archdeacon proceeded to England for
his consecration. Nelson also claimed a bishop of its own, and for this
difficult post Selwyn recommended his friend Edmund Hobhouse, then Vicar
of St. Peter-in-the-East at Oxford. This devoted man was also a fellow
of Merton College in the University, and he had narrowly missed being
appointed to the see of Christchurch two years before. With great
physical strength, which enabled him to walk 30 or 40 miles a day,
Hobhouse was yet a constant sufferer from headache, but his deep piety
and his solid learning well qualified him for the episcopal office. The
two bishops-elect were consecrated together (still under Letters Patent)
on Michaelmas Day, 1858, and arrived in New Zealand during the first
General Synod, which met under the new constitution in the city of
Wellington in the month of March, 1859.

The most interesting feature of this gathering was the inauguration of a
fifth bishopric--that of Waiapu. In this case the bishop's original
plan was carried out in its exactitude, for no one but the
"episcopally-minded" William Williams could well be thought of for such
a post. The Letters Patent were brought out from England by Bishop
Abraham, and the consecration was held, during the course of the
session, in the little St. Paul's Church, on Sunday, April 3.[11] A
unique feature of the service arose from the fact that the four
consecrating bishops were all younger than the veteran upon whom they
laid their hands. The new bishop was "one whose age and experience,"
said Selwyn in his opening address, "has often made me feel ashamed that
I should have been preferred before him, and to whom I have long wished
to be allowed to make this reparation, by dividing with him the duties
and responsibilities of my office." "It was a most delightful day," he
afterwards wrote, "and one that I little expected to see when I first
came to New Zealand. All seemed to be so thoroughly happy and satisfied
with the appointment of the new bishops, as much as if each settlement
had chosen its own bishop from personal knowledge.... I shall now go
back to Auckland light in heart ... and I hope to be enabled by God's
blessing to prosecute the mission work with more vigour in consequence
of the cutting off of the southern portions of New Zealand."

[11] It is a matter for regret that the scene of this first episcopal
consecration in New Zealand can no longer be pointed out. The church
stood, opposite the M