The Dominion. MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 1916. LOOKING BACKWARD

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2861, 28 August 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 1916. LOOKING BACKWARD

The long and useful life of Bishop William Leonard Williams, who died at Napier on Thursday last, covers noarly, the whole of tho history of New Zealand since the commencement of European settlement. It connects the Dominion, as we know it to-day, with the romantic little missionary coloDy at tho Bay of Islands, which gladdened the ! .heart of Charles Darwin in . tho year 1835. At that time the white population was probably well under; five hundred. Darwin was shown over the settlement by Bishop Williams's father, who gavo the great scientist some interesting information regarding the war customs of I the native race. Darwin was most favourably impressed by the work which was being done by the early missionaries. '"All this is very surprising,." was his comment on what no saw. ' That there should bo comfortable English-looking homesteads and flourishing farms in a place where. there was nothing but fern five years' before astonished him. "Tho lesson of ihe missionary is tho enchantor's wand," he writes. It was not only the triumphant feeling at seeing what Englishmen could effect that stirred his licart, but also "the high hopes thus inspired for the'futiirc progress of this fine island." Two years ago we celebrated the # centenary of Marbden's first visit. Neither Marsden nor Darwin could,have.imagined that in a hundred years a prosperous, selfgoverning State, with over a million, inhabitants, would have dcfalbped _ from' tho seeds of civilisation which were then being sown at the Bay of Islands. When Marsden sent a few bales of wool to Sj/dney he could not have dreamed that ho was starting an enterprise which ivas destined to grow into the great wool export trade as wo know it to-day. Darwin spent an evening at Mr. William Williams's house at Waimate. He tells us that he found there a large party of children collected together for Christmas Day. Ho never saw a nicer or merrier group, "and to think that this was in the centre of the land of cannibalism, murder, and all atrocious_ crimes!" He says it would be difficult to find a body of men better adapted than thoso Christian pioneers for the\high office they fulfilled. The children of the missionaries won Charles Darwin's heart, and Bishop. W. L. Williams,] then six years old, was probably one of tho happy party of which the I famous scientist retained such j pleasant memories. These children, I tie writes, understand the Maori language "better than their parents, and can get anything more readily done by the Natives.

No man in New Zealand understood the Maori mind ov the Maori language better than Bishop Williams. The , Natives loved and trusted him, and throughout his long life he mado their welfaro his special care. The work of the missionaries at first made wonderful progress, but in the course of time misunderstandings, began to arise between the Maoris and the white population. Then came the wars. Hostility to the white man carried withit hostility to the white man's religion, and the Maori Church passed through a period of eclipse. During recent years confidence has been gradually re-established. The mature wisdom and unrivalled experience of Bishop Williams helped very materially to win this Maoris back to Christianity, and he devoted much timo and thought to the task of spiritual reconstruction°'tb which those interested in the future of the Native race are now giving a great deal of attention. This work dcaorves much more sympathy . and support from the European population than it is at present receiving. Missionary work may not be so romantic as it was in the early days of the colony, but it is quite as important, and the men who arc doing id arc not getting ,fche amount of help and encouragement that is justly due to them. In the dark Says when the Hauhau movement got a strong hold on a largo section of the Native race, Bishop Williams remained at Poverty Bay to combat this strange cult, .and io keep in touch with the faithful few who refused to abandon Christianity. When the first Bishop of Waiapu (William Williams) resigned in 1876 the Bishopric was offered to W. L. Williams, who was then Archdeacon, but he felt that ,tho work ho had in band had stronger claims upon him. Ho was again offered the position in 1895; on the resignation of Bisnop Stuart. On this occasion he accepted it, and was consecrated in the Cathedral at Napior. It is not often that fathor and son have been occupants of the same seo. Thero was a peculiar fitness in tho election to tho Diocese of Waiapu, which contnins a largo

Maori imputation, of the man who in his infancy had been baptised with the children of the. warrior Taiwhanga on tho first occasion when any of tho Maori race were publicly _ admitted to tho Church. Commenting on the Bishop's consecration," Canon Purchas, in his history of tho English Church in New Zealand, remarks • that tho Bishop's life had been spent in the service of tho people, among whom ho had been in his childhood "dedicated to God's service, and though older than any of the Bishops wno laid upon him their hands, he was able to administer the diocese, for fourteen years before laying down tho staff in 1009." Ho was not a brilliant scholar, nor a' soulstirring orator, nor a great ecclesiastical statesman. His special gifts were of a less dazzling type. Ho will be remembered for his .sound judgment, his spiritual insight, his {ligh sense of duty, his patiencg, and courage in the face of difficulties. The Williams family—William and Henry and Samuel and Leonard— have won a prominent place among the makers of New Zealand Church history. They have not escaped criticism, but those who are in tho best position to give an impartial verdict based on a full knowledge of the facts have borne the most emfihatic testimony to the good work hey have done, and to their wholei hearted endeavours to promote the well-being' of the Maori people.