EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN N.Z.

NZ Truth, Issue 580, 29 July 1916, Page 7

EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN N.Z.

Samuel Marsden's Successors m the Mission field

Gleaned from Many Sources and Authentic Records — 1814-1852 Facts and Figures, Compiled by J. M. Fordo.

Creation of an Anglican Diocese

Book 6.— Chapter 9

The First Anglican Bishop of New Zealand— Dr. Selwyn— Departure from England—Voyage Out— Crossing the Lin«— Five Sovereigns for King Neptune — The Episcopal Party Escapo s tho "Shave."

Bishop Selwyn's party on board the Tomatin consisted of his two chaplains, Mr. Cotton, a student, of Christ- J church, and Mr, Whytehead, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge; Messrs. Cole, Dudley and Reay, missionary clergy; three catechists, Messrs. Butt, Evans and Nihill, and a schoolmaster and mistress. Another clergyman, Rev. B. Lucas Watson, was also on board, bound for Australia. Also, there was another passenger who proved useful and was important, Rupai, a Maori lad, who had been brought to England and placed under \he care of a clergyman at Battersea. with a view: to his education. This lad Bishop Selwyn eagerly sought out; and, with a keen sense of the fttnesa of things, engaged him as hte tutor m the language of the Maori. Mr. Tucker, tho Bishop's biographer, dubs the lad a living grammarian and lexlon. This lad was used m the same way that Bishop Selwyn and Bishop Patteson were wont to use the Melaneslan lads whom they brought from their native islands. • • • It is commonly said that the leisure on board ship la not conducive to profitable work, and that it really requires a resolute will to accomplish much under these conditions. But to Bishop Selwyn and his party the voyage out was not a respite from labor. What was done and how the time was employed, and what were the mishaps of the voyage are told by Dr. Selwyn m two letters written to his mother; one sent by a passing ship, the other posted m Sydney, New South Wales, on his arrival. A third Bhort letter, earlier m point of time, was written j on board a small brig, the Retrench, on January 11, 1842, m "Tropic .of Cancer, long. 21.9 W." They had left the Tomatin m calm weather, without any intention of coming on board, and so had not brought with them their unfinished letters; but as the vessol ; would part company when a breeze I sprang up, he wrote a few lines to his , mother, and entrusted the letter to the I captain of the brig, which was bound to Sierra Leone, and thence to England. The following letters speak for themselves: * Ship Tomatin, Lat 6 N. Long. 21 W. January 18, 1842. I "My . dearest Mother. — The hurried note which 1 sent by the brig Retrench will, I hope, have reached you; though, as it was to go by way of Sierra Leone, it may have been delayed. We have had a most delightful passage to this point of our voyage, with the wind continually fair since we left England, and never too strong to produce any serious inconvenience to Sarah or myself. In the three days preceding last Sunday, at noon, wo ran 600 geographical miles, or ten degrees of latitude; and though we expected the wind to fall us m latitude 10 N. we are still going on at the rate of nve geographical miles an hour. The present state of temperature would not suit you, as the thermometer where 1 am sitting is 79deg., but, aa the fresh breeze still continues, tho heat la not very oppressive. "1 proceed now to give you an account of our proceedings. We set sail on the afternoon of Sunday, December 26, with a fair wind from tho North, and a most beautiful sky overhead, which made Plymouth Harbor look moßt lovely and enabled us to go away with the most pleasing recollection of the last Bight of our native country. "Mr. and Mrs. Coleridge stayed with us till we were In full sail out of tho harbor, and then took a moat affectionate leave of ua. We passed tho breakwater about one o'clock, and were off the Ltsard Lighthouse at 10 p.m. This wan our last glimpse of anything belonging to England, and 1 remained on deck watching it as It uppear«d from time to time when the ship rose Upon the waves, till, at last Us reappearances became less and leas frequent, and even the tenth wave failed to bring us within Bight of it, and we saw Hno more. We are now watching th« Pole star with the unmet Interest, as In two or three days Jtjvill ttluk beneath the horizon. Butfthe constellations which we used to we" low m tho South, but which are now {biasing overhead, will still unite us together m thought by the 'bands of Orion and the sweet influence of the Pleiades/ We have not yet had a favorite view of the Southern Cross, or j of Its neighbor, the Southern triangle, j as they come to tho meridian In the day time. Nothing of any particular J note occurred during out Hrst week; j moat of the party being unwell, not; including Sarah and myself, who havo \ not been disturbed. Little William waa uncomfortable for one (lay. but soon recovered. Our first Sunday on board was most delightful. I had given notice of tho communion at tho service on the 26, which some thought rather premature, na we could not be Bure of our weather; but when January 2 came, we celebrated divine service on board m such a calm as fell upon tho Sea of Galltoo, when Jesus said to its troubled waters, Peace, be still. Our church was arranged thus: Our communion -tnblo waa ipread with Mr. Mackanness'a altar-nervJo© books, and Mr. Kow'b communion plate, with a cloth si von to me by one of my parishioner* In Windsor. We had the full service with communion, and prayed for you all, as I doubt not we were remembered m your prayers. In

