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POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
sense of the value of the gospel, and a desire for 
its dissemination, they should form a Tahitian Mission¬ 
ary Society, to aid the London Society in sending 
the Gospel to the heathen, especially those in the 
islands of the surrounding ocean; explaining the kind 
of remuneration given to the proprietors of ships, and 
the expensiveness even of sending Missionaries. ^^The 
people of Africa,'’ said he, ^^have already done so; 
for though, like us, they have no money, they have 
given of their sheep, and other property. Let us also 
give of the produce of our islands,—^pigs, or arrow-root, 
or cocoa-nut oil. Yet it must he voluntary, let it not 
be by compulsion. He that desires the word of God to 
grow where it has been planted, and to he conveyed to 
countries wretched as ours was before it was brought to 
us, will contribute freely and liberally to promote its 
extension; he who is unacquainted with its influence, 
and insensible to its claims, will not, perhaps, exert 
himself in this work. So let it be. Let him 
not be reproved; neither let the chiefs in general, nor 
his superiors, be angry with him on that account." 
Pomare on this occasion seemed anxious to impress 
the minds of the people with his desire that they should 
act according to the dictates of their own judgment, 
and not form themselves into a society, simply because 
he had recommended it. As he drew to the close of his 
address, he intimated his wish that those who approved 
of the proposal he had made, should lift up their right 
hands. Two or three thousand naked arms were simul¬ 
taneously elevated from the multitude assembled under 
the cocoa-nut grove, presenting a spectacle no less im¬ 
posing and affecting, than it was picturesque and new. 
The regulations of the society were then read, and the 
