» • ‘ ^ ' cs \ o » HISTORICAL SKETCH OP THK MISSIONS OF THE AMEEICAN BOARD Uf THB SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, AND MARQUESAS. Rev. S. C. BARTLETT, D. D. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY THE BOARD, • 1 Somerset Street. 1880 . ' - Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/historicalsketch00bart_2 vzi 'voi^urt/f^in uiou^egj cci Lon^ h'as( lA.T rhont tirrmw’ich HiO BARTLETT’S SKETCHES. % THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, AND MARQUESAS. In the year 1809, a dark-skinned boy was found weep- ing on the door-steps at Yale College. Ilis name was Henry Obookiah (Opukahaia) ; and he came from the Sandwich Islands. In a civil war his father and mother had been slain before his eyes ; and when he fled with his infant brother on his back, the child was killed with a spear, and he was taken prisoner. Lonely and w'retched, the poor boy, at the age of fourteen, was glad to come with Captain Brintnell to New Haven. He thirsted for instruction ; and he lingered round the college buildings, hoping in some way to gratify his burning desire. But when at length all hope died out, he sat down and wept. The Rev. Edwdn W. Dwight, a resident graduate, found him there, and kindly took him as a pupil. In the autumn of that year came another resident grad- uate to New Haven, for the purpose of awakening the spirit of missions. It was Samuel J. Mills. Obookiah told Mills his simple story — how the people of Hawaii “ arc very bad ; they pray to gods made of w'ood ; ” and he longs “ to learn to read this Bible, and go back there and tell them to pray to God up in heaven.” Mills wrote to Gordon. Hall, “ What does this mean ? Brother Hall, do you understand it? Shall he be sent back unsup- 1 2 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. ported, to attempt to reclaim his countryn.en? Shall ■we not rather consider these southern islands a proper place for the establishment of a mission?” Mills took Obookiah to his own home in Torringford, and thence to Andover for a two years’ residence ; after which the young man found his way to the Grammar School at Litchfield, and, when it was opened in 1817, to the Foreign Mission School at Cornwall, Conn. At Litch- field he became acquainted and intimate with Samuel Kuggles, who, about this time (1816), resolved to ac- company him to his native island with the gospel. In the same vessel which brought Obookiah to Amer- ica came two other Hawaiian lads, William Tenooe (Kanui) and Thomas Hopu. After roving lives of many years, in 1815 they were both converted — Tenooe at New Haven, and Hopu after he had removed from New Haven to Torringford. Said Hopu, after his conversion, “ I want my poor countrymen to know about Christ.” These young men, too, had been the objects of much personal interest in New Haven ; and in the following June, during the sessions of the General Association in that city, a meeting was called by some gentlemen to discuss the project of a Foreign Mission School. An organization was effected under the American Board that autumn, at the house of President Dwight, three months before his death. Next year the school opened. Its first principal was Mr. Edwin W. Dwight, — who found Oboo- kiah in tears at Yale College, — and among its first pupils were Obookiah, Tenooe, Hopu, and two other Hawaiian youths, with Samuel Ruggles and Elisha Loomis. But Obookiah was never to carry the gospel in person to his countrymen. God had a wiser use for him. In nine mouths from the opening of the Mission School, he IN THE SANDWICH ISEANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 3 closed a consistent Christian life with a peaceful Christian death. The lively interest which had been gathering round him was profoundly deepened by his end and the memoir of his life, and was rapidly crystallizing into a mission. Being dead, he yet spoke with an emphasis and an eloquence that never would have been given him in his life. The touching story drew legacies from the dying, and tears, prayers, donations, and consecrations from the living. “ O, what a wonderful thing,” he once had said, “ that the hand of Divine Providence has brought me here from that heathenish darkness ! And here I have found the name of the Lord Jesus in the Holy Scrip- tures, and have read that his blood was shed for many. My poor countrymen, who arc yet living in the region and shadow of death ! — I often feel for them in the night season, concerning the loss of their souls. May the Lord Jesus dwell in my heart, and prepare me to go and spend the remainder of my life with them. But not my will, but thine, O Lord, be done.” The will of the Lord was done. The coming to Amer- ica was a more “wonderful thing” than he thought. Ilis mantle fell on other shoulders, and in two years more a missionary band was ready for the Sandwich Islands, llopu, Tenooc, and John llonoree, natives of the islands, were to be accompanied by Hiram Bingham and Asa Thurston, young graduates of Andover, Dr. Thomas Holman, a young physician, Daniel Chamberlain, a sub- stantial farmer, Samuel Whitney, mechanic and teacher, Samuel Ruggles, catechist and teacher, and Elisha Loomis, printer and teacher. All the Americans were accompanied by their wives, and Mr. Chamberlain by a family of five children. Mr. Iluggles seems to have been the first to determine upon joining the mission, and Mr SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. Loomis bad been a member of the Mission School. With this company went also George Tamoree (Kamaulii), who bad been a wanderer in America for fourteen years, to return to bis father, the subject king of Kauai. The ordination of Messrs. Bingham and Thurston at Goshen, Conn., drew from the surrounding region a large assembly, among whom were a great number of clergy- men, and nearly all the members of the Mission School, now thirty or more in number; and “liberal offerings” for the mission came in “ from all quarters.” A fort- night later the missionary band was organized at Boston into a church of seventeen members ; public services were held Friday evening and Saturday forenoon in the presence of “ crowded ” houses, at the Park Street Church ; and on the Sabbath six hundred communicants sat with them at the table of the Lord. “ The occasion,” says the “ Panoplist” of that date, “ was one of the most interesting and solemn which can exist in this world.” On Saturday, the 23d of October, 1819, a Christian assembly stood upon Long Wharf, and sang, “ Blest be the tie that binds.” Thei-e was a prayer by Dr. Worces- ter, a farewell speech by Hopu, a song by the mission- aries, “ When shall we all meet again ; ” and a fourteen- oared barge swiftly conveyed the little band from their weeping friends to the brig Thaddeus, which was to carry the destiny of the Hawaiian Islands. AVhile the missionaries are on their way, let us take a look at the people whom they were going to reclaim. The ten islands of the Hawaiian group — an area some- what less than Massachusetts — were peopled by a well- formed, muscular race, with olive complexions and open countenances, in the lowest stages of barbarism, sensu- ality, and vice. The children went stark naked till IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 5 (hey were nine or ten years old ; and tlie men and women wore the scantiest apology for clotliing, which neither sex liesitated to leave in the hut at home before they passed through the village to the surf. The king came more than once from the surf to the house of Mr. Riiggles with his five wives, all in a state of nudity ; and on being in- formed of the impropriety, he came the next time dressed — with a pair of silk stockings and a hat! The natives had hardly more modesty or shame than so many animals. Husbands had many wives, and wives many husbands, and exchanged with each other at pleasure. The most revolting forms of vice, as Captain Cook had occasion to know, were practiced in open sight. When a foreign vessel came to the harbor, the women would swim to it in flocks for the vilest of purposes. Two thirds of all the children, probably, were destroyed in infancy — strangled or buried alive. The nation practiced human sacrifice ; and there is a cord now at the iMissiouary Rooms, Chicago, with which one high priest had strangled twenty-three human victims. Tliey Avere a race of perpetual thieves ; even kings and chiefs kept servants for the special purpose of stealing. They were wholesale gamblers, and latterly drunkards. Thoroughly savage, they seemed almost destitute of fixed liabits. AVhen food was plenty, they would take six or seven meals a day, and even rise in the night to eat; at other times they would eat but once a day, or perhaps go almost fasting for two or three days together. And for purposes of sleep the day and the night were much alike. Science they had none ; no written language, nor the least conception of any mode of communicating thought but by oral speech. A race that destroyed their OAvn children liad little 6 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. tender mercy. Sons often buried their aged parents alive, or left them to perish. The sick were abandoned to die of want and neglect. Maniacs were stoned to death. Captives were tortured and slain. The whole system of government and religion was to the last degree oppressive. The lauds, their products, and occupants were the property of the chiefs and the king. The per- sons and power of the high chiefs were protected by a crushing system of restrictions, called tabus. It was tabu and death for a common man to let his shadow fall upon a chief, to go upon his house, enter his enclosure, or wear his Jcapa, to stand when the king’s Jcapa or his