THE PRIMATE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 148, 23 June 1906, Page 9

THE PRIMATE.

ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND. HIS PRELIMINARY DOINGS AND FUTURE PLANS. (tkom our own correspondent.} LONDON, 11th May. Last week, just before the departure of the mail, intimation was received in London that Bishop Nevill, Primate of New Zealand, had landed at) Liverpool. This was tho case, and the Primate is now in London, whither he come by the special train which met his steamer at Liverpool. Ke is at present staying wibh his brother, \ resides at 17, Belsizeopeseent, Hampstcad. ' When I saw him this week I thought he was looking very well, and he told me that! he- had had a very satisfactory and pleasant journey to England, coming on this occasion via Vancouver. He stayed in Vancouver itself for four days, and was there during Eastertide. On Easter Sunday he took an active part) at two of the services in the church, whose head is the llev. Glyn FynesClinton — a relative, by the way, of the Vicar of Kuiow, in tho Otago diocese. The Primatte officiated at the early celebration,' and was the preacher at the 11 o'clock service. He was much pleased to see the great works in which' Mr. Fynes-Clinton was engaged in Vancouver, these works also including an orphanage and mission to the Japanese. Prior to his arrival at Vancouver, Bishop Nevill had, of course, been tn Fiji and Honolulu. During the time he was at Fiji he was received at Government House, and he also held a meeting there of the leading church people, with a view to promoting the establishment 'of a bishopric in Fiji. He next landed , at Honolulu, and was entertained at luncheon by the bishop, whom he found most sympathetic in regard tt> bis plans. From Vancouver, Bishop Nevill went straight through to' Montreal ; he was pleasantly entertained there during his few hours' stay, and then went on to Halifax the same evening. At the 1/istnamed port he joined the new turbine steamer VictoriaD, by which he travelled to Liverpool. The voyage across the Atlantic was a good one, if not fast; it proved, however, extremely pleasant and intei'eeting on account of the various passengers on board who held important official positions, some of whom had been assisting in the recent visit of Prince Arthur of Connaught to Japan. According to present plans, the Primate will be chiefly in London for about a month to come-. He is full of many and various plans in the interests of church matters generally and particularly, of course, in connection with his far-off diocese. So far business of a private character has chiefly engaged his time since he reached London, but simultaneously he has been taking advantage of various oppoujmnities to promote the interests which he has in hand. One of his great desires, as is weD known in the colony, is for the establishment of a bishopric of Polynesia, in connection with which, as I have already mentioned, a meeting was held in Fiji while the Primatte was on his Homeward voyage. If thin project can be established, the Bishop of Polynesia will have jurisdiction over the Friendly Islands, Samoa, ZH& Fiji, which at the present time are under the nominal jurisdiction of die Bishop ot London. The Primate of New Zealand has, by the way, received a cordial invitation from Dr. Wranington-Ingram to stay with him at Fulham Palace, and doubtless while there the matter of the establishment of the proposed bishopric will come in for full consideration and discussion between the Bishop of London and the Bishop of Dunedin. it woald be no news to my New Zealand readers were I to tell them that their Primate is desirous that a Cathedral should be built in Dnnedin, for which purpose a large sum of money is already in hand. But I might just mention that Bishop Nevill intends while in the Mother Country to do all in his power to promote the interests of the projected, scheme, on whose behalf he has full powers accorded him to act as he thinks best; be hopes, of course, while here, to be able to interest some of his English friends in the matter, and in all probability he will, at a future date, obtain the services of an architect to draw up the plan of a suitable building. In short, he intends to promote in every possible way the scheme for the erection of tLe Dunedin Cathedral. The Primate has, of course, already received, many invitations to visit leading Church dignitaries in different parts of England; one invitation has 'reached him from the Archbishop of Canterbury to visit him at Lambeth Palace. Also, he has had many reqnests made to him to preach, hat just at present at any rate the bishop has 'decided not to bind himself by preaching engagements, for, primirily, he feels that the numerous other varied and important matters which he has in hand will quite occupy all his available time for some while to come. Moreover, he feels at present that he is somewhat in need of a rest. He conducted the services on board each steamer on his way from Australia to Liverpool. But, although he has declined invitatioris to preach for the present, he has made an exception in one case. At the special request of the master of Magdalen College, Cambridge, Bishop Nevill will be the preacher on the occasion of the memorial of the benefactors of that college, the service in connection with which celebration will be held at Magdalen College Chapel on the 27th inst. The badpe of the Bishop has recently been added to the window of his old college; he is looking forward with picaSure to his stay at Cambridge, with which university, by the way, members of his family have been connected for many generations. It was known in the colony that Dr. Nevili was to become the recipient of the Royal Badge of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, an honour which is of course conferred by the King. In this instance the prerentation was duly confirmed by his Majesty, and the Primate hat already received the ornamental white emblem of the order, suspended by its black ribbon. According to present arrangements, the length of his absence from the colony will be of a somewhat protracted mtureIt is not probable that he will finally depart from Encland until next \ovcmbc-r. Bishon Nevill's present intention is to be back in New Zealand in time for the General Synod, whose session will take place next February. Bctwion now *yd next November I hope to have fne privilege of lettme you know in the colony with what SBCcest* tke Bishop is iMcting ir eormeetfioß witk his several projects, ■wiieh at tho rjrewrat tii»* are, of cirtrso, only in tkeir initial stages so fur as this Bide of the world is concerned.

For some time past, says an English shipping paper elated May, shipbuilders have experienced great difficulty in securing orders for *new tonnage, and several of those builders who confine their attention to high-class work have had empty berths. Tho outlook for the builders of tramp steamers is not bright, but there ssems to be a largo number of orders coming forward for battle-ships, passenger steamers, etc.