1870 - Strachan, A. The Life of the Rev Samuel Leigh - CHAPTER XV. STATE OF EUROPEAN SOCIETY...

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CHAPTER XV.

JUST at the period when the fierce contest which had been going on between darkness and light, for above twenty years, seemed to be drawing to a close, savageism and its auxiliaries slowly and reluctantly retiring from the field, and Christianity standing forth to receive the palm of victory, circumstances arose that threatened the subversion of all the civil and religious institutions of the country. Considering the influence which those circumstances were calculated to exert over the peace, commerce, religion, and morals of the people at large, we feel compelled, however briefly, to advert to them.

The splendid harbours of New Zealand, and especially the Bay of Islands, had for several years been the favourite resort of the numerous British, colonial, American, and French whalers of the

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southern Pacific; while several establishments had been formed on the banks of its navigable streams, and along its numerous bays, for the purchase of flax and the cutting of timber. This originated a demand for European labourers; and sawyers and mechanics of various descriptions were attracted to the island, and induced to make it the place of their permanent abode. Several individuals opened stores, and became traders, in the Bay of Islands. Vast numbers arrived from the two penal colonies, and set up as retail dealers in rum and tobacco. With few exceptions, the European population consisted of the very refuse of civilized society,--of runaway sailors, of runaway convicts, of convicts who had served out their term of bondage in one or other of the penal colonies, of fraudulent debtors who had escaped from their creditors in Sydney or Hobart Town, and of needy adventurers from the two colonies, almost equally unprincipled. In conjunction with the whalers that visited the coast, the influence of these persons on the natives was demoralizing in the extreme. Their usual articles of barter were either muskets and gunpowder, or tobacco and rum. "Most of them lived in open concubinage with native women: and the scenes of outrageous licentiousness and debauchery that were ever and anon occurring on their premises, were often sufficiently revolting to excite the reprobation and disgust of the natives themselves." That scenes of lawless violence, injustice, and oppression should be perpetually recurring in a community composed of such materials, was naturally to be expected. There was no authority in the island to which application could be made, and no redress procurable for the most atrocious injuries, but by an appeal to physical force. It is true, there was a British resident; but he was provided with no adequate powers to enforce obedience to law. While the British and French journals were urging the necessity of some foreign interference with the existing state of things in New Zealand, and pressing the claims of their respective governments to the right of preemption in those islands, the Baron de Thierry arrived in the district of Hokianga, and issued a proclamation, beginning thus: "Charles, by the grace of God, sovereign chief of New Zealand." He claimed a large portion of the country, and showed his title-deeds. He had purchased the land from Mr. M. K. in London. The chiefs of Hokianga were anxious to have a teacher, and agreed to give Mr. M. K. the territory now claimed, if he would come and reside amongst them in that capacity. Having forfeited the confidence of the Church, he returned to England, and sold the property to the baron. The chiefs repudiated the baron as "sovereign chief," and told him that the land was promised conditionally; but that, as the con-

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dition had not been fulfilled, they could not allow him to take possession of any part of it. He was an English adventurer with a foreign title, and brought in his train a number of servants and mechanics from Sydney. But after the British government had avowed its readiness to afford protection to property, trade, and life in the islands, a difficulty arose as to the most equitable and efficient means of accomplishing that important object.

By the increase of fire-arms, the introduction of the most loathsome European diseases, and the use of intoxicating liquors, the aborigines were fast disappearing. Wherefore, to arrest the progress of depopulation, "repress the crimes of British settlers, and prevent the further emigration of convicts and other desperate vagabonds," it was proposed:--

1. To colonize the country. The earl of Devon suggested the appointment of a committee of the House of Lords, to obtain information, and examine witnesses, respecting the natives, climate, soil, produce, and harbours of New Zealand, and report to the House the result of their deliberations on that information. A large and influential committee was accordingly appointed, including several bishops, the duke of Wellington, and other distinguished members of the government. The scheme of the New-Zealand Association was submitted to this committee, and urged by persons of great political influence. On looking at the outline of the proposed plan, the committees of the Church and Wesleyan Missionary Societies were convinced that it was equally adverse to the interests of the natives and the progress of Christianity; and they combined to oppose it. The opposition on the part of the Church was conducted by Dandison Coates, Esq., and on the part of the Wesleyans by the Rev. Dr. Beecham. These gentlemen placed before the committee a series of incontrovertible facts, illustrative of the condition and claims of the natives; which, being corroborated by other witnesses, convinced them that to force any merely secular scheme upon the country would be attended with the most disastrous consequences. This conviction was deepened in the minds of several of their lordships by the perusal of an able and seasonable publication, on the principles of colonization, by Dr. Beecham. We have much satisfaction in recording a well-authenticated incident, highly honourable to an illustrious warrior and statesman recently deceased. The duke of Wellington, being unable, from deafness, to hear the examination of the witnesses, had their evidence submitted to his perusal at the close of each day's proceedings. When the labours of the committee were drawing to a close, His Grace delivered his opinion to the effect that, in his judgment, no plan of colonization should be sanctioned by the legislature that would interfere with the beneficial labours of the missionaries.

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This declaration was understood to have decided the fate of the Association, as the report of the committee was unfavourable to their claims.

2. A Bill, intended to secure the same object, was introduced into the House of Commons, in 1837, by Mr. Baring. This Bill was based upon principles already recognised in the settlement of South Australia. After much discussion, it was rejected by a majority of the House, chiefly through the opposition of the Church and Wesleyan Missionary Societies.

The executive of those bodies were of opinion, that the proposed remedy was calculated to aggravate all the social evils already existing in New Zealand. But should the affairs of the colony itself be well conducted, still there lay, beyond its geographical limits, at least one hundred thousand savages, for whose improvement the Bill made no adequate provision. It appeared to them, that as the measure did not contemplate the introduction of religious teachers into the interior, the only persons capable, at that time, of promoting peace and keeping up a friendly correspondence between the settlers and natives, it was not likely to reach the objects proposed; and that a trading company, having their own secular interests to serve, were not unlikely to be in constant collision with the aborigines. This Bill being thrown out,--

3. It was then suggested to place the country under the protection of Great Britain. Great Britain was to assume the office of trustee for the natives. The chiefs who signed the declaration of independence in 1835, were not likely, it was supposed, to object to this arrangement, and the consent of the others might soon be obtained. It was thought that, by granting the chiefs in the interior a small salary, their co-operation might be secured, in promoting the general interests of New Zealand. The public revenue was to be raised and applied by the protecting party. In carrying out this plan, the aid of the missionaries was to be solicited. Thus a native government was to be raised up under the protection of England. The reader will perceive that the success of such a scheme would entirely depend upon the agents employed in its administration; but, in any case, it was not desirable that the missionaries should be mixed up with the civil offices of the state.

4. An improved plan of residency was recommended by a select committee of the House of Commons. A war having broken out at the Bay of Islands, the resident complained of the want of power to deal with the contending parties. The governor of New South Wales sent the "Rattlesnake" ship of war, commanded by Captain Hobson, to protect British interests. This force was declared by the resident to be insufficient; as, in his opinion

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"some permanent authority was necessary, that should be supported by adequate military strength," to secure the efficiency of its measures, and prevent the tribes from destroying one another. "The representations of the missionaries," it was said, "induced the government to refuse this 'adequate military strength,' and rendered the proposed scheme abortive." It has been admitted, since then, that the true cause of failure, in this case, was a misunderstanding between the resident himself and the colonial authorities in New South Wales. "But for the missionaries, no European could live in this country. Let their greatest enemies say what they may, all such are equally indebted with myself to the general respect felt for the missionaries, for the safety of their lives and properties in time past." 1

5. A system of factories was next recommended. It was maintained, that these centres of industry and sources of wealth were well calculated to repress the crimes of British settlers and improve the natives. The missionaries inquired, how? and declared that, in their judgment, these establishments were more likely to give accelerated force to the elements of evil that threatened the foundations of the social fabric. The missionaries had a more comprehensive knowledge of the country than any of the civilians then directing public affairs; and their experience and observation, extending over a series of years, convinced them that, just in proportion as Europeans increased in any given locality, did the natives acquire new forms of vice, and descend even below their own standard of morality.

