Appointment of a Successor to Bishop Patteson.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2521, 3 February 1877, Page 3

Appointment of a Successor to Bishop Patteson.

No aot of the General Synod during its present session will be heard, of with more interest by members of the Anglican communion throughout the woildj than the * appointment of a sucoessor to the first Bishop of the Islands of Melanesia, who was killed at Nukapu in September, 1871. In his opening address to. the General Synod, on January 25th, the •Primate stated that he had received from the members, of the Melanesian Mission a formal recommendation of the Eer John Richardson-Selwyn, M.A., for the vacant office of Bishop; and on the following day the Bishop of Auckland moved that Mr Selwjn be appointed to that office by the Synod. The motion was seconded by the Key R. S. Jackson, formerly of the'Mis-', sion. ~ The Bishop of Auckland began.by expressing his sense of the responsibility undertaken by him in asking the Synod to take action in this matter. The appointment of a Bishop was, he said, the most solemn trust committed to the Synod by ,the.branch...of the Holy . Catholic Chiiirph of which they were members, but one!, from, the ..discharge of which they must not shrink. , For the sake of those members* of the Synod who "were less acquainted with the history of the Church, N he proceeded to explain how the appointment of a Missionary Bishop had become part'df the inheritance of the Synod. At the consecration of the first Bishop of New* "Zealand (the . present. Bishop of Xicb'field", the father,of Mr. Selwyn), the Archbishop 11 of Canterbury, exhorted Dr G-^A'i Selwyn not to confine his efforts to NefcZeatland, but to watch over the progress, of ihe Gospel throughout the coasts and islands of the Pacific. Accordingly, in. 1847, after Bishop Selwyn had made himself - acquainted with, and done his best to supply the immediate wants of the Church in JNew Zealand, he visited in a small schooner the- islands of Melanesia, in' the"■ StfutkWijst Pacific. In 1859, Bishop: Selwyn Was "able to inform "the General-Synod at Wellington that 70 or 80 islands'ha'd been, visited, by him, and that the time was come for separating those, jslands and others yet to be visited from his New Zealand charge. He also stated than an endowment had been pro* vided for the maintenance of a Bishop of Melanesia. Clause 19 of the Constitution Deed had provided that" the General Synod may associate with itself any Missionary Diocese which may be formed among the other islands of the Pacific Ocean." The said clause was adopted by the first Conference (of the N. Z. Church), as Bishop Selwyn said at Nelson in 1862, "to express their conviction that our branch 6f the- Church of Christ ought to undertake its own special work in some definite portion of the mission field, and to make that work an integral part of its owtTsystem." Accordingly, in February 1861, the Key John Coleridge Patteson was consecrated first Bishop of Melanesia. Of the martyred Bishop's work among the islands, that was not the time to speak. He died, as he had lived, an unflinching soldier of the Cross, at the ' hands of deluded saviges in 1871. Before setting out on his last voyage, Bishop Patteson had expressed a strong desire that, in case of his death, the JKev R. H. Codrington, the" present head of the Mission, would succeed Kirn." A more fit man .for the vacant "office could not, be found, nor one more .acceptable to the other members of the Misson; but Mr Codrington did not see his way to complying with the wish of the members of the Mission in this matter. They would, moreover, have been - well content if the Rev 8.3\ Dudley, formerly a member of the Mission, now a clergyman of the Diocese, of Auckland, had succeeded to the bishopric, but Mr Dudley had been obliged by' failing health to resignl his work among the islands. Accordingly, the members of the Mission would for a time have deferred making any recommendation for the vacant office, had tKey not felt themselves bound to name <=ome suitable person for the appointment by the General Synod at its session in 1874, at Wellington. They, therefore, recommended the Key J. K. Sely wn, who had then recently joined the Mission staff from England; but" the Synod, being informed of the reluctance of Mr Selywn to accept so grave a responsibility at that time, decided to make no appointment at that session. In anticipation of the meeting of. the General Synod at Nelson, in 1877, the members of the Mission in 1876 drew up a second formal recommendation of Mr Selywn, who had given them -. reason to believe that he would not now Recline the office' of bishop if he was appointed thereto-by the General Synod. ' The "Bishop of Auckland then dwelt upon some of the, special qualifications of Jlr Selywn for the office, qualifications'which he had inherited from his father, the founder of the Mission; his unselfishness, his energy of mind and body, his unfailing courage, his varied experience, his fondness for a sea life, his power of attaching to himself those who loved what was manly and true. The speaker concluded by reading clauses 2 and 3, Statute 11, of the General Synod, viz :— "2. The members of the said Mission A who for the" time being may be engaged * in carrying on the Mission work, may from time to time as occasion may require, recommend to the General Synod some fit person to fill the office of Missionary Bishop. "3. The General Synod shall, if it think fit so to do, appoint the •person so recommended to fill such office.' The Bishop of Auckland's motion having been seconded by the Key E. S. Jackson, the Primate, addressed the Synod and said: That before proceeding any further in so solemn a matter, he would invite the members to pray to God for His guidance in the work to which, they were thus called. Thereupon the whole Synod knelt down, and prayed in silence for some time. As Boon as all bad risen from their knees, the Primate read the motion before the Synod, and the Key John Richardson Selwyn was unanimously appointed to the. Bishoprio of Melanesia. —Nelson Daily Times.