In the concluding pages of this work it is proposed to give a brief
sketch of the progress of Christianity and civilisation in the islands
of the Pacific visited by Captain Cook. [Note 1.]
The accounts brought home by the discoverers of the degraded moral
condition of the islanders, stirred up the hearts of Christians in
England, and when, in 1795, the London Missionary Society was formed,
one of its first proceedings was to send to those distant lands the
Gospel of Christ's salvation.
They began their labours upon an extensive scale. They purchased a
ship, and sent out twenty-five labourers to commence missions
simultaneously at the Marquesan, Tahitian, and Friendly Islands.
The following is the account given of the reception of this band of
Christian evangelists:--
"On March 7, 1797, the first missionaries from the Duff went on shore,
and were met on the beach by the king, Pomare, and his queen. By them
they were kindly welcomed, as well as by Paitia, an aged chief of the
district. They were conducted to a large, oval-shaped native house,
which has been but recently finished for Captain Bligh, whom they
expected to return. Their dwelling was pleasantly situated on the
western side of the river, near the extremity of Point Venus. The
islanders were delighted to behold foreigners coming to take up their
permanent residence among them, as those they had heretofore seen had
been transient visitors.
"The inhabitants of Tahiti, having never seen any European females or
children, were filled with amazement and delight when the wives and
children of the missionaries landed. Several times during the first
days of their residence on shore large parties arrived from different
places, in front of the house, requesting that the white women and
children would come to the door and show themselves. The chiefs and
people were not satisfied with giving them the large and commodious
`Fare Beritani' (British house), as they called the one they had built
for Captain Bligh, but readily and cheerfully ceded to Captain Wilson
and the missionaries, in an official and formal manner, the district of
Matavai, in which their habitation was situated. The king and queen,
with other branches of the royal family, and the most influential
persons in the nation, were present; and Haamanemane, an aged chief of
Raiatea, and chief priest of Tahiti, was the principal agent for the
natives on this occasion.
"Whatever advantages the king or chiefs might expect to derive from this
settlement on the island, it must not be supposed that any desire to
receive moral or religious instruction formed a part. A desire to
possess European property, and to receive the assistance of the
Europeans in the exercise of the mechanical arts or in their wars, was
probably the motive by which the natives were most strongly influenced.
"Having landed ten missionaries at Tongataboo, in the Friendly Islands,
Captain Wilson visited and surveyed several of the Marquesan Islands,
and left Mr Crook, a missionary, there. He then returned to Tahiti,
and on July 6 the Duff again anchored in Matavai Bay. The health of the
missionaries had not been affected by the climate. The conduct of the
natives had been friendly and respectful, and supplies in abundance had
been furnished during his absence. On August 4, 1797, the Duff finally
sailed from the bay. The missionaries returning from the ship, as well
as those on shore, watched her course, as she slowly receded from their
view, under no ordinary sensations. They now felt that they were cut
off from all but Divine guidance, protection, and support, and had
parted with those by whose counsels and presence they had been assisted
in entering upon their labours, but whom, on earth, they did not expect
to meet again.
"Their acquaintance with the most useful of the mechanic arts not only
delighted the natives, but raised the missionaries in their estimation,
and led them to desire their friendship. This was strikingly evinced on
several occasions, when they beheld them use their carpenters' tools,
cut with a saw a number of boards out of a tree, which they had never
thought it possible to split into more than two, and make with these
chests and articles of furniture. When they beheld a boat built,
upwards of twenty feet long and six tons burden, they were pleased and
surprised; but when the blacksmith's shop was erected, and the forge and
anvil were first employed on their shores, they were filled with
astonishment. When the heated iron was hammered on the anvil, and the
sparks flew among them, they fancied it was spitting at them, and were
frightened, as they also were with the hissing occasioned by immersing
it in water; yet they were delighted to see the facility with which a
bar of iron was thus converted into hatchets, adzes, fish-spears,
fish-hooks, and other things. Pomare, entering one day when the
blacksmith was employed, after gazing a few minutes at the work, was so
transported at what he saw that he caught up the smith in his arms, and,
unmindful of the dirt and perspiration inseparable from his occupation,
most cordially embraced him, and saluted him, according to the custom of
his country, by touching noses." [Abridged from _Polynesian
Researches_, by the Rev. W. Ellis.]
It is not to be wondered at that the favourable reports sent home by
these missionaries encouraged those who received them to believe that
almost all difficulties had already been, or were in a fair way of being
speedily overcome, and that these distant islands were, to use the
figurative language of Scripture, "stretching out their hands unto God."
They did not know--it was wisely and mercifully hidden from them--that
a long night of toil had yet to be passed before the dawn of that better
day they longed to see, and for which they prayed and strove.
