1823.] 



A wonderful Narrative of Two Families. 



were treated with entire confidence; 

 no watch was ever kept over them, nor 

 were they excluded from any part of 

 the ships ; and not only was nothing 

 stolen, but when any thing was lost, 

 nobody even suspected for an instant 

 that it had been taken by them. 



" That proud and haughty feeling of 

 national superiority, so strongly ex- 

 isting among the common class of 

 British seamen, which induces them to 

 hold all foreigners cheap, was at this 

 island entirely subdued and tamed, by 

 the gentle manners and kind behaviour 

 of the most pacific people in the 

 world. 



"Although completely intermixed and 

 often working together, both on-shore 

 and on-board, not a single quarrel or 

 complaint took i)lace on either side, 

 during the whole of our stay. On the 

 contrary, each succeeding day added 

 to friendship and cordiality. 



" The administration of the govern- 

 ment seems to partake of the general 

 mildness of the people, and yet it ap- 

 pears highly efficient, from the very 

 great order which is always main- 

 tained, and the general diffusion of 

 happiness. 



" Crimes are said to be very unfre- 

 quent among them, and they go per- 

 fectly unarmed ; for we observed no 

 warlike instruments of any description! 

 not even a bow or an arrow was to be 

 seen ; and the natives always declared 

 they had none. They denied having 

 any knowledge of war, either by ex- 

 perience or tradition. 



"We never saw any punishments 

 inflicted at Loo Choo : a tap with a 

 fan, or an angry look, was the severest 

 chastisement ever resorted to, so far as 

 we could discover. In giving orders, 

 the chiefs were mild, though firm ; and 

 the people always obeyed with cheer- 

 fulness." 



Such is the account which two of 

 your naval officers have given of tliis 

 amiable people. 



LETTER II. 



With pain and grief 1 now turn my 

 attention to the promised contrast. 

 The two families of professed Chris- 

 tians, of whom I am to give you some 

 account, are as numerous as were the 

 families of Abraham and Lot, when 

 they separated to avoid strife. They 

 reside in the Northern Hemisphere, 

 and are independent of each other, 

 and of any government, except what 

 they have cstal)lislied in their respec- 

 tive families. Lach family has a patri- 



107 



arch, head, or chief, to whom the mem- 

 bers show respect and yield obe- 

 dience. 



These two families were formerly 

 united under one head ; but some diffi- 

 culty arose, which occasioned a bloody 

 quarrel, and ended in a division of the 

 one family into two. Ever since that 

 period unhappy prejudices and jea- 

 lousies have existed between them, 

 which greatly endanger their peace 

 and mutual welfare. 



A number of years subsequent to 

 their separation, another dispute arose, 

 which was managed in a very anti- 

 cliristian manner, and much to the 

 injury of both families. The difficul- 

 ties were such as might have been 

 settled in a few hours, had the parties 

 been of a peaceable disposition, and 

 inclined to govern their passions and 

 conduct according to the precepts of 

 their religion. But, unfortunately for 

 them, this was not the case. Instead 

 of that noble and benignant spirit in 

 wliich the essence of Christianity con- 

 sists, the spirit of selfishness, jealousy, 

 and irritation, was permitted to reign, 

 and it made horrible work. You can 

 hardly conceive what a scene of re- 

 viling occurred: their passions became 

 more and more exasperated, and from 

 hard words they soon proceeded to 

 blows. How inconsistent with the 

 character of Christians! with the ex- 

 ample of him whose disciples they 

 professed to be ! Instead of loving, 

 they hated one another! Instead of 

 seeking each other's good, they sought 

 each other's injury ! 



During this contest, parties from the 

 two families often met each other for 

 the purpose of fighlinf/. Indeed, such 

 was their malignity, tliat they mutually 

 exerted all their powers to kill one 

 another. In this savage quarrel some 

 lives were lost, many persons were 

 wounded, and great was the destruc- 

 tion of property. Their conduct on 

 both sides bore a much greater resem- 

 blance to that of barbarians than of 

 Christians ; indeed the spirit which 

 they indulged could not be distin- 

 guished from that of the evil one, who 

 goeth about seeking whom he may 

 devour. They were so lost, as to any 

 proper sense of their obligations as 

 Christians, that they even gloried in 

 the most atrocious acts of robbery and 

 violence. 



In this diabolical manner these fami- 

 lies continued their quarrel for many 

 months. At kugth, however, both 

 parties 



