270 TRIBUTE TO DR. ARMSTRONG'S MEMORY.

horse. He had labored during fifteen years effectively in the distinctive character of a missionary, and thirteen years in connection with the government of the Islands, as President of the Board of Education, with other responsible offices attached. The king was greatly moved by his death, and addressed the following touching note of sympathy to the afflicted widow:

Tribute to his memory.

"My dear Madam :- I hope I shall not appear intrusive upon your first grief, if I hasten to tender you and your family my sincerest condolence for the great bereavement you have sustained under a heavy dispensation of Providence.

"Your husband, so suddenly removed, at the very time when all who knew him, or appreciated his usefulness, were hoping to see him return to his important avocations, was a valued friend of mine, and an efficient officer of the government, and I am, to a very large extent, a sharer in your loss.

"Believe me, Madam, when I assure you, that so suddenly did this blow reach me, that it is only by degrees that I appreciate the magnitude of the loss which you and I, and the country, have sustained. Yours, very truly,

66

"PALACE, September 24, 1860."

66

LIHOLIHO."

The

He also prepared an obituary notice of Dr. Armstrong in Hawaiian, for the native newspaper. closing sentence reads thus: "It is suitable that the whole nation should mingle their weeping with the tears of the widow and children of the deceased, for, in our prosperity, he rejoiced in our joy, and when trouble came upon us, he was afflicted in our affliction."

WHALE-SHIPS AND CHURCH-BUILDING.

271

call less fre

About this time there was a great diminution in the calling of whale-ships at the Islands. Whale-ships They could obtain their supplies more ad- quently. vantageously elsewhere. While this relieved the islanders from one of their most demoralizing influences, it deprived them of their principal means of obtaining money and the productions of other lands. But measures were soon in progress to promote the cultivation of sugar, rice, wheat, and other products for exportation, and the industrial interests of the Islands were thus promoted.

building on

Mr. Lyons, of Waimea, appears to have regarded his district as embracing the equivalent of Churchfourteen parishes, to each of which he fur- Hawaii. nished a native sub-pastor, acting in subordination to the missionary, with deacons and elders; and he labored hard, in the years 1859 to 1861, to have each of these parishes supplied with a neat and comfortable house of worship. One or two of them, which I saw on the uplands while sailing along the northern shore, had the unmistakable church appearance.

Concerning the Papists, at this time, it will be sufficient to avail myself of information received Papists at from Mr. Coan, writing under date of August Hilo. 21, 1861. The papists made a strenuous effort to gain numbers and influence in Hilo. Their temple had been completed, and it was consecrated with much pomp and ceremony. "The French Bishop was there, with a number of his clergy; and papists were called in from every part of Hawaii, and from all the islands in the group. Music, paintings, harangues, feasting, horse-riding, bell-chiming, and many other diversions were in full play, to attract the multitude. No efforts were made to prevent the Protestant peo

272

PAPISTS AT HILO.

ple from witnessing the show, and of course many were there from idle curiosity, and many others from an honest desire to see, compare, and judge for themselves. Numbers joined the Romanists, but they were mostly strangers from other parts, ignorant laborers on the plantations of Chinamen, and a few decidedly wicked and base characters from the neighborhood, notorious liars, dishonest debtors, adulterers, and men who had been convicted and punished by the laws of the land; and there were enough of this class left. It is believed that no man joined them who gave evidence of piety."

CHAPTER XXXII.

A GENERAL REVIVAL OF RELIGION.

1860-1861.

Extent of the

WHILE the year 1860 had its trials, it was specially distinguished for revivals of religion over a large part of the Islands. In no one of the previous twenty years, had there been such evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence in the churches. The voice of rejoicing for spiritual mercies came up from nearly all the stations. Churches were revived, backsliders reclaimed, the fallen raised, the weak strengthened, the timid made brave for the truth, and hardened sinners converted to God.

revival.

commenced.

At the annual meeting of the mission in May, the missionaries came together mourning over the desolations of Zion. These were painfully evident in Honolulu, and many other places. But even there the Lord had begun to revive his work. The Where it first distinct signs of spiritual interest were at Kaneohe, on the island of Oahu, under the ministry of Mr. Parker. This was as early as October, 1859, and among a very irreligious class of persons. There was a decided increase of pious feeling and activity in the church. Fifty-nine suspended or excommunicated members were restored to fellowship, and about the same number of hopeful converts were added by profession. There was also a manifest growth in grace in the older members of the church.

274

Extends

over Oahu.

EXTENDS OVER OAHU.

Early in the year 1860, the revival extended along the northern side of the island to the district of Hauula, where the native pastor Kuaea was laboring. The number of hopeful converts there, within the space of a few weeks, was scarcely less than a hundred. At the close of the general meeting, Messrs. Coan and Parker made a tour of the island, and brought back a favorable report, not only from the two places just named, but from Waialua. The churches in Honolulu came now within the reviving influence. A sermon preached in June, by Mr. Kuaea in the Second Church, under the pastoral care of Rev. Lowell Smith, was evidently blessed to the people. He then made a preaching tour through Oahu, accompanied by a number of deacons from his own and other churches. The people came out freely to his meetings, and urged that the labors might be prolonged. The lay helpers were with special reference to visiting from house to house.

In

Their united labors on returning to Honolulu were very useful; and from that time, there was a precious work of grace at all the stations on Oahu. September, Mr. Smith also made a preaching tour through the island, accompanied by twelve deacons. Their visit to Waialua appears to have been specially successful, and they had great reason for rejoicing through the whole tour. Many who had been infatuated by the wild hulas, and not a few Roman Catholics and Mormons, became regular attendants on the Protestant meetings.

Mr. Emerson, of Waialua, has left a pleasing record of his visit to Waianae. He was there the guest of Kapuiki, formerly judge of the

An interesting case.