THE LATE REV, A. G. PURCHAS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13191, 31 May 1906, Page 6

THE LATE REV, A. G. PURCHAS.

+-— Dr. J. Giles. wriUs;—Ah * i-">lonisi ti 48 ! veers' standing, mid is an old and in.im;i|o friend, of the late Rev. Arthur Guy on Pur- J (has, I may be'allowed bo add to flic- fills j and comprehensive obituary notice -which; has appeared in the Herald a few lines of .more private and personal reminiscence •-.- After-taking up our abode at Mauku, about Christmas, 1858, one of our first ae'- ; : qua.intances— as the event proved, one.. of our best and most valued friendswas the Rev. Mr. Purchas, who used to visit' ; the district monthly, and this intercourse was continued until -ended by the ■war. During this time we had ample -op-- ■ portunity of learning the true ; character of.■-our friend, and of becoming impressed .. by the unselfishness of his nature, and ,by his constant readiness to take any trouble; either by thought or action, to help everyone who needed help. Upon the freaking out of'lie Maori war, Dr. Purchas (for is natural that I .should speak of lam ilL' his medical rather than hLj clerical capacity). exerted himself in more ways than one.to secure the safety- of th- 3 * Mauku settler's; j He urged the matter upon the at ten tier of the Government, and was instrumental in getting a schooner sent up to take the settlers away at a moment that was considered critical. Dr. Purchas . also cooperated with Bishop Selwyn in keeping in touch, is far as possible', with the.Maoris, and on one occasion "both of them, at no little personal risk to themselves, met., a war party, and persuaded them to turn back, or alter their 'ntended route. . lit such negotiations Dr. Purchas had the advantage of a knowledge of the .Maori language, not much inferior in amplitude of vocabulary, I should. suppose, to that of the Bishop, while in nice and delicate accuracy of pronunci-" , ion I have never known hint surpassed, if equalled, by any other Maori scholar.

. ! Maori scnoiar. ~> 1 must not conclude his relations with ' Mauku without recording that he showed ' his versatility by designing the pretty t church which still stands « picturesque ob- :. ject. amongst the farms and fields, and still P shows:the marks oS the military character, ? which it had for a rime to assume. As years passed, the pressure of circuit); stances compelled Dr. Purchas to betake - himself to medical practice, in which he. t soon found ample employment, which, as f the Herald justly' observes,' included a great amount of gratuitous work, for, with . ]>.. Purchas, it was always the patient's ' need, and not the fee, which stimulated his energy and skill. That he wis quite cap- ■ able "of taking a leading position as a sur- • geon there can ho no doubt, Before the i, clay of Lister, and of aseptic f:;>atment, . when abdominal surgery was regarded as. ! a last and desperate resource, when Sir Spen'r " cer Wells war. acquiring fame by some care* > ful work in that line, and Lawson Tait was • threatening to eclipse that fame, Dr. Pur-' , ch'as undertook. and successfully carried ej'nV more tlra.ii one serious abdominal opeiati.a of considerable magnitude. The Herald has already mentioned'his ; skill in music a.nd in mechanical work. .In , the latter his invention and ingenuity were » such that I do not doubt that with a scien,L tifa'c education iu. that line, he might,, if be had taken up the coiling, have become a. 1 great engineer. In this connection, I may ' mention the little machine which occupied > some of his later years, and which wasde- ( signed to provide a., more speedy miethod of I preparing the metal plates i'oi printing the , Braille type for the use of the blind. I think anyone who examines this piece of ' work' must be struck by its simplicity and 1 ingenuity. i It is not for me to discuss.his character as a clergyman and religious teacher. If this can be summed up in a word, it must be by saying that he was an enthusiastic 1 disciple of Frederick Denison Maurice. Dr. Purchas was not in any sense what I should , call a. mystic; and Professor Maurice, I think, undoubtedly was; but the personal \ influence of the latter accomplished what '. perhaps his books alone might have failed ' to do. He Mas chaplain at Guy's Hospital > when Dr. Purchas was a. student, and the , whole subsequent life of the young man was profoundly influenced by the intercourse which he then enjoyed with Maurice, whom he always afterwards regarded as the'greatest seer and prophet of the nineteenth' ceutnry. For the rest, I can answer for it that no theological difference of opinion , ; was, ever allowed to throw the slightest shade between himself and a friend, so long , as he behoved that friend to be sincere in his regard for truth, and for the welfare i of humanity. A friendship of 47 years raav, I hope, be some justification for this ~' little tribute to his memory.