Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Thursday 22 January 1846, page 2


I AUSTRALIAN DIOCESAN COMMUTEE.

IHR anniversary meeting of the Australian Diocesan Committee of the Societies for Pro-pagating the Gospel and Promoting Christian Knowledge was held on Tuesday The meet-ing was to have bein held on the 6th instant (the festnal of the Lpi| nany), but was post-poned on account of the illness of the Rev. W H Walsh, the appointed preacher

There waa divine sir tice in St James'» Church in the morning The prayers were read by the Rev R, Allwood, after which a sermon was preached b) tlio Bishop of Aus-tralia from the Ó81I1 terse of the loth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians '. There-fore, it j beloved brethren, be jesteadfast, unmoveable, always abounding 111 the work of the Lord, forasmuch as jo know that our labour is not in vam in the Lord " After the sermon £13 18s was collected for the school

fand

At seven o'clock r v the members of the Committee and a number of memhers of the Church of England began to assemble at the School-room in Castlereagh street, and shortl) after the arrival of the Bishop of Australia, the moccedings were commenced with prajer by the Bishop,

There were present on the platform, His Honor the Chief Justice and Mr Justice Dick-inson, besides clergy, and other gentlemen lhere was a tolerabl) numerous attendance of ladies 19 well as gentlemen, and amongst the former were the ladies of their Honors the two Judges, who were present on the platform

After praj cr

The BISHOP sud that it would be unneces-sary for him to detain those present by making many observ mons, and from the lateness of the hour ahead) arrived, he was anxious not to do so Ile would contine himself therefore to expressing the pleasure he felt at meeting them at this anniversary meeting of the As-sociation, and he was cjatihtd to see so nume-rous an attendance as the present Ho trusted that the) w ould find in the Report which would presently be read to them, evidence that con-siderable improvement in the affairs of the \sso nation had taken place since their last meeting that they had accomplished an object, which although highly desirable was often found most difficult, liamelt a rcduct on in the re-sponsibilities milich had been incurred for books supplied bj the parent soiiet) , the dcbi had bet 11 reduced from a considerable to a comparatively trilling amount He would not detain them further than by repeating the general expression of his pleasure at meeting them on this occasion, and ho would now call on then respected Secretar), to red the Report for the past year

lhc Rev Mr ALLWOOD commenced b) stating, that at the last mouthlj meeting ol the Standing Committee, the L >rd Bishop had been requested to suppl) the Committee with some information as to the extension of the Church the Lord Bishop had complied with this request b) placing in theu hands his Journil, with a request that they would ex-tract suth portons illative to the state and progress of the Church as they might think it desirable to lay before this mieting He was sorry to si) ti at his Lordship in this bud im posed upon hun a task whiihhe had been unable to perform He had read thi Journal with attention from first to last, and etery matter contained in it was of KO great moment, of such interest to every member of the Church, that he wasBt a loss to know what passages to exclude He should be ¡,lnd to lead the whole of the Journal to the meeting, but time would not allow of this, and he would mcrclt read the commencement and

a portion of the conclusion of his Lordship a

Journal

Hie years 1843 and ISiA afforded Instance* ol tbe most complete exhaustion of the resource» of t lie Cliurcli nitlim the colon; and of the total 1 essation ni all etTtrts for Hie augmt ntatlon of tlie number ot ciificis d II catedto the ser« 11 «of religion At Hie time of the jiub lil ilion of iny cliargr to the ilergj, alter the Visual! in held in tin list mini! Mied of those j ear» there* »re not fen er than twenty churches incomplète and the affairs of the colony at the uun* timo such an to aSord but (lender hope of any resources to be raised by the inhabitants which should bring those churches to a pro per state for the celebration of pub'ic worship within them At thin season, which confessedly »ras one of muih despondencv, I felt the effect of the generous and energetic exertions made on our behalt in Kunian ], vt Itli

out ant suggestion or supplication on mi part, b> the He» Idtrard Coleridgi Hy the signal blcfsing of Almighty t.od upon his représentations and endiarours, I a mm am turning to between .itOOO and wf4000 »as j raised among the member it of the Church The collec

j lion tims gatbin 1 tras I laced without condition or re

striction at in) disposal and the application of it to de fr»t the debts nhlih had bien incurrid in mant i laies and to s ipph funds fir procee ling with those buildings which »era In so many placet standing jn an incomplete I stat«, lias been the principal soujc« of that Imprortd

condition of our afralri »rid prospects whioh It Is now my office to represent to the CommlHAe . « *

