herding together in the same house at night, without partitions between them, men, women and children upon the same mat; the unceremonious manner of intercourse between the sexes, without any forms of reserve or any delicacy of thought and conversation; the idle habits of all, especially of the women, and their fondness for visiting from home at night; and above all, the force of long established habits, which, after a season of effort at reform, return upon them with almost resistless force;-these, and their inexperience in resisting temptation when it comes upon them, are some of the sources of so much irregularity among this people. It is long since we have set our faces against all these practices, as so many avenues to temptation. But the work is not of a day, perhaps not of a generation. Of those under our immediate influence, the majority have built comfortable houses, and have separate bedrooms, and are dis posed to conform as far as their circumstances will admit to the habits of civilized state of things produces much embarrass-ceivers until the evil transpires. Their ment on our part, in endeavoring to select the wheat from the chaff. Some of our trials on this subject will be mentioned in the course of this letter. But we have this encouragement, "The Lord knoweth them that are his," and will order all things in his Providence for the wisest ends. Though it becometh us to use every caution lest unworthy persons be admitted to church privileges, yet we can hardly hope to preserve the church pure from unworthy members. The church at Kailua has received twenty-three members into her communion during the last year, making ninety-seven in all that have been received. Of these two have died within the year, and four have been suspended for unchristian conduct. Of the church at Kaavaloa, three have been suspended during the year, and one previously suspended is not yet restored. The crime for which these persons have been excluded from church privileges is adultery, the sin which hangs heaviest of all others upon the people of Hawaii. Drunkenness and theft are now scarcely known; the sale of spirits is interdicted; murder is absolutely unknown, and has been for a long time; but the sin of uncleanness still cleaves to them like the leprosy, and threatens to destroy both soul and body. life. But this number, compared with the whole community, is small. The great mass still prefer their old habits and mode of life, with all its attendant train of evils. But we conceive the true secret of all these evils lies still deeper, and cannot be effectually touched by any outward remeWe have long been aware that this sin, dies which have as yet been applied. The though driven from the open light of day total want of family government and disciby the arm of the law, still lurked in secret, pline lies at the root of every other evil. and that many, who professed to belong to The vagrant habits of children and memthe Christian party, were sometimes over- bers of every family, and the total disregard taken by it, and went back to their former they show to the injunctions of their mode of life. We have made it a prominent parents or others over them, is a melancholy part in all our instructions, public and pri- proof of the low state of domestic discipline. vate, to warn the people against the danger|| Here begin those habits of moral delinof falling into this sin, to expose its deformity, and hold it up to odium. And we have made it a rule that candidates for church membership should be kept at least two years under our instruction, before they be admitted to the sacraments. We supposed that in so long a time of probation, they | would afford us some test of their sincerity. But it seems that some have crept into the church by deceiving themselves and us, while in secret they have indulged in sin. Cases of this aggravated nature, however, are rare. The greater number of those who have fallen, appear to have been merely overtaken in the temptation, and afterwards concealed it through fear, until it transpired by some circumstance or other. Most of those who now stand suspended, appear to be thoroughly ashamed and penitent. We know of only one for whom we entertain no hope. quency, which grow up and strengthen with their strength. Here then must begin the reforming influence, by introducing family government among their parents. This is an object to which for some time past we have been turning our attention. It is to a future generation we must look for proper examples of Christian character. Not that there will be no good examples among the present generation, for there are many already; but there is in those who appear the best, a certain want of quick moral sense of right and wrong, which is the result of their previous habits of life; a bluntness of perception which even grace does not wholly eradicate. Early education alone can instil those feelings of virtuous moral perception, which distinguish the enlightened Christian from the untutored savage, and the want of which is so lamentable in the character of a Hawaiian. The habits and mode of life among the There are some other points of character Hawaiians are such, as peculiarly expose attending this people, which do much in persons to temptations. And though there producing the effects above described, and are many who are improving in civilized which can only be remedied by industry habits, still there is