ADDRESS. 69 



his relations and tribe. In this code there is no statute of limita- 

 tions. The lapse of years or even of ages cannot soften the rigour 

 of unpropitiated vengeance. The claim is transmitted from father 

 to son, with a faithfulness and tenacity of purpose that insures 

 ample reprisal at the earliest opportunity, however long post- 

 poned. What delicate perception of right and wrong, what mild 

 forbearance, and what decision of character, are requisite to acquire 

 the good-will of a people thus singularly constituted, and banish 

 distrust from their bosoms ! Can any one imagine that time and 

 a special equipment would not be necessary to enable an expedi- 

 tion to produce its proper effects ? 



Presents should be judiciously distributed, especially among 

 those by whom our shipwrecked mariners have been hospitably 

 received. The promises made to chiefs to procure the restoration 

 of prisoners, should be scrupulously fulfilled, and this policy 

 should be observed in the ransom of European sailors as well as 

 of our own. It will be a matter of national pride that our country 

 should be the first to set the example of an enterprise destined to 

 retrieve the character of civilized man, and in p nme measure atone 

 for the accumulated injuries which centuries have seen of daily 

 increasing enormity. 



Animals should be transferred from one island to another, fol- 

 lowing the example of Cook in 1774, who left stock in New 

 Zealand, the Sandwich and Society Islands, which, by their 

 increase, have afforded supplies to thousands and tens of thou- 

 sands of our seamen for the last thirty years. This measure is 

 the more important, as our vessels are seeking places of refresh- 

 ment nearer and more closely connected with the field of their 

 pursuits west of the Sandwich Islands. 



It is the opinion of some, as we are aware, that matters of this 

 description are best left to individual enterprise, and that the inter- 

 ference of government is unnecessary. Such persons do not 

 reflect, as they ought, that all measures of public utility which 



