BISHOP HICKS' arrival in Bloemfontein and enthronement--Installation of Dean Vincent--Bishop Hicks' first visitation of the Diocese--Eighth Session of the Diocesan Synod--Reconciliation of an aged Basuto Chieftainess--The Bishop's Visitation of the South of the Diocese, and of Griqualand West, and Bechuanaland--The needs of the River Diggings--The Bishop goes to the assistance of the Metropolitan, and joins in the Consecration of the Bishop of Lebombo at Grahamstown--Mr. Woodman appointed Rector of Wepener--Death of Mrs. Bell--Mr. R. G. Douglas appointed Rector of Beaconsfield--S. Philip's Half-Caste Mission, Bloemfontein--Synod of Clergy--Visit of the Bishop to England--Death of Father Douglas--Father Carmichael--Canon Balfour's Settlement at Thlotse--S. Mary's Training College--Work among the Railway employees.

BISHOP HICKS arrived in Bloemfontein on Michaelmas Eve, and on the Festival itself, in the presence of a large and representative congregation, was enthroned in the Cathedral by the Provost, twenty-four of the clergy of the Diocese being present. After the service, His Honour the President, who had attended it, entertained the Bishop and clergy at luncheon. In the evening a large social gathering took place in the Town Hall to welcome the Bishop.

On the following Sunday the Dean, whom the Bishop at the first meeting of his Chapter had formally appointed, was installed in the Cathedral, and having been appointed by the Canons as their Vicar, entered upon the full care of the parish as well as of the Cathedral Church.

The first two months of the Bishop's episcopate were broken into by his presence at a Provincial Missionary Conference held at Queenstown (attended also by Archdeacon Gaul, Mr. Bevan, Father Sanderson, Mr. Woodman and Mr. Gabriel David), and by a journey to Johannesburg in the Diocese of Pretoria, with the Metropolitan and the Bishop of Grahamstown as a special Commission appointed by the Bishops of the Province. But in October the Bishop paid a visit to Kimberley and also to Modderpoort and Thabanchu, at which latter place he confirmed more than a hundred candidates. In January, 1893, after the annual meeting of the Chapter at the Epiphany, the Bishop journeyed via Modderpoort to Thlotse Heights and the north of the Free State. He spent Sunday, January 22nd, at Ficksburg, where he dedicated the new church of All Saints, built through the exertions of Mr. Douglas, in lieu of the humbler building which Canon Beckett's care had provided. The brass lectern in All Saints commemorates the ministrations of the dear old Canon. Bethlehem, Harrismith, Vrede and Heilbron were visited during this journey, in the latter part of which the Dean accompanied his Lordship. At Vrede the Bishop found the Church people somewhat reasonably aggrieved. The lay ministrations had ceased, and only rare visits had been possible from Harrismith. There was a debt upon the church, payment of which was being pressed for, and the people were too discouraged to face it and clear it off. Later in the year the Archdeacon contrived to include Vrede in his northern work; the people very heartily welcomed him, and the debt was cleared away. The visits were maintained for twelve months, but they entailed a journey of fourteen hours in an open post-cart, and the strain in all weather proved too severe. At the time at which we are writing, an arrangement has been made by which monthly services can be provided from Harrismith. The Bishop spent the greater part of Lent at Kimberley, preaching a course of sermons at S. Cyprian's on "The Fall and Restoration of Man," which was afterwards published; he also visited Bechuanaland.

During the third week after Easter, the Synods of the Diocese assembled in Bloemfontein. The Synod of Clergy began on Thursday, April 20th, being preceded by a Quiet Day, at which the addresses were given by the Bishop. At this Synod many interesting discussions on Polygamy and other points connected with native missions took place. The constitutions promulgated by the Bishop at its close contained directions on the admission of Catechumens, the Administration of Holy Baptism, &c., and special forms of service were authorized, especially for the Burial of the Dead when the ordinary Prayer-Book Service may not be used; also a Table of Proper Psalms and Lessons for special occasions. But the chief work of the Synod was the preparation of a Report upon a Canon of Discipline. This question had been referred to the several Diocesan Synods by the Provincial Synod of 1891. With certain alterations the Synod adopted a Canon which had already been determined upon in the Diocese of Pretoria, appending also to their Report recommendations as to the holding of Parochial Disciplinary Visitations by the Ordinary, &c. The Report thus framed was afterwards presented to and approved of by the Diocesan Synod, and now forms a tentative method of procedure for the guidance of the Church during the interval which must elapse before the Session of the Provincial Synod in 1898. During the Session of the Synod of Clergy the Bishop held a Visitation. The Diocesan Synod was opened on Sunday, April 23rd, the Bishop delivering his Charge at the mid-day service. The chief business of the Synod, besides the matter referred to above, was the formation of a Clergy Pension Fund, and the provision of regulations for parochial delimitation. This latter was the revision of an order issued during the last episcopate. Without the mistake of too rigidly defining the bounds of jurisdiction in a young and only partially developed country, it provided for the definite exercise of parochial and extra parochial ministrations.

