Mr. Marsden's correspondence with the London Missionary
Society--Buys the brig Active--His first Voyage to New
Zealand--Journal of Events.
Richard Baxter, after describing his ministerial labours at
Kidderminster in preaching and visiting from house to house, has these
remarkable words: "But all these, my labours, even preaching and
preparing for it, were but my recreations, and, as it were, the work of
my spare hours; for my writings were my chiefest daily labour." Mr.
Marsden had his recreations, too. Amidst the anxieties of his colonial
chaplaincy he found or made opportunities to conduct a work which of
itself would have been sufficient to exhaust the energies and to
immortalize the memory of any other man. We devote this chapter to a
short, and, of necessity, imperfect sketch of these his _recreations_ in
the missionary field.
On his return from England in 1810, he found disastrous tidings of the
Tahitian mission awaiting his arrival. Disheartened by their utter want
of success, divided amongst themselves, distracted with fears of danger
from the natives, several of the missionaries had fled from their posts,
and taken refuge in New South Wales. The work appeared to be on the eve
of ruin, and it was owing in no small measure to the firmness and wise
conduct of Mr. Marsden that it was not, for a time at least, abandoned.
"Sooner," he exclaims, in one of his letters to the Society at home,
"than _that_ shall be the case, I will give up my chaplaincy, and go
myself and live at Otaheite." Yet it was no easy task to inspire others
with his own courage, or to impart his hopeful spirit to a desponding
band of men. He felt the difficulty, and acted towards them in the most
considerate manner. Instead of at once insisting on their return, he
received them into his family, where it is scarcely necessary to say
they were treated with that patriarchal hospitality for which the
parsonage of Paramatta was famed. When a few months had passed, and
their spirits were cheered and their health restored, the question of
their return to Tahiti was introduced and quietly discussed. Their kind
and pious host had never for an instant doubted of their ultimate
success. We have perused numerous letters addressed by him to the London
Missionary Society, and to various friends in England; but in not one of
them is the shadow of a doubt expressed as to the triumph of the gospel
in Tahiti and the Society Islands; and we may extend the remark to the
New Zealand mission, as shown by his correspondence with the Church
Missionary Society a few years later. About this period a reaction had
taken place in England amongst religious people. The fond hopes they had
unwisely entertained of seeing vast results wherever the gospel was
introduced among the heathen and upon the first proclamation of it, had
been grievously disturbed; and now the tide ran in the opposite
direction. Nothing appears to have given Mr. Marsden more uneasiness
than the general lukewarmness of the church of Christ at home, and their
despondency as to the success of missions. He speaks of his "anxious
days and sleepless nights." But his own courage never failed; and this
high undoubting faith, it is beautiful to observe, rests always on the
same foundation. It was not, much as he respected them, his confidence
either in the Societies at home, or in their missionaries abroad, but
simply in the promises of God, in the power of the gospel, and in the
unchanging love of Christ for his "inheritance" among the heathen. Thus
the missionaries were induced to return to their deserted posts; and not
only so, but to resume their work in a higher spirit of faith and
cheerfulness. It was not long before hopeful signs broke out, and within
ten years Pomare the sovereign became a Christian king, and the island
of Tahiti a Christian land.
The distance of these missions from Australia, and the difficulty of
communicating with them, suggested to Mr. Marsden the advantage of
employing a vessel entirely on missionary service. When his mind was
once made up he lost no time; the consent of the Societies in England
could not all at once be gained; so he resolved, at his own cost, to
purchase a missionary ship, the first probably that ever floated on the
deep, and bought the Active, a brig of a hundred tons burden, for the
service of the two great missions on which his heart was fixed. The
following letter, addressed to the Rev. George Burder, though written
two years later, is introduced here to complete our summary of the
re-establishment of the Tahitian mission:
"Paramatta, June 9, 1815.
