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CHAPTER XX.
1881—1882.
THE RAID UPON PARIHAKA.

In the absence of the Governor the ministry promptly concocted a scheme for using the hand of Prendergast to effect their purpose. Te Whiti's mystic language furnished a pretext for the first act of the plot. He himself was accustomed to expound it to his friends in the evening. His esoteric was more intelligible than his public teaching. It had ofoen been admitted that the best Maori authorities “were at variance as to the interpretation to be placed” on his declarations.¹ The Governor sailed for Fiji on the 13th Sept. The duration of his absence being uncertain, no time was lost in bringing evil to the door of Te Whiti, whose monthly meeting was to be held on the 17th. A convenient reporter was discovered in the person of Mr.Hursthouse, who had accompanied Captain Knollys (Dec, 1880), and who, with Mr. W. Carrington, another licensed interpreter, had on more than one occasion been told by Te Whiti not to report the Maori speeches because he could not understand them. Hursthouse's telegram to the Native Minister (17th Sept.) began with the words, “Te Whiti's speech to-day very puzzling.”

Before the official report could be prepared casual versions’ were circulated. One writer reported that Te Whiti said

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that “the weapon was ended with the prisons,” but nobody could say

“positively what he meant. It is true that in one part of his speech he called on both sides now to take up the weapons, but this, which in itself would have seemed alarming, is qualified by another sentence in which he said that goodness was the only weapon which should be victorious, and that the good should rule the world. In short his utterances and those of Tohu were thoroughly ambiguous, and might mean anything.

Such was the report furnished (18th Sept.) to an Auckland newspaper by its correspondent, who added that he gave a “full explanation, obtained on the best authority, in order to allay any causeless apprehension.” But on Monday the Press Telegraphic Association was furnished with a version prepared to please the government. In sending it to Auckland the correspondent added significantly:—

“Although persistent efforts are being made in certain quarters to work up a Maori scare, I still adhere to my opinion that there is nothing in it… I may quote telegrams received to-night by the government which have been courteously placed at my disposal. They are from independent sources, in every way trustworthy. One says: ‘A wellknown friendly chief who was at the Parihaka meeting says: Te Whiti's speech was not warlike in character, and there will be no fighting on the part of the Maoris.’ Another says: ‘Three natives arrived from Parihaka to-day. They were surprised at the reports of threatened hostilities.’ The third telegram ran thus: ‘The natives said this morning that Te Whiti had explained last night the real meaning of his address delivered on Saturday. He said he did not mean to fight, and warned them to be very cautious and not to bring the anger of the government upon them, and to be sure not to be the first to strike a blow, but to carry on the work; and he cautioned them not to give a literal meaning to his speeches until they were explained.’ You will observe that these entirely bear out the views which I telegraphed to you last night.”

The correspondent in writing thus did not attempt to please his employer, who had frequently advocated a resort to violence to cut the knot which the government could not unloose by law or negotiation. Moreover, the independent telegrams which confirmed the correspondent's views were the property of the government. As, however, the government desired to use the hand of Prendergast to suppress Te Whiti they set aside the peaceful interpretation which Te Whiti placed upon his own words. The editor could not refrain from remarking (22nd Sept.) that it was singular that “Te Whiti having for so long restrained the natives in the face of what were great provocations (road-making through cultivated fields, &c.), should now change his

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policy,” when a “contest with the force of constabulary in the district would be utter destruction to the natives.” Such a change would indeed have been strange; but it was not true. It was because “great provocations” failed to shake Te Whiti's patience that his provokers resolved to disguise by misrepresentation the high-handed outrage about to be committed. It ought to have been strange that members of a ministry could so act; but the moving spirits among them were hardened against justice where Maoris were concerned. Conspiracies often breed rumours, and the hurrying of armed constabulary to the west coast proved that the government would wait for no act on the part of Te Whiti. Mr. Rolleston went to Pungarehu and consulted the commander of the constabulary and Parris. It was disconcerting to find that Te Whiti had warned his people that offensiveness would be foolish as well as wrong. If (he said) you were to kill all the constabulary in the camp, hundreds would come to take their places, and the result would be that you would all be killed and the Pakehas would seize “the whole of the land.” These words were flashed to all parts of the colony before Mr. Rolleston arrived at Pungarehu. He telegraphed² that “neither in Parihaka nor elsewhere is there the slightest indication of any intention of the Maoris to fight. On the contrary, the whole attitude of the natives is thoroughly pacific and good-tempered; while they are engaged to an unusually large extent in cultivation and other peaceful employments.” He received a deputation at Taranaki, and deprecated the “sensational reports which were circulated,” and which drove some settlers to take refuge in the township from an imaginary enemy. The “Southern Cross” steamer going from Auckland to Fiji on the 26th Sept. carried tidings of the rumoured intentions of the ministry. Sir A. Gordon might suddenly return. It was resolved that Te Whiti, whether peaceful or not, should be attacked while Prendergast was administrator. The Taranaki press and settlers goaded the willing ministry. The fences with which the Maoris protected their cultivations were called trespasses “on Crown lands.” Meetings were held at Hawera and other places, and volunteers were enrolled. Authentic evidence was easily obtained. The Rev. Mr. Luxford, a Wesleyan minister, passed through Parihaka, conversed with Tohu, and found that Te Whiti was planting the annual crops with his people.

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“The natives were not fencing across the road, but cultivating near the main road, about a mile and a-half from Parihaka, one of their old plantations… They complained bitterly of the land being sold. The natives cultivating at Otakeho are cultivating the same field they did last year before the sale. The natives laugh at the idea of fighting. There was not the slightest sign of war preparations. Every native seemed to be planting.” …

No man in his senses could believe that the Maoris were preparing for violence. A correspondent of the “Hawera Star” wrote:

“Should proper investigation be initiated into the dealings with Taranaki lands, the agitation about Te Whiti will cease. All Te Whiti wants is an investigation into the past and security for the future. His is free and independent action arising from a sincere desire for the administration in their integrity of the public laws as they are inscribed on the code, and he hesitated not to send his people to gaol in the hope that the question might be raised.”

As the government by refusing to afford trial to the prisoners had kept the issue out of court, the writer thought that Te Whiti's followers would meet violence by passive resistance which would “leave nothing for the conqueror” but to arrest them all. It seemed that Te Whiti would undergo martyrdom to ensure legal examination of the wrongs of his people. How he restrained the traditional thirst of the Maori for revenge none of his enemies could divine.

A deputation waited upon Mr. Rolleston, and dissented from his opinion that there was small probability of disturbance. “We understand (said a Taranaki newspaper) that dissatisfied” (the deputation) sent a telegram to Major Atkinson to the “effect that Mr. Rolleston was altogether unacquainted with the exigencies of the present disturbed state.” Atkinson was not deaf to their cry. Wellington was startled on the 29th by a change in the plans of Mr. Hall. He had been about to depart southwards to Lyttelton in one government vessel. He went northwards on the 30th in another, with Atkinson, to instruct Rolleston. On the same day, it was telegraphed

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from Hawera that “the Maoris desisted ploughing on the land at Otakeho when requested. It appears that the former proprietor of that portion of Hunter's farm had given them permission to cultivate that small spot.” An Auckland newspaper (1st Oct.) reverberated the blows of the press at the west. It was “incredible that the government should have so greatly exaggerated the peril of the hour, or have been so entirely without a defined policy that matters are to remain as they were, plus a large addition to the expenditure of the country.” Mr. Rolleston “reports to his colleagues that all is peace at Parihaka,” but, if so, “why is there all this fuss and expense?” … Unless the government were possessed of information unknown to the public, “we do say that energetic steps should be taken promptly to suppress the long-standing nuisance of Te Whiti and Parihaka.” The “New Zealand Herald” was by no means the most malignant enemy of the Maori race, and yet it appeared incapable of understanding that Te Whiti and his people had been plundered by expulsion from their cultivations, of which successive governments had guaranteed to them the peaceful possession. If a government, reprobated by a newspaper, had marched an armed body of men to seize the premises, destroy the machinery, and imprison the staff, it is possible that the editor might have comprehended the case of Te Whiti. Fortunately at this juncture another editor sent commissioners to the spot. Messrs. Crombie Brown and Hamilton were deputed to visit the west coast on behalf of the “Lyttelton Times.”

