“the rounded world is fair to see,
nine times folded in mystery,
though baffled seers cannot impart
the secret of its laboring heart,
throbs thine with nature’s throbbing breast,
and all is clear from east to west,
spirit that lurks each form within,
beckons to spirit of its kin.
self-kindled every atom glows,
and hints the future which it owes.”
emerson.
the good missionary, for such in truth was olmedo, was met at every step of his argument with answers, which from their truth and good sense, he found no little difficulty in refuting, while he drew his weapons solely from the polemic armory of rome. it matters little in what theological crucible the doctrines of jesus may have been melted, they all become, after the process, perverted from their simplicity. they then require schools to sustain them and scholars to explain. whereas in the few earnest and loving words of their author, before they are petrified into creeds, they find their way readily into the hearts and minds of even children. indeed properly to receive them we must become as little children. the polemical subtleties[92] of reason are wholly foreign to him who did works in his father’s name, that they might bear witness of him.
as often, therefore, as olmedo sought merely to indoctrinate kiana, he was met with replies founded on assumptions of the same character as his own, or on the admission of similar ideas and ceremonies among the hawaiians, which from their analogy to the rites and thoughts of his own church, a more bigoted roman catholic missionary of that day would have accounted for, only by the blinding devices of the devil. but olmedo’s mind was so largely imbued with true charity, that recognizing a common brotherhood in man, he was prepared to admit that even the heathen were not left wholly without some spiritual light, which was the seed in due time destined to grow up into christianity. his mildness and firmness were proportionate to the strength of his own convictions. he was patient also, and disclaimed forced conversions, which he well knew would only recoil into deeper error, through the avenging power of wounded liberty and reason. moreover, he had no wish to substitute a new idol for an old one. in mexico, humanity demanded the prompt abolition of human sacrifices and other cruel rites. here he had no fanatical and crafty priesthood to oppose him; no barbarous customs openly to denounce; the people looked upon him as a messenger from some divinity, and listened deferentially to his exhortations. he saw plainly that the evils which he had to encounter lay deep in the temperament of the[93] hawaiian, and could only be eradicated by presenting to his mind moral truths, which might gradually so operate upon his sensuous character, as to give him higher motives of action, from convincing him that better results and increased happiness would be his reward both here and hereafter. perhaps no obstacle was more fatal to his success than the easy and hospitable nature of the hawaiian himself. based as it was, upon the generous spontaneity of his climate, modified or directed by the individual character of the rulers and priests, it found no difficulty in adding to its mythology at the will of the latter, or in being courteous and kind to all. but this quality, dependent as it was mainly upon the healthful action of their animal natures, could not be permanently counted upon. their passions, like the limbs of the tiger in repose, were beautiful to look at, but rouse them and they were equally fearful. in the exercise of hospitality, they freely proffered their wives and daughters to their guests, but excite their hate or jealousy, and their revenge became demoniacal. with all their external peace and happiness, there was but faint moral principle. this olmedo saw, and endeavored to inculcate virtue as the only basis of religious reform.
on the other hand, they had often expressed much good-natured wonder at his refusal to take a wife from the most beautiful girls, which partly from pity at his continence, and partly to test its strength, they had offered him under the most seductive circumstances. his explanation of the vow[94] of chastity required by his religion, did not aid to render it the more acceptable to them. it was beyond their comprehension that any deity should require such a mortification of the instincts he had himself created. olmedo’s abstinence was therefore the more marvellous, but perceiving how scrupulously he fulfilled the obligations of his tabu, they gave him that respect which every sincere action, proceeding from a good motive, never fails to inspire. by degrees they began to feel in olmedo’s life a purity and benevolence, which, overlooking his own bodily ease or enjoyment, was untiring in its efforts to do them all good. in sickness, he watched at their bedsides with herbs to heal and words to cheer. in strife he was ever active to make peace. their children he fondled, and upon their plastic minds he was better able to impress the idea of a one great god and his son’s love. he told them beautiful stories of that sinless woman and mother of judea, the madonna, who centered in herself all the human and divine strength of her sex, and who, as the spouse of god, was ever nigh to pity, soothe, and protect. he taught them that to forgive was better than to revenge; that the law not to steal sprang from a better principle than fear of retaliation; in short, that virtue brought a peace and joy far beyond all that the fullest gratifications of their merely selfish desires could produce.
much of this instruction fell among choking weeds. still they were all better for having olmedo among them; and, indeed, the very fact of their[95] being able in any degree to appreciate his life, showed the dawnings of a new light to their minds.
without this detail of the relative moral positions of the priest and his semi-flock, the reader would not appreciate the force of kiana’s reply to olmedo’s appeal, in which the latter had given a brief history of the christian religion as derived from the holy scriptures and interpreted by the roman church.
i give merely the substance of kiana’s words, as it would be too tedious to follow them literally through the web of conversation which led to so full an enunciation of his own belief. the reader will perceive a sufficient coincidence, to suggest either a common source of knowledge in the earliest ages of human history or certain religious instincts in the human mind, that make isolated races come to practically the same religious conclusions.
“some things that you tell me,” said kiana, “are like our own traditions. from them we learn that there was a time when there was no land nor water, but everywhere darkness and confusion. it was then that the great god made hawaii. soon after he created a man and woman to dwell on it. these two were our progenitors.