"Decisive and extensive as the change has since become," says the writer
just quoted, "it was long before any salutary effects appeared as the
result of their endeavours; and although the scene is now one of
loveliness and quietude, cheerful, yet placid as the smooth waters of
the bay, it has often worn a very different aspect. Here the first
missionaries frequently heard the song accompanying the licentious
areois dance, the deafening noise of the worship, and saw the human
victim carried by for sacrifice. Here, too, they often heard the
startling cry of war, and saw their frightened neighbours fly before the
murderous spear and plundering hand of lawless power. The invader's
torch reduced the native hut to ashes, while the lurid flame seared the
green foliage of the trees, and clouds of smoke, rising up among their
groves, darkened, for a time, surrounding objects. On such occasions,
and they were not infrequent, the contrast between the country and the
inhabitants must have been most affecting; appearing as if the demons of
darkness had lighted up infernal fires in the bowers of paradise."
These representations probably did not reach England until after the
missionaries had been some time in the islands, and meanwhile the ship
Duff was sent out a second time, with a strong reinforcement of thirty
additional labourers.
"God, however, for a time, appeared to disappoint all their
expectations; for this hitherto favoured ship was captured by the
Buonaparte privateer. The property was entirely lost, and the
missionaries, with their families, after suffering many difficulties and
privations, returned to England." In addition to this trial "the
Marquesan mission failed. At Tongataboo some of the missionaries lost
their lives, and that mission was, in consequence of a series of
disastrous circumstances, abandoned." More discouragements were in
store, for "those settled at Tahiti, under such favourable auspices,
had, from fear of their lives, nearly all fled to New South Wales; so
that, after a few years, very little remained of this splendid embassy
of Christian mercy to the South Seas. A few of the brethren, however,
never abandoned their posts; and others returned after having been a
short time absent."
In addition to all other disappointments, these returned missionaries
and their brethren appeared to be labouring in vain and spending their
strength for nought. "For sixteen years," we are told, "notwithstanding
the untiring zeal, the incessant journeys, the faithful exhortations of
these devoted men, no spirit of interest or inquiry appeared, no
solitary instance of conversion took place; the wars of the natives
continued frequent and desolating, and their idolatries abominable and
cruel. The heavens above seemed to be as brass, and the earth as iron.
"At length," continues the Christian historian, "two native servants,
formerly in the families of the missionaries, had received, unknown to
them, some favourable impressions, and had united together for prayer.
To these many other persons had attached themselves, so that, on the
return of the missionaries to Tahiti, at the termination of the war,
they found a great number of `pure Atua,' or `praying people'; and they
had little else to do but to help forward the work which God had so
unexpectedly and wonderfully commenced.
"Another circumstance, demanding special observation in reference to the
commencement of the great work at Tahiti, is that, discouraged by so
many years of fruitless toil, the directors of the Society entertained
serious thoughts of abandoning the mission altogether. A few
undeviating friends of that field of missionary enterprise, however,
opposed the measure." Their persuasions prevailed, and after special
and earnest prayer to God, instead of a recall, "letters of
encouragement were written to the missionaries. And while the vessel
which carried these letters was on her passage to Tahiti, another ship
was conveying to England not only the news of the entire overthrow of
idolatry, but also the rejected idols of the people. Thus was fulfilled
the gracious promise, `Before they call I will answer, and while they
are yet speaking I will hear.'" [Williams's _Missionary Enterprises in
the South Sea Islands_.]
Among the converts of Tahiti was the king, Pomare, who, having been
severely tried by the rebellion of some part of his subjects, became
deeply impressed with the insufficiency of his idol gods to help him,
and, after having recalled the banished missionaries, listened to their
instructions, and embraced the faith of Christianity. His example being
followed by a majority of his people the idols were renounced, as
already mentioned; and, as soon as he was firmly re-established on his
throne, he built a Christian church, which was opened in the year 1819;
and the first baptism of a native Tahitian was administered within its
walls, in the presence of upwards of four thousand spectators, the king
himself being the subject of the rite.
Thus inaugurating a new era in his reign, Pomare introduced a code of
useful laws, and brought about many much-needed reforms in his kingdom.
He not only proved himself a warm friend of the missionaries, but gave
them valuable assistance in the important work of translating the
Scriptures into the Tahitian tongue--a fact which proves Pomare to have
been a man of no ordinary natural abilities. He did not live long
enough, however, to see the completion of this design, but, dying in
1821, he left it to his daughter, who succeeded him in his sovereignty,
taking her father's name Pomare.
Among the laws passed in Tahiti at this time was one prohibiting the
importation and sale of ardent spirits, which had been so great a bane
to the people; and the law was found to be beneficial to the prosperity
and moral character of the country, though the foreign traders, who had
made a large profit by its importation, were enraged when this source of
gain was cut off.
In 1835 the translation of the Bible was completed, and its publication
was attended and followed by happy accompaniments and results. At this
time the number of natives in communion with the Christian churches
throughout the island numbered over two thousand; and among the
candidates for Church fellowship were the queen herself, her husband,
and her mother.
And now arose a dark cloud which, for a time, brought great distress
upon the faithful followers of Christ in Tahiti, and was permitted to
try their constancy, while, at the same time, the freedom, and liberty,
and prosperity of the island were grievously threatened. It may be
stated, in few words, that Louis Philippe, at that time King of the
French, had set his eyes on Tahiti, and had introduced his agents into
the country that an excuse might be found for taking possession of the
island. First, the consuls insisted that, as the law prohibiting the
introduction of liquor interfered with trade, it should be rescinded.
