THE DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 1965, 3 October 1863, Page 5

THE DIOCESAN SYNOD.

The following Address was delivered h} the Right Rev. the Bishop of Wellington on Tuesday last, at a meeting of the Synod .• —

Brethren of the Clergy and of the Laity, — Now that the Ecclesiastical system constituted for our Church in these Islands seems to he taking root and approving ilself to the minds of our people more and more, we shall not be surprised if the history of one Diocese is less and less eventful and the need of legislative enactments less and less urgent every year. The history of our Church duiing the past yea* in this Diocese is very much the same as is to be found in every English Diocese, with the one exception that the Native disturbances in the North have somewhat affected the religious progress of the Native nice generally, and in some few particulars have hindered the work in our English parishes. The Temple of Solomon was built without the sound of axes and hammers being heard in the work; and the edifying or building of tbe spiritual fabric in every pait of the Church is a noiseless process, and the Master Builder " will neither strive nor cry iu the streets ;" but the work will gradually rise heavenward, while all that is seen and known by the outward eye is the regular service of the Church, the Common Prayer, the Hymn of Praise, the Sunday and .Daily School, the readiug and preaching of the Word, • the due administration of the Sacrameuu, with occasionally a confirmation of the young, and ordination of some, candidates for the office of Priest or Deacon. These regular services of the Churc-i .with the habitual visiting from house to house, the caring for the sick and needy (if any), the consoling of the mourner, the burying of the dead, form the unobtrusive but blessed work of the Church iu our Dioceses. PARISHES. When you look at the Parochial Reports which I lay before you in accordance with our 4th Diocesan Act, you will judge of this silent work by its fruits in each Parish,— you will see that the Parish of St Paul's, Thorndon, has been enabled in the course of last year to pay • off a considerable portiou of its debt; and I may further observe that it has paid off more than appears iu the Keport, for since the day up to which its accounts were made up it has paid off its debt of £100 to the Trustees of the Porirua College. Considering that an expense of £IGO was incurred last year for the enlargement of their Church, it is satisfactory to see that that liability has been met within tbeyear since it was incurred. I said just now that the Native disturbances in the North had som«what affected the work in the English Parishes. I was alluding to the delay that was considered advisable in beginning the new church at Thorndon, which is to serve also for the present as the Cathedral of the Diocese. I believe that the building committee would have taken steps to begin the work this summer, had it not been for the uncertainty of our relatious with the Maoris. It is gratifying to know that nearly sufficient funds were promised to warlant the committee iu taking a contract.

So, too, with regard to St Piter's Parish, Te Aro , the Report bears witness to the steady progress that is being made, aud to the willingness ot the Parishioners not only to maintain the current expenses of everything pertaining to Divine worship aud the welfare of the people, but also to pay off the debts that have descended to them with the church and schoolhouse. The Rev G. H. Jobnstone, the clergyman who has been labouring for the last two years with great assiduity at the Lower Hutt, has announced to me his intention of resigning bis charge on Advent Sunday ; and I may mention to the Synod that the Board of Nominatois have presented the Rev J, E. Herring to me for institution to the Parish, which nomination Mr Herring has accepted, and which I shall forthwith proceed to sanction. ) The Report from St. Join's Parish, Napier, is so far satisfactory that it shews an ample supplv of Funds for all the purposes of Divine Service ; but it is defective in the information it "ives as to the sources whence those funds are derived. I have requested the Churchwardens for the future to state the several amounts derived from pew rents, offertories, subscriptions, and other sources. And it is still more unsatisfactory, as shewing that they have lost the permanent services of their late Clergyman, the Rev. H. W. St. Hill, whohas resigned the cure, and is only carrying on the work temporarily while the Nominators are endeavouring to procure a successor. I have been spending part of the winter therein charge of the Parish, and can bear witness to the good spirit of the Churchmembers, and their earnest desire to have a duly qualified Clergyman resident amoDgst them. The Board of Nominators have delegated their Trust to a. highly valued member of that community who is now in Euglad, and who it is hoped, will be abla to find some Clergyman for the post. It is worthy of note, that the Clergyman nho was first appointed to that Cure by the Board, declined the appointment on the ground that the guarantee for his maintenance was so limited in" its duration, and that the voluntary system made the Clergyman too dependent on the Congvegation. I believe that I am not only expressing my own opinion but that of this Synod, and of the most hearty members of our Church in every Diocese and Parish, when I say that I wish our system was not so entirely voluntary as it is, and that there w</re partial endowments for every Parish. Some of our Cburchmembers have felt this so deeply that efforts have been made to procure endowments; and I must be allowed here to express our thanks to one earnest member of our Church who has made a most liberal grant of land to our Diocese for that very purpose of clerical endowment — as well as other grants for other objects religious and educational which in due time will be very valuable. I would say more of him and his unwearied zeal iu every good cause, were he not present amongst us. I need hardly say, that lam speaking of Mr Henry St Hill, the Resident Magistrate. From Wanganui the Report cannot be called satisfactory, as it shows that the Clergyman had £100 owing to him of his due salary up to the end of June, since which, however, some portionlhas been paid up. The accounts which I lay before you from Whanganui takes no notice, I am sorry to say of the annual Grant of £50 from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel which is drawn direct by the Clergy man, but certainly ought to appear in the accounts. In the same way the Napier accounts only mention tha last half-yearly grant of £15 the insertion of which I procured my self when there — but they have regularly received the sum of £30 per annum from that source since a clergyman was appointed in ]860. It is due both to the Society, and to Churchmembers in the Colony, that the liber. ality of the Society to them should be reguluily noticed in the Report. I have ascertained that the Churches aud Schools of this Town, and of the Hutt Valley, and the Church and Parsonage at Napier, aie iu good repair, and with the

