THE materials for the following sketch have been supplied by the Reports of the Societies for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, by the "Colonial Church Chronicle," and by some private letters which have been placed at the disposal of the Compiler, who has to express his best thanks to the Rev. Ernest Hawkins, the Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for much valuable information. They have been brought together to give a summary of the history of a Diocese, created so recently as the year 1847, in answer to Mr. Hawkins' appeal in his Preface to the "Annals of the Diocese of Fredericton."--"Similar manuals of [vii/viii] other Colonial Dioceses would, it is conceived, by the diffusion of authentic information, help to create a more general and effectual interest in the welfare of the Church abroad."

W. N.

WARBLINGTON RECTORY,
31st May, 1852.

COLONY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA-.-ITS FIREST SETTLEMENT--THE BISHOP LANDS ON ITS ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY--EARLY STATE OF THE CHURCH--THE REV. O. B. HOWARD--THE REV. JAMES FARRELL--THE REV. W. J. WOODCOCK--THE REV. JAMES POLLITT--THE REV. O. NEWENHAM--THE REV. W. H. COOMBS.

So late as the year 1822, Capt. Philip Parker King, R.N. stated before the Philosophical Society of New South Wales, that "the south coast of Australia is barren, and in every respect useless and unfavourable for colonization."

How little he really knew of the country of which he spake, was proved in, so short a time as eight years, when Capt. Sturt, in two boats, sailed down the river Murray for more than a thousand miles, till it expands itself into the magnificent Lake Victoria, and thence into the sea.

That the country now known as the flourishing colony of South Australia, of which the capital [1/2] city is Adelaide, was eminently favourable for life and cultivation, was immediately obvious, and without entering into particulars foreign to the object of the present narrative, the first Governor, Capt. Hindmarsh, R.N. landed on the coast on the 28th day of December 1836, and forthwith issued the proclamation, establishing the Government of the province. [See Mr. Dutton's "Historical Sketch of South Australia," page 18.]

The progress of the colony was, at first, rapid and, apparently, prosperous. ["Quarterly Review," for June 1841, p. 125.] It joins upon Port Phillip on the east, and on Western Australia on the west, extending from 130° to 141° of east longitude, and, including the adjacent islands on the south coast, may be reckoned to comprise about 300,000 square miles, or 192,000,000 of acres, affording an abundant scope for exertion.

In the early part of the year 1837, the late Sir John Jeffcott, the Chief Justice, gave the following graphic account of the settlers of this incipient colony. "On my arrival here, I found the Governor, his Excellency Capt. Hindmarsh, RN. Knight of the Hanoverian Order, &c., in a mud hut--which consisted of only two rooms, in which were stowed, besides himself, Mrs. Hindmarsh and her three daughters, young Hindmarsh, and a maid servant. How they found room passes my comprehension. In the hut I dined with his Excellency, in company with Capt. Crozier, [2/3] Commander of H. M. S. 'Victor.' We passed a very merry day, and had the pleasure of hearing the young ladies sing and accompany themselves on the guitar in the evening."

"The site of this incipient city (Adelaide) where I now write, in a tent be it said, is most beautiful, and looks quite like an English park. Nothing can be finer than the rich pastures spread over the land in all directions."

"It was, perhaps, from the discovery of a fertile country in so unexpected a manner, in a place where, hitherto, only barrenness had been looked for, that , testimonies to the salubrity of the climate, the productiveness of the soil, and the comfort of the settlers, were so numerous and zealous, even to exaggeration! "The natural fertility of the soil," writes an early settler, "may be imagined, when I state that now, at the moment I am writing, in the depth of our Australian winter, there is in the plain, of which Adelaide is the centre, plentiful food for fifty thousand head of cattle, and ten times that number of sheep." Another describes his garden and its productions; "We have had in the following succession, radishes, mustard and cress, cabbages, peas, and potatoes, in small quantities from it already; besides which it contains lettuces, beets, spinach, red cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips, broad beans, parsley, onions, love apples, &c., with a tolerable quantity of Indian corn just coming up, and more than an eighth of an acre of potatoes in capital condition. Add to these, nine [3/4] apple-trees, and a seedling from our own garden, two cherries, two almonds, six gooseberries; six currants, three or four dozen seedling almonds, and as many vines from dried fruit we accumulated during the voyage, with plenty of vegetable marrow, gourds, cucumbers, melons, and water melons, &c. Nor are we without European flowers to vie with the beauty and exquisite variety of the native ones. Pink, blue, and yellow lupins, hyacinths, narcissi, anemones, mignonette, and chrysanthemums, have already blossomed; and sweet peas, laburnums, Virginian stocks, convolvulus, candy-tuft, mallows, nasturtium, &c. are in progress of growth. Altogether I have an acre under cultivation." ["Quarterly Review," for June 1841, p. 187.]

In the session of 1839; Mr. Hutt, one of the leading men among the founders of the colony, thus expressed himself in the House of Commons:--"All the necessaries of life, a vital question in infant settlements, are nearly as cheap in the City of Adelaide as in any one of the Australian colonies, and nothing can exceed the terms of satisfaction in which the labouring emigrants, sent out by the Commissioners, speak of their present situation and their future prospects."

It will be seen that subsequent experience has tended to confirm much of these early accounts, favourable as they were, and that the climate of [4/5] South Australia on the whole, is certainly healthy, and its soil rich and productive.

Capt. Hindmarsh held his government less than a year. He was succeeded by Col. Gawler, a distinguished officer and a sincere Christian, to whom the infant Church of Adelaide was greatly indebted. The next Governor was Capt. Grey, known by the difficult and arduous explorations he undertook on the north coast of New Holland, in the years 1837, 1838, 1839; and Col. Robe was administering the affairs of the colony, when, on the' 28th day of December 1847, just precisely eleven. years from the date of its proclamation, a Governor of another sort, the first Bishop of Adelaide, landed on the shores of South Australia. That he should have done so on the anniversary of the foundation of the colony,-seems to have struck both the Bishop and the colonists as a favourable omen. "It is one of those remarkable coincidences," writes the Bishop; in one of his early letters, "which make themselves felt, as being something more than fortuitous." "It is rather a curious coincidence," observes the Editor of the South Australian Gazette, "that precisely on the eleventh anniversary of the colony, the Lord Bishop of Adelaide should have arrived among us." "Hearing the Bishop's Charge, and his reply to the Clergy of his Diocese, we come to the conclusion that South Australia has obtained for one of her greatest religious bodies, the incalculable blessing of a learned, good, amiable, and thoroughly Christian pastor."

[6] The Bishop had been anxiously looked for, and he was, on his arrival, cordially welcomed by all sincere Churchmen in Adelaide. The founders of the colony had been actuated by many good and moral feelings. They procured an Act of Parliament, providing that "no transported convict should be allowed to set foot in South Australia;" they enacted that "the poor inoffensive natives should be protected against personal outrage and violence, and be left undisturbed in the possession of the soil, wherever such right should be found to exist;" with many other directions, showing humane consideration for the condition of these almost helpless beings.

But, with regard to religion, they deemed it sufficient to leave it to its own resources. "The principles of civil and religious liberty," says Mr. Dutton, "are intermixed with the foundations of South Australia, and members of the different denominations enjoy in Adelaide an opportunity of worshipping God according to the dictates of their consciences." [Dutton's "South Australia," p. 183.] Thence it may be understood that no favour was to be shown by the Government to one denomination of Christians more than another. The only public provision made for the worship of Almighty God, was the appointment of a colonial Chaplain who was sent out on the first establishment of the colony. In every other respect the maintenance of the Clergy, the erection of Churches, [6/7] and the support of schools, was dependent on the liberality of individuals, and the aid of societies voluntarily maintained, and a share of local government grants, apportioned to worshippers of all sects, according to the amount of their own collections.

The first Clergyman of the Church of England who officiated in Adelaide, was the colonial Chaplain already mentioned, the Rev. C. B. Howard. And prominent among the societies by which the Church there was assisted, was the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. We find the following notice in the Report for 1887:--"It appeared that the Committee had been enabled, aided by the grant of the Society of 200l., to build and send to the colony a church in frame-work, containing sittings for 850 persons, provided with communion plate and books, to complete and send out a parsonage house, also in frame-work, and to grant the Rev. C. B. Howard 100l. towards the expenses of his outfit." [Report for 1837, p. 61.]

Mr. Howard's first work was to lay the foundation of this Church in Adelaide, which he was enabled to do in January 1838; also to erect the first wooden parsonage. He was licensed by the Bishop of Australia, to whose Diocese he belonged. There was some doubt as to the jurisdiction of Bishop Broughton, from the peculiarly independent position of the colony of South Australia; but the Bishop [7/8] prudently referred the question to the law officers of the crown, "especially," he wrote to the Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, "to prevent that dangerous anomaly of a Church without a Bishop;" who gave a decision in his favour. Thus Adelaide, from the first, was a Church under episcopal rule, and Mr. Howard, licensed by the Bishop, had the satisfaction of communicating to his Lordship the arrival of another Clergyman, a Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in 1840. [Correspondence with Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.] "My latest letter from the province of South Australia," writes Bishop Broughton, October 24th, 1840, "informs me of the safe arrival of the Rev. James Farrell at Adelaide on the 6th September. The Rev. C. B. Howard, whom I have nominated my commissary there, informing me of the arrival of this gentleman, states his own gratification at receiving some assistance in the performance of the numerous duties which he has hitherto been singly charged with. Mr. Howard says, 'Although there is no Church ready for Mr. Farrell at present, still I trust that within the period of five years, one at least will be completed. In the mean time, we purpose dividing the morning and evening services at Adelaide between us, and taking a full service in the afternoon in the neighbouring villages in rotation. During the week I hope to visit [8/9] some of the more distant locations, which, hitherto, I have been unable to do, in consequence of the presence of a Clergyman being constantly required at Adelaide, and there having been none to take my place.'"

The mutual comfort of two Clergymen working together in the colony, was unhappily but brief. Mr. Howard's career was but a short one. He had, however, the privilege, not only of building the first wooden Church sent out, as before stated, on his appointment, but of commencing as a substitute for it. a atone one, Trinity Church: also, in conjunction with Col. Gawler, the Governor, and his coadjutor Mr. Farrell, of preparing for the building a second Church in Adelaide, St. John's. But then his work was done. He died in 1843. The following tribute to his memory occurs in the journal of the Rev. W. H. Coombs, written three years subsequently:--

"November 22d, 1846. Sunday.--Preached at Trinity Church. The parsonage is, in part, the remains of a wooden house brought out from Eng. land by the late Rev. C. B. Howard. Mr. Howard, I may mention, was the first minister of our Church who came to this southern part of the vast Diocese of Australia, and well worthy was he to have the distinguished honour of unfurling the standard of the Cross in this beautiful though distant land. It has been recorded to his praise, that he laboured even with his own hands in raising up a temple to the Lord, and in this hallowed work he was nobly [9/10] assisted by several laymen whom I have had the pleasure of conversing with on the subject.

