forges of the Philistines. Our zeal needs to be re-kindled, that it may bear some.proportion to our increased intelligence." It appeared there was a s u m of ,£250 available, and it was resolved to endeavour to raise it to ,£400, when application could be m a d e to the Executive for land grants for church, parsonage, and school-house, as well as the pecuniary aid to which the congregation would be entitled under the Church Act Regulations. N o one dreamed at the time that a couple of years more would pass before any real building commencement would be made. T h e Bishop returned to Sydney, a few days after, amidst a cloud of good wishes. A misconception had for some time existed in reference to the grant of the site of St. James'. T w o portions of land, bisected by Little Collins Street, constituted the Church Reserve. There were three acres on the side whereon the Church was erected, whilst the remaining two, on the northern side, were annexed by the minister, and the area was k n o w n for years as " Parson Thomson's Cabbage Garden." As there was no State Church, the other religious denominations believed, and not without reason, that the Episcopal Church had been unduly favoured, by getting a couple of acres too much, and the Press protested vehemently against it. T h e vexed question was referred to Sir George Gipps in 1844, w h o after a thorough consideration of the case, expressed a belief that his predecessor, Sir Richard Bourke, had intended that the whole five acres should be given, and he consequently refused to interfere. T h e T o w n Council took the matter up, and, though the Crown grant for the whole parcel had issued, the street, n o w known as Church Street, or the western end of the disputed block, continued for years to keep alive an acrimonious feeling between the Council and the Government, until it was ultimately settled by a compromise, the terms of which will be found in the chapter devoted to the Melbourne Corporation. In November, 1843, a General Financial Statement was submitted by the Building Committee from which it appeared that the total receipts on account of St. James' amounted to ,£5,927 u s . 4d. In this sum were included ;£iooo received from the Government, ^ 2 0 0 borrowed from the Savings Bank, and ,£75 9s. due to the Bank of Australasia, the remainder being m a d e up of subscriptions, church-door collections, pew rents, and two small items as Bank interest on Deposits. T h e disbursements were thus:— Erecting old church, afterwards removing, pewing, enlarging, etc., etc., £ 3 3 2 ios. ; M r . Beaver for again enlarging, ^ 1 0 0 ; Making a drain around the Church, £2; Mr. George Beaver, to amount of contract, ^1885 is. ; Mr. Alexander Sim, to amount of contract, £3275 3s. iod.; Mr. Russell, Architect, to account, £193 ios.; Interest of Bank of Australasia on loan and other advances, ^ 1 3 9 6s. 6d. Total, fS927 IIS- 4<J.
T h e outstanding liabilities were ,£930 17s. 6d., for contractors' accounts, the balance due to the Bank of Australasia, and .£218 6s. 6d. to the Savings Bank. T h e subscriptions promised since the arrival of the Bishop, would realise ^"450, in which case the deficit would not exceed ,£480 17s. 6d., which would be liquidated by an expected grant of ,£500 from the Government. A n d so St. James' Church continued to go ahead. A choir was formed, an organ obtained, and the services began to assume a respectable and comfortable aspect; but at the Sunday service of 17th November, 1844, a contretemps happened, at which people could not help laughing in the midst of their devotions. There had been a heavy rain the night before, which flowed in freely through portions of the roof, and when the organist tackled to his instrument, to his ineffable dismay he found the pipes of his instrumentfilledwith water, and all his music washed away. T h e Eastern Hill church remained in embryo during 1845, but in January 1846, the Government consented to give ,£1000 towards its erection, with the usual proviso that a like s u m be raised by contributions ; and intelligence was received from the Bishop that a balance of .£1684, remaining to the credit of the Church of England for 1844, would be appropriated to Port Phillip in the following proportions, viz. :—St. James'(Melbourne), ,£500; Geelong, ,£150; Portland, , £ 7 5 ; and the residue in moieties to Portland and Belfast. T h e Eastern Hillites again put on a spurt, and nominated Messrs. James Simpson, R. W . Pohlman, and J. D. Pinnock, as building trustees. T h e requisite vouchers were forthcoming, the land granted, and further preliminaries, plans, specifications, etc., were decided on. Geelong had for some time displayed so m u c h activity, that by March, 1846, they had erected a church, parsonage, and school-house, and the Rev. E. Collins, a newly-arrived clergyman, was sent d o w n as thefirstregular minister.
