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The story of Octavius Hadfield, particularly of the years from the end of 1839 to 1869, is closely woven with the European history of the Kapiti coast, now known to holiday makers and residents as the Golden coast. In the same years his influence among the Maoris in the area, and indeed far beyond it, was immense. In 1845, while visiting the region when Had-field was ill in Wellington, Bishop Selwyn wrote of the Waikanae and Otaki Missions— "His station is the key to the tranquility of this district; containing among its population some of the best and some of the worst of the Maori race." During his twenty-four years in Wellington as Bishop and then Primate, and his ten years of retirement in Marton, he was still never very far away from this coast.
Hadfield speaks for himself quite extensively in this story, and his contemporaries also speak. He was an outstanding man, humble yet a born leader of men, entirely devoted to his church and his God yet absolutely outspoken in the temporal affairs of his country, highly intellectual yet competent in riding, shooting, swimming or handling a boat, a man who could not stand by and see injustice done, a man who would fight a seemingly hopeless battle to the bitter end to defend what he considered right. He was on the point of death many times —perhaps this sharpened his faculty for living and logic.
"In the making of New Zealand Octavius Hadfield played a stateman's part. In the history of Wellington he looms co-equal with Fitzherbert, Featherston and Wakefield."
Obituary, 1904
The Author
great-grandaughter of
Octavius Hadfield
Printed by
Wellington
"In the early life of Bishop Hadfield in New Zealand, when it is fully written, we shall have a history of the troubled times that accompanied European settlement in the Wellington district. Through that history will stalk the historic figures of Colonel Wakefield and other officers of the New Zealand Company, the great missionary Bishop Selwyn, as well as Rauparaha and Rangihaeata and their savage and warlike followers."
"Glimpses of the Past", Dec. 16, 1904.
"He was one of the most remarkable men the Colony has ever known, one to whom she owes more than the present generation are aware of."
Two generations after the Marlborough Press wrote this on December 14, 1904, the name of Octavius Hadfield is still not widely known in New Zealand. Yet in the forming of the Colony and of the Anglican Church in New Zealand he played a leading part.
When Hadfield first joined the
Probably the most rewarding years were the early ones on the coast north of Wellington facing Kapiti Island where Hadfield arrived to live at the end of 1839. Here he was in territory dominated by Te Rauparaha, a powerful and much feared chief. Though Rauparaha never accepted the Christian faith, he grew to trust and like the young missionary, and thereby helped to smooth the way for a new life in his domains.
When Hadfield, accompanied by Henry Williams, reached Wellington harbour on November 7, 1839, from the Bay of Islands, their arrival was only a few weeks after that of the Tory which,
Aurora, which came into Wellington harbour, loaded with settlers, on January 22, 1840, closely followed by four more ships. Even before the arrival of the Tory, a small schooner, the
Hadfield studied the Maori, not as so many of his fellow men did as a primitive native with whom one could have nothing in common, but as a member of "the genus man." He was called a rebel for supporting Wiremu Kingi Whiti in his refusal to sell the land that led to the Taranaki war—and of the war he wrote three pamphlets, "
He read extensively when time permitted, more especially during his long illness in Wellington, on church history and church government and theology, on chemistry and physiology and metaphysics—and he studied Hebrew and Greek that he might understand the Bible more thoroughly and translate into Maori more precisely. In 1850 he was asked by
Hadfield's influence seems to have been considerable, especially in his earlier years, and his mana strong. In the weeks following the Wairau Massacre in 1843 he was credited as being largely responsible for preventing
Bishop Abraham, his contemporary and friend, wrote of him— "a most original thinker, a most fearless lover of truth and a hater of shams." Eric Ramsden in his preface to "Rangiatea" called him "hard-hitting, far-seeing, absolutely intolerant of humbug, a man who resented injustice with every fibre of his being." Hadfield himself wrote—"I marvel at the lukewarmness of people who profess to love justice and hate iniquity."
Yet he was a humble man, in spite of the publicity he generated for a time, and seems in some odd way to have erased himself from the public memory even before his death. His story is worth knowing—it is an important part of die history of New Zealand.
The name Maori has been substituted for Native in works quoted in the actual text. Many of Hadfield's existing letters or copies thereof are in the Alexander Turnbull Library. Others, and a small portion of his early diary, belong to the Wellington Public Library but have recently been copied by staff of the Turnbull Library.
"I would prefer him to become a chimney-sweep rather than a missionary,"
There never seemed to be any doubt whatever in Octavius Hadfield's mind that his plans were the right ones—in his 65 years in New Zealand his faith in his God never wavered—and perhaps if Joseph could have seen ahead to the important part his son would play in civilising and moulding this new country he would have had other thoughts on the matter. Able to pen trenchant comments on matters varying from "the rich man in this venal world" to American slavery, and never an admirer of the "mask of religion", he must have admired his youngest son's forthrightness in matters secular as well as religious in the days to come.
Joseph Hadfield was a silk merchant, but would have preferrecd a professional career, either in medicine or law. He himself wrote of his education—"As I and the younger sons of my father were destined to mercantile pursuits we were confined to elementary knowledge, that is the first principles of the Latin grammar, English French, writing and accounts, with the accomplishments of music and dancing: all these were to be acquired by the time I was 14 years old."
So at 14 Joseph Hadfield entered his father's Counting House Some four or five years later a Philosophical Society was formed in Manchester, where the family lived, and the young Joseph was invited to join this. He had spent many nights in reading and studying since leaving school; he was fairly proficient at languages and helped the Society by translating their reports from Paris. Now he became deeply interested in natural philosophy, and especially electricity. He became friendly with a mechanic, and together these two passed many hours in making experiments. After the first ascent of Montgolphier in his balloon, the Manchester Philosophical Society
After some years in Manchester, and after having journeyed through most of England on business, he was sent to Europe to learn the trade there. Here he also spent a considerable time, travelling through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In Ghent he met the Emperor Joseph II; in Paris, which was his base for some years, he met Voltaire.
Returning eventually to England he was not there long before being sent to America in 1784 to collect debts owing to his firm prior to the Revolutionary war. Some years later he again visited America, travelling extensively through the eastern states. Among the many people he met was George Washington, and he stayed at his home at Mt. Vernon, overlooking the Potomac. In 1795 Joseph married
Octavius was the tenth child of Joseph and Amelia Hadfield's twelve children. He was born on October 6, 1814. For ten years, from the age of four, he lived in Europe with his parents and various brothers and sisters. During these ten years abroad the family lived progressively in Brussels, Lille, Paris and Tour. At the latter two places Octavius went to school. In Brussels he was taken to see the field of Waterloo, only a few short years after the famous battle, and here also he saw such important people as the Emperor Alexander and the Duke of Wellington. Sometimes the young Prince of Orange played in the park that Octavius and his brothers and sisters were taken to by their nurse.
In Paris he was taken to see museums, picture galleries and churches as part of his education. He saw too a review of 60,000 men in the Champ de Mars, with Louis XVIII in his carriage and his brother, afterwards Charles X, on horseback. Joseph had a wide circle of friends from his previous years in Paris, and many eminent men visited the house, including some of Napoleon's high-ranking officers whose talk was a fascination to young boys. Two of these officers were Baron de Nom, who accompanied Napoleon
In Tour the family lived in a house on the banks of the Loire, where the boys fished. In 1828, the year in which they returned home, an older brother, George, who had taken his degree at Oxford, came to stay with them. He was there for three months through the summer, and during this time Octavius read with him Latin, Greek and mathematics to prepare for school in England.
They returned to Bonchurch in October, and the following January Octavius went to Charterhouse where his brother
The following year he went to Oxford, residing in Pembroke College, but here again he was attacked by severe asthma, and some time during 1833 he was advised by his doctor to leave. He was so ill for some months at home that the doctor from Newport who came to see him occasionally hardly expected him to live through the winter.
He was advised the next autumn to leave England. He was invited by a friend of his father's to visit him at Pontadelgada in the Azores, and so Octavius sailed for the Island of St. Michaels and there spent seven months. He recovered rapidly in this much warmer climate and continued his reading, varying his studies by learning the Portuguese language. For recreation he rode a mule over the rough roads of the island, and found sport in quail shooting.
Returning to England he found that his father had sold the Bonchurch house and moved about a mile away to Ventnor. Here some of the older Hadfield girls had started a school, and for a while Octavius helped them with the teaching. He also entertained and instructed the local inhabitants by delivering suitable lectures in the school, until the Lord of the Manor, who owned the site, objected that the lectures pertained too much of sermons.
Meanwhile his brother George now held the perpetual curacy of Whitchurch in Hampshire, and Octavius was invited to live with him and to study. He had decided by this time that if his health recovered sufficiently he wanted to be a clergyman, if not in England somewhere abroad. So together they read Aristotle, the Greek Testament and Theology.
In some notes that he wrote many years later he stated—"Early in 1836 I made up my mind that if my health improved I would go to work somewhere as a missionary among the heathen. I have been asked how this came about. I did not attend any missionary meetings or read any missionary literature, which was not so available to all at that time, but I studied the New Testament. I was deeply impressed with the fact that after the lapse of eighteen centuries our Lord's command at the close of His work, St. Matt. 28, 19-20, had been very imperfectly obeyed. This strong impression seemed like a duty to me. I further felt that to have a strong conviction of a duty and not to act upon it must be morally wrong. September 11, 1837, I wrote to the Church Missionary Society offering myself as a missionary and saying that I was prepared to go to any part of the world."
Doctors had advised Octavius Hadfield to leave England, but as his own words show it was not only his health which brought about his decision to leave the country of his birth for the distant and almost unknown land of New Zealand. He could have found a much more equable climate in southern Europe with a great deal more comfort than his journey to New Zealand would afford. The winter following his sojourn in the Azores he had been invited to the south of Spain by a friend, but feeling so much better he had decided to remain in England. So it was not only in search of other climes that he was sailing to the far end of the world; it was largely because of a growing sense of dedication.
After writing his letter to the Church Missionary Society he was requested by the committee to visit London. There he was accepted as a missionary on the understanding that he was ordained by the Bishop of London, but the Bishop objected to this as Octavius did not have a university degree, and so it was proposed he should go to New Zealand as a layman. Octavius, in turn, declined to do this. The matter was solved by Mr. Venn, a member of the committee, who Octavius was to write to for many, many years. He had a letter from Bishop Broughton, the Bishop of Australia, offering to
He sailed on February 12, 1838, from Gravesend on board the John, an old ship of 600 tons. He was twenty-three, a tall, thin young man with handsome, clean-cut features, severe countenance, blue eyes and erect carriage. A purposeful young man. It was to be twenty years before he returned to the land of his birth, and by then he was an important figure in the far distant land of his adoption.
The voyage took just over four and a half months. There was a heavy gale in the Bay of Biscay and Octavius Hadfield was very ill as were many others. The live-stock was all washed overboard and the cargo shifted so the ship had a list to starboard. In the tropics the crew broke into the cuddy one night and got drunk, and violence was only avoided the next day by the captain, mates and some of the passengers appearing armed. By an incredible coincidence a man-of-war overtook them during the height of this trouble. On being signalled by the John a boat was lowered and an officer came on board, who lectured the crew and took away some of the worst offenders.
On May 10 the John put into Simons Bay for provisions and stayed there six days. At a later date Octavius Hadfield wrote about this—"I rather unwisely, after being confined so long, took a walk over the hills gathering lovely flowers—varieties of heath. The result was that I had a serious attack of asthma which confined me to my bed."
The British were now in possession of the Cape and there were many more of them than of the original Dutch settlers. At the time that the John was provisioning in Simons Bay and Hadfield was walking the Cape Hills, the Dutch people in their hundreds were trekking into the interior, taking their wagons and oxen, their women and children and all their scanty possessions; facing incredible hardships and dangers, determined to get as far away from British rule as possible and make a new life of their own. But however far they went it was never far enough, and some sixty-two years later a son of Octavius Hadfield was to land in this same spot to take part in the Boer War. It was to be practically exactly the same span of time again before the Afrikaner finally severed all connection with British rule by forming the Republic of South Africa.
The John sailed into Sydney Harbour at daybreak on July 1. Hadfield had five months in Sydney. While there he studied and preached at Parramatta, and learned what he could of New Zealand and of the Mission Station at Paihia. The Rev.
The Mission at Paihia had laboured under many difficulties and setbacks under the men Marsden left in charge, and it was not until the Rev.
On September 23, 1838, Hadfield was ordained deacon by Bishop Broughton in Sydney, and in December he sailed with the Bishop on board the naval ship H.M.S. Pelorus for the Bay of Islands, arriving at Paihia on December 21. Travelling on the ship Hadfield discovered that the captain and another officer had known two of his brothers on past voyages.
The beach at Paihia had no jetty. Behind it were scattered the Mission houses, each neatly enclosed by a paling fence. Outside this cultivated strip were clumps of cabbage trees and manuka, reaching up to the hills in the background. At each end of the beach were cliffs covered with pohutukawa trees, crimson with blossom in this month of December.
Across the bay in the distance was Kororareka (Russell), port of call for whaling ships and roving sailormen of the southern seas. Whalers, and sealers also, had been operating in various parts of New Zealand for many years now, and there were a great number of traders plying between Australia and New Zealand, taking cheap loads of timber and flax from this still so new and commercially naive country. A thriving trade was also being carried on in Maori heads, heads which were carefully embalmed and smoked by the people. It had been a common practice of the Maori thus to preserve the heads of those dear to them, but now with the European demand the practice had become business. Sometimes the head of the very European gone to buy these gruesome objects would appear on the market, a grim reminder of the still inherent savagery of these people.
Many of the men from these ships had antagonised the Maori and made the task of missionaries and settlers all the more precarious and difficult. But they had taught some good as well, and had broken the ground for the sowing of civilisation which was to change so completely the life of the Maori. It was on a beach on the north shore of the bay, Rangihoua, that Samuel Marsden, on Christmas Day in 1814, had preached the first Christian service in New Zealand.
So began Octavius Hadfield's long life in New Zealand. Henry Williams was away when the Pelorus arrived at Paihia, visiting Waiapu and Turanga—the latter was later to become Gisborne—to establish six Maoris as native teachers in these places. But Marianne Williams was there with others of the station, and further inland at Waimate were
Hadfield was ordained a priest by Bishop Broughton on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 1839, at Paihia. He was the first priest ordained in New Zealand, as he had been the first deacon ordained in New Zealand or Australia, and in the future was to be the first bishop consecrated without letters patent from the crown. His first post was teaching the sons of the missionaries in the school at Waimate. This was not the work he had hoped to do, and in letters home he deplored the worldly mindedness of some of the missionaries, and expressed his desire to go somewhere by himself to work. He did study the Maori language a little with
Hadfield taught at the Mission school for almost a year. Many years later one of his pupils, a son of Henry Williams, wrote of him at this time—"I was much struck with his youthful and delicate appearance, he was then twenty-four years of age. He was appointed to take charge of the Mission School at Waimate North, where were about thirty boys, sons of missionaries, my brother and I being of the number. The boys had been under the instruction of my uncle, the Rev. W. Williams, afterwards Bishop of Waiapu, who was a much older and more robust man than Mr. Hadfield, and a strict disciplinarian. When the boys saw this frail young man coming to teach them, they thought they could take liberties, but soon found their mistake. I myself was one of the first to fall in. I was then a lad of fourteen, and for what I considered a trivial offence, was ordered to learn the first book of Homer by heart in Greek. I committed about fourteen lines to memory, and was then let off the rest. . . . Although Mr. Hadfield was so frail and delicate, he
The writer, H. Williams, was not correct in saying Hadfield was in charge of the school. In Hadfield's own letters written at the time he stated that he took the school three days of the week and pa as in a missionary's house."
That was how Octavius Hadfield came to leave the Bay of Islands for an area of the country in which he would spend the rest of his life, sixty-five years. And certainly when he left his health was so poor that very few people expected him to live more than one or two years, let alone sixty-five.
The decision made to go south, the ensuing weeks before departure were taken up with preparations. "Necessaries" for his intended house-keeping had to be procured, which proved a difficult task. He visited Kerikeri to buy stores; he visited Pakaraka and Koro-rareka, at the latter place dining with Columbine, the mission vessel on which they were to sail, materials "for a future dwelling house." Two horses for his use in the south were sent to Kapiti by another ship, the
It was imperative now that he should attempt to master the Maori language as quickly as possible, and he spent most days studying it for a time. He also talked with anyone who could give him information on the area called Kapiti, whither he was bound. And he did learn something of the district, for in a letter home he writes of his impending move—"I shall take one or two Christian Maoris for teachers. I must give you some further idea of the place I am going to. It is about 200 miles further to the south than any of our missionaries have yet been; the name of the place is Kapiti, just by Entry Island in Cook Straits, about 50 miles from the extreme
On October 6, Hadfield's twenty-fifth birthday, he records in his diary that he administered Communion for the first time by himself. The Columbine sailed in the evening of October 21, and besides Henry Williams and Hadfield there were on board Mr. Wilson, Mr. Clarke and Mr.
At the time Hadfield was waiting at Paihia to sail south
But the Rev.
The journey south in the Columbine was fairly uneventful, though no joy to Hadfield as he was unwell almost the entire time. Henry Williams accompanied him to see him settled into the new post. They anchored in Tauranga harbour on the 23rd of October and stayed there eight days. Excerpts from Hadfield's diary say— "Much prefer the Christian simplicity of proceedings here to those in the northern stations. . . . There is a body of about 1,000 Maoris in this neighbourhood who are set on mischief. . . . Had intended accompanying the Rev. H. Williams and Brown and Mr. Clarke to Maketu where they are gone to endeavour to make peace between the Waikato and Rotorua Maoris, but did not feel well enough. . . . I am gaining information respecting my work. . . . Have been engaged almost all day in preparing prescriptions for medicines."
The Mr. Columbine was the father of Kauri. . . . Just at the entrance, on the side of the basin opposite to our house, was Hongi's famous pah Kororipo, surrounded on three sides by water, and guarded on the land side by long stretches of mangrove swamp that no enemy could cross."
Continuing on the journey Hadfield landed at Motu, some miles beyond Opotiki, on November 1, where they left two Christian Maoris and their wives who had been on board the ship. The following day he landed again near Hicks Bay, and here Mr. Clarke and Mr. Stack, both missionaries, were left, and some ballast and
The evening of the 4th November after passing Turanga they were off the Mahia Peninsula and sailed close by a rock a few feet under water. "Dangerous," Henry Williams commented in his diary. "Escaped by preserving care of an Almighty Hand." Hadfield attempted to chart it, and "felt thankful to the Lord for guiding me safely through these unsurveyed seas."
The Columbine anchored in Port Nicholson, later to be known as Wellington, on November 7, seventeen days after leaving the Bay of Islands, and after almost missing the narrow entrance into the harbour. Henry Williams wrote—"Went under easy sail and were soon in a most splendid harbour called by the Maoris Poneke, quite a different place to what is laid down by Cook. We came to anchor in a perfectly sheltered place where is room for all the fleets of England."
Some Maori canoes came out to the ship with the news that the Tory had recently been there, buying land for the New Zealand Company, and was now bound for Kapiti. After two days the
Two of these days were spent on the coast opposite Mana Island, and here they were taken by canoe to the island to see pa were holding services, inspired by the spread of Christianity from the north. The journey to Mana Island was a little hazardous. "We were nearly 100 in the canoe and I was somewhat fearful of consequences," Williams wrote. There were sheep and cattle on the island, plus two horses and several Europeans.
Arriving at Waikanae on the evening of November 18 they were welcomed by a crowd of about 1,000 people, with whom they held a short service before sunset. "We sang two hymns, the tunes of which were purely Maori, quite original," Williams wrote. Walking along the beach they had seen the Tory under way near Kapiti; the ship had been becalmed after returning from a second visit to the Marlborough Sounds, and was about to continue sailing north up the coast. So the two on the beach, having missed the Wakefields by five weeks at Port Nicholson and by a few hours at the Sounds, now missed them again by only a mile or two of water. They discovered however that Colonel William Wakefield and his men had been busy in the area attempting to buy land from the various tribes.
Captain Mayhew, an American who had a whaling station on a small island near Kapiti, and who was also well known in the Bay of Islands, had arrived in the Atlas before them, bringing welcome mail from the Bay. He also had on board Hadfield's two horses which a few days later were embarked in a large canoe at Kapiti and taken over to the mainland, followed by the two missionaries in the small boat the Atlas had brought for Hadfield's use.
The day following their arrival Williams and Hadfield were taken over to the small island beside Kapiti where
Octavius Hadfield in his diary wrote—"He was sitting in state ready to receive us. He certainly looked more like a chief than any man I have yet seen. He listened very attentively to what was said and appeared much interested in the Gospel message. He has been one of the most bloodthirsty men in the land."
Te Rauparaha had come from Kawhia, where his mother had belonged to the
Returning to Kawhia Rauparaha had persuaded the Ngatitoa to abandon their ancestral possessions and to migrate to the south. The persuading had taken time and patience, but finally the people had left their lands and followed him on the long, slow journey south. Many fierce battles had been fought on the way, and a visit had been made to Taupo where Rauparaha had used high-powered persuasive tactics to try and induce his kinsfolk there to join him. Te Heuheu and his people had not been enthusiastic, but eventually the Ngatitoa had pushed right down the North Island and established themselves on Kapiti and on the coast, and later, through alliances and masterly diplomacy, Rauparaha had persuaded a section of the Ngatiraukawa to settle in the vicinity, thus strengthening his hand.
There were several tribes in the district when Te Rauparaha arrived; the pa, only to find that he had been deceived. It wasn't often that Te Rauparaha was on the receiving end of treachery and he never forgave the Muaupoko for that act.
Not content with his conquests at Kapiti he had then crossed Cook Strait, plundering and fighting as he had further north, and had eventually taken possession of a territory called the Wairau, south of Queen Charlotte Sound. From there he had pushed down the east coast of the South Island and at Akaroa, with the connivance of a British sea captain, had hidden himself and his men aboard this ship and in an episode reminiscent of the Trojan Horse had perpetrated a ghastly massacre on the people of this lovely place. The following year he had attacked Kaiapoi in revenge for an old insult.
After this, although there were several attempts to attack his island fortress, Rauparaha, aided by his nephew Rangihaeata, had reigned supreme on the coast until the coming of the missionaries with their new ways and laws, heralding in a changed age. Many years later Hadfield wrote again of this first meeting, in an article in his small booklet "Maoris of By-Gone Days." "I first met Te Rauparaha in 1839. He was then living on a small island within a few fathoms of Kapiti. It seemed strange to see a man who had recently instigated the Ngatiraukawa tribe to attack the Ngatiawa tribe who were at Waikanae about five miles distant from him, living securely with his wife and a few slaves without any fear of being molested. His mana was a sufficient protection. To have injured him would have been to involve the whole of the Maoris on both sides of Cook Strait in war. He was at that time about seventy-five years of age. He was rather below the average height, but strong and active; he had an aquiline nose and rather small eyes. His features plainly indicated intelligence and strength of will, cunning and cruelty, though I subsequently learnt that his cruelty only exhibited itself when serious obstacles stood in his way."
Te Rauparaha's hooded eyes were remarked on more than once by the people who knew him, and gave rise to a saying—"Ko te uri o Kapu manawa witi. No-one knew his thoughts, whether they were for good or evil."
Five weeks before Williams and Hadfield arrived, in fact on the morning of October 16, 1839, the day the Tory reached Kapiti for the first time, there had been a battle at Waikanae, and they were shown over the battleground. There were three major tribes living along the coast at this time, the Ngatitoa under Te Rau-paraha, who inhabited Mana Island, Porirua and Kapiti; the Nga-tiraukawa under Te Whatanui, who lived at Otaki and were allied to Te Rauparaha through his mother having been of that tribe— they had been persuaded by Te Rauparaha into leaving their ancestral lands around Kawhia and Taupo and following him down to Kapiti. The third tribe, the Ngatiawa, lived at Waikanae under the leadership of Te Reretawhangawhanga, who largely exerted his authority through his son, Te Rangitake. This tribe also controlled the land around Wellington—they had originally migrated down from Taranaki, and still owned land there.
The recent fight, said to have been incited by Te Rauparaha, had been between the Ngatiraukawa and Ngatiawa, and feelings had still been simmering when the two missionaries arrived. The Tory arrived practically as the battle was ending, and Wakefield reported that many of the whalers from Kapiti watched from their boats outside the surf, as did Rauparaha himself for most of die time. Wakefield also recorded in "Adventure in New Zealand" that the Tory sent ashore her three doctors to attend to the wounded. "Our surgeons were all three hard at work for some hours extracting bullets, binding up wounds, and setting" broken limbs. We found the wounds bound up by the Maoris generally with the leaf of the flax, and bark splints on the broken limbs. The patients bore pain with the most perfect stoicism."
This then was Octavius Hadfield's introduction to Waikanae, and to the people with whom he was to live and work. In his diary, the only surviving part of which covers these few weeks, he recorded almost daily illness. He also recorded his faith in God and his willingness to labour as best he could.
After a few days at Waikanae the two missionaries continued ten miles up the coast to Otaki, the home of the Ngatiraukawa. These people were not as friendly and attentive as were the Ngati-awa at Waikanae, but it was decided Octavius would divide his time between the two and have a small house at each place. Two of the most promising young men the missionaries found at Otaki were Roha and Haua, sons of the chief Te Whatanui.
At Waikanae a young man named
The first few days were busy ones for the two missionaries. They were constantly required to talk and teach. They became involved in skirmishes following the recent battle. They lived in flimsy tents beset by wind and rain, by fleas and mosquitoes. Wherever they went they were asked for books, which largely they could not provide. Their stock was very limited, and more books and slates were urgently needed. Only a week after they arrived Hadfield recorded that at a service at Otaki about 700 people were present and he was surprised to find how many of them were acquainted with the catechisms' they had in use. Writing later from Paihia, Williams stated—"Our mission at
On December 5, seventeen days after arriving on the coast, Henry Williams left Otaki to begin his long walk north through the centre of the island, via Wanganui, Taupo and Rotorua to Tauranga. At Tauranga he boarded a ship for the Bay of Islands, where he arrived on January 18, 1840. Octavius Hadfield was left, a thin and sick young man of twenty-five, among some thousands of Maoris.
* * *
The pa at pa we had yet seen. The outer stockades were at least a mile in circumference, and the various passages between the different courts and divisions formed a perfect labyrinth."
Outside the stockade were patches of cultivation, and some apple and peach trees which had been introduced by the traders and whalers living round the coast. Further up the river, Hadfield wrote—"There are many acres of land covered with grass, wheat, barley and oats mixed together, and fine trees." Behind the sandhills the bush encroached on the areas of cultivation and flowed back over the coastal plain to ranges of high hills which in turn merged into the Tararua Ranges. Describing the scene in "Reminiscences of an Old Colonist"
When the Columbine eventually arrived at Kapiti from Wellington, Hadfield went over to supervise the unloading of his luggage. Now, with his saddles and bridles arrived, he could do much of his travelling by horse instead of by foot. Now too, with the materials he had brought he could begin building his two small homes, the sites of which he had already chosen.
In his diary Henry Williams wrote—"Concluded with Mr. Hadfield that it would be most desirable that he should occupy this place (Otaki) with Waikanae from whence we had come this morning as his main stations as he could pass from one to the other with ease on horseback in an hour and a half, and keep a general oversight to the settlements all around until he should have
Hadfield's tiny whare at Waikanae was the first one finished, built on a small plot in a crowded part of the pa. As soon as it was completed he moved his meagre possessions out of his tent and installed himself into this the first home of his own. In spite of many irritations, fleas and mosquitoes and smells, noise and lack of privacy, inadequate food and continued sickness, isolation from his own people and lack of time for reading and writing—in spite of all these he was happy to be living and working in this particular place. pa, hemmed in by fences, and cook-houses, and noisy crowds of Maoris. That at Otaki was among the barren sandhills close to the coast. At one, the outer fence of the territory which he occupied barely left room for the stock-yard, in which the two horses, absolutely necessary for his constant journeys, were tied up; and at the other, the fence pressed close upon the little kitchen and potato-store near the house. The furniture of both was such as was barely indispensable. Mr. Hadfield was most frugal in his diet, scarcely ever eating meat, but living principally on biscuit and an occasional fowl; and would never allow even his delicate state of health to interfere with his onerous duties." As time went by Hadfield came under criticism from his own fellow clergy for his austere way of life.
He had many allies in Maoris already converted to the Gospel tidings by the spread of news from the north. Ripahau, already
At Waikanae Octavius Hadfield was also befriended by the above mentioned
From the very first days on the coast Hadfield was busy, teaching and learning. On December 15, a month after his arrival, he wrote at Waikanae—"We had school. In the evening I for the first time read the Maori service." On the 16th—"Rose at half past four and began school in the pa after service. There were about 180 men and boys engaged in four different classes, in learning to write on slates.
We have but four able to teach. It was indeed interesting to see the old chief Reretawhangawhanga beginning to learn to write and read, and others as old. I have not yet derived a plan for the women; there were about 150 of them, but having no teachers or slates, they were instructed only in the catechisms." On the 17th— "Went to school at 5 o'clock. The numbers have increased since yesterday, but I have not yet sufficiently ascertained their knowledge to classify them. After breakfast rode to Otaki." There he visited two pas before riding back to Waikanae.
A few weeks after his Waikanae whare was built his second home at Otaki was finished, and as he had promised he divided his time between the two. But the people of Waikanae were more friendly and receptive, and during these early years it was here that he most enjoyed being. In a letter he wrote—"My congregation at one place about 400, and the other 150, but numbers of others in villages all about me." The former figure referred to Waikanae. Hadfield felt that the coolness apparent at Otaki was partly due to Te Rauparaha's jealousy at the missionary's obvious accord with the Ngatiawa tribe. Continuing his diary entry for December 16th he wrote—"Went after breakfast over to Kapiti and brought more slates. Old Rauparaha came and attacked me and said that I had forsaken him and carried all my things to the other side. I gave him a Testament and some small books. He used bad language and intimated to me that if I did not supply all his wants he would not favour the Gospel and that many would be influenced and guided by him. He stated moreover that he would stir up another attack upon Waikanae. In fact I was much disgusted with him, and must be civil to him on account of his great influence."
Hadfield and Te Rauparaha were to clash again, notably after the Wairau massacre, but by and large these two so strangely matched men worked out a strong and amicable relationship. Shortly after the episode quoted above Te Rauparaha began attending the school at Waikanae, and would sit patiently with a slate upon his knee, wrestling with the mysteries of reading and writing with the others. At Otaki his son Tamihana and nephew Matene, after their return from the Bay of Islands, became Hadfield's staunchest assistants.
But there were some who did not co-operate. In "Maoris of By-Gone Days" Hadfield related a story about the chief next in rank to Te Whatanui at Otaki, Matenga Te Matia. Sometimes on a
kumara. and bit it. This was on my part an infraction of a tapu. It afforded him an opportunity, which perhaps he had been looking for, of ridding himself of me and my proceedings. He rushed at me with his tomahawk, and was about to strike me as I sat on the ground, when his daughter and the son of a chief immediately came and placed themselves between me and my assailant, placing their hands over my head so that it became impossible for him to strike me without first striking them. Others then came forward. After some time his rage abated, and he sat down.
I then endeavoured to explain that I, as a foreigner who had not been long among them, was not aware that I was doing anything offensive. But before I could finish my explanation the Maori priest, Hereiwi, who had gone through his karakia making the kumara ground tapu, interrupted by pronouncing a curse upon me which was necessarily to lead either to my death, or to my removal from Otaki. I told him his curse would neither affect my life nor influence my proceedings, but was much more likely to injure him. I then left them. Early next morning I went to Waikanae. On my return after a few days I learnt that Hereiwi had died during the night after the affair in the kumara garden. This produced a profound impression on the Maoris, who attributed his death to his cursing me. In vain I endeavoured to explain that I had heard from some Englishmen who knew him that he had been suffering from a complaint in his lungs, and that his death was occasioned by the rupture of a large blood-vessel. Not altogether convinced they resolved not to meddle any more with me, but to allow me in future to disregard all their tapu ceremonies, and go where I liked. After that Te Matia and I were on friendly terms, at least we lived in peace."
Another story on the same theme was published in the Marlborough Press in an obituary notice, December 14, 1904. "Throughout his life, his mana over the Maoris was perhaps greater than any other man's. Not merely in spiritual matters, but in political
pa in the neighbourhood of Porirua, he was met by the chief and the tohunga, who upbraided him in the most violent terms, worked themselves up into a frenzy of excitement which aggravated heart troubles, and as they were pelting him with oratical invective— cursing him up hill and down dale—both dropped dead. Henceforward, the awe-stricken Maoris regarded him as under the special protection of an all-powerful Atua, whom it was death to offend! All through the war and the Hau-Hau troubles, the Archdeacon travelled here, there and everywhere, risking at every turn the fate that befell Volkner and others, but absolutely undeterred by dangers."
The ship which Henry Williams and Octavius Hadfield had missed by five weeks when they arrived at Wellington at the beginning of November, 1839, had indeed been the prelude to colonisation. Edward Gibbon Wakefield's plan of populating New Zealand was well under way. His brother, Colonel William Wakefield, and his son, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, sailing round the country in the Tory, had bought large tracts of land from the Maoris, handing out in exchange blankets and clothing, fire-arms and nightcaps and umbrellas. Hard on their heels arrived the first ships carrying the immigrants, and the shores of Port Nicholson were strewn with bricks and ploughs, tents and saucepans, millstones and cases, people and stock.
For the first few months Hadfield's only white companions out on the coast were the whalers living on Kapiti, and an occasional traveller or trader. He was hundreds of miles from his nearest fellow missionary. But already, as the summer of 1840 cooled into autumn, some of the colonists were beginning to push beyond the cramping hills of the future capital of the country. He had been told that he was considered headstrong by many at Paihia for coming alone to this part of the country, but all too soon civilisation was coming to meet him.
The arrival of the colonists, under the auspices of the New Zealand Company, forced the British Government to recognise this country at the far end of the earth which up to now it had been steadfastly trying to ignore. Trouble was rife enough, both at home and in other parts of the British Empire, without the extra responsibility of New Zealand and its Maori inhabitants. But now, with hundreds of Englishmen making homes on its shores, with a Frenchman trying to proclaim himself King of New Zealand and another group of Frenchmen preparing to colonise Akaroa, something had to be done.
In January, 1840, eleven days after Henry Williams returned from his trip to the south, Captain Hobson arrived unexpectedly in the Bay of Islands, bringing with him a proclamation asking for
On February 6, 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by forty-six head chiefs. It was some little time before Octavius Hadfield heard of this in the south, but in the meantime his work continued. His area of ministration was very large. It stretched a hundred and fifty miles up the coast beyond Wanganui to Taranaki and Mt. Egmont, and across Cook Strait to the South Island, where in time he visited Cloudy Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound, D'Urville Island and Nelson. It reached many miles up the Manawatu River, and across the Rimutuka Ranges to the Wairarapa. As it grew he was also expected to help at Port Nicholson; the new settlers there were for a considerable time without a chaplain.
As the white population increased an attempt was made to persuade Hadfield to stay in the town, but he much preferred the work he had chosen among the Maoris. In a letter from Wellington to his family, July 20, 1841, he wrote—"The respectable people are very civil to me and wish me to remain here till the Bishop makes his arrival. Had I not such abundant employment among my own people I should be inclined to do so, as the flock is becoming scattered and marriages etc. are taking place in an irregular manner, and all kinds of evils are likely to ensue. The inhabitants also think that I ought to be more with them under present circumstances."
A month later he wrote again from Wellington—"I have been called over here by the arrival of the Governor. ... I have had a good deal of conversation with the Governor about the Maoris. He is very civil and kind, I dined with him a day or two ago. . . . Here
In a letter the following year he refers to this family again. "I am very comfortable here, everybody without exception is civil and kind to me, wherever I go, and my friends the St. Hills are particularly so."
Dr. Fitzgerald, a Roman Catholic, was to be a good and faithful doctor to Octavius Hadfield. In 1849, at the end of the latter's four and a half year illness in Wellington spent in the St. Hills' home, he wrote of him—"Dr. Fitzgerald, my kind, attentive, unwearied adviser, induced me to try it (the water treatment), often having performed some wonderful cures in the hospital over which he presides and which was built by Sir G. Grey at my suggestion."
Writing letters home about the earlier illness in 1842 he told his family—"I suffered for some weeks from pain in my left side, and great weakness. . . . Feeling rather better on the 5th December, (1841), I started in my boat to go across to Queen Charlotte Sound, but having gone down the coast about 25 miles I felt so ill that I was obliged to land, have my tent erected and go to bed. I then found myself in a violent fever, which increased so rapidly that in the night about 11 o'clock I told my boat's crew, the wind being fair, to cover me well with blankets and take me back home, which we reached about dawn of day. I was then put to bed where I lay ill till Jan. 2nd. Mr. Mason kindly came from Wanganui as soon as he heard of my illness and remained with me for a week. Mr. St.
In a very short time Hadfield's life was firmly anchored among his Maori people, and no amount of persuasion would induce him to leave them for the English communtiy in Wellington. Although he was making some firm friends in the town he was strongly attached to his Maori flock, and they in turn were developing a great respect for this slim young missionary.
In a further passage Wakefield continued his dissertation. "These trips procured me the advantage of an intimate acquaintance with the Rev. Octavius Hadfield," he wrote. "It was at this time that I learned more fully to appreciate the excellent qualities of this genuine missionary of the Gospel. He was a perfect enthusiast in
It is an extraordinary thing, and must furnish ample proof of Hadfield's character, that Edward Jerningham Wakefield wrote so glowingly of him. For he appears to have been an impetuous young man with a decided bias against missionaries, in fact against all authority that did not entirely agree with him, and he was extremely unpopular with many of the men in authority in the country. Writing of Wakefield's book, "Adventure in New Zealand", George Clarke in his own book, "bete noir and he never missed a chance of giving me a cut as he passed me in his narration."
Hadfield's sympathies were very largely with the Maori in all the land troubles that ensued through the years with the Government and the colonists if he thought there was the slightest exploitation of the Maori, yet even Colonel
A further recorded description of Hadfield in these early years comes from Jewess, which broke from her anchorage at Kapiti one stormy night in August, 1841, and was driven ashore on the coast north of Paekakariki. Two
Captain Moore, after scrutinising his new companion on first meeting him on the beach, felt he had seen him before and enquired to that effect.
"I don't remember meeting you anywhere in New Zealand, Captain Moore. My name is Hadfield," was the reply.
Captain Moore was the one to remember, and it transpired they had met in Sydney in 1838 through the Rev. Hart Sparling. The Rev. Hart Sparling had been at Oxford with Octavius Hadfield, and they had travelled together on the John from England. And furthermore the Rev, Hart Sparling was Captain Moore's modier's first cousin. Having got all that sorted out, and marvelling at such meetings, the two "sat down to some coffee and pleasant general conversation." On the Paekakariki beach in 1841.
* * *
Hadfield's first long trip from Waikanae was north up the coast to Taranaki. This was early in 1840. He was away four weeks, a walk of about 350 miles, among Maoris who mostly had not seen a missionary before. Of the people generally he wrote—"I am disposed to take a different view of the Maoris from that generally taken by the missionaries here. I think them a most pleasing, interesting, intelligent set of people." In another letter he commented—"The Maoris vex me much at times but I feel much love for them."
Within four months of this journey to Taranaki he had two more trips to Wanganui. Though the Treaty of Waitangi had been signed by the forty-six chiefs in the Bay of Islands, there were still many more signatures to be collected throughout the country. Henry
The second journey was with Mr. and Mrs.
Writing after these three journeys, in July, 1840, he told his family—"Since my removal from the north I am quite satisfied. I have been living alone and had many difficulties to encounter, especially from my ignorance of the language. It is now eight monthis since I came down here and I can speak the language tolerably, at least I speak it badly enough, but Mr. Williams and the Maoris say I speak it well so I have lately taken courage and am improving. My health is also improved, my chest is much better. I can undergo a great amount of fatigue and hard work. I frequently sleep out in my tent for a fortnight together in frosty nights and am also often wet in crossing rivers, but never take cold."
