INCIDENTS AT THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.
By James Sawyer
The recent volcanic eruption at the Sandwich Islands leads us to inquire, Why such remarkable demonstrations? The like has never before occurred. Cities have been engulfed; lava has covered fair plains and fertile districts; but never have so many consecutive shocks filled the people of any country, at one period, with such terror. “Is creation
Groaning for its latter day?” The student of science will merely behold in it the grandeur of Nature’s fireworks. It will be another proof in geology of the internal fire of the earth. It will not be looked upon by the inhabitants of the earth as a judgment. It creates a little wonder in our busy minds, and then passes away. There are three hundred volcanoes on this earth, and all but two are near the sea. There are two hundred of them constantly in action. And why should that one in the Island of Hawaii be singled out as the desolater of fair plains? Has not He who cares for the sparrow, forgotten the native of the Isles? Why has it become necessary that the sea should not know her bounds, but let her tidal waves rush ruthlessly away over trees and hills? Why are mountain peaks lifted bodily and carried away through the air over tree tops to settle down upon houses, animals, and persons, by the hundreds? Why do the coral beds, seemingly tired of their long repose and anxious to snuff the life-giving air, vie to reach the clouds of heaven? What means this great upheaving? I consider it my privilege to draw some conclusions in regard to this matter, since I spent eighteen days on that island (Hawaii). It was six years ago. I was on the very ground where Captain James Cook fell, and visited his grave. Had a visit with the native judge of that district, Gen. B. Kalaare, from whom I received a present of Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” in the native tongue. I took dinner with him, and learned all I could of the history of the islands. This person was a member of the king’s council, or cabinet. The king of the islands was Kamehameha the Third. This native judge was a scholar, and acted towards me like a gentleman. There had been missionaries laboring on the islands then for more than thirty years. There were schools, and some of the young men could converse understandingly on Geometry, Trigonometry, and other sciences. I attended the native church under charge of an American missionary, on Sunday. Other sailors also went. The missionary had no remarks to make to us, although we had been over two years away from any such place of religious worship. Why such neglect? thought I to myself. The minister did not offer to shake hands with any of us, although we were Americans like himself. I visited his beautiful garden, where were growing lemons, coffee, and many other tropical productions; saw the same preacher near his residence, who did not offer to notice me, and the only words in his sermon which were spoken in English were four—the interpretation of the text which the angel gave to Lot as he directed him to leave Sodom. Gen. xix, 17. The native words were, Ahole ole eke mauna—“Escape to the mountain.” Enough, however, of the discourse was understood to acquaint me with the fact, that his congregation were severely scolded for their Sodomitish customs. I had gone but a few steps from the meeting-house door, when a Kanaka lady came out of the large crowd, and struck me on the pant’s pocket, to see if the money would jingle; (silver money then). The vanity of the natives was displayed in putting on whatever was fanciful, that came within their reach; and while one might have a covering on the head and be barefooted, another would have a covering for the feet and be bareheaded. In the language of surprise, I asked myself why this was so. Why had some acquired so much science and book-learning, and yet were so uncultivated in morals? A Yankee who had resided there for nineteen years told me that in all that time he had never known one to learn a mechanical trade. About ninety years ago when Capt. James Cook discovered the islands, there were about 80,000 inhabitants. The plague has visited the islands several times since; so that now there are probably 60,000 natives. Why have 9,000 of the Hawaiians been swept away during the past six years? Because they have transgressed the laws and broken the everlasting covenant, therefore hath the curse devoured this island. Isa. xxiv. Their fleshly lusts have warred against the soul. Licentiousness has driven away virtue, and angels have left them joined to their idols of Ease and Indulgence. That same lawyer and judge who invited me to partake of a repast of sweet potatoes and milk, sat down with his wife to a table near me, and both he and she picked to pieces with their fingers a raw, undressed fish, and ate it. The natives had an abundance of poultry and swine. The flesh of these is much esteemed. They greatly enjoy their flesh-pots and tropical fruits. Productions being mostly spontaneous, but little time is used in cultivating the soil. Why did Sodom and Gomorrah sink beneath brimstone and fire? Their sin was grievous. Herculaneum was deluged by a flood of lava, 80 feet deep, and the5busy streets of Pompeii were also deeply covered by a liquid flood of the molten elements of earth. They were both renowned and magnificent cities. Recent discoveries, however, made by digging down into them, bring to light many obscene figures and pictures, which plainly describe the character of the people who inhabited them. Their sin was also grievous. They were like unto Sodom, and the cry of them went up to Heaven. They, too, became ensamples to them who should live after. Does not the Mauna Loa eruption form another evidence in the class of awful judgments that God executes upon shameful and wicked men? My captain, who had followed the sea for over thirty years, and had visited the Sandwich Islands many times during his sea life, in conversation while I was there, said, “I do not believe there are three virtuous native women on the Island of Hawaii.” Although I could not believe that, it did not then seem possible; but reasoning from analogy, we now conclude there are but few in the Mauna Loa district, who have the fear of God before their eyes; and yet, under the influence of the missionary society, which has been supposed to have done so much good! Tell it not in America, whence go the missionary ships. Tell it not in New England, whence go hundreds of whale ships manned by men supposed to have been born in the land of steady habits; for the sins of the Sandwich Islanders may rest heavily upon them. The light of the Americans, as they have visited foreign lands, has been put under a bushel. The reform of the natives in the Sandwich Isles was not a thorough work. The use of the muscle, as well as the nerve, must be cultivated; and that person who does not develop, each day of his life, the osseous, the muscular, arterial, and venous systems, as a whole, will fall short of filling the purpose for which he was created. To be idle, is to give advantage to our great enemy. To be an idle Christian, will be to make a workshop for the Devil; and, as a man said to me not long since, “Show me an idle and lazy Christian, and I will show you a holy Devil.” JAMES SAWYER.