"Mr. Howard long toiled arduously in preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ--often, after morning service at Adelaide, walking, with his gown on his arm, a distance of seven miles to preach at the port in the afternoon, and returning thence to officiate at Adelaide in the evening. He has entered into his rest. He died at the early age of thirty-three, and a tablet placed over the communion where the first Church stood, fitly records the zeal and devotedness of a Minister of Christ, loved and esteemed by all who knew him." [Quarterly Paper of Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for October, 1848.]

The death of Mr. Howard, in 1843, left to the Rev. James Farrell, for nearly three years, the sole care of the Episcopal Communion in Adelaide. The Church had previously sustained a great loss in the recal of the Governor, Col. Gawler, in 1841. "The recal of the Governor," writes Mr. Farrell to the Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, "will oblige us to appoint a trustee of our Church in his place, and deeply will his loss be felt by all who value vital godliness and high principle; but He, who is above all, may overrule it for good."

Of Mr. Farrell, Mr. Coombs writes thus in his journal:--"He has been long resident in the colony, and was for more than two years the only minister [10/11] of our Church here. Mr. Farrell must have undergone much mental and bodily toil. What could one do among so many and so widely scattered? The whole burthen of the Church has rested on him for too long a season; by his labours, in connexion with Col. and Mrs. Gawler, our Church (St. John's) was in part erected, and Trinity Church substantially rebuilt. Gratitude is due to one who has borne the burden and heat of the day so long." [Quarterly Paper of Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for October, 1848.]

But a gleam of brighter hope was shortly to dawn on this rising branch of the Church. In May 1846, the Rev. W. J. Woodcock and the Rev. James Pollitt, arrived as Missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and these were shortly after joined by the Rev. W. H. Coombs, as yet only in Deacon's orders, sent out by the same Society.

Mr. Woodcock was formerly a Missionary in the West Indies. From his journal is the following interesting account taken of the meeting of himself and Mr. Pollitt with Mr. Farrell. "On my landing at Adelaide, I proceeded to Trinity Parsonage in search of the Rev. James Farrell. On hearing of our arrival he had proceeded to the port to meet us, but had passed us on the road. It was late before he reached home, The presence of two Clergymen was hailed by him and Mrs. Farrell with devout thankfulness to God. He has been literally overwhelmed with labour, and no wonder, [11/12] for since the death of the Rev. C. B. Howard he has been quite alone. It appears from the census recently taken, that the members of the Protestant Episcopal communion amount to nearly 12,000." [Quarterly Paper of Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for April, 1847.]

"Sunday, May 10th.--Preached my first' sermon in this colony from Luke xv. 10; congregation large and attentive. My dear friend Pollitt preached an excellent sermon in the evening. Three 'Clergymen officiating in the same Church on the same day, was a sight never before witnessed in South Australia. It seemed, as Mr. Farrell intimated, as the opening of a brighter period for this interesting colony;--'Endue, O Lord, thy ministers with righteousness,' and make them as polished shafts in thy hand."

The Rev. G. Newenham, a Deacon, was the fourth Clergyman who is recorded as ministering in this colony. He is mentioned as assisting on the occasion of laying the foundation stone of the third Church erected in South Australia, St. Mary's, Sturt River, October 27th, 1846. "The beautiful service," writes Mr. Woodcock, "for the occasion, was performed by the colonial Chaplain, George Newenham, and myself; all present seemed to take great interest in this religious ceremony." [Ibid. for October, 1848.]

The following is Mr. Woodcock's account of the arrival of the fifth Clergyman, whose name has [12/13] been already mentioned, the Rev. W. H. Coombs. "November 14th.--I had the high gratification of welcoming to South Australia my dear friend and brother, the Rev. W. H. Coombs. I received him not only as a brother beloved, but as one who is, I trust, destined to become a valuable fellow labourer in this portion of the Lord's vineyard.

"November 26th.--At Gawler, with Mr. Coombs, making arrangements for a room in which to hold, temporarily, divine service. We could only get the loan of a mill, which reminded me of Bishop Broughton's conducting service, in the heart of Sydney, in a brewhouse! Mr. Coombs would, I could perceive, have much preferred--to say the least--some less secular spot for the worship of God; but if a Bishop declined not to officiate in a brewhouse, a Deacon ought not to disdain a mill. I myself, a priest, have, ere now, been obliged to be satisfied with a cowhouse. A well-ordered mind, naturally, loves to have the building and the apapointments in keeping with the sacred services in which it is engaged; but, blessed be God, every place may be sanctified with the word of God, and prayer."

Mr. Coombs' own account of his landing in South Australia is thus recorded in his journal:--"On reaching the landing stairs I was met, and cordially welcomed to Australia by a young Clergyman of our Church, the Rev. George Newenham, son of Mr. Sheriff Newenham, as I afterwards learned. While conversing with Mr. Newenham, he descried [13/14] my dear friend Woodcock, driving up in a chaise. We soon met, giving thanks to Him who had thus in His Providence brought us together. We had many things to recount, numberless mercies for which to praise our heavenly Father."

CHAPTER II.

WANT OF A SUPERINTENDING PRELATE--THE LEIGH FUND--MISS BURDETT COUTTS--BISHOP APPOINTED--CONSECRATED--HIS FAREWELL LETTER--REV. J. C. BAGSHAWE--VEN. ARCHDEACON HALE--REV. T. P. WILSON--REV. A. BURNETT--VOYAGE.

WE have, thus far, traced this infant Church, from its early commencement, its wooden sanctuary, and its first Minister, dying, prematurely, in a distant land, to its more hopeful condition of five earnest, zealous Clergymen; three Churches; with other sites marked out, as they almost simultaneously were, for houses of God, and, altogether, an improved spirit of Churchmanship in the Colony, with its growing population. An important link was still wanting to bind together in one the as yet but scattered energies of these devoted servants of God. That want was the advantage of episcopal superintendence. "The duties of a Minister here," writes Mr. Woodcock, "are somewhat multifarious; they are, in short, those of a parish Priest, Chaplain, and Missionary; in fact, in some sort, in the absence of a resident Bishop, the care of all the Churches devolves upon the few Clergy." [Quarterly Paper of Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for October, 1848.]

[16] From the great distance of Sydney from Adelaide the spiritual control of Bishop Broughton was little more than nominal. In the year 1840, in a letter to the Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, he had written, "I purpose, if it be God's pleasure, to attempt to visit, and confirm there," but this he never had been able to accomplish. When, therefore, it appeared, as it did in the year 1846, that the population of the Colony had increased to 25,000, of whom it was calculated that 12,000 belonged to the Church of England, the call from the Clergy that their religious system should be carried out to its complete fulness became more and more urgent. "I trust," writes Mr. Woodcock in his journal, "the time is not far distant when the Colony will be favoured with at least a visit from an Australian Bishop. It is lamentable to think that the Churches remain unconsecrated, and the young people unconfirmed." [Quarterly Paper of Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for April, 1847.] Some efforts had, indeed, as early as 1840, been made for the endowment of a Bishopric; for which purpose W. Leigh, Esq. of Little Aston Hall, Lichfield, made over to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel two Crown acres of land, in the city of Adelaide, at that time producing 150l. per annum, which has since become of greater value. It was not enough for the maintenance of a Bishop; but it still remains in the hands of the Society, and is, indeed, a material aid [16/17] to the Diocese, in its temporal necessities, under. the pressing circumstances consequent upon the denial of all public grants (in the year 1851) by the new legislative assembly. But at length 'the time arrived when that office, which was to complete the Church in South Australia, was to be established, supported by adequate means. Some rumours, calculated to cheer the hearts of the Clergy and their flocks, arrived in the Colony towards the close of the year 1846. "A report," writes Mr. Woodcock in his journal, so often quoted, "has reached this colony that South Australia is about to be erected into a separate Bishopric, an endowment having been, most unexpectedly, provided by the munificence of a Christian lady. Should this prove true, I shall be disposed to regard it almost as a direct answer to prayer. Judging from recent events in this Colony there was but little hope of any adequate support being obtained from the Colonial Legislature. Whether the Governor will be authorized by the home Government to make any provision, by reservation of lands, or otherwise, specifically for the South Australian branch of the establishment, is yet doubtful. The Colonial Bishopric fund is not, I believe, at present, in' a state, materially, to aid in the endowment of additional sees. Under these circumstances, our only immediate hope was in the Lord's disposing the hearts of those to whom he has entrusted the silver and the gold, willingly to offer, after a princely sort. And this hope is, it appears, about to be realized. Praised be God.

[18] "The appointment of a resident Bishop at this comparatively early period of our history is, to my mind, a most auspicious event, fraught with incalculable blessings to the Church in particular, and to the province in general.

"In other colonies, including that of New South Wales, such an event was as life from the dead, to the Church. So, under the divine blessing, will it be here. No doubt there are many whose hostility to us is strong; and, of this we have not, of late, been wanting of proof. It is, however, my firm conviction that the Church of England is the Church of the deliberate choice, at least of a large majority, of the colonists. Of this number very many venerate and love her for the purity of her teaching, the antiquity and scripturalness of her formularies, and the primitive character of her discipline. From the appointment of a resident overseer, will, assuredly, follow an increase of Clergy, Churches, and schools; and, the Lord vouchsafing his blessing upon the multiplication of agencies and means, numbers, it may be hoped, will be reclaimed from the paths of the destroyer, while the whole body of true believers will be edified and made meet ' for an habitation of God through the Spirit.'

"To the benefits immediately accruing to the Church herself, by means of a resident Bishop, must be added her reflex influence upon the Colony at large. The inculcation of the principles of loyalty, and submission to the powers that be, forms an important part of her scriptural teaching."

[19] The report alluded to, with such Christian exhilaration, and such sound views, was true. The Christian lady, whose munificence drew forth these observations, was Miss Burdett Coutts. By God's good providence, wealth, in her case, was given to one disposed to honour the Lord with the first-fruits of her increase. Minded to dedicate a portion of it to the service of God, she first resolved to build a church, schools, and to provide a competent maintenance for a Clergyman in the very poorest part of the city of Westminster, so long represented by her father, the late Sir Francis Burdett; and subsequently, to found two colonial Bishoprics, of which Adelaide, so called from the capital city of South Australia, was one; and with what benefit to the Church of this Colony, in regard to one, at least, of its anticipated advantages, was evident when the first Bishop landed on the coast, on the 28th day of December, 1847. Only a year and a half previously we have noticed Mr. Woodcock's joy at the, then, unwonted sight of three Clergymen ministering in the same Church in Adelaide. We have seen this number increased to five, whose names have been already mentioned. The Bishop, on his landing, was surrounded by nine. Of the four additional Clergymen, one, the Rev. J. C. Bagshawe, had preceded him; and three, the Rev. M. B. Hale, whom he constituted his Archdeacon, the Rev. T. P. Wilson, and the Rev. A. Burnett, were his fellow-voyagers. Thus, the appointment of a Bishop had the immediate effect of, at once, doubling the number [19/20] of spiritual teachers in that part of the globe. "On the 30th," two days after his arrival, writes the Bishop, "I had the happiness of administering to the nine Clergy of the Diocese the Holy Communion; and then, to about fifty of the laity, including the Governor (Col. Robe). To those who had seen 'the day of small things,' when one single Clergyman, of our Church, struggled against the flood of evil, which breaks out in the first planting of a Colony, it was a sight of deep interest to witness a Bishop communicating with nine Clergymen at the altar table. The number of lay communicants, also, was unexpectedly great, and many more would have attended, could notice have been more diffused." [Report of Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 1848, p. 182.] "The progress of the colony," he observes in the same letter, "is perfectly wonderful; to find so large and refined a society in a spot where, eleven years ago, a few naked savages hutted themselves under the open forest, is a startling proof of the energy of our countrymen, and of the success which has been given to their labours."

