Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-09-14
NO. 80.


the ground the chiefs hat and blanket
and umbrella were thrown in after him,
and then many of the tribe leaped upon
the grave with howls and dancing. Not
satisfied with deeds Of cruelty while
living, these noble Maoris In olden time
expected their wives to strsngle them
selves, and while twisting .he fax for
the rope the sister Of the dead chief is
reported by recent writer as looking
up at the moon and saying:
1t is well with thee, o moon! Yon return from
death.
Spreading your light on the little waves. Men
"Behold, the moon reappears~
But the dead Of this world return no more.
Grief and pain spring up in my heart a. from
a fountain.
hasten to death for relief.
oh, that all might eat those numerous sooth-
Who could not foretell his deathl
Oh, that might eat the governor,
For his vas the war
One Of the most terrible things in all
the country of the Maoris is their law
Of Tapu. If any one breaks that, he must
die. When q thing Is said to be Tapu,
no one must use or employ 1t. For In
stance, a man gave slave o knife.
Forthwith that knife became Tapu, yet
some one dared with that knife to cut
the bread for the chiefs mother, and
the man who used the knife for that
purpose was butchered That whimsical
ity of Tapu has left its victims all up
and down New Zealand. The fact Is
that barbarisms are so repulsive In ev-
cry form that there is nothing admira-
BILE about them, and the only thing to
do is by the influence Of Christian ciyi-
lization to extirpate them, and they are
going, and for the most part have al
ready gone. Cannibalism in New Zea-
land is dead The funeral pyres in In
dia have been extinguished. The Jug
gernaut has been put aside as a curios-
ity for travellers to look at. Instead OF
the cruelties that once cursed these
lands 1 find our glorious Christianity
dominant-all over New Zealand the
highest culture, the grandest churches,
the best schools and citizenship than
which the worlj holds nothing nobler.
1 hereby report to the American lee
turers that New Zealand is a grand
place for their useful work. Only two
or three English and one American lee
turer have ever trod these platforms.
But the opportunity here is illimitable.
Not in all the round earth are there
more alert, responsive or electric au-
diences. They are quicker than Ameri-
can or European assemblages to take
everything said on platform or in pull
pit. They call out all there is in
speaker Of instruction or entertainment.
And the church and the world have yet
to find out that audiences for the most
mart decide whether sermons or lectures
shall be good or poor. Stolid and unre-
sponsive audiences make stolid and
stupid speakers. Wendell Phillips, one
of the monarchs Of the platform, told
me something very remarkable concern
ing himself while we were standing IN
a Boston book store and he was chiding
me for not appearing at Ann Arbor,
Mich, from which place he had just re-
turned, and where l had tried to get
few days before. but was hindered by
snowbanks, ami my offer of $3.50 for the
use Of a locomotive had been declined.
Mr. Phillips said that the audience in
one Of the eastern states nearly killed
him. He said: II stood for nearly an
hour without seeing or hearing anything
bv which 1 could judge Of the effect of
what l had said. If they had only Missed
or applauded, do not care which,
could have gone on with some comfort "
Mr. Phillips surprised me by this state
ment as to the effect wrought upon him
by phlegmatic assemblage.
The audiences decide the fate Of ser
mons or lectures. A half dozen men
might, if they wished to engage in so
mean q business, take a contract TO
break down any speaker, If they would
sit right before him, cape, take out their
watches and cough with mouth wide
open and then suddenly go sound asleep
An eloquent American preacher, stand
ing before me in former pulpit de-
livered the first half Of his sermon with
great power, and his words had wings,
and his countenance was afame with
holy enthusiasm, when suddenly his
wings Of thought and utterance drop
ned. and he stammered on his way and
got entangled in metaphor and lost his
thread of discourse and failed to prove
that which he said at the start he would
prove and then sat down. While the
congregation were singing the last hymn
he said: "Who is that distinguished
looking gentleman right in front OF the
pulpit? The sight of his somnolency and
lack of interest completely upset me. "
"Oh." said, that is the Hon. Mr..
So-and-so, ono of the ablest men Of the
nation, and he was deeply interested in
all you said. He is not asleep, but is
suffering from weak eyes and is COM
pelled to keep them shut while listen
ing" The uninteresting appearance OF
the auditor had oyerthrown master
Of assemble
I say to the men who preach and lee
ture, come to New Zealand. But should
ministers ever lecturer Ought they not
always preach2 Ny answer is that the
intelligent lecture hall is half way to
the church, and I notice that men who
have been hating the church and all sa-
cred things, If they come and hear one
lecture, are sure to come and hear him
preach. Besides that there are important
things to be said, and things that must
be said, which are more appropriate &c
lecture hall than to pulpit The three
mightiest agencies for making the world
better are the pulpit, printing press and
platform. Side by side may they always
stand " the battle for righteousness.
But for them the Indians warwhoop
would yet be sounding in America and
on the Atlantic coast, the morning meal
of human flesh would still be going on
in New Zealand, and the Ganges would
still be horrible with infanticide. Let
all the nations reconstruct their notions
of New Zealand. l write this at Dune
din, imposing in its architecture, pictur-
esque in its surroundings, unbounded in
its hospitality and another Edinburgh,
after which, l understand. it is named,
D,,,, Cd;,, baipo tho Gaelic for the