Memoirs of the Life and Labours of the Rev. Samuel Marsden, of Paramatta, Senior Chaplain of New South Wales; and of His Early Connexion with the Missions to New Zealand and TahitiMarsden, Samuel
Religion
Memoirs of the Life and Labours of the Rev. Samuel Marsden, of Paramatta, Senior Chaplain of New South Wales; and of His Early Connexion with the Missions to New Zealand and Tahiti
Marsden, Samuel
Marsden, Samuel, 1765-1838; Missions -- French Polynesia -- Tahiti (Island); Missions -- New Zealand; Māori (New Zealand people)
Tahiti was happy in possessing one sovereign. New Zealand was
unfortunate in its multitude of petty chieftains. When the heart of king
Pomare was gained, the confidence of a loyal and devoted people was at
once won over. There was no rival to foment rebellion, or to seize the
occasion of a religious festival, when he and his people were unarmed,
to make inroads on his territory. With the assistance of his council,
and under the advice of the faithful missonaries, a code of law was
easily prepared, suited for all his subjects, and adapted to every part
of his little kingdom. In New Zealand, on the contrary, the chiefs,
each of whom claimed to be perfectly independent of the rest, were
constantly at enmity with each other. The violent passions of civil war
never slept--hatred, revenge, and jealousy. The missionaries, if
cherished by Shunghie, were hated or feared by Shunghie's opponent.
Their direct influence in the politics of the Maories was therefore, of
necessity, slight. But the chief hindrance arose from the mutual
animosities of the chiefs, and the want of confidence in each other
which universally prevailed, both among chiefs and people.
And it must be confessed with sorrow, that the evil example of the
Europeans provoked the natives to fresh crimes, and indisposed them to
all the restraints of civil government. The Polynesian Islands had, up
to this period, known neither commerce nor colonization. Except a chance
visit from a man-of-war, a European ship was scarcely ever seen; or the
few which came and went were connected with the missions, and were
manned by decent if not religious crews. The polluting influence of a
debauched and drunken body of seamen, rolling in constant succession to
its shores, had not yet tainted the moral atmosphere of Tahiti and its
neighbouring group. And colonization had not even been attempted; the
natives were left in full possession of their soil, no man making them
afraid. In New Zealand all this was reversed. Wicked seamen infected
even savages with new vices; and lawless settlers set an example of
injustice, shocking even to New Zealanders. For these evils it was
evident there was but one remedy, the strong hand of British rule. Take
the following sketch from the pen of Mr. Marsden. After describing the
happy state of the Christian settlement at Waimaté, he goes on to say:
"On the opposite side of the harbour, a number of Europeans have settled
along with the natives. Several keep public-houses, and encourage every
kind of crime. Here drunkenness, adultery, murder, etc. are committed.
There are no laws, judges, nor magistrates; so that Satan maintains his
dominion without molestation. Some civilized government must take New
Zealand under its protection, or the most dreadful evils will be
committed by runaway convicts, sailors and publicans. There are no laws
here to punish crimes. When I return to New South Wales, I purpose to
lay the state of New Zealand before the colonial government, to see if
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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