1830, 1831, 1832, 1834, 1835, 1837, 1843, 1850, 1854, 1855 - Church Missionary Record [Sections relating to New Zealand only] - 1855 - New-Zealand Mission, p 181-187

       
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  1830, 1831, 1832, 1834, 1835, 1837, 1843, 1850, 1854, 1855 - Church Missionary Record [Sections relating to New Zealand only] - 1855 - New-Zealand Mission, p 181-187
 
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New-Zealand Mission.

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NEW-ZEALAND MISSION.

WE resume our review of this Mission from p. 267 of our Number for November last.

General View.

These islands have witnessed a wondrous transformation. Twenty years ago, and heathenism of a peculiarly dark and repulsive character overspread the great portion of the land. A few from amongst the natives had felt the subduing power of the gospel, and little congregations had been formed in the Bay-of-Islands district; but the main body of the nation remained unchanged. About the year 1839 a spirit of inquiry began to extend itself with unexampled rapidity throughout the island. Hard hearts became softened, and hoary-headed chiefs were willing to be taught; and New Zealand has now become a professedly Christian land. So far, a great conquest has been gained. It has been shown that the gospel of Christ has lost nothing of its power; and that divine truth, which was mighty through God to overthrow the sanguinary rites of the druids, has been equally efficacious, some 1800 years after, to prevail over the sanguinary superstitions of the Maories.

We must not conclude, however, that the god of this world will withdraw himself from the field where he has been so signally overthrown, and suffer us unmolested to enjoy the fruits of our victory. He only changes his mode of operation, and concludes that, although the Maories will no longer serve him as heathen, they may continue to serve him as professing Christians. If he can only succeed in depriving a Christian profession of its spirituality and unction, he may still reign. No sooner, therefore, has a work been accomplished, such as that which we have been privileged to witness in New Zealand, than the adversary addresses himself to mar and spoil it, availing himself with dexterity of every existing influence which can be used to promote his object. It is this which is now being attempted in New Zealand. The work which has

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been wrought there is being severely tried by influences of all others the most dangerous--the opportunity of acquiring wealth, and the collateral opportunity of expending it on evil gratifications to which the natives have hitherto been strangers. The discovery of gold fields in Australia, and the increase of settlers there, have very considerably raised the value which attaches to the agricultural produce of New Zealand, and the Maories obtain high remunerative prices. They owe their new position to the gospel of Christ. The fern-root which belonged to their days of heathenism would not have been thus disposable. But Christianity introduced the seed of wheat and other farinaceous crops, and, indisposing the minds of the natives to the cruel wars in which they had been engaged, made them willing to cultivate the land. As their means increase, they have the opportunity of evidencing their thankfulness by helping those Christian appliances which are needed for the consolidation and permanency of a consistent national profession of the gospel, by contributing to the support of educational institutions, such as we find have been organized in all our great Missions--Sierra Leone, Tinnevelly, &c--the building of churches, and the support of native agents: and something has already been done in this direction, especially during the governorship of Sir George Grey, who in every way encouraged the formation of industrial schools throughout the country, to the support of which the natives have in several instances contributed by the grant of considerable estates. The Maories have now an opportunity of expressing their thankfulness to God for the great mercies they have experienced as a people, and their willingness to co-operate with the Church Missionary Society, by charging themselves from year to year, as means are afforded them, with an increasing portion of the Expenses, so as to lessen the expenditure of the Society in New Zealand, and enable it to do more for those in other lands who are yet heathen. But just at this moment the ungodly white man presents himself with his low vices, and grog-shops, opened in increasing numbers, tempt the natives to indulgence in a vice to which, when heathen, they were strangers. The reports of our Missionaries convey to us the mournful intelligence that drunkenness, with its attendant evils, is on the increase.

