MR. GODLEY'S LATE LETTER TO THE CANTERBURY ASSOCIATION.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 581, 8 November 1851, Page 3

MR. GODLEY'S LATE LETTER TO THE CANTERBURY ASSOCIATION.

(Fiom the " Austialian and New Zealand Gazette," May 17.) It appears that this letter first published in the Times, and froip that source transferied to the columns

of ouv List number, has fallen like a shell amidst th^ Puseyite mng.izi'ie in t lie Adelphi. We were some what amazuhit seeing si>eh a letter put forih as " Ir <-hly lute, c-tino intelligence" trow the settlement, as nothing more complexly "condemnato y of lhe piocccdings of the Association hitheito could well h.ive been conceived, had it been Mr. Godlev's intention to have imtle an exposure thereof We will, however, set down the publication of that letter io the extreme candour of the Canteihury Association, as this course will be convenient (o ouiselvos in dismissing further consideration of the letter for the present. Since the publication of this lelte.-, the Times Irs adminisieivd a weP-ment d chastisement to the c dilettanti colony-mongers, and Lord Lyttellon, as one of tue founders of the new s^ iiemtni, i a., taken up the cudgles in beholf oc tlie Association. His Lordship's arguments coiibist of two d.cla 1 a ions. Ist, That "the Association are em, rely bound and plei^td to the principles of the Asoev-ion;" — Jiese piinciplc^. amongst other matters, oompiisi'iw he c\\ nd'-uie of " one-third in rel'3ioi'3 and educa'iiona 1 esiablishinpnU.," — ; n other words, oat pound pr acre o" the whole pos pioceeds. 2ndly. Th.it '''he As-c 'u.\'<oa have rolhiig to do lohh the Hiji Clinch pat), ncr whh a,,tj other pmty in the Chia-ch of Eug! nd." Tlip fiist of thc^e declarations we l/cos over, v.hi the renv k 'it>t i'ie o, c pound < >.cie thus spent was a few years a<;o deemed b/ Mr. Wakefield sufficient foi a'l purposes of colonization, the dividends of colomVnoj conr .t)K, included, and on Uiis pi incifle the cob 'n>z of bo. i New Zoala .d and Sout'i Austt alia were tbu'idod. Iti- with the second decoration Urt we have chiefly to do, viz., ihat " the Associat i n have no. 7 inj to d? with the Hi ,h Church p'i'i;'"- t':e :ei..i i us^yism having, we suppose, b. come offensive 'o High Church ol! ctones. Now, fiom Lo.d Lytielion this is an extraordinary declaration, seeing that the Association in for the most pait f c creation of fie Wilbenorcc , the Simeons, a*id himself. Two of his cos jiito,", Archdeacon Manning awl a broiler of! c Bishop ofO ,i id, have since bocome Rom .n C Miolics. Only a lew weeks r^o Mr. John Climeon did t!ie bime, and Loi' l Ly.telion himseM'hi' go 'c t'le round of Hie |>-pe.s as being so far on his u»y fiom Oxford to Home, as lo be within h-il of the waiclrnm on the pdLsof -he la'te 1 tl y. Noww^ai is Lord Lyliel on's declaration worl'i a^sr tins ? ]\-en will ire t*ie'r common sense upon iVoe subjects, d- -pile the declaration of a p-er; a 1 d as no one for a moment will doubt Lord Lyitdton s good f ii>h in the m tier, it is dh 'cplt to conceive wh°t other intenireL-fion Coil be pot on his dec'.uaiio i th n that l»e whole at .ir has gone even 1 eyond the bounds of H)£,ll Church pai'v ; for fom the commnniciiiOns we are con ,iantly lec^ivingfrom evangel'cal clergymen, thanking v*> for the sia»d we are mahi'vj f^iim&i the inflictioa ot Puseyism on the colonies, we are pret'y certain that Low Churchmen, es they are contemptuously ca'led, have nothing to do with the Association A meie glance at the libt of i'ie Association will, however, at once decide as to what Church patty they belong. If this be not the interpretalion to be put on Lord Lytlellon's declaration, one ot\er only remains, viz , that the Association is ashamed o< its Puseyism. Under ordinary circumstances we should be gl~d to accept of this interpretation, but in the ca'e of the Association it is coupled with Lotd Lyttelton's subsequent assertion ; — an unfor unate alternative, as savouring of the Jesuit doctrine, "any means lo an end" "None of us," says Lord Ly Helton, " wish to make a mystery of our individual opinions," but the Association find it convenient to repudiate their collect,^ opinions. We can respect even Puseyism, if it will stand to its colours, but when in the conflict it crams them anywhere to be out of sight, we can only despise the cause which adopts sudi expedients. Something like this must have flashed across the biain of the editor of the Times, on the receipt of Lord Lyitelton's communication. But let us look at the acls of the Association, no man caies a fig for their declarations, even though subscribed by Lord Lyttelton. Tlv ir first care was to despatch a Bishop to the colony, and before staiting, he caiefully inculcated on the first emigrants the necessity of placing their sphitual reliance on "their prayer-book and their priest." This course, we suppose, is, "unconnected with any Church party," as Lord Lyttelton has it. In one sense it is certainly to unconnected, since no body which inculcates such a doctrine can be a Chiistinn body, and, therefore, in this sense they are no Church We forbear to give the course pursued by the Bishop on his voyage out, as this would render our remarks personal ;— we are, however, in possession of these, and they will no doubt find publicity from some other quarter. The careful construction of a Church hierarchy, from which ail but thorough-going Puseyites