The Bishop who thus writes was the Right Rev. Augustus Short, D. D. He was educated at the Collegiate School of St. Peter's, Westminster; and, afterwards, became a student of Christ Church, Oxford; he was, subsequently, vicar of Ravensthorpe, Northamptonshire; was nominated first Bishop of Adelaide in the early part of the year 1847; he was consecrated to that office, together [20/21] with three other newly appointed Bishops, those of Capetown, Melbourne, and Newcastle, in Westminster Abbey, on the 29th day of June, being the festival of St. Peter, and he sailed from England for his distant diocese on the 1st day of September following, where he arrived, as has been already stated, on the 28th day of December in the same year.

The frame of mind in which he quitted the shores of his native country may be learnt from the following extracts of a letter which he addressed, on the day of his departure, to the Rev. Ernest Hawkins, the Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts;--that Society to which the Diocese of Adelaide is deeply indebted, having, more or less, assisted almost every Clergyman who has ministered there, and sent thither, directly, its earliest Missionaries.

"I would notice the deep sympathy which has been shown towards myself and the other Bishops who were consecrated with me on the 29th of June chief pastors in the Colonial Church. It is impossible to overstate the kindly feelings of interest acid affection manifested towards us on that and subsequent occasions, not merely, I believe, for our own sakes, but much more for the work to which we are sent " [Colonial Church Chronicle, vol. i. p. 188.]

"The unity which has been shown to exist among us is another great cause for thankfulness. All, I may say, have been drawn together, zealously, to cooperate with us in carrying out the objects of our several Missions. Wherever we have been [21/22] privileged to meet our brethren, whether of the Clergy or laity, and that either at the Lord's table or elsewhere, it was evident that no party views made a schism in the body, but that all were cordially united in maintaining Apostolical Episcopacy, and rejoiced in its extension to the Colonial Churches. May God increase and confirm ever more and more this spirit of union!"

"We ought to be very thankful for the earnest Missionary spirit which has been called forth by our consecration. Amid numerous offers of Clergymen and Catechists to go forth with us to the work, we have been enabled to accept the services of those who appear to be animated with singleness of purpose and devotedness to the cause of God. And this raises cheering hopes that by His grace and blessing we shall 'not run in vain, or labour in vain.' Surely this is a ground for thankfulness to the Church at large.

"Lastly, the spirit of prayer which has been fostered by our Mission, and the continued intercessions which have been, are still, and will continue to be offered up for us, evince, in the great body of our Church, a true sense of man's insufficiency, as well as of the power of divine grace. May we not hope, therefore, for an abundant outpouring of the Spirit in answer to such effectual fervent prayer on the Church both at home and abroad?"

The Bishop was accompanied in his voyage by his wife and five children, and by three Clergymen, whose names have been already mentioned, the [22/23] Ven. M. Hale, his Archdeacon; the Rev. T. P. Wilson, whom he proposed to set over a collegiate institution which he contemplated building, with the aid of a grant from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, at Adelaide; and the Rev. A. Burnett. The names of the Archdeacon and of Mr. Wilson will occur again in connexion with their offices. Of Mr. Burnett he thus wrote on the 2d of February, 1848:--

"Mr. Burnett went, on Saturday last, to open his Mission at Willunga. He is a zealous and devoted young man, and I pray God his labours may be abundantly blessed."

The following extract from a letter dated at sea, Sept. 12, 1847, will show the way in which a Missionary Bishop can redeem the time which is, necessarily, spent in traversing the ocean, to his distant charge:--

"Sunday, perhaps, more than any other day, recals one's thoughts to England and English habits, when removed to a distance from its shores. I confess I hardly expected, amidst the novelty and discomfort of a voyage, to enjoy the services of the Lord's day as they are enjoyed at home. You will be surprised, perhaps, to hear that my expectations have been pleasingly disappointed. After two boisterous days in the Channel, it fell calm on Sunday, the 6th; and our captain (M'Pherson) most readily made arrangements for holding Morning and Evening Service in the cabin. All the cabin passengers, including ladies, servants, and children (save only my Little Isabella,) were well enough to attend. [23/24] Many, too, from the steerage availed themselves of the privilege, both morning, and evening, at half-past seven; and, at the close of the day, we had reason to thank God for. having permitted us to assemble ourselves together for divine worship with the same facility as though we had been at home.

"I preached in the morning from Psalm cxxxix. 6, 'Whither shall I go, then, from Thy Spirit?' In the evening I lectured from Romans vi. 1, 'Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?' It was pleasing to observe among the sailors a manifest difference in dress; and the quiet order of the ship convinced me that, when the captain is willing, a way will always be found for the worship of God upon the great deep as upon the dry land. Indeed, there is something in the very loneliness and stillness of the ocean very favourable to devotional feelings. The captain tells me the men generally read their Bibles in their berths; but he himself sets them a good example by attending the services, and reading the Liturgy, himself, when no clergyman is on board. The children are very fond of him, and enjoy, excessively, the new and exciting objects in the ship by which they are surrounded. In all this we have great cause for thankfulness; and He, whose manifold mercies I had occasion to acknowledge before my departure from Portsmouth, seems still to favour us with exceeding favour. On Tuesday last we were able to commence the daily service at half-past ten, which we have continued every day since. In the evening, at nine, we have family prayers.

"To-day, Sept. 12, Sunday, the weather has [24/25] again proved calm. The cabin was well filled with the male part of the steerage passengers. Having, during the week, practised on the seraphine, (which Archdeacon Hale brought on board with him,) we chanted the 'Venite,' and ' Jubilate,' as well as sung Psalms from the New Version, Mrs. Short acting as organist. The service closed with a lecture on the parable of the sower from the Archdeacon. On the whole, I never was present in a more attentive congregation, or worshipped with more satisfaction than I was able to do this morning; and I sit down, with thankfulness, to record God's mercy to us, and that you, and our friends in England, may partake with us of the happiness which we feel in this auspicious commencement of our voyage. We are now in the latitude of Cape St. Vincent, between Lisbon and Cadiz. The weather is genial without being sultry. All are on deck employed in reading, while we slowly make our way through the gently undulating ocean." [Quarterly Paper of Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for July, 1848.]

The incidents of the voyage were not remarkable: the chief was the springing of the fore-mast by a sudden lurch of the ship about a yard below the top, just as they were anticipating crossing the line, Oct. 14th. The Bishop, in a private letter, thus comments on this event:

"Observe how many providential circumstances have taken place in this matter. For several days, before, we have had severe squalls, but yesterday morning there was but little sea and a gentle breeze. [25/26] Had it occurred when the men were aloft reefing, it might have killed or drowned half the crew, as top-mast, top-gallant-mast and royals with the sails must have gone over the aide. Then, if it had taken place at night, the alarm and confusion would have been extreme." "It was a cool and cloudy day for the crew to work in." "In the last week, so far from tropical weather, we have had, exactly, pleasant summer weather in England, a dull sky, gentle breezes, the thermometer about 78° or 80°. In short, nothing can be more agreeable than is this very day."

In the same letter he writes:--"Mr. Hale and Mr. Wilson are everything I could wish, and I think myself most happy in having such coadjutors, one as Archdeacon, and the other as Tutor. I don't think I could have done better. How thankful ought I to be that they were thrown in my way in rather a singular manner!"

A letter dated December 29th, announces the near termination of the voyage:--"We are becalmed at the entrance of Spencer's Gulf, Kangaroo Island astern, Cape Jervis on our starboard quarter." "Yesterday, and Saturday (Christmas Day) we had our regular services, fifteen communicants, and a good attendance in the evening. I have preached seventeen times on board, and we have had morning service every day. Not a single gale or storm has prevented us, and I should think the same had, scarcely, ever happened before in a four months' voyage. Much reason have we to be thankful for this and other blessings and comforts."

FIRST IMPRESSIONS--CHURCH BUILDING PREVIOUS TO THE BISHOP'S ARRIVAL--INCREASED BY HIS PRESENCE--FIRST CHURCH CONSECRATED--CONSECRATION OF CHRIST CHURCH, NORTH ADELAIDE--FIRST CONFRMATION--FIRST ORDINATION--A CATHEDRAL CHAPTER--RESISTANCE TO ROMANISM--CHARACTER OF THE CLERGY--INADEQUATE MEANS FOR THEIR SUPPORT--WITHDRAWAL OF GOVERNMENT ORDINANCES IN AID OF RELIGION.

THE first impressions of the Bishop in regard to his new home, were those of gratified surprise. "Nothing could exceed," he writes, "the friendliness of my reception by his Excellency the Governor, Col. Robe, who pressed me to take up my abode, with all my family and servants, at his house. In the evening there was a large assembly in honour of the day, (the anniversary of the Colony,) which afforded me the opportunity of being introduced to many of the principal persons of the Colony, and seeing a large portion of the society of Adelaide. It was like a dream. The tone and appearance of the party assembled, the music, lights, uniforms, and dresses, were so thoroughly that of an English country town on occasion of some local festival, that I could hardly realize the fact that I was at the antipodes of England." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, p. 181.]

The following are extracts from private letters, all, more or less, coinciding with the accounts of the [27/28] first settlers:--"You will wish to know about the country. The approach to Adelaide is not prepossessing at this time of the year, (December, their summer.) The face of the ground is like a brickfield; the sun and the locusts have destroyed the grass. The view of the Mount Lofty range, about five miles off, is magnificent from North Adelaide. The park lands up the Torrens are beautiful; magnificent olives and gum-frees, some stems four or five feet in diameter, with foliage in colour something between the ash and the willow, but pendent like the latter. The climate is very delightful, or disagreeable, according as the north or south wind blows. The former brings a blast as from a furnace red hot. Rooms then become 95° and more at night. Then comes the sea-breeze, raising a tornado of dust, which hides the town and every, thing else from view, filling every crevice. This subsides, the thermometer sinks to 72°, and the air is fresh as by the sea-side; 45 degrees variation is not uncommon."

On the 7th February, after about six weeks' residence, "I can hardly imagine myself out of England,--everything is so English. Even the country wears a less foreign air than France." "We have enjoyed a very cool February hitherto, the wind from the bills or the sea having tempered the heat of the sun, which is great as that of Naples, or the south of France. The garden productions are the same; luscious grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, peaches, and the finest nectarines and melons. [28/29] In short, it is a highly favoured country." And, still later, in a letter dated April:--"Since the beginning of March the weather has been perfect--a mild, soft, dry, warm, clear, blue sky, with fresh evenings and mornings. For four months, with scarcely an exception, a brilliant sunshine has greeted our eyes on awaking. Steadiness is the great feature of the climate,--three months very hot; three temperate; three very wet, and three deliciously mild. In a few years' time, with abundance of labour, this plain of Adelaide, about thirty-five miles long by ten broad, will be filled with beautiful farms, and corn-fields, and vineyards, spreading up the sides of the hills, mixed with olive-yards and pomegranates. The great want, we labour under, is running water."