This was firmly refused. Then, two French Roman Catholic priests were
landed, but were ordered by the queen to quit the country. They
complied; but one shortly returned with a companion, and the French
admiral, appearing directly afterwards, insisted, with his guns bearing
on the town, that they should be allowed to remain, and demanded 400
pounds for the injury they had been supposed to suffer when compelled to
quit the island.
French ships continued to be sent, at frequent intervals, and French
troops were landed; the queen fled to a neighbouring island; the people
fought bravely, but were defeated; the mission-houses and stations were
destroyed; the missionaries were driven out of the country, and Mr
Pritchard, who had been a missionary, and was now British consul, was
imprisoned and otherwise ill-treated.
The Protestant missionary societies throughout Europe and America were
indignant at this conduct of a civilised nation. In consequence of the
representations of England, France desisted from her attacks on the
other islands, but Tahiti fell into her power in 1846. The French,
however, could not turn the people from the simple faith they had
learned from the English missionaries. They chose ministers from their
own people, and continued to meet and worship God with the simple forms
to which they had been accustomed, and it is a remarkable fact that
Romanism, notwithstanding its gorgeous ceremonies and corrupt practices,
did not captivate them.
One only of their beloved missionaries was allowed to remain, the Rev.
William Howe, as chaplain to the British consul, and who was ever ready
to give the native pastors the benefit of his advice and assistance,
though opposed by the Romish bishop and the priests. At length, through
his earnest representations to the French Protestant missionary
societies, an appeal was made to the Emperor Napoleon, who permitted
French Protestant missionaries to go out. They were cordially received
by Mr Howe and the native preachers, and the greater part of the Romish
priests were subsequently withdrawn.
In the words of a recent report of the British and Foreign Bible
Society, [that of 18 8] "The Bible still continues to supply the
inhabitants of the Tahitian group of islands with a safe guide amidst
all the errors to which they are exposed, and a sure ground of hope in
the prospect of eternity. The sale and distribution of the Scriptures
progresses steadily, and the strong attachment of the people to the
truths of the Gospel remains unabated, and forms a security against the
seductions of Popery which it is not easy to over-estimate. Games, and
sports, and feasts are all alike tried to seduce the natives from their
allegiance to Him whom they have learnt to love and to serve; and
though, through the weakness of the flesh, some are attracted and drawn
aside, yet, for the most part, they soon become convinced of the
emptiness and folly of these things, and return to the sound and
wholesome food which they had been tempted to forsake."
After leaving Tahiti, the first place at which Captain Cook touched was
the lovely and fertile island of Huaheine. This became the refuge of
the first party of missionaries when, in 1808, they were driven from
Tahiti; and it was afterwards visited by John Williams, Ellis, and
others, accompanied by some chiefs from Eimeo, who purposed forming a
mission there. As this place became, in a certain degree, the centre of
operations, that particular missionary enterprise in the Society Islands
is generally known as the Huaheine Mission.
While Mr Williams was residing at Huaheine, Tamatoa, the King of
Raiatea, who had, while visiting Eimeo and Tahiti, learned something of
the principles of Christianity, arrived with several chiefs, entreating
that missionaries might be sent to instruct their people in the truth.
Messrs. Williams and Threlkeld promptly responded to the call, and
accompanied the king back to Raiatea. The population of the island was
at that time only thirteen hundred, though the island is the largest of
the group, and, from its reputed sanctity, and from being the centre and
headquarters of all the idolatries and abominations of the neighbouring
islands, its chiefs exercised great authority over them.
Tamatoa, instructed by the Holy Spirit, and aided by others who had
learnt something of the truths of Christianity, had for some time been
labouring among his fellow-islanders. He had himself been converted by
what might well be considered a providential circumstance. Two years
before, a small vessel, having on board the king, Pomare, Mr Wilson,
the missionary, and several Tahitians, had been driven by a storm from
her anchorage at Eimeo down to Raiatea. Here they were hospitably
received, and continued three months, the whole of which time was
employed by Mr Wilson and the king in preaching the Gospel to the
inhabitants. The chief, Tamatoa, was among their principal converts.
After their teachers had departed, Tamatoa and his fellow-inquirers felt
an earnest desire to learn more of the truth. They built a place of
worship, met together for mutual instruction, kept holy the Sabbath, and
put away their idols and heathen practices. Several times the heathens
laid plots to destroy them, but were each time signally foiled in their
wicked plans.
At length, Tamatoa paid that memorable visit to Huaheine which resulted
in Messrs. Williams and Threlkeld taking up their abode at Raiatea.
Having collected the hitherto scattered inhabitants into villages, he
built a substantial mission-house as a model, which was readily
imitated. Places of worship and schoolhouses were also built; and
though many years elapsed before the abominations of heathenism were
eradicated, the great mass of the people became not only well educated
and moral, but earnest and enlightened Christians. The satisfactory
progress made by the inhabitants of the islands where Mr Williams
resided was owing, humanly speaking, to the wonderful rapidity with
which he had acquired their language, and was able to preach to them, in
it, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Soon after the mission at Huaheine was established Mr Ellis set up a
printing-press, from which quickly issued the Gospel by Luke, eight
hundred copies of which were sent to Raiatea. Small school-books were
also printed in the native language. The desire for instruction became
general wherever missionary stations were established. Not only the
children, but adults became scholars. During the hours of instruction
other engagements were suspended, and the various scenes of busy
occupation throughout the settlements forsaken.
