ship. Great interest was excited, this being the first Confirmation held there, and the first visit of a bishop to the district. The site for a church was selected on a suitable piece of rising ground near the principal road.

As the weather had become broken and the days were short, we found it impossible to reach our intended halting place that night, and striking deeper into the ranges we were very hospitably entertained by one of the farmers of the district. Here also I held an evening service, and confirmed a young person who had been unable to reach the place where the Confirmation had been held. The week was spent in similar work at Caloola, Rockley, O'Connell, and Oberon.

Ascension Day was suitably observed in the fine new church at O'Connell, built since my last visit there, and filled with a large, attentive congregation. Twenty-two young persons were confirmed upon the occasion.

The following facts were noted by the Bishop in the districts visited. Eight clergymen were ministering there, who all received their stipends through the Church Society, six of them were assisted by the Society by grants of 100l. each, to make up their stipends to 300l. per annum. Four catechists were also maintained. Eleven churches had been built or were in building, and three schoolchurches had been recently erected, in addition to three (or four) which had existed for some years. Four parsonage houses had also been built. Justly then did the Bishop say:-'it is impossible to estimate the value of the social and religious advantages which have thus been conferred upon the country.'

The second session of the Diocesan Synod, which, according to its constitution, was to meet annually, was now approaching, at which the sub

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jects which in the previous session had been entrusted to committees for their consideration and report, would have to be dealt with. All of them were important, and demanded from those who had charge of them much care and judgment in regard to the measures they might propose. To these matters the Bishop felt that he, as President of the Synod, ought to give his thoughtful attention, and he therefore placed himself in consultation with the committees, both aiding their deliberations and discussing with them the proposals they had to offer.

The Synod met on August the 20th, 1867, preceded by the usual religious services. As soon as it was duly constituted, the President delivered his address, and the business commenced. The reports of the several committees were brought up, and taken into consideration; and resolutions or ordinances founded upon them were submitted to the Synod. As the result, some of them were adopted, some rejected, and others withdrawn for further consideration.

In his opening address the Bishop alluded to the petitions which had been adopted in the previous session to Her Majesty and the two Houses of the Imperial Parliament and to the Convocations of Canterbury and York, and informed the Synod that he had received some replies to the letters which accompanied them. He also stated that he had been invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury to attend a meeting at Lambeth on the 24th of September of the archbishops and bishops of the Church of England and Ireland, the colonial bishops, and the bishops in visible communion with the united Church

of England and Ireland, for mutual counsel and brotherly communion; but that after consulting the Standing Committee of the Synod he had replied to his Grace that the circumstances of his own diocese at the present juncture made it impossible for him to absent himself without injury to the interests of the Church. He further mentioned that he had availed himself of the opportunity allowed by the Archbishop in his letter of invitation, to forward, through the Archbishop of York, ‘a paper drawn up by the Chancellor of the Diocese, in which my views upon the subject of our relation to the Church at home, and the manner in which our union may be maintained, are set forth.'

The able manner in which the various subjects which were brought before the Synod were discussed by both the clergy and the laity, the evident desire which actuated them to make the best provisions for advancing the Church's welfare, the good temper and business-like manner in which the proceedings were carried on, were highly satisfactory to the Bishop, and inspired him with confidence that the advantages which he had expected from synodical action would be realised, and in this opinion he was confirmed by every succeeding session over which he presided.

In the month of September the Bishop renewed his visit to the western districts, taking this time the northern side, from Mudgee to Dubbo. His object was to hold Confirmations, and also to bring before the members of the Church in those parts the subject of the bishopric, and to enlist their sympathies on its behalf. It was evident that there

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was not there the same warm feeling as to the necessity for the bishopric as existed at Bathurst and other places on the southern side. It was therefore the more necessary that the members of the Church should be instructed as to the importance of what was proposed, and the increased spiritual benefits which would accrue from it to themselves and their families. These points the Bishop felt it his duty to impress upon them. About a month was occupied in this tour, during which several meetings for the Endowment Fund were held.

In the month of December an extension of the episcopate in another direction was accomplished by the arrival on the 16th of the Right Rev. Dr. Sawyer as the first bishop of Grafton and Armidale. The bishop and his family were received by the Metropolitan with his usual kindness and hospitality, and were also cordially welcomed by the clergy and laity of Sydney.

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CHAPTER X.

1868.

Departure of Rev. W. Hodgson-Earl of Belmore's Arrival-Duke of Edinburgh-Attempt upon Duke's Life-Death of Bishop of Grafton and Armidale- Revival of King's School - Visitation, Important Charge-Session of Synod, 1868-Visit of Bishop Selwyn-Consecration of Cathedral-Episcopal Conference Christ Church Reredos-Appendix to Visitation Charge.

EARLY in this year the diocese sustained a loss by the departure of the Rev. William Hodgson, Principal of Moore College, for England. This loss was much felt by the Bishop, both on account of the personal friendship which had so long subsisted between himself and Mr. Hodgson, and the valuable gifts and qualities which so admirably fitted him for the office of Principal. After presiding for eleven years with marked ability and success over the College, his health began to feel the effects of his labours, and of the too great strain which they had occasioned. During those years he had educated for the ministry forty-five students, thirty-nine of whom were at that time licensed clergymen in several of the Australian dioceses, discharging their ministerial duties with advantage to the Church and general acceptance to their flocks. Five others were