THE ANGLICAN DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 258, 2 November 1887, Page 2

THE ANGLICAN DIOCESAN SYNOD.

ADDRESS BY BISHOP COWIE

The first session of the Twelfth Synod of the Anglican %hurch was opened this afternoon, when the Right Rev. the Bishop of Auckland (Dr. Cowie) delivered the following address:—•

Dear Brethren of the Clergy and Laity, We meet to-day for the first Session of the Twelfth Syaod of this Diocese; the first Synod having met m December, tSsq in the School-room of S. Pauls Parish. Of. the members of that Synod, seven are still remaining wim us entitled to sit here to-day, namely, five clergymen and two laymen The members of the bynod in 1859, including thirteen licensed clergy, numbered forty-three; whereas our number to-day is 123. • We miss from our Assembly to-day not a few brethren who have in past years rendered valuable assistance in our deliberations; but we have the consolation of knowing that, though not now members of the Synod, they are still our fellow-labourers in the general work of the Church, borne of those to whom I refer —residents in Auckland —represenli country districts in which no suitable person was able or willing, to accept the office of Synodsman, on account of the long absence from home duties that attendance here involved ; and it is a token of the increasing interest that our people take in the work of this our Diocesan Council, that a larger number of country constituencies than ever before chose* their representatives from their own communities, at the recent General Election. In connection with this matter there is, however, in our organisation one great defect, which the Synod should endeavour to rectify. I refer to-the comparatively small number of our people who register their names in the Churchwardens' books, to qualify themselves to vote at Diocesan and other elections. Mr Stephen Edward Hughes.—Of those who were members of our last Synod, and took an active part in its work, there was one whose absence cannot but be noticed to-day, namely, Mr Stephen Edward Hughes. During many years no office-bearer in the Diocese gave more time and thought to matters of importance to the well-being of the Church than did Mr Hughes, as a Churchwarden, a Synodsman, and a member of the Standing Committee. Of the ready assistance that I always received from him personally, and the kind consideration with which he at all times treated me, I shall ever retain a grateful remembrance. There are other losses that I have to record to-day—the most serious that a large section of our people have ever sustained in the course of a single year, namely, the deaths of three of our Maori clergy—the Revs. Renata Tangata, Rupene Paerata, and Hare Pcka te Taua, all clergymen of the Northern Archdeaconry. They were all entitled to seats in the Diocesan Synod; but as their knowledge of the English language was very limited, they did not attend oar meetings, especially as the affairs of our Maori fellow Clrarchmen are regularly cared for at the annual Sessions oi the Native Church Boards of the Diocese. The Reverend Rexata Wiremu Tangata was one of our senior clergy, having been admitted to Deacons' Orders by Bishop Selwyn in 1867. He was educated at Waimate and Kaitaia, where his teachers were respectively the Rev. R. Burrows and the Rev. J. Matthews, of the Church Missionary Society. In his preparation for holy orders he received much "help from the late Archdeacon Kissling and Sir William Martin, by whom he was held in much esteem. His charge was the Oruru district; but from time to time he ministered to his fellow countrymen in other parts of the Diocese, especially in the southern districts of the Waikato, where his missionary visits were greatly appreciated, and were, I believe, productive of much good among the misguided people of those parts. He was a humble minded man, ' one of nature's gentlemen,' refined by genuine Christianity, an earnest preacher, and a self-denying servant of his Master. It will be long before his place can be supplied by a man of equal experience, devotion, and efficiency. The Reverend Rupene Paerata was also a pupil of the Rev. J. Matthews ai Kaitaia, the Rev. R. Burrows, and Sir William Martin. He was ordained by me in 1873, and was minister of Parengarenga and afterwards of Paihia. He was as courageous in the denunciation of evil as was his warrior father in contending with his enemies. He was highly respected and much beloved by the congregations to whom he ministered; and the remembrance of his consistent Christian life will continue to influence them for good. The Reverend Hare Peka te Taua also was a pupil of the Rev. Joseph Matthews, and for a short time of the present Bishop of Waiapu. He was ordained by me in 1875, and was appointed to the charge of his fellow countrymen living in the neighbourhood or Waimate, where he remained, doing his work faithfully and efficiently until his unexpected death in September last. He was well-known to the settlers of the Bay of Islands, and was held m great esteem by them as well as by his own people—with whom his influence was deservedly great. Ihaka te Tai Hakuere.—The same sad occurrence that deprived us of the services of the two first of the Maori clergymen of whom I have spoken, caused also the death of another exemplary man of the Native race, namely, Ihaka te Tai Hakuere, a worthy chief of a clan of the famous Ngapuhi tribe of the North. He was a Member of the House of Representatives of the colony; and by his simplicity of character, his honesty, his independence and sound good sense, had won the respect of his fellow legislators. He was for many years an efficient Lay Reader to his own people, and was one of the most useful lay representatives of the Native Church Boards, of which he was a member. May it be long before the President of this Synod has to record the loss of'so many men of highest worth, men proved and not found wanting, in their respective stations in the Church! State of the Diocese.—l shall now proceed to lav before you the general state of the Diocese ; in order that you may be the better able to supply that which is lacking in our organisation, and to amend that which is defective. .jfc Ordination.—Since the last Session of the Synod I have admitted <;o'Deacons' Orders—Mr. M. Kirkbride, who had been for many years one of our most efficient Lay Readers; Mr. N. D. Boyes and Mr. C. A. Tobin, of S. John's College; and Hone Papahia, a Maori Chief of the Hokianga District, who had been for three years at the Church Missionary College at Gisborne. Clergy from other Dioceses. —The Rev. T. H. Sprott, M.A., has come to us from the Diocese of London, bringing the valuable experience gained in a populous city parish ; and the Rev. G. Aitkens from that of Manitoba, where he learned to endure hardness amid the frost and snow of those regions. Home Mission. —During the past year seventeen clergymen resident in country districts have received small grants varying from £40 to jC 2o —fr° m tne Home Mission Fund. °The Standing Committee, by whom the Fund is administered, have been obliged to reduce the grants made in former years, and in some cases to discontinue them altogether, in consequence of the smallness of the sum received by them from the Diocese. This lack of means is, doubtless, the result partly of the general commercial depression from which the colony has suffered during the last two years; but it is to be attributed also to the ignorance in which many of our people live of the importance of the work of this Mission, and to the indifference of others to the spiritual state of large districts in which they have no personal interest. Some of the clergy working in connection with the Mission have much more travelling and preaching to accomplish than is for their good; but if they were to give up any part of their district, or to curtail their ministrations, many of our people would be left without Church teaching, and the clergy themselves would find it still more difficult than they do at present to obtain the necessaries of life. Besides the small supplementary grants made from the Fund to the clergy of whom I have spoken, the stipend of our Organising Clergyman is derived therefrom; and by Yum nearly all the districts of the Diocese, at present without resident clergy, are from time to time visited. I consider the establishment of the office of Organising Clergyman the most impottaat step in. advance that the Synod has taken >

