Aug.J 



BERGH'S GROUP. 



421 



sentiments similar to those which Kotzebue has put in the mouth of the 

 captive Alonzo, when addressing the tyrant Pizarro : — 



" I would gently lead the good Las Casas by the hand through all the 

 lovely fields of Quito ; there in many a spot where late was barren- 

 ness and waste, I would show him how now the opening blossom, 

 blade, or perfumed bud, sweet bashful pledges of delicious harvest, 

 wafting their influence to the ripening sun, give cheerful promise of the 

 hope of industry. This, I would say, is my work ! Next I should tell 

 how hurtful customs and superstitions, strange and sullen, would often 

 puzzle and dismay the credulous minds of these deluded innocents ; 

 and then would I point out to him, where now in clustered villages they 

 live like brothers, social and confiding, while through the burning day 

 content sits basking on the cheek of toil, till laughing pastime leads 

 them to the hour of rest ; this too is mine ! And prouder yet, at that 

 still pause between exertion and repose, belonging not to pastime, 

 labour, or to rest, but unto Him who sanctions and ordains them all, I 

 would show him many an eye and many a hand by gentleness from 

 error won, raised in pure devotion to the true and only God." 



The Hebrews were but semi-barbarians when they were emancipated 

 from Egyptian slavery, and all the rest of the world were idolaters. But 

 even this chosen people of the Most High were not sufficiently ad- 

 vanced in civilization to receive the genuine doctrines of theology and 

 practical religion as they were taught two thousand years afterward, 

 in that divine discourse of the Saviour called the Sermon on the Mount. 

 The lesson to them was, " Hear, O Israel ! the Lord our God is one 

 Lord :" for this was all they could comprehend in that stage of their 

 existence. After the lapse of twenty centuries, a very small number 

 of these people were found who could receive the doctrine of the 

 Trinity. These were then taught what their ancestors could not have 

 received, that anger was murder, that lust was adultery, that covetous- 

 ness was theft, and that they must love their enemies. 



Why should not the same gradual process be adopted with respect 

 to the conversion of the South Sea islanders 1 They are no more pre- 

 pared to receive all the evangelical doctrines of the Gospel than the 

 Jews were when worshipping the golden calf at the foot of Mount 

 Sinai. It is true the apostles made most of their Christian converts 

 among the gentiles ; but let it be recollected that these gentiles were 

 principally Greeks and Romans, at that time the most refined, enlight- 

 ened, and learned nations on the earth ; much better capacitated than 

 the Jews for receiving the true doctrine. But I am steering out of my 

 track, and will return to the Ladrone Islands. 



August 28th. — From the Ladrone Islands we steered to the south 

 and east, until Saturday, the 28th of August, when we came to anchor, 

 at six, P. M., within the coral reef that surrounds Bergh's Group ; 

 before our anchor had fairly taken the ground, we were visited by 

 many of our old friends, all of whom appeared to be very much pleased 

 to see us again ; and as a token of their friendship, they presented us 

 with cocoanuts, bread-fruit, and bananas ; in return for which we made 

 them presents of beads, knives, scissors, looking-glasses, and a few 

 China trinkets. 



