Girard0244

15 March 1843 - Father Petit-Jean to Father Claude Girard, Auckland

Summary

Fr Girard is novice-master of the Marists. Father Petit-Jean tells him of the successful importation into the Bay of Islands of the bees he had brought from Sydney. They will have, he thinks, enough wax to make an Easter candle. He then gives an account of how he and Brother Basile took a cow and some sheep to the Whangaroa station. Many difficulties overcome! He is then moved to Auckland, the then capital (near the end of October 1842). He finds devotion slackening among his people, but still has a high regard for the Irish. He gets involved in religious controversy, notably with Rev Henry Williams. He is happy to note that some of the Auckland Maori have called him “the man who brought down William”. He reports as highly likely that Father Borjon and Brother Deodat have been lost in a shipwreck. He ends his letter by giving the text of a long letter he sent to the editor of the Auckland Times defending the missionary work of the Catholic Church in New Zealand. (The letter was not published)

Text of the Letter

Translation by Merv Duffy SM, January 2025.

Based on the document sent, APM Z 208. Two double sheets, forming eight written pages. In the letter registry, ED 1, it was numbered 123.

Please communicate my letter to my dear brother-in-law.

New Zealand, Auckland, March 15, 1843

Mary conceived without sin, pray for us — for France.

My Very Reverend Father,

To the Very Reverend Father Girard

[1]

Truly, I have been miserly in writing to you, which is contrary to all my promises. I feel that, if I were to present myself before you, it would only be with confusion, and I would wholeheartedly ask for penance. Nevertheless, Reverend Father Épalle must have not only delivered my letters but also conveyed the affection and constant gratitude of our hearts. To make up for the past, I must tell you something of interest.

[2]

The bees I brought from Sydney, a gift from His Grace, the Archbishop of Sydney (whose express will was well-known), have thrived remarkably in this country. The only obstacle they face is the strong winds. In the Bay of Islands, they find an abundance of cabbage or colza flowers. There are also other flowers in the Europeans' gardens and the natives' plantations. Although many of these little creatures perished during the journey due to the negligence of someone charged with their care, they have happily multiplied. There are now two or three hives from one original mother—let us say two or three hives in total. I was sent a little of their honey in Auckland, a precious gift from Reverend Fathers Garin and Forest, symbols of the love they have for us all. They also sent me a sample of wax. My joy was immense; soon, we shall have enough to make a pure paschal candle. I also received good news about the small cow and the sheep I took to Whangaroa about six months ago. This journey deserves to be narrated.

[3]

Brother Basile and I took four days to travel from the Bay of Islands to the Whangaroa settlement. We resembled the ancient patriarchs wandering with their flocks. We had no other shepherds but ourselves, no one to carry our baggage, which was further burdened with seeds I was determined to deliver to Brother Élie, our courageous cultivator, an unparalleled farmer admired by the Europeans, working day and sometimes night to provide food for the missionaries. In short, Brother Basile and I were overloaded with a massive bundle. We trudged along with three sheep, a small lamb, and our cow. This cow was young and wild. By the second day, she was nearly exhausted from running left and right, trying to drag along the unsteady shepherd holding her by the leash.

We alternated between leading the cow and the sheep. But how to guide these animals through ravines and rivers or clear a path for them amidst the ferns, especially since we got lost on the first day? How to find water to quench our thirst and that of our flock? If it rained, what could we do with these animals? They would find nothing to eat amidst the ferns. On the first day, we forgot to let them graze. My cassock and trousers were horribly torn. (My narration is as confused as my journey.) My legs were bleeding. Oh, fear not; the heavenly Father watched over our little caravan with providential care. Hope and courage constantly sustained us. We carried the sheep, especially the lamb, through difficult passages. For four days, the skies withheld their usual rain. The young cow fell 30 times on the last day; 30 times, we helped her up. She nearly lost an eye. I lost a poorly tied shoe from my bag. Alas, my poor shoe—a gift from a kind Frenchwoman, Madame Smith, in Sydney. Oh, I shall always remember the shelter providence prepared for us, with no lack of water or food for our livestock.

