Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1854-07-07
THE SANDWICH IsLAEDs-THERAxrzx


II christianity and ciyila.ion have ever
made positive, substantial and solid
conquest, IL is to be found in the Sand
wieh islands. Cook, the world-round
navigator, found the ssvsges of these
islands ferocious, blood-thirsty. canni-
bal people. We now find them mild.
peaceful, christians. In thirty wears a
social revelation. total and absolute, has
been made i'm the condition of that peo-
ple., And, who has made it, The Am
erican mlssionary-the moral pioneer in
the waste and savage places of the deep.
Unassisted by human governments, he
penetrated into the wild solitudes of the
ocean, and brought them from gloomy
darkness into glorious light. The
change is complete and UNIVERSAL
The words of the hymn are realized:
Then from the craggy mountains
The sacred shout shall fly;
And shady wales and fountains
Shall echo the reply;
High tower and low:y dwelling
Shall send the chorus round,
All hallelujahs swelling
In one eternal sound. ~
We are well aware that superficial
observers, like Melville and Others. have
chosen to sneer at the moral condition
Of the Sandwich Islands, but on what
facts have they based their opinionsl--
Simply, that in the islands, where there
are tens of thousands Of poor christian
people, there are also many bad people.
many places of vice, and many persons.
like these cavilers, who prefer lust and
pleasure TO virtue and innocence. And
what better can be said for Cincinnati.
for Ohio, for Americai What person
Of character would like TO be judred by
the conduct Of bawds. drunkards and
gamblers, who may be seen and met on
every sidewalk! The plain fact in re-
gard to the christianity OF the Hawaiian
Nation is this: They have much larger
number Of protesting christians, 8, In pro-
portion to their nun bers, than there are
in the churches OF Cincinnati, and of
those who do profess faith, quite as many
live up to it. And is rot that living
wonder, when we reflect that they came.
not from civilized, but savage statef
What was the moral condition of tne
primitive christians Of Greecei Was
IL any betterl tits pity that the cav
liers, as to the woik OF mission aries,
would not inform themselves a little up
on the subject of which they speak,
They can meyer have read paul's Euis-
tie 70 the Corinthian Church, or thew
would know more about the condition of
converted pagans, and,be less captious
on American missions.
But il is not on this we would dwell.
We would notice specially the fact, that
though Cook discovered the Islands, and
they have been visited by the ships Of
every nation, 1t is Americans only. who
have actually civilized them, who al this
moment, by the missionaries govern
them. and who have the moral right of
supremacy over them. II then. (as Ia
now confidently asserted il will be done,o
these Islands be soon annexed te the
States, il will be by virtue of conquest.
without parallel in History;the con-
quest Of the Gospel, in the hands Of a
few feeble unarmed men, over a nation
OF savages, in the wilds of the ocean,
Doubters of human virtue, skeptics In
the power Of the Gospel, believers only
in hypocracy, may doubt. and cavil. and
sneer, as they please, but. there stands
the fact, that by virtue Of the conquest
Of the cross only, have these Islands
been civilized, and are about to become
republican.
Some people may be startled at the
idea OF annexation. They are geograph-
icaliy beyond the limits even Of America;
and politically there is no reason why
we should have them There are doubt
less, beneficial results, which may fairly
be expected from their annexation to
the United States. By annexation, we
shall take them, both commercially and
religlously, from foreign interposition,
which may be injurious both TO them,
and US. Situated in an admirable po-
sition for ocean refuge. resting, and re-
fitting, they would prove OF immense
beneht, TO the commerce OF our Pacific
Coast. 1t NAV be said, we should have
this advantage. at any rate. Ttue, but
not altogether exempt from foreign in
reference. We have seen what the
French did at the Society Islands, in
forcing brandy and priests, where they
were not waited. ln the Sandwich
Islands they have done Gs much in this
way as they could. Under our govern
ment, there will, OF course, be perfect
tolerstion. but no powor to force either
liquor, doctrine, or governors, where
they are not wanted, The Islands are
already Americanized, but when they
shall come entirely under the jurisdic-
ton OF the United States, American
merchants and mechanics will resort
there; towns and cities builded, and
these gems of the ocesn II shine out in the
light os superior civilization. The Cos
pei has gone; let Freedom 90 too. Those
Islands can never become slave states.
Then let them come.
T.I....ls...