Volume I Part 5 (2/2)
Bennet and Tyrman, seemed to silence them for a moment, but their youthful spirits soon overcoming their fears, the whispering and giggling recommenced, and glances were cast at the white stranger, which seemed to intimate no unwillingness to commence a closer acquaintance.
After the conclusion of the sermon, another psalm was sung, and the service concluded. The display of costume, as the congregation strolled homewards in groups, with the greatest self-complacency, through the beautiful broad avenue, their psalm-books under their arms, was still more strikingly ludicrous than in church. I had by this time, however, lost all inclination to laugh.
I had a.s.sisted at a great religious a.s.sembly of the new, devoted, so called Christian Tahaitians; and the comparison naturally arising in my mind, between what I had seen and the descriptions of the early travellers, had introduced reflections which became less and less agreeable, in proportion as I acquired a greater insight into the recent history of the island.
After many fruitless efforts, some English Missionaries succeeded at length, in the year 1797, in introducing what they called Christianity into Tahaiti, and even in gaining over to their doctrine the King Tajo, who then governed the whole island in peace and tranquillity. This conversion was a spark thrown into a powder magazine, and was followed by a fearful explosion. The Marais were suddenly destroyed by order of the King--every memorial of the former wors.h.i.+p defaced--the new religion forcibly established, and whoever would not adopt it, put to death. With the zeal for making proselytes, the rage of tigers took possession of a people once so gentle. Streams of blood flowed--whole races were exterminated; many resolutely met the death they preferred to the renunciation of their ancient faith. Some few escaped by flight to the recesses of the lofty mountains, where they still live in seclusion, faithful to the G.o.ds of their ancestors. Schiller's exclamation--”_Furchtbar ist der Mensch in seinem wahn_,”[3] was dreadfully confirmed.
Ambition a.s.sociated itself, as usual, to fanaticism. King Tajo, not content with seeing in the remains of his people none but professors of the new faith, resolved on making conquests that he might force it on the other Society Islands. He had already succeeded with most of them, when a young warrior, Pomareh, King of the little island of Tabua, took the field against him. What he wanted in numbers was supplied by his unexampled valour, and his superiority in the art of war.
He subdued one island after another, and at last Tahaiti itself, and having captured its King, offered the zealot murderer of his innocent subjects as a sacrifice to their manes. In the end, he subjected to his sceptre all the islands which had hitherto remained independent, and as sovereign of the whole Archipelago, took up his residence in Tahaiti. He left to the conquered Kings the government of their islands, requiring from them a yearly tribute in pigs and fruits; and to consolidate his dominion by family connexion, he married a daughter of the most powerful of these royal va.s.sals, her three sisters, according to an ancient custom, becoming at the same time his wives.
Peace was thus restored to Tahaiti and the whole Archipelago. Pomareh was a wise and mild ruler. He left his subjects undisturbed in their new religion, although he did not profess it himself. The Missionaries, now limited to their powers of persuasion, found means to retain their disciples in their adopted faith, so that the refugees of the mountains preferred remaining in their retreats, to finding themselves objects of hatred and contempt amongst their old friends and relations. At length Pomareh himself, with his whole family, yielded to the arguments of the Missionary Nott, allowed himself to be baptized, and died as a Christian, in the prime of life, in consequence of an immoderate indulgence in the spirituous liquors which he had obtained from the s.h.i.+ps of his new brethren.
An unconquerable pa.s.sion for ardent spirits had acquired an entire dominion over him, although he was so well aware of their deleterious effects, as to have often exclaimed, when under the influence of intoxication, ”O King, to-day could thy fat swine govern better than thou canst!” This weakness was, however, so much over-balanced by his many good qualities, his well-tried valour, his inflexible justice, his constant mildness and generosity, that he possessed to the last the universal esteem and love of his subjects, by whom his loss was still deplored when we arrived at Tahaiti, almost two years after his death, although he had reigned as an unlimited monarch, and they now possessed a const.i.tution resembling, or rather aping, that of England. This had been introduced by the influence of the Missionaries, whose power over the minds of the Tahaitians is unbounded; they had persuaded the people to adopt it during the minority of Pomareh's son, a child of four years old at the period of our visit; but from the general regret with which the days of the absolute King were remembered, it did not appear to have given much satisfaction.
According to this Const.i.tution, Tahaiti is divided into nineteen districts, and the neighbouring island of Eimeo, having no especial viceroy, into eight. Every district has its governor and its judge, whose business is to settle disputes and maintain order. The first is appointed by the Parliament, and the latter elected by the people. These nominations are for one year only--but may be renewed at the expiration of the term. Important affairs are submitted to the Parliament, which, consisting of deputies from all the provinces, possesses the legislative, as the King does the executive power.
