University of Otago Library Letter: Reverend Samuel Marsden to Reverend Josiah Pratt, 6 November 1815 Reverend Samuel Marsden Author Reverend Josiah Pratt Receiver Sir William Bensley The ship that returned the reply text Letter New South Wales, Australia 6 November 1815 05 September 1816 05 September 1816 Notes about where the letter was created: Parramatta, New South Wales eng text/html 303 x 189 mm 2 leaves 4 pages reformatted digital Hocken Collections' Title: Marsden to CMS Secretary Parramatta -33.814525,151.003448 Novr 1815 Sir The Northampton ship Sails Sail New Zealand -41.244772,174.675751 Octr Land settlement Settlement Whalers British -- New Zealand OR Population Resident Bay Of Islands -35.17886,174.169586 River Thames 51.512161,0.113876 Port Jackson -36.61458,175.44906 The Active ship Europeans Missionaries Missionaries Crime Crime Law Law Mr Wilberforce -33.560994,150.837795 Honor Hope Hope Political science Government Master Nicholas Lex talionis OR Revenge Retaliation Gospel Otaheite -17.641405,-149.43213 Society Islands -16.636192,-152.076187 God God Heathens Pomare Revd Burder Conversation Conversation Station Marsden Pratt Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand. http://www.marsdenarchive.otago.ac.nz/MS_0055_040 http://www.marsdenarchive.otago.ac.nz/MS_0055_040_001 http://www.marsdenarchive.otago.ac.nz/MS_0055_040_002 http://www.marsdenarchive.otago.ac.nz/MS_0055_040_003 http://www.marsdenarchive.otago.ac.nz/MS_0055_040_004 http://www.marsdenarchive.otago.ac.nz/MS_0055_040_005 MS_0055_040 Trimble 40 CMS Number 102 The manuscript images, transcripts and metadata displayed on the Marsden Online Archive site are governed by a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 NZ) copyright agreement (available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/). Please contact the Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand for more information. University of Otago Library 2015-06-11T10:40:28+12:00 machine generated eng Letter: Reverend Samuel Marsden to Reverend Josiah Pratt, 6 November 1815 Reverend Samuel Marsden University of Otago Library Digitised from the Hocken Library Collection Number MS-0055/040 Trimble 40 CMS Number 102 Digitised by the Marsden Online Archive Library of Congress Subject Headings Letter Maori Subject Headings Reverend Josiah Pratt 6 November 1815 New South Wales, Australia Sir William Bensley 05 September 1816 British English Sails Land settlement British -- New Zealand OR Population Missionaries Crime Law Hope Political science Lex talionis OR Revenge Missions God Conversation Parramatta Novr 1815 The northampton Sail New zealand Octr Settlement Whalers Resident Bay of islands River thames Port jackson The active Europeans British Missionaries Crime Law Wilberforce Honor Hope Government Nicholas Retaliation Gospel Otaheite Society islands God Heathens Pomare Burder Conversation Station Marsden Pratt Parramatta Novr 6. 1815 Revd & Dear Sir About a week since I closed my Letters to you, to send by the Northampton, as she was expected then to sail but finding she has been detained in Consequence of a Vessel arriving from the South Sea Islands, I deem it necessary to drop you another Line. A few days ago a Colonial Vessel arrived from New Zealand, and brought me Letters from the Settlers dated Octr 4. 1815. I am happy to inform you that the Settlers were all well and the Settlement going on very prosperously. At the same time I am sorry to acquaint you, that the Colonial Vessels, as well as some of the Whalers treat the Natives exceeding ill, and may endanger the Safety of the men and Settlers who are resident at the Bay of islands— From the best Information that I am able at present to obtain, the last Colonial Vessel must have committed the most dreadful Crimes on the Coast of New Zealand. Five men belonging to the Vessel were killed in the Quarrels they had with the Natives, and from their own Account, not less than 100 of the Natives— This happened not far from the River Thames, an Account of which had reached the Settlers at the Bay of Islands, and greatly distressed them. After this affair the Vessel touched at the Bay of Islands on her return to Port Jackson Jackson and it is more than probable would have been cut off there for the Crimes they had committed, had not the Active been lying in the Harbour: and the Settlers there. The Settlers express no Alarm for the[ir] personal Safety tho they lament much the evils that these Crimes occasion. The Natives at the Bay of Islands were much offended with the Europeans who had murdered so many of their Countrymen. But it is in vain for me to attempt to bring any of these men to Justice. Nothing can be done unless the British Parliament will take into Consideration the unprotected State of both the Missionaries and Natives in all the Islands in these Seas. The Europeans may at present, and do commit every Crime with Impunity; and there is no Law either to restrain or punish them. The Natives have no means but to repel Force by Force.