Joseph Wild, D.D., then of Belleville, now of the Elm Place Congregational Church, of Brooklyn, N. Y. There have been but two or three cases exceeding three years, the general view being unfavorable to it.

The Rev. Bishop Carman, in a letter to the writer, says:

Am for keeping to the old landmarks. Think our plan is, perhaps, as good a modification as practicable. Quarterly Conference memorialize Bishop; Bishop comes to Annual Conference; ought to be safe there if any where.

This is substantially the "Australian plan." While we remain of the opinion that a substitution of five or six years in the rule for three is very undesirable, and that the removal of the limitation would be destructive, we are willing to see a plan proposed that will give a little more flexibility in extreme cases. If no safe plan can be devised, as the advantages of the Itineracy far outweigh its defects, it would be better to "bear those ills we have, than fly to others that we know not of."

A safe plan must have four elements-the extension must be so restricted as to be exceptional; the episcopacy must be shielded from responsibility, and yet allowed the absolute final decision; there must be a time limit at last, and that at no great distance.

But it seems probable from present indications that those who advocate the removal of the limitation will not be admonished by the errors of many other "reformers; " but, refusing to ac. cept any thing less than all they desire, will drive those who will take no risk of the destruction of the Itineracy (which we believe to comprise the great majority of the ministry and laity) to oppose all change. As the "thin edge of the wedge " once introduced often makes possible what could never be attained by the direct application of external force, it is necessary to move with great caution. It is a safe maxim that experiments in mechanism and in legislation are dangerous in proportion to the delicacy and complexity of the original system.

Though this principle should never be allowed to obstruct genuine progress, it requires attention to the teachings of history, and is opposed to flippancy and superficiality in the discussion of great questions. Whether, then, the "Australian " or "Canadian" plan, with some modifications, is a safe experi

ment, is not to be hastily determined. We have called attention to it as seeming feasible, and entitled to critical examination; but nothing less than a general demand, after much deliberation, and a discussion marked by accuracy and fairness and in harmony with the "zealous and itinerant genius of Methodism," would justify its adoption. At no time in the history of the Church has there been need for greater wisdom in the administration of the system of ministerial transfer and adjustment than at present.

Every thing which the rule, fairly interpreted, admits, may be done to meet emergencies, but it is necessary that all should have reason to feel that the "appointing power" seeks absolute impartiality, and will gratify the wishes of the weakest country society whenever it is possible, and protect the interests of the humblest minister who tries to do his duty, as gladly as it will promote the desires of city Churches and their pastors. "Transfers" should be made on principles of universal application, and mere capriciousness in Churches, either great or small, discouraged. Anomalies in administration foster discontent. We believe that the Itineracy has but just begun its work. The constant problem of the superintendency is to so guide it as to give the greatest efficiency. The problem before the Church is to determine what modification, if any, can be made that will not block the wheels in one part of the mechanism, or unduly accelerate their motion in another.

ART. VII.-THE WESLEYAN MISSION IN NEW
ZEALAND.

To the Episcopal Church belongs the honor of being the first to introduce Christianity into New Zealand. Messrs. Hall, King, and Kendall, under the auspices of the Rev. Samuel Marsden, were the first to visit the islands on this errand; and Mr. Marsden, on Christmas-day, 1814, was the first to proclaim the gospel message, which he did from the appropriate words, "Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy." Though residing in Sydney, New South Wales, Mr. Marsden superintended the New Zealand Mission, paying it seven visits for that

purpose the last in 1837, when he had attained the advanced age of seventy-two. Throughout the whole of his long and useful career as a missionary superintendent he secured and maintained the highest respect of missionaries belonging to other Churches than his own, to which a simple and beautiful testimony was borne in the following "pulpit notice," read in the Wesleyan Church at Paramatta, Sydney, where he had died, on the Sunday preceding the one on which his funeral sermon was preached: "Next Sunday morning we intend to close this place of worship, and, as a mark of respect to the memory of our late venerable friend, go to the English Church to hear his funeral sermon."