for many years; and the duties of the office are as zealously and efficiently discharged by the Rev. John Haselden, _as those most interested in the work of the Home Mission could desire. The result is that there were never before so few of our people, in districts thinly inhabited and difficult of access, altogether unvisited by a clergyman as there are at present. Still, it is not right that we should have no clergyman resident in the country extending from Hamilton to Bombay—distant from one another about 56 miles, and none between Paparoa and Devonport—distant from one another about 70 miles. I had hoped that the Home Mission Society, which was instituted four years ago, for the purpose of making the claims of the Mission better known throughout the Diocese, and of augmenting its funds, would have effected its object more thoroughly than it has; but by this, as by other Church organisations, however good in themselves, comparatively little improvement will be accomplished, so long as the many who should interest themselves in its success leave the work to be carried out by a few, or even by one or two, as is sometimes the case. Lay Readers. —The improvement that has taken place in recent years in the observance of public worship, throughout the country districts, has been the result greatly of the increase in the number and in the efficiency of our Lay Readers; of whom there are at present fifty-four holding a formal licence, and forty-seven others, to whom I shall be happy to issue a licence as soon as it is applied for in the usual manner. During the past year licences have been issued by me—to Colonel Forbes of Hamilton, Mr. A. W. F. Halcombe of Ureaui, Captain Hearne of Pokeno, Mr. C. H. Lupton of Woodside, Mr, C. Nettleship of Pukete, Mr. L. A. Robin of Parnell, Mr. J. W. Salmon of Auckland, Mr. S. T. Seddoa of Hamilton, Mr. G. Small of Port Albert, Mr. W. Sorby of Te Awamutu, Mr. A. Swarbrick of Hamilton, and Mr. lvon Wansbrough of Parnell. . The Lay Readers' Association which was formed in 1886, will, I hope, prove very helpful to its members generally; by bringing them into communication with one another, for mutual sympathy and counsel, and by establishing a library of suitable volumes of sermons and other theological works for their use. I have much pleasure in informing the Synod that two of our Lay Readers, namely, Messrs Small aud Wansbrough, have recently passed Grade I. of the Theological Examination. Sunday Schools.— Many of our Lay Readers are rendering very valuable service to the Church by superintending Sunday Schools, or teaching therein. There is no department of our work about which I am more concerned at the present time than about these Schools; which are much fewer in number than they ought to be, and in many cases arc very inadequately supplied with teachers. . If the Examination for the 'Bishop's Prizes is any test of the Scriptural knowledge possessed by our children generally, the extent of that knowledge is very unsatisfactory in some of our parishes and districts. At the last annual Examination, as on former occasions, the children of All Saints , School, Ponsonby, greatly distinguished themselves ; and those of •S , . Matthew's and 6". Sepulchre's parishes were next in order of merit. With the valuable help that is now given by the Sunday School Board, I see no reason why great improvement should not be effected in the management and the teaching of our Sunday Schools. Rev. P. S. Smallfield.— I will take this opportunity of informing the Synod that much of this help is the result of the experience and the labour of the Rev. P. S. Smallfield ; to whom we are specially indebted for a valuable scheme of teaching by standard courses, which I hope the clergy will be able to adopt in the larger Schools of the Diocese. Mr. Smallfield has also done good work during the past year as Diocesan Inspector of Sunday Schools, though the stipend recommended by the Synod in 1885 for that office has not been forthcoming. Religious Instruction'. —We must not, however, allow our interest in the Sunday Schools of the Diocese to divert our attention from the fact that, without the regular teaching of Holy Scripture in the Day Schools of the colony, a large proportion of the rising generation of New Zealanders cannot but be ignorant of the truths of the Gospel. Thousands of children in this country receive little or no Christian teaching in their own homes, or in Sunday Schools. Whore, then, are they to be taught the truths of the Gospel, if not in the Day School ? Instead of giving a direct answer to this question, some of our leading politicians would put us off with the assertion that it is not the function of the Civil Government to teach religion. In the same way it might be said that it is not the function of the Government to teach the science of medicine. It is, however, die duty of Government not only to put no hindrance in the way of the teaching of medicine, but to facilitate it; and, in the opinion of the great majority of the people of the colony, the same holds true with respect to the teaching of Christian morality and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, so long as the present regulations exist respecting the hours of teaching in our Board Schools, religious instruction cannot be efficiently given therein, before or after the ordinary school hours. How long. I would ask, are the great majority of the population tamely to submit to the tyranny of a small minority in this matter ? We recognise the right of others to act on their convictions, as to the unimportance of religious teaching : are the majority not to be allowed to act on their convictions also, as to the paramount importance of the same ? More than 2,300 years ago Socrates, the wise man of Greece, addressing a fellow citizen, said, ' Seeing you are an Athenian, of a city the most powerful and most renowned for wisdom and strength, are you not ashamed of being careful for riches, how you may acquire them in greatest abundance, and for glory and honour, but care not to take thought ... for your soul, how it may be made most perfect ? . . . Take no thought for the body, or for riches, prior to or so much as for the soul, how it may be made most perfect. ... Virtue does not spring from riches, but riches and all other human blessings, both private and public, from virtue.' * Wo Christian people profess to care for the souls of ourselves and our children at least a: mu.h as Socrates taught the Athenians to care for theirs ; but how inconsisten' is the action of many of us, in public and in private, with this profession ! We too commonly urge our children, directly and indirectly, to ' hasten to be rich,' whilst we leave to chance —so to speak—the nourishment of their souls. If at the present time we apply the test of results to the ' secular' or intellectual teaching, pure and simple, of our educational system, I would ask whether the result is altogether satisfactory. After 15 years of our present system, is it obvious that the moral tone of our young men and women is more elevated than of yore; that our sons and daughters are more respectful and helpful to their parents ; that they are more careful to live within their means, and are more conscientious in the fulfilment of their engagements ? I would ask whether the number of young persons brought before the magistrate is decidedly less; whether one is less frequently shocked by the aspect of our streets at night, than when our children were taught in the Day School to say, ' The darkness is no darkness with Thee, but the night is as clear as the day: the darkness and light to Thee are both alike. , f Nay, can we now, as the result of our 'purely secular' teaching, walk through the city at mid-day without being put. to shame by the open flaunting of vicious children, and caused to shudder at the thought of its contaminating effect on many who'witness it ? And even in the case of other large sections of young men- and women, is there no cause for anxiety, when the religious life is altogether unknown to them? 'The moral sense,' says one of the most powerful thinkers of the present day, 'no longer uplifted by any divine perfection, gradually sinks and lets the nobler inspirations die ; and a society has reason for dismay where there is an everwidening chasm between the two summit levels of thought and character.'