bathing water was carried by, or his name mentioned in song. In these and a multitude of other ways, “ men’s beads lay at tlie feet of the king and the chiefs.” In like manner it was ttibu for a woman to eat with her husband, or to eat fowl, pork, cocoa-nut, or banana, — things offered to the idols, — and death was the penalty. The priest, too, came in with his tabus and his exactions for his idols. There were six principal gods with names, and au in- definite number of spirits. Whatsoever the priest de- manded for the god — food, a house, land, human sacri- fice — must be forthcoming. If he pronounced a day tabu, the man who was found in a canoe, or even enjoy- ing the company of his family, died. If any one made a noise when prayers were saying, or if the priest pro- nounced him irreligious, he died. When a temple was built, and the people had finished the toil, some of them \ ere ofi’ered in sacrifice. In all these modes, the oppres- biou of the nation was enormous. The race had once been singularly healthy. They told the first missionaries — an exaggeration, of course — that formerly they died only of old age. But foreign sailors IN THK SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 7 had introduced diseases, reputable, and especially dis- reputable ; and now, between the desolations of war, in- fanticide, and infamous diseases widely spread by general licentiousness, the nation was rapidly wasting away. Such was the forbidding race on whom the missionaries were to try the power of the cross. “ Probably none of you will live to witness the downfall of Idolatry,” — so said the Rev. Mr. Kellogg to Mr. Ruggles, as they took breakfast together at East Windsor, the morning before he left home. And so thought, no doubt, the whole com- munity. But God’s thoughts are not as our thoughts. IIopu called up his friend Ruggles at one o’clock on a moonlight night (March 31), to get the first glimpse of Hawaii ; and at daybreak the snow-capped peak of Mauua Kea was in full view. A few hours more, and IIopu pointed out the valley where he was born. A boat is put off, with Iloj)u and others in it, which encounters some fishermen, and returns. As the boat nears the ves- sel, IIopu is seen swinging his hat in the air ; and as soon as he airives within hail, he shouts, “Oahu’s idols are no more ! ” Ou coming aboard, he brings the thrilling news that the old king Kamchameha is dead ; that Liholiho, his son, succeeds him ; that the images of the gods are all burned; that the men are all “ Inoahs,” — they eat with the women ; that but one chief was killed in settling the government, and he for refusing to destroy his gods. Next day the message was confirmed. Kamehaineha, a remarkable man, had passed away. On his death-bed he asked an American trader to tell him about the Amer- icans’ God ; but, said the native informant, in his broken Euglish, “ He no tell him anything.” All the remaining intelligence was also true. The missionaries wrote in their journal, “ Sing, O heavens, for the Lord hath done E 8 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. it.” Tlie brig soon anchored in Kailua Bay, the king’s residence ; and a fourteen days’ consultation between the king and chiefs followed. Certain foreigners opposed their landing ; “ they had come to conquer the islands.” “ Then,” said the chiefs, “ they would not have brought their women.” The decision was favorable. Messrs. Bing- ham, Loomis, Chamberlain, and Honoree go to Oahu ; and Messrs. Buggies and Whitney accompany the young Tamoree to his father, the subject king of Kauai. The meeting of father and son was deeply affecting. The old king, for his son’s sake, adopted Mr. Buggies also as his son, and gave him a tract of land, with the power of a chief. He prepared him a house, soon built a school-house and chapel, and followed him with acts of friendship which Avere of great benefit to tlie mission Avhile the king lived, and after his death. He himself became a hopeful con- vert, and in 1824 died in the faith. When the missionaries were landed the brig sailed, leaving them, out of three years’ supplies provided by the Board, one barrel of pork, one of beef, and one of flour. But the kindness of the natives saved the mission from Avant. And noAV the missionaries settled down to their Avork. They had found a nation sunk in ignorance, sensuality, and vice, and nominally Avithout a religion, though, really, still in the grasp of many of their old supersti- tions. The old religion had been discarded chiefly on account of its burdensomeness. We cannot here recount all the agencies, outer and inner, Avhich brought about this remarkable couvulsion. But no religious motives seem to have had any special power. Indeed, King Liholiho Avas intoxicated Avhen he dealt to the system Its finishing stroke by compelling his wives to eat pork. IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 9 Anri by a providence as remarkable as inscrutable, tlie high priest threw his whole weight into the scale. Into this opening, tints signally furnished by the hand of God, the missionaries entered with wonder and gratitude. Tlie natives educated in America proved less serviceable than was expected. Tenooe was soon excommunicated ; although in later years he recovered, and lived and dieil a well-reputed Christian. IIopu and Honoree, while tliey continued faithful, had partly lost their native tongue, lacked the highest skill as interpreters, and naturally failed in judgment, llojni, at the opening of the first revival, was found busy in arranging the inquirers on his right hand and his left hand, respectively, as they answered yes or no to tlie single question, “ Do you love your enemies?” and was greatly disturbed at being inter- rupted. • The king and the chiefs, with their families, were the first pupils. Tliey insisted on the privilege. Within three months the king could read the English language, and in six mouths several chiefs could both read and write. The missionaries devoted themselves vigorously to the work of reducing the native speech to writing; and in less than two years the first sheet of a native spelling- book was printed — followed by the second, however, only after the lapse of six mouths. From time to time several accessions of laborers were received from America, and various changes of location took place. The first bap- tized native was Keopuolani, the mother of the king; and others of the high chiefs were among the earlier converts. The leading personages, for the most part, showed much readiness to adopt the suggestions of the missionaries. In 1824 the principal chiefs formally agreed to recognize the Sabbath, and to adopt the ten commandments as the 10 EKETCUES OF TUE MISSIONS. basis of government. They also soon passed a law for- bidding females to visit the ships for immoral purposes. The gravest obstacles encountered came from vile cap- tains and crews of English and American ves.sels. They became ferocious towards the influences and the men that checked their lusts. The British whale-ships Daniel, and John Palmer, and the American armed schooner Dolphin, commanded by Lieutenant Percival, were prominent in open outrage. The house of missionary Richards was twice assailed by the ruffians of the ship Daniel, encour- aged by their captain. On one occasion they came and demanded his influence to repeal the law against prostitu- tion. On his refusal, they, in the presence of his feeble wife, threatened, with horrid oaths, to destroy his prop- erty, his house, his life, and the lives of all his family. Two days after, forty men returned, with a black flag, and armed with knives, repeating the demand. The chiefs at length called out a company of two hundred men, armed with muskets and spears, and drove them oflf. The crew of the Dolphin, with knives and clubs, on the Siibbath assailed a small religious assembly of chiefs, gathered at the house of one of their number, who was sick. Mr. Bingham, who was also present, fell into their hands, on his way to protect his house, and barely escaped Avith his life from the blow of a club and the thrust of a knife, being rescued by the natives. A mob of English and American ■whalemen, in October, 182G, started for the house of Mr. Richards, at Lahaiua, with the inten- tion of taking his life. Not finding him, they pillaged the town ; while all the native Avomen, from a population of four thousand, fled i’rom their lust, for refuge in the mountains. A year later, the family of Mr. Richards took refuge in the cellar from the cannon-balls of the IN THE SANDWICH ISL iNDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 11 John Palmer, which passed over the roof of the house. When printed copies of the ten commandments were about to be issued, this class of men carried their opposi- tion, with threats, before the king. At Honolulu, while the matter was pending, Mr. Riiggles was approached by an American captain, bearing the satirical name of Meek, who flourished his dagger, and angrily declared himself ready “to bathe his hands in the heart’s blood of every missionary who had anything to do with it.” At one time, twenty-one sailors came up the hill, with clubs, threatening to kill the missionaries unless they were furnished with women. The natives, gathering for wor- ship, immediately thronged around the house so thickly that they were intimidated, and sneaked away. At another time, fourteen of them surrounded the mis- sionary, with the same demand, but were frightened off by the resolute bearing of the noble chief Kapiolani — a majestic woman, six feet high — who, arriving at the in- stant, swung her umbrella over her head, with the crisp words, “ Be off in a moment, or I will have every one of you in