fifty years ago, in a primitive but comfortable house situated in one of the fairest spots that this world can show, a group of men and women were holding a prayer meeting. an unobserved listener who had been accustomed to such gatherings elsewhere would have been at once impressed by the perfect naturalness of these people, in that not one of them behaved differently from how we should expect a happy family to act in the presence of their parents while one of them was relating some interesting experience. there was no self-conscious posing for effect, no making of long prayers composed of meaningless repetitions with an occasional verse of scripture or of a hymn thrown in for effect, no unnatural groaning or shouting, all was quiet, sweet, and delightful.

but truly, never did a body of christians exercise their privileges under more heavenly conditions upon this earth. through the open sides of the house could be seen in one direction a delectable stretch of pasture land interspersed with graceful trees and edged by dazzlingly white sand, beyond which lay a vast sapphire space flecked with snowy-topped wavelets, whose diamond spray glittered rejoicingly under the glowing beams of the fervent sun. in the opposite direction tree-clad hills sprang from emerald meadows and cultivated land, [pg 12]soaring upward until the fleecy cloud forms kissed their summits lovingly as they gently glided past, flecking the smiling verdure beneath with patches of softest shade and thus enhancing the beauty of the picture.

yes, it was a fair spot to the eye, as any one who knows norfolk island can testify, but that to the worshippers was not the greatest of their many blessings. time had been, and that not long before, when this earthly paradise was polluted and degraded by the presence of the very dregs of humanity, the lees of the convict settlements of new south wales; and it would be hard to say which was worst, the crimes for which they were being punished, or the nameless horrors to which they were subjected in excess of legal punishment. happily that evil blot had been removed from the lovely island, and now it was peopled by a tiny community of less than two hundred, who were, it is safe to say, quite near attainment of the heavenly state on earth, and consequently were as happy as it is possible for man to be while bearing about with him the body of physical death.

here the worship of god, free from any idea of form or ceremony, was as natural to all as their ordinary conversation. crime and vice were unknown as was wealth, possessions were practically held in common, sickness and disease and their necessary concomitant the doctor had no place, and a spirit of idyllic simplicity reigned, of sweet contentment and peace such as has never been known elsewhere in any other community whatever.

now on this particular christmas day the meeting of which i spoke at the beginning of the chapter had a special significance. the fifteen or sixteen persons composing it had met together to celebrate,[pg 13] not christmas merely, but the birth of a babe who was hourly expected. it would not be fair to say that they were special friends or relations of the parents in a community where no enmity existed and where all were more or less related to one another, better to say that they were just those who could most conveniently be there on a day when every household was celebrating in purest fashion the coming of the babe of bethlehem. and these particular friends were in specially bright and happy mood, for to them the expected event bore a double character. so they passed the time in the pleasant exercises of which i have spoken, their petitions being singularly free from suggestions that the mother elect or the coming babe were in any danger, until suddenly the door of the one inner apartment was thrown open, and a splendidly handsome man appeared bearing the welcome infant, which plunged, squalled, and gave other vigorous tokens of his conscious entrance to the world of sense.

as if with one accord and in perfect harmony all burst into the glorious old song “angels from the realms of glory,” singing with all their heart in their voices. and as the lovely strains of the refrain died away, a sweet voice from within cried, “thank you all, dear ones; i’m so happy.” a glad response went up from all, and then, after duly admiring the boy, the visitors strolled away, all but two, to spread the glad news among the community that another dear life had arrived to share their happy lot.

now this was a particularly happy occasion, for the parents of the new comer were, in a society where all were friends, all were stalwart, healthy and handsome, pre-eminently so. grace, the mother,[pg 14] who had only been married to philip adams some eighteen months, had been the acknowledged beauty of the island, no mean honour where all the girls were beautiful. she was also exceedingly beloved by all the women and men alike, nor was there a trace of jealousy of her, that hateful weed that poisons so many lives. moreover, she was an accomplished musician, and had for a long time filled the post of teacher of that precious acquirement of singing (they had no instruments), with the result that their choir, which comprised nearly the whole of them, would have taken high rank anywhere, except that the vocal exercises were almost wholly confined to hymns, just a very few old songs, such as the “land o’ the leal,” “robin adair,” “allan water,” etc., making up the balance.

philip, her husband, was a prime favourite too, but for his high manly qualities allied to a simple and gentle nature that invited as well as gave confidence to all. he was awarded, without claiming it, the chief place in the island as the strongest swimmer, the swiftest runner and the most expert boatman, as well as the hardest worker of them all. and those were the qualities that appealed to these children of nature next to their supreme adoration of the good and true. physically he was easily first of the community, standing six feet six inches on his bare feet, forty-five inches round the chest, with a perfect mouth of teeth; and at the time of the birth of his first child he had never known an hour’s illness in his life.

thus it will be seen that the entrance of our hero upon life’s arena was one that any monarch might vainly covet for his child, one indeed that left nothing to be desired, even though his surroundings were almost as primitive as those which encompassed[pg 15] the birth of the babe of bethlehem. in fact, i feel sure that i shall be accused of painting too idyllic a picture of the conditions which obtained in norfolk island at that date, and i hope and believe in a great measure in both norfolk and pitcairn islands to-day; but when i recall the great mass of unbiassed testimony to all these facts which is easily available, i feel much comforted in the belief that my readers will rejoice with me in the knowledge that so happy a people have been and are existing in the simple light of the gospel.