The Rev bfccubTAUY proceeded to read the concluding portion of the Journal, which was

as follows -

Tims terminâtes the history of one year s proceed ings, the record of which has Leen kept principally lor the information of the incorporatcdsocisty The aspect of affairs, through the benignant kindness" of divine Fro vidcnce, has continued umtormly favo irable, as »ill bo made ni iiiife»t bj iho following ricapitulutu n of the events ie(urded ni the ion (,oni¿ p-ic.es Dunne, (lie vear 1 blu, I laid the foundation, orothirwiHo i rovided tortile commencement of the foil iwiug churches and chapels (IB)-St Stephen«, Camperdown, st Marys, Balmain, All 8.unt.s, Bathurst St 1 li jina-, s, Carcoar, St Michael «, Melverton (of wood), St -s, Gun nmg st -s, liolegda(vvood) St Phillips, Gun duroo , Christ Church, Maneroo Christ Church, Bong Hong, St Peter s, Armidale, All Saints , Singleton, and St Andre» s, Stockton, bcsidts churches nut vet named, at Jerry s Flatus, Flack Creek, li irpm » Ildl, VV ollonibi, and Hinton 1 consecrated the following (12) St Mary s, Denham Court , St Saviour s, Goulburn, Christ Church, Queanbeyan, St Johns, Canberry Plains, St. John Baptist's, Ashfield ; St Ste phen s Camperdown, Christchurch, Sydney St Lukes, 'scone St Alban s, Muswellbrool St Mary >., on Allvn , St Pauls, Paterson , Christ Church Hong Hong Ufthe clinic lies which I referred to in 1842 as lemaimnginan unhni lied state, tvvoonlv are now unconsecrated, St Mary s it W lscman s Ferry, 1 owei Hawkisburv, («Inch is cou plete in all respects, and awaits onlv my fixing the time lor the ceremony) and St Clemcuts, falbrook, which will be complete, if no unexpected obstado should arise, yvithui the current yeir The church of St Thomas on the North Shore, remains unconsecrated for a different reason, that is my inability to provide a clergyman to discharge its ministry. The mention of this fact leads me to beg the Society's consideration of the destitute condition to which I am reduced by the want of additional clergymen and the deplorable conse-quences which must arise unless that want can by some means be speedily removed. In December, 1844, I ad- mitted to deacons' orders Mr. Thomas Horton and Mr. F. C. Addams, but since tha-t time no suitable candi

dates for admission have been presented. During the same interval the Diocese has lost the services of seve- ral, others are, at this time, completely or partially dis-abled by sickness; and in the event of any further casual-

ties diminishing our remaining numbers, it would not be in my power to provide for the ecclesiastical service of the Diocese or to keep open the several churches, much less to occupy the additional ones, of the actual erection of some of which and of- the still further pro-posed augmentation of their numbers, I have now transmitted a statement. With respect to the details here presented of the erection of churches, it may be stated as a circumstance, which ought not to be for- gotten, that in every instance which has been here named, pecuniary assistance has been supplied from the special donation fund which was raised almost by the unassisted efforts of one individual, the Rev. Edward Coleridge, and that assistance, let me add, has been of so substantial and so indispensable a character, that without it I a-m perfectly conscious not one single un dertaking of those which have been here passed in review would have been entered upon, or if attempted, could have been brought to. a successful termination The s une remark is appheablo to the Parsonage houses, which, at Appin and Muswellbrook, have been com pleted nnl occupied by the incumbents, »hilo that at Singleton is now on tho point ot becoming fit for the residence of a family It is my e truest hope that if these details should ever be made public, tho knowledge of the hafpy effects which have arisen from this exercise uf Christian generosity moy ufford satisfaction to those humble sell denying unostentatious sons and daughters of tlie Catho ic Church of England, the authors of this good work whose names are tully known, I believe, to no human being except myself, but aro inscribed, I trust, in that book of remembrance ty Inch is written bolero Him for them that fern ed the Lord and thought upou his name I would no less confidently trust that tho C hurchmen of this colony having, throughout the lost ten years, and during the latter three of them especially, partaken of the stream of kindness and brotherly love which is bhod forth so abundantly that it reich« in its refreshing; course the borders of the whole world, including this, almost the remotest extremity of the visible Church, »vill be led to reflect how deep aBd cnerpctic must be that principle which impels on tho part ot so many strangers to us, this habitual contraction of their own personal indulgences Hut thev may ha»e to munster to our spiritual destitution It is a holy and a lofty prin ciple, too little regarded, attended to, and reduced to practice among ourselves No other explanation cm be given «hy it is acted upon bv any, but tint the love of Christ constraineth them, and the never lolling stream of brotherly kindness, of the sweetness of which vvc hove had so much experience, is in them the well of water springing up into everlasting life Christianity, ne all of us ought to know, acknowledges no such contracted scale of duty as that which limits the bounty of each individual m providing for tilt, extension of the Church to that particular locality to which his interests are attached by tho tie of some w orldly possession Yet it is painful to find how many there arc »ho, without shame or scruple, profess to confine themselves to this, as the justifiable measure of exertion and liberality on behalf of the Church of Christ A sense of duty com fiels mc to add that in instances by far too numerous, nstead of a thanklul acknowledgment of the "ift which I nns made agentot others m conveying, thcio hits bien a return of ingratitude and disrespect, because it »as inlerior in amount to what in the opinion ot the recciv cr it ought to hat e been The very nature of the oct upations, tho tourso of which extending over so tuanv months is here recorded, has rendered unavoidable u more constant personal allusion than is agreeable to my disposition It is therefore not without reluctance that I again make mention of myself, but it would be an act ol ingratitude wero I to close this account without ac-knowledging tho watchful caro of that Providence which h is protected me during the course of theso travels, extending in one year over nearly 1500 miles It may bo recorded, as a proof of such care, that throughout this entire distance I experienced no alarm nor danger, nor so much as the apprc hension ot any, neither have I suQered for a single Instant, pain or sickness Theso arc benefits which surety demand a return of gratitude or acknovvledg ment, an I may justify mo in adopting tho Psalmist s language-" In the shadow of thy vv ings will I rejoice ' One other circumstance ought, tor the credit of the country, tobo recorded Although continually tra velling'through the most lonely and unfrequented pal ts of it bv day, and sleeping by night in the remotest sta tions, exposed to every outrage, had thero been the slightest disposition to commit acts of violence, being also pcriectly unprotected, except on two or three occasious, for u very short time, by tho attendance ot a single mounted policeman, I never met with the slightest molestation, threat, or rudeness, but experienced in all places and on tho part of all persons, from the highest to the lowest, the most perfect attention, civility, kind ness, hospitality, and respect It it right that this should be mentioned, in order to correct any impression which may prevail to tho disadvantage of tile general c1 aracterof tho people ot this colony, my sincere per suasion being that there can be no country in which an unprotected solitary traveller could have spent so much time, and passed over such au extended space with a more perfect freedom from annoyanco or injury Some weight is due to this testimony, resting upon the expe-rience of sixteen years which I have now completed here, in jourucyings often in the caro ot all the churches , but thanks be to t>od, without any attcn (hint perils of robbers, or by mine own country moil, or by the Heathen, cither in the city or in the »ii