irons.” She was the same Christian heroine who, in 1824, broke the terrible spell which hung over the volcano Kilauea, by venturing down into the crater, in defiance of the goddess Pele, hurling stones into the boiling lake, and worshiping Jehovah on its black ledge. It is easy to understand why a certain class of captains and sailors have always pronounced the Sandwich Islands mission a wretched failure. The missionaries labored on undaunted. Eight years from their lauding found them at work, some thirty-two in number, with lour hundred and forty native teachers, twelve thousand Sabbath heai’ers, and twenty-six thou- sand pupils in their schools. At this time, about fifty 12 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. Datives, including Kaahumanu, the Queen Regent, and many of the principal chiefs, were members of the church. And now, in the year 1828, the dews of heaven began to fall visibly upon the mission. For two or three years the way had been preparing. Kaahumanu, converted in 1828, and several other high chiefs, had thrown them- selves vigorously and heartily into the work. “ They made repeated tours around all the principal islands,” Sivys Mr. Dibble, “ assembling the people from village to village, and delivering addresses day after day, in which they prohibited immoral acts, enjoined the observance of the Sabbath, encouraged the people to learn to read, and exhorted them to turn to God, and to love and obey the Saviour of sinners.” “ The effect was electrical — per- vading at once every island of the group, every obscure village and district, and operating with immense power on all grades and conditions of society. The chiefs gave orders to the people to erect houses of worship, to build school-houses, and to learn to read — they readily did so ; to listen to the instructions of the missionaries — they at once came in crowds for that purpose.” About this time, too (May, 1825), the remains of King Liholiho and Ids wife were brought back from their unfortunate expedition to England, where they died from the measles. Their attending chiefs filled the ears of the people with what they saw in England ; and Lord Byron, commander of the British frigate which brought the remains, gave an honorable testimony to the missionaides. These various influences caused a great rush to hear the Word of God. The people would come regularly, ifty or sixty miles, traveling the whole of Saturday, to itteud Sabbath worship ; and would gatlier in little com- panies, from every point of the compass, like the tribes IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 13 as they went up to Jerusalem. Meauwliile, the printed Word was circulated throughout the villages. At length the early fruits appeared. In the year 1828, a gracious work hegau, simultaneously and without com- munication, in the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, and Maui. It came unexpectedly. The transactions at Kaawaloa (Hawaii) well illustrate the work. Mr. Ruggles was away from home, with Mr. Bishop, on an excursion to visit the schools of the island. Tliey liad been w'recked, and had swum ashore. Two natives, who were sent home for shoes and clothing, brought a message from Mrs. Ilug- gles to her husband, requesting his immediate return, for “ strange things were happening — the natives were com- ing in companies, inquiring what they sliould do to be saved.” He hastened back, and found the house sur- rounded from morning till night, and almost from niglit till morning. A company of ten or twenty would be re- ceived into the liouse, and anotlier company would wait their turn at the gate. So it went on for weeks, and even months, and the missionaries could get no rest or refreshment, except as tliey called in Kapiolani and others of the converted chiefs to relieve tliem. Mr. and Mrs. Ruggles liad tlie names of twenty-five hundred in- quirers on their books. Witli multitudes, it was, uo doubt, but sympathy or fashion ; but there were also a large number of real inquirers, and many hopeful conversions. All the converts were kept in training classes a year be- fore they were admitted to the church, and then only on the strictest examination. During the two following years, three hundred and fifty persons were received to communion at the several stations. For a time the work seemed to lull again, but in 1836 the whole aspect of the field was so inviting that the Board sent out a strong 14 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. missionary rc-cnforcenieut of thirty-two persons, male and female. At this time, and for the following year, the hearts of the missionaries were singularly drawn out in desires and prayers for the conversion, not only of the islands, but of America and of the world. And scarcely had the new laborers been assigned to their places, and learned the language, when (in 1838) there began, and continued for six years, one of the most remarkable awakenings that the world has ever witnessed. All hearts seemed tender. Whenever tlie Word was preached, conviction and con- versions followed. The churches roused up to self- examination and prayer; the stupid listened; the vile and groveling learned to feel ; the congregations became immense, and sometimes left their churches (or the open air, and the prayer meetings left the lecture-room for the body of the church. There were congregations of four, live, and six thousand persons. The labors of the mis- sionaries were almost incredible. They traveled through the islands, facing the storms and climbing the ravines, visiting, preaching, conversing, examining, in season, out of season. They preached from seven to twenty, or even thirty times a week ; and the sense of guilt in the hearers often broke forth in groans and loud cries. Probably many indiscretions were committed, and there were many spurious conversions. But, after all allowances, time show’cd that a wonderful work was wrought. During the six years from 1838 to 1843, inclusive, twenty-seven thousand persons were admitted to the churches. In some instances the crowds to be baptized on a given Sabbath required extraordinary modes of baptism ; and Mr. Coau, whose labors were incessant, and who baptized some seven thousand persons, is said to have sprinkled IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 15 water with a brush upon the candidates as they came before liiin in throngs. Tlie next twenty years added more than twenty thou- sand other members to tlie cliurches, making the whole number received, up to the end of the connection with the American Board in 18G3, some fifty thousand souls. Many of these had then been excommunicated — in some instances, it ivas thought, too hastily ; many thousand had gone home to heaven, and in 1863 some twenty thousand still survived iu connection with the churches. At length came the time when the islands were to be recognized as a nominally Christian nation, and the re- sponsibility of their Christian institutions was to be rolled off upon themselves. In June, 1863, Dr. Anderson, Senior Secretary of the American Board, met with the Hawaiian Evangelical Associatiou to discuss this im- portant measure. After twenty-one days of debate, the result was reached with perfect unanimity, and the As- sociation agreed to assume the responsibility hitherto sustained by the Board. This measure was consum- mated by tbe Board in the autumn following, and those stations no longer look to the American churches for management and control. “ The mission has been, as such, disbanded and merged in the community.” On the 15th of January, 1864, at Queen’s Hospital, Honolulu, died William Kanui (Tenooe), aged sixty- six years, the last of the native youth who gave rise to the mission and accompanied the first missionaries. He had wandered — had been excommunicated — and was restored ; and after many years of faithful service he died in the triumph of faith. In his last sickness he used “ to recount the wonderful ways ” in which God had led him. “The names of Cornelius, Mills, Beecher, Daggett, Pren- 16 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. lice, Griffin, and others were often on his lips ; ” and he went, no doubt, to join them all above. God had spared his life to see the whole miraculous change that had lifted his nation fiom the depths of degradation to civilization and Christianity. Could the spirit of Henry Obookiah have stood in Honolulu, soon after tlie funeral of Kauui, he would have hardly recognized his native island, ex- cept by its great natural landmarks. He would have seen the city of Honolulu, once a place of grass huts and filthy lanes, now marked by substantial houses and side- walks, and a general air of civilization ; a race of once naked savages decently attired, and living, some of them, in comparative refinement; a nation of readers, whom he left without an alpliabet ; Christian marriage firmly estab- lished in place of almost promiscuous concubinage; prop- erty in the interior exposed with absolute security for an indefinite time, where formerly nothing was safe for an hour ; the islands dotted with a hundred capacious church edifices, built by native hands, some of them made of stone, most of them with bells ; a noble array of several hundred common schools, two female seminaries, a Nor- mal school for natives, a high-school that furnished the first scholar to one of the classes in Williams College ; a theological seminary and twenty-nine native preachers, besides eighteen male and female missionaries sent to the Marquesas Islands ; near twenty thousand living church members ; a government with a settled constitu- tion, a legislature, and courts of justice, and avowing the Christian religion to be “ the established