The victory has not been yet secured. A new and formidable effort is being made to arrest the native race in the path of Christian progress, and to deprive us of the fruits of past labours. It is a time, then, for prayerful, vigorous exertion on the part of all whose influence can be available for good to the New-Zealand race. This must be our prayer, that the Lord would revive His work in the midst of them; this our effort, to strengthen the things which remain and that are ready to die. Compared with the actual numbers of the native race, we have located in New Zealand a strong Missionary force. We have no fewer than twenty-four European Missionaries, one native deacon, and five European catechists and schoolmasters, in connexion with Missionary labours in New Zealand. Let this force be measured with the Missionary strength apportioned to the Yoruba Mission with its density of population--two cities, Abbeokuta and lbadan, alone outnumbering all the population of New Zealand, the first of them occupied at present by two European Missionaries and two native deacons and the latter, lbadan, by two European Missionaries--and the comparative strength of the New-Zealand Mission will be at once perceptible. We do not say that the

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number of Missionaries is beyond the requirements of the case. The Maori race is perhaps, at the present moment, in the most anxious crisis of their history, in which the truths of the gospel, with much vigorous and prayerful application, need to be kept close to their consciences; in which energetic efforts are required to bring the rising generation under Christian training and instruction, and to expedite the development of a native pastorate, to which may be eventually entrusted the care of native congregations---objects which ought to be carried out, so far as pecuniary expenditure is concerned, by a large amount of native co-operation. Taking, therefore, into consideration the peculiar crisis of the Mission, the scattered condition of the native population, and the ruggedness of the country, we are thankful that, at the present moment, there are so many labourers on the spot, some who have grown old in the service of the Mission, others still in the prime of life, and some who have recently arrived. But it is evident that the Society has in New Zealand a force sufficient for all the necessities of the case; so much so, that it is the only one of our Missions in which we have approximated to a parochial apportionment of labourers, the Missionaries being, if equably distributed, to the native race in the proportion of 1 to 4000 nearly. We repeat, that there has been, on the part of the Church Missionary Society, no neglect of the Maori race, and that there is an ample sufficiency of labourers in the islands for all emergencies. To this body of faithful Missionaries we look with confidence. They have the same God to look up to, and the same gospel to use, as of old. That gospel is as powerful to revive as to convert, to bring back the backslider as to bring in the heathen. They have to gird themselves for a new effort, and, by the blessing of God, they shall be permitted to achieve another, and, if possible, more glorious victory.

Already God's providential dispensations are at work, and chastisements, His mercies in disguise, are not wanting, sent, no doubt, to check the immoderate excitement after earthly things, and to re-awaken the native mind to the conviction thai there is "one thing needful." Epidemical diseases, since our last review, have been very prevalent, and many of the natives have been removed, the unhealthy influences pressing with peculiar force on the dissolute and reckless portion of the population. Thus it would seem as if the great Husbandman is bringing into action His own appointed discipline, "I will dig about it, and dung it"--a season of affliction to be followed up, we trust, by an energetic application of gospel truth, in its renewing and invigorating influences, to the hearts of this people, amongst whom there are many who remain faithful, and tenacious in holding fast that which they have, that no man take their crown.

Northern District.

We now proceed to review the various districts, and to place before our readers extracts from the reports of the Missionaries, noticing, in the first instance, the

Death of Mr. King.

Mr. King was one of the two lay settlers who embarked with the late Rev. Samuel Marsden, in 1809, from this country, with the purpose of commencing Missionary operations in New Zealand. Throughout the course of a Missionary life more than usually prolonged, he had witnessed all the changes of the Mission--its night of toil, the dawn of the morning, the full noon of large results, until his own eventide came, and, full of years, he has

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gone to sleep in Jesus. The Rev. R. Davis, of Kaikohi, thus speaks of the death of this his old friend and fellow-labourer--

On the 6th of May the angel of death was commissioned to remove our beloved elder brother, Mr. King, to his everlasting rest. For him to live was Christ, but to die was gain. After the death of Mrs. King he could not be prevailed upon to leave the station. A great declension has taken place among his people; and although this declension was not general, yet it doubtless could not but seriously affect his mind-- a mind much worn by the difficulties, dangers, and alarming fears he had to sustain, as one among the first heralds of mercy that took up their position among what were then the rude and savage cannibals of New Zealand, for such were the aborigines of this country. But our brother was preserved. He witnessed the great change of the natives from heathenism to the profession of Christianity. This was to him, as it was to us all, as life from the dead. In his last illness, as in former trials, the faith of our departed brother remained stedfast in Christ. He has entered into peace.

