CHAPTER I, THE GENESIS OF THE NEW ZEALAND MISSION.
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CHAPTER I
THE GENESIS OF THE NEW ZEALAND MISSION.
THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY was instituted on April 12th, 1799, at a meeting of sixteen clergymen and nine laymen, held in an upper room in the Castle and Falcon, Aldersgate Street, London. The Rev. John Venn, Rector of Clapham, presided. The meeting decided that since it was evident from the printed reports of the Societies for Propagating the Gospel and for Promoting Christian Knowledge that these societies limited their efforts to North America and the West Indies, there was need of a society connected with the Established Church of England, which should send missionaries to Africa and the rest of the heathen world. Those present therefore resolved to form themselves into a society for that purpose. The society thus established was called at first "The Society for Missions to Africa and the East." By 1812 it had formally adopted the present title of "The Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East." *
The Church Missionary Society made West Africa its first objective. The first seven missionaries enrolled by the Society were Lutherans, trained at a Berlin seminary conducted by a Lutheran pastor, the Rev. John Jaxnicke, and financed largely by the pious Baron von Schirnding, who had been greatly stirred by reading the account of the formation of the London Missionary Society. These seven men all died in West Africa. Eighth and ninth on the roll of agents accepted by the Church Missionary Society are the names of William Hall, a carpenter of Carlisle, and John King, a shoemaker from Nether Worton, near Bunburg, a native of Swerford, Oxfordshire, who entered the service in 1809. These were the first recruits for the New Zealand Mission, and owed their acceptance directly to the enthusiasm for the Maoris of Samuel Marsden, who had held His Majesty's commission as chaplain in New South Wales since January 1st, 1793, and had succeeded the Rev. Richard Johnson as principal chaplain in i8oo. ** Residence in Sydney had aroused in Marsden the desire not only to work for the regeneration of the inhabitants of the Colony, but also to make it a centre for missionary activity in the
* Eugene Stock, The History of the Church Missionary Society (London, 1899), Vol. I, pp. 68-9.
** J. R. Elder, The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden (Dunedui, I932), pp. 17-56.
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Pacific. The London Missionary Society had, in 1801, made him its official correspondent and advisor in respect of its work in the Pacific. An enthusiast for the Church of England, he was naturally anxious that she should also enter a field which seemed full of promise; while his interest in the representatives of the Maori race whom he had met in Sydney determined him to direct the attention of the authorities controlling the activities of the Church Missionary Society to New Zealand. He had the opportunity of placing his ideas before the Committee in person when he reached England at the end of 1807 to make a stay lasting till August, 1809. *
A communication to the Committee, written early in 1808, set forth his ideas with regard to the particular form that the New Zealand mission should take. Himself a practical man who had wrought at the forge and on the farm, he laid great stress on the uplifting influence upon a savage people of a knowledge of European arts and crafts, and put it that, in his view, the New Zealand Mission should be founded by artisan missionaries. "In compliance with the request of the Society for Missions to Africa and the East," Marsden wrote, "I respectfully suggest the following observations relative to the establishment of a Mission to the Island of New Zealand:--
"It may be requisite to state that the New Zealanders have derived no advantage hitherto from either commerce or the arts of civilization, and must therefore be in heathen darkness and ignorance. Though they appear to be a very superior people in point of mental capacity, so far as any judgment can be formed from those with whom Europeans have had communications, yet they must not be considered by any means so favourably circumstanced for the reception of the Gospel as civilized nations are, even though strangers to the doctrines of Divine revelation. Commerce and the arts have a natural tendency to inculcate industrious and moral habits, open a way for the introduction of the Gospel, and lay the foundation for its continuance when once received.
"Since nothing, in my opinion, can pave the way for the introduction of the Gospel but civilization, and that can only be accomplished among the heathen by arts, I would recommend that three mechanics be appointed to make the first attempt, should the Society come to the determination to form an establishment on New Zealand. One of these men should be a carpenter, another a smith, and a third a twine-spinner. The carpenter would teach them to make a wheelbarrow, build a hut, boat, etc. The smith would teach them to make all their edge tools, nails, etc., and the twine-spinner would teach them how to spin their flax or hemp, of which their clothing, fishing lines, and nets are made.
* The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden, pp. 42-3.
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"Though the missionaries might employ a certain portion of their time, according to local circumstances, in manual labour, this neither would nor ought to prevent them from constantly endeavouring to instruct the natives in the great doctrines of the Gospel, and fully discharging the duties of catechists. The arts and religion should go together. The attention of the heathen can be gained, and their vagrant habits corrected, only by the arts. Till their attention is gained, and moral and industrious habits are induced, little or no progress can be made in teaching them the Gospel.
"Much of the success of the Mission depends upon the qualifications of the persons employed in the work.
"Four qualifications are absolutely requisite for a missionary: piety, industry, prudence, and patience.
"It will be readily admitted that sound piety is essential; and that without this nothing can be expected. A man must feel a lively interest in the eternal welfare of the heathen to spur him on to the discharge of his duty.
"A missionary should be also naturally an industrious man, a man who could live in any country by dint of his own labour. An industrious man has great resources in times of difficulty and danger in his own mind. Great difficulties will easily be surmounted by an industrious man, while very small ones will overwhelm an idle man with despair. It is worthy of remark that in all my observations on mankind I have rarely ever known an industrious man become an idle one, or an idle man industrious. A missionary's habits of industry ought to be established fully, or he will be found totally unfit for the arduous work of the mission, in a country where nothing has been done before him.
