16 CHRISTIAN NATIVES IN NEW ZEALAND Now, railways are in action, and are rapidly extending themselves throughout this great country, bringing distant places near, and rapidly facilitating the transit, not only of travellers, but of merchandize. In 1860 the total number of passengers carried by the British lines was 63,000,000. What is it, then, at the present moment? "The railway has become a popular institution. Rich high-caste women occasionally take advantage of it. Brahmins graciously permit their devotees to make use of it for the purpose of visiting the sacred temples, that they themselves may have larger offerings to receive." But in doing so they are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, for the railway is destructive to caste usages. Thus many are running to and fro, and knowledge is being increased; and in the midst of all this may the word of the Lord have free course, and be glorified! CHRISTIAN NATIVES IN NEW ZEALAND DURING THE TIME OF WAR. DEEPLY painful to every Christian mind is the war of races which has so long existed in New Zealand, and which, whatever we may hope, we cannot affirm has yet terminated. Yet, from the midst of this wintry aspect of affairs, encouraging circumstances may be gathered. We learn how deep rooted is the Christianity of the natives. They received it from the European, and if, when unhappily they came into collision with the European, they had only superficially received it, they would have loathed it, torn it from them, and cast it away. They would have been like the stonyground hearers; when the sun was up, their profession would have been scorched, and, having no root, would have withered away. But this has not been the case. With few exceptions, their Christian ordinances have been maintained; their teachers have remained with them, and instructed them; and we have reason to believe that there have been earnest, praying people amongst them, who, in this time of tribulation, have sought the Lord. This is our hope respecting them. We cannot but entertain the hope that the Lord will, by some means, bring them out of this great trouble, and restore peace to the land; and that, although this people has been brought low, yet that upon the mown grass the Lord will cause refreshing showers to descend, so that they shall "revive as the corn and grow as the vine." We shall adduce some facts in proof of what we have said. On the east coast of the island, at a place called Opotoki, is situated one of our Missionaries, the Rev. C. S. Volkner. He had laboured strenuously to keep his people quiet, and had reason to hope he had succeeded, when, unhappily, in an inauspicious moment, a Romish priest arrived, bringing a letter from the rebel party at Waikato, inviting them to come and help them, that they might drive away the Europeans. From that moment they became unsettled, and at DURING THE TIME OF WAR. 17 length, having resolved on joining the king-movement, started for the seat of war. They went from all parts of the district in twentyone war canoes and boats, in different parties, at different times, in all about 700, and all in high spirits. But they met with a reverse, and that soon. On the way they were met by a body of loyal natives, aided by some soldiers and two steamers, and driven back with loss, twenty having been killed and several wounded, besides the loss of many guns, powder, canoes, several boats, and all their clothes. Amongst the dead was one very important chief. They came back in little parties of seven, ten, and fifteen, very humbled. They now saw how good the advice had been which their minister had given them, and how well it would have been for them to have followed it. Thus they gathered round him, spoke kindly to him, and seemed much comforted by his presence. When asked how it was they had been so completely defeated, and had fled in such confusion when they were double the number of the enemy, they unhesitatingly answered, " God defeated us, and we were made foolish as a punishment for the evil we have done: it is through the mercy of God that any of us have come back alive." Then come some of those facts which prove the permanent character of Maori Christianity, and in this, as we have already said, is our hope respecting them. Had their Christianity been abandoned they would have perished. But as they cling to it, it is to them as a life-buoy: it will bring them ashore, with national loss indeed, yet with life preserved. Mr. Volkner says, May 19, 1864— I am glad to say, that out of sixteen teachers in this district, only four went on the campaign to Maketu. They went without weapons, and only on the condition that nothing of the old heathen customs of prophesying, seeing visions, or having dreams, was to be countenanced amongst them. On their return I learned that they not only had kept to this, but that these teachers also made their people return horses and cattle which they had captured from the enemy, which the teachers thought was wrong. Whether in camp or on the march, they always had their morning and evening prayers. I saw 500 with their guns, having their food placed before them: