The Life of Henry Williams [Vol. II.]

Hugh Carleton

First published by Upton and Co. in 1877

Digitised and made available online by the University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services.

Epub © 2013 Early New Zealand Books Collection

ISBN 978-1-927289-07-5

[TITLE PAGE]

[Pages 1 and 2 are missing]

THE LIFE
OF
HENRY WILLIAMS,

ARCHDEACON OF WAIMATE.

By HUGH CARLETON.

Agnosco Procerem.

Vol. II.

Auckland:
WILSONS & HORTON, PRINTERS,
1877.

[Page 4 is blank.]

[Inserted Errata slip]

ERRATA

ERRATA.

Page 100, for "on the 10th" read "11th."

Page 330, for "makatu" read "makutu."

Page 334, for "natives" read "native.

Page 348, for "Karaitiana" read "Karaitiana's brother, Tomoana.

[Pages 3-50]

HENRY WILLIAMS now appears in a new character, – in that of adviser to the Crown. Political action was distasteful to him, as being a disturbance to the work; but, when thus called upon for counsel and assistance, there was no choice, in duty, but to comply.

The British Government, brought into difficulty by the operations of the New Zealand Company, – unable to sanction them, yet reluctant to put them down with a high hand, 1 resolved on coming to the front, and taking the lead in colonisation.

But in this the Government were hampered by their own previous recognition of national independence; and the question remained, how to recover 2 the sovereignty to the Crown.

This could be effected only by voluntary cession, all previous rights, real or assumed, haying been waived; and, accordingly, Captain Hobson 3was authorized to treat with the Aborigines for the recognition of her Majesty's sovereign authority over the whole or any parts of the country which they might be "willing to place under her Majesty's dominion."

The object, however, was far from being easy of attainment. Suspicions, implanted or fostered by Europeans to whom the prospect of order was distasteful, were seething in the native mind.

The degraded state of the aboriginal population of New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land, 4 – their ouster from the lands over which they had once been free to roam, was no secret to the Maori; and the position was, that while much persuasion from their old friends would be needed to induce them to accept the proposal, one word against would have sufficed to turn the scale.

Captain Hobson, accordingly, sought the co-operation of the New Zealand Missionaries, which was given without demur, the main conduct of proceedings, as a matter of course, falling to Mr. Williams. The intentions of the British Government were (at that time) so fair towards the native race, – the mode of procedure so little open to objection, that under no circumstances could he have hesitated as to the course he should pursue. The Government were unwilling to annex, yet could not look with indifference upon the risk of collision between the natives and the rapidly increasing body of British subjects; plainly seeing the obligation of interposing the Queen's authority, they were reluctant to do so, except by the free and intelligent consent of the native tribes. It was the plain duty of Mr. Williams to place his services at their disposal, when claimed by Captain Hobson, who stated that he was "fully authorised thereto by her Majesty's instructions, conveyed to him by her principal Secretary of State." 5 But it may be added, for the

consideration of any who may think that he was exceeding the limits of missionary action in so doing, that he had the direct authority in that behalf of one who was immediately to become his Diocesan, – the Bishop of Australia.

The Bishop of Australia to Henry Williams.
Sydney, January 10, 1840.

. . . You will without doubt have heard of the arrival of Captain Hobson, and of his destination for New Zealand, where he is to exercise, it is supposed, more ample powers than were conferred upon the British resident. . . . . Among his first duties will be that of endeavouring to obtain from the Chiefs a voluntary recognition of Her Majesty's sovereignty over the territory; and so far as that endeavour shall prove successful, the clergy of the United Church of England and Ireland who may be resident within the limits of that territory will belong to the Diocese of Australia, and be subject to the jurisdiction of the Bishop . . . . Upon the fullest consideration my judgment inclines me very strongly to recommend to you, and through you to all the other members of the mission, that your influence should be exercised among the chiefs attached to you, to induce them to make the desired surrender of sovereignty to Her Majesty.

The Bishop's authority must counterpoise the opinion of those who still think that the Missionaries interfered too much in secular concerns on the arrival of Captain Hobson. But without this, it is certain that Mr. Williams' high-wrought loyalty would have prompted him to give his utmost service, without demur, when appealed to by the Queen's commissioner, in the Queen's name. But the Bishop kept back no after thought in reserve. A straight-forward man, he went on to give a word of fair warning, that if New Zealand were annexed to the British dominions, the land titles of the Missionaries would come under consideration.

I am led to suppose that the immediate consequence of establishing the British dominion will be the settlement of titles to land according to the principles of law and equity. This proceeding will necessarily lead to a judicial investigation of the landed properties transmitted to the Society, and printed in the pamphlet above referred to. These should be exactly and jealously re-examined, that you may be prepared to sustain them even to the minutest point when brought under the scrutiny of the world at large, as beyond all doubt they will be. I think also it will be

expedient that you should take advantage of the warning thus given of what you are to expect, by preparing a most full and explicit account of all transactions between you and any of the natives. No one I think can raise an objection to your general plea that, having families of more than ordinary magnitude, and they without any other provision for independence, it was not only a natural feeling, but your bounden duty to provide for them as the country itself should enable you. This was a part of that support which the foresight and goodness of God had placed within your reach, and a man who did not avail himself of it fairly and to a reasonable extent, would have denied the faith and been worse than an infidel. It is my earnest prayer that God may have given to you all the grace of forbearance; that you have not been betrayed into covetousness or an inordinate love of the world and the things of the world; and that he may make your righteousness as clear as the light, and your just dealing as the noon-day.

To Henry Williams, the possibility of disturbance of the titles to land was but as dust in the balance, when weighed against duty. Seeing the need for discipline, he had long desired a Governor for the country, and a Bishop for the Mission. Through his own instrumentality, both were now about to be acquired. Nor did his usual prevision fail him; for although, at a later period, he suffered personally from what himself had brought about, though he found both functionaries leagued against himself in persecution that endured for years, the advantage he had foreseen was fulfilled. But I am not magnifying his carelessness of the warning into an act of self-abnegation. He could scarcely have supposed, even if he gave the matter a thought, that his family had anything to fear. The land had been fairly acquired, at a large price for those times; was held in undisturbed possession; was under cultivation by sons, arrived at man's estate, and indeed, had long since passed out of his own hands. 6 He could not have expected attacks upon personal character; he could not have foreseen incessant persecution from assailants who were wrong in feeling, wrong in their facts, and wrong in their law. But it should not be forgotten that he had it in his own power to secure his family against

any risk whatever, for had he but said a word in disapproval, the treaty would never have been signed. Nay, more, – had he but refrained from active interference, under the unanswerable, even though insufficient plea, that he was unwilling to be mixed up with secular affairs, the result would have been the same.

Subsequent occurrences render it necessary to define, and to lay stress upon the peculiar relations of the Mission, at this time, towards both the Government and the natives. Their position, as mediators, was not of their own seeking; it was pressed upon them; but what they had once accepted, they had a right to retain; and, indeed, were unable to abandon.

It may here be observed, and once for all, – for political questions are avoided, so far as possible, in this memoir, that the New Zealand authorities, so long as an advantage was to be gained, courted the Mission, inviting their mediation. But when, on the occasion of that very treaty which the Mission had negotiated being infringed, the Mission, with the Bishop alongside, came to the front, claiming the right of being heard in defence of their own good faith towards the natives, and of the truthfulness of their intentions when they procured the cession of sovereignty, maintaining their plain right to see that their own character for integrity should not be impaired by what they had done at the solicitation of the Government, – then, and not till then, was the cry raised against "clerical interference." 7 The remark is in anticipation of events; but it is necessary to establish, from the first, the real position of the Mission, both towards the natives, and towards the Government.

Bishop Selwyn – the "turbulent priest," as he was termed by Joseph Hume, in Parliament – takes his stand upon unasailable ground.

May 20, 1861.

There is no ambiguity whatever in the ground which we take. When all other classes of Her Majesty's English subjects in New Zealand are expressing their opinions upon the native question, and supporting a policy which we believe to be unjust, we should be guilty of betraying the native race, who resigned their independence upon our advice, if we did not claim for them all the rights and privileges of British subjects, as guaranteed to them by the Treaty of Waitangi. As the earliest settlers in this country, as agents employed by Government in native affairs, as intimately acquainted with the language, customs, and feelings of the native race, and above all, as ministers of religion, having the highest possible interest at stake, we assert the privilege which the law allows to every man, of laying our petitions before the Crown and the Legislature.

When the New Zealand Company called the treaty "a device to amuse savages," the ignorance might be forgiven, but the bad faith could not. When Nopera said, "the shadow of the land is with the Queen, but the substance is with us," a sufficiently intelligent comprehension was displayed.

The natives were swayed by two opposite considerations. They appreciated and desired the advantage of the Queen's authority, to hinder the recurrence of civil war, with its attendant desolation, 8 but were not satisfied as to the effect of the British sovereignty upon their own territorial rights. They were not disposed to consider the recognition of authority as tantamount to surrender of independence; and, as practical men, they felt that so long as they held the proprietorship of the land, they held the power. A hard headed, metaphysically minded, acquisitive race, – the Scotch of the Pacific; far South – we should say in England, "far North," – they stipulated for the land. 9 Vattel, Puffendorf, and Grotius were

beyond – say rather outside of their ken; but, the basis of real power they were resolved to hold. 10

Jealousy prevailed over suspicion at last: danger from each other was imminent; danger from the British Government only contingent. Suspicion was also allayed by assurances from the Mission that the Government took a pride in never breaking faith.

Captain Hobson's account of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi is to be found in the Blue Books, and is too well known to need insertion here. But it will be usefully supplemented by some details, taken from a paper entitled "Early Recollections," 11 written by Henry Williams.

THE TREATY OF WAITANGI.

I was at the Waimate, after my journey from Wellington, having gone thither with the son and nephew of Rauparaha, to conduct Mr. Hadfield, who had not been long in the country, to reside as the Missionary in that district; returning over land by Taupo, Whanganui, Rotorua, and Tauranga, the first European who had undertaken that journey, bringing with me Iwikau, one of the leading chiefs from Taupo, and several others, on a visit to Ngapuhi.

On the night of the 30th of January, I was called up by a messenger from the Bay, to say that Captain Hobson had arrived in the Bay as Governor of New Zealand, and that he wished to see me as early as possible.

In the afternoon, I went on board H.M.S. "Herald," and was met by Captain Hobson, to whom I expressed my gratification that he had arrived to put an end to the great excitement then existing

in the purchase of lands, caused by the sudden influx of Europeans arriving by every vessel from the Colonies.

At this date we had not received any intimation that the Government were contemplating any movement towards New Zealand, though much correspondence had transpired, in consequence of the proceedings of the New Zealand Company. Captain Hobson had not been twelve hours at anchor before the Europeans commenced using most infamous and exciting language to the natives; – that the country was now gone to the Queen, and that the Maori were taurekareka [slaves].

On the 4th of February, about 4 o'clock p.m., Captain Hobson came to me with the Treaty of Waitangi in English, for me to translate into Maori, saying that he would meet me in the morning at the house of the British Resident, Mr. Busby; when it must be read to the chiefs assembled at 10 o'clock. In this translation it was necessary to avoid all expressions of the English for which there was no expressive term in the Maori, preserving entire the spirit and tenor of the treaty, – which, though severely tested, has never yet been disturbed, notwithstanding that many in power have endeavoured to do so. 12

On a careful examination of the translation of the treaty by Mr. Busby, he proposed to substitute the word whakaminenga for huihuinga, which was done and approved of. A fair copy being made by myself, I was requested by Captain Hobson to read and explain the same to the meeting of chiefs, in a large marquee prepared for the meeting, at which was a large assemblage of Europeans. In the midst of profound silence I read the treaty to all assembled. I told all to listen with care, explaining clause by clause to the chiefs; giving them caution not to be in a hurry, but telling them that we, the Missionaries, fully approved of the treaty, that it was an act of love towards them on the part of the Queen, who desired to secure to them their property, rights, and privileges. That this treaty was as a fortress for them against any foreign power which might desire to take possession of their country, as the French had taken possession of Otiaiti.

Hone Heke 13 was the first chief who signed the treaty, telling the people he fully approved, as they all needed protection from any

foreign power, and knew the fostering care of the Queen of England towards them. He urged them to sign the treaty. Certain

chiefs under the influence of the Popish Bishop and Priests stood aloof, and there was some opposition to the protection of the Queen. Captain Hobson expressed to me his fears, lest they should not sign the treaty. I cautioned him against showing any anxiety, but advised him to recommend it for their consideration, and say that he would meet them in three days to hear their decision. Some interruption was given by certain Europeans.

There was considerable excitement amongst the people, greatly increased by the irritating language of ill-disposed Europeans, stating to the chiefs, in most insulting language, that their country was gone, and they now were only taurekareka. Many came to us to speak upon this new state of affairs. We gave them but one version, explaining clause by clause, showing the advantage to them of being taken under the fostering care of the British Government, by which act they would become one people with the English, in the suppression of wars, and of every lawless act; under one Sovereign, and one Law, human and divine. The people, on being dismissed, after many had spoken, to consider this grave question, were requested to re-assemble on the third day to declare their views, as the question was for their own benefit, to preserve them as a people.

On the following morning, the 6th, the chiefs asked me why there need be any further delay, as their minds were made up, and they were desirous of concluding at once and returning to their respective places. I communicated this desire to Captain Hobson, who immediately landed and met the chiefs in the hall of audience, the large tent erected for that purpose, and business was resumed about it o'clock.

In the course of a few minutes, the French Bishop, attended by one of his priests, passed forward to the side of Captain Hobson, and requested "that the natives might be informed that all who should join the Catholic (Roman) religion should have the protection of the British Government." Captain Hobson, with much blandness of gesture and expression observed, – "Most certainly;" and expressed his regret that he had not made known his wish earlier, as "your desire should have been embodied in the treaty." Catch the idea. This was to be a stipulation between the Queen of England and the natives of New Zealand. At this date, Captain

Hobson was under the delusion that the Roman Catholics carried the sway amongst the Maories. Captain Hobson, after his reply to the Romish Bishop, requested that I would explain the desire of M. Pompallier to the chiefs.

I observed to Captain Hobson, I presumed the same protection would be afforded to all. He said, certainly. I asked, what need then such an announcement, if all would have protection alike? Captain Hobson observed that, as the Bishop wished the communication to be made, he should feel obliged by my delivering the same to the meeting.

I accordingly commenced, but could not proceed, finding that it was somewhat of a tough morsel, requiring care. I therefore took paper, and as this very grave announcement was for the benefit of all, I wrote as follows, taking the various Missions in their order of establishment in the country.

"The Governor wishes you to understand that all the Maories who shall join the Church of England, who shall join the Wesleyans, who shall join the Pikopo or Church of Rome, and those who retain their Maori practices, shall have the protection of the British Government."

This paper I handed to the Governor, who passed it to the Romish Bishop. Having perused it, he said, "Oh yes, that will do." I then read out this document, which was received in silence. No observation was made upon it; the Maories, and others, being at perfect loss to understand what it could mean. M. Pompallier then rose, bowed to the Governor, and retired from the meeting.

After some little discussion and trifling opposition, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, and the meeting dispersed.

No chief raised any objection that he did not understand the treaty, though some held back under the influence of the Romish Bishop and his priests.

Inversion or anticipation of dates is sometimes needed, to preserve continuity of subjects. We shall complete the account of the treaty, and then travel back a while. The journey southwards is the subject of another reminiscence.

THE TREATY TAKEN DOWN SOUTH.

As soon as a vessel could be procured, I was commissioned by Governor Hobson to convey a copy of the Treaty to Turanga, Poverty Bay, for the approbation of the chiefs of that district. This was left in the charge of the Rev. William Williams.

I passed on to Port Nicholson, and was opposed by Colonel Wakefield and his party, who had appointed themselves a colonial

government, consisting of a council and magistrates, placed on the commission by the authority of the chiefs. 14

Colonel Wakefield, the first time I met him, was very insolent, but afterwards retracted what he had said, and withdrew his objections to the treaty being signed. It was accordingly signed by the chiefs, about twenty. I passed on to Queen Charlotte's Sound, and saw all who were to be seen. We crossed over to Kapiti, Waikanae, and Otaki, the stations of the Rev. Octavius Hadfield. The treaty was explained at all those places and signed. On this visit I saw in the Bank at Wellington a map of New Zealand, about six feet in length, and was told by the authorities of the New Zealand Company that the coloured portion was the property of the New Zealand Company, from the 38 deg. to the 42 deg. parallel of latitude. At this time there was no one in connexion with their commission who knew anything of the language. A man named Barret could speak a few words in the most ordinary form. This man alone was the medium of communication between the Company and the Maories in all their affairs, and the deeds of purchase were drawn up in English, not one word of which was understood by the natives. Nor had communication been held with the places included in this pretended purchase, except at Port Nicholson, Kapiti, and Taranaki, neither party understanding the other.

On one occasion while I was at Port Nicholson, passing down the harbour with several members of council, Mr. St. Hill, Dr. Evans, &c., and Captain Chaffers, Dr. Evans enquired of Captain Chaffers how far South the Company's territory extended. His reply was, across the Island, and from 38 deg. to 42 deg. I knew that communication had not been had. I enquired who had been seen at Wanganui, Taupo, Kawhia, Rotorua, Turanga, Ahuriri, &c.; no answer could be given, for this simple reason, that none had been held.

Wiremu Kingi came with me to the Bay to see the governor and the natives from Taranaki. He talked of returning with them to Waitara and Taranaki generally, their former place of residence, or country of their birth.

After obtaining signatures in the Middle Island, he returned to Paihia, which he reached on the 10th of June. The governor expressed his gratification, in strong terms, at the completeness of the success.

The next recollection is of the establishment of Auckland, as a seat of Government. This was a sore point with the New Zealand Company, as diverting, by the prestige of the name, immigration from their own settlements. The fact was, that the Home Government, who had been compelled by Parliamentary influence to give a reluctant sanction to the proceedings of the Company, determined, in order to avoid unnecessary complications, upon securing in a remote district that freedom of action for the Crown, which, for the forementioned reason, could not have been maintained in Cook's Straits.

THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.

On the first day of my seeing Captain Hobson, he enquired of my opinion as to the proper site of the seat of Government, – whether I thought the Bay would be a good place for that purpose. I objected to the Bay, as too confined; as being too generally occupied by Europeans and natives, and also situated at the extreme end of the island; but stated that the land about the Tamaki and Waitemata was not occupied by either natives or Europeans, and possessed advantages beyond all other places; commanding convenient access by the river Thames to the interior of the country; the river Kaipara to the North, through extensive kauri forests; also by Manukau to the river Waikato, which takes its rise in Taupo lake, in the centre of the island; that there was

a vast extent of fine country without an inhabitant; that the island of Waiheke and other islands formed safe roadsteads, with their numberless small bays, for vessels of all sizes.

This part of New Zealand, with the rivers and bays, had not been visited by any Europeans, except by the Missionaries, who alone possessed correct and general information.

On the 21st February I sailed with Captain Hobson, in H.M.S. "Herald," to examine the neighbourhood of the Tamaki, to which place I had directed his attention. His Excellency was not long in pointing out the spot, the present site of Auckland, seeing immediately its various advantages.

I was despatched to Maraitai, to communicate with and collect the natives of the Thames, and around. On my return to the ship, after four days, I met Captain Nias in his boat, coming to meet me and the natives with me, who informed me that on Sunday morning Captain Hobson had been disabled by an attack of paralysis, and considered that he was not able to hold his office, and had determined to sail for Sydney.

On my seeing Captain Hobson, I suggested his not determining so immediately to relinquish his office as Governor of New Zealand; that I would guarantee quarters on shore, either at Paihia or Waimate, but recommending Waimate as being more quiet. The "Herald" returned to the Bay, and Captain Hobson was conveyed to Waimate to good quarters at Mr. Davis' house, where every attention was paid to him, having the presence of his own Surgeon and Secretary.

After remaining at Waimate some months, Captain Hobson so far recovered as to resume his duties in the Bay, and finally founded the City of Auckland.

Governor Hobson's next step was to establish what he called a "Native Protectorate." His choice of a chief officer, Mr. Clarke, was unexceptionable; but the official denomination was not equally so. For it led to the impression that, in the opinion of the Government, protection was needed for men who were only too well able to protect themselves; touchy, suspicious, keen-witted in dealing; ready to resent the slightest grievance, and strong enough to drive the Pakeha into the sea, should it be left unredressed. The only protection the Maori ever did require, – and that in after-times, – was against the Government itself. But it is only to the name that exception can be taken; the establishment of a department for the transaction of native business being of unquestionable convenience; so much so, that, under many disguises of name, the office has been ever since maintained. The last

transformation was into a "Defence Office" against the Maories, who, when at the very height of their preponderance, had been "protected."

The Protectorate was presently abolished, for the purpose of abolishing the Protector, though revived under another name. It would have saved a large expenditure of both British and Colonial "blood and money," had Mr. Clarke been suffered to continue on duty. For the Native Office rapidly degenerated. The main qualification for it seemed to be, fluency in speaking the Maori tongue. But, with a few exceptions, of which Sir William Martin and Sir George Grey were the most notable, men of education, outside the mission circle, had not troubled themselves to acquire it. Its free use was mainly confined to persons who, at one time or other, had lived among the natives. Consequently, Maori became, for the transaction of native affairs, a hieratic language, in which mysteries were celebrated from which the vulgar were excluded. An additional cause of degeneracy was the virtual amalgamation of the Native Office with the Land-purchase Department.

Now, this had a direct bearing upon the Waitara war. Through the persistent opposition of the combined offices, the establishment of Land Courts for the investigations of native title was hindered until 1862, when too late to avert collision. Had these Courts been in operation in 1860, the title to Waitara would have been tried, and settled. The dispute between Wiremu Kingi and Teira would have been ended without a blow. But the effect of the native Land Courts Act was to enfranchise native lands; that is to say, to allow the native owners to obtain market value for their lands, relieving them from payment of a special tax, paid by natives only, in the form of brokerage to the Government; also, to open the knowledge of Maori matters to the public. This really meant annihilation of the craft; and the Maori experts, who were popularly said to worship Diana of the Ephesians, offered obstinate resistance, and, for a long while, with success.

THE NATIVE PROTECTORATE.

Before sailing from the Bay, the Governor spoke to me of the importance of having one of the members of the Mission to

hold office as Protector of the Aborigines, and that he must consequently be disconnected from the Mission. Considering therefore the nature and importance of such a responsible office, also the character of the various members of the Mission, I nominated Mr. Clarke, as being the least swayed by fear of man, and having a sound judgment, in my opinion, after eighteen years' acquaintance with him.

In this position of Protector of Aborigines, Mr. Clarke remained until Governor Grey assumed command. It presently appeared that the new Governor had imbibed a serious prejudice against the Mission, and all in connexion therewith, as also against the old settlers. Governor Grey abolished the office, and Mr. Clarke resigned his Government appointment.

It may be doubted whether Governor Grey entertained this prejudice against the Mission on arrival. On the contrary, he showed great curiosity as to the manner in which they had obtained their influence, with which he seemed much impressed. His prejudice, animosity, or whatever else it may have been, seems to date from a time of the deputation from the Company's settlement.

SHORTLAND'S RIDE TO THE WAIMATE.

In my absence at the South with the Treaty, Mr. Shortland was suddenly seized with a fright, and rode off to the Waimate to see the Governor, who was then at sick quarters. He reported to him in great mystery that the natives were about to rise and massacre the Europeans, and that Mr. Williams and Mr. King were in league with the natives. Mr. Davis, in whose house the Governor was at the time, observing much whispering and mysterious movement amongst the Governor's party – Dr. Johnston being one, intruded into their presence, requesting to know if there was anything wrong. The Governor replied, "Yes, indeed;" and told him the cause of Mr. Shortland's sudden appearance. Mr. Davis pronounced the whole a dream; assuring him that nothing could take place without the knowledge of the Mission body, and that he would undertake in three hours to assemble three hundred men to support the Government and Europeans if needed. The Governor at length observed, "I believe you, Mr. Davis." Mr. Davis pronounced the whole to be preposterous. "Mr. Williams is at this moment at the South, carrying out the desire of the Government respecting the Treaty, and Mr. King quietly at his place at Tepuna."

About this time Mr. Shortland was nearly involving the Government in hostilities, while I was absent at the South with

the Treaty. A murder had been committed at Puketona, between the Bay and the Waimate. A European shepherd (Patrick Rooney) in the employ of my sons at Pakaraka, had been murdered by a native (Kihi), who was discovered and delivered up by the natives to the authorities at Kororareka. Mr. Shortland was in the act of a magisterial examination of the charge against this man, in the church, Mr. H. T. Kemp acting as interpreter, and Edward Williams present as one of the witnesses; neither of them being at that time in connexion with the Government.

During the examination, Haratua, 15 at the head of about three hundred natives under arms, landed from Waitangi, and made a rush towards the church, saluting the court with the war dance. He demanded that the prisoner should be handed over to them, that they might dispatch him at once, Haratua expressing his indignation that the shepherd employed by his own pakehas should have been so brutally murdered. This demonstration was made in support of the Government, though carried out in original Maori style. Haratua had acted in our behalf from the first, for immediately on receiving intelligence of the murder at Puketona, late in the evening, he, with ten armed men, accompanied Mr. Edward Williams to Puketona, where, at twelve o'clock at night, and by torch-light, he found the body of the unfortunate man.

Seeing the consternation produced in the church, Edward Williams went out to the natives, and told them that having made a display of their zeal they had better retire, and leave the authorities to deal with the prisoner. To this they at once agreed, and drew off to their canoes at the lower end of the beach, whither Edward Williams accompanied them.

While with them it became known, much to the surprise of all, that Mr. Shortland had sent to Okiato for the troops. Edward Williams suggested to the natives the propriety of embarking, but they replied, "No; if he has sent for the soldiers we will remain and see what he intends to do."

After much bustle, noise, and delay, the troops, about eighty in number, were landed, and drawn up with loaded muskets at the upper end of the beach. Mr. Kemp and Edward Williams waited on Mr. Shortland, and endeavoured to explain that the natives had no hostile intention, having come over to make a public display of their abhorrence of the deed. Mr. Shortland in a passion replied, "I will not be dictated to by anyone; go and tell those Maories that if they do not lay down their arms immediately, I will fire upon them." Edward Williams returned to the natives, and explained in a quiet way that it was ignorance of Maori

character on Mr. Shorthand's part that made him act as he had done; that they had better move off at once, and he would remain amongst them till they had embarked. The natives at once complied, taking their arms with them.

Had a trigger been pulled on this occasion, this would have been the beginning and the end of the Colony of New Zealand.

Mr. Williams proceeds to mention an act of Vandalism, made more annoying by the arrogance with which it was maintained.

The first ground occupied by the three magistrates, Messrs. Shortland, Johnson, and Matthew, was Paihia, there being a house vacant there in which, with the police force, they were accommodated. The Governor, after a partial recovery, returned to the Bay, and occupied a house purchased from Captain Clendon for him, pro tempore, at Okiato, leading to the Kawa Kawa and Waikari. We soon found the whole party troublesome neighbours, felling trees right and left; grand Pohutukawas, which had been preserved by general consent, for their beauty. I spoke to the Governor on this wanton proceeding of the police. He asked if the trees were close to the house. They were not so, but still within our settlement. He replied, "You then can have no claim to them; they are common property." We now, for the first time, began to feel where we were, and to consider that their room was better than their company. The quietness of the settlement invaded, and perpetual annoyances occurring; cows and horses in the garden, Norfolk Pines and other trees, nurtured with great care, upset and destroyed, owing to cows being tethered to them, by order of these magistrates.

This is of a piece with the infliction of a fine of fifty pounds on Captain Stratton, of the mission schooner "Columbine," the crew having flown a pennant while he was on shore at church. Newly acquired power, as usual, was restless and ambitious of display, stickling about formalities.

[Greek] "APAS DE TRACHIS, OSTIS AN NEOU KRATI."

The question of land purchase cannot be passed over; but I do not care to expend many words upon it. Time has already disposed of many misimpressions; extent of acreage is now considered in accordance with Colonial, and no longer with locally English ideas; juster ideas of value have been formed; and, above all, by the perfect success that has attended the original idea, namely, that of forming centres of civilisation, it has been made clear that by

no other practical measure could the Mission have done more toward the furtherance of their appointed work.

The main points are these: –

1. The families had to be provided for. When it came to the question, whether the parents should be allowed to put the children in the way of maintaining themselves, or leave them a burden on the Society, the Society, naturally and properly, preferred being relieved. 16 They sanctioned the proposal, and defended that sanction.

2. That when these lands were bought, they had no market value; no value whatever, save for use.

3. That, except in two instances, where land was bought to settle titles disputed between warring tribes, no more land was bought than sufficed for use; in point of fact, not so much as was required for use. Extent of possession should be regulated, not by arbitrary limitation of acreage; but by the power of beneficial occupation.

4. That the price paid was very large, compared with that which was afterwards given by the Government. 17

5. That the purchasers were maintained in possession by the sellers during the Northern war, notwithstanding the efforts of the Government to persuade the natives that they had been wronged.

6. That when Mission stations were at last disturbed, during the war of 1860-7, it was only at those stations where missionary colonies had not been established.

Upon none of these points will issue any longer be joined, though vague declamation is not yet extinct.

It must be admitted, indeed, that the new Government had a difficulty to contend with. They had to distinguish bona fide purchases, made by New Zealand settlers with care and knowledge of ownership, from loose transactions entered into by Sydney speculators, who measured their supposed acquisitions by degrees of latitude and longitude. But the difficulty was more in appearance than in reality. Acknowledgment by the native sellers of the fairness of the transaction was a simple and effective test. For, in those days, in the matter of a bargain completed, a Maori could be implicitly trusted. But the Government seemed bewildered; frightened also by the New Zealand Company, whose primary object was, that no land should be held in possession save what had been purchased from themselves at one pound per acre. Vacillation and weakness was the result; no less than three several ordinances, each on a different scale of apportionment, were passed by the Legislative Council, without effecting a general settlement, after all.

These land purchases were taken by the notorious Dr. Lang, of New South Wales, as a theme for a most virulent attack.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Turanga, April 14, 1840.

We have just been favoured with a sight of Dr. Lang's publication, – his Letter to Earl Durham, relative to New Zealand. We have not yet heard what effect it may have had upon the nerves of the members of the Church Mission Society, but hope they will not be disturbed by such a wicked production. I have taken upon myself to give some reply to it, which I have forwarded to Mr. Cowper, of Sydney, for insertion in one of the papers. These observations of this wretched man have only excited our pity. His motives are evident, his ignorance profound, and his impudence unbounded. Of the severity of the expressions in which he thinks it well to indulge, you of course will form your own judgment. To me, these letters carry their own condemnation. I shall like, however, to see some commentary upon them from our friends in England. If Dillon and Earl disturbed the feelings of the members of the Church Mission Society, how much more will this display of zeal from a Doctor of Divinity, and Principal of a College. I hope, however, the Society will take a lesson from him, and put the Mission upon a better footing. We have long

been pressing its necessity; you know the notice which has been taken of these things. But the Doctor has chosen an unfavourable period for his purpose; for most certainly the Mission must be pronounced in a far more flourishing state, at this time, than it ever has been since its commencement. True, we have not said much about it. Boasting is no part of our system. We understand not the art of sounding the trumpet, and must leave this to others. Yet, we well desire to go on in quietness, remembering that the work is the Lord's, and that he will bring it to pass. In every part of the island the natives may be said to be thirsting for divine knowledge. They will undertake journeys of many days for the obtaining a Testament, and the demand for books cannot be met; in my late journey I found a congregation assembled where no European was ever before me. This is also the case in many other parts of the island. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. It is indeed marvellous that at this period, when the island is invaded on every side, and attacks made on the Mission by wicked and unprincipled men, that the real state of the Mission should be as it is. Every corner of the island is ready for instruction, and I may almost pronounce every person to be a christian: indeed, when compared with thousands of our own countrymen, they stand prominent. The Sabbaths are observed in quietness and good order, to the reproach of many a white christian in this country. We have been led to make a calculation of those who assemble for worship; also of those who have been baptised by us. The natives assembling in connexion with us under the Missionaries and Teachers are 28,000, we believe many more. Those who have been baptised are, as near as I can collect, 1,590, besides numerous candidates. The system followed by us is quiet and substantial, founded on the Scriptures, and requiring a total change of life and conduct. They must evidence their belief by bringing forth fruits meet for repentance. I trust, therefore, that the friends the Church Mission Society will more than doubly exert themselves. It is by these means alone the enemy can be foiled. The church is assailed at home; so also abroad; but let the christian take unto himself the whole armour of God. Then will he be able to stand in every evil hour. We must be up and doing. More are they who are for us, than those who are against us. I could wish our friends in Salisbury-square would keep in sight, more than they appear to me to do, the first work of a Missionary, the publishing of the Gospel of Peace. This country is now white unto the harvest. All the leading points must be possessed and strengthened. The parishes here are very extensive, which requires us to be constantly on the march.

Nothwithstanding the duties imposed upon him by the Government, he found time to attend to the affairs of the Mission. On his

journey South, in the "Ariel," with the treaty, he visited Tauranga, where he left a copy to the care of Mr. Brown; and also, as already mentioned, Turanga, whence he wrote to Mr. Marsh, on one of the subjects he had most at heart, – the mobilisation, to borrow a military term, of the Mission.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Turanga, April 10, 1840.

By the date of my communication you will perceive that I am with our dear brother and sister, William and Jane, who came to this place in January last. I am now on my way to Cook's Straits to commence a station about forty miles South of Mount Egmont. Mr. Hadfield is abreast of Entry Island, about forty miles further South. I have had to fight a hard battle with our folks in the Bay to obtain permission to leave home and proceed on this Mission; but I am now on my march, and I hope not to return till I see something on the fairway for a permanent station in the quarter whither I am going. William has come here against the remonstrance of our Committee and the instructions from home, that is, from Salisbury-square; but had there not been a movement in some direction, I most certainly must have left the service of the Society . . . . . . . . .

Our Lay teachers are looking for ordination. There are some whom it may be desirable to have admitted; I should recommend that the Bishop of Australia should himself determine this matter, if he would undertake so delicate an office. I am sure it would not do for us to say a word on the subject. I think his Lordship has a friendly feeling towards us; I received a very pleasing and kind letter from him on the arrival of the Governor, of five sheets. We expect him to visit us in a short time.

Even at this early period, Mr. Williams was beginning to doubt the efficiency of the new Government.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, November 28, 1840.

The aspect of affairs, therefore, would look very gloomy, were it not for the Aborigines, with whom we are more particularly engaged. These come around us, and it is refreshing to meet them at all times. The Sunday before last we had here a considerable number, and I admitted ninety-four to baptism, including eighteen children, after a strict examination, which occupied me about ten days close attention, as I received them singly.

I like to gather my family around, though ever so numerous. Beneath my own roof there is a peace and quietness I can-

not observe outside of the Mission. There all is vanity, with its constant attendant great vexation of spirit. It is certainly curious to observe the apparent indifference, I had almost said contempt, with which we are regarded by some of these recent intruders, and the pity excited in our minds for them. Yet they cannot do without us; and they know it. Of myself I may say, "I have done the state a service, and they know it." Yet would they put me down, if they could. I care not how soon Edward is separated from them again. I like not their proceedings. They would upset the Mission, if they knew how, and the natives too; and mark, they will not lose the first opportunity to let fly at these poor creatures. The natives, however, keep close to us; they feel they may trust us. Time will show, and time alone, what we are to expect. Of our Mission I may say, it could not be more prosperous; yet, we require men and books. There is a general movement through the island. Mr. Hadfield, who is in Cook's Straits, tells me that, if he had five thousand Testaments, he should not be able to keep one for a fortnight. William also requires a great number. Applications to myself and others are incessant. The people bring their money, and we are obliged to send them away with a word or two.

The following is one of the series of reminiscences, – a fright, consequent upon a false alarm. The Government were, not unnaturally, somewhat nervous about their position, gave heed to every passing rumour, and had not always self-possession enough to disguise their fears.

January 22, 1841. While the three magistrates, Shortland, Johnson, and Matthew, were residing in Paihia, I was called up one morning, at three o'clock a.m. A loud knocking at the door took place. I enquired what was the matter, apprehending some serious alarm. A person gave his name as sergeant of police, sent by Mr. Shortland to give notice of a battle about to take place at the back of Kororareka. I asked him if he had seen any one. He said, "No;" but he had a native with him who would explain all. I told him I did not believe this was anything more than some old woman's story. I enquired of the native what was the matter at Kororareka; he answered, there was nothing the matter, beyond the landing of a man to fetch his wife, who came over four days since to see her sister; that there were no natives over at Kororareka. I told the sergeant it was as I had said, merely an old woman's story; that a man's wife had, a few days since, come over to see her sister, and her husband had come to fetch her. He had now better return to Mr. Shortland, and tell his tale; that did he yet suppose there might be any truth in what he had heard, he could request Mr. Shortland to write a note – of

course in English – and at daylight he had better go in quest of the supposed enemy, and in much pomp break the seal and proceed to read; that as no one would understand the purport of the letter, he might then retire.

After breakfast, Mr. Shortland called, and, in much pomposity, said he was sorry to have made such a fool of me, sending the sergeant in the dead of the night. I assured him he had not made a fool of me. I reminded him, moreover, that nothing could take place without our knowledge, and that I had frequently stated that they would be informed at the first intimation of any movement amongst the people.

I further stated that a party of chiefs, from Whangaroa and the Coast, had landed last evening, and were waiting to see me, I supposed on some political question. That I was just going to see them, and, though he might not understand what passed, he would catch a word here and there, and judge whether they were satisfied or otherwise, with what I might say to them. We went accordingly, and met Ururoa and the principal chiefs from Whangaroa and the Coast. They appeared in a very respectful humour. Ururoa commenced by saying that the pakeha Maori 18 had used such unheard-of, infamous language to them, that the young men had proposed to knock them on the head. They had sworn at them, using very foul language, calling them taurekareka [slaves]; that their country was gone; that they would be shot as pigs of the bush, &c; that he and the Kaumatua had said, stop, we will go to Te Wiremu; that should he confirm these words, then we shall know how to act. I enquired if any member of the Mission had thus spoken? "No." Had any of their old friends thus spoken? "No." I told them not to listen to these bad fellows; that should such be repeated, to come to the magistrates and state particulars. They appeared perfectly satisfied and immediately departed. Our whole conversation did not exceed a quarter of an hour.

I never heard this circumstance adverted to by the officers of the Government, nor do I believe that the case was in the slightest degree investigated, or any Pakeha Maori called to account.

This was one out of many irritating events, which produced the upsetting of the flag-staff, in the disturbance which broke out in 1844-1846, between Heke and Kawiti, with the Government.

The following are extracts from Mrs. Williams' journal; mostly immaterial, but serving as a record of dates, to maintain connexion, and to chronicle some names among the founders of the Colony. To new comers, these things may seem trifling; but

not so to the remnant of our patriarchs. General interest is not regarded in this memoir. Compiled, in the first instance, for the family, if it interest the natives and the old settlers, the object is attained.

March 12, 1840. The Treasury chest of the Government was brought by Mr. Cooper, and placed in Mr. Williams' charge at Paihia.

March 17. Mr. and Mrs. Burrows arrived in the "Westminster," to join the Mission; also, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew.

March 28. We heard of the bees brought down by the Governor. The natives called them biting flies. [These bees have long since filled the country, large quantities of wild honey being taken out of the bush.]

April 1. Heard that Patrick, the English shepherd in the employment of our sons at Puketona, had been murdered.

April 2. A visit from the Commodore of the American South Polar expedition. He spoke of the new continent discovered. [This continent was afterwards sailed over by the English.]

April 5. Rumours and great alarm; the Government fearing insurrection.

April 10. Edward Williams appointed Sub-Protector to the Aborigines.

April 16. The "Buffalo" arrived with the Governor, wife, and children.

April 20. Great alarm at Kororareka; Mr. Shortland had called out the soldiers. But for the young Protectors, a collision would have ensued.

April 28. Edward Williams sailed as interpreter in H.M.S. "Herald," with the treaty.

May 2. A visit from the two captains of the French Discovery ships. [The French Antarctic expedition.]

May 13. The Governor, family, and suite left Paihia, to reside at Russell, in the house purchased from Captain Clendon.

May 20. Mr. and Mrs. Mason sailed for Whanganui.

May 26. Mr. Shortland and suite, with soldiers, sailed for Port Nicholson.

June 10. Mr. Williams returned from the South, with the treaty signed.

June 14. Seventy natives to the Lord's supper.

July 2. E. M. Williams returned from the South, with Major Bunbury.

July 13. Eighty-three natives baptised, including twenty-six children.

July 16. A fight between Collins and Hone Heke,

The demeanour of the lower class of Europeans toward the natives was becoming more and more provocative. Now that a Government supposed to be capable of averting instant retaliation, was established, free utterance was given to feelings that had formerly been pent up through fear. This was one, though not the chief, of those cumulative causes of the dissatisfaction which caused the war. The affray occurred before the removal of the Governor to Auckland, and while the three magistrates were still at Paihia.

Of this Mr. Williams gives the following account.

COLLINS AND HEKE.

In the afternoon, previous to the removal of the Governor to Auckland, and while the magistrates were yet residing at Paihia, some of the natives rushed into my house to say that Heke was killing a pakeha, and that I must go instantly or he would be dead. I accordingly flew to the spot, and found Heke sitting on a prostrate pakeha, pounding his head against the ground with all his violence. I seized Heke by the arm, who allowed me to draw him off. I told several Europeans to take the man away, or he would be killed. They coolly replied, "He won't mind us." I repeated my demand while I had hold of Heke, whose head was streaming with blood. Heke told the man while I had hold of him, "Were I not a believer in Christ, I would kill you." While I was thus holding Heke, my back being towards Collins, he threw a stone and hit Heke, who gave a sudden bound, and in an instance had Collins down again, and was pounding his head as before, and, had there been a stone near, would have smashed his face; to draw him off now, was not so easily to be accomplished. I therefore obtained the assistance of three of his brothers, whom I desired to convey him to their home.

As soon as I could, I enquired into the cause of this matter, and learnt that Collins' wife had been washing clothes in a small boarded house close to the spot where the affray took place, that Heke stepped across the corner of the floor to the fire-place for a piece of fire for his pipe, returned without noticing any one or saying a word, and was sitting down with his relatives near the house, when the woman called to Collins, telling him of the great insult committed, on which he took the first stick that came to hand, and struck Heke on the head twice before he could look round, and then he sprang upon his assailant.

Late in the afternoon I met Mr. Matthew, one of the magistrates, and mentioned to him how near we were to having a serious row, in consequence of this violent assault on Heke.

Mr. Matthew observed, "why, the fellow came for a warrant against you for having set Heke on him." This piece of impudence certainly exceeded anything I ever had known. Had it not been for fear of exciting the natives, I would have summoned Collins for his assault on Heke. Nothing was said to Heke by the Magistrates for this assault. No enquiry was made by the Government; but, to show their sympathy with Collins, he was received into Government employ.

Collins was a carpenter in my service. I dismissed him immediately. He removed to the seat of Government, about two miles distant, and reported his story to Governor Hobson; to show sympathy for him, the Governor gave him the situation of overseer to the Government carpenters. The Governor asked Mr. Brown, in whose employ he had been at Tauranga, if he would give him a character, as he understood that he had worked for him at Tauranga. Mr. Brown replied that he thought the man would do better without a character. Collins held his office of overseer of Government carpenters one week, and was then discharged. No enquiries were made of me respecting the case by the Government, nor was Collins reproved. The iniquity of this transaction was well known to the Magistrates and to the Government. No sympathy was expressed towards Heke, and how far this may have operated on Heke's mind three years after, cannot be said.

It is well known that most insulting language was frequently used to the chiefs in various places, and that no notice was taken to suppress these evils.

Mrs. Williams' journal is continued.

August 2, 1840. Colonel Wakefield, from Wellington, the guest of Governor Hobson, left his card.

August 3. The Government Treasury fetched away: a great relief.

August 8. Henry Williams received a Douai Bible from Bishop Pompallier.

August 10. Bishop Pompallier called.

August 20. Rev. Robert Burrows appointed to Kororareka.

August 24. A report of the French forming a Colony at Banks' Peninsula.

September 13. E. M. Williams sailed for Thames as Sub-Protector, with other Government officers.

September 23. Mr. Shortland, Lieutenant Sharp, and Dr. Fitzgerald, arrived from Wellington.

November 22. Seventy-four adult natives, and eighteen children baptised. Ninety women at Sunday school, besides children. Full five hundred natives in the settlement.

November 24. Dr. and Mrs. Evans, from Port Nicholson, called.

February 14, 1841. Eighty-four adult natives baptised, and twenty-seven infants. One hundred and thirty-eight women at school.

April 16. H.M.S. "Favourite," Captain Dunlop, with Lady Franklyn on board. New Zealand no longer under the Sydney Government. A salute of fifteen guns. Heard that the Government had realised £21,559 by sale of land on the site of the new City of Auckland.

June 4. Mr. Robert Appleyard Fitzgerald arrived as police magistrate.

August 20. The two English discovery ships, the "Erebus" and "Terror," Captains Ross and Crozier, entered the harbour.

October 26. Public discussion with the priests at Kororareka, in the native language; Mr. Fitzgerald in the chair.

Mr. Williams shall give his own account of this encounter; it is extracted from a letter to his brother-in-law, E. G. Marsh.

You ask for an account of the discussion of two days at Kororareka. It commenced in the following way. The Priests had been very diligent in giving the natives every piece of information upon the subject, according to their view, of ours being a corrupt and fallen church; full of adultery, in consequence of its ministers being married, with much more of like important information. When at Kororareka, the natives came upon me with these charges, and as I was leaving the beach, three Frenchmen Priests, with their frightful hats and long black robes, came to me, and gave me a challenge to meet them publicly, to discuss in Maori the merits of this question, which I was too happy to attend to. The points brought forth were, the evidence of the Church of Christ, and the second commandment. They came forward in great pomp, with about one hundred volumes. We had our Bible, which of course they would not admit. I had, therefore, a Douai Bible, which they could not reject. I told them that would suffice my purpose. They tried to lead us into the wilderness, but could not; we therefore chastened them with their own weapon. It is impossible to give you anything like a correct account. They got angry several times, and, as usual, never kept to the question. The interest amongst the Europeans was very considerable. I could not have thought they had any interest or care in the matter; but the second day put them to the trial, as it came on to rain hard. They stood their ground bravely until the whole was concluded. Our chairman had much trouble to keep these people, i.e., the Priests in order. I have had two discussions, since this; they are now very quiet. The countenance given to them by nominal protestants is very painful, but how can it be avoided? We endeavour to proceed as quietly and carefully as we can, The present disturbed state of the country gives them

an advantage. As this evil feeling has commenced with our part of the community, their number of natives is but small.

The following letters need no comment.

The Reverend William Williams to Mrs. Heathcote.
Poverty Bay, April 19, 1841.

I found at Waiapu a certificate left with the native teachers by the master of a vessel, which stated that a boat from his ship, in attempting to land on the beach, was upset, and one of the seamen drowned; that the natives payed every possible attention, and gave the corpse christian burial. I saw the grave within a decent enclosure by the side of that of a principal chief. Now it is about eight years ago, that a captain of a whaler told me that he landed on the same beach to purchase provisions, and that, seeing the natives disposed to be mischievous, he ordered his men into the boats, when the natives fired upon them, and he received a ball in his leg, the scar of which he shewed me. Here then was heathenism, and here is now Christianity.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, July 5, 1841.

My wife begins to flag. She gets older every day, and I purpose, should we live so long, that at the completion of our twentieth year in this country, the school shall be relinquished. Our children are getting up around us; Edward I hope will be married in a year or so to a daughter of Mr. Davis, a very excellent girl. I hope he will leave the service of the Government, and get to the plough. Samuel is very steady, and the main stay; he has charge of the family farm. The other boys will, I expect, follow in order, though as yet the boys do not know whether or not they are to have any land they may call their own. Poor Mr. Coates appears to have been subject to a terrible overhauling before the Committee of the House of Commons, and to have been a good deal perplexed. To us it appears amusingly ridiculous, – the perfectly destitute state in which most persons would wish to put our children. The idea of Mr. Coates being asked by the House if the Missionaries sold wool, evidently intimating that this could not be allowed. Such questions as these should be answered in another form. The Missionaries do not. Their children feel themselves at liberty to sell wool or anything else.

Henry Williams to the Church Mission Society.
Paihia, October 1, 1841.

It is very cheering to watch the progress of the Mission; the anxious desire for divine knowledge, which, I may say, is shown

everywhere, and the numbers who are pressing forward for admission into the Church militant. The examination of all in this station is as strict as I can desire. I have them, not in classes, but individually. This I find more wearisome and tedious, but more effectual in determining the extent of knowledge possessed by each person. I am now much engaged with those natives who are undergoing their final examination before baptism, which will take place on the Lord's day, the 10th instant, when I expect about one hundred adult natives will be presented to the Lord. By the present returns you will be enabled to determine more correctly the number of Christian natives. In some instances you appear to have taken the return for the Waimate as the return for the whole Mission. The natives assembling every Lord's day, under our Missionaries and native teachers, are not fewer than thirty-five or forty thousand.

I have written to the Bishop of Australia, requesting directions on certain important points relating to the natives. Many questions of moment frequently present themselves, on which we possess no authority to enter. We must hope that a Bishop for this Colony will soon make his appearance.

The state of the natives is thus described by Mr. William; Williams, writing from Turanga.

The idols are already cast to the moles and to the bats; the swords are beaten into plough-shares, and the spears into pruning hooks: that is, the whole fabric of native superstition is gone, whether relating to the living or to the dead; the old priests being as forward to take this step as any others. Their weapons of warfare are laid by; their animosities with distant tribes are given up, and their petty quarrels are settled by arbitration.

The foregoing testimony is not that of enthusiasts, seeing all in the colour that they wished, but of patiently enduring men, long accustomed to disappointment, and in the habit of strongly expressing that disappointment, whenever it occurred. To those who know the ways of men, the coming in of "the old priests" will be a sure test of the work having been effectually done. It has been said that when Harvey discovered the greater circulation of the blood, not ten doctors in the kingdom, of more than forty years of age, accepted the new doctrine. In them, it was only stiffneckedness; their temporal interests would not have suffered. The Maori priest abandoned his profession, and with it, his livelihood.

MAKETU.

We now come to one of the turning points in the history of the Colony, – the murder of Mrs. Robertson and family by Maketu; giving rise to Heke's war, – properly so called, as distinguished from the rising of Kawiti, to which a different cause must be assigned. For although the trouble was tided over for a while, the embers lay smouldering still, to burst forth, on the first fanning breath of wind, into a blaze. So pregnant of consequence was this chance event, that it must be treated with more than passing notice.

It was on the 20th November, that Mrs. Robertson, a widow, residing at Motu Apohia, the island known as Robertson's Island, in the Bay of Islands, was murdered, together with two of her children, a half-caste child, grand-child to Rewa, and a European man servant, by Maketu, a young chief, about twenty years of age. When he went to the island, he was looked upon and treated as a friend; but enraged by a refusal to comply with his demands, he killed the servant in his sleep; knocked down and despatched Mrs. Robertson with an axe; killed the children; plundered the house of whatever he had a mind for, and then set it on fire. Maketu was highly connected, 19 a fine young man in person, but notoriously vicious, owing to a corrupt life in all manner of villainy. Intense excitement among the natives arose. An attempt by the Government to take the murderer by force, would have been fool-hardiness. The question was for the natives themselves, – whether or not the criminal should be given up, that English law should take its course. It was the first trial of their loyalty; the first test of the question whether the treaty was a reality, reasonably and thoughtfully agreed to; or whether it was, in the words of the New Zealand Company, "a device to amuse savages."

Some three hundred natives had assembled at the scene of crime. In the first instance they refused to give up the murderer. On the 24th, Mr. Williams proceeded thither; the result of the interview being, that Maketu was given into custody, and taken to

Kororareka; Ruhe, the father, consenting thereto. It may be assumed that the death of Rewa's grand-child, for which utu [payment] was due, had much to do with this decision. Ruhe seems to have been over-borne by Ngapuhi; for afterwards, when removed from their influence, his only thought was for vengeance on the pakeha.

But what had been well begun was not yet half ended. Discontent and regret began to seethe. It was no light thing to consign a man of such birth to an English gibbet. Mr. Williams gave notice of impending danger to the Government officials, who thereupon betook themselves to their usual resource (the policy persevered in to the present day, – a coral and bells to the crying babe), the distribution of gifts. 20 Sugar and flour, tobacco, and two casks of wine by way of allaying angry passion, were meted out, and readily disposed of; leaving matters exactly where they were before.

For some while it was doubtful whether civil war, or, indeed, a general rise against Europeans, might not be the immediate result.

Heke, at the time when the criminal was given up, happened fortunately to be out of the way, busied with one of his own private feuds. But when told that Ngapuhi had consented, he was frantic with anger, urgent for a general rise against the Government. A meeting of the tribes around, including those from Whangaroa and Hokianga, convened by Mr. Williams at the request of Walker Nene, 21 was held at Paihia, upwards of a thousand being present. The assembly became at one time most turbulent, on the point of breaking up in confusion; Heke, notwithstanding that he had headed the signatures to the treaty, being the firebrand. He rose to speak, interrupting Paerau, 22 flourishing his hatchet at him. Upon this, Pomare rose, and left the meeting with his people,

fearing, as he said, such another collision as that which caused the battle of Kororareka in 1830. The disaffected performed a war dance on the beach, firing their muskets, which were loaded with ball. But the moderate party at last prevailed. The inflammatory reports of revolt which had been spread abroad, were traced to their source, and disavowed; a memorial was signed expressive of good will to the Governor, and of willingness that the murderer should be dealt with according to law. To this, indeed, the obligation to obtain "payment," either by English or Maori law, for the death of Rewa's grand-child, was powerfully conducive. Maori retribution would inevitably kindle a native war; which need not follow, as a matter of course, from the action of English law. Also, the violent conduct of Heke, which was disapproved. But the main cause was the growing desire for law and order, the hope of which was the true cause of agreement to the treaty.

Heke had failed; but, as will presently be seen, he never lost sight of the matter, resolving to bide his time. For the present he returned to his old practices, day by day becoming more turbulent, gathering around a number of young fellows, desperadoes, – outcasts from the neighbouring tribes.

Maketu was executed in Auckland, March 7, 1842.

The affair is thus described by Mr. Williams.

The Bay of Islands district, and the whole of this part of the island, was thrown into a great state of alarm at the news of the murder of Mrs. Robertson, two of her children, a half-cast child, grand-child to Rewa, and a man servant. It soon became generally known amongst the natives who had committed the deed, but as a grand-child of Rewa, a chief of note and one of the leading men, was amongst the number of the slain, the culprit was surrendered by his own father, – Ruhe, a chief of Waimate. The name of the murderer was Maketu, a fine young man in person, but of vicious habits,

Maketu was connected with Pomare and other chief men around, very many of whom were desirous of creating a general movement, and bringing on a war; passing to and fro, telling all kinds of falsehoods, to excite sympathy. The Missionaries were threatened, it having been stated that Mr. Clarke and I had taken Maketu as a prisoner on board the Government brig. A large party had been met on the road, fully equipped for mischief, and

threatening the Mission. As soon as this intelligence was received at Paihia, I paid an especial visit to the chiefs around the Bay, who all regarded the affair as most serious, and advised me to call a general meeting for the following Thursday, to be held at Paihia, as no time was to be lost. I reported this circumstance to the Magistrates residing at Kororareka, who all fully approved of the steps I had taken.

On the day appointed, a large meeting took place of natives from Whangaroa, Hokianga, and the country round the Bay. All had arms, and for some time it was doubtful whether they would not proceed to use them, as much angry language was used by Pomare, Heke, and others, against the Government and the pakeha. Many drew off while under this feeling, and it was doubtful for some time whether they were not returning to fight. Towards the close of the afternoon, angry feeling began to subside, and the conduct of the opponents to order and justice condemned by the well-disposed.

At sunset, all dispersed quietly to their places. Ruhe, the father of the culprit, fully approved that the law should be carried out, though months passed before quietness was fully established. Maketu was tried for murder, and executed at Auckland; the first Maori who suffered by British law.

Heke's disturbance of the meeting will presently be more fully adverted to.

From Mrs. Williams' journal.

November 22, 1841. When Henry and his son Edward returned, they told us of the horrible murder of Mrs. Robertson, her child, servant, &c.; four murdered, and Mrs. Robertson's son, of seven years old, missing. The house had been set on fire by the perpetrators. Captain Bateman going off to assist the sufferers from the fire, which was first seen from Paroa, discovered the murder.

November 23. Just as we were going to bed, a note brought from Mr. Busby, mentioning that the murderer was discovered to be a son or brother of Ruhe; that upwards of three hundred natives were assembled at Motu Apohia, generally called Robertson's island, and refused to give the murderer up; that one of Rewa's sons was sitting with him; that two watches and some linen had been given up through Rewa's means. But that, altogether, it was more alarming than anything he had known in New Zealand; that Mr. King thinks the natives ripe for an outbreak, and that Mr. Mair had intimations of the same nature. That Mr. Beckham, the police magistrate, was to go to Kerikeri for Mr. Clarke, and to write to Auckland for all the disposable force. We shuddered as we talked over it, but trusted that the God of Jacob

still encamped around us as in times of old when danger threatened. Henry determined to go off at daylight.

November 24. Henry moved off between five and six without waiting for a cup of tea. We were all anxiety. I could not help perpetually taking up the glass to see what boats were moving about. We saw two come down the Kerikeri river, which appeared to be ours, going round Tapeka. Some natives who wanted Henry, told me the murderer was Maketu; that Whai, a chief of Kororareka, had found him, and that Rewa would kill him. John King called and said that the news had been sent last night to Waikato, who would be at Kororareka to-day. All was calm and quiet here, but when we heard of hundreds of natives and all the pakeha of Kororareka being assembled upon the island in Paroa Bay, where the murder was committed, it seemed like a calm before a heavy storm . . . . The day was long and anxious. We saw at sunset three boats leave Kororareka, and go towards Russell with soldiers in them, and hoped the murderer might have been given up. We saw Mr. Ford's boat come home, and others leave for Kerikeri, Wahapu, and in different directions. Henry's boat went towards Mr. Busby's, – we concluded to take him home; at length, at eight o'clock, he walked in, and greatly were our fears and anxieties relieved by his account of the proceedings. The murderer had been given up, and taken to Russell by the soldiers. The natives had behaved well, Rewa particularly so. This chief's grand-child was one of the victims. Henry had buried the corpses. The little boy, seven years old, was, the murderer confessed, thrown by him into the sea, from the summit of the hill to which he had fled at the murder of the others.

November 28. Mr. Mair mentioned the evil reports flying about as to the intentions of the natives. Henry went up the river, intending to see Pomare on the subject.

December 1. Edward wrote that it was reported that Ruhe meant to shoot Mr. Clarke's cattle for taking his son prisoner to Auckland.

December 2. Henry went with Mr. Busby to Paetai, where Ruhe, father of the murderer, was. He heard a great deal of bad talk that was circulated among the natives, and left the man more moderately inclined. Hemi Tautari said, messengers were going everywhere to excite the tribes to rise; that all the natives were buying arms and powder; that they were angry with Mr. Clarke, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Busby, saying that they gave up the murderer; that they mean to tear up their Bibles. Satan is very busy; but there is comfort in thinking there is one more powerful than he.

January 3, 1842. Henry told us that the French man-of-war from Akaroa had offered to wait to take care of the place till they had heard from Auckland,

Tapahi, back from the Karetu, told us the bad talk about Te Wiremu, – that he had given up the murderer, &c. It is a new thing for the natives to turn upon him.

January 6. Just as we had finished dinner, the natives from the Kawakawa appeared on the verandah; Tamati, Matiu, Hori, and others, – quite a mob of Rangatiras, come to have a korero with Te Wiremu. Henry was engaged with them till late. Matiu's letter was read, with the Hokianga news about Pomare's double acting; the letter from Mohi Tawhai at Hokianga; the reports about Te Wiremu's having taken the prisoner, and given him up.

January 8. About eleven o'clock Mr. Busby called, and who should be with him but Ruhe. He came into the front room to shake hands, and though he looked so quiet, I felt not a little fluttered. Mr. Busby was in a great hurry, and left him with me to wait for Te Wiremu, which he did from eleven till dark. I shewed him into the entrance place, and sent him rice to eat, and kept fidgeting about near at hand. Captain Beckham called, Mr. Burrows, and Mr. Hanley from the Bank. They stayed to tea, and as they were going, we heard that Mr. Busby and Mr. Mair were come. All had departed, when they met Henry landing, and all came back to hear his story of his visit to Tareha and Waikato. He produced the famous helmet which Waikato had given him. Upon it was engraved, "From King George IV. to Waikato."

January 9. Ruhe came back again, and Henry and Mr. Kemp had a long talk with him. A messenger from Pomare.

January 13. Henry left in the "Flying Fish" for Paroa Bay.

January 14. Hera came to tell me that Tareha was come, Waikato, King George, 23 and others.

January 15. My husband tapped at the window about 1 o'clock, a.m. Natives arriving all day.

January 16. The most important day of the meeting of the native chiefs at Paihia. A large party of native horsemen rode into the settlement a little after six o'clock, Edward the only pakeha. At breakfast, Aperahama arrived; guns popping off, and native girls leaving off their work to go and see. The canoes continued to arrive; and so much attention did the Kawakawa war canoe, Te Kingi, excite, which went over to Kororareka to make a demonstration, that I gave the school girls leave to be in the front verandah. Mr. Busby, Mr. John Busby, Captain Sulivan, in the front room, Mr. King and his son John. There was such delay waiting for Pomare's party to arrive, the people running from one end to another to see canoes land, that Henry all at once determined to have luncheon before the meeting began. About twenty people assembled in our back sitting room, amongst whom were Captain

Sulivan, Mr. Beckham, the Commander of the Forces, the two Mr. Busbys, all the Missionaries, the elder Missionary sons, &c. . . . . . All sorts of agitating reports were brought in about the meeting, where about thirty chiefs spoke, and John Heke and another native tried to create an ill feeling, but could not succeed. After this they had a war dance on the beach; fired off their muskets, which were loaded.

January 17. About five o'clock, Henry was called out to Pomare, then to Kemara, and the Kawakawa people. The entrance passage to our house was filled with natives thus early until the afternoon. About sixty pots of rice were given out: Our two breakfasts and numerous visitors occupied much time.

The loyal resolutions agreed to at the Paihia meeting, were transmitted by Mr. Williams to the Government, with an explanatory letter.

Paihia, December 20, 1841.

Sir, – I have the honour to acquaint you, for the information of His Excellency the Governor, that in consequence of the recent very excited state of the natives in this part of the island since the murder committed by Maketu, I called a general and public meeting of the chiefs of Ngapuhi, for the purpose of suppressing the then excited feelings. Accordingly, a very full meeting was held at this place on Thursday, the 16th instant, at which was present every chief of note and influence.

I forward to you, for the information of His Excellency the Governor, the Resolutions that were passed at the close of the meeting, together with two public letters, signed by the chiefs of the two divisions of Ngapuhi, addressed to His Excellency.

I forward, also, a public letter to the same purport from the chiefs of Hokianga, which I received on Saturday last, with several letters to His Excellency from individual chiefs, which I hope will prove satisfactory, and shew that the late disposition to evil towards the Europeans was confined to a few persons, and, I trust I can add, is now happily suppressed.

I forward to His Excellency the helmet presented by King George IV. to Waikato, which was delivered to me by that chief at my conference with him previous to the public meeting, as a token, I presume, of his good will towards Her Majesty's subjects. As Waikato has himself written to His Excellency, I think the helmet had better accompany his letter.

I must request that you will express to His Excellency the Governor that nothing but a feeling of impending danger, and the urgent necessity of an immediate interference on the part of the Missionaries at this critical period, could have induced me to have

called this meeting, and the Missionaries thus to have stepped forward out of their more peculiar duties. The calling of the meeting met with the full concurrence of the Police Magistrate in conjunction with every other magistrate residing in the Bay of Islands.

I feel it my duty, also, to request that you will express to His Excellency that, while we shall at all times be desirous to further the views of His Excellency with regard to the preservation of peace, good will, and order amongst the Aborigines of the country, we must retire, as far as possible, from all political discussion between them and the members of Her Majesty's Government, or the Europeans emigrating to this country.

Numerous questions of a political nature are constantly proposed, which are painful to us to have to notice. Our duties in this respect are difficult and critical. We therefore do hope that in future our services, on all political questions, may not be required.

I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient and humble servant,
HENRY WILLIAMS.
To George Clarke, Esq.,
Protector of Aborigines,
Auckland.

[Translation.]

The Resolutions agreed upon by the Chiefs of Ngapuhi, assembled at Paihia on the 16th December, 1841.

1. This Assembly disapproves of and discountenances the murders of Maketu, at Motu Apohia.

2. This Assembly declare that they did not know the murderous intention of Maketu towards the Europeans. His resolution was his alone. The chiefs of Ngapuhi declare that they have no thought of rising to massacre the Europeans living in New Zealand, and their hearts are sorry, because the Europeans have thought that this is the desire of the natives. This Assembly declare that they will strongly protest against this murderer, Maketu, being brought back to the Bay of Islands.

Paihia, December 16, 1841.

Governor, – We, Ngapuhi, had assembled at Paihia, to consider the reports that have flown about in the wind. The reports are many, and are now caught. Governor, we are quite downcast with the work of the tongue. Now, the work of Maketu lies quite plain. That deed was his alone; although the Europeans are jealous, supposing that we, the natives, have a heart for mischief. No, no, Governor, we have no mischievous intentions towards the Europeans; it is all regard. It is true, formerly we had a heart;

now we have not our old hearts for slaughter and murder. No, Governor, here are the resolutions of our Assembly forwarded to you, that you may fully see the greatness of our hearts for mischief or not.

Sir, Maketu's work is his alone, his own; we have nothing to say for him. That man is with you; leave him there. Do not bring him back here to us, lest there be a disturbance: leave him there. Governor, do not listen to the reports that have flown about in the wind. Whose reports are those? They are from Korongohi Haurangi, from himself. We have heard that all the people have forsaken the word of God. No, Governor, it is false, it is a falsehood of the tongue.

Sir, Governor, let your regard be great for us, the children of the Queen Victoria, the Queen of England, of Europe also. Now, this is the word of the book: "Love one another." This is a good word. Shew us the greatness of your regard to us and our children, and we shall all turn without one exception to Victoria to be her children. But if not, what shall we do? Governor, here we are sitting in ignorance; we have no thoughts; you are our parent. Do you write a book to us, a book to raise us up, who are sitting in darkness, in the woods, or elsewhere. We have no mischievous dispositions towards the Europeans. No, no: "Love one another."

KEMARA,
WHAI,
TOHU,
WAIHATI,
REPA TUPE,
MANUWIRI,
HAKORO,
WIRIPO HOTERENE MENE,
TAO,
PARANGI,
REWHA REWHA,
HARE HONGI,
TAREHA,
TE HIRA PURE,
MANU,
PAERAU,
PAPATA,
WIREMU,
HUARAHI.

There is also another letter, almost a transcript of the above, signed by Maketu's father, Pomare, Thomas Walker Nene, and others.

A letter to Mr. Marsh conveys some general information. Why the Mission, save only for the fact of their belonging to the Church of England, should have been the target for the incessant attacks of the notorious Dr. Lang, – attacks continued until a late occasion, when, upon being fairly challenged to make good his words, he shewed the white feather – is hard to say. Of the proceedings of the New Zealand Land Company, Mr. Williams speaks with his usual freedom of expression. He was not the only one who suffered through plain speaking about so potent an association. His prediction that the services of Mr. Clarke, as Protector, would be dispensed with, was fulfilled; but, fortunately, not until Mr. Clarke's reputation for able dealing with the natives had been fully established by Governor FitzRoy.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, December 23, 1841.

I forwarded to you some time since my review of Lang's happy, or rather unhappy production. He, the miserable man, has fallen into dire disgrace with the Government of New South Wales, for . . . . Of the New Zealand Land Company, time will shew the proceedings. They appear to set the Government at defiance in all their acts, for continuance of which they have been allowed a charter. They now buy right and left, with no one in that part of the Island to act for and in behalf of the natives. True, there is a person from England, one of themselves, who understands not a word of the New Zealand language, who bears the name of Protector to the Aborigines. Of course if such a one can act for the natives in that part of the country, another can be found for this neighbourhood, and the services of Mr. Clarke dispensed with, which I have little doubt will be the case as soon as they can feel their way. You will probably hear by the papers, long before this reaches you, of the horrible murder which took place in the Bay last month, when five persons (English) were killed by a young man, son of a chief of high connections. The whole of this part of the country was thrown into great excitement, and a general rise of the natives was for many days apprehended. Of course the members of the Government could do nothing. The Missionaries were obliged to see the natives, and I called a general meeting of the chiefs, to assemble at Paihia, at which all of any influence attended. The subject was entered into, and concluded the next day. This, on my part, was a responsible step, to call a political meeting in such times as these. I hope I may not be again required thus to come forward, and have written to the Protector

to this effect. There was a numerous attendance of Europeans, amongst whom were the magistrates of this district, and the captain and officers of a man-of-war, then in the Bay. All the natives were under arms, yet the meeting passed off without any disturbance of any consequence. I had to make an official communication of the same, but as yet have received no reply, therefore do not know if the measure is approved or disapproved. Since the meeting with the natives, general excitement has been created by a proposed Bill of the Governor's, – to sweep off all the land which has been purchased, giving in lieu thereof some portion in some other part of the Island, for the purpose of drawing together the settlers from the out-posts. 24 This in theory may be good, but in practice bad. I fear that the attempt to carry such a measure would cause a general disturbance, not only amongst the Europeans, but also amongst the natives. I think the Society, therefore, may be satisfied to let the land question be at rest as far as they are concerned, there being no fear that the Government will allow to any one more land than they can possibly help. This I mentioned to Mr. Coates many months since, but even in their last communication does he press the same subject. We have no land, nor have we possessed any since the formation of the Government in the country. My boys are attempting something for themselves in farming. I wish them to have no place under the Government. Edward, I hope, sees the need of getting to work. Thomas and John are as yet with William; I wish to keep them with him until they be eighteen, but education here is not more than half what it is in England. In one more year and a half, should we be alive, I intend Marianne shall give up her English school. 25 It is heavy work without English servants. The present Government here shew every disposition to seize all land belonging to the Church Mission Society they can possibly put their hands upon, all that is not in actual occupation. Upon this land of the Church Mission Society the natives come and sit, and cover a good deal of land, but these Government officers would gladly hem us in on every side; they have their footing, and now we, and all belonging to us,

may fly to the winds. Our natives as yet behave well, but I fear our Mission will soon lose that simplicity it has long known. How very far do these savage christians exceed those more polished from our highly favoured England. In my native congregation my heart has been cheered, and warmed, and comforted. They come to me for advice on all points, and speak of their failings and weaknesses. Our more polished christians are inanimate, cold, insensible, unfeeling, regardless of everything but their present gratification, with neither soul nor spirit. In the Mission there is very much to gratify; beyond the Mission there is much to distress. I wish there were some one to take general charge of our affairs. A head over our mission, and our numerous churches and schools, is required.

The Government, frighted with false fire not long since, had now lapsed into undue security. Having hanged their man, they treated the affair as settled. They were beginning to rely less on the Mission, and more on themselves. Prompted by a feeling of incipient jealousy, which, under shew of much civility, would still peer out; prematurely anxious to break down the bridge over which they had passed, they began to treat the Mission with neglect, – so far at least as could be ventured. This was to be expected; their self-esteem was somewhat galled; and, being a Government, they naturally wished to govern. The Mission took no umbrage; continuing, as from the first, to give advice when sought, but never obtruding it. The following letter is in exemplification.

Mr. Williams to Mr. Busby.
April, 20, 1842.

I am sorry to be under the necessity of declining to reply to your communication of the 4th instant, as my situation as Missionary requires me not to enter into politics. However, as a christian, I cannot refrain from expressing my deep regret at the present state of New Zealand. Were it confined to the Europeans, I should not offer an observation; but from the speech of the Colonial Secretary, it would appear that a degree of confidence and security is reposed in the state of the natives, which may lead into fatal error, not seen until too late. The disturbance arising from the capture of Maketu was happily suppressed, but I do not hesitate to say that had not the grand-child of Rewa been one of the victims, thereby bringing all the Ngapuhi tribes as auxiliaries to the Europeans in the event of war, the result of the affair would have been far otherwise. The Colonial Secretary's assertion that

"the natives never did entertain an opinion as far as regards the Government of distrust," should have required more reflection than perhaps was given to it. For it is a fact too palpable to be refuted. I must say that I do not know a chief who has not expressed his "distrust" in the Europeans generally; and it has required all my energies and influence, in common with the other Missionaries, among the natives, to set their minds at rest upon these subjects. Frequently are expressions of distrust expressed to me of their fears as to the ultimate intention of the Government towards the natives themselves and their possessions, which will require every care to correct. In this I consider their feelings as perfectly natural. What were the feelings and conduct of the ancient Britons, towards the first invaders of the country?

In regard to British law, the natives do not yet consider that it applies to them.

In the event of any serious disturbance between the native tribes and Europeans, I consider that the British subjects cannot expect protection from any of the tribes. They might join the Europeans to-day, and oppose them to-morrow. Hence I consider the danger of the Europeans under such circumstances, to be very serious, and requiring all the care and wisdom which can be given to this great subject. What the consequence may be as soon as any collision takes place, the natives themselves cannot determine; much less any Europeans.

Time, as usual, proved that Mr. Williams had perfect cognisance of the true state of things. But he was urgent with the Government that they should take entire charge of their own affairs. They were no longer new-comers, wholly dependent for information on old settlers; and his strong desire was to give undivided attention once more to missionary work. Not that the intermission lasted long; for when troubles again became serious, he was again ordered to the front.

Extracts from journals are continued, mainly for the sake of dates, and to keep up the order of connexion.

January 14, 1842. Captain Stratton fined £50 for a pennant being hung out on the "Columbine" (Mission schooner), while at church on Sunday.

February 15. Riro murdered by Hone Rauawa, at Pakaraka, in jealousy.

February 27. More than two hundred natives to the Lord's supper.

April 17. Twenty-one adults and three children baptised. The new Government offices burnt down in Auckland.

May 1. Government House at Russell burnt down.

June 6. Heard of the Bishop's arrival in Auckland.

Henry Williams to Mrs. Heathcote.
Paihia, July 5, 1841.

Edward has been, a director of the New Zealand Bank during the last year. This you will think somewhat astonishing; moreover, Samuel will, I believe, be chosen this year as another of the directors. So you will perceive that these boys are not here quite so insignificant things as some people have desired they should be. One of the first merchants in the Bay, desirous of going to England to enlarge his business, spoke to me the other day, to let Samuel join him as partner, his character standing high. When I look on my children, and consider the public feeling which has been exhibited towards them, I feel in a degree indignant that any one should dictate to me what I shall do for them to keep them from a false and wicked world. I am thankful for the blessings my Heavenly Father has bestowed upon them, and trust He will continue to strengthen and uphold them free from the contaminating influence of the multitude. But as we are becoming externally more civilised daily, and music becoming more general, it is proposed to procure a piano, which I will thank you to see after the first time you are in London. I should like a good one, as the expense of freight, &c, is no more for the best than for the worst.

ARRIVAL OF THE BISHOP.

New Zealand was at first but an appendage to the Colony of New South Wales, politically. Ecclesiastically, it appertained to the diocese of Australia. But as the Bishop of Australia could not exercise active supervision, an independent diocese was created, and a bishop designated. This measure was most welcome to Mr. Williams, in whose views of discipline the idea of a ship without a captain found no place.

Dr. Selwyn was, apparently, the very man for the Colony. A fine scholar – there is no greater mistake than to suppose that scholarship is unvalued or useless in a British Colony – well known as an athlete both at Eton and at Cambridge, a strong swimmer, an enduring pedestrian, and a powerful oar; 26 of a most

pleasant and affable address, with a determined will, merging upon that excess of will called self-will.

His introduction at Paihia was characteristic. Mrs. Williams shall narrate it.

June 6, 1842. A note before breakfast from Mr. Colenso to William, to tell us that the Bishop of New Zealand had arrived at Auckland in the "Britomart," and that there was a large mail . . . Mr. Clarke informed us that two families of Missionaries had arrived at Auckland, and that the new Bishop, with Mrs. Selwyn, was coming here in a fortnight.

June 20. While Henry was engaged with his Monday evening Bible class, William came in with a card, brought by a pakeha, to read by the candle-light. He exclaimed, "the Bishop of New Zealand on the beach." He went down and found the Bishop, Mr. Cotton (private chaplain), and Mr. Lewington, dragging up a boat in which they had come from Cape Brett, steering for this house by a pocket compass. The natives poured out of the reading room at the news. The Bishop's manner was most prepossessing, and, when shewn into his room, he seemed much pleased to find a crib for his little boy. When summoned to tea, both the Bishop and his Chaplain seemed surprised at the long tea table of the two families of Williams, set for twenty-four.

June 21. Mr. and Mrs. Kissling, missionaries, the Bishop's fellow-passengers in the small vessel from Auckland, came to a second breakfast. He was an old German missionary from Sierra Leone; his wife a well-educated English woman. Quite a day of days. The Bishop and Henry started for the Kerikeri.

June 26. Surprised and delighted by the Bishop's address to the natives in the native language. A crowded chapel, and near two hundred communicants.

July 1. It was settled that Thomas (fourth son) was to go to the Bishop's house to teach Maori to Mr. Cotton, and continue his own Greek and Latin.

July 5. Henry took the Bishop to the vessel. The Bishop sailed, leaving Mrs. Selwyn here.

The arrangement was that the Bishop should make a six months' tour through the Colony, the greater part on foot, according to his wont, leaving Mrs. Selwyn to prepare the way for him at the Waimate, where he was presently to establish his head-quarters.

The new Bishop, as will be seen by the subjoined correspondence, won golden opinions forthwith. Mr. Williams, who never did any thing by halves, gave his unreserved confidence and support, satisfied that he had found a kindred spirit. Though many and various the points of discussion, it seemed as if the

two were unable to disagree. And the impression made on Mr. Williams was the stronger, seeing that of late the Society had gone counter to his advice. For this, a bare allusion, contained in a letter, must suffice.

Mrs. Williams to Mrs. Heathcote.
Paihia, April 19, 1842.

I cannot tell what you may have heard about Henry's intentions. This I can asure you, he is not, and never was, weary of the work, and never let even his numerous family interfere with it. He never disliked discipline, but has had great trials from the want of discipline, and the want of a deputation to search into the state of the Mission, which he and William have so repeatedly urged the Society to send. Henry welcomes the prospect of the Bishop's coming. Depend upon it that your brother's proceedings will bear examination. He is of that metal which, the harder it is rubbed, the more it will shine. He was absent at Tepuna on Sunday and several previous days, engaged with natives for baptism; twenty-two adults baptised at Tepuna on Sunday, besides children. To-day he has gone to Kerikeri, to a committee. Edward has, I am happy to say, left the Government. His father has given him a fine piece of land in a pretty situation near to his brothers, where he is building and planting, and preparing for a wife, – if the Government do not take this land and his prospects. All is still unsettled about the land. The Missionaries' purchases have been examined; the commissioners have said they were surprised to find them so moderate, compared with what they were represented to be, considering the number of their children. It has been seen that the Missionaries' deeds are very correct; that they have had no difficulty about them, and that the Missionaries have given a better price for their land than others. These commissioners are now superseded by one from England. The old settlers are all displeased. According to the decree of Government the new comers and speculators will all fare better than the old settlers who prepared the way for them. There is nothing but discontent abroad. The Government Officers in debt; the Government have no money; fines and duties have driven the shipping trade to other islands, and emigrants and mechanics are leaving in disappointment. The Colony is considered by all to be in a very critical state. The natives are very jealous of the Government; they have been quiet since the execution of the murderer Maketu, but though evil feeling has been put down, it still exists. Perhaps, after all, you may come with the Bishop; I need not say how glad we shall be to welcome you.

Mr. Williams' opinion of his Lordship must be expressed in his own words.

1 The Company were said to have forty-two votes in the House of Commons.

2 New Zealand, so far at least as Akaroa, in the Middle Island, had been included in Governor Phillip's commission.

3 Captain Hobson had been already. appointed Consul; but was to assume the title of Lieutenant-Governor, in the event of success.

4 It is true that there was an essential difference between the case of the Australian negro, and that of the Maori. The former was a nomad, attaching no idea of property to the soil, but dependent for existence upon the chase. The latter was, of necessity, a cultivator, having no quadruped larger than the kiore [native rat] to hunt. The soil, to him, was everything; and, consequently, rights of proprietorship, sometimes of the most complicated nature, arose; metes and bounds were carefully defined, and landmarks became as sacred as in Canaan of old. But the Maori may be pardoned for not perceiving the force of a distinction which was not perceived by Lord Grey, when he issued his "Instructions" in 1846. They knew that we had taken high-handed possession of the land in one country; and would naturally expect, without attending to the changed circumstances of the case, that we should act in like manner towards the other country, – that is to say, if we could, or if we dared.

5 "You will, I trust, find powerful auxiliaries amongst the Missionaries, who have won and deserved their confidence."

The Marquis of Normanby's Instructions to Captain Hobson, August 14, 1839.

Without those services, the country could not have been acquired. But they were soon forgotten by the new-made officials.

6 They laboured on their own account, and, for whatever produce he took from the farm, the market price was duly paid.

7 As if, moreover, the accident of being in holy orders could deprive a man of the right enjoyed by every other citizen under British rule, – the right of petition and remonstrance. The word "clerical" is dragged in, merely to give point to the argumentum ad odium.

8 History repeats itself. We gather from Josephus that for a like cause, a large and influential party in Jerusalem were ready to welcome direct government by the Romans, as the best, thing that could happen to their country.

9 Old – – – -, of Dunedin, one of the grimmest of Presbyterians, being consulted as to the investment of money, delivered his opinion as follows: – "Sheep get the scab; cattle get the pleuro: I say, stick to the land; it will stick to you like original sin."

10 This feeling, slighted by the New Zealand Government, culminated in the Land League and King Movement of 1860, which simply meant, a reduction to order of the many isolated attempts (always overborne because of that very isolation) to stay the rapid alienation to the European of native land. Looking at the question from a native point of view, the Land-leaguers were right enough. They feared being bought out, and whistled down the wind, when the winged counters, taken in exchange for the land, should have flown. It was the Lord of Linne and John o' the Scales again, without the ballad turn of luck.

11 Some years since, Mr. James Edward FitzGerald, of Canterbury, proposed that several of the "old hands" should join in redeeming early times in New Zealand from that oblivion with which they are threatened. He was himself to have undertaken the History of the Canterbury settlement. Sir George Grey had agreed to take charge of the Maori mythology. I myself undertook "The History of the North;" and thereupon applied to Archdeacon Williams for assistance. He took the trouble to put on paper for me what he called "Early Recollections." The Livre des Cent et Un never appeared, but some of the materials compiled for it remain.

12 In this translation, Mr. Williams had the assistance of his son Edward, facile princeps, among Maori scholars, in regard to the Ngapuhi dialect, – generally admitted, except in Waikato, to be the Attic of New Zealand.

13 As the first volume of this work was distinguished by an account of the career of Hongi Hika, so may the second be marked by that of Hone Heke. They were the two representative men, in the North, of their respective periods, both in style of thought and action. The first was the grand old savage, steeped to the eyes in blood, yet rigidly adhering to his own rude ideas of what was just; the other, the semi-civilised Maori, his own original ideas of right and wrong disturbed, the acquired ideas having not yet taken root.

Hone Heke was nephew to Hongi Hika. He traced his descent from Rahiri, said to have come over in the original "canoe" from Hauaiki. Rahiri is said to have sacrificed his son to the gods on landing, and was on that account called Te Puhi Taniwharau: – hence, according to some, the name Ngapuhi, which descended to his hapu, and afterwards extended to all the Northern tribes. (For other derivations of this tribal name, see Vol. I., pages 65 and 66.)

Paternal tree.
Mirupokai
Tai
Tai Te Anuku
Ohineriria
Tamure
Te Ra
Kamama
Maru
Kauteawha
Haua
Pokaia and Kau=Tupanapana
Heke

Maternal tree.
Rahiri
Kaharau
Taurapoho
Mahia
Ngahue
Te Wairua
Auha
Te Hotete and Waiohua
Hongi      Tupanapana

Hariata = Heke.

Heke was of a turbulent disposition from his youth, and when he grew to man's estate he gained notoriety by levying tribute upon all travellers passing through his estate, Puketona, which was on the high road from the Bay to the interior, roughly handling and stripping all who attempted to pass free. His right to levy the tax was generally submitted to on account of his high birth. It was generally said of him in palliation, "he uri na Kauteawha," he is a worthy descendent of Kauteawha, a man renowned for energy of character.

Heke first distinguished himself as a brave at the battle of Kororareka, in 1830, where Hengi was killed, by boldness and firmness. He enhanced his reputation at Tauranga in 1833, where Ngapuhi, under Titore, attacked Otumoetai. There Heke was wounded in the neck, and was sent back to the Bay of Islands, lest his boldness should get the better of his discretion. After this he became a christian, and lived several years at Paihia with Mr. Williams, by whom he was baptised and christened John. His first wife, "Ono," christened Lydia, was a daughter of Te Pahii, of Ngatirehia, a relative of Te Kohai, still living; consequently a great lady. By her he had one daughter, who died.

Heke remained quiet until the death of his wife Lydia, after which he returned to his old habits, and was again to the fore in 1837, when Ngapuhi were fighting with Pomare at Otuihu. On this occasion he narrowly escaped capture by Pomare's people, crossing the Bay in a small canoe with only four men. After this he removed to Kaikohe, where he kept the district in a chronic state of broil.

An event soon occurred which gave him an opportunity of venting his spleen against the pakeha. A large block of land had been purchased on behalf of the Government, at Mangonui, from Noble (Panakareao), a chief of Kaitaia. This block included, land at Taipa, the property of Porirua and others of Whangaroa, relatives to Heke, who disputed the sale by building a pa upon the land and forbidding occupation. Panakareao came in force to oppose them. Heke, invited by Porirua to come over and help him, went over with his young men, gave battle to Panakareao, routed him, and required that the land should be resigned publicly to Porirua, which was done. This established Heke's mana, and he was henceforth looked upon as the leader of Ngapuhi. Of his resentment – the wrath of Achilles – for the execution of Maketu, leading to the war in the North; of his quarrel with Kahakaha, and reconciliation through the influence of Ruhe's song; of his abandonment of petty feud, in favour of concentrating all available force upon a single object – the freeing his countrymen from the domination of the foreigner, typified by the flag-staff at Kororareka, and of his unwilling junction with the less chivalrous, though equally brave Kawiti, full mention will presently be made in the order of events.

14 The Company's settlers had "accepted a constitution" from chiefs of the Port Nicholson District; under which they proceeded to exercise what is commonly called "Lynch law." The term is not used in an invidious sense: so far as I have seen Lynch law in operation, it was very fair law, and, under the circumstances, very necessary law; but in contradistinction to "legal" law. Harmless, when exercised by the settlers under agreement among themselves; but, when directed against out-siders, it became an impudent assertion of authority.

The following paragraph is taken from the "New Zealand Government Gazette," the first newspaper published in the Colony, April 18, 1840.

POLICE OFFICE, April 14. – Captain Pearson, of the brig "Integrity," was arrested to-day under a warrant issued for illegal conduct towards his charterer, Mr. Wade, of Hobart Town, and brought before the district magistrate, Major Baker. The prisoner refused to recognise the court, and was accordingly committed. The ensuing day, Captain Pearson made his escape (he was rescued), and an escape warrant has in consequence been issued against him.

Now for the editorial comments thereon. "We are well pleased that the first person subjected to our assertion of law is of sufficient standing and intelligence to raise the question of our right to act under the sovereign power of the district. Captain Pearson will find that the constituted authorities of Port Nicholson have power to compel obedience. Had we obtained the sovereignty of this portion of the Island, of course it could only be for the Queen, as British subjects cannot acquire sovereignty but for their country. We have not done so – we have not attempted to do so; but Acting under the various proclamations issued in relation to these Islands, have accepted a constitution from the sovereign chiefs, placing a limit to their despotic power." The ingenuity with which Lynch law was disguised is amusing.

15 Haratua was matua [protecting chief] to the Pakaraka settlers, considering them as the objects of his especial care. He was allied to Heke, and took an active part against the Government in the war. He was baptised in extreme old age by the name of Te Wiremu.

16 The word "relieved" is used advisedly; for it was a relief from the responsibilities which the Society had deliberately taken upon themselves. When the Missionaries were sent out, they were distinctly told that they need be under no anxiety about their families, – that these would be cared for. And they did begin by endeavouring to carry out their undertaking. But they found the burden onerous. For instance, they called home Philip King, who had reached the age of fifteen, that he might learn a trade. Including his passage out again, they found that he had cost them about three hundred pounds.

17 Vide Bishop Selwyn's "Mite an Acre" for the Middle Island; and Commisioner Bell's report.

18 Europeans domiciliated among the natives.

19 Son to Ruhe, chief of Uritaniwha, of Mawhe, near Waimate. He was nearly related to Pomare.

20 It is still commonly said by natives, when short of stores, "let us get up a row, and the Government will send plenty." The ignoble policy of the lower Empire toward the barbarians of the Danube.

21 Walker Nene said that Mr. Williams was the only man with sufficient mana to do it.

22 Son of Rewa.

23 He had desired to be so christened. Mr. Williams took upon himself to invert the names, and entered them in the Register accordingly.

24 The Government to take all the lands purchased in the out-districts, giving "scrip" in exchange; this scrip to be exercised in the purchase of land near Auckland, the new capital. This procedure was likened by Mr. Domett to "cutting off a man's arms and legs, and cramming them down his throat."

25 A statement was current that Mrs. Williams cleared £900 a year by the English school. The work was done gratuitously for twenty years, during eight of which the work was shared by her sister-in-law, Mrs. William Williams. This was terminated by the removal of Mr. William Williams to the Waimate in 1835, to take charge of the boys' school. From April, 1836, to December, 1838, Mrs. Ashwell assisted. Mr. Ashwell was then removed to Thames. In fact, the English girls' school was a heavy expense. In a letter to Mr. Marsh, Mr. Williams writes that, until his wife gave up the girls' school, he could never keep clear of debt. The native school she retained to the last.

26 He pulled number seven in the "Lady Margaret" at Cambridge, for three successive terms at the head of the river, till bumped in 1831 by the "Privateer," of Trinity, in which the writer pulled number four.

[Pages 51-100]

Henry Williams to the Rev. E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, June 24, 1842.

The Bishop is now in my house, having landed after dark on Monday evening last, while I was engaged with my Bible class, so I am happy he found me at my station. We were all taken by surprise, and put into an immediate bustle. I was most delighted to see his face and hear him speak, and was relieved from many forbodings. You had certainly spoken most favorably of his Lordship; but I have known that persons in England and persons out of England are frequently very different; however, I must say that I am quite afraid to say how delighted I am. I have seen very much of this good man during the few days of his sojourn amongst us. We have spoken freely upon various subjects in connection with the Mission, and it is very remarkable that in no one instance have we had a contrary idea. He so fully enters into our views upon all Missionary points, that I am at times under some apprehension of forgetting that he is our Bishop. I have been with him to the Waimate, where he takes up his quarters, probably for some considerable time, in the house formerly occupied by Mr. Clarke. We are, moreover, all of us delighted at the knowledge the Bishop has obtained of the language. He can, to the surprise of all, converse with ease and correctness, having kept close to work during the voyage. The Bishop observes, moreover, that he shall require all his clergy to acquire the language, that they may attend to the natives. William and I have just come from him after a long conference as to the stations now about to be taken up. I hope that several of our laymen may be admitted to ordination; this will very effectually strengthen the Mission. I think, indeed, our affairs are even now in a position we could never have anticipated. We shall not now require any one more to superintend the Mission, and I feel fully satisfied to leave all the affairs of the Mission, or my own as a Missionary, in his hands. The Society have, I believe, considered me to be a refractory hand, because I have disapproved of their measures. His Lordship may be able to say in a few years, should we both live so long, whether or not this be correct.

Henry Williams to Mrs. Heathcote.
Paihia, June 28, 1842.

My dear Kate, – I must hasten to give you a line, that it may obtain the frank of our worthy Bishop, who has now been beneath my roof for ten days. The good man has most mightily astonished all by his proficiency in the native language, and our admiration increases daily. Indeed, he has captivated every heart by his kindness and courteous manners. On Sunday last he took his portion in the native services, preaching in the New Zealand language,

besides the Communion service, administering the Lord's supper to a large number. In the afternoon, he read prayers in Maori. In the forenoon, his Lordship gave us a most admirable sermon, which is about to be printed at the request of the congregation. The Bishop and I have had very much conversation, and upon all points, so far, we have fully agreed. He appears not only to be the head of the Church in this country, but at the head of the Mission, which is quite in accordance with our views. It will quite relieve us from a multitude of perplexities in Committee, and give a tone and character to the Mission it never possessed before. I am persuaded that nothing will escape his notice, however trifling the circumstance, and that now all unpleasant looks and unkind feelings will cease between us and the Society, as we shall turn all their matters over to his Lordship, satisfying ourselves with his decision. I am so far gratified that, as yet, we have had no difference of opinion upon any single point. I have conversed freely with him upon the land question, and upon many others also; he has given his opinion precisely in accordance with what I have from time to time stated to the Society. The Bishop, hitherto, has expressed nothing but satisfaction in all he has seen, both in the neighbourhood of the Thames (Auckland), and also here. He is now going to make a tour of the Island, intending to visit every station. Several of the laymen are looking for ordination, and will, I expect, obtain it; which, of course, will greatly strengthen the Mission. The Bishop is to take his family to the Waimate, to Mr. Clark's old house, expecting to remain there for at least the next five years, and perhaps much longer. This, I feel, will give weight to the Mission. He purposes, also, to take change of the school, converting it into a college, by which he will take charge of nearly the whole settlement.

I was not surprised to hear that you were never in a greater mind to come to New Zealand than when you saw the Bishop.

The Bishop was as well pleased with the Missionaries as they with him. In a letter to the Secretary of the Church Mission Society, he says:

I hope this letter will have put you in some degree in possession of my feelings towards the natives, and towards the Mission. If you have gathered from it that I have imbibed the strongest regard for the native people, and a very high regard and esteem for the members of the Mission in general, you will have drawn a right conclusion from this very imperfect statement of my real feelings. I would rather that you should give me credit for feeling more than I express, than incur the danger of seeming to exaggerate beyond the facts of the case. God grant that the facts may every day more and more speak for themselves, and prove this country to be, as I believe it to be, the ground-plot of one of the most

signal mercies which God has ever granted to the missionary exertions of His Church.

To this may be added an extract from the Bishop's sermon, preached at Paihia in 1842.

These are the promises of God; and mark how they have been here fulfilled. We have come to the uttermost parts of the sea, and even there we find the right hand of the Spirit of God guiding the hearts of men. Christ has blessed the work of His Ministers in a wonderful manner. We see here a whole nation of pagans converted to the faith. God has given a new heart and a new spirit to thousands after thousands of our fellow-creatures in this distant quarter of the earth. A few faithful men, by the power of the Spirit of God, have been the instruments of adding another christian people to the family of God. Another christian church has arisen here, in the midst of one of the fiercest and most bloody nations that ever lived to bear witness to the power of sin over the heart of unregenerated man.

Also the Bishop's account of an administration of the Lord's supper at Paihia.

On the Lord's day, June the 26th, I administered the Lord's supper to one hundred and fifty native communicants at Paihia, and was much struck with their orderly and reverential demeanour. All were dressed in European clothing, and, with the exception of their colour, presented the appearance of an English congregation. In few English churches, however, have I heard the responses repeated in the deep and solemn tone with which every New Zealander joins in that portion of the service.

How far the Bishop had the good will of the Society, I cannot say. They could not but perceive that either they must abandon their own authority over their own servants, or, by adhering to it, constitute what always ends in trouble, – an imperium in imperio. Moreover, the Bishop was not of the Church party to which they belong. His sympathies were supposed – rightly or wrongly – to be rather with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel than with the Church Mission Society. Mr. Secretary Venn's letter, very complimentary, though dashed with the significant observation that "the selection of the individual to fill the office was made independently of the Society," bears traces Of apprehension for the future. In his own words, – "he was not insensible to the perplexities which might arise, even from the introduction of the Episcopal office into

a church which had been formed, and for so many years administered, in an incomplete form." It is enough to say that, within a very short period, such perplexities did arise.

The Reverend Henry Venn to Henry Williams.
Church Mission House, 1842.

In opening my correspondence with you, I must in the first place congratulate you and the rest of our brethren in New Zealand, upon the appointment of a Bishop. I regard this event as the consummation of all our missionary schemes for New Zealand; and as an answer to the prayers which we have long been offering up, that the Lord would foster and confirm the infant church of that interesting land.

Though the selection of the individual to fill the office was made independently of the Society, we trust that it has been guided by a gracious Providence for the best interests of the Church of Christ.

You will probably have heard from your brother, Mr. Marsh, his favourable opinion of the Bishop. I was myself a stranger to him till the day of his consecration; but I have had several interviews with him since, and indulge the best hopes from his christian devotedness, his zeal, his talents, and his large experience in the work of education. I trust that the whole of our missionary brethren will receive him with the confidence becoming the paternal relation in which he now stands towards them.

You will see from the copy of our official minute on the subject, which has been transmitted to you, that the temporal affairs of the Society will continue to be conducted by the Parent Committee and the Local Committees in New Zealand; but I anticipate much benefit from the Bishop's advice and co-operation, 27 when he shall have been enabled to take a full view of the circumstances of the Island.

I am aware that many questions have lately arisen of a perplexing character; these will now be at once, and I trust happily, settled by the presence of the Bishop. I need not therefore further allude to them or to Mr. Vore's late letter to the ordained Missionaries in New Zealand.

Among the many advantages of the appointment, I dwell with peculiar delight upon the reflection that our Missionaries will henceforth have one ready to vindicate them from unjust aspersions

in a far more effectual manner than it would ever have been possible for the officers of the Society to do. In this I find a relief to those feelings of deep sympathy with which I have long regarded my dear brethren in New Zealand, nobly labouring in the work as they have done, "through evil report," and content to approve themselves to their Lord and Master as "workmen that need not be ashamed."

But though I thus write, I am not insensible to the perplexities which may arise, even from the introduction of the Episcopal office into a church which has been formed and for so many years administered in an incomplete form. I do not however suffer my mind to dwell upon any such apprehensions. I know enough of the devices of Satan to know that as the appointment bids fair to be productive of the richest benefits to the cause of Christ, – so difficulties will if possible be raised to obstruct the beneficial effect of the office. I will only say that my dependence is upon the efficacy of the prayers which daily ascend to the throne of grace; and to the spirit of candour and christian prudence which I trust has been and will be vouchsafed to the Society at home and abroad. One only advice will I venture to give, namely, if perplexities ever arise, remember that they may be, generally speaking, far better settled by a reference home, than agitated in the Mission.

And now let me in conclusion assure you of my hearty wishes and best prayers for your continued prosperity in soul and body, – in your ministry and in your family. I shall rejoice to hear from you full and free accounts of such encouragements or disappointments as you meet with in your work. I shall unfeignedly thank God if in my correspondence with my brethren I can in the smallest degree strengthen their hands or cheer their hearts. May the Lord himself be with your spirit.

Nor can it be said that the whole of the New Zealand Mission remained untinged by the feelings of the Parent Society. They were of what is commonly called "low church;" he was supposed to be high, though, in reality, he did not follow the lead of any party, but took his own course. Dark rumours of Puseyism 28 were

creeping in, though mainly, I believe, among the laity. Mr. Williams paid no attention to hearsay, but, as usual, thought for himself. He said that he did not quite know what was meant by Puseyism; that he took people as he found them, and found the Bishop as evangelical 29 as he could wish. Apprehension too was gaining ground of very high-handed proceedings on his Lordship's part, for which no sufficient cause is discoverable, the Bishop seeming to have been, at the outset, very moderate and discreet in his utterances. But, unluckily, some of those around him were not so reticent as himself. Galling or slighting words sometimes escaped; not, perhaps, such as ought to have given offence, but which were, to say the least, provocative. For instance, when it was said of the Mission that "they wanted a little authority among them, to set them to rights," an error of judgment was committed. For the expression was used towards those who had themselves exercised authority for years; who had won for themselves the mastership under danger and difficulty; and who knew that they had but to hold up a finger utterly to nullify the Bishop's influence among the natives. 30 No one was likely to complain of the

legitimate exercise of authority; but to fling it in the face of those who were in reality masters of the situation was imprudent.

Mr. Williams himself was little disturbed by these things. He had no personal susceptibilities; his one idea was work, regulated by discipline. And he could not understand discipline, without correlative authority. Steadily and faithfully he stood by the Bishop, who little knew how much he was indebted. But when the Bishop was told, at a later period, that Mr. Williams had borne him and the Bishop's whole college on his shoulders, he was told no more than truth.

In the first volume, an account was given of the state of the Mission at the time of Mr. Williams' arrival in New Zealand, with an intimation that corresponding statements for the epochs of the Bishop's arrival, and departure, should follow. He found it at its best; in full force. The dispersion of the Mission, about which Mr. Williams had been so urgent, had been effectual and complete. To some, this might seem a light thing to accomplish; but a little consideration will shew that no small abnegation of self was required. The abandonment of homes in which, by much labour, something like comfort had been achieved; the beginning of all over again, in a strange place; the setting foot once more upon

the lowest rung of the ladder – this would, as a matter of course, be submitted to without repining, wherever required for the advancement of the cause. But it was hard to be called upon to sever friendships formed with native converts; to leave behind those whose confidence they had won, to blot out valued associations of the past. But dispersion, to the nethermost parts of the Island, had become needful, and no complaint was heard.

The following Stations were already occupied; and others had been prepared for occupation.

Kaitaia..... Mr. J. Matthews. Mr. W. Puckey.
Whangaroa - - - Mr. J. Shepherd.
Tepuna – – - Mr. J. King.
Kerikeri - Mr. J. Kemp.
Waimate – - Rev. R. Taylor (school.) Mr. G. Clarke. Mr. R. Davis.
Paihia – - Rev. H. Williams.
Kororareka – - Rev. R. Burrows.
Maraetai – - Mr. W. T. Fairburn.
Hauraki – - Mr. – . Preece.
Orua – - Mr. J. Hamlin.
Waikato – - Rev. R. Maunsell.
Kaitotohe – - Mr. B. Ashwell.
Otawhao – - Mr. J. Morgan.
Rotorua – - Mr. T. Chapman.
Tauranga – - Rev. A. N. Brown.
Opotiki – - Mr. J. Wilson.
Waiapu – – - Mr. J. Stack. 31
Uawa – Mr. C Baker.
Turanga – Rev. W. Williams.
Whanganui – Rev. J. Mason.
Waikanae and Otaki – Rev. O. Hadfield.

Mr. Kissling had been ordered by the Society to the southermost coast; but was permitted by the Bishop to exchange for the milder climate of Kawakawa, on the East Cape.

Mr. Spencer, who had arrived a fortnight before the Bishop, was sent to Tarawera.

Many stations were at this time occupied by native teachers. Being unable to furnish a complete list, I pass them over. 32

In September, 1842, Governor Hobson died; Mr. Shortland, the Colonial Secretary, assuming the reins of Government until a successor should be appointed.

With Governor Hobson, there was little fault to find. A straight-forward man, English to the back bone; blamed only for weakness, and this because he was powerless. A Governor on sufferance of the natives, thwarted also by a powerful company, always in a state of half-rebellion against the Crown, he effected nothing but the Treaty of Waitangi, and the founding of Auckland. The opinion formed by Governor FitzRoy, 33 a man superior to exalting himself at the expense of a predecessor, may be relied upon. He says: –

The illness and death of Governor Hobson no doubt increased the difficulties under which the country was then struggling. The designs which he was forming, and the local acquaintance that he had gained, perished almost unrecorded. He suffered severely from the distractions of his false position, and the treatment he received while struggling to make the best of adverse circumstances.

Although selected for his difficult task on account of his qualifications; although he had previously visited the Bay of Islands and Cook's Straits in command of H.M.S. "Rattlesnake," and had particularly distinguished himself by his conduct and gallantry in the West Indies, his representations of the real state of the country, true to the letter, were slighted, and his opinions, now proved sound, were bitterly assailed.

Words to the same effect, might be used in regard to Governor FitzRoy himself.

From Mrs. Williams' journal.

October 22, 1842. Mr. Whitehead, Bishop's chaplain, arrived from Sydney, in ill health.

November 11. Mr. Telford, from England, to take charge of the Church Mission Society's printing press.

December 6. Mr. Williams returned in his boat from Whangarei, having baptised sixty natives along the coast.

December 22. Mr. Christopher Davies arrived (and soon afterwards joined the Mission).

February 21, 1842. Melancholy news from Port Nicholson. Mr. Mason, our Missionary, drowned at Whanganui.

March 23. Mr. Whitehead's funeral, at Waimate.

April 7. Henry Williams accompanied Ngapuhi to the North, to endeavour to make peace.

This leads us to the disturbance of Oruru, of which so many contradictory accounts have been given.

By the Treaty, the pre-emptive right, interpreted as sole right of purchasing land from the natives, had been reserved to the Crown. This, destroying market value, implied in fairness an engagement by the Crown to give a reasonable price; such at least, as the old settlers who purchased before the establishment of a government had been used to pay. 34 But the Government had entered into competition with a land-trading company. They saw a source of revenue in what was commonly called the Government brokerage; that is to say, – the difference between the price paid to the native owners, and the price received from Europeans at the Government land sales. 35 Without considering that

this was in the nature of a tax levied exclusively upon the coloured population, they strove to make the most of it, taking advantage of the monopoly they had themselves created. Mr. Shortland instructed the land purchasers not to exceed the price of threepence per acre; the Middle Island was bought (I borrow Bishop Selwyn's words) at the rate of a mite an acre.

This passion for cheap land was taken advantage of by the natives. They proffered land with bad title, for any price the Government thought proper to give. The Government knew little about title, and cared less, expecting presently to have force at their disposal. And in this was the essential difference between the Government land transactions and those of the old settlers, before 1840. The latter knew that they could not hold by force; that, on the contrary, force would be employed against them, unless their title were complete; that they would never be suffered to occupy, until every possible claim had been satisfied. Consequently, intending purchasers were compelled to make themselves acquainted with native custom, with the nature of native claims to land, and, above all, with the right ownership. Every real claim, and possibly some doubtful ones, having been extinguished, the purchaser might take possession in perfect security. No native, in those days of Arcadian simplicity, ever repudiated a bargain.

The Government, on the other hand, being in a hurry, had no taste for long preliminaries, and wanted the land at less than its worth. The result was soon apparent. The Government was made a catspaw in native quarrels. A native would sell disputed land for a song, if the effect of sale would be to involve the rival claimant in a quarrel with the English. He would have the double satisfaction of revenge, and of relief from the obligation of being bound in honour to maintain a troublesome and uncertain right. This is the clue to most of the troubles about land. And it is now admitted, though long strenuously denied, that the purchases by the old settlers, where followed by occupation, have stood the test of time; while those by the Government, from Oruru down to Waitara, have involved a succession of disturbances, and sometimes the appeal to arms.

