Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings | Page 120

November 13, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

He Aupuni Palapala Ko‘u

E nā ali‘i a me nā maka‘āinana,
he aupuni palapala ko‘u,
a ‘o ke kanaka pono a na‘auao,
‘o ia ko‘u kanaka.

To all ali‘i and commoners alike,
mine is a literate country,
and the just and intelligent man
is my countryman.
(Kauikeaouli – Kamehameha III;
Nūpepa Kū‘oko‘a (May 23, 1868;) Puette)

Hawaiian was a spoken language but not a written language. Historical accounts were passed down orally, through chants and songs. After western contact and attempts to write about Hawai‘i, early writers tried to spell words based on the sound of the words they heard. People heard words differently, so it was not uncommon for words to be spelled differently, depending on the writer.

The planning for the formal written Hawaiian language in the early part of the nineteenth century was started by the American Protestant missionaries who arrived in Hawaii, starting in 1820. A committee of some of these missionaries (Hiram Bingham, CS Stewart and Levi Chamberlain) worked on the development of the Hawaiian alphabet.

Initially, the missionaries worked out a Hawaiian alphabet of 17-English letters. “On the 7th of January, 1822, a year and eight months from the time of our receiving the governmental permission to enter the field and teach the people …”

“… we commenced printing the language in order to give them letters, libraries, and the living oracles in their own tongue, that the nation might read and understand the wonderful works of God.”

Then, on July 14, 1826, the missionaries established a 12-letter alphabet for the written Hawaiian language, using five vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and seven consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p and w) in their “Report of the committee of health on the state of the Hawaiian language.” The report was signed by Bingham and Chamberlain. The alphabet continues in use today.

Early on, the Chiefs saw the opportunity and in collaboration with the missionaries, first the chiefs, then the makaʻāinana were taught the alphabet, and how to read and write.

Sybil Moseley Bingham, wife of Hiram Bingham, leader of the Pioneer Company of missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM,) is said to have started the first school in Hawaiʻi in May 1820. (“… Sybil Moseley Bingham, opened the first school in this city in May, 1820, surely an historic date.” (Hiram Bingham II)

Sybil’s June 20, 1820 journal entry notes, “After neglect of my journal for more than two months in a most interesting part of our history too … Very soon I gathered up 12 or 15 little native girls to come once a day to the house so that as early as possible the business of instruction might be commenced. That was an interesting day to me to lay the foundation of the first school ever assembled in this dark land.”

June 21st. “The most which has interested me to-day has been my little school. To see the little things so ready to learn, and so busy with their needles, is very pleasant. I long to know more of their language, that I might be pouring into their tender minds more instruction than ab.”

Learning to read and write had already been on Liholiho’s mind, well before he travelled to England. In 1820, missionary Lucy Thurston noted in her Journal, Liholiho’s desire to learn.

“The king (Liholiho, Kamehameha II) brought two young men to Mr. Thurston, and said: ‘Teach these, my favorites, (John Papa) Ii and (James) Kahuhu. It will be the same as teaching me. Through them I shall find out what learning is.’”

Betsey Stockton, a former slave and then missionary with the American mission, was on the 2nd Company of missionaries and was sent to Maui. “Mr. Richards and myself have an island with 20,000 inhabitants committed to our spiritual care – a solemn – a most responsible charge!” (Stewart)

“It was there, as (Betsey said,) that she opened a school for the common people which was certainly the first of the kind in Maui and probably the first in all Hawai‘i; for at the beginning the missionaries were chiefly engaged in the instructions of the chiefs and their families.” (Maui News, May 5, 1906)

Stockton has asked the mission to allow her “to create a school for the makaʻāinana (common people.) Stockton learned the Hawaiian Language and established a school in Maui where she taught English, Latin, History and Algebra. (Kealoha)

“It shows that a sincere desire to accomplish a good purpose need not be thwarted by other necessary engagements, however humble or exacting.” (Maui News, May 5, 1906)

Britain’s King George encouraged Hawaiians to read and write, and noted that the American preachers/teachers could help them. “If you wish to have me for your friend, you and your people must all read and write. If you do not attend to instruction, I shall not be your friend.” (King George of England to Boki, 1824)

Boki asked him whether preachers are good men, and the King said, “Yes, and they are men to make others good. I always have some of them by me; for chiefs are not wise like them.”

