THE LETTERS AND JOURNALS OF SAMUEL MARSDEN. DUNEDIN, 1932.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 22, Issue 10, 1 October 1932, Page 4

THE LETTERS AND JOURNALS OF SAMUEL MARSDEN. DUNEDIN, 1932.

Review by the Right Reverend the Bishop of Waiapu. The appearance of the long-promis-ed Marsden Journals will be welcomed by many besides those whose maiii interest m them is from their missionary connexion. The bulk of the material upon which the volume is based was m the hands of the Church Missionary Society m London, and was by them presented to the late Dr. T. M. Hocken, of New Zealand. The change of ownership was a fortunate circumstance, as, m the first place, it rescued many of the papers from . destruction by damp, and m the second it fired Dr. Hocken with the desire to offer the collected papers to the public m convenient form. Extracts had appeared m early volumes of the publications of the Church Missionary Society, but it was difficult to get a connected account of the journeys here described. Dr. Hocken's. death m 1910 left the work m other hands, and a variety of circumstances have hindered the publication: but now the Otago University Council has taken the. work m hand, and we may congratulate Professor Elder on the completion of his task as editor. The journals and letters dealt with are concerned primarily with the Mission m New Zealand, but they give interesting glimpses of the character of the writer and incidentally throw much light on the conditions m the Convict Settlement m New South Wales, and on the characteristics of the Maori race. , If we can trust his portraits, and contemporary references to him, Samuel Marsden was not of striking appearance or possessed outstanding powers of speech : but his dogged persistence, unwaveririg courage and integrity of purpose exercised an extraordinary influence over those with whom he came m contact; while his

far-sightedness and business ability contributed largely to the success of the projects which he promoted; to these characteristics we may add a deep sympathy: and affection for the unfortunate, a self-effacing humility and a simple but vigorous Christian faith. His sympathy attracted him to the members bf the Maori race who found their way from time to time to Sydney. vAs a rule he found them grievously wronged by unscrupulous captains, of traders and others, and they found a safe, refuge under his hospitable roof. His persistence would not accept the refusal of the Church Missionary Society to undertake the Mission: and held him to his purpose m spite of the discouragement caused by the capture of the "Boyd" at Whangaroa and the massacre of her crew by the Maoris. His courage was constantly m evidence: striking examples of it appear m his trusting himself wth one companion, both of them unarmed, to visit the perpetrators of the "Boyd" massacre, and sleep ariiong them; also m his treatment of the men who plundered the store of agricultural implements for the Mission on his second visit (p. 163): a lecture on the impropriety of their conduct would have seemed to most of us a futile method of dealing with a mob of cannibals who had just forcibly acquired our stock of axes and bill-hooks. His practical common sense is constantly indicated by his comments on the value of the forests, suitability of the land for farming and of streams for supplying water power. The kindliness of his nature appears m the distress which he suffered when he felt compelled to dismiss Kendall, to whom he had been much attached. It is gratifying to find that Kendall subsequently admitted the justice of the steps taken by Marsden, and apparently held him as a friend at the time of his death. In the face of Kendall's admission, and the esteem m which the other members of the Mission held Mardsen, it is difficult to believe that his treatment of Butler was otherwise than just. The Mission is, of course, the background of the letters and journals. Marsden and the C.M.S. have been criticised m some quarters for the stress they laid upon s teaching the Maori the arts of civilisation. It is pointed out that this was not S.

Paul's method. But it should be remembered that, the field m New Zealand was quite unlike any iri whichS. Paul worked; that the conversion rof a race of primitive savages was yet m the- experimental stage. It is easy to criticise now, but would we have done any better 100 years ago? Marsden was not. concerned with the ethnology of the Maori and tells us nothing on mariy points on which he might have enlightened us. But much information may be gathered from his comments. The Maori, as Marsden knew him, was ready for adventure: many of those whom he met had shipped as seamen on whalers and tradirig vessels m the hopes of seeing the world, and visits to Sydney were frequently made. He readily seized upon ideas for bettering himself, and showed himself a shrewd thinker when comparing his customs and ours. It is very noticeable that pigs and potatoes appeared to be very plentiful even at that early, date m all parts visited by Marsden. The desire for iron tools was everywhere evident; firearms were sought chiefly for the purpose of annihilating the enemy— and every other tribe was the enemy. Marsden constantly saw evidence of the universal hold which tapu had upon the country, and of the rigidity of customs arising from the law of utu, or revenge. Many of the chiefs he met were sufficiently enlightened to deplore the loss of life through constant internecine wars, and he was 'frequently begged to introduce some central government which niight hold m check the frequent raids .forced by the law of retaliation. Most writers speak of the Maori as treacherous and bloodthirsty, but Marsden was able to go alone and unarmed where he liked, and travelled on foot over a large part of the Island. He proved that if the Maori is approached m a friendly spirit and treated with justice he will merit the confidence shown m him. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Otago University Council for making this material available. The editor has had a difficult task, and must have congratulated himself that Marsden failed to induce the Missionaries to abandon Professor Lee's System of Maori orthography ahd revert to the "English pronunciation," (p. 375), under which it was possible to represent Te Uri-o-Kanae as Ahobdee O Gunna. The* illustrations arid maps

are well produced. If we must find something to grumble at, the paper is somewhat thin which gives a dark tinge to the page; but we realise that a thicker paper would have entailed a clumsy volume.