General Assembly.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 582, 2 June 1858, Page 3

General Assembly.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

The principal debate of the session, in the Legislative Council, took pla.ce_ on the 19th and 22nd of April, on the introduction of Mr. Swainson according to previous notice, of " a bill to authorise the Bishop of New Zealand to convey certain heriditaments and premises to trustees, to be appointed in that behalf by the General Synod of the Church of England in New Zealand."

As the chief portions of the debate arising thereon, rested with Mi. Swainson and the Chief Justice, we confine ourselves to their speeches on the occasion ; and even these make a considerable draft on our limited space.

Afbil 19. Mr. Swlikson in moving for leave to introduce this bill, said: Sir, I briefly explained to the Council the circumstances which had led to the application ; and in now moving that it be read a second time, I will give to the Council a short account of the measures which have been taken for organizing the members of the Church of .England in New Zealand, and of the manner in which that object will be promoted if the bdj shall pass into law. Bimple as it appears to be,'the measures now before the Council iscaculated to have an important bearing on the interests of a large portion of the community. Of the European population of the colony not less than one-half are members of the Church of England; of the professing christians among the' native population, considerably more than one-half are members of the church ; and of the.one hundred and forty ministers of various religious denominations now stationed ' in New Zealand, seventy are clergymen of the Church of England. ' But however numerous they m;iy be, the members of the Church of England, on being transplanted to a British colony, s iind themselves in an anomalous position ; they neither carry with them the ecclesiastical laws of. England, or any dower of local ecclesiastical self-government; gj&d it was commonly believed, .uutil very recently, that, consistently with the provisions of the act of submission, the bishop, clergy, and laity of the Church of England in a British colony could not even'"lawfully meet- together for the purpose of making regulations for the management of their own ecclesiastical affairs; and until 'measures are taken expressly for their organization, the bishdp, -clergy, and the laity of the Church, instead of being a. " body fitly joined together by that which every joint supplieth," are no more than so many isolated, independent, and powerless congregations, as inefficient for many important purposes as an aTmy without a Mutiny Act or. Articles of War. "in whom should the property of the church be vested? and by whom, should it be administered ? On what :* principle should the patronage of the church be administered, and by whom should it be- exercised? How shall discipline be.maintained? and'by whajfc. tribunal shall questions of false doctrine be decided ? Shall the clergy be P?l^ hy' fixed incomes, or by a varying scale ? AM shall they depend, and to what extent, on -the contributions of the congregations? On these, and on a variety, of other important subjects of- immediate practical importance, the members of a church in a newly founded colony, are altogether without either rule or guidance; and they have no other security for the maintenance of discipline than the arbitrary power of the Bishop to'grant or withhold their license to preach. " The government of the Church of England in this colony," recently wrote.,the Bishop of Melbourne, referring to Port Philip, "is a pure autocracy -„* * * while'the colonial clergy justly complain of the insecurity of their tenure.; men of high standing and ability in England, such as we ■especially require, are, for the most part, unwilling to accept employment where they "would be subject to the arbitrary will of a single individual." The first movement on the part of the lay members of the church' in this country to obtain some system .of synodical action took place in 1849, when the outline of a plan was put Jorward, which received the support of a considerable number of leading members of the church in the various settlements. "We find," said its promoters, " that we form the most advanced. and1 remote outpost of the Church of England. There have also devolved upon us, in common with many of our countrymen, the important duties of aiding in the foundation of a great nation, and. iri the moulding of its institutions. At the same time there were in our immediate vicinity various heathen nations, and even in the midst of us are many native inhabitants of these islands who have not yet embraced the doctrines of Christianity. Moreover we, the European members of the Church of. England, have been collected from many countries, arid are settled in widely detached localities; and thus although we are bound together by a common faith and have common duties to perform, we'are united by few of the usual ties of long and familiar acquaintance, whilst there is no system of local organizaiion which might tend to draw us together as members of the same church. We therefore feel ourselves called, from circumstances ana from our position to vast responsibilities and to the discharge of important duties, whilst we have many elements of weakness around and amongst us. From these causes it is our earnest conviction that a peculiar necessity exists for the speedy establishment of some system of church government amongst us, which, by assigning to each order in the church its appropriate duties, might call for the energies of all, and thus enable the whole y body of the church most efficiently to perform its functions." Meetings of ] church members were afterwards held in the \ various settlements to consider the princi- ! pies- on which the members of the church should be organised for purposes of Church Government; and it was found that on the leading features the colonists were all but unanimous. It was agreed that the governing body of the Church should consist of the Bishop, the representatives of the clergy, and the repre- ' sentatives of the laity:—that a majority of eachof the three orders, should be necessary to all 'landing acts:—and that the bond-of union should'be a strict adherence to the. doctrines and ritual of the mother Church. And on visiting England in 1854, the Bishop of New Zealand was authorised to move the Imperial authorities to pass an act for establishing in this colony a system of Sy'riodical action based upon principles which had received from the