not one of them touched a potatoe till a blessing was asked, and they never take up arms on the Sabbath, unless they are attacked on that day, which, to their great disgust, is done by civilized and Christian troops. In these times all the natives are greatly excited. Yet it is remarkable how, in spite of all, they acknowledge the hand of God in the war. In speaking to a young man about their last defeat, he said, “We sce, after all, that it is all in the hands of the Chief in heaven: we must do what He wills." And there are some who really look to God for help in this time of need. As regards their conduct to the Europeans, it could not be better, from the beginning of the war up to this present time. The Europeans in the Bay of Plenty were not only not sent away, and not molested, but asked to stay. That the Europeans left Tauranga was through a misunderstanding of the letter from W. Thompson. They were begged by the Tauranga natives not to go; 18 THE HURRICANE AT MASULIPATAM. nor have I met with a single instance of a European being insulted, or his property being endangered, but, on the contrary, many vowed that they would protect them with their lives. At the Matuta they were encamped a fortnight. On the spot lived four Europeans, who were from home at the time, their houses being left to the mercy of those in the camp, yet they never touched a single thing belonging to the Europeans. When the friendly natives had broken into Mr. Grace's store, and gone away leaving it open, the hostile party came after them, and took out some prayer-books: the teacher made them pay for them, and they did so without a murmur. The good Lord restore peace, and that soon, to this distracted land, and may great wisdom be vouchsafed to the Governor-General and others in authority, that conflicting interests may be harmonized, and natives and Europeans, laying aside their weapons of war, sit down side by side to cultivate the land. THE HURRICANE AT MASULIPATAM. SAD calamities have happened in India. There have been fearful hurriricanes, one at Calcutta in the beginning of October, the other at Masulipatam on the 1st of November. At both places the loss of life has been very great, but particularly at Masulipatam, where it is supposed that 30,000 people have perished. At Calcutta and other places in the track of the first hurricane, our Mission stations have suffered much as to wreck of buildings and destruction of crops, but we are not aware of any of our native Christians who have been lost, although it has been very sadly otherwise at the stations of other Missionary Societies lying to the south of Calcutta. But at Masulipatam we deeply regret to say very many of our native Christians have perished. Masulipatam is about two miles from the sea, from which it is separated by a low beach and a marshy plain. We have here three Missionaries-Messrs. Noble, Sharkey, and Sharp-occupying different homesteads, and engaged in different departments of the work. Mr. and Mrs. Sharkey had some native girls residing with them, while opposite their house stood the orphan-girls' school, inhabited by thirty-three orphan girls. On the afternoon of November 1st (Tuesday) the wind rose considerably, and the boys of Mr. Noble's Anglo-vernacular school amused themselves by watching how it snapped light branches of the trees. Soon the school ended for the day, and, as the night threatened to be rough, the doors and windows of the schoolhouse were carefully barred and bolted. The storm increased towards evening, and now, instead of branches being broken, the trees were blown down. The rain began to fall in torrents, penetrating through the roof of Mr. Noble's house, and compelling the inmates to walk about the house with umbrellas over their heads. The wind became so strong that it drew the bolts of the shutters, and threatened to force them open; and some of the young people in the house were set to watch them and keep them in their places. The THE HURRICANE AT MASULIPATAM. 19 water, however, made its way in, and some one discovered that it was salt. Just then there was a roar like thunder, the doors and windows were suddenly burst open with a tremendous crash, and in rushed the sea. The inmates tried to escape, but their retreat was cut off on every side, and in trying to get a ladder by which they might climb up upon the wooden ceiling, Mr. Noble was struck on the breast by a wave, and nearly lost his life. Nothing remained now but to retreat to an inner room, and there, getting upon the cots and drawers, to wait for day. Happily they knew One who could help them, and to Him they prayed earnestly; nor were their prayers in vain. The waters ceased to increase, nay, they lessened: the great tidal waye which had burst upon the town was receding. Had it continued to increase for some short time longer, the walls of the house would have been undermined; they would have fallen, and all would have perished. At break of day a sorrowful group came in sight. Our two young Christian natives, Bushanan and Rutnam, recently ordained by the Bishop of Madras, resided with their families in a bungalow a short distance