derness

The re\erend Secretary then proceeded to read the Report of the Standing Committee for 1845 The Report alluded hist to the full infor-mation contained in the Lord Bishop's journal as to the actual condition and prospects of the Church, which left nothing to the Committee to do but to report as to the manner in which thev had discharged their duties in applying the funds entrusted to them to advance the ob

jectB of ihe society, which the Report briefly stated as follows -The propagation of the Gospel by the establishment ot churches and clergymen throughout the colony , the piomotmg Christian knowledge by the sale and dis-tribution of Bibles, books of common prayer, and other publications calculated to make known the love and will of God The educa-tion of the children of the poorer classes Aipoh sound Christian principles The report referred the meeting for the fullest information on the first of these objects to the journal of their diocesan, congratulating the members of the Church that so much had been effected, not-withstanding the difficulties and embunassments that lind î.iesved upon all classes of the community during the past four years The Committee expresbed their regret mat there had boen no fresh arrivals of clerg) men during the past 's,ear, while the Chuich had been do pnved ol the services of the Rai s F and G Vidal, who had gone to Europe on leave of ab-sence, and the Re». Mr 'edmonstone who had resigned his duties as chaplain to our penal es-tablishments, while the onlyaccession had been the Rc\. 1. B Naylor, late chaplain at Norfolk Island, who had returned to this diocese, and wai now stationed in the district of Carcoar. The Committee go on to show that the Parent Sciciies at home cannot, in consequence of the numerous calls made upon them, hupply the wants of this colony with respect to clergymen, and the Report adds that

With a view to remedy in part the inability of the Parent s >ciety to pr iv ide the colony with clergymen, jour Commit tie have great satisfaction in announcing that arrangements hive been made for the immediate commencement of a Collegiate Institution for students for holy orders in this diocese, at a cost so moderate as to put it within the means of the head of every family to avail himself of its benefits, in devoting one of his chddrau to the »errice of God s sanctuary Entil the necessary arrangements be completed, students will be received at St James s Parsonage, at an annual expense of .£37 10s Lectures in the dînèrent branches oftheohgv »111 he commenced firthwith Tho fir6t course-' On th» Vi tides of the Church of Lngland,

»111 be delivered by the Lord Bishop The fir«, lecture» »ill commence early in March

