PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10509, 5 November 1895, Page 4

PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD.

MISSIONARY MEETING.

The animal public missionary meeting in connection with the Presbyterian Synod was held last evening in Hirst., Church. -The Moderator (the Rev. p. Borrie) presided, and there was a good attendance.

The Rev. W. Bansebman subedited the Mission Committee's report, from which the following are extracts :—

New Hebrides Mission.—Our senior missionary (Sir Milne), after 26 years of labour on Nguna and the other islands placed in his "charge, continues with' unabated vigour and freshness his many and varied labours. Pour islands immediately under his care have been wholly Christianised to which falls to be added a fifth, which, though nominally connected with another missionary has long enjoyed his instruction and efforts, through which it also has attained the position of not numbering a single heathen among its inhabitants. On two othar islands the heathen population has of late years been gradually diminishing while the .ChristWh population has been steadily increasing by additions from the heathen villages Out of a population of a little mors than 2000 Mr Mime ha 3 over 880 in full communion with the church, who haye been admitted to this, position only after lengthened instruction in the truths of Cods Word, and proof given of their havin" experienced the power of these truths as manifested in a character and conduct becoming the profession of the Christiau faith, ln addition to these many are nominally Christian, having laid aside their heathen notions aud prac- : ticcs. lhe reality/ of the change under- ■! e°»?, IV, . th« Christian natives is ttrikingly exhibited m the fact that none of these converts to Christianity haye ever manifested any desire or any tendency to return to heathenism. During thu past year no fewer than 80 have beeu received y j-.- v •in J e lat°the Christian Church—ls adults," and Ja children and young persons connected with these adults by birth. A like number drawn from heathenism ara at present under tuition anu probation with a view to a similar admission, aud the hope has been recently expressed by llr Milne that ere long he may be able to inform his church that heattieuisin has entirely disappeared froin.Nguna and Kmau as ijhasgonefrom Pele. Mataso.M&k&ra. l',mae, Kakala. The fruit of Mr Milne's labours as blessed of God is witnessed by the fact that besides training and having at work upwards of .50 native teachers among his ownuatives there are at present 40 couples, all taught by himself aud Mrs Maine, assisting other missionaries either as teachers or as domestic tervants, of whom their . employers tpeak in the highest terms of approval; I and eagerly desire to have others of a like stamp i >i character and usefulness supplied to them by IMr Milne. It will ba gratifying to the synod to learn that Mr Milne has succeeded in leading his Christian natives to undertake the support of their respective teachers, which, while it will relieve the church here of a considerable portion ot the past cost of the mission, cannot,fail to react upon the Christian natives for good Mrs Milne in expected to reach Dunedin towards the end of the year, for the sake of the healthand education of auother child, as also to recruit her owu health.

Mr au<fMr« Michelsen, despite island fevers and influenza, from which they have both suffered Beyerelj-, continue their varied efforts among the old and the young on the several islands to which their work extends. These, like the majority of Mr Milnas islands, have been wholly Christianised, teachers and schools have been established in every village. Special arrangements have been made by MrM chelseuforevangeliatic services and Bible classes at his head station at Lumbukuti, longoa, which are largely availed of by natives from other islands, aud from other villages on longoa, resulting in much spiritual benefit and piogi'ScS. He has also instituted classes, for the special training of teachers drawn from the several islands under Ms care, and' Mra Michelsen is engaged in teaching JSnglish to a considerable number of the y.UDg. The hands of bo-h are full, week days and Sabbath days, as is the caBC with all our missionaries aud their wives. To thelatter a meed of praise is specially due for their self-saeri-liciag labour among lha natives, specially for the benefit ot the women aud girls. Since returning from his furlough, Mr Michelsen has been able to put into the hauds of his Epiau natives an enlarged collection of hymns in the Tasiko language, lhe thanks of the eynod are specially due to Mr Mlchelsen's brother in Norway for the valuable gift of a most serviceable boat to Mr Michelsen.,

It fa not necessary that the committee should refer at any leugth to the field occupied and to the work dons by ilr Smaill, our lateßt appointed missionary. Ihe synod will doubtless accord him and his devoted partner a cordial welcome, and unite with the committee in wishing them much comfort on their return to their old home and friends, renovated health and strength, and a large bleuing from above to refresh their own souls and to fit them more and more, on their return to the islands, for the work to which they have consecrated themselves. The committee acknowledge with gratitude receipt of information that a legacy of £I>o has been left to-the.mission-fund of the church by the late Mr William Alexander Grant, of Napier. It w with much satisfaction that news baa been recnred of the successful launching of the new lJayspnug as the future steam mission vessel for the f\«w Hebrides. To the successful efforts of flr lat jn we are jndebtad for this new auxiliary in the work carried on in these islands, and from which much good is expected, while escape be had from Benous evils incident to the present means of communication among the islanas Kiimouis are again current that the French are reneiviog their designs to obtain possession of the j\e\v Hebrides group, aud increasing efforts, are beingmadeby.lrench Romish priests to obtain a footing there. It i« needless to soy that success in either of these directions would be highly injurious to the interests of the natives, and hinder their progress towards civilisation and their reception of a pure Christian faith. It i< to oe hoped that the British and Australasian authorities will strenuously and successfully resist the aggressive action of the French Government, whose agents the Romish priests are understood to oe.