national religion of the Hawaiian Islands.” Tliese facts exhibit tlie bright and marvelous aspect of ihe case. But, of course, they have their drawbacks. The Sandwich Islands are not Paradise, nor even Amer* IN TUE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. ica. The plane of ci%’ilization is, as it must be, far below that of our own country. The old habits still shade into the ncAV. I’eculiar temptations to intemperance and licen- tiousness come down by inheritance. Foreign interven- tions and oppositions have been, and still are, grave hin- drances. Cliurch members but fifty years removed from a state of brntalism cannot, and do not, show the stability, intelligence, and culture of those who inherit the Christian influences of a thousand years. But the amazing transformatiou of the islands is a fact attested not alone by the statements of the missionaries, or of the Board tliat employed tliem. The most generous teslimouy lias come from other sources. The Rev. F. S. Rising, of the American Cliurch iSIissionary Society, ex- plored the islands in 18G6, lor the express purpose of testing the question. lie visited nearly every mission station, examined the institutions, religious, educational, social ; made the personal acquaintance of the missionaries of all creeds, and conversed with jiersons of every profes- sion and social grade. And he writes to the Secretary of the American Board, “The deeper I pushed my investi- gations, the stronger became my conviction, that what had been ou your part necessarily an experimental work in modern missions had, under God, proved an eminent .'uccess. Fvery sunrise brought me new reasons I’or admiring the power of divine grace, which can lift the poor out of the dust, and set him among princes. Every sunsetting gave me fresh cause to ble.ss the Lord for that iufluite love which enables us (o bring to our fellow-men such rich blessings as your missionaries have bestowed on the Hawaiian Islands. To me it seemed marvelous that in comparatively so few years, the social, political, and religious life of the nation should have undergone so l.s SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. raclijal and blessed a change as ii has. Looking at the kingdom of Ilawaii-nei, as it to-day has its recognized place among the world’s sovereignties, I cannot but see in it one of the brightest trophies of the power of the cross.” “What of Hawaiian Christianity? I would apply to it the same test by which we measure the Christianity of our own and other lands. There aie certain outward .signs which indicate that it has a high place in the national respect, conscience, and affection. Possessing these visible marks, we declare of any country that it is Christian. The Hawaiian kingdom, for this reason, is properly and truly called so. The constitu- tion recognizes the Christian faith as the religion of tiie nation. Tlie Bible is I'oiind in almost every hut. Prayer — social, lamily, and indi\idual — is a popular habit. The Lord’s day is more sacredly observed than in New’ York. Churches of stone or brick dot the valleys and crowu the hill-tops, and have been built by the voluntary contributions of the utitives. There the Word is preached, and the sacraments administered. Sunday schools abound. The contributions of the people for religious uses are very generous, and there is ii native ministry growing in num- bers and iiidueuce, girded for carrying on the work so well begun. The past history of the Hawaiian mission abounds with bright examples, like Kaahumanu and Kapiolani, and some were pointed out to me as I went to and fro. They were at one time notoriously wicked. Their lives are manifestly changed. They are striving to be holy in their hearts and lives. They are fond of the Bible, of the sanctuary, tind prayer. Their theology may be crude, but their faith iu Christ is simple and tenacious. A.ud when we see some such in every congregation, we know that the work has not been altogether in vain. IN TUK SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 19 In 18C0 Richard II. Dana, Esq., a distinguished Boston lawyer, of the PIpiscopal Cliuich, gave a similar testi- mony in the New York Trihune, during liis visit to the islands. Among other tilings, he mentions that “ the proportion of inhabitants who can read and write is greater than in New England ; ” that they may be seen “ going to school and public worship with more regularity than the people at home ; ” that after attending the ex- amination of Oahu College, “ he advised the young men to remiiin thei'e to tlie end of their course [then extend- ing only to Junior year], as they could not pass the Freshman and Sophomore years more profitably else- where, in my judiiment ; ” that “ in no place in the world that I have visited are the rules which control vice and regulate amusement so strict, yet so reasonable, and so fairly enforced that “ in the interior it is well known that a man may travel alone with money through the wildest spots unarmed;” and that he “found no hut without its Bible and hymn hook in the native tongue, and the practice of family prayer and grace before meat, though it be no more than a calabash of poi and a few dried fish, and whether at home or on a journey, is as common as in New England a century ago.” There is one sad aspect about this interesting nation. The population has been steadily declining since the islands were first discovered. Cook, in 1773, estimated the number of inbabitants at four hundred thousand. This estimate, long thought to be exaggerated, is now supposed to be not far from the truth. But in 1823, wars, infanticide, foreign lust, imported drinks, and disease, had reduced them to the estimated number of one hun- dred aud forty-two thousand ; and in 1830, to the ascer- tained number of one hundred aud thirty thousand. In F •20 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. tlie lapse of a few years after tlie first visits of foreign vessels, half the population are said to have been swept away with diseases induced or heiglitened by their unholy intercourse. The mission has done what could be done to save the nation. But the wide taint of infamous dis- eases was descending down tlie national life before the missionaries reached the islands ; and the flood-gates of intemperance were wide open. The gospel has retarded the nation’s decline. But foreign influences have always interfered — and now, perhaps, more than ever. The sale of ardent spirits Avas once checked, but is now free. The present monarch stands aloof from the policy of some of his predecessors, and from the influence of our mission- aries. And the population, reduced to sixty-tw'o thou- sand in 1866, seems to be steadily declining. The Pa- cific Advertiser, which furnishes the facts, finds the chief cause in the fearful prevalence, still, of vice and crime, which are said to have been increasing of late ; and the reason for this increase is “ political degrada- tion,” and the readiness with which the people now ob- tain intoxicating drinks. It must be remembered that “ in the height of the whaling season, the number of transient seamen in the port of Honolulu equals half the population of the town ; ” and the influences they bring breathe largely of hell. Commercial forces and move- ments, meanwhile, are changing the islands. The lands are already passing into the hands of foreign capitalists, and the islands are falling into the thoroughfare of the nations. The proper sequel, therefore, of this grand missionary triumph may be taken away ; and the race itself, as a nation, may possibly cease to be. But in no event can the value or the glory of the work achieved be destroyed: IN T H E SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 21 Not only will thousands on thousands of human souls thereby liave been brouglit into the kingdom, by the labor of a Imndred missionaries, and the expenditure of perliaps a million dollars from America, but a grand experiment will liave been tried before the world, and an imperish- able memorial erected for all time, of what the remedial power of the gospel can accomplish, in an incredibly short time, upon a most imbruted race. “ Fifty years ago,” says Dr. A. P. Peabody, “ the half-reasoning elephant, or the tractable and troth-keeping dog, might have seemed the peer, or more, of the unreasoning and conscienceless Hawaiian. From that very race, from that very genera- tion, with which the nobler brutes might have scorned to claim kindred, have been developed the peers of saints and angels.” And all the more glorious is the move- ment, that the nation was sunk so low, and was so rapid- ly wasting away. “ If the gospel,” says Dr. Anderson, “ took the people at the lowest point of social existence, — at death’s door, when beyond tlie reacli of all human remedies, with the causes of decline and destruction all in their most vigorous operation, — and has made them a Christian people, checked the tide of depopulation, and has raised the nation so on the scale of social life, as to have gained for it an acknowledged place among the na- tions of the earth, what more wonderful illustration can there be of its remedial power?” The history of the Sandwich Islands will stand forever as the vindication to the caviler of the worth of Chris- tian missions, and as a demonstration to the Christian of what they might be expected to accomplish in other lands, if prosecuted with a vigor at all proportioned to the na- ture and extent of the field, and crowned with the bless* ing of God. 22 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. The mission cluircli mu.st in due time turn missionary. So rightly reasoned the members of the Sandwieh Islands mission. Thirty