The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-04-05
ONCE SERVED THE
LOCAL EPlSCOPACY
Bishop Willis Locates Twenty-one
CIergymen Formerly at Work
in These Islands.


Churchman, Feb. 2, 1901.
! The letter in The Churchman in which
the above passage occurs is not the
first publication in which attention has
been called to the number of clerg.
Who during the last quarter of cen
fury, after ministering for longer or
shorter period in the Hawaiian Islands,
are now to be found in other parts of
the worlds as affording a conclusive
proof that the Bishop of Honolulu is
a Nabal in whose diocese no clergy can
endure to remain. In a similar strain,
and doubtless from the same pen. the
question as asked in a Pink Pamphlet
widely circulated in 1898 by John Us
borne, Where are all my predeces-
sors? Thirty-four clergy have worked
in this diocese since our Bishops ad-
vent: six of these are in the Islands
now; the remaining twenty-eight left
under various circumstances which
many of you will remember (The fig
ures here are not quite correct; between
1872 and 1901 thirty-four clergy. exclu-
sive of locum tenentes and visiting
clergy, have been admitted into the do
cese, of whom eight remain).
1t is the purpose of this article to set
forth very briefly the circumstances"
of these twenty-six departures, and our
readers will then see the need of fol-
lowing the advice of our Savior, Judge
not according to the appearance, but
judge righteous judgment, before
yielding their assent to the insinuations
of one who assumes the unenviable role
of "Accuser."
First of all, there are three of the
twenty six who departed in obedience
to a summons to better paraulse than
that of the Pacific, Searle, Clark and
Lane. That their places should have
been vacated can hardly be laid to the
Bishops account. Nor should he be
held responsible for the detection of two
priests, Eric Lewis and John Osborne,
the one to the ministry of 1.-The Chris
tan church." the other to become the
minister of a little sect of his own,
which he calls 1.-The Episcopal Church
at Large" Then there were three
clergy who came to the Islands only for
a limited period and left when that
period was fulfilled, Dunn. Silver and
Byrde; and four who landed here either
in the course of travel, as Eykyn, or in
search of health, and failing to find it,
left again after short ministry, as
Wilbur, Duncan and Turton. Twelve OF
the twenty-six are thus accounted for.
Of the remaining fourteen, eight were
ordained by the Bishop and six came
from other dioceses. With regard to the
eight whom he ordained, any one who
will give the matter a moments consid-
Grafton Will see how natural it is that
after a few years ministerial service
here in mid-ocean young men should
turn their thoughts to a larger world
and wider field for the exercise of their
expanding powers Outside of Hono.u
lu, the Islands offer no opportunity for
promotion, and the shifting character
of the population in the country dis
trictS makes ministerial labor here very
disappointing, the fruit of years of
sowing being in many cases carried out
of sight. AS it was to be expected that
after a few years of faithful service
some of those ordained in this circum
scribed diocese should be called to de-
vote their energies and talents to larger
centers of population, so it is a source
of unfeigned qualification to the Bishop
to watch in other dioceses the career
of those whom he ordained to the min
istry, and see how we'll the promise of
ministerial faithfulness given in the
early years of their course continues to
be fulfilled. Instead of being a ground
of disparagement it is an honor to this
diocese that it's Clergy should have been
advanced to the positions they are now
holding. Blundun, vicar of Bramford-
Spoke, in the diocese of Exeter Calder,
incumbent of All Saints, Pensonby, a
populous suburb of Auckland with the
largest Sunday school In that city;
Whalley, Sub-Dean of Fredericton Ca
thedral; Brookes o. Baker incumbent
of st. Paul, Port Townsend: Swan, in
.cumbent of ST. Matthews, Kensington,
a suburb Of Adelaide, and Secretary of
the Diocesan Board of Education; Mer-
rill, with a large Indian congregation
$3.50 communicates at Oneida, Wiscon-
sin; Barnes whom Honolulu snubbed,
Organizing Secretary for the S. P. G.
in the diocese of Manchester, an ap-
pointment previously held by the pres
ent Bishop of New Westminster, and
Gowen, rector of Holy Trinity, Seattle.
OF the six who came here from other
dioCeses, 1t cannot be said that any one
of them left the diocese in consequence
of differences with the Bishop. l. There
was Blackburn, most faithful parish
priest. who had a large share in draw
ing up the Constitution of the Anglican
church in Hawaii. But in those days
Kaahumanu street had a cinch on the
clergy contribution fund, and Black
burn, not being built according to the
kaahumanu street ideal, the decree
went out to tighten the purse strings.
The result was that his valuable SER
vice was transferred to the diocese of
Adelaide, where 1t has been highly APP
preciated. 2. Then there was Bridger,
whom, back in the sixties, the Bishop
had assisted in his preparation for holy
orders. He came from the diocese of
Guiana, and in the f1ourishing days Of
Waikiki had a large congregation in
the Church of the Good Shepherd and
a parochial school. The death of his
wife caused him to seek a change of
scene. An important work was await
Ing him, and as the emigrants' chan
lain at Liverpool, travelling with bodies
of emigrants between Liverpool and
Winnipeg, he rendered valuable service
to the whole church 8. Wainwright
was compelled by the exigencies of
health to relinquish his work on Kauai
and seek a colder climate. 4. When
Groser was appointed to Wailuku its