"Paramatta, December 20, 1823.
"MY VERY DEAR SIR,--I now sit down to thank you for your very valuable presents, which you were so kind as to send me for the natives of New Zealand. They arrived a little before I sailed for that island. I was at Van Diemen"s Land when the vessel which brought them arrived at Port Jackson. On my return from the southern settlements I prepared for New Zealand. Your spades, axes, etc., made the hearts of many rejoice; and they are now dispersed over the country, from the North Cape to the Thames.
When I arrived at the Bay of Islands there were several chiefs there, who had fled for safety in the late wars, but returned when peace was restored, and took with them some of your presents. I have just returned from New Zealand, having been absent about twenty weeks; was shipwrecked, but no lives were lost. The natives have made considerable advances in civilization, and I have no doubt they will become a great nation in due time. Much has been done already to better their situation. I believe their agriculture has increased more than twenty-fold since they have got hoes, but it will be many years before every man in the island will be able to procure a hoe. The Church Missionary Society has done much for them, and their labour has not been in vain. All that is wanted now is faithful missionaries to labour amongst them; it will be very difficult to find such men. There are even very few pious men who are qualified to be missionaries; it requires much self-denial, much patience, and much perseverance, united with the wisdom of the serpent and the innocence of the dove. Men, also, of education and knowledge are wanted; ignorant men, though possessed of piety, will be found ill-qualified for a mission in New Zealand. The natives are a wise and understanding people, and will pry into the very secrets of every man who resides amongst them. Their study is human nature in all its bearings; they talk more of the heart of man than we do, and of the evil that is lodged there. They will soon find out a man"s real character, whether he is ignorant or wise, prudent or foolish, and will estimate the benefits which they are likely to derive from his knowledge, his good temper, his charity, and will esteem him or despise him accordingly. A wise and prudent man will have great influence over them, while they would laugh at an ignorant man. A good farmer or mechanic would be much esteemed, because they would be benefited by him. I have gained considerable knowledge of their customs and manners in my last visit.
Cannibalism is interwoven through the whole of their religious system. They offer up human sacrifices as sin offerings. Whenever the gospel shall be revealed to them they will very easily understand the doctrine of the atonement. They demand a sacrifice or an atonement for almost everything which they consider as an injury. Human sacrifices are offered for the death of their friends, whether they are slain in battle or die a natural death.
Their eating human flesh has its origin in superst.i.tion. They pay great attention to all the ceremonies of their religion, and are very much afraid of offending their G.o.d. As for their wars, these will not be prevented until an object can be found that will employ their active minds. Agriculture and commerce are the only means that promise to remedy their civil wars; when these can be brought into operation they will have a beneficial effect. It is only the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of G.o.d, that can subdue their hearts to the obedience of faith. I am of opinion that civilization and Christianity will go hand in hand, if means are used at the same time to introduce both, and one will aid and a.s.sist the other. To bring this n.o.ble race of human beings to the knowledge of the only true G.o.d and Jesus Christ is an attempt worthy of the Christian world. I believe as G.o.d has stirred up the hearts of his people to pray for them, and to open both their hearts and their purses he will prosper the work, and raise up a people from amongst these savages to call him blessed. In time the voice of joy and gladness will be heard in the present abodes of cruelty, darkness, and superst.i.tion. I consider every axe, every hoe, every spade, in New Zealand as an instrument to prepare the way of the Lord. They are silent but sure missionaries in the hands of the natives of that country. I was very happy to learn that your dear mother was still alive, and all your family were well at present. Remember us kindly to your mother, if still alive, and to Mrs. Terry and our other friends.
"I am, yours affectionately, "SAMUEL MARSDEN.
"To Avison Terry, Esq."
CHAPTER X.
Aborigines--South Sea Mission--Fresh Slanders on Mr. Marsden"s character--His Pamphlet in self-defence--Letter of Messrs. Bennett and Tyerman--Libels and Action at Law--Verdict--Case of Ring--Pastoral Letters of Mr. Marsden: To a Lady; On the Divinity of Christ--Fifth Voyage to New Zealand--Letters, etc.
