olume could hardly be bettered on the constitutional side. In this
department the Dean wrote as one who had taken no mean part in the
events which he describes. His ecclesiastical learning and his judicial
temper rendered him admirably qualified for the task. In working over
the same ground I have perhaps been able to point out a few facts which
he had missed or ignored, but on the whole I have left this part of the
field to him. This is not a constitutional history: it seeks rather to
depict the general life of the Church, and the ideals which guided its
leading figures.

The Dean's description of the missionary period is also an admirable
piece of work, but he had not the advantage of the stores of material
which are now available. Through the indefatigable enthusiasm of the
late Dr. Hocken the journals of the early missionaries have been brought
to this country, and are made available to the student. His
comprehensive collection enables us to come into close touch with days
which are already far distant from our own. Of course the historian must
be guided by the principle, _summa sequi fastigia rerum_; but he cannot
estimate aright the work of the heroic leaders and rulers of the Church
unless he can follow the thoughts and careers of the less conspicuous
agents--the humble missionary or catechist, the native convert or
thinker.

In acknowledging my obligations to the late Dr. Hocken, I would wish to
express my gratitude to the authorities of the Dunedin Museum, where his
library is kept; and also to my friend Archdeacon Woodthorpe, who kindly
placed at my service the unpublished volume in which Dr. Hocken's
researches into the life of Marsden are contained. For permission to
consult the Godley correspondence in the Christchurch Museum I have to
thank the Board of Governors of Canterbury College; and for the loan of
a rare and valuable pamphlet on the death of the Rev. C. S. Volkner I am
greatly indebted to Mr. Alexander Turnbull, of Wellington. Archdeacon
Fancourt, of the same city, has afforded me generous help in recovering
some of the early history of the diocese he has so long served; while,
in Auckland, the Rev. J. King Davis--a descendant of the two
missionaries whose names he bears--has enabled me to identify the
positions of some long forgotten _pas_, and has furnished valuable
information on other points. Other correspondents, from the Bay of
Islands to Otago, have assisted generously with their local know