Project Canterbury

CONTENTS

I. CANNIBAL ISLANDS     5

II. GOOD NEWS FOR ALL PEOPLE     9

III. THE TWO BROTHERS     14

IV. A TAMED RACE     19

V. THE COLONY AND THE BISHOP     25

VI. THE CHURCH: BUILT IN TROUBLOUS TIMES     31

VII. WAR, APOSTASY, FIDELITY     37

VIII. AFTER THE FLOOD     44

IX. TWO CALLS TO THE CHURCH     51

X. THE NEW ZEALAND CHURCH MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION     56

 

APPENDICES

I. NEW ZEALAND CHURCH MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION: OFFICERS, ETC.     62

II. NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE N.Z.C.M.A.     65

III. TRIENNIAL REPORT OF THE N.Z.C.M.A. TO THE GENERAL SYNOD     74

IV.TWENTIETH ANNUAL CELEBRATIONS     75

V. BALANCE SHEET OF THE N.Z.C.M.A.     76

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

THE MARSDEN MEMORIAL AT OIHI, BAY OF ISLANDS     Frontispiece

AN EARLY MISSION SETTLEMHNT: PAIHIA. CHIEF TOHITAPU     9

PORTRAITS OF ARCHDEACON H. WILLIAMS, MRS. W. WILLIAMS, THE REVS. S. MARSDEN, R. TAYLOR, AND J. MATTHEWS     23

PORTRAITS OF BISHOPS G. A. SELWYN, W. WILLIAMS, O. HADFIELD, E. C. STUART, AND W. L. WILLIAMS     27

THE REV. C. S. VOLKNER AND HIS CHURCH AT OPOTIKI. THE MISSION HOUSE, KAIKOHE     37

PORTRAITS OF ARCHDEACON E. B. CLARKE, THE REVS. MOHI TUREI, RANIERA KAWHIA, MATIU TAUPAKI, T. S. GRACE, AND S. M. SPENCER     44

PORTRAITS OF ARCHDEACONS R. MAUNSELL AND A. N. BROWN, SIR W. MARTIN, THE REVS. T. CHAPMAN AND R. BURROWS     46

THE C.M.S. DEPUTATION TO AUSTRALASIA: DR. EUGENE STOCK AND THE REV. R. W. STEWART     56

 [5] THE STORY OF THE NEW ZEALAND MISSION

CHAPTER I

CANNIBAL ISLANDS

THE British Empire, in its world-wide extension, comprises, besides the British Isles and the great dependency of India and numerous Crown Colonies and Protectorates, four great self-governing Colonies or Dominions, viz., the Dominions of Canada and New Zealand, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Union of South Africa. The histories of the foundation and growth of these daughter nations are of profound interest; but in these pages we are only concerned with two of them, the Commonwealth and the Dominion of the Southern Seas.

Australia and New Zealand were both discovered by Dutch navigators in the seventeenth century. The former they named after their own country, and the latter after one of its provinces; but while in course of time the one name, New Holland, was dropped in favour of Australia, the other, New Zealand, has remained as a designation of one of the brightest of British possessions. Captain Cook, in the course of his great voyage (1768-71) in the interest partly of astronomical science and partly of British commerce, surveyed the coastline of the islands of New Zealand without altering the name given [5/6] them by the Dutch; but when he explored the east coast of New Holland, and saw in it a resemblance to the Welsh coast, he planted the British flag there and gave to that part of what proved to be a great continent the name of New South Wales.

Cook's reports led the British Government to determine on using the new possession as a penal settlement; and in 1787 a fleet of ships conveyed thither 750 convicts. Although, naturally, many of these belonged to the criminal classes, not a few were of quite a different character, and some even of superior position and education; for it must always be borne in mind that the penal laws of that day were so severe that minor offences were treated as gross crimes--a fact not without significance in view of the subsequent history of Australia. The settlement was fixed near Port Jackson, now the great inlet known as Sydney Harbour, and was familiarly called Botany Bay, from a neighbouring inlet so named by Cook, where the landing was effected.

Through the influence of William Wilberforce and his friend John Thornton, the Government were persuaded to send a chaplain with that first fleet of convicts. This was the Rev. Richard Johnson; and six years later, in 1793, an assistant chaplain was sent out, the Rev. Samuel Marsden, who eventually succeeded Johnson, and to whom both New South Wales and New Zealand owe a debt of gratitude never to be repaid. His post in the penal colony was not one to be envied. 'For many years,' writes Dean Jacobs, the historian of the Church of New Zealand,* [* Colonial Church Histories: New Zealand. By the Very Rev. H. Jacobs, D.D., Dean of Christchurch, N.Z.  S.P.C.K., 1883.] 'he carried on singlehanded a most determined struggle against the vilest imaginable iniquities, the grossest abuses of authority, and the most shameless licentiousness shielded by official influence. As a sure consequence, he provoked the virulent opposition of powerful and unscrupulous [6/7] adversaries--men interested in maintaining the abuses he exposed, who strove for years, though happily without success, to blacken his character and drive him from the Colony.' With this conflict, however, we have nothing to do. But while Marsden was faithfully doing his duty to God and man in New South Wales, and while he also did not neglect the Australian aborigines, his sympathies were especially drawn out towards the Maori race of New Zealand.

The Maori people are in many respects one of the finest of the aboriginal races with which Englishmen have come in contact. Copper-coloured as to their complexion and Malayo-Polynesian as to their language, they are entirely different from the black aborigines of Australia and Melanesia, and far superior to them intellectually. Their ancestral religion was animistic, and their chief thought was how to appease, or to overcome, the malignant spirits that, as they believed, always beset them. In their superstitions and traditions there was much of curious interest, especially the tapu custom (whence our taboo, or forbidden).

The adventurous traffic that sprang up in the South Seas in consequence of Cook's discoveries was marked by the violence and treachery towards the islanders by which the pioneers of so-called 'civilization' have so often disgraced the Christian name. But the Maoris, who suffered in this way as much as others, were a warlike and cannibal race, and their retaliation, when they got a chance of it, was such as might be expected. For instance, in 1809, the British ship Boyd was wrecked on the New Zealand coast, and the Maoris killed, and ate, captain and officers and crew. This was, in fact, in revenge for murders by white traders; and in its turn it was avenged by a party of whalers.

The first Maoris that Marsden saw were two men who were in 1800 brought by Captain King, governor of another penal settlement at Norfolk Island, to Port [7/8] Jackson, with a view to their giving hints on the cultivation of New Zealand flax. Subsequently others came over to New South Wales, and Marsden frequently received them at his own residence at Paramatta, putting up huts in his garden for their accommodation. There were awkward incidents now and then. On one occasion a lad died who was the nephew of a chief, and his uncle was about to kill a slave to attend his spirit in the unseen world. With great difficulty he was induced to defer it till Marsden, who was absent, came home; and then he had to give way to his host's protestations. One of the chiefs entertained in 1806 was a man of great intelligence named Te Pahi (in the old records 'Tippahee'), who begged for some one to be sent over to teach his countrymen what were then called 'the arts of life,' the simplest elements of civilization, agriculture, handicrafts, etc.

To respond to this call became the heart's desire of Samuel Marsden. Not, indeed, merely to teach the cannibal Maoris 'the arts of life.' He did believe, as most men then believed, that it was useless to preach the Gospel to barbarous peoples until they had first been to some small extent civilized; but at the same time he believed in the universality of God's message to mankind, and that every child of man had a right to hear of it. His real aim, then, was the spread of Christianity. He had had endless labour and trouble with the London Missionary Society's expeditions to the South Seas. Many of its agents had turned out badly, and all sorts of disappointments had been experienced. But when the L.M.S. directors proposed to abandon their enterprise, he earnestly deprecated such a step, and encouraged them to persevere; and we all know the great results in after years of their Island Missions. And now he was about to apply the same courage and faith to the evangelization of the Maori race.

An Early Mission Settlement: Paihia   Chief Tohitapu.

[9] CHAPTER II

GOOD NEWS FOR ALL PEOPLE

IN 1808 Samuel Marsden, for the first and only time during his forty-five years' career at the Antipodes, visited his native land. Since he first went out, a new Society for sending missionaries to the non-Christian world had been founded by a small band of Evangelical clergymen and laymen; and to this Society, which had not yet received the name it was presently to be known by, the Church Missionary Society, Marsden applied in behalf of the Maoris of New Zealand.

It is common among modern writers to represent the first decade of the nineteenth century as marked by a burst of missionary enthusiasm. There could not be a greater mistake. Foreign missions were in their infancy, and were feebly supported by a small minority of Christian people. The two Church Societies, the S.P.C.K. and the S.P.G., though both of them a century old, were at the lowest point of their fortunes, with incomes of a few hundreds a year; the former supporting a handful of German Lutheran missionaries in South India, and the latter providing a few clergymen for the colonists in Canada. Of the Nonconformist bodies, the Baptists had sent Carey and his colleagues to Bengal; the Congregationalists had begun what afterwards became great Missions in Polynesia and South Africa; the Wesleyans had made some unorganized efforts. The new Church Society, when Marsden appealed to it, had in ten years sent out just five men, German Lutherans, to West Africa, of whom three were still at work. No [9/10] English clergyman had yet gone definitely to the Heathen; but the S.P.G. clergy, though primarily sent for the colonists, did not neglect such natives as they could reach. Henry Martyn had gone to Bengal as a chaplain under the East India Company, direct missionary work there being forbidden.

Moreover, the whole cause of Missions was unpopular. Carey was sneered at as the 'consecrated cobbler'; in Parliament the utmost horror was expressed at the idea of disturbing the peace of the mild and virtuous Hindu; and the ablest prelate of the period, Bishop Horsley, publicly denied either the obligation to seek his conversion or the possibility of effecting it.

But the leaders of the ten-year-old Society with three German missionaries were men of faith and patience. They realized, as few in those days did, their possession of a tremendous blessing, in the knowledge of Christ as King and Saviour, which rightly belonged to all men, and ought not to be withheld from the most degraded and seemingly hopeless of barbarous peoples. Despised and disliked as they were, and barely tolerated by the authorities of the Church, they zealously laboured to make the good news of divine redemption known to the ignorant and the careless at home, and they were determined to do what they could, however little, to proclaim the same good news abroad. So they lent a willing ear to Marsden's appeal for the Maoris.

But they all shared in the prevalent opinion that uncivilized peoples must first be taught 'the arts of life.' They therefore did not feel themselves called to send missionaries to New Zealand in the first instance, even if they had any to send. But in fact Marsden, who shared their views, only asked for three mechanics; and these were provided, in the persons of William Hall, a joiner from Carlisle, John King, a shoemaker from Oxfordshire, and Thomas Kendall, a London schoolmaster who understood farming. It did not occur to [10/11] the Committee to give them any theological instruction; but Hall was sent to Hull to pick up some knowledge of shipbuilding and navigation, and King to a ropewalk to learn spinning, etc. A passage was obtained for these two, with some difficulty, in the transport ship Ann, by which Marsden was to return to Sydney, on condition of their lending a hand on the voyage when required. They were to have £20 a year for personal expenses, and to be provided with seeds, live stock and tools, and then to shift for themselves. They are never called 'missionaries' in the old Reports, but at first 'lay settlers,' and after some years 'teachers.' Kendall, who did not sail till later, is called 'schoolmaster' until his subsequent ordination.

The Committee's instructions to them are worth noting. The Society's object, it was said, was 'to introduce amongst the natives the knowledge of Christ; and in order to do this, the Arts of Civilized Life.' They were (1) to keep the Sabbath strictly; (2) to be regular in family worship; (3) to converse with the natives about sin and salvation when employed in planting, sowing, etc.; (4) to gather the children for instruction; (5) to be persistently industrious: 'if you indulge in idleness you will be ruined'; (6) to cultivate grain, and rear pigs and poultry, so as to be independent as regards food; (q) to give no presents to the natives, and to receive none; (8) to show the natives the advantage of industry by sending their handiwork (mats, etc.) to Port Jackson for sale; (g) on no account to be drawn into wars: 'tell them you are forbidden by the Chiefs who have sent you out.'

The Ann sailed in August, 1809, and reached Port Jackson in February, 1810. On the voyage one of those unexpected incidents occurred which in missionary history have so often displayed the particular providence of God. A poor, haggard Maori was found on board, who, after the strangest adventures and the most [11/12] barbarous treatment by English captains, had been brought to England and turned ashore to starve; and this Maori, whose name was Ruatara, proved to be a nephew of the chief Te Pahi, Marsden's protégé at Paramatta, and himself also a chief. On arriving at Port Jackson, a whaling-ship was found willing to take Ruatara and land him in New Zealand, and he was sent in her to ascertain the possibilities of settling the party there; but after a year's anxious waiting he appeared again at Paramatta, the whaling captain having left him destitute at Norfolk Island instead. Eventually, however, he did manage to reach his own people, who agreed to welcome the settlers.

But meanwhile, fresh difficulties had arisen. The wreck of the Boyd before mentioned, and the murder of the crew, with its ghastly sequel, had lately occurred; and this put an end to any immediate prospect of a settlement. Public opinion in New South Wales demanded, not the evangelization of the Maoris, but their extermination; and no ship would take Marsden over, while the governor refused him leave from his duties as chaplain. At length, after long delays, he himself purchased a small brig of 110 tons, the Active; and having with difficulty obtained permission to go, he embarked with his party, comprising the three men from England with their wives and children, half a dozen mechanics from Port Jackson, and Ruatara and other Maori chiefs who had come over with encouraging invitations. The strange condition of South Sea society at the time may be gathered from the composition of the crew of the Active: one Englishman, one Irishman, one Prussian, one Swede, one Norwegian, one American, one white Colonist, one Maori, two Tahitians and one Sandwich Islander!

It was now November, 1814. Five years and three months had elapsed since the Ann left England. Another year and three months were yet to pass before the [12/13] Society at home would hear of the settlement being founded. Patience had her perfect work in those days!

