CHURCH OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW ZEALAND.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 175, 26 July 1907, Page 6

CHURCH OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW ZEALAND.

No! ■ V. ■ . (By the Rev. Canon Haselden in N.Z. Herald.) When Bishop Sehvyn left Now Zealand the Synod of the Diocese of Auckland delegated to him the right of appointment oi the Bishop of Auckland. Bishop Selwyn was grieved when the first clergyman he offered this appointment to decline to accept it. The Synod had stipulated that the Bishop should select" someone from England. This prevented the Bishop from selecting any clergyman in New Zealand, as he probably would have done, for he - had mentioned in letters written by him the names of certain clergymen then working in New Zealand, whom he considered as fitted to bo Bishop of Auckland.- When he, on behalf of the Synod of Auckland,", made the offer to some clergymen in England, he thought that they would at once answer it as a call to duty ; bub they did not. One of those who declined Auckland was Canon Walsham How, afterwards the well-known Bishop of Bedford. This fact is not mentioned in any of the official documents of the time, and is probably unknown except by those who have read-the "Life of Walsham How." by his son, the Rev. F. I). How. Eventually the offer was mad©" tcx the Rev. William Garden Cowie, M.A., rector of S. Mary's Staf- • ford, and he accepted it as a call to duty. . . Mr Cowie was a scholar and prizeman of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and a graduate with honours, being in the first class of the Law Tripos of his year. He was for a time curate of a church in Cambridge, and then at Moulton, in Suffolk. He then became an army chaplain in India, where he saw much service and distinguished himself and received medals. An oltT soldier told me how he remembered seeing Bishop Cowie in an engagement, and that he was carrying out the wounded and the -■ -dying, and was as cool all the time as the coolest man could be. He was ~tiien a vigorous young man. . In. 1864 'lie was chaplain to the celebrated "Bishop "Cotton, of Calcutta, and travelled with him in the north of India. In 1860 he was.chaplain of Cashmere, and in 1867 he went Home and was made rector of Stafford. There had been much' trouble at Stafford before his appointment, and . the congregation had gone down, but under him it revived at once. Mr Cowie had married i>h© esteemed lady who became so well known and beloved in Auckland, and he had settled down to a quieter life than he had been used to in India, and was the rector of a very fine ■church in England. For him to give this up- and , come to Auckland, as Auckland was 38 years ago, was a selfsacrifice which must have given pleasure to Bishop Selwyn. On St. Peter's Day, June 29, 1869, he was consecrated in' Westminster Abbey by Archbishop Taifc. On October 24, 1870, Bishop Cowie gave his first eddress to the Diocesan Synod.. In th?.t address he .struck at once the right note, and the i -older and wiser men were satisfied that ' Bishop Selwyn had made a wise choice of his successor. Bishop Cowie began by speaking of : the loss this diocese had sustained by; the translation of Bishop Selwyn to Lichfield and the great gain he was i to the Church at Home, during a time j -when men of power Yfere much needed. Then he used these words: "A maw would need to have a strong sense of his mission from the Divine Head of the Church before consenting to succeed Bishop Selwyn in any great Christian, work; and .it was only in reliance on our Heavenly Father's promise to be with His ambassadors always, and in the belief that in this ministry 'we are labourers together with God,' that I was induced to accept this trust at your invitation. And yet, knowing as I do how greatly the Church of England is in want of leaders like- your late Primate, I am glad to be able, with you, to bear part of the cost afc which the great Bishop has been restored to- the Mother Church, hy whom he was.seat to New Zealand icr so many years. Two prelates in ■succession of his calibre no diocese could reasonably expect to obtain; but

in devotion-1& the work to which-1 have been "called, and hi the endeavour in all things to bear myself as 'your ser-' vant for Jesus' sake,' it shall be my desire, and continued prayer, to emulate the very first of the ministers of Christ, 'ye also helping together in prayer for us.' " The Bishop then spoke some, quiet, earnest words about the state of the

