CHARGE,

&c. &c.

REVEREND BRETHREN,

In meeting you again, after an interval of three years, in an age of more than common anxiety to every faithful Minister of Christ and every attached member of the Church, I have the gratifying duty of calling on you to join me in humble and thankful acknowledgment of God's mercy, in hitherto preserving to us those institutions which have been the best support of our national greatness, and the surest foundation on which to rear any structure of real improvement, whether in Church or State. Our peculiar duties will limit our active exertions to the concerns of the Church; for, while we cease not to claim the common rights of British subjects, we shall best prove ourselves worthy of continuing to enjoy them, by exercising them with a sole view to God's honour, and to the advancement of his kingdom among men. Political events will interest us, mainly, as they tend to produce results, whether of good or ill, to the cause of true Religion.

In looking, with this object solely in view, to the present aspect of political contention, there are two particulars which especially challenge our observation, -one, which respects the interests of Religion in our Colonies, the other, which hardly less concerns.

B

Both involve the same

the same interests at home. principle, and tend to similar results: both, in my judgment, demand the vigilant circumspection, and the zealous and energetic, though discreet and temperate, exertions of us the Ministers of God's Holy Word, in appealing to the fidelity of a Christian people, for an effectual resistance to innovations in our national policy, which would level the distinctions between truth and falsehood, even in those matters in which the highest spiritual interests of men are involved.

I begin with what immediately concerns our Brethren in the Colonies.

Within the last few years, a course of policy has been instituted, and pursued, in respect to the Colonies of Great Britain, which is wholly unexampled, not only in our own history, but also, if I mistake not, in the history of any other Christian nation. Not only has equal protection, (for God forbid that we should ever repine at equal protection!) but equal encouragement has been given by Government to every description of religious faith, and every denomination of professing Christians, in some of the most important dependencies of the British Crown.

In AUSTRALIA-a region which seems destined by Providence to open a wider field to British enterprise, and to be the future scene of grander results, whether to our honour or our shame, than the last generation would have contemplated as possible,-in Australia, a system has been for some time pursued, which would seem to indicate an utter indifference, on the part of those who dispense the national Treasure, whether truth or falsehood shall characterize the religious creeds of any of the Colonists. The production of a certain sum of money, and the signatures of a certain number of names, are all that is requisite for

obtaining from Government aid in the construction of places of religious worship, and in the payment of religious teachers.

In order that this matter may be fully understood, it is necessary to state, that, until within the last few years, a seventh part of the waste lands in this colony was reserved for the endowment of the Church. In 1829 and 1830 it was directed that a portion of these lands should be sold, or alienated under quit-rents; but the produce of the sales and the quit-rents, reserved, were still to be applied in aid of the Establishment to which they belonged. In 1831, and not before, it was communicated to the Governor of Van Diemen's Land, by the Government at home, that it was not intended to appropriate lands in aid of the Church and schools, but to maintain them out of the ordinary revenue. These new instructions (which, however, did not cancel the appointments formerly made, but still left to the Church the right of retaining property in the waste lands--in particular, the quit-rents-which, though far short of what was originally contemplated by Government, was still by no means inconsiderable*)-these instructions were, unhappily, the cause, or the occasion, of a very speedy desertion of the Church by the Crown. The charge of supporting the Church, being now cast on the ordinary revenue (though that ordinary revenue received the benefit of the produce of the Church lands), soon afforded a pretext for maintaining, that, as all the colonists of all religious persuasions contributed in equal proportion to the public revenue, it was but just that the establishment of the religion of all should be equally provided for by the public. The Governor of New South Wales, Sir R. Bourke, in a despatch of

* See Despatch of Lieut.-Gov. Arthur, 26 Jan. 1836, p. 71. (Papers of H. C., 1837. No. 112.)

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30th of September, 1833, pressed this consideration strongly on the attention of the English Government. It would be "impossible," he said, "to establish a "dominant and endowed Church without much hostility, and great improbability of its becoming perma"nent; as the inclination of the colonists, which keeps pace with the spirit of the age, is decidedly adverse "to such an institution." He further gave it as his opinion, that" in laying the foundation of the Chris"tian Religion" (such are the words of Sir Richard Bourke) "in this young and rising Colony, by equal "encouragement held out to its professors in their seve"ral churches, peace, loyalty, and good morals would "be alike promoted."

That this reasoning did not convince the minister to whom it was addressed, Mr. Stanley, will not be surprising. It seems to have equally failed with all subsequent Governments, until 30th November, 1835, when a despatch to Sir R. Bourke from Lord Glenelg announced, that "in the general principle upon which "his plan was founded, as applicable to New South Wales, Her Majesty's Government entirely con"curred."-p. 14.

Meanwhile, a similar correspondence had been passing between Colonel Arthur, Lieut.-Governor of the kindred and neighbouring colony of Van Diemen's Land, and the Government at home; but conducted in a very different spirit. Colonel Arthur, though certainly very liberal, fell in this respect far short of Sir R. Bourke. He avowed himself to "incline strongly "in favour of the Established Church, notwithstanding its imperfections in some particulars, into "which I need not (he says) now enter"-and he gave a proof of his preference by "bringing up his own family in connexion with that communion." -p. 71.

man.

This, I submit, is not the language of a bigoted ChurchStill he professed, as we see, a strong inclination in favour of the Church; and, so far, he probably was thought less worthy of attention than Sir R. Bourke, who, in all his numerous and voluminous despatches, so far as I can discover, does not appear in a single instance to indicate the slightest preference of any Church, or any Creed whatever; the only feeling on this subject expressed by this representative of the Sovereign, in New South Wales, being that of hostility to an established Church.

Colonel Arthur was very earnest in pressing on the Government the absolute necessity, for the welfare of the Colony, that the number of clergymen of the Church of England should be enlarged. In a despatch of 14th October, 1833 (nearly the same date as of that which I have cited of Sir R. Bourke), he reminds His Majesty's Government that he has before frequently urged the "necessity" of that measure; and he entreats that he may be "permitted again to urge the paramount importance of this point. Sir," said he, "I pointed out, "several years ago, as forcibly as I had the power to "put it, that penitentiaries, treadwheels, flogging,

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chain-gangs, and penal settlements, would all prove "ineffectual, either to prevent or to punish crime, "without religious and moral instruction. There "must be a mind to work upon, or all punishment will "be utterly unavailing."-p. 61.

In the following year, 15th October, 1834 (p. 63), he renews his representations, in terms so honourable to himself, and so very appropriate to the circumstances of the Colony, that I am not afraid of wearying you by reciting them.

"In several despatches, I have endeavoured to bring "before you, in the strongest possible manner, the