declared that he believed Mr. Brittan carried the Seal to bed with him at night for safer custody. The matter was finally adjusted on a protest made to the General Government by Mr. FitzGerald (August 29, 1854), and the Seal restored. It now rests in the Canterbury Museum, the central design being the Association’s Seal with the added inscription “Sigillum Provincæ Cantuariensis” around the shield.
At last the settlement was to welcome its own Bishop. The selection of the Rev. Henry John Chitty Harper was due to Bishop Selwyn. Their friendship was formed at Eton, where Mr. Harper was then (1833) engaged in preparing boys for the College, of which he was also Chaplain, and Mr. Selwyn joined the teaching staff fresh from his career at Cambridge. It was through the influence of Mr. Harper that his friend was led to take Holy Orders. Their paths separated, when, in 1840, Mr. Harper was presented to the living of Stratford Mortimer, and a year later Mr. Selwyn became Bishop of New Zealand, though only thirty-two years of age.
The legal difficulties in the way of sub-dividing the diocese of New Zealand were removed by an Act passed through the British Parliament in 1853, which provided on certain conditions for the appointment of a Bishop of Christchurch. When, therefore, Bishop Selwyn was in England in 1854, one of his objects was to select a suitable man for the position. His thoughts naturally turned to his old Eton friend, and he visited Mr. Harper at Mortimer. The visit led to no definite engagement, and it was understood that before accepting appointment, Mr. Harper would require an express invitation from the members of the Church of England in Canterbury.
On his return to New Zealand, Bishop Selwyn took with him two of Mr. Harper’s sons, Leonard and Charles, and soon after his arrival he called a meeting of members of the Church of England in Canterbury.
The meeting was held on November 8, 1855, in St.
