Letter Pemberton to Robert Tomlinson 18 April 1877
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[1] Victoria BC
[2] 18 of April 1877
[3] My dear Sir
[4] I remember only two
[5] occasions on which I have had the pleasure
[6] of meeting you; once, some years ago, when
[7] you called upon me on business, & again
[8] last evening, when you informed me
[9] that the Bishop of Columbia had revoked
[10] your license for having preached in the
[11] Church of an overworked brother clergyman
[12] who had been deprived of his rectory because
[13] he resisted the attempt of the bishop to bring
[14] him “under a discipline other than that of
[15] the Church of England“, in violation of the
[16] Deed of Trust, & had refused to join a Synod
[17] composed of lay & clerical members converted
[18] without the assent of the Queen [see Bishop
[19] Hills Letter dated 14 July 1874, where he
[20] makes one charge, which is afterwards
[21] swilled into 18 articles of accusation.
[22] Of persons unconnected with
[23] the Hudsons bay (! I am one of the oldest
[24] settlers in Vancouver Island. I came here
[25] in 1855 and since that time been
[26] a regular communicant of the Church
[27] of England under Mr. Cridge’s administration.
[28] As his churchwarden I affirm
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[1] that the separation of three fourths
[2] of the Christ Church congregation (including
[3] Sir James Douglas late a Governor of British
[4] Columbia) was a consequence of Bishop
[5] Hills’ act in “disconnecting” his flock
[6] from the Church of England.
[7] The Bishop of Columbia, I believe,
[8] owed no allegiance to any ^acknowledged^ authority in Church
[9] or State. At a time when the Queen
[10] is being proclaimed in India
[11] “Defender of the Faith“ and the Supoenas
[12] of the Supreme Court are issued in
[13] her name as “Defender of the Faith“ the
[14] Bishop of Columbia declared that
[15] the Church of England is “disconnected
[16] with the state“!!
[17] I shall be happy to give any
[18] information you may require in
[19] connection with the subject as I have
[20] kept copies of all important documents
[21] related to it.
[22] Yours truly
[23] AF Pemberton
[24] Revd Tomlinson
[25]