portance to these than to a mere belief of the doctrine of the Trinity, especially when we do know that, notwithstanding the exalted titles that are given to Jesus on account of his mission and office, and although these may be so put together as to be made to countenance his deity, the oud and clear voice of Revelation proclaims, in unequivocal language," THEN COMETH THE END, WHEN HE SHALL HAVE DELIVERED UP THE KINGDOM TO GOD, EVEN THE FATHER; THEN SHALL THE SON ALSO HIMSELF BE SUB

JECT UNTO HIM THAT PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIM, THAT GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL." What will then become of your Trinitarianism ?

Trinitarian Christians, reflect! love charity, remember you are not infallible, do as you would be done by, and condemn no more. HENRY CLARKE.

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Singular Superstition in the Sandwich Islands.

THE principal South-Sea Islands have lately renounced idolatry, in whole or in part. The Missionary Society may claim the honour of having converted the Society Islands, of which the best known is Otaheite; but it is a curious fact that just before the first Missionaries, Americans, had visited Owyhee or Hawaii, and the other Sandwich islands, an enlightened prince, supported by intrepid chiefs, had abolished the religion of the country, on account of its costliness and cruelty. A war was the consequence, in which the Reformers were victorious. The King who paid a recent visit to this country, and unfortunately died on the eve of his return, was the enlightened prince referred to, by whose wisdom and valour superstition received its deathblow in the Sandwich Islands. The way is now opened in this interesting portion of the globe for the dissemination of divine truth, and both American and English Missionaries are labouring with industry, zeal and success. of these, an Englishman, Mr. W. ELLIS, has just published, in an 8vo. volume, a " Narrative of a Tour through Hawaii, or Owyhee; with Remarks on the History, Traditions, Manners, Customs, and Language of the Inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands." This is a truly valuable, because an authentic work. Readers of all parties will be pleased with it. If many of the Missionaries in the South Seas equal Mr. Ellis in talents and resemble him in disposition, the great

One

est possible good may be anticipated from their Christian exertions.

We are about to extract from Mr. Ellis's volume an account of a singular system of superstition, formerly prevailing in the Sandwich Islands under the name of TABU. This institution partook of the nature of the Hindu Caste and in some of its features resembled the Papal Interdict. It was an admirable contrivance by which Priestcraft and Despotism in conjunction put their broad R upon the best. productions of the country, and excluded the many from the participation of some of the common bounties of nature. It was only to declare any good thing TABU, and henceforward it was sacred to the use of Church and King. The hogs of the priests were tabued, and were let loose with the holy mark upon them, and though they committed ever so much mischief, it was held a capital crime to kill them. Natural fish-ponds, which abound in the Islands, have been secured by the same artifice to the privileged orders. The most curious item of TABU, however, is the Ava or drug of which is made the only intoxicating liquor of homemake; the consecration of which to the aristocracy preserves and confines to them the luxury and privilege of drunkenness. It is a pity that the Missionaries should! contemplate the application of this superstition to the Sabbath, which might surely be recommended to the Hawaiians on the ground of expediency and utility. To Tabu the Sabbath is so far to paganize Christianity.

"The TABU formed an important and essential part of their cruel system of idolatry, and was one of the strongest means of its support.

"In most of the Polynesian dialects, the usual meaning of the word tabu, is sacred. It does not, however, imply any moral quality, but expresses a connexion with the gods, or a separation from ordinary purposes, and exclusive appropriation to persons or things considered sacred. Those chiefs who trace their genealogy to the gods, are called arii tabu, chiefs sacred from their supposed connexion with the gods; and a temple is called a wahi tahu, place sacred, because devoted exclusively to the abode and worship of the gods. It is a distinct word from rahui, to prohibit, as the ohelo berries at Kirauea were said to be prohibited, being tabu na Pélé, sacred for Pélé, and is opposed to the

word noa, which means general or common. Hence the system which prohibited females from eating with the men, and from eating, except on special occasions, any fruits or animals ever offered in sacrifice to gods, while it allowed the men to partake of them, was called the Ai tabu, eating sacred, while the present state of things is called the Ai noa, eating generally, or having food in common.

"This appears to be the legitimate meaning of the word' tabu, though the natives, when talking with foreigners, use it more extensively, applying it to every thing prohibited or improper. This, however, is only to accommodate the latter, as they use kaukau (a word of Chinese origin) instead of the native word for eat, and pikaninny, for small, supposing they are thereby better understood.

"The tabu, separating whatever it was applied to from common use, and devoting it to the above purposes, was' one of the most remarkable institutions among the South Sea Islanders; and though it prevailed with slight variations, in the different groups of the Pacific, it has not been met with in any other part of the world. Although employed for civil as well as sacred purposes, the tabu was entirely a religious ceremony, and could be imposed only by the priests. A religious motive was always assigned for laying it on, though it was often done at the instance of the civil authorities ; and persons called kiaimoku, (island keepers,) a kind of police officers, were always appointed by the king to see that the tabu was strictly' observed.

