48 History of the “‘ Dayspring.” 
New Hebrides group, and three to the Loyalties. The feeling. 
of the French authorities had changed much from last year. 
Appeals had been made from London to the French Emperor, 
in the interest of the Protestant missions in the South Seas; 
and Captain Fraser was more cordially welcomed at Lifu this 
year than he was the year before. 
It was while the Mission Conference was in session on 
Aneityum, in 1865, that H.M.S. Curacoa visited the islands, 
and that her commander, Sir William Wiseman, shelled one or 
two villages in Tana and Eramanga, on account of murders of 
white men recently committed there. The Tanese were awed 
by Sir William’s display of power, and to this day they are 
under the wholesome fear of another visit of a ship of war. 
But there was an outcry at the time against the New 
Hebrides missionaries, on account of their supposed approval 
of shooting the poor blacks; and there was a difference of 
opinion even within the mission itself on the subject. Some mis- 
sionaries go the extreme length of holding that they should 
not employ force, even in self-defence; while others feel 
that they are British subjects, and think that, on occasions, 
they have a right to appeal to Ceesar. 
The truth is, however, that the New Hebrides mission- 
aries were in no way responsible for Sir William Wiseman’s 
acts, right or wrong. At Sir William’s requisition, Captain 
Fraser undertook to pilot the ‘Curacoa” to Tana, and Mr. 
Paton undertook to interpret for the natives—just as they 
might have been called on in Melbourne to aid the authori- 
ties in any judicial inquiry, without being responsible for the 
results. It would be ridiculous to fancy that a British com- 
modore, responsible to the Imperial government, should con- 
sult missionaries as to his duty or conduct in ‘the dispensa- 
tion of justice, on account of the murder of British subjects; 
though, for a time, an attempt was made to injure the mis- 
sion by an outcry to the effect that the New Hebrides mis- 
