The Dominion. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1914. ONE HUNDRED YEARS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2337, 19 December 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1914. ONE HUNDRED YEARS

The centenary of the introduction of Christianity into New Zealand by the Rev. Samuel Maesden, who preached the first sermon ever heard in this country on Christmas Day, 1814, will be celebrated next week. Marsdon was a most remarkable personality. Though no one realised more keenly than he did that man cannot live by bread alone, he also knew that man cannot live without bread. His main object in coming to New Zealand was to preach tho Gospel, but he also laid the foundations, of what were then called tho .''arts of life," that is to say, those industries which are essential to modern civilisation. He was the founder of the wool trade of New Zealand, upon which the prosperity of the country has so largely depended and at the settlement which ho established tho Maoris were taught how to cultivate the soil, and other forms of useful employment/ The Domiriioa .owes a great debt of gratitude to Marsden, and it would have been most regrettable if the centenary of bis arrival in New Zealand had been allowed to pass by without any public recognition of his work as a minister of the Gospel, and as a practical and far-seeing coloniser. That Christ-, mas Day in the year 1814, when the first public Christian service was held in this country was one of the most memorable days in . our history. Maksden based his address on those wonderful words, '"which age cannot wither nor repetition stale"; "Behold, _I bring you >glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." His own description of that remarkable scene—one of the most moving episodes in the thrilling story of Christian missions—is .all the more impressive on account of its simplicity: "A very solemn silence prevailed—the sight was truly impressive," ho writes. "I rose and began the service by singing the Old Hundredth Psalm, and I felt my soul molt within me when I viewed my congregation."

One can picture the preacher as he stood in the midst of that strange congregation, and one wonders what were the feelings of those grim warrior chiefs and their , fighting men as they heard for the first time the "glad tidings of great joy." "The arts of life" have made onormous*progress in New Zealand since tho days of Samuel Marsden. It has been a wonderful hundred years. Tho first sheep were landed in the year 1818, and the first shipment of wool left these shores in 1824. It consisted of 11 bags of wool, which were sent to Sydney and brought 2s. Gd. a pound. This is a sample of Marsden's work as a coloniser and a pioneer of civilisation. There was at one time a pronounced tendency to belittle the value of mission work in heathen lands. But competent and unbiased observers who have been in a position to speak from first-hand knowledge, have borne enthusiastic testimony to the splendid achievements of missionaries from the social and industrial as well as from the religious puliH of V(ew. They huv* ajsq done sfilandid in jfivora].

branches of science, such as philology, anthropology, and geography, and their observation and research among savage races have provided valuable data bearing on certain aspects of tho theory of evolution. In one_ of his letters, Marsden mentions incidentally a box of fossils and minerals which he was. sending to a friend in England. Charles Darwin spoke in terms of the highest praise of the work of the missionaries. "Writing of his visit to Waimate in 1835, he expressed astonishment of what had been done for tho uplifting of tho Maoris:

"The lesson of tho missionary is the enchanter's wand," he writes. "Tho house has been built, itliq windows framed, the fields ploughed, and even tbo trees grafted by the New Zealartdor (i.e., the Maori). At the mill a New Zea lander was seen powdered while with flour, like his brother miller in England. When I looked on this whole scene 1 thought it admirable. It was not merely that England was brought vividly before my mind; yet, as the evening drew to a close, the domestic sounds, the fields of corn, the distant undulating country, with its trees, might well have been mistaken for our fatherland; nor was it the triumphant feeling at seeing what Englishmen could effect; but rather the high hopes thus inspired for the future progress of this fine island."

But Darwin was not pleased with his visit to New Zealand, taken as a whole. He felt that amongst the Natives there was absent, "that charming simplicity" which ho found at Tahiti; and he was of opinion that the greater part of the English were "the very refuse of society." He looked back "but to ono bright spot," and that was "Waimate, with its Christian inhabitants." Darwin's visit took place 21 years after the landing of Marsden. In the interval, in spite of many difficulties and disappointments, the conversion of the Maoris had proceeded rapidly—so rapidly, indeed, that when Bishop Selwyn arrived in 1842—seven years after Darwin's visit—he was able to point to "a whole nation of pagans converted to the faith." ,But with the progress of European settlement troublous times came. Misunderbtandings and conflicting interests led to.wars, and there was a great falling away from Christianity, the effects of which havo not yet en> tirely disappeared.

The present world-shaking war la teaching us that a nation's greatness does not ultimately depend upon the amount of its commerce or the size of its bank balances. It would, of course, bo foolish to despise these signs of prosperity; but national character is the fundamentally important thing. When a nation is fighting for its very existence the spirit of its people will always bs the deciding factor. A country which cannot rise above the ideal of panem et circenses ("tucker and the races," according to a free translation) can hardly bo expected to survive the supreme test of war. Our enemies have taught us the wonderful power of ideas and ideals. The present war is the result of ideas regarding the destiny of Germany with wnich the nation has been saturated by philosophers and historians like Nietzsche and Treitschke, and tho .so-called men of ■ action have only ' provided tho machinery by means of which these ideas may find practical expression, Marsden believed in the supremacy of the things of the spirit, and laid those spiritual foundations without which true and'lasting greatness is impossible, and the work which he and other pioneers have done for New Zealand should be kept in everlasting remembrance. Our national life would be strengthened and enriched if more attention was paid to the teaching of history in our schools. The Germans ,aro well aware of the value of history. The German people have been continually reminded of what their nation has done and what it can do. They are told that Germans conquered the Roman Empire, and that their great task in the twentieth century is to conquer tho British Empire. We may not agree with the German view of history or with the ethics of Nietzsche or Bernhardi, but we must admit that the tremendous present time is largely due to the ideal of world domination held up by German historians during the past forty years. The story of the British Empire_ is more splendid and more mspiring_ than tKat of Germany, and it is. our positive duty to teach our children about tho. great achievements of those Empirebuilders to whom we owe so much. A magnificent heritage has been handed down to us. We are called upon to make our contribution to it, and, having thus enlarged and enriched it, to hand it on to those who will come after us.