A NATIVE TEACHER.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume I, Issue 7, 1 August 1855, Page 8

A NATIVE TEACHER.

During the visit of the Officer Administering the Government to the native chiefs of the Wai kato, —which visit was attended with such happy and peaceful results—his Excellency and his party passed the evening of Saturday, the 17th February, at the station of the Rev. Mr. Maunsell, near the Waikato Heads. The trial of Huntley for the manslaughter of the young man Te Kopi, had not then taken place, and one of the great objects of his Excellency's visit, was to impress upon the native mind the duty they owed to God, to the Queen, and to their country, to rely upon the justice of the laws of England, and not to seek for an unreasoning revenge by indulging the sanguinary native cus torn that demanded blood for blood. These pages have already furnished abundant evidence of the complete success of his Excellency's visit, and of the remarkable and gratifying progress of the native mind in Christian intelligence; but there is one point connected with this subject which, although cursorily alluded to at the time, demands a more full and ample exposition at our hands. On the Sunday, of the 18th February, which was spent by his Excelleacy at Mr. Maunsell's, Hone Hake, one of the native teachers in the rev. gentl. - man's institution, and a cousin of Te Kopi, (the poor young man killed in Auckland) took occasion to preach a sermon, with the object of incul eating Christian forbearance, in conjunction with Christian obedience to the established laws. Having been favored by Mr. John White interpreter to his Excellency, with the substance of this discourse, from notes taken at the time of its delivery, we are enabled to lay it "before our readers, and we do so both as an act of justice to the preacher, as well as a faithful means of exhibiting to the people of other countries, the Christian principles and manly intelligence of the native New Zealander. The discourse, which was an extempo raneous one, was taken from the 10th chapter and 6th verse of the Acts of the Apostles:— * l He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whos house is by the sea side : he shall tell the< what thou oughtest to do." " Cornelius was a centurion. Rome was a fortified city. When the Jews were made captive, the Romans became their masters. Herod was created king over the Jews. Isaack spoke some thing about a king to Esau. Isaack, the father of Esau, made the promise that the youngest should be the head. The second promise was to this effect, —when you have a king, then shall the yoke be broken from off your neck. Herod was a son of Esau. This was the third Herod, and not the Herod who sought Jto slay the infant Christ, This was the grandson. The Romans

did not put the Jews to death j they only stript them of their power and glory. Herod was by them created king of Jerusalem, and had soldierappointed to guard him. Cornelius was one of those; but he was not content with being a mere earthly soldier; he strove to be a soldier of l/hnst. Cornelius was a just man * and was spoken well of by men of high and low decree He trusted to God, his judge; and that was his reason for living in prayerful communion with b-od, addressed in privacy to God. He believed that prayers should be addressed to God in secret, not after the manner of the Pharisee whose throat was wide open whilst his heart was closed. « A Pharisee is like a bag tied half-way down .Inebagis open at the top, but anything put into it would not reach the bottom. So it N with the Pharisee s—when he prays he opens wide Ins mouth, but keeps his heart close shut He asks with his lips for things which his heart cares not for. Besides he onl> talks for effect: Jor even if God were to grant him the thines he asks for, it would enly be a waste of good sifts for they could not get to the bottom, his pnde' like the string that is tied ronnd the ba<* preventing them; they would, therefore, do him' do good, as they would reach no further than his throat Lydia was not like this; she trusted and believed while Paul preached. "If you ask, was Cornelius a good man ? t answer, les; because he loved men and prayed to bod; and so mingled was his worship to God and his love to men, that his prayers and his alms tound acceptance with God. These thin*, are great, for the anchor of aU earthly hopel the love of God. * • ":. The ,, wa S es of sin is Death. Men's ways in the olden times with us Maories, were murder i —eating one another—and every bad thing which men could do. These were the acts of?urown grandfathers; but they knew not how evil their works were. We, however, do know that these things are sorely evil. But the laws of the yueen have now come among us. The laws of the ten commandments have come. The laws n<' v T d ?« JUSt meu must be reverenced an.! obeyed. All old things must be forsaken, a*! .Keiigion must occupy the place which the old abominations defiled. You may say, perhaps,—But Cornelius was a soldier, and it'is the business of soldiers to kill men in war, and how can men who slay other men be good? Yes, Cornelius was a soldier, but a soldier approved by God fcoldiers can be good men ; they can be very kind to all men, if they are men chosen of God Governors are appointed Rulers through the will of bod ; and if they are soldiers, they are the men whom we should learn to honour and obey. We worship the laws of God; we should therefore obey the laws of this world. If these good men

had not come among us, we should have gone on slaying each other. Their coming is like tin coming of the sun. If the sun did not shine wt should all perish of cold."