144

INDIANS RELIEVED BY THEIR CHRISTIAN BRETHREN.

the Station, himself suffering severely from a large sore in his bosom, set off in search of them, and, after five days, returned with all of them to the Station. Altogether, seventeen poor Indians were rescued, who must otherwise have left their bones to the hungry wolves of these wide howling

wastes.

One more tale of pity, to beg the help of the Dorcases of the Society. Among the children whom I found here, boarded, clothed, and educated at the Society's expense, are four whose history I will briefly relate. A small canoe was drifting on the lake close to the Station: it was nearly filled with water: a young child was attempting to paddle with a stick three other little heads appeared in it: it drove ashore. Mr. Settee took care of these helpless children. He had lately buried their mother, and now found that they had left their father some time before. He had taken them ashore, and as soon as he had struck a light he gave it to the eldest, who thought he wished to have a fire lighted; but he instantly laid down, and went to sleep, as they thought, and slept so long that they were afraid to stay there any longer; so they called to him, and pushed him, but he did not stir or answer, and at last they got into the canoe and came away. Their father had died of measles, and Providence committed his orphan children to the care and love of the Church Missionary Society.

The poor Indians of Rupert's Land, how much they suffer! Who that can render it will refuse the help which Mr. Hunt asks for in the following urgent appeal ?—

For these, and others such as these, we want prompt aid, in the shape of articles for clothes. The coming long and cold winter will consume all we brought with us, and we are not certain that we can receive any thing that may come out by the ships next May, before July 1852, unless we have an opportunity of sending to Lake Winnipeg some time in September 1851. We shall heartily thank God, and our dear friends who assisted us in 1849, and any others whom God may dispose to clothe our naked people, if they will kindly send to the Church Missionary House, Salisbury Square, by the middle of next May, and any following year, such articles as those mentioned below, for the use of the EnglishRiver Mission.

Blankets, small and large.

Strong warm flannels, white, red, or blue.
Stout washing prints.

Woollen shawls.

Stout unbleached calico.

Strong, coarse woollen cloth, for coats, &c. (Stroud's).

Strong striped cotton for men's shirts, blue or pink,

Strong common combs, for use after washing.

Needles, thimbles, and scissors.

Strong pocket-knives.

Fire-steels and gun-flints.

Twine for fishing nets, Nos. 1, 6, and 10.

Large cod fish-hooks.

Any useful article of clothing for man, woman, or child.

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

[APRIL, 1851.

HANS EGEDE.

(Continued from p. 135 of our last Number.)

IN Hans Egede's Missionary work we may behold a fulfilment of our Saviour's words, "One soweth, and another reapeth." He left Greenland after thirteen years' prayerful and persevering labours, without having been privileged to witness a single instance of conversion. Yet in these apparently unsuccessful efforts he was laying the foundation of a prosperous and much-blessed Mission amongst the Greenlanders. In building piers and breakwaters, a great quantity of materials is sunk in the deep sea, which appears to be lost; but under the water a work is going on, and the foundations are being laid on which the visible portion of the building may afterwards be raised. So in a new Mission, the first Missionaries are employed in laying the foundation, and much of their labours and efforts appears to be lost; but on these are raised the more successful efforts of such as come after them.

Egede's position was rendered more trying by the fact, that the undertaking, as sanctioned by the King of Denmark, was not a purely Missionary undertaking, but that a commercial speculation was joined with it. Egede was not circumstanced as the Missionaries of our Society are, who are set free for their work, and relieved from all worldly anxieties, that they may give themselves more unreservedly to the preaching of the Gospel and the salvation of souls. Beside the one thing to which he wished to give himself, the trading prospects of the Colony were a cause of anxiety to him. There were, of course, many persons engaged in the undertaking who were moved only by temporal motives. They came as colonists, not as Missionaries: when, therefore, they met with trials and reverses, such persons became discontented, and caused much discomfort and uneasiness. So Egede found it. The Natives had been accustomed to trade with the Dutch, and were not disposed to do so with the Danes. The supplies began to fail. The vessel which had been expected in the early summer of 1722 did not arrive. The settlers decided on returning in a ship which they had kept with them. In vain Egede reasoned with them. They were resolute, and he had the choice, either of giving up a work on which his heart was set, or of being left behind with his wife and children in such an inhospitable land, to perish by hunger or violence, like the Norwegian settlers on the eastern shore. These are some of the straits into which good men are occasionally brought, that out of the depths they may cry unto the Lord. Egede's mind began to waver, but the Lord sent him support through his wife. She would not entertain for a moment the thought of returning. She had put her hand to the plough, and was not disposed to look back. She reproved her husband's unbelief. She cheered his drooping spirit. She would not pack up

any thing; but when the people began to take down their habitations she rebuked them for doing so, telling them they were taking needless trouble, for they would surely be relieved. How unlike Lot's wife! She was changed into a pillar of salt. It is remarkable that on the south-western border of the Dead Sea a lofty round pillar remains to this day standing, about forty feet high, of solid salt, capped with carbonate of lime. It rests upon a kind of oval pedestal, from forty to sixty feet above the level of the sea. But of a devoted Christian like Mrs. Egede a memorial also remains-the Greenland Mission and its blessed results-as an example and encouragement to Christian females to be stedfast, unmoveable, in the work of the Lord.