<tfocese generally, which . showed that he had already got a grip of things and a knowledge that was worth something. He early learnt the importance of the work of the Home Mission,

and thus spoke of it: "I cannot impress •on. tie Synod too strongly the great importance of increasing the resources of this fund without delay, arid trust that some system will be devised by .you for stirring up and keeping alive, in every parish and district of the diocese an interest in this, the most important'of all our diocesan institutions. The object of the Home Mission is not only to assist the members of our Church in poor districts to maintain.ministers for themselves, but even more to send evangelists to those parts of the diocese from which no cry for help reaches us, districts in which' we have to begin from the very beginriing, by awakening in the hearts of the people a desire to know the things which belong unto their peace. For this work, it is men even more than money that we need; and how shall we obtain them?" Such appeals the Bishop constantly made.' He tried to supply some of the need himself by doing a great deal of Home Mission work, and holding services in those ' districts where there were no resident ministers, nor could the people have supported theni even if the men had been available. ■; In those .daj'S travelling was far harder in the country districts than it is to-day. Trains are now running in districts where then the only means of travel was on horseback; buggies can go comfortably where it used to be necessary to walk; and good steamers, with

staterooms for saloon passengers, run to places to .which small: cutters provided the only means of travel. Bishop Cowie made long and lonely jour-

neys into some of our bush settlements; and when we think of them, after 35 years have passed^ we know they must have been very trying to him. One day he was staying in a settler's home in the North, where he was comfortable, and, as both the settler and his wife were well-educated people of good position,.his visits there were pleasant to ..him. But that night the Bishop was to hold a service in a liall over

three miles from the settler's home. He rede away with the settler's son, a lad of 16 years, and held the service. Then came the ride: back in pitch darkness, with heavy tain falling" all the tinie, and over a bad clay road. The. three miles took over one hour, and the Bis-

hop, a big and heavy man, with strong but short sight, could not have liked it; in fact, it must have been most unpleasant ;but not one word of complaint did he make, but talked to the lad all the time, and laughed at the stories of bush life which the boy could tell him, and they waxed warm in their talk together when they spoke of Bishop Selwyn and what a noble man he was. It was Bishop Cowie's influence and his appeals in Synod addresses and Home Mission reports that made that lad three year after go to St. John's College to study for the ministry, instead of taking a very tempting offer of his articles and ail expenses provided until he was a bar-> rister of the Supreme Court. It was the same influence that made some older men, sons of clergymen at Home, and of good early education, give up their farms and enter St. John's College for theological stucly. They have all done years of hard work in the Church in this diocese.

Bishop Cowie was most thoughtful for tho country settlers. At one time he used to send illustrated papers, books, and good magazines by post to quite a large number of out-district settlers. Old people and children used to get short letters and cards on their birthdays from him quite regularly, while the very young children of one of tho junior clergy, whom the Bishop had confirmed and ordained, were always delighted to drive to Bishopcourt and be made much of by the Bishop. They called him "Bishop" in a most friendly fashion, but never for a moment lost their respect for him; and when they were ill and their fatheraway from home on duty, "their Bishop" never failed to pay them/a visit, however busy he was. The Bishop was very well up' in "Lightfoot on St. Paul's Epistles," both in Greek and exegesis, and he regularly read for one hour every week from seven to eight a.m. with" the clergy who were in deacon's orders and living in Auckland . He was very approachable, and would always impart information about; rulings for meetings, correct forms, and such like, to those who had the sense to ask him and knew how to do it. He had such a great admiration for Bishop Selwyn, and approved so much-of what the Bishop had done, that he carried on the traditions of the diocese; and the Synod meetings, with Bishop Oowie as president and the Hon. Golonl Haultain as chairman of committees, were very orderly and dignified, although not quite so aweinspiring as when Bishop Selwyn presidecL ,

.On January 11, 1876, Bishop Cowie had the great pleasure of performing an act that gave .much satisfaction -both-to-himself "and all right-thinking people in the diocese who had known Archdeacon Henry Williams. The Bishop had not- known the Archdeacon personally, but he said, "None of you have a greater reverence for his memory than I have." This act was the unveiling of the monument erected to Henry Williams's memory at Paihia. Ten years before Henry Williams had died, and the circumstances surrounding his death were in keeping with his noble life .As he grew older he had stayed more and more in his home at Parahaka, and people went to see him instead of him visiting them, and the Maori clergy of _ his^ district were in constant communication with him. In May of J. 867 a tribal war broke out

