The Tongans have been especially blessed in having had several missionaries of high character, abilities, and zeal sent among them. There are schools sufficient for the wants of the whole population, under native teachers, and overlooked by the missionaries, whose duties are somewhat arduous. There is a training institution at Nukualofa, for missionaries, and for masters and mistresses of schools. There are also schools, or colleges, for the upper classes; indeed, many of the wants of a civilised and intelligent community are supplied in the Tonga Islands. The population of the whole group is supposed to amount to between thirty and forty thousand.
The islands of Western Polynesia—New Hebrides, Loyalty, and Britannia—were little-known, or, at all events, little thought of, till the year 1839, when they were brought into melancholy prominence by the distressing tragedy which occurred in one of them, the island of Erromanga.
The Rev. John Williams, after his return from England in the previous year, sailed in the Camden missionary vessel, resolved to convey the Gospel message to the inhabitants of these remote islands, hitherto sunk in the deepest heathen darkness. It is not too much to say that there was no species of wickedness practised by heathens in any part of the world which could not have found its parallel in those countries. Barbarous rites, nameless abominations, and cannibalism in its most fearful forms characterised the whole population. Mr Williams was accompanied by several European, and a considerable number of native missionaries, who were to be landed as opportunities might offer, to preach the Gospel.
Having landed missionaries at the island of Tanna and elsewhere, with every prospect of success, the Camden proceeded to Erromanga, off which island she arrived on November 20, 1839. Here Mr Williams, Mr Harris, Mr Cunningham, and Captain Morgan landed, and while the two former were at a distance from their companions, the natives attacked and killed them. The murder had been provoked, not by the crew of the Camden, but by that of some other ship, who had ruthlessly shot down several of the natives and carried off their provisions. Thus the innocent suffered for the guilty, and while the life of one eminent missionary was sacrificed, that of another was cut off at the commencement of what might have been a course of similar usefulness. Let it be added, as an interesting fact, that the murderer of John Williams was afterwards converted to God, and lived as a sincere and consistent Christian.
Notwithstanding the sad commencement of this missionary enterprise, it was resolved to pursue it with vigour. At Aneiteum, the first island of the New Hebrides visited by the missionary ship in 1841, two Samoan missionaries were landed. These devoted men had much to endure, and it was not till after years of toil that they saw any really satisfactory results from their labours. By degrees many came to seek instruction, some of whom abandoned their heathen practices; and subsequently other native teachers were introduced; but when, in 1848, the Rev. J. Geddie arrived at Aneiteum, he still found the great mass of the people fearfully degraded, and addicted to the most horrible cruelties. Soon after his arrival eight women were strangled—one, an interesting young woman whose husband he had been attending till he died; he attempted to save her, and was very nearly clubbed to death by her relatives in consequence.
A wonderful change is now evident. In 1858 there were sixty villages on the island, each of which had a school-house or a chapel, with a resident teacher. Nearly the whole of the New Testament, and some books of the Old, had been translated, and a large number of these lately degraded heathens could both read and write.
Fatuna is a small island, containing about a thousand inhabitants. Here Williams touched just before his death; but no teachers were left there. A couple of years afterwards, however, two Samoan evangelists, Samuela and Apela, were landed, the former accompanied by his wife. They laboured for four years with some success, when a severe epidemic breaking out among the inhabitants they were accused of being its cause, and were killed and eaten. Samuela’s faithful wife was offered her life if she would become one of the wives of the chief. She replied, “I came to teach you what is right, not to sin amongst you.” No sooner had she uttered the words than she fell beneath the club of a savage. Notwithstanding this tragedy, missionaries from the lately heathen Aneiteum have gone to Fatuna, and many of the savages have been converted.
At Tanna, supposed to possess fifteen thousand inhabitants, Mr Williams left three missionaries the day before he was murdered at Erromanga; but two of them soon died, the climate being more injurious to the natives of Eastern Polynesia than to Europeans. In 1842 Messrs Turner and Nisbet were sent to occupy the island, but were driven away by the savages, and sought shelter in Samoa. Native teachers from Aneiteum, however, took their places, and met with some success; and in 1858 several European missionaries landed on the island; and the larger part of the people have come to the truth.
With Erromanga the name of Williams will always be associated. After his death, native evangelists from Samoa and Rarotonga landed on its shores, but died, or were compelled to leave, from the effects of the climate. In 1857 the Rev. G.N. Gordon, and his wife, took up their residence on the island. They laboured on with considerable success, Oviladon, the chief of the district, being among the first-fruits of their toils. The greater number of the inhabitants of his district also became Christians.
An epidemic, however, broke out in 1860, and the heathen inhabitants of another district, believing that it was caused by the Christians, attacked the settlement, and killed Mr and Mrs Gordon. The day after they were buried, amidst the tears and lamentations of the people; the native teacher, who had escaped, stood beside the grave, and delivered an address which powerfully affected the bystanders.