HIS REPENTANCE. 109 
With his clearer view of the parental cha- 
racter, and of the coridition of his own soul, 
Adams became a religious man. He instructed 
the young people about him in the fear of God. 
He prayed for them, and for himself. He ob- 
served the rules of the Church of England, 
always had morning and evening prayers, and 
taught the children the Collects, and other por- 
tions of the Prayer-book, beginning with the 
Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed. The 
youthful pupils took such delight in Adams's 
instructions, that on one occasion, on his offering 
to two of the lads, Arthur Quintall, and Robert 
Young, some compensation for their labour in 
preparing ground for planting yams, they pro- 
posed, that, instead of his giving the present held 
out to them, consisting of a small quantity of 
gunpowder, he should teach them some extra 
lessons out of the Bible, a request with which he 
joyfully complied. 
He exhorted the people, before going out fish- 
ing, or proceeding on any dangerous enterprise, to 
pray to God for His protection and blessing. On 
one occasion, he and some of the Otaheitan women 
went out fishing on the south side of the island. 
The surf became heavy and broke their canoe. 
To ascend the precipice was impossible. Their 
only alternative was, as Adams told them, to 
commit themselves by prayer to their Maker, 
and swim to a rock some distance from the land, 
and again swim to another part of the island. 
This they did, and at last they all reached the 
shore in safety. 
Adams, in the latter part of his life, was very 