In these circumstances the New-Zealand Land Company was formed, to effect the original object of the Association, without the sanction of an Act of Parliament at all, and entirely on the principle of a joint-stock company. But, according to their own showing, it seemed improbable that they should be able to manage their own affairs, which were sufficiently perplexing, and at the same time pay due attention to the civil and religious condition of a savage population. But while Christian gentlemen, such as constituted the directory of the Church and Wesleyan Missionary Societies, having the history of the past before them, looked upon these schemes with jealousy, and urged upon the government the probable evils arising from their hasty adoption, there were statesmen at home, and divines abroad, who maintained, with great pertinacity, that colonization alone could apply a remedy to the evils existing in New Zealand.

No writer, on either side of the controversy, evinced a more intemperate zeal than Dr. John Dunmore Lang, of New South Wales. This gentleman descended from the general principles involved in the question, and indulged a morbid mawkishness

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DR. LANG'S ATTACK ON MISSIONS.

in a personal attack upon the missionaries. "The ground," he observes, "on which the Bill for the colonization of New Zealand was successfully opposed in Parliament was, that the establishment of a British colony in that island was likely to be effected on infidel, and not on Christian, principles." "But the case of the New-Zealanders cannot be trusted, with any degree of safety, to the missionaries." "The Church-mission settlement was for a long time a complete lumber-yard or factory, in which all sorts of labour were going on." "Whether the individuals employed were originally bad men, or whether the system was calculated to make them so, I cannot determine." "There is still an abuse tolerated and practised, of sufficient magnitude to neutralize the efforts of a whole college of apostles." "The Church missionaries have actually been the principals in the grand conspiracy of the Europeans to rob and plunder the natives of their land." "My lord, I was unfortunately unable to ascertain exactly the real extent of the land they possess." "The case of these missionaries is the most monstrous that has occurred in the history of missions since the Reformation." "Your lordship will perceive how peculiarly out of place were the declamations of the friends of the Church missions, in opposition to the Bill for the colonization of the island during the last session of Parliament. The greater success of the Wesleyan mission in New Zealand must, I conceive, be ascribed in no small degree to the fact, that the Wesleyan missionaries are strictly prohibited, by the fundamental laws and constitution of their Society, from acquiring property of any kind, whether in land or agricultural stock, at their mission-stations." 2

On these severe reflections we remark:--

1. That, notwithstanding the slight compliment paid to the "fundamental laws of the Wesleyan Missionary Society," the doctor formed but a low estimate of the integrity and ability of missionaries generally. "My lord," he observes, "in the course of five voyages round the globe, and a residence of many years in the uttermost parts of the earth, it has been my lot to come in contact with many missionaries, who ought never to have been honoured with so sacred a character. Instead of sending forth to those important stations beyond the seas men of superior talents and education, and piety and zeal, we have been sending forth, with only a few exceptions, the lame, the halt, and the blind of our national establishments."

2. We are not unacquainted with the personal history of Dr. Lang: we have long respected him as an industrious student, and an able writer; but we cannot pay homage to a judgment that deduces such rash and momentous conclusions from such

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superficial data. "I have only myself," he remarks, "been once at New Zealand, having touched at that island for a few days, in the months of January and February last," 1839. These few days were sufficient, it appears, to "confirm the information he had previously received respecting the island." That might be; and yet we cannot but think, that, notwithstanding the industry with which information was sought and obtained during these "few days," it was taking an unwarrantable liberty with those missionaries, some of whom were not inferior to Dr. Lang himself in moral worth or literary attainments, to represent them, to the government and their friends in England, as a set of convicted mercenaries, and to the newly-formed churches abroad as men destitute of every personal virtue. Dr. Lang was quite aware that there was no diversity of sentiment between the Wesleyan and Church missionaries, respecting his favourite theory of colonization.

3. We must now inform Dr. Lang, that persons as competent as himself to form an impartial opinion of the missionaries referred to, and who, from their official situation, must have known their character and proceedings for a longer period than a "few days," have expressed a much more favourable opinion of them. On appointing a gentleman to the office of resident in New Zealand, His Excellency the governor of New South Wales addressed him in the following terms: "You will find it convenient to manage the conference, to which I have called your attention, by means of the missionaries, to whom you will be furnished with credentials, and with whom you are recommended to communicate freely upon the subject of your appointment, and the means you should adopt in treating with the chiefs." "If, in addition to the benefits which the British missionaries are conferring on those islanders, by imparting the inestimable blessings of Christian knowledge, and a pure system of morals, the New-Zealanders should have the institution of courts of justice established upon a simple and comprehensive basis, some sufficient compensation would seem to be rendered for the injuries heretofore inflicted by our countrymen." "Having already mentioned the assistance which I anticipate you will receive from the missionaries, I have now only to impress on you the duty of a cordial co-operation with them in the great objects of their solicitude, the extension of Christian knowledge throughout the islands, and the consequent improvement in the habits and morals of the people."

Dr. Lang has inadvertently misrepresented circumstances and exaggerated facts. Suspected concealment has awakened jealousy and provoked retaliation; and the faults of a few have been indiscriminately imputed, by Dr. Lang and others, to all the

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agents employed in those missions. Even within a few years a writer, who may be regarded as an authority on all merely civil and commercial questions, has thrown a doubt upon the utility of their labours, and insinuated that they have placed the government and the country under a small amount of obligation; while another author, of some eminence in the literary world, has advised the subscribers to the Church Missionary Society to withhold their support from the New-Zealand mission. Having carefully and impartially analysed the books that have been written for and against those missions, examined the verbal and written testimony of Mr. Leigh, and other competent witnesses, and cautiously formed our judgment as to their character and progress, we aver, without fear of successful contradiction, that the directors of the Church and Wesleyan missions in New Zealand have nothing to conceal. That there have been cases of great unfaithfulness, on the part of some of their agents, is freely admitted; but they have been comparatively few, they occurred under peculiar circumstances, and were visited with a heavy measure of ecclesiastical censure. A clerical journalist observes, with the utmost candour, "The enemies of this mission most to be dreaded, were some of their own household. So far, indeed, did some of them dishonour the self-denying doctrines of the Cross, which they had been sent here to teach, that no less painful a plan could be adopted than an ignominious erasure of their names from the list of the Society's labourers." Yet these few cases, about which so much has been said and written, were not more aggravated than several that occurred under apostolic supervision, and stand recorded in the New Testament. Not that we would extenuate the offence of a missionary: on the contrary, we regard the character of the Christian missionary as being the common property of Christendom. Acting, as he does, under the perpetual inspection of immense multitudes of the children of God, including in their number many of the wisest and best of mankind, any defection in his character brings reproach on the general cause, clothing in sackcloth the friends of missions throughout the globe; and as the pages of the missionary annals are perused by thousands, in climes remote from their sphere of action, of various nations and languages, the conduct of a fallen member fills with sorrow the heart of the poor peasant, as he sits down, after his daily toil, to solace his friends and himself by the evening fireside, and reads the disastrous story. Even the converted savage stands confounded when he hears the intelligence; and devoted missionaries in various distant regions feel the loss of a brother, and are paralysed, exclaiming mournfully, "Tell it not in Gath!"

Having made these admissions, we write advisedly when we

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say, that the modern history of the church does not supply an account of a more exemplary, laborious, or successful body of Christian missionaries, than those who have represented the Church and Wesleyan Societies in New Zealand. Dr. Lang supposes that either the "system or the men must have been bad!" Not necessarily so; but, as it regards the Church mission, a mistake was committed at the commencement of their labours. It was believed that civilization, morality, and the mechanical arts might be taught simultaneously, by the silent but powerful influence of living example. But God has never yet sanctioned with His blessing the inculcation of any system of ethics, that has taken the initiative in reforming mankind, although it may have been proposed to supplement it with the gospel of Christ. The moral principles of the scheme may have been good; but, viewing them abstractedly, we may ask, By what process could they be rendered practically beneficial? My crops may be languishing under the intense heat of a vertical sun; the clouds that are slowly moving over the fields may be laden with refreshing moisture; but by what mechanical contrivance am I to extract it? God Himself, who has wrapped it up in these clouds, must put the laws of gravitation in motion, bring it down from the heavens, and spread it over my lands with His own hand. So in the regeneration of the world, the gospel must do every thing: the process is too lofty to be conducted to any satisfactory issue by human sagacity. Civilization, with all its train of blessings, is, after all, "of the earth, earthy."