An unsound purchase of this nature, described in one of the "Reminiscences," is termed by Mr. Williams

HOBSON'S FIRST ERROR.

Captain Hobson had not been many months in the Bay before communication was opened with a chief at Kaitaia, the leading man of whom was Nopera Panakareao. This man came to pay a visit to the Governor at Okiato; Mr. Shortland and some others made a return visit to Kaitaia, the Mission station, where Nopera played the first part

While sailing along the coast, Nopera was asked, whose land is this abreast? Takou and the Karatu, he replied; "this is all mine." And whose is that, and that, and that in the far distance? to which the same answer was given, – "that is all mine." Mr. Shortland wisely concluded, from the extent of territory, that this man must be the greatest chief he had yet come across, and consequently swallowed all that Nopera had to say. A great display was made before Mr. Shortland and his party at Kaitaia in the shape of a feast, denoting the importance of this great chief, his power and dignity. Plates, knives, and forks, &c, were supplied from the Mission houses. After some two or three days, Mr. Shortland and party returned to the Bay, highly delighted, considering they had found the great man they required, and gave their report. Governor Hobson fell into the snare; he accompanied the great man, and made sundry purchases of land, in perfect secrecy, – alone; not before his own people, but when at Mangonui. There the Europeans met him at the house of Captain Butler, all being much pleased with his very affable manner. As the Governor was leaving, he took out some papers, which he requested Captain Butler to have put up in conspicuous places, and sailed off. As soon as they were examined, the table turned, and all were full of indignation. The papers were to give notice that all this land at Mangonui, Oruru, and other places, had been bought in the name of the Queen, and to prohibit all from cutting timber of any description. After some months, a large party of natives from Oruru, Hohepa, Porirua and others, came to me at Paihia, stating that the ground had been sold from under them by Panakareao, while they were asleep, and that they wanted me to take them to the Governor. I said I would take two, Hohepa and Porirua. We went accordingly, and saw the Governor. I asked his Excellency, if he had made the purchase of Oruru; he said he had made that purchase of Panakareao, including Mangonui. I mentioned my fear that there was some mistake; that I knew the places and the residents; that I had no idea that Panakareao had any claim to those places, and that I feared there would be fighting amongst the people.

When I had taken leave, he observed to the Maori Secretary, – "What business had Mr. Williams to interfere in this matter?" When told this, I determined to have nothing further to do with their errors; they might act as best they could. A few months after this, contending parties assembled at Oruru, and commenced fighting. Waka came to me, and asked me to accompany him to Oruru, to stop further proceedings. Remembering Governor Hobson's observation, I said that in olden times I should have been glad to do so; but that times were changed. This conversation took place at the Kerikeri. On my return to Paihia the following day, Wharerahi came to me, stating that Ngapuhi were going to Oruru, he wished me to accompany them. Considering this a more public request, I consented. The following day we were off; about fifteen canoes, I in my boat; we were three nights on the way. Early on the fourth day, we landed between the contending parties, who were fighting on the beach; several were killed and wounded; they separated shortly after our arrival.

In the afternoon, Whai, a chief related to both parties, and myself, with others, were deputed to Panakareao's party. Speeches were delivered during the whole night. At the first peep of day, the peace party were on the stir, and before noon all was quiet. Peace was established on the condition that Panakareao should relinquish all claim to that place, and that Government should deliver up the purchase deeds. These were accordingly conveyed to Oruru, and destroyed in the presence of the chiefs. This question has remained quiet ever since, Panakareao keeping the payment.

I do not know of a chief on his own authority disposing of land, without leading to a serious disturbance. In this instance, to avoid further complications, Governor Hobson had to cancel the deed of sale, sacrificing the money paid for the land. It is noteworthy that the Waitara war, involving such momentous consequences to the Colony, arose from a transaction of a similar nature, – Teira selling land to the Government on his own authority, without previous consent by the tribe.

The following is an extract from the Archdeacon's official report.

In April, 1843, I accompanied Ngapuhi, at their request, to Oruru, in consequence of a war which broke out in that quarter between Nopera Panakareao, a chief of the Rarawa, residing at Kaitaia, and certain parties of Ngapuhi, living at Oruru. The war had been occasioned by Nopera desiring to force Ngapuhi from that part of the country, where they had been residing peaceably for

about thirty years by right of conquest. It is much to be regretted that Nopera exhibited much obstinacy to the remonstrance of all his friends, and shewed a determination to carry his point at the hazard of his christian character. Several were killed on either side, and the country around became desolate, the crops being destroyed. The leading chiefs therefore of Ngapuhi felt that it was needful to bring these evils to a close, and stop further proceedings, by withdrawing their friends from Oruru, the land in dispute, and requiring that Nopera and his party should also retire from the same place, leaving it unoccupied. I was much pleased with the disposition shewn by the tribes from the Bay of Islands and Hokianga to obtain peace, though their advantage in point of numbers was very considerable. The killed and wounded were by them treated with every respect, and restored to their friends. It is to be feared that serious evil will result from this war to the whole of this part of the country, but more particularly to the Rarawa.

Mr. Williams' journal supplies details. But he does not tell us that in his endeavours to stop the fight, he was in the thick of it; under fire from both sides. 36 In his own accounts, he minimises his own work throughout.

Friday, March 31, 1843. Mr. Kemp mentioned that the chiefs wanted me to accompany them to Oruru. In the afternoon went over to Kororareka; saw a few of the natives. They were much changed in their behaviour, and spoke of my going to the North. In the evening Wharerahi came over to see me about proceeding with Ngapuhi.

April 1. Wharerahi and I went up to Otuihu to see Kawiti; he was not there. Saw Pomare; returned with the old man to Kororareka; saw the chiefs generally; concluded to move as soon as the weather appeared favourable.

April 5. At committee. Received message from Ngapuhi that they should move in the morning.

April 6. Fine; preparing for departure; no movement amongst the canoes. In the evening a message, – Ngapuhi to proceed in the morning. Edward Williams arrived in the evening. Heard that the Bishop had returned from Oruru, and was to proceed in the morning to Auckland, over land.

April 7. At daylight all in motion; canoes off early, with fine wind at South-East. At 8-30 took departure. Mr. Burrows came when off Tapeka, to deliver two letters for Kaitaia and Whangaroa. Over-took the canoes at Waihihi; remained about an hour. One of the Pikopo Priests in company. Continued our course, and landed at Matauri, where we met Captain Butler going to the Bay. All the Europeans had left Mangonui. Natives assembled at Oruru; whether peace or war, not known.

April 8. Fine; moved off at sunrise, Pikopo taking his seat in Rewa's canoe. Landed on a point, and cooked food. The canoes not in sight. After waiting two hours, went in quest of Ngapuhi; found them in a snug bay, secure for the morrow. Tents up, and all comfortable. Long korero with Rewa. Pikopo moving up and down keeping watch. In the evening, rang the bell for prayers; Pikopo did the same. Long conversation in the evening with several natives at the tent door.

Monday, April 10. Fine; at daylight all on the move. Took breakfast in the boat, having a fire with us. A fine breeze as we drew near Oruru. About ten observed considerable firing on the long sandy beach, and soon saw that the two parties were fighting. On our landing they separated, when we heard that the Rarawa had passed near to the pa of Ngapuhi in defiance, which brought on the conflict. We learnt that about ten of the Rarawa had fallen, besides wounded, and one killed of Ngapuhi. Much confusion for some hours, all talking together. In the afternoon, Whai and I were deputed to go to the Rarawa, and see if they were now disposed for peace. We had about an hour's walk to them. Mr. Clarke and Mr. Matthews came to meet us, followed by the whole party of the Rarawa fully armed, – a formidable body of about four hundred men. After the infernal dance, we proceeded to the kainga. Many speeches were made. Those of the Rarawa were not good. Mr. Clarke, Mr. Matthews, and I left them at a late hour for some refreshments, glad to be relieved from them for a short time.

April 11. Fine morning. Went early to the natives. Panakareao in a better humour, but obstinate. Papahia and Witi disposed to go to Ngapuhi. We accordingly proceeded – a goodly number. When we came in sight of the Ngapuhi pa, no flag was flying, at which our party demurred. A messenger was dispatched to them, when two white flags were hoisted, and the party moved

on. They were received most graciously. Many speeches were made on both sides. Some fine old men present.

April 12. All the natives talking through the night. Papahia and his party returned to the Rarawa, and all the Hokianga party returned home. Captain Butler and Mr. J. Busby called.

April 13. Fine. The camp more quiet, though but little sleep. At noon Mr. Puckey came to fetch me to Kaitaia, where we arrived by sunset; all well. Passed through several plantations destroyed by the parties passing to and fro, in consequence of the war.

Good Friday, April 14. Fine morning. Service at eleven o'clock; good congregation. Papahia's party returned to their place. Had conversation with several persons upon the evil of war. The church an important building, and neat.

Sunday, April 16. Fine. Three services, besides the baptism of six European children. Felt weary in the evening. Saw Panakareao, who was unwell, and low in spirits.

April 17. Wind N.W., and rain until eleven o'clock, when we prepared to take leave, as the weather cleared up; had a pleasant ride, and arrived at Ngapuhi camp by dusk. All were quiet, but anxious to learn the news from the Rarawa, which was given to them. They appeared to be satisfied.

April 18. Fine. Every one talking through the night, and much firing of guns. At the dawn of day the camp was set on fire, and all prepared to depart. A little after sunrise every one out of the river. We soon rounded the headland of the Bay on our way home, with a fair wind. We landed at Paihia at seven o'clock, after a pleasant voyage.

This unlucky land purchase led to further consequences, – to disaffection among settlers as well as among natives. The settlers had been long in the habit of purchasing, undisturbed, from the natives, kauri pine trees, for spars; at that period the chief article of export from New Zealand. On the 2nd July, 1841, Governor Hobson issued a proclamation, forbidding the cutting of timber on the lands supposed to have been acquired by the Government. But four months later, appeared a proclamation of a general, and more stringent nature. It shall be given in full, as a memorial of early times, and of the freaks of "new-born honour."

NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT GAZETTE,
Auckland, Wednesday, November 3, 1841.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, October 30, 1841.

Whereas all land purchased from the Natives in the Islands of New Zealand have become vested in, and are now the property of, the Crown.

And whereas by an Act of the Imperial Parliament, passed in the reign of his late Majesty King George the Fourth, it is enacted that if any person shall steal, or shall cut, break, root up, or otherwise destroy and damage, with intent to steal the whole, or any part of any tree, sapling or underwood, of a certain value, shall be guilty felony, and shall be liable on conviction to the punishment of transportation.

And whereas serious depredation has been committed in the forests of New Zealand, – and whereas her Majesty has been pleased to direct that effectual means should be taken for the preservation of Kauri Pine for the use of the British navy.

Now, his Excellency the Governor directs it to be notified that all persons found stealing, cutting, or destroying Kauri Pine, with intent to steal the same, within the Colony of New Zealand, will be prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law.

Now, it is hereby also notified that a reward of £5 (five pounds) will be given to any person who will give such information as shall lead to the conviction of any person or persons so offending.

By his Excellency's command,
WlLLOUGHBY SHORTLAND.

This Proclamation, says Mr. Williams, tended seriously to disturb and irritate the minds of all classes of the community, and Walker Nene particularly declared at Hokianga, a Kauri district, that, if the Governor were present, he would cut down a kauri tree before him, to see how he would act.

The proclamation was well meant, directed, seemingly, against the waste of timber, – the wealth of the Northern district. But it was made in ignorance of facts, and inopportune in time; the destruction of an industry. Timber was not then being wasted, but utilised. It was also private property, over which the Government had no right. It is true, however, that of late years Europeans are chargeable with much wanton destruction among the forests; to put an end to which, a Bill was introduced into the New Zealand Parliament of 1874, not a day too soon. Strange to

say, it met with bitter opposition, on the alleged ground that it abridged Provincial and Superintendental rights.

In a letter to Mr. Marsh, Mr. Williams mentions the amount of land awarded to his family by the Commissioners, under a scale prescribed by law; 7,010 acres, out of 11,000 purchased. This was the first award; twice altered at subsequent periods, to meet corresponding alterations in the Colonial Ordinances. The award was accepted without demur, though contrasting strongly with the liberality shewn in New South Wales, where the Colonial chaplains received, for each son, in free grant, 2,560 acres, and for each daughter, 1,280 acres. This, for Mr. Williams' family, would have amounted in all to 21,760 acres. The Church Mission Society had endeavoured, though without success, to get their New Zealand missionaries placed on the same footing with the chaplains in New South Wales.

Upon the question of land, the Bishop and Mr. Williams were, at this time, seemingly quite agreed.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, February 25, 1843.

You will be grieved to hear of the loss the Mission has had to sustain, lately. We had this week the news confirmed of the death of Mr. Mason, in Cook's Straits; drowned while attempting to cross a river. Mr. Hadfield was with him, and was nearly lost also, in the attempt to save his companion.

The quantity of land allowed by the Government is 7,010 acres. By a recent "Government Gazette," Sydney, there appear four portions of land to the daughters of clergymen, each portion 1,280 acres. This is a grant without purchase. Our land is less than half of this, though purchased by ourselves. The sum of money allowed by the Society, and paid by me for land, is £20. All the remainder is from my private funds. I am sorry they have not let this subject drop. The Bishop has entered freely upon all subjects connected with land, and every thing else. I am happy to say that in no case has our opinion differed; that is, He and I.

The Bishop's troubles were already gathering in; the first of them, as might have been expected, arising from the imperium in imperio. He had desired to establish himself on the Society's land

at Waimate; the Church Mission Society were determined that he should not get a footing there. It might be the cuckoo-egg in the hedgesparrow's nest. They foresaw what in diplomatic parlance are termed "complications," and resolved upon keeping clear. A very reasonable determination, if the two powers were to continue in rivalry; the mistake was, in perpetuating a system of double government. Mr. Williams, who did not understand two captains to one ship, gave his support to the Bishop. And this, even though the idea was already dawning on his mind, that the Bishop was fond of power, and not altogether perfect. But, as no man is perfect, he was not disappointed.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
April 18, 1844.

Our good Bishop does not appear at all pleased at the recent despatches received from the Church Mission Society. There are difficulties; and how they may be met, I cannot see. I have a great opinion of him as a Bishop. His views are clear, and judgment very correct, and I believe his heart is as thoroughly in his work as that of any Missionary. He labours night and day, and his kindness is parental and extreme. I have never yet seen his equal; one to whom I could cheerfully submit entire direction, were it considered needful. He is one who forms his judgment not upon hearsay, but by personal knowledge and acquaintance of things around. Yet, knowing that he is not a perfect man, I am not disappointed when I see that all is not perfect. I am thankful that hitherto the Bishop has not mentioned any thing at variance with my opinions, though there is no question he is fond of power; and, when once his mind is made up upon any question, I doubt the possibility of altering it.

My children, I rejoice to say, are getting on in their several departments. Edward has cares springing up around him. He is blessed with an excellent wife, and has a fine boy. The other boys work hard, and I trust will not require much more assistance from me. I have mentioned to you that they are about to put up a water mill, which will be of high importance, and prove a settled occupation for one to look after. The mill will prove a general benefit to this part of the country, as there are no mills yet, and all are afraid to put one up.

In December, 1843, Captain Fitzroy arrived, as Governor. At a most unfortunate time for himself; for discontent was seething among the natives, an outbreak imminent; no means of making

head against it; neither money or men wherewith to hold his own; not only the Company's settlers, but also those of the Government in angry mood, though from opposite motives. All was confusion; "a vigourous policy" was out of the question; there was nothing for it but to conciliate, if possible, and trust to the healing hand of time. An impotent demonstration of force would have lost the Colony. It may be said, that upon the whole Governor Fitzroy acted with prudence and judgment; and this at least is undeniable, that the worst of the trouble had been tided over, and that the country was fast recovering from its deep depression, before he left the Colony.

1844. Mr. Williams, having got clear, for a time, of Government business, was now able to give undivided attention once again to his own work. In January, he went upon a Northward tour, as far as Kaitaia. All seems to have gone on in ordinary routine till June, when, at the Bishop's request, he left his own district to take his brother's duty at Turanga; Archdeacon William Williams being wanted to take part in the revision of the New Testament. 37 The sending away "the peacemaker" was an error in judgment. His power over the native mind was not fully appreciated until it was missed. The flag-staff was cut down, for the first time, in his absence. The Bishop tried his hand at mediation; but, as might have been expected, the influence of a new-comer was null. The old men said that only Te Wiremu could set things straight again, though difficulties might have gone too far even for him. He came back from Turanga, but it was too late. The die was cast; the sense of respect towards the emblem of material power was broken through; the prestige was destroyed. In Maori view, Dagon, the fish-god from the sea, typical of England, had fallen. But even then, had Mr. Williams' advice been followed, had the Government acted at the first as they found themselves compelled to act at last, leaving the flag-staff where it lay, the war in the North might have been

averted. He warned the Government against setting it up again until they should have sufficient force to protect it; his advice was unheeded, and his prediction came to pass. 38

Shortly after his return from Turanga, Mr. Williams was desired to take charge, as Archdeacon, of the Northern District, disagreement between the Bishop and the Society having occurred.

The Bishop to the Reverend Henry Williams.
St. John's College, Waimate, September 20, 1844.

Rev. and dear Sir,
Since you left Paihia, communications have been received by various persons from Salisbury-square, which have made it necessary for me to retire from the Waimate, and fix my residence at Auckland. As this will withdraw me from the personal supervision of the Northern District, I have to request that you will assist me by acting as Archdeacon of the Waimate, including the district North of Wangarei in your Archdeaconry. Your long experience and great influence with the natives will give me the greatest confidence in delegating to you the charge of this portion of my diocese. Archdeacon Brown is to be installed, God willing, on Sunday next, the 22nd September, at which time I should wish you to be present for the same purpose, if you will oblige me by accepting my proposal.

I remain, reverend and dear Sir,
Your very faithful friend and brother,
G. A. NEW ZEALAND.

Some correspondence, ranging over the whole year, is put together, for the sake of convenience; after which we shall return to the causes of the war in the North. The first of these letters concerns that which was to him, in the circumstances of the Colony, a most serious consideration, – the future of his family. Government employment for them, speaking the native language like their own, was to be had for asking; but he had objections to it. He desired to see them their own masters. Besides, he was already a grandfather; it was evident that something more permanent and secure than a small salary, dependent on caprice, was required. The young men were doing well on their farm, earning a competency; but there was still the possibility of their improvements being

confiscated, and themselves ousted by the Government, at the bidding of the New Zealand Company. The confidence which is essential to progress had been destroyed.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, February 20, 1844.

There is no choice here for young men. I had an offer the other day for Henry to be a Protector, with a salary of £150, but I was so glad to have Edward free from the society of those he was amongst, that I declined the favour. Samuel will, I believe, join the Bishop's party at the Waimate, to see how study agrees with him. He is a steady, good lad. We are glad to hear of your spirited conduct relative to the erecting of a church at Southwell. Should I live so long, I hope to commence a church at Pakaraka in about four years' time, as my children may be in a state of multiplication so as to make it necessary. I could almost like to go there myself, and finish my days with them. I shall call upon my English friends for assistance towards my church.

The next letter makes reference to a matter which caused some soreness in after-time, – the endowment by Mr. Williams and his family of a church at Pakaraka, putting the endowment fund into trust, and reserving the presentation to the family. The Bishop, when his Church Constitution was being framed, spread his broad net for catching all church monies in one haul, subjecting the whole of the church expenditure to central controul, and was much vexed when he found the symmetry of his system marred by an outstanding endowment. The endowment remains private, to the present day; but when the church was rebuilt, in 1873, the liberal feeling of the Bishop's successor, in consenting to perform the re-opening service, was gratefully acknowledged.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Turanga, Poverty Bay, July 25, 1844.

We are looking out with some expectancy for the Bishop's charge, when we may learn more clearly his Lordship's views. As yet all has been very smooth and quiet; and the good man has gone to work with the strength of a giant in the discharge of true and faithful missionary work. He has laboured hard, and set us all a noble example. I may certainly say that he does the work of the best two Missionaries I have ever known. He richly earns the £600 per annum allowed by the Church Mission Society. I told him he must take better care of himself if he expects to last,

which is strictly the duty of a soldier, though to be always ready for any work to which he may be called to engage. I suppose that you, like myself, are getting on in years. We hear the snow is gathering around your brow. I exhibit some signs of frost myself, and by some am called an old man. I feel it needful to count my days. There are many younger in the field, who must continue the work which is begun. I did feel some time since a willingness to retire, but the arrival of the Bishop has done us much good, and given us fresh vigour. I hope he is no Puseyite; I believe he is not; time will shew, and may God continue to him grace and vigour for his important work . . .

I am happy to say, my boys are not afraid of work, and their farm is spoken of as the first in New Zealand. I saw the Governor (FitzRoy) when in Auckland, on my way down here; he was extremely gracious, and told me the children 39 should have nine thousand acres of land. 40 I trust all will now go on well. I hope, should I live, in four years from this to commence the erection of a stone church at Pakaraka, with the prospect of a clergyman being permanently established there. We are desirous of giving any quantity of land which may be required as an endowment, besides an annual sum. The Bishop will, if he please, give in proportion to what we contribute; but there is a question which has lately presented itself, – how far it should be given into the Bishop's hands. I should prefer its being the property of the Church Mission Society, freeing them from any expense, or, as in England, reserving the presentation in the family, or in trustees. I should like your opinion upon this, before I say anything further to the Bishop, as I do not wish to have a chance of a Puseyite man getting among my children and grandchildren.

In October, Archdeacon Williams was placed by Governor FitzRoy in communication with Sir Everard Home, commanding the "North Star." The friendship formed between these two excellent men was never abated. It was the more valuable to Archdeacon Williams, for that Sir Everard, having ample opportunity, had taken much pains to get at the real truth of all questions connected with the war.

Governor FitzRoy to Archdeacon Henry Williams.
October 22, 1844.

My dear Sir, – I have asked Sir Everard Home to call on you, and I beg that you will allow me to introduce him. A more discreet, right-minded man you will seldom meet.

I have told him that he cannot have better opinions or advice than your own, in respect of any New Zealand affairs.

I remain, my dear Sir,
Faithfully yours,
ROBERT FITZROY.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, November 30, 1844.

We are drawing near to the close of the year, and about to commence a new period of time. I returned from Turanga about two months since, and found a large party of Missionaries at the Waimate, preparing for their departure to their respective stations. I am sorry, very sorry on my arrival here, to learn the way in which the good Bishop had been treated by expulsion from the Waimate. How could this have taken place? Who could have given consent for such a movement? The whole settlement had been let by Mr. Kempthorne to the Bishop for seven years, with the store, for the no small sum of £400 a year, the Bishop undertaking to keep the premises in repair, which would be worth nearly £200 per annum in addition, besides a general improvement to the whole estate, as well as to this part of the country. The whole establishment was progressing in a masterly manner. The advancement of the native institution was very pleasing. The native boys the Bishop had taken with him. The girls' school remains at the Waimate, and, I hope, will be carried on with vigour. I am happy to say that in consequence of Mr. Kemp declining to take charge of this institution, my son Edward and his wife have come forward to try what they can do. They have a very pleasing assemblage of children; we hope to fetch up the number to a hundred, increasing to two hundred. It may seem singular to you in England, the effort required to assemble a hundred children, but so it is. They are a scanty few, and considerable reluctance has been shewn to their being brought by their parents and friends. But one very sad point in the native character is, that after every effort has been made for the improvement of their general state, after our being led to hope we have now accomplished a good work, down they fall like the barometer by a sudden change of wind. We have made many attempts to shew them the advantage of possessing cattle and sheep. The wool for wearing, oxen for cultivating their land, cows for the sake of milk for their little ones; but no; the putting up of fences is so much trouble in their estimation, that they prefer continuing their old indolent habits. I call their attention to the work of my own boys at their farm, at which they express approval, and say they are a brave set of lads, who know how to work; but that they have different ideas. The fact of the matter is, the natives have but few wants, and are too indolent to work

unless by fits and starts. They do not understand steady regular work. The Bishop, having the reins in his own hand, intends commencing on a broad scale, and possessing a great mind and great means, both in money and men, he will accomplish much. He will introduce amongst them every trade he may have at command. The girls' school will be at Waimate, where, amongst other accomplishments, they will learn to spin. Your godson Samuel is admitted as a student of St. John's College, Auckland. The Bishop is much pleased with him, and so am I. He is a good steady lad, of very correct principles. He has not cost me a shilling since he was off the Society's books, when he attained his fifteenth year, and bears his own expenses with the Bishop. This may appear rather paradoxical, how he paid his way and yet never received any assistance. The lad was very diligent, and, like Jacob, his cattle multiplied beyond all others; so also his crops. He has established his name; I trust he will keep it, and make a good and useful Missionary. The Bishop has laid violent hands on Leonard, 41 whom, when old enough, he will admit to holy orders. My daughter Marianne, with her husband and son, is about to remove to Tauranga, where they are to be stationed. In your last letter you notice the land question, and recommend a plain, clear, and correct statement. My friends here generally charge me with the fault of being too plain in my statements; I think my friend D. Coates cannot say but that I have been both clear and correct in this matter, which has long since, here, died a natural death. The Governor paid me a high compliment some time since, and stated that my young men were well deserving all the land they could possibly require. They have taken the lead amongst the settlers here, though the Colony is in a state of decay, and many are ruined. I am thankful to say that my boys appear quite content in the society of the Mission families, and with those also of the Bishop's party. Their credit stands high, having no debts nor anything to do with bills of exchange, the very bane of a new Colony. Henry and Thomas have excellent abilities, and are well advanced in their studies.

Henry Williams to Mrs. Heathcote.
Paihia, December 10, 1844.

We expect our hive again to swarm to-morrow, another clearout; six members of our family going to Auckland, and I am taking a run for a fortnight down the coast. We have been in high bustle, as ours is the only town in this parish; there is therefore plenty to do. Our dear child Marianne is now about to leave us for Tauranga, with her little lively boy. I have but a moment to say a word in which I must thank you for all your kind attention. I

wish I knew if you had been paid or not by our old friend, Dandeson Coates; but in January I will fund £50, and would send the whole, if I only knew how much. Your church account I am delighted with. It is a grand affair, and I wish you every consolation in your great work. But you must not be surprised at opposition, for it would not be a good work unless there were opposition. We have had it, and continue to have it, more or less; but how much more so those of old. You will be sorry to hear of the removal of the Bishop from this neighbourhood. We have felt it very much, but trust that all these things will work together for good.

I am about to forward a few pounds to the Protestant Association, and hope to be able to collect a good sum for them. The Pastoral Aid Society appear to claim our assistance. The world is in great commotion at this time; when shall we have universal peace? May you possess that peace the world knoweth not of.

THE WAR IN THE NORTH. – HEKE.

We now revert to the cause, or rather to the causes, of the war in the North, which have been so seriously misrepresented; partly through want of knowledge, partly with a view to effecting a sinister political purpose. The incidents shall be taken, not from blue books – the most unreliable of evidence; not from despatches, the value of which depends upon the credibility of the writer, but from the oral testimony of actors in the drama.

A distinction must be drawn, at the outset, between Heke's and Kawiti's war; 42 waged side by side, rather than in concert, as will presently be shewn, and prompted by essentially different motives.

We left Heke at Taipa, engaged in hostilities with Nopera Panakareao, coming off with advantage, and adding greatly to his fame. This quarrel being made up, through Missionary mediation, Heke, ever restless and turbulent, returned to his old ways, seeking pretexts for armed interference, to keep his followers in training; turning them out "to play," 43 to keep their hands in for aggression. He had constituted himself a Court of Inquisition: wherever he could hear of an offence, he would come down upon the offender with a taua, on the plea of administering justice.

But, under this, he nourished one consistent purpose – satisfaction of the grudge he bore the Government for the hanging of Maketu. His disturbance of the deliberations at Paihia has been already described; worsted upon that occasion, he watched every fresh chance as it arose.

Meanwhile he got himself into a quarrel with a cousin of his own – Kahakaha, a chief of Kaikohe. Many efforts were made by other chiefs towards the restoration of friendly feeling, but with out success. At length Ruhe, father of Maketu, re-appears upon the scene. Presenting himself to Heke, he broke into song, as with the authority of a prophet of old.

Kaore te Aroha
Mohukihuki ana;
Te panga mai ki ahau
Me he ahi e tahu.
Kei Hukanui 44 e Moka
Tenei ka tata mai.
Kei tohu mai, e Kiri 45
Kei te au ko te moe.
Kei te mata tu tonu
I te roa o te po.
Kai toropuku ai
Te aroha i ahau.
E kore ra e puakina
Kei rangona e te tini.
To putanga ki waho ra,
Ka tohu aku mata,
Nga parae ka takoto
Ki Tauwhare 46 ra ia.
Ko te ara tonu ia,
I whanatu ai koe.
Kia Urutomokia
Te whare o Rawhirawhi. 47

Kei riri e whae;
He nui para haere.
Mau ano te tinana,
Maku te ata;
O te tapara kau atu – e e e.

The song itself, couched in the mystical old Maori style, a series of dark sayings, covert allusions – the hieratic language of the country, would now be understood by few. Paraphrased, rather than translated, its meaning 48 is thus supplied by Edward Williams.

Oh, whence this overpowering love
That palpitates within my breast?
Did ever stronger passion move,
Or deeper thought disturb one's rest?
Ah, no! It burns within like fire,
A ceaseless preying on the mind.
How, then, can I restrain my ire,
Forget the past, and feel resigned?

Tho', Moka, 49 thou art far removed,
Unkenned on Hukanui's plains,
My love for thee has constant proved;
Devoted, true, it yet remains.
Thou fond attendant on my dreams,
I hold thy cherished mem'ry dear;
A conscious feeling, strange it seems,
Tells me that thou art ever near.

Ah! think not, Kiri, 50 that I sleep,
As one forgetful of the past;
Drear vigils night by night I keep,
My love for him shall ever last.
It feeds upon my heart; destroys
My peace, and weighs me low;
My every thought it thus employs,
For t'was to me a heavy blow.

I think not to obtain relief
By telling this to vulgar ears;
'Tis not for all to share my grief,
'Tis not for all to know my fears.
'Twas only when I saw thee armed,
"Tauwhare's" plains appeared to view,
Where deeds of valour, once performed,
Reverted to my mind anew.

I know thou art a warrior bold,
Rejoicing in the din of war;
Thy deeds, though left as yet half told,
Have struck the foe with direful awe.
I fain would link my fate to thine,
Enlist on " Rawhirawhi's" 51 side,
Whose star shall rise, and brightly shine,
Whose footsteps victory shall guide.

Quench not my zeal, oh long tried friend!
But tread the warpath stern and bold,
Nor fear mishap, nor doubt the end;
Men never wavered thus of old.
There's work of moment to be done,
For which I name thee principal;
My name avails to bear you on;
Then haste; at once obey the call.

Chanted by Ruhe, it acted as a spell; it had touched the right chord. Reconciliation at once took place; the dispute was merged in the more sacred duty of avenging their relative and countryman. Heke was to be principal, and strike the blow; Kahakaha 52 was to join him, openly; Ruhe 53 to lay by, giving his moral support.

The first question was how to get a take, – a sufficient cause of quarrel. A good pretext was soon found.

We now turn back to a parallel chain of events. Early in 1844, two American whalers had been seized for smuggling, and heavily

fined. 54 Barter with the whalers had been the chief trade of the natives of the Bay of Islands district. Mayhew, the Acting American Consul, told Pomare, his particular trading chief, that in consequence of these fines, the whalers would all leave port, and that he himself would take the earliest opportunity of leaving; 55 that the root of the evil was the flag-staff, flying the Queen's flag; that the country [whenua] was gone to the Queen, and that the natives were no longer their own masters, but slaves to the Queen. Pomare took this much to heart, and held consultation with Pukututu, 56 how the evils of the flag-staff might be stayed. They went to the Rawhiti to consult Ngapuhi, 57 – Rewa, Wharerahi, Moka, Whai, Kemara, and other chiefs. Rawhiti sympathised in feeling, but could not see their way clearly as to what should be done. The question was left open, but there seemed no danger of active opposition.

Haratua 58 now appears on the scene. He had been deputed by Heke, – the self-appointed administrator of Justice, to make a complimentary taua upon Kemara, on account of one of Kemara's wives, who had puremu-ed [been unfaithful]. When the customary muru and korero [stripping and high conclave] had been disposed of, Kemara commissioned Haratua to carry a message from himself to Heke, exhorting him to desist from petty depredation, and to turn his mind to the one great question – Te Hu's [Mayhew's] word to Pomare about the flag-staff, which alone was worthy of his weapon.

Heke, backed by Ruhe, and invited by Kemara, now saw his way more clear. One matter only remained for consideration, what sort of opposition, – feeble or determined, might be expected from the pakeha, the Government and the settlers. He had to feel

his way. With this intent he sought a pretext for a taua – a raid upon the white man.

It happened that a slave girl belonging to Heke, Kotiro by name, was living at Kororareka with a butcher named Lord. Heke, having a colourable right, determined to try the experiment of taking her away. A karere [messenger] was sent ahead, to announce the intention; Heke to follow with a troup of his young men. The message was delivered to the woman in the butcher's shop, where several fat hogs were hanging up. Kotiro answering contemptuously of their power to take her away, pointing to one of the hogs, said, ina a Heke [that is Heke]. (This, to a chief, is as gross an insult as could well be offered, – a tapatapa.) Upon the report being made, Heke forthwith came down upon Lord for payment. Satisfaction was refused: for several days Heke and his mob remained in the town, on the plea of persisting in the demand, but, in reality, feeling their way, trying the temper of the pakeha by bullying, swaggering in and out of the shops, and so forth. As matters were looking serious, the Mission were called in. By their advice, the matter was settled, the demand being "correct," according to Maori usage. But the delay had afforded time to the hostile natives to satisfy themselves that no serious resistance was to be apprehended; and the flag-staff was cut down, a first time, September 16, 1844. 59

Cut down; but not by Heke. Shortly after the taua upon Lord and Kotiro, Heke chanced to meet Archdeacon William Williams, for whom he entertained a strong personal regard. The Archdeacon brought his influence to bear, and Heke, who was soft-hearted to kind words, promised to return quietly to Kaikohe. But his followers, on their way back from the Rawhiti, having been satisfied that there was no hindrance in that quarter, landed at Tapeka, resolved to do the deed. Heke remained in his canoe, alleging that he had pledged his word to Archdeacon William Williams, and

would keep it. Whereupon Haratua jumped up, axe in hand, ran up the hill with a few followers, and cut the flag-staff down.

Governor FitzRoy obtained from Sydney a re-enforcement of two hundred soldiers. The intention was to march them into Kaikohe, and to seize Heke; but Walker Nene and other friendly chiefs interposed. A meeting was held at Waimate, Governor FitzRoy present. Walker pledged himself that, if the Governor would send the troops back, no harm should befall the Europeans, and urged consideration of the Customs grievance, which alone – and not animosity to the settlers, had caused the quarrel. The Governor, rightly estimating the value of Walker Nene's adhesion, complied with both requests. He sent back the troops, and declared the Bay a free port. The flag-staff was set up again, and suffered, for a while, to remain in peace.

KAWITI.

The "rising of Kawiti" is a distinct affair, beginning this wise. Some runaway sailors from the whaling fleet were supposed to be secreted in the house of Mr. B – , at Otuihu, who was living with Kohu, a sister of Hori Kingi Tahua, daughter of the celebrated chief, Whareumu. 60 The aid of the police was called in to retake them. A boat's-crew with police landed at Otuihu in the middle of the night, and forced their way into the house when the inmates were all asleep. A scuffle ensued, during which this woman accidentally received a slight wound in the finger, drawing blood. This act was considered by the chiefs as a kohuru [a "murderous attack without warning"]. Blood having been drawn, there was justifiable cause for demanding utu of the Government. On the following day, a party went to Russell, saw the Resident Magistrate, stated their grievance, and demanded in satisfaction a case of tobacco. The Government declined to acknowledge Maori law; but offered some dressing for the woman's hand. The natives remained the day, according to etiquette, this being a first demand, to be followed by two more successive demands, before any further step should

be taken by the aggrieved party. A second and a third demand were made, each day in terms more stringent. On the last occasion Tahua said to the Magistrate, "the next time you see me, you will accede to my terms." On their way home, they landed at Omata, Captain Wright's place, and seized eight or ten horses belonging to him. These were taken to Kawiti, as chief man, and thence distributed among the subsections of the tribe. The Government had now to act. Mr. Williams was consulted. He advised that utu ought to have been paid, the demand being in accordance with Maori custom, with which he himself had felt bound to comply on a former occasion. Mr. Williams, appointed mediator, succeeded in arranging that a horse 61 should be given, in payment for the blood drawn, and that the stolen horses should be restored. So the matter ended for the while. But the Maori had begun to find out the weakness of the pakeha. They had also tasted the sweets of plunder. Also the nightly koreros [talks] held over this affair, had influenced their minds, turning their thoughts to some united course of action, under Kawiti as leader. This put Heke, who had hitherto considered himself as entitled to that position, on his mettle. He was not going to allow the lead to be snatched out of his hand. 62 During the lull, Heke took the opportunity of pushing himself to the front again, and with his own people cut down the flag-staff.

Seeing how popular Kawiti had become through sanctioning plunder, Haratua headed a party, without Heke's sanction, and drove away Captain Hingstone's horses. Another horse-stealing party was headed by Ruku. For these there had been no provocation.

Thus there were two rival chiefs, each bent upon coming to issue with the pakeha, each deeming himself entitled to lead, and each endeavouring to outstrip the other. Heke was already at the head of a party of armed men, encamped at the Ti. He declared against the flag-staff only, disavowing all intention of molesting the settlers. Kawiti's object was to drive the settlers out of the place, giving a loose to plunder. Heke carried with him, at least in sympathy, the greater part of Ngapuhi, the more honourable of the tribes. With Kawiti were the less scrupulous. Moreover, Heke had a personal dislike to Kawiti; consequently there was long a difficulty in effecting amalgamation, which only came at last through the exigencies of war. Heke and Kawiti joined camps at Te Uruti, near Kororareka; Heke to attack the flag-staff, Kawiti to attack the town.

For the fourth time, the flag-staff was cut down; 63 it lay where it fell, until raised again, of his own accord, by Kawiti's son, Marsh Brown, in January, 1858, under Governor Browne. 64

Such was the origin of the war in the North, set forth at greater length than can be allowed for the war itself, to which incidental allusions only will be made. For this is a memoir, and not a history. But the details which have been given are strictly pertinent to the subject, affecting the main question with which we shall be presently concerned, – whether disparaging statements, put forth by authority, about the cause of the war, were TRUE or FALSE.

Another of Archdeacon Williams' "Reminiscences" supplies particulars of the police affray at Otuihu.

THE NIGHT ATTACK OF THE POLICE AT KAWAKAWA.

This event brought to issue the irritation of the natives. The police boat, with the sergeant of police and four men, was ordered to the Kawakawa to apprehend an European, residing by the side of

the river, though not in the pa. The boat arrived some time after dark, the natives say midnight, that is, some time after they had fallen asleep. The police were armed with swords, and forced open the door of the pakeha's house. Kohu, sister of Hori Kingi Tahua, son of Whareumu and mokopuna [grandchild] of Kawiti, was in the house with some other women; they were alarmed at seeing some armed white men, the light of the fire shewing their swords, and attempted to rush out of the house. In the scuffle, the finger of Hori Kingi's sister was cut, drawing blood, which, though never so little, is by Maori law a serious aggravation of offence. Not finding the man they were seeking, the police returned to Kororareka. The natives in the pa, so soon as they heard of the affair, were very indignant, denouncing the transaction as a kohuru, coming without notice and in the night, and declared that, had they been aware, they would have fired on the boat. These people had been always on the most friendly terms with the Europeans.

The following day, Hori Kingi, with a party of men, came to the Resident Magistrate at Kororareka for redress, on account of the assault. The Magistrate treated the subject with great indifference, said they had better put a piece of rag on the cut finger; it would soon get well. Kingi demanded compensation for the assault; on being refused, he left in anger, saying that he should call again the next day.

On the morrow Hori Kingi returned with a strong party; some rough language was used, but with no better success. After long discussion, Kingi observed, this is my second demand for compensation for the assault on my sister by the police; I shall call once more, when you will attend to my demand.

On the following day Kingi came again with a large party, armed. The magistrate now became alarmed; so also were the inhabitants of Kororareka. He came over to Paihia for advice: I said that as there had been undoubtedly an assault on the part of the police, the more quietly it was settled the better. I mentioned a circumstance which had occurred at Pakaraka, in the killing of a pig, for which a colt worth £10 had been given, the European being in the wrong. The magistrate was perplexed and displeased, but there was no alternative, and a colt was given to the worth of £10, though with bad grace. This circumstance rankled in the minds of the people, who were already only too well disposed to combine. Heke, before unwilling, now resolved to make common cause with Kawiti. From this date all was excitement throughout the district, and a second attack upon the flag-staff was the result.

The narration of events is now interrupted by correspondence, introduced by way of comment.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
January 24, 1845.

In our work we are sorely beset and hindered. For some time past there has been a general laxity amongst our Christian natives, a resuming of the old dances and songs which we have seriously censured, warning them of the awful consequence of grieving the Spirit of the Lord. You will not therefore be surprised at hearing that the whole country is in commotion. Though we are of no party, we also, I presume, shall be involved in the general confusion. I have long seen the anomalous position of the Governor, – a name with no power. This served very well for a time; but the natives soon found the weakness of the English, and the consequence is that now they have set the Governor at open defiance. A party of fifty men and boys have cut down the signal-staff three times. All the tribes are under arms, some for the Government and some against. Troops are sent for with all the implements of war. As we stand between the two, I expect we shall have no favour from either. The Governor has more than once called upon the chiefs to take up his cause. There is much excuse to be made for Heke and those with him. There are many Europeans and Americans who have poisoned their minds with stories of other days, impressing them with the idea that their country was gone, and they themselves sold for slaves. Heke has been represented as a patriot, until he really believes himself to be such. I am glad that the Bishop and his party are off the ground, as he was grossly insulted by Heke and his impudent fellows. Samuel has taken his departure for the college, and will be admitted to orders in due time. My son-in-law, Christopher Davies, with his family, is at Tauranga, and has a large native school. Edward and his wife are at the Waimate, where they have charge of the native girls' school . . . It is astonishing to see Heke, how close he keeps to his Testament and Prayer Book. I am disposed to think he considers he is doing a good work, as, previous to his attack on the flag-staff, he asked a blessing on his proceedings; and after he had completed his mischief, he returned thanks for having strength for his work. But these are minor matters. You have your excitements, and in no small measure. It needs must that offences come. Some have expressed astonishment that persons who have been baptised, and who have been admitted to the Lord's Supper, should thus act. I remind them of their own country and people. This suffices for our own countrymen. In speaking to the natives, I call their attention to that enmity first spoken of as being placed between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman; that the word of God is true and undisturbed, and man alone is false. With those natives in immediate connection with myself, I am obliged to be severe;

many consider me too much so; but I do not understand indifferent Christianity, indolent, filthy Christianity. I feel it necessary to prohibit all old customs; their dances, singing, and and tatu-ing, their general domestic disorders. In Auckland, the Europeans are fond of assembling large parties for the purpose of exhibiting their horrible dances, &c. Of course this has a most serious immoral effect upon their conduct as a christian people. I hope confidence may be again restored, though I fear several must be severely chastened and brought low. The poor Governor is sadly perplexed; he has neither power nor money; his credit is lost, and now taxes are levied to give some assistance, but there are only few who have any means of meeting these evils, the majority having nothing to pay with; so that between the natives on one side, taking what liberties they like, and the laws and regulations as to taxes on the other, the settlers are in a sad and fearful situation. I keep my boys as quiet as I can, but they do not feel quite comfortable, hearing much that is said, but not knowing to what extent these matters may be carried.

Governor Fitzroy trusted the Mission from the first, and was not afraid to shew it. Towards Archdeacon Williams, his feeling was of personal friendship. He never lost an opportunity, either as Governor, or afterwards, as a private gentleman in England, of vindicating the Mission from aspersion.

Governor FitzRoy to Archdeacon Henry Williams.
Government House, Auckland, February 18, 1845.

My dear Sir, – I consider that this country and Great Britain owe you deep gratitude for your untiring efforts to put mistaken people into the right track. I am in doubt whether you have had more difficulty with the natives than with our own misguided countrymen.

The Colonial Secretary and Mr. Beckham have expressed themselves warmly on these subjects, and have told me how much has depended on yourself alone. I was individually well aware of this, but it gratified me to read their written testimony.

I am anxious to pursue such a course as will not let down our authority and influence, while it will not tend to irritate a wounded place.

Time is necessary for full explanations, and gradual restoration of good feeling. I purpose acting on the defensive only for the present, in hopes that it may not become necessary to take ulterior measures.

I send you Lord Stanley's original dispatches (in reference to the resolutions of seven members of the House of Commons), and the Parliamentary Report. 65 Pray return them at your convenience.

May the Almighty direct our humble efforts through His Son.
I remain, faithfully yours,
ROBERT FITZROY.

P.S. – Pray make any use you please of the enclosed papers, only taking care that I receive them again safely in the course of a month.

In a letter to the Bishop, the Archdeacon calls attention to the anomalous position of the Mission, – between two parties, exposed to suspicion from either side.

Henry Williams to the Bishop of New Zealand.
February 20, 1845.

My Lord, – I was much gratified to receive your very kind letter of the 12th instant on my return from Mangakahia, and hasten to reply to it. I hope your Lordship will be enabled to call at the Bay, previously to your long absence in the Straits, more particularly as our position becomes very critical, standing, as we do, between such conflicting passions. The position we formerly occupied was wholly confined to natives; we appear now to be called to a new and foreign course of proceeding; new certainly for clerical men, who must of necessity fall under the displeasure of all

in turn. I have had a singular battle to fight, for I know not what other term to use, and, as a matter of course, have been accused as aiding and abetting these turbulent feelings, – well nigh cut down for having taken the part I did, relative to the Treaty, in 1840; the natives having been perpetually told that I had betrayed them in that act. I was compelled therefore to fall back upon the Treaty, and by explaining and distributing several copies amongst the chiefs, maintained my ground and the honor of the Queen, all acknowledging that the terms of the Treaty were good and honest. But for the timely distribution of the Treaty, I hesitate not to say that the native population to a man would have been in arms, and the question of possession might have been settled for a time by the extermination of all the Europeans in this part of the Island, leaving, as in the melancholy affair of Cabul, others at some future day to exact utu. Feeling, as I did, that the terms of the Treaty were a sacred compact between the British Government and the chiefs of New Zealand, I was enabled to speak with confidence as to the integrity and honour of England, – that it was impossible that the Queen or the Governor could admit of any tinihanga [tricky nonsense] towards them.

Your Lordship will be able to form some idea as to my feelings on reading last night that triumphant document, the "New Zealand Journal" for August 3rd, 1844. I was certainly overwhelmed with shame and confusion, considering we were betrayed and ruined, and our cause in New Zealand lost. This morning I was thankful to receive a packet from His Excellency the Governor, which set my mind at rest again upon this serious and important subject. To the Lord be all the praise.

Since the Treaty has been more particularly explained, I am happy to say that a large body of the natives disapprove of Heke's conduct, and say they will not join him, though they must not be expected to act against him. The Kawakawa natives have told me they shall come to this place on the first indication of mischief. Heke is expected at the Wahapu on Monday or Tuesday next, by invitation from certain Europeans. What this may lead to, we cannot surmise, but are not without our fears.

Considering, however, our political state, I am satisfied that good order may be established here as in any other country, yet not without means; but I must not enlarge on the subject. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual. I believe that all these unhappy events shall work together for the good of the people and the glory of God, if we seek His glory, and the good of His people, in deed and in truth.

THE SACKING OF KORORAREKA.

The town of Kororareka 66 is built upon a strip of beach, less than a mile in length, closed in at the south end by a hill rising from Mataawi Bay, and at the north end by the flag-staff hill. In rear of the town is swampy ground, and the Oneroa beach: in a military point of view, it may be treated as an island, secure from attack, unless with the use of boats or canoes. On the flag-staff hill was built the upper block-house, defending the flag-staff. Halfway down the hill was the lower block-house, built by the people of the place, and therefore placed under command of a civilian; on the flat was Mr. Polack's house, temporarily converted into a stockade. At the opposite end of the town, on the Mataawi hill, a picket was placed. At anchor, in front of the beach, lay the shipping.

This short description should suffice to render intelligible a brief account of the contest. 67

On the evening of the 10th [March, 1845], Archdeacon Williams informed the police magistrate that the natives intended to make their attack on the morrow, in four divisions. On the same evening, Mr. Gilbert Mair, a justice of the peace, arrived from the Wahapu, bearing the intelligence that the attack was to be next morning, at dawn of day, in four or five divisions. Captain Robertson, commander of H.M.S. "Hazard," when told that the town might be taken, said, "They shall pass over my body first." And they did. It is an error to suppose that there was any surprise: all, soldiers, sailors, and civilians, were at their places on the morrow, though a few had passed the night in riot.

On the 11th, in the first grey of the morning, according to Maori usage, the attack was made, in three divisions, the combined force amounting to about six hundred. Heke, true to his principles, confined his attention to the flag-staff, which passed through

the centre of the block-house roof. 68 He lay in ambush the greater part of the night, so close to the pathway up the hill, that his people could have caught Ensign Campbell by the leg, as he returned, late at night, to his post. 69 But that might have betrayed his where-abouts.

Kawiti, with Ngatihine, accompanied by Pumuka, 70 at the head of Roroa; also, by certain Southerners, – Ngatikahununu, led by Kuhukuhu, advanced from Mataawi bay, about two hundred strong. Near the church-yard fence, he was met by Captain Robertson, leading about fifty sailors and marines of the "Hazard," who charged in the most gallant manner, and cut their way through. A hand to hand fight, lasting nearly half an hour, then ensued. Captain Robertson's sword, 71 long after spoken of with admiration by the natives, doing much execution. At last he fell, in advance of his men, hit by four bullets. His fall was not at first perceived; his men passed him, driving before them the enemy, who fled over the hills, not to return again during the day. Pumuka had been killed; also two other chiefs, Hirawanu and Kereopa. The blue-jackets did not pursue them far, and on their return missed their commander. After a while, one of them saw the waving of a white handkerchief, which guided them to the

spot. The assailants had "passed over his body;" but it was in full retreat. Thence his men made their way to the stockade.

When the firing at the church-yard was heard, the occupants of the flag-staff block-house began to come out, walking along the ranges to learn what was going on below, at the opposite end. Heke, knowing the number of the guard, told them off, one by one, until but four were left inside. He made a rush; the sentinel fired and killed his man, and was himself instantly shot; the door was burst in, and the remnant of the garrison killed. 72 The unarmed soldiers, outside, made their way to the lower blockhouse.

Heke, having cut down the flag-staff, had accomplished all that he intended, and contented himself with looking on at the fight immediately below. This was the attack by the third division, – Kapotai, led by their chief Kapotai, and Ngatiwai, led by Tawatawa, in rear of the town, round about the stockade, and the lower block-house. On our side there was no order, no concerted action. It was hard to say who was in command; but Mr. Hector, a civilian, fought the battle, behaving throughout with remarkable coolness and determination. He was in command of the lower block-house, built by the inhabitants, halfway down the hill.

The engagement continued until about 10 1/2 a.m., when the natives, who could not take the block-house or stockade, and were annoyed by Hector's long gun, got tired of fighting with no result, and retired to Oneroa. 73 About this time, Heke hoisted a white flag, under which to send down the two women found in the upper block-house. The flag remained unnoticed; but he sent them, nevertheless, by his own brother, telling him not to return till he had seen them safe with the pakeha.

The firing had ceased; the town was still in our possession; there had indeed been no intention of taking it. For the natives had no quarrel with the settlers. The attack upon the town was meant only as a diversion, to hinder the several forces from concentrating in defence of the flag-staff. The staff was down, and, according to Maori ideas, there was an end of the affray. They had given checkmate, and the game was over. 74

And now comes in the crowning error of the day. It had been a chapter of Accidents throughout; but such a portentous blunder as now took place, can be accounted for in only one way. Captain Robertson being disabled, Lieutenant Philpotts took command of the "Hazard." He ordered the settlers to take refuge on board the shipping, as he was about to fire on the town. The settlers had no choice but to obey, and embarked accordingly; some of them trying to save a few goods from the undefended stores. Then might be seen, to the surprise of those unacquainted with the Maori way of thought, the ci-devant assailants helping the settlers to carry their valuables down to the boats, in high glee and good humour. For the Maori, save in cases of deadly feud, bears little malice. He fights more for the fun of the thing than out of animosity. He will shoot at you one moment, and fraternise in the next, or discourse with his enemy in true Homeric style. The surrender of the town was to them a mystification. They had never asked it, or fought for it. In their first bewilderment, they even refrained from pillage; though that feeling of delicacy soon disappeared under the influence of unlimited grog, to be had for the taking.

All this time the Bishop and the Archdeacon, equally regardless of danger, 75 had been caring for the wounded, and doing such offices as in them lay. 76 The Archdeacon had been grossly insulted

by Lieutenant Philpotts, who called him "traitor," to his face. Being informed, to his amazement, that the town was to be evacuated, he took charge of the government papers, and placed them in safe keeping. 77 The wounded were got on board.

Presently the guns of the "Hazard" began to blaze away upon the houses and merchandise, – upon friend and foe alike. Of confusion there had been enough before; it was now complete.

While this firing was going on, the Archdeacon made his way to the upper block-house, from which, with the assistance of the taua [the attacking party], he brought down the bodies of the soldiers, that of the half-caste child, and the officer's sword, conveying all to the "Hazard." Passing up the sword, he said, in his own dry way, – "Here is something that one of you gentlemen has left behind him." He then returned for the Bishop, whom he brought to the wounded commander. While he was waiting alongside, the language used towards him from the deck of the "Hazard" was gross and violent. He had to sheer off, the life of friendly natives in his boat being in danger.

This day, the natives in possession behaved tolerably well; but the Lieutenant's mad prank was repeated on the following day, firing on the town while some of the townspeople, by permission of the natives, were trying to recover what little they could. 78 All was now past redemption; the natives were exasperated; moreover, the drinking had begun. Six Europeans were killed that night; it is supposed, however, that they were rival marauders. The more sober of the natives loaded their canoes to the water's edge with pillage, and coolly poled them away under the guns of the "Hazard," which

were not depressed enough to hit them. The church, indeed, seemed to be the favourite target. It certainly received most shot. Towards evening, the town took fire, or was fired. About fifty of the refugees slept that night at Paihia.

In order to connect the history with the Memoir, Mrs. Williams' notes of events are subjoined.

January 6, 1845. Henry went on a three days visit amongst the natives. One object was, to see Waikato and Tareha, about the utu of Hone Heke, who is again stirring up the natives to evil.

January 9. Hone Heke and his party, to eat twenty pots of stir-about, and to say that the stolen property was carried back to Mr. Busby's.

January 10. Hori [George] came to tell us that the flag-staff was cut down. Henry went off to Kororareka. Met Heke returning. Quite dispirited with the prospect of affairs.

January 11. A message from Heke, desiring Henry to go with him to Paroa to make peace. Word sent back to say that Heke must first set up the flag-staff.

January 12. Native sacrament. Heke came to church with his party, behaving well. They did not attempt to stay the sacrament. Rewa sent a letter to Henry, urging him to keep Heke from going to Paroa till the Governor should arrive.

January 13. Henry went to see Heke. In the evening Mr. Kemp told us of the reports at Kororareka that Heke was going to attack the Police Office; also of the reports among the natives that Te Wiremu had told Heke to cut down the flag-staff, – as preposterous as any former ones. Henry resolved to pass the night in Heke's camp at Haruru, to watch proceedings, and quiet the minds of the pakeha. I had to quiet the dreadful fright of Mrs. Stanley at the school.

January 16. Henry returned after dinner. He had seen Rewa, and sifted Heke's abominable conduct. The man had stolen into the company of Rewa and other chiefs; had sat up all night to talk, telling them that Te Wiremu, Parata [Williams the brother – Archdeacon William Williams], and the Bishop had told him to cut down the flag-staff. Henry was enabled to undo much mischief, and left a copy of the Treaty behind. We heard Heke's guns, both at Kororareka and at the Wahapu, where Henry met Pomare, in whose honour the American flag was flying.

January 17. We could see many canoes at the Wahapu: Henry went over. A vessel came in; thirty soldiers, a young commander, and the Colonial Secretary. The Kawakawa large canoe, "The King," at the Wahapu. These are anxious times.

Henry excited and troubled to see the English flag up again before they have strength to keep it without bloodshed and defeat.

January 18. The Colonial Secretary (Dr. Sinclair) and Mr. Beckham called, staying long in conversation with Henry.

January 19. A canoe from Kororareka, with the news that Heke had again cut down the flag-staff last night. He had strengthened his force, now numbering two hundred. The flagstaff, in consequence of Henry's remonstrance, was in the charge of natives; not of soldiers, as had been at first intended; so there was no blood-shed.

January 22. Captain Hingstone bringing boxes, &c, to Paihia for safety.

January 24. Mr. Beckham called, on his way to the Wahapu, to order down the American flag.

January 25. A mob of Hokianga natives on their return from a visit to Ruku,79 after an ineffectual attempt to persuade him to return the stolen horses. Ruku said that he would bury his teeth in the pakeha.

January 28. Henry went to Paroa, Rewa and Tamati Waka having requested him to meet the Whangaroa mob there.

January 31. My husband's boat seen sailing gaily in. He had had a successful, though fatiguing and anxious conversation – quite a struggle with the two hundred Whangaroa natives; but got them to give up joining Heke, and go back quietly.

February 15. A man-of-war, H.M.S. "Hazard," with a blockhouse for the flag-staff.

February 25. Mrs. Brown told us of the danger the "Hazard" had been in, (the Bishop on board,) off the East Cape. Orders were given to cut away the masts, but she righted. Seven guns were thrown overboard. 80

February 26. Captain Wright brought a box, containing money and papers, to be taken care of. They had been warned to flee; spent the night in packing, and were going to Kororareka.

Mention of certain transactions between disaffected Europeans and the insurgent natives is designedly omitted, as inexpedient to revive. It is enough to say that the latter found no difficulty in purchasing ammunition and other warlike stores.

March 2. U.S. man-of-war "St. Louis" arrived.

March 3. Hostilities commenced between the English and the Maori. A man-of-war's boat pulled up the river and fired upon a party of Kawiti's people, who had burnt Ben Turner's wheat-

stacks, and stolen his horses. The boat was too late, the horses having been swum across.

March 4. Our son Henry went to Manawaora, to offer help to the Clendons, if needed. They packed up their goods and embarked for Paihia, which they reached on the following day. Archdeacon Henry went to see Heke, by invitation, at Hauotapiri. In the evening we heard that Haratua's party had stripped Captain Hingstone. This caused much alarm. My husband sent to the "St. Louis" to solicit help. We were engaged in packing up all night.

March 5. The children were dressed before dawn. At daylight Henry went to meet Heke's war party. He returned, bringing back Heke's hatchet, given to him as an assurance of friendly intentions. Heke arrived, and danced the war dance in front of Paihia.

March 6. A visit from the Captain of the "St. Louis;" my husband interpreted for him to Heke. The natives had been led to understand that the Americans would send a man-of-war to help them, and present them with an American flag. They could not understand the captain's familiarity with the Archdeacon.

The Wrights and Hingstones arrived at Paihia, as refugees.

March 7. Heke and his party on the move to join Kawiti, from whom, up to this time, they had kept aloof, Kawiti being bent on plunder and bloodshed, while Heke had only one object, to cut down the flag-staff. Heke called at Paihia before breakfast. Henry tried to dissuade him from going, telling him that he would be killed. Heke seemed very undecided; he went and returned several times. At length he decided upon joining Kawiti, but before he went he gave the Archdeacon his gold-laced cap to tangi [cry] over, in the event of his being killed.

Henry, hearing the Kororareka people were short of meat, sent a bullock from his sons as a present. Firing this day.

March 8. The Archdeacon took Mr. Beckham to Heke's camp, to see if peace could be made, one having been killed on each side. The natives told Mr. Beckham not to come again; and that had he not been in company with Te Wiremu they would have killed him.

Sunday, March 9. Archdeacon Brown went to hold service in Heke's camp, at the Urutii.

March 10. A note of invitation from Mrs. Selwyn; the girls to go either to her or to Turanga. All preparation; their boxes sent on board. The natives gave out this day that the battle was to be next morning. My husband went across, to inform Mr. Beckham.

March 11. Slept little last night, thinking of my daughters about to leave me. 81 At the first dawn of day, heard the report of a

gun, and then another, supposed at first to be from the men-of-war at daylight. Then a volley; we all jumped up, and in the dark grey dawn, saw the quick successive flashes of muskets in the town. It appeared to be a close and heavy conflict. The natives of the settlement crowded round us. The flag-staff appeared to shake; it fell; oh, how the natives shouted. The great guns now rolled and reverberated through the hills; heavy firing from the lower block-house, the "Hazard," and the "Victoria." Henry and Mr. Brown went off to the Bishop on board his vessel, the "Flying Fish." An awful suspense; we walked the verandah and the beach in the hot sun; all restless and anxious. Still some firing: Canoes landed. Report the first said that the natives were broken and driven back; Pumuka and two of Kawiti's sons killed; the flag-staff shot down by the man-of-war. Another canoe landed; all crowded to hear report number two. This was to the opposite effect; the man-of-war crowded with dead and wounded. At last the dreadful certainty came. The boat landed; the block-house and flag-staff in the hands of the natives, the captain of the man-of-war mortally wounded; the woman and child at the signal station prisoners; the town to be evacuated. Many chiefs on the other side killed. Then the conflagration; the stockade blown up, with the ammunition and all the valuable property of the inhabitants. The women and children crowded the decks of the ships. The Bishop landed; we dined, and sent dinner and clothes on board the "Flying Fish" (the Bishop's vessel), where Mrs. Pringle and children, Mrs. Hector and children, and Mrs. Potter and children, were all huddled, without any comforts. The Bishop sat down to dinner with us. We put the soup into a jug to send on board, also the bullock's cheek, and dined upon the heart. Mr. and Mrs. Dudley an agreable addition to our party.

This afternoon Henry went to try to get Mrs. Tapper and her children, but found that the natives, having hoisted the white flag, had already sent them down. He went to the block-house, brought down the bodies of four soldiers and of a little half-caste girl; also the officer's sword, and took them to the man-of-war. The Bishop had buried six soldiers, two sailors, and two marines. Orders given, after evacuating the town, to blow it up. I was in distress for Thomas, who had been sent to assist Captain Clendon in getting things out of Hodgson's store. Henry received so much insolence along side the "Hazard," where he was waiting for the Bishop, that he had to leave.

March 12. Henry started, with John and Thomas, before daylight, to try to save some goods from Hodgson and Weston's store. Two houses were on fire in Kororareka before breakfast. The mad Lieutenant, Mr. Philpotts, fired into the town while Thomas was on the top of the hill, trying to save some of the Dudleys' things; they lost everything. We afterwards heard that six white men were killed in cold blood during the night. We had breakfast and dinner together; a long table for the sufferers. Mr. Hanley came over to us; his misfortunes made us friendly; he had lost everything. We had to bake twice during the day. The wide-spread body of flames at Kororareka on a still day, – a black cloud resting over her, very grand. Five soldiers and the little girl buried at Paihia. The Bishop, Mr. Dudley, and Archdeacon Brown, all forgot to toll the bell. The house crowded at night.

March 13. The Bishop, from Waimate, was in the house at daylight. All bustle and embarkation. My great trial was to determine about my girls, whether to go or to stay, – to see my duty clear. The natives were consulted, and pupuri-ed [i.e., urged that they should remain], saying much to the Bishop to that effect. Mrs. Brown was carried on board the American man-of-war. A general exodus. Five vessels sailed. The Hectors and others went with the Bishop in the "Flying Fish." The Dudleys and others in the American man-of-war. Three hundred in Captain Bliss' whaler, which came in on the day of the battle. An honest Englishman.

It has been a melancholy, trying day. The tide has swept over us, and we remain in the hands of our gracious Lord to preserve and keep us. My sons rejoice to find their sisters left to them, and to hear the piano once more. We had music and singing in peace, – a family enjoyment in the midst of alarms. A number of friendly natives gathering round to protect us.

March 17. Heke paid my husband a first visit after the battle, trying to persuade him to move inland.

The Archdeacon's correspondence concerning these events will not now require any further comment or explanation.

Archdeacon Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, March 12, 1845, 2 o'clock, a.m.

I know not whether you will be prepared for the present disasters of this country by any previous accounts, but at present we are in a most critical state, which has been gradually growing upon us during the last year, and now appears to have arrived at its crisis. You have heard of the flag-staff disputed by a chief of the name of Heke, which commenced about ten months since. Upon that

occasion about two hundred troops were sent for; but, upon a compromise on the part of the well disposed chiefs, the matter was made up, and the troops were sent back to New South Wales. I was from home at this time. It has always seemed to me a mystery, how the Government could attempt to form a colony here without a military force corresponding with that which might possibly be brought in opposition. This did not seem to occupy much of the attention of the Governor and those around him. I gave my opinion of the state of feeling amongst the people, and certainly went out of my proper path in suggesting the only proper course of proceeding, – the adoption of such means as are used elsewhere for the preservation of order. But the malady was not seen by those at the helm of affairs, consequently the remedy not used. The evil increased, and it was left as a trifling circumstance until the day before yesterday, when it was determined beyond a doubt. The staff in question was merely a signal-staff, to give notice of the approach of vessels; but this had been pointed out to the natives as an evidence or mark of the country having been seized, – literally so; and of themselves being slaves, liable to be taken at any time at the will of the Queen or Governor, and ordered to any menial work. This feeling was generally suppressed by the aid of the Missionaries, previous to the felling of the late flag-staff. It had been cut down three times by Heke, he stating at the same time that, as often as it should be put up, he should serve it the same way. When the second staff was put up, thirty soldiers were sent to protect it. Against this I remonstrated strongly. It was again cut down in two days: the troops having been withdrawn, did not suffer; the staff fell, and there was an end of that. The late staff was prepared with a blockhouse for its protection; and, finally, the whole military guard consisted of fifty soldiers and about eighty sailors from a sloop of war. Twenty of the military force were to remain within the block-house. Upon this point being attended to, depended the issue of the day. The citizens of Kororareka were turned out for the protection of their property. Heke commenced to assemble his noisy party about a month since, and has carried on his plans in a steady way.

On the 16th instant, firing was observed before daylight in the town, which continued for some time, when, to the consternation of all the English, the flag-staff was again laid prostrate. This could not be comprehended, as no firing had been noticed in that direction. It appeared, however, that the guard had left their charge, not noticing a party of natives laying in ambush, who, watching their opportunity, made a rush upon the block-house, and at their leisure accomplished their purpose. This catastrophe was followed by a second, equally fatal to the Government cause. The magazine on shore had been put in charge of a person who knew not the care required in such a, charge. The powder was placed in

27 "Two Kings of Brentford, smelling at one nosegay." Was it likely that the Bishop should think it consistent with his duty to content himself with "advice and co-operation." There was an occasion when the two Roman Consuls, unable to co-operate, deemed it advisable, in a war that involved the very existence of the Republic, each to assume the command on alternate days; a solution of difficulty that was not very favourable to continuity of military design.

28 The following reminiscence of old times is extracted from a printed letter, written by one who signs himself "A Lay-member of Synod."

When I arrived in the Colony, some nine and twenty years ago, I found that Bishop Selwyn had been by acclamation voted a Puseyite. Not having much belief in popular acclamation, I was pertinacious in asking, why? "What is Puseyism?" said I. – "Could not exactly say." – "Have you read the ninety tracts?" – No." – "Do you know the difference between Puseyism and Newmanism?" – "No." – -"Then why do you call Bishop Selwyn a Puseyite?" – "Well; he has got a cross on the top of his tent!"

But even I lapsed into error. The Bishop had a little bald spot on the top of his head, so round and so sharply defined that I mistook it for an embryo tonsure. I kept the thought to myself, not wishing to encourage the smellers-out of Puseyism; but some while after, at the College, I heard mention made of the Bishop's increasing baldness. "Baldness!" said I, taken by surprise; "why, I thought it was a tonsure." And right well laughed at was I, as I deserved to be.
Auckland Church Gazette, November, 1874.

29 Using the word, of course, in its literal, not in its secondary, or technical acceptation.

30 The natives stood fast by what they had been used to. They knew little of episcopacy; but were always ready to welcome a new comer, if under Mission auspices. The Bishop had to explain to them the specialty of his position, although, at the first, with small success. I cannot resist, though as stout a "Church and King" man as could be wished, giving Pene Taui's story of what took place at Ohaeawai. The Bishop, being minded to call round, and make himself acquainted with the people, went to Ohaeawai. There he was announced, in the old Maori style, by a herald, or crier, and welcomed with a shout of haere mai. Introduced to the whare runanga [meeting or reception house], the people gathering in behind, he found himself in presence of Terenga Motukorea, a very old chief, looked up to as an oracle, or rather seer, by his tribe. All etiquette was observed on both sides. The visitor shakes hands with the leading men, and is shewn to a seat. Silence for some time ensues. At last the tangata whenua [man of the soil] breaks the spell, exclaiming to the people, Ko Pihopa [The Bishop].

A pause; after which he addresses himself to the visitor: – Pihopa, tena-ra-ko-koe; [you Bishop, how do you do]. This is an invitation to the visitor to address the assembly. The Bishop at once responds. He rises, and taking up the words of the tangata whenua, replies, ae, ekoro, – "yes, my son, the Bishop; here I am, sent out by the Queen as Bishop both to Pakeha and to Maori." The old man, catching at the word, interposes, "ae, ae, – what? the Bishop, sent by the Queen! When the Missionaries came, they said, 'here we stand, sent forth by the Lord, under the command 'go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel unto every creature.'" Then, turning himself to the people, – "mark me: the Bishop has some soldiers at his back," [he hoia tana kei muri i a Pihopa].

The prediction, unfortunately for the Bishop's influence, was verified. Not long after that saying, the soldiers came.

Te Renga was neither priest or prophet; but a Matakite. The word "seer," – Samuel the seer, Gad the seer, Hanani the seer [Greek] [BLEPON, ORON, LXX,] has been adopted as coming nearest to his supposed gift of second sight. Somewhat the same distinction seems to obtain among the Maori as formerly among the Jews, though it be not quite invariable in either case, – Vide I Sam. ix, 9.

To the seers, further reference shall presently be made.

31 I am not quite sure of the date of Mr. Stack's removal from Tauranga, and Mr. Baker's from Waikari. It was about this time.

32 The following summary of the Mission is from the Forty-first Report of the Society. The date is of two years back; but, meanwhile, the numbers had been steadily on the increase, which increase continued until the war in the North.

Stations ..................... 16
Communicants .................. 584
Attendants on Public Worship ........... 29,320
Schools .................... 149
Scholars –
Boys......... ......... 67
Girls.................. 833
Sexes not distinguished.........4,485
Youths and adults............1,851
[Total Scholars] – – – – - 7,236

33 It cannot be said of Governor FitzRoy, that "his natural aliment was predecessors." Rabelais tells us "comment Gargantua mangea trois pelerins en salade."

34 We hear much of estates bought for a blanket, or a hatchet. In fact, very substantial prices were given; as was proved upon enquiry. "This is one of the most curious features in the story of the claims. It appears that payments to the value of upwards of ninety-five thousand pounds were made by Europeans for the purchase of land. Yet this sum, though it includes all that can be ascertained with tolerable certainty, by no means represents the whole amount that was paid away."
(Mr. Commissioner Bell's Report, July, 1862.)

35 The Government plea was that the difference was returned through native schools and other advantages. A small part of the difference would be a more correct statement. But, for the plea to have any value at all, this difference should have been appropriated and secured by law. Had the Government been in earnest, this would have been done.

36 The coolness under fire of a clerk in holy orders was matter of surprise to those who did not know that he had been used to it in another service. He was sometimes thought to be bullet proof, through magic or witchcraft. Of this, the following story of the old times is an example. Ngapuhi were engaged in a raid upon Ngatiawa at Tauranga, at Otumoetae. Mr. Williams had gone down with Ngapuhi, to offer what hindrance he could – as a drag upon the wheel. He was in the habit of passing from one party to the other – for the most part in his boat. A suspicion arose in the minds of Ngatiawa that his boatmen were acting as spies, and they determined to put a stop to the visits. Waka Iwi ensconced himself with a gun, waiting the approach of the boat. The first shot he fired passed close. The boatmen were for pulling back again in haste, but Mr. Williams would not have it. "In the King's service," said he, "no one turns back. We are now in the service of the King of Kings. Pull ahead." Waka Iwi fired a second shot, and a third; still without effect. Some of his tribe then interfered, counselling him to leave off. "Do you not know," they said, "that this man is an atua [a man of supernatural power]. If you go on, he will take up and cast back your bullets against us; we shall all be killed.

37 Working in company with Mr. Maunsell, Mr. Hamlin, and Mr, Puckey; considered to be the best Maori linguists.

38 The affair was settled by Governor FitzRoy, who proclaimed the Bay of Islands a free port, whereupon the troubles ceased, for a while. This is an additional proof that Heke's war was only to the flagstaff.

39 Eleven in number.

40 Appendix A. Commissioner's report.

41 Son to Archdeacon William Williams.

42 Kawiti, of Ngatihine, residence, Waiomio, on the Kawakawa river.

43 "Let the young men now arise and play before us;" i.e., let them fight as though it were by way of play." – Samuel ii, 14.

44 Hukanui, – probably a line taken from some still older song. The native explanation, doubtfully given, is that some great battle was fought at Hukanui, where a chief named Moka was killed. The allusion would at once be understood by Heke, though not by the commonalty.

45 Kiri – an appeal to Kiri, some noted warrior of olden time, {then in the position in which Heke was now,) to avenge the death of Moka.

46 Tauwhare, – apparently a battle field, on which Moka's death was avenged by Kiri.

47 Rawhirawhi. Either another name for Kiri, or the name of some warrior who had joined Kiri.

48 The difference between the hidden meaning and the apparent meaning is great. The paraphrase is more true to the original than a literal version would be.

The impression made by this song was such that it is still retained in memory. Thirty years after the event, it was taken down, from oral recitation, for the purpose of mention in this Memoir.

49 Referring in this instance to Maketu. The precise nature of the original allusion is lost among the natives.

50 Meaning Hone Heke.

51 Again meaning Hone Heke.

52 Kahakaha joined Heke at the commencement of the war, remaining with him until he was killed, on the same day that Heke was wounded in the attack upon Walker Nene's forces between Ohaeawai and Te Ahuahu, on the 4th April, 1845.

53 Ruhe had in the first instance consented to the arrest of Maketu.

54 The "General Jackson," Ramsdell, master; fine £100. The "Nile," Cook, master; fine, £300.

55 He did leave, April 21, 1844.

56 Of Uriongonga, Kawakawa.

57 There is unavoidable confusion, to all but residents, in speaking of Ngapuhi, broken into different hapus. The Rawhiti people were tino Ngapuhi, – Ngapuhi of Ngapuhi.

58 Of Ngatikawa; related both to Heke and to Kemara.

59 The flag-staff was cut down four times –
September 16, 1844,
January 10, 1845,
January 19, 1845,
March 11, 1845. Fall of Kororareka.

60 Whareumu, killed at Hokianga. Vide vol. I, p. 67.

61 A horse was at that time supposed to represent £10. Foundered or spavined, all was one, he was still a horse, current coin of the realm. This calls to mind the play upon words in the Agamemnon, [Greek] –
BOUS EPI GLOSSI MEGAS
BEBIKE –
A similar idea is conveyed by the etymology of "Pecunia" and of "Capital."

62 Ngatihine were Kawiti's particular tribe; connected with him were Roroa, Ngarehauata, Kapotai, Ngatitu, Parawhau, of Whangarei, Ngatitoki, of Mangakahia, and Ngatiwai, of Whangaruru, Heke's people were Ngapuhi proper.

63 By Tapara, a native of the East Indies. This man had settled among the natives, taking a Maori wife. It was he who drew the lines of the fortified pas, the scientific tracing of which caused so much surprise. He died twelve months ago at Te Ngaere.

64 In this the natives who had been our allies were not allowed to take part, in order to enhance the compliment.

65 The influence of the New Zealand Company in Parliament was now increasing fast, though it did not reach its zenith until Lord Grey became Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Parliamentary Report alluded to appears to be the report of that Select Committee of the House of Commons, which declared, by a majority of one, the Treaty of Waitangi to be "one of a series of injudicious proceedings." The best of the three sets of resolutions, shewing the best feeling, and the completest knowledge of the subject, were those moved by Mr. Hope, and negatived; the next best, those by Mr. Cardwell; by much the worst, those that were finally agreed to. The proceedings of that Committee, read by the light of subsequently acquired knowledge, open our eyes as to the real worth of such a tribunal. The writer, who has sat on more select committees than any man in this Colony, probably more than twice as many, unhesitatingly records his opinion, that such is the worst tribunal, for matters of opinion, that was ever formed. Unsworn, irresponsible, inbued with party feeling, and (the word is used in no offensive sense) more or less packed, i.e., selected for a purpose. The proper function of a Select Committee is to take evidence which cannot be taken, for want of time, at the bar of the House, and to report that evidence. It is to the House, what a chapel of ease is to a church. True, its opinions can be reversed by the House; but that imposes fresh labour on the House, and a fresh debate. Practically, the opinions of select committees remain for the most part unquestioned.

66 The official name is Russell. It is not easy to keep clear of confusion, in writing for strangers. There is a vitality about native names hardly to be overcome. Nearly all are picturesque; all have, or once had, a meaning. Whether their abrogation, in favour of the names of Secretaries of State, or of other high officials, be in good taste, must remain a question.

67 Of this the leading features only are mentioned. In Appendix B, some interesting details are supplied.

68 It may be mentioned, as an instance of thoughtlessness, that the entrance to the block-house was placed, not on the town side, so as to overlook, but on the opposite side; giving the garrison a fine view of the sea, and of the open country.

69 This is upon Heke's own authority. He also stated that he directed his men to cut down kahikatoa bushes, under cover of which they crept out from their ambush. He said that he took the idea of ambush from Joshua, at the taking of Ai. He knew more of Joshua than of Macbeth, otherwise he might have remembered how Birnam wood came up to high Dunsinane hill. Blame was imputed to the Mission for having put the Old Testament into the hands of the Maories.

70 Place of abode, Karetu.

71 The corner-post of the church-yard fence, – the position contended for by both parties, was standing for years after, bearing the notches of that sword. Pumuka was killed by Captain Robertson, who was thus entitled to the spolia opima. A Ngatikahununu, whose head was split open by him, is still alive. He made a slash at Kawiti, who told the story himself, and would have killed him, but for a henchman's parry by a long-handled tomahawk. The force of the blow was such, that the handle was cut from the steel. I have heard say that the weapon was an Eastern scymetar.

72 The wife and daughter of the signalman, Thomas Tapper, (an old Copenhagen man,) with a half-caste child, nearly related to Walker Nene, were in the block-house. The child was shot, but not intentionally. It has been said that it was tomahawked. But that would have been, in Maori estimation, a kohuru [a murder]. Tapper himself was severely wounded while working Hector's gun, at the lower block-house.

73 Not, as has been said, because of Heke's flag of truce. The two parties were independent.

74 Heke said that the town was given him by miracle; that he never took it.

75 For instance, – Te Harawira, with two others, put their muskets to the Archdeacon's breast, upon his endeavouring to save a whale-boat taken by them from an Englishman and his wife. He was to be seen brushing the Maories to the right and left with his umbrella, to make way for himself.

76 The Bishop buried some of the fallen, with hurried ceremony, because of the announcement that the guns of the "Hazard" were about to open on the town.

77 This was about an hour before the stockade blew up, through smoking of pipes among kegs of powder. This mishap brought the native assailants back again.

78 Thomas Williams, the Archdeacon's fourth son, saving what he could at the parsonage, was endeavouring to get from a native marauder some of Mrs. Dudley's trinkets, when a round shot came tearing through the house. Now then, said the native, we shall kill the Europeans. Failing in his purpose, Mr. Williams left the house. At the foot of the hill he saw a native rolling a cask of spirits before him. "Ka pai te waipiro? ["is the brandy good?"] said he; receiving in answer a blow across the back from a hani that determined him to refrain in future from asking inconvenient questions.

79 Of Roroa; place of abode, Karetu.

80 A small clinker-built vessel, called the "Hydra," built on the lines of a Deal boat, went dancing merrily by the "Hazard" in the gale.

81 One of the numerous charges against the Archdeacon had been, that he told the authorities that there would be no fight on the Tuesday; but that, knowing the contrary, he had taken the precaution of sending his girls to Auckland. Although their trunks were already on board, he kept them at home. He told the magistrate at Kororareka that there would be no fight on the Monday; and there was none.

[Pages 101-150]

a cellar, where much of the property of the town had been deposited. This person was observed to be in the magazine with a pipe, which, falling on the floor, determined the fate of the day and of this part of the island, – at least for a long period. In the course of the afternoon, every one was withdrawn from the town to the ships and vessels, leaving all in the possession of the natives, who immediately commenced to plunder, within half a mile of the sloop of war. The Bishop, who had come up from Auckland the previous day, landed at Kororareka with myself, to collect the dead and bury them. Yesterday, the work of plunder was going on; in the evening, most of the houses were set on fire; and it is said that, to-day, should not the sloop of war remove out of the way, the natives will fire upon her with the great gun, left by the troops on shore. You will readily conclude that we are in great confusion, besides being in imminent risk of being turned out of our homes, after a period of more than twenty years.

10 o'clock, a.m. All bustle; refugees turning out for Auckland. The natives in connection with us oppose my sending my daughters away. The time is very trying; I trust we are acting correctly, but there is no doubt there will be a wide-spread rise. I hope, however, to collect materials for the erection of a church to the honour of God. I mean to remain, and see the last. My poor boys will in all probability be adrift, as they may lose all; but we have this satisfaction, that the "Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge." Our heavenly Father has protected us, and will continue to do so.

Mr. Williams' apprehensions for his sons were not groundless; for, though they suffered nothing from "the regulars," they were pillaged by some stray marauders, notwithstanding orders from insurgent chiefs that they were not to be molested.

The violent language which Lieutenant Philpotts, of the "Hazard," permitted himself to use, may be contrasted with the confidence shewn in Archdeacon Williams by Sir Everard Home and the Governor.

Her Majesty's Ship "North Star,"
Bay of Islands, March 31, 1845.

My dear Sir, – I think it as well to remind you that, the weather here being so uncertain, no moment should be lost. Whilst it is fine and practicable, I beg that you will be so kind as to inform me of the present position and prospects of the Missionaries, for the information of his Excellency the. Governor, to whom I shall be able, I hope, to write in a day or two by a vessel, the "Albert," which is now on her way to the Bay of Islands for that purpose. I

shall also wish to inform his Excellency of the steps about to be taken for the safety of the families now at the Bay. I extract a paragraph from a letter which I have received from his Excellency, expressing his views and wishes to me; it is as follows: –

"It will eventually become necessary to exclude all merchant vessels from the Bay of Islands, and blockade the port. With such a prospect, probably the Missionaries will deem it advisable to quit their stations; but of this the zealous and loyal Archdeacon Henry Williams will be the best judge. In effecting a blockade, it will be quite practicable to keep open a communication with the friendly natives and the Mission."

I send the blue lights, and remain,
My dear Sir, faithfully yours,
EVERARD HOME.

P.S. – How many men are expected to be attacked; or rather, how many will Heke have against him?

Archdeacon Williams to Sir Everard Home.
March 31, 1845.

In reply to your communication of this morning, I beg to assure you that no time shall be lost in expediting the movements of those persons who may wish to avail themselves of your kind offer to remove them to Auckland. I have heard this evening from the Waimate, and am informed that, on receiving my notice of an opportunity for their removal to Auckland, they proceeded to make preparations for a departure, when Heke with his army rushed upon them and brought all to a stand, it being imprudent to remove either persons or property. Waka with his people (four hundred) returned to Hokianga, on the western coast, before the gale. Heke has with him four hundred, and was joined by a party of three hundred from Whangaroa, under Ururoa, – generally well disposed natives, desiring peace. The Waimate natives consisted of only one hundred and fifty; much fiery language was used on both sides, but no blows struck.

With regard to our position and prospects, I consider that the male portion of the Mission will stand their ground to the last extremity. Our wives we shall leave to their own judgment, as wives of Missionaries, who stand as mothers to the native female population. For our daughters we are concerned that they should have a refuge, and beg to express our thanks for your kindness in offering them a passage to Auckland.

Of the prospects of the Mission, I can only say that they are exceedingly gloomy, every portion of the district having been thrown out of place by this present convulsion, which renders it

more needful that every man amongst us should be at his station, and close at his work.

I hope to hear the determination of the families this evening.

Archdeacon Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, April 18, 1845.

I have written several letters to you and Mr. Coates, by way of America, New South Wales, and direct to England, respecting the affairs of the last two months; I hope, therefore, you will receive some accounts upon which you may place dependance. The loss of the flag-staff, with the loss of Kororareka, has been a serious blow to the Colony; but, so far as we are concerned, a more serious blow to the Mission. When we may recover, I cannot surmise. Since the fatal and disastrous events of the 11th instant, all the Europeans have cleared out of this part of the island, leaving the Mission families nearly as they were some years since. We have been under serious apprehensions, as far as relates to property and our settlements, though not as regards our persons. Several of the daughters of the Mission families have been removed to Auckland, and we are preparing for a more extensive remove, should it be required, which is not unlikely, on the arrival of troops. We have to a considerable degree recovered ourselves from the first effects, which were indeed very serious. Yet, all is perfectly unsettled. Our infant school, which had commenced at the Waimate, has greatly fallen away. Many of the children have been taken away, and the remnant of the school has been brought down to this place, with a hope that we may be able to keep them together until better times.

Since the British force was driven away from Kororareka, a chief named Tamati Waka has taken up the cause on behalf of the Government. He has assembled a large party, and brought the rebels to a stand. Several of these have been killed and wounded; Waka has lost but few. Of course, these movements seriously affect us in every respect. Our Mission is in a sad position: not merely brought to an absolute stand, but turned bottom up. We sit in great uncertainty, holding on by the wreck. There seems a strong wish in some to bring false accusations against us, as an excuse for their own ill conduct. There are others who act in the reverse, and thus preserve the balance. My young men will suffer much in this sad war, as they are in the midst of the contending parties, and have had a large muster quartered upon them, devouring their produce. I could indeed wish they were in a settled country, under a steady government. It is sadly disheartening for them to labour, as they have done, with no prospect of security. Poor lads, they do not know the blessings of a government. I could wish they were in Van Dieman's Land or New South Wales;

yet there, their morals would be more exposed than their persons and property are in this country. What will be said to all this in England? Where will they place the blame? Or is there blame in any? I care not where it is, so that we could proceed on in our work. I am happy to hear that the southern parts of the island are quiet; they may remain so, if these people be kept in order.

April 26. I must close my dispatch, as a vessel is to sail in the morning. I am sorry I have nothing of an improving character to add. I received a letter this morning from Heke, the chief of the deluded party; it is full of kindness to me and all my tamarikis [children]. He is in sad difficulties, and I do not see how he will extricate himself, in consequence of the extent of the damage which has been committed on all sides to the settlers. But we do business here in a very different way to what used to be done in olden days in England. This very serious affair has been made extensively more serious by the neglect of duty and extreme folly of those to whose care this service was entrusted. As you may see in the English papers my name as traitor in the overthrow of our first city, you will like to see my notice of the charge to the Governor, with his reply, which I have forwarded to Mr. Coates; he will furnish you with a copy. Some are of opinion that I ought to have had "Toby" [Philpotts] into Court. I am content to leave him where he is, possessing as I do the full approbation of the Bishop and the Governor on the question. Abuse and vile slander appear to be our portion. I hope you all will endure it as well as we do. To me it appears a matter of course that thus it must be, so I toss it to the winds. These things do not trouble me, but I cannot say the same when I see the state of the natives. How greatly fallen away. I am thankful to say that Marianne is well supported. Many have proposed her moving to Auckland with the remainder of the girls; however, it is her wish to keep at work as long as the natives will allow her to do so, as the settlement appears to hang together by her being in her place. The sick and infirm apply to her, and get their wants attended to. We have plenty of duty, which keeps the minds in full exercise; but the worst is yet to come when the troops shall be brought into action. We may then have to clear out the house, though it is my intention to remain on the ground as long as I can possibly do so. We have been protected many years, and, I feel confident, shall be so still. It is a comfort to know that our duties here are not of a temporal nature, but for the spiritual health of this people. Our hearts have often been cheered; I trust it will yet be so, and that these poor people will yet be restored to their right minds, and to the favour of their God.

The confidence placed in the Archdeacon is shewn by another request for counsel.

Sir Everard Home to Archdeacon Williams.
"North Star," Bay of Islands, May 24, 1845.

May I ask you to be so kind as to give me your opinion of the present state and immediate prospects of New Zealand.

Archdeacon Williams to Sir Everard Home.
May 24, 1845.

In reply to your note of this morning, requesting my opinion of "the present state and immediate prospects of New Zealand," I consider that the eyes of all the native population are directed to the issue of this present war, and that upon this depends the quietness of the whole country. It was the general opinion amongst themselves that Heke would prevail, until Waka came forward and brought Heke and his people to a stand still. There is no doubt, in my opinion, that this movement of Waka's has been the preservation of Auckland and every other place of any importance in New Zealand.

The "immediate prospects," therefore, of New Zealand depend upon the manner in which this war shall be conducted. I have just received Heke's reply to the terms proposed to him, a copy of which I forward to you, by which you will perceive that he has no disposition to accede to them. I presume, therefore, that nothing short of vigorous measures will satisfy him. It is my further opinion, that peace and good order will not then be preserved, unless a strong military force be stationed in the Bay for that purpose.

For reasons not worth mentioning, the behaviour of Major Bridge was distant and cavalier; but this did not hinder the Archdeacon from supplying him with all needful information.

Archdeacon Williams to Major Bridge.
May 24, 1845.

Heke's letter has just arrived for the Governor; it is not satisfactory. He expresses his willingness either for peace or war, as the Governor may desire. This same letter I forward to your care. In writing to Waka it may be advisable to mention the names of the other chiefs with him to prevent jealousy; they are Te Taonui, Mohi Tawhai, Otene, Repa, &c. I hope, also, an epistle will be forwarded to Heke, giving him to understand what he may expect,

Of the charge of treason, which was presently to assume more formidable dimensions, there will be more to say. As yet, it was merely an annoyance. The Archdeacon put it into the hands of Governor FitzRoy, and received in answer a generous expression of confidence.

Auckland, April 2, 1845.

Sir, – I have the honour of acknowledging the receipt of your letter, dated Paihia, March 20, which reached me yesterday. I am so much accustomed to hear and read such strange perversions of fact, and such unfounded attacks upon even the best characters in the community, that they usually pass unnoticed; but this is a startling charge.

Had you not distinctly referred to the extraordinary language used by Lieutenant Philpotts of Her Majesty's ship "Hazard," I should not have alluded to it, in writing to yourself, so deeply must you be, as I am, pained that such expressions, such imputations with reference to yourself should have emanated from any one, however ill informed, hasty, or excited.

To accuse Archdeacon Henry Williams – the tried, the proved, the loyal, the indefatigable, of being a "traitor," of having acted "traitorously," seemed to me so utterly absurd, to say the very least, that such an idea could not be entertained by me for one moment. I rejected it with feelings similar to those of Sir Everard Home, who before this has, I trust, fully relieved your mind from every scruple on this subject.

I might refer to the Bishop's clear account of all that he witnessed, (frequently in company with yourself,) on the fatal eleventh of March; to the statement of Archdeacon Brown, who was also present, and to others; but your well known character requires no testimony.

The conduct of some of the "Hazard's" crew towards yourself personally, and to natives in your boat, has grieved me very seriously.

Irritated and mortified as that ship's company may have been, at the events of such a disastrous day, those men were nevertheless inexcusable.

At the return of Sir Everard Home, the senior naval officer, I shall consult with him as to the proper steps to be taken with respect to the officers and crew of Her Majesty's ship "Hazard."

I beg you to rest assured that no active measures will be authorised by me that may compromise the friendly natives.

In conclusion, I need hardly say that the charge made against yourself by Lieutenant Philpotts is, in my opinion, as unfounded, unjustifiable, and ungrateful, as it is indeed absurd.

I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient humble servant,
ROBERT FITZROY.

N.B. Archdeacon Williams will have the goodness to make this letter "confidential" as far as he thinks proper.

ROBERT FITZROY.

MAWHE.

After the affair of Kororareka, Heke retired inland to Mawhe, where desultory fighting took place between his force and that of Walker Nene, in position at Okaihau. 82 Colonel Hulme, having

arrived from Auckland with troops, landed them at Otuihu, Pomare's place, intending to follow Kawiti to Waiomio. Archdeacon Williams, who had gone on board the "North Star," was taken into council. He urged the danger of advancing between Kawiti's tribes and Pomare's, through a most rugged and difficult country, with which the European guides appeared to be very imperfectly acquainted. The natives present on board had chalked out lines, which were assumed to be roads, or tracks. The Archdeacon, upon examination, pronounced them to be, not roads, but

rivers; observing, "you may get there; but you will never get back." Sir Everard Home sad, – "Colonel, you are going you know not where; you had better re-embark your men." Colonel Hulme, who was every inch a soldier, was not deterred by false pride from taking seasonable advice, and gave the order accordingly.

Colonel Hulme's next expedition was against Heke's pa, at Mawhe, 83 near the Omapere lake. Owing to a combination of misfortunes, the attack was unsuccessful. The rain had poured in torrents during a long and difficult march; the supplies had been spoiled, much of the powder damaged, and the rocket battery, the fame of which had spread far and wide among the natives, was a failure. The first rocket was watched with anxiety; it was a miss, passing high. "Tshee! is that all?" said Heke's people, re-assured. But all the dogs rushed forth from the pa, scouring any way across the country. The troops fell in with Kawiti outside, generally said to have been lying in ambush. The two parties appear to have met unawares; Kawiti's people being first seen in the fern by Hone Ropiha [John Hobbs]. 84 There was hard fighting in the open; Kawiti under the feet of the soldiers in a charge; one of his sons killed; another wounded; Ruku, the horse-stealer, killed. 85 Our men behaved well, but the pa was not taken. The troops were finally withdrawn.

OHAEAWAI.

After the engagement at Mawhe, there was a lull. The troops returned to quarters; the pa, in accordance with native custom, was abandoned, blood having been spilt there. For commissariat reasons, which military men will understand, the rebel natives spread their forces, the principal chiefs retiring upon their several kaingas, but still so as to be able to concentrate on occasion: Pene Taui to Ohaeawai, Kawiti towards Waiomio, Heke to Kaikohe. But Heke committed the error (against the advice of Pene Taui) of attacking Walker, who had advanced to Pukenui. With four hundred men, he attacked about one hundred and fifty of Walker's party, taking them also by surprise; but was beaten back with loss. Kahakaha was killed, Haratua 86 was shot through the lungs, Heke was wounded, and never shewed to the front in fight again. He. lost mana, and Pene Taui rose in estimation.

When the troops returned, this time under Colonel Despard, of the 99th, they were directed against Ohaeawai. According to preconcerted arrangement, the rebel forces concentrated, throwing themselves into Pene Taui's pa. The attempt to breach, maintained for a week, was ineffectual. On the 1st July, a sally was made from the pa, which resulted in the temporary occupation of the knoll on which Walker had encamped, and the capture of Walker's colours, the Union Jack. The position was gallantly recovered by a party of the 58th regiment, under Major Bridge, but the Union Jack was carried into the pa. There it was hoisted, upside down, and half-mast high, below the Maori flag. This was the cause of the disaster which ensued. The sight was too much for Colonel Despard's temper, and he ordered an assault upon the pa. The point selected for attack was the only angle doubly flanked. The hopelessness of success was perfectly well known to the storming party; they were marching to certain destruction. They did their duty to the utmost, some of them even firing into the pa through its own loop-

holes; but within five minutes one-third of their number lay stretched upon the earth. The men returned to the bugle call, but not till then. One officer only, Captain Westropp, escaped unhurt. Among the killed was Lieutenant Philpotts, of the "Hazard." 87

Further loss was sustained in the endeavour to bring in the wounded men, which was not entirely successful; some having crept into camp during the night. 88

The effect upon the natives of their own success was not what might be supposed. Our disaster, instead of inducing boastfulness, struck the victors with awe. "We had often been told," said they, "that the soldiers would go wherever they were bid, to certain death; but never believed it. Now we know it."

Failure had been predicted by Colonel Hulme, by Major Marlow of the Engineers, by Moses Tawhai, 89 and by Walker Nene.

Colonel Despard, under the effect of the reeling blow that had been dealt, was for moving back to the Waimate, before even the dead had been recovered. This resolve was so strongly protested against by our native allies, 90 and indeed by all who were in a position to speak, that he was induced to stand his ground.

As had been foreseen by those acquainted with Maori custom, Ohaeawai, like Mawhe, was abandoned, blood having been spilled. The pa was then destroyed by the troops.

The following extracts from letters and journals supply details.

From Archdeacon Henry Williams' journal.

July 1, 1845. Mr. Burrows and I rode out to Ohaeawai. On our arrival observed much firing, and soon learned that the natives had made an attack on Waka's people on a hill overlooking the camp. The hill retaken by the soldiers under Major Bridge in noble style. Henry Clarke (interpreter to the forces) was wounded in the thigh. At four o'clock the troops marched to storm the pa, and in a short time a heavy firing was opened. It was a fearful moment. I moved on to the camp, and found numbers of wounded brought in. The troops were repulsed with serious loss. Captain Grant and Lieutenant Philpotts killed, with

twenty-two seamen and soldiers, and upwards of seventy wounded, some mortally, many seriously. I assisted in dressing the wounded; towards sunset, at the request of the Colonel, I attempted to go to the pa to recover the bodies of the slain, but as soon as I came in sight was ordered back by the people of the pa.

July 2. Mr. Burrows and I rode to the camp; found all confusion. The Colonel glad to see me, and all the officers very civil. Went to the pa, – thought the natives very uncivil. They objected to the bodies being taken to the camp unless the troops would withdraw. After much conversation to no purpose, we returned to the camp, much disgusted with all we had seen and heard. The bodies lay about the ground as they had fallen, exposed to the pigs and flies. Could not learn the loss of the pa; all very reserved. It was dusk before we returned to the Waimate.

July 3. Returned to the camp to endeavour to recover the bodies. On my arrival learned that a flag of truce had been hoisted at the pa, and that enquiry had been made for myself and Mr. Burrows; that our boys might fetch away the bodies. I proceeded to the pa on my arrival, but the natives would not give up the body of Captain Grant. 91 Found the people disposed to be insolent. Returned to the camp. Attended the funeral of the soldiers, – thirty, including the seamen: a mournful sight. The troops were all present. A fellow named Marmon had been holding a whawhai [a fight of words] with some of my natives, stating that I had been telling the natives to keep the body of Captain Grant; which information he had carefully given to the troops.

July 4. Proceeded to Paihia; found all well at home.

July 5. My mind much disturbed by the present trouble. Saw old Hepetahi, Te Tao, and others, evidently much elated by the fall of the troops.

July 7. Captain Johnson called. Gave him the eye-glass, &c, of Lieutenant Philpotts.

July 8. The anniversary of the cutting down of the first flagstaff. News this morning that the troops are to fall back on the Waimate, until the arrival of reinforcements.

July 11. News this evening that the pa was left in the night. One old woman found asleep, two dead bodies, and several guns, with powder and ball. The Colonel talking of returning to Auckland.

Mrs. Williams to Mrs. Heathcote.,
Paihia, July 5, 1845.

Time slips on in our present perilous situation, and. you will be anxious to hear the result of the war. Nothing final or satisfactory has yet been accomplished, but you will rejoice to hear that the Missionaries have been permitted to remain so far in safety, and that Paihia, which has been in the front of the battle and often threatened, has stood firm. God has preserved His people, and we have had unspeakable mercies vouchsafed unto us in the restoration to health of our children, who have been dangerously ill with fever. Edward, his wife, and Thomas, were alarmingly ill at the same time, and wanted sitting up with in three different rooms. They were visited by a naval doctor and the surgeon to the troops, at a time when all the medical men had fled from the Bay: God provided us help in our necessity. The tide of war has now rolled from us for a season; Waimate is the principal encampment of the troops who are now besieging the rebel army at Ohaeawai, a few miles distant from thence. It is quite astonishing how they seem to defy the British in their fortifications. They have double fences, ditches, and loop holes, their houses sunk underground; and as the great guns of the British are fired through their pa with so little loss to the rebels, it is supposed that they have large holes, in which they secure themselves. The fence round the pa is covered between every paling with loose bunches of flax, against which the bullets fall and drop; in the night they repair every hole made by the guns. An attempt was made by the English on the first to storm the pa. The soldiers went with great coolness and bravery against a murderous fire, but were obliged to retreat, with the loss of one hundred killed and wounded. Lieutenant Philpotts was killed, and Captain Grant, of the 58th; several officers wounded. Henry had arrived at the camp just before, and witnessed the whole; he afterwards went to the pa at the colonel's request, to obtain the dead, and was ordered by the

rebels to return. The following morning he was allowed by them to advance to the outer fence, but not to enter the pa. Henry was in danger. None of the chiefs shewed themselves, and he was refused permission to remove the dead, of whom he counted twenty-four. He cut off a lock of hair from Lieutenant Philpotts' head, and took his eye-glass, which he sent to his captain.

July 8. This is the anniversary of the first cutting down of the flag-staff by Heke. Henry was absent at Turanga then, and William here; the Waimate college and schools in full action. What a deplorable change now! What an eventful year it has been! The Waimate is now head quarters for the British troops, six hundred in number, and was in great danger of being burnt down before they entered. Heke was there with two hundred men a few days before, and said it was only respect for the Missionaries that induced him to spare the settlement, the bridges, and the cattle. The colonel said it was more than they could have expected, and more than they themselves would have done, to have left such buildings for an enemy. John is in Auckland, whither he has taken some farming stock to be in safety; but he is begging to return. Thomas is sowing wheat at Pakaraka, but can take no comforts to their desolate place for fear of straggling plunderers; though large detachments of the rebels have passed through and treated them civilly, – even the fearful savage Kawiti himself, when Thomas was ill, and his natives had all left him to go to the fight. The poor boys have had great losses, but great preservations. When Heke encamped his army there they ate twenty tons of potatoes, – all their winter stock; burnt a quantity of fencing, and many tons of valuable kauri gum (purchased for export), for firewood. Much wheat destroyed; all their poultry and pigs, and yet the barn was not burnt, though the natives lay upon the wheat, smoking their pipes, and carrying fire-sticks in to light them. Great friendship was professed; when eight horses were caught and about to be sent off, Heke ordered them to be delivered up to our son Henry. But when the army passed on, straggling plunderers, finding the place left, broke into their house and Edward's, broke all the windows, and stole whatever they found. They are just in the high road between Heke and Kawiti's dominions. Haratua, Heke's principal general, lives close to them, and now lies wounded in his pa, which they have to pass on their way to Paihia. He professes protection, and calls them his children, but when the soldiers march to attack him, Pakaraka will be the seat of war. Thus you see we have had innumerable mercies and preservations vouchsafed to us and ours. May the lives He has spared be devoted more earnestly to His service. May He soon grant us the blessings of peace.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, September 15, 1845.

Still at war, yet all sitting quietly, though it is not known how soon all may be confusion again. I have given you a general account from the commencement, and hope you may collect a tolerable idea of our state. It has been a season of much excitement, not unmixed with fearful apprehension; it is, however, a matter of much thankfulness that we have been enabled to stand our ground amidst such serious commotions. The Europeans look with much wonder and surprise at our remaining as we do. I have written to Mr. Coates respecting the Mission finding quarters for the troops in this their war. To me it appears perfectly inconsistent, and directly opposed to our duty as Missionaries. How far this may correspond with the views of the Society, I know not, but certainly I am not prepared thus to lend myself to such a service. It is with much effort we are enabled to keep our feet. How can we excuse ourselves to the natives, when thus incorporated with the military. Our cause must seriously suffer. Moreover, all this is perfectly unnecessary. At Paihia we have been clear of the troops; Waimate and Kerikeri have been, and still are wholly taken possession of by them . . . .

Our brave man in Cook's Straits, Octavius Hadfield, I fear is unfit for work. He has never been strong, though always very active. By late accounts he appears to be drawing near his end. Thus do our ranks decline. I believe it is the intention of the Bishop to keep Samuel near himself, at least for some length of time. This will be of great advantage to him, and tend to form his habits. This good lad of mine has never cost either myself or the Church Mission Society a shilling since he was fifteen, and as yet bears his own expenses at college. He owes this to the land, and his own attention to work, about which there has been so much said to little purpose.

In October, a letter was received from Captain FitzRoy, stating that he had been recalled from the Government of the Colony. This was to the Archdeacon a cause of much regret, for he had fully appreciated the generous temperament and the utter unselfishness of the man. To Governor FitzRoy scant justice has been done. Errors must be admitted, as, for instance, when he commuted indirect for direct taxation, being as yet unaware of the hindrance to collection in a young colony; or again, in setting up the broken flag-staff without sufficient force to protect it. But when he left, the Colony was fast recovering from the state of deep

depression into which it had fallen. Moreover, he possessed the gift of foresight, in greater measure than any other of our New Zealand Governors. It was he who first perceived that the Crown's exclusive "right of pre-emption" over native land, – that is to say, in plainer phrase, Government land-jobbing, must eventually be abandoned; 92 as indeed it was, though not soon enough to avert a long and disastrous war. It is also to his farsighted judgment and moral courage displayed in sending back the troops to New South Wales, 93 at a moment when the need of their service seemed extreme, that we owe the consistent support of our native allies, under Thomas Walker Nene, without which the Colony would long since have ceased to exist. Had he thought more of his own, and less of New Zealand interests, he would have escaped censure from the Home Government. But, finding himself in exceptional circumstances, he infringed the traditions of the Colonial Office so often, that he brought about his final condemnation. The handsome manner in which, even while smarting under mortification, he speaks of his successor, will not escape notice. But he was a loyal English gentleman, in whose mind a paltry jealousy could find no place. 94 He could not indeed have known that so much would be presently reported to his disadvantage; but yet even this, foreseen, would have made no change; for the old-fashioned spirit of chivalry was strong within him.

Archdeacon Henry Williams to the Governor.
Paihia, October 7, 1845.

I must express my sincere regret at the information contained in your communication of the 2nd instant, of your being recalled from this Colony. A more difficult government, I am sure, does not exist under Her Majesty, and I am persuaded that an efficient man as your successor will not easily be found. While, therefore, we shall deeply regret your absence from the Government of this Colony, I cannot refrain from congratulating you upon your release from your weighty, perplexing, thankless duties, and upon your return to the land of your fathers. You will have much satisfaction in reflecting that no measures could have been devised more to the advantage of both Europeans and natives than those which have been devised by your Excellency. I feel fully assured that the settling of the first outbreak of Heke in the way it was by your Excellency, thereby preventing the first detachment of troops from proceeding to Kaikohe, was wise, though a measure which has met with great opposition. Had the troops advanced into the interior, I have no doubt that all would have been cut off. The want of wisdom shewn in recent resolutions of the Committee of the House of Commons respecting this country, shews how incorrect is the knowledge of the real state of New Zealand. These late transactions have arisen without the slightest reason on the part of the aborigines, there being no means in the country to preserve order.