WAIMATE.

Retirement of the Rev. W. C. Dudley.

The Rev. W. C. Dudley has been compelled, from ill health, to return to Europe, and disconnect himself from a work on which his heart was set, and his labours highly-valued. In his report for the year 1853, which was received by us July 2, 1855, he mentions the following interesting

Baptism of an aged, blind man.

The baptism of one old man filled my heart with joy. I found him in a village, blind and infirm. I was surprised to hear the prayers which he offered up to God for the salvation of his soul, though he had scarcely ever associated with Christians, or attended divine services, from inability to walk. After some days' teaching he was baptized. When first seen he could scarcely move out of his house, or speak articulately. During those days that we were with him, his strength seemed to come again as the strength of manhood: his heart was literally filled with laughter, and his tongue with joy.

Report for the year ending Dec 31, 1854.

The report for the year 1854 has been forwarded by the Rev. Joseph Matthews. It refers to the practice of spirit-drinking, and the epidemics with which the natives have been visited. The girls' boarding-school, for reasons mentioned in the report, was given up in June last. As regards the natives of the Waimate, and those of Matauri, in the Whangaroa district, the report is not without encouragement.

Since the departure of the Rev. W. C. Dudley, the Waimate district has been as well attended to as the emergency of the case would allow, there being but four acknowledged labourers of the Church Missionary Society north of Auckland. The Rev. R. Davis has shared his time between Kaikohe and Waimate: the Rev. J. Matthews also left Kaitaia twice to assist in the duties of the district.

The past year has been an afflictive one, and many of the natives, especially elderly people, were carried off by the measles and its effects. We trust that many careless professors have been aroused in their consciences. This we are led to hope is the case from the goodly number attending the means of grace, and the increase of communicants at the Lord's table.

The Missionaries in this district have had to labour against a sore evil, lately introduced amongst the natives, viz. spirit-drinking; but we hope that in some degree the evil may have been checked. Divine service on the Lord's-day has been conducted twice for natives and once for Europeans. There has been also a Sunday-school held in the morning for all who choose to attend. On Monday mornings, also, the church has been open for two hours for the instruction of adults and children, among whom is a class of 18 catechumens for baptism, some of whom are making satisfactory progress in the knowledge of Christianity. One of them observed, "When a tree is grafted, the under branches are all cut off and thrown away, for if not the scion would not grow; and so I feel that it will be of no use for me to be baptized unless I leave off theft and all other sins, which have

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been to me as the old branches to the stock." This school has been chiefly attended to by Mr. E. M. Williams.

The girls'-school was continued until June 30, when it became our painful duty to give it up, the number of scholars being only nine. This school, for the last two years, has been mainly supplied from the Kaikohe district; and this plan would have been continued, but it was found that, when the girls had resided there for a time, and were growing up, they were written to by the young men of the neighbourhood to become their wives. And not only so, but when these young men found that their proposals were rejected by the parents, as well as by the girls themselves, threats were held out that the poor children would be taken away by physical force, dragged out of the house, and, according to their former barbarous custom, made to become their wives against their will. As three cases of the kind had previously taken place, their parents resolved to remove them, as they wished their daughters to marry only among their own people. This being the case, the local Committee decided that Mr. Williams should give notice, that, unless there was an increase of scholars to warrant its continuance, the school would be given up at the close of the current half-year. At the expiration of this period it was found that the parents continued inflexible, and the Committee deemed it necessary to bring the school to a close. This was a duty amongst the most painful which the local Committee has ever had to perform. Much good, we doubt not, has resulted from this institution, the amount of which we shall not know until "this mortal shall have put on immortality."

The boys'-school commenced with twenty-two pupils, all boarders, and, we are thankful to add, has gone on promisingly under Mr. E. M. Williams.

