MY LORD,
HONGKONG, August 6th, 1868.
A letter from England—and from one whose lightest words are weighty—leads me to suppose that your Lordship as President of the Church Missionary Society is moving in conjunction with the Hon. Clerical Secretary to obtain, apart from my concurrence, the Consecration of a Missionary Bishop to officiate in the Ningpo Mission. I address your Lordship in much anxiety upon the subject. I deprecate a public scandal, and earnestly desire to prevent it.
If I am correct in my supposition, and thankful shall I be to find I am mistaken, I am sure your Lordship cannot be aware that such action is illegal. The letters patent* creating the see and assigning the limits of episcopal jurisdiction make the consent of the Bishop, as well as of the Crown and Primate, necessary to any alteration of the jurisdiction of the See of Victoria. If a missionary Bishop can be sent to China without the official assent of the Bishop of Victoria, his letters patent must be valueless as a sheet of blank paper; and I am a Bishop without a Diocese or any episcopal jurisdiction at all.
*The wording of the Letters Patent is as follows:-
“Whereas, by an order in Council made and passed on the first day of May, 1849, under the authority of an Act of Parliament passed in the Session of the 6th and 7th years of our reign intituled ‘An Act for the better government of H. M. subjects in China,’ we were pleased to order and direct that all persons in holy orders of the United Church of England and Ireland being within the dominions of the Emperor of China or within any ship or vessel at a distance of not more than 100 miles from the Coast of China should be subject to the authority and jurisdiction of the See of Victoria and the Bishop thereof in the same manner as if they were resident in the Island of Hongkong.
“Now KNOW YE that in pursuance of such Our Royal Intention, we do by these our Letters Patent ordain, make, constitute, and declare the said City [of Victoria] and all the territory comprised in our said island of Hongkong and its Dependencies to be the Diocese of the Bishop of Victoria, &c., and to be called in all time the Diocese of Victoria, saving nevertheless unto Us, our Heirs and Successors the power of extending or altering from time to time, with the consent of the Archbishop of Canterbury for the time being if the See be vacant, or otherwise of the said Archbishop and of the Bishop of the said See for the time being, the limits of the said Diocese or of the Jurisdiction of the Bishop thereof.”
Page 796
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MY LORD,
HONGKONG, August 6th, 1868.
A letter from England--and from one whose lightest words are weighty-leads me to suppose that your Lordship as Presi- dent of the Church Missionary Society is moving in conjunction with the Hony. Clerical Secretary to obtain, apart from my concur. rence, the Consecration of a Missionary Bishop to officiate in the Ningpo Mission. I address your Lordship in munch anxiety upon the subject. I deprecate a public scandal, and earnestly desire to prevent it.
If I am currect in my supposition, and thankful shall I be to find I am mistaken, I am sure your Lordship cannot be aware that such action is illegal. The letters patent* creating the see and assign- ing the limits of episcopal jurisdiction make the consent of the Bishop, as well as of the Crown and Primate, necessary to any alteration of the jurisdiction of the See of Victoria. If a missionary Bishop can be sent to China without the official assent of the Bishop of Victoria his letters patent must be valueless as a sheet of blank paper; and I am a Bishop without a Diocese or any episcopal jurisdiction at all.
*The wording of the Letters Patent is as follows:- Whereas, by an order in Council made and passed on the first day of May, 1849, under the authority of an Act of Parliament passed in the Session of the 6th and 7th years of our reign intituled an Act for the better government of H. M. subjects in China,' we were pleased to order and direct that all persons in holy orders of the United Church of Eugland and Ireland being within the dominions of the Emperor of China or within any ship or vessel at a distance of not more than 100 miles from the Coast of China should be subject to the authority and jurisdiction of the Ses of Victoria and the Bishop thereof in the same manner as if they were re- sident in the Island of Hongkong.
"Now KNOW YE that in pursuance of such Our Royal Intention, we do by these our Letters Patent ordain make constitute and declare the said City [of Victoria] and all the territory comprised in our said island of Hongkong and its Dependencies to be the Diocese of the Bishop of Victoria, &c., and to be called in all time the Diocese of Victoria, saving nevertheless unto Us our Heirs and Successors the power of extending or altering from time to time, with the consent of the Arch- bishop of Canterbury for the time being if the See be vacant, or other- wise of the said Archbishop and of the Bishop of the said See for the time being, the limits of the said Diocese or of the Jurisdiction of the Bishop thereof.”
796
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