Nuhou, Volume II, Number 21, 7 October 1873 — The "Sacrilege" of Capt. Cook. [ARTICLE]

The "Sacrilege" of Capt. Cook.

j Xbe Fru'.wh of Octobor. h j (Uook's) fair faae, he most unfortuDute!j a" J i himsclf to be treated a n^l. We Lave ta' tbat this Giust !>e the reasoa v?*{y ūciong e T -?D l ' eountrymen here or in|England, there never c y " ■ be aroused 6ufficieut onthuelasm to ereet a * .»( ! ble and becoratng monument to hls name ; V jepot where he bo unfoftuoatēly wa» killel j BiDgham in hi± hiētorv of the Amerieao ieli 0 j ioua mission to these |??!andē dec!areā his c>ov* i llon that the great vvūs cut ofF !,v f: .■ j Almighty ia haying permitfel . adoration ofltimse!f a£,a divine perēonage J And Cowper, t!ie" poet, a!so espressei -a j iiee !anguage, the opinion that the sacrileg a '' | the navigator was the'eause of his destmctioi: : AH of these three writers—our worthj i hiin; —the Boauerges jof the Ameriean Mi^i^.. | aod the gifted jet imulid drj uursed EogL- | poet are assumcJ oiaele.- of £he vvavs of G >i . maii: and their oploioo? s:iou!d have . •weight—but wj canrlot altogethcr accept t; e. 1 dieta—espeeialtj as regar«l-? thc fate of Cv-:V ' beiDg a proof of lHS$m. IIe } thej 1 who!ly engrossed in | the objects of his vojage | ignored religion and di?honored God bj hh jphemous assumptions|; and the eavage Ha?-.. •- j iaas weie the inētru|LQents of a justly aoge: j diviae veugeasc<-. | | But how was it vtitb Mageiian, wiij cauicd ;. ! be baptized in one daj eiglit hundrei mea ' I women in tht nauie of t:ie Triune God, anl , ' iittie while wasf elain at Maetan hy hw chri3tia: con?erts? Was it vengeance £>i Cook an4 ma. i tjrdom for Magelhn } or was oot their fate il ■■ eommon one of 0.1l Paeilie diseoyerers ani a ] I venturero ? ■_:■■: Wherefore O&eahau t tl.c | EogliSii vojagers Ip Pacisc seas? | What were the sini of the graluut Fieac;i .u.; - ' igator, Franeii? de h Peroua\ tiia: i.. | ehould perish in striving to gaia kn I unkoowo isles and Snd a ti>Dib iu the maw> j the savages of Mallieolo ? j And that other ne>ble Freuehuiaa» Mari.u i | Fresne; wuerefore he £11 thegorge of . j hoi'iid Audamau ehie;f; aui his |H>jr sweet I in France go madj aud die repeatiug 3 j refrain,Tacjwrj eaten Marion." Look at Cavendis|n that seemed : ! sueh a favorite of fortuue ia thk oeeaa . ani tl:c; I was so baffled, wrecked, ruined. ani ;ī* * | days ia agony. i And Behriag too, the gooi Behring {=erLshei j eadlj, almost buried alive. Arbi Mendana» an. 1 jlasaian, and L>ligh» all $eecaed to earrj \viiL j Iheui *ouie eurse frouji the Paei£c; tue eurse tli;. j toiiowed Uulhoei» tue fin?c to be baptued in j watei*s, unto a iuisepble cud. Wha: were uu : slns of al! these PaciSc teareher; 9 that ! ehotild not <Jie in pea<ee? I Were they elaio t>j so:ue demoa of the 16ucb aa Ouooen* tel!e of in his Lusiad» tlic ( that guarded the Stormy Cape. and s!ew Bv\rtlu jomewDia;i? I Or by thoee oeean i?, foixtold bj the wiLeae, . of Cochin, wh,i like the hu,gs of Macbeth* wai'ae J | the ga!lant A!mejda ,that he >vou!d uiee: r.\:. at tho Cape, and he s!aiu at • These might bo Ihe jea!ou^" g.>ds # ' up bj Celtiberian * j the sick!j Cowr<-c t Whose iaspīratioa j bj aproo 6triog?, 4ijd l>euctod ia bj tlie imaelof our Ume wilh creeJs ef A>u

