FIRST MINISTER

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 58, 6 September 1938, Page 7

FIRST MINISTER

REV. JOHN MACFARLANE

PRESBYTERIAN FOUNDATION

LINKS REMAINING

One of the links that recall memories of the Rev. John Macfarlane, the first minister sent out to attend to the spiritual needs of the early colonists in Wellington, is Dalmuir Hill, the first house built on The Terrace and one of New Zealand's historic homes. Mr. Macfarlane stayed at this house with Mr. R. R. Strang, and the minister's room on the verandah is still as he used it. The house is owned by Lady Maclean.

In the garden of Dalmuir Hill are trees that grew from seeds brought to New Zealand in the Bengal Merchant, in which Mr. Macfarlane and Mr. Strang were passengers.

Mr. Macfarlane was inducted as minister of Martyrs' Church, Paisley, on its establishment in 1835. When .the West of Scotland Emigration Society sought a minister to accompany the pioneer Scottish settlers to New Zealand, Mr. Macfarlane offered his services. The Church of Scotland agreed to pay Mr. Macfarlane £900 in advance, and at the rate of £300 a year for three years. The departure of the Bengal Merchant was regarded as something of an event in Scotland. The sailing was preceded by a large gathering in the Trades Hall, Glasgow, where as the Rev. John Dickson points out in his history of the "New Zealand Presbyterian Church," the important speakers were the Rev. Norman Macleod, the famous orator and divine, and Mr. A. Alison, the historian. Mr. Alison ended his speech by quoting some verses that showed considerable ignorance of the land for which the pioneers were sailing. Come bright improvement, in the car of time, And .rule the spacious world from clime to clime; Thy handmaid, Art, shall every' wild explore, Trace every wave and culture every shore; On. Zealand's hills, where tigers steal along, And the dread Indian chants a dismal song; Where human fiends on midnight errands walk, And bathe in brains the murderous tomahawk ... The Bengal Merchant left the Clyde on October 31, 1839, for New Zealand with 150 emigrants on board. Mr. Macfarlane conducted worship for the passengers and crew every Sabbath. THE FIRST SERVICE. The Bengal Merchant arrived at D'Urville Island on February 10, 1840, but as ho preparations had been made for welcoming the colonists the vessel went on to Port Nicholson, which was reached on February 20. A few days later the first Presbyterian service was held. Fortunately, some of the details of this service are availal%, and at the anniversary ~ services <.'& Bt. Andrew's, Wellington, the same paraphrases and Psalms as were used at the first service are sung. Also, Mr. Macfarlane's Bible, which presumably was used at the first service, is now in the possession of the Rev. A. B. Kilroy, the present minister at St. Andrew's, and the passages from Scripture at the anniversary services are read from this Bible. Writing of his home in Petone, which was in Clyde Terrace, Mr. Macfarlane states: "I am busy getting up my home, though you would think it rather a strange one, for there is not a single stone in it. It is built of wood thatched with reeds, 28 feet long, 18 feet wide, roof 8 feet high. It contains a good parlour, bedroom, and kitchen. The parlour-window looks towards the sea, so that I can see a distance of 12 miles, with every ship that passes in and out. Nothing can be more delightful than the singing of innumerable birds. At six every morning I can distinctly hear the mocking birds emitting one note, now another." The services in Petone are believed to have been held in Mr. Bethune's store on the banks of* the Hutt River and sometimes in Colonel Wakefield's house. It was not long, however, before the colonists found it advisable to remove to Wellington. In Wellington services were conducted at 11 o'clock in the morning in the native chapel on Te Aro flat and at 1.15 p.m. in the courthouse on the site of the Thistle Inn, Mulgrave Street. There is also record of services having been held in Hunter's Store and in the Exchange. Mr. Macfarlane had a somewhat trying time in attending to all and sundry. He had on an average a marriage every fortnight and a baptism every week. In a letter written on August 19, 1842, ihe records that he had married 74 couples, of whom 43 were English, 13 Scottish, 2 Irish, 6 Natives, 1 German, 1 American, 1 African, 1 French, and 1 from Van Dieman's Land. He had also baptised 114 children. Despite the strictness of Sabbath observance at the time, .some of the services were not as well attended as might have been expected. "It was no very uncommon thing during the service to hear the clank of the anvil in the distance, or the ring of the carpenter's hammer, or the sharp crack of the sportsman's fowling piece bringJ ing down a parrot or a pigeon from a native tree, or the loud clatter of horses' feet as they galloped swiftly past," states-|he Jley. JohnPickson, in

(.writing on Mr. Macfarlane's ministry. A committee of the followers of Scots Church was called to meet in Barrett's Hotel on Friday, September 15, 1841, showing that there was some organisation at work. On June 20 of that year Mr. Macfarlane proclaimed the gospel in Gaelic for the fl rst time, to the delight of the Highlanders.

Assisted by finance from the Church of Scotland a church building to seat about 350 people was erected and dedicated for use in January, 1844, on a site now occupied by the Commercial* Bank on Lambton Quay. This was regarded as' a most imposing structure. It is on record that Mr. Macfarlane took an interest in education and also in the Mechanics' Institute, moving the adoption of its first report. RETURN TO SCOTLAND. Towards the end of his stay in New Zealand Mr. Macfarlane suffered from ill health and in October, 1844, he arranged to revisit Scotland to recuperate during an eighteen months' absence. A most representative gathering v/as held in Barrett's Hotel to testify to the esteem in which he was held. However, he did not return to New Zealand, and later took charge of the church at Lochgilphead, near Glasgow.

Mr. Macfarlane seems to have been a good correspondent and in other respects a most able man. A photograph in the possession of the Rev. A. B. Kilroy shows him as a typical, robust, ,scholarly-looking minister o£ the Scottish Church. This photograph was reproduced on the pamphlet setting out the details of the Centenary Thanksgiving Fund to celebrate the founding of Presbyterianism in New Zealand.