"To raise money, he made merchandise of the Priesthood. Under his "dispensation," he ordained all the Saints, both men and women. To be an apostle cost one hundred dollars, a deacon, five dollars. He sold our meetinghouses, making Lanai the only place where the word of the Lord could be given to the people.
"Clothed in his temple robes, he publicly laid the foundation of a temple, using for the chief corner stone, a huge boulder that had drunk the blood of many a victim, sacrificed by the idol worshipers of Lanai. He then covered the stone with brush and tabooed it, giving out that if anyone uncovered it, he would be smitten with death.
"While Apostles Snow and Benson were laboring with Gibson, trying to bring him to repentance. Elders Joseph F. and Alma L. Smith, W. W. Cluff, and Talula, Mr. Gibson's daughter, visited the temple site; and Brother Cluff, with impious hands, pulled the brush away, and left the "Consecrated" slaughter rock exposed to rain and sun.
"Mr. Gibson had used the old heathen Hale Pule site for the purpose of working upon the superstitions of the islanders. In their fear he had enshrined himself as a god. Coming into his presence they would prostrate themselves in the dust of the earth, and await his bidding to arise.
"But now in a moment, all his power had been swept away. From their doors they had seen Elder Cluff desecrate the tabooed stone, and return to them unharmed. The charm was broken. Mr. Gibson was cut off the Church, and his Polynesian empire soon dissolved. From this on, he will be a crownless king, without a kingdom."
From Lahaina I crossed to Lanai in a whale boat. I stayed a week with Mr. Gibson. He surrendered to me five hundred Books of Mormon, his temple clothes, and a watch that my father had given to him. I recrossed the channel to Maui—as usual in a whale boat—and found Elder A. L. Smith anxious to learn the success of my mission.
While waiting for dinner, I wrote:
Lines to Albina.
This little card on which is traced
The image of a lovely rose,
Was given me, by one who shared
My brightest joys, my deepest woes.It is to me a priceless gem,
A token dearly prized,
As emblematic of the life
Of one I idolize.I'll place it with my choicest books,
There shall it linger long
To mark the place where I may look
On a favorite author's song.
And when bright words and noble thoughts
Kindle my soul aglow,
I'll think of my wife, as I gaze on the rose
That is traced on the card below.Very dear to me, are the little gifts
That richer men oft spurn.
They speak to me of the honest love
A humble life may earn.
I will gather them up as flowers that bloom
Beside the pathway of life;
Leaves of affection, wafted from home,
And kissed by the breath of a wife.
On June 28, 1864, we sailed on the schooner Kilauea for Hawaii. On the 30th, we arrived at Kapaliuka and were warmly welcomed by Brother Kanaha and his wife Nakiaielua. I have taken much interest in this family, on account of their strength of character. When Gibson came, Kanaha had no faith in him, and refused to gather to Lanai, or to deed his home to him. For these sins he was cut off the Church. But he continued to hold meetings and kept his little flock together until we came.