and Western University
    22 Historical Studies in Education / Revue d’histoire de l’éducation ARTICLES / ARTICLES “My Own Old English Friends”: Networking Anglican Settler Colonialism at the Shingwauk Home, Huron College, and Western University Natalie Cross Carleton University Thomas Peace Huron University College ABSTRACT Focusing on Huron College, Shingwauk Residential School, and Western University, this article considers how common social and financial networks were instrumental in each in- stitution’s beginnings. Across the Atlantic, these schools facilitated the development of net- works that brought together settlers, the British, and a handful of Indigenous individuals for the purposes of building a new society on Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe Land. Looking specifically at the activities of Huron’s principal, Isaac Hellmuth, and Shingwauk’s principal, Rev. Edward F. Wilson, the article demonstrates how ideas about empire, Christian benevo- lence, and resettlement entwined themselves in the institutions these men created. Specifically, Anglican fundraising in both Canada and England reinforced the importance of financial networks, but also drew upon and crafted an Indigenous presence within these processes. Analyzing the people, places, and ideologies that connected Huron, Western, and Shingwauk demonstrates how residential schools and post-secondary education were ideologically — and financially — part of a similar, if not common, project. As such, the article provides a starting point for considering how divergent colonial systems of schooling were intertwined to serve the developing settler-colonial project in late nineteenth-century Ontario. RÉSUMÉ En se concentrant sur le Collège universitaire Huron, le pensionnat Shingwauk et l’Université Western, cet article examine le rôle-clé que les réseaux sociaux et financiers communs ont joué aux origines de chacune de ces institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • Seventieth Anniversary, St. Paul's Cathedral, London, Ont., 1835-1905
    LONDON aOOM i . I Seveniieih i i JTnniversarif j WilliI O ' LONDON OHT. 1835-1905 ->/>. January 25ih, 1905 ^^iJ^utiv^tlt ^mn'txtx^Kx^ OHT. 1835-1905. January 25th, 1905. 1835 - 1905 COMPILED BY THE RECTOR AND PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES O F The BrotIterhood of St. Andrew Senior Chapter Jfo. 152. Director T. DEELEY. Secretary-Treasurer . H. STARCK. Recording-Secretary . O. COPNER. Junior Chapter J/o. 17. Director T. H. LUSCOMBE. Secretary-Treasurer . H. G. HISCOX. 905 Printed by The London Printing & Lithographing Company London, Ontario. [Limited^ ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL AND CKONYN HALL (view from richmonij strektJ. [Qx)PKR & San»eks] k ^t l^Kxxl^s Clutrrlt miit l^mhh JUST 70 years ago, in the year A. D. 1835, the first in their tongue meant "The Antlered River." As early as church of St. Paul's was erected in London. It 1793, one hundred and twelve years ago, on the 13th of was a wooden building, occupying the site of the February, Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe visited the present present Cathedral, and had its entrance door facing site of London, attended by Major Littlehales and Col. the south. The congregation was ministered to by the Rev. Talbot, then Lieutenant. Observing its favourable con- Benjamin Cronyn, who afterwards became the first bishop of ditions, water supply, fertile soil and woods, they selected the Huron diocese. it as a very suitable site It is inter- for the capital of Upper in con- esting, Canada, naming the place nection with "Georgina," in compliment these facts, to to George III. Up to that notice how Lon- time it had been known to don came to be English settlers as "The a settlement of Forks." a Church of England congre- The Province of Que- gation, and how bec, in the year 1791, had the Benja- Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • Provincial Plaques Across Ontario
    An inventory of provincial plaques across Ontario Last updated: May 25, 2021 An inventory of provincial plaques across Ontario Title Plaque text Location County/District/ Latitude Longitude Municipality "Canada First" Movement, Canada First was the name and slogan of a patriotic movement that At the entrance to the Greater Toronto Area, City of 43.6493473 -79.3802768 The originated in Ottawa in 1868. By 1874, the group was based in Toronto and National Club, 303 Bay Toronto (District), City of had founded the National Club as its headquarters. Street, Toronto Toronto "Cariboo" Cameron 1820- Born in this township, John Angus "Cariboo" Cameron married Margaret On the grounds of his former Eastern Ontario, United 45.05601541 -74.56770762 1888 Sophia Groves in 1860. Accompanied by his wife and daughter, he went to home, Fairfield, which now Counties of Stormont, British Columbia in 1862 to prospect in the Cariboo gold fields. That year at houses Legionaries of Christ, Dundas and Glengarry, Williams Creek he struck a rich gold deposit. While there his wife died of County Road 2 and County Township of South Glengarry typhoid fever and, in order to fulfil her dying wish to be buried at home, he Road 27, west of transported her body in an alcohol-filled coffin some 8,600 miles by sea via Summerstown the Isthmus of Panama to Cornwall. She is buried in the nearby Salem Church cemetery. Cameron built this house, "Fairfield", in 1865, and in 1886 returned to the B.C. gold fields. He is buried near Barkerville, B.C. "Colored Corps" 1812-1815, Anxious to preserve their freedom and prove their loyalty to Britain, people of On Queenston Heights, near Niagara Falls and Region, 43.160132 -79.053059 The African descent living in Niagara offered to raise their own militia unit in 1812.