off. They also had passed a dreadful night, and at length, fearing the house would yield to the pressure, they left before break of day, in the hope of reaching Mr. Noble's house. But, in the effort, Bushanam's wife and child were carried away by the flood, and Rutnam's wife nearly so. Thus early in the path of Christian usefulness has our young friend Bushanam been called upon to pass through the waters of deep affliction. As the light increased, and they could look around, all was desolation. The school-teacher's house was gone, and no one knew what had become of himself or his wife. Alas! they had both been drowned, and their bodies were subsequently found some distance off. Mallaya was a good, consistent Christian, and had been married only a few months. But the loss of life at Mr. Sharkey's was still greater. The orphangirls' bungalow had been swept away, and all the girls, to the number of thirty-three, had perished. Very interesting this school had become. The girls were well instructed in Scripture, and we trust that, in the hour of deep distress, when they cried and no human help could reach them, that they called on the name of the Lord. Very sweetly these girls used to sing, in parts, the sacred songs they had been taught. Their voices are now silent in death. But they have been taken away from the evil to come. This we are assured of, that what has been permitted has taken place in mercy. We would have wished it otherwise, but the Lord knows which is best, and, if we are inclined to question, silences us by saying— "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." Nineteen others of our native Christians were lost, and amongst them Lachimana, who had been brought up in the school, and was on the point of being married to one of the native teachers. To her Christian character and conduct the strongest testimony is borne; she is gone to be with Christ, which is much better. The loss of property on the part of the Missionaries is great indeed— libraries, clothes, furniture, &c.; in fact, they are reduced to destitution. The houses are either down or seriously injured. But who can describe the wreck and desolation of this native town, four-fifths of which is ruined? May this great calamity awaken these millions from their torpid 20 NATIVE TEACHERS IN CHINA. idolatry, and constrain them to confess that their idols cannot save them, that, casting them to the moles and to the bats, they may turn to Him from whom they have deeply revolted! It is true, from such tribulations Christians are not more exempted than the heathen; but the Christian has hope in his death. He emerges from the flood, and, laying hold on eternal life, gets safe ashore, the heavenly shore, where there are no storms. NATIVE TEACHERS IN CHINA. How is the Gospel to be preached to the Chinese? And why more especially as regards the Chinese? some one may ask what is there of difficulty in their case which is not to be found in other European fields? We reply, because of their vast numbers. Just think: 362 millions of people in China Proper, according to the census of 1812. Nor can we be surprised at these vast numbers, when we remember, that between 1711 and 1753, thirty-two years, the population doubled itself. It is true, that of late evil times have fallen upon China, and the wars of the Taepings have caused great waste of human life. Still we doubt if they have done more than stop the increase, and thus it is not improbable that the population of China is about the same in number now that it was ten years ago. But just again consider. In China Proper there are eighteen provinces, most of them containing, on an average, twenty millions of people. Chekiang, where our Missionaries are at work, contains twenty-six millions and upwards. Fuhkien, another province where we have Missionaries, say fifteen millions; Kiangsu, another, nearly thirty-eight millions. Chili, another, nearly twenty-eight millions. Thus, four provinces alone contain some 107 millions of people amongst them. Now, in these four provinces, the Church Missionary Society has nine Missionaries, and that at the expiration of twenty years. How, then, are these Missions to be reached, so that the Gospel message may be brought home to their cities, towns, and hamlets, and the opportunity be afforded to these millions of knowing and believing in the Saviour of sinners? It must be done by native evangelists; and this is our special comfort regarding China, that if native evangelists are there specially needed, there is no part of the heathen world where so many persons are to be found in all respects fitted for immediate usefulness, if only converted, and instructed in the Christian scriptures. In other lands, it is not so. India and Africa are populous portions of the world; but the native converts require to be trained and generally instructed before they can be used as Christian teachers among their countrymen. But many of the Chinese are already educated according to the requirements of China, and need not that in this respect any thing should be added to them. And, in fact, many of these men are already acting as native |