I have not described the mission station where I had spent the last few
weeks. It was beautifully situated on gently rising ground backed by
lofty hills wooded to their very summits. Here and there dark and
rugged masses of rock might be seen peeping out from amid the trees and
streams of sparkling water falling down their sides far away below into
basins of foam, and then taking their course in rapid, bubbling rivulets
towards the blue sea. The windows of the house, which were very large
to admit a free current of air, and were shaded by a deep-roofed
verandah, looked on one side up towards the hills, and on the other over
the boundless ocean. The interior was a pattern of neatness. The
furniture, though simple, was pretty and well made, with snowy white
curtains to the windows and beds, and green blinds to keep out the glare
of that hot clime. The verandah ran completely round the house, and a
thick thatch of leaves formed a roof which effectually prevented the
sun's rays from penetrating below. In front was a pretty flower-garden,
and in the rear a well-stocked kitchen garden, producing in perfection
all the native vegetables, fruits, and roots, as well as many from
Europe. The islanders there saw even their own fruits and roots
increased in size, and improved in flavour by careful culture. Near it
was a cool grove of cocoa-nut palm and bread-fruit trees, through which
a fresh current of trade wind was continually blowing.
The church, although built by the natives of wood--under the direction
of course of Mr Bent--was a commodious and imposing edifice. The
school-house was also a large and neat building. In its neighbourhood
was a long street of cottages inhabited by natives, constructed after
the plan of the teachers' dwellings--some of stone or rather rock coral,
and others of wood--all having both flower and kitchen gardens, while
round the settlement were extensive fields where the chief food for the
support of the community was produced. Of the many missionary stations
which I have visited, all are more or less like the one I have
described. The missionaries have thus not only taught the natives of
these wide-scattered islands the truths of the gospel, but by
practically showing them the very great advantages which civilised men
possess over savages, they have induced them to become industrious, and
to learn those elementary arts by which alone their civilisation can be
advanced and secured. However, it must be remembered that very few
communities are so favourably placed that they can advance far in
civilisation unless they have the means of exchanging the produce of
their labour with that of other people, and on this account Mr Bent was
very anxious to obtain another vessel in lieu of one which had been
lost, so that he might enable the natives under his special charge to
trade with other islanders, and might at the same time convey
missionaries and teachers wherever they might desire to move.
I offered to assist in building such a craft--a schooner which could be
easily handled--and afterwards to take command of her should the _Golden
Crown_ not return for me. In the event of her appearing, I hoped that
still Captain Buxton would give me my discharge; but should he be
unwilling to comply with my wish I purposed returning out to the island
as soon as possible, that I might marry Mary Bent, and then commence the
very important undertaking I had proposed.
That no time might be lost, we forthwith drew out the plan of our
vessel. I was still unable to move about to assist Mr Bent; he,
however, at once set the natives to work to cut down the necessary
trees, and to prepare the timber. When we remembered how much that
great and good missionary, Williams, had accomplished single-handed, we
agreed that we ought not to be daunted by any difficulties which might
occur. We had already an ample supply of tools, a carpenter's and a
blacksmith's workshop, and several of the younger natives had become, if
not perfectly skilled, at all events very fair artisans; indeed, fully
capable of performing all the rougher work, both of wood and iron, which
would be required. Indeed, I may say, that in a great degree they made
up for their want of skill by their teachableness and anxiety to do
their work in a satisfactory manner. They understood as clearly as we
did the importance of the undertaking, both on account of the worldly
advantage it might prove to them, and the benefit of a religious
character the vessel might convey to others. The more I saw the work
progressing as I lay helpless on my couch, and the more I thought of the
benefit, not one alone, but a fleet of such vessels, might prove to the
Pacific isles, the more eagerly I prayed for my recovery, that I might
take my share in it. It was indeed a joyful day when at length I was
able to go out and join the rest, even although only for a short time,
in the work.
