328 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
“ Long be this peaceful reign,” or any other 
motto that might be inscribed upon the banner. 
And when they walked through the district, a 
father or mother, or both, have been seen coming 
from the door of their cottages, gazing with plea¬ 
sure on them as they passed by, walking beside 
them, or following them with their eye until some 
clump of trees, or winding in the road, hid them 
from their view. 
The meeting at Raiatea in the year 1824 was 
deeply affecting. It was held on a kind of pier or 
quay built in the sea. Six hundred children 
assembled to partake of the feast their parents had 
provided. The boys afterwards delivered public 
addresses. A religious service in the chapel 
closed the exercises of the day, and all retired to 
their respective homes, apparently delighted. 
Mr. Williams, in reference to this interesting 
spectacle, questions whether, but for the influence 
of Christianity, one-third of the children would 
have been in existence, and states his opinion, 
that they would not, and that u the hands of their 
mothers would have been imbrued in their blood.” 
This was not a groundless opinion, but an inference 
authorized by the most melancholy but unques¬ 
tionable facts. At a former meeting held on the 
spot where the chapel stood, in which the children 
were examined, he was present. A venerable 
chief rose, and addressed the assembly, with im¬ 
pressive action, and strongly excited feeling- 
Comparing the past with the present state of the 
people, he said, “ I was a mighty chief; the spot 
on which we are now assembled was by me made 
sacred for myself and family; large was my 
family, but I alone remain; all have died in the 
service of Satan—they knew not this good word 