* TroXecos fSJs jLteyio-TiJs Kal ets /cat l<r)(vv vptiparw /*ev ovk aiayyvQ ewi/teXo/Aevos, ottcos (rot. ecrrat ws TrAetcrra, /cat 80&7S k<u ti/mjs . . . • Kal ottos '(os forai, ovk iir^eKfj; • . . . μ-fjre. o-w/aoVwv €7ri/AeAeurocu, μ-rjre x/ 3 W* T<uv irporepov, μ-ljrt aXXou Ttvos ovrvi <T<p6Bpa, (is rij? fvxfc 0,7r(0S <J,S "J 0 "™" 1 ? ' ' * ' v °fo * X f) Aperrj ytvercu, a\X' ig '&perjfc xpfoara, not raXXa rdyada tois wfytiwrois airavra, Kal iSiq., ml Plat. Apol. f Fs. cxxix. 11.

And we cannot excuse our present neglect of religious teaching by saying that we have no practical alternative to our present system of public education. In this, as in other matters of difficulty, where there is a will there is a way. What is possible in London and in Sydney, in the work of education, cannot be altogether impossible in the city and the province of Auckland. The so-called religious difficulty ' is one of theory and not of practice.* Though I have spoken in the Synod on the subject of religious 0 instruction, during well-nigh eighteen years, till I am verily weary of speaking, as you are of hearing, about it, I will venture once more to state, as briefly as possible, the amendments that seem to me necessary in our present system of public education. That the so-called ' secular' teaching of our Board Schools should be made as thorough as possible; and should be free and compulsory, all will agree ; but 1 Where it is possible, e.g., in our towns and larger settlements, the New South Wales system of religious instruction should be allowed ; namely, that teachers authorised by the several religious bodies should have the right to teach the children of those bodies respectively, at fixed times, during school hours, a conscience clause being in every case provided; • , 2. Where the New South Wales system would be impracticable, e.g., in the majority of country schools, selected passages of Holy Scripture should be read by the Teacher, at fixed times, during School hours, a conscience clause being provided; and 3. Schools not connected with the State should receive grants in aid; provided that they satisfy the requirements of the Educational authorities, in the so-called 'secular , instruction therein given, and in other respects. After this wearisome reiteration, I may now say liberavi animam meant. Church Grammar School. .—The fate of our own Grammar School illustrates the evils of Protection in the matter of education. That School has for the present been closed by the Governors, inconsequenceof its inability, without adequate endowments, to compete with institutions receiving a large bounty from the State. It is well that the State should foster, to the utmost of its power, the intellectual development of the people; but monopolies are evil in principle, whether commercial or educational, irrespective of the financial burden imposed on the people by a monopoly such as the present educational system of New Zealand. Our Church Grammar School has, as I have said, been temporarily closed, for want of sufficient endowment for its maintenance; and the premises have been leased for three years, for the purposes of a School, to the present Master, Mr H. Percival; who, with the assistance of the Rev. P. S. Smallfield, is steadily increasing the number of his pupils. S. John's College.— -Our Provincial College of S. John the Evangelist is not in a very much better predicament than the Grammar School. The endowments at present yield a net income of about /i,ooo, to maintain scholars as well as to provide for their teaching ; so that by them a staff of teachers could not now be maintained. Fortunately the General Synod, in 1883, approved of the temporary removal of the College from Tamaki to the neighbourhood of Auckland, according to the unanimous recommendation of the Governors; in order that the students might be able to attend the lectures of the Professors at the Auckland University College. All but one of the Foundation students now at the College have matriculated at the University of New Zealand, or arc preparing to do so; and nearly all who are at our College in 1888 will, I expect, be attending lectures at the University College. As soon, however, as the old buildings at Tamaki have been restored, the College will be re-opened there, in accordance with a Resolution of the General Synod passed in 1886. The Warden will then be expected, I suppose, to teach the students all the sciences ; and, as attendance at the lectures of the University College is in their case indispensable for graduating at the University of New Zealand, our students will thenceforward have to content themselves with a lower educational status, and must not aspire to a University degree. Up to the present time the Governors have only been able to carry out the first of the Resolutions passed by the General Synod at its last Session, namely, to appoint a resident Warden ; and, to all appearance, the College, like the Grammar School, will have to be closed, before the funds necessary for the restoration of the old buildings can be accumulated. In that case we shall have a melancholy illustration of the saying, propter vitam, vivendi perdere causas : for the sake of the College we shall have to forego the purposes for which the College was founded.

The College buildings at Tamaki are still in the occupation of the Rev. T. F. King, who conducts therein a private school with much success ; combining the imparting of sound learning with religious education, strictly in accordance with the principles which it was the object of the Founder of S. John's College to cherish.

Parochial Returns. —I am unable, I am sorry to say, to refer in detail to the work of the majority of our Sunday Schools, inasmuch as I have not yet received the Parochial and District Returns for the year ending December 31, 1886. For the same reason I am unable to lay before the Synod other information that should be in its possession at our annual meeting. In 1885 the Synod directed that the Parochial Returns should be sent to the Standing Committee every year, in time to enable the Committee to publish a summary thereof in the Church Gazette before the meeting of the Synod. I would ask the Synod to give definite instructions, during the present Session, as. to the manner and time of furnishing these Returns; without which the President is obviously unable to make a complete statement, as it is desirable that he should, of the condition of the Diocese.

I must, on the present occasion, content myself with laying before you other particulars of Diocesan work with which I am more immediately concerned, or have had opportunities of making myself acquainted.

The Orphan Home continues to fulfil the purposes for which it was founded; namely, the maintenance, and the religious, intellectual, and industrial training of orphans an i destitute children. Notwithstanding the additions that have been made to the buildings in recent years, there is not at present accommodation for all the children whose friends desire to obtain for them admission to the institution. We may fairly expect that every parish and district of the. Diocese will show its interest in the work of the Home, by contributing annually to its support, and to the extension of its beneficent work. We may well congratulate Mr. Pierce, who has been Honorary Secretary of the Home for 16 years, on the result of his never-flagging and wise direction of its affairs; and, if it were permissible, we might envy him the privilege of having visited the fatherless of our Home during so many years—which, according to Holy Scriptures, is of the very essence of ' pure religion before God and the Father.' With the name of Mr. Pierce, in this important Diocesan work, that of Mr. Rawlings, the Honorary Treasurer of the Home, may rightly be associated. There are at the present time in the Home 46 boys and 22 girls, all in good health.

The Girls' Friendly Society has been carrying on its useful work in the Diocese for more than four years. I shall be glad to hear that there are working Associates of the Society not only in every parish, but in every settlement and district of the Diocese.

The Women's Home has more than fulfilled the most sanguine hopes of those by whom it was founded. Up to the present time 97 young women have received motherly care and teaching under its roof. The Report of the good work to the end of September is laid upon the table.