You ask "my opinion as to the probable consequences of withdrawing the troops from the Waimate." Should the troops be withdrawn with an understanding that they shall not, under any circumstances, return thither, my opinion is that the Waimate will remain standing; but should it be considered as a military depot, and the war continue, I shall consider that the place and bridges may be destroyed at any time. We shall be happy to see our station free from the troops and the stores. 95

Bishop Selwyn to Archdeacon Henry Williams.
Auckland, October 7, 1845.

I have received your note of September 23rd, and think that the state of ignorance and bad feeling in England on the subject of the natives, makes it necessary for us entirely to abstain from any negotiations between the two parties. In the House of Commons, a motion was announced, – "to address the Queen to fulfil the Treaty of Waitangi in all its integrity," or words to that effect; from which I gather that a strong party is working to set it aside. If they should prevail, you and the rest of the Missionaries, who are already compromised by your support of the treaty, might be still more involved, if you were now to speak of peace, when other powers are resolved that there shall be no peace. I see no safe line, but to remain perfectly passive for the present. The Government have interpreters enough at command, without having occasion to call upon us.

The recall of Captain FitzRoy has made this cautious policy absolutely necessary; as we cannot tell with what instructions his successor may come out.

Governor FitzRoy to Archdeacon Henry Williams.
November 11, 1845.

My dear Sir, – Allow me to thank you very cordially for your kind and valuable letter, I can appreciate the weight of your opinion, and I need not tell you how much it is valued by me.

Let me congratulate you on the result of three nights' sharp debate in the House of Commons, on New Zealand.

The Company were beaten by fifty-one; the integrity of the Treaty of Waitangi being thus secured against all their infamous endeavours, for that was the point at issue.

Governor Grey comes here. I know him personally, he is able and judicious, and is one of the very few who have taken real interest in the aborigines of New Holland. He has a school for them in Adelaide, maintained by him and his wife.

I am cheered by this news, notwithstanding the absurdities uttered in the House of Commons about this country.

I have written officially, but privately, to Colonel Despard, to ask for your assistance.

Believe me, my dear Sir,
Very faithfully yours,
ROBERT FITZROY.

Governor FitzRoy's good word was always ready for others: but that of others was not so for him.

In November, Governor FitzRoy was superseded by Governor Grey.

Captain FitzRoy, too proud a man to "go home with a grievance," still gave more thought to the Colony and his friends than to himself. Though feeling that he had been hardly used, he breathes no word of complaint.

Auckland, February 11, 1846.

My dear Sir, – I intended to write to you at some length; but to express myself fully and clearly, would require much more time and care than I am able to give. While on my passage to England, I shall prepare a letter for Mr. Coates, in which the calumnies, so falsely and blindly circulated against yourself, will be noticed in a manner which, I trust, will be satisfactory to the Church Mission Society, as well as all your tried friends in this country. I shall not be too tender towards your calumniators, but openly state facts, and my own opinions. I will send you a copy of these letters to the Church Mission Society, and if I hear anything of consequence to yourself particularly, I will not fail to write to you, in duplicate. I shall be in regular correspondence with our mutual friend, Mr. Clarke, in whom, I need not tell you, I have the most implicit confidence. The more I have seen of him, the more I have had reason to respect and trust him.

I shall receive the newspaper regularly from Auckland. My whole time and thought will be devoted to New Zealand affairs, for the next two years at least. I am very anxious about the growing feelings among the natives, and shall watch events with intense anxiety. Farewell, my dear Sir. May the Almighty vouchsafe you His help.

Yours sincerely,
ROBERT FITZROY.

P.S. – I shall not go home with a "grievance" but seek to inform everybody of the truth as to the country. I feel the sacredness of your cause, and that of the falsely accused, as well as that of the natives.

RUAPEKAPEKA.

It being deemed expedient to recover the prestige of British arms, impaired at Ohaeawai, the insurgent natives were followed up to their new encampment, at Ruapekapeka [the Batsnest]. Here we were saved from a disaster similar to that of Ohaeawai, by Mohi Tawhai, 96 a chief of influence among our native allies. Colonel Despard

expressed an intention of attacking the pa before a practicable breach had been effected. Tawhai remonstrated, seemingly in vain; at last

he took his stand between Colonel Despard and the pa, in an attitude expressive of barring the way, – his arms stretched out and legs astride, saying, "you shall not pass; how many more men do you want to kill?" The assault did not take place; but the pa was at last taken, by accident. The garrison left it on Sunday morning; the soldiers say, to avoid the shot; the natives say, to hold service in the bush. William Walker Turau, brother to Walker Nene, prowling about, happened to discover that the pa was undefended. He reported to Captain Denny, and agreed to creep into the breach again. If all were right, his standing up was to be the signal for a rush. He was to be distinguished by a white cloth, through which a hole had been cut, to be passed over the head, poncho-wise. The pa was rushed; the garrison, from the outside, made a desperate attempt to regain it, but were beaten off with loss. The pa was burned, and the troops returned to quarters. 97

The following extract from Mrs. Williams' journal is given, as containing Captain Graham's account of the capture of the pa. It will be observed that the several accounts do not exactly tally, though corresponding in the main.

January 12, 1846. Captain Graham returned to the "Castor," whence Mr. Clendon heard authentic news. Henry did not leave the "North Star." On Saturday they had fired all day long, making but a small breach. On Sunday morning the soldiers were all drawn up for parade, previous to divine service, when a sailor rambled up to the pa. Seeing no one, he went in. 98 Another and another followed; at length, as the party wandered about, they were perceived by the natives, who were outside in a stockade, and fired upon. The English poured in; an engagement took place; hard fighting for two hours, the natives followed into the wood, and dispersed. Seven of H.M.S. "Castor" killed, and one marine of the "North Star." Lieutenant Murray, of the "North Star," shot in the mouth. Altogether, twelve English killed, and thirty

wounded. 99 Numbers of natives killed; Captain Graham counted twenty dead bodies after many had been carried away.

A deputation from Nelson to the Governor.

January 14. Henry left his card for the Governor, who sailed in the "Elphinstone," at noon. Mr. Curtis ("North Star") arrived in Henry's boat, to stay till to-morrow. All warmly congratulated him on his safe return from his campaign. The number of natives killed does not appear to be so great as was at first supposed; 100 I collected the names of only nine, – all rangatiras.

The taking of the pa while the natives were at church outside, 101 of course an advantage not to be refused, is a sore point with the natives, and has been cast in the teeth of the Mission ever since. Perhaps it might have been well to have made more explicit mention of this circumstance in the despatches. There is some difference between taking a pa by assault, and getting into an empty one.

January 24. Native reports that Heke and Kawiti were at Pomare's pa, and now were willing to accede to the proposals offered by the Governor. The reason assigned for Kawiti's willingness for peace was, that one of his men who was slain in the engagement had been eaten by rats; a sign that, if they fought again, they would all be killed.

January 26. Peace made; a free pardon; no land taken; "Government Gazette" extraordinary.

In not stipulating for forfeiture of land, Governor Grey shewed a sound judgment. The shedding of blood is soon forgotten; it sinks into the earth, and is seen no more. But the grievance of confiscation endures. It endures in Ireland, to the present day, never, perhaps, to be effaced; it endures in New Zealand still, where, though we be nominally at peace, there is permanent alienation of those from whom forfeiture, after a later war, was exacted. So much of truth has Machiavelli's cynical dictum, that a son will more readily forgive the death of his father, than the loss of his inheritance. 102 On the other hand, it must be remembered that the Governor abandoned the sole point in dispute, – the flag-staff, the emblem of sovereignty. Whether it would have been right to continue "war for the sake of an idea," must remain a question of opinion; but it is beyond dispute, that the enemy was thereby acknowledged as victorious. Governor FitzRoy could at any time have established a lasting peace, on the same terms. The flag-staff lay prostrate, until set up again by Marsh Brown Kawiti, in compliment to Governor Gore Browne.

The siege of Ruapekapeka has little direct bearing upon the subject of this Memoir. Not so, however, an episode connected with it, which demands especial notice.

A deputation from Nelson, one of the Company's settlements, had followed Governor Grey to the North. Now, whatever may have been the nature of the Governor's feelings, up to this time, towards the Mission, at least he never openly assailed them.

It was patte de velours, at the worst. But a manifest change did follow the arrival of the deputation. The Company was then rising to the fulness of its power, with a following in the House of Commons strong enough to imperil the existence of a ministry. And the agents of the Company were imbued with bitter feeling towards the Mission.

A letter without date, (but written at a later period,) from the Police Magistrate to Archdeacon Williams, throws light upon the subject.

Mr. James Clendon to Archdeacon Henry Williams.

In overhauling my Memos. of sayings and doings, I find one that may amuse you. On Monday, January 12, 1846, the day after the Ruapekapeka was surprised, I was at the Kawakawa, the landing place of the expedition against that place, when three gentlemen, viz., Dr. Renwick, Mr. Bridge, (surveyor), Mr. Perry, (since drowned), who had come up from Nelson as a deputation to the Governor, returned to the Kawakawa from the troops at Ruapekapeka, bringing the following important piece of intelligence, "That the whole of the affair of the Rebellion was now found out as the old traitor's letters in correspondence with the rebels had been discovered in the pa, and now he must be had up; that the Governor had the letters, and was proceeding with them to Auckland." Lieutenant Johnson, of H.M.S. "North Star,"(now Captain Johnson) was present, and more disgusted than amused at the intelligence; he joined me in argument against such ridiculous assertions, when one of the gentlemen, I believe Mr. Bridge, turned to me and said, "Oh, perhaps you are a Protector." I replied, "Yes! a protector of the peace, not of the Aborigines." Lieutenant Johnson added, "Yes, Police Magistrate." He seemed rather taken aback.

To the enemies of the Mission, the discovery was a godsend. That letters had been found, was true. And the wish was father to the thought, that they were treasonable. Great were the rejoicings. The Archdeacon was soon informed that "the old traitor had been caught at last;" that he was to be arrested, and sent down for trial under military escort. But there was no such good fortune in store, for something worse befel him. Care was taken that the truth of these rumours should not be tested, – that the real nature of the letters should not transpire. Governor Grey

issued a notification in the "Gazette," addressed to the native chiefs, who knew perfectly well that the persons accused were their own teachers; that letters had been brought to him, which he was informed were of a treasonable nature, and that he had burnt them without reading. How he could place himself in such a false position, by a proceeding so unjust both to the Colony to which he was appointed to govern, and to the accused, is strange. What right had he to smother evidence of treason, – to stay the course of law, and to pardon before trial? He said that he did not wish to know. But the country did wish, and had a right to know, by proof under their own hands, who were these traitors walking, at large in the midst of us.

But there is another aspect under which this letter-burning must be viewed. On the assumption that the letters contained nothing of what had been imputed, it was a destruction of the proofs of innocence, under the mask of magnanimity. Action was taken debarring the accused from trial; also, from acquittal. The original documents were made safe from bearing unwelcome testimony. They were put out of the way, like the grooms whom Macbeth slew, after accusing them of the murder of Duncan: –

Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too;
For 'twould have angered any heart alive
To hear the men deny it.

The letters had, in fact, been read by many. Upon more accurate enquiry, it was found that only one of these documents could be turned to account, – a letter in which the Archdeacon had addressed a rebel chief as "friend." "Stay a moment," observed the writer, when informed of the specific charge, "was there not a little adjective before the word?" The gobe-mouche was compelled to admit that "my foolish friend," was the complete expression used.

The following is the letter itself, of which an attested copy had fortunately been preserved. For the Archdeacon, knowing

* See Appendix C. "Plain Facts." Also, for closer and more stringent comment on the whole transaction, see [Greek] METOIKOS, letter to the "Southern Cross" newspaper, concerning the Despatches, January 19, 1852.

how he was beset, had fallen into the habit of retaining copies of every letter of importance that he wrote. At a later period, he restricted himself to preaching from written sermons only, notwithstanding the labour it involved; in order that his words, if questioned, might be produced.

By way of climax to the absurdity of the charge, it may now be stated that the letter was written at the request of Governor FitzRoy himself.

Paihia, September 23, 1845.

My foolish friend, – A word from the Governor has come hither, saying, there is no letter from Kawiti like that of John Heke. Is one leg to be healed and the ether leg to be unhealed? Be energetic (or brave) to save your person. Send your letter, that it may be clearly seen by the Europeans. Now let the horses be given (or) perhaps Waiomio will be lost (to you), as those places Mawhe and Ohaeawai are lost.

This is from me – your friend – your grandfather.

WILLIAMS.

To Kawiti.
A correct translation.
GEORGE CLARKE, jun.

To this letter Kawiti replied on the following day: –

Ruapekapeka, September 24, 1845.

Friend Williams, – Good is your word, O friend, saluting you. Here am I having great regard for you. Sir, it is because you have said that peace should be made, that I consent. I will not continue to jump upon your word, (i.e., I will not run counter to your wishes); but then, if peace is made, it must be made with respect to the land also.

Friend Governor, saluting you. I am willing to make peace. Many Europeans have been killed, and many natives. 103 Inasmuch as you have said that I should make the first advance towards peace, I now do so, and hereby consent.

This is all mine. I finish here.

By me,
KAWITI.

One expression needs attention: "if peace is made, it must be with respect to the land also." "The land" here means the country.

The great grievance with the natives, as has been already shewn, was the whenua, – the mana, or proprietorship of which they were told by Americans and ill-disposed English, had passed from themselves to the Queen, by erection of the flag-staff. It will be observed that, with good diplomacy, Kawiti adopts Heke's pretext for war, knowing his own to be unsustainable.

Extract of a Letter from the Governor to Kawiti.

Kawiti, – Your letter of September 24 I received last night, September 30. It was addressed to myself and Mr. Williams, who, I can plainly see, has been giving you good advice; you have done well to hearken to him, and I trust your future conduct will shew that you are really sincere and desirous of peace.

From me – from the Governor,
ROBERT FITZROY.

Such was the nature of the destroyed correspondence. What real foundation there was for the report that the Archdeacon was to have been sent a prisoner to Auckland, I will not undertake to say, though believing it to be sufficient. But it is a fact, at all events, that certain of the natives had heard the rumour, and were prepared to resist the capture.

From Archdeacon Williams' journal.

January 15, 1846. Several reports flying about; the pakeha at the other end full of fume, hoping that multitudes may have fallen in the conflict. Had a conference with Mr. Clendon on a statement said to have come from the Governor, that he had been cautioned against receiving any report or information from Paihia; about which I remarked that, as caution was the order of the day, I must avail myself of the same order, and be much more cautious than I had yet been. That henceforth I desired that he did not make any enquiries of me respecting the natives, or enquire of my sons, as I should caution them to hold no communication on the subject. Much excitement in the settlement. Captain Hay called with the news that some troops were to be stationed at Victoria [Waitangi], and that H.M.S. "Racehorse" was to remain in the Bay.

January 17. Mr. Johnson, from the "North Star," to call. Heard to-day that letters of mine to Kawiti, of a treasonable character, had been found in the pa; that the Governor had proceeded in haste to summon the Council for the purpose of

examining these same letters. Inference: to proceed against the "traitor," right or wrong.

January 18. Sunday. Defiance on every side. All the ships on the move; boats passing and repassing, landing soldiers and stores at Victoria; landing drays at this beach, and taking off bullocks. A furious commotion all around; our congregation strong. In the afternoon, Colonel Despard on shore.

We now take Mrs. Williams' journal, always fuller of detail, and telling more than her husband cared to say about himself.

January 18, 1846. Sunday. A beautiful day; all in the settlement like a peaceful Sabbath; but our eyes were pained by the whole armament floating past, boats conveying two hundred soldiers to Mr. Busby's place.

Sir Everard Home called to say good-bye. A good congregation of natives were assembled, and the bell sounded in great contrast to the passing scene which really oppressed us. Seven vessels in sight; we wished for wind to carry them off.

All the afternoon boats were taking cattle off from Horotutu to the "Slains Castle," which still remained opposite the settlement receiving them, after all the others had sailed except the "Racehorse." As our sons went to the native school, the Colonel [Despard] passed to Mrs. Bedggood's, and a soldier with him told her "they were to take Mr. Williams off, a prisoner to Auckland; that they had brought handcuffs with them in the boat; that the 'old fellow' would not get off this time, for his letters had been found in Kawiti's pa; that it was now discovered that he had been the cause of all, from the first cutting down of the flag-staff." Mrs. Bedggood went in a fright to tell Edward; Edward ran in and said the natives were full of it. We thought of Mr. Pritchard [Consul at Tahiti], and Henry put aside his papers with the late Governor's letters, that they should not be got hold of and destroyed. The natives were excited; old Ana cried; but four o'clock having passed, the boat went off, and Henry went to church. The vessel sailed, and we spent our Sabbath evening unwatched, in a peace which Sabbath-breakers know not.

There is no doubt, that could the shadow of a case have been raised, the Archdeacon would have been committed for trial. But, fearless as he was in his own sphere of action, his caution, in matters political, was extreme; never interfering save on authority, and that authority such as rendered compliance a duty.

January 25. After dinner Tamati Waka came to see Henry, to request that the great meeting of all the chiefs to make peace might

be at Paihia. Mr. Williams declined, on account of the many false accusations against him.

January 28. Henry was called out to see Heke, who had arrived with about one hundred men. They danced, speechified, tangi-ed, and made a great stir . . . . Wiremu Hopihana, one of the peace-makers, came in, amusing all with his animation and gestures in relation to his conversation with Heke, who is by no means in the mind he is supposed or wished to be. Sir Everard, with his suite, was announced. At his suggestion, Henry fetched in Heke. Sir Everard took Heke on the sopha between himself and Mr. Curtis, and, Henry was interpreter. We were afraid that Heke would be impudent; but he became moderate, and then reasonable. He first called Sir Everard the King of Babylon, and said he was as big as a whale. The interpretation of this was skilfully avoided. Sir Everard and Heke held a long conversation.

February 12. Told that Kemara 104 [Campbell], though still a heathen, had said, in answer to the accusations against "Te Wiremu" that he had given flour to the rebels, and healed their wounds, – "What of that text? 'if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, I give him drink.'" This is a lesson to christian women, who talked of putting poison in their wounds. It shews that Christianity meliorates, even where it does not convert.

During the lull that followed the taking of the pa, Archdeacon Henry Williams, to avoid misconstruction, refrained from any political interference with the natives; but addressed himself to the restoration of quiet, and the revival of that religious feeling among the natives, which it had taken so many years of patient labour to create. Round about Paihia he had kept them well in hand; but at the Kawakawa, where they had mixed with the soldiers, their state was lamentable. It was scarcely to be expected that they should resist the demoralisation of war better than ourselves.

In a letter to his brother-in-law, the Archdeacon moots the question of public enquiry into his conduct. This demand, insisted on by him for years, was as persistently refused by the accusers. How gladly would they have consented, had they entertained the faintest hope of making good one single count of the indictment.

Archdeacon Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, January 14, 1846.

On Saturday last, after a month of preparation, the British force of two thousand strong, including about seven hundred natives, commenced active operations by bombarding the pa [Ruapekapeka], continuing from eleven a.m. until sunset. Certain breaches were made; but all ceased for the day, except the sending for more shot, shell, &c, for the purpose of renewing their work on Monday, preserving the Sabbath in quietness. On Sunday morning, while the troops were preparing for service, some of the friendly natives and sailors found their way into the battered pa, the natives being at service outside. Firing soon commenced, and was kept up for about two hours, leaving the pa in the hands of the English. The loss of the British force was twelve killed and thirty wounded, besides one native killed and some others wounded of the friendly tribes. Of the enemies' loss nothing is known, as they fought in a wood . . . .

I perceive that Captain Grey, the new Governor, has been taught already to regard the Missionaries with suspicion. He mentioned yesterday this, with other things, to the Police Magistrate. I observed to this gentleman that I was content that his Excellency had thus expressed himself, as we should better understand our position; but that after twenty-two years of service in the country, and the public testimony borne to it by Governors Hobson and FitzRoy, my credit is not likely to be shaken by what might be said to-day; but as it appeared there was a question as to my veracity in the way of information, I forbad him to make any enquiries of me or of any one belonging to me upon any occasion. There appears to be a struggle at hand, not only between the natives and the Europeans, but between the Missionaries and the Europeans. You will say, I have had something to contend with amongst them. Indeed I have; but as I am relieved, though not very graciously, from these public unthankful duties, I shall be more at liberty to attend strictly to the natives. Had our vessels not been tight, they must have swamped in the cross and troubled seas we have had to pass through for a long period. You will doubtless hear many startling circumstances in your distant land. Those which may appear of an extraordinary nature, you may reject, as I am obliged to do daily, by putting my foot upon them. I endeavour to keep my mind as quiet as I can, and feel satisfied all will yet be right. I should be glad of a public enquiry, were it possible; we should then soon upset our adversaries. They shun enquiry, lest they should be defeated. With Governor FitzRoy I communicated freely; he willingly received my opinion respecting the natives, and more than once expressed his thanks, and requested the Com-

manding Officer of the troops to communicate with me as to negotiations with the natives. My opinion was asked perpetually; now it is rejected as being that of a "traitor!" "unsafe!" "false!" I therefore withhold my opinion, and shall not allow it to escape my lips in future. The New Zealand Company must fall, crumble to pieces, as a South Sea scheme, numbers ruined by their deeds. With regard to the Waitangi treaty, I am satisfied the British Government can never allow its violation, though there may be, as there doubtless are, many individuals who may wish to overturn the whole island as relates to natives. Our ears are saluted frequently with expressions truly savage as to how these people ought to be served, – to be "poisoned," to be "flayed alive," to be "shot like dogs."

Our Mission is most seriously distracted. The loyal natives have suffered more from evil communication, than their enemies have from all the shot, shell, and rockets which have been discharged at them. The authorities appear disposed to carry matters with a high hand; could they trample me down, their work with the Mission would be complete. I regard them not, collectively or individually; yet, I fear his Excellency is a weak man.

On all sides, expressions of sympathy were pouring in. For reasons that will presently appear, the following is selected.

The Reverend Robert Maunsell to Archdeacon Henry Williams.
Waikato Heads, April 6, 1846.

You, I am sure, can give me credit for truth, when I tell you that the troubles of my district have so completely absorbed my thoughts and time during the past year, that I have had but little time and inclination to indulge myself in anything but necessary duties. Of you and your troubles I had heard often, and as often intended writing. A late communication, however, from Mr. Morgan, has induced me to send now this line of kind remembrance and sympathy. He tells me the Society have written to you for a justification of your proceedings at the northward in these late troubles. I am sure I know enough of our Society to feel persuaded that it is only with a view to stop the mouths of adversaries at home; and you will, I am satisfied, feel ready to supply them with the necessary information. Although I have heard much in being in the neighbourhood of Auckland, nothing has ever come with any appearance of proof, while all has too evidently borne the aspect of a clear desire to malign, whether good or bad. Your mind, I hope, enjoys peace, – not a peace resulting from a mere stubborn indifference to the feelings and opinions of the world, but a peace derived from the approbation of conscience, and from the remembrance that the Lord has much honored you in the eyes of

your brethren, by making you not only a chief founder of a church, but a most effectual diffuser of the light, from Kaitaia to Port Nicholson. I remember well our first visit to this [the Manukau] district, and shall always thankfully acknowledge the good which you in that visit succeeded in effecting. I am sorry also to hear from Mr. Morgan that the Society have declined the services of your son Samuel. This I am sure, however, will only be for a time; Samuel is too valuable a man to be allowed to waste himself on merely secular duties. I hope however for good from this act of the committee, that it will serve to test his zeal, and teach him in the beginning of his career that the "patience" described by Paul (Rom. viii, 25) is a grace that he must, in limine, seek for in common with every faithful follower of the Lord Jesus.

A letter from the Bishop throws some light on his disagreement with the Church Mission Society.

Bishop Selwyn to Archdeacon Henry Williams.
Auckland, April 20, 1846.

I am much obliged to you for your letter, which gives on the whole quite as satisfactory an account of the state of the Northern district as I could have expected. May God be pleased to restore peace, and to enable his work again to advance.

By the favour of Divine Providence, I was allowed to complete all my arrangements, and reached home on the 7th April, having confirmed 2,200 persons, about one for every mile of my visitation by land and sea. Some of the districts are decidedly in a better state than at the time of my former visit; others are as evidently declining; but my general impression is, that with the addition of an efficient school system, and a few subdivisions of the larger districts, we shall be enabled, under God's blessing, to hold our ground.

A general sympathy with Heke seems to be a feeling overruling all intestine animosities of old times.

All my plans for ordinations and schools are at present in abeyance, by the late resolutions of the Society withdrawing its catechists from my list of candidates for holy orders, because I require them to promise to go wherever their services may be most required.

In my present position of misunderstanding with the Church Mission Society, I should be unwilling to accept any payment on behalf of the scholars at present under education in the Native College. Mr. Venn has distinctly declared, that it is not the wish of the Society to mix themselves up with my proceedings. I am quite contented with this arrangement, if they will only form and carry out better plans of their own. I care nothing who does the work; provided that the work is done.

The Bishop wrote in full assurance of support from Archdeacon Williams, even in going counter to the views of the Church Mission Society. In a letter to Mr. Marsh, the Archdeacon expresses a plain opinion on the subject of difference.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, May 28, 1846.

Our weeks pass so rapidly along, that I am not aware of the great spaces between my letters to you. I will endeavour to be more punctual, as I feel our years are drawing to a period, when all communications must cease. Poor Captain FitzRoy must now be drawing near the termination of his homeward voyage, and will convey a large supply of intelligence to the Church Mission Society, for the satisfaction of all the friends of the Mission that he will be in England to stand our friend. We have a hard battle to fight to stand our ground; but, poor things, they consider not that "The Lord of Hosts is with us, and The God of Jacob is our refuge." They marvel greatly that we fall not before them; when they rave and fume, we reply not, but quietly pursue our course. The far-famed Waimate station has been sorely degraded in consequence of the military having been quartered there during the war. I have written to the Church Mission Society to ask if protection cannot be afforded to us against any future visitation of the like nature; for what concord can there be between missionaries and their proceedings with military men and their proceedings.

Governor Grey has reversed all the acts of Captain FitzRoy, and has set at nought the Missionaries for the satisfaction of the rabble and the New Zealand Company . . . . .

In the Bishop's last letter, he tells me that the Church Mission Society have withdrawn their catechists from his list of candidates for ordination, because he requires them to occupy positions which he considers to stand most in need. Now, this I am at a loss to understand, having thought that a Bishop was an overseer, to keep special watch over, and to reinforce the weaker points, as a General watches over the wants of his army. On the appointment of a Bishop, I rejoiced on this very account that, having a general view, he would see all over the bearings of one station with the others, and their comparative strength. Every movement hitherto made has met with general approbation of the Missionaries, though not universal. The Parent Committee can only obtain information from us, but too often has the opinion of the collective body been set aside by that of individuals; hence much hindrance to the public good.

We have much to endure in the form of scandalous reports of a very ingenious character; amusing the vile. While Captain Fitz-

Roy was here they did not appear of much moment; but now, all appear against us, with few exceptions. The Governor is young, and does not trouble himself to enquire into matters which do not immediately concern him. After having had the benefit of our services, and now believing that they can do without for the present, they tell us insultingly, they never required them. We have not yet troubled them with any remarks upon their conduct, but have expressed some astonishment that they do not follow up their view, if they think they can establish a case. They have no case, therefore content themselves with an occasional growl. But we have much to be thankful for; the family has been preserved in health and quietness, amidst all this sad commotion.

Samuel, I believe, will be taken by the Bishop for the venerable S. P. G. [Society for the Propagation of the Gospel], having been rejected by ours [C M. S]. 105 His Lordship's intention is, to admit him to ordination in a few months, and to keep him close to himself; after which he may be united to his cousin Mary. Edward and his wife have a heavy charge in the school, to meet the prejudice of the parents, for we have these things to contend with here as in your part of the world.

With regard to peace, we have it of a certain kind; but, certainly, there does not appear any disposition to confiscate the land of those who have been engaged in this disturbance. Nor can it be said that the troops have yet obtained any advantage of them, in a military point of view. At Port Nicholson they can but stand their ground. A murder has been committed there; a man and his son killed by the natives upon the land which had been disputed, yet the murderers could not be taken. 106 The flag-staff in the Bay is still prostrate, and the natives here rule. These are humiliating facts to the proud Englishman, many of whom thought they could govern by a mere name.

"While Captain FitzRoy was here," writes the Archdeacon, "the scandalous reports against us did not appear of much moment; but now, all appear against us, with few exceptions." The reason is not far to seek. In a young colony, the tone of the Governor affects that of the community. Captain FitzRoy went straight; had no personal ends to serve, and turned a deaf ear to gossip. The following letter, which, having been mislaid, did not appear in its place, shews that when recalled, his first thought was, not for himself, but for those who had so well served his government, henceforth to be exposed to buffet and jibe.

Government House,
Auckland, October 2, 1845.

My dear Sir, – I thank you cordially for your zealous exertions. I can appreciate them, and I will not fail to do you full justice in England, as elsewhere.

My reply to Kawiti is enclosed, and I shall be much obliged to you to forward it by a trustworthy person. I send a copy of the English, for your own information. A copy of my letter to Heke (sent through Colonel Despard); it is in my letter to Kawiti. Be kind enough to keep my English letter to yourself; for I am as little understood, and as much misrepresented, by the ignorant, as you are.

I am very anxious to move the troops from the Waimate, and I would do so forthwith, demolishing the fortifications and putting things to rights, distinctly stating that I would not send them there again, if I could depend on the chapel and buildings being allowed to remain unmolested. Pray write me your opinion as to the probable consequences of withdrawing the troops thence, with such an understanding.

For your sake, for the sake of the Missionaries, the natives, and the settlers, I regret deeply that Lord Stanley has informed me I am recalled; and that my successor will shortly be in the colony.

I remain, my dear Sir,
Always faithfully yours,
ROBERT FITZROY.
The Venerable
The Archdeacon Henry Williams.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, June it, 1846.

We have yet lying and slanderous spirits still hovering about, breathing forth great abomination. You may perchance hear of

some of them. I hope however you will not suffer yourself to be disturbed by them, should they fly your way. These evil ones keep out of our way, so that we really know but a small portion of what is going on. Our settlement I have compared to a city of refuge, where there hath been light and peace, though darkness has reigned around. This simple fact appears mysterious to those not of us, and the only interpretation these wise ones can give us is, that we "must have given encouragement to the natives to chop down the flag-staff;" yet no enquiry has been made by those in power.

About this time, the malicious allegation, that Lieutenant Williams had run away from his ship to avoid a court-martial, was revived, notwithstanding the retractation and apology that had been already exacted. The Archdeacon was in disgrace with the Governor. Disproof had been obtained from the Admiralty long since, and the Bishop took the matter in hand. He dissuaded the Archdeacon from legal proceedings, but compelled an apology from Mr. St. Aubyn, the holder of a Government appointment. The Bishop was in error in discouraging legal proceedings; but he did not yet know the colonies. The subject is distasteful, and is passed over with a reference to the Appendix to the first volume of this work, where the Admiralty papers and the several apologies are to be found.

Henry Williams to the Reverend Christopher Davies.
Auckland, August 5, 1846.

I hope to sail to-morrow for home, having now finished my business in this quarter, which has been rather tedious. You have heard of much evil speaking against the Mission; and those bad fellows of Hokianga, I was told by brother Hobbs, had been opening their mouths in good earnest. I immediately requested him to put it down in writing, which I forwarded to the Bishop. The purport of the slander was, that I had been turned out of the navy. The Bishop examined my papers, and brought the accuser to the charge, when he had nothing to say. I had intended to have prosecuted St. Aubyn, but was restrained by his Lordship, under the idea that he had nothing to lose. St. Aubyn soon saw his position, and on Monday last forwarded his apology, which I enclose. I add also a copy of the certificate given by the Bishop. It would appear that a conspiracy had been formed at Hokianga, now exploded.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, August 21, 1846.

In your September letter you notice the charge of "Arch Traitor." This my friends have endeavoured to establish, by making me speak words I never uttered. I did write my version of the whole matter, by which I rebutted the charge, and sent my statement to the Bishop for his approval or suppression, or in fact, to alter as he might think proper; but it was his Lordship's opinion that we ought not to submit ourselves to the judgment of newspaper editors; it therefore did not appear in public. I shall, however, for your own satisfaction, enclose a copy. I suppose Captain FitzRoy has himself appeared in England, and has been heard in his own behalf. Before his departure I congratulated him on his recall. He will of course have called at the Church Mission House, and have relieved their minds in many particulars. I have in these few months learnt a lesson, and having been relieved by the proceedings of the present Governor from all public duties, except in my missionary work, I shall not in future permit myself to be again drawn in to attend to any of their work. I thank you for your opinion respecting our Church for Pakaraka.

As the land question is now settled, 107 the portion of land to be set apart as endowment can be immediately determined. This would be one step towards a settlement, upon which I shall be glad of your opinion. Next month we hope will add our son Samuel to the number of the ministers of the church in this country, when we shall have two members of our family who might possibly be nominated. The young people will, I presume, in course of time be establishing themselves away from us, and settling at Pakaraka and its neighbourhood. On this account, therefore, I wish to make preparation for a church while I have the opportunity.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, September 9, 1846.

I have just taken a copy of a letter for you which I had prepared for publication. My motive in thus troubling you with this document is to shew you what you did not appear to be aware of, that I altogether rebut the charge brought against me relative to Kororareka and its fall. But the handling of the subject is another question, and of that I should like to have your opinion. I am now forwarding to Mr. Coates a copy of a letter of mine to

the rebel chief Kawiti, which many of my enemies have been endeavouring to brand as traitorous. 108 They tried to do so, but

failed. There is no doubt that the Governor is as desirous to do so as any person. They may renew the attempt. I therefore send this copy, with some other letters in connection with it, whereby the committee may see the nature of this charge, and how pressed they are for some reason for a quarrel. One great reason they have discovered upon which to ground their ideas is witnessing as they have done the great regard which has been shewn to us throughout this disturbance. In one of your recent letters you enquire after Tamati Waka, "General Walker," the great champion in the British cause. "General Walker:" this man is the only one in this part of the island who could have been selected for so high an office. I have known him for more than twenty years, and always found him the same; well disposed, but resolute in opposing his enemies. He is carrying out his measures, though on the first excitement of the questions arising out of the flag-staff, he, and all the other chiefs without exception, had considerable doubts as to the designs of the Government. Waka has generally resided at Hokianga amongst the Wesleyans, and has been baptised by them. His elder brother (Patuone) was baptised by me; but the whole tribe has been backward and forward from Hokianga to the Bay. At the time of the general commotion, Waka was undetermined. The Treaty was the grand question, – whether or not the country was seized in consequence of the treaty. I was left alone in the Bay to combat this question, and had four hundred copies struck off that all might know its true nature, as so many persons were exciting the natives to believe that all was lost to them. By this Waka maintained his position. I must observe, without fear of egotism, that no one else took any trouble to explain to the natives the nature of the Treaty, and to allay their fears, but myself; therefore, when the war commenced, Waka was prepared, and immediately met Heke. It is remarkable that in every engagement he had the advantage. Waka, with his allies, were not only the preservation of the country as a British colony, but also the preservation of the troops, preceding them through the woods, by well scouring them to see that the enemy were not in possession: in every instance this has been the case. I see Waka frequently, and always find him the same, – a sober, sensible, quiet, unassuming, well conducted statesman and soldier, admitted by all the military to be an able field officer.

Auckland, September 17. I am now in the College, having come down to see the Bishop, and to be present at Samuel's ordination and wedding. Marianne and my girls are here. William and his tribe arrived on Thursday last, so that we have quite a family meeting at this place. To-morrow the mail is to be made up; Marianne is too tired after her voyage to conclude her epistle, and I am more than half asleep, owing to my recent

disturbed nights. We are, however, all well, and the Bishop is determined to make us as comfortable as he can. This place appears in a very prosperous state. The College buildings are rearing their heads in an imposing manner, and we hope that ere long all will be brought into good order. I think of leaving Marianne here for at least a month, that she and Jane may finish their talk, for they may not again see each other for a long period. These voyages are not only very expensive, but attended with misery and danger, as the vessels are small and the coast bad. The Bishop is yet very sore upon the question between himself and the Society. He and William have had a long conversation; I also had when here last. We have many enemies, and it is important that as little hindrance as possible should be given. The interests of our Church here are on the wane, for want of union and strength.

In a letter to Mr. Marsh, the Archdeacon mentions the hanging of Martin Luther, a prisoner of war. This man had not signed the Treaty of Waitangi; and it may be argued that he was therefore no rebel. But this is not the place to raise the question, how far the act of those who did sign the treaty was binding upon those who did not. The execution was at all events most impolitic; holding very strong opinions, I fear to trust myself with saying more, – and led to the second war in the South, the Whanganui war; the Hutt war being the first.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, October 16, 1846.

By recent intelligence from Wellington we learn that one native concerned in the late disturbance has been hanged, and it is stated that several more are expected to share the same fate. Had the executive power been transposed, what might we not have expected before this to have taken place in this distant corner of the earth. We have just heard of the death of our very old friend Mr. Coates. He had many a conflict for the Church Mission Society, and was prepared for his rest. He appears to have been a laborious man, and his place will not be easily supplied.

The plot was now thickening; the Archdeacon began to find himself more closely beset, hemmed in on every side. The plan of attack was being covertly arranged. He felt the storm impending, but was for some while at a loss to find out from what quarter it

was to blow. Of some who bore ill will he knew; but he did not yet know all.

From Archdeacon Williams' journal.

January 10, 1847. The steamer with the Governor. Morning service at Kororareka; congregation better than expected, owing to the raruraru [difficulty or perplexity of the time].

January 12. No personal communication between the Governor and Heke. 109 Mr. Busby called with the Surgeon of H.M.S.S. "Driver."

January 13. A note from Mr. Busby, stating his conversation with the Governor, who told him that the Church Mission Society natives were the rebels; those of the Wesleyans and Roman Catholics were friends. No personal communication between the Governor and Heke. Mr. Clendon [police magistrate] superseded by Major Patience; much discontent expressed by the natives.

January 15. Heke crossed over to the Ti; received a letter from him asking me to go and see him, as he was lame [from the effect of the wound received in conflict with Walker Nene's party]. Called upon him; long conversation, and saw the Governor's letter to him. Did not approve of it. Mr. Busby called upon the Governor. In the evening received a note from Mr. Busby, stating that the Governor declined entering upon the question [raised by him concerning the religious denominations of the rebel, and of the friendly natives].

January 26. Called on Mr. Busby relative to the Governor's conversation. I was sorry the Governor took the view he did, and do not recognise his right in so doing.

This matter, lightly touched upon in the journal, was taken up seriously by the Archdeacon, who felt the imputation deeply. It was an attack upon his discharge of professional duty, – a shot between wind and water. It was moreover in corroboration of the charge of treason. The Governor had probably been told that the rebels were Church of England natives, but that the Wesleyans and Roman Catholics were friendly, and, like Dr. Lang who suffered himself to be indoctrinated by "Jones the rat-catcher," was not fastidious as to the authority upon which desirable information was supplied. As usual, when pressed, he drew off, declining to substantiate or to retract.

The Archdeacon disposed of the question in the most decisive manner, – by a nominal list of the chiefs engaged either for or against us, with the respective denominations from which they hailed. It is remarkable, as a fact, that nearly all the chiefs of rank who were killed on the rebel side, were either heathen or Roman Catholics.

We have now to shew how Henry Williams, already in disgrace with the Colonial Authorities, earned for himself the ill-will of the party then in power at the Colonial Office, by the resolute stand he made in defence of the Treaty of Waitangi, when an attempt was made to violate the rights conferred by it.

LORD GREY'S CHARTER AND INSTRUCTIONS.

In June, 1847, Auckland and the North were astounded by the receipt of Instructions 110 to the Governor from Lord Grey, Secretary of State for the Colonies, concerning native land, in direct contravention of the Treaty. Totally unexpected, they came like a thunder-clap, at the most inauspicious moment that could have been chosen, – just at the time when the excitement of the war was subsiding, when the belief of the natives that by the flag-staff their possessions had been forfeited to the Queen was shaken, and the suspicion, long seething in the native mind, that they were to be reduced, as a race, to serfdom on land that had been hitherto their own, was beginning to be allayed. These ideas had been sown broadcast by mischievous or disaffected Europeans; had been combated, not without effect, by the Mission; and now, to the utter dismay of the peace-makers, appeared what was, to the natives, authoritative corroboration of the dark rumours spread abroad.

To render the precise effect of the Instructions intelligible, it becomes necessary to enter briefly into the question of the relations of the Government towards the natives in regard to land.

The nature of Maori proprietorship, in those days, (the word "tenure" is purposely avoided,) being now so generally known, may be passed over in few words. The whole country was partitioned among tribes, with more or less dispute about boundaries, but with definite claims to every acre. It is usually said that the tribal lands were held in common by the members of the tribe, and the expression may pass if an important limitation be imposed; namely, that a person cultivating a portion of the tribal possessions acquired an usufructuary right thereto, but without the power to alienate. Alienation, at least to a stranger, was a tribal affair. Living always in fear of aggression from without, their boundaries became involved with their system of defence. The land, was the leading idea in the Maori mind. The Maori knew, as well as an English proprietor, how much is implied by the possession of land; and they perfectly understood that, so long as they were proprietors, their social status in. the country was secure. Consequently, during the negotiation of a treaty for cession of sovereignty to the Queen, they troubled themselves not about abstruse points of international law, but kept steadily in view the one substantial consideration, – "How about the land, if we admit the Sovereignty? Does that remain to us as it did before?" They were assured, in the most express words that could be devised, that it was so; with one single reservation, namely, the cession of the right of pre-emption to the Crown. 111 The reservation, proposed by Captain Hobson, met with a ready assent from the Mission, and from the natives; for it was felt by them as a check upon the improvident alienation of their own lands.

But the objects of the incoming Government and of the Mission were not similar. The Government desired, by securing a monopoly of the land trade, to make a profit out of the natives; the Mission, to hinder the natives from voluntary impoverishment A little too much was taken for granted, namely, that the

Government, having secured the monopoly, would tender a fair price to the sellers. 112 The result was very different. The Government, once in a position to buy at their own time, and at their own price, took advantage of that position to acquire, for a nominal consideration, large tracts of land, presently to be resold to the colonists at a great profit. This difference, which was called the Government brokerage, was not confined by law to native purposes, but used as freely as the proceeds of other taxation. It was, in fact, a heavy special tax, imposed on one race only of the Queen's subjects in the Colony. So shrewd a people were not slow to perceive the anomaly; and, to allay the discontent which ensued, Governor FitzRoy took upon himself to waive the right of pre-emption, permitting the colonists to give the market price for land to the owners, on payment of a trifling fee on the transaction to the Government. This was apparently in excess of his powers, and the privilege was revoked by Governor Grey; but much good had been effected meanwhile.

It is true, indeed, that the Treaty of Waitangi, by which possession of their land was guaranteed to the natives, absolutely and unconditionally, 113 had long been attacked with systematic hostility by the New Zealand Company, to whose land-trading operations it was a hindrance. But Lord Stanley entertained a different view of the respect due to obligations contracted by the Crown of England, 114 and the Company's utmost endeavour to overthrow

the Treaty had failed. Unfortunately, Lord Stanley and Mr. Gladstone successively went out of the Colonial Office, and were succeeded by Lord Grey, better known to the Colonists as Lord Howick, chairman of that Select Committee of the House of Commons which voted the Treaty to be "one of a series of injudicious proceedings."

Lord Grey was well known as a favourer of the Company; and had now the power to carry his opinions into effect. He superseded the Charter of 1840 by one of his own, generally called the Charter of 1846, conceding representative institutions, with an educational franchise, – the one good point about it. The legislative machinery was too cumbrous, though that difficulty might not have been altogether insuperable; but the sting was in the tail. The Charter was accompanied by a Letter of Instructions, having the authority of law.

By the 13th chapter of these Instructions, native lands, excepting under conditions with which the owners could not comply, were declared Demesne lands, of the Crown. The device by which the Treaty was to be avoided, is ingenious. Registration of native lands was required, under penalty of confiscation. The substance of the encroachment, in the words of Chief Justice Martin, was simply this: –

"That to an officer appointed by the Government shall be entrusted and confided the Registration of the claims of the native people to their lands. The natives are to have no control or right of interference, in any way, in respect to the appointment of this officer, or of his conduct, when appointed; yet, if he shall fail to cause any claim to be registered, whether the fault arise from oversight, error, or any worse cause, the lands not registered shall be confiscated. And this confiscation is to be final, and without appeal." 115

But worse remains behind. No claim to land upon which labour for the sustentation of life had not been expended, was to be recognised; that is to say, all the virgin land of New Zealand was confiscated to the Crown.

The English organs of the Company with which Lord Grey had so far identified himself, were in extacies. They were loud in applause of the decision that swept away "the Treaty of Waitangi nonsense;" "the humbug treaty;" "the Waitangi farce;" "the device to amuse savages," and "all the preliminary chapters of tragi-comic blundering."

But the Instructions met with a very different reception in the Colony. They came with a blast of ill omen upon the Northern province; every one knew that the attempt to enforce them would be certain war. Of Governor Grey's first impressions, or of the cause which led to a change of impression, I care not to speak, having no desire to revive old griefs. The colonists memorialised the Queen; the Bishop forwarded a solemn protest to Lord Grey; the Wesleyans addressed him on their own account; 116 the Chief Justice wrote a pamphlet, proving that the Instructions involved a violation of established law, as well as of the national faith. 117 The press laboured with a twofold object; to keep up the resistance of the settlers, by strenuously denouncing the breach of faith; and to allay the ferment among the natives by scoffing at the very idea of the Instructions being ever practically enforced. Its conductors even went so far as to suppress, for a while, the spoliation clauses, while giving publication to the remainder instructions, for the sake of keeping back from the natives direct and positive knowledge of what had been prepared against them. But sinister rumours spread; most dangerous excitation arose among the natives; and the turmoil was allayed only by the reiterated assurances of their teachers that the Queen, when proper representations should have been made, would never suffer the Instructions to be carried out.

The Governor stood alone on the other side. He had by this time resolved to maintain that no breach of treaty was

contemplated by the Instructions. Lord Grey had informed him, in the despatch which covered the Charter and Instructions, that –

No apparent advantage could be suffered to weigh against the evil of acting in a manner either really, or even apparently, inconsistent with good faith;

while prescribing, elsewhere, the exact form in which faith was to be broken. Governor Grey took his stand upon the apophthegm, ignoring the positive order. 118 He discovered that his Lordship had been "entirely misunderstood;" that is to say, by the whole body of Settlers, by the Missionaries, by the Judges, by the Bishop, by the Press, within the Colony; and, in England, by the organs of the New Zealand Company, by the Society for the Protection of the Aborigines, in Doctors' Commons and the Inns of Court. When the excitement among the natives had become alarming, he was

82 Allusion has been already made [page 57] to the native "seers," – persons supposed to be gifted with second sight. Without pretending to offer a solution, I take occasion to preserve four perfectly well authenticated instances of the seeming possession of such a faculty.

During the time that Walker and Heke were in conflict, as mentioned above, and before the arrival of the troops, Matenga Ngatai, of Kawakawa, a christian native residing at Paihia, said to be a matakite [seer], did give a distinct account of what was passing, or just about to pass, inland. As a christian, he emphatically denied being either a priest [tohunga], a dreamer of dreams, or a prophet. (The tohunga has power to bring to pass by enchantment; the dreamer is one who foretells by revelations communicated during sleep.) Ngatai made no such pretensions, but had the gift, to coin a word, of second-hearing. He heard distant sounds or cries; by comparing which with passing events, he was used to interpret. On this occasion, he declared to hearing cries inland. Being questioned, he said that there would be immediately a fight between Heke and Walker, – that so many would be killed on the one side, so many on the other; distinguishing chiefs from common men. Asked how he distinguished the cries; he said, "a common man makes repeated outcry [honotonu]; a chief, but one." Mr. Henry Williams, junior, made a note of what had passed, resolving to stand by and ascertain what really did or would occur. The next day, riding inland, he met his brother Edward and Mr. George Clarke, posting down with news. They asked him, had he heard the news? This being a fair opportunity for testing Ngatai's gift, he replied, "I have not; but, before you tell me any thing, I will tell you what has taken place." He proceeded to repeat Ngatai's words. Mr. Clarke said, – "Oh, you have heard all about it." Mr. Henry Williams then gave the source of his information; upon which the answer was, "merely transpose the sides, – Walker for Heke, and you have the exact account of what has taken place."

We are told that similar inversion, as in a mirror, sometimes characterises clair-voyance.

The same gentleman was some while after talking to Ngatai, making light of this faculty. Ngatai said that he made no profession to any thing, but could not help hearing the cries. "There now," said He, "there; I hear over that way;" pointing in the direction of Manawaora. The native bystanders, full of expectation, gathered in, "What is it?" "Nothing to you," said Ngatai, "it is a white man. It is on the seaside; among the seaweed; on the rocks; it is a tutua [common man] by the repeated outcry." Some hours after came a boat from Manawaora to fetch medical aid for a man who had been gored by a cow. Archdeacon Williams went, and dressed the wound. Three days after, further aid was asked. This time Mr. Henry Williams went, in a four-oared boat, manned by natives. The question of prediction arose by the way, and the saying of Ngatai, not yet understood to apply to the wounded European. Mr. Henry Williams made light of modern predictions, instancing this, – that a white man was going to be killed. Matiu Poutu was pulling stroke-oar. After a pause, he said, "where are we going to?" Not seeing the drift of his question, Mr. Williams said, "to Manawaora." "What for?" "To tend the man who was gored." Matiu replied, "we have not yet returned." When they did return, they brought back the corpse for interment.

In these two instances, the events were probably synchronous with their announcement. But in a third, equally well authenticated, prevision was manifested. In this instance, Ngatai named two chiefs, friends of his own, who were with the native allies before Ruapekapeka pa, – Matiu Hoia, a chief of Karetu, related to Pomare, and Rehuata, a Ngatiawa. These two, said Ngatai, will be killed. (The Maori word mate corresponds to the Irish "kilt," – killed outright, or badly hurt.) Some of those who heard him, beleaving implicitly, posted off to Ruapekapeka, to warn the marked men of their danger. Hoia and Rehuata, thinking to give the slip to fate, quitted the camp, returning to the depot at Kawakawa. But fate was not to be so baulked: as usual, it followed hard upon. Hoia, hearing of misconduct on the part of his wife, shot himself that night. Rehuata, detected with a Hokianga woman, wife to one of our native allies, was tied up, beaten almost to death, and, but for a rescue by Europeans, would have been killed.

Another instance is on the authority of the Chief Judge of the Native Lands Court, Mr. Fenton, who was himself in Waikato at the time.

Two Europeans, Frank Phelps and his mate, named Keeleher, were at work on timber at the Awaroa, – the stream that all but connects the Waikato river with the Manukau harbour. They were cross-cutting a log, while a Maori associate, of the Ngatitipa tribe, was felling a tree, hard by. Suddenly, the Maori laid down his axe. Asked what was the matter, he said, – . "I have just seen – – – (the name is forgotten) standing on the other side of the tree. I see him now, close to you." The Europeans said that they could not see any one. The Maori replied, – "then I know that he is mate" [dead or dying]. He immediately got into his canoe, and paddled across the Waikato to his tribal settlement, Tihorewaru. Nearing the village, the first sound he heard was the wail for the dead. He had been many days at the Awaroa, and had left the deceased in perfect health.

83 The natives speak of the engagement as the fight at Puketutu.

84 John Hobbs pointed out natives in the fern. Kawiti; said he. No, said the soldiers; Tamati Waka. John Hobbs snatched a musket, and fired at the party, whose character was immediately shewn. So the engagement began. This, however, the fight at Puketutu, was only a by-battle. The honour of the day turned upon the holding or the loss of the pa, where Heke was in command. Mawhe was Heke's fight; Ohaeawai, Pene Taui's; and Ruapekapeka, Kawiti's.

85 Ngatihine were outside when the rockets were being fired, and were then first made aware that an attack was about to be made. The soldiers had nearly outflanked them. They rushed to attack the natives, and the engagement began at about fifty yards distance. Three were killed, Taura, Kawiti's son; Kuiapo, Raewera, and Puroto, relatives; Ruku, of Roroa; Pouri, nephew of Haki Taipa, chief of Ngarehauata, Ngawhitu; Parata Koti; Heki Tapua, a slave; about twenty-five in all.

In the pa was killed, Matu, a chief, a relative to Pomare.

86 He recovered, as Maories do in a wonderful way from gunshot wounds, and lived to be baptised at seventy.

87 Intemperate of language, but brave as steel. A lock of hair was cut from his head, where he lay, as a relic for his friends, by the man whom he had branded as a traitor. He went up in his cotton drawers; a strange freak, which I have heard thus accounted for. Satisfied, of his own knowledge, that the assault must end in disaster, he is said to have expressed himself to that effect, and to have been met by some observation as to personal courage, which drove him wild.

From Mr. J. P. Dumoulin, attached to the Commissariat, to whom I had written, a somewhat different version was received.

"You are aware that poor Philpotts [for a reason assigned] was not likely to be on reliable terms with Despard. He may have expressed an opinion that the storming of Ohaeawai pa would end in disaster; in fact, every one of us believed that; but that such a remark was made by Philpotts, I am not aware. Although in command of the Naval Brigade, he was not officially so at the assault. The Naval Brigade was attached to Major Macpherson, of the 99th. The circumstances connected with the mad start in his drawers will be conclusive. The attacking columns paraded, and finally marched at 3 p.m. A short time previously I left the camp for the knoll, a few hundred yards off, (on the top of which a brass 6-pounder was placed, and at the base a 32-pounder naval gun,) for the purpose of witnessing the assault. On arriving at the naval gun, Philpotts overtook me, and said, – "Here, Mullins, pull these trousers off; I don't want to die a soldier." (They were black cloth, red stripe, soldier's trousers.) He sat on the gun carriage, and I hauled the trousers off, over his boots. He then drew his sword, threw the scabbard into the fern; his forage cap, a soldier's, after the scabbard; and left, attired in a sailor's blue woollen shirt, tight cotton drawers, boots, and naked sword. He followed Major Macpherson's attacking column, which passed us a short distance off. I soon followed Philpotts, instead of going to the top of the knoll; and when within sixty or seventy yards from the pa, I stood behind a dead tree, with my watch in hand. The two attacking columns were Major Bridge, 58th, with the light companies, 58th and 99th; Major Macpherson, 99th, with the grenadier companies. The reserve column under Colonel Hulme, mixed. On the two former reaching the pa, to within twenty-five yards, they received, nearly simultaneously, a fearful volley from the enemy, which killed Captain Grant, and caused a havock in a body of nearly four hundred of the finest of troops, which threw the whole of the two columns into a mass of confusion. The natives continued independent firing, which killed Philpotts, who, with Grant, fell as sketched in next page.

When Philpotts was killed, an attempt to escalade was made by the ladder party; to effect what, I know not, nor any one else, then, or now. One of ;them, a good looking young sailor of the "Hazard," reached the top of the first row of palisading, tripped, tumbled over, and was riddled. The first and second rows of the palisading were three feet apart, the passage between having no direct communication with either the interior or the exterior of the pa."

Some days previous to the assault, it was suggested to the commanding officer that a breach might be effected by powder bags. Philpotts volunteered to perform that duty, for which he was snubbed. He then, out of bravado, left the camp, in mid-day, unarmed, and reached the pa to within a few yards; when a native climbed the second row of palisades, and called out, in broken English, – "go back, Toby, or else you will be shot." I was an eye-witness to this piece of foolery. Philpotts was attired in a blue shirt, and (fancy) a tall white felt hat.

[Plan of attack at Ohaeawai]

88 In Colonel Despard's official despatch are these words: – "I must here remark, that the hatchets and axes, as well as the ropes for pulling down the stockade, and the ladders, were all left behind by those appointed to carry them; and to this circumstance I attribute the main cause of the failure."

There must be some mistake or overstatement here: the attempt to escalade having been actually made. But supposing the outer palisades surmounted, what was to be done with the inner one, the intervening space enfiladed?

89 Of Mahurehure, Residence, Waima.

90 Moses Tawhai was one of the most vehement in protest. The story of his remonstrance with Colonel Despard is too good, pace viri tanti, to be lost. Mr. Dumoulin tells it.

"On the morning of the 2nd, Despard ordered a retreat to Waimate; the few tents, stores, and tools, to be burned or destroyed, and the ammunition to be buried, sufficient transport for all in one trip not being available. When the report reached our natives, a number of them, headed by Mohi Tawhai, made straight for Despard's tent to remonstrate. They urged the bad effect of leaving the dead unrecovered; they said that the hostile natives would discover the ammunition, and kill more soldiers with it; but could make no impression. Mohi Tawhai at last shewed anger, and used a disagreeable expression. Meurant, the interpreter, unwilling to repeat it, began to boggle. The Colonel's suspicions were aroused; he thought the interpreter was playing him false. 'Tell me instantly, sir, what the native says.' 'Nothing of any consequence, sir,' replied Meurant. Thereupon Despard flew into one of his outrageous passions, frightening the poor man into bewilderment. Meurant fought off as long as he could; and at last, in desperation, replied, – 'well, sir, if you will have it, Moses says that you'r a hold hass.'"

Overborne this time, some few days after he relapsed. The following notes are supplied by a clergyman who does not wish his name to be paraded, but who, as he himself observes, will be recognised by Colonel Balneavis and others who were at the pa.

"I copy from my journal.

"July 7. Left early for the camp. On my arrival was met by Lieutenant Wilmot, who told me that the Colonel had determined upon returning to the Waimate. He begged me, if I had any influence with the Colonel to dissuade him from such a 'mad act.' Mr. Clendon also confirmed what Wilmot had said. I went as usual, to report myself to the Colonel, and he informed me of his intention. I ventured to point out what I thought would be the consequence of such a step. I was not thanked for my advice, but was glad to find afterwards that the order had been countermanded. Walker and all the leading men of his party were much opposed to the step, and the former gave the Colonel to understand that he and his men did not intend to follow his example.

"I was able, on good authority, to inform the Colonel that the enemy were making preparations to abandon their pa. The pa was vacated the following Thursday night and Friday morning.

"I find also from my journal that, on the morning after the attack on the pa, Colonel Despard expressed the difficulty he felt in holding his position, after having more than one third [one fourth?] of his whole force killed or disabled. I then suggested his removing all the wounded who could bear the journey to the ships in the Kerikeri river, and engaged to do the best I could for such as could not be removed so far, if he would send them to the Waimate. In each case it was done as I recommended, and about thirty who were badly wounded, several of them mortally, were in hospital at Waimate."

91 The body had been mutilated, for the performance of some heathen rite; and the defenders of the pa were ashamed.

92 Governor FitzRoy waived that right, under certain restrictions, thereby allaying native discontent, and saving the town of Auckland. The waiver was revoked by his successor; but the enfranchisement of native land was finally decreed by the New Zealand legislature in 1862. It had become no longer possible to stave it off.

93 Against this procedure, an outcry was raised by those who were unable to look beyond the exigency of the moment, their fear for personal safety having got the better of them. It was through the well-judged confidence displayed by the Governor that Walker's adhesion to our cause was determined.

94 As a matter of course, he incurred the hostility of the New Zealand Company, for declining to play into their hands. Against the Company's opinion may be placed that of Lord Stanley, speaking in the House of Lords, (February 29, 1848,) in reply to disparaging remarks by Lord Grey: –

"Never was there a man influenced by more honourable, more high, and praiseworthy principles than Captain FitzRoy. He took the Government of New Zealand at great personal loss to himself; by taking it, he sacrificed the position he had previously held in this country; he relinquished much which few men would willingly give up, for the purpose of doing that which he believed would be for the public good:"

95 The occupation of Missionary stations by the troops, was viewed with great apprehension. The mission families were entirely at the mercy of the natives, and their hope of safety depended upon their being able to maintain the appearance of neutrality. But military occupation involved the use of missionary oxen, drays, and whatever else belonging to them could be pressed into the service of operations against the natives. Of course, if a station were found necessary for strategic purposes, it would have to be occupied by troops; war is a stern exacter, and takes small note of danger to individuals. Nothing but destruction of the stations could be expected. That the native insurgents should have been able to appreciate and allow for the position of the Mission, between two fires, is proof, not only of their own good sense, but also of the deep-seated influence which the Mission had acquired.

96 This was denied in the Legislative Council; it is now, after enquiry, deliberately affirmed. On the occasion of a pension being voted to Thomas Walker Nene, for services rendered in the Northern war, Mr. William Brown, a member of the Legislative Council, suggested that a pension should be granted to Moses Tawhai also, this particular instance of service, among others, being cited. For such proposal, (originally suggested by myself,) the honourable member was severely rated by the Governor, who treated it as a calumnious charge; in a style, moreover, that was not strictly parliamentary. Then, when Mr. Brown rose to make good his assertion, he was put down by the Governor, (President of the Council,) on a point of order, as having already spoken. Even the ruling of the President was incorrect; for the making a personal explanation would have been strictly in order. But, substantiation would have been inconvenient. Mr. Brown was one of the most severely truthful and worthy men that ever set foot in the colony, but had the misfortune to differ frequently from Governor Grey as to matters of fact.

In order to place the matter beyond the reach even of cavil, I wrote to Moses Tawhai himself, asking an account of what took place. Before he could reply, he was killed by a fall from his horse, at Ohaeawai. But I received the following letter from the minister at Waima, through whom the letter to Moses had been transmitted.

Waima, April, 1875.

Dear Sir, – I should have written before this, to inform you that I had no opportunity of explaining your letter to poor old Mohi for about a week after I received it; and then, as you are aware, his death occurred, most unexpectedly; so that his own statement in the matter can never more be obtained. I have asked Johnny Moses, both before and since his father's death, and he assured me, on both occasions, that Mohi did prevent the attack on the pa, and that he was present at the time, as were many others, who are able to bear testimony to the fact. As he is in your neighbourhood somewhere at present, you might put some questions to him on the subject, and find out who the parties are that can confirm his assertions.

Poor old Mohi Tawai! We shall miss him very much in this part; as will also the Government.

I remain, dear Sir,
Yours truly,
WM. ROWSE.
Hugh Carleton, Esq.

Further evidence is adduced in a letter from Mr. J. P. Dumoulin, one of the smartest officers in the Commissariat, who was present. He says: –

"Moses Tawhai is the native who prevented Colonel Despard from delivering an assault at Ruapekapeka similar to that at Ohaeawai, before a breach had been made. Moses having heard of the Colonel's intention, went to the entrance of the road, cut through a dense forest from No. 2 stockade; distance, 344 yards from the pa, measured by myself. Moses planted himself at the entrance of the road, with legs and arms stretched out; saying to Colonel Despard, – 'How many more soldiers do you want to kill? You shall not pass by me.' This caused abandonment of the attack. A short time after this scene, Sir George Grey and Captain Graham, H.M.S. 'Castor,' arrived from Ruapekapeka camp, at Puketutu's pa, on the Kawakawa river, where I was posted to push forward the provisions and warlike materials. The object of this visit was to secure one of the four bullock drays, under my control, to convey a 32-pounder gun, which would be sent for to the shipping, if conveyance could be secured. The request coming from such authority, I felt no hesitation in placing the dray at disposal as requested, though having to take a serious responsibility upon myself in forwarding only half rations; but I felt sure that in case of a row I should be supported. The gun was on the dray by daylight the following morning; the carriage was dragged by the blue-jackets. On arrival at camp, Colonel Despard became savage; I was sent for and asked, – 'how dared I give conveyance for the gun without his orders?' I explained, and was ordered back. I merely name this in support of the account of Moses' doings."

This note is long; but is called for in justice to a leading man in the Colony, wrongfully accused of untruth.

97 The despatches concerning the capture of this pa convey a most incorrect impression. The following extracts from the journal of Colonel Balneavis (then Lieutenant) are unadorned.

December 13, 1845. The whole force, soldiers, sailors, and natives, about 1,700 strong, advanced from Waiomio. Three 32-pounders, one 18-pounder, two howitzers, one 6-pounder field piece, three Cohorn mortars, and rockets.

December 24. Governor Grey arrived.

December 27. Encamped within a mile of the pa; took up a position in front.

December 31. Lieutenant Bland, of the royal navy, with a 32-pounder, brought down the enemy's flag-staff, at the first shot; distance, 900 yards. Not a chance shot, for he had given notice of his aim.

January 2, 1846. Our natives challenged the enemy to come out and fight. A severe engagement took place. The soldiers ordered not to interfere. This order was issued with a view to testing our natives, – whether they were really in earnest. The enemy were beaten back into the pa, with great loss; five killed, thirteen wounded. There was some loss on our side also.

January 10. Our two stockades being finished, and all the guns mounted, we opened fire at 11 a.m.; kept it up during the day, and at intervals during the night. The effect was as anticipated, the angle fired at being much shattered. Enemy seen going out at the back of the pa with pikaus [burthens on the back] towards the wood in rear. Fire not returned; enemy waiting for us to assault, as at Ohaeawai. During this night I was on picket at the main stockade. Not hearing the usual noise after midnight, I went early next morning, the 11th, to report this to the next stockade, occupied by Captain Thompson, who was in command of the picket. He directed me to go and report to Colonel Despard. I was sure the natives had left, or were trying an ambuscade.

January 11. I reported to Colonel Despard; our natives, hearing the state of the case, stole up, as natives only can do. The pa had been breached; and, it being Sunday, not many of the enemy were in the place. They were terrified at our fire. Our natives got in without opposition, and surprised the few in the pa. Two parties of soldiers, of fifty men each, were immediately sent from both stockades. I could not go, as Captain Thompson was away, and I was left in temporary command of the stockades, one hundred and fifty soldiers and sailors from the camp. Mr. Symonds, of the 99th, was with me; we tossed up which should go, he or I, after Captain Thompson's return. He won the toss, and I had to remain.

Enemy driven out; they made several attempts to retake the place, but were eventually driven back to the wood surrounding the pa. The action was kept up for nearly three hours, more ammunition being sent up. Had our men not gone out to the back of the pa, exposing themselves without necessity to the enemy, who were in and behind trees, very little loss would have occurred. Enemy completely driven away, carrying their dead and wounded with them, as we found by the traces of blood. One prisoner was taken by us; he was a wounded native, of Heke's tribe, a fine young man. The friendlies sought to kill him; we had to put a sentry over him in the tent. Our friendlies fought well; had some wounded, – among others, William Walker. Five soldiers and seven sailors killed; thirty wounded. The enemy must have lost many.

Pa burnt. Ruapekapeka found a most extraordinary place, – a model of engineering, with a treble stockade, and huts inside, these also fortified. A large embankment in rear of it, full of under-ground holes for the men to live in; communications with subterranean passages enfilading the ditch. Two guns were taken, – a small one, and an 18-pounder, the latter dismantled by our fire. It appeared that they were in want of food and water. It was the strongest pa ever built in New Zealand.

98 The sailors were among the first; but the actual discovery was made, as already mentioned, by Walker Turau.

99

| Killed. | Wounded. |
|  | Officers | Men.
Seamen | 7 | 1 | 14
Marines | 2 |  | 3
58th Regiment | 2 |  | 10
99th Regiment | 1 |  | 1
Volunteers |  |  | 1

100 The following are all that I can hear of among the natives. For a nominal list of those killed in the Northern war, see Appendix.
Te Whau, of Ngatitu, Ohaeawai, old chief – a brave, a matua of Heke's.
Houmatua, a chief – a brave; son of Te Atua Haere, of Ngatitautahi, and cousin of Heke's.
Rewiri Nohe, a chief, a brave, of Ngatitu, Ohaeawai, nephew of Te Whau's.
Piripi Te Pae, a chief of Ngatiwaiharo, Mataraua, a cousin of Heke's.
Rimi Piheora, a chief of Te Roroa, nephew of Pumuka's.
Ripiro, a chief of Kapotai, Waikare.
Wharepapa, son of Ripiro, of Kapotai.
Te Horo, of Kapotai.
Huarahi, a chief of Ngatihine, relative of Kawiti's.
Te Maunga, of Ngatihine, Waiomio.
Tuhaia, a chief from Ngunguru.
Te Aoro, a chief of Kapotai, Waikare.

101 Had the natives studied the history of the Maccabees, they would have known better. But they were not indulged with the Apocrypha. I have not a copy at hand; Josephus must do as well.

"But when Bacchides knew that Jonathan had pitched his camp among the lakes of Jordan, he observed when their Sabbath-day came, and then assaulted him, as supposing that he would not fight because of the law. But he (Jonathan) exhorted his companions to fight; and told them that their lives were at stake, since they were encompassed by the river and by their enemies, and had no way to escape; for that their enemies pressed upon them before, and the river was behind them. – Antiquities, book xiii., 3.

102 E quando pure gli bisognasse procedere contro al sangue di qualcuno, farlo quando vi sia giustificatione conveniente, e causa manifesta; ma sopra tutto astenersi dalla robba d'altri, perche gli huomini dimenticano piu tosto la morte del padre, che la perdita del patrimenio.
Libro del Principe, Cap. xvii.

103 Meaning that we come off quits, – implying that he was willing to consider that there had been as many deaths on one side as on the other; consequently, that there was no revenge [utu] required, to hinder peace.

104 Kemara, of Ngapuhi. Places of residence, the Ti, and the Rawhiti.

105 The Church Mission Society had declined offering any candidates for ordination to the Bishop, because the Bishop stipulated that he should have the power of locating those ordained by him. Samuel was however afterwards received by the Church Mission Society, as one of their own Missionaries.

106 The New Zealand Company alleged that they had paid for that piece of land three times over. They might have paid thirty times, but if to persons who were not the real owners, there would still have been resistance to occupation. The original error was followed by mismanagement, but for which the Hutt war need not have been waged at all. The murder was the result of the proceedings of the Government. Mr. Hadfield told Governor Grey, who had consulted him, that he had already spoken with the old men, who said that were the question between two native tribes, a murder (to draw first blood) would be the sure consequence; but that, as between Europeans and natives, they could not speak with certainty. The proceedings were persisted in, and the murder followed.

107 By Governor FitzRoy; to be presently unsettled, though only for a time, by his successor. Trinity Church, Pakaraka, is at the present moment endowed with a tenth portion the whole estate.

108 The natural consequence of the burning of the letters found in Ruapekapeka pa. What follows, namely, a leading article in an Auckland newspaper, may be taken as a sample of the results. The original, though somewhat damaging the Queen's English, is literally followed.

"TREASONABLE LETTERS.
"Among the recent proclamations, in the Government Gazette of the 24th inst., is one respecting some letters found in the pa at Ruapekapeka, – and stating that his Excellency, although aware that they were of a treasonable nature, ordered them to be consigned to the flames, without either perusing or allowing a copy to be taken of them.

"The clemency shewn towards Heke and Kawiti, upon their actual submission, and application for peace, we consider to be consistent in a noble, generous, and powerful enemy as the Queen of England; and in granting a free pardon to all concerned in the late rebellion, who may now return in peace and safety to their houses, – 'where, so long as they conduct themselves properly, they shall remain unmolested in their persons and properties,' his Excellency Governor Grey has acted wisely and humanely. But with those European traitors who have been clandestinely conspiring against the peace of the colony, and insidiously instigating the excited natives to direct, open rebellion; – we think very different policy, to complete amnesty, should be adopted. For the natives, some apology might be advanced, on account of their imperfect knowledge of what acts constitute treason and rebellion against the lawful constituted authorities; but not so for the plausible artful abettors of the rebellion, who, to serve their own individual, selfish views, and gain, cared neither to endanger the Queen's power and authority in the colony, nor to sacrifice the lives of their fellow countrymen. We consider these English traitors far more guilty, and deserving of severe punishment, than the brave natives whom they have advised and misled. Cowards and knaves, in the full sense of the terms: they have pursued their traitorous schemes, afraid to risk their own persons, yet artfully sacrificing others for their own aggrandisement, while, probably at the same time, they were hypocritically professing most zealous loyalty.

"Tranquillity and subordination are not yet sufficiently re-established in the Northern district for the local government to be magnanimously clement in its conduct towards mischievous, treasonable agitators of dissatisfied natives. It has been rumoured that investigations of these epistolary proofs and documents would have implicated some whose station and previous character ought to have dictated more correct, scrupulous behaviour towards the Maoris, and more consistent gratitude to the Queen's Government. If such be the fact, we deem it to be more powerful reason why the Governor should really know the truth, and however he might determine to deal leniently for past offences, – his knowledge of the character and extent of these treasonable acts, would operate most powerfully against future repetition. We are quite aware that the diction of this proclamation would infer that these 'large number of letters' were from natives, as 'the Governor directs it to be notified for the information of the Native Chiefs in the Northern part of the island,' – but it is well known that not a few – doubtless the most important of the tuhituhis – were from Europeans. However, the Governor may perhaps have been induced to issue the proclamation to which we have alluded, conceiving that, as the contents of these epistles were known to some, their purport and the names of the writers would not long remain a mysterious secret. In such opinion we concur, not only on that account, but for the further reason that the natives cannot long keep a secret, – and now these rebels have all received full pardon themselves, they will not scruple to talk of their rangatira pakeha correspondents."

109 Heke always refused to receive the Governor. For an amusing account of what was called "The Heke Hunt," see Southern Cross newspaper.

110 Chapter xiii, appended to the Charter of 1846. It will not be expected that the details of historical events should be included in a biography. Those who feel interested in this matter, will find them detailed, at length and with precision, in a letter from [Greek] METOIKOS to the Wellington Independent in 1852, but with a severity of animadversion that I do not care to reproduce in this Memoir.

111 By this was understood, not a giving of what is called "the refusal" to the Crown; but the sole right of purchase; thus extinguishing competition, together with the result of competition, – a market value for the commodity.

112 About three-pence an acre was at first the regulation price in the North. The Southern Island (I adopt Bishop Selwyn's estimate) was alienated at the rate of a mite an acre. The private purchases of the Missionaries may be said to range at from 3s. 6d. to 5s. an acre, if the two purchases (Fairburn's and Taylor's) made for the purpose of causing peace between contending tribes, be excluded.

113 In the Maori version, even the chieftainship [rangatiratanga] over the lands.

114 Despatch from Lord Stanley, Secretary for the Colonies, to Governor Grey, June 13, 1845: –

"I repudiate, with the utmost earnestness, the doctrines maintained by some, that the treaties which we have entered into with these people are to be considered as a mere blind to amuse and deceive ignorant savages. In the name of the Queen, I utterly deny that any treaty entered into and ratified by her Majesty's command was, or could have been made in a spirit thus disingenuous, or for a purpose thus unworthy. You will honourably and scrupulously fulfil the conditions of the Treaty of Waitangi."

115 At Waitara, the purchase by Government of a piece of land from an individual owner, without the general consent of the tribe, was treated by the natives as an act of confiscation by the Government. We thus became involved in a long, wasting, and bloody war.

116 It is observable that only the Wesleyans got a civil answer. They received an elaborate reply from Mr. Under-Secretary Merivale himself, which, however, like all other replies, sinks the main point at issue, diverging into an essay upon the Queen's right of pre-emption.

117 His arguments were subsequently confirmed by Dr. Phillimore, of Doctors' Commons, and by Mr. Shirley Woolmer, Barrister of the Middle Temple, whose opinions had been taken by the Society for the Protection of the Aborigines.

118 Mr. Under-Secretary Merivale made a somewhat better point in his reply to the Wesleyans. By better, I mean, more plausible. But it will not bear examination. His argument is as follows: –

"The Protector of Aborigines is required to transmit to the Registrar a statement of the extent of all claims to Native lands, whether by Tribes or Individuals, in his district, for provisional registration. But no native claim can be finally registered, unless it be established that the right has been acknowledged by some act of some Executive, or some judgment of a Court, or that the land has been occupied in a manner which the Instructions go on to specify. Now the Treaty of Waitangi is unquestionably an act of the Executive Government, [the New Zealand Executive Government did not exist until the treaty had been signed,] and it appears to Lord Grey that the reasonable construction of these words would be, that wherever a claim had been made to land, on behalf of a tribe which had been a party to the treaty, and it was established that the land so claimed had belonged to the tribe at the date of the treaty, the claim would be upheld by final registration."

A most ingenious after-thought; but easily disposed of, in more ways than one. The treaty, if upheld, would nullify the whole of those Instructions; therefore, the Instructions were not framed with a view to the treaty being upheld. Moreover, there is another and worse condition, which Mr. Merivale touches in the most transitory manner, and then lets fall. The land claimed must have been "occupied in a manner which the Instructions go on to specify:" – that is to say, cultivated: meaning that the natives should retain the worn-out land; the Crown to take the virgin land.

Again, Mr. Merivale confines his argument to native claimants who have "been a party to the treaty;" which means, that those who did not sign lose their lands; though they can be hanged as rebels (as Martin Luther was), on the ground of the signatures obtained binding all the rest of the population.

But, after all, Mr. Merivale himself does not attempt to shew what right there was to substitute a conditional tenure, for unconditional possession, guaranteed by treaty.

All this may seem tedious, the defence both of Lord Grey and of Governor Grey having been tacitly abandoned, from the time that the power of the New Zealand Company dissolved. But I desire to leave not a loop-hole for evasion.

[Pages 151-200]

urged to allay it, by declaring, publicly and officially, that no land whatever should be seized. This he refused to do, on the ground that such an assurance would be an admission, and be a reflection on Lord Grey. The Secretary of State was to be tenderly used, but the Colony forgotten.

Much angry correspondence ensued; the Governor firing despatches against everybody, the Bishop and the Chief Justice included, in defence of the Secretary of State, even going so far as to deny the existence of turmoil among the natives; an assertion which was rebutted by the Bishop in words that would have been designated by Touchstone as the "reproof valiant:" – "If, then," says the Bishop, "on that particular 7th July, on which your Excellency's two despatches and my protest were forwarded, there was no existing ground for apprehension, that day can only be looked upon as a happy interval of repose, preceded and followed by fears on the same subject, and in the same quarters;" – as ingenious a mode of offering a flat contradiction, without transgressing the bounds of courtesy, as could be well imagined. Lord Grey indited a waspish despatch against the Bishop, presently followed by an apology, in which, however, the main question was still avoided.

The Chief Justice did not come off scatheless; though not, as was predicted, removed from office. But the requisite impression had been made at the Colonial Office. They shrank from enforcing their own commands.

The general result was this: that a native outbreak against what Lord Grey was pleased to term "the mere expression of an opinion," was averted, though at one time imminent, by the joint efforts of the Bishop and the Missionaries, and their assurance that the Royal Instructions would not be acted on. The Governor, notwithstanding his declaration of their harmlessness, never attempted to bring them into force; they lay dormant, though still a disgrace to the New Zealand Statute Book, 119 until superseded by the Constitution

Act of 1852. But the Governor had relieved the Secretary of State from the mortification of having to confess a wrong-headed and improvident mistake.

As usual, when trouble was impending, Archdeacon Henry's aid was sought. On receipt of the Instructions, Bishop Selwyn looked to the Archdeacon as his right hand man; and though he evidently felt that he was getting himself, together with all who might follow him, into political difficulty, he writes as a man who was satisfied that his coadjutor would not flinch.

Bishop Selwyn to Archdeacon Henry Williams.
St. John's College, June 30, 1847.

My dear Archdeacon, – A letter from Lord Grey to his Excellency Captain Grey, which has lately arrived, and which you have probably seen in the public newspapers, distinctly denies the right of the New Zealanders to their unoccupied lands, – in entire violation, as I conceive, of the Treaty of Waitangi.

As you were commissioned by Captain Hobson to interpret and explain the treaty to the natives, both in the North and the South, and were expressly directed by him in his official letter, not to allow any one to sign till he fully understood it, I hereby request you to inform me in writing what you explained to the natives, and how they understood it.

I cannot let the matter rest here; and that I am resolved to act with you and the other members of the Mission in defence of the treaty, you may gather from the following Petition which I have prepared, and shall place in the hands of a confidential friend in England, to be used whenever he shall find that I have been forced by my duty to the natives' interest into a position incompatible

with my tenure of salary from Government. Of course, you will consider the document private, and intended only to give you some encouragement in a matter which must distress you even more than me.

"To the Honourable the Commons House of Parliament.

"The Honourable Petition of George Augustus, by Divine Permission Bishop of New Zealand,

"Sheweth,

"That (reciting the date and terms of the treaty).

"That (reciting the repeated approbation of it by her Majesty's Government).

"That the following clergymen in this diocese, members of the Church Mission, the Revs. H. Williams, W. Williams, A. N. Brown, R. Maunsell, R. Taylor, were actively employed by Captain Hobson in interpreting and explaining to the native chiefs the principle and object of the treaty, which (in Captain Hobson's words to the Rev. H. Williams) 'they must clearly understand before you permit them to sign.'

"That, upon the literal construction of the words of the treaty above quoted, and the repeated declarations of her Majesty's Government at home and in New Zealand, and upon the uniform assurance of the clergymen employed as interpreters, I have felt it my duty to deny most positively and emphatically the accusations brought against the English Government in my nearing in all parts of New Zealand, – – of a concealed intention to appropriate to itself, without satisfaction or payment, the whole of the unoccupied lands of the native people.

"That, having thus united myself with the clergy of the Church Mission in one distinct declaration, upon the truth or falsehood of which our credit and influence with the native people must stand or fall, and being unable to see any other just or intelligible construction of the Treaty of Waitangi than that which we have uniformly maintained; and being resolved, so help me God, to use all legal and constitutional measures, befitting my station, to uphold every right and privilege guaranteed to the natives of New Zealand by the Treaty of Waitangi, and belonging to them as British subjects.

"I hereby humbly request your Honourable House that if it shall be the pleasure of the Imperial Parliament to set aside the Treaty of Waitangi, or to carry into execution any other construction of it than that which we have uniformly explained to the native people, your Honourable House will be pleased to release me from my position as an Officer of the Colonial Government, by discontinuing the annual vote for the payment of my salary as Bishop of New Zealand."

You will conclude that I mean to act, and I have no doubt of the

co-operation of you and all the other members of the Mission. With kind remembrances to Mrs. Williams and all yours,

I remain,
Your affectionate Friend and Brother,
G. A. NEW ZEALAND.

By the Archdeacon's reply, it will be seen that he was not blind to the risk incurred by taking a prominent part in the matter. He knew well that the Mission was followed by the deep enmity of the New Zealand Company; that Lord Grey was engaged in carrying out the Company's doctrines; and that the disfavour of a Secretary of State is likely to be productive of ill result; but he did not then know, what he subsequently learned to his cost, that Governor Grey would consider it his duty to stand up for his official chief. The Archdeacon's own duty was manifest, – to stand up for the treaty – that is to say, for the Colony, and he did so. It will presently be seen that when, in after times, he appealed to Lord Grey's sense of justice for an open enquiry into charges that had been brought against the Mission, he was refused, not in the language of official courtesy, but with pointed and sarcastic affront.

Archdeacon Henry Williams to the Bishop.
Paihia, July 12, 1847.

Your letter of the 30th June I have just received, and hasten to reply by the return of the "Albert." ,

Earl Grey's despatch to his Excellency the Governor I have seen, and am truly grieved to find that the Queen of Great Britain can be thus dishonoured. I have always maintained to the aborigines that her Majesty's word was sacred and inviolable. This treaty between her Majesty the Queen and the chiefs of this country was made in the presence of the whole world, and now, by the flourish of the pen of her Majesty's Minister, seems to be revoked and scattered to the winds. In like manner as Tahiti, so is New Zealand to fall a sacrifice to the avaricious designs of a company, whose views are said to be confirmed by royal mandate after a public and unexpected indignity towards her Majesty the Queen. I cannot be surprised at the very light estimate in which the Missionaries are held who took so prominent a part in the explanations of this treaty between her Majesty and the chiefs of New Zealand. That we should fall a sacrifice, may be desired, but there are further points for consideration: the extermination of the native race, with proportional numbers of British subjects, who must fall with the aborigines in their struggle for freedom. As I was satisfied

that I was discharging my duty as a loyal subject of her Majesty, and as a faithful Pastor of the aborigines, I executed the duty requested of me by her Majesty's representative. Captain Hobson, and am now prepared for consequences. As I did explain the nature of the treaty in 1840, I must continue to explain, in self-defence; for I must not be accessory to such deception, but continue to stand upon the treaty alone.

By what we have seen, we may infer what will be the extent of indignation of the most faithful of native allies, when they find they have been thus deluded, and made the dupes of such duplicity, after such repeated assurance made to them, in her Majesty's name, of her Majesty's determination to preserve faithfully the treaty entered into with those at Waitangi in 1840, strengthened by that shew of friendship towards some of the chiefs, which now they must read with a clearer understanding.

I feel thankful that your Lordship has noticed this most painful and humiliating subject. Of our support your Lordship may be fully assured.

My view of the Treaty of Waitangi is, as it ever was, that it was the Magna Charta of the aborigines of New Zealand.

Your Lordship has requested information in writing of what I explained to the natives, and how they understood it. I confined myself solely to the tenor of the treaty.

That the Queen had kind wishes towards the chiefs and people of New Zealand,

And was desirous to protect them in their rights as chiefs, and rights of property,

And that the Queen was desirous that a lasting peace and good understanding should be preserved with them.

That the Queen had thought it desirable to send a Chief as a regulator of affairs with the natives of New Zealand.

That the native chiefs should admit the Government of the Queen throughout the country, from the circumstance that numbers of her subjects are residing in the country, and are coming hither from Europe and New South Wales.

That the Queen is desirous to establish a settled government, to prevent evil occurring to the natives and Europeans who are now residing in New Zealand without law.

That the Queen therefore proposes to the chiefs these following articles:

Firstly, – The chiefs shall surrender to the Queen for ever the Government of the country, for the preservation of order and peace.

Secondly, – The Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the chiefs and tribes, and to each individual native, their full rights as chiefs, their rights of possession of their lands, and all their other property of every kind and degree.

The chiefs wishing to sell any portion of their lands shall give to the Queen the right of pre-emption of their lands.

Thirdly, – That the Queen, in consideration of the above, will protect the natives of New Zealand, and will impart to them all the rights and privileges of British subjects.

The Instruction of Captain Hobson was, "not to allow any one to sign the treaty till he fully understood it;" to which instruction I did most strictly attend. I explained the treaty clause by clause at the signing of the same, and again to all the natives in this part of the Island previously to the destruction of Kororareka, on March 11, 1845; I maintained the faith of the treaty and the integrity of the British Government, and that the word of her Majesty was sacred, and could not be violated.

That the natives to whom I explained the treaty understood the nature of the same, there can be no doubt; for by this explanation alone I was enabled to give considerable check to the proceedings of the natives in arms, and to suppress the irritation excited by unprincipled Europeans as to the intention of her Majesty's Government, who had spread the report that the country was seized in her Majesty's name. By this explanation many tribes remained neutral, and others acted with the troops as allies of the British military force. I do further state that, until the very minute explanation given by me at a large meeting of the Ngapuhi chiefs in Paroa, in January, 1845, Waka and other friendly chiefs were perfectly confounded as to the intention of the Government. My explanation relieved their mind, and preserved order.

I feel at a perfect loss how to act, having repeatedly promised to the chiefs that, should there be danger of their fears being realised, I would state the same to them. I have boldly and fearlessly pleaded the honour and integrity of her Majesty's Government; when that has evaporated, what is to be done? To allow the natives to continue in ignorance, appears to me he tino mea kohuru.

The active part taken in this matter by the Mission did not tend to diminish the dislike towards them which Lord Grey shared with the New Zealand Company. His opportunity came at last; and, as will presently be seen, he was not slow to seize it.

PLAIN FACTS.

Sensitive to the extreme on questions affecting personal honour, Henry Williams was unable to rest under the imputations that were being heaped upon him. But here he was in difficulty. At this time his desire was to give way to the Bishop's opinion;

and the Bishop had an aversion to any appeal to the public press. But something had to be done. In conjunction with his brother, Archdeacon William Williams, he drew up a concise statement of the main points at issue, entituled "Plain Facts." The statement was printed, but not published. Half measures are always a mistake. The Archdeacon had better have followed his own judgment, which was unerring. Even the compiler of this Memoir, though a very mole for unearthing hidden facts from under ground, was surprised, years after, by parts of the statement, when allowed to peruse it. Though no longer required for the vindication of character, it is now published for the first time, at the end of this volume, as a contribution to the early history of the Colony. 120 The mildness of expression by which the statement is distinguished is attributable to the coadjutor in the work. But every line may defy dispute.

Archdeacon William Williams to Henry Williams.
Turanga, June 26, 1847.

I have been very busy of late writing out your papers, and now, I am thankful to say, I have come to an end. A duplicate copy is made out, which I send by Mr. Baker to Auckland, who is obliged to go there to take his sick wife for medical advice. You will perceive that I have availed myself of the licence you gave me to cut off and add on as I might think proper. I have therefore omitted certain smaller matters, which would rather hinder the general effect. You would not fire leaden bullets against a stone wall. In looking over the various documents which I brought with me, I have selected a few of importance, which you had not noticed; there is nothing in the production, as it now stands, of an offensive nature; it is purely defensive, but I think may perhaps vastly annoy those who find they have committed themselves. The three principal points are, I think, well supported, and if other people are of the same mind with myself, they will be convinced that the Missionaries have been grievously dealt with, but most particularly yourself. Your letter to Major Bridge is most strong upon the point of giving information to the Government; it is not inserted, but you can have it, if thought proper. I hope that you and Mr. Busby will well consider every point, and note anything that occurs in the way of improvement. Was not Huarahi killed? and was he pikopo or heathen? Also Tihurangi, what was he? Look

over the thick book of Parliamentary Papers for the schedule of land claimed by Missionaries. We have nothing to do, of course, with persons not now in the Mission. I think the London merchants in their petition, when they talked of 193,000 acres, must have taken names at random; certainly they have very much more than we know anything about. The Governor may talk of taking away the land, but I imagine he will have some difficulty to recover the award of the Commissioners, confirmed by the late Governor, the grants withal having been given into the hands of the claimants.

Now for the matter of publication. You say in a letter to Dr. Davies that these documents are to be sent home for publication by the Church Mission Society. This I must object to after such statements as the Governor is fond of making; we must have the matter met upon the spot. Besides which, the Society might act as they did with my letters, and who would be the wiser? How can a person lift up his head in Auckland, if he is to be pointed at as one of the authors of all the troubles which have befallen the country for the last three years? Our case is a good one, and let the world be made acquainted with it. You too have done the state some service, and I would let them know it.

Perhaps – – – may not choose to print it; but there are more printers than one. I think it likely the Bishop may propose some negotiation between himself and the Governor. I object to it. Will the Governor, though convinced, make any open retractation which you can use? Not he, indeed. He is not made of such material. If the Bishop makes any objection, I shall tell him (coolly though) that it is the only condition on which I will remain in the country, that we be allowed freely to meet the charges made. The only point on which I consent to receive his opinion is with reference to any thing which might be considered harsh, which I am sure there is not. Some of our own people will, perhaps, recommend a less public course, but we shall not ask their opinion.

I should like to be behind the scenes when the Governor gets hold of the document. He will be, I think, very whakatakariri [vexed].

THE ALLIANCE OF BISHOP AND GOVERNOR.

We have now to put forth upon troubled waters, – to narrate those proceedings which culminated in the dismissal of Henry Williams from the service of the Church Mission Society. Hitherto, his career had been one of unbroken prosperity; that is to say, of continuous success among perils and troubles that

weighed as nothing in the other scale, and were powerless to disturb the happiness of a life that courted them in the discharge of duty. Now, he had to contend with imputations the most galling that could be brought against an honourable man, of abusing his clerical influence with interested motives, of "extreme untruth," of covetousness and evil-speaking, of treachery to the "suffering and complaining natives," 121 and of treason to the Crown.

Not but that loose invective had been directed against him before, often enough and loudly enough; but never, till now, by any whose position commanded attention, compelling notice and reply. 122 Reply, not necessarily from himself; for the Bishop was the natural champion of the Mission, and was implicitly trusted. Behind his broad shield the Archdeacon could have rested, leaving the Governor to exhaust himself in fruitless attack. But suddenly, a new state of things arose. The Bishop, without warning, suddenly wheeled round upon the Mission, and assailed them himself. The effect upon the mind was, to borrow a comparison from Hallam, "that of coming on deck at sea, and finding that, the ship having put about, the whole line of coast is reversed to the eye."

Thoroughly to rip up the whole question, taking every point in detail, would be an easy task. But to say so much as is absolutely required, and no more, implies an exercise of judgment that the writer may be unable to attain. On the one side, there is a reluctance (felt not only by the author, but by those around him) to revive old griefs, – to give any annoyance that can be spared, even to wrong-doers; on the other side, the duty of making plain at least so much as will prove that Archdeacon Williams took the only course that lay open to him, consistently with rectitude and with honour. As it happens, however, the necessity of proving again what has been proved already, is not urgent. During the heat of the conflict, when less delicacy was observed, – for no reparation

had then been made, each several point at issue was examined with extreme severity, every machination brought to light. 123 I shall therefore not much encumber a settled question with repetition of argument, but merely notice the main counts of the indictment, stating the general results.

The plain fact is, that Henry Williams was sacrificed to a political combination, which included the New Zealand Company; Lord Grey, their patron; 124 Governor Grey, Bishop Selwyn, and the Church Mission Society. Against these odds, in a struggle for the character of the Mission, and for nothing else, he fought, and ultimately won. Put in this plain form, the proposition is startling; but every word shall be made good.

The fons et origo malorum was, the Company's profit upon land sales. These depended upon their being able to sell at £1 an acre in the South; and they feared being undersold by Government grantees, of whose acquisitions they had formed exaggerated ideas in the North. The question was, how to destroy the grants.

It must be admitted that, to a young man seeking advancement, the winning the support of so powerful a body was a temptation. And this much is certain, that Governor Grey did not display open hostility to the Mission until after receiving the deputation from the South. Moreover, at that early period of his New Zealand career, his knowledge of the colony was very imperfect. It suffices to say, that he was absorbed into the league.

How Bishop Selwyn, in the face of his repeated declaration that, as Bishop, he had no right to interfere with private property, came to join the league, must remain an open question, though little doubt need be entertained. It is understood by those best qualified to judge, that his desire was to get the young men of the mission families into his power, by hindering them from acquiring independence. For they were the cultivators, and the real

possessors of the land. As independent proprietors, they might-please themselves; having nothing, they would be compelled to enter the Church for a living. "Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priest's offices, that I may eat a piece of bread." In hope of attaining his own object, collaterally, he lent his powerful aid to others in the more general attainment of a political object, – the sacrifice of the whole body of grantees, lay and clerical together.

The Church Mission Society behaved well at first. 125 They had already defended the land purchases, ably and unanswerably. It had been not only their interest, but their duty, to relieve their funds from the expense of maintaining the mission families. So soon as an outcry was raised, they passed resolutions, concerning the disposition of these lands, which were thankfully agreed to by the Mission. But the outcry continued still, and the Church Mission Society lost heart. With full and ample knowledge of facts, lacking nothing but courage to make good what they had hitherto maintained, they sacrificed the Mission to the prejudices of a Secretary of State; and through him, to the political and material interests of the New Zealand Company. They passed a second set of resolutions, in direct contradiction to the first, requiring compliance with the Governor's behest, under penalty of dismissal.

Such were the forces arrayed. But why, it may be fairly asked, seeing that the Company's animosity had been to the whole body of grantees, was the attack so closely concentrated upon the Mission? The reason is simple: – because their calling made them specially assailable. Accusations which would have been laughed at by ordinary settlers could not be so treated by these. The Mission might therefore be terrified, by rancour of accusation, into unconditional surrender of the grants. After that, a breach

having been once made, the rest of the grantees might be dealt with at advantage.

In this, the assailants over-reached themselves. An overdose of poison may fail in effect, through causing immediate rejection.

It suffices for the present to state the fact, that heavy charges, involving not only derelictions of duty, but even loss of personal honour were raised against the Mission. But the very weight of those charges upset the scheme. The Mission were compelled to change front. Henceforward the question became, no longer of land, but of character. Archdeacon Williams undertook to abandon the land to the Government, on the one condition, that Governor Grey should either substantiate, or fully and honourably retract his charges against the Mission. From this position he never moved one inch.

To return to the opening of the attack. The first move in active operations was taken by the Governor. In an unlucky hour for himself, he indited a "secret and confidential" despatch 126 to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Gladstone, in which he attributed the war in the North to Governor FitzRoy's grants, and charged the Mission with being accessory to the shedding of human blood for the possession of land.

When Lord Grey came into office, he made the despatch public, 127 transmitting it to the Church Mission Society, who sent it on to New Zealand, where it found its way into the public press. There it was subjected to extreme severity of comment.

The despatch was challenged forthwith by Archdeacon Henry Williams, as leader of the Mission. He addressed seven questions to the Governor, raising the several points at issue. These were treated with prudent disdain; not even acknowledgment of receipt was made.

The despatch was harmless in New Zealand, where the causes of the war were known; but its effect was, to unsettle the minds of

the Society. They passed what are commonly known as the "Conciliatory Resolutions," directing their Missionaries to accept the joint decision of the Bishop and the Governor, as to the amount of land to be retained for their own use and benefit, and leaving them at liberty to dispose of the remaining portion, if not disputed by the natives, at pleasure.

The grantees accepted cordially; they went further than was required, being willing to retain none "for their own use and benefit;" thus leaving no question for the arbitration of the Bishop and Governor. Even had they done otherwise, no award could have been made, for the Governor declined 128 to act as arbitrator with the Bishop.

The Society's resolutions did not suit either the Governor, or the Bishop. The one wanted the land; the other, to deprive the families. It now became evident that the abstract objection to the personal occupation of land by Missionaries was only a colourable plea for attack; otherwise the attack must have ceased with the cause of complaint.

The Mission had looked up to the Bishop as their champion; but they found him a willing ally to the Governor. They had placed too wide a meaning upon his abnegation of all right, "as Bishop," to interfere with private property; 129 not perceiving that the words left room for an important reservation; that they did not exclude his right to interfere as a citizen, – a [Greek]POLITIS; that is to say, politically. It must be admitted that the Mission were careless in this, though not culpably so; believing in the Bishop as they did, they cared not overnicely to scrutinise his words.

The Bishop and the Governor now took the matter into their own hands, superseding the Society's Resolutions. Archdeacon

Williams took his stand upon those resolutions. The Governor applied, formally, 130 to the Bishop for aid; the Bishop responded to the call. Taking the Mission by surprise, he also brought up grave charges, which he undertook to prove; "but earnestly desired to be spared the painful duty by their quiet acquiescence in the Governor's proposal."

Archdeacon Williams 131 was thus required to comply, under threat of exposure. The Bishop himself had thus rendered compliance impossible. But when the Archdeacon, taking the Bishop at his word, required him to prove, the Bishop refused to prove. Failing to intimidate, he became of opinion that the proper time for proof had not yet come. And, to this day, it never has come.

The grantees had taken their stand upon the Society's resolutions. The Bishop met them by suggesting another "reading" of the resolutions. He argued that the Society expected a "sacrifice to be made," and that the transfer to sons and daughters 132 was no sacrifice; assuming their material interests to be identical with those of the father, notwithstanding Mr. Williams' declaration that, "from the farm, he had never received one shilling." 133 The Bishop's change of tactics was on the hasty assumption that if the grantees could be driven from one standpoint, namely, the arrangement enjoined by

the Society and accepted by the grantees, there would be none other to retreat upon. It was forgotten that the question of "character" remained behind; that the surrender of a foot of land, unconditionally, was a surrender of honour.

Archdeacon Williams, bent upon his own condition, – "substantiation or retractation of the Governor's charges," treated the Bishop's "reading" as of little moment. He was willing to accept it, "however opposed to his own judgment," so soon as his own condition should be complied with. Urged to invert the terms, to suit convenience of the Bishop's engagements, and partly by the Bishop's pledge to institute the fullest enquiry, he consented to do so; accepting the Bishop's "reading," then and there, but expressly refusing to accept the Governor's terms until the Governor should have complied with the condition. 134 There are some who have unblushingly construed this into an "unconditional surrender;" and have thereupon accused the Archdeacon of violating a solemn pledge. No comment is required upon the fact that the Archdeacon's acceptance was presently quoted, without the condition attached to it.

The "new reading" had failed. The Bishop then sought to effect a compromise between the Archdeacon and the Governor. Here he was at a disadvantage. Having himself brought charges against the Mission, he could not press the Governor in earnest. He obtained from the Archdeacon four specific queries, for the Governor's answers, aye or no. These hit the points at issue, and therefore did not suit the Governor. The Bishop returned them, suggesting four pointless queries, plausibly drawn, but which the Governor could have signed. For neither did they substantiate or retract.

Upon the substitution of the pointless queries, the question may be said to turn. It became manifest that the Bishop's first object was, not to vindicate the Mission, but to shield the Governor. Trust had been destroyed, and all fell in.

The Bishop, not knowing his man, had made a false move. The Archdeacon considered himself betrayed, and retired; but was presently summoned by the Bishop, who, with much severity of language, insisted upon an unconditional surrender of the deeds. This demand, being a breach of all terms and engagements, put an end to mediation. From that time forward, the Bishop's interference was rejected. The Archdeacon met the demand by a point-blank refusal, and returned to his schooner, then at anchor in Auckland harbour.

But he did more than refuse to surrender the deeds. A statement having come down from the Bay that the Governor had been speaking with native converts, telling them that the Missionaries had tahae-d [stolen] their lands, with more to the same effect, he wrote from on board to the Bishop, requesting that the subject might never be mentioned to him again. His sentiments were changed; he would no longer even make a condition. He had no land; if the Bishop desired further negotiation, he must refer to the sons, who were of age, and could speak for themselves.

Baulked in negotiation by the question of "character," which barred the road across, the Governor resorted to the Courts of law, proceeding by writ of scire facias against Mr. Clarke. The defendant remained passive, instructing his solicitor merely to enter an appearance, out of respect for the Court, but on no account to urge the case. In fact, he declined litigation with the Government. The Court went into the question on its merits, and by judgment, given June 24, 1848, Mr. Clarke's title was declared valid. 135

The Governor had been beaten off; but the Bishop persevered, and the Church Mission Society, beguiled from the straight course, passed resolutions contradictory to those of 1847, requiring Archdeacon Williams' consent to the Bishop's proposal, 136 under pain of

dismissal. They manifestly had no power to depart from terms once offered and accepted; and, even setting that aside, they had no right to stand between any man and the vindication of his character. But they did; the Archdeacon refused to sacrifice that character, and was accordingly dismissed.

The question was not suffered thus to end. Certain of the laity took it up, in the public press, arguing the matter so long and so exhaustively, – making it so hot for all who had been concerned in the dismissal, that the Society, indisposed to retract, were at last driven to an attempt at substantiation. They composed a pamphlet, for private circulation; 137 as strange a mass of error as ever was penned. The descent from generalities to particulars was fatal to their case. Every charge was forthwith scattered to the winds; and tardy justice had at last to be done. The dismissal was revoked.

This outline statement, anticipating several years, is to be taken only as a clue to correspondence which will be given at greater length. Every point in it has been made good, long since, elsewhere. Those who still take personal interest in the question know where to look for details, lavishly supplied, 138 But vindication, point by point, is no longer a necessity.

We return to the Archdeacon's journal, for the purpose of connecting leading events by date.

July 16, 1847. The party from Hokianga arrived to go to Whanganui. Long conversation with one of the leading men as to Rauparaha's imprisonment. He could not give me the reason; 139 he did not know, neither did any of the Maories.

August 1. Heard from Auckland. Kawiti had been down there to learn whether there was any truth in what the pakeha had said of Lord Grey's letters.

August 3. The anniversary of our arrival in New Zealand, twenty-five years since; a period of many mercies, of many trials and perplexities, from our own countrymen, and some from the natives.

August 7. Lord Grey's letter generally known among the natives; many reports.

August 13. On my return home, received the public letter 140 from the Church Mission Society, exposing the conduct of his Excellency the Governor. Took the letter to Mr. Busby. Mr. Clarke from the Waimate; much conversation on the letter.

August 16. The Bishop had arrived from New Plymouth, and called upon us to accompany him to Auckland. Much conversation. 141

August 17. Mr. Clendon called; shewed the Blood and Treasure despatch to him: much startled.

August 18. Sailed with light wind.

August 19. Near the Poor Knights. After breakfast had long conversation with the Bishop on matters to bring before the Committee.

August 21. Landed at Taurarua [Sir William Martin's place].

It now becomes time to speak more particularly of the ill-fated alliance between the Bishop and the Governor. Up to this time, implicit reliance had been placed on the Bishop, as the natural champion of the Mission. Not a word had escaped him to shew what thoughts were maturing in his mind. To the astonishment of the Archdeacon, he shewed forth as an opponent. During the voyage he had been, if possible, more bland than ever; but was observed to be busily engaged in writing. Archdeacon Williams' admiration was, if possible, enhanced; not a moment of time lost from duty, even by a landsman subject to the disturbing influence of a rolling sea. Little was it dreamed what sort of writing he was busied about; but in due time –

– verbosa et grandis epistola venit
A Capreis.

At the College, an elaborate letter was put into the Archdeacon's

hand, of extreme severity, with demand for an immediate reply, 142 by which it appeared that the Bishop was about to support the Governor, in his charges against the Mission. It now appeared, that he had held opinions 143 throughout, concerning land, of which the Mission were altogether unaware. They had been hoarded up; it may be said of the Bishop, as of the jealousy of Virgil's Juno –

– manet alia mente refiostum
Vulnus.

Till now, the Bishop had kept his grief to himself; but confidence might have been retained, had he at an earlier period informed the Mission of his views. Whatever may have been the object of reticence, a grave mistake was made. It was the pouncing upon the Mission with the spring of the wild cat, that destroyed trust for evermore. Of course, the effect of a blow is doubled by surprise: his Lordship may have thought to astonish into submission; but he knew not yet with what stubborn John Bullism he had to deal.

The Bishop's interference was consequent, – formally at least, upon a letter 144 from the Governor, inviting it. Governor Grey took upon himself to affirm that the grants were illegal; and, to the best of his deliberately formed judgment, opposed to the rights of the natives. That he felt it his duty to take immediate measures for having these grants set aside by the Civil Courts;

but that by so doing, the cause of religion might be deeply injured. 145 He therefore sought the Bishop's aid towards inducing the grantees to return the surplus land to the original native owners. 146

The request was couched in the following words.

Your Lordship has often aided me in my difficult duties in this country, would you do so once more to this extent; that is, if you think the offer of the Government sufficiently liberal, and you see in the same light that I do the dangers which are likely to ensue to Christianity from the measures I must pursue if the Missionaries refuse to accept this offer. Would your Lordship interfere so far as to communicate the contents of this letter to them, and then recommend them to adopt the course I have pointed out, or some similar one.

The official "communication" of the Governor's letter will be noted, as bearing upon one of the reckless charges which were brought against the Archdeacon. His Excellency wound up with the following extraordinary words: –

They will all, I hope, bear in mind that I am not responsible for any remark which may result from the publication of my private despatch of 25th June, 1846. 147

This "private despatch," was the well-known "blood and treasure," made public by Lord Grey. The "remarks" were those

directed by the public press, with unsparing severity, against the Governor himself; not against the Missionaries, as His Excellency, by disclaiming the responsibility, would intimate.

