PAGES FROM THE PAST.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 October 1921, Page 11

PAGES FROM THE PAST.

SOME REMINISCENCES. THE VEN. ARCHDEACON G OVETT, (By “Juvenis.”) Attached to the Church in the early days of the Dominion were some ■splendid men who, in a degree little realised to-day, helped to lay the foundations of Neu Zealand strongly and firmly, and mould the young nation’s character which serves it so well in the world today and makes it the favorite colonial child of the Motherland. Amongst this devoted, noble band of men, whose thoughts were not of themselves, but ever of others, none stood higher than the Ven. Archdeacon Govett, who was identified so long with St. Mary’s Church in New Plymouth, and whose memory will be cherished as long as life lasts by all who knew him. Before he ceased from labor he wrote some reminiscences of the early days of his life and ministry, and I cannot do better thia week than reproduce them in this column. Writing in 1898, he said:— “It was in very troublous times that my ministry began. I was in Auckland at the time that Kororareka in the Bay of Islands was taken by the natives. The refugees were brought to Auckland by four vessels that were lying in the Bay. Bishop Selwyn was present at the time of the burning of, the town, and brought away some of the settlers in his little schooner. On Saturday, March I's, all arrived in Auckland. On the Sunday the Bishop preached a wonderful sermon from Daiah v. 30 —"And if we look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.’ It. of course, made a deep impression upon nil his hearers. He urged them in the midst of their own troubles to show kindness to those who were by the destruction of Kororareka left homeless and destitute.

DEFENDING AUCKLAND. Preparations were at once made for putting Auckland into a state of defence, by loop-holing the church and ether buildings, by the erection of blockhouses, and by swearing in the, settlers to- become special constables, for it was feaied that Heke, elated by his victory, might make a raid upon Auckland: and an evil day for the tow» it. would have been had he done so. 1 was taken away cn March 21 by Bis Hop and Mrs. Selwyn ir. the Government, brig to ellington cn route for Waikanae, a large native settlement, where we resided in a house belonging tp Mr. Hadfield; who was himself staying at a friend’s house in Weilirgton, suffering, as it was thought, from a mortal disease. The object of the Bishop in going south at such a critical time was .to prevent the tribes, headed by the great chief Te Rauparaha and others from taking up arms against the settlers: and no doubt his presence had a quieting effect upon their minds, for it was some time before any of them engaged in war —many of them, on the other hand remaining neutral, anti others taking an active part on the side of the white man.

The life that we spent at Waikanae and Otaki was very peaceful. Day after day the Bishop Was occupied in teaching and administering the sacraments; but. whilst we were at peace we heard every now and then accounts of the fighting that was going on in the north.

While we were stationed at Otaki we made a canon excursion on the Manawatu river, in company with a large body of Maoris. We passed through the beautiful Manawatu Gorge to some Maori kainga beyond. Both Bishop Selwyn and Sir W. Martin regarded it as one of the loveliest spots in New Zealand. We were treated everywhere with the utmost hospitality, and we had good weather, which helped to make our expedition very enjoyable. I pursued my theological studies steadily under the Bishop, until the day I went to Wellington for ordination. I was ordained on Trinity Sunday, May 18. 1845, that I might be some time minister to the Maoris. On the afternoon of that day we visited Mr. Hadfield, of whose district I was left in charge. The Bishop desired me to receive his blessing as he was supposed to be in a dying state from aneurism. His sickness, however, was not unto death; he even now continues in his old age to take a lively interest in all that concerns men’s spiritual welfare. WITH THE MAORIS. After ordination I had to return to Waikanae alone, not being allowed any longer to enjoy society of the Bishop and Mrs. Selwyn. There were only Maoris left for me to associate with, and at that time I had a very imperfect knowledge of their language. Still I was in the best position for acquiring further knowledge, for I must speak either Maori or else hold my tongue. After a while I ventured, though dimly understood by the people, to preach my first sermon; and when I had once begun I had to continue to address them as Sunday after Sunday came round.

I remember the great surprise which was felt by some visitors from a vessel lying off Kapiti, who came ashore one morning to Waikanae. Almost the whole population was assembled at divine service, and when that was over school began. The men and women were divided into classes, each with a monitor, that they might read portions of the New Testament, or write from dictation, whilst the old people and the children sat around to repeat the Catechism. The visitors, doubtless, expected to meet wild savages, but very different was the scene which they beheld. Such was, however, the ordinary* course of things, not at Waikanae only, but at all the large settlements. As I was only a Deacon I could not administer the Holy Communion, but Mrt Taylor, of Wanganui, used to pay periodical visits to my district, and on one of these there were 99 communicants at Waikanae and 100 at Otaki, all of whom had been previously confirmed, and were living moral lives. TE RAUPARAHA. It was on July 23, 1846, that Te Rauparaha,’ who usually lived at Otaki, was seized at Porirua by the order of Sir George Grey, and carried on board H.M.S. ‘Driver.’ I had been told in the evening that the seizure would be made. Very great was the excitement among the Natives when the news was brought of his capture. The Governor had received what he considered as a trustworthy statement that Rauparaha was plotting with his kinsman, Rangihaeata (who had been connected with the \Vairau massaere). against the settlers, and so he regarded his seizure as justifiable. The Natives, however, used to speak ot it as a ‘kohuru’ or murder, and they, doubtless, imagined that sooner or later he would be executed. But after a long detention he was restored to his peapie, lowered somewhat in their estimation on account of his captivity. Shortly afterwards parties of the Ngatitou and Nga-,

tiawa, joined by militiamen and seamen, drove Rahgihaeata from the neighborhood of Porirua to a short distance inland of Waikanae; but when they heard that he had fled inland of Otaki they left him unmolested. Still some ,of his followers remained near Porirua, and fought against the soldiers who were stationed there. In one of these fights a Native named Martin Luther was made prisoner, and was condemned to death as a rebel by a district court martial, held by Major Last. As I was in the neighborhood I was sent for early in the morning to attend him in his last moments. The poor fellow seemed to bp dozed and unfit to say much about himself; but he submitted without a struggle to his hard fate. After this I heard of no more fighting in my district. All went on quietly among my people.

