No. 31. 
 
 (£f)urcl) fit t&e Colonies. 
 
 , - ■ 
 
 AIT STEAL I A. 
 
 i 
 
 j _ _ 
 
 I diocese of Melbourne. 
 
 A LETTER 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 LORI) BISHOP OF MELBOURNE, 
 
 TO THE SECRETARY OP THE 
 
 1 
 
 SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL 
 IN FOREIGN PARTS. 
 
 Dated September 1 854 . 
 
 I 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOB 
 
 THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL; 
 
 AND SOLD BY THE 
 
 SOCIETY EOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, 
 
 GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS; 
 
 4 , ROYAL EXCHANGE; 16 , HANOVER STREET, HANOVER SQUARE; AND 
 RIVINGTONS, BELL & DALDY, HATCHARDS, 
 
 AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 
 1855. 
 
 3 . 55 . 
 
 Price Fourpence 
 
/ 
 
(Eiurcjj tn t fie ©olonus. 
 
 No. XXXI; 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 A LETTER 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF MELBOURNE, 
 
 TO THE SECRETARY OF THE 
 SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL 
 IN FOREIGN PARTS. 
 
 Dated September 1854 . 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR 
 
 THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL; 
 
 AND SOLD BY THE 
 
 SOCIETY EOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, 
 
 GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS ; 
 
 AND 4 , ROYAL EXCHANGE ; 
 
 RIVINGTONS, BELL & DALDY, J3ATCHARDS, AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 
 1855 . 
 
 3 . 55 . 
 
lONDON : 
 
 K, CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL, 
 
gioxtsi of ‘gpmmtt. 
 
 v . MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, 
 
 Sept. 1, 1854. 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 I have often had occasion to apologise 
 for my apparent neglect in not writing to you re¬ 
 gularly and fully upon the affairs of the Church in 
 this Diocese ; and I fear that my omissions herein 
 have been regarded by some persons as indicating 
 a want of due regard, or, I may perhaps say, due 
 respect, for the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel. I would beg, however, through you, to 
 assure the Committee and friends of the Society 
 generally, that the brevity and irregularity of my 
 correspondence have not been occasioned by any 
 disposition on my part to depreciate the importance 
 of the Society’s labours, or by any defect in affec¬ 
 tion or esteem towards those by whom its affairs 
 are ministered. The real and only causes have 
 been my own natural want of facility in writing, 
 and extreme dislike to treat a subject imperfectly, 
 together with the large and increasing amount of 
 local business, and a state of health, which, al¬ 
 though sufficiently good to enable me to perform 
 my ordinary duties without much difficulty, does 
 not allow me to attempt more than a limited amount 
 of daily work. 
 
 It has been my wish for several years past to 
 prepare an account of the progress of the Church 
 
4 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 in this Diocese, which, if I could execute the task 
 properly, would be not only interesting to all whose 
 attention has been directed to the religious condi¬ 
 tion of our Colonies, but likewise useful to such as 
 may hereafter be called either to labour themselves, 
 or to send forth others to labour, in any similar 
 sphere. The causes above-mentioned have, how¬ 
 ever, hitherto prevented me, and, although I am 
 far from alleging them as a complete justification, 
 I hope they may be received by my brethren, 
 judging in the spirit of Christian charity, as an 
 excuse for my delay. 
 
 I will now apply myself, as the Lord shall give 
 me time and strength, to the accomplishment of my 
 proposed undertaking in the present, and probably 
 one or more future letters, which I would request 
 the Society, if it should deem expedient, to pub¬ 
 lish entire. 
 
 I would first give a brief sketch of the history of 
 the Church in the Diocese since my arrival in Janu¬ 
 ary 1848, which will show the ministerial arrange¬ 
 ments which I have adopted, and the means which I 
 - have used, for obtaining a recognised Ecclesiastical 
 constitution, as also the measure of success which the 
 Lord has granted unto me. 
 
 It must always be one chief object of a colonial 
 Bishop, and particularly in a new Diocese like this, 
 the population of which is increasing by tens of 
 thousands annually, to provide a constant supply of 
 additional Clergymen, and at the same time to take 
 care, that those whom he appoints to any ministerial 
 charge shall be faithful and efficient servants of the 
 
INCREASE OF CLERGY. 
 
 5 
 
 Lord. At my arrival there were only three Clergy¬ 
 men, of the Church of England employed in the 
 duties of their sacred calling. Three accompanied 
 me from England; one in the course of the same 
 year joined me here, and I ordained four; so that 
 at the end of the year 1848, the number was in¬ 
 creased to . . .11 
 
 At the end of 
 
 1849 the number was 
 
 16 
 
 >) 
 
 1850 
 
 5? 
 
 20 
 
 >> 
 
 1851 
 
 
 24 
 
 >> 
 
 1852 
 
 JJ 
 
 24 
 
 >> 
 
 1853 
 
 JJ 
 
 30 
 
 At the time I am writing, Sept. 1, 1854, it is 34. 
 
 There are also two additional Clergymen known 
 by me to be on their way from England ; I am ex¬ 
 pecting one from Yart Diemen’s Land; and there 
 are three candidates for Orders, whom I hope to be 
 able to ordain in the course of the present month. 
 
