CHURCH OF ENGLAND EDUCATION SOCIETY.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 672, 10 January 1852, Page 3

CHURCH OF ENGLAND EDUCATION SOCIETY.

On Wednesday afternoon, pursuant to notice, a meeting of the members of the Church of England was held for the purpose of opening the New School House, erected by subscription at Thorndon. Owing partly to the shortness of the previous notice, but more perhaps to the weather which unfortunately proved to be rainy and boisterous, the attendance was rather limited. Among those present were the Bishop of New Zealand, His Excellency Sii George Grey and Lady Grev, His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, Lieutenant-Colonel and Mrs. M'Cleverty, Mr. and Mrs. St. Hill, Hon. A. Tollemache, Rev. E. Wheeler, Rev. E. B. Hutton, Messrs. Fitzherbert, Raymond, Bannatyne, Moore, Rhodes, Kelham, Wodehouse, Hamley, Stokes, &c. The building, which is to the rear of the Government offices (formerly Barrett’s Hotel) has been erected from a design by Mr. St. Hill, on a site granted to the Society by his Excellency the Governor-in-Chief. It is a neat and substantial wooden building about forty feet long by twenty feet wide, and sixteen feet high, with an octagon porch at the north end, and lighted by three windows on the west side of three lights each, with mullions and transoms. The interior is lined with wood to the height of five feet, and plastered above. The building, which has been constructed in a substantial manner that reflects great credit on the contractors, has been three months in hand, having being commenced early in October. The Bishop of New Zealand having been requested to take the chair, opened the business of the meeting by an appropriate prayer, after which His Lordship commenced by stating the objects of the meeting; they had met together to open a school which had been erected for diffusing the blessings of a Christian education and he felt that no comment was required from him, as the simple fact shewed the amount of zeal that existed among them. He could not refrain from expressing the great pleasure he felt from what had been done, and not the less on that account that if any delay had taken place in providing for education in this settlement, it had enabled them to begin on a more efficient and satisfactory scale than perhaps they would have done at an earlier period. He had not been indifferent to the interests of the larger settlements, though the large extent and scattered nature of this country had compelled him to devote the greatest portion of his time to those districts in which the greatest amount of spiritual destitution existed, and he stated this as an apology for his seeming neglect in not having spent more time amopg them. In the course of these visitations he had become convinced that the necessity of education was generally felt throughout these Islands, not only

in the towns, but even in such remote districts as the Chatham Island, the whaling and sealing stations in Foveaux Straits and elsewhere, at which a numerous race of half caste children is growing up and where, in the midst of many discouraging circumstances, the redeeming point is the desire of the parents for the education of their children. He would adduce in illustration of his statement different circumstances which had occurred to his knowledge in the course of his visits to these stations. " I may instance,” said his Lordship, “an unhappy man, whom on two successive visits at an interval of seven years, I found in a state of intoxication : all the motives and arguments addressed to himself that I could urge failed to touch his heart, or make the slightest impression cn him. I then pointed to his half caste children, and asked him if he would like any one of them to be brought up in the same way that he was living ? ‘ No, not one Sir,* he replied with considerable energy, and his whole frame shuddered as he spoke. This general principle prevailed, that even those who do not care for their own souls, do care for the education of their children.” His Lordship then referred to another instance of a man who, although ignorant of reading and writing himself, endeavoured to procure the advantages of education for his children, and resorted to a very ingenious plan for obtaining a succession of teachers for them. He made himself popular with the mates of vessels that called at his station, and, with their assistance, his children were taught to read and write, and he (the Bishop) found them to answer his questions in a way that surprised him. His Lordship referred to a third instance : when he first came to Wellington, a woman, the wife of a whaler at Porirua, asked him to baptise her children. As there were no godfathers or godmothers he felt a great difficulty in baptising them, as there was no one to answer for their being properly brought up ; but he thought it better to cast his bread upon the waters, and the result was that, after an interval of nearly eight years, at 1000 miles distance, he met with one of these children at Aneiteum, in the New Hebrides, and found her able to read and carefully instructed by her mother in Christian principles. His Lordship concluded by observing that, throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand, there was not one single person who could dissent in word or heart from the work in which they were this day engaged, and he hoped that, by the blessing of Almighty God, the work would prosper in their hands. The following Report was then read to the Meeting by the Honorary Secretary, Mr. Raymond:—