To make a moral being of a savage is "the workmanship of God; a new creation in Christ Jesus unto good works." Produce this change by the preaching of the gospel, and you at once raise a nation in the scale of intelligence, civilization, and morality; for while there can be no sound morality without it, morality and every virtue will be coeval with the change itself. The mistake to which we have alluded consisted in not recognising this principle, and in introducing a merely mechanical agency. Satan had taken care, before the colonizing crisis came on, to strengthen all his natural defences by a fresh importation of auxiliaries from France. That country, at the instigation of the Baron de Thierry, sent over a Catholic bishop, and a body of subordinates, who established themselves on the Hokianga. It is due to the baron to say, that he denied having any connexion with the bishop and his party; but it is equally due to truth, to inform the reader that there were strong grounds for believing that he first suggested it to France, and that the indifferent attitude he assumed when they arrived, was the consequence of his having discovered, in the mean time, that they could not now advance his political projects. The bishop called

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POPISH DESIGNS COUNTERACTED.

upon the country to submit to his episcopal authority! He discredited the Protestant scriptures, and pretended to the exclusive possession of the truth. The English and the Wesleyan churches he represented as being heretical, their teachers unauthorized, and the thousands they had instructed and baptized as being henceforth under his spiritual charge, and subject to his ecclesiastical jurisdiction. He distributed crosses, and pictures of the blessed Virgin, which were eagerly received by the people, and worn in their ears and about their dress as ornaments. He had the audacity to appeal to the Catholics of Europe, for pecuniary aid to sustain "so important a mission!" This arrogance was rendered the more intolerable, since none of the members of this Popish hierarchy could either read or write the Maori language. In learning the native tongue they employed as teachers some of the most depraved persons in the neighbourhood. By their aid, they made a translation of the Ten Commandments; and, while the commandments themselves were mutilated, the translation was contemptible. Their association with such scandalous tutors excited the suspicion of the natives, and greatly injured their character. They were, however, very active, and succeeded in disturbing, for a season, the whole settlement.

To counteract their influence, the missionaries ordered one thousand copies of the New Testament in Maori, which had been printed by the brethren of the Church mission. The Wesleyan press was worked with energy, and supplied many thousands of papers and tracts, illustrative of the errors of Popery, and confirmatory of the doctrines and worship of Protestantism. The native mind was every where roused from apathy, and deeply agitated. Twenty Wesleyan chapels had been built, in a comparatively short time, in the Waikato district, and many hundreds of souls were anxiously seeking instruction. Towards the close of the year two of the brethren made a voyage round the southern extremity of the northern island; and along the whole line of coast they met with one continuous appeal for teachers and books.

On the 10th of May, 1840, the ship "Triton" entered the Hokianga, having on board the Rev. John Waterhouse, a seasonable re-inforcement of missionaries, and a fresh supply of stores and provisions. Mr. Waterhouse visited several stations, preached to the natives, inspected the schools, and expressed his gratification at witnessing such undeniable evidences of a vital and practical Christianity. Having completed his arrangements on the Hokianga, he resumed his voyage to the Friendly Islands, leaving fifteen missionaries in New Zealand, with fifteen hundred communicants, and appointing Mr. Bumby to exercise a fraternal supervision over all the interests of the mission. Mr.

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Bumby accompanied Mr. Waterhouse to Kawia. On parting with his friends on board the "Triton," he resolved to pass through the Waikato country, to pay a visit to Mr. Fairbourn of the Church mission, on the river Thames. Mr. Fairbourn pressed him to remain all night; but, being anxious about his sister, whom he had left at home, and having confidence in the nautical skill of his natives, he attempted to reach Wangari by water, and perished, with thirteen others, by the upsetting of the canoe, on the 26th of June. He was a young man of an amiable disposition, deep piety, respectable abilities, and ardent zeal. Had he been spared to acquire a competent acquaintance with the native tongue, and maturity of judgment, he would have been a great acquisition to the mission.

Active preparations were commenced for translating and printing various portions of the Old Testament in the native language. Upwards of one hundred and eighty adults and twenty-nine children had been lately baptized; besides fifty adults and several children, who had been baptized by the brethren while on a visit to Oruru. The district-meeting, recently held, appointed one of its members to travel overland to Port Nicholson, in order to make preliminary arrangements for the formation of a new station there. The journey occupied three months, the distance being at least five hundred miles. The undertaking was at once laborious and dangerous. "Imagine," says the traveller, "one trembling on a precipice, climbing mountains, traversing wilds, plunging through bogs, wading rivers, penetrating dense, impervious forests, now drenched with rain, then burning in the sun, and travelling sometimes for days without meeting a single individual; and you will have some conception of this journey." On his way he visited the station at Kawia: here he "saw the grace of God and was glad, and exhorted them all to cleave unto the Lord with full purpose of heart." He observed the barrel of a gun hung up in one place, and used, as a substitute for a bell, to summon the people to public worship. "Blessed be God," he exclaimed, "the gospel of peace has triumphed over the demon of war here; for they have beaten their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks." Some parts of the country were fertile and beautiful, while other parts were desolate and thinly populated. Their path led them to the magnificent lake called Taupa, which covers a surface of at least two hundred miles. The neighbourhood abounds with hot springs and boiling pools. The stupendous volcanic mountain, Tangariro, was in action, sending out dense volumes of smoke. At no remote distance stood the snowy mountain, called Ruapaka, whose crested summit penetrates the clouds, and is seen from the sea on either coast.

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This district is frequently shaken by earthquakes, which the natives regard as being indicative of approaching calamity. For five days they travelled along the side of a snowy range of mountains, without meeting with a single inhabitant, or the vestige of a dwelling. They at last reached the river Wanganui, whence their road lay along the sea-coast to Port Nicholson. In travelling this distance, about sixty miles, they found above three thousand natives, who eagerly desired to have teachers. On entering Port Nicholson, the missionary and his attendants were surprised to witness the effects that had been produced by the genius and industry of a few Europeans in a comparatively short time. Up to a very recent period there was but one white man upon these shores.

The agent of the New-Zealand Company fixed upon Port Nicholson as the seat of their first colony, and landed twelve hundred English emigrants in 1840. The Honourable H. W. Petre calls this "a bold proceeding on the part of the Company, and still more so on that of the emigrants." But to remove those people and their families sixteen thousand miles from their native country, before the Company had provided even a landing-place for them, was a proceeding alike repugnant to justice and humanity, and might have been attended with consequences still more disastrous than any that ensued. On inquiry, the missionary ascertained that the Company had taken possession of the entire harbour, with the exception of one tenth, which they generously reserved for the natives.

The ship "Aurora" arrived, and landed an additional one hundred and eighty emigrants. This importation awakened the jealousy of the natives, and led them to inquire whether "the whole of the white tribe had not now arrived." Just at this time the Catholic bishop, and several co-adjutors, came to pay their first visit of inspection to the infant colony. As usual, his lordship magnified himself, his office, and his church: he informed the emigrants and others, that "nearly one half the entire population had become Catholics." All classes urged the Wesleyan minister to remain with them; but his duty had been defined by his brethren, and he could not prolong his stay. After accomplishing the object of his visit, he went on board the ship "Atlas," which carried him through a boisterous sea to the Bay of Islands in six days.

The fresh accession of missionaries, received by the "Triton," enabled the brethren to undertake a mission to Taranaki. The distance was about six days' sail from Mangungu. They learned that Taranaki formed an important centre, and that within a circumference of a hundred miles there lived several thousands of natives. The missionary and his family were cordially received, and commenced their laborious occupations of building and

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teaching, under the most encouraging circumstances. This district is remarkable for the beauty and diversity of its scenery. The most magnificent object within the range of the eye is Haupapa, or Mount Egmont. It rises upwards of nine thousand feet above the level of the ocean, and was formerly the site of a very active volcano. The base commences about three miles from the beach. This mountain answers all the purposes of a barometer to the natives: if any nebulous cloud rests on, or shadows, the lofty summit, bad weather is predicted; but if it be clear in zenith, the fishermen go to sea in their canoes without hesitation. "The whole of this day," says Dr. Selwyn, "we have enjoyed noble views of Egmont, the splendid monarch of Taranaki. It rises at once out of the plain, without other hills to break its apparent height. Its base is surrounded by almost impassable forests; the skirts of which are in flames, for the purpose of clearing the land for cultivation. On the following morning, the mountain came out gloriously from his veil of clouds, and gave me a sight of his snowy summit. On going out into the garden of Mr. Cooke, the view burst upon me of the whole mountain, running up in a white cone above the clouds, which were still clinging to it midway. At the extremity of the grounds ran one of those beautifully clear and rapid streams which abound throughout Taranaki; and all around the fresh foliage of a New-Zealand spring, tipping all the evergreens with a bright and sparkling verdure, formed a base upon which the white peak of the mountain seemed to repose. Taranaki is a lovely country, distinguished even among the many natural beauties which I have seen."