After the Synod the Bishop paid a more protracted visit to the Missions in North Basutoland. During his Lordship's visit to Sekubu, on Ascension Day, he was greatly gladdened by a work which fell to him--that of receiving back to the Faith an aged chieftainess who for more than forty years had relapsed into heathenism. She had been the wife of the great chief Molapo, and had been baptized with him by the French missionaries some fifty years ago. Her son, Joel Molapo, is a chief of much power in Northern Basutoland. She had sought from the Church Missionaries restoration to Christian Communion, and had been for some time under instruction. Her public reconciliation took place in the presence of a great crowd, including the principal people of that part of the tribe. At the Confirmation which followed, the Bishop spoke of the gift of the Holy Ghost as not for this life only but for the life to come, and the aged woman's face was lit up with joy, when she heard that it was for her too, although her time in this world might be very short. She has persevered in her profession, and when no other means of getting to church has been within her reach, she has made her way on foot, despite her great age, over the seven miles between her home and Sekubu. Returning to Bloemfontein he held his first Ordination on Trinity Sunday, ordaining Mr. Edgar Lancaster of the Masite Mission to the Diaconate, and the Revs. F. K. Harbord, F. M. Lane and P. J. F. King to the Priesthood. Mr. Harbord returned to his work under Mr. Thorne at Jagersfontein; Mr. Lane to Ladybrand, where he had been working under Father Douglas' guidance; and Mr. King to Bethulie. The responsibilities of the parish of Bethulie had become much increased. It was thought better to give Mr. Glover an assistant Curate, and to make one strong centre in the south of the Free State, than to place isolated workers in the different villages. Accordingly in addition to Philippolis and Springfontein, Smithfield, Rouxville and Zastron were placed in Mr. Glover's care.

After the Ordination the Bishop visited South Basutoland, penetrating as far as the distant villages in the Maluti mountains, and coming back by way of Wepener, Zastron, Rouxville, Smithfield and Bethulie. On returning to Bloemfontein he conducted a Retreat for the Sisters in their chapel, and then left for Jagersfontein, Fauresmith and Koffyfontein. At Jagersfontein the Bishop consecrated the church which had been opened for service in 1891. At Fauresmith, among other duties, the Bishop admitted a Reader for the native congregation. Mr. Steven had for years combined the care of this with his other work. In 1882 a new Rectory had been built and part of the former one had been fitted up for a native chapel. Koffyfontein is a diamond mine at least forty miles from Fauresmith, towards the west. It has been worked with varying success. Sometimes a considerable population has been attracted to it; at others the work has been at a standstill. Mr. Steven has held services there as often as his other engagements and local circumstances allowed him to do so.

On September 8th the Bishop left Kimberlcy with Archdeacon Gaul for a visitation in the country parts of Griqualand West. The Archdeacon had, as often as he could snatch the time from his large parish, devoted himself to the care of the many Church people to be found in those parts. It is not a well-watered district, and will not bear a large population. Towns have been established, and at two of them, Douglas and Griquatown, building sites have been given to the church. In these towns and in many farm-houses the Archdeacon has habitually held service, and each of these centres was visited by the Bishop. Over two hundred and seventy-five miles were traversed. The whole visitation was finished without any cost to the Bishop; carts being freely furnished and offerings towards expenses gladly given. In an account of the journey written by the Archdeacon, he speaks of the need of two priests for itinerating work in the district. "Distances are enormous," he says: "I am asked to visit a new centre on the border of Damaraland--'four days from anywhere,' as it has been described. Here an excellent layman is working as an accountant in a big store. He has gathered people together, reads Matins and Evensong for them, acts as our Reader, and has collected £250 towards a church building. .... But how can one find time to get there?" We are glad to be able to say that since this was written the Rev. C. F. Collum, M.A., has taken up the work, and that a parsonage is being erected for him at Douglas, to be followed by a church, for the latter of which £,200 are in hand. The work thereabouts is much assisted by Mr. Redmond Orpen, an old S. Andrew's College boy, who in caring for the Church is following the honoured traditions of his family.

