AUCKLAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XII, Issue 732, 12 November 1859, Page 3

AUCKLAND.

PROPOSED ENDOWMENT 01? THE METEOPOLITAN

BISHOPKIC.

A circular received by the last mail from Auckland informs us that a meeting has been held in that city and a committee appointed to take steps for raising funds for the permanent endowment of the Bishopric of New Zealand. We have much pleasure in publishing the statement circulated by the committee, whose chairman is the Chief Justice, and secretary, Colonel Mould. Subscriptions will be thankfully received by the Bishops of Wellington, Waiapu, Nelson,"and Christchurch, or by the Union and Oriental Banks.

"When the Bishop of New Zealand was consecrated in October, 1841, an annual income of £1200 was provided for the maintenance of the see. One half of this sum was contributed by the Imperial Government, and the other half by the. Church Missionary Society., Out of this income £500 per annum was appropriated by the Bishop to his own maintenance, in accordance with a scale of incomes for the clergy laid down by himself; the remainder was applied by him to religious and educational purposes in the colony. In the year 1853, the £600 annually contributed by the Imperial Government was withdrawn. It was not until a considerable time after the withdrawal of this Parliamentary grant that the Bishop learned for the first time that it was not the intention of her Majesty's Government to apply to Parliament again for its renewal. A proposal was, in consequence, made in 1855 to the General Assembly of New Zealand, to make provision for the sum withdrawn by the Imperial Government, but without success.

" As soon as the facts became known in Auckland, a desire was very generally manifested among the members of the Church to'provide a fund for the permanent .endowment^Df.^the see. Owing, however, to some mismanagement, the small sum of £369 only was raised uporftthat occasion, which was invested in the purchaie of, a few small allotments of land in the neiglpo^irhood of Auckland. A further surajfeSi^^y^p^war^s pontjibuted.. i>y-(rvfO~rnlfivf<Juais for the^sametrbjeet,'" wmchjreas invested in the purchase of some : larid"in the"Karaka block. '\>' ■ : :'c >: ' „ :

"After the withdrawal of the Parliamentary Grant there still remained the £600 annually contributed by the Church Missionary Society. Of this sum .£2OO per annum has lately been appropriated to the new see of Waiapu; the remaining £400 per annum is all therefore that now remains for the support of the Metropolitan See of New Zealand. Even this sum, wholly inadequate as it is to meet the expenses which must be incurred by the Bishop of the Diocese, depends upon the precarious funds of a Voluntary Society. Moreover, it is felt by many that the colonists of New Zealand who are so well able to make provision for their own spiritual wants, ought not to be indebted any longer for the maintenance iof their Bishop to a society which has so many and such pressing demands upon its funds from all quarters of the world.

" Three of the other dioceses into which New Zealand has lately been clivided, Christchurch, Wellington, and Nelson, have already been provided with permanent endowments', while the Metropolitan See remains still unendowed, if we except the few allotments of land mentibned before, from which no return has yet been received. It should also be borne In mind, that although the members of the Chuf'ch are fully persuadedjthat the present Bishop of New Zealand would not be influenced by considerations of salary, but wouldpontinue his self-denying labours in this diocese, whether the Bishopric were endowed, or otherwise, yet in the event of a vacancy it is certain the Imperial Government would not appoint a successor unless an adequate endowment were provided for the see. I , " It is now, therefore, proposed by some > laymen who feel it is neither creditable to the members of the Church in New Zealan|, nor beneficial to the interests of religion, that tb§ metropolitan see should be left any longer unprovided for, to raise a fund for its permanent endowment, and it is to be hoped that the other diocese's in this cilony, which have been for so many years indebted to the indefatigable labours of the Bishop of Ifcw Zealand, will feel it to be their duty to give what aid they can to the furtherance of this object." \.j