There was nothing, however, in the social condition of the people in keeping with the harmony of nature. In former years, the missionaries looked over the country with deep solicitude, gazed in pity upon the disorderly groups that attended their conversational meetings on the Lord's day, and met with but little encouragement from the young savages under instruction in the Sunday-schools. Writing under the pressure of discouragement, they said, "Where are the streaming eyes, the heaving breast, the uplifted hands, the faltering tongue, the contrite, broken heart? Seldom is the monotony of our usual duties interrupted with the cries of, 'God be merciful to me a sinner!' or, 'What must I do to be saved?' and seldom are we gladdened with the voice of praise and thanksgiving for the mercy and pardoning love of God. And yet, the more gloomy and overcast the prospect may be, the stronger reason is there for our continued labours and prayers, and that we should still go on sowing the precious seed, though it be with weeping; for 'they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.'"

It would have been difficult to have convinced those Chris-

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tian men that they were on the eve of realizing, in their own experience, the fulfilment of the prophetic announcement just quoted. And yet, during the current year, 1842, they were privileged to witness such a baptism of evangelical truth as had not occurred since the first introduction of Christianity into the land.

The British and Foreign Bible Society, having completed a considerable edition of the New Testament in the Maori language, sent out 10,000 copies to the Wesleyan missions. These volumes were apportioned to the different stations, and received with acclamations of joy. Every marketable commodity was offered by the natives for those books. Many even learned to read, that they might be entitled to buy one. In one place ten pounds' worth of kumara was presented as an expression of gratitude to the British and Foreign Bible Society for having sent the precious gift. The circulation of the word of God effectually checked the progress of Popery, and impressed a new character upon the religion of the natives.

The vast number of emigrants landed upon their shores by the New-Zealand Company, some of whom had been members of the Wesleyan church in Great Britain, led to the multiplication of stations and the erection of new premises; and added greatly to the perplexity, responsibility, and labour of the missionaries. Having new and extended spheres of usefulness thus suddenly thrown open to them, and a distressing paucity of appropriate means, they were under the necessity of pressing into their service all the available resources of both settlers and native converts. But the Lord had, for some time, been raising up a native agency to meet this crisis, so that several of their members were now so far advanced in knowledge and experience as to be able to fill, with some degree of respectability and efficiency, the situations of Sunday-school teachers, leaders, and local preachers. The arrival of another 5,000 copies of the New-Zealand Testament from England convinced the brethren that the church at home was in earnest, and led them to struggle with labours and local difficulties almost overwhelming.

The following works had been conducted through their own press; namely, 5,000 scripture lessons, 3,000 copies of an elementary school-book, 6,700 catechisms and prayers, and 6,700 prayers and hymns. At this period the missionaries occupied 13 stations; there were 3,259 persons in church-fellowship, and above 4,000 children in the schools.

But neither the liberality of the friends at home, nor the labours of the brethren and their press in the colony, could keep pace with the progress of the natives, and the increasing demand for teachers and books. Writing the civil history of the country, Brown observes, "Short as was the space of time from

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the formation of the colony in January, 1840, until Captain Fitzroy's arrival in December, 1843, the natives had, in the mean time, been making vast progress in the knowledge of their own rights and interests, and also in intelligence; and those tribes in the habit of frequenting the townships were fast adopting and conforming themselves to the manners of the Europeans. In the townships the system of barter has ceased, and money has become the medium of exchange. The natives can calculate the price as well as the Europeans. Many of the chiefs appear in town dressed like gentlemen, and behave as such. They have cultivated fields, sheep, cows, bullocks, horses, ploughs, and pigs. A native woman, brought up with the missionaries, is an excellent seamstress, and rears large quantities of poultry and other stock, which she brings to Auckland for sale, usually putting the proceeds in the bank. A chief, living at a point on the Waikato, keeps an hotel for the convenience of passengers, and a man-servant to wait at table, which is furnished with a cloth, plates, forks, and knives. Many of the chiefs are removing to the neighbourhood of Auckland, the capital; a proof of the progress of civilization, and of their desire to cultivate a friendly intercourse with the settlers."

The missionaries had been twenty years in bringing the natives to a knowledge of letters, and to the adoption of the mental and practical habits just described. Yet this general improvement in the state of society, and extension of knowledge, is not, say the brethren, wholly attributable to the "direct influence and labours of the European missionaries, but also to the quenchless ardour and zealous co-operation of those few natives who were originally converted to the Christian religion. Having imbibed its principles, and adopted its discipline and formalities themselves, they have gone about among their friends, from pa to pa, and from village to village, teaching, and exhorting, and reproving, and scattering the seed of Divine truth with both hands. Thus it is that the word has spread, and been so rapidly and extensively diffused amongst the people; and though many have doubtless espoused the form of Christianity from secondary motives, yet have they by this means placed themselves within the reach of the sound of the gospel, which we have a right to expect will issue in the saving application of its power."

This work of national regeneration was, however, suddenly checked by circumstances which we record with sorrow. The Rev. Samuel Marsden originated and superintended the New-Zealand mission until a bishop was appointed to New South Wales. New Zealand being a dependency of that colony, its ecclesiastical affairs were then placed under the jurisdiction of

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the bishop of Sydney. His lordship visited the islands in 1838, held an ordination and two confirmations, and consecrated burial-grounds at Paihia and Kororarika. New Zealand being separated from New South Wales, and the directors of the New-Zealand Company having voted considerable grants of money and land towards the establishment of an episcopal see, the government acceded to the arrangement; and on the 17th of October, 1841, the Rev. G. A. Selwyn, of St. John's College, Cambridge, was consecrated as the first bishop of New Zealand. He arrived in his diocese on the 30th of May. After calmly reflecting upon his new position, he wrote as follows: "I find myself placed in a position such as was never granted to any English bishop before, with power to mould the institutions of the church from the beginning according to true principles." "I am fettered by no usages, subject to no fashions, influenced by no inspections of other men: I can take that course which seems to be best, and pursue it with unobtrusive perseverance. When we have been strengthened in our intrenched camp, we will sally forth." 3 Having created archdeacons, filled up other ecclesiastical offices, and supplied himself with confidential advisers, his lordship then "sallied forth." But against whom was the first attack directed? against the cruel and inhuman atrocities of the aborigines? or the licentious orgies of his own countrymen? or the aggressions of Popery? No; there was a more serious obstruction than either of these in his way to episcopal supremacy: that once removed, the others might be dealt with as minor evils. There had grown up, simultaneously with his own mission, another branch of the Protestant Church, very much like his own in doctrine, in its forms of worship, and in its administration of Christian ordinances, but not under episcopal jurisdiction. Up to this period the head-quarters of the Church brethren had been at the Bay of Islands, and those of the Wesleyans at Hokianga; one sphere of operation stretching along the eastern coast as far as the river Thames and Poverty Bay; and the other along the western coast and Middle Island, as far as Kawia, Taranaki, Port Nicholson, Nelson, Cloudy Bay, and Otago, with only a narrow strip of land between them. The missionaries of both Societies had lived in peace, and laboured in harmony; "the native converts of the one connexion being treated in all respects as if they were members of the other, and wisely kept in ignorance of the formalities of religion which distinguished the one set of missionaries from the other." "No sooner does the bishop arrive, however, than a line of distinction is immediately drawn between the Wesleyan and the Church-mission natives, the former not being allowed, as formerly, to

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partake of the sacrament with the latter. The Wesleyan missionaries were represented as not being of Divine authority, and their teachings decried as unwarranted and useless. The rite of baptism performed by them must be repeated by the bishop or his clergy, in order to be effectual. In his ardour for making converts to the Church, he has not rested satisfied with promulgating the doctrines of Christianity, but has waged war with his fellow-labourers, by denouncing their teachings as unsound. As this subject is of the deepest importance to the peace and welfare of the country, as well as to the spread of Christianity among the natives, every information on the point should be communicated to the British people." 4 Hitherto the missionaries of both Societies had laboured separately, each in his own communion, and in accordance with those distinctions of internal arrangement which are therein to be recognised; yet it had been a separation of love;--separate in form, but united in object, in affection, in sympathy. But his lordship, in his primary visitation of his clergy and the different stations of the Church mission, had created a considerable sensation by his bold and novel observations on the Wesleyan mission. That he might be better understood by the natives, he condescended to employ some of their figures of speech, describing the Wesleyan Church as a "crooked branch, and its people as a fallen tribe, who had no scriptural ministers."