Chinese Mission.-The time of your Chinese missionary. Rev. Alex. Don, has been fully and diligently occupied in the work carried on by him in Dunedin and suburb*; and in his visits to the scattered Chinese population throuehout the bounds of the synod. The Sabbath and week-day services conducted by him have had a rather lessened attendance in the past year owing to the suspicions entertained by Chinamen and Europeans _ and especially the British, had assisted their Japanese enemies during the late war, and to the treatment they have been receiving at the hands of the Legislature, and the people of New Zealand, especially of Wellington. It is to be chiefly regretted that rulers and people should so tar forget the common brotherhood that belongs to the human, race, the claims made upon China by the British Government, and the liberties demanded for its subjects trading in Chinese cities and ports, as to refuse to Chinese immigrants in New Zealaud privileges similar to what is demanded for British residents in China. 1 lie conduct of Europeans towards the Chinese residents among .them cannot fail to prejudice theni against our religion. It prevents, indeed, in large measure the success of your missionary's unwearied and manifold labours among thorn. His labours have not, however,-been without goo 1 result. The books he circulates amoog them are carefully read, and, in the words of your missionary, not a few of tbe readers seem really teekers after the truth." One of these. having heard that it was proposed to build a Mission Hall in I'unedm recently sent a donation of £i towards this object as an expreaaioa of gratitude to God for a plentiful supply of water for sluicing purposes. The nc«d of a Mission HaU aud a manse for the missionary has been brought under the attention of the committee. The cimmittee would specially commend this proposal to the favourable consideration of the synod, and with the hope that practical effect be given to it. . • Stewart Island.—The mission carried on in this inland by Mr Yon Tunzelmvn, under the auspices of your committee, among the Natives and halfcastes resident thero, is full of ht-paand encouragement. No little interest is thow'n by Mr Tunzelnian in the welfare of those, who are the object of his care, in the school on week days, and in the services conducted by him on the Lord's Day. The committee request the prayers of the church for the mifsionarra, their converts, and their work.

A report from the Mission Aid Association wan also submitted to tbe synod. The Rev. T. Shailc, from the' New Hebrides Mission, who was warmly applauded on rising, said there were three of the more recent inslitutions in connection with the mission whichhe wished to commend to the church. The first was the missionary hospital, which was presided over by Dr Lamb, who, apart from his work among tho natives, which was considerable and had been abundantly blessed, had been enabled to cave the lives of: many of the white eettlers. The speaker commended the ho«pitnl to their attention, for their sympathy, tieir prayers, and their substantial aid, suggesting as a form which such aid might take the maintenance of a cot, which would cos"; about £* to £6 per year. The next institution was the new bteamer Dayspring, which was a gift of love from their fellow Christians in Great Britain and America, the money for its purchase having bsen raised thero by Dr Paton duriug tho )a»t eight or 10 years. The increased expondi-1 ture which the oolonial churches would have to meet in connection with tbe.steamer would not, he thought, be greatly in excess of what they had been asked to contribute before. He had himself beeu of the opinion that the existing sy»t'-ni could be so improved and modified as to enable tketn to do without a steamer, but he toought now that all they could do was to give it a fair trial, and at least not'to try to stifle the enterprise in its birth, as he, was sorry to,say had been done with some of those who thought with him in the matter. The third institution which he desired to commend to them was the new training college.- The greater p»rt of the work on the islands done by the New Hebrides Mission—perhaps threequarters of the work—was done by the native teacherj, who had been hands and feet and cap and eyes to tbe missionaries.—(Applauce.) The work that thess men and women had done and ; were doing was beyond all praise, and they had, in many cases, done it with the scantiest of preparation. The need had long bepn felt of a more adequate training for thece native teacher*. Useful »s they had been in the pos1:, thsy would be tenfold more useful if they were efficiently trained for the work. The apparently insuperable difficulty of the babel of languages spoken on the island had been an obstacle in the pssfc. There were fully three, languages apiece on each of 10 islunds—on one island there were five languages which were aa different as Englixh ond French. When Dr Lamb came down about threo years ago he and the speaker ■ advocated the establishment of a training institution, and a committee was appointed to consider the whole question. After long consideration it - was determined ta launch the i-cherae, and this was done

definitely about 18 months ago—Dr Ann*n, the Nova Scofcian, being appointed principal. The college was situated on Tongoa, end fhe course was to cover a term of four years and was to be in English. In support of the decision that the course should be in English, he mentioned that English was exceedingly popular and a great many of the people vere extremely desirous of learning it. Dr Annan had now some 15 or 18 students under his instruction. ~.„H e shonld say that this institution was launched without .funds. They launched it in faith, thinking that the scheme would commend itself to ths churches interested. So far tbeir confidence had been fully justified, and they were sore ife would continue to be justified. The future of the mission largely depended upon tbatcollega. Tbey hoped to raise not only native teachers, but native pastors, and to form a native church. He commended that scheme also to the prayers of the church and to the substantial aid of its members. The annual cost of maintaining a student wonld not be mors than £2, and tbere were some'who might undertake the support qf one or more of these. Then Mrs Bannerman, tiie true and long-tried friend of missions— (applause),—was now preparing a mission box to send to Dr Annan, and some might send help in that way, for these students were all to be fed and clothed. Mr Smaill went on to speak encouragingly of the mission work among the natives, and of the kindly feeling existing among them. '■'.•'-■

