Rulers—1
George Augustus Selwyn by The Rev. S. C. CARPENTER , M.A., D.D.,
Master of the Temple
THE CHURCHMAN chosen for today, George Augustus Selwyn , first Bishop of New Zealand, came of a brilliant family of which his namesake, the well-known politician, clubman, and contemporary of Gray and Horace Walpole at Eton, was a member.
The subject of this talk was born in Hampstead on April 5, 1809 (eighteen years after his namesake had died). At his preparatory school at Ealing he was a schoolfellow of Newman, the future cardinal. 'Then he went the way of his family, Eton, Cambridge, and back to Eton as tutor, excelling alike in brain and games. He was ordained deacon in 1833, and appointed curate to the vicar of Windsor; in 1841 he was consecrated Bishop of New Zealand, and sailed. He was the kind of man who can do anything. There was a native lad on board, and Selwyn got him to teach him the Maori language to such effect that he was able to preach a sermon in Maori as soon as he arrived. Man of action, too. He studied navigation on the voyage to such purpose that he could become his own sailing master among the dangerous waters of the Pacific.
A fine man. A fine life. Days and nights in the saddle ; swimming broad rivers; courting shipwreck on the seas. He won the confidence of the natives, curbed the ambitions of the land companies, but was to end by incurring the hostility of both. He had founded the Christian Church in New Zealand, but the Maori war in 1855 meant his labours ending in apparent failure. He was enthroned as Bishop of Lichfield in 1868 and governed the see for ten years until his death. Selwyn College, Cambridge, was erected by subscription to his memory.
Today's talk about Selwyn and his work for the church is to be the first of four broadcasts in this series by the Master of the Temple.