Here tin» lle\ ¡secretary alluded to tin col

lege, M1 ich mainly bl the exertions of the Rev. 1 .»ltd Colndgc had been established at Canterbury, under auspices, he Raid, most

favourable to this and to the other colonies attached to the empire of Great Britain 1 he Report next gave an account of the number of bibles, books of oonimon prater, tracts, ¿v-c , which had been granted bj the Committee during the past voir , and the sales of books weresta'cd to hive been-Bibles, tub, Testa ment« ill, Prarer B > iles, 0 J5, and hooks and tracts '))16 1 ne Committee nett staled that a valuable grant of 6ihool book« had been

j received from the Society for Promoting ChrisI Han Knowledge-and mentioned ilfteen paro

ehial schools to which donations of booka had been made out ol this grant, and various sums, amounting to £104 10s , which had been paid in various ways in support of schools Hie Committee mentioned wah regret that the just claims of schoolmasters to whom ctr

tain sums were due under the Goternmcnt regulations of September, 1841, had not been fi\ourubly entertained by the Legis-lative Council, to whom a petition hud been presented on the subject by Charles Cowper, M C for the county of Cumber

land The Report stated, that there had been during the last quart« a iidiumnot 40 per cent on the sums which Buch schoolmasters were entitled to receive under the regula'ioiiB of 1841 Ihc income of the Society during the pan tear vis stated to hate been £b!0 I8s

lid , out of which £100 lind been remitted to the friend? ot the late Mr Thomas Moore, and £250 towards the reduction of the debt due to the Purent Sonet)-which debt it was staled would in nil probability be liquidated alto-gether in the course of the current year The debt at the time of the meeting in September, 1812, amounted to £017 13s 4d now it was £199 i9s 6d The reverend Setretatv then read the account current between the Diocesan Committee and its Secretaries, for the) ear 1845, from winch it appeared that the tot ii le ceipts for the yent had been £7J2 6s 7d., and tn t on the 1st Jai i n lSlit, there was a balance in hand of ¿SO Ij lOd

His Honor the CHIPP JUSTICE moved the first resolution, which was-"That the Journal of the Right Reverend President, togctl tr with the Report now read, and the audited ac count, be printed and circulated amongst the members and friendsof the Society " It was with verygicat rleasure, he said, that he rose to move this resolution , but before proceeding to the subject of it, he would make a few general re marks In the first place, he was happy to see that there was a more numerous attendance at this meeting than on former occasions when he had been present, but he could not but feel strong!) that although larger than

on former occasions the attendance fell far short of what it ought tobe, considering the object of the meeting, the presence of their Bishop-ind the great number of Churchmen who doubtless could, without any inconve-nience, attend the great meeting ol the Church He said not this b> way of reproach or cen-sure , he bad not, he confessed by his own example shown the duty of constant attend-ance, but one great step towards reformation, was the confession of error , and although he had not constantly attended, he felt that the excuses he could offer were equal to those that could be offered by any yet they were but miserable compared with the objects in view, and he promised that for the future he would be regular in his attendance On the first 02casion on which he had attended at a meet ng similar to this, ho had made some observations

as to questions which had been rused as to1 whether it was consistent with the position oc-cupied by a Judge, to attend at these meetings,

or strongl) to support the objects which this . Societ) had in view On the firat of these points he hadscarcel) thought that a. question cou-d be

raised by any, on the latter point there might ' perhaps be more room for some to doubt On I a former occasion he had stated that he con I sidered that he had a right to attend such

meetings , thalit was thedut) of every Chuich I man to support, his own body-that it was his privilege to do BO-and if such privilege was not denied to the Roman Catholic or to the Presb)t( min, or others he could not see how it could be domed to linn as a member of the Church of England And since he had occu pied the more dignified position w Inch he did no w occup),)ehad again considcrid the subject, and he had come to the conclusion that it w as more than ever his duty, m consequence of the effect which his example might have on those around him to stand forward, to show that he was not afraid, but ready to support the objects and interests ol the Society, and of the Church And if there were any who still thought it wrong 111 a fudge to take part in such proceed-ings, he woull refer them to the objects the Society had in view-Wcic they politicul ' No Was it the design of the Society to trench on the hberu of ant 5 No Was the object of a contrôlerai il nature5 No Could it he offen-sive to anj ' He thought not lhey were there to promote the objects of the Church among Churchmen. He need not state at any length what the objects of the Society were, they were described in the Report which hid just been read to the meeting The first and second of the objects might be stated to be the main taming of the tenets of that Church which they, as belonging to it, might surely be pardoned for bclieting to be the only true Church , and the third object was to provide education for the poor, not a latitudinarian education, but an education founded on the tenets which they believed would lead to sal

vation heieaftci, and make good members of society here "W hen questioned on the subject of general education, which unfortunate!), perhaps, had been made a political matter here the Jud¡,e might reply-upon this subject I abstain from all remark ,-but here, amongst members of his own Church, he might aurel)