I had brought my uncle's journal with me that I might lend it to Mr
Bent, as I felt sure that he would be interested in reading it. "The
perusal of that manuscript has caused me tears of joy and thankfulness,"
he observed, as he returned it to me. "Wonderful, under God's
providence, are the changes which have been wrought among the
inhabitants of a large portion of Polynesia since the time of which he
wrote. They have indeed truly been called from out of darkness into
light; and even those who have not been converted, benefit by the light
which shines among them. The description he gives of their spiritual
condition and of the scenes which were constantly enacted among them is
indeed most true. You see what they have become; you see order and
civilisation prevailing among those who were considered the most savage
and debased; places of worship, educated and enlightened ministers,
well-regulated schools, a large proportion able to read the word of God
in their own tongue; but you are not acquainted with the means by which
this glorious change has been wrought--with what may be called `the
transition state' of Polynesia. One of the chief reasons why people at
home are incredulous as to the present condition of these islands is,
that they are ignorant of the events which have occurred, and of the
nature of the instrumentality which has been employed. They say that
man could not have done it, and, therefore, that it cannot have been
done. They are right in saying that man could not have done it, but it
has been done by the Holy Spirit of God working by means of human
agency; weak things have indeed been employed to confound the strong."
I was seated with Mr Bent and his daughter at our evening meal--the
labours of the day being over--enjoying the cool sea breeze, which
blowing through the room afforded us that strength and refreshment which
our frames, exhausted by the heat, greatly required. I assured him how
thankful I should be to have the account he offered, confessing that
except with respect to the islands at which we had touched, and where I
could judge of the changed state of the people, I was still very
ignorant of the condition of the principal part of the inhabitants of
Polynesia. Indeed, I owned, that had I believed the accounts given in
two works we had on board, I should have supposed that the inhabitants
had rather suffered than benefited by the advent of missionaries among
them, and that from being light-hearted, happy beings, they had become
morose, discontented, and inhospitable. I mentioned Kotzebue's "Voyage
round the World," in which work the author abuses the missionaries in
unmeasured terms, and another by a Mr Beale, the surgeon of a South-Sea
whaler, who, in a book full of valuable descriptions of whales, and the
mode of catching them, loses no opportunity of showing his dislike to
missionaries, and the principles they have inculcated on their native
converts.
"Yes, indeed," said Mr Bent; "I might mention several other works of a
similar character, which, I believe, have prevented many persons from
supporting missions to these seas, or served as an excuse to them for
not doing so; but I also have many works written by men of high
standing, and thoroughly unprejudiced as witnesses, who do full justice
to the labours of my missionary brethren, or rather, I would say, to the
results which by their instrumentality have been produced. The Hon.
Captain Keppel (now Admiral Yelverton), of HMS _Meander_, who visited
these islands in 1850, will, I know, speak in favourable terms. Captain
Erskine, of HMS _Havannah_, has done so in a very interesting work on
the `Islands of the Pacific' Captain Wilkes, of the United States navy,
in his `Voyages round the World,' speaks most favourably of the result
of missionary enterprise; and so indeed do many other naval officers of
both nations. I myself must be considered as an impartial witness to
the magnitude of the work which has resulted from the labours of the
agents of the various societies which have sent the gospel of peace to
the islands of these seas. On being rescued from more than death by
your uncle I was received back as a returned prodigal by my family, and
was enabled to pursue a course of studies which would fit me for the
work to which I had resolved to devote myself. My father, when he
consented to my wishes, made the proviso, however, that I should not
connect myself with any religious body for the purpose, or act as the
agent of any missionary society, but that I should go forth by myself,
relying on the funds which he would place at my disposal. While he
lived he supported me liberally, enabling me to marry and to bring out a
wife to be the sharer of my toils, and on his death he left me an income
which has been sufficient, with that derived by my own labours, for all
my wants. I have thus been able, by means of the little vessel I spoke
of, to move about among the islands as I judged best, and often to
render assistance to brother ministers of various denominations, whose
work had become too great for their strength. I do not speak of the
mode of proceeding I adopted, to induce others to follow in the same
