Nuhou, Volume II, Number 22, 10 October 1873 — The "Sacrilege" of Capt. Cook. [ARTICLE]

The "Sacrilege" of Capt. Cook.

eo.\'Tixi:.Ei>. Bat ccrta:!i zoalous religionists, Ayhoso mio<ls arc cast in thc iujuM of Bcdouia whoi:C crccd ia mcrc Bibliolatry, aud who do not coD6idcr thc actual conditions. of lifc of their lellow laen iu tficir cstitnatc of any act that has aay religious rclation, arc ready to cry out, that •Cook, at Kealakeakua, like I'aul and Barnabas, •it Ljstra, shou!d have " rent his clothes,''aad have etayed the savagea from their impious manolatrj. Lui lct us considcr the various cu'cuiiistances , aūd,ino.uencea whieh wcre calculated to afiect so diffei , cntlj thp Apostles and the Navigator, The 2calous Paul liis ;faithful coadjutor wcrc cspceiallj cQnimissioncl to preaqh the one true Ood aud llis plaa of Ecdcaiption in the midst of .1 dominimt systcm of polxthcisuv v .sēt was their csp.ccial dutj to dō battlc foi thc Godof Isracl on all possiblc occasions, and when oue heard himself namcd jupitcr and t!>c othcr was callcd Mercuvy, hy nn intclligcnt people, aad iu a lauguagc tlwj well iuidcv-t j 11, hcrc was a markcd aud notal.ile oeenīkui for t!i«.m tj dcclaro their faith,—thc negkvt of whieh, on theii- part, woulU have !>eeu as l.iiaous and disgi'accful as if a trustcd .e mi:nan!.v shouM dcsort his post au.l ;lag at the nssault of an īn!erior' fbc. T!icse Apostlos vvo?o commissiuiicd espeeia!l) t > Jcnounco idolatry , — t!:o Navigat>» w i- commissioncd esp'ooii!ly t.> Ji"ojvci' no\V lands. īt was l;is duty to rosovt to wav>' and aicans that iuig!it njt bc, propor !!i :vi cn!ig!itci:od c.>uiaumity, i:i >>rdor to -«W* T > >.ī': th'7vō

M • ' (t %.< _- :> r... j-_- . g-« *** .g r ...^ ■ intiīxiate knjwlcdge uf tījoīr c\>untrv, ta;i \vlicd ! ' he heard thc nmoe <>f Lono app]ied t j lji?ii 5 w!:-īt' ! knowleihe c:>u!d he h;ive of tlie tmdltionb, or! ° 5 i mythology of the.-e i:-les t!;at sli:nil'j cause iiiia,! admlttlng t!nt he vūis u ::enlous :*us man to! shrīnk from hnving snch a nmne ano clelf!e 1 du\r- j actcr bēing a.-scribed t"> h;:u, as Paul <lid in re-j spect t_> thc fiycaonians cilling hhn Ju}-iter? This Chicf of thc 01ymruan gods was familiar to thc mind of a good Greek sc!iolar like the Apostle, and one oP tho especial of the < eupci'Btition he hiul to opposc; but Lono conld« have been more than a mere «ound O O | fying nothing in the cari of the Navigator who | had just lande:l i\imng a people who evidentiy; had never eeen the face of whitc men beforc.| Cook's knowledgc of Tahiti-m may have assisted him after a little while to acquire sufEcient knowledgc of the līawaiian to establish intelligible communicationH ; but when he first landed at I Kealakeakua a-nd eaw the prostrate people, he| eoukl have known nu more what their action ae- j tually eignified than did Columbu3 know in re- j epect to the Caribs of Guanahain who prostrated' thernselves before him as we see represented on! the great painting in th j rotunda of-the Capitol, of | At this poinfc, the detractors of Cook will be! ready to say that Columbus presentcd the cross to > thc prostrate people, [Ie did so« incteeJ like Magellan, because the religion 6f these two great navigators ani their politics were one and the samc thing, and they fe!t that when they had induccd people to aeeept the rite of baptibia and make the sign of the cros«, thcy had made them Spaniards as well as Christians. But what was thc reai moral or Christian character of these distinguishcd men as compared with that of Cook? Columbus assumed a prophetie charaeter in foretelling an eelipee in order ta dcceive savagcs ; he kept a mistress, and he deeply gricved his noble heartei Patroness Queen lsabella when he advised the enslavcment of the Caribs. Magellan wasan assassin v or perhaps worsc, because he hircd one of his men to elay in sccret, one of the captains of his cspedition, Don Luiz dc Mendora, of whom Ke was jealous. And when we consider thcse facts what slguified their zeal for God when ita object was mercly po!itlcal? Cook madc no pretenBions to religiouB elmraeter, or re!igious ādv6<mcyhe bore nbfc the cro?s befbre him, but only considcred his duty of upholding tlft flag of his country. Yet he was by no means an irreligious man. He received instruction iu the Church of Kngland, and when his eountry lamented his death, the church of his native towu honore-.l his memory by a memoml tablet within its walls whic'tireeords lii> virtues as a man, asan oSicer of his country, and as a benefaetor of raankind. And his naīue h:ib re aeaibered aSfcctionatcly throughoui the S>uth seas. Peurhyn f in hiscruisesin Ccntral Polyuesia, invariably told| the story that Cook was alive, and would return' on account of the inlluenee it gave hlni, Bligh did thesame t!ting, ari Christian, t!ic Mutinecr,' in comcqucnce of u fal<c story in reju\! to the csistcncc and return A t!ie great Xavigator was cnabled to pvociue !:undrcd pigs for ius Pitcairn V*cLivefcli iatcicsce4 thc iame of Cook siuce our boyish days t wh,en thc of ius ai-, vcntiiLVs 1 d,Lseovcrics \Vas of far mjrc uucrest to our taind tluui the of Ivobiusju Crusoc» iwe i.avc leli t:.:u L > ia:uo bclong> i) thc *

1 n.dttk;ng iu*v. liLe th,it of'S!.ak^;-< jQO * j X |or lialo: r : v ;... An !if a si:!itabiC i:vy.nmeiK t > i'" ! mem »rv of C~> >k h:"iS not vet bee:i rv:irel in t ] I■"\ * - ~ \ Archipe!"ngo. !»is fame will not suficr ly t!:edc- ; Cook. the ekil!fi:l rorl Comm-'»;-=d«-.r t.. great Navīgatjr uiii lnderntlg:i!»!e vc'"• will live in tbe mem:>:ies|of mankiud wi<•,.! i aīd ef marble or F>i?t by nnd by. w' • the:e may be s jiae in t!iis Arc!ji:.-eT •»£ and wheu this f>rei£3 e jni:iii:rutv !.--u 1 :■ a .. j ... . ~ ,■ outgrowa iu pr<?judic«Js. ;iu paltry jcalo dlvislon- and it? coward!y" tndyīsia, it m .■* awake to a fair consideratio:i <jf the ' C3ēk, and ercct a proud |mpnument rate t!ie Dlscoverer of the Ilawaiian I~Ian!-