BISHOP NEVILL'S RETURN.

Evening Star, Issue 7827, 7 February 1889, Page 4

BISHOP NEVILL'S RETURN.

St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral was crowded last evening, when a thanksgiving service in connection with the return of the Right Rev. Dr Nevill, Bishop of Dunedin, was held. A full choral service was also held. The following ministers were present:— The Ven. Archdeacon Edward 3, the Revs. A. C. Yorke, W. Ronaldson, Kerkham, Johnson, B. M. King. Watson, H. Frere, and Q. Bacon. The Rev. A. C. Yorke intoned the various prayers, the Ven. Archdeacon read the first lesson, and the Rev. B. M. King the second lesson. Mr B. C. Haogitt (Chancellor of tho Diocese) read and presented the following address to the Bishop :

To tho Eight Vcvorend the Lord Bishop of Dunedin, D.P. My Lord Bishop, - We, the clergy and laity of your diocese in Synod assembled, desire to extend to your Lordship our heuty greeting;! on your return to your diocese. During the pass year you have vi-ited the See of St. Augustine and the ancient palace of Lambeth, the cradle and citadel of the English Church ; and, as Bishop of the HOivhbernmoHt See, have united in god y deliberation with the prelates of senate and independent dinccsen, as well as with the arehhishojis and bullions of our fatherland, concerning questions of supreme importance for the due maintenance of Chn.-.t s Church militant hole uu earth. r ~ . Wo ca.not bat congratulate your Lonednp upon your presence at a iJonferenco likely to p-ove sovery fmilf.'l of rosu'fc, and we desire for yourself and fo- the v/ork of the Gonf-Tenno the blessing of G oil that your labors may greatly redound to tho good of the church and to tho Brfety, honor, and wolfYro <f n'l Chviat-maom. ■i'he encyclical letter- and u sauin/na promulgated by Oonf -rcnci are very welcome to in all at a time v !i en there >» so much questioning and marching of fundamental prinCt The" vigorous irr.'top of cawmtial the generous striving nf-;r unity, and the lmmi."takeablo proclamatiu" of :;>->rals therein displayed deserve the most resort;"., consideration, and wo trust that your Lordtiim will take adequate steps to orornulgato the document in i-.a entirety throughout the length ami breads of your diocese. We appreciate your "ii.>rb> rluuiig your absence from New Z-ilaml to promote the w»_ik and improvo the temporal c•.mbtiwi »ftoo dioceso in which you pre ide. acil while bidding you a respectful welc-me "" yu- reborn, wo pray that Almighty Voi\ will increase your work more and more in this corner of J lis vinrywd committed by divine ponms-;<oi to your charge.

His Lordship replied as follows: ;!r Chancellor, I gratefully recognise the cordiality of the greeting which from the mompnl of my landing until now has been accorded to me. You have expressed in every way not only great respect for the responsible office I hold, but also a deep affection for myßelf individually, which has touched my

