This system has proved of enormous value in keeping religion alive in the bush, and paved the way for an experiment not long ago in Melbourne itself, which has met with such general approval, that it may be said to mark the commencement of a new era in the Church of England, and even in ecclesiastical history.  With the consent of the Bishop and of his church-wardens, Canon Bromby invited a Presbyterian minister—­Rev. Chaos.  Strong-to read the service and preach in St. Paul’s Church, he himself taking Mr. Strong’s pulpit.  This precedent is certain to be largely followed; and it is easy to see that the courtesy which is extended to Presbyterian ministers will before long be extended to those of the other Protestant denominations, and that exchanges of pulpits between them all will become frequent.

Churches abound in every Australian city, especially in Adelaide, where they are so numerous as to excite the ridicule of the less devout Victorians.  I forget how many there are; but, at any rate, they bear a very small proportion to the public-houses, against which I think they may fairly be pitted.  Still, there are plenty of them; and no sinner will easily be able to find an excuse for not going to church in the non-representation of his particular sect.  When I say ‘churches,’ I am using the term in the official and colonial sense, for the word ‘chapel’ stinks in the nostrils of a Dissenting community, and many of these churches are not much bigger than an ordinary dining-room, and, having been built for profane purposes, have no external odour of sanctity beyond a black board, whereon you are informed, in gilt letters, that the building belongs to whatever sect it does belong, and that Divine Service is held there by the Rev. So-and-So at certain hours on the Sabbath.  But from this you must not suppose that the two older churches have a monopoly of the religious buildings which can properly aspire to that name.

For the most part, ecclesiastical architecture is rather a weak point with these newly-confirmed religions; but in Melbourne, with the exception of the Roman Catholic Cathedral, they possess far the finest churches, and in Adelaide and Sydney their edifices are at least imposing.  The Roman Catholics., however, carry off the palm.  In both Melbourne and Sydney their cathedrals are of grand proportions.  In all three cities their other churches are large and lofty.  The Anglicans have small cathedrals at Sydney and Adelaide; but, in spite of their including a majority of the wealthiest individuals in the colonies, they find a great difficulty in raising money for building purposes.

As far as my experience goes—­and I have ‘sat under’ the principal ministers of each denomination in each town at least once—­the preaching is, for the most part, very poor.  There are certainly two or three exceptions; but ‘what are they,’ one is irreverently apt to exclaim, ‘among so many?’ The shallowness and often halting pace of these discourses is doubtless due,