One of his lordship's clergymen had, in the exuberance of his zeal, crossed the line of demarcation, and obtruded himself into the Wesleyan fold. He had marked with the sign of the cross "several persons who had been baptized by the Wesleyan missionaries, and admitted them to partake of the Lord's supper, their baptism being now complete." The same clergyman, Mr. T., who knew but little of the Maori tongue, "travelled from Wanganui to New Plymouth, marking with the sign of the cross all who would submit to it, and admitting them, whether prepared or otherwise, as worthy members of the Church of England, to the Lord's supper."

The Wesleyan missionaries agreed, at their district-meeting, to address his lordship on the subject of these irregularities. He replied to their communication on the 31st of October, 1843. In his reply, he avowed sentiments he was only, till then, suspected of holding. "He declared them to be schismatics, their ordination to be invalid, and consequently their baptisms to be, at most, the acts of laymen." The brethren now felt it to be due to their own character, and to the relation in which they stood to their numerous churches, to address a public remonstrance to his lordship. In this document they inform

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him, that their mission had been established above twenty years; that not less than £80,000 had been expended in its support; and that some of the most influential and important tribes in New Zealand, including many thousands of natives, were under their instruction. They complain that his lordship should have decided, "that in future the utmost distance is to be observed between the Wesleyans and Churchmen; that separate services are to be established in the same village; that the attendants of one native hut are no longer to enter the threshold, or resort to the services, of another native hut; that Wesleyan ministers are to be forbidden to preach in all consecrated places; that their ministrations are not to be attended by any but their own people; and that in some pas, (as at Wareatea, Mokotuna, and Warea,) they are not to be allowed to preach at all within the boundaries of the village fence." They urge upon his lordship the necessity of calmly reflecting upon the consequences of these exclusive and intolerant arrangements upon the principles and habits of such a people as the New-Zealanders. Having stated the case clearly and fully, they left the issue with God and the public.

The bishop soon found that he had evoked a spirit which he was not able to repress. "I was much pleased," he remarks, "with my stay at Ruapuke; though the advantage of it, in a religious point of view, was much impaired by the dissensions among the natives. Here, as in other places, there was too much discussion about Weteri and Hahi (Wesley and the Church). We do not wonder at the controversies which are raging at home, when, even in the distant part of this most remote of all countries, in places hitherto unvisited by English missionaries, the spirit of controversy, so congenial as it seems to the fallen nature of man, is every where found to prevail, in many cases to the entire exclusion of all simplicity of faith." 5 We appeal to the archdeacon of Waiapu and the senior clergy, whether Weteri and Hahi (Wesley and the Church) had not lived and laboured together as Christian brethren up to the very day on which Bishop Selwyn landed in New Zealand. While the Catholic clergy hailed the Protestant bishop and his Puseyism as valuable auxiliaries, they remained true to their own principles. They told the people that Bishop Selwyn and his missionaries were as great heretics as the Wesleyans; and that if they would be saved, they must renounce both, and join the only true Catholic and apostolic church.

For a season the half-instructed and half-enlightened portions of the natives were completely bewildered. They knew that for a number of years the agents of the Church mission had instructed their countrymen, without baptizing one of them; and

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were surprised to observe that, after the bishop came, his clergy baptized many without suitable instruction, and admitted them to the Lord's supper, the most sacred institution of Christianity. The Catholic bishop made the natives members of his church by baptism, and giving them crucifixes; the Protestant bishop, by baptism, with the sign of the cross, and the sacramental cup. This is the true key to Bishop Selwyn's success. "Auckland," says he, "contains a population of 1,900 persons, of whom more than 1,100 are registered as members of the Church of England.'" 6 But what a melancholy spectacle, to witness men clothed with literary honours, and acknowledging the Divine authority of the scriptures, allowing themselves to be so far influenced by superstition or self-interest, as to substitute externalism for the "weightier matters of the law," and thus to trifle with the realities of religion, and the solemnities of eternity!

How different from these cases was the apostolic method of induction into the church, as exemplified in the history of the eunuch, Cornelius, the jailer, and others! But this state of things is one of the peculiarities of the times. The claims of the Bible to be the only authentic revelation of the will of God to man, seem to be almost universally recognised. The confederates of Voltaire and Frederick of Prussia have died off; and it is a singular fact, that no individual amongst the nations of Europe, distinguished either as a statesman or a writer, stands forth as the avowed champion of their sentiments. The cause of the Bible is now injured by men who, while they admit its Divine inspiration, apply to it erroneous principles of interpretation, and thus weaken its claims upon the faith and practice of man. The condition of the church is equally anomalous. The sources of her weakness are not to be sought in the want of political power, wealth, or learning, nor in the hostile attitude of the nations, whether civilized or barbarous; but in her own social state,--her want of spirituality, producing party-spirit, the adulteration of the truth, and a fierce conflict about the mere symbols of Christianity. If the church possess any inherent power to remedy these enormous evils, she ought to put it forth to protect herself from the scandal of such a connexion, and, by a vigorous and decisive application of discipline, to insure the separation of the abettors of such inconsistencies from her communion.

Intending emigrants should read with extreme caution what has been written by parties deeply interested in the colonization of New Zealand. The statements of the bishop himself are not always to be depended upon. The accounts transmitted to the British government by its responsible functionaries are very dis-

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similar to the pleasing pictures drawn by the soft and plastic hand of his lordship. The following is an official communication of recent date: "The number of Europeans now resident in New Zealand amounts to 26,000 souls: these persons are scattered over nine different settlements. One of these settlements contains a population of 9,000, while a population exceeding 17,000 is scattered over the other eight. There is no communication between these different settlements, except on horseback; and they are divided from each other by mountains, and hills, and rivers, over which there are no bridges." 7

If the Wesleyans wish to spread evangelical truth over these beautiful islands, they must strengthen their mission by fortifying their position, and greatly increasing the number of labourers. While the party differences alluded to disturbed religious society, a variety of political causes conspired to change the entire aspect of public affairs. The vacillating policy of the government on the one hand, and the injudicious proceedings of the New Zealand Company on the other, led to the most disastrous consequences. The government had lost the confidence of all classes; while the native mind, roused by a sense of injustice, sought for opportunities to retaliate upon the colonists. As might have been foreseen, this state of things led to avowed hostilities, skirmishes, and massacres, between the natives and the civil power; and but for the prudent and conciliatory measures adopted by Governor Fitzroy, and the hearty co-operation of the missionaries, not only must the general peace of the country have been sacrificed, but, in all probability, the very existence of the colony itself.

At a meeting of the chiefs, held at Waitangi, in February, 1840, the political sovereignty over the islands was ceded to Her Majesty Queen Victoria. There are only two ways of getting possession of a country,--by physical force, or by a fair and equitable purchase. The latter seems to be the most likely means of securing the blessing of Almighty God upon a newly-acquired territory. The above treaty of Waitangi professed to be based upon this principle: for while the chiefs were required to yield to "Her Majesty the right of pre-emption over such lands as the proprietors thereof might be disposed to alienate, Her Majesty granted to those chiefs the full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates, forests, fisheries, and other property which they may possess, so long as it is their wish and desire to retain them in their possession." Had these stipulations been honestly carried out by Her Majesty's government, it would have saved much bloodshed, and some thousands of persons from pecuniary ruin. Unfortunately, the policy of the

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government was in conformity with the principles embodied in the "Land-Claims' Bill," which had passed the Legislative Council of New South Wales. That Bill assumed, that "the New-Zealanders, being wandering savages, had no right to the soil of their own country!" The chiefs, who had been parties to the above treaty, were indignant when they found that the right of pre-emption, as explained by the practice of the government surveyors, just meant the right of the queen to buy their lands when she pleased, where she pleased, and at her own price. They charged the government with the violation of the treaty; and, after warning the surveyors not to persist in their aggressions, proceeded to expel them from their territories. This brought them at once into collision with the regular troops.

