VISIT OF BISHOP NELIGAN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 54, 29 March 1909, Page 3

VISIT OF BISHOP NELIGAN.

His Lordship the Bishop c, jiiiekland, J)r. Xeligan. is lit present paying a visit to tiie Taranuki portion nf ins diocese. Yesterday morning forty candi dates wcie presented for confirmation, in the afternoon his lordship was present ,u tlie ceremony nl' unveiling , the hatchments at St. Mary's, in the . evening lie prcaeiicd there to a crowded . congregation from I'salm W2, uiKiiig . the words, •■ Because of the house 01 I tin- Lord our (loci I will seel; tliv good.' . The pivaclier said that the psalmist ■ seemed to lie endeavouring to give a i cause for the feeling of patriotism that , welled up within him upon his return to , Jerusalem. It was not because of her vom rciiil prestige, or because of his companionship of the past, or because from the Holy City issued 'forth justice for the nations, but because the House of the Lord his t)od stood there. As in those days, and right down through the world's history, mid in ule present day, it stood for all that was best in civic and national life. It was inipos- ■ sible to maintain national or civic purity, permanence or stability in muucipal or national life or in any other undertaking unless those controlling it were men who could and had been touched by all that was enshrined in the meaning of the words of the text. " The House of the Lord our Clod" stood for the foundation and the liberation of our national life, for freedom for that lile to run along natural lines, a freedom which alone could keep it great. What did it mean to the British Empire? Could it last, this Empire, this great concatanation of autonomous countries each with its own independent government, producing its own national life, character, and , idealsV That depended entirely upon , whether each nation, white or black, was going to hold to the idea that the only . enduring, permanent, and totally free- j ing principle upon which national life ] could be based was religion, that because ; of the House of the Lord our God a ; man would seek to do his country good. ] His lordship fully illustrated Ids' mean- i ing by referring to the four best-known , systems of colonisation hi the history of the world. The Roman system tailed because the colonies were given no independence, no freedom of development, and were never freed from the rigid yoke of Rome. The Greek system succeeded so long as the colonists adhered to the ideals of the religion of their homeland, but prosperity and luxury brought about materialism. In the man, said the preacher, who would say that religion was unnecessary they had a man who had sunk almost as low as man could sink, and that man was prepared to say we could live our life without an ideal. The Spaniards took their religion with them, and,their early colonisation was full of romance and glory; but they failed because they did not read aright the underlying words of the text. They endeavoured to enslave the national life within the confines ot the religion they taught. That was logical when one recalled the words of a great bishop who occupied the Sec of Kome in the eleventh century, for he said "All civil authority is of the devil." Then referring to the British Empire , and tracing the history of its Christianity down through the ages, he showed that there had been no attempt to enslave the national life, but to free it and »o develop r.fl that was good in the lives of Vne people with whom Britons came in contact. The English Church won for the nation a llagna Cliarta, our declaration of liberty. He referred to the influence of the Christian religion, and to the men who had carried it to far-oil' lands, paying a warm tribute to the late Bishop Selwyn, whose name was revered in Taranaki. He believed in the feeling of pride in the achievements of the past, in holding such services as had been held that afternoon; in bringing the people, the volunteers, and the cadets to see that we were mindful of what had been done for us; in taking the cadets to salute the graves in reverence for those who had fought for England's glory and greatness, and. he liked to see those veterans also, many with feeble and tottering steps, some supported by friends or led by others, passing those graves and baring heads in veneration of those who had gone. The self-devotion, the self-sacrifice and obedience of those men and their traditions showed that they had sought to do good. That patriotism, based on the Christian spirit, would endure and rise superior to all things materialistic. New Plymouth had every right to he proud of St. Mary's Church and its inlluence, of the hatchments there which formed a link with the past. The young people of New Zealand were looking to old New Zealand for a motive for enduring patriotism, and it was for the old New Zealand to say that " it is because of allI learned in the House of my ({nil, for all it means and has meant in England's lustrous history and in New Zealand's l|istory, that I sought to do my country good."

TO-DAY'S PBOOJiEDINGS. To-day Bishop Neligan goes to Okato to hold a continuation service for some Maori candidates, lie will accompanied by the Kev. Hector Hawkins, Superintendent of the Maori Mission in the Auckland diocese. He will probably be taken out thither by the Rev. Mr. Allanson in his motor-car, and he Will rctun to Ne\y Plymouth in the afternoon. The Bishop's evening engagement is a lecture in St. Mary's parish hall, at S o'clock. It is entitled "The PanAnglican Congress," and will be illustrated with limelight views specially procured for the purpose. The subject of the lecture is the great Parliament of the English Church held last year in London, when the daily attendance of members and public exceeded 50,000. The Congress was meant to be a rally of Anglican Churchmen throughout * the world for mutual counsel and co-opera-tion in mission work at home and abroad and an opportunity for dealing in a collective way with subjects affecting the veil-being" of mankind', considered awrapt up in the success of the religion of Christ, from the Anglican point «f view. The movement wa3 begun by that gfeat organiser, Bishop Montgomery, secretary of the S.P.G., and after several years .correspondence ami preparation, the great reunion was accomplished with magnificent success. One feature of the Congress was the laying on the altar of St. Paul's Cathedral or offerings from the Anglican dioceses of the world, totalling ' IW.OOO, and devoted to the missionary work of the Church. A considerable amount was secured by Bishop Neligan for use within this lxmunion. The next Congress will probably be held in MJIS, when the next meeting of the Lambeth Conference will be held. Bishop Xelignn purposes to give Churchmen in this part of the diocese an account of what tins great conference accomplished, and the lecture cannol fail to be interesting to all who attend. To-morrow morning the Bishop proceeds to Stratford, where he holds a confirmation in the Parish Church. His .stay is a brief one, for he leaves by tile express for New Plymouth in the evening and goes back 'to Auckland by the steamer.