 In perusing the above statement you cannot fail 
 to be struck with there being no increase in the 
 year 1852. This was occasioned by the death, or 
 removal on account of failure of health, or other 
 causes, of no less than six licensed Clergymen of 
 the Diocese in that year. Nor does this statement 
 fully represent our loss : for, within the preceding 
 five months, we had lost three others. The circum¬ 
 stance occasioned me very great mortification, for 
 I was thereby not only prevented from extending the 
 ministration of the Word and Sacraments to various 
 districts in which they were both urgently needed 
 and earnestly desired, but also compelled, in several 
 cases, to disappoint expectations which I had myself 
 
6 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 raised, and in some even to relinquish posts which the 
 Church had previously occupied. Moreover, it was 
 just at this time that the gold-fields were discovered, 
 and the Colony, which was before rapidly ad¬ 
 vancing in population and wealth, rose at once into 
 a position, which, under ordinary circumstances, it 
 could not have attained in less than half a century. 
 Within twelve months the population was estimated 
 to have more than doubled itself; and the wealth of 
 the people was augmented in a much larger propor¬ 
 tion. Nevertheless, I would acknowledge the Lord’s 
 continued goodness to us, as shown in a variety of 
 circumstances, which I cannot now enumerate, but 
 which then assured me that He was chastening us 
 “for our profit,” and that He would not withdraw 
 His loving-kindness from us. Accordingly you will 
 observe, that in the course of the following year, 
 1853, He graciously increased the number of my 
 fellow-labourers to thirty-one ; and I hope that, be¬ 
 fore the close of the present year, it will exceed forty. 
 
 The real condition of a Church depends, however, 
 not merely upon the number, but still more upon 
 the faithfulness, ability, and earnest persevering 
 diligence of its Ministers ; and upon this point I am 
 thankful to be able to testify to the great goodness of 
 the Lord our God towards us. Of course, a body of 
 thirty-five Clergymen must exhibit various degrees 
 of intellectual power and culture, and also of spiri¬ 
 tual gifts and Christian devotedness ; but, without 
 pledging myself for every individual, I can say with 
 confidence, that the Clergy of this Diocese are cha¬ 
 racterised by their soundness of doctrine, their per¬ 
 sonal piety, and their zealous attention to the duties 
 
DOCTRINAL LATITUDE. 
 
 t 
 
 of their high and holy calling; and that they are 
 very valuable fellow-helpers to me in the Lord. 
 
 To the complaint, which has been sometimes 
 made against me, that I do not admit into my Dio¬ 
 cese any Clergyman, however faithful and earnest, 
 who differs from me upon those points on which the 
 Church allows a certain latitude to her members, I 
 would reply by a distinct and positive denial of the 
 fact. I have no desire to narrow the terms of our 
 communion, nor to exclude from ministerial em¬ 
 ployment, any who can furnish me with satisfactory 
 evidence that their character and conduct in the 
 Ministry has been consistent with their ordination 
 vows; and that they possess the necessary qualifica¬ 
 tions, physical and intellectual, for the service of 
 their Lord in such a country as this. I believe that 
 several of the Clergy now in this Diocese, whom I 
 highly esteem and love for their works’ sake, differ 
 from me, more or less upon Baptismal Degeneration, 
 and other questions, about which there has been so 
 much controversy in the Church : but I trust that 
 they all hold, and all preach, the fundamental truths 
 of the Gospel, which are stated in the sixth, ninth, 
 tenth, eleventh, and twelfth “ Articles of Religion 
 and that they do faithfully and earnestly, “ instruct 
 the people committed to their charge out of the 
 Scriptures.” My commissaries know my senti¬ 
 ments upon this point; and I have no reason to 
 suppose that they have ever acted, or that they 
 would ever be at all inclined to act, at variance 
 with them. I thank them, however, that they have 
 never sent, and I have a good confidence that they 
 
8 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 never will send, any one who makes the “ kingdom 
 of God ” to consist in forms and ceremonies, instead 
 of in “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost,” or who teaches “for doctrines the command¬ 
 ments of men,” or who strives “ about words to no 
 profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.” From 
 all such may the Lord graciously preserve His 
 Church, both in this Diocese and in our Fatherland ! 
 In connexion w T ith the measure of success which the 
 Lord has bestowed upon us, in providing faithful and 
 able Clergymen for the ministry of the Word and 
 Sacraments, I would mention the progress which He 
 has enabled us to make in portioning out the Diocese, 
 according to the Ecclesiastical system of our Father- 
 land, into Parishes and Archdeaconries. The main¬ 
 tenance of the Parochial, in contrast with the 
 Congregational system, is, in my opinion, essential 
 to the success of the great object which we ought 
 always to keep in view, of bringing the whole people 
 under effective pastoral superintendence; and all our 
 Colonial Bishops have, I believe, adopted the prac¬ 
 tice of dividing their Dioceses, as circumstances 
 permitted, into distinct parishes. There are, how¬ 
 ever, several causes which have occasioned, in my 
 own case, great delay and difficulty in carrying out 
 this system. Upon my arrival, the three Clergymen 
 then officiating in the Diocese were so far removed 
 from one another, that it was quite impossible, as it 
 was quite unnecessary, to define the limits of their 
 respective ministrations. As, however, their number 
 increased, so that they were brought into closer 
 proximity to each other, I was able to fix the rela- 
 
PARISHES AND ARCHDEACONRIES. 
 
 9 
 
 tive boundaries of a few Parochial Districts, leaving 
 them still indefinite in extent in those directions in 
 which there were no neighbouring Clergymen. 
 These Districts have gradually become multiplied, 
 and now there are in Melbourne some which may 
 be properly termed parishes. But there is another 
 cause, besides the distance which so often separates 
 the Parochial Clergy from one another, viz., the 
 great proportion of young and inexperienced Minis¬ 
 ters, which has compelled me, in many instances, to 
 delay the formation of new parishes. For when I 
 am obliged, as often happens, to place a young man 
 in charge of a district which is locally distinct from 
 any other, instead of making it an independent 
 cure, I prefer to regard it as an outlying portion 
 of the nearest parish. Thus at the present time, 
 not only the whole town and suburbs of Geelong, 
 but also all the surrounding country districts, are 
 comprehended in one parish, because the Clergymen 
 appointed to the charge of these districts are young 
 men in deacon’s Orders, who have not sufficient ex¬ 
 perience to be placed in an independent charge. 
 This is an evil which I hope every succeeding year, 
 through their growth in age and spiritual industry, 
 and through the addition of others to the staff, we 
 shall see rapidly diminishing. 
 
