NEW ZEALAND: A British colony in the South Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 miles southeast of Australia. It consists of two large islands, North Island with an area of 44,468 square miles, and South or Middle Island with 58,525 square miles; Stewart Island with 665 square miles; and smaller groups and individual islands, the total area being about 104,751 square miles. The colony has been developed from a settlement of adventurers and refugees since 1805, and the first missionaries landed in 1814. In 1839 the islands were declared to be a part of the colony of New South Wales, and in 1840 Wellington, the capital, was founded on North Island. Despite the favorable character of the country, the increase of immigration was relatively slow, the principal obstacle being the wars with the brave aborigines, the Maoris, which began in 1845 and did not cease until 1892. Notwithstanding this, the white population in 1891 was 626,700 and in 1906 888,578, in addition to 47,731 Maoris and 2,570 Chinese of various religions. There is no established church in New Zealand. Ecclesiastical and religious conditions assumed a mixed character in the course of time, and only three Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church report a considerable number of communicants. The Anglican Church is naturally predominant, with a membership of over 368,000 in 1906. The first bishopric was Auckland, founded in 1841, New Zealand having been previously under the

jurisdiction of the Bishop of Australia (see Aus TRwI.IA). In 1895 the Bishop of Auckland became primate of New Zealand. The other dioceses of the province are Christchurch (1856), Nelson (1858), Waiapu (1858), Wellington (1858), Melanesia (1861), and Dunedin (1866).

In consequence of a large immigration from Scotland, the Presbyterian Church gained in importance, so that it numbers over 203,000 adherents. It has shared the fortunes of the Australian Presbyterians with regard to its relations with its foreign fellow believers. The Methodists number 89,000 and, as in the Australian commonwealth, their Wesleyan Union is extremely strong, although the denomination is divided into two large sects. The Congregationalists number 7,000, and the Lutherans, chiefly of German extraction and mostly scattered in the villages, have 4,840 members, while the Baptists, augmented especially by immigration from Australia, have (in 1909) 4,435 communicants. Of the twelve or fifteen sects which are small or unimportant elsewhere in the British Empire, the Plymouth Brethren have almost 7,500 adherents, and the Church of Christ, or Christian Disciples, 6,110. The Salvation Army reports 8,000 members, and the Mormons 270 disciples.

To the Roman Catholic Church belong 127,227 inhabitants of the islands. The province of Wellington was organized in 1887, the city having been the seat of a bishop since 1845. Auckland also formed a diocese after 1848, and Christchurch was made a diocese simultaneously with the elevation of .Wellington to an archbishopric; in 1869 the diocese of Dunedin was separated from Wellington.

Among the non-Christians were (1906) 1,867 Jews and 2,430 Buddhists and Confucians. Other forms of faith are represented by smaller numbers of adherents, although 8,521 persons declared them selves to be freethinkers, undenominational, and the like, while 24,325 refused to give any information regarding their religion. The Maoris are reckoned almost without exception among the Christian population. Wu=rm GoETz.

BmLIOGSAP81: W. Gisborne, Colony of New Zealand, its History. London, 1891; Australian Handbook, ib. 1902 (includes New Zealand); R. Y. Irvine and O. T. G. Alpers, Progress, of New Zealand in the Century, ib. 1902; T. F. Martin. The Position . . . of tire Anglican Church in New Zealand, ib. 1903; R. Horsley, New Zealand, ib. 1908; J. Cow-. The Maoria of Neto Zealand, ib. 1910.

NEW, JOHN FAIR: Founder of the Newtian Church; b. in New York City Feb. 12, 1832. He was of Quaker stock and religiously educated. When eighteen years old he began to preach what he called " The New Life Science," which may be summed up in the statement " that sin, sickness, and death are not a necessity of our lives and that if we live a pure holy life as our ensample Jesus did, we shall ascend to the Father as he did." He has been twice around the world in the interest of this faith. Churches have been organized in Philadelphia (May 10, 1907) and Boston (Jan. 22, 1909). Each church has for officers a president, secretary, and treasurer. Dr. New is the head bishop, but it is announced that in 1910 there will be an election

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