"REV. AND DEAR SIR,--I received a short letter from you by the
late arrivals, and found you had not got any very interesting
accounts from the brethren at Otaheite. The last account I had
from them, they were going on exceedingly well, and the Lord was
owning and blessing their labours. You will hear I lately visited
New Zealand, and also my views of that island. Finding that the
Societies in London could not make up their minds, neither as a
body nor as individuals, to send out a vessel, I at last
determined to purchase one for the purpose on my own account. The
various expenses attending it have created me some little
pecuniary difficulties; but they are only known to myself, and not
such as will be attended with any serious consequence. I hope in a
little time I shall be able to surmount them; whether I shall keep
the vessel in my own hands or not, I am not certain as yet. I
cannot do it without some assistance at the first; if I could, I
certainly would not trouble any of my friends. The vessel has been
twice at New Zealand, and is gone a third time. When she returns I
intend her to visit the brethren at Otaheite. It is my intention
that she should sail in August next to Otaheite. The brethren
there have been labouring hard to build a vessel for themselves,
which is almost completed. I have agreed to take a share with them
in her. During the time the brethren have been building their
vessel, the work of the Lord appears to have prospered very much,
far beyond all expectation."
He adds, "I estimate the expenses of the vessel at 1500_l._ per annum,
and I think, if I am not mistaken in my views, that her returns will not
be less than 1000_l._ per annum, and perhaps more. I may venture to say
I should not call on the two Societies for more than the sum I have
stated, namely, 500_l._ per annum from this time. I will not demand
anything if the returns cover the expenses for the use of the vessel."
These returns were to be obtained by "freighting the Active with the
produce of the industry of the natives, and trading with them in
return." This would "stimulate their exertions, correct their vagrant
minds, and enrich them with the comforts and conveniences of civil
life." The letter closes with suggesting yet another mission; for the
large heart of the writer saw in the approaching triumph of the gospel
in his favourite missions only a call to fresh exertions. Even as Paul,
when he had "fully preached from Jerusalem round about unto Illyricum,"
sighed after fresh labours, and still remoter conquests for his Lord. "I
wish to mention to you that it would be a great object if the Society
would turn their thoughts a little to the Friendly Islands. New Zealand
being on one side, and the Society Islands on the other, with labourers
now upon them, the Friendly Islands ought not to be left destitute.
These islands are very populous, and as the London Missionary Society
first began the work there, I think they should renew their attempt. I
cannot recommend any establishment upon any of the islands in the South
Seas, unless commerce is more or less attended to, in order to call
forth the industry of the natives. Provided the Society as a body will
not consent to have anything to do with commerce, I see no reason why a
few pious friends might not, who wish to aid the missionary cause. You
cannot form a nation without commerce and the civil arts. A person of
information who is well acquainted with the Friendly Islands informed me
that the labour of a hundred thousand men might be brought into action
upon these islands in producing sugar, cordage, cotton, etc.... A
hundred thousand men will never form themselves into any regular
society, and enjoy the productions of their country without commerce.
Should the Society have any doubts upon the point, let them authorize an
inquiry into the state of these islands, when there is an opportunity
to examine them, and a report of their inhabitants and their productions
laid out before them." Mr. Marsden then describes the openings at New
Zealand, and concludes a long letter thus: "I have stated my sentiments
with great haste. You will excuse the hasty scrawl. I can assure you my
sincere wish and prayer to the great Head of the church is that all may
prosper that love him. I am, dear sir, yours affectionately,
S. MARSDEN."
A postscript adds:--
"Since writing this letter, I have determined to keep the Active
in my own hands."
Let us now turn to the New Zealand mission, which occupied, from this
time, so large a portion of Mr. Marsden's public life.