Hall and Atkinson returned to Wellington, and on the 3rd Oct. all felegrams from the west coast said that perfect peace prevailed, but it was “well known that Atkinson had all through wanted firmly to settle the question,” and had been persuaded by his colleagues not to resign with Bryce in January. On the same day, the inspired “Taranaki Herald” deplored Rolleston's want of earnestness. He was “well-meaning,” but the writer “dreaded the future if Mr. Rolleston continue to hold the portfolio of Native Minister,” and sneered at him for saying that the newspapers were responsible for much mischief by publishing “false reports.” On the 5th, it was stated in a west coast newspaper that Bryce had been invited to join the ministry, and had

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declined, because they had not assigned him pre-eminence. On the 4th Oct., Mr. Hamilton telegraphed that Major Atkinson had informed him that the “government had ascertained from trustworthy sources that Te Whiti disclaims the warlike interpretation of his late speech.” Mr. Rolleston declined to tell the settlers what the government were about to do, but said that peace was well assured, and that the large cultivations at Parihaka were evidence of the peaceful intentions of the Maoris. He visited Te Whiti. The result of his interview was concealed at the time. The placidity of the chief would have made an attack upon him appear ridiculous. But at a later date, in addressing his constituents (26th Nov.), Mr. Rolleston accounted for the reticence of his colleagues. “Te Whiti met me in a very friendly and courteous way to begin with, but refused to admit the right of the government to share the land with him. He took up my hat and said: “If your hat were cut in two, what would be the good of it?” and, “If you come to share the blanket with me, I must decline to help you.” Mr. Rolleston “believed that Te Whiti would have been glad to come to a settlement if he had dared to do so.” As the ministry had resolved upon violence, they were wise in their generation in concealing the fact that Te Whiti's conduct afforded them no justification. Bryce, though not in office, was an adviser. The “Lyttelton Times” (12th Oct.) warned the public of the tendencies of the ministry. The colony had owned itself “in the wrong by instituting a commission of inquiry which has not finished its labour”… If it is not too late, let the Royal Commissioner, Sir W. Fox, before any crisis is precipitated, go straight to Parihaka, and call on Te Whiti to state his claims.” The ministry ought to consider “their duty to Sir A. Gordon,” to whose temporary absence they had assented. “Under these circumstances their evident duty is, except in case of absolute necessity, to await his return before proceeding to extremities.” Such might be their duty, but they had plotted otherwise. After writing a letter to Te Whiti (10th Oct.), Rolleston returned to Wellington, and his assurance that there was no preparation for hostilities on the part of the Maoris was an additional incentive to the contemplated wrong.

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Triumph was cheap if no enemy could be met. “It matters not” (said the “N. Z. Herald,” 15th Oct.) whay may “be Te Whiti's intentions, or how pacific that they be. He is a living threat and nuisance, and it is lawful and just to suppress him.” Mr. Oliver, who had quitted the ministry in May, rejoined it on the 18th October. It was whispered that the government had resolved to seize Te Whiti and to confiscate lands which the West Coast Commission had desired to appropriate to the Maoris. “This course (said the “N. Z. Herald”) seems unimpeachable and business-like;” it might alarm the “natives generally,”—but, “on the other hand, it will teach them a wholesome, though not a new lesson.” Armed men were poured upon the west coast, although reporters visited Parihaka freely and saw no sign of warlike preparations.

At this juncture the arrival of a steam-vessel (the “Gunga”) in Sydney made known the fact that Sir A. Gordon was on the waters, bound for Wellington. When he reached Fiji (20th Sept.), H.M.S. “Emerald” was put in quarantine for six days. His duties as High Commissioner in the Pacific occupied him on landing. On the 3rd Oct. the “Southern Cross” arrived at Fiji from Auckland. A Fiji newspaper descanted upon affairs at Parihaka and the intentions of Hall and his colleagues. The enrolment and arming of volunteers, and the vote of credit for £100,000, snatched suddenly before the prorogation, were reported to the Governor in this casual manner and in a note from his private secretary; but it appears from a despatch (22nd Oct.) to Lord Kimberley, that “not a single member of the ministry addressed a single line to him on that or any other subject.”³ Sir A. Gordon sailed for New Zealand in H.M.S. “Emerald” on the 8th Oct. At the same time the “Gunga” left Fiji for Sydney. She arrived there early on the 15th Oct., and reported the destination of the “Emerald,” with Sir A. Gordon on board. The tidings borne by the “Gunga” were flashed by electricity in the customary manner to all parts of the colonies. One telegram, at least, was sent to Wellington. More than usual publicity was perhaps given to her report, because, in

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consequence of it, letters which were about to be despatched to the “Emerald,” at the Pacific, were at once diverted to New Zealand by order of the commodore. What information reached the New Zealand ministers may never be revealed. Those who work in the dark will not expose their doings. One thing is clear. If any hint of the “Gunga's” report reached the ministry, they would abandon their designs or execute them promptly. By their manner of action they may be judged. If they were bent on using the hand of Prendergast, they had no time to lose.

Te Whiti's October meeting was to be held on the 17th. It was hoped that he might furnish provocation. He was mystical, and attempts were made to wrest his words to evil import. Man must be humble. It was God who permitted troubles to arise among the nations.⁴ Generation after generation passed away, and so did the troubles by which they were afflicted.

“A trouble has come now upon us… This day it rests upon me. The sun shall not shine upon the land, but darkness shall be upon all… Weapons shall not be raised against the people in these days, but only against the wicked. The earth will shake and the mountains shall be removed, but my people shall be protected… Though a multitude swarm upon the land it shall not remain… The blood of the prophets is upon the earth, and will be so in every generation. It is I, Te Whiti, who speak to you… We are like a brood of chickens left in the nest by the parents. ⁵ We have none to assist us; but, though the Almighty has permitted trouble to invade the land, fear not.

Though the land be overrun by a multitude they shall vanish away. My heart is sad. The people are dead and the land is gone. There is no rest, no peace of mind in these days. I always counselled fortitude (manawanui). ⁶ In time we shall overcome all difficulties. By power and riches the Pakehas overcome the feeble, not only among us, but throughout the world. Guns and powder shall no longer be our protection. Money and guns are not salvation. This is my glorying to-day. God has protected and will protect the people and the land—not guns and powder. I am not swerving. This is what I have always told you… Every year I have been saying, Be patient… This is the day of my boasting. There is none to guide me. I alone can guide you all.”