Scarcely had Mr. Marsden returned to Paramatta when we find him in correspondence with the new governor on the subject of the aborigines of Australia. They were already wasting away in the presence of the European colonists like snow before the sun. Their restless and wandering habits seemed to present insuperable difficulties, whether the object were to convert or merely to protect them. His memorandum to the governor, and subsequent correspondence with the Church Missionary Society, show his anxiety for their welfare and the largeness of his heart. Each new project, as it came before him, was welcomed with serious attention, while at the same time there was no fickleness, no relaxation of his efforts in his old engagements and pursuits. But he was not allowed to connect his name with the evangelization of these poor heathen. Various attempts have been made by different denominations to bring them into the fold of Christ, but hitherto with very small success. It seems, at length, as if Christians had acquiesced in the conclusion that their conversion is hopeless, that we can do nothing more than to throw over them the shield of the British government, and prevent their wholesale destruction by lawless "squatters" and "bush-rangers." We shall return, however, to the subject hereafter.
His interest in the mission to the South Sea Islands continued unabated.
The London Missionary Society had deputed the Rev. Daniel Tyerman and George Bennett, Esq., to visit these missions, and bring home in person a report of all they might see upon the spot. On their voyage, they stayed awhile at Sydney, and Mr. Marsden addressed a letter to them, which shows his own zeal in the cause, and the painful apathy or profane contempt of others. Such memorials, in this day of comparative fervour, ought not to be forgotten. When a Livingstone returns home to receive a shower of honours from a grateful country let us not forget the venerable pioneers in the same missionary work, and the different treatment they experienced. The contrast will call forth emotions both of grat.i.tude and of shame.
"Sydney, November 4, 1824.
"GENTLEMEN,--I know of no circ.u.mstance that has given me more satisfaction than your mission to the South Sea Islands. The attempt to introduce the arts of civilization and the knowledge of Christianity amongst the inhabitants of those islands was confessedly great. An undertaking of such a new and important nature could not be accomplished without much labour, expense, anxiety, and risk, to all who were concerned in the work. The missionaries, for the first ten years, suffered every privation in the islands, from causes which I need not state. They called for every support and encouragement to induce them to remain in the islands, and to return to their stations, after they had been compelled to take refuge in New South Wales. During these ten years, I used every means in my power to a.s.sist the missionaries, and to serve the Society Islands. During the next ten years, the ruling powers in this colony manifested a very hostile spirit to the mission. As I felt it my pleasure as well as my duty to support the cause, I fell under the marked displeasure of those in authority, and had a painful warfare to maintain for so long a period, and many sacrifices I had to make. The unG.o.dly world always treated the attempt to introduce the gospel among the natives of the Islands as wild and visionary, and the Christian world despaired of success.
"In those periods of doubt and uncertainty in the public mind, I suffered much anxiety, as very great responsibility was placed on me. Sometimes, from one cause and another, my sleep departed from me; though I was persuaded G.o.d would bless the work. The work is now done; this your eyes have seen, and your ears heard; in this I do rejoice and will rejoice. I wish you, as representatives of the Society, to satisfy yourselves, from friends and foes, relative to my conduct towards the mission for the last twenty-five years. You must be aware that many calumnies have been heaped upon me, and many things laid to my charge which I know not. My connexion with the missionaries and the concerns of the mission has been purely of a religious nature, without any secular views or temporal interests; and my services, whether they be great or small, were gratuitous. The missionaries, as a body, are very valuable men, and as such I love them; but some of them, to whom I had been kind, have wounded me severely, both here and elsewhere. I have always found it difficult to manage religious men; what they state, though in a bad spirit, is generally believed by the Christian world. I need not enter into the circ.u.mstances which urged me to purchase the Queen Charlotte, as you are in full possession of them; you are also acquainted with the reason why her expenses became so heavy, the fall of colonial produce more than twenty per cent. in so short a period, which no one could have antic.i.p.ated at that time, and the increased duty of one hundred per cent. upon tobacco. If these two circ.u.mstances had not occurred, there would have been no loss to any individuals or the mission. I inclose the statement of the accounts of the Queen Charlotte, and shall leave the matter in your hands, to act as you think proper. I shall also leave the Society to make their own account of the interest upon the 600l. I borrowed. I have no doubt but the Society will be satisfied that I had no motive but the good of the mission, and that, as Christian men who fear G.o.d, they will do what is just and right. I shall therefore leave the matter in your hands.
