in the north, a cessation from out-door labour becomes at all necessary. The general salubrity of the country, thus accounted for, very naturally made it be thought of by intending emigrants; and accordingly, by means of the agencies that have at various times been set on foot, these have poured in upon its shores in steady stream, till its European population may be said to reckon nearly half a million of souls. This progress, if it be remembered that the colony is not of much more than thirty years' standing, and that its settlement has been carried forward in the face of peculiar internal difficulties, especially in the North Island, where the native population chiefly resides, may, without exaggeration, be said to be great.

It

'The seaboard of New Zealand may, on a rough estimate, be said to be about four thousand miles in extent; and this, coupled with the fact that its interior is to a very large extent of a mountainous character, determined the mode of its settlement. was not at one point, but at several points, that its enterprising colonists took possession of its extensive coasts, according as a good harbour or good land might guide their choice. Wellington, at the extreme south of the North Island; Nelson, at the extreme north of the Middle Island; and Taranaki, on the west side of the North Island, were settled by the New Zealand Land Company, which existed in England, and comprised not a few of the members of Parliament. Canterbury, on the east coast of the Middle Island, was a settlement formed under the auspices of the Church of England; and Otago, including all the southern extremity of the Middle Island, was established by an association connected with the Free Church of Scotland; while Auckland, situated towards the northern part of the North Island, arose in virtue of the selection of its site by Governor Hobson as the seat of the Colonial Government. From these six points as centres, the population has, for the most part, extended along the coasts and into the interior, as circumstances might direct. The discovery of gold has within the last ten years been the chief object in attracting a large population to the west coast of the Middle Island, the interior of Otago, and the Thames Gulf in the vicinity of Auckland.

'The original mode of settlement, resulting as it did in the

creation of six far-separated and independent communities, very naturally suggested the idea of the peculiar constitution afterwards conferred upon the colony, and brought into operation in 1853. That constitution was drawn up by the master-hand of Sir George Grey, the Governor of the colony for the time being. This shrewd and observant statesman, inspired by the spirit of the age, and taking a true view of the circumstances of the colony, shaped its constitution as nearly as possible after the model of government furnished in the polity of the Presbyterian Church. Each of the six different and remote points of settlement was recognized as the centre of a province, and invested with power to regulate all matters of merely local interest, which power might in a less degree be afterwards conferred upon municipal or rural boards; while all the six provinces, having the country apportioned amongst them, were entitled, according to their population, to send representatives to what is called "The General Assembly," to which body belong all the higher legislative functions, and whose enactments are binding upon the whole colony. These original provinces have, in some instances, been sub-divided, and the number has thus been increased to nine, but the principle of the constitution has nevertheless remained the same, and though not free from faults in the estimation of some, it is yet well suited to the country, and works well on the whole. It remains only to be added here, that these several points of settlement, thus constituted the headquarters of provincial institutions, became the natural centres of the Church's influence the seats of her presbyteries so soon as they could be formed, as in most cases they ultimately will be of her provincial synods or assemblies.

'The ecclesiastical history of New Zealand, in so far as it concerns the Presbyterian Church, dates from the year 1840. In the course of that year, the Rev. John Macfarlane was sent out by the Colonial Committee of the Church of Scotland to take the spiritual oversight of the members of the Church resident at Wellington. During the ten succeeding years, clergymen were sent out by the Free Church of Scotland to Nelson, Otago, and Auckland, according as immigration was directed to these several places. Thereafter the extension of the Church, like that of the

colony, became more rapid. ... In the part of the colony over which the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand exercises ecclesiastical care-including the whole of the North Island, and the provinces of Nelson, Marlborough, and Canterbury, in the Middle Islandthere are not fewer than 115 churches, schools, and manses, while in the provinces of Otago and Southland, where the Presbyterian population is most numerous, there is at the least an equal number. It will thus be seen that throughout the whole length of New Zealand, extending over upwards of a thousand miles, there have been 230 ecclesiastical structures built, for the most part, during the last twenty years—at the rate of fully 10 per year-by the agency of comparatively a handful of people, and, in the great majority of cases, without any aid extraneous to the Church.