We have mentioned the designation of two laymen, Messrs. Hall and King,
for this mission by the Church Missionary Society in 1808. They sailed
from England, with Mr. Marsden, in 1810, and were soon after followed by
Mr. Kendall, and the three assembled at New South Wales, intending to
sail thence without delay for the scene of their future work. But here
fresh difficulties arose. Mr. Marsden's intention was to accompany them,
and in person to meet the first dangers, and lay, as it were, the first
stone. But this the new governor absolutely forbade. To him, and in fact
to most men in his circumstances, the whole scheme seemed utterly
preposterous. The idea of converting the savages of New Zealand was the
chimera of a pious enthusiast--a good and useful man in his way, but one
who was not to be allowed thus idly to squander the lives of others, to
say nothing of his own. Nor in truth were the governor's objections
altogether without foundation. The last news from New Zealand was that
an English ship, the Boyd, had been seized and burned by the cannibals
in the Bay of Islands, and every soul on board, seventy in all, killed
and eaten. The report was true, save only that, out of the whole of the
ship's company, two women and a boy had been spared to live in slavery
with the savages. A New Zealand chief had sailed on board, as it
afterwards appeared, and had been treated with brutal indignities
similar to those which Duaterra suffered from the captain of the Santa
Anna. He smothered his resentment, and, waiting the return of the Boyd
to the Bay of Islands, summoned his tribe, who, on various pretences,
crowded the deck of the ship, and at a given signal rushed upon the
crew, dispatched them with their clubs and hatchets, and then gorged
themselves and their followers on the horrible repast. All then that Mr.
Marsden could obtain at present was permission to charter a vessel, if a
captain could be found sufficiently courageous to risk his life and ship
in such an enterprise, and to send out the three missionaries as
pioneers; with a reluctant promise from the governor that if on the
ship's return, all had turned out well, he should not be hindered from
following. For some time no such adventurous captain could be found. At
length, for the sum of 600_l._ for a single voyage, an offer was made,
but Mr. Marsden looked upon the sum as far too much; and this, with
other considerations, induced him to purchase his own missionary brig,
the Active, in which Messrs. Hall and Kendall finally set sail for the
Bay of Islands. They carried a message to Duaterra, entreating him to
receive them kindly, and inviting him, too, to return with them to
Paramatta, bringing along with him two or three friendly chiefs.
Duaterra, after his visit to Mr. Marsden, on his way from England, had
again suffered great hardships from the perfidy of the master of the
Frederick, with whom he had embarked from New South Wales under an
express engagement to be set on shore at the Bay of Islands, where his
tribe dwelt. He was carried to Norfolk Island, and there left; and, to
aggravate his wrongs and sorrows, the vessel passed within two miles of
his own shores and in sight of his long lost home. He was defrauded too
of his share of the oil he had procured with his companions, worth
100_l_. A whaler found him on Norfolk Island, almost naked and in the
last stage of want, and brought him once more to Australia and to his
friend and patron Mr. Marsden. A short stay sufficed; he sailed again
from Sydney, and soon found himself, to his great joy, amongst his
friends in New Zealand. On the arrival of the Active with its
missionaries--the first messengers of Christ who landed on its
shores--he was there to greet them, and to repay, a thousandfold, the
kindness of his friend the minister of Paramatta, in the welcome he
secured for these defenceless strangers. They carried with them too a
present which, trifling as it may seem, was not without its share of
influence in the great work; the story is suggestive, and may serve a
higher purpose than merely to amuse the reader.
Duaterra had been provided by Mr. Marsden with a supply of wheat for
sowing on his return to New Zealand. No such thing as a field of grain
of any kind had yet waved its golden ears on that fertile soil. To this
accomplished savage the honour belongs of first introducing agriculture
into an island destined, within forty years, to rival the best farms of
England both in the value of its crops and the variety of its produce.
The neighbouring chiefs and their tribes viewed with wonder first the
green ears and then the growing corn. The wild potato, the fern, and a
few other roots were the only produce of the earth they were yet
acquainted with, and when Duaterra assured them that his field of wheat
was to yield the flour out of which the bread and biscuits they had
tasted on English ships were made, they tore up several plants,
expecting to find something resembling their own potato at the root.
That the ears themselves should furnish the materials for a loaf was not
to be believed. Duaterra meant to impose upon them, or else he had been
duped himself, but they were not to be cajoled with the tales of a
traveller. The field was reaped and the corn threshed out, when Duaterra
was mortified with the discovery that he was not provided with a mill.