"I have the honour to be, gentlemen, "Your most obedient, humble servant, "SAMUEL MARSDEN."
While thus engaged, he was still a faithful minister of the gospel in its richest consolations, and a bold opponent of vice. His position as a magistrate not only obliged him to reprove but to punish sin. The task was difficult, when the real offender, in too many cases, was not the wretched culprit at the bar of justice, but some rich and insolent delinquent, beyond the reach of the limited powers of a colonial magistrate. In consequence of Mr. Marsden"s fearless conduct in a case we shall not describe, he was at length formally dismissed from the magistracy. All that is necessary to be known, in order to vindicate his character, is contained in an extract of a letter written by himself to Mr. Nicholson, dated Paramatta, 12th August, 1824:
"My very dear sir," he says, "I have still to strive against sin and immorality, which brings upon me the hatred of some men in power; this I must expect from those who live on in sin and wickedness.... You would hear of the whole bench of magistrates at Paramatta being dismissed at one stroke, five in number--Messrs.
... and your humble servant. We fell in the cause of truth and virtue. If certain individuals could have knocked me down, and spared my colleagues, I should have fallen alone; but there was no alternative but to sacrifice all at once. I glory in my disgrace.
As long as I live I hope to raise a standard against vice and wickedness. We have some Herods here who would take off the head of the man who dared to tell them that adultery was a crime."
He was still subject to the most annoying insults. Imputations, ludicrous from their absurdity and violence, were heaped upon him. In reading the libels which were published in the colony, and in England too, about this time, we should suppose that the man against whom they were aimed was some delinquent, notorious even in a penal settlement. He was openly accused of being "a man of the most vindictive spirit,"--"a turbulent and ambitious priest,"--a "cruel magistrate"--an "avaricious man." These charges, amongst many more, were contained in a work in two volumes octavo, professing to give an account of Australasia, which reached a third edition, and to which the author"s name was attached. As if these were not sufficient to grind his reputation to the dust, further charges of hypocrisy and bigotry were thrown in. These last were easily repelled; to refute the others was more difficult, inasmuch as facts were involved which it was necessary to clear up and place in a just light before the public. It might have seemed magnanimous to despise such a.s.sailants, and meet them with silent pity. And yet we doubt whether such magnanimity would have been wise, for with a blemished reputation his usefulness would have been at an end; since his accusers were not anonymous hirelings, but magistrates and men of high position in the colony.
He referred the matter to his friends at home, placing his character in their hands. He was willing to inst.i.tute an action for libel, if this step were thought advisable; or else to lay a statement of his wrongs before the House of Commons; and he transmitted the ma.n.u.script of a pamphlet, in self-justification, to his friend Dr. Mason Good. It was accompanied with a letter, remarkable for the modest estimate of his own abilities, as well as for true Christian meekness: "I have requested our mutual friend, Baron Field, Esq., to show the doc.u.ments to you, and to consult with you on the propriety of publishing them. I have much more confidence in your superior judgment than in my own.... Many hard contests," he says, "I have had in this colony. But G.o.d has. .h.i.therto overruled all for good, and he will continue to do so. As a Christian I rejoice in having all manner of evil spoken of me by wicked men. As a member of society, it is my duty to support, by every lawful means, an upright character. The good of society calls upon me to do this, from the public situation I hold, as well as that gospel which I believe; on this principle I think it right to notice Mr. W."s work. I leave it," he adds, "to you and my other friends to publish what I have written or not, as you may think proper, and with what alterations and arrangements you may think necessary. I do not know how to make a book, any more than a watch, but you have learned the trade completely; I therefore beg your a.s.sistance, for which I shall feel very grateful." But even these anxieties could not engross his confidential correspondence. In the same letter we have pleasant mention of New Zealand and its missionaries:--"I have no doubt about New Zealand; we must pray much for them, and labour hard, and G.o.d will bless the labour of our hands." Nor is science quite forgotten:--"I have sent you a small box of fossils and minerals, by Captain Dixon, of the Phoenix, from Point Dalrymple princ.i.p.ally; the whole of them came from Van Diemen"s Land."
