HOME AGAIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9263, 17 January 1889, Page 5

HOME AGAIN.

KETURN OF BISHOP COWIEL

THANKSGIVING SERVICE.

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE BISHOP. Among tho passengers who arrived yesterday evening by the Tainui were His Lordship Bishop Cowie and Mrs. Cowio and their family. As soon as the vessel waa berthed ab tho wharf ehe was boarded by a sub-committee of the Diocesan Synod Standing Committee, who warmly welcomed tho Bishop and Mrs. Cowio back to Auckland. Among those present on tho occasion were tho Ven. Archdeacon Dudley, Revs. C. M. Nelson, W. Tebbs, T. H. Sprott, G. H. S. Walpole, and J. Haselden, Dr. Purchas, Messrs. E. Ilesketh, V. E. Rice, F. G. Ewington, and a number of ladies.

In the evening at half-past seven a thanksgiving servico for the safo arrival of the Bishop and his family was held ab St. Mary's Cathedral, the Row G. H. S. Walpole officiating. Thore was no sermon, but a number of special hymns wero sung. There was a good congregation present, consisting almost entirely of ladies. After the servico a Herald reporter wonb bo Bishop's Court, and had a ohafc with Bishop Cowie about hia trip, tho Conference, and various other matters. It may be mentioned here that one of the most charming little tokens of welcome was displayed over tho porch of Bishop's Court. It consisted of tho Maori words of welcome

" Hakrk Mai," tastefully worked in white flowers on a dark green ground. '' Tho passage has been very pleasant indeed," said Bishop Cowio in reply to the reporter's question, "in fact we had no rough weather at all, and from Hobnrb tho sea was like a mill pond. Wo should have been in earlier, bub we gob into a fog ab the North Cape, and this delayed us an hour or so."

" 1 Punpo3o you enjoyed your holiday very much ?" "Oh, yes; it was a great change, but I have not been idle, I can assure you. I havo been busy all the time, and there was scarcely a singlo Sunday on which I did not preach twice. Of courso ib has been a change of work, but ib has boon work for all that. Until the end of July I was detained in London by tho Lambeth Conference, bub since tho end of July I have been all over England." " What do you think will bo tho effect of the Lambeth Conference ?"

" It will have a very good effect indeed. It was very interesting. There were representatives from all parts of the world, and they wero very unanimous in tho resolulutiona passed, though, of course, as it was a voluntary meeting, nono of the resolutions had any binding power. There being representatives of the United States Church as well as the English, wo had to bo very cautious indeed about tho resolutions wo passed." " Some of them gavo rise to discussion out here, Sunday observance, use of fermented wine for communion, and so forth." " Yes, the point of that was that the total abstainers asserted that it could not have been intended that fermented wine should have been used in HOI 3, Communion. All the Conference did was to say that it was wrong to assert that fermented wino was not intended to bo used, but ministers were loft quite at liberty to uso unfermented wine if they choose. They did not say you mu-it use fermented wine." " The missionary question was discussod as length, was it not?" " Yes that was very fully gone into." " Canon Taylor's paper — "Oh, you are confusing the Lambeth Conference, with the Church Conference held in Manchester, in October. That's quite another thing." " Were you present at the Church Conference ?"

"Yes. It was an immense assemblage. Two of the best addresses wero given by Mr. Balfour, and kt excited great astonishment that a man so deeply engaged in political work should have been ablo to give these splendid addresses. One was on the ' Relation of Christianity and Modern Science' and the other on 'Positivism.' "

" You preached a great deal ?" "Yes, I preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, tho Temple, and many other of the principal churches in London, and tho day before I left I preached in Exoter Cathedral."

"Did you speak on any special subjects?" "Oh, all sorts of subjects; I preached for the Bishop of London's fund, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, tho Church Mission Society, and many others."