Shortly after his arrival in Waikanae, a large party of Maoris from Queen Charlotte Sound had come across the Strait to visit friends and relatives, and to meet the man who had come to teach their people. They stayed some months and constantly attended school and church. When the time came for them to leave, Hadfield supplied them with what books and slates he could spare, in order that they might continue their learning.
At the end of 1840 he decided it was time to visit these people. If he did not go they had all threatened to come back to him. So, assisted in his boat by a Maori crew of five, and accompanied by a canoe, he set forth across Cook Strait. For the actual crossing they left from a point about twenty miles down the coast, probably Mana or Titahi Bay. Hadfield wrote—"I started at 8 o'clock with a light breeze which soon died away, we then rowed for about three hours, the canoe left us, when a breeze sprang up and we were obliged to run for the north entrance of the Sound, which from the ebb tide made the sea very rough. We however reached it at 6 o'clock in the evening when I was thankful to land safely."
Hadfield was extremely pleased with the people of Okukari. He found they had been studying hard and were eager to hear him and learn more from him. They had built a large whare which they used as a church. From Queen Charlotte Sound he was asked to go to Cloudy Bay, where he had Divine service on Christmas Day with the English whalers there, "and preached for the first time in English for the last 14 months." Returning to Queen Charlotte he eventually recrossed the Strait, sailing "at 2 o'clock with a fine breeze, accompanied by four large canoes, and reached Mana Island at 7 o'clock."
Six months later he made another trip to the Sounds, and "was more refreshed and delighted than I have been before since I have been in N.Z. ... At Okukari I found they had built me a house where I made myself very comfortable, and the kindness and attention of these dear people delighted my soul. ... I have a congregation of about 800, some of whom came from neighbouring places."
From there he went to Rangitoto (D'Urville Island), where he had also been on the previous trip. "I baptised eight," he wrote, "among whom was the chief of the place, a man of about forty, and three young women who, though they heard the Gospel for the first time in February, seemed to have remembered all that I said during the few days I was with them. They seemed exceedingly clear on doctrinal points, election, justification, sanctification, etc., so that I was amazed. They had built a nice place of worship according to my instructions." On the way home he was "caught in a breeze and slept by the side of my boat on the rocks on an uninhabited island without water and only a small fire during a frosty night, and nothing to eat—so much for variety."
A third trip in March, 1842, was even more hazardous. As before he visited Queen Charlotte Sound and D'Urville Island, and then carried on through French Pass to the new settlement at Nelson in Blind Bay. This had been recently established by the New Zealand Company and was headed by Captain
After a rather tricky entrance into Nelson harbour, hindered by a strong ebb-tide and watched by the newly arrived settlers through telescopes, Hadfield was well received by Wakefield. He was the first clergyman to visit Nelson. His crew were complimented on their handling of the boat through the narrow passage into the harbour— usually, they discovered later, this was only attempted at full tide.
A more hazardous part came on the way home when a gale carried the sail away, and in trying to hold her head into the wind the rudder broke. All the crew lay down flat in the boat in terror, awaiting the end. For hours Hadfield attempted to steer and hold the boat steady. Fortunately, and miraculously one feels, they at length drifted into the beach at Paekakariki, just clear of the rocks, where anxious Maoris waded into the surf to assist them. Years later Hadfield's family attributed his heart strain, which in turn was a cause of his long illness in Wellington during the latter half of the forties, to this episode.
In a letter home he wrote—"I went in my boat but in it I go no more for two reasons, first because in crossing the Straits I was nearly being lost in a gale of wind, breaking my rudder and being considered mad by the seamen about the coast, and secondly because our Committee at the North, taking compassion on my eccentric propensities which they find it impossible to cure, have sent me down a pretty little craft which is safe as anything of the kind can be."
In May of that year he attempted a voyage in a small schooner down to the "Southward". He may have been bound for Banks Peninsula, or perhaps Kaiapoi. However of this he related—"After leaving Port Nicholson and being out for seven days in incessant gales of contrary wind during which a large brig in company with us was dismasted, I gave up the attempt and put back into Cloudy Bay, considerably reduced by sickness ,etc, and thus I have failed for the present in carrying the Gospel to those parts in person, though my books and letters have already gone and have been well received."
Twice in 1840 Hadfield journeyed up the Manawatu River, the second time travelling 40 miles from the mouth and returning by canoe. We have seen that three times he journeyed on to Wanganui and once beyond, and at the end of the year made his first trip to the South Island. And in a letter to the paper many years later he stated that in those early years he mostly crossed over to Kapiti once a week.
Yet in a letter in 1840 he accuses himself of indolence. In another one, dated July 6, 1840, he wrote—"I have too much to do here and consequently can do nothing properly. I have two houses ten miles apart and am absent from both a great deal, so that I never satisfy myself or anybody else. Some of the chiefs told me the
Another war was avoided through his presence the following year when mihanere, as well as several other chiefs of rank; and Mr. Hadfield had wisely managed to introduce the new doctrine without destroying the Maori aristocracy. He thus dissuaded Whatanui and through him the great part of the tribe from fighting. Heuheu, I heard, had been furious at this successful interference with his designs; but had ended by confessing himself fairly beaten when Mr. Hadfield calmly and courageously presented himself before him in the midst of his anger, overthrew his reasoning, and reproached the old chief in the conclave of his people with a want of the dignity and deliberation suitable to his place of patriarch."
Only a few years later a landslide engulfed Te Heuheu's village, killing him and his people in a mountain of mud.
In January, 1841, Hadfield recorded in a letter—"I this time of the year attend school at 4 o'clock in the morning daily and my evening lectures close at about 9—during all this time I am liable to be interrupted. I yesterday added up a list of my schools in different places around me and found that about 600 (this is under the mark) meet daily to learn to read, write and also to learn the catechisms they have in use. About one half of them can read and write tolerably, but there are many hundreds who have learnt without any regular schools."
It is hard to know in this brief glimpse of a year's work what time could have been left for indolence.
Wellington waited over eighteen months for its first visit from Governor Hobson. According to
However, he did arrive, and it has already been recorded that Octavius Hadfield was called into Wellington to meet him. In the same letter, dated August 31, 1841, he wrote—"He seems inclined to uphold religion in the land, to the best of his power. He was at church on Sunday when I preached, though it was a miserable day."
Hadfield's illness at the beginning of 1842 has been alluded to. In a letter to his sister,
Writing three weeks later from Wellington where he was recuperating with the St. Hills, to his mother, he gave some views on the country. "It has been rather painful to me to be unable to live among my dear people and to continue my instructions to them, but the Lord's will be done. They have appeared very anxious for my recovery and appeared much attached to me. I wish I had some help, my time is much wasted in moving about from place to place. I begin to fear that the rapid influx of whites to this country must eventually prove pernicious to the Maoris. This part of the country will shortly be overrun with settlers if colonisation proceeds as it has hitherto done. I cannot but fear that there will be bloodshed here before long, that a collision will take place between the settlers and
I do not think that there is fair play here. For instance, on the arrival of the Lieut.-Governor it was stated that he came to make a treaty with the New Zealand chiefs. In this treaty all their lands and rights were guaranteed to the latter who allowed the Governor to take quiet possession. This treaty which the Governor made with them they looked upon as a bona fide act, and they understood that lands which should be taken possession of by settlers were to be purchased from them. But now that a footing has been obtained here, a different ground is taken and it is broadly hinted that the treaty was not a bona fide act, but a mere blind to deceive foreign powers. The Queen takes possession of the soil and the Maoris are looked upon as nonentities, and what the result must be requires not any extraordinary measure of foresight to determine. What opinion the unsuspecting simple New Zealander will form of settlers from this act of civilised Christian diplomacy remains to be seen—that it will not be a very favourable one I presume no one will question. This is a fine country, its capabilities have no bounds, the Maoris are a fine, tractable race, Christianity has its influence among them, and settlers may come here to any extent; there is plenty of room, but a strong Government, that which we read of as a matter of history (for such a thing scarcely exists in these days) is wanted, but under a weak, vacillating Government nothing can prosper.
But enough perhaps of these subjects which though they engage and occupy my thoughts may not interest you. We have nothing however to fear for ourselves, for though some of the Maoris look upon us missionaries as feelers sent out to prepare the way for colonisation, and the colonists on the other hand view us with suspicion, considering that we influence the Maoris to oppose their interests, we are nevertheless considered by both parties too useful to be dispensed with at present. I am also bound to say that personally I have met with great civility and kindness from all the leading settlers.
I often wish to pay you a visit but I could be of no use in England, and I think as soon as we cease to be useful life becomes a burden. Here, if possessed of a very moderate measure of health I might be materially useful in various ways both among Maoris and others, and therefore I make up my mind to live here, though I may some day pay you a visit, in which case I should probably persuade you all to accompany me back to N.Z."
From the beginning Hadfield studied the affairs and management of his adopted country, and prepared himself to fight where he saw injustice. He was to earn much unpopularity for this, for at various periods in his long life he found a great deal that he considered unjust, and it was always a difficult task for him to keep silent on these occasions.
In July, 1842, he wrote to his sister, Amelia—"On Sunday last at Otaki I baptised 30 adults, and have been this week occupied in examining about 56 persons whom I purpose to baptise on Sunday at this place." The letter was written from Wellington. "They are recommended to me for admission into the church from their holy and blameless conduct and I examine them in order to ascertain their knowledge of the doctrines of the Gospel. I can assure you that their knowledge of these is equal if not superior to that of the generality of pious persons at home."
Bishop Selwyn, first and only Bishop of New Zealand, arrived in the country on May 31, 1842, and in August reached Wellington, bringing with him a resident clergyman for that town. From there he crossed over to Nelson, and Hadfield did not see him until his return the following month. Hadfield at the time was paying his first visit to the Wairarapa, of which he wrote on August 30—"I was at Wanganui about five weeks ago. On my return from that place I went to Port Nicholson and then went about 50 miles beyond it to a place called Wairarapa, which I had never visited before. The residents there are newcomers who, having been beaten formerly in their wars had deserted their land, but who have lately returned. I did not see many of them as they were in the woods looking for food, having not yet any regular plantations. I had an uncomfortable trip as there was cold rain every day and some of the cliffs could only be passed by wading into the sea up to my waist. I passed another week at Port Nicholson. I officiated there as usual to an English congregation to whom notice was given in the public papers. People came to hear me preach, though I hear that
Five years later Hadfield again praised
Bishop Selwyn arrived back in Wellington from Nelson on September 10, the same day that Governor Hobson died a very early death in Auckland. On September 17 Hadfield wrote to his mother from Wellington—"I came over here yesterday with Mr. Mason to meet the Bishop and am highly delighted with him. I breakfasted with him this morning and he was very kind, saying that he had sufficient introduction to me from the Bishop of Australia who had spoken to him of me. He appears to be a man of great latent energy and activity, in fact a first-rate man."
Bishop Selwyn was a tall man with an athletic figure and a handsome face. Still in his early thirties he was only five years older than Octavius Hadfield. All that the wealthy class in England could offer had been his—friendships in the highest quarters, acclaim in the most aristocratic schools and universities. As well as a certain similarity in their backgrounds, these two men must have had much in common.
While Hadfield and Mason were in Wellington, John Mason was ordained by the Bishop. The ordination took place before a large congregation of Maoris, and was performed in Maori, Hadfield having translated the service for the occasion.
Two months later he wrote further of Selwyn. "I have had much conversation with the Bishop. He is devoted to his work and is a pattern of self-denial, diligence and activity. His great talent is too manifest to be questioned by anybody. He delights in being with the Maoris and enters into all their concerns and wants with unwearied attention and patience. The knowledge which he has already attained of the Maori language is surprising. He has passed through my place twice on his way to Taranaki, and then again on his road to Hawke's Bay. On this latter occasion he was accompanied by the Chief Justice, Mr.
He continued later in this same letter—"The Bishop has given me more work to do, but whether I shall obey him or not I have not yet determined. He wished me and Mr. Maunsell to go through all the Maori New Testament and correct all the mistakes and then
As has been seen already, he had translated the ordination service of John Mason into Maori, and later, during his long illness in Wellington, he completed a new Maori catechism which was then printed.
After a few hours he had recovered sufficiently to return to Wanganui to break the sad news of Mason's death, and later took his burial service in the brick church at Putiki.
Hadfield's people were delighted to see him back. They had heard garbled reports of the accident, including one that he himself
The anxiety of his Maoris touched him deeply and helped him continue with his normal work. He spent more time in the fields, encouraging the people to cultivate their land better and to plant a greater variety of crops.
Disputes over land were still causing angry words and feelings, and in June of 1843 the Wairau Massacre occurred. The Nelson settlers, led by Captain Wakefield, had bought a tract of land in the Wairau Valley. This had been Ngatitoa land, owned by Rauparaha and Rangihaeata and their people. They insisted they had not sold the land. Some years before a Captain Blenkinsopp had married a cousin of Rauparaha's, and he and his wife lived at Wairau for a while. He had drawn up a document exchanging the land for a big gun, which document Rauparaha had signed, although he later asserted he had not realised he was signing away his land. Eventually the captain sailed to Sydney and soon after was drowned at sea, but the document somehow came into the hands of the settlers. They insisted they had fairly bought the land, and in spite of Rauparaha's warnings began surveying.
Finding their protests unavailing Rauparaha and Rangihaeata sailed for the Wairau with a party of men and women, some Christian and some not. They intended to stop the surveying and to settle on the land until the Commissioner of Lands came to discuss the problem with them. A surveying hut had been erected, which the Maoris burned down after first removing the contents. Then they settled down to wait.
Unfortunately, a party of settlers and police, led by Wakefield and armed with handcuffs and a warrant for the arrest of Rauparaha, arrived from Nelson before the Commissioner. There ensued a difficult interview between the two parties which turned into fighting through the probably accidental, either through nervousness or clumsiness, discharge of a fire-arm, and ended tragically in the death of twenty-one Europeans and four Maoris. Many of the Europeans who surrendered, including the leaders, were put to death by the enraged Rangihaeata whose wife had been killed. Those who could escape fled from the massacre, some down river to their waiting ship where they sailed for Wellington, others through swamp and hill and bush until they eventually reached Nelson and broke the news to a shocked settlement. Rauparaha's
Feelings ran very high indeed. The two chiefs wanted to attack Wellington, and attempted to stir up the populace of the coast. Octavius Hadfield was largely credited with the abandonment of this plan, although he gave credit to Wiremu Kingi and his following of men at Waikanae who threatened they would not let the attackers through. After Hadfield's death a newspaper printed an account of this by his eldest son,
My father did stop the Maoris, and went on to Wellington to inform the authorities of what was going on. As he returned he met the Maoris, who had been persuaded by Te Rangihaeata to move on Wellington. My father again stopped them.
Wiremu Kingi, who was afterwards forced into the Waitara war, was residing at Waikanae at the time, being the chief of the Ngatiawa tribe. This man was a most loyal Maori, and told Te Rauparaha that if he tried to attack Wellington he must first walk over his back. After my father had stopped Te Rauparaha's party twice, they sent some men past Waikanae during the night to see if Wiremu Kingi meant what he said. In the morning it was seen by their footprints that a party had gone past, and Wiremu Kingi immediately sent off armed men to arrest them. This was done, and the prisoners taken out in canoes and handed over to a man-of-war in the Straits. . . . There was no quarrel between Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata, as they were both of one mind at that particular time, and would undoubtedly have sacked Wellington but for my father and Wiremu Kingi."
It was not until eight months later that Governor Fitzroy landed at Waikanae beach from the North Star to hold a meeting with Te Rauparaha and his people, and to pass his judgment. During those months there was continued uneasiness and division of opinion. The Governor's verdict was to do little to change the latter.
George Clarke, who had the title of Protector of the Maoris, wrote in "Early Life in New Zealand" of this time after the massacre. "Things were getting dangerous now for all of us. The Maoris were exasperated at what they considered our treachery, and our own people were thirsting for revenge. Happily, there was a gentleman living at Waikanae who had great influence with the Maoris allied to Rauparaha, and was equally respected by both races, the Rev. Octavius Hadfield, now the revered Bishop of Wellington. At the risk of his own life and after a severe struggle with the chiefs, who were almost mad at the sight of the handcuffs which Rauparaha brought with him, Mr. Hadfield managed to stop the old man's projects of immediately marching upon Wellington. I got away from Wellington as soon and as quietly as I could, and had an interview with the angry chief, pledging all that I could to assure him that the Government would not attack him without first hearing his side of the question, and begging him to try and keep the Maoris quiet until the case was investigated."
Three months later a meeting was held at Waikanae. Clarke continued—"Rauparaha then said that he was doing his best to allay irritation, but the Maoris were kept disturbed by threatening rumours of what the Wellington people, or the Government, were going to do."
By this time Rauparaha was using his influence to keep the peace, but at the start he was as thirsting for blood as his nephew, Rangihaeata.
Hadfield's own reports during this time indicate that in his opinion, and having sifted all the evidence, the Maoris should not be punished unduly. Writing to the Church Missionary Society on December 22, 1843, he stated—"Of this I am fully convinced, and others are beginning to see it with me—that our laws cannot be forced immediately upon the Maori people. The attempt might have been made, but the favourable opportunity for doing so having been allowed to pass, it is now too late. There must be a code of exceptional laws introduced among the Maoris to last for a defined period and, in this case, they must be instructed by persons appointed
The meeting with the Governor took place on February 12, 1844. "His Excellency and suite were received on shore by the Rev. Octavius Hadfield, Messrs. Symonds and Clarke, and a large body of Maoris, who, to the number of 400 and upwards, soon assembled in a large open enclosure within the pa," runs the report printed in the Southern Cross. The Governor addressed the assembly, saying that he had studied the English version of the Wairau fight, and after his first anger had passed away he had realised that the English had been very much to blame. But the killing of the English prisoners had made his "heart very dark." Now he called on the Maoris to relate their story so that he could compare the two and reflect before giving his verdict.
Te Rauparaha was the only spokesman for the Maoris. He related his story, which was fully printed in the report. Then, after half an hour's silence, the Governor gave his decision, in which he apportioned the blame much as he had at the start. In die middle of his speech the words "I will not avenge their (the settlers) death" told everybody what they had been waiting to hear.
The decision was what Octavius Hadfield had been hoping for and working for, and it almost certainly saved further bloodshed, but the settlers were furious and felt that English law had been completely ignored, and the Maoris, accustomed to utu for all things, realised they had been let off lightly. Jerningham Wakefield, whose uncle had been killed in the massacre, penned his only disappointment in Hadfield just after the event when, meeting him on his way to Waikanae, he "made me turn away from him much hurt, when he told me that these poor men had only acted in self-defence against people who did very wrong; and that it would be not only unjust and illegal, but most imprudent, to attempt to take them or try them for their deed."
* * *
The church at Waikanae, on which the present Rangiatea is modelled, was finished late in 1843. Writing to his mother on
Selwyn recorded that the new church was being built early in 1843, and in August of that year Richard Taylor discussed it in his journal. "The church which the Maoris are building will be a noble edifice when completed. It much reminds me of the Moorish style, the inside being beautifully woven in patterns of black and white tukutuku and every four feet are large upright boards painted red. The building is supported by three immense posts nearly two feet in diameter. The roof is similarly ornamented, the boards being painted in patterns. It must be 70 feet long and 40 wide. . . . The labour is immense, the boards being adzed. The centre board is hewn out of one log. The sight of this so cheered old Rauparaha that he is determined to have a much finer one in his pa." The much finer one is Rangiatea.
Taylor continued that after a service in the church "the principal chiefs called to pay their respects, and among the rest was the redoubtable Te Rauparaha. . . . He appears fully 60 years old. Mr. Hadfield describes him as having a remarkable clear head and wisdom more than common. I thought him a mild and gentlemanly Maori, if I may use the expression, though he was enveloped in a dirty blanket."
In his article on Te Rauparaha in "Maoris of By-Gone Days", Hadfield described the part this chief played in the building of the church. "When it was resolved to build a good church at Waikanae, as totara for some parts of the building could not be obtained there he agreed that it should be procured from a forest preserve of his at Otaki. He went there with me and selected some of the finest trees. He encouraged his people in their work. As it was impossible to complete our work there that day we determined to pass the night in the forest, and we prepared to sleep there comfortably by the side of a large fire which he had kindled. He said he did not sleep much and would take care to keep the fire well supplied with fuel.
He sat talking for a long time, and seemed greatly pleased that we had felled one good tree suitable for the ridge-piece of the church of his former enemies, the Ngatiawa. As I sat by the fire with this old man—the rest of the working party had gone to a distance that we might be quiet—I could not but reflect on the inscrutable nature of man. There was, it was evident, a humane side of the character even of a man who had the reputation of being the most desperate and unscrupulous of his race. He never deceived me, and always placed implicit confidence in the truth of all I said."
This episode in the bush was some eighteen months before the Wairau massacre. It presents rather a fascinating picture—the young Englishman and the old Maori chief, so very, very different. One wishes Octavius Hadfield could have recorded the entire conversation of that night by the fire in the bush behind Otaki.
The church at Waikanae was used for several years, but after the majority of the Ngatiawa tribe moved back to Taranaki in 1848, and while Octavius Hadfield was ill in Wellington, it gradually fell into disrepair, eventually to vanish altogether until in 1961 the foundations were discovered by men constructing a road in a new subdivision at the north end of Paraparaumu Beach.
* * *
In January 1844, Hadfield was made Rural Dean of the district of Wellington and Taranaki. On January 2, Bishop Selwyn confirmed 143 Maoris at Rangiuru, the pa near the mouth of the Otaki river. Hadfield had a new house built at Waikanae as his first whare had begun to disintegerate. Taylor described it in 1844 as "a pretty little place built entirely of totara, our most durable wood." He also referred to the original Otaki home—"In Mr. Hadfield's yard is one of the best contrived hen houses I have ever seen: it was made by his Maoris so that no rat can possible get in." At the turn of the century, in his retirement, Hadfield was still looking after hens in his garden.
According to an article in the N.Z. Church Chronicle, February 1847, the first trees for Rangiatea were cut in 1844 at Ohau. Hadfield "went with a party of Maoris to fell the trees. The Maoris, who were excited about their work, at once began to fell, and two beautiful trees were broken to splinters in falling. This created great distress, and cast a gloom on the work. Mr. Hadfield then suggested that as they had sacrificed two trees they should allow him to
They were then taken to Otaki and laid on the ground where the church was afterwards built. Each tree had to be drawn by the Maoris (there being no bullocks in those days) from the bush to the beach, and along the beach to Otaki, a distance of eight miles.
Soon after this, in 1845, Mr. Hadfield was seized with severe illness and was in Wellington for four years on what was supposed to be his deathbed. Nothing more was done about the church until 1848, when the Rev. S. Williams was appointed to the charge of the district by Bishop Selwyn."
By the end of 1844 Octavius Hadfield was too ill to carry on his work, and he was carried in a litter by some of his Maoris to Wellington. So began his long sojourn in bed at the home of the St. Hills. It was indeed regarded as his deathbed. Quite early in his illness Bishop Selwyn wrote to a friend—"I fear our dear friend Mr. Hadfield will have passed away by the time this letter reaches you." In another he actually remarks that he must get back for "poor Hadfield's funeral."
To move forward to his actual death, some 60 years later, the Marlborough Press, in an obituary dated December 14, 1904, after commenting on this illness, continued—"But Mr. Hadfield's grip on life was most tenacious. Illnesses that would have killed another could not kill him. More than once since then has he been given up by the physicians, but he simply wouldn't die. An intimate friend remarked on one occasion, as the result of former experiences, that he never would believe Bishop Hadfield was dead until he heard the earth drop on his coffin without remonstrance from within."
He was desperately ill, and in great pain, but he did not die. His role during these years was more that of statesman than missionary. He was consistently consulted on the affairs of the country by the leading men of the land, including the Governor. Sir George Grey was the third governor to rule the country, and was proving stronger than his predecessors in handling the affairs of this young colony. When in Wellington he paid frequent visits to Hadfield's bedside, learning from his wide knowledge of the country and its people, and seeking advice.
Bishop Selwyn, whenever he visited Wellington, was constantly with him, and at each visit seemed continually surprised to find Hadfield still alive. From his bed he seemed to be aware of the pulse of the whole country, feeling any change in temperature, any deviation from normal. The Rev. Cotton, Bishop Selwyn's secretary, wrote a letter on December 8, 1846, during a visit to Wellington. "On Tuesday I went to Mrs. St. Hill's, whom you may remember I liked so much on my former visit. Mr. Hadfield is still the inmate
As Hadfield gradually regained a little strength he wrote many articles and letters, he compiled a new edition of the Maori Catechism, and he read and read and read. Bishop Selwyn, Sir George Grey, William Martin, Henry St. Hill and any others who possessed libraries were kept constantly busy trying to provide Octavius Hadfield with an endless supply of books. Especially he read of metaphysics. In a newspaper article when he resigned the Primacy at the age of 80 it stated—"Metaphysics has always been his passion, and among metaphysicians he has looked perhaps on Dean Mansel as chief master, though he is familiar with most authorities in that department from Hobbs to John Stuart Mill, and could possibly, even now, give an accurate analysis of Kant's 'Critique of the Pure Reason', if any one among us had sufficient learning and ability to understand it."
He spent much time on the questions of land titles. Land titles were making grey-haired men of those trying to deal with them. The pre-emption clause of the Treaty of Waitangi, whereby only agents of the crown could buy the land, was causing headaches amongst both pakeha and Maori. The Government agents were buying whole districts at a time, paying little and leaving the Maoris without land on which to live, and causing the settlers much dissatisfaction at the greatly increased price at which it was then passed on to them. Often too the settlers did not get the land they had chosen. Apart from that the intricate pattern of Maori ownership of the land was headache enough. The Maori lived a communal life; the tribe, not the individual, owned the land. Therefore, before the land could be bought, the assent of dozens, or perhaps hundreds of people had to be obtained by the already harassed official.
In the meantime there were many troublous happenings in the country. In the north a chief named Hone Heke was causing endless trouble at Kororareka, persisting in warlike activities and abuse of
pakeha. Heke's grievance was that the flagstaff at Kororareka was the symbol of the slavery of the Maori people to England; he also insisted that since the seat of government had moved to Auckland, trade and commerce had also moved with it, leaving the Bay of Islands a virtual backwater. This last was fairly true and the Bay of Islands is still a virtual backwater today, except in the holiday season and apart from its fishing fame and citrus growing. Heke's actions in repeatedly cutting down the flagstaff did not remedy the matter. It did cause unpleasant nuisance value though, and eventually loss of life. Having cut down the flagstaff four times, Heke then attacked Kororareka, killing the soldiers in the blockhouse and driving the inhabitants from the settlement. Having established authority in the place, Heke then allowed the people to come and collect their possessions from their homes, his men even assisting in carrying goods to the boats. Later Hone Heke was brought to heel by the military and life became more settled again. But to Henry Williams in particular, and to other missionaries in the area, it was an unhappy time.
Around Wellington things also were unsettled. A Maori, sentenced to ten years transportation to Tasmania for robbery, was eventually reprieved from this sentence largely through the efforts of Octavius Hadfield, fighting from his sick-bed on having discovered that the man was innocent. Two white men were murdered by Maoris, and although the authorities knew the murderers, the latter had retreated to their tribe, who would not surrender them. This was followed by another murder, and then another. The European population was apprehensive and afraid to move. There was no armed force at this time capable of holding the Maoris if full scale trouble should ensue, therefore the authorities had to deal warily in these touchy problems. Rangihaeata, that savage and arrogant chief, whose supreme contempt and hatred for the pakeha he took no pains to conceal, was the leader of this murdering, harassing band of dissatisfied Maoris.
Up the coast, even as far as Wanganui, there were murmurs of unrest. Te Rauparaha, most people concluded, must be behind it all; guilty or innocent, his reputation and past history were enough to make guilt quite legitimate. The Governor realised that one way or another his absence would stay the hands of any war-mongering parties in the district, particularly those of his devoted nephew Rangihaeata.
And so it came about that one morning in 1846, before daylight, the Governor sailed in past Mana Island with two navy ships. He then despatched a party of sailors ashore who, helped by soldiers from the nearby camp at Porirua, raided the pa where Rauparaha was living at the time, and disturbing his sleep seized him, kicking and biting, and hastily bundled him into a boat and out to the waiting ships. It was all done so quickly that the Maoris had no time to rally their forces. When they fully realised what had happened their chief was away out to sea.
The ships sailed to Kapiti. Rauparaha, helpless and inactive, gazed from the decks at his former home as they passed between the island and the mainland, over waters on which he had so often travelled in his own war canoes. The ship eventually sailed on, passed Taranaki where the old chief had rested and fought and manoeuvred his way south years before; passed Kawhia, the place of his birth, and round the North Cape.
Auckland must have seemed a bustling place to Te Rauparaha after his homes in the south. Although he had lived so near to Wellington he had very seldom ever approached that town. Now he was treated, to his surprise, as an honoured guest, though a captive one. He was allowed to live with his kinsman, Te Wherowhero, renowned chief of a huge and strong tribe in the valuable lands of the Waikato, who vouched for the good behaviour of his guest. Te Wherowhero was being wooed by Governor Grey at this time on account of the above mentioned valuable lands of the Waikato, and was living a life of ease in Auckland on his bounty, provided with a comfortable house.
The months passed; Rauparaha behaved well, and away to the south Rangihaeata, shocked and dismayed at the capture of his uncle, curbed his bitter hatred of the white man and settled down to wait for his return. It was quite a long wait, almost eighteen months, before the Governor, having never brought Rauparaha to trial on any charge, returned him to his own part of the country. In "Maoris of By-Gone Days" Hadfield commented on this episode—"Some years later Sir George Grey who had ascertained that his sympathy with his nephew Te Rangihaeata, who was in open rebellion, had become dangerous, apprehended and detained him on board a man-of-war. He did not resent this, as he knew it had saved him and his people from trouble."
It was a big moment for the old chief when the ship anchored off Otaki beach and he was rowed ashore on his return. Hundreds upon hundreds of tribesmen had gathered to welcome him. Rangihaeata, tall and handsome, magnificent in the finest ceremonial robes, huia feathers in his hair, stood near the forefront of this sreat crowd. Thomas Bevan in "Reminiscences of an Old Colonist" stated that he witnessed this scene. "A British man-of-war hove in sight and anchored off the mouth of the Otaki river, boats were lowered therefrom, officers, soldiers and marines, in gorgeous uniforms filled them, and as they neared the shore Te Rauparaha stood proudly amongst them, attired in an admiral's uniform and carrying a sword. He was accompanied by Governor Grey and the commander of the warship. Maoris lined the shores and gave their chief a right royal welcome home. The very earth trembled with the stamping of thousands of dusky warriors' feet."
Extracts from Hadfield's letters during these years mention some of these happenings in the country. One, dated April 13, 1846, to his family, stated—"The rebellion at the North has been quelled but affairs there are not settled on a very firm basis in my opinion at least. Down here affairs are far from settled. Two whites were murdered by two Maoris here about ten days ago."
On August 1, 1846, he wrote—"Affairs here would have taken a very serious turn had I not been able to give the Governor accurate information concerning the Maoris of this part of the country. . . . Since I last wrote several murders have been committed in this neighbourhood by a band of vagabonds—outcasts from various tribes amounting to about 150 under the notorious savage Te Rangihaeata. . . . The Government has apprehended Te Rauparaha and several others on suspicion of being favourable to the rebels. ... I have felt some satisfaction in being able to assist the Governor widi my advice as he appears a man sincerely intent upon doing what is right. . . . He has been in this part of the country for the last month, and he comes to me almost every day that he is in Wellington to ask my advice in some matter concerning the Maoris, and as he almost invariably acts upon advice I give him I feel a degree of responsibility which is rather too much for my state of health. I am thankful that I have not hitherto had to regret any advice I have given. The Governor told me that he landed at Waikanae last Sunday and attended divine service there; he added that the impression made on his own mind by what he saw there was such as to
Hadfield's work on the coast was being continued during his illness. In Waikanae a Mr. Govett was appointed in 1845 to fill his place, and in 1848
Writing to his father on October 21, 1847, he mentioned the latter appointment. "Mr. Samuel Williams, a son of the elder Williams, who was ordained about a year ago, has been appointed to Otaki and Waikanae permanently. I am very well satisfied with the appointment and in fact did what I could to bring it about as he is a very pious and sincere and hardworking man, and having been brought up in the country is thoroughly conversant with the language and is thus a very efficient missionary. The Maoris of those places are delighted with the arrangement. I remain much in the same state as I have been. Mr. and Mrs. St. Hill are as kind and affectionate as ever. I read a great deal and write as much as the inconvenience of writing in bed will permit. I have lately been bringing out a new edition of some Maori Catechism which I have almost made a new work, it occupied me some weeks—the Maoris are delighted with it."
In April, 1848, the majority of the Ngatiawa tribe living at Waikanae left there to return to their former home near Waitara which they had left in 1827. There were too many settlers occupying the coast round Waikanae now, and, more disturbing still, there were reports of surveying in Taranaki on the land the tribe still owned there. Possession seemed the only course. "Land," Te Rauparaha had said at the start of his recital to Governor Fitzroy after the Wairau affair, "is the foundation of all our troubles." And land was to be the trouble of Wiremu Kingi Whiti at Waitara.
Hadfield wrote in a letter that month—"I must now tell you something of my old friends the Waikanae Maoris. Through a series of blunders on the part of those concerned in carrying on the subordinate arrangements of the Government, there have been some disputes about land; the result is that last week 200 men with their families left in their canoes to return to Taranaki. ... I think the Government will have cause to regret it by and by." These last words were prophetic—both the Government and Hadfield himself were to become deeply involved in the dispute and subsequent war leading from this event.
So the men, women and children travelled north up the coast, some in canoes and some driving their stock along the beaches. And the once large and lively pa, and the church of which the tribe had been so proud, began their swift descent into oblivion. Riwai Te Ahu stayed, faithfully attempting to keep his congregation and schools together, though little was left of them, and to preserve the church from the pressure of drifting sand which was threatening to engulf it. Hadfield's house was occupied by a young army officer stationed there, but it also wore a dejected air. The noise and the action were gone, the greatness was gone, and the shifting sand was blown a little higher every day.
* * *
Te Rauparaha was returned to his people at Otaki in January, 1848, three months before Wiremu Kingi led his people north. Sam Williams had just arrived, and it was these two who set about the construction of Rangiatea with the wood that Octavius Hadfield had supervised being felled four years earlier.
The people of the district had moved inland from their pa, Rangiuru, at the river mouth. This was apparently done at Hadfield's suggestion—the new land was more fertile, and the village was laid out in European style. For a while it was called Hadfield Town, but the name reverted back to the original Otaki. This is where the church was built, and according to reports the work took precedence over the construction of the village and its homes. For a long time Tamihana Te Rauparaha's house, and that of his cousin Matene Te Whiwhi, were the show places of the district. Tamihana in particular became extremely English in his ways, although he apparently never mastered the language very thoroughly.
A young military officer,
In 1849, after four years in bed, Hadfield began to recover. In a letter to his mother, dated February 23, he wrote—"The beneficial effect lately produced on my health by a new system of treatment, after all treatments had been hopelessly abandoned for years, is very astonishing. . . . After being almost entirely confined to my bed for four years and suffering during" that period almost incessant pain, living on a very low diet and passing many restless nights, I am now, except when over excited for a short time by mental exertion, almost free from it and am able to eat meat with a good appetite and walk at different times of the day two or three miles. You cannot be more astonished at hearing this than those by whom I am surrounded. When I went first to church about three weeks ago, my appearance there seemed to people who had been constantly expecting to hear of my death, like a resurrection from the grave. You can easily imagine how grateful I feel to my Heavenly Father for all his mercies vouchsafed to me. Nothing, humanly speaking, but the unparalleled kindness shown daily, nay hourly, to me during more than four years could have kept me alive, and how was this to have been expected in New Zealand. The treatment by means of which my health has so improved is what is called the water treatment." As was stated earlier, in a continuation of this letter, Dr. Fitzgerald had persuaded him to try it.
The letter goes on to say that some people think he is fitter than is yet the case, "among these the Bishop who upon hearing of my present improvement wrote to congratulate me on my recovery. But he has done more than this. He says I shall probably never be fit for active missionary work, for which my strength, in his opinion, was never adequate, and therefore proposes to put his contemplated College at Porirua under my charge and promises, if I will be the head, to find me hands and feet. This suggestion was only made in a letter, a few days ago, so that I have not yet given it much thought, but I think for many reasons, if I have strength, Otaki, where there is a concentrated population, and where among my old friends much might be done by me without much fatigue, would be my proper place. Nor do I feel qualified, in point of
Here he quotes a further section of the Bishop's letter. " 'The report of your returning health (given by Dr. Fitzgerald) encourages me to fulfil the long cherished wish of appointing you to the Archdeaconery of Kapiti, which has been left open in the hope, however faint, that you might be able to fill the office. I enclose the letter of appointment, which I beg you to accept for my sake, and much more for the good of the Church. You have already acted as my Commissary and adviser on all occasions and this will only give a formal and legal sanction to the duties which you have already discharged'."
His own letter continues—"The Maoris are all going on well at Otaki and throughout my old district; there are still a goodly number at Waikanae. Mr. Williams is a hardworking, good man and does his duty well, so that I have had great cause for thankfulness on that head."
In a letter on May 1, he again mentions the college. "He (the Bishop) was very importunate also on another subject concerning which however I declined to give him any positive answer. He wishes me to take charge of his proposed new college at Porirua, about 15 miles from this. It is to be an institution for the education of English boys and Maori boys and likewise for teaching and training Maori young men as school teachers and candidates for Holy orders."
Later still, September 17, he wrote—"I look upon this projected College as of the highest importance, both as respects the future well-being of the Maori race and the prosperity of the colony generally. We are not rich out here, as you know, but the natural resources of the country are great. To obtain a decent subsistence is not difficult, and the Bishop, therefore, purposes to combine with the educational department an industrial system by means of which much may be done towards supporting the institution. This, if not carried to excess, I highly approve of, as it tends to impart habits of industry and co-operation, which are highly essential everywhere, but especially in a country like this."
In spite of this Hadfield made up his mind he would not be associated with the proposed college, and at the end of the year Selwyn advised him that there had been a delay in the project because of hostility by the New Zealand Company and some difficulties over the title. The college never was built and the land,
given to the church by the Ngatitoa tribe especially for a college, became the subject of much dispute through the years. Today, although the original 500 acres are diminished because of land taken by the Government, children of the donor tribe are eligible for educational benefits from the revenues. But it is sad that the high hopes of the parties concerned back in 1849 were never realised. Hadfield was a trustee of the estate for more than 40 years, and in 1903, after many years of experience with the Otaki School, Te Aute College and Wanganui Collegiate, he said he thought it would have been very unwise to have attempted to establish the college at Porirua with the original funds at the disposal of the trustees.
As for Bishop Selwyn's proposal to create Hadfield archdeacon, the latter was equally unco-operative about accepting that. In his letter of May 1, he wrote—"The Bishop has been here lately, I saw a good deal of him. Notwithstanding my good resolutions which I mentioned in my last letter not to take upon myself any fresh duties, he made me accept the office of archdeacon. I persisted in refusing for several days but found that he was grieved at my doing so and that he had set his heart on my accepting it. I therefore was obliged much against my own wishes to comply. He said that he had always intended it, that he could not appoint any other person even if he had any one in whom he placed the same confidence as in me, because, as I was the oldest clergyman in this part of the country I had always acted for him as his Commissary in his absence and both Maori and English would still look to me for directions and advice in spite of any appointment of his—and moreover that he wished to show the C.M.S. that though they did not feel much confidence in him he put confidence in their missionaries. He added that he did not confer these appointments for any other object than that of organising the Diocese and though I had not much strength he wanted my assistance in directing the deacons and others in this part of the country which could be done by letter without any bodily exercise."
Bishop Selwyn must have had many frustrating moments arguing with his new archdeacon. Although they came from essentially the same background they differed on many points, and they were both strong-willed men.