The Tahaitians, accustomed to a blind reverence for the Missionaries, consult them in all their undertakings, and by means of the Const.i.tution have so confirmed their power, both as priests and rulers, that it would be difficult for governor, judge, or member of parliament, to retain their offices after having incurred their displeasure. They have shown their artful policy in the choice of a guardian for the young King. It has fallen on the tributary King of the island of Balabola, distinguished by his giant height of seven feet, and by his enormous corpulence, which almost prevents his moving, but by no mental qualification.
This mountain of flesh, that at a distance might rather be taken for some unknown monster than for a man, naturally finds it more convenient to his indolence to be merely the mouthpiece of the Missionaries, and that their dominion may also be secured for the future, Mr. Nott has the sole charge of the young monarch's education, and will not fail to bring him up in the habit of implicit obedience.
The actual doc.u.ment securing the Const.i.tution had not yet appeared; the Missionaries were still employed on it, well convinced, that whatever they should insert would be received without opposition. When complete, it will probably issue in due form from their Printing-Office, and will be interesting, if some future traveller should bring us the translation.
Firm as the foundation of the Missionaries' power appeared, one little cloud was visible in the political firmament. A son of the vanquished King Tajo yet existed, and was not entirely without adherents. If by any chance he should succeed in gaining possession of the throne, he might remember that these men had a.s.sisted in excluding him from it. For this reason, they resolved to confirm the t.i.tle of the young Pomareh, by a solemn coronation; and to strengthen his party, all the tributary princes of the whole Archipelago were invited to be present at the ceremony.
The preparations for this solemnity had long been carrying on, and as it was now soon to take place, nearly all the kings, with numerous suites, had arrived in Tahaiti. Among them was the powerful ruler of Ulietea, the grandfather of the infant sovereign; he had brought with him several hundred warriors, many of them armed with muskets.
We wished much to have been present at this first coronation of a King of the Society Islands; but as our time would not permit it, I obtained from Mr. Tyrman an account of the order and plan of the ceremony.
The kings, princes, members of parliament, and other high officers, were to a.s.semble at the residence of the Queen, and thence in a regular procession, arranged according to their several ranks and dignities, and headed by the young King and the Missionaries, to pa.s.s to an appointed open s.p.a.ce, where a throne of stone had been erected, on which the little Pomareh was to be seated. The procession was then to form a circle round him, and Mr. Tyrman, after making a speech, was to set on the King's head a crown, resembling in shape that of England, in which country it had been made. A Bible was then to be placed in his hand, with the admonition, ”According to this Law, thou shall govern thy people.” Upon this, the train being marshalled as before, the King should descend from his throne, and proceed to the church, where, after the performance of divine service, he should be anointed. The ceremonies should then conclude with a grand banquet.
It is remarkable that the Bible, and not the Act of the Const.i.tution, was to be given to the King, as the rule of his government. Was not a sly mental reservation perhaps intended by this? If the Const.i.tution should not have exactly the effect intended, and the Tahaitians, emboldened by it, should seek to withdraw themselves from their leading-strings, then might the pupil of Nott, bound to them by no oath, come forward to them boldly, and force them back under the yoke of the Missionaries; all the while conscientiously obeying the rule of conduct which had been delivered to him, according to the interpretation he had been taught to put on it.
How this coronation turned out--whether the son of Tajo allowed it to pa.s.s quietly--whether he has met the fate of many an unfortunate European pretender, or survives to become the originator of a civil war, which may yet give another destiny to Tahaiti, remains to be learnt from the accounts of some future traveller.
Religion and political inst.i.tutions may raise a nation in a short period to a high point of civilization, and they may also serve, as in case of the Turks, to retain them in perpetual barbarism. How will these mighty powers operate on the Tahaitians? How can they, the qualifications of their authors considered!
True, genuine Christianity, and a liberal government, might have soon given to this people, endowed by nature with the seeds of every social virtue, a rank among civilized nations. Under such a blessed influence, the arts and sciences would soon have taken root, the intellect of the people would have expanded, and a just estimation of all that is good, beautiful, and eternally true, would have refined their manners and enn.o.bled their hearts. Europe would soon have admired, perhaps have envied Tahaiti: but the religion taught by the Missionaries is not true Christianity, though it may possibly comprehend some of its doctrines, but half understood even by the teachers themselves. That it was established by force, is of itself an evidence against its Christian principle. A religion which consists in the eternal repet.i.tion of prescribed prayers, which forbids every innocent pleasure, and cramps or annihilates every mental power, is a libel on the Divine Founder of Christianity, the benign Friend of human-kind. It is true, that the religion of the Missionaries has, with a great deal of evil, effected some good. It has abolished heathen superst.i.tions, and an irrational wors.h.i.+p, but it has introduced new errors in their stead. It has restrained the vices of theft and incontinence, but it has given birth to bigotry, hypocrisy, and a hatred and contempt of all other modes of faith, which was once foreign to the open and benevolent character of the Tahaitian. It has put and end to avowed human sacrifices, but many more human beings have been actually sacrificed to it, than ever were to their heathen G.o.ds.
