The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-06-15

They I----- the advantages If ueW-pfpe7- IA tHc
Hawaiian language. ami they aue very mach given
10 writing letters To and fro by the post
The marriage tie was early established among
them. and she family relation encouraged with al
improvement oi t.elr moral condition a. remarkable
~ that 81 tacir intellectual advancement
Churches have been erected IN every hamlet and
the sabbath Las been - reycreutly Observed a. 1t l.
1t home.
Tie Bibie wa, long ago published in the Hawaiian
language and distributed hy the american Mission
extensively among the people
For all the~e advantages the Hawaiian people are
indebted t. the generous kindness of American
friends, who, - years ago, when the re~t IF man
kind were Indifferent Ia the welfare Of the Hawaiian
race. f1unIel "a Christian Mission within this group,
and who have sustained that Mission with uniailing
zcal and Eberality up 10 the present day.
To the lAforS II these American Missionaries. the
Hawaiian people owe their written language and all
the literature they possess, a. well a. the education
by which they are enabled To read and write, and 10
take i part III the affairs Of life
\ college, "a high school, divers boarding schools.
and 4 system of common schools, after the New
England mclel, have been the means by which the
American Mission have - successfully elevated the
HawaIianS above the ignorant state in which they
were found III lN2u, and ~ early WAS tins process Of
instruction inauguratel and - successful was is
operation among the people that, when in later years,
Missionaries OF another creed sought Ia establish a
footing here, they found II necessary 10 set aside their
usual practice 81 uon-elucIJion, AMI To enter into
competition with the American Mission in the matter
Of instructing the natives, IN order 10 maintain their
ground at all.
Another wise and thoughtful act Of the American
Mission was the establishment If a Eoluling school
for the children of the chiefs, in an excellent family
Of the Mission. which gave To them the inestimahie
advantage of the influence Of "A good New England
home during their tender years, IN addition 10 the
educational opportunities thus provided Tor. This
school was in successful operation IN 1910. and WAS
one OF the most gratifying examples of the liberal
and iudicious measures OF our countrymen for the
benefit t the IIawaiians that then fell under my Oh
>eIvati,n. The present King. a. well - the late
King, we're members Of this first Royal school.
l am not aware that any e"temporane"us Mission
in the Pacific. or any Mission established at ii later
day in this ocean. has had 80 great a measure of
success attendant on their efforts, as has been the
ease with the IIawaiian> under the instruction of the
Missionaries from the Unitel States.
At Tahiti, in lS"g, the difference in favor OF the
HdwajiauS was very manifest, although an English
Mission had been established there al thlt time for
more than forty years, and over twenty in advance
# the American Mission here. Since then events
have placed Tahiti cut of the comparison.
At the Tonga Isles, a civil and religious war was
prevailing in 1910, encouraged 10y the English mis-
sionarie> Of that day a. stated by Captain Wilkes,
III the narrative Of the L. :. Exploring Expedition;
and AT the Navigator Group, where i also an English
mission, civil and religious wars have prevailed Of
late years, adding largely, Of course, 10 the other
causes at work, in dcpopulating Those islands.
At New Zealand, the newspapers of the day are
Boosting Of having the longest war on hand ever
known, between the English and the New Zealand
people. At these Islands an English mission has
been established for more than fifty years, and has
lUt cement i Il il>NoltllC Ni INb. III It's support. Il
sacerLotal aid which i the one thing n~celful, ae-
c%or,ling to modern opinion in certain quarters, when
the conversion of "a primitive people from barbarism
to Christianity l. to he undertaken. Yet mission
results III New Zealand, even with such Il potent
prieStly agency at work. have not had the highest
success or produced the most gratifying results.
Only last year IA coasting schooner was cut off 10y the
natives. and an English missionary particularly Sc
lectei and put To death. and afterwards eaten; a
little transaction which certainly does not exhibit the
most aflectionate relations as existing between the
natives and their pastors.
Bishsp Williams Of Waipa, New Zealand, has pub
Hshel an account Of Christianity among the New
Iealandcrs from lSD5 to 1865, ON which an English
critic remarks as follows d" One OF the most recent
acts of the New Iealanders in connection with Chris
tianity was to eat Il missionary or rather a missiona-
ry's brains, AMI the Bishop Of Waipa may well say
that 1t may seem a most untayoTable time for pub
fishing "A book .h Christian missions, but more partic-
ulLrly one which Processes 10 give an account of
Christianity among the New Zcalanders. However.
the Bishop is not altogether dissatisfied with the
results Of missionary laboFs and seems To think that
If Satan, in the form of Romish priests, could be cast
out, true Christianity would make great progress.
That Bishop therefore finds Satan III the form of
Roman Catholic priests in the way of his making the
New ZealiEders true Christians, after - years trial,
whereas another Bishop nearer at hand and newly
entered upon the mission field in the Pacific, finds
the obnoxious American Puritans (accorning to
IA recent catechism. descendants of one Brown
and his followers who, settled New England after
cutting off the head Of Charles the First, and it
may he inferred that these descendants came here
to cut of the heals Of all the kamehamellas) to be
his Satan in the way of making the IIawaiians true
Christians, and makes no mention of the ROmiSh
priests who have been here for many years, as I'M
peding i'll any say the good cause OF religious con-
version.
These two Urelates disagree so decidedly upon such
a vital point, that it i not likely that either Of them
can he correct, and 1t l. 10 be hOpcl that Bishop
Williams Is a. unjust, and az wide of the truth, in
throwing upon the Romish priests nj New Zealand.
the onus Of tlrwartirg the conversion Of that mar
tyred race, Of whom, out of a very large population,
hut 1000 are reported 10 be now left alive, ~ the
Hawaiian Bishop is in pronouncing the American
mission nj the Hawaiian Isles, after an existence Of
nearly half a century, Ia he Il failure and, in
charging it with making the people worse morally
than they were in their hcathcn days Ii l. with a
sense of shame for my kind that | feel compelled to
allude upon this occasion 10 such an extraordinary
coming from such "a source. Ii II could
he true, or even near the truth. the cause of missions
might well lie abandoned all over the earth but
the common phases of Hawaiian life give to ii a
denial, the mission of the Morning star i'll carrying
Hawaiian pastors to evangelize other isles gives it IA
denial: the scenes of yesterday and Of today give to
it 4 denial; turn which way you Will, there is moth
ing 10 he found in its support. Indeed the wickeI-
ness Of this assertion i only 10 be equtlled by its
folly. Puritanism and immortality have never been
allies i'll any shape, and all the assertions of all the
Bishops of Clrstend"m cannot make II appear that
the American missionaries at these islands have
afforded an exception 10 the rule. The most COIN
pleJe defence Of this American mission, if it heels
one. i To be found Mt this day In these facts: that an
Monarch i still upon the throne, with his
people and some thousands Of foreigners living to
gether in peace and security, while the MIrquesas.
Tahiti and New Zealand have long since lost their
native kingS,-that the HIwalians are an educated
people. and the chuIChes and schools fully attended
the group, that many HnwaHans are in
the ministry; that some are at work ~ missionaries
at other isles, To the South and To the West: that
others are successfully teaching their younger kin
dred in the schools Of the kingdom; that the moral
and social condition - the people corresponds with
the advancement Of their elucation-that no civil or
wars have taken place since the advent Of
the American mission n $50, and that, as i fully
Ia any truthful observer, the Hawaians
generally love and respect the American c~lergymen
and teachers who have devoted their lives to the i'm