    [Show full text]
  • Rethinking the Conversion and Career of Bishop Isaac Hellmuth Monda Halpern
    Document generated on 09/30/2021 1 p.m. Ontario History “This Ambitious Polish Jew” Rethinking the Conversion and Career of Bishop Isaac Hellmuth Monda Halpern Volume 99, Number 2, Fall 2007 Article abstract Bishop Isaac Hellmuth is the undisputed father of The University of Western URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1065740ar Ontario, and his devotion to Christianity is celebrated as part of its rich history. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1065740ar Hellmuth, however, was born a Jew. Both Anglican and evangelical sources have treated his Judaism and his 1841 conversion to Christianity in a variety of See table of contents ways, but they are limited. This paper will revisit Hellmuth’s conversion and career through a Jewish lens, profiling a Christian missionary movement in which Hellmuth was active as both a prospective apostate and long-time Publisher(s) emissary. Hellmuth’s conversion has been described as an exclusively religious experience, but amidst European anti-Semitism, it might have been partly The Ontario Historical Society motivated by a desire for position and wealth. Certainly, Hellmuth’s conversion reaped him rewards, although in London, Ontario, he was never ISSN quite able to elude his Jewish past. 0030-2953 (print) 2371-4654 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Halpern, M. (2007). “This Ambitious Polish Jew”: Rethinking the Conversion and Career of Bishop Isaac Hellmuth. Ontario History, 99(2), 221–246. https://doi.org/10.7202/1065740ar Copyright © The Ontario Historical Society, 2007 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online.
    [Show full text]
  • Bannerfebruary 2016 أهال هال ال ،سام الأ،منم أاس م دمان هأ سا ، م ن الأ St
    The Church of St. John the Evangelist BannerFebruary 2016 أهﻻ هﻻ ﻻ ، سام ﻻأ،منم أاس م دمان هأ سا ، م ن ﻻأ St. John’s Refugee Family أ،ل أ ال ياا مأو ﻻ ماو هف من ه أ ن ان Arrives from Lebanon Welcome Mohamed, Samia, Ayman, Ghaidaa and Ahmad, from St. John’s Church! By Stewart McIntyre We hope you have a happy, healthy and successful life in Canada After a major effort in early January, to repair and tance. In addition, they were shown how quickly for they have all been found to be furnish the apartment at 284 and where and how to shop for food, find intelligent eager learners in their respec- St. James, our committee suitable clothing, navigate the bus system, tive schools (Beal for Ghaidaa and Ayman received notification of the manage their finances and household rou- and St. George’s for Ahmad). Samia’s arrival of the Alfarekh fami- Stewart tines, and make connections with fellow teaching experience could appear attrac- ly barely 72 hours before we McIntyre Syrians in London and with the Mosque. tive to schools needing settlement workers met them at a hotel near Much of this was conducted with the aid as the Syrian numbers increase; Moham- Pearson Airport on January 15th. A con- of a fluent Arabic speaker- once a refugee med is going to meet next week with sev- voy of 2 large cars brought them back to himself. eral Arabic-speaking lawyers in London’s their new home through a snowbound and legal community.
    [Show full text]
  • Bishop Terry's Lenten Study Launches Nationally
    URON HURCH EWS HANGLICAN DIOCESE OF HURON • Huron Church C News is a section of the Anglican Journal • M A R C H 2 0 1 5 N The Nick of time Rev. Nick Well as Rev. Canon Major Archdeacon John Brother William Edward, Rev. George Austen Rt. Rev. Benjamin Cronyn . Frederick Scott . Strachan . Moravian missionary, . (Jane Austen’s father) By Wayne Newton interest in bringing history the Thames River from in hospital on Christmas. “When I portray Col. It could be Bishop Ben- alive started before he en- London’s Springbank Park, “I brought cookies and Talbot with the children, jamin Cronyn, Col. Thom- tered the ministry and, on historical figures were sta- candy canes and just visit- I don’t emphasize alcohol as Talbot or Tiger Dunlop. many occasions, dovetailed tioned at the river’s edge ed those who were left in at all . When I do my When people say Rev. Can- with his sermons. He’s also along the way. Nick was hospital during Christmas,” presentation of Talbot for on Nick Wells is a charac- presided over weddings, one of them, playing Rev. he said. “It’s interesting adults, I tend to start off ter, they mean it literally. funerals and a baptism in E.J. Boswell and warning of that St. Nicholas is the one drinking and end up drunk. Nick, who retired in character for members of danger in the town ahead. I’ve been doing for over 30 I can have a lot more fun February 2014 as the co- the historical re-enactors “When they came by me, years, whereas the other with him that way.
    [Show full text]
  • London, Ontario: When Casting Was King
    London, Ontario: When Casting was King (Symbols of Perspiration) To the memory of Alan Geoffrey Anderson 1920-1993 Geoff Anderson symbolsofperspiration.wordpress.com rev 4.1, Sept 5, 2017 Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 PREAMBULATIONS ...................................................................................................................... 1-4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................................... 1-4 PREFACE ................................................................................................................................................................ 1-4 A NOTE ON THE GENEALOGIES .............................................................................................................................. 1-5 REVISION HISTORY LOG ........................................................................................................................................ 1-5 CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 2-7 LONG POINT FURNACE .......................................................................................................................................... 2-9 VAN NORMAN IRONWORKS AT NORMANDALE .................................................................................................... 2-10 SUMMARY SKETCHES OF THE NORMANDALE PERSONALITIES ............................................................................
    [Show full text]