MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY DAYS THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 47, 21 November 1907, Page 10

MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY DAYS

THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

(Contributed.) (Continued from last week.) AUCKLAND.

An Opportune Proclamation.

No account of the annoyances to which the missioners at Hokianga were subjected in those days would be at all complete ' which ignored the part that was taken to suppress them by Baron de Thierry. This gentleman, a French Protestant, who had received a large part of his education at Cambridge University, and had served . with distinction in the Portuguese Army, owned about 40,000 acres in the neighborhood, which he had purchased from some native chiefs' for thirty-six axes; he was therefore entitled to some consideration from his coreligionists. With the authority of a small potentate, he issued a proclamation calling upon the persecutors of the Bishop to desist in their efforts to drive him and his clergy from the island, . and calling upon them as ' Christian men to pause before they hurry into acts which- must inevitably lead to bloodshed.' The 'proclamation ' went on to ,say : • The Baron de Thierry is by religion anti-Catholic, and it is far from his object to plead for any particular faith ; he pleads for all faiths and for all classes and conditions of men, and more especially does he entreat the white residents" 'to pause and consider the great responsibility which they assume by leading New Zealanders into acts which they are taught to believe V they may commit with impunity as ans. independent, people, but which .will end in conflicts which every honest man must deplore.' . Notwithstanding this, appeal, no . sooner had the French corvette, left the New Zealand waters than the persecution of the missionaries became as 'active as ever. A meeting of the natives was convened to devise means of getting ;rid of the Frenchmen ' without bloodshed. But the Catholic chiefs and natives, of whom by this time there was a con^ siderable number, convened a meeting also, at which it was re-

solved that at all hazards they" would protect the Bishop and - fight for him if necessary. There was, however, no occasion, as they disbanded without' coming to any' decision. So- serious was the ' outlook that . for two days and nights the Catholic and friendly natives — for the heathens were all friendly— remained camped around the mission station in order to protect it. An old chief went into the Bishop's residence in the early part of the proceedings and told him to fear nothing ; that before a blow of a mere could reach him they should aIL be stretched dead around his house. The conviction soon forced itself on Bishop Pompallier -that Hokianga possessed few- advantages as a central station for his mission. Apart from any consideration of the irritating'annoyances to which he was subjected, the place had other drawbacks. It was out of the direct track of commerce, and -was seldom ~ visited by ships trading from European ports, thus rendering his communications with his own country precarious and uncertain; therefore, soon ofter the departure of 'La Heroine,' he busied himself in establishing a place of central administration at Kororareka, now called Russell, at the Bay of Islands. Many of the native chiefs of that place expressed a desire to embrace the Catholic faith, and urged him strongly to establish a mission station in their country, but to his intense regret "he could not comply with their requests, for he had neither priests nor money. All around Mm the harvest lay ripe for the sickle,- but the reapers were not there. / On his way out to this country he had established a mission at Wallis and one at Futuna, which had exhausted, or very nearly exhausted, his resources. Stranded in New Zealand, if it may be said, with but one priest and a depleted exchequer, among a savage people, he was faced with innumerable difficulties. The Protestant denominations had three mission schooners plying in New Zealand waters; he had not a single boat. They had two printing presses, and were being continually supplied with their special literature from London; he and his' priest had to write out everything themselves for their catechumens, having no printed books in the language. For several reasons it would be imprudent, and perhaps useless also, to solicit assistance from those around him. So for the twelve months or more of his stay at Hokianga he suffered many privations. He was unable to visit the stations of Wallis and Futuna, as he had promised, or even to extend his labors in New Zealand. He was consoled, however, by the large number of converts. Whenever a vessel came up the Hokianga River crowds of natives might be seen on its banks anxiously looking out for the priests who, the Bishop had promised them, would soon arrive from Europe, and shortly afterwards these same people might be heard reproaching him for not having kept his word with them. ' Alas !' he pathetically writes in his diary, ' in the deserted position I was in I was forced to limit all my labors to the teaching of the people of Hokianga. Settling to Work. ■*• In October, 1838, about eight months after his arrival in the country, Bishop Pompallier went, at the earnest and repeated solicitations of a number of chiefs on the Kaipara River, to lay the foundations of the Church in that district, leaving Father Servant at Hokianga. For several months previously those chiefs had been sending their sons down to the mission station to entreat the Bishop to come and visit them. The chiefs were anxious to hear what the Catholic" Bishop had to say, so he decided to visit them. In October, .as previously stated, several natives and three white people accompanied him-up-the river to his destination. On his arrival he was met and welcomed by a large number of natives and whites, who looked upon his visit as an omjn of great promise for the future of the district. The Bishop took up his quarters in'the house of an Irish Catholic, who had several children awaiting instructions in the Faith and Baptism. He had by this time mastered the r " language of the country, and was able to preach to the Maori in his own tongue. After having explained the principal mysteries of tfie Faith and the ceremonies of the Church, the , whole tribe, consisting of about 500,- expressed a desire to be- ' come Catholics at once. On the second day after his arrival he celebrated Mass in presence of this large number of people, who. all seemed to be delighted and edified by the ceremony. On .the day of his departure many of the chiefs and their followers accompanied him in canoes down the river for a distance of twelve leagues, and on their leave-taking begged of him to come back to them soon. m " The great drawback to fhe Catholic mission .in the North Island- from its' very inception to the last was its want of

