NATIVE MISSIONS. 
269 
thus visited, and proposed that, from a sense of 
the value of the gospel, and a desire for its disse¬ 
mination, they should form a Tahitian Missionary 
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 Mis¬ 
sionaries. “ The people of Africa/' said he, 
44 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 pro¬ 
duce of our islands,—pigs, or arrow-root, or 
cocoa-nut oil. Yet it must be voluntary, let it 
not be by compulsion. He that desires the word 
of God to grow where it has been planted, and to 
be 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 simultaneously elevated 
from the multitude assembled under the cocoa-nut 
grove, presenting a spectacle no less imposing and 
affecting, than it was picturesque and new. The 