years had elapsed ; fifteen hundred dol- lars a year were collected at the monthly concert ; the first native pastor had been ordained by a council of native churches, and in the same year the members of the mission proposed that Hawaiian Christians should carry the gospel to other islands. The Prudential Com- mittee at Boston warmly approved the proposal. Another year (1850) saw the Hawaiian Missionary Society formed at Honolulu. Two thousand miles aAvay to the south-west of Hono- lulu lie an immense number of islands — two thousand or more — now embraced under the general name of Micronesia — the Little Islands. Scattered in groups known by various appellations — Ladrones, Carolines, and the like — tliey stretch from three degrees south to twenty degrees north of the equator, and were then sup- posed to contain a population of two hundred thousand. Many of them were built wholly by the coral insect, and lie flat upon the water, while a few of them are basaltic islands, M’ith mountains two or three thousand feet in height. These various groups differ in language and in the details of their customs and superstitions, but agree in the general characteristics of their native occupants. They are the natural homes of indolence and sensuality, of theft and violence. The warmth of the climate ren- ders clothing a superfluity, and houses needless except for shade ; while the constant vegetation of the tropics dispenses with accumulated stores of food. A race of lawny savages stalk round almost or quite naked, swim like fish in the waters, or bask in the sunshine on shore. They prove as ready to catch, as vile sailors are to coin- IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 23 mnnic.Tte, the vices of civilized lands. Intemperance is an easily besetting sin, and licentiousness is, with rare exceptions, the general and almost ineradicable pollution of the Pacific Islands. But in the Kingsmill group the missionaries found a people who, though practicing poly- gamy, held in honor the chastity of woman. The attention of the missionaries was turned to three of these groups of islands — the Caroline, the Marshall, or Mulgrave, and the Kingsmill, or Gilbert Islands. The eastern portion of the Caroline chain was natural- ly fixed upon as the centre of operations by reason of the convenient location and healthful climate. Two of these, Kusaie and Ponape, were the first to be occupied. Ponape, or Ascension Island, is a high basaltic island, sixty miles in circumference, surrounded by ten smaller basaltic islands, all inclosed within a coral reef. It rises to the height of two thousand eight hundred and fifty feet, and has its rivers and waterfalls. The island is a physical paradise, with a delightful climate, in which the range of the thermometer for lliree years was but seven- teen degrees, and with a various and luxuriant vegeta- tion. Among the indigenous products are the bread- fruit, banana, cocoa-nut, taro, sugar-cane, ava, arrowroot, sassafras, Siigo, wild orange, and mango, with an im- mense variety of timber trees ; while lemons, oranges, pine-apples, coffee, tamarinds, guava, tobacco, and other exotics thrive abundantly. From the mangrove trees that line the sliore the ground rises by a series of natural terraces ; and while twenty' varieties of birds fill the air witli life, a popnlation of five thousand people are so hidden in the overhanging forests and shrubbery that but for an occasional canoe, or a smoke ascending, the pas.**- ing vessel would scarcely know it to be inhabited. The 24 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. inliabitants seem to be of Malay descent, and the place was “a moral Sodom.” Kusaie, or Strong’s Island, the easternmost of the Carolines, is one of a small cluster, and is about thirty miles in circumference. It rises to the height of two thousand feet, wooded to the summit, and it then con- tained some one thousand five hundred people, strongly Asiatic both in look and speech. Here polygamy was unknown, and labor comparatively honorable. Many of the inhabitants, witli an unusual quickness of apprehen- sion, had learned of foreigners a kind of broken English before the missionaries arrived, and the Good King George, as his snbjects called him, had, with surprising wisdom, forbidden the tapping of the cocoa-nut tree for the manufacture of intoxicating drink. Korth-east of Kusaie lie tlie Marshall, sometimes called Mulgrave, Islands, subdivided into the Radack and Ra- lick, or eastern and western chains. About thirty prin- cipal islands compose the group. They are all of coral formation, but much higher, more fertile and inviting, than the Gilbert group, south of them. Majuro, or Arrowsmith, for example, is described as a magnificent island, rising eight or ten 1‘eet above the water at the landing-place, sprinkled with forests of breadfruit and pandanus trees, and abounding with cocoa-nuts and ba- nanas. The population of the whole group was esti- mated at twelve thousand or upwards, speaking, to some extent, different languages. They had been compara- tively uncontaminated by foreign intercourse from their reputation for ferocity. Several vessels had been cut ofi’ by them, and a great number of foreigners killed at different times, in retaliation for a former deadly attack upon the natives. The residence of the king and priuci- IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 25 pal chiefs was at Ebon Island. The natives are in some respects superior to many of the Pacific islanders. Their features are sharper, their persons spare and athletic, and tlieir countenances vivacious. The women wear their hair smoothly parted on the forehead, and neatly rolled up in the neck, sometimes adorned wdth flowers, and their skirts, flne and beautifully braided and bor- dered, extend from the waist to the feet. The men ex- hibit much more skill than is common in this region, and are fond of ornaments. Their comparative intelligence and exemption from foreign influence constituted the in- viting aspect of this case ; their alleged ferocity the for- midable feature^ South-east from the Marshall Islands, on both sides of the equator, lie the Kingsmill, or Gilbert Islands. Fifteen or sixteen principal islands, surrounded by a multitude of islets, raised by the coral insect barely above the level of the ocean, contain a population of thirty or forty thousand, speaking mostly a common language resembling the Hawaiian. The land is densely covered with cocoa-nut groves. This is the “ tree of a thousand uses,” furnishing the natives almost “ every- thing they eat, drink, wear, live in, or use in any way.” Their hats, clothing, mats, and cords are made from its leaves ; their houses are built from its timber ; they eat the fruit, drink the milk, make molasses and rum from its juice, and manufacture from it immense quantities of oil for use and for sale. Their religion is the loosest system of spirit-worship, without priest, idol, or temple. They practice polygamy. The children go naked for ten or twelve years. The men wear a girdle, and the women a broader mat around them. Their appearance of nudity is relieved by the tattooing with which they are profusely 26 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. and skillfully adorned. The considerable population, the unity of origin, faith, and language, and the general resemblance of their speech to the Hawaiian, rendered this group inviting, especially to the Sandwich Island laborers, although its torrid sun, comparatively barren soil, and limited range of vegetation made it not alto- gether favorable for the American missionaries’ home. Such was the region to which the gospel was to be carried. On the 18th of November, 1851, missionaries Snow and Gulick, with their wives, left Boston in the Esther May, and two months afterward, Mr. and Mrs. Sturges, in the Snow Squall, for Micronesia by way of the Sandwich Islands. Seven native Hawaiians were ready to join them, but two only, with their wives, were selected for the opening of the mission. The native churches made liberal contributions for their outfit and support. King Kamehameha HI. gave them a noble letter of commendation to the Micronesian chiefs. A mission church w'as organized early in July, 1852, and on the 15th of the same month, just thirty-three years, or one whole generation, from the date of the former parting at Long Wharf, in Boston, the like scene took place in the harbor of Honolulu. A crowd of natives thronged the shore as the missionaries put oflf for the schooner Caroline. On the deck of the schooner there is a prayer in Haw'aiian, and another in English, a verse of the Missionary Hymn, a shaking of friendly hands, and with a gentle breeze the vessel glides away. The Caroline arrived at the Gilbert Islands, and on the 21st of August anchored at Kusaie. The mission- aries w'ere pleasantly received by Good King George in a faded flannel shirt, while his wife sat by in a short cotton gown, and his subjects approached him crouching IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 27 ou their hands and knees. He consented to the mission, gave them supplies, promised them land and a house, and on hearing the thirteenth chapter of Romans and witnessing their worship, he pronounced both to be “ first rate.” Messrs. Snow, Opunui, and their wives commenced their work in this isolated place, where at one time they passed a period of two full years without a letter from America. A fortnight later the Caroline anchored in the land-locked harbor of Pouape, where the king came on board, and after some conversation, told them it should be “ good for them to stop.” And here Messrs. Sturges, Gulick, Kaaikaula, and their wives were soon established