The first session of the seventh Anglican Diocesan Synod was opened at the Chamber of Commerce this afternoon.

Bishop Nevill delivered the following address:—

Dear brethren of the clergy and of the laity—

Regarding the address to the Synod as an annual opportunity of speaking to the whole diocese as well as to the special representatives thereof, I have been wont to take advantage of the opportunity to touch upon broad questions of principle or of ecclesiastical relation, the recognition of which should operate to deliver us from the cramping and belittling influence of local questions or temporary accidents. Pursuing this plan, I propose, before entering upon the record of diocesan events, to dwell somewhat Upon some necessary fundamental principles, which, though they lie deep down as the basis of our work, are not on that account to be lost sight of, but rather to be discovered as continually approaching the surface in practical bearings of the utmost importance to the very existence of our organisation—just, as the plutonic rocks, which form the very nucleus of the earth, protrude colossal arms in mountain chains and cliffs, which protect the lighter soils from the fury of the elements.