Such was the picture to be seen at that time in several islands of the
Society group. Borabora, or Bolabola, whose inhabitants in Cook's time
had been the fiercest warriors of the neighbouring islands, yielded to
the benign influence of the Gospel. The history of the last island
visited by the great navigator before he left the eastern side of the
Pacific for New Zealand, called by him Oheteroa, but known generally as
Rurutu, is of great interest. It is situated about two hundred and
fifty miles to the south of Raiatea. A destructive pestilence having
visited the island, two chiefs, one named Auura, built two canoes, and,
with as many of the people as they could convey, left their native
shores in search of a happier land, and to escape from their infuriated
deities.
After touching at Tubuai, they were cast on the reef surrounding Maurua.
Here, instead of being murdered, as might once have been their fate,
the starving voyagers were received with all kindness and charity. How
was this? Through the agency of native teachers the people had learned
the blessed truths of the Gospel, and were trying to obey its precepts.
Auura and his companions, hearing that the white men, who had brought to
their seas that beautiful religion the practical fruits of which they
had just experienced, were living in the islands the summits of whose
mountains they could see, set sail once more, with the desire of hearing
from their own lips a fuller account of the religion they taught. They
missed Borabora, but reached Raiatea. Here they remained rather more
than three months. When they were landed they were ignorant savages,
wild in appearance and habits. Before they left Auura could read the
Gospel of Matthew, had learned the greater part of the catechism drawn
up for the natives, and could write correctly. Several others could do
nearly as well, though previously ignorant that such an art as writing
existed.
But these earnest men were not content to go back to their people alone;
they entreated that some missionaries would accompany them. Two native
deacons at once offered themselves, and were accepted. Auura's great
fear was that many of his countrymen would have been carried off by the
pestilence before the glad tidings of salvation could be preached to
them. At that time a vessel belonging to a friend of the mission
touched at Eaiatea, and the captain agreed to carry Auura and his
companions, with the missionaries, to their home.
Within fifteen months after this, Rurutu was visited by Dr Tyerman and
G. Bennet, Esquire, who had been sent out by the directors of the London
Missionary Society to visit their stations in the Pacific. When they
reached it they were not certain what island it was, but were greatly
surprised at seeing several neat-looking white houses at the head of the
bay. A pier, a quarter of a mile in length, had been constructed of
vast coral blocks, affording a convenient landing-place. Besides the
two comfortable mission-houses, there was a large place of worship,
eighty feet by thirty-six, wattled, plastered, well floored and seated,
built within a twelvemonth, under the direction of the two native
missionaries, who performed much of the work with their own hands. Many
of the chiefs were dressed in European clothing, and all were attired in
the most decent and becoming manner. Not a vestige of idolatry was to
be seen, not an idol was to be found in the island.
Mr Turnbull, in his account of a voyage he made to the Pacific in 1804,
describes the way in which the then savage inhabitants of Raiatea
attempted to cut off the ship in which he sailed. See the contrast in
the conduct of the people of Rurutu shortly after they had embraced
Christianity. Captain Chase commanded the Falcon, an American trader,
which was cast away on a reef off their island. He says; "The natives
have given us all the assistance in their power from the time the ship
struck to the present moment. The first day, while landing the things
from the ship, they were put into the hands of the natives, and carried
up to the native mission-house, a distance of half a mile, and not a
single article of clothing was taken from any man belonging to the ship,
though they had it in their power to have plundered us of everything
that was landed. Since I have lived on shore, I, and my officers and
people, have received the kindest treatment from the natives that can be
imagined, for which I shall ever be thankful."
Aitutaki, one of the Hervey group, was another of the islands discovered
by Captain Cook. It contained about two thousand inhabitants, described
as especially wild and savage. Mr Williams heard of it from Auura, and
on a voyage to Sydney, which he was compelled to take on account of the
health of his wife, he landed on its shores two native missionaries,
Papeiha and Vahapata. On first landing they were led by the people to
the morai and given up to the gods; but their lives were spared and they
were left at liberty. Wars broke out in the island, and all their
property was stolen; but they persevered in preaching the Gospel, and,
by degrees, gained converts. The king, Tamatoa, became a Christian; but
his old grandfather refused to give up his gods. While holding a high
festival in their honour, a beloved daughter was taken ill. In vain he
besought his gods to restore her to health; she died. In his rage, he
ordered his son to set fire to his morai, and to destroy it with his
idols; two others caught fire near it, and the son was proceeding to
burn others, when the people dragged him away, expecting to see him
struck down by the vengeance of the outraged gods. As no evil
consequences followed, the idolaters began to call in question the power
of their deities.
