ARCHDEACON JULIUS INTERVIEWED.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 4461, 30 August 1889, Page 4

ARCHDEACON JULIUS INTERVIEWED.

A representative of the Sjuth Australian Register had a chat with the Van. 0. Julias, Archdeacon of Ballarat, at Bishop's Court, recently. The rev. gentleDan, he says, strikes one as a generous and enthusiastic young Churchman, gifted alike with a bright intellect and a kindly heart. He came ont to Victoria from London about fire years ago, and on this his first visit to South Australia he has seen much to delight and interest him. Like other visitors from the eastern colonies, he was charmed with the run down the hills line from Murray Bridge. The large attendance at the Bishop's Home Mission meeting in the Town Hall, despite the extremely inclement weather, gave him a good opinion of Adelaide Churchmen, and he was struck with what he calls "the magnificent outspokenness of the Governor," and the extremely healthy tone of the meeting. "I have noticed here in this diocese,"said the Archdeacon, "more of the English spirit of Churchmanship than I have seen anywhere else in the colonies." He thinks the "colonies are behindhand with the high-class public school education which in Eugland produces such distinctive results and fosters a Bpirit of manly Christianity. These schools take time to develop, and the colonies will have them by-and-by. We want high-claß3 schools in which the religious spirit will prevail and help towards a healthy and manly education." Ia his view " the Government can never provide such schools, but they must be essentially connected with church enterprise. The secular instruction provided by the State must be supplemented by a far greater efficiency iD the Sunday School Bystem, and, above all, by the development of tiie grammar school and collegiate system. It is very noticeable that in Melbourne the denominational colleges are really doing the work in the University, and although they are far from perfect, they are supplying to a large extent the highest needß of the people." The archdeacon is firmly convinced that the Church of Eogland can adapt herself to any country and to any circumatances. " The process," he says, "must be necessarily alow, but the fact that the colonial church baß already developed her system of Bynods, and has taken a lead in the matter of lay representation, clearly shows how well she is able to adapt herself to democratic institutions. Indeed, the influence of the Australian Church has already been very largely felt in this respect in the Church at Home, and has done more to develop the system of lay representation than anything beside. I feel quite sure," he added, " that n national church 13 bound to come. I think the American Episcopal Church is leading the way, and that the tendency there and at Home, and more slowly here, is all in the dicection of some basis of nnity. The federal spirit is growing in the Church. Jaut as these are the days of great federated empires, when all the lesser states must go to the wall, so it is the time for a nnited Christianity to oppose the modern forces of infidelity and sin." Referring to religious instructions in State schools, tho Archdeacon said, "My conviction is that the objections to elementary religious education in oar State schools are more imaginative than real. The difficulties are overcome in Canada, in Ireland, and under the School Board system at Home. Under the London School Board the religious education is exceedingly efficient.' It is quite inconceivable that the difficulties of this question in Australia are Insurmountable." To the query, " What do you think of Ballarat or Victoria 1" he said " Ballarat is growing, not in population, buc in beauty and in the erection of very fine buildings, and so far is I can gather we are simply waiting

for the further opening tip of our goldfields. There is a moat hopeful feeling throughout the colony. Our immense surplus sod the magnificent prospects of the harvest for this year seem to have infused fresh life into the population. I don't think anything can hinder the pregross cf Victoria in every respect except it ba the gambling spirit which obtains."