heart. I rejoice also to find in the terms of the address which is presented to me that you desire to recognise and have recognised the world-wide work of tVio church to which we have tho honor to belong, The evidence of this fooling on your yart, dear brethren, on my return to New Zealand affords me great happiness; and I cannot but pray to Cod, as I am sure you will join me in praying, th.it peace and effectual work for the glory of the Great Head of the Church may characterise our future. Before 1 proceed, as I shall very shortly, to make a few remarks upon the points of this address which is presented to me, I desire to say how much joy it gives me to see so many of my brethren the clergy, and also of my brethren the faithful laity, in this house of God to-night. It is very fitting that v/e should thus consecrate together ourselves afresh in our most holy work. It is also fitting, as it seems to me, in the first place, because we all—bishop, clergy, and people—have alike to recognise as the o'.mi important point aud reflection for us to dwell upon, that which was -f clearly taught us in the second lesson of this evening's service namely, that we are nothing unless we recognise that the nature and characteristic of the Church oi Christ is spirit"?.'. Let us ever remember that we are no mere philanthropic organisation; an association of men of equal rights, and only differentiated the one from the other by, perhap3, it may be superiority of intelligence, or of additional interest in the precise object of the society. That is not the actual position of the Church of Christ. The position is described to us by the apostle himself, inspired of God ; if; is that |we are parts of a spiritual body. If thus wc rccoenteo our position, aud bring that reflection clearly home to our hearts and apply it to our minds, we shall have a guide which will assist us in the conduct of outwork at all times and under all circumstances. Whatsoever the temporary difficulty may be through which we have to pass, and the important—or, as it may be oulv to us, the apparently important—discussion of the hoar, I say that if we have j such v. principle as this underlying our eon-; ception of the church, then we shall see that j in this, as in the natural body, there j are diversities of administrations, there j are differences of ministerial ordinances,; but it ia all by tho same spirit. That is to say, in other words, that the parts and | functions of the holy church to which, we j belong arc devised and ordained of God. | And it we forget that fact, and act merely j as if we were some voluntary association j such as I have described for the pursuit of I some noble purpose hern on e,.rth, we shall j bo sure to end in disappointment, failure, j and distress. But if we keep this guiding principle before us we shall have that which will prove, I trust, under divine guidance, the solvent of all the difficulties of our life. It is therefore that we may recognise this point first of all that I rejoice vo much that wc have met together in the house of God • to-nh'ht, But there is another reason, a I more personal one to me—one which never- j thelcss I cannot but be deeply affected by j as I speak to you at this monv-it. Dcubrethren and friends, it is the recollection that since I went out from among you for a time I have been of necessity engaged in almoateontinunus travel—travel by .sea .travel by land, travels almost day by day—and yet • in spite of all this, involving of course con- I siderablo danger—in spite of this lam here j to-night, thankful to acknowledge that by j the mercy of God there has not bean, either to myself or to those members of my family who were with me, any accident whatever or any untoward circumstance. You will all recognise with mo io this subject for devout thanksgiving. I trust, therefore, dear brethren, while I offer for myself and those belonging to me my tribute of grateful thanks and homage to il'm. who Jus guided us out and home, you will join with me in like thanksgiving. But now perhaps it is right that I should address myself, though very briefly, to those points so clearly adverted to in the. address you have just been so good as to present to me. I recognise in this, which tho chancellor .of the diocese has just read to me, an address from the whole comforting and satisfactory now to discover : "hat you have been observing, not my individual work only, but toe important work which ha:: been carried on by representatives of our church gathered together in England. Or tho mutters which were brought before the Conference it would be impossible at such a time for me to speak at any length. The only thing which I desire to impress upon you this night is something, so far as I shall be ;.nle to communicate it to you, of thiit dec]) impression which was produced upon myeelf, and I em ((iiito "urc in the heart ;liul mind of every bishop who had .the privilege of forming | part of that assembly, the deepest possible j impression of the importance of our work, and that God was with us of a truth in the ! execution of our task. That was, my dear j brethren, the oneall-pi.rvading, ever present imnression that was produced upon my mind j during our important deliberations. I can- | not stay to touch upon the subjects of these conferences, however important— and very important some of them were—but I may sivy at this time that in relation to the request made to me in the address that I should take simc means of promulgating those decisions throughout the diocese, I propose to consult the Standing Committee at an early period as to the means most likely to bo effectual in getting these synodical addresses disseminated as widely as possible amongst members of the church. I may say, before I pass away from the subject of the Lambeth Conference, that whilst naturally every bishop will have attached more or less importance to those particular subjects on which his mind or heart has specially dwelt, I cannot but feel that one of the most important of all the results of our deliberations was the tone and spirit which pervaded all. It was not merely that there were represented in largo numbers the chief officers of our church ; it was not merely that there we had represented, as I presume we had, perhaps the learning of the church in a high degree, and the intelligence of the. church's mind to a wonderful extent, as you will recognise when you remember who many of these persona were who were present —it was not that merely or most of all which impressed us; but it was that though there were many men and many minds, each attaching no doubt supreme importance to those things which he had dwelt upon, it might lie for months before the meeting itself took place, nevertheless when we came with the results of our deliberations from the several committees once again to the body of the assembly, wo found that there was but one ho.rt and one soul—one supreme desire to set forth the glory of God and the welfare of His Church on earth—by which we meant, and all meant, so fa.r as it was possible, to contribute to it—the salvation from error of all kinds and from evil of all sorts, of the masses of mankind with which v/e have to deal. Beloved, there were also very many important subsidiary meetings connected with that groat Conference, scarcely less important than the Conference itself. I cannot sneak to you of them in detail to-night. You have heard already,! have discovered, by means of tho nownpapersof a good number of such meetings. You have heard al?o that I did myself the great privilege of at.i.-miing a considerable number of them, as, for "X'Mnple, the Missionary Conference at Cambridge, tho reception and conference at York and at Durham, tho Missionary Conference and iiddrceses in Leeds (where I had the honor of being nominated to preach in two churches ami to speak in the town hall), the ordinary meetings of the Church Oon-