exception of the Hutt School, that they are insured. I now lay on the Table all the accounts I have received.

DISTRICTS

I observe in one of the late Reports from a neighbouring Diocese that complaints are made of the slackness of the Towns in helping the spiritual needs of the Country Districts. lam bound to say this charge cannot be laid against the Churchmerabers of this city at all events, however tine it may be that the Diocesan Fund derives no aid from the other towns. But while the Parishes of this city have been self- supporting, they have also enabled me to send for two students from St Augustine's College, Canterbury, who have been ordained in this Diocese, and have been and are ministering to the English and Natives lesidentin the Hutt Valley. Besides this, the Diocesan Fund has contributed to the establishment of a Chuich Grammar School on the Porirua Road ; and the Principal of that School will act as Lay Reader in the New Church at Johustowo, as soon as it is completed. I have had occasional services myself there and up the Porirua Road at the Ferry, and at Pahaulanui, where the attendance and earnest desire of the people for the ministrations of Religion are very encouraging, and make me the more regret that we are unable to do more for them.

The residents in the Wairarapa Valley on learning that the Rev. VV. Ronaldson meant to relinquish the charge ot the English population, met me most readily with promises of support for a clergymen to minister among them ; and I believe that a third student from St Augustine's is on his way out from England to be ordained to that cure of souls.

At Waipavva and Waipukarau iu the Province of Hawke's Bay, congregations are regularly served with the ministrations of the Church by the Rev E. Wheeler. And the Clergy of Whanganui lend their aid twieii a month to provide tlie settlers in tbe Matarawa Valley with the services of religion. Occasionally too they visit the English congregation that meets for Divine worship at the Upper Rangilikei, where I had hoped to have seen a Clergymau regular'y setlled before this Christmas.

The Native disturbances I spuke of before have in this c:\se thrown obstacles in the way for the present, which I trust will ere long disappear. The Diocesan Fund was pledged to the amount of £50 per annum for three years for the support of a Clergyman there. In the Province of Hawke's Bay, the country settlers have given assistance to town, instead of the reverse, ever since the church was built at Napier, to the amount of £30 per annum out of their Endowment Fund.

