"My dear young friend," said Mr Bent, addressing me, in continuation of
the subject on which he had before been speaking, "we should never
despair while God is with us of the success of our labours among the
heathen. In my experience I have known numerous instances in which,
when it appeared that profound darkness rested on the land, light has
burst forth and spread far and wide around.
"I believe that thirteen years had passed after the _Duff_ had made her
most successful voyage to these seas in 1796, and landed a large body of
missionaries at Tahiti, before one single acknowledged convert to
Christianity was made. Still the diminished band of missionaries
laboured on. They obeyed God's express command to preach the word to
all creatures, and they knew that His word would not return to Him void.
God works through human agency, and it must be confessed that many of
these missionaries were not fitted by education for the work they had
undertaken. It may be said with justice that therefore they did not
succeed. Still they laboured on, teaching many the principles of
Christianity although none turned to the truth.
"Pomare, the king of Tahiti, although he was friendly to the
missionaries, for long remained as determined a heathen as any of his
people. At length, however, attacked by his own subjects, he could not
protect the missionaries, and the larger number were compelled to retire
to the island of Huahine, where they hoped to be in safety. So little
progress did they appear to be making even here in their undertaking,
that, with one exception, the following year they left Huahine and
retired to New South Wales, thus bringing the once promising mission to
the Society Islands to a termination. I refer to this time to show you
how necessary it is that missionaries should not under any circumstances
despair of success. Nothing could be more hopeless than this mission
now seemed. Pomare, although he befriended the missionaries, remained
still seemingly as dark and determined a heathen as at first, and he had
now indeed no longer the power of helping them. He had, however,
received a considerable amount of instruction from them. He had
acquired the arts of reading and writing his own language, and had
learned the first principles of Christianity.
"The seed had not, as was supposed, been sown on stony ground, though it
took long in growing up. Adversity caused Pomare to think. He had been
told that Jehovah is a God of purity and holiness, and he began to
reflect that the life he and his people led must be very distasteful to
such a God, and might be the cause of the sufferings he was enduring.
The Holy Spirit seemed to apply the truth, so that he at length
comprehended the nature of sin, and especially felt his own great
sinfulness. He, therefore, wrote letter after letter, entreating the
missionaries to return. With joy they accepted his invitation. On
their arrival, the king and several of his people professed their belief
in the new religion; but a coalition of heathen chiefs being formed
against them, some severe fighting took place. The heathens were
defeated. Pomare treated them with great leniency, allowing no one to
be injured, and even sending the body of a chief killed in battle back
to his own people to be buried. So great was the effect of this conduct
that the heathen party became anxious to know more of the new faith, and
in a few months the idols of Tahiti were thrown to the ground. Although
Pomare and some of his chiefs, as well as the lower orders, had embraced
Christianity in spirit as well as in name, the mass of the people
remained, as might have been expected, ignorant of its principles, and
indulged in habits the very reverse of those it inculcates. Still the
true faith went on taking root downwards and bearing fruit upwards. In
1817 a large number of missionaries arrived from England at Eimeo.
Among them came two whose names are known far beyond their spheres of
action--William Ellis and John Williams. The following year some of
them removed to Huahine, the principal of the Leeward or Society group,
and soon after John Williams and Mr L Threlkeld, invited by Tapa and
other chiefs of Raiatea, settled in that island. Similar invitations
were received from the chiefs of other large islands, while native
teachers were sent to the smaller islands which were also occasionally
visited by the missionaries. Thus in a few years the entire population
of the Georgian and Society Islands had renounced idolatry, and were in
general outwardly very strict in their religious observances. I say
outwardly, because many of those who attended religious worship and
refrained from all work and amusement on the sabbath, still continued in
the practice of heathen vices. Yet I believe that at that very time the
great mass of the people were not more ignorant of Christian truth, nor
more vicious, than are too many communities of like size in so-called
Christian Europe. We should judge of people who have lately been
brought out of a savage state, not by a standard which we should wish
them to attain, but by other people who have long been considered
civilised Christians; and thus judging of the inhabitants of Tahiti and
the neighbouring islands, I am certain that they will not lose by
comparison with many of those who have claimed for centuries to be
civilised, and whose religion has long been nominally Christian. I say
this with confidence, but after all it is not saying much in their
praise. One thing, however, is very clear. A few years ago they were
ignorant barbarians, savage and debased, not knowing right from wrong.
