Elizabeth Barrett to Mary Russell Mitford, 24 March 1842: 'I like this waste of the public money upon bishops of New Zealand!! [...] as little as you do, & have ventured to be open with Mr Townsend & tell him as much. The utter absurdity [...] of forcing out the forms & ceremonies of this Parliament church, out among the savages, I cd even cry over in utter vexation [...] let those who are sent, be [italics]missionaries[end italics]. The bishops are impotent [...] in all situations of the kind -- & as I ventured to tell Mr Townsend, the martyr soul of poor Williams was the true Bishop-soul for the South Seas. 'There is great sweetness in his little poem to be sure -- a few lines together which one smiles over to oneself as for pleasure. Still -- what a subject!'