POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
253 
reason to believe, were regenerated persons; and that 
a general belief in the testimony that Christ was the 
Saviour of men, and a desire to receive farther instruc¬ 
tion, however sincere it might be, should be accompanied 
with an experience of that change of heart, which these 
truths, under the special influences of the Holy Spirit, 
are adapted to produce; and, in short, that such only 
should be baptized as would be at once unhesitatingly 
admitted to the Lord’s supper. 
The majority, however, of the Missionaries were of 
opinion that the ordinances were totally distinct, and 
that though it was proper that every church member 
should have been baptized, yet it did not follow that 
every one who had received such rite was thereby ad¬ 
mitted to church fellowship. Satisfactory evidence of 
sincerity in belief that Jehovah was the true God, and 
Jesus Christ the only Saviour, was considered a sufScient 
warrant for its administration to those who required it. 
No one, however, at any time desired to exercise un¬ 
due influence over the opinions of his coadjutors; and, 
although uniformity was desirable, we did not think it 
important to sacrifice much for sameness of sentiment or 
practice in this respect. After repeated and prayerful de¬ 
liberation, recognizing, and aiming to act, upon the broad 
and liberal principles upon which the institution, under 
whose patronage we laboured, was founded, it was mu¬ 
tually agreed that each Missionary should, in his own 
station, pursue that course which appeared to him most 
in accordance with the declarations of scripture. 
In two of the stations, or perhaps three, the Mis¬ 
sionaries have baptized those only whom they had reason 
to believe had been baptized by the Holy Ghost, and 
were Christians in the strictest sense of the term; the 