The voyage from Sydney to North Cape, the northern extremity of New Zealand, about 1,000 miles due east, is now done in four days by steamer. The present writer, in 1892, took the voyage in a coasting steamer of 1,500 tons, a great contrast to the splendid P. and O. liner in which he had come from England. But imagine a sailing-brig of 110 tons on those stormy seas, and its nearly three weeks' voyage!

The Bay of Islands, whither Marsden steered his little vessel, lies to the south of North Cape, on its eastern side. There he landed, and, despite Ruatara's warning, threw himself between two tribes just about to fight, and persuaded them to make peace. One of them, Ruatara's own tribe, welcomed him, and the Maoris crowded to see the horse, the bull, and the cows he had brought with him (in that brig!), having no experience of anything larger than a pig. A few days sufficed to make a hopeful start with the settlement; and on Christmas Day, 1814, the first public Christian service was held in New Zealand. 'A very solemn silence prevailed. I rose and began the service by singing the old Hundredth Psalm, and I felt my very soul melt within me when I viewed my congregation. After reading the service, I preached from St. Luke ii. 10, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."' Such is Marsden's simple account of one of the great historic scenes in the history of Missions--indeed one of the really great scenes in the history of the British Empire. For the very existence of the now flourishing Dominion of New Zealand is due to the faith and courage of Samuel Marsden in flinging himself among the ferocious natives of those cannibal islands. The Mission which he founded on Christmas Day, 1814, tamed the race; and then, in poured the colonists.

[14] CHAPTER III

THE TWO BROTHERS

MARSDEN returned to New South Wales after a stay of two months in New Zealand. Four years and a half passed away; and in 1819 he paid his second visit. The period had been to the settlers one of weariness, discouragement and danger. Ruatara was dead, and the loss of his friendly influence was keenly felt. Savagery of all kinds abounded; robberies were incessant; repeatedly was warning given at night that all would be murdered before morning. The hostility of the Maoris was fostered by the wicked treatment they were suffering from a band of escaped convicts who had settled on the opposite side of the Bay of Islands. But the hand of the Lord had protected the Mission; and Marsden was encouraged by what he saw. The 'arts of life' really seemed to be progressing. There were fields of wheat; there were horses and cattle; fruit-trees sent from Sydney were flourishing; blacksmiths' shops, saw-pits, rope-walks, were at work; and a boarding school was taming and teaching even the wild and volatile Maori children. In 1820 Marsden came for the third time, and stayed nine months, to the great advantage of the Mission.

But a darker period now ensued. Kendall, the most efficient of the settlers, came to England, bringing with him a great chief named Hongi. One good thing came of their visit: Professor Samuel Lee, the Oriental scholar who had been sent to Cambridge, and supported there by the Church Missionary Society, got from them the [14/15] materials for a Maori Grammar and Vocabulary, which became the basis of all subsequent translations. But it turned out that Hongi's chief object in coming was to obtain guns and gunpowder, and in order to get these he sold valuable presents given him, some of them from George IV.; and, still worse, Kendall proved to be his ally, and seemingly the instigator of his ambitious designs. Their return to New Zealand was the signal, not for peace and advance in civilization, but for war and massacre and cannibalism. The missionary settlers had been joined by others, both from England and from New South Wales, and some of these deserted to Kendall's party. Some had to be dismissed; others withdrew; the C.M.S. New Zealand Mission suffered in the same way as the L.M.S. Mission in Tahiti had suffered. Hall and King stood faithful; and the latter served forty-five years and died at his post.

At length came the two men--par nobile fratrum--who above all others deserve to be honoured as the leaders in the evangelization of New Zealand, Henry and William Williams. And not in its evangelization only. Their sons and daughters, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, have had, and have to this day, no small part in the general life of the Dominion. The Church especially has profited by them.

Henry Williams had been an officer in the Navy, and had served both in the war with France and in the short war of 1812 with the United States. Having been wounded, he was retired; and he then studied for the ministry, and was eventually ordained by the Bishop of London. His offer of service was gladly accepted by the C.M.S. Committee; and their Instructions on bidding him farewell showed that they had learned by experience the true relation of the 'arts of life' to the Gospel. Agriculture and handicrafts might open the door, but if civilization meant rum and guns and gunpowder, it was more likely to be an obstacle to [15/16] Christianity than an ally. Henry Williams's reply was just what one would expect from a naval officer. He should, he said, 'consider it a sacred duty to regard' the orders of the Committee 'as rigidly as he had done those of his senior officer,' and, referring to Mrs. Williams, he added, 'I beg to say that she does not accompany me merely as my wife, but as a fellow-helper in the work.' They sailed in August, 1822; and from the time of their arrival in New Zealand, the whole Mission improved. Marsden found Henry Williams a man after his own heart. He laboured forty-five years without once returning to England; and his wife fulfilled to the letter his promise on her behalf.

The other brother, William Williams, had been brought up to the medical profession, and had been assistant to a surgeon at Southwell; but on Henry's going forth as a missionary, he determined to follow him. He went to Oxford, took his degree, was ordained by the Bishop of London, and sailed with his young wife in July, 1825. The C.M.S. Committee, perhaps encouraged by the words that Henry had uttered about his wife three years before, specially addressed Mrs. William Williams, exhorting her to seek every opportunity of influencing the Maori women. 'You should rank,' they said, 'with those honourable women of old, who laboured with even Apostles in the Gospel.' In all missionary history, has any woman proved herself more worthy of this 'rank' than Jane Williams? She lived to see the whole Maori people under Christian instruction, and thousands baptized; to see her husband a Bishop, and to lay him to rest after a missionary career of fifty-three years; and then she outlived him eighteen years, and died in 1896, in her 96th year, honoured and revered by all.

The general outlook was now improving; yet real missionary work was still carried on with great difficulty. The natives and the little bands of reckless [16/17] adventurers were frequently in collision, and the missionaries often in peril. In 1827 a station established by the Wesleyans, who were now also in the country, was destroyed, and the missionaries there were compelled to leave. In the following year the great chief Hongi died. Cruel savage as he was, he had always befriended the missionaries, and when dying he exhorted his people to protect them. In the confusion that ensued upon his death they sent away all books, stores, etc., by a vessel just sailing for Sydney; but as for themselves and their wives and children, they resolved to cling to their posts to the last. Not a hair of their heads, however, was touched; and a token of growing influence was seen when two tribes engaged in war appealed to Henry Williams to arbitrate between them. He went to them, unarmed of course, hoisted a white flag between them, persuaded them to remain quiet till after the Ra-tapu (Sunday), and on the Monday succeeded in making what came to be known as the Peace of Hokianga, March 24, 1828.

Another of Henry Williams's achievements was in shipbuilding, in which his naval experience was assisted by the practical knowledge that Hall had gained at Hull, as before mentioned. His first vessel, the Herald, of fifty-five tons, was wrecked, but it was quickly replaced by another, and in both the active missionary made voyages up and down the coast, gaining influence over the natives wherever he went. He even sailed the first Herald to Sydney, and brought over in it his brother William and his wife when they arrived from England.

The patient labours of the missionaries were now beginning to tell upon the people. Many were putting themselves under regular Christian instruction, and abandoning both old superstitions and evil practices. It was of the greatest importance that the first to be baptized should be unmistakably true converts, and this made the missionaries anxiously cautious. But [17/18] on September 14, 1825, the first baptism took place, nearly eleven years after that first Christmas service. A chief named Ranji was dying, and as there could be no doubt as to the genuineness of his faith, he was solemnly admitted to the Church of Christ upon his death-bed. This was while William Williams and his wife were still on their voyage out; and it was an encouragement to them when they landed to hear of one convert having been enrolled. But the great ingathering was not yet. More than four years passed away before the next adult baptism.

The Mission soon needed reinforcement, and a succession of men went out, many of whose names have become household words in New Zealand. George Clarke had already gone in 1822, and Richard Davis in 1823. Clarke was afterwards appointed by Government Chief Protector of Aborigines, and became one of the first magistrates when the Colony was founded, and a member of the first Provincial Council. In 1823 W. G. Puckey, a Sydney man, joined, and laboured fifty-five years. In 1825 the Society sent out the very first student on the roll of Islington College, James Hamlin; and he was followed within a few years by Charles Baker, T. Chapman, J. Matthews and B. Y. Ashwell. All these went out as laymen, but Davis, Baker, Chapman, Matthews and Ashwell were afterwards ordained in New Zealand. Two others of the same period, Alfred Brown and G. A. Kissling (both afterwards Archdeacons), went out in English orders. Then, 1835-38, came three from the Universities, R. Maunsell from Dublin (also afterwards Archdeacon and chief translator of the Old Testament), R. Taylor from Cambridge, Octavius Hadfield from Oxford (afterwards Bishop), also R. Burrows from Islington. These were the chief men prior to 1840, and only two of them accomplished a service shorter than forty years. No other Mission in the world can show such a record.

[19] CHAPTER IV

A TAMED RACE

TAMED? Yes. Christianized? Partly so. It is true that there was backsliding, and a recrudescence of heathen savagery, in after years; but that does not alter the fact that during the ten years preceding the establishment of the Colony, New Zealand was almost everywhere at peace, and barbarous customs were rarely practised. For the subsequent troubles the Maoris were far less responsible than the land-grabbers who poured into the country. These remarks, it should be understood, apply almost exclusively to the North Island, in which the great bulk of the Maori race dwelt. There were but few Maoris in the South (strictly, Middle) Island, and circumstances there were quite different.

The change began soon after the arrival of William Williams. So far, the Mission had not extended beyond the extreme north of the Island; but at its earliest stations there were now regular services, and classes for learners and inquirers. In 1827 came the first fragments of the Scriptures in the Maori language, printed at Sydney, Gen. i.-iii., Exod. xx., St. Matt. v., St. John i., with the Lord's Prayer and some hymns. The people were now eager to learn to read, and were greatly excited at finding their own tongue reduced to writing. Some began to ask that their children might be baptized and brought up as Christians, though not feeling equal to taking the decisive step themselves; and in August, 1829, four children of a particularly fierce chief named Taiwhanga were publicly admitted to the Church. [19/20] But with the four, one English infant was baptized likewise, the son of William Williams. How little could it be foreseen that day that, sixty-six years after, that child would be consecrated third Bishop of Waiapu! And only six months later, on February 7, 1830, the first public baptismal service for adults was held in New Zealand; one of the candidates received into the Church being the father of the four children, Chief Taiwhanga himself, who received the name of Rawiri, the native form of David.

Progress was not continuous. Sometimes all looked bright; then Henry Williams would write, 'All is dark, dreary and dire confusion.' But a time of definite blessing soon ensued. It was manifest that the Spirit of God had come down upon the people. Conviction of sin was deep; repentance was genuine; faith, however feeble, was true. More books came from Sydney, containing Maori versions of portions of the Gospels and I Corinthians, and of the Prayer-book and Catechism, and were eagerly devoured. Within a few years William Williams completed the Maori New Testament and Prayer-book, and thousands of copies were printed and sold. Scenes are described in the letters of the period which anticipated the scenes in Uganda sixty years later. Indeed, the experiences of the two Missions are in many ways strikingly similar.

One point of resemblance is that spiritual blessing was immediately followed by extension of the work. New stations were planted in the Northern districts; then in the Hot Lakes district; then on the Waikato River; then on the Bay of Plenty. And, before the decade of the 'thirties was finished, William Williams was on the east coast, and Octavius Hadfield in the far south. Both these good men, long after, became Bishops in the territories respectively which they in the first instance entered as pioneer evangelists. But some of the extensions were due to the zeal of Maori [20/21] converts, many of whom showed real interest in spreading the faith to distant tribes. The detailed narratives, of travel, of the preaching of Christ, of the true conversion of souls, of the examples of Christian life, are interesting and moving to a degree never exceeded in the history of any Mission.

One illustration may be given of the strange way in which Christian influences spread through the country. In 1838 two young Maori chiefs appeared at the headquarters of the Mission, whither they had found their way from the far south. One of them, named Katu Te Rauparaha, was the son of a very great and warlike chief in the Otaki district, and he came to beg for teachers. How came he to do so? One of his tribe, named Ripahau, who had been taken to the north as a prisoner of war, and had been set free through the influence of the Mission and taught to read, returned to Otaki, and brought with him a torn copy of St. Luke's Gospel in Maori with prayers, not indeed received at the school, but taken from the body of a little Christian girl who had been killed. Katu asked him to read it to him, but Ripahau refused, saying it was a bad book, teaching men not to fight or drink rum or have two wives. Eventually, however, he did so, and also taught Katu and a cousin to read it themselves. Believing what they read to be true, and eager to know more, they secured, by the payment of some pigs and potatoes, a passage in a small vessel going north, and went straight to Henry Williams. Hadfield had just arrived from England, and he and H. Williams went south together. In a short time Katu and his cousin and Ripahau were baptized, with twenty others, and hundreds were inquiring the way of peace. Katu, by his baptismal name Tamihana (Thompson), became a zealous evangelist; and his old father, the mighty chief Rauparaha, professed Christianity before his death, though he was never baptized.

[22] But this is not all. H. Williams returned to the north by land, walking through a great part of the Island (some 400 miles); and on his way, at Wanganui, he found a young chief of another tribe, named Hipango, who had been awakened by a single leaf of the Church Catechism which he had picked up, and which contained the Ten Commandments. He had got (as in the other case) a Maori who had been at school to read to him; and he and his people had already cast away their images, and were worshipping the one God, keeping the seventh day, and obeying the other Commandments, without ever having seen a missionary. To his district went R. Taylor; and the young chief, baptized by the name of Hoani Wiremu (John Williams), became a fine Christian.