course, but simply to explain how it is that you find me unattached to
any missionary society, and yet acquainted with the transactions of all
those labouring in this part of the world. I propose, my young friend,
that you may the more clearly understand the present spiritual condition
of these Pacific isles, to give you a brief sketch of what I consider
the four great prominent events which have taken place connected with
them, and almost immediately, I may say, under my own eye--events of
importance unspeakable, as marking the signal overthrow of Satan's
power. First, the declaration by the king of Tahiti, one of the
Georgian Islands, of his conviction of the truth of Christianity, and of
his desire to become a servant of the true God, on the 12th June, 1812,
just fifteen years after the arrival of the missionaries in that group,
followed immediately by the open profession of several natives of
Tahiti. The second event occurred in November, 1819, when King
Rihoriho, of Hawaii, one of the Sandwich Islands, in one day breaking
through the most revered of heathen customs, set fire to the temples,
and destroyed the idols, a few months before the arrival of the
missionaries, who were then on their way to attempt the conversion of
his people. The third event occurred in 1829. It was the conversion of
a powerful chief of the Friendly Islands, who afterwards became King
George of Tonga. Some time before this, two Tahitian teachers connected
with the London Missionary Society, on their way to Fiji had resided
with Tubou, chief of Nukualofa. Under their influence and instruction
Tubou gave up the Tonga gods, destroyed the spirit house, and erected a
place for Christian worship, in which he and his people, to the number
of two hundred and forty, assembled to listen to Divine truth in the
Tahitian language, on the 4th of February, 1827. He was not, however,
baptised till 1830. A fourth event, which appears still more wonderful
to those who know the man than any I have before mentioned, was the
conversion of the fierce and proud cannibal, King Thakombau, of Bau, the
most powerful among the chiefs of Fiji, on the 30th April, 1854. He
may, indeed, be considered the king of all Fiji, for all the other
chiefs are either his vassals, or vassals to those who acknowledge him
as their chief. Although a large number of the inhabitants of the
group, of all ranks, had embraced Christianity before the king, yet his
conversion more especially marked the triumph of the truth in Fiji, and
proves the power of the gospel to change the heart of a man, however
benighted, savage, and bloodthirsty he may have been.
"To these more prominently important events may be added the
establishment of a church at Raratonga, in May, 1833, ten years after
the landing of the first native teacher, which went on increasing till
the entire population had been brought under Christian instruction.
"Still more important than the former events was the arrival of Messrs.
Williams and Barff at Samoa, with a band of native teachers, in 1830, at
the moment when Tamafaigna, a despot, who united the supreme spiritual
with great political power, and whose boundless sway presented a most
formidable barrier to the introduction of the gospel, had just been
slain, and their cordial reception by Malietoa, a chief of an acute and
inquiring mind and amiable disposition, who himself, with his sons, and
their wives and children, soon afterwards renounced their superstitions,
and destroyed the only idol found in Samoa. The population, when the
missionaries landed, amounted to forty thousand, who, though not so
cruel and bloodthirsty as that of other groups, were still sunk in the
lowest depths of pagan ignorance and misery.
"I have watched too the partial establishment of Christianity among the
native inhabitants of New Zealand, and its extension thence northward,
as also from the east among the islands of Western Polynesia--the New
Hebrides, New Caledonia, and the Loyalty and Britannia Islands. Still
the great work is progressing. New labourers are appearing in the
field. From all directions the heathen are crying out for instruction
in the wonderful gospel, and more and more labourers are required to
supply their urgent wants. A very remarkable feature in this great work
is the mode in which it has been accomplished. The number of educated
white men engaged in it has been comparatively very small. The most
unexpected results, the greatest triumphs have been brought about
through native agency. The natives of the Society Islands and Hervey
group especially, instructed by English missionaries, and inspired by
the Holy Spirit, have, with love in their hearts for their perishing
brethren and a burning desire for their conversion, gone forth, braving
all perils, some to the surrounding, others to far distant islands, and
their language being similar, they have at once been able to address
their heathen inhabitants. Many have died from sickness, others have
been murdered by those they came to help, but the remainder have
persevered till they have seen the cause of the gospel triumphant.