At a meeting of members of the Church of England, called by the Archdeaconry Board for a specific purpose, the subject of Education was introduced; and after it had been explained to the meeting by the chairman, the Venerable Archdeacon Hadfield, that ihe Schools up to that time established in the district, and connected with our Church, have been entirely supported from funds supplied out of monies placed at the disposal of the Bishop by Societies and persons out of this colony, it was resolved that a meeting be called for the express purpose of endeavouring to raise funds for establishing in this town Schools in connection with our Church. A meeting was accordingly held in St. Paul’s Church, in May last, at which it was resolved— “ That this meeting consider it to be the duty of the members of the Church to provide for all their children a complete course of sound religious education, and invite the co-operation of their brethren throughout the district for effecting this most desirable object.’’ It was further resolved that, to carry out this object, it would be necessary that a School should, be built at each end of the town of Wellington, and that the School first to be built should be the one near St Paul's Church. At a subsequent meeting the Secretary brought forward the following suggestions, in order that it might be distinctly understood in what manner the Society and Schools should be conducted — 1. That the Society be called “The Church of England Education Society.” 2. That none but members of the Church of England shall be eligible to be elected members of the Committee. 3. That no master will be eligible to take charge of either of the proposed Schools who is not approved of as a fit and proper person by one of the Clergymen on the Committee. 4. That in addition to a general education a course of religious instruction, in accordance with the doctrines of the Church of England, will be given in the Schools, the arrangements for conducting such course of religious instruction to be left to the Clergymen of the Church of England who are members of the Committee. His Excellency the Governor-in Chief having at once put at the disposal of the Society the piece of land on which the School in which we are now assembled has been erected, a spe- ' cial meeting was called by advertisement for the purpose of electing Trustees, in whom lands granted to the Society shall be vested; and for electing a Working Committee, such Committee, in conjunction with the Trustees, “to have full powers to carry out, in the manner they deemed most advisable, the objects of the Society.”

The Trustees appointed were—Archdeacon Hadfield, or the Archdeacon of the district for the time being; Rev. Robt. Cole, or the senior Clergyman at Wellington for the time being; Mr. Fitzherbert, Mr. Hickson, Mr. Moore. The Committee appointed were, in addition to the Trustees— The Rev. T. B. Hutton, Capt. Rhodes, Mr. Stokes, Mr. St. Hill, Mr. Spinks, and Mr. Godfrey Thomas. This Committee held their first meeting on the 19th August, 1851, and have continued to meet weekly (when there was any business to lay before them) since that period. .Mr. St. Hill having, at the request of the Committee, prepared the design of the present building, tenders were called for, when the wllowing were sent in— One f0r.£296 0 0 328 0 0 349 0 0 ~ „ 303 0 0 ~ ~ 322 3 0 Wakelin & Carter.. j£ls2 I . A A Dado 20 J ® ® Wakelin & Carter’s tender, which was below even the estimate made by Mr. St. Hill, was accepted : and the Committee hare great pleasure in bearing testimony to the efficient manner in which the contract has been fulfilled. The Committee have further the pleasure to state that, since his Lordship the Bishop of New Zealand arrived in Wellington he has examined the books of the Society, and that all the proceedings of the same have met with his Lordship’s approval. His Lordship has made over to the Society land adjoining the Church on Te Aro suitable for a School, and has consented, in compliance with the Rules of the Society, to execute a deed for vesting the land in Trustees, for the special purpose of having erected thereon a Church of England School. The Committee have to report the sum of £2lB 19 6 as already collected: the sum of £66 9 0 subscribed but not yet paid: of this sum £5B 7 6 is annual subscription. The office-bearers of the Society consist of— The Trustees The Committee The Secretary and Treasurer The Trustees, and Secretary and Treasurer are elected without any limit as to time ; the Committee were elected to serve tiii a new Committee be appointed, which appointment shall take place in the mouth of January in each year. In terms of such resolution the Committee have now to call upon the members present to elect their successors, to whom every informaation shall be afforded by the present Committee. Sir George Grey, in moving the adoption of the Report, referred to the proceedings of the first Meeting, and said he could not help feeling that an important declaration had been made, when they unanimously resolved that it was the duty of the members of the Church of England to provide a sound religious education for all the children of [ their communion. It remained then to be seen how those who entered into a duty so j solemnly recognised would acquit themI selves of its performance. He thought it would be admitted that the subscriptions raised surpassed the expectations they could ; have reasonably formed, while the discharge ‘ of their duty by the Committee shewed they : had entered on those duties with a full sense of their great importance, and such a result ; as this school-house in which they were i now assembled must be a gratifying proof of the value of their labours. He was of opinion the best tribute they could pay the committee was to adopt their report with thanks to them for their exertions, and he would therefore move that the Report be he adopted and approved. The resolution was seconded bv the Lieutenant Governor, and unanimously adopted. The Lieutenant Governor, in moving the election of the Committee, said the regularity of attendance and zeal on the part of those gentlemen who formed the committee of the previous year afforded the best guar - antee of the faithful discharge of their duties, he would therefore move that Rev. T. B. Hutton, Rev. E. Wheeler, Captain Rhodes, Mr. Stokes, Mr. St. Hill and Mr. Spinks, be appointed the committee for the current year. Seconded by Mr. J. H. Wallace and carried unanimously. CHURCH CONSTITUTION. The Bishop of New Zealand said, the subject now to be brought before them was much more wide in its nature, but it was thought by many a good opportunity at the close of the School meeting to take into consideration a general Church constitution for the settlement of all those questions of ecclesiastical laws which were not applicable to the state of the Church in this colony. The immediate occasion of this meeting arose out of a similar meeting at Adelaide, where the support hitherto afforded to the Church by the State in that colony had been suddenly withdrawn. In one respect they were not in the same position, no support had been withdrawn from them, for none had been given. It was true that a selection had been made by the Governor, in his discretion, of a Colonial Chaplain to minister to the spiritual wants of those un-

