The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-06-29
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SATURDA Y, JUNE %.
Bishop StaIcy'- Catechi-rn.
To THE EDITOR OF II P. c. ADVERTISER:

SIR The teachings Of the Reformed Catholic
church Of Hawaii, a. embodied in their cate,.hisu.
have lately been brought before the public. and their
narrow minded, sectarian and unspiritual character
ably commented upon in the editorial columns of the
New York Protestant Churchmaa. Unable TO make
heal against this storm of just rebuke, the Reverend
Clergy, through their champion sAnglicus,', in TN.
eveT-open columns Of their organ, the Government
Ga=eife, Of June 18th, have shifted the contest. and
now make a violent flank attack on the translation
and translator Of the aforementioned catechism.
After charging the editor Of the Protestant Church.
man with suppression, unfair quotation, transposi-
ton and what not, the writer proceeds Us follows:
Utterly unprincipled as these liberties are.
stamping At once the Editor of the ". y. p. C.. rs a
man reckless and dishonest, l do not think they are
80 bnd as those L have yet to point out, which make
the writer Of the Catechisn say the very opposite Ia
what lie meant 10 convey. / refer 10 Question -, IN
Ihapter Ill, on Baptism The author has discussed
the privileges conferred by Baptism being admins
tered by authorized persons, and So OH and then,
evidently, was DESTROYS TO conclude with what were
Inc obligations attaching TO those who are baptized.
Accordingly he asks Heaha ka inca G hiki mai
ana / ko kakou ola ana ko kakou bapekik5 ana ~
Literally, What Is the thing future to or in our
lives, with reference 10 our Baptism?" The Hawa-
nan - unfortunately vague, but il was obvious from
the Scripture reference quoted U Cor. yi:15,) what
was intended, viz. : What should be the future of
peoples lives, considering they have been baptised?''
The answer Il, "a pure and holy life" viii it be
believed the translation in the ". Y. r. C.. is rem
dered thus What is the thing which will he
wrought III our life by Baptism:' Where is the
word " wrought AS if any church teacher in the
world could be fool enough to state that a pure and
holy life, n whole course OF right action, in fact, nee
essaIily followed from Baptismy What the answer
does affirm Is, that our having been dedicated to
Christ in Baptism should be n motive TO deter Us
from sin As the answer proves "When tempted
by the Devil we should think, Gods Holy Spirit
dwens in me-" sc. So again, in Question 20, the
privilege OF Baptism is compared to a 50 seed growing
on high, or perhaps to die hereafter by sin" This ;. e
make PIhG,'' is translated, and will continue till
death - Fancy what a Hawaiian scholar the ". Y.
II. C. translator must be .
l could point out other things quite as bad, but l
have done enough to show that not the least reliance
can he placed on this translation it is n glaring i'll
stance of literary dishonesty or ignorance. II is TO
be hoped that n correct version may be published
here, that the facts may be verified by examination.
ANGLICUs."
The worse than I" reckless and dishonest > transla-
tor, the author of this piece of % literary dishonesty
or ignorance is, as it happens, at hand. and shun-
ming for the present all theological controversy, has n
word to say respecting the catechism and its trunsla-
ton. The catechism itself was written in most mis-
cradle and imperfect Hawaiian, and apparently by n
person ignorant of its structure and meaning. 1t
seems strange that with all the coadjutors, educated
in both languages, that the Bishop had at his COM
nand, such ungramuratical, unidiomatic. and unin-
telligible passages should be allowed in his pet cate
chism. Let me quote n few:
Oh. III. Ques. e. Ia hooleiia anei ka Berena
a me ka Wanna i ka Wa i hOomaikaiia al c Ike ka-
huna 20 SIS the Bread and the Wine thrown away
when it is blessed by the Priest ?'
QueS. 10" Pehea ka mea i hOolohe ole nj ka
Ekalekia Roma e like me Ike kauoha a Kristo no ka
Berena II me ka Wanna Hemolele 2'' The answer to
this shows that it means, In what respect did the
Romish Church depart from the command - sc.
But no Hawaiian would have suspected that to be the
meaning. 1 have showed it myself TO a native of
intelligence, and lac translated it, why did they de-
part - sc.
Turn to Chsp. ~. Ques. g." Heaha Ike ano o
Iesu i ka Wa i olelo al ola 20 sc. Literally, What
was the character of Jesus when he said 20 &c. The
catechist probably intended to say What did
Christ mean when he said ?'
Chap ~. Ques. Sd ka wa hea i p~epehiia'i ka
mana o ka Pope ilOko o Europa This question, to
n Hawaiian. reads thus . When was the power of
the Pope inside of Europe slain ?'' Why did not the
compiler say hOohioioia. and ma Europa?
Let inc quote one more, and, making no comment,
simply ask any Hawaiian acquaintance of yours to
give the meaning thereof. Chap. L. Ques. 1S-
'. Aka, aole anei Ike olelo mel kekahi poe, o ua pohaku
In, ola o PeterO ?" .Aas.-" Ae. No ka mea Ike
manao nei nkou o ka hua olelo Petero he pohaku.
Aka, aOlc, nae. o Ike anO, he dkoa'kOa, n he iiiHi.
\ o ka pololei loa il i unuhi il ii ka Wa kahiko loa
o ka Ekalckia, a me Ike akaka loa o Ike ano o ka hua-
Olelo C kuc ana i ka hoopili il o ka pohaku o Petero
il, mamuli O kona hOopuka ana" Clear, isn't it?
What could be expected in n translation of such a
work Perfect success, doubtless, in giving the ex-
act meaning intended a. 1t was, however, the trans
lator's honest intention to give the work the benefit
Of clear and appropriate language, and not to expose
these merely pathological inaccuracies.
Let us now take the first passage in question -
80 Heaha ka mea c hiki mai ana i ko kakou ola ana
- i -. Il. $50 1- 80 H.. -
confesses it is " unfortunately vague He says,
however, that the compiler was evidently DESTROYS to
conclude with asking what were the obligations.
How eUidenty ? don't see it. There is nothing in
the context to Indicate it as evident. What do the
words used mean? T. hiki mai ana is always usel
to denote something coming, something TO happen
from erferHdi causes. never to denote what a person
is to do himself. 1t is objective, never subjective.
What native, being asked, " Heaha ka mea e hiki
,aai ana ia oe,'' would dream that it was meant,
&" What ought you TO do ~ Then the phrase "ikO !
kakon ola ana" is unfortunate, for the word ola
never means a course Of life, but simply life as op-
poscl to death, recovery as opposed to sickness, ,
safety as opposed to destruction. .N0ho ana is the pro-
per phrase to denote a course of life. The phrase here 1
would naturally mean 'while we live "No ko
kakou bapekiko ana :" signifies { i'll consequence of
our Baptism Compare the common phrase "no v
ka mea.' The whole question then means, most I'M S
nothing different from the words used by !
the translator, " What will be wrought in our lives :
through Baptism" 1t will most certainly be be- q
lieved > that the translation reads thus, the hands of c
a. Anglicus being held up in pious horror notwith- o
The answer begins, He ola maemae a T.
hemolele." The same mistake again in the use of i
the word ola, but the answer will any way be rem
dered, "a pure and holy life and the fact that
the remainder of the answer is somewhat illogical in =
its sequence is nothing strange, considering that a