Mr. Wilberforce and other friends of religion were consulted; and under their advice his pamphlet was published in London, though not till the year 1826. It is ent.i.tled, "An Answer to certain Calumnies, etc., by the Rev. Samuel Marsden, princ.i.p.al Chaplain to the colony of New South Wales." It contains a temperate, and at the same time a conclusive answer, to all the charges made against him. To some of these we have already had occasion to refer; others have lost their interest. The charge of hypocrisy was chiefly grounded on the fact that a windmill, on Mr. Marsden"s property, had been seen at work on Sunday. But "the mill,"
he says, "was not in my possession at that time, nor was I in New South Wales. I never heard of the circ.u.mstance taking place but once; and the commissioner of inquiry was the person who told me of it after my return from New Zealand. I expressed my regret to the commissioner that anything should have taken place, in my absence, which had the appearance that I sanctioned the violation of the sabbath-day. As I was twelve hundred miles off at the time, it was out of my power to prevent what had happened; but I a.s.sured him it should not happen again, _for the mill should be taken down_, which was done." How few, it is to be feared, would make such a sacrifice, simply to avoid the possibility of a return of the appearance of evil! The charge of bigotry arose out of his interference with Mr. Crook, a person in the colony who had formerly been intended for the South Sea mission. It was at the request of the missionaries themselves, that Mr. Marsden, as agent of their Society, had been led to interfere; but he was represented, in consequence, as "a persecutor of dissenters." Messrs. Bennett and Tyerman were then in Australia; and in answer to Mr. Marsden"s request that "they would do him the favour to communicate to him their impartial opinion, how far he had in any way merited such an accusation, either as it respects Mr. C.
or any other missionary belonging to the London Missionary Society," he received a grateful acknowledgment of his services, which we are happy to insert:--
"Sydney, May 11, 1825.
"REV. AND DEAR SIR,--We have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 5th inst., requesting our opinion, as the representatives of the London Missionary Society, on one of the malicious charges against you in the outrageous publication lately come to the colony. It is with the utmost satisfaction we state, as our decided opinion, that the charge of intolerance or persecution towards Mr. Crook, or any other missionary connected with the London Society, or, indeed, connected with any other missionary society, is utterly untrue. We believe it to have originated in malice or culpable ignorance, and to be a gross libel.
"We rejoice, sir, to take the opportunity to say that the South Sea mission, and all its missionaries, have been, and continue, to be, exceedingly indebted to your singular kindness and persevering zeal in their behalf. No temporal reward, we are persuaded, would have been equivalent to the most valuable services which you have so long and so faithfully rendered to this mission and its missionaries. After all your upright and perfectly disinterested kindness towards the missionaries, when they have been residing on the Islands,--when they have been residing in the colony, on their way from England to the Islands,--when they have voluntarily returned from the Islands to the colony,--and when, from dire necessity and cruel persecution, compelled to flee from the scenes of their missionary labours, and take up their residence here; that you have met with so much calumny, and so few returns of grateful acknowledgment, for all you have done and borne on their behalf, is to us a matter of surprise and regret.
"Allow us, dear sir, to conclude by expressing our hope, that the other envenomed shafts aimed at you in this infamous publication, will prove as impotent as that aimed at you through that Society, in whose name, and as whose representatives, we beg to renew its cordial thanks and unqualified acknowledgments. And desiring to present our own thanks in the amplest and most respectful manner,
"We remain, rev. and dear sir, most faithfully, "Your obliged and obedient servants, "GEORGE BENNETT.