"It will also require great prudence and circumspection in a missionary to govern a savage mind, upon which his own existence will depend. His difficulties will many of them be new, and much greater and more numerous than he can possibly imagine or foresee. On this account he will require great patience and perseverance to bear up under them.
"The Society should have missionaries sent out under the sanction of the British Government in England, and with an official recommendation from Government to the Governor at New South Wales. From New South Wales they should proceed under the Governor's patronage and with a recommendation from him to the Chief 1 of New Zealand. On their arrival at New Zealand they must place themselves under the protection of the Chief, as they will have no means of forming an independent body.
"A sufficient sum should be allowed for the passage of the missionaries from Port Jackson to New Zealand, provided there were no vessels going at the time they wished to proceed to their place of destination. There should also be a certain sum allowed to pay the expenses of keeping up a regular correspondence with
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them for some time at first, as circumstances might require. Their comfort and safety might depend upon this, till the real character and disposition of the New Zealanders are better known. A small vessel from twenty to thirty tons would be sufficient for this purpose, which must be hired, if a communication between the missionaries and Port Jackson could not be maintained by any other means.
"I should not conceive that it would be necessary for them to take much wearing apparel, or any other articles of value. As whatever they have, as well as themselves, must be placed under the protection and care of the Chief, the less they possess the safer they will be at first. It is not possible to know what would be necessary for them until they arrive and are settled upon the Island. It would be proper for them to take, from Port Jackson or Norfolk Island, hogs, poultry, grain, and flour, as this would not only contribute to their comfort but also would be acceptable to the Chief.
"As New Zealand is wholly untried ground, little can be said with certainty respecting the mission till an attempt is made. I think it highly probable that the Chief will be very anxious to keep up a communication with Port Jackson and encourage some of his subjects to come over for the purpose of learning our arts." *
This communication had the effect upon the Committee which Marsden desired. In June, 1808, it reported to the Society that it had been decided to establish a missionary settlement in New Zealand on the general plan indicated by Marsden, and that the Committee was anxious to secure the services of three pious artisans for this work among the New Zealanders. The subject was referred to at some length in the Society's eighth report:--
"A proposal having been made by the Chaplain of the Colony in New South Wales to your Committee, for the establishment of a missionary settlement on one of the Islands of New Zealand, the Committee request the favour of the friends of the Society to point out any persons within the circle of their acquaintance who may seem suitable for the formation of such establishment.
"Many circumstances have induced your Committee to consider New Zealand as a promising sphere for the Society's exertions. It is within ten days' sail of Port Jackson, and not more than 80 leagues from the settlement at Norfolk Island. 2 One of the chiefs is well known at Port Jackson, is strongly attached to English improvement and civilization, and would yield, as there is reason to think, every possible protection and support to an establishment of Enghshmen under his authority. 3 The population is very numerous. The attention of Government has recently been turned towards these islands, in the hope of obtaining naval
* Rev. Samuel Marsden to the Rev. Josiah Pratt.--Proceedings of the C.M.S. (1806-9), App. IV, p. 361.
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supplies; and there is no doubt but that both the Government at Home and the authorities at New South Wales would protect and assist any establishment formed at New Zealand in connection with the Church of England. Government has very recently attended, in the most liberal manner, to the representations of the Chaplain of that Colony, who came over to this country some time since for the purpose of obtaining the assistance of other clergymen in his arduous labours, and of procuring schoolmasters, in which objects he has succeeded beyond his expectations. 4 The only officiating ministers in the settlement of New South Wales are ministers of the Established Church, and they would cordially co-operate with the Committee in forming and directing the settlement in question.
"The first object of such a settlement would be to contribute to the civilization of the natives; for though the Chief above-mentioned has done much to pave the way for the improvement of his countrymen, yet they have hitherto derived but few advantages from their intercourse with Europeans. Though the New Zealanders appear to be men of naturally acute and superior minds, yet they have not acquired those habits of regularity and industry, and that enlargement of mind, which accompany civilization. The Committee are, moreover, well satisfied that little opening can be made for the Gospel among heathens unless their esteem and good-will be first conciliated. And whoever confers favours on them, the value of which they are fully able to appreciate, will be most likely to conciliate that good-will. He, therefore, who shows them that he is their superior in the arts which they feel to be most useful and important in life, and who employs his superior skill for their benefit, may expect a friendly attention to his wise and gradual instruction on subjects of infinitely higher regard. He might labour long and in vain to fix any idea of religion in their vagrant minds.
"The Committee wish, therefore, to find three or four men of tried and eminent piety, actuated by an ardent desire to promote the knowledge of Christ among the heathen, who will be willing to devote themselves to this object under the protection of the Society. One of them should be a carpenter, another a smith, and a third a twine-spinner. These trades would apply to the immediate wants of the New Zealanders, and would tend to conciliate their minds and to gain their confidence. If persons not brought up to these occupations, but willing and able to learn them, are known to any of the Society's friends, if they are in all other respects suitable, the Committee would be desirous to engage them. Their being married would be no objection, but ultimately prove an advantage, provided their families were small. Such men must promise themselves, in undertaking this great work, no worldly advantages. They would be expected industriously to follow their occupations, and it is believed that the produce of
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such industry would go very far towards the support of the settlement; but whatever else might be needed for their comfortable subsistence would be furnished by the Society, through the clergymen at New South Wales.
