384 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
captain, and some others who were present, asked 
why they did not resist the attack ? inquiring, at 
the same time, if they were averse to war; know¬ 
ing that their countrymen were continually en¬ 
gaged in most savage wars, and were also can¬ 
nibals. They said they had been taught to delight 
in war, and were not afraid of the natives of Tubuai; 
that if they had been heathens, they should have 
fought them at once; but that they had been to 
Tahiti, and had embraced the new religion, as 
they called Christianity; had heard that Jehovah 
commanded those who worshipped Him to do no 
murder, and that Jesus Christ had directed his 
followers to love their enemies; that they feared 
it would be displeasing to God, should they have 
killed any of the Tubuaians, or even have indulged 
feelings of revenge towards them; adding, that 
they would rather lose their canoe and their pro¬ 
perty, than offend Jehovah, or disregard the direc¬ 
tions of Jesus Christ.—Our captain gave them a 
passage. Pomare furnished them with a canoe; 
they returned for their companions, and subse¬ 
quently sailed to their native islands. 
These natives, in all probability, had never 
heard the question as to the lawfulness or unlaw¬ 
fulness of Christians engaging in war discussed, or 
even named, but they had most likely been taught 
to commit to memory the decalogue, and our 
Lord's sermon on the mount, and hence resulted 
their noble forbearance at the island of Tubuai. 
Subsequently, the Tubuaians heard more ample 
details of the change that had taken place in the 
adjacent island of Rurutu, as well as in the Society 
Islands—that the inhabitants had renounced their 
idolatry, and erected places for the worship of the 
true God—and determined to follow their example. 
