Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 61.djvu/412

 (afterwards canon of Southwell), by whose advice he was preparing for ordination. He intended to serve in the mission field, and was especially attracted to New Zealand. He was ordained deacon on 2 June 1822 by the bishop of London, and priest on 16 June by the bishop of Lincoln. He sailed for New Zealand in the Lord Sidmouth with his wife and children on 7 Aug., reaching Hobart on 10 Feb. 1823. After some delay at Sydney Williams and Marsden reached the Bay of Islands on 3 Aug. Finding that his intended station, Whangaroa, had been occupied by a Wesleyan missionary named Leigh, Williams proceeded to Paihia, a few miles further up the harbour. There he laboured for over forty years.

The Church Missionary Society already had a mission there [see ], but it had encountered numerous difficulties both from the savage nature of the Maoris and from the faithlessness of their own agents. It had hitherto acted on the supposition that the way for Christianity must be prepared by the attainment of a measure of civilisation, but after the advent of Williams religious teaching was regarded as preliminary to other instruction. During the first part of his sojourn Williams was protected by the great chief Hongi, who, however, remained a heathen. In 1826 he was joined by his brother William, and early in March 1828 the chief Hongi died. Even during his lifetime the missionaries had undergone ceaseless trials and alarms, but after his death matters became so much worse that they sent to Sydney all the books and stores that could be spared, expecting every day to be robbed of their possessions and perhaps put to death. An intrepid act of Williams's improved their position. Hearing that two of the leading tribes were prepared for war, he hastened to the place where they were encamped, and on 24 March succeeded in making peace. His achievement made a deep impression on the Maoris, and the treaty, which was called the peace of Hokianga, was long remembered in their annals. After this time the mission made good progress; many converts were received, and the cruelty of the native customs remarkably softened. The station was reinforced by fresh missionaries, and in 1836 S. H. Ford, the first medical missionary, arrived. The mission was extended to the Hot Lakes district, the Waikato River, and the Bay of Plenty, and later, in 1839, to the east coast and to Otaki in the south. In 1835 Darwin visited the station during his voyage of the Beagle and expressed in his ‘Journal’ high admiration for the missionaries and their work. In 1841 George Augustus Selwyn (1809–1878) [q. v.] was appointed first bishop of New Zealand, a step strongly urged by the brothers Williams, and in 1844 he appointed Henry Williams archdeacon of Waimate.

In the meantime New Zealand had become a British possession. The treaty of Waitangi, concluded on 6 Feb. 1840, which established the queen's supremacy, was only signed by the Maori chiefs at Williams's earnest instance. They were reluctant to surrender their independence and were stimulated to resist by the Roman catholic bishop Pompallier. Williams viewed with considerable apprehension the establishment of a protectorate, but he realised clearly the imminent danger of annexation by France. More than four hundred similar treaties were signed in the next three months largely through the instrumentality of Williams, who travelled throughout the country interviewing the tribes. In the result, however, the missionaries were confronted with a new class of difficulties arising from the rapid influx of colonists, and from the unscrupulous dealings of some of the immigrants with the natives.

The increasing friction led finally to the outbreak of Heke's war in 1845, and Williams found his position very difficult. Refusing to abandon his native converts, he was called a traitor to his face by a British officer and incurred much ill-will and obloquy. The common sentiment was not shared, however, by the governor, Robert Fitzroy [q. v.], who spoke of him as ‘the tried, the proved, the loyal, and the indefatigable.’ His influence was constantly used to restore tranquillity and to restrain the Maori chiefs, who at one time had the white settlements almost at their mercy. His persuasions alone prevented the whole Maori nation from engaging in the war. When the natives stormed Kororareka in March 1845, Williams brought off the wounded captain of the Hazard, Commander Robertson, to his ship at the risk of his own life. These services, however, received no immediate recognition. After the conclusion of peace Fitzroy was superseded by (Sir) George Grey, who at first showed himself extremely hostile. In June 1846 in a secret despatch to Gladstone, then colonial secretary, he accused the missionaries, and especially Williams, of being the real cause of the recent conflict.

This was, however, only the prelude to a more serious controversy in connection with the acquisition of land. New Zealand being a country with a climate suited for Europeans, many of the missionaries' descendants became farmers, and acquired land before the annexation of the colony to the crown in 1840. In 1843 their claims were deter-