NEW HEBRIDES MISSION.

Otago Witness, Issue 380, 12 March 1859, Page 1

NEW HEBRIDES MISSION.

The following interesting letter from the < Rev. J. Inglis, Missionary of the Reformed ' Presbyterian Church in the New Hebrides, ad- ( dressed to the Rev. Mr. Burns, will, we have no doubt, be read with particular interest, ] conveying as it does the cheering intelligence , of the steady progress of the Mission in that j island : — j Aneiteum, New Hebrides, ■ Jan. 13, 1859. My Dear Sir,— l beg to return my sincere '< thanks to you, and through you to your congregation, for the £30 so liberally collected by them for the use of this mission. My friend Mr. Clark, in Auckland, promptly forwarded the money by the Bishop of New Zealand, who, with his usual kindness for us, came considerably out of his way to deliver that and some other benefactions from friends in Auckland. After consulting together, Mr. Geddie and I have appropriated your £30, and a sum of the same amount from the Presbyterian congregation in Auckland, to the current expenses of our little mission schooner, the "John Knox." I hope this will meet with your approval and that of your congregation. You will please also to thank the friend who forwarded the box of clothing. The box was brought safaly, and its centents are proving very useful. It is now nearly sixteen years since I had the pleasure of spending an evening with you in the house of a common friend in Ayr, when we both had the prospect of leaving Scotland for New Zealand. I have watched with deep interest the progress of your young but inteiesting colony; and although for the last six and a half years my information regarding it has been only occasional and partial, yet from reports published in the Free Church Missionary Record, — which is forwarded to me with considerable regularity, — and from other lources of intelligence, I rejoice to hear of the marked progress of your youthful colony— of your | vigorous efforts to secure the blessings of religion and education to the entire community— of the number of ministers and teachers either settled or expected,— and that you are not only seeking to supply the wants of the more populous and accessible districts, but that you are following our fel-low-countrymen with the means of grace into the remotest nooks and corners of the Province. lam still further rejoice to learn, by unmistakeable proof exhibited on this island once and again, thai while your charity begins at home, it does not end there. You are not only interesting yourselves in securing the blessings of the gospel to out fellowcountrymen, who, in ihe outskirts of many of our colonies, have be<in allowed to lapse into a state of practised heathenism ; but with enlightened zeal you are extending your sympathy and assistance for aggressive operations upon the lomr and deeply degraded heathen inhabiting these islands, that they may be brought to a saving knowledge of the truth. A missionary church invariably proves a prosperous church. To extend the gospel abroad is a sure means of rendering it successful at home. Nations prosper at home in proportion as they plant and foster colonies abroad — and so it is with churches. But instead of filling up my letter with common-place remarks, I shall endeavour to furnish you with a brief account of thu state of the mission* on this island. After repeatedly taking the census, we find that the population of the island is about 3300 : on Mr. Geddie's side of the island, 1600; on my side, 1900. Teu years ago — I may almost say ei^ht years ago — they were all heathen ; now, with a very few exceptions, they have all abandoned heathenism and placed themselves under Christian instruction. The whole population attend both church and school with a very encouraging degree of regularity. On my side of the island I have public worship conducted twice every Sabbath day, at six different stations ; at the principal station .the average attendance is 500 ; at the other principal station about 300. I have upwards of thirty schools, each conducted by a native teacher and his wife. Our schools are not, as at home, for the children only, but for the whole population, for three generations: sons, father.*, and grandfathers; daughters, mothers, and grandmothers ; and considering the humble agency we have to employ, the progress of the scholars is very satisfactory. I have just finished the examination of all my schools, and have heard nearly every scholar in my district read. With the exception of infants, there are not fifty persons on my side of the island who have not made some progress in learning to read. About 1100 have mastered the primers, and are reading in one or other of the gospels : 600 of these can read so as to profit by their own reading; and 3<iO can read with considerable fluency. About 300 are writing on slates, and 50 of those attending my Teachers' Institution are writing on paper. I have upwards of 100 church members, and a class of about 50 candidates for church fellowship, with whom I meet once a week. Within the last five years, since marriage by Christian rites was established on my side of the island, I have celebrated 130 marriages; 42 couple weie married during the past year. Five years ago, owing to the strangulation of widows, female infanticide, and the general bad treatment of women, in the days of heathenism, the male population exceeded the female by 600. At present the difference is only aboi^SOO; thus showing that the introduction of Christianity into the island has already saved the lives of 100 females. The four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and six of Paul's Epistles, are printed in this language. Genesis, Revelation, •~.ud several more of the Epistles are also translated. We are anxious to have the whole of the New Testament in the hands of the Natives as soon as possible. With this view, Mr. Geddie and I are making a great effort to have the whole of it translated, and as much more of it printed as possible, before the arrival of the John Williams at this island in August or September next, after which she returns to England. It is prohable I may return home in her, with the view of superintending the printing of a complete edition of the New Testament, which the British and Foreign Bible Society will print for us. But as there are several important contingencies standing between us and our return home, it is stil! a very doubtful event. Two years ago I erected a building for a Teachers' Institution. I have two sessions of four months each in the year. I opened ni}' fourth session in the beginning of this month. My senior class is attended by fifty, male and female ; my junior by nearly a hundred. Mrs. Inglis has also a select class of teachers' wives, and young women who reside on our premises, for sewing and other branches of female

