Bishops themselves, to keep the details of the voting secret. An election was secured, namely that of the Bishop of Wellington, but with the result that it was known that the Bishop of Nelson, the senior on the Bench, had been negatived by the representatives of his own diocese,—a most unhappy position, brought about by our own infringement of our canon. In future some alteration will be necessary in our procedure. Our methods of spiritual appointments are as yet on their trial. Whether they are an improvement on the anomalous system at Home, which seems, practically, to work so well, remains to be seen.
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I arrived, a few days ago, in the P. & O. Britannia, after a most interesting voyage. I went to Melbourne to join her, and had a day or two there to see the wonderful progress the city has made since I saw it in 1866. My first ocean voyage in a well-appointed steamer. What a contrast to the sailing ships in which I rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and Cape Horn! and what a delightful exchange of summer seas for the wintry storms of Southern Latitudes! I found a good friend in the Commander, Captain Hector, who was in command, some years ago, of the Southern Cross, Bishop Patteson's mission vessel. We had a day or two in Ceylon, my first glimpse of Indian tropical scenery, a perfect paradise of colour. Unlike other parts of India, showers fall almost every day in the year, which accounts for the lovely freshness