 Besides the gradual formation of distinct Parishes, 
 each under the charge of its own responsible 
 minister, I have been anxious from the first to 
 divide the Diocese into Archdeaconries, which 
 might be placed under the superintendence of men 
 qualified by their wisdom and experience to exercise 
 
10 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 an influence over their brethren, and also by their zeal 
 and activity to promote the extension of the Church 
 in the particular district committed to their over¬ 
 sight. Thus in October, 1848, I constituted the 
 Archdeaconry of Geelong, to which I appointed the 
 Rev. H. B. Macartney, D.D. In November, 1851* 
 I constituted that of Melbourne, and appointed to 
 it the Rev. T. Hart Davies, M.A., who had been 
 designated to this office by my commissaries in 
 England. At the same time, however, the Arch¬ 
 deaconry of Geelong became vacant, through the 
 appointment of Dr. Macartney to the office of Dean 
 of Melbourne, and I had no one whom I could ap¬ 
 point as his successor. The failure of Archdeacon 
 Davies’ health also compelled him, in the course of 
 the following year, to return to England, and thus 
 his office also became vacant, and in 1852 I was 
 again left, as at the first, without an Archdeacon. 
 I mention the circumstance as showing the great 
 vicissitudes, and peculiar difficulties consequent 
 upon them, to which a Colonial Bishop, especially 
 in a newly formed Diocese, is exposed. I am 
 thankful to be able to add, that I have this year 
 appointed the Rev. T. C. B. Stretch to the Arch¬ 
 deaconry of Geelong, and have also constituted an 
 Archdeaconry of Portland, to which I have ap- 
 pointed the Rev. T. H. Braim, Minister of Belfast. 
 The Archdeaconry of Melbourne, however, still con¬ 
 tinues vacant. 
 
 The office of Archdeacon in a new Colonial Dio¬ 
 cese is one of very great practical importance, for 
 his duty is to keep a constant oversight of the 
 
ARCHDEACONRY FOR THE GOLD-FIELDS. 11 
 
 district under his jurisdiction ; to obtain information 
 concerning, and if possible, personally inspect any 
 new villages which are forming; to observe the en¬ 
 largement which is taking place in the towns; to 
 ascertain where Churches or Schools are wanted, 
 and where additional Clergymen or Lay-readers 
 should be placed; and to suggest to the Bishop, or 
 the people, as the case may be, such -steps as may 
 be necessary for carrying out his plans of Church 
 extension. It is therefore a cause of much thank¬ 
 fulness, that both Mr. Stretch and Dr. Braim are 
 men in whose singleness of purpose, energy and 
 judgment, I can place entire confidence; but I am 
 disappointed, that I have not yet been able to obtain 
 such a one as is required for the Archdeaconry of 
 Melbourne. I am also very desirous to constitute 
 an Archdeaconry for a portion of the interior, to 
 comprehend the principal gold-fields; but I have 
 not yet determined from what place he should de¬ 
 rive his title. If the Lord should provide a person 
 qualified for the office, I would at once make the 
 necessary arrangements; but until I can obtain the 
 man, it is of no use to take any steps in the matter. 
 
 The subjoined tabular statement, showing the 
 counties, towns, and villages, with resident minis¬ 
 ters, parishes, and clergymen, in the several Arch¬ 
 deaconries, conveys to those who have the oppor¬ 
 tunity of consulting the map recently published by 
 Arrowsmith, or any other good map of Victoria, a 
 much clearer idea of the ministerial arrangements of 
 the Diocese, than any description which I could give 
 of them. 
 

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14 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 ■! 
 
 I may add, that I have constituted a Dean and 
 Chapter of four Canons for the Cathedral Church of 
 St. James; but, as yet, I have appointed only a 
 Dean—not having made up my mind as to the 
 precise duties which the Canons ought to perform, 
 and not being willing to make the office merely 
 honorary. 
 
 The next particular to which I would direct at¬ 
 tention in the history of our Church during the last 
 six years, is the progress of its buildings. On my 
 arrival there were only two unfinished Churches, 
 (St. James’s and St. Peter’s,) in Melbourne, a small 
 neat Church at Geelong, a small weatherboard 
 Church at Belfast, and a School-room used for pub¬ 
 lic worship at Portland. There was no Parsonage 
 at Melbourne; but there was one at Geelong, and 
 one at Portland, both substantial brick buildings. 
 There was also a neat brick school-building at 
 Geelong, and that already alluded to, which was 
 also of brick, at Portland. At Melbourne there 
 was nothing but a miserable weatherboard building. 
 Since that time, the number and the character of 
 the Churches, Parsonages and Schools, which have 
 been erected, although far from adequate to the 
 wants of our rapidly increasing population, have 
 been such as to indicate no small measure of zeal 
 and liberality on the part of the people. I am afraid 
 of being tedious, if I give you a detailed account of 
 all these buildings; and yet I know not how other¬ 
 wise to convey a correct idea of the growth of the 
 Church. Perhaps I shall best effect my object by 
 describing our condition in this particular at the 
 
CONDITION IN 1851 . 
 
 15 
 
 discovery of the gold-fields in October 1851, and 
 our condition at the present time. You must, how¬ 
 ever, remember, that I can only enumerate principal 
 buildings, and that I must omit some Schools, which 
 have been erected in the interior, and in the suburbs 
 of Melbourne and Geelong, and which are either 
 regularly, or occasionally, used for Divine service 
 on the Lord’s-day. 
 
 In Melbourne, at the discovery of the gold-fields 
 in 1851, there were the Churches of St. James and 
 St. Peter, capable of holding about 450 and 700 
 respectively—the former being still unfinished. St. 
 Paul’s Church also was in progress, but not ready 
 for Divine service. St. Peter’s Parsonage was 
 erected and occupied. A large portion of a building 
 for Boys’, Girls’ and Infants’ Schools, with class¬ 
 rooms attached, had been erected in connexion 
 with St. James’s Church; and two other substantial 
 school-buildings, one for boys and girls, and the 
 other girls and infants, to each of which the Society 
 for Promoting Christian Knowledge contributed 
 300/., had also been completed. A Grammar- 
 school had likewise been built, chiefly with money 
 granted by the same society. 
 