Just at the end of December the captain of H.M.S. ‘Driver,’ at the request of Sir George Grey, kkidly granted me a passage to Auckland, as the Bishop required me to stay awhile at St. John’s College, and prepare myself for Priest’s Orders. I remained there for two months, and then was ordained on February, 1847, at St. Paul's. The Bishop preached the ordination sermon, taking his text from the first lesson of the day—Genesis xxfvii. 28.

A few days before leaving Auckland the wife of a farm laborer, lining on our farm at Tamaki East, was taken ill, and was brought in a litter by the Bishop and others to the College Hospital, that she might be attended by Dr. Purchas. I learnt from him afterwards that she was going on well until her husband brought her some peaches to eat. It proved to be a fatal gift, for she did not long survive. AN OVERLAND JOURNEY TO NEW PLYMOUTH. , On March 8, I started op x my journey to New .Plymouth, accompanied by Mr. Fisher, one of the College students. We had five or six Maoris with us for our overland journey. Our route Jay almost wholly along the sea-coast, so that wo were greatly dependent upon the state o? the tide for our progress. There were numerous headlands in our way which could only life passed near the time of low water, so that wo were obliged to get up at night or early in the morning if we did not wish to be delayed on our jolirney. On one occasion our party had, as we thought, got safely round the point, when there came a huge wave which washed us ashore, wet to the skin.

It took us eleven days, including a Sunday, on which we of course rested, to reach New Plymouth. There I stayed ten days with my good friends, the Hollands, and then went on nfy way homewards to Otaki. Before I left Mr. Fisher was very poorly. He mu-it have carried within him the seeds of typhoid fever, the infection of which he caught from the poor woman who was taken to the College Hospital. Letters from New Plymouth. which reached me at Otaki, said that he had been daiigofously ill, but, was slowly recovering. Mr. BoUand nursed him throughout his illness with the greatest kindness, but, unhappily, took the infection from him. and died or May 29, 1$«17. There was no regular doctor 'in New Plymouth at that time, and when one was sent from Auckland there was little or no hope that his life would be saved. It is remarkable that the illness of one farm servant at East Tamaki should have brought death to Mr. Bolland at New Plymouth; anC yet it was so, for the infection caught from her was carried on to him by Mr. Fisher, and resulted in his death. MURDERED BY NATIVES. I was not allowed to stay long at Otaki after my return frtfm New Plymouth, for on April 20, 1847, there came a letter from Mrs. Taylor at Wanganui, saying that several members of Mr. GilliUan’s family had been murderc_d by the Natives, and as Mr. Taylor was absent from home, she wished me to take temporary charge of the Mission. The murderers w.ere caught by the friendly Natives at Putiki, and handed over to the officer in charge, by whose order they were speedily executed. These executions naturally brought down a large war party to Wanganui'to avenge their death. When they were encamped about four'miles from the town, on the bank of the river, Mr. Churton, 9. man well known to the Natives, and I, accompanied by some Maoris, visited the war party—-not very wisely, for we could not hope to deter them from their purpose. They debated among themselves what they should do to me, and they decided that, if I had been their own minister, they would have killed me; but as I was a stranger, they would not injure me. The next day advanced to the attack upon the town, which was defended by two stockades garrisoned by soldiers, and by a gunboat in the river. They came on boldly, and held possession of part of the town till night. I was at the Mission station on the other side of the river, and could observe all that was going on. There was incessant firing throughout the day. and. when all was over it was found that one man only had been killed, but he was a great Chief, Te Maketu, and probably on account of his death the Natives retired from the attack upon the town. SADNESS IN NEW PLYMOUTH. On that same day I received a. letter from Mrs. Bolland, saying that her husband was dangerously ill, and desiring me to go at once to New Plymouth. So I started off at 8 p.m. with a Maori .guide, rather apprehensive at first that we might fall in with some straggle’’ from the war party; but happily we did not, and we went on our way to Waitotara, but after travelling several miles the guide was afraid that we should lose our’way; so we lay down among the sandhills and rested till daylight. The first thing we heard in the morning was the crowing of cocks at Waitotara, to our delight. I had no further adven-ture-on the road, but before I reached New Plymouth I heard that Mr. Bollaiid was dead. At the funeral, in which I officiated, everyone that could possibly attend was present, for his loss was deeply felt. What made it more sad was that his only* surviving child was born three daysybefore his death, so that his wife could not attend him, as she would have wished, in his last hours.

I stayed at New Plymouth chree weeks, and then sailed for Wellington in an eleven-ton cutter. I was the only saloon passenger, but there were eleven steerage passengers in the hold lying upon'kits of'potatoes. However, we all arrived safely in Wellington. There I learnt that the Bishop had determined to send me to Taranaki, but that I should stay at Nelson for some months, whilst Mr.* Butt would be in Auckland preparing for priest’s orders. So on July 31, 1847, my wife and I went on board the little schooner Undine, on our wedding day, bound for Nelson under the. care of the Bishop. Nelson was far from prosperous at that time, and as a sign of it the only bank was closed while we were there, for want of business. Still the people, though poor, did not seem to be unhappy. My time there was chiefly spent in the ordinary duties of a schoolmaster and clergyman, until Mr. Butt's return. (Tn be concluded next week.)