1867 - Williams, William. Christianity among the New Zealanders - CHAPTER XVIII.

[Image of page 343]

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE state of the Eastern District at this period was peculiar, and yet there seemed to be a gradual advancement. At Waiapu, which was the most populous part of the coast, the work had long been carried ona by native teachers only. Three missionaries had resided there in succession, but two had been much interrupted in their duties by ill health, which obliged them to relinquish their post; a third was removed by death. The Church Missionary Society were proposing to withdraw their mission gradually from the country, on the ground that New Zealand was now become an English Colony, and that provision would be made for religious instruction from other sources. But it was felt necessary to press upon them the importance of keeping up, for some time longer, the full strength of the mission, for the very existence of the native Church seemed to depend upon this step.

Much of the country was likely to remain long beyond the boundary of colonization, simply because-

[Image of page 344]

it was not worth colonizing, and such districts seemed still to be a proper missionary field. The natives were not in any degree nearer to the desirable condition of supporting a ministry among themselves, than when they first made profession of Christianity. All that could be expected from them for some time was that they should erect their own places of worship. The Maori Church was in its infancy, and it had at once to struggle with serious difficulties before it could attain to any settled organization. Those natives who were within reach of the colonists were in the way to acquire property, but they were bewildered oftentimes by the sudden change which had come upon them, and instead of turning their attention to the support of the Church, they were more likely to become indifferent to religion altogether. There was the greater reason then that the fostering care, which had brought them a little way on the road, should be continued to them. If they had been left to their own resources, the worst consequences might have been apprehended. Important measures for their benefit were set on foot by the Government, and many of the settlers were anxious to promote their welfare, but there were under currents which no forethought could guard against.

Yet notwithstanding all, after making a fair allowance for the backsliders and the lukewarm in such proportion as they are to be found in every community, there seemed to be a large number who walked as became the Gospel. They were not

[Image of page 345]

matured Christians, but there were many babes in Christ, who were anxious to be instructed. The steady progress which had been made in the Eastern District, extending from Waiapu to Wairarapa, from the time of the commencement of that mission, was remarkable, and gave much reason to hope that the change would be lasting. In the year 1840 the Christian Church consisted entirely of persons who had gone there from the Bay of Islands, principally as teachers. The number of communicants at that time was:........ 29

In 1841 they amounted to 133
" 1842 " 451
" 1843 " 675
" 1844 " 946
" 1845 " 1484
" 1846 " 1668
" 1847 " 1960
" 1848 " 2054
" 1849 " 2893

The communicants might be regarded as the fruit of the tree. They were those members of the congregation who were supposed to be walking in the narrow path. In the course of ten years there had been time for the novelty of Christianity to wear away; many had gone back again, but the number of those who held onward in their course was large.

The New Zealanders are not to be compared with the early Christians of Greece and Rome in the

[Image of page 346]

Apostles' days, many of whom were ready almost immediately to become teachers of others. There is a degree of dulness in elderly people, whose minds have not been subjected to any kind of discipline in youth, of which those can form no idea who have not been in the habit of trying to instruct such persons. Hence it would have been in vain to seek from among them for men competent to fill up the vacancies occasioned by the death or removal of the first missionaries.

The question may be asked why had not the missionaries done more to bring forward the young, many of whom exhibit no ordinary degree of intelligence. The answer to this is that there was not a staff of teachers to carry on such a work. Owing to the causes which have been already mentioned, the charge of an immense district was often left to one individual. The case would be somewhat parallel if a clergyman were required to itinerate between London and York on foot, and then between London and Southampton, officiating at places on the road varying in distance from ten to twenty miles; and then when he is at home, having charge, in addition to other matters, of three hundred candidates for baptism, and of seven hundred regular attendants at Bible classes, who had been left in the interval, not to the care of competent curates, but to teachers who themselves required to be taught "which be the first principles of the oracles of God."

Much attention was given to schools of a simple

[Image of page 347]

character, from the earliest days of the mission. It was the custom in every village to attend for an hour after morning prayers, and the result was that at one period the larger part of the population was able to read and write, but after a time the novelty wore off, and then there was the greatest difficulty in getting the children together for instruction. The parents who were able to read were indifferent about securing the same advantages for their children. With a view to counteract this evil, and in order to have centres of operation at some of the leading points which might be as beacons to show the benefit of education to the community, Central Schools were established at Waimate in the Bay of Islands, at Auckland, at Otaki in Cook's Straits, at Waikato, and subsequently at Poverty Bay and at Tauranga, under the care of missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, the expense for the scholars being defrayed by the Government. The principal aim has been to give a general education to the most promising which might fit them to become useful members of society, and also to raise up a superior class of teachers who might carry on the work of schools in the villages, as well as to prepare candidates for the ministry. Being conducted upon the industrial system, the men and boys have had to attend to the work of the school farms, ploughing, reaping, threshing, &c. A certain number too have been instructed in carpentry, and have made good proficiency in the art. The women and girls, in addition to direct school instruc-