The Colony thus described consists, as is now generally known, in a great measure, of agriculturists, and also, in consequence of the discovery of the copper-mines, of miners. Of probable worldly success in both these pursuits, the Bishop expressed himself encouragingly:--"If five thousand labourers, wives and children, landed to-morrow, I believe they would be employed at good wages in a week's time. The land wants no clearing--or very little. Dig it, and plough it, and the return is immediate. Neither is the value of the mines exaggerated. The ore is magnificent."

The Bishop's early anxiety was to increase the number of his Clergy; to promote the building of churches, with suitable abodes for resident ministers; [29/30] and to obtain for them a moderate but adequate means for subsistence. Some progress in church building, which had been made previous to his arrival, has been mentioned; and a new spirit seems to have been infused into the minds of Churchmen by the prospect of his appointment. "We are proposing," writes Mr. Woodcock, in 1846, "to erect a church at Gawler. At Mac Gill, too, and Walkerville, small churches are about to be commenced. The new churches at St. Mary's and Mount Barker are rapidly rising. Measures are in progress for the erection of churches at North Adelaide, Penwortham, Morpeth Vale, and Willungs." "The members of our Church seem suddenly to have awakened to the consciousness of their need of the ordinances of religion; and, as far at least as buildings are concerned, they are disposed to make some efforts to secure them. By contributing as you now are (the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel,) to establish our Church here upon a broad and solid basis, and thereby preserving this important Colony from ignorance, superstition, irreligion, infidelity, and multiform dissent, you will materially aid in promoting the other great object of your Society--the conversion of the heathen. When once the Church is planted in her integrity, and well rooted, it is but reasonable to expect that the effects of her faithfulness will extend themselves to the moral desert of heathenism." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. for 1847, p. 110.]

[31] Mr. Pollitt, at the same time, gave the following account of Mount Barker, of which District he assumed the charge:--"I am sure you will be glad to learn that both the Parsonage and Church are contracted for." "Considering that the inhabfanta of this District had received no intelligence whatever of my intended location among them until they saw my face, I trust, what has already been done proves, in some degree, that my labours are not unappreciated among them." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 1847, p. 109.]

The arrival and presence of the Bishop, and the assistance he was able to afford by the liberality of his Christian friends in England, did much to stimulate the spirit of Church building. Of Trinity Church, Adelaide, (begun, it may be remembered, by Mr. Howard and finished by Mr. Farrell) in which he was installed, and which he constituted his pro tempore Cathedral, he says, "It is better than I expected, but too low; it is cruciform." Generally, the readiness of the people to forward his views in the erection of houses of God, was received by him with pleasure. "On the 17th January, 1848," he writes, "yesterday, attended a meeting at North Adelaide about Church. They have raised 1,100l. to which my 100l. is to be added. Some of the Burra Burra Mine directors have guaranteed Bagahawe (this was the Clergyman who immediately preceded the Bishop to South Australia,) 150l. per annum for two years, and are [31/32] prepared to build a Church and School. Ditto, ditto, at Clare and Penwortham. It is quite surprising what a month only has brought to pass. Pray for us, for we have need to be kept from self-glory, as well as to be strengthened to do our work. The Church at Walkerville, one mile from Adelaide, will soon be ready. It is a pretty English village."

The first Church which the Bishop consecrated was at Woodford, near Mac Gill, on Sunday, January 80th, 1848; and in the churchyard of that same Church, just seven weeks after their landing, was interred the body of his infant child. "The intense heat at the period of our landing," writes the Bishop, "the thermometer in our bed-rooms at Government house at night being 95", seems to have overpowered her, and she gradually grew worse and worse till it pleased God to take her from us, I humbly trust, to Himself. This is indeed the only consolation I and my dear wife have. She has fallen a martyr to the cause in which we are embarked;--nothing could be stronger or healthier when she landed;--in seven short weeks she is in her grave."

From the Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel it appears that, before the end of the year, the Bishop had consecrated no less than ten Churches, of which seven were commenced subsequently to his reaching the Colony, and that six more were rapidly progressing towards [32/33] completion. [Report for 1849, pp. 177, 179.] Of one of those consecrated, he writes thus: "August 24th.--Yesterday was fixed for the consecration of Walkerville, St. Andrews. In spite of a very stormy day, a very respectable congregation from the village attended. The collection nearly extinguishes the remaining small debt." "Probably the first baptism administered in it will be that of an adult, the son of Baptist parents, who gave me satisfactory evidence of earnestness and knowledge."

It was on Thursday, December 20th, 1849, however, that the Bishop had the satisfaction of opening for Divine service, and consecrating, Christ Church, North Adelaide, as yet the most striking sanctuary in the Colony. In reading the account, we seem almost to be in our own land. "The illness and death of the contractor had delayed the work, but this also gave time for adorning the apex of this Anglo-Norman structure, with its stained glass windows, and emblazoning the table of the Commandments, in a manner which would not discredit any Church in England. The pulpit, desk, table, communion rail, chairs, &c. are of polished cedar, finished in the correct Norman style; the sittings also, of the same material and character, are in advance of similar fittings in the Churches at home; the dark rich colour of the cedar giving greater tone to the effect." "Above 700 persons were enabled to be present." "Besides myself there were twelve Clergy in their surplices on either side of the table and chancel." "My text was taken from Rev. [33/34] xxi. 22, and I endeavoured to show that the Church and its ordinances were necessary under our present dispensation, though not needed in the New Jerusalem." "His Excellency, the Governor (Sir Henry Fox Young, who had succeeded Col. Robe) and Lady Young were present. It is a gratifying fact, that on the day of consecration no debt remained on the Church." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1850, p. 108.]

"I have much pleasure in mentioning these details, as they show the ready mind of our people. I hope it will be found not less ready when we begin the Cathedral Church in South Adelaide, which is certainly needed."

Within a month of his arrival in the Colony the Bishop wrote:--"I have taken steps to secure, by a proper deed, the site for the Cathedral, originally laid out in Victoria Square;" and towards the close of 1849, occurs the following paragraph, in a private letter:--"The public are beginning to talk about a Cathedral in earnest. One donation of 100l. has come in. It is proposed to raise 10,000l by a five years' subscription. This proposition, put forward in the public papers by some unknown friend, looks well for the popular spirit." No authentic account has arrived, however, of any further progress in this direction.

It is interesting to watch the early exercises of the episcopal office in an infant Church. Mr. Woodcock [34/35] had lamented over churches unconsecrated and young people unconfirmed. Let us now refer to the Bishop's account of his first confirmation.

"March 9th, 1848.-On Wednesday last, I held my first confirmation in Trinity Church; sixtyeight candidates presented themselves, mostly of a mature age, among them, a soldier of the 11th foot, quartered there. It was a most satisfactory celebration of that apostolic rite, and I trust, will tend, materially, to confirm those who partook in the service in their religious impressions, and also prepare the way for a large accession of young people to full Church membership." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1848, page 135.]

Of a confirmation held a year and a half subsequently, this is the account, realizing in a great degree, the preceding anticipations: "On Michaelmas day I held a confirmation for Adelaide and the adjoining villages, in Trinity Church. The weather was unpropitious, but the number of candidates amounted to seventy-nine. I was glad to observe that increased interest in this solemn rite appeared to be manifested, and that it is better understood, as an act, on the young Christian's part, of solemn self-dedication to Christ's service." [Ibid. 1850, page 107.]

Of the Clergy, whom the Bishop found in South Australia, he wrote, in the following terms, within a few weeks of his landing:--"So far as I can judge they are serious, able, and devoted men." "I have written for four more. They should be fit [35/36] for missionary work among miners and bullock drovers, able to preach well extempore to such sort of people, undaunted also in spirit, and steady Churchmen." "Mr. Pollitt and Mr. Woodcock are just the men for the work." And, a year later, "'in labours more abundant,' must be our motto; and indeed, I must bear the Clergy witness, one and all, that they shrink from no exertion in carrying on their pastoral duties."

The Bishop held his first ordination on the 29th of June 1848, being the anniversary of his own consecration; when Mr. John Fulford and Mr. E. K. Miller were ordained Deacons, and the Rev. W. H. Coombs was admitted to the order of Priest. Mr. Fulford had been one of the Bishop's fellow-voyagers. Of him he wrote as follows, shortly after his landing:--"Yesterday, Mr. Fulford, who never was fitted for the bush and stock-keeping, professed his wish to take service in the Church. I saw enough of him on the voyage to be exceedingly pleased with him, and think he will make an excellent Clergyman. Having long been a Sunday-school teacher, and ragged-school man in London, he knows something of his business. I shall appoint him catechist for Macclesfield, and ordain him Deacon six months hence." Mr. Miller's name will hereafter appear in connexion with the Pulteney Street school. And Mr. Coombs' zeal and intelligence, as an early Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, may be learnt from his interesting journal, which has already been quoted.

[37] The Bishop's second ordination was held on the festival of St. Matthew, in the year following. On this occasion Mr. R. S. P. Allom, and Mr. C. Harper, who came from Western Australia, were ordained Deacons, and on the following Sunday, the Rev. G. Newenham (whose name has before been mentioned, and who came to the colony a Deacon, ordained by the Bishop of Tasmania,) and Mr. Harper were advanced to the Priesthood. "I may add," writes the Bishop, "that in the examination for the latter office, I was assisted by the Archdeacon, Dean Farrell, and Messrs. Woodcock and Wilson, who were to join in the imposition of hands, being anxious that the standard of qualification should not fall (though in a new Diocese and distant Colony), and thinking that some degree of publicity would, most effectually, guard against such a danger. Where the Clergy, present at the examination, are themselves well informed, it is not likely that candidates will be indifferent to the acquisition of knowledge. Messrs. Wood and Platte, who have since arrived, have been preparing for examination, and will, I trust, be found sufficiently qualified to receive ordination next week, on the Feast of St. John, the 27th of December, and the day preceding the anniversary of my arrival in the Colony in 1847. The number of ordained pastors of our Church will then be fifteen, besides three useful catechists. At [37/38] the date of my appointment, the Clergy of this province were five. Such an accession to our duly-appointed ministry, and that ' of men apt to teach, and zealous for the good of souls,' is great cause for thankfulness to the Lord, who bath sent for the labourers into His vineyard." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1850, page 106.]

Of these fifteen clergymen, it may be observed that the names of thirteen appear in the list of the Missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in the Report for 1851, as wholly or in part supported by that Society.

The mention of Mr. Farrell, as Dean Farrell, in the preceding account, brings us to the consideration of another step taken by the Bishop for the more regulated foundation of the Church. In a letter dated April 12, 1849, occurs the following statement:--"In order to secure the continuance of the daily prayers at half-past eight A.M. I found it necessary to attach some of the Clergy in the town by an honorary tie to the cathedral. It was expedient, also, for consultation, and for the exercise of spiritual jurisdiction, that there should be a small body of experienced Clergy with whom the Bishop could advise. In accordance, therefore, with the letters patent, I have created the Rev. James Farrell" (the oldest clergyman in the Colony, be it observed,) "dean of the cathedral, and the Ven. Archdeacon Hale, Rev. W. J. Woodcock, and Rev. T. P. Wilson, canons, by whom the weekly lectures and daily services will be carried on."

