THE BISHOP OF NEW ZEALAND.

Anglo-Maori Warder, Volume 1, Issue 1, 25 April 1848, Page 4

THE BISHOP OF NEW ZEALAND.

To the Editor of the Times. Sir, —At the ordination of a Bishop, he declares that he will, "by God's help, shew himself merciful, for Christ's sake, to poor and needy people, artci to all strangers destitute o/ help." In a certain treaty made between the rulers of this coutrtry and the natives of New Zealand, the Bishop of New Zealand with tome of his clergy acted as agents between the Government and the said natives. It was felt that, under the peculiar circumstances of that colony, no other agency existed so calculated to win the confidence of the natives. The said natives did repose the utmost confidence in it, and the terms of the Ireaty were agreed to by them as explained by the Bishop and His clergy. It now, Sir, appears that a different construction is to be put upon that treaty to that which the Bishop and bis reverend colleagues put trpon it in their transaction with the nalivet. It is not for one moment to be believed by any one who Selwyn.thal he would have taken the part he did without having first mastered the full nature of what be was about to propose to the natives, for all know him to be a most excellent man of business, and one not hurried into an opinioD on any subject. The natives were pledged to the treaty in the view be took of it; they reposed all confidence in his justice, and also imtit wisdom i they believed be would sanction nothing that was unjust, or propose anything V> them the full action of which he did not underhand. He is now, forsooth, to be called an " agitating priest," because, having been the chief instrument in establisbitrg acertaincovenant . between the natives and the Government, he takesactive steps to'let them know all the rights they acquired bv the said coreyaut. At his ordination, he solemnly affirmed that, by God's help, he would befriend the-sjranger destitute of help ; fie now says,lGod being; bis helper, he will by all peaceable meansassistthese natives (strangers to all lbe tricks ofdiplomacy) to assert their Tights under the treaty between them and the Government at home, to was an acting party ; and for this he is accused of using 100 strong language ! We are told that" a man following the sacred functions of a Bishop goes among the natives exhorting them to petition j and what was that but what was commonly called "agitation t" Well, so be it s are we to be told that the people of New Zealand have no right of petition? If they have, who on New Zealand earth could be a more safe and proper person to direct them in the use of this right than the Bishop in a matter in which they bad already shown to much confidence in hira—a matter in -which the representatives of the Crown Bad directly implicated him f If the Crown chose to use Sodor and Man as an agent between it and the Manxmen, to establish eertain.terms on which ihese tripodesof our empire were to give np certain privileges, and to have certain privileges secured la them; if some time after Sodor was to see reason to believe that the Crown was departing from the terms of the treaty, !o the injury of the said trrpodes j if then and there Sodor w"as to proceed to point out to" lis confidingjnativei- the aggression he.perceived upon their rightsand was to invite them to petition the Crown on the subject, expressing himself as to bis determination to see thenvrighted, in the solemn language which at his ordination was made the very essence of the commission then g'.veri him, would the Ministry visit Iris devoted person with a prociamafidn; setting him forth as an officious,rash spoken agitating limb of episcopacy f Bnt, then, the natives "of New Zealand are spoken of as men of so wild and undisciplined a character that words which would not be dan gerous to others are fraught with danger when addressed to them ; and yet *»e are told by Governor Grey that they are " a people of strong natural sense and ability, but by nature jealous and suspicious, many of them owners of vessels, horses, and cattle, having considerable sums of money at their disposal, and that no people are less likely jq srt down quietly under what tbey might regard as an injustice." Why, Sir, I hardly know how a higher character could be given to any lately civilized people; nor can I conceive a people with whom it would be of higher importance that, in any matter in which it migbtappear that faith was being broken wrth them, a mrre proper champion could be found than a m<m like Bishop Belwyn, possessed of strong common sense, unflinching honesty, proved courage, and known to be leceived by them a 6 one to whom they might fearlessly confide the -defence of their interests. I. Sir, knew the Bishop well for some years ; I liver till now had but one reeling about hrs appointment to New Zealand—regret that such a man was sent so far from home; I now rejoice that it has been so ordered. There is something so : original and so praiseworthy in seeing a Bishop come forth to brave all odium on the side of the weak, that, be be mistaken in bis grounds for doing so ur not, 1 for one most truly rejoice at the line he has taken. That be will do nothing rashly, I am fully convinced ', that what he does undertake he will, with "God's help," go through with, I ha*e no doubt. He will not be found a mere fairweather ordainer o( clergy, rderei of archdeacons, director of seminarres "id learning;" though compelled, as ■•d, to work a beggar in temporal • one who would surrender the ■r give up that which is one of -. terutics—a regard for the s put confidence in him '- Will enforce as far

as Ha with propriety can, their right!, and'tljey Imow bin not who think that it is possible}' that he would do so in a manner unfitting hit sttlion. ' I wish with all my heard we had mcfre' Bishops on the Bench in England inclined.to act in the same christian spirit. The Church will never stand on safer or higher.ground' than she will on that day, should it ever come, wherrher ecclesiastical ruler* shall be fot)nd uplifting their voices and rousing the spirit of their people to deprecate wrong to the poor or the weak. We hear plenty, and see enough, of ecclesiastical agitation in this country. At visitation''dinners petitions shout some grievance or another are as sure loappear as they are to-be unwelcome to many who have to look on them ; the counters of brthodox libraries place them before us, the fourwheels of rural deans bring them to our doors; but what is their general burden! Their sub-ject-matter, nine times out often, derives its interest as connected with the innnedii)te,wellbeing of the shepherds rather than of theflock ; the revenues of some chapter are about to be attacked ; the existence of some see is threatened ; or more sees are wanted, £c. Who ever heard of a Bishop commending to the archdeacons to incite the rural deans to request the clergy {to petition against some known attack on the rights of the poor, or some of the thousand phyjical and social oppressions to which the poor*ape subject f If to stir up the people.to a sense that the wrongs they endure are remediable by law, and that they have tight to petition the Legisla - tnre for their remedy, is turbulence—if for a Bishop or clergymen to use either pen or voice, or both, in proclaiming that the poor of his diocese, or parish, or neighbourood, are defrauded of their hire, are treated, being Christians as though they were brutes—if to do this, in the teeth of the opposition of those whose station gives them power to check such tyranny,' but whose interest leads them to sanction it—if this is turbulence, it this is unseemly agitation, I can only say I wish that the whole bench and clergy were possessed of such a spirit. A DORSET RECTOR 4