"DANIEL TYERMAN."
The case of James Ring, we cannot pa.s.s unnoticed. It shows the cruelty with which Mr. Marsden"s reputation was a.s.sailed on the one hand, and his own firm and resolute bearing on the other. Ring was a convict, who for his general good conduct had been a.s.signed as a domestic servant to Mr. Marsden. He was permitted by the latter, in accordance with the usual custom, to work occasionally at his own trade--that of a painter and glazier, on his own account, and as a reward for his good conduct.
He was frequently employed in this way by the residents at Paramatta; amongst others by the chief magistrate himself. This man having been ill-treated and severely beaten by another servant, applied, with Mrs.
Marsden"s approbation, to the magistrates of Paramatta for redress; instead of receiving which, he was charged by them with being illegally at large, and committed to the common jail.
Mr. Marsden was then absent on duty in the country: on appearing before the bench of magistrates upon his return home, he at once stated that he had given permission to Ring to work occasionally for himself, and that therefore if there was any blame it lay with him, and not the prisoner.
The magistrates not only ordered Mr. Marsden to be fined two shillings and sixpence per day for each day his servant had been thus at large, under the a.s.sumed plea of his transgressing a general government order, but also ordered Ring to be remanded to jail and ironed; and he was subsequently worked in irons in a penal gang. "At this conviction there was no informer, nor evidence," (we are now quoting Mr. Marsden"s words, from a statement which he made before a court of inquiry inst.i.tuted by Lord Bathurst, the colonial minister at home, to investigate the subject at Mr. Marsden"s request,) "but the bench convicted me on my own admission that I had granted indulgence to my servant to do jobs in the town. There were two convictions, the first was on the 17th of May, 1823. On the 23rd of the same month, without a hearing, or being present, without informer, evidence, or notice, on the same charge I was convicted in the penal sum of ten pounds. On the 7th of June, a convict constable entered my house with a warrant of execution, and levied the fine by distress and sale of my property."
These convictions took place under an obsolete colonial regulation of 1802, made in the first instance by Governor King, to meet a temporary emergency; but virtually set aside by a general order of Governor Macquarie"s, of a much later date, granting the indulgence under certain regulations, with which Mr. Marsden had complied. Mr. Marsden says, in his official defence, that he "was the only person in the colony who was ever fined under such circ.u.mstances, since the first establishment of the colony, to the present time." And he adds a statement which, had it not come down to us thus accredited under his own hand, would have seemed incredible, namely that "the two magistrates by whom the fines were inflicted, Dr. ---- and Lieut. ----, were doing, on that very day, the same thing for which they fined me and punished my servant, and I pointed that out to them at the time they were sitting on the bench, and which they could not deny." Denial indeed was out of the question, since, says Mr. Marsden, "one of Dr. ----"s convict servants, Henry Buckingham, by trade a tailor, was working for me, and had been so for months. Lieut. ---- at that very time also had two convict servants belonging to Dr. Harris, working for him at his own house."
In vain did Mr. Marsden appeal to the governor; even he was afraid to breast the torrent, which for a time bore all before it. "He found no reason to interfere with the colonial law." Mr. Marsden prayed him at least to bring the matter before a full bench of magistrates, in whose hands he would leave his character; this, too, the governor declined, whereupon as a last step, he laid the affair before the supreme court for its decision; prosecuting the magistrates, and obtaining a verdict for the amount of the fine so unjustly levied. They now affected to triumph in the small amount of the damages in which they were cast, "wishing," he says, "to make the world believe that the injury I had sustained was proportionally small." And thus even his forbearance and his Christian spirit in rendering good for evil, were turned against him; for he had instructed his solicitor expressly, not to insert in the indictment the count or charge of malice, but merely to sue for the recovery of the amount of the fine. He states the case thus in simple and forcible language. "I may here observe, the only error it appears I committed originally was in not prosecuting the magistrates for vindictive damages before the supreme court. Had I alleged malice, I must have obtained a verdict accordingly; but I sought for no vindictive damages; I sought redress no further than to set my character right with the public. To have done more than this would not have become me, according to my judgment, as a minister of the gospel, and I instructed my solicitor, Mr. Norton, merely to sue for the amount of the award which had been levied on my property by warrant and distress of sale.