between two of the Northern tribes, and in a very short time the whole ot the district was drawn into the fighting ranks of one side or the other. A day was fixed for a pitched battle, and if that had taken place when war would have ended it is hard to say, and,the whole of the North of New Zealand would have been involved in conflict. On the day before the fight Mr Edward Williams, the resident magistrate, and all the other sons of the Archdeacon, had been sent by their father to do what they could to prevent the battle. But their efforts were of no avail. It was left for Henry Williams to make j;he peace, and this he did by his death. On the eve of the day fixed for the battle he was seized with a fainting fit, and in a very short time his life passed away, and so quietly that those who watched around him could not tell the exact -time when he ceased to be with them. Word was taken to both parties of the Maoris, and at once the war ended, never to be resumed. The Maori warrior Haratua, a man of renown, exclaimed: "I have Killed Te Wiremu." At the funeral he insisted upon being a pall-bearer, and after it was over he said: "My hand has touched the pall ; .1 can no longer go back to fight." And so Henrjr Williams' death led to a; great peace-making, and a peace never broken again. 1 would like to linger a little while to say what is in my heart about that brave noble-minded servant of the Prince of Peace; but I hasten on to tell of the day when the monument erected to his memory at Paihia was unveiled by Bishop Cowie. All the people from all round about, aiid some visitors from Auckland, assembled at Paihia. Archdeacon j Clarke, then" Archdeacon of Waimate, and nine Maori clergy were at the ceremony. The monument was unveiled, and then the choir from the church !at Russell sang the anthem, "How lovely are the messengers that bring .the Gospel of Peace." The Bishop spoke in English, and Archdeacon Clarke interpreted. In his address the Bishop said: "Such men as he was do not need monuments of stone to keep them in our memory; but it is well for the sake of those who come after us to erect' the memorials."'' The Maori speeches are given in English, in an appendix to the last volume of Carleton's "Life of Henry Williams." A Maori clergyman, the Rev. Matthew Taupaki, made a grand address. He began : "Welcome, Ngapuhi, Rarawa, Te Aupouri! Come and see your handiwork standing before you. There are also other tribes who assisted in erecting this monument—Ngatiraukawa, Ngatikahungunu, Ngatiporou, Ngatimaru: let us express our thanks to them for joining us in this good work. . . . Think of the wickedness of our island. The exceeding heavy stone which weighed us down was cannibalism, but that did not deter him. He forsook his own country and people, parents and relatives. . It is meet and proper that we should erect this monument to keep in memory a great man who is dead, for it is not as though the erecting of monuments were a new idea. We are told in Scripture of Jacob at Bethel, Joshua at Jordan, Samuel at Ebenezer, erecting memorials. Let the erection of this stone be a witness amongst us that the Maori Church shall stand for ever, aiid not be cast; down." The Rev. Piripi Patiki said:"The Maori could not comprehend what motive could have induced the first missionaries to forsake their own country, their brethren and sisters, and fathers and mothers, to come to the ends of the earth to a cannibal land ; but on

opening his Bible he found their commission was from God, 'Go and search all nations," with the promise, ,'Lo, I am with.you Until the end of the world.' It was this that brought the missionaries to- this island. They obeyed the command and were blessed, and the Maori Church has sprung up." Mr Edward Williams, R.M., replied for the Williams family. The monument cost £200, and this sum was subscribed by the Maoris alone. They declined all offered contributions from the English. An exact version of the Maori words on the monument is :— A. ■ : Memorial To HENRY WILLIAMS, A token of love to Kirn from the Maori Church. He- was a father indeed to all the tribes, A man brave to make peace in the Maori Wars. For 44 years he sowed the Glad Tidings in this Island. He came to us in the year 1823. He was taken from us in the year ■ . 1867. About ten years after this ceremony by Bishop Cowie," in: the course of my Home Mission work I came early one week-day morning, after a very trying night at sea, to Paihia, and there I found the Bishop and Mrs Cowie. We had? service together by the monument and thought of the holy dead. That night I preached at the church at Waimate, and in the course of my sermon I gave' an illustration from the celebrated "Boston Monday Lectures," by the Rev. Joseph Cook. Some "days after I met a Maori clergyman, and we rode many miles together. He told me he had heard my sermon at Waimate, and on the following Sunday he had preached it to his Maori congregation, and it "was clear" to him; particularly, I have no doubt, the illustration from Joseph Cook. Then, for two or three hours as we rode along, I gave that good Maori clergyman all the illustrations I could think of, and from the way he asked me questions on nice points, it was quite clear that he took them all in and had far more ability than his white brother. When we got to Paihia we prayed together beside Henry Williams' monument, and parted never to meet again in this life, for before I visited Paihia once more that good Maori minister had followed Henry Williams, and in the other life perhaps the great English missionary, and the gentle-minded Maori clergyman were with the Master they both had served so well.