 In Collingwood, a School building for boys and 
 girls had been erected, which was used on Sundays 
 for public worship. 
 
 At Richmond, a Church, for which we were mainly 
 indebted to the kind exertions of Sir T. B. Blome- 
 field, and the liberality of an excellent lady, since 
 dead (Mrs. Beecher), was so far completed as to be 
 
16 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 opened for service—a School being held in it during 
 the week. 
 
 At St. Hilda, two miles from Melbourne, on the 
 bav, there was a substantial School-room, in which 
 service was performed. 
 
 At Brighton , seven miles from Melbourne, also 
 on the bay, there was a small ill-built brick Church. 
 
 At Wiliiamstown, nine miles from Melbourne, 
 off which all the shipping then lay, a building, not 
 belonging to the Church, was used for a School, and 
 for public worship. 
 
 At Heidelberg , seven miles from Melbourne, a 
 small neat Church had been built, and opened for 
 service, but was yet in an unfinished state. 
 
 At Pent ridge , five miles from Melbourne, a small 
 portion of a Church had been erected, which was 
 also used as a School-room. 
 
 At Kilmore , a township about forty-five miles 
 from Melbourne, in an agricultural district, there 
 was a School-room with a dwelling-house attached 
 to it, the former of which was used on Sundays for 
 divine service, and the latter was occupied as a 
 Parsonage. 
 
 At Ballan a township in the bush, a Parsonage- 
 house had been erected. 
 
 At Ceelong , on the other side of the bay, a pro¬ 
 jected enlargement of the existing Church had been 
 commenced, and the walls of a second Church, in¬ 
 tended to hold nearly 1,000 persons, were completed, 
 but it was not roofed in. An addition had also been 
 made to the original School-room, and two other 
 
HEIDELBERG CHURCH. 
 
18 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 School buildings in the suburbs of the town had 
 been erected. There was, likewise, a good-sized 
 substantial Parsonage in connexion with the second 
 Church. 
 
 At j Belfast, the little weather-board Church had 
 been enlarged, and a stone Parsonage erected. 
 
 At Portland, the School-room had been fitted up 
 for public worship, but nothing more had been done. 
 
 At the port in Gippsland, a cottage had been 
 purchased for the residence of the Clergyman. 
 
 The above-mentioned were, I think, all the Church 
 buildings of any importance in the Colony at that 
 time. 
 
 When the gold-fields were discovered, at first the 
 impossibility of obtaining labour, and subsequently 
 the high prices, put a stop to every work which was 
 in progress, and compelled us to defer, apparently 
 for an indefinite period, the commencement of such 
 as had been in contemplation; so that, while immi¬ 
 grants poured in by thousands monthly, there 
 seemed no hope of providing any additional accom¬ 
 modation for the people to assemble themselves 
 together for public worship. It was at this time 
 that, at the suggestion of some of the most earnest 
 and judicious members of our Church, I determined 
 to try and obtain a supply of iron churches from 
 England, respecting which I may say more pre¬ 
 sently. God, however, was graciously pleased to 
 order the result of the working of the gold-fields, in 
 relation to Church buildings, quite contrary to all 
 human expectation. For the passing of an Act of 
 Council in the beginning of last year, whereby there 
 
PROGRESS SINCE 1851 . 
 
 19 
 
 has been set apart annually 30,000/., of which the 
 Church of England receives more than half, towards 
 the erection of places of worship, and Ministers’ 
 dwellings, and towards the payment of Ministers’ 
 stipends, gave an impulse to voluntary contribu¬ 
 tions, which, together with the great wealth that 
 had been acquired by some liberal-minded men, has 
 produced effects, such as, I think, no one could 
 have anticipated. The following statement of our 
 present condition will enable you to form some idea 
 of what has been accomplished; but I regret that I 
 am unable always to mention the sum which has 
 been expended upon each particular work, and there¬ 
 fore cannot in all cases do full justice to the energy 
 and liberality of those by whom they have severally 
 been undertaken. 
 
 In Melbourne , St. James’s Church has been com¬ 
 pleted and consecrated. St. Peter’s Church has 
 been repaired and enlarged, so as to afford double 
 the accommodation that it formerly did, at a cost of 
 upwards of 10,000/. St. Paul’s Church has been 
 completed, so far as the accommodation for a con¬ 
 gregation is concerned, and the tower is now in pro¬ 
 gress. It holds 1,040 persons; and, when finished, 
 will be a very handsome edifice, and a great orna¬ 
 ment to the city. I do not know its estimated cost; 
 but, although a great portion of the work was exe¬ 
 cuted when labour and materials were comparatively 
 cheap, the amount which will have been expended 
 upon it cannot fall short of, and may I think much 
 exceed, 12,000/. Until a Parsonage in connexion 
 with the Church can be erected, a house has been 
 
 b 2 
 
20 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 purchased for the Clergyman’s residence. A fourth 
 Church, to be called St. John’s, has been commenced, 
 and a portion of it is completed, and opened for 
 Divine service. This portion will contain, I believe, 
 about 500 persons, and has cost upwards of 5,000/. 
 
 In Colliv.gmood, a handsome stone Church is in 
 progress, which will be ready to be opened, if God 
 permit, in the month of November. When com¬ 
 pleted, it will contain about 1,000 sittings. The 
 estimated cost is, I believe, about 14,000/. A very 
 pretty Parsonage of stone has also been erected, at 
 a cost of 2,000/. 
 
 In North Melbourne , which is intended to form 
 St. Mary’s Parish, a large, well-built, weatherboard 
 School has been erected, in which Divine service is 
 now conducted on Sundays. It is capable of con¬ 
 taining between 400 and 500 persons. The imme¬ 
 diate erection of a Parsonage is also contemplated; 
 and in the interim, a gentleman has most liberally 
 lent a house for the use of the Minister, rent free. 
 