colonists their almost unanimous con<u/reneeBut in 1854 all hope of Imperial legislation was at an end. Representations of a similar charaC!ei- had previously been made to the Impsrial Parliament by tue colonists in Canada, Australia, and the Cape of Good Hope, but - without effect: three bills were successively brought forward: in 1852 by'Mr. Gladstone—in 1853 by the Archbishop of Canterbury—and in 1854 by the Solicitor-General: but not one of them passed into a law. About this time a case was submitted for the opinion of counsel whether the act of submission did in fact extend to prevent the bishops, clergy, and Jaity in a colony from meeting together for the purpose of making regulations for the management -of their own ecclesiastical affairs; and ah opinion was given by three of the eminent counsel of the day that the act in question could not be construed ifo extend to a colonial see; and action was immediately taken in several of our colonies to establish some system of synodical action amongst the members of-the church. It still l&mained, however, to be considered what, course should be taken by church members in the colony of New Zealand; and as I have already informed the Council, a General Conference was held in Auckland about a year ago, to take the subject into consideration. The conference consisted, as I have already stated, of the Bishop of New Zealand—the Bishop of Christchurch—six Archdeacons, and two other clergymen, and 7 laymen, the clerical and members having been elected by church members in the settlements of Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, and Canterbu/y. Two courses were open for adoption—either to apply to the Colonial Legislature for an act enabling the members of the church to make regulations for its government, which should be binding on all the members of the church in the colony—or for members of- the church to associate themselves on the principle of voluntary compact. Upon consideration, the conference agreed to the 'latter course; and proceeded to frame a deed of foundation or constitution, calculated to carry their views into effect; a copy of the constitution is annexed to the bill, and its main features may be stated in a few words. It provides that a governing body shall be established for the management of any church property which may be conveyed to it; that it shall consist of the three orders in the church, and that the consent of each shall be necessary to all binding acts, and that the lay members be freely elected by the whole body of churchmen without exception, and that it shall have tha power to make all such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the efficiency of the associated members of the church. But materials for the foundation of the proposed system were to be provided. As I stated on a former "occasion, nearly the whole of the real property of the church having become vested in the Bishop of New Zealand; and without legislative authority he cannot transfer that property to any other trustees; and it was obvious that application would have to be made to the legislature for an enabling act; and the conference accordingly prepared a bill suited to promote the object, and appointed a standingcommittee to take the necessary measures for securing for it the sanction of the Assembly. The bill now before the Council is the bill as framed by .the conference, and it was in compliance with the request"of the Standing Committee that I have undertaken to introduce it to the Council. It is obligatory upon no one, but simply permissive; it simply enables the Bishop of New Zealand, to transfer, if he see fit, the church property now held by-him, to trustees to be appointed by the proposed governing body or General Synod. The plan adopted by the conference, including none but those ■ who involuntarily em-ol themselves amongst its members:—it excludes none but those who do m ot desire to become parties to it —it can deal with no other property but that which maybe voluntarily conveyed—it directly affects none but those who receive payment out of its funds—and it leaves the ordinary rights, of the members of the church altogether untouched. It is by no means improbable that a system, simply founded on the principle of voluntary compact, may prove insufficient. for the efficient organization of the members of tlie church—but it is at all events a safe and prudent experiment. And if the proposed Church Synod shall profitably .administer the property that may be conveyed to it, and if it shall wisely exercise the powers proposed tb*be conferred upon it, it may be reasonably expected that other church property will from time^ to time be added to the common fund—that an increasing number of members of the chunh. will be moved to takeanactivepartinthemanagement of its affairs—and the measures of the recent conference, if insufficient in themselves, will ultimately lead to the establishment of a system of church government in this country, which by assigning to each order in the church its appropriate duties, may call forth the energies of all, and that being gradually riveted by joints and bands having nourishment mhi'lstered and knit together, the members of the Church of England and New Zealand may be formed into one body, may be animated by one spirit —and be governed'by one law—and thus become a fitting instrument for taking part in building up the ' native 'people'of these islands into a Christian nation, and in extending the light .'of the Gospel to the heathen people of the Southern Soas. The honourable member concluded by moving the second reading of the bill. The first clause was read and parsed; but to the second the Chief Justice demurred, as if passed it would have the effect of creating a. law by which the management of all church property would hereafter become fixed.

After some discussion ..the second clansp wn»

postponed, the chairman reported progress, and obtained leave to-sit again on Thursday.

[Since the above was in type we find that. Tvant' of space precludes our publication of the■second days' debate until our next'issuel]