CONFIDENTIAL.]
Memorandum for the use of the Deputation to the Duke of Buckingham, on the subject of a Missionary Bishop for the North of China.
At the close of the year 1866 a communication was made to the Church Missionary Society by the Rev. Ernest Hawkins, Secretary of the Colonial Bishops' Fund, at the suggestion of the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Archbishop of Canterbury, to ascertain whether there was any Missionary of the Society acquainted with the Chinese language, and suitable for the Bishopric of Victoria.
The senior Missionary connected with the Chinese Mission, the Rev. W. A. Russell, M.A. Trinity College, Dublin, being in England at this time, was recommended to the Archbishop of Canterbury. But Mr. Russell, upon the matter being mentioned to him, at once stated, that in the opinion of all the Missionaries in China, no adequate superintendence over the Mission in Ningpo could be exercised by a Bishop of Victoria, as the present advanced state of the Native Church requires a resident Bishop thoroughly acquainted with the character and language of the people; that he should therefore much prefer being appointed a Missionary Bishop at Ningpo upon a Missionary salary than Bishop of Victoria, if a division could be made between North and South China.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, after full investigation of the subject, sanctioned Mr. Russell's proposal, and requested the Church Missionary Society to explain the proposed arrangements to Lord Stanley, Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, from whom a licence must issue for a Missionary Bishop under 5 Vict. cap. 6. At the same time the Rev. C. R. Alford was recommended to the Earl of Carnarvon, Her Majesty's Secretary for the Colonies, for the See of Victoria.