Shortly after a vessel arrived from Raiatea, bringing another
missionary, with many books, and several pigs and goats, which Papeiha
and his companion had promised the people. This raised the missionaries
in their estimation, and they with one accord threw away all their
idols, and resolved to listen to the teaching of the Gospel. On his
return from Sydney, Mr Williams, calling at Aitutaki, found that all
the inhabitants had nominally embraced Christianity, while a chapel, two
hundred feet long, had been built for the worship of the true God. They
have now the entire Scriptures in their own language, and their desire
after and reverence for the Word of God are very remarkable.
The description given of the inhabitants of Aitutaki applies equally to
numerous other islands of the Pacific, which have been for some time
under missionary instruction, provided there are no ports where the
crews of foreign vessels remain any length of time, and set a bad
example to the surrounding population.
Rarotonga, one of the Hervey group, about seven hundred miles south of
Tahiti, and discovered by Williams, in 1823, when the people were in the
most savage condition, is now the chief missionary station in the
Pacific. In 1839 a missionary college was established, the buildings
consisting of a number of separate neat stone cottages, in which the
married students and their wives could reside, a lecture-room, and a
room for female classes. Up to 1844 thirty-three native missionaries,
male and female, had received instruction, and six of the young men had
gone forth as pioneers to Western Polynesia. Up to 1860 two hundred
students had been admitted, a considerable number of whom were married,
and the institution had been greatly enlarged in many respects. The
course of instruction embraces theology, Church history, Biblical
exposition, biography, geography, grammar, and composition of essays and
sermons. The students are also taught several mechanical arts, and for
two or three hours every day are employed in the workshop. At the
printing establishment on the island a variety of works have been
translated, printed, and bound. In three months, ending March 1859,
_Bogue's Lectures_, the _Pilgrim's Progress_, twelve hundred copies of
_Voyages of Mission Ship_, hymn-books, Scripture lessons, and several
other works were turned out of hand. The press-work of these various
books, comprising nearly three hundred thousand sheets a year, had all
been performed by young men, the first-fruits of missionary labours
before their fathers had any written language.
We must now describe the present state of other solitary islands and
groups discovered by Captain Cook. In the course of his second voyage
(1774) he fell in with a low, solitary island, which, from the ferocity
of the inhabitants, he called Savage Island. The inhabitants, numbering
between three and four thousand, for very many years remained in the
condition in which Cook found them. The first attempt to leave native
missionaries was made by the Rev. John Williams, in 1830. But the
natives refused to receive them. In 1840, and in 1842, other attempts
were made. In the latter year the Rev. A. Buzacott nearly lost his
life.
Still these visits had a good effect on the younger part of the
population, who desired to see more of the strangers. Several found
their way to Samoa, where they embraced the Gospel, and two of them,
after a course of instruction at the training college in Samoa, were
found well fitted to return, and to spread its glad tidings among their
benighted countrymen. They were accordingly conveyed to Savage Island
in the John Williams, missionary ship, but were received with a good
deal of suspicion by the natives, and only one remained. He narrowly
escaped being put to death, but undauntedly persevered, and, by degrees,
gathered converts around him. When visited in 1852 by the Rev. A.W.
Murray, he had upwards of two hundred sincere believers gathered into a
church, and many heathen practices had been abandoned by others.
In 1861 the John Williams conveyed Mr and Mrs Lawes to Savage Island.
They were the first European missionaries appointed to labour there.
Hundreds of men and women, all well clothed, were assembled on the shore
to receive them. Outwardly, not a vestige of heathenism remained among
them. There were five good chapels in the island, one of which held
eleven hundred, but it was too small for the congregation. Prayer
meetings were frequently held, at which all the people in the district
attended. On each occasion when they were held by Mr Lawes not less
than eight hundred were present. The whole of the inhabitants are now
professing Christians, and a very large proportion are earnest and
enlightened believers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The reader will call to mind the incidents of Captain Cook's visit to
the Tonga, or Friendly group, the high state of cultivation in which he
found the islands, the apparently friendly reception he met with from
the chiefs, and their treacherous purposes to cut off the ship, as they
shortly afterwards did a merchantman which visited their shores,
murdering most of the crew.
In consequence of Captain Cook's too favourable report, a number of
missionaries were sent out by the London Missionary Society, in the ship
Duff, already mentioned, under the command of Captain Wilson. These
pious men landed on the islands in 1797, but they made no apparent
progress, and war breaking out, three of them lost their lives, and the
rest escaped to Sydney. This was in the year 1800.
In 1802, Mr Lawry, of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, commenced a
mission at Nukualofa, in Tongataboo. Though compelled for a time to
abandon it, he returned in 1826, and, through his instrumentality,
Tubou, the king, and many of his chiefs and people embraced
Christianity. It is worthy of remark that, just before this time, the
London Missionary Society had commenced a mission on the island; but
they yielded up the field to the Wesleyans, while the latter retired
from Samoa, where they had commenced a mission. The Wesleyans have
since then laboured exclusively, and with most encouraging success, in
the Friendly and Fiji Islands and New Zealand, leaving to the London
Missionary Society the wide scope of the Pacific.
In 1827 the Revs. Nathaniel Turner and William Cross took up their
residence at Nukualofa. At that time Josiah Tubou was king in Tonga.