advocate the interests ofthat Church which he

believed to be the only true Church-and how he asked, could a Tudge, being a member of that Church, be blamed for so doing > He would say to those who complained that the system which had been proposed was not good -or that if there could be an) good in it, that it was much mixed with evil, he would say to them, that the) should not content themselves with c mplaiuing, but that they should, by an appeal to their subscriptions-by their constant attendances at the meetings, show that they were in earnest in support of that which they did believe to be good As to the resolution which he hid been requested to move, it was so much a matter of course, so far as referred to the Report, and the accounts, that no re marks would be required , and with respect to the Journal from w Inch they had heard a brief cxt-act read, he was sure, that all whom he add ress id would be anxious that a docu-ment, so interesting, so likely to produce good for us, should be printed and widely circulated. The Rev Secretary had placed the »Journal in his hands as he was to move the printing of it, and he had prepared himself to offer some observations with leaped to the details , but he did not know whether his Lordship or others present would think lura justified in so doing, as there were other resolutions to be submitted to the meeting and other speakeis of course to follow him lhere were, however, one or two portions of the brief extracts thçy had heard from the Journal which deserved more attention than could be given on the mere reading He regretted, as they all must, to hear that in a few jearB unliBS the number of the clerg) increased, there would be, if not a smaller number of churches than at present, at all events no increase , that there would be more churches without ministeis, )et on the whole that regret was not unmixed with satisfaction The num tier of churches finished and in pro gress since their last meeting was thirty , the great object of the Society was to increase the number of Churches and to find that notwithstanding the adverse circumstances wkich had been weighing down a large portion of the community during the I ist lew jeirs, there had been so gre it an in-crease, and that promoted by the assistance of the people so suffering, was to lura matter of unmixed gratification The next subject to which he would allude was indeed one of re-joicing to us as to all the other colonies of the British empire-namely the foundation of St Augustine's College in England, this was an event ti him full of bright anticipations, and it filled his heart with gratitude to those who had come so nobl) forward to assist in a design frim which neither the) nor their descendants could expect lo receive a benefit When he II Iced t ) the am junt of subscriptions which had been raised for this purpose in Lnglandwhere tin se who contributed wcie not in-

terested peculiarly as w e w ere m our children and oursehes, and contrasted that amount with the amount raised in this colon) during the jast tear, the latter appeared small and msignilict nt, a sum almost un worth) nf men-tion \ few hundreds were all that the Churchmen of this colony had contributed during a whole year, 111 lowland, in a few weeks and bef re the design of establishing the College he had alluded to was made public, nineteen clergymen, and the=e not of the EPIHcopal order-but some of them curates, had contributed upwards of £4000, and hating seen the various names of these clergymen,

and hating received some information from a friend in England, he was unable to find that any of these clcrg)men were connected with the colony Su'-h was the interest felt in the Church ni the colonies by churchmen at home,

but what was thereto excite an interest in Chun hmni at home which should not excite a tenfold interest in Churchmen here ' He said all this not by wa) of reproach for absence of exertion duung the past, but to stimulate the Churchmen of the colony to greater excrtian, and an increase of contribution for the future lhey heard much of the depression which had prêt ailed throughout the colony, but he was happy to be able to state that tin re was row, and had existed for some time past, every s)mptom of improve ment He had obserted on the last two circuits that great im¡ loteuitms were being effected in every estate through which he passed, indicating the power of expending money necessar) lor such improvements All the sources of wealth which could belong to a colony like this weie largely and rapidly in-creasing, and the price of every description of produce was also sustained All these were matters of congratulation, for returning yros

pent) would enable men to contribute more largcl) than ever to the funds of this Societ) There were other ietails to which lie had m tended to have called attention, but for the reasons which he had before intimated he should detain them no longer

Mr R CAMIIIILI Junior, seconded the re-solution He congratulated the meeting that so much had been effected, notwithstanding the crippled stutc of the funds plai ed at the disposal of the committee Ile urged upon the friends of the society to pay their subscriptions into the Banks, instead of wailing to be called upon b) members of the committee , and ho reminded the Churchmen of the colony that in cases of sickness and death, or remotal lrom other causes of any of the clergymen now in the cok ny, more churches must be shut up , for at present there were no means of providing ministers In conclusion, the speaker en-treated all who were of the Chuich to bo more zealous more diligent m the cause of trnth than the) had heretofore been

Hie BISHOP, in putting the resolution to the meeting, observed that the Journal had been drawn up for the Society tor the Propagation of the Uosrel, which received regular in-formation of the transactions of all the Co-lonial Churches, the Journal thereforo con-tained many remarks and statements of (acts which weie already well known here, and which it would probably be useless to repub hsh With this exception, and leaving it to the discretion of their Secretar) as to what portions should be printed and what omitted, he should be most happ) to romph with the wish expressed m the resolution, it it was agreed to b) the meeting The resolution w as carried unanimously

