NEW ZEALAND’S HERITAGE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 443, 27 August 1928, Page 14

NEW ZEALAND’S HERITAGE

MISSIONARIES' SPLENDID WORK SAVAGERY TO CHRISTIANITY The debt that New Zealand owes to Christian men and Christian institutions was the subject chosen by the Rev. ID. D. Scott at the Onehunga Presbyterian Church last evening. “Although a nation living wholly in the past is a nation doomed,” said Mr. Scott, “still no history of the Old Land, or the Empire, can be written without paying homage to those Christian men who have guided its destinies.” The history of the British Empire -was interwoven with the story of the Kingdom of God. It required more than ordinary imagination to realise the difference made by the Impact of Christianity on Maoridom. at a time when these beautiful hills around us were dripping with bloocl. No factor meant so much to-day as the influence of the original missionaries in New Zealand. The character of the natives 100 years ago was rated among the worst types of heathens. It was based upon the actual practises of the natives among themselves rather than their early dealings with those Europeans who approached New Zealand in sailing ships. The massacre of Tasman’s boat’s crew was the result of a misunderstanding. Cook found that he had nothing to fear from the Maoris, rather had the Maoris more to fear from Cook’s guns The massacre of the Boyd’s crew in 1809 attested the heathenism of the Maori, but the prime agent in that crime had been maltreated by white men, and he kept back his anger for revenge.

Although the Maoris had certain standards of honour and religion, cannibalism was practised to an appalling degree, and Yates was an eyewitness of a mother strangling her own children. The early missionaries brought about marvellous changes in a comparatively short time. Without them this land had no hope. They gave the blow to the law of tapu and the practices of cannibalism and infanticide. After the Boyd massacre many of our own race regarded the Maoris worthy of nothing but powder and shot, while some advocated their* total extermination. The preaching r/f the gospel of peace, however, by Mareden, the Williams brothers and otlier early missionaries prepared the native race for the Treaty of Waitawgi. The missionaries’ influence on the native mind in those early days was such that if Henry Williams had so much as lifted his little finger against that treaty, not one native chief throughout the length and breatith of the land would have signed it. These men then made peaceful colonisation possible. What were we doing to-day to maintain in all their puritv*. those pr ! ncip ! es and institutions that the early missionaries stood for 9 Were we striving to make und keep our institutions clean? Were W e eolng to make this Garden of laden what it Should be—a home for people with S‘ gI ;J dea ? and m °ral interests to Will of God? Are v/o Strivinr»* to finish the \vork'begun tty the mis? by P re P arin & oY*ir land for the Kingdom of God on eaic'th? . Mp - i ? pott , took his text from Deut. v i., id, And it shall be, wVien Jehovah lend G °w 1 brins th& <* into the land which He sware unto thy fathers to Abraham, to Isaac aod to Jacob-’ tC V,- gl i7 e *>. thee sreat and goodly cities Zn cf th r bu " des ‘ not, and "houses mi ll ,* 11 good things, which thou which 1 th ot ’ t nd cistft ’ ns hewn out, which thou hewedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not, and thou shalt eat and bo full.”

HEART-DEEP CO-OPERATION OF NATIONS “Co-operation of the nations musts be not only world-wide, but heart-deep,” said Archdeacon G. Mac Murray, pveachcing yesterday morning in St. Matthew’s. Tho signatures of the representatives of all nations to the treaty will not be an abicFjrng force in human affairs unless in the hearts of men there is a fixed purpose of mutual loyalty in the sacred compact,” continued the preacher. “Tlwere must also be a determination that In the brotherhood of the nations injustices will be remedied, and disputes settled by the processes of international law instead of the arbitrament of war” “This treaty,” he said, “should mark an epoch in the world’s history, when statemen recognise that men should enlarge their outlook, and pray and strive not only for the peace of their own nation, bnt for peace the whole world over.” “Men should not look to the treaty to give a long period of peace, allowing wealth to accumulate while mankind decayed morally and spiritually. “The treaty should be employed to clear the arena for a new spiritual warfare against greed, pride, jealousy, and the other evils which were in evidence to-day. By dealing with these, the nations could prove that they knew the value of peace,” concluded the archdeacon.

PAPATOETOE PRESBYTERIANS SEVENTY-FOURTH ANNIVERSARY Celebrating its 74th anniversary St. John's Presbyterian Church, Papatoetoe, held a social gathering in the Sunday School Hall, Great South Road, on Saturday afternoon, when there was a large attendance of present and past members. t Included among those present was Mrs. Baird, who attended the first service of the church held in Otara 74 years ago. The Rev. T. H. Roseveare, minister of the church, occupied the chair, and exhibited photographs of the first meeting place, a shed doing service as a store, and owned by Mrs. Baird’s parents. Photographs were also shown of the various buildings which have done service up to the present tine brick edifice. The minutes of the first session meeting were also read, and the original roll of members. The Rev. R. R. Greenwood, of Papakura, delivered a very interesting address. Mr. A. McCracken, once a Sunday school teacher at the Otara school, and now of Birkenhead, also spoke. During the afternoon the following programme of musical .items was submitted: Miss R. Daisley, vocal solo; Mrs. Carroll, elocutionary item; Miss Hughson. pianoforte solo; Miss Helen Hogg, vocal solo; Miss Leah Roseveare, I elocutionary item; Rev. T. H. and Master M. Roseveare, vocal duet. The ladies of the church served a dainty afternoon tea. The anniversary services were continued on Sunday, when special musical numbers were given by the choir, assisted by friends. * j