It is interesting to know that both Tamihana and Hoani Wiremu were afterwards brought to England, and lived for a while in Islington College. Tamihana one day picked up an old lady from Bath who was visiting the Principal, and who fell downstairs. She afterwards gave £1,000 in memory of the incident to found a station to be called 'Islington '--but not in New Zealand! It exists in Manitoba to-day. Hoani Wiremu was presented to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, having brought them presents from his tribe. He was described by the Principal (Mr. Childe) as 'a disciple of ripe experience and exemplary walk.' We shall meet him again by and by.

Three important visits were made to New Zealand at this period, the later 'thirties. First, H.M.S. Beagle, on its famous scientific voyage round the world, came to the Bay of Islands; and Charles Darwin, then a young naturalist, visited the mission station at Waimate. Viewing with admiration the external scene presented, he wrote:--

Native workmanship, taught by the missionaries, has effected the change. The lesson of the missionary is the enchanter's [22/23] wand. I thought the whole scene admirable. I took leave of the missionaries with feelings of high respect for their gentlemanlike, useful and upright characters. (Journal of Researches, etc., by Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S.)

Secondly, in 1838, Bishop Broughton, the first Bishop in Australia, went to New Zealand at the request of the Society,* [* In the Life of Bishop Selwyn it is said that Bishop Broughton offered to go, and that the Society hesitated. The contemporary documents are decisive the other way. The whole story is correctly given in the History of the C.M.S., vol: i. pp. 410-12.] to perform such episcopal functions as he found desirable, and to inspect the whole work. He confirmed many candidates, ordained Hadfield, and reported favourably on the stations he saw, while faithfully pointing out weak points and begging for a large increase of the staff.

Thirdly, but secondly in order. of time (1837)--came Samuel Marsden, for his seventh (and last) visit. (His other visits have been passed over.) At the age of 72, bowed down by bodily infirmities, he was carried in a litter from station to station in the north by Maori bearers who loved him, and then went on by sea to the east and the south. Wherever he went he was met by crowds of natives, who journeyed long distances to see the benefactor of their race. 'With paternal authority and affection, and with the solemnity of one who felt himself to be standing on the verge of eternity, he gave his parting benedictions to the missionaries and their converts' (C.M.S. Committee Minute). One night on deck he was talking to Mr. Alfred Brown about his old friends in England, Newton, Scott, Simeon, etc., whom he had left nearly half a century before, and about his wife recently taken from him, and looking up he exclaimed:--

Prepare me, Lord, for Thy right hand;
Then come the joyful day.

The 'joyful day 'was not long incoming. He returned [23/24] to Sydney after six months' absence, and on May 12, 1838, at Paramatta, the Apostle of New Zealand entered into rest.

It must be added, with reluctance and sadness, that about this time appeared a French Roman Catholic Mission, the agents of which at once set themselves to pervert the Maori Christians. They had two great advantages. They could truly say that they had no French land-grabbers behind them; and they could permit the retention of heathen usages which the English missionaries forbad. So they achieved a certain measure of success in carrying out, as in many other mission fields, the policy of working amongst Native Christians instead of among the Heathen.

[25] CHAPTER V

THE COLONY AND THE BISHOP

INTO the inviting Islands of New Zealand now poured the white settlers. Some were reckless adventurers, who came from many quarters, Australia, the United States, and even the Continent of Europe, and who settled near the mission stations, set up grog shops, and tempted the native women to sin. Others were respectable colonists, many of them emigrants under a new New Zealand Land Company, the chief agent of which was Colonel E. G. Wakefield. But even with these, as might indeed be expected, difficulties arose in their dealings with the natives about purchases of land. The Maoris were extremely reluctant to sell their landed possessions, all the more because by their tribal customs such property mostly belonged, not to individuals, but to families or clans. Small plots had already been sold to casual settlers, and the prices had naturally been absurdly low--a few axes, for instance--no one foreseeing the future of the country and the high value of land that would ensue on its colonization. But now there was general alarm at the advent of large numbers of colonists eager to possess land, and some of them not too ready to recognize native rights.

Among the early purchasers of land had been some of the missionaries; and it is important that this circumstance should be properly understood. In the case of tropical Missions, the children of missionaries are sent home to England for education, and by and by become absorbed in our home population, except such [25/26] as devote themselves to missionary service. But in New Zealand, with its great distance and uncertain communication, and with a fine climate and inviting country, they were not sent home, and the best course, obviously, was to put them 'on the land.' Trades and professions had little opening in the early days, but vast stretches of uncleared land invited the industrious farmer; and small areas were purchased accordingly. In the sequel, the sons and grandsons of the missionaries (except the few who came into the service of the Mission) became one of the most important and useful sections of the community. Meanwhile some reproach fell upon the missionaries for having obtained land so cheaply from the natives. In point of fact, 'it was proved upon inquiry that they gave more than thirteen times as much as the Government agents gave at a later period, when land had grown in value, and no less than eighty times as much as was given by the New Zealand Company.' [Dean Jacobs, Church History of New Zealand, p. 142.] It is needless to say more.

It presently became evident that the only way to preserve law and order in New Zealand, and to secure reasonable justice, was to annex the whole country in the name of the British Crown, and put in a regular government. Accordingly, in 1839, Captain Hobson, R.N., was sent out to negotiate with the Maori chiefs for the establishment of the Queen's supremacy over them. This step was welcomed by the missionaries, for the sake of the Maoris themselves; but the chiefs were doubtful, and gave a ready ear to the whispers of the French priests warning them against surrendering their liberty. Henry Williams, however, used all his great influence to reassure them, and on February 6, 1840, forty-six chiefs signed the famous Treaty of Waitangi, which (1) ceded to the Queen full sovereignty; (2) guaranteed the territorial rights of the tribes, the Crown reserving the right of pre-emption; (3) gave the [26/27] natives the status of British subjects. Four hundred other chiefs joined subsequently, yielding to Williams's persuasions as he travelled from village to village all over the country. If that Treaty had been always loyally observed by the British, the sad wars and fightings of after years would have been avoided.            '

The establishment of the Colony made possible the provision of a bishopric. The Church Missionary Society had in vain tried to get one before. Not only had the Committee invited Bishop Broughton to visit the Mission, as we have seen; they had also (1839) urged the appointment of a resident Bishop upon both the Government and the Archbishop of Canterbury; but Lord John Russell, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, declined to allow one to be sent beyond the Queen's dominions. The moment news was received of the proclamation of the royal sovereignty in New Zealand, they again urged the matter, and offered £600 a year towards the episcopal stipend, which settled the question. Bishop Blomfield, of London, now came forward with his great scheme for extending the Episcopate abroad, and the Colonial Bishoprics Fund was inaugurated at a memorable public meeting on April 27, 1841, at which one of the speakers was Lord Chichester, President of the C.M.S. That Fund started many bishoprics, but the one for New Zealand was already arranged. [This brief recital of actual facts refutes the common error, given currency in the Life of Selwyn, that the C.M.S. was opposed to the bishopric.]

But who should be the first Bishop? The choice fell upon one whose name will be honoured for all time as--with all his faults, and he had faults--one of the greatest Bishops in the whole history of the Church. George Augustus Selwyn was a brilliant Etonian and Johnian, a schoolfellow and intimate friend of W. E. Gladstone. 'He was always first in everything,' wrote another schoolfellow, Bishop Harold Browne, long [27/28] afterwards; 'and no one ever knew him without admiring and loving him.' At Cambridge he was second classic of his year, and he rowed in the Eight on the first occasion of the Inter-University Boat Race. He regarded himself as a subaltern in the Church's army, bound to go wherever his commanding officer sent him; and he obeyed the call to the bishopric as he would have obeyed any other call from the heads of the Church. He was consecrated on October 17, 1841. Although the C.M.S. Committee had not been consulted as to the appointment, they gave him a warm welcome, promised hearty co-operation, and wrote out to the brethren in New Zealand exhorting them to receive him with loyal confidence.

Selwyn landed at Auckland, the infant capital of the new Colony, on May 30, 1842. On Sunday, June 5, he preached in the court-house, for lack of a church, on Psalm cxxxix. 9, 'If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy Hand lead me '; and on the same day, to the astonishment of all, he conducted a service in the Maori tongue, so quickly had he learned it while on his, voyage out. He speedily won all hearts; and the satisfaction was by no means on one side only. On June 25, having already visited some of the mission stations, he preached a sermon in which he used these never-to-be-forgotten words:--

Christ has blessed the work of His ministers in a wonderful way. We see here a whole nation of Pagans converted to the faith. . . . A few faithful men, by the power of the Spirit of God, have been the means of adding another Christian people to the family of God. . . . Where will you find, throughout the Christian world, more signal manifestations of the presence of the Spirit, or more living evidences of the Kingdom of Christ?* [* This testimony is not given in the Life of Selwyn. He was a great bishop; but a work should not be attributed to him which was done before he went out.]

[29] Selwyn travelled all over the country, either on foot, or coasting in miserable trading schooners. 'He has laboured hard,' wrote Henry Williams, 'and set us a noble example. He does the work of the best two missionaries I have ever known.' His very first visitation, in 1842-3, lasted six months, in which he travelled 762 miles on foot, 86 on horseback, 249 in canoes or boats, and 1,180 in ships; total, 2,277 miles. He found over 30,000 Maoris at public worship; he noticed the eagerness of the people to read the Scriptures, and their ability to read the print upside down, a result of their sitting in a circle with the open book lying in the centre (another point of likeness between New Zealand and Uganda); he delighted to be awakened in the early morning by the hymn-singing in adjoining tents; he wrote, 'I have never felt the full blessing of the Lord's Day, as a day of rest, more than in New Zealand.'

It was inevitable, however, that differences should arise between a young bishop who had caught the new spirit of the rising Oxford School and a band of men brought up on older lines, and long out of touch with England. It was natural that the Maori Christians, in the simplicity of a religion whose ecclesiastical correctness did not go beyond Sunday observance and the regular use of the Prayer-book in its plainer outlines, should fail, as was said, 'to understand the Bishop's fast days and saints' days'--which, after all, he only observed in loyalty to the same Prayer-book. But the main difficulties were more important than these. The Bishop, naturally with his ideas of order and obedience, expected to send the missionaries about and locate them where he pleased; and he declined to ordain the laymen who were necessarily doing clerical work unless they would go where he bade them. This was objected to as contrary to the accepted practice in every other Mission; but eventually the power of location was committed to a Council of which the Bishop was [29/30] chairman. Then, although he ordained some of the lay agents to the diaconate, he would not give them priests' orders unless they passed an examination which men could not face who were only catechists or schoolmasters, and who knew more of Maori than of Latin or Greek; and the result inevitably was that, with the small clerical staff and the widely scattered stations, congregations remained for months without the Holy Communion. The same desire, laudable in itself, to maintain the standard of learning for the ministry, prevented the Bishop from ordaining Maoris. He was ten years in New Zealand before admitting an English deacon to priests' orders; eleven years before ordaining the first Maori deacon; twenty-four years before giving a Maori priests' orders, notwithstanding appeals from both the missionaries and the C.M.S. Committee at home.* [* It is necessary to state these facts, because the Life of Selwyn gives a quite incorrect impression.]

But these were honest differences of opinion. All the while, Selwyn remained the zealous and indefatigable bishop, and, at the risk of his own popularity, the resolute defender of the Mission and the missionaries against the hostility of too many of the colonists. His real trouble came from these. 'The greatest difficulty I have to contend with,' he wrote, 'is the influence of the immoral English living in the land'; and, 'Do not be deeply affected by the report of my unpopularity: the real subject of grief is the injury done to religion by un-Christian feelings and language.'

[31] CHAPTER VI

THE CHURCH: BUILT IN TROUBLOUS TIMES

BISHOP SELWYN was not the evangelist of New Zealand, but he was the organizer of the Church. This work, and the foundation of the Melanesian Mission, are his great titles to thankful remembrance, in addition to the nobility of his character. With the wonderful Island Mission identified for ever with his name and that of Patteson, this little book is not directly concerned; but the organization of the Church of New Zealand demands attention.

Before, however, we view Selwyn's achievement in this direction, let us notice the environment in which he worked. The friction between colonists and natives was continually increasing, and every now and then local fighting took place, the most important (prior to 1860) being 'Heke's War,' in the northern district, in 1845. But in this as in many other cases, the Maoris gave striking evidence of the degree in which Christianity was influencing them. When they captured a small coast town, Kororareka, they sent back two English officers who were prisoners unhurt; they let the inhabitants take away their property before burning the place; they helped the wounded and the women and children to embark; they set guards to protect the mission houses; they buried the slain properly. They were eventually defeated through the English troops attacking their pah (native enclosure) on a Sunday while they were at public worship; and even this defeat was partly due to the help of other tribes having been averted by the influence of Henry Williams.

[32] That influence, however, led hastily-judging colonists to look on Williams as a pro-Maori (as indeed he was), and therefore as an enemy. One naval officer called him 'Traitor' to his face, when he met him actually conveying the wounded captain to the ship in a boat, at the risk of his own life; and when that officer was afterwards killed in an affray, Williams, again at great personal risk, went to the Maori pah to recover his body, and being forbidden to take it, cut off a lock of the dead man's hair to send to his friends. Governor Fitzroy, who had succeeded Hobson, indignantly repudiated the charges of treachery indulged in by some against Williams, characterizing him as 'the tried, the proved, the loyal, the indefatigable.' He and his brethren had, in fact, saved the Colony from destruction.

Fitzroy was an excellent man, who strove hard for justice and peace. But a change of government in England (1846) led to an unhappy change of policy in New Zealand; and Captain (afterwards Sir) George Grey was sent out to supersede Fitzroy and practically tear up the Treaty of Waitangi, which the partizans of the New Zealand Company called 'a device to amuse savages.' Grey in after years became an admirable Governor, and his high reputation is quite just; but he had at first to carry out a disastrous policy, and he made some grave mistakes on his own account. The Chief Justice, the Bishop, the missionaries, all protested, and Grey had to drop some of his plans and let part of his instructions lie dormant. But he attacked Henry Williams on the land question, and sent to England a 'secret dispatch' containing grave charges against him. A long and painful controversy ensued, in which even Selwyn partly sided with the Governor; and at length the C.M.S. Committee, utterly perplexed, but misled as to facts, and anxious to defer to the Colonial Office, dissolved connexion with Henry Williams. Four years later, sorrowfully acknowledging the mistake, they [32/33] reinstated him at the personal request of Grey himself and the Bishop. Truly these were 'troublous times'!