“We in England were once like the people in your islands; but this kind of teachers came and taught our fathers, and now you see what we are.”

“You and your people must take good heed to the missionaries; for they were sent to enlighten you and do you good. They came not for secular purposes, but by a divine command, to teach you the word of God. The people would therefore all do well to attend to instruction, and to forsake stealing, drunkenness, war, and every thing evil, and to live in peace.” (ABCFM Annual Report, 1826)

On June 6, 1825, Kauikeaouli was proclaimed king of Hawaiʻi. To the people he said, “‘Where are you, chiefs, guardians, commoners? I greet you. Hear what I say! My kingdom I give to God. The righteous chief shall be my chief, the children of the commoners who do you right shall be my people, my kingdom shall be one of letters.’ Kaʻahumanu and Kalanimōku encouraged this attitude of the king and declared to the people their trust in God.” (Ka Nupepa Kuʻokoʻa, February 22, 1868; Kamakau)

On August 23, 1836, 15-Chiefs (Kamehameha III, Nahiʻenaʻena, Hoapili, Na Malia Hoapili, Kuakini, Kīnaʻu, Kekāuluohi, Paki, Liliha, ʻAikanaka, Leleiōhoku, Kekūanāoʻa, Kanaʻina, Kekauōnohi and Keliʻiahonui) sent a letter to the American missionaries, asking that more American teachers be sent to the Islands.

“We hereby take the liberty to express our views as to what is necessary for the prosperity of these Sandwich Islands. Will you please send to us additional teachers to those you have already sent, of such character as you employ in your own country in America?”

“Should you send the above mentioned teachers, we promise to protect them, and afford them all the facilities for carrying on their work, which are in our power.”

Shortly after, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) sent the largest company of missionaries to the Islands, that included a large number of teachers. The Eighth Company left Boston December 14, 1836 and arrived at Honolulu, April 9, 1837 on the Mary Frasier from Boston.

The missionaries were asked by the King to teach and care for the next generation of the highest ranking chiefs’ children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaiʻi’s Kingdom.

“We ask Mr. Cooke to be teacher for our royal children. He is the teacher of our royal children and Dr. Judd is the one to take care of the royal children because we two hold Dr. Judd as necessary for the children and also in certain difficulties between us and you all.” (signed by Kamehameha III, Hoapili Wahine and Kekāuluohi)

This resulted in the formation of O‘ahu’s first school, the Chiefs’ Children’s School (The Royal School.) Seven families were eligible under succession laws stated in the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i; Kamehameha III called on seven boys and seven girls to board in the Chiefs’ Children’s School.

By 1831, in just eleven years from the first arrival of the American missionaries, Hawaiians had built over 1,100-schoolhouses. This covered every district throughout the eight major islands and serviced an estimated 53,000-students. (Laimana)

The proliferation of schoolhouses was augmented by the missionaries printing of 140,000-copies of the pī¬ʻāpā (elementary Hawaiian spelling book) by 1829 and the staffing of the schools with 1,000-plus Hawaiian teachers. (Laimana)

Through the collaboration between the Hawaiian Chiefs and the American missionaries, by 1832, the literacy rate of Hawaiians (at the time was 78 percent) had surpassed that of Americans on the continent. The literacy rate of the adult Hawaiian population skyrocketed from near zero in 1820 to a conservative estimate of 91 percent – and perhaps as high as 95 percent – by 1834. (Laimana)

From 1820 to 1832, in which Hawaiian literacy grew by 91 percent, the literacy rate on the US continent grew by only 6 percent and did not exceed the 90 percent level until 1902 – three hundred years after the first settlers landed in Jamestown. By way of comparison, it is significant that overall European literacy rates in 1850 had not risen much above 50 percent. (Laimana)

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Hawaiian Alphabet

November 9, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

First Medical School

“There is and has been a greater need of native doctors than of native lawyers. The Missionaries have educated the native pastors … The native lawyers have educated themselves … but the medical profession, has been like a sealed book …” (Introduction, Anatomia)

“In an early period of the Hawaiian Mission the subject of educating persons for physicians was agitated, but nothing of importance done.” (The Friend, July 1, 1871)

“There was a time when a large proportion of the population applied to the Missionaries for medical aid. The funds of the American Board were largely drawn upon for medicines, and the Missionaries devoted a great deal of time in attendance on the sick …”

“Subsequently the Hawaiian Government undertook to furnish the Missionaries with medicines for the sick; of late years this source of relief has dried up, and even the voluntary practice of the Missionaries has been discountenanced. In places where there are no educated physicians”. (Bushnell)

Dr Gerrit P Judd had published the first medical textbook in 1838, Anatomia, the only medical textbook written in the Hawaiian language. Dr Judd, for a time the only medical missionary in the Islands, wrote the text in 1838 to teach basic anatomy to Hawaiians enrolled at the Mission Seminary (Lahainaluna.)