Hadfield adds in his letter—"I am now able to do a little in various ways and see some of the Maoris of this place who were a
It was the Spring of 1849 when Octavius Hadfield returned to Waikanae and Otaki for the first time in almost five years. It was ten years since his first journey up this coast, and he reached Otaki in the first week of October just in time for his thirty-fifth birthday. It was a joyous return. With him journeyed a young Irish clergyman, the
Lloyd wrote of the trip in an article in the Spectator, November 3, 1849. "At Porirua we were joined by Rauparaha's son, dressed in European costume, and mounted on an excellent horse, and apparently in no respect differing from one of ourselves, excepting in the colour of his skin. Our road now lay through a magnificent forest, diversified by almost every variety of foliage of which New Zealand can boast, but which, no doubt, will one day give way to a thriving and industrious population. . . . On arriving at Waikanae we found the Maoris employed in clearing away some drift sand which had gathered against their church, blocking up the windows on one side, and threatening to burst in the side wall. ... In the evening the whole population of the place was assembled for service within its walls. Here and elsewhere along the coast the Maoris are remarkable for the regularity of their attendance at the daily morning and evening services. . . . On reaching Otaki we found the inhabitants, to the number of about 600, assembled in an open space adjoining the east end of their church—a very appropriate spot on which to meet their pastor, through whose zeal and labour they were first brought to a knowledge of that blessed Gospel which has made such a wonderful change in their condition. As we approached, the men shook their garments, crying out, 'Haere mai!'
tangi, the Maoris justly believing this mode of reception to be offensive to the English. . . . The women gave vent to their feelings by sobs and moans. ... In the evening there was a congregation of about 600 in the church, which was larger than usual, many Maoris having come in for the occasion from neighbouring pas. . . .
Morning service commences at Otaki, in winter, as soon as it is light, in summer about 5 a.m., and evening service about sunset, when the work of the day is over. Every morning, as soon as the service is concluded, school commences, which is attended by almost the whole congregation, consisting of old and young, women and children. The adults are formed into classes in the church. . . . The young are drafted off to the school-house. . . . The majority of adults can both read and write well. Some classes write from dictation, and seldom are any of these known to make a mistake in spelling. They seem to have a peculiar facility in learning to write. And I have no hesitation in saying that I have never witnessed in any school for the poorer classes in England, Ireland, or Scotland, better writing, on the whole, than that which I have seen at Otaki. ... It has been Mr. Hadfield's aim, in all his instructions, to supply the Maoris with broad principles of action for the regulation of their conduct, and to teach them to apply these principles for themselves to all the practical details of life."
Although Rangiatea was not completed it was far enough advanced to be able to hold a welcome service for Hadfield on Sunday, October 7. This was crowded as were other services during that first Sunday of his return. But the church was not yet ready for regular services, and the people returned to work, the men to adze the slabs and pillars, the women to weave the tukutuku for the interior panels. Sam Williams himself, with sleeves rolled up, often helped with the manual labour.
Writing of the welcome service in his article, Rev. Lloyd said— "The large church was filled to overflowing. Most of the vast assembly sat on the ground in the usual Maori posture, and were so closely packed together that they presented a dense mass of human faces. Never have I seen . . . more reverence than I witnessed on that occasion."
Lloyd praised the Maoris on two other counts. Commenting on their building of Rangiatea he wrote—"In a few years, if they
Lloyd also commented on the fact that the Maoris appeared to regard their religious services as a happy privilege rather than an irksome duty. Sam Williams, after two years at Otaki, must take some credit for that, but earlier Wakefield had written—"Mr. Hadfield had managed very wisely to introduce Christianity by the authority of the young chiefs, and to make them consider the new doctrine as a cheerful rather than a saddening and moping innovation."
Rangiatea was, and still is, a noble edifice. 80 feet long, 36 feet broad and 40 feet high, it is dominated by the three main pillars, massive totara trunks supporting the 86 feet long totara ridge beam. The inside walls are constructed of slabs of totara, set in the ground and stained with the red kokowai, alternating with panels of tuku-tuku, beautiful and delicate weaving in a star cluster pattern, interlaced with battens of dark green. When Hadfield first saw the church, spaces had been left in the walls for windows, and he himself ordered the lancet diamond panes for these. Seats were not put in for some years as the Maoris preferred sitting on the floor. At the welcome service in 1849 the floor was only earth, and flax mats were laid for the congregation to sit on. According to Maori tradition, some earth from beneath the sacred shrine in the temple at Raiatea, the island from which the ancestors of the Tainui tribe had migrated centuries before, was carried in the canoe Tainui, which carried also Te Rauparaha's ancestors. This soil was preserved through the ages, and eventually laid beneath the new church, Rangiatea, at Otaki.
On this first visit after his long absence, Hadfield travelled on through the Manawatu, seeing all his old friends and pupils. His immediate work, he concluded, would be training teachers for the various villages. What teachers there were needed further instruction, and there was a great need for more teachers. He felt he could do this without interfering in Sam Williams' work, for which he had the highest regard.
And so, although it was not what the Bishop had visualised for him, for the next few years he travelled extensively up and down the coast between Wellington and the northern Manawatu, teaching, lecturing and baptising, taking services and taking classes, and in the business of the church acting as the Bishop's Commissary. When his sister Amelia decided to join him in New Zealand in 1850 he dissuaded her. "I am at present a rolling stone," he wrote. "I wish to be quite free to do anything—to remain as free as I have ever been. . . . Nothing would I like better than to have you all out here, but one, I am afraid, would be a source of anxiety to me."
In a letter home in September, 1849, he wrote of the Maoris— "One great object I have had in view . . . has been to render the Maoris more attractive to those that look only to the outward appearance, and thus gain for them respect. For when the lower classes of people see those whom they so lately regarded as savages neatly dressed, living in decent houses, cultivating wheat, keeping cows, able to read and write, and also attentive in their duties to God, they cannot but be struck with the remarkable effect produced . . . the same are led to treat the Maoris with more attention and respect. ... I have no hesitation in saying that this has tended to make them (the pakehas) far more attentive to religion than they were disposed to be a few years ago."
In April, 1850, in another letter, he wrote—"The Maoris are going on well at Otaki and its neighbourhood. They are making rapid improvement in their habits and mode of life generally . . . their decency of conduct and industrious, steady habits have made their outward condition one of comparative comfort."
As has been stated, both Tamihana and his home showed, by their outward condition, more comfort than any other. And it was in this home, with his son and daughter-in-law, that Te Rauparaha lived during 1849 after his release from the north. A very different existence to most of the old chief's long life. And it was here that he died on the 27 th November, 1849, only a few weeks after Octavius Hadfield had returned to Otaki.
Hadfield had seen Te Rauparaha in Wellington during the year, but it was fitting that they should meet again on the coast, even though for such a brief time. Rauparaha's star had been bright in the confines of the world in which he lived. His high chieftainship and authority, his record of past successes, gave added glamour to his oddly surprising personality. He was loved, feared and hated—
Writing of him in "Maoris of By-Gone Days", Hadfield described some of Te Rauparaha's adventures and their conversations together. "His name was known throughout New Zealand for the various wars he had been engaged in, and the ability he had displayed in overcoming obstacles and recovering from disasters had made him famous everywhere. On several occasions he related to me adventures connected with these wars which were very remarkable, as affording evidence of his marvellous resources. I will only mention one. Once during his wars with the Maoris of the South Island he was surprised when in his canoe by a party in several canoes which pursued him and gained upon him. On passing a point of land he observed a few rocks, and a large quantity of sea-weed on the surface of the water. He immediately pulled towards these, filled the canoe with water, allowing only enough of the heads of the party to enable them to breathe to appear above the water. He let his enemies go on their way, imagining that they were in pursuit of him, and then having floated his canoe, stood across the Strait and reached home safely. But his ready resource in a difficulty was not always exercised in so innocent a manner. On another occasion (I did not hear this from him) when pursued, in order to lighten his canoe, he threw into the sea those of his slaves who were unable to afford any assistance in paddling it.
I need not say more about his adventures, there being a good deal already recorded as to his wars in works on New Zealand. But what few people had an opportunity of understanding as well as I had, was his great ability. I had many opportunities of hearing him relate his past history, and the various wars he had been engaged in, as well as his contrivances to out-wit or elude his enemies. I lived in a whare a few hundred yards from the old pa, near the mouth of the Otaki River. Sometimes in an afternoon he would come and knock at my door and ask whether I was disengaged, and if so could we have a talk. He said that in the pa they only talked about pigs and potatoes, and he got tired of it. This did not suit the petty sovereign whose occupation was gone. He would then go back to very early times and relate the state of the various Maori tribes—their relations to one another, and their
He was always, from my first interview with him, courteous and civil. How far he would have been so, had not his only son Tamihana Katu, and his nephew Matene Te Whiwhi, been cordially co-operating with me, I am unable to say. He often gave me assistance, but never, though he occasionally came to church and remained during the whole service, professed belief in Christianity, or desired to be baptised."
So Te Rauparaha died. Octavius Hadfield and Sam Williams lead the funeral procession to the churchyard, but it would seem that neither of them performed the actual service. Te Rangihaeata was there, aloof and imperial, clad in a flax cloak, viewing the ceremony alone from a hillock overlooking the graveyard. A few weeks before the Rev. Lloyd had described him as a tall and powerful man, more than six feet in height, whose "air and manner at once betrayed the chief, and would have marked him out among 1,000 people to the eye of the most casual observer." He had chosen the site for the grave. The Independent, December 26, 1849, reported—"Rangihaeata took his seat on the side of the hill about 20 yards from the grave, and when they were lowering the coffin, he called out to stand at one side until he could see the last of him."
Tamihana was the chief mourner. Other sons and daughters had died through massacre and war in past years—only he and a daughter remained to Te Rauparaha. Maori tangiwangas were noisy and lengthy affairs, sometimes continuing several days. The people would laugh and weep, would eat and drink, would talk and chant. Often the women would slash themselves with sharp shells or pieces of obsidian, drawing the razor-like edges up and down their bodies from shoulder to waist and across their foreheads and cheeks, wailing lamentations as they did so. The missionaries frowned on this, and Tamihana, having adopted so many English customs, was anxious to please them at this funeral of his father. Even so much of the old tradition clung.
Tamihana was a generous host and put on a great feast after the funeral. But the night was to bring another drama. Maori tradition, confirmed in this case by a whaler, John Westcott, says that the body of Te Rauparaha was removed from his grave that same night and carried by a large number of Maoris to the beach at the mouth of the Otaki river, and then transported to Kapiti where the body was hidden in a cave.
A canoe slipping silently over the dark water. Perhaps there his spirit roamed free over the wind and waves of his former dominion. Rangihaeata alone remained, proud and aloof, disdaining all advances of the white man, as reminder of the fierce and bloodthirsty past. He retreated once more to his swampy home at Porouta-whao, there to brood on the excitements and glory of that past.
In 1850
"In the evening we went to Mr. St. Hill's to tea," she wrote on August 23, "and to meet Archdeacon Hadfield who has been in Wellington for a few days, but was going off the next morning to Otaki. He only comes down here now and then on business to see after the different Maori settlements about the town, and on Sunday last he baptised three adults, whom he prepared when he was down before, and then left in charge of a clergyman at the Hutt to see how they would go on, as he is very much against their being baptised immediately on their conversion, and without thoroughly understanding what they are about."
On September 17 the family, Charlotte, John and their three-year-old son, Arthur, plus two attendants, began their journey to Otaki in a bright yellow dog-cart they had been loaned. "We went along the Porirua road, which I think you must know now by name, through about 16 miles of beautiful bush, down at last on to the beach of the Porirua harbour which has a very narrow entrance, and stretches inland, like a lake with tide, and surrounded with low wooded hills, for several miles."
They stayed the night in the public-house at Pauatahanui. "The next morning we were up betimes, as we had (with a slow horse) rather a long journey before us. We began with 8 miles of gradual ascent through the Horokiwi valley, still more striking in bush scenery and sharp cliffs than anything we had seen before. ... At the top we went through a short cutting, and then came suddenly upon a magnificent view. . . . The chain of thickly-wooded hills, which we had been winding up and through, leaves the coast at this point, and goes a mile or two inland, still running parallel with the sea. On the other side, the island of Kapiti, though 8 miles before
pas, some deserted, but many in full activity. . . . We had then to descend the hill, the road winding down, but pretty steep, for more than 2 miles. ... At the bottom of the hill there is a 'resting' place for man and horse. . . . We did not rest long, as we were not to dine till Waikanae, our next stage after 8 miles along the beach, which, when the tide is at all low, makes a beautiful road of hard sand. . . ."
Charlotte Godley was not impressed with the coastal scenery around Waikanae. "Waikanae is the most desert-looking place that perhaps ever was seen except the Manawatu further on," she wrote. "It is a collection of hills of loose sand, through which a river winds into the sea, and about it are a few very small attempts at houses, nearly all thatched and covered with a kind of coarse grass, all about the same colour as the sand; then there is a large church, built by the Maoris for themselves, and the old pa which looks at first sight something like a garden (without the plants) and the palings of the fence are many of them painted of a dull red, and some are ornamented at the top with great carved figures in wood, as monstrous as any you can conceive. You must understand that the Maori huts are never built high enough to be visible over their paling. . . ."
Having dined at Waikanae they continued their journey, the horse even slower than before and a cold wind blowing. "It was a wild scene indeed, on that misty afternoon, threading our way along the unending line of beach. We could see the tops of the blue hills, through clouds running parallel, a few miles inland, over the low sand-hills that began immediately after high-water mark; with here and there stunted-looking vegetation like hay growing, and this, mile after mile, till evening came on, without a single land-mark, except the little streams, which were none of them above the horse's knees, (except the Waikanae river, but as the tide was low we managed to ford that too). At last to our great joy we saw our dear Mr. Hadfield coming down to meet us. . . .
Mr. Hadfield's house is a little low cottage, built of reeds, and thatched with a long reedy grass that the Maoris call toi-toi. There
at that time expressly to contain me. I was the first lady who had ever paid Mr. Hadfield a visit, and was made much of accordingly; he questioned the servants, and then, wherever it was possible, had everything for us exactly as we had it at home. His only servant is a Maori boy of about fourteen, who was baptised a few years ago by the name of Cole; very good and intelligent, and of course very unlike anything you ever saw in the way of a servant; his long black hair unbrushed, his brown feet bare, black trowsers. and always a very clean white shirt, and over that one of blue serge; the regular colonial working garments. He, of course, cannot speak English, and, though very respectful, talks to his Master quite in a different way from our button-boys at home; addresses him as Harrawidda, their version of Hadfield, and in all his difficulties he had only to speak, and his voice, without opening the door, was perfectly audible from a little pantry formed by die end of the passage where the mysteries of preparing the tea-tray were gone through. Mr. Hadfield only drinks water, so this was all new to him, and the first night it would have made anyone laugh, after many consultations through the wall, to see him come in with the tray, a knife, a Rockingham teapot, a slop-basin, and two cups without saucers, all looking as if they had lost their way, and didn't know where to stand upon it. He came just inside the door with this, and then, seeing me sitting in the corner expecting it, he was quite overpowered, and with the Maori for 'Oh', he disappeared. Mr. Hadfield had to go and help him, and we all to keep our countenance as well as we could. . . .
We have quite agreed that he is the nicest person we have yet seen, out of England. But I think I have already given you long descriptions of him." Here she writes of some of Hadfield's early experiences, and of his illness in Wellington. "At last he took to cold water," she continues, "and, after a year's treatment, is able to do almost anything. For instance, during this winter he had to go a long way (73 miles) up the coast, beyond where we went, and after a fatiguing day, when it was quite dark, arrived at a river
at all the worse. However, as you are not so much interested in him as we are, I will excuse any more 'biography'.
When the Maoris at Otaki heard of his coming back, they came together in numbers, and built him his present house in two days, refusing any payment, and Otaki is now his home. . . . The village is very pretty, and stands on a flat, with a brook, or small river, running through it. The bush, with very fine trees, comes close up to the cultivations, and has, so far, been left in patches of wood that ornament the country very much, but as anyone can go and cut for firewood Mr. Hadfield is afraid that they will gradually, as it were, melt away. Besides that, the trees so left generally die of their own accord, when they lose the protection of the bush around. There is everywhere a beautiful background of well-wooded hills, and good high ones too, and the village is quite scattered, and no two houses standing together, each one has about a quarter acre, if not more, for garden and potatoes. . . . Mr. Williams went, for the Sunday, to a place about ten miles off. There is always some place wanting a visit from him, or from Mr. Hadfield; there are only Maori teachers, besides themselves, in the whole district, and so, wherever they go for Sunday, the Maoris assemble for many miles round, often in hundreds. Mr. Hadfield proposed to us to make an expedition to one of these places of meeting thirty-five miles from Otaki, to shew us a little more of the country and to give us, as he said, 'a night in the bush'. Of course, we joyfully acquiesced, and putting the 'needful for a night' in my husband's saddle bags, started one fine morning for another drive along the beach road. After six miles we came to a river, which, the tide being high, was to be crossed in boats. The horses had their saddles taken off, ropes tied to their heads, and were swum across, two going with each turn of the boat. . . . Fifteen miles further, in a northerly direction, brought us to a much larger river, the Manawatu, where we were to leave the vehicle and proceed riding; it is never fordable, being about (vaguely) as wide as the Thames in London, and quite a sea running when there is much wind. We crossed in a canoe and had some trouble with the horses, my husband's swimming so fast ahead that he broke loose and turned and swam back to the shore again. . . .
Nothing can exceed the dreariness of the country at the mouth of the Manawatu. At low tide shores are left of mixed sand and mud, and there is nothing to be seen but little hillocks covered with loose sand, or else coarse stunted rushes. Then we came to swamp, with some tall reeds, and flax ten or twelve feet high. Mr. Hadfield led the way along a little track easy enough to follow, and after five or six miles it ran very much up and down steep hillocks which began to be covered with bushes, and something like vegetation; for our course was inland towards the hills. Just as it got dark we came suddenly into a considerable pa, and a large patch of bush, and I never saw anything nicer than the way in which the Maoris came flocking out to meet Mr. Hadfield, whose coming was unexpected. We had to pass quite through the village to get to the house we were to sleep in, which turned out to be a pretty little reed cottage, with two rooms and a passage, and so well-built as to be a beautiful specimen of the style. The only imperfection was that it had as yet, being unfinished, neither furniture nor fireplace, and that the French windows were a good deal broken. . . .
There was, in the space before the house, a round hole dug about a foot deep, such as they use for ovens and fireplaces; and by this we sat on the ground, wrapped in blankets like themselves. . . . Mr. Hadfield's time was fully occupied in listening to all the stories they had to tell him, and giving answers to their many questions, etc. They could not have seemed more pleased if their nearest and dearest relation had just returned. . . . There was a young man most fashionably dressed, and even understanding a few words of English, who was the builder of the house . . . and he had an old Father, as Mr. Hadfield said 'quite an old Maori', dressed in an old red blanket, with a face tattooed till it was nearly black, who would come and look in at us when we were in the house, and at breakfast next morning there was the black face applied to the largest hole in the window and watching everything we did with the deepest attention. . . .
At the first dawn of day we were up, and at seven were in the canoe which was to take us back to the mouth of the Manawatu, by a winding course of more than thirty miles down the river. . . . The banks of the river were in some places very pretty, and the woods beautiful, hung over in some places with bunches and garlands of a gigantic white clematis; and another tree which is something like laburnum was nearly out. All the way down we
These descriptions of Charlotte Godley's were of the countryside that was Octavius Hadfield's home. The people and their dwellings, the hills and rivers and beaches and bush were completely familiar to him. Her route from Wellington to Otaki and beyond was one that he had walked and ridden many3 many times. In a newspaper article after his death, one of these journeys was recalled. "On one occasion his presence was required at an important meeting at Wellington, but the notice barely gave him time in which to accomplish the journey. However, he rode off from Otaki, reaching Wellington, 53 miles distant, in five hours and a quarter, just in time for the meeting. Considering the road was but half formed, and such portion very difficult and hilly, it may be judged that the rapid journey was a cruelty to the horse; but the rider was a light weight, and the horse noted for his great endurance and spirit—sometimes running away with his rider during the journey." This newspaper cutting is in a family scrapbook, and a pencil entry in the margin states that often this horse went for a gallop when he came home from Wellington.
So Hadfield continued travelling these familiar routes, teaching, preaching and organising, writing to his family in England, and writing also to the Church Missionary Society on the affairs of the church and the country. Although Charlotte Godley was the first woman to stay in his new Otaki home, others had been his guests earlier. Back in 1840 John Mason and his wife had stayed with him at Waikanae for a week on their way to Wanganui. Mrs. Selwyn had accompanied her husband, the Bishop, to the area, and following the Godley's trip the journey to Otaki became quite popular, according to Charlotte.
"The Governor and Mrs. Eyre are gone up the coast," she wrote on October 25, "and Mrs. McCleverty and child, and Mrs. St. Hill and Mr. and Mrs. Petre and three children have all been, since we came back, as far as Otaki. They say I set the fashion. . . ."
Eighteen months later the home described by Charlotte Godley was to have its own mistress.
In 1851 Sam Williams' sister,
Mary Williams, who was both Kate's sister-in-law and cousin, had been visiting the Bay of Islands and invited her to return with her to Otaki. They sailed in the Government brig, Victoria, round the North Cape, calling at New Plymouth and then Nelson before reaching Wellington. The reason for the Nelson detour was explained by Kate in a letter to her mother. "The Captain was persuaded by an influential passenger to cross to Nelson en route to Wellington," she wrote. They arrived in Wellington on May 3, and were met there by Sam and taken to Otaki.
Kate was born on February 24, 1831, at Paihia. Mrs. Maunsell, who arrived there in 1835, described the Williams' home as "a pretty cottage, a verandah in front through the trellis work of which woodbines and roses most luxuriously climb." With a large number of brothers and sisters and cousins Kate did not lack for companionship. It is recorded that Bishop Selwyn spent his first evening in New Zealand with the Williams family and was much amused at the sight of the large tea table set for a party of twenty-four.
As she grew up Kate helped her mother and taught in the Maori schools. At the time of Hone Heke's disturbances Mrs. Selwyn invited the Williams girls to stay with her in Auckland, but it was decided they would remain at home. On one visit to Auckland Kate was taken by Mrs. Selwyn to her first dance. It is recorded by her youngest daughter, Amy Hadfield, that Kate was a favourite of the Rev. Cotton, Bishop Selwyn's secretary, who called her Lady Gris-elda. Acknowledging a gift of home-made jam, he wrote to her in 1846 from St. John's College—"My dear Lady Griselda, I do not remember whether I have written to thank you for the jam, which as your good mother said did you great credit, and which has been
kinaki. Some people like this sort, others not at all. If you should be in the latter class, it will do very well for sore throats." It was in December of this same year that the Rev. Cotton wrote a letter from Wellington, already quoted, about Octavius Hadfield.
In May, 1850, the Williams family left their Paihia home, Henry Williams, then archdeacon, having had his connection with the C.M.S. severed after thirty years' service over a prolonged and unpleasant dispute about his land holdings in the country. During the years he had bought considerable land for the support of his large family, and his dismissal was due to an unfortunate attack by Sir George Grey on this subject. He was reinstated by the Society in 1854, but by then he was living at Pakaraka where he built a church which was opened and dedicated in 1851. He carried on there as a clergyman and did not return to Paihia.
Marianne Williams described the scene as they left Paihia for Pakaraka, all mounted on their horses. Crowds of Maoris met them all along their route to shake hands and say their farewells. A group of Kate's school children ran by their side for some distance. On arrival at their son's home, Kate and her sister, Lydia, played a duet to welcome their parents. The new home was named the 'Retreat'—here Marianne and Henry Williams ended their days.
Settled in at Otaki Kate began teaching in the school with Mary Williams. Sir George Grey, who visited the school several times, eventually offered further grants towards its upkeep, and at his suggestion more land was given by the Maoris. Boarding schools for boys and girls were run for some years. The industrial system was used here, as it had been planned for Porirua and was later used at Te Aute and Wanganui; the boys spent time working in the fields and the girls in the house. In the early period children from as far afield as Hawke's Bay and the Wairarapa attended.
But Kate's visit was not all work. She visited the St. Hills in Wellington, and her sister, Sarah, who was married to the Rev. Thomas Hutton at Lower Hutt. And at Otaki Octavius Hadfield frequently joined the Williams party for dinner and in their walks. She also "had a very pleasant visit to Manawatu" in company with Hadfield and Sam and Mary Williams. "When we returned we came down the river," she wrote to her mother on September 27, 1851. "Mr. Hadfield left just before us on Tuesday morning and
Writing earlier, on July 14, she commented—"Mr. Hadfield's brother (
Octavius Hadfield and Kate Williams were married in Rangiatea on May 19, 1852, three months after Kate's twenty-first birthday. Octavius was then thirty-eight. Richard Taylor came from Wanganui to marry the couple, and his daughter was the bridesmaid. According to Taylor's journal there was a very large assemblage of Maoris in the church, and after the wedding lunch the couple set off for the Manawatu. Sam Williams gave his sister away, and throughout the fifty years of marriage ahead of them he was to prove a good and faithful friend both to Kate and Octavius, and to their children.
After 14 years in the country Octavius Hadfield now had a family of his own. Although he still travelled extensively up and down the coast between Wanganui and Wellington, to the Waira-rapa and up the Manawatu river, his wife and his home were at Otaki and he could no longer consider himself a rolling stone. During his absences Kate was busier than ever, helping to teach and care for the children at the school. The boys attending the boarding school were housed in a building close to the church— the girls lived in the Mission House, occupied by Sam and Mary Williams until they left for Te Aute in 1854, when the Hadfields moved in. It meant much work and responsibility—the children had to be nursed when ill, and there was a constant struggle through the years to maintain teachers, to retain the interest of children and parents, and to find money. The land given by the Maoris was effectively farmed for the upkeep of the children. In a newspaper
Thomas Bevan in "Reminiscences of an Old Colonist" also wrote of the farm. "The Archdeacon's farm was carried on by Mr. Woods and sons; he had the best shorthorn cattle and merino sheep on the coast; a flourishing dairy was one of the features of the farm, and the settlers used to go there for their supply of butter."
But due to many circumstances the school, and the church attendance too, began to decline in the late 1850's. The school did keep going for many more years, although the boarding establishment was closed in 1868, but it did not survive as the later college of Te Aute survived. In 1905 a Royal Commission investigating the administration of the church lands there, which by that time amounted to nearly 600 acres, gave four reasons for the failure of the Otaki school. (1) Income from the trust was never sufficient without Government subsidy for carrying on a boarding school with industrial training; (2) reduced Maori population, and distracting political causes, such as the wars of the sixties, Hauhauism, etc.; (3) Roman Catholic children who formerly attended the school were now provided with a convent school; (4) the existence of a State school at Otaki.
* * *
The Hadfield's first child, Henry Samuel, was born in April, 1853. Later that year Sir George Grey offered the family a chance of travelling to the Bay of Islands in the Government brig. This was Hadfield's only return to the Bay where he had first landed in 1838. The couple and their six-month-old son spent some weeks with Kate's parents before returning to Auckland. Here they were delayed through lack of shipping to the south, but Hadfield's time was occupied in conferring with Selwyn and others in the church. At last, as the only shipping available entailed first going to Sydney and then back to Wellington, they decided to travel overland.
Kate Hadfield appears to have been the first white woman to have made the journey from Auckland to Wanganui by land. For the first 18 miles she rode in a spring cart; much of it was done on foot, some by canoe, and through one long stretch of swamp Kate
"Mr. Morgan asked us if we had any objection to travel early and late: of course we had not. He then asked how soon I could be ready in the morning and in the simplicity of my heart I said six o'clock, thinking I should get great praise, but he asked if I could not say two hours sooner! This morning, he called us at half past three. I got up at once, but Octavius and Thomas wanted half an hour. Thomas proposed that Mr. Morgan should boil the kettle and he (Thomas) should drink the tea and thus make a division of labour."
Thomas left them that morning, and Mr. Morgan did not know the way and took them after hours of travel across a bog which eventually had to be recrossed. "However we went on and on, through woods and then open fern, till I nearly lost my patience." Eventually Mr. Morgan left them to try to discover their whereabouts. On returning Kate continues—"We had come miles out of road and he had brought a guide. You can imagine us, not in very good humour. The worst trouble was, how should we cross the bog. ... In rather low spirits we retraced our steps and as we went on our spirits revived. I could not help thinking that it was nothing to the misery of sea sickness."
Friday morning. "At two o'clock Mr. Morgan called us. I had just got to sleep after being tormented with mosquitoes and did not feel at all inclined to move. . . . We had then to go down a little narrow creek which opened into the Mangatawhiri. Half way down the creek we met the Ashwells' canoe. Mr. Morgan and Octavius were walking on the bank of the river so they had a long talk, but Mrs. Ashwell and myself had to be content with sitting and looking at one another as it was too dirty for us to get out. . . . Mrs. Ashwell sent a large basket of cherries which we greatly enjoyed. . ; . We then went a mile down the Mangatawhiri before we got into the Waikato river. It is much wider than I expected.. .. At 12 o'clock we went on shore to dinner and while they were getting dinner I gave baby a bath in the river and put him into some clean clothes ... he gives no trouble at all. ... It was half past nine when
kaianga where we went on shore. . . . Then Octavius pitched the tent for us and made a fern bed. ... I must say that I would rather travel without Mr. Morgan than with him. He makes very good plans but seems as if he could not carry them out and loses his time in a foolish manner."
On the Saturday morning they reached the Ashwells' Mission Station—it was unfortunate that these people had to attend a meeting in Auckland just at this time. The next day was Christmas Day, and they did not leave again until the Monday morning, of which day Kate wrote—"We had a lovely day, and I enjoyed this day exceedingly. At 10 o'clock we left the Waikato river and entered the Waipa. ... At dusk we came to a nice sandbank where we pitched our tent and soon had a large fire and tea. We went to bed about 10 o'clock and slept as soundly as ever we had done in our lives." Mr. Morgan had left them at the Ashwells to collect a horse, and perhaps his absence added to Kate's content.
Tuesday morning. "Octavius called us all at daylight and as we were all so refreshed we were soon up. We had prayers with the Maoris as usual and then breakfast on a duck which Octavius had shot the day before and which we had cooked in the evening. We started about 5.30, and at 11 reached the place of a bush settler named Cowell. He sent to ask us in and was very kind to us. He has a Maori wife, one of the nicest Maori women I have seen. She was so delighted that I could talk Maori to her and when she found out who I was, she made a great fuss with me. They gave us an excellent breakfast and the tea was delicious. The milk was such a treat not having had any since we left Auckland. Mr. Morgan did not arrive with the horse till 1 o'clock."
Mr. Morgan was then so slow in getting organised that eventually the party went on without him. But he caught them up after five or six miles, and after dark they reached his home where his wife, Kate's Aunt Maria, welcomed them. They stayed three days at the Morgans' Mission Station. "Sat with Aunt Maria all evening as she did not seem to like me out of her sight," Kate wrote on the Wednesday.
Friday. "I must say that it comforted me to think that Mr. Taylor does not think it impossible for a lady to go across the country, they can not accuse me of presumption any more." This was Richard Taylor, and shortly after the Hadfields' trip he and his daughter made the return journey north from Wanganui.
December 31. "We pitched our tent beside a high hedge of elder trees and soon had everything comfortable. Octavius proposed that we should sit up to see the old year out and new one in, but I was so sleepy that it did not meet with my views at all." On the Sunday they stayed in their camp, having morning and evening service with the Maoris. "We sat all day under the shade of some large peach trees as the tent was too hot."
Monday, January 2, 1854. "After going about 4 miles we came to a place called Te Karaka, where, coming out of the wood, we had a most magnificent view of the surrounding country; we saw Ruapehu, Tongariro and Tuhua. . . . After dinner we had to climb a tremendous hill. I started before, as I could not climb so fast as they, but was at the top long before any of them."
For the next few days they travelled through difficult country, Kate and her baby being carried some of the time in a litter. On the Friday they were able to take to a canoe again on the Wanganui river. "At 12 o'clock we went on shore and soon had our dinner ready. . . . There were a few Maoris who knew Octavius very well and they had a great deal to talk about."
Sunday was spent at Pipiriki. "At 5 o'clock we had evening service, then Octavius stayed talking with the Maoris a long time." The following day—"We arrived at the Taylors about 7.30 and took them all by surprise. . . . We had hardly got in the house before it came on to rain heavily and blow hard."
Writing on the 10th of January from Wanganui Kate concluded —"The people here seem to think we have come very quickly. We were three weeks, all but two days, and out of those, we were two days at Mr. Ashwell's, three at Aunt Maria's and two Sundays besides at Maori kaiangas."
Shortly after this they returned to Otaki, and so ended a remarkable journey. Remarkable for Kate Hadfield alone, but even more so considering she had her infant son with her. Remarkable too for Octavius Hadfield, who not long before had spent nearly five years in bed near to death's door.
At the time of Octavius and Kate Hadfield's wedding in May, 1852, mana which could have been expected in the son of Te Rauparaha. Hadfield never rated him as high as many other Maoris on the coast.
On his return he did not get on well with Hadfield. His early religious zeal seemed lost in the complications of civilisation. He began to drink heavily, and he advocated die setting up of a Maori king which Octavius Hadfield was very strongly opposed to. And for Hadfield there was a more personal grievance, for although Tamihana had accepted the hospitality of his family while in England, on his return he announced at a public meeting that the C.M.S. had lost all confidence in Hadfield since he had been made an archdeacon. Presumably Tamihana did not know that one of Bishop Selwyn's arguments in persuading Hadfield to become an archdeacon was his wish to show the C.M.S. that he put confidence in their missionaries. Anyway, it took many months of waiting before a rebuttal of this statement arrived from England, and in the meantime Tamihana and his followers gained much ground.
In 1854 a measle epidemic swept the countryside. In a letter to England, July 19, 1854, Hadfield wrote—"The Maoris were ill by hundreds at a time. Our medical man at Otaki was of great service,
In 1853
* * *
Sam and Mary Williams left Otaki in 1854, reluctantly for they were very happy there, to found Te Aute College in Hawke's Bay. Sir George Grey had spent two years trying to persuade Williams to make this move, and had offered him both land and money. Sam Williams was very popular among the Maoris and had
New Zealand became self-governing in 1852, but the Governor was still in charge of Maori affairs which Hadfield did not think was right. He also presided over the General Assembly and appointed members to the Legislative Council. "Our young politicians are trying their hands at the new constitution," Hadfield wrote, "and it is not an easy task to see what the result will be." That the Governor should handle Maori affairs was soon to be the cause of much trouble for Hadfield and for many others. Grey was appointed Governor of South Africa, and Colonel
Trade was good for a few years. There were two flour mills operating near Otaki, buying wheat extensively from the Maori fanners and shipping the flour out by schooner to Wellington. The Maoris here, and in other parts of the country, had taken well to the new farming methods and were doing a big trade with the increasing European population. They worked hard—potatoes and kumara, wheat and oats and barley were grown to meet the demanding market. Pork was always wanted, and flax was gathered and laboriously scraped. A rope-making works had been established on the coast at Waikawa which bought much of this prepared flax from the Maoris. This rope-making works had been started at Waikawa as early as 1844 by Thomas Bevan, whose son, also Thomas Bevan, wrote "Reminiscences of an Old Colonist."
Undoubtedly business seemed good, both for the Maori seller and for the European buyer. Soon the Australian gold-rush was to make it even better, for a while. But this flourishing business in trade began to have an adverse effect on the schools and churches. Whereas the parents had been pleased and proud to have their sons at the boarding school at Otaki, now the lure of pen and book was being over-shadowed by the lure of money, and attendance at church was being set aside for the newer pastimes of drinking alcohol, and discussing the choice of a Maori king. "The boys are willing enough to come to school," Hadfield wrote, "but the parents like to have them near themselves." Near themselves to help with the work which would earn the parents more money. An earthquake in 1854 was a further setback to the Mission, wrecking a chimney
Land troubles were still predominant and were soon to erupt into the Waitara crisis in which Gore Browne and Hadfield were to clash. Gore Browne spent endless hours in conference with his advisers, whom neither Selwyn nor Hadfield regarded as wise men. In an effort to populate the country the Provincial Councils brought in many new immigrants, and of these a vast proportion were poorly educated and proved intolerant and contemptous of the Maori, and both unable and unwilling to learn his language. Much of the early work of the missionaries, and a lot of it had been very good, was destroyed by this combination of new factors.
The growing unrest between white man and brown over land and domination in New Zealand was being echoed in many other parts of the world. In North America the Red Indians were being shamefully treated, forced off their own fertile territories to make way for the settlers, deprived of any rights of citizenship and justice. In Central India the carefully trained sepoys had mutinied against their British masters, and were massacring men, women and children. In South Africa a Xosa chieftain, listening to the daughter of a witch doctor, had told his people that if they slaughtered all their stock and destroyed their crops, the spirits of all their thousands of dead warriors would rise from their graves and help them chase the white man from the land. Food and cattle would miraculously reappear on the appointed day, the witch doctor's daughter told them. In the ensuing famine thousands of people died, while others, weak with hunger, walked, and in some cases crawled, over the land to be saved by the white man. The Governor, Sir George Grey, the same Governor who had recently been sitting beside the fires of the Maoris listening to their tales and legends, now fed these starving African people with food he had set aside when his dissuasion of their madly fanatical plan had failed.
In the east the primitive Japanese had only recently come into contact with the west, and now the ports of Japan were open to the trading ships of the world. In Australia the Chinese pouring into the gold-fields in company with Europeans from many countries, were being heavily taxed while their white brethren were not. When they protested about this, they were told that the vast population of China made it necessary. If they were allowed uninhibited entry into Australia they would soon flood the country.
In New Zealand the wealth of the country poured in in thousands of sheep. Hardy merinos first, followed by Lincolns and then Romneys, they struggled through the rough surf on to the beaches, were driven through swamps where wild dogs attacked them, over mountain ranges and through swift-flowing rivers, sometimes round rocky coasts. They eventually reached rich pastures, in the North Island pastures scarred by the burnt stumps of thousands of trees, in the South pastures liable to see flood or fire descend upon them without warning. Scab and lung-worm and foot-rot took their toll, but still the sheep held sway as the economic wealth of the country. Unable to buy their land in the early days, the squatters had leased pastures from the Maoris without taking leave of the Government. Here the flocks had prospered, and now the squatter was so important to the country that he was issued with pastoral licences allowing him to take up grazing rights.
But for the Maoris, who had over the years become such proficient workers, tending pigs and cattle for the market, growing wheat and oats, fruit and vegetables for the consumption of the white man and even for export to Australia, the reward for industry suddenly stopped. The market crashed—the top price of 12/- a bushel for wheat dropped to 3/-, and they were left with rotting crops which nobody wanted. The feelings of disquiet, the murmurings that had been drifting through the country of having a Maori king of their own, took root in this suddenly idle time. Chiefs assembled at Taupo to elect their king. Tribes, frustrated by the Government's low prices for land, and thwarted in their attempts to sell direct to the many willing buyers prepared to pay much more, decided they would put a stop to selling altogether.
In Otaki the general disaffection was also being felt, but in a milder form than some localities. Te Rangihaeata, mentally at war with the white man till the end, died in 1856 after plunging into a river while feeling feverish with measles. Riwai Te Ahu returned from Auckland in the same year. While in Auckland he had sailed with Bishop Selwyn on one of his voyages to Melanesia, and had told Hadfield of finding one island there occupied by Polynesian people with whom he had been able to converse freely in the Maori tongue.
In 1857 Octavius Hadfield was ill with pleurisy, and though he continued to work after his recovery he was considerably weakened and was eventually advised to take a year's rest. It was decided the
So, on April 28, 1858, they sailed on the Southern Cross from Wellington. Writing home to her mother during the voyage, and later in England, Kate described the events of the journey. While on the ship she gave birth to a baby daughter. "Octavius would have been very well had it not been for the cold, but he was afraid to expose himself on account of his chest and did not leave the cabin till after we had passed the Horn, which was five weeks and a half after leaving Wellington. ... I continued very, very sick till a fortnight before the baby was born. . . . Henry soon got over his sickness . . . there are 16 children besides him so that he has no lack of playfellows. . . . Now I must tell you of the 7th June. It was Sunday evening or rather early on Monday morning that baby was born. . . . Everything was so quiet, nobody knew anything about it till the next morning at breakfast, except the Captain who was sleeping in the cuddy."