"The ultimate object of the Society in forming such an establishment would be the introduction of the Gospel among the New Zealanders. The settlers now sought for would be sent to prepare the way and lay the foundation. They would therefore be expected to form a small Christian society, living together in habits of industry, piety, and love. Whatever time could be gained from the manual labour necessary for the support of the settlement and the instruction of the natives in the arts practised by the settlers, must be conscientiously devoted, as schoolmasters and catechists, to the religious care of the youth, and through them to the enlightening and instruction of the natives themselves. Should it please God to prosper these preparatory attempts, and should a prospect be opened by them of the establishment of a Christian Church among those islanders, your Committee would endeavour to find a suitable clergyman further to prosecute their design, in the formation of a regular mission. In the meantime, the Society will be much obliged by its friends looking round among such persons as they think most likely to answer its wishes. Piety, industry, prudence, and patience are requisite qualifications.
"The Rev. Mr. Fawcett, of Carlisle, has pointed out one man, a joiner by trade, who is willing to engage in this undertaking and has given satisfactory proof that he is disinterested and decided in his motives and determination. Mr. Marsden, who is now in the north, has undertaken to see and converse with him on the subject."
In its report for 1809 * the Committee was able to state that the affairs of the projected New Zealand Mission had made rapid progress. William Hall, recommended by the Rev. John Fawcett of Carlisle and approved by Marsden, had already been engaged and sent to Hull to acquire some knowledge of ship-building and navigation. He was about to marry "a young woman of suitable character and temperament."
A second candidate had been recommended by the Rev. Daniel Wilson of Oxford -- John King, a young man of his congregation at Nether Worton, near Banbury. This young man, a shoemaker by trade, had been given instruction in flax-dressing, twine-spinning, and ropemaking, in the hope that these crafts might prove useful in New Zealand. The hope of the Committee that a third man trained as a smith might be induced to volunteer for New Zealand had been disappointed. They had been cheered, however, by the interest shown in the undertaking by a firm of shipowners, Messrs. Jacobs, who had granted a passage to William Hall and John King in the convict transport Ann, on condition
* Proceedings of the C.M.S. (1806-9), pp. 484-486.
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that they worked as required during the voyage. In this vessel-- which left Spithead in August, 1809, reaching Port Jackson on February 27th, 1810--Samuel Marsden and his family also returned to New South Wales. * By a curious and dramatic coincidence there also sailed in the Ann the New Zealand chief Ruatara, upon whom Marsden and his missionary colleagues were to rely in large measure for the success of the pioneer enterprise of 1814. At the moment Ruatara was seriously ill, as the result of inhuman treatment he had endured on board the Santa Anna, in which he had reached England; and it was only through the kindness now shown him by Marsden and the master of the Ann that he recovered. Before the Ann reached Sydney Ruatara was taking his full share of the work as an ordinary member of the crew, "in which capacity," remarks Marsden, "he was considered equal to most of the men on board." **
Thomas Kendall, who was destined to play the chief part on the New Zealand stage in the first days of the Mission, had apparently also made overtures to the Society at this time; although it was thought by the Committee that he should prepare himself further for his special task before being accepted as an agent, and he therefore did not sail with Marsden in the Ann. 5
The Ann sailed from Spithead on August 25th, 1809. Engaged by the Government as a convict transport vessel, she had on board 197 convicts, along with a detachment of the 73rd Regiment, now the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Highlanders (Black Watch). *** Her cargo included the "five Merino ewes with young" which the King himself had presented to the New South Wales Colony and which were to be Marsden's charge during the voyage. **** The presence on board of Hall and King gave Marsden a further occupation on what must have been for him a voyage full of interest. The convicts and the sheep represented for him his chief Australian interests as chaplain and agriculturist. But the New Zealand Mission was a new thing, and it seemed to him providential that the opportunity should present itself to become more closely acquainted with Ruatara. He, for his part, became very much attached to John King, a strong friendship growing between the two, which was regarded by Marsden as a happy augury for the future of the New Zealand settlement. ***** Marsden himself spent much time with Ruatara on the voyage, conversing with him in Maori, learning from him as much as possible concerning his uncle Te Pahi, the Bay of Islands chief, whom he had met at
* The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden, pp. 42 and 43
** Ibid., p. 65.
*** House of Commons, Report from the -Select Committee on Transportation (1812), p. 111.
**** The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden, p. 44.
***** Proceedings of the C.M.S. (1810-12), pp. 73-6.
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Port Jackson, * and the New Zealanders generally. "Duaterra (Ruatara)," Marsden wrote to the Committee of the Church Missionary Society, "is a very fine young man, about two and twenty years of age, five feet ten inches high. He possesses a most amiable disposition, is kind, grateful, and affectionate, his understanding strong and clear. He is married to one of the daughters of a chief called Warrakee (Waraki). ** His wife's name is Mike. Having learnt the English alphabet and the various sounds of the letters, he makes great progress in the pronunciation of the English tongue. We are able now to converse on most subjects so as to understand each other. This gives me an opportunity of adding some new word to my vocabulary every day, which hereafter may prove useful to those who may visit New Zealand and also to the New Zealanders who may wish to learn English. I write no word down until Duaterra has pronounced it several times and I think I have got the sound correctly: yet, with every attention, my vocabulary may hereafter be found imperfect, even as far as it goes, by an intelligent man who may at some distant period reside in New Zealand. Local advantages and ocular proofs of their customs and manners will be absolutely necessary for the acquirement of a perfect knowledge of the New Zealand language." ***
From Ruatara Marsden also obtained a description of the political and social conditions obtaining in New Zealand, which is of interest as being, apart from the account published in 1807 by John Savage, 6 the first description of the country after Cook. Marsden communicated to the Committee in the following manner the knowledge thus obtained from Ruatara:--
"New Zealand is governed by a number of chiefs, each of whom appears independent within the limits of his own district. Some of them possess a much larger extent of country and a greater number of subjects than others. Their families intermarry very much with one another. These marriages tend to unite them together, and promote their general peace and welfare.
