The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-09-07

ard symmetry Of physical development
are especially noteworthy-and their
plains. fertile, fowery. and ever verdant,
make them soft and indolent and self
induIgent. No stranger can see them
for the first time, disfigured as they now
too often are by the hideous costumes
of our modern civilization, without be-
ing dazzled sometimes by beauty of
form and feature and of expression
which, to an artists eye when they are
seen in their own lovely setting, Is per-
petuai delight. Here such a one would
be tempted to say, sis something like
the original Garden of Eden, as it might
have been"
Yet the earlier and tribal history of
the people was neither beautiful nor en-
gaging. In the Bishop Museum in Homo
lulu, foundation which owes its ex-
istence to the wise munificence of an
Hawaiian princess who was, at the time
! of her death, the wife of an American
] merchant in Honolulu, we may see not
alone the emblems and implements of
domestic life, but those others which in
the history of the most primitive peo-
pies, are the symbols of it's religion.
Along with these one may read, too, if
his curiosity leads him in such a d.rec-
ton, the story of that strange admix-
ture of grotesque beliefs, rites, and
that, alas! in the history of the worlds
religions. is as old as the race. Two ele-
ments go, ordinarily, to make up these
religions. and they were not wanting in
the Hawaiian Islands. One Of them has
been superstition, blind terror begotten
by persistent misinterpretation of the
forces Of nature, with it's invariable ac-
compartment of belief in the power of
evil spirits in earth and air and sky; and
the other the cleverness of INSCRIPTIONS
men who. as priests or religious teachers,
perpetuated among the people blind
fear which by the adroit manipulation of
charms and amulets. and, above all, by
the mysterious influence of the taboo,
theys. maintained and deepened We are
accustomed to associate that word "ta-
boo" with the idea of prohibitions; but,
as matter OF fact, it stood for whole
code of religious rites, ceremonies. and
privileges. as well as restrictions, which
covered every mans life, reached out to
and controlled the disposition of his
goods, appropriated to so-called religious
uses, if 1t saw fit, the products of his
fields and fishing grounds, and, in it's
extreme form. when 1t became part of
the worship of the people, sent the king
for days and nights to the temple In
continuous act of worship, while the al
tars reared under the trees reeked with
the blood of human sacrifices. 1t was
characteristic of a note of singular bru-
tally in the religion of these island peo-
pies that. in a silence which, if it could,
muzZled the mouth of every man,
woman or child, beast or fowl, the priest
killed hog, and then put to death a
man. The hog was then roasted and
eaten, and the people returned thanks
after the feast by putting to death an
other man!
Such conceptions and usages prepare
one to find amoug people whose they
are a morality Of the very lowest type;
and of the unnamable vices of a race
with SingularIy engaging traits of dispo-
sition l may not speak here. They are
tragic commentary upon the theory
that heather peoples. so far as their re-
ligton Is concerned, may wisely be left
to themselves, and that efforts to better
them lead them only to exchange one set
of vices for another; and are, incidental
ly, a no less interesting commentary up
on the relative value of religious cere-
moniai, and of those great improving and
inspiring principles which touch the
springs of conduct rather than direct
the rules and instruments of worship.
A stranger who had landed in one of
the Hawaiian Islands when they were
as yet untrodden by the white man
might easily have formed a conception
of them as an extremely devout people.
They never built canoe or used a new
fishing-rod without offering a prayer and
making a sacrifice to their patron god.
Much more, if a house were to be built
or a boat to be launched, was the priest
: invoked and the sacrifice offered. But in
pathetic contrast with such usages was
the fact that those two most august
! facts Of life, as we view it. marriage
and death, were unattended with any
religious ceremonial whatever And in
this striking departure from the custom
of other pagan peoples We have very
impressive demonstration of the essential
animalism of the people.
| In the most picturesque of the many
! interesting collections assembled in the
J Bishop Museum at Honolulu are speei-
mems of the superb plumed spears and
robes worn by the chieftains and sover-
e,gns of the Hawaiian tribes. One of
/ them Is magnificent canary colored
vestment made of feathers of inimitable
richness and delicacy, and behind these
are seen the various insignia which de-
noted the rank and achievements of
these hereditary chieftains one of whom
became In time their king. For here, as
! SO often elsewhere, the political evolu-
! ton seems to have been from an asso-
citation of eads of tribes who became
in time vassals to one who was stronger
and cleverer than the rest. The Hawaii
an chiefs found their master, after long
periods of warfare with one another,
in that powerful ruler of the island of
Hawaii who. having first conquered the
whole of his own island, pushed his vic
tories over the other islands, and demon
strated in many ways the qualities of a
really great sovereign. His statue has
wisely been placed In front of the Gov
eminent Building in Honolulu, and no
one who looks at ii will refuse to own
that Its original was justly called 'Ka-
mahameha the Great To this man. wise
strong, and courageous, his people owe
lasting debit and under his hand there
came to them. for the first time, the en-
I joyment of those individual rights which
under fuedal government are unknown.
! How welcome they must have been, we
can realize only when We contrast the
( original condition of such a primitive
people with our own. The artist, the
/ poet, the sentimental traveller, are fond
Of reminding us how much of the
worlds earlier beauty and simplicity civ
| iization in its advance has spoiled. Yes,
! it may be so. from a superficial point of