A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time: A Collection of Persons Distinguished in Professional and Political Life, Leaders in the Commerce and Industry of Canada, and Successful Pioneers
History
A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time: A Collection of Persons Distinguished in Professional and Political Life, Leaders in the Commerce and Industry of Canada, and Successful Pioneers
publication of Bishop Tozer’s letter condemning Bishop Cummins of
Kentucky, for partaking of and administering the communion of the Lord’s
Supper with Dr. John Hall, Drs. Arnot and Dorner, of the Presbyterian
church, and reading it with a sense of indignation, he (Dr. Ussher)
asked Bishop Whitehouse what he thought of such a letter, to which
Bishop Whitehouse replied in cold, severe tones, “I think Bishop Tozer
is perfectly right, and Bishop Cummins deserves the severest
condemnation.” Those words decided the mind of Dr. Ussher, and realizing
that as an Evangelical Protestant Churchman, he would be out of sympathy
with Bishop Whitehouse, he determined to abandon the idea of entering
the Anglican ministry. He felt, however, that his heart was so bound up
in the Episcopal Church, and his love for her liturgy was so great, that
he could not be at home in any other branch of Christ’s Church. At this
juncture the Right Rev. Bishop Cummins, D.D., took steps to organize the
Reformed Episcopal Church, which being made public, proved the open
door. Under the guidance of that distinguished Protestant prelate, he
pursued his studies and was ordained deacon in the city of Chicago, by
the Right Rev. Bishop Cheney, in Christ Church, June 9th, 1874, and
presbyter, July 16th, 1876, in Emmanuel Church, Ottawa, Ontario, by
Bishops Cheney, Nicholson, Cridge and Fallows. His pastorates in Canada
have been, one of three years in Toronto, during which was built the
church on the corner of Simcoe and Caer Howell streets, and his present
charge in St. Bartholomew’s, Montreal, over which he has been pastor
since 1878. For good and sufficient reasons he and his congregation
withdrew from the jurisdiction of the Reformed Episcopal Church in the
United States and united with the English branch of the Reformed
Episcopal Church under the Right Rev. T. H. Gregg, M.D., D.D., otherwise
called the Reformed Church of England. By the General Synod in England,
in the following year, the Rev. Dr. Ussher was elected to the
episcopate, but declined. Two years after he was elected again, the
Canadian Synod electing him as their bishop, and in 1882, on the 19th
day of June, he was consecrated in Trinity Church, Southend, by the
Right Rev. Bishop Gregg, and seven presbyters, as “a bishop in the
Church of God.” Returning to Canada he took charge of the Diocese of
Canada and Newfoundland. The bishop believing in benevolent societies as
handmaids to the church, has been a member of the Order of Oddfellows
since 1865, and has held the office of Grand Master of the Province of
Quebec; he has also been, and is at present, a member of the Order of
Knights of Pythias, in which he holds the rank of Past Grand Chancellor,
and has had the honour of being Supreme Representative for the State of
Illinois, and the authorship of one of the degrees in use by the order.
Bishop Ussher is a graceful and forcible writer and an eloquent speaker,
and poet of acknowledged merit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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