“He was still obliged to provide for the chaplain’s duties, though the army was no longer massed, but was spread into numerous out-posts stretching as far as ninety miles from Auckland. This involved his starting every Friday with such clerical companions as he could get; calling at the various stations throughout Saturday to do any pastoral duty required amongst the troops, and planning with the officers how to make the most of his services on Sunday.... After forty-five miles we reached the Waikato river ... when the steamer arrived it was found to be towing some barges filled with the families of the new Australian settlers, a corps which had been raised in the Australian towns.... The arrival of these families was an opportunity for pastoral work.... The Bishop plunged into the barges.... One woman, the mother of a family was nearing her end. He induced the captain to put her on shore opposite to a wooden church which had been riddled by shot and dismantled in the war. Inside that inhospitable ruin he proposed to stay the night as the comforter of the poor woman, and bade me proceed to the nearest military post and await his arrival. Early on the Saturday morning he arrived after an unbroken night watch, during which he had seen his poor patient’s death, had committed her body to the grave and had made arrangements for the charge of her children. Without any sleep, he then hastened to depart on foot to the missionary station, where we had been expected overnight. During the many hours of the day as we passed over the fields of action with their gloomy records of ruined churches, abandoned paths, down-trodden enclosures, the Bishop poured out his heart to me more freely than was his wont. The scene was sad enough to have overwhelmed him with acute regret and despondency for the future. The Waikato tribe more than 10,000 strong, the most advanced of the powerful tribes in civilization and churchmanship, with churches and a complete set of schools endowed by themselves, were now driven from their fertile valley, estranged from British rule, and perhaps alienated from the Christian faith. The missionary work of forty years seemed all undone and the Bishop himself was regarded as a traitor. Yet all these gloomy reflections were put away, and his only thought was how to minister to the new settlers now pouring in from the Australian towns.... As we passed over the scene of bloodshed he said: ‘I have been in every action I could possibly reach. It was my duty to minister to the wounded natives as well as to the British.... Indeed I always ministered to the fallen Maori first so as to give a practical answer to their charge against me of forsaking and betraying them. It was needful that I should be in the midst of each fray and between two fires; but I was never hurt. I lay on the ground at night and shared soldier’s fare.’”
Whilst recalling all that he had gone through, the Bishop’s missionary zeal still enabled him to make plans for fresh enterprises and to sketch out new work amongst the settlers. But there were thoughts poured out too about what he could do when no longer fit for the active life New Zealand demanded. He thought he might best serve his Master by retiring to Canterbury, and helping to train the next generation of missionaries at St. Augustine’s College. But the time of retirement was not yet, and the next day after a night spent sleeping on the ground, he took eight separate services for the troops.
Many are the stories of his utter fearlessness during the war. One settler years afterwards wrote to an Auckland paper saying that he was sure many of the settlers owed their lives to Bishop Selwyn’s untiring watchfulness. He told how once when returning to their homes at Mauku, after a sudden flight, through fear of a Maori attack, the Bishop appeared and, refusing all refreshment, asked merely to be allowed to leave his horse for the night. He said he must go on at once to Purapura which was some nine miles away, and to be reached only by a bush track; that he needed no food as he had some bread in his kit, but would probably be back next morning. At 4 o’clock next morning he duly appeared, drenched to the skin, having walked all through the night and having had to ford a creek. He then told them that the day before he had heard that a band of the fiercest Maoris were on their way to attack the settlement, and he had gone to see the chiefs assembled at Purapura to persuade them to forbid their war party to go on. This they had promised to do, but said the Bishop, I will stay till all danger from these wild spirits is past. During the night he was up and out in a moment if there was any unusual noise. The following Sunday he held a service in the little schoolroom, preaching a sermon never to be forgotten, inspiring trust and confidence in God.
At the end of the war, Bishop Selwyn was granted the same medal as was given to the soldiers; and the officers and men among whom he had ministered subscribed to give him money to ornament his private chapel.
The prayer which he drew up to be used in all the churches in New Zealand, deserves to be recorded here as showing his inmost mind about the war.
“O Lord whose never failing Providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth, we humbly beseech Thee to receive our prayer for the Governor of this land and for all who are in authority that they may be guided by Thee in all things, that the dominion of our Queen may be established in this land in justice and mercy according to Thy Holy Will.
“We commend to Thee oh merciful Father all our brethren who are gone forth from amongst us to bear arms and to be exposed to the peril of death, all who are thereby hindered from worshipping Thee in Thy house, that Thou wilt keep them from forgetfulness of Thee and of Thy holy law: all who are sick, all who are wounded, all who are drawing nigh unto death; all who are bereaved. And we pray that Thy Holy Spirit may so rule in all of us as to keep us from every unbecoming and unchristian temper; from all cruel, unmerciful and vindictive thoughts.
“And we beseech Thee, good Lord, to restrain the evil passions of men, and to deliver this land from the misery of strife and bloodshed and to pour upon all the people of the land the spirit of concord and obedience and peace. And this we pray through Him who is the Prince of Peace and Saviour of all men, our Lord Jesus Christ.”
It is to be noted that he did not bid them pray for victory.