He made several attempts to grind his corn with the help of a
coffee-mill borrowed from a trading-ship, but without success; and now,
like the inventor of steam navigation, and other benefactors of their
species nearer home, he was laughed at for his simplicity. It is strange
that the ancient Roman _quern_, a hollow stone in which the grain was
pounded, the rudest form in fact of the pestle and mortar, should not
have occurred to him; but the total want of invention is an invariable
characteristic of savage nature. At length the Active brought the
important present of a hand-mill for grinding corn. Duaterra's friends
assembled to watch the experiment, still incredulous of the promised
result; but when the meal began to stream out beneath the machine their
astonishment was unbounded; and when a cake was produced, hastily baked
in a frying-pan, they shouted and danced for joy, Duaterra was now to
be trusted when he told them that the missionaries were good men. And
thus the first favourable impression was made upon the savage Maories,
whose race was in the next generation to become a civilized and
Christian people.
Messrs Hall and Kendall, having introduced themselves and their mission
in New Zealand, now, in obedience to their instructions, returned to
Sydney accompanied by Duaterra and six other chiefs, amongst whom was
Duaterra's uncle the famous Shunghie, or Hongi, the most powerful of New
Zealand chieftains; such was the confidence which Mr. Marsden's name,
together with the good conduct of the missionaries, had now inspired.
The Active reached New South Wales on the 22nd of August, 1814. Nothing
could exceed the joy which Mr. Marsden experienced on the successful
termination of the voyage, and being filled with an earnest desire to
promote the dissemination of the gospel amongst the New Zealanders, and
having obtained the governor's permission, he determined to accompany
the missionaries on their return to the Bay of Islands. To his friend,
Avison Terry, Esq., he wrote just before he sailed, Oct. 7, 1814--"It is
my intention to visit New Zealand and see what can be done to promote
the eternal welfare of the inhabitants of that island. I have now
several of the chiefs living with me at Paramatta. They are as noble a
race of men as are to be met with in any part of the world. I trust I
shall be able, in some measure, to put a stop to those dreadful murders
which have been committed upon the island for some years past, both by
the Europeans and the natives. They are a much injured people,
notwithstanding all that has been advanced against them. The time is
now come, in my opinion, for them to be favoured with the everlasting
gospel; and I trust to hear the joyful sound in those dark and dreary
regions of sin and spiritual bondage. I have long had the most ardent
wish to visit these poor heathen, but have never till the present time
obtained permission. I have submitted my views to the Church Missionary
Society, and solicited their aid. The expense of establishing a mission
here will at first be very considerable." ... [Here he mentions his
purchase of the Active, etc.] "Should the Society approve of my views,
no doubt they will give their support, but if they cannot enter into
them in the manner I do, I cannot expect that assistance from them which
may be required. My own means will enable me to set the mission on foot
in the first instance, and I have little doubt but it will succeed."
Zeal such as this, tempered with discretion and guided by the "wisdom
which cometh from above," in answer to many believing prayers, could
scarcely fail of its sure reward.
On the 19th of November, 1814, he embarked on his great mission, with a
motley crew, such as (except perhaps on some other missionary ship) has
seldom sailed in one small vessel--savages and Christian teachers and
enterprising mechanics, their wives and children, besides cattle and
horses. Of this strangely assorted company he gives the following
description: "The number of persons on board the Active, including women
and children, was thirty-five; the master, his wife and son, Messrs.
