HUMANITY TO THE VANQUISHED. 153 
account of which their destruction had been sought. 
The Lord of hosts had been with them, the God of 
Jacob was their helper, and to him they rendered 
the glory and the praise for the protection he had 
bestowed, and the victory they had obtained. In 
this sacred act they were joined by numbers, who 
heretofore had worshipped only the idols of their 
country, but who now desired to acknowledge 
Jehovah as God alone. 
The noble magnanimity of the king and chiefs 
in the hour of conquest, when under all the intoxi¬ 
cating influence of recent victory and conscious 
power, were no less honourable to the principles 
which they professed, and the best feelings of their 
hearts, than conducive to the cause of Christianity. 
This generous temper did not terminate with the 
command issued on the field of contest, but it 
was a prominent feature in all their subsequent 
conduct. 
When the king despatched a select band to 
demolish the idol temple, he said, “ Go not to the 
little island, where the women and children have 
been left for security; turn not aside to the vil¬ 
lages or plantations ; neither enter into the houses, 
nor destroy any of the property you may see ; but 
go straight along the high road, through all your 
late enemy’s districts.” His directions were at¬ 
tended to; no individual was inj ured, no fence 
broken down, no house burned, no article of pro¬ 
perty taken. The bodies of the slain were not 
wantonly mangled, nor left exposed to the ele¬ 
ments, or to be devoured by the wild dogs from 
the mountains, and the swine that formerly 
would have fed upon them ; but were all decently 
buried by the victors, and the body of the 
fallen chief, Upufara, was conveyed to his own 
