78 POHIPOHI, OF MATAMATA. Nearly one hundred years old, and yet an enemy to Christ! how awful! He bowed down, but I fear it was not from humility. What must his thoughts have been when he saw, on the throne of the Majesty on high, Him whom he persecuted here. He heard the gospel, and oh, may he have fled in his last moments for refuge unto Christ! A short time ago I met the attorney, Shítal Prasád, who had pleaded in Court for Gaurí Shankar's relatives. He asked after Gauri Shankar. I replied, "He is well, reading Sanskrit." "Well!" he said, "we opposed you and beat you." "True," replied my Catechist, "you did: you gained the victory over us here below, and we gained it over you above. The rulers of the earth decided for you, the God of heaven and earth decided for us: hence the boy is ours." "Very true," the lawyer replied, and rode off. POHIPOHI, OF MATAMATA. MATAMATA is a New-Zealand village in the Middle District. Missionary work commenced here in 1839; but the savage disposition of the natives, and the breaking forth of war between them and some of the adjacent tribes, soon interrupted the proceedings of the Missionaries. The fearful scenes in which they found themselves at this period wrung their hearts with anguish; nor was their personal danger inconsiderable, as may be seen from the answer given by the old chief Waharoa, when one of them remonstrated with him on his wicked ways-"If you are angry with me for what we have been doing, I will kill and eat you and all the Missionaries." Matamata is now an altered place. Cannibal practices are no Jonger known in New Zealand: disturbances amongst the natives of rare occurrence, and are soon hushed to rest. In the general ment Matamata has shared; and our Missionaries have been are improve lately cheer ed by the anxiety of many aged people for Christian baptism. On Sunday, Jan. 21, 1849, Archdeacon ry-five adults, amongst whom were very many en for years under instruction; their know instruction and ledge of the great truths of the Gospel proving as well their own rseverance of the native teacher. In great diligence as the patient pe. the Sunday-school which followed the service the Archdeacon selected an interesting class for instruction, that of ten old chiefs who were candidates for baptism. The Archdeacon then returned to his own home at Tauranga, on the sea-shore, promising to return on a certain day for their baptism. But the old chiefs hearing subsequently that he was unwell, and fearing lest they might be disappointed, decided on making their way to him, although one amongst them-Pohipohi, the principal chief, a very aged man-had to be carried on a litter, by the young men of his tribe, a distance of more than twenty miles. Their examination and baptism were very interesting, especially when it was remembered that these men had been the leaders in the great southern war, which had occasioned such loss of life in New Zealand, and had lasted so many years. Pohipohi, alluding to his course at that period, struck his foot vehemently on the ground, and ABRAHAM, OF THE VILLAGE OF RATMEWELA, CEYLON. 79 said, "I thought then only of this earth: my thoughts are now fixed on an heavenly inheritance." "How little," remarks Archdeacon Brown, "at that period of savage warfare, fearfully distinguished by murder and cannibalism, could the most sanguine of Missionaries have anticipated such a scene as we have been this day privileged to witness! Not unto us, but to the sovereign grace of God, be all the glory!" We give an engraving of Pohipohi, such as he was in those dark times. The drawing from whence it has been taken was sketched many years ago by one of our Missionaries. ABRAHAM, OF THE VILLAGE OF RATMEWELA, CEYLON. THE manner in which the leaven of the gospel spreads, laying hold first on one heart, establishing itself in the mind of one sinner, and thence extending itself to a few more, until by degrees the lump is leavened, and Christianity, with its hopeful, cheering aspect, and its happy influences and associations, is professed in what had been a dark heathen spot, is pleasingly illustrated in the following narra 80 ABRAHAM, OF THE VILLAGE OF RATMEWELA, CEYLON. tive by the Rev. W. Oakley, our Missionary at Kandy, in Ceylon— Ratmewela is a small village in the district of Yattenewere, and in the division called Kandy palata. It is about twelve miles from Kandy, to the north of the road leading from Kandy to Colombo, and three miles from the rest-house at the top of the Kaduganawe pass. The number of villages in the Kandy palata is twenty-eight, and the number of inhabitants (adults) about 3200. The people are all Kandians and Buddhists. The number of Buddhist temples in this district is fourteen, and the number of priests resident in them about thirty. The people, however, pay but