Gathorne  Hardy's  (Lord  Cranbrook)  speech  at  Willis's  Rooms,
December  2,  1873:  'People  wrote  to  him  [Bishop  Wilber-
force]  for  advice  and  instruction  from  all  parts,  not  only  of
England  but  of  the  Colonies,  and  he  was  ever  ready  to  reply ;
thousands  have  thus  reason  to  think  gratefully  of  his  memory.'
And  Canon  Ashwell,  in  his  introductory  chapter  to  the  '  Life,'
touches  this  point  when  he  says,  '  His  Colonial  Church  corre
spondence  was  enormous ;  and,  to  mention  only  two  examples,
it  may  be  stated  that  the  letters  he  received  on  the  subjects
of  the  troubles  in  the  Church  of  South  Africa  and  in  Honolulu
can  only  be  counted  by  hundreds.'

The  subject  of  the  increase  of  the  Episcopate  was  mooted
in  Parliament  three  times  during  the  later  period  of  the  life  of
Bishop  Wilberforce,  and  as  on  each  of  these  occasions  he  took  a
prominent  part,  his  views  on  this  question  are  easily  obtainable.
There  were  three  ways  by  which  new  Bishops  could  be  created.
First,  the  creation  of  new  sees,  such  as  was  done  by  Lord
Beauchamp's  Bill  in  1875,  when  four  new  sees  were  created ;
secondly,  the  appointment  of  Coadjutor  Bishops ;  and,  thirdly,
the  appointment  of  Suffragan  Bishops.  This  latter  course  has
of  late  years  been  extensively  adopted.  In  1861  Lord  Lyttelton
brought  in  a  Bill  to  provide  for  the  subdivision  of  dioceses.
