BIBLE CLASS AT MATAMATA. 87 whole night through. The distress, that now their instructor, their comforter, their guardian, their benefactor, their counsellor, was no more, was general. Not only we, the Congregations, the Schools, and the Missions, but the whole land, has lost a parent. Whoever knew him, the same bewails him. On the day following, between four and five in the afternoon, we committed his body to the grave we had made for him in the Church. Serfojee, the Tanjore Prince, whose guardian he had been, came to see him before the coffin was closed, bedewed him with his tears, and accompanied him to the grave. The Malabar helpers asked permission to bear the corpse; but as Europeans had been appointed thereto the day before, it was declined. We purposed singing on the way, but the wailing of the people did not allow of it. There was singing in the Church before and after the interment; and when the Europeans were departed, the Malabars of themselves began a hymn, and awaited an address from me; but I could hardly utter even a few words, and was obliged to make a vigorous effort to read the prayers. The servant of the departed stood near me, and said, like one about to swoon, "Now is our desire gone!" The exclamation went to my heart; but this is not the language of one but of many, old and young, great and small, near and afar, Christians and Heathen. On the next evening, the Malabar Congregation gathered together in the Church, and wished to hear a sermon. I chose the words of the dying Jacob, "I die, and God will be with you!" I introduced many things that the deceased had said concerning the Church, and his expectation that the kingdom of Christ would come here. I endeavoured to awaken them to the attainment of such a spirit as the departed had possessed, whose grave was then visible before them. On the following day I again prayed with the Brethren, and departed. "He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness." BIBLE CLASS AT MATAMATA, NEW ZEALAND. NINETEEN years had passed away since the arrival of the first Missionaries in New Zealand, and no Station had been commenced to the south of the Bay of Islands. From the unsettled state of the Natives, the districts to the south had continued closed against the Missionaries. At length, five new Stations were occupied in that direction, one of them at the native village of Matamata, of which the aged Waharoa, a man well known as a warrior and cannibal, was the Chief. When visited some months previously, he declared his willingness to give up his hatchet, if a Missionary came to live with him. The promise was made him that some one should be sent; and in fulfilment of this promise, the present Archdeacon Brown and the Rev. J. Morgan reached his Pa in May 1835. They were heartily welcomed by the old Chief. Two rush houses with boarded floors were soon finished, together with corn-stores and out-buildings; and a field, orchard, and gardens, covering a space of about 88 BIBLE CLASS AT MATAMATA. ten acres, were inclosed with a good substantial fence. Schools were commenced, and many of the Natives taught to read and sew. A year, however, had not passed over, when the difficulties of the new work on which the Missionaries had entered began to appear. A furious war broke out between the tribes living at Matamata and along the great river Waikato, and the people inhabiting the borders of the Rotorua lake. Waharoa, whose manners had seemed mild and his countenance pleasing, then appeared in his true character. The savage was roused. The people of Rotorua had murdered a Chief, a relative of his, and he thirsted for revenge. "How sweet to me," he said, "will the flesh and blood of the Rotorua Natives taste, along with their new kumera (sweet potatoes)." Dreadful fights took place, and numbers were killed and eaten. A fearful spectacle it was to see the Natives passing the Mission-house at Matamata on their return from battle. They carried with them the proofs of the victory they had gained—a heart stuck on a pointed stick-a head secured to a short pole-baskets of human flesh with bones, hands, &c. protruding from the tops and sides—and, what perhaps was more affecting than any other object, one of the infant children of the School dandling on his knees, and making faces at the head of some Rotorua Chief, who had been killed in the battle. The situation of the Missionaries was most dangerous. Even in Waharoa, who had invited them there, no reliance could be placed. Proposing to Mr. Brown one day that he should have some human flesh to eat, he was told in reply, that he would find eternal death to be the wages of iniquity, when he gave utterance to the following savage threat: "If you are angry with me for what we have been doing, I will kill and eat you and all the Missionaries." The Rotorua Mission-house had been already plundered and burned, the Missionaries with difficulty escaping with their lives, amidst the furious crowds which thronged around them; and threats were now uttered that the Matamata Station would be similarly dealt with. It was indeed a time requiring the exercise of strong faith and prayer. Soon after, a body of armed men, with blackened faces, headed by a Chief named Marupo, which signifies "murder by night," entered the tent where some of the Missionary property had been placed previously to being shipped, and broke open every package except one hair-trunk, belonging to Archdeacon Brown, upon which a woman took her seat, and preserved it from destruction for the time. She afterward broke it open, and robbed it; and on being asked what her reasons were for preserving the box from destruction, she replied, "I saved it for myself, not for Mr. Brown." Immediately books, shirts, and various articles of wearing apparel were strewed about in all directions. Yet amidst these dark scenes, the Lord graciously showed our Missionaries that their labour had not been in vain. Two or three Chiefs proved by their conduct that they had received good. One of them, Taiepa, son of the second Chief, refused to go with his BIBLE CLASS AT MATAMATA. 