The Sailors , Home, though not the property of the Church, owes its existence to the interest taken in our seafaring population by a few of the clergy and laity of Auckland. I desire to place it on record, that, in taking , the part I did in establfshing this institution, originally the Sailors' Rest, my primary object was to benefit the seamen of our port spiritually, morally, and intellectually, and not only

*The Secretary of the Education Department (in England) is of opinion that 'to enforce secularity in State education in ' Great Britain is neither practicable nor desirable. _ Religious instruction is now regularly given in school hours, and the objection to any children attending such instruction is one of theory, not of practice. Few are withheld from such instruction —- a percentage certainly not worth recording. '—Dr, Laishley'e Report, p t 18,

socially It seems right for me to make this explicit declaration to the Synod, inasmuch as the bequest of that came to us from the late Mr E. Costley, was for < the Sailors' home being inaugurated or to be inaugurated by Bishop Cowie! Accordingly, the articles of association provide that religious teaching shall never be excluded from the Home; and that no seafaring man shall be denied the benefits of the institution on account of his opinions on the subject of religion or of his nationality. I have much pleasure in informing the Synod that a commodious and suitable Home, constructed of brick, on a very convenient site, next to the offices of the Harbour Board, Will soon be ready for use; and that it will possess an endowment yielding about /500 a year. Confirmation.- -The number of persons who have received Confirmation in the Diocese since the last Session of the Synod is 647; namely, 513 settlers and their children, and 134 Maories. 'New Churches hwe been built during the year at Awanui, Kaitaia, Kamo, Te Hakaru, Te Pupuke, and in the Epiphany district; and three churches have been enlarged. The Provincial Hospital and the Old People's Refuge have been regularly yisited by the Venerable Archdeacon Dudley, and the Revs. E. J. Phillips and T. H. Sprott, of the Parish of the Holy Sepulchre ; and public worship has been regularly conducted in them on Sundays by the following laymen°of the same parish, namely, Colonel Lyon, Major Lusk, and Messrs J. Batger, T. Charter, C. S. S. George, E. H. Hammond, A. Heather, and L. R. Robin. The Provincial Gaol has been regularly visited by the Rev. J. S. Hill; and, during his recent absence from the diocese, the Sunday services have been conducted by Mr I-lemery, of S. Sepulchres parish. The Rev. J. S. Hill.—l gladly avail myself of this opportunity to express my high sense of the value of Mr Hill's ministrations, not only to the prisoners in the Gaol, but to the very many others who have benefited by his zeal, sympathy, and effectual teaching, in Auckland and in other parts of the Diocese. The Lunatic Asylum has been visited once a week by the Rev. J. K. Davis. Bishop Sehvyn Memorial Fund.—l hoped that before now I might be able to appoint a Chaplain, who should devote the whole of his time to ministering to the sick in our Hospital, Refuge, and Asylum; but a maintenance for such a chaplain has not yet been provided. The Sehvyn Memorial Fund, which was intended primarily to maintain a clergyman for this work, at present amounts to only £i,ZS°'> and it was ordered by the Synod, in 1884, that until the Fund amounted to £1, 500, the interest should be allowed to accumulate. We have not, however, any right to leave it to the clergy and laity of one Auckland parish, to provide, until then for regular ministrations to the sick and infirm in our Hospital and Refuge. The Pension Fund of the Diocese-—which is also the Fund of the Dioceses of Melanesia and Waiapu—amounts to about £ 10,000 ; and the total income for the past year was Bs. 6d. In that year no clergyman received a pension ; and consequently the receipts of the Special branch of the Fund were added to the capital. It is not to be expected that we shall be able to capitalise the whole of the receipts of the Special Fund in future years ; and, even if it were, it would still be incumbent on us to consider, without delay, how the Fund is to be increased, so as to meet the claims that may be made upon it at no distant date. This is the only Diocesan Fund to which our clergy can look for help in their declining years, and in times of sickness; and yet its importance appears to be undervalued by many of our people, from the fact that from several parishes and districts no contributions were received for the Fund during the last financial year.

Taranaki. —I was for a short time only in the Archdeaconry of Taranaki in the beginning of this year, and administered the rite of Confirmation in two of the churches. Under ordinary circumstances I should not have been there until i 83 8; at the end of which year I may still be able to hold my ordinary visitation of the Archdeaconry. Tokens of Progress. —As this is the eighteenth Session at which it has been my duty to address the Synod on the state of the Diocese, and, as 1 am expecting shortly to leave you for a time, you will, I think, be interested in the following statistics, from which some idea may be formed of the progress that our work has made since the year 1870. It may be well to remind you, first of all, that in the beginning of that year the population of the colony numbered about 237,000, and that in 1886 it was 578,482. The European population of this Diocese last year, according to an estimate carefully made by Mr H. G. Seth Smith, was 130,020, of whom 57,560 were members pi the Church, that is, 4427 per cent.; the proportion for the whole colony, according to the Census Return of last year, having been 40-17. The territorial extent of the Diocese, also according to Mr H. G. Seth Smith's calculation, is about 20,000 square miles; namely, from the North Cape to Stratford (in the Province of Taranaki), and from the West Coast to the 176 th degree of East longitude, passing between Katikati and Tauranga, and through the Eastern part of Lake Taupo. In 1870 there were 19 licensed-clergy ministering to our European population ; at the present time there are 44. In that year there were seven other clergymen in the Diocese ministering occasionally to European congregations; there are now eleven such other clergymen.

In 1872 there were 14 Licensed Lay Readers to European congregations; there are now 54, and 47 others —not holding a formal Licence.