Octavius and the doctor, who they liked very much, and a woman passenger were with Kate during the birth. "I long to enter a church again and to get her baptised," she wrote. "Octavius has determined to name her plain simple 'Anne'. We shall call her
This was, of course, Kate Hadfield's first time out of New Zealand. They had a cold trip across the south Pacific to the Horn, but after that the weather improved. The saw flying fish and shark and dolphin, and a Portuguese barque and many other ships. They fished up Florida Gulf sea-weed. And at last they sighted the coast of Cornwall, the Lizard, landmark for ships. A few days later they saw Alderney and the Casquets across the Channel, and early the next morning they were off the Isle of Wight.
This was Octavius Hadfield's childhood home, and here a pilot boat offered to take the family ashore. After a frantic rush to get ready, leaving most of their luggage on board to be sent to them from London, they embarked in the small boat and headed for the
Octavius' mother had been ill for three months and was in bed. "I was quite surprised to see her look no older than she does and talk so collectedly as she does," Kate wrote. His father, Joseph Hadfield, had died in 1851.
Their infant daughter was baptised by her father in the church next door to the Hadfield home. "He named her Anne, after Mrs. St. Hill," wrote Kate. Both Hadfield's first born son and daughter now carried the names of Henry and Anne St. Hill, though in the boy's case the name derived from a grandfather, Henry Williams, and an uncle, Henry Hadfield, as well.
The day after the christening Octavius' brother
Kate also met relations of her own in England. Just before they sailed at the end of the year they visited the C.M.S. in London. Although at this time Henry Williams had been reinstated by the
Acasta, in which ship they return to New Zealand, Kate reported that after the secretary had talked to Octavius, "he addressed a few words to me about the female part of the work, and assured me that the Committee would always be willing to assist me. I wished very much to have had an opportunity of telling him it was impossible that I could do anything unless we had a better house, but perhaps it was better left unsaid."
Their return voyage ended in Wellington in April, 1859, just a year after they had left. During Hadfield's absence Riwai Te Ahu had been in charge of Rangiatea, with Richard Taylor of Wanganui assisting and guiding when necessary.
* * *
While in England Hadfield was present at the consecration of Charles John Abraham as first Bishop of Wellington. Hadfield himself was offered the bishopric first, and many people tried to persuade him to accept. In a letter to England dated March 18, 1857, he wrote—"There has lately appeared to be a very general wish that I should be the first Bishop of Wellington." The Wellington newspapers were so sure he would be appointed that they referred to him as "the Bishop in expectancy." Hadfield refused at once on first learning of the scheme. Later, after considerable persuasion, he wrote—"I have very reluctantly given my consent to the arrangement." But finally, partly through ill-health and partly through a wish to remain with his Maoris at Otaki, he declined.
For some years before this he had been named as the first Bishop. In an article written when he became Primate in 1889 it was stated, after relating his early work in New Zealand—"At the close of the year 1853, a vacancy having occurred in the Bishopric of Sydney, it was thought that the Bishop of New Zealand, if he would consent, might be translated to that see, Archdeacon Hadfield becoming his successor in the see of New Zealand, or, at least, in a portion of it. . . . In the following year the Bishop of New Zealand visited England, with the desire of effecting the division of his diocese, a thing which was accomplished a few years later. The first proposal was to constitute Wellington and Nelson a diocese, and that Archdeacon Hadfield should become Bishop thereof. Early in 1857 his name was sent home by the Governor to the Secretary of State, with a recommendation that he should be appointed to the
A further undated newspaper article, written some time during his bishopric, deals with the same subject. "It does not seem to be generally known or remembered that not only was the present Bishop of Wellington (then Archdeacon Hadfield) designated as Bishop of Southern New Zealand 37 years ago—before even Bishop Harper was consecrated—but that letters patent were actually made out in his favour. The Bishop of New Zealand had agreed to resign the Southern portion of his diocese, and had arranged that Archdeacon Hadfield should be the first bishop. The Archbishop of Canterbury warmly recommended the appointment, which was sanctioned by the Duke of Newcastle, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, and the Royal Letters Patent were made out. Archdeacon Hadfield, however, much to Bishop Selwyn's disappointment, declined to accept the offered bishopric. Again he was proposed in 1857 as bishop of the contemplated new diocese of Wellington and Nelson. Ultimately Wellington and Nelson each became a separate diocese, and Archdeacon Hadfield was elected by the clergy and laity of Wellington as their first bishop. Subsequently, however, in consequence of the state of the Maori people, Archdeacon Hadfield deemed it his duty to continue his mission work among them, and therefore determined to decline consecration to the Wellington see."
Even though he refused these early offers of the bishopric he figured largely in forming the New Zealand Church Constitution. In an article on his resignation as Primate in 1893 it listed his work for the New Zealand Church. (1) "He was with Bishop Selwyn and Sir William Martin, one of the chief founders of the New Zealand Church Constitution, which, if it now seems somewhat commonplace, was, it must be remembered, evoked out of chaos, amidst a confusion of prejudices; with few precedents for guidance, except those of a far off past; and those precedents of the early centuries were, naturally, in many respects unsuited to modern times. (2) He was the leading spirit in dealing with the vexed question of letters patent."
The third item discussed was Octavius Hadfield's long fight to save the Wanganui School, now Collegiate, for the Church rather
Still on the same subject, in an obituary it was stated—"On Hadfield's recovery from his long and critical illness Bishop Selwyn appointed him Archdeacon of Kapiti. The increasing number of Englishmen flocking to the colony set Selwyn to thinking out a scheme of Church government and organisation. In this task he received continuous and valuable assistance from his archdeacon, whose mind had been sharpened and widened by the study of metaphysics and Church history during his protracted and enforced idleness. It is well known that the Primate's ideas were considerably modified, both by Hadfield and such men as Sir George Grey and Sir William Martin."
Another obituary recorded—"Although he was overshadowed by the more conspicuous work of Selwyn it is well known that both
Yet again, in an article already referred to, written when he became Primate in 1889, the subject was mentioned. "It will thus be seen that the Primate has witnessed the whole rise and progress of the Church in New Zealand from infancy into the formation of an independent province. No man now living in New Zealand has had equal experience with him in this respect. . . . He took an active part in the drawing up of the Church Constitution, both before and at the meeting of the conference, having been consulted about it by Sir George Grey, then Governor, as early as 1850, and by Mr. Godley in 1852."
So in 1858 Abraham became first Bishop of Wellington, and Hadfield remained at Otaki. Abraham, who was a close personal friend of Selwyn's, had been in the country for eight years, all this time having been spent in Auckland. He and Hadfield worked extremely well together, and in Hadfield's troubled days ahead his Bishop faithfully backed him up, even though he must have wondered at times what he had done to deserve the unwelcome publicity his Archdeacon's extreme outspokeness caused in his diocese.
After a year away from New Zealand Hadfield found on his return in 1859 that the affairs of the country had not improved. Dissatisfaction was spreading in the land. The Kingites were ranged against the Queenites, and both were unhappy with the Governor and Government. Heavily taxed and unrepresented in Parliament, unable to sell their land to whom they wished and for the prices they were offered, the Maoris felt they were achieving nothing. And the Governor, Colonel Gore Browne, was proving unwise in his policies.
The settlers too had many grievances against the Government. They were unable to buy the land they wanted. By law they had to fence their land, although the Maori next door did not. If thistles bloomed on his land the settler was fined—if they bloomed on the land of the Maori he was exempt from this law. If the cattle of the Maori broke on to the settler's property the settler paid the damages and mended the fence. If the settler's cattle went next door the same thing happened. These were small matters that all multiplied into larger issues.
There was increasing tension in Taranaki. Hadfield had been sure that there would be no bloodshed, that the matter would be settled sensibly and fairly, but as the weeks and months went by it became increasingly obvious that there would be trouble. Words flew back and forth between Wiremu Kingi Te Whiti, the Governor and the surveyors. The Press and the colonists took up the cry, urging the Governor to take the land. Tribal ownership was proving its complications. Some of the tribe wished to sell the disputed land —some did not. Wiremu, the chief, spoke for the tribe as well as for himself when he refused to sell. The surveying went on, the dispute raged.
Hadfield, unwilling to become involved, found as time passed that he could not refrain from giving vent to his feelings on the matter, and as an almost lone voice in the welter of officialdom denounced the Governor and his men, and staunchly spoke for Wiremu and his Maoris. As he continued in his fight he found
"It is lamentable to see such ignorance and folly in those who have the direction of affairs," he wrote. "I have no hope for the country so long as Col. Browne continues here."
"A man is a great fool who actually builds a wall to run his own head against," he continued in a letter to his brother, Charles, December 5, 1860, "but that is what Browne has done."
A petition asking for the recall of the Governor was drawn up by the Maoris in Otaki in 1860 and sent to the Queen. Hadfield was thought to have compiled it, although he denied this. Anyway, Browne was recalled late in 1861, and Sir George Grey reappointed, but much damage had by then been done.
Efforts to maintain peace in the land failed. The government forces began their little war in Taranaki, war against Wiremu Kingi Te Whiti and his men and women because they would not willingly sell land which had belonged to their forefathers, land which was their life and their heritage.
"Te oranga o te tangata he whenua. His sustenance is land." So said a Maori proverb, and it was sustenance not only of the body but of the mind and soul as well.
"The Governor has set fire to the ferns of Taranaki," said a Maori, "and the smoke will cover the whole island." And so it was to prove.
"I will not give up the land,"
Octavius Hadfield's most bitter enemies dubbed him a traitor to his country because he was siding with rebels. He was accused
Souther?!. Cross, September 1, 1860.
"I think you have been misled in the matter of Archdeacon Hadfield's conduct about the Taranaki war," it read. "He told me, months back, that he wished to write to you about the state of the Maoris at Taranaki, as he had received a letter from William King; but as I then expected you at the General Assembly in February or March, I recommended his waiting till you came, and then to talk the matter over. We had no idea of the sudden coup de main your Excellency was planning, and the proclamation of martial law in the province of Taranaki came upon us before we had any opportunity of remonstrance. Both the Archdeacon and I were out of the country and on the high seas when your Excellency made the speech you allude to at Taranaki; I never saw it or heard of it till last month. But at the same time I should say that if I had seen it, I should never have understood from it that you were going to introduce a new principle in the deciding of Maori titles to land; and that you were going to ignore the tribal right of ownership, and to accept the usufructuary possession as being a title to the fee simple."
The Church Missionary Society did not approve of its missionaries being involved in political controversy, and as he became more and more outspoken in his protests Hadfield was regarded with suspicion even by them for a while. But eventually they recognised the soundness of his views, and in turn exerted pressure on British Cabinet Ministers in the matter, so that Hadfield was able to write later—"I am happy to say that it has been a great comfort to me and others that the Home Government has not approved of Governor Browne's proceedings in reference to the Taranaki war. The ablest men also in the House of Representatives have condemned the Governor's conduct in the matter. Nothing has produced such a good impression on the Maoris as this last circumstance; they see there is a power now in the country to check injustice on the part of the Governor. The Maoris of my district are all quiet and peaceably disposed; but it is impossible to say how long this will last, if they see the Government persecuting those whom they most highly respect."
Hadfield wrote three pamphlets on the Taranaki war, entitled "
I hope you will not think I have done wrong; but I feel so deeply on the subject, and think the Governor's conduct so disgraceful that I am prepared to bear any amount of blame in discharging what I consider an imperative duty in the cause of truth and justice. The letter was necessarily written very hurriedly but you may depend upon all my facts, and I hope my arguments are sound. I believe I know more on this particular subject than any other person in New Zealand."
George Clarke, Protector of the Maoris, investigated the claims to land in Taranaki before the war started, in company with the Commissioner of Lands, Mr. Spain. In his book "Early Life in New Zealand" he commented on a dispute about the rights of the absentees in this matter. ". . . and besides, Mr. Spain knew well my opinion and that of Mr. Forsaith, the Interpreter, as to the Maori law on the subject, and, what was of greater authority than ours, he knew the opinion of Mr. Hadfield."
When this first pamphlet of Hadfield's was published in England it brought forth a heated reply entitled "The Case of the War in New Zealand—from Authentic Documents", by E. Harold Browne, a professor of Divinity at Cambridge and brother of the Governor of New Zealand, Colonel Gore Browne. This in turn induced Hadfield to write his second pamphlet. He checked it with Bishop Abraham before sending it to England, and the latter could find no fault with his facts. When news of its impending publication reached
"The Second Year of One of England's Little Wars" begins— "The silence of the local press as to the real merits of the Taranaki war induced me to send home to England in May, 1860, a few remarks on that subject, which were published in the form of a letter to his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The letter on its return was reprinted by the local press, and became widely circulated through the Colony. Nobody here has been rash enough to attempt a refutation of a single statement contained in it. But what nobody has ventured to do here, Professor Harold Browne has not shrunk from doing in England.. .. It is almost needless to say that I see no reason to recall or modify any expression contained in the letter which has called forth such unqualified condemnation from Prof. Browne."
After quoting some of Browne's charges against him, and reiterating his own views, he continues—"Professor Browne seems to think it is a sufficient answer to my statement to quote some scraps from what he calls "authentic documents"; which authentic documents generally turn out to be extracts from Mr. Bell's reports of his own speeches, or it may be extracts from Mr. Stafford's speeches, or portions of Mr. McLean's statements. He seems to have no suspicion whatever that he is overlooking the most obvious rules which should guide men in estimating the respective value of conflicting evidence. In the first place, all the persons just alluded to are paid officers of the Government. As Mr. Stafford knows nothing of Maori matters, it is hardly worth while to attend to any of his statements. Mr, Bell knows very little more than Mr. Stafford; but it is always quite certain that he will take the Government side in any dispute; he is a personification of red-tape. I pass on, therefore, to Mr.
While Professor Harold Browne was supporting his brother's policy in England, Lt.-Col. Charles Hadfield was acting as publicity agent for the Maori cause by keeping the newspapers there supplied with news and articles sent by his brother, Octavius. So both in New Zealand and in England a Hadfield was facing a Browne in wordy battle.
Later in the pamphlet Hadfield prints a letter sent also to the columns of the N.Z. Spectator, February 28, 1861. The letter was written from Otaki on April 18, 1856, to Governor Gore Browne, in reply to one from him. In writing to the editor of the
"In accordance with the wish expressed in your communication of the 9th March, I have the honour to offer a few remarks on the present state of feeling on the part of the authorities (Maori) towards the Queen's Government and the settlers.
I must premise the observations which I am about to make, by saying that I have not of late years kept myself so thoroughly informed of the proceedings of the Maoris throughout the country as I did formerly, and consequently that my remarks will apply more especially to those in this part of the country.
(1) There is at present no hostile feeling towards either Europeans or the Queen's Government, as such, in this part of the country, there appears to be no inclination to provoke war or create a disturbance.
(2) There is, however, a certain kind of restlessness among some of the chiefs and leading men, which has manifested itself within the last three or four years by efforts to get up meetings in various places. And I now understand that there is a secret intention of assembling, if possible, most of the leading chiefs of the centre and southern parts of this Island, in the ensuing summer, for the purpose of raising the authority of the chiefs. The very vagueness of the object renders the movement worthy of notice, as it implies some feeling of dissatisfaction apart from any special grievance.
(3) It is worthy of notice, in attempting to estimate the present feeling of the Maori population, that there are many young men
(4) The only permanent grievance is that connected with the purchase of land. There is no disinclination on the part of the Maoris to alienate their lands. But there will be innumerable difficulties in dealing with this subject until some clearly defined principle of ownership is laid down—such a principle as shall be assented to by the Maoris as well as by the Government, and which shall form the basis of negotiations for the purchase of land. There appears to have been an entire absence of any intelligible principle as to the ownership of land on the part of those commissioned to make purchases from the Maoris in this part of the country; a consequence of this has been that sometimes the claim to ownership of those in possession, at other times that of those who were formerly owners, but who have been either conquered or expelled, is set up, as the Commissioners may imagine that the one party or the other is more disposed to sell. There is nothing more likely than this to lesson their respect for law, or to lead to disaffection towards the Government."
He concluded the letter by offering some suggestions on the future treatment of the Maori race by the Government, the main one being his insistence that the Maori population must be made amenable to law and that law must be respected. He also advocated the wide encouragement of education and employment of the Maoris, and stated his conviction that all land sales had to be handled with kid gloves. He was against encouraging the influence of the chiefs, and he was against scattering the military force around the country rendering it, in his view, ineffective on every point.
This letter fairly comprehensively sums up Hadfield's opinions on the training and integration of the Maori, and of the state of the country in the middle fifties. However, the Governor did not follow his advice, and by 1861 relations between the two men were very, very strained, and the war in Taranaki was causing dismay in all the country. It is understandable that Browne was extremely angry at this particular letter being published at such a time.
In a letter to the C.M.S. on November 6, 1860, Hadfield wrote— "I have done so much to expose the injustice and folly of the present war that the local Government are prepared to do anything they can to damage me. . . . But if they can bring me into a Court of law upon some frivolous charge and have my name circulated about in connection, they trust that it will injure me on the principle semper aliquid haerit. But when I came forward to denounce injustice and oppression I counted the cost. I am, however, glad to say that the feeling of the colonists, the most intelligent at least, is that I am right."
This letter was prophetic because it would appear that Governor Browne did try to bring a legal charge against Hadfield. As he could find nothing to form one on in the big issues at stake, in spite of his insinuations, he attempted a small trap involving a few words spoken on the roadside with an old, and as it turned out half-witted, Maori whom Hadfield had never met before. Relating the affair to his brother, Charles, in a letter on January 2, 1861, he wrote—"I have been in a new danger, as a wretched Wesleyan missionary, Turton, who has abandoned his calling, is employed by the Government ostensibly as a Magistrate in this district, but really as a spy. He lately forwarded a charge against me to the Government. ... I at once obtained the opinions of the two best lawyers on the subject, who told me . . . the charge was 'silly and absurd', that the Government would only render themselves ridiculous if they took any steps in the matter. ... I have forwarded the correspondence to the C.M.S. to show what I am exposed to. ... I care but little about the tricks and spiteful conduct of those whose injustice and wickedness I have fearlessly exposed."
The letter Hadfield received from the lawyers said, in part— "The charge . . . appears to be silly and absurd. . . .Even though the Government may not move in the matter here, they will not improbably send the 'Charge' to England in further proof of the disaffected character of the Archdeacon of Otaki. To meet this
Dr. Featherston, the Superintendent of the Province of Wellington, was one of those who eventually acknowledged that it was 'an unjust and unholy war'. Richmond, the Minister for Maori Affairs, came to bid Hadfield farewell on leaving for a visit to England and said—"I was misled." During the war these two did not see matters in at all the same light. Another instance of this change of mind was quoted by Hadfield in a letter to Charles, February 3, 1868. "By the by, a day or two ago I went to see Stafford who was chief Minister during the Waitara war, and after answering my questions on business, he volunteered to talk of the Waitara war. To my surprise he allowed that the whole war was a mistake and that he objected to it, but was overruled by his colleagues. I let him go on; it was amusing. It is very satisfactory after all the abuse I got that I should have been made a kind of Father confessor for the Prime Minister."
But that was later—for the moment the war was still going on its unhappy way and Hadfield was still fighting his own battle with those who had sanctioned it. In another letter to the C.M.S. on January 31, 1861, he stated—"I am thankful to say that I am wholly regardless of the abuse heaped on me by those who know that I have been the chief instrument in bringing to light what otherwise might possibly have altogether escaped notice. I have done from the first exactly what I thought to be right. I do not myself regret a single step I have taken in the matter. ... If I have occasionally spoken strongly, it is because I have felt strongly: and I trust I shall always do both when I see injustice and oppression perpetrated."
In 1860 Octavius Hadfield was advised to attend the General Assembly in Auckland. In answering criticism of his replies there contained in a pamphlet by the above mentioned Mr. Richmond, Hadfield wrote a letter to the N.Z. Spectator, February 6, 1861. This letter is included in his pamphlet "The Second Year of One of England's Little Wars." He starts the letter by quoting a paragraph of Richmond's, and continues, still quoting—"Mr. Richmond pro-
Hadfield himself continues—"Mr. Richmond seems to have a peculiar logic of his own, which is not likely to find much acceptance with thinkers accustomed to the ordinary modes of reasoning. If I understand him, his argument is this—that as I pledged myself in May, here, where evidence can be obtained, to prove that certair statements were false, therefore my own evidence in August ought to have been clear, definite, and conclusive. This sort of reasoning may be very satisfactory, and apparently is quite conclusive to Mr. Richmond; but it puts me in mind of Coleridge's ridicule of similar logic: 'The watchman cries, half-past three o'clock; therefore the great Cham of Tartary has a carbuncle on his nose.' What I pledged myself to do was to prove here, where evidence can be obtained, that the four propositions extracted from the official document alluded to, were false. What I promised in May I was quite ready to perform in August. Whose fault was it that evidence was not taken as to the cause and origin of the war? Was there any reluctance to obtain such evidence on the part of those members of the House whose opinions on these subjects were supposed to agree with mine? Who moved for a Committee of Inquiry? It can hardly be needful to answer these questions, or tell Mr. Richmond that it was the Ministry, who, having first professed to desire an investigation, voted against the motion for inquiry. In the Southern Cross, August 14, I see these words, 'They select Archdeacon Hadfield to give secondary evidence, but insist on precluding him from bringing up those who could give direct evidence to the same effect.' Mr. Richmond—the Maori Minister—the Member for New Plymouth— was very well aware of the weakness of their cause; and he knew that I could bring witnesses—witnesses, let it be remembered, some of whom were then in Auckland, and who are still available when the proper opportunity occurs,—to expose the injustice of their proceedings. . . .
My examination lasted four hours and a half. I was more than once cautioned by the Chairman that I spoke too rapidly for the reporters. About one-fourth part of what I said was taken down and committed to print. I make no complaint of the general drift of the printed evidence; I have no doubt that much actually uttered would have appeared in print to be mere surplusage; but when stress is laid on particular words and expressions, I must distinctly protest against the inferences intended to be drawn from these."
Richmond's "Memorandum" had been written in reply to Sir
Sir William Martin, the Chief Justice, supported Hadfield's opinions very strongly in his "The Taranaki Question", and he included in it the three letters written to Hadfield by Wiremu Kingi Whiti. The Mr. Richmond was the same who many years later confessed to Hadfield that he had been misled in the Waitara affair. By then he was Judge Richmond, and Hadfield was Bishop, and their once bitter enmity had turned into close friendship through working together on various legal matters in the 1870's. Another example of this extreme outspokeness between men with little or no lasting personal acrimony was quoted by Archdeacon Monaghan in his book "From Age to Age". Amy Hadfield told him that she remembered going for a picnic in the Otaki Gorge at which both her father and Sir William Fox were present. And she remembered that they joked and talked like bosom friends when only a short time before they had been engaged in a violent controversy which Hadfield ended by saying—"Either his (Fox's) memory is on a par with his other intellectual faculties or the falsehood must be his."
A newspaper article printed when he resigned the Primacy dealt with the same subject. "The Primate sometimes expressed himself strongly in debate, but his words, though often trenchant and
Apropos of the events described in this chapter, and of others still to come, the same article continued—"He has been absolutely fearless as regards popular opinion, and has stuck to what he felt to be right amidst much gross misrepresentation. Being of an exceptionally refined and sensitive nature, he must have felt it much, though he has never shown it. This is a point in character in an age when passing public opinion is too apt to be worshipped as an African Fetish. It is well to have a man or two among us when weathercocks are innumerable."
At Hadfield's four and a half hour session at the Bar of the. House in August 1860, he was asked 89 questions, already prepared and written out by Members. He himself had no notes. Reading of it in Appendix to the Journals, H of R, 1860, one finds all his answers straightforward and plainly intelligible, though occasionally some of them become fairly curt. It must have been a sore strain to his temper, and certainly it must have been an extremely wearying business.
Mrs. Abraham, commenting in a letter from Auckland on April 24, 1860, on the part being played by her husband and Hadfield in the dispute raging on the Waitara war, wrote—"the Archdeacon is so vehement that C.J.W. has to hold him back." C.J.W. was Bishop Abraham.
Lady Martin, wife of Sir William Martin, writing from Auckland also on August 28, 1860, gave further corroboration of his strong feelings in the matter. "The paper's assertion that he (Hadfield) is fitted for the cloister rather than the world is not worded by anyone who really knows that fiery spirit; we never saw him so well as now that he has donned his armour for the battle."
One of the last questions at the Bar was—"Have you any influence with the Maoris in your neighbourhood in guiding the formation of their opinions on secular not on religious matters?" To which Hadfield replied—"I am not aware that I have any influence whatever on the subject."
At the end of Richmond's pamphlet were some 'Miscellaneous Papers,' including a letter from Mr. McLean, head of the Land Purchasing Department. This letter accused Hadfield of instructing the Maoris not to sell their land to the Government, and of influencing their minds in this matter. Writing of this to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in letters published in the N.Z Spectator in February, 1861, and in his own pamphlet "The Second Year of One of England's Little Wars," Hadfield declared—"I now state most distinctly and unequivocally, that I have never, since New Zealand became a British colony, either directly or indirectly advised, or in any way endeavoured to influence, any Maori, or party of Maoris, not to sell their lands to the Government: and that Mr. McLean's statement is a falsehood, and one, I regret to say, which the many opportunities that have occurred for explanation, render wholly inexcusable. It is frequently said that I have great influence with Maoris. Whatever the amount of my influence with them may be, it is in a great measure traceable to my systematic and rigid abstinence, during a long course of years, from any interference with their affairs or proceedings where no religious or moral consideration was involved. Whenever, therefore, I have interfered, the Maoris have been convinced that some such principle was involved. An instance in point was my effective resistance of the Maori King movement in this district in May last, which the Government had made no effort to check. I then enforced only one single principle, namely, that a treaty made twenty years ago is not now open to reconsideration."
The first Maori King had been elected in 1857, and his adherents had their own flag. The incident mentioned by Hadfield in his letter to the Duke of Newcastle, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, was the first attempt to raise the colour at Otaki. Another phase in these troubles was described by Thomas Bevan. "It was in 1861, during the bellicose attitude of the Kingite Maoris, that the Rev. Hadfield rendered services of incalculable value to this country. The Maoris at Otaki had raised the Kingite flag, drilling, and other war-like preparations, were in progress, plans for driving the pakeha into the sea were evolved, and the whole countryside was in a ferment. It was at this time that the Rev. Hadfield held counter meetings, and strongly opposed bloodshed becoming rampant in this locality. Luckily, his efforts were successful, and but for him there would have been another story to tell. No one could estimate the good work done in saving the unprotected settlers at such a time, and I cannot refrain from bearing testimony to the great sendees he rendered to humanity and to the cause of Christ. Not one word, either from savage or pakeha, did we hear in those days against him. . . . Not one inconsistent act was known of him.. . ."
A further incident two years later concerning the flag was described by Kate Hadfield. "In the year 1863 the country was in a very unsettled state," she wrote. "The Maoris had set up a King and those who followed him were called Kingites. The Government did not take much notice of the movement at first, but after a time so many Maoris joined the disaffected party that Government thought the time had arrived to put a stop to it and they issued a Proclamation saying that any of the loyal Maoris who allowed the Kingites to come to their district would be considered rebels. This was a foolish proclamation to make, as the loyal Maoris had no power to stop them—they were quite unarmed, and if they had been armed they did not wish to bring on a war. One day to the great distress of the Mission Settlement (Otaki) news was received that a party of Kingites were coming to a village half a mile from
Kate Hadfield decided they must have a Union Jack to fly themselves the moment they saw the Kingite flag being hoisted. Someone lent a flagstaff which was erected in front of Rangiatea. Then, as no one had a Union Jack, Kate and some of her Maori girls made a large calico flag, and Hadfield, who had returned home, with the help of a carpenter painted the design with washing blue and red raddle. "The effect was excellent," reported Kate. The next morning all the loyal Maoris assembled by the flagstaff and waited for the opposing colour to be flown. "At length the King flag was seen to be flying and immediately the Union Jack was hoisted, the wind kindly blowing it out so that it was seen to the greatest advantage, and the shouts of the Maoris subsided only to give three cheers for the Queen. And thus the Ngatiraukawa tribe was saved from being declared rebels. In two days the King Maoris left the district and returned to the North of the Island, and all was peace again."
In this year too two Kingite chiefs expressed their intention of getting rid of Hadfield from the district. Both were Roman Catholics. Hadfield tackled his own congregation on the matter, asking if anyone there wanted him to leave. No one spoke against him, and the next day the two chiefs called and apologised. Writing to Charles on September 3, 1863, he reported—"I think I told you last mail that some of these people threatened me with expulsion, and that I had defied them to meddle with me. I have occupied a much better position ever since."
The 1860's were undoubtedly troubled times. The Mission and the schools lost many adherents, due as has been shown to the unsettled state of the country, to the economic conditions, and to lack of money to run the schools. After visiting Nelson in 1862 for General Synod, Hadfield wrote—"I sometimes get rather discouraged. . . . Of late we have had everything to impede our work." He himself, after his lengthy battle of words with the Governor and Government, after his complete outspokeness in defence of what he considered right, was highly unpopular in many quarters, and the Press turned their ire and their sarcasm upon him on many occasions.
Extracts from his letters to Charles during the early sixties follow the trend of his part in the Waitara war, and reveal his feelings. "I
On January 2, 1861, he wrote—"I have as you suppose had plenty of abuse out here—the most unscrupulous assertions have been made by the Governor and his ministry and agents: but my position is too good to admit of being damaged by such means, and my character is too well known to suffer from these. However I have not been very nice, but have refuted any insinuations or statements made by them, and have always got the best of it." This was the letter that continued with news of the charge brought against him, already referred to.
August 5, 1861, he related—"I mentioned some time ago that I had been charged with instigating the Otaki Petition for the Governor's recall. All sorts of charges were made against me, and sent hence. The Duke of Newcastle has had the candour to have the whole of it sent out to me. I think he has seen through the Governor's meanness. . . . The truth is I know no more about the memorial than you did." And he continued—"I hear that there is some correspondence in the Times between Browne's brother and you; but I have not yet seen it. . . . It will be sent to me from Wellington. I hope you will not trouble yourself to defend me, and do not care what is said about me. Time will prove who is right. I did not write so much to defend the Maoris, who are perfectly able to take care of themselves, as to save Great Britain from the disgrace in which Browne's proceedings will involve the Home Government if they support him."
A month later, September 4, he wrote—"I am very indifferent as to all the abuse I have been subjected to. It is enough for me that the cause I have advocated has triumphed; and it is well known out here, that I was the first person to move in the matter, and in fact the only one who, in the early stage of the question knew any-
On January 2, 1862, he wrote—"I am now thought a very clever fellow by people who were condemning me unmercifully last year. So much for public opinion on particular questions of which the public knows nothing."
Although Sir George Grey returned to the country towards the end of 1861, it was too late for him to undo the troubles caused by Gore Browne, though he did, in conjunction with his ministers, reverse the policy of his predecessor and declare the Waitara land sale invalid, much to Hadfield's satisfaction. The latter was not at all sure how he would be received by Grey. In his letter to Charles of September 4, he commented—"I do not know what my old friend Sir G. Grey will say to me: he may think I have handled a brother Governor rather too roughly."
In a letter dated November 4, 1861, he wrote—"I heard from Fox the other day. He tells me that Sir G.G. and he are working cordially together: and that they quite hope to work their way out of the complicated mess in which Browne had brought things, without any war. He tells me that Browne had done all in his power to prejudice people against me and the Otaki Maoris. ... I have not heard from Sir G. yet. I will not write to him first after all that has been said about me."
Grey did not visit Wellington until 1862. Writing on March 5 of that year Hadfield reported—"Sir G. Grey is expected in Wellington today. I ought to have gone to meet him, at least so my friends tell me; but as the weather is bad and I have a sore throat I shall wait a day or two to think about it. I have never been particularly anxious to force myself on the notice of Governors, but Grey is an old friend of mine: I shall see him by and by." For both Grey and Hadfield, who had been very close during the Governor's first term in the country, it must have been quite an awkward and embarrassing situation. Hadfield had certainly dealt roughly with a
Hadfield hoped, and all the country hoped, that Grey would prove wise enough and strong enough to settle the affairs of the country. But the hope was not to be fulfilled. Although for a time people clung to their high regard for this man, it was soon obvious he was a changed man. Disillusioned before his time, refused or ignored by his superiors in England, harried by the warmongers in New Zealand, and separated from his wife, he gradually slid down the slope of least resistance. More and more troops kept arriving from England; recruits came from Australia. The Maoris were edgy and suspicious, and suddenly the rich lands of the Waikato, so coveted by the people of Auckland, were the scene of musket ball and spear, of ambush and attack.
To the red-coated soldiers it was their job, and not a particularly pleasant one. To the colonists and politicians wanting the land, and to the Maori fighting for his inheritance, it was a serious business.
The Maoris were original fighters and greatly impressed their red-coated opponents. During one battle they asked for a truce in order to explain to the British commander that they had run out of ammunition, but that if the British would supply them with gunpowder and musket balls they would continue. After another fight the British troops ran amongst the Maori men, shaking hands and congratulating them on their good fighting.
But the weight of troops pouring into the country from overseas, and the armoured gunboats patrolling the rivers, began to tell against the less well equipped Maori. Eventually they asked for peace. Here again they were to be disillusioned. The terms of surrender were so hard, so humiliating to a proud people, that they renewed the struggle with a new and real bitterness.
Hadfield wrote to Charles—"I believe the Waikato war is as unjust and as unnecessary as the Waitara one, and I think the British Government will have enough of it before long. . . . This war ... as it is carried on with irregular troops is fast degenerating into butchery and murder . . . the military are pretty sick of it: they regard the Maoris as a fine, brave people, and do not like the war. . . . The Auckland people are making tools of them for the purpose of getting Maori lands confiscated for their own ends. . . ."
Of General Cameron he did not have a very high opinion. "The disaster at Gate Pa was utterly discreditable from the military point of view," he asserted.
At the end of 1864 the Government fell and a new Coalition Cabinet came into power. Hadfield gave his opinion of this Cabinet in a letter to Charles on December 7. "Weld, the chief, is a poor fellow intellectually, a mere figure-head, a gentleman, but that is all. Sewell and Fitzgerald are men of ability and understand matters. Richardson and Atkinson are soldiers, and not much more. But Grey does not seem inclined to work with anybody. . . ."
It was a tragedy for the country that Sir George Grey, in these unhappy years of the sixties, proved so disappointing and unequal to the task of stabilising and guiding the affairs of the land.
The war, begun in 1863, came to an end at last towards the end of the decade, leaving the Maoris at a pitifully low ebb from which it was to take them many years to recover. Leaving also a legacy of hate and betrayal against their English conquerors— conquerors who, some years later, were to come to realise the injustice of this war, just as they were now realising the injustice of the one in Taranaki. There was no fighting in Otaki during these years, but as has been seen there was uneasiness and threat.
There were other events of note in the sixties. The gold rush, started in Otago in 1861, moved from there to the West Coast of the South Island in 1864. Men from all over the country were pouring into the inaccessible country round Hokitika. After much searching a track, capable of being a coach road, was found over Arthur's Pass, and urged on by the lure of gold, men in their hundreds went forth to build the road, struggling over the formidable Southern Alps in their need to link the gold area with the plains and sheltered coast of Canterbury. Men from Australia, in barks and brigs, schooners and ketches, arrived at the Hokitika bar from across the Tasman Sea, many to be wrecked on the sand-spit across the entrance of the small, wind-tossed harbour before they ever set foot in the country.
In 1864 the seat of government was moved from Auckland to Wellington. A new and fanatical religion, the Hauhau, spread among the people, and the first missionary ever to be murdered by the Maoris died in the Bay of Plenty in 1865 because of this new cult. The Rev.
In 1866 Te Kooti was deported to the Chatham Islands on flimsy charges and without a trial. Two years later he seized a ship and escaped with his fellow prisoners, and from then on harried and harassed the pakeha settler and soldier unmercifully in the Bay of Plenty and East Coast area. Even his own fellow countrymen who had spoken against him were sought out for revenge. And with him he brought a new religion which he called Ringa-tu.
Also in 1866 Riwai Te Ahu died at Otaki, faithful to Hadfield and his church to the end. His passing left a gap; the links of the chain stretching back to the early days on the Kapiti coast were fast breaking. Kate Hadfield's father, Henry Williams, died in 1867, and that same year the gold scene moved yet again, this time to Thames in the North Island, where it did much to save the town of Auckland from a slump following the withdrawal of troops and the transfer of the Government. Near Otaki there was a murder in 1868, the first since Hadfield had lived there. As a churchman he was on the scaffold when the guilty man paid for his deed.
At the end of September, 1868, Kate and Octavius Hadfield travelled to Auckland for Synod. From there Kate journeyed on to the Bay of Islands to see her mother. While in Auckland they stayed with the Selwyns; this was the last meeting between the two families before the latter left for England, where Selwyn subsequently became Bishop of Lichfield. Henry St. Hill had returned to England before this, and had died soon after.
The 1860's had begun for Octavius Hadfield with wordy warfare, and they ended in a like manner. Land was still causing argument, and suddenly his own village was the seat of a controversy. Land in the Manawatu was under dispute, part of which he had tried to obtain some years before as an endowment for the Maori clergy. The effort had failed, but now he championed the Ngati-raukawa in their claim to the land.
The Court case, which lasted over a month, was a lively one, with tempers frequently becoming frayed, his own not least accord-
Challenged by Fox that his memory of happenings in 1840 was incorrect, Hadfield quoted from a journal of that year and retaliated —"Mr. Fox may obtain men to tell lies. He has already obtained some. But it is a dangerous game to play!" The other episode with Fox, culminating in the picnic, was at a later date than this.
Sam Williams travelled from Hawke's Bay to give evidence with Hadfield. Day after weary day words were bandied and disputed, history, both personal and general, was paraded and denied. Characters were pulled to pieces and motives questioned. Press reporters eagerly wrote their stories, sometimes losing the trend of proceedings in their haste to relate what an ex Prime Minister said about an Archdeacon of the Church, and vice versa. Land Court clerks laboriously copied in neat writing the relevant facts as they could be sifted from the welter of words. Men, women, children, blankets and dogs arrived from the surrounding districts and camped on the doorstep, waiting about day after day to have their say when the time came.
Finally it came to a close, with little satisfaction being meted out to either side. It was a difficult and exhausting case, made more difficult by Hadfield's stubborn espousal of the Ngatiraukawa claimants and non-sellers. By the end of it, in the autumn of 1868, he was regarded by many people as one of the most unpopular men in the country, as he had also been regarded eight years earlier. That he had thoughts of retiring into private life before this was shown in a letter to Charles on January 4, 1865—but he added that the Bishop always scolded him when he talked like that.
Writing to the C.M.S. on November 30, 1868, he reported— "Nothing can be more adverse to progress than the condition in which this unhappy country has been kept by the Government. . . . There is I believe at the present moment more suspicion of the white man's motives and designs than I ever noticed before. . . . Since the commencement of this year I have found it necessary to close the Boarding school which had been in existence for 16 years. It has been the means of doing much good. But latterly it became rather unpopular (for various reasons) and besides, too expensive for the means at my disposal to enable me to continue it any longer."
Commenting on the state of the country three days later he wrote—"When the Taranaki war began I gave it 10 years—that was early in 1860. I was thought a fool. Even now however, not one fifth part of the Maoris are hostile to the Government. . . . The Governor said to me a few days ago—'Surely you are not going back to Otaki—are you not afraid? Are there not Hauhaus near you?' They suppose all Maoris are alike. I went the day before yesterday to Manawatu about 25 miles from this, where all the English are in a state of excitement fearing some unknown danger when none really exists—building a stockade there. I laughed at them. But it does harm because the Maoris distrust us when they see we distrust them."
Although the Taranaki war ostensibly ended in the early sixties, it kept flaring up again in conjunction with the fighting in the Waikato and the Hauhau troubles. As Hadfield stated, for most of that decade there was miserable suspicion and distrust and warfare.
For many years Hadfield had endeavoured to provide for a Maori clergy. He had tried to buy land to provide the financial assistance necessary, but without success. Over and over again he had emphasised the importance of a Maori being qualified to administer to his fellow Maoris. In "Maoris of By-Gone Days" he wrote—"Here I venture to express an opinion on the value of a Maori ministry. However accurate our English missionary's knowledge of the Maori language may be, he cannot follow the working of a Maori's mind as one of his own people can. He cannot sympathise with his prejudices, or see the subject under consideration from his point of view. He reasons with him at a disadvantage. I have become more thoroughly convinced of this by what I have observed since the time I refer to; I have come to the conclusion that a Maori ministry is essential in all missions, and that to obtain such a ministry ought to be the ultimate aim of all missionary efforts."