so little concern or and the arts. It is their going unclothed; watchfulness of one over another, that per- and the painful sight meets the eye at every sons are often never suspected of being de-moment of time, until its familiarity has destroyed all feeling. It is not peculiar to this people, but belongs to all tribes who live in a state of nature, and who consider clothing rather as an ornament for display, than a covering to their deformity. The evil, however, is real; and it becomes the friends of civilization to devise some remedy; not by furnishing them clothing made to their hands, for that would only increase the evil by encouraging idleness and fostering pride. They need to be taught to manufacture their own clothing. We are aware of our inability to suggest any adequate measures which shall remedy this evil by such means as we have at command. It is no small task to teach a savage people the necessity of industry and a knowledge of the arts, but we fully believe it practicable. They have no idea of the process of manufacturing cloth, because the attempt to teach them has never been made, though the wish has often been expressed that they might be taught. Here there is a field of usefulness for some future effort of philanthropy; and he who shall successfully perform it will reap the rich reward of a grateful nation. Nor need it be deemed a hopeless effort, for there is reason to believe that if rightly undertaken it would succeed. But it must be made disinterestedly and devotedly, without any other hope of recompense than the satisfaction of doing good. It must not be made with a view to mercantile speculation, but with the sole object of putting it in the power of this people to clothe themselves. Funds will be requisite to procure and put in operation the machinery on a simple scale. Perhaps the cotton spinning-wheel or hand-gins would be the best things to teach them to spin, and hand-looms to weave their cloth. Cotton can be grown with great ease and to the full extent of the demand. It grows spontaneously to some extent already, but has never been cultivated for the purpose of manufacture. Improved Location of the Village of Kaa waloa. We still continue our weekly visits to Kaawaloa, which, with the residence of Mr. Ruggles and family at that place, affords to that people a present adequate supply. For although the continued feeble health of Mr. R. precludes his doing as much as he would, were he in firm health, yet his presence and advice to the chiefs and people, his instructing a daily school of the teachers, and his superintendance over the schools attached to that station, place him in a useful post. He has a very pleasant situation in the country, two miles back from the bay, to which an excellent carriage road has been completed recently. A commodious chapel has been erected there. and the chiefs and people have deserted the shore and taken up their abode near him. The recent improvements made in the country to which the people have repaired, have rendered it one of the most pleasant and healthful spots in the islands. Though not so cold as Waimea, it is also not so wet and uncomfortable. It stands at an elevation of about 2,000 feet above the level of the sea, and is fanned by the sea-breeze by day, and the land wind by night. The soil is highly fertile, and Mr. R. is growing the various kinds of tropical fruits, such as grapes, figs, pomegranates, oranges, guavers, and coffee; which bid fair hereafter to produce a plentiful supply of these articles for that place, and a nursery for the propagation of the plants. Fifteen persons have been received to the church during the present year, and six more now stand propounded for admission. Station of Waimea. The station at Waimea has been without an occupant ever since last December. Mr. Ruggles returned to Kaawaloa, and Mr. Bingham soon followed him on a visit to this place, before his return to Oahu. Early in the following February, Waimea was visited by the king and chiefs, after completing the tour of the island. Several of the missionaries accompanied them, and there we spent a week together. At that time all the schools of Kohala, Waimea, and Hamakua were assembled and examined one by one. The examination took up four days. Afterwards the new church, then just finished, was dedicated by prayer to Almighty God. At the same time the king and concluded the whole by a prayer. made an appropriate speech to the people, There are a few at Waimea, who give pleasing evidence of piety, who will be propounded for church membership soon after the station shall be re-occupied. Mr. Baldwin has been appointed a permanent resident there, with a view to the medical wants of the families on this island. He is expected to remove there as early as January next, when he will be accompanied by one of the families at this place, to reside with him until the next general meeting of the mission, at which time it is hoped that provision will be made for a permanent associate for him. The place appears every way eligible as a retreat for invalids, except that it is too rainy, and is sometimes visited with severe gales of wind. Its remoteness from the sea is also some inconvenience in difficulty can in time be overcome. obtaining supplies, but it is hoped that this As a field of usefulness, you have probably been fully informed ere this by those who have resided there. Still it is somewhat doubtful