414 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



as that made by Mr. Colenso to pass by without contradiction, 

 and certainly Mr. Colenso was too careful of what was right 

 and honourable to take to himself any honour which rightly 

 belonged to another. 



Mr. Yate went to England at the end of 1835, and he 

 reached Sydney, on his way back to New Zealand, on the 

 13th June, 1836. In the thirty-seventh annual report of the 

 Eeligious Tract Society, pages 52, 53, it is reported: "The 

 Eev. W. Yate during his residence in England reported to 

 the committee the progress made in New Zealand in the 

 publication of useful books. The committee have granted to 

 Mr. Yate copies of the Tahitian and Rarotongan books pub- 

 lished for the South Sea Islands, and copies of their juvenile 

 works. Mr. Yate hopes soon to commence printing some 

 tracts in the native language, towards which object the com- 

 mittee will be happy to contribute." It is difficult to har- 

 monize this statement with any claims that are put forth on 

 Mr. Yate's behalf that he was the first to print anything in 

 New Zealand. He recognises the publication of "useful 

 books" as having taken place before leaving for England in 

 the later months of the year 1835, and those books consisted 

 solely of the Ephesians, Philippians, and the Gospel of 

 St. Luke, which were printed by Mr. Colenso ; for in July, 

 1835, Mr. Colenso reports to London: "I have been em- 

 ployed in cleaning and setting up the press, making and 

 getting tools to rights, laying types in cases, composing and 

 working off two thousand of the Epistles to the Ephesians 

 and Philippians and folding and sewing the same, composing 

 and working off six hundred tables, and numerous little things 

 for the station, as cutting out boards, and mounting lessons, 

 writing, &c." 



On the 5th January, 1836, the work of the second half- 

 year of 1835 is thus summarised : "I have been engaged in 

 composing and printing one thousand copies of St. Luke's 

 Gospel and a 12mo. book of sixty-seven pages, since which I 

 have bound in leather and cloth upwards of four hundred 

 of these Gospels. I have also printed seventy-five circular- 

 letters in English and seventy-five in the native language for 

 the British Resident." 



If it be true that Mr. Yate printed certain hymns and a 

 catechism in 1830 at Kerikeri, then the statement that " he 

 hopes to commence printing some tracts in the native lan- 

 guage " had already been accomplished, and as he was not the 

 printer, and had nothing whatever to do with printing in 1835, 

 it is difficult to understand the position taken up by this 

 forceful and not over-particular missionary. In any case, it 

 was stated by Messrs. Coates and Beecham, of the Church 

 Missionary Society and Wesleyan Mission, before the Com- 



