Introduction

The Rev. John Saunders preached in the wake of the Myall Creek massacre,
the murder of at least 28 Kwiambal men women and children on a  northern
NSW property in June 1838. His sermon was published in the Sydney paper,
the 'Colonist' at the height of the public debate over the unprecedented
pursuit of the perpetrators of the massacre by the state. Information
about the circumstances of the massacre is widely available (see further
reading). The accounts are still chilling in spite of the distance  of
time.

When Governor Gipps had heard the reports he had instructed a local
magistrate to investigate with a view to prosecution. Its not clear that
Gipps knew what he was up against. The investigations resulted in the
prosecution of 11 men in November, 1838. The judge summed up the case in
the sternest manner possible. But the jury dismissed the charges in 15
minutes and the court burst into applause. A juror at that trial wrote
to the 'Australian' newspaper - "I look on the blacks as a set of
monkies . I would never consent to hang a white man for a black one'
(18th December 1838). As it turned out, a second trial did convict seven
men who were subsequently sentenced and put to death.

Saunders' Sermon and the
Myall Creek Massacre

While he does not directly mention the massacre at Myall Creek, Saunders
knew the magnitude of racism and the prevalence of violence against
Aborigines in the NSW of 1838. In the following paragraphs, we aim to
briefly relate Saunders' sermon to this context, and to gauge how he
attempted, as a public preacher, to address the challenge of the times.

Scripture Text

Saunders' sermon text speaks of violence on earth: "..the earth also
shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain" (Isaiah
26:21).  Saunders at one point in the sermon strings together biblical
images of blood, from Ezekial to Pilate to the Revelation. Are these
images meant to recall Myall Creek? One description of  the ground at
the site of the massacre was as "caked hard with dark pools of
coagulated blood" (Elder, p. 90). When the investigator reached the site
several weeks later the ground had been roughly swept but as he dug into
ashes he found some human bones. The place did "no more cover her
slain". The first part of the Scripture text also, however, speaks of
the violence of God: "Behold the Lord cometh . to punish the inhabitants
of the earth for their iniquity". An avenging God is not a comfortable
concept for the modern reader. The context of massacre, however, rightly
calls for at least the strongest language.

The Humanity of Aboriginal People

As shown by the juror's letter above, many people in the colony refused
to accept that Aboriginal people were fully human. Saunders spends quite
some time in his sermon directly rebutting this view. He begins this
section "he is neither monkey, ape, nor baboon .".  He goes on: "Does
man laugh at the wit of his neighbour . ? The black man does the same.
Does man mourn over departed friends, and drop a tear of sympathy? The
New Hollander does the same. .".  Saunders, as with many contemporary
and later Christians, then claims that Aborigines are worthy to be
converted as they are "possessed of a joint title to the mercy of God in
Christ Jesus and to an inheritance in Heaven". Importantly, Saunders
does not devalue the earthly human rights of a Aboriginal person in
light of their heavenly inheritance.

The Frontier Situation and the
Responsibility of the Church

Saunders speaks directly of the race wars on the frontier. The following
long quote illustrates that no hearer of Saunders' preaching could claim
ignorance:

"I speak not of the broils and murders which might find a parallel in
the conduct of the white toward the white, but out of those extra
murders in which so many have fallen.  We have not been fighting with a
natural enemy, but have been eradicating the possessors of the soil, and
why, forsooth? because they were troublesome, because some few had
resented the injuries they had received,  and then how were they
destroyed? by wholesale, in cold blood; . while rum, and licentiousness,
and famine, and disease, have done their part  to exterminate the
blacks, the musket, and the bayonet and the sword, and the poisoned
damper, have also had their influence and . Britain hath avenged the
death of her sons, not by law, but by retaliation at the atrocious
disproportion of a hundred to one."

What was to be done? Saunders proposes three steps. First, "repentance"
along the lines of "penitent Nineveh". Second, "reformation" which
involves the "prevention of the outrages". Saunders calls for the
faithful application of 'principles' promoted in public debate so that
"even the distant stockman will be influenced". Third,  "restitution" in
the sense of sharing "the blessings we enjoy". For Saunders these
blessing were civilisation and Christianity. While we may hesitate at
these expressions given subsequent history, Saunders certainly had the
principle of reparation in mind.

Conclusion

Saunders does not directly mention the Myall Creek massacre. We do not
know why. But his preaching spoke to the most infamous racial outrage of
his day. His application of the Scripture text was grounded in his
evangelical tradition and at the same time aimed at public and social
reform. In this aim we must say that Saunders failed but it was not from
any lack of application on his part.


Further Reading

The Myall Creek Massacre - Its History, Its Memorial and the Opening
Ceremony. Published by the Myall Creek Massacre Memorial Committee.
Available from Rev. Dr. John Brown  johnpb@austarmetro.com.au for $2:50.

A powerful programme about the opening of this memorial recently
featured on 'Australian Story' screened on ABC on 26th July 2001.
Particularly poignant was the spirit of reconciliation that developed
between descendants of the Indigenous survivors of the massacre and
descendants of the perpetrators of the massacre.

Bruce Elder, Blood on the Wattle: Massacres and Maltreatment of
Aboriginal Australians since 1788, Revised Edition (Sydney: New Holland,
1998). This book contains a chapter on the Myall Creek massacre.

John Harris, One Blood: 200 Years of Aboriginal Encounter with
Christianity: A Story of Hope, Revised Edition (Sunderland, NSW:
Albatross Books, 1994). Harris mentions the ecumenical character of the
clerical denunciation of the massacre (pp. 35-36 for example).

Roger Milliss, Waterloo Creek (Ringwood, Vic: McPhee Gribble, 1992,
Paperback Edition, Sydney: UNSW Press, 1994). Milliss' work focuses on
the attempts by Governor Gipps to protect Aborigines and the reaction
which led to him abandoning this policy.

Web Sites

Basic information
http://www.aaa.com.au/hrh/aboriginal/factsht49.shtml

Myall Creek Massacre Trials
http://www.law.mq.edu.au/scnsw/html/featured_case_current.htm