whether it will be permanently occupied, should a mission family be sent from among us to the Marquesas islands. Difficulties Encountered in the Education of the Youth. We have had three examinations of the schools during the year, and our fourth is near at hand. The whole number of scholars belonging to the fifty schools in the northern part of the district of Kona, amounted, at the yearly examination, to 3,814; of which 1,100 were readers; the remainder were in the elementary books. Of the whole number there were, men and boys, 1,520, women and girls, 1,728, and|| children under ten years, 566. We have not the record of the present number of schools and learners at Waimea and Kaawaloa: they have, however, sustained their several examinations with credit, and their numbers have not materially diminished. The effort made by us to collect the children into schools for instruction, has not succeeded so well as the adult schools. The greater part of those originally entered have forsaken the schools, and the remainder are kept together with no little difficulty. Their restive minds, impatient of restraint, and their ungovernable habits at home, present a very serious difficulty in the way of bringing them under the discipline of schools. At the first, there was a general readiness in them to join the schools, being enticed by a new book made on purpose for them, and bestowed gratuitously to all who desired to learn. But their books were soon soiled and torn, the novelty was past, and they returned to their old habits of idleness. But there is also another cause of the defection above mentioned-the incompetency of their teachers. They fail to interest, because they know not how to teach; and children, as well as adults, are quick to now in incipient operation, but something of the same kind is needed at every station as a nursery for teachers. When we look about us and see how little has been done, and how much remains to be done, we are constrained to acknowledge our insufficiency for its accomplishment. We fear, too, that many in our country are beginning to think that much more has been done than is really the case. Let God be praised for what our eyes see and ears hear daily; but we have as yet only entered the threshhold of the field, and surveyed the length and breadth of the land. Every step in advance but opens a wider and wider field of labor, and prepares the way for more laborers. A long and laborious life will not accomplish all which we have conceived must be done for this people, before missionary effort should begin to relax. It will be ours to collect, like David, the materials, and leave to our successors the completion of the edifice. If human effort alone were to be relied on in accomplishing the reformation of the world, we might well say with the infidel, that the attempt is futile. Many centuries have already passed away since the apostolic commission was given, "Go, teach all nations;" and still the world is full of darkness, wretchedness, and the "habitations of cruelty." But we have not so learned ed. We have learned on whom to rely for Christ as to despair of its being accomplishsuccess. And though He has appointed that it is to be accomplished through human instrumentality, the promise, “Lo, I am with you," plainly indicates by whom success is to be attained. A spirit of benevolence has gone forth for the relief of "The world lying in sin," and it will not return void; it will in due time reap the fruits of its labors, in despite of the sneers and opposition of the enemies of righteousness. It will not faint or grow weary under discourmidst of death. While some are called to agements, but live and thrive even in the cease from their labors, and enter into their perceive their deficiency. This is a defect in the whole system of instruction in the islands, with but few exceptions, and it can only be remedied by time. Our hands are at present so filled with other duties having reference to preaching and translating the word of God, that we have found but little time to devote to instructing the teachers. Many of those whom we have instructed and sent forth, soon get above their work, and leave the drudgery of the business to others less competent than themselves. The immoral conduct of many of the teach-rest, it is the Spirit who raises up others to ers, has also been a source of much trouble to us. The superiority they assume over others, and the deference paid them by their pupils, give them occasion frequently to trespass upon their credulity and virtue. There needs to be a radical reform in the school system, and it must begin with the teachers. The progress of instruction upon the old system has nearly attained its height, and is becoming stationary for want of suitable persons to carry it beyond the mere rudiments. But with all these deficiencies in the system, it has thus far answered the ends for which it was designed to our full expectations, and thousands have by it become competent readers, and some in every place have been taught to write. We have raised expectations of good to be accomplished by the high school follow in their steps, or even to go beyond the bounds of their predecessors in carrying the light of salvation to the remotest ends of the earth. LETTER Arkansas Choctaws. FROM MR. WILLIAMS, DATED APRIL 12TH, 1832. Ir was stated at p. 28, that Messrs. Wright and Williams, connected with the Choctaw mission, were