In vindicating the part which he had taken in the massacre of Wairau, Rauparaha stated the whole case with perspicuity and eloquence, in the presence of His Excellency the governor, and an assembly of four hundred Europeans and natives. "Land," said he, "has been the foundation of all our troubles. The English say that it is theirs; but who says so besides themselves?" He then entered into a detail of the grounds of their dissatisfaction, and concluded by justifying himself and his countrymen in defending their rights. After a silence of half an hour, His Excellency rose and addressed the assembly: "I have heard," he observed, "both sides, and now give my decision. The English were wrong in building houses upon land to which they had no claim; in trying to apprehend you, who had committed no crime; and in measuring your land, in opposition to your repeated refusal to allow them to do so. But you were wrong in resisting the authority of the magistrate; and very wrong in killing men who had surrendered and implored mercy. As you repent of your conduct, I will not avenge their death. I will punish the English if they do what is unjust; and your chiefs must help me to prevent the natives from doing wrong. In future, let us dwell peaceably." In this decision all acquiesced.

But notwithstanding the satisfactory adjustment of the misunderstandings occasioned by the tragedy of Wairau, the greatest excitement prevailed throughout the country relative to the rights of ownership of the land. The arrival, at a subsequent period, of a dispatch from Lord Grey, then colonial secretary, greatly increased this excitement; for while his lordship recognised the treaty of Waitangi, he applied a new and restrictive principle of interpretation to that treaty. The dispatch assumed, that while some parts of the soil were in possession of the natives, and could only be obtained by purchase, there were large portions of waste or uncultivated lands which the government might take without even asking the consent of the chiefs. "The

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savage inhabitants of New Zealand," said his lordship, "have no right of property in land which they do not occupy." The missionaries, who, with six hundred chiefs, had been parties to the original contract, regarded this as sanctioning a practical departure from the obvious meaning and intention of the treaty, and protested against it. They maintained, 1. That the application of this new principle would enable the government, under one pretext or another, to take possession of nearly the whole soil of the country. 2. That there were no such lands as the dispatch described in New Zealand; for those lands not under the cultivation of the natives, were claimed as forests, as hunting-grounds, or as yielding the fern-root, on which they chiefly subsisted. The treaty of Waitangi stipulated, that "their estates, forests, fisheries, and other properties, should remain in the exclusive and undisturbed possession of the native chiefs." 3. That to carry the new interpretation of the treaty into effect, would inevitably involve the most disastrous consequences. The natives would regard the missionaries, at whose instance they had signed the treaty, as deceivers; they would abandon Christianity; they would again assume the ferocity of the savage; there would be a combination of all the tribes to resist an unjust encroachment; war and murder would, as formerly, spread over the land; the mission establishments, with every British settlement in the country, would be broken up; and the utter annihilation of British power, or of the Maori population, ensue.

These views were embodied in an elaborate memorial, and transmitted to Lord Grey, by Dr. Beecham. It is satisfactory to know, that such statesmen as Lord Stanley and Mr. Gladstone coincided in the same views. In replying to the Wesleyan memorial, Lord Grey assured the committee that he had not contemplated the violation of the above treaty, and that instructions should be sent out to the governor of New Zealand to preserve it in its integrity.

In the mean time, the natives felt an utter contempt for the government, and seized the slightest pretexts for showing the depth of their malignity. The British flag flying on the hill above Kororarika began to be regarded as a proof that the sovereignty of the native chiefs was at an end. It was supposed that signals were made from it to prevent the vessels of other nations from entering the port. In August, 1844, Heke the chief assembled a body of warriors, proceeded to Kororarika, ascended the hill, and cut down the flag-staff. The governor immediately dispatched a vessel to Sydney for troops, which returned to the Bay of Islands in three weeks, with two hundred men. The flag-staff was replaced, and protected by several guns. Block-houses were also erected, at convenient distances,

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from the beach to the summit of the hill, and defended by the military. Notwithstanding these formidable obstacles, Heke and his warriors attacked the Europeans at every point. He carried the heights, cut down the flag-staff, and compelled the military to take refuge on board their ships. The "Hazard" opened a fire of shells upon the natives; but they maintained their position, and only retired when they had laid the flourishing town of Kororarika in ashes. An eye-witness observed, "In the bosom of the dark hills the smoke of the town 'went up like the smoke of a furnace.'" The English buried their dead, and sent off above three hundred refugees and wounded, by sea, to Auckland.

This affair created the greatest consternation throughout the colony. The governor held meetings with the chiefs in the neighbourhood, and soon learned how deep-rooted were the sources of grievance, not only regarding the land questions, but also as to the customs' regulations, and the obstacles thereby interposed to the freedom of their commerce. This discovery induced the governor, in order to prevent a general rupture with the natives, and, at the same time, do them justice, to declare the Bay of Islands a free port. This bold measure acted like magic on both natives and Europeans; and at a conference held immediately afterwards with Heke's tribe, and those in alliance with them, they acknowledged their satisfaction, and agreed that all disturbances for the future should cease. In the course of a few weeks the feelings of all parties were completely changed, the bustle and activity of business took the place of languor and despair, and the foundation of the prosperity of the colony was at last laid.

To the Church and Wesleyan missionaries this was a season of extreme trial. They retained the entire confidence of the natives, and were often obliged to step in as mediators between them and the New-Zealand Company on the one hand, and the government on the other. Considering the arduous circumstances in which they were placed, the bishop of New Zealand might justly complain of the conduct of those who "misrepresented the government and slandered the missionaries."

It would be a great dereliction of duty were we entirely to overlook "slanders," that are reiterated to this day by a certain portion of the colonial press. The case is clearly and forcibly stated against the missionaries by Hursthouse. "In contemplating the condition of those beautiful islands," he observes, "after the commencement of their colonization, all men must feel indignant that the former hostility of the colonial office to the New-Zealand Company, servilely copied by the early colonial governors; and the settled hatred of the missionary clique to any

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interest but its own, virtually expressed by Mr. Protector Clarke, should have caused the ruin of so many of the early settlers, the pioneers of civilization; should have driven away hundreds of excellent men to other colonies, and so fearfully blasted the prosperity of the country. Nor is it to be forgotten that, under these rulers and their missionary promoters, the native interest, which they professed specially to foster, did in reality suffer more than any other." "In estimating the character and disposition of the natives, they have, however, been judged too favourably as to what they are, but not so as to what they may become, by proper treatment. It is said, that they have renounced cannibalism and Heathenism, in favour of potatoes and Christianity; whereupon 'Exeter-Hall' has declared them a regenerated and noble race. It is true, they are no longer cannibals; and equally true, that they have made such advances in Christianity as to be already divided into Catholics, Episcopalians, and Wesleyans. The abolition of cannibalism is a great step in civilization, and obedience to the forms of religion may tend to humanize the savage; but it is a great error to suppose, that, as a people, the New-Zealanders are yet converts to Christianity in aught save mere externals." The true ground of complaint is disclosed in the following passage: "In dealing with a Company opposed by the colonial office, Captain Fitzroy was blinded by maudlin sentimentality for 'oppressed slaves,' and spurred on by the missionary clique, so that he came to judgment in a spirit which soon stripped the unfortunate settlers of their land, and virtually dispossessed the Company of the fairest territory they had ever acquired!"

As regards the governor, we may just observe, that he was acting in a conspicuous theatre, with the eyes of Europe on his proceedings, and under a solemn conviction of his responsibility to the British people. As to the missionary clique, comprehending the Church and Wesleyan missionaries, it is sufficient to admit that they did successfully oppose the attempts of an English company of speculators to deprive the natives of their acknowledged rights, and to adduce the author himself to refute his other allegations. "The natives of this settlement," he says, "have already made such progress in education, chiefly through the philanthropic exertions of the Episcopal and Wesleyan ministers, that, of males between fifteen and thirty, it is estimated that three out of four can both read and write. The natives deserve great praise for their honesty, sobriety, and peaceful habits. They are becoming anxious to acquire stock, and already possess horses, and several head of cattle, of which they take great care. The tribe inhabiting the country south of the settlement, who are rich in native wealth, contracted with our millwright for the

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erection of three small grist mills; two of which, lately completed at a cost of £300, have been paid for entirely in pigs."