Taufaahau, now King George, was king only of Haabai, and Feenau was king
of Vavou. The first became a Christian, as did his queen, and was
baptised on January 10, 1830. He died in 1845, Feenau having previously
died; thus George became king in chief, and reigns over the three
groups, Tonga, Haabai, and Vavou, or the whole of the Friendly Islands.
The labours of the two zealous missionaries just mentioned were largely
blessed, and when Tubou was baptised the congregation amounted to six
hundred professing Christians.
King Josiah's reign was not altogether free from difficulties. The
heathen party was strong, and took up arms against him, being supported
by some French Roman Catholic priests who had settled in the islands.
They tried to embroil him, as they had already done Queen Pomare, of
Tahiti, with their own government, but were unsuccessful, and with the
assistance of King George the rebels were put down.
King George had himself become a Christian and a preacher, and
contributed greatly to the spread of the Gospel among his countrymen.
He is thus described by Mr Lawry, after he had become sovereign of the
whole group; it was in the large chapel of Nukualofa: "The king was in
the pulpit. The attention of his audience was riveted while he
expounded the words of our Lord, `I am come that ye might have life.'
The king is a tall, graceful person; in the pulpit he was dressed in a
black coat, and his manner was solemn and earnest. He held in his hand
a small bound manuscript book, in which his sermon was written, but he
seldom looked at it. His action was dignified, his delivery fluent and
graceful, and not without majesty. His hearers hung upon his lips with
earnest and increasing interest. Much of what he said was put
interrogatively, a mode of address which is very acceptable among the
Tongans. It was affecting to see this dignified man stretching out his
hand over his people, and to observe that one of his little fingers had
been cut off: this was formerly done as an offering to a heathen god, a
custom among his people before they became Christians. But while he
bore this mark of Pagan origin, he clearly showed that to him was grace
given to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."
The Tongans have been especially blessed in having had several
missionaries of high character, abilities, and zeal sent among them.
There are schools sufficient for the wants of the whole population,
under native teachers, and overlooked by the missionaries, whose duties
are somewhat arduous. There is a training institution at Nukualofa, for
missionaries, and for masters and mistresses of schools. There are also
schools, or colleges, for the upper classes; indeed, many of the wants
of a civilised and intelligent community are supplied in the Tonga
Islands. The population of the whole group is supposed to amount to
between thirty and forty thousand.
The islands of Western Polynesia--New Hebrides, Loyalty, and Britannia--
were little-known, or, at all events, little thought of, till the year
1839, when they were brought into melancholy prominence by the
distressing tragedy which occurred in one of them, the island of
Erromanga.
The Rev. John Williams, after his return from England in the previous
year, sailed in the Camden missionary vessel, resolved to convey the
Gospel message to the inhabitants of these remote islands, hitherto sunk
in the deepest heathen darkness. It is not too much to say that there
was no species of wickedness practised by heathens in any part of the
world which could not have found its parallel in those countries.
Barbarous rites, nameless abominations, and cannibalism in its most
fearful forms characterised the whole population. Mr Williams was
accompanied by several European, and a considerable number of native
missionaries, who were to be landed as opportunities might offer, to
preach the Gospel.
Having landed missionaries at the island of Tanna and elsewhere, with
every prospect of success, the Camden proceeded to Erromanga, off which
island she arrived on November 20, 1839. Here Mr Williams, Mr Harris,
Mr Cunningham, and Captain Morgan landed, and while the two former were
at a distance from their companions, the natives attacked and killed
them. The murder had been provoked, not by the crew of the Camden, but
by that of some other ship, who had ruthlessly shot down several of the
natives and carried off their provisions. Thus the innocent suffered
for the guilty, and while the life of one eminent missionary was
sacrificed, that of another was cut off at the commencement of what
might have been a course of similar usefulness. Let it be added, as an
interesting fact, that the murderer of John Williams was afterwards
converted to God, and lived as a sincere and consistent Christian.
Notwithstanding the sad commencement of this missionary enterprise, it
was resolved to pursue it with vigour. At Aneiteum, the first island of
the New Hebrides visited by the missionary ship in 1841, two Samoan
missionaries were landed. These devoted men had much to endure, and it
was not till after years of toil that they saw any really satisfactory
results from their labours. By degrees many came to seek instruction,
some of whom abandoned their heathen practices; and subsequently other
native teachers were introduced; but when, in 1848, the Rev. J. Geddie
arrived at Aneiteum, he still found the great mass of the people
fearfully degraded, and addicted to the most horrible cruelties. Soon
after his arrival eight women were strangled--one, an interesting young
woman whose husband he had been attending till he died; he attempted to
save her, and was very nearly clubbed to death by her relatives in
consequence.
A wonderful change is now evident. In 1858 there were sixty villages on
the island, each of which had a school-house or a chapel, with a
resident teacher. Nearly the whole of the New Testament, and some books
of the Old, had been translated, and a large number of these lately
degraded heathens could both read and write.
Fatuna is a small island, containing about a thousand inhabitants. Here
Williams touched just before his death; but no teachers were left there.