hatilic daya - these lMeed migbt be tlie deities, who wouli eeek to desferoy Coo 7 i and his aobie pcers, wlio vexed and eeare!ied tlic Droad oeeana in quest of knowledge tbr taeir fel!ow man , but rfurely not God our.Father in Heaven wbose Sod waa elaio by men, beeanse he rlghtfa!ly claimed to be a God, Now let U8 consider Gook'« alleged saorilege; and all the cireumstance- attending his supposed aß3umptioo dr acceptanee of divine honors, Tfie great navigator had been nc<?u&toiiied durhis otay amoDg iho Socieiy and other groups of islands to mueh pompoue Folyn€siari cērcmonial; such as preseatation& of fruits and pigs 5 and long prayers and orations When he first arrived afc Kauai, he was reeeived with a loog reci* tation epoken by a prie^t; and when he went ashore at Kealakeakua Bay ? where he had a robe of eolored tappa placed upon hia Bhoulders; where the people prostrated themse!ves befbre him } where he was proclaimed an eeatooa, or akua ; where he was led to some wooden imagesj; was piaced between ihem, and a long oration was recited with the presentation of a eooked pīg ; he had no reasoa to regārd āll this eeremonial as anything more than a more elabovato personal attention than he had been accußtomed to reeelve from •the eavages, Capt- King, the aecond in comiāand, and ihe historiao of pookV last voyage of;diseovery; who wa& a well educated gentleiuau, carefully reared in aceordanee with the tenets 6f the church of Ēngland ; and ihe nephew of the Honv Mr. Norton, epeaker of the House of Commons, gives no evidcp.ce that he was ehoekei by tlie estraordinary attentions of the llawaiiane to his commander; and he evidently regarded the acquiescence of his superior in what wae done.as ■\ neceasary policy under the circumstance?. Aud ifc was no more than . exfcradrdmary reverence of him as a great chief- ? Ifc is Ledyard> the intereetlag traveier uf Gon-j jaectieutt, and the corporal of marineß with Cook, who firsfc gives currency to the eharge uf Bacrilege vigainst Cook ; and who blame? his arbitrāry aets in forcibiy eftecting an exchange of a few hatehets !hr a quantity of wooder! !dols to be übed as fuel. ifc is elaimei by eome that Ledyard was verv friendly to hia commander, and mu6t he regarded aslin*imparfcial wif:nebs; but those who think so, have evidently read only JSpark*s vereion of Ledyard 'e narrative ; but lct them read Ledyard's owa Jonrnal published by himself, and they will see varioas of 111 will to Cook. He eomplaine, that ai? they approached the coast of Hawaii, the eomiuander wa* not disposed at firet to aachor, and let tlie men go aahore, whieh he afctribute6 to eome:'tyrannical feeling; aud larthermore complains that he eeukl not obtain certain books he wished to procure from the Captain'B Ledyard wasevidentlydisposed to be a little epiteful towards Cook, and attached; more gravity to the pig and iappa ceremonial t than Cook or anjbodv el?e on board the ehip felt at the time. What eort ol eonset{uonee di4 he, charged with sacrilēgiausly aecepting divine bonor& frooj j llawaiiaos, attach to their wor^hip t ortheirgodsJ when he bargained for a quantity tu tirewood? What aleo indeed wa* au akua io aj Hawaiian'a imttgioation of ihem, ur eveu of these dayaf Wae it net a 6hapeless hioek of wood, orj a eimple atone without eut or mark uyon it; 01 h. blrd ; or : or even in many one of. their iellow meo, who might be ln appearaoce s or perhap« a little erazy f and *o the j word akna mlght a$ well be tranii!ated a gbost, a -

fairy» a scart- ei-ow, a curioeity, or a lunalie a- a' god, x\nd 60, fjr llawaiiae» to not:ce anv oneaa an ākua was only to glve hiai !iiore extrnord!r;iarv atteatioa thau usual ae u man. Kanaku? of eveu the6e daj£ li"tve been objeets of attentioQ among aome of the raore 6uperstitiouß of their raee as akuas. We have wUsueh an instaoee, in the person of one Keoni Pupule, whu is? probab!y on Maui at this timei As we Baid in a former publieatioo, •'* we have known him, after kinding on Lanai/tobe led on hoiseback to a eahla prepared fot l U'ua ; to h&ve food ehewed fou him and put into hīe mouth; have tobaeeo emoke puffed into his nostrih?;"' and to liave otheraeteof disgustingattention bestowed upon hid per»on; a!though he was in good phjsi- j eal health and vigor at the time. And when wej eonsider thie practiee among Hawaiiatis of the s past to regard their fellow men as akuae, whom thejr knew, fed and Buftered as they did, it «eeuie to U8 abaurd the alleged tradition ia respect to the chief, whosei2ed Cook on the daj of hia death; and who becaut!e he then eried out from. hurt,. it was disclosed to the heretofore deeeivedjsavage, that hg was fiesh and blood like 4 himself, They needed no such aesuranee of his physieal eharaoter ; and if they regarded him a<? a returned hero ov akua eailed Lono ; ifc would not have been wise īn him to rejeet the great attention ehowa ; or their bareeremonial around his person; and he was disposed as Saint Paul advise3 to aeeoiuplish| important ehds even with i; guile/' fTOBE CONTINU£D.]