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CHURCH. 
its bishops, pastors and members have to be defined, before 
anything effectual can be done to increase its efficiency, and 
render the work prosperous. Until this is done, everything 
must be in a measure at a stand-still; and this is the present 
feeling of its members.* No arbitrary form of government will 
obtain the cordial support of the people, whether in Church or 
* Wellington, New Zealand, October, 1850. 
To the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of New Zealand. 
We, the undersigned, members of that branch of the Church of England 
which is settled in New Zealand, beg, with great respect, to offer the follow¬ 
ing exposition of our views and wishes for your Lordship’s consideration :— 
We are deeply impressed with the conviction, that no Church can be in a 
satisfactory state which is destitute of a definite external organization, involv¬ 
ing the means of making laws and regulations for the management of its own 
affairs. Without such an organization, indeed, a Church can hardly (we mean 
with reference to temporal matters only) be said to exist as a corporate body 
at all; however numerous, zealous, and pious its individual members may be, 
still, as a Church, it can neither act nor speak, nor pex-form any of the functions 
incident to corporate vitality. This, however, is unfortunately the state of 
things which now exists in these islands, with respect to the members of our 
communion, and it is needless for us to explain at length to your Lordship the 
evils which it necessarily involves. We have no regular machinery for raising 
funds for ecclesiastical purposes, nor for securing their due appropriation and 
employment—no means of framing and enforcing a system of internal disci¬ 
pline—no means of providing by suitable legislation for the needs of that very 
peculiar and critical position which is occupied by our branch of Christ’s 
Church. Nor is external feebleness the only evil which is produced by the 
absence of any Church organization; it is, moreover, hardly possible under 
such circumstances, to avoid the danger of torpor and apathy with respect to 
ecclesiastical affairs among individuals; the danger, in other words, of indif¬ 
ference about responsibilities and duties, which they have no adequate means 
of discharging. Feeling, very strongly, the existence and magnitude of the 
evils to which we have referred, we now approach your Lordship with our 
earnest request that you will take steps towards the application of an effectual 
remedy for them. 
From what we have said, your Lordship will perceive that, in our opinion, 
such a remedy is to be found in the constitution of a government for the 
Church of New Zealand. We do not think it necessary or expedient to 
submit to your Lordship a detailed plan for such a government; but we have 
no hesitation in saying that any plan, which shall provide for the due repre¬ 
sentation of all orders and classes of Churchmen in a general Legislative 
Assembly, and which shall attribute to that Assembly power to regulate and 
manage all the ecclesiastical affairs which concern the members of our com¬ 
munion in their corporate capacity, will command our full and cordial assent. 
These constitute, in our opinion, the two main principles upon which such a 