A couple of years afterwards, however, two Samoan evangelists, Samuela
and Apela, were landed, the former accompanied by his wife. They
laboured for four years with some success, when a severe epidemic
breaking out among the inhabitants they were accused of being its cause,
and were killed and eaten. Samuela's faithful wife was offered her life
if she would become one of the wives of the chief. She replied, "I came
to teach you what is right, not to sin amongst you." No sooner had she
uttered the words than she fell beneath the club of a savage.
Notwithstanding this tragedy, missionaries from the lately heathen
Aneiteum have gone to Fatuna, and many of the savages have been
converted.
At Tanna, supposed to possess fifteen thousand inhabitants, Mr Williams
left three missionaries the day before he was murdered at Erromanga; but
two of them soon died, the climate being more injurious to the natives
of Eastern Polynesia than to Europeans. In 1842 Messrs. Turner and
Nisbet were sent to occupy the island, but were driven away by the
savages, and sought shelter in Samoa. Native teachers from Aneiteum,
however, took their places, and met with some success; and in 1858
several European missionaries landed on the island; and the larger part
of the people have come to the truth.
With Erromanga the name of Williams will always be associated. After
his death, native evangelists from Samoa and Rarotonga landed on its
shores, but died, or were compelled to leave, from the effects of the
climate. In 1857 the Rev. G.N. Gordon, and his wife, took up their
residence on the island. They laboured on with considerable success,
Oviladon, the chief of the district, being among the first-fruits of
their toils. The greater number of the inhabitants of his district also
became Christians.
An epidemic, however, broke out in 1860, and the heathen inhabitants of
another district, believing that it was caused by the Christians,
attacked the settlement, and killed Mr and Mrs Gordon. The day after
they were buried, amidst the tears and lamentations of the people; the
native teacher, who had escaped, stood beside the grave, and delivered
an address which powerfully affected the bystanders.
In the large island of Fate or Vate, Christian teachers have been landed
at different times, but some have been killed and eaten, and others have
died of disease. In 1858, however, three teachers, with their wives,
were landed under encouraging circumstances. From Nina, a small island
near Tanna, several of the natives, hearing of the wonderful things
taking place on the latter island, proceeded thither to procure a
teacher. In consequence of their application, in 1858, the John
Williams took them two from Aneiteum, who are now labouring successfully
among them.
The Loyalty group must be briefly noticed. Native teachers were landed
in 1841, and after they had induced many natives to abandon heathenism,
Messrs. Jones and Creagh arrived in the island in 1854. Their labours
have been blessed; the Gospels and other parts of the Scriptures have
been printed in the Nengonese language, and upwards of three thousand of
the inhabitants are under Christian instruction, although a large number
of the natives still follow their heathen customs.
The mission in Lifu was not commenced till 1843, when native evangelists
were landed, and in 1858 two European missionaries arrived to take
charge of the work. The inhabitants amount to about ten thousand, and
of these very few, if any, now remain heathens, though it is to be
feared that the great mass of the converts can only be looked on as
nominal Christians.
The small Britannia group, near New Caledonia, has been occupied by
teachers from Rarotonga and Mars since 1837, but Roman Catholic priests
have arrived on the principal island, sent, they say, by the French
governor of New Caledonia. They have built a capital, called Porte de
France, but it is a penal colony, and free emigrants have not been
attracted to its shores.
The last islands visited by Captain Cook were those to which he gave the
name of the Sandwich Islands, and which now form the small but
independent kingdom of Hawaii, having a capital called Honolulu, with a
population of eleven thousand, not less than a thousand of whom are
white foreigners. With its well-paved, lighted streets, its king's
palace, its houses of parliament, its cathedral church, its numerous
hotels, its police, and other accompaniments of high civilisation, it is
difficult to imagine that a hundred years ago this was the home of
tattooed savages. To Englishmen in advanced years, indeed, the murder
of Captain Cook at Owhyhee seems like an event that happened in their
own childhood. And, in truth, not fifty years ago the natives of Hawaii
were ignorant and idolatrous heathens, while it is but as yesterday that
a refined, elegant, and well-educated lady, the queen of those islands,
was visiting England.
When Cook was killed Kalampupua was king. He was succeeded by his
nephew, Kamehamea the First, who made himself sovereign of the entire
group. When visited by Captain Vancouver, in 1793, it is said that he
requested that Christian missionaries might be sent to him. Whether
Captain Vancouver delivered the message to the English Government or
not, no attention was paid to it. Captain Vancouver, however, returned
the next year with some horned cattle and sheep, which he presented to
the king, obtaining a promise that none should be killed for the space
of ten years. This promise was faithfully kept; but so rapidly did the
animals increase that they became exceedingly troublesome to the natives
by injuring their fences and taro plantations. They were accordingly
driven into the mountains, where they now form a source of considerable
wealth to the nation.
Kamehamea was about to abolish the taboo system when he died in 1819,
and was succeeded by his son Liholiho, who took the name of Kamehamea
the Second. He carried into effect his father's intention, and also
destroyed his temples and gods.