the evening we had prayers m the ainingr- room, the darkness having prevented an evening service on deck and as the ship's hours of dinner are between one and five. "I forgot to mention that we had service on the poop-deck on the morning of the. Circumcision, and m tho same manner on the Epiphany. Last Sunday we began evening prayers on the poop-deck at 6 o'clock and hope to have full service next Sunday, as our days are now lengthened two hours. "You would be much pleased* with OU T church, I and my chaplain sit at that part of the ship which is used ■for our communion-table, which is covered with a red flag. The capstan, covered with another flag, is our pulpit and desk, and seats are arranged all round, covered with all the ship's signals. Sarah leads the hymns and psalms, which are well sung, as four of our gentlemeu are practised singers, and several of the steerage passengers join m good tune. Dr. Blyth's psalmody is our text-book. "I have already given you a programme of our week-day employments. Soon after sailing I gave notice that I should open school on the first Monday m the New Year, allowing a week for sickness and convalescence. Accordingly, on Monday, January 8, we began regular habits: Reading the dally prayers at 8 m the morning, and the psalms and lessons, m the original languages, each at their appointed hour. Besides this there is a New Zealand class, comprising nearly all the. party, and a mathematical class ! for the study of navigation. The wholo I of tho morning is thus occupied, leaving the evening to the discretion of tho party and for preparation for the next day. ; On church festivals, when i the full service is read, tho Eton praci tlce of a whole holiday is followed. i The advantage of this regular plan is generally admitted, as, instead of the voyage being tedious, very few find | the day long enough, My father will explain to you this description of our life. 'Excepto, quod non sitnul esses. COBtora anus. 1 We have taken different departments for the study of the New Zealand language. Mr. Cotton and Mr, Reay are making a concordance of the native Testament. lam compiling from tho Rarotonga, Tahitlan and New Zealand translations of tho New Testament a comparative grammar of those three dialects, which ore all from the same root, and illustrate one another. I hope to be quite familiar with the three dialects by tho end. of the voyage,

which will much facilitate "Hhe plan Which I have conceived — and may Qod give me grftce to carry into eflfeet — of extending the branches of the Church of New Zealand throughout the Southern Pacific. "I am studying practical navigation under our captain (a most intelligent man), m order that I may be my own master m my visitation voyages. It gives me great pleasure to tlnd that I am quite at my ease at sea, which makes me look forward to (ho maritime character of my future" life with more comfort and hope. My chronometer and sextant are m constant use. lAst night I learned a new observation, vis., to find the angular distance between the moon and a fixed star. William gave mo at Plymouth a log book and chart, m which I keep the ship's reckoning, which is of great use m preventing those 111-dellned expectations of arriving at certain 'placet before the time which make journeys seem tedious. I always know the ship's place exactly, and the probable time of her reaching any given point. "Sarah has hitherto, been much occupied m attending to her lady companions who are how rapidly gaining , ground. Mrs. Martin is on deck nearly allx day, and Mrs. Dudley has just taken her place by her side, having been confined to her cabin for some days. "Long.. 20.82deg. W., lat. 5.41deg., January 18, noon. We are now m the midst of (lying fish, large shoals of which have been seen every day skimming the surface m all directions. Yesterday the sharks began to appear, and Rupai succeeded m catching v small one this morning, Lat. N. S.l2deg., long. 20.15deg. W.. 3 p.m., thermometer 82. : A brig has Just come m sight, which we hope may convey this to ".you; so I' must eloso up for the. present, to be re-opened U the. ship should prove not to be homeward hound. "As we cannot hope to hear from you for many months, it is a comfort to think that you may receive letters from us before the end of February. ."Sarah unites with me In kindest love and with loving, dutiful and at* fectionate remembrance to my father, and with kindest love to my brother* and sisters and to all friends, who are, happily, too numerous to be mentioned by name. "I remain, your dutiful and truly affectionate son, Q. A. NEW ZEALAND. P.S.— Pray send our special love ta aunts Eliza and your sisters, of whom one may be now at rest. All well." • • • Bishop Selwynln this nnd all other letters shows a loving tenderness for hla mother. He did not write from the ship to his father, possibly because the father being a distinguished law. yer, had no time for his episcopal son. (To bo continued,)