THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1920. BISHOP NEVILL'S RETIREMENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17825, 6 January 1920, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1920. BISHOP NEVILL'S RETIREMENT.

The retirement of Bishop Nevill from the See of Dunedin in tho 49th year of his episcopate marks tho close of a distinct period in the history of the Anglican Church in Otago and Southland as well as in the general life of tho community. The work of the Anglican Church in the period when Otago was a rural deanery of the diocese of Christ church and until tho establishment of the diocese of Dunedin by the General Synod in 1869 under the interim administration of Bishop Harper was full of difficulty and discouragement, due largely to paucity of numbers, inadequate resources, and lack of efficient organisation. This inefficiency of organisation was painfully revealed by the Jenner incident. In March, 1871, the Synod of the diocese of Dunedin elected the llev. S. T. Nevill, M.A., rector of Shelton, Staffordshire, to the bishopric of Dunedin, and on the 4th June Dr Nevill was consecrated Bishop in St. Paul's Church, Dunedin. It was a happy choice on the part of the Synod. Dr Nevill came to New Zealand personally recommended by his diocesan, Bishop Selwyn of Lichfield, as a suitable clergyman to fill tho vacancy in the See of Wellington or in tho new diocese of Dunedin. It is difficult to-day to realise the work, of a pioneer bishop in a district almost equal in area to Ireland. Tho diocese of Dunedin was merely a geographical expression. The Bishop had only a few clergy ministering to small groups of church-people scattered over a vast territory. To add to his anxieties he had later to face tho financial discouragements incidental to the transition from a pastoral to an agricultural economy. What this involved was clearly expressed in a letter .written by the Primate a few yeats ago:

There was a long period of commercial depression which tollowed a short period ot lictitious prosperity and inllated values. Misled by the apparently lair prospcct of making money rapidly, undertakings wer© entered upon on borrowed capital and properties wero bought at prices which could not bo realised upon perhaps twenty years afterwards, The consequence of all this was a widespread desolation. My diocesan visitations were in those days largely made on horseback, and in a journey of perhaps many hundred miles i had to look upon stations and homesteads at which I iiad formerly been hospitably received, whether their owners belonged to our communion or not, eitner closed altogether or left in charge of a shepherd. During thoso long, long years, diocesan management was a weariness indeed, and not the less sp because it was so hard to keep up the courage even of our churcli-workers themselves. I am thankful to say that 110 organised charge within my own dioceso was closed in tnat period, Wit it was manifestly impossible to subdivide districts and so to introduce additional clergy. Little else could bo thought'of than holding on. Throughout his long. episcopate Bishop Is'evill has seen a gradual change not merely in external development, but "in the advance of the community to a high standard of civilisation and character. He has seen steady growth in the national and provincial life of New Zealand, and, as Primate of the Anglican Church in this land, he has seen real progress not only • in his own communion but in the religious life Of the dominion. The episcopate of Bishop Nevill links the church life of to-day with the mission of the great pioneer Bishop of New Zealand, George Augustus Selwyn. It marks the transition from the work of the pioneer to the varied activities of the Bishop of a settled and growing diocese. The Primate's life has been that of an idealist and a Christian statesman. He has had a high ideal of the Christian Church and has given the strength of a richly endowed personality to the task of setting before the- peoplo of Otago and Southland a true conception of Itho mission and work of tho Anglican Church. He has lived tho life of a Christian minister of earnest devotion and resolute purpose. It is to his credit , that in a community, chiefly of Scottish descent and deeply rooted in the traditions of the Presbyterian Church, he has devoted his energies to the building up of his own peoplo in the Anglican tradition; and it is no exaggeration to say that New Zealand is stronger to-day for the religious and public life of Otago and Southland which has been built up by men of strong convictions and sterling character, who owo much to tho national traditions of England and Scotland both in religion and political principles. Among these men Bishop Nevill takes a high place as a Christian leader and a true colonist. The Bishop has been a man of high ideals, and he has been spared to see many of theso realised in his exceptionally long episcopate. Wo would instance four that lie has pleaded for in season and out of season. He saw from the Erst that the Chtirch in New Zejdaid

could only bo built up by a ministry largely recruited from it:i own sons, la Selwyn Collego he established a theological seminary and a liall of residonco for students attending lectures in the different faculties of the University of Otago. The policy which he adopted in this respect has boon followed in every pari, of tlio Empire. It lias been - justified hero in Dunedin as a university contro by the rapid growth of residential institutions. The expansion of Knox College, St. Margaret's College, and Studholmo House is a witness to the clearness of tho Bishop-s insight. It is only a question of time when tho policy of establishing residential hostels at universities and high schools will be accepted as part of the work of any effective religious denomination. It was no accident, also, that Bishop Nevill was tho first to invito tho Sisters of tho Church to begin a school of a religious type in New Zealand. It was a truo instinct in education that led him to believe that a few schools like St. Hilda's Collegiate School for Girls in Dunedin would be in no senso a rival to the national system of education in New Zealand, but would holp to keep alivo in tho community the conviction that religious and moral training is of essential value in a truo system of oducation. In addition to education Bo had shown by the early establishment of St. Mary's Orphanage for Girls how deeply he realised tho need of tho Church to touch one of the greatest problems in our social life. The extension of St. Mary's Orphanage, the recent founding of the Memorial Home for Boys, the development of the mission work associated with tho activity of the Rev. Yinccnt King—all afford proof of the depth of his sympathy with the social work of tho Church.

The groat monument, however, of Dr Novill's episcopate, apart from the spiritual work of his life, is the orection o£ tlio first portion of tho Cathedral in Duncdin. Tho Cathedral is not merely tho outcome of yoars of devoted work on the part of the clergy and laity; it is largely the realisation of the Bishop's vision of the unity of the diocese. Ho has had to face many disappointments, and has been exposed to criticism with regard to details, but tho Cathedral itself, and the ideal of its government, testify to his resolute purpose and clear grasp of modern needs. Recent experience in Australia and New Zealand, as well as in other parts of tho Anglican communion, has shown the wisdom of tho course the Primate has taken in tho establishment of the Cathedral. In a now country like New Zealand lio wished the Cathedral to be the motherchurch of the diocese and to be associated with a capitular system adapted to modern needs. By a wise instinct ho shrank from tho erection of a mere parish church which might be used on certain occasions as a cathedral for diocesan functions. Tho long controversy between those who respectively adhered to these two different systems is passed. We can only hope that the ideal which inspired the two parties may be realised. The conception of tho Cathedral that the Primato has expressed in all his utterances has been that of a true leader of* his Church. No greater duty lies before his fellow churchmen than that to which ho called them in his last official utterance on the last Sunday of the old year. He urged them to make the Cathedral the ocntro of a noble and dignified worship, and to associate with the Cathedral a body of clergy, who by their piety, devotion, learning, and service should exercise a real power of influence in the higher life of the community.

On behalf of the people of Otago wo congratulato Bishop Nevill on thegreab work he has accomplished in his long episcopate, and we can assure him that ho carries into his retirement the reverence and esteem of the community for his earnest and noble life as a citizen, for liis strenuous and devoted work as a religious teacher, and for the courage and loyalty he has shown in the discharge of the sacred duties and serious responsibilities of his high office.