Since 1870, 80 new churches have been built, and 9 others have been enlarged; not reckoning in either case those of a temporary character. In 1870, 191 Europeans, of all ages, received Confirmation; during the past year, their number, as already stated, was 513. I call your attention to these statistics, not for the glorification of ourselves, but that we may, as in duty bound, humbly thank God, and take courage.

The Maories. —I have already informed the Synod of the great loss that the Maories of the Northern Archdeaconry have recently sustained, by the death of three of the Native clergy and of a leading lay member of their Church Board. It will be long before these vacancies in the staff of our Native ministers can be filled; but those who remain will not be slack in their efforts to prevent the work from retrograding, under the supervision of Archdeacon Clarke. All will be glad to sco the Archdeacon in his place among us to-day, after some months'absence for the benefit of his health. In 1870 there were five Maori clergymen in the Diocese. Since that time I have ordained 13 more, including Hone Papahia, a chief of Hokianga, who was made a Deacon in March last. Of the whole number, five have died, and two have gone to other Dioceses.

A Church Board, intended to represent all the Maori districts of the Diocese, met at the Thames in the month of March; when eleven Native clergy were present, and twentyseven lay representatives. Great interest in the meeting was shown by the Maories of the district; and the Resolutions agreed to were creditable to the Board; namely, that the whole of the offertory collections on Epiphany Sunday be given to the Melanesian Mission; that marriages ought not to be performed in other buildings when there is a church within a distance of ten miles; that Bible classes should be held for adults as well as for children; and that all the Tribes should interest themselves in obtaining suitable candidates for holy orders. I have appointed the Rev. Wild te Paato be one of my chaplains. The number of Maories who have received the rite of Confirmation since the last meeting of the Synod is 134.

During the same time live new churches have been built for Native congregations; and has been contributed by them for general Church purposes. There are at present 49 boys at S. Stephen's School, Parnell, and three apprentices. The Master of the school speaks in high terms of the general behaviour of the boys, and of their progress in their studies. The Maori population of the Diocese, as estimated by Mr H. G. Seth Smith, is 18,846, out of a total of 41,828 (according to the census of 1886).

Lambeth Conference. —I have already referred to my intention to visit England in 1888, chiefly for the purpose of taking part in the Conference of Bishops of the Anglican Communion, to be held there in the month of. June or July.