The value of the services of this little council of [38/39] Clergy the Bishop experienced in July 1849. The following account, extracted from a private letter, may be found in the Colonial Church Chronicle for December 1849:--"The Romish Bishop put forth, about ten days ago, a pastoral letter asking for alms for the deliverance of the Pope, in which he styled himself 'Catholic Bishop of Adelaide.' Against this Bishop Short issued a protest ' against any act and every act of episcopal authority, done, or to be done, by any person whatever, by virtue of any right or title derived from the assumed claim of the Bishop of Rome to ecclesiastical sovereignty." This protest was signed by himself, by the Dean, by the Archdeacon, and by the two Canons, and is an interesting document, especially since subsequent events in this country have shown the encroaching spirit of the Church of Rome, which the Bishop of Adelaide and his Clergy were prompt to resist on its first appearance in their Colony.

The Bishop's account of the support which he met with from the people towards Church Building, and, as will hereafter appear, towards the erection of schools, is cheering, but he was less assisted in the yearly maintenance of the Clergy. "Beyond a cottage and curacy we cannot hope to give." "The pay of the Clergy will be scanty, unless we can get an endowment fund." "Our difficulty lies in the comparative poverty of the gentry, and the want of habit of giving or paying for the support of religion on the part of the labouring classes, who are really wealthy; wages vary from four to seven shillings a [39/40] day; good meat at 2 1/2 d. to 3d. per lb., beautiful bread or flour at 13s. per sack." "It must be remembered at home that the gentry here are really poor; they are most anxious for religious ordinances." "And, then, the church, the school, and the parsonage are to be built first. The clergyman can hope for little while these works are going on." "The people are faithless as to paying the Clergy; without help from England they would be starved out or miserably supported, and yet they are all good zealous men."

Some assistance had been obtained, at, and previous to the Bishop's arrival, from public grants in the Colony. "I have sent," he writes on the 19th of January, 1848, "two colonial ordinances, one for education, the other in aid of religion. They come into force on the 1st of April, and last for three years. The Government will grant 50l. per annum to any Minister (of any denomination, be it observed,) who obtains a congregation of fifty seat-renters at 1l. per sitting, and 25l. additional for a second congregation of the like number; so that a Clergyman serving two chapels, with 100l. secured from sittings, would obtain 75l. additional from the Government." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1848, p. 133.]

But, in a private letter, he writes:--"We must trust to Providence, grace, and good education to guide public opinion as to legislation about education and religion. The fear is, when the legislative council becomes elective, that the radical party will carry [40/41] the elections and repeal the ordinance which gives stipends to all ministers in proportion to their pew-rents."

This last fear has been realized. In a letter, dated July 11, 1851, it is recorded:--"The elections, under the new constitution, are so far over as to have settled the State grant; that is gone; all religious parties are now left to the voluntary principle." "I hope you will make the S. P. G. Committee understand clearly that this is the only Colonial Diocese in Australia, or elsewhere, without Government aid in any shape. We must need, therefore, sympathy and support." "I do think that the trials of a Colonial life and Church have a very realizing effect upon one's faith."

The last account received on this subject is in a letter dated Sept. 14, 1851:--"The Church grant is settled and lost, without even the opportunity of proper discussion, for they would not let it go into committee."

A minute addressed on this subject to the lay members of the South Australian Church Society, by the Lord Bishop of Adelaide, and their Report in consequence, will be found in the Appendix; but it is too early, yet, to judge of the probable result of the efforts which are making by Churchmen to provide for the maintenance of their Clergy in such an exigence.

EDUCATION--THE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL--REV. T. P. WILSON--PULTENEY STREET SCHOOL--REV. E. K. MILLER--CAPTAIN ALLEN, MR. ELLIS--THE FIRST STONE OF THE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL LAID ON THE QUEEN'S BIRTH-DAY--REV. R. S. P. ALLOM--THE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE--PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS.

THE state of education in the Colony, and the best way of promoting it, and establishing it on a sound religious foundation, was, very early, a subject of great consideration with the Bishop. On his nomination to the Episcopate, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge liberally voted him 2,000l. towards a collegiate institution. On his arrival he found at Adelaide a collegiate grammar school which had been established by a proprietary body in the spring of the year preceding. He succeeded in appointing, as head master of this school, the Rev. T. P. Wilson, who was one of his fellow-voyagers. "It is a question," he writes, "whether this shall be united with the proposed college contemplated by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in their vote of 2,000l. In the mean time the Bishop is to be visitor of the school. In South Adelaide a large schoolroom is building for the labouring classes." "It will soon be ready," he writes in a private letter dated February 18, 1848, "and this [42/43] I hope to commit to the care of Mr. Miller and his wife, who will shortly arrive from England. He is a schoolmaster, and highly recommended by the Bishop of Peterborough, having ably conducted a school near Rotherham, supported by Lord Fitzwilliam. Thus the means of education will be fully provided for all classes near Adelaide." Of this school the Bishop had the satisfaction of writing, a year subsequently:--"The Pulteney Street school continues to flourish under Mr. Miller; the addition of a class-room has made the building still more complete. Since the school was opened in May last 400 children have been admitted." [Report of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, for 1850, p. 41.] And again, still later:--"On Wednesday last, the half-yearly examination of the Pulteney Street school, under the Rev. E. K. Miller and Mr. Pepper, was conducted by the Archdeacon, Messrs. Wilson and idiom, in my presence. This may be considered a first-rate national training school, on the model of which others may be formed, and over which, hereafter, I trust Mr. Miller will exercise the office of inspector." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1850, p. 109.]

But the collegiate institution was with the Bishop a still more important object, a site for which he secured by prompt and ready decision, shortly after his arrival. On the 27th of January, 1848, he writes:--"I have, to-day, settled with Mr. Giles, the Manager for the South Australian Company, to [43/44] purchase about thirty acres of land most capitally adapted for a college and an episcopal residence. It was essential to secure the site and property, as it would shortly have been cut up in building lots, and nothing could have repaid the loss." "I found the college grammar-school established, but hope to incorporate it with the college. The proprietors seem very willing; if so, we shall have a good establishment together."

The following year, describing the estate which he had purchased, the Bishop writes:--"It is beautifully, situated to the north-east of Adelaide, on a rising ground, a little removed from the river, and commanding a view of the entire mountain range. The site of the collegiate school will be the lower part of the estate; on the slope above will be the chapel, and a college, it is hoped, will in due time crown the eminence." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1849, p. 181.]

Towards the school buildings a liberal donation was immediately given by Captain Allen of 700l., and by Mr. Ellis of 3001. Subsequently the Bishop writes, "Capt. Allen has added 2,000l. to his former donation of 700l.," and, animated by this liberality, he adds--"I have good reason for believing that this is but the first fruits of a noble ingathering." "There are forty-one pupils now on the books of the collegiate school" "The new schoolroom on the collegiate estate will be finished in January next (1850), [44/45] when the boys will be transferred thither from Trinity schoolroom, and will be removed from the contamination of the town." [Ibid. 1860, p. 109.] And, after the building, so far at least as the schoolroom was finished, and the latter opened:--"I can report the institution to be in a most efficacious state, and such an one as makes me desirous of sending my little boy to it, as capable of affording a really sound English commercial education." [Report of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, for 1851, p. 47.] That this wish was realised, appears from a private letter, dated August 4, 1851: "Henry is at the boarding-house of the collegiate school; he is very happy with the thirty boarders."

The first stone of the collegiate school was laid by the Bishop on the 24th day of May, 1849, the Queen's birth-day, in the presence of the Governor, Sir H. F. Young, Lady Young, the Dean, the Clergy, Captain Allen, and the principal residents in Adelaide. "Nothing," writes the Bishop, "could have passed off better than the ceremony. It has excited the liveliest interest, and has given the Church of England the entire lead in the education of the Colony. You will observe that the name of St. Peter's has been adopted in kind compliment to myself, having been educated at St. Peter's College, Westminster, and consecrated in the abbey of St. Peter, on St. Peter's Day." [Ibid. 1850, p. 41.]

The South Australian, newspaper, May 25th, 1849, [45/46] giving an account of this ceremony, says:--"Every one was much pleased with the ceremony and the addresses of the Governor and the Bishop. The latter exhibited a plan and sketch of the intended building, by Mr. Stuckey, the architect. The principal front is to be 147 feet long with two wings of about 100 feet each. The dining-hall and schoolroom will be, each, 40 feet by 21, and 16 feet in height. The library opening into the latter is to be 30 feet by 20. The building will include a master's residence and all the requisite offices. It is to be built in the Tudor style, but the tracery of the oriel and other large windows will await further contributions for completion. The whole will be surmounted by a central tower sixty feet in height."

"Our building fund," writes the Bishop,* amounts to 4,500l. On opening the ground we have fortunately come upon so compact a stratum of limestone as to save, it is calculated, 4001. in excavations and concrete." "His Excellency has given 111 acres of land as an endowment for prizes." "We have been provided with a second master of the highest qualifications in so unexpected a manner that it seems quite providential Mr. Allow, educated at Eton, and entered at St. John's College, Oxford, afterwards carrying on an excellent school at Henleyon-Thames, came out by the ' Britannia,' emigrant ship, on board which he conciliated the respect and attachment of all parties, having acted as catechist [46/47] during a voyage of five months. His testimonials were so excellent that he was unanimously chosen to fill the situation, which had been declared vacant just before his arrival, and already the school has felt the benefit of his assistance." "He will, I trust, be ordained a deacon in September." [Report of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, for 1860, p. 41.]

An engraving of the collegiate school of St. Peter's forms the frontispiece for this volume. "It is finished," writes the Bishop, August 4, 1851, "so far as the walls; but the roof and plenishing are yet to come; we want 2,000l. to get into it."

In the meantime the Bishop has been enabled to make the following communication to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge:--" The Collegiate School will now stand on the site I last year designed for the Bishop's residence; but the munificence of Captain Allen, prospective, as well as past, has induced me to give. up the whole of the estate, purchased by the vote of the Society, for educational purposes; a college, as well as a collegiate school, the principles of the former being identical with those of the latter; the theological teaching and moral philosophy being professedly reserved to the members of our Church." [Report of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, for 1850, p. 42.] In reference to this, as yet only projected plan, the Sydney Guardian, March 1st, 1849, had this paragraph:--

"Independently of extending his aid to the collegiate school, Captain Allen has expressed his determination [47/48] to build and endow a theological college in connexion with the Church of England."

But it must not be imagined that the Bishop, while rejoicing in these great works, overlooked the necessity for general education. On the contrary; thus he writes about daily schools for all classes: "The school at Walkerville, at an expense of 2004 is in progress. Trinity Schoolroom, after the removal of the collegiate boys, is to be opened as a day-school for boys and girls. That of St. James, Mount Barker, is opened as a day-school. One is building at Gawler. At Kooringa, Mr. and Mrs. Guinlan have 120 children; another is to be opened in the adjoining township of Redruth, under Mr. Pollitt's eye. Mr. Bagshawe has opened one at Penwortham; but the system is yet incomplete. We want buildings, but can find plenty of teachers." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1850, p. 110.]