I His Honor Mr Justice DICKINSON moved the

second resolution, which was- "1 hat this

j meeting do take the opportunity of again acI knowlcd^mg their great obligations to the vc| net »ble Parent Societies for the zealous interest j which they have uniformly evinced in promo I ting the spiritual welfare of the people of this i diocese, and for the liberality with which the) i have contilbuted from their funds to further

the ol jeots of this Committee He appeared, | he said, m consequence of an invitation he hi d nceitcd, to move the resolution he had read. Hie subjects arising oat of it were of detail, but nevertheless, involving the highest interests of the ¡societ) Ile would be brief as possible, especially as there were yet four other resolu-tions to be submitted to the meeting He WPS happy to propose for their adoption a resolution expressing their gratitude to the Parent So

cieties for what those Societies had done for the colonies, and fir the advincement of Christianity throughout the world, and while the Parent Societies might congratulate themselves on receiving these acknowledgments the Society of this colony had reuson for sslf gratulation, inso-much as the) hull discharged a large rortion of their debt to the | iront Society It muBtbe gratifjing to any individual, to any body when returning thanks for benefits conferred, to be able to show by actions that the) were trul) grateful, that theirs were not merely empty expressions of gratefulness ,-and the parent Societies although they w ould not disregard the acknowledgments ot the branch societies, even though unaccompanied by such proofs of exer non on their paris, would see that what the) had done was not unappreciated here, and that we were making efTorts for ourselves He could not of his own knowledge enter into detiils with respect to the benefits confeired by the parent societies on this colon) , and it was unnecessary to bring before this assembly what was alrendy so well known-the nature, the extent, the dignity of the Society vt hich for a hundred and fifty years had been constantly toiling in the cause of Christianity , that had contributed amazing sums of money, which, ex[ ended m the good cause, had sown seed which under God s blessing would grow into such a tree as would never be cut down It would be unnecessary to enlarge upon the ope-rations of the Societ) in the forty colonies of the British empire lo this colon), since the ) ear 1836, the Society for the Propagation of Christianity had sent thirty clergymen-to this diocese, and in almost every case had giren £ 160 towards the outfit of the clerg)man, with an allowance of £o0 for five jears, bt s des con-tributing to the erection of churches and schools, the salaries of schoolmasters and other expenses connected with the Church Ihe Society for the promotion of Christian know-ledge hid previous to 1839 contributed a sum of £3000, and had continued to make grants of lhbles, books of common player, and other re-ligious and scientific works Every person who took an interest in the welfare of his fellowcreatures, especially of the poorer claeseB, must feel an interest in these Societies, especiall) when it was told, that without their munifi-cent assistance the cause of religion could not have been advanced as it hid been His Honor concluded by referring to the danger that ex

mied, that there would not be a sufficient supply of clerg) men for the churches in this colony, he rejoiced to hearrf the foundation of the Missionary College in England, and he hoped that in this colon) would anse a large bod) of clerg) increasing in numbers as they were required-clerg) men of the Church of England, than whom a body of men more learned, more pious, more venerable, did not

exist in Christendom

The Rev. Dr COWPBII seconded the resolu-tion This colony was indeed, deeply indebted to the two Parent Societies, that for the Propa-gation of the Gospel, and that for the Promo

tion of Christian Know It dge lo the former they were indebted for mun) zealous minis-ters who had been sent out, and not only for the clergy themselves, but also for nionej given for their outfit, and, further, for assis-tance towards their maintenance here To the other Society the) were indebted for large sup-plies of books of religion and science, which had been supplied from year to year , and also for a large sinn of money which had been contri

bund with a view to the nromotion of religious knowledge , and chiefly intended, he believed, to promote the education of candidates for holy orders in the colon) He had taken a deep interest in this subject for ti e last thirtjfive tears, for when he first arrived in the colony there was no officiating cleigyman-and he had considered again and again how the growing wants of the colony could be supplied,-and he had come to the conclusion, that unless clergymen were bred in the colony, there would be no means of supplying the Church from time to time as she required additional ministers He had stated this four years ago, itapenod when there was but little prospect of his ever revisiting the colony. It could not be expected that the colon) could be supplied JS heretofore, theie were altogether forty colonies to be sup-plied , and the demand for clerg) men at home, in England, Ireland, and Wales, WBB constantly increasing It was well, therefore, for the colonies that the idei arose in the mind of their reverend friend who had before been mentioned that a Missionary College should be established , but while the people of thi9 colony rejoiced that such a college had been founded, let them not suppose that that col

hge would bo able to supply all the wants of this colony lhey must have a college of their own, parents must be entret'ed to consecrite their children to the service of God, ond Churchmen should come forward and hbe

rall) support such a college in order to raise up an efficient ministry amongst them. Hu

