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some time after he patronised a similar entertainment, the first regular professional concert given in Melbourne, by a Monsieur and M a d a m e Gautrot, new arrivals from Sydney. About this time there was printed the following schedule of Fees in the Diocese of Australia:—Marriage by License—Clergyman, £i IDS.; Parish Clerk, ios.; Sexton, 5s. Total, £2 5s. Marriage by Banns—Publication of: Parish Clerk, IS. ; Marriage : Clergyman, 5s. ; Parish Clerk, 2s. 6d. ; Sexton, is. 6d. Total, 10s. Churching of W o m e n — C l e r g y m a n , is. ; Parish Clerk, 6d.; Sexton, 6d. Total, 2s. Burial—in a Grave—Clergyman, 2s. ; Parish Clerk, is. ; Sexton, 3s. 6d. Total, 6s. 6d. In a Brick or Stone Grave—Clergyman, ios. ; Parish Clerk, 5s. 6d.; Sexton, 5s. 6d. Total, £1 is. In a Vault—Clergyman, £1 is. ; Parish Clerk, 7s. 6d. ; Sexton, 7s. 6d. Total, ,£1 16s. There are some amusing inconsistencies in this tariff which it is difficult to reconcile :—as, for instance, what in the name of c o m m o n sense could a sexton have to do, in tying the knot of connubial bliss, indispensable though his services might be in piloting a deceased husband or wife out of the world? Or how could the same grim official earn a sixpence in the interesting ceremonial of " churching? " Then the clergyman and clerk both received five times as m u c h for seeing a corpse stowed away in a brick or stone grave as if the interment were in an ordinary one, though the sexton's allowance was only increased about one and a-half, whilst burial in a vault was, as compared with a c o m m o n grave, ten times as remunerative to the clergyman, seven and a-half times to the clerk, and only twice as m u c h to the sexton. Towards the close of the year 1840, the official staff of the Church of England, in Melbourne, was thus :— Minister—Rev. John C. Grylls, (absent in England on leave); Minister—Officiating, and Bishop's Surrogate for granting Marriage Licences, Rev. James Y. Wilson ; School-Master—Mr. James Clarke ; Clerk — M r . Ralph Walton; Sole Trustee—The Right Rev. the Bishop of Australia; Building Committee— His Honor C. J. Latrobe (President), Deputy Acting Commissary-General H o w a r d (Treasurer), the Officiating Minister (Secretary), Dr. Farquhar M'Crae, David C. M'Arthur, and James Smith, Esquires. T h e position which the Government occupied towards the several denominations will be best understood by the publication of the sums voted by the Legislative Council of N e w South Wales, for church and school establishments at Port Phillip for 1841, and though inserted here for convenience sake, its application is intended to be general.—Clergyman of the Church of England, ,£200 ; T w o Presbyterian Ministers (one to be stationed at Geelong) ,£150 each per annum, ,£300; Wesleyan Minister, ,£150; T w o R o m a n Catholic Clergymen, £150 each, .£300 ; Towards erecting churches and ministers' dwellings, on condition of sums to an equal amount being raised by private contributions, ,£2000. Total, .£2950. In aid of the establishment, and in support of schools, on condition of sums to an equal amount being raised by private contributions, £"joo. It was always objected that in a country where there was no State church, an undue favouritism was manifested by giving an Episcopalian £50 a year more stipend than any other minister. S o m e declared it to have been because of the possible or actual burden of a family ; but, if this objection held as against the R o m a n Catholic priest, it could not do so with the Wesleyan and other ministers, some of w h o m were as prolific as those more highly endowed. In 1841, it was definitely understood that the Rev. Mr. Grylls would not return to his pastorate, to which the Rev. A d a m Compton T h o m s o n was associated, and hefinallyreplaced the Reverend Mr. Wilson, whose ministrations were for several years after zealously employed in the Western district. There was a marked difference between the two men, though each endeavoured to do his duty according to his convictions. Mr. Wilson was the abler and more eloquent, Mr. T h o m s o n the more plausible and better diplomatist. T h e former was a fierce and often intemperate controversialist, prone to acrimonious preachings, and writing long, angry diatribes in the newspapers against the alleged fallacies and false teachings of the Church of R o m e ; whilst the latter managed to get on very well with his "separated brethren," and was not ashamed to live on friendly terms with the early priests, and to go hand-in-hand with them in any undertaking initiated for the public good, irrespective of country or creed. During the seven years that " Parson Thomson," as he was universally styled, officiated as the chief Episcopalian minister in Melbourne, he was highly esteemed, though not generally liked, and every one who had opportunity of judging him by his public acts in a clerical or lay character, could find no other opinion of him than that he was both a good missionary and a good citizen.