ble to lay a good
foundation. In 1841 the English Church sent out George Augustus Selwyn
as first Missionary Bishop of New Zealand, giving him a wide province
and no less wide discretion. He was the pioneer who, from his base in
New Zealand, was to spread Christian and British influences even farther
afield in the vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean.

Selwyn was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, and these
famous foundations have never sent forth a man better fitted to render
services to his country. In a small sphere, as curate of Windsor, he had
already, by his energy, patience, and practical sagacity, achieved
remarkable results; and it was providential that, in the strength of
early manhood, he was selected for a responsible post which afforded
scope for the exercise of his powers. In the old country he might have
been hampered by routine and tradition; in a new land he could mark out
his own path. The constitution of the New Zealand Church became a model
for other dioceses and other lands, and his wisdom has stood the test of
time.

What sort of man he was can best be shown by quoting a story from his
biography.[37] When the Maori War broke out he joined the troops as
chaplain and shared their perils in the field. Against the enterprising
native fighters these were not slight, especially as the British troops
were few and badly led. He was travelling without escort over routes
infested by Maoris, refusing to have any special care taken of his own
person, and his chief security lay in rapid motion. Yet twice he
dismounted on the way, at peril of his life, once under an impulse of
humanity, once from sheer public spirit. The first time it was to pull
into the shade a drunken soldier asleep on duty and in danger of
sunstroke; the second to fill up the ruts in a sandy road, where it
seemed possible that the transport wagons which were following might be
upset. Many other incidents could be quoted which show his
unconventional ways and his habitual disregard for his own comfort,
dignity, or safety. In New Zealand he found plenty of people to
appreciate these qualities in a bishop.

[Note 37: _Life and Episcopate of G. A. Selwyn_, by H. W. Tucker, 2
vols. (Wells Gardner, 1879).]

Though Selwyn was the master and perhaps the greater man, yet a peculiar
fame has attached to his disciple John Coleridge Patteson, owing to the
sweetness of his disposition, the singleness of his aim, and the
consummation of h