The court gave me the amount I prosecuted for, with costs of suit, and with this I was perfectly satisfied."
For two whole years this miserable affair lingered on. The unfortunate man Ring at length gave way to despondency, made his escape from the colony, and found his way to New Zealand, but was never heard of more.
Mr. Marsden was much concerned for Ring"s misfortunes, and deplored his rashness in making his escape when all his sufferings were unmerited. "I knew," he says, "if he should return to England and be apprehended as a returned felon, his life would be forfeited." Such even to a recent period was the severity of our penal code, an escaped felon was consigned to the gallows. With a view of preventing this additional calamity, he wrote to the Right Honourable Mr. Robert Peel, his Majesty"s secretary of state for the home department, under date of July 1824; and having stated the case, he says: "I feel exceedingly for Ring; should he return to England and fall a sacrifice to the law, I should never forgive myself unless I used every means in my power to save him.
The above statement of facts might have some influence with the executive in saving his life, if the circ.u.mstances of the case could reach the throne of mercy." The contents of this letter were transmitted by Mr. Peel to Lord Bathurst the colonial secretary, and his lordship ordered the governor of New South Wales to establish a formal inquiry into the case. A court was accordingly summoned at Sydney, consisting of the governor a.s.sisted by two a.s.sessors, the chief justice and the newly-appointed archdeacon Scott, before which Mr. Marsden was cited to appear. He did so, the whole affair was investigated, and the result was, as the reader will have antic.i.p.ated, not only Mr. Marsden"s entire acquittal of the charges which wantonness and malice had preferred, but the establishment of his reputation as a man of high courage and pure integrity, and a Christian minister of spotless character.
The Christian reader will probably ask what were the effects of these various trials upon Mr. Marsden"s mind and temper? Did he become selfish and morose? were his spiritual affections quickened? As a minister of Christ, did his light shine with a more resplendent ray, or was it disturbed and overcast with gloom? To suggest and answer such inquiries are the proper uses of biography, especially the biography of religious men. With regard, then, to his habitual temper and tone of mind nothing can be more cheering than a letter, which we now insert, written to a lady in solitude, when the storm of insult and misrepresentation was at its highest pitch.
"Paramatta, December 26, 1824.
"DEAR MRS. F.,--I received your kind letter by Mr. Franklane, and was happy to learn that you and your little boy were well. The circ.u.mstance to which you allude is not worthy to be had in recollection for a single moment, and I hope you will blot it out of your remembrance for ever; we are so weak and foolish, and I may add sinful, that we allow real or imaginary trifles to vex and tease our minds, while subjects of eternal moment make little impression upon us. It is a matter of no moment to our great adversary, if he can only divert our minds from attending to the best things. He wishes at all times "a root of bitterness" should "spring up" in our minds, as this will eat like a canker every pious feeling, every Christian disposition. "Learn of me," says our blessed Lord, "for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." "The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way." It is for want of this meekness, this humility of mind, that we are soon angry. The apostle exhorts us "to be kindly affectioned one towards another,"
and live in unity and G.o.dly love, and "bear ye one another"s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." Situated as you are, remote from all Christian society, and from the public ordinances of religion, you will want, in a very especial manner, the consolations which can only be derived from the Holy Scriptures.
