The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-14 00:00:00

AFFAIRS OF OTAHEITE.

MEETING OF THE LONDON MISSIONAIIY
SOCIETY IN EXETER-HALL.—(THIS DAY .)
A meeting of the London Missionary Society took
place this morning in the large room at Exeter Ball;
the rain poured in torrents all the morning; out, not-
withstanding the unfavourable state of the weather, the
large hall was more than three-fourths filled before
the commencement of the proceedings. At twelve
o'clock,
FREDERICK SMITH, Esq., the Chairman of the
Society, took the chair. He was accompanied into
the hall by Mr. Pritchard, the British Consul at
Otaheite, who took his seat at the right of the chair.
The Rev. Mr. TRODEY, of Cambridge, opened the
meeting by prayer.
The CHAIRMAN then stated that the meeting had
been called for the purpose of expressing the sympathy
of the Society with their missionaries at Otaheite,
with the missionary churches there, with the Queen
of Otaheite, and with those natives who had been
driven from their homes to seek refuge in the moun-
tains.—(Hear, hear.) A dark cloud was resting on
the missions of Otaheite, which it was beyond the
power of man to penetrate—but their comfort was
that the Judge of the whole earth would do right.—
(Cheers.) The missionary labours at Otaheite were
suspended, the churches were dispersed, and the
Queen had been under the necessity of flying from
her country and taking refuge on board an English
ship. These things had all been occasioned by
an apparently insignificant circumstance. Four or
five N ears ago some French Jesuits had attempted
to land in Otaheite. The Queen had objected
to their doing so—by stratagem they had effected their
landing. Their object was to subvert the simplicity
of the Gospel. The Queen exercised the right which
she possessed to order them off the Island. They
left, but not a hair of their head was hurt. For this
supposed insult the French demanded a compensation
of '2,000 dollars—this sum was raised by some
friends of the Queen and paid them.
Shortly afterwards the French returned and
demanded 10,000 dollars ; this was a sum
which it was impossible to raise. The alternative on
the occasion of the first demand, which had been
complied with, was the bombardment of the principal
town of the island. On the occasion of the demand
of the 10,000 dollars, the alternative was the protec-
torate of France. The consent of the Queen had been
obtained to the protectorate by stratagem. Having
become protectors, the French soon declared them-
selves sovereigns, the Queen was deposed, and sought
refuge on board an English ship of war. It was a
proud thing to , think that wherever the English flag
floated there was a certain refuge for the oppressed.
—(Cheers.) Since then the labours of the missiona-
ries had been interrupted, and their personal liberty
had been infringed upon ; they were not permitted to
go on shore if they were on board ship, or if on shore
they were not permitted to leave the island. He had
seen it stated in the newspapers that the Missionary
Society had sent a deputation to Lord Aberdeen, and
that Lord Aberdeen had stated, in his place in Par-
liament, that the Society had made no complaint to
him whatever, and that they had stated that the
liberty of the missionaries had not been infringed
upon. Now that conversation had taken place before
any evil had occurred, except the evil of the Protectorate,
against which they had always protested as a great
evil, because they knew that as long as that continued
it would be impossible that peace and concord could be
preserved in the island. But his Lordship had, at
the very time he made that statement, two letters in
his possession which showed a very different result.
Those letters, which described the then existing state
of things in the island, had been transmitted to Lord
Aberdeen's office four or five days before, with a re-
quest that they might be immediately forwarded to
Lord Aberdeen, as it was considered probable that
questions might be put to him in the House of Lords,
and that he might wish to see those letters before
he replied to those questions.—(Cheers.) His
• Lordship's memory on that occasion had been re-
markably tenacious as to what had taken place a
year ago, but had been perfectly oblivious of that
which d occurred within a few days.—(Cheers.)
He was sorry to mention this, for it was always his
desire to show a feeling of respect for those in high
places—(Cheers)—but he could not help feeling that,
if the same injuries had been inflicted upon any other
community than their own, more notice would have
been taken of the occurrence.—(Cheers.)