After nearly eighteen years of incest nTTT^^ from which I have no? been other work—at our General Synods andVX y ' ;e W£ diversity Se nate , it mi ht WrfJ a short holiday -well for the Diocese and alLl^ to There is no doubt that much good hasresX^ 1 Conferences, the first of which was held SI froni Longley, in 1867. The second Tait, in 1878, but I was unable to a≤ occasion 100 Bishops were present, includ^^ ela % United States of America. ■ ulu ß. l 7ironr th e ' So long as a really (Ecumenical Council—» r Universal Church-cannot be assembled it win^ 1 °* ** these Conferences should be held • tn &U™ - Wtaat safe keeping of the Faith ' once for allX'dTS and for the fellowship of those who hold It ' thesaint V The Lambeth Conference will have.noketoJP* and its decisions will have the force of recomS ? vm i to the national and other Churches tha? S °%» The primitive and Scriptural independence ofSSo**",'^ o**",'o**",'0**" , ' New Zealand is illustrated by the fact that ourtt eh of attend the Lambeth Conference without permission from any State authority, and tWJXi • W* the Conference-whether agreed to or no! I ° l Zealand Bishops—will be necessarily binding on t^w c ! of New Zealand. ' g ?a toe . C M ' The essential unity* of the Church of ChtwUjL; v the world is consistent with the separate otaSKS*?' or national Churches/ V . die organisation of;local The Anglican Communion.— The doctrine ..J V ' discipline of the Church of New Zeaffid ate fi&ft with the doctrine and the discipline of the QuSI England; and, as Lord Selbome Z ■ T\? f authorised doctrine and practice of the Church of Enrf2 at the present day should be compared with thatS Christian Church generally in the days 61 would require a strong application of the Si scope to discover any really substantial difference betwS them. Almost, if not absolutely, everything which # Church of England has since rejected as corruption, was then unknown.'f 'The doctrines and:'dk? tices which the Church of England rejected at the RefornS tion were mediaeval, not primitive; they were unknown Teveii if germs of some of them may have existed) when the Anglo-Saxon Church was founded by Augustin, Mfor ages afterwards; the historical origin of most of them can be and has been traced.' ' Once grant that the things cut Off were not good in themselves, and were not original at essential conditions of the , constitution of the Church, and Dean Hook's saying, that a man whose' face has becbine dirty may wash off the dirt and yet remain' therSkmemiii that he was before, undeniably applies.' The origin of the Church founded in England by thi preaching of Augustin 'manifestly was in the spontaneous missionary efforts of the one Church (then, at all events justly called Catholic),' says the same learned writer; 'which' had the Apostles for its teachers, and had comedown iaunbroken historical succession from their days.' It is sometimes asserted, in ignorance of history or for interested that the Church of England at the time of' the Reforiatioii did not preserve unbroken organic unity with the Church of the preceding centuries; but, as Lord'Selborne sayj, ' the organic continuity and identity of the Church of England has never been interrupted from the time of Augustin to the present day.' 'No idea could be more repugnahlto the intention and understanding of King Henry the,Eighftaiil his Parliaments (as appeared from their repeated declarations and acts) than that of either creating a new Church of "reconstructing " the old. No evidence of the continuity and identity of the Reformed Church of England with the Church of Augustin and of all the centuries after his time could be clearer or more decisive than that afforded by those Statutes, in which some pretend to find proofs to the contrary.' ' When the separation actually took place in the .eleventh, year of Elizabeth, the seceders who obeyed the orders of the Pope were (as they have ever since: been in England) :few and insignificant, in comparison with the great mass of the clergy and lay people who still remained in.the EngM Church.' ■ , ~'.. . ... .. ;i It may appear to some that, after all, the doctrine#nd,tb.fi, discipline of the Church are but as the bones and the fesS of the mystical Body; but, even so, it must be confessedthat they are essential, if there is to be a Body at all, that is, if there is to be unity, among thei disciples of offl Lord Jesus Christ, and any organisation of their work in the world. Unity.