BISHOP WALLIS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1019, 7 January 1911, Page 5

BISHOP WALLIS.

PROPOSES TO RETIRE. SIXTEEN YEARS' WORK HERE. WILL CO TO ENCLAND. , The Bishop of Wellington, tho Right Rovorend Dr. Frederic Wallis, has docided to resign his See shortly after Easter,, provided that the l'rimato (to whom ho lins written) and tho* other Bishcjps of tho province approve tho step. . If this approval is given, Bishop Wallis.will accept tho Archdeaconry of Wiltshire, in England, which has been offered him, together with otjier opportunities of helping tho Bishop of Salisbury in his episcopal work. Bishop Wallis intends to address a letter to the clergy and pcoplo of tho diocese —this letter to bo published' iu; the next number of the "Church Chronicle"—giving his reasons for the action/ contemplated. It has been known that for somo time past tho Bishop and Sirs. Wallis have not been enjoying the best of health in New Zealand.

WORK IN WELLINGTON. Tho decision will bo universally regretted. When his Lordship first came to the Dominion there were, only 34 clergy in the Wellington diocese, and this total has .now grown to 71. In the same period tho. number of -parishes

and districts has. risen from. 28 to 47. There are now 86 consecrated churches ill the diocese, as against. 58 when tho first took chargo. Ho interested himself in tho purchase of a: site and the foundation of a fund for 1 tho. erection of a cathedral in Taranaki Street, and to him and Mrs. -\Vallis is • due tho founding of St. Mary's Home for Girls and St. Mary's cottago-homo for girh at Karori. Ho was also largely' responsible for the, establishment of the Hadfield Hostel at, Palmerston North; for the training ofystudents . for. . the' ministry. In conjunction' with the Presbyterian. Church,:-.'tho «, Women's Hostel, for studeiitßqat!-tliir , '/llniv.BrSJ.te was also established:. Another institution, with the origin of . which_ his Lordship was intimately connected,, was tho Missions l to Seamen, and. lie was responsible for inducing Mr. Moore (the present* head of the mission) t to come out to New Zealand. The Chinesei Mission, Maori Secondary and Technical School at Clareville,' the Maori Collego at Otaki. and the Society for Welcom--ing Immigrants also owe their origin to his Lordship's efforts. . • One of tho most important features of his administration was. in connection with the reorganisation and improvement of the whole matter of examination and training of candidates' for orders. lii general (according to an informant wno 'has been in close toucli with Dr. Wallis .for many, years), the. Bishop's administration has been marked by rare wisdom. "Looking back on it for tho past 16 years (said the informant) 1 can discern very few mistakes indeed in connection with tho selection and appointment of clergy. Dr. Wallis has been peculiarly successful,, and he now has in tho dioceso a clergy •of high intellectual average. His relations with hiß clergy had always been, exceedingly kindly and affectionate and, withal, he has .maintained a very firm and strict supervision. The result is that the loyalty of the clergy to their Bishop is a. striking feature in the activities of, the. diocese; Hie Lordship has inspired a marked devotion and . spirit of self-sacrifice in the work of the laity also. In tho' early days of . his administration the laity of the synod were largely composed of residents ot Wellington. These come from all parts of the diocese. His presidency of synod has shown him to be an efiicieut and. firm chairman,, and has been of a nature calculated to raise tho tone of tho debates, and the business of tho synod to a veryhigh level. Whilo never hesitating to express his opinion very definitely on matters, brought before the synod, only on three occasions has ho exercised the' power of his position to veto any matter which the majority of the other two orders supported. It may also be mentioned that Bishop Wallis also took a keen interest in the Biblo-in-schools movement,' and strongly suppprted tho reintroduction of religious teaching. During the course of his term in New Zealand ho has visited England'.on three occasions, first ■ in 1807, again in 1003, and finally in 1908; Mrs. Wallis has thrown herself with zeal into all good works, connected with the Church and the life of tho community, and more particularly in connection with the St. Mary's Homes, the Girls' Friendly Society, and tho Women Students' I Hostel.

HIS LORDSHIP'S CAREER. Bishop Wallis was born in Hastings, England, in 1853, his father being the late Hev. Joseph Wallis, Vicar of St. Andrew's, Stockwell, London. Ho was ■educated at St, Paul's School, and afterwards at Gonville and Cain's College, Cambridge, and obtained his B.A. degreo in 1876 and that of M.A. throe years later, his doctor's degreo being conferred on him in 1894. The Cains prize, which ho won- in 1874, and again ill 1877, tho Sdiobfield and Evans prizes, gained in 1878, a first-class in the classical tj-ipos, and first-class in the theological tripos are trophies of his intellectual power. In 1878 ho was mode a Fellow, of tho Gonville and Cains College, which position ho continued to hold after' lie' camo out' to Now Zealand. Ho was ordained as deacon in 1878, and ill tho following year .received his priestly ordination from the Bishop of Ely, at Ely Cathedral. In 1878 he was appointed dean and. lecturer of Divinity of the College, and in 1886 bccamo examining chaplain to tho Bishop of Salisbury. For five years, from 1878 iill 1883, he-was honorary (.■urate of St. Luke's, Chesterton, near Cambridge. As deputy to Dr. Hort, the Lady Margaret Professor of Cambridge, he delivered in 1890 a series of public lectures on St. Paul's epistles. In 1593 the Bishop was senior Proctor of tho University of Cambridge, and about this time ho was appointed by the .university a member of tho governing bodj; of St. Paul's school. As dean of Gonville and Cain's College he occupied tho position of a kind of parish priest t-o the college students, work

which ho found oongenial in the highest degree. In 1893,, on the retirement of Bishop Hadfield, a now bishop was needed for the diocese of Wellington, and tho brilliant young English lecturer and chaplain was approached. Tho appointment to so remote a see meant a great change in tho career of the Rov. Frederic Wallis, as ho was then, but ho accepted tho invitation. On October IG, 1894, Archdeacon Fancourt, who administered the affairs of tho dioceso during tho interregnum, informed tho synod that tliis appointment had been mado by tho Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Durham. Dr. AVallis arrived in .Wellington in January, 1593.