Working from a standard elementary textbook of the time, Judd provided his students with more than a simple, straight translation. He devised a new vocabulary and explained medical functions and practices in words that would be understood by a Hawaiian.

Judd’s use of Hawaiian terms and descriptions gives us insights into native cultural and healing practices in the early decades of the nineteenth century.

Judd was one of the very few Western doctors in Hawai‘i that was interested in learning about Hawaiian medical practices and remedies. He hired Native Hawaiian assistants and apprentices. (Mission Houses)

Anatomia is a valuable addition to the growing collection of translations on native health and will be greatly appreciated by linguists, historians and students of Hawaiian language and culture. (Mission Houses)

Then, the legislative session of 1868 brought forth An Act to Establish a Hawaiian Board of Health; the preamble noted, “the outer districts of this Kingdom are greatly in want of physicians … it is thought advisable to establish a system of licensing Hawaiian practitioners of medicine ….” (Bushnell)

In 1871, the Hawaiian Evangelical Association admitted “there is a pressing necessity for educating a sufficient number of native pupils to meet the wants of the people and to check the serious and rapidly growing evil … the question arises how and by whom it is to be done.”

They concluded, “It should be conducted in the Hawaiian language, by one or more medical men who understand the language, and are acquainted with the prejudices and superstitions of the people.”

“Pupils when educated should be distributed all over the islands, at least two in every election district, licensed to practice and authorized to charge for their services according to a schedule to be provided for their guidance. They should be under a constant supervision.” (Bushnell)

“The last Legislature of this kingdom (1870) appropriated a sum of money ($4,000) to be expended in educating young men for this purpose. The Vice President of the Hawaiian Board, Dr GP Judd, was appointed to take charge of the instruction of these young men.”

Judd, a medical missionary, had originally come to the islands to serve as the missionary physician, intending to treat native Hawaiians for the growing number of diseases introduced by foreigners.

He immersed himself in the Hawaiian community, becoming a fluent speaker of Hawaiian. Judd soon became an adviser to and supporter of King Kamehameha III.

In May 1842, Judd was asked to leave the Mission and accept an appointment as “translator and recorder for the government,” and as a member of the “treasury board,” with instructions to aid Oʻahu’s Governor Kekūanāoʻa in the transaction of business with foreigners.

In 1846, Judd was transferred from the post of minister of the interior to that of minister of finance (which he held until 1853, when by resignation, he terminated his service with the government.)

“On the 9th of November, 1870, he opened a school with ten pupils. This, we think, is a move in the right direction, and by the blessing of God, may be made the means of counteracting some of the evils, which arise from the number of native doctors among the people, and of prolonging the existence of the nation.” (The Friend, July 1, 1871)

The students included, SW Kaneali‘i, Jr, Kauai – Hanalei;) SK Kauai, Jr (Kauai – Waimea;) John W Kalua (Molokai;) Ceo W Kalopapela (Maui – Waihe‘e;) Henry P Ka‘ili (Maui – Makawao;) John Kalama (Hawai‘i Island – Kohala;) Henry Mana (Hawai‘i Island – Kawaihae;) Kona, S Na‘onohi (Hawai‘i Island – Kona;) Daniel P Aumai (Hawai‘i Island – Kāʻu;) and John Kelia (Hawai‘i Island – Puna.)

Their classwork and lectures were supplemented by a practicum in a dispensary (pharmacy/doctor’s office.) Dr. Judd most likely taught this school at his private hospital and dispensary at 31 Punchbowl St and during visits to the Queen’s Hospital.

Conceived and organized in the manner of one-man medical schools of that time in America, with which he and many of his colleagues would have been familiar, Dr Judd’s school was probably just as good as many of them, and no worse than most. (Bushnell)

The school ended on October 2, 1872, when Laura Fish Judd (Dr Judd’s wife) died. He recommended to the Board of Health that all 10 students be certified and licensed medical physicians. The licenses were issued on October 14, 1872. (Mission Houses)

Judd participated in a pivotal role in Medicine, Finance, Law, Sovereignty, Land Tenure and Governance in the Islands. Gerrit P Judd died in Honolulu on July 12, 1873.

