SUBDIVISION OF THE DIOCESE OF TORONTO.

SIR,-The important letter of the Bishop of Toronto to the Council of the Colonial Bishoprics' Fund must command the serious attention of all members of the Church.

The rapid increase of population in Upper Canada, which doubles in less than ten years, and already amounts to 800,000, and which spreads over an extent of 12,000 miles, must evidently render the effectual supervision of the Diocese beyond the powers of any single man, much more of one whose days already number upwards of threescore years and ten.

The Province of Upper Canada is usually considered as the stronghold of the Church in North America, and so indeed it ought to be, but I fear that unless more vigorous efforts are made to secure the allegiance of the new immigrants, it will soon lose its character. The Bishop, I see, states in his letter that the members of the Church now form a fourth part of the population, but only four years ago they formed a third. (See the Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 1847.)

When, however, we see the good effects that have uniformly followed the sub-division of our large Dioceses into manageable districts, I think there can be no question as to the course which ought to be pursued with regard to the Diocese of Toronto. I would therefore most strongly urge not only that the Diocese should be divided, but that an effort should at once be made to carry out the whole scheme proposed by the worthy Bishop.

He seems to think that at present there is but little chance of his fourth Diocese of St. Mary's being formed, but I would especially plead for it. It is to the backwoods of this district that the numerous poor emigrants from England and Ireland are now beginning to bend their steps. It is therefore, I conceive, of the utmost importance that the Church should go out with them, and not have to commence its labours when a vast population has sunk into indifference and infidelity. It is also in this district that the important missions to the native Indians of Canada are carried on, and surely they must need continued Episcopal superintendence.

All this that I have now advanced will doubtless be most readily allowed. But the question will be asked, Where are the funds to come from with which the three new Bishoprics are to be endowed ? To this point, therefore, I will now turn my attention; and first, I conceive that as the Dioceses would not be of any very great extent, nor the duties at present particularly onerous, a rather smaller stipend might suffice than has usually been deemed necessary. I imagine therefore that 900l. a-year for the two sees of Kingston and Chatham (or London, or whatever the name may be) and 600l. for St. Mary's might be sufficient. In other words, that an annual amount of 2,4001. would be required.

The present Ecclesiastical establishment of the Province consists of

a Bishop who has a salary of 1,250l. from the Clergy Reserves, and two Archdeacons of Kingston and Toronto, with 300l. a-year. Now as the labours of the Bishop of Toronto would be most materially lessened if the whole arrangement should be carried out, I would suggest that he and the Bishop of Kingston might (for the present, at least,) personally undertake the duties of the respective Archdeaconries; and thus 3007. a-year of the Bishop of Toronto's stipend would be set at liberty for the endowment of the new sees, and 300l. provided for the Bishop of Kingston.

As the Church Society of Upper Canada would doubtless receive a considerable augmentation to its funds through the labours of the new Bishops, I would suggest that at least 100l. a-year might be paid towards each of the four Bishoprics.

Something also might certainly be obtained from the Clergy Reserves. The present payment from that source to the Episcopal Fund is 1,250l. but if this were raised to 2,000l. it would give 250l. a-year to each of the new sees. Thus, then, of the whole 2,400l. required, 600l. a-year might be derived from the annexation of the Archdeaconries to the Bishoprics of Toronto and Kingston, 400l. from the Church Society, 7501. from the Clergy Reserves, leaving only 650l. to be raised from private endowment.

For this purpose from 12,000/. to 15,000l. would probably suffice, or perhaps even less if we take into account the higher rate of interest which may be obtained in the Colonies. How easily this amount might here be obtained, the case of the Bishopric of Montreal sufficiently testifies. But I imagine that a considerable portion of the sum might, and consequently ought to be raised in the Province. The Colony has, during the present year, contributed 40,000l. for the new Church University, and would doubtless give liberally for the extension of its Episcopate.

