In England there was a good deal of difference of opinion, even amongst great lawyers, as to the status of the Church in the Colonies, and the right of colonial bishops to hold synods or conventions of their clergy in order to legislate for the Church. Selwyn became convinced that, in order to get the matter settled, he would have to pay a visit to England and he began to prepare to return home for this purpose. He wished above all that the method should be determined by which more bishops could be appointed to aid in a work which it became increasingly impossible for one man to carry on. Both in the colony itself and in England, many criticisms were made as to the way in which he apportioned his time between the three great claims made upon him, the evangelisation of the Maoris, the care of the settlers, and the mission to the Melanesians. In a letter written in 1852, he speaks of a statement he had drawn up as to the way in which he had spent his time during his ten years in New Zealand, and says: “The results are curious and illustrative of the life of a colonial bishop, which can scarcely be understood and certainly not felt by any of the good questionists in England. One whole year I have spent at sea, between the English settlements, distant one thousand miles at their extreme points, and requiring a voyage of two thousand five hundred or three thousand miles to visit them all. During the whole of this year of voyages, I was lost to all the direct objects of my office; but in that time my charge, journals, study of languages and navigation, and the chief part of my correspondence have been accomplished; all bearing upon that work for which I live, and to which such powers as God has given me of mind and body have been devoted. It appears that the English and native duties have occupied nearly equal portions of time, and the Northern (that is the Melanesian) missions only half as much as either of them; but the collegiate duties as being the husbandry of my best garden plot, have absorbed as much time as the English and native visitations put together.” His methodical and orderly habits which made the arrangements of his tiny cabin a wonder to all who saw it, his exactness and punctuality, alone made it possible for him to carry out such a multitude of varied duties. His visitations were carefully planned so that no part of New Zealand should escape his notice. On a tour round the Southern Island in 1851, he held forty-four confirmations, and confirmed about three thousand candidates. His programme for each day was marked with D.V. and where the engagement was fulfilled, he added D.G. After this particular tour he could write in his diary: “End of confirmation tour on which every D.V. has been marked with a D.G. to the exact day.”