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The “New Zealand Herald” said (18th Oct.) that Te Whiti's claim to have always said, Be patient, was “probably valid;” but it rightly conjectured that his speech would “have no effect upon the measures determined upon by the government. There can be little doubt now that ministers have determined to break up Parihaka, and that what is to be done will be done within a month.” The newspaper harped aright the fears of ministers. Not a month, nor a week, perhaps not a day, remained in which the hand of Prendergast could be used. Bryce was in close conference with them. Whitaker was consulted by telegraph. The hand of Hall, which had simulated the hand of one Governor in 1868, was ready to control that of Prendergast in the absence of another in 1881. Whitaker and Atkinson were of one mind. Rolleston was compliant. Expectation of the return of Sir A. Gordon, which might have constrained sensitive minds to await his arrival, seemed to quicken the acts of the ministry. On the 18th the “Emerald” sighted the East Cape. All that day and late at night the plotters worked. No announcement acquainted the public with their proceedings. A periodic meeting of the Executive Council was held at noon on the 18th, but its decisions were not promulgated. There had been acrimonious debates in former years as to tampering with telegrams.⁷ The telegraph office was a government department. Whether inspired by divination or fortified by information, Mr. Hall, on the morning of the 19th Oct., took occasion to converse with Mr. Murray, Sir A. Gordon's private secretary, through whose hands a telegram was received on the 16th announcing the immediate return of Sir A. Gordon by H.M.S. “Emerald.” Mr. Hall asked whether news had been heard of the Governor. Not deeming himself justified in quoting private information, Mr. Murray did not speak

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of the telegram, but expressed his belief that the “Emerald” “might be looked for at any moment” with the Governor, ⁸ and that the “Southern Cross” steamer, then overdue, with mails from Fiji to Auckland, would bring definite information as to Sir A. Gordon's movements. Mr. Hall thought, or affected to think, that Sir A. Gordon intended to visit New Guinea before returning to Wellington, but was in all good faith assured to the contrary by his colloquist, who imagined that intimation of the Governor's movements would induce honourable men to await his return. But spirits never finely touched to fine issues saw in that return an incentive to base deeds. Prendergast was of the cabal if not formally a member.

The “Emerald” meanwhile was ploughing the waters close at hand as the plotters plied their tongues and pens on shore. It was determined to accomplish with indecent haste what it might well be doubted whether any upright man could approve. A reign of terror was to be created.

At half-past five o'clock on the 19th, when business hours had passed away, Prendergast appeared upon the scene. He desired Mr. Murray “to summon a meeting of the Executive Council for eight o'clock the same evening.” Mr. Murray complied, “and then went to see Sir J. Prendergast to ask what was the business for which the Council was to meet. He told me, as a secret, that Mr. Bryce was to be appointed a member of the Executive Council. I told him that I had heard rumours of a

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‘proclamation of war.’ The administrator replied that that was all nonsense. That there was to be a proclamation … but that anything like a ‘declaration of war” was out of the question. I said that I supposed before any active hostilities could be undertaken the consent of the Governor or administrator must be in some form obtained. Sir J. Prendergast said: ‘Not at all;’ ‘it was a matter the whole responsibility for which rested with ministers.’ I said that I thought it, at any rate, right to say that the Governor might return at any moment… I gave my opinion strongly, as was natural with my knowledge of Lady Gordon's telegram in the background, and I considered that the certainty of the Fiji mail (already overdue) arriving very speedily, together with the strong expression of my belief that the Governor would be in the colony within a few hours, should be sufficient, if anything could be sufficient, to delay any measures of great importance at any rate until the arrival at Auckland of the ‘Southern Cross’ (steamer from Fiji).”

Perhaps if Mr. Murray had been acquainted with Prendergast's⁹ opinions on the rights of Her Majesty's Maori subjects he might have had some qualms as to what was about to be done, and what might have been “sufficient” to stay Prendergast's hand. There can be no plea for the ministry but one which confesses a craving to forge, by the hand of Prendergast, fetters which should bind Sir A. Gordon to consummate iniquity sanctioned by his substitute.

The “Emerald” was rapidly approaching the harbour, when “with whispering and most guilty diligence” the ministers hied to their “repair in the dark,” not deeming it possible that any one would be able “to look upon their passes” in their session of shame. The convenient Prendergast, crammed at previous conferences, and ostensibly stirred by an official memorandum by Hall (19th Oct.), signed a proclamation recounting the heinous neglect by Te Whiti of the proposals of the government, and the wrongs done by Te Whiti “to natives as well as Europeans.

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… Te Whiti and his adherents must now accept the proposals of the government, or all that they might now have under these proposals will be beyond their reach.” All offers would be withdrawn after fourteen days, unless in the meantime Te Whiti would lick the dust beneath the feet of Hall and his associates.

It could not be, and was not expected that he would do so, and such an announcement was a transparent device to evade the reservations of land which the West Coast Commission had recommended. Remembering that Whitaker contended that confiscation in Waikato would be futile unless it included the possessions of the innocent, the hand of Whitaker may here be seen “writ large”: “Should the natives be so infatuated as to disregard this warning, the government will proceed to make roads throughout the Parihaka block, and to lay off lands for European occupation, inland of the main road. The claims of such natives, under previous promises, will then have passed away, and none of them will be allowed to occupy lands in defiance of the law.” To this consummation had all the works of Whitaker been tending, and a fit instrument seemed now to be at hand.

Mr. Rolleston, as Native Minister, attested the proclamation, and was said to be in full accord with it. The next act in the plot was to replace Bryce as an Executive Councillor, and “Native and Defence Minister.” The “Honourable William Rolleston” was declared to have “resigned.” The Prendergast proclamation was hastily printed and issued in a “Gazette Extraordinary” late at night, and conveyed to newspapers for transmission by telegraph through the length and breadth of the land. The appointment of Bryce was communicated also, but the “Gazette” did not contain it. His departure for Parihaka was arranged for the following morning. The hugger-mugger council and its nocturnal results had not ended when the “Emerald” anchored in the harbour between 10 and 11 o'clock, and Prendergast's derogate authority expired. The Governor did not disembark that night. The new Native Minister was on the road to Parihaka when Sir Arthur Gordon landed soon after 9 o'clock on the morning of the 20th. Rumours ran through the town, and

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were flashed throughout the colony, as to dissensions between the Governor and the ministry; and a Wellington newspaper¹⁰ declared: “The Governor will interfere at his peril, and should he be tempted to so blunder, he will find that he has made the Imperial authorities directly responsible for whatever results may ensue.”

A less servile Auckland newspaper thought that although Sir A. Gordon had “all the force of character requisite for the performance of what is believed to be duty in scorn of consequence,” he would be too prudent and sagacious to interpose, when the concurrence of the Attorney-General and the Chief Justice indicated that what had been done was lawful. Moreover, a “general election was approaching;” the government would not flinch from its “definite native policy,” and “that this policy has the approval of the country there can be no doubt.” The newspaper had ill-omened reason on its side. The ministry desired a popular cry at the ensuing elections, and calculated that none would be more fit than one based on their determination to push the Maoris from the soil on which the rising tide of colonization still left them a footing. At Taranaki they might hope that their supporters would be elected without opposition. A despatch (22nd Oct.) from the Governor to Lord Kimberley thus explained the facts: “On the morning of the 20th I at once asked for a statement of the causes which had led to so great a change of policy and action. Such a statement has been promised me (by Mr. Hall), but has not yet been placed in my hands. When it is so, I shall be better able to judge how far I am prepared to accept the consequences of measures to which I have been no party, and the justice and expediency of which as yet appear to me very doubtful.” The statement (24th Oct.) was signed by Mr. Rolleston. It concealed the fact that the operations of the government goaded the invaded agriculturists, and it deceptively arrayed rumours and telegrams in order to show that Te Whiti was an aggressor. Fresh from a plot to override all law, Mr. Rolleston said: “Until Te Whiti or his incredulous followers are practically convinced that the statute law of the

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colony must take its course, no permanent solution of the difficulty is possible.” Sir A. Gordon (3rd of Dec., 1881)¹¹ told the Secretary of State, in a comprehensive despatch, that he—

“failed to see any adequate explanation in Mr. Rolleston's (enclosed) memorandum of the sudden decision of the government, or proof of the urgency which rendered it necessary to act in the absence of the Governor… If Te Whiti was indeed a trespasser on the land, liable at any moment to expulsion, it certainly appears to me that it would have been desirable that legal proceedings should have been taken against him, and the question at issue decided by the highest and most impartial tribunal before which it could be brought. Against such a proceeding nothing could be said; but the employment of military force, the arbitrary arrest of hundreds of persons, the confiscation of private personal property, the destruction of dwellings and cultivation, and other measures for which an Act of Indemnity may not impossibly be required, appear to me unhappy methods of teaching that the ‘statute law of the colony must take its course.”'