Meanwhile on the east coast, where. there were few settlers, the work under William Williams was progressing satisfactorily, and good fruit being gathered. But in the south, where the new city of Wellington was being built by the colonists of the Land Company, the difficulties were as serious as in the north; and here Hadfield, the leading missionary, was equally suspected and equally unpopular. Yet he, too, through his influence with the Maoris of that district, was instrumental in saving the settlement and settlers from certain destruction. In R. Taylor's district, Wanganui, also in the south, there were striking illustrations of the genuineness of Maori Christianity. At Christmas, 1846, at a gathering of 2,000 converts, two chiefs volunteered to carry the Gospel to a hostile and still heathen tribe. They went and were cruelly murdered; and their places were quickly taken by two others, who were happily spared. At Christmas, 1848, horse-races took place at Wanganui, attended by 700 white men; but where were the absent Maoris? They were at church, 2,000 of them, and 710 received the Holy Communion. At the English church the same day, there were fifteen communicants.

But all the while, Church organization was going on. Selwyn had brought out with him a few clergymen and students for the colonial work, and he had ordained as deacons some of the C.M.S. lay agents, as before mentioned. He had also appointed Henry and William Williams and Alfred Brown to be Archdeacons respectively of Waimate, Waiapu and Tauranga. Then, in 1844, he summoned an informal synod of the clergy to discuss questions of Church discipline, sponsors in baptism, the treatment of polygamists, etc.; and in 1847 another, at which he delivered an important charge. His purpose was to get the Church in New [33/34] Zealand to manage its own affairs; but this was not so easy a thing to secure as it would be now.

All Colonial branches of the Church of England up to that time were, in effect, governed by the British Crown, or in other words by the Secretary of State for the Colonies. To this Selwyn objected. The advantages in England of an Established Church could not be really enjoyed in the Colonies, and that being so, he did not see why he should cling to whatever disadvantages the system might involve. Ecclesiastical lawyers in England dreaded the substitution for it of episcopal autocracy; but this was exactly what he wished to avoid. As things were, in a country thousands of miles from England, there seemed no middle course between the unchecked authority of the bishop and a liberty which left every man free to do that which was right in his own eyes; and Selwyn's object was to find an acceptable middle course. This, he urged, could be found in the formation of synods of clergy and laity, which, guided by careful rules embodied in a regular Church constitution, would administer the affairs of the Church. All this is very elementary and obvious now. The Church in the great self-governing Dominions, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, is governed in this way, with variations in detail; just as are the Irish, Scottish Episcopal and American Churches. But there were long and vehement controversies before a settlement was arrived at. Only gradually was Gladstone's counsel seen to be sound, that local Churches should 'organize themselves on that basis of voluntary consensual compact which was the basis on which the Church of Christ rested from the first.' At length, however, the principle was confirmed by the highest Ecclesiastical Court in England, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, in 1863, in these memorable words:--

The Church of England, in places where there is no Church [34/35] established by law, is in the same situation with any other religious body, in no better but in no worse position; and the members may adopt, as the members of any other Communion may adopt, rules for enforcing discipline within their body, which will be binding on those who, expressly or by implication, have assented to them.

It is needless even to summarize the steps by which Selwyn eventually succeeded in building up the Church on these lines. The Church Missionary Society, guided by its lawyers, at first objected to the missionaries being included in any such scheme, for fear of their losing their legal position in the Home Church; but presently wiser counsels prevailed, and in 1854 the Committee decided that there was 'every reason why they should identify themselves with the rising Church.' They further agreed to apply the proceeds of the Society's lands to the endowment of bishoprics, or to 'other objects of permanent benefit to the natives'--who, of course, were the main objects of the Society's care.

The Constitution for the Church was drafted at a Conference in 1857; and the first General Synod met at Wellington in 1859. By this time there was a large and settled white population, not only in the North Island, in which was the Maori Mission, but also in the Middle or South Island. The Colony in the province of Canterbury, the central part of the Middle Island, was an important section of the whole. It had been founded in 1850 by a large party of settlers sent out under the auspices of Lord Lyttelton, Mr. Gladstone and other leading English Churchmen, to form a definitely Anglican Colony. Its capital was named Christchurch after the old town and priory of that name in Hampshire, and the river on whose banks the new city was built was similarly called the Avon; while the origin of the names Canterbury and Lyttelton is obvious. Christchurch became the seat of a new bishopric in 1856, to which Dr. Harper was appointed; and two other dioceses, Wellington and Nelson, received Bishops [35/36] Abraham and Hobhouse. Four bishops, therefore, met for the Synod of 1859; and a fifth was consecrated during its session for Waiapu, the eastern district of the North Island. The other bishops had all been consecrated in England; and the consecration of this fifth one at Wellington was a public token of the autonomy of the Church of New Zealand. The man chosen was William Williams, who had been the apostle of that district. Hadfield had been fixed on by Selwyn for one See, but he had declined, and it was not till 1870 that he became Bishop of Wellington.

Two Maori deacons had been ordained by Bishop Selwyn before the Synod of 1859; but progress was now more rapid. In the next ten years he admitted seven others, and 'priested' two; and Bishop Williams ordained seven deacons, and 'priested' two. The difference of language prevented them from joining the Synods; but in 1861 Bishop Williams held a Diocesan Synod for Waiapu, conducted entirely in the Maori language, and attended by three English and three Maori clergymen and seventeen Maori lay delegates. In the next Annual Report of the C.M.S. Henry Venn wrote:--

The missionary who twenty-five years ago first carried the message of the Gospel to the eastern division of the Northern Island has been preserved to rejoice in its complete triumph.
In 1840, Mr. Williams was the solitary missionary there. In 1861 he presided as Bishop over a Synod of the Native Church, surrounded by his native clergy and laity, and with his own son, in the flesh and in the Gospel, born on the spot, as his Assessor. Such an instance of signal blessing upon the labours of a faithful missionary can scarcely be paralleled in modem
times.

That 'son in the flesh' was the infant baptized with the first Maori children in 1829; and, in 1894, he became himself the Bishop of that diocese.

Rev. C. S. Volkner           The Mission House, Kaikohe
The Rev. C. S. Volkner's Church at Opotiki.

[37] CHAPTER VII

WAR, APOSTASY, FIDELITY

IN 1853 Christianity seemed to have achieved its final victory over Maori Paganism. On February 20, Henry Williams baptized a chief who had been the most steadfast upholder of the old superstitions; and his whole tribe followed him in casting them off. No doubt there was much latent Heathenism still; but outwardly the whole Maori people were at least adherents of either the Anglican, the Wesleyan, or the French Roman Mission. But the victory, as we shall see, was neither complete nor lasting.

Until 1853, New Zealand was a Crown Colony, and, therefore, under the direct rule of the Colonial Office, through the appointed Governor. But in that year the young Colony was invested by the British Parliament with powers of self-government, and representative institutions were set on foot. The Governor was no longer responsible only to Downing Street; he had to be guided by a local ministry dependent on the votes of the legislature; although some supervision was, for a time, still exercised from home. This in itself was not only inevitable, but right. One result, however, was to put the whole country, including the interests of the Maoris, into the power of the colonists. At the present day, the white community of New Zealand, as in Australia and Canada, can be fully trusted to show justice, and even generosity, to the remnants of the aboriginal tribes dispossessed to a large extent of their lands. But the whole position was different half a [37/38] century ago. Many men in the new legislature thought that the sooner the Maori disappeared from the earth the better, and that the Treaty of Waitangi was more to be honoured in its breach than in its observance. One lawyer gravely proposed that when 'the savages were entirely subjugated,' the males should be sent to Australia 'to serve as slaves for seven years,' and the females be 'carried away and dispersed as wives for the Chinese and for well-conducted white convicts.' Bishop Selwyn was ashamed to travel with the Maori clergymen, because, although they 'sat at his own table and behaved as gentlemen,' he 'could not take them with him into public rooms where a drunken carter with a white skin would have been admitted.' The Chief Justice, Sir William Martin, and Mr. J. E. Gorst (afterwards Educational Minister in the Conservative Government in England), constantly pleaded for just dealings with the natives, but only achieved unpopularity thereby.

The personnel of the rulers, both the Governor and the ministers, naturally affected the position. When Sir William Fox was Premier, things were better; and the return of Sir George Grey for a second period as Governor in 1861 was welcomed by all except the extreme party. But it was then too late to avoid the sad war which had already begun.

The Maoris knew one book, the Bible, and they were wont to apply its words to current circumstances in the most unexpected way. 'We have heard,' they said, 'of Japhet's dwelling in the tents of Shem; and we opened our doors and said, "Come in, Japhet." But now Japhet says, "Get out, Shem."' And now the Maori 'Shem' took Israel in Samuel's day as their example. 'Nay,' they said, 'but we will have a king over us.' This was not in the least meant as a revolt against the Queen of England. It only meant the combining of the various tribes, hitherto mutually [38/39] independent and not always friendly, in one compact body. 'Japhet' had the Governor and his ministers; let 'Shem' have a king; and let both acknowledge 'Good Lady Victoria' as ultimately supreme. The leading chiefs were dubious as to the wisdom of this step; but although the French Roman missionaries were using their utmost influence to fan the discontent, the leader of the movement, Wiremu Tamihana Tarapipipi, remained thoroughly loyal; and when the Waikato chief was elected king with the name of Potatau, the Union Jack and the new King's flag (a cross and three stars) waved side by side.

But although the 'King movement' did not cause the war of 1860-65, yet when hostilities began, it naturally tended to give cohesion to the revolt. The origin of the war was a land dispute on the west coast. Tamihana, the 'king-maker,' proposed to the Governor that both parties should withdraw from the territory in question, and refer the matter to the Privy Council in England; but this sensible advice was rejected. Then came Sir George Grey, with his conciliatory policy, and at first things looked hopeful; but the Maoris were suspicious because there were now 10,000 British troops in the country, and owing to an unhappy misunderstanding they resisted the occupation of a certain piece of land. Thereupon General Cameron and a large British force moved forward--on a Sunday again!--and desperate fighting ensued. The British, of course, were always the stronger, but they were not used to bush fighting, and sometimes failed in their assaults on the Maori pahs; and this naturally did not make for peace.

Even now, a large part of the Maori people held aloof from the conflict. The settled congregations in the far north, under Henry Williams, and on the east coast under William Williams, remained quiet; while in the south-west the tribes under the influence of [39/40] Hadfield and Taylor actually fought against the insurgents. Twice Sir George Grey proposed holding out an olive-branch, but his ministers refused, and on the contrary decreed the confiscation of territories partly owned by Maoris who had remained quiet, despite the protest of the Chief Justice, Sir William Martin. Presently, however, in 1864, a change in the ministry produced a change of policy; .the greater part of the insurgents laid down their arms; and war practically ceased.

But a new cause of strife now ensued. There arose among the Maoris the Pai Marire or Hau-hau movement, inspired by strange superstitions combining fragments of old Paganism with, alas! new Romanism. The Angel Gabriel, it was said, had appeared to a Maori prophet, and ordered the repudiation of English teachers, the burning of Bibles and the adoption of 'the religion of Mary.' These ideas spread with amazing rapidity, and led to a revival of desultory warfare and not a few outrages. Worst of all, the Hau-haus, angry with a German C.M.S. missionary, C. S. Völkner, for reporting to the Government the fact that their letters to the tribe he was living with were being carried by a Roman priest, seized him, hanged him and mutilated his remains (March 7, 1865). From Opotiki, the scene of this tragedy, they went on to the east coast and destroyed Bishop Williams's station.

Naturally a great sensation was caused by the murder of Völkner, and many homilies on the 'failure of Missions' appeared in the English newspapers. 'Behold,' exclaimed the Times, 'the measure of the depth to which this much-talked-of Christianity has penetrated!' It is quite true that New Zealand, once the occasion of unbounded thankfulness, was now a grief and a distress to Christian people generally. Not so much, indeed, because of Völkner's murder: that was an isolated act of fanatics; but because of the widely-spreading [40/41] apostasy from the truth. 'The Hau-hau superstition,' wrote Selwyn, 'is simply the expression of an utter loss of faith in everything that is English. The wonder is that the whole people did not become Romanists.'

But the cloud had a silver lining. There was really much more cause for thankfulness than was generally recognized. Even the Maoris in revolt showed 'the measure of the depth of their Christianity' in ways very different from the sense in which the Times used the phrase. Here is one illustration. A chief named Henare (Henry) Taratoa was in command of the Maoris at the famous 'Gate Pah,' where the British troops met with their most serious repulse, and where twenty officers fell. The officers had got inside the pah, but were deserted by their men, and remained, dead or wounded, in the midst of the Maoris. Henare himself carefully tended the wounded all night, at the peril of his life. The dying English Colonel asked for water, but there was none in the pah. Henare crept out, cautiously felt his way in the darkness to a place within the English lines where there was some, dodged the sentries, and filled a calabash with water and brought it in; but as he crept back he was shot at and wounded. Next day the British attacked again, and captured the pah, killing the Maoris who fought desperately to the last. The wounded Henare fell with the rest; and on his body were found the 'orders of the day' for the fight, which began with a prayer, and ended with the words, in Maori, 'If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink.' Thousands in England who were shocked by the murder of Völkner never heard of that!--but, long after, Bishop Selwyn put a window in the chapel of the episcopal palace at Lichfield, representing David pouring out the water fetched by his three mighty men from the well of Bethlehem--in memory of Henare.