[Image of page 348]

tion, have taken their regular share in those duties which belong to their sex, and which are calculated to give them the civilized habits of the English. The greatest drawback which has been experienced in all the schools has arisen from the independence of the Maori character. The benefit of instruction is not sufficiently appreciated, and the children are allowed too much to follow their own inclinations. If by dint of persuasion they are sent to school, the slightest incident, whether it be a quarrel with a school-fellow, or the novelty of the arrival of strangers to visit their friends, or only a simple disinclination to the partial restraint of school, is sufficient to induce the scholars to run off to their homes, and it is very seldom that the parents think of sending them back. For this reason there are few of the scholars who have remained steadily, except those from a distance. There is not therefore the same amount of encouragement which is to be met with in an English school; there is the frequent disappointment of seeing a youth of great promise drawn away, when he was just beginning to reward his instructor by the steady progress he had made. Still, out of the number taught, there are a few who have done well.

It will be interesting to inquire into the effect of the new religion upon the manners and customs of the people. Christianity and civilization are intimately connected, though not always united: civilization is often found without Christianity, but

[Image of page 349]

Christianity will invariably produce a progressive advancement in civilization, because education is an essential part of it -- it opens the mind to new pursuits, and creates a wish for an improved condition. There is, indeed, a spurious kind of civilization, which consists in the promiscuous adoption of foreign ideas, in which there is often a larger proportion of evil than of good. This was now being forced upon the acceptance of the Maoris who were living in the vicinity of the newly-established towns, and religion was needed to modify those evils, and to fortify the native mind by the inculcation of right principles, preparing it to reject the evil and to choose the good.

The first effect of Christianity was to induce the people to give up that system of warfare which for generations had made every tribe the enemy of its neighbours. In any part of the country where danger was apprehended, the population was not scattered over the district, but, for mutual protection, they lived in fortified villages, and their cultivations were carried on so near at hand, that, upon a sudden alarm, they could speedily rush into a place of safety. The traces of this practice are to be seen in the neighbourhood of Auckland. Nearly all the volcanic hills, which are numerous, were occupied as Pas; and the little terraces which are noticed on their sides are the clearings upon which their houses were built. As soon as the fear of these incursions was removed, the inhabitants became scattered in small parties

[Image of page 350]

and every man was able to reap the fruit of his own labour without molestation. One natural consequence was a great increase of agriculture, which was promoted by the demand for wheat and potatoes in the English towns. In their purely native state, every family had within itself its own resources. Their food, their clothing, their habitations, were all provided by the different members of the family; and the only interchange in the way of barter was in the purchase of canoes, and the finer kind of mats, which were made in perfection by a few only of the tribes. But now, in proportion to the facility of obtaining the coveted articles of foreign clothing and agricultural implements, the New Zealander was stimulated to raise twice as much produce as he required for his own consumption; and by traffic he supplied his wants at a much easier rate. This alteration, then, had its beginning in Christianity, which introduced a state of peace previously unknown, together with the opportunity of giving attention to quiet pursuits; and it was further promoted by intercourse with civilized man. The mind of the Maori, by nature active, is continually pushing forward to some new object. The sight of something which had not been seen before often created a desire to obtain it; and the effect, to a certain extent, was salutary, inasmuch as it urged the people to habits of greater industry. A very few years brought about a vast change in their general appearance and pursuits. English clothing superseded the native garment, and,

[Image of page 351]

next to the immediate necessaries of life, the proceeds of labour were successively spent in the purchase of steel flour-mills, horses, cattle, ploughs, and threshing-machines. Large sums of money have been expended on water-mills, which have generally cost from five hundred to seven hundred pounds; but these have for the most part proved a failure, for as soon as they have got out of repair they have been abandoned. At one period, small vessels of from thirty to forty tons were purchased for the conveyance of their produce to the towns, they being quite alive to the advantages of going to market for themselves. These vessels continued to run frequently, until the breaking out of the war put a stop to their trade.

