THE REV. G. BROWN AND HIS VINDICATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5650, 25 December 1879, Page 6

THE REV. G. BROWN AND HIS VINDICA TION.

Some documents relating to the charge against the Rev. George Brown are published in the Fiji papers. The first i 3 the report of Captain Purvis, of H.M. s. Dante, to Commodore Wi'soa. Captain Purvis was directed to make inquiries at New Britain into the circamstance3 of the late expedition, and hie report reached Sir Arthur Gordon, at Levuka, the day before I Mr. Brown's trial, and decided his Excellency as to the decision he subsequently arrived at. It is as follows :—" Report of inquiry into the act'on taken by the Ylev. George Brown against natives in New Britain. Dante, at sea, lat. 2deg. 25min3. 3sec3., long. 153,ieg. 3min3. ihecs. 21st September, 1579. Sir,—ln obedience to your orders to make a full inquiry respecting the action takcu by the Rev. George Brown in cmyiog war ajaiust the natives of New Britain in April, 1573, I have the honour t3 make the following report : —lα consequence of the time tbat has elapsed since the event, most of the white population who could have thrown any on the subject have either left or died. I have, however, obtained the evidence of two respectable white men, Mr. Powell, late master of the ketch Star of the East, and Mr. Southwe'l (anative of Boston, U.S.), the latter trading for the German firm oE Messrs. Godefroi, at Kabakadai, at the time of the massacre, alao several Fijian and Samoaii t Mn liir«. Prom Mr. Powell's evidence I gather that Mr. JJrowu, previous to taking act'on, endeavoured to obtiin some apology fiom the native?, but failing in that he returned to Port Hunter, and there assembled all the available white residents to obtain from them their views on what eeim'-'d to him a moat serious crisi-s. The Council thus called together repr s=nted all the various interests of the island, both English and German, and all urged Mr. Brjwn to take immediate steps to suppress the rising, of which they seemed assured. This evidence is borne out by Katu Revai, a Fijian chef, and missionary teacher who was in New Britain at the time vf the murder, and who, in virtue of his iauk as chief, was called to the council of war. Mr. Southwell (who evidently was the means of saving the unfortunate wives of the murdered men from being eaten), had nothing to do with the expedition, biing at Kal>akadai. New Britain, the wh.jle time. His evidence therefore is most important. He considers that had no bteps been taken to avenge the murder of the teachers, no white man's life would have been safe. He is a'so of opinion that it would have b*eu impossible to have left the matter till the arr.val of a man ofwar ; and in this Mr. Powell a_;ree3. There is a difference of opinion between these two witnesses as co whether the Duke of York natives would have followed th'Si of . ew Britain, Mr. Powell considering they would, and Mr. Southwell beiuj; of a contrary opinion. Most of the native teachers, however, are of Mr. Powell's opinion, Aminio Bate stating, that the Rev. Mr. Brown's wife was threatened and his (Aminio's) wife had a spear p linted at her. In reviewing the evidence, it does not appear to me that the Rev. Brown did, on his own responsibility, make war on the New Britain people—that the action taken was by the ULited vo:ce3 of th se persons who were best able to judge of the circumstances, several of whom had liten a considerable time in the islands, and knew thoroughly the native character. The question now arista whether the Rev. Brown, in his capacity as clergyman and uiissiomry, should have been present in the attack. This, i think, niiy be answered by the fact that the disturbance had commenced by the killing and eating of his teachers, and that the excitem.nt of the natives in consequeuce placed the lives of the white men and the other native teachers in jeopardy, so that the Rev. Brown could not fail to be pree< nt, in order to give the full weight of his authority to the proceedings. He, however, appears to have spent most of the time on the beach trying to bring the natives of some of the other districts to reason, an J was not personally in any of the plaeo3 where nrst of the natives were killed 1 therefore think Mr. Brown, having regard for the safety of those people entrusted to lis care, could hardly have ac:cl otherwise than he did.—l am, &c , C. Purvis.—To Comuijdore Crawford Wilson."

Captain Werner, of the German warship Ariadne, also investigated the matter, and in his report to the German Government, requested that it would convey to the British Government its thanks for the steps taken by Mr. Brown to protect the lives of th'J German residents -with o'.her?, at New Britain. In accordance witb Captain Werner's request a letter was addressed to the Marquis of Salisbury by Uerr Von Munster, the German Ambassador in London, from which the following is an extract: —" Frjm tho concurrent communications of all the Germans residing in the ishnd, as well as from the announcement to the Imperial Government from the comunand-r of H. M. corvette Ariadne, it appeal s that but for the courageous act of the English missionary all the foreigners living in thit part of the coast of New Britain would undoubtedly have been exposed to very serious dangers of life and property. It is therefore the desire of the Imperial Government that tho most cordial thanks should hi expressed to your Excellency on our part, for Mr. Bowu's estimable and courageous conduct, in protecting the interests of the Germans in New Britain. Whilst, therefore, I have the honour of discharging hereby the commission intrusted to mo, I think I may be ailowed to express the hope that the acknowledgmnt awarded to Mr. Brown by the Imperial Government may, perhaps, iu of necessity, guard this spirited man, sj highly des.rving in regard to the interests of all fore'gners in that group of islands, from the troubles into which he is reported to have fallen with the Royal British authorities, in consequence of the expediliou mentioned in the beginning, With the most distinguished consideration, —I have, &c, Munster." The schooner Rose has recently visited New Britain and New Ireland. She reports the mission well and prosperous on New Britain. Mrs. Brown and family were all well on Duke of i T ork Isluul (Mr. Brown's residence), which is situated some 20 miles away from Blanche Hay, the scene of the murder of the native rnisainn teachers. The Rose reports the state of things upon New Britain as anything but satisfactory. There are about 20 white settlers upon New Britain, mostly Germans. No one stiis out of bis house without firearms. The Duke of York natives, the centre of the mission, are quiet and peaceable. No one ever entertnined the notion for a moment that they would prove troublesome, because the New Britain natives had done so. Mr. Brown organised his expedition uot to protect his own life, or the lives of Ilia wifo and family, but to protect the lives of white residents and Fijian native missionaries resident upon New Britain, an island totally distiuct from, and some 20 miles distant from hie own head-cjuartera.