Page:Distinguished Churchmen.djvu/92

66 in Australia is, of course, the existence of religious divisions. Indeed, the evil of such divisions is perhaps even more felt, owing to the need of continual expansion and the occupation of new districts, than is the case in the more settled condition of Christianity in the old country. Outside the Church of England the chief religious bodies are the Roman Catholic, almost entirely Irish in its composition; the Presbyterian, largely Scottish, and especially powerful in Victoria; the Wesleyan and the Congregational. There are, of course, other religious Communions, but of little influence compared with these. The difficulty created is painfully visible when we visit some little outlying settlement, and see there the co-existence of rival Churches and places of worship where there is only sufficient need and resource for one.”

“To what extent, my lord, are laymen allowed to assist in the ministrations of the Church?”

“Their scope of service is very considerable. In Sydney, for instance, we had two Orders of Lay-readers. The members of one placed their services unreservedly at the disposal of the Bishop, to go, as far as possible, wherever they were needed; and the members of the other Order were called Local Lay-readers, and undertook duty only in the parish or neighbourhood with which they were connected. When I tell you that, even in Sydney, which was a comparatively settled