CHURCH BUILDING,

That opportune Grant of £1000 made by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge to this Diocese lias been in part expended in do nations to several Parishes and Districts. The Standing Committee Lave voted £100 to St John's Palish, Napier, for the enlargement and completion of their Church; £100 Air the Chinch at Johnstown, which is to be finished by Easter; aad £100 for the Church at Tienih&m, in the Upper Hutt, which is to be finished in December. This latter Church is to be built of corrugated iron, because standing in the immediate neighbourhood of so much timber it was considered particularly liable to fire. In mentioning this district church, I ought not to omit expressing our thanks to Mr txeorge Palmer of Nazing Park, whii allowed us to choose our sites on his land there and at Pauatahanui, and has given us tithes of all his sales of land in the Province. The Standing Committee have further voted thesuin of £20 towards a Native Church tuar Masterton ; and a conditional grant of £100 for a wooden Church, or £50 tor a plastered Church at Whanganui. All the sums above mentioned have been paid, except the grant to' Whanganui. EDUCATION. I said just now that the Diocesan Fund had lent considerable aid in establishing a Church Grammar School at Kaiwarawara. lam very glad to be able to report to the Synod that the Church members and others resident in this Province are now supplied with the opportunity of giving their children a sound and liberal education ; and advantage has been taken of it immediately by persons anxious to have their children well educated, and the school isneaily full already. The Trustees of the Porirua Coflege and Standing Committee have lent me some of their funds on interest, so as to enable me to purchase and fit the house and property for the purpose. At or before the expiration of seven years from the time of purchase the Church may claim to relieve me of the property and its liabilities. I take this opportunity of saying that I would gladly have established a Grammar School in this Town, had it not been for the fact that large aud valuable Reserves were made in Sir George Grey's former Government of this Colony for the establishment of a Public School, which of course could not be based on any religious principles. This endowment which is in the hands of Provincial Trustees might at any moment be applied to the founding and maintaining a school, which would offer instruction for the youth of the town at the lowest possible cost to the parents ; aud of course it would be impossible for an unendowed Grammar School, such as we might establish, to compete with an endowed one. Accordingly we have established our GrammarSchool beyond the precincts of the town, aud should have to look mainly to the settlers in the country for support, if ever the Public School were established in the town. At the same time the moral impossibility of having any religious instruction in such a school, (to which all alike of every creed or persuasion would have a right to send their children) puts great difficulties in the way of such an Institution, while at the same time it effectually discourages Religious Bodies from making any attempt to supply the want that is felt. Exactly the same difficulty exists in Auckland, and as far back as 1855 I submitted to the School Trustees of that province a plan for the application of their funds, which if adopted here might solve the present difficulties at the same time that it would greatly encourage education and create a wider interest in the cause. My proposal was based in a great measure on that adopted by the Sydney University and that which exisls in the University of London. I will read out the chief features of that proposal. I said, "This system would provide first-rate instruction for all pupils of whatever creed or persuasion ; in no way interfering in the matter of religion, but offerring excellent lectures in the several branches of secular knowledge, conducting public examinations open to all members of the university, and conferring degrees which might as in England have some political as well as social advantages. "According to this system there would be requiieil a public building consisting of what is called at Cambridge a 'Senate House' for the public meetings of (he members of the university, for bojding examinatim>s, conferring degrees, &c, ; and several large lecture rooms in which the Professors would, give their lectures,

" The Trustees would have found sufficient to induce first-ratemen to come out as Professors in their several secular departments, e. g. of Classics, or of Mathematics, of Modern Languaagii and History, or of Civil Engineering, &c. These Professors would give public lectures open to all members of the university alike, and they would conduct the public examinations for degrees.

"Attached to this central body, or university, but in no way supported by its fund:!, there would be affiliated colleges, denominational or otherwise, where the young ugfe. would live, and be educated generally ; btfSj-tney would be obliged to attend the public lecrares of tbe Professors, as one object of the university would be to promote emulation, and to bring together as much as possible all the youth of the community," This is the outline of the plan I proposed then, and would wish to see now agreed to ; I do not say acted upon yet, for the province does not require it at present. This plan instead of hindering and obstructing private and denominational efforts would encourage those who wish to provide a religious education for their children, and at the same time meet the objections of those who are opposed to what they call sectarianism.

Believing as Ido that the English mind is entirely opposed to any idea of having a state system of education forced upon them which would necessarily exclude special creeds and fonm of belief, and try to tie down all alike on one Procrustes' bed of instruction, I feel bound to express my regret at the sore discouragement which the legislature of this province evinces towards all the individual and private endeavours of religious bodies to work out their own convictions and charitable desires in the way of general education in common Schools. I observe in the reports both of the Te Aro and Thorndon schools, that greater burdens art thrown on the P.irisbes in maintaining those schools than they aie well able to bear, and a larger staff of teachers male and female cannot be supported as the managers would wish. The efficiency howeFer of those schools, which is mainly to be attributed to the masters who conduct them, shows tkat no system will be so likely to attract the services of exemplary men, as that of an unfettered and free expression of ft man's own religious principles without any compulsory system of proselytizing the children belonging to other religious bodies.