"The following are the names of the principal chiefs who are known to our friend Duaterra, and who govern the northern parts of New Zealand. These, he tells me, have no wars amongst themselves, but sometimes go to war with more distant tribes who live about six or seven days' journey from their districts:--
"Moca (Moka), Kaingroha (Kaingaroa), Shinghee (Hongi), Howhowkee (Hauraki), Repuro (Ripiro).--These are five brothers, and are uncles to Duaterra, his mother being their sister. Moca is the greatest chief; he possesses a large extent of country and has
* The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden, pp. 59-60.
** Proceedings of the C.M.S. (1810-12)et seq., p. 111.
*** Ibid. (1810-12), p. 111.
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more than 10,000 men at his command; his subjects are principally employed in the cultivation of sweet and common potatoes and in clearing new lands, making mats for clothing, building houses, etc., as he lives in the interior.
"Tippahee (Te Pahi), Caparoo (Kaparu), Tippepiphee (Te Pepepe), Tittuerra (Te Tuara) are four brothers, and three of them uncles to Duaterra, Caparoo being his father.
"Warrakee (Waraki), Houkee Cappee (Hoki-Kape). -- These two are brother chiefs: Duaterra married the daughter of Warrakee; her name is Mike.
"Terra (Tara), Tuphoo (Tupou) are brother chiefs. Terra is blind of one eye. His district abounds with fine timber and is situated on the banks of a fresh water river, which makes it very convenient for him to supply ships with timber when they touch there.
"Ogateeree (Hoka-tiri) is another chief, and brother to Duaterra: he will succeed his uncle Tippahee when he dies. I asked Duaterra why Tippahee's sons did not succeed their father. He told me they were too young to know how to govern. Ogateeree will take the name of Tippahee when he assumes the government. Should Ogateeree die, Duaterra will succeed Tippahee. It appears to be the custom for the person who succeeds to the command of a district to take the name of his predecessor. He then becomes heir of all his lands and vassals, and of whatever the former chief was possessed at the time of his death.
"There is no middle class of inhabitants. They are all either Rangateeda (Rangatira--noble) or Tungata (Tangata-- ignoble). The Tungata are employed in all kinds of servile labour, while the Rangateeda are considered as gentlemen. A Rangateeda never strikes a Tungata. A Tungata will immediately do anything which a Rangateeda commands him: he never presumes to dictate, or to resist the authority of his chief. One chief will have many Rangateedas under his command. These are all considered as gentlemen; they superintend the cultivation of the lands and attend to all the inferior offices of government: they do not labour, but are maintained by the produce of the labour of the Tungatas.
"The strictest subordination exists, and few capital crimes seem to be committed, or punishments inflicted.
"The chiefs muster all their men at particular times of the year. The great muster is made after the potato harvest. The ground from which the potatoes have been lately dug is cleared of the stems and weeds and then levelled. On this ground they all assemble--men, women, and children. The men are all drawn up like a regiment, and stand in ranks, five, six, or seven deep, according to the will of the chief. One of the head officers, or Rangateedas, begins to muster them, not by calling over their names, but by passing in front of their ranks and telling their
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numbers. At the head of every hundred men he places a Rangateeda, and continues in this manner to muster the whole, leaving a Rangateeda with each hundred men. Thus ten Rangateedas answer for a thousand men. The women and children are never mustered. This custom is something similar to that of the kings and rulers of the Israelites--mustering the men of the different tribes among them, while they took no account of the women and children.
"The chiefs appear, on all occasions, to keep up great state and dignity among their subjects, and to treat them at the same time with kindness and humanity." *
The voyage of the Ann, which had thus been utilised to such good purpose by Marsden for the benefit of the New Zealand Mission, ended at Port Jackson on February 27th, 1810. All Marsden's hopes for the immediate dispatch of Hall and King to New Zealand, along with their friend Ruatara, were now brought to nought by "the melancholy news that the ship Boyd, of 600 tons burden, had been burnt, and the captain and crew all murdered and eaten by the natives of Wangarooa (Whangaroa)." ** The Boyd massacre, followed as it was by the vengeance of the whalers at the Bay of Islands upon the unfortunate Te Pahi and his friends, *** compelled Marsden to postpone his plans, since no master could be found to risk his ship and crew among the fierce islanders. Ultimately, in 1814, Marsden purchased the Active, placed her under the command of the famous Peter Dillon--who in 1827 was destined to bring the search for La Perouse, the French navigator, to its conclusion--and sent over the pioneer missionary band to New Zealand. ****
For nearly four years, therefore, Hall and King were compelled to remain at Port Jackson, awaiting an opening in New Zealand. The Committee had engaged them on the understanding that their knowledge of handicrafts would quickly enable them to maintain themselves, and that they need not be offered, therefore, more than £20 per annum. A sum of £100 had accordingly been placed at Marsden's disposal, that he might pay the salaries of the settlers and furnish them with any additional aid that might be deemed necessary. ***** Marsden, in his enthusiasm for the New Zealand Mission, assumed that the artisan missionaries would labour to maintain themselves, and would, at the same time, devote their leisure to the task of preparing themselves to enter the New Zealand field whenever the way should open. Many Maoris visited Port Jackson, and Marsden took it that Hall and King might learn
* Proceedings of the C.M.S. (1810-12), pp. 119-122.
