heir religion was one of gross superstition, and so
overloaded with restrictions, constantly increasing, and curtailing the
liberty of all classes except the priests, that the chiefs and people at
length became utterly weary of it. Even when visited by Captain
Vancouver in 1793, some of the chiefs requested him to send them
instructors in the Christian faith,--a prayer to which little attention
appears to have been paid.

"It was not till the year 1820 that the young King Rihoriho, who had
ascended the throne established by his victorious father, no longer
believing in the power of his idols, and weary of the restraints of the
old religion, at one stroke broke through the hitherto sacred taboo and
the entire system of priestcraft.

"Just before this eventful time it had been put into the hearts of
Christian men in the United States, who formed the American Board of
Missions, to send missionaries to the long-known savage murderers of
Captain Cook. A band of devoted men, admirably selected, arrived on the
30th March, 1820, in sight of Mouna Roa. They were received in a
friendly way by the king and many of the chiefs, and three stations were
soon occupied by them and their families.

"Two years afterwards, Mr Ellis, of the London Missionary Society, was
invited to come from Tahiti to aid in the work, which he was happily
enabled to do. He came accompanied by some native Tahitian teachers,
who were of the greatest assistance to the missionaries. He remained
until the ill-health of Mrs Ellis compelled him to return to England.
The king of the Sandwich Islands and his excellent queen, after they had
become Christians, paid a visit to England, where they soon died from
the measles, which they caught on landing. King Rihoriho, who had
assumed the title of Kamehameha the Second, was succeeded by his younger
brother, the islands being well governed in the mean time by his mother
and one of his chiefs.

"The missionary stations were increased in number, many schools were
established, and the natives began to understand the truths of the
gospel, and to accept its offers, when there came a rude interruption
from an outbreak of heathen chiefs, set on by their priests. After some
severe fighting the rebels were defeated, and the insurrection
completely put down. Christianity and civilisation once more again made
progress; but the missionaries had to contend with opposition not only
from the heathen natives, but from so-cal