 In this city also, besides the above-mentioned 
 works, St. James’s Schools have been completed by 
 the addition of two wings, the cost of which was, 
 ' I believe, nearly 4,000/.; and a house at the cost of 
 900/. has been erected for the teachers, while, in 
 Collingwood, the original School-room has been ap¬ 
 propriated exclusively to girls; a large room, which 
 is used for public worship, until the Church can be 
 opened, has been erected for boys, and a third room 
 added for infants. Both of these latter are good 
 substantial buildings, the former of stone; but I do 
 not know their cost. 
 
PROGRESS SINCE 1851 . 
 
 21 
 
 At Richmond the addition of a gallery to the 
 Church has greatly added to the accommodation; and 
 the building is now closed for a few weeks, with 
 a view to its being completed for consecration. 
 Several thousand pounds have been expended within 
 the last three years upon this edifice. We have also 
 a large weatherboard School building, so that there 
 is no longer any occasion to use the Church for 
 School purposes. 
 
 I may here digress for a few moments to remark, 
 that this was probably the Church, the desecration 
 of which, by applying it to such a use, was com¬ 
 plained of by some one to a friend in England. 
 Whoever made the complaint, seems to have for¬ 
 gotten, that in a new colony, where both Churches 
 and School-rooms are wanted at the same time, and 
 both cannot be proceeded with together, it is neces¬ 
 sary, either to build a School-room, which may be used 
 for a place of worship, as has been frequently done 
 here, or to build a Church, which, until finished and 
 consecrated, may be used as a School-room, as ihe 
 people preferred to do at Richmond. A reasonable 
 man will see no desecration of holy places in this ; 
 but, on the contrary, a perfectly lawful accommoda¬ 
 tion of ourselves to existing circumstances. At the 
 same time, the feelings of the people, if they are 
 really earnest in Church matters, will make them 
 exert themselves to provide as soon as possible a 
 separate building for each object; and this they have 
 done at Richmond. The inference which, I am 
 
 told, has been drawn from the circumstance of there 
 
 % 
 
 having been, up to Easter of last year, no Church 
 
22 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 consecrated in my Diocese, that I was indifferent 
 about the ceremony of consecration, implies such 
 an ignorance of the circumstances of the Colony, as 
 ought to have prevented any one from forming, or 
 at least, publicly affirming it. The simple fact is, 
 that no Churches were ready for consecration, except 
 St. Peter’s, Melbourne, upon which there was a con¬ 
 siderable debt, and Christ-church, Geelong, respecting 
 which there was first a delay on account of the land 
 not having been conveyed to the trustees, and after¬ 
 wards a postponement of the ceremony until the con¬ 
 templated enlargement was completed. 
 
 But to return from this digression. 
 
 At St. Kilcla , the School-room has been enlarged 
 to twice its former size, and will now accommodate 
 on Sundays about 400 worshippers. A Parsonage 
 has also been erected, at a cost, I believe, of nearly 
 3,000£. The building of a Church, for which a plan 
 was prepared, and tenders received last year, has 
 been hitherto delayed, in consequence of the amount 
 of the tenders so greatly exceeding the estimated cost, 
 as to deter the trustees from undertaking the respon¬ 
 sibility; but it is now about to be commenced, and 
 a portion of the structure, which will afford accom¬ 
 modation to about 600 or 700 persons, and which it 
 is expected may be executed for a sum not exceeding 
 8,000£., will, I trust, be completed in the course of 
 a few months. 
 
 At Brighton, from various causes, no addition 
 worthy of notice has been made to the Church; nor 
 has any Parsonage, or School building, been erected. 
 The people are, however, anxious upon the subjects 
 
IRON CHURCHES. 
 
 23 
 
 and the funds will, I doubt not, be forthcoming as 
 soon as it can be decided what to do. At present, 
 the great difficulty is, to come to a satisfactory deci¬ 
 sion on this point. In the outlying hamlets of the 
 Parish, however, two School-rooms have been erected, 
 which are used for Divine service. 
 
 At Prahran , which is now a populous suburb of 
 Melbourne, and where the want of the ministrations 
 of our Church has long been very painfully felt, there 
 was opened last month for public worship a School 
 building of a very superior character, capable of 
 accommodating upwards of 600 persons. It has 
 been erected at a cost of nearly 5,000/., chiefly 
 through the liberality and indefatigable energy of 
 one individual, whose ever ready help encouraged 
 the exertions of the Clergyman, while his example 
 provoked the emulation of his lay brethren. 
 
 At Hawthorne, a rising village in a populous dis¬ 
 trict beyond Richmond, a Church and Parsonage are 
 almost completed; and I hope that the former will 
 be opened, and the latter occupied, within two or 
 three weeks from the present time. Both these 
 buildings are well designed, and executed in stone. 
 
 At Williamstown , after much disappointment and 
 delay, the iron Church and Parsonage, for the manu¬ 
 facture of which 1,300/, was granted as a loan by 
 the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, are 
 now erected. And towards the end of the present, 
 or in the beginning of next month, if no unforeseen 
 delay occur, the former will be ready for consecration. 
 
 I am looking forward with much interest and 
 more anxiety to the result of this first experiment; 
 
24 : 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 for by it will probably be decided the question, 
 whether or not three other Churches and Parsonages, 
 which have either already arrived, or are on their 
 way from England, will be available for the purpose 
 for which they have been sent out. There is a great 
 prejudice against them among the people here, and 
 those for whom they were originally designed, have 
 preferred to erect edifices of stone, or brick,—-in one 
 case, in the worst architectural taste, and in all at a 
 greatly disproportioned expense,—rather than ac¬ 
 cept of them. This has been to me a great disap¬ 
 pointment ; and my mortification has been increased 
 by the delay and difficulty which we have ex¬ 
 perienced in erecting the first Church and Parsonage 
 at Williamstown, in consequence of the buildings 
 being sent out in two different ships, and without a 
 plan of either of them. I have, however, a strong 
 confidence in the wise and good providence of God ; 
 and while I regard the result as intended to caution 
 me against again acting as a merchant, even in my 
 public character, I can not only comfort myself with 
 the reflection, that the very prejudice I have spoken 
 of has been useful in stimulating many to those ex¬ 
 ertions by which structures of a superior character 
 have been erected, but I can also still cherish the 
 hope that these buildings will themselves at last 
 prove very serviceable. I am the more encouraged 
 to expect this, from the circumstance, that after the 
 trustees had actually refused to accept those which 
 were designed for Williamstown, on account of the 
 state in which they were landed, and I had quite 
 despaired of being able to erect them, I am now 
 
PROGRESS SINCE 1851 . 
 
