THE REV. ARTHUR BAKER'S MISREPRESENTATIONS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1443, 3 August 1860, Page 3

THE REV. ARTHUR BAKER'S MISREPRESENTATIONS.

We <sopy the following article from our co temporary the Spectator of Wednesday last. It is "more in sorrow than in anger " that we again revert to the Rev.

Arthur Baker. Wo hoped that when he left he would soon be forgotten, and that the blighting influence that he had exercised over the Episcopal Church would soon cease to exist. But as he has thought fit to forget the forbearance with which he was treated and " speak evil of the good " shown him by those, who, in the exercise of a large charity, shielded him from the censure they could not reason themselves into believing he did not deserve — we think it well to assist in the circulation of the /Spectator'' s article, in order to counteract the injurious effects which our cotemporary thinks may possibly follow.

" It is very seldom that we enter into a controversy connected with religious matters, because we believe it to be the most prudent course to avoid stirring up T the odium tkeologicum which such con--3 troversies are too apt to engender, and ■ wo are only induced to depart from our » rule on the present occasion because we > [eel bound, in the cause of truth and f justice, to controvert and expose the false , statements of an article recently pub- , lished in England roflocting on (he Church and Bishop of this diocese The article to which we refer, entitled "The liny Kleuient in Now Zealand," is published'in the March number of the ' Ecclesiastic, a periodical which we believe circulates almost exclusively among what aro called " hig'i churchmen" at home. There can be little doubt as to its authorship, every page bears strong internal evidence that it was written by the Rev. A. Baker; throughout ar-j quotations .from his sermons or bis state- • ments in the Diocesan Synod, or rof\,-r---ences to " his case." Of the antecedents in this Colony of this accuser of the brethren it will be sufficient for us to say that Mr. Baker's departure from NewZealand was a g/eat relief to all sober, right minded churchmen, who felt that thereby was removed a great scandal and stumbling block in the way of the usefulness of the Church of England in this diocese. Under the pretence >o{' examining the present Constitution of the Church in New Zealand, and the admission of the laity to a voice in the management of its affairs — " the faithful laity" as Mr. Baker throughout eneeringly terms them— his object appears to have been to gratify his spleen against the Bishop and the laity, and to describe himself as a martyr to high principle and " the lay element." From Dan even to Beersheba, according to this delicate minded prie3t, all is barren. " The Black letter Saints are omittod from tho New Zealand Church Calendar," the Morning Prayer is not intoned but "said in dialogue," the cuirshes aro " very scanty .and ba<-e," " of the poorest material and furniture," and destitute of crosses and ca-idlestirks and other "** ecclosiological proprieties/ 1 while thy " faithful laity" is composed of a " shabby gentility" into which tho " mediocrity of 'best society' in the Colonies" has Irretrievably degenerated. It would be difficult within the limits of a single article to follow, for the purpose of refuting and exposing, aM the mis-statemonts put forth by Mr. Bafcer, and in confining ourselves to one or two prominent punts wo hope before we have done to give our renders a taste of his quality. A main charge which Mr. Baker uriogs against the Bishop of Wellington is, that of ahdicating the functions of his Episcopal office. We quote bis own words.

" M.)\vover, so extremely e.'igcr was the Wellington Synod t" set about making the experiment (of the locil and voluntary system) tint, lest time should be lost before the rights of this Laity could be vindicated by the slower process of "sUmHjr out" Incumbents then in office, it actually went the length of passing an auxiliary resolution " requiring" (not ever, simply rSquesting;) the Bishop to withdraw his authority from Clergymen holding office in any district which, in the opinion of a standing; Committee of the Synod might be formed .mi to a parish under the Statute! We regret to add thit Bi»lfop Abraham assented to the resolution ; and so he justifies our previous assertion that a most important function of his episcopate lias already been annihilated by abdication in f.ivour of the laity of his diocese."