in Frc.otra.do IlriAl u.rxd other Imlls iii M".nchtfrt.'.'r (whsvo I hail also the honor nf b.'in;; as; a speaker). All these, itii'l many more of such pitherings, wo were piivi!cr<od i.o be present at; but this wasiby iin nifiii.ua a!!. Perhaps: the must comforting of all t.ht! Hi;iitiment3 that entered my mind ;it th;i,t time \vm the. .inprocin,i.v.!ii whieh was Known throughout/ the length and breadth of England, and not of KiurhitHi alotu, but of Scotland and In-laiul and America the appreciation of tlic grci.:, work now before the elum:h, and o! l)*:.-,*, part of it committed to those who n.r.M;rui;iii')ii.!y spoken of as colonial hiimop'i. I hold r) t > !m on ;i'.'•r.ntit of the higher estimation in ■.. !-.'<-b the position of the ehureh in the eolnr.y ?'■■; now helti, thi', J ; I was honored by w many invitations by persons whom it wasian honor t;»visit, far br.yond my own e'relc ot private acquaintances. I held this), I say, to bo mi evidence and mark of the increasing interest in our work and of the sense of importance attached to It, and it was in these respects

j I was so gratified with tho receptions I I received. If I may speak one or two words more of my own private work in England, I must refer in passing to the exertions I then ! made on the part of this diocese. I did ' take om myself, whenever an opportunity ' presented itself, the responsibility of i addressing the Church of England in behalf 'of this diocese. Not perhaps so much on ! behalf of the diocese generally, because I : took good care to inform the large audiences I I had to speak to in such places as York, j M mister, and Ely Cathedral, and Lincoln and j the like—f took good care to tell them on i every one of such occasions that we here in I Mew Zealand, and in this southern part, ! of which I could speak more particularly, j were most anxious to do our own work within onrselvc3 so far as that could be I accomplished by us. I described the exer- | tions made on behalf of parishes, the excr- | tions made by the diocese at large for the : better support of the clergy in the countryall those things I described to them—but at the same time I did suy that a diocese so ( recently established as ours, starting as wo i did without endowment from extraneous j sources, was of necessity obliged to apply ■' on all opportunities to the more wealthy of j thoio in England—and men of wealth there I are there far beyond ours—we were obliged to address ourselves to them in Christian love, and ask them for a brotherly gift to enable us to establish a special diocesan institution ; and it was concerning tho establishment of diocesan that I such help was needed. I may say while on J this subject, as I shall also tell the j Synod on the proper occasion, that I ' .'succeeded to the extent of my expectaj tions iii gaining assistance from Homo ! for the particular work that I had in i hand. I have now, dear brethren, only i once more to return to something which was naturally most present in my mind at • the commencement of this address—grati- | tudo to God and thankfulness to you for the reception that I have met with since my return—an augury, I take it, of good work | to come, by the blessing and help of Cod, in j the co-operation of a faithful laity and bchived clergy with their unworthy bishop. If we are thus to succeed, if the diocese is to progress, it must be by one and all mike remembering that more excellent way of ] which the Apostle speaks in the chapter i following that which was read to you toi night. That more excellent way—what is it? The supremacy of charity ! Therefore, j dear brethren, let us bring home as the desire of our hearts, aud. as the motive of our future lives, that hereafter we may ho, i more than in times past perhaps, imbued j with the spirit of love, the spirit of wisdom, ; find the spirit of peace, j The offertory, which was in aid of St. j Mary's Orphanage, amounted to Ll7 163 2d.