 25 
 
 permitted to see them, both Church and Parsonage, 
 substantially completed; so that the suitability of 
 each, and especially that of the Church, for the 
 climate and circumstances of the Colony, will at 
 least be fairly tested. 
 
 I have already mentioned that at Geelong, when 
 the gold-fields were first discovered, the enlargement 
 of Christ-church, and the erection of a second 
 Church (St. Paul’s), had both been commenced; but 
 the unfinished works, which continued for more than 
 eighteen months to attract the attention of all who 
 visited the town, excited in every attached member 
 of the Church, a mingled feeling of grief and shame. 
 Now, however, that feeling has been exchanged for 
 one of thankfulness and joy; for through the energy 
 and good confidence of the trustees, aided by the 
 influence of Mr. Stretch, the present Archdeacon, 
 and the liberal cooperation of the people, both 
 buildings are so far completed, as to be fit for Divine 
 service; and many hundreds, who before were un¬ 
 able to obtain admission to the house of God, can 
 now assemble themselves with the congregation 
 every Lord’s-day, to worship Him in the familiar 
 language of our beautiful Liturgy. 
 
 One of the School-rooms before alluded to, in the 
 suburbs of the town, has also been doubled in size ; 
 and measures are taking for the erection of a build¬ 
 ing for public worship (probably a School-room) in 
 another populous suburban district. Moreover, 
 through the exertions of the present, following upon 
 those of the late Archdeacon, services have been 
 established, and School buildings in which they are 
 
26 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 conducted, have been erected in various places, for 
 the benefit of the agricultural population settled in 
 the neighbourhood of Geelong, but I cannot now 
 describe these particularly. 
 
 I have omitted to mention the erection of Parson¬ 
 ages at Heidelberg and Pentridge, both very costly, 
 but neither of them well designed or executed; and 
 also the building of a very neat School-room in the 
 latter parish, between two and three miles from the 
 Parish Church, where the Clergyman, the Pev. G. 
 Goodman, holds a service every alternate Sunday 
 afternoon. 
 
 Besides those in the towns or neighbourhood of 
 Melbourne and Geelong, the only Church buildings 
 of importance are a Church and Parsonage at Castle- 
 maine, the centre of the original Mount Alexander 
 gold-fields. The former is not advanced much 
 beyond the foundations, but the latter is, I hope, 
 now occupied by the Pev. J. Cheyne. I greatly 
 rejoice at this, the first permanent Church building 
 on any gold-field ; for it was not only required for 
 the comfort of Mr. and Mrs. Cheyne and their large 
 family, but it will, I hope, stimulate the people upon 
 the other gold-fields to follow the example of their 
 brethren at Castlemaine. 
 
 At Ballaarat a weatherboard building is now 
 erecting for the Clergyman, and a subscription for a 
 Church, has been opened. The energetic character 
 of the Pev. Mr. Thackeray, who has recently entered 
 upon the charge of that important gold-field, affords 
 me a good confidence that the work will not be un¬ 
 necessarily delayed. 
 
PROGRESS SINCE 1851 . 
 
 27 
 
 Although the buildings have not yet been com¬ 
 menced, subscriptions for a Church at Portland, a 
 new Church at Belfast, and a Church and Parson¬ 
 age at Warnambool, have been set on foot, and 
 considerable sums collected and promised. At Bel¬ 
 fast likewise, the existing weatherboard Church has 
 been again added to, as a temporary measure, until 
 the proposed stone fabric shall be ready for service. 
 
 If you have had the patience to read, or even to 
 glance over, the above statement, you will feel, I 
 think, that we have much reason to thank God for 
 what he has done for us, and to look forward with 
 an humble confidence that he will continue to 
 provide for His people, and to bless His servants 
 in their work. In recalling my own feelings two 
 years ago, when the number of our Clergy seemed 
 likely to diminish rather than to increase,—when 
 almost all of them were extremely straitened in their 
 circumstances, and some could scarcely provide the 
 commonest necessaries of life for their families,— 
 when every building was at a stand still, and it seemed 
 altogether impossible to raise the money required 
 to carry on those Churches which were already half 
 finished, much more to commence new ones in any 
 of those places for which they were so greatly 
 needed ;—I am disposed to exclaim with the Psalmist, 
 “ Truly God is good to Israel. . . . But as for me, 
 my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh 
 slipped.” He has indeed rebuked our unbelieving 
 fears, and made us to be ashamed of our doubts 
 concerning His care for His Church. May He 
 cause us always “ to draw near ” to Him, and to put 
 
23 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 our trust in Him; that He may glorify Himself in 
 us, and that we may go forth to our work day by 
 day with a quiet assurance of His presence and 
 blessing on it. 
 