In that very year the American Board of Missions resolved to send to the
Sandwich Islands an efficient band of missionaries with three native
youths who had been educated in the States. Joyful and totally
unexpected news awaited them on their arrival. Idolatry was overthrown,
and the king and most of his chiefs were ready to afford them protection
and support. They had, however, an arduous task before them in their
efforts to impart instruction to a population numbering at least one
hundred thousand, dwelling in eight islands, with a superficial area of
seven thousand square miles; Owhyhee alone, now written Hawaii, being
four hundred and fifteen miles in circumference.
In 1824 there were fifty native teachers and two thousand scholars, and
so rapidly did education advance, that in 1831 there were eleven hundred
schools, in which fully seventeen hundred scholars had obtained the
branches of a common education, and were able to read, write, and sum up
simple accounts. The prime minister, seven leading chiefs, and the
regent were members of the Christian Church; and a very decided change
was manifest in the general population.
Within a few years the language was reduced to a written form, and two
printing-presses were at work at Honolulu. A large edition of the
Gospels in the Hawaii language, printed in the United States, was in
circulation and there were no less than nine hundred schools and
forty-five thousand scholars. In 1853, after a great awakening, there
were above twenty-two thousand church members, and there were chapels at
all the stations. One at Lahaina could hold three thousand persons.
In 1853 the mission of the American Board was dissolved, their object
having been fully realised in Christianising the people, planting
churches, and making them self-supporting. Kamehamea the Third, the
brother and successor of the king, who died in England, reigned well and
wisely till 1854. On his death, Prince Alexander Liholiho, a
well-educated and religiously disposed young man, became king. His wife
is the Queen Emma who once visited England. They lost their only son in
1862. This so affected the king that he never recovered from the shock.
He was succeeded by his brother who reigned over the kingdom for some
years, under the title of Kamehamea the Fifth. His uncle had
established a too democratic constitution; he has given the people one
more suited to their ideas and the state of the country. The chamber of
nobles and that of the representatives of the people are convoked every
two years. It is their duty to make the laws and to vote supplies.
Several foreigners are employed in the government, and the foreign
population of English, Americans, French, and Germans is increasing
rapidly.
The Hawaiians own a considerable number of vessels, which trade to
China, California, British Columbia, and other parts of the Pacific.
The national flag is composed of coloured stripes with the Union-Jack of
old England quartered in the corner. The independence of the island
kingdom is guaranteed by England, France, and America, and it will
probably continue, as it is at present, in advance of all the other
states which may arise in the Pacific. With these signs of prosperity,
it is no wonder that Romish priests are doing all in their power to
spread their tenets through the Sandwich Islands. But the Bible and a
free press will, it is devoutly to be hoped, triumph.
Among other publications constantly issuing from the Hawaiian press are
several newspapers, both in English and the native language, which have
a wide circulation. That there is a steady increase in the commerce of
the country is shown by the exports of sugar, coffee, and other produce,
while several manufactures have been introduced to give employment
especially to the women. The port of Honolulu has long been the chief
resort of whale ships in the Pacific, and now many others, trading
between the coasts of America and Asia, call there for supplies.
Other islands and shores visited by Cook remain in much the same
condition as in his day. The sorrowful history of the attempt to convey
the Gospel to the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, by Captain Allan
Gardiner, is too well-known to require further mention. Java has been
restored to its original masters, the Dutch; and the Cape of Good Hope
is now a British colony. The great southern land of which Cook went in
search has been found to exist, though its approach is guarded by
immense barriers of ice; and the great problem of a north-west passage
has been solved by the sacrifice of some of England's bravest sons.
Not much need be added in the closing paragraphs of this volume. In
following the interesting narrative of the voyages of the eminent
discoverer whose name is a household word in English biography, the
reader, while he sees some things to regret, will award to him a
well-deserved tribute of admiration for his courage and skill, his
perseverance and enterprising spirit. One thing was set before him, and
that one thing he did. His main object was scientific; his first voyage
was undertaken to observe the transit of the planet Venus, the Royal
Society having represented that important service would be rendered to
the interests of astronomical science by the appointment of properly
qualified individuals to observe that phenomenon. The second was in
search of a southern continent, which, at that time, was a favourite
object of geographical speculation. The third and last was to endeavour
to find a passage from the Pacific into the Atlantic Ocean. These
objects were praiseworthy, yet they were not the highest aims of the
truest and purest ambition. To be a martyr for science was earthly
glory; but to be a willing martyr for God is glory, honour, immortality,
and eternal life.
The discoveries made by Captain Cook were barren of any results beyond
those which are necessarily doomed to perish when the world and all that
is in it shall be dissolved, until God was pleased, in His own good
time, and by the influence of His gracious Spirit operating on the minds
of His servants, to make them show forth His praise. Then was made
manifest His almighty power, His infinite wisdom, and His amazing love,
in the triumphs of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the very
strongholds of Satan and sin; conveying to His waiting people the
assurance also that He had listened, and still listens, to their
aspirations and prayers.
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Note 1. Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, having become parts of
the British empire, and colonised by British subjects, are not included
in this sketch; their history belongs to that of the mother country.
The wonderful progress they have made is due to the influx of European
settlers, not to the elevation of the native races.