THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Tablet, 10 December 1908, Page 12

THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY DAYS

(Contributed.)

SOME GENERAL NOTES

A valued correspondent, whose knowledge of the Dominion dates back to his arrival in the late sixties, and who had an intimate acquaintance with those of whom he writes, has kindly sent me some notes in a general way, which, although referring to localities already covered and early missionaries previously mentioned, still contain much interesting matter. The Church (he writes), like the Dominion itself, has made such marvellous progress in little more than half a century that the present generation can form no idea of the life and labors of the iirst Marist Fathers in New Zealand. When the writer arrived in New Zealand there were then but two dioceses — Auckland and Wellington. The latter included the whole of the South Island. In Otago there were three Marist Fathers — Father Belliard at Invcrcargill, Father Ecuyer at Tuapeka, and Father Moreau at Dunedin. A secular priest, Father Norris, had charge of Oamaru. The whole of Canterbury from the Waitaki River in the south to the Amuri in the north, a distance of nearly 200 miles, was under the sole control of Fathers Chataigner and Chervier. Father Martin attended the Hokitika goldfields, and two secular priests — Fathers Royer and Walsh — were respectively in the Grey and Buller gold-mining districts. At Wellington Father Petitjcan was Vicar-General, with Father Scon as assistant in parochial work. (Another writer states that Father Pctitjean baptised and married two generations in the Cathedral parish of Wellington.) Bishop Viard was at the Vatican Council, and Father O'Reilly was parish priest at St. Mary of the Angels' Church, Te Aro. Father Forest was in charge of the town of Napier, and Father Regnier had all the country from Wood\ille to the Taupo. He and his horse, Roney, were well known among the runholders all over the country, by whom he was always treated as an esteemed guest, and his memory is still held in veneration among them. Father Rolland was at New Plymouth, and Father Lampile had the Maoris all along the Wanganui River, together with the town of Wanganui. The Wairarapa and Manawatu districts were' visited by Father Pertuis. Father Seauzeau, stationed at Blenheim, had all the Marlborough province under his charge, and Fathers Garin and Chareyrc had the province of Nelson. Father Garin is the only one of all those mentioned who kept a diary of the daily events of his life.

There were no roads and no bridges in those days, and people to be visited lived scattered about the country at great distances from one another. Most of the Fathers then travelled on foot. Father Chataigner, for instance, travelled in this manner from Dunedin to Christchurch with numerous big rivers to ford. In one of them he was nearly drowned, and then, wet as he was, he had a long way to go in darkness before he found a hospitable roof. Those who were among the Maoris' did not fare better. Father v-arin related to me how at times provisions would run short, and then he had to eat the Maoris' food, consisting of fish and putrid maize, which, when cooked, was so unpalatable that he had to pinch his nostrils before putting the morsel in his mouth in order to escape the smell of it. But their travelling experiences had now and ihen an intermixture of amusement. Father Chervier on one occasion had travelled the whole day over the black ashes left on the plains after an extensive fern and scrub fire. In the evening he arrived at the home of Mr. P. Henley, at Shand's Track. Wishing to stop there for the night, his face and hands were so blackened that no one recognised him, and he was taken to be an ordinary swagger. Absenting himself for a, short time, he returned washed clean,

when the family, 'to their- great surprise, fownd that their supposed swagger was no other ,than their parish - priest. As another example, take the case of Father Scon. It happened that whilst he was engaged on one of his missionary journeys to North Canterbury a man, seeing that he was travelling ' quietly on foot from place to place, offered to join him and to carry his (Father Scon's) swag. The offer was accepted, and they journeyed together like mates, sleeping and eating together in the same places. It so happened that this same man was urgently wanted by the police. He was .not personally known to them, neither was Father Scon, but both were carefully watched until the true culprit was identified. Many of the Fathers had missions which Extended Over a Whole Province. The hardships they had to endure were greater and of longer duration in comparison than mine (states the Very Rev. Dean Binsfeld, S.M., whose narrative now follows) : — After my arrival I stopped for a short time with the Vicar-General, the Rev. Father Petitjean, at Wellington, who, although already advanced 5n age, was yet as busy as a bee. His day time was devoted to the administiation of the diocese (Bishop Viard being at Rome), and his parish work, whilst a great part of his night was passed on his knees, reading theology and the history of the Church. I soon found out that it was not a safe tiling to disagree with him on one of these subjects. He was a student. New Plymouth was my first temporary appointment. The Maori war was not yet over, and the few European Catholics, like the whole of the European population, lived mostly within the boundaries of the town, as life in the country was unsafe. About half a regiment of soldiers of the 18th Royal Irish was quartered in the town. A great many of the soldiers were Catholics, and to their credit be it said their conduct was exemplary.' Father Binsfeld was their military chaplain, and the officers congratulated him, as well as themselves, on the good behavior of the men. Before their arrival the garrison had been maligned, for which they retaliated in a practical manner. During the whole of their slay in New Plymouth they kept strictly aloof from any business intercourse with the civilians. They entered no publichouse and no shop, but confined themselves to their own canteen and commissariat. The few incorrigibles who would break through this self-imposed rule had a rather unpleasant time of it, and their comrades would keep them confined until the effect of their insobriety disappeared. These soldiers practised their religion well, and they volunteered to spend much of their spare time in forming a road up to the church, and laying out the grounds. Father Binsfeld spent a pleasant time with jLhem. The townspeople, too. had learnt to like the iSlh Royal Jrish, and when in March, IS7O, they were recalled from. New Zealand a great crowd assembled at their departure, and praised them for their good conduct. Father Rolland, as has already been mentioned, was missionary rector of this district. He attended the whites and Maoris alike. Father Binsfeld merely replaced him for a while in his absence. When the Maori war broke out in the New Plymouth district Father Rolland was the only minister of religion that followed the soldiers into the battlefield, and there he showed gieat bravery. During the engagements he was at the front,and as men dropped down he crossed the lines offering to carry away tne dying, and administer to them the rites of the Church, no matter were they whites or Maori. He had many narrow escapes during the campaign, and on one occasion a bullet passed through his hat, almost grazing the crown of his head. His name is mentioned in the history of this campaign as one of its heroes. In later years the Government of New Zealandgave him a recognition (paltry enough, it is true) for the service he had rendered to the colony. He was most intrepid, and most unsparing of himself. He lived, as it were, in the saddle, and a description of the hardships and dangers he went through would make an interesting narrative. He returned to New Plymouth in March, 1870, and Father Binsfeld started for Greymouth, to which place he had been appointed before he went to New Plymouth. (To be continued.)