Kendall, Hall, and King, with their wives and children, eight New
Zealanders, (including Duaterra and his uncle the great warrior Shunghie
or Hongi) two Otaheitans, and four Europeans belonging to the vessel,
besides Mr. John Lydiard Nicholas and myself; there were also two
sawyers, one smith, and a runaway convict whom we afterwards found on
board, a horse and two mares, one bull and two cows, with a few sheep
and poultry. The bull and cows have been presented by Governor Macquarie
from his Majesty's herd." On the 15th December, they were in sight of
land; the next day, the chiefs were sent on shore, and a friendly
communication was at once opened with the natives. But even before they
had landed "a canoe came alongside the Active, with plenty of fish, and
shortly afterwards a chief followed from the shore, who immediately came
on board." Mr. Marsden's fame, as the friend of the New Zealanders, had
arrived before him. "I told them my name, with which they were all well
acquainted.... We were now quite free from all fear, as the natives
seemed desirous to show us attention by every possible means in their
power." The Active dropped her anchor a few days after at Wangaroa, near
the Bay of Islands, the scene of the massacre of the Boyd's crew, and
there amongst the very cannibals by whose hands their countrymen had
fallen so recently the first Christian mission to New Zealand was
opened. A fierce and unholy revenge had been taken, in the murder of
Tippahee, a native chieftain, and all his family, by an English crew who
had visited Wangaroa after the Boyd's destruction, and Tippahee, as Mr.
Marsden always maintained, suffered unjustly, having had no share in the
dreadful massacre. But thus it was; and amongst a people so exasperated
did these servants of the most high God venture forth as the heralds of
the gospel. Seldom since the words of the prophet were first uttered
have they had, in reference to missionaries, a more significant, or a
more correct appropriation than they now received. "How beautiful upon
the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation."
Mr. Marsden's journal of this his first visit to New Zealand is a
document of singular interest, and when published at the time in
England, it made a deep impression. It is written in plain and forcible
language, and is characterized by that vein of good sense and practical
wisdom which so distinguished him. There is no display of his own
sufferings, trials and privations, no affectation of laboured and
studied expression, no highly coloured and partial representation of the
savage condition of the natives. All his aim is to lay the truth before
the Society and the friends of missions, and in doing so he has written
with a degree of accuracy and honest feeling, which while they inform
the understanding at once reach the heart. From this unpretending
record, a few selections will be laid before the reader. And here, too,
we would, once for all, acknowledge our obligations to his "companion in
travel," J. L. Nicholas, Esq., to whose manuscript journal of the visit
to New Zealand, as well indeed as for other communications of great
interest on the subject of Mr. Marsden's life and labours, we shall be
much indebted through the future pages of our work.
Duaterra and Shunghie had often told of the bloody war, arising out of
the affair of the Boyd, that was raging, while they were at Paramatta,
between the people of Wangaroa (the tribe of Tippahee) and the
inhabitants of the Bay of Islands, who were their own friends and
followers; the Wangaroans accusing the people of the Bay of Islands of
having conspired with the English in the murder of Tippahee. When the
Active arrived, several desperate battles had been fought, and the war
was likely to continue.
Mr. Marsden was determined to establish peace amongst these contending
tribes. He was known already as the friend of Duaterra and Shunghie; he
now felt that he must convince the other party of his good intentions.
He did not come amongst them as an ally of either, but as the friend of
both; he resolved therefore to pass some time with the Wangaroans; and
with a degree of intrepidity truly astonishing even in him, not only
ventured on shore, but actually passed the night, accompanied by his
friend Mr. Nicholas alone, with the very savages who had killed and
eaten his countrymen. After a supper of fish and potatoes in the camp of
Shunghie, they walked over to the hostile camp distant about a mile.
They received the two white strangers very cordially. "We sat down
amongst them, and the chiefs surrounded us." Mr. Marsden then introduced
the subject of his embassy, explained the object of the missionaries in
coming to live amongst them, and showed how much peace would conduce in
every way to the welfare of all parties. A chief, to whom the Europeans
gave the name of George, acted as interpreter; he had sailed on board an
English ship, and spoke English well. Mr. Marsden tells us how the first
night was passed: "As the evening advanced the people began to retire to
rest in different groups. About eleven o'clock Mr. Nicholas and I
wrapped ourselves in our great coats, and prepared for rest. George
directed me to lie by his side. His wife and child lay on the right
hand, and Mr. Nicholas close by. The night was clear; the stars shone
bright, and the sea in our front was smooth; around us were innumerable
spears stuck upright in the ground, and groups of natives lying in all
directions, like a flock of sheep upon the grass, as there were neither
tents nor huts to cover them. I viewed our present situation with
sensations and feelings that I cannot express, surrounded by cannibals
who had massacred and devoured our countrymen. I wondered much at the
mysteries of providence, and how these things could be. Never did I
behold the blessed advantage of civilization in a more grateful light
than now. I did not sleep much during the night. My mind was too
seriously occupied by the present scene, and the new and strange ideas
it naturally excited. About three in the morning I rose and walked about
the camp, surveying the different groups of natives. When the morning
light returned we beheld men, women, and children, asleep in all
directions like the beasts of the field. I had ordered the boat to come
on shore for us at daylight; and soon after Duaterra arrived in the
camp."