—That there might be unity among His people, was and is the will of our Master; and it is by the-iunUyof Christians that the Divine Mission of. the Church is ÜBe recognised. One chief purpose of the Conference i Bishops to be held at Lambeth , is the preservation" of the unity of the Anglican Communion' throughout the world. In the circular letter issued by the lateafter the Conference of 1878, His Grace spoke of 'the essential and evident unity in which the Church or ■EngMM and the Churches in visible comffiumon with her have always been bound together. United under One Divwe Head in the fellowship of the One Catholic and Apostolw Church, holding the One faith revealed in: 4efined in the Creeds, and maintained by the Primitive Church, receiving the same Canonical Scriptures of the GldandNew Testaments as containing all thing necessary to salvation--these Churches teach the same Wordiof God,, partake of the same divinely-ordained Sacraments, through th| mmistrfO the same Apostolic orders, and worship one God anwner through the same Lord Jesus Christ, by the same Holy ana Divine Spirit, Who is given to those that believe, to-guiae them into all truth.' , . .., tuJa, One of the chief means whereby the unity o™. ?J of Christ has been maintained is the Apostolic order-.ot tPjministry; which has been described by Lisrhtfoota.s 'the historic backbone of theChurcn. therefore becoming that we should commemorate, as we the Centenary of the Episcopate in 12, of this" year, was the one-hundredth _anniversary of |« consecration of the first Bishop for a British colony, namd, the Bishop of Nova Scotia, in the chapel of Lambeth At the same place seventy-five Bishops colonies and dependencies have been invited ¥tfsm* the summer of next year; and *c fact that such an gsem blage is contemplated-though doubtles* seventy-five will be absent from the Conference-is occasion of thankfulness, to all whose hearts desire it is id Christ's people may be One. : mitvof Federation of the not only_the wj the Church that will be strengthened by continuity of the Apostolic doctrine and the meeting in council of Bishops from the colonies and foreign Crown; but, as I believe, the unification of the £mpw may be aided by the same instrument ality. . m The union of our National Churches n^ suggest the nature of the federatwn.that: v, deskable among the component parts of■Aβ W#* It would not be possible now for England-, 6 en desired, to treat the colonies money or other gain is to be directly ob ep ' fthe Bisbop to supremacy over National Churches,on the parw ' s0 of Rom,, has proved fatal to any policy of autocratic sovereignty, on thep d over the other countries of the Emp f'^ zs in dismemberment. The British Pahamenm after the model of the early Synods d probably be found that the only f £ is possible is one resemb ing ft FTC? sha ii r etain the Churches,-a combination in wh if he Ln |Se, but, not. * primacy among, other nations 0 the holds the g supremacy. The Archbishop ; ofogg «g 5 ?n cg place in our reverence as the Primate 01 g provinc ial ; indPEnglish Ecclesiastical 5W3J nee .' b 5'S Colonies mustUe of all the sister Churches . preserved, after the custom of P*f £&*&% P Q UEEN 's JuBH.EE.-It may at the ?W e^?SisJ# ? address of the President of connected with the work of^ e world. What, greater hindrance can inw

