of the Colony. Another important event of the interregnum was the extinction of the Board of Education and the appointment (June 24, 1865), at the suggestion of Dr. Legge, of Dr. Stewart as Head of the Education Department, having under his direction both the Central School and the outside Government Schools, then 14 in number but increased to 25 schools by the end of this period. Dr. Stewart urged upon the Government (in 1865 and in 1871) the introduction of an education tax and a compulsory school-attendance law, but neither Mr. Mercer nor Sir Richard would consent to such a measure. The Central School, which had hitherto received only Chinese boys, was thrown open by Sir Richard (in 1866) to boys of all nationalities. The new Bishop, Dr. Alford, engaged in a controversy with Dr. Stewart by opposing the system of secular or, as he called it, godless education in Government Schools, but without avail. St. Paul's College, having lost its funds by the failure of Dent & Co., had to be closed in 1867, and, when an attempt to re-open it in 1868 failed, the College was absorbed (in 1869) in the Diocesan Orphanage. The Morrison Education Society was also deprived of its funds by the failure of Dent & Co. and handed over its library, together with a painting of Chinnery's (representing Dr. Morrison) and a bust of the Hon. H. R. Morrison, to the City Hall Library as a free gift for the use of the public (March 30, 1869).
Bishop Smith having resigned, the Rev. Ch. R. Alford, M.A., was appointed by Letters Patent (January 14, 1867) Lord Bishop of the See of Victoria and Warden (for the Church Missionary Society) of St. Paul's College. The new Bishop appointed the Colonial Chaplain (W. R. Beach) as residentiary Canon of St. John's Cathedral. Bishop Alford did much to cement good understanding between the clergy and the missionaries of all persuasions and exercised upon the general community a powerful influence for good. For the benefit of the funds of the British and Foreign Bible Society, he organised a local Auxiliary (H. Laurence, Hon. Secretary). Sir Richard MacDonnell, who
