The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1844-07-25

1--WE are in the habi!,n says Dr.. Lafon,
late missionary to the Sandwich Islands,
of ia!ing the idea of degradation with
idolatry. But there is nothing in ldolalry
abstractly considered, which necessarily
degrades and debases the mind. Greece
and Rome were heather nations, They
had their idol gods and temples, and yet
they were civilized cultivated, and refined.
They excelled in the fine arts, and the
monuments of their genius, their poetry,
their eloquence, their paintings and sculp-
ture still remain, testifying to the great
elevation of their minds.
When went 10 the Sandwich Islands,
found the Bible translated and circula.
ting among the peope--a printing press
10 operation, schools established in evry
direction, and halfthe people able TO read
more OF less, and | could not see, at first,
why they were not in fair way 10 take
care OF themselves, and let the efforts of
the benevolent be turned into another chan
mel. But one years experience gave Inc
new views on this point
found the minds of the people degra-
det and imbecie; their minds were child
ren's minds. They could not follow a
missionary in discourse of fifteen min
utes The miss !onary had something
more to do than TO give them the gospel.
Fle had to make mind and then give that
mind the gospel. Whence this degrade.
ton 1t could not be wholly attributable
to idolatry, for that system had disappear
ed before the missionaries arrived. The
true cause, | found. was. that the minds
OF the people had been crushed By oppress-
ion. The King had some two hundred
chiefs owned the sell and all the inhabi-
tants they claimed no: only the land The
men and women upon it, but the sea and
fish. The natives had no control over
their time. They had no reward 10 ami.
mate their industry, and put their minds
in motion. They therefore were sluggish
stupid, Indifferent. This imbecilily OF
mind-the direct and Legitimate result of
slavery-is the greatest obstacle the mis-
sonaries at the Sandwich Islands have
to encounter.
We wish these remarks o! the DR.. to
be deeply pondered. From the days Of
Robert Hall TO the present, the lovers Of
missions have been pointed to the idola-
trous creeds and rites of eastern nations,
as depressing the intellect with gigantic
absurdities," and thus opposing the pro-
gress Of divine truth. But it has been
strangely forgotten, that these nations are
the vassals of relentless despotism, and
that nothing makes man more like brute
than to treat him as if he were one. We
believe that the tribes of Southwestern
Asia. like the Sandwich Islands, are
more imbruted by robbery and wrong,
than by worshippng false deities, or by
studying heir Vedas and Shasters. Spite
of idolalry, they might be learned and eI-
oquent. 1t is slavery whose torpedo
power has benumbed their souls, Hence
the shocking absurdity of uniting with
slaveholding heathen-makers in America
10 unmake the ensaved heather of other
countries Hence the absurity ofsending
out missionaries who will not feel for
those in bonds as bound with them-who
will not preach gospel that proclaims
slavery as we'll as idolatry an evil and
crime. Our Missionary society, we thank
God, is untrampled on by such a vile
system Of sin. Oar officers, our mem
bers, our missionaries, are those whose
motto, in laboring for heather at home
and abroad, is,
Truce with oppression, never oh never"
L'rso n;cc;oo1ro