This particular passage is from an article on Riwai Te Ahu, and leading up to it he wrote—"I especially valued his assistance at the time when the Rev. C. Volkner was murdered at Opotiki, and when the Hauhau fanaticism was disturbing the minds of many. . . . Riwai Te Ahu was much distressed at the progress made by the Hauhau superstition and the war that occurred in some parts of the country."
In his letter of November 30 to the C.M.S. he brought up the subject too. "I feel deeply convinced that the true remedy for the distracted state of the Maori Church—that is, assuming we are ever to have peace—is to prepare Maoris to minister to congregations of their own countrymen. But want of funds is the difficulty in the way." During his long years as Bishop he continued to labour this point, and many times at Synod he attempted to raise the salaries of the Maori clergy.
Hadfield had been thirty years on the coast now, at Waikanae and Otaki, and he realised, and was well aware that many other people were of like opinion, that the time had come when he must leave his Maoris and move on to a new sphere of work. It was only a temporary move to begin with, but unknown to him at the time it was to prove permanent. Bishop Abraham visited England in 1869, and in January of that year Kate and Octavius moved into Wellington with their family, some approaching adulthood and some still babies, where Hadfield had been appointed to take charge of the diocese while Abraham was away.
So ended his years at Otaki. Thomas Bevan wrote of the effect of his departure—"When Archdeacon Hadfield left Otaki the Maoris began to fall away from the Church, and ever since the College and Church have been going back."
Certain it is that it was the end of an era: certain also that through all the troubled times his congregation at Rangiatea remained loyal to him to the end. But the church carried on under the new man, and the school continued too, even though the boarding establishment was closed. James McWilliam took Hadfield's place at Rangiatea, and was to run the Mission station, the church and the school for many years.
While in England Bishop Abraham decided to accept a post at Lichfield with his old friend Bishop Selwyn. Hadfield was again asked to become Bishop of Wellington, and this time he assented. On October 9, 1870, he was consecrated in St. Paul's by Bishop Harper, the Primate of New Zealand. Many people, for various reasons, had felt it was high time Hadfield was removed from the coast and from his essentially strong sphere of Maori influence there. The Evening Post, writing before the consecration, on June 11, declared—"Apart from his unfortunate Maori proclivities, the Bishop-elect is a most estimable man."
Writing to his sister Amelia on February 1, 1869, just after he had moved into Wellington, and while he was only acting as Commissary for Bishop Abraham and was expecting to return to Otaki at the end of the year, he commented—"Strange to say I am doing a little in Wellington among the English. Many people fancied that the line I had taken in reference to Maoris would have prevented my having any influence with the English: but I find people very civil, and my sermons are valued more than I think they deserve. This may result in good, and I may perhaps obtain sympathy and co-operation in my Maori plans."
During all of his Bishopric Hadfield kept in touch with the Maoris of Otaki and other places and especially he gave all the help he could to the Maori clergy, but on outside matters he tried hard to hold his peace. In fact, almost three years before he became Bishop he wrote to Charles on December 3, 1867—"I have had my say. I very seldom speak or write now." The Marlborough Press, writing on December 14, 1904, after his death, stated—"We have heard it said that he was appointed on the distinct private understanding that he was henceforward to eschew politics. For those were days in which on Maori questions, feelings ran high, and Archdeacon Hadfield—a strenuous fighter always for what he deemed right—had had some stubborn passages of arms with Cabinet Ministers and Governors. As Bishop he did eschew politics."
He makes mention of the Cabinet Ministers in a letter to his sister, Amelia, on July 30, 1860, while he was in Auckland waiting to appear at the Bar of the House. "A month ago I had the honour to be the most unpopular man in N.Z.; but I find there is a reaction: even the Prime Minister today stepped out of his way to shake hands with me, and the Speaker of the Legislative Council left his card for me."
And just nine years later, on June 10, 1869, during this first year in Wellington, he wrote to another sister, Maria—"Just now the New Zealand Parliament is sitting. Some of the members consult me when they are in difficulties: but I am thoroughly tired of giving my opinion about any colonial matters. They now see that many of my predictions have come true."
Wellington was growing rapidly at this time. A town of some 12,000 people, there were many shops and houses, offices and schools, ships in and out of the busy harbour. As Bishop, Hadfield still had much travelling around the province. At home, social obligations became a part of the day's work. Writing to Charles on May 10, 1869, this over a year before he became Bishop, he described a social function. "I do not think I have written since the Duke of Edinburgh was here. I met him at dinner at Government House the day he arrived. He talked to me a little about Maoris. I was pleased with him. It was rather amusing (after being regarded as a rebel) to be invited to a select party (only Cabinet Ministers and Mr. Superintendant and the naval Captains besides me) by the Governor. However as you may imagine I was not much elated."
An Education Act was passed in 1877, making schooling free, secular and compulsory. Hadfield bitterly opposed the omission of religion, but the feeling of rationalism abroad in the country carried the day. Speaking to his Synod on the matter he stated—"I will merely impress upon you that the duty of the Church must ever remain the same, which is to afford a religious education to all who have been admitted into it by Holy Baptism. . . . There is no intermediate position between religious education and irreligious education. . . . But the time cannot be far distant when the flagrant injustice of what is now proposed will be self evident to every careful thinker that the law if enacted will have to be repealed. Take for instance the case of Roman Catholics alone. Whatever may be now thought, it cannot long be deemed just or fair to tax them for the support of what they cannot conscientiously avail themselves of."
As he read of the final passing of the Act he must have thought of the time some twenty years before when he and many others had attended a wordy and heated public meeting, lasting through several weary nights, to discuss this matter of education. It had taken a long time for the Act to reach its conclusion. It was after the passing of this Education Act that Hadfield began his fight to save Wanganui Collegiate School from being taken over by the State.
An article on The Diocesan Synod gives a pen portrait of Hadfield at this time, when he was deeply involved in the subject of education. It reads—"We extract the following from notes on the Synod, supplied to the Herald by a correspondent: I will not touch the merits of the subject (education) further than to say that the Bishop is getting it hot for his speech as reported. One cannot but admire my lord of Wellington. He is a fearless man who tones not one of his public utterances to meet public or private tastes; public opinion is not a feather to him. What a grand soldier he would have made; straight as an arrow he walks the street. Somewhat reserved to strangers, but in his house and amongst his family the kindest and most considerate of men or fathers. Little perhaps of the present world's life and thought remains or fixes itself in his mind, but the Classics or the fathers of the Anglican Church are stored there by volumes. The Old Testament, especially the New Testament in its Greek original, is embossed on his soul and intellect. If a Scriptural quotation by cleric or layman is used in a flimsy manner in argument, how pointedly he takes the speaker down, and the Synod back to the vitals of the question. What a power of analysis he has got, and what a grasp of logic his mind has, and how, in summing up, he, by the purest laws of logic, turns the rhetorical argument to disprove the position of a careless speaker. He is somewhat emotional at times, and may be carried away by his want of sympathy for modern movements, and where he is weak is that he would cut down what he does not believe in, instead of guiding what is good in it on an upward and onward career. He is a very much misunderstood man, and it's a pity the newspaper press write in the bitter strain which many of them do. His life of self-devotion and retirement amongst the Maoris may have blunted him to much that is modern; but no shadow has ever swept across his moral character; others might fatten and prepare for the future, but this noble high-souled churchman is untainted. Then he is a
His fearlessness was discussed in another article in the Evening Press, May 1, 1893, on his resignation. "Despite the narrow-minded and spiteful criticisms which have from time to time been published in the leading columns of the Post, Bishop Hadfield is regarded throughout the Wellington provincial district, by people of all denominations, as a singularly able, a singularly conscientious, and a singularly fearless man. His missionary life amongst the Maoris in the earliest days of New Zealand's colonisation presents a noble example of self-denying zeal, such as would do honour to any Church. He carried into the high office of Bishop the same spirit which actuated him as a missionary. He had had as his motto Duty, and he went fearlessly forward in the performance of it, regardless of the consequences to himself. As the Church Chronicle truly observes, 'A Bishop must be above popularity, and above caring for the voice of popular opinion. He is called to be a leader and ruler of men in the Church of God. He should be absolutely fearless and impartial'. This is a high standard, but it is a just one, and measured by it Bishop Hadfield must be admitted by all unbiassed critics to have faithfully fulfilled his part, whether as Bishop of Wellington or Primate of New Zealand. It would have been far easier for him to have aimed at a lower ideal, to have sacrificed duty to popularity by putting on the suave and smug manner, after the fashion of those who are all things to all men; but such an ignoble course was abhorrent to the nature of the man. A ripe scholar, thoroughly conversant with ecclesiastical law, and exceptionally well versed in the history and principles of the Primitive Church, endowed with a logical mind of remarkable acuteness, his retirement will be a grievous loss not only to the diocese of Wellington, but to the whole Anglican Church of New Zealand. Needless to add, he will carry with him, into his retirement, the heartfelt wishes not only of Anglicans, but of people of all denominations who know him, that he may be spared to enjoy for many years the leisure which he has earned by upwards of half a century of arduous and unremitting labour, prosecuted with a courage and a singleness of purpose to which New Zealand can furnish few parallels."
His outspokeness has been thoroughly discussed, but two extracts from his own letters make further mention of it. Writing back in 1853 to his sister Amelia on July 2, he told her that Gibbon Wakefield, of whom he had a very low opinion, was in Wellington. "I believe I am to see him on Monday," he wrote. "His son called on me yesterday and said his father wished to talk with me on some matters, so I could not refuse. I am afraid of him, as I am very likely a year hence to see something stated as my opinion which may be only a perversion of something I have said. I shall be on my guard; but this is difficult, as according to my friend Mr. Godley, with the exception of the Bishop I am the most free spoken person in N.Z." This must surely be the only time Hadfield ever wrote that he was afraid.
Twelve years later, on May 10, 1865, he wrote to his sister Octavia that Bishop Selwyn and Sir William Martin and their wives had tried hard to persuade him to attend Synod in Christ-church with them. He had been ill at the time and he did not go, in spite of Mrs. Selwyn and Lady Martin assuring him that they would look after him. "There was important business," he wrote, "and they were anxious for my aid as I am supposed to be available to say the hard disagreeable things that have to be said."
A further reference to his Synod days was printed in another article on his resignation. "As has been said, the Primate from the first has had great influence in both the General and Diocesan Synod. Somewhat wanting in the constructive faculty, as a debater he had always been facile princeps in the one, and has had few equals in the other. There are few Canons or Acts of any moment that have not the stamp of his impress. The Amended Parish Act is a marked exception. But it was passed in a General Synod held at Christchurch when both Bishop Selwyn and Archdeacon Hadfield were unavoidably absent. Archdeacon Hadfield stayed behind at Dr. Featherston's request, who feared a Maori rising, and wanted Archdeacon Hadfield's influence to prevent it. The result was the passing of a measure which has greatly crippled the Bishop's usefulness as chief pastor of this diocese."
Having had a very large part in forming the New Zealand Church Constitution, Hadfield was never pleased if he found any sign of attempted domination by the Mother Church in England. Addressing Synod on one occasion he announced—"It would be wise on the part of the Churchmen in England, as well as statesmen,
Another time, after an opinion expressed by the committee of a Lambeth Conference on the subject of archbishops in the colonies had been subsequently criticised and condemned by English lawyers, he was roused to ask—"Are these lawyers not aware that English Ecclestiastical Law does not extent to the colonies, and that any opinion they may express on the subject carries no weight with churchmen here? There can be no doubt that it is competent to the synod of this province to decide this question without reference to any external authority."
Twice he corrected Bishop Selwyn, then Bishop of Lichfield in England, on matters concerning the New Zealand Church Constitution. Archdeacon H. W. Monaghan in "From Age to Age", after mentioning these two occasions, comments—"It is interesting to see Hadfield putting the Bishop of Lichfield right in matters concerning a constitution for which he is honoured as the author."
* * *
"A Native Land Court opens tomorrow, and will bring no doubt its usual discords and evils."
"I have had a great deal of trouble in getting the piles for the repair of the schoolroom as the man who was to supply them was sent to jail for a month."
"A man styling himself a prophet has been going around this district. He pretends to have power to cure diseases and remove old tapus, stock the bush with birds and the lakes with eels. He is doing a deal of mischief. He has not been very fortunate yet in curing the sick—several have died soon after going to him."
"The Maoris here have started a brass band and they now wish to know if they could not lead the singing with it in church. I said I never heard of a brass band and drums leading the singing in church, but promised to ask you."
These letters must have provided both amusement and nostalgia for the Hadfield family. Apart from this frequent correspondence Hadfield visited his Maori friends in Otaki often, and if possible always attended Maori Mission Sunday there. On one of these, in a sermon preached in Rangiatea and quoted in "Maoris of By-Gone Days", he referred to the early days on the coast. "I will venture this morning to depart from my usual custom, and ask you to let me direct your thoughts for a few minutes to what the state of the Maoris of these islands really was only a very few years ago—I mean within the memory of many now living. It is true these people had some good qualities. There was nothing mean or cowardly about them: they were independent and self-reliant. They were, however, under the influence of degrading superstitions. They were cannibals. They maintained slavery in its most abject form: the life of a slave was entirely at the mercy of his master. I have known a slave killed, almost before my own eyes—killed for the most trifling offence, and this without exciting any indignation. Infanticide, when I first came among them, was practised by parents apparently without any feeling of compunction whatever. I have known a newly-born infant to be buried alive by its parents. Human life was not valued very highly. My own life was once attempted by an enraged chief. . . . This very chief, a man who had been long noted for his reckless and violent conduct, who would have taken my life without hesitation, subsequently became a devout Christian, not only helping me by his influence with his people, but becoming a regular attendant at church and at the Holy Communion. . . .
It would require but little effort of memory on my part to recall many, very many instances of similar faith in Christ having produced marvellous and lasting effects on the lives of converted Maoris belonging to that class of men and women apparently the most hardened. But it is needless to do so. I would rather confine myself to saying, that in hundreds of instances, I have known converts whose faith, and general consistency of life to the last, have satisfied me that their religion was the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. But perhaps a fact, which ought to speak for itself is, that the work of the Church among the Maoris of this diocese is—with the excep-
I sometimes wonder why so little interest is taken in the Maori church. It ought to be regarded as a special sphere of work provided in God's providence for us who dwell in this country. . . . There is a want of intellectual apprehension of the vast difference that necessarily exists between the civilised man, brought up among a people who have been for many generations civilised and Christian, and those who, however sincere in their religion, still bear about them the marks of that barbarism and that heathenism which they have inherited from a long line of ancestors, and from which it is so difficult to divest themselves. But the Christian should endeavour to overcome such prejudice, and to emancipate himself from its deadening influence. Englishmen are apt to speak of these people as men of an inferior race, unfitted for civilisation, forgetting that a Greek—Aristotle, for instance—spoke in the same contemptuous way of the race from which we have sprung, as irreclaimable barbarians. I sometimes think we should have more respect for the Christianity of this Maori people, if we were better acquainted with what is actually recorded in history of its slow progress, and very slight influence on the lives of our forefathers before the conquest. . . . There can be no doubt whatever that the Hauhau superstition, which took possession of a large number of the Maoris, was a direct result of the war with them: it was an attempt on their part to have a religion which should be independent of the white man. It is fast dying out; but it has left evils which ought to be met and dealt with, and now can be met and remedied, unless by delay we lose the opportunity."
Hadfield wrote further on the early Maori as he had known him in "Maoris of By-Gone Days", in an article on
His article continues—"My attention was called to the fact that Maoris had sensitive consciences, and were well aware that there was a distinction between right and wrong, by Mr. Brown, a man of considerable talent who kept a store on a small island within a few fathoms of Kapiti, before the Government was established in this country. He was a phrenologist and professed to base his opinion on an examination of their heads. I was glad to have an opinion I had already formed fortified by his, but I valued it from a different reason from that which he assigned to it. He was dealing extensively with them, and gave many of them credit in perfect confidence
Delivering a lecture on the human conscience once, Hadfield described conscience as 'a state of the human soul indicating a disagreement between the will and the law of right within, which has no office beyond the region of the individual himself.'
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Hadfield travelled extensively around his diocese during his years as Bishop, often being away from home for several weeks at a time. When he was at home he read as much as he could find time for, and wrote his sermons, a task he never enjoyed. By his own words he never enjoyed writing, though in his time he must have penned many thousands of words. Kate Hadfield and her daughters organised bazaars and ran the household and entertained many visitors. Maori friends from Otaki, when visiting Wellington, often arrived at Bishopscourt with gifts of kumara and corn from their gardens.
Kate, paying a visit to Otaki with a small daughter in 1872, had a frightening experience when the coach capsized in the Waikanae river. "Morgan was impatient to get on and tried to cross at high tide," she wrote to her son Henry. "And then the bank was very steep and instead of driving straight down he went slanting and upset us in a moment right into deep water. ... I had hold of the side of the coach, so when it went over I still kept hold and that kept my head out of water; and with the other I held Amy up. . . . There was only a little hole at the back for us to creep out at. . . . They said it looked awful from the shore, for they knew the coach was full of people and yet they could see nothing but the top out of the water, until we crept out one by one. . . Every single thing we had was soaked in salt water and had to be washed the next day."
In 1879 the Hadfield family moved to Wanganui for six months while a new Bishopscourt was being built. And during that same year Kate and two daughters travelled to the Bay of Islands for a large Williams family gathering to see the unveiling of a monument to Henry Williams erected by both the European and the Maori population.
In 1884, after fifteen years of town life, Kate and Octavius Hadfield made another visit to England, leaving their family behind. One son,
Octavius Hadfield did spend some time in London, subpoenad to give evidence in a libel case brought by Mr.
In the northern autumn of 1884 the Hadfields sailed from England for the last time on the long voyage home.
In 1889 Octavius Hadfield was elected Primate of his country. He had travelled a long way from the young man, suffering from ill health and not even an ordained priest, who had landed on a sandy beach in the Bay of Islands over fifty years before. He was not elected unanimously. In fact, owing to some vigorous opposition, in particular from the Bishop of Nelson who was the senior Bishop, he resigned and was elected a second time at a special session of General Synod held in Wellington.
He had seen many things in his fifty years. Cannibal chiefs still powerful in the land; Christianity spreading among them; settlers from England pouring into the country; collision and collusion and war; land being tamed for the farmer and the townsman. He had seen the capital of the country when it had been no more than a bush-ringed harbour inhabited by birds and Maoris. He had seen houses and churches built from the massive trees, roads and railways and bridges constructed where he could remember only bush and rock and river. He had watched the Maori people acquire the dress and thoughts and habits of the European newcomers, and grieved that much had been undesirable.
During his years in Wellington Hadfield had missed his Maoris. He had seen them when travelling his province, he had helped them whenever possible and pressed tirelessly for adequate funds for the Maori clergy: but in the main his life in the capital had been among the European. Although he had opened new churches and preached to European congregations, in St. Paul's and St. Peter's and further afield; although he had opened fetes and addressed many meetings, he had never lost his capacity to fight injustice. A capable Bishop, well-loved by most, highly criticised by some, he was nevertheless an exhausting one for many. There was no complacency about Octavius Hadfield. Having reached the top he continued to work as hard as ever, to speak his thoughts as freely.
When he judged himself right he gave no quarter to his opponents. Many thought he rode too hard over his subordinates— was intolerant and unnecessarily harsh. But his standards were
The same 'Personal Portrait' also said of him—"By sheer force of will he mastered all who came in contact with him. He was a severe disciplinarian. . . ."
Another article, written after his resignation, stated further— "He has been all along somewhat masterful, but to be masterful was an essential element of success in the peculiar circumstances of his long missionary career, when at times the lives of himself and his fellow settlers depended on his mana among the Maoris. It is also an essential in the Bishop of a new see in a young colony, where society is forming, but not formed, and where there is a tendency to break through all kinds of church barriers, for the sake of the expediency of the moment, regardless of future consequences. If on occasion he has been over-masterful, and this perhaps in matters of smaller moment, that might have been left to others to settle, one can but say, Humanum est errare, and that in this respect he has but shared an infirmity of the noblest of New Zealand churchmen. His actions have sometimes been a matter of public dispute. . . ."
As Bishop, Hadfield had many stormy sessions, but he did keep clear of politics. However in two obituaries his part in the early political field was mentioned. One stated—"Though the late Bishop's services were not broadly Imperial, they were nonetheless of great and far-reaching importance. His influence, exercised in the political arena as well as in the religious sphere, did much towards preserving New Zealand to the Empire, preventing bloodshed and protecting the Maoris against spoliation."
The other writer remarked on his humility. All his life Hadfield shunned publicity, although for a great part of it, due mainly to his courage and uncompromising outspokeness, he loomed large in the public eye. After the Waitara crisis had died down somewhat he asked his brother Charles in a letter not to publish any more of
This second writer began his article—"How strangely a great and over-shadowing personality—if it be humble—can fade from the history of a few short decades! In the making of New Zealand Octavius Hadfield played a statesman's part. In the history of Wellington he looms co-equal with Fitzherbert, Featherston, and Wakefield. And yet what a quiet, secluded evening terminated his long life."
In all these busy years of high office he still found time to write to any of his family who happened to be away from home. To his youngest daughter,
The following year, on a visit to Otaki, he wrote again to Amy. "This is no longer the Otaki which I once knew. Strange things have occurred during 52 years. Some of these pass through my mind as I look about me."
And to his eldest son, Henry, starting work at the age of seventeen in Napier, he wrote in 1870—"Each person, young or old, must answer before God for his own conduct, and will not be excused because he has followed the bad example of many others. The best preventative of all sin is the daily study of some portion, however small, of the Holy Scripture, and prayer. Together with this the regular habit of going to church on Sunday. I say habit, because sometimes one may feel disinclined, but it is much better not to give way to such a feeling unless one is really ill. You know very well that I am not one of those who would wish people—especially young ones—to make display of religion. This should be the work of their hearts and to a certain extent private and secret. But then their conduct in life should show that they have a right principle within. One principle which should always guide us whether as Christians or as gentlemen, and that is, to be unselfish—to be ready to do any act of kindness whether great or small for anybody—to be ready to give way or concede any advantage to another."
In another letter to Henry two years later he wrote—"There is a wonderful tendency in the present day in people to lose sight of
feeling of dependence on Him which we all have in the hour of need would be convincing proof of its reality."
Hadfield was Primate only four years; then, feeling too weak and unwell to carry on, he resigned his office and left Wellington. Before leaving Bishopscourt to live in retirement after 55 years of work in New Zealand, he destroyed the bulk of his journals and papers and letters. According to his daughter Amy, he chose a day when his wife and family were all out and then, with no one to disturb or hinder him, had a beautiful bonfire in the garden. Much of great interest must have been destroyed in that fire. Apparently he decided that as he had been involved in so many controversial matters, what written evidence he had was better struck from the record. And perhaps he thought too that the days for such extreme outspokeness among personalities as he and others had indulged in were past, and better wiped from the slate as far as possible. It may well be that there were matters concerned of which there is now no record or knowledge. Archdeacon Towgood, who was the vicar of Marton during Hadfield's retirement there, said in a sermon in St. Paul's after his death—"Bishop Hadfield was, I may say, a wounded and worn-out lion when he resigned the charge of this diocese."
And the same man, in an article 'In Piam Memoriam' in the Church Chronicle, January, 1905, said also of Hadfield—"He was most fearless in expressing his own opinions where he thought right, and incurred much odium in vindicating what he believed to be the rights of the Maoris. He also incurred much odium in a public matter, where a few words would have set him right with the public, but from a delicate sense of honour he would not speak them, and what was too delicate a matter to divulge in the Bishop's lifetime would be even more so now."
His printed pamphlets and letters to papers can all be read, and a very small part of his early journal was preserved. Copies of his letters to the Church Missionary Society are all back in New Zealand, and a number of letters written to him by the leading personalities of the country's colonisation days escaped the bonfire on that day in 1893. Also preserved are some letters written by him to various figures of the day, and others written during his retirement were kept by the recipients. But the fact that so many of his
An article in the Marlborough Press after his death, entitled 'Not Understood,' began—"There passed away in retirement at Marton, Rangitikei, on Sunday last, at the ripe age of 91, one who for eleven years had withdrawn himself from the public gaze, but who was, nevertheless, one of the most remarkable men the Colony has ever known, one to whom she owes more than the present generation are aware of—the Rt. Reverend Bishop Hadfield— Pioneer Missionary, Apostle of the Southern Maoris, second Bishop of Wellington, and third Primate of the Church of the Province of New Zealand. We are inclined to think, however, he was by the generality of latter day colonists 'Not Understood,' and so we lay this little palm leaf on his grave. What a link with the past he was— for sixty-six years resident here, coming to the Colony before many, who now call themselves old settlers, were born! How great the changes he lived to witness, what times of storm and stress he passed through, never counting his life dear unto him, but for long years risking it daily and hourly for the Master's sake. Many who knew him in later days, knew little of what he had gone through, what he had faced, what he had done for New Zealand, or they would have held him in even higher estimation. It is ancient history now, but may well be told again. . . ."
The article concluded—"He retired to Marton, where he passed away as we have recorded on Sunday last, full of years and honours. Though the only one of the New Zealand Episcopal bench that had not taken a degree, he was second to none in scholarship, and master of them all in logical power, though he had never the presence, the voice, the eloquence, or the personal magnetism of an orator. The late Mr. Justice Richmond, his warm friend and often opponent, said 'no matter what life calling the Bishop had adopted, he would have been bound to come to the front in it. Had he chosen the law he would have been Chief Justice or Lord Chancellor. Had he devoted himself to politics he would have been Prime Minister.' As one who turned many to righteousness, Bishop Had field's name will shine with an undying lustre in the annals of
With this story of his life we lay a further little palm leaf on his grave.
On Hadfield's retirement the Rev. James McWilliam preached a sermon in St. Paul's in which he said—"It was among the Ngati-raukawa, with their allies the Ngatiawa and the Ngatitoa, that our Primate about to retire at his advanced age to a well-earned rest, laboured almost alone for over 30 years. Very few of you present probably know how zealously and how successfully he laboured in that field. Few know or now care to know how much Wellington was indebted for its safety to his influence in the early days. Few are aware that it was the ready tact and well won influence of the Bishop and Mrs. Hadfield that prevented the Ngatiraukawa and their related tribes from joining the King movement, and thereby perhaps saved the lives of all the settlers from Otaki upwards to Taranaki. Undoubtedly at that time, with the help of the Ngatiraukawa, the Maoris could have cut off the English settlers on the West Coast to a man with little loss to themselves. . . ."
Kate Hadfield's part in the life of her husband was considerable. During the seventeen years of their married life at Otaki she taught in the school at times, she looked after the Maori girls boarding with them, and she raised a large family of her own. Her influence and personality extended to many places. She supported her husband through all the storms of his days. During the troubled times referred to above by James McWilliam, when many missionaries left their posts due to Hauhau interference, Hadfield wrote of her in a letter to England—"Fortunately Kate is no coward." And they did not leave Otaki. During their years in Wellington she was a kind hostess, according to her daughter Amy, and entertained many guests. She also travelled round the diocese quite frequently with her husband. Her sons, as they grew up, teased her unmercifully at times over a variety of embarrassing predicaments, but judging from letters she would appear to have had the necessary sense of humour to cope with these situations.
A further tribute to Hadfield's early work was published in a newspaper column after his death. "During the thirty years the late Bishop Hadfield lived at Waikanae and Otaki, his life was one of constant and unremitting labour. His district extended from the
Perhaps an incident connected with the consecration of Bishop Julius, before Hadfield's retirement as Primate, best sums up the value and meaning of his life's work. It was recorded in the Lyttelton Times, May 5, 1890. It reads—"Few of those who attended the consecration service on Thursday last were aware of the appropriate position taken up by a group of Maoris, who were clustered round the steps of the Selwyn memorial pulpit. These representatives of the race amongst whom the Anglican Church was first planted in this country, had so placed themselves that the Primate, in going to the pulpit, had to pass through them. Their presence in the Cathedral must have awakened strange thoughts in the mind of one who, as a pioneer missionary, helped to found that Church over which he now rules as the third Primate in succession. What a contrast the building, the congregation, the service in which he was then taking so prominent a part must have presented to his surroundings, when alone and single-handed he raised the banner of the Cross amongst the wild and warlike Maori tribes on the shores of Cook's Straits more than fifty years ago. As the Primate proceeded with his sermon, one Maori, sitting near die clergy, robed in a surplice—whose intelligent face and reverent demeanour had attracted particular notice —became visibly affected; the tones of the preacher's voice, doubtless, recalling to his mind the time when, as a slave in the household of the great warrior chieftain, Te Rauparaha, he heard from the Primate's lips the Gospel which ultimately freed him from the bonds
* * *
So Kate and Octavius Hadfield, and three daughters, settled in a house in Marton, only a few miles from their son-in-law's farm. Here they lived a rural life once again, kept in touch with the news of the country and the world by newspapers, letters and visitors. Occasionally, at the beginning, Hadfield travelled to Hawke's Bay, to Wanganui, back to his old haunts at Otaki, or a little further south to visit his son's farm at Otaihanga. According to Amy Hadfield her father never returned to Wellington. There were times when he took a sendee, performed a confirmation or a baptism, but as he grew older and weaker he tended to leave his house and garden less and less. People came to him instead, and there was a constant coming and going of family and friends in the home.
Kate and Octavius Hadfield had ten children. The eldest son, Henry, worked for some years in a bank. In the late 1870's he bought a farm with the help of his uncle, Sam Williams. The land looked out over the coast where his father had first lived and worked in 1839. A familiar area to Octavius Hadfield. He had walked every acre of this district; had studied the hills and valleys of Kapiti across the water in rain and shine, sunrise and sunset. He had covered all the miles of the long, sweeping beaches by foot and by horse, and later by coach. It must have been rich in memory for him.
For many years after buying the farm Henry worked in Wellington during the Parliamentary sessions as Maori interpreter, first to the General Assembly and later to the Legislative Council, returning to his land whenever opportunity offered. The Hadfield children, especially the older ones, all spoke Maori from infancy, as had their mother before them. Writing once of Annie in a letter to England, her father reported—"She begins to talk, but all in Maori!" In 1895 Henry married Bessie Tuckey, daughter of the
The second son, George Joseph, died as a baby. The third son,
Octavius Hadfield read as extensively as failing eyesight would allow. According to his letters this must have been quite extensively. Henry often asked questions of his father about the days of the past, days that were fast becoming history now, and Octavius wrote back, expressing his thoughts and views in writing instead of the conversation which he loved. It would appear from correspondence that pressure was put on Henry in Wellington to persuade his father to write some memoirs, and he in turn wrote to Octavius on the subject, who replied—"I never was a writer, Henry. But I will try to jot down a few notes for you if you wish it."
On the same subject, Kate Hadfield wrote to Henry in 1898— "Have you seen Mr. Reeve's book on New Zealand? If you bought a copy for yourself and sent it to Father he would write some corrections which would be useful to you. Mrs. Wallis lent it to him but he could not make any marks in her book. It might be the means of getting some of the information about old times that you want. He is good at that sort of thing. I have often thought that the way to get him to write would be for someone to write something full of mistakes and he would have to correct it. Mr. Reeve's is not bad
On having this proposed to him, Octavius wrote back to Henry, reiterating his views on writing. "I am afraid my days for writing are past. I never was a writer: it always went against the grain to write: when business had been attended to my pen had a rest. However I will write notes on Reeve's book. It is well written and is very fair to all parties. It has raised him in my estimation. Of course he has fallen into a few mistakes on what happened in old times."
Even as early as 1841 Hadfield's English family must have asked him to write a diary for publication, for he wrote on July 20 of that year to a sister—"I could state much that would interest you in a kind of diary, but I have no time for it, and after all one is in danger of being very egotistic and I am afraid this is a great fault of mine, though in letter writing it is in some degree desirable. However, I like to let you know my concerns but do not wish to have them published to die world."
That Octavius Hadfield could still be roused, even though in his eighties and secluded from the public gaze, is shown in a letter to Henry from his mother in 1898—"Father is greatly disgusted with the article in Monday night's Post about the School Trusts. I didn't want him to notice it—others must fight the battles now." And that he had a firm grip of the events of his own country and of the world, both past and present, and ideas for the future, are shown in extracts from his letters to Henry written between the years 1894-1903. These extracts, printed in the Appendix, range from memories of his earliest days in the country through politics, theology, literature to the loveliness of the Rangitikei countryside in Spring and the suggestion that, because of the drop in the demand for wool in England, New Zealand merchants should try to find a market in Japan. He discusses affairs in Greece, India, Cuba, China, France and South Africa. On September 23, 1902, three weeks before he turned eighty-eight, he wrote to Henry—"It is sixty-four years today since I was ordained in Sydney. How much has occurred since then! I suppose I have been kept alive for some purpose, though it is little more that I can now do."
The excerpts show a wide-ranging interest in the world and age in which Octavius Hadfield was living in his retirement. He could still quote long passages from history, from the classics
Herald who wrote—"Little perhaps of the present world's life and thought remains or fixes itself in his mind," was possibly mistaken in this. All through his life he would appear to have been thoroughly informed on current affairs as they concerned not only his own province but a much wider sphere.
"To be interested only in what concerns one's own time would be contemptible selfishness," he wrote to Henry. His thoughts as conveyed in his letters during this final period of his life maintain a well balanced interest between the old and the new, the near and the distant.
A new century had dawned.
The Boer War, like all wars, took its toll of life and happiness. For New Zealand it was the first time her soldiers had left their own shores to fight on behalf of their Mother country. Bands played rousing music as men and horses embarked on their ships to be carried to the southern tip of the African continent, there to travel inland and fight in the heat and dust of the South African high veld. Women wept, as they were to weep many more times for the heart-break of war before the century was even half way through. Aleck Hadfield sailed on one of the ships, together with two of Bessie Hadfield's brothers.
The country was slowly being welded into a more solid community in this new century. Although reduced by war and immigration to a very small percentage of the population, the Maoris were beginning to take part in the life of the land once more. They now had their own representatives in the Parliamentary Councils. Te Kooti, who was never recaptured after his escape from the Chatham Islands, had been officially pardoned when the General Amnesty was announced in 1883, and now lived in legal retirement.
Refrigerated meat, butter and cheese had been sent to England for the first time in 1882, ushering in a new era for the farmers. The unwholesome methods practised by many squatters in the past years were gradually being exposed. In the days when leasehold had been converted into freehold, those without the ready money to buy all the land they wanted had overcome this by buying the gorge of a river, thereby gaining access to the land beyond. Or perhaps they had bought a strip of land keeping others from water or other desirable pasture. But the needs of men, and the Government's land tax, were beginning to break down such systems.
In the home at Edale, Marton, Kate Hadfield was the first to die, on January 8, 1902. An In Memoriam spoke of 'her quiet strength and force of character, her wise counsel, her helpful sympathy, and her faithful friendship.' She was buried in the little churchyard beside the church at Tutu Totara, among the fields of
On December 11, 1904, almost three years later, Octavius Hadfield's long life drew to a close. His faith in the will of his Maker was undimmed. On his death-bed he answered a remark made by a close friend—"The thoughts that come oftenest into my mind are expressed in the first verse of the hymn, 'Just as I am without one plea, But that Thy Blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd'st me come to The, O Lamb of God, I come.' All my theology is given in those lines. If only we could get men to receive them."
His had indeed been a long life and a rewarding one. Begun in the capitals of long established civilisations in Europe, transplanted from this element to a small and practically unknown land at the far end of the earth, Octavius Hadfield had adapted himself at every step and never faltered. From the comfort of an affluent home life he had gone forth to teach in the wilds, and never had he regretted his decision. Faced by pain and danger, by dispute and abuse and at times near despair, his faith had remained intact. And now, in a small country village in the land which he had done so much to mould and influence, he was dead. He was buried beside Kate at his own wish early in the morning, with only his family and closest friends to share this last parting. He had particularly asked that his funeral should be a private occasion.
As has been shown, at the time of his death Hadfield's part in New Zealand's colonisation was already forgotten or unknown by a large segment of the population. The ensuing years have done little to remedy this. Even present day history text books largely ignore the fact of his existence. Indeed, even before his death, history concerning him was being written inaccurately, as he stated in one of his letters to Henry.
In 1939, R. G. C. McNab wrote an unpublished biography which he called "Octavius Hadfield—Bishop and Pioneer—A Memoir." Bishop Sprott, who had worked a few short months with Hadfield before the latter's retirement, stated in the foreword—"I think it is true to say that Octavius Hadfield was one of the greatest men New Zealand has ever had."
Eric Ramsden, publishing his book "Rangiatea" in 1951, was the first to quote from Hadfield's letters and other writings, and the surviving fragment of his journal, and he wrote of him—"In view
Archdeacon H. W. Monaghan, who also quoted from his letters and journal, dedicated his story of the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Wellington, "From Age to Age," published in 1957, to the memory of Octavius Hadfield, and wrote of him—"The history of the whole Province cannot show a greater missionary, a wiser Bishop, a more devoted servant of the Church than Octavius Hadfield. He must ever be accounted one of New Zealand's greatest men."
Mr. Harold Miller has written of him and quoted him, and his life has been briefly surveyed in newspaper columns by Cecil and Celia Manson and others, in historical books, in "An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand", on television and in the pulpit, but he is still largely a forgotten man.
In a letter to one of the Hadfield daughters after the death of her mother, Bishop Abraham told her—"The only difference in your father's letters is that he is more entirely engaged in meditations on spiritual subjects and less occupied on merely intellectual questions, but on these, if they occur, he is as clear as ever—I never knew a man like him. I used to think that he was more like Frederic Robertson, the Vicar of Trinity Chapel, Brighton, 1845-60, than anyone else—a most original thinker, a most fearless lover of truth and a hater of shams, malleus falsi, vindex veri. Both of them were soldiers at heart. I have heard your father combat military men on subjects that Napier's "Peninsular War" touched upon. His accuracy was reliable—his real monument of course should be in Otaki Church in Maori, written by a Maori who knew him well and could appreciate what he had done for the Maori race and especially for the Ngatiraukawa and Ngatiawa."
Of his earliest days with these two tribes Octavius Hadfield once said in a speech—"There was a strong predisposition on the part of the Ngatiawa to attend to the message of peace. The very opposite was the case with Ngatiraukawa. They were a rough, proud and turbulent people. Scarcely a week passed without some disturbance, often ending in bloodshed."
So we come to the first words of Archdeacon Towgood's 'In Piam Memoriam' "With Bishop Hadfield has passed away the last of the great pioneers of the Colony of New Zealand. He was also the first. When he arrived the Whitakers, the Hursthouses, the Rich-monds, the Foxes, the Featherstons, the FitzHerberts, the Tolle-maches ,the Petres, the Cliffords, the Welds, the Riddifords, the Staffords, the Monros, the Godleys, the Tollies, the Moorhouses, the Cargills, Bishop Selwyn, Sir William Martin, Sir George Grey, were not here—some of them not for several years after."
These names mentioned by Towgood exclude the Bay of Islands settlement, some of whose inhabitants had been in residence for up to twenty years before Hadfield arrived.
Towgood ended his tribute—"He was not so effective a preacher as he should have been from his great abilities, though on occasions he preached memorable sermons. . . . And the reason for his sermons not being as effective as they should have been was, he was afraid of his statements being misunderstood, and therefore he proceeded to explain them; whereas the original statements were generally as clear as crystal, and therefore the explanation of them was an impediment to the progress of the argument, and sometimes an irritation. He was by nature an exceptionally clear thinker, and a clear thinker almost of necessity expresses himself clearly.
