Girard0268
From Marist Studies
Contents
12 July 1843 - Father Jean-Baptiste Petit-Jean to Father Jean Forest, Auckland
Summary
Tells Forest that he has asked the Bishop to withdraw Brother Colomb from his position. Has been acting irresponsibly, in Petit-Jean’s view, with some of the girls in the school.
Based on the document sent, APM Z 208.
Sheet of "Bath" paper, folded to form four pages, three of which are written, with the fourth containing only the address and Poupinel’s annotation. It seems that this letter was among those from Petit-Jean that Forest sent to Colin (see introduction to doc. 266).
Translated by Merv Duffy, February 2025.
Text of the Letter
- [p. 4]
- [Address]
To ¤ the Rev(erend) f(ather) Forest ¤ R(oman) Catholic priest ¤ Bay of Islands
- [Handwriting of Forest]
- July 18, 1843.
- [Handwriting of Poupinel]
- N(ew) Zealand ¤ Auckland
- [Unidentified handwriting]
- F(ather) Petitjean ¤ July 12, 1843
- [p. 1]
- July 12, 1843
- My Very Reverend Father,
- [1]
- I wrote to you just a few days ago; the letter is in the mail. I have now received a message from Tauranga urging me to write to the Bay. Someone has offered to deliver my letters to a ship captain who is departing.
- [2]
- The newspapers from Nelson and Nicholson have brought dreadful news—you will read about it in the gazettes. It is a massacre committed by the Māori. It is said that they were provoked in some way...[1] But I will stop here.
- On a happier note, I can still tell you that my small morning routine remains steady. At the same time, His Lordship will receive a letter containing two others—one addressed to me from Tauranga (which I have opened) and another for you, my Reverend Father.
- In the letter I am writing to His Lordship, I feel it necessary once again to urge him to recall Brother Colomb. I have heard various things, which I have taken care to report to His Lordship: "He lacks modesty and seriousness, even around 14-year-old girls. To say he lacks judgment is an understatement. He even went so far as to give children bread to use as hosts, and in large quantities."
- Please, always be my advocate for our school. I have told His Lordship that it is the only one thriving. I have been informed that the Protestants, in their large school, have only about ten children.
- [3]
- I would be betraying good Brother Colomb—and myself—if I did not commend both him and myself to your prayers. I am in great need of them.
- [4]
- May God grant that the examples of others serve me well.
- I remain, with deep respect,
- My Reverend Father,
- Your very humble and very obedient servant,
- Jean-Baptiste Petit-Jean
- Marist Priest
- Apostolic Missionary
- Your very humble and very obedient servant,
- My Reverend Father,
Notes
- ↑ On June 17, 1843, twenty-two Europeans and about six Māori were killed in the Wairau district in the northern part of New Zealand’s South Island. (The Wairau River flows into Cloudy Bay). This was the result of a conflict whose key points are as follows: Chief Te Rauparaha, who had signed the Treaty of Waitangi twice in 1840, believed it guaranteed him the possession of lands he and his allies had conquered over the previous eighteen years. He resisted European colonization in territories he claimed had not been sold. The main conflict arose in 1843 when Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata, another chief of the same tribe, blocked a land survey in the Wairau Plain. Arthur Wakefield, leading a group of armed settlers from Nelson, attempted to arrest Te Rauparaha. A skirmish broke out, during which Te Rangihaeata’s wife, Te Rongo, was killed. After the settlers surrendered their weapons, Te Rangihaeata ordered them to be executed in revenge for his wife’s death. The crisis ended on February 12, 1844, when Governor Robert FitzRoy declared in Waikanae, near Kapiti, that the settlers had provoked the battle at Wairau. Despite the regrettable massacre of the prisoners, he ruled out any legal consequences for the Māori. (Sources: Oxford History of New Zealand, p. 177-178; Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, vol. 1, p. 507; Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, vol. 3, p. 520-521).
| Previous LRO Letter | LRO List of 1843 Letters | Next LRO letter |