What Lord Kimberley thought of these things it is needless to imagine. What he did was to conceal the despatch from Parliament for more than nine months, and in the meanwhile to induce Her Most Gracious Majesty to confer a title upon Mr. Hall; and in after times Whitaker and Atkinson received the same distinction of which Herman Merivale had deplored the degradation.

On the 21st Oct., it was notified in a New Zealand “Gazette Extraordinary” that Prendergast had on the 19th appointed Bryce to succeed Rolleston. The notice was dated on the 19th, and there had been an ordinary “Gazette” on the 20th containing no mention of Rolleston's successor.

It was determined to pour troops upon Parihaka in such numbers that the Maoris might be quickly crushed. That Te Whiti's followers would obey his injunctions to be peaceful if violent hands should be laid upon him seemed incredible; and volleys fired upon a crowd of men, women, and children, and a conflagration of the settlement, would end all difficulties at Parihaka. While conferences with the Governor detained Hall and Atkinson in Wellington, Bryce was cheered by such a crowd at Patea as had in former years reviled Bishop Selwyn at Taranaki. He sent a copy of Prendergast's proclamation to Te Whiti, who,

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after hearing a portion of it read, said: “That is enough, read no more,” and told Bryce's messenger that he had no answer to send. “I have no more to say than I have always said.” Copies of the proclamation were left at Parihaka. It was reported that Bryce rode about with an armed escort.

The New Zealand public were not unwarned of the true meaning of the action of the government. Mr. Stout pleaded, in the name of national justice, the cause of the Maoris. The “Lyttelton Times,” to whose commissioners the public were to be indebted for a knowledge of the truth, recalled with mordant pen the broken promises with which Fox and Bell had shown that government after government had strewn the west coast. Such pleadings were vain. The community as a whole were apathetic, and there were some who were not unwilling that whether by right or by wrong means, what was called “the native question” should be exterminated. The astute Whitaker and his accomplices knew well that to the multitude, which cares not to analyze, the settlement of the question would be pleasing, howsoever brought about. A general election was approaching, and they paraded their intention to crush the Maori at once and for ever. Sir G. Grey had compelled them to do his work by bills which created universal suffrage, triennial parliaments, and equal electoral districts. But he had not cleared the Maoris from the path. They would prove their power to do so. He could not protest, for he had himself, in 1879, been linked with the Peace Preservation Bill thrown out by the Council, and a protest against the action of the ministry might be unpopular. If he should acquiesce in it, the ministry would profit by his implied support. It was necessary to gain strength, and no cry would be more popular than the practical abolition of Maori rights and of all vestiges of the detested treaty of Waitangi. Sir G. Grey justified the ministerial expectations. He would run no risk of defeat by denouncing a brutal march upon Parihaka. Mr. Stout would probably have denounced it if he had been a candidate. As a bystander he appealed in sorrow to his fellow-subjects:—

“I suppose, amidst the general rejoicings at the prospect of a Maori war, it is useless for anyone to raise his voice against the present native

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policy. I do so more as a protest than with any hope that any one colonist can ever aid in preventing the murder of the Maoris on which, it seems, we as a colony are bent. I call it murder, for we know that the Maoris are, as compared with us, helpless, and I am not aware of anything they have done to make us commence hostilities.” (He recalled the unconstitutional Acts of recent sessions, and sadly wrote): “We are powerful, they are weak, and that is the only explanation that the future historian will give of our conduct.”

He added to the means by which the truth might be proved, but he did not check the career of the ministry. Within a few days of the publication of his letter, the ministry asked the Governor to sign a warrant calling out volunteers throughout the colony for active service. The request was of little significance, inasmuch as many of the men had already been despatched to Parihaka, without reference to the Governor, whose formal order was held requisite to place the volunteers under military discipline. The ministry represented to the Governor that they “possessed and meant to exercise the power to move and employ bodies of local troops without any reference even of a formal character” to the Governor.¹² As it was desirable that forces in active service should be under discipline, Sir A. Gordon said he “had no hesitation in signing the proclamation” (27th Oct.). On that day the “Lyttelton Times” published a narrative of the case of W. K. Matakatea, which Fox and Bell had denounced as disgraceful to the government. “A loyal chief, after waiting for sixteen years to get a formal right to that of which he ought never to have been deprived, and after undergoing imprisonment ¹³ in a gaol for what, considering his intolerable

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grievance, was, if he committed it at all, a mild form of trespass, is to get a title contingent on his keeping the peace which he never broke. This is a fine reward for loyalty, truly.” On the 28th the “Lyttelton Times” concluded an article on the Prendergast proclamation by saying that “a threat to deprive the natives of the west coast of their lands, in defiance of sacred promises, for not at once putting off (their) faith (in Te Whiti) is a piece of wanton cruelty.”

The London “Times” contained at this period a proof of the deception practised upon the English people by the simulators in New Zealand. Supplied with official information, the “Times” correspondent (9th Sept.) reported that “the firm and patient treatment of the native question” was highly successful; that Te Whiti was still vaticinating, “but the government has sold the confiscated territory up to the very gates of his fortress at prices paid by bonâ fide settlers which testify to their confidence that peace will not again be disturbed (one half-acre had brought between £80 and £90). This is the real solution of the native difficulty.” No English reader could gather from these statements that much of the land thus sold was land on which the Maoris had been invited to remain, with a promise that they should be undisturbed; that in the original proclamation of confiscation the Governor assured “to all those who have remained and shall continue in friendship the full benefit and enjoyment of their lands;” that Te Whiti was, and always had been admitted to be, one of those; that the proclamation of confiscation (2nd Sept., 1865) repeated the assurance; that government after government had pledged their frail faith to maintain it; that the roads which the Maoris had been imprisoned for obstructing were in some cases marked through their cultivated grounds, and that Te Whiti had not, and never had had, a fortress.

Simultaneously with the publication of the letter of the 9th Sept. appeared a telegram (22nd Oct.) announcing the threats conveyed in Prendergast's proclamation, the resumption of office by Bryce, and the return of Sir A. Gordon. The prompted telegram declared that the government had “done its utmost to bring the Maoris to reason

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… without effect,” that volunteers were being enrolled, and that public opinion in the colony was “strongly in favour of the action taken by the government.” On the 27th Oct., the “Times” devoted a leading article to the matter. It reminded its readers that it had given an account (Sept., 1879) of the “singular personage” Te Whiti; it alluded to the Parihaka difficulty as a dispute about land; and, with truth, the full import of which the writer could scarcely have divined, admitted that—

“the accounts which have so far reached us are meagre and unsatisfactory, and it is therefore not easy to form from them a definite judgment as to the real merits.” The writer nevertheless owned allegiance to principles which were foreign to the Hall ministry. The problem to be solved in dealing with the “primitive occupiers of the soil” could at “best only be solved by patience and forbearance, by strict justice and unswerving fidelity to engagements once entered into. The melancholy history of former wars in New Zealand is, we fear, a proof that this mode of solution has not been uniformly adopted.” … “The contemplated bad faith on the part of the government (in 1879, of advertising land for sale at Waimate, ‘regardless of native claims') cannot but have produced a mischievous effect on the minds of Te Whiti and his followers, and may very possibly account for the present difficulty in dealing with them.” If, however, as had been asserted, the government had become more generous than formerly, the editor thought Te Whiti deserved “very little sympathy.” … We cannot but hope that much “forbearance will be shown, and that native prejudice and even native fanaticism will be respected as far as they can be, without unduly impeding the progress of a higher civilization… The Maori, like every other primitive race, is doomed to gradual extinction… The Maori knows this himself, and his pathetic acknowledgment of defeat is part of the tragedy of human nature. But though the result is inevitable, it is our manifest duty to see that the process is kindly and just.”