** The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden, pp. 61-2
*** Ibid., pp. 61-2.
**** Peter Dillon, Narrative of a Voyage in the South Seas (London, 1829); The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden, p. 62.
***** Proceedings of the C.M.S. (1810-12), pp. 73-6.
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much by instructing them. The New Zealand Mission would have its beginning at Port Jackson. Thus he wrote to the Committee:-- "I have sown two acres of flax which are now growing; as soon as this is ready it is my intention to set John King to teach the New Zealanders how to spin line and make rope, as this will apply to their immediate wants. Port Jackson will be the proper place to begin the instruction of these people, both in religion, morals, arts, and commerce. They are very attentive, sober, and willing to learn all they can. I shall be happy to have a school formed for them in this place, where they may be taught everything that may be of use to them in their present state. I mean the simple mechanics, agriculture, and the knowledge of the Scriptures." 7
Meanwhile Hall and King, in accordance with the arrangement made in England upon their becoming agents to the Society, were compelled to labour for their own maintenance, and showed themselves willing to fall in with Marsden's plans for their instruction in the New Zealand language only when it was agreed that they should have some freedom from manual labour. * They found their services as tradesmen much in demand in New South Wales. King, Nicholas states, was in easy circumstances, while Hall was making £400 a year. ** Men who were thus independent naturally proved somewhat difficult to handle in the peculiar state of their relations to the Society, which neither employed nor maintained them. In a letter written to the Secretary on June 18th, 1813, Marsden shows something of the difficulty of the situation:--
"I have the happiness to inform you," he wrote, "that my new leader and friend Duaterra (Ruatara) has at length, after undergoing unknown hardships, arrived at his native land. He has been received with great marks of esteem and appointed King at the Bay of Islands. He has begun his operations in agriculture and I have no doubt that he will prepare the way for his countrymen to receive the blessings of the Gospel of Christ. I was greatly rejoiced when I first received the above information about two months ago. I have since sent him a quantity of seed-wheat and some tools of agriculture, with other necessaries. Duaterra is a very uncommon character. His moral character is blameless, his mind is wholly bent upon establishing a Sabbath Day at New Zealand and upon introducing the knowledge of the Supreme Being. While he lived with me he acquired all the knowledge he possibly could with a view of imparting it to his people, and understands many of tr operations of agriculture. The want of food has been the cause of many of their wars. The introduction of agriculture will soon supply all their wants. This will greatly tend to civilize them. Industry will correct their wild
* The Rev. Josiah Pratt to Messrs. Hall and King, March 22nd, 1813.
** J. L. Nicholas, Voyage to New Zealand, Vol. II, pp. 204-5.
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and vagrant habits and prepare them for the everlasting Gospel. I have no doubt but the time is approaching when they will hear and obey the joyful sound.
"A small vessel belonging to the house of a Mr. Birnie is at present gone to New Zealand to examine the coast and the natural productions, with the view of forming a small settlement there for procuring the peace of the country. I wished Mr. William Hall to go in this vessel, in order that he might see the natives and the country and form his own opinion of the propriety of establishing the Mission, or at least of making an attempt. I had procured him a passage in her for that purpose, and thought it would have been a good opportunity for him to have examined the different parts of the island upon the coast, as the vessel was going for that purpose alone and did not expect to be absent more than ten weeks from Port Jackson. But to my great mortification Mr. Hall refused to go. If I could have been spared I would have gone myself. Should the vessel return before the Minstrel sails, I will then inform you what state New Zealand is in. Mr. Hall is one of the most obstinate men I ever met with. He will take no advice, but will go his own way. Should the Mission be established, Mr. Hall will be a useful man as a carpenter and labourer, but I am sorry to say that I do not see in him that kind anxiety for the welfare of the heathen that is at all times requisite for a missionary. When I hear from Duaterra again I shall be better able to judge of the propriety of beginning the Mission at New Zealand. I expect Mr. Birnie's vessel in every hour, and if they touch at the Bay of Islands they will bring me every information I wish for. I am sorry the business of the Boyd has prevented so long that open intercourse with the natives of New Zealand we formerly had, and has retarded the Mission. Mr. John King is married. 8 I have no fault to find with either Mr. Hall or Mr. King as far as respects their moral character. They are solid, honest, and industrious; but I am far from being satisfied with their want of love to the heathen. I do not think that they have acted an honest part towards the Society. They have not notified to me their intention to relinquish the work upon which they came out, but on the contrary tell me it is their intention to proceed. I cannot but doubt the sincerity of their declarations when they will follow no advice that either I or the Rev. Mr. Cartwright 9 thinks proper to give them. I think Mr. William Hall will go to New Zealand if he is convinced that this will promote his present interest; but I doubt whether he will go or not if he is not persuaded of this. I have threatened to write to the Society to authorize me to recover from them the amount of the expenses the Society had been at in maintaining them in England and in fitting them out, in case the way should be clearly opened and they should refuse to go, as this refusal would be a violation of their engagements with the Society."
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Marsden's mind was evidently filled at this time with the idea of starting the New Zealand Mission. He had scarcely written the previous letter when, on June 23rd, 1813, he again wrote to the Secretary expressing his determination to open a communication, some way or other, with the New Zealanders.
"I have had much conversation with the Governor * about it," he stated, "and His Excellency, I am fully confident, will promote this desirable object. The connection which I have formed with the natives, from several living in my house at different times, will open a way for a further intercourse with them in time, and I hope to see the arts of civilization and the Gospel of Jesus introduced into this great island, the natives advancing in peace and comfort."