education. A3 the work must be carried on to a great extent by native agency, our object is to render this agency as efficient as possible. It has been our endeavour to make the Church of Aneiteum not only evangelical, but also evangelistic. From her very commencement she has been aggressive — first upon the heathen on her own borders, and, as soon as the smallest favourable openings appeared, upon the heathen on the adjoining islands. On Tana, Mr. Geddie and I have settled twelve teachers ; on Fotuna, four ; on Aniwa, two ; and on Erromanga, one. Our evangelistic agency is of course ve>y humble, and requires constant superintendence and direction. In order to secure the means of intercourse with the adjoining islands, we first obtained a mission i boat, which we called the Nataupa — (the Dove) — that she might bear over the waters the olive branch of peace. This boat we found to be too small for our purpose; but by exchanging, and adding some more money, we obtained a much larger boat, which, afcer the famous missionary of the ancient Hebrides, we called the " Coluinba," in the hope that from this island, as from another, ' lona, " savage clans and roving barbarians might derive the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion," by the course of action which we were then initiating. A year passed away, and our ! friends placed another vessel at our disposal. The j " Columba" was followed by the "John Knox:" | a boat that cost £40 was superseded by a schooner : that cost £400. The "John Knox" has fully J realized all our expectations. As we employ a', white man to take charge of her sailing, her annual , current expenses are fully £100. But we consider ' the money well expended, as by no other means i could we open up the adjoining islands, and maintain a regular communication with the missionaries and the teachers. During the past year we have had an addition of three missionaries to this group : the Rev, J. W. Mathescn, from Nova Scotia, and the Rev. Messrs. j Pdton and Copeland, fiom Scotland. In 1856, the j Rev. G. N. Gordon, from Nova Scotia, arrived here, and was settled on Erromanga. We have thus one missionaiy on Erromanga, two on Aneiteum, and three on Tana,— but one of the appoint- j inents on Tana is only temporary. We are now i six in number, viz., three from the Presbyterhn I Cht»rch in Nova Scotia, and three from the Re- i formed Presbyterian Church of Scotland. I hope I we may soon be strengthened by an equal number i of missionaries from the Piesbrteiian Chinch in New Zealand. The "John Knox" belongs equally ] to the two Churches, and her expenses, so far as i they have exceeded the liberality of friends in Otago and Auckland, are boine by the two bodies in equal proportions. I enclose a map of the New Hebrides which I prepared for our Missionary Committee, and which was published in our Magazine. From this you will see the extent of the field, at the extremity of which we are located. We know far too little of either the middle or nor- I tliprn portion of the group, to be able to speak with certainty about the population ; but if thesis portions are anything like the portion with which ' we are best acquainted, there is ample room in this gioup for 50 or 60 missionaries. The Lord has hitheito been gracious unto us, ; and we humbly trust that His mercy will be continued with us. We rejoice in the "favour lie has vouchsafed us in our work, but we icjoica witli trembling. Recent conveits, like oms, have so little stamina in their spiritual constitution, that the slightest breeze of temptation may cause their fall. Besides, on the adjoining gioup ol the ISew Caledonian Isles, the agents of Rome, sustained by Napoleon and his 700,000 bayonets, are casting their evil-boding eyes upon us, and we know not how soon we may have to grapple with this implacable enemy. We entieat an interest in your prayers, and in the prayeis of your people, that the Lord would watch over these few sheep in the wilderness, and that He would extend His kingdom over all the isles of the sea. I remain, my dear Sir, Yours very sincerely, John Inglis.