The Rev. A. FREEMAN was then called on to read
a statement detailing the state of Otaheite. The
statement, after giving a history of the missionary
labours in Otaheite and the Society Islands from the
year 1797, and appealing to the testimony of naval
officers traders, and travellers of all countries, in
proof Of the vast improvement, moral and intellec-
tual, which had taken place in the inhabitants in
consequence of the missionary labours, proceeds to
remark that the state of those islands had attracted
the attention of the ambitious and intolerant Church of
Rome. Some of the priests ofthat Church had been sent
to spy out the state cf the island, but Pomare accepted
them not ; and she had the same right to exclude
them from her territory that Louis Philippe had to
demand a passport from every Englishman who set
foot on the shores of France.—(Loud cheers.) Seve-
ral Roman Catholic priests had subsequently been to
the island, but they had obtained no proselytes. Po-
mare had subsequently, at the command of France,
repealed the law prohibiting the entry of Roman
Catholic priests into the island. The Missionary So-
ciety did not defend it, but they would ask with what
grace could France or Spain demand its abrogation
while they kept up laws in their own territories in
Europe equally hostile to the liberty of mankind ?
The statement then detailed, at great length, the
history of the establishment of the French Pro-
tectorate, of the subsequent dethronemeut of Queen
Pomare, and of the declaration by Admiral Dupetit
Thouars that Otaheite was a French colony. Pomare
protested against the conduct of Dupetit Thouars, ap-
pealed to the King of France, and sent to the Queen
of England, soliciting aid. After a lapse of three
months the chiefs and people became uneasy. Queen
Pomare wrote to them a letter, beseeching them to
continue quiet, assuring them that aid would be
sent from England, imploring them by no means to
ill-treat the Frenchmen, but to follow her example
and pray earnestly to God to deliver them from their
trials.—(Cheers.) That letter gave such offence to
the French authorities, that her personal safety was
in danger, and she was obliged to seek refuge on
board her Britannic Majesty's ketch Basilisk—some
of the chiefs were arrested, others fled to the moun-
tains, and martial-law was proclaimed. It was said
that a French sentinel had been struck by an un-
known native, and by way of reprisals the
British Consul had been seized, imprisoned,
and expelled the island.—(Hear, hear.) A
Frenchman had attempted to seize the wife of one of
the chiefs • the chief had resisted, shots had been
fired, and the chief was killed. These facts had been
communicated by the Society to Lord Aberdeen, on
the 30th July and on the Ist of August. The So-
ciety had asked for protection for its mission-
aries. To whom, under martial-law could they ap-
peal ? What defence was left to them when the French
seized the British Consul, the legitimate guardian of
English interests ?—(Cheers.) They did not wish to
wait until all the mischief should be done. There
was no hope for the personal safety of the mission-
aries, but in the withdrawal of the Frendi Pro-
tectorate—(Loud cheers)—and the restoration of
the independence of Otaheite.—(Loud cheers.)
Could not French magnanimity afford this ?—(Cheers.)
They had no wish to create a misunderstanding be-
tween the two Governments, but it was their duty to
awaken the public to the danger to which the Pro-
testant missionaries were exposed from the threats and
schemes of those whose wisdom was not from above,
but from beneath.—(Cheers.)
The Rev. Dr. W. HAMILTON, of Leeds, then came
forward to propose the first resolution, expressive of
the sympathy of the meeting with the missionaries at
Otalieite. He would not make use of any exagge-
rated language—he would speak of things as they
were—and he was happy to say that he had found a
word sufficiently powerful to express his feelings.
A gross outrage had been committed.—(Vehement
cheering.) The expression had been used by one in
high places, and he thanked him for the word.—
(Cheers.) He came there in no spirit of nationalism.
He was aware that many of our own colonisation
schemes could not be justified. He admitted that
the Roman Catholics had, as much right in
Otaheits as ourselves, and if a law existed prohi-
biting them from landing there, he would not vin-
dicate that law.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.)
But surely the French who permit no stranger to
set foot on their shores without a passport had no
right to complain of it—
" Quis tulerit gracchos de seditione querentes."
There was something of romance connected with this
beautiful island, which by the missionaries' labours had
been changed from a Capreaa to a Patmos.—(Cheers.)
That island was governed by a Queen who had
been deposed by the French, perhaps because
they would not suffer a Queen to sit on the throne
of their own country. But it was not so
that we read our history. Woman, who had
her throne in the homestead, was equally en-
titled to the throne of the realm. She was to
accept of French protection forsooth. Protec-
tion ? against whom ? Her subjects ? They loved
her. The Missionaries—they were devoted to her.
Her neighbours !—they were in firm alliance and
friendship with her. The protection the French
sought to give her was the protection which the
vultures gave to the doves—the wolves to the
lambs—covering and devouring thern,--(Cheers.)
Was it right that that Protectorate should ever have
been imposed? If it was right to accept and receive it,
it was equally right now to disclaim it, on account of
the piratical conduct and buccaneering system that