about to proceed with their families to the new Choctaw country, lying between the Arkansas and Red rivers, with a view to commencing a mission there. They reached Vicksburg, on the Mississippi, Feb. 6th, whence they proceeded by steamboats to Little Rock, on the Arkansas, where they arrived on the 18th. At that place they remained about a fortnight owing to the sickness of Mr. Wright. As his health, though improving, did not seem likely to be fully reestablished immediately, it was thought expedient for Mr. Williams and his family, with Miss Clough, a female teacher, to proceed to their field of labor, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Wright at Little Rock. The distance which they had travelled from the old Choctaw nation, following the course of the rivers, was about 800 miles. Mr. Williams gives the following account of his Journey from Little Rock to the Choctaw Boundary. || Choctaw country, which was on the 17th Reception among the Choctaws. My feelings on crossing the boundary line, I cannot well describe. Suffice it to say, I longed exceedingly for that wisdom which is profitable to direct me in all my intercourse with the natives; so that, from the first, I might exert a holy and salutary influence, and no other. And, I think I As the Lord smiled upon my family in can add, my bosom heaved with gratitude regard to our health, it was thought best for for that divine mercy which had led me us to proceed on our journey. Finding it even to these distant wilds. The first naalmost impossible to obtain any other means tive I saw was a beloved sister in the of conveyance, without paying a most ex- church, who, with two other families is settravagant price, I took the advice of friends tled near the line. About seven miles furand purchased a wagon and team, believing ther west, I passed some tents where some that it would, in the end, be the most church members and others are settling, economical. We set out on the 2d of and two miles beyond them met with good March, with a common road wagon drawn old Tahoka, who received me with open by two yoke of oxen, which I drove, while arms: and when we kneeled down, he my family rode on horseback, having three made the woods echo with the praise of horses with us. We took the route of the God. On the morrow, it being Sabbath, a United States' wagons, which conveyed the very considerable congregation assembled Choctaws; which is first in a southwesterly at a place in the woods already consecrated direction from Little Rock 130 miles, to to the worship of God. A number of Washington, Hemstead co.; thence nearly benches had been made, and the spot west about 65 miles to the Choctaw line. cleared of rubbish. After an interview with The road being mostly new was rendered a goodly number who had assembled early literally almost impassable by the heavy in the day, in which we recounted to each loaded and numerous wagons, cutting deep other some of the Lord's dealings with us into the soft earth: so that with great exer- during our wanderings, the people having tion, though our load was not very heavy, collected, public exercises commenced. I we could advance only about eight or ten addressed them once more, after a separamiles a day, and some days not more than tion of one year, in their own language, five or six. The fatigue was too much from 1 Corinthians ii. 2. "For I determinboth for man and beast; and it finally be-ed to know nothing among you save Jesus came necessary to leave our wagon, baggage, and team before we had got half way to Washington. Committing them, as we suppose, to the care of a trusty man, we set out once more with three horses, one of which we packed with some necessaries, including our tent, an axe, and some clothing, blankets, provisions, &c. On the other two horses, five persons, including three children, rode, while the other two of our number walked. In this way we got along fifteen or twenty miles a day, and with but little expense. We generally pitched our tent wherever night overtook us, and slept sweetly in the woods on our blankets, with our feet to a large fire at the tent door. Our Sabbaths we were permitted to spend where we could collect a number of souls to hear the word of life. When we reached Washington, I left my family to rest a few days, while I could go on further west to reconnoitre. In this tour, also, I was prospered, travelling safely through this wild strange land, until I reached the Christ and him crucified." I left an appointment for a subsequent Sabbath, but failed in going. I have since learned that a very large congregation assembled on that occasion. Last Sabbath I spent in the same settlement and preached twice, from Luke iii. 4, and Isaiah xlv. 22. My situation "in the wilderness" and in these "ends of the earth" may have suggested the texts. The congregation was larger than at the time of my first visit, and very attentive. I have been requested to preach in another settlement seven miles further west, and expect to do so next Sabbath. From what has been stated, you would get a favorable impression as to the feelings of the people on the subject of renewing the mission among them. I may add to the above, it is by numbers hailed with, I have no doubt, unfeigned joy. And I have seen no one as yet on this side of the Mississippi who manifests a feeling unfriendly to our object. They had expected me, and no small interest was excited with