 The manner in which the Clergy have been main¬ 
 tained during these six and a-half vears, next claims 
 our attention. Of the three whom I found here, one 
 received a stipend of 200/., and the other two sti¬ 
 pends of 150/. each, exclusive of their income from 
 fees and other sources, from the Colonial Treasury 
 of New South Wales, of which the country now 
 constituting the Colony of Victoria was then a dis¬ 
 trict ; but, in consequence of the whole amount 
 available for Church of England purposes having 
 been already appropriated before my arrival, I was 
 not able to obtain assistance towards the support of 
 any of those who came with me, or afterwards joined 
 me, from this source. We were, therefore, depen¬ 
 dent entirely upon local contributions, and upon the 
 aid of our brethren in England; and during the 
 years 1848, 1849, and 1850, the Parochial Clergy 
 were chiefly maintained out of the special fund for 
 this Diocese, raised under the auspices of the Society 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel, aided by an 
 annual sum of 150/., (part of a grant made by the 
 same Society some time previously towards the 
 maintenance of one or more Clergymen beyond the 
 settled districts,) which had been appropriated by 
 the Bishop of Sydney, then Bishop of Australia, to 
 the Clergyman at Portland ; but to which, when his 
 parish was limited to the town and its vicinity, he 
 was no longer entitled; by an annual grant of vari- 
 
MAINTENANCE OF THE CLERGY. 20 
 
 able amount, which we received from the Colonial 
 Church and School Society, and by the subscrip¬ 
 tions of the people in the different parishes. At 
 the end of 1850, the English fund being almost ex¬ 
 hausted, I became very anxious upon the subject ; 
 but providentially a large sum, collected by Sir T. 
 B. Blomefield, relieved me from my difficulties; and, 
 in the following year, the separation of Port Phillip 
 from New South Wales placed at our disposal from 
 the Colonial Treasury, for Church building and sti¬ 
 pends of Clergymen, including my own stipend of 
 500/., an annual sum of about 3,000/., which was 
 likewise a most seasonable assistance. 
 
 In the same year, 1851, the conference of Clergy 
 and lay representatives of the several Parishes and 
 Ecclesiastical Districts, whom I had called together 
 to consult upon Church matters, established the 
 “ Annual Stipend Board of the United Church 
 of England and Ireland, in the Colony of Victoria,” 
 with the object of raising, by voluntary contribu¬ 
 tions, a general fund, out of which all deficiencies 
 in local contributions might be made up, and thus 
 a certain stipend secured to every Clergyman. 
 By means of this Board, which raised in the 
 course of the year 1852 the large amount of 
 1,652/. 12s., (chiefly in the parishes of St. James 
 and St. Peter, in this city,) and by local subscrip¬ 
 tions for individual Parochial Ministers, with the 
 money from the Colonial Treasury, we were able 
 during that year, without any assistance from my 
 English fund, and with only the above-mentioned 
 grant of 150/. and another of 100/., to the Rev. J. 
 
30 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 Sullivan, from the Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel, and a grant from the Colonial Church 
 and School Society, to provide stipends varying from 
 200?. to 300?. for all the clergy. 
 
 Of course some of them had much larger incomes 
 accruing to them from other sources ; but no one of 
 them received less than 200?., which, in the then cheap 
 times of the Colony, would have been amply sufficient 
 to procure them necessaries and common comforts, 
 with which, according to the Apostle’s admonition to 
 Timothy, the ministers of the Lord ought to be con¬ 
 tent. The discovery of gold, however, in the latter 
 part of the preceding year, and the consequent rise in 
 prices and difficulty of obtaining household servants, 
 had already produced a great change in this respect, 
 and hence many of my brethren who were husbands 
 and fathers, had to endure themselves, and saw their 
 wives and children’compelled to endure, many hard¬ 
 ships, and to suffer many privations. It was indeed 
 a very trying period, and I do not know how we 
 should have been able to provide, in the next year, 
 the increase of income required to meet the increased 
 expenditure, if we had been left to depend upon 
 voluntary contributions. I am, therefore, bound to 
 acknowledge with thankfulness, that the Act of 
 Council, passed in January 1853, although I could 
 not then, and cannot now, approve of the principle 
 upon which it is founded, conferred upon us very 
 opportune assistance : for it practically secured to 
 every Clergyman, holding an independent cure, an 
 income of not less than 450?., and thus relieved both 
 me and them from any anxiety as to that matter for 
 
ACT OF COUNCIL IN 1853 . 
 
 31 
 
 the ensuing twelve months. In consequence of the 
 provision thus unexpectedly made for us, we used no 
 means during that year to replenish our almost ex¬ 
 hausted Stipend Fund; neither did we draw the 
 sum of 150/., mentioned above, as granted by the 
 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 
 Clergymen beyond the settled districts ; nor expend 
 the further sum of 500/., which had been most 
 kindly voted to us as an annual grant for five years 
 by the same Society. The only help which we re¬ 
 ceived from England was from the Colonial Church 
 and School Society, and their grant was expended 
 chiefly in the maintenance of Lay-readers. 
 
 A considerable sum remains in my books to the 
 credit of the Society for the Propagation of the Gos¬ 
 pel ; and, although the increased number of Clergy 
 has now exhausted the amount of the grant by the 
 legislature, and we have been obliged to avail our¬ 
 selves of a balance of between 500/. and 600/., which 
 yet remained unexpended in the hands of the Trea¬ 
 surer of the Annual Stipend Fund, still I hope that 
 we shall be able to keep this untouched to the end 
 of the year. We may probably, however, require 
 the before-mentioned sum of 150/., in order to make 
 up the incomes of one or two Clergymen on the gold¬ 
 fields. The Rev. J. Thackeray, minister of Ballaa- 
 rat, has already received 100/. out of the grant from 
 the Colonial Church and School Society; and I think 
 we shall have to divide this grant of the Society for 
 the Propagation of the Gospel between the Rev. J. 
 Cheyne and the Rev. J. H. Gregory. I would take 
 this opportunity of expressing my hope that the 
 
32 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 Committee will allow the other grant, that of 500/. 
 annually for five years, to stand over, in order that 
 I may apply for it if any emergency should arise : 
 for I feel that, at any time, a change may suddenly 
 occur in the circumstances either of the Colony, or 
 of the Church, which may place us in a position of 
 extreme pecuniary embarrassment. They may, 
 however, be assured, that I will not make any 
 demand upon them, unless there should be an abso¬ 
 lute necessity for me to do so. 
 