Marsden's determination to proceed with the New Zealand Mission found active expression in his request to the Society that Thomas Kendall, the London schoolmaster who had for some time been in negotiation with the Committee, should now be engaged and sent with his wife and family to Port Jackson. **
In 1813, when Thomas Kendall sailed for Port Jackson as an agent of the Church Missionary Society, he was already a middle-aged man, the father of five children. 10 He was born on 13th December, 1778. *** A native of North Thoresby, Lincolnshire, who had for some ten years been engaged in educational work in London, full of enthusiasm for the progress of the evangelical movement in the Church of England, of keen mind and ardent nature, and combining a practical knowledge of agriculture with experience in education, he seemed to the Committee of the Church Missionary Society the ideal candidate for the post of schoolmaster in the proposed New Zealand Mission, in spite of the serious handicap of family responsibilities.
In a letter written to the Rev. Basil Woodd of Paddington Green, London, on January 23rd, 1813, Kendall relates in an interesting fashion the chief incidents in his life in England during the years when he was gradually becoming prepared for the work in New Zealand to which he ultimately devoted himself. ****
"My mother," he wrote, "took delight in reading the Bible, and its contents were the general topics of her conversation. The family was called to prayer, and I and my youngest sister often attended her in her private devotions. I recollect her laying one command upon me in particular when I first left her at the age of fourteen; namely, that I would never omit falling on my knees to private prayer, either in the morning or in the evening, in any situation in which it might please Divine Providence to place me. This command, given in such an affectionate manner, I never
* Governor Lachlan Macquarie.--January 1st, 1810--November, 1821.
**Proceedings of the C.M.S. (1810-12), p. 429.
*** Vide infra, p. 144.
**** Kendall MSS., Hocken Library, Dunedin.
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dared to lose sight of. But alas! I got into a solicitor's family where there was no religion; this important duty was therefore soon performed only as a kind of quit-rent. I felt very little interest except in the time of trouble. It was a mercy that I did not continue long there. In the year following I was engaged to teach a school in a village nearer home. There I came into the house of a religious family, and the anxiety which the master and mistress (Mr. and Mrs. Lawson, Immingham) * manifested to promote my eternal interests, will, I hope, be ever recollected with gratitude by me.
"I had also another pious friend (a clergyman, the Rev. William Myers), to whom I am indebted for the chief part of my education, and from whom, as opportunity offered, I have received the most friendly counsel and assistance with regard to both my spiritual and temporal welfare. He was minister of the parish where I was born (North Thoresby, Lincolnshire), and took great notice of me while I attended his school; and some years after he had removed to another village (North Somercotes) he sent for me to live near him. This happened when I was about eighteen years of age, and about this period I had strong religious impressions upon my mind. I assisted my friend in the education of his scholars, and also paid strict attention to study with him. I also purchased a little farm consisting of a house and fifteen acres of land, upon which I studied and practised agriculture for about two years, and I should undoubtedly have continued in this way of life, but Providence interfered, and on a sudden I was requested to take the care and education of the children of three gentlemen at some distance, and I gave up the delights of ploughing and reaping. Should I be called upon to resume this employment, I should find my little stock of knowledge in agriculture exceedingly useful to me. In this last situation (Immingham) I first became acquainted with the affectionate and willing partner of my enterprise.
"I have before mentioned to you the circumstances of my first becoming acquainted with Mrs. Kendall. After I was married to her, I returned to my own native village, where I followed the business of a linen draper and grocer. My returns were insufficient, which led me to speculate in hops in the year 1805. From the sale of these hops I expected to receive considerable profit, and as I had a desire to see the metropolis I thought this the only time to gratify it. Accordingly I came up with them myself by sea. Upon the Lord's Day after my arrival I was providentially led by Bentinck Chapel, and I overheard the congregation singing a psalm. Before this I had never seen public worship conducted throughout in the Church of England with so much advantage. Accordingly after the service at Bentinck Chapel was over, after I had reflected on my want of a situation, and the state of my mind
* Near Grimsby.
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as to spiritual things; and saw, or thought I saw, the probable means of my recovery before my eyes, I resolved, in dependence upon the blessing of Providence, to remove to London. With this view I left my hops unsold; I returned home upon the Monday following and sold my little property. I came to town in January, and fixed my residence near to those means of grace which I trusted would lead me to the hope of glory.
"I have now had the happiness to enjoy the inestimable privileges of public worship and Christian communion here for upwards of seven years, and it affords me great comfort and satisfaction that I have had so many opportunities (private and public) of receiving the most important instruction and information from you and my pious friend the Rev. Mr. Mann. * I trust that the sense of these blessings, which extend to my family as well as to me, will always be treasured up in our grateful remembrance both to God and to you and him.
"I am now about to be sent out in a cause of all others the most important, and in which faith and patience require to be kept in lively exercise. It was after reading the eighth report of the 'Society of Missions to Africa and the East' that a desire was awakened in my mind to embark with my family in the cause the Society had espoused. I could not but be seriously affected with the distressing accounts which I continually heard respecting the deplorable state of the heathen world.
"I and my dear partner are now going to bid farewell for a time to the enjoyment of many blessed privileges, and to the society of many with whom we have joined in sweet communion and whom we sincerely love in the bonds of the Gospel. Under any other circumstances than those in which we are placed, the idea must be truly distressing. Indeed, Sir, as it is it will be a painful separation. We humbly hope, however, that it is but for a time, and that we shall finally meet again in a brighter world."