The elder Forster estimated, as we have already seen, the population of Tahaiti at one hundred and thirty thousand souls. Allowing that he over-calculated it, by even as much as fifty thousand, still eighty thousand remained:--the present population amounts to only eight thousand; so that nine-tenths must have disappeared. The diseases introduced by the ardent spirits, the manufacture of Europe and America, may, indeed, have much increased the mortality, but they are also known in many islands in the South Seas, without having caused any perceptible diminution in the population. It is not known that plague of any kind has ever raged here: it was, therefore, the b.l.o.o.d.y persecution instigated by the Missionaries which performed the office of a desolating infection. I really believe that these pious people were themselves shocked at the consequences of their zeal; but they soon consoled themselves; and have ever since continued to watch with the most vigilant severity over the maintenance of every article of their faith. Hence, among the remains of these murdered people, their former admirable industry, and their joyous buoyancy of spirits, have been changed for continual praying, and meditating upon things which the teachers understand as little as the taught.
The Tahaitians of the present day hardly know how to plait their mats, make their paper stuffs, or cultivate a few roots. They content themselves with the bread-fruit, which the soil yields spontaneously in quant.i.ties more than sufficient for their reduced population. Their navy, which excited the astonishment of Europeans, has entirely disappeared. They build no vessels but a few little paltry canoes, with which they fish off the neighbouring coral islands, and make their longest voyages in American and European boats which they have purchased. With the method of producing those commodities of civilized nations which they prize so highly, they are still as much as ever unacquainted. They possess sheep, and excellent cotton; but no spinning-wheel, no loom, has yet been set in motion among them; they choose rather to buy their cloth and cotton of foreigners for real gold and pearls; one of our sailors sold an old s.h.i.+rt for five piastres.
Horses and cattle have been brought to them, but the few that remain have fallen into the possession of strangers, and have become so scarce, that one hundred piastres was asked for an ox, that we wanted in provisioning the s.h.i.+p. The Queen alone possesses a pair of horses, but she never uses them. The island contains but one smith, though the a.s.sistance of the forge and bellows would be so useful in repairing the iron tools which have superseded those of stone formerly in use. It is extraordinary that even the foreigners established here carry on no kind of mechanical trade. Can it be that the Missionaries object to it? It is certain that they possess great influence even over the settlers. An American, however, was planning the introduction of a sugar manufactory, and promised himself great profit from it.
By order of the Missionaries, the flute, which once awakened innocent pleasure, is heard no more. No music but that of the psalms is suffered in Tahaiti: dancing, mock-fights, and dramatic representations are no longer permitted. Every pleasure is punished as a sin, among a people whom Nature destined to the most cheerful enjoyment. One of our friends having begun to sing for joy over a present he had received, was immediately asked by his comrades, with great terror, what he thought would be the consequence, should the Missionaries hear of it.
It is remarkable that the degenerate Tahaitians are no longer even in person such as they are described by the early travellers. Their religion appears to have had an effect inimical to their beauty. The large-grown Yeris, solely employed in praying, eating, and sleeping, are all, men and women, excessively fat even in early youth. The smaller common people, constrained to some degree of industry, look plump and well fed, but not so swollen as their superiors, and more fine forms are therefore to be seen among them than among the Yeris: the latter also frequently suffer under a most disfiguring disease caused by want of exercise and excess of nourishment: the legs swell to such a degree from the knees downward, that the form of the calf and foot is entirely lost, and the thick cylinders which usurp the place of legs, and from under which the toes only project, resemble nothing but the legs of elephants; thence the name of elephantism has been bestowed on the complaint by Europeans. It does not appear to cause much pain.
The men of both cla.s.ses shave the beard, and both s.e.xes cut their hair so close, that the skin can be seen under it; a fas.h.i.+on ugly enough for any face, but especially so with their brown complexions, as it gives them an ape-like appearance. As, however, a compliance with this custom, is a mark of Christianity, and the heathen fugitives to the mountains have retained their long hair, even the young females are proud of thus disfiguring themselves.
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