THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES. MONDAY, APRIL 5. 1909 THE SELWYN CENTENARY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14490, 5 April 1909, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES. MONDAY, APRIL 5. 1909 THE SELWYN CENTENARY.

Among the many men who may justly lay claim to tho title of the 'builder's of Now Zealand there are three who by sheer force of character, ifnd preeminence of ability tower nbove their compeers. These three, co-workers in laying tho foundations of the edifice now dipifiod by the name of Dominion, were, as Mr VT. P. Ji eL >ves so finely phrases it, Gibbon Wakefield, the founder; Sir George Grey, the ruler; ant! George Augustus ',Selwyn, the pastor—a. remarkable triumvirate, representative in a .singular degree of the three estates, Church, State, and i'ecplc, which go to complete the pattern nation. To-day marks the centenary of tho birth of the man who in many respects was the most remarkable of the three—George Augustus Selwyn, first Bishop of New Zealand, nineteenth Bishop of Lichfield, and founder of the Anglican Church in this h'-iid and of the Melanesia!! Mission. Kegret is sometimes expressed at the absence in the newer countries of the world of those honoured - traditions which in the Homeland serve as national object-lessons upon which the attention of growing youth , m ,y | )P CP ni,. et i ) towards which their ambitions may be directed, and in heaving of which their imaginations may be stimulated to the point of emulation. But it is too often forgotten in the ease of New Zealand that in the records of the early colonisation of the Dominion—fortunately preserved with praiseworthy prudence and handed ■ down with' admirable aectirateness-there are to he found examples of striking personalities and tho history of deeds of courage and renown which vainly cry for comparison in these days of ease and luxury. Thus it is that the contemplation of a. few, at least, of the most notable incidents in the career of Bishop Selwyn, embracing, as they must, come conception of the character of a man who has left an indelible mark upon the country which he was called to aid at the most critical period of its existence, will be found not altogether pointless or without useful moral. Mr Reginald Horsley, in his recently-published book on "The Romance of New Zealand," say.s of Bishop Selwyn that among all the English clergy probably no one could have been found so well suited for the pioneer work and rough experiences inseparable from the lot of the first Bishop of New Zealand, "H c was in truth a missionary Bishop, and his athletic youth and manhood had served to prepare him for the duties lie was now called upon to perform, which were by no means confined to the wearing of lawn sleeves, gaiters, and aprons." It has been said ! that the Sehvyn.s did much for Eton as Eton had done much for them, and that Bishop gelwyii'? Eton

training served him in good stead after lik arrival in New Zealand in Slay, ltf-1-, for lie was able to demonstrate that, although a Bishop, he was not. the less a man and a foremost exponent, of that muscular Christianity which has been immortalised by Charles Kingsley. So noted were his powers of endurance and his athletic feats in general that ho was always spoken of with .respect by the sporting newspapers. Mr JJeeves in ln's latest work on New Zealand paints a. vigorous peii-pktr.re of the meeting between Bishop Selwyn and Te Hen lieu, when that famous .Maori chief marched down to the Waiigamii coast in the uneasy year of IS-lo at the head of a slrong war party. "On the one side stood' the typical barbarian, eloquent, fearless, huge ct limb, with handsome face and maize-coloured complexion, and picturesque in kilt, cloak, and head fr-fthcr. On the other side was a Jiishop in hard training, a. Christian gr-i'.tleman as fine as English culture cculd furnish, whose clean-cut aquiline lace and unyielding mouth had the becoming support of a tall, vigorous frame lending dignity to his clerical garb. Here was the heathen determined to save his tribe from the white man's grasping hands and dissolving religion; there the missionary seeing in conversion and civilisation the only hope of preserving the Maori race. Death took To lieu Hen away before lie Had time to see his policy fail. Fate was scare-sly so kind to Selwyn, who liven to s.™ the ten years' war wreck the most of his life's work among the Natives.",

It will ever redound to Bishop Sehvyn's credit and' renown that lio joined heart and soul with Sir George Grey iu " formal and deliberate protest" against the violation of the Treaty of AYaita.ngi distinctly contemplated by Earl Grey and those acting in concert with liim,, Under that treaty the Queen had " confirmed and guaranteed to the chiefs of New Zealand the exclusive and undisturbed possession of their lauds"; and it was the Bishop and his clergy who were employed by Governor Hobsou to explain and interpret the Treaty of Waitaniji to the chiefs. Bishop Selwyn, when the time came, did not liEsitnto to write to Earl Grey in the following strong terms:—"lt is my duty to inform your Excellency that I am* resolved, God being my helper, to use all legal and constitutional measures

