160

326

to entertain serious objections to
a system which admits the
various sects of Christianity, and
even the Jews, to equal privileges
with regard to the support from
the public revenue, for their
different forms of Public Worship.
It is a common argument
that this principle amounts to
an assertion on the part of
the State that all religious
tenets are equally true or
equally false.

I am bound further
to admit that - as only about
one third of the stipends of each
Minister of Religion was provided
from public funds, the New
South Wales system is considered
by many persons whose opinion
is entitled to great respect,
to possess all the disadvantages
of the Voluntary system, without
any of the advantages of a
regular Church Establishment. It
is stated that private benevolence
is found to be materially
checked by it; that in South
Australia where "State-Aid" has
long been discontinued, — the
number of clergymen of the
Church of England alone, is in
proportion to the population,
doubly as large as in
Australian Colonies where it
is still granted; and that in
New Zealand, a Colony far
less in extent than Queensland,
there are already no fewer
than

327

Enclosure No. 4
See "Sydney Morning Herald"
of the

than five Anglican Bishops, in
addition to the inferior orders
of the clergy. Much stress is
also naturally laid on the
liberal response which has been
made, during the last four
weeks, to the claims of the
Lord Bishop of Brisbane. It
appears that all the clergymen
whom he brought with him, in
addition to those previously in
the diocese, have already been
provided for, and that a demand
exists for a further supply from
England.

20. Moreover the principle
of "State-Aid", in the form which
recently existed here, has already
been condemned by the legislatures
of four of the Australian Colonies,
and it is generally acknowledged
that its abolition in all is
merely a question of time,
and has hitherto been delayed
owing to a complication of
vested interests. I annex an
article on the subject from the
most influential journal of
New South Wales, which faithfully
reflects, (as I am informed,)
the public opinion of that Colony
on this subject.

21. The vital importance
of the question now under review,
will I trust justify the length
of these comments, and the
anxious deliberations which I
have devoted to it.

Class 3.
22. The