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That it is also clear that the exercise of such prerogative could not, with propriety or safety, be permanently deputed to the Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony, or to any other local authority, there' being no security nor any reasonable ground to expect that such Governor or other authority will, in all cases, be a member of, or friendly to, the Church of England.
That, consequently, to insist upon the retention of such prerogative would, in effect, be to prevent such assemblies from being held at all, and in that way to prevent any regulations being made for the better carrying on the affairs of the Church, and to keep the same permanently in its present imperfect and unsatisfactory condition.
Your memorialist would further remark that, on the other hand, the Bill reserves to the Crown the right to nominate the Bishop of the Diocese-the only portion of the Royal prerogative, it may be observed, in actual exercise; that it withholds from the proposed Assembly the power "to alter or do anything at variance with the authorised standarde of faith and doctrine, or to alter the oaths, declara- tions, or subscriptions," (these, including, it will be recollected, the recognition of the Supremacy of the Crown as well as the pledge of Allegiance,)“ now by law or canon required to be taken, made, or sub- scribed by persons to be consecrated, ordained, instituted, or licensed within the Church;" that, as
regards the proposed Commission for the trial of ecclesiastical offences, such Commission cannot be brought into operation until the rules for its conduct and management, and the mode of proceeding under the same, have been submitted to, and approved by, Her Majesty in Council; that any alteration of such rules must, in like manner, have Her Majesty's sanction; that no right of appeal to Her Majesty in Council can be interfered with; and lastly, that not only the rules for the proposed Commission, but generally, all the regulations which may be passed at the first Assembly (and by which, necessarily, its ordinary course of procedure will be governed) are made to require, in order to their validity, Her Majesty's approbation.
Supposing, however, that your memorialist has
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succeeded in showing both that the Bill does not infringe upon the Royal Prerogatives further than the necessity of the case requires, and also that the measure is not only of urgent importance, but is likewise safe and moderate, it has been suggested to your memorialist that there is another difficulty in the case upon which it may be proper for him to offer some remarks.
It may be held, it is said, that it is not competent
to the Queen to give her assent to the Bill without the sanction of the Imperial Parliament.
Your memorialist then respectfully hopes, that should Her Majesty's Government decide that the sanction referred to is requisite, they will deem the case of sufficient importance to justify their applying
to Parliament for the purpose of obtaining it, which may be done either by appending to some general measure on the subject of Colonial Church Legisla- tion a clause authorising Her Majesty to give Her assent to the present Bill, or by making this autho- rity the subject of a separate enactment.
In conclusion, your memorialist desires to observe that the Bill does not, directly or indirectly, affect any member of any other Religious Body; and that
it affects the members of the Church itself so far only as "concerns their position, rights, duties, and liabilities in regard of their ministry, membership, or communion, or the advowson or right of patron- age, or management of the property of the Church," and imposes no penalty or disability other than a deprivation of ecclesiastical office, or of such right of patronage, or of the management of such property. That the Bill does not confer upon the proposed Assembly of the Church of England, greater powers than those which are already, by the constitution of the Churches, and the local enactments recognising the same, enjoyed by the Synod of the Presbyterian Church, and by the Conference of the Wesleyan Methodists, or any powers which your memorialist, and the other members of the Church on behalf of which he pleads, would not gladly see granted to any other Religious denomination. That the Bill is the result of a long and careful deliberation by the mem- bers of a conference of the clergy and laity of the Church of England in Victoria, convened by your
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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2 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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