have been excluded, is another instance at variance with Lord Lyttelton's declaration— that " the Association have nothing to do with the High Church party." This alone, before there are communicants for their ministration, is, to us, sufficient evidence of what we have all along maintained— thnt the object of lhe Association is not colonization, but the infliction of a Puseyite establishment on New Zealand, which establishment may serve as a nucleus for future operations, and for co-opera'ion witb/the Australian Bishops, who, with the exception of the Bishop of Melbourne, have all subscribed to Puseyite practices, and have recently made a declaration of belief in the doctrines of Exeter. By what oversight the evangelical Bishop of Melbourne got into his diocese is a mystery. We are strongly inclined to believe thnt, in bis case, it was really " by Divine Providence'* — the other Bishops having found their way to Australia mereiy by the grace of the Colonial Church Society. We are glad to see that their declarations have aroused the jealousy of the Australian people, and that a stand has begun to be made against them, the colony of South Australia t.ikingthe lead j— though, perhaps, this is unnecessaiy, for when the Australian Bishops learn the fate of English Puseyism, they will be as anxious to shake it oft as have been some of their English brethren— even as Lord John Russell, as Pimch witiily observes, has "chalked up 'no Popery,' and then run away." But we are running away fiom our subject, though not unnecessarily, for it is requisite that the Low Church English public should know something of the net which is being spread for iheir Southern Colonies, even though the meshea be somewhat of the rottenest. To return.— lf the construction of the New Zealand hierarchy have not an ultimate intention, such as may be expected from those who compose it, it is ' simply absurd. There is no flock;— for the few hundred devotees who have gone over aie only a burlesque on the staff which has been appointed to take care of their soult 1 health. This would not be forming a hierarchy, but playing at hierarch*, much in the same way as boys play at soldiers. '• Timeo Dannaos et donaferentes" will, however, be an excellent motto for the older New Zealand colonists ; though, Heaven knows . the proffered gifts are not worth having. We will not go farther into this purt of the question, though we could adduce proofs by the dozen to show the fallacy of Lord Lyttelton's declaration, that " the Association have nothing to do with the " High Church party." But we have a more serious charge to bring against the Association than those with which their own agent, Mr. Godley, has twitted them. He has me-ely shown them that they have effected no'hing of their large pretensions, that there are no roada even for the common purposes of transporting the emigrants' baggage to the place of location, and that at least j £25,000 are immediately wanted for this purpose ; the J little that has been necessarily expended having either come out of his own private purse, or that he was already respontible for a considerable amount of debt incurred, nn&ioould go no farther! Had Lord Lyttelton written to the editor of the Times, that this £25,000 had been sent, together with the j£5,000 of debt incurred to Mr. Godley, there would ; have been force in his arguments, and, High Church or Low Church, they would have been worth listening to. As it is, evety colonial newspaper, from Western Australia lo Auckland, will, on the receipt of our papers, look with ridicule on the Association's system of cheap propagandist finance, which makes iti should-be paid servant pay the disbursements out of his own means, whilst it is placarding every dead wall in London with its grandiloquent pretensions, but sending no funds. Our charge is this, that, from recent advices from the settlement, no provision has been made for feeding the emigrants on their arrival. In another part of our paper will be found a letter from the colony, of so late a date as Nov. 2(5, showing the then high prices of the settlement; what these would be on the sudden debarkation of a large body of emigrants, »»y one acquainted practically with colonization can tell. Yet, at this date and in this emergency, their agent wutes thai he has no funds, and is £5,000 in debt. The danger to which we have alluded is fully seen in the other settlements of the colony, and they are foiwauling supplies to a limited extent, in exchange, for which they will, no doubt, reap an exorbitant harvest. Now, £10,000 in the hands of the Canterbury agent would have prevented this altogether, and would have saved the money of the new settlement for its own purposes. It is, however, poisible that the Canterbury Association

may impugn the authoiity of the letter alluded <o, as they have aUected to do on a fonnet occasion. With these remarks we Icive th" subject for the pieent, mid oui readers may judge lor themselves of the means and aim of the Absocia ion, or irs connection with the High Church par y, Our object is to prevent the chance of an intend d Puspyile Church Establishment, not only in New Zealand, but in all the Australian colonifs, by warning ihr co'onists as to the machinations puisued for tint purpose at home. They aie shallow enough, it is tine, but that is no reason why they should not be guarded against. A cold, if neglected, m y become a malignant fever.