There is another part of Griqualand West which has to be provided for, and which is a crying need. Though the River Diamond Diggings have long been outstripped as sources of wealth by the mines of Kimberley, they have never been quite abandoned. Some thousands of persons with their families are living along the Vaal river in the neighbourhood of Barkly West, earning a precarious livelihood by diamond digging. Mr. Scratchley, and afterwards Mr. Allum, have done their best to minister to them. At one camp, Klipdam, near the old diggings of Hebron, some three thousand people are said to be living. A small sum has been set aside by the Board of Finance towards the establishment of work there as soon as an earnest priest can be found to undertake it.

In Kimberley itself an important school-work had been reinstated. From the days of Mr. Maude and Mr. Borton a boys' school had been established and commodious buildings provided for it. The opening of public state-supported schools had interfered with it for a time, but in 1893 the work was taken in hand by Mr. C. Kewley, B.A., a member of Sidney Sussex College, and then an old pupil of the Bishop. Under him it has prospered exceedingly. S. Michael's High School for Girls (for years carried on by the Sisterhood), and lately under Miss Woods, a faithful and devoted worker, and the mixed parish schools at S. Cyprian's have always been flourishing works. Just now the latter are conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Teychenne, and are most successful, having for two successive years passed every child at the annual governmental inspection.

During the latter part of 1893 the Bishop paid a visit to Winburg, administering Confirmation in the little church there, and passing on from thence to visit Senekal, Bethlehem and Harrismith. While at Harrismith the news reached the Bishop of the illness of the Metropolitan, and he at once telegraphed an offer of assistance. This was thankfully accepted, and the Bishop left for the Cape by way of Natal.

In 1892 a Railway had connected Harrismith with Durban, so the journey through "the Garden Colony" could be easily made. En route, the Bishop paid a hurried visit to Dean Green at Maritzburg, and catching the steamer at Durban, sailed for the Cape. The journey was one of great discomfort, for the Bishop had caught the influenza, and when he reached Capetown was himself very unwell. But he was able to undertake the Confirmations which the Metropolitan had arranged to do, and by All Saints' Day both Prelates were sufficiently recovered to proceed to Grahamstown for the consecration of the new chancel to the Cathedral there, which Bishop Webb had completed. On the following Sunday the Bishop assisted the Metropolitan in the consecration, at Grahamstown, of Dr. Smyth, a former fellow-worker with the Bishop in his Cambridge parish, to the new Bishopric of Lebombo.

On returning from Grahamstown, the Bishop again visited South Basutoland, entering the country at the Magistrate's station at Moyene, and starting on November13th with Father Sanderson for a three days' journey on horseback in the Quithing district. Sunday, November 17th, was spent at Mohali's Hoek, and the following Sunday morning at Mafeteng. Six Confirmations were held during this visitation, one of them being in a court-house, another in a storekeeper's house, and among those confirmed was an old blind chief. On the evening of Sunday, 26th, the Bishop got to Wepener in time for evening service, and returned to Bloemfontein via Dewetsdorp on November 28th.

To have mentioned South Basutoland without the name of Mr. Reading requires the explanation that on May i8th he had started for a well-earned holiday in England. Before leaving on Sunday, May i4th, he had opened the enlarged church of S. John, Mafeteng, the memorial church to Mr. Bernard White, which, having become too small for the worshippers, had been considerably added to, chiefly by means of funds collected" by Mrs. Eyre. Father Sanderson had undertaken the care of the district during Mr. Reading's absence.

In connection with this we may anticipate a little. Towards the close of 1893, Mr. Woodman expressed his desire to be relieved of the care of the Masite Mission. Just after he had arrived in England in 1889, the news had reached him that the church which he had built there had been all but demolished by a hurricane. But friends , had come to his aid, and he had been able to send to Father Sanderson, his locum tenens, funds for its rebuilding. Fortunately, now that he felt a change to be necessary, a priest was at hand for the work. In 1893 the Rev. Spencer Weigall, M.A., who had been compelled by repeated illness to withdraw from the Universities' Mission, had joined the Diocese. He had spent some time with Mr. Crosthwaite at Thabanchu, and now undertook the care of Masite. This, in addition to the native Mission there, included the charge of the work at Maseru, the seat of the British Resident, some twenty-four miles distant. Here a place of worship had been built, the services in the absence of a clergyman being taken either by Sir Marshall Clarke or by the Assistant Commissioner, Mr. G. Y. Lagden.

