BISHOP HARPER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6847, 8 May 1890, Page 3

BISHOP HARPER.

Address from the Laity. A large and representative gathering of j the laity of the Church of England j assembled afc tho Provincial Council J Chamber this afternoon, to present his Lordahip Bishop Harper with the address from the laity on the occasion of hisretirement from the episcopate he held for over thirty years. Atnor.g those present were several ladies j and Sir John Hall, Hons W. Beeves and j H. B. Gresaon, Messrß J. M. Bathain, C. C. Bowen, R. J. S. Harinan, J. Ollivier, R. Westenra, W. Acton-Adams, Reginald Poster, P. J. Kimbell, Charles Clark, J. H. Baker, H. Slater, T. W. Maude, Professor Cook, Colonel Lean, and Major Richards, j Apologies were made for the absence of the Mayor and Mr Whitefoord. His Lordship having been seated, Sir John Hall said that without further ; preface he would proceed with the duty of j presenting a farewell address to their late j respected diocesan. The duty, which was : in some respect 9 a pleasant one, and ; in other respectß an unpleasant one, had, it waa somewhat singular, fallen upon ■ one who, as Resident Magistrate of j Lyttelton, had been the first official ' personage to welcome him on the ; arrival of the good ahip Egmont thirty- j four year 3 ago. Since that time his j Lordship's conduct had been such that j every Churchman, and not only every \ Churchman but every settler in Canter- ! bury, was his Lordship's friend. (Ap- j plause.) The address expressed their sentiments so fully, that he need not cay more, i except to express his own thanks for ; the many courtesies aid kindnesses o had received from his Lordship, and to express the hope that his Lordship might long bo spared to hi 3 family, to tho Church, and to Canterbury, and when the sad day came when hia Lordship was taken away, the address now to be presented would be treasured by hia descendants as a memorial of the work done by their ancestor, and of the respecb in which he was held by :he people of Canterj bury. Sir John then read the following 1 address ;— " To the Right Reverend Bishop Harper. "May it please your Lordship, — We, the undersigned lay members of the Church of j England, in the dioceaeof Christchurch, and ! others, desire to express to your Lordship : our sincere regret that you have been ! compelled by your advanced age to relin- | quish the supervision of the diocese, over '. which you have presided for more than thirty-threeyears, with conspicuous energy, zeal and devotion to duty .Upon you devolved the taat of improving the Church constitu- ; tion designed by the great Bishop of New j Zealand, and of giving substance and practical effect to the Church principles and institutions shadowed out by his far- ! seeing intellect. That the task haa ' been ascomplished with remarkable ' success must be apparent to all who i compare the state of Church matters in the diocese at present with what it was when you first began your work of supervision. Your activity and unflagging j interest in promoting the building ;of t'ae Cathedral deserve the thanks ' of the laity no less than of the clergy. I Your conduct as President oi! tjie j General and Diocesan Synods, and as Chair- [ | man of the various Church Boards, has j j been uniformly marked by wisdom incoun- j sel, consideration for others, and a Christian humility that touched the hearts of all present. While careful at all" times to discharge the duties of your office as Bishop and i chief .pastor of tho Church in New Zealand, . you never forgot that you were a citizen [ and a colonist, and your presence . was looked for and welcomed at , every public demonstration marking r the progress of the Colony or the , increasing welfare of the people. It ib not , j surprising, therefore, that your influence . has been as extensive and aa fruitful of • good as it has been, and your retirement E from the Bishopric will be deeply felt , by all classes of the community. That b you may bo spared long to go in b and out amongst ub as heretofore, and to ) exhibit your hearty sympathy with euffer- ;.! ing, and your unfailing readineßS to r j administer comfort and help, either 3 spiritual or temporal, as may be required, > will be the earnest prayer of the members b ' of our Church throughout the Colony and

