TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 7540, 2 May 1890, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

It is a matter for congratulation fw ~ important ecclesiastical * terday passed off bo well. J* summer" weather which h&& ,Jz?» for eeveral days had. it i 8 k place to clouded skiea, but th» off, »nd so the crowded congresS, , the Cathedral were able to their homes in comfort laeide tfe cj? dral the scene was imposing, andftoZ* vices were impressive and effective meaner. ft, j, of the first episcopal <x^ J? , which has taken place ia Sw ZeZ»* The Bishop of Duaedin. Dr. consecrated- at St. PaaTa, Duaidii Trinity Sunday, June 4ch, 1871, Most Eeverend the Primate (» f assists by the Biahops of Wa%» jj£* and WeUington. The pmeat Melanesia was consecrated to &« m c L™ cession to the martyred Bishop fstim&» the Pro-Cathedml, Nelaoa, oa S2 18th,1877. Yetagam.onth.fthfieoeS 1877, the present Bishop of Wafamj conseorated in the pro-Oathedcal, JJepT the ceremony being performed fey tfcl Primate (Dr. Harper), assisted by &• Bishops of Auckland and Yesterday's ceremonial ia fact, waa tba fourth Episcopal consecration ia Kai? tm,land. There is aa id«a amoag people that Bishop JuUu3 ia the first Iky Zealand Bishop who has been testes fc a the ranks of the colonial clergy, Tsk however, ia a miaappreheaaion } ug. Stnart, who had formerly hm. t missionary in India, was dai»£ duty jj New South Wales when his election by& Diocesan Synod o£ Waiapu took fa The office had previously beoa two New Zealand clergymen—Brat fc &j Yen. Archdeacon W. L. Williams, m 4 the retiring Bishop, and eeooadly £$ Yen. Archdeacon Harper, son of our m revered ex-Bishop. The former decS»l on the ground th%tthe work Native population had the firet; claim epss him, and there appeared to ba nobody d%> who could take up this apeolal *o;k Archdeacon Harper declined ehieUf <ts i?jt ground of his ignorance of fcb Mmt language, the majority of the popdsto of his diocese being of the Native im

Thb consecration of Bishop him therefore, ia ahora of the featem a novelty which soma people, igawsat o! the history of the Anglican Church, isight be disposed to attribute to it It is, hmever, an event none the less iinportaet and .noteworthy. There is Rfkr fill, «• •difference between the t»o causa of Bishop Stuart and Bishop Julia;!, The former w»» appointed eMd\j or the ground of his services ia Indfe under Bishops Cottoa sad Mib&An. B»hop Jnlius, although he did rmarfcafaly zealous and able work in England, lii chiefly made hla mark, so far as h$ it known to us, by his eloquence and to earnestness in the diocese of JBiUfcafc. therefore, comas to U3 mo?a tjpieeijj representative of the yoauger Ohuw-h i» f theee colonies, and it is etidenfe &teJ thaS he ie thoroußhly imbued with tao \mk' ing and spirit of younger esbooi d thought. It is early yefc, of to prophesy, bub so fwr aa « »» judge from Mβ sermon last nijjbt w should say Bishop Julias will ffl»te b» mari: here. There ia no doubt to k .« man of energy, and of originaSity «S boldness of view. His choice of »to!» for hie nrnt eermoa—hope ia a livlag 0-a —and hie impaasioned plea oa hohsM «•» living faith, showed his eoßTlfltiw , tt* Ohrietianity muat be a vital, force, and that it mast deal «U» fe needs bf to-day as well as of the fc*«« Ilile, if it ie to fulfil ite «*•«« Ito humanity. Ia this, if « *& I take not his Lordahip will J* , himself in accord with the «jpiH« f the age. One thing is also qaita crfa and that is that our neff Biehopfo*** eloquent.preaoher. The sarmoa ImHp|J «as a model of what such a mho* be, both in- matter and deUreiy. & unaffected audevideutiy smom e«* in which the preacher erprewwi his «J sense of the reaponsibility of Mb almost passiooate appaei to *** ,*"£" t» the laity, to the rising .their prayer, their •**»»£ cooperation, could not fel *• » deep impression. His heim« «» fc especially moved by his touelung &j»* . to the wiae counsels and his aged predecessor. *£* JnUus takes up hie under, most promising «wp»e*> •|*" fair to achieve ft gwrt'.M* 0 * career.

musical part of cofeature, of coaree «• compoaed by Mr Q. *'*»**£#*& Oxon, organist to the Of *;f i} dedicated f/^K^ a eacred cantata th»a of *a *j» Chawli enthem. ttk, tow"* tion*bly an admirable pto« »• The defect ebout it » ■tenor eolo is rather dtffu* bat the opening aad eb»u« *«£ ut vigorousladeffective. Thaflja*. very olever piece of part wr*»* - ahort recitative for with great eweetaeaa and parity o< - iion. It haa wetoborato paoiment, which w» 9 very flarfy the compos. »• DJ« priate Cooeepratioa «jr»J "J rfn !aony, the masic <**'•}*% it furnUhed by Mr TtataU. MB flat major. The are a rather awkward interval in the wl«lf w t jd tenth bare, *nd • *j^ ~4! ! Aa »>». which might with idt«W * wtt ,toU

J== j2 srllll e of the Cathedral, as one| ike etective wfcyii which! w»s given, would have beenf ** TZi meritorious evea ia the cam cf s