“Rear-Admiral and Commander in Chief.”
In July, 1879, the year following the visit of the Shah, H. M. S. Opal came, bringing a beautiful organ of American manufacture—Clough & Warren’s—as a gift from the Queen, Her Majesty having sent the sum of £20 to Admiral de Horsey for the benefit of the Pitcairn islanders. This he expended in the purchase of the above-named gift, thinking, and rightly too, that the money could not be spent in a more satisfactory way. The organ is ornamented with a heart-shaped silver plate placed in the center above the keyboard, bearing the inscription, “A present from Her Majesty the Queen to her loyal and loving Pitcairn Island subjects, in appreciation of their domestic virtues.” This gift was received with pardonable pride that the Queen should condescend to remember the little isolated colony, as well as with feelings of true loyalty toward, and love for, their sovereign. When the captain of the Opal seated himself at the instrument and struck a few chords of the national song of Great Britain, there was not a voice that did not join heartily in singing, “God save the Queen.”
Besides the organ, the result that immediately followed the admiral’s appeal to the “munificent people of England” was seen in the abundant and varied substantial gifts sent to the island on H. M. S. Osprey in March, 1880. When the admiral’s account of his visit was published in England, a ready response was made to his appeal by many friends there, and subscriptions were immediately set on foot. The chairman of the committee to direct matters and dispose of the various subscriptions, the Rev. Andrew A. W. Drew, a clergyman of the Church of England, particularly exerted himself in the interests of the islanders, he and his wife attending personally to the packing of the many boxes that contained the gifts, the task being a most wearisome one, as, owing to the long way the boxes had to come, they needed to be packed with the greatest care. Every article that was sent was of the best. A large supply of schoolbooks and the much-needed slates and pencils also came, a gratefully received addition to what the good people of San Francisco had previously supplied. Especial mention should be made of the handsome gift of a number of Oxford Bibles—teachers’ editions and others. Each Sunday school teacher was furnished with a teacher’s Bible, which was valued accordingly, and the happy possessors felt that on them were bestowed the richest gifts that England sent.
The beautiful and costly present of two boats was also received, and that too with feelings akin to shame that so much thought and kindness had been bestowed on the islanders, whose part in receiving far surpassed that of the “more blessed” giving. One of the boats was named “Queen Victoria,” and it bears an inscription to the effect that it was a gift sent in recognition of the “gallant services rendered by the islanders in saving life.” The other boat, a whaleboat, was named “Admiral Drew,” in remembrance of the father of the Rev. A. Drew, the gentleman above mentioned. Mr. Drew had had the latter boat built strictly in accordance with his own directions, and the beautiful little craft answers admirably the purpose for which it was intended, viz., battling with the heavy surf that so frequently beats upon the shore.
Thus much in regard to the response made to the admiral’s appeal by the large-hearted donors in England. A volume could, however, be written respecting the numberless gifts from private individuals and others, that have from time to time been showered upon the people of this remote spot of earth, gifts that have been received with gratitude mingled with a feeling of unworthiness on the one hand, and of dependence on the other, enabling the recipients to experience in all its force the truth of the expression, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
An attempt had been made two years previous, by a firm in Liverpool, De Wolfe & Co., to establish some sort of business on the island, the planting and raising of cotton, preparing cocoanut and candlenut, and also arrowroot, by these means to enable them to supply their simple wants through their own exertions. But the little island was too far removed from any business center to make it a paying concern, and in less than two years after the attempt was made it was broken up.