little regard to the ceremonies of their religion, and, with the exception of occasional offerings at the commencement of the new year, and the beginning and close of harvest, they seldom visit their temples. Devil-worship, or the propitiation of evil spirits, is very prevalent, and is resorted to in every time of sickness, and in all their calamities. There are six devil-temples in the district, the services at which are most frequently performed on the Sunday evenings! I became first acquainted with this district in the year 1837; when a person who had been for some time a prisoner in the Kandy jail expressed a wish to be received into the Christian church by baptism. This man's name was Rajapaxagedere Tikka. His village was Ratmewela. In consequence of some quarrel which had taken place between him and some of the people in his village, he was thrown into prison, and, while there, first heard of the Christian religion. He also received some tracts, and read them very carefully; and when he was released from the prison he came to speak with the late Rev. T. Browning and myself on the subject of the Christian religion, and expressed a wish to renounce Buddhism. His former character we knew had been very bad: he was not merely a heathen, and devil-worshipper, but also a devil-dancer, and one who took the lead in such ceremonies, and deeds of darkness. On his liberation from the Kandy prison he returned to his village, taking with him some tracts and portions of Scripture; and, although living at a distance of nearly twelve miles from the town, he was seen in the Mission chapel every Sunday morning, listening most attentively to the different parts of the service, and evidently with a desire to learn the truth. He frequently brought with him his eldest son, a boy of about eleven or twelve years of age, whom he was carefully instructing in the truths which he had himself learned. He gave a strong proof of his sincerity, by bringing to me all his books connected with devil-worship, saying, "With these books I have for a long time deceived myself, and the people around me. I shall use them no more. God has shown me that I must give up all these things, and I now give them to you, lest my family should get hold of them, and be deceived by them." This bold step had nearly cost him his life. His friends, and particularly his two brothers, were greatly enraged with him for forsaking his old religion; and one of his brothers, when he knew that he intended bringing me his books, threatened to shoot him, and, I believe, actually procured a gun for that purpose. His life appeared at one time to be so much in danger, that I strongly recommended him to come and reside for a time in the town; but he preferred remaining with his family, and, with great *Acts xix. 19. ABRAHAM, OF THE VILLAGE OF RATMEWELA, CEYLON. 81 simplicity and earnestness, declared his willingness to submit to whatever God should be pleased to appoint. Persecutions, however, continued, and they were often very severe, but, by the grace of God, he was enabled to hold on his way; and as I had every reason to be satisfied with the sincerity of his profession, I admitted him into the Christian church by baptism, on Sunday, June 3, 1838, by the name of Abraham. From that time he has continued steady, and has adorned his profession by a Christian walk and conversation. But I must now say a few words about the family and relatives of Abraham. His wife was at first very much opposed to the step which her husband had taken. Some time, however, before his baptism, her views became changed, and she even expressed a wish to receive baptism herself, and became a frequent attendant at public worship on the Mission premises. But as she was unable to read, and had never been accustomed to commit any thing to memory, her progress in learning was very slow. The eldest son, however, who had continued to accompany his father on the Sabbath, and, being able to read, had become tolerably well acquainted with the first principles of the gospel, now earnestly requested me to admit him into the Christian church by baptism. He was baptized on Sunday, August 12, 1838, by the name of Isaac. I did not feel justified in receiving Abraham's wife into the Christian church until Sunday, January 3, 1841, when she was baptized by the name of Sarah. Her knowledge of the Christian religion was not so extensive as I could have desired; but I hope she was sincere in her renunciation of heathenism, and profession of faith in Christ. The next step was to make use of Abraham's knowledge and zeal in behalf of his neighbours and countrymen, and this I thought could best be attained by giving him a school. As there was no school in that neighbourhood, and some of the villagers had expressed a willingness to send their children