lands. The invitation was accepted, and as an ancient custom made it necessary that the king should reinstate them in their possessions, Pomare and his people accompanied them to Tahiti. As they approached the shore, the idolatrous party assembled on the beach to oppose the landing of the king, and actually fired at his attendants. Instead of returning the fire, the king sent a flag of truce, and a proposal of peace. An apparent reconciliation was at length effected, the king and his followers were allowed to land, and the people quietly proceeded to their plantations. The calm, however, was of short duration. On the Sabbath, the 12th of November, as the king, and the people who had come with him from Eimeo, were assembled for public worship, they were suddenly alarmed by a discharge of musketry. Many of the Christians had met for worship under arms, and others soon provided themselves with their weapons. obstinate engagement ensued, in which several fell on both sides. Pomare gained a complete victory. In this battle, the first fought by Pomare since he had become a Christian king, the humanizing influence of the Gospel was manifested. According to former custom, the king's warriors were preparing to follow and put to death their flying enemies. But Pomare exclaimed, "It is enough!" and strictly prohibited his men from pursuing the fugitives.

An

At the close of the battle, the king directed a number of his people to proceed to the temple in which Oro the great national idol was deposited, and

to destroy the temple, altar, idols, and every vestige of idolatry. In the evening of the same day, Pomare and the chiefs invited the Christians to assemble, and render thanks to God for the protection he had afforded them. On this occasion, they were joined by many who had till then been zealous worshippers of idols, but who now desired to acknowledge Jehovah as the true God.

The party sent by the king to destroy the god Oro proceeded to the temple at Tautira, and having brought out the idol, stripped it of its sacred coverings and highly valued ornaments, and threw it contemptuously on the ground. The altars were then broken down, the temples demolished, and the sacred houses of the gods, with all their appendages, committed to the flames. The temples, altars, and idols, all around Tahiti, were soon after destroyed in the same way. "Thus was idolatry abolished in Tahiti and Eimeo; the idols hurled from the thrones they had so long occupied, and the remnant of the people liberated from the slavery and delusion in which, by the cunningly devised fables of the priests, they had been for ages held as in fetters of iron. It is impossible to contemplate the mighty deliverance thus effected, without exclaiming, What hath God wrought!' and desiring, with regard to other parts of the world, the arrival of that promised and auspicious era, when 'the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they, shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens,' and the idols he shall utterly abolish.''

Pomare was now by universal consent restored to his government, and to supreme authority in his dominions. His clemency, on the memorable 12th of November, made a strong impression on the minds of the vanquished. That they had been suffered to escape with their lives, that their houses had not been plundered and burnt, and that their wives and children remained uninjured, was matter of astonishment to them all, and led them to ask, "Where can the king and the Bure Atua have imbibed these new principles of humanity and forbearance?" At length they concluded that it must be the new religion which had produced such a change, and unanimously expressed their determination to embrace it themselves. "The family and district temples, and altars, as well as those that were national, were demolished, the idols destroyed by the very individuals who had but recently been so zealous for their preservation, and in a very short time there was not one professed idolater remaining." The people were earnest in inviting the missionaries to come and instruct them, in the knowledge of the Christian religion. Schools were established, and places for public worship erected, the Sabbath was observed, divine service performed, and infant murder, with all the abominations of idolatry, were discontinued.

As soon as possible after the battle, tidings of the result were conveyed to Eimeo. The missionaries were almost overcome with joy, when they learned that the Christians were safe, and hastened to render

thanks to God, with feelings which it would be impossible to describe. "In that one year they reaped the harvest of sixteen laborious seed-times, sixteen dreary and anxious winters, and sixteen unproductive summers. They now enjoyed the unexpected but exhilirating satisfaction resulting from the pleasure of the Lord prospering in their hands, in a degree and under circumstances that few are privileged to experience." A missionary from Eimeo was soon despatched to Tahiti. On his arrival, he found the people so anxious to hear about Jesus Christ, that they would often spend the whole night in conversation and inquiry on subjects connected with religion. The schools every where greatly increased, and hundreds who had been among the earliest scholars were now engaged in imparting to others the knowledge they had received. "Aged priests and warriors with their spelling-books in their hands, might be seen sitting on the benches in the schools, by the side, perhaps, of some smiling little boy or girl by whom they were now taught the use of letters. Others might be often seen employed in pulling down the houses of their idols, and erecting temples for the worship of the Prince of peace, working in companionship and harmony with those whom they had so recently met on the field of battle."

CHAPTER VIII.

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL IN THE GEORGIAN ISLANDS.

Pomare's idols sent to England-Arrival of Mr. Ellis-Astonishment of the natives at seeing a Horse-Erection of a Printing Office-First printing done by Pomare-Strong desire for Books-Ingenious substitutes for binding-Formation of a native Missionary SocietyArrival of Missionaries-Station at Tahiti re-occupied-Manufacture of Sugar attempted-Royal Mission Chapel-Substitutes for Bells-Baptism of Pomare-First Code of Laws-Change in the appearance of the Females-Regard for the Sabbath-Culture of Cotton introduced.

EARLY in the year 1816, Pomare sent most of his family idols to the missionaries, with the request that they might either be committed to the flames or sent to England for exhibition. The reason assigned for the latter proposition was that the people might know "Tahiti's foolish gods." The idols were accordingly sent to England, and deposited in the Missionary Museum. In February of the following year, the mission was reinforced by the arrival at Tahiti of the Rev. Mr. Ellis. Soon after the ship which brought him came to anchor, Pomare went on board to welcome the new missionary. Mr. Ellis had brought with him a horse sent out by the owners of the ship