The Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu (Oahu), Hawaii) 1840-1841, 1840-12-26

dill tic Valuable lllOTlllatlOH IL contains
might be comprehended in twenty pages,
as it is but mere repetition of the Authors
and his supposed converts displays of
piety, with heightened accounts of his
Jealous labors, and wonderful results, cal
culatcd to mslcad the religious public.
We gather from it that the facility of
making converts exceeds the most SAN
guine expectations of the warmest reli-
gious enthusiast; the Author has few
interviews with tribe whose language he
knows little of, and suddenly they imbbc
the fullest belief in the Christian faith
or, a native of Riatea is landed among a
strange people, and at the next visit the
idols are not only thrown down but the
whole people are singing tervent praises
to the living God, observing family ,wor-
ship, and are transformed into cvangel-
lied christians. Had the Author confined
himself to the relation of the success he
met with in his efforts to convince the
natives of the folly of worshippins false
gods, we should have read his account
with much greater satisfaction. The at
tempt was crcditablc, and the success
gratifying. We know that at many is
lands it is not very difficult to convince
the natives of the power of the living
God, and the nothingness of their idols
every thing they see belonging to the
white race is SO superior to their prccon-
ceived ideas that they readily admit the
superiority of the God they worship to
those before which they have been accus-
toned to bow down. An increased in
tcrcourse strengthens first impressions,
and causes them to trust more to the wis
dom of the whites but much time and
labor are Necessary to transform the rude
savage into the Christian described by the
Author, if ever an adult can be led to at
tain such state of pcrlcction.) The So
cial system of civilized life mustbe taught:
the people must be brought to love virtue
for its own beauty, and to walk uprightly
before their fellow men; and the reason
ing faculties must be brought into action
in order to lay solid foundation where
This rapid cvangelizaton of the Author
is contrary to reason; civilization must
precedc it.. 1t is also contrary TO the en-
pericnce of forty years labor at the Island
of Tahiti, twcnty-ninc of which the mis-
sionary was listened TO without opposi-
ton, as also at the neighboring Islands Of
Riatca, IIuahcnc, Bora Bora, and others.
The Author of the "Narra.ivc was
stationed at the commencement of his
Missionary labors Il. the Island of ltiatca,
second only to Tahiti in population. He
had acquired complete control Of the ma
tives, and was the director of all affairs of
the Island both spiritual and temporal !;
in his letters to the Society in London,
the people were represented, in terms
equally glowing with those made use of
in his work, as sincere converts to the
Gospel of Christ, and having among them
a greater proportion of communicates
than probably any parish in England.
1t was without doubt the confidence
that the Author had in his flock at Riatea
and his conviction that the Christian re-
ligion had taken deep root which caused
| him to leave them to themselves and car
ry the Gospel to other Islands from the
state of the people short time after his