'The general organization of the Church began in 1855. In that year the presbytery of Otago was constituted; and the presbytery of Auckland was constituted the year following. In 1861 negotiations were entered into between these two presbyteries for the purpose of uniting the Church throughout the whole extent of the colony into one organization; but eventually the brethren in the provinces of Otago and Southland preferred to have a distinct organization of their own. There thus came to be two general organizations, known as the Church of Otago and Southland, and the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand; in no wise antagonistic, but co-operative, not only in spirit but in act, sending deputies to their respective supreme courts, and destined, at no distant day, to become visibly one, as they already are in heart and in work. The synod of Otago consists at present of three presbyteries; takes the ecclesiastical care of the provinces of Otago and Southland, as also of the South, or Stewart Island; and is making vigorous and efficient efforts to supply the spiritual wants of the numerous members of the Church in these parts of the colony. The whole of the rest of the colony-comprising seven provinces, and a territory fully eight hundred miles in length-is under the spiritual supervision of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, consisting at present of five presbyteries. Now, throughout this great range of territory, there are many districts where there are considerable numbers of

our countrymen who are living without any provision for their religious culture.'

(1.) THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH of New ZealanD

comprises 5 presbyteries, with 58 congregations. Most of the churches are used as schools. The assembly is to meet biennially.

(2.) THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND embraces the southern portion of the Middle Island, and the Southern or Stewart Island. The two Churches send friendly deputations to each other's assemblies.

The settlement of Otago was founded by an association of gentlemen in connection with the Free Church of Scotland, the Rev. D. Burns accompanying the first settlers in 1848 to Dunedin. In 1854 the Presbytery was constituted. In 1861 negotiations for union were broken off. In 1865 the Church was subdivided into three presbyteries, and next year the synod was constituted. This Church has a general sustentation fund, out of which all receive an equal dividend. Had it not been for this fund,

churches could not have been planted in many of the districts. As the province of Southland has been re-united to Otago, the designation proper will be the Presbyterian Church of Otago. In the three presbyteries there are thirty-three charges.

A mission to the Maories was begun in 1869, also in the New Hebrides and to the Chinese.

Besides the sites of all churches and manses, an estate belongs to the Church, which forms a valuable endowment. It consists of a number of sections in the city of Dunedin, and some suburban and country districts, amounting in all to 1300 acres. This came to the Church chiefly through the Otago association. Of every eight properties sold by the association one property was allowed to the Church. These Church properties have become very valuable, although the revenue as yet is small. When Government schools were established, one-third of the revenue devoted to education was applied to university education, in the endowment of the chair of mental and moral philosophy. The other two-thirds constitute the ecclesiastical fund, devoted

to the building or repairing of manses and churches, &c. Two hundred pounds is given to the building of every manse.

Three other properties were the gift of the New Zealand Company, on the birthday of the settlement. For these Crown grants were issued in name of the superintendent of the province, in trust for the Church. The sites on which-(1.) The first manse was erected; (2.) The first church and school; and (3.) That on Church Hill, where the first church is being built. After the opening of the gold-fields of Otago, the first site, at the head of the principal jetty, being unsuitable, by order of the Provincial Council this was leased, and the proceeds devoted to the erection of a church and repairs of others throughout the province. The second site was set apart for a college, and the third for a church and manse. A manse was built with this at a cost of £2000, and the synod voted £10,000 towards the church, which is to cost £14,000.

An eminent clergyman in New Zealand said recently, 'I do not refer to difficulties in connection with the salary paid to ministers, though that is often enough the source of, sore trial to a minister. But the niggardly manner in which that salary is usually doled out to him is simply commercially dishonest. I know neither the amount of salary nor the manner of its payment of any minister in Auckland or in New Zealand. But while every clerk in the colony as a rule is paid regularly to the day, I venture to say that three-fourths of the ministers in New Zealand are at the present hour behind in their salaries. This is simply because advantage can be taken of their helpless dependence. If they press for payment, they are "mercenary," and 66 can think about nothing but money! money!" And yet when their butcher's bill comes in he is not mercenary, although he can think of nothing but "money! money!” . . . . The placing of a minister in this unfortunate position, after engagements made with him, is an act of commercial dishonesty that is the clamant scandal of the Colonial Churches' (Christian Times).

STATISTICS OF POPULATION,

'The immigrants for some years were mainly, though not exclu. sively, Presbyterians. With the gold discovery in 1861 a change