It has been seriously denied that the Governor's letter was a request for clerical influence towards the accomplishment of a political purpose. If there be any meaning in this, it means, that the Bishop's influence was not necessarily "clerical;" an argument which I leave to the neglect which it deserves.

But there are certain collateral matters connected with this letter, which cannot be passed without remark. The Governor's letter to the Bishop found its way into a newspaper. The Archdeacon's extreme sensitiveness as to personal honour was known, and here was a second chance for a hit that would be felt. An attempt, as will be shewn in due course, was made to designate him as the agent.

Now, in the first place, neither the Archdeacon, nor any other of the Mission, had anything whatever to do with that publication; in the second place, a more arrant piece of nonsence than the building up a charge upon the fact, was never conceived. The letter, concerning a political question, was on public service. And there is an end of the matter. But, were the assailants really unable to perceive that, even on the assumption of privacy, the stamp of privacy had been taken off? In the very letter itself, the Governor, unconditionally, without reserve, requests the Bishop to "communicate" its contents to the Missionaries. From the moment of such communication – which the Bishop had no choice but to make, or else return the letter to the writer with a request that he would communicate the same himself – it became their property; as fully as if addressed by the Colonial Secretary to the Missionaries themselves. It became "a broad letter," an open document; and to expect them to make any mystery about the matter was ridiculous. Published, said the Governor, "without the consent of either the Bishop or myself!" The Bishop had no right to make objections; and the Governor had already waived them.

The fact is, however, that a copy of the letter was supplied in consequence of the Governor, in Council, having refused to admit the existence of the letter. The particulars of this strange occurrence are given in a note, from which the reader is at liberty to form his own opinion. 148

Attention has been drawn, – i., to the Governor's secret and confidential despatch of June 25, 1846; ii., to the Governor's letter to the Bishop, inviting the Bishop's co-operation; and iii., to the Bishop's letter to the Missionary grantees, supporting the Governor, and virtually countersigning his charges. 149 Of this letter

further mention will be made. But notice must first be taken of the proceedings in New Zealand, also of the Church Mission Society, consequent upon Lord Grey's publication of the secret despatch. Archdeacon Williams immediately challenged the Governor to the proof of his allegations.

Considering that his Excellency's despatch does convey a charge of a very grave and serious nature against the Missionaries in "the North" of having been accessory to the shedding of human blood for the possession of land claimed by them and their children, so as to involve the propriety of their possessing even a single acre in this country, I am authorised to say that the Missionaries shrink with horror from such a charge, and are prepared to relinquish their claims altogether, 150 upon it being shewn that their claims would render the possibility of such an awful circumstance as the shedding of one drop of human blood.

To this seven stringent questions, arising out of the despatch, were appended, so framed as to preclude the possibility of evasion. The Governor did not refuse to answer, but took no notice of the questions, not even acknowledging receipt.

The Church Mission Society, staggered by the despatch, defended their Missionaries, but, on account of the political consequences alleged to be involved, directed the Missionary grantees to give way to the Government, – under certain conditions, clearly and explicitly laid down. These conditions were at once accepted by the grantees.

The following is an extract from the minute of the proceedings in Salisbury Square.

The attention of the Committee is now, however, called to a new aspect of the case, and to consider the prospective measures which it may be right to take, in consequence of apprehensions entertained by Governor Grey which have never been before brought under the notice of the Committee. These apprehensions are of a most painful kind, being no less than the apprehension of a large expenditure of British wealth and blood, if the land awarded to the Missionaries and various other parties is to be taken possession of; and an apprehension also lest British troops

should prove unwilling to serve in such a cause. In the despatch, June 25, 1846, the following statement occurs: –

"Her Majesty's Government may rest satisfied that these individuals cannot be put in possession of these tracts of land without large expenditure of British blood and money."

"It is my duty to warn Her Majesty's Government that if British troops are long exposed to the unexamplified fatigues and privations of a service which has already entailed so large a loss of life on our small force, disastrous consequences must be anticipated."

And in the conclusion of the despatch Governor Grey warns the Government, that if these land claims of the Missionaries and other parties be not satisfied, the Government must anticipate a violent and stormy opposition.

By way of taking decisive measures for cutting off all suspicion and reproach, the Society declared that –

No Missionary or Catechist of the Society can be allowed to continue his connexion with the Society, who shall retain for his own use and benefit large tracts of unoccupied land.

But they were most careful to declare what was meant by the words "own use and benefit," upon which so much turned in after times.

The Committee cannot go beyond this resolution, as they, have no power or desire to interfere with the private property of their Missionaries. They must leave to their own decision the mode of disposing of land, which those who continue in connexion with the Society may, under the operation of the foregoing resolution, be compelled to part with.

The question turned upon the alleged danger and difficulty of "putting into possession" men who had never been out of possession, and who are in undisturbed possession still. By formal resolution, of February 22, 1847, the Society declared, that no Missionary should retain, for his own use and benefit, a greater amount of land than should be determined upon as suitable by the Governor and the Bishop, jointly. But these two were not empowered to act severally, on behalf of the Society.

This resolution was covered by a letter, which is more explicit still. The letter stated –

1. That the Missionaries were to accept the joint decision of the

Bishop and the Governor, as to the amount of land to be retained for their own use and benefit.

2. That they were to abandon altogether such portions of their grants as might lead to disputes with the natives. 151

3. That they might dispose of such other portions as had already been virtually occupied or could peaceably be obtained possession of –

i. By sale; or
ii. By making over to their children; or
iii. By putting in trust for the benefit of the aborigines.

The Society's proposal was quite satisfactory to the grantees, 152 who went even further than was required of them. They determined to retain no land at all for their own use and benefit. No question was therefore left for the determination of the Bishop and Governor.

Archdeacon Henry Williams' reply shall be given in his own words.

I shall first express my grateful acknowledgment to the Committee for their very kind attention given to the subject of the communication made to them by Lord Grey. We sympathise very sincerely with the Committee in having their minds disturbed afresh by this repeated and vexatious question which we did consider had been set at rest, but again met by the Committee with an honourable, clear, and Christian feeling, both to the Committee and also to the Missionaries in New Zealand.

I see no difficulty in complying with the resolutions of the Committee, by conveying to the various members of my family that which I did purchase for their support, 153 and I shall also attend to the same, as soon as I can obtain legal advice upon this subject. My own views upon this subject appear to me similar to those of the Committee.

It is not my wish or intention to refer any question to the Governor or the Bishop, as to any portion of land for my "own use and benefit," never having entertained any desire for such possession.

August 13, 1847.

Thus did the question seem to be finally disposed of. But the Governor wanted to get hold of the land itself, for Government purposes. He went back from his original proposition, – 154 namely, that the surplus land, i.e., the quantity in excess of two thousand five hundred and sixty acres in each grant, should be returned to the original native owners, and submitted fresh propositions; so worded as to imply an acknowledgement, if accepted by the grantees, that a portion at least of the land had been unjustly acquired. These were of course rejected; the grantees adhering to the course of action recommended by the Church Mission Society. The question now remained, for the Bishop and the Governor, how to supersede the Society's recommendation.

How the terms of the alliance were arranged, there are no means of learning. The first formal document relating to it, is the Governor's letter, 155 already mentioned, inviting the Bishop's co-operation. This was immediately followed by the Bishop's elaborate letter 156 to the grantees, the accumulation of charges in which caused such bewilderment among them. A strange composition; one upon which much labour had been evidently bestowed, yet replete in matters of detail with error that mere carelessness is insufficient to account for. Setting aside for the present its general tenor, damaging to Missionary influence as it could well be made, it contains statements which I must treat as blunders, to avoid the use of a harsher term. Venturing into law, he confuses the Land Sales Act with the Land Claims Ordinance; he finds himself in direct opposition, and wrongly so, to Governor FitzRoy upon a simple matter of fact, charging the grantees with

having applied to the Government for an extension of their grants; he speaks of "augmented grants," which had no existence; 157 he confuses the Governor's separate and inconsistent proposals; and speaks of grants "issued by Governor FitzRoy," which in reality were issued by Governor Grey himself: 158 he perverts the Society's resolution, granting £50 to each son and £40 to each daughter from the Society's funds for the purchase of land, into an expression of opinion that a Missionary ought not to purchase more than two hundred acres with his own private funds.

But these may be deemed comparatively trifling errors –

quas aut incuria fudit,
Aut humana parum cavit natura:

the most serious part is, the acknowledgement that he, the Bishop, had been in secret communication with the Society upon the subject of land as far back as 1843; his defence of the "Blood and Treasure" despatch, not committing himself to particulars, but labouring to shew that the Society deemed it neither "unjust or harsh;" winding up with direct charges brought by himself.

"All this," writes the Bishop, "I will undertake to prove if it should ever be necessary, but I earnestly desire to be spared the painful duty by your quiet acquiescence in the Governor's proposal."

The Bishop was accordingly challenged to prove: he permitted himself to make reply that, – "in undertaking to prove certain assertions in his letter, he reserved to himself the full right of

determining when that necessity might be considered to have arisen." How much might have been spared him, had he simply admitted error. But he followed the Governor throughout. 159

The Archdeacon took his stand. From the writer of the despatch, he demanded "substantiation or retractation." This was with him a fixed idea; the pole-star which guided through the maze, through the snares with which he was beset. In order to stamp the matter as "a question of character, and not of land," he offered to abandon the deeds of grant if either one or the other of the two several demands were complied with. It is important to observe that the Governor could have had the land for the taking.

To the Bishop, the Archdeacon declared his intention of abiding strictly by the Society's resolution, covered by their letter of March i, 1847.

Henry Williams to the Bishop.
Bishop's Auckland,
September 7, 1847.

Having seen a communication from Archdeacon William Williams respecting his interview with your Lordship this morning, I beg to state, upon the subject of the lands purchased on account of my children, that it is my intention strictly to abide by the Society's resolution of February 22, 1847, covered by their letter of March 1, 1847, and that I did never purpose to retain any portion of the said purchases for my own private "use and benefit," of which your Lordship is fully aware.

In a communication with the Church Mission Society, several months since, I wrote the following words: –

"The first fruits of Pakaraka, the farm where my sons are at work, was my second son connecting himself with the Bishop, and in September last was admitted to Holy Orders, paying his own expenses. The same is open to the rest of my sons. The proceeds of the farm have all been returned upon the farm in improvements; and for myself, I have not received one shilling."

Before I close my present communication, I beg to remind your Lordship of an observation made to me by your Lordship within the first week of your landing at Paihia: – that previously to leaving England, your Lordship conferred with the Committee of

the Church Mission Society, and that you observed to them that you did not feel that you were at liberty to interfere in the land question, as Bishop, any more than a Bishop in England could interfere with any clergyman who might wish to purchase an estate within his diocese.

The Bishop admitted the correctness of the recollection; 160 but the Archdeacon had failed to observe that the Bishop's words, though precluding him from episcopal, did not preclude him from political interference.

It is only fair to state, that the Bishop himself strenuously denies "political" interference. But what other action was open to him, episcopal action precluded? Between the grantees and the Government to whom the grants were said to give embarrassment, the question was exclusively political. And the Bishop assisted the Government, not in his episcopal capacity, but as a citizen. Nor is it easy to see why he should not, unless it be maintained that Holy Orders debar the rights of citizenship. It is he himself who considers that his action needs defence. And the defence is, that he acted only as arbitrator on behalf of the Church Mission Society.

By this, he cuts the ground from under his own feet. Granting, for the sake of argument, that he did so act, still, if the Society thought fit to entangle themselves in a political question, and the Bishop acted under them, he acted politically, himself. But, indeed, the Bishop never did act as arbitrator. All that he did, was in excess of his commission. That commission was, to settle, jointly with the Governor, how much land the grantees were to retain "for their own use and benefit." The Governor refused to act, and the commission therefore lapsed. But more than this:

the grantees declared their willingness to retain none; therefore nothing was left to arbitrate upon.

Of the political interference, which indeed would be scarcely worth mention, were it not so angrily denied, more will presently appear.

Let us now return to the Archdeacon's reply, which seems conclusive.

But matters were not to end so simply. The Bishop disputed the resolutions themselves, by putting a new meaning on them. To persons of ordinary capacity, they seemed plain enough. But the Bishop had discovered an esoteric meaning, concealed within. The grantees had received express permission to transfer the land to their children; it was now argued that the Society had not intended to give permission. The argument, when developed by the Bishop, became a curious and instructive example of perverted ingenuity.

It is said that the celebrated phrase attributed to Francis the first, after the battle of Pavia – "tout est perdu, fors l'honneur" was never so used by him at all; but that the several words composing that phrase can be gathered from various parts of his letter announcing the disaster. So did the Bishop, by piecing together odds and ends of the Society's letter, by omitting inconvenient words, and by generalising where the Society had particularised, bring the Society's letter into apparent contrariety with the Society's resolutions. He argued that a sacrifice was required by the Society; that the transfer of the land to the children was no sacrifice; and thus obtained "a new reading" of the resolutions. The grantees referred the resolutions to two of the leading counsel in Auckland, who without hesitation, taking words as they were laid down, confirmed the original reading; but the Bishop was not to be convinced of the fallacy of his own argument. The difference of "reading" then became the pivot on which this, the second stage of the proceedings was to turn.

The argument was weak enough; but other pressure was brought to bear. In the words of Archdeacon William Williams, – "The

Bishop made use of a most powerful lever in order to accomplish his object. The members of the Central Committee had assembled from a great distance in order to attend the meeting, but the Bishop refused either to meet the members in Committee, unless they complied with his award, or to allow the whole body of members to meet for the transaction of business without him as President." In fact he had power to bring all to a standstill, and he used that power.

Some of Archdeacon Henry's brethren were overborne, and did their utmost to induce him to yield. But he was not to be lured away from his condition. The Governor must substantiate, or honourably retract. He would then be willing to accept the Bishop's new "reading." His own words must be quoted: –

Should these painful difficulties be removed, I shall then be ready to accede to any proposition, however opposed to my own judgment, as to the reading of the Societies' letter to the Missionaries of March, 1847.

The Bishop seemed to have gained a move, but was in reality no further advanced than before. The Archdeacon had never made any difficulty about the land, provided that he obtained satisfaction from the Governor; and, in the face of this, the Bishop's "reading" became immaterial. There lay the land, to be had for the taking, on fulfilment of an honourable condition; consequently it no longer mattered what the Society had, or had not intended to say.

It looked very like check-mate to the Bishop, but he displayed his usual fertility of resource in getting out of trouble. He could see clearly enough that the Archdeacon's supposed concession was no concession; for the Archdeacon had refused to hold any communication with the Governor until the one condition should have been complied with. Then, the Archdeacon would accept the Bishop's new reading; but "then" would never arrive, for the Governor would not comply.

The Bishop had engaged, in terms which at the time were satisfactory to the grantees, but which ought to have been more closely scrutinized, to obtain the required satisfaction from the

Governor. 161 He pleaded inability to comply just then. He had ordinations and other matters to attend to; he could not press the Governor till he had leisure. Would the Archdeacon consent to waive the order of events? The Archdeacon had required that the Governor's substantiation or retractation should precede any communication concerning the grants; but if he would accept the Bishop's "reading" at once, satisfaction should be obtained from the Governor, at leisure.

Archdeacon Williams, the clearer-headed man of the two, made no difficulty: he did invert the order of events. He agreed to accept the Bishop's "reading" at once, "however opposed to his own judgment," but declared his intention of holding on to the deeds until the required satisfaction should have been obtained. For the retention of the deeds was his only hold upon the Governor. The deeds once surrendered, he would have been as the fabled lion, who had submitted to having his claws pared, and his teeth drawn.

The Bishop thought, when he had secured the immediate acceptance of his "reading," that he had won the game. Never was general more mistaken in his strategy. The grantees had taken their first stand upon the plain meaning of the Society's resolutions; the Bishop had succeeded in substituting his own meaning, by way of concession to himself, and supposed that he had cut the ground from beneath their feet. He took for granted that they would obey the Society, having once acknowledged his own interpretation of the Society's orders. But, with strange imperception of the nature of the man he had to deal with, he failed to perceive that the question of character remained behind, and that the Archdeacon was absolutely debarred from yielding,

even to the behests of his own Society, until all imputations upon character should have been cleared away. And here do I take my own stand, in regard to the differences between Archdeacon Henry Williams and the Church Mission Society. The one grand point of all, from which there is no escape, is this: – what right had the Society to interfere between Henry Williams and the vindication of his character? All authority, real or assumed, vanishes into nothingness alongside of such a question as this. Duty to the English Society was manifestly superseded by duty to the aspersed and down-trodden Mission in New Zealand. And what other means had he, save in the retention of the much coveted deeds, of compelling the Governor to make good his words, or to retract them? The Bishop's error was in supposing that the grantees, if forced from one position, had none other to retreat upon; and the Society's error, presently to be developed, was in assuming that they could command that blind obedience which is exacted from the disciples of Loyola.

Such was the Archdeacon's pledge, which, after having been in its turn subjected to a "new reading," – interpreted as an "unconditional surrender," he has been unblushingly accused of violating. And more than this, – the pledge was sent home to England in a mutilated form; the engagement, shorn of the condition attached. It is not safe to trust oneself with comment.

It may here be asked, – what right had the Archdeacon to enter into any engagement whatever, concerning that which had long since passed out of his own hands? He had no right; but this he knew, that his least word was law to his family; that his sons would make good their father's word, to the last acre of their property.

The Bishop had given a collateral pledge, – namely, to institute the fullest inquiry into the charges against the Mission. Was this pledge kept; or was it broken.

It will be remembered that the transposition of terms had been made to suit the Bishop's leisure and convenience. Accordingly, after having completed his own business, he did wait upon the

Governor in company with Archdeacons Brown and William Williams, in order to come to an understanding about the Mission. This was on the 27th of September. On the 28th the Bishop requested Archdeacon William Williams to obtain specific queries from his brother, so as at once to bring the whole question to issue. These were supplied, so framed that they could not be evaded. But the Governor had never intended to "substantiate or retract," and found the queries embarrassing. The Bishop had appeared, according to promise, in behalf of the Mission; but, having already committed himself, was unable to press the Governor home. This ought to have been foreseen; but it could not have been foreseen that he would go so far on the other side as to seek to shield the Governor at the expense of his own clients. After further conference with his Excellency, the Bishop proposed to substitute another set of queries, vague and pointless, which the Governor could have assented to without retracting anything, and which would have left the Mission under the same weight of imputation as before.

By whom were the pointless queries drawn? by the Bishop, or by the Governor himself? I cannot say; the knowledge is confined to themselves; but their exceeding subtlety betrays the master's hand. So framed as to seem to exculpate the Mission, within their Missionary sphere of action, though in reality every charge remained untouched; so guarded that there was every likelihood of their being unsuspiciously accepted, on the spur of the moment, without having been subjected to that close scrutiny through which alone their actual tenor could be revealed. They are a turning point in the controversy; a crucial test of the Bishop's real feelings in regard to the Mission, whose cause he had undertaken to uphold.

It happens that Henry Williams was not blinded; but the Bishop played the part, with less success, of Juno's owl, sent to flap about the face of Turnus, that he should not see to fight.

Hanc versa in faciem, Tumi se pest is ad ora
Fertque refertque sonans, clypeumque everberat alis.

I am quite aware of the extreme gravity of what I have said, though in terms that ought not to be construed to offence. But the two sets of queries placed in juxtaposition tell the whole tale.

Those framed by Archdeacon Henry Williams, for the Governor's signature, are as follow: –

Firstly – Does his Excellency disclaim having intentionally cast any reflection, which may appear to have been expressed or implied "upon the past conduct of some of the Missionaries," during his Excellency's administration as Governor of New Zealand, save only in the question of these purchases of land; and will his Excellency admit that this is an open question, and one upon which there is a variety of opinions as to the propriety of the Missionaries making provision for their families.

Secondly – Does his Excellency admit that these lands, purchased by the Missionaries, were so purchased in strict integrity and honesty towards the aborigines, as reported upon by Her Majesty's Land Commissioners appointed for the examination of the same.

Thirdly – Does his Excellency admit that he is of opinion that the late military movements in the North were not in any respect connected with the Missionaries.

Fourthly – Will his Excellency further admit that he is not aware that the Missionaries, or their sons, were put out of possession of their lands by the aborigines, but that he believes they remained in quiet possession of their lands during the late wars in the North.

From these there was no escape: for that very reason, they were evaded. Even the rat, when driven into a corner, will fly at the aggressor; but the Governor would not. And the Bishop opened the broad gate – "the primrose way" to him who was resolute not to go in at the strait gate.

Now for the substitutes constructed by the Bishop, or by the Governor, as the case may be; probably, a joint composition.

Firstly – Whether his Excellency will have any objection to state, that he is not aware of any treasonable or disloyal practices, in which any Missionary, or child of a Missionary, has been engaged during his Excellency's administration as Governor of New Zealand.

Secondly – Whether the chief matters in which his Excellency may have expressed an opinion adverse to the Missionaries may not be connected with the political objections to the acts and counsels of the late Protector of Aborigines, and not to the Missionary body in general.

Thirdly – Whether his Excellency would feel at liberty to state that neither the report of Her Majesty's Land Commissioners, nor any other public enquiry, justifies the belief that the original purchases of the Missionaries were fraudulent or dishonest.

Fourthly – Whether his Excellency will state that no Missionary, or child of a Missionary, has ever applied for military protection, but that to the extent of his observation, they have remained in quiet possession of the land.

Are they not admirably framed? How many, without guidance, could perceive the essential differences? To us old settlers, familiar with the true history of the Colony, they are plain enough; but we are dying out, and it is expedient that the record should be left. Let the substituted queries be examined, one by one. 162

By the first, the relief from the Governor's charges, which were general, is now limited to events taking place during the period of Governor Grey's own administration. But the treasonable proceedings imputed were before his arrival in the Colony. Therefore the Governor could give a favourable reply without committing himself, or absolving the Mission.

By the second, the Governor's especial enmity to Mr. Clarke, the ex-protector, was subserved. 163 It is no longer Mr. Clarke's missionary conduct, but his political action, as a servant of the Government, that is impugned. The Missionaries were invited to relieve themselves at Mr. Clarke's expense; to drive their friend and associate a scape-goat into the wilderness, with the sins of the congregation on his head. The Bishop is of gentle blood: how he could have acquiesced in such a clause – for nothing will persuade me that it originated with him – is hard to understand.

By the third the question is restricted to relief from accusations based on some supposed "public" enquiry, – that very public enquiry which the Mission had challenged in vain, and which

the Governor was obstinate to refuse. No such accusation had been made. Moreover, the Governor was to acknowledge what could not be denied – that the report of Her Majesty's Hand Commissioners, long before made and published in the Blue Books, was favourable to the Mission; but the "secret and confidential" despatch was not to be brought into question.

By the fourth the Governor offered to defend the Mission from what they had never been accused of, by admitting that "no Missionary, or child of a Missionary, had ever applied for military protection." In point of fact, the obligation was on the other side. The young men did much for the troops that no other Europeans would have been permitted to do. He is also willing to certify that "to the extent of his observation" – no more, the sons of the Missionaries had "remained in quiet possession of the land;" omitting the Archdeacon's own words – "during the war in the North;" and, by this omission, suggesting that they had not been "put into possession" until after the defeat of the natives, by the expenditure of "British blood and money."

The intention of the alteration from the searching queries of Archdeacon Henry is plain enough, when once pointed out. So are the dark enigmas of Lycophron when solved by that most laborious of scholiasts, Johannes Tzetzes. But how many, without help, could decipher them.

The Bishop did not first submit the pointless queries to Archdeacon Henry, though he was close at hand, but took them to St. John's College, five miles away, for consideration by Archdeacon Brown and Archdeacon William Williams. The sacrifice of the ex-protector was objected to by the latter, and so the whole fell through. Into the other clauses he did not enquire too nicely; indeed we have his own subsequent admission to the Church Mission Society, that at the time he did not perceive the drift of them. Archdeacon Henry, when they were presented to him, at once rejected the whole.

It may be thought that over many words have been bestowed upon what might seem to be a mere controversial matter; but it

has been found necessary to shew, for once, distinctly and categorically, with what subtlety Henry Williams was beset. A man given to drawing nice distinctions, or to taking up fine points of argument might have been easily entrapped; 164 but to him there was one plain guiding mark, from which he never swerved in his onward course – the right of claiming open enquiry.

It has been also found necessary to shew the cardinal error in the Bishop's strategy. Say what he will, and argue as he may, he can never get over this: – why were the original queries not accepted by him? Why, if not to get the Governor out of a scrape, as the Governor himself had got Lord Grey out of a scrape? Plain speaking becomes a duty: Archdeacon Henry's questions were rejected because they hit the nail upon the head.

The rest of the three days' conference with the Governor may be dismissed with fewer words. On the second day, Archdeacon William Williams, satisfied that the discussion would end as it had begun, withdrew. On the third day, the 29th, no better progress was made; substantiation or retractation was still refused, and the Archdeacon embarked for home. At sunset he received an invitation to wait upon the Bishop, and was astonished by a peremptory demand for unconditional surrender of the deeds. In what capacity, save as the Governor's agent, the Bishop felt himself entitled to assert authority, is undiscoverable. Action in virtue of his episcopal office, he had abnegated throughout. As a private citizen, he had undoubtedly a right, like any other private citizen, to mediate, ne quid detrimenti respublica capiat; but whence came the right to make an authoritative demand? I believe the truth to have been that, waxing hot in the fray, he forgot the position

he had desired to assume. Determined not to be beaten, 165 though compelled to abandon successively every position he had taken up, – finding out too late that the Governor on whom he had relied for proof, was but a broken reed to run into his hand and pierce him, – driven into a corner himself, as a last resource he fell back upon intimidation to get himself out of it. An old man-of-war's man is not so easily scared; the Bishop was no judge of character, and subjected himself to a pointblank refusal. The Bishop had broken every condition, expressed or implied, and the rupture between himself and the staunchest of his allies was now complete.

The Archdeacon retired to take refuge on board ship. He never felt more secure than with a single plank between himself and the sea –

digitis a morte remotus
Quatuor, aut septem, si sit latissima taeda.

But he left not without perturbation of mind. To get on board at night, he made for a canoe, anchored a little way out at sea. The mooring was primitive; a stone, and a harakeke line. He used to tell the story himself, in his best style, – how he lifted the stone, took up a paddle, paddled his hardest for a while, and at last awoke to the conviction that he was making no way; how he perceived at last that a second stone and line were out, which had escaped his notice.

We may now revert to his own journal of events. Meagre in the extreme, for he was impassible and ineffusive under circumstances of great excitement, it shews the restraint which he was in the habit of imposing upon himself. Yet he was wroth exceedingly, – galled to the quick by accusations that were dishonouring to a gentleman, but no less than infamy to a minister of the gospel; and disturbed by desertion of some on whom he had most relied for comfort and support. 166

From Archdeacon Henry Williams' journal.

August 13, 1847. On my return home received the public letter from the Church Mission Society, exposing the conduct of the Governor. Took these letters to Mr. Busby. Mr. Clarke from the Waimate.

August 16. Went to see Rewa: rough wind and sea. The Bishop had arrived from New Plymouth, and called for us to accompany him to Auckland. Much conversation.

August 17. Mr. Clendon called. Shewed the Blood and Treasure Despatch to him. Much startled.

August 18. Returned to the vessel, and sailed with light wind. Rounded Cape Brett at sunset.

August 19. The Bishop had long conversation upon matters to bring before the Committee.

August 21. Fine. After breakfast landed at Taurarua. The Bishop and Mrs. Selwyn here. Mr. and Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Smith. All very kind.

August 22. Shifted our quarters to Samuel's house [at St. John's College].

August 26. The Bishop met us preparatory to the meeting. Fond of a long talk. Made good progress, and good hopes of great advantage.

August 28. Met in sub-committee; the Bishop long-winded on some points. Mr. Carleton at the College; he called my attention to the despatch which had made its appearance.

August 30. Took up my abode at Mr. Blackett's [St. George's Bay], Much talk of the despatch.

August 31. Walked out to see Rauparaha [a prisoner], with whom I had a long conversation. Poor old man. News that Captain Richards was drowned, while passing the bar at Whanganui.

September 2. At 10, the Bishop at Committee. Afternoon, walked out to see the natives at Okahu. Much pleased.

These memoranda are not of much interest; but they serve to shew Archdeacon Henry's utter ignorance and unsuspicion of the attack that was being matured with such impenetrable secresy. Surprise was of course the object, and the chance of a false move in the first perturbation of surprise. Of the false move the assailants were disappointed.

Saturday, September 4. The Bishop had a long and secret communication with the two Archdeacons and Mr. Burrows, and afterwards brought a voluminous letter for the land owners, with a subtle and crafty letter from Captain Grey. Mr. Kissling came; had a long conversation with him on the subject; felt very indignant at the same, and a wish that I was again at home.

September 6. Writing to the Bishop; very low at the treatment shewn towards me. Bishop returned.

September 7. The Bishop in a fume. A Committee with the Archdeacons. A fling out. No business. Walked down to Kohimaramara. Wrote my letter.

September 8. No business. Messrs. Brown and Burrows to town, having given notice to quit. Mr. Maunsell arrived.

September 9. All talking: Archdeacon Brown, Messrs. Burrows and Maunsell arrived. Mr. Clendon arrived; all talking until late.

September 10. Much more talking; took leave for Kohimaramara and town; followed by a note to detain me. Tired and weary. In the evening Mr. Kissling returned and brought a letter from the Bishop to my brother, with a paper from Mr. Clarke on the land question. Mr. Ashwell returned from town.

In the paper referred to, Mr. Clarke, though against his own opinion, had accepted the Bishop's new "reading" of the Society's resolutions, and the proposition grounded thereon. His condition was, that the surplus land should be placed in trust for the natives; thus accepting the Governor's and the Bishop's original proposal. But the Governor had backed out of that proposal, and the Bishop followed him. The Bishop wrote to Archdeacon Henry, reciting Mr. Clarke's surrender of the land, but omitting the condition on which it was to be made; entreating the Archdeacon to give him a similar assurance to that contained in Mr. Clarke's paper, as quoted above 167i.e., as incompletely quoted by himself.

But the Archdeacon could not be persuaded into conceding more than a transposition of the terms of his own proposition, already mentioned, to suit the Bishop's convenience; still holding on to his original condition, – substantiation or retractation by the Governor.

September 13. A letter from the Bishop; sent him a note.

September 15. Meeting at 11. Some tough questions. Symptoms of a flare. Returned home.

September 17. Meeting at 9. The Bishop afterwards spoke to me to present Mr. Hutton. I declined in consequence of the Governor's conduct and the general fermentation in Auckland. The Bishop observed, – he should institute an enquiry as to all the Governor had said, and require his observations in writing. I spoke freely: we shall see how he acts, but my fears of him are considerable; that a separation must inevitably take place between us. The Bishop and the Governor have been working together in secret.

September 20. Wrote to "The five brethren." The Bishop returned at a late hour, having been engaged with the Governor.

September 22. Gale through the night. A tough tohe [striving] with the Bishop. Letters from the Bay of the Governor's proceedings there.

September 25. Committee at 9. Much wandering in discussion. Near sunset when I wanted to return home. The Bishop introduced the subject of the Governor's charges, and treated the question in conjunction with Archdeacon Brown as advocates from the Governor. I left them at seven, taking leave of the College; not expecting to return there at any future period. To all appearance our connexion severed.

September 27. Took up abode with Mr. Blackett. Archdeacon Brown and the Bishop with the Governor.

September 28. The Bishop and the two Archdeacons with the Governor. Mr. Baker and Mr. Clarke called. The subject of terms under consideration. Framed some which were approved of.

September 29. The Bishop and Archdeacon Brown in town. Took breakfast at the Chief Justice's. Dined at Mr. Blacketts with Mr. Fitzgerald. After dinner went on board the "Undine" with my things. At sunset Mr. Cotton [bishop's chaplain] came

to say that the Bishop wished to see me at the Judge's house. Went on shore with some misgiving; a long discussion; left abruptly. Got off to a canoe and went on board.

Archdeacon Henry scarcely trusts himself to write, even in his own journal-book. The negociation with the Governor had fallen through; and the Bishop, supported by Archdeacon Brown, had demanded the absolute surrender of the deeds, – that is to say, of the last remaining means of defence.

September 30. A sleepless night; heard that the Bishop had gone out to the College, to return this morning. When will this matter end! Appearance of a gale from the North-east. William Williams and George Clarke came on board; gave them my opinion to quit the country. No one else came, nor did I land. Drew out the draft of a letter to the Bishop.

October 1, 1847. Gale from E.N.E. Sent my letter on the return of the boat. Received a letter from the Bishop to demand my deeds. Don't he wish he may get them! My correspondence on these subjects closed.

The Bishop's letter has been scrutinized in the "Page from the History of New Zealand," not much to its advantage. A reference must suffice. But why was it written at all? What purpose was it intended to serve? All question as to deeds had been brought to an end on the evening of the 30th, by the Bishop's authoritative demand of unconditional surrender, and by the Archdeacon's point-blank refusal. Apparently the Bishop wanted a record, to be transmitted to the Church Mission Society. He had demanded the deeds, orally, with greater severity of expression than would well have borne recital; the letter is bland, but so worded as to be of as much injury as possible to the recipient. The Archdeacon was urged to resign the deeds into the hands of some neutral party, the implication being manifest that he could not be relied on to give them up should his "condition" be complied with; and his pledge was quoted in a mutilated form.

The Archdeacon returned no answer to this letter: he considered it extremely affronting, – a reflection on his honesty. But before receipt of it, his own letter, mentioned in the journal, had been despatched. In this letter he went further than he had gone the night before, when he had simply refused unconditional surrender

of the deeds. He now prohibited all further mention of the subject to himself. His sons were of age, and could speak for themselves. "I am at a loss," he said, "to understand why this question should have been lately so severely cast upon me by your Lordship, as if it were a case of fraud or dishonest dealing. Nor can I admit of its repetition from any quarter." He will scarcely be blamed for refusing to subject himself to a repetition of indignity. But something else had taken place which he felt even more keenly than the affront to himself. He had been informed that, even while negociations with himself were going on, the Governor had been personally working upon the natives, destroying their confidence in the Mission, casting discredit upon the manner in which the lands had been acquired, 168 and promising to restore

them to the sellers. This was the main cause, he said, of his "change of sentiments concerning the waste and worthless acres." Before he was willing to treat with the Governor; now, he would have nothing more to do with him. Fides et fiducia sunt relativa; he would no longer trust him. "The safety of my family," said he, "humanly speaking, depends alone upon the respect shewn to me by the chiefs of the various tribes. This Captain Grey has endeavoured to set aside. I am sorry your Lordship should have been so much hindered in waiting upon the Governor this week: I hope you will be spared further trouble, as I now feel perfectly indifferent as to what his Excellency may either think, say, or do."

Undoubtedly, the Archdeacon's letter is very plain-spoken: some have thought it overmuch so. It is given at length, with comments, in "The Page." The gain-sayers, unable to find fault with the matter, fell back upon the manner. The Society objected to the "style and tone." It must be admitted that the Archdeacon did not take pattern from themselves in the courtly deference they paid to an angry Secretary of State. He did not feign a respect he could not feel. He wrote under a deep sense of injury, under a feeling of just resentment; and every word he wrote was true. I, for one, cannot understand restriction to mele-mouthed utterances where character is at stake.

The Bishop, by demand of unconditional surrender, had broken up the conference; and all hope of further negotiation had been destroyed by the Governor's foray into the Archdeacon's country. In effect it was harmless, no impression whatever having been made on the native converts; but the attempt was justly resented. Indefensible under any circumstances, the worst feature of it was the acting by surprise, during truce, in the Archdeacon's absence, while engaged in doing what he could to make terms which should lead to a definite arrangement. The Governor excused himself to the Secretary of State by declaring that when he left Auckland in the "Inflexible" he had no intention of proceeding to the Bay of Islands; leaving it to be inferred that, therefore, he did not act as had been alleged when he got there. The Archdeacon was compelled to see

that, in entertaining terms of adjustment, he was treading unsafe ground,

– per ignes
Suppositos cineri doloso,

and withdrew to his own stronghold. The Bishop and the Governor had not known their man. Easy, almost to a fault when his kindly feelings were appealed to, he was immoveable when assailed, careless of intimidation, and roused at once to anger by anything unfair or underhand. Through being too clever, they had mismanaged the whole affair.

Henry Williams returned to his work, leaving the Governor, without hindrance, to carry out his threat of an appeal to the Courts of Law. But the question was now exciting great interest, not among Europeans alone, but also among the natives. Shortly after his arrival at Paihia, he received a letter from Walker Nene, the original of which is given below. 169

Kororareka, October 12, 1847.

Sir, – Mr. Williams: Salutations. Let not your heart be dark, as if it were a saying of mine "that it is through the Missionaries the land is gone." We ourselves sold the land; let it not be said it was taken without payment. Hikitene sold his place Waikare. Tohitapu sold his place Whangai. Heke sold his place Puketona. Kaiteke sold his place Pouerua. Manu and Wharerahi sold Waimate. I also sold my place Otutae. There has been no place taken unpaid for, and so also there has been no chief of Ngapuhi who has not sold. Afterwards they exclaim, the land is gone, they having received the payment. Hautungia also sold Titirangi. Tamati sold Paihia and the Haumi. Kawiti and Pomare sold Okiato. There was no man who did not pay. Afterwards they exclaim, our land is gone, let us up and fight for our land is gone. They broke the flag-staff of the pakeha, they fight, and then say it is for the land; but it was not so, it was for Kotiro, because the payment was not given, the cask of tobacco, and the bag of shot. If they had fought for their lands I would not have fought against them, but their fighting was wrong. It was the saying of the pakeha, "slave [taurekareka], your right [mana] over the land is gone," and they said the sayings of the pakeha are true. Now I have heard the word of the Queen. "Those bad people fight them, but let not their lands be taken, because I have a love for those whom my fathers have left." Now, Sir, for whom was that word. Am I a man who goes to England that it should be said the saying was mine? The saying is Ngapuhi's own. In vain I asked what land is it which it is said must be fought for, seeing it was paid for by the Missionaries. Now there has been no land taken unpaid for either by Missionaries or settlers. No, the fault and folly was with the chiefs, themselves, of New Zealand. There was no fraud on the part of the pakeha, it was the ignorance of the Maori. If I had not seen the payment, I would have said it had been taken unpaid for by the pakeha, but it has been paid for; but how am I to know whether the payment was right or wrong. In my opinion it was a just payment. This is all I have to say.

TAMATI WAKA NENE.
To Mr. Williams.

When the natives complained that the "whenua" was gone, the grievance, real or supposed, was that the country was taken from them, by passing under the Queen's sovereignty; not that certain portions of land had been sold to Europeans. The Governor was

119 The expression is strong, and must therefore be justified. Article the second, of the Treaty of Waitangi, is as follows: –

"Her Majesty the Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the chiefs and tribes of New Zealand, and to the respective families and individuals thereof the full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates, forests, fisheries, and other properties which they may collectively or individually possess, so long as it is their wish and desire to retain the same in their possession. But the chiefs of the united tribes, and the individual chiefs, yield to Her Majesty the exclusive right of pre-emption over such lands as the proprietors thereof may be disposed to alienate, at such prices as may be agreed upon between the respective proprietors thereof and persons appointed by her Majesty to treat with them on that behalf."

There can be no mistake about this: the guarantee is absolute. Now let us compare Lord Grey's Instructions. The following is extracted from an article written by the compiler of this Memoir for the Westminister Review, April, 1864, published on the eve of a New Zealand field-night in the House of Commons: –

"The question had often been asked in New Zealand, – 'What are the demesne lands of the Crown?' There was no land in the country without an owner; the natives had been guaranteed possession of their own; the land acquired from them by the Government had been purchased with the money of the colonists; and there was none other left but the surplus land, i.e., the land confiscated from the estates of the original settlers. Lord Grey introduced a very short and effective mode of creating 'demesne lands of the Crown.' By clauses v. and vi., of the 13th chapter of the Instructions, it will be seen that, in the first place, an officer appointed at the pleasure of the Government is called upon to find out claims; to register provisionally, and within a limited period, the lands of the aborigines within his province: in default thereof – within a time not specified – all lands not claimed, or thus registered, are to be escheated to the Crown. But there is no guarantee to the natives that the officer will be able, or willing, or competent to fulfil the conditions of these clauses. The rights which had been secured to the natives by solemn treaty are now made to depend upon the fallibility, or even the wilful neglect of an individual.

Land Courts, whose decision was to be final, were also constituted, to which the natives were to be compelled to submit their claims.. The Court, appointed by the Crown, presided over by an officer of the Crown, and limited in its judgment of the validity of claims by rules laid down by a functionary of the Crown. The injustice of such an appeal is flagrant, and would never have been submitted to.

The rules laid down by this functionary, had he been left unrestricted, might have been fair, and so far not repugnant to the treaty. But the Instructions proceed, on the theory of labour alone constituting right of property in land, to define the rules by which the Land Court shall be guided in the adjudication of such claims as are referred to its arbitrary decision.

Clause IX. is as follows: – "No claim shall be admitted in the said Land Courts on behalf of the original inhabitants of New Zealand, to any lands situate within the said islands, unless it shall be established to the satisfaction of such Court, that either by some act of the Executive Government of New Zealand, as hitherto constituted, or by the adjudication of some Court of competent jurisdiction within New Zealand, the right of such aboriginal inhabitants to such lands has been acknowledged and ascertained; or that the claimants or their progenitors, or those from whom they derived title, have actually had the occupation of the lands so claimed, and have been accustomed to use and enjoy the same either as places of abode, or for tillage, or for the growth of crops, or for the depasturing of cattle, or otherwise for the convenience and sustentation of life by means of labour expended thereupon."
. . . . . . . . . . .
It is enough to observe that the treaty recognised the native title unconditionally, even guaranteeing the chieftainship over the land. The thirteenth chapter of the Instructions is simply a scheme of confiscation under colour of law.

The Governor could not be brought to admit that a breach of treaty was committed; but he seems to have stood alone in his view, at least in the North: for among the Company's settlers many held the Company's views. The receipt of the Instructions was followed by a period of extraordinary excitement, both among Maories and Europeans. Nothing hindered the natives from rising but the strenuous exertions of Bishop Selwyn and the Missionaries, by whose influence they were induced to give time for a reference to the Queen.

The judgment passed upon the Instructions by the Northern settlers was, we believe, unanimous. Public meetings were held; memorials drawn up; the local press laboured to the utmost, but, while protesting against chapter 13, refrained for a while from giving it publicity, in order that the natives should not learn precisely what was intended for them. The Chief Justice put forth a pamphlet, in which he proved, unanswerably, the breach of treaty; the Bishop addressed a protest to the Governor, which caused some very sharp correspondence, in which the two parties went so far as to come to issue about a matter of fact.

It may be added that a complete exposure of the nature of these Instructions was made by the Society for the Protection of Aborigines, through their Secretary, Louis Alexis Chamerovzou; London, J. C Newby, 1848.

120 Appendix C.

121 An expression used by Governor Grey. The charge of "extreme untruth" was met by a searching examination of the Governor's own despatches.

122 The Wakefields, Langs, Dillons, Earls, and such like, might have been safely treated with neglect.

123 The matter was treated as a public and political question, affecting the welfare of the community; therefore in the plain-spoken style that is usual with the public press, it was official action that was thus condemned.

124 As Viscount Howick, Chairman to the memorable House of Commons Committee of 1844.

125 Yet, they might have behaved better. It was in courage that they were found wanting. One must not be over hard upon their courtly deference to a Secretary of State; but their best and boldest course would have been, to challenge enquiry, – to fetch out the whole truth at once, wherever it might lie. Failing this, however, no fault can be reasonably found with these – their earlier proceedings.

126 Appendix D. Followed up by a series, to similar effect. But the one is enough.

127 Whatever may have been the object, the Mission are bound to gratitude for the deed.

128 "In order that the Lord Bishop of New Zealand may clearly see the grounds which have induced me to decline co-operation with him on this matter, I will transmit to him a copy of this correspondence."

Governor Grey to the Church Mission Society, August 6, 1847.

129 The Bishop had told Mr. Williams that, previously to leaving England, he had conferred with the Committee of the Church Mission Society, and had observed to them that "he did not feel at liberty to interfere in the land question, any more than a Bishop in England could interfere with a clergyman who might wish to purchase an estate within his diocese."

130 There can be no doubt that terms had been already arranged, in private.

131 To save repetition of words, it may at once be mentioned that Archdeacon Williams acted throughout as the representative of that portion of the Mission which refused to surrender the Crown grants, until the question of character should have been first disposed of.

132 The Bishop's own word is, "children;" undoubtedly correct, in fact. But, unfortunately, it conveys the idea of childhood. Mr. Williams suggested that "grandchildren" might be meant.

A peculiar language is used throughout by the assailants, masters of the great art of seeming to assert without asserting. Men and women, fathers and mothers of families, separate in dwelling and in interest from the parents, are called "children." Crown grantees, are called "land claimants." Augmented awards, are called "augmented grants." A letter officially "communicated" to the missionaries, becomes a letter "shewn" to them, as if in confidence. A confidential despatch, is described as a "private letter." A stipulation becomes a "suggestion." Passive endurance of legal proceedings, is "contention for land claims."

The ingenuity displayed, ad augendum odium, is worthy of a better cause.

133 He had made a point of paying his sons the market price for all supplies.

134 See "A Page from the History of New Zealand;" where the documents are given in full.

135 The Governor appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The case was heard but only ex parte; Mr. Clarke still refusing to defend. The judgment of the Court below was reversed. But the reversal was in its turn overruled by a subsequent decision of the Privy Council, in a defended case.

136 Their own wording is followed. The proposal was the Governor's.

137 As usual, unwilling to face the light. From the Governor's "secret and confidential" despatch, to the Society's pamphlet "for private circulation," underground work.

138 See Appendix E.

139 There was no cause; though possibly there may have been reason. Rauparaha had done nothing, but was supposed by the Government to be dangerous. The capture was cleverly effected by Captain Stanley, of H.M.S. "Calliope." It was a measure of precaution: how far justifiable, I do not pretend to say.

140 Transmitting the "secret and confidential" despatch to Mr. Gladstone, commonly called "Blood and Treasure."

141 In which, however, nothing transpired of what was impending from the Bishop.

142 The Archdeacon was a strict observer of the Lord's day, invariably preparing for it on the Saturday afternoon. This disturbance was especially repugnant to him. The following words are extracted from a letter to the Bishop: –

"Your Lordship held secret conference with some of my brethren, though not a word was offered to me until your Lordship presented the letter in question on the fourth, the eve of the Sabbath, and on the sixth demanded an answer."

143 August 30, 1847.

144 As to any very serious objection to holding land, (the expression is so qualified, because, subsequently, in his famous Bull, which might have been fulminated by Hildebrand himself, he mentions an objection), I must take the liberty, out of respect for himself, to doubt it. For his Lordship could never have deemed himself justified, during the seemingly open and unreserved communication which he had been so long holding with Mr. Williams, in concealing that thought.

He had himself declared that the land question was one foreign to his episcopal office; and, indeed, he was always most careful to explain that his ecclesiastical relations with the Archdeacon remained unimpaired. His political relations, of course, remained untouched by this declaration; but that was not at the time perceived.

145 "Possibly, even I might injure deeply our common faith."

146 Such procedure would have been contrary to the law of the colony. All land over which the native title had been extinguished was deemed to be waste land of the Crown; and waste land of the Crown could be dealt with only in certain ways, of which this was not one. Accordingly, when the proposal was accepted by Mr. Clarke, the Governor would not abide by it.

147 The "secret and confidential" despatch to Mr. Gladstone found its way into the newspapers, though not through missionary agency, direct or indirect. Governor Grey subsequently called it "a private letter from himself to Lord Grey!" and accused Archdeacon Williams of having published it.

"He [Archdeacon Henry Williams] also contrived to get published in the same newspaper, a private letter of mine to your Lordship." Governor Grey to Lord Grey, House of Commons' Blue Book, July, 1849, p. 72.

Much nonsence was talked at the time by persons unacquainted with the conventional rules which are in use concerning letters. The publication of the despatch was perfectly in order, the Secretary of State having himself removed the privacy, – a procedure of common occurrence when the public service requires it. It is true, indeed, that even to this day, Governor Grey has never recovered from the effect of that publication; but, as a matter of fact, the person who supplied the despatch to the press, was not even a member of the Church of England.

Sir George Grey's own counsel to Colonel McDonnell, which so nearly involved the loss of the Colonel's commission (re the Brissenden letter, Session of 1875), suffices to shew how vague are his own ideas as to the difference between right and wrong in such matters. Vide the decision of Governor the Marquis of Normanby.

Colonel McDonnell had won his promotion at the sword's point, but having been brought up in an out-district of the Colony, was inexperienced in social conventions. He had been employed by the Government, in conjunction with Mr. Brissenden, an American, as land purchaser from the natives, and the two had not altogether agreed. Colonel McDonnell received, enclosed to himself by an unknown correspondent, a letter belonging to Mr. Brissenden. Instead of instantly returning the letter, on reading the first line, to the owner, he committed the grave error of applying to a third party, – Sir George Grey himself, for advice. Upon this advice I offer no comment. The result shall be told by a press agency communication to the Southern Cross newspaper.

COLONEL MCDONNELL'S CASE. DECISION OF THE GOVERNOR.
Wellington, Tuesday, December 2, 1875.

His Excellency's decision in Colonel McDonnell's case has been communicated. The evidence taken before the Court of Inquiry is very voluminous. The three principal witnesses were Sir George Grey, Mr. Sheehan, and Mr. Brissenden. The latter brought no proof to show that the letter sent to him by Colonel McDonnell was one of those said to have been missed from the Club; on the contrary, it was proved to have been delivered to Colonel McDonnell at his lodgings, by some person unknown. Mr. Sheehan, who had spoken to Colonel McDonnell on two or three occasions during the three days Mr. Brissenden's letter was in Colonel McDonnell's possession, advised him on the third day to send the letter at once to Mr. Brissenden. Sir George Grey, to whom Colonel McDonnell went a few minutes after he had received the letter, read the whole or a portion of it, then recommended him to take legal advice, and suggested his speaking to Mr. Sheehan. From the evidence, Sir George Grey appears to have been the only person who recommended the retention of Mr Brissenden's letter by Colonel McDonnell; and when, asked by the Court for his reasons for recommending Colonel McDonnell to take legal advice rather than return the letter addressed to Mr. Brissenden at once to its owner, said he thought something very wrong had been done by somebody, and the delay would give time for inquiry. The finding of the Court is to this effect: That after receiving the letter at his lodgings Colonel McDonnell read a portion of it before he ascertained it was addressed to Mr. Brissenden; but that on seeing it was so addressed, he was guilty of highly improper conduct in not sending it at once to Mr. Brissenden, with a note of apology and explanation. The Court at the same time considered that the great anxiety of mind under which Colonel McDonnell was labouring about that time, on account of imputations as to his veracity before the Tairua Committee, together with the injudicious advice he had received, were the causes of his improperly retaining Mr. Brissenden's letter, taking a copy, and shewing it to others; such conduct being reprehensible and unjustifiable. The Court conclude by referring to Colonel McDonnell's high testimonials of distinguished service and character. The Governor entirely concurs in the opinion of the Court, but as there is no evidence in any way connecting Colonel McDonnell with the abstraction of the letter, and taking into consideration his anxiety of mind at the time, moreover believing his conduct was greatly guided by advice he unfortunately received from others, the Governor is unwilling, for the above reasons, and in consequence, of his previous distinguished services, to cancel his commission. His Excellency must, however, express a strong reprobation of his conduct, and adjudge him to be reprimanded by the Defence Minister.

148 The grantees were charged with having supplied a copy of the letter to Mr. Brown, a member of the Legislative Council. It happens that none of them did so; but this matters not, for any one of them had a perfect right to do so. It was supplied by one nearer to the Bishop, as I believe his Lordship knows right well. I myself also had a copy of the letter: it happens that I did not make public use of it; but I should have had no scruple in doing so had I thought fit.

As the charge was evidently made in the desire to affix the stigma of an ungentlemanly act upon the grantees, a brief outline of what took place must be supplied, abstracted from the report of proceedings in Council.

"On September 14, 1847, Mr. Brown gave notice, in Council, to move for "the copy of a despatch recently addressed to the Lord Bishop of New Zealand by the Governor, in which his Excellency had requested his Lordship to use his influence with the Church Missionaries to induce them to relinquish their lands."

The Governor said that "he had written several letters to his Lordship, but had no recollection of making any request such as had been referred to. He would say again that he did not know by what rule such correspondence could be demanded, yet, if the particular letter was specified, he would have no hesitation in producing a copy of it; the honourable member would perhaps remember its date, &c., and be prepared with his notice when the proper time for giving notices of motion arrived."

Mr. Brown, who at that time had only hearsay information about the letter, withdrew the notice of motion.

On September 18, the Governor himself re-introduced the question.

He said that "he was aware that he had written several letters to his Lordship, and since the last meeting of Council, but he could find no terms in any of them that bore the least resemblance to what had been alleged as grounds for the motion. [The actual words, taken down at the time by myself were, "no terms that could fairly bear the construction sought to be put upon them." The difference is immaterial, but I am a stickler for absolute precision.] He entertained so high an opinion of that Right Reverend prelate, that he could never have thought of making such request of his Lordship; and he must say, that it was neither fair nor just towards him, for any member to endeavour to impress on the Council, by bringing forward such a vague and groundless charge, that he had made any request of the kind of the Bishop."

On September 21, Mr. Brown, who had by this time received a copy of the letter to the Bishop, moved formally for its production, "contending that the parties interested had good reason to seek the production of it, because it sought by means of the influence, interest, or the position of the Bishop with the Missionaries, to urge then to give up their lands, by means which were neither legal or authorised."

This time, the existence of such a letter was not denied, the Governor only asking Mr. Brown's authority. "Can the honourable member," said the Governor, "give any authority for the grave charge he has thus preferred? Can he make good his assertions, and prove that the Governor has ever made such an attempt to procure the Bishop's influence for such a purpose?"

Proof was easy, for the honourable member had a copy of the letter in his pocket. But he refrained, for the time, from pressing his advantage.

After further discussion, Mr. Brown said that "he had taken the only open and honourable course to enable the Government to explain the matter by moving for a copy of the despatch, but the Government had not ventured to bring it forward. He had no desire to continue the subject further, as he saw it would do no good."

The report of proceedings in Council was made by Mr. Williamson, proprietor of the New Zealander newspaper. Compared with the notes taken by myself, it tallied exactly, save in the one instance already pointed out. Until the third day of the debate, by which time I had myself received a copy of the letter, I had received the Governor's statements with implicit credence, being convinced that the honourable member, Mr. Brown, had "found a mare's nest."

The copy of the letter had been supplied by one who, like the rest of us, had understood the denials to be absolute, and therefore resolved upon bringing the truth to light. If any other construction can be placed upon them, let the Governor have the advantage of it.

Mr. Brown published the letter, in self-defence. This was the subject of much correspondence, to be found in the Blue Books, with the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Governor Grey said that he had denied having "written a letter to the Bishop, requesting him to use his clerical influence to enable him [the Governor] to accomplish what was described as an unjust political object." The denial turns upon an interpolated word. The word "unjust," though it might have been used with truth, was not used; nor was it likely to have been used, in Council.

The Governor also charged Mr. Brown with having garbled the letter, in publication, by the suppression of certain words. Mr. Brown applied to the Bishop for a copy of the original, which was readily supplied, with the observation that "no secrecy was desired." The printed letter was found to tally, word for word, with the written letter. The Governor excused himself by alleging that the words which he had charged Mr. Brown with suppressing, had been contained in the original rough draft of his letter.

Mr. Brown, who had now unquestionably the upper hand, insisted upon an apology, not from the Governor, but from Lord Grey, who, under false impressions, had committed himself to exceeding stringency of comment. Lord Grey went out of office before the conclusion of the correspondence, and his successor declined to interfere. All papers on the subject were laid on the table of the New Zealand House of Representatives, and ordered to be printed.

It is with unwillingness that an old grief is revived; but the attempt to raise suspicion of improper dealing with a letter, has to be rebutted, without respect to persons.

This affair is mentioned with reluctance; but I am "retained for the defence," and must do my duty. There is no charge more offensive than that of tampering with private letters, and none that has been more recklessly made, against the grantees, and friends of the grantees.

149 A copy of this letter, being on a political question, was communicated to the Governor. With this no fault can reasonably be found. But the grantees, to whom it was addressed, ought to have been informed accordingly; not left to find it out for themselves, at a subsequent period.

150 This was the first offer; namely, to give way if the Governor could substantiate his charges. Subsequently the Archdeacon went farther still; offering to give way if the Governor would either substantiate or retract.

151 That is, if any such portions could be found. But they were not found.

152 Once for all, to avoid repetition, it may be stated that by "the grantees" is meant those grantees who refused to surrender their deeds of grant to the Government.

153 That is to say, formally, by legal conveyance. But the land had none the less belonged to the young people throughout. When the land was handed over to them, there were no lawyers in New Zealand; the good faith of the transaction was therefore its only measure. To those who argue that a transfer, depending merely on good faith, is not a transfer, I shall merely observe, that they and I have been trained in two opposite schools of thought.

154 The Bishop, after urging that the surplus land should be restored to the original native owners, followed the Governor in backing out.

155 August 30, 1847.

156 September 1, 1847.

157 The use of the word "awards," which would have been correct, would have betrayed the inconvenient fact, that the original awards had been diminished, before being augmented; all these changes being in compliance with the vacillations of New Zealand law. Law, moreover, that was void for repugnancy, and finally had to be confirmed by Act of the British Parliament in 1864. I readily accept his Lordship's judgment in Theology; but not yet in law.

158 The Mission grants were made by Governor FitzRoy, but issued, nearly all at least, by Governor Grey. But the issue was made before the arrival of the deputation from a New Zealand Company's settlement. I have nowhere seen any mention made by the Governor of the somewhat awkward fact that the grants upon which he bestowed so much invective were issued by himself. The dates of issue are upon the deeds.

159 For the Bishop's letter, with full comments thereon, the reader is referred to "A Page from the History of New Zealand."

160 "You are perfectly correct in your recollection of my conversation with you at Paihia; and I have already stated in my letter to Mr. Clarke, that I have abstained from offering any remarks on the question, till I was called upon by the Society."

That is to say, in 1847. I am unable to reconcile this with the admission that so far as 1843 the Bishop was in confidential communication on the question with the Church Mission Society, or with the fact that he urged Governor FitzRoy not to make the grants. That he kept back his "remarks" from the Mission is true; but if he meant that, he should have said it.

161 The Bishop to Henry Williams.
September 13, 1847.

I will then pledge myself to institute the fullest enquiry into those accusations to which you refer, as soon as the approaching ordination and the meeting of the Central Committee shall have taken place; but I am not at liberty to wait upon the Governor, nor do I think he would be at liberty now to enter into the question, as the Legislative Council is still sitting.

The Bishop's pledge was accepted: we shall presently see in what manner it was kept.

162 See [Greek] METOIKOS to the Southern Cross.

163 "I believe that Mr. Clarke is in no small degree responsible for the dreadful occurrences which took place," New Zealand Blue Book (House of Commons), 1847, p. 17. It will be remembered that Governor Grey abolished the Protectorate, to get rid of the Protector. His Excellency was a frequent imitator of great things, in small. Kildare was in disgrace at Court for having burned down the Cathedral at Cashel. But he assured the King, upon his honour, that he would not have done so, had he not believed that the Archbishop was inside.

164 Mr. Cotton, the Bishop's private chaplain, who was at times inconveniently outspoken, and never could resist the utterance of a smart word, broke out at St. John's College before many assembled, with an exclamation in his own peculiar style, – "Mr. Archdeacon, you remind me of a great blowfly." "Mr. Cotton, Mr. Cotton!" interposed one of the ladies present, afraid of affront being taken. "Yes," said the chaplain; "while the small flies are caught in the spider's web, you burst right through." None but those who are conversant with details of what it is no longer worth while to narrate, can understand the peculiar aptitude of the comparison.

165 It has been already observed that in the judgment of those best qualified to form an opinion, the Bishop's object in pressing surrender of the crown grants, was to reduce the sons of the grantees to a state of dependence, that they should be more willing to enter the Church. But even this was sacrificed to a greater object, – that of bringing every possible means of pressure to bear upon the grantees, in hope of avoiding the mortification of defeat.

Samuel Williams to Archdeacon Henry Williams.

December 28, 1847. "In course of conversation with the Bishop previous to my leaving Auckland, he told me of his determination not to receive any member of the Missionary families holding more than 2,560 acres as candidates for Holy Orders unless the subject be entirely set at rest. This I give you in writing, as it may be important for you to know."

Two of the most promising could be named – perhaps three, who were thus excluded.

166 At a later period, after learning that enquiry had been definitely refused even by the Parent Society, he wrote as follows to the Bishop: –

We are evidently betrayed, and my duty now is clearly that I must personally defend our cause, which I will do by God's grace, rejecting the aid of man.

167 "These three words, so transiently introduced, would naturally escape the notice of an unsuspicious man; and they did escape the Archdeacon's notice until very long after his first perusal of the letter. Mr. Clarke's surrender, made to appear unconditional, was followed in fact by this important condition, 'Provided always, that all land over and above that proposed, be transferred to the Church of England, to be held in trust for the education of the native population.'"

See 'Page from the History of New Zealand.'

168 A detailed account of these proceedings was given in the Southern Cross of September 25, 1847. Enquiry was subsequently made into the evidence, some of which has been preserved. The statement in the Cross came, through one remove, from Thomas Walker Nene himself.

The following are from two well-known merchants at the Bay.

My Dear Sir, – The subject contained in the Southern Cross of the 25th September, 1847, respecting the conversation which took place between the Governor and the natives was communicated to me by Tamati Waka, the day after the return of his Excellency the Governor from the Kerikeri. The circumstance appeared to create surprise amongst the natives of the Bay, as coming from the Governor.

I remain, yours truly,
H. E. HANLEY.
The Venerable Archdeacon Henry Wiliams,
Paihia.

My Dear Sir, – In reference to the conversation we had to-day respecting the statement made by Waka to me in the store, I have only to repeat that Waka said "the Governor was at war with the Missionaries, not with the musket, but with the pen; and that he intended to take away their land and return it to the natives."

Yours faithfully,
Samuel Stephenson.
The Venerable Archdeacon Henry Williams.

One of the expressions used, if correctly reported by the natives, was of a peculiarly offensive nature; that the Missionaries had tahae-d [stolen] their land. A promise to restore the land to the sellers, enabling them sell it over again, would be a likely means of exciting cupidity, and therefore discontent; but it was not kept. The surplus land actually taken from the original purchases was not returned, but applied to Government purposes. For instance, some of the sons bought from the Government and paid for a portion of the 2,000 acres, severed by the Commissioner, before issue of the grants, from the original purchase. Part of the surplus land was given to the enrolled pensioners, and other parts sold.

169

Kororareka, Okotopa 12, 1847.

E kara e te Wiremu, tena ra ko koe, aua ra e pouritia e to ngakau, e meinga ana naku tena kupu, e-na nga Mihinare i riro ai te Whenua, na matou ano i hoko te whenua, aua e meinga he mea tango noa. Hoko ana ano a Hikitene i tona kainga i Waikare. Hoko ana ano a Tohitapu i tona kainga i Whangai. Hoko ana ano a Heke i tona kainga i Puketona. Hoko ana ano a Kaiteke i tona kainga i Pouerua. Hoko ana ano a Manu, a Te Wharerahi i te Waimate. Hoko ana ano ahau i toku kainga i Otutae. Kahore he kainga i tangohia noatia, waihoki kahore he rangatira o Ngapuhi kahore i hoko. Muri ake ka mea ratou, e, ka riro te whenua. Hoko ana ano a Hautungia i Titirangi. Hoko ana ano a Tamati i Paihia, i te Haumi. Hoko ana ano a Kawiti, a Pomare i Okiato. Kahore he tangata kahore i utua. Muri ake ka mea ratou ka riro to tatou whenua, tatou kia whawhaitia, ka riro hoki to tatou whenua, whatiia ana te kara a te Pakeha, na ka whawai, ka meinga e ratou mo te whenua. Kahore, mo Kotiro, mo te mea kahore i hoatu nga utu te kaho tupeka, te peke hota. Mehemea i whawhai ratou mo te whenua ekore ahau e whawhai kia ratou. Tena i he ta ratou whawhai. Ko nga kupu a te Pakeha, taurekareka kua riro te mana o to koutou whenua, mea rawa ratou he pono aua kupu a aua Pakeha. Na kua rongo ahau ki te kupu a te Kuini, ko ratou ko te hunga kino me whawai, ko o ratou whenua aua e tangohia ta te mea e aroha ana ahau ki nga tangata i waiho e aku matua. Na e kara mo wai ianei tenei kupu? he tangata haere ianei ahau ki Ingarani i meinga naku tena kupu? na Ngapuhi ano ra tana kupu. mea noa ahau, e, mo tehea whenua ranei e meinga nei kia whawhaitia, he mea hoko nei ano hoki na nga Mihinare, na, kahore ra he whenua i tangohia noatea e nga Mihinare, e nga Pakeha-maori, kahore, no nga rangatira ano o Nutireni te he, te kuare, kahore he tahae o nga Pakeha, no nga tangata maori te kuare, mehemea kahore ahau i kite i nga utu, e mea ahau he mea tango na nga Pakeha, tena he mea utu nei ano, ko wai hoki au e matau he utu tika ranei he utu he ranei, ki au ia he utu pono. Heoi ano taku korero kia koe.

NA TAMATI WAKA NENE.
Kia Te Wiremu.

[Pages 201-250]

understood to have affixed the latter meaning to the phrase. The distinction, made plain by Walker, is maintained in the reply. 170

Paihia, October 15, 1847.

To my old friend Waka Nene, – I have received your letter of the 12th instant. Friend, I did not believe that untruth, from whomsoever it may have originated, that that saying was yours – that the portion of land purchased by the Missionaries was the origin of the war. That is it as you have it – the cause was "The statements of the pakeha – the sovereignty [mana] of your country is gone." Hence the wrong of one and another. Now I ask you for which land was it that they felt jealous and angry? That portion which was paid for justly and in open day by the white man, or that portion which was not paid for, that is, the portion upon which the Maori sits and the waste lands? Tell me, did not they proclaim that by means of the canker worm, the stick, the flag-staff which stood on the top of Maiki, the sovereignty and the country of the Maori was gone – the men also as slaves for breaking stones to make roads and what not.

Is this a new cry or one of no importance, that it should be ignored now in this new era? For this was the error of the pakeha and the Maori?

By the treaty alone, which was signed at Waitangi on the arrival of the first Governor, the thoughts of the tribes who stood by the pakeha, and those who sat quietly, were kept straight. By it the Maories' lands are secured to them, and their persons safe.

HENRY WILLIAMS.

On the question of Lord Grey's "instructions," and the breach of treaty, the alliance between Archdeacon Williams and the Bishop remained unbroken. The Archdeacon continued to press for abnegation, on account of the dangerous state of the native mind. The subject was a sore one with the Governor, causing loss of temper, which he was not always able to disguise. No other excuse can be found in palliation of what follows.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, January 7, 1848.

Reverend Sir, – I am instructed by his Excellency the Governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 1st ultimo, but which only reached his Excellency on the 30th, and to inform you that a copy shall be forwarded to the Resident Magistrate at the Bay of Islands for his report.

I am further directed to add that his Excellency has not seen any instructions of Lord Grey which direct that the lands of the natives should be taken from them, and the Governor attributes a great deal of the ill-feeling of the natives in the North to the large land-claims of some of the Missionaries, who his Excellency had hoped would have assisted him in the adjustment of them.

I have, &c,
ANDREW SINCLAIR,
Colonial Secretary.
The Venerable
Archdeacon Henry Williams,
Paihia.

This, as a newspaper reply, would be called "very smart letter writing." Readers of the foregoing pages will form their own opinion as to accuracy of assertion, which the Archdeacon was not the man to let pass unchallenged. His reply is couched in very plain words, and may be taken as a fair specimen of those letters which were complained of as violent by Governor Grey. Some may think it not enough deferential; but soft words are out of place when they only serve to weaken truth.

Archdeacon Henry Williams to the Colonial Secretary.

Paihia, February 14, 1848.

Sir, – Your letter of the 7th ultimo I have the honour to acknowledge, and should not trouble his Excellency with any further remarks did you not inform me that you were "directed to add that his Excellency has not seen any instructions of Lord Grey which direct that the lands of the natives should be taken

from them, and the Governor attributes a great deal of the ill-feeling of the natives in the North to the large land-claims of the Missionaries, who his Excellency had hoped would have assisted him in the adjustment of them."

In the preceding paragraph there are three distinct points to which it will be my duty to call his Excellency's attention.

Firstly, – "That his Excellency has not seen any instructions of Lord Grey's which direct that the lands of the natives should be taken from them."

I am surprised to see this statement as made by his Excellency's direction, as the tenor of the despatches received from Lord Grey evidently indicates that New Zealand is already considered demesne land of the Crown; consequently "the lands of the natives are virtually taken from them." This certainly is the only interpretation given to these documents by the first men in the Colony, and by all who in November last signed the petition to Her Majesty, – which is now generally disseminated among the aborigines. In support of this I request to call his Excellency's attention to the fourth and sixth resolutions of the select Committee of the House of Commons, and to the Queen's instructions under the Royal sign-manual and signet accompanying the New Zealand Charter 13, and chapter 14, 7. By a careful perusal of these documents I can arrive at no other conclusion than that the whole country was virtually regarded as demesne land of the Crown upon the issue of these royal instructions, except those lands actually in possession of "the aboriginal natives or the settlers of European birth and origin, who may have established any valid title, whether of property or of occupancy."

The second point in the above paragraph requiring notice is the following. "The Governor attributes a great deal of the ill-feeling of the natives in the North to the large land-claims of some of the Missionaries."

I very much regret that his Excellency has authorised such an expression of his feelings, – such unfounded reflections as contained in the above clause to be repeated to me. At this date his Excellency will certainly admit that the ill-feeling of the natives in the North "is shewn towards Her Majesty's Government and not towards the Missionaries." The cause of the late disturbance and present ill-feeling and suspicious fears expressed towards the Government is too well known to need my again drawing his Excellency's attention to the subject; and certainly, the uniform kind feeling of the aborigines towards the Missionaries and their sons ought to have silenced for ever such an imputation, that the land-claims of the Missionaries were in any respect the cause of, or connected with "the ill-feeling of the natives in the North" towards Her Majesty's Government. Had there been any

foundation for the imputation his Excellency desires to establish against the Missionaries, the aborigines would most assuredly have evinced their displeasure against the Missionaries when so fully in their power; and not against the troops, from whom they could only expect a severe contest. The whole is irreconcileable, and the correctness of these claims has not been disputed except by his Excellency.

But I am told that "his Excellency has information from certain chiefs upon the subject of which I may not be aware." May I ask, is it from motives of delicacy that his Excellency refrains from making the information publicly known, and at once silencing the Missionaries with their own acts and deeds. 171

His Excellency's opinion concerning the Missionaries would appear to have been grounded upon statements such as the following, which has been recently given as coming direct from his Excellency: – "As a proof that the purchase of land by the Missionaries was the cause of the war between Her Majesty's Government and the aborigines, and not the flag-staff, that Waka had thus stated to Colonel Despard, that the purchase of land by the Missionaries was the cause of the war; that this statement was made in Mr. Williams' presence, and that he attempted to stop Waka and his relation of this fact by putting his hand before Waka's mouth; that Colonel Despard was highly indignant at such an attempt on the part of Mr. Williams and desired Waka to continue his narration."

As his Excellency cannot have any personal knowledge of this circumstance, I merely observe for the information of his Excellency that in the above statement there is as much truth as that his Excellency is now in China. 172

The above relation I mentioned to Waka in the presence of several of his people, who expressed their perfect astonishment and disgust with this emphatic exclamation: – "Katahi ano te iwi tekateka ko te Pakeha;" "The Europeans are a very lying people."

I am informed that his Excellency has collected statements against the Missionaries, and I feel it to be consistent with my profession and station to inform his Excellency that, upon the production of these statements, should I fail to scatter them to the winds, I will resign my duties in New Zealand.

The apparent secresy with which his Excellency obtains spurious information, to the attempted prejudice, and even ruin of the Missionaries, is after the order of the Inquisition, and calculated to excite the evil disposition of the aborigines, giving rise to clandestine proceedings, thus introducing a new order of ideas amongst them, injurious to the vital interest of the Colony at large; creating suspicion in the minds of the natives against the Government, and dangerous to settlers not so firmly established in the confidence of the natives as the Missionaries are.

Were not the allegations against the Missionaries made by his Excellency personally, I should decline to notice them. His Excellency is aware that the Missionaries are members of a public body of men, who will feel it to be their duty to institute the fullest enquiry into the origin of these aspersions, and will require the fullest explanation to establish the facts, whether they be true or false; for which purpose the Missionaries will render their assistance and entire concurrence. His Excellency's communication with the chiefs in the Bay of Islands in September last, according to his previous intention as expressed in his Excellency's letter to the Bishop, of August 30, 1847, might have proved the overthrow of the Missionary families at the hand of these excitable tribes around, had not the Missionaries been too well established in the affection of the aborigines, who have expressed much sympathy on the occasion. I have in the course of my journey, recently traversed the ground over which the two Government officers sent to the North passed in December last, to Whangaroa and Kaitaia, and was frequently questioned by the chiefs upon the subject of their mission, which has produced a general feeling which I consider to be my duty to mention to his Excellency. Amongst a variety of information which has been given by these two officers, bearing particularly upon the Missionaries, I was told by the chiefs that they were informed that the Missionaries were not sent to take their lands. The design of this remark is obvious; but as respects our own standing with the aborigines we could not desire anything more favourable to our cause, as a direct negative is put upon a charge against the Missionaries of being Government Agents, which some have endeavoured to allege. Some chiefs speaking upon the subject, observed, "True, the Missionaries have only that portion of ground we gave for their families of New Zealand birth. They have not taken our ground as the Governor says; but though the Missionaries were not sent to take our land, it appears that the Governor and others have come hither to take our land, and these two officers have informed us of numbers of ships coming with settlers; and it is now said generally that the country is seized by the Queen; we shall see the truth of these sayings in time." And to shew the feeling of

the aborigines – "the ill-feeling of the natives in the North," the chiefs have been for some time past engaged in the removal of the bones of their relatives long since dead, "that they may not be abused by the Europeans," their fears having been created by these late despatches. That gentlemen in connection with the Government, imperfectly acquainted with the native character, should thus be sent amongst the native tribes, disseminating remarks of an exciting tendency, will be seen to have been unwise, and unworthy of the dignity of British officers, and dangerous to the public peace. The endeavour to prejudice the character of the Missionaries before the aborigines is too delicate a work to be attempted, and has failed though the effect is reflected upon the community.

Your closing remark is that "his Excellency had hoped that the Missionaries would have assisted him in the adjustment of these land claims."

The Missionaries have long been officially informed that their land claims had been adjusted in the Land Commissioners Court. But after the very high testimony given by his Excellency's predecessors to the services of the Missionaries, rendered to Her Majesty and the Colony, – of men whose lives have been devoted to the preservation of peace and good understanding and the adjustment of differences, – of "men on whose integrity and devotedness no imputation has fairly rested," I am surprised to see a doubt expressed as to the desire of the Missionaries to "have assisted in the adjustment" of any point of difference existing amongst the aborigines and themselves. But we cannot discover any point of difference requiring adjustment relating to the Missionaries, as implied by his Excellency, except those of his own creating. And when the tenor of his Excellency's communication to the Missionaries was considered, accompanied with such severe aspersions upon our character and proceedings, we felt constrained to maintain our position until these aspersions should be brought to light, and upon the merits of which the Missionaries will either stand or fall.

In my letter of August 16, 1847, upon the occasion of his Excellency's unprecedented despatch to the Secretary of State, of June 25, 1846, I wrote the following words, by which will be seen our desire to render every assistance to Her Majesty's Government, in removing all difficulties, as far as we were able, could it be shewn that our claims were the cause of evil, as reported in that despatch: –

"Considering that his Excellency's despatch does convey a charge of a very grave and serious nature against the Missionaries in the North, of having been accessory to the shedding of human blood for the possession of land claimed by them and their

children, so as to involve the propriety of possessing even a single acre of land in this country, I am authorised to say that the Missionaries shrink with horror from such a charge, and are prepared to relinquish their claims altogether, upon it being shewn that their claims would render the possibility of such an awful circumstance as the shedding of one drop of human blood." To this letter I received no reply.

In a more recent communication from his Excellency, a proposition is made to the land claimants, to select four blocks with this reservation, – "not to include in these blocks any land to which the natives may establish a just claim 173 (though these claims have passed the Commissioners Court, and no native has at any time advanced any point of dispute), "or which may be required for the use of the natives, or for public purposes." 174 Seeing that the whole question was negatived by this reservation, we considered that it was intentionally so placed, as to render it impossible for us to attempt to enter upon it. Her Majesty's officers, both civil and military, look for reward for long services, and obtain reward. His Excellency's feeling towards the Missionaries is personal and political, also the remarks of Lord Grey in his despatch of March 1, 1847, wherein he observes, – "nor should I hesitate to dispossess the whole body of Missionaries of the property which they have acquired in the same manner as Mr. Kemp has, if the law would enable me to proceed to so extreme a measure." Does not his Excellency regard this expression as extremely vindictive? I beg to assure his Excellency that Mr. Kemp does not stand singular in his purchase. All have proceeded upon a similar scale of purchase, and are therefore entitled to the same compliment from Lord Grey. Why Lord Grey should thus have expressed himself towards the Missionaries, who have merely acted as trustees for their extensive families, and otherwise have no personal interest in the question, is as yet to us a mystery. 175 And it appears a strange perversion of justice that parents of these extensive families, on account of providing for their families, should be subject to the capricious judgment of men who know not a father's care, and that in a wild and savage land. Lord Grey, we conceive, could not thus have expressed himself, had not representations been made to the

Secretary of State, of which we have no knowledge. The Missionaries therefore view the past proceeding of his Excellency and this expression of feeling from Lord Grey towards them and their families, as their reward for past services rendered to Her Majesty, and admitted by his Excellency's predecessors in most honourable terms, that by their influence the Colony was first established, and afterwards preserved in the absence of any military force.

Unable to substantiate, 176 unwilling to retract, the Governor sought to annul the grants he had failed to recover, by resorting to the Courts of Law, on the ground of a supposed informality. The extension of the award had been recommended by a Commissioner: it was argued that it ought to have been recommended by Commissioners. The technical defect, if sustained, would relieve the Governor from the difficulty of having refused to accept the Archdeacon's and Mr. Clarke's conditions. 177 On the legal merits of the question, we shall presently have more to say.

The Bishop had written to Mr. Venn, the Society's Secretary, as follows: –

If therefore you receive letters from any of the claimants, expressing their intention to make over their whole claim 178 [that is to say, their crown titles] to their children, you will understand that by so doing they will embroil the whole question with the Governor; outrage public opinion; break your resolutions, and

set aside my award; 179 and all for no possible benefit, either to themselves or to their children.

It must be assumed that the Bishop's clearer judgment was obscured by anger when he wrote those words; but certainly, as regards "public feeling," he was under a great mistake. I lay very little stress on public feeling; but, as a matter of fact, it happened to set most strongly the other way. It was mainly from the laity that the Archdeacon received that strong support which at last put to silence his assailants.

The following letter is from one who used to take a prominent part in colonial politics.

Mr. Thomas Forsaith to Henry Williams. 180
January 17, 1848.

By this time you are aware that the Governor has commenced his operations against you. The "Calliope" took up writs of scire facias against yourself, Mr. Clarke, Mr. Davis, and Mr. Kemp; and my own impression is that your letter so annoyed him that he hastened the projection of these missiles on that account. Now the question is, what is to be done? I have been

endeavouring to ascertain which cause will be called on first; but find that this is quite arbitrary, as the Attorney-General may call which he pleases when the day comes . . . . It is a case in which I feel myself incompetent to advise. If you take no notice, judgment will of course be given against you by default; and if you defend it, the chances are that the Government by their superior influence will carry it in their own favour. The question is, whether you would be in a better position by not defending it even if you lose, than you would by contesting the matter, and losing it after all. But this you alone can decide. Your own judgment will be a much better and safer guide than the opinion of others.

I am very pouri [downhearted] about these things, not only on account of their intrinsic injustice, but on account of the evils that such proceedings must entail upon us. The Governor is surely going demented. When he left the other day he assumed a power unknown to the Czar of all the Russias, and actually gave verbal orders for the abolition of the Court of Requests, – a tribunal established by a law which has been confirmed by the Home Government.

From the many letters on the same question is one from Dr. Purchas, one of the Bishop's clergy, in no way connected with the Mission, but always taking an active part in native matters, which he had made the subject of especial study.

The Reverend Arthur Guyon Purchas to Henry Williams.

St. John's College, January 12, 1848.

I shall make no apology for writing on the present occasion; I had long intended to do so, but hitherto have hesitated: however my strong feelings upon the subject will allow me, to be silent no longer.

First of all, my dear sir, I hope you will allow me to express my deep sympathy with you under the abominable treatment you have received at the hands of the powers that be, and I trust you will not be offended at my presuming to offer advice upon a point that has just come to my knowledge. I must, however, tell you that I am but ill-informed as to the most of the recent occurrences; owing, I believe, to an unwillingness to take any part whatever in what must necessarily be an unpleasant business to all engaged therein, – an unwillingness which led me to neglect opportunities of becoming acquainted with the facts of the case, until the opportunities themselves had passed. But now I am so fully convinced that "might versus right" represents the case, that I cannot as an honest man stand by and look on

unconcerned. My mind is so completely made up, that I am most willing to take my part, in whatever – public or private – may in the least degree help to bring matters to a rightful issue. As far as any person in the world can be independent, I am so. I have no favours to ask from anybody, and can therefore freely say, if any person in my position can be of any use, I am at your service.

I have now to tell you that writs of "scire facias " are about to be issued immediately against yourself, Mr. Clarke, and Mr. Davis; this I have no doubt is in pursuance of instruction from Lord Grey, published in the Southern Cross for Saturday last. I have no doubt you have seen the document, or I would have sent you a copy of the paragraph I refer to. Now, my dear sir, allow me to suggest two things; first, that in this case much blood might be shed by suffering judgment to go by default; for the natives would rise on seeing the lands unjustly wrested from their rightful owners. 181 If I mistake not, the natives will not recognise the quibble that substitutes "legal" for "rightful"; therefore it is of the greatest consequence that the writ be met by a plea. Secondly, that if there be no sufficient reason against it, the case might be made stronger on the side of right by the parents, who at present hold the land in their own name, giving deeds of conveyance at once to their children for the whole of their grants, but retaining in their own hands the native titles; because they are of no value in relation to Government, and may become of great value hereafter on other grounds. If this is done quietly and immediately, it may thwart the unjust efforts of might, by causing the writs to fall to the ground from want of correctness. I trust your kindness to attribute this letter to the real motive, and beg you to convey my kind regards to your family.

The writer's good feeling is manifest, though his law may be questionable. The formal conveyance to the children was postponed, because of the issue of the writ. It was taken for granted that the Attorney-General's opinion, as to the existence of a technical defect in the grants, was correct; the conveyance would have been a useless expense, and might have been construed into a factious proceeding. What was passing in the mind of the writer when he recommended the retention of the native title-deeds, while conveying the deeds of grant, I cannot say.

There is high legal authority for assuming that Crown grants were never required at all; that the native title-deeds were in themselves amply sufficient, and that any colonial law or ordinance pretending to disturb them would be invalid, on the ground of repugnancy to English law. 182

Mr. Clarke's Crown grant was eventually selected by the Government as the one on which to try the question of formal legality. The defendant remained passive, instructing his solicitor merely to enter an appearance, out of respect for the Court; but to refrain from arguing the case. 183 Nevertheless, to the surprise of all, the case went against the Crown. Mr. Clarke's title was declared valid.

Henry Williams to E. G. Marsh.
Paihia, August 3, 1848.

You will be gratified to learn that after all the two judges of the Supreme Court have given their opinion in favour of Captain FitzRoy's grants. This verdict, or rather decision of the judges, has given general satisfaction. To us, of course, the same; but you may be surprised to learn that the two Mighties still play upon the same string, to relinquish the land. Having obtained

the victory, it is not my intention to trouble myself on the subject, but rather to look for compensation for injuries received. I perceive in one of your letters you speak of these grants as "second grants." This is a serious error. 184 We have never had but one grant; and, singularly enough, the other day while examining the local law on the question, I fell in with the following, shewing that the grant was according to law, and by the unanimous consent of the Council. The document will be found in the Parliamentary papers, April 22, 1845, p. 100.

" The Council met June 12, 1844; present, all the members.

His Excellency submitted to the Council the land claims of the Rev. H. Williams. His Excellency stated, that from the report of the Commissioners, Messrs. Godfrey and Richmond, the claimant had actually paid enough to entitle him to 22,131 acres, but that the whole land claims amounted only to 11,000 acres. In accordance with the provisions of the Land Claims Ordinance the Commissioners had recommended awards amounting to 7,010 acres. His Excellency remarked, among other things, that there could be no doubt that Mr. Williams had done more for the advancement and improvement of the aboriginal race, and in fact for the general interests of the Colony at large, than any other individual member of the Mission body; he, Mr. Williams, was therefore entitled to favourable consideration, and his Excellency would request the opinion of the Council whether Mr. Williams' claims should be referred to the Commissioner, authorising him to recommend an extension of the award. Upon consideration, the Council were unanimously of opinion that, taking into consideration all the circumstances in connection with Mr. Williams' claim, the Commissioner should be authorised to recommend a grant in his favour." 185

I think you will consider Captain FitzRoy's pamphlet an important document, – one not to be cast aside in these times, received as a set-off to Captain Grey's insidious statements.

By this judgment of the Supreme Court the whole aspect of affairs was changed. The grantees could no longer be charged with succumbing to intimidation, and the question might be considered as re-opened. Not, however, for the Archdeacon; for, in consequence of the Governor's proceedings among the natives at the Bay, he had refused definitively to entertain any further communications on the subject. But the young men, the cultivators and real possessors of the estates, were not so hindered. They resolved upon acting for themselves, and coming to an arrangement with the Government. For their act would be now spontaneous; no longer on compulsion. But, as usual, the Governor marred all. Beaten in the Supreme Court, he served Mr. Clarke with notice of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 186 thus placing the titles again in abeyance. The

proposed arrangement of course determined by reason of the appeal; fortunately for the Mission families, for the Secretary of State for the Colonies, when informed of the judgment of the Colonial Court, abandoned the attack. He directed the Governor to bring a Bill into Council, confirmatory of the titles. The Bill, originally entituled "The Quieting Doubts Act," was passed as "The Crown Titles Act." Formal conveyance of the whole estate to the family was made at once, the Archdeacon leaving himself without a single acre.

The Reverend Robert Maunsell to Archdeacon Henry Williams.

Waikato Heads, October 25, 1848.

Though we have not for some time exchanged notes, yet I often think of you. The late decision of the Judges gave me great pleasure, and I am now free to admit that I heartily approve of the very manly way in which you have maintained your conduct against the "confederacy." Deeply as I regret that our Mission should be so deeply involved in these discussions, it does not appear that after the purchases had been made, and such heavy charges officially advanced, any other alternative remained for conscious integrity than to "stand." You are now, thank God, on, I hope, firm ground, and will, I feel confident, give all to see that you were ever contending, not for acres, but for your character. I was much concerned to hear that the Bishop had forwarded to the Colonial Secretary, a copy of his letter to you. This I learnt from a common friend, and speak it in confidence. He said he heard of it from you. I cannot but feel certain that there is some error somewhere in this statement. Surely the Bishop could not have thought of publishing such

a severe document, and one so incorrect in some of its statements . . . . You may be assured that my sympathies are with you. You have been aggrieved; rights and privileges have been no more regarded than brown paper, and a mighty stretch of prerogative was made to make all things bend according to the stereotyped rule of a superior will. I say, "justice," a fair stand-up fight, a tender regard for the fair claims of others; and above all, for the unalienable privileges of the Englishman, – trial by your peers. Thanks be to God, we are in a quiet work here, looking at the clouds as they blow over, and fully employed in my schools, studies, and district. How delightful the contrast! In the world we have tribulation, in the blessed Saviour and His word, peace.

Henry Williams had won; but only on a point of law. The continual taunts about the "illegality" of the grants had been put a stop to; but the great primary charge against the Mission, of having been accessory, in their greed of possession, to bloodshed, hung over them still, unretracted, and unproved. The deeds had now become worthless to the Governor, and the Archdeacon could no longer hope, by tendering them as the price of enquiry, to exact enquiry. He therefore resolved to claim in England what had been refused in New Zealand, and appealed to the Secretary of State for the Colonies; for he could now do so without imputation of interested motives. The memorial is lengthy, and must be relegated to the appendix, 187 but the tenor is shewn by a letter to the President of the Church Mission Society, requesting his Lordship's support.

My Lord, – As your Lordship is the proved friend and President of the Church Mission Society, before whom especially the New Zealand question has been considered, I crave permission to forward a duplicate copy of a letter to the Secretary of State for the Colonies which I hope your Lordship may be pleased to present in behalf of some of the oldest members of the Mission, who have laboured more than a quarter of a century in the country.

Your Lordship will perceive that the letter is no appeal respecting the Crown grants to land issued by Governor FitzRoy,

but one to claim protection against the various, dangerous, and insidious despatches of Governor Grey, one of which, June 29, 1846, with extracts from others, was forwarded to your Lordship from the Secretary of State, and laid before the Church Mission Society.

I do most respectfully urge that an opportunity may be afforded me of publicly clearing the Mission from every imputation that may have been cast upon us, or may be now secretly working against us.

Our case is urgent, having a powerful body of opponents in array against us; and Governor Grey himself explains that his proceedings –

"Would inflict great injury on the Mission, and possibly even injure deeply our common faith."

By maintaining my stand against these attacks, I feel I maintain the honour of the Church Mission Society in fearlessly meeting the same; and in so doing, exercise a right which is the duty of a Christian Missionary, who stands not in his own strength, but in the strength of the Lord of Hosts.

HENRY WILLIAMS.
The Right Honourable
The Earl of Chichester.

The Archdeacon, in throwing himself on the protection of Lord Grey, had taken his stand, like Coriolanus, at the hearth of his mortal enemy. In what manner Aufidius responded to the call, shall presently be shewn.

Archdeacon Williams had to withstand not only the Bishop and the Governor, but also some of his own brethren, who had sided with the magnates, and whose proceedings were made the most of, as proof unanswerable that he must have been in the wrong. I care not to revive this part of the question, believing that most of them have thought better of it since, – two, indeed, have told me so; and feeling sure that they were not clear-sighted enough to see their way through the thick fog with which the case had been clouded. For what may seem clear enough in these pages, where we are able to dispose of all false issues and irrelevant arguments, was not so then, unless to practiced and fearless reasoners. It was easy to confuse the abstract question, whether it be expedient that Missionaries should be land owners, – a mere matter of opinion, upon which any person is at liberty to think as he pleases – with the one particular question really

at issue, namely, whether the statements, injurious to the Mission, contained in the Governor's despatches, were true or untrue. The gift of clear logical perception is not so common as to justify imputation of blame for the lack of it. But some of "the brethren," in their excess of zeal, went, so far as to assume authority where they had none, and to interfere without warrant.

The Governor had expressed himself bitterly about the publication of his despatch to Mr. Gladstone, accusing the Mission, and of his letter to the Bishop inviting cooperation. The one he charged against the Archdeacon personally; the other, more generally against the grantees. He was doubly in error; firstly, in assuming that publication was wrong; and then, in assuming that any of the Mission had anything to do with it. But he was very sore; for public feeling had thereby been turned against him.

A few of "the brethren," 188 willing to grind in Caesar's mill, ingratiated themselves by striving to place the Archdeacon in the dilemma of either acknowledging publication or of refusing to deny. They took upon themselves to question, but without result. Taking advantage of a paper signed by some of the Archdeacon's sons, setting at rest the question of real ownership, they returned to the charge, in a letter not remarkable for good taste.

June 12, 1849.

My dear Mr. Archdeacon, – I have to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of your letter to the Parent Society, May 17, as also an address from some of your children to you, which documents I am now forwarding home.

I beg to draw your attention to certain queries inserted in my former letter connected with the publication of certain despatches of Governor Grey, the answers of which you have forgotten to insert in the letter I have acknowledged. 189

I remain, &c,
ROBERT MAUNSELL,
Provisional Secretary.

Like Shakspeare's Hotspur, "nettled, and stung with pismires," the Archdeacon made a somewhat tart reply. The Central Committee had no authority to put such questions, and when asked to produce it, found themselves unable to do so.

Archdeacon Henry Williams to the Provisional Secretary of the Central Committee.

Paihia, June 27, 1849.

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th instant, wherein you notice in the following words your having received "an address from some of your children to you." I will here mention that your speaking of my sons as of "children" is certainly speaking of them in a very light manner, conveying a very incorrect idea, as though they were mere boys whose opinion is not valid. Your style is not with that degree of respect I consider them entitled to. You might possibly have been thinking of my "grandchildren," or of your own little

boys. These children of whom you speak to me are each six feet two inches in stature, and advancing towards thirty years of age.

I have further to inform you that Archdeacon Henry Williams does not transact the business of the "Messrs. Williams Brothers." 190 It is therefore non-official in you to have acknowledged to me any communication to yourself from these gentlemen.

You beg to draw my "attention to certain queries" contained in your letter of April, 1849. I have been examining your documents to find upon what authority you acted in these particulars, and am unable to discover the authority. May I therefore request to learn from you your authority for proposing such queries for my consideration. Should you be unable to produce your authority, I shall be constrained to pronounce your proceedings to have been unauthorised, or as we say in Maori, he pokanoa nau.

I enclose to you for your information a copy of "Remarks explanatory of the pledge given on September 11, 1847, and forwarded to the Church Mission Society."

Though refusing to entertain unauthorised questioning in the colony, the Archdeacon had already been quite explicit with the Society in England, on the question of the despatch. In a subsequent letter to Mr. Maunsell (January 1, 1850), recapitulating the proceedings against the grantees, he writes as follows: –

To reply to your queries proposed, Nos. 1 and 2, I should consider to be a degradation to my station . . . . But for your information, I will repeat what I gave to the Church Mission Society in a letter of August 1, 1846.

You appear to charge us with furnishing the Press here with a copy of Governor Grey's despatch of June 25, 1846, which is incorrect. True, we were not very careful to withhold it from the sight of many; it was so great a curiosity – a cunningly devised fable. It was therefore seen by very many before it appeared in publication, and we consider it a most providential circumstance that it did come before the public. But the great objection which has been put forth seems to have given weight and importance to it, and to prove its own condemnation as incapable of enduring the light. The only tangible reason therefore against this despatch being brought to the light, was its being of too bad 191 a character to stand the test of inspection.

I also gave a similar reply to the Bishop on this same subject, in my letter of November 30.

With these facts before you, and rejected by your Committee, what conclusion can any impartial person come to.

Since the receipt of your letter of April last, I have received information by letter, on good authority, that the despatch of August 30, 1847, was provided, directly or indirectly, by the Bishop's private chaplain."

A few stray extracts from the Archdeacon's diary may here find place. Though regularly kept up, from day to day, the entries become more curt and meagre still, as if he felt a repugnance to setting down what was now treated as mere disturbance to his work.

January 4, 1848. At 6 a.m. off for the Kerikeri; at business all day.

January 5. At business until late in the afternoon. Returned to Paihia; Captain Rough at the house. Fresh despatches; wicked.

January 6. An intimation from the Governor.

January 7. Wind N.N.W. Her Majesty's s.s. "Inflexible" 192 steamed out. The flag-staff not up, nor peace ratified with Heke. Much bombast come to nothing.

January 14. An insolent letter from Mr. Whytlaw upon want of hospitality on the part of the Missionaries. When that fails in this quarter, we may fear it will fail altogether in New Zealand. The Mission is a public pack-horse, upon which all may mount with their bundles and boxes, and think it strange if they be not carried free of expense without a word of remonstrance.

January 17. Report from Major Bridge that I had been exciting the natives at Waikari and at Orongo on Sunday the 26th ultimo. Particulars taken down. 193

January 19. Took leave for Kaitaia.

January 21. At 8 a.m. took canoe for Te Karaka. Ururoa gone to the heads; Hira Pure up the river, to get out of the way. Pororua pulled up the river. Everything as yet dead – very dead.

January 23. Gale from the North; crossed the entrance of the harbour to Te Rere. Rain commenced and continued to increase. At Mangonui waded the two rivers and at 4 brought up in a sheltered spot. Pitched the tent, and by the aid of the blankets recovered warmth.

January 24. Heavy gale with rain; called upon the Europeans. In the afternoon Paora Putete came to the tent; spoke of the secret dealings of the spies at Whangaroa.

February 3. Rode to Tepuna; after dinner sailed to Paihia. All well; a bushel of letters; much kindness displayed.

February 5. Took wife and daughter to call on Mrs. Bridge.

February 7. Mr. Woods [constable] called with the writ. Gave him a lecture for non-attendance at Church. An invitation from Captain Stanley [H.M.S. "Calliope"] for Mrs. Williams and myself to dine to-morrow.

February 17. Sent my letter to the Governor.

February 21. Preparing for my trip to the South.

February 23. Discussion as to the sea at Cape Brett; concluded to go and examine. At 8.30 rounded the Cape; put into a small bay for breakfast. At 6, landed at Mr. Lewington's, Nguguru; Lord George Butler, Mr. Petre, and Captain Stewart here. Conversation on the state of the country and the politics of the day. Took up my abode in my tent.

March 6. Much difficulty to round the Cape; entered the Bay at sunset, and at 10 landed at Paihia. Much news. The Bishop had been here in the "Dido;" he and the Captain had called.

March 27. At daylight the "Undine" announced at anchor. Did not send off. At 10, while occupied with the native class, a message that the Bishop was in the house. Went, with much reluctance. Most sweet, as though no difference of opinion or feeling. Incomprehensible!! 194 Said as little as I could; luncheon for the party, after which embarked.

March 30. The "Albert" arrived: present for Heke; five sovereigns and blankets. A letter from the Colonial Secretary.

March 31. The Kawakawa natives down for examination; also the natives from the Rawhiti.

April 1. Engaged with the natives at the chapel. Walker Nene come to join in; a most agreeable conversation with him. Received the Bishop's letter to Mr. Clarke.

April 2. Sunday. Good congregation of natives, – between forty and fifty at the communion; an improvement. Afternoon service at Kororareka. Good congregation of natives; Walker

came to me and said that as the notice for the communion was so short, they 195 should not attend on this occasion, but that they would on the next.

April 11. Some conversation with Pomare, Whai, and Kemara. Also with Waka and party. The Governor's present to Heke not held in much esteem. 196

April 16. H.M.S. "Calliope" anchored at the Wahapu with the Governor on board.

April 17. Heavy rain. The Governor to go to the Waimate to-morrow to meet Heke.

April 18. The Governor and party on the way to Waimate., Received a letter from Major Bridge relative to Heke telling him to lay down his pipe while talking to him.

April 19. Mr. Clarke from the Waimate; news, – the Governor's party walked in last evening, carrying their own saddles, as Heke was not at the Waimate. All on the move to Kaikohe.

April 20. The "Albert" arrived. In the afternoon learned that the Governor had returned to the Waimate, not having seen Heke, though Pene Taui had a long conversation with the Grey-Fox. Governor gone to-day to Hokianga. Mr. Berrey and Mr. Webber [H.M.S. "Calliope"] with James Clendon and Henry returned this afternoon. Much news and particulars of the tinihanga of the Governor, – his secret dealings.

April 24. News from England; the Charter to be kept back for five years. 197

April 25. Preparing for my voyage. In the afternoon Mrs. Robertson, Lord George Butler and the Doctor called, and sat some long time. At 5, the Governor and followers came through the settlement, but called not. All the evening engaged in hearing the news. The whole contrary to the expectations of his Excellency. Failed completely.

April 26. Mr. Berrey called; gave brilliant account of the meeting, quite opposite to what it really was. At 4.30, a boat from the "Calliope" to fetch me to dinner. At 9, joined the party at Clendon's. House became full; the Governor and Colonel Wynyard with the rest. Both stood aloof from the "Traitor;" all others friendly.

April 27. Natives from inland conversing upon the meeting; Wiremu Hopihana came to breakfast. Much to say as to the Governor's conversation; had been told I kept Heke back. Gave opinion of the Governor's proceedings. Took leave with Kate and Henry to embark for Auckland.

In Auckland he was received with marked sympathy and kindness; partly because of the Governor's unpopularity, partly from respect to himself. The absurdity of former charges had been made manifest. I take a just pride in having been among the foremost in vindication; the "Traitor" had become known as the most loyal of men, and the reaction was complete.

The diary is full of pleasant reminiscences, which it would no longer serve any purpose to extract.

July 7. Letters from Tauranga and Auckland. Great news; the land grants settled to be according to law. Henry off to Waimate to carry the news.

September 4. The anniversary of the day of trouble when the Bishop broke forth upon us in his letter of the 1st . . .

Within the colony the grantees had won; but their English troubles were on the increase. Two days after delivery of the Supreme Court judgment, in New Zealand, the Parent Committee of the Church Mission Society passed a second set of resolutions, contradictory to the first. By those of 1847, the grantees were warned against retaining more land, "for their own use and benefit" than should be determined upon as suitable by the Governor and the Bishop, jointly. 198 But they were told that the disposition of the surplus was left to their own decision. It was expressly stated that they might sell, convey to their children, or put in trust for the benefit of the aborigines. By the resolutions of 1848, the grantees were required to surrender that land unconditionally. There is no getting over this; the discrepancy stares one in the face. Yet the Parent Committee laboured hard, with ill success, to make it appear that the second set of resolutions were consistent with the

first. A single specimen of reasoning must suffice. When Mr. Venn, their secretary, was pressed hard with the distinct permission to make over the land to the children, he alleged that he himself drew up the letter of March 1, covering the resolutions of 1847; and that when he wrote it, he never contemplated the making over the land to minors, but only to grown up sons; i.e., that he had deliberately contemplated the disinheritance of the younger children, and the establishment of the elder.

Much paper was wasted upon a question that admits of no dispute. But the matter has lost its interest to the reader, and hinders progress. Once for all, I may state that it is not my intention to go beyond an outline statement of the main facts of the case. Those who ask for proofs, or for details, are referred to the "Page from the History of New Zealand," where the whole question is subjected to minute and searching analysis. It is enough to observe that Archdeacon Williams declined to acknowledge the right of the Society to cancel terms that had been offered, accepted, and acted upon; or, in any way, to stand between him and his own indefeasible right to vindicate himself from calumny. 199

All this while, much correspondence was going on; the Archdeacon continually daring the accusers of the Mission to the proof; the Bishop and others still writing about land, notwithstanding the request "that the subject should never again be named." The greater portion has already been printed, with ample comment. The Archdeacon, having in vain challenged the Governor and the Bishop, severally, to make good their allegations, and being now in a position to defy suspicion of interested motives, addressed the Secretary of State for the Colonies on behalf of the Mission, demanding the most searching enquiry, and expressly stating that his appeal was not concerning Crown Grants, "but

merely against the dangerous and insidious despatches of Governor Grey." 200 Upon the reply, with its glaring misrepresentation, we shall presently have more to say.

To the perversely continued correspondence about land, he put an effectual stop, by a review of past proceedings, put together with a power of reasoning that defied reply. 201 The result of it

was that the Bishop wrote to Archdeacon William Williams, stating that he had received "a letter from Archdeacon Henry Williams, upon which, after mature deliberation, he (the Bishop) bad resolved to withdraw himself from all further connexion with the land question."

In reading the following letter, it must be remembered that Canon Marsh was himself a member of the working committee of the Church Mission Society.

The Reverend E. G. Marsh to Henry Williams.

Aylesford, July 4, 1849.

My dear Henry, – By a letter received from William we are informed, that since the judgment of the Supreme Court of New Zealand upon the disputed Crown Grants, you have made over all your land by deed, to the children, for whom it was originally purchased with a proviso, that a certain portion of it (one-tenth), is to be set apart for Church and school purposes. I exceedingly rejoice in this step having been taken, because it puts an end, as I confidently trust, to all questions between you and the Society, upon the subject . . . I do not wish now to reopen any of the sores occasioned by the painful agitation of the land question. I think the treatment which you received from the Bishop, in his peremptory and ungracious exclusion of you from the Committee, unworthy of him and of you. The Committee at home have felt the whole question a grievance from which they, as representing a Missionary Society, might fairly claim exemption. Whether they took a right view of the case, or of their own concern in it, is of little consequence now. I hope they are at length entirely relieved from it, and that their correspondence with you will relate hereafter exclusively to those topics which concern the Church in New Zealand. I went to London a short time ago, for the purpose of looking over the correspondence and other communications which have passed on New Zealand affairs, especially, the remarks of Governor FitzRoy on Governor Grey's dispatch, which are remarkably candid, able, and satisfactory.

But I was chiefly intent on finding some practicable termination to the whole business, and I hope and believe that the deed which you have executed in favour of your children has supplied it. If the Privy Council should at length decide in your favour, the whole will be brought to a happy issue and be off your mind for ever. You will again I hope be able to enter into your proper relations with the Bishop, though not with the former confidence and intimacy, and I trust the wounds of the Mission will be healed.

Two letters from the Archdeacon to Canon Marsh set forth the mystification to which even his own friends in England had been subjected through the strange and complicated statements by which truth had been smothered up.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Paihia, January 30, 1850.

In your letter of August 2nd, just received, you speak of lands unoccupied, subject to dispute by the natives, as some excuse for Governor Grey in his late proceedings against us. That you in England should be under a difficulty to understand these conflicting statements is not surprising, but that difficulty would be solved were you to regard the despatches of Governor Grey as cunningly devised fables. All I can say is that hitherto there has been no dispute; such a statement is perfect deception. These lands are occupied by cattle and sheep; and considering the uncertainty of tenure, from the fact of there being not the least protection afforded by the Government to the young men in occupation, I think they are entitled to high premium and commendation rather than persecution for thus maintaining their position under all these disadvantages. The extent of these grants may sound great in English ears, but by their extent have these young men been preserved from annoying their neighbours by trespass. It should also be remembered that they are but barren wastes, and in extent a mere mite, – a speck upon the surface of the map. I should, however, have been fully satisfied with half the grant, and did not expect even that. The grant, as I have it, was given in consideration of past services rendered to the Colony.

Every Northern settler, of old standing, is aware that these lands were occupied from the time of their purchase, without dispute, to that of the arrival of a Government. They were then disputed by that Government; not by the natives, who protected and

maintained the young men in possession even during war. What must we, who live in the district, and know this of our own knowledge, think of despatches that assert the contrary?

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Paihia, March 26, 1850.

