DR WEST-WATSON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19695, 23 January 1926, Page 23

DR WEST-WATSON.

A STRIKING TRIBUTE. (Fbom Ode Own Coeseseondent.) LONDON, December 4. In the Carlisle Diocesan Gazette for December the Bishop of Carlisle makes reference to the approaching departure of the Bishop of Barrow-in-Furness to take up the important diocese of Christchurch. Ho remarks that Bishop West-Watson was consecrated at so early an ago and has spent so many years in the diocese that “few of us perhaps remembered that his gifts and personality were such as to make it more than likely tliat he would be called away some time to an independent position of authority, where his powers would find full scope.” He continues: “In a diocese where personal qualities and personal relationships count more than perhaps elsewhere, ho has won the affectionate regard of us all. I, myself, lose a Suffragan-Bishop in whose unquestioned loyalty and sympathy I have found constant encouragement and support. To the clergy of tiro diocese he has sen a true friend, and as Archdeacon of Westmorland, and again of Furness, ho has had ample opportunity for exorcising just those personal qualities of cheerfulness, simplicity, and affection which we shall always remember with gratitude and Jove. Certainly in this diocese wo shall think that Christchurch is to be congratulated upon its now Bishop. Ho will take to a country which welcomes learning and ability the mind of a trained theologian. In a pastoral diocese, not in many ways dissimilar to our own, ho will bo able to use to the full an experience not only acquired as Archdeacon and Suffragan-Bishop but won by intimate acquaintance with the daily duties and routine of a country clergyman’s life. And to the work of the Church overseas, at one of tho most critical periods of its history, ho contributes a zeal and enthusiasm for missionary work which have been amongst his most marked characteristics, and doubtless determined his decision at this important crisis of his life. I have said nothing about his wife and family. Wo shall nil miss their presence among us with real sorrow. It is nc light and easy thing to transplant a young family to a new and comparatively unfamiliar country. But we are proud to think that in this sacrifice—if it is a sacrifice—the diocese tokos its share. ” 1