in their new home. In 1854 they were followed by Dr. Pierson and the native IIa\vaiian, Kanoa. These brethren brought a blessing to the crew of the whaling bark Belle that carried them ; her three mates were converted on the voyage. As they cruised among the Marshall Islands on their way to Kusaie, by a good providence, the king’s sister, a remarkable woman, took passage from Ebon to another island, became attached to the missionaries, and spoke their praises at every island where they touched. The missionaries proceeded on their voyage to Kusaie, but with a deep conviction that the Lord was calling them back to the Marshall group. At length (1857) tlie Morning Star, the children’s vessel, heaves in sight at Kusaie. She brings Mr. aud Mrs. Bingham, and Kanakaole, with his wife, ou their way to the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. They are joined here by Messrs. Pierson and Doane, and sail for their destination. As they set out for Ebon Island, of the Marshall group, they are solemnly warned by old «ea captains of the danger that awaits them from that 28 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. ferocious people, Ou approaching the island, the cap- tain put up his boarding nettings, stationed his men fore and aft, and anxiously awaited the issue. Fifteen canoes drew near, jammed full of men. In the prow of the foremost stood a powerful man with a wreath on bis bead and huge rings in his ears. On they came, but in the same instant Dr. Pierson and the savage recognized each other as old acquaintances, and the savage came on board shouting, “ Docotor, docotor ! ” in perfect delight. Many months before, it seems, this man and a hundred others had been driven by a storm upon Kusaie, where the missionaries had rescued them, and befriended them with food and medicine, and they had returned to their homes in peace. So the Lord befriended the mission- aries in turn, and prepared them a welcome among the so-called cannibals. And when, after a further cruise of thirty days, the Morning Star returned to leave the missionaries at Ebon, they were met on the water by twenty canoe loads of people shouting, singing, and dancing for joy. On the shore they were received with every demonstration of friendship, and the aged female chief who had once sailed with Dr. Pierson among the islands took him by both hands, and led him joyfully to her house. On the same voyage Mr. Bingham and Kanoa were set down at Apaiang, of the Gilbe’'t , group where the king gave them a pleasant home. Thus was the gospel first carried to these threAgjIjQUDs of islands ; and here we leave them and their tcito^ laborers that followed them, chiefly Hawaiians, at their self-denying toils. We will briefly sketch the progress of the work on the principal island, Ponape, as a speci- men of the whole. Here the king, though almost help- less with the palsy, was friendly to the enterprise ; while IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 29 the Nanakin, his chief officer, expressed himself warmly, and received an English book with the avowed deter- mination to learn to read it. “The cooper should teach him how, or he would pound him.” Two short mouths sufficed to awaken the enmity of unprincipled foreigners. Two captains had bought one of the small islands, and made out a deed for the Nauakin to sign. He brought it to the missionaries, 'wlio found it to contain the gross- est frauds, including even the forgery of the Nauakin’s signature. The exposure, of course, created hostility. Six months brought fifteen vessels, and though in most instances the captains were friendly, and even kind, every arrival was attended with deplorable influences on the morals of the native women. Then came the opening of a school, some of the scholai’s sitting patiently for six long hours to get an opportunity to steal. Then came the small-pox, and before the end of the first year it had carried olF multitudes of the inhabitants, broken up the school, arrested all plans of labor, prostrated the Ha- waiian preacher, and produced a general recklessness and bitterness of feeling through the island. To tidd to the evil, the vaccine matter received from the Sandwich Islands proved worthless, and wicked foreigners circu- lated the report that 'the missionaries had introduced and were spreading the disease. By resorting boldly to inoculation, and beginning with the Nanakin, the mis- sionaries at length saved many lives and regained confi- dence. In the midst of this calamity, Mr. Sturges’ house burned up, with all its contents, driving him and his family to the w'oods. Hostilities arose, also, among the tribes, attended with robberies and murders, and the sailors continued to bring moral pollution. One day, in his accustomed tour, Mr. Sturges passed near three 30 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. brotliels* all kept by foreigners. But the missionaries toiled on, resumed their schools, gathered their growing congregations, privately sowed the good seed, and in four years’ time were printing hymns and Old Testament stories in Ponapean. After a night of eight years three converts were at one time received to their little church, followed by eight others soon ; and meanw'hile a little church of six members was formed in another part of the island. Revivals brought opposition, and more or less of persecution. At length a chapel w'as built in the mountains by native hands, and at the principal station a church edifice, forty feet by sixty, solemnly dedicated to God. Hardly was it consecrated when the Morning Star arrived with an eight hundred pound bell, the gift of friends in Illinois ; and within a fortnight the Nanakin, with his wife and fourteen other converts, sat down at the table of the Lord. The chief had vibrated back and forth — now proclaiming Sabbath observance, breaking up five brothels, and following the missionary round the island, and now distributing toddy profusely among the people — till at length the Lord brought him in. Half the islanders had by this time yielded an outward defer- ence to the true religion. Early in the year 1867 there were religious services regularly held at twelve principal places, a thousand readers, one hundred and sixty-one church members in good standing, and numbers of con- verts soon to be received. Three new churches had been erected by the natives within two years, in one of which (in May, 1867) one hundred communicants sat down to the Lord’s table, in the presence of six hundred spectators, on the very spot where, fourteen years before, Mr. Sturges was near being overcome and robbed ; and another of these churches just built, though seating five IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 31 htindred persons, will soon need to be enlarged. At Kusaie there are one hundred and eighty-three church members, of whom ninety-three were received in 1867.* Three stone chapels had just been erected, four native deacons ordained, and the eye of the missionary turned to one man — the only living child of Good King George — for a native pastor ; while the influence of the churches is reacting on the sailors. Tliere are about sixty church members now at the Marshall Islands, and the prospects are eminently hopeful. In the Gilbert group it is still seed-time, but the knowledge is spreading from island to island. Among the laborers are ten Hawaiian missionaries, who have toiled wisely and faithfully. On many of these islands the population is steadily growing less. Possibly the religious books tliat now exist in these several tongues may one day lie, like Eliot’s Indian Bible, with- out a reader ; but they will be monuments of noble Christian self-denial, and mementoes of souls gathered into the kingdom of heaven. It remains to say a fe^v words of the Marquesas. The mission here is in every aspect most remarkable, whether we consider the character of the people, the origin, the agency, or the influence of the mission. The Marquesas Islands, six in number, are situated nearly as far from Mieronesia as from Hawaii. They are of volcanic for- mation, their mountains rising to the heiglit of four or five thousand feet, ■with a wonderful grandeur and variety of scenery. The climate is fine, and the valleys unsur- passed in fertility, abounding in all manner of tropical fruits and vegetation. The fruits hang temptingly upon • The statistics are of 1868. See Appendix. G 32 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIOX3. the trees, o; drop on the ground. The Islands contain about eight thousand people, of Malay origin, speaking a language very similar to the Hawaiian. The natives have fine athletic forms, great vivacity and quick appre- hension, but are to the last degree impatient of labor and control. They are, in fact, among the most lawless, quarrelsome, and ferocious of the tribes of men. They have no acknowledged form of government. The indi- vidual gluts his revenge unhindered, and the clans in the various valleys are in perpetual warfare. The bodies of the slain are cut in pieces, and distributed among the clan to be devoured, the little children even partaking of the horrid meal. In 1859, when the whale-ship Star- light was wrecked off the Island of Hivaoa, the natives conspired to massacre the crew in order to plunder the vessel, though in both objects they were frustrated. The comaiunity cannot have forgotten the letter of President Lincoln to the missionary Kekela, a few years ago, thanking him for his services in rescuing the mate of an American ship, Mr. Whalon, from being roasted and eaten by these cannibals. The disposition of the natives is to some degree symbolized by their personal appear- ance — the men hideously tattooed with lizards, snakes, birds, and