The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1850-10-13
The Rev. Henry Il. Cheevcr's Lecture.


Last evening the Rev. Mr. Cheever delivered lee
ture In the lecture of the New York University
the educational prospects of Polynesia especially
Of the Sandwich Islands.
The reverend gentleman, after some preliminary
marks said that the discovery Of America by Column
bus has acted upon the world like electricity and
when the discovery Of steam added 1t made neigh
bors Of the antipodes. In the great Southern Ocean
which stretches from pole to pole and covers space
OF ten millions Of miles there said to b. six hun
dred aud eighty islands exclusive of Australia New
Holland, New Zealand, Caledonia, New Ireland aud
Others and strange to say, the total amount of
the native population In all this vast region, does
exceed half million; and Of this number, hun
dred thousand, only, have been, by the zeal and
ertions of the American and English missionaries ga
thered into the Christian Church The gentle
msnen went bon to describe the geological formation
Of the different groups of Islands in the Pacific Ocean,
frem which he concluded that, in past ages, the i'm
mense space now covered by the ocean. must have
been the bed Of Thousands Of volcanoes but the only
IN action were those Of the Hawaii group; and
that at remote period continent as large
as that OF North and South America must have
listed, which Is covered by this vast ocean.
He nett asked the question, who the inhabi-
tants OF those islands. and from whence did they
GOMEZ The researches, said he Of Americans Of the
English and Of the scientific men Of other nations;
have dsmonstrsted-ana they all concur In the fact
that Ithots islanders of Malay origin, and
peopied from these islands There many character
II.
that the language Of the Mssys and Poynssisns have
q common origin, and sprung from the same root
lie then proceeded to describe the state in vhish the
that although the and destruction OF the
race commenced with the discovery of the Islands by
the Europeans their decay and d-struetion
caused, by the discovery, however, 1t might tend to
s. but was, he said the accumulation OF their own
vices which produced the destruction Of nearly the
whole race. At the time when the leland Of Tahiti
embraced Christianity, It's population r-duced.by
the terrible immortality that existed amongst them to
4 me rt rem on al hau da
well by the natives themselves a. BY the mission
aries and others that II the Christian religion
not introduced amongst them ut the time Il IL more
than probable that ct the present day there would
not be solitary individual of the lace in existence
The introduction ofspir iuqo-s 10 the islands
by the Europeans, he admitted had the most per-
nicious effects upon those islanders, both morally
and physically and tended materially TO impede the
labors Of the mssi on.ries. For many years said
he, the tracks OF whale ships and men of war
passing from Island to i,land, were marked
Of crime; and IL was In the midst Of all those
horrors that the American missionaries entered upon
their labcrs
He then reviewed the history Of education at the
Sandwich Islands and said the first teacher from New
England arrived there In ls2o; and from that time to
Is rs, SIXTY male and female teachers sent
out and all arrived 1T their destination There
ct the present. moment forty dwelling houses for mis-
sonares two printing oces four schools with large
tracts OF land attached belonging to the American
Bostd; besides thoee there lrb aud
Gated The Scriptures we're translated into the Tia.
vsian lsrgusgs, and over $4,000 copies printed aud
eircplstsd, besider numerous religious tracts and
than 1fh Of the entire population converted
TO the Christian faith The present OF the ooun
try go 600 and the annual pton foreign
goods amounted to $1,000 There we're bls native
teachers and there two boarding schools having
Dptsrds Of 2l7 pupils But 10 corn pete the good work
that New England has begun IL gill be necessary
the Ams ricaR people to lend n helping hand for at
least twenty to come; otherwise those people
will doubtless relapse into their former state Of dola
try and esnuibslism.
In the Hawaiian tongue newspapers are issued, aud
ssystem Of literature Ia being established at the
Sand -ieh Islands, and he was happy to say that In
those islands the outward Observance of the Sabbath
10 much more strict and better observed than In Eng
lard or the United States. No Ere IL kindled, no
vietuss dressed, nor canoes padded, that day He
then related snecdote OF American captain Who
happened 70 land the Sabbath Of the Islands
After landing the Captain sent In peremptory man
ner 20 the authorities requiring the to FIRE salute
He vas answered promptly By the Hawaiian ofnoer
that that was the sabbath day; that he then TO-
Ing 20 the house Of Cod ana must defer the ssats tail
Monday.
He concluded By stating thst ~ hsd been objected
70 the missionaries that they had Ia rliiics
but be would say that. although they did interfere
THY had right to Do. they errrcired b.ned-
cal nhuence the King aud In his councils for tue
welfare OF his people He mentioned DR. yudson aud
Mr.. Armstrong the first the prime minister. and
the second the minister of the interior Both these
gentlemen misiona ries and 20 their religious
sentiments and Christian ses the people Of the Sand
vieh Islands owe their present prosperity and the
rapid progress they have made In christianity and
els