THURSDAY, TUNE 30, 1887.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 152, 30 June 1887, Page 4

THURSDAY, TUNE 30, 1887.

We have received from Tonga another rather bulky batch of correspondence detailing the alleged persecutions of adherents to the Wesleyan Church. The principal grievance is contained in the following letter which has been addressed to the British Consul: TsTeiafo Vavau, Sunday, June sth, 1887. H.B.M. Acting Vice-Consul, Sir,—We, the undersigned Europeans, beg to draw your attention to the following facts, and request your assistance in the matter. Divine service (English) was held by the Rev. E. E. Crosby at the Wesleyan Mission-house this morning, at which a fair European congregation attended, the under signed being among the number. During tlie service a Government policeman, Falau Hamoa by name, entered the private premises of the Mission and walked along the verandah, prying into the doors to see who was attending worship. From thence he went round to the bank of the building, and after having made a careful inspection of the whole of the premises he went away. After the service, mosfc of the congregation waited on Laifoni, the "Crown Prince," and Governor of Vavau, at his residence, and asked him by whose authority this man had been senfc there. Laifoni replied that this official had lately arrived from Tonga in the Government cutter Beatrice, and that he -wont to the Mission-house this morning by authority of the Premier of Tonga. Laifoni added thafcTavo, a Government official, hod also informed him that the Premier had sent on word here to Vavau that all people attending Wesleyan services were to have their names taken down. We do not intend to comment on this direct violation of the promises made to His Excellency the, High Commissioner, in April, by which the Toiiga Government guaranteed freedom of worship to all members of the VVcsleyan body, European and native ; but we do most emphatically protest against this direct insult offered to a congregation of Europeans by an official of the Tongau Government. Again craving your immediate intercession in this matter, —Your obedient servants, [The letter is signed by nine European resident?.] This so-called insult and act of " persecution," which to anyone removed from the heated atmosphere of the Tongan Kingdom, appears ridiculously trivial, is a fair sample of many of the acts of " tyranny" which have been alleged against the Tongan Government. In these isolated places, where party feeling runs high, and men have very little to occupy their minds, the most trumpery occurrences get magnified into wonderful bogies. Men are ever on the scent for plots against their liberties and dignity; and with imaginationspreternaturally quickened by their surroundings they are not long in finding what they so ardentlylongtodiscover. Very often this is done with perfect honesty—through a simple trick of a distorted judgment. It is a somewhat remarkable thing, however, that to persons who arc unconnected with Tongan affairs, and whose opinion may fairly be' considered disinterested and dispassionate, these " persecutions " loom up most formidably the greater the distance of the spectator from the scene ; and they dwindle down as he approaches the place -where one might be expected to get the best view, until on arriving at the spot they turn out to be a mirage or very like one. This was the experience of Sir J. B. Thurston on his first visit, andwith Sir Henry Mitchell, the High Commissioner, fresh from England, Chief Justice Clark and other men of inipartialanddiscerningminds who went for the purpose of making a most pains ; taking and exhaustive investigation on the ground, the result seems to have been very much the same. Sir J. B. Thurston, when in Auckland, expressed a very decided opinion in favour of Mr Baker's administration and his great services to the people of Tonga, and condemned unreservedly the policy of the Wesleyau Church in those islands. There can be no doubt at all that the Australian Wesleyan Conference, by whom the policy of the Church in Tonga was directed, pitted itsulf against the Government under King-- George,- which was set up mainly '.through the statesmanship "of ' the Rev. Shirley Baker. They had practically ' ruled the islands for many years, and latterly found it a very profitable field of labour. It was not, perhaps, human nature to yield without a struggle, but after- tli.- Government became firmly' established,, such opposition to it was so very like sedition that a Philadelphia lawyer would have been puzzled to defrne the difference. The Church was many times warned that it was fighting a losiag game, but it would not listen to reason. A very moderate.- compromise, which would have preserved ' the digdignity of the Church and saved its influence, was preferred, when it was proposed to transfer the direc Lion of affiairs to the ' New Zealand Conference ; but in its unreasoning bitterness against Mr Baker, the Conference rejected the proposition, and declared for a war of mastery. It has been beaten, and must accept the consequences. No Englishman can sympathise with anything approaching interference with the perfect religious freedom of any people j but after the revelations of an extensive conspiracy against the Government disclosed ,by the recent trials, and the dastardly attempt to assassinate the Premier, which

jso nearly proved successful, there ) can be no hesitation on the part of the f Government in taking every reasonable j measure to acquaint itself with the names of those who are disaffected towards it. Sir J. B. Thursfcon most unreservedly acquitted the Rev. Mr Moulton, head of the Wesleyan Church, of any complicity, directly or indirectly, in the outrage upon the Premier, and we are sure that every person who has acquainted himself with Mr Moulton's high character and scholarly attainments will do likewise. At the same time, it was clearly proved that natives of high standing in the Wesleyan Church were implicated, and the whole attitude of the Church has been such as to encourage sedition. Until the Church manifests publicly a disposition to submit to the Government and inculcate in its adherents the duty of strict obedience to the law, that Church need not complain if the Government should deem it necessary for its own security to keep an eye upon its movements. . The hostility cannot be all on one side. The way to earn the respect and confidence of the Government is to retire unreservedly from the position of enmity which has been assumed, treat the wishes of the authorities with respect, pursue a conciliatory policy, and then we have no doubt there will be no more complaint of tyrannies against the Wesleyans than against the Roman Catholics, who are pursuing their work peacefully, and with perfect guarantees of religious freedom.