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)
right-minded man will condemn without hesitation the attempts which he
made to lord it over the consciences of the established clergy and other
Christian ministers in the colony, in the discharge of their purely
ministerial work. He wished to dictate even to the pulpit. Mr. Marsden
relates that he once sent for him to the Government-house, and commanded
him to produce the manuscript of a sermon which he had preached nearly a
year before: he did so; when the governor severely commented upon it,
and returned it with the remark that one sentence, which it is more than
probable he did not understand, was "almost downright blasphemy." The
junior clergy were of course still more exposed to the same despotic
interference. The governor wished to prescribe the hymns they should
sing, as well as the doctrines they should teach; and he repeatedly
insisted on their giving out, during divine service, secular notices of
so improper a character, that the military officers in attendance
expressed their disgust. Happy it was for the colony of New South Wales
that he met with an opponent firm and fearless, and at the same time
sound in the faith, such as the senior chaplain. On him menaces and
flattery were lost. The governor, at one time, even threatened him with
a court-martial; nor was the threat altogether an empty one, for he
actually brought one of the junior chaplains, Mr. Vale, before a
court-martial, and had him dismissed the colony. These are painful
facts, and such as, at this distance of time, we should gladly pass over
in silence; but, in that case, what could the reader know of the trials
through which Mr. Marsden passed?
Yet amidst all these distractions his letters testify that he possessed
his soul in peace, and that "no root of bitterness, troubled" him. He
speaks with respect of the governor, gives him credit for good
intentions, and acknowledges the many benefits he conferred upon the
colony; and when at length he was on the eve of returning home,
Governor Macquarie himself bore testimony to the piety, integrity, and
invaluable services of the only man who had dared patiently yet firmly
to contend with him during a long course of years.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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