— The Europeans have at the same time greatly the advantage over them on Account of their Guns. Mr Wilberforce did mention in a Letter I had the Honor to receive from him, that there was some Hope that Government would have an armed Vessel in these Seas for the Protection of the Natives and the Missionaries who are employed amongst them. One master returned last week, from the Islands, and had lost his vessel, and not brought back one single European who sailed with him. When I asked the owner what were become of the Ships Company he said, he could not tell, but that two Boats and their Crews had been cut off he supposed at New Zealand, but could not get any clear Account from the Master— I think it is very probable that these men are now living somewhere amongst the Natives. There must be numbers of Europeans in these Islands should any Inquiry ever take place about them. The only effectual Remedy for these evils, would be for Government to have a Vessel in these Seas in order to prevent the Commission of Crimes. I shall refer you for further Information to Mr Nicholas, who will be able to throw some Light upon this Subject— I should feel no Hesitation in visiting any Part of New Zealand. The Natives will not allow themselves to be robbed, and shot, and insulted, and their wives taken from them without retaliation. They are men of great minds and will not submit to be ill treated, with Impunity. I am anxious to learn from the Settlers the particulars of the late Quarrels between the Natives and the Vessel. Tho’ it is more than 100 miles from where they live, yet I have no doubt, but the Natives will visit the Settlers and state their Complaints to them should they understand for what Purpose they are living at the Bay of Islands. It is much to be lamented that no legan notice is taken here of any Crimes however great committed in these Seas— This calls loudly for the Interference of the Legislature in order that Justice may be administered in some way or other. I will transmit you the Particulars as soon as I can, as I am not without my fears that these wicked men will very much injure the Settlement at the Bay of Islands by their Acts of Fraud and Violence. It also appears to me strange that a Master of a Vessel should sail from Port Jackson, and return with the Loss of the whole of his Crew, or a Part, and no public Investigation take Place to know by what means these men were killed or lost— I have made several attempts to obtain Redress for the injured Natives, but have always failed: as the Persons who were appointed to investigate these Complaints at all times alledged alleged that there was no law to punish the guilty. I trust the Society will take this important Subject into their serious Consideration; as I see nothing in the way to prevent the Spread of the Gospel, and the Knowledge of the civil Arts, but the Crimes of Europeans. You will hear how greatly the Mission to Otaheite has been blessed. In the Society Islands many hundreds have turned from the worship of dumb Idols to serve the true and living God. The Spread of the Gospel amongst these poor Heathens is wonderful indeed. King Pomare writes like an Apostle. I shall send Home his Letter to the Society addressed to the Revd Mr Burder— It will give great Encouragement now to the pious world. When the missionaries about five years ago returned from Otaheite giving up all for lost, and never intending to return, I had much conversation with them relative to the Mission— At this time their Spirits were broke and they despaired of the work. After a time they recovered their Strength a little, and their Spirits— I wished them to return to their Station; as I was by no means satisfied in my own mind with the Reasons they gave for relinquishing the Cause. At length it was agreed upon and they sailed for Otaheite with fear and trembling— I was uneasy also, lest they should not prosper— but now we all rejoice with exceeding Joy— I am Dr Sir Yours truly Saml Marsden Revd J. Pratt Hocken Archive Reference Number MS-0055/040 33MB image/tif 6.0 Uncompressed MD5 52ee1d04f37c8583a8dba395b5f1f60f ACEMC 2718 4242 RGB manuscript Hakena MS-0055/040 189 mm 303 mm 2014:05:15 13:08:40.55 University of Otago Library, Reprographics Unit digital still camera Canon Canon EOS 6D 11.0 1 Manual 0220 1 11.0 6.9 1.4 Multi-segment tungsten flash did not fire 50.