their own probable condition probable condition after death, should look with much favor upon a lavish expenditure of time, money, and human life, for the purpose of securing the future happiness of distant and degraded heathen. There is, however, one view of the missionary cause which is fitted to excite the interest, not of the pious man alone, but of every one who has any claim to the character of a philanthropist. We refer to the temporal blessings which follow the establishment of the Gospel in any community. These are benefits which are understood and appreciated by men who regard merely religious improvement as of little worth. In the reference which we propose to make to the secular advantages which have resulted from the establishment of the Gospel in the South Sea Islands, we shall confine ourselves to points which are illustrated in the following pages. All that can be done in this brief notice is to enumerate without enlargement the most important of these advantages, in such a manner as to bring them, in a connected view, before the reader's mind.

1. The saving of life and of property is one of the earliest and most striking benefits which attended the introduction of the Gospel. Previous to the commencement of the missionary

labors in the South Sea Islands the intercourse of civilized nations with their inhabitants was almost always dangerous, and often fatal. This intercourse was marked by constant circumspection on the one part, and frequent instances of treachery on the other. Surrounded by a network ten or fifteen feet high to prevent intrusion, with cannon pointed, muskets loaded, and every preparation for attack, trading vessels permitted the savages to approach only within a certain distance. And with all these precautions many lives were lost. Boats were seized, their crews killed, vessels of different nations were taken, and all on board put to death in the most barbarous manner. The massacre of Captain De Langle and his men at the Navigators' Islands, and the more recent murder of Lieutenant Underwood and Midshipman Henry at the Fejee Islands, may be referred to among other instances of the same kind. But no sooner was Christianity received than these dreadful scenes were ended. The effusion of blood was stopped, the rights of foreigners were regarded, and both life and property became safe. Pilfering was formerly almost universal among the islanders, and so ingenious were the modes by which the natives carried off articles that nothing was safe. But

when the people were converted they became honest; and instead of seeking opportunities to purloin, they were anxious to restore what had been accidentally lost. Nor is it the lives and property of foreigners alone that have been saved by Christianity. The natives themselves have derived incalculable benefits in this respect from its introduction. In some of the islands cannibalism was prevalent, the sacrifice of human victims was common, and infanticide was universal. The sick were often left to perish. Parents were deserted in old age, or when the burden of supporting them became troublesome were put to death by their children. Wars were frequent, and they were carried on in the spirit of the most exterminating fury. It is stated by one of the missionaries that in the course of fifteen years the island of Tahiti was involved in actual war ten different times. In these sanguinary conflicts the islands were laid waste, bread-fruit and other valuable trees were cut down, and the means of procuring the necessaries of life destroyed. The population was constantly diminishing, and in some islands a mere handful of scarred warriors, with a few women and children, were the only survivors. In respect to these points the merciful spirit of the Gospel

produced immediate and important changes. Wars ceased, or if they broke out were of short duration, and were conducted in a new and much more humane manner. Infanticide, by which thousands of innocent beings had been cut off at the threshold of life, was immediately suppressed, and the sick and aged were comfortably provided for.

2. A great improvement in the condition of the female sex was soon effected by the new religion. Polygamy was abolished. Marriage, which so far as it existed at all was nothing but an agreement between persons of different sexes to live together as long as they should remain satisfied, became a solemn covenant sanctioned by divine authority and dissolved only by death. The salutary influences of permanence in the domestic relations were spread over the community. Woman was no longer trampled in the dust. Instead of the drudge of man despised and abused-she became his companion and friend. Her employments were changed, and she was admitted to the table of her former master. No longer forced to wade the marsh, or dig in the taro-patch, she learned to ply the needle, to govern her household, and to train up her children in the fear

of God. The blessings which Christianity brings to the female sex, and through that sex to every portion of society, are inestimable; and they are nowhere more forcibly illustrated than in the South Sea Islands.

3. Closely connected with the subject which has just been mentioned is the suppression of licentiousness and the introduction of decency and propriety in dress and manners. This is a topic which is merely glanced at in this volume. If we would understand the state of society at the islands before the introduction of Christianity, it is necessary to read the voyages of navigators. Modesty was unknown, and chastity little if at all regarded. The moral habits of the natives were at war with all the

best interests of society. Without separate apartments in their houses, without any sense of shame, and almost without clothing, the islanders were under no restraint from the laws of morality or decorum. But in this respect the influence of Christianity was at once felt. No sooner were the natives converted than they wished to be decently dressed. This was at least the case with females. And although the delicacy and refinement of Christian and civilized communities is not the growth of a