27th.—My aunt has been extremely interested by an account she read of the progress of Christianity in the Sandwich islands.
It is almost a singular instance of a nation by general consent destroying their idols, and being sensible of the insufficiency of their own religion. The small opposition made to the change, and the manner in which many of the chiefs publicly professed Christianity, give one every reason to hope that it will take root in the minds of the people, and that the progress of Christianity and civilization will advance together. It appears to have been a spontaneous act of those intelligent and amiable islanders; and when the Blonde frigate arrived there in 1825, the new faith they had adopted had already materially purified their morals and improved their manners.
Besides wooden idols, the uninstructed natives had long worshipped the deities of their island at the foot of the stupendous mountain of Mouna Roa, imagining their favourite abode to be in the volcanoes it contained. Offerings were frequently made to court their favour; and at every fresh eruption of lava hogs were thrown alive into those fiery gulfs, to appease the anger of Peli, the principal deity. To put an end to these superstitions, Kapiolani, the wife of a chief of high rank who had recently embraced Christianity, determined to descend into the great crater, and, by thus braving the volcanic deities in their very home, she hoped to convince the people that they existed only in their imagination. A crowd of her friends and vassals accompanied her up the mountain, to the first precipice that bounds the sunken plain: there most of them stopped or turned back; and at the second, her remaining companions earnestly implored her to desist from her dangerous enterprise, which could only serve to tempt the vengeance of the deities whose sanctuary she was about to violate. She proceeded, however, to the verge of the crater, and being again assailed with their entreaties, she calmly replied, “I am resolved to descend; and if I do not return safe, then continue to worship Peli;—but, if I come back unhurt, you must learn to adore the God who created Peli.”
Few of her attendants had sufficient courage to follow this heroic woman; but she steadily persevered, and at length reaching the bottom of the dreadful chasm, she triumphantly thrust a stick into the burning lava, and for ever dissolved the spell of superstition which till that moment had bound the minds of the astonished spectators. Those who had expected to see the incensed goddess burst forth and destroy the daring intruder, were awe-struck; they instantly acknowledged the superiority of the God of Kapiolani; and from that time no reverence has been paid to the fires of Peli.
28th.—When I came down to the library early this morning, my uncle asked me several historical questions: taken thus by surprise, I should some months ago have been unable to answer, though, perhaps, I might have been acquainted with the facts; but now I conquered my difficulties in a tolerably satisfactory manner; and my uncle congratulated me on the improvement of my memory, or rather of my recollection.
“I believe, uncle, it is more from my not being quite so much frightened as I used to be at being examined; and besides, since I have been in this house, I have gained more knowledge.”
“Yes, my dear, you have gained more knowledge, but of what avail would it be if your memory could not supply you with a key to it? You have materially improved your recollection; and I will tell you how: first, by increased attention, the foundation of all memory; and next by exercise, for every power of body and mind may be strengthened by constantly, though moderately, applying them to their proper purposes. You have also, I think, wisely aided your memory by some of the expedients that I formerly hinted to you.”
“Do you mean, uncle, the classification of one’s knowledge; and the endeavour to connect detached ideas?”
“Yes,” said he; “I have carefully observed you, Bertha—and I perceive that you have in some degree acquired the faculty of catching the points by which ideas are related to each other, and thus of associating them in your mind with some one common principle. This is the true way of strengthening the memory, and, indeed, at the same time, of improving the understanding. Every one who steadily pursues it will find, that the facility of this kind of arrangement increases every day, till at length it becomes so habitual as to be performed almost mechanically; that is, without the intervention of the will. The advantage is obvious; every new fact, every new idea becomes a catch-word to some other; and when referred to the common principle by which they are all combined, the mind rapidly and almost unconsciously runs through every link in the chain, and literally recollects those which may be wanted for the subject under consideration.”
“Do you not think, too,” said I, “that as we increase our knowledge, those links become more numerous; and therefore, that the more new facts we learn the more easily we can recollect the old ones?”