Duly accepted for the work of the Church Missionary Society in New Zealand, Kendall with his wife and family embarked on the Earl Spencer transport on May 15th, 1813. He bore a letter from the Rev. Josiah Pratt, the Society's Secretary, to Marsden, in which the conditions of his appointment were set out. **
"The bearer of this," it was stated, "is Mr. Kendall, who takes his passage with his wife and five children in the Earl Spencer. He goes out as a settler, and we are under an engagement to the Government that he shall continue in New South Wales for three years. He is to act as a schoolmaster and his wife as a schoolmistress. They are to have a grant of land and the customary rations from Government. What advantages they may make
* Rev. William Mann, M.A., St. Saviour's, London.
** The Secretary to Rev. Samuel Marsden, March 22nd, 1813.--Marsden MSS., Hocken Library, Dunedin; cf., Proceedings of the C.M.S. (1813-15), pp. 86-7.
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by their school are to be their own. We have covered all his contingent expenses until his disembarkation; from which period to the 31st December, 1814, he is to receive a salary of £20 per annum, £20 for his wife, and £10 for each child. These sums the Committee request you to pay him, and to draw for the amount on me. He is a most worthy and prudent man. Should he be able to support himself and family by drawing less than that sum from the Society, it is understood that he will do so; but should he not be in a condition at Christmas, 1814, to maintain himself and them without some further aid from the Society, the Committee will, on your representation to this effect, authorize you to grant him such further aid. We wish Mr. Kendall, of course, to have his eye continually on New Zealand. Lord Bathurst is fully apprised that this is his ultimate destination. Any New Zealanders who may be brought over and placed with him for instruction during his residence among you would benefit both him and themselves, and you may feel yourself authorized by the Committee to incur any expense on this account which you may judge conducive to our great object.
"The land granted to Mr. Kendall must be disposed of or retained as his own when he goes to New Zealand as may then appear expedient.
"We have sent out a considerable quantity of books, with the Society's mark upon them, which is meant as a library for the New Zealand settlement, to be taken out with the settlers whenever they may go. Mr. Kendall has also 50 copies of the early numbers of a little monthly work which the Society is beginning to publish, entitled The Missionary Register, which in a brief way and at a low price will convey a good deal of information on subjects interesting to all concerned in the coming of the Kingdom of our Lord.
"The Committee beg your acceptance of a bound copy of the Society's Proceedings in three volumes, and also a copy of a most interesting work drawn up by Dr. Buchanan at the request of the Committee. 11 Copies of the same are sent by Mr. Kendall for His Excellency the Governor, accompanied by a letter from Lord Gambier, as President of our Society.
"William Hall and John King have expressed some uneasiness at being kept so constantly at manual labour that they have no leisure at learning the New Zealand language, so I have written to them fully by this conveyance, reminding them that we expected them to support themselves by their labour till it should please God to open a way for them to New Zealand, expecting that by due parsimony of their time they might obtain leisure for some acquisition of the language. What may be their circumstances when you receive this we cannot tell, but if little or no change should have taken place, and there should be a pretty near prospect
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for their departure for New Zealand, the Committee will thank you to grant them, so far as it may seem prudent, a little leisure at the Society's loss, for the purposes for which they want it.
"We have waited anxiously for the arrival of the Frederick. She did at length arrive, but without her captain. He was killed in an engagement in which the Frederick was taken. She was recaptured, however, and arrived in England. We learnt that Duaterra (Ruatara) had been landed from her at New Zealand, a fact which we suppose you have known long since.
"Our Committee have had frequent deliberations on the subject of maintaining a vessel to navigate in your seas on the plan proposed by you. The result is that it is a general conviction among us that the Society as a body cannot engage as owners in such a vessel. But I am directed to enquire of you whether, in case such a sum of money were given from friends in this country as would be sufficient when added to what might be raised in New South Wales to provide the said vessel, it could be put under such management in New South Wales as would secure the object. In case it should not be found practicable to establish the vessel on this footing, the Committee wish to know whether one could not be occasionally engaged to and from New Zealand to Port Jackson, and what would be the probable expense of such a trip."
Throughout the long voyage to Port Jackson, where the Earl Spencer arrived on October 10th, 1813, Kendall found much to occupy himself in acting as teacher and chaplain to such of the convicts as were willing to receive him. One convict in particular attracted his attention, and was to accompany him to New Zealand and serve him and his family there. Six Bristol clergymen, Kendall states in a letter written from the Earl Spencer on May 15th, 1813, just as the vessel was about to sail, * had sent him letters of recommendation in favour of a youth named Richard Stockwell, who had been sentenced to transportation for some minor offence. Captain Mitchell of the Earl Spencer now appointed Stockwell Kendall's servant, and ordered him to be released from confinement throughout the whole day. "Iam happy to learn," commented Kendall, " that this youth has conducted himself well ever since he was a prisoner, which I believe is now nearly two years. He used to be one of the principal singers, when he was on board the hulk at Woolwich, during the time of Divine service. He appears to have been piously educated and brought up, and I am told by some sick persons who lie in the hospital, and who also manifest a real concern for their own eternal interests, that, as soon as he was introduced to me by the Captain and the iron was taken from off his leg, he immediately retired as well as he could and fell upon his knees to return thanks to Almighty God for this partial alleviation of his sufferings."
* Kendall MSS., Hocken Library, Dunedin.