This was the case of a Christian chief fighting against [41/42] us. But in the south-west the chief Hoani Wiremu Hipango (before mentioned) fought for us. When the Hau-haus came into that district and threatened to destroy the town of Wanganui, he took command of the loyal Maoris to resist them. They sent four men to lie in ambush and kill him; he caught them, fed them, and sent them back unhurt. The next night ten men were sent for the same purpose: they too were caught, and they too were released. 'I will not,' said Hipango, 'be the first to shed blood.' Next day, February 23, 1865, they openly attached his little band. They were completely defeated, and their chief captured; but in the moment of victory Hipango fell mortally wounded. He was buried with military honours, white men carrying their deliverer's body to the grave, and all the English officers following. The date of his death, it will be seen, was exactly one week before Völkner's: should not both be equally remembered?

Many other deaths of faithful Christian Maoris, not in battle, but not less touching, were reported from time to time. No more remarkable figure appeared among them than Wiremu Tamihana Tarapipipi, the 'king-maker' before mentioned. The son of a cruel cannibal chief, he was himself a gentle Christian, a diligent teacher of his people, a firm lover of peace. He resisted every inducement to join the revolt until that fatal Sunday when Sir George Grey, overborne by his advisers, permitted the British forces to cross the river. 'Now,' said Tamihana, 'I am absolved: it is a defensive war.' Yet again and again he tried to restore peace, advocating submission on the one side and pleading for considerate terms on the other. When the Hau-haus murdered Völkner, he instantly separated himself and gave himself up to the Governor, who received him with great honour. He went back to his people, but took no further part in public affairs, and died in the following year, reading his Bible to the last. His final words to [42/43] his tribe were, 'Stand by the Government and the law; if there is evil in the land, the law will make it right.'

Scores of illustrations might be given of the nobility of the Maori character, especially when inspired by the love of God. Let only one other fact be mentioned. Not one of the Maori clergy failed in the hour of trial. One of them was brought to trial for alleged disloyalty. The judges severely censured the accuser, and said 'The Rev. Heta Tarawhiti leaves this Court with his name untainted as a loyal subject of Her Majesty, and with his character high in our estimation as a good and courageous clergyman.'

[44] CHAPTER VIII

AFTER THE FLOOD

NEW ZEALAND gradually quieted down. In the central districts missionary work was suspended altogether. The old King Movement and Hau-hauism, now practically united, kept the still disaffected Maoris in the forests and mountains, something like the Highlanders in old times, not interfered with by the Government, but holding aloof from the life of the Colony, and allowing no white man to pass through their country, though the Rev. Heta Tarawhiti, the excellent clergyman mentioned in the preceding chapter, was suffered to visit them now and then. Meanwhile the congregations in the far north, and on the east coast, and in the south-west, continued outwardly faithful, and maintained their own churches, etc.; but there was little of the old fervour among them. Many were affected by evils accompanying increasing trade and consequent pecuniary gain; and the white man's drink-shops proved the ruin of not a few.

In the year 1867 New Zealand lost the two greatest of its English benefactors, Archdeacon Henry Williams and Bishop Selwyn. Williams, as his age and infirmities increased, built himself another small vessel, to save him the fatigues of overland travelling, the villages on his long northern promontory being mostly on the coast; and he named it the Rainbow, 'in memory of God's mercy and promise after the destroying flood.' In June of that year, a strange thing happened among his peaceful people. A local dispute between two tribes [44/45] caused a sudden burst of excitement, and on July 16, after a stormy meeting, it was agreed to fight it out next day in open battle. That night the word went round both camps, 'Te Wiremu is dead!' The Archdeacon had been weak for some days, and now he had suddenly fainted, and died in a few minutes. The Maoris were paralyzed; a truce was at once proclaimed; and the chiefs on both sides came forward to carry their revered friend and teacher to his grave. When the tribes met on the battlefield, one of the chiefs took out his Maori Testament, and read several texts, concluding with, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.' Then they all knelt down in prayer; then they performed their war-dance, with every demonstration of mutual defiance; then they knelt in prayer again; then they made speeches 'for several hours,' and lastly each side made peace offerings to each other. In all Church history has there been a more moving scene?

A few years passed away, and then the Maoris, headed by the Rev. Matiu Taupaki, and declining any help from white men, raised £200 and put up a great stone cross, with this inscription: 'In loving memory of Henry Williams, forty-four years a preacher of the Gospel of Peace, a father of the tribes. This monument is raised by the Maori Church. He came to us in 1823. He was taken from us in 1867.' When it was unveiled, in 1876, one of the aged men present was the second Maori convert, Rawiri Taiwhanga, the once ferocious cannibal, baptized by Henry Williams himself forty-six years before!

In the same month that Williams died, Bishop Selwyn sailed for England, not to retire, but to attend the first Lambeth Conference of Bishops. A few weeks after that Conference, Bishop Lonsdale of Lichfield died; and Selwyn was appointed to succeed him. He said 'No,' decisively; but Archbishop Longley insisted [45/46] on it, and Selwyn yielded, on the same principle of exact obedience which had first taken him to New Zealand. He went back to set things in order and bid farewell to the Church he had organized; and he left the Colony finally amid every demonstration of affection and gratitude, alike of colonist and of Maori.

It is fitting that there has been only one 'Bishop of New Zealand.' The title belongs to Selwyn, and to Selwyn only. His original diocese was already divided into five, and his successor, Bishop Cowie, became 'Bishop of Auckland.'

Most of the old veterans who had preceded Selwyn to New Zealand were still at work in the early 'seventies. R. Taylor died in 1873 (37 years), Baker in 1875 (48 years), Chapman in 1876 (46 years), Puckey in 1878 (54 years). Bishop W. Williams in 1878 (53 years), Ashwell in 1883 (50 years), Archdeacon Brown in 1884 (55 years), Matthews survived till 1892 (61 years), Archdeacon Maunsell till 1894 (59 years), Burrows till 1897 (58 years), Bishop Hadfield till 1904 (66 years). Two other veterans must be mentioned, whose date of arrival had been but little later, Grace, who died in 1879 (30 years), and Spencer, who survived till 1898 (57 years). Many of the wives or widows might well be also mentioned, for the love they had inspired in the Maoris was again and again manifested at their funerals. Mrs. George Clarke desired on her death-bed that the service should be conducted in the Maori language by a Maori clergyman. 'I left my home,' she said, 'for the good of the natives; I have spent my life among them; let them bury me.'

Meanwhile the missionaries' sons, mostly born in the country, had become veterans, and were rendering great service. Among these were Samuel Williams, son of Archdeacon Henry, and Leonard Williams, son of Bishop William Williams, who both also became Archdeacons later, and the latter a Bishop; and E. B. Clarke, son of [46/47] George Clarke, also an Archdeacon; and B. K. Taylor, and George Maunsell. In still later years, three Williamses of the third generation became excellent members of the Mission; and the names of Baker and Grace and Spencer also reappeared. Some of these, though born in New Zealand, had been educated in England, and went out with Oxford or Cambridge degrees. For many years the Church Missionary Society sent out no other new men; but in response to earnest appeals, two were sent in 1878, J. S. Hill and W. Goodyear (the former afterwards Bishop in West Africa); and in the same year an experienced schoolmaster who had served in India, John Thornton, became headmaster of an important college for the sons of chiefs at Te Aute, the station of Archdeacon Samuel Williams.

Another very important recruit came from India. In 1874, E. C. Stuart, who had been Secretary of the Church Missionary Society at Calcutta, went to New Zealand for his health, and remained there, becoming a valuable helper and adviser. On March 25, 1876, Bishop W. Williams had a paralytic stroke--the exact fiftieth anniversary of his landing in New Zealand. He at once resigned the Bishopric of Waiapu, although he lived for two years further; and the Diocese, having the power of election under the constitution of the Church, chose Stuart to be his successor. He was consecrated on December 9, 1877, just twelve days before his old comrade, T. Valpy French, with whom he had gone out to India in 1850, was consecrated first Bishop of Lahore.

Meanwhile the Maori clergy were added to almost year by year; and by the close of the century no less than sixty-nine of that once fierce and cannibal race had been admitted to the ministry of the Church. The first who was ordained, Rota Waitoa (1855), died in 1866. He was a great favourite of Selwyn's, and often accompanied him on his travels. Lady Martin, wife [47/48] of the Chief justice, in her Our Maoris, gives a pleasant account of him. An old Scotchwoman said of him, 'He was a gude mon, was Mr. Rota, a gude mon. I never knew a better mon.' Then, 'as a climax,' says Lady Martin, she added, 'I never knew a better Scotchmon!' The accounts of them, indeed, were almost uniformly favourable. One, the Rev. Renata Tangata, was described as 'a model pastor, so wise, so gentle, and yet so firm; an eminently spiritual man and endowed with considerable preaching power.' Most of the Maori clergy were trained at St. Stephen's College, Auckland, under Kissling, Chapman, R. Maunsell and Burrows, assisted by the Chief Justice, Sir William Martin, who was a sound theologian and an excellent lecturer. But in 1883 a more distinctively theological college was opened at Gisborne, under Archdeacon Leonard Williams.

All this time what was the general condition? When E. C. Stuart came from India to New Zealand in 1874, his experienced eye likened it to 'a tract of inundated country' on the plains of India, 'after the floods have subsided, and the fields are beginning to look green again,' yet with 'many a once fertile spot changed to a bare waste of silt and gravel, and unsightly accumulations of debris.' He found in the Christian districts before mentioned, the far north, the north-east, and the southwest, new churches built by the Maoris themselves, well filled at the services, and served by Maori clergy held in general respect.

But he was distressed at the attitude of the now large and increasing white population. 'They do not,' he wrote, 'as a rule, take any interest in the Maoris. Even Christian people have had their minds so perverted, and been so terrified and injured in the wars of retaliation, that they do not realize their responsibilities towards them.' But the Maori Christians did sometimes show that they on their part recognized their [48/49] responsibilities to the white people. The Times of January 17, 1879, contained the following:--

THE MAORIES OF NEW ZEALAND.--A singular illustration of returning good for evil is to be found in the fact that at about the same time when the English papers, misled by an inaccurate telegram, were charging the Maories with murder and cannibalism, they were really performing acts of kindness of a nature for which all civilized nations recognize that gratitude is due. In October last the City of Auckland, with a large number of emigrants on board, was wrecked on the west coast of North Island, New Zealand. The passengers and crew were landed on a part of the coast mainly frequented by Maories. Nothing could exceed the kindness which the Maories showed to the emigrants. Under such circumstances, attempts to make gain out of wreckage are not unknown among civilized races. The Maories, however, have not attained to this level of civilization. The kindness they showed was of a purely unselfish, disinterested character. They added another to the many proofs they have already given of their natural inclination to noble and generous deeds.

Earlier than this the Times had said (February 6, 1872), 'The policy of conciliation has triumphed over the jealousy of races. The spade, the pick-axe, the telegraph wire, the stage coach, are doing what legions of men with arms of precision failed to do.' And the same correspondent wrote of the 'able and intelligent Maoris' who had been elected to the Legislature: 'They demeaned themselves with so much tact and propriety that they became the favourites of the House.'

Meanwhile, the disaffected minority still kept aloof, and professed a kind of mild Hau-hauism, with which fragments of Christianity were mixed up; and from time to time misguided leaders arose, Te Whiti, Te Kooti, and others, who gained temporary influence, and did mischief by drawing away some from the quieter majority. The Mormons also appeared and found them an easy prey. On the other hand, the snare of strong drink, set by the spirit shops of the less reputable [49/50] white men, was effectively grappled with by the Blue Ribbon movement, introduced by Archdeacon Grace in 1883, which had a wonderful influence, and did much to preserve the Maori race from ruin.

Mr. Ridgeway,* [* Father of the present Bishops of Chichester and Salisbury.] the Church Missionary Society's editor prior to 1870, felicitously described the general position by an illustration from natural history. 'There was a spring time in the Mission,' he wrote, 'when the tree was rich in blossoms. A plentiful harvest of golden fruit was calculated upon, perhaps too confidently. Then came an ungenial season, with cutting winds, and much of the fruit perished while it was yet crude.' But he went on to point out that the figure failed, like most figures] to express the whole facts of the case. 'There has been a blight upon the crop; but a first crop was gathered in and housed.' Yes, assuredly the Great Husbandman had already gathered from Maori New Zealand much wheat into His garner.

[51] CHAPTER IX

TWO CALLS TO THE CHURCH

WE have been chiefly occupied with the Maori Mission and its issues; but all the while the Church of the Colony was growing in strength and influence. When Bishop Selwyn retired, in 1868, he left a Church fully constituted, and successfully dealing with its non-established position. The General Synod met triennially at the different See cities in turn. The Church had its difficulties in perfecting its organization, but through the blessing of God it surmounted them successfully. A sixth bishopric, Dunedin, was arranged for in 1866, but delays arose which do not now concern us, and its first duly elected bishop, Dr. Nevill, was not consecrated till 1871. The Diocese of Melanesia, of which the devoted leader, John Coleridge Patteson, had become first bishop in 1861, made up the perfect number of seven for the Ecclesiastical Province of New Zealand. Patteson, to the horror and grief of the whole Christian world, was murdered by the islanders of Nukapu in revenge for outrages by white men, in 1871, leaving to the Church a bright example of devotion to his divine Master; and after an interregnum of a few years Bishop Selwyn's son, John Richard Selwyn, was, in 1877, consecrated Bishop in his room.

For eleven years, from 1877, the seven bishops remained unchanged, viz., Harper of Christchurch, Primate; Cowie of Auckland, Stuart of Waiapu, Hadfield of Wellington, Suter (who came from England in 1866) of Nelson, Nevill of Dunedin, J. R. Selwyn of Melanesia. In 1888-93, Bishops Harper, Suter, J. R. [51/52] Selwyn, Hadfield and Stuart, retired successively, and were succeeded respectively by Bishops Julius, Mules, Wilson, Wallis and Leonard Williams. Leonard Williams has been before mentioned as the son of the first Bishop of Waiapu, William Williams, as baptized with the first Maori children baptized in 1829, and as becoming now the third Bishop of Waiapu. The Primacy, after Bishop Harper's retirement, came in succession to Bishops Hadfield and Nevill. Further changes have taken place in the new century.