The Rev. A. Don, missionary among the Chinese, expressed a desire to support one, in the meantime, of the students mentioned hy Mr Smaill. Referring to the work among the Chinese, he said that after the massacres at Kucheng he Ead been asked what he thought of the Chihese now, and that was only one indication of the fact that during the last 12 months there had beeu a change of feeling among the Europeans aud in the rest of the world towards China and the Chinese. Most people seemed to think since the humiliation of China' by Japan, and since the last affair at Kucheng, that the views they hadheld about the Chinese had been a mistake, and that the Chinese, to whom they had attributed strength of body aud'capacity of mind, were noV the people they had thought they were; but when he was asked what he thought of the . Chinese, he answered that he thought the same as ever. He had also been asked by Chinese what he thought of Europeans, and he directed attention to a case which occurred recently in Otago of four men binding the hands aud feet of a Chinaman in a lonely hut, and leaving^him as they hoped to burn to death, their victim succeeding, however, in escaping. These men were charged before justices of the peace for the offence, and wera lined iv sums amounting altogether to about £M. They ought never to have been tried summarily, they ought to; have been sent to the Supreme Court, and they ought to have got at least 10 years.—(Applause.) He appealed to the synod to authorise the Mission Committee to see about the building of a mission hall in Dunedin. He might be asked if the population of Dunediu and the prospects of the future Chinese population jußtified the building of a mission hall, and in reply he said there were 300 Chinese in/and around Dunedin, including Sawyers' Bay, and this number was gradually though slowly increasing. Tbe number of Chinese in the colony as a whole was decreasing, and the number ou the goldfields was decreasing, but the number ih the towns was slightly increasing. The Eev. W. Hewitson, on behalf of the homo mission workers—the ministers of town and country churches—expressed their hearty sympathy with Mr and Mrs Smaill, who worked in foreign fields, and with Mr Don, who worked among the local heathen. He spoke at come length on the difficulties and fche trials o£ missionary life.

The Eev. W. Banneeman moved the following deliverance:—" Adopt the report;'thank Almighty God for the continued preservation of our missionaries and for the success that under His blessing has attended their labour; express satisfaction at the presence of Mr and Mra Smaill; thank Mr Smaill for big address, and wish him and his partner in bis life and | work much benefit from their well-earned furlough, and oommend them and their work to the prayers and sympathy and help of our people; instruct the convener' to convey the thanks of the synod to Mr Michelsen, of Christiania, for the valuable gift of a highly surable boat to his missionary brother, on Trogoa; record the synod's satisfaction at learning that a legacy of £100 had been left to our mission , fund by Mr "William Alexander Grant, of Napier, and at the prospect of the mission possessing it 3 own' steam mission veggiel, the Dayspring, for which this ohurch,'•"fEnd »U the other churches engaged in the New Hebrides, are indebted to Dr Paton ; commend this important auxiliary to the work to the support of the church at large, and especially to our Sabbath sohools; regret that the Chinese amongst us are not infrequently exposed to treatment unbecoming in a Christian land and contrary, to the true spirit of Christianity, defer the matter of providing a mission hall and mission manse to the meeting of eynod wben the Church Braetion and Finance Committee's report is called for; record its thanks to the Ladies' Mission Aid Association for their successful efforts -in " connection with our missionaries' children, and wish the association continued prosperity; the synod commend its missionaries, their families, ahd their work to the care of God and the prayers and the sy mpatby of the church." .''*.'■'" The Rev. R. R., M. Euthzblahd seconded the deliverance. Mr B. B. CargUl, the Sev. W. Bannerman, the Rev. J. Gibb, and the Hey. K. Waddell addressed tbe synod. The deliverance waa carried unanimously." kotice of jionos. Tbe Bey. Mr Suthbbiawd gave notice of the following motion :—'" 'lhat the operation of the resolution permitting marriage with a deceased wife's sister be stayed till after the next meeting of synod, with the view of obtaining a legal opinion as to the bearing of said resolution on the conditions on which the property held- in trust for the Presbyterian Churoh in Otago was gifted to that church by the early purchasers of land in Otago."

The Bey. Mr Gibb questioned whether the •'_-

The Moderator ruled that there conld he no discussion on a notice of motion.

The synod adjourned at 10.25 p.m. until 10 o'clook next morning.