The joy I anticipated giving Brother Élie by placing these animals in his hands and the hope of a flourishing flock sustained me most. Perhaps, too, there was a touch of pride, for when I departed, many mocked me. Few wanted to hear of my project. Imagine my determination to succeed. Finally, we reached an embarkation point near the settlement. The natives spotted me and exclaimed in their language, "Aue, ko hoane papita,"—Oh, it’s Jean-Baptiste. "Aue he kau, he hipi, he reme,"—Oh, a cow, sheep, a lamb.

Within moments, I found myself surrounded by them, then embraced by Reverend Father Rozet and Brother Élie.

[4]

The few days I spent at Whangaroa were filled with both joy and sadness. I came to Whangaroa only to proceed to Auckland, where His Grace was heading aboard a small ship belonging to Mr. Dominique, a devout Catholic from Italy who is most devoted to us and selfless in many services. Alas, I do not know when I shall see these people again, my firstborn in New Zealand. I console myself by writing to them from time to time.

[5]

I have been in Auckland since late October 1842. Mary protects her children. I have a sanctuary, a school, and a bell tower crowned with a cross. The largest bell in the country resounds across the surrounding echoes. The wind often carries its chimes two leagues away. This bell is precious; it heralds the life and revival of Catholics in these regions. It calls children to school, which is attended by 50 to 60 children, including 10 Protestants. Since the beginning of this year, I have had eight baptisms. Over the same period, I have heard the confessions of about ten adults. Devotion is languishing. English and Irish Catholics, far from their homeland, have grown lax. Many need to be practically commanded, as if with a rod, to come. It is the custom in their country, the way of their priests in Ireland. Yet, this people has a rich heart, a great heart—none surpasses them in this regard.

[6]

I have a garden, a courtyard with a good fence. I hope His Grace will soon send me a fellow worker.

[7]

One blessing leads to another. The carpenter who just finished our chapel in Auckland has gone to the Bay of Islands as a postulant for our Society. I believe he is now a novice brother, quite content.

[8]

You know well that opposition exists everywhere. But I am, according to the Maori, a formidable adversary. My pride is flattered when I hear the Maori say that I am one of those who defeated Mr. William in conferences. "Ko te ariki, ko hoane papita, nana i wataka i te Wiremu,"—It’s the priest, Jean-Baptiste, who defeated William.

If I reap any fruits here, they are the fruits of Reverend Father Forest’s seeds, who made himself singularly loved during the few months he providentially spent here.

[9]

Auckland has been a transit point for other priests—Reverend Father Rozet, Reverend Father Borjon, and the kind Brother Déodat. You have undoubtedly heard the sad news about the latter two. Since August, there has been no news of them. Humanly speaking, there is no doubt that the small ship carrying them perished. This event calls for adoration of God and reverence for Mary.

[10]

My Very Reverend Father, pray to this good Mother for me. Alas, I am worth less than I was during my novitiate. With profound respect, I am, my Very Reverend Father, your very humble and obedient servant in Jesus and Mary,

Jean-Baptiste Petit-Jean, missionary priest

[11] (In the margin)

The Protestants had five baptisms last year, including all sects. I am speaking here only of whites.

[Page 2, in the margin]

Many more children, both Catholic and Protestant, would come to our school, but they attend none. False shame holds their parents back; they fear being seen as unable to pay and thus labeled poor.

[The portion below was in English in the original. I have corrected some spelling.]