After the session of the General Synod in Wellington it was generally recognised among Churchmen that a u-jw ordor of things was established, and that the provisional management of Church affairs in Wellington and its neighbourhood under the Archdeaconry Board was superseded by the Constitution. .to which the Synod gave effect, and winch embraced the whole diocese under its newly appointed Bishop. Under this new order of things it was necessary to provide for the formation of parishes in those districts that were able to maintain clergymen, and for the appointment of pastors to them, and in order to effect this the Nominators Act containing the clause above referred to was passed by the Diocesan Synod, against which " the only voice raised in protest " was that of Mr. Baker, whose arguments are repeated in a previous page of the article, and who affected to consider he had " vested rights" in a parish that was not yet formed. We may observe that the I formation of a parish does not, as Mr. Baker would imply, proceed from the Standing Committee, but from the Parishioners themselves, (he Standing Committee before giving its consent, taking care that guarantees are entered into by the parishioners for three years fur the payment of the clergyman's stipend, and for the maintenance of Di\ine worship. In Wellington the Church of Kngliind is, supported almost en'irely on the Voluntaiy system, there being no

Endowment fund for ihe payment of ministers' stipends, so that the intervention of •' the faithful laity" in this ensa has been for the protection of the clergyman, and not, as is asserted by Mr. Baker, to " degrade him into an hireling" and to reduce him to " a choice between starvation, or unconditional submission." In each parish so constituted it was necessary to appoint a pastor, and to do this it was expedient toobvia'e any difficulty that might arise from the formor provisional state of things. Hence the clause in the Nominators Act to which Mr. Baker refers, and which we subjoin :

18. As soon as the Diocesan Synod or the Standing Committee shall have recognised any number of members of the Church as a Parish under tlie Provisions of the secondly above recited Statute, the Dioceaan Synod or Standing Committee shall ascertain what Clergymen, if any, are officiating under any License or authority within the limits of such Parish, and shall call upon every Clergyman so officiating to declare to and satisfy such Syuod or Committee, by what tenure and under what coutract or appointment, if any, he so officiates ; and if the said Diocesan Synod or Standing Committee, with the consent of the Bishop, shall be satisfied that any such Clergyman is. acting and ofliciatiog under any appointment iir contract for a time certain, oi for any uncortiin tim-3 subject to reasonable notice, such Diocesan Synod or Standing Committee shall forthwith £ive notice to such Clergyman that, at the expiration of such certain time or reasonable notice, the s:iid Dioecsin Synod or Standing Com : ittse will address to the Bi-diop a requisition requiring him to withdraw, and the Bishop shall then withdraw his license or authority to such Clergyman to oiTiciite within s'ich P.trs'i :

Provided tli.it nothing herein contained shall bo construed a" .«fljctin£ thu right* or interests of any C!etir_ymt!i who shall sitisfy such Di ocesan Syn.xi or Standing Co'.nmittce that lie is ofnoiatiii«f under a contract or appointment life or durinjf To r >d be'tiaviour

Bat Mr. Baker takes care to suppress two very material facts; — one, that the words " with the consent f)f the Bishop" was expressly inserted at his Lordship's suggestion, clearly showing that there wai no abdication of his functions on his part, since he could not bs required to do anything to which he had not previously freely consented, or approved of; tho other, that the other licensod clergyman in the Synod or lially assented to this clause. The fact is, Mr. Bilker hurl roa'le himself so obnoxious to the majority of his congregation as t'> ren ler it highly improbable that "faithful laity" would nominate him as their pastor, and this mo'ivo and not any lii^h principle has impelled him by this unfounded attack to disparage the Church in Ntuv Zealaiid in the estimation, of churchmen in the mother country.

