THE GOVERNOR AND THE MISSIONARIES.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 178, 12 February 1848, Page 2

THE GOVERNOR AND THE MISSIONARIES.

We have to express our regret that we have been unable to notice sooner the Letter of a '* Church Missionary," published in our number of Saturday last. This valuable communication coming, as we have every reason h» believe it does, from the cool brain of a Clergyman, who has planted the standard of humanity in different parts of the world, without leaving behind him in any of them, any other property than the grateful recollections of those in behalf of whose temporal and eternal interests he continually exposed himself to every form of hardship and peril, possesses a peculiar kind of interest at the present moment, when furious discord, the result of reckless agitation, seems to have banished from the settlement, not only all moderation and charity, but every feeling even of common propriety. The writer endeavours to repel two severe charges against the body of which he is a very honored Member, namely, that of having, from the foundation of the Colony «*p to the date of Captain Grey's arrival/ assumed a very improper position wiih respoct to the Local Government, and that of having exhibited uniform and undisguised hostility to the Governor who disengaged them from the responsib lities which they are represented to have taken upon themselves. It has, it would s*em, been generally alleged, that theCh'irch Missionaries in these islands had, for a long time, assumed to themselves the right of directing that part of the general policy of the Government which related to the Natives themselves or to their intercourse with the Settlers, and that they became the open and avowed enemies of Captain Grey's Government, for presuming to dispense with their services. Those whu possess any information concerning the affaiia. of New Zealand, will at once acknowledge the importance of the subjects discussed in our j Correspondent's letter, and those who are interested in the Colony will, with equal readiness, acknowledge the importance of arriving at just notions concerning them. The rule by which the relations between a body of Christian Clergymen and the Government of the country in which their Ministry »s exercised, is supposed to be regulated, prohibits all unsolicited interference of Clergymen in political affairs which is not justified by the law, and exacts from them active obedience to all the commands of the Government, when such obedience is not sitiful, and, when it is, passive resignation to the consequences of disobedience. A comparison of the facts of the case with this rule, the severe justice of which renders it in the question before us an appropriate test, will enable us to form a cot reel judgment upon the merit of the charges against the Church Missionaries. For the hrst five years of this Colony's existence, it was left wuhou§ any Naval force— and with an amount of military force, which could serve no other purpose than that of a symbol of her Majesty's Sovereignty, During this period,

a handful of British settlers, rendered still more insignificant by divisioa and wide separation, lired in constant iutercourse with an Aboriginal population of more than ten times their number. The Government and the vast majority of the Settlers were alike ignorant of the character, habits, and usages of the Natives. The cupidity of the Settlers was directed towards the lands of the Natives, who, dazzled by the sight of European luxuries, longed to obtain possession of them. The Government, unable themselves to purchase the lands, would not permit the Settlers and the Natives to sAtisfy their cravings by an interchange of their possessions. The Natives, too, liable to the Criminal, and not deriving any perceptible benefit from the Civil law, soon became impressed with the idea, that their enrolment amongst the subjects of her Majesty, was attended by no substantial advantage to them, while they were, at the same time, wholly unable to appreciate the honor and dignity of their new position. If it were feasible, it would be wholly unnecessary to enumerate the circumstances, of possible occurrence every day in the intercourse between the races, any one of which would have acted upon the warlike Natives, thus discontented, as a spark upon gunpowder. In this state of things, and during the pc riod in question, the Missionaries of several Christian sects were distributed through the whole body of Natives, and not only recognized by them as old benefactors and faithful fj lends, but almost worshipped at Gods. Would it, under the circumstances which we have just detailed, been possible for the Government to have managed the Colony without the assistance of the Missionaries ? Could her Majesty's Sovereignty in these islands have been maintained withont their aid? Would it not have been the bounden duty of the Missionaries themselves to her Majesty as well as to the Natives, to tender their services to the Government ? What judgment would an impartial and well-informed spectator pronounce upon the Governor, who would neulect to solicit and court their active co-operation ? Is it possible to conceive a Governor, who, during the period of which we are speaking, would have rejected their proife<ed services? In point of fact, the three first Governors of this Colony, almost destitute of aid from any other quarter, were naturally forward in inviting the Missionaries to thrir assistance, in availing themselves of the invaluable services which they were able to render them, and turning to the account of the Government, their perfect knowledge of the Native character and tlieit extraordinary influence over the Native tnind. Nor were they merely an aux- i iliary force to the Government in its management of the Natives. They were mediators in the disputes between the Settler* an<i the Natives, and arbitrators in the adjustment of their contracts and dealings, and performed similar services between Native tribes and individual Najives. The charge against them, of having taken upon themselves these multifarious functions, as so many rights arising out of their position with respect to the Natives, is not only successfully repelled by the testimony or all persons really cognizant of the facts, but reduced to a positive absurdity by the nature of the case its? If. That a body of Clergymen, bound by the most solemn obligations to the performance of certain functions of tde moot exalted and momentous character, impertinently took upon themselves the performance of muny other functions, at on:e troublesome, invidious, and unremunerated, is a proposition, which is certainly not within the bo mds of credibility. We must, then, be even contented with the conclusion, that the Missionaries of New Zealand were, during the first five years of the existence of the Colony, compelled by a sense of duty to her Majesty, the Natives, and the Settlers, to employ themselves in the performance of many set vices, not within the strict limits of their duties, simply because these services could not, during the period M question, have been performed in any other way, wi hout palpai le danger to her Majesty's Sovereignty, and the peaceful relations between the two races. Upon the accession, of Captain Grey to the Government, the condition of things, out of which the policy or his predecessors towards the Natives, and their mode of managing them through the Missionaries, necess\rily arose, was soon materially modified. The military and naval force at his command enabled hi a/ ' to chastize the rebellious 'Natives in both provinces, and, by aiudicipus use of his victories, to impress upon the* minds of the whole Aboriginal population, 1 permanent ideas of British power and British gemecosity. These measures were promptly followed up by the enactment of many admirable 'ordinances, the benefits of which were, so,on practically felt by the Natives fcqm / one end of the island to the | other, tier Majesty's Sovereignty was now for the first time substantially established in the Colony, and the feelings of contempt and suspicion, with which the Government was once regarded by the Natives, were replaced toy those of awe and confidence. The Governor now found it always possible, by his owu interposition, without the aid of a military force, to adjust quarrels and even wars between the Native tribes, while the very many contracts betwer.n the Natives and Settlers wfoicb, could not be enforced before hia acces-