The spirit of the article was telegraphed to New Zealand, and was resented by those who, like Whitaker, had argued that confiscation which did not rob the innocent was useless; who, like Hall, saw no wrong in fabricating an order in the Governor's name to defeat a legal claim; or who, like Atkinson, had been reported¹⁴ as having, at Hawera, openly advocated the “extermination” of the Maori question. But the words of the “Times” might influence the credit of the colony, and therefore rash apologists insisted that the treatment of the Maoris had not been unjust. Who would scrutinize the past? Selwyn and Martin were dead. Where would be found a man with the patience to

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study the subject and revive the thoughts which had died with them, or found only an unregarded echo in the mouth of the upright Mantell? The “Lyttelton Times” (29th Oct.) appealed in vain, and reminded the public that Fox and Bell had deplored “the spectacle of a government allied with spies, and seeking to profit by intrigues” which would degrade it in the estimation of Te Whiti, “and justify his aversion from our rule.”

Armed men were poured to the west. Apprehensions lest Tawhiao should aid Te Whiti were allayed by publication of a telegram from Major Mair to the effect that Tawhiao would not permit any of his people to be drawn into Te Whiti's cause. The announcement was almost unnecessary, for Te Whiti had never sought for countenance at Waikato, and had referred disrespectfully to Tawhiao and Rewi, who reciprocated his contempt. On the 26th, Bryce said he would send a letter to Te Whiti, “roughly speaking,” to the effect that the chief must decide wisely about Prendergast's proclamation. On the 27th, he said: “The Maoris were in great force completing their planting and fencing.” He had heard (3rd Nov.) that no resistance would be made, and thought the Maoris “very foolish if they think to beat us in the way they propose to adopt. They will make it difficult and dangerous for us, but if they persist they will come to great grief.” Finding more than 2000 armed men at his disposal, and that Te Whiti made no preparation for defence, Bryce wrote that he would go in person (5th Nov.) for Te Whiti's answer to the proclamation. “I have had enough of letters. I will read no more of them”—was Te Whiti's reply to the messenger, and to Carrington, the interpreter. He was told that Bryce would be there on the 5th. “Let him come; the way is open. He will find no defences here.” A telegram (30th Oct.) said: “It is deemed certain that Te Whiti will calmly await” Mr. Bryce and his followers. Te Whiti addressed his people on the 31st October:—

“Your salvation this day is in stout-heartedness, patience, and forbearance. I have nothing to conceal from you; you have nothing to fear. You must believe in my teaching or you will die. You must remain at Parihaka, and none of you shall be destroyed. Flight is death. There must be no violence of war, but glory to God and peace among men. You are a chosen people and none shall harm you. Formerly you have been advised

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to fight,¹⁵ but the weapon of to-day is not the weapon of former years. All fighting must cease. I fight not against men, but rather against the devil and all wickedness, that it may be destroyed. Let us not use carnal weapons. You must not follow your own desires lest the sword of God fall upon you. Forbearance is the sole ark of your safety. As Noah built the ark to carry his people safely through the flood, so let fortitude be the ark to save you. Be patient and calm. Be not anxious in mind. God would be displeased if there were any fighting. Formerly the young have had their own way; let them now sit and watch. Now is the glory of peace upon the land. Let us wait for the end. Nothing else is left for us. Let us abide calmly upon the land.”

Such were the phrases with which an oration, replete with illustrations from the Old Testament, was interspersed. Unable to comprehend Te Whiti, his enemies suggested that his peaceful counsels would probably put him “in personal danger when his omnipotence is disproved by the advance of the constabulary, unchecked by the promised supernatural interference. It would be singular if the government had to protect Te Whiti from being lynched by his credulous and deceived adherents.” A better-informed person revealed in the “Wanganui Chronicle” the esoteric teaching with which Te Whiti prepared his people for the future.

“I stand for peace. Though the lions rage still I am for peace. I will go into captivity… My aim will be accomplished. Peace will reign. I am willing to become a sacrifice for my aim. The Pakehas trouble themselves. They cannot understand my heart. If I desire peace and sacrifice myself for it, is it not well? The Pakehas are indeed robbers… I sacrifice myself that there may be peace. In after years it will be seen and acknowledged though I be no more upon earth. Oh, hardhearted people! I am here to be taken. Take me for the sins of the island. Why hesitate? Am I not here? Though I be killed I yet shall live; though dead, I shall live in the peace which will be the accomplishment of my aim. The future is mine; and little children, when asked hereafter as to the author of peace, shall say—Te Whiti,—and I will bless them.”

The Wesleyan minister (Rev. J. Luxford), preaching at Patea (30th Oct.), exposed the injustice which had been done to the Maoris and that which was in its fell course. The reporter said he was “listened to attentively, but the feeling here is unanimous in favour of war.” “If we do not have a native war,” the “Lyttelton Times” said (31st Oct.), “it will be because Te Whiti is too great a man to be goaded into hostilities.” The same paper declared

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(1st Nov.) that Atkinson's re-election had been deemed insecure, and that the destruction of Parihaka was the shameful price for which security was to be bought. Mr. De Lautour appealed through the columns of the same paper against Prendergast's “injudicious and unreasonable” proclamation. Every Maori slain under it would be “a human soul murdered for no better reason than this: That successive ministries have been as fruitful to promise as they have been slow to perform their promises.”

Though Te Whiti's esoteric teachings were published, Mr. Bryce and those who abetted him affected to think that there was danger of war. He reconnoitred Parihaka (3rd Nov.) with his military commander. He was inflated by the unhappy consistency with which the Colonial Office conferred distinction. The “London Gazette” announced (1st Nov.) that Prendergast had been knighted. The tidings were flashed to New Zealand, and gave hope of similar notoriety to others. Yet a sense that his boastful display might be shamed vexed the Native Minister's soul. Colonel Roberts, his military commander, promulgated (2nd Nov.) a notice suspending traffic between Stoney river and Opunake on the 4th and 5th Nov. If the army was to be made ridiculous no vulgar eye was to see it. A correspondent visited Te Whiti nevertheless on the 4th. On that day Bryce ordered that no civilians or newspaper correspondents should approach the scene. Offenders would be arrested. Deputations vainly deprecated his resolution. It was rumoured that many Taranaki volunteers thirsted for blood as well as land; that some of them had sworn to shoot down the first Maori who placed it in their power to kill; and that on the raising of even a wooden weapon death was to be inflicted. An Armstrong gun was placed in position to cannonade the village. While these preparations occupied Bryce's camp a traveller visited Parihaka on the 4th, and reported that “the natives were busily engaged clearing the road to the village and taking out the stumps so that the cavalry and volunteers might have no impediment in their advance.”¹⁶ A

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“Lyttelton Times” correspondent and others resolved to see the march upon Parihaka despite Bryce's prohibition, which was denounced in the press as tending “to make a fool” of its author. The correspondent was astir long before the army. When about 300 yards from Parihaka, he and Mr. Humphries, the representative of the Press Association, left their friends on an eminence to observe the movements of the army, and by a circuitous course entered the village and explained their object. The Maoris answered: “We quite understand why the government are ashamed that the public should know what they are doing; but we have nothing to be ashamed of, and you are welcome.” The visitors were invited to sit in the mârâê, or meeting-place in the open air; but more distrustful of Bryce than of Te Whiti, they ensconced themselves within a whare, and watched unseen.