I have entered in this case minutely into details, because I feel sure that the immediate carrying out of Bishop Strachan's proposition is of vital importance to the Canadian Church, and I also think that it might easily be accomplished by the arrangements which I have here detailed. I also feel convinced that a similar plan might with the greatest advantage be adopted in many other of our Colonies.

At the present moment we require for the effectual government of the Colonial Church at least twenty additional Bishops; but if we are to wait until adequate endowments can be procured for each see, the erection of their sees will have to be postponed until double or treble the number are required. By raising, however, our Archdeaconries to Bishoprics, requiring certain annual payments from the various Church Societies, and providing a small additional endowment, we might hope very shortly to have many of our most important Colonies duly supplied. In process of time the endowments would doubtless become of greater value if invested in land, and would probably before long be sufficient to support the Bishops without further stipend.

To return, however, to the Toronto question. It appears to me that if anything were done in the matter, in the way I have proposed,

For unless the

the full scheme of the Bishop ought to be carried out. Diocese of Toronto were really reduced to a manageable size, the Bishop could not be asked to dispense with the services of his Archdeacon, nor could the payments which I have calculated upon be expected from the Church Society and the Clergy Reserves, unless it were for the carrying out of some really great measure. I may add that, of course, the plan which I have sketched out goes upon the principle that the Archdeacons would be consecrated or otherwise provided for.

Apologising for the length of this communication, I am, sir, your obedient servant,

W.

MY DEAR

MISSIONARY PROCEEDINGS IN INDIA.

"Ma per trattar del ben ch' io vi trovai,

Dirò dell' altre cose ch' io v' ho scorte."-DANTE.

LETTER XIV.

We left Bósór, as I said, at half-past six A.M, but did not reach our tent at Khárri till half-past nine A. M., having halted about midway, as last year, to see the Christian household at Ramkismapore. The man, as last year, was importunate about being regularly instructed, and somewhat unreasonably so, since it is owing to the distance to which he has moved that he cannot be attended to. However, it was at last arranged that the Native readers at Khárri and Dhanghatta should visit his homestead on alternate Sundays, except when the Eucharist is administered, when he is to attend at either Dhanghatta or Mogra Hât. We here had a draught of milk, and I saw the china dish still survived.

At Khárri, after resting ourselves, we had Divine service, and then took down the names of those present who had not yet been confirmed, ascertaining the progress they had severally made in the Church Catechism. There were present at Divine service between seventy and eighty women, besides children.

Towards sunset we marked out the foundations of a chapel and apartment for the Missionary, about to be built by means of the balance of subscriptions to the Nurbudda Mission remaining when the Rev. J. G. Driberg and Mr. Harrison were recalled from it, and which the Calcutta Diocesan Committee placed last year at their disposal for this purpose. The bricks and other materials are all ready, and it is expected that the work will be completed before the next rains commence. There will then be more healthy and convenient accommodation for the Missionary than at present, and a decent place for the celebration of Divine service, instead of the dark, stifling hut, now alone available for the purpose. The site, which is in the midst of the people belonging to our communion, is properly called Bámonábád, not Khárri, which is a quarter of a mile off, and

where the Baptists have a congregation and a substantial chapel and apartment annexed, where, however, their teacher from Calcutta is said rarely to be seen above once or twice in the year. Here, as in other places, they have intruded, after Mr. Driberg had begun to gather a flock together, and yet-though it will hardly surprise you, any more than it does me,-they are loud in complaints against the Church of England Missionaries as intruders; the immediate cause being that here, as at Lokikantipûr (Dhanghatta), their people see ours are so much more frequently visited; and as, if known to resort to the Church of England service, they incur excommunication by those who lay claim to their allegiance, there is little cause for wonder that they thereupon finally attach themselves to us. I became acquainted here with a singular feature in the economy of their congregations; viz. that the Native teacher (ordained after their idea) in one place is allowed to administer only the Eucharist, in another may baptize, marry, and bury also, which seems to me the acme of inversion.