I have just had the pleasure of receiving two letters from you, July 9, and September 5, 1849. That of August 2, I received in January. By these I perceive that you are yet much in the dark as to the true state of the case which has so long agitated our Mission, not having seen the severe documents sent from the Church Mission Society, or my replies, or the Bishop's letter to me of November 8, my reply of November 30, 1848, or my letter to Lord Grey of November 1, 1848. However, as the victory is mine, by their having abandoned the field, I intend to keep it. It is a singular fact that no one has ventured to controvert any of my letters or statements made; here they have been pronounced incontrovertible. My letter to Governor Grey, August 16, 1847, called for by the notorious despatch, "Blood and Treasure," which appeared in the Blue Book, has been declared to be "unanswerable" by the papers of Wellington and Auckland, conveying the general opinion. Upon "Plain Facts" the same opinion was given, so also upon my two letters to Governor Grey. My letters to Lord Grey and the Bishop are more private; of their fate I have not yet heard. Having brought forward everything I deemed needful to advance, the enemy, not being able to endure so close a charge, abandoned the field in much dismay. I have since proclaimed to all this unqualified manifesto, that, should I fail to scatter to the winds all allegations and imputations, I should myself retire. No one has yet appeared, though there is much done in secret which ought to stamp the character of their proceedings. The first count brought forward by Governor Grey in his letter to the Bishop of August 30, 1847, in support of the despatch "Blood and Treasure" – that the grants issued by Governor FitzRoy were "not only illegal but opposed to the rights of the natives" The above decision of Governor Grey was overruled by the Chief Justice in Court, of which you are aware; but may not be aware of a further qualification of this judgment. The Chief Justice further observes: – "I find that it interferes not with any right of any subject of the Crown." Compare these two sentences. Is it not satisfactory to see how that the Judge goes apparently out of his ordinary course, required by law, to clear up the latter question, that it interferes not with any right of any subject of the Crown. The second important point appears to be the subject or cause of the insurrection. These are points blundered

over by the Church Mission Society in their fright. Governor Grey, in his despatches, has stated that the Missionaries were the originators of the insurrection in the North, supported by the Bishop, and received by Mr. Venn, the Secretary of the Church Mission Society: see Mr. Venn's letter to me, March 31, 1848. Governor Grey stated personally to the Wesleyan Missionaries in Auckland that Colonel Despard had so reported to him. See this case in my letter to Governor Grey, February 14, 1848. The idea of such a charge is in this country treated with perfect ridicule; it is too absurd, confined to Governor Grey and his immediate party. Captain FitzRoy, in his pamphlet on New Zealand, shews that the Missionaries were not the authors of the insurrection, but the suppressors of the insurrection, and the preservers of the Colony. The charge of treason and insurrection is met in "Plain Facts," and in my two letters to Governor Grey, January 1, and February 14, 1848, so violently condemned by the Parent Committee. That the land claims of the Missionaries did not contribute to the feeling of enmity manifested by the aborigines in arms, is confirmed by the extreme kindness shewn by these men in arms towards these Missionary families, altogether in their power, while engaged in a fierce war with Her Majesty's troops. In no instance can it be shewn that any person but the Missionaries of the Church of England did attempt actively to suppress the insurrection. Their part taken is shewn in "Plain Facts." The cause of the insurrection is shewn by Captain FitzRoy, who was the Governor of New Zealand during the whole affair, and whose testimony has not been called in question. Captain FitzRoy speaks upon this subject in his pamphlet, page 37. Heke also in his two letters to Governor FitzRoy, May 21 and July 15, 1845, shews the same, which letters appear in "Plain Facts," pages 32-33. All the chiefs in the North can be produced in support of Heke's letters. Heke's fears, as shewn in these letters, fully agree with the resolutions of a Committee of the House of Commons in 1844, of which Earl Grey, as Lord Howick, was chairman, also with his Lordship's instructions, as Secretary of State, to Governor Grey in 1847, petitioned against by every respectable person, the Bishop and the Chief Justice included. See also my two letters upon the subject to Governor Grey, of January 1, and February 14, 1849, and Appendix D. to my letter to Earl Grey, wherein is shewn the opinion of the late British Resident as to the cause of the insurrection.

In March, the Archdeacon was informed that the Secretary of State for the Colonies had declined compliance with his demand for an open investigation into the charges against the Mission, on the strange plea that enquiry would be an affront to the person

who had brought those charges. A jeering evasion; nothing less. It is not easy to persuade oneself that Lord Grey had read what he had signed. Cabinet ministers, whose time is mainly taken up with large questions of Imperial policy, are compelled to sign sheaves of papers for which they are only technically responsible; having no option but to put confidence in subordinates, with some of whom, not infrequently, governors of colonies are on terms of personal friendship.

The mention of the reply, in the Archdeacon's journal, is sufficiently curt and contemptuous. 202

Saturday, March 30, 1850. Fine; wind the same. Letters from Auckland. Reply for Governor Grey to my letter to Lord Grey. Most satisfactory. No enquiry to be made into the conduct of this man's proceedings. Corrupt.

I care not to write a fresh comment upon the obstinate stifling of enquiry to which all parties adverse to the Mission had now committed themselves; but transcribe what I wrote some four-and-twenty years ago in the "Page from the History of New Zealand."

Still bent upon obtaining substantiation or retractation, – upon proving that there had never been any question of land, but only of character, Archdeacon Henry Williams, in the name of the grantees, addressed a stringent letter to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, appealing to him for protection against the "dangerous and insidious despatches of Governor Grey," demanding an open enquiry into the charges already preferred, and pledging himself, should he not scatter those charges to the wind, to resign his duties in New Zealand. Lord Grey made answer, that enquiry could not be conceded to the accused, because such concession would be an affront to the accuser.

The Bishop had already favoured the Governor's escape, by substituting the pointless queries.

And the Society had declared that it was "impossible to institute enquiries on the subject."

It thus appears that the demand of investigation was opposed by Governor Grey, by Lord Grey, by the Bishop, and by the Society.

How such a challenge can be declined, unless by those who fear the light, is a marvel of the age. It was not the manner of

the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which was accused had met the accuser face to face, and had license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him. Nor must the like be suffered, without the stubbornest resistance, to creep in among ourselves. Whatever may be thought of the three first refusals, for the fourth, at least, there is no excuse. That Governor Grey should have opposed enquiry, was to be expected; he had everything to lose by it: the Bishop may have felt himself too far committed with his Excellency to withdraw from him: Lord Grey may possibly have signed a refusal that he had never read; but I that the Society itself should not have responded to the call is beyond my understanding. There is nothing for it but to suppose that these "masters of Israel" have lights that are denied to such as I.

The glove is thrown down by the accused; wager of battle is required. No inconvenience, no difficulties can be pleaded in answer to that appeal; all must go down before it. Yet it has been rejected by men whose desire of acting for the best should be beyond dispute. Who shall account for this? Are we to suppose that religion is without its chivalry of feeling, – that it is of less avail than a high-bred, though worldly sense of honour, in elevating our aims to justice for the sake of justice, without fear or compromise? It has not always been so, and God forbid that it should be so now, – that the Knights Templars of the Church should be extinct, and the Shavelings only left; that the spirit which once impelled the flower of Europe against the Saracens in Palestine, should have dwindled into negotiating priest-craft.

I will never believe it; but yet I cannot blind my eyes to a certain timidity which disposes many towards shrinking from inconvenient truth, towards yielding to the bias of what has been so long miscalled "expediency." Seek the truth, I say, at whatever risk, conducting the search not in secret conclave, but before the face of the world. Seek it for its own sake, regardless of consequence. Walk steadfastly onwards, and the danger will prove to be more in show than in reality; keep in the midst of the path, and you shall pass in safety, as did Christian between the lions before the gate of the Palace Beautiful. For the beasts were chained, though at the first he knew it not.

To return to the judgment given in the Supreme Court, in which both judges 203 concurred. The Chief Justice after going at great length into the point of law, went on as follows: –

Looking at the whole case, I find on the one hand, that the grant is good in form; that it purports to convey to the defendant

nothing but what the Government, in the name of the Crown, could lawfully convey to him; that it interferes not with any right of any subject of the Crown; that there is no misrepresentation or misconduct of any kind imputed to the grantees. On the other hand, I find that in a proceeding preliminary to the issuing of the grant, an act was illegally done by an agent not of the grantees but of the Crown, an act affecting not the grant itself, but a document distinct from the grant; and that the grantee is not alleged to have been connected in any way with that act, or even to have had any knowledge of it. Under these circumstances and for the reasons already stated, I am of opinion that the grant is good in law.

This decision was for a while supposed to have set the whole vexed question at rest. The Parent Committee of the Church Mission Society, by their own avowal, had at first taken a favourable view of the question on the presumption that the grants were legal; then, accepting what they are pleased to call "the contrary decision of the Colonial office," they changed their views; and now, judgment having been given against the Colonial office, it was naturally expected that they would change back again.

But they had become entangled in a political question, and could not get out of it without admitting that they had erred. Moreover, they did not well know what they were about, seemingly bewildered by conflicting statements. On the one side were those of the Mission; on the other side were those of the Bishop and the Governor, diametrically opposed. It might have been expected that the Society would have believed by preference their own tried servants, at least until evidence, not mere assertion, should be brought against them. But expediency, as usual, carried the day; the names on the other side would carry more weight among the uninformed. Undeterred by the recollection that they had throughout refused enquiry, the Parent Committee passed an arbitrary resolution, by which Henry Williams was dismissed the service of the Society.

I do not believe that the Bishop had ever wished, or expected the matter to go thus far. He knew too well with whom he had to deal, not only within the Mission, but beyond the Mission. Yet

was he the main agent, doing his utmost to bias the mind of the Society, and urging on the Governor, who would not have ventured so far without the Bishop's respectable support. Impatient of thwarting, his temper gave way, and he went beyond what cooler judgment would have allowed.

I feel sure, moreover, that the Governor had hoped that the Society's censure would stop short of dismissal; for that extreme measure would inevitably entail a thorough sifting of the whole question, putting his own despatches on their trial. It was his interest to leave all in doubt, – the grantees under a cloud, never to be cleared away. But he had already gone too far, and could no longer control events.

On Saturday, May 25, the mandate arrived by which Henry Williams was dismissed the service of the Society. It took him by surprise; for, although, to use his own words, he had "counted the cost" of resolute adherence to his own condition, – substantiation or full and honourable retractation of the Governor's charges against the Mission, so much time had now elapsed, that the storm seemed to have blown over. It came at last with double force, and with a double sense of injury, because of the taunting refusal of enquiry, returned in answer to his appeal to the Colonial office.

His own journal of events, for this period, is disappointingly meagre; he seemed unwilling, while the blow was yet fresh, to trust himself with words; that of his wife is, as usual, abundant in detail. Deeply as he felt this cruel wind up to seven-and-twenty years of service, he might, to judge from his own comments upon the procedure, be deemed a professor of the philosophy of the Porch.

May 25, 1850. Left early for Paroa, to remain until Monday morning. When at Tapeka saw "The Children" (his son's schooner); pulled to her. Received one letter from Edward Marsh; one from the Church Mission Society, with certain resolutions; – a full discharge from their service. He pai ano!!! Amine! Felt very thankful that my mind was preserved so quietly under such oppression. Returned to Paihia instead of proceeding on my visit to Paroa; in a strange feeling during the day.

26th. Sunday. Passed a sleepless night from the very great excitement. Felt strong during the services. Did not go from the place, as there was no one to attend to the natives. A pleasant evening.

27th. A more quiet night. After the Bible Class at the Chapel, I communicated to the natives the news from Salisbury Square. They were astonished. Went over to Kororareka, to take leave of all parties. Much regret expressed and kindly feeling shewn.

28th. In high bustle all day. Edward and Henry down early. Pack saddles loaded and sent off. Sarah Busby to assist. Cutter sent off.

His main desire now appeared to be, to shake the Paihia dust from off his feet. Not an hour's delay was allowed in preparation for departure; he was nettled, indeed, by the very unnecessary expression of a hope, on the part of the Society, that he would not make any difficulty about giving up possession of their premises. It must be assumed, indeed, that the Society could hardly have been aware of the real effect, under the circumstances of the time, of a direction to "clear out" without delay. In England, migration from one house into another is an operation simple enough; in New Zealand – in an out-district at all events, where every house has an occupant, it means, quitting home, to begin again in the bush. It did so happen, that the sons possessed a house, inland, into which their parents could be received for atime; a resource of which the Society were not aware; but the Archdeacon would have built himself a raupo hut, sooner than have remained an intruder. It was a case of "all hands on deck," neighbours volunteering assistance; and in very few days the clearance, a troublesome affair at that inclement season of the year [winter in New Zealand] was effected.

May 31. An eventful day; cloudy, dark, and heavy; appearance of rain. Finished my making up our bundles for the march. Roughed out a letter to my congregation at Kororareka. Mr. Busby came early, soon followed by Mr. and Mrs. Bateman, Mr. Ford, and Mr. Stephenson. These gentlemen presented an address full of kind feeling and condolence at our departure. I was constrained to offer a few words expressed with difficulty. At 2.30, mounted our horses, took leave of all our friends, and rode off. Much admired the country, riding over land with new feelings.

Arrived at our children's house at dark, which was indeed a refuge of no mean character. Glad to meet our children in health and in good spirits. The goodness of God continued to us.

A woman's journal is more circumstantial. Mrs. Williams does not disguise the feelings which her husband so sternly repressed. She gives, moreover, a host of small details, of no interest to the general reader, who cares nothing for Maori names, but which will be read with avidity by the grandchildren, and the descendants of the early native converts.

From Mrs. Williams' journal.

May 25. Henry hurried forward preparations for his going to Paroa bay to sleep out, and left after breakfast. When the fog lifted I caught sight of "The Children." She came on quickly; but, to my surprise, I heard my husband's voice, and in he walked, saying, "John is come; I met the vessel, and brought him on shore." Then I asked for news. "Yes, I have news, – my dismissal from the Church Mission Society." I felt all in a tremor, and yet my husband looked quite happy and cheerful. This dismissal came unexpectedly at last; for we had thought that all was settled. All to come to a close directly: "That the Northern Committee take immediate measures for receiving from the Venerable Archdeacon Williams all the property and documents of the Society he may possess, &c." I took up letters, laid them down, and was all in a dream. Thomas rode off, and John rode off, to Pakaraka and Waimate. My husband wrote off to his sons Edward and Henry to come and hold a committee, and determined to clear off at once. What a change! This morning I was forming plans for this dear old home at Paihia; now preparing to pack up and leave it for ever. Let us not forget that the hand of Mercy leads us, and ever has led us. It is mercy that we were permitted to work at our post till the last moment, – that my husband was in harness when stopped on his way in missionary duty. Mercy that his removal is not caused by death; that we are enabled to go as pensioners on our children, all in health and strength, a united family, and without reproach.

May 26. Trinity Sunday. The day was beautiful in which we saw our old and much loved home, all untouched in Sabbath peace, for the last time. We told no one; all went on as usual; but it was a great conflict all day to keep down the thoughts of our expulsion, and all its attendant cruel injustice. Henry had a good native congregation. I looked round on our English congregation, but could not trust myself with the sight of the Busbys, the Cooks, the Pughs, Teeces, &c, for the last time; my head was giddy for want of sleep, my heart was full. The sermon, for Trinity Sunday,

was excellent, but my attention bewildered. Mrs. Busby, after service, congratulated me on the birth of a grand-daughter, and supposed that Thomas and John had ridden into Pakaraka to spread the good news! She little thought what other news they had to carry. I had school with the native women; they were all unsuspicious. Henry had school with the native men, and in the afternoon native service.

May 27. All to pack up in this great house, as Henry was determined to clear out this week. Bewildered where to begin. Henry assembled his reading class at the chapel for the last time, and informed them of his sudden uprooting. He then went to Mr. Busby's and to Kororareka to take leave. Pack-saddles arrived, which we loaded; and thus the first package was sent off before my husband had returned from taking leave of his parishioners . .

May 28. Mr. Kemp took a passage in the boat that went to Kororareka, to put the seraphine in charge of Mr. Stephenson. When carried out to the road, Lydia sat down to play her last tune upon it there, Hetaraka blowing the bellows, and a crowd of natives around. The crying of the native women at every turn was the hardest trial. The cutter sailed with the first cargo, to Kerikeri.

Details, with which the journal is crowded, must be passed over. Enough to say, that during all this hurry of packing up, the house was filled with neighbours and visitors from far and wide; the greater number of whom seemed more disturbed by the event than the principals themselves.

May 29. We saw ten horses come in with pack-saddles; our son Henry and Pene Taui riding with them. The scene at the front door was an animated one; such a troop of horses coming up, the ground littered with straw, the entrance filled with heavy packages, a crowd of natives looking on, the women tangi-ing – a melancholy sound. Pork and potatoes cooking for the men; corn (the winter store for my fowls) got ready for the horses; all seemed to go right, no difficulties, no obstacles from any one.

After dinner I had been called several times to go and see Katerina Hori and the Kawakawa natives, who had come in a body with Tamati Pukututu at the head of them. My husband was at the front door, a crowd around him, Tamati making his rere, and speechifying. Fanny told me that they were going to put me into a canoe and take me up to the Kawakawa (a pleasant prospect); that they were all very angry that Te Wiremu should pokanoa [decide without consultation] to go away without asking them; that he should go nowhere but to the Kawakawa, where they would build a house for him; that they would burn the Paihia house, that no one should live there after him; Puariri (or Parata,

as he is now called,) dancing about as in the old times. The end of all this scolding and threatening was, that if Te Wiremu had been going out to sea, they would have stopped him and held him; but that as he was going inland among the people, they would let him go. They had sent to examine the road from Pakaraka to the Kawakawa, and found it was not half so far as from Paihia to the Waimate . . . Mrs. Bateman went home in Mr. Hartley's boat; she has made herself an affectionate friend and assistant. My husband and sons kept telling me to leave off and pack no more; so I took a last walk round the garden, and felt thankful that the ties that drew me to this dear old place, – this little paradise my husband had been permitted to make out of a savage wilderness, the home of twenty-seven years, the birth place of eight of our children, the house and chapel my husband's own hands had worked at, – were all so easily loosed; that I could willingly go, like Abraham, with faith and joy, when called to leave it. Mrs. Pugh sent for us, as "she saw Mrs. Busby coming, and wished to have a few serious words;" as to-morrow she would only see us to say good bye. We went into our own room, and surely it must be by the Spirit's teaching that she spoke so well, so sweetly, and so gratefully . . . . After all had taken leave except Sarah Busby, who remained to the last, we had a chat round the fire. Thomas and John kept us all alive. I repeated what Mr. and Mrs. Bateman had told us, that a party of the Kororareka congregation, Mr. Stephenson and others, meant to walk in to Pakaraka the first time service should be held there. I told her, I hoped they would give us notice, that we might kill the fatted calf.

The storm has at last broken, and the whirlwind is carrying us off; but we can rejoice in the midst, and listen to the still small voice that speaks of peace, and love. Friends are springing up to cheer and help us; old and firm friends we have still; our dark friends faster and firmer, and more numerous than ever. What a contrast is the scene of our departure from the midst of crowds of weeping and affectionate natives, to our arrival among them twenty-seven years ago. Many of the savages who then yelled and danced around us are now dead; but here are their children, like Hemi Tautari, educated in our schools, and many, like our chief Tamati Pukututu (called Thomas Williams, after my husband's father,) partaking of the family meal with us, and listening with us to the word of God, as one clothed in his right mind, – nay, only suffers us to depart, because he and his tribe can walk over land to our retreat in a shorter time than he now passes in a canoe. Our children, born in the place, and the little boy we brought here, are now all men, carrying us with a strong hand to a place of refuge.

This is the anniversary of the Bishop's landing in Auckland eight years ago.

Thomas amused us by saying, – "'Well, this must be a house-cooling."

The details, shortened as they are, may seem trivial; but biography does not reach the dignity of history; and it is not easy, having once begun, to leave off recording the simple outpourings of a brave and unrepining woman's heart. Let the scene that took place at the departure from Paihia be taken as an answer to Bishop Selwyn's declaration that the Missionaries had "outraged public opinion."

May 31. It rained very heavily, and was dark and cold. My husband, to my alarm, proposed leaving Kate and me at Mr. Busby's.

We had some natives to breakfast; among them Pene Taui, who repulsed the troops at Ohaeawai; Tamati Pukututu, who protected the ammunition and stores of the English at his pa at the Kawakawa landing-place, on the last expedition to Ruapekapeka; Wickliffe, a nephew of Kawiti, but a fast friend of the English during the war; Hori, nephew to our old chief, who lived with us as a boy, and rowed in the boat which brought me to Paihia when I first arrived, now principal teacher at the Kawakawa, and "Major" Hara . . .

After breakfast, a deputation from Kororareka was introduced. Mr. Busby was also there, and James King, who had just arrived. Mr. Busby stood forth, saying that a paper had been put into his hands to read. His voice faultered, and he frequently stopped. Mr. – – – – – cried like a child, and went out of the room several times. My husband rose to reply; it was long before he could speak. There was a long, deep pause; we all sat and looked at each other, or on the ground. The deputation requested that the address should remain with them, for the addition of further signatures.

The horses had now all arrived. We took leave of our kindly Kororareka friends as we were led out to be mounted. Kate moved off first, and was nearly pulled off her horse on the road by poor Ritihia, who clung hold of the skirt of her dress, as she was seized upon to be carried off to be married, after having hid all day to make her escape to Pakaraka. A crowd of natives shaking hands all the way we rode down the road; a crowd at the boat-house, and again at Cook's; another party on the hill. Edward, our first born, rode by the side of his mother; John attended his father, and Thomas rode by Kate; Pene Taui's horsemen followed; Pene brought up the rear; about fifteen of Kate's school children ran by our side, and followed us to the Ti, where the crew of "The Children" and some others gave us three hearty cheers. It was

now fine; the air and exercise greatly refreshed us. We rode cheerfully along; my husband's spirits rose as we proceeded; and as we ascended the road winding up the Taratara hill, looking down upon the graceful fern trees, and the steep wooded precipitous sides, riding through the brushwood that shaded the road on either side, we felt like Pilgrims ascending the Delectable Mountains.

We arrived as the light failed, before six o'clock, and were greeted by Henry, Jane, and Lydia, Our own chairs were placed for us on either side of the fire; we had reached the land of Beulah, where we may wait a summons to cross the river Jordan, and yet not wait idle in our Master's work, – that work for which we had left our own dear native land. Kate and Lydia ran to the piano, and played a duet to welcome us. We cast our eyes around us; the very Paihia pictures and chimney ornaments met our view; and, what was more, our little smiling grand-children were frisking all delight around us. When I was taken to my room, it was the old Paihia room we had left. It appeared, as though by magic, we had been taken up in our habitation, transported through the air, and set down here. We retired with grateful hearts.

The Archdeacon's reply to the Church Mission Society is written in very plain English, – in the opinion, perhaps, of some, too plain. But the Governor's despatches were in question, and he was a lover of what is termed by Jeremy Taylor, "that Macedonian simplicity which calls things by their right names." Moreover, he was naturally wroth at the final clinching by the Society itself, of the charges by which the Mission had been so sorely galled. The strength of his words is characteristically directed, not so much against the particular injury to himself, but rather to the general ruin brought upon the character of the Mission. He complains bitterly "That not one word of sympathy, assistance, or support in our difficulties has been offered by you in any form, to men long tried, and writhing under such a weight of infamy, in no respect attempted to be established." 204 For me, no words can be too strong, if true, in repelling attacks upon character. But there are some whose instinct it is to render deference on all occasions, who love to hear the chant of the Esculapian cock; and these will

object to the "style and tone." Yet that style and tone ought not to create surprise. In truth, the position was hard to bear. Henry Williams found himself suddenly an out-cast, without a following and without a lead; his fair fame wrenched away; left a butt to the jeers of those who had striven to thwart his ministration from the first; turned adrift to seek shelter where he could find it; reduced (for he had put by nothing) to being a dependent on his sons – by comparison a trifling injury, yet not unfelt; his work unauthorised, for he was now but an irregular in the field; all for the crime of having stood foremost in defence of the Mission, cruelly assailed, – all, moreover, upon the dictum of one man, countersigned, though in terms made conveniently general, by that of another. Not yet knowing how stoutly his friends would rally round him, he fought for his own hand. A man of strong impulses, without which he could never have faced the work he did, he spoke his mind in downright English. The only question we have a right to entertain, is, whether he spoke truth. Alongside of this, conventionalities of "style and tone" must pale.

It must be admitted that the Society's Committee had no wish to affix a stigma on one of the staunchest of their own servants; but they did so. Notwithstanding their complimentary acknowledgement of service, there is no escape from the conclusion. Step by step it can be brought home to them. Their movement in 1847 205 was, by their own admission, based upon passages in the Governor's despatches; they compromised themselves with a Secretary of State, who gave implicit credence to those despatches; they varied their original resolutions, under the influx of fresh statements, to similar effect, keeping pace with the development of the charges alleged; so satisfied of their truth that they gave a point blank denial to the demand for enquiry; and crowned the whole with dismissal.

A letter from his European congregation, shews the estimation in which he was held by them.

To the Venerable Archdeacon Henry Williams,

Russell, May 31, 1850.

Reverend and dear Sir, – Astonished and grieved at the unexpected termination of your valuable labours among us, we cannot allow you to leave Paihia without the expression of our deep sympathy with you, and our strong sense of the value of those exertions, which, in connection with the Church Mission Society, have exercised so beneficial an influence upon the country around us during the last twenty-seven years. Neither would we omit to hold a grateful remembrance of the many disinterested services performed ministerially, for all classes of your countrymen, nor the readiness with which your extensive influence with the natives has ever been exercised, to assist the industrious settler, by the promotion of peace, order, and goodwill between them. That influence we feel assured will, under all circumstances, still be, as ever, used for the benefit of the Government and country.

It would have been a source of much gratification to be permitted to present you with some little memorial of our regard, but this pleasure, we hope, is only deferred. In the meantime, our affectionate interest will accompany you to the sphere of your future ministrations, with heartfelt prayer, that the best blessings may attend you and your estimable family, and, that when called to resign your charge upon earth, you may be enabled to say with St. Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day." We bid you heartily farewell, and remain, with the deepest sentiments of esteem, ever, reverend and dear sir,

Your obedient Servants,

To this the following reply was returned.

To the Members of my Congregation at Kororareka and Paihia.

Paihia, May 31, 1850.

My dear Brethren, – I feel it to be my duty previous to my leaving this place, to give you briefly some explanations of my sudden flight after so long a residence in the Bay of Islands of twenty-seven years, where I have shared with you the troubles and calms of that long period.

You are too well acquainted with the character of the despatches from Governor Grey to the Secretary of State, and their general bearing upon the Mission, to render it needful to say anything upon that subject, more than that I did not hesitate to meet the imputations cast upon me, and to offer every explanation in my

power, which was declined by his Excellency; and that I further pledged myself, that, failing to scatter these imputations to the winds, I would of my own free will relinquish my duties in New Zealand. This challenge as to the merits of the question was also declined by his Excellency.

I had been led to conclude that the whole question at issue had been settled; but on the 25th instant I received two letters from England, one from a member of the Committee of the Church Mission Society, the second from the Secretary of the Society, dated December 21, 1849. In the first appears the following sentence: "In the meantime Lord Grey sent down to the Society a letter from Governor Grey, which quotes a letter of yours to the Colonial Secretary in New Zealand, in which you are said to have at one time estimated the land to which you laid claim at thirty thousand acres; under these circumstances the Committee felt themselves embarrassed."

The following is the final resolution of the Parent Committee of the Church Mission Society: –

6th. "That these Resolutions be communicated to the Bishop of New Zealand, and that Earl Grey and the Governor of New Zealand be informed of the dissolution of the connection between Archdeacon Henry Williams and the Church Mission Society."

H. STRAITH,
Secretary Church Mission Society.

With regard to the first extract, I disclaim all knowledge of the letter in question, said to have been written by me "to the Colonial Secretary in New Zealand." I must abstain from designating in fit terms such a communication from his Excellency to the Secretary of State; I leave that to others.

Upon the two extracts it will be seen that the whole is a political movement.

It is with extreme regret that I leave the Bay of Islands. I had hoped to end my days amongst persons known so long; yet it is the Christians duty to act as circumstances may require, always bearing in mind the words of scripture, 1 Peter, iv., 12, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice."

I trust that my interest in the welfare of the Bay, from which my present removal will not disconnect me, will not cease. My desire will ever be that you all may abundantly prosper with all temporal and spiritual prosperity, and that the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Believe me ever to remain,
Yours very faithfully,
HENRY WILLIAMS.

Archdeacon Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Pakaraka, June 1, 1850.

On Saturday morning last, exactly one week since, I received a mandate from the Church Mission Society that our relationship was dissolved, and yesterday afternoon, I came with Marianne and Kate, and two sons as our escort to this place; our baggage, for the most part, sent on before us. It is painful to be thus treated after so long a period of service, and after the open, candid, and unreserved manner with which I had acted towards them. But the presence of the Lord has been so manifest throughout the whole affair, that I cannot doubt that He will continue with me. He hath been my Sun and Shield, and will give grace and glory. We have felt much your solitary position in the presence of the General Committee of November 38, 1849. I hope you will be relieved from attending any more committees on my account, or from having even to mention my name to such a body of men. True, they have the power to dissolve my connexion, but they cannot destroy my peace of mind, nor can they set aside fact by fiction or truth by falsehood.

In the report, for 1849, they speak of our agitating the question by an appeal to the Court of law, and in this letter, of "his unhappy contention for his land claims." What extreme folly, to say the least. The whole is absurd, and a reproach to common sense. We were holders of the Crown grants: for what were we to appeal to the Courts of law? and our families being in possession, for what were we to contend? These statements are frivolous in the extreme, and disgraceful. A highwayman might, with as much reason, charge the traveller with contention because he did not feel disposed to deliver his purse when demanded of him. The contending parties are the Bishop, Governor Grey, Lord Grey, and the Committee of the Church Mission Society, who demanded this legal property after the judgment of the Supreme Court. 206 In your letter of October 19, 1849, you observe: – "they (the Committee) naturally call for precise information, and such explanation as may enable them to form a judgment upon the case. To this you do not seem to think them entitled." It is said by yourself, and the Secretary of the Church Mission Society, that, upon this subject of information, much allowance should be made considering the distance at which we are. I here say that no question has been asked upon any subject by the Church Mission Society, and, that I had considered that every possible information had been supplied; certainly no reservation, intentionally, can be charged against us. I am, therefore, at a

perfect loss to understand the bearing of your remark. If your remark relates to my not having put them in possession of the fact that the land had been settled upon the family, I merely say the Committee of the Church Mission Society had this information from William, which ought not to have been regarded as from a "private source." But the allusion may possibly be to the following sentence in your letter: "In the mean time Lord Grey sends down to the Secretary a letter from Governor Grey which quotes a letter of yours to the Colonial Secretary in New Zealand, in which you are said to have at one time estimated the land to which you laid claim at thirty thousand acres: under these circumstances the Committee felt themselves embarrassed."

What a wonderful story. Had no one the wisdom to detect this fraud? to examine, by the public returns made to the House of Commons, to see what the return was, and brand at once this information as false? There evidently was no desire to do so on the part of the Committee of the Church Mission Society, therefore it was not done. You will perhaps be surprised to hear me say, and deem the expression as somewhat uncourteous, as made respecting men in high authority, that this letter, said to have been sent by me to the Colonial Secretary, and acted upon by the Committee of the Church Mission Society, I have no knowledge of. It is a palpable forgery. For the end of justice, and for the establishing of a notable fact, I think you should obtain a copy of the communication from Lord Grey to the Church Mission Society upon this wonderful fiction if you can, and send the same to me, or a copy of the same.

No wonder that the Archdeacon was bewildered; yet the letter was not a forgery after all. But it was read with the Governor's annotations, which had virtually crept into the text. A few lines may be well bestowed on the clever work of art by which his Excellency was able so seriously to "embarrass" the more Boeotian wits of the Society's Committee.

Acting under colonial ordinance, the Commissioners had awarded 7,010 acres, out of the 11,000 purchased, reporting also that Mr. Williams had paid enough to entitle him to more than double the quantity. This ordinance being abrogated, the Commissioners, under a new and more restrictive law, went to the limit of their powers in making an award of 2,560 acres. On being informed of the changed award, Mr. Williams, by way of turning into ridicule the mutability of New Zealand legislation, enquired, in

his own dry way, whether 2,560 acres (the quantity allowed in New South Wales to each son of a colonial chaplain) was intended for each member of his family, as named in the margin.

This was in 1843. Whether such enquiry was prudent, is another matter; but Governor Shortland, to whom it was addressed, was not the man to affix a false construction.

The letter was disinterred by Governor Grey. Mark now, how neatly he works it up. Bit by bit, the face of it is changed, until not a feature of the original is left; though the derivation be as perfect as of one of those wonderful words which Max Muller brings down from Aryan roots with every vowel and consonant transmuted.

His Excellency has an object to obtain, and calls the ready-reckoner to aid. The "family" were eleven in number. To give full measure, the Governor superadds the father, and finds that 2,560 x 12 = 30,720. This quantity, according to the Governor, Mr. Williams presumed was to be granted. Therefore, he must have thought that his claim contained that quantity. So argues the Governor, leaving it to be inferred, as it was inferred, that the Archdeacon had purchased 30,000 acres from the natives, but had only reported 11,000 to the Society.

The neatness of the handiwork is incomparable. One can even take pleasure in telling up the links of a chain, delicate as of Venetian facture, yet strong enough to hold against just so much strain as was likely to try it. Nothing wasted: –

"What needs the bridge much wider than the flood?"

as much said as was wanted, and no more. 207 Nothing succeeds like success; and the Governor did succeed.

The tone of the wife is more subdued; but even she is able to give plain utterance to her thought.

Mrs. Williams to Mrs. Heathcote.

Pakaraka, June 18, 1850.

I regretted much at the time that I was unable to write to you by H.M.S. "Rattlesnake," which came into the Bay, from Sydney, on her way to England. Some of the passengers, one, a very interesting blind lady, called upon us. But it is well I could not, for I should have given you a pleasing picture of Paihia, which vanished before the vessel had well left the coast. Three days after she sailed we were startled by a mandate of dismissal from the Society; within a week were uprooted from a home of twenty-seven years, and transplanted to this place, to take refuge amongst our children, whose exertions upon the occasion have been surprising and affecting. When this mandate did arrive we had ceased to expect it, having been taught by Mr. Marsh's letters that the Church Mission Society were satisfied that Henry's transfer of all the land to his children, doing more than even the Church Mission Society required, had settled the matter. Henry was in treaty for a vessel to be built, to cost £250, to visit the natives on the coast, and had narrowly escaped paying £80 for a decked boat for the purpose. That very day, I had grieved to see him depart in an open boat, to spend three days in a tent, in bitter cold weather, when he met his sons' vessel, "The Children," from Auckland, and his son John on board, who gave him the letter of dismissal, with which he returned on the Saturday afternoon to spend the last Sabbath at Paihia, no intimation being given beyond our own family till the Monday morning. The same principle which actuated your brother to stay and devote every energy and every means to his Master's work, in spite of insult and persecution, as long as permitted to remain at his post, urged him to delay not an hour his departure when this door of usefulness was closed. The Church Mission Society might have spared the request "to take immediate steps and put no difficulties in the way." Our Heavenly Father hath heard our prayers, and "prepared us for all he had prepared for us." We could feel we were led out in love, and were given cheerful obedience to the call. God has permitted, for some purpose of good, the wilful blindness of the Church Mission Society to work the ends of our enemies, and to be again deluded by the fictions of our . . . . Governor. But it is enough for us that our Heavenly Father hath permitted it, and we try not to look at the injustice and cruelty of man. We had, most providentially, five days of unexpected fine weather, in the commencement of winter, for our removal, and had every assistance from our children and our

neighbours. A body of natives from inland, headed by Pene Taui, the chief who repulsed the English from his pa at Ohaeawai, came down in a body, to assist our son Henry, and carried off our things, with shouts of triumph, on horses and on men's backs; the heavy cases down to the boat. Their chief remained with us and accompanied us to Pakaraka with a troop of his horsemen. The pack-horses were going backwards and forwards all the week, and our sons were indefatigable with their boat and their drays, here, at Kerikeri, and at Pakaraka. The greatest trial, I found, was the crying of the natives, coming around us from different quarters, keeping up their melancholy sound, a sort of chant. The quiet grief was the most affecting. The tribe from the Kawakawa came down with their chief, Tamati Pukututu, the chief who protected the English stores and the camp at the Kawakawa landing place, at the last expedition of the English during the war. They expressed their great anger that Te Wiremu should attempt to leave Paihia without their consent, and at first declared that he should not go anywhere but to the Kawakawa, whither I was to be taken, forthwith, in a canoe, and where they "would build us a house." After the principal men had made their speeches with much gestures and animation, it was concluded that if "Te Wiremu" had been going out to sea they would have held him; but, as he was going behind, to be amongst the people, they would let him go, having first sent to examine the road, and found that it would be a shorter distance from their settlement to Pakaraka over land, than to Paihia by the river. We left Paihia on the last day of May; on that day, a deputation from Kororareka came across, and presented an affectionate address to Henry. We left amidst crowds of weeping natives, and parted with friends we knew not we possessed, till called forth by the occasion, and were deeply affected by the feeling manifested both by our European and our Maori friends. Fifteen of Kate's little scholars ran beside us nearly a mile and-a-half. We rode in, accompanied by Kate, two sons, the chief and his party. We are at present in our son Henry's pretty cottage, but a chapel and a house for us are planned, and natives are come to saw the timber. Henry is still in his work, though not in his place. Having been driven from the chapel his own hands had helped to build, he has a native congregation in a barn. The natives are collecting around him, and many, from different tribes, have declared their determination to come and plant and settle around him. Last Sunday we had forty natives, the usual number being augmented by a few of our Kawakawa friends, – the chief Pukututu, his wife, and a few other leading characters, to the Lord's Supper, which we received with them. The stormy weather and the want of buildings for shelter alone prevented a number from coming;

but to use the words of my old friend Mere [Mary], the chief's wife, "These few sheep ran through the wind and rain and the cold after their Good Shepherd into the wilderness." A child was baptised, brought from the Kawakawa, so the two Sacraments were administered in this infant Church. These natives have resorted to plant here, and erect buildings for their accommodation on the occasion of their visits as they did at Paihia. Tamati said, – "It was Te Wiremu, not the Committee, that he and his tribe settled and protected at Paihia; and now, after all these years, he finds they have let Paihia go to people that "drive Te Wiremu away." Mere asked, "why Te Wiremu purchased Paihia with the taonga [property] of the Committee?" Nothing could exceed the affection these old friends of twenty-seven years shewed to us.

The native sellers were much vexed when they found he had no right to Paihia, – that he had purchased it for the Society, and not for himself: such had not been their understanding; but it was too late to complain. The work was carried on still, though from a new centre. It was then shewn of how small account were either the Society or the Bishop, by the side of Henry Williams, among the native converts. His sway was undisputed, – -nay, even strengthened by his fall.

It is convenient, at this break in the narrative, to sum up the result of the proceedings hereinbefore detailed. This will best be done by extracting the final paragraphs of "A Page from the History of New Zealand;" for they were written before the revocation of the dismissal.

What has the Society gained by its dealing with the Colonial Office? The approbation, it appears, of a Secretary of State. And for this a heavy price has, indeed, been paid. A healthy limb has been cut away: the rest of the body is disordered, and the disease must rise to a crisis yet, before it can be cured. Even in matters of more worldly care, the Society is suffering loss. Monetary subscriptions are being refused, or transferred elsewhere, because of the self-seeking displayed by the Committee, of the braving out an error to avoid acknowledgment of having erred. Few perhaps as yet; but of some I know. And the refusals will increase in number proportionately as contributors shall learn to understand the case. 208

What has the Bishop gained by his share in the contention? It is easier to say what he has lost. He found the Mother Church united; he sees it now divided against itself. He has lost the willing cooperation of many fellow-labourers, who now work by the side of him, rather than along with him. He has lost the support of the elder Missionary families, now fast assuming an important position in the community. He has exposed himself to much injurious, even to unjust suspicion; and, by having failed where he put forth his utmost strength, has shewn the measure of that strength. To balance these evils, he has nothing to shew beyond the prematurely, tendered thanks of Mr. Labouchere, in the House of Commons, for the adjustment of a political question.

I can only suppose the Bishop's motives in joining forces with the Governor. Public opinion has assigned them, and not without severity. But, though his Lordship would fain have made the grantees amenable to that tribunal, he has ignored its jurisdiction as regards himself. Few indeed will now deny that this coalition has been the great error of his Loreship's career. He had leagued himself, bound in Mezentian union, with one whose alliance is more dangerous than his enmity . . . . Who shall marvel furthermore that so many of his staunchest adherents among the laity should have fallen away, or that the jealous suspicion with which the Governor's acts are viewed should have been partially reflected on himself.

The time has been when the Bishop might have carried all before him; when by legitimate means he might have raised his influence to the pitch of almost absolute authority. But he failed to improve the golden moment, which is now irrecoverably lost.

The grantees had been charged by Governor Grey with having been accessory to the shedding of human blood. The charge was credited at the time by many, and the character of the Mission was at its lowest ebb. BUT THE BISHOP KNEW THAT THEY HAD BEEN MALIGNED. Then it was that he might have knit them to himself by stronger than ecclesiastical ties, – by the bonds of gratitude and well-merited affection. He was their natural champion; it was for him to have interposed his own broad buckler between the Missionaries and their assailant. Help at need is no matter of compact; he should have stepped forward and given it, without a word.

170

Paihia, October 15, 1847.
E taku hoa nonamata
E Te Waka Nene.

Kua riro mai tau pukapuka ki a hau, no te 12 o tenei marama. E hoa kihai ahau i whakapono ki te ki tekateka a wai ranei i mea nau tenei kupu – na te wahi whenua i hokoa e nga Mihinare i timata ai te whawhai. Na Tekanoa tenei ki. Koia ra kei a koe ano te take. "Na nga kupu a te Pakeha. Taurekareka, kua riro te mana o to koutou whenua." Na konei te he a tetahi a tetahi. Tena ra, ko tehea te whenua i puta ai ta ratou ngakau tupato, ta ratou riri? Ko te wahi i utua awateatea tikatia e te Pakeha, ko te wahi ranei kahore i utua, ara ko te wahi ka noho nei te maori ho nga wahi takoto noa? Mau e mea mai kahore koia ratou i karanga. Na te Ngarara, na te rakau, na te kara i tu iho i runga i Maiki i riro ai te mana, me te whenua a te tangata maori, me nga tangata hoki hei taurekareka hei rehu kowhatu, hei hanga huarahi hei aha noa, hei aha noa?

He kupu hou koia tenei, he kupu noa kia ngaro i tenei po, i te tau hou? No konei te he a nga pakeha a nga maori.

Na te pukapuka anake i tuhituhia i Waitangi i te unga mai a te kawana tuatahi i tika ai te whakaaro a te hunga aroha ki te Pakeha, a te hunga ata noho hoki, a ka ora nei te whenua me nga tangata maori.

Na tou hoa
Na Te WIREMU.
Kia Te Waka Nene
Kororareka.

171 The Governor had only to produce such information to obtain the land, and, what ought to have been of greater moment, to clear himself. For, although he had begun as assailant, he was now reduced to standing on his own defence.

172 A remark about Colonel Despard is omitted, being based on the assumption that his words were correctly repeated by the Governor.

173 This expression alone would have sufficed to hinder acceptance of the Governor's terms. For, by consenting to exclude such land, the grantees would have admitted that there was such land, – that is to say, land fraudulently acquired. How could the Bishop, after urging them to make such admission, expect to retain their confidence?

174 "Required" – in the Governor's opinion. How that opinion would be exercised, the grantees could understand.

175 In the preceding pages, it has been fully explained.

176 Vide Appendix F.

177 His difficulty about Mr. Clarke's condition was, that the condition was in accordance with his (the Governor's) own proposal, in the letter to the Bishop, August 30, 1847, – namely, that the grantees should "voluntarily restore the surplus land to the original native owners, or their heirs . . . . Would your Lordship," writes the Governor, "interfere so far as to communicate the contents of this letter to them, and then recommend them to adopt the course I have pointed out, or some similar one."

As the absolute restoration of a part of the land would involve this absurdity, – that A, a native seller, would get back what he had sold, while B would not, Mr. Clarke adopted the course most nearly "similar," – putting the land in trust for the benefit of the natives; thus complying literally with the Governor's proposal. But the Governor seems then to have found out, if indeed he had not known it from the first, that "surplus lands" were held to be demesne of the Crown, and could not be dealt with as he had originally proposed. Vide Colonial Secretary's letter to Mr. James Kemp, November 10, 1847.

178 The Bishop sedulously avoided the use of the term "Crown grants," substituting "land claims," – presumably ad invidiam. The grantees claimed nothing; they were in actual possession of both land and deeds. The refusal to deliver up title deeds is very different from putting in claims to land.

179 What award? It has been already shewn that the Bishop never acted as arbitrator.

180 It may be thought that Mr. Forsaith is not a fair exponent of public opinion, having been himself in conflict with Governor Grey, coming out victorious. The occasion was this. Mr. Forsaith had been a sub-protector. The protectorate was abolished, and Mr. Forsaith, wielding the pen of a ready writer, became connected with the public press. Governor Grey established, in lieu of the protectorate, another office, called "The Native Secretary's Office," – the main difference being in name; and invited Mr. Forsaith to serve. The invitation was couched in the usual official language, dry and formal. Mr. Forsaith declined acceptance; whereupon a second letter was sent, pressing acceptance, with the offer of additional inducements; very flattering to a person who had already refused. The second letter had no more effect than the first. Some while after the Governor accused Mr. Forsaith and other protectors of having received money for negotiating land sales between natives and Europeans. Mr. Clarke, the chief protector, took the matter up, and by concurrent testimony, the charge was destroyed. But Mr. Clarke, in his letter to the Secretary of State, mentioned the flattering terms in which office had been pressed upon the sub-protector, notwithstanding the presumed delinquency. Governor Grey impugned Mr. Clarke's veracity, and transmitted to Lord Grey a copy of one of the two letters already mentioned. But, by some mistake, he enclosed the wrong letter; not the pressing letter, number two, to which Mr. Clarke had made allusion, but number one, which was really dry and formal. Mr. Forsaith was too clever with his pen to be braved with impunity; the mistake was aukward, and the Governor deemed it expedient to retract. See [Greek] METOIKOS to the Southern Cross, Letter xiv., January 15, 1852.

181 The proceeding of the Government towards the European owners of land was to the natives a strong corroboration of the suspicions they had already conceived. "If the Queen treats her own children so," said they, "how then will she treat us?"

182 This was at last admitted by the British Government. Mr. Busby's land at Whangarei, called "surplus land," had been taken possession of and sold by the Colonial Government, in virtue of a colonial ordinance. Mr. Busby took his stand on the ground of repugnancy, and pressed his reclamation so closely at the Colonial Office that the Home Government was compelled to act. They did succeed in putting a stop to his importunity, but in a somewhat remarkable manner. It might be supposed that they interfered concerning the land, confiscated under a law which was not law. But they took the opposite course. Unable to deny the repugnancy, they cured it. In 1864, Mr. Cardwell ran an Act through Parliament validating the Colonial law.

The merits of the question are easy to understand. The independence of the Maori tribes had been acknowledged by the Queen. British subjects who purchased estates from the native owners were in the same position as British subjects who might have purchased from Frenchmen before the annexation of Canada, or from Dutchmen before the annexation, of The Cape. New Zealand also was in turn annexed; but prior rights of property, as in the fore-cited cases, were unimpaired by annexation.

183 "Mr. Merriman said that he appeared for the defendant, who was unwilling to allow the cause to go by default, least he should be considered as wanting in respect for the Crown and the Court, by not obeying the command of the writ; but that he had been expressly instructed by his client not to argue the case." Report of Trial.

In the face of this, one of the grounds assigned by the Church Mission Society for dissolution of connexion with Mr. Clarke was that he had "litigated" with the Government. By whom were they so misled?

184 There were no augmented grants; the Bishop is in error when he uses the expression. Three several awards were made by the Commissioners, in consequence of changes in the colonial law: the first, for 7,010 acres; the second, diminishing the amount to 2,560 acres, and the third, augmenting again to 9,000 acres. The grants were made and issued upon the last award. It would have been as correct to speak of diminished grants, because of the second award, as of augmented grants, because of the third. But the extraordinary incorrectness of the Bishop's language always affects one side of the question.

185 The Commissioner (Mr. FitzGerald) recommended a grant of 9,000 acres. The grant was so made by Governor FitzRoy, and issued by Governor Grey. Yet Governor Grey informed Lord Grey that the grant had been made, not as recommended, but for the whole 11,000 acres originally purchased.

186 Mr. Clarke, still refusing to "litigate with the Government," though charged by the Church Mission Society with having done so, remained passive as before. Consequently the case was heard ex parte. The judgment of the colonial court was reversed. But this reversal was afterwards over-ruled by a subsequent decision, made upon a defended case: – Reg., App., Hughes and another, Reps., February 1, 1866.

This was an appeal against a rule of the Supreme Court of the Province of South Australia, making absolute a rule of the same Court obtained by the respondents for quashing a writ of scire facias, issued for the purpose of revoking certain leases of Crown lands, granted by the Governor of the province to the respondents.

The decision was as follows: – "Their Lordships, being of opinion that the rule granted by the Supreme Court for quashing the writ of scire facias was rightly made absolute, will recommend to Her Majesty that the appeal against it be dismissed, with costs."

The basis of the decision, in technical language was, that the writ of scire facias is a prerogative judicial writ, which must be founded upon a record; and that the grant in question was not enrolled or recorded in any court.

The judgment, delivered by Lord Chelmsford, is too long for re-print; but as much as refers to the New Zealand case shall be extracted. His Lordship said: – "In the argument for the appellant, the case of Reg. v. Clarke (7, Mos. P. C 77) was relied upon. That was a proceeding in scire facias to annul a grant of Crown lands in New Zealand, where the Judicial Committee upon appeal recommended that judgment should be entered for the Crown. This, it was insisted, is an express decision that scire facias will lie, although there is no record. In the judgment of the learned Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the case is treated as a conclusive authority in favour of the promoters of the scire facias. But it appears to their Lordships that it cannot properly be regarded as a determination of the question. From the beginning to the end of that case there was nothing to raise any doubt as to the propriety of the proceeding by scire facias. No objection was taken to it in the colony [the case was not defended]. Not the slightest suggestion was offered upon the subject in the course of the argument upon the appeal. The hearing before the Judicial Committee was ex parte, the respondent not having appeared, and the attention of their Lordships was not in any way called to the irregularity of the proceeding, in the validity of which they are supposed by their silence to have acquiesced. Even if the point occurred to their own minds, they might very fairly have inferred from the absence of all objection in the Supreme Court of New Zealand, that the proceeding by scire facias to annul grants of Crown lands was proper in that colony, either from the grants being made records of the Court, or from the Judges having power to make rules as to the form and manner of proceedings, and having authorised the process of scire facias in the case of Crown grants."

Lord Grey's despatch, announcing the first of these two decisions, and stating that the case, though undefended, had been tried upon its own merits (a mistake on his part) was published by the Colonial Government. But the second was not: an opportunity is therefore taken to make it more generally known.

187 Vide Appendix G.

188 Assuming to act as the Central Committee. The proceedings were protested against by Archdeacon William Williams, the Chairman of that Committee.

189 It is as well to set this question, raised by persons who are evidently unacquainted with the conventions of society, at rest at once, by an extract from "A Page from the History of New Zealand."

"The Committee wish to know by whom the despatch was given to the Southern Cross. But whence do they derive their right to ask? The act was legitimate, and being legitimate, no longer concerns them. I am not at liberty to say who did: the Archdeacon's word must be taken for it that he did not. Governor Grey affirms the contrary; but in a conflict of personal testimony the Governor's word must not be taken against the Archdeacon's. He who made public the contents of that despatch, in New Zealand, performed a duty to the community – a duty which had been already performed by the Society in England, though not with equal fairness to Governor Grey: for the Society, instead of giving the whole, had given the more objectionable portions only.

With regard to the privacy of the despatch, every one acquainted with the practice of the Colonial Office is aware that the word "private," written on a despatch, is not necessarily a bar to publication, but a caution only. For there is no abstract right of privacy to any official correspondence on public matters. It is public property, to be dealt with according to convenience; wherefore publication repeatedly does take place, without permission of the writer, and without complaint. Lord Grey's transmission of the document to a public body would alone have sufficed to raise the seal of privacy.

The Committee wish to ascertain the means by which the Governor's letter to the Bishop found publication in the Southern Cross. But whence, I ask again, do they derive their right to ask? For the cession of a copy, if the act of a Missionary, would have been perfectly legitimate. The letter was written for the Missionaries, and was "communicated" to the Missionaries, not by the Bishop, but through the Bishop, in accordance with the writer's unconditional request, as expressed by the letter itself; and immediately became the property of the Missionaries, individually and collectively, as much as if it had been directed to them. This was pointed out by myself to the Bishop, at the time, and the validity of the argument was not denied. Nevertheless, his Lordship, on a subsequent occasion, did not refrain from commenting upon the divulgement of a letter "without the consent of the writer, or of the party to whom it was addressed."

190 Well known as a firm engaged in farming and stockholding business.

191 The epithet being very strong, is varied from the original. For there are some who complain of "too much truth."

192 Captain Hoseason. He had a grievance against the Governor, which he made known far and wide, – the hindering him from catching a number of insurgent natives in a trap at Whanganui. If I understood Captain Hoseason rightly, the Governor did not absolutely forbid the expedition, but insisted upon his taking with him an impossible gun.

193 The Archdeacon, preaching from 1. Peter, v., 8, had impressed upon the natives the necessity of resuming their christian duties. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." The gallant major had mistaken Peter's "lion" for the British lion.

194 Not at all so. The writ of scire facias having been resolved upon, the Bishop would feel sure that he had won the game; for no one was prepared for a judgment in favour of the grantees.

195 A sufficient indication that it was not, as supposed by many, a mere compliance with form.

196 Heke held up the sovereigns in his hand, and said, – "I am looking to see whether there is a hook at the end of them."

197 Not the whole. Representative institutions, at the instance of the Governor, were postponed; though the instructions affecting native lands were maintained in defiance of protest. But the Government never ventured to act upon them, provoking inevitable war.

198 The confusion of the Bishop's original proposal, and the Governor's, which, though intended by the Bishop to agree, did not agree, has been sufficiently explained. But it still pervades the "contradictory resolutions."

199 Mr. Secretary Venn, urging the Archdeacon to submit, had said, – "the God whom you serve will make your integrity clear in his own way." So sure was Henry Williams of this, that he never relaxed his endeavours to compel his accusers to meet him in open day.

200 Vide Appendix H.

201 It is unnecessary to reprint a review which has already been published in "The Page." But one paragraph needs comment which was not there supplied. It is as follows: –

"In your Lordship's charge, just received, appears a passage bearing especial reference to the case, highly objectionable, of too recent occurrence to be misapplied. This passage was not brought forward at the delivery of the charge, otherwise I should personally have noticed it, publicly before the clergy. It stands on the seventieth page."

The words complained of, as printed, but not spoken, are these: –

"If an offending brother is to be brought under the censure of the Church, what am I but the organ of the general sense of the Clergy, which demands that the unclean thing should be put away, as a scandal to their order?"

"I might consult my own ease by conniving at disorder; but you would reap the bitter fruit in the decay of your influence, and in the growing indifference, if not contempt of your people. You must recognise, therefore, a great interest in the office of the Bishop; looking upon him not as a tyrant to compel you to do what you would not, but as your own agent and instrument to carry into effect what you know to be right and wish to do, but which you could not accomplish of yourselves."

The Bishop did not disavow the application, or deny that the passage was an interpolation. The result is that the Archdeacon appears to have listened in silence, conscience-striken, unable to repel the imputation.

Among the Archdeacon's papers I find these notes upon the subject.

"The above remarks are severe. If the Bishop did really consider the 'offending' Missionary to have been thus culpable, as here stated, how are these serious words to be reconciled with the expression of kindly feeling, as shewn in his lordship's correspondence with Mr. Fitzgerald, forwarded with these papers.

"Any person or persons so offending as implied by the Bishop, ought for the purity of the Church to be expelled with dire disgrace as a scandal to their order; it being impossible to compromise so serious an offence as to justify such terms of censure.

"Achan and his family were stoned with stones for having touched the 'unclean thing.' The case against Achan was determined by the Righteous Judge of all; but against these Missionaries who is judge? when it is said, 'it is impossible to institute enquiries on the subject.'

"Neither the growing indifference nor 'the contempt of our people' has yet been shewn towards the Missionaries, but quite the reverse."

An allusion is made above to the Bishop's correspondence with Mr. Fitzgerald. Mr. R. A. Fitzgerald was the commissioner who had recommended the awards. He had been made a medium of communication between the Archdeacon and the Bishop, in the endeavour to bring about a better understanding. In a letter to him from the Bishop are these words: –

"I can assure you there is no separation between Archdeacon Williams and myself on personal, much less ecclesiastical grounds. The land question is the only point of difference between us, and that only so far as it bears on my connexions with the Church Mission Society, as the president of their central committee, and as their appointed referee in this particular subject."

The Bishop's mistake in supposing himself to be the referee has been already shewn.

202 See Appendix I.

203 Mr. Justice Martin (afterwards Sir William), and Mr. Justice Chapman.

204 The letter is a public one, accessible to all. There is therefore no need to reproduce it. It is omitted – not that every word in it cannot be made good, but because of unwillingness to give pain, after lapse of so many years, even to ill-doers.

205 A memorandum drawn up by the Earl of Chichester, the President of the society, contains the following statement: – "It appears, therefore, that the Archdeacon cannot be considered as having done anything in contravention of his engagement with the Committee, or any of their regulations, previous to 1847."

206 A mistake. Lord Grey gave way after the judgment, and directed the Governor to give way. The Bishop and the Society persevered.

207 The Governor was not always so careful; as when, for instance, he informed Lord Grey that the grants issued to the Archdeacon were in violation and excess of the new award – i.e., the third award for 9,000 acres, inasmuch as they granted him the whole of the land he originally claimed, 11,000 acres. This is absolutely and distinctly contrary to fact, as simple inspection of the grants will shew. But the Governor, when running down others, never expected to be so closely tracked himself. He would else have been more cautious in manoeuvre.

208 A movement arose among the laity, through the public press, towards hindering contributions, until open enquiry should be granted by the Society. Nothing was prejudged; the demand was no more than this, – let right be done. The position was unassailable. A transfer only, as for instance, to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, was implied; not refusal to give towards the work. But such transfer would have been unpalatable to the Church Mission Society on further ground than that of simple loss.

[Pages 251-300]

Instead of this, he waited for their extreme exigency, and then tendered his assistance, – at a price.

I will undertake to say that, had he acted in the free spirit of generosity, there would have been no question – not for one hour – about the "waste and worthless acres." The grantees and their children would have rejoiced at possessing them, for the sake of being able to cede them. His unconditional support would have been remembered to him, and would have been repaid fourfold. All would now have been increasing love and honour, instead of cold civility and mutual distrust.

But the Bishop had over-rated the force at his own disposal; he had under-rated the men with whom he had to deal, and had become so far compromised before the error was made manifest, that he could no longer bring himself to giving way. Instead of gathering his mantle gracefully around him, he struggled to the last.

I hope, most anxiously, that I have not wronged the man. Able, unselfish, enthusiastic, and devoted, we shall not readily meet with his like again. I find no fault with his lust of power, nor with any man's lust of power, where power is only sought for the sake of advancing a benevolent or a holy cause; but, while tolerating downright force, even to the verge of tyranny, I do most steadfastly repudiate every form of manoeuvre, every deviation from the straight and narrow path; and it is now too plainly manifest that the Bishop has not always refrained from sacrificing means to ends.

Let us hope that his Lordship will yet come forward to undo, so far as in him lies, the injury that his interference with the rights of private property has caused to the infant Church in New Zealand; to repair his error by doing justice at last to men whom he has attacked and ruined in their calling; to heal the wound that he has himself inflicted.

Cosi od' io che soleva la lancia
D'Achille e del suo padre esser cagione
Prima di trista e poi di buona mancia.

It is not yet too late: there is no vindictive feeling among those whom he has wronged; I believe, but little acrimony. It has been a question only of character with the grantees throughout: his Lordship has but to lend his help in restoring that character – which will most assuredly be fully recovered in the end, with or without his help – for the reconciliation to be complete.

I conclude by quoting a passage from "Gibbon's Decline and Fall," which I long since applied to Governor Grey's proceedings against the Missionaries, little thinking at the time how closely applicable it was to the Bishop also.

The Emperor Valentinian had slain his General AEtius, the main support of a tottering throne. He was thus answered by another Roman, whose advice he had not disdained to solicit: – "I am ignorant, Sir, of your motives and provocations; I only know that you have acted like a man who cuts off his right hand with his left."

From the date of the Archdeacon's Hegira – his flight from Paihia to Pakaraka, a new era in his life begins. By his sons he was received with acclamation. "Now Pakaraka will go ahead," was the cry. Such was his prestige of success, that they felt that nothing he touched could fail. The natives flocked around. Haratua, 209 who had fled to Mangakahia because of the war, his pa having been burned by the troops, returned. Puketutu's people cut a road from the Kawakawa, to gain readier access. 210 New life seemed infused into the place, where Henry Williams at once found himself supreme. But he was reproached by the people of Paihia, who seemed scarcely to realise the fact that Mr. Williams had acquired that place, not for himself, but for the Church Mission Society.

Among the many letters, full of sympathy and support, which were received, I select one from Mr. FitzGerald, the Commissioner who had made the award upon which Governor FitzRoy's grant was based.

Sydney, August 10, 1850.

The arrival of Mrs. FitzGerald and family in good health has put me in possession of your two letters of June 5th and 26th, which gave me both pain and pleasure; pain to see that they were not dated at Paihia, the great and prominent scene of your labours in the cause of Christianity, although the entire Northern Island testifies to your unwearied exertions in the furtherance of the objects of the Society; but of Paihia you might be considered the Patriarch, preeminent above all others in your sacred calling. I deeply deplore what I cannot but consider the hasty legislation of

the Society; even their pure minds are not exempt from fear; they appear to have sacrificed a tried servant of twenty-six years standing, without giving him the opportunity to prove the sincerity of his intentions. Had they simply confined their objection to your holding 9,000 acres of land, and left it to your own option how to dispose of it; or had they offered to purchase the surplus quantity for church purposes, no blame could be attached to them; but when they attempted to coerce you into a degradation of your character, by a forced relinquishment of your land, as if you had acquired it illegally or unworthily, I must repeat that I think they have acted hastily, and, I will add, in a manner unbecoming their high position. God will support you, my friend, in your old age; a good conscience is the most precious treasure on earth, and, next to it, is the respect of worthy men; both of these blessings you enjoy, and I do not doubt that even the Church Mission Society will yet reconsider your case, and renew that intercourse so honourable to both for a long series of years, so beneficial to the great cause, and so endearing to all christian minds.

One of the Archdeacon's first considerations was, how to gather round him a congregation, without unduly obtruding himself on the Church Mission Society. His carefulness in the latter respect is shewn by the reply to a well-meant invitation from Mr. Davis.

Henry Williams to the Reverend Richard Davis.

September 19, 1850.

After mature reflection upon the unjust and oppresive treatment I have received at the hands of the Committee of the Church Mission Society and others, against which I have not offered a remonstrance, nor do I intend, I have been considering the propriety of my again visiting Kaikohe, Mangakahia, and Kaitaia, as heretofore. I believe the All-wise Disposer of human events has permitted these mysterious proceedings for some wise purpose, yet unknown: I am content to wait His time to make more plain my path of duty than at present it appears to be. Should it be His will that I take any active duty under existing circumstances it will be made clear to me, but I feel that my attempting to meet your wish as expressed to me, and that also of Mr. Mathews and Mr. Puckey, would be regarded by the Church Mission Society as a trespass; and, as I never have intruded myself upon the duties of others, much less would it be my desire to appear to do so at this time. I must request, therefore, that you will not look to me to assist in the duties at Kaikohe or Mangakahia; I have duties yet within my reach, with which none can interfere. I purpose going in a short time to see poor old Mr. King, who seriously feels the treatment he has received.

The following 211 is in the nature of a circular to natives who might properly come within the sphere of his own administration.

Pouerua, June 5, 1850.

Friend, – Here am I residing at Pakaraka. Paihia is left; the place where I have lived ever since my first landing on this Island. Paihia was not my own place; and now I retire from the rage of the sea, and the foam of the waves, lest I should be overwhelmed. I am now residing in the country; there are no waves here, the sea is smooth, but a gentle breeze, causing a slight ripple upon the surface of the water. The top of Pouerua is to be my residence, where I can see before and behind me; no one will come here but my children: I love my children. Come, my child, and see me. I am getting old, but my heart is still alive to speak of the things of God and of Heaven. Write to me. Keep near to God: His word alone is true; the word of man is false. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all things else shall be added unto you.

This is from me,
From your father,
HENRY WILLIAMS.

This leads to consideration of a contingency which the Bishop had not provided for, and seemingly had not foreseen, when he drove the Archdeacon to extremities. Of what nature was his ministration now to be? He had no longer a cure, and was unwilling to intrude. The Bishop could not take his gown away, 212 nor could he deprive him of his influence.

It has been held (I offer no opinion on a point of law) that there was no established church in New Zealand, – certainly no church government, in any reasonable sense of the term; there was nothing to hinder the Archdeacon from taking his own free course. Not that the thought of mutiny ever arose, for a moment; in mundane thought, he was the naval officer to the last; but, while still loyal to the Bishop and his authority, he considered that he was under higher authority. "Woe is me," said he, "if I preach not the gospel." It was determined that a church, for the endowment of which one tenth of the whole estate had been long since set apart, should be built for his use. The endowments were placed in trust, leaving the Bishop no voice in their employment. Too late the Bishop found that Henry Williams, to use a phrase of common parlance, had slipped out of his hand. He had let go his hold of the strong man; and he found, before long, that he could not even venture to neglect. 213

Archdeacon William Williams had made up his mind to go home, in the hope, by personal explanation, of disabusing the minds of the Society's Committee. A hazardous experiment for himself, for by returning home without leave, he risked serious displeasure. But he had two objects in view; the one, to vindicate the Mission from the Governor's charges; the other, to obtain a reversal of the judgment against his brother. Should he fail in the first of these, he had resolved to abandon the connexion between himself and the Society.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Pakaraka, November 28, 1850.

You will have heard of the intention of William and Jane to visit England, in consequence of late proceedings. I wish you, however, to understand that it is at no suggestion of mine, nor do I ask him to say one word on my behalf, or to explain anything in which I may be concerned. I have not only lost all confidence in the Church Mission Society, but all respect for those concerned. It is my intention to avail myself of all the scripture consolation, laid down for those who have been falsely accused, and suffering under persecution. It has been my great comfort to know, not merely that nothing has been established against me, but that nothing has been attempted to be established. As William will be on the spot, and has seen and known all that has passed, I shall not enter further upon any questions. Your protest, I think, is clear, and one which upright men could not have desired to set aside. I much regret that, at your age, your quietness should have been disturbed by such questions. Had the Committee of the Church Mission Society acted with christian fairness, and grappled with the question fearlessly, without respect of persons, there would have been no confusion. I am now advanced in years, becoming infirm, and left to live or die, as I am able, by the decree of the committee of men, to whom the world readily gives credit for acting with the most scrupulous observance of their own instructions. Mysterious affair! It had been my purpose to resign my journeyings when I should have completed my sixtieth year. I am inclined to believe that God may in mercy have prepared my present retreat, and that the conduct of my foes will yet be exposed. They have shunned investigation; I have invited investigation. But I have said more than I intended. Should the committee be inclined to hear what William has to say on other subjects, they will have much to occupy their attention, much that may be of service to them. His time may be occupied with superintending the Prayer Book through the press, besides attending to other things of importance.

The inhabitants of Kororareka, who obstinately refused to believe that the Archdeacon, by treasonable proceedings, had caused the destruction of their town, had subscribed for the purchase of a testimonial, which is now a valued heirloom in the family. Its presentation, gratefully acknowledged, afforded an opportunity of making clear the political nature of the sentence which had been passed by the Society.

Russell, Bay of Islands, 20th January, 1851.

Reverend and dear Sir, – After a long but unavoidable delay in our anticipated pleasure, we are anxious to request you will allow us to place on your study table the accompanying token of unabated and affectionate esteem.

May you long be spared to make use of it, to gladden the hearts of your absent friends. We know that you will kindly value it, not so much for itself as for the sake of those whose sincere regard accompanied you in your retirement, and who will ever take the most lively interest in your welfare. We rejoice to hear that you prosper and are in health. That such may happily continue to be the case is, Reverend and dear Sir, the earnest desire of your sincere and grateful friends in the Bay of Islands.

SAMUEL STEPHENSON.
SAMUEL HAYWARD FORD.
The Venerable
Archdeacon Henry Williams,
Pakaraka.

To this a very plain-spoken answer was returned.

The Retreat, Pakaraka, January 28, 1851.

Gentlemen, – The kindness you have shewn throughout the late trying period, calls for the warmest expression of my thanks. I must repeat what I have before said, that you have indeed acted the part of the Good Samaritan. You have poured oil into those wounds which have been inflicted. With these feelings your presentation of this Testimonial is deeply gratifying; I do most highly value it, and it will be preserved in my family as a lasting remembrance of the kindly feeling of all in connexion therewith. To Samuel Stephenson, Esq., Samuel Hayward Ford, Esq., and my other friends in the Bay of Islands, I offer my grateful acknowledgment.

I feel called upon by the lively interest you have evinced to add a few remarks. You are aware that the resolutions of the Committee of the Church Mission Society, passed on November 30, 1849, purporting to set forth a reason for my disconnexion from them, have been published by authority in one of the Auckland newspapers, with an invitation to any, so disposed, to examine certain documents relative to the question at issue. 214 I consider, therefore, that you are fully entitled to examine any papers I may possess upon this subject, and I shall further be most willing to answer any questions you may be desirous to put to me, to enable you to arrive at a correct conclusion on this case. Since I last met you I have analyzed those resolutions, the 2nd

and 4th particularly objectionable, taking them clause by clause, and pronounce them to be untenable on every point.

The dilemma in which the Committee of the Church Mission Society was placed, I can fully enter into. I can sympathise with them. They have been seriously imposed upon. I have before shewn the cause of that dilemma to have arisen from the despatches of his Excellency Governor Grey, presented to them by the Secretary of State. Those despatches are published in the Blue Book for 1849, in which I am charged by his Excellency with having made "mis-statements and mis-representations so extremely untrue." And this same despatch, of March 22, 1848, closes with these words: –

"I cannot doubt that the dissemination of such opinions amongst the natives, by a person in Archdeacon H. Williams' position, will certainly obtain for the Government the hatred of the native population, and will probably lay the groundwork for further disaster, which will then probably be attributed to the Government, instead of to the proper cause."

And in his Excellency's despatch of February 10, 1849, appear these closing remarks.

"I cannot conclude this despatch without recalling to your Lordship's mind that I have before represented that if Archdeacon H. Williams continues to excite discontent and dissatisfaction amongst the natives, by calling upon them for statements 215 of what myself, or those representing the Government, are supposed to have said in passing through the country, the result must be renewed disturbance, and I submit that this system of espionage is not creditable or proper."

These grave charges I shall forbear to notice. They are known to every person in New Zealand to be fiction, as far as they relate to myself. They are mere inventions of Sir George Grey, to answer a certain end. No wonder, therefore, with such documents before them, the Committee of the Church Mission Society were misled and greatly embarrassed, as so expressed by themselves.

Since the appearance of the sanguinary despatch of June 25, 1846, and others of like character, I have solicited his Excellency in vain to establish any one of his numerous imputations. Finally I craved the protection of the Secretary of State, and that a scrutiny might be instituted upon these allegations brought by Governor Grey. The following reply to my appeal is given by his Lordship, as appears in the Blue Book for 1850, page 232, number 8, in a despatch to Governor Grey, dated October 5, 1849.

"With respect to the enquiry for which he (Archdeacon H. Williams) asks into the correctness of the reports made by Her Majesty's representative in the Colony, I feel it to be entirely unnecessary, and consider that such an investigation would be inconsistant with the respect due to the officer by whom that station is filled, and in whom Her Majesty's Government feel perfect confidence."

Thus is judgment given by the Secretary of State, though no enquiry permitted. I was prepared to learn that his Lordship would suppress my appeal, but that these serious imputations, brought forward by his Excellency, of sedition and falsehood, should be also suppressed, appears to imply his Lordship's persuasion of their real character, – that they could not be established. Therefore an "enquiry" is deemed inconvenient, "entirely unnecessary." From all these connecting circumstances, I think it must be apparent that these proceedings against me have been decidedly political.

You are aware that I have stood single-handed against a powerful phalanx. All is not yet explained, but an opportunity may be given to do so. I have the great satisfaction of knowing that no one statement made by me has been called in question. Truth must stand, and shall ultimately prevail.

Your sympathy for the position into which I have been brought has called forth these remarks. It is with thankfulness, I assure you, that through these past four years of painful excitement, I have yet found that as my day, so hath been my support; resting on the promises of God, which have been my shield and buckler.

I again most sincerely thank you for the kindness I have received from all who have presented this gratifying testimonial. My only desire now is, that you all, while passing through this vale of tears, in every trial to which you are liable, may experience that peace which the world can never give, the world can never take away.

I remain, Gentlemen,
Yours most faithfully,
HENRY WILLIAMS.

In this letter the Archdeacon mentions the Bishop's "invitation to any, so disposed, to examine certain documents relative to the question at issue."

This invitation was in the following words: –

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

June 25, 1850.

Sir, – My attention has been directed to the publication in your paper (15th June, 1850) of a single resolution of the Church

Mission Society, detached from the series of six to which it belongs. I enclose a copy of the whole series, for those who may be interested in the question; and I have further to add, that I shall be ready to allow any person to read the whole of the correspondence on the same subject which has passed through my hands.

I remain, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
G. A. New Zealand.

The writer of this Memoir, who had watched the proceedings of the Bishop and the Governor from the first, with much attention, applied accordingly for permission to read. A manuscript volume, which did not contain "the whole of the correspondence," was supplied without remark. This omission of important documents from the Bishop's collection, together with a serious mis-statement which then, for the first time, met the writer's eye, was the cause of the work entituled "A Page from the History of New Zealand" being undertaken. When "The Page" appeared, no one attempted to controvert any statement contained therein; but it was assiduously put about that Mr. Carleton, when he received permission to inspect the papers, had pledged his honour to make no use of them. Whence the poisoned arrow was shot, I cannot say, and care not to know. The statement bears its own refutation on the face of it. The public offer to give access had been unconditional; and was answered by a claim to read. No condition whatever could be demanded.

What has become of the St. John's College book? It is no longer in its place. Yet it is in the nature of a public record, and has been officially so referred to. Desiring lately to examine it, for the purposes of this Memoir, I made application in the proper quarter. No difficulty was made; but the book, seemingly no longer in the Colony, could not be found. Let it rest, together with its imperfections.

Mention has been made of Archdeacon William Williams' 216 resolve to proceed to England, to plead the cause of the Mission in person.

He did so, and was well received, notwithstanding his having left his cure without waiting till formal permission could be obtained. But he had himself made up his mind to renounce connexion with the Society, unless he should be allowed the opportunity of disproving the charges against the Mission, – such disproof to be acknowledged by the Church Mission Committee. This was the primary object, on the attainment of which depended his own tenure of office. Another object, made subordinate to the first, was reversal of the sentence pronounced against his brother. This being a matter of more personal nature, he did not think himself justified in pressing it under proffer of resignation. His duty was not to man alone.

He was well received, and urged to speak at the Society's annual meeting, but was found immoveable in his resolve not to act as a New Zealand Missionary, until the first of his two objects should have been attained. He was then offered the first meeting of the "Corresponding Committee." There he succeeded in fully relieving the Mission from aspersion, and in obtaining from the Committee a declaration to that effect, – ample enough so far, but marred somewhat by an implied disclaimer of having themselves countersigned the charges that were at last disproved.

I had intended to relegate the Archdeacon's speech to the appendix, not only because of its length, but because some of the evidence adduced by him has been already produced in the foregoing pages. But it is so interesting in itself, – so useful in preserving authentic records of the early history of the Colony, that even at the risk of repetition, place must be found for it in the text.

ARCHDEACON WILLIAM WILLIAMS' STATEMENT BEFORE THE COMMITTEE OF THE CHURCH MISSION SOCIETY, MAY 20, 1851.

I have not yet made any statement to the Secretary respecting the particular business which I have first to lay before you; I have only intimated in general terms that there was something upon my mind which would prevent me from complying with the request most kindly made, not only by our Secretary, but by our noble President also, that I would bear my testimony to the great work which God has wrought amongst the New Zealanders.

You will naturally conclude that I at least have viewed my position as one of some difficulty; and I confess too that I have regarded with apprehension the occasion when I should appear before this Committee. But I can now say, with much thankfulness, that the unbounded kindness with which I have been received by the official members and by many friends of this Society has removed those apprehensions, and I feel confident that every point which I have to place before you will meet with the most candid, patient consideration.

This Committee cannot be at all aware of the degree of feeling which has been excited in the minds of several of our Missionaries in New Zealand by statements published in this country affecting their moral character and not refuted, but in some instances almost adopted by this Committee. In my present visit indeed to my native country, I am entrusted by my brethren with other business of great importance to the general objects of the Mission; but I will freely confess that my principal view in undertaking the voyage has been to remove these injurious aspersions, and to procure from the Committee an authentic vindication; for I must honestly feel that, unless such a vindication be obtained, I cannot think that we are in a situation to continue in the service of the Society.

The offensive reflections to which I allude are the following passages from a despatch of Governor Grey to the Colonial office of June 25, 1846.

"Her Majesty's Government may also rest satisfied that these individuals cannot be put in possession of these tracts of land without a large expenditure of British blood and money." Again, "It is my duty to warn Her Majesty's Government that, if British troops are long exposed to the almost unexampled fatigues and privations of a service which has already entailed so large a loss of life on our small force, disastrous consequences must be anticipated."

Upon these two extracts I have to remark, that if the first expresses mere apprehension with reference to the future, the latter clearly implies "that the large loss of life entailed on our small force, together with the almost unexampled fatigues and privations" had been already incurred in the above-named service.

The next reflection upon the conduct of the Missionaries occurs in a conversation with Mr. Busby, in January, 1847, when his Excellency expresses a wish to know, – Why it should be that all the natives against us should be the people of the Church Mission, while all our friends are the Wesleyans and Roman Catholics?

This was followed by another despatch from Governor Grey to Lord Grey, on August 2, 1847 (Blue Book, 1848, p. 110), in which he says that, "During the continuance of the war it was stated by

the very highest authority, published at the seat of war, and in the principal locality of these large land claims, that they were the cause and origin of the war; and that one of the principal Missionaries of the Society was present when this statement was made, in the presence of the principal Northern Chiefs, who all acquiesced in it."

The Governor adds, "This fact can be shewn by the following speech made to me by Walker Nene, at Kororareka, on, I believe, November 28, 1846, during the continuance of the war, in the presence of a large number of naval and military officers. The interpretation speech was made by the interpreter of Colonel Despard, the officer commanding the forces, and was forwarded to me by Colonel Despard. It was published also in all the local newspapers at the time: –

"Friends, my idea is to shew the division of the land. There are no lands lying without owners. This portion has its chief, that portion has its chief. This is the custom of our Island up and down; when the Europeans came this chief rose and parted out his lot, and that chief rose and parted out his lot; there was no place left that was not gone to the Europeans afterwards. Evil was seen; this is where the strife is." In adverting to these various facts I am desirous not to do injustice to the character and conduct of Governor Grey. Indeed, I am free to admit that there are certain good qualities in Sir George Grey which are calculated to draw forth the approbation of those who may differ widely from him upon other matters. He has shewn himself a warm friend and patron of the native race, and has encouraged, by Government support, the establishment of schools to the utmost extent of the means placed at his disposal. But these considerations do not diminish, they rather increase the effect of injurious charges preferred by such a man, occupying so important a station; and they are felt the more keenly in consequence of the subtle and insidious manner in which some of them are made, and of the apparent acquiescence and assent, if not approbation, with which they are noticed in some of your public documents.

As an illustration of the subtle manner in which these charges have been made, I will state that, while the first which I have noticed were made in June, 1846, they were not even whispered in New Zealand for many months. That when it might be supposed they had reached England, but long before the report could return back to New Zealand, there were other complaints made in a letter to the Rev. H. Venn, of April 7, 1847, evidently with the intention of adding strength to the first charge; and that immediately on the receipt of information in New Zealand by the Governor that his first statements had reached England,

i.e., twelve months after, he wrote again to Lord Grey a more full and circumstantial account, on August 2, 1847, containing in it the appearance of evidence; thus forestalling any statement which might be made by your Missionaries in the way of reply or disavowal of the charges. The consequences have been that a first impression made upon your minds upon the receipt of the Governor's despatch, which you evidently hoped might not be true, was soon followed up by a succession of statements, made at intervals, that so the evil complained of might have the appearance of growing in magnitude during every successive month. The effect has been that these impressions have become deep-rooted, and that, too, before a word could be received from us in reply. Bold assertions, however unfounded and unjust, are believed, because they are boldly made, and heard without refutation.

The insinuation that "the natives connected with the Church Mission were hostile, and those connected with the Wesleyans and Roman Catholics friendly to the British Government," I pass by unnoticed. It is so plainly contrary to truth, and even to probability, that I am persuaded no one here has even given the least credit to it. I confine myself to the charge that the land purchases of the Church Missionaries were the cause of the war, or, indeed, that they have anything whatever to do with the late disturbance.

That these insinuations are utterly groundless may be easily shewn. Firstly, the Governor himself has disowned them. 217 On September 28, 1847, I accompanied the Bishop and Archdeacon Brown to an interview with the Governor upon this very subject. His Excellency observed that he had brought no charge against the Missionaries in his despatch; that in fact in writing it he had been influenced by circumstances which had taken place in the valley of the Hutt, near Wellington, when he had been called upon to interfere, by the employment of the military, to dislodge the natives there from land sold to the New Zealand Company; and that it was under feelings that he had taken a false step, that he wrote the despatch in question. This declaration on the part of the Governor will not lose any part of its weight with the Committee, although the Governor had two months before made the charge in a letter which he here disclaims, namely, that the Missionaries were the cause and ground of the war in the North.

It is fortunate for me, in the course I have undertaken, that there is a mass of documents published by the authority of Parliament which give a detailed account of the disturbances which occurred in the Northern part of New Zealand. From them may be

gathered the testimony of persons who had the opportunity of seeing, and of feeling too, the evils which were experienced at that period; for they lost the whole of their property.

There is the testimony too of that Governor who watched the outbreak from its commencement, and followed it through its progress up to the very point of its termination, and who, by his position, would obtain information from a variety of sources not accessible to the community at large. There is also the testimony of others in independent situations, but all agreeing in this particular that the disturbances referred to have no connexion with your Missionaries.

I might refer to a large chain of evidences relating to the period preceding the outbreak, to shew that there was a probability that some such event would take place, and indeed, that it was expected. But it will not be necessary; I shall merely refer you to Governor Hobson's statement about suspicion on the minds of the natives at the time the Treaty of Waitangi was signed (Blue Book, 1841, p. 11, 11); to the Governor's proclamation restricting the natives from cutting the kauri timber growing upon their own land, and the excitement it occasioned in 1841, and to a letter from Governor Hobson to the Rev. Henry Williams, of January, 1842, in which he says: –

"I ought not to let this opportunity slip of returning you my most grateful thanks for your zealous advocacy of the cause of Her Majesty in refuting the wanton and unworthy insinuations that were circulated amongst the natives to create rebellion."

When the outbreak commenced, by Heke cutting down the flagstaff, the first account bearing upon this subject is a letter from Mr. Hector, a solicitor, at Kororareka, to Governor FitzRoy. His feeling towards the Missionaries is evidently shewn in these two passages. (Blue Book, 1845, p. 91.)

"Mr. Kemp, the Protector, who had returned to Paihia in search of Archdeacon William Williams, landed with that gentleman and Mr. Maunsell, at Russell. The two, in company with the Police Magistrate, proceeded to the natives, who still occupied Lord's house, and entered it, excluding the Europeans. Towards the afternoon the natives and the above gentlemen held a meeting outside the house, when Heke related the grievances of the natives, from the death of Marion to the present time; and, particularly, the manner the chiefs had been entrapped into signing the Treaty of Waitangi.

Ultimately Archdeacon Williams gave them a bag of rice and some sugar, and the natives, passing up the beach, pointing to the things, jeered us. On Monday morning the natives proceeded in marching order to the point of the beach, and performed prayers with arms in their hands; and, at the conclusion, a party

were sent off towards the flag-staff to cut it down. 218 Mr. Potter and I followed the natives to the flag-staff and asked them why they wished to cut it down. Some said, there had been no payment given for the land; others, that it prevented the ships coming in. On our arrival there the natives proceeded to work, and I saw the honour of my country laid low, without any attempt to prevent it. Mr. Maunsell arrived at this time, and began a tirade, when I told him the folly of such proceedings, and said that it was useless to enrage them, seeing that we were without arms, and the destruction completed."

It was natural then that the natives should, at this time, have stated to Mr. Hector the true ground of their grievance, and if there were any idea that the Missionaries were the cause of the war, he was the man to publish it.

Governor FitzRoy, in his despatch to Lord Stanley, (Blue Book, 1845, p. 140), states: –

"Certain parties excited the natives to resist authority, telling them that while our flag waved in New Zealand they would be oppressed; that we now prevented them from trading with ships as they pleased, and as they used to trade formerly; and prevented them from disposing of their own property, their lands, as they wished; a proof, say they, that they are not treated as British subjects. 219A . . . (Mayhew) of some consequence at the Bay of Islands, a . . . who acted as . . . till his departure three months ago for . . . (America), openly and repeatedly asserted to natives as well as to settlers, that the British flag would be their ruin."

Also an enclosure in the same letter gives an account from the Southern Cross newspaper of the Governor's interview at Waimate with the natives, and their statement of the cause of Heke's movement (Blue Book, 1845, p. 150).

"The cause of the discontent, they plainly and forcibly stated to be their present extreme poverty and depression, because of the restrictions on the sale of their lands, and more especially the injury which they had sustained since whaling ships and other traders had ceased to revisit their ports, in consequence of which they were now unable either to dispose of their produce, or obtain those articles of European trade and manufacture to which they had been accustomed, and had so easily and cheaply procured before the establishment of the Government. Independent of this apparent and real cause of discontent, it was also

quite evident that a systematic opposition to the Government had been set up by the means of some designing and evil-disposed persons, especially , who represented the ulterior views of the Government to be that of eventually enslaving the aborigines and becoming possessed of their lands. So far had this feeling operated on the minds of the natives, that they were actually deceived into the belief that, if they again erected their own flag and destroyed that of the Government, the . . . would assist them in obtaining and maintaining their independence."

Next follows an account of the conflict at Kororareka, which ended in the destruction of the town. In a despatch from Sir G. Gipps to Lord Stanley is enclosed, –

1st. A letter from Mr. Beckham, Police Magistrate, to Governor FitzRoy, January 10, 1855, on occasion of the flag-staff being cut down the second time (Blue Book, 1845, p. 4), in which he states, – "It is with deep regret I have the honour to inform your Excellency that, much to my surprise, John Heke and his tribe cut down the flag-staff soon after daylight this morning, but without doing any violence to the Europeans or even entering the town. The reason for his again offering this insult seems to be a general dislike to the British Government." 2nd. A minute of the Executive Council, New South Wales, bearing upon the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons (Blue Book, 1845, p. 5)

But the present application from Governor FitzRoy was not founded, like the former, on a single act of violence, but on the general state of the Colony, and his Excellency could not but fear that the want of troops, to keep in check the natives and to prescribe peace between the two races, would be more extensively felt in proportion as the late Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, which sat on the affairs of New Zealand in July last, should become generally known in the Colony. In a despatch from Governor FitzRoy to Lord Stanley, in enclosure 22 (Blue Book, 1845, p. 15), the Governor states to Sir G. Gipps that it had been found necessary to evacuate Kororareka (Blue Book, 1845, p. 15), one hundred and fifty persons being placed on board the "St. Louis," and thirty-nine on board H.M.S. "Hazard," and, including those embarked on board two other vessels, there were in all four hundred persons. These all suffered severely in their property. It may be presumed that they would not have lost this opportunity of accusing the Missionaries if they felt that they had suffered on their account.

The war continued, and with it occasional allusions are made to the cause of it. The Governor writes to Lord Stanley, August 30,

1845 (Blue Book, 1846, p. 121), informing him of a wish on the part of the natives to throw off authority: –

"Ever since the establishment of British authority at the Bay of Islands, in 1840, there has been on the part of many natives a growing wish, sedulously fostered by designing white men, to disclaim the Queen's sovereignty. From year to year the feeling grew, and the malcontents became more bold, till in July, 1844, the Chief Heke openly defied the authority of Her Majesty, and cut down the flag-staff."

This outbreak was temporarily quelled, and, apparently, peace restored. But it was evident to the Government that the secret agency of white men was still actively at work, endeavouring to stimulate the natives to more decided insurrection. However, in the Northern as well as in the Southern districts of the Colony, the unceasing exertions of the Government and of the religious bodies were successful, under Providence, in preventing any further outbreak or collision, and the year ended in peace. In a letter from the Governor to Lord Stanley, of October 25, 1845 (Blue Book, 1846, p. 138), is the following short allusion: –

"So much has been said by the insurgent natives against the Treaty of Waitangi and the British Flag, that distinct assurance on both subjects are indispensable." In a letter of the same date from Governor FitzRoy to Lord Stanley (Blue Book, 1846, p. 148, October 25, 1845). "With reference to my despatch dated this day, No. 68, I beg to observe that the general feeling of all the natives towards the British Government and Her Majesty is in a most unsettled state, because they have heard that a Governor is coming who will attempt to take away their land. This idea has been spread through the Island by those designing Europeans who wish to see natives at war with the Government, in hopes of profiting themselves by anarchy, by those men who hope to see the Government expelled and themselves again the influential persons amongst the independent chiefs, as in former years, before 1840. I cannot believe that those most dangerous resolutions of the Committee of the House of Commons, in 1844, respecting unoccupied land, can be adopted by Her Majesty's Government; but if such should be the fatal case, the native population will unite against the settlers, and the destruction of the Colony, as a field of emigration, must be the result."

Captain FitzRoy on his return to England, after he had had time to consider calmly all past events, published a small pamphlet on New Zealand, in which he repeated some of those opinions which he had before expressed in his official communication: –

"When Heke was agitating the Northern natives by his arguments against the Government, he took great pains to shew them that

the British flag being hoisted on any territory was a sign that the land belonged to the Sovereign of Great Britain, and that the people of that land were become slaves.

To meet these arguments, Archdeacon Henry Williams circulated printed copies of the Treaty of Waitangi, and himself discussed the question of the flag at every meeting of the natives in his neighbourhood. They were not only treated with less caution and less kindness than previously, but they were threatened even on trifling occasions with the punishment of English law; they were told by ill-disposed or unreflecting white men that their country was taken from them, that they were now Queen Victoria's slaves, and that they could not even sell their own property, their land, as they pleased. These taunts were felt deeply."

When a statement had been subsequently made by Governor Grey, directly at variance with all that had been heard before, ascribing the war in New Zealand and its consequences to the Missionaries, Lord Grey availed himself of the presence of Captain FitzRoy in this country to obtain his opinion upon some of Governor Grey's despatches; and the remarks of Captain FitzRoy were subsequently printed in the Blue Book of 1847. Captain FitzRoy states to Lord Grey his opinion of the influence of foreigners, and refers to enclosures in former letters, which have not been published (Blue Book, 1847, p. 73): "I should be glad to discover that any unfavourable impression existing in my own mind with respect to the conduct and influence of certain French persons residing in New Zealand, was unfounded. My opinions, however, having been gradually formed from personal intercourse with many of those Frenchmen, from their own hand-writing and acts, from the testimony of many credible natives, and from the statements officially recorded as well as verbal of British officers, including the former Governor, Hobson, Colonel Despard and Hulme, and Sir Everard Home, are not the least shaken by the conclusions so speedily arrived at by my successor."

At p. 74, Captain FitzRoy states his opinion that "Missionary land claims will not give rise to disturbance."

At p. 76, that the Missionaries and their children have been in undisturbed possession.

At p. 78, that physical force has not been required to put any settler into possession of land in the Northern part of New Zealand.

Governor Grey, having stated in his first despatch of June, 1846, that disastrous consequences are to be anticipated in regard to the troops exposed to the unexampled fatigues and privations of a service said, by insinuation, to be connected with the Missionaries, I will refer to the only evidence I have been able to meet with resting upon naval and military authority.

A short notice of Sir Everard Home to Admiral Sir J. Cockrane, March 23, 1845 (Blue Book, 1845, p. 25).

Since my return to this country, I have examined the United Service Journal for 1845 and 1846; in which is given a detailed account of the military operations in the neighbourhood of the Bay of Islands. It is, I believe, drawn out by Colonel Despard, who is cited by Governor Grey as authority for what is said in his letter of August 2, 1847. But Colonel Despard, unfortunately for the statements of Governor Grey, agrees with Captain FitzRoy in every particular which relates to the origin of the war.

I next refer to a letter of Judge Martin's, whose testimony has the weight not only of an upright Judge, but of a man guided by the highest Christian principles and a most lively sympathy for the welfare of the natives. In this letter, written to the Governor, October 20, 1848, the Judge speaks of the distrust of the natives (Blue Book, 1849, p. 55).

"Soon after my arrival in this Colony I was invited by Governor Hobson to accompany him on his visit to Waikato. I was an eye-witness of the welcome which the representative of the Queen there received. I know also what assurances were given then, and at other times, by Governor Hobson in the name of Her Majesty. Since then circumstances have led me to many parts of the country. The natives have often questioned me on the subject of their lands; it was natural for them to do so, knowing the office I bore. I can assert that I never raised the question; on the contrary, I always sought to avoid it, as I was aware of the suspicion prevalent on that point. Again and again have questions been put to me to this effect: – Will the words of the first Governor be fulfilled by all the Governors that shall come hereafter? or do you intend to seize our lands as you seized those of Australia? I have always given one answer: – The words of the first Governor were the words of the Queen; they will never be broken."

The Bishop of New Zealand, in a letter published by the Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, p. 165, writes: – "The first indication of disaffection to the British Government which I observed, was in March, 1843. Being engaged in taking a census, I went to Kaikohe, asked the names of Heke and several other chiefs; upon which they all rose and left me sitting by myself. 220 I found they suspected

me of an intention of sending their names to the Queen. My residence at Waimate was supposed to have some connexion with the general scheme for taking forcible possession of the country. Their suspicions were studiously favoured by travelling dealers, who abused their knowledge of the natives' language to misrepresent the Government and slander the Missionaries.

About the middle of the year 1844 the flag-staff, on the hill above Kororareka, began to be talked of as the sign of the assumption of New Zealand by the British Government. The decline of the prices of native produce, which had taken place since the removal of Governor Hobson to Auckland, was attributed to signals made on the staff to keep vessels of other nations from entering the port. The Queen's flag flying upon it was considered a proof that the sovereignty of the native chiefs was at an end."

And again, in a letter to Governor Grey, August, 1848, written upon the same subject with that of Judge Martin, he gives: –

1st. A general view of the excitement existing from the establishment of the Government down to the year 1847. (Blue Book, 1849, p. 36).

"I appeal to the despatches of all the Governors of New Zealand to confirm my own observations, made in all parts of the country, that fears and suspicions have always existed in the minds of the natives as to the intentions of Government. "In June, 1842, Captain Hobson reported to the Secretary of State that the natives of Kaipara were in a state of considerable excitement, in consequence of reports that Her Majesty's Government intended to seize upon their lands; that the property of the natives would not be respected, and that the Treaty was a mere farce. Your Excellency found suspicions of similar kind prevailing in the Bay of Islands in November, 1845, and quieted them by the same explanation of the Treaty of Waitangi which has always been given by the Missionaries and myself. On May 3, 1847, your Excellency expressed your fears that the natives would be drawn into a hostile combination if their pride were insulted and their feelings irritated by their being placed in an inferior position as a race."

And, 2nd, the Bishop, in another passage, speaks of the commencement of the outbreak in July, 1844, of which his Lordship and myself were eye-witnesses (Blue Book, 1849, p. 37).

"It may be possible in England to be satisfied of the unsubstantial nature of the grievance with which the natives are threatened; but we who have seen the English flag contemptuously cut down, and a town sacked in consequence of these suspicions, are forced to believe that, if the grievances are not substantial in themselves, at least they have a real existence in the minds of those who believe themselves to be aggrieved. They know of

our dealings with other native races, and would ask at once, in their own figurative language, whether it be the shadow or the substance of a grievance which depeopled Van Diemans Land and Australia?"

The evidence I have now laid before you has been carried out to some length. I have only to add to it the testimony of two natives whose statements are of great importance.

Heke, while the conflict was still raging, sent several letters to the Governor. One of these is dated May 21, 1845 (Blue Book, 1849, p. 8). He says: –

"We are taunted with this language by the white people, by the people of Te Wahapu and of Otuihu; they made the statement, – "Your land will be taken by the Governor, and after that you will be killed. Look at Port Jackson, at China, and at all the Islands; after that manner will this land be treated. The flag takes possession of the land. The English first, after that the French, and then the Americans made this statement: then I assented to these statements. They did this for four years. On the fifth year we assented to these often repeated statements of the white people made to us; then first we touched the flag-staff. It was chopped that it might fall; after that it was put up again. We then said, – It is true, for they urge the point, and we said we would die upon the land."

The second letter was dated July 15, 1845 (Blue Book, 1846, p. 148):-

"Mr. Governor, this is my good message to you. Let my faults be examined by you. Was the commencement made by you or by me? I think it was by you, by the white men. I was in ignorance. The white people said to me, 'John Heke, your land is taken by the Governor.' I replied, ' by what means is it taken?' The white people answered, 'by the flag-staff which stands at Maiki.' I said, 'what is to be done?' They replied, 'Cut down the flag-staff.' I touched the flag-staff; it was chopped down; the tree fell. I said, 'what meaning is there in the flagstaff?' The white people told me, 'the power of the Queen is in the flag; there are three nations in it.' I said, 'God made the land for us and our children."

The second native is Tamati Waka Nene, the steadfast ally of the English. In a letter to Archdeacon Henry Williams of October 12, 1847 (Blue Book, 1849, p. 8), he writes: –

"If they, Heke and Kawiti, had fought for their land, I would not have fought against them; but their fighting was wrong. It was the saying of the Pakeha, – 'Taurekareka, you are slaves. Your power, your influence and land, is gone.' And they (Heke and Kawiti) said, 'The sayings of the Pakehas are true.'"

I have yet one other point to notice respecting the Chief Tamati Waka, which relates to the evidence which Governor Grey adduces to prove that the Missionary land purchases were the cause and origin of the war, in his letter to Earl Grey, of August 2, 1847. This statement being mentioned to Tamati Waka, it drew from him this emphatic exclamation, "Katahi ano te iwi tekateka, he pakeha": – " The foreigners are a most lying people." (Blue Book, 1849, p. 10.)

A short extract from a letter I received from the Rev. Robert Burrows at the same period, on returning from Auckland to the Bay of Islands, confirms the above remark. "All is quiet here, but the natives are very inquisitive. I saw Waka, at Kororareka. He told me he was waiting for your brother to tell him all he heard. He says he understands that the Governor has written to the Queen, and said that he (Waka) had told him (the Governor) that the Missionaries had 'tahae-ed' their lands. He (Waka) is anxious to tell your brother that he has never told the Governor anything of the kind. How could I? he said; i 'Na matou i tohe, na ratou i hoko;' meaning that they (the natives) urged the white people to buy their lands."

It will not be necessary that I should add much to this mass of evidence. From the time the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, suspicions were uttered by the natives, and on many occasions subsequently they were renewed. And if the natives' own statements are to be received, they all arose from an idea that the intentions of the Government towards them were of a doubtful character.

When collision at length took place, our own countrymen became sufferers to a fearful extent. Many of them were acquainted with the native language, and were on terms of familiar intercourse with the natives. But they never breathed such an opinion as that which Governor Grey has ventured to advance, because they never heard of it.

There was again a large naval and military force engaged which was subjected to a long and harrassing warfare; but with the small exception of a story ascribed to the chief Tamati Waka, which he positively denies, they all give the same account.

Her Majesty's representative, Governor FitzRoy, who from his position was better able than any other person to acquire a variety of information, gives a uniform and consistent account of the whole conflict to the very verge of its termination; for though Governor Grey had the credit of bringing the war to a conclusion, he had only to put the finishing stroke to a work already prepared to his hand.

Captain FitzRoy is supported in his statement by the Bishop and

the Chief Justice, men whose high position gives authority to their opinions.

But last of all, the conduct of the natives towards the Missionaries, and their frequent declarations, ought to set this question at rest, even if there had been no other evidence.

Here was a body of men just emerging from barbarism; having, it is said, a ground of hostility against a few Missionaries living among them, beyond the reach of military protection, and therefore entirely at their mercy, to do with them and with their property according to their utmost wishes. There was again, another body of foreigners, living apart from the natives, associating together in a town, and said to number 400 souls; protected by a ship of war, and a body of British soldiers, towards whom it has been attempted to shew that these savages had no feeling of disaffection. Can it be supposed that these savages should be so mistaken in the object of their vengeance, that, in forming their plans of attack, which occupied them many days, they should leave the unprotected abodes of the Missionaries in their rear, cross over to the town of Kororareka on the opposite shore of the Bay of Islands, and there expend their indignation in a hostile attack upon Her Majesty's troops and flag-staff, which was finished by the destruction of the town? Is it further possible that, with these feelings uppermost in their minds, these hostile natives should behave towards these obnoxious Missionaries with uniform respect and kindness? The account, moreover, given by the natives was always of one character. At a meeting held at Waimate, the natives who assembled to meet Governor FitzRoy were principally those who either espoused the cause of the Government or remained neuter. Their declaration to the Governor, it has been shewn, was precisely the same as that made by Heke, in his two letters.

It may be urged by this Committee that your Missionaries had been already defended by you, particularly in the proceedings of your special meeting of February 22, 1847; and that you have expressed your desire to defend them from unfair aspersions, as recorded in the appendix to Report 1844-1845, referring to some former charges which have not to do with the present question; – that with respect to a quarrel between the Governor and your Missionaries, arising out of land purchases, it cannot be expected from you that you should go to a greater length than you have done. This reasoning might be correct if the Committee had stopped at this point. But I believe I am correct in stating that you have gone beyond the bounds of neutrality, and that the charges of Sir George Grey have received from you – unintentionally I believe – your countersignature. In your meeting of February 22, 1847, you express your conviction that no Missionary would

endure the idea of sacrificing British blood in order to obtain possession of land; but you take as the ground-work of your proceedings the apprehensions entertained by Governor Grey, which you thus express: – "These apprehensions are of a most painful kind, being no less than apprehensions of a large expenditure of British wealth and blood, if the land awarded to the Missionaries is to be taken possession of; and an apprehension also lest British troops should prove unwilling to serve in such service."

I first met with this account at Tauranga, when on my way to attend the first weekly meeting of the Central Committee. Immediately wrote a letter to the Secretary, dated August 23, 1847, in which I called your attention to the statement, and shewed that the war in the North of New Zealand had not the most remote connexion with the land claims.

This letter, I believe, was not noticed in any of your communications to New Zealand. 221 Your Report of 1846-47 was the next which we received, and I was grieved to find that the extract noticed above from Governor Grey's letter, containing his professed apprehensions, was contained in it. From this passage, taken in connexion with the resolutions passed in February, 1847, the Christian public would be bound to infer that you gave credit to the Governor's statements. I was sorry that the publication was not suspended until your Missionaries should have had an opportunity to reply; but I felt that you had been carried away by the statement which you had reason to believe had been made in all honesty; and I felt sure that, in due time, as soon as you should receive our replies, our character would have full vindication at your hands.

On May 6, 1848,1 wrote to our Secretary, the Rev. Henry Venn: – "There are seasons when we are exposed to many depressing circumstances within and without. With respect to the clamour from without, I am growing callous about it; and indeed it is of late much modified, as far as this country is concerned, because peoples' eyes are opened, and we are looked upon as a body who have been unjustly dealt with. Had we not the mens conscia recti we should long ago have been sunk into the earth. Such a paragraph, for instance, as that contained in the last Annual Report, referring to the Governor's insinuation, – were there one particle of ground for the apprehensions there expressed, I could not venture to lift up my head. But by this time you will have obtained sufficient information to clear up these points. The "Plain Facts," 222 with such further illustrations as you will obtain from Captain FitzRoy, will satisfy any unbiassed mind, and will

even remove the prejudices of many who have been disposed to judge hardly. I hope too, that in a future Report you will do us the justice to give a counter statement of things as they are."

I naturally concluded that this suggestion, though made in a letter marked private, would have received due attention.

On June 26, 1849, I wrote to this Committee as follows: – "Looking over the Missionary Register for 1848, which has just reached this place, I felt much grieved to see the statements given in the survey of the New Zealand Mission. The only piece of information, in addition to a bare summary of names, being a passage extracted from your former Report about Sir George Grey's imputations against your Missionaries. It is a paragraph which, standing alone without explanation or refutation, could lead your subscribers only to one conclusion respecting the body of labourers you support in New Zealand, and many must wonder that you have not summarily dissolved connexion with persons lying under such imputations.

I felt at the moment disposed to write fully upon this subject; but I abstained from taking this step, because I know you have already been furnished with ample materials for the refutation of all that has been said. I content myself with the following brief observations: –

1st. Sir George Grey was pressed to prove the charges made in his despatch to Mr. Gladstone, and in other communications laid before the Secretary which led to your Special Meeting of February 22, 1847. This the Governor had declined.

2nd. Lord Grey has been requested to allow a public investigation of these matters.

3rd. No attempt even has been made to bring home this charge in any single instance.

4th. The Missionaries have put forth documentary evidence in a publication entitled "Plain Facts," which no one has attempted to gainsay.

5th. The statement of the late Governor, Captain FitzRoy, as printed in the Blue Book, gives an opinion directly at variance with the charges of Governor Grey.

6th. At an interview I had with the Governor, in company with the Bishop and Archdeacon Brown, he stated that, in writing that despatch, he had no intention of making any charge against the Missionaries, that he wrote it at Wellington just after he had directed the military to interfere at the River Hutt, in order to drive the natives from the lands there which had been purchased by the New Zealand Company; and that it was under the feeling that he had taken a false step that he wrote that despatch.

7th. The Bishop had all along stated that he did not read the despatch as bringing any charge against the Missionaries, and it

was in vain to point to passages in your letters which made it clear that you had understood it otherwise. On my late visit to Auckland, the Bishop shewed me a letter from Mr. Venn, in which it was stated that the Society had been precluded from taking the steps which the Wesleyan Society had taken, of giving the weight of their remonstrance to the Bishop's protest, in consequence of the charges made by the Governor against their Missionaries. I called the Bishop's attention to this, as expressive of your views on the subject. He simply observed that you had misunderstood the Governor's intention in writing that despatch.

With these facts before you I doubt not you will see reason to give a public disclaimer to the statement printed in your Report for 1846-47. It is not necessary for me to tell this Committee that up to the present time no step has been taken.

I think, then, that I am borne out in stating, that, in the absence of any disclaimer, it may be assumed that the Committee has given its sanction to the charge which has been put forth. The Governor of New Zealand is mentioned in successive Reports as the warmest friend of this Society, while your Missionaries are overwhelmed with unmerited reproach and shame.

