| Show elders dera arrested by mabries maoris pro aress of 0 the work curton cusio ws hastings hawkes ba bay ne new W zealand J july ut 15 1886 editor deseret news some time ago two of our elders ellas elias johnson Job son of bishop joenson Jo unson linson of provo and ephraim magelky were arrested by borne bome hostile machies and tied to a forice fence for about three hours they were then unbound and taken to their captors pah village and guarded for three days at tue end ot 01 that time lime they were liberated with a threat that it would be worse for them it if caught there again the affair was taken before the courts but a minister of one of the christian churches was tte judge before whom it was tried and lie he dismissed the case as frivolous at the same time asking askin brother Brof fier johnson it if hi hia church did not t practice polygamy the elder told him him he thought the afie question had not an coal anything ing to do wi wih arh h the case before the and was wan told it he did not anaw answer r he would be nned fined tar contempt and at the same time ane preacher judge further insulted the brethren since then mr ballance a leading man in parliament wd and native minister was called to the place where this occurred and his speech on the subject does him great honor he told them the mormons cormons Mor mons must be left alone and so long lone as they did not break any law of the land they would be protected by the government if you shed the blood of these elders it will be the seed of their chubb and it will s ava te up and grow all over the land he told the them m other churches had persecuted them for years and it had bad caused them to grow and it if they continued to do so their faith would woul spread over all lands and they would fill the whole earth all intelligent men were against this spi spirit of persecution cution T to him the mormon religion had bad but one bad feature in it that was plural marriage and the intelligence of the age was against it there was one article of their faith that he adm admired ireA they believed in being subject to klags presidents rulers and magistrates in ob obeying eving honoring and sustaining the law he said as long as they observe these articles of faith there will be no difficulty you Vou must not perse persecute cule them if you do the government will p punish u i 8 h you I 1 got these facts from a 1 leading d i ng maori who had written them down the work of god continues to roll iong along among this strange but interesting people and we have added as many as 22 29 to the church in one dag day it in tills district and they are among t the e finest men of theM the maori aorl nation Ms ii is strange that most of our converts are leaders among their own people this is my fourth mission and ii ft la is very different from any of the others my traveling companion amass amasa aldrich is a young manfrom man from the same town as myself mount pleasant and is one of the best maori speakers pe akers on the island today to day the are very religious us as a 9 people they hold public kadakia prayer meetings every morning and eveni evening tig before breakfast break last and after supper the exel exercises alses consist of sing si nging reading rading a chapter in the bible prayer and giving such instructions as the holy spirit dictates we are called together by the ringing of the bell a cow bell answers where they have no other the f bible is the only book they read and they know it almost by heart they are arc all preachers men women and aud children childre our trave travel linis inglis all done dode on horseback and we can always tell what kind oi of a reception we shall meet from the sounds that greet us ns some distance before we reach the pah haere mat ral haere mat rat ra is the sound that tells us we are welcome and the more vigorous the call the greater the welcome if we had b been oe A absent lor for some time ave five or six weeks we have to hunga hangs rub noses and I 1 have not been ashamed to hunga with them even in the streets and cities of the lakeba white man of their haka war dance and their hunga weeping for the head I 1 have not time to write now I 1 have enjoyed my mission although my health has not been as good as I 1 could wish I 1 thank god I 1 am his servant hunting bunting out israel from the dens and eaves caves of the earth for such t they he Y truly ruly are and the ane promises made to t 0 me by the lord through his servants could not have been Sul fulfilled filled without this mission yours in the truth EDWARD CLIFF |