Late in the evening, as we sat outside the tent, one of their congregation came to confer with the senior Mr. Driberg, to whom, as much as six years ago, he had resorted to express his wish to join the Church, under conviction that allegiance is due to it, but has ever since been fluctuating, through fear of worldly consequences to result from the displeasure of his present teachers, and which, I was very sorry to think, are but too likely to occur to him. Nothing could be done but put before him the consequences, on the other hand, of so long a resistance to avowed conviction as he confessed to. But what most interested me was the way in which the people who sat round took part in the conversation, and, of their own accord, plied him with the second lesson they had heard that afternoon in chapel. (Heb. xi.) It showed that some, at least, had been attentive hearers, and also knew what they were attending to.

Another occurrence here impressed me strongly with the reality of the work that is being so obscurely carried on in these dark and desolate places, among poor creatures living, nearly all of them, literally from hand to mouth.

During service in the afternoon one of the congregation was suddenly seized with cholera, and conveyed away to his hut. Some medicine was sent after service, and in the evening, after marking out the foundations of the chapel as before said, we walked about a mile across the fields to see him. He was still very unwell, and when further remedies had been prescribed, his wife begged prayers might be read. The Office for the Visitation of the Sick was accordingly had recourse to, and I observed that some neighbours, who had called with us, and rested outside the door of the hut, bowed their heads, and joined audibly in the prayers. I was instantly carried away in thought to a cellar in London, where I first visited a sick person with an excellent friend, and then superior in the ministry, who prayed long and fervently extempore, none being able to join "with one voice." Truly forms are not formalities in such cases as these. I

would not for much have spared those voices in the still clear evening air, and "the young barbarians all at play" in another part of the yard, in childhood's unconsciousness of death.

By God's mercy the patient mended during the night. I forgot to say that after the catechising, which, owing to the stifling heat of the chapel, was not much prolonged, I went to see the burial ground, which here, as usual, is a piece of potteet, or waste land. The greater part of it is so low, that during the rains it is quite under water at all times, so that interments cannot take place, whilst no more room remains in the higher part. There was a newly-made grave, the mound of which the wandering cattle had quite destroyed. I was glad to find it a matter of concern, and promised the little money that would be required for surrounding the whole with a good ditch, which would keep out the cattle, whilst the excavated earth would serve to raise the low part as much as required.

Thus we got through that day. At a quarter to six next morning we mounted to return, and after some seven miles across country, forded the bed of the Bistnapûr Khál, and struck on the excellent road which extends thence to Barripûr, rather more than twenty miles. Our horses seemed to infer that "home" was the order of the day, and stepped out with a will. A little above Bistnapûr, (or Bishenpur,) itself an extensive place, is a very large native town, called Joynngger, where are a number of Hindoo temples (I counted fourteen in a row along the edge of one tank) and several brick houses. There are many Brahmins, and others in easy circumstances, among the population. Although there is a Government School here, some of these have recently applied to the Missionaries to come and live on the spot, offering a site for a house, and engaging to build and maintain a school, provided the Missionaries will take the general superintendence of it. I hope this will all be done, and done quickly. It would bring Messrs. J. Driberg and Harrison within easy distance of Dhanghatta and Mogra Hât, and all that circle (excepting always the Bósór and Dighirpara district,) as well as reduce by half their present route to Bámonabád (Khárri) and Bósór. The question seems to be whether funds can by any possibility be raised for building them a residence. At Bóróh, full fifteen miles from Barripûr, we found a relay of horses. These, instinct with the thoughts of home, and fresh from three days' rest, set off with us, almost as soon as we were mounted, at full speed. One of us contrived to rein up speedily, but myself and other comrade were utterly unable to do so. I soon saw that it was a question between me and my steed which should pull longest and strongest, and resigned myself to being run away with till the journey's end. At last, however, dváykaç eềv λéπadvov, but it was only to behave like a wild deer rather than a tame Arab steed, which he continued to do (with a repetition of the running away), until we reached Barripûr, exactly at eight A.M., neither of us having had or surrendered his will.

On dismounting, I could not but hope that the day is not far distant when the application of a better subordinate agency, and a