Redoubts were built and Parihaka was invested. But the expected uprising did not take place. The prophet had neither arms nor ammunition. He was really a “passive resister,” and was quite willing, if necessary, to suffer martyrdom. Te Whiti had been educated by a Wesleyan missionary, the Rev. Mr. Riemenschneider, and had made a deep study of the Bible, which he seemed to know from beginning to end. He saw in his oppressed and downtrodden countrymen a type of the dispersed Israel, and he applied to them the promises of future restoration. In order to promulgate his doctrine he held meetings every month at Parihaka, with a grand festival in the month of March. To these the Maoris flocked from all quarters—at first the kaingas near at hand, but, as the idea caught on, from settlements several days' journey away in the bush country. They came in hundreds and thousands—on horseback, in bullock-drays, and on foot—bringing cartloads of provisions; and when they returned they would repeat the wonderful message at their homes, and attract fresh visitors to the next meeting. There was to be no weapon lifted against the oppressor. Everything would come right by Divine interposition, when all the Maoris that had been slain in the war would come to life again, and the pakeha would retire into the sea and molest them no more. The only thing that could be construed into an overt act of rebellion was a sort of object-lesson intended to bring their grievances under the notice of the Government, when parties of Maoris were sent out to plough up some of the land in European occupation. This was taken as a declaration of war, and a great excitement arose among the settlers, when the Government, by way of bringing matters to a crisis, poured an over whelming armed force into Parihaka. The Riot Act was read to a peaceable crowd of women and children, wholesale arrests were made, cattle and horses were seized, and houses and crops were destroyed,^* while in order to bring the matter within the scope of the law the West Coast Settlements Act was passed, the legislation to have retrospective action. Te Whiti and a number of his followers were sent to prison, but on his return the meetings were held as before. The movement, however, gradually died out, and, although the prophet continues to prophesy, he has long ceased to be an active factor in Maori politics.^†

Though no blood was shed in connection with the Te Whiti movement, it had, nevertheless, a very fatal effect on the Maoris among whom its influence extended. Half their time was spent