and his _mana_ would have
weighed more with the Maoris than the devices of Colonel Wakefield or
the office of Hobson."

The first act of the new official was to gather the northern chiefs on
the lawn in front of the British Residency, on the other side of the
river from Paihia, and to lay before them the famous document known as
the Treaty of Waitangi. It is sometimes asserted that Henry Williams was
really the author of this treaty. That would seem to be an error, but he
may have been consulted in the drafting of the document; and there can
be no question but that it was his influence which induced the chiefs to
sign it. It was he who interpreted to the Maoris the provisions of the
treaty, and the speech in which Hobson commended it to their acceptance;
and it was he and the other missionaries who secured the signatures of
the chiefs in other parts of the island. Whatever may be thought of the
policy of this momentous document--securing as it did to the native race
the full possession of their lands and properties under the British
flag--it is a standing witness to the influence of the missionaries, and
to the trust which the Maoris had come to place in their integrity and
benevolence of purpose.

The one place where the treaty was opposed was the new English
settlement of Wellington, where the settlers stigmatised it as "a device
to amuse the savages," and proceeded to set up a rival government of
their own. Henry Williams went once more therefore to Port Nicholson,
and succeeded in getting the treaty signed by the chiefs of that place.
Thus supported, Hobson now felt himself strong enough to proclaim the
Queen's sovereignty over the country, and himself became its first
Governor. He had no military force to depend upon, and he ruled the
country through the missionaries. His tenure of office was embittered by
the constant opposition of the Company at Wellington, as well as by the
difficulties natural to such a position; and he was harassed into his
grave within two years of his arrival. But this period may be looked
upon as the climax of missionary influence in New Zealand. After 1842,
mission work went on extending, but the old workers no longer occupied
the forefront of the stage.

Before they retire into the background to make room for other figures,
it will be well therefore to cast a glance over their work and its
methods, their characters and their example. The position which they
held was in many ways unique