ANOTHER ROYAL VISIT. 199 
that he also should restore sight to the blind 
and raise the dead to life; the confession of his 
inability was met with derision, and for many 
years he gained no disciples. How different, 
in all probability, would the effect have proved, 
had he, instead of the miraculous history of his 
religion, directed the attention of the susceptible 
Tahaitians to its pure morality, leading so na- 
turally to the idea of a common Father, and a 
fellowship of charity. O, ye Missionaries, how 
much blood might ye not have spared ! 
I received another visit from the Royal Fa- 
mily, accompanied this time by many of the 
Vice-Kings then in Tahaiti, with their consorts. 
Among them was the grandfather of the little 
monarch Pomareh the Second. After some 
preliminaries, my illustrious guests unanimously 
preferred a request in the most modest, yet 
pressing manner. They wished me to get a 
pair of boots made for the little King. His 
coronation, they said, would soon take place, 
and they did not think it decorous, on so so- 
lemn an occasion, for the Sovereign of all the 
Society Islands to sit barefooted on his throne. 
I immediately ordered my shoemaker to pro- 