While I am on this subject of Education, 1 cannot help expressing my earnest hope that a proposition which I observe is to be made by the Diocesan Synod of New Zealand tothemxl General Synod (to the effect that the Scholarships of St John's College shall be appropiiated to the maintenance of Candidates for the Ministry only) will, if at all, be only accepted for a definite period of the next two or three yeurs. The Professional gentlemen of ihe Colony, and inore especially the Clergy, are likely to desire a liberal Education for their children, and at the same lime they are the least able to be at the expense. I had always looked to those Scholarships as opening great prospects for the children of the Clergy without imposing any obligation on them to enter the Ministry. The Clergy are themselves educated men with very limited incomes, and without such aid as those Scholarships afford, will never be able to give their children the advantage* they themselves have enjoyed. At the same time no one is more anxious than myself for every eucouiage inent to be giren to candidates for the Ministry to offer themselves for tli# work, and to qualify themselves for its duties. The days we are living in require more than heretofore a learned Clergy. The laity are reader.'!, if not students, in theology; and the wonderful readiness that has been shown by the public mind to accept and listen to any novel and startling opinions, renders it imperative on the Clergy to be qualified to detect the errors and fallacies that impose upon a careless reaJer. The reckless manner in which Clergymen of our Church have tampered with the Holy Scriptures, and admitted into their own pages statements made by infidels respecting particular passages without ever looking to see whether the statements were true, will recoil on their own heacs now that it is exposed ; but if it had not been that there were very learned men in the Church capable of exposing every fallacy as it appears, these shallow raistalements might have been accepted by the simple reader as if they were well founded assertions. Perhaps some of you, my Brethren, have been as much struck as I have been with the pointed remark of one who is perhaps the greatest Divine now living, Dr Dorner of Germany, respecting thesecrudeand notorious publications, a copy of which was sent to him from England with a request that he would reply to some of them; but he returned the work with the remark that the theological views therein contained had been refuted and exploded 15 years ago in Germany, and that they were too puerile for him to bestow any fur ther time upon. I have made these remarks because I am very anxious that candidates for Holy Orders in this Diocese should not be mis* led into supposing that I (and I hope I nuy say ' we') are indifferent about having a learned and well-educated Clergy, and that we merely want a hard-working body of men. May I not say that we require both ?

I should be glad if this Synod expressed their opiuion on the subject of clerical education and qualifications, as the Diocesan Synod of New Zealand have.

Before passing to my nextsubjeut I may venture to record with a sense of thankfulness for past mercies, and acknowledgment of many shortcomings, yet with miugled hopes and fears for the future that I this day complete the slh yeai of my episcopate. I cannot refrain from expressing my thanks to the Clergy and Laity of the Diocese, and especially of the Diocesan Synod, for the cordial spirit of forbearance and co-operation they have always evinced towards me. ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE BILL. Hero I would venture to observe with regard to the Ecclesiastical Discipline Bill proposed by the Stauding Commission for the acceptance of the General Synod, that the proceedings which have been taken in England again-t certain writings charged with a heretical tendency, lead me to think that it will be a most undesirable thing for us to allow any one member of the Church, either Lay or Clerical, to foice an action against anolhe,r in our Church courts oil charges of heresy ; and that it will be better for each Diocese to appoint a Board of Clergy aiul Laymen, being communicauts, before whom (instead of before the advocate, or Registrar spoken of in the 7th clause of the Courts Bill) any such charge of heresy shall be laid in writing according to the provisions of that bill ; and with whom it shall rest to decide whether any further proceedings shall be allowed or not. There are two dangers on eitber extreme that are carefully to be guarded against; one is a spirit of nurrmv litigiousness, and the other a spirit of lax indifference about the purity of our doctrines, and the honesty of our subscription to those doctrines. Ido not wish tosee the catholicity of our Church's teaching narrowed, but neither should I wish to see any encouragement given j

1 to dishonest and non-natural interpretation of plain language. Her Majesty's Privy Council delivered judgment on the 24th June, 1863, upon the case I referred to in my last address (p. 13, of 1862 Report) between the Rev W. Long and the Bishop of Cape Town, and decided in favour of Mr Long that it was not lawful for the Bishop to force him or any other members of the Church of England to take part in Synodical proceedings such as these we are now engaged in. So far the judgment does uot affect us in this Ecclesiastical Province — for we have never proposed to make our Synodical system compulsory on any one — on the contrary, in the Report of the Conference of Bishops, Clergy, and Laity, held at Auckland in 1857, which is published in the Folio ef the Constitution, &c, 1862, (p. 42) we read in Clauses 8 and 9: —

" 8. Two modes of operation were suggested ; the one to apply for an A.ct of the Colonial Legislature to constitute the Branch of the United Church of England and Ireland in New Zealand ; the other to associate together such members of tbe Church as might be willing to form a voluntary compact among themselves.

