The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1877-02-10

In THE December number of the Missionary
Herald, published by the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions, We find the
following article upon these islands:
The reading public must have seen, of late,
many indications of an unpromising condition OF
affairs, socially, morally, and religiously, at the
Hawaiian Islands, for whose enlightenment and
Christianization so much has been done, and so
not been easy to obtain precise knowledge; diff
ferent writer's present different views; and the
matter has more than one side to be considered.
A very intelligent Christian minister at the
Islands, writing on this subject recently to the
Secretary of the American Board, notices the fol-
lowing as among the unpleasant facts of the case,
which must be admitted. (1.) A general feeling,
at present, Of antipathy on the part of native
HawaiiaDs against foreigners, amounting to hatred
of whites on the part of the vicious, while among
the better class of natives it is a suspicion and
distrust Of their white friends-a fear to trust
them. (2) A lamentable looseness prevailing
throughout the social order of things at the Islands
for the last thirteen years. 80 The demoralizlng
character of the popular literature of the day; espe-
cially of most of the newspapers that have been
published in the native language for some years
past. a. A spirit of self-sufficiency on the part OF
the Hawaiians, noticed even among the native pas
tors, which renders it difficult to exert an influence
over them. (5.) The fact that some unfit and even
bad men have been brought forward into the min
istry, as pastors of native churches. But while
admitting all this, he goes on to say
There is another view of the case which seems
to me to be the more correct one. Within the last
ten years the Hawaiian people have been tried as
they were never tried before. The record of
these years has been q strange one. The political,
social, and moral foundations of the people have
been shaken until they were ready to fall. "A
tempest in q teapot you may call 1t but never
theless, to those who are in the teapot, it is
fraught with weighty consequences. Never since
the days Of Bingham, and Thurston, and Whitney.
has the cause of Christ in Hawaiinei been called to
meet sorer trials, or the church of Christ to contend
with more subtle enemies. Never has the nation
come so near losing its independence, and its all.
as during the last decade. And what with Rom
anism, and Ritualism, and Mormonism, and the
Good Of infdelity that has come IN upon the
country. is it surprising that the poor Hawaiian
should become somewhat bewildered and demon
allied? Is it not rather o matter OF surprise and
congratulation that be has not gone under in the
general upheaval of his social condition? The
love of national existence, the desire for advance
ment and improvement, the earnest reaching up
ward for a higher social level, never asserted 1t
self in the Hawaiian mind so strongly as 1t does
to-day. This out-growth of their better nature,
pushing in devious ways, often running IN
mistaken channels, is due, under the blessing OF
God, to the labors oil your missionaries here; and
it will last as long as there is a Hawaiian people;
while the spiritual and invisible results of their
work will continue forever. And if you go out
among the Hawaiian churches to-day, amid much
to discourage, you will find ample ground for en-
enlargement. There is pure gold among these
churches, and it must be cared for, for Christ's
SAKE
We have space to-day to comment but briefly
upon this sombre picture of the present condition
of things at our islands but we are reminded
of the truth of the saying that ones worst enc
mics are often those of his own household. We
except to the statement that there is general
feeling of antipathy on the part of native Hawai-
ians against foreigners" The writer, whoever
he may be, is grossly misinfOrmed upon the sub
ject, and is to be blamed, if q resident here, for
not being bettsr informed. The statement is
devoid of truth, and its publication to the world
is a grave injury to the people of these islands,
whether native born or foreigners residing here.
The '' lamentable looseness" in morals, while
truly to be regretted and lamented wherever and
whenever it appears, has not, to our apprehen-
sion, been any more observable among the people
generally during the past thirteen years than in
former times. The principal newspaper publish
ed in the native language for some years past has
been the RuokOd, and latterly the Ldhui Ra,Vaii.
They may answer for themselves the charge of
- demoralizing character" The unsatisfactory
ofnative churches and pastors and their
sc self suffciency," may, we believe, be consi-
dered IS 2 natural result of the ill-adyised aban-
Of these islands IS Q missionary field by
the American Board in 1870. Fifty years Of re-
teaching is not enough to transform 8
Of idolatrous heather into a well-ordered,
self-governing Christian community and the
g Jubilee" was celebrated too soon.