"The antiquity of the tabu was equal to the other branches of that superstition of which it formed so component a part, and its application was both general and particular, occasional and permanent. The idols, temples, persons, and names of the king, and members of the reigning family; the persons of the priests; canoes belonging to the gods; houses, clothes, and mats of the king and priests, and the heads of men who were the devotees of any particular idol,-were always tabu, or sacred. The flesh of hogs, fowls, turtle, and several other kinds of fish, cocoanuts, and almost every thing offered in sacrifice, were tabu to the use of the gods and the men; hence the women were, except in cases of particular indulgence, restricted from using them. Particular places, as those frequented by the king for bathing, were also rendered permanently tabu.

"Sometimes an island or a district was tabued, when no canoe or person was allowed to approach it. Particular fruits, animals, and the fish of certain places, were occasionally tabu for several months from both men and women.

"The seasons generally kept tabu, were on the approach of some great religious ceremony, immediately before going to war, and during the sickness of chiefs. Their duration was various, and much longer in ancient than modern times. Tradition states, that in the days of Umi, there was a tabu kept thirty years, during which the men were not allowed to trim their beards, &c. Subsequently there was one kept five years. Before the reign of Tamehameha, forty days was the usual period; during it, ten or five days, and sometimes one day.

"The tabu seasons were either common or strict. During a common tabu, the men were only required to abstain from their usual avocations, and attend at the heiau when the prayers were offered every morning and evening. But during the season of strict tabu, every fire and light on the island or district must be extinguished; no canoe must be launched on the water, no person must bathe; and, except those whose attendance was required at the temple, no individual must be seen out of doors; no dog must bark, no pig must grunt, no cock must crow,-or the tabu would be broken, and fail to accomplish the object designed. On these occasions, they tied up the mouths of the dogs and pigs, and put the fowls under a calabash, or fastened a piece of cloth over their eyes. All the commou people prostrated themselves with their faces touching the ground, before the sacred chiefs, when they walked out, particularly during tabu; and neither the king nor the priests were allowed to touch any thing; even their food was put into their mouths by another person.

"The tabu was imposed either by proclamation, when the crier or herald of the priests went round, generally in the evening, requiring every light to be extinguished, the path by the sea to be left for the king, the paths inland to be left for the gods, &c. The people, however, were generally prepared, having had previous warning; though this was not always the case. Sometimes it was laid on by fixing certain marks called unu unu, the purport of which was well understood, on the places or things tabued. When the fish of a certain part are tabued, a small pole is fixed in the rocks on the coast, in the centre of the place,

to which is tied a bunch of bamboo leaves, or a piece of white cloth. A cocoa-nut leaf is tied to the stem of a tree when the fruit is tabued. The hogs which were tabu, having been devoted to the gods, had a piece of cinet wove through a perforation in one of their ears.

"The prohibitions and requisitions of the tabu were strictly enforced, and every breach of them punished with death, unless the delinquents had some very powerful friends who were either priests or chiefs. They were generally offered in sacrifice, strangled, or dispatched with a club or a stone within the precincts of the heiau, or they were burnt, as stated by Miomioi.

"An institution so universal in its influence, and so inflexible in its demands, contributed very materially to the bondage and oppression of the natives in general. The king, sacred chiefs, and priests, appear to have been the only persons to whom its application was easy; the great mass of the people were at no period of their existence exempt from its influence, and no circumstance in life could excuse their obedience to its demands. The females in particular felt all its humiliating and degrading force. From its birth, the child, if a female, was not allowed to be fed with a particle of food that had been kept in the father's dish, or cooked at his fire; and the little boy, after being weaned, was fed with his father's food, and as soon as he was able, sat down to meals with his father, while his mother was not only obliged to take hers in an outhouse, but was interdicted from tasting the kind of which he ate. It is not surprising that the abolition of the tabu, effecting for them an emancipation so complete, and an amelioration so important, should be a subject of constant gratulation; and that every circumstance tending in the smallest degree to revive the former tabu should be viewed with the most distressing apprehensions. The only tabu they now have is the Sabbath, which they call the La tabu, (day sacred,) and to its extension and perpetuity those who understand it seem to have no objection. Philanthropy will rejoice that their fears respecting the former are not likely to be realized, for should Christianity not be embraced by some, and only nominally professed by others, so sensible are the great body of the people of the miseries of the tabu, that it is very improbable it will ever be reestablished among them. On the other hand, there is every reason to hope that pure Christianity, which imposes none