Oleegy Reserve

THE CL E GY E E VE S IN R R S R CANADA. WH E N the Province of C anada was conquered by British ut a tur a o u the forces abo cen y g , its pop lation ' was us e c n ul excl ively Fr n h , and its religio f ly esta li h d h b s e under t e Roman Catholic form . They possessed ample endowments for the main tenance bo of and u o th religion ed cati n ; and, in accordance wi u an th the r les of Establishment, tithes were f and are hi b en orced, they to t s day paid y members of that communionin Lower Canada; fte c n u st ’ e r du A r the o q e , th re was g a ally an intro 'duction of settlers of British origin ; and at the — conclusionof the revolutionary war which terminated ' in the e n n t he aes r ind p e de ce of United St t of Ame ica, u . w en' the loyalists who abandoned that co ntry ere_ ' ' c oi l raged to settle in the more we sterly portions of t he o In 1 1 u v . 79 c nq ered pro ince the year , it was ‘ considered expedient to divide , the province into L and r a a c o u ower Uppe C n da, as their respe tive p p l ations h ad o u u bec me so diverse in lang age , c stoms , “ I n m t u conse and creed . fra ing the new Cons it tion . quent upon this division of the p rovince,it was not f e t as an r e t the orgott n hat, ample , p ovision xis ed for A 2 4 maintenance of the Roman Catholic faith in L ower u u Canada , some corresponding s pport sho ld be se u c red for the Protestant religion in Upper Canada . As the adoption of tithes for this purpose was not - of considered advisable , one seventh of all the lands u of u the province , in lie of that ancient mode religio s ui endowment , was req red to be set apart , in the of u of progress the s rveys , for the maintenance a ' Prot stant Protestant Clergy. Why the term e was here employed, is explained by the fact that the tithe s endowments in the sister province existed v and ' u of R omas'; entirely for the s pport a clergy . The adoption of the term Protestant in this case woul d render more clear the obj ect and necessity of such an of u u appropriation lands for religio s p rposes . And if ' r l u the term P otestant was iable to misconstr ction , as seeming to comprehend other religious bodies than ur u ul b the National Ch ch , do bt wo d be removed y of Cler c n the annexation the word gy whi h , accordi g u e u to all existing legal sag , co ld only be felt to apply to the ministers of the Established Church of England. u di d un u A q estion , however arise , fo ded pon the “ ' ue of vag signification the term Protestant, as to the exclusive right of the Church of E ngland to this religious provision ; and the dispute which grew out of 1 840 it was only terminated in , when an Act was i 3 4 V . passed, ( and ictor a, chap finally disposing of u u and d all do btf l interpretations , deci ing that the “ terms Protestant Clergy might be construed to V 0 include other ministers than those of the Church of Englan d ; and assigning to t he latter about on e-half ' of the provision for religious instruction which here u o tofore had been regarded as excl sively her wn . In the progress of discussion upon this p oint in the u Colonial Legislat re , the proposal was occasionally H u of , advanced and _ adopted in the o se Assembly that it was expedient to apply these reserved lands to the advancement of general education ; but this was a proposition uniformly ’ rejected by the Legislative u ff u a Co ncil ; and , after many ine ect al ttempts at a 1 839 comp romise , it was , in , decided by the whole u Provincial Legislat re , that the Clergy Reserve lands r - ur should be e invested in the Crown. This meas e was founded upon the belief that a division of the property coul d be made by Parliament here with more prudence and j ustice than could be ensured ' of amidst the heat and strife local legislation . The Act of 1 840 was the result of this reference of the u ri an d q estion to the Impe al Parliament, it was ex “ pressly stated to be for the final settlement of the u n of t he of q estio the Clergy Reserves , maintenance ffu of religion , and the di sion Christian knowledge ' . u not within that province That it was so j dged, r of u of ut only by f iends the Ch rch England , b by “ vi many of her political opponents , is e dent from the language of one who afterwards became most unac countably the advocate of the violation of that Act of “ e m Mr . R I CE 1 846 u n u s ttle ent _ P , in ,d ri g a disc ssion ~ w u n u in the L s ai e hich arose ~ po that s bject _ egi l t v “ - - con'ict ; that the country was settling dovvn in t the 3 and that thus one great source o f heart— burnings and' nt to e attribute d ~the ris sentime is b , answe ready, i A n political adventurerto sei'e upon with avdity. d ‘ r to u o it is impo tant here state that , d ring the period f R u u t k in eserve q estion , that disr ption oo place the C u c e o h rch of S otland , which nded in the formation f a- a muni n t e e u sep rate com o , s yl d the Fr e Ch rch ; and a' u u u th t, however nnecessarily or nacco ntably , this controversy in the Established Church of the neigh urin t the bo g coun ry extended to the colonies . When a di u n s me sr ption took place in Canada, and whe the ’ ' larger body of s ecederscame tO regard the smaller body of adherents t o the Scottish National Church as u u which , by their separation; they vol ntarily excl ded — elv eaou combined iwith the thems es j l sy, heat of reli u s e d ur gio s animo ity , l the members of the Free Ch ch to seek the overthrow of the settlement of 1 840 . ' ‘ Where no modification could be entertained by a party who professedl y abj ure d at - the outset all State i ' n it was u u e e dowments and aid , not nnat ral that th y ' sion° a religi on by Which atheir rivals were so much benefited . j ‘ ' This w as a hap py op p ortunity f for the political u u trader, who m st have a capital to work pon ; and ‘ ‘ were engaged in hearty advocacy of the abolition of F ‘ u endowment —it w as the Reserves as a religio s , easy to enlist other allies from among those who were nk lately apathetic . The ra s of that party were easily swe b the n u lled, too , y proposing catchi g l re , that the appropriation of these Clergy lands to ordinary edu ‘ cation woul d serve to relieve the people from a con siderable burden of taxation for the s upport of their ommn o th c o scho ls . At e S ame time it was becoming 8 u u a of r u i s al to elect the pre chers va io s denominat ons , as n u e s of o re tow ship s p rintendent scho ls , with a s ectabl e u u en e p salary, likely to be m ch a gm t d if the Clergy Reserv es could be thrown into the common u u ur lli f nd ; _ and so it was not nnat al that the a ance and hearty supp ort of those shoul d be secure d in this who ul d u u agitation , co th s transfer the reven es of the us u de r religio endowment into stipends, n r anothe c u c s un usti These combined irc mstan e , however j fiabl u u im y and wickedly , acc m lated strength and io was d portance to the agitat n . Political capital ma e u on one u of s to abo nd the hand , and the l re intere t e on the i c nn e t he act d other ; and th s , o ect d with al arm which can be thrown into simple minds by re-awakening the an cient cry of danger to religious “ e asil roduced u of c i u liberty, yp that amo nt fier e d sc s sion and turmoil which woul d warrant the Parliamen tary aspirant in bringing it more formallybefore the In corresponde nce with this feeling— created by means so unprincipled and on grounds so little to be respected— the Address to Her Majesty to allow of renewed and local legislation upon the Clergy R in the of serves was moved by Mr .

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