\ repeated that he did indeed feel deeply in

1 debted to the Parent Societies for the clergy

they had etnt, and for the bojks they had granted, for the assistance whicu so far as they were able they had given to the colon j , but while we rendered our thanks for these favours, we mubt not forget n^w to husband our own resources, and in applying them to see what

we can do for ourselves

The resolution was put to the meeting, mid

carried unanimously

Mr C lvtiir said, that the resolution he had been deBired to move was one of considerable importance, butas it was the announcement of a principle on which they were all agreed, he would not occupy the time of the meeting many minutes It was, " lhat this meeting do express their contiction of the soundness of the principle upon which the schools in con-nexion with the Church of Tngland hate been and are conducted, and of the claim which every poor member of the Church of England has, to have his children educated according to this principle ' Although this referred to the parochiul schools, he considered it would not be out of place to congratulate the meeting upon the prospect of the commencement of bl. Augustine s College at Canterbury, and of the collegiate establishment which they had been informed w as to be put m operation in Sydnej, immediatel) He could also inform the meet-ing, that in the neighbouring diocese of laB mama, n college is to be commenced forthwith Mr Archdeacon Marriott hating been ter} successful in his application for assistance to the Christian benevolence of Churchmen in England. One individual had collected the sum of five thousand pounds, which was sent to the Archdeacon anonymously lhe resolution referred to the pnn ciple on which schools in connexion with the Church of England are conducted, and that principle is a terv simple one it is that reli-gion should bo the basis of all instruction, and by religion they meant the rel gion that his been revnled to us by do 1-the religion that is contained in the Holy benptures, and expounded in the hturg) and formularies of the Church. I his principle had been so eloquently treated by th» Bishop in his seimon of that morning, that he (Mr lv ) felt it unnecessary to do more than state it Ihose who were adm reis of a general system of education from a desire to promote unity and love, by having all persons educated together, had had their faith in such systems much shocked lately bj the mental degradation which had followed the establishment of the system in Prussia, as evinced more particularly by the exhibition of a million of people who had been educated under it, rushing to 1 roves to adore tint which was unpiouslj called the Holy Coat Man} of the advocates of a general system ot education ire undoubtedly so from conscientious motives, but thej could not conceal from themselves the fact that the great object of many is to aim a " heavj blow and great discou-agement" at the Church of England,-and in fact there could be now no compiomtse lhe general education party, speaking by him who may be said to be their leader, have declared that the elergj in their aggregate capaeitj are so bl

gotted, corrupt, and wicked, that it is not safe to entrust them with the education of jouth no matter how learned, pious, amiable, they may individually be as a body they are bad men Here then ttas u position which pre

ven'ed any compromise His Excellency Sir George Gipps stated in hi« reply to the address of the Legislative Council on the subjec', that no system of education could be efficient which had not the support of the clergy The sentiment was undoubtedly true , but they as Churchmen went muchfaitherthev contended that it w as their privilege to hat e their children educated bj the clergy, that it was the duty of the clergy to impart that education , of course it was physically impossible that they could impart the edu-cation themselves, but the) wore bound to superintend it Without this superintendence thct did not consider religious instruction could be imparted-without religious instruc-tion (hey considered mere secular education would not only be inefficient, but positively

mischievous lie would observe that Church-men were giving practical examples of their desire to promote education. In the country much, as would be perceived by the Bishop's journal, had been done , and in Sydney, since the discussions of 1844, they had erected, entirely from private means, a school-house in St Lawrence parish, which will accommodate five hundred children, one in St Andrew's, which will contain two hundred and fifty, and there is one in Trinity parish in the course of erection, which will hold two hundred and fifty chilldren. What have the admirers of the general system done in the mean time? They met and formed an imposing looking com-mittee, and have done nothing since, Thej must bear m muid that if Churchmen were allowed to have their own schools con ducted on their own principles, that they had no wi8h to interfere with those who unfortu nately differed from them , but if the advo cates of a general system carried the day, the) would thrust their s)stem upon all, whether they approved of it or not, in fact it was w eil known that one liberal minded man had ex-pressed his opinion, that if tho general system were carried, they would starve the Church of England into approting of i in two years in this they would be mistaken, for if the twentyfive thousand persons who signed the petitions m 1844 were only true to themselves there was little fear of tho attempt b'-mg made The Church of England numbers one-half of the population of the colony, of them the great mass are opposed to the general s) stem, and no government could act m opposition to their expressed opinion Having alluded to the I etittons, he would conclude by referring to the statements which had been made respecting the signatures fraud had been imputed, which he would Bimpl) deny, considering the characteis of those who were emploted in pro-curing those 6igna'ures a refutation of the slander It was also said tint servants hid signed the petitions, which was probably the case and why should they not5 the schools were expressly stated to bo for the education of the children of the poorer classesand why should the) not sign petitions on the subject ? The objections came with a very bad gi ace from those who anogatel to themselves the tnlo of liberals Hie assertion respecting the fiaud had been BO often repeated that it was well occasiona'ly to contradict it, lost bj the mere force of hearing it asserted without denial some should be found to behev e it

