The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1860-08-30

or the American Bard that II les than forty
wears they have taught thi- whole people % Rad
and 20 write, . cipher and % sew They have
given them an alphabet. grammar, and G.c-;5u-
arr preserved their language from extinction
given Il. a literature. and translated into IL the
Bible and works q devotion, science and enter
tainmeut, ETC., etc. They have established schools.
reared mp native teachers, and - Pressed tCsI-
work tina: now the proportion q iuLi1i-tn-- who
can read and write = greater Kan ~ New-EuS-
land and whereas they found th=as ISLANDERS a
nation Of hslf-naked savag=-- living N the surf
and on the sand, eating raw E-h. fighting among
themselves, tyTannized over BY t-GdI chiefs. and
abandoned - sensuality, they now So them de-
Gently clothed, recognizing the law Il marriage.
knowing something Of accounts, going - school
and public worship with more regularity than
the people do az home, and the more elevated Of
them taking part IN conducting che affairs VI the
constitutional monarchy under which they live,
holding seats on the judicial bench and in the
legislative chambers, and filling posts in the local
magistrates.
Il - often objected against missionaries that a
people must be civilized before i can De Christ
ianized, or az least that the two processes must
10 on together, and that the mere preacher. with
his book under his arm among q b4rbarOus peO-
pie, Is an improbable l4bJTer- But the Mission
aries 20 the Sandwich Islands went out in fami-
lies, and planted themselves in households, carry
ing with them, and exhibiting U the natives. the
customs, manners, comforts, discipline, and order
of civilized society. Each house was a center and
N1alEE VI AFAA@AAIE $3.50 e@@ ~"- 80
generally yielded u the superiority Of our CivIIi-
za;ion. and copied irs ways. for, unlike the Asia
tics, they had no civilization OF their own, and,
unlike the North American Indians. they were
capable OF civilization. Each missionary was
obliged % qualify himself % some extent as a
physician and surgeon before leaving home, and
each mission-hOu>e had IT, medicine chest, and
was the place Of resort by the natives for medi-
cines and medical advice and care. Each mis-
siOnary was a school teacher % the natives. IN
their own LANGUAGE . and rNe women of the mis-
siOns, who were no less missionaries than their
husbands, taught schools for vJnen and children.
instructing them not only IN books. but IN sew
ing, knitting. and ironing. in singing by note,
and in the discipline Of children. These mission
families, too, Were planted a. g4rrIsJns would
have been planted By u military cOnquerOr. in
places where there were No inducements u trade
20 carry families 50 that 10 large region, how
ever difficult Of access. OF undesirable IS a resi-
dence, i without its headquarters Of religion and
civilization. The women % the mission, too, can
approach the native women and children IN many
ways not open u men, as IN their sickness. and
BY the peculiar sympathies OF SIX, and thus exert
the tendsrest, which are often the most decisive,
influences.
In the course Of the two months I have spent
upon these islands, il has been my good fortune
20 be the guest Of many Of the mission families,
and 10 become more OF lees acquainted with nedr-
ly ali Of them. And, beside fidelity in the dis
charge Of their duties u the natives. / can truly
say that In point OF kindue-s and hospitality %
STRANGERS, OF intelligence and general information,
Of sJlicitude and painstaking fr the liberal edu-
cation Of their children, and Of zeal COR The aC-
qGirement Of information Of every sort, II would
be difficult u find their supeTiOrs among the most
favored families at~hOme. / have seen IN their
houses collections OF minerals, shells, plants and
flowers, which must be valuable - science. and
the missionaries have often preserved the bet,
sometimes the only records Of the volcanic erup-
tions. earthquakes. and other phenomena and
meteorological observations. Beside having given.
~ | have said To the native language an alphabet,
grammar. dictionary, and literature, they have
done nearly eli that has been done to preserve the
national traditions, legends and poetry. But for
the Missionaries, 1T J. my firm belief that the
Hawaiian would never have been a written Ian
gage there would have been few or no trust
worthy early records, historical or scientific the
traditions would have persisted the native gov
ernment would nave been OyeTbOTne by foreign
influences, and the interesting, intelligent. gentle
native race would have sunk into insignifcance,
and perhaps into seryltude 70 the dominant
whites.
The educational system of the islands is the
work Of The missionaries and their supporters
among the foreign residents, and one formerly Of
the mission l. now Minister of Education In
every district are free schools for natives. In
these they are taught reading, writing, singing
by note, arithmetic. grammar, and geography,
BY native teachers AT LAhainaluna Is the Nor
NAL School for natives, where the best scholars
from the district schools are received and carried
10 an 11FluteI SEt-G u cllCILlDU- anu LuOcc VINO I
desire IT,. are fitted for the duties of teachers.
This was originally a mission school, but Is now
uartiy a government institution. Several Of the
missionaries, in small and remote stations, have
schools for advanced studies, among which, |
visited several times shat Of Mr.. Lyman. ~ HilU,
where there are nearly one hundred native lads,
and all the under teachers are natives These
lads had an orchestra of ten or twelve flutes
which made very creditable music. Al Honolulu
there il a ROYAL School for natives, and another
rrSIA1n ..E,Al ~ rhT-a md h1lEruGraz f4r ~
has been found expedient generally 10 separate
che races in education. Both these schools are
in excellent condition. But the special pride of
the missionary efforts for education i the High
School or College OF PUnahOu. This was estab-
!ished for the education of the children of the
mission families, and has been enlarged 70 receive
the children Of other foreign residents. and l. now
an incorporated college, with some seventy
scholars. The course Of studies goes as far a. the
end Of the Sophomore year IN Jur New-EngLlud
Colleges, and | - expected soon 10 20 further. The
teachers are young men Of the mission families,
taught first at this school. with educatiJns finish
Ell in the Colleges Of ~\ew-England, where they
have taken high rank. At Williams College.
there were at one time five pupils from this
school, one OF whom was the first scholar. and
four of whom were among tine first seven scholars
Of the year, and another of the professors az
was the first scholar of this year at
New-Haven. / attended several recitatiors az
in Greek. Latin, and Mathematics.
and after having said that the teachers were
leading scholars in our Colleges. and the pupils
mostly childrea Of the mission families, | need
hardly add that / advised the young men % re-
main there to the end Of the course, as they could
not pass the Freshman and Sophomore years more
probably elsewhere. in my judgment. The ex-
in Latin and Greek were particularly
thorough in EtyInology and Syntax. The Greek
read both by the quantity and by the printed
accent, and the teachers were disposed 70 follow
the continental pronunciation Of the vOw-ls in
the classic languages, If that system should be-
adopted in the New-England Colleges. Il is
upon that system that the native alphabet was
constructed by the missionaries. This institution
mus defermine- In a rrnIf nnnsurr Tho rhnr-c-