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There, according to his story, he prevailed upon his shipmates to seize a Yankee sloop the British had brought in there. They succeeded in the enterprise, and returned with the sloop to the very port where it was owned.

Reclaimed from the sea, and adopted by the benevolent, Hopu now lived for three years at Cornwall, where, although he never enlisted the sympathy and interest that were attracted to Obookiah, he was fitted for an important part, at first, as interpreter to the early missionaries, and a teacher in the schools.

At

While at the Cornwall Mission School, it is related of him that he took a journey into the country with a friend, and spent an evening with a company who were much entertained by the questions proposed to him by an irreligious lawyer, and his amusing answers. length Thomas said, in substance, "I am a poor heathen boy. It is not strange that my blunders in English should amuse you. But soon there will be a larger meeting than this. We shall all be there. They will ask us all one question, namely, 'Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ?' Now, sir, I think I can say, Yes. What will you say, sir?"

He ceased, and an oppressive stillness pervaded the room. At length it was broken by a proposition of the lawyer, that, as the evening was far spent, they should have a season of devotion, in which Thomas should lead. It was acceded to; and Thomas, in his accustomed meek and affectionate manner, addressed the throne of grace. Soon he prayed for the lawyer in

THE LAWYER AND SANDWICH ISLANDER.

57

person, alluding to his learning and talent, and besought that he might not be ignorant of the way of salvation through Christ.

As he proceeded thus, the emotion of the lawyer rose above restraint. He sobbed aloud. The whole company were affected, and sobs drowned the speaker's voice. When they separated for the night, and retired to their respective rooms, there was no rest to the lawyer, for the question of Thomas still rung in his ears, "What will you say, sir?" Nor did its echo cease till the Spirit of God renewed his heart, and he truly found the Saviour.

This same Thomas Hopu is now bronzed and wrinkled beyond his years, and his lamp of life must soon go out. Though his conduct as a Christian since his return is said to have been by no means always exemplary, nor his influence upon his countrymen what was to have been looked for from his advantages, we must lean to the side of charity in our judgments both of him and his fellows.

Mr. Dibble very properly says, that too much had been expected of them. They were found exceedingly ignorant, and of course, therefore, were miserable interpreters, and very poor teachers. They were often found teaching doctrines and precepts altogether opposed to the precepts of the Bible, and to the spirit of the Gospel. Those of the Cornwall youth especially, that came with the first reinforcement, were deemed a hindrance rather than a help. "To have visited a foreign land, to be better clad than their fellow-countrymen, to re

ceive some attention from chiefs and foreigners, were distinctions which their weak brains and undisciplined minds could not endure."*

These youth having so far failed as interpreters, the missionaries were thrown upon their own skill and application for getting a mastery of the Hawaiian tongue. To this great work, therefore, of learning and reducing to writing a language barbarous and unknown, they accordingly devoted themselves with a patient, yea, heroic assiduity. The marvellous result of their labors the universal world of humanity now knows and feels. How vast the difference between the Hawaii which they found in 1820, and the Hawaii which, under God, they have made in 1850!

In the marvellous change thus effected at this longlost Atlantis of the Pacific, we catch a glimpse of what may be realized the world over, when that prophe-. cy of Holy Writ shall be fulfilled which says that THE EARTH SHALL BE FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF THE LORD AS THE WATERS COVER THE SEA. THEY SHALL NOT HURT NOR DESTROY IN ALL MY

HOLY MOUNTAIN.

* Dibble's History of the Sandwich Islands, p. 173. Lahainaluna Mission Press, 1843.

HOSPITABLE PORT OF LAHAINA.

59

CHAPTER III.

LAHAINA AND ITS ENVIRONS ON THE ISLAND OF MAUI.

HAPPY, oh! happy he, who not affecting
The endless toils attending worldly cares,
With mind reposed, all discontent rejecting,
In steady pace his way to heaven prepares;
Deeming his life a scene, the world a stage,
Whereon he acts his useful pilgrimage.

ANON.

Good-bye to Hawaii-Grateful reminiscences-The continental character of mission⚫aries-Portraiture of a good priest-Run to Maui by whale-ship-Facilities for recruiting at Lahaina-Seamen's chaplain-Gratuitous services of missionaries-Sailors always careless when not cared for-Winding up of a liberty-day at Lahaina, in the season of ships-An honorable pre-eminence-Hawaiians a surf-playing-Sea-bathing a national passion-Array of arguments for the people supporting their own ministers-Peculiar advantages at Lahaina-The Hawaiian democracy-Remarkable running out of the race of rulers-Precious dust in God's acre-Character and influence of the high chief Hoapili-A striking anecdote-Vistas of prophecy opened-Tendency of things--Cheering progress.

TURN we now, in prosecuting this survey of the moral Heart of the Pacific, to another portion of the Hawaiian group. We pay a reluctant farewell to the hospitable Island of Hawaii, in whose missionary families, churches, and schools, as portrayed in "The Island World of the Pacific," I find myself to have become more deeply interested than I could have believed. The friendships of studious years have been renewed. New ones, that will be ever cherished and fragrant, have been formed. The good fruits of the Gospel, and the benign results of faithful missionary labor, have been observed; and a

debt incurred of that kind which, while it cannot be cancelled from the mint, a debtor loves to be paying, and a creditor to be receiving from the mental mine of genuine affection, good wishes, and prayers.

It is that kind of obligation which a truly hospitable and good man likes to have others under to himself, and it is the only debt which does not worry, and which he is willing to be burdened with himself, as answering the apostolic injunction, To owe no man any thing, but to love one another. It is a commodity which it were happy indeed if all Christians lived so much within their means, and with such true Christian simplicity and prudence, as to be able to pay all their debts in. The pressure of the times would be little felt if a plenty of that were in circulation, and if discounts were oftener made between man and man in that genuine currency. Its quality, like that of mercy, is not strained,

Both blessing him that gives and him that takes.

It is of the kind words, attentions, hospitality, and help which love dictates between friend and friend, and from his host to the traveller, and which humanity calls for from the rich and prospered in society to the unfortunate and needy, that our American poet Dana says,

They make not poor:
They'll come again full-laden to your door.

Lord Bacon, too, has beautifully said, If a man be gracious to strangers, it shows that he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other

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