“He was a man of energy, courage and sincerity of purpose. He was an able physician, and he developed great aptitude for the administration of public affairs. The benefit of his talents was freely and liberally given to a people who he knew needed and deserved assistance.” (Hawaiian Mission Centennial Book)

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October 29, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Bingham’s Birthday

A week and almost 200 years ago … October 23, 1819 … the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (the ABCFM) set sail for the Sandwich Islands. They arrived in Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

There were seven couples aboard; their leader was Hiram Bingham – Sybil, his wife of 2-weeks, joined him. They are my great-great-great grandparents.

The Prudential Committee of the ABCFM in giving instructions to these pioneers said: “Your mission is a mission of mercy, and your work is to be wholly a labor of love. …”

“Your views are not to be limited to a low, narrow scale, but you are to open your hearts wide, and set your marks high. You are to aim at nothing short of covering these islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings and schools and churches, and of Christian civilization.” (The Friend)

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – what is generally referred to as the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM.

227 years ago (October 30, 1789,) Hiram Bingham, the fifth of the seven sons (from a family of 13-children) was born at Bennington, Vermont – he came from a family of preachers (he descended from Deacon Thomas Bingham who had come to the American colonies in 1650 and settled in Connecticut, his father was Deacon Calvin Bingham and his mother was named Lydia.)

When Captain Cook first visited the Hawaiian Islands forty years prior to the arrival of the missionaries, Hawaiian was a spoken language, not a written language. Historical accounts were passed down orally, through chants and songs.

After western contact, early writers tried to spell words based on the sound of the words they heard. People heard words differently, so it was not uncommon for words to be spelled differently, depending on the writer.

Hiram and others took on the task of developing a Hawaiian alphabet; on July 14, 1826, Hiram Bingham and Levi Chamberlain signed the “Report of the committee of health on the state of the Hawaiian language” – and the Hawaiian alphabet and formulation of the written Hawaiian Language was adopted … it is still in use today.

Hiram and the others were preachers and teachers – in a short time, the missionaries learned the language and these early missionaries taught their lessons in Hawaiian, rather than English.

The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing. By 1832, the literacy rate of Hawaiians of about 78 percent had surpassed that of Americans on the continent. The literacy rate of the adult Hawaiian population skyrocketed from near zero in 1820 to an estimated of 91 percent by 1834.

As teaching expanded, the focus was educating the head, heart and hand. In addition to the rigorous academic drills (Head,) the schools provided religious and moral guidance (Heart,) and manual and vocational training (Hand.)

Soon after the first anniversary of the arrival of the Pioneer Company, Kaʻahumanu and Kalanimōku visited the mission and gave them supplies; this visit became important because during it Kaʻahumanu made her first request for prayer and showed her first interest in the teachings of the missionaries.

From that point on, Kaʻahumanu came into more constant contact with the mission. At a meeting of the chiefs and school teachers, Kaʻahumanu and Kalanimōku declared their determination to “adhere to the instructions of the missionaries, to attend to learning, observe the Sabbath, Worship God, and obey his law, and have all their people instructed.” Ka‘ahumanu was baptized on December 5, 1825.

Bingham found a friend in Kaʻahumanu, the favorite wife of Kamehameha and Queen regent during Liholiho’s and the early years of Kauikeaouli’s rule. She and other ali‘i worked collaboratively with the missionaries and visited often. Across the street, in the wood frame house at Missions Houses, you can correctly say, ‘Ka‘ahumanu slept here.’

A little side story on Kaʻahumanu … shortly after arriving in the Islands, with a piece of driftwood, Hiram managed to make a rocking chair for Sybil – in describing it she said, “A box or trunk has been our only seat. My husband, I believe, was never a chair-maker before, but happy for me and the Mission family, that he is everything.”

On Sundays, the rocker was taken to the old thatched Kawaiahaʻo church as a seat for Sybil, the pastor’s wife. Sybil’s wish was that when the last summons came, she might be found in that chair … and her wish was granted when she died in her rocking chair on February 27, 1848 in New Haven Connecticut.