The first Wesleyan missionary was the Rev. Samuel Leigh, who arrived in Sydney from England on the 10th of August, 1815, where he remained till 1818. In that year he proceeded to New Zealand, staying but nine months, during which period his soul was stirred within him as he witnessed the appalling degradation of the people. Returning again to Sydney, he remained there but a short time, when he proceeded to England with the object of persuading the Wesleyan Missionary Society to open a mission in New Zealand. In this he was successful, and accordingly, he, along with his wife, set sail for the new land, arriving at the Bay of Islands in the month of February, 1822. Acting under the advice of the Episcopal missionaries, who gave every assistance to their Methodist brother, Mr. Leigh, on the 10th of June, 1823, secured a piece of land at Wangaroa for a mission station, in a beautiful valley, to which he gave the name of "Wesley Dale." Here, within two or three days after claiming this lovely spot for the Redeemer, heathenism made one of its revolting displays on Christ's own day, when, a war-canoe coming into harbor crowded with slaves, one of them was killed, roasted, and eaten. Mr. Leigh did not remain long in New Zealand, the health of his wife requiring his return to Sydney toward the end of 1823. Yet in this brief period, not long enough to acquire a competent knowledge of the Maori language, he learned what were the perils and annoyances of a life among a haughty and savage people. His constancy was put to a severe test because he would not supply them with arms or gunpowder in exchange for food. Not merely did they temptingly offer as much as a hundred

baskets of potatoes for one musket, but they determinedly refused to receive any thing else as payment. The description of their behavior given by an early missionary represents them as treating the new arrivals with the most provoking contempt:

They are almost past bearing, coming into our houses when they please, demanding food, thieving whatever they can lay hands on, breaking down our garden-fences, stripping the ships' boats of every thing they can. They seem, in fact, ripe for every mischief.

Says the Rev. James Buller:

When at family prayer it was not uncommon for the natives to creep in and steal something. A chief, for instance, would secrete the teapot within his mat. One day the dinner was cooked in the yard; while the table was being laid inside a hawkeyed fellow got over the fence and walked away with oven, dinner, and all. On washing-days, basket and line, as well as garments, were tempting baits, and had to be narrowly watched.

In 1823, and before Mr. and Mrs. Leigh had left New Zealand, the Rev. Nathaniel Turner and Mrs. Turner, and the Rev. John Hobbs arrived. The mission party now consisted of four missionaries, a missionary's wife, an artisan, and a nurse-girl that Mrs. Turner had brought with her; of whom but one could speak the Maori language. Surrounding them were tribes described as the vilest in the land, of whose degradation Mr. Turner had very soon full proof, when one morning, not very far from his home, he came upon a small tribe preparing to sit down to feast on the body of a slave just cooked. A deputation from the London Missionary Society, consisting of the Rev. Messrs. Tyermann and Bennett, accompanied with a Mr. Thielkeld and son, had about this time a very narrow escape from being cooked and eaten. Putting in to Wangaroa, with the intention of seeing their Wesleyan brethren, the ship in which they were sailing, the "Endeavour," had no sooner been brought to anchor before the Maoris crowded the deck and began their pilfering tricks. In trying to clear the deck a chief was jostled by the captain, and fell into the sea. Thereupon the natives took possession of the ship, and made the officers and crew prisoners, at the same time arming themselves with axes, billets of wood, and whatever else they could lay hold of. Not one of the passengers or crew dare move. While

spears and clubs menaced the captain, Mr. Bennett was made secure by his arms being pinioned, his two friends being, at the same time, secured in another part of the ship. Terrible excitement prevailed, the howlings and yellings of the infuriated savages mingling in frightful discord as they menaced their helpless prisoners, who looked for every moment as their last. The ax had already been uplifted, awaiting but the signal to give the blow, when the attention of the cannibals was providentially diverted from their present murderous purpose by the appearance of a sail, which proved to be a boat having on board some of the Wesleyan missionaries and a native chief, Te Ara, the object of whose visit was to give an invitation to the deputation to visit Wesley Dale. Their timely appearance and interference saved the imperiled lives from destruction; but the invitation was not accepted, for the visitors had received such a fright that they adjudged it wiser to at once take their departure. Accordingly, they lifted the anchor and went out to sea, two of the missionaries remaining on board with them until they were fairly away.

Nor was the mission party itself permitted to remain for long in undisturbed security. Addressing themselves cheerfully to their work, they had acquired the language, prepared several small books, and made visits to distant native villages, when suddenly their hopes of a bright day in store were for the present beclouded. Hongi, a blood-thirsty warrior, made an attack upon the tribes in the locality, and wrought fearful havoc among them. Robbery, fire, and slaughter prevailed, and the mission party with difficulty succeeded in making their escape. Gathering together some of their clothing, which they tied in a few small bundles, the fugitives, including Mrs. Turner and her three small children, hurried away from danger and from death, through forest and fern, for twenty miles, until they arrived at the Church of England mission station at Koriki. It was now too evident that all the tribes were more or less to be involved in horrible warfare; and nothing remained for the party, who had lost their all, except a few articles of clothing, but to secure themselves by wholly departing from the scene of anarchy and blood. Accordingly, they left New Zealand for Sydney on January 31, 1827, where they remained for six months; at the end of which time, learning that a powerful