That a radical change should be produced in the customs of a people is hardly to he expected. Our own experience will tell us that habits formed in childhood are seldom entirely shaken off; a new generation must spring up before a decided improvement will show itself. But in New Zealand, while in the domestic life of the Maoris there is little difference to be observed, they will sometimes show an aptitude to adopt even the refinements of civilized life. The natives have at all times been fond of great gatherings in time of peace. On these occasions a feast was given of a very costly character, where food was laid out with most barbarous profusion, the great bulk of it being eventually carried away by the guests. But of late years they have endeavoured to regulate these matters after another manner, and it has been

[Image of page 352]

common to have a marriage feast where four or five hundred guests have been entertained, in successive parties of perhaps a hundred persons, where all were seated at tables, and provided with plates, and knives and forks, the greatest order and decorum being observed.

But there is a desire for imitation not merely in those things which mark a transition from the rude habits of their ancestors to the customs of civilized nations, but happily, under the influence of Christianity, they have been ready to bestow much labour and expense upon the erection of places of worship. It was the remark of Bishop Selwyn, during his early travels through the country, that the best building in every village was that which was dedicated to the service of God. At Otaki, in the year 1840, when Te Rauparaha and Te Rangitaake had been involved in a serious quarrel, the peace-offering which was given by Te Rangitaake was a large piece of timber, prepared as a ridge-pole for a church; and the building which now stands at Otaki never fails to excite the admiration of the passing traveller. The boarded churches which have been erected on different parts of the coast in the neighbourhood of East Cape, though they may not have been finished so well as an English carpenter would have done them, are yet most respectable buildings, and have become regular landmarks for English vessels which pass along the coast. The church at Tauranga, built entirely by the natives, affords a specimen of the most elaborate

[Image of page 353]

Maori carving which is to be found in the country; and, at the most moderate calculation, they have expended upon it, in labour and in the consumption of food during its erection, not less than two thousand pounds. Four years ago I was travelling along the Bay of Plenty, in company with the Rev. Rota Waitoa and Mokena, the leading chief of Ngatiporou. At Maketu, when the people of the place came together, Mokena spoke to them about the want of a church for their village. The answer given was: --"We are waiting for the pakeha to build it for us. We are looking to the Bishop and to Archdeacon Brown." This was just the key-note for Mokena. "I will tell you what we have done at Waiapu," he said. "We began at first with chapels of raupo, which soon decayed and fell to pieces; but seeing that the pakehas built with wood, we thought we would have churches like theirs. We had no money to pay English sawyers with, so we went into the woods ourselves and cut down timber, and I took charge of one of the pits myself. Then came the difficulty about the erection. Carpenters' wages are high; but the planing of boards seemed to be a simple process, so we bought planes and other tools, and, having cut the timber, we then became our own carpenters; and there the buildings stand for you to look at. Now, I recommend you not to wait for the pakeha to build your church for you, but go and put it up yourselves."

Among the East Coast natives a further proof has been given of sincerity, in the desire shown to have

[Image of page 354]

clergymen resident among them. At Waiapu, after the health of several missionaries who had successively occupied that part of the island had failed, the natives again asked for another English clergyman. I told them I was ashamed to apply to the Society again, having so often done so; and I explained to them the principle of the Church Missionary Society, that when Christianity had been received by any people, the rule laid down by the Apostles should be followed, and that persons from among themselves should be prepared to become their pastors, for whose maintenance they should provide. At that time there were several superior men in the Central School at Turanga, who were under training as teachers, and the people at once assented to the justness of this proposal, and set about collecting money for an endowment fund. The result has been that in the Diocese of Waiapu seven different districts have completed the required sum, and two others have collected more than half the amount, making a total of 1,678l. In addition to this, they had made two other collections, which were altogether spontaneous, as an endowment for the Bishopric. Of the sum of 589l., there was collected at the opening of a church at Te Kawakawa, in Hicks's Bay, in the year 1861, the sum of 257l., and on a similar occasion at Turanga, in 1863, the sum of 332l., nearly the whole of which was from the Maoris. This money is independent of what has been given in other dioceses in

[Image of page 355]

New Zealand, in which not less than 1,300l. has been raised for the support of clergymen.

The experiment of a Maori Synod has also been tried successfully. The fourth meeting was held in January, 1865, at the native village of Te Kawakawa near East Cape. Arrangements had been made in 1863 for holding it at Tauranga, but this was prevented by the breaking out of the war. Much interest was shown by the natives when it was found that the constitution of the Synod gave the power of self government in many things to the members of the Church. The introduction of the lay element in the Colonial Synods has succeeded admirably, and it will be well for the Church at home when in this respect she follows the example of her offspring in the Colonies.