Life of Sir George Grey: Governor, High commissioner, and Premier. An Historical Biography.
A Theocracy
A Theocracy.
It is an old question. As early as the first Christian centuries it was realised that the devotion of the faithful was a source of public danger, and statutes of the early emperors limited the amount of the donations they could legally make. The triumph of the Church over a moribund power augumented the evil. Throughout the Middle Ages the 'dead hand' of the Church was over all. In several European countries it was estimated that the Catholic Church held one-third of the landed wealth, and similar statements are made of the Oriental theocracies The acquisition of land, at least in early times, is manifestly the material foundation of the spiritual power. Through this means the Pope attained his primacy. Through it all the national churches sustained their energies and maintained their consequence in the world. At this day, the spiritual communions par excellence, such as the Methodists, the Congregationalists, and the Baptists assure their material existence by trust deeds which give them a legal title to their chapels, schools, and endowments. Sometimes their most saintly ministers have tarnished their repute by their pertinacious pursuit of such wealth, and several ministers in all the colonies have impaired their spiritual usefulness by an undue addiction to the acquisition of it.
The danger of a theocracy, buttressed by large material resources, arising in New Zealand was not wholly imaginary. One of the missionaries claimed 30,000 acres. Another claimed about 10,000 acres, and a Government commissioner, to whom the Governor had remitted the settlement of the dispute, assigned Mm the full amount of Ms claim. To several others the same commissioner rashly awarded amounts exceeding the legal maximum. Grey had not the smallest intention of conceding any such extravagant claims. Of the missionaries Henry Williams was the most intractable. He positively stated that he claimed no excess over the legal maximum. On the contrary, as he jesuitically admitted, he made his very extensive purchases of land for the sole benefit of Ms eleven children, and he never derived a shilling from any of them. Men, other than misers, usually accumulate for the benefit of their heirs, but they are not generally considered the less selfish on that account. Nor was it literally true that Williams did not benefit by the lands he bought. When, in consequence of these transactions, he was dismissed by the Church Missionary Society, he withdrew to an estate owned by one of his sons, and there continued his noble missionary toils. He had unwittingly been providing for his old age.