Charles Stewart (bishop)

Charles James Stewart (13 or 16 April 1775 – 13 July 1837) was an English Church of England, clergyman, bishop, and politician. He was the second Bishop of Quebec from 1826 to 1837, and in connection with this was appointed to the Legislative Council of Lower Canada. Stewart at one point was on both the Legislative Councils of Upper and Lower Canada and on both the Executive Councils (the jurisdiction above Legislative) of Upper and Lower Canada, however the appointments were more likely due to Stewart's powerful and influential position as Second Anglican Bishop (likely to help the Anglican movement "stay in the political loop") over any sort of political want or desire (evident by Stewart never going to any legislative meetings in Upper Canada, and "limited meetings" in Lower Canada, and never really participating within the Clergy Reserve's Anglican issue regarding equal shares of the clergy land profit the Church of Scotland or education secularization).

Charles James Stewart
Bishop of Quebec
ChurchAnglican Church of Canada
PredecessorJacob Mountain
SuccessorGeorge Jehoshaphat Mountain
Personal details
Born13 or 16 April 1775
London, England
Died13 July 1837
London, England

Stewart was instrumental in the introduction of a scheme involving Anglican laypeople within a diocesan synod system, necessitated by the arguments within the government regarding the clergy reserves and the potential elimination of clerical salaries and stipends coming on behalf of government money from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. This influence within the scheme on Stewart's part came to because he involved the laity (those who are not members of the clergy but are still relevant in the religion as non-ordained members - people like nuns) with the clergy. Stewart "supplemented the labours of the clergy by appointing catechists (Christian educated people [the term is "Catechism"] - specifically Anglican in this case) to act as lay readers (aka an authorized lay minister; a person who was not a Bishop nor part of the Clergy, but was authorized by a bishop in leading certain religious services or worships)." The SPG was initially skeptical but nonetheless funded the scheme, which became a success and "one of Stewart's most effective creations." Ten lay-readers were subsequently ordained the Anglican priesthood.[1]

Stewart founded the first Anglican church in the Eastern Townships ("Holy Trinity Church" in 1808 - now called "Bishop Stewart Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity", where the new church sits directly across from the original), in Frelighsburg in Saint-Armand. Saint-Armand is supposedly home to the first establishment of the Eastern Townships in Quebec, and was a sight of skirmish during the Rebellion of 1837-1838 which reflects the original name of Saint-Armand (Moore's Corner - the Skirmish of).[2] Stewart would establish some 23 churches in the Eastern Townships before becoming the Second Anglican Bishop of Quebec and some 40 churches and 25 missions in total.[3][4] Stewart was also critical in protesting the elimination of clerical stipends in Canada period, as it was only due to the protestation of Stewart and the SPG that stipends stayed - but were ultimately reduced by some 15%.[5]

In his character and spirit, he "was said to have been somewhat ungainly and at times lacking in political and business sense" in cons, but in pros he was "deep in his religious faith, asceticism, generosity of spirit and purse, and his genuine care for the spiritual interests of pioneer immigrants and native Indians (Indigenous)." All of these points together place Stewart in a favourable spot in history, both Canadian and religious period (even with the religious colonization and near genocidal Anglicization going on in the Canadas) and Stewart is historically remembered as "earning the affection of his clergy and people" and as having "a secure place among the builders of the (various) church(es) of Canada." Stewart is also accredited with "raising the level of education from Sunday school and elementary school to university."[6]

Birth, Education, and Works.

Born in London, England, the third surviving son of John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway, and his second wife, Anne Dashwood, Stewart was a member of Corpus Christi College, Oxford when he graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1795 and a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford when this matured to an M.A. in 1799. He was ordained to the Anglican ministry in the diaconate in December 1798 and to the priesthood in May 1799. From 1799 to 1826, he was Rector of Orton Longueville in Cambridgeshire. In 1807, he arrived in Lower Canada as a missionary, settling in Montreal. He soon moved to Saint-Armand and helped to build Trinity Church, Frelighsburg, the first regular place of Anglican worship in the Eastern Townships. In 1826, he was appointed Bishop of Quebec. He died in London in 1837, and is buried there in Kensal Green Cemetery.[7]

Stewart published a 20 page book in 1815 after "seven years of intense labour and close observation of the [eastern] townships" called A short view of the present state of the Eastern Townships in the Province of Lower Canada, Bordering on the Line 54° with Hints for their Improvement, which "intended to provide prospective immigrants with a concise description of the climate, topography, economy, and population of the region." Within the book, Stewart argues for the immigration of Americans (his first Anglican mission in Lower Canada in the seigneury of Saint-Armand was about 5 kilometers from the American border with Vermont) as well as what "the most effective means of acquiring their loyalty (to the Crown over the American Republican structure)" would be (that being "to ensure their welfare and prosperity"). Stewart argued that the Americans would be “in many respects . . . the best settlers in a new country”.[8]

Stewart published a diocesan work during the controversy in the clergy reserves regarding the Church of Scotland and rampant conflict and complaint regarding the Anglican church (such as being at "the top" of the system and of possessing privileges other institutions and therefore people did not, like "Protestant" being assumed as "Anglican") in order to "strengthen the Anglican Church in face of attacks." Much of this contention came from the prominent influence of Graves Simcoe (being the one to define "Prote" as exclusively "Anglican" with no complaint for some 2 and a half to 3 decades, until 1791 - 1823. This work to defend the Anglican church was called the Christian Sentinel and Anglo-Canadian Churchman’s Magazine based out of Montreal, edited "in part for its short life" by another influential Anglican clergyman and journalist, Brooke Bridges Stevens.[9]

References
  1. "Biography – STEWART, CHARLES JAMES – Volume VII (1836-1850) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  2. "Bishop Stewart Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity - The Anglican Church Of Canada - Anglican Communion". www.worldanglican.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  3. "Bishop Stewart Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity - Anglican church near me in Frelighsburg, QC". Churches near me. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  4. "Charles James Stewart | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  5. "Biography – STEWART, CHARLES JAMES – Volume VII (1836-1850) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  6. "Charles James Stewart | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  7. Paths of Glory. Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery. 1997. p. 95.
  8. "Biography – STEWART, CHARLES JAMES – Volume VII (1836-1850) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  9. "Biography – STEWART, CHARLES JAMES – Volume VII (1836-1850) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca. Retrieved 22 October 2023.


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