The rocker had its admirers, including Kaʻahumanu. As Bingham notes, “On seeing and trying Mrs B’s chair, the first, probably, ever made (in the) islands, Ka‘ahumanu … wished me to make her one in every respect like it, for she said it exactly fit her.”

It wasn’t until 10-years later that he built Kaʻahumanu her rocker, one of the earliest known pieces of koa furniture in Hawaiʻi. Both are at Mission Houses and are occasionally put on display.

Kalanimōku served as chief councilor and prime minister to Kamehameha I, Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III. An 1826 letter written by Kalanimōku to Hiram Bingham (written at a time when missionaries were being criticized) states, “Greetings Mr Bingham. Here is my message to all of you, our missionary teachers.”

“I am telling you that I have not seen your wrong doing. If I had seen you to be wrong, I would tell you all. No, you must all be good.”

“Give us literacy and we will teach it. And, give us the word of God and we will heed it … for we have learned the word of God.”

“Then foreigners come, doing damage to our land. Foreigners of America and Britain. But don’t be angry, for we are to blame for you being faulted. And it is not you foreigners, (it’s) the other foreigners.”

“Here’s my message according to the words of Jehovah, I have given my heart to God and my body and my spirit. I have devoted myself to the church and Jesus Christ.”

“Have a look at this letter of mine, Mr Bingham and company. And if you see it and wish to send my message on to America to (your President,) that is up to you. Greetings to the chief of America. Regards to you all, Kalanimōku.”

Due to Sybil’s illness, after 21-years in the Islands, the Binghams left in 1840; Hiram never saw the completed church that he designed, Kawaiahaʻo. However, in this sanctuary, you will often sing a verse written by Hiram Bingham, what many call the Hawaiian Doxology.

Hoʻonani i ka Makua mau
Let us give praise to the eternal Father

Ke Keiki me ke ka ʻUhane nō
To the Son and to the Holy Ghost

Ke Akua mau, hoʻomaikaʻi pū
To God everlasting, let there ring praise

Ko kēia ao ko kēlā ao
Both in this world as well as the kingdom beyond

With collaboration with the Aliʻi, Hiram and the other missionaries
• Introduced Christianity to the Islands
• Created the written Hawaiian language and brought about widespread literacy
• Helped promulgate a constitutional government
• Made Western medicine available
• Introduced a distinctive musical tradition

Hiram died on November 11, 1869 at New Haven Connecticut at the age of 81.

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October 23, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Missionaries Departure

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)

The Prudential Committee of the ABCFM in giving instructions to the pioneers of 1819 said: “Your mission is a mission of mercy, and your work is to be wholly a labor of love. …”

“Mr. Evarts, the treasurer, having engaged a passage for the mission on board the brig Thaddeus, Captain Blanchard, for $2,500, exclusive of provisions for a long voyage, she was made ready for sea, by the 23d of October.”

“In the forenoon of that day, Mr. Thurston gave the parting address of the mission to its friends, at Park St. Church, that monthly concert temple dear to many a missionary heart. They repaired together to the wharf, where they united in a parting hymn, pledging a close and permanent union though far and long separated.”

“A fervent and appropriate prayer was offered by the Secretary of the Board, and the mission was affectionately commended to the grace of God, and immediately conveyed to the brig by a barge furnished for the purpose by a U. S. Naval officer, they being still accompanied by the Secretary and Treasurer and a few other friends.”

“When these had given the parting hand and benediction, they descended into the boat and began to move off. The tender and benignant look of Dr. Worcester, as the boat left our vessel, turning his eyes upon the little band looking over the rail, as if he would say, my love be ever with you, will not soon be forgotten.”

“When they had reached the wharf, the brig weighed anchor and set sail, and as we dropped down the stream, they waved their handkerchiefs, till out of sight. Though leaving my friends, home and country, as I supposed for ever, and trying as was the parting scene, I regarded that day as one of the happiest of my life.”

“But loosing from our beloved country, and not expecting ever to tread its shores or look upon its like again, with what intense interest did we gaze upon its fading landscapes, its receding hills and mountains, till the objects successively disappeared In the distance, or sank below the horizon.” (Hiram Bingham)

There were seven couples sent to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity. These included two Ordained Preachers, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

Along with them were four Hawaiian youths who had been students at the Foreign Mission School at Cornwall Connecticut, Thomas Hopu (his friend on board the ship when he first left the Islands,) William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauaiʻi’s King Kaumuali‘i and also known as Prince George Kaumuali‘i.)