89 father in the war-party against Rotorua, although repeatedly urged to do so; nor did it appear that he was kept back from any other motive than a sense of the evil of doing so. It was evident that his heart had been touched, and that he had begun to seek after Christ. Tarapipi, Waharoa's eldest son, also attached himself to the Missionaries, and rendered them essential service. Such was the greater part of New Zealand fifteen years ago—a dark and bloody land, where man loved to kill and eat his fellow man. How changed since then! With few exceptions the whole island is now professedly Christian. Cannibal practices have ceased; wars have so diminished, that the Natives, who used to be crowded into fortified villages, are being dispersed over the face of the country, and beginning to occupy detached hamlets. It is a rare thing to find a New Zealander who cannot read and write. They grow large quantities of wheat, and flour-mills are rapidly increasing. Many of them possess shipping, with which they trade; and although their rapid increase in civilization has hindered their spiritual growth to some extent, and many, like numbers at home, are careless and indifferent about heavenly things, yet is there much inquiry. Very large congregations meet in their Chapels, for Christian worship, Sunday after Sunday. The Communicants have wonderfully increased from 280 in 1840, to 5822 in the present year. Many there are who are endeavouring in sincerity of heart to serve the Lord; and in the Journals of our Missionaries we are continually reading of one and another from amongst them who have gone to sleep in Jesus. We have described to our readers what Matamata was fifteen years ago. Perhaps they might like to know in what state it is now. Our Missionary, the Rev. C. P. Davies, has been recently there, and the mention of its name in his Journal brought its past history to our recollection. Our Missionary was indifferently lodged, the house being in a very dilapidated state, many parts of the reeding torn down, and all the panes of glass broken. Missionary work in New Zealand is often of a very rough kind, and requires men who will be willing in various ways to "endure hardness." The night was bitterly cold, so that he could scarcely sleep. The next day was one continued series of work: Morning Prayers at half-past six; then settling disputes, and arranging other matters among the Natives; afterward, an examination of sixteen Candidates for Confirmation, among whom were some grey-headed old Chiefs, who probably had been busy actors in the deeds of blood we have spoken of. After dinner, Natives came to have explained to them various passages of Scripture, which evidently had occupied their minds. The people now began to gather in from the neighbouring villages, and Evening Prayers were held, Mr. Davies preaching from 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. As soon as prayers were over, a party came and stuffed up the broken windows of the house, and then asked whether they might not come to a Bible class; when, permission being given, thirty-five assembled in a large room. The 10th chapter of Romans was read, on the 90 CONVERTS PATIENT IN TRIBULATION. meaning of which they were questioned. This went on to a late hour, when the Meeting closed with prayer. It is this Bible classa mode of instruction which is used very extensively, and with great profit, in New Zealand—that is sketched in our Frontispiece. We wish our readers could have seen the reality. Surely the New Zealanders are a changed people. If New Zealand was still the same that it once had been, the Chiefs and people of Matamata would have presented a very different subject for an Engraving: their hands would have clutched the rifle, and their lips have uttered curses and angry words. Now they hold the Book of Life, and their eyes are drinking in precious truths to refresh their souls. The next day was Saturday. Many of the Native Teachers from the different villages had collected, and texts were given them, on which they were to make observations, in the same way as if they were addressing their flocks. On the Sunday the Chapel was filled with a Congregation of 287, who listened most attentively to a sermon from John xvi. 7-11. We shall now give an extract from Mr. Davies' Journal. As it was raining very hard, I had Sunday-school immediately afterward: 119 remained, formed into seven classes. I went round to examine them, and found the scriptural instruction given was most satisfactory. After the classes had finished, they all marched in regular order, and took up their places, according to their classes, in seven lines. I then asked questions, and they gave me the scriptural answers with the texts. I am sure the sight would afford much pleasure to friends of our Society, when we remember that, a few years back, this very tribe, Te Ngatihaua, with their Chief, Waharoa, were the terror of all neighbouring tribes his eldest son, who has taken his father's name, was most forward in giving the Scripture references. I do not mean to infer from this that they are all converted characters: far from it. There are, no doubt, many of Christ's hidden ones amongst them; but, alas! the great majority have "a name to live only," and are contented with the outward form. But do not we find the same at home in our highly-favoured land, the dépôt of all Religious Societies? Many profess to know Christ, while by their works they deny Him. All we can say is, that we can see what the Gospel has wrought, in outwardly transforming men, whose delight was in shedding their fellow-man's blood, but who are now sitting at peace one with another. Assuredly we have abundant encouragement to go forward with Missionary work amongst the New-Zealanders. CONVERTS PATIENT IN TRIBULATION. IN our Number for April we narrated the circumstances in which our Mission at Abbeokuta originated, and the remarkable manner in which it has been blessed of God since its commencement in 1846. Our Missionaries there have been as sowers scattering the seed over the ploughed fields that lie waiting to receive it. CONVERTS PATIENT IN TRIBULATION. 91 It cannot be a matter of surprise that the heathen priests became alarmed. Their craft was in danger, for they saw that many of the people had cast away their idols; and that, if the Missionaries were permitted to go on preaching and teaching Jesus Christ, the whole population, after a time, would do so likewise. Full of wrath, they stirred up a grievous persecution: the city was filled with confusion; the drums beat furiously; and a great multitude, armed with billhooks, clubs, and whips, dragged the converts to the Council-house, where they were unmercifully beaten and cruelly tormented. They were then subjected to a very trying punishment, which is inflicted on gross offenders. Holes were made in walls, sometimes two feet high from the ground: through these the feet are passed, and made fast in stocks on the other side. The body is then thrown on the shoulders, and the man compelled to prop himself on his hands and arms the sinews are all strained, and the sufferer can find no rest. The annexed Engraving will enable our readers to understand the painful position of persons who are thus punished. One hour in |