1840.] ERRORS COMMITTED. 375 



noble. He who passes, by a sudden transition, from the 

 darkness of slavery to the full light of liberty, may remain a 

 freeman, but he is liable to degenerate into a ruffian ; instan- 

 taneous changes can never be made with safety, especially 

 among an uneducated people; and if the recreations and in- 

 ces to which they have been long accustomed, are de- 

 without a suitable and gradual preparation for so great 

 an innovation, it is but natural that they should either revolt 

 list the authority enforcing these restrictions, or sink into 

 a melancholy lethargy from which it may be impossible to 

 arouse them. 



The last is the present condition of the inhabitants of the 

 Sandwich Islands. A noble work was attempted by the mis- 

 sionaries, and they have, in reality, accomplished an untold 

 amount of good. But they aimed too high — their error was 

 one into which mere schoolmen were very liable to fall; they 

 set up the standard of perfection, and acted upon the suppo- 

 sition that they could bar the doors, and keep vice and temp- 

 tation away from the natives, and at the same time render 

 them a happy, industrious, and contented people. Amuse- 

 ments and pastimes, sports and recreations, the song and the 

 dance, were abolished ; and the wreath of flowers, to which 

 God himself had given beauty and freshness, was made the 

 emblem of shame. For these were substituted the plain and 

 simple mode of worship and of life so well adapted to the 

 Puritan character, but here" 'requiring some modification to 

 render it less repulsive. Liberty and enjoyment were to be 

 instantly exchanged for a rigid sobriety and sedateness. What 

 could be the result of these errors, but that which we now 

 witness — one half of the nation abandoned to intemperance 

 and excess, and the other half struggling almost hopelessly 

 against the melancholy and gloom that have overshadowed 

 their hearts ?* 



* Of late years, a powerful attempt lias been made to introduce the Roman 

 Catholic religion into the islands. It is not denied that the natives have been 

 much struck by the splendid shows and attractive worship of that church ; and 

 there is a moral in this fact of vital importance to the missionary. 



