The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-07-22

the reality of, and the great need o.
keeping in the bond OF peace, the unity
OF the spirit.
/ 1 need not weary you by a repetition
of the story of the discovery of the ISL
! ands by Captain Cook, the visit of Van.
! couyer IL years later, the enlightened
: policy OF King Kamehameha after
z wards known as the great, and the
effort OF. Vancouver to have mission
aries Of the English church cent to his
dominion. The missionaries were not
sent. The remarkable facts in the re-
ligious history of the islands may be
rapidly sketched. The son and success
sor of Kamehameha the Great demol-
1shed with one blow a whole system of
: idolatry and superstition. the high
priest of the system being himself the
leader Of the movement.
Missionaries of the American Board
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
were Immediately sent to take possess
sion of the field. They were Presby-
terians and Congregationalists from
New England. They were devoted, self
sacrificing men, sowing in it's simplicity
the Word of the Truth of the Gospel.
and by their fruits we know them"
They arrived in 1923. Thirty years later
Christianity was the prevailing religion
and a powerful influence In the councils
of the kings. The Bible and many re-
ligious books were translated into the
native tongue. There were more than
55 900 oTnmunicants and as many pu-
pills In the Christian schools. AS early
as 1853 the native Christians had even
sent missionaries to other islands of the
Pacific, and in 1869 foreign aid was no
longer necessary.
It was not until 1852 that the Church
of England, through the combined ef-
forts of English and American bishops,
and at the request of the young King
KamehaIneha w, who had been to
England and learned to love the order
and service of the church-consecrated
the Rev. DR.. Staley to be bishop of
Honolulu. The story of the young king
and his queen. Emma granddaughter
of the English sailor who had been in |
fiuential in the court of kamehameha |
the Great), his translation of the
Prayer Book into the native tongue and /
his zeal for the church in gifts and la /
bors, is well known. Bishop Staley in |
4 sermon which he preached in West
minister Abbey on the eve of his de-
parture for the islands shows how fully /
ne realized the necessity for giving |
to keep the unity of the spirit
n the bond of peace. We are, he
said. ito speak the truth but it must
De IL love and we are TO give all who
have been hitherto laboring with so
much devotion and earnestness in their
Masters cause, while we have been
ookfng on with cold Indifference. the
.redit they deserve. We must make il
lear that we do not go forth to ignore
IT override what has been done by
,thers" 1 have only time to remind
-ou of the rapid increase in the COM
nerce of the islands-the domination of
European and American civilization
he demoralizing influences of that
utilization in some of it's forms upon /
he native population-the mixture of !
aces and the events which finally
made Hawaii a territory of the United
tates. With the Incorporation of the
hawaiian Islands as territory of the
Jnited States came the necessity for i
one arrangement by which the juris- |
icticn Of the Anglican church in those [
Stands should be transferred to the J
'rotestant Episcopal Church in the Y
rnited States. A plan of transfer was G
and happily consummated by
-hich that diocese of the Church of /
.ngland known as the Diocese of Ho- [
o1ulu became the Missionary District I
Z Honolulu of the Protestant Episcopal T
hurch of the United States of Amer t
a. The property and jurisdiction I
ere received on Tuesday. April 1st, in )
{ Andrews cathedral. Honolulu, by J
le Bishop OF California. acting for the a
bishop. and at the hands of 4
le venerable Bishop Willis, who re- s
gns his charge after 80 years of sery- ]
e. We are now TO corsecrate the rec |;
Y Of this parish. duly elected, to be F
~ first bishop of the Missionary Dis o
let Of Honolulu -
Thoughts crowd upon me as I think