158 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
those in other groups of the Pacific; but the feelings 
excited on these occasions had always been those of 
deep melancholy and horror, at the human immolations 
and shocking cruelties which they had so often exhi¬ 
bited. Here, however, idolatry appeared at least in 
the form of clemency, and the sacred enclosure pre¬ 
sented a scene unique among the ruins of paganism, 
which we contemplated with unusual interest. 
Whether its establishment was originally projected 
by the priests, to attach to their interests all who might 
owe their lives to its institution, or by some mild and 
humane prince, anxious to diminish the barbarous 
cruelties of idolatry, and soften the sanguinary charac¬ 
ter of savage warfare; or whether derived traditionally 
from the Xsraelitish cities of refuge, to which some of 
its features are strikingly analogous,—we do not pre¬ 
tend to determine. However, we could not but rejoice 
that its abolition was so soon succeeded by the revela¬ 
tion of a refuge more secure,—that the white flag ceased 
not to wave till another banner was ready to be un¬ 
furled, on which was inscribed, “ Look unto me, and 
be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”—Unto Jesus 
may they look, and may his name to them become the 
hope of glory. 
Sweet hope, it makes the coward brave, 
It makes a freeman of the slave, 
And bids the sluggard rise: 
It lifts the worm of earth on high, 
Provides him wings, and makes him fly 
To mansions in the skies. 
Our accommodations at Honaunau were very indif¬ 
ferent. The house where we stayed, in addition to 
other unpleasant circumstances, being entirely open at 