In accordance, also, with the wishes of the Committee, Mr. Williams has given a full share of his time to the spiritual duties of the settlement, in conducting divine service both for natives and Europeans, and has attended to the sick natives with much success; and it is with thankfulness that we acknowledge his services.

The natives of the Whangaroa district have been visited by Mr. Puckey, from Kaitaia, and by Mr. Matthews, from Waimate. The latter visited Matauri in October last, and found a very interesting people there, some of whom had been candidates for baptism for a long period. Nineteen adults and two infants were baptized, and six couples married. One of the adults had been a Papist, and spoke out very decidedly-- "For two years I went about carrying lies for the Popish priests." This people had enlarged their chapel considerably, but it was crowded on the day the baptism was held, and they said all the tribes would have assembled had the Lord's-supper been administered. There was found here an old man of the name of Saul, who was baptized by Mr. Dudley: he said, "I am still striving and fighting against sin, and I put my trust in Christ." He appeared to be full of simple faith and reliance on Christ, and it was indeed a pleasure to visit him.

We were thankful to learn that Mr. Shepherd, of Whangaroa, still continues his Missionary labours since his disconnexion with the Church Missionary Society, and visits Matauri once a month, a distance of twelve miles. He arrives at Matauri on the Saturday, and spends the whole of the Sabbath with this people; and we gratefully acknowledge his services.

In conclusion, we would observe that the natives north of Auckland require the best Missionary attention. Every encouragement should be given to native teachers to be diligent in all their duties, and especial encouragement should be given to those who will keep a week-day school. It appears to us, that, as the northern tribes were the first to "buy the truth," so they should be the last to "sell it." We feel, that, scattered as are the northern tribes generally, and feeble and few as are the labourers, a vast impetus might be given by the strengthening of our hands, by all receiving more largely of the Spirit of Christ, and by calling out the energies of a few prudent native teachers, and fully employing them as such. We pray that God may revive His work in this part of His vineyard!

KAIKOHE.

Death of Mrs. Davis--Other Trials.

The last year has been one of bereavement to the Rev. Richard Davis, Mrs. Davis, after a long and painful illness, having been re moved on April the 6th. In his

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journal of the 10th we find the following notice of his loss--

On the 6th instant my beloved wife slept in Jesus. The stroke has been long expected: nevertheless, the blow is heavy, the wound is deep, and in this my solitude will be felt. God has dealt very graciously with us both. I shall miss our former happy evenings of reading and prayer. But she is only gone a little before: we shall, I trust, through the atonement of Jesus, soon meet again before the throne of God. My loss is of no common kind. A more attached wife a man scarcely ever had. In the time of Heke's war with the government she would not leave me, although I often wished to remove her to a place of safety. I never saw her manifest the slightest fear, even when we had reason to expect that fighting between the native parties would take place near our own door: the booming of the cannon, and the report of musketry, were daily sounding in her ears. The Christian natives had long prayed for her, and sometimes by her. As soon as they heard she was gone, they came around me, and did what they could to support and comfort me. From the time of her death they never left her remains till this morning, when they were removed to Waimate, to be deposited in the silent tomb. Early in the morning the natives began to assemble: hardly a man, woman, or child of Kaikohe was absent, nor was there scarcely a dry eye to be seen. About a hundred of them accompanied me. They carried the corpse, and took every thing upon themselves. She had been to them a faithful and tried friend: she did not desert them in their troubles, and they paid her every respect they were capable of showing during her protracted illness: nor did this respect slacken until they had laid her in the grave. The archdeacon, her oldest friend in the country, performed the last rites of the church over her dear remains. Her faith in Christ appeared simple and firm. She is gone: she is entered into rest. She suffered much, but her days of suffering are ended. It is the wish of my heart to be able to say, with Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord."