der the care of the Government in the hos-

pital and gaol, but no specific Government aid was given to the Church, they were therefore in the same condition with their brethren at Adelaide, andlheir object then was to consider and adopt some such course that every member in the' Church might know his own position, and all its privileges and duties. A question might arise in the minds of many as to the best course to be adopted ; his own private opinion was that a slight legislative enactment, which would give the power to pass bye-laws to be recognized as the compact between the members of the Church, would be the kind of constitution they required. The resolutions which his Excellency the Governor-in-Chief would submit to them, stated, 1st — the expediency of a Church constitution; 2ndly—the adoption of some provisionalmeasure immediately; 3rdly—an application to Parliament for the necessary powers. They had met for the discussion of these objects, and he should be happy to hear any questions from any person present, which his position or his experience might enable him to answer.

Sir George Grey said he had prepared for the consideration of the members of the Church a resolution embodying five heads, and would take that opportunity of stating that, personally, he was peculiarly anxious to see a form of constitution adopted for the government of the Church in this country which was the same as that which the Church in the United States, after the experience of half a century had found, with some modifications, to be the best suited to their circumstances. Unfortunately, at first starting, the Church in the United States had adopted one or two rules which were mixed up with Church property, and which they now found it impossible to alter; not Having ,when they started, previous experience to guide them they had, in as far as these few particulars were concerned, made shipwreck of their constitution, but the members of the Church of England in New Zealand were in a position to benefit by the experience of their brethren in the United States. He felt so convinced of the necessity of doing something that, foregoing wholly his own private much more extended views, he would ask them to assent to a few simple propositions which would bind them in one compact body, and which would provide funds for the support and extension of the Church. The annual payment which was proposed by the resolution established a rate of franchise, and furnished a constituency who would elect committees on whom would devolve the duty of managing the pecuniary affairs of the Church. These Committees might perhaps hereafter be required to consider and recommend some form of Constitution for adoption; but in the mean time they would form a nucleus from which such a development of the Church as circumstances required might hereafter take place ; even if their first steps should prove faulty in some respects they secured the means of future and progressive development, and he felt persuaded that having such holy ends in view, although they might make some first erroneous steps, still that ultimately they must arrive at a form of Government under which the Church would prosper. His Excellency then read the resolution, briefly commenting on each head, and observed it was a disputed point with eminent authorities whether it was necessay to apply to the Legislature for further powers; but there being this doubt, it became them as members of the Church of England not to incur the slightest risk of setting themselves in opposition to the law, but rather to set an example of the most scrupulous obedience by submitting the question, regarding which there appeared to be a doubt, to Parliament, and requesting, if it should be found necessary, that the requisite powers should be conferred upon them. He wished further to state, that he might not be considered too presumptuous, that he had fully communicated with the Bishop of New Zealand, and it was only on the understanding that his Lordship assented in thinking that what he proposed was the best thing ihat could at present be done for the Church, that he ventured to draw up the paper he would now submit to them. His Excellency then read the following resolution :—