In the morning he gave an invitation to the chiefs to breakfast on board
the Active, which they readily accepted. "At first I entertained doubts
whether the chiefs would trust themselves with us or not, on account of
the Boyd, lest we should detain them when we had them in our power; but
they showed no signs of fear, and went on board with apparent
confidence. The axes, billhooks, prints, etc., I intended to give them
were all got ready after breakfast; the chiefs were seated in the cabin
in great form to receive the presents, I sat on the one side, and they
on the other side of the table; Duaterra stood and handed me each
article separately that I was to give them. Messrs. Kendall, Hall, and
King, with the master of the Active and his son, were all one after the
other introduced to the chiefs. The chiefs were at the same time
informed what duty each of the three persons were appointed to do. Mr.
Kendall to instruct their children, Mr. Hall to build houses, boats,
etc., Mr. King to make fishing lines, and Mr. Hanson to command the
Active, which would be employed in bringing axes and such things as were
wanted from Sydney, to enable them to cultivate their lands and improve
their country. When these ceremonies were over, I expressed my hope that
they would have no more wars, but from that time would be reconciled to
each other. Duaterra, Shunghie, and Koro Koro shook hands with the
chiefs of Wangaroa, and saluted each other as a token of reconciliation
by joining their noses together. I was much gratified to see these men
at amity once more."
The chieftains now took their leave, much pleased with the attention of
Mr. Marsden, and still more so with his presents; and they promised for
the future to protect the missionaries and never to injure the European
traders. Some of the presents excited no little wonder; no New
Zealander, except the few who like Duaterra had been on foreign travel,
had ever seen either cows or horses, for the largest quadruped yet
naturalized in the island was the pig, and even that had been introduced
but recently. Duaterra had often told his wondering countrymen of the
horse and its rider, and in return was always laughed at; but when the
horses were now landed and Mr. Marsden actually mounted one of them,
they stood in crowds and gazed in mute astonishment. These traits of
infant civilization are not without their use to those who may hereafter
be cast among barbarous tribes, or may attempt their improvement.
The first Sunday on which the one true God was worshipped in New Zealand
since the creation, will be for ever memorable in her annals. It was
also Christmas-day, the 25th of December, 1815, "a day much to be
remembered." Mr. Marsden thus describes it: "Duaterra passed the
remaining part of the previous day in preparing for the sabbath. He
inclosed about half an acre of land with a fence, erected a pulpit and
reading desk in the centre, and covered the whole either with black
native cloth or some duck which he had brought with him from Port
Jackson. He also procured some bottoms of old canoes, and fixed them up
as seats on each side of the pulpit, for the Europeans to sit upon;
intending to have divine service performed there the next day. These
preparations he made of his own accord; and in the evening informed me
that everything was ready for divine service. I was much pleased with
this singular mark of his attention. The reading-desk was about three
feet from the ground, and the pulpit about six feet. The black cloth
covered the top of the pulpit, and hung over the sides; the bottom of
the pulpit, as well as the reading-desk, was part of a canoe. The whole
was becoming, and had a solemn appearance. He had also erected a
flagstaff on the highest hill in the village, which had a very
commanding view.