It was scarcely necessary for this author to have gone out of his way to censure the missionaries, in reference to the New-Zealand Company, since he himself sufficiently accounts for the failure of their enterprise, by the mal-administration of their affairs. "It is notorious in the colony," he remarks, "that if the New-Zealand Company had confined their attention to one or two places, their efforts and large expenditure would have been productive of more advantageous results. One of the greatest errors in the colonization of the country, has been the hasty planting of so many scattered settlements. The distance, by the west coast, from Auckland to the southern settlements is shown by the following table:--

From Auckland to New Plymouth is 126 miles.	Population, 1,800.
From Ditto to Nelson is 280 miles.	Ditto 2,100.
From Ditto to Whanganui is 210 miles.	Ditto 100.
From Ditto to Wellington is 300 miles.	Ditto 2,500.

"Several of these settlements have no commercial intercourse, while their distance from each other renders co-operation for mutual protection impossible. Auckland enjoys an excellent port, with a commanding position on two seas. Wellington possesses a fine harbour, with great facilities for trade. Nelson has considerable growing capabilities. Taranaki, (New Plymouth,) with a population of nine hundred souls, is, after all, the garden of New Zealand."

The conduct of those missionaries was viewed in a very different light by a gentleman better acquainted with all the circumstances of the case than Mr. Hursthouse. "The Wesleyan missionaries in New Zealand have acted the part of ambassadors of Christ: they have been enabled, by their influence, by their character, by their power among the people, to induce the natives of that country to accept a treaty which, I must say, is one of the justest treaties that was ever made between this country and any other; and I thank this Society for having come forward about a year ago, and assisted by their influence in maintaining the force of that treaty. I trust that the missionaries of this Society will continue, as they have hitherto done, to maintain those just liberties which the natives of foreign countries have a right to demand at the hands of Britain." 8 "It is a strong expression," says Bishop Selwyn, "but I use it advisedly, that 'the land theory,' if it had been acted upon, would have made the New-Zealanders a nation of murderers!"

On the 17th of March, 1844, the Rev. Walter Lawry landed at Auckland, having been appointed to succeed the late Rev.

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John Waterhouse. Governor Fitzroy received him with respectful attention, and assured him of his readiness to promote the objects of his mission. Mr. Lawry found the colony in a very depressed state: labour being scarce, and wages low, many were reduced to indigence. But, in regard to the mission, he observes, "All that I see and hear is satisfactory: every where the brethren are in good repute. On the stations the people are generally advanced in knowledge and morals, far above others, who, in some instances, I fear, have only copied the bad example of foreigners. The missionaries are publishing the gospel, and propagating those great principles on which, under God, the stability of political institutions and the welfare of society mainly depend." The native tribes held a great festival on the 28th of April. The missionaries attended, with their respective tribes, from a distance of two hundred to three hundred miles. The provisions had been prepared and laid out for many days before their arrival. A wall of potatoes, in flax-baskets, five feet high, and three feet thick, extended above a quarter of a mile; and upon a rail over them hung twenty thousand sharks. There were twenty thousand baskets, containing more than one hundred tons of potatoes. The governor and his officers of state honoured the festival with a visit. All the ferocity of the savage was displayed in the war-dance; but, the missionaries being present, the Christian portion of the assembly stood aloof from their wild, raving, half-naked countrymen. On Sunday the chapel was filled three times; morning and evening, by a serious and respectable congregation; and in the afternoon, by native members of the church, who partook of the Lord's supper. They were of different tribes, who had come to the great feast, and had not met before on such an occasion. Mr. Whiteley delivered an appropriate address, and Mr. Hobbs read the service. They were then joined by the other missionaries present, and administered the bread and wine to their tattooed and other sable brethren. The scene was singularly affecting: "I never witnessed," said the general superintendent, "a missionary meeting half so telling as was this service, in favour of our missions. Such savages so tamed, such proud and haughty warriors so humble at the feet of Jesus, made its own appeal, without the magic touch of platform eloquence. They showed most clearly that they both knew and felt what they were about. And while the validity of the Wesleyan ministry is called in question by the Popish and Protestant bishops of the country, here were the seals of their ministry, 'epistles known and read of all men.' It was one of the most interesting demonstrations of the power of the gospel I had ever witnessed. Many besides myself saw the grace of God, and were glad."

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Two days after, a public meeting was held, for the purpose of promoting the establishment of a seminary for the education of a select number of native youths in the English language; that they might have access to English literature, and thus become efficient teachers of their countrymen in matters of religion and civilization. The public meeting and the government heartily sanctioned the institution, and recommended its early establishment. The governor gave to the institution a suburban allotment of seven acres of land, close to Auckland: he also granted about two hundred acres, for agricultural purposes, five miles from the town. It was expected that suitable and extensive premises might be erected free of all expense to the parent society. The missionaries in the Friendly and Feejee Islands, regarding the proposed seminary as a substitute for Kingswood-school, heartily concurred in the proposal; and raised, among themselves and their friends, £1,000 towards the erection. By united exertion all difficulties were overcome, the premises were soon completed, and the contemplated benefits have since been fully realized. The general superintendent assembled the district committee; and, after a careful examination of the temporal and spiritual condition of the various stations, recorded his admiration of the judgment, zeal, and prudence with which the affairs, of the mission had been conducted.

At a season like the present, when the grossest calumnies are propagated and believed respecting the "profligate expenditure" of missionary societies, it may not be deemed irrelevant to transcribe a memorandum, entered in his journal, by one of the brethren on retiring from this official meeting:--"The scale of expenditure has been reduced to the lowest possible amount. If it be reduced any lower, we shall begin to look with very sombre faces upon our poor children, as to what is to become of their education. Miserable enough in quality as New-Zealand education is, it costs much to obtain it: to educate them myself, is what my other duties will not allow."

The arrival of the refugees, consisting of out-settlers and missionaries from the Bay of Islands, created a great sensation in the public mind. "Unhappily," says a member of the legislative council, "the restrictions imposed upon commerce and the interminable land-question occasioned a rising of the natives. Three times was the staff, from which the emblem of British authority was displayed, cut down: the regular troops were faced in fair fight, and, though not beaten, the field was left in possession of the natives, who burned the township of Kororarika to the ground, and destroyed property to the amount of £60,000." The Popish converts were the most conspicuous in those atrocities. "The burning of Kororarika," say the brethren, "has

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spread terror throughout the colony, and placed the whole country in extraordinary circumstances. The refugees have sailed into port. All is bustle, the officers of government being engaged in making warlike preparations, fortifying the town, and training men to arms. Many are leaving for the neighbouring colonies; more would do so, had they the means, or were they at liberty. The regular troops have been beaten; a whole town has been plundered and burned; while the government is perfectly powerless, and obliged to intrench itself, without attempting to take the field against the natives. They plunder the colonists with impunity, shooting their cattle, and riding away with their horses; they cut down their fruit-trees, and set fire to their houses. Our lives will depend upon the measures taken by the governor. Nothing can now be done until two or three thousand troops arrive from England. How mysterious are the ways of Providence, that Popery and colonization should have been permitted to come in and lay waste this flourishing vineyard of the Lord!"

In a communication, dated "Wellington, May 2nd, 1846," they observe, "The prospect for this country is as gloomy as ever. Scarcely a day passes over without rumours, thick and fast, of war and its accompaniments. The natives who have been compelled to leave the river Hut, have strongly fortified themselves in one of the valleys of the Poniua harbour, where they are receiving large reinforcements from the interior. On the 15th they sallied forth from the bush, just before day-break, and attacked a company of fifty soldiers, stationed on the Hut: they killed eight and wounded three. They then retired into the woods, with the loss of only one man. All our people are loyal, and one of our chiefs has offered to join the troops with two hundred warriors. The government and the missionaries are blamed by some, and the Company by others; but the true cause of these calamities lies deeper than is generally supposed. In the midst of all, we labour on, through good report and evil report; and are cheered with several additions to the society. All the pews in the chapel here are let, and more are required. The native congregations are as good as we can expect; but until peace is restored, prosperity is out of the question. We see no deliverance, no way of escape, but in the living God. If the labour, life, and money employed in the work here, are to be turned to any beneficial account, the mission maintained in a state of efficiency, and the natives preserved from utter extinction, we must have more help."

The "state of society," they observe, "in this newly colonized and lately heathen country, is remarkable. Here are men of the world seeking their fortune; an array of military and naval men, 'like the English abroad,' and heathen natives

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and nominal Christians, sunk low indeed in the works of the flesh. Here is 'the Church,' whose bishop tells the natives that ours is no church, that we are not ministers, and that our people are deceived. Here is Popery direct from France: it serves the English bishop as he serves us; and declares that neither he nor his clergy are of the true church!"

