om England at Eimeo.
Among them came two whose names are known far beyond their spheres of
action--William Ellis and John Williams. The following year some of
them removed to Huahine, the principal of the Leeward or Society group,
and soon after John Williams and Mr L Threlkeld, invited by Tapa and
other chiefs of Raiatea, settled in that island. Similar invitations
were received from the chiefs of other large islands, while native
teachers were sent to the smaller islands which were also occasionally
visited by the missionaries. Thus in a few years the entire population
of the Georgian and Society Islands had renounced idolatry, and were in
general outwardly very strict in their religious observances. I say
outwardly, because many of those who attended religious worship and
refrained from all work and amusement on the sabbath, still continued in
the practice of heathen vices. Yet I believe that at that very time the
great mass of the people were not more ignorant of Christian truth, nor
more vicious, than are too many communities of like size in so-called
Christian Europe. We should judge of people who have lately been
brought out of a savage state, not by a standard which we should wish
them to attain, but by other people who have long been considered
civilised Christians; and thus judging of the inhabitants of Tahiti and
the neighbouring islands, I am certain that they will not lose by
comparison with many of those who have claimed for centuries to be
civilised, and whose religion has long been nominally Christian. I say
this with confidence, but after all it is not saying much in their
praise. One thing, however, is very clear. A few years ago they were
ignorant barbarians, savage and debased, not knowing right from wrong.
Now they abstain from their former cruel and sanguinary practices, they
go about clothed and live in neat cottages, and industriously cultivate
the ground; they can generally read and write their own language, and
have learned many mechanical arts; they understand the principles of
Christianity, attend Divine worship, and respect the sabbath, while
undoubtedly some, and perhaps many, have been `created anew in Christ
Jesus unto good works,' and not a few have risked their lives, and laid
them down for the gospel's sake. A large number of the native teachers
who have gone forth among the savage tribes of the wide-scattered
islands of the ocean to carry to them the glad tidings of salvation,