66 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
duct influenced by the precepts of the gospel, their 
hearts were not under its decisive influence; in 
short, that they had not undergone that change of 
mind, which our Lord himself, in his conversation 
with Nicodemus, called being “ born again,” and 
without which he had declared no man can enter 
into the kingdom of heaven. In other instances, 
however, the testimony relative to this change 
was so decisive and powerful, that we could not, 
dared not, hesitate. 
The reason the natives have given of their Chris¬ 
tian hope, has often been not only satisfactory, as 
it regarded the individual, but important, and in a 
high degree interesting, as an evidence of the 
universality of the depravity of man ; and also as 
shewing the effects of Divine truth, under the 
influence of the Spirit of God, to be the same 
in every clime, producing corresponding effects 
upon men of every diversity in colour, language, 
and circumstance. Hence, one of the strongest 
modern evidences in the history of man, of the 
unequivocal origin of Christianity, has been afford¬ 
ed, and its perfect adaptation to the condition of 
the whole human race. 
The same latent enmity to the moral restraints 
Christianity imposes on the vicious propensities of 
men, the same unwillingness to admit its uncom¬ 
promising claims to the surrender of the heart, was 
experienced here, as in other parts. The same 
tendency to suppose the favour of God might be 
obtained by services which they could perform, 
and the same unbelief under convictions of sin, and 
unwillingness to go to the Saviour without a recom¬ 
mendation—that is so often met with in others— 
was felt by them. 
But while, in these respects, the experience of 
