In this difficult moment Sir George Grey was asked to return as Governor to the Colony which he had administered so wisely and where he was respected by all. For a moment there was peace, but as the soldiers were still in the land there was no sense of confidence or security. The Bishop went on with his efforts for peace, and his consequent unpopularity with the colonists continued to grow. He attended a great assembly of the natives in the Waikato, and from there went on to the English settlement at Taranaki where he was met on the beach by a mob who shouted: “Three groans for Bishop Selwyn,” and followed him with groans till he turned round and faced them saying: “Now it is more English-like to look me in the face and tell me your grievances.” This they did with much frankness, interspersed with rude outcries. They accused him of grasping lands for the Church, of loving power, of reviving all the old abuses of England. From this he went on to discuss matters with the natives, who for the most part received him with much friendliness, though at one place they said that no minister should go through their land. But he slipped off in the dusk to the next village and when he came back, the old chief apologised and said: “Now let us how d’ye do, and henceforth all ministers may come and go as aforetime. You are the great billow that has crushed the canoe; you are the great fish that has broken through the net.” Alone and unarmed he went through all this disaffected district. He knew the people well and sometimes by a joke, sometimes by a serious word, sometimes by a parable could turn aside their anger and win them to listen to him.