With both the Colony and the Church growing and prospering, it had long been obvious that the Church Missionary Society ought to be relieved of the charge of the Maori Christians. Bishop Selwyn and the Committee were discussing the situation, with a view to the Society's withdrawal, as far back as 1854; but while both parties wished the step to be taken, they differed as to the way in which it should be taken. The Bishop wished the Society's control removed, and its men, its money and its lands handed over to the Colonial Church. The Committee wished to be spared their large expenditure, in order to spend the money in the great African and Asiatic fields; but, so long as the missionaries remained, to retain them in C.M.S. connexion, and to use the land revenue upon their work. At the General Synod of 1859, the Bishop proposed formal negotiations with a view to C.M.S. withdrawal on his terms; but the Synod, composed of five bishops, ten clergymen and thirteen laymen, twenty-eight in all (only six of whom were C.M.S. men), rejected his plan, and passed the following resolution 'That since the colonization of New Zealand, there has never been a period when the native race more urgently required the undiminished efforts of the Church Missionary Society than at the present moment.'* [* In the Life of Bishop Selwyn his proposal is mentioned, but not the result.]

[53] So for nearly a quarter of a century more the Society continued to be responsible for the work among the Maoris, new missionaries being engaged, mostly but not exclusively on the spot; and even so late as 1880, the grants from home amounted to £5,000 which was independent of the revenue from the lands. But in 1883 a new arrangement was made. A Mission Board was formed, consisting of the three Bishops in the Northern Island, three missionaries and three lay colonists, with Archdeacon W. Leonard Williams as Secretary. To this Board was committed the entire administration, and to it the Society made its grants, which comprised (1) the personal allowances to the missionaries, to be continued as along as they were at work; (2) the revenue from the lands, to be used to supplement the contributions of the Maori Christians for the support of the native clergy; (3) a lump grant towards other expenditure, to be reduced by five per cent. each year until it ceased.

Here was a loud call to the Church of New Zealand; and it was quite hoped that during the twenty years thus provided for, the Church would gradually rise to the occasion, take its Maori members more definitely under its charge, and supply the deficiency in the decreasing grant. It cannot be said that the response was either prompt or cordial; but as the period drew towards its end, fresh efforts were made to rouse the now numerous well-to-do congregations to a keener sense of their obvious responsibilities, and not without some success. Meanwhile one admirable man did much to supply others' lack of service. Archdeacon Samuel Williams, by his skill in farming, had transformed some unpromising land, pressed upon him by the Government after the Hau-hau revolt, into a valuable estate, and year by year he spent the greater part of his profits in gifts to both the Church and the Mission. Partly through his liberality it was found [53/54] possible not only to carry on the existing pastoral work, but also to make fresh efforts to win back those Maoris that had practically abandoned Christianity.

At length, in 1903, the way was clear for the Church Missionary Society's withdrawal. The annual lump grant had expired; and the expenditure (apart from what was met by the land rents) had come down to £2,000. The General Synod, which had until then confined its efforts to appeals for aid which were very partially responded to, now took up the matter in good earnest, and formed a Maori Mission Board for the whole Church. The result was satisfactory. In 1906 the amount received from offertories, subscriptions, etc., was £3,272, besides which the Maori congregations raised £1,252. Since then, further arrangements have been made, under which each diocese takes charge of its own Maoris, while grants are made from the central fund in aid of the work in those dioceses where the aborigines are most numerous. The C.M.S. expenditure is now only the support of two retired missionaries.

But meanwhile another call had come to the Church of New Zealand. Although, plainly, its first missionary duty was to care for its own Maori members and their brethren who had fallen away, no Church will ever prosper which does not take the whole non-Christian world into its sympathies, and seek a definite share in the work of evangelization. Now the Church of New Zealand had not disregarded this great principle. Its great Bishop, in his first charge, had used these memorable words:--'However inadequate a Church may be to its own internal wants, it must on no account suspend its missionary duties. This is in fact the circulation of its life's blood, which would lose its vital power if it never flowed forth to the extremities, but curdled at the heart.' And the outlet for the sympathies of New Zealand Christians was afforded by the Melanesian Mission. Although the Diocese of Melanesia is, as [54/55] before mentioned, an integral part of the Church, that fact scarcely robs it of its claim as really a foreign mission; and it has always had a front place in the prayers and gifts of the Church people.

But in the latter years of the nineteenth century some members of the Church, both in Australia and in New Zealand found the great mission fields of Asia and Africa laid upon their hearts. Some felt called to go forth into those fields themselves, and some to contribute funds for their evangelization. But there was no Church organization that could or would send the former, and no convenient facilities for the latter to spend their money. Appeals from Australia were received by the Church Missionary Society, that it would send out a deputation to make the desired arrangements; and in 1892 Mr. Eugene Stock and the Rev. R. W. Stewart (missionary in China) were commissioned to visit the Colonies for the purpose. The result was the formation of Church Missionary Associations in both Australia and New Zealand. These Associations were not to raise funds for the C.M.S. They were to select, train and send out missionaries themselves, not only to C.M.S. Missions, but to any others desired; and to support them; and they were to retain subscriptions that had previously been sent to England for C.M.S. work.

The New Zealand Association was set on foot chiefly through the energy of friends at Nelson, but its borders were quickly extended, and all the six dioceses have furnished supporters, while almost all the Bishops have given it their patronage. It has provided workers for the Maori Mission, for the Melanesian Mission, for the C.M.S. Missions in China, Japan, India and Africa, and also for the Church of England Zenana Society. Considering the comparative smallness of the Church, and its urgent home needs, this is indeed a noble response to the missionary call, and one for which to thank God.

[56] CHAPTER X
THE NEW ZEALAND CHURCH MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION

(By Bishop Mules)

THE brief summary given in the previous chapters needs to be supplemented in order to convey a just impression. The visit of Mr. (now Dr.) Eugene Stock and the Rev. R. W. Stewart to Nelson in October, 1892, was very short, and they soon after left New Zealand. Before leaving they addressed a letter from Nelson, with a postscript from Port Chalmers, to clerical and lay friends of the C.M.S., asking them to assist in the formation of such an Association as that sketched in the last chapter. The Committee formed in Nelson issued a circular, stating that the proposed society was to be 'a private Association of individual Churchmen; and that no funds would be remitted to London.' In December a draft of the proposed Constitution was privately circulated with an explanatory letter, suggestions were invited and in the course of a few weeks the New Zealand Church Missionary Association was formed, under the sanction of the Bishops of Waiapu and Nelson, with the Rev. F. W. Chatterton as Clerical Secretary, and Mr. J. Holloway as Lay Secretary and Treasurer.

The C.M.S. Deputation to Australasia:
Dr. Eugene Stock and the Rev. R. W. Stewart.

(The photograph was taken in Sydney in 1892.)

In June, 1893, the Association issued an interim statement of accounts, and reported the formation of an Executive Committee of four clergy and six laymen, of whom two were well-known medical men. They reported, too, the formation of a Gleaners' Union and distribution of missionary collecting boxes. They added that Corresponding Secretaries had been appointed in Auckland [56/57] and Wellington, and that in the latter town a local Committee had been formed: above all that a candidate, Miss M. Pasley, had offered herself for work in the mission field before the end of the year. She was in due time sent forth and is still at work to-day in Japan.

The Constitution from time to time underwent slight modification. It was revised during 1894 and was then regarded as satisfactory and generally complete, the suggestions of many friends having been invoked and thoroughly discussed. In 1898 the Committee received some additions to its ex-officio members to enable friends outside the Diocese of Nelson to co-operate, and in 1904 the qualifications of those who were eligible for the office of President were altered to admit of a larger choice. Since then the Constitution has undergone no alteration.

Before the end of 1893, the Committee stated in their first Report, two more candidates had offered and been accepted, Miss D. I. Hunter Brown, of Nelson, now Mrs. Rowlands, and Miss Wilson, of Auckland, the former eventually going to Japan, the latter to the Niger. Miss Wilson was compelled by ill-health to retiree in 1908, but she undertakes deputation work. Mrs. Rowlands is still at work in Japan though no longer in connexion with the Association.

The question of the training of candidates now came prominently before the Committee, and it was soon seen that the circumstances of candidates varied considerably, so much so that each one required a more or less distinct course. The Committee have been able to learn from the experience of sister associations in Australia, and to avail themselves to some extent from time to time of institutions which have sprung up there to meet similar wants.

The Constitution provides that the work of the Association might be extended to fields not occupied by C.M.S., a provision primarily designed to permit of assistance being rendered to the Maori and Melanesian Missions, [57/58] but not to those only. Accordingly in 1894 the Association, by arrangement with the Bishop of Melanesia, undertook to provide for the maintenance of a white clergyman working in the Islands, and the next year the Bishop selected the Rev. W. G. Ivens as its representative.

The Association also agreed to make a grant of £50 a year for three years towards the support of a Chinese catechist, who after some disappointment and some delay took up, in 1900, work on the west coast, and proved most efficient. The catechist in question was Mr. Wong, nephew of Mr. Cheok Hong Cheong, formerly head of the Chinese Training Home in Melbourne. Mr. Wong left the coast to become a catechist in Wellington, where after some years of very useful work, he passed away.

In 1894, a fourth missionary, Miss Latham, sailed for India, to hold there a responsible position in the Girls' High School at Agra: and in 1899 Miss McCallum was sent out to join the medical mission at Nablus, in Palestine. In the course of a few years her health failed and by medical advice she sought recovery in rest and change. But returning to New Zealand she failed to regain health, and died near Auckland in 1903.

The Association has not hitherto been able to send more missionaries either to Japan, to Africa, or to Palestine, than those already mentioned. But it has continued to aid the Melanesian Mission, and this increasingly. On the retirement of Mr. and Mrs. Ivens from the work, the Revs. C. C. Godden and C. E. Fox became representatives of the Association. In 1906 the Rev. C. E. Fox retired from the Mission for a time, and Mr. G. H. Andrews took his place. In the same year the Rev. C. C. Godden was murdered by a Kanaka in revenge for some disappointment in which the missionary was in no way concerned; and his place was taken the following year by the Rev. S. Howard. In 1908, Mr. J. C. Palmer succeeded Mr. G. H. Andrews, and in 1911 both the Rev. S. Howard and Mr. J. C. Palmer were [58/59] succeeded by the Rev. G. H. Andrews, who rejoined the Mission in Holy Orders, and Mr. F. A. Crawshaw. To the regret of the Association Mr. Andrews died early this year after a very short illness.

Work amongst the Maoris, too, once begun has been continually maintained by the Association, and steadily increased. In 1899 Miss Blakiston began work at Papawai, in the Wairarapa district, removing to Otaki in 1906. The Committee in the same year contributed to the support of two Maori clergy, whilst a few years later Miss Heron, Miss Brereton, Miss Lee and Miss Davis were all engaged in teaching and nursing, supported by the Association.

Miss Latham retired from work in India in 1899 for private reasons, [Re-accepted in 'home connexion' in November, 1912.--ED.] ] but in the same year the Association was able to send a second missionary to India, Miss Florence Smith in connexion with the C.E.Z.M.S. She commenced work at Masulipatam, was transferred later to Khammamett, and then to Ellore. She is now on furlough regaining health, and sufficiently recovered to engage in deputation work. A third missionary, Mr. Carr, also went to India that year. He married, in 1901, Miss Bachlor of the C.E.Z.M.S., a Victorian lady. Both returned in impaired health, and Mr. Carr, after acting for a time in Nelson as Treasurer and Lay Secretary to the Association in the absence of Mr. Holloway, was admitted to Holy Orders, and on medical advice remained in New Zealand. In 1905 Miss Giffard went out to Aurungabad, where she took charge of an orphanage for girls. After recovery from a severe attack of typhoid fever she returned to India, to a post in the Girls' School, Girgaum, Bombay. In 1910 the Rev. F. C. Long, M.A., joined the C.M.S. missionary staff and is now filling an important post in Edwardes College, Peshawar.

The last field entered by the Association is China. In 1907 Miss Dinneen, B.A., took up educational work in [59/60] Foochow, in connexion with the C.E.Z.M.S. She has just returned on furlough and will be engaged for a time, so far as health permits, in deputation work. Miss E. Baker, now Mrs. C. N. R. Mackenzie, also went to China the next year supported by the Association, but on marriage joined the Parent Society. Lastly, a year ago, Dr. Strange, M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. (London), and Mrs. Strange went to join the C.M.S. staff at Hangchow.

Twenty-seven missionaries have thus been connected with the Association, of whom fifteen are still in the field.

The income of the Association has advanced steadily. In 1893 it was £548, in 1894 £745, in 1912 £2,783. The Committee feel deeply thankful to God for the success which has attended the efforts of the Association. Their missionaries have shown themselves devoted men and women; and have the confidence of the Committee. The methods of the Parent Society have been followed, and the Committee have sought to possess as far as possible the spirit of its Executive. Improved methods of working have from time to time been adopted. Written or printed appeals were soon seconded by deputations, and they in turn were succeeded by Organizing Secretaries.

The work of Mr. J. Holloway for the first twelve years of the Association's existence was laborious and of great value, as Lay Secretary, Treasurer, Deputation and Organizing Secretary. The Revs. J. de B. Galwey, B.A., and A. Gamble, as Organizing Secretaries, gave an impetus to the work of the Association, which is now being furthered very considerably by the care and energy of the Rev. O. J. Kimberley the present Organizing Secretary. To him is due the formation of local committees in Auckland and Christchurch, and a very considerable extension in the circulation of missionary literature.