You are in a barren and thirsty land where no water is; you have none to give you to drink of the waters of Bethlehem, and you must not be surprised if you grow weary and faint in your mind. Though G.o.d is everywhere, and his presence fills heaven and earth, yet all places are not equally favourable for the growth of religion in our souls. We want Christian society; we want the public ordinances; we want social worship. All these are needful to keep up the life of G.o.d in our souls. Without communion and fellowship with G.o.d, without our souls are going forth after him, we cannot be easy, we cannot be happy; we are dissatisfied with ourselves, and with all around us. A little matter puts us out of humour, Satan easily gains an advantage over us, we become a prey to discontent, to murmuring, and are p.r.o.ne to overlook all the great things the Lord hath done for us. Under your peculiar circ.u.mstances you will require much prayer, and much watchfulness; religion is a very tender plant, it is soon injured, it requires much nourishing in the most favourable situations, but it calls for more attention, where it is more exposed to blights and storms. A plant removed from a rich cultivated soil, into a barren uncultivated spot soon droops and pines away. I hope this will not be the case with you, though you must expect to feel some change in your feelings of a religious nature. Without much care the sabbaths will be a weariness; instead of your soul being nourished and fed upon this day, it will sicken, languish, and pine. I most sincerely wish you had the gospel preached unto you; this would be the greatest blessing, but it cannot be at present. There is no man to care for your souls, you have no shepherd to watch over you, and must consider yourselves as sheep without a shepherd. You know how easily sheep are scattered, how they wander when left to themselves, how soon the wolves destroy them. It is impossible to calculate the loss you must suffer, for want of the public ordinances of religion. My people, says G.o.d, perish for lack of knowledge. You know it is true that there is a Saviour, you have your Bible to instruct you, and you have gained much knowledge of Divine things, but still you will want feeding on the bread of life, you will want Jesus to be set before your eyes continually as crucified. You will want eternal things to be impressed upon your minds from time to time. Though you know these things, yet you will require to have your minds stirred up, by being put in remembrance of these things. As you cannot enjoy the public ordinances, I would have you to have stated times for reading the Scriptures and private prayer; these means G.o.d may bless to your soul. Isaac lived in a retired situation, he had no public ordinances to attend, but we are told he planted a grove, and built an altar, and called upon the name of the Lord. This you have within your power to do. Imitate his example, labour to possess his precious faith, and then it will be a matter of little importance where you dwell. With the Saviour you will be happy, without him you never can be. When you once believe on him, when he becomes precious to your soul, then you will seek all your happiness in him. May the Father of mercies give you a right judgment in all things, lead you to build your hopes of a blessed immortality upon that chief corner stone, which he hath laid in Zion; then you will never be ashamed through the countless ages of eternity.
"Mrs. M. and my family unite in kind regards to you, wishing you every blessing that the upper and nether springs can afford.
"In great haste. I remain, dear Mrs. F----, "Yours very faithfully, "SAMUEL MARSDEN."
Systematic theology, or indeed deep learning in any of its branches, sacred or profane, Mr. Marsden had never cultivated. His life had not been given to abstraction and close study, but to the most active pursuits. Activity, however, is not inconsistent with deep thoughtfulness, and it affords some aids to reflection and observation, which often lay the foundation for a breadth of mind and a solid wisdom to which the mere student or man of letters seldom attains. Mr. Marsden, too, was well acquainted with his Bible, and, above most men, with himself. Thus, without being in any sense a learned divine, he was an instructive minister, and often an original thinker. His early acquaintance with Dr. Mason Good had led him deeply to consider the question of the deity of Christ and the following letter upon this all-important doctrine proves how capable he was of standing forward in its defence, and how deeply alive he was to its importance. It was addressed to one who had begun to doubt upon the subject of our Lord"s Divine nature.
"Paramatta, June 13, 1825.
"MY DEAR SIR,--I ought to have answered your letter long ago, but was prevented from one thing and another, which called away my attention when I was determined to write. I received the books you sent me. That respecting our Lord"s Divinity I read with care and attention. I found nothing in it that would satisfy me; there was no food to the soul, no bread, no water of life. I found nothing that suited my ruined state. I know I have destroyed myself by my iniquities, that I am hopeless and helpless, and must be eternally undone unless I can find a Divine Saviour who is able and willing to answer all the demands of law and justice. If I were alone in the world, and no individual but myself believed that Jesus was G.o.d over all blessed for evermore, and that he had died for my sins, that the penalty due to them was laid upon him, I know and am persuaded unless I believed this I could not be saved. I find no difficulty in my mind in praying to him, because I believe he is able to save. The dying thief did this in the very face of death: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."