Mr. Bilker illustrates tho "lay element" in New Zea'and with the following narrative, in. which our renders will readily recognise him to be tho " hero of his story." " A Cler^yrmn," siys our privet? correspondent, " who has been now so:r>e five or six yours w irking in u Town Palish of the C>!ony, and during a portion of that period acting ;m Bishop's Commissary, was the other day visited" by a deputation frcrn hi;; flick, who doclurntl their inability after trial to raise the two lust quiHcr's stipend w'aich \tss du' 1 to him. The Standing Committee of the Synod hal aVo ref:i.-ed to hnlp them hi their diflieuliy. He replied, with somewhat melancholy humour, that he supposed */u.v then was an illustration of the working „f t] )e | ay elemont, f>r tint lie had been actually hecii earning- for the Parish d'iii:i<r the List six months, by pew rents, oft'yrtorics and fjes, the where'viUi'il to p:iv off their liabilities to the lay sextnu, the lay organist, the lay inorchant who had supplied the wine and candles, the lay baker, and tho carpenter and glaaier who repaired the Church ; but that in balance was left to tho Clerical Element, who came in for the last share even of his own earnings. He aildod, if only he could aflbid to print it, under a system which furnished .s'ich a minimum measure of spare cash, lie would sit down atones and write a Ne-.v Zealand travestie on ' Sunny Side,' or ' Peep at Number Five.' " And says; j

"Are gentle bon, TJtiu'er.sjJy-bred, delicate minded priests and deacons, likoly to feel no repnrrnanco at facing a co;npet ; tion for n bene See, which after a few mouths anxious service, might more than probably be forfeited by a fiithful sermon, an unintentional affront, or mi unpalatable strictness in moral conduct?'"

We m \y complete tho narraiive by stating; that every shilling of Mr Baker's stipend was pail him bolore leaving New Zealand, and that so far from his earning what was due to the lay 3oxon and olhor officers of hi.i Churoh, his conduct had nearly deprived them of their earnings by emptying the Church of tho majority of its frequenters, and we regret to add that the blighting effects of bis conduct are still perceptible in the district and school whiebwere under his management and whicbhave not yet recovered from its influence.

Mr. 13 uk or contrasts tho " old and new System," tho Archdeaconry Board and Diocesan Synod tn the prejudice of the latter, and implies from the paucity of votes which ho alleges woro givnn at the election of lay members of the Synod that the present system is a " sham," while the Archdeaconry Board was n reality. In the election of lay members to the Synod, the districts generally agreed in the selection as their representatives of such persons as had taken most interest in Church affairs; thero was wo opposition and therefoio no necessity for voing, beyond that of securing the formal return of th >so persons who had consented to serve. Tho same argument would equally serve to show the " monstrous sham" of the British Representative system in the case of those members who are returned to Parliament in uncontested elections. But tho fact is, that even under theee circumstances tho aggregate number of votes recorded was considerably greater than was ever given iu tho olectiou of members of the Archdeaconry Board, which as we have before staled only included Wellington and the

surrounding districts ; while many members of the old Arodoaconry Board rcrs members of the Dioco3au >Synod,and that a greater number ofthom was Jinteleoted is owing to a fact which Mr. Baker takes caro to suppress; namely, that each lay member of tho Synod mast he n communicant, a qualification not required in tho constitution of tho Archdeaconry Board. Wo can easily itnag-no what' stress Air. Bokor would havo laid in ' making out his case, if this qualification' of Churchmomborship had boon omitted in the case of lay members of the Synod B. ut perhaps his regard for the old system may be traced to the fact that the xArchdeaconry Board continued to pay his stipend, even during his suspension from office, and to make good the deficiencies in the contributions in bis districts, so as in the end to incur a considerable amount of debt, and its members were obliged to give their personal security to obtain the necessary funds for the payment of Clergymen's stipends.

We rogret veryimuch to be obliged to |.rof-.ir to M. Baksr again, for we hoped , when ho quitted these shores that ho would have passed from m :n's memories with the disc. mis of which ho has been the- unhappy occasion; and wo never should have made allusion to him more it hohal hold his poase and had not 'made this gralutious an 1 most unfair attack on the Chii'oh in Mow Zealand generally and iha dioc?se of Wellington in particu'ar. The pr.jduo'iou which has called fort!) these remarks ii but a poor re urn fur tho groat f.rbearanco and synjpiuhy ho received in ma-iy quarters from the laity during tho latter part of his career, in spite of hh ovcrbeaving troutment of thorn, especially in tho Diocesan Syaod. We have feU. it necessary to expose tho falsehoods of of his statements lest they muy damage our Church in the estimation of wall disposed people in 111 n gland who may plaae any reliance on his testiaiony, and deter clergy from coming ont to this Diocese. This snenis to havo been one of his chiof motives for writing; but we sincerely trust he will bo disappointed, and that this misohiovious attempt to throw impo dimenfs in the way of our progress m ly be rendered abortive with all thosa who have sufficient in tho Ch'irah in M;w Z ml and to enquire farther and ascertain tho truth for themselves; and above all that the conscientious, hard w irking, " goutla-b >rn, U.iiversity-brod priest " will not bo prevented by those uncounted s'atosminls, through any distrust of the "Lay Klement," New Zealand from easting his in lot with us.

