It was the fourth meeting of Synod, the first having been held in 1859. The business occupied eleven days. I was especially glad to have been a member, as it was an occasion of historic importance in the annals of the Church, Bishop Selwyn, having accepted the Bishopric of Lichfield, presiding for the last time.
Moreover, in the inevitable course of things, the Church in New Zealand, being the daughter of the Established Church at Home, at first tied to the apron strings of its Mother in all that concerns Ecclesiastical Law, has practically come of age, and is obliged to be a Law unto itself, and to accept the responsibility of managing its own household. I give an instance of this. Necessity had arisen for the appointment of a Bishop in Melanesia, and the formation of Melanesia into a Diocese, under the jurisdiction of the Church in New Zealand. Hitherto Bishop Selwyn had exercised episcopal oversight of Melanesia. Accordingly, Patteson, the acting head of the Mission, had been duly consecrated Bishop of Melanesia, without any legal authority from Home, which, indeed, would not have been given, had it been asked. His consecration involved the omission in the Service for Consecration of Bishops of the Oath declaring the Supremacy of the Queen, or the necessity of any Royal mandate to the New Zealand Church for the consecration.
Further, the see of Nelson being vacant by the resignation of Bishop Hobhouse, who had been consecrated at Home under Letters Patent, was filled by the appointment of Bishop Suter, the choice of the Diocese of Nelson, who was consecrated in London, but without Letters Patent, as a Bishop in New Zealand, not as a Bishop of the Established Church