I am aware that, when this subject may have been before you on former occasions, you have seen it encumbered by a variety of difficulties which you would not know how to dispose of. There were facts enough to meet the case, but it required a local knowledge to put these facts together.

It is just possible that you may think that I have bestowed unnecessary pains, and occupied the time of this Committee to little purpose, because none of you are seriously persuaded that any of your Missionaries can be justly accused as being in any measure the occasion of New Zealand warfare; and that you have only received the statements of Governor Grey upon a question which you were neither called upon to decide nor to examine. But your Missionaries have a different feeling, and I myself, though not personally attacked, yet, as a purchaser of land to a limited extent for the benefit of my children, cannot but feel that I bear my proportion, in common with others of my brethren, of any obloquy which has been cast upon the Missionary body by reason of the purchase of land.

If, then, I have succeeded in establishing the point I have undertaken, that there is no ground for believing that your Missionaries were in any degree the cause of the late disturbance in the Northern part of New Zealand, I renew my request for a vindication of our character at the hands of this Committee; and I believe I shall not ask too much when I propose that a declaration be made to this effect, that after a careful examination of all documents connected with those transactions, you have been led

to the conclusion that your Missionaries were not in any degree the cause of those disturbances, and that you do not conceive it possible that any proceedings of theirs can have engendered in the minds of the natives any other feelings than those of affection and respect.

After some discussion, a resolution was agreed to, completely exonerating the Mission. The Committee, which had virtually countersigned the charges, made a faint attempt to exonerate themselves, but did not venture further than saying that there had been "no intention whatever on the part of the Committee to give the slightest colour or countenance to the charges complained of." I am unable to answer for intention; but know what they did.

On the 27th of the same month, Archdeacon William Williams again addressed the Committee on the particular case of Archdeacon Henry. It is needless to reproduce the speech, our readers being already familiar with every argument contained in it. 223 The Committee were shewn conclusively, that the Archdeacon had been dismissed for following out a course proposed and sanctioned by themselves; that the condition attached to the Archdeacon's pledge had been rejected; that the Bishop had never attempted to keep his own pledge, but on the contrary had done his utmost to hinder enquiry by the substitution of the pointless queries. But

this time, the Committee were resolute not to acknowledge error in themselves. They were of opinion that no new matter had been brought up, seemingly not perceiving that the business of Archdeacon William Williams had been to impugn the old. They found that "no sufficient grounds had been shewn for rescinding." But they committed the grave error of proposing a compromise, by offer of a pension. 224 I wish not to be hard; it may have been from a sudden ebulition of kindly feeling; but if so, it only shews how incapable they were of rising to the level of the occasion. They exposed themselves to a well-merited rebuff. Archdeacon William Williams stood up and said: – "I am prepared to declare that Archdeacon Henry Williams will not accept of any pecuniary compensation from the Committee, so long as their resolution shall leave him under the charge of being unfit to remain in connexion with the Society. It is not a matter of salary, but of character."

Mrs. Williams to Mrs. Heathcote.

Pakaraka, June 17, 1851.

By this time I trust you have seen dear William and Jane, and are able to rejoice that your dear brother Henry, though he has been tried as gold in the fire, has stood the ordeal, and shines brighter in the shade in which he is now placed. I have written so fully to Jane during the last six months that you will, I trust, be in full information of all our proceedings, and it is an inexpressible pleasure to think you would feel as lively an interest as ever in us and ours. We like to imagine your meeting, and Leonard's surprise on hearing from his father that he had determined to go to England; and more, that his mother and James and Maria would accompany him.

I wonder more and more how Jane was given strength for such an undertaking. I trust that He who moved them to rise up and depart will lead them, and go before them in the "land of their fathers." It was not from any wish or suggestion of Henry's that William determined to go, for Henry feels convinced the Church Mission Society do not wish to hear the truth; it would only

embarass them. "The Committee have committed themselves;" but though they shut their eyes in Henry's case, they may be enlightened on the general state of the Mission. They have much to learn, and much good may result. Jane will place us before you in this pleasant retreat, where God has evidently blessed us and ours. She will tell you of the meetings of our children; of our children's children; of the affection shewn to Henry by the natives, who gather round him, and come to him from a distance for instruction, and as candidates for baptism; of the kindness of friends; of their presentation testimonial by a deputation from Kororareka; and of the collection at the opening of the church erected by our sons at Pakaraka. "Trinity Church" it is called, as Trinity Sunday was the day on which Henry was ordained by the Bishop of London, and Trinity Sunday the last we spent at Paihia. We hope it will in time be the chancel of a large church in this wilderness. The window is acknowledged as beautiful.

It now becomes necessary to pass more rapidly onwards. More space than had been intended has been allotted to the most troubled period of the Archdeacon's life; and more again would have been needed to do justice to the subject. What remains to be told must be proportionally condensed.

April 23, 1851. Trinity Church, Pakaraka, was opened for service; the whole country side – Pakeha and Maori – in attendance. Great rejoicings.

Brief and dry, as usual: a most undemonstrative man. Yet the whole thing was to him of the intensest interest. For a few details we must fall back upon the diary kept by the wife.

April 20, 1851. The last Sunday for service in the barn, where we have held it for the last eleven months. Henry's cough was very severe, causing him to speak with difficulty. He stayed away from school and afternoon service, leaving these to his son Henry. Caroline and Lydia asked to have the girls' school to themselves, and not feeling strong, I left it to them. I read to my husband in Robinson's Scripture characters – "The Resurrection of our Lord."

April 23, Wednesday, at 11 o'clock, Hiria ran in to tell me "the Pakehas were coming; it was like Te Wiremu Hunia's and Mihi Wiremu's wedding." I saw a large party of horsemen winding amongst the trees in the entrance, and it was indeed quite a picturesque and lively sight. The Waimate and Bay party met at the bottom of the paddocks and rode up together; the front verandah was a lively busy scene as they all came on. We had so

many to receive, so many to shake hand with at the steps of the verandah, that it was some time before we found out who had and who had not come. The day was lively and bright; the ride had been pleasant. All was delightful. Our visitors took chairs and sofas outside, making it quite a drawing-room under the sky. At noon we went to church by the new road, – quite a beautiful walk, so much have the trees grown. The church was filled, though not allowed to be crammed, and about forty natives remained outside, not able to find seats inside. The temporary pulpit put up yesterday quite surprised us, it was so neat; an octagon with three front panels up, – raised three steps. The sight of my husband in his surplice and scarf, the cloths as of old on the pulpit and communion-table, the sound of the old organ, altogether was quite moving. The Psalms selected were the 84th, 87th, and 122nd; the Lessons read were 1 Kings viii., the opening of the Temple of Jerusalem by Solomon; and the first verses of Matt, v., ending with "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the Prophets which were before you." The collection amounted to within a trifle of £30.

This was of course followed by the inevitable feast to the Maories, on a somewhat grandiose scale, for in New Zealand we reckon, – at least in the bush, – not by sirloins, but by bullocks.

July 31, 1851. The war medal received. General admiration was bestowed, which it well deserved. There were two bars on the medal, and the names of two engagements; there would have been three, but Henry had not seen the list of engagements for which medals were awarded when he wrote, and did not mention "Boat engagement, Christian 7th."

The receipt of a war medal was in itself a sufficient reply to the atrocious slander that Henry Williams had been dismissed the navy; even without the Admiralty papers, printed in the first volume of this Memoir, accounting for the stoppage of half pay to naval officers who had taken holy orders. 225

Archdeacon William Williams to Henry Williams.

Bleasby, October 8, 1851.

John Marsh has taken it up very warmly. Talking over the business with Mr. Disney, the clergyman at Newark, the latter had intimated on a previous occasion that there appeared to be serious complaints proved on the part of the Society, and that it was a bad case. John sent him this pamphlet, 226 and I saw his reply. He was turned round to the other side, because he had heard, for the first time, the rights of the case, and he wrote off at once to Major Straith, expressing a hope that the case would be again considered, and that a favourable result would follow. Major Straith requested him to suspend his judgment; saying that the Committee had directed that a counter-statement should be prepared, which he had no doubt would prove satisfactory, and justify the course which had been taken by the Society. Mr. Disney forwarded this to John Marsh, and said he did not anticipate that it would be in the power of the Committee to give a satisfactory reply to the pamphlet.

In the foregoing extract is the first mention of the Reverend James Disney, then of Newark, who subsequently took so prominent a part in vindication of Henry Williams. Himself a member of the Church Mission Society, he had at first, like so many others, gone with the stream, confiding in the Committee, as the Committee, in their turn, seem to have confided in their Secretary, Mr. Venn. But the reaction, when he came to close enquiry on his own behalf, was only the more strong. He did not stand alone; but was one of the most prominent of those English clergymen who boldly impugned the proceedings, when once the question of fact was raised; causing much perturbation in the minds of the Committee, who had thought to deal with New Zealand only, and going far to shake the expressed determination not to rescind the judgment. But they did more than this: – they provoked the Committee into committing themselves at last to particulars. In self-defence, the Committee published a reply. But it swarmed with error, which, when once put into substantial form, was forthwith scattered to the winds.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

The Retreat, Pakaraka, November 3, 1851.

Your letters of May 29 and June 12, 1851, have just come to hand, with others from William and Jane. Yours I shall now

proceed to notice; I shall not write to William, as we are told he may leave England in December. All these letters are full of interest, and I feel thankful you are at length in possession of the facts of the case, and I trust that all reflection cast upon the Missionaries of having being in any respect the cause of the war may be removed. The Committee have the means within their reach, and it is their duty to avail themselves of it. We have all felt your trying position, and trust you may yet have the satisfaction of knowing that your unwearied labour and painful anxiety has not been in vain. I should have been glad to have seen a copy of the Resolutions passed by the Committee, exonerating the Missionaries from any participation in the war. I am sorry that a mere "sentence" is considered sufficient to appear to adjust so grave an imputation, which must have tingled in the ears of friends of Missions. This is a tender mode of meeting so serious a case, after the weighty and erroneous expressions of the views of the Committee in their public documents, unless it were a sentence unusually clear and fully expressed. I trust we may find it so, as it has passed your united approbation. So far as the case has been entered into as appears in these letters before me, I think much judgment is shewn, though I should have met Mr. Venn's question for new matter by an upset of the old, as set forth in his second resolution, terminating my connexion with the Society, no one clause of which can be justified. I should have taken that Resolution as my text. I gave William a paper on that Resolution – my comment on the same, which you may have seen. You observe "The Committee were painfully impressed with the fact that your land is entirely made over to your sons and daughters, and that you have therefore no property in New Zealand which you can call your own." The view the Committee was pleased to take respecting the transfer of the land to my sons and daughters, in accordance with their own instructions, is strange, and one from which I cannot excuse them. What is the legal meaning of a transfer? It is "the act of conveying from one party to another." Had I "a life interest" in the land, what is the power of a transfer? The terms are contradictory, and their view of the case does not speak much for the legal knowledge or charitable feeling of the Committee. The expression used in their letter of March 1, 1847, p. 9, is, "they will be at liberty to make them (the lands) over to their children." Is not this a transfer? In my letter to Mr. Coates on the receipt of their letter of March 1, 1847, I wrote, "I see no difficulty in complying with these requisitions, as I had no wish, and never intended to retain any land for my own use and benefit." "The proceeds of the farm have all been returned upon the farm in improvements, and for myself I have not received one shilling." This same was repeated to the bishop in my letter of September 7, 1847. I mention this

merely to shew that I adopted their own expressed desire in their instructions on this question, and that in this there was nothing new. Their instructions perfectly met my desire, and had been virtually carried out from the commencement. Of these facts Mr. Venn was not ignorant. Your opinion respecting an allowance from the Society is fully in accordance with my feeling. The receiving it, until all imputations were removed, would be a tacit admission of them. Individually, I am perfectly indifferent as to the termination of this extraordinary affair, in a pecuniary point of view. I should never have suggested either to yourself or to William, to have offered a word on the subject after it was once closed . . . . You express surprise that the natives do not adopt our mode of living in all respects, as they adopt our garb. William may have given you some insight to the native law, which allows any person, for an injury, real or imaginary, to demand compensation for the same, not necessarily of the accused, but of the tribe, or of any best able to pay. Hence no protection to property; therefore, no encouragement to build houses, plant vineyards or fields. Since I left Kororareka, the Europeans residing there have learnt an important lesson from the natives of the place, who on the Sunday always held service twice and school once. The ringing of their bell spoke reproachfully to these English christians, and inflicted a painful feeling not before experienced. This led to a general meeting, when it was agreed that they, as well as Maories, should hold their services. Since then this has been fully carried out. This is not the first important lesson read by Maories to Europeans, nor will it be the last.

Mrs. Williams to Mrs. Marsh.

Pakaraka, November 6, 1851.

Henry has missionary work sent him by his Heavenly Master, who owns and employs him. His flocks follow him into the wilderness, and he has had visits from parties of enquirers and old communicants from every part of his late district, occasionally meeting large assemblies of them at Kororareka and the Kawakawa, where he has administered the Lord's Supper and baptism as well as here. Within twelve months the number he baptised was one hundred and sixty-three, some of whom have been long preparing. Our congregation is a scattered one; some come from a distance of eight miles, but near to us are large heathen tribes who never attended the means of grace. Sometimes I think Henry was purposely sent to deliver his message to them. There is a "shaking amongst the dry bones." The old warrior, Kawiti, has great influence with them, and they were with him during the war. He also was till lately an obstinate heathen, though having a nephew who is one of the principal teachers. About ten days since Kawiti

went from Waimio, beyond the Kawakawa, to meet Henry at the Kawakawa. For the first time in his life he attended the services, and on the Monday morning before he left he made a public speech, declaring himself a believer; that he had found that the greatness of the white people was their goodness; that all their goodness came from the Bible, and that he should now whakapono [believe] and go about amongst the people to urge them to attend church and seek to know the truth. Yesterday we heard he was coming here to hold a visitation with these tribes, intending "to plant in the neighbourhood," to see that they attended church. Haratua, who was with Kawiti at the defence of the Pa of Ruapekapeka, has long lived near us and is a candidate for baptism, his son having been one of the first adults baptised at Trinity Church. Is not this a contradiction to Governor Grey's prognostications and fabrications? Heke's body was brought with great state last summer to Pakaraka, and his tomb is in these woods, in a native reserve.

The Archdeacon was now gladdened by a message from an old friend, who stood by him all the more stoutly for his troubles; who knew indeed, of his own knowledge, their cause, and was well acquainted with the chief actors in the proceedings.

Sir Everard Home to Archdeacon Henry Williams.

H.M.S. "Calliope," December 7, 1851.

My dear Mr. Williams, – I have waited until there was a chance of sending to you to say that I am here, and how glad I am to be here again. I am very sorry however not to find you at Paihia, and I wish I could walk to Pakaraka. I am not however going to leave this part of the world immediately, and I trust I shall often see you again. Pray remember me to all your family most kindly, and believe me to be,

My dear Mr. Williams,
Faithfully yours,
EVERARD HOME.

Sir Everard was better than his word. Though a man of heavy frame, ill-adapted to New Zealand travelling, he made his way across country, with six or eight midshipmen at his heels, to Waimate, and again to Pakaraka, where he was received with the welcome he deserved.

The following letter, if taken in reference to "public opinion," declared by the Bishop to have been "outraged," is a weighty

testimony. The writer was leader of the Bar; at one time Attorney-General, and, finally, Speaker of the Legislative Council. A man, moreover, imbued with every instinct of the gentleman, – who carried chivalry of feeling almost to the verge of Quixotism. If any man had a right to represent the educated opinion of the Colony, it was he.

Thomas Houghton Bartley to Henry Williams.

Auckland, February 17, 1852.

My dear Mr. Archdeacon, – Allow me to offer my most hearty congratulations upon the progress of events, upon the elucidations of [Greek] METOIKOS, and upon the publication of your letters. Believe me I do not flatter when I state that I consider the latter as doing you infinite credit and service. I cannot tell you how often I have read them, and always with increased admiration. I always knew that you would never yield without a reason; or, as we lawyers say, without cause being shewn why. They are startling John Bull productions, not seeking contest, but boldly maintaining it when forced upon you. The public feeling is, I am sure, strongly with you, but after what you have written upon the head of "public opinion," I shall let that subject drop. In Mr. Carleton I need not state how indefatigable and judicious an advocate you possess, or advert to his short pointed way of stating facts, facts fearfully telling in themselves, but deriving very increased effect from the mode in which they are put. I am afraid to trust myself with expression of my opinion of the parties to the "holy alliance," or as some have most disrespectfully termed them, "conspirators." But let the galled jade wince; your withers are unwrung. You at least are scathless. What result this "history" may produce I know not; but I think I can form a just opinion of what it ought to produce. If the Church Mission Society do not see the error of their ways, it is not because there is any lack of opportunity. But perhaps there will be some reply. We shall see; we will leave it for the present as it is, firmly believing that you have every reason to be satisfied with the publication. I would not answer for the comfortable feelings of others. To tell my mind freely, I, myself, a spectator, am pained at the exposition; but you had no alternative. How much evil might have been spared if truth alone had been regarded?

Oh! What a tangled net we weave,
When once we practice to deceive.

T. H. BARTLEY.

METOIKOS, of whom Mr. Bartley writes, had now taken up the question in earnest. He had already reviewed the Governor's

despatches, taking them all round, collating, and subjecting them to searching criticism. It suffices to say that no supporter of the Governor (all colonial governors do find supporters) accepted the challenge to enter the lists against him. Yet, could an error have been detected, they would all have been jubilant; the cry of ab uno disce omnia would have been shouted and re-echoed.

A careful analysis of the whole question was made, given piecemeal, in the first instance, in the columns of a newspaper, in order that ample time for detecting accidental error might be afforded to any who were conversant with the subject, and also to afford opportunity for retractation or amendment should need arise. 227 It is right to add that this was done, not at the request of the Archdeacon, – for the writer's acquaintance with him had not at that time reached the point of intimacy, but mero motu, for upholding of the colony; in like manner as others, leading men, including the Governor's own colleague, Lieutenant Governor Eyre, had been defended from imputations cast upon them in those despatches.

The fate of Captain Allen Gardiner, starved to death, with his Missionary associates, on the coast of Tierra del Fuego, is known wherever English is spoken. He also had been an officer in the King's service, and had distinguished himself in action. He has here to be mentioned as a connexion of the family, having married Elizabeth, daughter of Canon Marsh, and niece to Henry Williams.

The Reverend E. G. Marsh to Archdeacon Henry Williams,

Aylesford, January 3, 1852.

We are all here in great alarm at present about the fate of Captain Gardiner. He left this country about fourteen months ago, with six companions, for Picton Island, one of the Fuegian Group, in hope of opening the way there for a Christian Mission. We have received intelligence of his safe arrival, but have not heard of him since till a few days ago, when a report reached us from

a vessel, which had gone in search of him, and discovered the bodies of three of his companions, but no trace of him, or of the others. One of those, who died, was a surgeon, who gave up his profession to follow Captain Gardiner. His diary was found, and it expressed the happiness of his mind, and his unwillingness to exchange his position for that of any living being. He and one of the others died from scurvy, brought on apparently by want and hardships. A vessel charged with provisions was sent out to them in March, but did not set sail till June. In the mean time they met with severe calamities. Their food was spent, their powder, which was to kill animals for their use, had been left on board the ship which brought them; they had no fish; one of their boats was wrecked; a house which they had set up on shore was burnt, and the natives were hostile. Under these circumstances it was to be hoped that they would at once set sail in a small vessel they had with them, to the Falkland Islands. But they seem to have postponed this measure too long, till failure of strength and health rendered it difficult. Still we hope that the four survivors had found their way thither, while search was made for them on Picton Island and its neighbouring shores; and in that case we may hear tidings of them speedily, and even see them again in England. But our fears preponderate. Other vessels have gone in quest of them. There is the provision vessel; another specially despatched to Montevideo; a Government ship, which had orders to enquire for them and to assist them; and the "Ocean Queen," which took them out, and then proceeded to California, but was to look in upon them upon its return. Elizabeth is with us, I am happy to say, and so are Emily and Allen; all in great distress, but clinging to the slender hopes which we are permitted to cherish.

Two of the following extracts, bearing on the same subject, are brought back from the order of date.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

The Retreat, Pakaraka, September, 1852.

The intelligence by your recent letters, with the particulars of the death of your son Tom and of Captain Gardiner and his party, are of a melancholy character, and tend to remind us all of the necessity of being prepared to meet our God. We very sincerely sympathise with you. The loss of your second son is indeed a remarkable providence beyond our conception. As yet I have not been called to so severe a trial, though some have been nigh unto death. I trust his work and conversation was such as to give you abundant consolation, and that your loss may have been his eternal gain. I have frequently felt, when relatives have been removed in whom there was a well-grounded hope, that they are taken from much evil, and being safe in the Kingdom of Glory,

the thoughts of the living are more necessarily directed thither. We are glad that William and Jane were with you at the mournful period; they would administer to your comfort in the trying hour. As you observed, it might have been in the order of an all-wise God that William should have been present to have performed the last office for you, rather than for your son; but God's ways are not our ways. Nevertheless, we must consider our days as numbered. You are somewhat in advance of me, but each of us have proceeded to a lengthened period, and the gracious dealings of our Heavenly Father have been very manifest to us both. We have all felt much for Elizabeth, 228 but are satisfied that her mind was well prepared to meet her trial. We read the distressing account; in the Record, and it has since appeared in one of the local papers. However varied opinions maybe as to the commencement of Captain Gardiner's mission, he died in his Master's work.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Pakaraka, December 1, 1853.

The question of the Patagonian Mission I have brought before the natives more immediately connected with myself. My first application was well met. When I was asked what I thought would be acceptable, I proposed £2. My second congregation, having had some demands on them for repairs of their chapel, proposed the Sunday collection. This I thankfully received, which was £1 16s. At two other places £2 each was paid down; more was offered, but I declined to take more. From Kaitaia and Kaikohe, two Mission stations, I have not yet heard in reply to my application. I expect to hear and receive from Opotiki.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

The Retreat, Pakaraka, May 6, 1854.

After waiting for a longer period than I had expected before I could obtain a set of bills for the collection on behalf Of the Patagonian Mission, I could not communicate earlier on that important subject. I now have the pleasure to forward £24 13s. from the following places and persons: – The Kawakawa, £2 ; the Karetu, £2 ; Kororareka, £2 ; Waikari, £2 ; Kaitaia, £13 13s.; the Revs. Messrs. Davis, of Kaikohe, and J. Matthews, of Kaitaia, and myself, each £1 ; total, £24 13s. I hope the collection from Turanga and Otaki will make up the sum of £100. I have not ventured to call upon the congregation of the Waimate, six miles from hence, as some of the Missionaries have considered that the Church Missionary Society had the first demand upon them.

With two more extracts we must bring to a close the proceedings of Archdeacon William Williams in England. It is quoted to shew how light was breaking in upon the non-official members of the Church Mission Society, who had hitherto been content to accept as conclusive the dicta of the Committee and of Secretary Venn.

Archdeacon William Williams to Henry Williams.

York, January 23, 1852.

I have this morning had an interview with Rev. C Hodgson, one of the Association Secretaries. A very excellent man, and a great friend of Kate's; 229 but one who has always sided with the Committee, and has told Kate from the beginning that the case was a very unfortunate one. He had been present at Salisbury Square at the discussions upon my letter, and was therefore primed; but I poured a little water into the touchhole, and his gun would not go off. I soon convinced him that Mr. Venn's assertion was wrong; and when I said, in addition to other evidence, that I was writing to Captain FitzRoy to express his view upon the fact, he said, – "What necessity is there; what you say is quite enough?" But I told him I meant to make sure doubly sure. I then gave him a word upon the pledge, shewing him your four questions, and then the four proposed by the Bishop, following upon the Bishop's pledge, – "I, for my part, pledge myself to institute the fullest inquiry into the accusations of which you complain." He exclaimed, – "Most certainly; your brother was fully justified in withdrawing his promise. 230 And why did you not put all this into your letter?" I said I did not wish to come more into collision with the Bishop than necessary; that I had a black score against me large enough already. He told me, moreover, that Mr. Venn said in Committee that he should be most glad to find that the Committee was wrong and that I was right. Perhaps we shall know all about it before this letter goes off.

February 9. Brentwood. I came this way on the 2nd, and had an interview of three hours with Lord Chichester on the 3rd. I found his Lordship very friendly, and I believe he earnestly desires to see a favourable termination to this business. He is satisfied upon the error into which the Committee had fallen, but he said he apprehended a difficulty in persuading the Committee to reverse the resolutions of June, 1848; that the Committee passed them upon grounds which are not affected by the error they

have made; that those Resolutions are only the explanation of those passed in February, 1847. He asked me what I could suggest as the best means of bringing about the end. I told him I must leave that in his hands. He said among other things that the Committee had been greatly annoyed by the multitude of letters they have received from the country, from various clergymen who have seen my letter and have taken up the question in your favour. From the Mission-house I went to Captain FitzRoy, and have received from him a most decisive letter, bearing upon those points in which he was concerned. The next day I went to the Mission-house late in the afternoon, to look at some old Blue Books, and found that Mr. Venn was in the act of conning them over. I obtained, however, what I wanted, namely, Sir G. Gipps' and Captain Hobson's proclamations, which say that purchases made after 30th January, 1840, would be null and void. The next day I sent, according to promise, some additional matter to the Earl, including Captain FitzRoy's letter, and I also drew a comparison between the Resolutions of February, 1847, and of June, 1848, and shewed that the latter cannot be taken as an explanation of the former, because they are opposed the one to the other. I understand the Committee sits to-day, but whether I shall hear anything about their conclusions is doubtful. Of this I am satisfied, that if there is a disposition on their part to conciliate, they have now the opportunity of bringing this litigated question to a favourable issue, and that too without serious compromise on their part; simply upon the ground of new matter, which had not previously been before them.

Archdeacon William Williams to Henry Williams.

Southwell, May 8, 1852.

I saw yesterday a letter from Mr. Johnson, one of the Association Secretaries, to the clergyman of this place. He was for a long time strenuous in upholding the Committee, until he saw my letter. He said in the letter to which I refer, – "I have written to Mr. Venn to recommend that Archdeacon Williams should be reinstated; but Mr. Venn replied, we cannot do it. The Committee intend to publish the case and leave the Christian public to judge." "But," added Mr, Johnson, "unless the Committee can make a better case than they have done in the Reply they will fail to convince the public." I shall be glad if they do take this step, because we shall then be in a position to publish also; and, as Mr. Disney said some time ago in a letter to Mr. Venn, – "If Archdeacon Williams were the servant of any other body than a Missionary Society, there is nothing I should wish more than a publication of the whole case, so confident do we feel that his cause is a good one. It is only out of regard to the injury which might be done to the Society that we deprecate this step." If we publish, I shall have

many strong points which will stagger the good people. In my letter to Lord Chichester I did not say half what I might have done. It was well I did not, because we have now a large amount of facts in reserve. I am persuaded the Committee cannot stand their ground. Mr. Disney is a most strenuous advocate.

Enough upon a question long since disposed of. Turning to another subject, a few words from the Archdeacon hit the nail upon the head, in shewing that security for property is the first step upwards in civilization. To many this may seem a truism; yet there are some who believe that the culminating point of civilization is to destroy that security. La propriete, c'est un vol, is the rallying phrase of the extreme liberals. They advocate common rights. As usual, extremes meet. Such doctrines can obtain a hearing only in countries already enjoying the benefits of civilization. We who live – or did live among savages, who are compelled to acquire practical knowledge of civilization, are aware that savagery can be restrained only by destruction of communism, and by the fostering of respect for the rights of property.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Pakaraka, March 22, 1852.

You notice the indolence of the natives and their low state in temporal matters. This is much to be lamented; but there are various points to be taken into consideration. According to their law each may do and does what is good in his own sight, and his tribe is bound to bear him out in so doing, however they may disapprove of his act and deed. Hence property of every kind is perfectly uncertain; therefore they possess nothing. If a man takes a wife, or an accident befalls him, or death occurs, a visitation ensues, when plantations and property are stripped. An indiscreet expression of a child may subject the parent and all living in his party to pay the penalty; and they, therefore, may lose all they possess, even to their working tools. The Bishop is expected in the Bay to attend Confirmation. Of his intention I have not received any intimation, therefore shall not appear.

In 1853, the protracted struggle with Paganism may be said to have come to an end. The last blow was dealt when the old heathen chief, Kawiti, came in to ask admission to the Christian fold. He had been the main upholder of ancient superstitions in the North; and his influence was so large, that the accession of

his followers, were not immediate, for sooner or later became a certainty. On the twentieth of February, 1853, Kawiti was baptized by Henry Williams into the Church of Christ.

Mrs. Williams to Mrs. C. P. Davies.

February 23, 1853.

Last Sunday Kawiti was baptized at Pakaraka by the name of Te Ruku; he having chosen the name of Captain Duke as one that no other native had taken. Great respect was paid to the old chief by Christian chiefs and teachers from Karetu, Kawakawa, and Mangakahia; also by heathen chiefs in attendance. Our neighbours, Haki and Kanawa, with their followers, were really in the church; the crowd was very great, the encampment near us, and the natives were about us for three days, as in times of old. Your father has missionary work to his heart's content. I wished I could have sketched the scene in the church. The old chief, for the first time in his life I should suppose, was dressed in a handsome full suit of black cloth, with frock coat. He sat on a seat close to the pulpit; close behind him many respectably dressed chiefs and teachers. David Taiwhanga came from Kaikohe for the purpose. Young Pomare, Haratua, and some from Hokianga. The church, after it was full, was packed and repacked, as more and more squeezed in. I trust the honourable old warrior has in sincerity and truth become a soldier of Christ.

Mention is made of this by the Archdeacon in a letter to the Bishop. It has to be noted that by this time ecclesiastical relations, the interruption of which was never admitted by the Bishop, had become completely re-established; the Archdeacon having consented to take charge again of districts specially indicated by his Lordship.

Henry Williams to the Bishop.

April 4, 1853.

It is with pleasure I report to your Lordship the progress of my Mission. I have continued my periodical visits to Kororareka, Te Kawakawa, Waikare and Te Karetu, at which place I have much encouragement. The late Pomare, the chief of Te Karetu, was always a formidable opponent to the progress of the Gospel, until a year before his death, when he became a changed man, encouraging the due observance of the Sabbath, which had a salutary effect upon the tribe. He died suddenly about a year and a half since. I did not see him in his last illness, owing to the rapidity of his decease. His brother, a man who had always appeared so perverse that I never could hold converse with him, has since come

forward with Pomare's whole family; they have been admitted to baptism. The family appear to be a superior class of persons, and I was surprised and gratified at their answers given on the several examinations under which they were brought. They have erected a chapel and house for me after the Maori order.

When at the Kawakawa, near two years since, the old chief Kawiti came forward and made a long and impressive speech, for which I was not prepared. He told the assembly that he was satisfied that he and they had been wrong, and that wisdom was with the Pakeha; that he should hold out no longer; that he should cast aside his Maori ritenga and enter the church; that he should now proceed to Wangaruru, Ngunguru, Whangarei, Mangakahia, and to the Urikapana, and call upon all to join with him. This visit he immediately undertook. It is now more than a year since he removed his place of abode to this neighbourhood to cultivate, in order to be near us for the benefits of instruction; spending generally every second Sunday here. On Sunday, February 20, I admitted the old man to baptism at Pakaraka, not approving of further delay, owing to his age and infirmities. He was with us on Saturday last, and has returned to-day. It is, nevertheless, with regret I have to state that we have around us a large number of heathen natives, who are hard as iron and brass, tied and bound with the chain of their iniquities, who reject every overture made to them. Yet are they civil and kind. Our collections at the communion at the various places form a respectable fund for the sick and other purposes. I regret we cannot obtain any catechisms for the use of the people.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Pakaraka, July 19, 1853.

We have had the pleasure of the company of William and Jane. From them we have learned very many particulars which we could not otherwise have obtained, and were to a certain degree carried back to old England . . . . The account of your severe trials was painfully interesting; the removal of your son Thomas, the illness of your daughter Jane, and the death of Captain Gardiner. Elizabeth appears to bear her affliction with Christian fortitude. We have thought much of the failure of the Patagonian Mission, and lament its want of support. There is no doubt the design was good, though the strength was not adequate to the undertaking; but the faith and patience of the sufferers clearly shews their Christian character to have been of a generous kind. They were true men, and though dead yet loudly speak in behalf of that benighted people. We are glad to learn that the Mission is not allowed to become extinct, and that your son John is a warm advocate in its behalf; but I trust advantage will be taken of past distressing experience. To commence a Mission under the

circumstances of a Patagonian Mission will require great caution to gain the confidence of the people; this can only be done by communication. All throughout the human race are jealous, and that jealousy can only be allayed by intercourse. The commencement of all Missions is the day of small things; thus it was in New Zealand. Yet our difficulties were not to be compared with those of Patagonia. Many of the New Zealand natives had been in New South Wales; and these were the means of making known our ideas. The climate was delightful, but the people were savage; for many years we were liable unknowingly to trespass upon their sacred rights and had to pay the penalty. When they saw that we did not intentionally violate their feelings, their anger was appeased.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Pakaraka, July 25, 1853.

William is now in Auckland, and as I have taken a copy of the proceedings as conducted by him before the Committee and his correspondence with Lord Chichester and others, and also Mr. Disney's noble effort on the New Zealand question, I now turn to that subject. You both have faithfully discharged your office in defence of this much injured Mission, and I trust you will yet have your reward. Mr. Disney has nobly acted his part in this drama; he has shewn himself a faithful friend in time of need to the great cause of Missions, in his wish to rectify great abuses of power. 231 . . . From the way in which you express your desire that I should write, I infer that you received as authentic Mr. Venn's remarks on page 20 of his Reply. Have you not noticed his prevarication respecting my not making a return concerning the land purchased? Yet to William, in his letter of February 20, 1852, he states that "my return was not received until 1843," i. e. that it was received nine years before his declaration to the contrary, himself producing the proof that I had complied with their desire not three weeks prior to that statement of Lord Chichester on the point (P. p. 8); Mr. Venn being present, and allowing the error into which his Lordship had fallen, through his means, to pass unnoticed.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Pakaraka, February 20, 1854.

Mr. Stock, Leonard's fellow passenger, accompanied him to this place, and took up his abode with me. He and Leonard had previously on the voyage entered upon "The question," and when here he re-opened the subject. He informed me that he had been on one Committee on my case, and, from the information furnished

by Mr. Venn to the Committee, it was impossible they could have come to any other decision than they did; that he now saw he had been in perfect ignorance of the case, and that the Committee were equally ignorant with himself. An honest confession this, truly, for a member of Committee to determine a great and difficult question. Mr. Stock remained with us about a month; we formed a high opinion of him. He is doubtless of good stock, and will faithfully discharge his duty. He has been appointed to Otaki, where my son-in-law Hadfield is. They met in Auckland, and each formed a favourable opinion of the other . . . .

My own infirmities I feel to be gathering upon me, weakness of body evidently shewing itself, and my sight failing, though my health is generally good. I am thankful to be able yet to move about and take my periodical rounds, without seeking aid from any one. Our Retreat is a delightful spot, and I have the opportunity of engaging in as much work as my strength will admit of, though I am sorry to say that since the introduction of civilization, the people have greatly fallen away from that Christian simplicity they once possessed. The love of gold has corrupted very many and changed their desires. A spirit of infidelity has possessed very many, and they will tell us to look at our own countrymen, who regard not even the external observance of the Sabbath.

Even in retirement, the Archdeacon was not to be let alone. His name was again dragged forth, as an abettor of sedition. Blame that was due to the Government was shifted, as usual, on to him. A few words must be allowed to a question which was for a time of most serious import.

Kororareka – now the township of Russell, had been the scene of a great fight in 1830. At the peace-making, it was ceded, as blood-payment, by Pomare to Ngapuhi. 232 From Ngapuhi it had been purchased, and until now that purchase had never been disputed. But the cupidity of the sellers had been excited by certain proceedings of the Government, which caused them to make an armed demand for a second payment. 233

The Government, objecting to the acquisitions of land made before the annexation of the country in 1840, had taken steps

to dispossess the buyers of the greater portion. The main object was, to obtain for the Government the monopoly of land sales to immigrants; for it was assumed that new settlers would be able to make purchases from the old settlers, if the latter were left in undisturbed possession. At a later period, an additional plea was introduced – namely, that of justice to "the suffering and complaining natives," who had been deluded into parting with vast tracts of land for a mere nominal consideration. The natural conclusion would be, that the land unjustly acquired should be restored to the native sellers. But the Government wanted the land in question for themselves, and, to get it, argued in this wise: – "the original purchase by an European was illegal [an error]; therefore he cannot retain the land; the native owners, by the fact of sale, had divested themselves of all right, and therefore the land, belonging to nobody, escheats to the Crown." But, to prove the extinction of native title, it was necessary to gain possession of the deeds of sale. These were obtained by promising to the purchasers Crown grants for a portion of the lands, on the condition of their placing the deeds in the hands of certain Commissioners. Now Mr. Busby, the owner of a very valuable tract of land at Whangarei, had reason to believe that the whole estate would be confiscated as soon as the Government should get the original deeds into possession, to make the nucleus of a new settlement. Consequently he resolved upon holding on by the native title, and refused to deliver up the deeds. Without these the Government could not enter into possession, for proof of the extinction of native title was wanting. But the Government was not without a resource. They persuaded the native sellers to accept a second payment for the land, and thus obtained a colourable pretext for alleging that they had themselves extinguished the native title. 234

The immediate result was, that the news spread like wild-fire among the natives that they were to be paid a second time for their lands. To their honour be it said, the greater number acknowledged the sufficiency of the original bargains. But the cupidity of some was awakened, and hence, the claim for second payment on account of Kororareka.

Mrs. Williams to Mrs. Heathcote.

July 25, 1854.

Since Kawiti's death, his tribe have been disposed to be troublesome. Their leaders pretend that they have the sanction of Kawiti's (Te Ruku's) dying words, which we do not believe, to ask £4,000 for a second payment for the land upon which stands the town of Kororareka; grounding their claim upon the Governor having given;£ 1,000, they say, at Whangarei to the natives for land which they had formerly sold to Mr. Busby. The natives now talk of claiming everywhere "a second payment for the land;" but they are not generally supported. The majority oppose it, and though sixteen canoes, with about three hundred natives, did actually go to Kororareka and make the demand, we hope it will come to nothing.

The public press was not slow in ascertaining the real cause of disturbance, commenting upon it severely. The usual reply was made, that it was all Archdeacon Williams' doing. As if, indeed, he were likely, by fostering demands for second payment, to jeopardise the possessions of his own family. His share in the proceedings was confined to writing to Mr. Bateman, at Kororareka, advising him of the approaching danger; recommending the inhabitants to pay nothing; and to explaining to the natives the preposterous nature of their claim.

The report that Archdeacon Henry had instigated the disturbance was challenged, of course. An attempt was made to support it by citing certain words, alleged to have been used by Wikiriwhi [Wickliffe]. When questioned, he wrote back to say that he had never used those words. As a last resource, it was stated that the letter of denial had been written under the immediate influence of the Archdeacon.

Archdeacon Henry Williams to Hugh Carleton.

December 5, 1854.

I forward the correspondence between Wikiriwhi and myself, which, taken in connexion with the paper delivered to me by Mr.

Clendon, September 11 last, exhibits the corrupt state of our magisterial proceedings from the chief downwards, commencing with – – – ; one series of fictions to contrive a case to answer a political purpose; mischievous in the extreme.

The statement given by Mr. Clendon as to Wickliffe's evidence is clear, relating to the disturbance respecting the demand for a second payment for Kororareka. "It was not his doing; it was the Europeans."

When Mr. Clendon gave me this extract from his letter to the Government, I enquired of him if he had demanded of Wickliffe the names of the Europeans? He replied, "he had not." I observed to him that I considered he had not discharged his duty to the Government and the community in so important and serious a subject.

In the first paper, which appeared in the Southern Cross from "our own correspondent," 235 Hori Kingi [George King] is reported to have said, – "he was sorry to hear the present police were to be removed, &c, &c.," 236 confirmed by "two other chiefs, who made similar remarks." I enquired of the party if this expression had been used. Wikiriwhi and the others laughed. They said that the words had been used, but that the meaning was, that if any of their party got intoxicated they would be put in the lock-up, if a new set of police were appointed; and that many troubles, quarrels, and disputes might occur between both races through their inefficiency.

By a letter from Mr. Bateman, June 26, 1854, he states, "I heard the other day on the beach that you had said – 'it serves the Pakehas right to make them give a second payment for Kororareka.'" Upon the above Mr. Clendon, September 11, remarks, "I never heard Archdeacon Williams make use of the above words, nor have I made use of them."

But Mr. Clendon gives the following as the conversation which took place between us, on June 11: –

Mr. Clendon: – Kawiti [the son] has been here to demand a second payment for Kororareka.

Archdeacon Williams: – It serves you all right; but it is Sunday: I will not enter into the subject.

The difference between these two statements I am at a loss to define; yet the first Mr. Clendon denies to have been said. What then of the second? In my remark to Mr. Clendon, I had no reference to any one at Kororareka; but to the acts of Governor Grey and certain Government officers, in having from the first endeavoured to excite the cupidity of the natives, of which this is the fruit.

No demand was made upon any of the inhabitants of Kororareka for payment; but upon the Government.

Mr. Clendon to Mr. – – – – - when up to enquire into the cause of the disturbance stated that Kawiti had gone from Pakaraka to Kororareka with his demand, connecting the circumstance thereby with myself. Kawiti went from the Kawakawa. The first I heard of the affair was from Mr. Clendon.

You will notice Hori Kingi's statement as to the origin of the war, given by Mr. Clendon to me, September 11: – "It was in consequence of a second payment having been given for Whangarei."

I would suggest the following observations to be made to Mr. McLeod. 237

It will be requisite for the public safety that the names of the Europeans who are said to have caused this late excitement be produced by you; as the Editor of the Cross has been called upon to produce their names, having published your correspondence of August 4, in which you state: –

"Even the Europeans who were the primary instigators of the temporary excitement seem to feel that they have made a false and unsuccessful move; it is not now a mere conjecture that they were the real originators, for the natives themselves candidly admit it."

Should you (Mr. McLeod) decline to produce the names of those Europeans, the Editor of the Cross must state the same to the public, and leave the public to judge for themselves.

Putting this and that together I think it must be admitted that the whole is a foul conspiracy, after the order of . . . .

It is almost needless to say that the Archdeacon's challenge was not responded to. To blacken by whisper and insinuation was more prudent strategy.

Pakaraka, September 15, 1854.
To Wikiriwhi. 238

I have seen Mr. Clendon, who mentioned that you informed him at your meeting at Kororareka, upon your demand for payment for that place, that you were sorry for the excitement caused, that you

209 Haratua, of Ngatikawa, was matua [patron chief] to the Europeans at Pakaraka, as Te Koki had been at Paihia. He was at this time unbaptized, but was subsequently received under the name of Wiremu.

210 I regret being compelled to say, that when the first heat had cooled down, they asked for payment, and got it. But this is quite in accordance with Maori character.

211

Pouerua, Hune 5, 1850.
E hoa e, – Tenei ahau kei Pakaraka e noho ana, kua mahue Paihia te kainga i noho ai ahau, o toku oroko taenga mai ano ki tenei motu, Ehara Paihia i toku wahi ake, tenei hoki au ka wakataha mai i te riri o te moana, i te pua o te ngaru, kei taupokina iho au, kei te tuawhenua tenei ahau e noho ana, kahore o konei ngaru, marino tonu te moana, he hau komurimuri kau te pa ana e whakakarekare iti ana i te mata o te tai, ko te tihi o Pouerua he kainga moku, kia marama ai te titiro ki mua ki muri, kahore he tangata e ahu mai ki tenei wahi, ko aku tamariki anake. Haere mai ra e taku tamaiti kia kite i au, ka koroheketia ahau, otiia matatau tonu ano taku ngakau ki te korero i nga mea o te Atua, i nga mea o te Rangi. Tuhituhi mai ra ki au, kia piri tonu ki te Atua nana anake te kupu pono, he kupu teka noa to te tangata, matua rapu i te Rangtiratanga o te Atua, me tona tikanga, a ka hoatu hoki ki a koutou ara atu mea katoa.

Naku tenei,
Na to Matua,
NA TE WIREMU.

212 I guard myself against being supposed to imply that the thought of un-frocking had ever crossed the Bishop's mind. But many believed that he could; and some said that he had done so. The survey of Pakaraka is a case in point. When the plan was finished, the surveyor wrote on it – "For Henry Williams, Esq." When asked why he had departed from the usual designation, the answer was, that "he always liked to call people by their right names; Mr. Williams was no longer a clergyman." "If you were no longer a government surveyor," said Mr. Williams' son Henry in reply, "would you then be no longer a surveyor?" An argument which Mr. Elliot was fain to accept as conclusive. The wish was perhaps father to the though; but the active malignity with which an unfounded report was circulated by some who were in the interest of the Government, shews what the grantees had to contend with.

At Otaki, advantage was taken of this report by a Roman Catholic priest, who said to the natives, "you had better come over to us, for your father has sinned [kua hara], and can preach no more."

213 For instance, there was an occasion when his Lordship, without acquainting the Archdeacon, signified his intention to hold a confirmation. When the time came, no candidates, from Kororareka, Paihia, or Kawakawa were in attendance. The Archdeacon had not interfered, but his summons was awaited. The experiment was not repeated.

214 This invitation became pregnant with consequence.

215 It happens that the "statements" were brought; not "called for." But the absurdity – or rather niaiserie, of assuming that the Missionaries had no right to enquire what was being said to their detriment, needs no comment.

216 Now Bishop of Waiapu.

217 Pace viri tanti, I am unable to perceive that he has disowned them. His words are an evasion, but not a disavowal of the repeated aspersion.

218 This is Mr. Hector's account, quoted from a Blue Book. It differs in trifling particulars from that already given by ourselves, supra, pages 31 and 32. The latter is the more accurate.

219 I find these asterisks, and keep them. Not but that I think the delicacy superfluous.

220 I may be in error, but incline to believe that the cause of leaving was the Bishop's breach of Maori etiquette, in asking names. A chief assumes that he is universally known; that from common persons only can enquiry be needed. Moreover, in asking a name, some evil purpose is supposed to be implied. If any answer be vouchsafed, it might be, – "do you wish to makutu [bewitch] me, that you ask my name?"

221 Why was it not noticed? The reason is not far to seek.

222 See Appendix.

223 One extract shall be given, because of the terseness with which a complicated question is put. It relates to the Governor's going back from his own original proposal, that the surplus land should be restored to the native owners; the futility of which was by this time manifest to all alike.

"I have also to observe further, as a justification of our unwillingness to consent to the Bishop's proposal, that it was not only at variance with the conditions imposed by the Society, which had from the beginning had our hearty concurrence; but that it was objectionable on another ground also, from the proposition contained in it. To restore the surplus lands to the original owners, besides being a practical reflection upon the honesty of the original purchase, is simply preposterous, it being impossible it should be executed without prejudice or favour; and therefore we cannot imagine that it was seriously contemplated. We believe Governor Grey's intention to have been of a different kind, – namely, under colour of restoring the land to the original owners, which would have been found impracticable, to assign it over to the Enrolled Pensioners, as was done with Mr. Fairburn's land. Indeed the Governor mentioned this idea at our interview with him on September 28. This measure would have been offensive to the natives; and the project of entrapping the Missionaries into an apparent consent to it would have implicated them, if it had been carried out, in a measure which was prejudicial to their interests, and contrary to the wishes of the native population. This alone was a sufficient reason for their dissent."

224 Resolved – That the Committee have learnt with pain that, while providing for his children's maintenance by the transfer to them of his land, Archdeacon Henry Williams has divested himself and his wife of all means of support.

That, taking' into consideration Archdeacon Henry Williams' long and important services, the yearly allowance of £150 be made to Archdeacon Henry Williams till any change in his circumstances shall render such a provision unnecessary.

225 Admiralty, December 11, 1850.

Sir, – I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to transmit to you the Medal graciously awarded to you by Her Majesty, under the General Order of the 1st June, 1847, and 7th, 1848.

I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient humble Servant,
W. A. P. HAMILTON.
The Reverend Henry Williams.

226 A pamphlet published by Canon Marsh.

227 See Appendix L.

228 Mrs. Gardiner.

229 Mrs. Heathcote, of Southwell, sister to the Archdeacon.

230 The expression is not quite correct, though intended to be so. The promise became null, – fell to the ground when the counterpledge was broken, and compliance with the one persistent condition was refused.

231 Vide Appendix J.

232 Vide Vol. I, p. 79.

233 For details, see an article, acknowledged by the present writer, entituled "New Zealand," in the "Westminster Review," April, 1864. Also reports of debates in the House of Representatives, upon the Busby Arbitration Bill.

234 Upon the strength of a title, so patched up, the Government disposed of the land, by sale and otherwise. The wrong was ultimately redressed by the General Assembly of New Zealand, who passed an Act, under which Mr. Busby was awarded, by way of compensation, thirty-six thousand pounds worth of land-scrip, – that is to say, scrip which could be tendered in lieu of money at Government land sales. This, by arrangement, was commuted for £23,000 cash.

235 The correspondent's letter was printed, but discredited by the editor.

236 The expression was cited as implying confidence in the Government.

237 The writer of a letter to the Southern Cross. It may here be mentioned that although correspondence in the interest of the Government was impartially admitted, the Archdeacon received from that journal unflinching support.

238 Pakaraka, Hepetema 15, 1854.
Kua kite a hau i a Te Kerenana e mea ana ia i ki atu koe ki a ia i to koutou hui ki Kororareka ki te tohe utu mo taua kainga, e pouri ana koe mo te raruraru o taua tikanga, a i mea ano koe ki a ia, e hara i a koutou na te Pakeha ano. He patai atu tenei naku ki a koe, ko wai koia te Pakeha te putake o taua tikanga i mea atu na koe ki a Te Kerenana?
NA TE WIREMU.
Ki a Wikiriwhi, kei te Kawakawa.

[Pages 301-350]

said to him, "it was not from you, but from the Europeans." My question to you is, – Who was the European who put forth these ideas which you reported to Mr. Clendon?

From WILLIAMS.

Kawakawa, December 2, 1854.
To Williams. 239

Your letter to me has arrived (of September 15); that expression was not from me; it is an expression new to me; I never heard that expression. That is all I have to say.

From Wikiriwhi.

The services of the scene-shifter must now be called into requisition. In New Zealand, the laity, through the public press, were making the question of "dismissal without enquiry" too hot for all concerned in it, – for the Bishop, the Governor, and for those few who had abetted them. The Governor's despatches were being subjected, line by line, to public examination, – put through the mill and ground to powder. The Bishop, still of notable influence among Europeans, found himself a cypher among the Maori, – a mere figure-head to the ship. 240 The Society were

themselves wounded in the tenderest point, their revenues being threatened. 241 The leaguers found themselves immured in one of those prison cages of olden time, which closed in upon the occupant, inch by inch and day by day, till he was crushed up to nothing. In England, country parsons, themselves members of the Church Mission Society, were harassing the Committee with questions the Committee were not able to answer. These obdurate members refused to be satisfied with vague general assurances that there was good and sufficient reason for all that had been done, but insisted upon descending to particulars. Driven perforce into furnishing particulars, the Committee found themselves in greater straits than ever. In self-defence, they published a statement, which was forthwith torn to shreds, – from first to last, a mass of error. Not wilful, of course: knowing who were on their track behind, they would have committed no such folly; but they had utterly confused each other; they had hearkened to the tempter, and, wishing to believe, they did believe. No longer the assailants, they could hope at most for an orderly retreat. But it soon became clear, that they would have to pass under the Caudine forks.

The Bishop and the Governor supplied to the Society a pretext for the reversal of their own decree, without confession of error. In the last month of the year 1853, the two had sailed in the ship "Commodore," homeward bound. When in England, the Bishop

and the Governor went to Salisbury Square. There, the Bishop developed his views concerning Church government in New Zealand; after which he expressed a wish that Archdeacon Williams should be restored to his position. For the sake of precision, I quote the words of Canon Marsh (himself a member of the Committee), contained in a letter to Archdeacon William Williams.

At the close of a long exposition of his views, the Bishop expressed to the Committee, as a matter of personal feeling, his wish that they would restore your brother to his position in the Society. I cannot accept it as an act of grace; though I should rejoice to see him restored by a reversal of the decree which separated him from the Society.

Yet was the reversal made to assume the semblance of an "act of grace," in order to cover a retreat. The Committee expressed a desire that "all past questions should be at an end," in terms which implied that it was not their own conduct, but that of Henry Williams, which ought to be buried in oblivion. The waters of Lethe were to be drunk by him; and not by them. He was invited to forget that the Society, after the Oriental fashion of throwing the Grand Vizier's head out of the window to allay political disturbance, had sacrificed a faithful servant to the animosity of a Governor and of a Secretary of State. It is manifest that no middle course was open. Either Henry Williams was unfit to remain one single hour in the service of the Society, had a tithe of the charges against him been made good; or, the Society was bound to confess error in having ever entertained those charges. I was myself so much afraid that a natural pride would hinder him from accepting the offer of restoration, that I took the liberty of writing, requesting him to consider that actual restoration would be the only practical clearance of character in a censorious, but matter-of-fact world.

The letter of the Secretary to the Committee, conveying the resolution, reads smoothly enough. I care not to offer comment in the text, but refer the reader to a leading article which appeared at this time in the Southern Cross, reprinted in the Appendix to this Memoir. 242

The Reverend Henry Venn to Archdeacon Williams.

Church Missionary Society,
14, Salisbury Square, October 2, 1854.

My dear Archdeacon Henry Williams, – I transmit to you a Resolution unanimously adopted by the Committee, which sufficiently conveys to you their genuine sentiments. In the review of the affairs of New Zealand, when the Bishop and Governor were with us, the desire was expressed by the Bishop, and evidently responded to by all parties, that you should resume your position as a Missionary of the Society. You declined to receive a retiring stipend offered to you by the Committee on a former occasion; but this present proposal, that you should resume your full position as a Missionary of the Society, is so far different that I earnestly hope you will see your way to its acceptance. The new order of things about to take place in New Zealand at once suggests that all past questions should be at an end, and, that as you were mainly instrumental, under God, in the establishment of the Mission, so you should assist in the great work of transferring Missionary operations into a settled ecclesiastical system. Be assured that if the Committee have in any respect misunderstood your actions or mis-stated facts it has been unintentional on their part, as they are most desirous of doing full justice to your character, and to the important services which you have rendered to the cause of Christ.

I am, my dear Mr. Archdeacon,
Very sincerely yours,
HENRY VENN,
Secretary.

The resolution itself is a curious production. The imperfection of the wording is probably attributable to alterations by several amenders before being finally agreed to. But the substance is more faulty than the form. The Committee speak of "a question which may now be regarded as having passed away." What was that question? They speak of "obstacles providentially removed." What were those obstacles? the Committee are careful not to say. They fall back upon generalities to avoid confession of error.

RESOLUTION ENCLOSED IN MR. VENN'S LETTER, COMMITTEE MEETING, JULY 18, 1854.

Resolved: That adverting to the confidence which this Committee have ever felt and expressed in Archdeacon Henry Williams as a Christian Missionary, and their regret at his disconnexion with the Society upon a question which they understand may

now be regarded as having passed away, rejoice to believe that every obstacle is providentially removed against the return of Archdeacon Henry Williams into full connexion with the Society, as one of its Missionaries, and they therefore gladly dismiss from their recollection all past events, and will rejoice to hear that Archdeacon Henry Williams, receiving this Resolution in the same spirit in which it is adopted, consents to return, and that all personal questions, on every side, are merged in one common object, of strengthening the cause of Christ in the Church of New Zealand.

Extracted from the minutes,
C. GRAHAM.

He did receive and accept the Resolution; but not, as expected, "in the same spirit in which it was adopted;" for that was a spirit of timidity, I had almost said, evasion. The Committee had feared to grapple with the question.

Henry Williams to the Reverend Henry Venn.

The Retreat, February 28, 1855.

Your letter of October 2nd, covering a Resolution of the Committee, of July 18, 1854, I received on the 2nd ultimo, with unexpected pleasure. In this communication I have to acknowledge the hand of a Righteous Judge. I must regret that the Committee allowed themselves to be carried away by vain speeches and unsound statements: these "having passed away," I have no desire to recall them.

About himself, he says no more. The rest of the letter concerns the position of his fellow-labourer Mr. Clarke, the Bishop's proposals for Church government, and the natives.

Thus does the eventful history of the "secret and confidential" despatch to Mr. Gladstone come at last to a close. All might have been spared by a frank and early acknowledgement of error; but neither the courage or the wisdom to do so were there. "There is much difference," says Chancellor Bacon, "between a cunning man and a wise man, not only in point of honesty, but in point of ability. There be that can pack the cards, yet cannot play well."

Archdeacon Henry Williams to Hugh Carleton.

January 3, 1855.

I forward to you the last act of Venn, which I suppose concludes the drama. A hard fought battle, and may stand among the important events of the day . . . . You will shew the

papers to our friend Mr. Bartley. Your "Page" stands a record of their deeds, not to be forgotten. I believe the fear of that "Page" brought them to terms.

Though my confidence has ever been in the Righteous Judge of all, yet, I shall ever regard your untiring efforts as His means to accomplish His ends. The victory is complete.

Congratulations of course came pouring in, even from some of those who had once sided with the Bishop in the contest.

The Reverend G. A. Kissling to Archdeacon Henry Williams.

Auckland, January 19, 1855.

My dear Friend, – Whatever construction may be put on the motives which now induce me to write to you, I cannot help expressing my unfeigned joy at your return to our Missionary body, whom you used to head with so much honour and success, and whose cause never ceased to be uppermost in your mind. We read in history of a Roman soldier, who, in his retreat from the busy world, was content to occupy himself in rural pursuits of quietness and peace; but when the Empire was in peril, he quitted his plough, and placed himself in front of the army to repel the foe, and save his country. I, for one, welcome you most sincerely and warmly to your accustomed and merited post amongst the warriors of the Cross in this part of our Blessed Master's service. If ever we needed energy, wisdom, and union of action, it is at the present time, when we are almost overwhelmed by the evil spirits of luke-warmness, worldliness, drunkenness, and infidelity. Come, then, and join us at the Central Committee, that measures may be taken to meet this flood of iniquity, which rushes on our heritage with all its impurity and violence; and especially that provision may be made for the Northern District, where we are at present so exceedingly weak.

The Kaitaia Missionaries to Archdeacon Henry Williams.

Kaitaia, January 23, 1855.

Dear Mr. Archdeacon, – It is with pleasure that we learn that you have received a copy of a Resolution of the Church Mission Society, in which you are invited to return into full connexion with their Mission in this country. This we had expected, because we could not see how it could be otherwise when the affair should have been fairly discussed by the Parent Committee and the Bishop. To the Great Head of the Church we ascribe this renewed instance of His goodness towards you and Mrs. Williams, and to us all. We have never ceased to sympathise with you in your deep affliction, nor can we but be thankful for, and rejoice in this your deliverance, although it appears to us to be only what was due to you. We enclose a copy of a resolution we have ventured to record on the occasion, and we sincerely hope and

pray that you may be led to see that it is your duty, for Christ's sake, to accept the invitation which the Church Mission Society, under the direction of Divine Providence, have thus made you.

And now we would offer you our sincere congratulations, under the consideration that the heavy affliction with which you have been visited by your disconnexion is thus brought to a correct and happy termination by your re-union. Praying that the Lord Jesus may bless you and Mrs. Williams with much of His sensible presence, and fill you with His grace and Heavenly benediction,

We remain,
Your affectionate fellow-labourers in the Gospel,
RICHARD DAVIS,
JOSEPH MATTHEWS,
W. G. PUCKEY.

EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF HALF-YEARLY MEETING OF COMMITTEE, HELD AT KAITAIA, JANUARY 15, 1855.

Having learned with gratitude to the Great Head of the Church, who has the hearts of all men in His hands, and disposes and governs as seems best to His Godly Wisdom, that the Parent Committee has passed an unanimous Resolution to invite the Archdeacon Henry Williams to be re-united to their Mission in New Zealand –

Resolved: That the Committee record their thanks to the Committee of the Church Mission Society for having re-considered the Archdeacon's case, and thus, in the spirit of the Gospel, done justice to the character of the oldest member of their Mission, to one who was never backward to jeopard himself in the high places of the field; and would also congratulate the Archdeacon on having received the invitation, and hope he will receive it in the spirit in which it has been given.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Pakaraka, February 28, 1855.

This year commenced with the news of the surrender of "Salisbury Castle " and the capture of Sebastopol. These were exciting particulars and unexpected, but, I confess, much more so to others than to myself. In the former I perceive a signal display of the finger of God, and, with Simeon of old, I would exclaim, "Lord, now lettest Thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation." The conflict has been severe, and I now consider my work well nigh ended. The letter and resolution received, I presume, is merely the duplicate. The original is believed to have been in the "Polar Star," of which ship we have no tidings, therefore no intelligence, beyond that conveyed in the above papers. The high tone assumed by you in your letter of

August 7, 1854, is gratifying, and has been carefully considered. William came up from Auckland to fetch me, having arrived there to attend the Central Committee. I should not have moved, but for the wording of Mr. Venn's letter. The resolution might have been more nobly expressed . . . . I feel it to be my duty to meet the Committee where there is no sacrifice of principle; I have not shifted my position taken in 1847: this is a singular fact.

Mention has been already made of the church built at Pakaraka for the Archdeacon's ministration. That being completed, the next thing was to build him a house to live in. The estate had been already brought to a high pitch of cultivation by the sons, and was in fact a model farm; even landscape gardening being not forgotten. Nothing was spared upon the house, and the old folk found themselves in comfort at last, their sons within easy hail.

For the pleasure of English relatives, the photographer has been called to aid, 243 and, by way of contrast, a copy of a pencil sketch, made by Mrs. Williams, of the primitively built house in which the family dwelt, for many years after arrival, at Paihia.

When Governor Grey went home, at the close of 1853, Colonel Wynyard, as Commander of the Forces, became Acting Governor. He was superseded by Colonel Gore Browne, sent out hurriedly by the Home Government, which had taken alarm at the astonishing policy propounded by Governor Wynyard in the speech with which he opened the second session of the New Zealand Assembly. 244

Colonel Browne was a loyal English gentleman, but so jealous for the honour of the Crown, that he seemed to think he wore it under his own hat; not treating the Maori as children, to be corrected in good humour, but resenting affronts as if offered by a great European power, placing the credit of England, always impaired by little wars, at stake. Deservedly popular, from first

THE OLD MISSION-HOUSE, PAIHIA
Drawn by Mrs. Williams.]

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PAKARAKA

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PAKARAKA

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to last, even among those who felt it their duty to oppose his native policy, he left New Zealand for another Government amid unmistakeable marks of goodwill. The demonstration was real; – not always the case. All governors have partisans, whom no one cares to hinder in the setting up of triumphal arches, if they be content to pay for them.

In a former page attention was drawn to the value of the work (considered as a means of civilization) done by the sons of Missionaries, settled down upon and cultivating their own lands, employing Maori labour, making themselves one with the people, and teaching the proprieties of life by example. It was a short-sighted policy that strove to tear them from the soil where they had taken root. And this is made clear by contrasting the endurance of Church of England work with that of the Wesleyans, The Wesleyans, by the rules of their connexion, are not permitted to settle. From time to time, a Wesleyan minister is removed; sent to another district. His own personal influence is lost, for he leaves none behind to maintain it. There may be good reason for the difference of practice; but the result is undoubtedly as stated in the following letter.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Pakaraka, June 4, 1855.

The Wesleyans have made material changes in their Mission; they have withdrawn altogether North of Auckland, excepting one person on the Western Coast. On the removal of the Wesleyan families, the natives remarked the contrast between them and our men, in the establishment of our families amongst them as a real part of the community, having struck root, flourishing and extending; while the Wesleyans leave not a vestige behind to shew they ever were on the spot. On the death of Mr. King, his son John stands in his place, holding Sabbath duties, and giving general advice and assistance to the people. Since my removal from Paihia, one of my sons has acted there in the same way, and is now about to erect a church by subscription; the old one, the first in the country, having fallen to decay. At Pakaraka, before I came, the same was observed; and at the Waimate, Edward has had for half his time to take the services. You have heard much of the vast extent of the land purchased by me in behalf of my family, and the expression of feeling arising out of the same, as

sounding large in English ears. You may perhaps be surprised at my stating that these young men have, within the last four years, purchased 4,000 acres in addition, and are in the act of purchasing more, finding it needful for their operations. They have made one large purchase from the Government of their own land, which had been appropriated by the Government.

The land-purchase troubles, induced by faulty system, were now coming on in earnest. The Government, having enjoyed the monopoly of purchase for years, could no longer shift the blame from themselves to the old settlers. This is no place for questions that savour of political controversy; but it is allowable to state, as a matter of history, that all serious disturbance that has taken place, concerning land, has arisen from Government purchases, and not from private purchases made by settlers before the foundation of the Colony. When a settler made a bargain for land, he knew right well that unless he made it properly, to the satisfaction of all, he had neither a chance of being allowed to occupy, or of getting his purchase money back again. He also knew that if the bargain were correct, it would never be disputed. He was at the mercy of the sellers, who, holding the law in their own hands, had no cause for the creation of disturbance. But the Government, whether the Government bargain were good or bad, had the means of putting pressure on the sellers. The Government could employ what the French lawyers call force majeure, unless when they were beaten by the Maori in fair fight. And, what was called "The Government brokerage," – the difference between buying the land for pence, and selling it for pounds, was always a sore point with the natives. They were not so learned in political economy as to perceive that they were being specially taxed; but they did see clearly that they were not getting value for what they sold.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Pakaraka, November 6, 1855.

Much excitement is created by the purchase of land by Government agents, causing many disputes and blood-shed amongst the tribes in some districts, bringing confusion and every evil upon the country. In this the Bishop has in my opinion

unnecessarily involved himself by his gratuitous interference, for which he has been painfully abused by many, and unthanked by all. 245 The affair is strictly one created by the Government, and should be left in their hands. The poor man has been seriously repulsed for interfering in matters in which he was not concerned; a sad failing of his. He is fond of politics, bustle, and noise. It is remarkable that no dispute has at any time arisen owing to private purchase of land, as asserted by Governor Grey, from the foundation of the Colony; but several by the untoward acts of Government: this ought to be borne in mind.

The Bishop wrote a kind letter to me on his arrival, in reply to one from me. I have been desirous to commence a Church Endowment Fund with the principal settlements in the Northern Division. As yet no provision is made for continuing the attendance of a clergyman when the present men shall be removed. The English families have never paid anything towards the support of a clergyman, or the expense of any repairs of the church. I fear the parties most interested will not respond, they have been so long accustomed to have their wants supplied gratis. Should this be the case, we shall confine ourselves to the establishment of Pakaraka. But every church throughout the Island is on a most objectionable footing, or rather no footing at all: the consequence therefore you must infer.

I am glad you approve of my receiving the Resolution of July, 1854. They might have expressed themselves with more grace. It is hard for them to admit an error in their proceedings . . . . The fondness of the natives for spirit drinking, puzzles all who give it consideration. It is a new acquisition on their part; but there are persons who would gladly poison the whole race, that they might possess the land without fear. This feeling has been of long standing. The natives are not naturally fond of indulging in intemperance, but they are in possession of money, and these vendors of spirits must possess themselves of it by any means, and of course do all in their power to oppose a better feeling. You enquire after our new Governor, – as to his views. I have not yet seen him, but the general opinion formed is most favourable; his wife also is most highly spoken of. We therefore hope that there will be a considerable improvement in the country, in the formation of the new constitution, which will be more corresponding with that of the mother country. But I take no part in politics, and hinder as far as I can any of the clergy from turning aside from their ministerial course.

Paihia, the Archdeacon's original camping ground, his home for four and twenty years, had fallen into decay after his retreat to Pakaraka. Desirous to renovate a station endeared by so many associations, he proposed, either to purchase it from the Society, at its value, or to take it in quittance of back pay, due for the period of his separation from the Church Mission Society by a resolution which had to be afterwards overruled. Paihia had been acquired for about £20. 246 He would have acted more prudently had he bought it for himself at the outset, so as to retain the command; for the Society not only declined to sell, but also refused to acknowledge liability for arrears, though under offer of such easy composition.

The Archdeacon's sons exerted themselves towards the restoration of order, and were enabled, partly by personal contribution and partly by collection, to rebuild the ruined Church.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

April 12, 1856.

You say "we are anxious now to learn whether you are at Pakaraka, or returned to Paihia; and in particular what district you regard as your especial province and field of action." We have not returned to Paihia for obvious reasons, and no one has proposed that we should do so; neither the Church Mission Society, the Bishop, or the Local Committee, though my district is the same as formerly. I have never ceased to attend to the duties of former days, excepting the distant bush visits, which my strength will not admit of. My old house is in a serious state of dilapidation, being constructed of perishable materials, and having far exceeded the time allowed for such buildings to stand. The chapel, the first erected in New Zealand, is in ruins from the same cause, – old age. In 1855, I called the attention of the Central Committee to its state, and requested £100, to be granted towards a new one: this was refused, but the sum of £45 from rents on the place was allowed. A church at the cost of nearly £300 has been put up by the efforts of my sons. I mention this to shew that if the house of prayer be allowed to fall to decay, I cannot look for aid to the repair of my old house. I cannot repair the house myself, or re-build it, nor will they; so I am at a stand in this respect. Besides, the expense of my removal from the Bay was very serious, which, taken with the erection of my

present abode, I estimate at £1,000, owing to the high wages of workmen. I therefore see no means of my returning with the family, unless the Committee in London should either sell me the wreck as it now stands, with not less than five acres of land, or make me a present of the same. I must therefore content myself with running from place to place; but as the Bishop is expected in three weeks, we may probably have some conversation on the subject. My field of action is round the Bay; the natives on one side meet me at Kororareka, from some distance, for the communion once a quarter; and on the other side at Paihia, for the same duty once a quarter, besides attending to those in connexion with this place.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Pakaraka, June 2, 1856.

The Bishop has recently left us, after a shorter visit than was anticipated; he came to hold confirmations at Paihia, Waimate, and Kororareka. The weather was very bad, owing to the first fall of rain on the commencement of winter, and his arrival being delayed by two days owing to calms, he was obliged to hurry over the ground much more rapidly than I consider desirable upon such occasions, for no Europeans in the Bay saw him beyond ourselves, consequently could not hold that communication which was absolutely necessary. My conversation on matters of business did not exceed ten minutes, though I had many things to speak of . . . . The Bishop and Mrs. Selwyn, who accompanied him, made themselves very agreeable; they appeared determined to be pleased with everything. The examination of the candidates for confirmation, was particularly interesting. The Bishop, as he well knows how, beautifully explained many important passages of Scripture. The service was held in our new small church [Paihia], which had been opened on the previous Sunday. The original place of worship, the first in New Zealand, being in ruins, this building has been put up by the exertion of my son Henry at an expense of £300, the Church Mission Society allowing £45, collected from rents on the spot. The Bishop, in proceeding from Paihia after the morning service, in the rain to the Waimate, a road he had often gone before, lost his way in the dark, the horse taking him to Pakaraka, where he was received and entertained by our sons John and Joseph. His chaplain, Mr. Patteson, 247 was with him. He spoke to us in very handsome terms of Samuel and his work at the Southern part of Hawke's Bay: a contrast this to the terms expressed by Mr. Venn, because not engaged in England, though saving thereby much expense to the Society and prepared for immediate work in a thorough knowledge of the

language. Had not his heart been deeply in his work he would have withdrawn from them, as he was recommended to do. From the Bay the Bishop passed on to Kaitaia, in the North, in his vessel; thence to Sydney and the Islands on his Mission, with the intention of being back in Auckland by the latter end of August, to hold ordinations, when Leonard is to be admitted to priest's orders. The Bishop, in common with many others, appeared dissatisfied with the proceedings, generally, of the Church Mission Society in New Zealand. He observed that they had certain pets, men who might do anything; while others, let them do whatever they might, were sure to be misunderstood and a wrong construction put upon their proceedings. I think the members of the Mission are disposed to hold their peace and let matters go as they may. People are now getting old, and must satisfy themselves with discharging the duties of the day in its day. I am of opinion that the Bishop was placed by the Church Mission Society in a false position with the Mission from the beginning; he does not now attend any meeting, and, had he not at any time, it had been better for all. There has been a meeting in Auckland of church members, but nothing done. 248 Seeing that the support of the church is soon likely to fail with the existence of those, who are now officiating in this district, I have been urging the necessity of a general effort to raise an Endowment Fund, which may be ad led to from year to year. At two places a commencement has been made, and I have great hopes as to the result. I do not include Pakaraka. Here, a good foundation is laid, commenced more than twenty years since; the members of my family will look out to provide for this place.

Mrs. Williams to Mrs. Marsh.

Pakaraka, June 4, 1856.

We have lately returned from our visit to the Bay, whither we went altogether, upon the important and delightful occasion of the opening of the new church at Paihia . . . .

On Whit-Sunday it was opened, crowded with natives from the Kawakawa and different villages. Twenty-two were baptised; there were eighty-four communicants; six children baptised in the evening. The collections at the morning native service and the afternoon English service amounted to £58 19s. 6d., since made up to £60 : – of this £32 was from the natives. I cannot tell you how gratifying the whole services were. It was the intention of the Bishop to have been present; he sailed from Auckland on the Friday, but was detained by wind, or rather

calms, till the Wednesday. On Thursday the confirmation took place at Paihia; equally gratifying; 48 natives confirmed. Nothing could exceed the kind and friendly manner of both the Bishop and Mrs. Selwyn; he, with Mr. Patteson, dined twice, and she once with us in the old house. They admired the church, expressed great gratification at the revival amongst the natives, and that there was so much good left in these trying times. They took a great deal of notice of our six grand-children, and were very kind to our sons and daughters, and several times exclaimed how glad they were "to see this house full of Williamses again." I tried to forget all that was passed. Our children had made the old house as neat as possible, though the leaky roof made a large tin dish indispensible in the room in which we dined to catch the water after every shower.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Paihia, October 28, 1857.

Our months roll rapidly along, and I feel the time of the end is drawing nigh, as regards Marianne and myself. I presume, therefore, it must be the same with you and Lydia. We must soon deliver up our account, and make way for another generation. "The place which now knoweth us, shall soon know us no more for ever." We appear to write from time to time with little interruption, as a matter of course, and are apt to regard the future as more certain than it is; at least, I find it necessary to call to remembrance, and that daily, how frail our nature is. I am thankful to say I have long since set my house in order; my temporal affairs have been long arranged, and on these subjects I have no care or concern. Our Heavenly Father has been most bountiful and has highly favoured us, though some have frowned. I have the happiness of seeing all the members of my family walking in the fear of the Lord. They have been greatly blessed, and free from anxious desires after this world's goods; they are highly esteemed by the natives around for their probity, and regarded as one with them. This to us is very gratifying, though some have desired to make it otherwise appear.

We have had much pleasure in seeing notice of the Patagonian Mission in various papers; we hope to see it rank with other Missions. The Memoir of Captain Gardiner we have received from Elizabeth; it is very interesting and shews how greatly his heart was set on his work. We wish to hear all you may have to communicate on the subject. I shall hope to send you something by way of contribution at the commencement of the year. There are many who like to hear of the progress of this work, but, I am sorry to say, their interest does not allow them to go beyond this. You are aware that our Mission is not what it once was, when the tribes used to say, – "O! come, let us sing

unto the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms." This was the song of former days, but the whole scene has changed; much mischief has sprung up under the assumed term of civilization, and totally altered the face of the country, yet are there many bright spots and eminent examples. It is remarkable that where the gospel was first planted there it still exists, and those who first embraced Christianity still maintain their ground. As an evidence of vitality there is not a Prayer-book to be procured, all having been bought up long since, while applications are daily made, which cannot be met. The congregations in connexion with Paihia are good. On Sunday last I administered the Communion to ninety-eight persons: this is only one side of the Bay. But the aborigines are exposed to awful snares. We have just heard that a young chief of note, when over at Kororareka, was entertained freely at one of the grog-shops, and became noisy. A policeman gave him a blow on his head with his staff. He immediately sprang upon his antagonist and struck him with his hatchet on his jaw and disabled him. A second policeman came up; he also received a blow, which brought him down, when a third attempted, but shared the same fate. This may lead to something serious. The young chief walked off, and returned to his own place, the police unable to secure him. Such is civilization amongst the natives, while he who is the cause of this mischief escapes even censure. You are aware of our Church constitution in progress, not yet determined. I consider it better than that in contemplation for Sydney and some other places. That something must be concluded upon is evident for want of funds, and nothing can be entered upon until that be finally settled. The laity will not come forward unless they have their voice in the matter. The next Synod will conclude the question. The endowment of Pakaraka has been much discussed by our young people. The Bishop would like to possess, but the property is vested in trustees, who have not the power to alienate it to others. This was settled in the memorable year 47, never to be forgotten. Of the long-discussed land question, this is the conclusion, – a fresh commission has sat, when the Government has given my young people more than a thousand acres, over and above the amount originally awarded as a set-off for expense of survey and roads. My young men have themselves purchased four or five thousand acres from the Government, in addition to what they had from me, shewing the great folly and wickedness of the great outcry . . . . We have received a reply to my application for the cession of the old site of the Paihia settlement, a contracted spot, and on which stands alone my old house, in the last stage of consumption. This ground did

not originally cost to the Society £20. The question was, whether a ministry should be continued or not continued to the people around. I therefore undertook to make this arrangement, having set apart nine hundred acres for purposes of endowment. Had I not raised the question the place would have become extinct, and may still do so after my decease.

The following letter relates to the series of meetings in which the clergy and the laity were brought together by the Bishop to consult about the establishment of regular church government in New Zealand. The subject was one of extreme difficulty, because of the many complications, and of the state of the law, which was only now being discovered through certain late judgments delivered by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The laymen who attended were few in number, but painstaking in consideration, and, for the most part, of a fine conservative temperament. And they did insist upon modifying very much the Bishop's original scheme. He has been foolishly accused of Puseyism or Ritualism, by some who are in utter ignorance of his views; but his real tendency was in a very different direction. His leaning was understood to be towards reestablishment of the discipline of the primitive church, without making allowance enough for change of circumstance. He would have made the Church of England a close borough, to which formal admittance, under rules prescribed, would be required; the laymen, on the other hand, held that every baptized Englishman enjoyed church-membership as a matter of course and right, until he should think fit to declare dissent. The Bishop would have organised congregations of Pharisees; 249 the laymen would take in publicans and sinners. The Bishop would have organised Courts, wherein laymen should sit in judgment on each others sins: – a dream, and nothing else, as regards mother-church, comprising men of all classes, from high to low. 250 The laymen, while not impugning the Bishop's right

to excommunicate, shewed no desire towards becoming parties to that transaction themselves. 251 The Bishop, in fine, sought to lessen the dependence on mother-church; the laymen to be at one with her.

This is no place to enumerate the several points of difference; suffice it to say that the Bishop, seeing no eagerness on the part of the laity, but, on the contrary, much quiet and thoughtful criticism, gave way upon every main point of difference, gracefully enough. But failure of cherished schemes had changed him much. He was bent upon carrying something, and, by gentle management, he did. A scheme of fair working promise (if allowance be made for one danger not yet past), with little to take exception to was the result. But the express understanding with the laymen was, that the title of the church should be, – "The Church of England in New Zealand," and not the "Branch Church of England." The difference is in substance, and not in form.

Hitherto, the church constitution has been a practical success. It is to be hoped that it may remain so. But there has been only a fair-weather voyage as yet, and there are breakers ahead. Whether the good barque will weather them, remains to be seen. 252

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Bay of Islands, May 1, 1857.

I wrote last on my projected visit for Auckland, to meet the Ecclesiastical Dons on the church constitution, when the Bishop of Christchurch, the Bishop designate of Wellington, my venerable son-in-law, and the various Archdeacons, with some few laymen, were to meet to frame certain regulations, to bring before the members of the church for the better ordering thereof, as also for temporal support, there being little or no endowment, consequently depending upon the voluntary system. I was the only one who faithfully attended the day of call. I met the Bishop who was very friendly, and though there was a positive delay of a month, there being no vessel before that date, he was desirous that I should remain. I told him I should be greyheaded to be so long off my own ground, unless there were any especial duty requiring my absence. I therefore returned home, with directions to appear in a month from my leaving Auckland . . .

The church constitution occupies much attention in certain quarters; I hope it will increase in interest, as I consider something of the kind is required to bind the members together. All other denominations have their laws and regulations, which are binding, and though much is said of the laws of the Church of England, yet it appears that the church clergy are the most exposed and the worst supported. The people are surprised at the idea of the Bishop relinquishing those powers he has hitherto possessed, for no one else has offered an opinion on church matters. They fear some trap may be concealed amongst the fern. 253 They may be right to be careful, but I see nothing to apprehend. It is evident something must be done, or we shall come to a stand. The Bishop is already so, not having anything but what he receives from the Church Mission Society; there are no funds, and the people will not act unless they have a full voice in the matter. The Bishop having been tossed overboard, of course all must expect to follow, if left to the tender mercies of the Government. If the people are to be expected to support their Bishop the nomination must be ceded to them, otherwise the cry will go forth, "to your tents O Israel," and not even the form left with us. I am thankful I have been enabled to arrange for the support of a church at Pakaraka, and could wish to do the same for Paihia, with especial reference to the support of a stated ministry for the aborigines of the Bay. I do not perceive

any provision for the keeping up of the Maori Church, and as the Church Mission Society have property, it should be appropriated exclusively for the aborigines. It was first purchased for their benefit, and I see no other provision for them. My sons wish to do something for them, they being part and parcel with them by birth. You well remember the uproar made first and last, upon the very grave question, – "the extravagant extent of the Missionary land claims." This now-a-days is laughed at as a "great piece of humbug," to answer a certain object for a season; and it did answer Grey's purpose. By the Colonial law, Government country lands are sold at 5s. per acre, the pick of the land at 10s. per acre; grass land with liberty to purchase any portion at 10s. per acre. Our nephew, James, has taken 10,000 acres of land for the rent of £10, 254 close by Samuel. If nothing else were required to shew the character of the persecution to which I was exposed this is sufficient. This regulation was by Grey's order. James has now a flock of sheep upon his land and must go ahead.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Bay of Islands, July 3, 1857.

On the 15th May I left the Bay for Auckland to attend the Synod, with the hope of meeting the members from the Southern Settlements. On our arrival we learnt that all had arrived except William.

On the following morning a vessel was reported standing to the anchorage, from the East Coast. John soon descried his aunt on board and went to fetch them to breakfast. John was not known by his uncle and aunt, he wearing a beard according to the fashion of the day. William and I made our appearance at St. Stephen's chapel, where the Synod met, and took our seats. All were very kind, and we were much pleased with the benevolent countenance of the Bishop of Christchurch. Our work occupied more than five weeks, when we concluded, if not to universal, to general satisfaction. I hope something has been accomplished towards the formation of a church in New Zealand, which can scarcely be said to have been the case till now. All has been disorder; the Bishop overboard, and no one disposed to cast him a rope to catch hold of; the clergy, depending on the voluntary system or a weekly contribution, which is extremely bad. The Wesleyans and dissenters generally have their laws and regulations, and are well supported; but the Church of England has stood alone, a specimen of confusion and disunion, which is painfully set forth in the state of affairs at home. It has been resolved to hold the next meeting in about six months hence, at Wellington, with more

numerous attendance, to confirm the past proceedings. I am doubtful whether I shall attend; I am becoming old, and my voice failing, warning me to be quiet and give place to younger men.

The next event of historical interest is the setting up of the fallen flag-staff at Maiki by the natives themselves, in honour of Governor Gore Browne. The Colony was just now enjoying a golden time. The Governor had conceded Parliamentary government, consenting to be guided by the advice of his ministers in all but native affairs, the management of which he retained in his own hands; a Commons House of exceptionally high order had been returned; and, after a couple of failures, soon disposed of, had rallied round the best and strongest ministry the Colony has known. 255 Conservative in temper; economical administrators; not seeking to forestall the resources of the country, but content to keep pace with their steady expansion; too strong to need resort to sensational schemes for the mere purpose of retaining a majority in the House; too proud to subserve the passions of the mob; and bent upon doing what had never yet been done – something substantial towards the advancement of their native fellow subjects. 256

The ending of the Northern war, against Heke and Kawiti, had been not a success, but a surrender. Heke fought against the flag-staff, and that alone. The fighting might have been brought to an end, at any time, by suffering the staff to lay where it fell. Governor FitzRoy could have done that, as easily as his successor. Lacking force to defend it (and the experience of the last war, when we had ten thousand troops in the country, shews how large a force was required), Governor FitzRoy ought to have done so. But he would never have suffered credit to be taken for success.

Governor Grey acted more prudently. He did not stand upon a conventional point of honour with savages; he gave way to a prejudice which was not to be overcome. The position may have been somewhat undignified, but escape was easy. It was enough to assign a cause for the war, other than the flag-staff. To lay the blame on Governor FitzRoy's grants would serve the double purpose of diverting attention from the prostrate flag-staff, and of winning favour from the powerful New Zealand Company.

A letter from the Archdeacon puts the question of success in a very plain light.

Archdeacon Henry Williams to Hugh Carleton.

Kororareka, March 13, 1854.

I am in the Bay waiting for a wind to carry me to the North; to Kaitaia; I fear therefore there may be some delay in my reply to your queries, which I hope to do in a few days.

But you say, "Grey will go upon Kawiti's submission as a proof of victory." I ask you in what form was Kawiti's submission? and to what and when did it take place? This is new to me, as also to Kawiti. Compare Kawiti's letter to Governor FitzRoy with the proclamation of Grey, immediately on Grey's return to Auckland, after Te Ruapekapeka was upset, or before peace was made, that all parties were to return to their own places, keeping in mind that the bone of contention was the flag-staff. Nothing was demanded from the chiefs in arms; nothing was given; but Kawiti demanded in his letter that if peace were made, it should be made with respect to the land. 257 This was acceded to by Grey, and the flag-staff has remained prostrate to this day, though several attempts have been made to re-erect it. Captain Stanley was applied to replace it; he consented to do so immediately, but asked, – who would take care of it. Major Bridge declared it would take a thousand men to keep it in its place. Why? the natives had gained their point, and to this day laugh at the idea of submission. Peace was made with the natives on the understanding that each should let the other alone, and the demands of Kawiti having been complied with by Grey, where is the evidence of Kawiti's submission? Rather, does not the evidence shew Grey's submission to Kawiti? The war was a perfect farce, both in the North and in the South.

The point having been gained, the feeling died away. Not that the natives would have suffered us to re-erect the staff; but there was no longer cause why they should not do it themselves. They had got over the scare caused by the memorable thirteenth chapter of Lord Grey's "Instructions," which had died a natural death; they knew by this time 258 that their lands were safe; and the doing themselves what we were not suffered to do might be construed into an additional triumph.

But there were other causes at work.

For years, the rebel chiefs had stood aloof, and had been left so. The friendly tribes were reaping a good harvest from their free intercourse with the settlers, and the rebels by degrees awoke to the conviction that pride was a barren pleasure. They were in want of money. The troops had departed, only to be wished back again; for with them was lost the market for Maori produce. Money was still to be had by sale of land, but to effect a sale it was necessary to be on an amicable footing with the Government.

By the death of old Kawiti, an opening was afforded to his son, untrammelled by the past.

By Maori custom, the old policy may be buried with the old chief; his successor being free to adopt a new one. When he comes into power, he naturally feels a desire to distinguish himself; and it is customary to give him a fair trial, allowing him to carry out his policy till it should be seen what becomes of it.

Marsh Brown Kawiti, the young chief, had been a teacher in the backwoods at Mangakahia. When brought to the front, he consulted with several members of the Mission, what new course to strike out. 259 He was advised, and consented, to abandon the feud with the Pakeha. He first came forth as a supporter of the law and the gospel, – the ture and whakapono. Then as a pledge of earnestness he determined to replace the flag-staff.

Amid great pomp and rejoicing, the Queen's flag was spread again to the breeze. It was named, Whakakotahitanga, – "being at one with the Queen." The next step was to turn the act to practical account. Marsh Brown asked the Government to give him a township, for which he offered a block of land, at the junction of the Karetu and Kawakawa rivers. Then, he offered for sale a large block of land, containing coal. The negotiations with the Government were conducted through Wikiriwhi, Marsh Brown's uncle, the chief being considered too great a man to attend to so small a matter. While negotiations were pending, Wikiriwhi died; said to have been makatu-ed (bewitched) by Whaka-ariki, a Kawakawa man of no great note. Upon this, a runanga was held by Marsh, where the wizard was condemned to death. Three men were told off, who shot him in his bed.

This affair left the advocate of "law and order" again under a cloud, for some three or four years. But no notice was taken by the Government, and recollection passed away. The negotiations for purchase were then renewed, and completed at Pakaraka, by Superintendent Graham. Thus was the Bay of Islands coal mine acquired.

The following account is one of the series of the Archdeacon's "Reminiscences."

THE RESTORATION OF THE FLAG-STAFF AT KORORAREKA, 1858.

Since the fate of the flag-staff, in 1845, a strong desire had been expressed at various times for its restoration by Governor Grey, who applied to Captain Stanley, of H.M.S. "Calliope," to put one up. Captain Stanley replied "I can very soon have one up, but who will take care of it? Major Bridge, in charge at the Bay, declined, unless with a force of 1,000 men.

At the first agitation of the Maori King movement, deputation after deputation, from Taranaki and Waikato, came up to Ngapuhi to excite them to join the common cause. The chief man to whom these deputations were addressed was Maihi Paraone Kawiti, son of Kawiti, a leader and ally of Heke's in the war of 1845-6.

No encouragement was given to these deputations, and finally those tribes who had been implicated in the fall of the flag-staff in 1845 replied – "they had no desire for a "Maori Kingi." "Kuini Wikitoria" was their "Kingi," and as an evidence of the sincerity

of their feeling towards the Government, immediately decided to restore the flag-staff, and arranged how the work should be accomplished by a division of strength to drag out a noble spar from the forest, and to make a large collection of food for the parties engaged.

This was carried into effect towards the close of 1857; the staff was erected in January 1858, at the entire expense of the natives, having been dressed on Kororareka beach and carried up the hill by a body of about four hundred men. This flag-staff has never since been disturbed.

It has been said that the restoration of the flag-staff was one of the stipulations with Heke and Kawiti when peace was made in 1846. The contrary would be more correct: on the part of the natives the stipulation was, that the flag-staff should not be erected, and it remained prostrate from 1845 to 1858.

The restoration of the flag-staff was a voluntary act on the part of the tribes who had cut it down, March 11th, 1845, and they would not allow any other 260 to render any assistance in this work.

The Archdeacon, no longer able, for advancing years, to undertake the long journeys of olden time on foot, had built at his own cost a small vessel, by means of which he was able to keep up his Native communications coastwise. A letter to the Bishop describes one of his journeys.

Archdeacon Henry Williams to Bishop Selwyn.

April, 23, 1859.

I wrote to your Lordship by my son Henry to excuse my attendance at the Synod, owing to age and infirmity. I feel that my time has been gained to the people upon whom I have been permitted to call.

My little vessel, which I have commissioned for the purpose of visiting the people has answered my fullest expectation. My first voyage was South of the Bay to Whananake, Tutukaka, and Whangaruru. My reception was most gratifying, all the people assembled to meet me, and were eager for books, for which they payed the usual price. I was solicited to visit other places, Aotea &c, &c, but my arrangements would not admit of this.

I have recently returned from Kaitaia, Mangonui, and Whangaroa. At the former place I met 240 communicants and a large force of teachers. It is gratifying to see so large an assemblage. Yet it is attended with inconvenience and certain objections; there is too much hurry, which I do not approve of, besides subjecting them to

huddle together, which must be adverse to a correct christian feeling of propriety; their conduct however was quiet and proper. I should prefer smaller assemblies, and at their own places, when they would be better known and looked after. I was solicited to go to Parengarenga, near the North Cape, but could not afford the time.

I passed one Sunday at Mangonui and one at Whangaroa. I should have preferred two Sundays at each place, as I could not see both Natives and Europeans to satisfaction. I administered the Lord's supper at four important places, and admitted to baptism many adults and children.

The natives at all the places I called at, except those at Kaitaia, were greatly abroad, though very anxious for knowledge and to be brought into regular order. They are looking forward with interest for my return in the spring, which I hope to accomplish.

When at Whangaroa, my old friend Ururoa, the chief of the place, came forward for baptism, and finding him further advanced than I had anticipated, I admitted him to that rite.

My visit at each place was attended with both pleasure and pain; pleasure at witnessing so promising a field prepared for culture, pain at the idea of these tribes being left to the spoil of the enemy, having no regular shepherd in charge.

There is one ruinous evil which has been introduced by designing Europeans under the head of "Nama" [obtaining goods on credit], by which whole tribes are involved in debt, and thus continue in bondage year after year. I am of opinion that a law ought to be enacted prohibiting the recovery of such debts, regarding the natives as minors; otherwise they may never be able to extricate themselves; consequently ruined so long as such "Nama" exists. I found many chiefs lamenting their state, only now feeling the evil consequences of this "Nama."

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Paihia, Bay of Islands,

April 23, 1859.

The general Synod is now sitting. I have two sons in attendance, Samuel and Henry, with William. I therefore felt it to be unnecessary, that I should thus absent myself from my duties amongst the people; considering also my infirmities, which increase with my days. I must work while I have the opportunity. I have occupied my time fully in visiting the people on the coast in my little vessel, and have never had a more agreeable season amongst the people. I had a most hearty welcome wherever I went; they assembled from all quarters to meet me at every place, and many whom I had regarded as perfectly insensible, hardened in sin, I found full of interesting enquiry.

My son-in-law Davies is at length disconnected from the Church Missionary Society; the plea given – "unable to enter upon active

duties," i.e., to undertake rough work through the bush, though within the precincts of Paihia he is in full occupation. His complaint is in the heart, and the frigid terms of the resolution bidding him depart seriously affected him. For some days we have been obliged to patch him up. As he is a medical man, he will practice for salt for his porridge. There is no member of the mission more beloved by the people than he is.

William [Archdeacon William Williams] was admitted to the Bench on Sunday, the 3rd, but as yet we have no particulars. As Bishop Selwyn is now relieved from many cares, I hope he will be content to remain more closely to his own work. He has many good qualities, but not quite perfect. We hear of another bishop nominated for the Islands, a young man, who came with the Bishop on his return to this country, Mr Patteson.

THE WAR.

Colonial politics have been avoided in this Memoir, unless where inseparable from the subject. But political questions, however hotly disputed for a while, subside into matters of history.

The question of the great New Zealand war is one of these. Fiercely advocated and as fiercely denounced at the outset, there are scarcely two opinions on it now. Those who were branded as disloyal for opposing it have now the satisfaction – whatever that be worth – of knowing that "public opinion" has veered round. 261

It is over; quenched at enormous cost; but the collateral evils induced are permanent. It unsteadied the Colony; inducing that spirit of restlessness which refuses to be satisfied with any but sensational legislation; intensifying the bitterness of those party animosities that are the curse of the Australian settlements, and bringing demagogues to the front who would never have been heard of in quiet times.

Even the story of the war is yet unknown to the many. It ought to be told from a Maori point of view; but, as in the fable, lions are not painters.

It has been already mentioned that when Colonel Gore Browne took office, he conceded parliamentary government to the colonists, but retained in his own hands the management of native affairs, as

being of more directly imperial interest: – that is to say, he chose his own advisers, instead of having them chosen for him, as in all other matters, by the House. 262

Now there were two "native policies," differing essentially, but each with influential supporters, from which to choose. The object of one was to continue the privileges of the Native Land-purchase Office, by maintaining the Crown's preemptive right; of the other, to "enfranchise native lands;" permitting the Maori to obtain the market value of his property, which the Crown, holding the monopoly of purchase, did not give. 263

With this object it was proposed to create a Native Land Court, for the purpose of determining disputes, and establishing the right owners of land. Crown grants were then to be issued, wherever the tribe would consent to abandon the common tenure 264 and individualise the land; thus placing the natives on an equality, in the matter of conveyance, with his European fellow subject.

Governor Browne, as a new comer, not unnaturally took things very much as he found them. He gave his confidence to the Native Land Purchase Office. 265 Government purchasing went on as before, too often taking advantage of native disputes, until they culminated in the ill-omened negotiations for sale at Waitara. 266

An individual native, Te Teira, who had quarrelled with his chief, Te Rangitake, better known as William King, offered to sell, as if in his own right, a block of land without consent of the tribe. But nothing can be more clearly established than this, – that no native had an absolute right over any land whatever. He had his part in the common right; also, where he had cultivated, an usufructuary right, but nothing more. 267

Many other questions were raised; even the usufructuary right over the whole of the land sold by Teira was disputed; but these are all subordinate to the one main question – whether the Government were justified in buying of an individual in defiance of the common right of others. But this, beyond which it is not worth while to travel, has been studiously overlaid with verbiage. 268

Had the Native Land Court been already constituted, all these matters would there have been tried and settled by law. But there was no tribunal before which Te Rangitake would bring the case. It had to be tried by the Governor; and a contemptuous gesture, wounding his susceptibility for the honour of the Crown, did not improve the native chance. The Governor sat as Judge in his own cause. 269 Those who hindered the constitution of a Native Lands Court, are in the first degree guilty of the New Zealand war.

So plausible an account of the proceedings was given in the official papers, that many were led away who afterwards retraced their steps; but Henry Williams saw through all from the first.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Bay of Islands, May 1, 1860. There appears to be a severe trial at hand, in the form of another Maori war, wantonly brought on by the Governor, in the forcing of a disputed claim of land, at Taranaki, or New Plymouth, on the Western Coast. The piece of ground was sold to the Government for £100, by a person who had only a partial right to the land, which sale the Governor has thought proper to confirm to the detriment of any other claim. Surveyors were sent on to this land, and were upset by a party of women, set on with that intent. Troops were collected, and war commenced; but where it will terminate no one can surmise. The Bishop remonstrated, and I understand is in great disgrace with the war party, as also Archdeacon Hadfield. I

stand aloof, not yet being brought into collision; but of course as the war party gain strength, the Missionaries are suppressed, and I am quite prepared to hear that at the next General Assembly the grant hitherto allowed for the instruction of the natives in Schools will be disallowed. The language used by the Europeans towards the natives is extremely vile, and I am prepared to expect sad work. All Europeans who can bear arms are called out to drill, and of course every expression of excited feeling used, as to the extermination of the natives, if there be only an opportunity afforded. This feeling is general. The Hadfields are in great excitement, surrounded by their people, who have been for many years in close connexion, looking to them for advice, he unable to speak, and tainted with the familiar term of traitor, a term given to any who may differ from them in these sanguinary matters. As the European power gains strength the feeling grows upon them, to suppress both the natives and all who will give them countenance, even to utter annihilation. We wait with much anxiety the arrival of news from the seat of war. We have learned to put no confidence in any Government Despatch.

The European feeling in the North certainly did seem to be as strong as the Archdeacon had depicted it. But it was far from being universal, and was indeed rare among the old settlers. It is true that a great uproar was raised by the ignorant portion of the community, – so great that many of the more thoughtful bowed to the storm until it should pass; yet there were not wanting those who spoke out boldly, breaking through party ties, – even personal friendships sometimes, on a question so momentous to the Colony. This was especially shewn in the House. The Stafford 270 ministry were doing their utmost to support the Governor, and were themselves backed up outside. But within the House it was as much as they could do to hold their own. They managed to weather the Session of 1860, defeating a vote of want of confidence 271 by a majority of one, – that one declaring himself an opponent, but considering himself bound in honour by a general promise of support, unwarily made before the commencement of the Session.

An accurate index to the real state of colonial opinion could now be found. In 1860, the Parliament expired by efflux of time. The question was thus remitted to the country. A general election was held, and by a remarkable coincidence, in the Session of 1861 the two parties in the House were found to be, numerically, as before; the scale being turned against the Government by the very same vote, now set free, which had kept them in before. Thus came to an untimely end the ablest ministry the Colony has known; ousted by their own friends, respectfully, but without option to act otherwise.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

Bay of Islands, July 20, 1860.

You will be sorry to hear that the country is involved in war, through the folly of our self-willed ministers, men of no experience of native matters. This affair commenced in the Governor purchasing a piece of land for £100, in opposition to certain parties who opposed the sale. The surveyors were driven off, and this led to the troops being sent on the disputed land, to take possession. Fighting soon followed. A number of the Maories were killed, but in the last conflict the troops were repulsed with considerable loss. Great distress has been the consequence, in the burning of the settler's houses and general destruction of property. The old settlers are opposed to the war, while the youthful part of the community are for war to the last, without regard to consequences. The Bishop and Missionaries are most fearfully abused as "Traitors and busy-bodies, stirrers up of all evil, and authors of all mischief." I have felt a strong desire to speak, but as yet have held my peace. The differences between the Missionaries and the Church Mission Society, as to the resolutions passed between 1847 and 1850 have been brought forward in confirmation of the baseness of the Missionary character. No one sees the termination of these sad proceedings. Hadfield 272 is in sad disgrace with the Government, having ventured to protest against this war. The Governor is a good man, but exceedingly weak, unable to resist his ministers. The war is very popular, in the hopes of smashing the people altogether. The General Assembly has just met to consider the merits of the war, but the mischief has been done. The Governor and his party are looking for troops from India and England.

GOVERNOR GREY RE-APPOINTED.

The war, having been originated by the Governor, was deemed to be an Imperial, and not a Colonial war. 273 The distinction was of importance, for upon it hinged the question, – which Government was liable for the cost. The Home Government took alarm, and determined to settle the matter with the least possible delay. They highly complimented Governor Browne, but announced to him that his place was to be filled by Sir George Grey. Notwithstanding promotion to Tasmania, this was a bitter disappointment; but Colonel Gore Browne, deservedly popular, bore away with him the hearty good wishes of all. Governor Grey found himself endowed with freedom of action almost complete. The war party were out of power in the Assembly; he had his own partizans; also the volunteered support of his old opponents, nearly all of whom were desirous for peace; and he had, like his predecessor, uncontrolled power over native affairs.

It was understood that he came out to reverse the war policy. The Archdeacon, who never did anything by halves, waiving every personal consideration, setting at nought the danger of seeming to compromise his own consistency, at once proffered his support. Just resentment he had felt; but there was not a grain of vindictiveness in his composition. He was possessed, and had been so throughout, by one leading thought, – the well-being of the Maori race. To this event every other consideration was subordinate.

Sir William Martin to Henry Williams.

Auckland, October 18, 1861.

I return, with many thanks, by the hands of Mr. Clarke, the copy of Mr. Dandeson Coates' letter, which you kindly forwarded me, adding thereto two copies of the "Occasional Papers," No. 4, in which the Bishop has recently collected some of the most important passages, bearing on the question of the part taken by the Missionaries in the first planting of this Colony.

It is naturally and evidently very gratifying to the Governor to find himself welcomed back to the country by those who had

serious differences with him in old times. Such generosity is honorable to him and them. When he visits the North, no doubt he will lose no time in duly acknowledging your message, in person. Mr. Clarke will convey to you some notion of the Governor's policy in detail. So far as I have seen yet, his plan; are likely to answer, at least the main principle is quite sound. He feels the absurdity of attempting to intimidate or coerce the natives into acceptance of the Queen's Sovereignty in the abstract, and before that claim has been justified and strengthened by the exhibition of some manifest benefits accruing from it to the native people. He is intent upon a plan by which the extension of colonisation shall yield real and permanent advantages to both races, and the true interests of both shall be combined. They have been fed long enough with the idle wind of vague promises. We may now hope for some substantial fulfilment, for a policy so fair and beneficial to the Maories as to make those who may stand aloof in the beginning, perceive before long that they are losers by so doing. Please accept my heartiest good wishes for yourself and yours.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

November 16, 1861.

We have not heard from you for some time, since which I wrote to you, after the announcement of the appointment of Sir George Grey. A change has indeed come over the spirit of the dream – a total revolution in political views and ideas. Until that event it was war, savage frenzy, to the absolute extermination of the Maori race. But when the appointment of Sir George was known, the news flew like wild fire; these savage supporters of their own "supremacy," under the name of the Queen's, 274 became suddenly silent, reminding me of the sudden entrance of the schoolmaster, when the boys are hurry-scurry to their seats, and all is silence. Nothing is now heard but "the dear Maories; who would hurt a hair of their heads?" How long this may last remains to be proved. Every one for himself: this has ever been the case with sycophants; each seeking his own ends, no question with him who suffers.

The ministers who caused this great evil had been just turned out of office by two severe struggles; on each the victory was gained by a single voice. Of the feeling of the old ministry and their partisans, there was no mistake: – "Hang the Missionaries and

Bishops, for having caused the rebellion." These persons are now so still and quiet, you may hear a pin drop, even in the bush. Previous to the arrival of Sir George Grey, I sent my card to be presented by his old antagonist, Carleton; thereby killing two birds with one stone, as I ensured his presentation of himself, which was accomplished. All was as it should be. Mr. Clarke, an old antagonist, waited on Sir George, making a voyage for the purpose. He was received with open arms, as an old friend and counseller, and pressed into the service, as first commissioner. My meeting Sir George does not compromise me in my opinion as to those never to be forgotten proceedings of 1847-49. I have it, on the best authority, that he has said that he committed one error in interfering with the Missionary land-grants; but that he had been urged to it. I ask, by whom?

Wherever Sir George has been, addresses of congratulation have been presented. I met his Excellency, and believe the pleasure was mutual. At the great meeting at the Waimate we had a long conversation, when he unfolded his native policy, of which I fully approved. He feels sanguine, and will spare no expense.

The Governor, with his suite, went from Waimate to Hokianga, and on his way back paid a visit to Pakaraka, where, presumably by way of intimating that he no longer considered the Missionary land grants excessive, he volunteered the information that a farmer at the Cape of Good Hope would think nothing of 40,000 acres.

Henry Williams to E. G. Marsh.

June 22, 1862.

We were rejoiced to receive your letter of March 18, at which time you appeared in your usual and surprising health and strength, free from pain and anxiety. This is indeed a cause of much thankfulness, to be able patiently to await the Lord's call from this vale of sorrow and mourning, to the realms of eternal joy and bliss, where sin and sorrow shall be known no more. You appear to be permitted, though in weakness, yet to proclaim God's love to man in the redemption of the world, not willing that any should perish. It is surprising and painful to see how few, by comparison as of old, are they who have believed in our report, who feel their need of divine aid to assist them in a closer walk with God. We are indeed monuments of grace, unworthy of the least of those mercies so freely bestowed, and daily experienced. I feel our work is drawing to a close; and were it not for the Maories, I should have relinquished all long since. But I feel bound to them, while I have the power, as there is no one else left. Mr. Davis, at the Waimate,

like myself, is weak and infirm. The Maories I regard as members of my own family; with them I can freely communicate, and they do respond to my wish.

We here have had a wonderful manifestation of the providence of God, in the preservation of William and Jane. On their return from the Bay last month to Auckland, a vessel was on the point of sailing from Auckland for Tauranga. William and Jane were so anxious to get home, that they tried three times to persuade the Captain to take them, without regard to accommodation, but were denied a passage. The vessel sailed, and has not been heard of. 275 A vessel, answering her description, was seen bottom upwards in the course for Tauranga, but unknown.