"It will be my object to connect a schoolroom with every Church, and to open it for day and Sunday-schools. On the 28d of November I presided at a meeting in Trinity Schoolroom, of Sunday-school teachers, in order to form "a Church of England Sunday-school Union." "The Clergy attended, and many other friends." "There will be a central depth of books, and an uniform system of management adopted. A confirmation class, in each school, under the immediate inspection of the officiating minister, will, I trust, be one among many beneficial results."

[49] And in 1850 there is still a continuance of good reports on the subject of general education. "In educational matters I am happy to report progress. At Gawler and Hindmarsh, day-schools in connexion with the Church have been opened with great success." "Though we do not compel the children to learn the Catechism, yet only in one single instance, in North Adelaide, has exemption been claimed. This, I believe, will be found truly to exemplify the feeling universally prevailing on this important subject." "I am happy to say that we have not only many competent masters, but under the care of the Rev. E. K. Miller, as many can be efficiently trained as there will be openings for." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1861, p. 81.]

WESTERN AUSTRALIA--EARLY HISTORY OF THE COLONY--REV. J. B. WITTENOOM--REV. G. KING--REV. J. WOLLASTON--THE BISHOP'S VOYAGE--KING GEORGE'S SOUND--FREMANTLE--THE SWAN RIVER--PERTH--NATIVE SCHOOLS-THE BISHOP MARRIES FOUR NATIVE COUPLES--RECEPTION AT PERTH--ARCHDEACONRY OF ALBANY.

WHILE the Bishop's first and immediate attention was directed to Adelaide and the country around it, he, not long after his arrival in his diocese, prepared for a distant and very important voyage. On his appointment to South Australia, Western Australia was also placed under his care, temporarily it was hoped, though nothing has as yet been done to relieve him of the responsibility.

This Colony, it may be remembered, was established in the year 1829, and was familiarly known as the Swan River settlement. Much was then expected of it, more than has been realized. Some mistakes were made in granting large tracts of land, without regard to the capability of the parties, on whom they were bestowed, to supply labour for the cultivation; but, in one respect, it was pre-eminently successful. Sir James Stirling, the first Governor, who held that office for eleven years, reports that, up to the 1st of August, 1838, from the first foundation of the Colony, "the Government had not occasion [60/61] to execute sentence of death upon a single individual; but a small number of offences had been committed, and these, chiefly by immigrants from the neighbouring penal settlements." [Now Rear-Admiral Sir James Stirling.]

By that times from 1834 to 1838, some highly respectable settlers had been gradually pouring in; among them many officers of the army and navy. They established libraries and scientific institutions. "All writers agree;' as quoted by the Quarterly Reviewer, "in their account of the moral courage and unmurmuring perseverance, under great privations, of the women who encountered the difficulties entailed on the early settlers; and all equally agree on the great influence their noble and endearing conduct has had, and must continue to have on the community at large." ["Quarterly Review," June 1841, p. 131.]

The Rev. J. R. Wittenoom was appointed Colonial Chaplain on the proclamation of the Colony, and was, for eleven years, the only Clergyman in it. On the Bishop's appointment there were six Clergymen--four of them Colonial Chaplains, at a salary, from Government, of 100l. per annum. each. Of these Mr. Wittenoom was one, having remained in the Colony since its first institution. He now has entered into his rest. The Rev. G. King, a Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, was at his Mission, Freemantle, on the occasion of the Bishop's visit, but was, shortly after, compelled, by failing health, to quit the Colony. It was through the exertions of this zealous minister [51/52] of God, in addition to his attention to his other ministerial duties, that there arose an efficient native school, which appears to have given the earliest hopes that the aborigines of Australia may, in time, be converted to Christianity. Of this Mr. King writes in 1843:--"To the aborigines of Australia we owe, and England, whose subjects they have become, owes a debt of which nothing less than the bread of eternal life can be the equivalent. We have usurped their well-stocked hunting grounds, taken possession of their fisheries, and ploughed up the very staff of life which the rich valleys naturally yielded in bulbs and roots so genial to native life. And much may be done. Our school for aboriginal children has been highly blessed of the Lord." And again, in 1844:--"Our school for aboriginal children prospers encouragingly." "We find them as reverential and attentive as English children of the same age." And still, a year later:--"Four years have now elapsed since I established our school for aboriginal children at Freemantle, and, during this period, their advancement towards civilization and evangelical knowledge has been uniformly progressive." That all this was done without the neglect of any other duties we may be sure, since, in the same letter, Mr. King was able to write:--"The Church of England is the Church of the people; except in the town of Perth, where Wesleyan dissent and Romanism have secured an entrance, there [52/53] is not a dissenting body in the territory. The door of the meeting house in Freemantle has not been turned on its hinges for four months." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1844, 1845, 1848.]

"The name of the Rev. J. Wollaston must also be mentioned, through whose zeal a Church was built so early as 1843, at Bunbury, near Port Leschenault; and who, continuing his labours, was the centre of all religious teaching from St. George's Sound, round Cape Leeuwin to the Swan River."

The principal town, and the seat of the government of Western Australia, is Perth, on the Swan; Freemantle is a flourishing town, at its entrance; and, all along the coast, from Cape Leeuwin to the Swan, is a scattered population, desiring, but only partially receiving, spiritual instruction. Of this Colony the Bishop thus wrote, in his statement, put forth on his nomination to his diocese:--"The population of Western Australia is scattered over an immense extent of country: but with exemplary zeal, aided by friends and societies in England, the members of our Church have provided for six clergymen, and have built suitable churches for them to perform their duties. They have, also, built four substantial churches where the offices of a clergyman cannot be obtained, the inhabitants of those districts preferring to hear the service read by the nearest magistrate, until a minister can be provided with a suitable maintenance. One of these [53/54] districts, St. George's Sound, is so distant from all other settled parts of the Colony, that many months often elapse without a Clergyman visiting it. The children, consequently, are unbaptized; the sacraments are not administered; marriages are, perforce, civil contracts, and the dead are buried without the rites of the Church. The Colony has been established seventeen years; all the Churches are unconsecrated; the youth are unconfirmed; and at the Vasse the dead are buried in the fields." "It is gratifying to add," (here, it may be observed, is the statement of Sir James Stirling renewed,) "that the criminal statistics show fewer offences against the law than in any other of our possessions in the East." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1847, p. 127.]

That the Bishop contemplated visiting this part of his diocese, shortly after his arrival in Australia, appeared from his early private letters. On the 8th of May, 1848, he writes: "I must think, soon, of going to the Swan. It is a three weeks' voyage to that part of my diocese, and how to get back I do not know. In England they do not know what they put upon us to do. It is as if Barbados was in the Diocese of Exeter; and, with the mail-packets, visitations would be easier." And again, on the 8th of September following:--"There is a vessel in from the Mauritius, which will call at the Swan on her way back. I shall see whether it will be advisable to go in her. The question of expense and difficulty in getting to Western Australia is serious, but good folks in England seem to think it as easy as going from London to Margate. Small [54/55] coasting-craft, with westerly winds; round Cape Leeuwin, are not agreeable. The Archdeacon will go with me; he is an excellent coadjutor, and I hope, please God, that we shall not be detained; or suffer harm in the voyage."

The Bishop sailed on this visitation on the 14th of October, 1848, and returned on the 18th of January, 1849. The following is his account of some part of this voyage, in a private letter:--"The voyage from here may be reckoned, on an average, at three weeks, so that New York is, practically, nearer to you than is that part of my diocese to me. The Colonial Government schooner, however, was sent to fetch me, and also brought me back. She is about 110 tons, commanded by a lieutenant in the navy, and, in this respect, better managed than the coasting craft. In eight days we made King George's Sound. It is a land-locked basin, surrounded by granite hills. As a haven, it cannot be exceeded, though the country round is bare, and, they say, barren. The little town stands prettily above the shore, backed by Mounts Clarence and Melville, about 1,000 feet high. It has a neat. Church of granite, and the clergyman, Mr. Wollaston, is an excellent man. I have appointed him Archdeacon of Western Australia, although, I am sorry to say, I have no funds with which to endow an archdeaconry. The Colonial Government, however, will allow him travelling expenses." "I was much pleased with, and, as a summer residence, should much like to visit the place annually; which, though [55/56] in the same latitude as Adelaide, is, nevertheless, from its proximity to Cape Leeuwin, very little warmer, if at all, than England." "Coasting along a rocky. iron-bound coast, we passed the Leeuwin, in fine weather, and ran up the coast to Freemantle, calling at all the settlements by the way, confirming, consecrating, and preaching. A good deal of interest was manifested, and I was received gladly by the settlers. Freemantle stands at the mouth of the Swan, which flows into the sea, between two low lime-stone headlands; the coast, for 100 miles to the north and south, being like that of Holland, formed of sand-hills, which, in some places, are quite lofty eminences. The Swan is rather an estuary of the sea than a river." "Perth is finely situated on a wooded slope, rising out of a broad sheet of water. It is a small country town."

One of the most interesting incidents in this visitation was the Bishop's inspection of Mr. King's native school. "My impression," he writes, "generally, of the natives of Western Australia, as compared with those of South Australia, is in favour of the former. Those of King George's Sound, and on the western coast, are superior to the Adelaide tribes, physically, and in point of civilization. And so, the children of the school appeared more domesticated, if I may so term it, than the children at Adelaide. In fact, the native Australians have been very unduly underrated. In intelligence, good [56/57] temper, and faithfulness to their.engagements, they are remarkable." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1849, p. 189.] "There is an instance of a female married to a white settler, who, since her marriage, has taught her husband to read. An instance of a like kind came under the Archdeacon's notice at Penwortham; and it is our firm belief, that a consistent course of kind, equitable, and firm management would rescue many from barbarism and heathenism. But all persons have not the faith and love which have led your zealous missionary, Mr. King (The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel), to treat them as he would treat an orphan white child." "I am the more particular, in order to remove, if possible, a false and injurious impression."

The Bishop had the. pleasing duty to perform of marrying four native couples in the church at Freemantle. "Seven years ago," Mr. Sing "had found them in the wilderness, the most debased in habits, and the least happy of all the creatures the forest sustains.". "To-day" (Dec. 7th, 1848), he writes, "I conducted them to the altar of God, and heard them pledge their vows of fidelity to their Christian husbands, advisedly, reverently, and intelligibly."

The Bishop was received at Perth, and in all other places which he visited, with kindness and civility, and concludes his account of his visitation with-expressing the assurances he had received that his visit had been " productive of good in many ways,' as respects the settlers in general, the members of our own Church in particular, education, and the natives."

