BISHOP OF NOVA SCOTIA.
Bishop Binney is a son of the late Rev. Dr. Binney, formerly Rector of Newbury, Berkshire, England. He was born in Nova Scotia in 1819, but was sent to England in his youth, for the purpose of receiving a thorough university education. He was placed at King's College, London, where he made great progress in his studies, and obtained high standing. After spending some time there, he entered Worcester College, Oxford, where he obtained a Fellowship. He graduated in 1842, taking first-class honours in mathematics and second-class in classics. During the same year he was ordained a Deacon, and in 1843 was ordained to the Priesthood. He obtained from his College the degree of M.A. in 1844.
In 1846 he was appointed Tutor of his College, and in 1848 was appointed Bursar. The See of Nova Scotia having become vacant in 1851, he was nominated Bishop of that Province, and on the 25th of March in that year he was consecrated at Lambeth by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Bishops of London, Oxford, and Chichester. He immediately afterwards proceeded to Halifax, where he has ever since resided. His first exercise of the Episcopal office was at an Ordination whereat six candidates were admitted to the Diaconate, and one to the Priesthood.
In 1855 Bishop Binney married Miss Mary Bliss, a daughter of the Hon. W. B. Bliss, a Puisné Judge of Nova Scotia. Independently of the high position which he occupies, he is regarded as one of the foremost men connected with the Church of England in this country. His classical, mathematical and theological erudition are of a very high order, and he is said to be intellectually the peer of any colonial Bishop now living. His Anglicanism is high, but his views on ecclesiastical matters generally are broad and statesmanlike, and he is regarded with great reverence by the clergy and professors of all creeds in his native Province. By his own clergy he is universally beloved, and a great part of his life since his elevation to the Episcopal Bench has been devoted to the promotion of their spiritual and temporal welfare. His name will be long held in remembrance for his successful exertions on behalf of the Church of England in Nova Scotia. Many of his sermons and charges to the Clergy display a high degree of eloquence, and several of them have been published. A Pastoral Letter, including important correspondence between himself and the Rev. George W. Hill, the present Chancellor of the University of Halifax, was published in that city in 1866.
The See of Nova Scotia, over which Bishop Binney's jurisdiction extends, formerly embraced a very wide area, including the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and the Island of Newfoundland. It is now confined to the Province of Nova Scotia and the Island of Prince Edward.