"Oh, Mr Harvey, I wish that others were impressed as I am with the
awful thought that day after day thousands upon thousands of heathen are
perishing in darkness and sin who might, did their Christian fellow-men
use more exertion, have had the glorious gospel preached to them, and
have been brought to see the light. I will illustrate the remarks I
have made," said Mr Bent, "by examples as they occur to me, keeping, as
much as my memory will allow, to the sequence of events."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To the testimonies referred to in the foregoing chapter may be added
that given by Dr Seemann, in "Viti: An Account of a Government Mission
to the Vitian or Fijian Islands in the years 1860-61." He was sent out
by the English Government to ascertain the fitness of the group for the
production of cotton. He was absent only thirteen months from England,
and had time not only to sow the seed, but to pluck the cotton which it
produced. Speaking of the missionaries to the group, he says: "It was
all up-hill work; yet results have been attained to which no
right-minded man can refuse admiration. According to the latest
returns, the attendance on Christian worship in 1861 was 67,489, and
there were 31,566 in the day-schools. For the supervision of this great
work the Society had only eleven European missionaries and two
schoolmasters, assisted by a large class of native agents who are
themselves the fruits of mission toil, and some of whom, once degraded
and cannibal heathens, are becoming valuable and accredited ministers of
the gospel." Dr Seemann is a naturalist, and certainly is not
prejudiced in favour of the Wesleyans, or of any other religious body.
His evidence is therefore of more value. A description of the condition
of Fiji as it was is sickening; and yet it is necessary to show the
depth of depravity to which human nature can sink, and the glorious
change which the gospel can work even in savages such as these. They
were constantly at war with each other, and often fought for no other
purpose than to procure people for their ovens. They have been known
even to bake men alive. Often a town was attacked, and all the
inhabitants, sometimes four or five hundred in number, were slaughtered.
When the son of a great chief arrived at manhood, it was the custom to
endue him with his _toga virilis_ on the summit of a large heap of
slaughtered enemies; and the whole population of a town was ruthlessly
murdered for no other purpose than to form such a heap.
When a chief received a visit from a brother chieftain, if he had no
captives ready to kill, he would kill some of his own slaves, or send
out to catch some men, women, or children from a neighbouring island, or
from among his own people. Indeed, no man, whatever his rank, was safe;
and hundreds thus lost their lives every year, that the cannibal
propensities of the chiefs might be gratified.
Infanticide was common among the chiefs as well as among the lower
orders; and mothers, abandoning all natural affection, considered it no
crime to kill their children. It was an ordinary matter for children to
bury their aged parents alive; and fathers and mothers have been known
to bury alive their grown-up sons who might complain of illness, or have
become weary of life, stamping down on their graves with the greatest
unconcern.
On the death of a chief his favourite wives were invariably strangled
with him. Numerous slaves also were killed, to form his band of
attendants to another world; and a great cannibal feast was also held.
Human victims were offered to their obscene deities by their priests in
their temples, groves, and high places. When a house was to be built
for a chief, four live slaves were placed in deep holes to support the
corner posts, when the earth was filled in on them, that their spirits
might watch over the edifice. When a large canoe was to be launched
victims were clubbed, or the canoe was drawn over their living bodies
like the car of Juggernaut, crushing them to death. For the slightest
offence a chief would club to death one of his wives, or any of his
people, and feast afterwards on their bodies.
But enough has been said to show the character of the people of Fiji.