"On Sunday morning, when I was upon deck, I saw the English flag flying,
which was a pleasing sight in New Zealand. I considered it as the signal
and the dawn of civilization, liberty and religion, in that dark and
benighted land. I never viewed the British colours with more
gratification; and flattered myself they would never be removed, till
the natives of that island enjoyed all the happiness of British
subjects.
"About ten o'clock we prepared to go ashore, to publish for the first
time the glad tidings of the gospel. I was under no apprehension for the
safety of the vessel; and, therefore, ordered all on board to go on
shore to attend divine service, except the master and one man. When we
landed, we found Koro Koro, Duaterra, and Shunghie, dressed in
regimentals, which Governor Macquarie had given them, with their men
drawn up, ready to be marched into the inclosure to attend divine
service. They had their swords by their sides, and switches in their
hands. We entered the inclosure, and were placed on the seats on each
side of the pulpit. Koro Koro marched his men, and placed them on my
right hand, in the rear of the Europeans: and Duaterra placed his men on
the left. The inhabitants of the town, with the women and children, and
a number of other chiefs, formed a circle round the whole. A very solemn
silence prevailed--the sight was truly impressive. I rose up and began
the service with singing the Old Hundredth Psalm; and felt my very soul
melt within me when I viewed my congregation, and considered the state
they were in. After reading the service, during which the natives stood
up and sat down at the signals given by Koro Koro's switch, which was
regulated by the movements of the Europeans, it being Christmas day, I
preached from the second chapter of St. Luke's gospel and tenth verse,
'Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy," etc. The natives told
Duaterra that they could not understand what I meant. He replied, that
they were not to mind that now, for they would understand by-and-by; and
that he would explain my meaning as far as he could. When I had done
preaching, he informed them what I had been talking about. Duaterra was
very much pleased that he had been able to make all the necessary
preparations for the performance of divine worship in so short a time,
and we felt much obliged to him for his attention. He was extremely
anxious to convince us that he would do everything in his power, and
that the good of his country was his principal consideration.
"In this manner, the gospel has been introduced into New Zealand; and I
fervently pray that the glory of it may never depart from its
inhabitants till time shall be no more."
The confidence of the natives in Mr. Marsden was now unbounded, and
scarcely less was the confidence he reposed in them; and he resolved
upon a short coasting voyage, with the view of exploring their different
harbours, and making arrangements for the future extension of the
mission. Many of the chiefs and warriors, led by Duaterra, wished to
sail with him, and without the slightest misgiving, twenty-eight
savages, fully armed after the fashion of their country, were invited on
board the Active, manned as she was by only seven Europeans. "I do not
believe," Mr. Nicholas observes, "that a similar instance can be shown
of such unlimited confidence placed in a race of savages known to be
cannibals. We are wholly in their power, and what is there to hinder
them from abusing it? Next to the overruling providence of God, there is
nothing but the character of the ship, which seems to have something
almost sacred in their eyes, and the influence of Mr. Marsden's name,
which acts as a talisman amongst them. They feel convinced that he is
sacrificing his own ease and comfort to promote their welfare."
Their leave of absence having nearly expired, Mr. Marsden and his
companions were now obliged to prepare for their voyage homeward. They
had laid the foundations of a great work--how great, none of them could
tell. But they were full of faith in God, while, as patriots, they
exulted in the prospect of extending the renown of dear old England. Mr.
Marsden, in his conversations with the natives, explained to them the
nature of our government, and the form of trial by jury; he discoursed
with them upon the evils of polygamy, and showed his marked abhorrence
of their darling vices--theft and lying. A chisel being lost from the
Active a boat was sent on shore, manned by Duaterra and other
chieftains, to demand restitution; the culprit was not found, nor the
implement restored; but a whole village was aroused from its slumbers at
midnight, and the inhabitants literally trembled with fear of the
consequences when they saw the angry chieftains, though no harm was
permitted to ensue. An example of high integrity was always set. Mr.