That it is extremely desirable that some form of Constitution for the government of the branch of the Church of England in New Zealand should be established with as little delay as possible. J

-That all adult members of the Church of England resident in the district be invited to enrol themselves as such, and to agree to pay a subscription of three shillings oer quarter for Church purposes. That the adult members of the Church of England so enrolling their names shall annually appoint a Committee from their own members, to determine to what specific purposes connected with the Church, and in what proportions, the funds they subscribe shall be applied.

That such Committee shall be authorised to receive subscriptions for Church purposes from any persons wishing to subscribe, either generally for Church purposes, or for some specific object connected with the welfare of the Church of England. That a Committee shall be appointed by such enrolled members of the Church of England to prepare petitions to both Houses of Parliament, praying that any laws which may be deemed necessary or proper for the purpose of enrolling the members of the Church of England to manage their own internal affairs in the New Zealand Islands may be enacted by Parliament.

The resolution was seconded by Captain Rhodes.

The Bishop of New Zealand said that, before putting the question as chairman, he was exceedingly anxious to hear the opinions of some of the gentlemen present. In answer to a question from Mr. J. H. Wallace,

His Lordship explained that an annual grant was given by the Government to the Church at Sydney, but that he considered the operation of this system unfavourable, and had never recommended the introduction of the Australian Church system into New Zealand.

After some observations by Mr. Raymond with reference to the Church arrangements at Sydney, The Bishop said that in England every person was considered to belong to the Church, and had a right to vote who paid Church rates ; from this arises the difficulty of their position, as the ecclesiastical laws were inapplicable to the circumstances of the colony. His Lordship having requested Mr. Fitzherbert to state his opinion Mr. Fitzherbert said that, having been appealed to in so direct a manner by his Lordship, he must confess he had not paid such attention to the subject of church government as to justify the expression of his opinion on the question in so public a manner. As far as the resolutions were concerned, he thought they were so simple in form and general in their character, forming the basis on which a fitting superstructure might hereafter be raised, as to receive his hearty approval, and he had no doubt would be generally concurred in. The details of the measure might be the subject of future consideration, and this appeared to be the object of the framers of the resolution, who shewed their wisdom and prudence in giving it this general character. Mr. Kelham thought the resolutions of such a nature as to give very general satisfaction, and to leave nothing to discuss, while they prepared the way for further measures.

Captain Rhodes said he had shewn his entire concurrence in the resolutions by simply seconding them. Another point which should occupy their attention was the necessity of raising funds for extending in New Zealand the salutary influence and benefits of the church, which had hitherto been mainly supported by contributions from well disposed persons in England. He had felt much gratification at the liberal and enlightened principles expressed by his Lordship, and he was sure that this day’s proceedings, when published, would stimulate the members of the Church to make additional exertions. The exertions made in Austialia for the extension of the church in the Pacific, in which the Bishop of New Zealand had taken the lead, had attracted very general attention, and had obtained for his Lordship a world-wide reputation. He (Capt. R.) had recently received a letter from a relation stationed as a missionary in one of the most remote parts of India, who referred to the great sensation which the missionary proceedings at. Sydney had caused in that continent. He (Capt. R.) thought that when they were blest with such a pastor, the least they could do was to second his views by every exertion in their power. (Applause)

The Bishop was glad to find that the resolution proposed by his Excellency was considered to hit the happy mean in stating neither too little or too much. Whenever such a form of Church constitution should be established, as that proposed in the resolution, he should be happy to surrender to the general body every grant which he held as Trustee, and relieve himself at once from these responsibilities. His only reason for retaining them was his desire to prevent the multiplication of separate trusts for every Church purpose. He hoped that all Church Trusts would be held by one uniform tenure, and that separate committees would receive a delegated authority from the general convention for the management of Churches, Schools, and Burial grounds, and every other kind of Church property. . The resolution was then put to the meeting and carried unanimously, and the proceedings were concluded by prayer. The collection at the doors amounted to six pounds.