Now they abstain from their former cruel and sanguinary practices, they
go about clothed and live in neat cottages, and industriously cultivate
the ground; they can generally read and write their own language, and
have learned many mechanical arts; they understand the principles of
Christianity, attend Divine worship, and respect the sabbath, while
undoubtedly some, and perhaps many, have been `created anew in Christ
Jesus unto good works,' and not a few have risked their lives, and laid
them down for the gospel's sake. A large number of the native teachers
who have gone forth among the savage tribes of the wide-scattered
islands of the ocean to carry to them the glad tidings of salvation,
have come from Tahiti and other parts of the Georgian and Society
Archipelago.
"Great as was the change, after all allowances are made, in the islands
of which I have been speaking, that produced by the promulgation of the
truth in Raratonga was still greater. You know how John Williams, after
founding the church in Huahine, moved to Raiatea, in the Hervey group,
and thence sailing forth, discovered the then savage Raratonga, where
the devoted Papehia landed to commence the work which he was afterwards
enabled to perfect. Papehia began his ministrations by telling the
people about the power and purity of God, and His love to mankind, and
contrasting His attributes with those of their idols. By teaching both
old and young portions of Scripture, and the latter to read, they began
to perceive the follies of heathenism.
"Thus the old religion was undermined, and a way prepared for the
introduction of the new faith. The priests were the most inveterate
opponents of Christianity, yet the first person who destroyed his idols
was a priest. Several others followed his example. Soon another native
teacher from Tahiti joined Papehia to aid in the work which so rapidly
progressed. The first chief converted was Tinomana. After a lengthened
conversation with Papehia, in spite of the expostulations of priests and
people, saying, `My heart has taken hold of the word of Jehovah,' he
ordered a servant to set fire to his idol and his temple. The
Christians now united, with Tinomana at their head, to live together in
one community, numbering four or five thousand. Not fifteen months
after Papehia landed, they erected a chapel three hundred feet long,
with a pulpit at either end, from which each teacher addressed nearly
fifteen hundred wild, naked savages at once, without inconvenience.
This wonderful change had been effected, you must remember, by two
native teachers alone, in less than two years and a half from the day of
their landing in Raratonga, and who were themselves born heathens and
trained in idolatry in an island nearly seven hundred miles away.
"Four years after the discovery of the island, John Williams took up his
abode there with the Reverend C Pitman, they being afterwards joined by
the Reverend A Buzacott. Laws were now formed, and the first Christian
community divided into two separate villages. A chapel of a substantial
character was next planned. A site was cleared, large trees were cut
down, coral lime was burned, the timber was sawn, and in two months from
the commencement an edifice an hundred and fifty feet long and fifty-six
feet wide, the thatched roof supported on either side by seven iron-wood
pillars twenty-five feet high, was erected. There were ten doors, three
at each side and two at each end, and twenty windows, with large
Venetian blinds. This chapel was a substantial proof of the zeal of the
Christian converts; but the heathens were still numerous and powerful,
and at length, hoping to overthrow the new faith, they attacked the
settlement, and burned the chapel and many of the Christians' houses. A
fearful storm and flood and a severe epidemic followed, carrying off
hundreds of the natives. Though severely tried, the missionaries were
not cast down. The heathen retired, the epidemic ceased, the damage
caused by the storm was repaired, and the work of civilisation
proceeded.
"It became expedient to form a new village for the immediate followers
of Tinomana. A site was fixed on, the land was cleared, and in a few
months the village was completed. It was nearly a mile and a half in
length; a wide and straight road, gravelled with sea-side sand, was made
from one extremity to the other, on either side of which were rows of
the tall and beautiful tufted-top `ti' trees. The houses were built of
lime and wattle, each about forty feet long, twelve high, twenty wide,
and divided into three or four rooms. They stood back some fifty yards
from the road, and were that distance from one another. About the
centre, on one side of the street, was the chapel, and on the other the
school-house. A belt of trees protected the settlement on the sea-side,
while inland rose ranges of picturesque mountains, the intervening space
being occupied by pastures and fields cultivated or in the course of
cultivation. I remember the scene well. It gave me an indescribable
feeling of satisfaction when I first saw it, for it proved that a very
great change must have been wrought in the habits of the people, and I
trusted that their spiritual condition had likewise been much improved.
This was the first on the same plan of many villages which were erected
as Christianity spread among the people. At each village, or even where
there was a chapel alone, a school-house was erected, where the elements
of reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography, were taught to adults as
well as to children, and only eight years after the landing of Papehia,
two thousand children and one thousand six hundred adults were under
instruction. Although many of the adults could never be taught to read,
they learned portions of Scripture, and as they willingly listened to
the teachers, the truth gradually spread among the whole population.
