The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 1911. THE BISHOP'S RESIGNATION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1020, 9 January 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 1911. THE BISHOP'S RESIGNATION.

An*t nc^ f tllc resignation of the Wjtf ,f) n u op ° £ Wellington (Dit. ■ Aug) will ba received with pro■m"n f h° Sret i by * A ¥ lioan Chu^ch - SnLh f Ug ° ufc ■ ¥ cw Zealand, enough, of course, the. loss of his "mn 8 ? In" leadership, his personal Sympathy and friendship will bo hitv n°f y i ?lt by dergy and laity of. the diocese of' Wellington, unwHn ,v ; hon J.' ho has worked with unselfish devotion for over fifteen years. Coming to New Zealand after a distinguished career at the University of Cambridge, Dr. Wallis soon proved himself worthy of- the entire confidence of his diocese, and though ho has not hesitated when occasion has arisen to,assert his independence of judgment and to take the less popular of,two lines of action, he. has. always done so with I°. ""lest sense of responsibility',' and those who disagreed with him would have been the first to admit that lie was actuated by the very highest motives. His sound learning, capacity for vigorous work, and powers of organisation have enabled him to extend and consolidate the work handed over to him ? .. late Bishop Hadfield, a man of wide experience, exceptional ability, and-.great force of'character. A distinguished scholar himself, Dii. Halms has naturally taken great interest in-the educational work of the Church, and has paid special attention to the training of candidates for Holy Orders, and no man could recognise more fully than he does the urgent need of an educated ministry. His episcopate has been a period of marked and unbroken progress in . every direction, and has been happily characterised by a most, gratifying absence of sectional bitterness and internal strife. The enormous extent of the diocese of Wellington. and the constant travelling necessary in all weathers'and often to most inaccessible places, has gradually told upon his health, which has for some time past caused much anxiety to his friends, but it is to be hoped that he will have. many_ years ,of useful work before him in the less strenuous life of an English archdeaconry. .In her less conspicuous sphere of activity, Mrcs. Wallis has ; also won the highest esteem. She has never' spared herself, and has done work that will long be remembered among the women and girls of the diocese. She has proved herself a friend in need to the friendless, and as one of the founders of St. Mary's Homo at Karori will be held in affectionate remembrance by many a girl who has good cause to be grateful for the existenco of that excollent-ly-inanaged institution. .Thcro arc now no fewer than three- vacancies to be filled in tho episcopate of the Church of the Province of New Zealand—namely, the Bishoprics of Wellington, Auckland, and Melanesia, and never in the history of this young aucl vigorous Church has there been need for more care in making choice of fit men for these high positions. We are living in a period of reconstruction in religious thought, and on every hand we see signs of the stress and strain of the conflict between the old and the new. These times of transition • are a necessary part in the history of every living and progessivc religion. Men do not carry their different kinds of knowledge in watertight compartments, but new ideas on scientific, social, and religious questions must act and react upon one anothor. The enormous changes within living memory caused by the application of the evolution hypothesis to nearly every form of nlodern thought have made the reconstruction of many of our religious opinions absolutely necessary. These facts have greatly increased the responsibility of leadership in the Church, and in the Anglican communion the Bishops are tho natural . leaders of _ religious thought and action. It is therefore imperative that the men who are selected for ' these positions 1 Should be fully ' abreast of modern intellectual tendencies, and able to make, it quite : clear to the average layman that the best theology and the truest, religion have nothing to fear from tho highest scholarship, but are i over ready to welcome new truth i from whatever, quarter it may come. | In making .these appointments it i should always be remembered that j

the Church does not exist for the Rake of tho Bishops and clergy, but that the Bishops and clergy exist for tho sake of tho Church, and that the best man available should be secured. All things being coual, a local man should, of course, be given preference, but it would be disastrous if at the present time any attempt was made to put a ring fence round New Zealand in order to shut out capable men who have come to tho front in other branches of the Anglican communion.