HOME RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF VICTORIA. Population, (1873,) 774,984. In 1871, 731,528, of whom 170,629 were Roman Catholics; 3,571 Jews; 17,935 Chinese; 1,330 Aborigines; the rest Protestants. Religion.-State aid has ceased in this Colony. The first Christian body which entered the Colony was the Wesleyan, the Rev. J. Orton having preached the first sermon beneath the she-oaks of Bantam Hill, in 1837. Samuel Wilkinson was the first settled Wesleyan Minister in Melbourne. Dr. Perry was the first Bishop of the English Church. The Presbyterians and Independents have Ministers of considerable talent in this Colony. The actual working of the religious Denominations is best seen by a reference to the accommodation provided, and the attendance upon the services of the respective Churches. So in Victoria: Wesleyans Sittings. Av. atten. ... ... ... ... Sittings. Av. atten. 15,050 8,420 12,756 7,192 ... ... 12,830 9,150 5,500 2,800 92,900 69,900 Independents Presbyterians 64,000 44,865 Primitive Meth. Ch. of England 59,676 38,165 Baptists...... Rom. Catholics 57,760 39,472 Un. Methodists... Education.-Placed under the care of a National Board, as in New South Wales:-988 Schools, 144,049 Scholars; Private Schools, 27,370; Industrial Schools, &c., 2,648; Total, 1,710 Teachers, 174,069 Scholars. In 1872, Education was made free without charge. There is a University at Melbourne; four Denominational Colleges are affiliated to it. HOME RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Population, by census of 1871, 185,636; estimated in 1873, 192,500, including 3,369 Aborigines, and a large number of Germans. We have no census of the religious professions. Religion.-No State grants to any Churches. The influence of the several Denominations may be estimated by a reference to the accommodation afforded by the several Churches : Chapels. Sittings. ... Wesleyan Methodists 244 31,960 Independents...... New Connexion Meth. ... ... 4 Church of England... 107 ... ... ... Roman Catholics..... 49 11,980 Education. It is proposed to make education compulsory, secular, and free, as in Victoria. There are 307 Schools, 298 Licensed Teachers, and 15,791 Pupils, besides those in the High Schools. HOME RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Population, 1871, 25,853; of which 7,118 are Roman Catholics, 62 Jews, the rest Protestants: 4,274 are convicts on ticket-of-leave. Religion.-State aid is yet continued in the Colony, paid partly by the Home Government. J. Smithies was the first Wesleyan Minister, (1839,) and was followed by S. Hardey and W. Lowe. Education.-Seventy-three schools under the Board of Education, with 2,336 pupils. Several schools and Missions have been organized for the Aborigines by the Episcopalians and Roman Catholics. NORTH AUSTRALIA is a recent settlement formed by the South Australian Government. Grammars.-Grammar and Vocabulary of the Language of Aborigines of South Australia, by C. G. Teichelman, Lutheran Missionary Society. Vocabulary of the Paruklia Language, (Spencer's Gulf,) by Schürmann, Lutheran Missionary Society. Grammar and Vocabulary of the Language of Encounter Bay, by C. G. Teichelman, Lutheran Missionary Society. [Carried to 101.] XXVI. AUSTRALASIA (No. 3)-TAS- 1. The British and Foreign Bible Society has circulated in Victoria 9,792 Scriptures and portions; in South Australia, 8,899. 2. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge has voted £2,000 towards a new Bishopric in Victoria. 3. The National Bible Society of Scotland has many voluntary and zealous agents in Victoria, by whom the Scriptures are circulated. EDITIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES. 1. The British and Foreign Bible Society has published extracts from the Old and New Testaments in the Narrynyeri dialect of the Aborigines of South Australia. HOME RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF TASMANIA. Population, (1870,) 99,328; in 1872, estimated at 102,925, of whom about 22,000 were Roman Catholics, 200 Jews, the rest, Protestants. William Horton and William Carvosso were among the earliest Wesleyan Ministers in this Colony, followed by J. A. Manton, John Eggleston, and H. H. Gaud. Aborigines extinct! Education.