It used to be said that he spoke more fluently in Maori than in English, and let himself go more. At one time, I fancy, he used to think more frequently in Maori than in English; and the Maori poetic illustrations were dear to him and came home to them. As a debater he was free from over explanation. He generally got hold of the essential elements of a question, marshalled his arguments with impetuous rapidity in clear and logical order, occasionally pausing to let some word tell, and would seize like lightning the weak points in the argument of an opponent, or any undue proportion in the presentation of them. As a debater he had no one approaching him in the Wellington Synod, until within a short time of his resignation; nor in any General Synod one has been a member of; though Mr. Still was a more polished speaker. He was somewhat intolerant of other people's opinions in matters he had thought out thoroughly; and would sometimes attack an argument with great vehemance, and in almost unmeasured terms, as though it were a person; but the heat was purely intellectual, there was noth-
He was an accurate scholar, which perhaps was natural to a Charterhouse boy of ability under Dr. Russell; and I suppose there was no first rate authority on mental philosophy within the last 500 years with whose writings he was not thoroughly familiar. He bulked as a large figure in New Zealand in his prime, whether with friends or opponents, as a force that had to be reckoned with, and he certainly solely and alone saved the Wanganui Industrial School estate from being confiscated when it was attacked by the combined forces of Mr. Ballance and Sir William Fox. But he would have been a greater man in England, constantly rubbing up against his intellectual equals and sharing with others intellectual interests which here he mused over in isolation.
He had the manners of fine breeding, was courteous to everyone, and was by nature modest and retiring. He had an upright figure to the last, handsome clean cut features, with a certain nobility in the pose of his head, and general aspect and carriage. As the Maori chief said of Bishop Selwyn, he was a Rangitira every inch of him. He was withal an humble Christian. With him the Word of God was the Word of Life, and his Greek Testament his most intimate companion. The most intimate friends of his life were Sir William Martin, the St. Hills, Bishop Selwyn, Bishop Abraham, the Sewells, Bishop Cowie, Major and Mrs. Marshall, Archdeacon Dudley, Judge Richmond and Archdeacon Fancourt. One does not mention his connections, or his life-long companion, and intimate in Maori work, Archdeacon S. Williams.
He is buried beside his wife, in the sequestered Churchyard of St. John's, Tutu Totara, where the neighbouring bush still speaks of the old New Zealand he was conversant with over sixty years ago, where he would most have liked his body to have been laid; while his soul lives in a light that gives a meaning to the life behind it and a great hope to the life that lies before it, and an inner voice whispers that all is well."
The bush is sparser now, but sheep crop the grass of the fields surrounding the churchyard near Marton, and in the Spring daffodils bloom among the graves. And on Octavius Hadfield's headstone are engraved the words—
Short extracts from letters written by Octavius Hadfield in Marton to his son, Henry Hadfield, between the years 1894-1903.
The Horowhenua Report, or the out-line of the Counsel's report, given in the newspapers, throws light on those wonderful Land Courts that you have always heard me denounce. The principle laid down—which I have always maintained—ought to have prevented all the worthless claims put forth by persons who were slaves at the time the Treaty of Waitangi was made. There is not a word of truth in the statement that the Muaupoko were not conquered but retreated to the mountains; they were all made slaves; or fell back on the Whanganui where they were practically slaves. Another mistake is constantly made. Neither a man nor a woman could be a member of two tribes. This was an undisputed fact. For instance Kemp's father, a Muaupoko, lived with his wife, a Whanganui, at Whanganui: he therefore was domiciled there, and lost all rights he might have had at Horowhenua. It is the principle accepted by all nations that a man cannot be a citizen in two countries. In time of war, say, between the two tribes, Kemp's father would have been killed by Muaupoko.
I do not think that there ever was anything like communism among Maoris. Each hapu or sub hapu had their land, but when it was cultivated each individual had his own strip which he cultivated for himself. A chief would cultivate a larger piece, but then those who came to work for him were practically paid by food (and later by tobacco, etc.). They, to be sure, generally had slaves, but that does not imply socialism. Loafers for the most part hung about their own relations, but none were absolutely idle. But any young men who wish to understand these subjects, so far as we are concerned, should read the Duke of Argyll's 'Unseen Foundations of Society'. It is a remarkable book, crammed full of information.
I am quite clear about Horowhenua and all concerning it— but Land Courts have always treated with contempt what I said.
I had no prejudice against Muaupoko. I had a whare where they lived, and heard long stories of an evening of all that occurred in Rauparaha's time, and how Te Whatanui had saved them.
I cannot conjecture what will be the result of all this present legislation—but everybody seems alarmed at so much interference with free action.
I do not now care for one party much more than another. When in office they are all very much alike.
It does seem very strange that the whole business of the country so far as Parliament is concerned should stop because one man goes to England. The ministry must be very weak.
I quite agree with you about the legislation as to Asiatics: I see the Governor intends to reserve the Bill for Imperial sanction. . . . With such a power as Japan at this distance from England it certainly becomes N.Z. politicians to be careful what they do.
What a long session you have had. The country is now beginning to look beautiful; it is quite time for Parliament to shut up and let men go into the country. You will be glad to be at home again.
I am afraid what I wrote about Illingworth is hard reading for those who have not given much attention to such subjects. My reason for writing is that the book has been put on the list for examination of our theological students, and I think it ought to be taken off.
People are so accustomed to be misled by cleverly written articles in the press that they don't know what to believe, and very few people take the trouble to think for themselves.
I am disgusted with the stupid folly of Greece going to war with Turkey. She can't conquer Turkey, and she must to say the least, involve herself in financial trouble apart from dreadful suffering. Turkey has done nothing whatever to offend her.
I am very sad about the war in the north of India; our losses have been heavy.
When the Spaniards give in, I can't see what the Americans will do with the Cubans. . . . Can they be left to govern themselves? Perhaps that would be the best thing to do.
It is difficult to foresee what will happen in China. I am disappointed. I thought a few years ago that it might become a powerful country and advance like Japan—but its whole government is rotten.
I can form no opinion on the Chinese trouble. It seems almost hopeless for Europeans and Asiatics to understand one another.
I have a good map of the Nile as far as Khartoum. . . . France is in such a rotten condition (that is, the Government) that a war might be recklessly forced on. Any general with a tenth part of the ability of Napoleon would have the army with him to upset the Government. They seem afraid even of such an insignificant puppy as the Duke of Orleans. I sometimes wish I had someone to talk to on all these subjects; they won't concern me long, but to be interested only in what concerns one's own time would be contemptible selfishness.
There seems to be no prospect of an early end of that Dreyfus business. Nothing could have exposed to all Europe the rotten condition of the Government and the higher branch of the army—the staff—than the whole thing from beginning to end, if there is ever to be an end.
I cannot guess what will happen in France. I don't think the new ministry will last a month. Men finding themselves in the freedom that is supposed to exist under the republic will never condone the action of the great staff officers in the Dreyfus affair. Zola is not likely to be quiet after the victory he has obtained in getting the first Court Martial upset.
It is a good thing for the country that so many breeders take pains to improve their stock and work up to a high standard.
People here are beginning to grumble about the railway station being moved so far. They have to pay double for coach and carting; besides being very inconvenient in many other respects.
I have been reading parts of 'History of the I did in the Waitara war matter is mentioned. Bishop Selwyn and Sir W. Martin are chiefly spoken of. The truth is it was with some difficulty that Bishop Abraham could get them to see that I had any real ground of complaint against the Government. Such is history. However, the date of my Pamphlets and letters show clearly the truth. But what does it matter? The book speaks most highly of your grandfather and asserts that he was the greatest missionary in the
I see the Opposition are having a preliminary canter in the House; I suppose nothing will come of it.
I am not interested in politics—but you may as well send the Hansards sometime for me to look through.
I hate elections; there is so much humbug spoken and written on both sides.
It is a gain to find one politician who will not say black is white to please Seddon.
I have just read a book on Cecil Rhodes. It is very interesting ... I have also read a book on Wellington. He was another great man who was constantly hampered by instructions from men who could not understand him or his plans. . . . Your sisters are all very good and attentive; but I sometimes like to talk on subjects which women don't care to join in about.
I cannot help thinking about some of the ritualistic disputes in England, which will soon spread abroad and come out here. While they are quarrelling about a lot of foolish ceremonies, a whole lot of sceptical people look on and make light of religion altogether.
The controversies going on in England on church matters are painful to me. No doubt I am old and have had a long experience in these matters; still it seems to me that some of the younger men are doing much harm by their vagaries in what they call 'Ritual' about which, in my opinion, they know very little, and nothing of its tendencies.
I do not see that any good can come of N.Z. joining the Australian Confederation. I never could attach any weight to what they call 'reciprocity in trade'. If they do not want our products they can leave them alone. England is and must be the New Zealand market.
I am greatly opposed to this talk about federation with the Australian colonies. Why this country should go and abandon its independence for the long future for the purpose of increasing its trade—a very uncertain thing after all—I cannot imagine. I have no patience in thinking of it. I have never seen a single argument advanced in favour of it which I deem valid. I don't believe there are 20 men in N.Z. who have attempted to look all round the subject, or who could give a reasoned opinion either for or against it. And yet the Post talks of submitting the question to the electors! Poor N.Z., whose progress I have been watching for sixty years, and now to be an appendage to the Australian colonies. Aue.
Mr Quirk came yesterday. He has got the Porirua College site case coming in in the Supreme Court immediately. I made an affidavit in the matter which he seems to think ought to help them a good deal. The truth is they have made such a mess of it from not following my advice seven years ago that I find it very difficult to feel much interest in it. I prefer to prevent difficulties rather than remedy them.
This war at the Cape is a sad affair. . . . What I have most dreaded has been the possibility of the black races joining in.
I hope your country work will enable you to shake off the political dust of Parliament which you have been breathing. How are your sheep and lambs? I am afraid wool is very low. It appears from home papers that the supply begins to exceed the demand. Have any of our merchants tried to ascertain whether a market might not be found in Japan to which it might be shipped direct?
I am glad you had an opportunity of seeing such good Romneys. When I was in Kent forty-four years ago I was close to Romney Marsh and I was told that there were not more than 2,500. Now they are spread into many places. There must be some good
'I am very pleased with the Farmers Union. I hope they will stick to it, and not be drawn away to any Producers Union, or other sham. The only mistake some of the newspapers are making is leading people to suppose that they can lower the custom duties. What they ought to aim at (among other objects) is to get rid of all protective duties, whose obvious tendency is to take money from the settlers (county ones especially) to put it into the pockets of manufacturers and their operatives. There ought to be a cheap pamphlet on this aspect of the subject circulated widely.
The Farmers Union must keep clear of party politics, and stick to their main point.
I have just read a Life of Lord Cromer, chiefly his work in Egypt. He must be an able man. But I have also read a book by a very learned Hebrew and Arabic scholar, a Professor of these languages at Oxford. He completely smashes up the 'Higher Clitics' who attack the Old Testament. It requires a little knowledge of Hebrew to understand it. It is the most satisfactory book I have read for the last twenty years.
I was glad you could help the poor Maori mother by reading the Burial service over her child. I have often wished that I could have occasionally been among the Maoris, but my infirmities since I retired have hindered any attempt to do so.
This appendix consists of extracts taken from some of Octavius Hadfield's letters to his family in England. Included is most of the remaining portion of his journal covering October to December, 1839.
Waimate
Bay of Islands
To his father.
March 7, 1839.
To his father
I am residing with the Rev.
Soon after my arrival here I had a very pleasant trip which I must not forget to mention. There is a Station formed at Kaitaia where there are two laymen residing. ... It is 54 miles from this place and 34 miles is through a very thick forest where daylight is scarcely visible more than only 3 or 4 times. The road through the wood was cut about a year ago by Mr. Mathews with a party of 70 natives, which occupied them a month. The road is very rough, so much so that a horse can scarcely climb up some of the hills, and I suppose I was obliged to dismount 150 times in that distance. The celebrated Kauri trees which are so famous for spars were magnificent. There was one hill, the highest point of land in this part of New Zealand called Maungataniwha, a short distance from the road. We left our horses and climbed to the top. Here the view was magnificent. We could see about 50 miles in every direction.
I am now engaged in the school. My work is very easy and light; there are 32 boys, some well disposed and anxious to improve. Mr. W. takes the school three days in a week and I the other three. I am in it six hours during the day. I have nothing more to do with it any other time. My other time therefore is at present my own, though as soon as I have acquired the language I can employ it in missionary labours.
Though there is much that pleases me, there is much that displeases me. Those engaged in the Mission are for the most part ignorant men who have been advanced beyond their proper station in life and consequently presume upon it. Likewise, never having possessed any property, they think it very fine to buy large estates of land at very low prices and have cattle and wheat, etc. This grieves me to the heart. The consequence of this is
Bay of Islands 1839.
To his father.
'Rauparaha', the principal Chief of the Southern part of the Island, and who has hitherto by his very name caused terror in all directions having been a very bloodthirsty savage, having in a very providential manner had a few leaves of the Gospel of St. Luke brought among his people, and a native, formerly a slave, having given them some instruction from this, has lately sent two young Chiefs to us requesting missionaries. My wish on this subject being known it was proposed to me to go there, and I readily assented. The Revd. H. Williams will accompany me as I yet know next to nothing of the language, and he will continue with me for a few weeks. I shall probably be joined ere long by some other person (Mr. & Mrs. Ford-ham volunteered). We sail as soon as the weather will permit. I shall probably be accompanied by one of the young Chiefs. I shall take one or two Christian natives for teachers.
I must give you some further idea of the place I am going to. It is about 200 miles further to the South than any of our Missionaries have yet been; the name of the place is Kapiti, just by Entiy Island in Cook Straits, about 50 miles from the extreme southern part of the Island, and about 150 from Cape Egmont or Taranaki; the distance from the opposite island is about 17 miles. From all accounts there are about 8000 natives in the immediate neighbourhood, and large parties of natives all along the coast to Cape Egmont where there are about 4000. There are also about 600 English and Americans in the neighbourhood of Kapiti and many on the southern Island, within a range of 30 or 40 miles dwelling in Cloudy Bay and Banks Peninsula. All these I must endeavour occasionally to visit.
It is in every respect as important a place as a minister of Christ can be placed in. I should have preferred a more confined sphere of duty and one more entirely among natives, but as I have made it a matter of much prayer, of fervent prayer, of believing prayer that I might be directed by the Lord, I must cheerfully enter upon that path which He has opened to me. You may easily imagine from the oudine that I have given that I shall have abundance of employment. My health is not so good as when I left England, but I trust that when I get into my work and have plenty of exercise it will improve. Nevertheless my health and life will last as long as the Lord has work for me and then I shall enter into rest.
Sept. 30 th . . . Left Waimate this afternoon, having taken leave of all there, and arrived here this evening. . . . The Committee have decided that I should go to Kapiti. I expect to start in about a fortnight. The Revd. Henry Williams purposes to accompany me. Oh that I had more dependence upon God.
Oct. 1st . . . Took a walk and had some conversation with the Revd. R. Taylor relative to the school and the Mission generally. Went with the Revd. Henry Williams to look after necessaries to take with me to Kapiti. I find that I can procure but little here. . . .
Oct. 2nd . . . Went early to Kororareka where the Revd. Henry Williams buried a child. Had some conversation with some persons over there, they desire to have a minister among them. Went to Mr. Busby's, dined with him and had some interesting conversation with him. Told him I could not support his proposal—school for half caste children upon the British and Foreign School Society's principles—he purposes altering his plan. . . .
Oct. 6th . . . Administered the Lord's Supper for the first time by myself, enjoyed a blessed feast. I wonder when I may meet with so many Christian friends around the Lord's Table. Expect to go shortly to Kapiti. Am this day 25 years old. Oh how little have I got done for the Glory of God.
Oct. 7th-8th . . . Almost all the morning engaged in talking about the concerns of the Mission and seeking information with respect to Kapiti. In the afternoon rode to Waimate with the Revd.
Oct. llth-12th . . . Lost nearly all the morning. In the afternoon wrote to the Bishop and Mr. Coates. Believe I am going in the Columbine thus visiting Tauranga on our way. Went on board the Columbine and made some prepai-ations. Wrote some letters. Spent some time in uncertainty what to be doing. Read native.
Oct. 13th . . . Lord's Day. Went to Kororareka. Preached in morning on Peter 1, Chap. 3, Verse 18. . . .
Oct. 16th . . . Went to the Kerikeri with the Revd.
Oct. 17th . . . Engaged in making preparations for sailing. I employed some time in getting materials on board the Columbine for a future dwelling house.
Oct. 19th . . . Sent everything on board the vessel. Am now ready to start.
Oct 21st . . . Engaged the greater part of the day in making preparations for my departure. Took leave of all friends and embarked on board the Columbine at 7 o'clock together with the Revd. H. Williams, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Clarke and Mr. Stack. Sailed out of the Bay of Islands with a fair wind, soon began to feel a little sea-sick. Retired to bed at about 12 o'clock after remaining on deck till I was very cold.
Oct. 22nd . . . Rose in the morning and went on deck. After remaining some time on deck during which time I felt very unwell I went below and retired to bed.
Oct. 23rd . . . Felt very unwell, however the wind continued fair and I lay patiently in bed, till I was told at a quarter past three o'clock that we had anchored at Tauranga. The wind blew very fresh as we entered the harbour and in a narrow part of the entrance the vessel was nearly drifting upon rocks, but the Lord preserved us. We landed at about 7 o'clock and were met upon the shore by the Revd. A. Brown and conducted by him to his house where we passed the evening—and retired to rest at Mr. Stack's not feeling very well but rejoicing that I was on shore.
Oct. 24th . . . Not very well. Have been engaged in doing nothing but looking round the settlement here. Much prefer the Christian simplicity of proceedings here to those in the northern stations.
Oct. 25th . . . Rose very unwell. Engaged in reading. Had some interesting conversation with Mr. Stack. If all is well am likely to proceed shortly to Kapiti. There is a body of about 1,000 natives in this neighbourhood who are set on mischief.
Oct. 27th . . . Attended the native service in the settlement. Gathered together a small English congregation at the Revd. Mr. Brown's, preached on Zech. 9, 9-11. Purposed going to a neighbouring Pa in the afternoon but was unable to get across the river for want of a boat.
Oct. 28th . . . Had intended accompanying the Revd. H. Williams and Brown and Mr. Clarke to Maketu where they are gone to endeavour to make peace between the Waikato and Rotorua natives, but did not feel well enough. Did but little all day, however I trust I am gaining information respecting my work.
Oct. 29th . . . Have been engaged almost all day in preparing prescriptions for medicines. Oh, while I feel anxious for the bodily health of the natives who may be under my care, may I above all seek their eternal health.
Oct. 30th . . . Passed the day in making various notes of matters which I thought might be useful. Intend starting tomorrow. Messrs. Williams, Brown and Clarke returned this evening from Maketu. They were nearly making peace. The Waikato natives were well disposed but the officious forwardness of the Ware Kura lads hindered it by representing to the Maketu natives that the others were afraid.
Oct. 31st . . . Set sail about half past one o'clock from Tauranga after having taken leave of all friends there. Felt nothing of sea-sickness though not very comfortable as is usual with me on board ship.
Nov. 1st . . . Landed with Mr. Clarke at Motu some miles beyond Opotiki in the Bay of Plenty where we left the Christian natives, Samuel and Richard and their wives. The natives appeared savage but very civil and kind.
Nov. 2nd . . . Landed with Mr. Clarke and Mr. Stack at Warekaika in the forenoon about 20 miles from Waiapu, when after taking leave of them and procuring a little ballast and fire wood we set sail.
Nov. 4th . . . Fair wind, passed Turanga and the Mahia. Off the point of the Mahia we passed a rock a few feet under water, under our lee. It lay about 4 miles north east of the southern point of the head and about 5 miles E by N of the southern end of the island off the point. Felt thankful to the Lord for guiding me safely through these unsurveyed seas.
Nov. 5th . . . Sailed a little beyond Cape Turnagain having fresh breeze off the land.
Nov. 6th . . . Had foul wind all night and morning blowing hard, with rain. Went on deck in the afternoon for two hours, wind then fair, off Flat-point.
Nov. 7th . . . Wind fair. Rounded Cape Palliser in the forenoon and came to anchor in Port Nicholson at about 3 o'clock. This is a beautiful harbour having deep water and perfectly surrounded, being thus secure from all winds. About thirty natives came on board among whom was Dick from Waimate. It appears from their statements that the ship Tory has brought people from England who have bought this harbour and part of Rapid, etc., for a mere trifle. We purpose proceeding onwards tomorrow to the abode of Rauparaha, may the Lord be with us.
Nov. 8th . . . Wind not favourable for leaving this place. Not at all well during the night and forenoon, my chest very painful. In the afternoon, went on shore for two hours. Found some plants which do not grow at the northern part of the Island. Came on board somewhat better. Believe this is not Port Nicholson but that that harbour lies round the next point. This is however a beautiful port.
Nov. 9th . . . Suffered considerable pain in my chest during the night. We got under way early in the morning, but as the wind soon headed us we ran away from Cloudy Bay. We anchored there about one o'clock not being able to beat against a strong wind nor did we get into the proper anchorage. A Portuguese who has a whaling establishment came on board a few hours after and though it rained and blew much we beat into a safe anchorage. We could not form a correct notion of the place from the badness of the weather.
Nov. 10th . . . Lord's Day. I rose rather better in health but not well. Revd. Henry Williams went on shore to hold service with a party of natives
and English, and after I had had service on board and preached from John 3, 14-15, I went on shore to the party of English who were with the Portuguese. It was a miserable place and the men looked in a deplorable condition, spiritually. They assembled for service to the number of about twenty, and having read prayers I preached from John 3, 30. Some appeared attentive and one or two applied for the New Testament. The wind blew so hard that I and the master of the vessel were detained on shore for two hours, but as the wind abated a little and we had a good whaleboat and good hands we put off and after taking some water in, we arrived safe on board.
Nov. 11th . . . Rose early purposing to go to Queen Charlotte Sound to see Colonel Wakefield who has been out here purchasing land, but we heard that the Tory had sailed for Taranaki. Went on shore, find that they have made a kind of nominal purchase of land not having been over it to define boundaries or having consulted all parties. Was pleased with the many enquiries for books, both native and English, but was unable to supply many. We got under way in the afternoon but were obliged to anchor again, early in the morning—but as the wind soon drew ahead we went into Port Nicholson and anchored there in the afternoon (12th).
Nov. 13th . . . Determined to leave the Columbine and go overland to Kapiti. The Revd. Henry Williams and I started with about 10 natives in the morning. We landed at a small Pa on Richard's (a native from Waimate) ground and drew a plan of it. Saw two native chapels which have been lately built but which are standing on ground which is now sold— went from thence to another Pa and after some conversation with the natives, we had prayers and Mr. Williams addressed them and then went to bed.
Nov. 14th . . . Suffered all night from a severe attack of asthma which obliged me to sit up in my bed. At the dawn of day I fell off to sleep and had rest for about an hour. I had serious thoughts of returning to the vessel, having suffered such extreme pain in the night and feeling very great oppression still in my chest. But after prayer for Divine guidance and for strength determined to start on my journey, as I rather feared remaining in Port Nicholson having felt considerable pain in my chest on my former stay there. We started at 9 in the morning and walked all day with slight intervals of rest, through a thick and hilly forest. I suffered much pain in my chest but did not feel tired and we arrived at a convenient resting place after having crossed 14 rivers at about 6 o'clock, when, my tent being pitched and having eaten some potatoes, I retired to rest. I seemed to be supported beyond my expectation all the way.
Nov. 15th : . . Rose in the morning much refreshed by a night's rest, free from that distressing pain arising from asthma. Oh, how forgetful am I of the manifold blessings I receive and how much the days of health have hitherto exceeded my days of sickness. Some natives who accompanied us having gone in the evening to Mangarautawiri, a Pa opposite the Island of Mana, early in the morning some natives arrived from there with food and
Nov. 16th . . . Left the Pa in the morning and went with the chief in a large canoe with about 60 persons to Mana. It is an island situated about 2 miles from the land, about 3 miles long and two wide, some hundred feet high and quite flat. There are sheep and cattle grazing on it. The natives of the Pa have lately also had service morning and evening. The chief, however, Rangihaeata, is opposed to the Gospel. He is the person who formerly accompanied Rauparaha to the southward in the Elizabeth, when acts of the greatest treachery and atrocity were committed by them. We remained there some hours, and they supplied our natives with abundance of food. On leaving the chief said that since he had seen Mr. Williams he would attend to the Gospel. We left the Island in the afternoon in a canoe and went to Hongoeka, a small Pa on the mainland about 5 miles from Mana. There were but few natives there. I retired early to rest. The wind blew and it rained hard but my tent was comfortable.
Nov. 17th . . . Lord's Day. Rose early in the morning and after a sweet season of prayer went to Mr. William's tent. Had prayers and breakfasted there as usual. He then started to a Pa about 3 miles distant. I remained in the Pa. The natives assembled and George, a Ngapuhi native, read prayers and gave a good discourse. We then had school and I was much delighted with the attention of the natives and more especially with the earnestness and beauty with which the native Christian enforced on his countrymen the blessedness of receiving and believing the glorious truths of the Gospel.
Nov. 18th . . . Left Hongoeka at 4.30 in the morning and after a rough walk of about five miles came to Pukerua where we remained some time with the natives and had breakfast. They were desirous of obtaining books. We then proceeded and passed Paripari, Wainui, Tipapa, Wareroa, Waremoku and Taurui and then arrived at Waikanae about 6 having walked about 15 miles, the latter part of our road being hard sandy beach. The natives are at war, only acting on the defensive. They met for prayers as soon as we arrived, when the Revd. H. Williams addressed them—there were near a thousand present. It was an interesting sight and I lifted up my heart to God with feelings of gratitude and prayed that His blessing may come down upon them. . . .
Nov. 19th . . . Rose early. About 9 o'clock the chiefs began to speak. Moturoa, a very pleasing interesting chief of Port Nicholson began, and was followed by the old chief of the place Reretawhangawhanga—others spoke in succession. About 2 o'clock crossed over to Kapiti, to the place where Rauparaha lives. He was sitting in state ready to receive us. He certainly
appeared much interested in the Gospel message. He has been one of the most bloodthirsty men in the land. May the Lord have mercy upon him. We had prayers with him and the natives there and went on board the Atlas for the night, Captain Mayhew's ship, being invited by him.
Nov. 20th . . . The wind blew so hard in the morning that we could not leave the ship. Wrote letters to Mr. Wilson, Ford and Wade. In the afternoon went on shore and spent some time with Rauparaha but had little time for private reading and prayer. Not very well.
Nov. 21st . . . We slept on board and went early to a flat point of land on the island of Kapiti. Saw a few natives, met some Englishmen at a Whaling Station belonging to Mr. Jones. Several of them with the foreman at their head treated us with great insolence. May the Lord have mercy on them and give them light. Visited another party who were civil and well behaved. In the afternoon went and saw Rauparaha. Purpose leaving in the morning— had some interesting conversation with a young American.
Nov. 22nd . . . Rose early in the morning, had my horses safely brought over in a large canoe to Waikanae—we came across in my boat. After some conversation with the natives went up the river. Walked over the ground where the late battle took place among the natives. Saw the place where they buried 31 of the Ngatiraukawa. Walked some hours. There are many acres of land covered with grass, wheat, barley and oats mixed togedier, and fine trees. After prayers with the natives, etc., retired to rest.
Nov. 23rd . . . Did not start early to Otaki on account of the rain. Left Waikanae about 9 o'clock and walked on a sandy beach for about 11 miles, till we arrived at a small Pa near Otaki called Pakakutu, where we stopped on account of the rain, being wet. There is here a large flat piece of land, well watered and abounding with wild ducks. After prayers had some conversation with the chief of the Pa, Ruru and some others. They trace die war to an act of indiscretion on the part of Paul, a Wesleyan lad at Waikanae. Some appear still disposed for war. The chief who cannot yet read repeated the evening church service having learnt it orally. Here they have had no instruction but that of a few volunteer natives. Oh may the Lord pour out his Spirit upon them and upon me, that I may come among them with the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Peace.
Nov. 24th . . . Lord's Day. We walked with the natives of the small Pa, Pakakutu, to Rangiuru, the large Pa of Otaki, and then had Divine service. There were about 600 or 700 present. I was gratified to see so many present as I had been led to understand that most of the inhabitants of this place were disposed to reject the Gospel. We afterwards had school and I was surprised to find many acquainted with the catechisms we have in use. May the Lord look down to bless this people, and may my soul be refreshed with peace and may I be endowed with wisdom to fit me for the work in which I am engaged.
Nov. 25th . . . Moved from the small Pa to Rangiuru about 9 o'clock. They do not appear very desirous of peace—they will go tomorrow to arrange about it. Did not leave the Pa. Many of the natives here are disinclined to attend to the Gospel, some on the other hand are very attentive. The sons of the chief Watanui, Roha and Haua, are interesting, enquiring young men and can read a little. There were not many present at evening prayers. Oh may I be directed by the Lord as to where I should reside and how I should proceed.
Nov. 26th . . . Spent the day at Rangiuru, went about looking for a site for a small cottage to reside in occasionally. Much pleased with the young men, Roha and Haua, they are the most interesting young people I have yet seen. Felt sometimes discouraged at the apparent apathy of the people, but remembered that as a missionary it is my work to break up barren ground.
Nov. 27th . . . Went with H.W. to a small Pa about 5 miles distant called Waikawa, where there was a small chapel, and then on to another about 2 miles distant called Ohau, to endeavour to make peace. The people here are very ignorant. One man very urgent for a book. Not very well, retired early to rest.
Nov. 28th . . . Left Ohau and returned to Rangiuru, about 6 miles, road very good at low water. Was much interrupted by natives while endeavouring to read in my tent. Walked out to look for a site for a house, fixed on one that I think will do. The people here are not very attentive—but few only assemble for prayers.
Nov. 29th-30th . . . Continued till about 3 o'clock in the Pa then left the Pa to proceed with the natives towards Waikanae to endeavour to establish peace. The mob of natives soon joined us—having had prayers with them we left them and proceeded for about 4 miles, when, it being very dark and raining we stopped and having managed to pitch my tent in the sand, Mr. Williams and myself lay from about ten o'clock till 3, when the mob consisting of about 200 natives with Watanui at their head, joined us. They requested us to have prayers with them. We then proceeded all together after they had gone through several native manoeuvres. They remained about two miles from the Pa. We entered it and after some speeches they determined to establish peace. Matahau was sent out with conditions of peace and the hostile mob returned. The natives of Waikanae in the afternoon went through various military exercises.
Dec. 1st . . . Received the Lord's Supper with several of our natives. The congregation both in the morning and the evening consisted of about 900 In the evening they were particularly attentive when addressed by the Revd. Henry Williams on the last verses of Matthew's Gospel. I was much interested with the school. May the Lord be with us and pour his spirit on these people.
Dec. 2nd . . . Have suffered the last three days with a severe complaint in my bowels, from living entirely upon vegetable food. Went to Kapiti—
Columbine had not yet arrived. About 100 natives met in the evening for instruction. It was on Mr. D's plan from Waimate—I did not like it. I shall stop it. Looked about for a spot for a house.
Dec. 3rd . . . Not well. Remained all day at Waikanae. Walked with Matahau to look for a place for a house. Did not see any suitable place. Mr. W. addressed the natives (about 900). Sat up late talking to Mr. W.
Dec. 4th . . . Still unwell. Assembled in the chapel and Matahau was baptised by Mr. W. and called Joseph. He is not well instructed having been a long time from the ministry of the Gospel, but is evidently dependent entirely on die blood of Jesus for pardon and his conduct is in every respect consistent with the profession that he makes. By him undoubtedly as the instrument all the good there is here has been effected. Witnessed the purchase of some land situated beyond Port Nicholson for natives, and also Richard's at Port Nicholson for the use of the mission. Left Waikanae proposing to proceed to Wanganui as the Columbine had not yet arrived. Reached Otaki, felt very unwell. Went to bed as soon as my tent was pitched.
Dec. 5th . . . Suffered all night from violent pains and asthma. Went about 3 in the morning to Mr. W's tent and took about 50 drops of laudanum and a little rhubarb, felt a little relieved. Made an attempt about noon to get up but was unwell. Determined, having no particular end in view, not to proceed to Wanganui. Propose proceeding when I have books. Mr. W. left about 2 o'clock on his way through the country. Continued suffering continual pain all day.
Dec. 6th . . . Felt rather better this morning. Left my tent about 11 and sat with Watanui and his son and wife in the warm sunshine. Returned and sat in my tent reading, etc., for some hours. Went to evening service, very few natives assembled. Felt cold in returning, which was soon followed by violent pain. Took about 49 drops of laudanum and went to bed.
Dec. 7th . . . Very unwell all day. Took more laudanum and a little rhubarb (the only medicine I have with me), remained in bed all day. Somewhat annoyed by the ignorant curiosity of the natives. Captain Mayhew and Brown came to see me. The wind blew so hard in the night that I was obliged to go out and fasten my tent, was in fear lest it should be carried away. Have nothing to eat but boiled flour, biscuit and water, nevertheless feel thankful and satisfied.
Dec. 8th . . . Lord's Day. Felt somewhat better all day, but unable to move from my bed, somewhat annoyed by the rude noisy behaviour of the natives. Received a letter from my dear brother Charles, of May 6th. Thereby I learnt that all were well at home up to that time. Felt thankful. . . . Felt desirous to pray for the poor people among whom I live, and among whom I hope to spend my few remaining days. . . .
Dec. 9th . . . Felt much better. Determined for many reasons to leave Otaki and go to Waikanae. Started with three natives about 10, and after some
Columbine had just arrived. . . .
Dec. 11th . . . Went early to the Pa. There were some Englishmen there, in trouble because having uttered an oath the day before, the chief Witi detained their boat. The chief would not attend to anything they said, but went with me to the Columbine at Kapiti. Captain Lewington says that he has met with very bad weather—went on shore and looked after my things. Felt still very unwell—took a strong dose of castor oil and went to bed on board at about 6 o'clock.
Dec. 12th . . . Passed a good night, felt better. Arranged matters and left the Columbine. As soon as I landed the men came to me and asked me to intercede for the boat. I spoke to the chief and for a slight payment he allowed the boat to go. Fixed on a spot in the Pa, for a site for a house for the present. The natives are very civil and disposed to assist me in any manner. . . .
Dec. 13th . . . My health a little improved, walked about noon towards Waikanae. Stopped and talked with many small parties of natives. Learnt that a man had been murdered at Otaki—he was the brother of Joseph, and was murdered by Tuatara. Continued a short time in the Pa. Saw a few preparations for my house. On account of the extreme heat of the sun, went for a few hours into a native house and was covered with vermin. Felt my soul somewhat drawn towards God in thought and prayer, feel ready to endure anything for the honour and glory of Christ in His service; though dwelling in a tent among these people with whose language I am still unacquainted I would not change my lot with any person in the world.
Dec. 14th . . . Came early to the Pa and took up my abode with the chief Witi (son of the old chief Reretawhangawhanga) who is extremely civil. Occupied in various arrangements, also in studying the language. . . .
Dec. 15th . . . Lord's Day. The service was conducted in the morning by Cranmer, the Christian native who accompanied me. Afterwards we had school. In the evening I for the first time read the native service. Simon, a Christian native gave an address from Col. 3, 1-3 in a very able manner. Before service for several reasons I felt rather in low spirits. A Wesleyan lad Paul has set up an opposition service in the Pa, etc., etc., but during the service and even before when I saw the natives crowding to the chapel till many were obliged to stand and many to remain outside, I looked up with thankfulness to the Lord and gave thanks. . . .
Dec. 16th . . . Rose at half past four in the morning and began school in the Pa after service. The sight was indeed pleasing. There were about 180 men and boys engaged in four different classes in learning to write on slates. We have but four able to teach. It was indeed interesting to see the old chief Reretawhangawhanga beginning to learn to write and read, and others as old. I have not yet derived a plan for the women, there were about 150 of them, but having no teachers or slates, they were instructed only in the
Dec. 17th . . . Went to school at 5 o'clock. The numbers have increased since yesterday, but I have not yet sufficiently ascertained their knowledge to classify them. Was much pleased and delighted with it. After breakfast rode to Otaki on the hard sandy beach and carried a few books in my pocket. Went first to Pakakutu, and was much pleased with the chief Ruru to whom I gave a testament and some small books. He appeared very grateful. He is I trust really drawn to spiritual things. I then went to Rangiuru and sat for an hour and a half with Watanui and his sons. I gave him and each of his sons a book. I learnt from some notes to natives that Mr. Williams was at Rangitikei, having met a party of natives coming from Taranaki to join these people. He remained there and persuaded them to return. I rode back to Waikanae.
Dec. 19th . . . Attended school at 5 in the morning, 230 adults present, 182 males, 48 females. Having only 5 teachers these are all that I could manage. It is an interesting sight to see persons of all ages learning to read the Word of God, the only book they have. Passed the day principally in attending to the sick and writing and studying the language. Have felt better in health today and yesterday. Oh Lord make me grateful for all Thy favour I pray Thee. Wrote to dear Charles by way of America. Had a visit from a surgeon living in the neighbourhood.
Dec. 20th . . . No school on account of the rain. Engaged a considerable part of die day in attending the sick. I fear to little profit as they will not attend to directions. Not very well. May my soul and body be strengthened by the Lord for the work he may be pleased to entrust to me.
Dec. 21st . . . Attended school in the morning as usual. Went after breakfast to Paripari (and also Wainui) and carried books—it is about 8 miles distant. The people were very civil. Attended to three sick persons. Richard's brother I hope will recover. It is 12 months today since I arrived in New Zealand. Oh how unprofitably I have hitherto spent my time. Do Thou oh gracious God have mercy and compassion upon me and grant that I may live more in communion with Thee, and seek grace and strength to enable me to do Thy will. Bless O Lord the people among whom I am now come.
The last letter I wrote was from the Bay of Islands in Oct. to dear George stating that I had altogether left the school and was about to sail to Kapiti, or Entry Island, in Cook Strait.
I landed first in Port Nicholson on the 8th of November accompanied by the Rev. H. Williams, who remained with me three weeks. I then went across to Cloudy Bay in the Middle Island and remained a day or two. . . . We left Cloudy Bay, but as the wind headed us we went again into Port Nicholson where Mr. W. and I determined to walk to the coast opposite Kapiti. . . .
The people on our arrival were in a state of warfare. The people of the Pa were attacked about 5 weeks before suddenly in the night by the natives of Otaki, a Pa about 11 miles further on the coast. There were about 35 of the latter killed, and 20 of the former. They were obliged to return leaving everything that they had with them. The people of this place have been slightly instructed in the truths of the Gospel by a native who came down a few years ago from Paihia, one of our settlements. They only acted on the defensive and contrary to precedent and native custom, instead of eating the dead bodies, buried them with all the spoil. Peace has now been established among them by Mr. W's influence and persuasion and I must now endeavour to maintain it, though the Otaki natives are by no means very much inclined to peace. . . .
The Island of Kapiti at which ships are accustomed to anchor lies about 4 or 5 miles from the coast where I am now living, which is called Waika-nae. I am at present, contrary to the preceding custom of all the missionaries, living in the Pa or fortified village. I have now been six weeks in a small tent seven feet square, moving about, but during the last week I have settled here. A tent is not very comfortable as it is cold at night and warm in the day time. It is now while I am writing very hot; the natives also all crowding about and putting their heads in at all times. I am having a house built of rushes by natives in the Pa. I brought a few blankets with me and some bricks to make a chimney before winter comes as it is rather cold in this part of Pa, for many reasons, and one is the excessive filth and also noise of the natives. . . . Personal inconvenience is nothing to me. . . . No missionary has either hitherto gone alone to any station, but I am living 300 miles from any other missionary. But though I am labouring under many disadvantages, and one great one, an almost entire ignorance of the language (though I have learnt more the last few weeks than I did all the time before), I never felt happier and more contented and composed in my life, or ready to endure and bear whatever the Lord may call me to. . . .
The chiefs of the Pa in which I now am are exceeding desirous of instruction and are very kind to me. I am quite amused in the morning to see the principal chief of the place, Reretawhangawhanga, learning to read and write his letters. He is an old man with a long grey beard.
I gave some account in my letter to my mother of my trip to Taranaki, a walk of about 350 miles, for 4 weeks, during which I went over land and among natives that had not seen a missionary before. I had an opportunity of preaching the glorious Gospel of my Master. I am disposed to take a different view of the natives from that generally taken by the missionaries here. I think them a most pleasing, interesting, intelligent set of people. I have some who had not looked into a book when I began school in December (especially a leading chief), who can now read and write well.
