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regard to the law as declared by the decisions of the Privy Council in the case of Long v. Bishop of Cape Town, and in the case of the Petition of the Bishop of Natal against the sentence of the Bishop of Cape Town, which was referred by Her Majesty to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Councilt;

and to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion on the subject it will be necessary to examine what is the real position of these Churches in the colonial dependencies on the Crown of England.

In the third place, it will be necessary to ascer- tain the objects for which the funds in the hands of the Defendants were contributed, the nature and extent of the contract entered into by the contri- butors of these funds with the Crown and with the Plaintiff when he was appointed Bishop of Natal, and whether, having regard to these matters, or any of them, the Defendants are bound to withhold from the Plaintiff, or to pay to him, the funds entrusted to their administration.

The facts which raise these questions are very few and not in dispute. They are as follows:-

In 1841, the Archbishop of Canterbury issued an invitation to the clergy and laity to attend a meet- ing, in April of that year, for the purpose of commencing the creation of a fund for the endow- ment of additional Bishops for the Colonies. On the 27th of April the meeting was held, and four resolutions were passed, the fourth of which was in these terms:~~~

"That a fund be raised towards providing for the endowment of bishoprics in such of the foreign possessions of Great Britain as shall be determined upon by the Archbishops and Bishops of the United Church of England and Ireland. That their Lord- ships be requested to undertake the charge and application of the fund, and to name a treasurer or treasurers, and such other officers as may be required for conducting the necessary details."

On the Tuesday in Whitsun week following, the Prelates met, according to the request so expressed, and undertook to take charge of the fund; they pointed out the dependencies on the Crown where bishoprics were the more immediately required; they appointed a standing Committee, consisting of

* 1 Moo P. C. (N. S.) 411.`

† 3 Moo. P. C. (N. S.) 115.

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the four Archbishops and five Bishops, to conduct the matter; and they concluded with stating that in no case should they proceed without the concur- rence of Her Majesty's Government.

Some years after this, on the 18th of May, 1849, the Standing Committee passed a resolution by which

it was declared that thenceforward all the Arch- bishops and Bishops of the United Church of England and Ireland should form the Committee, which was thenceforth to be called the Council for Colonial Bishoprics. Treasurers were appointed for the administration of the fund to be raised for these

purposes.

The first four Defendants on the record

are the treasurers to whom this administration is now confided.

The mode in which new bishoprics were created from time to time, as they were considered' to be required, was as follows:-As soon as this Com- mittee, or Council for Colonial Bishoprics, came to the conclusion that it would be expedient to found

a bishopric in any particular Colony, and had ascer- tained that they possessed funds sufficient, in their opinion, for the due maintenance of the Bishop of such intended diocese, they communicated with Her Majesty's Government on the subject, whose assent being obtained, thereupon the Committee, or the Council, entered into an agreement with the Crown, through Her Majesty's Ministers, that a certain annual income then specified should be appropriated out of the proceeds of the Colonial Bishopric Fund for the use of such Bishop. Her Majesty thereupou granted her Letters-Patent, purporting to create the diocese required, and then appointed some priest to

be ordained and consecrated as the Bishop of such colonial diocese.

It was in this manuer that the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope and its dependencies were. in September 1847, constituted & Bishop's see aud diocese.

Early in March 1853, the Council for Colonial Bishoprics resolved to obtain the creation of four new bishoprics, one, of which was to include the eastern province of the Cape Colony, and to be termed the Bishopric of Graham's Town, and an- other was to include the Province of Natal. Accord- ingly, for this purpose, on the 22nd of June, 1853, Mr. Hawkins, the Secretary of the Council, addressed

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CO.885

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