also, we are sure, of members of all ; . denominations. With. feelingß of deep ; veneration, respect and affection we are ' your Lordship's faithful and attached ( servants." I His Lordship Bishop Harper, who was j much affected, said that he was sure those : present would sympathise with him when , he said that he found it very difficult to , find such expression as he could wish for j hiß feelings with reference to the kindly ' words of Sir John Hall, and of the address j which had been presented to him. Ho : j had no doubt that he was speaking in the \ presence of many who had been in the ', j Church here before he came, and who ; j had formed great expectations as re- j I garded the work of the church in ! . this country, from the presence of a Biahop i I among them ; and they must allow him to j j say that, with all their considerate kind- \ : neßß towards him — and he would lay special ] stress on the word " considerate " — yet j they could not say that all they expected | of a Bishop had been accomplished. He | could say that he himself came hither with ! high aspirations, hopes, and prayers, and | with earnest resolutions, he trusted, to do j his duty in all thing 3; but he could j not say— no one could say — that he j had accomplished all that was expected , from him or that he expected. There was ; one expression used in the address which i gave credit to him of which he could claim | a very little part. It said that he hud | improved the constitution of the Church, j Strictly speaking, he had very little ; to do with the constitution, which was j drawn up by the late Bishop Selwyn, j Sir William Martin, Mr Swainson and ; the present Primate,, with the ad- j vice and assistance of two eminent lawyers in Kngland, Judge Palteson and Sir John Coles. They were, no doubt, aware of the pains taken by Bishop Selwyn to get the opinions of his fellow churchmen in New Zealand before the Constitution was drawn up. There was then a strong and a very natural feeling among j churchmen— a fear of separation from the mother Church, and it was thought that what was proposed by Bishop Selwyn seemed likely to lead to separation. When he (Bishop Harper) arrived hero ho found that all the elements of the Constitution had been thoroughly prepared by Bishop Selwyn and his able coadjutors. He certainly attended the Conference at Auckland, but took little part in it, as he was but recently from England, and was hardly aware of the feelings and necessities ot churchmen in regard to the question. There was, however, one great feature of the Constitution which he hcirtily concurred in, and that was the endeavour to secure the co-opei ation of the laity, as an essential pait of the Church of Eneland in the work of the Church. Whatever was calculated to put the laity into the position in the Church which they ought to occupy was heartily welcomed by him j but, otherwise, the only part he had in the preparation of the Constitution was, with Sir F. Whitaker, to draw up the preamble. After the Constitution had been agreed upon aud accepted, it was his object to carry it out as loyally and fully na ho possibly could, and, co far, he might take some credit that he never failed in his desire or his efforts to do that. The Constitution had, no doubt, been a means of helping the laity to do their work in the Church, and there was no doubt that their assistance was of greab importance to the church, if it was to do the work for which it was designed by its great Master. He had seen, through the whole of his career here, what assistance the Church in this Province had derived from the presence of the laity in the Synods, and in the other bodies and Societies connected with the church. Ib was as much indebted to them as to the clergy, and ho hoped the laity would still continue to give all the assistance they possibly could to the Synod, to the new Bishop, and to '. the clergy. ' He thought, therefore, that the words " improved the Constitution " rather over-rated the work which he had done, as he had done little mere than endeavour to loyally carry it out. He felt to a very high degree the very kind reception he had met with, and the kind expressions and a?sihtance, and the welcome he , had ever met throughout his career in all | parts of the Dioceae. A3 regarded the I future, it waa his intention to make ' this his home (applause), and where could ! he choose a better home than that place in | which, so many of his descendants were to Ibe found among its citizens. It was his j real home, and would be his home to the | last of his days — (applause) — and he could I not desire a better home than to live among the people with whom he had worked for ovev thirty-three years, and among his descendants, who were more numerous here than anywhere elee. Were he to go to j the land of his birth he would feel, in j comparison, like a stranger in a strange land. When he spoke of the assistance rendered to the Church by the laity, ho must include the ladies, whose kind coI operation was indispensable to the success iof the work of the Church. It was with I great regret that he felt himself obliged to I abandon the work he had undertaken here, i It must needs be a matter of regret to feel | that, after having done work over thirty- ■ three years, he had to stand aside and take i no part in it, though he still took a deep ' interest in it. Nevertheless they were in : the hands of one who, as his successor, j would, lie had no doubt, do many i things in which he had failed, and j would uphold the principles of the ; Constitution and carry on the work of the • Church with a vigour which was not in j him himself, or which, if it wa3 in him, had not been used as it should have been. It was with mingled feelings that he retired from work. He trusted that, in regard to his successor, they would remember the heavy responsiI bility laid upon the Bishop, who had to : think o£ many things for the good ;of the Church, and to be the first and foremost to carry them out ; and ! it must need 3 be a relief to him (Bishop I Harper), now that the infirmities of ago '■ had taken a strong hold upon him, to be 1 able to hand all responsibilities over to { one much younger than himself, and with ■ gifts which would enable him to accom- ' plish more than he himself had done. Each I person was placed in his various station of j life by the good providence of God, and each I had his duties to perform, but all would agree that a Bishop had very heavy responsibilities laid upon him. He had, in the language of Scripture, to be a keeper of ! the Vineyard of others, and the question j arose, How had he kept his own vineyard ? Had he looked to his own spiritual interests? He (Bishop Harper) was thankful, therefore, for the opportunity of rest that he might give Borne time to those things which concerned his spiritual ! health, though he would not cease to take { an interest in the affairs of the diocese. i (Applause.)