New-York daily tribune., 1854-09-14

tv-it /. thence that civilization Is dest'ned 20
draw weapons Of ridicale 50 keen. 50 apt 50 uu-
endurable thst European feudahty, IKE 'ne VIC
tins of Archilochus's satires, must needs cu' Tvs
own throat, begging only TO be allowed decen'
inteTment.
What a grand and complete type Of national
LOYALTY is that which a. the funeral of teeJee
monarch straDgss masses OF men IN his hoaor
and how poor in comparison as loyal demon
.tration. il the black Grape customarly worn oy
European respectability on like occs'ions. But
add to the empowering, the lying the
;mpo.ing cortege the official, aud ecclesiastical
lsmeptation and eulogy and what does it all
amount to- The Del Gra'ia or divine right oy
which alone Charles L, Louis XIV. and Crar
Nicholas assumed or assume to reign, pales Its in
efeetual FIRE before that s0n'shlP or grantson-shP
of god, in virtue of which relation the Polyne'
sian King sits upon his throne and holdsthe sceptre
and sword Of state. What European sristocracy
with its weak arguments about the salutary and
religions subordination of ranks, stands upon 50
logical A basis as this-thst there had been two
creations; at the FIRST the mobiles had been created
and TO them was given all the land; at the second
had been created the cOmmonalty, VINO wsre des-
tined by the gods as slaves to till the soil Tor tne
superior order How contumacOus the one
knee CenufeIion Of European cOurtiers IN
contrast with the prostration and 'erPent-hke
crawl and cringe OF the Tonga courier
while lin the presence" DR.. SaehevereIi or
DR.. Johnson in their arguments in favor OF pas
siye obedience, never put their case so hlgh as
that loyal subjects were bound to eat pummlce
stones from the beach as penalty for bringing to
table some underdone victusls, sentence which
loyal Feeee subjects underwent so duteously that
the sort of minerals in question soon sensIbly
diminished How pleasant for a European Con-
servative party to find its analogue turn up IN
the South Sea, upholding Conservative policy
in favor of its old idOlstry, and its human sacri-
fees as political tie, not as an actual religious
faith. Contemplating the social aspects of this
interesting quarter of the globe, ciyilized Europe
nav hold up mirror to itself, and behold therein
groups of Polynesisn sayages mimicking behind
its back with grotesque exaggeratioD, its own
hereditary institutions of birth and rank, its
cherished ceremonies, its etiquette, its very
phrases.
Some very curious and valuable information on
this subject may be obtained from late numbers
Of The London Quarterly Rerier, which discusses
at length in two elaborate articles, the state of
Polynesisn society, and the influence Christianity
has had thereon. The reviewer proceeds from
group to group over these vast oceanic tracts,
and presents succinct account gathered from
numerous authorities, of the physical character
and social history of each group, as far as it is
known, down to the latest dates In these de
scriptons, the reviewer or the author he is quot
ing eynces the irresistible sense Of analogy ID the
military principle in Europe with which the con-
temptation of these primitive communities in
spires them. Thus the Hon. Lieut.. Wapole,
speaking of the Samoans, say
There are three orders of hereditary chiefs or
bes, a whole host of hgh-born beggars, all rs
naughty and punctious in their way as the ilobe-
raux or Hochwoblg geborens of Christian Europe.
The forms Of Samoan pollteness are as numerous as
the Spanish, and often resemble them
A New-Zealsnd chief, Tamati Ngapori, also
writes 10 the Governor "a very interesting let-
"ter, arguing with no small shrewdness from
Scripturol promises the necessity of subor-
odinstiou of ranks" How Is the great theme
Which Engaged the genius of Edmund Burke only
sixty-tbree years sgo, fallen in so short space
into the hands of d Maori chief!
But it is really anomalous that the treatment
of Polynesan Sociology should be given up by
men of progress to the London Quarterly the lit
erary representative par excellence of European
hereditary privilege. Especially is this subject
fitted for dissemination in feudalry-ridden Ger
many. Ethnography pure and simple is net yet
tabooed by the census of the German monarchs
and hereditary Grand Dukes, and simple expo
stiOn Of Feeje or Maori social institutions will
pass with impunity where the elaborate philOs
ophy Of Heidelberg professor will not; and
yet this magnificent and taking burlesque inn
presses the same conviction with far more cOgency
upon the popular mind than the historical par
allels Of Geryinus, and wields a spontaneous
might Of ridicule more damaging to the
ancient regime than the satires of VOltaire
or Victor Hugo. Even the example of
republican America is shOrn Of half its strength
by want of a second contrast, such as Poly
nesia affords to Europe. 1t was remarked by
the London journals that the most observed OBJ
jects at the late ProroQation of Parliament were
the plain, black coat of the American Enbassa-
dor and the superb attire of the grandson of Tip
poo saib, by whose side the military and diploma
tie costumes of the British and other grandees
looked quite shabby. European diplomats were then
exhibited in their true lightas something between
Hindoo Rsjah and an American republican:
precisely in the same way the fummery and sane.
,iors of Europaen 1ob,Iitv looL