soul is more precious than the body, and eternity more important than time. Some have died, and we have reason to believe have entered those realms of day, where night and darkness are unknown.

One remarkable instance occurred during the year in which I left the islands. The native name of the individual to whom I allude was Hiro. He was the priest of one of the principal temples of Parea, in the lesser peninsula of the island, or Huahine iti. He was a priest of Hiro, the god of plunderers and thieves, and, in perfect accordance with the spirit of his office, was the captain or leader of a band of robbers, who spread terror through the surrounding country. He was one of the first and most determined opposers of Christianity in Huahine; reproaching its adherents, defying the power, and disclaiming the authority, of its Author. But, like Saul of Tarsus, he found it hard to resist.

He was in the prime and vigour of manhood, being at the time between thirty and forty years of age. When the number of Christians increased in his neighbourhood, and the Sabbath-day was first publicly observed, in order to shew his utter contempt of christian institutions, he determined to profane that day "in defiance of Jehovah." He repaired for this purpose to the grounds in the neighbourhood of the temple, and engaged in erecting a fence; but while thus employed, his career of impiety was suddenly arrested. The twig of a tree came in contact with his eyes; almost instant blindness followed; and he was led home by his affrighted companions, who considered it a visitation from the Almighty.

I had frequent interviews with him afterwards, one in the precincts of his own temple, which I visited in company with Messrs. Bennet, Tyerman, and Barff. I have

already mentioned it. His spirit was subdued; he subsequently became a humble, and, we trust, sincere disciple of that blessed Redeemer whom he had persecuted. He died trusting in the merits of Christ for acceptance with God the Father. The history of the conversion of the great apostle to the Gentiles interested and affected him much; and though the scales on his bodily eyes were not removed, but his blindness continued until his death, such was the impression which analogy of circumstances produced, that when he presented himself for baptism, he desired to be called Paul.

Other instances of spiritual illumination, equally pleasing, now exist both in the Society and Sandwich Islands, in reference to individuals suffering one of the most distressing and hopeless privations to which humanity is exposed. Some of our most interesting conversations with the natives have been with such. "My eyes," said a blind man one day to Mr. Williams, "behold no attractive objects when I am engaged in prayer, or hearing the word of God; and yet my heart wanders, and my thoughts are often engaged on other subjects. My eyes see not another man's property, &c.; and yet, when I hear it spoken of, my heart covets it. The objects that tempt others to sin, are unseen by me; but my imagination creates objects of sin, which often occupy my thoughts."

The experience of Bartimeus Lalana, a native of the Sandwich Islands, is also remarkably interesting and satisfactory. Blindness is not more common among the Polynesians than with the inhabitants of other countries; yet there are numbers of aged persons who have lost their sight; and the influence of that sympathy which this affliction always awakens in a Christian bosom, is now

excited in the natives themselves, though formerly the blind were objects of neglect and ridicule. There is now connected with the Missionary station at Bunaauïa, or Burder's Point, a blind man, who can repeat correctly half the Gospel by John, though it has not long been printed.

When we have been distributing the Scriptures, two or three fine boys or girls have come, begging for copies, though they could not read; assuring us, they were learning; and, when they have failed, they have entreated that we would write their names on the books, and reserve them till they were able to read. To our satisfaction, in this request they have often been joined by their parents, who have offered payment for the copies. We have usually complied with their wishes, and have witnessed the most entire confidence on their part, as it regarded the ultimate accomplishment of their wishes, when once their names have been written.

It was necessary to select some public place for the distribution of the books; the school-room was fixed upon, and, on the day appointed, the place was actually thronged until the copies were expended. In their application at our own houses, we found it impossible to restrain the people; they filled our yards and gardens, and thronged every window, sometimes to such a degree, that one of the Missionaries, Mr. Bicknell, found it necessary to fasten the lower doors and windows of his house, and retire to the chamber. The natives then procured long bamboo-canes, and, fastening their measure of oil, the price of the book, to one end, lifted it up to the window. Mr. Bicknell was so influenced by the ingenuity and determination of the contrivance, that he distributed a number of copies, by fixing them in a

slit or notch in the end of the cane presented at his window.

When the edition issued from the press in Huahine, the relative proportion for Raiatea, Tahaa, and Borabora, was sent to the Missionaries residing with the people; but the supply was too small, and numbers of the disappointed individuals, supposing they should find a greater abundance at Huahine, came, when the wind was fair, twenty or thirty miles in their canoes, several of which were such small and fragile barks as quite astonished us. I was really surprised at the temerity of the individuals who had committed themselves to the mercy of the waves of the largest ocean in the world, in the hollowed trunk of a tree, twelve or twenty feet long; the sides of which, when the men were in it, were not more than four or five inches above the surface of the water.

It would be too much to suppose that they were all influenced by the highest motives, in the desire they thus manifested for the sacred volume; but while some probably sought it only as an article of property in high and general esteem, others were undoubtedly actuated by a conviction that it was able to make them wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

The intensity of ardour manifested by many at first, has, as might be expected, subsided: yet still the Scriptures are earnestly sought, and highly prized, by a great portion of the adult population.

The whole of the New Testament has been translated and printed, not indeed in a uniform volume, but in detached portions, which many of the natives have bound up together. Separate portions of the Old Testament have also been translated, and some of the books are printed; it is to be hoped that a uniform edition of the

Bible will, at no very distant period, be circulated among the people. Whether or not any of the Apocryphal books will ever assume a Polynesian dress, it is impossible to say, but at present it is improbable.

The dialects spoken by the tribes inhabiting the different groups in the South Sea, being strictly analogous to each other, it was hoped that the Tahitian translation of the Scriptures would have answered for the whole; there is, however, reason to fear that distinct translations will be necessary, not only for the Sandwich Islands, the Marquesas, and Tongatabu, but also for the Harvey Islands, which are not more than 600 or 700 miles distant from the Society Isles. So strong a resemblance, however, exists between the dialects, that the Tahitian translation will require only slight variations, the idioms and structure of the language being, in all their distinguishing features, the same.

When the uncultivated nature of the language, into which the Scriptures have been translated, is considered, connected with the remembrance that it is only by the labours of the Missionaries that it has been within the last few years reduced to a system, and employed in a written form, it cannot be expected that these books, more than any other first translations, should be altogether faultless. The knowledge of the Missionaries themselves in the language, notwithstanding thirty years' attention to it, is constantly increasing; and, compared with future translations which their successors or well-educated natives may make, the present will perhaps appear imperfect. Nevertheless, from the qualifications of the translators, their unquestionable integrity, and united patient attention to the preparation of every work, I believe the only imperfections that may be found, will refer to