work than the constant p^, of warfare, in which the # ct3tl °f Europe at the present time patiflD 30 , What frame of mind is Jtf livjng ,d to 'the mind that was more °PP^t ris t' than the mutual jeai* P suspicions that are encourcnch a condition of things? i$ , b C is the Prince of Peace; and QtW* L of His Gospel, and the the P< oeace among the nations of are mutually the cause and fc-Sdo each other. The federate < the Empire, and the close to n °L alliance of the Empire with and » rl j!. p ea king American nation, Ibe PS'Wound of hope to many, of the world. J**? rS universal peace depends ASt f neacefulness of the leading «P° D nf the world. Notwithstand- '"*? necessary qualifications that «, be made, the British Empire hrt been at peace with itself ** m n2yy««n; and this happy den"? ""s doubtless to be attributed SS^. t0 *JP.enonal f hai " Her IVTajesty Queen Victoria, "T the increasing reverence and JO IVction with which her people, of the Empire, have been ia ireeard her. During her reign Pi rf her subjects have never JSwed by the loss of territory SX conquest, or by sustaining Srom « European enemy; no Sis step in foreign politics has been her Government, nor has any r°li e mistake been made in ImSfSisTation- If. we owe the £ a debt of gratitude 'for her fl eagerness in the work of public m jl \ni improvement, for the SabVexample which her life has Trmtv set for the tnorough compreff£ o the true conditions of the Sonant between the Throne and People, let us try to acknowledge Edebr as Mr. Gladstone said on a Li occasion, ' by remembering her SSnen When S. Paul enjoined I prayers should be made for all #n and gave the commanding and hi place to prayer for kings and kat were in authority, the apostle aoki the language not only of religion, Jofthe most profound social justice d linman common sense.'f The Church House. —The offerfa of our Auckland people at the iufch'o/the Holy Sepulchre on the 'ty'Of the Queen's Jubilee, were dewtei to the Church House Fund in London, in answer to an appeal from His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. That London memorial i the jubilee will, I believe, prove a nloable means of cherishing the unity $ the Church of England with the Orarcbes of New Zealand and Melalgia and of other Colonies and feions.Melanesian Mission. —I have alnys considered it my duty, as well as ipleasure, to inform the Synod of the sogress of the work of the Church in leMelanesian Islands. Not only was at work begun by the first Bishop of a diocese; but it has been continued, iisdis;tiow being , carried on, by missdnaries whose zeal and self-denial set forth the spirit of the Gcspel, and stimulate/ energies of ourselves in our Hredresponsibilities. The condition if the Island Mission Stations geneif is considered encouraging, espe(ij 'the quiet progress and untobed well-doing of many' of the &. stations. There are two facts ItalwiU mention, as indicating a great fell that is satisfactory. The first is ta-ii October of last year the Bishop traght it safe to take Mrs. Selwyn itettith him at Santa Cruz, the island a Ah, not long since, it was conned unsafe for any white man to W;and the second is that —at Florida ttwiscannot be obtained fast enough, Meitapplications made to the Bishop fcrthem bythejnhabitants. There are Ween schools established there, atWttl%nearly 800 scholars, of whom can read the New Testaseat Our most recent report of the «op himself has come by H.M.S. mmend, the officers of which vessel »bimin good health not many weeks $>■• We may expect to see the Mission I m. our harbour again by the !»* of December. \ Cohmral.—ln 1885 I informed the W of my intention to make arrangeJjSlith the people of S. -Mary's, ggpj using their parish church JJC#edral of the Diocese, in acWance, with a of the w«rf Synod on the subject. The jjwlarrangements' with the parish J.9fj» been made, and will be JWled-te you for your approval. 1 JJ W.the more pleasure in entering I ; es ? wangements with S. Mary's inasmuch as the parishioners J 2,7f d to build at first only so «a«their, new church as they exWtobe able to pay for. 2y' s p ARis H .-The Synod will Eff, ; as -I do, with theincum?^fe pleof *•-Paul's, in their which have been & -ythj; Jong delay that has lowing of the land, C n shmh site > to the p er - J2P 1 ' an d consequently by the 55? of the re - erecti °" ° f fe ; -? EpoRT -~- Mr Samiiel m we are greatly inWa * anditsn S of Ac General u *h w\ Av ™s ™ n y y ears » whole of the numerous %?r?t are in P erfect order and always found them.' am - intending to refj' icons t0 visit the Z ■ res P ectiv c archdeato toJ L threo years, and to W«S' orthc information of the y>W mf *i ate Di the church btiild- |» cyS, ottler , matters with which H,.7*«7 for Archdeacons to ©f ott Diocesan has been t^Sffu ftfiflpinted V*>J§^a4||i| S last • J™ahepß,feg|a|£gH. jnto

consideration by the Synod without delay. Our special thanks are due to the Committee for the careful manner in which they have executed the important work that was entrusted to them.

The Primate.—The Synod will, I am sure, be sorry to hear that our venerable and greatly reverenced Primate has given notice of his purpose to resign the Primacy, and the charge of the Diocese of Christchurch. It is his intention that his resignation should take effect at the end of 1888. His Lordship informs me that his ' deafness has increased much of late,' and that he is ' incapacitated for taking the part that lie ought to take at Church Committee meetings, in which so much that concerns the well-being of the Diocese must necessarily be carried on.' The Bishop was consecrated to the See of Christchurch on the formation of the Diocese in 1856, and was elected by the General Synod to the Primacy in 1869, on the resignation of Bishop Selwyn. His wise and fatherly administration of the affairs of his Diocese, and his patient and impartial presiding at the General Synod, during six sessions, have been great blessings to the Church of New Zealand.

Standing Committee. —In conclusion, I return my cordial thanks to the members of the Standing Committee, for the help they have given me in many matters of importance to the Diocese, during the past year; and also to the Secretary, Mr W. S. Cochrane, who for eight years has discharged the multifarious duties of his office with an efficiency that has left nothing to be desired.

The Report of the Standing Committee will now be laid on the table; containing a summary of the proceedings of the Committee since the last Session of the Synod, and a list cf the business to be done—of which due notice has been received.

I pray that God's blessing may be with us during our meetings at this time, that in all our deliberations and proceedings, for the edifying of the Church, we may ' serve Him with a quiet mind.'* Amen.

* Collect for Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity.