volved the drawing-up of the laws of the infant Colony. In doing
so he ventured to be much simpler in language and much less of a slave
to technical subtleties than was usual in his day. By an ordinance
dealing with conveyancing he swept away a host of cumbrous English
precedents relating to that great branch of law. Other excellent
enactments dealt with legal procedure and marriage. Mr. Swainson's
ordinances were not only good in themselves, but set an example in New
Zealand which later law reformers were only too glad to follow and
improve upon. Another official of ability and high character was Sir
William Martin, Chief Justice, long known, not only as a refined
gentleman and upright judge, but as an enthusiastic and unswerving
champion of what he believed to be the rights of the Maori race. But
a more commanding figure than either Martin or Swainson was George
Augustus Selwyn, the first Bishop of the Colony. No better selection
could have been made than that by which England sent this muscular
Christian to organize and administer a Church of mingled savages and
pioneers. Bishop Selwyn was both physically and mentally a ruler of
men. When young, his tall, lithe frame, and long, clean-cut aquiline
features were those of the finest type of English gentleman. When old,
the lines on his face marked honourably the unresting toil of the
intellectual athlete. Hard sometimes to others, he was always hardest
to himself. When in the wilderness, he could outride or outwalk his
guides, and could press on when hunger made his companions flag
wearily. He would stride through rivers in his Bishop's dress, and
laugh at such trifles as wet clothes, and would trudge through the
bush with his blankets rolled up on his back like any swag-man. When
at sea in his missionary schooner, he could haul on the ropes or take
the helm--and did so.[1] If his demeanour and actions savoured at
times somewhat of the dramatic, and if he had more of iron than honey
in his manner, it must be remembered that his duty lay in wild places
and amongst rough men, where strength of will and force of character
were more needed than gentler virtues. For more than a generation he
laboured strenuously amongst Maoris and Europeans, loved by many and
respected by all. He organized the Episcopal Church in New Zealand
upon a basis which showed a rare insight into the democratic character
of the community with which he had to deal. The basis of his system is
found in th