-priests, in the first place, and, secondly, its want of funds. From the very start' the Bishop's efforts'' to spread the Faith, among the natives were paralysed by these causes. Everywhere around him he' saw men' willing, nay anxious, to be"instructed in the doctrines of the Church, earnestly entreating him to come himself or send them priests, presenting him with land for church' purposes, arid sending their children to him to be baptised. On June 16, 1839, three priests (Marists) and three catechists arrived from Lyons at" the Bay of Islands in the little schooner ' La Eeine de Paix.' ' These priests (Fathers Baty, Epally, and Petit) brought out funds, with which the Bishop was able to build and furnish a house for himself at Kororareka, where he finally fixed his residence, making it the headquarters of the Apostolic Vicariate, under the patronage of SS. Peter and Paul. Father Baty was sent to Hokianga to learn the language and assist at the* mission, and the others remained at the Bay, for the work was breaking down the Bishop's health. Shortly after— having taken up his residence there he had over 450 nativesjnscribed on his lists who wished to become Catholics. Not even in Ireland in the -days of St. Patrick was such a desire exhibited by the people'to embrace the True Faith as was shown by the Maoris. About this time a native woman, the widow of a chief, lay dangerously ill, and was given over by the doctor, so the Bishop's aid was sought by her friends to cure her. Coming to her house he prayed over her, and she at once recovered her health--sufficiently to sit up in bed. At the end of eight days she was quite well. A child of twelve years on the point of death was one day brought to him by its parents, and, as in the -previous case, after a short prayer the child recovered. In three days it was perfectly well. Several similar cases-might be recorded. A daughter of Rewai the great chief of Kororareka, ~was one day seized with a sudden and dangerous iljriess, from which-theresr-seemed to be no hope of her recovery. In the deepest distress th~e,6ldh&. chief sought Dr Pompallier, and holding his daughter's almost lifeless body across his knees begged the Bishop to restore her to him. A tangi was already being arranged, for her friends^. ' looked upon the girl as being dead. The Bishop advisecT Threes mourners to cease weeping, and taking the almost lifeless arm of the girl he made with it the sign of the Cross over her face and _ shoulders. He then, with some of the Christians around him, knelt down and recited the 'Credo,' the ' Pater_Noster,' and the ' Aye Maria,' and immediately the girl opened her eyes and ' regained consciousness. Before the day was over she was quite well. In January, 1840, the chiefs of the Tauranga tribes, in the Bay of Plenty, pressed him to come to visit them^ and about the same time the natives of Whangaroa offered to set apart a portion of land for a church and cemetery and a priest's house. Fathers Epall*> and Petit were sent to establish a, mission at the latter place, and- some time afterwards the Bishop himself paid a visit to the former in company with one priest (Father Viard) and a native neophyte, who had been baptised under the name of Romano. (To be continued.)