[58] This narrative will not conclude, suitably, without the following tribute to Mr. King and his mission from the Bishop. "Mr. King's health I found improved since he gave up visiting Mandurah and Pinjarrah, about fifty miles south of Freemantle. He was not equal to such a ride, monthly, together with his other duties; and his inability to fulfil this part of his missionary duty has, together with the state of his health, chiefly induced him to tender his resignation to the Society. I could not supply his place. His ministry has been much blessed, in many instances, and the number of his candidates for confirmation, their mature age, and general demeanour during the rite administered yesterday (Nov. 16th), bear witness to his exertions. Out of a population of 348, there were forty-five who were approved by him; thirty-nine were confirmed; and the others, unavoidably hindered, will, probably, present themselves on Sunday next."

In regard to the Rev. J. Wollaston, of whom the Bishop, when he appointed him Archdeacon of Western Australia, wrote in high terms, regretting that he had no means of endowing an Archdeaconry, the following notice occurs in the Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel for 1849: "The Society, at the request of the Bishop, has appropriated a sum of 50l. annually, towards the support of the newly-formed Archdeaconry of Albany." [Page 184]

ABORIGINES-THEIR CHARACTER--ACCOUNT OF THOSE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA-- BENEFIT OF NATIVE SCHOOLS NEUTRALIZED BY A RETURN TO BUSH LIFE--ARCHDEACON HALE'S NATIVE INSTITUTION AT PORT LINCOLN.

IN the year 1842, Lord Stanley, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, in a despatch to Sir George Gipps, thus expresses himself on the subject of the Aborigines of Australia:--"I cannot conclude this despatch without expressing my sense of the importance of the subject of it, and my hope that your experience may enable you to suggest some general plan by which we may acquit ourselves of the obligations which we owe towards this helpless race of beings. I should not, without extreme reluctance, admit that nothing could be done--that, with respect to them alone, the doctrines of Christianity must be inoperative, and the advantages of civilization incommunicable. I cannot acquiesce in the theory that they are incapable of improvement; that their extinction, before the advance of the white, is a necessity which it is impossible to control. I recommend them to your protection and favourable consideration, with the greatest earnestness, but, at the same time, with perfect confidence, and I assure [59/60] you that I shall be willing and anxious to co-operate with you in any arrangement for their civilization which may hold out a fair prospect of success." [Dutton's South Australia," p. 824.]

It may be seen, from this extract, that the state of the native inhabitants of Australia had not been disregarded by our rulers. Nor were they by the Christian people of England. The very provision, in the constitution of South Australia, by which "their rights were to be preserved," though rather theoretical than practical, of itself, shows that they were not forgotten. [See page 6.] The Church Missionary Society, also, under circumstances of much discouragement, maintained a mission for a few years, at Wellington Valley, and at Moreton Bay, to the north of Sydney. The report of success, however, was not favourable. The notices of this mission, in the Reports of the Society, are such as these:--"The difficulties attendant on the mission are peculiarly great, owing to the scattered state and ignorant character of the natives themselves, aggravated by the deplorably immoral state of the settlers." "Little progress of the missionary work among the Aborigines, owing to their vagrant habits and savage character." [Reports of the Church Missionary Society for 1888, 1889, 1840.] And, in the report for 1841-2:--"No prospect being left to the Committee of surmounting their difficulties," from various sources, "consistently with the terms on which, at the instance of Her [60/61] Majesty's Government, the mission was undertaken by the Society, they have been reluctantly compelled to relinquish it."

From the failure of this, and such like attempts, it is probable that Mr. Eyre, a name well known in the history of South Australia, thus writes:--"Many attempts, on a limited scale, have already been made, in all the Colonies, but none have, in the least degree, tended to check the gradual, but certain extinction that is menacing this ill-fated people; nor is it in my recollection that, throughout the wide length and breadth of New Holland, a single real and permanent convert to Christianity has yet been made among them." But Mr. Eyre, in some degree, accounts for this melancholy result by the following reason:--"With my past experience, I cannot persuade myself that any real or permanent good will ever be effected until the influence exercised over the young by the adults be destroyed, and they be freed from the contagious effects of their example." ["Dutton's South Australia," p. 326.]

It may be observed that, although there were some shades of character among the natives, and that those in one locality might be, in a degree, superior to another, yet that, generally, they are one people, peculiarly degraded and low in the scale of humanity.

The Bishop of Adelaide could not satisfy himself without making some more strenuous efforts for the improvement of those degraded beings among whom his lot was cast, although the first reports of them [61/62] were not encouraging. The following extracts from private letters show what were the first impressions of members of his family:--"They are a much better looking people than I expected, and some of the men are very well-looking. Then, those about the town are very different to what they are in their natural state, as they are well-fed, and do not undergo so many hardships." A protector of the Aborigines, it should be understood, had been appointed by the Government, a certain maintenance allowed to the natives, and a school provided for their children. Thus something, it would appear, had been done for them by the introduction of civilization into the Colony. "The women are very miserable-looking, and you generally see a man walking along, with his two lubras (wives) following some yards behind, always carrying a bundle on their backs. Many of the women are lame from being speared in the leg. They do all the hard work, and dive for fish, &c. There is a native in the gaol now for killing his wife. On his trial he was asked, Why he had done it? His answer was, ' Plenty growl, now no more growl.' Another, when tried for killing a white man, was asked what reason he had for doing so, and said, 'White man did no harm; I only give him piccaninny waddy while he sleep.' That is, he had only struck him slightly with his waddy, one of their weapons:" So little knowledge do they appear to have between good and evil. "When the Bishop came, the Governor tried to explain to them who he was, but they could not [62/63] make it out at all, till they were told he was the gubner (governor) parson."

A school for the native children, which had already been established, and was very much fostered by the Governor (Colonel Robe), seemed to be the best prospect for gradually introducing civilization and religion among this people. But even here, the report was of a mixed character. "It is astonishing how much scripture the poor creatures know, but whether they have any faith, it is hard to say. The most discouraging fact is, that they will run back to the bush, even after they have been here four years." "I forget whether I mentioned that we have a native girl in the house. She has been here live years, and makes a very good servant. She does our washing, and, I am told, gets up linen very well; but I have not yet seen her performance. If she is treated harshly, or offended, she will walk off for a day or two, and then come back; and, I am told, that when the weather is very hot, she will leave her clothes, throw a blanket over her shoulders, and go to the bush."

But the Bishop was, from the first, inclined to take a favourable view of what might possibly be done for this people. Thus, he writes to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel:--"The native school, supported by Government, is well conducted, and the children are equally intelligent with the white ones. Never was a falser view given than that which has been given of the natives. There [63/64] ought, undoubtedly, to be a mission established on the Murray River for the tribes there. Much, I believe, might be done with kindness towards them. This morning two native girls were present at family prayers at Government-house. Their demeanour was serious and thoughtful, and I believe they may be made very useful as household servants. May God bless the endeavours of those who, like our excellent Governor, Lieut.-Col. F. H. Robe, take a deep interest in their spiritual and moral elevation." [Report for 1848, p. 134.]

That much might be done the Bishop believed; that something at least ought to be attempted he was satisfied. His visit to Freemantle, and his inspection of the native schools there, served to confirm him in his opinions; and Archdeacon Hale, who took, from the first, a great interest in the natives, had collected many facts and instances to prove the powers of individuals to retain instruction. The facility, however, of running back to their native woods among their own people, appeared to them to have made the success of the native schools less permanent than it might have been. At length a plan was suggested, and in time matured, and to carry out which the Archdeacon offered his own services, which was, to form a settlement of natives, already educated at the native school at Adelaide, at such a distance from their home that they would not be able easily to return to it. It had been ascertained that the tribes do not mingle with each other, so that a sufficient distance, even [64/65] on the mainland, appeared a great security against the natives of the institution running off to the bush to other natives, who, to say the least, would be unfriendly to them. A prospectus, so to speak, of the institution was published in the South Australian Register, August 28th, 1860; and, in a letter dated December 31st, 1850, the Archdeacon gives a still further explanation of his object. "Our undertaking is not a mission to the natives living in a wild state." "The questions with which we now are concerned are, whether having had these particular natives in hand, and having broken them, in a great measure, from the habits of their original wild life, we shall, after this, turn them adrift." And again, "whether after teaching them Christianity we shall, without making proper efforts to retain them, permit them to go forth beyond the reach of our influence, just at the moment when it is, more than ever, important that the influence acquired should be turned to good account."

Port Lincoln, on the side of Spencer Gulf opposite to Adelaide, was selected for the locality of this institution; and Boston Island, at the entrance of Port Lincoln, was first chosen, as presenting still greater impediments to the return of the natives to their bush, while it tended to protect them from the unwelcome intrusions of evil-minded persons amongst the whites. Thither the Archdeacon repaired on the 10th of September, accompanied by two whites and eight natives, four of each sex, which was afterwards increased by the addition of [65/66] another native couple. The beauty of Boston Island is described by him as great, with many attractions, but unfortunately it was destitute of permanent fresh water. It was not without great reluctance, specified in the letter of the 31st of December, 1850, that they quitted it; but the risk of depending wholly on rain water was too great to be incurred. It was, therefore, of necessity abandoned, and the little Colony formed on the adjacent coast. It is yet in its infancy, and needs the prayers and sympathy of all Christians, who will rejoice to hear that the last accounts received of it are good. In a letter dated September 12th, 1851, is the following short paragraph:--"The Archdeacon's native mission is certainly flourishing, under his kind good manner, and perseverance."

KOORINGA--PORT LINCOLN--AN AWFUL CRIME--RIVOLI AND GUICHEN BAYS--CHARACTER OF MISSIONARY REQUIRED FOR THE INTERIOR OF THE COLONY.

BESIDES his voyage to Western Australia, the Bishop made several journeys to various parts of his diocese, which are here recorded, to show the kind of labour which belongs to the office of a colonial prelate. On the 12th of April, 1849, he writes:--"After consecrating St. Matthew's, Kensington, I went northward, to visit Kooringa, the township in which the Burra mine is situated." "I reached Gawler Town on the evening of March the 27th, and was received by the Rev. W. H. Coombs, in his neat and convenient parsonage." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1849, p. 182.]

"Arriving at Kooringa, I was welcomed by that worthy member of our Church, Mr. Walters, who had brought a letter of recommendation from you. He had come in order to witness the commencement of the smelting, by the Schneider Company's works, and to make arrangements with the directors of the Burra mine. I had the pleasure of meeting the gentlemen connected with both establishments, and am in great hopes that a handsome stipend for a [67/68] resident Clergyman will be provided jointly. Saturday, March 31st, was the day for letting the mining pitches by public auction." "Six hundred men are employed, above ground or below, in raising ore." "At three o'clock, the new furnaces erected at the Schneider's establishment were ready for lighting; and on this occasion--so important to the future prosperity of South Australia--I was invited by Mr. Walters to set fire to the first; and I am since informed that 'Latimer's candle,' as the stack was in jocose contrast named, has not been, and will not be, 'put out'." "I could not but rejoice that so peaceful and profitable an occupation was to commence under my auspices. I addressed the workpeople on the occasion, apparently, not without satisfaction. To give you an idea of the establishment,the smelting-house, with six stacks of chimneys, is 210 feet long. It is thought that, hereafter, it may be extended six-fold." [Report of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, for 1850.]