On retiring from Masite, Mr. Woodman was appointed to the Rectory of Wepener. Mr. Stenson had resigned this parish in 1890. After a short residence at Mafeking in British Bechuanaland, he had, because of chronic rheumatism, retired to Modderpoort, where after a while he had so far recovered as to be able to assist the Brethren in their parish work. As long ago as 1883 a parsonage had been provided at Wepener. It had been built for a hospital during the "gun war," and when this was over had been transferred to the Church. Unsuccessful efforts had since 1890 been made to settle a clergyman at Wepener, and it was with a sense of relief that the arrangements which ended in Mr. Woodman becoming Rector were made. The cure of souls included the charge of the Chapelry of Dewets-dorp, twenty-one miles distant, ministrations at Jainmerberg Drift, and at Bushman's Kop, and the care of the Mission at Mafeteng, of which Mr. Woodman relieved Mr. Reading with the hope that before long his former fellow-labourer, Mr. Lancaster, might be sent there as his assistant.

Very reluctantly we have felt obliged to abstain from recording domestic bereavements which have occurred among us, but one of these cannot be passed by. No better chronicle of it can be given than the following extract from the "Quarterly Paper" of April, 1894. "There passed away from amongst us, quietly and suddenly, two days before Christmas, one of the earliest remaining workers of the Mission, Caroline, wife of the Rev. Canon Bell of S. Andrew's College. In 1863 she and her husband came out as bride and bridegroom with the first Bishop and band of workers, to do whatsoever their hands found to do, and were at once stationed at Smithfield, O.F S. There they remained, with the exception of one happy visit home in 1887, until they were called to the supervision of S. Andrew's College in 1888. In that one visit home they made many friends, and so young and untroubled did she look, that she used to say no one would give her credit for ail the hardships she had gone through. But she would not allow that there were any disagreeables in a Missionary's wife's life, except perhaps the sitting up till two in the morning, with failing eyesight, to mend the children's socks. She had a motherly heart for all the S. Andrew's scholars, and took to the new stirring life there; and she had the happiness of seeing her sons and daughters settling around her, and her grandchildren springing up."

After the Annual Meeting of the Cathedral Chapter at Epiphany, 1894, the Bishop paid visits to Thabanchu and Modderpoort, spending Sunday, January 14th, at Maseru, visiting Ladybrand during the week and Clocolan on Septuagesima Sunday. January 26th to 29th was spent at Kroonstad, the Bishop's first visit there. On February 28th he instituted Mr. Woodman at Wepener. On March 6th he was at Bethulie, on the 13th at Kimberley, then at Barkly West, then back again at Kimberley, and a little later on at Phokoane and Vryburg. And at all these places there were Confirmations, preachings, consultations. Not a few of us felt very anxious as to how long the Bishop could bear this constant strain, and therefore glad to know that he had decided on a voyage to England after Easter.

The Bishop had been accompanied to Kimberley by the Rev. R. G. Douglas. The Rectory of Beaconsfield was then vacant, and it had been offered to and accepted by Mr. Douglas. On Palm Sunday the Bishop instituted him, but it was a part of the arrangement that he should be allowed to pay a visit to England, sailing with the Bishop, and that meanwhile the work at Beaconsfield should be undertaken by the Rev. H. H. Oldaker, the Bishop's Chaplain. Mr. Douglas' work at Ficksburg was now placed in the hands of the Rev. F. M. Lane; the Brethren at Modderpoort relieving him of Ladybrand.

It was no easy matter to spare Mr. Oldaker from Bloemfontein. During Bishop Knight-Bruce's episcopate. Sister Maria Burton, a Deaconess who had long been working in the Diocese, had devoted herself to the instruction and care of the Half-caste population of Bloemfontein. Services and Sunday-school were arranged for them in a large hired room.

It was felt impossible to make a further step during the vacancy of the See, but a building site was allotted by the Corporation, and Sister Maria, who mainly supported herself by giving music lessons, was diligent in collecting money for a church. After the Bishop's arrival a fresh effort was made, and at last an iron church, called S. Philip's, was built for the Mission. Mr. Oldaker attached himself heartily to this work. He was not daunted by the fact that, to properly undertake it, it was necessary to learn Dutch. He went to work with a will, and was soon able to read and to speak it a little. One of the congregation assisted in the services as interpreter, and was licensed by the Bishop as a Reader; this was Edward Osborne, who had accompanied Bishop Knight-Bruce on his first Mashonaland journey, and won his high regard. The value which the S. Philip's people set upon their church is evidenced by the care which they take in keeping it scrupulously neat.