After 164-days at sea, on April 4, 1820, the Thaddeus arrived and anchored at Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Hawai‘i’s “Plymouth Rock” is about where the Kailua pier is today.

Collaboration between native Hawaiians and the American Protestant missionaries resulted in, among other things:
• The introduction of Christianity;
• The development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• The promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• The combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine; and
• The evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM in the Hawaiian Islands. (The image shows the departure of the Second Company.)

Click HERE for more on the departure of the Pioneer Company.

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October 12, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waiting Isles

“The isles shall wait for His law.”
(Isaiah 42:4)

By that “Law” for which in the vision of the prophet the isles were to wait must be understood the revelation of love and mercy set forth to the world in the incarnation, sufferings, death, and exaltation of the Divine Redeemer …

… carried on in its progress towards completion, and rendered effectual to the individual soul, by the Holy Spirit in the Church. It implies at once the inward spiritual agency described by our Lord as a “kingdom within us,” …

… and what must ever be its outward expression and embodiment,–the kingdom of Christ visible here on earth, His Mystical Body, the blessed company of all faithful people, His Holy Catholic Church.

The whole history of that far-distant group of islands with which we are concerned is an exemplification of the prediction, “The isles shall wait for His law.”

Two men, John Young and Isaac Davies, the former a Liverpool shipwright, fell into the hands of the chief of Hawaii–one who had an intense wish to raise his people to the level of those strangers who, he saw, were so far beyond himself in the power which superior knowledge always gives.

They took up their permanent abode with him, and became his chief advisers. Dissatisfaction ere long sprung up in the mind of Kamehameha,–for that was the name of the chieftain,–with the then existing religious system …

… and when Vancouver, after repeated visits to the islands during several years, finally took leave of them in 1794, he begged the captain to procure teachers from England to instruct his people in the faith of Christ.

That unhappily was not a missionary age. It was a time of unreality and spiritual deadness in the Church of England: “the love of many had waxed cold;” and it is not therefore to be wondered at, though sadly to be regretted, that such an opportunity was lost.

Had it been seized, how different from the actual one might have been the religious history of the various achipelagoes of the Pacific!

After the death of Kamehameha, still in a state of heathenism and unbaptized we find his successor Rihoriho issued an edict abolishing idolatry and the old religion. This met with some opposition; a battle was fought, but victory proved on the side of the reforming party.

And it was when the way had been thus remarkably prepared that some Congregationalist Missionaries visited them from the United States of America.

They were not permitted to land till the king had assured himself by consultation with Mr. Young that they would speak of the same God and Saviour as the English missionaries, whom they had been in vain expecting for the quarter of a century, which had then elapsed since the petition made to Vancouver.

Christianity under this form made rapid progress among the people. Rihoriho and his queen came over to England in the year 1823, and, it will be remembered, died in London. The accounts of his visit mention how the royal party attended the services of Westminster Abbey, with which they were much pleased.

May we not regard the series of applications which have reached our Church from these islands during seventy years or more, as a significant commentary on the prophet’s words, “The isles shall wait for Thy law?”

And now in more recent times, when the group has assumed an importance it had not before, when the developement of its productions with various forms of trade has collected in Honolulu a foreign population …

… when a system of national education has brought the Hawaiian into a comparatively advanced state of civilization, when, too, Christianity, in the form of Congregationalism or the Roman Church, has become nominally the religion of the islands, the cry for help has again reached our shores, and this time has not boon heard in vain.

The circumstances of the origin of the mission are too well known to need any detail of them on the present occasion. Nor need I remind you of several features in the work itself not without interest to the Church generally:

… how that we have here the first instance of our Reformed Church being invited by an independent sovereign to plant itself in his dominions; how, too, by the formation of this new diocese the only link is supplied which was wanting to make the girdle of her influence encircle the globe.

It is, however, rather on the nature and objects of the work to be done, than on its general aspects I ought now to dwell.

All who visit the islands bear testimony to the sad want of moral purity among them, no doubt in part due to the licentiousness of European and American sailors and others.

In touching accents the King lately complained to his Legislature, “Our acts are vain unless we can stay the wasting hand that is destroying our people. I feel a heavy responsibility in this matter” …

… accordingly he has encouraged by all the means in his power the institution of boarding schools for the education of native girls, taking them from home at an early age and raising them by the training of the ladies to a higher appreciation of their dignity as women.

