HOUSE OF LORDS.

New Zealander, Volume 10, Issue 881, 23 September 1854, Page 3

HOUSE OF LORDS.

Friday, June 16. In the Home of Lords, last night, Lord Iledesdale rose to ask. the noble Duke the late Secretary of State for the Colonies the reason of the delay which had taken place in appointing a successor to the late Bishop of Sydney, who died in England on 20th of February, 11153. lie had asked the noble Duke a similar question in July last, and he then stated that the delay arose from its being then under the consideration of the Government whether the bishopric should be erected into the archbishopric of Sydney. He believed that some further delay had since occurred in consequence of the appointment having been offered to, but declined by, the Bishop of New Zealand. Under these circum lances the delay which had taken place might not have been altogether unnecessary, but still it was a matter of great regret that the see should have been left for eighteen months without episcopal superintendence, and he trusted that the noble Duke would be able to assure their Lordships that steps were now being taken to fill up the appointment. He wished also to know what would become of the revenue of the see during the period for which it had been vacant ! The Duke of Newcastle could assure the house that no one regretted more than himself the delay which had taken place in filling up this see; more especially on account of the causes which had of late occasioned it. He thought the noble lord had done good service in drawing attention to this subject, because, for reasons which he would state, he feared that the circumstances which had caused this long delay were not unlikely to occur again, and it therefore behoved the Church to consider whether means might not be taken to obviate the inconvenience which might otherwise arise. The first cause which led to the delay in the appointment of a successor was a representation, which the Government received from the Archbishop of Canterbury and others of the Bench of Bishops here, that it would be desirable to erect the bishopric of Sydney into an archbishopric. To that representation the Government, after carefully considering the subject, decided that it was not expedient at that moment to accede. As soon as that determination was arrived at, he (the Duke of Newcastle) with the concurrence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and others of the Episcopal Bench, offered the appointment to a rev. gentleman, an archdeacon, resident in this country. That rev. gentleman, however, declined to accept the appointment. Subsequently, after some further unavoidable took place with reference to the proposed appointment of oilier parties, he again received a proposition to recommend to her Majesty the translation of the Bishop of New Zealand to the vacant see. That course was indeed suggested to him very soon after the death of the la e Bishop; but he objected to it on more than one ground; certainly, however, on no ground personal to the Bishop of New Zealand, for he was of all men living the fittest to occupy the vacant see, but principally because be believed it objectionable to translate a Bishop without his knowiedgeand consent. Ik, therefore, in the first instance declined to appoint the Bishop of New Zealand. When, however, after receiving the refusals to which he had referred, he was again pressed by Bishops of the Church and others, in greater numbers than before, to appoint the Bishop of New Zealand; when he received intelligence that the people of Sydney itself especially desired his appointment, and that they were then in hopes that it had already gone out and was approaching their shores; and whsn, moreover, lie heard that the people of New Zealand thought that as part of the metropolitan see they would derive more advantage from their Bishop being placed at its head than they could do from his remaining in his piesent position; under these circumstances, lie at length, though with some hesitation, thought that Bishop Selwyn should he promoted to the metropolitan sec, and that a clergyman, long resident iu New Zealand, and well acquainted with the colonists and with their feelings, should be appointed Bishop of New Zealand. Her Majesty at once acceded to tl i; recommendation, and 1 e did not lose 24 hours in sending out to the colony to announce the appointment of Bishop Selwyn. Within, however, a fortnight after the announcement had left these shores, information was received here that the Bishop of New Zealand had left the colony for England on matters connected with hi* diocese. The communication consequently never reached him till he arrived here. He reached England in the first week in May, ami within a few days afterwards he (the Dukeof Newcastle) wrote to him fully explaining all the circumstances under which it was thought desirable that he should be appointed to the metropolitan see. and urging all those considerations of a public character which were likely to lead him to forego the indulgence of ail those affectionate feelings with which he was known to be actuated to wards the colonists of New Zealand, and which might have the effect of inducing him to decline to leave them. Bishop Selwyn did not feci enabled to come to a conclusion upon the subject at once: and be (the Duke of Newcastle) did not yeceive his answer to the letter urging him to accept the appointment, which was dated May 10 or 11, until the Uth of the present mouth. He regretted to say that, acting no doubt as he believed to be for the best, but as he (the Duke of Newcastle) and others thought, taking an erroneous view of what would be for the real interest of the Church, Bishop Selwyn then declined to accept the appointment to the metropolitan see. He (the Duke of Newcastle) received this reply only three days before be actually surrendered the seals of office as Colonial Secretary to her Majesty, and when the arrangements by which he quitted that department were fully completed. Under these circumstances it was quite impossible that he could himself take any further measures to remedy what he believed to be a great misfortune—the vacancy of this important see. He had already said, however, that he thought it was not unlikely that similar events would again occur, and he did so for this reason. Up to a very recent period it had been an invariable practice, on any vacancy occurring in a colonial bishopric, to send out a clergyman from this country, because there were not in the colonies clergymen of a class eligible for appointment as bishops. But in the course of the last few years a very material change had taken place. The number of the clergy in the colonies had increased to an immense extent, and there were now in many colonies, and particularly in New Zealand, men who were as well calculated for appointment to bishoprics as any in this country. Under these circumstances —following out the principles which, during the brief period he had presided over the Colonial Office, he had applied in civil appointments, that they should be given to persons resident in the colony if they were fit to undertake their duties—he certainly anticipated that Colonial Secretaries would frequently think it their duly to recommend to tier Majesty the appointment of clergymen resident in colonies. There was this inconvenience attendant upon the great advantage which would otherwise result from this course —that it would be necessary to obtain the consent of those reverend gentlemen to their appointments, and that when they were resident in distant colonies, delays of the kind such as had now taken place might not be of unfrequent occurrence. With regard to his noble friend's question with respect to the revenues of the sec, he was not prepared to say what would become of them during its vacancy if they were supplied by endowment. As, however, the greater part of the revenues of this see were voted by the colony itself, the decision of this question would, of course, rest with the Colonial Legislature. Lord Rcdctdale remarked that he entirely acquitted the Government of any blame on account of the delay which had occurred with reference to this appointment.