The s.s. Lord Woriley, Capt. Jolnnton* arrive! in this harbour at lh. 2 5m., p.m. > this day, She loft "Wellington on Satur" day, the 21st July, and th.3 next day, meeting with a southerly gale off the Kai Koras, bore up, and anchored under OapoXl^n-pboll. O.i Monday, the 23rd, started ag.iin for Lyttelton ; but w.is compelled to put back from t-ie continued severity of tho weather. The. following diy, the weather having mod 3rate-l, sie was enabled to proceed on her passage, and reached Lyttolton on the 25th. Left Lyttelton tke following day for Otago ; but the gale having again increased, accompanied with thick snow storms, she was obliged to put back to LytteLton. Started again on Sunday, and arrived at Otago the next day, at 10 a.m. Left Otago at 4 p.m., on thelstinst., arrived at Lyttelton after a quick run of 2 1 hours; sailed from Lyttelton at 7 p.m. of the 2nd, and arrived hero as above. Capt. Johnson says that his recent passage to the south has been the most severe that he has ever experienced. The Canterbury plains were covered with snow, and the weather was intensely cold. At Otago, a portion of the harbour was frozen over, and a large quantity of snow had fallen.

She has brought about 40 passengers, from Otago and Lyttelton. The mail closes to-morrow at 11 a.m. and tho Lord Woroley will sail at 2 p.m. The Isabella Hamilton, Kiimaird, and Ban Nevis, were at Otago, when tho Lord Worsley left. A brig, supposed to be the Casmopolitc, with stock, anchored' at Otago heads, but had boon, blown to sea. Tba New M irg.irot, fro n Adehi le, with stock, the A very, and the barque Dunedin were at Lyttelton. The schooner Ztllah had sailed for Auckland and the Comet, for Sydney, on July 28th.

We have extracted the following from the Lyttelton Times of the Ist instant: —

Three men who escaped from prison at Dunedin on tho Bth of Juno last, were apprehended on Monday by Sergeant Maon, in Lyttelton. Two of them, Win. Morgan and Wm. Goiding, were under sentence for burglary. The third, whose name is G. 11. B. Burney was in confinement for debt. They had made their way up together, overland, and wWe taken in custody in the neighbourhood of the Robin Hood.

The Committees for the Taranaki Relief Fund held a meeting on J.londay, in Mr. Olliver's Offices, which has kindly placed at their disprml, and got through some important preliminary basine.js. The Secretary was put in direct communication with the Superintendent of Taranaki, and varioiu los.il commiJAaa. were appointed to receive subscriptions in different districts of the province. On a recent occasion, the usual sitting of the Waste Lamb Board failed to take place, owing to the indisposition of Mr. T. Cans, one of the members. We urt-

| derstand that Mr. Harman would have been ready to have made up a quorum by his presence, had he been requested to |do so. The inconvenience to the public, we need hardly observe, is, very considerable, when a stoppage takes place in the routine bu3ine.3S of so important a department. -The steamer Planet was put up to auction yesterday, by Mr. A. J. Alporfc, and was bought in for the sura of £500, on account of the Company. There were no biddings worthy of the term, but we understand £450 was offered for her after the Sale. The original price given for the steamer two years ago was £2,500, and the necessary alterations to fit her for a cargo boat cost £400 more, making together the sum of £2,900 ; added to which she has been a most expensive subject for repairs.