MELANESIAN MISSIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12419, 31 July 1902, Page 6

MELANESIAN MISSIONS.

SOME INTERESTING RE-Ml- ' NISCEXCES. • (From Ouh Own Correspondcst.) LONDON, June 21. At the Church House, Westminster, last Thursday afternoon, the aanual meeting of tho Molanesian Mission was held, the Bishop' of Newcastle presiding. There was a good attendance.

Bishop Wilson gave an interesting account of tho Molanesian Mission. Ho dwelt at length'on the slowness acid inadequacy of the Southern Cross, and went on to'say that they were now getting a new ship of 500 tons, and she would carry a good deal of coal. That was very expensive in the .Solomon Islands, but very cheap in New Zealand. Coal from New Zealand was as good as Welsh coal. The coal they got i'.i the Solomons was Australian eoai. They paid £4 per ton for it, and burned twice a3 muth of it as they would if they had got their fuel in New Zealand. The new ship, he hoped, won.u be able to take 250 to 300 tons of coal would be able to steam and sail 10 miles an hour, and would thus enable them to call at every island in Melanesia. That marked a now era in the mission. They were goiug to call at every island. Tho. Bishop appealed for white missionaries, for the native teachers did much better if they had a white man to lead them. The mission would go ahead. Thay had been challenged to iro ahead faster. The heathen challenged them; tho Governor challenged them; other missionary bodies challengedthem, and had offered to take up the Work in places to which the mission had not been able to get.. He asked them to wait. The Church of England was able to scod missionaries to every island, and ho hoped the now Molanesian ship would take out 20 more men, so that the Church of England should do the work she undertook to do 20 years ago. A treat increase of income would be needed, and ho elicited applause by stating what they did with the £8200 income at present received. A great thing was for people not to think the work was done. .

■Bishop Wilson then went on to give, numerous instances of whore cannibals yet existed in the croup, and said that as a matter of fact in certain places every man, unless he was a schoolmru or a Christian, was a cannibal. Cannibalism in these parts was as common as it over was. The work was not done. Now was the time for doing it. In conclusion, tho Bishop said that three new priests had joined them—Mr Stewart, Mr Cecil Howard, ar<l Mr Brown (a grandson of Bishop Wikcn. of Calcutta). He believed that, two Lichfield evangelists had also joined them, and also a young baker. He hoped a few more priests would come forward to sail with him on the 6th August, and that more would sail in the now ship in January. He hoped in a fortnight's time to lot the contract for the new vessel, and that she would sail within six months.-

Sir T. Powell Buxtcti having spoken, the Rev. C. 0. Ferroe <ravo details of his work at Santa Cruz, and spoke of the native cru n !ty to animals and to women and of their callousness to suffering. He also spoke of the close resemblance of some of the natives, and their language to the Maoris of New Zealand. Though there were only 124 Christians in Santa Cruz, a good time was believed to bo coming. Bishop Wil«rti here paid a high tribute to tho work of Archdeacon Palmer, one of the slaunchest friends the miss'on had had. for 40 years. JTe had been fir«t in New Zealand under Biahop Georee Augustus Solwyh. then ip Norfolk Wand under Bishop Paterson, and again under Bishop J6hn Selwyn,

Admiral Castle gave some interesting reminisee'-c's. He hud, he said, commanded H.M.S. Rapid on tho Australasian station, and !'e paid a high tribute to the work of tho missionaries of all denominations in the Western Pacific. He had first met Bishop John in the Solomon Islands wlici'i; the Bishop turned up three hours late for dinner, in his pvjamas. having been for the time named diving-, with a hatchet, in hand endeavouring to free the propeller of his mission boat from a ropo which had fouled it. He Eiieceixletl.—(Annlause.) But the speaker believed that that dive was the eaiiso of the rheumatism from wh'ich the Bishop afterwards suffered. He (the '.penlcer) later on took tho Bishop to Sydney, and he was loved liy tho cotiro crew. Admiral Castle then gave an instance in which Bishop John Selwyn had given evidence'against n trader who was deported, for- the time to Fiji, and satisfaction was expressed that, the old ohief whos? part Bishop Selwyn had taken was still alive. ,

. Dr Welshman cave a brief but highly appreciated address.' The missionaries of Melanesia, he said, did not work to aain

information in tho "ologins" for people at Home to debate about; they were there to teach men salvation.

The Chairman announced that Bi?hop Montgomery and Sir Harry Rawson had becoms vice-presidents of the mission.