Foreword 
Many of those who oppose the work of evangelizing hea- 
then races assert that a people found in heathenism are better 
left as they happen to be when discovered. This amazing 
allegation has sometimes been made even in relation to the 
wild tribes of the South Seas. To take such a position is 
to acknowledge that for these island peoples “unrestrained 
murder is better than the enjoyment of life under conditions 
of peace and safety; that unrelieved misery is better than 
joy and happiness, secured to them by an ordered govern- 
ment; that enslaving fear is better than the confiding trust 
that now marks their intertribal and interisland relationships ; 
that the intrenched superstitions of idol and demon worship 
are better than the comforts and blessings of the Christian 
faith; that their former loathsome depravity is better than 
the comparative refinement and elevation of their present 
condition; that brutalized immorality is better than gospel 
morality; and that their former terribly dwarfed mentality 
is better than their present enlightenment and remarkable 
mental development.” 
These assertions seldom come from those who are not 
actively opposed to the application of gospel principles in 
these islands. The mental awakening which invariably fol- 
lows the renouncement of heathenism and the acceptance 
of the gospel by these native races, is neither wanted nor 
encouraged by those who maintain such an attitude. Such 
persons are opposed to the assertion of gospel power any- 
where. Therefore, they are opposed to its asserting itself 
in the South Sea Islands. Their purpose is selfish. Their 
attitude is preposterous. 
For the uplift of these depraved races of the South Seas, 
Protestant Christianity has now been laboring for more than 
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