Mr CIIAKLES LOWE seconded the resolution in a speech of very considerable length He urged the claim of the poor of the Church to have their childicn educated m the principles of the Church , he agieed that the subject of education w as an important subject and a diffi-cult , and he said th tt he was not under the restrictions which appeared to embarrass the Chief Justice , he waslree to state as a Church-man those things which he believed, and he ow ed it as a duty to his Church to do so, and he knew nothing officially or politically or in any other way which should hold him back from so doing The speaker then went or to explain what the Church considered to be Christian education. He dwelt upon the necessity of educating the young-even from earhcBt infanc), from the first downing of in-tellect-upon the principles of religion as re-vealed in the Scriptures He alluded at very considerable length to the advintages which nations had derived from true religion, and upon the evils which must acciue if any other system than that which was upheld in the schools in connexion with the Church was allowed to be forced upon us The speaker condemned the couise pursusd by the Legis-lature on the subject of education, and he con-cluded by hoping thut the time would soon arrive when the Catholic Church would be indeed universal, and when that time did arrive, he said that education founded upon religion as retealed in the Scriptures, would be found to have been the principal means of bringing about so desirable a result ¡

The CHIEF JUSTICE-with reference to an observation of the last speaker, said, that he wished to remove any wrong impression which i might have been created b) what he had pre

viousl) stated What he meant to say was, I thesp were topics on which other men might speak openly, but upon which it became Judges, from their peculiar position, to he silent And whatever opinions a Judge might hold upon a subject which had become ex citing, he Bhould avoid expressing them fre-quently , and if at any time he did express them they would carry so much the mor« weight

He should be sorry indeed, ¡f any thin» i ?

vaid should be construed intoianemn.!^ ment on his part on the subject of th« ^ lisii now before the meeting. On V^'1' ¡rary, it had his fullest and most cordy6* ! Mr. MICHAEL METCALI^ moved the «

solution, which was, that the thanWÎÏ meeting be offered to the Right Revered 7 President for his appropriate and edifil«. '

mon, and that he be requested to àïCVI fame to be printed. He did not think iT! I cessary to offer a word to induce the m«,?1-1 to adopt this resolution. There was on»,?8 ter, however, to which he wished to «lu1' attention of the meeting. He had seen ¡7 , nient in one of the papers, that the nffr?

made at the various churches were nm^1 led to the use of the various clergymen, iî statement was false, as it was crueland winVJ ' livery offering that was made in the cWr I went towards the liquidation of debtsT

traded for the purposes of religion in h».!"'

. dava . And. lhnrnfr.ro lhn.. _.U? ' " DJ"|WI|

days ; and, therefore, those who remarièf11

many did, upon the number of object? j!

wnien tncy were called upon to subscrih. f

would see the necessity of still continue [

subscribe to all the objects of the Society "ri I Church was a Church Universal, and ¡t» not because Sydney, or the county of CUB herland, which contained about oiie-smhrf the population of the colony, and most of ft. wealthiestcolonists.hadhadthcirwantBsurjoS that the same priviliges should be deniedt» those who were scattered over the oountr» He urged upon all Churchmen to contri bute even more liberally than the» \.\ hitherto. ' m

Mr. T. WOOLLEY seconded the resolution

The BISHOP said, that Mis resolution mi embairassing to bim to put. He would Z serve that if by the publication of the sermon it was thought that the objectB and design. 0f the Society would be promoted, he should not object, but the experience of the ]«! year went to show that such a course was not necessary, for the sermon which waa pi«thtd on a similar occasion then had not been printed. In the present state of tk funds of the Society he thought that the Com. mittee would scarcely be warranted in incut! ring the expense, particularly as he (the Bishop) should occupy so large a portion of the printing department, if the resolution with respect to the printing of the journal was earned into effect. He should wish tM the discretion should be left with him and with the Committee, and they would consider what it would be most advantageous to the Society to put through the press Ho accepted the thanks which were tendered him in thercsok.

tiou-and in return he would say that lie would lose no opportunity that might occur to extend the usefulness and contribute to the general welfare of the Diocesian Committee.

The CHU F JUSTICE stated that his Lordehip'i apprehension as to the piloting of the sermon being a burthen upon the funds placed at the disposal of the committee, would bo removed, as some gentlemen in his immediate neigh, bourhood had pledged themselves to make up

the amount amongst them.

The BISHOP said, that that would not meet the difficulty that he felt, although, al the same time he could not but be grateful to tho gentlemen who had made this offer. He might have solved such « difficulty himself by paying the coBt of printing the sermon, but what he hesitated about mt whether the means might not be better applied in furtherance of the objects of the Society, He should prefer that it remained an open question to be left to the decision of the Stand-ing Committee after they had examined into

the state of their finances,

The resolution was put to the meeting, and

canied.

The Reverend Mr, SCONCE moved that the following gentlemen be added to the Standing Committee :-MeBsrs. J. Betts, G. P. F. Gre-gory, II. Finch, J. W. Gosling, H. B Bradley, C. Lowe, J. C. Phelps, T. W. Smart, and T. Woolley.

The resolution having been seconded, wai put and carried.

After the usual concluding ceremony of the evening, the meeting broke up at about half

past ten.