They expect the
missionaries to effect that which the Apostles themselves failed to
do. Inasmuch as the condition of the people falls short of this
high standard, blame is attached to the missionary, instead of
credit for that which he has effected. They forget, or will not
remember, that human sacrifices, and the power of an idolatrous
priesthood--a system of profligacy unparalleled in any other part
of the world--infanticide a consequence of that system--bloody
wars, where the conquerors spared neither women nor children--that
all these have been abolished; and that dishonesty, intemperance,
and licentiousness have been greatly reduced by the introduction of
Christianity. In a voyager to forget these things is base
ingratitude; for should he chance to be at the point of shipwreck
on some unknown coast, he will most devoutly pray that the lesson
of the missionary may have extended thus far.
In point of morality, the virtue of the women, it has been often
said, is most open to exception. But before they are blamed too
severely, it will be well distinctly to call to mind the scenes
described by Captain Cook and Mr. Banks, in which the grandmothers
and mothers of the present race played a part.
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