"Did the other Bishops all preach too?" " Yes, all over England. Some of them, however, said they had come for a holiday, and were nofc going to do any work. Some othere would not preach at all unless they could have a collection for their own diocese, but I was not on a begging tour, so I did nothing of the kind myself. For six weeks I waa helping , the Bishop of Rochester by holding confirmations for him. He was not very well. It is said now that Bishop Barry, of Sydney, is going homo to help him permanently. Wo were utterly unable to comply with all the applications to preach and lecture." " Did the Bishops at the Conference impress you as an able body of men ? " " Oh, very able indeed. I thought some of the American bishops were quite equal to any of those present in eloquence, bub the English bishops struck me as being the most learned. The Bishop of Minnesota was specially notable. When the Queen saw him slio said, 'I feel now that I have seen an apostle.' He devotes hiinaelf entirely to the American Indians."

" Where did the Queen see him ?" " At Windsor." "Oh, you were all presented to the Queen ; I forgot." " No ; there were some official difficulties about the whole Conference going; bub the Queen saw all who were able to go." " ' Home Reunion ' was one of tho prominent topics at the Conference, was i 6 not ?"

" Yes. It was commonly supposed that Bishop Barry, of Sydney, was exceptionally desirous of a oloser union between the Nonconformist preachers, and the clergy of the Church of England. Tho whole Conference sympathised with hie views, bub no person suggested any practical means of bringing it about. However, the resolution will takeeffect by degrees by encouraging a moro friendly and fraternal feeling amongst all. It is a work of time."

" There is a great revival of roligioua feeling at Home just now, is thero not ?" "Oh, undoubtedly. At the Church Congress at Manchester it was most strikiug to observe the thousands of men— bonafidt artisans—who took the greatest interest in the discussions. They cheered Mr. Balfour so when he spoko that he could nob go on for sometime. I was on tho platform, and watched their faces, to see if it was ouly interest in Balfour, but ib was not utall so. The interest was in what was said."

" Did everything go smoothly at the Conference ¥'

"Oh ye 3. The only complaint about it was that it was too short. We had not timo to discuss many subjects of great importance. Thero was only a month altogether, and half of it was taken up in committee work. Numbers of Bishops who had intended to speak refrained from doing so on this account. All I did was to read a paper, which Bishop Solwyn sent me, on the subject of ' The Baptism of the Heathen having more than one wife, and on the Divorce of Heathen Converts. , "

" Did you attend the May meetings?" " 1 attended the Bible Society meeting, at which the principal resolution was proposed by the Lord Chancellor and seconded by me. I also went to the meeting of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel— a very large meeting at St. James' Hall." "1 suppose you had a very good timo socially ?" "Oh, yes; we were overwhelmed with hospitality. We could not accept a tenth part of the invitations from every sort of person from the Prime Minister downwards. There was one magnificent entertainment by the Prime Minister, at which the Prince of Wales and uU tho Royal family were present, and almost everyone of distinction in London."

" How was your book received ?" " Well, some people didn't take the troublo to read what the book was. It was merely intended to save my time, which was seriously taxed by continual enquiries and letters about life in Now Zealand, how

people lived, and the state of the Church, so we simply kept a journal and had it printed, and when people asked questions, we simply said ' There, you will find all the information you want in that book. , _Ib answered the purpose and saved an immense deal of trouble, and so far as I know there is not a copy ot that book to be got now ; ib is all sold out." " What were tho enquiries chiefly about ?"

" Oh, endless matbers ; every sorb of question. I had to set apart two days a monbh for people to see me ab my club. I made appointments for ono to come at ten, another at ton minutes past ten, another at twenty minutes past, and so ou throughout the day. Thoy asked about bhe country, tho Church, whether New Zealand was a good place for young men and women; chances for making fortunes; was the climate good for diseased persons; .and every sorb of question you can imagine. "You went Home for your health, Bishop Cowie ?" " Nob exactly—just for a resb; lam in excellent health now, thanks."

" And your family V " My oldeat son I left ab Cambridge, and brought oub bwo obher sons and my daughter. I should like just to mention that tho Tainui is a very fine ship, and her commander, Captain Barlow, is a most careful man. It was remarked by evorybody on board that there was no profane talk about the ship. Wo nover heard any swearing ab officers. Everybhing was done quietly and well." There ie to bo a thanksgiving servico this morning at Sb. Paul's ab half-past ten, and a soireo ab eight o'clock in the evening at tho Choml Hall, when an address will bo preaonted to Bishop Cowie.