fishes, and the women smeared with cocoa-nut oil and turmeric. Add to this the most oppressive system of tabus, so that, for example, the father, the mother, and the grown-up daughter must all eat apart from each other, and we have some idea of the obstacles to the Christian religion in those islands. Some years ago a Hawaiian youth w’as left by a vessel at these islands sick. He recovered, and by his superior knowledge became a man of importance, and married the daughter of the high chief Mattunui. The father- O O IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 33 in-law was so impressed with his acquisitions, which, as he learned, were deriv'ed from the missionaries, that, after consultation with the other chiefs, he embarked for Lahaina to seek missionaries for Marquesas. This was in 1853. The Hawaiian Society felt that the call was from God. Two native pastors — one of them Kekela — and two native teachers, accompanied by their wives, were deputed to go. They were welcomed with joy. Mattunui sat up all night to tell of the “ strange things ” he saw and heard in the Hawaiian Islands ; and an audience of a hundred and fifty listened to preaching on the following Sabbath. The missionaries entered at once on their various forms of Christian activity, organ- izing their schools, and in due time translating the Gos- pel of John. One foreigner alone was with them — Mr. Bicknell, an English mechanic, a noble man, afterward ordained a preacher ; otherwise the wliole enterprise was Hawaiian. Roman Catholic priests hurried at once to tlie islands, but the Hawaiian preachers held on, amid immense discouragements, with great energy and perse- verance, and with admirable good sense. At length God gave them the first convert, Abraham Natua. Soon after this the 'missionaries determined to break down the system of tabus, and a great feast was gotten up on the mission premises, at which the high chief Mattunui, and many others, sat down for the first time with their wives, and broke through the system in every available direction. It was a grand blow at the whole institution. In four years the intolerable thievishness of the natives was so far checked within the range of the missions that clothing could be exposed, and the mission premises could be left unlocked the entire day, with perfect safety. Urgent calls came from various parts of the islands for 34 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. missionaries, five or six pieces of laud — more than could be occupied — being given in Hivaoa alone. Converts came dropping in sloAvly, one by one, at first ; and a quiet and powerful influence has been diffusing itself through the islands, and filling the minds of these de- voted preachers with great hopes of the future. In 1867 there were eleven male and female missionaries at the islands, who had organized five churches with fifty-seven members, and were about to establish a boarding school for boys and another for girls. And in 1868 Mr. Coan, who had just visited the islands, w^rote thus : “The light, and love, and gravitating power of the gospel are per- meating the dead masses of the Marquesans. Scores already appear as true disciples of Jesus. Scores can read the Word of the living God, and it is a power within them. Hundreds have forsaken the tabus, and hundreds of others hold them lightly. Consistent missionaries and their teachings are respected. Their lives and persons are sacred where human life is no more regarded than that of a dog. They go secure w'here others dare not go. They leave houses, wives, and children without fear, and savages protect them. Everywhere we see evidence of the silent and sure progress of truth, and we rest assured that the time to favor the dark Marquesans has come.” Whether we view the people on whom, or the people by whom, this power has been put forth, we see alike a signal movement of the gospel of Christ. May, 1876. Another edition of the foregoing sketch being called for, while using the stereotype plates as they stand, a few sentences will be added in regard to the Micronesia mis- sion (still one of the missions of the American Board), IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 35 bringing the statistics down to the present time. A rein- forcement of American missionaries was sent to this field ' in 1874, consisting of Rev. Messrs. Horace J. Taylor and Robert W. Logan, and Mr. Frank E. Rand, a teacher, with their wives. The company sailed from Honolulu July 11, Mr. Taylor for Apaiang, the others for Ponape. Mrs. Taylor was removed by death in September, after having been but a few weeks in the field, leaving delight- ful evidence of her interest in, and hearty consecration to the work. Mr. and Mrs. Bingham were constrained to leave Apaiang in May, 1875, by the serious illness of Mr. Bingham, and they are now at the Sandwich Islands. Tlie health of Mrs. Doane not permitting her to reside in Micronesia, Mr. Doane also felt that he must leave the field in 1875, and they are now connected with the Japan mission. The progress of the work has been marked. Hawaiian missionaries now occupy six of the Gilbert and four of the Marshall Islands. Pingelap and Mokil, between Kusaie and Ponape in the Caroline Islands, have become out- stations, with Ponapean helpers and growing churches ; and more recently, in .January, 1874, two islands of the Mortlock group, Lukunor and Satoan, about 300 miles southwest of Ponape, were occupied by three promising Ponapean laborers and their wives — three of the seven who were mentioned by Mr. Doane in June, 1873, as hav- ing been “ licensed ” for Christian work. They went to what was to them truly z, foreign field, in the spirit, ap- parently, of full consecration, and have met with much encouragement. In October, 1875, Mr. Sturges and others visited these islands in the “ Morning Star,” and ^und such evidence that a considerable number of the people had already (after less than two years of labor 36 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. among them) heartily embraced the truth and become true followers of Christ, that three churches were organ- ized, with sixteen, fourteen, and eight members, respect- ively, and one of the Ponapeans was ordained as a pastor. Mr. Doane, on leaving the field in 1874, made the fol- lowing statements as to the progress of the work since the “ Caroline ” took the first three mission families (Snow, Gulick, and Sturges) to Micronesia, in 1852 : “ These first few laborers have been increased, till now there are seven American missionaries, and eleven Hawaiians. Four of the most important dialects of the field have been reduced to writing, and into all of them the New Testa- ment, or a portion of it, has been translated. More than 2,500,000 pages of school-books and of the Scriptures, have been printed. More than 500 Christian songs have been prepared, either original or translated. There are three training schools, with 100 pupils, and many hundreds of natives read well what has been printed for them. There are about twenty churches, with a membership in the ag- gregate of about 1,200, giving, for each of the twenty-two years of toil, forty-five conversions. The contributions at the monthly concerts for the past year will be hard on to $1,000, and not a small sum have the natives paid for books. And from these churches there have been sent forth (and partly supported by them) ten catechists, some as home, some 2 iS foreign laborers ; and the so-called foreign ones are emphatically so, going to a people of another dialect, as foreign to them, almost, as to an American mission- ary.” IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 37 Postscript, October^ 1880. The four years wliich have passed since the preceding pages were stereotyped have been marked by the usual vicissitudes, with encouraging progress on the whole, in this mission. In 1877 Dr. and Mrs. Pease joined the mission, and four American laborers were constrained to leave, Mr. and Mrs. Snow, Mr. Taylor, and Mrs. Logan. The lat- ter soon rejoined her husband, and Mr. Taylor, after a temporary release, has gone back to the mission. Mrs. Snow expects soon to return ; but her husband, the vete- ran of the mission, has not been spared to return with her. After three years’ residence in his native State, Maine, he died there May 1, 1880. In 1878 Mr. Doane rejoined the mission after an absence of several years. In 1879, the only change in the missionary force was the return of Mrs. Sturges to America, to be followed by her husband, on the next trip of the “ Morning Star.” But the number of missionaries has been made good in 1880 by the ac- cession of Mrs. Taylor, who went with her returning hus- band, and Mr. and Mrs. Alfred C. Walkup, all to be sta- tioned on the Gilbert Islands. The present missionary force from America is as fol- lows : — Went Out. Bingham, Rev. Hiram, at Honolulu . 18.56. Bingham, -Mrs. Minerva C., Honolulu 1856. Doane, Rev. Edward T., Ponape . . 1854. Logan, Rev. Robert W., Ponape 1874. Logan, Mrs. Mary E., Ponape . 1874. Pease, Rev. Edward !M., m. d.. Ebon . 1877. Pease, Mi-s. Harriet A., Ebon . 1877. Rand, Mr. Frank E., Ponape . 1874. 38 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. Eand, Mrs. Carrie T., Ponape 1874. Snow, Mrs. Lydia V., in America .... 1851. Sturges, Eev. Albert A., in America .... 1852. Sturges, Mrs. Susan M., in America .... 1852. Taylor, Rev. Horace J., Gilbert Islands . . . 1874. Taylor, Mrs. Julia A., Gilbert Islands . . . . 1880. Walkup, Rev. Alfred C., Gilbert Islands . . . 1880. Walkup, Mrs. Margaret L., Gilbert Islands . . . 