The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1894-08-31

know them well. knew the natives,
too, as they We're many years go, and l
am fully convinced that the change l
see is from the influence OF the religion
at the Eible"
One boy was the means of the civili-
Earion and eyangelization OF the Sand
witch Islands. His father and mother
were killed, ;,!d he ran away with his
baby brother on his back. The infant
was slain by spear. The heroic boy
got ON ship for New England. He
was found weeping on the steps of Yale
college, Connecticut. He told the story
of his native island. That story aroused
the Christian world "a little child
shall lead them The Tahitian islands
have felt tho same supernal power.
They had been in the habit of Staying
aged parents. and where there were too
many children in the family they We're
put out of the way. Cannibalism was a
! gart of the diet. There was no law of
morally for unmarried women. One of
their religious sacrifices was man and
pig roasted together. In the Fiji is
lands parents were buried alive, and
wives were captured as buffalo are las
seed. Incarnation was common, and
snake worship prevailed. Among the
N-lrquesans polyandry, or the custom Of
L,ving mary husbands, was considered
right. An iron needle was worn in the
nostrils. The lower lip, by force Of tor
ture, was driven out to utmost dis
fnrfinn Thnra q concentration nf
filth and obscenity and massacre. The
Friendly islands and the Society islands
were at the lowest depths in morals and
cruelty. All these islands have been
illumined, and the most of the abomina-
tions have speed away not because of
the threat of foreign guns or as result
of national or international politics, but
by the influence of that which yonder
mighty crucifix in the night sky typi-
fies. Let no ship captain ever see it
from deck on the Pacific or passenger,
whether for pleasure or profit sailing
amid these islands, behold it without
remembering what the southern cross
has done for the besotted savages bound
ed on all sides by these vast wildernesses
of water.
Oh, that southern cross! Were ever
four worlds better placed than those
which compose it? Though they were
uninhabited and built only for this sig
nificanoe, they were worthily built
Shine ON until all the people of this
hemisphere who see thee shall bethink
themselves of the sacrifice thou dost de-
pict A cross not made out of darkness,
hut out of light. A cross strong enough
Ior all nations who see it to hang their
hopes upon. One night while watched
this celestial crucifix the cloud gather
ed, and the top of the cross was gone,
and the foot of it was gone, and the out
spread arms were gone. No more Of it
to be seen than if it had never been
hoisted. Had the cloud conquered the
stars? No. After awhile the clouds
parted and rolled back and off, and there
it stood with the same old emblazonment
the southern cross So the hostilities
of earth and hell may roll up and seem
to destroy the hope of communities and
of nations. but in Gods good time the
will fall back, and all OBJ
scurations will be dispelled, and all the
earth shall see it, the southern cross for
the south, the northern cross for the
north, the eastern cross for the east, the
western cross for the west, but all four
If the crosses found at last in the new |
astronomy of the gospel to he one and
he same cross-that which was set up
, 900 years ago and of which 1 have
ound either prophecy or reminis-
ence in that uplifted splendor seen
light by night while pacing the deck of
steamer ON the Pacific.
T. DE WITT TALNAGE.