Marsden might, for instance, have obtained land, or timber, or, in
short, whatever he required in exchange for ammunition and muskets; but
he sternly interdicted the sale or barter of these articles upon any
terms whatever, and to this resolution he always adhered. Again and
again does he express his determination, as well in this its earliest
stage as in later periods of the mission, rather to abandon the whole
work, which was far dearer to him than life itself, than to suffer it to
be tainted by what he considered so nefarious a barter. "I further told
them," he says, "that the smith should make axes or hoes, or any other
tools they wanted; but that he was on no account to repair any pistols
or muskets, or make any warlike instruments, no not even for the
greatest chiefs upon the island." And he "took an opportunity, upon all
occasions, to impress upon their minds the horrors their cannibalism
excited; how much their nation was disgraced by it, and dreaded on this
account."
One thing still remained to be done. The missionaries possessed no land,
and were liable, after his departure, to be removed or driven out at the
mere caprice of the tribes amongst whom they settled. He therefore
determined, if possible, to purchase for them a small estate. It
consisted of about two hundred acres; and the first plot of ground to
which England can lay claim in New Zealand was formally made over in a
deed, of which Mr. Nicholas has fortunately preserved a transcript. It
was executed in the presence of a number of chiefs, who were assembled
to take leave of the Active on the day before she sailed, and ran as
follows:--
"Know all men to whom these presents shall come, that I, Anodee O
Gunna, king of Rangheehoo, in the island of New Zealand, have, in
consideration of twelve axes to me in hand now paid and delivered
by the Reverend Samuel Marsden of Paramatta, in the territory of
New South Wales, given, granted, bargained, and sold; and by this
present instrument do give, grant, bargain, and sell unto the
committee of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the
East, instituted in London, in the kingdom of Great Britain, and
to their heirs and successors, all that piece and parcel of land
situate in the district of Hoshee, in the island of New Zealand,
bounded on the south side by the bay of Lippouna and the town of
Rangheehoo, on the north side by a creek of fresh water, and on
the west by a public road into the interior, together with all
the rights, members, privileges, and appurtenances thereto
belonging; to have and to hold to the aforesaid committee of the
Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East, instituted in
London, in the kingdom of Great Britain, their heirs, successors,
and assigns, for ever, clear and freed from all taxes, charges,
impositions, and contributions whatsoever, as and for their own
absolute and proper estate for ever.
"In testimony whereof I have to these presents, thus done and
given, set my hand at Hoshee, in the island of New Zealand, this
twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of Christ, one thousand
eight hundred and fifteen.
(Signatures to the grant.) "THOMAS KENDALL.
"J. L. NICHOLAS."
To this was affixed a complete drawing of the "amoco," or tattooing of
Gunna's face, done by Shunghie, on one side of which he set his mark.
We need scarcely remind the reader how closely this transaction
resembles the famous contract of William Penn with the native Indians,
by which he became possessed of Pennsylvania. Much and justly as Penn
has been admired, Mr. Marsden's conduct is even more worthy of respect.
Penn sought to found a colony, to place himself at its head, and to
associate his own name with it through generations to come. The chaplain
of Paramatta had not even these motives of honest and laudable ambition;
he sought nothing for himself, nothing for his country, nothing even for
the church of which he was a member, and which he warmly loved. His one
aim was to evangelize New Zealand; to bring a nation of cannibals from
darkness into the marvellous light of the gospel, and from the power of
Satan unto God. His own name appears on the instrument only as the agent
or representative of a missionary society in whom the property was
vested; and yet at the time the purchase was made he was uncertain
whether the bare expenses of his voyage, or even the cost and charges of
his vessel, would ever be repaid to him. He sought neither wealth, nor
honour, nor preferment, but acted with a simple aim to the glory of God.
The memorial of such a name can never perish amongst men; and should it
be forgotten, still his record is on high.
Mr. Marsden returned from his first voyage to New Zealand accompanied by
no less than ten chiefs, and landed at Sydney on the 23rd of March,
1815. He and Mr. Nicholas immediately presented themselves to the
governor, who "congratulated them on their safe return," from what, in
common with all the colony, he regarded as a most perilous and rash
adventure.