THE ISRAELITE, THE BOER, AND THE MAORL [TO THE EDITOR
OP THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sr,—There is a curious analogy between the Boers and the Maories in New Zealand in their interpretation of the Old Testament. The Boers accepted the Old Testament as literally true. The Maories looked upon it as only pro. Dhetically true. Nevertheless, they both arrived at a some- ;dist similar conclusion. The Boers simply copied their prototypes, the Israelites of old. The native inhabitants of the Transvaal were to them as the Canaanites of old were to the Israelites,—either to be exterminated or utilised as slaves. The Transvaal was the land of promise. The weary journey from Cape Town was the second edition of the wandering in the wilderness by the Israelites. The Boers were just as certain that the Almighty was guiding them to their home as the Israelites were that Jehovah was leading them. History is never tired of repeating itself. In both cases, however, both Israelites and Boers were mistaken. Neither Palestine nor the Transvaal belongs either to the Israelite or the Boer. The Maories, or at any rate a large number of them, believed that the Old Testament, in the account of the Israelites in Palestine, foreshadowed the doings of the Maories in New Zealand. A teacher (Maori) explained to me this apparent mystery. We, the English, the Irish, Germans, and Italians, were the Cannanites, Hivites, and Hittites of the Old Testament; the Maories were the true Israel, and Auckland was the Jerusalem, into which town the Maories would be gathered and live in happiness, when we had all been destroyed and driven into the sea. I have no reason to suppose that my teacher was not fully impressed with the truthfulness of his belief. Indeed, only a few years ago a prophet with a very considerable following arose in the North Island, with the express purpose of driving us out of the land. He was, how- ever, captured ; treated, I am glad to say, most kindly; ;taken to all the chief towns in New Zealand to see our power and civilisation, and has never given us any further trouble. There is, I think, a singular agreement between the Israelite of old, the Boer, and the Maori, that each nation firmly believed that the Almighty favoured his own particular nation at the expense of every other. History, however, happily does not give support to this form of belief.—I am,
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