reference to || our coming. And I have remarked that this feeling is not confined to the professors of religion. Others appear as though they recognised in the missionary an old acquaintance and friend. Much inquiry is made about Mr. Wright. His people from the Six Towns have been heard to say, in reference to him, "We have lost our father a long time. Oh that he would return to us." In short-every thing I have seen as yet is calculated to inspire us all with gratitude and to revive our hopes. Situation and Appearance of the People. Mr. Williams had not, of course, explored the country sufficiently to form an opinion respecting more than a small district on its eastern border, and he had seen but few of the people. That part of their country which I have seen is well timbered, and there is good land enough to support a pretty dense population. The people appear to be pleased on the whole, and have commenced the clearing and fencing of land with a very commendable spirit. In some instances, several families unite in opening a field, and throwing a fence around a large tract; others have a field of their own commenced; and some have been so fortunate as to get possession of an old field which had been cultivated by white people who have been removed by order of the government of the United States. Such will probably raise corn to sell this season. The appearance of industry among them is indeed very gratifying, and is noticed by all the white people who have witnessed it. They are desirous to prepare against the time when they can no longer obtain provisions from the public store houses, which will be in one year from the time of their arrival. As yet they mostly live either in the tents which they used on their journey, or in camps which they have built for the purpose. Some have already put themselves up a small house. But it should be recollected that they have but just arrived-the first company only about two months ago, and a great proportion of them within five or six weeks. Small companies who come on their own resources are arriving almost daily, having been four and five months on their way. It should be recorded with devout gratitude, that so many of the church members hold fast their integrity. True, numbers have fallen; but I can truly say that the state of things in the church here is much better than I dared to expect. Some appear to have grown in grace; others feel the effect of their past troubles and want of instruction, but still retain a desire to seek and to serve God. The Sabbath is observed, and they regularly meet for religious worship. It was truly pleasant to see several young men, with their Choctaw hymn VOL. XXVIII. books, stand up and lead the congregation in songs of praise to Zion's King. I noticed a petition of one man, who prayed most fervently that God would hasten the preachers of the gospel with the word of life into every part of the world. This individual was lost in the Mississippi swamp, and not found till the fourth day, when, from cold, life was so nearly extinct that he was speechless. He now shines a bright light among his people. There is a great desire with a number to have a district school opened immediately, and they wait with much anxiety the arrival of the new Choctaw books. The settlement which I visited is so populous and compact, that a very large school might be collected, in which both the English and the Choctaw languages might be taught; and it is the wish of this part of the tribe that Choctaw schools may be established and multiplied, while by another part of the nation they are op posed. Present Situation of the Mission Family. For several reasons we concluded to stay for the present within the bounds of the Arkansas territory. We were unacquainted with the location of the emigrants, and of course could not readily decide on a suitable place for a station. The season was so far advanced as to render it expedient to stop and put some seeds into the ground that was already cleared, and as soon as possible. Besides, the price of provisions in the nation was extravagantly high, and they were difficult to be obtained. We were much favored in finding a place about five miles east of the boundary line, in a settlement of white people, where we are allowed to cultivate two or three acres of ground rent free. Here provisions and various necessary articles can be obtained cheaper and more readily, and time can thus be had for obtaining a better knowledge of the country, situation, and dispositions of the people, before we select a place and commence building. Our house or cabin is, to say the least, one of the poorest, but will keep off some of the rain. We have now the use of four or five cows, and buy corn, meat, and salt. This is literally all that can be had here at present, though flour and groceries will probably be brought on by traders in a few weeks from this time. We are not at all troubled with furniture, as ours has not yet come on. To the praise of divine grace be it recorded, a great moral reform has changed the aspect of society in this immediate neighborhood within a year past. A worthy preacher in the Methodist connection settled here a year ago, who, with some aid from circuit preachers, has been instrumental of much good. A considerable majority of the adults are now in society. I rejoice on account of the influence in favor of their Choctaw neighbors which we hope will be realized. 29 |