 You may desire to know what are our financial 
 prospects for the future. As I have already men¬ 
 tioned, the annual amount available for the stipends 
 of the Clergy out of the Colonial Treasury has been 
 this year already exhausted; and, as I am now ex¬ 
 pecting several additional Clergymen, the deficiency 
 will be considerably greater for the next year. 
 Hence, in order that the incomes may be kept up, 
 as they ought to be, to the present standard, a large 
 sum must be again raised by private contributions. 
 In the case of most of our parochial ministers, I do 
 not anticipate much difficulty: for those who attend 
 the services of their Church appear in general sen¬ 
 sible of the great desirableness, for their own sake, 
 of procuring to the Clergy in the Colony the same 
 rank in society which they hold in England; and of 
 the necessity, for this purpose, of providing for 
 them sufficient incomes. But for some who have 
 the charge of districts where the people are com¬ 
 paratively poor, or where there is, as will sometimes 
 happen, a total want of Christian liberality, it will 
 not be so easy to make a due provision; for there 
 
FINANCIAL PROSPECTS. 
 
 33 
 
 is a strong local feeling prevalent among the people; 
 and they very commonly consider, that if they pro¬ 
 vide for their own Minister, they do all that can be 
 expected of them, and are in no wise bound to make 
 up the short-comings of their neighbours. To over¬ 
 come this feeling, and to secure such a maintenance 
 for all the Clergy as shall enable them to preserve 
 their independence and respectability, is the object 
 for which, as I have mentioned above, the Annual 
 Stipend Fund was originally established ; and upon 
 our success in maintaining this fund, the attainment 
 of that object will chiefly depend. By a resolution 
 of the recent conference, the former Annual Stipend 
 Board was dissolved, and a new Board, somewhat 
 differently constituted, was formed for the manage¬ 
 ment of this fund and the Church Endowment 
 Fund. The Stipend Fund is, however, still kept per¬ 
 fectly distinct; and I have every reason to hope that 
 the new Board will adopt energetic and systematic 
 efforts for procuring general contributions to it. 
 How far these efforts will succeed, cannot yet be 
 known. The issue of them is with the Lord, who 
 disposeth the hearts of men according to His own 
 will: but, whatever measure of success He may 
 grant us in this particular, we are assured that if 
 we serve Him faithfully in the station in which He 
 has placed us, and rely upon His promises, He will 
 not suffer us to want any good thing. We need not, 
 therefore, take any anxious care for the future. It 
 is enough to know that He careth for us. 
 
 I will conclude this account of the ministerial 
 arrangements of the Diocese with an enumeration 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 DIOCESE OP MELBOURNE, 
 
 of the places for which Clergymen are now chiefly 
 needed. They are the following,— 
 
 1. The Parish of Christ-church, Geelong, which 
 Archdeacon Stretch will resign as soon as I am 
 able to form a separate Parish in connexion with 
 St. Paul’s Church. 
 
 2. The District of Hawthorne, in the vicinity of 
 Melbourne, where a Church and Parsonage have 
 been already built. 
 
 3. The Districts of Emerald Hill and Sandridge, 
 adjacent suburbs of Melbourne, on the south side of 
 the Yarra, which might bfe placed under the charge 
 of the same Minister. 
 
 4. Another suburban District of Melbourne, upon 
 the same side of the Yarra, towards Prahran. 
 
 5. A third suburban District of Melbourne, to¬ 
 wards the east, called the Collingwood Flat. 
 
 6. A fourth suburban District of Melbourne, to¬ 
 wards the north, where St. Mary’s School has been 
 built. 
 
 7. The bush Parish of Ballan, which is vacant. 
 
 8. The District of Bacchus’ Marsh, where there 
 is an agricultural population. 
 
 • 9. The bush District of Benalla. 
 
 10. The bush District of Wangaratta, on the 
 Ovens. 
 
 11. The bush District of Hamilton, or the Grange 
 to the westward ; and 
 
 12. The agricultural District of Tower Hill, in 
 the neighbourhood of Belfast. 
 
 Besides these, there are various gold-fields of 
 more or less importance, for which I am most 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 3 5 
 
 anxious to obtain the ministrations of the Church. 
 I am afraid to name the number of Clergymen 
 wanted for these; but I would say, that if they 
 were men of the right stamp, faithful, earnest, 
 active, self-denying, and cheerful, we could scarcely 
 have too many. 
 
 I would add also, that Curates are greatly needed 
 for several Parishes in Melbourne and elsewhere. 
 To supply these wants, we have one Clergyman just 
 arrived from England, and who has not received 
 any appointment; and one now officiating as Curate 
 at Geelong, who will be at‘liberty when the Parish 
 is divided. 
 
 The history of our proceedings, with the object 
 of obtaining a legal constitution for the Church in 
 Victoria, I shall reserve for another letter, which I 
 hope, if God permit, to prepare immediately. 
 
 In reading over this, I cannot help feeling that 
 I have used a great deal of paper to very little 
 purpose; . but I would ask you, and any of my 
 brethren in England who may peruse this, kindly 
 to excuse any signs which it may exhibit of hurried 
 composition; remembering that I am able to com¬ 
 mand a very small portion of my time, and am, as I 
 have already mentioned, very slow in the use of my 
 pen. Yet more earnestly would I ask both you and 
 them, to make their supplications unto the throne 
 of grace for myself and brethren, and for that 
 portion of the Lord’s vineyard in which He has 
 appointed us to labour; that, if I may without pre¬ 
 sumption so apply the language of the Apostle, 
 “ for the. gift bestowed upon us by the means of 
 
3G 
 
 DIOCESE OF MELBOURNE. 
 
 many persons, thanks may be given by many on our 
 behalf.” 
 
 Please to present my respectful Christian regards 
 to the President, Vice-Presidents, and standing 
 Committee, of the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel; and believe me to remain, 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 Your faithful brother in the Lord, 
 
 C. Melbourne. 
 
 The Eev. Ernest Hawkins, 
 
 Secretary of the S. P. G. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 1 
 
 R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL. 
 
Wr 
 
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