The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 2, January, 1851Various
History
The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 2, January, 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
His first visit to the Bermudas was undertaken for the recovery of his
health, to which a colder climate has always been hostile; and when, in
the year 1825, these islands were attached to the diocese of Nova
Scotia, he was, at the instance of the late Primate, appointed to them
as Archdeacon and Ecclesiastical Commissary to the Bishop of the see.
Here he may be said to have created the Ecclesiastical Establishment
which, under his conciliatory influence, has so rapidly and largely
increased; and with it he soon associated the revival of Bishop
Berkeley's Classical Academy, and a system of general instruction, of
which a chain of schoolhouses, from either extremity of the island, are
the abiding monuments.
From his connection with the Bishop of Nova Scotia, the visits of
Archdeacon Spencer to that colony were frequent, and many of the
inhabitants both of that province and of New Brunswick retain a lively
impression of his abilities, as they were illustrated in his preaching
and in the practice of the other duties of his profession and position.
In July, 1839, Dr. Spencer was consecrated by the venerable Archbishop
of Canterbury, on the nomination of the crown, to the new see of
Newfoundland, retaining still episcopal jurisdiction over the isles of
Bermuda, under the extension of the Colonial Episcopate, which relieved
the indefatigable Bishop of Nova Scotia of a large portion of his cares.
The new Bishop was enabled, by the aid of the Society for the Promotion
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, to quadruple the number of his clergy
within four years, and to consecrate more than twenty additional
churches within the same period. A very grateful sense of the Bishop's
exertions, and of the prosperous results of his unceasing labor, was
manifested in the several addresses presented to his lordship on his
subsequent translation to the diocese of Jamaica, by the clergy and
laity of Newfoundland and Bermuda.
In a paper which only purports to be a biographical notice of one who is
still living, it is not desirable to do more than briefly advert to the
principal topics and dates of a history which may hereafter be
advantageously amplified and filled up. The real progress of the
established church in Newfoundland at this period, would be best
gathered from the Bishop's letters to the government and the religious
societies, and to the clergy under his jurisdiction, but to these
documents it is not likely that any biographer will have unreserved
access during the life of his lordship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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