In the marae were gathered about 2000 of Te Whiti's followers, men, women, and children, in their best attire. Yet the correspondent observed an air of gloom amongst the grown people. “The whole spectacle was saddening in the extreme; it was an industrious, law-abiding, moral, and hospitable community calmly awaiting the approach of the men sent to rob them of everything dear to them.” The Maori spirit of resentment which was relied upon to justify fire and slaughter, was the spirit which Te Whiti strove to hush. “At intervals” he and Tohu addressed the people on that early morn, enjoining “peace and forbearance under any insults or oppression.” At about 8 o'clock, Bryce on a white horse appeared with his army. He had sent to the rear the correspondents he had found on his way, and knew not that others saw him. He appeared “exceedingly anxious.” “Mr. Rolleston, who was on foot, seemed to regard the whole affair as a good bit of fun.” In spite of Bryce's proclamation that no civilians should accompany the army, he was accompanied by more than one. Some contempt was thrown on the advance by a mimic dance, and songs of derision, the actors being children. Nevertheless, in

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solemn form, the unarmed Maoris were surrounded. In earnest words, inaudible to the invaders, Tohu adjured his countrymen, as the armed men stepped within the actual precincts of the encampment. Before 10 o'clock Major Tuke and a civilian were sent forward to obtain Te Whiti's reply to Prendergast's proclamation. Receiving none, Tuke read the Riot Act, and his companion translated it. The Maori assemblage heeded not, but “sat with eyes fixed on Te Whiti. His slightest variation of countenance was reflected on the faces of all, and any words he addressed to those close to him were whispered from one to another until they reached the uttermost circle of the densely-packed meeting.” At 10 o'clock two officers with about a hundred picked men, armed with loaded revolvers, and some carrying handcuffs, advanced to the crowd. Captain Newell told the men to be firm, but to use no unnecessary violence. The correspondent from his hiding-place could have touched Captain Newell with a walking-stick while remarks were being made as to the absence of any newspaper reporters. Tohu briefly addressed his people. “Let the man, Bryce, who has raised these troubles, finish his work this day. Let none be absent. Stay where you are; even though the bayonet come to your breasts, resist not.” Before 11 o'clock the bugle sounded, and the army surrounded the Maoris as they sat. Newell told his men to “clinch the handcuffs tight.” Tuke told them to shoot down instantly any Maori who might use a tomahawk. Still Te Whiti made no sign. Colonel Roberts ordered Hursthouse, the interpreter, to call Te Whiti. Te Whiti declined to stir. If Bryce and Rolleston wanted to see him, let them come. “I have nothing but good words for Mr. Bryce or for anyone.” Bryce desired him to make a road through the people so that Bryce might approach upon his charger. “But some of my children might be hurt.” “No; my horse is quiet.” “I do not think it good that you should come on horseback among my children. If you wish to talk with me, come on foot.” “The days of talking (replied Bryce) are over.” “Since when did you find that out?” “Since this morning.” “I have nothing more to say,” replied Te Whiti.

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Bryce ordered Roberts to carry out his instructions. The arresting-party advanced. Tuke directed Newell to arrest Te Whiti. The Maoris made way for the constables, and the chief “quietly awaited their approach.” Some sense of the different demeanour which might have been displayed by Bryce if he had changed places with his victim may have touched Colonel Roberts, for he called to the constables, “Let him walk if he will.” “Te Whiti came away in a very dignified manner, his wife following closely. Tohu was arrested in a similar manner, and also Hiroki.”¹⁷ Te Whiti and Tohu spoke to their people. The former said: “Be of good heart and patient. This day's work is not my doing. It comes from the heart of the Pakeha. On my fall the Pakeha builds his work: but be you steadfast in all that is peaceful.” Tohu said: “Be not sad. Turn away the sorrowful heart from you. Be not dismayed. Have no fear, but be steadfast.” As they were led away, a woman sitting near the whare in which the correspondent was concealed expressed sorrow, but another replied: “Why are you grieved? Look, he is smiling as he walks away with the Pakehas.” While still within hearing he turned round and said, in tones which reached all: “Let your abiding be good in this place, oh, my tribe! Works such as these will be finished this day.” The desire of the chiefs not to be herded with Hiroki was regarded; and, while he walked handcuffed, they rode in a vehicle to Pungarehu. The manner in which that which the greatest

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of Englishmen calls “the angel of the world” impressed Te Whiti's captors may be gathered from a telegram sent to an Auckland newspaper (9th Nov.). ‘I saw the prophet this morning. He appeared comfortable and unconcerned. His influence seems to be felt by all who approach him; and the roughest men say, with curious unanimity, that he is a gentleman.”

The Maoris seemed disconsolate after Te Whiti's removal. The capture having been effected, Mr. Bryce allowed reporters to appear. The correspondent's coadjutor being one of them, and being informed by a native of his friend's hiding-place, conveyed thither an intimation that he might appear.

“Shortly afterwards we emerged, and if anything connected with one of the saddest and most shameful spectacles I have witnessed could be ludicrous, it was (wrote the watcher) the expression on the faces of the authorities when they saw that their grand scheme for preventing the colony from knowing what was done in the name of the Queen at Parihaka had been completely frustrated. Not an action escaped observation; not an order given was unheard or unrecorded. The kindness of the Parihaka people to me was great, and their satisfaction at knowing that the proceedings would be recorded, very marked.”¹⁸

Bryce congratulated his army on their “victory.” Notices calling on the Maoris to abandon Parihaka, return to their native places, and await Bryce's orders, were posted up. The Maoris remained. They were heard to express their hope that at last Te Whiti would be able to raise in the Supreme Court the question of the validity of the extrusion of the Maoris from the lands guaranteed to them. They told a reporter that they knew that Bryce wished them to strike the first blow, but Te Whiti commanded that whatever indignity might be offered they were “not even to lift their hands.” On the 8th, Bryce, with the obedient Hurst-house, called on the Wanganui and Ngarauru people to return to their homes, in order that Parihaka might “be cleared for the people who own it by ancestral title.” The Maoris “took not the slightest notice of the speech.” “Go away,

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all of you (he cried); pack up your things; leave this place.” They heeded him not: and the next act in the tragedy began.

The kidnapping of Te Whiti was to be followed by a larceny which was only not petty because it was enacted in the name of the colony and against a whole village, in profanation of the authority of the Queen. The troops proceeded to rob the houses. Fowling-pieces, tomahawks, and axes were piled at the feet of the conquering Bryce. Profound silence was maintained by the Maoris while the army obeyed its director. In Tohu's whare a cupboard was broken open to search for gunpowder, but none was found. If the callous had been capable of generous feeling a Maori woman would have aroused it. In a whare, already rifled by the troops, she found a watch, and thinking that one of the army might have lost it, handed it to an officer, but no military owner claimed it. Before noon every dwelling had been pillaged. Some green-stone articles which were seized were permitted by Bryce to be replaced. Other articles were retained by constabulary thieves who could see no distinction between what was done by order and what was condemned. Arson was the next step in the procedure; but just as the men were about to set fire to Maori dwellings a communication from head-quarters arrested the movement, and Bryce and Rolleston returned to Pungarehu. There, with Atkinson, they plied the electric wire with messages to their colleagues in Wellington. Many telegrams were unrevealed, but the Blue-book contains some which deserve to be quoted. Bryce said to Hall (11th Nov.):

“I never intended to burn, though I have thought, and think, that it may be necessary to destroy every whare in the village if the Maoris hold out. It would be very difficult to distinguish between the whares of the different tribes. Then, again, we are told that the Wanganui, &c., should be ordered to their homes. Well, I have ordered them to their homes emphatically enough, and, apparently, I might as well have called from the vasty deep. Then, as for their apprehension and selection into tribes, people seem to think that each one has the name of his tribe written on his forehead.” (He wanted to arrest a chief) “and there was not a man in camp could identify him. If there is difficulty in such a case as that, consider what it must be with the 2000 men, women, and children who are nobodies. I am pointing out these difficulties that you may consider them when you may hear of my doing things which do not altogether recommend themselves to your mind. I may be forced into a

