THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 15, 30 May 1868, Page 3

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

(To the Editor of tlte Tuapeka Times.) Sir,— Will Ibe permitted a space in your columns to speak for myself, as I was not present at the church meeting the other night. If I had thought that those who attended had really wished ni» %o have been present, in order that I might explain anything on which they were not satisfied in their minds, I should have been so ; but as it whs, 1 believed that matters would be more freely discussed without my presence. It has been intimated to me as the opinion of some, that the demands expressed in my letter are too high. It is possible that ohey are ; although I myself cannot see it : — nevertheless, lam opeu .' to correction. My stipend in Victoria' was L 360 a year, and this I found no more than enough to maintain my family, although I had no house to keep. I compared the prices in the two places, and I felt sure, and still do, that my expenses would at the least come to LIOO over that sum. The demand for the LIOO passage-money, I asked for within a certain time, in order that I might pay somo debts, then and still owing, and which I confess I know not how to pay. This LIOO I should have felt bound to returnin case of my not remaining for a certain length of time. The fear of being involed weighed upon my mind, at a time when sickness then was and had been in? my family since my arrival in New Zealand. I was also conscious of having been the means of raising my share towards the Building Fund, and I felt that in order to continue to proceed with a light heart, I must see my way out of difficulties. I did not doubt but that under such circumstances 1 could still succeed in doing more towards the Building Fund, by visiting other places and holding services in aid of the same, and ■ that we should soon be enabled to build a church. Neither' did I much doubt but that my demands would be acceded to. The conclusion that my letter was. tantamount to saying that I was determined to leave, is a wrong one. I believed, and I hoped, that the request would be complied with, and I felt surethat the Congregation would not be the loser 3in the long run, for I had determined to raise all the sums in my power, and to proceed doing so until the Churchwas established. The guaranteee of L4OO I asked of Lawrence, aa I had not been able to obtain SUCh a guarantee from Waitahun* and Blue Spur aa I anticipated ; and I felt it was possible for the Lawrence Committee to have obtained a certain amount of guarantee from those places, and then to have made that sum up between thothree. I naturally looked to Lawrenceto do this, as I am residing in the town, spend my income there, and see more; oSt the people there than elsewhere. JH| I When, therefore, the letter came from V the Committee, I was sorry to tliink thja£-j + all my demands had been negatived. Bpt «/ it was not so much the three resolutions passed at the meating, which the lettefcj^/ contained, that at once caused my wife, - in my absence, to believe that the Committee had preferred sending home for another clergyman, rather than make a struggle to retain my services. It was [ the concluding paragraph of this letter " which decided her. The words were v I these—" And that the Secretary be in- *" structed to forward the above resolutions to Mr. Martin, with a request that he will be good enough to give a decided answer by seven o'clock to-morrow evening (Wednesday), as the English mail closes on the following day ; " and I confess the same idea possessed me. I waited, however, before replying, for three days, when the other letter came with the same' request, to give an immediate answer, in order that the Committee might write home. I then felt that there was nothing left for us but to give the answer that I did, as it seemed to us that they preferred it so. But this I now hardly believe was the case. Possibly the letter was hurriedly written. At anyrate I do not now conceive that it justly expressed the feelings, either of the Secretary who wrote it, or the rest of the Committee. I am sensible of the exertioa^, made for the erection of a parsonage so well suited to afford convenience. I sincerely desire that my income had enabled me to live in it, and that when I first arrived 1 had foreseen the amount of expenses necessarily to be incurred. I wish also to remark, that it has been said that I have changed my demands three time 3. This is not the case. It was as regards the proportion to be paid by each place that I altered my opinion, as I found on enquiring at the other two neighboring ! places, that they could not raise so much ! as expected ; but I only changed once aa ! regards the actual sum I felt needful, and this I did as soon as I experienced the expensiveness of living here. With respect to services at the Bluo Spur, I can sincerely say that upon the only one Sunday afternoon I have been disengaged, I should have been most happy to have taken services there, if I thought the residents wished it ; but I had already understood that they felt well supplied by the accession of the. Wesleyan minister. For the sake of the religion which I preach, I trust that no one will harbor the notion that I have desired more than what I believed my actual expenses would amount to. I have asked for nothing more than sufficient to pay my way. If a minister has notthis, his mind is distracted, his sermons become bereft of power, and his general influence is impaired. I have known sad instances of ministers becoming so deeply involed in difficulties that they have fallen entirely from their position. And I would ask those to whom I am now indebted what they would say to me if I had allowed their accounts to run on until the end of the year, knowing all the time that I could not find means to pay them. They might justly complain of my silence. Nay, my desire is as long as I remain, to continue to be as I have been, on good terms with all, for no word of an unpleasant nature has passed, between any member of the congregation and myself since I have resided here. Let me not be the cause of undoing the work which I have tried to do, by not publicly declaring my earnest desire to act in accordance with the religion I profess, for I trust that I may secure the testimony of all consciences, that although, with m&uy infirmities, 1 have endeavored to btmeiife th» souls around me.— l am, <Jto. ,