The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volume 3 (of 4)Dent, John Charles
History
The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volume 3 (of 4)
Dent, John Charles
Canada -- Biography
After officiating in Hawkesbury for four years, Mr. Lewis was appointed
Rector of Brockville, where he remained until his election, in 1861, to
the position which he now occupies. The seven years passed in the
rectory at Brockville must have been busy ones, as we find numerous
published sermons and pamphlets from his pen during this time. His
sermons and writings generally are marked by much learning, and by an
evident fondness for dialectics. Some of them have received high praise
from the reviewers. One of them, entitled "A Plain Lecture to Enquirers
into the meaning of the Liturgy," was thus characterized by the
_American Quarterly Church Review_: "As an argument for Liturgical
worship, and an answer to popular objections to the Prayer-book, this is
one of the most valuable works we have ever seen." Other tracts of his
have also been highly praised by persons whose praise is of value. The
best known of his writings are "The Church of the New Testament;" "Does
the Bible need re-translating?" "The Popular Baptist Argument Reviewed;"
and "The Primitive Method of selecting Bishops;" the last-named
production being given to the world in the _Journal of Sacred
Literature_, published in London, England. During his residence at
Brockville he interested himself actively in various local matters,
sectarian and non-sectarian, and contributed to build up several
important public institutions. He lectured before the Brockville Library
Association and Mechanics' Institute, and did much to extend its
membership and beneficial influence.
The territorial division of the Diocese of Toronto was a project which
began to take shape about the time when the subject of this sketch first
arrived in this country. Up to that time the Diocese of Toronto
comprehended the whole extent of Upper Canada, and was altogether too
large to permit of one man's discharging the duties of the Bishopric
with perfect efficiency, even though that man were endowed with the
tremendous energy and vitality of the late Bishop Strachan. The Diocese
of Huron was in due time set apart and the late Rev. Dr. Benjamin Cronyn
was elected to the Bishopric. In 1861 the eastern division was also set
apart as the Diocese of Ontario, and at the meeting of the Synod held at
Kingston in the summer of that year Mr. Lewis was elected to the office
of Bishop. He was then only thirty-six years of age, and was probably
the youngest Prelate in America. He soon afterwards removed to Kingston,
and thence to Ottawa, where he now resides.
It will thus be seen that the Bishop has had a remarkably successful
career since his arrival in Canada. He devotes himself assiduously to
his official labours, and is held in high veneration by many of the
clergymen of his Diocese. He has a numerous family, and a large circle
of attached friends. His pulpit oratory is marked by fluency and
smoothness of rhetoric, as well as by much learning and depth of
thought.
CHARLES, LORD METCALFE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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