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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

C.O.

Reference :-

885 11 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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observe that if this were true it would be immaterial, inasmuch as Mr. Adams does not assert that either he or Her Majesty's Government had information of it; and further, that the total silence of all the witnesses in the case of Regina v. Corbett (who had been examined by the American Consul) on the subject of these guns throws some light (to say the least) on this part of Temple's story. Independently of which it is clear that the general armament and equipment of the "Shenandoah" with the necesssary munitions of war was provided by the "Laurel," and there is nothing to render it probable that without such equipment, and in the state in which she left this country, the "Shenandoah

(even if she carried the two guns alleged) was in the condition of an armed vessel capable of committing hostilities against the United States.

D

Among other statements in the depositions of Temple which appear to us to require notice are some relating to the conduct of the Governor and officers of the Government at Melbourne in Victoria, who are said to have paid to Captain Waddell and his officers attentions of a very marked and public kind which (from persons in such situations) would appear to us to have been highly unsuitable and inconsistent with a due respect for Her Majesty's neutrality. We doubt extremely the truth of these statements, especially as they go much beyond anything which we find alleged by the United States Consul at Melbourne in the papers sent by Mr. Adams to Lord Russell on the 21st of October last. But nevertheless we think that it might be proper to bring these allegations to the attention of Sir C. Darling and his Government, and to ask for some explanations with reference thereto.

The Earl of Clarendon, K.G.,

&c.

&c.

&c.

We have, &c. (Signed) ROUNDELL PALMER.

R. P. COLLIER. R. PHILLIMORE.

304.

No. 379.

(NEW ZEALAND.)

LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.

Lincoln's Inn, January 10, 1866.

SIR,

We are honoured with your commands, signified in Mr. Elliot's letter of the 22nd ultimo, stating that he was directed to acknowledge the receipt of our report of the 10th November, in which we requested to be informed whether any statutes or ordinances have been passed by the Legislature of New Zealand relative to bishops in that Colony created by Her Majesty's Letters Patent.

A copy of the late Bishop of New Zealand's Trust Act, passed by the Legislature in 1858, which is referred to in the petition from the bishops now under our con- sideration, was also enclosed, and Mr. Elliot was pleased to state that no other local Act has been discovered relating to the bishoprics of New Zealand; and he also forwarded a copy of a letter which you, Sir, addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, sending him a copy of this petition, together with a copy of the letter received from his Grace in reply.

In obedience to your commands we have taken these papers into consideration, and have the honour to

Report

That the general views and objects suggested in the petition of the bishops, and the memorandum of the Government of New Zealand, appear to us to be just and reasonable. But with respect to the mode which the bishops propose of carrying them into effect, we must observe that the Imperial Statute, 15 & 16 Vict. c. 88. (1852 A.D.), distinctly empowers Her Majesty to constitute a "distinct see or diocese out of a surrendered portion of the diocese of New Zealand, which diocese this statute recites in the preamble to have been constituted by Letters Patent under the Great Seal on the 14th October 1841, and to which it, by implication, gives legal validity.

The Colonial Act, 21 & 22 Vict. (No. 17), passed in 1857, refers to the Bishop of New Zealand as a recognised public officer, and confers on him the power of divesting himself of certain hereditaments held on trust, and of conveying them to certain

trustees.

Having regard to these statutes (which appear to us to involve a parliamentary recognition of two of the existing bishoprics in New Zealand), we are of opinion that it is not competent to the bishops of New Zealand (or, at all events, not for those of them to whom the above-mentioned statutes relate) to resign their Letters Patent and retain the see which they founded; that is to say, if they did so, the corporation would be not extinct in law, but in abeyance, and it is obvious that this circumstance might lead to much confusion, and would certainly be injurious to the interest of members of the Church of England in the Colony.

Upon the whole we think it would be expedient to introduce a Bill into Parliament with the objects contemplated in the draft which was prepared and settled by us last session, with such additions thereto as may be necessary for the purpose of removing all legal impediments which exist, or may be supposed to exist, to the consecration of bishops for voluntary episcopal churches, either in this country or elsewhere, without any Letters Patent or Royal Mandate or license, and also for the purpose of excluding any special legal jurisdiction which exists, or may be supposed to exist, either in Her Majesty in Council or of any ecclesiastical authority in this country, over unestablished Colonial bishops or their churches other than such jurisdiction as courts of law and equity possess over other voluntary religious bodies; and further (if that should be though expedient) to enable Her Majesty to accept, and the bishops to make, surrender of any Letters Patent purporting to convey to them ecclesiastical authority in the Colonies, which may have been already granted, without prejudice to the right of such bishops to continue to exercise their spiritual functions upon a voluntary principle.

These observations will, of course, be understood only to apply to those Colonies or possessions of the Crown in which the Church of England is not already constituted under any form of legal establishment.

We have, &c.

(Signed)

To the Right Hon. Mr. Secretary Cardwell, M.P.

ROUNDELL PALMER. R. P. COLLIER. ROBERT PHILLIMORE.

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