416 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
and attention paid to the subject, surprised and 
pleased me beyond measure/’ “ Children,” he 
adds, “ are seen bringing their aged parents to 
the church, that they may partake of the pleasure 
they derive from the explanation of the Bible.” 
The general attention to the public worship of 
God, and the exemplary Christian deportment of 
many of the people, have proved not only delight¬ 
ful, but beneficial, to their visitors; and we are 
grateful to know, that occasional and transient 
visits to the Christian islands of the Pacific, have 
been the means of advantage to the visitors; 
and there are probably many instances of good, 
which the revelations of the last day alone will 
disclose. 
It is a privilege to visit a country, and a happi¬ 
ness to live in a community, where the Sabbaths 
are thus spent, and prove to multitudes— 
u Foretastes of heaven on earth—pledges of joy 
Surpassing fancy’s flights and fiction’s story, 
The preludes of a feast that cannot cloy, 
And the bright out-courts of immortal glory!” 
This universal observance of the Sabbath-day 
appears to an Englishman in humiliating contrast 
with its profanation in many favoured sections of his 
own country. The contrast is still more striking 
when compared with the manner in which it is 
perverted into a season of activity, business, and 
unwonted gaiety in the pursuit of pleasure, in 
Catholic countries—but it never appears so sur¬ 
prising as when viewed in comparison with the 
actual state of the people themselves only a 
few years ago. No Sabbath had then dawned, 
no happy multitudes met for praise and prayer, 
no lovely throngs of children gathered in the 