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The Earl Spencer finally set sail on May 31st, 1813, when Kendall found opportunity to send a letter of farewell to the Secretary. "Our ship is now under way," he wrote, "and I must for the present bid you farewell. Both our anchors parted in the violent gale about a week ago, but I am happy to say nothing happened to occasion any further delay." *
From Funchal, Madeira, 12 Kendall again wrote after some five weeks, giving the Committee an account of his voyage to that point. "We arrived here on the 21st inst.," he wrote in a letter dated June 26th, 1813. ** "A pleasant breeze has wafted us hither and I am happy to say that my family is well. Several of the prisoners here can neither read nor write. I have supplied six or eight with spelling books; they have teachers amongst themselves.
"If I possessed sufficient influence with members of the Established Church to which I have the honour and happiness to belong, who take delight in encouraging missionary exertions, and also with the brethren of other denominations having the same objects in view, I should strongly recommend to their notice a clause in Dr. Buchanan's sermon preached before the Society. 13 For while I feel myself bound to express my thankfulness for the kind attention which has hitherto been paid to me and my family by the ship's company, prisoners' guard, etc., yet in a religious point of view even the effects of this kindness long continued might prove very distressing. Many of the ship's company officers will, for instance, caress my children, and they delight to do them such kind offices as may please them. But then they are not aware that the latitude which is given to expression may be attended with serious injury to the infant minds. It therefore would be very desirable if a suitable means of conveyance could be procured by the religious world for the people they send out, especially where there are women and children, when they would not be exposed to such language as they are taught to fear. While on shore the Christian can retire with his family and shelter them in a great measure from the pernicious conversation of thoughtless men, but there is very little retirement in a ship.
"The youth Richard Stockwell who was recommended to me by our Bristol friends is happy and well. He comes to see me almost every Sabbath Day."
Kendall's final letter to the Secretary with reference to his voyage in the Earl Spencer was written on December 28th, 1813, after his arrival at Parramatta. *** "Through the tender mercy of Divine Providence," he wrote, "I and my family have been conducted in safety to New South Wales. We experienced no hot weather during our passage, and, excepting one day when we passed
* Kendall MSS., Hocken Library, Dunedin.
** Ibid.
*** Ibid.
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the Cape of Good Hope, no stormy weather. For several weeks together the Earl Spencer sailed with the wind chiefly upon her quarter, a distance of twenty-four degrees weekly. We sailed alone from near the line, having lost sight of the fleet * in foggy weather which continued for several days.
"After the Earl Spencer put to sea, Divine Service was performed upon deck upon the Lord's Day when the weather could permit. In that part of the ship which was called the hospital, prayers were also read in the presence of as many as would assemble together. Several prisoners attended regularly, and they appeared to listen to instruction. I generally feel embarrassed when I attempt to speak in public. The idea also that I am not a regular ordained minister often damps my spirits. But in the case above mentioned, when I saw so much misery and affliction, I was constrained to speak. As the people appeared to desire it, I considered it my duty to set before them the great truths of our holy religion according to the best of my ability. When sick, dying men cry out under a sense of their own ignorance and wretchedness for spiritual advice, it would be criminal to withhold it from them. Under whatever circumstances the enquiry is excited, it ought to be encouraged.
"Mr. Marsden gave me and my family a hearty welcome upon our arrival in New South Wales, and is fully bent upon proceeding with the mission. The attempt to carry the glorious tidings of the Gospel to New Zealand has been hitherto delayed. Whenever a good work is in contemplation the enemy of mankind will oppose it with all might. In the South Seas he has opposed the plans of the London Missionary Society greatly, ** but the great Head of the Church, overlooking the many mistakes of some of his children, has 'by His own right hand and His holy arm gotten himself the victory.' At Otaheite (Tahiti) a Christian Church is rising with peculiar beauty. Pomare, *** the King, declares his total disregard of all the superstitious customs of his countrymen.
"I shall now be at leisure for some months, and I intend while my time is thus unoccupied to take Mr. Hall and Mr. King with me to New Zealand. They say they will accompany me in the first ship. There appears to be now a fair opening for us at New Zealand. The natives are very industrious and desirous to learn the European arts. They solicit instruction. I have seen one of them and his countenance and conversation were very interesting. Duaterra (Ruatara) is still living, and if it should please God to spare me with life I hope I shall shortly be enabled to transmit you some interesting account of these people from
* The convict transport vessels usually sailed in convoys.
** Cf. William Ellis, History of the London Missionary Society (London, 1844), Vol. I, pp. 23-196.
± Pomare II offered himself for Christian baptism on July 18th, 1812.-- Ibid., pp. 199-201.
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my own observations. I am persuaded in my own mind, in the meantime, that when the documents which Mr. Marsden has in his possession shall be made public in England the characters of the South Sea Islanders will appear in a better light, and that their good opinion and good offices may be obtained by persons who visit them, provided they treat them with common civility and common honesty. The way is therefore plain before us.
"I have not drawn upon you for any money since I left England, but shall now have occasion to do so.
"Mrs. Kendall took to her bed soon after our arrival at Parramatta, but the child is dead, so that we have five children now living. The dear departed infant suffered greatly, but quickly took its flight from this to a happier world.
"My dear Sir, I shall be happy indeed to hear from you respecting yourself, family, and the congregation of Bentinck Chapel. Although now several thousand miles distant, I can with difficulty divest myself of the idea that you are my minister and that I am a member of your congregation. The consideration that your prayers are with me often bears up my spirits when alone. I know you wish me success, but do not be too sanguine in your expectations when you think of me. As far as the honour of God is consulted you may expect success. But remember man is weak ! Let us therefore look to God."
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