The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-10-09

somehow found his way to the TIRES
hold of one of the college buildings in
New Haven, Conn. Some one had told
him that the work OF the college was
to give instruction. He was found by
the Rev Edwin ". Dwight weeping
because there was no one to teach him.
This good man became his instructor
Samuel J. Mills became. interested in
him. It was intended by his friends
that he should return to his own coun-
| try as teacher, but after several years
of study he died in 1918. His life and
death accomplished much for Hawaii.
| The need of mission work there was
brought wildly to the minds of Ameri-
| can people, and in the year following
his death Hiram Bingham and Asa
Thurston were sent to bear the mes
sage he had hoped to carry to his be-
nighted countrymen.
AS we have said they found the ma
tives ready and eager to hear the good
tidings" Other missionaries Joined
them in the work. and such a religious
upheaval followed as has not been
euuaIed save in the days of Pentecost.
DR.. Coan, of Hilo. was pastor of a
church of 7,163 members, LOO of whom
were selected from twice as many ap
plicants and baptized at q single SER
vice. For baptism they stood in rows,
which DR.. Coan sprinkled as he passed.
Then, standing in their midst, he said.
Il baptize you all in the name of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
Amen Dr. Coan alone baptized 1850
persons.
Early in the work invaluable aid was
given the missionaries by another Ha-
waiian chieftess whose memory We are
delighted to honor.
Kapiolani, a descendant of the an
cient Hawaiian Kings, became con-
vert to Christianity and was anxious
to free her people from the chains Of
superstition which bound them. Nat
uraIly the active volcanoes of Hawaii
awe-inspiring to the most enlightened
mind-were the center of countless
superstitious fears to the credulous ma
tives. One mountain particularly was
sacred to the goddess Pele. Terrible
would be the fate of one who dared to
approach the crater, whose sulphurous
flames were altar fires kept alive by
unknown spirits of darkness.
DENYING THE TABOO"
Kapiolani resolved to give an object
lesson to her subjects. She would brave
the wrath of Pele, relying upon the pro-
lection of her own Jehovah, and realiz-
| ing that her escape, unscathed, would
be powerful argument against the Ia
boo ard in favor of the new religion.
She announced her intention to climb the
mountain and descend to the crater. On
their knees, in tears, her people begged
her not TO bring upon herself certain de-
tstruction by defying the cruel goddess;
but undaunted, this modern Elijah walk
| ed 100 weary miles to the foot of the
mountain, followed by a frightened but
admiring multitude. There she was met
| by MI Goodrich, a Christian missionary
who had heard of her undertaking, and
| had come thirty miles to give ner help
/ and encouragement. The two, with a few
timorous followers, descended to the very
brink of the crater, Kapiolani deliberate
| ly threw stones into the mass of seeth-
ing lava, and ate of Peles own sacred
berries, then, calmly addressing her peo-
4, pie, she said: Jehovah is my God. He
kindled these fires. 1 fear not Pele.
Should L perish by her anger, then you
may fear her power. But If Jehovah
save me, when breaking her taboos,'
| then must you fear and serve Jehovah.
The gods OF Hawaii are vain. Great is
the goodness Of Jehovah in sending mis-
sionaries to turn us from these vantites
to the living God"
| Thus the taboo of Pele was broken,
The spread of Christianity and multi
lplication of churches went on rapidly. BY
1851 the people were reaching out to help
Iothers, and the Hawaiian Missionary So
ciety was organized In it's first year
these converts, recently throwing human
sacrifices into Peles awful caldron, gave
gladly $6,140 to the Lord for use in mis-
sionary work in Micronesia, which they
selected as a field for their labors DR..
Gulick, Mr.. Snow and Mr. Sturgis and
their wives, with two native Hawaiians,
sailed July Is, 1852. And from that day
! to this, the churches of Hawaii have
| maintained fellow countrymen as mis-
sionaries in Micronesia and the Marquee
sas Islands.
They did what they could, giving each
| according to what a man hath fish,
a fowl or a cocoanut. They never heard
that miserable sentence of a narrow
faith, There is so much to do at home"
Their lips never uttered the misery
| falsehood, 1T takes a dollar to send a
dollar to the heathen.'
| THEY SENT MONEY TO AMERICA.
They were informed of all needs, and
gave to all. More than $4,000 have come
from the Hilo church for missionary
work here in our own country. Two hum
dred dollars went to a Chinese mission
in San Francisco. An appeal of Father
Cheniquay of Kankakee, ILL.,, reached
them, and when he read to his congrega-
ton the letter from these poor islanders,
which enclosed $500 for use in his work
| his people were rebuked by such gener-
osity.o the part of their humble Hawaii
an brethren. and bowed down, weeping.
| The record of the church at Hilo, which
was for fifty years under the charge of
Rev. Titus Coan, shows that from the
beginning their monthly collections have
averaged about 500, and by 1870 they
had given for all religious purposes more
than 100000.
The whole number admitted to the
churches of Hawaii during the first fifty
years of missionary effort was 50, 800 The
amount contributed by native churches
for Christian objects in the year 1870
was over $4,000 in gold, which would av-
erage little more than $500 for each
church member on the Islands. The work
on the Islands was in charge of the
American Board, but it was soon thought
best to withdraw and leave the manage
ment in the hands of the native pastors.
A board was formed called the Board of
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