A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose

the politico-ecclesiastical conflict which was only brought to a close within the memory of the existing generation. By the Imperial Act of 1774, which conceded to the Gallican clergy the right to collect tithes, provision was made for the support of “a Protestant clergy;” and in 1791, one-seventh of the lands was set apart for that purpose in Upper Canada under the name of Clergy Reserves. In 1819, the Presbyterians of Niagara petitioned the lieutenant-governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland, for a grant of £100 for the support of a Scottish Church minister, and boldly hinted that the grant should come from the funds arising from the Clergy Reserves. This memorial was forwarded in due course to Earl Bathurst, the colonial secretary, who replied that the reserves were intended for the established churches of England and Scotland, and not for “denominations” referred to by the governor. This despatch at once aroused Dr. Strachan, who in 1823 forwarded a memorial protesting against the attempt to distribute funds intended for the Anglican church. His somewhat narrow creed, political no less than ecclesiastical, to be rightly understood, must be viewed from his own standpoint, and it may be readily condoned when one contemplates his vigor and patriotic impulse. The law officers of the Crown decided that the Clergy Reserves were not intended exclusively for the Anglican church. As there were two established churches, each equipped with “a Protestant clergy,” they were of opinion that the Church of Scotland had an equal right with the sister communion to a share in the land endowment. They went still further and vindicated the claims of other Protestant denominations. No sooner was this conceded by parliament than the entire ground was cut from beneath the feet of those who advocated a monopoly in state support for religion. Before the Union of 1841, no less than sixteen measures which had passed the Legislative Assembly for the secularization of the Reserves were rejected by the Legislative Council. It was only after a bitter struggle, lasting over more than thirty years, it was finally set at rest by the Act of 1854. During the whole period Dr. Strachan was faithful to his principles, and could brook no compromise. In 1836 he resigned his place as executive councillor, and in 1839 became the first bishop of Toronto. The following year he ceased to be a member of the Legislative Council, and abstained thenceforth from taking any part in public affairs, save in that department which may be termed church politics. The other subject of intense interest with him was the Provincial University. Twenty-eight years elapsed before any attempt was made to carry out the project of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe. In 1827 a Royal charter was granted in favor of King’s College. It was to be essentially an Anglican university. In the four faculties, all the professors were to be “members of the Established United Church of England and Ireland,” and were required “to severally sign and subscribe the Thirty-nine articles.” The only liberal provision in it was an exemption from any religious test on the part of students and graduates in faculties other than that of divinity. King’s College was not opened until 1843, and in 1850 all that made it valuable in the bishop’s eyes were eliminated. All that was distinctly Anglican disappeared. The faculty of divinity was abolished and, as far as education was concerned, “all semblance of connection between church and state,” proclaimed afterwards in the preamble to the Clergy Reserve Act, was done away. The venerable bishop was equal to the emergency, and started on a mission to Britain to raise funds, and in little more than six months he returned with the first fruits,—some sixteen thousand pounds sterling. In the spring of 1857 the corner stone of Trinity College was laid, and in the beginning of the following year the building was so far completed as to be fit for occupation. The Royal charter was secured in 1853. Thus, by the inextinguishable ardor and energy of one zealous prelate was the purpose of his life at last secured. In other directions, the memorable prelate certainly effected work of unquestionable value. So soon as the severance between church and state had been formally proclaimed, his administrative and legislative tact was employed in placing the Anglican church upon a sound governmental basis. To him the laity of that communion owe it that they are represented in the synods of the church as substantially as with the Presbyterians. The bishop’s later years were spent in efforts to extend the usefulness of the church to which he was so ardently attached, and during the evening of his long and eventful life he was universally respected by men of all creeds and political parties. He had lived in the province and been a conspicuous actor in its affairs from the days of Governor Simcoe to the opening year of confederation, and died on the 2nd of November, 1867, in the eighty-ninth year of his age, manful, energetic and courageous to the last. The last tribute of respect was paid to Bishop Strachan by the attendance at his funeral of the two universities, with whose early fortunes his name was indissolubly associated. The national societies, the clergy of all churches, Protestant and Catholic, all the civic dignitaries and institutions, were fully represented on the occasion, and it was not without significance that the troops, regular and other, lined the streets, and that the strains of martial music were heard at the burial of one who was first a churchman of the military type, and next a patriotic citizen. * * * * * =Wallbridge, Hon. Lewis=, Chief Justice of Manitoba, born in Belleville, Ontario, 27th November, 1816, and died at Winnipeg, on the 20th October, 1887, was a grandson of Elijah Wallbridge, a United Empire loyalist, who settled in Canada shortly after the American war of independence. His father was a lumber merchant of Belleville. The family emigrated from Dorsetshire, England, on account of having taken part in the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion against King James. Mr. Wallbridge received his education under the late Dr. Benjamin Workman in Montreal, and at Upper Canada College, Toronto. He studied law in Robert Baldwin’s office, Toronto; was called to the bar in 1839, and created a Queen’s counsel in