There had been a legal and incorporated Synod of the Diocese of Nova Scotia consisting of the clergy and representatives of the laity of the Diocese of Nova Scotia for a period of eleven years prior to the admittance of clergy and representatives of the laity of Prince Edward Island. The amendment stipulated that Island clergy and representatives of the laity could continue to be admitted as members of the Incorporate Synod only so long as they continued to be "under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Nova Scotia". It did not say "only as long as they remain part of the Dioceses of Nova Scotia". It was fully understood at the time that Prince Edward Island was not an integral part of the Diocese of Nova Scotia.

The same Letter to the Editor then examined the ineligibility and/or exclusion of the clergy and church members of Prince Edward Island from the Board of Home Missions and the Widows’ and Orphans’ Fund, both of which had been established by Acts of the Diocesan Synod of Nova Scotia which at the time contained representatives of the Island parishes. Rule 3 of the B.H.M. stipulated that all were included in the body of that Board. However, Rule 4 of the same Board limited its field of operation to the Church members of P.E.I. from being "invited to co-operate with the Board"137, and also excluding them from any assistance of the said Board. The writer explained this by pointing out that the clergy and lay representatives of the Island parishes sit in the same Synod through which the Board of Home Missions is legislated. The only explanation for this anomaly is that those who framed the By-Laws of the B.H.M. clearly understood P.E.I. to be something other than an integral part of the Diocese of Nova Scotia.

One of the chief aims of the B.H.M. is to provide for the widows and orphans of deceased clergymen, and for superannuated and incapacitated clergyman. Rule 4 of the Church Widows’ and Orphans’ Fund stipulates that benefits of the Fund are open and available to "Every clergyman of the Church of England within the Diocese wishing to avail himself of the benefits".138 Under the same set of By—Laws Rule 18, a separate and very distinct rule, was added and states that "the Clergy of Prince Edward Island shall be entitled to participate in the benefit of this fund on equal terms with the Clergy of this Province."139 This amounts to a recognition of the special position of the clergy of P.E.I. The writer illustrated the point that this was not the only appearance of this sort of contradictory arrangement:

The same anomaly appears in the Rules and Regulations of our

1 37. Ibid. 1 38. Ibid. 1 39. Ibid.

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