They are, especially the chiefs, tall, handsome men; and though their
skin is black, they have not the features of negroes. They are also
very intelligent, active and energetic.
Dr Seemann says, page 77 of his work, "Until 1854, Bau, which is the
name of the metropolis as well as of the ruling state, was opposed to
the missionaries, and the ovens in which the bodies of human victims
were baked scarcely ever got cold. Since then, however, a great change
has taken place. The king and all his court have embraced Christianity;
of the heathen temples, which by their pyramidical form gave such a
peculiar local colouring to old pictures of the place, only the
foundations remain; the sacred groves in the neighbourhood are cut down;
and in the great square, where formerly cannibal feasts took place, a
large church has been erected. Not without emotion did I land on this
blood-stained soil, where probably greater iniquities were perpetrated
than ever disgraced any other spot on earth. It was about eight o'clock
in the evening; and, instead of the wild noise which greeted former
visitors, family prayer was heard from nearly every house.
"To bring about such a change has indeed required no slight efforts, and
many valuable lives had to be sacrificed; for although no missionary in
Fiji has ever met with a violent death, yet the list of those who died
in the midst of their labours is proportionately great. The Wesleyans,
to whose disinterestedness the conversion of these degraded beings is
due, have, as a society, expended 75,000 pounds on this object; and if
the private donations of friends to individual missionaries and their
families be added, the sum reaches to the respectable amount of 80,000
pounds."
Dr Seemann describes a visit to the island of Lakemba, hallowed as the
spot on which the first Christian mission was established. Mr
Fletcher, the resident missionary, conducted him and his companions
through a grove of cocoa-nut palms and bread-fruit trees to his house, a
commodious building, thatched with leaves, surrounded by a fence and
broad-boarded verandah, the front of the house looking into a nice
little flower-garden, the back into the courtyard.
The ladies gave them a hearty welcome, glad to look once more upon white
faces, and to hear accounts from home. Though the thermometer ranged
more than 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the thick thatch kept off the scorching
rays, and there was a fresh current of trade wind blowing through the
rooms. It was pleasing to see everything so scrupulously neat and
clean; the beds and curtains as white as snow, and everywhere the
greatest order prevailed.
"There are the elements of future civilisation,--models ready for
imitation,--hallowed homes which no Romish priest can afford," observes
the Doctor, "the yard well-stocked with ducks and fowls, pigs and
goats,--the gardens replete with flowers, cotton shrubs twelve feet
high, and bearing leaves, flowers, and fruit in all stages of
development. These missionary stations are fulfilling all the objects
of convents in their best days, and a great deal more; for their inmates
are teaching a pure and simple faith in Jesus, which those of the
convents did not."
Mr Fletcher showed them over the town, the first spot in Fiji where
Christianity was triumphant and a printing-press was established, from
which was issued an edition of the whole Bible in the language of the
people, and several other works. There exist, indeed, two versions of
the Bible in the language of Fiji. The church in the town is a
substantial building, capable of holding three hundred people. There
are some thirty other churches in the Lakemba district alone.
From Lakemba, occupying a week on the voyage, they proceeded to the
island of Somosomo, till lately one of the strongholds of idolatry and
cannibalism. Golea, the king, was a heathen, but his chief wife,
Eleanor, was a Christian, and they believed a sincere one, judging from
the almost frantic manner in which she endeavoured to obtain a Fijian
Bible seen in their possession. She exhausted every argument to get it,
and her joy was indescribable when her wishes were acceded to.
Dr Seemann writes: "If the Wesleyan Society had more funds at its
disposal, so as to be able to send out a greater number of efficient
teachers, a very few years would see the whole of Fiji Christianised, as
all the real difficulties now in the way of the mission have been
removed. On my representing the case in this light, his Majesty the
King of Hanover was graciously pleased to subscribe his first gift of
100 pounds towards so desirable an object, at the same time expressing
his admiration for the labours of the individual missionaries I named."