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choice of objectionable courses Moreover, it is extremely probable that wives would be separated from their husbands, children from parents, and so on. Notwithstanding these difficulties, this thing has to be settled, and I am confident I can do it if I am not stopped. That the manner in which I do it will be free from objections is more than I can promise, and I hope that you and my colleagues will put the most favourable construction on things.” On the 12th, Bryce told Rolleston—“I have great difficulty in selecting them.” On the 14th—“A great difficulty now remains, for it is impossible to identify women and children as we have done the men, and they, like the men, remain impassible. We have pulled down the whole of the Wanganui quarters. I ascertained, with considerable certainty, that the whole of the huts destroyed belonged to the Wanganuis. (15th Nov.) There is more difficulty in identifying women than men. It was a curious scene. We brought out into rows about 650 women, and 300 or 400 children, and then proceeded to separate them. (18th Nov.) Have taken nearly 400 prisoners in all to-day. I am going to mark the empty whares to-night at midnight for destruction. (19th Nov.) We have now sent away over 1200 Maoris. (20th Nov.) I intend to pull down a number of whares around the marae to-morrow. (21st Nov.) Pulled down some whares this afternoon, amongst the rest the sacred medicine-house, where people had to take off their shoes before entering. (22nd Nov.) Should additional difficulty arise from want of food, I propose to give the dispersed men road work at low wages; but I will carefully avoid all pampering.”

The last sentence may seem superfluous; but it must be recorded so that men may know how Maoris, who had been guaranteed all rights of British subjects, were treated at Parihaka.

The press, with few exceptions, supported the ministry, and denounced the assertion by the Governor of “exploded” powers, or those which, “whether supported by precedent or authority, were inimical to the constitutional practice of the day.”¹⁹ Nevertheless, a Wanganui newspaper, which applauded the ministry for terminating the “miserable state of vacillation and weakness” which had existed for two years, paid a tribute to the captive:

“It is one of the remarkable qualities of Te Whiti that he has risen above the vices of his people, and has obtained his influence by a moral ascendancy as conspicuous as anything in the lives of the greatest men. We cannot, therefore, offer our congratulations on the removal of a standing menace to the peace of the colony without a regret that the order and cleanliness and sobriety which Te Whiti has established at Parihaka should be impaired by the destruction of the ‘mana’ of the chief who has accomplished such reforms.”

Yet the writer not only justified what had been done, but suggested methods of completing the work. The prisoners

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might be committed, bail might be refused, the first sittings might be “inconveniently early,” trial might be postponed until the meeting of Parliament, when “a Detention Bill could be passed;” so that “if the government desire to keep their august prisoners in custody they can easily do so, Habeas Corpus and the Bill of Rights notwithstanding.” So hardened were the consciences of some, that these admissions and proposals excited no condemnation. They emanated indeed from a comparatively moderate newspaper. There were other monitors who warned their readers that not a victory but shame was the guerdon won. The “Echo” ridiculed the folly of reading the Riot Act to a “quiet, peaceable, orderly” assemblage, composed in great part of women and children seated in their own village:

“We have searched through the New Zealand statutes and are unable to find any Act whose provisions Te Whiti has violated. He has done nothing; remained in his own village preaching peace. None of the special offences created by the West Coast Settlement Act of 1880 has Te Whiti committed. Justice demands that his offence be named. What is it? To the last he has preached peace. Is this an offence? By his quietness he has shown a noble spirit. Before his accusers he was dumb. When his followers would have raised their swords in his defence, he told them to put them up. He goes quietly with those who arrest him. Could the most civilized act more nobly than he has done? What we dread is that his followers not now constrained by his preaching of peace, may by guerilla warfare avenge the arrest of their leaders. Let us trust that Te Whiti's influence will be sufficiently strong and abiding to prevent such a sad outbreak.”

The “Lyttelton Times” (17th Nov.) arraigned the “blundering and plundering at Parihaka:”

“The error throughout was to ignore the Supreme Court, which Te Whiti evidently has all along wished to try his case. He knew that once before that court the whole question of confiscation must be raised, and that he could, if he wished, appeal against an adverse decision on points of law to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. He has tried by peaceful means to bring the question before the Supreme Court, and he has been persistently baffled by the perversity of the government, who believe more in Royal Commissioners and big battalions than in high and independent courts of law. What hollow hypocrisy it must sound in Te Whiti's ear to hear the ministerial parrot-cry of the rule of law, when resort to the highest and purest source of law and justice is studiously forbidden to him. Mr. Bryce appears to have little knowledge of, and less regard for, the fundamental principles of law and justice. Probably, like most half-educated men, he has that smattering of information which makes him think he ought to be a law unto himself. His nature is narrow, obstinate, and autocratic. He has seen somewhere, or been told, that the reading of the Riot Act to a

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riotous mob is necessary before recourse can be had by the civil power to the use of arms. He fancies, therefore, that the reading of the Act to an orderly assemblage of unarmed natives—men, women, and children sitting quietly in their own village—is tantamount to a proclamation of martial law, and to his forthwith becoming an irresponsible dictator… . We were lately told by a contemporary… that about 2000 natives at Parihaka, though not arrested, tried, or convicted, were actually in prison, and in the armed custody of Mr. Bryce and his myrmidons. What law, we ask, has made Mr. Bryce the controller of human liberties and lives? What right, human or divine, had he to imprison, to break into houses, and take away other men's goods? He has no more lawful power to do these things at Parihaka than he has at Christchurch… And then we are told that the Colonial Treasurer (Major Atkinson) was foremost in breaking into a hut in a native village far away from Parihaka, for the purpose of seizing arms and ammunition. Under what law was that seizure made?… We look with horror at this wholesale eviction which has been threatened, and which has already commenced. The thought arises… whether our own parlour fires will burn the blither for the smoking hearths which we quench, or our own roof-trees stand the faster for the thatch which we rive off cottar-homes. There is one hope, that if Te Whiti in that ‘due course of law’ to which the magistrate referred him is tried in the Supreme Court and is properly defended, his whole case may be thoroughly sifted, and an opportunity given for the vindication of law in spite of Mr. Bryce and Major Atkinson. But one necessary condition to that end is a change of venue in the trial from New Plymouth… Another condition is that the counsel should be one of colonial eminence… Every provocation has been given to the natives. The absence of bloodshed is owing to the very remarkable restraint—unparalleled, we believe—which, at the bidding of Te Whiti, they have exercised on themselves in most exceptional and aggravating circumstances. It is fortunate for the good name and for the welfare of the colony, that the selfish and aggressive instincts of Messrs. Bryce and Atkinson have been for a time at least overruled by Te Whiti's higher and nobler qualities.”

In another article (9th Nov.), the editor, animadverting on the manner in which the Prendergast proclamation had been procured, said: “The low cunning characteristic of the whole proceeding leads us to suppose that its conception must have originated in the mind of the Attorney-General (Whitaker).”

The reader may judge how far the words of the “Lyttelton Times” would be allowed to weigh on the minds of the ministry or their supporters. The rapine at Parihaka was extended to the neighbouring districts. After the unexplained pause on the 8th, and the consequent deliberations, operations were resumed on the 10th Nov. Supported by armed constabulary, Bryce arrested the unarmed Titokowaru, who had not resided at Parihaka, and had had friendly interviews with Sheehan and other Native Ministers.

