THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY DAYS

New Zealand Tablet, Issue 3, 6 August 1908, Page 12

THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY DAYS

(Contributed.)

IN THE FAR NORTH (Continued).

An~ interesting occurrence, and one which instilled fresh' life - into and gave much encouragement to the devoted early rhis--sionaries in the far north, was a visit made by the Right Rev. . Dr. Polding, Bishop of New -Holland, as the continent of Australia was then called. He was accompanied by the VicarGeneral of the same vast territory, and Dr. Ullathorne, 0.5.8., who subsequently became Archbishop of Birmingham, England. Both were eminent ecclesiastics, and did valuable work in assisting to shape the destinies of and advance the Church ■in this new country. Dr. Polding sailed for the' first time for Europe on November 16, 1840, -accompanied by Dr. Ullathorne and the Rev. Father Gregory. Dr. Polding was anxious to call at New Zealand on the way, that he might confer with Bishop Pompallier, who was reaping an abundant harvest among the Maoris." He therefore engaged their berths on a Chilian brig sailing from Sydney for Talcuhana, the port of. the City of Concepcion, which was to put in for some days at the Bay of Islands. Dr. Ullathorne stated in his autobiography that they found on their arrival there that ' Bishop Pompallier was absent,* having set out some weeks before on a missionary tour in his little schooner among the islands of the Pacific. We were met on board by Mr. Waterton, brother of the celebrated naturalist, who was residing with the missionaries, and spent his time in botanical research. They were receive/! with much joy, and 'cordially welcomed by the Marist Fathers, and invited to attend presently at the evening devotions which were about to be given for the Natives.' The distinguished visitors were much impressed by the fervor and earnestness with which the Maoris' joined in the prayers and sacred hymns, " all of which were in' the native tongue. One Father read 4he prayers before the altar, whilst the people responded, , and then another Father intoned the hymn, .which they tooic up. It was adapted t-o the native language, but in the old simple notes. How they did sing ! With voices harsh, stentorian, and vehement, beyond European comprehension. After this earnest act of devotion' the senior missionary addressed them. The visitors, although not understanding what was said, remarked, that the preacher often pointed towards .them, using at the same time .the word 'Picopo.' In a subsequent explanation to 'the visitors, the Father said theword used was the Maori equivalent of Bishop, and as some of the Protestant missionaries had endeavored to stir up prejudice against the Catholics by the statement that the Catholic religion was of foreign growth, not the. religion of Englishmen, but Frenchmen, with whom the Maoris should have nothing to do, he took advantage of the opportunity to point to Bishop Polding as a refutation of their statements, for they saw before them an English Catholic Bishop seated on the same chair of authority on which the French Bishop usually sat. The description of what Dr. Ullathorne observed throws great light on the position of the Church in New Zealand during the first years of its existence. The town of Kororareka at that time consisted of a native pah, a small British settlement and the French Catholic mission. The missionaries* residence was of wood, and their little wooden church, bright with green paint, stood adjoining. Small as if was, it had its font, con-, feaional, and all appointments complete. A chief object of our vis,t states Dr. Ullathorne, was to remove an impreiion made *> ,* n S u> a " d . Wesle y an missionaries upon the Natives oul t he 6 .- 7 gi ° n 7S7 S nOt thG religiOn Of Englishmen, but the religion of a people with whom they had nothing to - tTthll TrYr Cy llad "^ mbellis^ with fantastic stories of the old anti-Cathohc type, s^soned ■ for the New Zealand palate with horrible .examples' in .the style of Foxe's ' Boolof Martyrs.' In short, the history of the Pagan persecudons was being app Hed to the Catholics. We' visited the tribe^ the sHuTnT !" H hGir 17 hUtS ' CrCeping snside ' «*£ "^ could z^-xzl oVrsr js^frs next, day the party proceeded to. pay' their Jespects to rff r "

vCatx-formations , in the .vicinity, Dr.. Ullathorne wrote: 'Passing through a .wood on our return, wo-, met an old woman, who, as soon as she caught sight of -the Fathers, began a wailing cry of joy. They had made her a Christian, but she had not seen them for some time. After they had talked kindly to her, we left her still wailing and crying in her joy as long as we could hear her voice in the lonely, wood. The Natives invariably express any deep-felt joy by wailing and crying. We, next rowed to a Catholic village on the opposite shore. The moment the clerical hat was seen, the chief, with all his tribe of both sexes, came crying with joy to meet us. The salutes were made without interrupting the crying, and the tall and burly chief rubbed his large nose against both sides of mine. Then we all knelt on the grass, and Father Bataillon said prayers in their tongue, to which they answered with their usual energy, after which followed a merry gossip with the good Father, which was. Sanscrit to me.' An amusing incident is related of the difficulties of crossing a morass on the occasion of another excursion. Dr. Ullathorne was taken over the first on the shoulders of a half-naked New Zealander, and when he looked back he enjoyed the sight of a human pyramid advancing at a solid pace, apparently supported by two copper-colored legs. The pyramid consisted of a huge Maori, on whose shoulders was seated the Bishop, with his purple stockings conspicuously prominent, and on the Bishop's shoulders, rising above the broad episcopal hat, a young English lad who was travelling with them, and, as if this variety did -not suffice for the picture, the youngster held, swinging in his hands, a couple of wild ducks. The visitors, after spending a fortnight full of incident of an interesting, instructive, and pleasurable nature, resumed their long ocean voyage.

(To be continued.)