"9. The almost unanimous opinion of the members of our Church, so far as it can be ascertained, has decided in favor of a Plan of Church Constitution to be based in the first instance upon mutual and voluntary compact." Accordingly our Synodical system is entirely a voluntary compact of such Churohmembers as agree to unite together for the purposes of selfgovernment in Ecclesiastical matters; whereas the judgment of Her Majesty's Privy Council (p. 16) says, •' The' Synod which actually did meet (in Cape Town) passed various acts and constitutions purporting, without the consent either of the Crown or of the Colonial Legislature to bind persons not in any manner subject to its control, and to establish =pourts of Justice for some temporal as well as spiritual matters ; and in fact the Synod assumed powers which only tbe Legislature could possess."

Again, the judgment says ; "It was a meeting convened not for tbe purpose of taking counsel and advising together what might be beit for the general good of the Society, but for the purpose of agreeing upou certain rules, and establishing in fact certain laws by which all members of tbe Church of England in the Colony, whether they assented to them or not, should be bound."

It is on this ground, on the fact that the Synod tried to force their rules in invitas as it is culled (i.e. on persons against their will) that the Privy Council held Mr Long to be justified in refusing obedience to the Bishop's orders to take part in carrying out the Synodical system.

Thus far, then, the judgment can hardly be said to affect us at all ; but in the 14th page the Privy Council lay down cerlan principles of Law with regard to voluntary associations suuh as ours, which are most valuable, and will henceforth be the legal charter of our Church systeui. The passage is as follows —

"The Church of England, in places where there is i.o Church established by law, is in the same situation with any other religious body in no belter but iu no worse position, and the members may adopt, as the members of any other communion may adopt, rules for enforcing discipline within their body which will ba binding on those who expressly or by implication have assented to them.

" It may be further laid down that where any religious or other lawful association has not only agreed on the terms of its union, but has also constitute! a tribunal to determine, whether the rules of the association have been violated by any of its members or not, and wlmt shall be the consequence of such violation, then the decision of such tribunal will be binding wheu it has acted within the scope of its authority, has observed such forms as the rules require, if any forms be prescribed, and, if not, has pro ceeded in a manner consonant with the principles of justice.

"In such oases the tribunals so constituted are not in any sense Conns ; they derive no authority from the Crown, they have no power of their own to enforce their sentences, they must apply for that purpose to the Courts established by law, and such Courts will give effect to their decision, as tl.ey givfe effect to the decisions of arbitrators, whose jurisdiction rests entirely upba the agreement of the parties. "These are the principles upon which the Courts in this country hare always acted in the disputes which have arisen between members of the same religious body not being members of the Church of England. They were laid down most distinctly, and acted upon, by Vice Chancellor Shadwell and Lord Lyndhurst in the cise of Dr Warren, so much relied on at the Bar, and the report of which in Mr Grindwood's book seems t j bear every mark of accuracy. "To these principles, which are founded in good sense and justice, and established by the highest authority, we desire strictly to adhere." It now seetns to be beyond question that the Bishop and d'ergy in the Colonies are subject to no Ecclesiastical Court whatever, unless they ' have voluntarily submitted themselves to the , statutes and acts of a General or Diocesan Synod, which must further appoint a Tribunal for trying offenders. This seems to make it almost imperative upon our General Synod to lose no time, consistently with due care and forethought, in establishing some such tribunal as will at all events fulfil the requirements of ' the 27th Article of the Churcb, and of the 14th, 15th, and 29th clauses of our Constitution Deed. The acceptance by the Clergy of the 3rd clause of the Ecclesiastical Offences Bill l will be an act of grace on their part, in no way required by the Constitution Deed ; but it is very questionable how far the Laity will be disposed to leave to any one single Clergyman the decision whether he will read the Burial Service over them or not. That subject is creating much discussion in England both in and out of Parliament ; and I sincerely trust that the plan we propose in our 3rd clause of that Bill (page 50 of our 1861 Report) will be accepted by the General Synod. PENSION FUND. There is one other subject connected more particularly with the Clergy that I am pleased to be able to re«ord, and that is the success of the General Pensiou Fund established for invalids and superannuated clergy, and for their widows and orphans. The Maori Clergyman of this Diocese whose health has been so long failing and whose means of subsistence have thereby been much impaired, has this year received some slight assistance from that source. Everything that can be done to make our Clergy feel less anxiety and more security about their temporal wants being supplied, and iheir families being cared for, is a positive boon to the spiritual work of tha Church ; the mind and heart of the Clergyman being thereby set free Jo devote himself more unreservedly to his Ministerial duties. I cannot refrain, in reference to this topic, from quoting a most kindly and thoughtful passage from a speech of the late lamented Prince Consort at the Festival of the Sous of the Clergy iu 1854. He says :—