Beside what he had to endure from the impatience and discontent of the colonists, Egede found it necessary to undertake long and perilous voyages, in the hope of advancing the interests of the Company, as on their success the continuance of the Mission seemed to be dependent. In these he endured great hardships, even to the risk of life, and unsuccessfully. At length, on the death of Frederick IV., King of Denmark, the Government decided that the Colony should be relinquished; and orders were sent that all the people should return. If Egede decided on remaining, he was permitted to retain with him as many men as he could prevail upon to stay, with one year's provisions, but without any promise for the future. But Egede hesitated not. His heart was fixed. He believed the promise, "Dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." Even the two Missionaries, who had come out to help him, forsook him; and with eight or ten men, whom with difficulty he prevailed on the Governor to leave with him, he remained a whole year, uncertain whether at the end of that time he should find himself entirely abandoned, or whether more assistance would be sent. He was not tempted beyond what he was able to bear. The Lord is good to them that trust in Him. At the end of the first year new supplies arrived, and at the end of the second year a vessel brought him the welcome information that the trade was to begin anew, and that the King had been pleased to order a free gift of 400l. annually to be devoted to the support of the Mission. His difficulties with the Natives, and his "patient continuance in well-doing" amongst them, we shall relate in another paper.

NEW-ZEALAND CHIEFS IN COMMITTEE DRAWING UP A REPLY TO THE SOCIETY'S JUBILEE LETTER.* CHRISTMAS-DAY is Midsummer in New Zealand. At that season numbers of Native Christians of different tribes-men who had once fought with each other and contended as enemies in deadly strifemeet at Wanganui, the Station of the Rev. R. Taylor, from different parts of his immense district, to unite in prayer and praise, and *This Letter is printed in the Society's Jubilee Volume, p. 298.

148

NEW-ZEALAND CHIEFS IN COMMITTEE DRAWING UP À

benefit by the instruction of their Minister. The last Christmas Meeting of which we have received an account, that of 1849, was numerously attended, and deeply interesting. In that year Christmas-day fell on Tuesday. On the previous Sunday, the 23d, the Congregation was so large, that, the Church not being capable of containing it, the pulpit was carried into an adjoining field. The day was fine, and the congregation attentive; Mr. Taylor, in his sermon, remarking that the present assembly proved the power of God: no earthly cause would have brought so many tribes together: God's word had done it. After the Service, the Sacrament was administered to 295 individuals, and a collection made, amounting to 21. 13s.

The 24th was a lovely morning, most suitable for the purpose for which it was intended-a Missionary Meeting; to those who possess the spirit of Christian Missions, and know their value, a delightful and animating occasion. At five A.M. Morning Service was held, and after breakfast about 2000 Christian Natives assembled in the open air, in God's own temple-for "the Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath He established the heavens "the pavement carpetted with the grass which He makes to grow, and the clear blue sky of New Zealand extended as a canopy over their heads. The proceedings commenced with singing the hymn in Maori,

Mr. Taylor says

"Salvation! oh, the joyful sound!

What pleasure to our ears!"

I then opened the Meeting by stating that a Letter had been addressed by the Church Missionary Society to them, in common with the rest of their countrymen who had embraced the Gospel through the instrumentality of the Society; that a similar one had been sent to all parts of the world where they were labouring to spread the Gospel, and that now they were assembled to hear the Letter read; that it was filled with love to them; that the Society style themselves elder brethren, but, for my part, I thought they were rather entitled to the name of fathers, as they had begotten them to be a new people in Christ Jesus; that very large Meetings had been held in England to spread the Gospel throughout the world; and that they had sent this Letter of love to confirm their faith, and interest their hearts in the same glorious cause. But, to explain more fully the object of the Letter, I had also written an introductory one, which we had got printed, together with that of the Society, which should now be read to them. I then called on Mr. Baker to read the introductory Letter, and that of the Society.

Several Resolutions were then moved and seconded, in suitable speeches, by Native Chiefs and Catechists. The first was by Tamehana Te Rauparaha, the son of the warrior and cannibal Rauparaha, who in his day slew multitudes of his countrymen. This is his speech—