The Sisters of the Sacred Heart have opened such schools in connexion with the Roman Church, and defective will be our machinery if no similar provision is made by us for furthering the same object.

As an English Mission, it is hoped, we may render valuable aid to the cause of primary education in the islands. It is in contemplation to give a more industrial and practical character to the system pursued in the State Schools, and gradually to bring about a displacement of the Hawaiian for the English tongue throughout the native population.

How inadequate the old language is as a vehicle of thought or moral training appears from the fact that there are no words in it whereby to express hope, gratitude, or chastity. …

The King says, “The importance of substituting English for Hawaiian schools I have already earnestly recommended and in again bringing the subject under your attention, I would touch upon a matter which I think of equal importance, and that is the raising the standard of elementary education in the Common Schools.

This latter object may be secured by the institution of Normal Schools, as recommended by the President but combined with the teaching of the English as a general thing throughout the kingdom, it must place the object beyond a peradventure.”

The foreigners centred there for the purposes of trade and agriculture, chiefly English and Americans, containing many professedly members of our Reformed Church or others who are willing to unite with her … will have to be tended and fed with Christ’s holy Word and Sacraments.

In the national jealousies, too, which usually prevail in a centre of resort such as this–one owing its independence to the forbearance and protection of its more powerful neighbours,–we have reason for care and circumspection.

The interest felt by the present very intelligent, high-principled, and even accomplished King in the realization of an English episcopate, the clinging on the part of the islanders from the first to England as the country to supply them with a religion they could trust …

… the co-operation of the English and many of the American residents in preparing for the reception of the mission, the baptism of the Prince of Hawaii, our own beloved Queen standing, by proxy, as the sponsor, with which ceremony the Church will, so to speak, be inaugurated–these are all hopeful signs.

When, too, I consider the warm sympathy and support extended to the Mission by my countrymen and fellow-churchmen during the months that have elapsed since my consecration,–shown by their liberal contributions no less than in the hearty prayers they have ever been ready to offer for its success …

… there is indeed reason “to be of good cheer and take courage.” For those loving tokens of interest and sympathy how can I ever be grateful enough?

And now, on the eve of departure with those brethren who have thrown in their lot with me, and are devoting themselves to this arduous enterprise, I have to ask you, on their behalf as well as my own, a continuance of your Christian sympathy and your prayers.

Surely religion is not all psalm-singing and gloom. While the heavy of heart and the unforgiven are welcome to groan and lament that over their souls no gladness and light have arisen …

… yet we would like to see merriment and rejoicing, in those whose spirits are so attuned, exhibit themselves especially on those great Christian occasions so eminently calculated to invite the mind to joy, thanksgiving, and gladness, such as Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, and Ascension Day.

We notice that this land is said to have been converted to Christianity … We would like to see Borne of the old-world secular festivals introduced, such as “May Day” for instance, to be celebrated with national sports, jubilee, and bonfires through every village and hamlet in the country. Were this properly taken in hand, it could not fail of the best results.

As it now is, the nation, as such, has no festival either religious or social, but gropes in the ashes of the past for some stray ember of a half-forgotten “mele,” which it chaunts with fear and trembling, lest its sound may provoke the ban of the preacher or the rebuke of religious martinet.

“Such were our reflections on seeing the bonfire on Monday last, and we turned away in sadness.” (This post includes portions of ‘A Sermon Preached at the Farewell Service of the (Anglican) Mission to the Sandwich Islands, in Westminster Abbey, July 23, 1862’ by the Right Rev. the Bishop of Honolulu.)

King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma were responsible for bringing the Anglican Church to Hawai‘i. This invitation culminated in the consecration of Thomas Nettleship Staley at Lambeth Palace on December 15, 1861 as Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Honolulu. The first services of the church were held in Honolulu on October 12, 1862, upon their arrival.

Initially the church was called the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church but the name would change in 1870 to the Anglican Church in Hawai‘i. In 1902 it came under the Episcopal Church of the US.

This summary is from portions of a Sermon preached at the farewell service of the Mission to the Sandwich Islands in Westminster Abby, by Thomas Nettleship Staley, July 23, 1862. (The image shows St Andrew’s Pro Cathedral, called the English Church (built in 1866,) which was the temporary cathedral until St Andrews Cathedral was finished (1886.))

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St._Andrew’s_Pro-Cathedral-called the English Church-was the temporary cathedral until the actual cathedral could be finished