WESLEY AN CONF., AUSTRAL. 919 WESLEYAN CONF., AUSTRAL.
commencement, and they resolved to apply to the Meth- odists in England for a missionary. Mr. Samuel Leigh, who had conversed with Dr. Coke, had ottered his ser- vices as a missionary, and the application from New South Wales having reached Dr. Adam Clarke, he se- cured the services of IMr. Leigh, ordaineil him for the work, procurcil for him a license to preach from the lord mavor of London, and he sailed from England in Febru- ary, 1815, landing at Port Jackson Aug. 10 of the same vear. The progress of the mission of Methodism in Australia from that day forward cannot be contemplated without a feeling of astonishment and delight. In 1820 Methodism was introduced into Van Diemen's Land ; in 1822 it reached the Friendly Islands and the neighboring groups; iu 1823, New Zealand ; in 1835, the Fiji Islands welcomed their first Methodist missionary; in 1838 a mission was commenced in South Australia; and iu 1839, Western Australia. Thus, within a quarter of a century, the whole country was visited by Methodist missionaries where there was population to whom they could minister. The pioneers who early united their efforts to those of Samuel Leigh were John Waterhouse, Walter Lowry, Benjamin Carvosso, and John H. Bum- by, followed by others who are still laboring there, and their valuable and useful services will preserve their memories fresh in the country for many genera- tions.
The marvellous triumphs of Christianity in nearly all the localities named were equalled onU' by the he- roic devotion of the missionaries and their wives. It would not be possible to describe the scenes of degrada- tion and ferocity which they had for many years to confront. The Life of Samuel Levjh (an octavo vol- ume of 590 pages) and the Rev. James BuUer's Forty Years in New Zealand are two works which supply such a variety of valuable and interesting facts de- scriptive of the trials and triumphs of Methodism in Australia and New Zealand that any abridgment of their contents would be impossible in the compass of these pages.
It is due to the convict class of the inhabitants to record that many of them, after their conversion, be- came the most active, energetic, and useful helpers of the good cause. Among them have been class-lead- ers, stewards, local preachers, and some have become wealthy, and devoted much of their substance to the erection of Methodist churches, parsonages, and schools. Mr. Leigh records of one of the earliest of the convicts
Mr. E •. who was an educated Irishman designed for
the bar, but who, for forgery, had been sentenced to death, that he was converted while in his Irish prison, and had his sentence commuted to transportation for life. His Methodist friends gave him a Bible to be his companion in his banishment. He read the Bible and liturgy to his fellow-convicts; and his intelligent, con- sistent Christian life soon secured liim his libertv. He taught a school, preached in the villages on the Sabbath, and commenced the first Methodist class -meeting at Windsor in 1812. In his humble way, he was probably the first Methodist preacher in the southern world. The members gathered by this young Irishman held the first Methodist love-feast in that country on April 3, 18 12. The missionaries sought out many of the ban- ished ones, and in many instances they had repented and found mere}' at the hands of (iod. The morning of eternity alone will tell how many of those children of crime and punishment will be welcomed in heaven by parents and friends who seldom mentioned their names on earth.
Mr. Leigh was a most faithful and heroic man, and he soon witnessed the erection of three small chapels, one each at Sydney, Windsor, and Castlereagh. Four Sunday-schools were opened, and a Methodist Circuit was formed which included fifteen preaching -places, extending 150 miles. After three years of hard toil, Mr. Leigh welcomed AValter Lowrj^, on Jlay 1, 1818, as his first colleague, and so rejoiced was he on meeting
that he fell on his neck and kissed him. The aborigines as well as the criminals were accessible to the mission- aries; but the preachers were exposed to insults and hardships which cannot be realized in the present im- proved condition of the country. They performed long rugged journeys, and often slept on boards or on the bare earth, with their saddle-bags as pillows and over- coats for covering; but they witnessed such triumphs as more than compensated them for all their sutt'erings. The foundations of Australian Methodism were thus laid broad and deep, and possibly that form of religion may ultimately dominate in that vast country.
Cheered by the prospect which was opening before him, ]Mr. Leigh returned to England in 1820 to plead for more men to extend the work, and he took out with him William Horton and Thomas Walker. The latter intended to open a station among the natives, among whom he commenced to labor ; but owing to their no- madic character the success did not justify the continu- ance of that station after 1828. Another and more sat- isfactory effort was made in 183G, when a new station was opened at Port Philip, South Australia, with two missionaries, and one at Perth, Western Australia. In 1838 Methodism was introduced into Geelong by two missionaries. These men endured immense hardships. They acquired the native languages, translated portions of the Scriptures, commenced schools, established print- ing, wrote and published school-books, and founded a training institution for native preachers and teachers. At each station the missionaries conducted a farm on which the people were taught agriculture, the farms supplying the preachers with a large portion of their income in those early days.