Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

with the Bishop of Australia, in order to secure an occasional exercise of the episcopal functions in New Zealand; and also that, after due deliberation, a unanimous opinion was expressed as to the expediency of planting the church there in "the full integrity of its system." No sooner was the sovereignty of the queen over that colony formally announced, than this suggestion was made the basis of an arrangement which, under the divine blessing, must produce, in favour of all classes of the inhabitants, the most beneficial results.

In respect to the natives, it may be remarked that, though incapable of deciding in nice points of doctrine or ritual, they have penetration enough to note distinctions in the outward estate of those by whom such matters are pressed on their attention. At the earliest stage of missionary enterprise, the condition of the teachers was, perhaps, of less consequence, there being no standard by which either their attainments or their place in society could be determined by their simple catechumens; but now that a more general intercourse has succeeded, and the gradations of rank have become familiar to their eyes, an advantage, it is manifest, will attend the more elevated position to which the ministers of the gospel are raised in the Eastern colonies. Such an improvement has become not only suitable, but in some degree necessary, owing to the settlement of numerous emigrants both from Great Britain and America, who have recently established themselves in that part of the South Sea. In islands where we have consuls and mercantile companies, it is proper that we should also have the means of grace regularly supplied and duly administered. More especially are such arrangements imperative in New Zealand, which is now included in the foreign possessions of her Majesty, and therefore entitled to all the benefits of our liberal constitution.

We learn from one whose residence in the country entitles his opinion to much respect, that the labours of the Anglican church among the natives have been equally beneficial and acceptable. The liturgy, he assures us,

"has

6

as translated into the language of the country, been, next to the preaching of the gospel and the use of the Holy Scriptures, one of the most efficacious means of christian instruction. It is so simple, expresses so well the wants, both temporal and spiritual, of the people-and, like the Bible, from whence a large part of it is derived, it so exactly meets every case—that it comes home to the experience, the heart, and the conscience; tends to awaken the unconverted; and is a source of comfort and consolation to the distressed sinner under his convictions, while the more advanced are edified by the spirituality of its petitions. My mind is more than ever convinced, from my ministerial experience in New Zealand, of the essential value of a liturgical service to a people so uneducated and so unused to prayer. In this incomparable form of sound words,' as well as in Scripture, we are led to place our whole dependence upon a reconciled God through a crucified Redeemer: Christ and Christ alone is there made the foundation of our hope of pardon and of everlasting blessedness: and I believe that the sacred truths found in our Book of Common Prayer, which are constantly sounding in the ears and falling from the lips of the natives, have been one of the grand means of bringing them to their present state of mind. Translated into the New Zealand language, our liturgy is most strikingly beautiful. When any strange natives come into the chapel and hear it, they say, 'Ah! those are not native prayers: if we did as those persons pray for us to do, we should be very different from what we are; we should cast away all our sins; we should believe in their God, and be like them in all their doings.'

[ocr errors]

* An Account of New Zealand and of the Formation and Progress of the Church Missionary Society's Mission in the Northern Island. By the Rev. William Yate, &c., p. 232. Mr Yate supplies a case illustrative of the facility with which the natives are induced to believe, or rather to profess belief, and the motives on which they consent to admit the new religion. On a Sunday evening, after preaching to his congregation, he found himself surrounded, at the door of his tent, by the

Making due allowance for the professional bias under which this author may be supposed to have written, no one will hesitate to admit that to a rude people it must be of unspeakable advantage to have a form of devotion supplied, combined with the fundamental principles of their faith. Even in the most enlightened condition of society, the pious mind naturally seeks aid to enable it to discharge aright that most important of all duties, an address to the throne of the heavenly grace, soliciting those things which are requisite and necessary as well for the body as the soul. The more refined and sensitive his feelings are, the more diffident the worshipper becomes; and the more ignorant and obtuse he may be, the greater is his need of being taught how to pray. The boor or the savage, who thinks that in respect to his purposes the Almighty is even such a one as himself, importunes and even expostulates in the most familiar terms; displaying an urgency and sometimes an impatience more natural to the wants and fears of the untaught barbarian, than suitable to the attributes of the omniscient Creator. We willingly remain unacquainted with the style or import of the prayers which may have been offered up, from time to time, by the sensual Otaheitian, or the sanguinary New Zealander, when newly converted to the true faith; but we can appreciate the full amount of the contrast implied in the exclamation, when the liturgy was first heard, "those are not native prayers!" Hence, the philanthropist at home, who takes pleasure in supplying the means by which so many praiseworthy efforts are made to turn the interesting tribes of the

