THE MAORI VIEW OF CHRISTIANITY.
I frequently conversed with George upon the subject of religion, and from
what he told me I found that the natives had not formed the slightest
idea of there being a state of future punishment. They refuse to believe
that the good Spirit intends to make them miserable after their decease.
They imagine all the actions of this life are punished here, and that
every one when dead, good or bad, bondsman or free, is assembled on an
island situated near the North Cape, where both the necessaries and
comforts of life will be found in the greatest abundance, and all will
enjoy a state of uninterrupted happiness. A people of their simple
habits, and possessing so little property, have but few temptations to
excesses of any kind, excepting the cruelties practised by them in war,
in which they fancy themselves perfectly justified, and the tyranny
exercised by them over their slaves, whom they look upon as mere
machines. There is, in fact, but little crime among them, for which
reason they cannot imagine any man wicked enough to deserve eternal
punishment. This opinion of theirs we saw an illustration of one Sunday,
when one of the missionaries paid us a visit.
The ceremony of all assembling to public worship astonished the natives
greatly, though they always behaved with the utmost decorum when admitted
into the house where the ceremony takes place. On the day in question
the minister endeavoured to explain the sacred mysteries of our religion
to a number of the chiefs who were present. They listened attentively to
all he said, and expressed no doubts as to its truth, only remarking that
"as all these wonderful circumstances happened only in the country of the
white men, the great Spirit expected the white men only to believe them."
The missionary then began to expatiate on the torments of hell, at which
some of them seemed horrified, but others said "they were quite sure such
a place could only be made for the white faces, for they had no men half
wicked enough in New Zealand to be sent there;" but when the reverend
gentleman added with vehemence that "all men" would be condemned, the
savages all burst into a loud laugh, declaring "they would have nothing
to do with a God who delighted in such cruelties; and then (as a matter
of right) hoped the missionary would give them each a blanket for having
taken the trouble of listening to him so patiently."
I cannot forbear censuring the missionaries, inasmuch as they prevent the
natives, by every means in their power, from acquiring the English
language. They make a point of mastering the native tongue as quickly as
possible, and being able to give their whole time and attention to it,
this is easily accomplished. It is of importance that they should do so,
otherwise they could not carry on the duties of the mission; but by thus
engrossing the knowledge, they obtain great influence over the minds of
the natives. We ourselves were sadly puzzled by a correspondence we had
with two native chiefs, who had been taught to read and write by some of
the Society; but their acquirements being in their native language, were
of no possible use. The difficulty of teaching them English would not
have been greater, and then what stores of information and improvement
might not their instructors have laid open to them.