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Guns and ammunition were seized in every village on the plains. At the head of a separate army, Atkinson attacked Taikatu, said to have been in former years a stronghold of Titokowaru. Atkinson was “the first to enter” in 1881, but the humiliation was on the side of the invading cavalry, for “only a few old women were found in the pah.” Hone Pihama, who had for many years been friendly—who was often consulted by Donald McLean, Sheehan, Bryce, and Rolleston—who was selected to accompany Captain Knollys as an envoy from the Governor—was pillaged in common with his countrymen, although he was exerting himself at Parihaka to induce the Maoris to depart in peace. Old Mete Kingi assisted in identifying his people from Wanganui, but it was piteously pleaded for the government (“New Zealand Herald,” 12th Nov., and in other places) that “the difficulty of identification is beginning to be felt, and will ere long compel a stoppage of arrests, unless these are to be made ‘in bulk.’ “Such indiscriminate arrests were indeed in keeping with other deeds of the day. The government had as little right to arrest Te Whiti as any of the women and children who were torn from their homes. But retail business naturally expands into wholesale. Bryce telegraphed to Rolleston (21st Nov.) that the total number of Maoris “brought up” was 2200. Titokowaru was handcuffed and placed in solitary confinement. “I saw him (it was telegraphed, 20th Nov.) crouching handcuffed like a large dog in a low whare like a kennel. He is said to have refused food a long time.” Though not cannibals themselves, the government could, like Rauparaha, torture an old enemy. No one asked on what ground Titokowaru was arrested. An Auckland newspaper doubted not that the government had “a specially good case” against “the truculent savage,” whom “Mr. Bryce will have to take care that he keeps.” It was added that “the old warrior,” after obstinately refusing food for some days “gave in” on the 21st November. “He will be sent to New Plymouth, where it will be asked that he be bound over to keep the peace. Heavy bail will be asked for, and in the event of his finding sureties and being released, he will again be arrested, and other offences, it is understood, will then be preferred against him.”

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Thus confidently was it assumed that law would be dispensed with. What was done may be mentioned. Titokowaru was charged (25th Nov.) with having, on the 12th Oct., in reply to rough banter from Europeans, threatened to burn down a hotel at Manaia. The Bench ordered the old man to find two sureties of £500 (each), to keep the peace for twelve months, and to be kept in goal until he could find bail. “On the whole (a newspaper said) it is no bad thing for Titokowaru that he is safe in gaol for a bit, but the government have certainly got him incarcerated on a plea that would have been held flimsy in the case of any ordinary man.”²⁰ The mockery of the pretence that Titokowaru was dealt with by law must have been represented to Bryce's more artful colleagues, for the old man was charged (13th Dec.) with having wilfully obstructed the informer Hursthouse, by refusing to leave Parihaka when requested to do so. A few months afterwards the fatal defect in the substituted procedure was exposed by Judge Gillies. The magistrates committed Titokowaru for trial.

Two circumstances demand brief mention here. Assured of public support, the ministry procured a dissolution on the 8th November, with a view to immediate elections. On the same day, from that serener air whence the voice of justice had often been heard in New Zealand, Mr. Justice Gillies told the grand jury at Taranaki that he would be wanting in his duty if he did not allude “to the position of the district in which large bodies of armed men were assembled on active service, and he took leave to remind them of the constitutional principle that the employment

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of an armed force was only justifiable either under the authority of Parliament in repelling armed aggression, or in aid of the civil arm of the law when that arm had proved powerless to enforce the law's mandates. In any other case the use of armed force was illegal, and a menace to, if not an outrage upon the liberties of the people.”²¹ The Lyttelton Times” cited this opinion as confirming its own contention, but the government pursued their lawless course. Able correspondents strove to awaken the national conscience, but in vain. Te Whiti and Tohu were delivered to the custody of the gaoler and brought before the magistrates at Taranaki (12th Nov.), charged with using language likely to disturb the peace of the district. C. W. Hursthouse, a licensed interpreter, was the informant. He gave a warlike colouring to the speech made by Te Whiti on the 17th Sept. When the case was resumed (14th Nov.), Mr. Parris went upon the bench. Te Whiti asked Hursthouse: “Have the 25,000 acres reserved by the government for the use of the natives ever been shown to them?” and the answer was: “Not that I know of.” Asked by one of the Crown prosecutors if he could swear to certain expressions in the information, Hursthouse (being, as he was reminded, the informer) replied: “There are expressions in the information which I cannot swear that I heard myself. I got them from other gentlemen who were present.” Mr. F. A. Carrington was on the bench. His brother, W. Carrington, a licensed interpreter and captain in the New Zealand Militia, appeared as a witness. He swore that he had taken the Prendergast proclamation to Te Whiti. Parris put questions to him, which must be recorded accurately as a proof of what the government practised and the public permitted.

“Do you remember you went up with me when I went up to Parihaka to explain to Te Whiti about the land?”—“ Yes. “After I commenced to speak to him what did he say?”—“ He said dogs did not come out hunting pigs without their masters. He then gave a signal to break up the meeting, and refused to allow you to explain the nature of the reserves to the natives.” “Were you not supplied with a plan showing the land

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that had been reserved for the natives, and were you not instructed to show the boundaries to the natives?”—“ Certainly not.” “Remember, you are on your oath.”—“ I know that. You need not remind me of it.” Parris.—“A plan was made out by Mr. Humphries, the Chief Surveyor, showing the reserves, and given to you.” Carrington.—“I received a plan of the reserves, but it was given me for the purpose of finding what natives were cultivating portions of the land coloured on the plan, and I did so. I did not understand that I was to point out the boundaries of the reserves to the natives, or I should have done so.” “Have the 25,000 acres ever been defined or pointed out?”—“Not that I know of.” “Were you not aware by the map that a portion of land seaward of Pungarehu was reserved for the natives?”—“I understood that without the map.” “And yet you never explained?”—“Certainly not.” Parris.—“Well, I recollect giving you those instructions myself.” Carrington.—“I never was told to point out the boundaries to the natives. It was altogether out of my line.” Te Whiti asked Carrington: “Did I not tell you not to write down what I said at the meeting because you did not understand me?” and the reply was: “I remember you telling me not to write down your speech.”

Another licensed interpreter gave evidence, and the court was adjourned. On the following morning Te Whiti was told that he might speak. He replied that he had little to say about the land. It had been urged that the whole of it belonged to the government, and the Maoris were trespassers upon it. “We have dwelt upon it ever since the war was ended. We have cultivated it. We did not plant it with crops in order to cause quarrels. We planted it in order to derive subsistence from it. It is not my wish that evil should befall Pakeha or Maori. I desire that all of us should live happily upon the land. Up to the present time I have never sought to injure or to kill anyone. My only wish is that all of us should live happily and peacefully on the land. Such is the manner in which I have ever addressed the Maori people. I have no more to say.”

The convenient bench said to Te Whiti: “You are committed to the common gaol of New Plymouth (Taranaki), there to be safely kept until you shall be thence delivered by due course of law.”²² Tohu was then arraigned. An interpreter, having given evidence as to words used by Tohu (17th Sept.), was asked by the chief: “Were you at the meeting on the evening of the 17th?” and was constrained to admit that he was not. “Do you perfectly

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understand what land I alluded to?” “I understood it was the confiscated land.” Tohu was committed to gaol. The faithful sentinel of justice, the “Lyttelton Times,” was swift to point out the indecency of Parris’ behaviour in contradicting from the bench the sworn testimony of a witness. Magistrate, prosecutor, and unsworn witness, he had attempted to browbeat a witness in the box. Whether Parris had or had not issued instructions, the natives had not been informed of the reserves pretended to have been marked out for them. “It is again the old, old story… Government informs the public that for two years the natives have persistently refused the reserves pointed out to them. And it turns out that no reserves have ever been pointed out to them.” But exposure was lost upon the government. Day by day the Maoris were removed. Four hundred and eight were escorted into New Plymouth (18th Nov). The difficulty of identifying members of the different tribes was roughly surmounted as described in Bryce's telegrams already cited; but the victims obeyed Te Whiti's injunctions that they should be peaceful. “The process is (said Mr. Hamilton) strangely like drafting sheep. To-day the Wanganui ewes were culled. All the women in the village were assembled outside, and made to pass back again one by one.” Mr.