Subsequently to this, about the middle of August, his own health began to decline, until the 23d of October, when he was obliged to remove from the solitude of Kaikohe to the society of his children and friends at Waimate, and the advantage of medical treatment. In November he was so much better as to be enabled to make once more the circuit of his district, administering the holy communion at Kaikohe, Otaua, and Mangakahia. Mr. Davis reports thus of the state of things in the districts where he has been labouring:--

The natives have been, during the year, visited with the measles and hooping cough. This caused a great mortality, especially among the elderly people and young children, several of whom, we doubt not, have passed into a happy eternity.

At Kaikohe the congregations have increased in numbers by the return of the late Heke's people to the profession of Christianity; but the advance of the natives in the divine life is slow, and the cause of much sadness and perplexity.

Pastoral Visits--State of the People.

From Mr. Davis's journals we proceed to introduce some extracts. As far as the documents forwarded to us afford the opportunity, we propose to do so throughout the stations, with the view of presenting to our readers a faithful transcript of the actual state of the New-Zealand Mission.

Jan. 13, 1854--Visited the sick. One young woman of Heke's tribe had died a heathen, and I found her lying in heathen state. Two others are drawing near their end. I have visited them several times, but they express no desire, even, to be saved. Oh, how awful is unbelief! I told the party that my heart was too heavy with sorrow to allow me to stay with them, for if they died heathen there was no hope for them, and turned my horse round and rode away from them. One of them replied, "This way will do for us who are sinners." This was perhaps meant as a reproach, and too justly, as many professors live badly.

Jan. 19--Yesterday the unusual sound of guns was heard, coming over the woods from the place where Heke's widow resides: to-day I have learned the cause. The young woman whom I found lying

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in state the other day was the wife of a chief, and had died in giving birth to her first child. They had been informed that the birth of the child had been hindered by malignant spirits. The illness of the two people who are drawing near their end is attributed to the same source. These spirits, it is reported, they were determined to kill if possible, and had therefore taken it into their heads to try to shoot them. The man to whom they made the communication said, "You may shoot and kill the person who is ill, but the spirits you cannot hurt. Leave off such practices, turn to God, and all will be well." "Yes," they said, "we are thinking of living for a time near David, in order that he may be a praying man for us." The reply was, "You must turn to God yourselves, in order for prayer to avail any thing in your behalf."

Visited the sick: poor Mervin is near his end: he appears to be in a dead, supine state. From his childhood he has been taught to know the gospel. His knowledge is correct, he is acquainted with the way of peace, but his head seems dead.

April 20, 1854--Went to Waimate. Visited Andrew, one of the principal teachers, in my way, to give him notice of a sacrament. He said, "The canoe has been upset, and but few have escaped by getting on its bottom. The house has been burnt, and but few have escaped. I am now alluding to the drunkenness which has been introduced among us. This has led to adultery and much trouble: nevertheless, it is good to look after the few that have escaped." Ardent spirits have also been introduced at Kaikohe, where its awful effects have been but too visible among the late Heke's people.

April 25--Returned home yesterday from Waimate. Congregations not large there on Sunday, but attentive. There is much sickness amongst the people. Ardent spirits are retailed by the natives themselves there, at seven shillings a bottle, in the face of the prohibitory laws. Alas, poor Waimate!

April 26--Visited the sick. Many are down with the measles, but hitherto they have passed off lightly. God deals very graciously with them. Today I have learned that there are venders of ardent spirits amongst us: that the bottle is carried about, and sold at a shilling a glass to whomsoever will buy. It is reported that it was offered to a Christian native as being good medicine for the sore throat which he and his son were suffering from, after the measles. He was told the price would be two shillings--a glass for himself, and one for his son. They were told to take the bottle away. Alas! where is vital godliness to be found! My hopes have long been sanguine; but I cannot shut my eyes now against the sinfulness of the natives generally, and the glaring inconsistencies of many of the professors of Christianity.

May 1--On the 28th ult. went to Waimate. Mr. Matthews also arrived from Kaitaia. On the 28th examined the communicants. On the 30th administered the Lord's supper to sixty-one communicants, chiefly elderly people: the young people have been led away by drinking ardent spirits, and the wickedness resulting therefrom.

Our space compels us to reserve some of the extracts from Mr. Davis' journals for our next Number.


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