You notice my letter on the arrival of Sir George Grey, and it appears to have given you pleasure that peace had been restored. But as the close of every drama is peace, so in this. Sir George was older on his second arrival; he was possessed of more experience, and had learned to steer by his own compass. On his first visit he fell into unsafe hands, and was led away beyond all reason. On his arrival about two months since, at Wellington, he went off by himself as early as he could to Otaki, to Hadfield, remaining a day or two with him. Of course they were agreed on all points. You ask how Sir George progresses, in restoring order. You may rest assured that I should not have been the first to have given him welcome on his re-appointment, had I not felt that the country was in a perilous state, – on the eve of a war of extermination of races, each towards the other; when, for one native, two or more Europeans might suffer. The confidence of the natives towards the Europeans and the Government was destroyed. To restore confidence time is required, and must be allowed; but the policy entered on by Sir George, I feel satisfied is the only one that will restore order. Nothing can exceed the activity of the Governor; he is here, there, and everywhere, as fast as steam can convey him from place to place, and the opposition are beginning to feel confidence. Yet there are certain of the war party who wish for war, provided they be not exposed to inconvenience.

The King movement Grey has wisely let alone. It is a name, and nothing more; for want of means for its subsistence it must die out of itself; but these Pakehas are more ignorant than the Maories, in wishing to force measures to which they have no right. But all will fall in place, if patience be observed. Without this all will be confusion; and, although I have every confidence in Sir George, he is in want of men to carry out his views . . .

I have used manuscript sermons ever since the general row of forty-seven. Finding that there were certain persons on the watch

to catch a word, with evil intent, I found it necessary to exhibit what I might have said at any time. I was accused publicly with preaching sedition to the natives; but the authorities did not deem it safe to bring the case forward.

In truth, all promised well. Governor Grey spoke like an angel. 276 His scheme was of fair promise, and might have succeeded, if introduced with firmness and with judgment. But, as usual, he shewed more ability in the closet than in the field. Busy enough and active enough, unsparing of his labour, he was not "a man of action," – that is to say, one of those who achieve practical and permanent success. Of a disposition naturally vacillating, until opposed, when he could be self-willed enough, he walked on with faltering steps, and ended by virtual abandonment of his charge. 277

Two prominent errors, both arising from that fatal want of decision, may be mentioned in example. The Waikato natives, with whom we were not yet at war, had conferred on Potatau the title of King. The Governor might have acknowledged the authority, treating the name as not worth contention; or he might have taken active measures towards dethronement. In behalf of either course, there was much to be said. But he staved the question off, and told the natives, by a figure of speech peculiarly fitted to arouse suspicion, that "he should not cut down the King's flag-staff, but that he should dig around it." 278

Those who understand the peculiar temperament of the natives will agree that he could not have spoken more dangerously. The words were never forgotten, or forgiven. To us the phrase may seem scarce worth mention; to the Maori, it conveyed the impression that clandestine action was contemplated.

The second error was greater still. The Governor having investigated the Waitara question, 279 had rightly come to the conclusion that the alleged sale was no sale, and that the land must be restored. 280 There was at the time, by tacit consent, an intermission of hostilities; the word for restoration had but to be passed, and all would have reverted to the status in quo ante.

But it had happened that when we got possession of Waitara, at the North end of the province of Taranaki, the insurgent natives got possession of Tataraimaka, at the Southern end, crown land and partly settled. This they held in pledge as equivalent to Waitara. The Governor, instead of restoring the Waitara first (as he did at last), postponed the act of justice until he should have retaken the Tataraimaka. Troops were ordered to advance. Lieutenant Tragett with his party fell into an ambush, where nearly all were killed; and war blazed up again, to be now put down, notwithstanding the present restoration of Waitara, only by force of arms.

It must be remembered that in native matters Sir George was not bound by the exigencies of Parliamentary Government. The power was with the Governor; but also the responsibility.

When he found that his personal influence among the natives was not what he had supposed (for he seems to have expected, though warned to the contrary by outsiders, that his name, his mana, would carry all before it), when he found troubles gathering in, he made an endeavour to shift the responsibility, by transferring it to

the General Assembly, – that is to say, to the responsible ministry, who were to "advise" him in native, as in all other matters. He even informed the Secretary of the State for the Colonies, prematurely, that the arrangements had been made. But when the proposal was brought before the House, in 1862, the House would not hear of it. 281

In 1863, the House gave way, and thenceforth, Sir George's action became confused with that of his advisers. 282

It was during his term of office that the war became general in New Zealand. 283 Under his predecessor, it had been confined, by mutual consent, to the Province of Taranaki. By the crossing of the Mangatawhiri creek, we carried war into Waikato. The plea, as usual, was necessity; it is urged that had we not attacked Waikato, Waikato would have attacked us. I am not of that opinion; but shall not dispute a controverted point.

The Archdeacon was not long in finding out that he had been somewhat oversanguine at first. One expression of his feeling must suffice, for it is time to bring this work to a close; but his dissatisfaction increased to the end.

Henry Williams to the Reverend E. G. Marsh.

November 10, 1862.

I fear the Governor's report of proceedings will be received with great pain and disappointment in England as to his progress in settling and arranging the question in dispute, – the sale of Waitara, – whether legal or illegal. The Governor is perfectly satisfied that the whole was illegal, but afraid to admit this to the Maories. Hence the difficulty. The Government is involved in error, but honour being at stake, the Government require the Maories to take the whole risk of the question and submit to arbitration. It would appear that the Government cannot make the amende honorable in admitting their error, and taking a fresh start, by which act the Maories would see that there is protection for their rights and interests. But now there is much confusion, and general distrust and threats passing from one to the other. The Government ought long since to have learned that "honesty is the best policy;" to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God.

THE HAUHAUS.

The war is mentioned only so far as it directly affects the Mission, or the Archdeacon's comments upon the proceedings of the Government. From this point of view, the most notable feature in the war, and the heaviest blow to the Mission, was the rise of the

Paimarire, or Hauhau superstition. Like Mahommedanism, it took its beginning with a prophet, Horopapera Te Ua, of Taranaki. This chief, formerly treated as a maniac, now rose to the dignity of prophet and liberator. He dreamed that victory was near at hand; and it happened to follow, in a chance rencounter. A reconnoitring party, under Captain Lloyd, was worsted, the officer in command, with some of his party, falling into their hands. The event was attributed by the natives to the use of Te Ua's magic wand, powerful as that of Prospero. Te Ua framed a new religion, which might be deemed an invention of Satan himself, so diabolically was it adapted to working upon the weaknesses and feelings of the race. Communistic polygamy, incantation, mesmerism, ventriloquism, the giddy whirl of dance, in combined temptation; also, the more legitimate exaltation of mind produced by passionate appeals to love of country, – to the aroha ki te iwi. 284

In 1865, a Hauhau party, bound for Poverty Bay, where, in accordance with Te Ua's instructions, they were to deliver the head of Captain Lloyd to a chief named Hirini Te Kani, reached Opotiki. They had left the Whanganui river with the intention of murdering any Missionaries whom they could take, and here, unfortunately, they fell in with Mr. Volkner and Mr. Grace, both of the Mission. By means already alluded to, they caused the head to declare that it was the will of the gods that Volkner should die. Whakatohea, his own people, cowed by numbers, or bewildered by the new faith, offered no resistance, and Mr. Volkner was hanged upon a willow tree. His head was cut off, and Kereopa swallowed his eyes. Mr. Grace, having been remanded for a while, eventually escaped.

From Opotiki the murdering party proceeded, under Kereopa and Patara, to Poverty Bay, 285 there to await the arrival of a second

party from the Wairoa. At the meeting of these two parties, there was to be a grand performance of the Paimarire-karakia [incantation service], in hope of drawing over the Poverty Bay natives, hitherto well affected to the Mission. When the scene took place Mr. Henry Williams, from whom these particulars are derived, was an eye-witness. A pole, upon which the Paimarire flag was hoisted, had been set up. The party marched up, and stood around. The tiu [priest] stood by the pole, raised a little above the rest. The party marched three times round, their eyes fixed with steady gaze on the pole, chanting a song. Then, they gathered into a compact mass, while the tiu gave out a prayer from a book, which the people followed, responding in unison, with great earnestness and many inflexions of the voice. Towards the close, the priest buried his face in a cambric handkerchief, his breast heaving deep with emotion. The people squatted down; up jumped an old cannibal heathen, in pure Maori costume, kokowai and all, singing a song of the old time. The friendly by-standers could no longer resist, and some came rushing into the ring. 286 Kereopa, the "eye-eater," now came forward. Those who desired to see the head of Captain Lloyd were invited into an adjoining house, where, by ventriloquism, it was again made to speak. This was at Patutahi, about two miles from the Bishop of Waiapu's station.

Now these men were reeking with the blood of Volkner, the Bishop's personal friend. He called his own people together, and said – "either these people must leave, or I." With many fair words, they entreated him to stay, but did nothing." 287

About this time came up Karaitiana, Wi Tako, and others, on a long promised return-visit. They also said – "These men must go, or we go." When the Opotiki party were apprised of this, they sent messengers after the Wairoa party, who were already on their way for home, bidding them return. An attack in two parties – by

one upon the Bishop's college, by the other on Wi Tako's people, was then arranged. The Hauhaus spent the night in casting bullets, and making up cartridges.

Some of their conversation was over-heard by a Turanga native, and reported to the Bishop. Moreover, the chiefs on whom he mainly relied had been seen drinking with Patara. After long consultation, an unwilling departure was resolved upon, by night. But to this the native ministers demurred. One of them, Mohi, spoke out: – "No; we will stay, and die like men." But it was not for the Mission to fight. Endurance had been their badge from the first, and had to be so still. "At least," said Mohi, "do not go by night. If you do, you will be overtaken and tomahawked. Go in the face of day." The advice was taken, and the party were not molested.

The Bishop removed his establishment, including the school, to the Bay of Islands, taking refuge for a while with the Archdeacon and his family. And thus, by force of circumstance, it came about that the two brothers, Henry and William Williams, who, at their last parting, had scarcely expected to see each other more, were again found working, side by side, upon the old familiar ground.

The more eventful periods of the life of Henry Williams are now at an end. No longer disturbed by assaults from without, he had leisure to consider how to make the most of declining strength and lessening time. To die in harness he was resolved; but care and management were needed to ensure that end. When toilsome overland journeys had become no longer possible, he built himself a cutter, for visiting along the coast; naming it " The Rainbow," in memory of God's mercy and promise after the. destroying flood. When he could not go among the people, he bid them come to him; and most cheerfully did they obey the call. When he saw that the time for binding up his sheaves had come, he turned his mind, like a practical man, towards consolidating and giving permanence to the work by means of material endowments; 288

giving also special attention to the Maori clergy, those of his own district being kept in constant communication with himself.

For two years his travelling duties had been lightened by his brother, who, driven from Turanganui, was sojourning with his school at Horotutu, adjoining Paihia, and had taken charge of what may be called the home district, – Kawakawa, Russell, and Paihia. But the war was now wearing itself out, and Bishop Williams saw the way to re-establishing himself on the East Coast, though not at the old station, which had been racked by the Hauhaus.

On the eve of Bishop Williams' departure, Archdeacon Henry went down from Pakaraka to take leave, and to resume the charge of that portion of the district. In so doing he left himself, as in former time, only one Sunday in the month at home. This was in May, 1867. It was also then arranged that, if life were spared, the brothers should meet once more, at an anticipated jubilee, – the celebration of the Archdeacon's golden wedding. For the fifty years, within a few months, had now elapsed. But this was not to be.

There is little more to tell, beyond the remarkable manner in which the close of his life was brought into harmony with the course of it. In May, 1867, an intertribal war broke out, within a few miles of Pakaraka. The old story; a disputed boundary line. The two tribes originally concerned (for the nature of Maori warfare is to spread) were Uritaniwha and Ngarehauata, hapus [sections] of Ngapuhi. 289 The land in dispute was at Te Ahuahu. Ngarehauata attempted to put up a block-house on the ground, but were driven off. Presently they were joined by Ngatikawa, under Haratua, who took command of the united force. Mr. Edward Williams, Resident Magistrate, throwing himself at much personal risk between the contending parties, for some days succeeded in preventing further collision. Having at last obtained consent to arbitration, he left for the purpose of attending to other parts of the district. But Ngarehauata, who had dispersed, were at fever-heat, and came back in the night to fight it out. Mr. Williams,

239 Kawakawa, Tihema 2, 1854.
E kara e te Wiremu, – Kua tae mai to Pukapuka (Hepetema 15, 1854), ki au e hara i au tena kupu he kupu hou tena kupu ki au. Kahore a au i rongo ki tena kupu, heoi ano ka mutu.
Na WIKIRIWHI.
Ki a Te Wiremu.

240 Kororareka, 10 o nga ra o Aperira, 1852.

E pa e Te Wiremu, – Tena ra ko koe. He nui taku aroha atu ki a koe. E Pa, he kupu aha ra tenei nau ki au, ki a matou katoa, ko au akonga? e pouri ana ahau mo to kupu mai ki a matou, heoi e mea ana ahau kia haere mai koe kia kite i a matou, he taenga kotahi mai nou, e kara ko koe pu ano kia haere mai, a te wiki e haere ake nei, ki konei, mau e mea kahore, mau e mea, ae, kia whakaritea te kupu a Pihopa, e kore matou e pai ki a ia; ki te whakaae koe i a matou ki a ia, ka whakaritea atu e ahau tenei kupu "e marara ke ana me te kipi kai tiaki kore" me pehea ka mau ai te whakapono i roto i tau korero, no te mea hoki kahore he hepara, ahakoa mea ai koe, kei taea te whakangaueue, ko wai te kai tiaki? Ahakoa ra noho matou i konei, ka tatari matou ki te ra e tae mai ai koe, ka whakaaro matou ka tae mai te hepara. E kara, kia rongo mai koe – e kore nga hipi e aru i te tau hou, e kore e matau ki te reo o nga tauhou. Heoi ano. Haere ra e taku korero atu ki a Te Wiremu, Pakaraka.

NA HUNIA RARI.

Kororareka, 10 April, 1852.

Father Te Wiremu, – Salutations; my love to you is very great. Father, what is this word of yours to me, to all of us, your disciples? I am very sad on account of your word of leave-taking of us; therefore I say, come and visit us, if only this once. Sir, come here yourself, next week. It is for you to say yes or no, whether we are to fulfil the word of the Bishop: he says if we do not choose to be confirmed, we shall not be admitted to partake of the Holy Communion. Therefore, if you consent to our being turned over to the Bishop, we shall not consent to him. If you approve of our being left to him, I shall apply this text, – we are scattered as sheep without a shepherd; how will it be possible to hold fast to our faith, if you adhere to your resolution, inasmuch as there will be no shepherd.

You say, do not allow yourselves to be disturbed; but who is to watch over us? Nevertheless we shall remain here, and watch till the day of your arrival, and then we shall feel that our shepherd is come.

Sir, listen to me: The sheep will not follow a stranger, for they know not the voice of strangers.

That is all I have to say; go, my letter, to Mr. Williams, at Pakaraka.
From HUNIA RARI.

241 The Bishop was reminded by one of the laity, that although there might be some difficulty in persuading men to give, there was little enough in persuading men to withhold.

242 Vide Appendix K.

243 These photographs are not very favourable specimens of the art. The original negatives had been destroyed by fire. Fresh negatives might have been taken of the place, but not of all the figures, as represented. For the chief among them is no more. Consequently, the second set of negatives had to be taken from photographs instead of from nature, and are of course inferior to the first set.

244 An ultrademocratic effusion, suggested by Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, but written for the Governor by what was colloquially termed "The Clean-shirt Ministry," – got rid of by the Assembly in eight-and-forty hours.

245 The part taken by the Bishop was right enough in itself: the only question is, how far was it consistent with his office. I am myself unable to perceive why a clergyman of the Church of England should lose his rights of citizenship, when no one would think of blaming a dissenting minister for exercising such rights.

246 He was prepared to give, or to find £200.

247 Afterwards Bishop of Melanesia.

248 One of the preliminary meetings of clergy and laity, with a view to the establishment of a church constitution.

249 Using the term in no offensive sense.

250 It may be retorted that such inquisition is submitted to by some dissenting bodies; but these, if miners and the Unitarians be excepted, are formed very much from one only of the many strata of English Society.

251 The Bishop was told, half in jest and half in earnest, that his object was to stand METOIKOS at the church door, – barefooted, in a white sheet, with a candle in his hand.

252 Is the New Zealand church, at present, what she had been intended to be? Is she separate or is she not? And if she be separate, what is the exact status of a member of the Church of England who joins her. If she be a separate church, the question arises, – can a man belong to two churches at once? for instance, testing a principle by an extreme case, to the Church of England and to the Church of Rome? And, if not, does he secede from the Church of England when he enters that of New Zealand? or, if he return to the mother-country, is he to abandon the Church of New Zealand, playing fast and loose among churches at pleasure. This is no mere verbal difficulty. The question was actually put to the Bishop. His answer was, that it was one of those difficulties which one must be content to override, like that of the origin of evil. A practical answer; and, to the present day, no one has discovered, or at least made known a better.

The danger is not newly seen; it has long been looming in the haze, and well-wishers to the New Zealand Church have been careful not to approach it. They have purposely refrained from being curious in enquiry. But enquiry has at last been forced upon them. The claim of right to alter the formularies, mooted by the General Synod of New Zealand, has brought the question to issue. The claim, once made, can no longer remain in abeyance, to be pressed at some convenient opportunity, but has to be decided, once for all.

253 The penalty of former proceedings.

254 According to colonial ideas, an estate scarcely worth mention.

255 The first Stafford ministry.

256 There had been much expression of sympathy, in words; but, beyond the establishment of a few schools, whose teaching never reached the masses, nothing of an enduring nature had been accomplished. The one standing grievance – the imposition of a special tax upon the conveyance of Maori lands (already adverted to), remained unredressed; and the system of gifts, as it ought and must, had failed.

257 Supposed by the natives to have been made demesne of the Crown.

258 1858.

259 Many motives were at work; dislike to the Waikatos, whom Ngapuhi "had eaten," but who had nevertheless set up a Maori King, was not without influence.

260 Any native belonging to a friendly tribe. The four hundred were chosen representatives of every section of the rebel tribes.

261 The story of the lesser war – the war in the North, has been touched upon in these pages. How different is that to the account derived from official documents and inflated despatches.

262 The responsible ministers might assist the Governor in native affairs, and did, but could not dictate.

263 In fairness it should be mentioned that the writer was himself a strong partisan, having laboured for years to bring about the change. But the result was in his favour; for "enfranchisement," by the issue of crown grants to natives, had to be conceded at last. The result was, to enlist a strong body of natives in support of law and order. For through law, they had obtained something to lose.

264 The word "tenure" is used for convenience. Technically speaking, the native owners had not a "holding."

265 Having yet his experience to acquire, he cannot be blamed for unwillingness to face at once the responsibility of reversing the practice of so many years.

266 No instance that I am aware of, has ever occurred of blood-shed arising from any purchase by an old settler. The old settler, being powerless, was compelled to exercise caution. He well knew, that if he made a mistake, he would lose his money. He dared not touch a piece of disputed land, unless, by consent of all, to settle that dispute by destroying the point of honour. [See Vol. I., p. 187.] His sole chance of occupation was the good will of all concerned. But the Government, having force at their back, could venture to take advantage of disputes. It is a simple matter of history that a series of disturbances have arisen from a series of Government purchases, See Appendix L.

267 Those who are conversant with feudal law will be at no loss to account for a limitation of the right to introduce a possible enemy into the heart of the country: – For instance, upon the right of an heiress to dispose of her hand and lands at pleasure.

268 The dictum, repeated until it acquired axiomatic force, that a native rising was certain, that war sooner or later was inevitable; that it behoved us to watch our time, and take the insurgents at advantage, is simply untrue. The natives were quiet, and likely to remain so, if let alone; but it is true that they had become more chary of parting with their land. As to ourselves, the best proof that we were not compelled to choose an opportunity for provoking war is, that we did not exercise any choice at all. To borrow Lord Clarendon's words about the Crimea, we "drifted into war," which found us utterly unprepared. The General Government were so short of munitions of war, that they had even to borrow from the Province of Auckland the rifles for which the writer, under Superintendent Campbell, had obtained a vote from the Provincial Council, in 1856.

Such was the main argument relied on by the war party; and this was unconsciously propped up by some of the peace party, who laboured under the delusion that the natives were angered, and therefore rebellious, because of being unrepresented in the Colonial Parliament. This mistake, though not so wide-spread, needs quashing as much as the other.

It is quite true that the New Zealand Constitution (to borrow the words of Mr. Fortescue in the House of Commons) was "framed in forgetfulness of the large native tribes within the dominions to which it was intended to apply." But it is not true that the natives felt themselves ignored, or that they troubled themselves in any way about a merely sentimental grievance. As a matter of fact, being subjects of the Queen, they were represented, just as non-voters in England are represented. The debates have shewn how effectively.

Now the proof that discontent, and with it a disposition to rebel, was not generated by the want of votes, is afforded by the conduct of the natives when they got votes. They did obtain the means of acquiring the electoral franchise, by the Native Lands Act of 1862. But they took no interest whatever in the matter.

When again, in a fit of sentimentalism, the Assembly fell into the error of special legislation for the Maori race, and special favour, breaking into the sound principle of one law for both races; when the Assembly made provision for Maori members, to be elected only by Maori votes, giving moreover to the Maori two votes against the Englishman's one (for the Maori may vote at the elections both of the English and of the Maori members, while the Englishman may not vote at the election of the Maori member), how was the Act received? It was treated with utter indifference. In the North, Abraham Taonui was asked to stand. "Let one of the young men go down to the Assembly and try it. If the pipi beds [cockles] are found good, perhaps I may go myself presently." On the nomination day at Russell, no natives attended. A young half-caste, Mr. Russell, was persuaded by a lady to offer himself; a native proposer and a seconder were hunted up on the beach; he was nominated, and duly elected by these two.

So much for the abstract privilege. But, when the natives discovered the market value of votes – that "the pipi beds" were really good, they displayed the greatest interest. When again they found that a Maori (Wi Katene) could be made a salaried minister, that interest was increased. For his constituents thought themselves entitled to half the salary, to be divided among themselves, and actually turned him out at the next election because they did not get it.

269 As chief land-purchaser, exercising the preemptive right of the Crown.

270 Mr. Stafford himself, the Head of the Government, was not responsible for the origination of the war, which took place during his absence from the Colony. The first he heard of it was at the Mauritius, on his journey back. On arrival, he found his colleagues already committed, and, after weeks of hesitation, gave way. Having once done that, he stood up stoutly in their behalf.

271 A motion for the repeal of the New Provinces Act, treated avowedly as one of want of confidence.

272 Now Bishop of Wellington.

273 The phrase is convenient, though technically incorrect. Strictly speaking, war cannot be waged at all, without the sanction, direct or derivative, of the Crown. The meaning is, that the colonists had not incurred the responsibility.

274 There had been much rant among demagogues about what they were pleased to call the Queen's "supremacy," seemingly confusing that word with sovereignty; making the supposed infraction of it an excuse for invective against the peace party. On other occasions their loyalty was not equally conspicuous.

275 She had foundered in a gale.

276 See Appendix M, where his scheme for pacifying the country is set out in his own words.

277 In Appendix N is reprinted a speech delivered in the Provincial Council of Auckland, reviewing both the first and second periods of his career, with an especial reference to the subject of this Memoir. To this speech no reply was made in the course of the debate.

278 He had told Archdeacon Henry, and Mr. Clarke, at Waimate, that his policy was to let the King's flag alone.

279 The Waitara affair was not connected with the King movement, though it had the effect, to a certain extent, of confirming that movement. Potatau himself pretended to base it upon a scriptural injunction: – "From among thy brethren shalt thou set a king over thee. Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee who is not thy brother." The fact is, they saw the land passing out of their hands, and with it their rank and station in the community. A landless Maori would be an outcast.

280 This was all that was ever asked by the peace-party in the House. There never was a "Peace-at-any-price party" in the Colony. "Give back what was wrongfully taken; place yourselves recti in curia; and then fight away on the simple ground of British subjects being in arms against the Queen," – was the demand. Had it been complied with, the insurgent natives would have retired from the conflict, just as did Kawiti, when satisfied, in the North.

281 The main cause of the downfall of the Fox ministry in 1862 was, that they had listened favourably to the proposal. The House continued to treat the war as an Imperial war, and objected to giving it, by interference, the appearance of a Colonial war. Of course, behind all this lay the relative question of cost to the Imperial, or to the Colonial Treasury. But the Home Government were now as willing to surrender the management of native affairs, as they had formerly been determined to retain it. The Colonial argument was fair enough. "We are willing to undertake the responsibility, so soon as you shall have settled your own dispute. But we object to being launched into difficulties, not of our own creation, with the risk of being told that through mismanagement we did not overcome them."

The Fox ministry was succeeded by the Bell-Domett ministry, the Governor retaining the management of native affairs. In 1863, the House was induced to accept the responsibility, and the Fox-Whitaker ministry came into office. They "advised" the Governor, but quarrelled with him, or he with them: for present purposes, it matters not.

Now it was the Duke of Newcastle, who, as Secretary of State, had agreed, at the instance of Governor Grey, to transfer the responsibility of native management to the Assembly. His successor, Mr. Cardwell, held different opinions. In 1864, he had an interview with a member of the House of Representatives, on New Zealand affairs, in the course of which he said – "How if we were to restore the management of native affairs to the Governor?" "The best thing you could do, and I will undertake to support it with all my might," was the reply. Mr. Cardwell went down to the House, and there, to the astonishment of his interlocutor, proposed a scheme of divided responsibility. A letter was addressed to the Times, pointing out the certain consequences; also shewing that the New Zealand Ministry, if true to themselves, must immediately resign on receipt of the despatch. But the Times being a government supporter refused insertion. Perhaps it was as well; for the Fox-Whitaker ministry did not resign, though urged to do so from a friendly quarter. The result was as predicted; what was happily termed by Fitzgerald of Canterbury, "The great memorandummiad," between Sir George and his responsible advisers ensued; and finally the ministry broke up, not caring to meet the House. Had they resigned, as expected, on receipt of Mr. Cardwell's despatch, they would have gone out with applause, upon a principle; instead of retiring on a profitless dispute with the Governor. Mr. Weld was invited to form a government; but, mindful of the fate of his predecessors, fixed the Governor to terms in writing before finally consenting to accept. During his administration, the Governor obtained much credit by a brilliant operation with colonial forces, at the Wereroa pa. The Weld ministry went out by a majority of one, as usual, in 1865, and was succeeded by another Stafford ministry, from which Sir George accepted advice, resignedly enough. Of the Governor's quarrel with General Cameron, Commander of the Forces, and its heavy cost to the Colony, this is not the place to speak. It must suffice to say that he served the usual term of office, after the expiration of which the Home Government did not think proper to reappoint him.

282 "Confused," but not always identified.

283 That is to say, South of Auckland. Ngapuhi maintained order in the North.

284 Mr. Henry Williams possesses the Hauhau church-service, if it may so be called, obtained through private influence. It is a meaningless jargon of many languages, supposed to have magical force. One line, quoted by the Bishop of Waiapu in "Christianity and the New Zealanders," may suffice as a specimen: –

Koti te pata mai merire, Which is, – "God the Father miserere mei."

285 Turanga, Poverty Bay, was the station of the Bishop of Waiapu.

286 It was manifest that mesmerism, to which, as we learn from the experiences of Dr. Esdaile in the Indian hospitals, races of Asiatic descent are far more impressionable than ourselves, was at work.

287 They probably meant what they said, but the Poverty Bay natives are notorious for procrastination.

288 He originated the endowments of Mangonui, Kaitaia, Waimate, Kaikohe, Paihia, and Russell. Of Pakaraka, where stands the family church, mention has been already made. Of course, with the exception of Pakaraka, he could only form a nucleus for each, round which an increase might gather by degrees.

289 Uritaniwha under Wi Katene; Ngarehauata under Piripi Korongohi.

[Pages 351-364]

apprised of this, returned in haste, to find both parties already on the ground. One of the chiefs, seeing him ride up, determined not to be frustrated again, stepped forward and fired, killing his man. The fire was returned, and during the day, three were killed on one side, and two on the other, besides many wounded. Mr. Williams himself, with Mr. Hopkins Clarke, narrowly escaped, having been covered by a party who were just about to fire, but found their mistake in time.

Blood having been once shed, the whole district was being rapidly drawn in. There is no escape from relationship in Maoridom, even to the fortieth degree. The bitterness became intense; a general infatuation prevailed, and a day was fixed for a general engagement, a pitched battle, the result of which would have been, to plunge the North into irremediable conflict.

The eve of the appointed day had come; at daylight in the morning the fight was to commence. But suddenly, passion was stayed, arrested in mid-course. The word had been passed round, on either side, that Te Wiremu was dead.

On the eighth of July, he had transacted business with Matthew Taupaki and Renata, native ministers, who had come up to take instructions about Kaitaia. Three days later, much depressed at the folly of the natives, he felt illness coming on. Dr. Ford was called in, and remained three days. On the sixteenth he left, not apprehending any serious result. So little apprehension of immediate danger was there, that all the sons, in accordance with their father's wish, were away among the combatants, seeking to persuade them into peace. But his own words to the doctor were – "I hope this may be the last time you may have to visit me. I am weary of this life; I long to be with my Saviour."

No pronounced ailment was discoverable, but the force of life was exhausted. In his weakness, his thoughts reverted to the treatment he had suffered, and the words "cruel, it was cruel," would from time to time escape his lips. On the evening of that day he was seized with a fainting fit, and in less than a quarter of an hour he fell asleep without a struggle, so gently and quietly that none could tell the exact moment when he ceased to breathe.

The natives were paralysed: naku i mate ai a Te Wiremu, said Haratua; 290 "I have killed Te Wiremu." Four chiefs immediately left the pa to act as mourners; Haratua gave orders that his people should confine themselves strictly to the defensive; time was gained for angry passion to subside, and peace was at length effected, a large party from Hokianga acting as mediators. 291

The description of the peace-making is given in Mr. Henry Williams' words: –

The ceremony was a very interesting one. At nine o'clock in the morning, Haratua's people issued out of their pa, headed by Abraham Taonui, with a white flag. On arriving at the battle field Taonui took out his Testament, and read appropriate texts of Scripture, concluding with "Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God." He then bid them all kneel down, while he offered up a prayer for a blessing on the work of the day. Then he marched them up to the Uritaniwha pa, where the two forces met, – between five and six hundred, – the largest number of armed men assembled in the district since Heke's war.

They first had the war dance, with every demonstration of defiance, one for the other; and as they stood confronting each other, Taonui again took his Testament, read as before, then made them all kneel down together, and again prayed for a blessing on the work. After this they sat down and made speeches for several hours, each side presenting the other with valuable peace offerings. Then came the kai, and later in the day they might be seen at the tangi, crying as if their hearts would break over the dead they had slain. 292

Bred up and inured to war, in death itself, as in maturer life, Henry Williams had been still "The Peace-maker." 293

"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

Of worldly gear he left but little behind; yet bequeathed to his family a rich heritage, – the memory of himself. To shew how dearly that was prized, the story must be carried a few years onwards.

It will be remembered that when Henry Williams was driven from Paihia, he took refuge at Pakaraka, where his sons were established, farming their own land. His first care was to build a church, wherein he might continue to officiate; for although ecclesiastical relations between himself and the Bishop were held to remain undisturbed, in reality he had no longer foot-hold upon his proper ground. He refused to permit the building of a house for himself until a fitting place of worship should be provided, saying with David, – "I will not go up into the tabernacle of my house, until I find out a place for the temple of the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob."

After ten months' service in the barn, a church was opened, small, but so planned as to form a chancel to a larger edifice which he intended, but never had means to build. His intention was taken up, in the form of a memorial to himself. The old church was removed, converted by Mrs. Williams into a Maori hostel for natives who might come from a distance to service, and a building put up in its place, which is at least most creditable to a mere out-lying district in a colony. The church was opened by the Bishop of Auckland, November 27, 1873.

The following account is taken from the Auckland Church Gazette: –

PAKARAKA, BAY OF ISLANDS. – On the 27th of November last, Trinity Church, at Pakaraka, founded by Archdeacon Henry

Williams, and built by his family, was formally opened by the Bishop of Auckland. There were present, the Bishop of Waiapu, the Archdeacon of Waimate, the Rev. Matthew Taupaki, the Rev. Reuben Paerata, about four hundred natives, and about one hundred and fifty Europeans.

Before narrating the proceedings of the day, the history of Pakaraka Church must be traced back, in few words, to its commencement. In this wise was the building of it brought about: –

Forty-one years ago, Mr. Henry Williams was returning from one of those many voyages which he made to the South, in the hope of putting an end to the war which was being waged between Ngapuhi and Tauranga. The vessel was unseaworthy; one of those old fashioned craft, spoken of as being built by the mile and cut off by the yard, as required. When nearing Cape Colville, they were caught in a gale, so violent that they had to take in sail, and drift. It was an iron-bound coast, with rocks and small islands scattered up and down. Night came on, so thick, that they could not see the length of the vessel; the gale raged harder than ever, bringing before them, to use Mr. Williams' own words, shipwreck in its worst form. When the day broke, they were able to make out the hazy loom of high land close on the lee-beam. Making what sail she could bear, they stood on endeavouring to weather the point, but of this it soon appeared there was no hope. The master gave orders to wear the ship, which had missed stays repeatedly during the previous day. But for this manoeuvre there was no room; it would have been certain destruction. Mr. Williams, who had been for many years a naval officer in the service, assumed the command, countermanded the order, took the helm, watched a smooth of the sea, and put the vessel in stays. For the first time, unexpectedly by all, himself included, she came round, and in a short time was the inexpressible relief of leaving the rocks in her wake. Nothing could have saved them had they struck; the deliverance was felt to be providential.

But that dark night had awakened anxious thought, – how the family was to be provided for should the father be called away. The Church Missionary Society could not accept the charge; the neighbouring convict colonies were not to be thought of; but it was possible to earn a livelihood out of the soil of the land in which they lived. In the course of the ensuing year Mr. Williams effected his first purchase from the natives, and, after setting aside one-tenth of both land and stock as an endowment for a church, handed over the rest unreservedly to his children. The sons laboured hard, and prospered accordingly.

* * * * * *

At 9 a.m. on the day already mentioned, Maori service was held, when the assembled natives were addressed by the Bishop of Auckland. He drew especial attention to the immediate object of

TRINITY CHURCH, PAKARAKA.

[Page 356 is blank]

the meeting, attributing the largeness of the attendance to the reverence in which the late Archdeacon's name was held among them; and reminded the Maories of some of the more striking features of his character, especially of his fearlessness of consequences in the discharge of what he believed to be his duty. "He feared God, and therefore had nothing else to fear."

At noon, European service, read by Archdeacon Clarke and the Bishop of Auckland. The Bishop of Waipu preached from Isaiah XXXV., I, – "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose," making one touching allusion to his brother's work, but evidently afraid to trust himself with more.

The processional chant (Psalm XXIV.) for the entry of the clergy, the Venite, the proper Psalms for an opening service (LXXXIV., CXXII., CXXXII.), the Te Deum, Benedictus, Farrant's anthem – "Lord, for Thy tender mercies sake," the Kyrie, and the Nicene Creed, were sung by the Pakaraka choir, consisting entirely of members of the founder's family, with a precision and accuracy of intonation that left nothing to desire; the result of systematic training, and unsparing reproof of the most trifling inaccuracy. Moreover, that unity of feeling and purpose, which is in chaunting so especially necessary to success, were there in high degree.

The collection amounted to £18 from the Maori, and £40 10s. from the English congregation.

After the second service, Maories and Europeans were entertained in the old English style, ample accommodation having been provided in the grounds attached to Mrs. Williams' house. In the evening a musical party was given in the house of Mr. John Williams, the member for the county; and thus ended a day characterized by perfect unanimity of feeling, and by one prevailing thought, – how to do most honour to the memory of that patriarch who now sleeps the sleep of the just in the graveyard of Trinity Church.

THE MAORI MONUMENT.

The Memorial Church was built almost entirely from European funds. But the natives determined to take up the question of remembrance for themselves. Their means were small, but the good-will was there.

Matthew Taupaki, the Maori minister at Paihia, took the lead. Refusing to admit European contribution, he organised a gathering of Maori subscriptions over the whole of the Northern Island. A memorial window was suggested; but the natives, practical men, opined that glass might break, and determined in favour of a stone cross, in the Churchyard.

The site had to be determined. Henry Williams lay interred at Pakaraka, to which he had been driven from his old home; but his thought during the latter years of life, had never been far away from the main scene of his early work, which his expulsion had only made more dear. For want of the master mind, it was falling from its high estate. 294 He had tried hard to acquire the property by purchase or otherwise, with the view of dedicating the whole to the Maori Church, but was not allowed. Paihia was therefore chosen as the standing-place of the memorial stone; although to the last, some of the natives found difficulty in realising the idea of a "cenotaph," – a monument to one buried elsewhere. The tupapaku and the kohatu, they said, should have been together.

The Kawakawa natives had chartered the "Black Diamond" steamer to carry them down; the "Iona" brought up the Bishop, with visitors from Auckland. Shortly before noon, a cluster of women ranged themselves on Horotutu Point, began the tawhiri [beckon], a welcome to the hui, about four hundred strong, which advanced in a compact body from the Ti. Altogether about eight hundred, including Europeans, were on the ground.

The Paihia memorial stone may be taken as a counterpart to that which had been set up by the Government, on the opposite side of the water, to Thomas Walker Nene, our staunch friend and fighting ally, when British sovereignty, to hazard a bold expression, came so near to being driven into the sea: the Maori tribute to the Englishman; that of the English to the Maori, betokening the long endurance of good feeling between two races which are not likely ever to amalgamate.

On the 11th of January, 1876, the monument was unveiled, in the presence of the Bishop of Auckland, Mr. Edward Clarke, successor to Henry Williams in the Archdeaconry of Waimate, nine of the Maori clergy, and all the countryside.

NATIVE MEMORIAL, PAIHIA.

[Page 360 is blank.]

On the four sides are the following inscriptions: –

He
WHAKAMAHARATANGA
MO
TE WIREMU
He tohu aroha ki a ia na te
HAHI MAORI.
He tino matua ia ki nga iwi katoa,
He tangata toa ki te hohou rongo i roto i nga riri Maori.
E 44 nga tau i rui ai ia i te Rongo Pai ki tenei motu.
I tae mai ia i te tau 1823.
I tangohia atu i te tau 1867.

IN LOVING MEMORY
of
HENRY WILLIAMS,
44 years a preacher of the Gospel of Peace,
A father of the tribes,
This monument is raised by the
MAORI CHURCH.
He came to us in 1823,
He was taken from us in 1867. 295

Nga iwi na ratou i whakatu tenei kohatu ko
NGAPUHI, NGATIRAUKAWA,
TE RARAWA, NGATIKAHUNGUNU,
TE AUPOURI, NGATIPOROU,
NGATIMARU.

The tribes who raised this monument are
NGAPUHI, NGATIRAUKAWA,
TE RARAWA, NGATIKAHUNGUNU,
TE AUPOURI, NGATIPOROU,
NGATIMARU.

At a signal from the Bishop of Auckland, the monument was unveiled. On the lifting of the veil, the Bay of Islands choir sang the chorus from Mendelssohn's St. Paul, "How lovely are the Messengers that bring us the Gospel of Peace." Then the Bishop addressed the assemblage, Archdeacon Clarke interpreting: –

Maori Friends, – I am glad to have been able to accept your invitation for to-day; for though I had not the privilege of knowing the late Archdeacon personally, as many of you had, none of you have a greater reverence for his memory than I have. Such men as he was do not need monuments of stone to keep them in our memory; but it is well, for the sake of those who come after us, to erect the memorials. We are told that "the righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance:" their right doing shall leave behind permanent results, to be seen of many long after they themselves have gone to their rest, It is fifty-three years since Archdeacon Williams took up his residence at this place; and as a visible result of the Church's work, in which he was a pioneer, and took a principal part for many years, there are the nine Maori clergymen who stand beside me to-day, eight of them belonging to this Archdeaconry. But it is not only for his work as an evangelist that we revere the memory of the Archdeacon. It is also because he possessed, in an eminent degree, two virtues which are specially honoured by Englishmen, namely, courage and honesty, – virtues which are rarely found apart in any high degree. They are essential to the truly Christian character; and I trust that this monument, erected by Maori tribes, will be one means of reminding the inhabitants of this district, both Europeans and natives, that if they would be like the father of the Church at Paihia, and if they would be like the Master he served, they must prove themselves courageous and honest.

The Reverend Matthew Taupaki then rose, and delivered an excellent speech, recapitulating the services of Henry Williams during the whole of his New Zealand career. 296

Mr. Edward Marsh Williams, as representative of the family, expressed their thanks to the Maori; the Bishop dismissed the assembly with the benediction, and the natives returned to the Ti, where ample provision had been made for them.

We have been confronted, in this volume, by the Janus Bifrons, 297 but of two very different complexions. Bishop Selwyn, after

doing good service in the war, both with the troops and with natives, for which he was most unfairly assailed, returned to England, for translation to an English See. Great in everything, even in his faults; and every inch a man. His deficiencies, such as they were, lay hidden from common view behind the display of manifest strength. But he knew not how to measure his force; he strained the bow of authority till it broke in his hands, and the shaft fell harmless at his feet. Even his own judgment was overmastered by the force of his own will, causing undue carelessness about means, when once he had satisfied himself that his end was good. Of an intellect essentially robust, he lacked delicacy of perception, and was not sure to know his man. An indifferent reasoner, – for we must not do him the injustice of supposing that his faulty arguments were used in hope of the fallacy escaping notice, – incapable of perceiving the force of a logical conclusion when it stood in his way, he had what is in practice more efficient than argumentation, – a resolute, even a headstrong will, that bore no thwarting. Nor was it until he was met by a will equally resolute, that he was baulked. But he was a grand bishop; not indeed, though he has been so-called in England, a "missionary bishop," for his influence with the natives was never much; 298 but as the head of the Church of England in New Zealand. Able, moreover, in spite of will, to profit by experience, he rose in estimation towards the last, and, excepting at his coming, was never so popular as when he left. We have to thank him for Church endowments, to which he has been himself no mean contributor; for an organised system of Church government in the Colony; and, not least, I take the liberty to say, for the nomination of Dr. Cowie, his excellent and efficient successor. Held in high respect and kind remembrance, even by those whom he had aggrieved, he can afford to leave unnoticed those puny whipsters in England who seek to win

notoriety for themselves by persistently girding at the Bishop of Lichfield.

Of his fellow-actor I care not to say more than I can help. Non ragionam di lui. Years ago I compared the two, likening the one to the Homeric Odysseus, cast in heroic mould; the other to the Virgilian Ulysses. There is nothing to add to the description, or to take away. He is harmless now. Ignored by both political parties in England, Liberal as well as Tory, he has lapsed into advocacy of the rights of man. About this I have nothing to observe, having accustomed myself to pay more regard to the duties of man.

A few words concerning my own treatment of his proceedings are called for. I have not sought to deal hardly by him. If any one should think that enough reserve has not been used, be it remembered that I am engaged for the defence, – employed in vindicating another from his own most cruel attacks. I have sought to confine myself, so far as possible, to statement of facts, in avoidance of comment. This Memoir is open to challenge; I expect and hope it. If it can be shewn that I have in any wise done him wrong, I shall be found ready to offer the amplest amends, having care to make the reparation more widely known than the offence. The first impulse of a gentleman is to acknowledge and atone for error, unwittingly committed. But I am able to declare to the pains that have been taken, by unsparing labour and minute research, to avoid it.

THE END.

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290 Haratua was matua [patron chief] to Pakaraka, and a warrior of renown. He insisted upon being appointed a pall-bearer. After the burial he said, "My hand has touched the pall; I can no longer go back to fight."

291 Under Abraham Taonui, George Tawiti, Te Kaka, and William Walker.

292 Mr. Ludbrooke thus heightens the description: –

"A singular contrast was now seen; the whole party of the Hokianga and Haratua natives springing to their feet and dancing the tutu ngaruhu, the war-dance, which was responded to by the other party. The Uritaniwha then gave that beautiful hari, which is always customary when peace is accepted. The motions in this dance are easy and graceful; as they move off the ground their voices die away in a soft cadence, quite a contrast to the fearful yells which accompany the war dance. Speeches were then made. Wi Katene, the principal chief of Uritaniwha, stepped forward, and, after a few words of welcome, came up to Haratua, rubbed noses, dropping his mat, – a custom they have when any have been slain. He was followed by Tane, of the opposite party, saluting the Uritaniwha, and dropping also his garment. Speeches were made until the women made their appearance, bringing the kai. The first basket was brought to the Europeans, and some of the chiefs partook with them. A loud tangi [wailing] was then made for the dead, and thus ended the peacemaking."

293 I commend to perusal the letters addressed to Sir William Martin, by two Maori ministers, – the Rev. Matthew Taupaki, and the Rev. Renata Tangata; Appendix O.

294 The old Mission-house was occupied by two of the Archdeacon's sons'-in-law. The one died; the other succumbed to ill-health, and returned to England. Paihia, a place of historical renown, is now kept up in a state of order, if nothing more, by a few European residents, aided by their indefatigable Maori minister, out of respect to the memory of the first incumbent.

295 The English inscription is in accordance with English idiom, not being a literal translation from the Maori. An exact version would be as follows: –

A
MEMORIAL
TO
HENRY WILLIAMS.
A token of love to him from the
MAORI CHURCH.
He was a father indeed to all the tribes,
A man brave to make peace in the Maori Wars.
For 44 years he sowed the Glad Tidings in this Island.
He came to us in the year 1823.
He was taken from us in the year 1867.

296 Appendix P.

297 By Janus Quadrifrons, if Lord Grey and the Church Mission Society be added.

298 It had been intended to compare the state of the Mission at the time of Bishop Selwyn's arrival, with its state at the time of his final departure from the Colony. But the comparison would be unfair. When he arrived, the Mission was at its zenith; when he left, numerous stations were in ruins, – the result of a war which he had opposed to the utmost of his power.

APPENDIX TO VOL II.

APPENDIX TO VOL II,

APPENDICES are of little interest to the general reader, who is, for the most part, content to accept the text. But some of the statements of fact therein made are of a nature so trenchant as to need corroboration by original documents. It has been found difficult to reduce their bulk; as it is, they are fewer than could be wished. But, once for all, I pledge myself either "to substantiate, or fully and honourably to retract;" to do that justice to the assailants of Henry Williams which was refused to him by themselves. The main object of this Memoir is vindication of character; but the endeavour has been, while freely presenting facts, to abstain from comment upon those facts, so far at least as duty would permit. While the struggle was hot, expressions of severity were used. These have been carefully excised, even from letters and journals, as being unnecessary to vindication. But while much forbearance has been exercised towards persons, none whatever has been used in regard to those assertions, uttered in defiance of fact, by which injury so deep was inflicted on an unoffending man. There has been no blenching from the declaration, in the plainest words, of their utter untruthfulness. If they were not so, what is the alternative? The restoration of Archdeacon Williams would have been a crime. Were they buried for good and all, they might have been more gently dealt with; but from time to time they are exhumed, – dug out from Blue Books and Parliamentary Papers which, to those who have not been trained behind the scenes, convey the impression of indubitable authenticity. Upon these assertions, and not upon vague opinions, let issue be joined.

A. – Page 73.

Reasons given by Mr. Commissioner FitzGerald to his Excellency Governor FitzRoy for extending the Commissioner's award in favour of the Rev. Henry Williams, having been authorised thereto by the Governor and Council.

Report on the Claims of the Reverend Henry Williams.

| ACRES. |  | ACRES.
No. 245 | Claim for 1000 | Commissioner's award | 468
245a | " 3000 | " " | 2292
245b .. | " 500 | " " | 232
245c .. | " 4000 | " " | 1813
245d | " 500 | " " | 420
245e | " 2000 | " " | 1785
| 11,000 | " " | 7010

The Rev. Henry Williams makes these several claims on behalf of eleven children (many of whom are grown up and settled on their land) and himself. The deeds are drawn up in their favour as well as his, therefore they may be considered, to a certain extent, distinct and separate claims. The father appears to have paid on behalf of himself and children enough to entitle them to (22,131) twenty-two thousand one hundred and thirty-one acres, according to the ordinance scale; and considering the well-known character and services of the father, and the qualifications of the children as colonists, I respectfully recommend to the Governor, being authorised thereto by the Executive Council, that the full amount claimed in each case be granted, excepting on No. 245c, 299 from which 2,000 acres should be deducted, leaving a total of (9,000) nine thousand acres.

Land Office, June 10, 1844.
ROBERT APPLEYARD FITZGERALD, Commissioner.
Approved and authorised, July 14, 1844.
ROBERT FITZROY.

MEMORANDUM.

The number of children in the families of the Missionaries on whose behalf land has been purchased are one hundred and seventeen.

The average number of acres for each, 304 1/2; for which, according to the figures given by the Commissioners, five shillings and ninepence has been paid per acre.

The number of acres awarded by the Commissioner to the families of the Missionaries are 35,630 of waste land, which, taken

in one block, occupies a space of less than eight miles by seven, which it may be advisable to mark off on the Map of New Zealand and see its extent, for the support of one hundred and seventeen children, not to mention the numerous grand-children, of course dependant upon the same provision.

Of this land considerable portions are of no value whatever. Of the land awarded to Mr. King and Mr. Kemp scarcely one acre in twenty can be regarded as available for agricultural purposes, and was selected by them for their children, in order to keep their children under their own watchful eye, rather than sanction their occupying more fertile spots at a distance from them.

The grant of land formerly allowed in New South Wales to chaplains for the benefit of their children was – for sons, 1,920 acres; for daughters, 1,280; free from all expenses.

The first fruit of Pakaraka, the farm where my sons are at work, was my second son connecting himself with the Bishop; he was in September last admitted to Holy Orders, paying his own expenses. The same is open for the rest of my sons. The proceeds of the farm have all been turned back upon the farm in improvements, and, for myself, I have not received one shilling.

H. W.

=======================

B. – Page 90.

The following details of the sacking of Kororareka are taken from an account written immediately afterwards for the Australian, and subsequently republished by the Times of September 6, 1845. Much is here omitted from it, mainly on account of severity of stricture, which I am unwilling to reproduce. That great want of determination was shewn, is true; but the local authorities considered themselves bound by general orders from the Government at Auckland – (orders which could not have been framed for a contingency that was not foreseen) – to stand upon the defensive only. As to military conduct, it must suffice to say, that Lieutenant Barclay and Ensign Campbell were brought to court martial, and acquitted. Of the folly of the bombardment, and of what really caused it, the less said the better. The person to blame fell in the attack upon Ohaeawai pa. The comments upon the conduct of the Police Magistrate were undeserved, Archdeacon Williams,

when questioned upon the subject, said that Mr. Beckham had behaved well. Now, "behaving well" was with him no slight saying; for it was according to his own standard of "well." He gave a strong recommendation to Governor FitzRoy, which was acted upon accordingly.

THE SACKING OF KORORAREKA.

As the following narrative, which has been communicated to us, will be read in London as well as in this Colony, we shall mention that Kororareka in New Zealand goes by the name of "The Bay of Islands" [Russell]. Kororareka is a native name of a small district of a mile or two wide and long. It is distinguished by a very fine beach and harbour, so sheltered and convenient that the shipping of all nations have made use of it for more than forty years. Whalers have made it their regular rendezvous on account of its being free from imposts, furnishing them with fresh water and the finest spars in the world; also, the pigs, potatoes, and pork of the natives often proved a wholesome and seasonable supply in the way of helping out the provisions of whaling crews.

The Missionary establishments consist of a Church of England, a Wesleyan, and a Roman Catholic Mission respectively. The Church of England one is superintended by Archdeacon Williams, formerly a lieutenant in the Navy, and, of course, a man-of-war in, if not from, his youth. Great calumnies, however, have gone forth against this gentleman for leaning too much to the natives. From what we can learn, the calumnies, if all enquired into, would be changed into testimonials, honourable to the character of the Archdeacon, looking to him as an ambassador of Christ and an impartial umpire between his native Christian flock and his lay countrymen. The latter are, indeed, Christians, but some of them are adventurers from all nations, and some of them runaway convicts from New South Wales, to whom the fear of God is unknown and His commandments foolishness. These are they who calumniate the Missionaries, and who, by their misrepresentations arising from the check the Missionaries put on their personal vices and tyranny to the natives, cause strangers on their return home to repeat these calumnies, which, being never specifically replied to by the calumniated, often make a false impression on those who know no better. A late instance of this misrepresenting spirit may be mentioned.

On Sunday, two days before the late capture of Kororareka, the Archdeacon had prevailed upon the hostile chiefs to agree to a truce and to perform Divine worship among them as usual. He learned that the grand threatened attack would not be made the next morning. It was not made, though expected by the authorities.

On Tuesday morning it was made, and the authorities were fully apprised of it on the Monday evening by a brother magistrate.

Now certain writers have alleged in the newspapers that the Archdeacon had stated the attack would not be made on Tuesday morning. Thus the mistake of a day 300 has caused the Archdeacon to be held forth as a traitor to his country.

The grand attack on Tuesday, the 11th of March, was made by three parties of natives. One by Heke, a Christian and a man of noble nature, with about 200 followers; another under Kawiti, a heathen, with about the same number, his followers professing to be Roman Catholics; and the third under Kapotai, 301 with about the same number. The three parties did not exceed 600 men. They had muskets and double-barrelled guns, with few exceptions; and also tomahawks, of which it was reported they intended to make use under certain circumstances.

The British force consisted of –

Soldiers, say ... ... ... ... ... ... 60
Marines and sailors belonging to H.M.S. "Hazard," say...90
Armed colonists, say...............70
[Total ....] 220

(The "Hazard's" complement of sailors and marines, reckoning eight to a gun, must have been 164.)

Early in February Kawiti, formerly a friend of the Europeans, though a man of no principle, had begun to plunder the settlers a mile or two from the settlement, particularly Mr. Wright's farm, formerly a master mariner. This was not resisted by Mr. Beckham, for this good reason; he had no force sufficient to encounter Kawiti's party of 200 armed men. But Her Majesty's ship "Hazard" arrived at the settlement in the end of February from Auckland, bringing with her the materials to erect a block-house near the flag-staff. In a few days the block-house was finished, and a guard of twenty soldiers was placed in it under the command of Ensign Campbell. Soon after the arrival of the "Hazard," Kawiti attempted to steal some horses from one of the suburban settlers. The commander of the "Hazard," hearing of it, sent an armed boat, which pursued the natives. The latter fired at the boat and wounded one of the boat's crew. This was the first act of war or open rebellion on the part of the natives. The new flag-staff was erected when the block-house was finished. Our readers in New South Wales are aware that the British flag has for a long time excited the jealousy and active opposition of the Chief Heke, on

what he considers patriotic grounds. Having been taught to read the Scriptures and other books, he has always argued against the flag-staff as being a token of subjection of his country to the British, which he compares to the subjection of the natives of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land; and he has repeatedly declared his resolution to prevent this flag from flying, or to die in the attempt. He, indeed, promised Governor FitzRoy, when Major Bunbury arrived at the Bay of Islands, with 200 troops, to desist from his hostility on this point. But when the troops had returned to Sydney his former feelings revived, and his resolution to prevent the flag from being hoisted has evidently grown stronger and stronger from that time. Not long before the attack on the 11th, he had delivered his gold-laced cap to Archdeacon Williams to cry over after his death; having made up his mind to sacrifice his life to his inclinations as to the flag. Heke also alludes to the treatment of the Israelites in Egypt by Pharoah, and makes comparisons between those two nations, the English and his own people. Heke is a religious man, a Protestant, and has prayers among his people every day. 302 Wrong or right, he is allowed by our people to be acting upon what he conceives to be his duty to his country. He never joined the other chiefs in plundering the settlers. He contends for one object, and one only, the non-erection of the flag-staff. Thus in the attack on the 11th, when he had gained the block-house and dug up the flag-staff, he and his party sat down quietly on the hill and looked on the fight below between the British and Kapotai.

We shall now proceed to describe the earlier hostilities which took place previous to the grand attack on Tuesday, the 11th of March. On the 7th March Lieutenant Philpots and Mr. Parrot, both officers of Her Majesty's ship "Hazard," in riding towards the head of Mataawi, to reconnoitre Heke's people who had just shewn themselves on the opposite side of the bay (half a mile across), fell in with Kawiti's party, and were taken prisoners. Kawiti, however, learning they had made no resistance when taken, set them at liberty. A few of Kawiti's party then proceeded to the settlement, and attempted to drive away some horses that were grazing near to the place were a picket was stationed; the soldiers desired them to desist, which advice they disregarding, were fired upon, and one of them was wounded in the leg. Random shots were now exchanged on both sides. The natives appearing in greater numbers on the heights, the "Hazard's" launch was

dispatched up the bay and the crew fired a few shots which did no harm. These marauders belonged to Kawiti. Heke having seen the firing, sent a canoe across to know the result; on its return it was fired upon by the launch, but without effect. Heke's people did not return the fire. It was this day suggested to the authorities that Heke's eleven canoes, capable of holding all his party (200), were then lying in a station where they could be destroyed without loss of life to the owners, being within reach of the launch's big gun. The suggestion was disregarded. This sort of infatuation of the authorities, it will be seen, was exhibited through the whole of this disastrous affair. But that they should have carried their principle of "pure self-defence" to such a height as not even to destroy the canoes by which alone Heke's party could descend on the settlement, when the same could have been accomplished without loss of life (for it is not supposed Heke's party would have stood on the shore while the "Hazard's" launch was pouring shot on the boats), seems to be an act little short of insanity. Heke became aware of the uncovered position of his canoes, for that very night he removed them out of danger.

On Saturday, the 8th, there was similar skirmishing; but in the evening a truce was agreed upon between the native chiefs and the British authorities, through the Missionaries, that hostilities should not be assumed on either side on Sunday. Here was a demonstrative proof that the Queen's native subjects were in armed rebellion against her authority.

On the 9th, Archdeacon Brown, a Protestant Missionary, entered the camp of Heke and performed Divine Service for him and his people. A Catholic Priest did the same for such part of Kawiti's followers as are professing Christians. Kawiti himself is generally considered to be still a heathen. The Archdeacon reported the numbers of the two parties to be about 400. Pumuka had not then arrived, but he and his party arrived the next day. Our people, notwithstanding the opinion of the Archdeacon, rather expected an attack on Monday morning. The settlement was full of confidence.

On Monday, the 10th, the natives did not approach the town so near as they had done on Saturday, but in order to apprize them of the nature of part of our defence, the battery opened upon them, and they retired. In the evening of this day a magistrate of New Zealand, who had been twenty years in the Colony, and who, of course, was well acquainted with the habits of the natives, called on Mr. Beckham, the Police Magistrate. He found assembled in his house Lieutenant Philpots, of H.M.S. "Hazard," and other gentlemen. He informed them he had been just visited by a friendly native, who had that day been at Heke's camp and learned their plans. The native informed them that the three chiefs

intended to attack the settlement at daybreak in the morning; not in one body, but that each chief would enter the settlement, Kawiti by the Mataawi end of the settlement, Pumuka by the opposite end near the barracks, while Heke would attack the flag-staff, which is to the North, on the heights. The information was received with indifference, not unmingled with contempt. The magistrate left them, saying that "whatever might happen, he had done his duty."

On Tuesday, the 11th, at peep of dawn, the three chiefs entered the settlement precisely in the way described by the magistrate.

It is impossible that either the Civil or Naval authorities could have been so well prepared for this triple attack (as by Captain Robertson's early movement they appear to have been), if, after the departure of the magistrate, Mr. Beckham and Lieutenant Philpots had not abandoned their professed contempt of the magistrate's warning. They appear to have thought it of sufficient importance to communicate it to Captain Robertson, for by break of day that gallant officer was on the road to meet Kawiti. He met him on the hill where the picket was stationed, who, after firing their muskets, retreated on Captain Robertson's party, the latter being close at hand. A deadly fire now commenced on both sides, being almost muzzle to muzzle. It lasted twenty minutes or half-an-hour, when Captain Robertson fell, struck by four balls, and was supposed killed. The Sergeant of Marines also fell dead. These two losses caused our party to fall back, firing as they retreated. 303 But, perceiving that Kawiti did not follow them, they took their road to the stockade and entered leisurely. The party had consisted of forty-five seamen and marines.

Heke approached the settlement undiscovered until he reached the chief block-house on the hill to the North, where the British flag, so obnoxious to that chief, had been erected. Finding only four soldiers there, he desired them to surrender, which summons they answered by firing on his party. Heke fired in return, and the four soldiers were killed. Heke having accomplished his object sat down, and he and his party looked the remainder of the morning on the firing below, between Kapotai and the British. The conduct of Heke and Kawiti in both grounding their arms and resting themselves after they had beaten their first antagonists and rendering Kapotai no assistance is most remarkable as regards the intentions and military ideas of these chiefs. One consequence of their conduct in this respect was that the British (soldiers, sailors, marines, and armed inhabitants altogether) became somewhat equal in numbers to Kapotai's party, which did not exceed 200; for the

British must, notwithstanding their loss, have still numbered nearly 200. Now, how did these 200 comport themselves? Captain Robertson's party were, as before mentioned, in the stockade along with the women and children. Police Magistrate Beckham and Lieutenant Philpots, of H.M.S. "Hazard," were also there. Ensign Campbell's party (save the four killed at the block-house) had retreated into the second block-house, half-way down the same hill, which, having been erected by the inhabitants, had by them been placed in the charge of Mr. Hector, a solicitor.

The remainder of the battle, therefore, was fought exclusively by Kapotai on the one side, and Mr. Hector, Lieutenant Barclay, and Ensign Campbell on the other.

The party in the block-house, consisting of twenty-four soldiers and thirteen civilians, kept firing away, receiving in return the fire of Kapotai's party from three sides. Mr. Hector, assisted by two inhabitants and a sailor or two, worked two of the guns, the small one being of little or no service. Mr. Hector had found himself particularly annoyed by the shots from a party of natives within fifteen or twenty-one yards distance, and requested Lieutenant Barclay to let him have some of his men out of the block-house to charge them, in order to get rid of their destructive fire. The Lieutenant refused. Mr. Hector at length got one of the guns to bear on this part, which drove them off, but not before they had killed one of the men and wounded another.

At another period of the engagement Mr. Hector found the fire from a party of natives covered by the barracks was also required to be got rid of. Accordingly, as Lieutenant Philpots would not lend him any men, he went down to the stockade, the bullets flying all about him, and requested from Mr. Beckham and Lieutenant Philpots, out of the 150 armed men in the stockade, soldiers, sailors, marines, and inhabitants, a party to charge the natives stationed behind the barracks. He received no answer from either Mr. Beckham or Lieutenant Philpots. He then sung out for volunteers. Six men stepped forward. With these he proceeded to the barracks and drove off the assailants, some twenty in number. He left the six men there, well covered. But as soon as Mr. Hector was gone away the natives returned and destroyed the six men. Mr. Hector then brought one of the guns to bear upon the barracks and once more cleared them. About seven or eight of his men then drove the natives further up the hill. They kept their station this time. During the engagement Mr. Hector fell short of ammunition. He went down to the stockade and obtained four bags of loose powder. The women gave him their garments to make cartridges, and his gunner and others gave him their shirts. The cartridges had to be made of the loose powder, while the muskets were blazing away; no wonder the stockade was finally

blown up, when loose powder was thus lying about, and cartridges sufficient for such a paltry engagement had not been previously made, or, at all events, could not be got at.

The engagement continued until about half-past ten, when the natives hoisted a flag of truce and ceased firing.

After the flag of truce was hoisted Mr. Hector went down to the stockade to consult with Mr. Beckham and Lieutenant Philpots. They told him he must hold the battery and block-house all night at every extremity. Mr. Hector promised to do so, and proceeded back to his guns. Half-way he met Ensign Campbell, the soldiers, and all his own people. He asked the latter how they had presumed to leave their post without his orders? They replied that the guns had been spiked, and that they were ordered to evacuate the place. Mr. Hector having received orders to hold the place, told his men so, and ordered them back again. The men, in looking to the stockade, saw Mr. Beckham and Lieutenant Philpots beckoning them to go back. Accordingly they went back with Mr. Hector. Neither Lieutenant Barclay or Ensign Campbell were there. Almost immediately afterwards orders came from the stockade that the place was to be evacuated. It was evacuated accordingly, and the party, with Mr. Hector, once more proceeded to the stockade.

The town was then abandoned, although never taken. It was given up, surrendered at discretion, without a summons from the enemy to do so.

Annoyed at the termination of the affair, Mr. Hector proceeded on board H.M.S. "Hazard," and made a distinct offer to Lieutenant Philpots, then on board, to retake the place with forty men. No heed was taken to the proposal.

To complete the absurdities of the day, H.M.S. "Hazard," then in command of Lieutenant Philpots, fired on the natives when the latter entered the town, after our people had abandoned it. If it were intended to renew the engagement, why not, after all the women and children were safely embarked, go on shore like men and charge the natives once more? If this could not be done, why exasperate and increase their vengeance by firing a few paltry shots? No wonder the natives, as conquerors, massacred any straggling Europeans after this gratuitous insult. This foolish prank was repeated the next day, and it took place when many of the inhabitants were on shore shaking hands and making friends with the natives, to induce them to give up their property. Of course these Europeans were glad to run for their lives when the firing recommenced, and finally, to abandon all hopes of recovering their little property. On Thursday, the 13th, the beach was lined with canoes, and also with the boats taken from the inhabitants, all of which were loaded with plunder. The

"Hazard's" guns could have cut these boats to pieces. The launch, with its big guns, could have done the same. Now here was a sound reason for a renewal of hostilities, namely: – to get back our own; but it was not done.

From this narrative, supposing it to be substantially correct, the following facts are to be gleaned.

1. That any hostile movement, intended by the natives to be made on Kororareka must be made by descent in canoes. That a man-of-war's launch with a long gun in the bow can approach any of the beaches in the Bay of Islands near enough to destroy canoes and boats, and that the launch is safe from boarding, if supported by a man-of-war.

2. That no attempt was made by the authorities at the Bay of Islands to put an end to the danger of an attack on the town by destroying the enemy's canoes.

3. That after the defeat of Captain Robertson's party by Kawiti, 304 that chief took no further part in the engagement.

4. That the British force, consisting of soldiers, sailors, marines, and armed inhabitants, then became at least equal to Kapotai's party, namely: – 250 against 200.

5. That 150 of the British 200 imitated the conduct of the two chiefs, Heke and Kawiti, and grounded their arms, reposing themselves in the stockade, allowing that building to be defended or covered by some forty or fifty British, in and outside the second block-house, not far from the military barracks.

6. That after Pumuka's death a flag of truce was hoisted, which was acknowledged by the British. Firing thereafter ceased on both sides.

7. That the settlement was then in the possession of the British, and had always been so. The enemy retired to the suburbs.

The following memorandum was written, but not published, for the cause assigned by Archdeacon Henry Williams.

THE FALL OF KORORAREKA, IN 1845.

As the war with Taranaki and Waikato has revived certain idle statements relative to the war in the Bay of Islands District in 1845, it is deemed expedient to produce a letter written in 1847, but not published for the reasons stated. – Bay of Islands, August 1, 1863.

This paper was forwarded to the Bishop of New Zealand for his approval, but suppressed, under the plea that it was improper that we should submit ourselves to the judgment of a newspaper editor.

"To the Editor of the 'New Zealander' newspaper, Auckland.
Paihia, Bay of Islands, June 23, 1845.

"Sir, – Since the fall of Kororareka, on the memorable 11th of March last, my name has frequently been brought before the public in a very uncourteous way by different persons, attributing the fate of that day in some degree to statements having been made by me, that the natives would not attack the town. As these statements are not only false in themselves, but too ridiculous in idea to obtain credit by men of character and reflection, I did not consider them worthy of my, notice; nor do I feel that I am quite correct in doing so, even in this present instance. As, however, you have, in the first number of the New Zealander, in which you -attempt to give a running account of the affairs of the Bay, felt it needful to state that –

"'The fears of the inhabitants of Kororareka were in some degree allayed by the Rev. Mr. Williams informing them that he had seen the natives, and they had AT PRESENT no hostile intention, the inhabitants were therefore lulled into false security.'

"I feel it needful to make a few remarks, and shall be as brief as possible in noticing the above quotation from your paper: – Firstly; I deny that there is any foundation for the statement given in your paper. No information was at any time given by me to the inhabitants of Kororareka. My communication at this anxious period was strictly confined to the Police Magistrate, whom I considered as chief in command, before hostilities commenced.

"My last note to that officer, on the evening of the 10th, was as follows: – 'I understand that the natives intend to make their attack on the morrow in four divisions.' On the same evening, G. Mair, Esq., J.P., personally waited on the Police Magistrate, and stated that the attack would be made the following morning in four or five divisions. Was it possible that information could have been given more clear and more correct?

"Secondly. – I deny that the natives ever said that they had no hostile intention. I ask, for what other intention were they assembled, though the flag-staff was the bone of contention? I presume from the statement made by you, that you were ignorant of the subject you attempt to put forth. Hostilities had commenced on Monday, March 3rd, and were continued in a greater or less degree daily; that, in fact, they were in active operation. On Saturday, the 8th, I accompanied the Police Magistrate to Heke's camp, as a last attempt to endeavour to settle this serious state of affairs, as one man had been wounded on each side. This was my last interview with Heke. I was told by Heke that if the Police Magistrate had not been in my company they would have had his

head; and if I had conducted him to Kawiti, he would, have been killed. This I mentioned to the Police Magistrate, and told him he must not venture again.

"Allow me to ask you, Sir, if this expression was of a hostile or a friendly character? The following day, Sunday, the 9th, a party of natives came upon one of the distant hills, from whence they had a view of Kororareka, when a shell was directed at them from the "Hazard." Pray, Sir, what think you, was there any expression of hostility in this, or was it out of compliment? How extremely idle is it to state that 'the inhabitants of Kororareka were lulled into false security in consequence of its having been said that the natives had no hostile intention,' when these expressions of hostility were reciprocal upon all opportunities.

"Thirdly. – I deny that the inhabitants were lulled into false security." Every one who was in the Bay of Islands at that period, knows that the greatest uneasiness prevailed, arising from their feeling of insecurity, as the British force, being so limited, could only be expected to act on the defensive. It appears very evident that Captain Robertson and his small band were not "lulled into false security" but, at their station on the morning of the 11th of March, and made the first charge on the natives under Kawiti, who were immediately repulsed, with severe loss, and fled over the hills with all expedition, and did not return during the whole day. Captain Robertson fell, severely wounded. The flagstaff block-house was taken possession of at this period, the guard having run out, unarmed, to take a view of the first attack. This, therefore, was the commencement and termination of the fighting of that day on the part of the natives – a space of a few minutes, say ten. All the British force retired into the stockade, with the exception of a few, in the lower battery, who received no injury.

"Why the town was evacuated, is not for me to explain. I merely state that the inhabitants were not driven out of the town by the natives; they withdrew to the ships, by order of the authorities in command; and when the town was evacuated, the natives took possession.

"That there was blame somewhere, is too evident, but I am no judge in such matters. I confine myself to facts, being an eyewitness, and merely state that so it was.

"Sir, you may perhaps enquire how it came to pass that those violent expressions which have been made against the Archdeacon could have been made without just grounds: this I cannot explain to you. It appears evident that some apology was requisite for the disasters of the day. Every one admits there was some egregious error; it was therefore convenient to nominate the Archdeacon as the scape-goat, on whom to lay the charge of their mistakes, being the least likely to call any to account for such libellous expressions.

"By these brief remarks, you will perceive that I repel any charge in the participation in the fall of Kororareka. I was there as the Minister of Peace; the Ministers of War should answer for themselves.

"The highest officers in the Colony, to whom this question was referred, have expressed their fullest approbation of my services rendered at that period, which ought, I conceive, be a sufficient guarantee to the public. I must express my perfect satisfaction in their decision, and do not see why any other person should be otherwise.

"I have further to add that many persons, after the evacuation of the town, and the natives being in full possession, on seeing me on the beach, alone with the natives, landed, and recovered many things from their houses; and until the close of the second day, three boats from Paihia, under the charge of my sons and myself, were engaged in rendering every assistance to the inhabitants in recovering their property that in some instances I placed certain Europeans under charge of some of these rebel chiefs, to protect them from molestation while thus engaged, who also assisted in removing their things; and no injury was done to any by the natives, though frequent shots were fired during this period from the "Hazard" into the houses, to the imminent risk of the Europeans in the town recovering their property. The four soldiers shot at the flag-staff, I brought down with my boat's crew and some of the rebel natives, and conveyed on board the "Hazard"; and all important public papers were recovered personally by myself from the Police Office, at the request of the Police Magistrate.

"I have the honour, &c,
"HENRY WILLIAMS.

"I was the last European on the beach at the destruction of Kororareka, urging the immediate removal of every one, as the Maories were becoming intoxicated – therefore beyond control.

"H. W."

J. R. Clendon, Esq., R.M., to Archdeacon Henry Williams.

My dear Sir, – Some time since, just before Mrs. Davison went to reside at Paihia, she was referring to several reports relating to you, and firmly believed at the Southward. One of the reports struck me forcibly, viz. – "That Mr. Williams just before the fall of Kororareka purchased two tons of flour, which was not taken all away at the time of purchase, but immediately after the fall of Kororareka – while the poor people were in the utmost distress and difficulty, Mr. Williams went to Kororareka and saved his flour, instead of rendering what assistance he could to the poor people." As I was present and assisted in saving the flour alluded to, I was enabled to

give Mrs. Davison a true version of the case, – viz., that you did save eighteen bags of flour, that it was put into your boats, taken to the ship "Matilda," Captain Bliss, on board of which ship, John Smith, the owner of the flour, had taken refuge. Part of this flour was afterwards sold by Smith to Captain Bliss, who ordered it to be served out to the refugees.

JAMES CLENDON.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -

To Archdeacon Henry Williams.

October 29, 1851.

Dear Sir, – Answering your note of to day, I must do so partly from memory.

The ships seized prior to the native insurrection: ship "Boston," of New London, U.S.A., Hampstead, master, for a breach of the Customs Ordinance, No. 3, of 1841, Clause 60.

In this case Mr. Pringle was the officer who seized, but by some anomaly as yet unexplained, he being duly sworn, declared that entry had been "made and duty paid" on the goods he seized.

I know not who paid for this error; but I know that about £5 sterling were paid in for loss of oars.

The case was dismissed; Mr. Beckham, Magistrate; see the records of R.M. Court.

No. 2. Ship "General Jackson," Ramsdell, master, of U.S.A., seized for not having reported some cigars and slop clothing which he had on board for the ship's company's use. Cigars forfeited, slop clothing returned, fined £160, Mr. Gibbon and myself were bondsmen for the amount; memorialised the Board of Commissioners at home, and the fine remitted.

No. 3. Ship "Nile," of New Bedford, U.S.A., Cook, master, underclaimed, 60; the evidence I perceive is among the archives of the Colony. Fine, £600!!! A memorial was sent home, and I believe the fine was remitted, but the expenses were to be paid; indeed, I think the money still lies to the credit of Captain Cook, at the Treasury, but this can be more properly and certainly ascertained from the Consulate, U.S.A.

Captain Mayhew sailed hence on 21st April, 1844, in the brig "Nimrod," for Tahiti, via Wellington.

If this answer is not full enough let me know.

In haste,
CHARLES BERRY WAETFORD.

PLAIN FACTS RELATIVE TO THE LATE WAR IN THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW ZEALAND.

The following narrative was compiled by Archdeacon William Williams. It was distributed among persons likely to feel interested, but not formally published. As an authentic record of half-forgotten history, it deserves wider circulation.

THE following papers have been prepared for the press some months, and have therefore no reference to the late communications received from England, although it will be seen that they contain much which bears upon questions of interest at the present time.

The principal object of giving publicity to these documents is simply the vindication of the character of a body of men who have long been the objects of animadversion. Whether unjustly or not, the public may determine.

It is the privilege of every Englishman that he shall be heard in his own defence, but in making use of this liberty, every care has been taken to avoid a course which might impugn the motives or conduct of others. A good cause will commend itself by its own merits.

It is a matter of general notoriety that, during the progress of the recent collision between some of the Northern tribes and the Government, remarks have been made, and frequently repeated, reflecting upon the loyalty of certain individuals of the Church Mission, and more particularly upon Archdeacon H. Williams, of Paihia; and it has been a subject of regret with many of the friends of the Mission that the charge was not openly met in the outset, instead of allowing it to go abroad to the world, which could not but form an adverse opinion in the absence of any counter statement. It was not however, from any unwillingness to meet the charge, that this was not done, for an appeal was made to the late Governor upon its first appearance, and he expressed in the strongest language his opinion of the "absurdity" of it. At a subsequent date, an article was drawn up for insertion in the New Zealander, but this was set aside at the recommendation of the Bishop, on the ground that it was not a subject to be submitted to such a tribunal. Thus then, while the friends of the parties concerned were satisfied that the charges were without foundation, there remained a variety of unanswered statements, made by editors of newspapers and others, from which, persons who had not the means of obtaining better information were at liberty to conclude that there must be some truth in them.

The value of an assertion depends much upon the character of its author, and, while the observations of persons of no repute may be treated with indifference, it is impossible to follow the same course, if like remarks are made by persons of respectability. After the skirmish at Kororareka, a most serious charge was put forth against one of the Missionaries, but the late Governor expressed himself respecting it in a manner which sufficiently relieved the person accused. The accusation however having once gone forth, and no publicity being given to its refutation, allusions were often made to it in different quarters, as to a matter-of-fact. Whether it was wise in a case so serious, to leave any part of the community to take up with false impressions, is a question not now to be considered. But the subject has of late assumed a new character.

On the occasion of the visit of the Governor to the Bay of Islands in January, 1847, his Excellency in conversation with James Busby, Esq., expressed a wish to know why it should be that all the natives "against us," should be the people of the Church Mission, while all "our friends" are the Wesleyans and Roman Catholics. This conversation was communicated to Archdeacon Williams, who, on the next day proposed, through Mr. Busby, to furnish the fullest information upon this subject, and upon other matters, in which the Church Missionaries in general, and he in particular, appear to have been misrepresented to his Excellency. The Governor, however, declined entering into this enquiry.

Now, it may be presumed that this opinion, which seems to have taken possession of the mind of his Excellency, has been often repeated to others; and strangers in the country, particularly officers in the army and navy, who have no previous knowledge of individuals, and to whom it is a matter of indifference on which side of the question the truth lies, can only draw their conclusions in agreement with the report they hear, particularly when that report rests on high authority. If then, the natives opposed to the Government, were almost exclusively those of the Church Mission, it is natural to conclude that there must be some cause connected with the circumstance that these belong to the Church Mission, but those friendly to the Government, to the Wesleyans and Roman Catholics; in other words, that the fault lies in the instructors of the natives. And then too, this opinion put forth after the ferment of excited feeling has had time to subside, agrees so precisely with the many reports which have been current from the beginning of the outbreak, that the whole might be regarded as substantially correct.

It is the opinion of many persons that the silence hitherto maintained by the Missionaries ought still to have been preserved; but it is a fact which cannot be gainsayed, that the strongest possible impressions to their prejudice have taken hold of the minds of

persons, not only high in respectability, but who are not easily led away by unsupported statements. It has been held by some that it is a case too strong to admit of contradiction, from the simple circumstance that nothing has hitherto been said in defence.

Such, then, being the present position of the case, there does not seem to be any alternative but that of openly meeting the charge by a simple statement of facts from the commencement. In adopting this course, it becomes necessary to speak of personal exertions in a manner which the parties naturally shrink from, but the circumstances of the case compel them.

By a reference to the Parliamentary papers it will be seen, that from the first establishment of the Colony, the Missionaries of the Church Mission Society have had frequent occasion to take active measures in support of the Government, which have been duly acknowledged by the proper authorities.

At page 8, of "Papers" laid before Parliament, and printed in the year 1841, His Excellency the late Governor Hobson gives the following account of his first proceedings in New Zealand: –

"February 15. Soon after twelve o'clock I proceeded to the tent, supported by Captain Nias and the officers, Mr. Busby, the late Resident, the members of the Church Mission Society, &c. I then read the Treaty, and Mr. H. Williams, of the Church Mission Society, did me the favour to interpret, and repeated in the native language, sentence by sentence, all I said."

All who were present at the first meeting held by Governor Hobson are aware that there was a strong feeling of distrust on the part of the natives, which was fomented partly by some of our own countrymen, but chiefly by persons of influence from another nation. It is also known, that it was principally through the exertions of the Rev. H. Williams that the Treaty was signed on the following day. Let the question be put to any of the natives of the Bay of Islands, and they will all acknowledge this fact, and indeed they have often subsequently blamed the Missionaries for the part taken on that occasion, having been repeatedly told by the French and the Americans that this was the source of all their troubles. At page 15 of "Papers," the Governor informs us that, on "the 15th of February, he proceeded in Her Majesty's ship "Herald" to the River Thames, for the twofold purpose of treating with the native chiefs, and of selecting a site for a township." In this expedition the Rev. H. Williams accompanied his Excellency, at his request. Then we are informed that his Excellency requested the Revs. Messrs. H. Williams, Brown, Maunsell, and W. Williams, to secure the adherence of the chiefs of their respective districts to the Treaty of Waitangi; and that the Rev. Mr. Taylor accompanied Mr. Shortland to Kaitaia for the same purpose.

At page 16 it is stated – "At various periods subsequent to the sailing of the "Herald," his Excellency received from Mr. Maunsell, and lastly from the Messrs. Williams', reports of the entire success of their respective Missions."

At page 17, we find the following letter from his Excellency to the Rev. H. Williams:

"Waimate, March 23, 1840.

"Reverend Sir, – "Availing myself of your kind offer, and fully authorised thereto by Her Majesty's instructions conveyed to me by Her Majesty's principal Secretary of State, I hereby authorize you to treat with the principal native chiefs in the Southern part of these islands, for their adherence to the Treaty executed at Waitangi, on the 6th of February, 1840. I have the honour to enclose a copy of the Treaty, which I have signed, and to request you will obtain the signatures thereto of such high chiefs as may be willing to accede to its conditions, &c.

"The schooner "Ariel" will be ready to receive you onboard on the 30th instant, to convey you to your destination.

"WILLIAM HOBSON,
"Lieut.-Governor."
"The Rev. Henry Williams.

The state of his Excellency's feelings towards the Missionaries, maybe gathered from the following letter dated May 20, 1840, to Mr. Davis, Secretary of the Local Committee of the Church Mission Society in the Northern district:

"Sir, – The period having arrived for proclaiming the sovereign authority of Her Majesty over these islands, it accords no less with my public duty, than it gratifies my personal feelings, to acknowledge in the most ample manner, the efficient and valuable support I have received from the resident members of the Church Mission Society, in carrying into effect with the native chiefs the views and objects of Her Majesty's Government. As the official organ of that body, I beg you will accept and convey to every member of the Mission in New Zealand, my cordial and hearty thanks for the very zealous and effective assistance they have rendered me in the execution of my duty.

"WILLIAM HOBSON,
"Lieut-Governor."
"To Mr. Davis, Waimate."

That the Missionaries were actively engaged in assisting the first establishment of the Government in this country, is a fact which is further corroborated by the following quotation from Captain Hobson's speech at the opening of the Legislative Council, on the 14th December, 1841. He observed, "Whatever difference of opinion may be entertained as to the value and extent of the labours of the Missionary body, there can be no doubt that they have rendered important services to this country, and that but for

them, a British colony would not at this moment be established in New Zealand." It will also clearly appear, from a perusal of these papers, that on every occasion of excitement, strenuous efforts were always put forth by the Missionaries to allay that excitement, – that their endeavours in this respect were most handsomely acknowledged by those in authority, – and that in the late disturbance at the Bay of Islands, one undeviating course was adopted, that of soothing, by every possible means, the irritated feelings of the natives, by pointing out to them the error of that course which they were bent upon pursuing. The point from which the hostile movements of the natives had its rise, was a belief which had been fostered by various ill-disposed persons, that the Treaty of Waitangi was violated, that the country was to be seized, that the people were to be made slaves, and that the Government only waited till it was able to put these intentions into effect. The Missionaries combated these views, which had taken so strong a hold upon the minds of the natives, that there was danger at one time, that the whole of Ngapuhi, including Tamati Waka, would rise against the Government. Instead of this, the larger body of the Ngapuhi either joined the Government, or if their sympathy for Heke, who was their near relation, deterred them from taking this course, they nevertheless agreed to maintain a strict neutrality. In consequence of this diversion, Heke and his followers were brought to a stand; they were obliged to act continually on the defensive, and Auckland, which was threatened with immediate destruction, was saved.

It has been thought by those not acquainted with the matter, that Waka Nene and the Hokianga natives are a tribe disconnected with the Ngapuhi; but Waka Nene is not only a Ngapuhi, but was born and brought up at the Bay of Islands, living alternately at Te Kawakawa, and in the neighbourhood of Waimate, and is nearly related to Tamati Pukututu, Rewa, Tareha, and to Heke himself.

The next event bearing upon the present question, was the murder of Mrs. Robertson and her family by the son of a principal chief in the Bay of Islands, on the 20th of November of the same year. The murderer was shortly given up to the proper authorities, and was immediately sent to Auckland. But after the lapse of a few days, certain ill-disposed persons tried to create a reaction, and reports were in free circulation that, as soon as the news should be received of the execution of the culprit, a general simultaneous massacre was to take place of the Europeans at Auckland, and at the Bay of Islands. How then did the Missionaries act? It will be found that the Rev. H. Williams was engaged day after day in conferring with the chiefs of the whole district; and that he called a general meeting at Paihia on the 16th of December, with the approbation of the Police Magistrate and of all the Justices of the Peace; at which were present the chiefs not only of the Bay of Islands, but of Hokianga also, and Whangaroa, when they expressed regret that such

reports had been raised, and declared their purpose to protect the settlers from harm. A letter was written to the Governor on the day following, and signed by five leading chiefs, which was afterwards published in the native newspaper, by the authority of the Governor. It was at this meeting the violent spirit of Heke began to manifest itself. He tried to excite the assembled natives to rise against the English, telling them that they would all be seized as Maketu had been; and such was the violence of his speech, that Pomare and Kawiti, with their followers, abruptly left the meeting and flew to their arms, leaving Rewa, Ururoa, and the rest of Ngapuhi, who had been foremost in requiring Maketu to be given up.

Towards the close of the year 1841, the confidence of the natives in the Government was greatly shaken by the measures taken by the Government with respect to land; particularly the proclamation against the cutting of Kauri timber, the intention to take for the Queen the surplus 305 of land awarded by the Commissioners, and the proceedings of the Legislative Council on the same subject: the Land Claims' Ordinance declaring that the uncultivated lands of the country were demesne lands of the Crown, subject only to the necessary use and occupation of the natives. 306

The following extract of a letter from the Governor to the Rev. H. Williams will shew the views entertained by his Excellency.

"Auckland, January 24, 1842.

"My dear Sir, – I am not able to communicate much of what I would say; my mind and my hand have not been at rest for many days, and I am fairly weary. But I ought not, nevertheless, to let slip this opportunity of returning you my most grateful thanks for your zealous advocacy of the cause of Her Majesty, in refuting the wanton and unworthy insinuations that were circulated amongst the natives to create rebellion. The state of the natives, if let alone, is in a fair way of becoming very much better, and I am glad to find that some of the first chiefs hold us in warm regard.

"I remain, my dear Sir, yours faithfully,
"WILLIAM HOBSON.
"The Rev. Henry Williams, Paihia."

To those who had the means of ascertaining the native feeling at this period, it was clear that a storm was gathering, which must soon discharge its violence over the country. Mr. Williams thus expressed his opinion in a letter to Mr. Busby three months after this time.

"Paihia, April 20, 1842.

"My dear Sir, – I cannot refrain from expressing my deep regret at the present state of New Zealand. Were it confined to the difficulties of the Europeans, I should not offer an observation; but from an extract of a speech of the Colonial Secretary, it would appear that a degree of confidence and security is reposed in the state of the natives, which I fear is unjustifiable, and may lead into some fatal error, which may not be seen until it is too late. The disturbance arising from the arrest of Maketu was happily suppressed, but I do not hesitate to say, that had not the grandchild of Rewa been one of the victims, thus bringing all the Ngapuhi tribes as auxiliaries to the Europeans in the event of war, the result would have been far otherwise. The assertion of the Colonial Secretary, that the natives never did entertain an opinion of distrust, as far as regards the Government, required more reflection than perhaps was given to it; for the fact is too palpable to be refuted. I must say that I do not know a chief who has not expressed his "distrust" in the Europeans generally; and it has required all my energies and influence, in common with other Missionaries, amongst the natives, to set their minds at rest upon these subjects. Frequently are expressions of distrust made to me as to the ultimate intention of Government towards the natives and their possessions, which will require every care to correct.

"Yours faithfully,
"HENRY WILLIAMS.
"To James Busby, Esq."

We now pass on to events which are fresh in the memory of all, and which bear more directly on our present question. Heke's first hostile visit to Kororareka was occasioned by bad language used by a native woman, as reported in the papers at the time. Heke demanded a boat from the husband of the woman, in payment for the offence. Lord, the woman's husband, had not a boat of his own to give, and refused to purchase one for the purpose. Heke then began to use threats, and spoke especially of cutting down the flag-staff. No one, however, believed him to be sincere in his threats, for his disaffection to the Government was not then generally known. A bag of rice was given by Mr. Beckham, with a view of keeping him and his party from prowling about for food, as they had none with them. This was on Saturday, and it was hoped that they would retire on the following morning. Not obtaining what he demanded, Heke proceeded at daylight on Monday, and cut down the flag-staff. His party then crossed over to Paihia, where Tamati Pukututu and the Kawakawa natives were staying. The latter used very angry language to Heke for cutting down the flag-staff, but Heke defended himself by stating what he had been told by the white people respecting the flag, and the reasons for which it was hoisted. Pukututu,

though highly displeased, in so much that he gave Marupo, one of Heke's party, a blow with a stick, admitted that Heke's statements were correct, as he himself had heard similar remarks from the white people. We avail ourselves of an account of the leading occurrences which took place at this period, kept by Archdeacon Henry Williams, and recorded from day to day.

"The first flag-staff was cut down by Heke, on Monday, the 8th of July, 1844, at which time I was from home, having left the Bay of Islands on the 6th June, for Turanga, in Poverty Bay. I returned to Paihia on the 16th September. All was then apparently quiet; but there was a feeling of disaffection towards the Government rankling in the breasts of the ill-disposed, and waiting only for some cause to draw it forth. A pretext was soon laid hold Of. On the 3rd of October, a woman of Kawiti's tribe was slightly hurt by some of the police, who had gone up the river Kawakawa at night to apprehend an Englishman, with whom this woman was living. The offended natives failing to obtain any remuneration from the Police Magistrate for the assault upon the woman, withdrew from Kororareka, and, on their return, landed at Mr. Wright's premises, and violently seized eight horses, although Mr. Wright had not the most remote connexion with the previous occurrence. A request was immediately made to me by the Police Magistrate and by Mr. Wright, that I should see this party of natives; which I did the following morning, it being then late in the day; but my eldest son went up to the party the same evening. In the morning I found the party at Opua, two miles from Paihia, together with Kawiti, who was not present at the seizure of the horses. The Police Magistrate and the Sub-Protector landed shortly after. I was the only Englishman who spoke upon the occasion. These natives were as insolent as they could be to me and to the Police Magistrate, as also in their observations about the Government, and against all my remonstrance, took the horses away. I was closely engaged in this affair until the 7th, having followed the natives up the Kawakawa; when it was at length agreed that the horses should be returned in a few days, as soon as they could be collected from the different parties to whom they had been distributed. Much excited feeling began now to shew itself in every direction."

"On Thursday, the 31st of October, a meeting was called at Otuihu by Pomare, who had just returned from Auckland, which was attended by most of the leading men of the surrounding tribes in connexion with him, also by those who had stolen the horses on the 3rd. Sir Everard Home, the Chief Justice, the Police Magistrate, the Sub-Protector, and myself, were present. The disaffected gave full vent to their feelings in language extremely violent. I was again the only Englishman who

addressed the meeting. Sir Everard considered this to be a very important assemblage, as shewing the disposition of the natives, and the inability of the Government and of the friendly tribes to preserve order in the district.

"Subsequently to this event, four horses were taken by a chief named Ruku,307 from Mr. Hingston, and on Friday, the 15th of November, Heke arrived at Paihia with some of his chief supporters, respecting these horses. I was disposed to hope that he was endeavouring to promote peace. We had a long conversation; after which Heke went to Ruku, and returned to Paihia on the 19th, saying that Ruku was very violent, and declared he would not return the horses unless two were given to him for his trouble.

"January 9th. Heke and his leading men arrived at Paihia, and were met by the principal chiefs from the Kawakawa, Tamati Pukututu, &c. We held a long discussion with Heke, who appeared to be in a very unsettled state, and spoke grievous things of the Government and of the flag-staff. Every argument was used by the friendly chiefs and myself, but all was unavailing, for on the following morning at dawn of day the flag-staff was again prostrate.

"At the request of the Police Magistrate, I saw Heke daily at this period, at Haruru, the Waitangi Falls, wishing to ascertain his real intention, and to convince him of the ruin he was bringing upon his country.

"In the afternoon of January 13th, the Police Magistrate called upon me, and expressed much anxiety as to Heke's movements, as it was reported that he was proceeding that night to Kororareka, to destroy the Police Office and the Custom-house, and that the women of Kororareka were under serious alarm. I accordingly undertook to pass the night at Heke's camp, and promised that if there were any movement, we would all proceed together; and that he should have notice. At this time there was no guard at Kororareka.

"January 17th. The "Victoria," Government brig, arrived, and in two hours the Union Jack of England was again floating in the breeze. I felt grieved, knowing the consequence that would result from this step. Heke was at this time with a large party at the Wahapu, ripe for mischief. I would have gone and remonstrated with the authorities at Kororareka, but it would have been too public a display of my zeal for Her Majesty's honour. In the evening I communicated my opinion to the Sub-Protector, who returned to Kororareka and waited on the Police Magistrate, stating to that officer my fears of the consequence of these measures. All were now in a state of feverish excitement, every one being aware that Heke would not be quiet.

"On the 18th, the Colonial Secretary and the Police Magistrate waited upon me at Paihia, relative to the question of hoisting the flag. These gentlemen will remember my remonstrance, and that I urged the propriety of their taking the flag into safe keeping, until there could be no doubt as to its protection. In short, I said all I could, considering I was addressing myself to two public officers. I assured them of my conviction that if they did not take it down, it would be taken down by the natives. It was observed, that there was a guard of thirty soldiers, and that Heke had only forty men. I replied, that Heke could multiply that number by any figure he chose, and was urgent that these soldiers should not be exposed, for that they would inevitably fall to a man. While these gentlemen were with me, they saw Heke and his canoes pull close past Paihia, with flags flying, one of which was an American ensign. Before daylight the following morning, the flag-staff was again cut down; the military guard had been kept close in their quarters, the flag-staff being left in charge of native allies; but in the morning, observing the Union Jack again flying, I wrote to the Police Magistrate the following note: –

"Sunday, January 26, 1845.

"My dear Sir, – I feel that I am out of order, but the necessity of the case compels me to again intrude my opinion respecting the flag-staff. I learn that the top or upper end has been carried away. If this be true, you need not surely any stronger argument to shew the weakness of your position. I should recommend, therefore, that you take the whole down in open day, this afternoon, before another attack, as each must weaken the cause of the Government. By no means allow the military to make a display; all should be as quiet as possible. You know not under existing circumstances in whom to put your dependence. Your credit is in some measure saved by the flag remaining in your possession, which you can explain to your sable allies.

"HENRY WILLIAMS.
"To T. Beckham, Esq., Police Magistrate."

It is a happy circumstance that this remonstrance was attended to, concerning the military guard, and that the thirty soldiers were consequently preserved. The two gentlemen referred to, are now in office in Auckland, and can therefore bear testimony to the correctness of this statement.

"On January 27th, I met Rewa and Waka Nene at Kororareka. They were little disposed to enter into conversation. At last they mentioned that Ururoa, from Whangaroa, with all the natives from that neighbourhood, were coming to Paroa, to meet them upon state affairs, and asked me to be present on the occasion. On the 28th, I went to the native assembly, and found them all in a very sullen mood. I went from party to party, and continued with them.

On the 30th, Ururoa arrived, fully bent on joining Heke, and on persuading the Ngapuhi (the tribes of the Bay of Islands) to make common cause with them. In the evening, the discussion continued to a late hour. Much was said about the intentions of Government; and Waka Nene and all the natives who have since shewn themselves friendly to the Government, joined in the feeling which shewed itself. Waka had been much annoyed by the prohibition against cutting kauri timber, and had said, if the Governor had been at Hokianga, he would have felled a spar in his presence, in order to see what would be done. Both Waka and Rewa at this meeting, observed that the evils which threatened them, arose from their having signed the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty of Waitangi was the only argument I used on the occasion. This, I read clause by clause, requesting the chiefs to notice any expressions which favored the assertion that their interests had been betrayed by the Government, or that there was any design to deprive them of their just rights. At length they all expressed themselves satisfied, and the last observation by Ururoa to me, was, that his fears respecting the Treaty were now removed, and that he no longer thought it an instrument for seizing the country for the Queen. He urged me to see Heke as early as possible, and give him an account of the meeting, and assure him that none of his (Ururoa's) people would join him, and again to recommend Heke to be quiet; and that he would return with his canoes to Whangaroa, and would then proceed to Heke, and tell him that he was convinced of the falsehood of the reports circulated about the seizure of their lands, and would therefore remain quiet."

It may safely be asserted, that had it not been for the reaction produced at this meeting, the greater number of the friendly chiefs, together with those who adopted a neutral course, would have been arrayed against the Government. 308 The journal proceeds: "I returned to Paihia on the 31st, having been occupied for four days in this matter. These parties maintained their neutrality according to promise, a few individuals only joined Heke."

"On Wednesday, February 5th, I met Heke by appointment at Kaikohe, and gave him Ururoa's message and the account of the meeting of the 30th January. He was not disposed to pay much attention, but still insisted that the Treaty "was all soap." It is,

said he, "very smooth and oily, but treachery is hidden under it." On the 10th, I attended a general meeting of Heke and his followers, in company with the Rev. R. Davis. We found all exceedingly furious. Ururoa saw Heke as he had promised, a few days after this, and I believe used every remonstrance with him, but in vain."

The Police Magistrate was constantly furnished with information relative to the state of the natives, and the result of the various meetings with Heke and the natives generally, both friendly and unfriendly, and on the 20th February, the following communication was received from Governor Fitzroy: –

"Government House, Auckland, Feb. 18, 1845.

"My dear Sir, – I consider that this country and Great Britain owe you deep gratitude for your untiring efforts to put mistaken people into the right track. I am in doubt whether you have had more difficulty with the natives than with our own misguided countrymen.

"The Colonial Secretary, and Mr. Beckham, have expressed themselves warmly on these subjects, and have told me how much has depended on yourself alone. I was individually well aware of this, but it gratified me to read their written testimony.

"ROBERT FITZROY.
"To the Ven. Archdeacon H. Williams, Paihia."

"February 28th. Hearing of some depredations having been committed by Kawiti, I went to him up the river, but it was too evident that his mind was made up for a general trial of strength, for in the afternoon of the same day, four canoes came down the river, and cleared the premises of Mr. Wright."

"On the 3rd March, hostilities commenced. Two canoes, manned with Kawiti's natives, came down the river, and committed some depredations at Te Uruti, near Kororareka, at the residence of Mr. B. Turner. They then pulled back again, and were chased by the gun-boat of the "Hazard." The boat had no chance in pulling against the canoes. Many natives, in the meantime, crossed over from Otuihu to join in an attack upon the boat, which had unfortunately grounded with the ebb tide at Opua, and, had not the crew been very active in getting her off, she must have fallen into their hands. One of her crew was wounded on the forehead, by a spent ball. This was the first exchange of shots, and the Maories were much elated. On the 4th, Heke came from the interior to the Bay, to join Kawiti. The following day, he passed through Paihia with his whole party, and remained in the neighbourhood till the 6th, when he joined his force with that of Kawiti.

"On the 8th, I accompanied the Police Magistrate to Heke's camp, as a last attempt to stay the further progress of hostilities, as one man had been wounded on each side. This was my last

interview with Heke. I was told by the natives, that if the Police Magistrate had not been in my company, they would have had his head, and that if I had conducted him to Kawiti, he would even then have been killed. This I mentioned to the Police Magistrate, and told him he must not venture again.

"The following day, Sunday 9th, a party of natives came upon one of the distant hills, from whence they had a view of Kororareka, when a shell was directed at them from the "Hazard."

We now come to the period of most painful interest; when Kororareka was destroyed by the natives on the 11th of March. After the conflict, Archdeacon Williams went up to the blockhouse at the flag-staff, and brought away the bodies of the four soldiers who were killed, the natives even assisting in removing them to the beach. The natives also gave up the sword and cloak of the officer in command, and as much of the clothing, &c, belonging to the men as could be conveyed away. It is also worthy of remark, that when the natives had got possession of the town, they urged the settlers to come and fetch away their property, and many of Heke's men actually assisted in carrying goods to the boats.

Mr. – – – – – – -, the baker, was afraid to go into his own house, because a party of natives were inside plundering, until Hara, a leading chief (at Archdeacon Williams' request), stood sentry over him, while he removed as much of his property as he had the means of carrying. Previous to the 11th March, the friendly chiefs of the Ngapuhi tribes, now residing in Paroa Bay, went several times to offer their services to protect Kororareka against Heke and Kawiti, but were told to "clear off the ground," lest they should be mistaken for the enemy. These chiefs have frequently mentioned the circumstance since the fall of Kororareka. It was asserted in one of the public prints, that "The fears of the inhabitants of Kororareka were in some degree allayed by the Rev. Mr. Williams informing them that he had seen the natives, and that they at present had no hostile intentions. The inhabitants were therefore lulled into false security." The communications of Archdeacon Williams at this anxious period, were strictly confined to the Police Magistrate, who was considered to be the chief in command. His note to that officer on the evening of the 10th was as follows: –

"I understand that the natives intend to make their attack in four divisions." On the same evening, Gilbert Mair, Esq., J.P., personally waited on the Police Magistrate, and stated, that the attack would be made the following morning, in four or five divisions. This information was explicit, and was accordingly acted upon by the brave Captain Robertson, who was on the lookout before break of day, when the action commenced. With regard to hostile intentions, there could be no mistake. Hostilities began

on the 3rd, and were continued in a greater or less degree, daily. They were in fact, in active operation.

How idle then to state that the inhabitants of Kororareka were lulled into false security, in consequence of its having been said, that the natives had no hostile intentions towards them, when these expressions of hostility were reciprocal upon all opportunities.

The extraordinary charge of treason which was made against Archdeacon Williams, immediately after the conflict on the 11th, we would gladly pass over, in consequence of the lamented death of the person who made it, believing that it was made under the irritation of disappointment, without any serious idea on the part of the person who made it that he had any foundation for his assertion. No reason for it has ever been stated, beyond that which has already been referred to in the extract from an Auckland paper. It is necessary however, to state, that the particulars of this charge were communicated to the Governor, who addressed the following letter to Archdeacon Williams: –

"Auckland, April 2, 1845.

"Sir, – I have the honour of acknowledging the receipt of your letter, dated, Paihia, March 20th, which reached me yesterday.

"I am so much accustomed to hear and read such strange perversions of fact, and such unfounded attacks upon even the best characters in the community, that they usually pass unnoticed by me. But this is a startling charge.

"Had you not distinctly referred to the extraordinary language used . . . . I should not have alluded to it in writing to yourself, so deeply must you be, as I am, pained that such expressions, such imputations, with reference to yourself, should have emanated from any one, however ill-informed, hasty, or excited.

"To accuse Archdeacon Williams, the tried, the proved, the loyal and indefatigable, of being a "Traitor," of having acted traitorously, seemed to me so utterly absurd, to say the very least, that such an idea could not be entertained by me for one moment. I rejected it with feelings similar to those of Sir Everard Home, who, before this, has, I trust, fully relieved your mind from every scruple on this subject.

"I might refer to the Bishop's clear statement of all that he witnessed, frequently in company with yourself, on the fatal 11th of March; to the statement also of Archdeacon Brown, who was also present, and to others; but your well known character requires no testimony.

"In conclusion, I need hardly say that the charge made against yourself by – – – – -, is, in my opinion, as unfounded, unjustifiable, and ungrateful, as it is indeed absurd.

"I have the honour to be, Sir,
"Your obedient humble Servant,
"ROBERT FITZROY,
"Governor.
"The Ven. Archdeacon H. Williams, Paihia."

After the destruction of Kororareka, the only course left open to the Missionaries, was to assure the friendly natives that their fears were groundless as to the seizure of their possessions, and that the retribution which must be expected would be confined to the disaffected, as there was a strong effort made by Heke and his party to impress upon the various tribes that all would now fare alike, and to induce them to conspire against the Government and there were not wanting Europeans who hoped this would be the case. Our position at this time was exceedingly critical. The rebels had undisputed sway in the Northern part of the island, and many well disposed natives were altogether at a loss to know how to determine their line of conduct. It was, however, the Missionaries duty still to speak of quietness and order as ambassadors to the Prince of Peace. We return to the Journal: –

"The Missionaries in their respective spheres, exercised all their influence; but I am compelled more particularly to speak of my own movements at this period; having been thrown directly in the midst of the contending parties; while I was assailed by my own countrymen as a traitor, – on what ground, no one has yet been able to inform me, nor has any person had the moral courage either to accuse or defend me publicly.

"On the 30th April, a circumstance took place on board H.M.S. "North Star," which, humanly speaking, was the preservation of the troops under Colonel Hulme. The troops were landed at Otuihu (Pomare's Pa) at the entrance of the Kawakawa river. About noon, I went on board the "North Star," and learnt that all was now prepared for the troops to proceed from Otuihu overland to Waiomio, the place of Kawiti's residence. I observed to the Colonel, 'I presume you are furnished with guides, for the country is much broken.' He replied, 'Oh yes, I have European guides.' After a few more remarks, some natives proceeded to chalk upon the deck the route for the troops, to which the Colonel called my attention. I soon discovered that the Colonel was wholly at fault. The lines which he had understood to be roads, were rivers, muddy creeks, hills and swamps.

"These I pointed out to the Colonel and to Sir Everard Home. Sir Everard observed to Colonel Hulme, 'Colonel, you are going you know not where! you had better re-embark your men.' The order was given accordingly, to destroy the pa, and to re-embark.

"The expedition was relinquished, owing to this mistake having been most providentially discovered. What the consequence might have been is a question not unworthy of consideration, if these troops had advanced between Kawiti's and Pomare's tribes; Pomare having that same day been made prisoner on board the "North Star," upon suspicion of having rendered aid and assistance to Kawiti,"

It will appear from the following letters, that Archdeacon Williams was subsequently in the habit of furnishing the authorities with information, and even sometimes went so far in expressing his opinion upon the movements of the troops, as to lay himself open to the charge of interfering with matters that did not concern him; and yet Colonel Despard complains that there appeared to be a general wish to conceal the difficulties without considering the possible waste of European blood that might take place in consequence.