"A printing press was during this year of 1831 introduced into the
island, and the first native Raratongan teacher went forth to carry the
glad tidings of salvation to the people of the Samoan group, then lying
in darkness. `Teava' was one of the first converts made by Papehia, and
a devoted imitator of the noble example he set. He wrote earnestly,
praying to be allowed to go Samoa, thus expressing himself: `My desire
is very great to fulfil Christ's command when He said, "Go ye into all
the world." My heart is compassionating the heathen, who know not the
salvation which God has provided. Let me go. Why this delay?' He was
conveyed to Samoa, and gained a position among its then savage people at
Monono, where he has proved one of the most consistent pioneers to the
European missionaries, and one of the best native assistants both in the
schools and in translating the Bible and other works. A letter he wrote
to his friends in Raratonga a few years afterwards is worthy of note.
In it he says: `When I left you, the good work had not taken much root,
but now I hear it has spread over the land. All the people have
received it. My friends, be diligent in the use of the means, in
learning, in reading, in hearing, in prayer; search the word of God.
But I will ask you, Do you expect to be saved by your works? No; no man
can thus be saved. Salvation is obtained through Jesus. There are two
kinds of scaffolding, one of banana stalks and the other of iron-wood:
those who trust in their own works are resting on the banana stalks, and
will fall; but let our minds be fixed on Jesus alone, and we shall be
safe.' Such are nearly the exact words he used. They prove the
soundness of his knowledge and faith. The glorious work progressed
wonderfully in Raratonga. Churches and schools were built at all the
settlements, and several works printed by natives, under the
superintendence of the missionaries, issued from the press. I was
present on the arrival of the _Camden_ from England with an edition of
five thousand copies of the New Testament in the language of the people,
and several missionaries. Crowds came from morning till night to
purchase the book, and for many days the missionaries house was more
like a bazaar than a private dwelling.
"One day a messenger at full speed arrived from the old chief Tinomana.
Seating himself cross-legged on the floor, he asked if a missionary had
arrived for his part of the island. On one being pointed out to him as
destined to labour in his settlement, he sprang up with an expression of
joy, and hastened back at full speed with the intelligence to his chief.
This was at Avarua, where a chapel had been erected worthy of
description. It was built in a frame, a hundred and forty feet long and
forty-five feet wide, filled up with wattle and lime plaster, white as
snow. It was well floored, surrounded by a gallery, and had a pulpit
and desk at one end. On the day I was there it was filled with sixteen
hundred natives, mostly clothed in home-made cloth, the greater number
really thirsting for religious knowledge. Next to the chapel stood the
school-house filled in the morning with seven hundred children, each
class of ten or twelve having its teacher. Near it was the
missionaries' cottage, neat, clean, and commodious; and not far off that
of the chief, which was large, well-built, and convenient. It was
thoroughly furnished with chairs, sofas, tables, and beds, and the
floors covered with mats; while on the tables were several books, which
he could read with fluency. Ten years before this he and his people
were naked savage cannibals. Missionary meetings were held in the
island to assist in sending the gospel to other lands. Thus spoke an
aged native at one of them to the young people: `Exalt your voices high
in praise of God. He has saved you from the pit of heathenism. We your
fathers know the character of that pit; some of us were born there. The
place on which we are now met was once a place of murder; spears and the
sling and stone were our companions; we ate human flesh, we drank human
blood. Let us do what we can to send the word of God to those who _are_
as once we _were_.' That year three thousand pounds of arrowroot were
subscribed for missionary purposes.
"More effectually to carry out this object, it was resolved to establish
a missionary college. A piece of ground was purchased, a number of neat
stone cottages for the students and a house for resident missionaries,
and lecture-halls, one of which was for female classes, were erected.
The latter were under the charge of the missionary's wife. Here one
hundred men and women have been instructed, a considerable proportion of
whom were married couples. Some have been employed on the home
stations, and others have gone forth to the Western Islands to prepare
the way for European teachers. A boarding-school was also established,
where some forty boys have received instruction. At the college the
students go through a course of theology, church history, Biblical
exposition, biography, geography, grammar, and composition of essays and
sermons. For three hours in the morning they are employed in the
workshop, and in the afternoon in study, in class, or examination.
