COLONIAL HEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume I, Issue 13, 5 April 1851, Page 7

COLONIAL HEWS.

■ ,Tlie followh)"- Mihninible letter by the Bishop 1 of'Adelaittc l\;\< Iven e.illeil forth hy the resolutions passed at, i.h-- p;il>!ic '.neetinp,1, of which we gi\ve an acoonut i\i mir last journal. We quote itjfrotn the N. Z. Spectator of the 15 \

" Adelaide, Jan. 31, 1851. " Dear Mr. Morphett,—l beg to acknowledge the receipt of the Resolutions passed at a meeting held on the 28th in Pulteney Street School-room, which reached me this day; and I take this opportunity of making a few observations, which I request you to make public, and to transmit, together with the resolutions, to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury:— 1. The attempt to narrow the terms of communion and admission into the Ministry alleged against the Bishops in the Ist resolution, is negatived by the language of the minute itself on Holy Baptism ; which states that they 'do not presume to think that they can inform or guide the judgment of the whole church' in this matter; and secondly, by incorporating in the same minute the statement of the Bishop of Melbourne, which appears to favour another construction of the baptismal services; thereby indicating liberty of judgment on this subject. 2. The institution of duly elected conventions of the laity, suggested in the minutes, sitting simultaneously with Synods of the Clergy, under authority of the Queen as supreme Head of the Church, negatives the attempt on the part of the Bishops to 'assume ecclesiastical authority, and obtain an extension of power,' alleged in the second and third resolutions. "With such conventions and synods sitting, either simultaneously or conjointly, it would be morally impossible.

3. Any disloyal wish to repudiate or restrict the lawful supremacy of the queen is negatived by Minute 2, affirming the canons of A.D. 1603 to be binding on the Bishops and Clergy of the Australasian dioceses. The Ist article of the 36th canon expressly affirms the queen's supremacy; and it is further secured by subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles, in the declaration prefixed to which it is set forth.

4. Lastly, with respect to Tractarian and AntiProtestant views : having witnessed the beginning, rise, progress, and eventual tendency of that party in the Church, I have no hesitation in saying that, with their doctrinal statements on sin after baptism ; the mystical presence in the sacramental elements, and propitiatory efficacy of the Lord's Supper as a sacrifice; the virtue of penance; meritoriousness of works ; the. exaltation of the Virgin Mary ; the invocation of Saints set forth in one of the Tracts for the Times ; reserve in preaching the doctrine of the Cross ; the assumption of the priesthood and apostolic succession being necessary to give validity to the sacraments as means of grace ; Romanizing hooks of devotion and lives of the English Saints; the setting up of outward forms and disused ceremonials; insubordination to the civil power as supreme ' in all causes and over all persons ;' the putting a non-natural sense upon the Articles and Liturgy ; the disingenuousness and want of moral honesty in many of the disciples—with all these tilings, and possibly many more if brought to my recollection—l neither have nor have had any sympathy whatever. I recorded my vote in convocation at Oxford against Mr. Ward and his book, entitled the ' Ideal of a Church ;' and I am fully prepared, with God's grace, to stand by the Scriptural principles of our Reformed Protestant Church, both as to discipline and doctrine, in their plain, ordinary, moderate, and general acceptation, as understood before the late Romanizing movement; and in which, for twenty years of parochial ministration, I ever held them, previous to my consecration as Bishop of Adelaide. I rejoice to witness a godly jealousy among the laity for the purity of the faith won for us at the Reformation ; and would conclude with the prayer that we all —Bishops, Clergy, and Laity —may be guided unto all Truth, and kept from any zeal which is not after knowledge. I remain, dear Mr. Morphett, Yours faithfully, Hon. J. Morphett. Augustus Adelaide. WELLINGTON. We have received papers from Wellington to Miivch 19, and from Auckland to March 4. The brig " Louis and Miriam," Captain Pilfold, arrived at Wellington yesterday afternoon, from Sydney, after a passage of ten days. She was off the harbour on Monday, but havingcarried away some of her gear, was obliged to come to anchor in the heads. Fl"ur sit Sydneywas linn at 15/. for fine, and 14/. for second quality. The barque " llobt. Syers," P. Morrison, commander, sailed on Monday last from Wellington for London, with a cargo of colonial produce, valued at 11,388/. 14s. Bd. It consisted of— Wool, 10,867/. 15s. Bd.; tallow, 60/. 45.; bullock horns, 3/. 155.; shank bones, 2/.; flax, 45/.; sheep skins, 278/. 10s.; curiosities, mats, &c, 43/. This vessel has met with quick despatch, which is creditable to the shippers, and speaks well for the port. A few tons of fli\x have been sent by this opportunity, of various qualities, to test it as sin article for the home market, and if it is found to answer, we understand that sin almost unlimited quantity ot the same Muds can be supplied.