A FEW years ago I copied from a marble slab, imbedded in the earth upon
a grave in a quiet country cemetery at Cornwall, Ct., the following
inscription:
HENRY OBOOKIAH OF OWHYEE,
DIED FEBRUARY 17, 1818, AGED 26.
His arrival in this country gave rise to the Foreign Mission School
of which he was a worthy member. He was once an idolator and designed
for a Pagan priest; but by the grace of God, and by the prayers and
instructions of pious friends, he became a Christian. He was eminent
for piety and missionary zeal; was almost prepared to return to his
native island to preach the Gospel when God called him. In his last
moments he wept and prayed for his "Ow-hy-hee," but was submissive to
the will of God and died without fear, with a heavenly smile on his
face and glory in his soul.
This remarkable young man was early made an orphan by the cruel
massacre of both father and mother during a fearful struggle of two
parties for the control of his native island, Hawaii. His younger
brother was also slain while the boy of our sketch was endeavoring
to save him by carrying him upon his back in his flight. Obookiah
was taken prisoner and made a member of the family of the man who
had murdered his parents. After a year or two he was discovered by
an uncle, and his release from the hands of his enemy secured. His
uncle was a priest and he entered upon the work of preparing his young
nephew for the same service. This preparation was very different from
the preparation of young men in Christian lands for the work of the
Gospel ministry. One part of his duty was to learn and to repeat long
prayers; sometimes he was forced to spend the greater part of the night
in repeating these prayers in the temple before the idols. But Henry
was not happy; he had seen his parents and little brother cruelly
murdered, and thoughts of the terrible scene and of his own lonely
and orphaned condition preyed upon his mind continually. But he had
passed through still another sad experience. Before peace was restored
in the island he was again taken prisoner together with his father's
sister. He succeeded in making his escape the very day which had been
appointed for his death. His aunt was killed by the enemy, and this
made him feel more sad and lonely than before, and he resolved to leave
the island, hoping that if he should succeed in getting away from the
place where everything reminded him of his loss he might find peace if
not happiness; and this is how he was to be brought under Christian
influences in Christian America. He sailed with Captain Britnall and
landed in New York in the year 1809. He remained for some time in the
family of his friend the captain, at New Haven. And here he became
acquainted with several of the students in Yale College, who were at
once interested in this young foreigner, and from one of these friends
he learned to read and write.
His appearance was not prepossessing or promising. His clothes were
those of a rough sailor and his countenance dull and expressionless.
But he soon showed that he was neither dull nor lacking in mental power.
For some time, while Obookiah improved in the knowledge of English,
making good progress in his studies, he was unwilling to hear any talk
about the true God. He was amiable and quite willing to be taught, and
drank in eagerly the instruction given on other subjects, but after
some months he began to pray to the true God. He had a friend, also a
Hawaiian and his first prayer in the presence of another was made in
company with his friend. A copy of this prayer has been preserved and I
copy it for you to show how even in the beginning of his own interest
in Gospel truth, his thoughts turned towards his native country.
"Great and eternal God--make heaven--make earth--make everything--have
mercy on me--make me understand the Bible--make me good--great God,
have mercy on Thomas--make him good--make Thomas and me go back to
Hawaii--tell folks in Hawaii no more pray to stone god--make some good
man go with me to Hawaii, tell folks in Hawaii about heaven"--
From this time until he died his one longing was to go back to his
early home and tell the people about God. He used to talk with his
friend Thomas about it and plan the work. In his diary he wrote at one
time:
"We conversed about what we would do first at our return, how we should
begin to teach our poor brethren about the religion of Jesus Christ.
We thought we must first go to the king or else we must keep a school
and educate the children and get them to have some knowledge of the
Scriptures and give them some idea of God. The most thought that come
into my mind was to leave all in the hand of Almighty God; as he seeth
fit. The means may be easily done by us, but to make others believe, no
one could do it but God only."
In April, 1817, a Foreign Mission School was opened at Cornwall.
And Obookiah became a pupil in this school, intending to finish his
preparation for work among his own people as soon as practicable. A
description of this Sandwich Islander as given of him at that time
may be of interest: "He was a little less than six feet in height,
well-proportioned, erect, graceful and dignified. His countenance had
lost every trace of dullness, and was in an unusual degree sprightly
and intelligent. His features were strongly marked, expressive of a
sound and penetrating mind; he had a piercing eye, a prominent Roman
nose, and a chin considerably projected. His complexion was olive,
differing equally from the blackness of the African and the redness of
the Indian. His black hair was dressed after the manner of Americans."
As a scholar he was persevering and thorough. After he had gained some
knowledge of English, he conceived the idea of reducing his native
language to writing. As it was merely a spoken language, everything was
to be done. He had succeeded in translating the Book of Genesis and
made some progress in the work of making a grammar and dictionary. But
the work he had planned was not to be finished by his own hand. Within
a year from the time he entered the school at Cornwall he was called
home. As recorded upon the marble slab, his last thoughts were for his
native island; his last earthly longing was, that the Gospel might be
preached to his own countrymen. One of our popular cyclopædias gives a
brief mention of this remarkable young man and makes this statement:
"He was the cause of the establishment of American Missions in the
Sandwich Islands."
To have so lived, and by his earnestness and zeal so inspired others
that upon his death they were ready to take up and carry forward the
work he had planned, was to have accomplished even more than he could
had he been permitted to enter upon the work for which he was preparing.