Hawke's Bay Times. NAPIER, FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1863.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume III, Issue 136, 21 August 1863, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. NAPIER, FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1863.

In our issue of the 31st ultimo we published the statement of the Churchwardens relative to the present condition and future prospects of the Napier branch of the Episcopal Church of England. We cannot, with this authoritative statement before us, congratulate the members of that congregation upon the state of their affairs. This is very much to be regretted and to be wondered at, because a large and wealthy section of this community profess—and proudly profess—that they belong to that time-honored Church, whose sublime ritual has cast its sanctifying influence over the births, the marriages, and the deaths of generations of England’s kings, of- her princes, and of her nobles, —to that Church which counts amongst her living and her dead heroes, saints, and martyrs, some of the greatest names which have ever shone and do now shine, in literature, in art, in science, and in song, —to that Church whose exquisitely touching service, was the first and most awe-inspiring sacred rite which impressed our childhood ; the most beautiful which has invigorated and strengthened our manhood, and which is the most soothing and refreshing to that weary soul which, having fought the battle of life, is on the eve of departure over the Stygian waters of Death, to the shadowy band of spirits. That the feeling of veneration with which we have been taught and accustomed from our earliest infancy to regard our Church, is rapidly decaying, is certain; and that it is doing so rapidly and more rapidly still because there is a want of that warmth, of that enthusiasm in her sons of this generation, for her support and maintenance which can alone stay the progress of decline and prevent the ultimate fall of that glorious old Church whose sacred ministers have for so many generations, counselled their flocks in time ■ of trouble, advised them in difficulty, comforted them in distress, knelt with them in sickness at the hazard of their own lives ; exhorted, encouraged where there was need; where there was strife the peacemakers, and where there was want the freest giver. It is stated by the Churchwardens, in the report to which we refer, that it has -been found impossible to obtain the services of a Clergyman, but because the state of the Church funds here will not admit of the congregation offering a permanent stipend to that gentleman who is willing to abandon

lus pYesent qiiiet living, probably within sight ,-and-soupd of the fine old be]#&vhich have Hung for countless centuries in the “ ivymantled tower” of his Parish church, —bells which have rang out a joyous peal on every gay and happy event, and which for hundreds of years with solemn warning toll, have chiined the' passage of some, departing soul from earth. The Wardens in fact say that the rev. gentleman whom they expected to, come here in answer to their invitation declines to do so, upon what appears to us to be the very just grounds of the offer being for only three .years certain charge of the cure. What ! only three years ! ! Do the good folks 0/ Napier expect that the year of Grace 1866-will be the year of Doom, and that about that date. Dr. Gumming"s prophecy to the effect that-all things earthly sbaiTpass away, will come, true? Do our fellow townsmen fancy that three years of good orthodox preaching is quite enough for one generation of-sinners? - Surely, surely, we are no better than qiir fathers and pur grandfathers back to the ,third and fourth generation. Those worthy old believers in the divine right of kings, .and in the infallibility of the Church, and other such like exploded beliefs, attended the public, worship of the God Jehovah once or twice 'certainly every Sunday of their lives, -and they would as soon have thought of three years preaching being sufficient for the good of their souls, as they would have thought of three years of preaching being sufficient to make an archbishop. That the Anglican Church of Napier is poor there can be no doubt. But why with all her wealthy sons and so much valuable property set aside specially for Church purposes, poorer than other denominations, rejoicing under no such particular advantages, it is really quite impossible to say. The Presbyterians, for instance, have built a church of great architectural pretensions, the spire of which towers to the Heavens, and proclaims, fur miles around that that is the House of God ; they build schools, and import trained schoolmasters of profound attainments and skill; they give great periodical feasts of buns and ca,ke diluted with,tea, to large assemblages of the faithful both young] and old; they, .preach and speak at public meetings.in- behalf of total abstinence and other moral and-"useful pripciplers ; they exert themselves on all hands to obtain the wherewithal to carry on- the T-good, work according to their faith and the light that "is in them. They are banded ■ together to fight the good fight with the strength of‘a Grecian phalanx. They support a God fearing brother as editor of their special newspaper ; they maintain another God fearing brother as Superintendent of the Province; and, in short, their God fearing brethren are rapidly filling every place, -every preferment, and every lucrative post, office, or position, which is within the .power of man to give 6r to get in our small community.

And why is the horn of onr Scotch brethren exalted ? The answer'is self-evident, and it is because they are a self-dependent, selfsupporting,, hard-working, earnest and determined people. Herein lies the secret of the progress and success of' the members of the Presbyterian congregation, and far be it from us to speak lightly of their endeavours. Without referring to the faith which they profess, we admire the unflinching perseverance and noble efforts, by which they Keep mai mini in violate pure, and we in drawing comparisons between the present state of the Scotch and of the .English Churches, do so' from a desire to hold the mirror up to nature so that he who " runs may read,” and to inspire the members of the latter church with a laudable desire to emulate if not to surpass the doings in that behalf, of the former. ’ ■

• It is a sad, - but too true fact that here in this Hawke's Bay, there should be so little active endeavor to put that noble old Church,

before whose altar our fathers worshipped, and in whose teaching they willingly died, —that Church which has been looked upon through many generations of believers as the bulwark of the State, upon a better and more creditable footing—a footing which shall give to her that place which will enable her to spread abroad unfettered these glorious doctrines of peace and good will towards all men, and publish to believing thousands that sublime ritual, those holy truths, and that belief in existence of an Almighty God, which can alone secure her and those who worship at her shrines a treasure where “ the moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal.”