When the expedition under Colonel Hulme landed at Moturoa, at the mouth of the Kerikeri river, the weather was most unpropitious. A strong easterly gale had set in, and the troops had a toilsome march through torrents of rain. The scanty supplies of provisions they brought with them were spoiled, and most of their powder rendered unfit for service. The friendly natives at this time rendered the most important assistance. They met our troops at the port of debarkation, and conducted them to the scene of action, and again, after the termination of the affair at Mawhe, re-accompanied them to the boats.

On the arrival of the news, that an attack had been made on Heke's Pa at Mawhe, and that the loss on the part of the English was considerable, the following communication was held with Sir E. Home: –

"Paihia, May 10, 1845.

"My dear Sir, – I have had a most comfortless night. I have been considering the question of Heke's Pa in all its bearings, and the force appointed for its capture. I see no possibility of this being accomplished without loss of life to a most fearful extent, endangering the return of any part of the troops. Though as yet, no official return has arrived, it appears most evident that a battle has been fought, and by report that the loss in killed is considerable. Of course the number of wounded must be in the usual proportion. Should it be contemplated to storm the pa, the troops might possibly carry it, but at an awful expense. But should they be repulsed, who can calculate the extent of the disaster. I fear that half the force must fall, in killed and wounded, and the whole would be most seriously endangered in their retreat, to say nothing of any other feeling of which a military man would be acutely sensible.

"I beg, therefore, you will excuse the liberty I take of suggesting the propriety of a suspension of hostilities immediately. One chief offender is reported to have fallen, besides many others; would it not then be important to stay further proceedings before the evil becomes more serious, and withdraw the expedition, making a virtue of necessity.

"Should you feel that the capturing of Heke is fearfully doubtful, and that I may be of any service in negotiating between

Colonel Hulme and Heke, I shall be most happy to do so, in order that the retreat of the force may be as honourable as circumstances will admit of. I shall be most happy to bear a despatch from you to Colonel Hulme upon the subject, but of course can only proceed upon a written authority from yourself, and with particular instructions how to act. I feel that delays are dangerous, and shall be ready to enter upon this mission at any time you may think well.

"Yours faithfully,
"HENRY WILLIAMS.
"To Sir E. Home."

Sir Everard's answer was as follows:

"North Star," 8.30 a.m., May 10, off Paihia.

"My dear Sir, – I perfectly agree: When you have read the contents of the enclosed, 309 pray put a wafer in the letter, and God speed you. – Faithfully yours,

EVERARD HOME.
"The Ven. Archdeacon H. Williams, Paihia."

The following reply to a communication from Sir E. Home will serve to shew the opinion held by Archdeacon Williams at this time.

"Paihia, May 24, 1845.

"My dear Sir, – In reply to your note of this morning, requesting my opinion of the present state and immediate prospects of New Zealand, I consider that the eyes of the entire native population are directed to the issue of this war, and upon it depends the quietness of the whole country. The immediate prospects of New Zealand depend upon the manner in which the war is conducted. I have just received Heke's reply to the terms proposed to him, a copy of which I forward to you, by which you will perceive that he has no disposition to accede to them. I presume therefore, that nothing short of vigorous measures will satisfy him. It is my further opinion, that peace and good order will not then be preserved, unless a strong military force be stationed in the Bay of Islands for that purpose.

"HENRY WILLIAMS.
"To Sir E. Home, H.M.S. "North Star."

A second, and more formidable expedition soon after landed at the Bay, under the command of Colonel Despard. On the very day this force landed, Heke made a vigorous assault upon Waka Nene, at Pukenui, hoping to crush him before he could be joined by the troops. On this occasion, Heke had about 400 men, while Waka's force was much inferior. What they wanted in number, however, was fully made up by the determined bravery with which they fought. They turned out of their pa, and boldly faced their

assailants, fighting obstinately during the greater part of the day. Every principal man on Heke's side was either killed or wounded, and amongst the latter, Heke himself very severely in the thigh.

On the day of the attack which was made against Ohaeawai, July 1, 1845, Archdeacon Williams arrived at the camp, and on the two following days held communication with the enemy at Colonel Despard's request.

This was the first time of his seeing the pa. He rendered to Colonel Despard every assistance which was required, and conducted a conversation between that officer and Waka Nene, which terminated in the Colonel consenting to remain some days longer before the pa, though it was publicly known that it had been determined upon to retreat immediately to Waimate, and to abandon all further attempts upon the pa.

It is remarkable, that, notwithstanding the natives were perfectly well aware of the formidable preparations which were made for attacking their stronghold, and had frequent opportunities of interrupting the waggons conveying supplies, &c, to the camp, they never took advantage of this circumstance. On one occasion, two drays, under a feeble escort, were met by the Rev. R. Burrows, on the road between Waimate and the Kerikeri. He had not proceeded far, after parting with the drays, when a party of armed natives started up from the bushes. They spoke of the drays, and said, "they did not wish to use treachery, but he riri awatea, [fighting in broad daylight]." In fact, the drays passed day and night without a guard, and without interruption, and the roads were always clear. During the battle between Waka and Heke, before mentioned, a young chief named Patai, belonging to Heke, was conveyed to Waimate seriously wounded in the head. On the following day, he was restored to his friends. Waka sent a message to Haratua, telling him to "remember Patai," and not to molest the drays. Haratua sent word back, "I will remember." Indeed, as a characteristic feature of the war, it is worthy of record, that the provisions, stores, and ammunition, were conveyed to the camp as quietly as though it were a time of perfect peace. The houses at the Kerikeri, and at Waimate, and the bridge, though threatened with destruction, were saved from injury by the intervention of Heke.

From Ohaeawai, Kawiti retreated in the night, in the direction of the Kawakawa, and commenced immediately to erect another pa at Ruapekapeka. In the meantime, terms of peace were offered by Governor FitzRoy. These overtures, however, were ineffective, and it became apparent that the haughty spirit of the rebel chiefs required yet to be further humbled.

The following communication, to which reference has been made above, passed shortly afterwards between Archdeacon Williams and Colonel Despard.

"Paihia, July 14, 1845.

"My dear Sir, – I learn from Mr. Clendon that you have expressed some disappointment at not having more information from me on my leaving you. I assured you that I would forward to you any information I might obtain, which I did, relative to Kawiti's intention to quit his pa. I have no further information of any moment, except that Kawiti's people are about to build a pa at Waiomio, or in that direction. I returned from the camp wishing to intrude my opinion as little as possible, at the same time being always ready to express one when it might be beneficial. My present idea is, that the troops cannot be withdrawn at this time, if this country is to be continued a colony of Great Britain. Should you wish to see me at any time, I shall be most willing to go from hence for that purpose. – Yours faithfully,

"HENRY WILLIAMS.
"To Colonel Despard."

"Waimate, July 15, 1845.

"My dear Sir, – I have been favoured with your note, in which you mention that Mr. Clendon had informed you that I had expressed disappointment at not receiving more information from you. I beg to say that my observations regarding information were general. I have never received any that was of use. That given me regarding the roads was decidedly wrong. It was told me at Auckland that there was a capital drayroad to Waimate. I found it execrable. I never could obtain the slightest correct information regarding the localities of the pa itself, either of its internal form or its defences, or even of the probable number of its defenders. There appeared to be a general wish to conceal the difficulties, without considering the possible waste of European blood that might take place in consequence. As to Kawiti's intention to quit the pa, I was perfectly aware without any one letting me know that he and his people must quit, as I had adopted a plan of making a plunging fire into it, which in a great measure raked their ditches, and entered their underground habitations. I beg to assure you that you were very much deceived when you mentioned to me that the fences were many of them poles not thicker than your arm. There was not an upright stick in that pa that was not composed of split Puriri wood, and many of our six pound shot were picked out of the posts, not having actually entered far enough to hide themselves. As to detaining the troops here to garrison Waimate, I consider it would be a measure that the British Government never will sanction. The place is not worth the expense. Auckland is the place to be looked to; and the settlers ought to concentrate there if they expect military protection.

"I remain, my dear Sir, yours faithfully,

"H. DESPARD.
"The Ven. Archdeacon H. Williams."

It is known that a copy of this letter was given to the late Governor, for the purpose of conveying an idea that the observation upon the state of the pa at Ohaeawai was made by Archdeacon Williams, previous to the attack on the 1st of July, and that the fatal loss of life on that occasion was to be attributed to false information. This may be inferred from the following remark: – "There appeared to be a general wish to conceal the difficulties, without considering the possible waste of European blood that might take place in consequence." But Colonel Despard was aware that no European had seen the pa until the day following the attack on the 1st of July, Such was the jealousy of the natives, that they would not allow even a Missionary to inspect their fortifications. No description of the fences of the pa was ventured upon by Archdeacon Williams before the attack, for he had not seen them, as Colonel Despard knew. The idea of detaining the troops to garrison Waimate, implying that such a step was proposed with a view of taking care of a mission station, originates with Colonel Despard. The public need not to be told that the Missionaries were under no apprehension. The suggestion of Archdeacon Williams was, that if the country was to be continued a colony of Great Britain the troops could not be withdrawn.

The following anecdote will shew the nature of the remarks made in the camp, relative to a casual observation that had been uttered respecting the strength of the stockade at Ohaeawai, and that this mere expression of opinion was made a subject of conversation prejudicial to the credit of Archdeacon Williams.

On the arrival of the "North Star," after the conflict at Ohaeawai, on the 1st of July, 1845, Archdeacon Williams went on board to wait upon Sir E. Home, where he met one of the military officers from the camp, who, after some general conversation, said, in the presence of the officers of the ship: – "Why, Mr. Archdeacon, you were much mistaken in your report of the strength of the pa at Ohaeawai." – "Was I?" – "Yes." – "In what was I mistaken?" – "Why, you said the sticks of the pa were not thicker than your thigh, and the posts not thicker than your body." – "And did you find any thicker?" – "Why – why – No." – "Then pray in what respect was I wrong in my report?" – No reply, and a general burst of laughter at his expense. The good officer, for he is a very worthy man, had heard these remarks from Colonel Despard, but was too correct to follow out the errors of his commander. He spoke without consideration, and did not expect such a cross-examination.

It will be remembered, that at the taking of the pa at Ruapekapeka, a number of letters were found which were pronounced to be of a treasonable character. An air of mystery was thrown over this subject from high authority; which gave weight to

the idle reports which were so boldly propagated at that period, by a proclamation, stating, that all these letters were burnt by the command of his Excellency, Governor Grey. Upon this matter, the following remarks are made in the New Zealander, which, taken in connexion with the reports circulated at the time at the Bay of Islands, seem to be intended to have the same application: –

Extract from the New Zealander of January 31st, 1846.

"TREASONABLE LETTERS.

"Among the recent proclamations in the Government Gazette of the 24th instant, is one respecting some letters found in the pa at Ruapekapeka, and stating that his Excellency, although aware that they were of a treasonable nature, ordered them to be consigned to the flames, without either perusing or allowing a copy of them to be taken.

"The clemency shewn towards Heke and Kawiti upon their actual submission and application for peace, we consider to be consistent in a noble, generous, and powerful enemy as the Queen of England; and in granting a free pardon to all concerned in the late rebellion, who may now return in peace and safety to their houses, where, so long as they conduct themselves properly, they shall remain unmolested in their persons and houses. His Excellency Governor Grey, has acted wisely and humanely. But with those European traitors, who have been clandestinely conspiring against the peace of the Colony, and insiduously instigating the excited natives to direct open rebellion, we think very different policy to complete amnesty should be adopted. For the natives some apology might be advanced, on account of their imperfect knowledge of what acts constitute treason and rebellion against the lawful constituted authorities; but not so for the plausible artful abettors of that rebellion, who, to serve their own individual selfish views and gain, cared neither to endanger the Queen's power and authority in the Colony, nor to sacrifice the lives of their fellow countrymen. We consider these English traitors far more guilty and deserving of severe punishment, than the brave natives whom they have advised and misled. Cowards and knaves in the full sense of the terms, they have pursued their traitorous schemes, afraid to risk their own persons, yet artfully sacrificing others for their own aggrandizement, while, probably at the same time, they were most hypocritically professing most zealous loyalty.

"Tranquility and subordination are not yet sufficiently established in the Northern district, for the local Government to be magnanimously clement in its conduct towards mischievous and treasonable agitation of disatisfied natives. It has been rumoured that investigation of these epistolary proofs and documents, would

have implicated some, whose station and previous character ought to have dictated more correct and scrupulous behaviour towards the Maories, and more consistent gratitude to the Queen's Government. If such be the fact, we deem it to be the more powerful reason why the Governor should really know the truth, and however he might deal leniently for past offences, his knowledge of the character and extent of these treasonable acts, would operate most powerfully against future repetition. We are quite aware that the direction of this proclamation would infer, that 'this large number of letters' were from natives, as 'the Governor directs it to be notified for the information of the native chiefs in the Northern part of the island;" but it is well known that not a few, doubtless the most important of the 'tuhituhis' were from Europeans. However, the Governor may perhaps have been induced to issue the proclamation to which we have alluded, conceiving that, as the contents of these epistles were known to some, their purport, and the names of the writers, would not long remain a mysterious secret. In such opinion we concur, not only on that account, but for the further reasons, that the natives cannot long keep a secret, and now these rebels have all received a full pardon themselves, they will not scruple to talk of their Rangatira pakeha [gentlemen] correspondents."

The reason why this wordy document is noticed here, is simply this, that the report was carried by respectable parties from Te Ruapekapeka to Russell, immediately after the fall of the pa, that treasonable letters had been found involving the character of the Missionaries. It happens, however, that copies were preserved of such communications as were sent, and the following letter, which, it is presumed, was the ground of these remarks, is attested by an eye-witness, as being the true copy of a letter from Archdeacon Williams, which was picked up in the pa: –

"Paihia, Hepetema 23, 1845.

"E taku hoa kuare, – Kua riro mai he kupu no te Kawana e mea mai ana kahore he pukapuka a Kawiti me to Hoani Heke. Ko tehahi waewae kia ora ko tetahi waewae kia mate? E hoa kia toa koe kia ora ai to tangata. Tukua mai tau pukapuka kia ata kitea e te pakeha. Na ko nga hoiho kia riro mai. Ka ngaro pea Waiomio me era wahi ka ngaro ko Mawe ko Ohaewai.

"Naku tenei, – Na to hoa na to Tupuna,
"Na te WIREMU."
"Ki a Kawiti, Waiomio.

"The original of the foregoing communication was picked up in the pa, at the Ruapekapeka, after it was taken.

"GEORGE CLARK, jun.

TRANSLATION.

"Paihia, September 23, 1845.

"My foolish friend, – A word from the Governor has come hither, saying, there is no letter from Kawiti like that of John Heke. Is one leg to be healed and the other leg to be unhealed. Be energetic (or brave) to save your person. Send your letter that it may be clearly seen by the Europeans. Now let the horses be given (or) perhaps Waiomio will be lost (to you) as those places Mawhe and Ohaewai are lost.

"This is from me – from your friend – your grandfather,
"Williams.
To Kawiti.

"A CORRECT TRANSLATION
"GEORGE CLARKE, jun."

To this letter Kawiti replied the following day: –

"Ruapekapeka, Sept. 24, 1845.

"Friend Williams, – Good is your word, O friend, saluting you. Here am I feeling great regard for you. Sir, it is because you have said that peace should be made, that I consent. I will not continue to jump upon your word (i.e., I will not run counter to your wishes) but then, if peace is made, it must be made with respect to the land also.

"Friend Governor, saluting you. I am willing to make peace. Many Europeans have been killed, and many natives. In as much as you have said that I should make the first advances towards peace, I now do so, and hereby consent.

"This is all mine, I finish here.
By me, "KAWITI.

"I certify this to be the correct rendering of the foregoing letter.
"T. S. FORSAITH."

Extract of a letter from the Governor to Kawiti: –

"Kawiti, – Your letter of September 24 I received last night, September 30. It was addressed to myself and to Mr. Williams, who, I can plainly see, has been giving you good advice; you have done well to harken to him, and I trust your future conduct will shew that you are really sincere and desirous of peace.

"From me, from the Governor.
"ROBERT FITZROY."

The letter to Kawiti speaks for itself. It was written by authority, there is no ambiguity in it, and the sense in which Kawiti received it is shewn by his reply. The views of the late Governor also are sufficiently explicit. Archdeacon Williams was too well acquainted with the public service to commit himself by an unauthorised interference in matters of this nature. We may take as an instance of the caution he observed, a note written to the Rev. Mr. Burrows a fortnight afterwards.

"Paihia, October 13, 1845.

"My dear Sir, – The request you have made to me in the name of Colonel Despard, that I should see Kawiti as soon as possible, relative to the terms for peace being established, I shall most cheerfully attend to; but I must express some surprise that no communication has been made by that Officer himself to me, as it is a point among official men never to act without written authority, and as I do not consider a mere verbal message as sufficient authority, the duty being of a serious and delicate nature, I must request you to communicate with Colonel Despard that he may express his wishes to me in writing, that I may feel I am acting correctly in this matter." – Yours faithfully,

"HENRY WILLIAMS.
The Rev. R. Burrows, Waimate.

Archdeacon Williams was called upon to take a public and active part in the proceedings of this period, and was in daily communication with the public authorities respecting the negotiations which were then pending. These were no secret proceedings. Sir Everard Home writes from the "North Star" on the 10th of October:

"Many thanks, my dear sir, for your note. I just saved the "Racehorse," by which I have sent a copy of Kawiti's letter to you, to Sir George Gipps, so that he and Sir Maurice O'Connell may be able to judge of what they may be likely to hear next. I expect Heke's answer to-day, and then I send all together to Auckland by the "Osprey." Colonel Despard quite agrees with you about the propriety of a deputation, with powers from the Governor to settle things. He thinks it should consist of three.

"Ever, My Dear Sir, faithfully yours,
"EVERARD HOME.
"The Ven. Archdeacon H. Williams."

In the month of November, Colonel Despard gave authority on two occasions to Archdeacon Williams, to hold communication with the rebel chiefs.

"Camp at Kororareka, November 2, 1845.

"The Venerable Archdeacon Williams has authority to visit Ruapekapeka, and meet Heke in compliance with a written request made to him by that chief, a translation of which has been handed to me by Mr. Clendon, Police Magistrate at Paihia.

"H. Despard,
"Lieut.-Colonel 99th Regt., Colonel on the Staff, commanding the troops.
"The Ven. Archdeacon H. Williams."

"Camp at Kororareka, Nov. 13, 1845.

"SIR, – I have to forward for your information and guidance, the following extract of a letter from his Excellency the Governor, dated the 11th instant, and received yesterday: –

"EXTRACT.

"I have the honour of requesting you will authorise Archdeacon Henry Williams to communicate with the rebel chief Kawiti, who should have due warning that preparations are making which may cause his total destruction in the event of the present opening for pardon and peace being disregarded."

The above extract will be sufficient authority for you to comply with his Excellency's desire, without any further communication from me.

"I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
"H. DESPARD,
"Colonel on the Staff, Commanding the Troops.
"The Ven. Archdeacon H. Williams."

A perusal of these documents will satisfy every reasonable mind, that, while much activity was shewn in promoting the interests of the Government, all was done under the sanction of authority.

After these repeated admissions of assistance rendered to the Government, and of efforts to promote the establishment of peace on the part of the late Governor FitzRoy, an attempt was made to prove a treasonable act to have been committed at Paihia on the evening of Thursday, January 29, 1846, on the departure of H.M.S. "North Star," when Heke hoisted his flag in compliment to the worthy Captain, who had held a long communication with him on the preceding evening, in the presence of many of his officers, in the house of Archdeacon Williams. The Police Magistrate was officially written to on the subject, to enquire into the truth of the report, which had been laid before his Excellency the Governor, "that Heke had at Paihia hoisted his rebellious flag after the establishment of peace, upon seeing that H.M.S. "North Star" was sailing from the port, and that a son of Archdeacon Williams assisted him in the act." Had this been a vague report, like many others, the circumstance would not deserve notice; but the Captain of the Government brig "Victoria" underwent two examinations on the subject as to his knowledge of the fact, one at Auckland, and one at Wellington.

Had the person who gave rise to this report understood more of native customs, and the feelings that had been reciprocated between Sir E. Home and Heke, he would not have been led into so foolish a misrepresentation. But whether or not, neither Archdeacon Williams nor his son had anything to do with the matter.

The idea that has been expressed, namely, that the natives opposed to the Government have been exclusively the people of the

Church Mission, while those who have been friendly are the Wesleyans and Roman Catholics, is based upon incorrect information, and it casts an imputation on the Church Mission, which cannot be passed over in silence.

That many natives professing Christianity should have been concerned in this hostility to the Government, has been a subject of the deepest regret to the Missionaries; and their endeavours to allay this feeling were unceasing up to the time of active collision, when they gave place to the hostile measures which became necessary. An accurate examination of the list of natives engaged on either side, will show that the hostile natives were by no means made up exclusively of people of the Church Mission; neither were the friends of the Government made up exclusively of Wesleyans and Roman Catholics. Among the rebels were natives belonging to the Church Mission, together with many Roman Catholics, and heathen. It is a striking fact, that nearly all the chiefs of rank of their party who were killed were heathen and professed Papists. Pumuka and Kahakaha were heathen, Ruku and his son, and the two sons of Kawiti, were papists.

Among the opponents to the Government were the following Papists: – Ruku and his party; – Kawiti's son and several of the tribe; – the Waikare party, mostly papists; – Atuawera and his party, from Hokianga; – Pona and his party, whose canoe was the only one from Whangaroa at the cutting down of the flag-staff on January 9, 1845; – from Ngunguru, about 30 papists ; – Hakitara from Hokianga.

Of the Natives of the Church Mission who assisted the Government may be noticed: – Tamati Pukututu and the Natives of Te Kawakawa, who broke up their old pa and constructed a new one at the landing place of the expedition against the Ruapekapeka, for the protection of the stores, &c, &c, and to cover the retreat; – Hori Kingi Wharerahi and the two sons of Rewa, with many others of their tribe, from Te Rawhiti; – Nopera Panakareao, and his party, from Kaitaia ; – Paratene Kekeao and Wiremu Kingi Kaitara, and their party from Pukenui; Eruera Patuone, elder brother of Waka Nene, who rendered very important aid, also received Christian instruction when living at Whakatiwai, where the teachers of the Church Missionary Society were alone residing. After a time, he went up to Paihia, and after staying there some time, was baptised by Archdeacon H. Williams.

A large body of natives also was kept quiet, entirely through the influence of the Church Mission, most of whom would otherwise have joined Heke. Under this head may be mentioned a large proportion of the natives of Kaikohe, Heke's immediate relations; – Wiremu Hau, and party, at Waimate; – the tribe of Ngatirehia, under Tareha; – the tribe Te Hikutu at Tepuna, and the natives of Matauri and Whangaroa, under Ururoa, alone forming a body of

three hundred men, who had determined to join Heke, previous to the meeting at Paroa on January 27th, 1845.

Waka Nene first rose in favour of the Government, in consequence of a letter from Tamati Pukututu, written from Paihia immediately after the fall of Kororareka, calling upon him to come and see "Te Matenga o te Wiremu" ("the death of Mr. Williams,") at the hands of Kawiti and Heke, which was received as a call to come to the protection of the Europeans.

The various attempts to fasten upon the Missionaries the charge of disloyalty, being capable of the fullest refutation, have been allowed to remain long unanswered; but in the mean time, another effort is being made, the result of which, could it be established, would be scarcely less prejudicial to their character. It is understood that the Governor has expressed an opinion recently, that the cause of the rebellion was the purchase of land by the Missionaries. Now, if not merely a course of treasonable practices, but the very root and origin of all the evils under which the country has been smarting, can be proved against the Missionaries, then surely they deserve that the most harsh measures should be taken against them. Much has been already said upon these land purchases, both in this country, and at home; and severe censures have been passed upon the Missionary body by many of their friends, while others have set up for them a defence grounded on the circumstances of the case. Upon this subject, as on others, there has unhappily been much misrepresentation.

The body of persons who come under the designation of "the Missionaries," is no inconsiderable part of the community. Their children and their children's children of the second generation are now upwards of one hundred and sixty persons, for whom an impartial judge will hardly consider that an excessive provision has been sought.

In the Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons on New Zealand, 1844, page 88, is found a Schedule of Claims to Land in New Zealand. From this it appears that the lands claimed on account of the Mission Families, with the exception of two cases, which rest altogether on different grounds, and cannot, therefore, be taken into the same calculation, amount to 53,601 acres, a block of land nearly 12 miles by 7; the children of these families, which are 12 in number, are 120, giving an average of 446 acres to each child. The land awarded by the Land Commissioners to these families is 29,209 acres, which is a little less than 243 acres for each child. This land taken in a block will be rather more than 9 miles by 5, an amount which gives a view of the case widely different from many statements which have been in circulation. Was it then a ground for censure against the Missionaries that, at a time when there was not the most remote prospect of colonization to this country, they sought provision for their children in a savage land, rather

than apply for permission, which would not have been refused, to return to their native country that they might give their children the advantages of civilized society? And if they are to be censured for making purchases to the extent of 446 acres for each child in a savage land, what shall be said of the Government of New South Wales, who appropriated in a free gift, and of the chaplains of that colony who received at their hands, for each of their children, at the average rate of 1600 acres, in a rising colony, with every prospect of increasing importance?

There yet remains to be noticed the allegation that "these purchases have been the cause of the late rebellion." We are at a loss to conceive from what quarter this information can have been conveyed to his Excellency, but certain it is that it comes from persons who, to say nothing of their intentions, betray excessive ignorance of the whole question.

This allegation may be set aside upon the ground of its improbability alone. It is well known that the habits of the natives lead them to cultivate wooded land, and that as soon as its strength is partially exhausted, they still go back upon the woodland. Now, the greater part of that land purchased by the Missionaries is of this character. In the opinion of the natives it was worn out. "Do you think," said a chief from whom the farm of the Church Missionary Society at Waimate was purchased, "that we should have sold you land if we could have grown potatoes upon it?" It appears, too, from documentary evidence in the Parliamentary Papers, that the Missionaries paid the natives for the land they purchased at the rate of rather more than 3s. 4d. per acre. The natives, therefore, had good reason to be satisfied in this respect; much more so than with the purchases made on account of Government. Explicit instructions were given to the agents of Government during the administration of Willoughby Shortland, Esq., not to pay the natives more than 3d. per acre. The purchases for the New Zealand Committee were at a still lower rate. In the Report of the Select Committee, 1840, p. 74, it is stated that Mr. Ward, then Secretary of the Company, was questioned by Mr. Hindley, as to the price per acre of the whole quantity of land purchased by the Company." Mr. Ward's reply was, "It appears to be about an half-penny per acre." Surely it was never contemplated on the introduction of the sliding scale that there should be so sudden a descent as is here shewn – -a proportion of eighty to one. How unfortunate that the records of Parliament should have made such disclosures.

At the time when the mania among the natives for selling land was at its height, from one to two years before the establishment of the Colony, the Missionaries had great difficulty, but they succeeded, in preventing the natives about the Bay of Islands from parting with their most valuable land, which still remains in their possession. This remark applies to the richest portions of the neighbourhood of

Waimate, also to the district around Pukenui, to Mawhe, to Kaikohe, which is the land in the occupation of Heke, to Te Kawakawa, and particularly to a large district called Okaihau, extending from the beginning of the wood towards Hokianga down to the river Utakura. If the natives of these districts were questioned upon this matter, they would express their strong sense of obligation to the Missionaries for the care taken in this behalf.

If any natives are dissatisfied by reason of the alienation they have made of their lands, and on this account have been driven to take up arms against the Government, doubtless Heke would be one of the first to say so. The land purchased by James Busby, Esq., in the Bay of Islands, belonged to Heke's tribe; and at the Court of Commissioners for the investigation of the Land Claims, the Natives, and particularly Heke, were very indignant at the questions put to them. Heke said, "I told you before that there was no fraud in it; the land is Mr. Busby's, we received the price, and were satisfied with it." And this too, when they knew that Mr. Busby had been selling very small portions of the land for a larger sum than he had given for the whole.

By the time the Court of the Commissioners was opened, the natives had had time to consider the steps they had taken. But Mr. Shortland in a letter to Lord Stanley (published in the Papers laid before Parliament on the 7th March 1845), shewing that the disturbances at the South had originated in the interference of the Company or their settlers with lands never sold by the rightful owners, says, that "in the Northern District out of the seven hundred and fifty claims of the old settlers, which had been adjudicated by the Commissioners, not one single instance of any objection being offered by the natives to the taking possession of the lands awarded to the claimants had arisen." A trait of national honesty to which it would be difficult to find a parallel.

The joint testimony of Colonel Godfrey and of Major Richmond, in a letter to the Colonial Secretary, confirms the same statement. See Appendix to Report from the Select Committee 1844, p. 334: –

"Sir, – In reply to the Memorandum of his Excellency the Officer Administering the Government, addressed to us this day, demanding,

"If the conduct of the natives, in the investigation of land claims, has caused a great alienation of feeling between the parties, and a disposition in some cases has been manifested to get returned to them, lands which they formerly sold,

"We have the honour to report, that we have now examined more than half the claims, yet have never remarked such a consequence in any of our investigations.

EDWARD L. GODFREY, M. RICHMOND,
Commissioners.
"To the Hon, the Colonial Secretary, &c."

The total absence of any declaration of the kind by the natives is wholly at variance with the assertion that the land purchased by the Missionaries was the cause of the war. There is a remarkable degree of consistency in the native character with respect to the narrative he will give of the same event at different periods of time. But here a reason is given, from some unknown source, as the root of the native grievance, which has not only never been named by the natives during a war of two years continuance, but which is directly opposed to the statements made both by the rebels and the friendly tribes. Then, too, the fact that the hostile natives treated with marked respect all mission property, so much so as to lead the military to fancy that there must be some marvellously good understanding between the Missionaries and the rebels. How does this agree with the assertion that the natives rose up in rebellion on account of injuries done them by the Missionaries? These lands were purchased by the Missionaries from 10 to 12 years ago. How was it that the natives never turned upon them to seize their cattle and to plunder their houses, but now after so many years have passed, the said Missionaries being regarded by them as the authors of all their trouble, they seize the horses and pillage the property of the unconscious settler, and cut down the flag-staff of Her Majesty. The science of probabilities, which is much acted upon in conducting military operations, appears to be but imperfectly understood. A view is here presented which is entirely new, and that which is improbable is to be regarded as the most probable result. No, the natives refrained from plundering the Missionaries because – although they were opposing the Government with which they saw the Missionaries were in league, although they had resolved to disregard all expostulations to desist from their dangerous course – there was a long cherished feeling of regard towards the Missionaries for kindnesses received during a period of more than twenty years.

The answer, however, to this most serious charge does not rest upon its improbability alone. There is evidence, which is explicit, both verbal and documentary.

On July 8, 1844, when Heke cut down the flag-staff for the first time, he stated at Paihia to the Bishop of New Zealand, that the reason he had cut down the flag-staff was, that certain parties in the Bay of Islands had told him that the flag hoisted at Kororareka prevented the trading vessels from frequenting the Bay of Islands, and that it was the sign that the New Zealanders were made slaves to the Queen. At a subsequent date, Heke reprobated the conduct of Ruku and Kawiti, because they plundered the settlers of their horses and other property. "Let us fight," said he "with the flag-staff alone." And his conduct was always consistent with his proposal. He cut down the flag-staff, and every subsequent erection of it was the signal for successive attacks. On the day of the contest at Kororareka, Heke made his assault upon that alone, and after he had

gained his object, he did not attempt to molest the white inhabitants, nor even to fight with the military who were in the town.

The opinion of the late Governor may be received as valid upon this subject. It is a point which it was his interest to know, and which he had the means of ascertaining. The account he gives is as follows (p. 10, Remarks on New Zealand): – -

"When Heke was agitating the Northern natives by his arguments against the Government, he took great pains to shew them that the British flag being hoisted on any territory was a sign that the land belonged to the Sovereign of Great Britain, and that the people of that land were become slaves, and that to preserve the freedom of the New Zealanders, the British flag must not be admitted on their territory."

He farther states, p. 11: – "The natives were not only treated with less caution, and less kindness than previously, but they were threatened even on trifling occasions with the punishments of English law, and were told by the ill-disposed or unreflecting white men that their country was taken from them, and that they were now Queen Victoria's slaves, and that they could not even sell their own property – their land – as they pleased. These taunts were felt deeply."

Lastly, this question is determined by two letters sent by Heke to the late Governor. We give his own words for the benefit of those who understand Maori. In one which was dated May 21st, 1845. Heke says: –

"Na nga Pakeha enei tawai ki a matou, na nga Pakeha o Hokianga, o Whangaroa, o Kororareka, o te Wahapu, o Otuihu; na ratou i whakarite, ka riro to koutou whenua i a Kawana, ko muri iho ka whakamatea koutou. Titiro ki Poihakena, ki Haina, ki nga motu katoa, ko te ritenga ia mo tenei whenua; na o Ingarani ki mua, muri iho na te Wiwi, muri iho na te Marikena: heoi ano ka whakaae ahau ki enei korero, e wha tau i mahi penei ai, no te rima o nga tau, ka whakaaetia taua korerotanga maha a te pakeha ki a matou. Na, ka tahi matou ka pa atu ki taua rakau, ka poutou kia hinga, muri iho ka whakaarahia ano, ka tahi matou ka mea he pono ina hoki ka totohe, ka mea matou kia mate matou ki runga ki to matou whenua."

The second letter was dated July 15, 1845. In this Heke writes:

"E mara, e Kawana, he rongo pai tenei naku ki a koe kia whakawakia aku hara e koe. Nau i ho mai te ritenga naku ranei? E mea ana ahau nau ano, na te pakeha; e kuare ana ahau, ka mea mai nga pakeha ki au, 'E Hoani Heke, ka riro tou whenua i a Kawana.' Na mea atu ahau, 'he aha te mea e riro ai,' ka ki mai nga pakeha, 'na te kara e tu nei i Maiki,' ka mea atu ahau, 'me pehea ra?' ka ki mai, 'poutoa te kara.' Ka pa ahau ka poutoa te kara ka hinga ki raro te rakau, ka ki atu ahau, 'he aha te ritenga i roto i te kara?' Ka ki mai nga pakeha ki ahau, 'ko te mana o te Kuini kei runga i te

kara, e toru iwi i roto.' Ka mea ahau, 'na te Atua ano tenei whenua i hanga mo matou me a matou tamariki katoa.'"

The translation of the first letter is as follows: –

"We are taunted with this language by the white people, by the white people of Hokianga, of Whangaroa, of Kororareka, of Te Wahapu, of Otuihu; they made the statement 'your land will be taken by the Governor, and after that you will be killed. Look at Port Jackson, at China, and at all the islands; after that manner will this island be treated; the flag takes possession of the land.' The English first, after that the French, and then the Americans (made this statement) then I assented to these statements. They did this for four years. On the fifth year we assented to those often repeated statements of the white people made to us. Then first we touched the flag-staff; it was chopped that it might fall. After that it was put up again. We then said, it is all true for they urge the point, and we said we would die upon our land."

Translation of the second letter: –

"Mr. Governor, this is my good message to you, let my faults be examined by you. Was the commencement made by you or by me? I think it was by you, by the white man. I was in ignorance; the white people said to me, 'John Heke, your land is taken by the Governor.' I replied, by what means is it taken?' The white people answered, 'by the flag-staff which stands at Maiki.' I said, 'what is to be done?' They replied, 'cut down the flag-staff.' I touched the flag-staff, it was chopped down, the tree fell. I said 'what meaning is there in the flag-staff?' The white people told me, 'the power of the Queen is in the flag, there are three nations in it.' I said, 'God made this land for us, and for all our children.'"

Here, then, is Heke's own account of the matter, confirmed by the late Governor. Her Majesty's representative, and the rebel chief, standing at the head respectively of the powers which were long opposed, but agreeing in this single question which is at issue. The evidence which has been now brought forward, is not of a suspicious character, but it is of such a nature, that no room is left to wish it were more complete. It has been reported, indeed, that this assertion respecting the cause of the war, rests upon the authority of more than forty natives. It may be so. There will be found in every community certain persons ready to make any statement which they believe will be well received by those who are above them. The more prominent the part sustained by any individual, whether in a good cause or a bad one, so much the stronger will be the force of the tide against him when it once turns. There is a remarkable instance of this mentioned by Mr. Babington Macaulay in his account of the administration of Warren Hastings: "An Indian Government has only to let it be understood that it wishes a particular man to be ruined, and in twenty-four hours it

will be furnished with grave charges supported by depositions so full and circumstantial, that every person unaccustomed to Asiatic mendacity would regard them as decisive." But let these forty witnesses be brought forward, that their assertions may be confronted with the testimony of all that is respectable in the community, whether English or native. The Missionaries will not shrink from the investigation. They need not ask to have a charitable construction put upon well intentioned acts, which subsequently have appeared to be carried out without discretion, but they may venture to submit both their actions and the intentions from which they sprang to the severest scrutiny, supported by the honest confidence of a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men.

Mr. Beckham's private despatches having been placed at my disposal, the following are added by myself. – H. C.

To His Excellency the Governor.

Russell, January 10, 1845.

Sir, – It is with deep regret that I have to inform your Excellency that much to my surprise John Heke and his tribe cut down the flag-staff soon after daylight this morning, but without using any violence to the Europeans or even entering the town. The reason for his again offering this insult seems to be a general dislike to the British Government; and it is worthy of remark that Heke was at the American Consul's yesterday, when the merits of the Treaty of Waitangi and other political subjects connected with this colony were discussed; after which he obtained an American ensign which was hoisted on board his canoe immediately after our flag-staff was destroyed. - - -

January 16, 1845.

- - - Heke, with several canoes filled with armed men, landed in a small bay adjoining this settlement on the morning of the 15th, for the purpose of putting into execution his threats, viz., to destroy all the Government buildings; but I am happy to say that he has been unable to accomplish his purpose owing to the presence of the tribes from the Rawhiti, about 200 strong, and a guard of the inhabitants, whom I have kept ready to arm at a moments notice.

Heke still carries the American ensign in his canoe, and I was sorry to observe it hoisted at the Consul's this morning, as also on board the United States ships, which is quite unusual, except on the arrival or departure of American vessels, which was not the case this day. This circumstance confirms the suspicion mentioned in my letter of the 10th instant; I am fearful that these disturbances have been fostered by the Americans; and I beg to suggest for your Excellency's consideration the propriety of causing the Consul's flag-staff to be removed if practicable.

"January 25, 1845.

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter of the 20th instant, and to state that I immediately communicated with Mr. Smith, the person at whose residence the American ensign has been so conspicuously exhibited lately, and to state that your Excellency's instructions have been carried into effect. [The Governor had prohibited the hoisting of any national flag except that of Great Britain.]

February 17, 1845.

Six of the principal chiefs from Whangaroa have been to Heke for the purpose of inducing him to make a compensation for his past misconduct. This change in the natives is to be attributed, in my opinion, entirely to the explanations which were given at the meeting at the Rawhiti by Archdeacon Williams relative to the object of the Treaty of Waitangi, many copies of which have since been circulated, and will probably much influence their conduct. Evidently the great cause of discontent has arisen from their believing it took from them their land, (i.e.), country. * * *

The "Hazard" arrived here on Saturday last. The Blockhouse was landed this morning, and will be put up during the day.

The flag-staff is not finished but will be ready for erection in a few days.

Since writing the above, a report has reached me that Heke intends making an immediate attack upon the block-house.

February 20, 1845.

I have seen Archdeacon Williams; he is fully satisfied that a retaliation will take place, under existing circumstances, if native lives are lost in an attack on the flag-staff; he is also of opinion that it would be impolitic to take any inland aggressive measures.

February 28, 1845.

In consequence of the present critical appearances, I have thought it necessary to drill the inhabitants privately.

Military and Civil Patrols are again established.

A strong fence will be erected this day round Mr. Polack's house, to cover the troops from the fire of the assailants.

Several robberies have been committed in the neighbourhood of Russell (Okiato) by Kawiti and his tribe.

March 4, 1845.

Kawiti's tribe have again been committing serious outrages in the neighbourhood . . . . Heke has not taken any part in the late outrages. He arrived at the Waitangi this morning, and Archdeacon Williams has gone to see him.

March 9, 1845.

Kawiti's party has been joined by Heke's tribe for some days past, and is now augmented by Moflower 310 and the greater portion

of Pomare's followers. The whole force amounts to between six and seven hundred men.

D. – Page 163.

The confidential despatch to Mr. Gladstone, known in the colony by the name of "Blood and Treasure," is of historical interest. Allowed to remain private by Mr. Gladstone, it was made public by his successor, Lord Grey, who seems to have treated it with implicit credence, and to have been unable to perceive why the statements contained therein should be concealed, if true. Its unexpected publication was the turning point in Governor Grey's career. It must be borne in mind that this despatch is only the first of a series. It was followed up by others, more explicit in statement, bringing home the charges more directly to the Mission, and, in particular, to Archdeacon Henry Williams. Analysis is no longer required, for all can now "read between the lines." It must suffice to mention the pretended difficulty of putting men "into possession" who had never been out of possession; and to the curious confusion of grants of old land claims with ungranted "preemption claims," by which both Lord Grey and the Church Mission Society were led so seriously into error.

Government House, Auckland,

June 25, 1846.

SIR, – Adverting to the various questions which have lately arisen in reference to the large tracts of land which have been claimed under what is termed the penny an acre proclamation, as well as to the grants which have been issued in excess of the amount of 2,560 acres fixed by law, I beg to enclose, for your information, lists of individuals directly interested in these questions which have been forwarded by me in my previous despatches, and I would then beg to suggest that the following really national questions connected with this subject should receive the consideration of Her Majesty's Government.

The total number of individuals in whose favour these tracts of land are claimed, may be stated at from forty to fifty. For the reasons stated in my public despatches, I feel myself satisfied that these claims are not based on substantial justice to the Aborigines, or to the large majority of British settlers in this country.

Her Majesty's Government may also rest satisfied that these individuals cannot be put in possession of these tracts of land without a large expenditure of British blood and money. The following subjects therefore must be decided by Her Majesty's Government: –

Firstly – whether, under all the circumstances of the case, they think it consistent with the national honour, that the British Naval and Military forces should be employed in putting these individuals into possession of the land they claim; and secondly – If it is determined to adopt this course, how are Her Majesty's forces to be reconciled to such a service. It is one attended with the greatest danger, hardships, and privations – it offers few prospects of honour or reward. From the desultory mode of warfare adopted by the natives, no decisive victory can be gained. The soldiers do not fight to acquire lands for themselves and families which might support them in their old age. In fact there is nothing to attach them to such a service, and British officers and men very unwillingly find themselves compelled, under such disheartening circumstances, to undergo such fatigues, to put those whom they would regard as mere speculators, in possession of land wrested from a race who have many military qualities which excite a soldier's esteem.

It is my duty to warn Her Majesty's Government that, if British troops are long exposed to the almost unexampled fatigues and privations of a service which has already entailed so large a loss of life on our small force, disastrous consequences must be anticipated. On the other hand however, I must admit that the individuals interested in these land claims form a very powerful party. They include amongst them, those connected with the public press, several members of the Church Missionary Society and the numerous families of those gentlemen, various gentlemen holding important offices in the public service (and who are therefore acquainted with every movement of Government) and their friends and relatives. It is true that this party is confined principally to the North of the Island; they still however exercise a very important influence here, and the Government, if it does not yield to their wishes, must anticipate a violent and stormy opposition.

I have, &c,
G. GREY, Lieut-Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone.

E. – Page 168.

Charges to the discredit of Governor Grey himself have been sedulously avoided, so far as may be, in this Memoir. Vindication alone has been kept in view. Yet it might be not unfairly urged that recapitulation of his own charges against others, amounts, practically speaking, to discredit of his own testimony. But there is no alternative. To sink the charges altogether might be construed into seeming to fear them. On the other hand, the difficulty is to find room for them. At the risk of being likened to the Pedant in Hierocles, who, being minded to sell his house, carried a brick in his pocket as a specimen, I extract from "The Page," together with the original notes, certain [Greek word]KEIMILIA – crowning mis-statements, strung together with the least possible expenditure of words.

"Governors Hobson, Shortland, and FitzRoy, had successively borne testimony to the services of the Missionaries. But "there arose a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph." . . . . He addressed a series of despatches to the Colonial Office, impeaching their loyalty and integrity; he charged them with having been accessory to bloodshed for the sake of land; he accused the ex-Protector of having caused the war; 311 he burned the correspondence (reported to be of a treasonable nature) which was found in the captured pa at Ruapekapeka, – an act by which the Missionaries would have been for ever debarred from vindication, had not an attested copy been fortunately preserved; he assured the Society that unless the old Missionaries were removed, there would be no peace in the Northern District; 312 he stated

that the natives who had been in arms against Her Majesty's Government were almost exclusively the people of the Church of England Mission; he informed Lord Grey that the land had been acquired by abuse of religious influence; 313 he likewise informed his Lordship that the ex-Protectors of the aborigines had been in the habit of selling their services to Europeans, in the negotiations of land purchases – an assertion which he was afterwards obliged to retract; he attempted to alienate the minds of the natives from their teachers; he appealed to the cupidity of the natives with the same intent, by promising to give them back the lands which should be taken from the grantees – a promise which he broke, when he afterwards had the opportunity of keeping it; he caused the troops to be removed from a strong position at Waitangi to a defenceless position at the Wahapu, 314 on the plea of not being able to obtain a suitable location, from the manner in which the Missionary grants were made; he accused Archdeacon Henry Williams of writing letters to "a violent local newspaper," 315 and likewise of contriving to get published a private letter addressed by

the Governor to Lord Grey; 316 and to crown the whole, not only refused to "substantiate or retract," but even procured from the Colonial Office a general disallowance of enquiry."

This Memoir can hardly now be accused of suppressing charges against the Mission. Prominence has been advisedly given to them.

======================

F. – Page 282.

This paper, with some others, is cancelled. It had been intended to reprint the two several judgements delivered by Chief Justice Martin and Mr. Justice Chapman, but the volume is already assuming inconvenient bulk.

======================

G. – Page 216.

To the Right Hon. Earl Grey, Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Paihia, November 1, 1848.

My Lord, – I have long since felt it to be my painful duty to address your Lordship respecting the series of despatches from Governor Grey, impeaching the integrity and loyalty of the Missionaries of the Church of England Mission in New Zealand.

Your Lordship is aware of the impression these despatches have made upon your own mind, and may enter into my feelings at reading these startling communications so at variance with the facts of the case. I have not inconsiderately entered upon this subject. It is strictly opposed to our office and disposition, and we patiently endured until deluged by a mighty torrent of imputations, unheard of until brought forth in these despatches.

Up to this time I have been deterred from the fulfilment of my intention by fear lest my appeal should seem to have been prompted by interested or unworthy motives, which under ordinary circumstances might argue conscious weakness of our cause. Yet it has been shewn by the impression which these causeless attacks upon our character have made in England that this feeling has been neither groundless nor misplaced; and now that the late decision of the Supreme Court of this Colony has been declared, together with the probability that the appeal from that Court to the Privy Council will have been decided before this letter shall reach your Lordship, I am relieved from any such apprehension, and feel that I have no longer any right to postpone the adoption of the only course it becomes me to take, to challenge the most searching enquiry into our conduct. I must request your Lordship to notice that this appeal to your justice and protection is not respecting the Crown Grants issued by Governor FitzRoy, 317 but merely against the dangerous and insidious despatches of Governor Grey.

I therefore do respectfully claim your Lordship's protection, and urgently request that an opportunity may be afforded me of publicly clearing the Mission from every imputation that may have been cast upon us, and may be even now working out the ends of the author, which must of necessity remain unrefuted while undisclosed.

I am the more emboldened thus to throw myself on your Lordship's sense of justice, inasmuch as your Lordship has already laid the Mission under the deepest obligation by bringing to light a document which contained an imputation secretly made against the Missionaries of the deepest die, – no less than that of being accessory to the shedding of human blood for the sake of being maintained in possession of lands which are said by Governor Grey to have been "wrested" from the natives; which document, but for your Lordship's interference, must have been unanswered, leaving the victims of its mis-statements unconciously exposed to obloquy and dishonour.

I have now to request that the obligation conferred upon the Mission by your Lordship should be extended further still; that his Excellency the Governor-in-Chief should be directed to put us in possession of all such correspondence as may have passed between himself and the Colonial office reflecting upon the proceedings of the Missionaries impugned, that we may learn what allegations exist against us; that all vague insinuations, that every indistinct and floating charge may be for ever swept away.

I have obtruded myself upon your Lordship's attention with a two-fold object in view – to take occasion for laying statements before you that shall support my solicitation for open enquiry; and to

request that Her Majesty's Government, by being pleased to order such enquiry, should afford me opportunity to make these statements good.

Should I appear to your Lordship to be over urgent in my desire for a public investigation, I trust I may be excused when it is considered that while Governor Grey has not hesitated to cast as severe imputation upon us as it was possible for language or art to frame. His Excellency has rejected every overture which I have made to him for investigation on the spot, or proof of his allegations. These serious, exciting, and reproachful imputations have been confined to Governor Grey; I notice them as being embodied in his Excellency's despatches and laid before Parliament.

I have too high a sense of the honour of your Lordship as Secretary of State to allow myself to believe that your Lordship would give your sanction to any despatch not based on strict integrity; I therefore do confidently request your Lordship's attention to examine the various documents now forwarded herewith, and am prepared to abide the issue. Your Lordship is aware that allegations without proof have no weight in law; and further, that the most humble of Her Majesty's subjects is by the British Constitution entitled to be heard in self-defence, and to claim the protection of the Government.

More than this I ask not; less, surely, will not be granted to me, after twenty five years of service in this country, supported by the high testimony of previous Governors. The whole question is not one of opinion but of fact; what cannot be established by fact I waive.

I have written letters to his Excellency which have not been answered.

I have offered explanations of mistaken views which have been rejected.

My request is based on the following ground: Firstly, on my individual claim to consideration, for service rendered in assistance of Her Majesty's Government.

Of these personal exertions I feel a reluctance to speak that could only have been overcome by the unhappy necessity which constrains me to bring them forward in self defence. They shall be stated as briefly as possible; for more precise details I refer your Lordship to a pamphlet entitled "Plain Facts" forwarded with these papers.

Suffer me to observe that my services date from the first establishment of British rule within this Colony; that in the year 1840 I was, at the request of the late Governor Hobson, with other Missionaries of the Church Mission mainly instrumental in concluding the Treaty of Waitangi between the aboriginal chiefs of New Zealand and Her Majesty's Government, as declared by Governor Hobson in the following words: –

"There can be no doubt that the Missionaries have rendered important service to this country, and that but for them a British Colony would not at this moment be established in New Zealand."

For it is known that without my exertion, and that of other members of the Church Mission Society, and influence with the chiefs in that behalf, Captain Hobson would only have been received and acknowledged in the capacity of Her Majesty's Consul: and furthermore that to my aforesaid exertion and influence may be attributed the disappointment of Commodore Lavaud, of the French Navy, who visited New Zealand in the frigate "L'Aube" in 1840, for the purpose of making treaties on behalf of France, the independence of these islands having been formally acknowledged by Her Majesty's Government at the appointment of James Busby, Esq., as British Resident, in 1833.

I may confidently refer to Governors of this Colony for their testimony to my "untiring efforts" towards the preservation of peace and good feeling between the European and aboriginal races; whilst afterwards, when hostilities did break out in the Northern district of this island, I succeeded in inducing many tribes to separate from those of the disaffected, who did either act as allies of Her Majesty's Troops or remained quiet at their own places, according to the Government Proclamation of that day. I may add, moreover, that the disaffected chiefs, from the influence of that Christian instruction which had been given them by the Missionaries, acted with such suppressed feeling towards Her Majesty's British subjects as in no instance to molest the boats or drays conveying supplies to Her Majesty's forces, so as to call forth the great surprise and esteem of all. During the whole of this period, at the desire of his Excellency the Governor and the commander of the forces, I was in constant communication with the chiefs in arms, until the cessation of hostilities in January, 1846, since when the Missionaries of the Northern District have been treated only with undisguised suspicion, and mistrusted by Governor Grey.

My second claim to investigation is the obloquy which the very performance of these personal services, by affording a pretext for misrepresentation of facts, has drawn upon me. For even such a charge as that of having acted traitorously in the most difficult and delicate office of mediation between the contending parties has been brought against me and currently maintained.

I do not, however, lay much stress on this; it can serve for little more than an exemplification of the feeling in which some of the most difficult services of the Missionaries have been viewed. The bare allusion to a charge so completely overthrown by the testimony , of all who were competent to bear witness would have sufficed,

had it not been again revived by observations which have since fallen from Governor Sir George Grey himself.

In January, 1847, I was surprised by an intimation from James Busby. Esq., formerly British Resident in New Zealand, that his Excellency had personally cast serious reflection upon the Missionaries of the Church of England Mission in the statement that "The natives against Her Majesty's Government are almost exclusively the people of the Church Mission."

It will be seen by the accompanying document that his Excellency, assuming the truth of the fact, pressed Mr. Busby for "explanation why it should be so;" that the explanation was offered by myself forthwith, and that it was distinctly refused by his Excellency to be received. It will suffice to observe that a strong force of aborigines in connexion with the Church Mission were actively engaged as allies of Her Majesty's forces throughout the war; more particularly at the attack upon Ruapekapeka.

My third claim of open enquiry is based on the assertion made by Governor Grey that "the Missionaries' land purchases made on behalf of their large families have been the cause of the late rebellion."

"That the Missionaries have illegally and injustly deprived the natives of land which they are entitled to . . . . opposed to the rights of the natives."

And "that the proceedings of the Missionaries are represented to be of such a nature as to have proved seriously embarrassing to Her Majesty's Government."

Your Lordship will see, therefore, the obligation which lies upon us of publicly rebutting the allegations made by Governor Grey in his despatches, which insinuate that "British blood and money" must be expended to put the Missionaries in possession of their lands: and finally on his Excellency's refusal to notice my explicit contradiction of that charge, or to entertain those questions which must have definitely established or overthrown it; and the suppression of the offer of the Missionaries to relinquish those claims altogether could it be shewn that the remotest chance of such a calamity was involved with them.

I do not dwell upon the insidious interlacing of Missionary land purchases, the whole of which were made before there was any thought of annexing New Zealand to the British Crown, with those made by settlers under the penny an acre proclamation; upon the assertion which the despatch of June 25, 1846, contains, that "British blood" would be expended to put claimants in possession who were never out of possession, or upon its discrepancy of statement with another despatch from Governor Grey, October 7, 1846, in which we are given to understand that to dispossess these claimants would cause – – – -

"A period of confusion, probably of renewed rebellion, expensive both in blood and money (which) must under such circumstances inevitably take place from the influence of some of the Missionaries" over the natives to keep them in possession.

I must request to call your Lorship's attention to the unfair advantage that has been taken of us; the injustice of secretly transmitting charges that must have utterly ruined us in the estimation of all whom they might reach, in total disregard of our rights as British subjects to a fair and open hearing when accused; for it is only too evident that but for your Lordship's own appreciation of that very right as evinced by the presentation of a copy of the despatch to the Earl of Chichester, President of the Church Missionary Society, these changes would have worked their way in the guise of dark hints, – the more effective from the mystery which attached to them; in rumours of ill-conduct that we must have failed to check from inability to trace them up to the source from whence they flowed.

I shall not trespass upon your Lordship's time by a lengthy detail of the attempt to "wrest" the Crown Grants issued by Governor FitzRoy.

By Governor Grey's letter to the Bishop of New Zealand, dated August 30, 1847, propositions were made to the Missionaries holding grants exceeding 2,560 acres. These propositions were acceded to under the following conditions, that the Governor should either establish fully his allegations he had made against the Missionaries or honorably withdraw them.

In the above letter his Excellency observes, – "I feel it to be my duty for many reasons to take immediate measures for having these grants set aside by the Civil Court of this country. If I take this step and the Government is successful, which I cannot doubt, it will be necessary for me to explain to the natives of the Northern District in the most explicit manner the reasons which have led me to dispossess the Missionaries of their illegally acquired property, in order that no possible misconception may exist upon the minds of the natives as to the Government having taken this step to protect their rights, not to prejudice them.

"I fear that it would be impossible for me to do this without inflicting great injury upon the influence of the Missionaries; possibly I might even injure deeply our common faith."

Your Lordship will notice in the preceding part the severe threat held out by his Excellency the Governor against the Missionaries; the effect of which, if put in execution, he does himself explain "would inflict great injury upon the Missionaries, and possibly even injure deeply our common faith."

His Excellency also states in this same letter as follows: – "that if such a course is pursued, as proposed by himself, they (the

Missionaries) shall have no more zealous friend or assistant in the country than myself."

Ten days after the date of the above letter, while the question was on the verge of final adjustment and I was in Auckland, his Excellency entered the Bay of Islands and met the chiefs who deposed to his having used words among them to the following effect: –

"That the Government was going to take all the Missionaries' land and restore it to the natives, and if they would not give it up they would be sent away."

That Waka (the chief of the allies) had stated that the Governor told him "he was fighting with the Missionaries, but it was not with the sword but with the pen; that he should take their land from them and give it back to the natives."

Further particulars are given in the appendix to this letter.

This proceeding, so evidently calculated to inflame the native mind and inflict great injury upon the Mission families and to alienate from us the affection and respect of the surrounding tribes, this well-calculated attempt to produce difficulties by an apparent tampering with so excitable a race, shewed me only too clearly with what I had to contend.

I was compelled to withdraw any compliance with the proposition made by Governor Grey in his letter to the Bishop, of August 30, 1847, and patiently abide the issue of those legal proceedings which his Excellency had stated should be instituted against me by the Local Government. To these proceedings I offered no opposition. No defence was attempted by counsel on our part. The judgment of the Supreme Court was that the Crown Grants issued by Governor FitzRoy were legal. On the announcement of this intelligence it was concluded that as soon as the excitement which had been created by these legal proceedings should have subsided, the sons of the Missionaries – the bona fide possessors of these lands – should communicate with Governor Grey informing his Excellency that they would now endeavour to meet his wishes in the furtherance of his plans; that they would not allow anything within their power to be a hindrance to the advancement of the Colony; any arrangement on their part being subject to the approbation of the chiefs from whom their lands were purchased. But upon notice being received that his Excellency had appealed to the Privy Council no further negotiation was entered into. No choice was left to us but to reassume our first position and again abide the decision of the law.

In conclusion, I beg to state that I never made any application for land to the Local Government. The claim put forth was in the usual form required by the Land Commissioners. The Grants

made in my behalf will be seen to have been the spontaneous act of the Government and Council.

I must request to draw your Lordship's attention to the fact that I have no personal interest in land in this Colony, nor ever had.

That the Crown Grants were made out by the Local Government in my name as the representative of and trustee for my family, the members of which are eleven in number, most of whom are grown to man's estate, and some have families of their own; that I do not possess any stock, nor ever did; and that I have never desired any benefit, directly or indirectly, from those lands or stock; that I invariably paid to my sons the market price for any supplies received from their farms. Others, the Missionaries of the Church of England Mission, have likewise pursued the same system towards their families.

From the nature of his Excellency's despatches reflecting on the Missionaries as though they possessed either land or stock, and the fact that in no case has any attempt been made to establish a single allegation, I trust your Lordship will see that in calling you attention to these insidious documents I am compelled, thus assailed, to stand on self-defence.

I speak, my Lord, as one conscious of having faithfully discharged his duty to his Sovereign and the community around. Am I therefore not bound in honour to rebut these imputations so unjustly made by Governor Grey?

My Lord, is the character of men, gray in service and supported by the exalted testimony of previous Governors for service rendered to Her Majesty's Government in this Colony, to be borne down and swept away by the mere statement of Governor Grey without the liberty of appeal? In addressing myself to your Lordship I address a Minister of the Crown of England. I feel my cause is good, and do, therefore, my Lord, in behalf of the deeply injured and calumniated members of the Church of England Mission, claim the protection of Her Majesty's Government against the secret and repeated attacks of his Excellency Governor Grey; for I feel that not only are our characters at stake but the personal safety of our families, if not the very peace of the Colony, arising out of communications in general circulation amongst the aborigines in the North, as having been made by his Excellency the Governor to the chiefs.

I appeal to your Lordship's sense of equal justice, in the confidence of obtaining that full and open enquiry which has been so long solicited in vain from the Governor of this Colony. For whether his Excellency's charges assume the form of covert insinuation, or of perverted facts, we ask but to be put in possession

of them, and then, as I have already declared to his Excellency Sir George Grey in my letter of February 14, 1840, "Should I fail to scatter them to the winds I will resign my duties in New Zealand."

HENRY WILLIAMS.
[From House of Commons Blue Book.]

===========================

H. – Page 296.

The following is a portion of the appendix to the memorial: –

Copy of a letter from fames Busby, Esquire, to Archdeacon Henry Williams.

May 25, 1847.

In reference to a letter of mine, London, January 17, 1845, to G. H. Hope, Esq., the Governor said he believed I had stated therein my opinions, "That the interference of the Government, or the conduct of the Government with respect to the land claimed by the settlers was the cause of the war." I replied that I had, and all that I had subsequently learnt has confirmed me in my opinion. He said he felt equally confident that the cause of the war was the Missionaries purchasing land; that he had heard of it, not from one native but from forty.

JAMES BUSBY.

MEMO, BY HENRY WILLIAMS.

These remarks from Governor Grey were made to Mr. Busby when in Auckland in April, 1847, and the substance of them is contained in his Excellency's despatches. The number "forty" is ominous. Though forty are here mentioned by his Excellency, not one has ever been brought forward. The natives have indeed said that owing to the Missionaries, the Europeans, the Government, and the troops have come to this country; the Missionaries having cleared the way. We preceded; others have followed.

It is necessary to state that the Governor's knowledge of the native language was of a very imperfect character. Therefore when he says "that he had heard of it, not from one Native but from forty," it is to be understood, through an interpreter.

Mr. Busby's testimony, as given in the letter above alluded to, also in his letter to Lord Stanley, July 1, 1845, is of no light character, he having been many years in New Zealand as British Resident. Mr. Busby clearly gives his opinion that the war was not caused by the Missionaries' purchases of land. Mr. Shortland,

the acting Governor for several months after the death of Captain Hobson, whose letter appears in the Parliamentary Reports, March 7, 1845, writing to Lord Stanley, January 18, 1845, shews – that in the North, out of 750 claims there was no dispute amongst the natives as far as either the settlers or the Missionaries were concerned; but in the South, respecting the claims of the New Zealand Company, every purchase was disputed. In the same letter Mr. Shortland gives his view of the resolution of the Committee of the House of Commons, which it may be important to examine, as these contributed much to confirm Heke and the natives with him in their view of the intention of Government to seize their lands.

Captain FitzRoy, the late Governor, most clearly states in his pamphlet upon New Zealand, besides his despatches to Lord Stanley, that the war was occasioned by unprincipled and designing men, Europeans and Americans, imposing upon the credulity of the aborigines as to the designs of the British Government respecting them and their lands; which irritation was also increased by the effect of newspapers and the minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons in July, 1844. Captain FitzRoy therefore confirms Mr. Busby's statement.

The evidence of these gentlemen might be considered sufficient to refute this charge of his Excellency Sir George Grey; It may be, nevertheless, desirable to examine the conduct of the disaffected natives towards the Missionaries, during the war. The natives, whose numerous letters during that period are in the Protector's office, Auckland, bring no charge whatever against the Missionaries. Surely no stronger proof need be required of the good will of the aborigines towards the Missionaries and the futility of the present novel charge made by Governor Grey, that "the Missionaries were the cause of the war. Then the fact that when the Missionaries, their settlements, and their sons were perfectly in their power, immediately after the fall of Kororareka, no molestation was offered to the Missionaries or to anyone in connection with them or to their property. Every possible respect was paid by the aborigines in arms to the Missionaries; even so to excite the suspicion of the Local Government after the arrival of Governor Grey towards the Missionaries as to lead them to state that the Missionaries were acting in unison with the disaffected natives. These facts, therefore, are totally irreconcilable with the statements that the lands occupied by the sons of the Missionaries were, in the slightest degree, the "cause of the war."

I must, however, forbear to express my feelings at reading these despatches charging the cause of the war upon men who, by their station, are forbidden to speak even in self-defence, except for the benefit of the public cause, which alone impels me now to notice

these proceedings so perfectly opposed to the testimony of the first men of rank in this Colony at the breaking out and during the continuance of the war. Upon this question I close with the words of the late Governor FitzRoy upon this subject to the Secretary of State, page 74, Parliamentary Papers, published June, 1847: –

"With respect to the Church of England Missionaries' claims to land in New Zealand, I may here in passing state my own conviction that those claims will not give rise to 'native wars,' or 'disputes between the Government and the natives,' unless the Government attempts to dispossess the legitimate and undisputed owners of these lands, – namely, the Missionaries and their children, some of whom are married and have families. The natives have remarkably strong feelings of attachment to the older Missionaries and their children.

"ROBT. FITZROY.
"March 20, 1847."

========================

I. – Page 231.

The Archdeacon's interjectional comment is seemingly directed against the means adopted in the Colonial Office to divert public attention, and, in my own belief, the attention also of the Secretary of State, from the real point at issue. 318 The name of one person in particular used to be freely mentioned in the Colony; but I am not aware of absolute proof having ever been obtained.

It will be remembered that the Archdeacon's appeal to the Secretary of State for the Colonies demanding enquiry, was characterised by an emphatic statement of what he did not ask, as well as of what he did: –

"I must request your Lordship to notice that this appeal to your justice and protection is not respecting the Crown Grants issued by Governor FitzRoy, but merely against the dangerous and insidious despatches of Governor Grey."

In the face of this, the writer of the reply has permitted himself to use such words as these: –

With regard to Archdeacon Williams' representations, you will cause him to be informed that, so far as regards the title to his lands, &c.

That Lord Grey himself should have been privy to an attempt to pervert an appeal from dishonouring charges into a claim for land is out of the question. The Secretary of State, with some fifty Colonies to manage, is in the power of his subordinates. In ordinary matters, he has to accept what is submitted to him for signature. The climax of the reply, – that enquiry would be an affront to the accuser, – needs no comment.

Despatch from Earl Grey to Governor Grey.

Downing Street, October 5, 1849. Sir, – I have the honour to acknowledge your despatch, No. 12, of the 10th of February last, accompanied by a letter to me from Archdeacon Henry Williams complaining of some of your statements with regard to the Missionary land purchases from the natives in New Zealand, and to his proceedings in connexion with them, and adding some remarks from yourself in support of these statements.

With regard to your vindication of your former statements, it can hardly be necessary to assure you of my entire reliance upon their accuracy.

With regard to Archdeacon Williams' representations, you will cause him to be informed that, so far as regards the title to his lands, this is about to be a subject of adjudication by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and therefore needs no remark from me; and that, with respect to the enquiry for which he asks into the correctness of the reports made by Her Majesty's Representative in the Colony, I feel it to be entirely unnecessary, and consider that such an investigation would be inconsistent with the respect due to the officer by whom that high station is filled, and in whom Her Majesty's Government feel perfect confidence.

I have, &c.,
GREY.
Governor Grey, &c., &c.

Thus could a gentleman be run down, without hope of redress. But such things are of the past, unlikely to happen again. Sir George Grey himself is even now very wroth with a despatch concerning himself, written by the present Governor, the Marquis of Normanby. Should he, in turn, demand enquiry, it may be safely predicted that his Excellency will not only deem that no affront can be implied by the concession, but will also recommend it.

========================

J. – Page 295.

Mr. Disney's letter is cited as an example of the pressure that was being put upon the Church Mission Society in England, – pressure that was increasing day by day, as the question came to be relieved of the mystification with which it had been clouded.

Letter from the Reverend J. W. K. Disney to the Members of the Committee of the Church Mission Society.

Newark, December 29, 1852.

I am exceedingly anxious to call your attention, as a Member of the Committee of the Church Missionary Society, to the present position of the case of Archdeacon Henry Williams.

I apprehend that the Committee are under the impression that there is no difference between them and the friends of Archdeacon H. Williams in regard to facts, but that we dissent from the conclusions which they have drawn from the facts. Were this the case, I, for one, should never have engaged in the controversy, for I should have been disposed to submit my judgment to theirs. What we complain of is that the Committee have been misinformed as to the facts, the very facts which have mainly influenced them in the conclusion at which they have arrived.

For instance. (1.) They have been told (Reply of Secretaries to Mr. Marsh's letter, p. 3,) that so early as the year 1830, the Committee had refused to sanction 200 acres of land for each child of a Missionary on its attaining the age of 15. But they ought at the same time to have been told that this refusal had nothing whatever to do with the amount of land which a Missionary might purchase from his own private finds; it was simply, as appears from the account of the transaction to be found in Appendix V. to

the Society's Report for 1839 – 40, p.p. 160-162,) a refusal to grant so much land from the Society's funds in lieu of the final allowance to the children of the Missionaries.

(2.) They have been told (Reply, p. 4) that they had already dismissed Mr. Fairburn for retaining in his possession an undue amount of land. Whereas Mr. Fairburn's separation from the Society arose from a totally different cause, the nature of which I have explained on the authority of Archdeacon W. Williams, in a paper which I lately forwarded to the Secretaries to be laid before the Committee.

(3.) They have been told (Reply, p. 6) that Archdeacon Henry Williams purchased his lands subsequent to the year of 1840, when the Committee expressed their strong objection to such purchases. It has since been proved that the Archdeacon's latest purchase was made in 1837.

(4.) The impression has been conveyed (ibid) that the Committee had no knowledge of the extent of the Archdeacon's land purchases, except from Mr. Marsh's statement. But a full account of the extent of those land purchases, together with a vindication by the Committee of the Archdeacon's conduct therein, appears in the Appendix to the Report for 1844-45.

(5.) They were told by the Governor, that the Missionaries could not be put into possession of their lands without a large expenditure of British blood and money. Whereas in no one instance were they disturbed in the possession of them.

(6.) They were told by the Governor and Lord Grey, that no British subject had legal claim to more than 2,560 acres of land, and that the land grants of Captain FitzRoy, so far as they exceeded that amount, were invalid; whereas the Supreme Court of New Zealand decided on June, 24, 1848, that the land grants of Captain FitzRoy were good in law.

(7.) They have been told (Reply, p. 6) that the Committee did not sooner deal with the case of Archdeacon H. Williams, 1st, because they "were very imperfectly informed of these acquisitions of land," and, 2ndly, because "the legality of the extended grants being afterwards disputed, they suspended their interference until the result of the Government measures for setting them aside was ascertained." Now in regard to the 1st of these assertions, the Appendix to the Report for 1844-5 shews that, instead of being imperfectly informed, they possessed the most exact information; and in regard to the 2nd, strange to say, the Committee in London passed resolutions, June 28th, 1848, based, as Mr. Venn stated in his letter accompanying them, on the supposition that the Governor's view of the law was correct, three days after the Supreme Court of new Zealand had declared that it was erroneous.

(8.) They were informed by the Bishop that Archdeacon Henry Williams had made a promise to abide by his proposal, and that he afterwards withdrew that promise. But the Bishop in making this statement, suppressed a most material part of the Archdeacon's paper, from which it appears that the Archdeacon's promise was consequent upon a promise made by the Bishop himself, which promise the Bishop failed to keep. The Archdeacon's paper in this garbled form has been inserted by the Secretaries in their "Reply," p. 12, and is there made the foundation of the like charge against him of breach of promise.

I trust it will be understood that I charge no one with intentional misrepresentation: I only maintain that the statements to which I have referred are erroneous. It can hardly be necessary to shew that these allegations were material, and must have had a great influence on the minds of the members of the Committee. I was present at a Meeting of the Committee on March 8th, 1852, when several members spoke on the subject. One urged Mr. Fairburn's case as binding them in justice to act in the same way by the Archdeacon. Another assured me that the Committee, when they passed their Resolutions in 1847, had no conception of the extent of the Archdeacon's land. And another commented very severely on the obscurity of his statements in regard to its extent; so little were they aware that the Appendix to the Report for 1844-5 contained accurate information respecting it. The breach between the Committee and the Archdeacon, may be traced entirely to the error into which the Committee were led concerning the legality of his title to more than 2,560 acres of land. In February, 1847, they disclaimed "all power or desire to interfere with the private property of their Missionaries;" only requiring them to keep in their own possession no more land than the Governor and Bishop jointly might see fit, and "leaving to their own decision the mode of disposing of" the remainder. In June, 1848, they peremptorily required the Archdeacon, On pain of dismissal, to renew his consent to the proposal of the Bishop, namely, that he should accept of 2,560 acres, and that the surplus should be restored to the native owners. 319 Whence this difference between the Resolutions? In 1847 they believed the Archdeacon had a legal right to the whole of the lands for which he had received grants from Captain FitzRoy; in 1848, they believed that he had no legal light to more than the 2,560 acres offered by the Governor. This may be proved undeniably by Mr. Venn's letter to Archdeacon H. Williams accompanying the Resolutions of June 27, 1848. "It appears that you dispute the alleged illegality of the extended grants of Governor

FitzRoy; but after the declaration of their illegality by Earl Grey, the Committee feel themselves bound to treat them in that light, and that there should be no hesitation on your part in giving them up to the Government, to be disposed of as the Government think right. At the time at which the Parent Committee adopted its Resolutions, 22nd February, 1847, they presumed that the extended grants were legal; the contrary decision of the Colonial Office, had not been pronounced, as it has since been, against their validity."

I think I have now said enough, and more than enough, to shew how much the Committee have been influenced by these mis-statements; and how, I ask, can it be expected that the friends of the Archdeacon should acquiesce in their decision, when they know them to have been wholly misinformed in respect to the facts on which they based that decision? My confidence in the justice of the Committee is my excuse for troubling you with this letter.

I am, your faithful Servant in Christ,
JAMES W. K. DISNEY,
Incumbent of Christ Church, Newark.

==========================

K. – Page 303.

The Southern Cross.
February 2, 1855.

We rejoice in being able to announce that one great act of justice to the Colony has at last been done. Archdeacon Henry Williams, after a long and hard fought battle, has been restored to the portion from which he had been driven by a combination of forces, clerical and lay. We take upon ourselves to make public the Society's Resolution, and the Secretary's letter (an official document), in which the Resolution was enclosed.

Church Missionary Society.
London, October 2, 1854.

My dear Archdeacon Henry Williams, – I transmit to you a resolution, unanimously adopted by the Committee, which sufficiently conveys to you their genuine sentiments.

In the review of the affairs of New Zealand, when the Bishop, and Governor were with us, the desire was expressed by the Bishop and cordially responded to by all parties, that you should resume your position as a Missionary of the Society.

You declined to receive a retirement stipend, offered to you by the Committee on a former occasion; but the present proposal, that you should resume your full position as a Missionary of the Society, is so far different that I earnestly hope you will see your way to its acceptance.

The new order of things about to take place in New Zealand at once suggest that all past questions should be at an end, and that, as you were mainly instrumental under God in the establishment of the Mission, so you should assist in the great work of transferring Missionary operations into a settled ecclesiastical system.

Be assured that if the Committee have in any respect misunderstood your action or mis-stated facts, it has been unintentional on their part, as they are most desirous of doing full justice to your character, and to important services which you have rendered to the cause of Christ.

I am, my dear Archdeacon, very sincerely yours,
HENRY VENN,
Secretary.
Ven. Archdeacon Henry Williams.

Committee, July 18, 1854.

Resolved – "That adverting to the confidence which this Committee have ever felt and expressed in Archdeacon Henry Williams as a Christian Missionary, and their regret at his disconnexion with the Society upon a question which they understand may now be regarded as having passed away, rejoice to believe that every obstacle is providentially removed against the return of Archdeacon Henry Williams into full connexion with the Society as one of its Missionaries, and they, therefore, gladly dismiss from their recollection all past events, and will rejoice to hear that Archdeacon Henry Williams, receiving the resolution in the same spirit in which it is adopted, consents to return, and that all personal questions on every side are merged in the one common object of strengthening the cause of Christ in the Church of New Zealand."

"Extracted from the minutes.
"C. GRAHAM,
"Secretary Church Missionary Society."

So far as the Archdeacon is concerned, the resolution and the letter are satisfactory. The Society's Committee are "most desirous of doing full justice to his character." From the first there never was any question but that of personal character involved. That character is restored without reserve.

But the Society's character is very far from being restored. Nothing could have restored that character save a frank, brave, and chivalrous admission of having erred. But, as is usual with the less

generous order of minds, they endeavoured to save themselves. They deal in mystery; they hint that there is something yet behind; they try to leave an impression of what they do not venture to say. What are these "obstacles" so providentially removed? One of them, we suppose, was Governor Grey; but where and of what nature were the rest? The Committee are careful not to say. What is the question which "may now be regarded as having passed away?" and how did it pass away? The Archdeacon has made no concession; he has never relinquished one iota first or last, or moved one inch from his first position taken in 1847.

The only question at issue was the proof or withdrawal, no matter which, of "the severe animadversions cast upon some of the Missionaries" by Governer Grey. These "severe animadversions," we are informed by the Resolution, have "passed away." How have they passed away? We answer, they have been scattered to the winds. But the Committee would fain gloss over that which condemns themselves.

What are "the personal questions on every side" which the Committee declare that they wish to "merge?" Such questions do not exist; at least on the Archdeacon's side. And what must we think of the final endeavour to shelter an evasive resolution under cover of an appeal which we will not quote in connexion with evasion?

Mr. Venn states that, "when the Bishop and Governor were with us, the desire was expressed by the Bishop and cordially responded to by all parties." It is curious that he makes no special mention of Governor Grey's desire. Yet we should have supposed that Governor Grey would have attempted to take the lead, and so to claim the whole credit for that which he was unable to prevent. This would have been his best policy, and we cannot fancy him so obtuse as not to have perceived it. As yet, we know no more ourselves than is contained in the two papers which we have published.

What, moreover, is the reason of the wide discrepancy of date between the two companion documents?

=============================

L. – Page 287.

This paper is cancelled, there being no longer enough space at disposal.

M. – Page 343.

MANIFESTO OF THE GOVERNOR TO THE NATIVES.

[From the New Zealand Spectator, Jan. 8.]

"These are some of the thoughts of the Governor, of Sir George Grey, towards the Maories at this time.

"His desire is, how to arrange things, that there may be good laws made, and those laws be put in force; and how all men, both European and Maori, may be taught to work for the common good of the country in which they live, that they may be a happy people, rich, wise, well instructed, and every year advancing in prosperity.

"For it is the desire of the Queen (whose heart was dark when she heard of the troubles in New Zealand) that all her subjects, both Europeans and Maories, in all parts of these islands, should have the benefits of law and order; that the lives and persons of all men should be safe from destruction and injury; and that every man should have for himself and enjoy his own lands, his cattle, his sheep, his ship, his money, or whatever else belongs to him. And it is the desire of the Queen that all her subjects should help in making the laws by which they are governed; and that from amongst them should be appointed wise and good men as magistrates, to adjudge in cases of disputed rights, and punish the wrongdoer, and to teach the law, how it should be obeyed.

The Europeans in New Zealand, with the help of the Governor, make laws for themselves, and have their own magistrates; and because they obey those laws, they are rich, they have large houses, great ships, horses, sheep, cattle, corn, and all other good things for the body. They have also ministers of religion, teachers of schools; lawyers, to teach the law; surveyors, to measure every man's land; doctors, to heal the sick; carpenters, blacksmiths, and all those other persons who make good things for the body, and teach good things for the souls and minds of the Europeans. It is because they have made wise and good laws, and because they look up to the Queen as the one head over all the magistrates, and over all the several bodies of which the English people consist.

It is the desire of the Queen – and this is also the thought of Governor Grey and of the Runanga of the Pakehas – that the Maories also should do for themselves as the Europeans do. They know that of late years the Maories have been seeking for law and order. The Englishmen have been more than a thousand years learning how to make laws and to govern themselves well. The Maori has only just begun this work. Besides this, in order to have magistrates, and policemen, and other officers, it is necessary to pay them, for the labourer is worthy of his hire; and he who works for

the whole body of the people should be paid by the people; for while he works for them he must, more or less, neglect his own work.

Now the thought of the Governor is, how he may help the Maories in the work of making laws, and how he may provide for the payment of the magistrates and other officers of Government, till such time as the Maories shall have become rich and be able to pay all the expenses themselves. In order, then, to provide the machinery of good government among the Maories in these islands, the Governor desires to see established the following system, whereby good laws may be made, well-disposed persons be protected, bad men restrained from violence, and security for life and property be ensured to all.

I. The parts of the island inhabited by Maories will be marked off into several districts, according to tribes or divisions of tribes,, and the convenience of the natural features of the country. To every one of these districts the Governor will send a learned and good European to assist the Maories in the work of making laws and enforcing them; he will be called the civil commissioner. There will be a Runanga for that district, which will consist of a certain number of men, who will be chosen from the assessors. The civil commissioner will be the President of that Runanga, to guide its deliberations; and if the votes are equal on any matter, he will have a casting vote to decide. This Runanga will propose the laws for that district, about the trespass of cattle, about cattle pounds, about fences, about branding cattle, about thistles and weeds, about dogs, about spirits and drunkenness, about putting down bad customs of the old Maori law, like the taua, and about the various things which specially concern the people living in that district. They will also make regulations about schools, about roads, if they wish for them, and about other matters which may promote the public good of that district. And all these laws which the district Runangas may propose, will be laid before the Governor, and he will say if they are good or not. If he says they are good, they will become law for all men in that district to which they relate. If he says they are not good, then the Runanga must make some other law which will be better. This is the way with the laws which the Europeans make in their Runangas, both in New Zealand and in the great Runanga of the Queen in England.

2. Every district will be subdivided into hundreds; and in each of these there will be assessors appointed. The men of that district will choose who shall be assessors; only the Governor will have the word to decide whether the choice is good or not.

The magistrate, with these assessors, will hold courts for disputes about debts of money, about cattle trespass, about all breaches of the law in that district. They will decide in all these cases.

3. In every hundred there will be policemen, and one chief policeman, who will be under the assessors. These policemen shall summon all persons against whom there are complaints before the court of the assessors; and when the assessors shall have decided, the policemen will see that the orders of the assessors are carried out. All fines which shall be paid shall be applied to some public uses. The commissioner or magistrate will keep this money till it is required.

4. The Runangas will also be assisted in establishing and maintaining schools and teachers; sometimes Europeans, sometimes Maories, will be appointed. The Maories ought to pay part of the salary of the school teacher, the Governor will pay the rest.

5. Where the Runangas wish to have a European doctor to live among them, the Governor will endeavour to procure one to reside there, and will pay him so much salary as may make him willing to go to that work. The doctor will give medicine to the Maories when they are sick, and will teach them what things are good for the rearing of their children, to make them strong and healthy; and how to prolong the lives of all the Maories, by eating good food, by keeping their houses clean, by having proper clothes, and other things relating to their health. This will be the business of the doctor. But all those who require the services of the doctor will pay for them, except such as the Runanga may decide to be too poor to do so.

6. About the lands of the Maories. It will be for the Runangas to decide all disputes about the lands, It will be good that each Runanga should make a register, in which should be written a statement of all the lands within the district of that Runanga, so that everybody may know, and that there may be no more disputings about land.

This, then, is what the Governor intends to do to assist the Maori in the good work of establishing law and order. These are the first things – the Runangas, the assessors, the policemen, the schools, the doctors, the civil commissioners, to assist the Maories to govern themselves, to make good laws, and to protect the weak against the strong. There will be many more things to be planned and to be decided; but about such things the Runangas and the commissioners will consult. This work will be a work of time, like the growing of a large tree. At first there is the seed; then there is one trunk; then there are branches innumerable, and very many leaves; by-and-by, perhaps, there will be fruit also. But the growth of the tree is slow – the branches, the leaves, and the fruit did not all appear at once when the seed was put in the ground; and so will it be with the good laws of the Runanga. This is the seed which the Governor desires to sow – the Runangas, the assessors, the commissioners, and the rest. By-and-by, perhaps,

this seed will grow into a very great tree, which will bear good fruit on all its branches. The Maories, then, must assist in the planting of this tree, in this training of its branches, in cultivating the ground about its roots; and, as the tree grows, the children of the Maori also will grow to be a rich, wise, and prosperous people, like the English and those other nations which long ago began the work of making good laws, and obeying them. This will be the work of peace, on which the blessing of Providence will rest, which will make the storms to pass away from the sky, and all things become light between the Maori and the Pakeha; and the heart of the Queen will then be glad when she hears that the two races are living quietly together as brothers in the good and prosperous land of New Zealand."

==========================

N. – Page 343.

The report of the speech referred to in the text was to have been reprinted in this appendix. It is omitted, as being no longer necessary to vindication, now complete without it; also as being more plain-spoken than polite. Its downrightness was justified by the circumstances under which it was delivered. Henry Williams, a high-bred gentleman, not only in the real but also in the conventional sense of the word, had been accused of "extreme untruth," of "espionage" of improper dealings with private letters, of having abused through greed his influence with the native race; in short, had been made to suffer the extremity of degradation. This, as between himself and the Governor, had been condoned. But the evil was working still. Shortly before the Archdeacon's death, in 1865, a most scurrilous article appeared in a colonial newspaper, assailing him with extreme virulence, and referring to Sir George Grey's despatches for corroboration. This time the Governor was not immediately to blame; he was no party to the publication; but recollection of the past was revived.

In 1867, the Governor's second term of office was about to expire, by efflux of time. It being known that he was not to be re-appointed, the Auckland Provincial Council resolved to present a parting address, in the usual complimentary terms. The member for the Bay of Islands objected. He was quite willing to join in wishing him "health, happiness, and prosperity;" but protested against being made to offer assurance of his "personal regard and esteem." Thereupon, he reviewed at length the Governor's career in New Zealand, treating the first term of office with especial reference to those despatches in which Archdeacon Henry

Williams had been assailed. The charge of untruthfulness was retorted, being inseparable from vindication; for truth could not be on both sides. Reply was challenged, but no one rose. The member for the Bay, knowing that he was in a minority, refrained from dividing the Council, suffering the address to pass upon the voices. Animam liberaverat, and with that he was content.

==========================

O. – Page 353.

The Reverend Matthew Taupaki to Sir William Martin.

Paihia, August 12, 1867.

Sir William Martin,
Salutations to yourself and Lady Martin; my love towards you both will never cease, to you who have been so kind towards myself and my friends while we remained with you, Although our bodies be separated from you, our hearts are always near you, for we have been taught to love. Although the outward eye be hidden, the eyes of the heart are constantly seeing you. Sir, salutations to you; Lady Martin, salutations to you; salutations to you both, you who resemble "Te Wiremu," now hidden from our sight. Here we are sighing for our father, – that is, for his bodily presence. He is gone, – gone before us to welcome us when we appear after him; he is now seated beside his Saviour. The chiefs of Ngapuhi are manifesting much love for "Te Wiremu," this being a passing away of the old people; the extent of their love towards "Te Wiremu " was manifested in the peace-making which followed the outbreak in the district. On the 29th of May, Ngapuhi commenced firing, "Wiremu Katene" and "Piripi Korongohi," – that is the Ngarehauata and Uritaniwha tribes, but no one was killed. Williams, the younger, and myself went to these pas and endeavoured to persuade them to desist, but they would not. On the 10th day of June I went again and remained with them three days, but they were determined to fight, and on the 10th day of July an engagement took place. Two on Piripi Korongohi's side were killed, and three on Wiremu Katene's side. On the 12th of July I went with Renata Tangata to see Te Wiremu, as I was going to escort Renata to Kaitaia, and wished him to see Te Wiremu before he left; we found him lying on his bed, his illness having commenced on the 11th of July. He saluted us, and asked if there was any letter for him from Auckland; we replied there were none, only to White, of Mangonui, and Matthews, of Kaitaia . . . . He then asked Renata what the Biship had said to him, as to his

place of residence? Renata replied, the Bishop had told him he was to be stationed at Ahipara. Te Wiremu said, "That is good." . . . . He then said to us, "Well, my sons, my work is finished, for I am an old man." I then told him I was going to Kaitaia to escort Renata, Burrows and the Bishop having told me to do so. He asked when I should return; I told him 1 should be absent one Sunday. He spoke again to us and said: "Sons, the principal word in the book is that the Kingdom of Heaven must be first sought after, and then the things of the world; when I first came to this country, my first object was the Kingdom of Heaven, – that is, my place of worship, and after that my dwelling-house. Also, when I removed to Pakaraka, my first object was a place of worship; afterwards my house and other things." He then said: "Go, my sons, to the North, and take my love to those I love there; to my friend Te Morenga; tell him I am now very old, and near my end; tell him to be strong to fight against Satan, that Satan may flee from him." The Ngapuhi's call appears to be Satan, give us war, give us fightings, give us dead bodies, give us walling. He said, "How great the ignorance of these men; Piripi Korongohi, Haki Taipa, Haratua, Penewhare and Wiremu Katene to commence fighting; they are fighting against God, and He will flee from them. They are saying, fight against God, and He will flee from us. Well, well! these people are beside themselves!" He said no more to us. On the 16th day of July he fell asleep, at six o'clock in the evening. All his sons were absent at these fighting pas endeavouring to make peace. On the 19th he was buried. From 140 to 200 Europeans and natives were present. The chiefs from the fighting pas came to see Te Wiremu and cry over him, and from hence began the saying that peace should be made over his death; and although many days passed, the question was still maintained that peace should be the result of his death. After the funeral I returned to these pas and remained there two Sundays, both parties still advocating peace, and on the 5th and 6th of August, peace was made, Tamati Waka, Aperahama Taonui, Wiremu Waka Turau, and many other chiefs of Hokianga taking a principal part therein. All was very good; everything passed off well. The land is placed in the hands of Williams, the Resident Magistrate. This is the result of Te Wiremu's death: these people have honoured him in his death, by making peace at this time, remembering his first coming to this country, when he found all fighting one against another; he made peace and it was established. Wars then ceased, and all evil, such as cannibalism, slavery, and many other evils. Now he dies during this present warfare, that peace may be made at his death, in accordance with his former work. The people generally are greatly lamenting for their father, now removed from them; yet they are comforted, in

the knowledge that he is safe. It is they who are in the midst of trouble. Here ends what I have to say at the present time.

The Rarawa are also fighting, and no news to the contrary has yet been received, as to whether peace is made or not. I have not yet gone to escort Renata to Kaitaia, having been hindered in visiting other places; this fighting has also detained me, and Te Wiremu's death has been another cause, for I wished to comfort those of his people who are lamenting the death of their father; but after next Sunday I intend starting, on the 28th day of August. Farewell! may God preserve you, that yet for many days you may continue to teach us things appertaining to life, and may He likewise strengthen us. Think not it was want of love prevented my writing sooner, for indeed I have love.

From your affectionate son,
MATTHEW TAUPAKI.

The Reverend Renata Tangata to Sir William Martin.

Paihia, Bay of Islands, August 12, 1867.

My loving friend Martin,
I am still at Paihia, residing with Matthew, not having yet left for Oruru; many hindrances have prevented our leaving. One cause was that we might be present at Te Wiremu's funeral. On the 12th day of July we went to pay our respects to him, and found that his sickness had commenced, a cough and other ailments of the body; but yet he had some strength left at that time and put many questions to me respecting my going to Oruru. We remained until towards evening, and then went to Ngapuhi, who were fighting. We saw their dead and wounded, and spoke to them about making peace, not to fight any more, but they replied peace should not be made. We returned to Paihia, and on the 17th of July were told that the old man, Te Wiremu, had fallen asleep; therefore we did not go North, but returned to Pakaraka, to be present at the funeral. We spoke to the people who were fighting, and said, "Listen, Te Wiremu is dead, the father of us all, the native race of this Island. He made peace when he first came to preach the Gospel in New Zealand, at a time when guns flashed and spears flourished amongst us; he then stood between the fighting parties and caused them to desist. The Gospel of God assisted him, and fighting ceased, for God strengthened His servant in the midst of all our evil doings. And now, Ngapuhi, consider; peace was established upon Te Wiremu's arrival in this country, and now that he has returned (although not to England from whence he came, but to Heaven), let peace be made on his departure, in order that it may be said, 'peace was made on his arrival, and peace was made when he returned.'" But they replied, that no sooner should the funeral be over, but they

would fight again, these people are fighting and destroying themselves. Te Wiremu was buried on the 19th and we were present. Much love was manifested for this old man; it is a passing away of the old people. Clarke and Kemp now remain. Great feeling is shewn for them all, those who are gone, – that is, for their bodies only, for their spirits are in bliss listening to the sweet singing of holy angels, and that aged servant Te Wiremu is there, in joy and brightness; for the brightness of the Lamb of God shines in that place.

This is all from the humble son of you both,
RENATA TANGATA.

==============================

P. – Page 357.

The following is an account of part of the proceedings at the unveiling of the monument. It is extracted and translated from the Waka Maori, a Maori newspaper. The Bishop's opening address is omitted, having been printed in the text.

The Rev. Matthew Taupaki then said: – "Welcome, Ngapuhi, Rarawa, Te Aupouri! Come and see your handiwork standing before you. There are also the other tribes who assisted in erecting this monument – -Ngatiraukawa, Ngatikahungunu, Ngatiporou, Ngatimaru: let us express our thanks to them for joining us in their good work. It would have been so very much better if they could have been present, but we know their thoughts and good wishes are with us to-day. There is a monument similar to this standing at Kororareka, erected by the Government to Walker Nene, on account of his staunch friendship to the pakeha, and being a father to them. There is another at Ohaeawai, erected by the Government in memory of the soldiers who fell there. This one commemorates the love of the Maori church for the late Archdeacon Williams, as expressed in the inscription 'He was a father of the tribes – a brave man in making peace in the Maori wars.' The one great moving principle which brought him to this island was the word of God, 'Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.' – (Mark xvi., 15.) "Think of the wickedness of our island. The exceeding heavy stone which weighed us down was cannibalism, but that did not deter him. He forsook his own country and people, parents and relatives. He arrived here in 1823. He landed at Paihia, and

there built his first fortress, the church standing before you. It was in that fortress he forged the weapons of war wherewith to overthrow the strongholds of the earth. He laboured in this island, and in 1825 baptised Te Rangi by the name of Christian: he was the first fish caught in the Gospel net. In 1828 was the peacemaking at Waima, Hokianga, on account of the death of Whareumu: this was the work of the Missionaries. In 1830, David Taiwhanga, a brave of Hongi Hika's, was baptised. He sits here among us to-day; he was the second fish caught in the net. In the same year was the battle of Kororareka, in which Hengi was killed. Peace was made; Mr. Williams was among the peacemakers. In 1832 Ngapuhi made war on Tauranga to avenge the death of Haramiti and Kakaha; Mr. Williams went with them to restrain Ngapuhi. In 1833 he went to Matamata to induce Waharoa to make peace with Ngatimaru. In 1835 Mr. Williams went to Waikato to see Wherowhero and induce him to make peace with Ngatimaru; and in the same year a meeting was brought about of Ngapuhi, Ngatimaru, and Waikato at Otahuhu, near Auckland, and peace made. In 1836 Mr. Williams went to Tauranga, and on to Rotorua, to endeavour to restrain the wrath of Waharoa against Arawa, on account of the foul murder of Hunga by Arawa. In 1837 Ngapuhi fought at Otuihu, when Pi, Te Nana, Te Tutu, and Taua, were killed. Peace was made; Mr. Williams was among the peacemakers. In 1839 Tamihana Te Rauparaha and Matini Te Whiwhi came to the Bay of Islands for Missionaries. Mr. Williams returned with them, accompanied by Mr. Hadfield, now Bishop of Wellington, his son-in-law. On their arrival at Otaki they made peace between Rauparaha and Te Rangitaake. In 1843 Ngapuhi fought with Rarawa at Oruru. Mr. Williams went to them, and made peace at Aurere, near Mangonui. In 1844 Heke cut down the flag-staff on Maiki. Mr. Williams did his best to dissuade him, but he would not listen, hence the slaughter of the Maories, and also of the Pakehas. His word was the Treaty of Waitangi, which confirmed to the Natives the possession of their lands, giving to the Queen the sovereignty in the Government.

"After this, Waikato sent to Ngapuhi to join them in the King movement. Ngapuhi declined, when Marsh Kawiti forthwith erected the Queen's flag-staff on Maiki, where it now stands, and we have been in peace to the present day. It is meet and proper, therefore, that we should erect this monument to keep in memory a great man who is dead, for it is not as though the erecting of monuments were a new idea. We are told in Scripture of Jacob at Bethel, Joshua at Jordan, Samuel at Ebenezer, erecting memorials. In conclusion, let the erection of this stone be a witness amongst us that the Maori Church shall stand, and not be cast down for ever."

Ihaka Te Tai said: "It is true what the Rev. Matiu Taupaki has said, that Te Rangi was the first fish caught in the Gospel net; Rawiri Taiwhanga was the second. The last fish caught by Archdeacon Williams was the old chief Manu, whom he christened Weston."

The Rev. Piripi Patiki said: "The Maori could not comprehend what motive could have induced the first Missionaries to forsake their own country, their brethren and sisters, and fathers and mothers, to come to the ends of the earth to a cannibal land; but on opening his Bible he found their commission was from God, to "Go and teach all nations," with the promise, "Lo, I am with you unto the end of the world." It was this that brought the Missionaries to this island. They obeyed the command and were blessed, and the Maori Church has sprung up."

Wi Hau gave an outline of the history of the mission. He said: "Mr. Marsden was the first Missionary to this country, and the first to make peace. He was accompanied by Mr. King, Mr. Hall, Mr. Kendal, afterwards came Mr. Kemp, Archdeacon Williams, Rev. R. Davis, Bishop Williams – brother of the Archdeacon – and others. The monument was quite correct, because this island was a very hard stone, and it was Archdeacon Williams who broke it. But he thought it incongruous that the monument should stand at Paihia, while the Archdeacon's grave was at Pakaraka; it ought to have stood over his grave."

Matenga Taiwhanga said the only objection he saw was that the monument stands in one place while the remains lie in another. David Taiwhanga's name has been mentioned; let them put him under the monument when he dies.

Mr. Williams said: "I rise on behalf of the descendants of Archdeacon Williams to thank you for this memorial of your great love to our father. Welcome, Ngapuhi, Rarawa, Aupouri! Welcome Ngatiraukawa, and all the Southern tribes who assisted in this great work! Although absent, we send you greeting. My brothers and sisters, our children here present, our aged mother at Pakaraka, and all our absent ones, tender you our united love and thanks. We feel very grateful to you, for in this memorial we have evident proof that although our father is removed from amongst us, his name is still held in reverence by you. Welcome, bring your great treasure. Notwithstanding the objection of my friends, Wi Hau and Matenga, that it does not stand over his grave, to my mind it is quite in place, inasmuch as this is the spot where he first

set foot in the land, this is where he went in and out among us. He originated here the work which brought him to this country. It was here he nursed it until it had matured, and then dispersed it to distant places. The inscription "He was a father of the tribes," is correct; it tallies with his injunctions to us his children: Be kind and loving to your brethren, – my Maori children. We are ever mindful of the last word of our father to us, and it is the desire of our hearts to fulfil it, and that we may love one another as brethren. It is also true that "for forty-four years he preached the gospel of peace;" and as an evidence of its having borne fruit, we see standing before us a Bishop of the Maori Church, an Archdeacon, too, the son of his old friend Mr. Clarke, Maori clergymen, Maori lay Synodsmen, and a Maori Synod in full operation. But we must not leave to them alone the work: we must all assist in cultivating the seed which our mutual parent planted. One, single-handed, cannot accomplish much. In great Maori undertakings all are invited to lend a hand, both men and women, great and small, all unite. So in this great work of building up the Church let us all unite and assist the Synod, and those who are set over us, in a spirit of brotherly love."

=================================

From the New Zealand Daily Herald,

Bay of Islands, January 18, 1876.

From a Northern correspondent: – On Tuesday last there was a great gathering at Paihia, natives and Europeans, to witness the unveiling of the monumental stone set up in memory of Archdeacon Henry Williams. The natives especially had gathered in from far and wide, some having come down even from the North Cape. About 800 in all are reckoned to have been present. The idea of a memorial originated with the Rev. Matthew Taupaki, incumbent of Paihia. He determined that the cost should be borne by natives only, refusing to receive contributions from the pakeha. He undertook the whole management of the collection, writing to all parts of the Northern Island, and gathering in nearly 200. The Messrs. Buchanan, of Auckland, were entrusted with the work, and have given perfect satisfaction to all concerned. This, your correspondent has been specially requested to express, in acknowledgment of the faithfulness with which every detail of the work has been executed, and the care bestowed upon the setting up. The inscription (in English and Maori) is as follows: – "In loving memory of Henry Williams, forty-four years a preacher of

the Gospel of Peace, a father of the tribes. This monument is raised by the Maori Church. He came to us in 1823; he was taken from us in 1867." On another face, as follows: – "The tribes who raised this monument are Ngapuhi, Te Aupouri, Ngatikahununu, Rarawa, Ngatiraukawa, Ngatiporou, Ngatimaru." At noon precisely, the Bishop of Auckland, who had come up for the occasion, signified his desire that the monument should be unveiled. On the lifting of the veil, the Bay of Islands Choir sang the chorus from Mendelssohn's St. Paul, "How lovely are the Messengers that bring us the Gospel of Peace." The Bishop then addressed the natives in a few well-chosen words; after which he invited the Rev. Matiu Taupaki, Ihaka Te Tai, and the Rev. Piripi Patiki, in turn, to speak from the platform. They were responded to by Wi Hau and Matenga Taiwhanga. All political matters, at the request of the Bishop, were excluded. The Maori speeches were responded to by Mr. Edward Williams, R.M., the present head of the family. The natives then returned to the Ti, where ample provision had been made for them; the Europeans to the grounds attached to Mr. Carleton's house, where luncheon was spread for all comers. After luncheon, a concert, vocal and instrumental. Not a single mishap or failure occurred during the whole of the day's proceedings.

Archdeacon Henry Williams was the victim during life of persecution and calumny, which now only remains as a disgrace to the authors of it. Every cloud has rolled away. Year by year his services to New Zealand are becoming better known, and more appreciated.

299 No. 245c was the 4,000 acres claim. The soil was worthless, and remains uncultivated still. The purchase was made for the sole purpose of securing a right of road. The lopping off of half was cheerfully assented to, the right of road being preserved.

300 The "mistake of a day," in the now famous St. John's College record, subjected the Archdeacon to like disparagement.

301 In the original, "Pumuku," a mistake.

302 There was a report that Heke had resolved to take the custom-house. Archdeacon Henry said, "I will sleep there myself." He went across, and found the native party at prayers. Still, he treated them as "excommunicate;" that is, he would not have received them at the communion; and they did not offer to stay. Each side understood the other.

303 They did not know that Captain Robertson had fallen. It was on their way back, after repulsing the enemy, that they missed and searched for him. It must be remembered that all this took place in the grey of the dawn.

304 A ISTERON PROTERON; seemingly by some mistake of the press. The contrary was fact; Kawiti's party were left in full retreat over the hills.

305 Instead of returning it to the native sellers.

306 Leaving the question open, presumably to the decision of the Government, how much was "necessary."

307 Afterwards killed in the engagement at Mawhe.

308 The important results of this meeting, in allaying the suspicions of the doubtful chiefs, securing the assistance of some, and the neutrality of others, have been abundantly corroborated. His Excellency's the Governor's speech in the Legislative Council on the 14th October, 1847, may be adduced as bearing evidence to the fact. He observed – "I was not in the Colony at the time, but from all that I could learn from the best authority, it appeared that this very town was threatened with destruction, and the forces in the country, scattered as they necessarily were, would have been insufficient to have saved it, had Walker not watched the rebels with vigilance, and harassed them so as to prevent the attempt being successfully made."

309 A letter to Colonel Hulme.

310 Mauparaoa.

311 I believe that Mr. Clarke is in no small degree responsible for the dreadful occurrences which took place. – Parliamentary papers [Blue Book] 1847, p. 17.

"In a note at the bottom of p. 17, a lamentable opinion is expressed, which may draw forth indignant animadversion after the arrival of these papers in Australia." – Captain FitzRoy's Memorandum in reference to the fore-cited paragraph.

312 The date of the letter is April 7, 1847. It was read by the Bishop to Mr. Clarke, who authorised mention. Archdeacon Henry Williams applied to the Society for a copy, but was refused. Compare Governor FitzRoy's memorandum, Blue Book, June, 1847, p. 74. "With respect to Church of England Missionaries' claims to land in New Zealand, I may here, in passing, state my own conviction that those claims will not "give rise to native wars," or "disputes between the Government and the natives," unless the Government attempt to dispossess the legitimate and undisputed owners of those lands, namely, the Missionaries and their numerous children, some of whom are married and have families. The natives have remarkably strong feelings of attachment to the older Missionaries and their children. They care little for the clergymen who have been only a few years in the country. They do not consider them as belonging to themselves."

313 I have neither read in history, nor met in real life, with a case such as the present, in which a few individuals who were sent out to a country at the expense of pious people, in order that they might spread the truths of the gospel, have acquired such large tracts of land from ignorant natives, over whom they had acquired a religious influence, and who, being themselves Missionaries, have then assailed with such violence and obloquy a person who has endeavoured to protect the rights of the suffering and complaining natives.

Governor Grey to Earl Grey, Blue Book, 1848, p. 122.

"By my troth, Captain, these are very bitter words," says mine Hostess to ancient Pistol.

314 Auckland, November 12, 1848.
Sir, – I have the honour to state for the information of his Excellency the Major General Commanding, in reply to your letter of this day's date, that in my opinion the post at Wahapu, Bay of Islands, is not defensible at present, and from its position it is not possible to make it so.
I have, &c,
R. Bolton, Lieut.-Colonel commanding R.E., New Zealand.
The Brigade Major, Auckland.

315 These letters he caused to be published in a violent local newspaper (designating the Southern Cross), in some instances before I received them, and without publishing my replies." Governor Grey to Earl Grey, Feb. 10, 1849.

The letters under Archdeacon Henry Williams' signature which appeared in the Southern Cross, were merely reprints.

316 He also contrived to get published in the same newspaper, a private letter of mine to your Lordship." Ibid Blue Book, July, 1849.

In which number of that newspaper? No such letter has been published at all. Archdeacon Henry Williams was not concerned in the publication of the confidential despatch to Mr. Gladstone of June 25, 1846; though his Excellency has stated that he was so. The act, no matter by whom performed, was a duty to society. The objectionable portions of that despatch were made public originally by the Society.

317 An inadvertence. His grants were made by Governor FitzRoy, but issued by Governor Grey.

318 For one strange perversion in the Blue Book, edited in the Colonial Office, I am quite unable to account. Archdeacon Henry Williams had appended to his memorial praying for enquiry, certain papers in proof of the Governor's alleged endeavours, at the Bay of Islands in 1847, to excite the native converts against their teachers. One of these papers is an extract from a letter written by Archdeacon William Williams. In the Blue Book the signature is altered from William, to Henry; thus causing it to appear that Archdeacon Henry Williams, in his anxiety to accumulate evidence, had thrown in a letter written by himself. The alteration, being twice repeated, and being, in the signature, not of a mere initial, but of a full length name, is, at all events, not an error of the press, which otherwise I should have assumed it to be.

319 The Governor had withdrawn from that part of the proposal, and the Bishop had followed him. The object of the original proposal has been explained in the text. But all is confusion, at least to an outsider.

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