but we must return to the scene in the house after the guests had gone singing away. the two remaining were john young, father of the mother, and christian adams, father of philip, their respective wives being in the inner room with the mother. as soon as philip had handed back his son to the women he returned to the society of the elder men, who were both of them splendid specimens of manhood in the prime of middle age or between forty and fifty. it must be noted in passing that, strange as it may seem to our exotic notions of hospitality, there was nothing set before these guests to drink: the water jar stood in the corner with a coco-nut shell to drink out of; there was no tobacco, there were no chairs, only clean soft mats upon the spotless floor; and yet they were perfectly happy because none of these things had become desirable or necessary to them.

as philip stretched his great limbs on the mat by the side of his father, the latter looked round at him lovingly and said, “what are you going to call the babe, philip?”

“ha! ha!” laughed philip. “i’ve thought of the finest name for him you ever heard, and i want you to guess what it is. i’ve told grace about it,[pg 16] and she is delighted, says it’s just a splendid idea. now guess.”

the two elder men ran through practically every name on the island; truly there was not much variety, for, as some of you know, these happy folk have always seemed averse from using any but a certain set of well-known names. but to all their suggestions philip laughingly shook his head until his father’s brow clouded a little and he said, “i hope you haven’t got any high-falutin names out of some book; it will savour of sinful pride if you have.”

“no, father,” cried philip, “but what do you say to christmas bounty adams?”

up sprang the two men to their feet in such delight that it seemed as if they must leap into the air.

“why that is the most splendid set of names in all the world. christmas bounty adams! well, he’s a lucky fellow, and i only hope he’ll be a christmas bounty all the days of a long life. and now, if the wife can spare you—she’ll do with a little sleep, i’m sure—we’ll stroll round and tell our friends this fresh bit of news, they will all be so pleased.”

only pausing to peep in at his wife for a moment philip rejoined the two elder men, and together they strode through the beautiful glades with the sound of gladsome song ringing in their ears on every hand, in tune with their overfull hearts.

very briefly, for the story should be well known, let me recall the circumstances of these primitive folk being on norfolk island. most people know the romantic story of the mutiny of the bounty, and how, after scenes of bloodshed and riot as bad as can be imagined, the mutineers and their descendants, on their little island home of pitcairn, turned to[pg 17] god and became as little children in their simple, loving faith. not so many, however, are aware that in 1831, some forty years after their first landing on pitcairn, they outgrew their small territory, and at their own request many of them were conveyed to tahiti. the gross immorality of the natives of that lovely island, however, so dismayed them that they sacrificed the only available wealth they possessed, the copper bolts of the old bounty, and purchased a passage back to their beloved pitcairn. they managed to maintain themselves there, although much straitened for room, until in 1855, two years before my story opens, the british government, having discontinued the use of norfolk island as a penal settlement, granted it to as many of them as cared to migrate thither, a privilege which was taken advantage of by between two and three hundred of them.

and although they never wavered in their earnest affection for the little island that had seen their first emergence into the shining light of the gospel, they evinced the same sweet spirit of contentment, coupled with energy, in all they undertook, so that in about a year they were as fully and completely settled there as could possibly be, and were, if anything, more passionately fond of england, a land they never saw, than ever they had been. thus, having cleared the way as it were, let me go on to say that in addition to the features of natural beauty which i have already enumerated, norfolk island is the centre of a most prolific haunt of sperm whales, and the capture of these gigantic and dangerous mammals is one of the chief pursuits of the agile islanders, who are probably about the best boatmen in the world. for in addition to their wonderful whaling skill, the practice of landing in the tremendous[pg 18] surf that beats upon the harbourless coast has made them very expert in this most difficult art, while in the water they are, like their maternal ancestors the tahitians, almost amphibious.

now, as the three men strolled along they were continually invited as they passed the pretty houses to come in and join in the general rejoicings that were afoot, the singing and thanksgiving; for all this people’s joys were intimately associated with their simple faith; their religion, bright and happy, was not merely a part of their life, but the whole, the mainspring of all they thought and said and did. and as the three were nothing loth, besides having their bit of news to communicate, their progress was but slow. still, eventually they reached the abode of their venerable pastor, who was not only the shepherd of this peaceful, docile flock, but teacher and magistrate, or rather arbitrator since there were no evil-doers to punish. he received them literally with open arms, and having heard their news lifted up his voice in praise and solemnly blessed them, promising to visit them the next day in their homes and view the wonderful new baby.

then as the day was wearing to a close practically the whole population came joyously down to the shore, and there more like a school of porpoises than men and women, boys and girls, they disported in the limpid waves, swimming and living until, healthily wearied, they regained the shore and sought their several homes.

philip and grace, overflowing with happiness, knelt by the side of the babe and solemnly commended him to their loving almighty friend, asking only that he might grow to be a good man amongst good men, preserving the golden tradition of the community, and if it should please god that he[pg 19] should wander from their shores as some of their brethren had done, that he might always present to the eyes of those with whom he associated the pattern of a man of god. then they took their simple meal of fruit and bread and milk and went to rest.