POLITICAL AND SOCIAL. 



439 





Catholic Church in Australia has at its head His Imminence the Cardinal, Archbishop ,,( 

 Sydney, who is empowered as Delegate Apostolic to call a plenary council of Bishops 

 of the various dioceses together, as occasion requires, for purposes of consultation. I >io-san 

 affairs are managed by clerical conferences and synods. The Presbyterian Churches of 

 the colonies are all ecclesiastically independent of each other, though their tests arc the 

 same and their polity identical. A Federated Union of the churches of the various 

 colonies held its first meeting in Sydney in 1886. Each Church is presided over by its 

 o\vn elected Moderator. The Wes- 

 leyan Church of Australia has en- 

 joyed practically independent govern- 

 ment since 1855, up to which date 

 it had been a mission of the British 

 Conference. From that time until 

 1873, tne Church held the status 

 of an Australian Conference, but in 

 the year named the British Con- 

 ference acknowledged its independ- 

 ence by a resolution of that body, 

 A Triennial Conference 

 of all the churches 

 governs the Wesleyan 

 body in Australia, which 

 is subdivided into four 

 conferences, each under 

 its own elected presi- 

 dent. The Cons/reea- 



O C5 



tional Unions of the 



various colonies govern 



the local affairs of the denomination under the direction of an elected chairman and 



a committee. The different colonial branches of most of the other religious bodies 



are similarly independent of each other, each pursuing its own work in the light of the 



special circumstances in which it finds itself placed. The Jewish Church is represented 



by its rabbis in the respective colonies. 



It is impossible to do justice to the religious interest in Australasia without advert- 

 ing to the great gain which has accrued to the social and intellectual life of the 

 colonies from the presence and influence of those leaders of the more important denomi- 

 nations who have, from time to time, taken up their residence amongst us. The 

 prominent churchmen, whose eloquence, scholarship and administrative ability have been 

 placed at the service of the colonies by a succession of fortunate events, are so well- 

 known that it is unnecessary here to go over the bead-roll of honoured names. Our 

 debt as a people is great, not only to the individuals, but to the organi/ations which 

 sent them to labour amongst us. It may be, that in the course of time, we shall desire 

 to see the higher offices in the different churches, like the higher political and 

 professional posts of service, filled by Australians rather than by candidates brought 



A CHINESE "JOSS HOUSE IN AUSTRALIA. 