The annual meetings have from time to time proved of much interest and value, and advantage has been taken of the triennial meetings of General Synod, held by rotation in the six chief, diocesan centres, to hold [60/61] annual meetings of the Association at the same time and place. Such meetings have been held at Christchurch and Napier under the Presidency of the Primate, the Bishop of Auckland. The Annual Meeting was also held at Wellington in 1911 under the Presidency of the Bishop, and at Auckland in 1912 with Canon MacMurray in the chair. Two other annual meetings, both held in Nelson, were notable for the presence in the one case of Bishop Stuart, late of Persia, and formerly Bishop of Waiapu, and in the other of Bishop Ridley of Caledonia and Dr. Maynard Pain of the C.M.S. Hospital, Old Cairo.

The Association as regards synodical organization still retains its private position, but at the request of the General Synod, made in 1898, supplies Synod with 'a triennial report of its operations.

At the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh in 1910, the Association was represented by the Bishop of Gippsland.

Little need be said here of the New Zealand Church, whose history now becomes that of a Colonial Church, almost entirely independent of help from outside. Further changes have taken place in the Episcopate. Bishop Cowie gave place to Bishop Neligan in 1903, and since then the latter and Bishops Mules, Wilson, Wallis and Leonard Williams, have been succeeded by Bishops Crossley, Sadlier, Wood, Sprott and Averill.

The General Synod at its recent session in Nelson had before it a Bill for the establishment of a Provincial Board of Missions. The Bill did not, however, get beyond the first reading on that occasion, as its introducer on rising to move the second reading expressed the desire to remit it to the Diocesan Synods for consideration.

Amongst the questions which are likely to occupy the attention of General Synod in the near future are those of altering or not altering the fundamental clauses of the Constitution, and of attaching the Primacy or not attaching it to one particular See.

 

 

[62] APPENDICES

I

NEW ZEALAND CHURCH MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION
_____

FOUNDED 1892.
_____

PRESIDENT:

The Right Reverend Bishop W. L. Williams.

VICE-PRESIDENTS:

The Right Rev. the Bishop of Christchurch.
The Right Rev. the Bishop of Waiapu.
The Right Rev. the Bishop of Auckland.
The Right Rev. the Bishop of Wellington.
The Right Rev. the Bishop of Nelson.
The Right Rev. Bishop C. O. Mules.
The Very Rev. Walter Harper, Dean of Christchurch.
The Rev. Canon MacMurray, Parnell, Auckland.
The Rev. Canon Curzon-Siggers, Dunedin.
The Rev. F. W. Chatterton.           
Mr. Edward Y. Cox.
The Rev. A. F. Gardiner.        
Mr. J. Holloway.
The Rev. Percy T. Williams.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

Chairman--The Right Rev. the Bishop of Nelson.

Ven. Archdeacon Baker. 
Rev. J. R. Burgin.
Rev. A. J. Carr.
Rev. J. R. Dart.
Rev. A. V. Grace.
Rev. J. P. Kempthorne.
Rev. E. J. McFarland.
Rev. H. Purchas.
Rev. J. D. Russell.
Mr. E. E. Boyes.
Mr. C. W. Brown.
Mr. J. F. Childs.
Mr. J. Holloway.
Dr. W. J. Mackay.

HON. CLERICAL SECRETARY:

Rev. W. S. Lucas.

ORGANIZING SECRETARY AND HON. TREASURER:

Rev. O. J. Kimberley.

[63] LOCAL COMMITTEES:

AUCKLAND--Revs. Canon Haselden, W. E. Gillam, Messrs. Norman Williams, William Collinson, J. F. Colegrove, Mrs. A. Wilson, Mrs. Handcock, Miss A. L. Wilson,
Revs. E. J. McFarland (Hon. Sec.); H. H. Robjohns (Asst. Sec.).
Mr. C. Hudson (Hon. Treas.).

CHRISTCHURCH--Revs. H. Purchas and P. J. Cocks; Messrs. C. Bean, G. Stenning and J. W. Twentyman; Mrs. F. R. Inwood; Misses Bourdillon and Hodpon.

DEP?T LADIES' COMMITTEE:

Christchurch--Mesdames A. Wilson, Handcock, Purchas, Gillam, Dewes, N. Williams, McFarland, Marriner, Grimwade.
Misses Binks, A. L. Wilson (Lady-in-Charge), and Phyllis Macfarlane (Hon. Sec.).

DEPUTATIONISTS:

Miss E. M. Leslie. 
Miss F. Smith.
Miss A. L. Wilson.           
Rev. J. R. Burgin.

TRUSTEES:

Rev. F. W. Chatterton.     
Dr. W. J. Mackay.
Mr. J. Holloway.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES:

Auckland--Rev. Canon MacMurray, St. Mary's Vicarage, Parnell.
Gisborne--Rev. F. W. Chatterton, Te Rau.
Wanganui--Rev. A. O. Williams, Putiki.
Wellington--Mr. E. Balcombe Brown, 42 Tinakori Road.

DEPUTATIONAL SECRETARIES:

Auckland--Rev. E. J. McFarland, Mount Eden.
Gisborne--Rev. F. W. Chatterton, Te Rau.

HONORARY EXAMINING PHYSICIANS:

New Plymouth--E. Faber Fookes, M.B., Lond., M.R.C.S., Eng., L.R.C.P., Lond.
Blenheim--R. Nairn, F.R.C.S., Ed.
Napier--E. A. W. Henley, M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O., Dub.
Picton--W. E. Redman, L.S.A.L., M.R.C.S.

LADIES' COMMITTEE:

Mrs. Mules, President, Nelson.
Mrs. Baker.    
Mrs. Kempthorne.
Mrs. Lucas.    
Mrs. Sadlier.
Mrs. Sealy.
Mrs. Hunter Brown, Hon. Sec.,'Long Look-Out,' Nelson.

[64] CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES OF LADIES COMMITTEE:

Mrs. Filluel, Blenheim.       
Miss Humphries, Wellington.

HON. GENERAL SECRETARY FOR SOWERS' BANDS:

Miss A. L. Wilson, I45, Grafton Road, Auckland.
_____

OFFICE, TEA ROOM AND DEP?T: Auckland.
Book DEPÔT: Nelson.

MISSIONARIES IN CONNEXION WITH THE ASSOCIATION

1893--Miss M. L. Pasley, C.M.S., Hamada, Iwami, Japan.
1894--Miss A. L. Wilson, C.M.S., Onitsha, Southern Nigeria, West Africa (on deputation).
1899--Miss Florence Smith, C.E.Z.M.S., Khammamett, South India.
1905--Miss E. B. Giffard, C.M.S., Girls' School, Girgaum, Bombay, Western India.
1905--Miss F. E. Heron, Kaikohe, N.Z.
1905--Miss M. Brereton, Pukepoto, N.Z.
1906--Miss A. M. D. Dinneen, B.A., C.E.Z.M.S., Foochew, China.
1909--Miss S. M. Lee, Mission House, Tokomaru Bay, N.Z.
1910--Miss F. E. Davis, Mission House, Tokomaru Bay, N.Z.
1910--Rev. F. C. Long, M.A., C.M.S. Hostel, Peshawar, N.W. Frontier, India.
1912--Mrs. F. C. Long, C.M.S. Hostel, Peshawar, N.W. India.
1910--Dr. and Mrs. C. F. Strange, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. (London), C.M.S. Hospital, Hangchow, China.

The following are not now C.M.A. workers, but their names are retained for prayer and sympathy:--

1893--Mrs. Rowlands, 2, To-no-cho, Sasebo, Japan.
1908--Mrs. Mackenzie (nee Miss E. Baker), Lingsham, via Wuchow, South China.

__________________________________________________________

FORM OF BENEFACTION TO THE ASSOCIATION BY WILL

I give and bequeath to the Treasurer, for the time being, of the New Zealand Church Missionary Association, in connexion with the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East, the sum of ................ pounds, FREE OF DUTY, for the general purposes of the said Association, such sum and the duty thereon to be paid within ................ Calendar Months next after my death.

And I declare that the receipt of the Treasurer, for the time being, of the Association shall be an effectual discharge of the said legacy.
            ,
[65] II

NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NEW ZEALAND CHURCH MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION

IN presenting their report for the year ending December 31, 1912, the Committee of the N.Z.C.M.A. would draw attention to the fact that the Association is about to enter upon the twenty-first year of its existence. In 1892, a Deputation from the C.M.S., consisting of Mr. Eugene Stock and the Rev. R. W. Stewart, visited Australia and New Zealand. Their purpose, as stated by themselves before leaving New Zealand was, first, to endeavour on behalf of the Church Missionary Society to arrange facilities for joining the Society's Missions in favour of Christian men and women in this Colony, who either had already inquired as to the way in which they could join the Society's Missions in Africa, India, China, etc., or might inquire in future, as there was then no means of joining a Church of England Missionary Society except by going to London and offering oneself there; secondly, to set forth generally the obligation of the whole Church to evangelize the whole world. The Deputation arrived in Nelson on October 13. A meeting of those interested in Missions was held. It was resolved to organize the N.Z.C.M.A. The first Committee consisted of the Revs. J. P. Kempthorne, F. W. Chatterton, W. G. Baker, C. W. Jennings and J. M. Adcock, Messrs. C. Hunter Brown, J. S. Browning, A. H. Patterson, J. M. Pierson and J. Holloway, and Drs. Hudson and Mackay--so our Association came into being. This naturally leads us to review the past, and while we feel that we have much to be thankful for, yet retrospects are always sad. We [65/66] rejoice at the progress that has been made, and yet that very progress has elements of sadness in it. We cannot help feeling how much more might have been done and ought to have been done, if only Christ's command, 'Go ye into all the World, and preach the Gospel to every creature' had been more generally and willingly responded to.

C.M.S. Deputation.--The Committee are in communication with the Parent Society about the possibility of another Deputation visiting New Zealand next year. The Marsden Centenary will then be celebrated, and it is hoped that the Deputation and the N.Z.C.M.A. will be afforded an opportunity of taking part in the historic event of the introduction of Christianity into New Zealand. [At the 114th Anniversary of the Church Missionary Society it was announced that the Committee had marked their grateful appreciation of the assistance rendered by the Australian and New Zealand C.M. Associations during twenty-one years by appointing the Ven. Archdeacon W. G. Baker and the Rev. J. P. Kempthorne (New Zealand), the Revs. A. C. Kellaway and W. T. C. Storrs (Victoria), and the Rev. E. H. B. Claydon (New South Wales) to be Honorary Life Governors of the Society and Mrs. Mules and Mrs. Hunter Brown (New Zealand) and Mrs. Griffiths (Victoria) to be Honorary Life Members.--EDITOR.]

Review of the work of the past year.--We note first the resignation of Miss Blakiston. Since 1899, Miss Blakiston has done faithful work among the Maoris, and the Committee desire to put on record their grateful appreciation of her labours. It is with the deepest regret that we have to record the death of the Rev. G. H. Andrews, our missionary at Bugotu, in the Solomon Islands. Archdeacon Uthwatt writes: 'Mr. Andrews got fever and dysentry at Singania on April 16. He wrote to Austin, a trader here, for milk. Austin wrote back to say that he would take Andrews to Tulagi if he wished, or bring the doctor to Singania. His dysentry did not get any better, and he seems to have had some complication with his spleen. Ellison Gito offered to go to Tulagi for assistance, but Andrews refused. He had had these complaints before and thought he would pull through. His end was sudden. He lost consciousness on Wednesday, recovered it for a little time on Thursday, only to lose it again. He died on Friday, April 26, just before noon.' Mr. Andrews had only been a [66/67] short time in Melanesia, but had proved himself to be a faithful and diligent worker, and his death will be a great loss to the Melanesian Mission. The Rev. F. C. Long was married on December 26, and we welcome Mrs. Long, who thus comes on our Roll during the last week of the year.

Deputation Work.--This has been carried on during the past year by the Misses Leslie, Smith and Dinneen. These ladies have been of great assistance to our Organizing Secretary who, as in past years, has been indefatigable in holding meetings throughout the Dominion.

Auckland Depôt.--The Committee have made a new venture during the year in the establishment of a C.M.A. Depôt in Smeeton's Buildings, Queen Street, Auckland, where literature and Oriental goods are sold. The results so far have been extremely satisfactory. In connexion with the Depôt there is a tea room which has been well patronized.

Candidates.--The Committee very regretfully report that no candidates are offering themselves. At the present moment there are openings everywhere and we earnestly pray that the hearts of some may be touched and that volunteers will come forward. Three who were candidates last year have for various reasons withdrawn.

Finances.--We began the year with a debit balance of £66 14s. 4d., this was reduced to £2 9s. 1d. by the end of the year. Thus it will be seen that all expenses were paid and almost the whole of the debt removed. The actual receipts for the year amounted to £2,783 13s. 9d. This is the largest sum the members and friends of the Association have ever entrusted to the Committee. The latter are grateful for the increased liberality which has enabled them to do a little more work in the mission field. There is need, however, for placing the Association upon a sounder financial footing. More annual subscribers should be upon the books. It would also be a great thing for the work, if friends who have the means would give large sums to build up the Working Capital Fund. With a capitalized fund of £10,000, the Committee could devote the whole of its ordinary annual income to mission work. The expenses of administration, organization, etc., would be met by the income derived from this special fund. It is hoped that this [67/68] paragraph will arrest the attention of those who could help in this way.

Organizations.--The Gleaners' Union has shown more vitality than for several years past. 1912 is the best year the Sowers' Bands have ever had. Study Circles have increased in numbers and efficiency.

Literature and Magazines.--The output of missionary literature increases every year. With the increased output a marked improvement in quality is noted. Books suitable for children and adults can be supplied from the depôts at reasonable charges. This section of the work is commended to the members for their serious consideration. Subscribers to the various magazines have increased in numbers, but a much larger circulation is necessary if a deeper interest is to be taken in mission work.

