Extracts from a Journal of a Voyage of Visitation in the Hawk, 1859 | Page 4

in this harbour, two of which are returned in the census as Methodists, the other two Church of England. All the men, however, were absent, except the old man who was brought off to us the previous night; besides him were four women, and some seven or eight children, and a sick man (a Roman Catholic), who had been left by a trader. All, however, in the harbour (except the sick Roman) came on board to both our services, and the women (all) expressed a great desire to have their children admitted into the Church. The Gospel for the Sunday gave me occasion to preach to them and myself on the "Parable of the Lost Sheep;" to myself, to make me ashamed of thinking much of serving or ministering to these two or three in the wilderness; and to them, to make them, and each of them, I trust, more grateful to the good Shepherd who came himself on the same errand on which He sends his ministers to seek for every one that is lost and gone astray, and who assures us there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. The day was as bright and the scene as lovely as could be desired for any Sabbath on earth, and I greatly enjoyed the rest and peace. After tea, we went on shore and visited all the families, and gave medicine to the poor Irishman, and books to the children. I examined the children in the Lord's Prayer and Creed, and found that the child of the Church of England parents (neither of whom could read) was much more perfect than the children of the others, who boasted of their learning and reading; some (ten or twelve years of age) could not say the Lord's prayer. At family prayer, in the evening, I addressed my crew, and explained to them the object of my voyage, and entreated them to co-operate by their example in every place, and warned them against the faults to which I knew them most liable.
Monday, July 11th. Little Coney Arm, at sea, and Bear Cove.--Sailed from Little Coney Arm at four o'clock A.M., wind light, but fair for crossing the bay, and we accordingly passed over to Bear Cove. We found that all the inhabitants (four families) were at home, or on their fishing-grounds, and all professed members of the Church of England, and greatly desirous to be admitted, by baptism or reception as the case might require; and two couples, who had been united by a fisherman, expressed a wish to be duly married. One couple made some difficulty about the fee (having no money), but promised to send the amount (20s.) in money, or fish, to the nearest clergyman, in the fall. The service was to have commenced at five o'clock, but it was with difficulty all were got together and duly arranged at 6.15. We said the Evening Prayers, which I fear must have been parables to these poor people, several of whom had lived here and in the neighbouring coves all their life, and had never before seen a clergyman, or heard the service. After the second lesson, the baptisms had to be performed, and sad and strange were the discoveries made by the question, whether the child or person (for some were fifteen, sixteen, and eighteen years of age) had been baptized or no? Of all it was answered they had been baptized; but some, it appeared, could not tell by whom, some by fishermen, several by a woman,--the only person in the settlement (and she a native) who could read correctly. One woman (married) was baptized, hypothetically, with her infant. Twenty-one in all were admitted, the majority with hypothetical baptism. Both of the women who came to be married had infants in their arms; one of them had three children. Not one person in the whole settlement could read correctly, except the woman before mentioned; her husband (a native of Bay of Islands), a little. He had, however, been employed to marry one of our present couples, which he confessed to me with some shame and confusion of face, saying, "he had picked the words out of the book as well as he could make them out," but he did not baptise, because "that reading was too hard;" in fact, he could scarcely read at all, he left the baptisms therefore to his wife. I addressed the people after the baptisms, trying to make them understand the meaning and purpose of that Sacrament, and again after the prayers, in their obligations as baptized. After this service, Mr. Johnson married the two couples, and I examined the children in their prayers and belief, which I found most of them could repeat more or less correctly, but not one