A LONG CAREER.

FIFTY YEARS A CLERGYMAN

INTERVIEW WITH ARCHDEACON

THORPE

1 Fifty years iii the ministry and still working—such is tho remarkable record lof Archdeacon Thorpe, of Sumner. "It has been a most interesting life," he declared to a " Press" interviewer yesterday, " anything but dull." ArchI deacon Thorpo feels that a rest now ! would do him good. Ho has resigned his cure at Sumner, and will bo leaving New Zealand shortly on a twelvemonths' trip to the Old Country. On returning he intends to make his home at Sumner, where he has worked for the past nine years, and where he hopes still to be of some service. Archdeacon Thorpe was ordained in the year 1861. and for three years served as curate at St. John's Church, Kingston, Ireland. Later on, in 1867, ho came out to New Zealand, being ono of the staff of four clergy who came to this country with tho late Bishop of Nelson. "It is rather a curious coincidence," he said "that three out of that four wore successive vicars of St. Paul's Church, Wellington." Mr Thorpe made his first home at Nelson, it was then civilized and settled but a smaller place to what it is now. "We knew very little about the Colony at Home." he said, " and I must confess that on arriving here I was somewhat disappointed. I expected to have to build my own house—instead of that wo found a well-built,, little town,' the houses containing pictures, pianos, and all sorts of things we did not expect to see. What struck mc most on landing was the clearness., of the atmosphere, the beautiful moonlight nights, and tho aromatic scent from the sweet briar and manuka on the hills—it was all new."

Pastoral work in the early days was carried on under difficulties. Roads were few and rough; bridges were still to be built. "The rivers, particularly the Grey," said Archdeacon Thorpe, were difficult and treacherous, and oftentimes in crossing your horse would 1» carried off his feet. Crossing tho moutlts.bf the rivers was a risky business ; there was so much floating debris in the water. There were many drowning tragedies, and one magistrate informed mo that he had up to then held over 500 inquests on people drowned in the Grey River alone. I remember ono bad fatality. A man with a young wife and child started out to cross the river. Tho man had the child with him. When part of the way across tho horse stumbled, and tho child slipped off. Tho man bent over to crab tho child, and he fell into the water also, and the two were carried downstream, and drowned before the eyes of the wife."

Archdeacon Thorpe's work lay largely among the miners who thronged the roast at that particular time. He hold then, and still retains, a very high opinion of the stamp of men found on the diggings. "They were fine, manly, independent men," he said, "the best I have ever met. If they wanted anything they would do it themselves; they would hot sit down and apneal to the Government to do it for them. One Bmall party of miners. I remember, carried a water-race into the country for miles to tan water to lead to their claim. They were two years over the job, but they made a success of it. They were financed by one of the banks, for the banks trusted these men, and wero willing to help them in developing their claims. I knew also a minor—one of those known as a 'hatter,' that is, a man who works alcne and lives alone. He was one of the most intelligent men I ever met. and in some respects he was a genius. Ho had many ingenious contrivances at his place for cooking and washing, but the work ho was most proud of was the construction of a tunnel to carry awjiy the tailingsfrom his claim. He blasted tho rocks so carefully that they fell over against each other, and so made an arch. 1 walked through that tunnel for a distance of over two hundred yards. A few weeks afterwards some miners passing tho place noticed that the meat hanging up was mouldy. They looked inside, and could not find tho man. They searched outside and found his crushed body lying beneath a stone in tho tunnel. Ho fell a victim really to his own device."

Sorvicc3 among the miners were held under somewhat primitive and perhaps unorthodox conditions, as may well be imagined. "I held services anywhere," said Archdeacon Thorpe, "wherever I could get the men together. I remember on ono occasion conducting a service in a billiard room. I stood at one end of the billiard table and spoke, while tho clink of glasses could be heard from beyond the curtain at the other end. Tho men wero a fine lot, very free with their money—too free, in fact. That was the time when you could not get change for a shilling— yon had to take it out in cotton or pins, or somo other small article. Therb was a story told of a. priest who in one of the mining towns 'cornered the supnly of font-penny bits —there were no threepenny bits then—and shinned them all away. That solved one difficulty he was confronted with."

Of the Provincial days Archdeacon Thorpe speaks in terms of admiration. "In some of tho Provinces." ho said, "notably Nelson, Canterbury and Otago. tho old Provincial system worked remarkably well, and it has always appeared to mo that the Provinces were abolished a little too soon. Tho Provincial Councils were such a grand school for politicians, and the picked- men were selected to sifc in tho general Parliament. There was no trouble over tho education system in tho Provinci.il days. I wa.s a member of tho Education Board at Nelson before tho abolition, and our system, similar. I believe, to that in Canterbury and Otago, was to charge fees to those who could afford to pay, and not seek payment from those who could not. I do not remember a single case of hardship over the payment of the fees. Everyone paid an education tax of _1 annually, with a further os per annum for each ohild attending school up to four. Further children were admitted free, so that the maximum amount a man was liable for for school fees was £2 annually. The matter of Biblo reading and Bible- instruction was left in the hands of the local committees, and they exercised their own discretion, but one never found any difficulty in tho way of giving religious instruction. The present Education Act, when first brought forward, contained a 'religious clause,' but it was subsequently deleted. Those of us who were interested in tho matter, relied upon that clause being retained, and made no demonstrations in its favour. When wo saw what was happening, however, we circulated a petition, and over ninety per cent, of the people of Nelson expressed themselves in favour of the retention of the clause."

On leaving Nelson in 1878, Archdeacon Thorpe was assistant fcr two years at St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral, Wellington. He was then appointed to the archdeaconry of Wanganui, and was at Wanganui from 1880 to 18S2. Then he returned to Wellington as incumljeiit of St. Paul's, and later on came back to the South Island.