WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 31, 26 August 1871, Page 14

WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

A highly interesting meeting was held m the Wesleyan Church, Manners on Tuesday evening last, the Hon. G. M. Water h Tbe JamasMoir, W T L w H. West, and G. S. Harper, w.th A E Eliott, Esq, addressed the audience, and Report ™ read by the rtev. Tbos. Buddie. The P report was that of the Wesleyan A uxili“'S ionary Society for the Wehngton district, in connection with the Australian Society under the direction of the Wesleyan Conference. It commenced by stating the obiect of the society—to sustain mission churches and extend the work of evangelisation in these and other islands—and gave an interesting record of the progress of that woik from the landing of missionaries m New Zealand more than forty years ago up to the present time. ' In connection with the results of early missionary labor, reference was made to Tamati Waka Nene as having been among the first, with bis relative Patuone, to join the mission churches. “ From that period to his death,” said the report, “ Waka continued Ins adherence to Christianity, and was the unflinching promoter of peace and unity between the.two races, as well as between conflicting tribes of his own countrymen. His loyalty to the British Crown was unquestionable, and in every time of difficulty he was ready with counsel and bis aid. His name is worthy of being mentioned with profound respect. The report continued by referring to the several periods in the history of missionary effort, and in the history of the colony, concluding with references to the more recent incidents by which missionary work had been disturbed. It gratefully acknowledged, however, the exceptions to this disturbance—to the loyalty of the Ngapuhi tribe, and the continued existence of the mission at Hokianga, to the success of the Kaipara mission, and the influence of the missionary, and to the indefatigable exertions of the missionary and native teachers at the Raglan station. As to the present condition of the mission in New Zealand, the report concluded by stating:— . . ~ <> We have now employed in the native work in New Zealand three European miseionaries and five ordained native missionaries, the latter at Kaipara, Waipa, Canterbury, and the Chatham Islands. The natives m Wellington, and at the Hutt, are attended to by the Superintendent of the Wellington Circuit at present, as far as other duties will permit, but the native minister at the Chatham Islands, Hetaraki Warihi, is appointed to the native work in this circuit, and is expected to enter upon his duties shortly. The native work in New Zealand is now depending on local resources. The parent society having nursed the child for half a century has decided that the time has come when the child should provide for itself; and henceforth the Maori work in New Zealand will depend on the New Zealand churches. The duty and obligation resting apon the churches will not be questioned. To allow it to further decline, and at length die out, would be gross dereliction of duty, and a direct denial of the traditional zeal of the Methodist Church. Such an idea is not to be entertained. If J ie native race be fast declining, as we fear it is, then the necessity for exertion is the more urgent still, and ‘ to work while it is yet day should be the motto of this Society. The cost of the Maori work, at present, will amount to about £750 a year ; part of this will be obtained from the natives, say about £2OO, and a sum of about £3OO from rents of mission property, leaving a balance to be provided of about £250.” . , The other paragraphs of the report described the progress and position of missionary elicit at Samoa, the Friendly Islands, the Fijis, an among the Chinese in Victoria; and as an interesting supplement to the report the Rev. Mr Buddie read to the meeting, from the annual report of the Australasian Society, a statement of the results achieved at the lubou College, on the Friendly Group. At the meeting a collection was made, which amounted to £ll Us Bd, making a total of £44 2s from the Wellington district for the present year.