The members of it possess the moral backbone of New
England, and its solid good qualities, a thorough knowledge of the
language and habits of the natives, a hereditary interest in them, a
solid education, and in many cases much general culture.
In former letters I have mentioned Mr. Coan and Mr. Lyons as
missionaries. I must correct this, as there have been no actual
missionaries on the islands for twenty years. When the Board
withdrew its support, many of the missionaries returned to America;
some, especially the secular members, went into other positions on
the group, while the two first-mentioned and two or three besides,
remained as pastors of native congregations.
I venture to think that the Board has been premature in transferring
the islands to a native pastorate at such a very early stage of
their Christianity. Such a pastorate must be too feeble to uphold a
robust Christian standard. As an adjunct it would be essential to
the stability of native Christianity, but it is not possible that it
can be trusted as the sole depository of doctrine and discipline,
and even were it all it ought to be, it would lack the power to
repress the lax morality which is ruining the nation.
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