[12]

Sir

In the Time of the 9th March, I saw my name attached to an article that merits some reply. Let me speak without elegance but with simplicity and clearness, a quality, I think, wanted in your last column. I wish you would have avoided the excess with which you reproach the Australasian Chronicle. I am particularly sorry that you discharge your bile upon the pope and make against him a very rough attack; certainly Gregory the XVI is not answerable for the alleged errors of your contemporary, and his holiness is quite innocent in all this affair. Persuade yourself that not one of your sagacious readers mistook in the grossest illusion that you attempted to impose upon them by stating, at least by insinuating, that the pope as the temporal prince of Rome pretends to have some jurisdiction in the land of this colony. The word of pope’s representative here does not appear innocently placed under your pen.

[13]

Being now in conflict with the Australasian Chronicle, you induce me to say something about the lamented statements of your contemporary. I did not send letters to him. This answer is a mere compliance from me. My silence would be not at all an avowal, as by no means I am obliged to speak. Being concerned particularly in the number of the R(oman) Catholics in Auckland, I will state that in the last six months of the expired year (the Register of the whole year is not in my hands), there were twenty Catholic children baptized; since the new year began, I had seven baptisms. I saw the number of the Protestant children baptised in the year 1842 are fifty, in a note that was forwarded me in order that I would write my own number. If I commit some mistake, mend it if you please, and shew me the reality. I would not like to enter in any contest about this matter. I know that the Catholic population, as the other, are fluctuating in a young town and especially in the actual circumstances; at all events, be aware of subtracting of your own number all the children of Presbyterian, Methodists, Independent, etc., if there are any, because the conflict here is between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants of the Church of England, the only branch that even to now has been benefitted by the application of the Church extension ordinance.

[14]

I could leave entirely to the Chronicle the talk of justifying itself. Still, for some things asserted by you which I deem injurious to my character and to the honour of the Catholic Church, far from withdrawing myself, I come forward to the spot free, confident and proud of my cause.

[15]

As a priest of the said Church, I make my endeavours to do good, at least to be not useless to the public and chiefly to those who belong to my profession. I experience with the greatest consolation that I am not a stranger for the Catholics of whatsoever nation in New-Zealand. At various times, I saw English, French, Scotch, Irishmen, American, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Maori, etc. to come indistinctly to my ministry. I ask you, Mr. Editor, is it not the magnificent spectacle of the Catholicity. The meaning of the word Catholic must give you the intelligence of the nature and colour of the standard of the pope that you dare to stigmatise. That is yet the common standard of nations most free and independent in their temporal interests. It has been the standard of England, the standard of your own ancestors during many centuries, and lately you could hear learned divines of Oxford to express to all the Europe their ardent wishes to come back to this venerable standard. Did the pope know which nation was to occupy New-Zealand when he appointed this mission? Oh, I hope by and by you will see here English and Irish Catholic priests. Then you will be satisfied, then perhaps you will be reconciled with the pope. Oh no, do not accuse the pope of ambition. Such is the ambition of the priests here, such is the ambition of the pope. The priests follow as much as they can the instructions and the spirit of their common holy father, the pope. Now, do the priests possess great tracts of land in New-Zealand? Not one inch. Some other may be satisfied with £300; as for the priests, they are satisfied with things, how to feed and cover themselves. Indeed the Catholics by their trustees made several applications to the government towards the maintenance of their clergymen, but, think, dear editor, that in this step they were not moved by the ambition of a priest that even to now has been in the habit of refusing any money at the occasion of his ecclesiastical functions. Still, I would not like to subscribe to the condemnation that you implicitly pronounce against the same Catholic trustees.

[16]

Here is the place to express to the Protestants who are the protectors of the pope’s representatives my sincere and solemn gratitude. There are indeed many and many candid and generous souls among the Protestant ranks. We are all proud of it. Still, whilst I read in your Times that “but for the generosity of his Protestant protectors the pope’s representatives would be badly off amongst us now” ... when I read and read again those words of proscription, I say to my Protestant protectors: Let me stand one moment alone, let me find my shelter in the English legislation, my security in the common rights of all the civilised nations, and, before being crushed, let me touch and embrace with all my grasps this column, one of the principal supports of the building of society. As for me, let everyone know that nothing keeps me here but the bonds of obedience and charity, and should I be called back by my superior, they would see me free of kindred, relations, without any temporal embarrassment, ready as a soldier in campaign, to run immediately to a new station, wherever I would be sent.