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 65.3 mm) 0 Subject is illuminated from the front side. Auto Focus Used Normal Digitised as part of the Mining Marsden Project in 2013/2014 8, 8, 8 integer 3 2014:05:20 12:53:34 University of Otago Library, Reprographics Unit Processing actions undertaken to: prepare the image for online digital use and maintain the integrity of the image. Adobe Photoshop CS6 Windows 7 Cropped item to remove excess border and straightened the image. The manuscript images, transcripts and metadata displayed on the Marsden Online Archive site are governed by a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 NZ) copyright agreement (available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/). Please contact the Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand for more information. Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand. hocken@otago.ac.nz Hocken Archive Reference Number MS-0055/040 32MB image/tif 6.0 Uncompressed MD5 4580598e62e5e7db6bdace52d1e3caf5 ACEMC 2694 4260 RGB manuscript Hakena MS-0055/040 189 mm 303 mm 2014:05:15 13:07:56.70 University of Otago Library, Reprographics Unit digital still camera Canon Canon EOS 6D 11.0 1 Manual 0220 1 11.0 6.9 1.4 Multi-segment tungsten flash did not fire 50.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 65.2 mm) 0 Subject is illuminated from the front side. Auto Focus Used Normal Digitised as part of the Mining Marsden Project in 2013/2014 8, 8, 8 integer 3 2014:05:20 12:52:56 University of Otago Library, Reprographics Unit Processing actions undertaken to: prepare the image for online digital use and maintain the integrity of the image. Adobe Photoshop CS6 Windows 7 Cropped item to remove excess border and straightened the image. The manuscript images, transcripts and metadata displayed on the Marsden Online Archive site are governed by a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 NZ) copyright agreement (available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/). Please contact the Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand for more information. Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand. hocken@otago.ac.nz Hocken Archive Reference Number MS-0055/040 32MB image/tif 6.0 Uncompressed MD5 70e457e669d23c077582f3e82e1ca41c ACEMC 2670 4236 RGB manuscript Hakena MS-0055/040 189 mm 303 mm 2014:05:15 13:08:13.14 University of Otago Library, Reprographics Unit digital still camera Canon Canon EOS 6D 11.0 1 Manual 0220 1 11.0 6.9 1.4 Multi-segment tungsten flash did not fire 50.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 65.7 mm) 0 Subject is illuminated from the front side. Auto Focus Used Normal Digitised as part of the Mining Marsden Project in 2013/2014 8, 8, 8 integer 3 2014:05:20 12:53:14 University of Otago Library, Reprographics Unit Processing actions undertaken to: prepare the image for online digital use and maintain the integrity of the image. Adobe Photoshop CS6 Windows 7 Cropped item to remove excess border and straightened the image. The manuscript images, transcripts and metadata displayed on the Marsden Online Archive site are governed by a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 NZ) copyright agreement (available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/). Please contact the Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand for more information. Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand. hocken@otago.ac.nz Hocken Archive Reference Number MS-0055/040 31MB image/tif 6.0 Uncompressed MD5 6fafa7a572fc80b08910b34d57cb810f ACEMC 2634 4242 RGB manuscript Hakena MS-0055/040 189 mm 303 mm 2014:05:15 13:08:26.38 University of Otago Library, Reprographics Unit digital still camera Canon Canon EOS 6D 11.0 1 Manual 0220 1 11.0 6.9 1.4 Multi-segment tungsten flash did not fire 50.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 65.9 mm) 0 Subject is illuminated from the front side. Auto Focus Used Normal Digitised as part of the Mining Marsden Project in 2013/2014 8, 8, 8 integer 3 2014:05:20 12:53:24 University of Otago Library, Reprographics Unit Processing actions undertaken to: prepare the image for online digital use and maintain the integrity of the image. Adobe Photoshop CS6 Windows 7 Cropped item to remove excess border and straightened the image. The manuscript images, transcripts and metadata displayed on the Marsden Online Archive site are governed by a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 NZ) copyright agreement (available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/). Please contact the Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand for more information. Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand. hocken@otago.ac.nz