A LETTER FROM THE SOCIETY ISLANDS.
By B. J. Cady
EVER since our missionary ship Pitcairn first visited this group, our work has been before the people to some extent. From that time a few have been keeping the true Sabbath. Representative missionaries are now in the field, and tracts upon a variety of subjects are published in the native language. Human nature is the same the world over, and the people here want to be upon the popular side, as well as elsewhere. It was asked in Christ's time if any of the rulers believed on him. This question is frequently asked here, "What do the leading people think of your work?" This people are called Christian. They believe that they have received great light, and are often heard to pray that God will send the gospel to the heathen in other lands. Yet, while they profess Christianity, their lives are, as a rule, quite foreign to its principles. They will not trust each other, and are continually at law one with another. In those places where the natives are controlled by their own laws, it is expected that everyone who holds a government office must be a church member. These officers are very zealous in searching out those among the common people who have broken the law. The penalty is simply a fine, banishment being only occasionally added to the fine, and the witness receives about half of the money as a compensation for his services. The remainder goes to the government, and is spent in buying food for the officials, when they have a gathering to talk over government matters. Since I have been here, I have not known the native governments to pay out one cent for public improvements. In a certain district on Raiatea the attendance at their church had grown very small at one time. So a law was passed that all well persons must attend church twice upon Sunday, or pay a fine of twenty-five cents for each service they failed to attend. When asked what they did with this money, they informed me that it was saved until enough had accumulated to buy food for a feast, when all would enjoy a feast together at the church. Many of the natives seem to think that when they have paid their fine, they are clear, and the sin stands no more against them. If this theory were true, then the sin would be transferred to the church, as its members are the ones who receive and use this money. Sorcerers are plentiful here, and they are also popular church members. A short time ago one sent word to the queen of Raiatea that a part of her name was the name of an old heathen god, which they now call the devil, and that unless that name should be removed, she would sicken and die an untimely death, as her sister, who was queen before her, had done. So her leading men were called together to talk over the matter, and, although they claimed to have no faith in such an idea, she, with them, decided to change the name so as to avoid danger. It is supposed by them that in many cases of sickness the presence of the devil is the direct cause. They think he is in the person, and to insure recovery he must be driven out. So a stone, weighing about twenty pounds, is heated until it has become exceedingly hot, then wrapped in leaves and tied inside of a cloth. Some assistants then hold the patient, while the sorcerer applies the hot stone to the spot where the pain is felt, as the devil is supposed to be where the pain is. While the patient screams and wriggles around, vainly trying to get away from the instrument of torture, these struggles are attributed to the devil. When the flesh is seen to twitch, the sorcerer cries out that the devil is there, and vigorously applies the heat to that spot. This is continued without mercy until the devil has been driven out, through the feet, head, or some other portion of the body. The sick person is often severely burned by this process. These few items will suffice to show what kind of Christian people these are, and how little they know of true Christianity. How hard it is to break away from old habits and ideas! It is so natural for us to follow in the footsteps of our forefathers, taking for granted that a thing must be true because they believed and practiced it! Some may wonder how they can believe such things, now that they have the Bible, and claim to follow its teachings. But let us not be in too great a hurry to condemn them because they profess Christianity and do not live up to its standard. It is so easy to set up one's own standard and expect others to live according to it. Are not many in more enlightened countries, who profess to believe and practice the teachings of the Scriptures, holding onto things of heathen origin, and as unwilling to give them up as this people are to abandon some of their heathen notions? Take, for example, the observance of Sunday as the Sabbath. God in his word has never given a command, or even a hint, either in the Old or New Testaments, that he wishes his followers to observe that day. It was dedicated to the worship of the sun by the sun worshipers; and Constantine, who was more of a heathen than a Christian, passed a law that all should rest on the venerable day of the sun. Other laws were afterward passed which compelled the people to either rest upon Sunday or lose their offices, property, or lives. This condition of things continued until many looked upon this man-made institution as coming from God. Some may think that the south sea islanders who burn poor sick people with hot stones would not be audacious enough to pray over it. But this is a mistake, for they never engage in this work without first reading a portion of Scripture and praying. So it may be with us—we may be obeying some cherished tradition which is contrary to the teachings of Scripture, and trusting to it instead of God's word. It becomes us to know that we are building on the Rock Christ Jesus, and not on the traditions of men. Christ said, "The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." It is said that where sickness is treated in this way by the sorcerers, nine out of ten never recover; but everyone who knowingly builds on the sands of tradition, and trusts to these things for salvation instead of to the word of God, will die the second death. How carefully we should all study God's holy word, and put into practice its teachings, for by it we are to be judged, and not by our ideas of right and wrong. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:13, 14.