Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1856-11-01
Che l)olpnesiau.
From The Westminster Review, fer July.l
Christian Missious---their Principle nd Prac.
Iice.
1COncllHe9 I

tice.
Coneludsd
From point to point of the vast missionary field
of our day, Catholic and Protestant meet, face to
face; and the spectacle is very instructive if not
agreeable. Where both parties hold the original
doctrine of damnation outside the pale of their
own church, the rivalry is naturally fearful and
the effect of their visible hostility is, of course,
injurious in the highest degree to their cause.
The heathen are sharp observers of the doings of
intruders; and their inevitable comment on what
they see Is '' See how these Christians hate one
another J" More experienced observers are not
surprised at the renewal of the old battle on ne
ground but, as it is SO very old, and always and
everywhere SO like itself, they take more interest
In comparing the former missionary spirit in the
Catholic Church with the present, and the present
missionary spirit in Catholics and Protestants,
than in attending to their jealousies and antago-
nlsm In some respects, the spirit of the proselyt
ing priests has improved within two or three CEN
turIes The valng glorious desire for martyrdom
seems rather to have passed to the Protestants
whose imaginatlons have been fed by the early
reading of Fox "a martyrdom in itself,) and of
missionary adventure among savages In Kirby
and Spence's 90 Entomology" there is, if we re-
member rightly, an anecdUtc of Il missionary who
went into the South American forests prepared to
be burnt alive or cut to pieces by inches, and be-
lieyng to the last that he could have endured this
with no great difficulty; but his martyrdom was
of different kind, and be found it required all his
patience and faith he was SO plagued by mosqu-
toes that his legs had become of permanent deep
purple. In Mr.. +. w. Newnan's recently pub
lished 81 Missionary Letters we find that the
elderly lady Of the party partOok of an analogous
experience, though Of milder SORT This elderly
lady (who ought to have been quiet at home in
stead OF burdenlng her party to carry her to Bag
dad,) had to do in Syria the Syrians do in trav
elling. Zach, Edward" exclaimed she 20 her
son, Il expected they would prosecute and mur-
der US, but never thought to ride across a mule. -
Thus, in the churches and chapels of Christian
Countries, the devotees work themselves up to the
pitch Of martyrdom by heathens but when Il
mosquito is g the Instrument as they would say,
or when, worse still, they suffer by the consequent
ces OF nexcusabe Ignorance on their own part, the
trial is no slight one, and may serve as test of
the spirit of the enterprise.
The Jesuits in Thibct, MN. Hue and Glbet
manifest the best temper we know Of in modern
missionary enterprise. There is no sanctimonious-
ness about them-no vainglory about courage and
devotedness while they had their wits about them
when they could act ut ALL and the gayest and
drollest patience when they could only suffer
They tell us frankly how they quaked and per-
spired, and shuddered, in circumstances of danger
and horror ; and yet there is no reader who would
not answer for them as a couple of the bravest fel
lows that ever took their chance in outlandish
countries. Their shrewdncss aud collectedness
testify to their courage, no less than their ire
pressible spirit of fun. They offer charming
contrast to the brethren who, of old, went about
seeking martyrdom in their low and selfish longing
for glory and u crown. This morbid appetite is
not extinct among Catholics yet, we see by Miss
Caddells account of the mission TO Japan, where
the horrors of torture and mutilation are gloated
over, to set off the biographical sketches in taste
which would have delighted st. Theresa
We will not slcken our readers with such details
at any length: but there are contrasting anecdotes
about Christian children in Japan and Christian
missionaries in Tahiti, which appear to such ad
mlrable illustrations OF the two extremes of the
missionary spirit, that cannot resist citing item.
The date of the Japan anecdote was that of the
extinction of Christianity IN japan In 1913; and
that of Tahiti was when the early enthusiasm OF
the missionaries had given place TO i keen relish
for and safety, IN the finest climate and cOun-
try ID the world The Japan Christians were driv-
en- into pits of fire, starved in caverns the Ia
hiti Christians were living in handsome dwellings
of coral rock, amidst groves and awns,-closIng
the luxurious day with singing hymns about endu-
rance from the heathen for the Gospels sake.
A Christian convert i'll Japan had seen all his
family murdered except the younger children.
"'Which shall begin with = asked the e1ecutoner,
he approached the two youngest Of Paus children
for the purpose Of choppng off their fingers. That is
your affair, not mine the old Christian answered
to conceal softer feeling. Cut off
which, and as many you please
And . ! sighed the little Ignatus as in the Spir
it Of the brave man, his father he watched his brothers
fingers FILLING joint by joint beneath the knife Of the
how beautiful your hand looks my brother
thus mutated for the sake of Jesus Christ and how
long for my turn to come! The child who made this
exclamation but FIVE years old; yet, without she'd
ding tear he afterwards endured similarly prOract-
ed amputaon, and then silently and INTERESTINGLY suf-
fered himself to be cast into the ocean,
That was one extreme: here is the other, Mr..
Herman Melville, now son-in-law of Chief Justice
Shaw, of Massachusetts (ihe Judge who established
in Med's Case" there the law established by Lord
Mansfield in Summerset's here), was in Tahiti in
IS43 in sailors costume, after whaling voyage.
He naturally longcd for little feminine society,
1u, had no - dress coat and beaver" in which to
present himself. For our part, we should not have
dreamed of the servants of the heather in the Cos
Del having any scrupes of that genteel Sort or
my dread of any person they might meet How /
ever, Mr.. Melville, who saw their dwellings, and .
themselves at church, under a different i'm /
preston, which proved to be even more right than
ne had supposed.
Gore evening passing the verandah of missona- /
US dwelling, the dame, his wife, and pretty, blond
young girl with ringets, sitting there enjoying
he sea breeze, then coming in, all cool and refreshing
rom the spray of the reef As 1 approached the old
adv peered hard at me, and her very cap seemed to
convey prim rebuke, The blue English eyes By her
ide were also bent ON me. But, D heavens )! what 4
dance to receive from such beautiful creature! As
or the mob cap. not g did care for it but to be
aiken for anything but cavalier by the ringeted
vas absolutely uncomfortable. resolved on courteous
aute-to show my good breeding, if nothing more
But happening to a sort of turban-hereafter TO
e particularly alluded to,-there no taking it off
nd putting it again with anything like dignity. At
nv rate then, here goes bow. But another difficulty
resented itself my loose frOck volumnOus, that
doubted whether any spinal curvature would be per-
eptible.
Good evening, ladies' exclaimed 1, at last, al