In the week after Low Sunday, a Session of the Synod of Clergy was held, prefaced by a Retreat of two days, at which the Bishop gave addresses deeply instructive and exceedingly helpful to us all. On Thursday, April 19th, the Bishop left Bloemfontein on his visit to England.

During the Bishop's absence, a sudden and very heavy loss was experienced by the Diocese. Early in the morning of August 17th, Father Douglas died at Modderpoort, being in his fifty-second year. For some years past the Father had been in a very precarious state of health. He had begun and continued his work in this country with a vigour which those of us who had been longer here had watched with anxiety. He was utterly unsparing of himself. He passed from one work to another with a rapidity and zeal which made terrible demands upon even as strong a man as he. His fervid preaching of itself occasioned a strain which could not but be exhausting. Whatever work he undertook, however small it might be, he threw himself into with all his might. He was a priest who drew men to him by a singularly attractive mien, and his sympathetic heart was. during all his intercourse with them, seeking how best he might influence them for good. His life was one of ceaseless activity in good works. In 1887 his health broke down. He was suffering, and that acutely, from nervous exhaustion, and there was a talk of a threatened aneurism of the main artery. He went to England for medical advice, and following it, made a voyage by a sailing-ship to New Zealand. After his return it was difficult to know how far his health was improved. We all tried to spare him, and for some while his work was much lessened. More lately, however, he seemed better, and outside calls upon him began to be responded to. Just before his decease, warned by the returning symptoms, he had withdrawn from a Mission which he had undertaken to assist in at Johannesburg. Though poorly, he continued his share in the Brotherhood services and his correspondence with much of his usual brightness to the last. The day before he died he had kept his room, but there had been nothing to cause alarm. He had slept heavily through the afternoon and evening, and shortly after midnight, Brother Arthur, who was sleeping in his room, noticed that his breathing suddenly ceased, and going to him found that he had passed away. The news of his death, carried by telegraph, caused profound regret throughout South Africa. His funeral on the following Sunday, conducted by the Dean, who, as Vicar-General, was at the time visiting S. Augustine's, was attended by a concourse of at least a thousand people. The desire to raise some fitting memorial to him has been plainly evidenced on all sides, but the form it shall take has not yet been decided on. From his first coining to us he had seemed to love the country, and its people loved him. When he came to it, it was evident that he had " burnt his ships." There was no backward thought, though he had left so many dear ones and affectionate friends in the mother country. He came to spend his life here in God's service, and to die here.

In writing the foregoing, we have been reminded that we have hitherto made no mention of Father Carmichael, whose connection with the Brotherhood dates back more than seven years. In 1881 he had left a Dorsetshire curacy, and had come to Zululand, where he had stayed, helping Bishop McKenzie till he joined the St. Augustine's Community in 1887. He had especially attached himself to the native work. To have experienced what a task it is to learn one South African language might well deter a man from attempting a second. But Father Carmichael put aside his Zulu, and successfully applied himself to Sesutho. Under his ministry a considerable native work, especially among the Basuto labourers living on the adjacent farms, has grown up round S. Augustine's.

Towards the end of 1892, Canon Balfour had returned from Mashonaland, and had gone to England for a visit. In October, 1893, he returned, and until Easter, 1894, filled a temporary gap at Harrismith. In August, 1893, Mr. Scratchley had desired a time of change, and had, with the Bishop's approval, taken ad interim charge of Clanwilliam, and afterwards of Newlands, in the Diocese of Capetown. Harrismith had been served first by Mr. R. G. Douglas, then by Archdeacon Crisp, and then by the Canon, until the coming of the Rev. Basil Kingsley, an invalided priest from Wantage, England, set him free to go back to Basutoland, where his heart had always been. He settled himself with Canon Widdicombe at Thlotse, taking as his special work the direction of the Epiphany Mission at Sekubu, of which he had been the founder, and had continued to be its benefactor. In June, 1891, the work there had fallen to hands both capable and zealous. Mr. F. Wood and his wife came to Bloemfontein in 1890, and were engaged in secular employment. He became a Sunday School Teacher, and from the first showed great interest in the work of the Church. In course of time he told us of the great desire for a missionary's calling which he had known from his boyhood. Afterwards he paid a visit to England, and spoke of it to clergymen who had known him for several years before coming to South Africa. They encouraged him in his desire, and on his return he offered himself to us. There was urgent need at the time for just such an one to take up the work at Sekubu, and with Canon Widdicombe's concurrence as Rural Dean he was sent there. The leading feature of the work has been its native Boarding School. In this, Mrs. Wood, who had been a schoolmistress in England, has been of much assistance, and it has greatly flourished under their care. Evangelistic work was undertaken, and indeed a great field for this lies ready to hand in the many heathen villages round about Sekubu. Very much with his own hands, a new mission-house has supplanted one built of sods, which had become unsafe. We are all hoping that Mr. Wood will not too greatly overtask himself. During last summer he lay for some time at death's door, from an acute attack of dysentery.