Forward Movement.--To commemorate the twenty-first Anniversary of the Association, which falls during the latter part of the year, the Committee have inaugurated a Forward Movement. It is proposed that additional work to the extent of £500 per annum be undertaken in the mission field. One portion of the outlay is to be upon an evangelistic agency. Native workers in China, India and Africa will be supported. Thus we may feel that we are helping to build up the Native Church in the mission field. Very many people are specially interested in medical mission work. An opportunity is now given our friends to engage in this work. They will have their own piece of work in Persia. £250 is required to build a New Zealand ward in the new hospital in Kerman. After it is built £250 will be required annually to maintain our ward. The Committee are optimistic enough to believe that their friends will provide them with the full amount before the end of the year, so that this additional work may be undertaken.

Conclusion.--In conclusion the Committee humbly and devoutly thank Almighty God for His gracious guidance and His loving protection of our missionaries. We go on with our work in dependence upon a strength not our own, and look forward to yet greater showers of blessing in the future.

[69] Reports of Missionaries: I. Maoriland

Staff: Miss Heron, 1905; Miss Brereton, 1905; Miss Lee, 1909; Miss Davis, 1910.

Miss Heron, in her report says, 'There is very much to look back upon with thankfulness, and to give encouragement and stimulus for another year's work. In July, I took up my residence in the new house which the Maoris have had built for me during my absence in the Waikato. At the end of August, my native assistant, Miss Maraea Ngawaka, joined me and proved a great help in many ways. I regret to say that she is leaving the Mission this week as her family needs her assistance. The Sunday school is carried on regularly, with an average attendance of thirty during the last quarter. A C.M.A. missionary box has been introduced and great interest is taken in it by the children. The medical work has been quite a big business. I have attended and dispensed medicine to 308 cases up to date--out of that number five have died. One good thing is the decrease in Tohungaism. I scarcely ever hear of it now. Matters parochial are going ahead. We always have good congregations and never less than forty communicants. We have six lay readers holding the Bishop's licence to officiate.'

Miss Brereton writes: 'Until the middle of February I continued working in the district about Paeroa, then having been directed to move north, we came up to this station of Pukepoto, which is situated in the far north of Auckland province, and some five miles away from one of the early C.M.S. mission stations. With the change of location has come a change of work. We are, for the most part, employed in nursing, and as regards spiritual work, in Sunday school teaching and in conducting women's Bible classes, etc. During the eight and a half months we have been actually at work up here we have come in touch with over 140 cases of illness; in some of these cases we have done the actual nursing, but the greater number have been visited, and advice or medicine given. We are very thankful to report that during this year we have not heard of a single case of typhoid fever in these northern districts. Our spiritual work consists for the most part of Sunday school here in Pukepoto, with a roll of some sixty children, most being Maori children, and the others, nine or ten children of Pakeha settlers living near. This Sunday school is very satisfactory, the attendance being on the whole very good, and the children, both Pakeha and Maori, most teachable and well-behaved. Some five Maori girls [69/70] assist with the teaching, having themselves been instructed beforehand. The Sunday school at Ahipara, a large settlement or, collection of settlements about five miles away, has a roll number of between fifty and sixty, Bible classes for women, with an attendance numbering up to fifteen or sixteen held also in Pukepoto and Ahipara. These classes are also very satisfactory. A Missionary Guild which usually meets fortnightly for missionary instruction and prayer, followed by a sewing class, the results of which are to benefit missionary work. My assistant, Miss Kiri Rahauwhi, has been here some nine months and helps in housework, visiting and Sunday school work very satisfactorily.'

Miss Lee, in the course of her annual report, says: 'Till Miss Davis left for her winter's work in Hawkes Bay our work was of a very general character. We held the usual week-day Bible classes, and the Sunday school was very satisfactory. Miss Davis and Iritana--our assistant--spent a fortnight at Tologa Bay, and later on, Iritana and I spent ten days in the next parish with the late Rev. Brown Turei, with a view to regular work there after the winter. We held several meetings in the different kaingas, and rode over a great deal of the parish. From the end of June, she and I were at the mission house and were able to hold a good number of classes for the children of both races. 1 think our evenings in the mission room do help the boys, and some prize the privilege greatly. The piano is a great joy to all, and one always hopes the happy hours spent in the room will help the lads. Towards the end of the year I did some work in Mr. Turei's parish, but a twelve-mile ride before one reaches the edge of the parish, which is large and scattered, gave too much riding, which tired one. So for the next few months I have arranged to stay up there, about thirty miles from our home, and I hope eventually the Maoris will build us a cottage there.'

Miss Davis reports: 'In May I went, as had been arranged by the Bishop, to Hawkes Bay. Most of my time was spent at Porangahou and Paki Paki. Visiting the sick, giving addresses at services held by lay readers, children's services, and visiting the mothers were my chief work. In Hawkes Bay, as everywhere I go, the great and crying evil is drink. It was a great pleasure to meet those Maori women who had joined the Maori W.C.T.U. and to hear them speak of the benefit it was to them. Sunday desecration is one of the great dangers of the young Maori, and no wonder when Sunday observance is nothing to numbers of our Pakehas. A large number of sick cases have been attended and various minor accidents treated at the mission house. Church services at the beginning of the year were well attended, [70/71] but since, owing to the removal of our minister, there has been a falling off. We hope soon to have a resident minister, which will be a great blessing and is certainly a great need.'

II. Japan

Staff: Miss M. L. Pasley, 1893.

Miss Pasley writes: 'We had a nice children's service in the church on December 24, 1912, when the catechist addressed them, and on Christmas afternoon they gathered in our house for their prizes which were hung on a prettily decorated Christmas tree, and after each class had repeated the texts they had learned during the year and had sung several hymns, the prizes were distributed. It is a comfort to know that the work among the women and children is being carried on diligently. Miss Head was moved to Hamada and has a good Bible woman with her. From Oda I hear that the school teachers are suffering persecution and the Principal of the school is opposed to their coming out to meetings. They need our prayers.'

III. India

Staff: Miss Smith, 1899; Miss Giffard, 1905; Rev. and Mrs. F. C. Long, 1910.

The Rev. F. C. Long is engaged chiefly in educational work. He reports: 'I was given charge of the Edwardes Mission High School in December of last year. We had then some 350 scholars in the main school and 150 in a branch school about half a mile away, both being in Peshawar. The boys are Hindus and Mohammedans--about an equal number of each--with a few Christians. There was one other Christian master besides myself, and we were greatly helped in the way of Scripture lessons by a native clergyman, the Rev. Khair Ullah. As we are a Government aided school it was very necessary to get certificated Christians. These are very scarce and I found that I would have to get men and have them trained at the expense of the school, and seek help from outside for the balance. God helped me wonderfully in doing this. A young Armenian Christian, who matriculated eighteen months ago, hearing Christ's call, left office work and joined the staff. A second came from the mission college [71/72] here, and soon afterwards a young man, Nizam by name, came up from the Punjab. Later on four others joined, three of them experienced teachers. It is in the school Bible lessons that I feel my chief missionary work lies for the present. I have had doubts about the value of educational work, but I have them no longer. Besides the school I have had the management of the city preaching. We used to preach once a week only, but I have increased it to three evenings. In conjunction with Dr. Starr we have arranged to sell farthing gospels at these meetings, and have already sold a few hundred. This is a great joy to us, as we know the Word is being spread.'

No report has been received from Miss Giffard, and Miss Smith has been on furlough during the greater part of the year.

IV. China

Staff: Miss Dinneen, B.A., 1906; Dr. and Mrs. C. F. Strange, 1910.

Dr. Strange reports as follows: 'My first note must be one of unstinted praise to our heavenly Father for His preserving loving kindness to us throughout the past year--a year without parallel in the history of China. Within the past twelve months, the most ancient of conservative imperial kingdoms has become a Republic without the loss of scarcely a single foreigner's life. It has nevertheless been an anxious and disturbed year. Most of the missionaries in the interior had to leave their stations and hasten to the coast by order of the authorities. It is a real cause of thanksgiving to God on our part, that whilst others were packing up to go away, we were unpacking and moving into a small house, provided for us through the generosity of Dr. Main, on the hospital compound, wedged in between the maternity hospital and the children's home. In February, 1912, we had the Mid China Conference meeting at Hangchow. This gave us an opportunity of meeting many of our fellow missionaries from other stations. In March I passed most of my first year's language examination, completing it in July. Since March I have had the whole of the foreign community to look after. Since May, twice a week I have been visiting our leper hospital, and holding services with the lepers. I am going through the Gospel of St. John with them, and quite a number have been baptized.'

Miss Dinneen has been on furlough during the greater part of the year.

[73] V. Melanesia

Staff: Mr. F. A. Crawshaw.

Mr. Crawshaw says: 'I commenced this year as missionary in temporary charge of the island of San Cristoval and Ugo. There are twenty school villages in the district and I was able to visit them all by boat. No new schools have been opened up during the past year, but if teachers of the right kind were available we could open at least three schools in heathen places. Undoubtedly, Christianity is spreading in San Cristoval. Baptismal and confirmation classes have been started and I think that there is a bright future for the district.'

[74] III

TRIENNIAL REPORT OF THE NEW ZEALAND C.M.A. TO THE GENERAL SYNOD

IN accordance with the resolution of General Synod, the Committee of the N.Z.C.M.A. beg to present their triennial report for the period 1910-1913. The Committee thankfully acknowledge the many blessings which they have received at the hand of God during that period, and enter upon their work again with renewed hope and confidence. The number of missionaries supported by the association is fifteen. Of these four are working among the Maoris--the Misses Heron, Brereton, Lee and Davis. Miss Pasley is stationed at Hamada, Iwami, Japan. From China, excellent reports have been received concerning Miss Dinneen and Dr. and Mrs. Strange. Miss Giffard and the Rev. F. C. Long are doing good work in India. Miss F. Smith of Khammamett, Southern India, is at home on a prolonged furlough, but hopes to take up her work again shortly. The Committee record with the deepest regret the death of the Rev. G. H. Andrews at Bugotu in the Solomon Islands. He was an earnest worker and we trust that his works do follow him. Mr. Crawshaw is stationed at San Cristoval in the Solomon Islands. We are waiting for the Bishop of Melanesia to appoint a worker in the place of the late Rev. G. H. Andrews.

During the period under review, the sum of £4,759 17s. 6d. has been spent upon mission work. Of this amount £472 1s. 8d. was paid for the support of representatives in Melanesia and £1,199 0s. 6d. for workers among the Maoris.

The annual reports for the last three years are laid upon the table with this report. From them members of the General Synod will be able to obtain full particulars. Copies of reports may be procured at the C.M.A. Office, Trafalgar Street, Nelson.

[75] IV

TWENTIETH ANNUAL CELEBRATIONS

THE Right Rev. the Bishop of Nelson preached the annual sermon in the Cathedral, Christchurch, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 1913. The text was taken from 2 Cor. v. 14, 'The love of Christ constraineth us.' Those present listened to an eloquent and inspiring discourse.

St. John's Parish Hall was the scene of the public meeting. The Vicar of the Parish (Rev. H. Purchas) presided. The Bishop of Nelson and a number of Christchurch clergy were present.
The Rev. O. J. Kimberley presented the Annual Report and Financial Statements on behalf of the Executive Committee. The receipts for the year amounted to £2,783--a record sum. There was a small debit balance of £2 9s. 1d.

The following resolution was then submitted to the meeting and duly carried:--

'That the Report and Balance Sheet be adopted, and the following members of the C.M.A. appointed to the Executive Committee for the ensuing year:--President: The Right Rev. Bishop W. L. Williams; Executive Committee: The Ven. Archdeacon Baker, the Revs. J. R. Burgin, A. J. Carr, J. R. Dart, A. V. Grace, J. P. Kempthorne, W. S. Lucas, E. J. McFarland, H. Purchas, J. D. Russell; Messrs. E. E. Boyes, C. W. Brown, J. F. Childs, J. Holloway and Dr. Mackay.'

The Rev. J. R. Burgin gave an interesting address upon Africa.

The address by the Bishop of Nelson was eloquent and rousing. It made a deep impression upon all present.

Both addresses are reported in the pages of the localized Gleaner.

[78] TO celebrate our 21st Anniversary, which falls during October next (1913), we have inaugurated a Forward Movement. The sum of £500 per annum is required to support this movement. It means an advance in our work. Native evangelists are to be supported in China, India and Africa. In addition to this, we are to have our New Zealand Ward in a new hospital at Kerman, in Persia.

We are in need of subscriptions to maintain this work. These should be sent to Local Secretaries and Treasurers, or to--

THE SECRETARY,
Church Missionary Association,
AUCKLAND.

<P><HR></P>

Church Missionary Society's Publications

CAN BE OBTAINED FROM

THE N.Z. CHURCH MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION,

NELSON
____________________________________________________________

 

MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS

The Church Missionary Review (with C.M.S. Gazette free). 64 pages. Monthly. Annual Subscription 6s. post free.

'The C.M. REVIEW' is the official organ of the Society, and should be read by all who desire to make a real study of its methods and work.
            ;
The Church Missionary Gleaner. Illustrated. 30 pages. Monthly. Annual Subscription 2s. post free. (This Magazine supplies local missionary news also.)

Awake. Illustrated. 12 pages. Monthly. Printed in large type. Annual Subscription 1s. post free.

The Round World (for Young People). Well illustrated. 16 pages. Monthly. Annual Subscription 1s. post free.

Mercy and Truth. A record of C.M.S. Medical Mission Work. Illustrated. 24 pages. Monthly. Annual subscription 1s. 6d, post free.

Specimen copies of these Magazines gratis

Missionary Literature in stock at Auckland, Christchurch and Nelson
______

Price Lists sent on application to--

THE SECRETARY, C.M.A. OFFICE, AUCKLAND

PRINTED BY
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES

Project Canterbury