I am beginning to speak a little in native in preaching but having to learn the language without grammar, dictionary, etc., it is difficult. The natives however understand so I trust I shall shortly improve. I have many interesting enquiries concerning Jesus, but hitherto (the fault is perhaps with me) rather ignorant. One is certainly under the influence of the Spirit and I shall shortly baptise him. They are for the most part young men from the age of about 18 to 30 who are disposed to give up sin of every kind and serve Jesus. My sphere of labour from the vicinity of shipping is bad, but the Lord has brought me and I trust through prayer will bless me. I have no certain dwelling place, but two small houses at about ten miles apart.
My congregation at one place about 400, and the other 150, but numbers of others in villages all about me. It is surprising to see the attention with which they attend to the preached Gospel and their reverence for the Word of God—the Bible says so and that is enough. Port Nicholson, the new settlement, is within 30 miles of me so that I am no longer out of the world.
Since my removal from the North I am quite satisfied. I have been living alone and have had many difficulties to encounter, especially from my ignorance of the language. It is now eight months since I came down here and I am now speaking the language tolerably; at least I speak it badly enough, but Mr. Williams and the natives say I speak it well so I have lately taken courage and am improving. My health is also improved—my chest is much better and except on particular occasions it feels quite well. I am stronger and can undergo a great deal of fatigue and hard work. I frequently sleep out in my tent for a fortnight together in frosty nights and am also often wet in crossing rivers, etc., but I never take cold.
My only trial at present is a want of time for reading and prayer, without which the soul cannot flourish. Now that I can speak the language my soul is indeed delighted with my work. The natives all along the coast call me their father. Yes, there is a kind of pleasure which is unutterable in the work. For instance yesterday in this place (Waikanae) to see about 500 persons who were but a short time ago buried in darkness and in sin,
I have too much to do here and consequently can do nothing properly. I have two houses 10 miles apart and am absent from both a great deal, so that I never satisfy myself or anybody else. Some of the chiefs told me the other day that if I had not come here the war would not have ended and that many ere this belonging to both sides would have been dead. I hope now that Captain Hobson has arrived their wars will be put a stop to. I have lately had two journeys to Wanganui, one with Mr. H. Williams who went partly with the view of obtaining the signatures of the chiefs to a deed of surrender of the sovereignty of the land to the Queen. All I did was to witness them, but I would rather have nothing to do with the Government—however they are very civil to us. I went again with Mr. & Mrs. Mason who lately arrived here. They stayed in my house a week and then I took them on to their station at Wanganui—it is about 65 miles from me. I like them much, but they were exceedingly ignorant of the difficulties of travelling in this country.
It is a long time I think since I addressed you, but I doubt not that you all make common property of my letters, and therefore I am not very particular when I write which of you I address.
I feel thankful at least that I, and yet not I but the Gospel I preach, has been the means of stopping the war between the two tribes among whom I live. Many of the chiefs of the tribe who began the war before I came, now tell me that though they cannot understand all I tell them about a God in Christ reconciling sinners to Himself, washing away sins in His atoning blood, they have nevertheless learned to leave off fighting and working on the Lord's Day. So among this, perhaps the most obdurate of all the tribes in N.Z., there is a little done; many of the young people and a few of the chiefs however regularly attend to my instructions. The other tribe all attend to me, and in the one village in which I reside there are about 500 or 600 at service in the native chapel on the Sunday.
I do not take such a sanguine view of these things as some of our people here; it is not all gold that glitters; nevertheless there is much to encourage me even in "the day of small things"; vast numbers can now read and write well, and when I have lectures of an evening, it amuses me to see the means they resort to to get a place inside the building which will not hold above 200; they climb up on stands that they have made on the sides of their native buildings, and many come a half an hour before the bell
rings that they may get a seat, so anxious are they to hear the word of God explained. Some come about 10 miles on the Saturday for the services of the next day. It is remarkable to see gun-barrels used for bells, instruments of war turned into instruments for calling to peace.
I have too much work here, but do not misunderstand me, not that I over-exert myself, alas my indolence I fear is my chief sin, but I mean too much for one person to do, so that I can do nothing with pleasure, for while I am about one thing I leave two undone. I long for help, the fields are ripe for the harvest, and none to reap. It is a curious kind of life I lead in the midst of these people, subject to so many interruptions, and moving about as much as I do. I have not much time for reading.
This country is changing fast from the multitude of English coming here, in fact it is impossible to look forward at all, as to what the probable consequence will be as far as regards the natives. For my part, I anticipate no good for the natives, nay I look forward with grief to the state of these poor people, may the Lord disappoint my forebodings. Government at present are well disposed to the natives, but this may be partly policy, being a little afraid of them; time only will show. These people are a very wicked people, and if civilised without the influence of the Gospel to bear upon it will not be benefited in any way. The influence of the immoral English living in the land is the greatest difficulty I have to contend with as they continually object to me the lives and conduct of my own countrymen; these objections I should observe, come from those who have not yet made any profession of the Gospel. I have been abused by the Port Nicholson people in their paper, that is, accused of buying land, and trading for pigs and potatoes with books; I care little what they say about me, and if you should see any of their remarks you will know what credit to give them. Since my visit there however (it is about 30 miles from me), they have somewhat altered their tone. All connected with the Government, among others the Colonial Secretary, were very civil to me, and I lately had two very polite notes from Col. Wakefield. I never have and never intend to court the favour of men, but if, however bad, they are willing to live on friendly terms with me I shall not draw back. I met with some pleasing people among them. I do not wish to be much connected with Government as they have already appointed one Popish magistrate. They however naturally apply to us for information, etc., with respect to the natives, being ignorant of their language, manners, customs, etc.
When I came here I left as it were all comforts and everything connected with civilisation, and I felt it no hardship; I was even thought by people here rash and headstrong for coming here to the Straits alone; but I now have everything almost brought within my reach—however my wants are few. I only mean that you need no longer fancy that I am where I was twelve months ago; I have not indeed moved, but the world has moved towards me.
There is not much beauty in the scenery here, a sandy shore and flat near the sea, but the mountains at the back are fine and I have the hilly island of Kapiti, or "Entry Island," about three miles out at sea, just oppo-
I have lately been put into good spirits by the hope that our correspondence may henceforward be more regular and expeditious, for certainly next to the pleasure of being with you hearing from you is the greatest I have. Your letter and that of dear Charles dated May reached me 3 weeks ago, being directed to me at this place. I yesterday received one from my father dated March 20. I hear of other letters, and the bearer of the one I read yesterday told me there were more, and newspapers, for me at Port Nicholson, which for some hitherto unaccountable reason have not yet been sent on, but which I suppose I shall see in due time. I am afraid my letters since I have been down here have been very dull and stupid, but living in England you can scarcely imagine the difficulty one feels here of getting a little quiet time when an opportunity presents itself of writing. I will try henceforth to be more regular in writing, and my letters must wait for a ship at Port Nicholson. I have not received a letter from Alexander since his arrival in India.
I returned about a fortnight ago from an interesting trip among some people of this tribe living on the banks of a most spendid and beautiful river, Manawatu, which empties itself into the sea about 20 miles from this (I am now writing from Otaki). I was as high up the river before, last summer, about 40 miles, but I this time came all the way down in a canoe, visiting the natives on the banks, nearly all of whom I found much improved and seeming to welcome me from their hearts. I was much interested.
I am also expecting a vessel to take me to the opposite Island, to Queen Charlotte Sound, where there are many hundreds who in dieir simple way call themselves my children; I have much love for them. A party of another tribe lately visited me for some days (Rauparaha's people), with all the nobility of the tribe. I was much pleased with some of them. There is some talk of their coming to me from all parts of the Straits in the summer, but I do not know whether it will be the case.
My mother kindly asks me whether I want anything in the way of clothes, and I think I will trouble you as everything here is very dear and bad. What I chiefly want are some books which perhaps George will be kind
Soon after I arrived here the year before last a large party from Queen Charlotte Sound arrived here to see their friends and relatives after the battle that was fought a few weeks before. These people remained here some months and constantly attended school, etc. On their return I supplied them with books, slates, etc., in order that they might carry on the same system on their return home. I occasionally heard from some of the teachers and promised, not withstanding my multiplied and daily multiplying engagements, to pay them a visit.
The windy weather being over, I started in my boat with five natives to cross the Straits, a canoe likewise accompanying me. I was detained a few days on the coast by contrary wind about 20 miles from this, where I employed my time among the natives who now in every direction pay me great respect. I started at 8 o'clock with a light breeze which soon died away—we then rowed for about three hours, the canoe left us, when a breeze
I returned to the Sound and spent a few more days there among some natives I had not previously seen, and then, taking leave of the Sound and its inhabitants with regret, with the purpose however if the Lord will of revisiting it, I sailed accompanied by four large canoes at two o'clock with a fine breeze and reached the Island of Mana at 7 o'clock to my comfort and satisfaction. My boat is too small—several of the white men about this area blamed me for crossing in it, but I had no alternative. I do not however purpose venturing again in it.
Peace is now fully established between the two tribes among whom I live. The sons of the leading chiefs of both sides have respectively visited the opposite party. This at least is one point I have gained—so far the Gospel has displayed its power. I yesterday added up a list of my schools in different places around me and found that about 600 (this is under the mark) meet daily to learn to read, write and also to learn the catechisms they have in use. About one half of these can read and write tolerably, but there are many hundreds who have learnt without any regular schools. In outward labours I think (though here I may err) I am not deficient as I give myself but little rest and am nearly always among these people talking of divine things. I this time of the year attend school at four o'clock in the morning daily and my evening lectures close at about nine—during all this time I am liable to be interrupted. I have also the hearts of the natives who see that I give myself a good deal of trouble on their behalf. But with all this my heart condemns me—I preach and I teach, etc., etc., but I pray but little and that in truth is the great source of ministerial usefulness. My love has grown cold and my faith weak. I will not attempt to excuse myself but oh what would I now give for one Sabbath in the midst of some holy congregation at home—you can perhaps enter into my feelings. Pray that the Lord may be with me that a precious Saviour may be daily becoming more precious and that I may live nearer to my God.
One word with regard to myself. Henry as well as you says much to me about taking care of my health. Now you both know that I never was very strong and neither am I now, nor do I think much about my health. I am engaged in work that does not allow me much opportunity of taking care of myself, therefore once for all let me say that you must not be anxious about me. You may hear that I am ill or even dead, but you must learn to remember that I am engaged in the Lord's work and am in His hands "Who doeth all things well".
My work is going on well among the natives—I baptised 33 the other day, all of whom I think well, some of whom I love much. Port Nicholson is a prospering place. There is some degree of spirit, etc., among the colonists which I admire, and the country has many capabilities. I hear that we have a bishop appointed for N.Z. I hope he will soon be out here. He is much wanted. I preached here on Good Friday and twice yesterday to an English congregation—somebody is much wanted here. There is here a Mr. St. Hill and his wife who are as kind to me as it is possible to be. I never met with anybody more so.
I have been here for a few days and am now only waiting for a fine day to return home. I was sent for to Waikanae. Things here are in a bad way. There is a population of 2000 persons and no clergyman to attend to them—a layman sent down here by the Bishop has been behaving ill and must go—he has done this church much harm. We are expecting the Bishop shortly—I trust he will be able to restore matters again to order. I preached to a good congregation (considering the place of worship) on Sunday. The respectable people are very civil to me and wish me to remain here till the Bishop makes his arrival. Had I not such abundant employment among my own people I should be inclined to do so as the flock is becoming scattered and marriages, etc., are taking place in an irregular manner, and all kinds of evils are likely to ensue. Many are going away to the Wesleyans and Presbyterians so that the Bishop may probably blame me, when he comes, but I know not what to do. The inhabitants also think that I ought to be more with them under present circumstances, so that I shall probably be censured generally. There is not I fear a person who will be able to read prayers and keep a congregation together.
I was requested by a Mr. W. yesterday to call on his wife who appears to have been awakened by a sermon she heard from me when I was last here. She seems now in a pleasing state of mind though she has suffered much in mind and body. She comes from London and told me she had never seen a Bible in her youth and had never but once entered a place of worship.
The Governor is expected here daily. Lt. Dawson is expected down with him, having been appointed magistrate here. I have not yet seen him. I think I mentioned in my last that I was going across the Straits. I did so and was more refreshed and delighted than I have been before since I have been in New Zealand. The seed which had been sown in the summer I found had in many instances fallen in good ground and sprung up and brought forth fruit, so that I could rejoice and give thanks for the manifestations of Jehovah's rich grace and love towards these dear people chosen in Christ to everlasting life and glory. At Okukari I found they had built me a house where I made myself very comfortable, and the kindness and attention of these dear people delighted my soul—thus though I have left father, mother, brothers, sisters, etc. I found them here. I have a congregation at that place of about 800, some of whom came from the neighbouring places. I baptised 17 persons with whose examination I was much pleased. I then proceeded to Rangitoto (Port Hardy) and there I found these people who I had visited before vastly improved and delighted to see me, and their kindness and civility was unbounded. I baptised 8 among whom was the chief of the place, a man of about forty, and three young women who, though they heard the Gospel for the first time in February, seemed to have remembered all that I said during the few days I was with them. They seemed exceedingly clear in doctrinal points, election, justification, sanctification, etc., so that I was amazed. They had built a nice place of worship according to my instructions and seemed to spend all their time and to have all their thoughts set upon spiritual and heavenly things.
I and my people are going on tolerably well on this side, but living among them I do not see so much the change, and they have many disadvantages from being so near the white people, though here at Port Nicholson, comparatively speaking, they are very orderly and quiet and well behaved to the natives. I could relate much that would interest you in a kind of diary but I have no time for it, and after all one is in danger of being very egotistic and I am afraid this is a great fault of mine, though in letter writing it is in some degree desirable. However, I like to let you know my concerns but do not wish to have them published to the world. My people at and about Otaki, one of my places, are not advancing much, those that are more immediately about me are doing well, but they have the cross to bear, as they are despised by some of their proud relatives.
This colony must prosper from the spirited way in which some of the settlers seem to act. There is some talent and propriety here. I, the day before yeterday, after marrying a party accompanied them to a dejeune where everything was done with as much elegance, etc., as it would have been in England, and the company was select. This I did not expect when I came to N.Z. and is a contrast to what I at other times have. This day fortnight I was caught in a breeze when returning in my boat from Rangitoto, and slept by the side of my boat on the rocks on an uninhabited island, without water and only a small fire during a frosty night, and nothing to eat. So much for variety, but I can rejoice evermore at the prospect of eternal rest.
It is a very long time I fear since I have addressed a letter to you, though I think I have received more from you than from anybody else. I feel thankful that I have health and strength today sufficient to enable me to write to you. The last I wrote were to Caroline and Henry, Nov. 1 and 16, and as the vessel by which they were sent went direct home I hope you will get them soon.
And now I suppose I must say something about myself, and how shall I begin; if I keep silence I shall lose your confidence and if I tell you the truth I shall perhaps give you pain; but if my letters written lately home reached you, you will have learnt that my health has not been very good within the last few months, but as I am always complaining you would not perhaps think much of it. I suffered for some weeks from pain in my left side, accompanied with very disordered bowels and great weakness, but though confined to my house some days, on others I was enabled to go through some of my duties. Feeling rather better on the 5 th of December I started in my boat to go across to Queen Charlotte Sound, but having gone down the coast about 25 miles I felt so ill that I was obliged to land, have my tent erected and go to bed. I then found myself in a violent fever which increased so rapidly that in the night about 11 o'clock I told my boat's crew, the wind being fair, to cover me well with blankets and take me back home, which we reached about the dawn of day. I was then put to bed where I lay till January 2nd.
Mr. Mason kindly came from Wanganui as soon as he heard of my illness and remained with me for a week till he thought me recovered. Mr. St. Hill, a particular friend of mine, likewise came from Port Nicholson and wished much to convey me to his house, but I thought it too far to be carried (about 40 miles). Col. Wakefield and others called and were very civil. I as usual would not have my medical man's advice, though now that I am better I perhaps shall consult somebody. One called in passing whom I had seen before and told me he thought there was an abcess forming in my left side and advised me to use calomel and blisters. I had previously taken calomel rather freely and I applied a blister which relieved me for the time, but the pain has since returned though not with violence. I think he made a great mistake about the formation of an abcess; I am not however certain as I am not well yet though I now sit up and yesterday walked a few yards from my house. I however hope, and my friends who judge by my improved looks, etc., think the same, that I am now getting well. Mr. Halswell, whose name as connected with N.Z. matters you may have seen in the papers, sent me a beautiful goat which supplied me with nice milk, and I have since lived almost entirely on arrowroot which is the only thing that has agreed with me. I have not you see been destitute of friends even here, but had them to minister to my wants and necessities. My native lad also, Coleman Davis (Te Kooro), has been very assiduous in his attentions day and night, so that I have in this respect much to be thankful for.
You will probably by this time wish to know what effect this illness has had on my soul, and expect a more full account under this head than I have given concerning the body. Should such be the case I fear you will be disappointed. Never has sickness been less sanctified to the good of my soul. The powers of my mind and soul seemed proportionably weakened with those of my body and I have enjoyed but little of my God.
My dear people (the Maoris) have been much grieved at my sickness, expecting to lose me, and if there was anything which tied me to this world it was a wish to be with them (be not angry with me if I confess I had almost forgotten you), though I could feel that I had "a desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better." A report having gone abroad among some at a distance that I was dead, they were all in tears. Whether this love is to me personally, or to me as minister and ambassador of Christ, I know not; God grant that it may be the latter. I can however look upon many souls who I trust will be found precious among Jesus' jewels. I feel more and more my own incapacity bodily and more especially mentally and spiritually for the great work in which I am professidly engaged. I differ with most here concerning baptism and with regard to solemnising marriage between persons baptised and those who are not, etc.
I wish I could spend my few remaining days as a hermit, but how to proceed I know not. George says my father wants a statistical account of how I pass a day, etc., etc. The truth is I never pass two days alike and never two weeks together in the same place. I sometimes have a dinner and sometimes go without. In fact you cannot well imagine anything more irregular than the life and adventures of O.H.
I wrote in the beginning of the month to Octavia, but hope this may reach you before that as the account I felt bound to give you of my state of health was not very good, and I am happy now to be able to give a more favourable report. I then stated that I had been confined to my bed for three weeks, but was recovering. Since that I have been brought by my friend Mr. St. Hill to his house here, where by the very kind and assiduous attentions of himself and Mrs. St. Hill I have been supplied with every comfort. He has the best house in the colony and they have spared no pain in making me comfortable. I have been with them now a fortnight and trust that I shall shortly be enabled to resume my old employment. I have been in the hands of Dr. Fitzgerald, who I think is a clever man. He told me that I was suffering from an affection of the pleura, which required immediate attention lest it should spread to the lungs in which case it might prove fatal. I have been cupped and have had three blisters applied to my side, etc., and am now feeling well. I would that I could feel more grateful to the Lord for His goodness in raising up friends to me in a time of need and supplying me with those means which were necessary for my recovery. "Trust ye in the Lord for ever" is a sweet sentence—oh that we
could always act upon it. I went to church on Sunday and preached to an English congregation and did not feel much fatigued through my exertions. My chest has been unusually well—I have not coughed once during my illness.
It has been rather painful to me to be unable to live among my dear people and to continue my instructions to them, but the Lord's will be done. They have appeared very anxious for my recovery and appear much attached to me. I wish I had some help, my time is much wasted in moving about from place to place. I begin also to fear that the rapid influx of whites to this country must eventually prove pernicious to the natives. This part of the country will shortly be overrun with settlers if colonisation proceeds as it has hitherto done. I cannot but fear that there will be blood-shed here before long, that a collision will take place between the settlers and the natives. Nothing I firmly believe at the present moment restrains the natives but the power of the Gospel—how long that may continue to act generally as a restraint I cannot conjecture. I see no reason why such an event should take place—the natives are very easily managed, but the impetuosity of some settlers will probably act as a firebrand to cause a general conflagration, and should such a thing happen some of the settlers (though they do not think so) must be the sufferers.
I do not think that there is fair play here—for instance on the arrival of the Lieut.-Governor it was stated that he came to make a treaty with the New Zealand chiefs. In this treaty all their lands and rights were guaranteed to the latter, who allowed the Governor to take quiet possession. This treaty which the Governor made with them, they looked upon as a bona fide act and they understood that lands which should be taken possession of by settlers were to be purchased from them. But now that a footing has been obtained here, a different ground is taken and it is broadly hinted that the treaty was not a bona fide act but a mere blind to deceive foreign powers. The Queen takes possession of the soil and the natives are looked upon as nonenities, and what the result must be requires not any extraordinary measure of foresight to determine. What opinion the unsuspecting simple New Zealander will form of settlers from this act of civilised Christian diplomacy remains to be seen—that it will not be a very favourable one I presume no one will question. This is a fine country, its capabilities have no bounds, the natives are a fine, tractable race, Christianity has its influence among them, and settlers may come here to any extent: there is plenty of room, but a strong Government, that which we read of as a matter of history (for such a thing scarcely exists in these days) is wanted, but under a weak, vacillating Government nothing can prosper.
But enough perhaps of these subjects which though they engage and occupy my thoughts may not interest you. We have nothing however to fear for ourselves, for though some of the natives look upon us missionaries as feelers sent out to prepare the way for colonisation, and the colonists on the other hand view us with suspicion, considering that we influence the natives to oppose their interests, we are nevertheless considered by both parties too useful to be dispensed with at present. I am also bound to say that personally I have met with great civility and kindness from all the leading settlers.
I often wish to pay you a visit and to see you all again but I could be of no use in England and I think as soon as we cease to be useful life becomes a burden. Here, if possessed of a very moderate measure of health I might be materially useful in various ways both among natives and others, and therefore I make up my mind to live here, though I may some day pay you a visit, in which case I should probably persuade you all to accompany me back to
Continue to write very fully to me of yourselves and all my friends, etc. The lapse of time does not at all lessen the interest which I take in small particulars concerning you. I certainly am vexed that so many vessels come direct from London to this port in three or four months without bringing letters from you. I wish I could hear from Alexander. I hope when the China war is over that if he returns home he will come to me first. I should be quite happy here if I had either more time for reading, etc., or some friends with whom I could converse with profit, but I feel sometimes strongly concerning the importance of the work in which I am engaged, and my own total inability to perform it adequately, an inability arising from the sinfulness and indolence of my heart. To feed Christ's sheep and lambs is important work and "who is sufficient for these things" says Paul, and if he could feel so how ought I to feel. But Christ is sufficient for me whose "blood cleanseth from all sin." Oh how precious is the doctrine of salvation through faith in Christ.
I often wish to see you all and often feel how great my loss is in being removed from you to this distant part of the earth. I feel sometimes that you can scarcely sympathise with me. You have parted with one or two (dear Alex), but you still have many around you whereas I have parted with all and am a solitary being in this hemisphere. But the love and affection, those bonds and links which nature feels are so strong and firm that they cannot be dissolved, yet unite me to you and keep you fresh in my remembrance. Think not that I despair or repine at my lot, oh no. If I have made a sacrifice, if I have endured a loss, as indeed in one sense I feel that I have, it has not been done presumptiously but at the bidding of One to whose commands all earthly affections must yield and give way, and who, while He commands us to leave earthly parents, etc., for His sake says at the same time "and I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters." This then is my cause of rejoicing, that whereas I came among these people rather more than two years and a half ago and found them engaged in wars, etc., etc. I now find myself surrounded with believers. But to what shall I ascribe this, to myself? As well might I ascribe it to the paper in which the words of the Lord are printed.
I started early in March on one of my tours, and went a longer round than I had hitherto been. I went in my boat but in it I go no more for two reasons, first because in crossing the Straits I was nearly being lost in a gale of wind, breaking my rudder and being considered mad by all the seamen about the coast, and secondly because our committee at the North, taking compassion on my eccentric propensities which they find it impossible to cure, have sent down a pretty little craft which is as safe as anything of the kind can be. I went first to Queen Charlotte Sound where my people received me with much affection, having despaired of my life in my late illness.
There were about 700 or more present on Sunday at service and I baptised about 50. I then went on to Rangitoto (D'Urvilles Isd.) and was there delighted with those dear people who I think are the greatest treasures I have, especially some young women there. I then proceeded on about 50 miles into Blind Bay to the new settlement, Nelson, where Capt. Wakefield and others received me very civilly. I preached to a good congregation there but there were but few natives there. I then returned home having been absent three weeks.
I am not very comfortable with regard to the temporal interests of the natives. I fear that ere long they will suffer from the rapid influx of white men among them, and though Lord John Russell's despatch to the Governor respecting their lands, etc., is exceedingly good, I fear it will be very difficult to put his orders into practice. I am expecting to hear of the arrival of our Bishop (Selwyn) since I have seen his consecration in the papers.
I go on much as usual here; I have however been moving about lately. I was at Wanganui (Mason's station) about five weeks ago. I saw the Dawsons there, who were quite well and very kind and civil to me. On my return from that place I went to Port Nicholson and then went about 50 miles beyond it to a place called Wairarapa, which I had never visited before. The residents there are newcomers who, having been beaten formerly in their wars had deserted their land, but who have lately returned. I did not see many of them as they were in the woods looking for food, having not yet any regular plantations. I had an uncomfortable trip as there was cold rain every day and some of the cliffs could only be passed by wading into the sea up to my waist. I passed another week at Port Nicholson. I baptised about 30 natives there with whom I was much pleased. I officiated there as usual to an English congregation to whom notice was given in the public papers. People came to hear me preach though I hear that many consider me an enthusiast. Christ's little flock however must profit. I am happy to say that I am relieved of the charge now as Mr. Cole is appointed there. The Bishop has arrived here, though I have not seen him as he was obliged to go to Nelson. I expect to see him on his return in a week or two. I do not know what he will do with me, or whether I shall remain where I am or not.
The Bishop I hear is much interested in the natives and has already some knowledge of the language. Maunsell has published a grammar, which however I have not seen; he is a clever fellow, the only man we have who knows the language well. Many of our good friends here fancy that
I came over here yesterday with Mr. Mason to meet the Bishop and am highly delighted with him. I breakfasted with him this morning and he was very kind saying that he had sufficient introduction to me from the Bishop of Australia who had spoken to him of me. He appears to be a man of great latent energy and activity, in fact a first rate man. I do now hope that we may expect an abundant blessing from the Lord upon our labours here.
I administered the sacrament on Sunday to more than 150 natives at Waikanae and on the Sunday previous to 65. I am much interested in my work.
I have two clergymen now come into my part of the country, one is at Wellington, the Revd. R. Cole, the other is at Nelson, the Revd.
I have had much conversation with the Bishop. He is a man I think well suited for the work to which he is appointed. He is devoted to his work and is a pattern of self-denial, diligence and activity. His great talent is too manifest to be questioned by anybody. He delights in being with natives and enters into all their concerns and wants with unwearied attention and patience. The knowledge which he has already attained of the native language is surprising. He has passed through my place twice on his way to Taranaki (New Plymouth) and then again on his road to Hawke's Bay. On this latter occasion he was accompanied by the Chief Justice. Mr. Martin. I went with them about a hundred miles up the river Mana-watu, and then having procured about 30 natives to accompany them to Archdeacon Williams at Hawke's Bay I took leave of them. I was with them a week and left them with regret, thankful however that I had enjoyed the society of the two most talented men in New Zealand for so long a time. They are both attached in a most extraordinary manner to the natives and seem determined to defend the natives interests, and as they have the power to do so, being joint trustees for all native property, etc., much good will no doubt be done by them. I cannot express how delighted I have been with them both.
I felt very much interest in my English congregation at Wellington on giving them up to their new pastor. Several of them wanted to know why I could not live there. There has been this last week a very disastrous fire at Wellington, 59 houses having been destroyed and many poor creatures consequently involved in misery and want. A considerable sum of money has already been raised for the relief of the sufferers, and I was gratified to learn that a small native congregation had given £4 towards the fund, thus showing a kindly feeling towards their white brethren. The Bishop has given me more work to do, but whether I shall obey him or not I have not yet determined. He wished me and Mr. Maunsell to go through all the Native New Testament and correct all the mistakes and then to have a large quantity printed by the Christian Knowledge Society. I endeavoured in vain to persuade him and the Judge that I knew but little of the language. Nothing would do but I must give myself to the work. I know however that I am unequal to the work and therefor shall leave it for Maunsell. A little fluency in speaking with a tolerable pronunciation is mistaken for a knowledge of the language, when in truth there is no real connexion between the two.
I have lately met with a very severe affliction in the loss of my friend and fellow labourer Mr. Mason of Wanganui. Oh, I have already written several letters upon the melancholy subject, yet the loss of one so reliable at this time to the church here cannot but be a matter of regret to all interested in our labours here. I therefore promised to give some account of it. As Mr. Mason and myself on Jan. 5 were riding on the coast on my return from Wanganui, on coming to the very dangerous river Turakina we
I reached the shore with great difficulty, being in a very exhausted state having swallowed a large quantity of salt water. The two natives now came to assist me and having taken off my clothes and supplied me with their blankets and kindled a fire, after a few hours, my horse being caught, I was sufficiently recovered to return to Wanganui and complete the melancholy day by detailing to Mrs. Mason the distressing fact of her husband's death. Thus while my friend is taken away I am preserved: the Lord's ways are mysterious. We were riding quietly along talking about the state of the church at home and in N.Z., and within five minutes one was taken to his rest and the other left. When however I saw the distress of the poor dear people at Wanganui on the loss of their pastor, and the anxiety which my dear people evinced on the report of my death, which they heard, I cannot but acquiesce in the divine appointment. Mason and I were the only two missionaries known to all the natives of this part of the country. Mason had acquired a fair knowledge of the language and was a diligent, active and faithful minister in my opinion. Mrs. Mason tells me he had a very great regard for me and I am sure I had the same for him, poor fellow. I shall follow him soon.
I have lately received a letter from Julia (dated Sep. 28) in which she sends me a message from you to desire me to write when I have an opportunity; having now a few minutes to write in I do so, as there is a vessel going almost immediately. I was happy to hear that you were pretty well at the time of Julia's writing. I wrote a long letter to Caroline about 5 or 6 weeks ago, in which I mentioned my poor friend Mason's death and my narrow escape which you will have received before this reaches you. I have
I have now more to do than ever since Mason's death, but my strength I think is as great as it ever is, and I am quite well. I am come over here for two days on some matters of business, and then return. Things are rather in a dull state in this place. I am, with some others, making some exertions to get the natives to work at the New Zealand flax, which will be much for their benefit, and it is almost essential to the welfare of this colony that they should have some export. They have always been trying to invent some machine for the preparation of the flax, but I think that I have convinced some that the natives could be an immediate benefit to this country. You need not however think that I employ my time in these matters; they are merely facts which force themselves upon the observation of those who go about with their eyes open, which all here do not.
I have a few minutes to write in and as I hear there is a vessel going direct to England, I gladly employ them in writing to you. I have to thank George for newspapers, which are interesting. I was radier unwell when I last wrote, and have been worse since, but am now well again. I cannot do so much work now as I used some time ago; but I am not quite left to myself now, though my fellow workers know but little of the language of the natives.
The natives are going on quietly and steadily; and I lately was joined by almost all the remnant of the heathen party at Otaki and the neighbourhood. These people have resisted me in every possible way during nearly four years; and now they openly confess that their object in so doing was to induce me to leave them in disgust; but diat, having watched us, the Christian party, during so long a period, they are compelled to acknowledge that we are in possession of some principles whose tendencies are more conducive to order and good conduct—they our enemies being our judges— than any with which they were acquainted. The people at Waikanae have built a very beautiful church, which is now almost complete and which is much admired. They have been engaged nearly two years at it, and have worked well and altogether gratuitously.
I am now going to build myself a house at Waikanae, as my old mud-house is decaying fast and excessively damp, and the cause of hindering my work as it is not fit for a European residence. I have been careful not to spend more of the Society's money than is necessary; but I find a man gets no credit for it, and that if one does not take care of oneself there is nobody here to take care of one. Many who have come since I have and have never done any work are living in good houses. Economy may be carried too far, and some of my medical friends here tell me that I shall soon be able to
My friends here are very kind, and nobody could be more constantly kind and attentive than my dear friends the St. Hills, with whom I am now for a day or two, having money matters to attend to here. I return today to Waikanae, and as I must go about 20 miles, I must put an end to my writing.
The last letter I wrote was on the 1st of September to my mother, and since that I have delayed writing, though I fear there have been ships going direct, because I was out of humour at not receiving any letters from any of you. I have received letters from Salisbury dated late May, six weeks ago, and nothing from any of you since Feb.—so much grumbling, now let me think of something else.
I have had so much to do lately with our minor political matters that I fear I am become quite worldly. Since an unfortunate affair which I alluded to before, (Wairau), there has been a bad feeling existing between settlers and natives, and it has required the exercise of all the little wisdom which I possess to keep matters quiet. I believe I have been the chief instrument in doing this hitherto, and have had acknowledgements to this effect from government officers; but still it is not my proper work, and in that I would rather be occupied entirely. I am afraid I have witnessed a little luke-warmness among the natives lately; this however I must expect; but still I have seen nothing of the kind among my own favourites. I do not so much blame the natives for much that appears blameable in them, as I do ourselves. Ere long there will be considerable confusion in the Christianity of these people. Our hope is in the Lord, would that I ever rested upon that source of help simply and entirely.
I feel inclined to go to China. I wonder whether I could learn the language! I found no difficulty in the language of this country—but Chinese, I suppose, would put one's ability for languages to the trial. Nothing I regret more than not having studied languages. I sometimes feel a little angry with some of you at home, who always used to tell me when a boy that I was conceited and thereby discouraged me. I took a dislike when a boy to Latin and Greek, and was stupid enough with those languages. Since I left England I have only studied New Zealand and Hebrew, and have found no kind of difficulty with these. I fear nevertheless that Chinese would puzzle me.
I had the pleasure a few days ago of having the Chief Justice at my house for a day. He takes great interest in the language and in the natives of this country. I am expecting the Bishop in about a month. My friend Mr. St. Hill is gone to meet him in the centre of the Island and will accompany him back.
The Bishop has just come to visit us and I have come in here to meet him. I was with him some hours yesterday and he purposes following me to Waikanae in a few days. Mr. Cotton has been staying with me for a few days. The Bishop is a pleasing and talented man, but I hear rather inclined to Popery. I shall however have a further opportunity of seeing him shortly, and forming a more accurate and correct opinion of him and his religious views. I may have to act in opposition to him, but hope that so painful a state of things may be spared me.
Matters among the natives are going on much as usual. I think I can see, or rather foresee, that considerable difficulty will shortly exist in settling matters between the whites and the natives which will eventually lead to much evil and be very prejudicial to the cause of the Gospel. The land question here is in a most complicated state; the Company misunderstanding the Government, and the native misunderstanding both: and as a consequence considerable excitement existing.
I am called upon by all parties to give advice, and both Col. Wakefield, the Company's agent, and Major Richmond, the Chief Magistrate here wish me to make a statement of affairs to the new Governor. The truth is, it is not so much my knowledge of the state of things which recommends me to them, as the difficulty of finding a person at once acquainted with the state of affairs and not personally interested in the question.
I much fear that there will be a rapid decay shortly in the religion of the natives, in saying so I believe I am almost singular in my opinion, but I see causes working which must lead to it, if not shortly remedied. I had great confidence in the Bishop: he has plenty of ability, but now question whether he sees the question in a right point of view. We must have scriptural remedies applied and not ones of human invention. Would that I had more faith and more holy love and could watch and pray more.
I forget whether I mentioned in my last letter that I was unwell; if I did, you will doubtless have been anxious to hear again from me; but if I had written during that period I could not have given a very favourable account of myself, nor can I now. I have been very ill, and still am in very delicate health. I have indeed cause to be thankful, that considering how weak my constitution was when a boy, I have enjoyed so great a measure of health as I have, and have moreover been enabled to devote a few years to the work of the Lord.
But to proceed; I must give you some account of myself. In March last I was attacked with a complaint in my kidneys which confined me to my
I am forbidden to exert myself, so I content myself with very moderate duties. I was nine Sundays without being able even to go to church, but I have preached once each of the last four Sundays without suffering much by it. I am not now in much pain but then I am daily using very strong medicines, which may be expected ere long to lose their effect. I am determined to take care of myself, and try every remedy that is in my power, believing this to be my duty, and as I am now in my new house which is very comfortable, I can do so; but to do this in N.Z. and at the same time continue in the attempt to discharge my dudes among my flock, seems impossible for any length of time. If I find myself totally unable to do anything here I may be induced to attempt a voyage to England, especially as one of my medical advisers strongly recommends it; but I should take such a step with great reluctance and consequently only mention it as a possibility.
The Bishop happened to come into Wellington for an hour while I was there and was much grieved to find I was so unwell. He spoke and acted with the greatest kindness. He told me not to be anxious about my work, that he would send me somebody to assist me, and added that though I possessed but little strength I might be still very useful, especially in superintending matters at this end of the Island which, being at so great a distance from him, he could not well attend to himself.
I do not think that the prospects of this colony are very encouraging at the present time. The greater part of the colonists are very little acquainted with the various employments which would fit them to be useful settlers, and even those who take the lead in matters here show great ignorance of the first principles of political economy: they are aware that N.Z. will not produce everything they require and yet up to this time they have thought
I am happy to be able to say that I am feeling very much better now than when I wrote before. I have gained strength considerably and am feeling much less pain than I did then. I have lately had Mr. Taylor (Mr. Mason's successor at Wanganui) staying with me for a few days. He is exceedingly kind and anxious about me.
I am afraid from some late communications that the Church Missionary Society Committee are still ill-informed concerning the real state of religion in this country. Perhaps nothing is more difficult than to convey adequate ideas of the actual religious feelings and knowledge of a newly converted barbarous people to those who have no experimental knowledge of a people of this description. The Committee talk of introducing the parochial system under a native ministry into this country: and have written for advice and opinions upon the subject. The scheme at present is impracticable; and there is no such progressive advance in religious and moral knowledge as would lead the most acute discerner of future probable events to calculate with any likelihood of being correct what would be the difference in this respect 5, 10, or 15 years hence. Besides, the uncertainty of the present system of colonisation, whether it will be carried on with more vigour or be relaxed, and the effect of this upon the natives, renders it, at present, perfectly preposterous at this time to entertain the idea seriously. There is uneasiness and anxiety about the natives relative to the acts of government and the probable results to which they may tend as influencing their interests which is far from satisfactory: and I am perfectly convinced that without the aid and assistance of the present missionaries in allaying the fears and apprehensions of the natives upon many of these subjects, the government would find it very difficult to carry on its business amicably for any length of time. In fact, for the C.M.S. to withdraw their support from N.Z. at the present time would be to undo all that has been done, that is, as respects the present generation.
Since I last wrote from Waikanae, I have been almost wholly confined to my bed, occasionally for a few days suffering rather acutely, at other times more easy. I was removed last week to this place, my friends here not thinking it proper that I should remain alone any longer. The Rev. R. Taylor from Wanganui came to entreat me to go to his house and remain there, and my friend Mr. St. Hill came at the same time, but the latter prevailed on me to move; and I was carried by my natives on a litter through the woods and arrived here safely. I am now in my old quarter with my very kind friends.
As I have been seen by three very able medical men and their opinion is that I can do no more work I am perfectly easy on that score and do not allow myself to be anxious about my late charge. While we have health and strength we are bound to devote them to the service of God, for they are His gifts; when deprived of them, we may be easy, knowing that nothing is required of us. I have prayed for guidance lately, but do not exactly know what to do; I do not much like being burdensome to my friends here (thought I know they do not think me so), and if I remain as I am I shall move by and by into some little cottage in the neighbourhood. I have sometimes thought of trying to see you again; but when I asked the Dr. concerning the probability of my reaching England alive, I thought he rather evaded a direct answer, and I concluded that it would not be advisable to try; there will however be a ship (having a surgeon on board) sailing in about one month, and I might attempt it, though I do not think it probable that I shall. Nothing can exceed the kindness of all here towards me. I could find plenty of homes here if I needed them. I had a few days ago a very kind letter from Mrs. Selwyn asking me to go to their house at Auckland, and promising to nurse me herself. I expect also to see the Bishop in a few days, but I shall not avail myself of their kind invitation.