for instruction, I appointed Abraham schoolmaster in the village of Ratmewela, on a small salary. About this time, one of Abraham's brothers-he who had threatened to shoot him-began to manifest a desire to read our books, and to inquire into the truth of the Christian religion. It was a cause of thankfulness to us to perceive, not only that the spirit of this haughty persecutor had been, in some measure, subdued, but more particularly to learn from himself that it was the quiet, inoffensive spirit of his brother Abraham which had deprived him of his enmity. The poor man, from the very first, manifested the greatest seriousness and earnestness in his inquiry after the truth. Every Sunday he accompanied his brother Abraham to the church on the Mission premises, and light seemed gradually to break in upon his mind. Having been a sufficient time on probation, and having shown, in his whole character and conduct, such a decided change from what he had formerly been, I admitted him to baptism July 21, 1844, by the name of Samuel. His conduct from that time to the present, I am thankful to say, has been most satisfactory. Shortly after his baptism, he built a very neat little schoolroom in his village, at his own expense, for the service of the Church Missionary Society. It is still used, and in this schoolroom I recently baptized a Kandian woman, who received the name of Lydia. Samuel has not received any employment from the Society, being the owner of a number of rice-fields, and the garden in which he lives. 82 NINGPO, AND OUR MISSIONARY PROSPECTS THERE. In November of last year Mr. Oakley again visited this Kandian village, and the promising aspect which it presents is embodied in the following extract from his journal I visited the school at Ratmewela. In a short time the schoolroom was filled, and a number of persons were sitting or standing outside. It was suggested, that, as the people are now willing to attend in greater numbers than formerly, the schoolroom should be enlaged. But Samuel proposed rather to erect a new room, somewhat larger than the present, and some of the people offered to render assistance. I was much pleased to observe a number of women present this morning, chiefly the friends of those who are now candidates for Christian baptism. After expressing to the people my pleasure at meeting so large a company, and my hope that they would try to remember and understand the things which they now hear respecting the Christian religion, I called forward the three candidates for baptism, and requested them, in the presence of the people assembled, to state their reasons for wishing to renounce Buddhism, and embrace Christianity; as well as their reasons for believing that Buddhism was false and Christianity true. They answered my questions plainly and satisfactorily. They will, however, remain some time longer on probation. A class consisting of the three candidates above mentioned, a young man formerly instructed in our school-who states that he is carefully examining into the Christian religion, though not yet fully prepared to renounce Buddhism— and the three daughters of Abraham, read before me a part of the 9th chapter of Mark. Their reading was very distinct, and their replies to my questions satisfactory. I took the opportunity of pointing out to the people the advantage of teaching their daughters to read, showing them that their daughters were quite as well able to learn as their sons. I afterwards returned to Abraham's house, inviting any to join us who wished to speak further on the subject of the Christian religion. IIere again we had a good assembly. Several now joined us who had not been at the schoolroom. Abraham has still a brother, named Singha (the Lion), who is a Buddhist. He is a man of violent temper, has a great hatred of Christianity, and is constantly endeavouring to injure Abraham, either by destroying his property, or bringing false charges against him before the magistrate. He is not, perhaps, a more violent opponent than Samuel formerly was; and it is our earnest hope and prayer that the same grace which subdued him may yet transform this "lion" into a "lamb." NINGPO, AND OUR MISSIONARY PROSPECTS THERE. We now give the conclusion of Mr. Cobbold's paper on Missionary work at Ningpo. The pride of the scholars and gentry is another obstacle that opposes us. Although they really are very far behind us in civilization, and though they have no knowledge whatever of things that a child would be ashamed not to know in this country, and though they have no knowledge of any language but their own, yet they consider themselves, and their own ways, and their own learning, far superior to ours. And if you saw one of these fine gentlemen, or good scholars as they think themselves, turn up their nose at you, you |