[17]

True Catholic as you suppose to be, you do not conceal the base feelings of jealousy against strangers. To send always to a people priests of their own is perhaps a rule that you propose to follow; it is impossible. With such a rule, a new people could be hardly converted to faith. British themselves would have never passed to Christianity through the ministry of the monk Augustin that was sent to them by the immortal pope St. Gregory of whom we solemnized the feast, before yesterday.

[18]

Stop, stop the flood of ridicule that you shed on the persons of the Catholic ministry when you dare to say that they are not able to preach the Christian doctrine. Let us not alter the original words, “he (the pope) should provide at least that his missionaries should speak the language of the Christian people [to whom] they are sent.” What inconsiderate words! All the missionaries coming here ought to know the language of many thousand Maori before they are sent, they must not be sent to those who are not yet Christian, and you esteem [as] nothing the souls of the poor aborigenes, and perhaps your haughty philanthropy looks only at the white men! As for the English tongue, necessary for the few Romanists that you say are in Auckland, I thank you for your lesson; still, I think some contempt remains upon me, and to cast it somewhere and wash me entirely, I have no means but in inviting you and any of your friend to a public controversy in which we may friendly examine who are the true Catholics, where is the true church of Christ. The public with their indulgence will forgive my presumption, as they understand the situation in which you put me, by insinuating that I appear among my flock as a dumb minister. If you accept my invitation, give me notice of it; and to be immediately ready I will have only to wait for the permission of my immediate superior and judge in these matters.

[19]

I regret that I have entered in theological questions; you are the cause of it by opening this door in your newspapers. Yet I have not done. You moved another question by reproaching the R(oman) Catholic Church with an exclusive creed. Listen to my few words, in the English common prayer book, I think I read a creed in which it is concluded in these terms: “This is the Catholic faith which except a man believe faithfully and steadfastly, he cannot be saved.” Therefore, Mr. Editor, you exclude from your creed several religious denominations of England as the Unitarian, who reject this creed. Do you also exclude the Jews, do you exclude the Mahometan, do you exclude many millionths of people who profess the Buddhism. Take care if you exclude a single man from your creed, you have upon your shoulders all the weight of the objection, but if you are not exclusive of the Christian R(oman) Catholics, then it becomes advisable to every one to be a member of this church since everyone confesses that we can obtain salvation in this church. Dear Editor, be aware of treating those high questions with dignity and full extent and do not say any more in vulgar, ridiculous, trivial manner that the Roman Catholic Church has an exclusive creed and, being severe towards the priests, respect always the sacred and majestic old head of at least 1 hun(dred) and fifty millionths of Christian.

[20]

N(ota) B(ene). In respect to the Catholic sailors, I do not know which is more apt to impress the public mind, either the action itself or the taunting manner in which you treat it. The statement, if true, is of a grave and serious nature, and you assume a theatrical character. You play about it, you place it among fables, you assert that it is without foundation, that it is a weak invention of the enemy. You tend to lose the reputation of a serious writer. You would like to make it a comedy and, true or false, to put it on the back of the Romanists; you would not even spare the pope. As for me, it would excite my sorrow rather than my laughs and ridicule because either the prisoners or the high sheriff have been seriously injured. I have heard that the fact would be laid before the public as voluntarily detailed and authenticated by some of the parties concerned [as] soon as your circumscribed columns can give them publicity.

[21]

I am with respect, sir,

Your most humble servant

J(ean) Bap(tiste) Petit-Jean

priest

To the Editor of the Times

Auckland 12th March 1843.

(The Times declined to publish tha[t])

Notes

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