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POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
appertain unto them. But every blasphemously idola¬ 
trous or impure name^ (and those of some of the Areois 
and priests were so to a most affecting degree^) we re¬ 
commended should be discontinued^ and that they should 
select those names^ by which^ in future, they would wish 
to be designated. A few of the adults chose foreign, 
and in general scriptural names, for themselves or their 
children. 
This produced a considerable change in their language. 
Formerly, all names were descriptive of some event or 
quality—as Fanauao, day-born, Fanaupo, night-born, 
Mataara, wakeful or bright-eyed, Matamoa, sleepful or 
heavy-eyed, Paari, wise, or Matauore, fearless, &c. A 
number of terms were now introduced, as Adamu Adam, 
Noa Noah, Davida David, leremia Jeremiah, Hezekia 
Hezekiah, lacoba James, loane John, Petero Peter, &c. 
with no other signification than being the names of the 
persons. With regard to infants, we only baptized those 
whose parents, one or both, were themselves baptized, 
and desired thus to dedicate their children to God, and 
engaged to train them in the principles of Christianity; 
and then we only baptized infants, unless the children of 
more advanced years understood the nature of the ordi¬ 
nance, and themselves desired to make, by this act, a 
public profession of their discipleship to Christ, and their 
wishes to be instructed in his word. 
Sometimes the infant was held in the arms of its 
parent, who stood up while the rite was administered; at 
other times, and I believe invariably, during subsequent 
years, we have taken the child in the left arm, and bap¬ 
tized it with the right hand. Whenever any of our own 
children have been baptized, we have brought them to 
the chapel, and have performed the ceremony at the 
