THE CANTERBURY SETILEMENT. (From the "Sydney Morning Herald," Aug. 9)

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 671, 18 September 1852, Page 3

THE CANTERBURY SETILEMENT. (From the "Sydney Morning Herald," Aug. 9 )

Bv the recent intelligence from England it ipppara that the public nttent on was especnlly attiacud to the Canterbury settlement. Sir 'Ihomns Tnncied of Hroughhtidge, YorUhu'°, who has n hi oilier (\heuly at Canterbury, is about to emigrate there, and is (burning a large paity who niv to leave England about the end of theyeai 1 . He Ins mule nn airan^cme'it by wiiiJi he and bis friends .ue to have from tie Cantei our% Absocintion such block or blocks of hnd as thoymay beienfter determine upon; th* 1 main condition lvinQ, thut at least one-half of the poition of the purchase mon 'V to bo devoted to leligious and educational purpose?, shall be expended lor t!ip spiritual benefit of the peisons -so buying land. A totvrs'np is to l>p funned, to bo called Gladstone, in which each of the purchase! 8 of rural lands, is to have an allotment of a quarter o I .111 acre. A veiy crowded meeting w.is held at St Maitin'b ll.ill at wh'ch letterB fiom several colonists weic rend ; arcd Mr. John Deans who has long; resided in the Canterbury dihtuct, spoke in the highest teems of the pio^pects of the settlement. The. pl.ni uropoM-cP by Sir 'J'homns was Inuhly npprovetl of. At the Mine meeting, the Rev. J. P. Gell, tbe intended Bishop, was present and made a «.'liort nddres«. 11U con^pciMtion was delayed fiom llio l.uv oOiceis ho'iling, ih \t nliliouj^h the lii-liop of New Ziml.iii'l could, under bw L'Hleis I'iitent, je-.ign his diocese, be could not in l,i\v (as }| P had dune in f.ict ) resign !i poition of it. 'Jo reimnly tfiN defect, an Act of { ) , l ili.im"iit w.is nocfssaiv, « hi. h wos being passed tlnou^h the House of Lords. We <,nve fiom the New ZeiUuid Jomnul a leport of Mr. Gell's speech : — The [{qv J. !'. Gell then cimo forward, nivl said ho had .ilw.i^s taken a w.nm mten'st in tlie Cantt ii)ury scttli'int'iil, aiwl njipioved oflli" soundness and biddnes'i oi the pnncij lcs uj'on whn,h it u-is l>,i,od ; au-1 lu> could notliel,i tlnnk\n<^ tint nine yiMr-,' espe'ience of our colonial chuich and our coloni.il states would en.ihle him bettivto synjiathue wnh the noble pioji'ct they now h,v\ 111 liPtid. Although it was consideied ft dispnragfineiit to a man to have been solnngauay from Hngl.tnd ; ye', ;is (lieu br-st olhceis and ■«tites m en wo c supposed tt f > li'ive incnnseil their c.ip!i!>ili;ic> by loreigu seiv c, lie doped thnt those who had been engij;ed n the senice o' the (Jlnncli in di-tmf pirts would h.ivc theii spocid (ju.iii'icition > and tlioi spec'ai of

fenng's to lay nt lei f.'ef. (lleai, hf.ir ) IJe should have benn glad to have addicted them, us he only jest) 1 day hoped to liave done, as their bishop elect ; but the unforeseen circumstance's winch their nobKchnirman had explainptl having interposed, it was at the present only in his c ipacity as a membei of the committep of the Association tliat he stood before them. He had always been struck with the wisdom of (heir choice of a settlement, because it had an exit bv sea, and by the intioduction of steam navigation, from being the most distant of the South Australian colonies, they would bocome the nearest; and a glorious iuture awaited them when by the opening of the Panama route the great Picific would be reduced as it were to an English lake. (Hear.) His idea of a perfect Chuich in the colonies was not atneie pimleged corporation ; \\ hatevei might be the circumstances of the ancient mother country, a prosperous Church in the colonies must test upon deeper foundations than that. They must lead all those over wLorn they had any influence 'to Him who had come down fiom heaven to earth to show how great designs should be accomplished, and to give us the gieat principles on which they should be undertaken. IF he became their bishop he should endeavour to pieserve all the traditions, all the old re- ! mpmbrances, all (lie noble feelings, all the sound doctune, all the leligious habit's, winch the Church of our foielathers had hariifed down to us; but he felt that unless they went foith in an humble disposition of heart, detnj mined to lay themselves out for services ami in self-sacrifices foi their bietlnen'a saXes, which in England were scaicely undeistood, they could never hope to overcame the many diific ltics in the early settlement of a colony. Let no one suppose that the Chuich of England in the Colonies could exercise a compulsoiy power — she mu»t go forth in the nali d strength of her own persuasive truth. There was nothing in her to hinder a dissenter [torn presenting himself on her shores hut much to enalde hei to enlarge herself as to take him in if he wer a true brother, or, if he weie unwilling, to bear with him, or, at least, to toleratf him. Another thing was, that they must not pxppct from their biJiop in the colony that he should be more than then minister in spiritual things. The} must remember that his succss in administering the Cliiiich's afians would gieillv depend on their concurrence, their wisdom at'd go opi'iation ; for they might rely upon it, that any folly in ihe Church or its congicgations must inevitably reco 1 ii| on their own head, (Hear, hear.) Although he wis unwilling to accept a diocese which belonged to ano her man, hut which was only withheld by a legal ami technical defect, he had thought it right to attend here that day in oidor to give them an opportunity of judging of the soundness of the punciplesby which he hoped to be guided if it was God's will that he bhould bold the appointment (Hear.)