“ages afterwards a flood came and drowned all the land, except the top of mauna kea, which you see yonder,” continued the chief, pointing to its snowy summit. “a few only of the people were saved in a great canoe, which floated a long while on the waters, until it rested there, and the people[96] went forth and again built houses and dwelt in the land.
“one of our gods also stopped the sun, as you say joshua did, not to slay his enemies, but to give light to his wife to finish her work.
“we have a hell, but it is not one of torturing flames, but of darkness, where bad men wander about in misery, having for food only lizards and butterflies. our heaven is bright like yours, and those who are admitted are forever happy. you tell me of a purgatory, where the souls of those who go not directly to heaven or hell, remain in temporary punishment. our priests tell us that the spirits of those who have been not very good or bad, remain about the earth, and that they visit mortals to protect or harm according to their dispositions.
“we pray with our faces and arms extended towards heaven, as you do. we have our fasts and our feasts, in memory of our good men, who have gone before us to happiness. we venerate their relics and the people worship them.
“you believe in one great god and worship many. we do the same. what matters it by what names they are called. you declare a man whom you call pope, to be the representative of god on earth; that he can bind or loose for hell or heaven; that only through belief in his church can any one be saved; that his authority is derived from dreams and visions, and prophesies and traditions written in a holy book.
“our priests too have visions and dreams. their[97] gods visit them. they claim authority from the same sources of inspiration. your pope is no doubt right to govern you as he does. his book is a good book for you white men; but we red men have no need of a book, while our priests still talk with their gods, as you say yours once did.
“if no one can be saved except in believing in the pope, what becomes of all the races you tell me of who have never heard of him? would a good god punish his creatures for not knowing what they cannot know? no! i do not believe in this! the great spirit has given us hawaiians some truth. perhaps he has given you white men more. this i can believe, as i see you are so superior to us in knowledge, but that he created those only who acknowledge the pope, to be saved, i do not believe!
“our priests when they quarrel talk in the same way. each claims to be the favorite and inspired of his god, but it is because they are selfish and ambitious. they wish to control men by pretending to hold the gate of heaven. my thought is, that god hears and sees all men, whether they pray through priests or not. i am the pope of my people, but i know that i cannot shut or open heaven to any one. i have no right to give away the lands of other people, because they do not believe as i do. some prefer one god and some another.
“you have what you call an inquisition to punish those who do not assent to your faith. we too have our ‘tabus’ which permit the same, when[98] sacrilege is done or our laws broken. if we adopted your laws and customs, how should we be better off than now, when they are so alike?
“if your jesus was the supreme god, how could his creatures put him to death? how could he have been a man like us? if he were only a great prophet, then i can understand how these things happened and why he has since been worshiped as a god?
“have you not heard our priests say, that among the doctrines that have come down to us from the earliest time, is one almost the same as you tell us of jesus, ‘to love our neighbor as ourself, to do to him what we wish done to us?’ they also tell us to keep peace with all. god who sees will avenge, the same as you say, only that you constantly preach and practise it, which our priests have long since forgotten to.”
after this manner did kiana reply to olmedo. the words of the pagan were a prolific theme of reflection to him. in some things he found himself a scholar where he would have been a teacher. there was then a light even to the gentiles. how vain was force, how wicked compulsion in matters of faith! mankind all sought one common end, happiness here and hereafter. god had left none so blind as not to have glimmerings of truth. he would adjudge them according to their gifts, and not by an arbitrary rule of priestcraft. god’s laws were uniform and universal. all creation was penetrated with their essence. sin brought its own punishment, and virtue its own reward, whether within or[99] without the pale of the church. was the roman church, after all, but one form of religious expression? an imperfect one, too! at this thought he shuddered as the force of theological dogmas recoiled upon him. it was but a transient emotion. truth was not so easily subdued. the idea flashed through his mind, “does not pure religion diminish in proportion as a stony theology flourishes? is not that a science of words and forms of man’s creation, destined gradually to pass away, as the kingdom of god, which is only of the spirit, shall increase until all men are baptized into it through love and not through fear?”
olmedo’s heart swelled at these thoughts. as he gazed upon the scene before him, so in harmony with the joyousness of nature, so penetrated with her beauty, so choral with her melodies, the mere scholastic theologian died from within him. his face lighted into a glow of thankfulness, that god had created beauty, and given man senses to enjoy it. was there any good thing of his to be refused? was not every gift to be accepted with gratitude, and used to increase his enjoyment? was not the rule use, and the denial abuse? was not the immolation of correct instincts a sacrifice of self to belial? were not the heathen themselves reading a lesson to him from nature’s bible, wiser than those he had studied from the law and the prophets? there was opened to him a new revelation. not of rome! not from geneva! god’s world in all its fulness flowed in upon him. he was inspired with the thought. out from his[100] eyes as he stood erect and felt himself for once wholly a man, there, shone a light that made those who looked upon him feel what it was for man to have been created in his image. but beware monk! beware priest! there is either salvation or ruin in this! salvation, if duty holds the helm,—ruin if desire seizes the post.
kiana regarded olmedo in amazement. his was not the soul to enter into such a sanctuary. there was one, however, whose nature penetrated his inmost thoughts. nay, more, it instinctively infused itself into his and the two made one heart; intuitively praising him. their eyes met. one deep soul-searching gaze, and these two were for ever joined.