The two Canons at Thlotse are living in a house which has been newly built, and not in the spacious parsonage which was erected soon after the " gun war." This latter has now been set aside for a new work. The Basuto are determinedly bent on the acquisition of secular knowledge, and school work among them is of necessity a prominent feature. Several native helpers, who had been trained at Grahamstown and elsewhere, are already in work as schoolmasters. The missionaries in the Lesuto have pressed again and again upon the Diocese the need of an Institution in which schoolmasters may be trained. Bishop Knight-Bruce had the establishment of such a venture very riiuch at heart, and an appeal from him was met with a gift of £300 (the third of the like sums from a beneficent but anonymous hand), which has formed the nest-egg of the fund, by means of which the effort is at length being made. The Bishop, who from the first has warmly espoused it, having to our great comfort just returned from his visit to England, is to open and bless the house now set apart for it on the coming All Saints' Day. The first Principal of the School is to be the Rev. Stephen J. Ellis, a priest, once a worker in the Diocese of S. Helena, who has just passed through Bloemfontein en route for Thlotse. Mr. Ellis came to the Diocese with the Bishop in 1892, and has since been in charge of the parish of Mafeking, a work in which he has now been relieved by the Rev. A. B. Stanford, M.A., who has just reached us from England.

Ministering to the railway employees has been undertaken by us from the first. Mr. Glover and Mr. King have taken charge of the line from Norval's Pont to Edenburg, and from Bloemfontein to Viljoen's Drift it has been in Archdeacon Crisp's hands. This latter length is more than two hundred miles. Half-way along it lies Kroonstad, which has, since the coming of the railway, become a much larger town. An assistant-priest has lately been placed there in the person of the Rev. A. C. Buss, B. A., who came to the Diocese in 1893, and has since then been attached to the Cathedral staff. His removal to Kroonstad has been made possible by the arrival of the Rev. W. H. Weekes, B.A., who has joined the Dean in the care of the parish, and has, as Succentor, taken charge of the Cathedral Choir. The additional parochial responsibility caused by the large railway population is a considerable one. A school chapel, named S. Margaret's, has been erected in the railway camp, in which a Day School is held, and Divine Service on Sunday evenings. The frequent changes to which railway officials are exposed produces great unsettle-ment, and renders religious work among them especially difficult.

"Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them! Yea, the Lord hath done great things for us already, whereof we rejoice."

Imperfectly, indeed, with many a failure; often put to rebuke by the offences which we ourselves have occasioned, the work for God of which the above is the record has been done. Who shall say how often the Master has sought for fruit and found none? May He pardon whatever has been done amiss, strengthen the things which remain, perfect what is wanting, and of His exceeding mercy remove not our candlestick out of its place.

SINCE these pages were written one or two changes have occurred, and without a brief mention of them our task would be incomplete.

During the war which ended in the subjugation of the Matabele, Bishop Knight-Bruce was constantly at work ministering to the forces, and caring for the sick and wounded. The courage with which he rescued a wounded Matabele under a cross fire was only one of his splendid deeds of Christian heroism. But when the war was over, severe illness set in which obliged his return to England, and his withdrawal from the work.

The choice of his successor, on the part of the South African Bishops, has fallen upon Archdeacon Gaul. The seal thus set upon the record of his perseverance and faithful service in our Diocese is grateful to us all, despite the sorrow which to part with him must cause us. His place at Kimberley will be filled by the appointment of Canon Holbech to the Archdeaconry, and the Diocese may look forward with confidence to the advancement which his rare powers of organization and industry will effect in the many good works there, to which reference has been made in these pages.

The close of the year 1894 has brought great gain to the Church in the arrival of the Rev. H. W. Orford, M.A., late Scholar of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and Vicar of S. Mary's, Leicester. Mr. Orford, who is thus an old pupil and friend of the Bishop, was chosen by his Lordship, during his recent visit to England, to be the new Principal of S. Andrew's College, Bloemfontein.

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