1880. Whitney, Rev. Joel F., Ebon 1871. Whitney, Mrs. Louisa M., Ebon 1871. The Hawaiian missionaries number ten, of whom three are not ordained, and only one is unaccompanied by a wife. The increase of the native force is a hopeful feature of the mission. There are now eight native pastors, one ordained evangelist, six other preachers, and four cate- chists and teachers. These minister to forty churches, with 2,904 members, having received 407 during the year last reported, or an average of more than ten to each church. The number who joined the Congregational churches in America, on profession, in 1879, was less than an average of five to each, a comparison which speaks well for the mission. The “ Morning Star ” has pursued her successful career, giving these distant toilers in the Master’s service certain and healthful, if not frequent, connection with the outer world. The romance of modern missions has, perhaps, its best illustration in the flitting to and fro of this winged messenger of the cross over the wide Pacific, bearing tid- ings and supplies, recreation and reenforcements, without which this Island mission would be almost, if not wholly, impracticable. She is now making her tenth voyage. Capt. Isaiah Bray was appointed to her command iu IMarch, 1878, and is proving himself the right man, in a IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 39 position not easy to fill. A missionary writes, “ His aim in everything seems to be to advance, in the best manner, our missionary work.” Of his last voyage, in 1879, Captain Bray says : We have sighted thirty-four different islands, and visited twenty-six of them once and thirteen of them twice. We have entered nineteen lagoons, and have transferred 251 passengers from one island to another. Upon the whole vo}'age we have sailed 13,193 miles. Nothing like an accident has occurred during the voyage, except the loss of an anchor at Ponape. Twice at Kusaie the vessel dragged her anchor, and lay alongside the perpendicular coral wall for a few moments, but not even a scratch to the copper was received.” It would be easy to fill pages with the pleasant story of the work which these missionaries are doing, and its results ; it is not easy to give any outline of it in a page. The true spirit of missions appears in these Micronesian converts, in their movement upon the Mortlock group of islands, which the Ponape Christians have adopted as their foreign missionary field. Mr. Sturges gives details in letters reported in the Missionary Herald (May, 1880). He says, “it has been our main object to raise up suit- able workers for our foreign field,” and the figures given above show marked success in the effort. The “ Morning Star” on her last trip visited the Mortlocks, and items like these are gleaned. At Lukunor, David and Sarah’s place, the work was prospering, and sixteen had been added to the church. At Oniop, Mr. Logan was left for a few mouths to look after the work, left by the mission- ary Solomon, who had been surrendered by his people, in 1878, to go and labor in the regions beyond. Opataia and Opatinia were dwelling in a new house, built by their 40 SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONS. loving people to induce their return. Converts were bap- tized, at Ta, sixteen ; at Kutu, twenty-four; at Etal, four; at Sotawar, twenty-one ; and at Mor, four. At Namoluk, Julius and Lora were landed, and found the people very glad to see them. Landed at Losap and found Solomon and Susan well, and the work prospering. It was not easy to believe that such changes had been made in one short year. A church of fifty members was organized. The next day the “ Star ” came on to Xomr, where the same wonderful changes were seen, — the broad street, neat parsonage, substantial meeting-house, a prosperous school, with large contributions in shells and native twine. A church of fifty-seven members was organized, and Titus and Juui landed to take the place of Moses and Deborah, that these veterans might go on to Ruk. It had been for some time in contemplation to take possession of this Island, and a very graphic account is given of the welcome of the missionaries there. The king was friendly, a fine specimen of an unsophisticated savage. He had heard the gospel at the Mortlocks, and came over to Nomr to meet the “ Morning Star ” and arrange plans for her go- ing to Ruk. There they were received by a multitude of rather noisy but not rude savages, were feasted by the king, and assured, by a show of hands confirming the king’s word, that a mission was desired by the islanders. A place for a station was selected, the chiefs assisting, and the missionaries, Moses and Deborah, were formally presented to the king and queen, and adopted by the peo- ple. The North Pacific Missionary Institute, at Honolulu, under the charge of Rev. C. M. Hyde, d. d., bears vital relations to the Micronesian mission, as well as the Ha- waiian Islands. Its work is encouraging, and confirms IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, ETC. 41 the hope that it will raise up in the future many pastors and missionaries for all the Pacific islands. The churches at the Hawaiian Islands now number fifty-six, with a membership of 7,459. They received, on profession, last year 247 members ; and the contribu- tions for foreign missions were $4,273. The total of their contributions for all objects was $27,642. Five Amer- icans, formerly missionaries of the A. B. C. F. M., are numbered among the pastors of the churches. I 3 . i i f THE MISSIONARY HERALD: A Monthly Magazine of 40 pages octavo; the organ of the American Board. Price $1.10 a year. Address CHARLES HUTCHINS, No. 1 Somerset Street, Boston. LIFE AND LIGHT FOR WOMAN: A Monthly Magazine, published by the Woman’s Board of Missions. Price 60 cents a year. Address SECRETARY W. B. M., No. 1 Somerset Street, Boston. COIIRESPOXDEXCE. The Corresponding Secretaries of the Board are Rev. N. G. Clauk, D. D., Rev. E. K. Alden, d. i>., and Rev. John O. Means, d. d. Letters relating to the Missions and General Concerns of the Board may be ad- dressed SECRETARIES OF THE A. B. C. F. M., No. 1 Somerset Street, Boston. Donations and letters relating to the Pecuniary Concerns of the Board (e.Ncept letters on the subject of the Missionanj Herald) should be ad- dres.sed LANGDON S. WARD, Treasurer of the A. B. C. F. M., No. 1 Somerset Street, Boston. WOMAN’S BOAPV.DS OF MISSIONS !May be addressed as follows: — W. B. M., BOSTON: Miss Abbie B. Child, Congregational House, Boston. W. B. M., OF THE INTERIOR : Miss H.crriet S. Ashley, 7.t Mad- ison Street, Chicago. W. B. M. :^OR THE PACIFIC : Mrs. II. E. Jewett, Oakland, Cal. Books Concerning Missions and Missionaries The following Books, many of Libraries, may be obtained by mail, the Missionabt Herald. AFRICA. Zulu Land. By T.«wif» Grout S2.00 The Gospel among the CaffreR . . .85 Missionary Travels in South Africa. By Dr. Livingstone 4.60 Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries. By Dr. Livingstone . 6.00 Through the Dark Continent. By H. M. Stanley 10.00 The Seed and the Sheaves ... .76 TURKEY, PALESTINE, AND PERSIA. History of the Missions of the A. B. C. F. M. to the Oriental Churches. 2 vole. By Dr. Auderson. Per vol. 1.50 Ten Years on the Euphrates. By Rev. C. H. Wheeler 1.25 Grace Illustrated. By Rev. C. H. l\Ticeler 1.25 Letters from Eden. By Rev. C. H. Wheeler 1.26 Daughters of Armenia. By Mrs. C. H. Wheeler 90 Little Children in Kden. By ^v. C. H. \Mieeler 76 Life Scenes among the Mountains of Ararat. By Rev. M. P. Parmelee . 1.25 The Arab and the Turks. By Rev. E. L. Clark 1.50 Races of European Turkey. By Rev. E. L. Clark 8.00 Forty Years In the Turkish Empire. Memoirs of William Goodell, D D. 2.50 Among the Turks. By Cyrus Ham- lin, D. D 1.60 Women of the Orient. By R. C. Houghton 2.00 Bible Work in Bible lAnds. By Rev, Isaac Bird 1.60 The J^nd and the Book. By Rev. W. M. Thom.'ion, D. D 6.00 Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestori- ans . 1.60 Tenne.«sean in Persia 1.76 Woman and her Saviour in Persia . . 1.25 Memoir of Miss Fiske. Faith Work- ing by Love . . 1.60 INDIA- ^ History of the Missions of the A. B. C. F. M. in India. By Dr. Anderson 1.60 Lectures to Educated Hindus. By Pres. J. H. ^eelye 1.00 The Land of the -Veda. By William Butler, D. D 4.00 them suitable for Sunday-school postage paid, through the Office of Our Gold Mine in India Story of Baptist Missions . . $1.25 CHINA AND JAPAN. The Middle Kingdom. 2 vols 8. Wells William>, LL.D 4.00 Social Life of the Chinese. By Rev. J. Doolittle . .... 6.00 China and the Chinese. By Dr. Nevius 1.76 Our Life in China. By Mrs. Nevius 1.60 Five Years In China. Life of Rev. WUliani Aitebison . • . . 1.25 The Mikado's Empire. By Griffis . . 4.00 SANDWICH ISLANDS AND POLY- NESIA. nistory of the Sandwich Islands Mis- sion. By Dr. Aiider’^>n ... 1 60 Scenes in the Hawaiian Islands . 1 25 The Morning Star l.OO Forty YearH Mission Work in Poly- nesia. By A. W. Murray ... 250 MISCELLANEOUS. Foreign Mi.ssions. By Dr Anderson 1.25 The Martyr Church of Madagitscar . 1.50 Memorials of Charles Stoddard . .1.00 Tales about the Heathen. By Dr Scudder .... . .45 Dibble's Thoughts on Missions .40 Light on the Dark River ... lAO Christian Missions. By Pres. J II. Seelye ... 1.25 Romance of Missions. Bv Miss Maria A. West . . . ' 2.00 T^'elve Years with the Children. By William Warren, D. D. . ... 1.25 These for Those ; Our Indebtedness to Missions. By William Warren, D. D. 1.60 From Egypt to Japan. By Rev. H. M. Field 2.00 ^ Jonas King. Missionary to Syria and Greece. 1.60 Non-Christian Religious Systems. I. Islam. By Kev. J. W. U Stobart 1.26 II. Buddhism. By T. W Rhys Davids 1 25 III Hinduism. By Monier Williams 125 Life of Bi>hop Patte. man lAO Uncle Ben's Bag, and How )t is Never Empty • . . . . . .06 4%