"In the Hervey group ten or more stations are well worked by these
native teachers; in Samoa four of them have stations; they have
introduced the gospel to the Maniiki group; and in Western Polynesia
they have successfully preached the truth in the language of the
inhabitants, and braved, and several have suffered, martyrdom for the
gospel's sake. What should you suppose is the total expense of
instructing, clothing, feeding, and lodging these most valuable
missionaries? Only five pounds a year; while the entire outlay of their
providing for twenty students does not amount to the sum of three pounds
a week, or less than a hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
Comparatively very few of those educated at the college have fallen away
or proved unworthy of the confidence placed in them. Of course there,
as elsewhere, the faith of the missionaries has been tried. Storms, and
floods, and disease have visited the island; evil-disposed persons have
come from other lands and endeavoured to introduce drunkenness, and to
turn the unstable to their own bad courses. Still I may safely say,
that there are not twenty persons in the island, and very few in the
whole group, who do not attend Christian worship.
"A large edition of the whole Bible has been purchased by them; and I
may also venture to assert that, in consistency of conduct, in civil and
social propriety, in commercial industry and honesty, and in zeal and
liberality, they are not behind any other community in the world. The
gospel has been introduced and completely established in the Penrhyn
Islands, or Maniiki group, as they are more properly called, entirely by
native teachers from Raratonga. But I wish to describe to you the
progress made by the gospel in Samoa. Before I do so, however, I will
give you a sketch of the way in which some of the missionaries I have
met, whose duties require them to be stationary, spend their time.
"The missionary in some instances attends the early morning adult
service, those present having then to go forth to their daily duties in
the field or on the water. In other instances he devotes the hour from
six to seven o'clock in dispensing medicine to the sick; from eight to
nine he is either at the children's general school in the village, or
attending to private advanced classes at home, or discussing public
matters with neighbouring chiefs. From nine to eleven he lectures in
the class-room; thence till noon he is in the workshop, where the
students or the boys at the boarding-school are learning the use of
carpenters' tools. Until dinner time, at one, he is in the
printing-office, where the natives have been composing, printing, and
binding for several hours. During the next hour the students dine and
read. From two to three the missionary holds private conversation with
members of the church, candidates for church fellowship, or inquirers.
Four days in the week Bible-classes are held, and at most stations
public services take place three days in the week, from five to six.
The missionary and his wife generally walk out from six to seven,
visiting any who are sick or unable to come to them. For an hour
afterwards he is in his study reading, translating, writing sermons, or
looking over proof-sheets. The next half hour is occupied in family
prayer, and the last in pleasant and instructive conversation with his
family and the natives in his household; and thus closes his day of
labour. The missionary's wife is as busy with the women and girls as is
her husband with the men and boys, and her influence and example are
calculated to produce a lasting effect on the rising generation. With
this succession of occupations the missionaries have found time to write
and to superintend the printing of numerous works in the language of
Raratonga,--works which are eagerly sought for and read by all classes
of the community,--the elder of whom were once naked cannibal savages.
When you write home, mention this with your own experience, and ask
whether they do not consider missionaries worthy of support, and the
results they have produced an encouragement to perseverance.
"One remark more. You have often heard of the fearful decrease in the
population of these islands. Raratonga has been no exception to the
general rule, and yet its circumstances are very different from most
others. Its climate is perfectly healthy; no foreigners reside on it;
and, as it possesses no harbour, the crews of ships can never land on
its shores, as they merely call off for supplies and proceed immediately
on their voyage. Before the introduction of Christianity, when the
islanders had not the slightest intercourse with Europeans,--were,
indeed, entirely unknown,--the deaths must have been as six or eight to
one in excess of the births. As Christianity spread, the deaths were as
four to one, then as two to one, then but slightly in excess; and now I
rejoice to say that the births slightly exceed the deaths. It is easy
to account for their decrease while they were heathens,--their wars, and
famine consequent on it,--disease, produced by immorality, and
infanticide destroyed many, and prevented increase. Christianity at
once mitigated these evils, but the effects of many of them still
existed, and it has taken years before the population could gain that
health and strength which is the reward in this world of virtuous and
industrious lives.
"I find it stated that a hundred ships touch at the islands of the group
annually, and receive produce of native labour for manufactured wares,
amounting to not less than three thousand pounds. We have here a
notable example of the way in which civilisation, industry, and commerce
result from the establishment of Christianity. The commanders of many
of those ships must remember the time when they dared not set foot on
these shores, from which they now are sure to obtain the supplies on
which the health of their crews and the success of their voyage so
greatly depends, and will, I trust, be ready to bear witness that
thousands on thousands of the once savages of Polynesia have become
Christian in name and character, and truly and completely civilised."