CAPT. WILKES AND THE MISSION ON TUTUILA.

Samoan Reporter, Issue 9, 1 March 1849, Page 3

CAPT. WILKES AND THE MISSION ON TUTUILA.

In Capt. Wilkes’s “Narrative of the United States’ Exploring Expedition,” the following passage occurs in his notice of Tutuila—Vol. 2, p. 75 : — “ The Ten Commandments are the common law of the island wherever Christianity has taken root; and any infringement of them is surely punished; the guilty persons being put out of the church, and denied the privilege of attending worship. They are looked upon as having fallen, and are, consequently, avoided. This fear of public opinion, I was informed, was found to be sufficient to deter them from the commission of crimes and immoral practices.” It is readily acknowledged, that Capt. Wilkes has done ample justice, on the whole, to Tutuila—perhaps, indeed, more than justice to those of the effects of whose labours he speaks in such favourable terms. Such being the case, I have not, of course, the slightest suspicion that he meant to convey an impression contrary to truth by the above statements. His conduct, when amongst us, was uniformly marked by a high degree of candour and kindness; and the remarks, not only on the Mission on Tutuila, but on the Samoan Mission generally, contained in his “ Narrative,” are evidently written in a spirit of kindness and honesty of intention. Still, the state of things on this island is seriously misrepresented in the above extract; and the following remarks are designed to correct the erroneous statements it contains: — 1. The Ten Commandments never were the law of the island, or any part of it, by any formal enactment. They were, of course, embodied in my preaching and taught in our schools ; but they were never in any way promulgated as a public code of laws to the island. 2. We are represented, in the above passage, as usurping the place, and superseding the office, of the civil magistrate, as regards the punishment of criminals. This is a point in reference to which we have always endeavoured to act with special care and caution. Believing the office of the civil magistrate to be of Divine origin, and the maintenance and proper exercise of it to be essential to national prosperity, we have ever sought to teach those in authority what are the duties required of them; and have carefully avoided whatever might in any way interfere with their proper authority. They have been instructed that “ they are set for the punishment of evildoersand that church censures do not, in any way, interfere with, much less supersede, their authority; and I may add, that, for years past, this has been clearly understood both by the governors and those placed under their authority. 3. Capt. Wilkes makes a mistake, also, in reference to our mode of treating those who are the subjects of ecclesiastical discipline. He says, i ‘ guilty persons are put out of the church, and denied the privilege of attending worship.” Those who are guilty of immoral conduct are, of course, excluded from the church, and are not allowed to partake of the Lord’s Supper. They are not, however, by any means, denied the privilege of attending worship; on the contrary, they are encouraged to do this ; and, when necessary, urged to it by argument and persuasion, as indispensable to their reformation and At the time Capt.-Wilkes visited us, we had only about thirty church-members on the whole island; so that any arrangement confined to them could not, in the nature of things, avail for the community at large. Capt. Wilkes has, I apprehend, been led into the mistake in question by confounding the church with a select class, in which the condition of membership was external morality. Though Capt. Wilkes’s statements were, no doubt, kindly intended, they totally misrepresent our views and practice ; and, on this account, it has been thought desirable to submit the above remarks, in order to place these in a fair and just light.

Leone, Tutuila, Jan., 1849.

A. W. Murray.