befitting my station to inform the Natives of New Zealand ot their rights and privileges as British subjects and to assist them in asserting and maintaining them, whether ty petition to the Imperial Parliament or other loyal and peaceable methods, but that in so doing I shall net, forgot the respect which I owe to your Excellency nor do anything which can be considered likely to add to the difficulties oF the colony." And, as 0. W. linsden writes in his " History of New Zealand "; " The Ijishop's character gave a weight to his words. Passing from camp to camp in the time of war, visiting the wounded under fire, crossing swollen rivers, threading mountain tracks in company with'those whom Earl : Grey scorned as treacherous savages, Selwyn had won a reputation for the courage of a warrior and the devotion of a Christian apostle." This exercise of courage in e\ery time of emergency is all the more remarkable since we have it on the authority of "Ms biographer, the Rev. J). W. Tucker, that Bishop Selwyn was naturally nervous, differing in this respect from Bishop Pattesou, who was a. stranger to fear. Mr Tucker says of Selwyn on this point: "The romance which .surrounded much of his work at tlit- Antipodes led to a general impression that his physical courage was very great. ... It was moral courage that overmastered his natural fear, and it was niornl courage that made him on all occasions what- he was—the undaunted champion of what was ri»lit and true, who feared nothing so much a? the reproof of his own conscience." As might be expected from a man occupying a position of prominence and responsibility, certain of his official acts I'.avo been made the occasion of considerable controversy. Ho was a stranger to all double dealing, he had the courage of his convictions, and he "'as exceptionally fearless and outspoken, and so could scarcely avoid coining into collision .with those tyho differed from him on points of policy. But whatever blame, may attach to some of his actions, his faults were those of head and not of heart.

It is difficult at this distance of time to nrrive at a. correct conclusion concerning Hie battle between, the Bishop and the older Church missionaries in regard to the question of the tenure of lauds. It is to be regretted, however, that men of the calibre of Henry and "William Williams should have been arrayed in active opposition to Bishop Sehvyn upon this matter. It was one of tlie Bishop's cl.nractpri.aics thai, he was absolutely iiuiiifpront to all monetary considerations, and even poverty was unable to nH'eot him. ITe voluntarily gave up ii'oiv than half of hi.s original income in New Zealand, and had ail been taken liore. him lie would have remained at his post, following the apostolic example ■md working for his broad. It was his ■mast that lie never owned mi acre of •New Zealand land, .yet so keen was his appreciation of its beautiful scenery that he may bo said, while "having nothing," to " have yet possessed all things." Judge, Wilson, in his "Story of To Waharoa," indulges in a few sly criticisms in his description of the sort of man who should linva been selected as first Bishop of a missionary field like New Zealand. "Avoid," ho savs, "a person rejoicing in tlie possession of highly educated physical and intellectual powers, for he who rejoices in these is too apt. to lack the Christian humility he ought to have; and, though it may seem unnecessary to sav so, bear in mind that your new Bishop when tried must govern hj. s temper, else he will sometimes be exhibited to disadvantage before the converts." But it is the same critic who subsequently adds; " It is a consolation for New Zealand to remember how | IPr nlVir , English Bishop was endowed with: an extraordinary energy, and how his genius, which accomplished the iiaetical anomaly of uniting in himself the offices of captain, boatswain, nn ..l helmsman prompted liim to oss n y much that ordinary men would u„t have presumed to attempt." .And by way of pointing Ins moral and adorning bj s tale, Judge Wilson quotes the New Zealand' Church ! dignitary who thouehr. that "tlie! Bl.'.hop was not satisfied with playimj first fiddle, but desired to monopolise all j the fiddles." There can be little doubt thai Jiwmonj;.jy-Jijohfusually;

follows the attempt, of one. man to com> pass the task ordinarily allotted to th< entire orchestra was the root camse of tho discord generated by the Jemier episode—a discord that was not finally set at rest, until 1871, when the diocese of Dunediii was formally landed over to Jiishop Nevill. But whatever share of the blame in the premature consecration of Bishop Jemier must be apportioned to Bishop Selwyn, the anomaly will remain to all time that, while in New Zealand Bishop Nevill is regarded as the first. Bishop of Dunedin, in English ecclesiastical records, confirmed by the decision upon two separate appeals, Bishop Jemier holds that honour. " We cannot better close this slight and imperfect centenary sketch of Bishop Selwyn than by echoing his biographer's hope that the "commanding intellect, and humble faith, unswerving obedience, arid inexhaustible charity, tender heart' and dauntless courage" which wera "surely combined in George Augustus Selwyn" may make his memory and example a precious inheritance for all time.