REFLECTIONS. 259 



to take pleasure in such vain amusements. The 

 nobleman, not wishing to dispute the point, gave 

 up his good-natured intentions. 



That a people naturally so lively, should 

 readily submit to such gloomy restrictions at 

 the command of their rulers, proves how easily 

 a wise government might introduce among them 

 the blessings of rational civilization. Well 

 might Karemaku exclaim, &quot; Tameamea, thou 

 hast died too soon !&quot; Had this monarch doubled 

 the usual age of man, and accorded his protec 

 tion to such a reformer as Stewart, the Sandwich 

 Islanders might by this time have acquired the 

 respect of all other nations, instead of retro 

 grading in the arts of civilization, and assuming 

 under compulsion the hypocritical appearance 

 of an affected devotion. 



In taking a walk with an American merchant 

 established here, I met a naked old man with a 

 book in his hand, whom my companion ad 

 dressed, and knowing him for a determined op 

 ponent of the new system, expressed his surprise 

 at his occupation, and enquired how long he had 

 been studying his alphabet. With a roguish 

 laugh which seemed intended to conceal a more 