greater number of those who had been his auditors. The old chief, who thought he must say something, cried," Come, friends, let us all believe; it will do us no harm. Believing, what will it do? It will not kill us, for the white people do not die; it will not make us ill, for the white people are not ill; it will not make us ashamed, for the white people are not ashamed; therefore let us all, all, all believe; and perhaps it will make the white people's God gracious to us; and our souls will not be any longer devilified, but will be Christified, and we shall all, all, all go to heaven."-P. 216.

South Sea from darkness to light, will not now have to fear, in regard to New Zealand, a repentance to be repented of,‚—a conversion which, in order to be effectual, must be renewed in principle as well as in form.

Another great advantage resulting from the plan adopted by government to promote the religious improvement of the important colony under consideration, will be found in the perseverance and steadiness of its operation. In the other islands, where such support could not be acquired, and where reliance has in some degree been placed on the voluntary aid of the natives, the triumphs gained by Christianity could not in all cases be secured. To this cause, as well as to others of a more speculative nature, may be ascribed the partial failure of missionary labours in other parts of the world. In reference to Canada, for example, it has been remarked that, if suffering and hardships in the prosecution of the great work they had undertaken deserved applause and admiration, they had an undoubted right to be applauded and admired. They spared no labour and avoided no danger in the discharge of their important office; but it is to be deeply lamented that their pious endeavours did not meet with the success they deserved, for there is hardly a trace to be found of them beyond the cultivated parts of the country. "The whole of their long route I have often travelled; and the recollection of such a people as the missionaries having been there was confined to a few superannuated Canadians, who had not left that country since the cession to England in 1763, and who particularly mentioned the death of some and the distressing situation of them all."*

The chief ground of hope that the labour now expended in the islands of the Pacific will not be in vain, rests on the probability of success in the similar attempt to establish commercial relations with the inhabitants, and thereby to aid religious instruction by the resources of

* Travels across the Continent of North America, &c. Introduction, p. xii. By Sir Alexander Mackenzie.

civilisation. The missionary cause will always feel weak and insecure, if it be compelled to stand insulated from political aid and the open countenance of the nation; and it is pleasant to observe that, in our days, maxims influence the conduct of our rulers, both wiser and more generous than formerly directed the administration of the colonies. But it is manifest that where the territorial property belongs not to the crown, the government cannot act through any other channel except such as may be opened by trade or negotiation.

We feel, accordingly, that this chapter would be imperfect did we not make a few observations on the commerce of Polynesia, viewed in connexion with the improvement of the people. This species of intercourse, it is obvious, must be founded on the basis of a convenient position relative to the several tribes whose mutual wants are to be supplied, and also on the productions of their respective soils. With regard to the former, the Society, Sandwich, and New Zealand groups present, perhaps, the greatest inducements to the trader. The commodities, on the other hand, which seem most likely to encourage adventure are common to the majority of the islands, if we except the whale-fishery, which has hitherto had its main establishment at Woahoo and the northern part of New Ulster.

In point of situation the Sandwich Isles have a great advantage, being on the direct route from the southern shores of continental Asia and the western coasts of America, the principal seat of the fur-trade. On this account commerce has sprung up there almost spontaneously; and Honoruru has become a depôt, whence not only Chinese but European manufactures are reshipped and smuggled on shore at the ports of Mexico and other republican states, which hold out a great temptation to engage in such contraband speculations. The China market supplies a constant demand for furs and skins, which are obtained in the neighbourhood of Nootka Sound, for spirituous liquors, blankets, cutlery, and beads. Numerous vessels are fitted out at the same

« ForrigeFortsæt »