I can scarcely tell you the nature of my complaint, and the doctors do not tell me themselves; but I have found out from others what their opinion is: but it is very difficult to be positive. It is however, a large artery, near the heart, that is out of order and diseased, and for this I know very well that there is no remedy. I know that I may die any day very suddenly. The disease will reach a certain point and then the artery will open and life consequently will be extinct in a few minutes. When this may occur, God only knows. Now that I am doing notbing, eating very little, and almost continuously in a quiet state and in a recumbent posture, I feel but little pain and may go so for some time, and may indeed even improve a little. I hope my honesty in telling you all this will not make any of you uncomfortable about me.
I am still confined to my bed, where I have been during the last four or five months. I am able however to sit up occasionally without much inconvenience or pain for a short time, which affords me relief. Had I expected to have lived till the present time, I should probably have endeavoured to reach home in order to have spent my last days with you, but as it was impossible to look into futurity, and as it is uncertain what effect on me a voyage round Cape Horn would have had, it is useless to regret not having made the attempt to do so.
The Bishop and Mrs. Selwyn have been during the last five weeks at Waikanae and Otaki. He has written to me several times to let me know what he is doing among my dear people. He seems very much interested in their welfare. He cannot remain much longer with them and feels at a loss how to supply them with a pastor.
Before this reaches you, the account of the disturbances of Kororareka and the general excitement in the country will have appeared in the public papers, and you will doubtless be feeling some alarm concerning us all in this distant colony. I think the general tenor of my letters, as far as I have lately alluded to political affairs, must have led you to believe that neither the general management of ecclesiastical matters, nor the proceedings of government were in my opinion calculated to promote rapidly either the spiritual or temporal welfare of the natives. It is a difficult thing to think calmly and with moderation while reflecting on the manner in which England always has mismanaged her colonies. I am no Radical; but if ever any radical change was requisite, such a change is necessary in these proceedings of the Colonial Office. In truth, when one reflects on the boasted civilisation and advancement in political science which the present generation arrogates to itself, one is lost in astonishment at the vast discrepancy between the theory and the practice, between the high-sounding professions and the deplorable facts—one would suppose that, now in the middle of the 19th century, N.Z. had been selected by political charlatans as a platform whereon to see who could best play the fool. The Governor is a cleverish, well-disposed man, but there is a vast deal of difference between wit and wisdom; and it is never more visible than when a man is thrown upon his own resources in a responsible situation, and to be well-disposed without discretion is no qualification for governing however amiable it may be in itself.
I have frequently lamented my neglect of the many opportunities which I possessed when I had the benefit of your instructions of acquiring knowledge and learning how to use it: the little however that I did acquire I often feel grateful to you for. I meet with men here, possessed of consider-
I suffer so much from headache now that I am not able to think much; I am however, trying to do a little towards improving the mode of acquiring this language. I contend that the literal mode of translation is bad, because corresponding words in a language of a civilised and an uncivilised people are not identical, that is, that a complex idea, represented by a word, in the one, will not be found when analysed to be composed of the same ingredients as the corresponding complex idea in the other, and consequently that a literal or verbal translation will not give a correct version of ideas: but I find only two or three persons who will care about these matters; in the meantime people are teaching religion while grossly ignorant of the language. There is another subject on which I am somewhat engaged, and that is a plan to be recommended to the Governor for making the natives understand and submit to our laws; no plan has hitherto been adopted. The Judge here, Mr. Chapman, and others approve much of its outline. We are expecting our new Governor, when I hope something will be done. Everybody seems able to find faults with the existing system, but nobody seems inclined to take the trouble to propose a better. I am afraid I shall have exhausted your patience with my prolixity; but though I am confined to bed, it being the only place where I have any ease, I should not wish you to think that I am unable to amuse myself, or altogether unable occasionally to assist others who have now more to do, but have less time to think. My complaint remains as ever. I sometimes entertain an idea of trying to visit you, if my life should be prolonged, but as even now I am subject to violent vomiting which gives me intense pain in the back, I can scarcely venture to attempt it.
I do not think I have heard from you since Feb., but as we hear an English mail has arrived at Auckland I am expecting to hear daily. The feeling and conduct of the natives generally through the island is good, and though the accounts of matters in the North which you may see in the papers may lead you to suppose the reverse, I do not think there is any material change in their religious feelings.
It is impossible to make a bold stand against the infidel if inferior to him in mental acquirements, if unacquainted with the past history of the world, especially since the Christian era, if unable to point out to him all the difficulties and obscurities with which physical science is still encumbered, notwithstanding his most common objection to religion is that it has so many obscurities. I make these remarks because there are several clever infidels in this part of the country, and I fear none of our clergy feel competent to encounter them. I, when in health, never shunned the contest, but still I could not help feeling that the more learned one is, the firmer and more confident tone one may take in the contest. But besides encounter-
The rebellion at the North has been quelled, but affairs there are not settled on a very firm basis in my opinion at least. Down here affairs are far from settled. Two whites were murdered by two natives here about ten days ago. The murderers are known but cannot be obtained as yet by the Government from the party who refuse to surrender them. About 200 are now in arms, but as the Government has a strong force here, and nine tenths of the natives, with Te Rauparaha at their head, are in favour of Government, I hope the question will soon be settled, though from want of a proper and systematic way of proceeding the Government sadly confuse questions. A native was lately tried for robbery and sentenced to ten years transportation. Subsequently I discovered that he was innocent and memorialised the Governor on the subject, and though the matter is not quite settled I have no doubt he will be set at liberty.
Till lately, when unable to control my wandering thoughts, I occasionally ventured to wonder why I was permitted to live on in apparent uselessness; but during recent troubles here, I have been unable to shut my eyes to the fact that affairs here would have taken a very serious turn had I not been able to give the Governor accurate information concerning the natives of this part of the country, and also represent the measures and motives of Government in their true light to the natives, being the only person in whom a large body of them have entire confidence. Since I last wrote several murders have been committed in this neighbourhood by a band of vagabonds
The Governor has apprehended Te Rauparaha and several others on suspicion of being favourable to die rebels. This step will produce either a very good or a very bad effect according to their guilt or innocence. I have felt some satisfaction in being able to assist the Governor with my advice as he appears a man sincerely intent upon doing what is right. He is a clever man, but fails rather in clearly seeing his object and making every step he takes tend towards it—he wants firmness and determination. He has been in this part of die country for the last month, and he comes to me almost every day that he is in Wellington to ask for my advice in some matter concerning the natives, and as he almost invariably acts upon advice I give him I feel a degree of responsibility which is rather too much for my state of health. I am thankful that hitherto I have not had to regret any advice I have given.
The Governor told me that he landed at Waikanae last Sunday and attended divine service there; he added that the impression made on his own mind by what he saw there was such as to convince him that the effect produced by Christianity and civilisation on these people was greater than any that had been produced in any part of the world within the range of his information. He was especially struck with the fact that three days after apprehending a very important chief he could go almost alone and unarmed among four or five hundred men and kneel with them in worshipping in the same house of prayer without the slightest disturbance. As he is a man of extensive reading, and who has been much among aboriginal people, his opinion is of some value, and I confess I feel somewhat gratified by it.
Some months ago I mentioned that I had been writing a few remarks upon native usages and customs in reference to land use, and also as to the best mode of civilising and governing the natives. Though these remarks were very short, the Governor was much pleased with them, and as the twoi Judges thought highly of them, he has sent diem to die Colonial Office. They were likely to correct some erroneous ideas, and to furnish some new ones, and thus to do some good; but had I expected that they would have been thought so valuable I would have worked out the subject better. I trust diat our present disturbances here will soon end, but I am by no means certain that they will.
Some persons' minds are so constituted that they seem unable to separate what is purely accidental from what is essential—with these it is useless to argue. Because there are evils attendant on civilisation they oppose civilisation itself; because Government appears at times to act harshly they seem to prefer what must lead only to anarchy. If man expects unmixed good in any human institutions he will find it only in Utopia. We have had war, but war inevitable from the disposition of a savage, Te Rangihaeata. I cannot say that it is ended though I think the worst is over. It has at least had the good effect of manifesting most unequivocally the good feeling that exists in the natives of this part of the country. It is highly gratifying to me to perceive that those who have been brought to appreciate Christianity through my instrumentality have stood firm in the hour of trial and have not only surpassed my most sanguine expectations, but have quite astonished the Governor and all those likewise who had previously, from ignorance, undervalued the improvement that had taken place among them.
I am afraid I have never sufficiently detailed or even represented to you the good effects which have been produced by Christianity here. But a missionary while engaged in his work always has so much to humble him, that he almost feels afraid to speak of any results of his labours in such a manner as to lead those at a distance to imagine he has done good lest he should appear to glory. There is one young man who constantly attended my instructions from my first arrival at Waikanae, his name is Riwai Te Ahu, I may have mentioned him before, he perfectly astonished all those who are able to appreciate such a character. I confess I never saw a young man of any nation who combined every good and amiable quality with so much intelligence and energy as he does—he is beloved and respected by those settlers who know him and by all the natives of this district. The Governor attended service at Waikanae, and as Mr. Govett was absent, Riwai read prayers, etc. There were about 500 natives present and he represented it as the most delightful thing he had ever seen. He saw that they had no means of regulating the hour for church service and so he took off his own watch and gave it to Riwai, he also gave him a beautiful writing desk. Afterwards, finding that they had grown more wheat than they were able to grind he sent them six good steel mills and then promised in the course of ten months to go and stay a week with them to see how he could benefit them. He has behaved in the kindest manner to me, listening to every suggestion I make and thanking me most strongly for the information and advice which my residence in this country had enabled me to give him. Moreover confessing most frankly that I had kept him from falling into errors by correcting the misrepresentations of parties here on his arrival.
Since the passing of the late free trade measures (good as I believe them to be) it will become absolutely necessary to reconsider all colonial questions, and to establish matters on a thoroughly new basis. Very little attention has been given to ecclesiastical affairs in the colonies. While the Bishops have generally assumed high grounds they have very little real power. The common law of England extends to the colonies, but the ecclesiastical does not, nor does the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts in England extend to offences committed in the colonies. There is nothing but conscience to lead a man to obey the Bishop in matters on which they differ: and conscience is not likely to effect much in this way, when a man conscientiously conceives his own views of the subject in dispute to be the correct ones. I have a strong impression that the whole of our ecclesiastical affairs require to be thoroughly examined and reformed, and moreover I would submit our prayer book—especially the calendar—to the same process.
Yesterday, after being just twelve months from the last date (which was a letter of Ap. 1847) I had the great pleasure of receiving letters from George, Sep., Octavia, Oct., and Amelia, Nov. I am very thankful for these letters, but what may have become of letters written in the interval, for I think some must have been written, I cannot conceive, as a monthly mail leaves England for Sydney, and vessels come from the latter place bringing a mail about once a fortnight.
The English papers do not give a very satisfactory account of matters there; I wonder more people do not come to the colonies: people can easily obtain 10% for their capital here, and living is very cheap. Lord Grey has done all he can do to mismanage these colonies; things would go on very well here if they were not everlastingly sending out contradictory instructions and unsettling the minds both of natives and settlers.
Nearly all the natives of Waikanae are going to a place (from which they formerly came) about 150 miles from this; this emigration has been occasioned by mismanagement here; but as they go peacefully I do not know that they will lose by the change as Mr. Govett is in their neighbourhood.
Mr. S. Williams is now at Otaki and the natives there are going on very well. They are now busily engaged in building a church which I began: it will be the best in the country. An architect who lately saw the preparations told me that at the marketable value of their labour, he conceived they had not expended less than £2000 worth of labour on it already, so you see they work in earnest. They will raise subscriptions among themselves for many things which they cannot make, windows, etc. Williams is quite delighted, he has not seen such energy in natives before.
I still continue much as I have been for the last three years. It's curious life to lead, but I am in the hands of an all-wise God and Father. I feel that I am not quite useless, as the constant applications from natives and others for my opinion on various matters proves. I do not think there is much likelihood of my attempting to go to England, but I feel I am of less use here now as Williams is at Otaki. Still, there are very few persons who ever accustom themselves to think, especially in a new country, and yet many subjects want thought, and I am happy to say that both in the Mission and in the politics of the country some of my suggestions have been acted on and have proved useful.
I felt quite sorry when you talked about N.Z. ferns in that some had been promised you by Mrs. Cotton and that I have been so negligegent in never sending you anything. I do not mean that I have ever had any time to collect anything like plants myself when I was well enough to do so; but I have some young friends who would have done it for me had I asked them. I have had a good many N.Z. curiosities passing through my hands, but I have always given them to the first person who asked me for them, and have been thoughtless enough not to collect them gradually and then send them to you. I shall henceforth bear it in mind, and if any opportunity presents itself I shall make a little collection.
The natives at Otaki are now busily engaged in building a church which they began in my time but which has been neglected ever since: it will be superior to our Waikanae one, which is now the best in New Zealand. Those here who take an interest in the natives say it is quite pleasing to see the village—cottages, with chimneys and windows, gardens with fruit trees and flowers, some with bee-hives introduced by Mr. Cotton, several with good barns well stocked with wheat, a large water mill in course of erection milch cows (20 or 30 of all ages) supplying them with milk, a great acquisition to the children, also butter; and all attending morning and evening service in the old church, with about 120 attending a daily school chiefly carried on by native teachers working gratuitously.
The vegetation of N.Z. is very grand, but would strike your eye as peculiar. It does not present that freshness and variety which an English wood in Spring does. But then the luxuriance of the growth surprises, and the magnificence of the trees. The beauty of some of the tree-ferns escapes all description, as does that of some of the creepers hanging in festoons from the high trees. The elegance also of the forms of some of the young forest trees growing in very sheltered places where the wind has never touched them is very splendid. Wellington is a beautiful place; as I look here upon a garden with a variety of English, Cape of Good Hope, New South Wales, etc., plants, and then upon the blue water of the harbour broken by bays backed by cliffs and hills covered with hanging woods, and with the snow-capped mountains Tararua in the distance, I constantly
I must now tell you something of my old friends the Waikanae natives. Through a series of blunders on the part of those concerned in carrying on the subordinate arrangements of the Government, there have been some disputes about land; the result is that last week 200 men with their families left in their canoes to return to Taranaki, the place from which they originally came. I think the Government will have cause to regret it by and by. About 100 men with their families have remained, including a great many who were my greatest friends.
I wrote in the end of February to mother and also to Charles and Henry to say how much better I was in health and how there appeared a prospect of my health being so far improved as to enable me to go to work again. I am happy to be able to say that it has gone on improving since that time, though rather slowly; still I am much better than I was then and my medical adviser holds out to me the prospect of much greater improvement. I am in God's hands and if it be His will that I should again serve Him He can give me strength to do so. But after such a long illness as I have had it is scarcely to be expected that I should under any circumstances recover very rapidly. I am now able to do a little in various ways and see some of the natives of this place who were a part of my flock formerly when I first brought the Gospel among them. They have been sadly neglected poor creatures. Mr. Cole, the clergyman of this place, does not speak the native language and consequently can do nothing with them, and he has a large English population to attend to. The Bishop has appointed Mr. Hutton, who is a deacon, to be Mr. Cole's assistant here and he will take more interest in them. He seems also to be inclined to follow my advice in reference to the natives, etc., so that we may do something for them again. He is now absent; he has gone to be married to one of Archdeacon H. Williams' daughters, sister of Rev. S.W. who is at Otaki.
I have read prayers two or three times in the English church but the Dr. forbids me to preach; I must however try soon. The Bishop has been here lately, I saw a good deal of him. Notwithstanding my good resolutions which I mentioned in my last letter not to take upon myself any fresh duties, he made me accept the office of archdeacon. I persisted in refusing for several days but found that he was grieved at my doing so and that he had set his heart on my accepting it. I therefore was obliged much against my own wishes to comply. He said he had always intended it, that he could not appoint any other person even if he had any one in whom he placed the same confidence as in me, because, as I was the oldest clergyman in this part of the country I had always acted for him as his Commissary in his absence and both native and English would still look to me for directions and advice in spite of any appointment of his—and moreover that he wished
He was very importunate also on another subject concerning which however I declined to give him any positive answer. He wishes me to take charge of his proposed new college at Porirua, about 15 miles from this. It is to be an institution for the education of English boys and native boys and likewise for teaching and training native young men as school teachers and candidates for Holy orders. He conceives that I shall not be strong enough for missionary work and therefore thinks that this will be a position of usefulness for me. He appeared very anxious to convince me on the subject, but I declined at least for the present to acquiesce. I do not think that my health would bear it or that I am qualified for the post, though he and several others consider I am.
I am certainly very well satisfied with the way in which my place is occupied at Otaki. Mr. Williams is doing more there than I could ever expect to do. The natives at Otaki and the neighbourhood are going on well. I saw several of them lately and old Te Rauparaha among the rest.
I was much gratified by hearing that you had purposed coming out here on hearing of my recovery, not that I ever doubted of your readiness to do so, as you were quite ready to have come with me when I left England, but as being a fresh assurance of your willingness to come and reside so far off from home in order to be with me. To tell the truth however I am glad that you did not come. In the first place, I am so much away from what I call my residence that you would be left much alone under very novel circumstances, therefore without two came, I am afraid it would rather cause me anxiety about you than relieve me from any I now have. Again you would find the change of life very great, and one which with every resolution you might make not to care about it, anything but pleasant: there are certain comforts which if people have been accustomed to them during many years they find it hard to forgo. Besides, I am at present a rolling stone. And though I know you would not willingly bias my judgement, I should doubtless myself be influenced by considerations respecting you, if. you were with me, in taking any step for removing to any out-of-the-way place. I wish to be quite free to do anything—to remain as free as I have ever been. Under all circumstances I do not think I should like you to come alone. Nothing could I like better than to have you all out here, or any number down to two, but one I am afraid, would be a source of anxiety to me.
The natives are going on well at Otaki and its neighbourhood—they are making rapid improvement in their habits and mode of life generally. The original believers among them left all to follow Christ: they were neglected by their relatives and lived in comparative poverty: now they have had the satisfaction of seeing most of their relations join them, many I think sincerely, and their decency of conduct and industrious steady habits have raised their outward condition to one of comparative comfort, without being such as to be any temptation to over carefulness about worldly things. I am now making some attempts to benefit them in temporal matters in which, so far as I can yet see, I think I shall be successful. Mr. Williams is always active and ready to co-operate in anything for their good: and his industry and diligence in the discharge of his duties are very great.
I met Mr. Taylor (of Wanganui) at Otaki the day before yesterday. He is going on pretty well: his great drawback in usefulness is his ignorance of the language. I met Jerningham Wakefield this morning, who has just come out. I have seen nothing of the Bishop for some time, nor have I heard very much from him. I suppose he thinks, as I am now Archdeacon he can entrust matters down here to me! As I am on very good terms with the clergy in this part they readily attend to suggestions, so all goes smoothly.
Since I last wrote some changes are taking place here. Sir George Grey is going home immediately on leave, but I am quite sure he will never return: he is tired of N.Z. and no minister will compel him to return. I am not quite clear as to what effect his departure may have on the more uncivilised parts of the country: I am not certain that there may not be some attempts at war, etc. Sir G. Grey has not in my opinion exerted himself sufficiently in extending his influence among the natives during the last few years. I am sorry he is going as no Governor will be found so anxious to promote the welfare of the colony, and more especially of the natives than Sir G. Grey.
Today the Superintendent of this Province has been elected. Mr. Featherston was the person. He is in very bad health and I am afraid his new office will kill him. I asked him to go back with me to Otaki for change of air for a few days, but he is almost too ill to travel so far this cold weather. He is a tolerably clever and able man, who had devoted himself entirely to politics of late years. He and I had some differences formerly, but we are good friends now. He used to be much opposed to the natives, but is not so now.
We have the notorious Gibbon Wakefield here now interfering with everything and upsetting all he can. He will do much mischief here: there is nobody at all equal to him or able to compete with him. I believe I am to see him on Monday: his son called on me yesterday and said his fadier wished to talk with me on some matters, so I could not refuse. I am afraid of him, as I am very likely a year hence to see something stated as my
We were amused at your objecting to ride instead of walk. I, who frequently ride 50 or 60 miles a day, prefer the four legs to the two. On my return from England Mr. St. Hill made me a present of a beautiful mare which carries me very pleasantly. In riding all depends on your horse
I presume the last accounts from this country will settle your determation to have nothing to do with us. Certainly the colonisation of this Island will be much impeded for many years. I suppose your professed habits (I won't say prejudices) will hardly allow you to sympathise with my deciced condemnation of the acts of Government in this country in reference to the origin of our little war.
I don't know whether a letter to the Duke of Newcastle, which I sent to London to be published, ever reached the Publisher, or if it did, whether a copy will reach you. If it should come in your way you will gather what my opinions are about the Government's proceedings. The General Assembly will meet in a few weeks at Auckland. I have convinced many of its leading members that my views as to the injustice of the war are correct. I am now corresponding with Henry Sewell. I cannot yet claim him as a convert, but he acquiesces in many of my views and opinion. I have no doubt that the Government has committed a great blunder and a gross act of injustice; but it goes sadly against the grain with John Bull to confess an error especially when such a confession may be distorted into anything like a charge of fear. However I have pledged myself to defend William King, the native chief—that is, his right to the land from which he has been driven—against all opponents. And I will never give it up till I see at least an acknowledgement of the injustice of the Government. I have been, as you may imagine, plentifully abused for sympathising with rebels. But I am happy to say our late Chief Justice, Mr. Martin, agrees with my views. He now wants me to write a statement in defence of W. King's rights for die use of the General Assembly. He says in writing to the Bishop—'I suppose Archd. H. is the only man capable of doing all that is needed'. It is possible I may be obliged to go to Auckland to give evidence before a Committee of the G.A., but for personal reasons I would rather avoid this if possible.
The Governor is now endeavouring to humbug the natives in various ways in the expectation of obtaining more troops from England. It is very lamentable to see such ignorance and folly in those who have the direction of affairs. I have no hope for the country so long as Col. Browne continues here. There is a very large number of excellent loyal natives, but they are now in a state of doubt and amazement at the Governor's proceedings. They
Last mail I presume took the horrid account of the murder of poor Volkner. The Bishop of Waiapu (Kate's uncle) was threatened, and has left his district. I am a good deal annoyed with the proceedings of many of our missionaries. There were two or three instances in which they betrayed the interest of the natives and cringed to Gov. Browne: these things were not unnoticed by these observant people. The whole body suffers. The London C.M.S. Committee begin now to believe in me. I have not much strength for work left, but I should be sorry to be frightened away. As to the war there is no sign of an end. The Govt, is quite tired of it; the expense is so enormous, but the natives are by no means tired and they talk of a vigorous campaign in 1866. As I can do nothing I no longer trouble myself much about the war. If my advice had been followed what a different state of things there might have been.
I was in Wellington a fortnight ago and had an opportunity of seeing the Bishop of N.Z. and Mrs. Selwyn, Sir W. Martin and Lady M. and others from Auckland. They seemed pleased to meet me, and were very anxious that I should go on with them to the Synod at Christchurch, but I neither felt well enough nor could I comfortably leave this. There was some important business and they were anxious for my aid as I am supposed to be available to say the hard disagreeable things that have to be said.
Abraham, Mrs. Caroline, 105.
Abraham, Bishop C. J., 3, 90, 93, 95, 97, 105, 116-117, 141, 143, 148.
Acasta, 90.
Alexander Turnbull Library, 3.
Alloway, Arthur, 136.
Ashwell, Mrs. B. Y., 80.
Atkinson, Sir Harry, 112.
Auckland, 23, 40, 53-54, 79, 81, 84, 87, 93, 102-03, 105, 111-13, 118, 185, 187, 196-97.
Aurora, 2.
Australia, 7-8, 11, 86-87, 111-12, 149.
Banks Peninsular, 13, 35, 152.
Bay of Islands, 1, 12, 14-16, 20-21, 24, 27, 32-33, 53, 76, 79, 88, 113, 126, 128, 142, 151-52, 154, 163.
Bell, Sir F. H. Dillon, 98.
Bevan, Thomas, 21, 79, 85, 107, 116.
Blenkinsopp, Capt. John, 44.
Bonchurch, Isle of Wight, 5, 6, 89.
Brees, S. C, 84.
Broughton, Bishop W. G., 7, 9, 11.
Brown, Archdeacon A. N., 14, 154.
Browne, Professor E. Harold, 97-99.
Browne. Colonel Sir Thomas Gore, 85-86, 94-97, 99, 101. 109-10, 196-97.
Bryce, Hon. John, 127.
Burrows, Rev. Robert, 22.
Butler, Rev. John, 14.
Cambridge University, 127, 136.
Cameron, General Sir Duncan, 112.
Canterbury, 112.
Chapman, Judge H. S., 187.
Christ's College, 136.
Church Missionary Society, 1, 4, 7, 40, 46, 75, 77, 83-84, 89, 96-9; 101-02, 114, 116, 131, 148, 184, 194, 197.
Clarke, Rev. George, 13-14, 154-55
Clarke, George jun., 14, 31, 46-47, 97.
Cloudy Bay, 13, 15, 28, 34-35, 152, 155, 163, 167, 169.
Coates, Dandeson (lay secretary of C.M.S.), 153.
Cole (Hadfield's Maori servant), 72, 172.
Cole, Rev. Robert, 40, 62, 176, 177, 193.
Colenso, Rev. W., 11.
Columbine, 12-15, 21, 153-54, 156, 160-61.
Cook Strait, 12, 15, 17-18, 28, 33, 134, 152, 163, 172, 175.
Cotton, Rev. W., 51, 76-77, 182, 192.
Cotton, Mrs. W., 192.
Cowell, John, 81.
Cowie, Bishop W. G., 143.
Davis, Richard (Maori catechist] 155-57, 160.
Dawson, Lt. (police magistrate) 171, 176.
Dove, Rev. Julian, 136.
Dudley, Archdeacon Benjamin, 143.
D'Urville Island (Rangitoto), 28, 34, 171, 176.
Edinburgh, Duke of, 118.
Elizabeth, 157.
Eyre, Lt. Governor E. J. and Mrs., 75.
Fancourt, Archdeacon Thomas, 143.
Featherston, Dr. I. E., 95, 102, 121, 130, 183, 195.
Fitzherbert, Sir William, 130.
Fitzgerald, Dr. J. P., 29, 59-60, 173, 183.
Fitzroy, Captain Robert, 45, 57.
Forsaith, Mr., 97.
Fox, Sir William, 92, 95, 98. 104, 110, 114, 143.
Fulford, Marion, 135.
Gisborne (Turanga). 1, 10, 13, 15, 155.
Godley, Mrs. Charlotte, 70-71, 75, 78.
Godley, John R., 70, 93, 121, 196.
Govett, Archdeacon H., 56-57, 190.
Grey, Lord (Colonial Minister 1846), 191.
Grey, Sir George, 2, 51-52, 54-55, 77, 79, 84-86, 92-93, 95, 110-12, 142, 195.
Hadfield, Alexander (brother of
Hadfield, Alexander, 135-36, 139.
Hadfield, Mrs. Amelia (nee White), 5, 89, 170, 173, 177, 180, 182, 191.
Hadfield, Amelia, 39, 66, 89, 112, 117-18, 121, 186, 190-91, 194- 195.
Hadfield, Amy, 76, 104, 126, 130- 133, 135-36.
Hadfield, Anne (Mrs. Marshall). 88-89, 135-36.
Hadfield, Caroline, 89, 172, 179, 188, 193.
Hadfield, Mrs. Catherine (nee Williams), 11, 76-79, 82-84, 88-90, 107-08, 113, 116, 126-27, 133, 135-37, 139-40.
Hadfield, Catherine (Mrs. Dove), 136.
Hadfield, Lt. Col. Charles, 89, 95, 99, 101-02, 108, 110-12, 114, 117-18, 127, 129, 160, 162-64, 167-68, 193, 196.
Hadfield, Frank, 136.
Hadfield, Rev. George H., 6-7, 37, 78, 163-64, 167-68, 173, 180, 184, 186, 191.
Hadfield, George Joseph, 88, 135.
Hadfield, Georgina (Mrs. Alloway), 136.
Hadfield, Henry, 89, 127, 170, 172, 193.
Hadfield, Henry Samuel, 45, 79, 84, 88-89, 130, 135-38, 140, 145.
Hadfield, Joseph, 4-5, 89, 151-52, 165, 175, 179, 188.
Hadfield, Julia, 179.
Hadfield, Octavia, 37, 89, 121, 135, 168, 172-73, 181, 185, 191- 92, 197.
Hadfield, Octavius jun., 88.
Hadfield, Selwyn, 78.
Hadfield Town, 58.
Hammond, Richard, 79.
Harper, Bishop H. J. C, 91, 117.
Hauhau cult, 26, 79, 112-113, 115, 124, 133.
Hawke's Bay, 41, 77. 84, 114, 135, 178.
Hereiwi, 25.
Hicks Bay, 14.
Hobson, Captain William, 27, 37, 40, 165.
Hokianga, 2.
Hokitika, 112.
Hongoeka, 157.
Horokiwi Valley, 70.
Horowhenua, 145.
Ironside, Rev. Samuel, 169.
Jewess, 31.
Julius, Bishop Churchill, 134.
Kaitaia, 151.
Kapiti Island, 12-13, 15-21, 24, 27, 30-31, 35, 45, 60, 69-70, 92, 113, 125, 135, 152-59, 161-69, 172, 175-76.
Karori Road, 84.
Kemp, family of James, 14.
Kemp, Major (Kepa), 145.
Kingi, Wiremu Whiti (Te Rangitake), 2, 19, 23, 45, 57-58, 94- 96, 104, 161, 196.
Kororareka (Russell), 10, 12, 52- 53, 153, 186.
Lewington, Captain, 161.
Lichfield, Diocese of, 113, 117, 122.
Mana Island, 16, 19, 34, 54, 156- 157, 169.
Manawatu, 28, 35, 41, 65-66, 71, 73-74, 77-78, 97, 113, 115, 167, 178.
Mangarautawiri, 156.
Mangatawhiri River, 80.
Manson, Cecil and Celia, 141.
Marshall, John, 136.
Marshall, Major and Mrs. John, 143.
Martin, Lady Mary Ann, 105, 121, 197.
Martin, Sir William, 41, 52, 91-92, 104-05, 121, 142-43, 148, 178, 196-97.
Marton, 131-32, 135-36, 139, 144- 145.
Mason, Rev. John, 22, 29, 33, 40-42, 75, 165, 172, 176-80, 184.
Mason, Mrs. John, 33, 165, 179.
Matahou (or Ripahau), 20, 22, 159-60.
Matthews, Rev. Joseph, 151.
Maunsell, Archdeacon Robert, 11, 40-42, 177-78.
Maunsell, Mrs. Robert, 76.
Mayhew, Captain W., 16, 158, 160.
McCleverty, Mrs. W. A., 75.
McWilliam, Rev. James, 116, 122, 133.
Melanesia, 87.
Miller, Harold, 141.
Monaghan, Archdeacon H. W., 104, 122, 141.
Moore, Captain G. F., 31-32.
Morgan, Rev. John, 80-81.
Morgan, Mrs. Maria, 81-82.
Nelson, 28, 34, 39-40, 44, 76, 90- 91, 108, 128, 176-77.
Newcastle, Duke of, 91, 97-98, 107, 196.
New Zealand Company, 2, 14-15, 27, 31, 34, 60.
Ngatihuia, 124.
Ngatiapa, 17.
Ngatiawa, 18-19, 23-24, 49, 57, 133, 141.
Ngatikura, 23.
Ngatiraukawa, 17-20, 36, 84, 108, 113-14, 133, 141, 158.
Ngatitoa, 16-17, 19, 61, 133, 169.
Otago, 112.
Otaihanga, 135.
Otaki, 12, 19-24, 39, 48-50, 55, 58-61, 63-67, 69-70, 72-73, 75-79, 82-85, 87, 90, 93, 95, 99, 101, 104, 107, 109, 112-13, 115-117, 122-24, 126, 130, 133, 135, 141, 143, 158, 160-63, 167, 171. 180, 186, 191-97.
Oxford University, 6, 31-32, 150.
Paihia, 9-13, 20, 27, 76-77, 153, 163.
Papakura, 80.
Paraparaumu Beach, 49.
Pauatahanui, 70.
Petre, Hon. and Mrs. Henry, 75.
Pipiriki, 82.
Polynesia. 87.
Poneke, 15.
Porirua, 19, 26, 54, 59-61, 63, 70, 77, 149, 194.
Poroutawhao, 69.
Port Nicholson, (also see Wellington), 2, 15-16, 27-28, 30, 35, 39, 155-57, 160, 163-65, 167, 169-73. 176, 179.
Presbyterian Church, 170.
Pukerua, 157.
Putiki, 42.
Queen Charlotte Sound, 18, 28-29, 33-34, 156, 167-68, 172, 176-77, 180.
Raiatea Island, 65.
Rangiatea Church, 47-49, 58, 64-65, 78, 84, 90, 108, 116.
Rangihoua, 10.
Rangitakaroro, 157.
Rangitane, 17.
Rangitikei, 132, 134, 137, 162.
Rangiuru, 49, 58, 158-59, 162.
Reay, Rev. C. L., 177.
Reeves, William Pember, 136-37.
Richardson, Sir John, 112.
Richmond, Judge C. W., 102-04, 106, 132, 143.
Richmond, Major Mathew, 182.
Ringa-tu, sect, 113.
Robertson, Rev. Frederick, 141.
Roman Catholic Church, 29, 79, 108, 118.
Russell, Lord John, 176.
Russell, see Kororareka.
Seddon, Richard John, 148.
Selwyn, Bishop G. A., 2, 23, 39-41, 48-52, 60-61, 76, 79, 83-84, 86-87, 91-93, 95, 113, 117, 121-122, 142-43, 148, 176, 186, 197.
Selwyn, Mrs. Sarah, 75, 121, 185-186, 197.
South Africa, 8, 85-86, 135, 137, 139.
Southern Cross, 88.
Spain, William, 97.
Sparling, Rev. Hart, 32.
Sprott, Bishop T. H., 140.
Stack, Rev. James, 13-14, 154-55.
Stafford, Sir Edward, 98, 102.
Stephen, Judge Sidney, 125.
Still, Rev. J., 142.
Stock, Archdeacon A., 26.
St. Hill, Mrs. Anne, 29, 51, 57, 75, 77, 84, 89, 110, 113, 143, 170, 173, 177, 181.
St. Hill, Henry, 29-30, 52, 57, 70, 77, 89, 125, 143, 170, 172-73, 177, 181, 183, 185, 196.
St. John's College, 76.
St. John's, Tutu Totara, 143.
St. Paul's, 117, 128, 131, 133.
St. Peter's, 128.
Sydney, 8-9, 13, 44, 79, 90, 137, 191.
Symonds. John (police magistrate), 47.
Tainui, 65.
Taranaki (Mt. Egmont), 167.
Taranaki, 2, 13, 16, 19, 28, 32, 41, 49, 54, 57, 94-98, 104, 109, 112, 115, 133. 152, 156, 162, 164, 178, 193.
Taylor, Laura, 78.
Taylorj Rev. Richard, 13, 42, 48- 49, 78, 81-82, 90, 152-53, 184- 185, 195.
Te Ahu, Rev. Riwai, 23, 56, 58, 63, 84, 87, 90, 113, 115, 190.
Te Aute College, 61, 77-79, 84.
Te Karaka, 82.
Te Matia, Matenga, 24-25.
Te Rangihaeata, 16. 18, 44-46, 53- 55, 68-69, 87, 157, 189-90.
Te Rauparaha, 1, 2, 12, 16-19, 24, 44-48, 53-55, 57-58, 62, 65-69, 83, 134, 146, 152, 155, 157-58, 162, 167, 188-89, 194.
Te Rauparaha, Tamihana (Katu), 12, 20, 24, 58, 63, 66, 68-69, 78, 83.
Te Reretawhangawhanga, 19, 23- 24, 157, 161, 163.
Te Ruru, Aperahama, 124-25, 158, 162.
Te Uruhi, 157.
Te Whatanui, 19-20, 24, 36, 146, 159-60, 162.
Te Wherowhero, 54.
Te Whiwhi, Matene, 12, 20, 24, 58, 68.
Thames, 113.
Tipapa, 157.
Titahi Bay, 33.
Tongariro, 82.
Tory, 1, 2, 15-16, 19, 27, 155-56.
Towgood, Archdeacon A., 131, 142.
Trent College, 136.
Tuckey, Rev. H. E., 135.
Turton, Rev. H. H., 101.
Venn, Rev. H., 7.
Ventnor, Isle of Wight, 6, 89, 127, 132, 175.
Victoria, 76.
Vogel, Sir Julius, 92.
Volkner, Rev. C. S.; 26, 112-13, 115, 197.
Waikanae, 15-16, 18-25, 28, 30, 32-33, 36, 45-49, 55-58, 60, 63, 71, 75, 78, 116, 126, 133, 157- 162, 164, 170, 177, 180-82, 184- 186, 189-91, 193.
Waikato, 14, 17, 54, 80-81, 111, 115, 154.
Waimate, 1, 11, 13, 42, 151, 153, 155-56, 160, 169.
Waipa River, 81.
Wairarapa, 28, 39, 77-78, 134, 176.
Wairau. 2, 18, 24, 34, 44-45, 47, 49,57, 181.
Waitangi, Treaty of, 28, 32, 52, 145.
Waitara, 45, 57, 86, 102-04, 108, 110-11, 129, 148.
Waitoa, Rev. Rota, 84.
Wakefield, Captain Arthur, 34, 44,176.
Wakefield, Edward Gibbon, 2, 27, 34, 121, 130, 195.
Wakefield. Edward Jerningham, 18-19, 21-22, 27-28, 30-31, 36- 37, 43, 47, 65, 195.
Wakefield, Col. William, 16, 27, 30-31, 34, 156, 166, 172, 182.
Wanganui, 21, 28-29, 32, 35, 39, 42, 53, 75, 78-80, 82, 90, 126, 134-35, 145, 160, 165, 172, 176, 178-79, 184-85, 195.
Wanganui Collegiate School, 61, 77, 91-92, 119, 136, 143.
Weld, Sir Frederick, 112.
Wellington. 12, 16, 21, 28-29. 35, 37, 39-40, 44-46, 49-55, 66, 70, 72, 75-79, 84, 88, 90-91, 102-03, 109-10, 112, 116-21, 126, 128, 130-36, 142, 175, 177-78, 180, 182-83, 185-95, 197.
Wellington College, 135.
Wellington Public Library, 3.
Wesleyan, missionaries, 2, 101, 158, 161, 169-70.
Westcott, John, 69.
Wharemauku, 157.
Whareroa, 157.
Williams, Archdeacon Henry, 1, 9-11, 13-16, 18-21, 27, 30, 33, 53, 57, 76-77, 89, 113, 126, 152-57. 159, 160, 162-65, 167, 193.
Williams, Henry, 12.
Williams, Mrs. Jane (nee Nelson), 10.
Williams, Lydia (Mrs. Hugh Carleton), 77.
Williams, Mrs. Marianne (nee Coldham), 10-11, 22, 76-77, 80.
Williams. Mrs. Mary. 57, 76-77, 84.
Williams, Archdeacon Samuel. 50, 57-58, 60. 64-65. 68, 73, 76-78, 84. 114, 135, 143, 191-95.
Williams. Sarah, 77.
; 80.
Williams. Bishop William, 1, 9-13, 15, 40-41, 113, 151, 153, 177-178, 197.
Wilson, Rev. J. A., 13, 154, 158.
Woods, Mr., 79.
Wood, May, 136.
Yate, Rev. W., 11.
After five years at boarding school she worked in Wellington for two years before joining the W.A.A.F. during the war. Later she had eighteen months overseas, staying in South Africa for six months with a great-uncle, Henry Tuckey, also referred to in the book as one of Bessie Hadfield's brothers who went to the Boer war. From there she went to England and lived in London for some months.
Her interest in great-grandfather Octavius began after her marriage when she decided to sort through two old boxes of letters and papers which had sat for many years at one end of the farmhouse verandah. These provided the backbone of the book, and also provided the Alexander Turnbull Library with a selection of very interesting original letters.
Barbara Macmorran is married to a Wellington accountant and has a teenage daughter, Janet, and son, Duncan.