Surrounded by such a state of things, the Christian natives were steady; and, while their religious fidelity was being severely tested, their progress in Christian experience was as obvious as it was satisfactory. In the following September, they were relieved in some degree from their deep solicitude, by numerous evidences of returning prosperity. "Of late," they remark, "a blessed influence has descended, most seasonably and graciously, on the Europeans and natives under our care: sound conversions are frequent; crowds attend the public worship of God; and, in the midst of war, our people are visited by the Prince of Peace, and testify, both by their lives and in the hour of death, the sufficiency of Divine grace."

At the love-feast held at Auckland, on October 5th, many of the natives were quite melted down to weeping and sobbing. Several powerful chiefs, fresh from the battle-field, were seen struggling in the pangs of godly sorrow, while the tears flowed down their tattooed, but manly, faces. Others were weeping tears of love, because Christ had revealed His mercy to their souls. We shall give the reader a sample of their experience. One said, "While Samuel," one of the young men, "preached, I fell from my seat, God showed me the greatness of my sins. Hell opened before me, and I prayed all day. For three days and nights my heart would not rest, or its trouble subside. While praying, on the following Friday, I heard the Spirit say my sins of theft, lying, adultery, and fighting, were all forgiven. The water of my eyes flowed abundantly. Great is the pain of my heart for the love I feel to the souls of my relations. Thus my experience continues." "I remember," said another, "my work in days gone by. I went to worship, heard preaching, met in class, was baptized, and received the sacrament of the Lord's supper. I thought this was religion. But when the word of God came home to my heart, I was afraid, and went to pray in secret. Whether I went to bed, or to work, my constant prayer was, that God would take away my sin. I, at last, obtained forgiveness." Hone said, "Under the preaching, God showed me hell: I saw the darkness, and my sins of many years. I had heard that man could not stretch out his arm to heaven, and blot out his sins with his own hand, and felt that I could not contend with God. I said, 'It is enough: I will make peace, and give up my heart to God.' Last month, on September 9th, I found

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the great peace of God: a voice called to my heart, 'Why tarriest thou ? Go and pray in secret for a new heart.' I obeyed, and God manifested His love to me. My joy now is the love of God in my heart, and I am for Him as long as I live."

And what is this but the primitive and apostolic faith working by love, and purifying the heart? Truly we may address the subscribers to the New-Zealand mission in the sublime language of our Lord: "Blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them."

In many places the lay-helpers conducted the schools and public worship of God, in the absence of the missionaries, in the most solemn and edifying manner. Angus describes, with much candour, a service of this kind, which he himself witnessed, in passing through the country, in October. "It was Sunday morning," he remarks: "a small bell was struck outside one of the buildings, and it was an interesting sight to watch the effect it had upon the dwellers around the pa: one by one they came out of their houses, or crossed the little stiles dividing the one courtyard from another, and, wrapping their mats and blankets about them, slowly and silently wended their way to the place of worship. On entering the building, each individual squatted upon the ground, which was strewn with reeds; and with faces buried in their blankets, they appeared to be engaged in prayer. They then opened a Maori Testament, when a native teacher commenced the sacred service. It would have been a lesson to some of our thoughtless and fashionable congregations in England, to have witnessed the devout and serious aspect and demeanour of these tattooed men, who, without the assistance of a European, were performing Christian worship with decorous simplicity and reverential feeling." 9

Persons who had been absent from the country for a number of years were astonished to witness, on their return, the remarkable change that had taken place in the appearance and habits of the people. One of the most intelligent and observant of this class remarked, "From the missionary villages, the ancient New-Zealander has almost disappeared: the present race is in a state of transition from the perfect savage life of their ancestors to the mild, orderly, and cleanly habits of civilized nations. Formerly their persons and mats were covered with a casement of red ochre mixed with train-oil: now both the mat and blanket have been laid aside, and, in innumerable instances, the European costume has been adopted." The period is not remote when they will take their stand amongst other civilized races, and exemplify the fruits

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of Christianity in all the delightful enjoyments of personal, domestic, and social order, and comfort, and respectability. Instead of infanticide, the native woman now watches over her living child with maternal tenderness. The aged are no longer treated with neglect and cruelty by their own relations, but visited in their affliction, and relieved by Christian liberality. A collection has been introduced, as in Great Britain, in connexion with the sacramental service, which is exclusively appropriated to the relief of the sick; and it is delightful to witness the cheerfulness and liberality with which the natives contribute to that object. The deepest malignity and most ferocious savageism have been compelled to yield to the power of the gospel. The barbarous chieftain has not only liberated his slave, but treats him as a Christian brother, and kneels by his side at the Lord's table. Old and young are emerging from their native darkness, and rising into a new state of intellectual enjoyment. "I am not aware," says one of the missionaries, "that there was one native in my circuit, two years since, who understood the multiplication table: now they can work with ease the questions in long division and practice. We shall soon hear of the New-Zealander being able to work all the problems in Euclid. They are making rapid progress in the English language. Their inquiries into the meaning and import of Divine truths are incessant. Some of them can repeat from memory five chapters of the Gospel by St. Matthew: several can repeat eight chapters of Paul's Epistle to the Romans; and others the first four chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Within the above period two hundred acres of land have been cultivated, and are now covered with wheat, besides patches of oats and barley. Our stock in horses, horned cattle, sheep, and goats, increases rapidly. The people have erected a water-mill for grinding their corn; and it is curious to hear their conversation as they watch the revolutions of the machinery. Infanticide and murder are of frequent occurrence in some parts of the countiy; but here we have not heard of a single instance of either for two years. They now settle all their disputes about women, pigs, and land, amongst themselves. They have liberated their slaves, many of whom have returned to their own tribes and homes."

Surely additional evidence is not necessary to convince the reader, that the prejudices of ages have been overcome; the sanguinary habits of former generations entirely changed; and the melancholy scenes, the incantations, tapu, witchcrafts, and suicides, concomitants of Heathenism, been succeeded by "joy and gladness," arising from Christian worship, a sense of God's favour, and a scriptural hope of eternal life.

In April, 1841, the ship "Triton," which had carried mis-

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sionaries and stores through the coral reefs of the South-Sea Islands for nine years, was disposed of for £1,000, and the "John Wesley," a larger and better appointed vessel, substituted in her place. After landing missionaries, schoolmasters, and stores at Auckland, she sailed for the Friendly Islands, on the 29th of May. On the day before she left, the foundation-stone of a new chapel was laid, £500 having been previously collected towards the expense of the building. A delightful work had been going on for some time amongst the young people of the congregation and sabbath-school. Several of the teachers had been made partakers of the saving grace of God, and went to their duties in the school, full of love and zeal. They spread "the savour of Christ" amongst the children; the general routine of teaching was suspended, and made to give way to prayer, when "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings God perfected praise." The influence of this juvenile revival was felt by the church generally; the members were quickened, and their number increased. The Native Institution had been put into efficient operation, and the youths under instruction were giving great satisfaction. They maintained their Christian consistency, and steadily advanced in the love of God and the various branches of secular education. The governor kindly offered to fit up a building in the immediate vicinity for mechanical purposes, where the students might be assisted in learning the useful arts.

At a meeting of all the missionaries in the Friendly and Feejee Islands, held in May, 1847, special attention was directed to this Institution. After the necessity, expense, and utility of such a seminary had been amply discussed, they recorded their deliberate judgment in a few appropriate Resolutions. "Feeling as we do," they remark, "the extreme difficulty of training our children in Feejee, we most gladly enter into an arrangement for the establishment of a school in New Zealand, for the following reasons:--

"1. Our children can be conveyed to New Zealand, without expense to the committee.

"2. They will receive an efficient education, have good society, and be removed from the corrupting influence of the spirit and example of the Heathen around us.

"3. The missionaries will be able to remain longer abroad, and be relieved from much parental anxiety.

"4. After residing for years in a torrid climate, it is desirable that children be removed, at least for a season, to such a place as New Zealand, where the air is peculiarly salubrious.

"5. We are aware of the difficulties and expense connected with such an undertaking,--the erection of additional buildings,

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and providing every thing requisite for such an establishment; but we are prepared to bear our part of the burden.

"6. This plan will be, in our judgment, advantageous to all interests: our children will be educated, the funds of the Society ultimately benefited, and the brethren enabled to prosecute their labours with greater devotedness and satisfaction."