Port Lincoln was more than once visited by the Bishop. In a letter dated July 30th, 1849, occurs the following striking narrative. He had accompanied the protector of the Aborigines to Port Lincoln, and, in company with the Inspector of Police, had gone to the mine, which is worked for copper ore. "The store-keeper at the mine," writes the Bishop, "placed his log hut, consisting of one room, [68/69] in which all the stores were congregated, at our disposal. At one end, a large rough stone chimney cheered us with a blazing fire, while the cold night-air, streaming through the thousand crannies of the shingled roof and unplastered pine-slabs, reminded ns of the comparative luxury we were enjoying, instead of sleeping under the canopy of heaven on the bare hill-side. Musing upon many things, the striking contrast between this homely shelter and the comforts of English residences made me feel how little real happiness depends upon external things; and I rose with renewed health and strength to visit a scene where some natives had died from the effects, it is believed, of arsenic mixed with flour, which they had stolen from a shepherd's hut. I would not advert to the subject, if it did not tend to show in what way the 'natural man' will act when removed from the restraints of law and the influences of religion." [Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1850, p. 108.]

The story was, that some of the natives had been designedly poisoned by the settlers. In the outlying parts of the country, a constant petty warfare appears to be going on between the settlers and the natives; the latter habitually plundering the former, and these, in turn, revenging themselves as if they had to do with mere wild beasts. In the present case, it was attempted to be shown that some settlers, knowing that a party of natives had a design upon their flour, mixed with the flour some arsenic, and that the latter, stealing the supposed flour, ate it, and, in consequence, died. Although positive proof [69/70] of wilful murder--for so, if true, it was--could not be brought home to any individual, yet the Bishop thought there was too much reason to fear that the crime was committed, and draws his conclusion thus:--"I mention these things only with the view of impressing upon Christian Englishmen the need there is of helping to supply the ordinances of religion in the early stages of a Colony, that is, if the natural propensities of the human heart are not to burst forth in their wickedness, even among those who have been baptized into the name of Jesus. I believe I am correct in saying that the first visit of any Clergyman paid to this settlement, after an existence of twelve years, was that of the Archdeacon, last year."

An account of another visit to the same place, somewhat later in the same year, is taken from a private letter:--"On the 11th of October, 1849, we started on a trip to Port Lincoln, in the Government schooner; the party consisting of the Governor, the Bishop, and some others; and, after forty-four hours' sail, we entered one of the most beautiful harbours in the world, completely land-locked, and capable of containing the whole navy of England. The part where we landed is called Boston Bay, but Port Lincoln, which adjoins it, is a still larger harbour." "On Sunday it blew a gale, and we were very happy to be in a snug harbour. The Bishop held service in a large stone wool-shed, which was well attended; he baptized a child, and administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. On [70/71] Wednesday, the Bishop married two natives, who had been brought up at the school at Adelaide, and was really a love-match, which is seldom the case with natives. He altered the service, so as to make it comprehensible to them, and Mechi and Kilpatco promised to take care of each other and keep together so long as they both should live. I rather think the Bishop baptized them. He examined them, and was much pleased with their knowledge on religious subjects. Kilpatco was really the best informed, but answered less, as she would not have thought it respectful to answer a question put to her husband. I am afraid that we do not behave so well as these savages."

Some incidents in another somewhat similar voyage may, perhaps, be interesting. "On the 7th of January, 1850," writes the Bishop, "Sir Henry Young invited me to accompany him in the 'Yatala' to Rivoli and Guichen bays, near the eastern confines of the Colony. I gladly accepted his offer. At Rivoli landed two hours, and baptized two children. There may be about eighty stations in this part of the Colony, each averaging ten or twelve souls. They live like the heathen, and have half-caste children by the black women. We want a Xavier to ride about and minister to these bushmen; he must be a fearless, consistent man, able to cope with musquitos, bushmen, drunken hut-keepers, and old thieves from Sydney. Where have we such a man? A converted bushman is fit for the service." On his return home, the Bishop writes:--"Our fortnight's sea-trip has [71/72] enabled me better to know the wants of the diocese. An itinerant priest for the counties of Robe and Grey, at the back of Guichen Bay, would be desirable."

The following extract from a letter dated May 24th, 1850, will give some additional information as to the Bishop's own labours, and the state of religion in the interior:--"Having been summoned home, immediately I set about completing forty-five miles as an instalment of my homeward journey. I reached home to-day at one o'clock, making seventy miles in the last two days. During my stay in the north, I held service at the station; my congregation consisted of three shepherds and servant-men, with the master and mistress of the establishment. You may fancy the difficulty of assembling the people, when the huts of the shepherds are several miles apart, and the sheep-walk, or run, extends about twenty-five miles long by twelve broad. Long disuse, also, and the carelessness or inconsistency of the sheep masters and overseers, present great obstacles in the way of religious services. At the distant stations, run-away sailors and old convicts are the shepherds and hut-keepers; and, so superior are the latter as servants, that the settlers are glad to have them in preference to new emigrants. I must say, however, that the old convict was amongst the most attentive of my congregation on Sunday last."

CHAPTER VIII.

VOYAGE TO MELBOURNE AND SYDNEY--THE SYDNEY CONFERENCE-- PRIMARY VISITATION--THE BAPTISMAL CONTROVERSY--LAYING THE FIRST STONE OF AN EPISCOPAL RESIDENCE--CONCLUSION.

THE voyage to Sydney, where he met the five other Australasian prelates, when they took counsel together, and encouraged each other to their work, is the most recent voyage taken by the Bishop of Adelaide of which we have any record, up to the end of the year 1851. He left Adelaide early in September, 1850, and called at Melbourne on his way. There he spent a few days with Bishop Perry, who had been consecrated on the same day with himself, and assisted at laying the foundation-stone of St. Paul's Church, Melbourne, on the 21st of September. He preached at the cathedral the next day, Sunday, the 22d, and then, leaving Melbourne, arrived at Sydney, and met his brother Bishops in conference in the cathedral at Sydney, on the 1st of October.

The history of this conference belongs rather to another diocese; it may be mentioned, however, that the Bishop of Adelaide took a prominent part in instituting the Church of England Mission, for [73/74] preaching the truths of the Gospel to the natives of Australasia; his speech, in advocating which, was most characteristic, convincing, and impressive.

On his return to Adelaide, he held his primary visitation at Christ Church, North Adelaide, on Thursday, January 9th, 1851. The charge which he delivered on the occasion has been printed. The point most generally interesting was that which, as the Bishop observed, had agitated the bosom of the Church during the past twelve months. And, in favour of the doctrine of Baptismal regeneration, as the doctrine of the Church of England, he quoted the authority of his grace the present Archbishop of Canterbury; the present Bishop of St. Asaph; the late Bishop Ryder, and the late Dr. Arnold--especially in his twenty-sixth sermon, all of whom, he observed, "with an immense body of theologians from the second century to the present day, maintained the Sacrament of Baptism to be an effectual sign of grace."

It would seem that some of the clergy of South Australia had been impressed with the idea that the Bishops, at their conference, in the opinions which they put forth, had endeavoured to bind their clergy in a way more stringent than was consistent with the liberty which the Church, in her Articles, allows her sons. The Bishop, in explanation of his oxen motives, at least, and to remove a misapprehension which he felt was unfounded, addressed them a letter, which was read to them at a meeting held by them on the 28th of January, from which the [74/75] following extracts are taken:--"When I left Port Adelaide for Sydney, I was perfectly ignorant of the topics I should be called on to consider. I was summoned by the metropolitan Bishop to meet my brethren, and obeyed the summons. The proposed meeting was known to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and it was called for by the legislation, touching the Colonial Church, in the imperial parliament." ["Colonial Church Chronicle," September, 1851.] "It has been said, that the introduction of the topic of Baptism was unnecessary and gratuitous. I am guiltless of this introduction, beyond being able to give a reason of the faith which is in me, when asked. I have never entertained a thought of narrowing the Communion of the Church, nor am I aware of any such design or intention on the part of my right reverend brethren. My rule is that of Gamaliel--'If this counsel, or this work be of men, it will come to nought; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it.' So long as any clergyman subscribes and keeps the three Articles of the 36th Canon, I shall not study to force upon him that construction (on a point which, though important, is not, I suppose, essential to salvation,) which I deem to be the plain, literal, grammatical sense of the Liturgy; but I am ready to allow the same freedom of judgment to others which I claim for myself."

That this was no new opinion of the Bishop's may be learnt from the following extract of a private [75/76] letter, dated July 30th, 1850, in reference to the ecclesiastical disputes, at that time disturbing the Church, in England. "My opinion is, that the sacrament of Baptism is the appropriation of the covenant of grace to the child before the visible Church. That it involves a real relation to God--to God, that is, in three persons; consequently, adoption, justification, sanctification. If one of these, all, not adoption without justification, nor justification without sanctification. All or none. I hope all; I believe all; and, in charity, 'love,' to God and man, I affirm all--yet I would not cast out of the Church a pious man who, seeing this to be a great mystery, and trembling at God's sovereign decrees (as he believes), dares not affirm as confidently as I can, and do." "I will add no more at present, but that I pray, earnestly, that God may overrule all these disputes to the good of us all, and the extension of Christ's gospel and kingdom."

During the whole of his four years' residence the Bishop, as yet, had no official dwelling. It will be seen that he gave up, in the early period of his episcopacy, a site (on which, at one time, he had hoped to build for himself) for educational purposes. At the conclusion of his visitation charge, it is recorded that he proceeded, on leaving the Church (January 9th, 1851), to the site of a proposed episcopal residence, where the ceremony of laying the first atone was performed by the Bishop's son, assisted by the architect, who exhibited plans of the building.

[77] "It is a chaste design," says the editor of the Adelaide Observer, "in the Tudor gothic style; but by no means an ambitious structure for an episcopal palace."

The above sketch of the ecclesiastical history of a new colony, risen up, within a few years, in the wilds of Australia, will, it is hoped, create a feeling of sympathy for those, who, brothers in lineage, in language, and in Christianity, are gone out from among us.

The sentiments so beautifully and so devoutly expressed by the Christian poet, should ever be those of all the followers of the Lord Jesus:--

"No distance breaks the tie of blood,
Brothers are brothers evermore;
Nor wrong, nor wrath of deadliest mood,
That magic may o'erpower.
Oft, ere the common source be known,
The kindred drops will claim their own,
And throbbing pulses silently
Move heart towards heart by sympathy.
So is it with true Christian hearts,
Their mutual share in Jesus' blood
An everlasting bond imparts
Of holiest brotherhood.
Oh! might we all our lineage prove,
Give and forgive, do good and love,
By soft endearments, in kind strife,
Lightning the load of daily life."

Keble's Christian Year. Second Sunday after Trinity.

It may be mentioned, that since the Bishop's arrival in South Australia, the population of the Colony has more than doubled its amount, and is [77/78] believed, now, considerably to exceed 60,000 people. Several have left for the gold mines in other parts of Australia, and a reward has been offered for the discovery of a gold mine in South Australia, hitherto without effect, at which the real friends of the Colony will, probably, rejoice. The copper mines are scarcely less valuable, and they are calculated to promote industry as well as wealth.

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