1 The appellation of a ' money mnking Parson' is not only a reproach but a condemnation for a Clergyman, depriving him at once ol all inflnence over his congregation ; yet this man who has to shun opportunities for acquiring wealth open to most of us, and who has himself only an often scanty life-income allotted to him for his services, has a wife and children like ourselves ; and we wish him to have the same solicitude for their welfare which we feel for our own."

The Secretary of our Diocesan Branch has given me some report of that Fund which I lay ou the table — and I wish also to direct attention to the Insurance Office opened by the Bishop of New Zealand for Church Buildings only^ the profits of which are applicable in tlie first instance .to the Insurance hraoch of the General Pension Fund, as may be seen from the 66ih and 67th pages of the N Z. Church Almanac 1863. B.YMNAL. I wish to record that the New Zealand Hymnal is uow published, and has been introduced into the Parishes in this Town ; and that if any more copies are required by those of other Parishes, they cm be procured by remitting tbe amount for the order through the Rev Professor Selwyn, Cambridge — at the rale of 2s 3d per copy in calf — and Is 2d per copy in roan or cloth. MAORI DISTRICTS. I now lay on the Table the Eeport from Papawai Native School; a copy of which should be forwarded to the Government immediately. We have to acknowledge the considerate manner in which tke Native Minister has lent and promised further assistance to ua in supporting that School, and maintaining the Matron, besides improving the Buildings, and offering to provide greater accommodation for the Master and Matron, which we shall avail ourselves of as soon as circumstances permit. The disturbances in the Northern part of this Island have necessarily affected the minds of the Natives in this Diocese ; but I am thankful to say that tbe efforts of the Provincial authorities warmly seconded by our Clergy have hitherto been successful in allaying unfounded alarms and suspicions ; and we pray God that u war between the two Races may be averted in the Southern Provinces, and speedily concluded in the Northern. I think that the most prejudiced mind must acknowledge the benefit of having Missionaries located amongst the Native Rase, when we remember that all the worst disposed and most troublesome Natives, who have caused and instigated the greatest atrocities, are members of tribes and families that for some years past hare had less of the ministrations of English C'ergy than others, that though the the Clergy of the English town at Taranaki did all they could to visit and care for the natives up and down the coast, yet there was no Missionary resident aaionyst them — whereas the natives of that and the neighboring Province of Hawke's Bay have been regularly and steadily visited and taught by their own resident English clergymen. I remember 13 yeais ago hearing the Primate foretell, troubles as likely to arise in the neighborhood of Taranaki from lack of such immediate supervision ; and I remember his earnest but fruitless endeavors to obtain a missionary for that port. The wisest and greatest rulers that the world has ever sect have always reckoned religion to be the be;>t and at the same time the most economical organ for controlling a people, and the purer the religion, the better the instrument. I venture to claim for the Clergy of the Church Missionary Society in this country the application of Professor Gold win Smith's strong language that " the Missionary is the only saviour of the savage." But wars aod civil commotions sorely distract the minds of the English and natives alike ; and deeply am I impressed with the truth that one of our Church's Collects teaches us, aad with which I will conclude this address — [sth Sunday after Trinity.] " Grant, 0 Lord, we beseech tbe Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy Governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Tuee in ail Godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Araeu."