sion to the Government, as well as those of dates subsequent to that event, were settled with dispatch, and as much satisfaction to tha parties as was feasible under the circumstances, in Courts established by his Government for that purpose, in every settled district. Ev«-n the Natives themselves who lived in the vicinity of these Courts, brought their civil disputes with one another, into them for adjudication and settlement. The influence thus gained by the Governor over the minds of the Natives, and ihe power thus acquired by him of managing their separate interests, as well a* those which arose out of their intercourie witliv the Settlers, were certainty gained and acqnired at the expense of the inflnence and power once possessed by the Missionaries. But, that the transfer was a public benefit, will not be questioned by any one, who will consider the difference between the extent of the obedience which even uncivilized men will render to mere moral authority, and that which they will render to power, believed to be irresistible and exercised for their benefit. Were the Missionaries chagrined at the loss of that power and influence which they once possessed, and jealous of the Governor who attracted them to himself? Did the Governor look upon the Missionaries as rivals, and cast them off with the disdainfn! insolence of triumph ? The facts in both cases were perfectly conformable to reason, and to those honorable motives by which it is to be presumed the parties were actuated. The Missionaries, delighted at their emancipation from a long .train of harassing cares and awful responsibilitie* unconnected with their calling, gave their undivided attention to their own proper duties, which were more congenial to their tastes, and better proportioned to their capacities and acquirements. The Governor, after the sue* cess which attended his first measures tor establishing her Majesty's Sovereignty, and extending the dominion of the law, pushed forward in his career of legislation, continually courting the advice of the Missionaries, and continually availing himself ot their knowledge of the Mative character, and of that influence over the Native mind possessed by them, which is as useful to the Government as ii is inseparable from them. The chastisement, indeed, inflicted by the Governor upon the rebellious Natives, which seemed to the Settlers to be too light, appeared to the Missionaries, who in many rejects regarded the Natives with more than parental tenderness, to be too severe, and we believe that they did not conceal their opinion* upon this subject. But, if benevolence is the only afc. faction which cannot exist in culpable excess, who would uodertake to blame the Missionaries ? Who could even attempt to excuse this their amiable infirmity, without disowning to some extent or other the dignity of which hh nature, is capable? Tne Governor's own admirable policy towards the Natives was developed, not at once,, but by degrees. The whole system is now before the public, aud, to use the words of our Correspondent, who announces the sentiments of the whole body of Missionaries—" It reminds us of the philanthropic author of the well-known South Adelaide Report." The only real misunderstanding which has occurred between the Governor and the Missionaries has arisen out of the L'«nd-Claims v Question. Six individual* out of the whole Missionary corps hold grants for tracts of land exceeding the amount justified by law. Whatever the motives were, which induced the Governor to direct an enquiry into the excessive grants, it is maniiest that, the inquiry having been once determined upon, these six individuals could riot possibly have been exempted from its operation. And, though we would not pretena to justify certain words negligently applied by his Excellency to thur particular cases, yet we are quite convinced, lhat he deporteii himself throughout towards them, with all that respect aud decorum lo which they were so well entitled. Unwilling to drag their cases into the Courts of Justice* he begged of them, through the mediation ot their beat and most faithful friend, to resign the land which they held in excess of the legal amount. The apparently cheerful manner in which they complied with his request, went a great way towards dispelling from the public mind the painful impressions produced upon it by their having p rmiited themselves to be conuected in any way with the subject of claims to land. But, it must, upon the other, hand, be acknowledged, that the petition of their children upon this subject to her Majesty, aud the general tone of that documeii*; have deprived the resiguation of their Fathe^ of a great part of that grace by which at first it seemed to be surrounded. Thus have the mistaken acts of a few individuals amongst them, in themselves sufficiently natural and, excusable when fairly judged, brought an inconceivable amount of obloquy, within apd without the Colony, upon a body of men, whose services to their country and to the cause ot humanity are almost unparalleled. But, the worst effect of these acts has been, the support which they have given to the absurd rumour, that a strict combination between th" Missionary body and the old land claim wts, for the protection of their common interests, has existed from the foundation of the Colony to the present day — an unholy alliance, which, if real and continued, would,

by sanctifying agitation, ultimately involve the Missionaries themselves, the Colony, and the cause of Christianity in these islands in one common ruin.