434 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVH. 
and indifferent to the prospects of his growing son, 
teach him by mere example some of the knowledge 
and manners of the world and the outward appear- 
ance of a gentleman, while he also allowed him to 
acquire the immoral habits which had been his own 
ruin. 
In 1815, the excellent Samuel Marsden introduced 
the blessings of missionary teaching, with a view to 
rescue the New Zealanders from the ruin which was 
impending over them, into the northern part of the 
island. 
We are fortunate in possessing an authentic record 
of the first foundation of the Church Mission in the 
Bay of Islands. Mr. John Liddiard Nicholas, who 
volunteered to accompany the venerable founder in his 
expedition, wrote a very interesting work, which con- 
tains an account of all the proceedings, and must ever 
be placed among the most valuable archives of New 
Zealand.* Mr. Nicholas also gave evidence before 
the Committee of the House of Lords in April 1838. 
To him, then, I am indebted for the earlier part of this 
history. 
The Reverend Samuel Marsden, Principal Chaplain 
of New South Wales, was already famous for the 
success of missions planted by him in Tahiti, when 
he formed the benevolent project of founding a mission 
in New Zealand. This project was then discouraged 
by almost all who heard of its formation. The caji- 
tains and crews of whaling-ships and trading-vessels, 
who had been accustomed for twenty years to carry 
on a desultory warfare, as well as commerce, with the 
* Narrative of a Voyage to New Zealand, performed in the 
years 1814 and 1815, in company with the Rev. Samuel Marsden, 
Principal Chaplain of New South Wales, by John Liddiard Nicho- 
las, Esq., in 2 vols., London, 1817. 