-305 schools, public and private; 16,477 pupils. [Carried to 102.] HOME RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF NEW ZEALAND. Population, (European, 1871,) 256,793; the Maories (Natives) in the Northern Island, 37,107; in the Middle Island, 1,433; total, 38,540, a decline of 30 per cent. in ten years! The Maories appear to have emigrated from the Sandwich Islands four hundred years ago; they are decidedly Malayan in race. Religion.-The Roman Catholics are 35,608 in number; the pagan Chinese, 2,612; the Jews, 1,262; all the rest Protestants. The Church of England in 1814, the Wesleyans in 1821, were the first Missionaries to the natives of New Zealand. The Rev. Samuel Marsden, of Parramatta, the real founder of the Church of England in New South Wales, first established the Church Mission in New Zealand. Williams, Ashfield, Davis, Maunsell, and R. Taylor, as Missionaries, are identified with this Mission to the Maories. Bishop Selwyn, now transferred to the see of Lichfield, an able, energetic, and enterprising Missionary Bishop, (1841-1868,) was the first Bishop of New Zealand. His high ecclesiastical views were strangely at issue with his natural genial liberality of thought and feeling. He will be remembered in the history of the New Zealand Missions as one who was "in labours more abundant," and as the originator of the Melanesian Mission. Samuel Leigh, Nathaniel Turner, Hobbs, Buller, Wallis, Buddle, Reid, Fletcher, Bumby, and Whiteley, who was murdered by the Maories in 1869, are names to be remembered in connexion with the Wesleyan Missions in New Zealand. The Colony of Christchurch was established as a Church of England Colony, and that at Dunedin, Otago, as a Presbyterian Colony, but both are open to settlers of other denominations. Education.-The Government schools are 244, with 31,710 pupils. 173,459 of the population can read and write; 18,810 can only read. There is a university, also some high schools. Grammars, &c.-Yeates's New Zealand Grammar, edited by Dr. Lee, 12mo., Church Missionary Society. Maunsel's New Zealand Grammar, Church Missionary Society. Williams's (now Bishop Williams) Grammar and Dictionary, Church Missionary Society. BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETIES. TASMANIA AND NEW ZEALAND. 1. The British and Foreign Bible Society circulates in Tasmania 1,715 Scriptures and portions; in New Zealand, 1,431. 2. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge has granted £1,000 for the dioceses of Waipa and Nelson; £50 to Christchurch, and £10 to Nelson. EDITIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES. 1. The British and Foreign Bible Society has published two Editions of the Maori Bible. VIII. MISSIONS IN POLYNESIA. "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.”—Psalm xcvii. 1. "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.". John vi. 12. "Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish."—Matthew xviii. 14. 1. THESE Missions are remarkable for the complete success which has generally attended them. Except in New Guinea, the Marquesas, the New Hebrides, and part of Fiji, the entire population of Polynesia, so far as it has been brought under Missionary teaching, has embraced the Christian religion; even in cannibal Fiji the majority already professing Christianity. More than three hundred islands of Eastern and Southern Polynesia have thrown away idolatry and its cruelties. The Mission to Tahiti, which commenced in 1793-4, was the first attempt in modern times to carry the Gospel to an isolated uncivilized people. In this, as in subsequent efforts for the benefit of these islanders, a reasonable number of Missionaries, bearing some proportion to the work intended to be accomplished, has been sent out; and in all these Missions, within the space of less than a generation, the decided change from Paganism to Christianity has been by the blessing of God effected. Mission vessels are employed by the London and Wesleyan Missionary Societies, by the conductors of the Melanesian Missions, by the American Board of Foreign Missions, and by some of the local Missionary Societies, being necessary in order to carry on Missionary operations in the only great highway in Polynesia, the Pacific Ocean! 2. A great amount of literary labour has also been accomplished. The languages and dialects spoken in the Islands of |