Jesus promised that he should be with him that very day in paradise. Stephen, we are told, was a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost; he was mighty in the Scriptures, so that none of the Jewish priests were able to withstand his arguments which he advanced in support of the doctrine that Jesus was the Son of G.o.d.
When he was brought to the place of execution his only hope of eternal life was in Jesus. "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," was his dying prayer. He fled to him as the Almighty G.o.d at this most awful period. No other foundation can any man lay than that is laid, says St. Paul, which is Christ Jesus. It is to no purpose to quote Scripture on this important doctrine, I mean any particular pa.s.sage, for Jesus is the sum and substance of them all. I am fully convinced that no man can have a well-grounded hope of salvation unless he believes in the Divinity of our Lord and only Saviour. I would ask you, why should you not have as firm a hope as any other man in the world of eternal life, if you do not believe in the Divinity of our Lord? Admitting that you have the same view as the author of the work you sent me to read, of G.o.d and religion, I may put the question to you, Can you depend on the foundation your hope stands upon? Does it now give you full satisfaction? Are you sure that you are right? I believe Jesus to be a Divine person, I believe him to be G.o.d over all; I have no doubt upon this point, and I believe that all will be saved by him who trust in him for salvation. This doctrine is as clear to me as the sun at noon-day, and while I believe this doctrine it administers comfort to my mind, and gives me hope of a better state. I envy none their views of religion. I am satisfied with my own, though I am not satisfied with the attainments I have made in it, because I have not made those advances in divine knowledge in all the fruits of the Spirit I might have done. This is matter of shame, and regret, and humiliation. Examine the Christian religion as it stands revealed, with prayer for Divine illumination, and that G.o.d who giveth wisdom to all who call upon him for it will impart it to you. I have never met with a Socinian who wished me to embrace his faith, which has surprised me. I feel very differently. I wish all to believe in our Lord, because I believe this is necessary to salvation, as far as I understand the Scriptures; and I would wish all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. I would not change my views of religion for ten thousand worlds. But I must drop this subject, and reply to your last note.
"Our affectionate regards to Mrs. F.; accept the same from,
"Dear sir, yours very sincerely, "SAMUEL MARSDEN."
He remembered with grat.i.tude his early friends, and was now in a condition to repay their kindness, and in his turn to repeat the Christian liberality which had once been extended to himself. From a private letter to the Rev. J. Pratt, we venture to make the following interesting quotation: "I believe in the year 1786 I first turned my attention to the ministry, and from the year 1787 to 1793 I received pecuniary a.s.sistance, more or less, from the Elland Society, but to what amount I never knew. First I studied under the Rev. S. Stores, near Leeds. In 1788, I went to the late Rev. Joseph Milner, and remained two years with him. From Hull I went to Cambridge, and in 1793 I left Cambridge, was ordained, and came out to New South Wales. I shall be much obliged to you to learn, if you can, the amount of my expenses to the Elland Society. I have always considered _that_ a just debt, which I ought to pay. If you can send me the amount I shall be much obliged to you. I purpose to pay the amount from time to time, in sums not less than 50_l._ per annum. When I close the Society"s accounts on the 31st of December next, I will give your Society credit for 50_l._, and will thank you to pay the same to the Elland Society on my account. When I know the whole amount, I will then inform you how I purpose to liquidate it. Should the Elland Society not be in existence, I have to request that the Church Missionary Society will a.s.sist some pious young man with a loan, per annum, of not less than 50_l._, to get into the church as a missionary. In the midst of all my difficulties G.o.d has always blessed my basket and my store, and prospered me in all that I have set my hand unto. The greatest part of my property is in the charge of common felons, more than a hundred miles from my house, in the woods, and much of it I never saw, yet it has been taken care of, and will be. A kind providence has watched over all that I have had, and I can truly say I feel no more concern about my sheep and cattle than if they were under my own eye. I have never once visited the place where many of them are, having no time to do this. We may trust G.o.d with all we have. I wish to be thankful to him who has poured out his benefits upon me and mine."